The engineering professor draws from his vast experiences in the workplace to teach problem-solving mindsets.
rarely teaches his students anything he hasn糖心传媒檛 already experienced in the workplace or through his research.
糖心传媒淓verything I put on a slide or discuss in class is something I糖心传媒檝e used,糖心传媒� he says.
And that糖心传媒檚 a lot. A professor in the at the 糖心传媒攁s well as a recipient of this year糖心传媒檚 Goergen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching糖心传媒擬uir糖心传媒檚 experience is vast. Before graduate school, he worked for a rapid prototyping startup. After earning his PhD, he was hired at Eastman Kodak Company in 1996, departing in 2014 as senior principal engineer. He spent time in all of the business units, including health imaging, commercial and government systems, film and cameras, and commercial printing.
Engineering was always a passion, but he糖心传媒檚 had designs on working in higher education since teaching a course as a graduate student at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Muir, who grew up in the Philadelphia and South Jersey areas, joined the University as an adjunct professor in 2001 after some friendly advice from a colleague at Kodak.
糖心传媒淗e said, 糖心传媒榊ou know, Chris, you have a PhD. You糖心传媒檙e sort of obliged to teach,糖心传媒� Muir says. 糖心传媒淚 had always enjoyed teaching, and eventually decided to do it full time.糖心传媒�
Shifting career gears
In 2014, Muir changed careers to embrace education, becoming an associate professor before being promoted to full professor in 2018.
As an educator, his primary focus has been on design with the aim of creating what he calls 糖心传媒渃hallenging but safe糖心传媒� environments for students to explore solutions to difficult problems.
糖心传媒淭he neat thing about being at a university as opposed to being at a company is that you can learn without penalty,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淚 try to give students all the information they need to execute a good design, but I also want them to explore what they want to explore. It糖心传媒檚 not my design; it糖心传媒檚 their design.糖心传媒�
Muir uses a mixed bag of teaching methods糖心传媒攔ecounting stories from his former corporate life, creating fun but demanding projects, and occasionally adding a dash of dry humor, all while sharing his love for engineering. Shifting gears doesn糖心传媒檛 just apply to his students糖心传媒� lab work: 糖心传媒淪eventy-five minutes is a long time to sit in class,糖心传媒� Muir says. 糖心传媒淵ou have to keep them interested. And humor can be a good educational tool.糖心传媒�
He creates videos for virtually all of his labs and lectures. In addition, believing that the proper tools are fundamental to good design, Muir has secured funding and space for state-of-the-art equipment and software, such as a machining and laser scanners, 3D printers, and product data management tools that would be used in the industrial field. In doing so, he has expanded the manufacturing component of the undergraduate mechanical engineering program聽by integrating the facilities at the Rettner Hall for Media Arts and Innovation and .
An 糖心传媒榰nmatched糖心传媒� dedication to student learning
Muir has taught more than 2,400 students (many of whom end up taking multiple courses with him) during his eight years at the University, yet he strives to connect with all of them. Laura Slane, an assistant professor in mechanical engineering, says, 糖心传媒淐hris糖心传媒檚 dedication to students is unmatched.糖心传媒� Anna Remus 糖心传媒�21, a PhD candidate in mechanical engineer at Rochester, says he brings a similar commitment to his workload.
糖心传媒淭he amount of work he puts into each project糖心传媒攎eeting and designing senior projects with external sponsors, managing hands-on manufacturing training, and meeting students with personalized advice each week糖心传媒攊s closer to overseeing 15 courses than just one,糖心传媒� Remus says. 糖心传媒淎nd yet, he manages them all.糖心传媒� He even聽serves as the faculty adviser for the , a student organization that designs, fabricates, and competes with single-seat, off-road vehicles.
Since 2014, Muir has taught the senior-level capstone design courses in the fall and spring, with typical enrollments of 60 to 85 students per year.聽The course in the fall semester prepares seniors to design and build prototype devices to solve real-world problems during the spring semester. As part of the course,聽Muir asks his students to聽work together to create a puzzle of 70 to 75 pieces, made from the highest quality Baltic birch plywood. The puzzle often replicates an iconic University-related image (past works include the clock tower in Dandelion Square, the crown above Rush Rhees Library, , and the University mascot dressed as an engineer). If all the pieces fit properly, the entire class receives credit. 糖心传媒淚f even one piece doesn糖心传媒檛 fit, everyone is effected, just as in a team,糖心传媒� Muir says. 糖心传媒淚f the project or system is not successful, it糖心传媒檚 not as important that your small part works糖心传媒攅veryone needs to focus on overall success as well.糖心传媒�
Muir has also asked students to define everyday problems that annoy them糖心传媒攁nd create a solution. This has resulted in everything from a cup holder that can be attached to a crutch, to pens that are virtually silent when clicked.
He says design has always fascinated him for one simple reason: 糖心传媒淏ecause it糖心传媒檚 never done,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淚t can always be made better. And it糖心传媒檚 fun because it糖心传媒檚 hard.糖心传媒�
What Chris Muir糖心传媒檚 students are saying
糖心传媒淚 had the pleasure of having him as a professor for four different mechanical engineering classes. During each class, he spread his contagious passion for engineering while making even the driest bits of material interesting and fun. He worked hard to create assignments and convey material that would benefit students in their engineering careers. It was very apparent that Dr. Muir is gifted in communicating and teaching engineering to young engineers.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒擯eter Schaefer 糖心传媒�22糖心传媒淧rofessor Muir teaches with vision: his conception of senior design is to help bridge academic life to professional work beyond the undergraduate setting. He acts with intention: every aspect of the course is designed to reach that goal. No feature of the course is wasted.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒擜nna Remus 糖心传媒�21, PhD candidate in mechanical engineering糖心传媒淲hat I admire the most about his teaching style is how he presents his material through a lens of applicability. He has taught me many difficult subjects, but it never felt simply abstract, even when we were covering highly complex materials. He made sure to use real-life examples to allow us to understand the concept in a more realistic way.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒擫ale Yilmaz 糖心传媒�22
