Barton Smith

[M.S.M.E. 1995, Ph.D. ME 1999]
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Utah State University
Logan, Utah

I came to Tech in 1999, which was an interesting time, since it seemed that the shift from a teaching emphasis to a research emphasis was in full swing. One could still find a "North Avenue Trade School" T-shirt for sale. The administration was making a considerable investment in ME, as evidenced by the MARC building, and later, the new ME building. And we watched as the Olympic games changed the neighborhood completely.

I enjoyed the name recognition that came with Georgia Tech, and the opportunity to represent our program at several fluid dynamics conferences. I found the Georgia Tech program very challenging, and grew considerably as a result. I received several patents while at Tech, which have now paid royalties. As a result of my graduate research, I received a very desirable Post Doctoral position at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

On the strength of my graduate and post-doctoral work, I have moved into a tenure track position at Utah State University.