克里斯托弗•缪尔:为未来的机械工程师设计职业道路

The engineering professor draws from his vast experiences in the workplace to teach problem-solving mindsets.

克里斯托弗•缪尔 rarely teaches his students anything he hasn’t already experienced in the workplace or through his research.

“Everything I put on a slide or discuss in class is something I’ve used,他说.

这是很多. 大学的教授 机械工程系 在 白菜收录大全网址—as well as a recipient of this year’s Goergen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching—穆尔’s experience is vast. 在读研究生之前，他在一家快速成型初创公司工作. 在获得博士学位之后, 1996年，他被伊士曼柯达公司聘用, 2014年离职，担任高级首席工程师. 他在所有的业务部门都花了时间, 包括健康成像, 商业及政府系统, 胶卷和照相机, 商业印刷.

工程学一直是我的激情所在, but he’s had designs on working in higher education since teaching a course as a graduate student at Lehigh 大学 in Bethlehem, 宾西法尼亚. 穆尔, 在费城和南泽西地区长大的人, joined the 大学 as an adjunct professor in 2001 after some friendly advice from a colleague at Kodak.

“他说，‘你知道吗，克里斯，你有博士学位. 你有义务去教书，”缪尔说. “我一直很喜欢教书，最终决定全职教书.”

改变职业生涯

In 2014, 缪尔改行接受教育, becoming an associate professor before being promoted to full professor in 2018.

作为一名教育者, his primary focus has been on design with the aim of creating what he calls “challenging but safe” environments for students to explore solutions to difficult problems.

“The neat thing about being at a university as opposed to being at a company is that you can learn without penalty,他说. “I try to give students all the information they need to execute a good design, 但我也希望他们能探索他们想探索的东西. It’s not my design; it’s their design.”

穆尔 uses a mixed bag of teaching methods—recounting stories from his former corporate life, 创造有趣但要求高的项目, 偶尔还会加入一点冷幽默, 同时也分享了他对工程的热爱. Shifting gears doesn’t just apply to his students’ lab work: “Seventy-five minutes is a long time to sit in class,缪尔说. “你必须让他们保持兴趣. 幽默是一种很好的教育工具.”

他为几乎所有的实验和讲座制作视频. 除了, 相信合适的工具是优秀设计的基础, 穆尔 has secured funding 和 space for state-of-the-art equipment 和 software, 如机械加工和激光扫描仪, 3 d打印机, 和 product data management tools that would be used in the industrial field. 这样做的时候, he has exp和ed the manufacturing component of the undergraduate mechanical engineering program by integrating the facilities 在 瑞特纳媒体艺术与创新大厅 和 泰勒堂学生商店.

对学生学习的“无与伦比”的投入

穆尔教过超过2门课程,400 students (many of whom end up taking multiple courses with him) during his eight years 在 大学, 然而，他努力与他们所有人建立联系. 劳拉Slane, 机械工程助理教授, 说, “克里斯对学生的奉献是无与伦比的.“安娜·莱姆斯，21岁, 白菜收录大全网址机械工程师博士候选人, 他说他在工作上也有类似的承诺.

“The amount of work he puts into each project—meeting 和 designing senior projects with external sponsors, 管理动手制造培训, 和 meeting students with personalized advice each week—is closer to overseeing 15 courses than just one,莱姆斯说. “然而，他把它们都管理好了.他甚至还担任了the UR Baja SAE团队, a student organization that designs, fabricates, 和 competes with single-seat, off-road vehicles.

自2014年以来, 穆尔 has taught the senior-level capstone design courses in the fall 和 spring, 通常每年招收60到85名学生. The course in the fall semester prepares seniors to design 和 build prototype devices to solve real-world problems during the spring semester. 作为课程的一部分, 穆尔 asks his students to work together to create a puzzle of 70 to 75 pieces, 由最优质的波罗的海桦木胶合板制成. The puzzle often replicates an iconic 大学-related image (past works include the clock tower in D和elion Square, 拉什·里斯图书馆上方的王冠, 妇女权利活动家苏珊B. 安东尼，大学吉祥物打扮成工程师). 如果所有的部分都合适，整个班级都可以获得学分. “If even one piece doesn’t fit, everyone is effected, just as in a team,缪尔说. “如果项目或系统不成功, it’s not as important that your small part works—everyone needs to focus on overall success as well.”

穆尔 has also asked students to define everyday problems that annoy them—和 create a solution. This has resulted in everything from a cup holder that can be attached to a crutch, 到点击时几乎无声的笔.

He 说 design has always fascinated him for one simple reason: “Because it’s never done,他说. “它总是可以做得更好. 它很有趣，因为它很难.”

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克里斯·缪尔的学生在说什么

“I had the pleasure of having him as a professor for four different mechanical engineering classes. 每节课, he spread his contagious passion for engineering while making even the driest bits of material interesting 和 fun. He worked hard to create assignments 和 convey material that would benefit students in their engineering careers. 很明显，约翰博士. 缪尔在与年轻工程师交流和教授工程方面很有天赋.”
-Peter Schaefer ' 22

“Professor 穆尔 teaches with vision: his conception of senior design is to help bridge academic life to professional work beyond the undergraduate setting. He acts with intention: every aspect of the course is designed to reach that goal. 课程的任何特色都没有被浪费.”
——anna Remus, 21岁，机械工程博士研究生

“What I admire the most about his teaching style is how he presents his material through a lens of applicability. 他教了我许多难的科目, 但它从来没有400全讯白菜网人一种简单抽象的感觉, 甚至当白菜收录大全网址覆盖高度复杂的材料时. He made sure to use real-life examples to allow us to underst和 the concept in a more realistic way.”
-Lale Yilmaz ' 22

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标签: 奖, 克里斯•缪尔, 机械工程系, 哈吉姆工程与应用科学学院

类别: 校园生活