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| As director of the Vehicle Safety Research Team for Transport Canada, Baird gives students experience outside the classroom when researching subjects such as car safety. (Abriel photo) |
Even with 45 years of teaching experience at AV俱乐部, Robert Baird can脮t quite tame the butterflies he feels while in front of a classroom.
They脮re not really from nervousness though. It脮s more like excitement.
脪I just enjoy the give and take with students; it脮s an enjoyable mental experience,鈥� says Dr. Baird, adjunct professor in electrical and computer engineering. 脪I also enjoy seeing that they are actually learning stuff and, if I do it right, they appreciate what I脮m trying to teach them.鈥�
Dr. Baird teaches control systems and circuit theory. While he hopes his students grasp the sound theoretical underpinnings of practical devices, he sees the value in continually pointing out the uses for the systems and circuits they are building. For instance, he might be doing a problem on the board and say, 脪We just came up that elevator; let me tell you how that elevator actually works.鈥�
Dr. Baird brings his own industry experience to the classroom, too. He might be called to consult on a forensic case involving an electrical house fire. 脪That脮s just fundamental circuit theory,鈥� he says, adding it requires an examination of 脪how and why it broke down and what you look for.鈥� He has also redesigned control systems for local companies to improve their production.
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He adds: 脪The guy who patented that application of this simple circuit made tens of millions of dollars.鈥�
And that脮s when the lights switch on. Students begin to understand what they are learning means they could 脪go away and design one of those rascals if they wanted to.鈥�
Dr. Baird also provides students with learning experiences outside the classroom. As director of the Vehicle Safety Research Team for Transport Canada, first established at AV俱乐部 in 1973, he hires undergraduate students each summer to do data collection and computer research.
脪Lots of students are interested in cars 脩 some of them build their own 脩 and they are highly aware of safety considerations. The work we do is about the safety of Canadians and that脮s an easy connection for the students to make. If you can make a car one per cent safer, that脮s 25 lives.鈥�
Recently, his team hired a student to research accidents involving people who are sitting sideways in fast moving vehicles such as fire trucks, ambulances and military vehicles.
脪The student has searched all over the world to see what脮s going on and got right into it. There脮s not very much out there that脮s very profound; most of it is military and it脮s hard to get at.鈥�
In the classroom, Dr. Baird mostly lectures in his courses because it脮s 脪the only way to get through the course at a good speed.鈥� But he prefers meeting with students in small groups and always attends his own labs.
脪Students get the impression that you might actually know what you are doing from a practical perspective and that helps and makes me more believable in the class.鈥�
Dr. Baird has seen many changes in engineering education and feels that students have to work a lot harder today than when he was a student. The most significant change he sees involves a shift over time away from a broad engineering education. It used to be, for example, that electrical engineering students would take more elective courses in mechanics and thermodynamics. Now students are more limited to courses in the specific disciplines, where they have a lot more to learn. His concern with this trend is that a narrowly focused curriculum will not prepare students for the broader professional responsibilities of engineers.
Looking back over his career, Baird believes his accomplishments as a teacher lie in the impact he脮s made on a lot of engineers.
脪I hear from a lot of them. I脮ve got a nice binder full of letters and photos I脮ve received. Seeing that they are doing well after all these years is kind of fun.鈥�
Then he laughs. 脪I like having them come back, sit in my office, and call me 脭Bob脮 because they脮re making twice as much as I do now 脨 and we脮re both happy about it!鈥澛犅�
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