Tagging a university as a "research" institution or as a "teaching" school can lead to some lively debates in the halls of academia: Which is better? How are students served? Publish or perish? Are we just chasing research dollars? Those are valid questions, and there is no doubt our country is blessed with excellent research universities and good teaching universities. However, I believe Rose-Hulman blends both types of those approaches and is best described as a "learning" university where teaching and research combine to enhance the educational experience.

The linchpin of the learning university is the real-world project where students are involved in research and development with members of the faculty and staff. You learn engineering, science and mathematics by doing engineering, science and mathematics. The project emphasis allows students to do and to learn.

As we focus on project-based learning, I do not want to discount the importance or necessity of traditional classroom teaching and of scholarly research. We have some of the best classroom and laboratory faculty in the country, but they are aware that research for creative scholarly activity is the foundation of teaching. A great technological educational institution such as Rose-Hulman is based on research to provide the new knowledge that we make available to our students through the teaching process. It is essential that our faculty be not only committed to excellence in teaching and scholarly activities, but it is critical that they involve students as their colleagues. Such involvement through projects allows research and traditional teaching to interact to enhance the learning process.

That is what we are all about at Rose-Hulman. Every significant decision we make is based upon the answer to the question: "Will it improve student learning?" Our faculty may work in different areas and take different approaches to their work, but they all have one thing in common – their dedication to assisting Rose-Hulman students in the learning process.

That premise sounds so simple on the surface, but some educators can be distracted from that focus in their work. They may spend so much time in the research aspect of their jobs that they lose sight of the student. Or they may become so immersed in the material of their lectures that the classroom experience becomes nothing more than a voice echoing the printed word of a textbook.

Teaching conveys a concept of transmitting information from teacher to student. Learning is where the student takes the information and does something with it and comprehends it. A student can learn the basic laws of thermodynamics and that is necessary, but when you use them to come up with a new energy system, they become real. We want the concepts of engineering, science and mathematics to become real for our students. That’s when excitement begins and learning takes place.

Excitement describes what has been happening on our campus. Students have been involved in teams addressing real-world projects. The following is a small sampling of the type of work in which they have been involved:

•  Solubility studies of albumin protein solders used for laser-assisted tissue repair;

• The time-dependent resonance light scattering of insulin aggregates;

• A hauled waste receiving project

• A management information system for a nursing home in St. Louis;

• Avionics cooling fluid supply under aerobatic flight conditions;

• A piston surface temperature measurement for a major truck manfacturer; and

• A transfer device for cerebral palsy patients.

Through these projects, students learn about engineering, science and mathematics. They must know the basic principles gleaned from research and shared in the classrooms and laboratories. Then they must apply that information to the project at hand. That’s when the learning process kicks into high gear. Students not only implement basic engineering principles, but they learn that there can be several routes to successful solution of a problem. And they also learn there are some unsuccessful routes along the way.

Our project emphasis also forces our students to learn to work together on teams, which is what many of them will face after graduation. Additionally, they must work with the project clients from the beginning to the end of the project. This sharpens communication skills, an essential trait for any successful engineer or scientist. You may have invented the better mousetrap, but if you can’t explain it, no one will ever know about it.

The real-world project combines the best of traditional teaching and scholarly research to answer the important question: "Will it improve student learning?" I’m pleased to report Rose-Hulman answers in the affirmative.