Dr. Sung Yi was recently elected to serve a third term (of three years) as MME Department Chair. He cares deeply about the Department, and works to clear paths for student, faculty, and staff success. We are thankful for his leadership thus far, and look forward to what the future brings. Sung reflected on his time as Chair, below:
What is your proudest accomplishment in the previous years you served as MME Chair?
As Chair, I have been doing my best to make the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering the best place not only for students to study but also for faculties and staffs to work.
During the last five years, the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering set a record for total degrees granted and research awards. Total degrees granted increase about 47 % and total research expenditures increase about 250 %. Total degrees granted in 2015 were 101 compared with 157 in 2019 and 141 in 2020. Especially MS/PhD degrees awarded are about 62 % up (24 MS in 2015 vs 33 MS/ 4 PhD in 2019 & 37 MS/ 2 PhD in 2020) . Moreover, total Fall 2020 enrollments (SCH) increased 7.58% year-over-year and MS enrollments, in particular, increased 41% year-over-year. On the other hand, research expenditure in 2015 was $0.8M compared with $2.7M in 2018 and $2.1M in 2019, respectively.
What are your goals for the next three years as MME Chair?
Our journey will be continued to improve MME to be the best place for students to prepare their future. I strongly believe that diversity and inclusion promote creativity and innovation. MME should attract and retain more diverse, innovative, and talented students, faculty, and staff.
MME would like to develop a new human health engineering track and research program to accommodate strong growth of students' interests in the intersection of human health and engineering.
What is your favorite thing about engineering?
My hobby is collecting mechanical clocks. I like mechanical clocks since those have all mechanical components. In 2014, Ondrej Fercak, Sasha Friedman, Jeff Gunderson, Anh Ha, and Jack McCollister designed and manufactured a mechanical clock using 3D printing as shown in Fig. 1. I am honored to supervise this Capstone group and am very proud of their successfully designing and 3D printing a mechanical clock which works.
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Fig. 1 3D Printed Mechanical Clock
What advice do you have for students upon graduation?
Learning is a lifelong process. My advice is that you should find a job which you enjoy doing and can learn new skills from. You should continue to develop your skills to advance your career. You can gain or improve these skills through training, practice and taking classes. If you want to deepen your knowledge in a specific field further, then you may think about pursuing advanced degrees.