Tell us about yourself?

I am Shweta Dabetwar, an assistant professor in the mechanical engineering program at the School of Engineering and Engineering Technology. I joined in Fall 2023 as a faculty member, and I hope to contribute to this university鈥檚 legacy. I graduated from Texas Tech University with a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in December 2020. After that, I was at the University of Massachusetts Lowell as a postdoctoral research associate. I am an advocate of women in STEM, and I strive to work for at least moving the barriers out of the way just a little bit during my career.

Why do you think 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock would be a good fit for future engineering students?

The most striking thing about 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock is the people! Everyone I have met so far, I can only see passion for students鈥� success and a lot of encouragement. Despite spending years in academia, they still have high levels of motivation and enthusiasm for their students. Everyone is always willing to learn new techniques to implement in the classroom. All the faculty members are always focused on making education relevant to current times and demands. I think that is a beautiful thing. Everyone cares about their students, hence 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock is a good fit!

What do you like most about the field?

I am in mechanical engineering, and my focus is artificial intelligence (AI) and non-destructive testing. I am going to expand into biomedical sciences soon as well. The flexibility that mechanical engineering offers to contribute to just about any field is amazing. I have even worked with photogrammetry in the past, and possibilities are endless! The way AI is changing lives in a good sense is just fascinating to see. There is nothing that I do not like about this field.

What made you want to pursue a career in engineering?

My father is an engineer, and I think that impacted me from my early childhood. I have seen him come up with solutions to problems quickly and logically. I have always believed that engineers are problem solvers and I wanted to do that. I wanted to work on building aircrafts and learn how things actually work. My curiosity probably got me into this field when I think about it.

What is your most memorable experience in the engineering field?

I think my Ph.D. was the most memorable experience. The research question I had undertaken was the most challenging problem I was trying to solve back then. The fact that I was able to solve such an important problem and was able to incorporate AI was a great feeling. My advisor was very happy with me and said that he was proud of me. It felt good hearing that!

Do you have any advice for prospective students who want to major in the field?

I just want to say, “Go for it,” and the possibilities are endless. It is a difficult decision even to choose a major at such a young age, so at least do your research and read about the curriculum and what is going to be in front of you. Also, make sure you know the kind of job opportunity that awaits you after your degree. Once you have some knowledge, the decision won’t seem too difficult. It is always a good idea to know the path of the next 10 steps you are taking. You should like what you are doing, and that can only be known through researching about the field.

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Tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Timothy Howell, and I work as an Engineer 1. I鈥檓 a 46-year-old father of five – a 24-year-old daughter, 23-year-old son, 20-year-old daughter, 16-year-old daughter, and a 14-year-old son. I am a United States Marine veteran of both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have worked in or around aircrafts since 1998 when I entered service in the Marine Corps. For the past 20 years, I have been employed at Dassault Falcon Jet in Little Rock. While employed there, I worked as a structures/sheet metal installation mechanic, a team lead for the structures department, a manufacturing engineer. With the completion of my bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology on Dec. 16, 2023, I am currently employed as a design engineer for aircraft interior furniture.

I have always been interested in how things work, and throughout the years have often had to build various things I wanted due to cost. That fed my desire to improve on things and learn more about those items that were made. When I have the time, I enjoy fishing, hunting, cycling, and most outdoor activities. I fell into the role of a nontraditional student, which placed me quite often in a position where I had to develop more skills for time management and workarounds for scheduling. It also aided in developing creative solutions to everyday problems.

Why do you think 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock would be a good fit for future engineering students?

糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock was a perfect choice for me for several reasons. The faculty and staff were very supportive of my nontraditional status as a student and understood the efforts I was putting forth as a full-time husband, father, employee, and student, all while pursuing my degree. The faculty and staff always treated me as an individual, not just a number. The professors are amazing and will take the time to ensure you receive help when you are struggling to understand key lessons and/or concepts. I would highly recommend any students interested in an engineering degree in the central Arkansas area to do so at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.

What do you like most about the field?

The thing I like most about the engineering field is that the field of engineering is always changing, and good engineers will always be needed in their communities. The constant improvements and new developments mean you should never get stagnant in your growth of knowledge and experience. As an engineer, you could be right in the middle of developing the next greatest innovation for our society. I could have a direct impact on those around me with my designs and work, which adds an opportunity to lead by example.

What made you want to pursue a career in engineering?

Throughout my service and involvement in aviation, I have performed maintenance and repairs to aircraft. Quite often, my work and repairs/processes were approved by an engineer who documented everything I had designed and signed off on the work. I pursued engineering to become the one signing off and writing the designs the others built. I do not mean to sound as if I am a glory hound or anything of the sort, but I want credit for the solutions that I design and provide.
I have a great sense of pride in my work and feel great at the end of the day when I have helped my company achieve success. It just seemed like the next logical step in my lifelong desire for knowledge and a better working environment as well as a more lucrative means of supporting my family.

What is your most memorable experience in the engineering field?

I have had many projects over my time in engineering. My most memorable to this date was ironically one of my first in a design engineering role. We have quick engineering change sheets to designs that make minor alterations to the previous design; they are not normally too complex or long. The reason for the memorable experience, in my case, was that the V.P. of engineering personally signed off on the change. Reading the cover sheet, there I was listed as the engineer, my V.P. as one of the signatures, and to this date, two years later, it serves as a reminder that I succeeded. I am an engineer.

Do you have any advice for prospective students who want to major in the field?

My best advice for prospective students is to apply yourself, never be afraid to ask questions. The only dumb question is one that is not asked when you are trying to understand. Anyone with the desire and ambition to become an engineer is fully capable, providing they put in the effort and work. Throughout your careers and education, distractions are going to happen. Sometimes you must step back and get your head back in the task at hand to move forward. Probably my personal best advice would be that it鈥檚 never too late to get the education you want and improve your situation in life.

The post National Engineers Week: Timothy Howell appeared first on News.

鈥淚 always liked to fix stuff and play with different machines,鈥� Ghosh recalls. 鈥淕oing into engineering seemed like the logical choice. In Bangladesh, you have to have very good grades and take an entrance exam to get into engineering school. I got lucky and loved every bit of it.鈥�

After earning his bachelor鈥檚 degree in mechanical engineering from Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Ghosh moved to the United States to pursue his graduate education.

After experiencing a 鈥渨eather shock鈥� while earning his master鈥檚 degree in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Ghosh moved south to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas in 2017. He joined 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock last year.

鈥淚鈥檝e always been passionate about education and teaching so when the opportunity presented itself, we took advantage of it,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y son was just three months old when he moved here, and we thought it would be a great place to raise a family.鈥�

Ghosh and his wife Maia, an administrative manager at 糖心Vlog传媒MS, live in Benton with their 1-year-old son, Shayan.

At 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, Ghosh said his favorite part of being a professor is seeing how much his students are growing and learning.

鈥淚 love the day-to-day interactions with students, especially the seniors,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou see how much they have improved over the years and how much they have learned about engineering. It鈥檚 fulfilling to see how they have grown over the years. This is the best part of my job.鈥�

As a researcher, Ghosh is focused on materials and surface engineering in tribology, which is the study of the science and technology of interacting surfaces in relative motion and the application of friction, wear, lubrication, and related design aspects.

Now his engineering research is taking him to new heights with his current research focused on helping humans reach Earth鈥檚 celestial neighbor. He and a partner researcher at the University of Arkansas are working on developing a ceramic thin coating application to use on moon landers that will carry future astronauts to the moon.

鈥淚 work with biomimic materials and polymer composites and soft and hard coatings to further NASA鈥檚 space exploration,鈥� Ghosh said. 鈥淚 make some ceramic-based coating that can withstand the temperature differentiate (-120鈩�) for moon landers.鈥�

Ghosh鈥檚 advice for students who want to become engineers is to consider how they can use engineering to make a positive impact in the world.

鈥淚 am always thinking about how our work can change people鈥檚 lives for the better,鈥� he said. 鈥淧eople who become good engineers should become good people, and everything will follow. If you care about the people around you, you will be a good engineer.鈥�

The post Ghosh鈥檚 Engineering Research is Out of This World appeared first on News.