Sean F. Wu

[MSME 1984, Ph.D. ME 1987]
Charles DeVlieg Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Wayne State University
Detroit, Michigan

I was one of very lucky graduates to be chosen to study abroad under a Chinese Government Scholarship Program. Our group was placed on a camp for intensive English studies. Most of us wanted to go to the United States, and so did I, but I was not very clear which school to go. One day our group was called together to meet a delegation composed of Presidents and Vice Presidents from various universities in the U.S. During the questions/answers session, I asked about acoustics and noise control programs to help me make a decision. Dr. Stanley, Vice President from Georgia Tech answered my question and in particular mentioned Dr. Allan D. Pierce and his research activities and reputation. His answer led me to Georgia Tech. Once I met and talked to Dr. Pierce, my fate was sealed.

My graduate experience at Georgia Tech played a pivotal role in preparing me for taking any career, the most challenging one being in academia. As it turned out, I not only stood up to all sorts of challenges, but flourished. This would not be possible without the rigorous training at Georgia Tech. Faculty is the key. When I was going through my training at Georgia Tech, I had the toughest professors serving in my MS and Ph.D. theses committees: Dr. Allan D. Pierce, Jerry H. Ginsberg, Peter H. Rogers, and Michael P. Stallybrass (Mathematics Department). They threw all kinds of tough questions at me once they spotted a hole in my mathematics background. They kept pounding on me and made me really look awful. Needless to say, I did not do well on my MS thesis defense, even though I passed the test. This forced me to study hard on mathematics. Dr. Stallybrass was kind enough to give me some private tutoring on variational principles. By the time of my Ph.D. dissertation defense, I had prepared so well that no one (the same committee members as those in my MS Thesis committee) was able to give me any hard time. In the end, I not only sailed through my defense, but also received the 1987 Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis Presentation Award from Georgia Institute of Technology. So highly demanding faculty and hard work on students can yield wonders.