You're invited to ... Grill the Chair
About the Presentation
What exactly is a department chair? What’s it made of, and who can sit in it?
Actually, our MBE department chair is Dr. Don Plumlee, and it’s his job to make sure this busy program stays on track! Class scheduling, faculty hiring, where money goes, grievances and counseling, recruiting, strategic planning, curriculum … it all lands on his desk. So how does this impact you?
Here’s a chance to ask questions about how the program runs, why things are the way they are, and what changes lie ahead! Why are certain prerequisites in place? Why don’t we offer certain classes? When will we be getting new equipment? When will we see new faculty members, and what will they teach? And just who IS this guy, anyway?
Academics, budgets, equipment, careers, clubs, curriculum, teaching, research, aerospace … If you’ve been wondering about something in the department (or beyond), join us this Friday to get some insight!
Got a question? Bring it on!
Friday, October 5, 2018
About the Presenter
Dr. Don Plumlee, Department Chair - Boise State Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering
Don Plumlee joined Boise State as a faculty member in 2007 after completing his PhD at University of Idaho. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M and his MS in Mechanical Engineering from Boise State University. Don was the second graduate student to complete the program in the department.
Prior to arriving at Boise State University, Dr. Plumlee worked for Lockheed Martin Astronautics as a Product Engineer/Project Manager/Mechanical Designer on structural airframe components for several aerospace vehicles. He developed and improved manufacturing processes for the Atlas/Centaur rocket program, managed the production implementation of the J-2 rocket program, and created designs for structural/propulsion/electrical systems in both the Atlas/Centaur and J-2 programs. He also worked at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) as a co-op engineer in the Propulsion Laboratory. His assignments included structural designer in the Ground Support Equipment Branch designing Space Station Node Transportation Cradles and Astronaut Orbital Tools and analysis engineer on the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) in the MSFC Liquid Propulsion Branch.
Don runs the BSU Ceramic MEMS (C-MEMS) laboratory, which has been focused on developing micro-fluidic applications in Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramics (LTCC). They created a process to develop ceramic devices with embedded multi-layer fluidic channels, conductor electrodes, resistors and capacitors. Current devices under development include sensors and micro-thrusters that use the 3D micro-fluidic and embedded electrical component capability as an alternative to silicon MEMS devices.