Thinking Like an Engineer, 5th edition

About our authors

Elizabeth A. Stephan is the Director of Academics for the General Engineering Program at Clemson University. She earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from The University of Akron. During her undergraduate work, she completed a cooperative education experience with Dow Chemical in Midland, MI, conducted research on coal purification methods and was named the College of Engineering Outstanding Senior. After graduation, she was employed by Boride, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical in Traverse City, MI, specializing in high-performance ceramics. She returned to The University of Akron on a College of Engineering Fellowship, earning her PhD in Chemical Engineering focusing on multiphase transport processes. She has taught at The University of Akron and Wayne College and served in several postdoctoral positions. She joined the faculty at Clemson in January 2002 in the General Engineering Program. Beth served as a national official as a district director in Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, from 1996 to 2014. She served as the chief advisor for the South Carolina Alpha Chapter of Tau Beta Pi for 10 years and was awarded the National Outstanding Advisor in 2015.

David R. Bowman is a Principal Systems Architect and Software Developer in Advanced Analytics and Machine Learning at The Boeing Company. He earned a BS and MS in Computer Engineering with emphasis in software engineering and digital signal processing from Clemson University and a Graduate Certificate in Systems Architecture and Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At The Boeing Company, David is a Boeing Designated Expert in MATLAB software development and graph network analytics, with responsibilities for teaching and mentoring early and mid-career software developers and engineers within the enterprise working on MATLAB based solutions supporting multiple commercial and defense products. As a recognized innovation leader at Boeing, he has led publication of numerous trade secrets and patents in the domains of production control, machine learning, systems engineering, and cybersecurity. Prior to working at Boeing, he led mobile product development at Jobscope Corporation, broadening their core product line by adding embedded mobile applications for shop floor system integrations, data/labor collection, intelligent supply chain visibility and on-the-fly instructional work training and certification. David started his career teaching in the General Engineering Program at Clemson University, teaching first-year engineering courses and led the design and development of software tools for conducting engineering education research and pedagogy.

William J. Park is Associate Professor Emeritus of Engineering and Science Education at Clemson University. Following a few years as a cattle farmer, he completed three degrees at Clemson University: a BS in Ornamental Horticulture with emphases on xerophytic plants and organic methods, an MS in Electrical Engineering focusing on electronic music synthesis and a PhD in Electrical Engineering conducting research in electronic counter-countermeasures. While a faculty member at Clemson, William was faculty advisor for student teams renovating a large electronic organ and investigating techniques of analog music synthesis. After retiring from Clemson and relocating in 2016, he began familiarizing himself with the local flora and fauna in his new location (coastal SC). As a moderately accomplished classical pianist, he also began work on his major retirement project, the design and construction of a large music synthesis system which will be used to create electronic realizations of some of his favorite compositions including the 24 Preludes and Fugues of Shostakovich and The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky.

William D. Martin is a senior lecturer in the General Engineering Program at Clemson University and has been teaching since 2013. He earned his 3 degrees at Clemson University in Civil Engineering with an emphasis in water resources. Will advises multiple undergraduate research teams as part of Clemson's Creative Inquiry program. He also is the Faculty Director for the Residents in Science and Engineering (RISE) Living Learning Community where he hosts activities focused on a range of technical skills from water quality sampling to soldering.

Matthew W. Ohland is the Dale and Suzi Gallagher Professor of Engineering Education at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. He earned a BS in Engineering and a BA in Religion from Swarthmore College, MS degrees in both Mechanical Engineering and Materials Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida. Matt was an NSF postdoctoral fellow for science, mathematics, engineering and technology education and joined the faculty of General Engineering at Clemson University in 2000. In 2006, he joined the faculty at Purdue University. He was the 2002 to 2006 National President of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society and has held national offices in the American Society for Engineering Education and IEEE. He is an ABET Program Evaluator for the American Society of Engineering Education. With his research colleagues, he has been recognized for the best paper published in the Journal of Engineering Education in 2008, 2011 and 2019 and from the IEEE Transactions on Education in 2011 and 2015.