Testimonial

Joseph Levert

[Ph.D. 1997, PE]
Assistant Professor of Engineering
State University of New York
Maritime College
Throggs Neck, New York

I had worked as an engineer in industry for 13 years, and I had also completed an MSME degree. At that point in my life/career, I had never (seriously) planned on going back to school. It was time to settle-in to a comfortable life while plodding along that focused "career treadmill." A layoff changed the picture entirely, and now anything was an option. Thanks to my great colleagues, they helped me resurrect the idea of a "post-industrial" Ph.D.

I had an interest in tribology for a long time, so Georgia Tech's excellent tribology program was an obvious one to look at. Technical prowess is a given for any good school, but there's much more to the process. I was not convinced that going back to school was a good idea. I interviewed on-campus to get a feel for the people and how they worked together. I spent almost three days on campus, and I didn't have one bad experience. The students were smart and helpful, and the professors were really interested in the potential of the prospective student. That very positive, people centric atmosphere sold me on the spot.

Of course I learned additional technical information and honed the intellectual discipline that is engineering. That technical information helped, but it wasn't the defining experience in my post-GT career. What really prepared me for what lay ahead was that subtle "informal" education. I learned more over lunch (or beers) with fellow students and Professors than I did in any lecture course or in the dissertation research. The most important principle that was internalized during those years can be summed-up with the expression: "Technology is a very human endeavor." Some specifics include the absolute importance of ethics and respect for others, the vital importance of intellectual freedom in inventing the advancements to meet tomorrow's technical challenges, how to work collaboratively with colleagues, learning how to write for one's technical audience, public speaking, and the comfort in networking in a professional environment.

GT had great funding and great laboratories as well as a large and excellent faculty which offered a breadth and depth of possibilities for research and learning. Being a top-flight engineering school, these attributes were expected. The attributes which really made GT a great program were the human qualities of the faculty, students and staff. It was such a pleasure working with some of the best and brightest as my fellow students. The 6th Annual GT Graduate Symposium really brought that fact home. Dr. Wepfer asked me to chair the planning committee and lead 12 of my fellow students in offering a 2 day conference which enabled students and industry professionals to trade ideas and contacts for possible future collaborations. This Team seemed ordinary at first, but when the Symposium was held, it was then apparent that we had a Dream Team. I learned so much from working with these excellent people.

The faculty, led by Dr. Winer, were the best that I've ever worked with. Their technical excellence was overshadowed by their dynamic people skills and true concern for the students. My advisor, Dr. Danyluk, guided me through the academic flaming hoops and helped me to achieve in ways that I had never expected. His generous support and guidance kept me on a positive path while his uncompromising sense of academic freedom enabled creative research results, that now with 20/20 hindsight, I know would have never happened.

Dr. Wepfer was the Associate Director for Graduate Studies during my GT tenure. His technical excellence and people skills were further overshadowed by his uncanny ability to remember the names of all 500 grad students in the program. Dr. Wepfer was the first person who greeted me while interviewing and the last to greet me as we walked onto the stadium floor for graduation. Most of my fellow grad students commented off the record that Dr. Wepfer was the biggest reason that they decided to attend GT.

Maybe a comment from Dr. Winer will summarize the greatest strength of the program. One day after a faculty candidate completed a seminar, we grad students quickly devoured the free food. Not wanting to go back to work in the lab, we started picking Ward's brain. A fellow student asked Ward: What do you look for in a faculty candidate? His reply was: It's expected that the candidate be excellent in his/her technical area, but what I'm really looking for are candidates with people skills.

The facilities were if not excellent, then very good. The funding was adequate for me to complete my studies, but I was very encouraged that the large majority of the students have funding which permits the time to focus on their studies with few distractions. The faculty were the best that I've had the opportunity to work with. The student body were also the best group of people that I've ever worked with. In addition, the students were truly diverse by every measure which further enriched the graduate experience. They were focused and hard working, yet at the same time relaxed, and creative. The graduate programs at the Woodruff School were rated top notch, and I have no reason to doubt it.