Testimonial

Eric J. Barth

[MSME 1996, Ph.D. ME 2000]
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee

I decided on the Woodruff School mainly because of its reputation and size. My original intent in going to graduate school was to become a university professor and I needed a program that would prepare me for that. At the time I entered the school I was interested in dynamic systems and control, but was not completely sure that it was the specialty I wanted to focus on.

The size and number of research programs at the Woodruff School would have also served me well if I wanted to switch specialties; as it were, I quickly knew that controls was where I wanted to be topically. With a career in academia, it seems there are three phases of development. At least that I have seen thus far. The first phase involves getting good at taking classes and integrating information. This is really all you do as an undergraduate, and it continues as a graduate student. The second phase involves conducting research. This involves a talent that is completely separate from the talents involved at getting good grades in courses. In courses, problems are often extremely well defined and posed.

In research, much of your time is and should be consumed with defining the problem and the approach precisely. This is something that requires careful consideration, trial and error, and exposure to the research process. The third phase involves directing research. In directing research, it requires a perspective such that relevant "big picture" topics can be identified. My experience at the Woodruff School prepared me quite well with regard to all three. In addition, to there being so many to choose from, courses were excellent and formed a solid foundation. With regard to research I credit my advisor, Dr. Nader Sadegh, with providing the perfect balance of guidance and letting me figure it out on my own. There is something very subtle about teaching someone how to approach a problem, and Dr. Sadegh did a wonderful job. With regard to what I do now, direct research, the Woodruff School provided a big picture perspective simply by providing the right environment with a lot of ongoing research. So all those two am nights in the MaRC building hanging out with my friends and learning what they were working on weren't a waste of time!

The Woodruff School had a great atmosphere. For me, being immersed in an atmosphere of research ... and lots of it ...was the greatest asset of the graduate program. There was also great instruction and many courses to choose from. I would rate the quality of the graduate program as world class. The faculty and the facilities are also top notch. The student body was a good mix of domestic and international students without being too heavily weighted toward one or the other.

Anecdote

During lecture, my advisor, Dr. Sadegh, would often touch his hand to his forehead when considering something. Almost invariably this would deposit a smudge of dry erase marker on his head due to erasing a symbol here or there on the board with his hand instead of the eraser. After my own lectures, I now sometimes notice in the bathroom mirror that I am occasionally guilty of this same activity.