ENG-23-4200-I3-Magazine_Final Version

04 USD ENGINEERING Beyond Ones and Zeros by Elisa Lurkis A Conversation With Donor Walt Foley

05 IMAGINE•INNOVATE•INSPIRE

Advancing Mutual Interests Elevating Industry Partnerships

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by Michelle Sztupkay

magine what it would be like to work alongside NASA Jet Propul sion Laboratory researchers in their mission to find microbial water- based life in the oceans of ice moons in our solar system or to work with Glaukos on a device used to accelerate the fight against glaucoma. At the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, computer science and engineering students are already working on these types of pioneering experiences through their capstone design projects and the Industry Partners Program (IPP). Chair of Electrical Engineering Venkat Shastri, PhD, recalls taking over the IPP in 2014. “In the beginning, we had about three or four partners — most were electrical engineering proj ects. We have since quadrupled our efforts with up to 16 industry-spon sored projects per year. Now, the proj ects are all interdisciplinary and have become a springboard for students to have an expansive experience — me chanical engineers are learning embed ded software, electrical engineers are learning to 3D print and computer sci ence students are looking at hardware.”

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to two capstone design projects in the 2023-24 academic year. “The USD senior design engineers are enthusiastic, eager to learn and willing to challenge themselves,” says Fitzpatrick. “While [they] have a solid academic foundation and basic under standing of computer science, prob lem solving, software programming and related applications, they are also being exposed to advanced concepts and the latest cutting-edge industry software development practices, tech nologies and applications — things that they have not been exposed to in their previous coursework.” GTRI has hired an impressive six USD seniors and graduates as research engineers since they first partnered with USD in 2019. The program is a win-win collabora tion between industry and academia. “The industry partners gain access to nearly graduated engineers to work on a project that the company may not otherwise have had the resources for. Those students, in turn, receive hands-on, interdisciplinary experience solving real-world issues within a professional training ground and the opportunity to receive letters of recommendations and offers of employment.” Perry continues, “If students are provided with clear expectations at the beginning of the program, and they achieve those expec tations, there is such a great reward for everyone involved — that’s huge.”

In Spring 2023, Shastri handed the baton over to Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering Leonard Perry, PhD, to take the pro gram to the next level. Perry has hit the ground running to standardize program processes. “My goal is to nurture the partner ships that we have, understand their needs, as well as those of the students and faculty, obtain their feedback and make sure we have clear steps and standard processes in place to meet those needs.” Long-time industry partner Mike “Scratch” Fitzpatrick, a principal research engineer at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), looks for ward to increasing their sponsorship

men and only three women. We were the chosen ones who were challenged to get us to the moon before the Rus sians. We were focused on the mis sion — it was all ones and zeros. In the early 1960s, Isabelle Bates funded a cocurricular aero program at Mudd with Iris and Howard Critchell. Iris, an Olympic swimmer in Germany in 1936, became a pilot, ferried planes across the country as part of the Army Air Corps, then handed them over to the troops to fly them into World War II. The trio cre ated a program for nine students each year to experience “the privilege of flight.” The goal was to broaden us from just focusing on the moon and instill an appreciation of how aerody namics, avionics, FAA regulations, air traffic control and the challenges of mother nature’s impact interact with our narrowly focused technical goals. It was powerful for a young college engineering freshman. When did you and Csilla become philanthropists? Neither of us grew up with much money. My grandparents left me a small amount of money that I saved and eventually invested in Megatek when we started it in the early 1970s. When the company ultimately sold, we had resources that challenged us to figure out how to give back a little of our good fortune. Csilla, a psychol ogy major with a compassion for

alt and Csilla Foley have been strong supporters of the University of San

Diego almost since the launch of the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering (SMSE). Walt is an engineer with a bachelor of science from Harvey Mudd and a master of science from MIT. He serves on the SMSE advisory board and as an Industry Scholar mentor. Csilla is a supporter of the Engineering Exchange for Social Justice. They are more connected to USD than to any of the other higher education institutions with which they have been involved. We wanted to know why. What keeps you connected to USD? The mission and the breadth of the school keeps me connected. Harvey Mudd was pretty narrowly focused. There is a lot of talent there, but there’s more to a person than just math and science. I’ll be very candid. I don’t think that the level of technical exper tise at USD is as high as Mudd, but I don’t think that’s needed — it’s only one piece of a person. At USD, what I see is the goal of developing engineers as whole people. The humanity of the students is evident everywhere and I find that very meaningful. Describe your experience as an un dergraduate engineering student. I was in one of the early classes at Harvey Mudd. There were 60-plus

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those less fortunate, opened my mind to the benefits of a philanthropic fo cus on the whole person, not just sat isfying society’s technological needs. We were already supporters of Mudd and MIT, but the mission at neither place was compelling to Csilla. USD’s engineering students and fac ulty members working with local, under-resourced community groups was very appealing to her. USD pro vides us with meaningful programs to support — it allows us to see how the funds are being used and the impact of our giving. Any final thoughts to share? The diversity of the people that I meet at USD is amazing. Wherever I am on the USD campus, I see different aspects of human involve ment in engineering. It makes me truly appreciate the benefits of a liberal arts education. I see students getting broad-based skills in addition to engineering skills. The Bates program at Mudd exposed me to the world outside engineering. At USD, I come to appreciate that engineering itself should be multifaceted. It’s not just about getting the technology to work, it’s about how the technology works in society.