Professor Phillip Cornwell’s Visit

Dr. Phillip Cornwell is the Vice President for Academic Affairs and a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Dr. Cornwell received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University in 1985 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1987 and 1989, respectively. Dr. Cornwell has been active in curricular development, and he helped develop the Sophomore Engineering Curriculum at Rose-Hulman where

engineering science is taught in a unified framework. Cornwell spent many summers working at Los Alamos National Laboratory where he was a mentor in the Los Alamos Dynamics Summer School and did research in the areas of structural health monitoring, energy harvesting, vibration monitoring of femoral components, and micromotion of cementless implants. In 2006, Cornwell joined the author team for one of the oldest and best-selling engineering mechanics texts of all time, Vector Mechanics for Engineers: Dynamics by Ferdinand P. Beer and E. Russell Johnston. Dr. Cornwell is a recipient of the Society of Automotive Engineers' Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award, and he has received the two highest awards at Rose-Hulman: the Dean’s Outstanding Teacher award and the Board of Trustees’ Outstanding Scholar Award. Dr. Cornwell was one of the professors featured in the Princeton Review’s book called The Best 300 Professors.

Rose-Hulman is a private institution founded in 1874 that focuses almost exclusively on undergraduate science, engineering, and mathematics education. About 85% of the students are majoring in one of the engineering disciplines with the remainder studying computer science, one of the other sciences, or mathematics. Rose-Hulman is dedicated to preparing its students with the world’s best undergraduate science, engineering, and mathematics education in an environment infused with innovation, intellectual rigor, and individualized attention. The goal is to graduate well-rounded, technically outstanding professionals. There are currently about 2,200 undergraduate students and 100 graduate students.

Engineering, Science, and Mathematics Education at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

November 10, Monday, 2-3 pm, room #6402

For 15 consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report has rated Rose-Hulman as the top undergraduate engineering college in US whose highest degree is a bachelor’s or master’s. In this session, the educational model at Rose-Hulman, pedagogical techniques such as flipped and hybrid classes, and the future of undergraduate engineering, science, and mathematics education will be presented followed by a discussion.

A Unified Framework for Engineering Science November 11, Tuesday, 10am-11:30am, room #8105

Many engineering educators complain that “The undergraduate engineering curriculum is full” or “How can we possibly add more technical topics as well as more professional skills such as communication and teamwork? What are we going to take out?” There are fewer discussions, however, of how to teach topics more efficiently, how to focus on principles, and how to make connections between disciplines. In this workshop participants will explore these topics through a variety of active learning exercises. Finally, one implementation of a unified framework for engineering science, the Rose-Hulman Sophomore Engineering Curriculum, will be presented.

A Unique Way to Partner with Industry: Rose-Hulman Ventures November 12, Wednesday, 10am-11:30am, room #7317

Rose-Hulman Ventures is a program at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology where students work as paid interns on engineering projects supplied by commercial clients. Based upon the needs of the clients, multi-disciplinary student intern teams are assembled for each project and are led by full-time experienced engineers. Most project engagements are on a fee-for-service basis with an average cost of about $45,000. Since the program was started in 1999, it has employed more than 980 student interns working with 170 client companies. This talk describes the Rose-Hulman Ventures’ operating model, the facilities and staffing for the program, and the impact the program has had on the student interns, the client companies, the university and the regional innovation ecosystem.