Spring 2004
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Spring 2004 |
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Outstanding Teacher David Stienstra combines humor, understanding and attention to detail By Dale Long David Stienstra may not have a green thumb when it comes to growing things in the home garden, but the mechanical engineering professor cultivates a bountiful educational environment in his courses at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. That’s why he’s known for wearing brightly colored Hawaiian shirts on the coldest day of the winter. He also appreciates the musical styles of rap artist Eminem and he finds humor in the minutest detail of failure in mechanical structures. “I find the world kind of funny,” Stienstra admits. It’s that right combination of humor, understanding and attention to detail that endears Stienstra to his students, and provides them with the confidence to solve problems when they become professional engineers. He also received the Dean’s Outstanding Teacher Award in 2003, joining a long list of distinguished Rose-Hulman faculty members. “Professor Stienstra’s sense of humor is very close to that of a college student. This makes him seem a lot more like one of us, than just another professor handing out homework,” states Drew Lyons, a senior mechanical engineering major. “Although he can be a strict grader, it didn't really matter to me because I enjoyed going to his class, and I learned more than I did with any other professor.” Emily Timperman, a sophomore mechanical engineering student, adds, “Dr. Stienstra keeps the material interesting, and his style of teaching makes learning less of a chore. He is always ready to lend a helping hand with class work or simply impart some much-needed wisdom on a group of demanding students.” Stienstra’s caring attitude –- in and out of the classroom –- is showcased in a story related by Andrew Courtice, a senior mechanical engineering major who was having trouble understanding concepts in Stienstra’s Mechanics of Materials course. The student came to the professor with 12 problems he couldn’t understand. “I was reviewing the online CD questions for an upcoming test the next day. Dr. Stienstra got out his CD, turned on his computer, and went through each and every one of them with me. It took about two hours!” Courtice states. Afterward, Stienstra spent even more time discussing issues about career options and how the student could succeed in the business world. “There are teachers that teach just the material and there are those, like Dr. Stienstra, that go the extra mile to mold students, not only into engineers but as adults, too. It is what makes Rose-Hulman such a unique place. I appreciated his time and caring attitude very much,” the student says. Stienstra, a member of the Rose-Hulman faculty since 1990, quickly brushes aside such accolades. A satisfying smile is his only acknowledgement. “My goal is to help students develop a strong engineering intuition. Our students have to have a sure way of checking their calculations. If not, they’re a slave to the computer and the numbers being cranked out,” he states. “There’s something to be said for the fundamental understanding of the engineering process. How you get there is a good question. I haven’t come up with all of the answers yet. The good thing about teaching is that you keep trying.” “I love to help a student develop from their freshman year, when they know something, but not a lot, to their senior year, ready to start their careers or going onto graduate school. Then, the really fun part is seeing what the graduates go out and become after they leave (Rose-Hulman),” Stienstra continues. “As a professor you think, ‘Do I really want to be driving the car this guy (alumnus) is designing?’ And, you step back and think, ‘Sure, I would be proud to drive that car.’ You want alumni to feel that they have been given the tools to handle any situation in their career.” Stienstra, who specializes in fracture mechanics and fatigue analysis, is known for bringing innovative ideas into his material engineering and design classes. He helped change the mechanical engineering department’s freshman design course to integrate elements of design, build and test procedures, rather than just paper design. During an educational sabbatical for the 2003-2004 academic year, Stienstra spent the fall and winter examining teaching modules at the renowned problem-solving program at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario) for possible adaptation at Rose-Hulman. He is spending this spring visiting alumni and other professional engineers to get examples of real-world hardware design drawings for a newly required junior-level course. The idea for the course resulted from the academic department’s board of advisers. He also has attended lectures by fellow Rose-Hulman faculty, many of whom have also earned the Dean’s Outstanding Teacher Award, to learn how to be an even better educator. “At Rose-Hulman, we’re blessed with outstanding students. They can all do the work. The question is: ‘How do you reach them?’ Do you make them practice more? Do you sit on them and make them work even harder? Or, do you inject a little humor and liven up the environment?” the professor asks in a rhetorical fashion. “You want students to have enthusiasm for the material being taught. For me, bad humor helps bring full attention. If I find something amusing the students might find it amusing too. If I can meet them half way, I’m willing to do that. Quite frankly, probably half of the class feels sorry for me.” Stienstra came to teaching after working two years as an associate engineer in the future product design and development department of General Motors Corporation’s Hydra-matic division (Ypsilanti, Mich.). The 1978 Iowa State University mechanical engineering graduate found that he enjoyed teaching new design techniques to co-op students from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University). A two-year teaching assistant/research position followed at the University of Iowa, where he earned his master’s degree, and he became a mechanical engineering instructor at Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M-Kingsville) for three years, introducing a new freshman-year design course. Stienstra earned his doctorate in mechanical engineering at age 34 from Texas A&M University after serving as a lecturer, graduate research assistant and teaching assistant for three years. “I quickly found out that being in the classroom, with students who wanted to learn, was just plain fun,” he says. With that knowledge, Stienstra knew he wanted to teach at Rose-Hulman, an institution known for its emphasis on undergraduate engineering and science education, and classroom instruction. Other members of the college’s faculty who specialized in material sciences have included James Eifert, former vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty (now president of the Rose-Hulman Ventures technology and business incubator) and Rose-Hulman President Samuel Hulbert. “Rose-Hulman and I had a shared (educational) mission. It was a match made in heaven. I got really lucky,” he says. Stienstra’s students may be the lucky ones.
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