黄色直播

Dr. Ted Hubbard of the Department of Mechanical Engineering has been awarded the Wighton Fellowship, one of the most prestigious awards recognising engineering education in Canada. This is only the second time in the Fellowship鈥檚 31-year history that a Wighton Fellow has been named in one of the Atlantic provinces.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering promotes a hands-on, design-focused approach to education, with practical projects that teach students how to get from an idea to a design to a finished product. Dr. Hubbard has been instrumental in the development and refinement of this curriculum for the past 20 years, using everything from KitchenAid庐 mixers to LEGO鈩� sets to illustrate theoretical concepts and practical design techniques.

One of Dr. Hubbard鈥檚 machine design courses combines a familiar pedagogical technique鈥攎achine dissection鈥攚ith an atypical object of study鈥攖he KitchenAid庐 mixer鈥攖o form a holistic approach to teaching students about the functions of gears. Using a model selected specifically because it contains every gear type covered in the course, Dr. Hubbard has students gradually disassemble the mixer鈥檚 drive train. Along the way, they not only touch and feel all of the various types of gear they have been learning about theoretically, but also see how they function in a real-world context.

In a recently introduced upper-year course, Dr. Hubbard has employed two-axis computer numerical control (CNC) router machines (X-Carves) to teach prototyping and design concepts. In contrast to 3D printers, the X-Carves are imperfect: they consistently produce particular inaccuracies for a given set of 鈥減erfect鈥� Computer Assisted Drawing (CAD) inputs. Dr. Hubbard exploits these inaccuracies to introduce students to the fundamentals of prototyping and engineering manufacturing details. Since its introduction, this course has quickly become the most in-demand senior-year technical elective offered to Mechanical students in the past two decades.

Dr. Hubbard鈥檚 impact on the Mechanical Engineering curriculum at 黄色直播 extends well-beyond the courses he teaches, as he has been instrumental in promoting the design-focused approach to education that has become the Department鈥檚 trademark. Dr. Darrel Doman, director of the Mechanical Department and the man who nominated Dr. Hubbard for the fellowship, credits his influence with his colleagues for the Department鈥檚 20% increase in hands-on lab work over the past five years.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just that Ted鈥檚 the best at this style of education,鈥� says Dr. Doman, 鈥渋t鈥檚 that he makes the rest of us better.鈥�

Nor have Dr. Hubbard鈥檚 efforts on behalf of engineering education gone unnoticed by students: his nomination was supported by a petition signed by over 200 current and graduating mechanical engineering students. Many current and former students also submitted letters of support for his nomination, including a Rhode鈥檚 Scholar and a start-up CEO who credits Dr. Hubbard with helping him turn his entrepreneurial ideas into reality.

鈥淚鈥檓 proud of this concerted effort the graduating class made on behalf of Ted鈥檚 nomination,鈥� says Dr. Doman, 鈥渋t鈥檚 a heart-warming demonstration of the impact he has on our students.鈥�

Dr. Hubbard鈥檚 impact on such a broad cross-section of engineers, whether students or teachers, is a testament to his dedication to his students, his passion for his profession, and his role as a leader in the advancement of engineering education.