Comas Haynes

[MSME 1997, Ph.D. ME 1999]
Senior Research Engineering
Georgia Tech Center for Innovative
Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Atlanta, Georgia

e-mail: comas.haynes@gtri.gatech.edu

Georgia Tech was on my "radar screen" for graduate school since I was in the high school. Being from the Southeast, I considered it to be the best engineering school in the region; and this impression only expanded with time. By the time I was graduating from my undergraduate alma mater (Florida A&M, "FAMU"); I knew Georgia Tech's ME program to be one of the best engineering programs nationally.

Nonetheless, I was still considering another school that was also highly touted and known for my area of interest. A key point of tangible guidance was the orchestration of Georgia Tech's warm and sincere recruitment. Amongst numerous gestures of sincerity, I still remember getting a call from Dr. William "Bill" Wepfer (who became my advisor and is presently school chair) as my first (congratulatory) indication that I had won an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. It was a dual treat to learn of my award from the School I was strongly considering. The school's historic reputation and genuine expressions of interest were hence pivotal decision aids.

Although the technical instruction and training afforded me during my tenure as a graduate student were obviously pivotal, the primary experience that assisted my career preparation was the ability to collaborate within and across disciplinary lines to pursue technical goals. In paraphrased manner, a potent adage that I heard in (internship) industry was that most technical tasks/goals are very achievable if you can get the right people to work together.

I had an opportunity to pursue a project with underpinnings from a different field (i.e., electrochemistry). My advisor's track record of engaging different research disciplines (e.g., Materials Science and Chemical Engineering) allowed me to gain initial insights regarding interdisciplinary cross-pollination and collaboration. I was able to learn the needed materials science and chemical engineering tenets for the project, but just as importantly, I gained a competency for pursuing multi- and inter- disciplinary collaborations. This was via the examples and opportunities seen and experience while in grad school.

The graduate program at Georgia Tech was especially endearing to me, because grad students genuinely worked (and still work) together to be of mutual assistance to one another. I did not want to enter an environment that was excessively competitive, and in fact, I found classmates and schoolmates to be very congenial. From group studies for graduate courses to "study buddies" and "veteran mentors" for preparing for qualifying exams, the collaborative nature of the graduate student population was great. Additionally, the ability of the Woodruff School to balance scholarship and industrial relevance was appreciated. From publications to patents, the School set a tone for me to realize and appreciate that ME research could contribute to both the "body of knowledge" and the "reality of the market".

The  Woodruff School's graduate program is excellent based upon a large and well-diversified faculty base developing promising young scholars (i.e., graduate students); and supported by state-of-the-art facilities. To the latter point, I remain impressed with how the School grows in presence and resources to continue pushing the goals of progress and technical support for innovation.

Anecdote

One of the first things that impressed me about my advisor, Prof. Bill Wepfer, who was also my primary recruiter to Georgia Tech as the then Associate Chair of Graduate Studies, was his ability to remember intricate details about me and my personal life. He would proactively ask me about non-technical details conveyed days and easily weeks earlier, which I had brought up in casual conversation. It made me feel "special" because he had done such a great job establishing rapport with me during recruitment, and then it was continuing as his advisee. It soon dawned on me that his prowess for asking about family members or hometowns or teams of undergraduate alma maters wasn't specific to me as his advisee; but he was having such conversation with ALL of the graduate students (including of course knowing all of the grad students by name and face). I then realized that it wasn't that "I" was special, but in fact that "we" were special; in that we had accepted an invitation to be a part of the grad school tradition in the Woodruff School of ME; so he was fully engaged in our well-being (both academic and personal).

I will keep a bigger claim as his advisee that he was, and remains, an "academic dad" of sorts, for whom I could always expect a warm weekly reception regardless of my research progress or lack thereof if research was hindered. That genuine kindness was encouraging through my entire tenure as his advisee.