First-Hand:History of an ASEE Fellow - Winfred M. Phillips

History of an ASEE Fellow

Winfred M. Phillips

As of May 23, 2018

Birthplace: Richmond, Virginia

Birth Date: October 7, 1940

Family

Agreed that ethnic origins could be of considerable interest. However, in the rural south, such records are often lost.

Education

Virginia Polytechnic Institute BSME [Mechanical Engineering] 1963; University of Virginia MAE [Aerospace Engineering] 1966; University of Virginia DSc [Aerospace Engineering] 1968

Employment

2015-Present Executive Chief of Staff, Office of the President, University of Florida; 2014 Senior Advisor to the President, University of Florida; 1988-Present Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Don and Ruth Eckis Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida; 2011-2014 Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, University of Florida; 1999-2011 Vice President for Research and Director, University of Florida; 1999-2004 Dean of the Graduate School, University of Florida; 1990-1999 Associate Vice President for Engineering and Industrial Experiment Station, College of Engineering, University of Florida; 1988-1999 Dean, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Research Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Florida; 1980-1988 Head, School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University; 1979-1980 Associate Dean for Research, College of Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University; 1978-1979 Acting Chairman for the Intercollege Bioengineering Program, The Pennsylvania State University; 1978-1980 Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University; 1974-1978 Associate Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University; 1976-1977 Visiting Professor, Institute de Pathologie Cellulaire, University of Paris and Hospital de Bicetre, 94270 Le Kremlin, Bicetre, Paris, France; 1968-1974 Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University; 1967-1968 Research Scientist, Department of Aerospace Engineering, The University of Virginia; 1965-1967 NSF Trainee, Department of Aerospace Engineering, and Teaching Assistant in Engineering, The University of Virginia; 1963-1965 Research Assistant, The University of Virginia; 1961-1963 Mechanical Engineer, U.S. Naval Weapons Laboratory, Dahlgren, Virginia; 1961 Mechanical Engineer [Student Trainee], Reynolds Metals Co., Product Development Division, Richmond, Virginia; 1959-1960 Civil Engineer [Student Trainee], Virginia Department of Highways, Design Department, Richmond, Virginia

Research and Scholarship

In 1973, as an assistant professor at Penn State, I presented a paper to the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs that took a whole new approach to a problem that had been vexing biomedical researchers. Blood cells stuck to the surface linings that had been tested to that point in artificial hearts and cardiac assist devices. Up until that time, heart people had insisted on using flocked (rough) surfaces. Instead, I proposed a smooth surface combined with fluid mechanics concepts to prevent blood cells sticking to the artificial materials. The technique worked. Now that is the way it is done.

Philosophy of Engineering Education

Engineering is at the core of technological innovation, and continued technological innovation is at the core of U.S. competitiveness in the global economy.

The creative art of engineering at its best is becoming more essential as the world faces ever-more-complex challenges, from climate change to feeding a burgeoning population of seven billion people. With creativity, engineers can overcome these challenges. As science fiction writer Robert Heinlein, once said, quote, “One man’s ‘magic’ is another man’s engineering.”

As problem solvers, engineers are key to research and applications. Engineering education must attract the best, brightest minds for US to maintain legacy of technological dominance. We do not own it anymore. We have to earn it. Grand challenges facing humanity cry out for engineers to continue their legacy of “doing great things.”

To inspire great engineering, we need to set lofty goals, for example man on the moon. We need to attract more of the best and brightest to engineering.

ASEE Activities

American Society for Engineering Education, [Fellow 1987, President 1996-1997].

Chairman, Pennsylvania State Branch, [1971]; Assistant Secretary Treasurer, Middle Atlantic Section, [1971-72]; Activity Coordinator, The Pennsylvania State University, [1971-72]; Annual Conference Policy Committee, [1971-73]; Executive Committee Representative to Institute on Effective Teaching, Middle Atlantic Section, [1971-74, 1974-75]; Secretary Treasurer, Middle Atlantic Section, [1972-76]; Publications Policy Committee, [1973-77]; National Bicentennial Committee, [1975-76]; Vice Chairman Elect, Middle Atlantic Section, [1978-79]; Engineering Research Council Representative for The Pennsylvania State University, [1979-80]; Annual Conference Committee, [1977-80, 1980-84]; Long Range Planning Committee, [1971-73, 1983-87]; Publications Committee, [1989-90]; Director and Member, Engineering Deans Council (EDC) Executive Board [1989-93]; Engineering Deans Council Joint Task Force, [1990-91]; Membership Policy Committee, [1991-92]; 1st Vice President; Chairman, Awards Policy Committee, [1990-93, Chair 1992-93]; Chair, Fellow Member Committee, [Chair 1994-95]; Member, Long Range Planning Committee, [1994-95]; EDC Liaison National Institutes of Health [1992-93]; EDC Elected National Chairman, [1993-95]; Vice-Chairman, Engineering Deans Council, [1991-93]; Chair, Engineering Deans Council, [1993-95]; Fellow Member Committee, Chair, [1994-97, Chair 1994-95]; Committee on Staff, Member, [1994-96]; Executive Committee, Member, [1994-97]; Finance Committee, Member, [1994-97]; Long Range Planning Committee, Member, [1997-98]; President, [1996-97]; Engineering Deans Council, Member, [1998-99]; Benjamin Garver Lamme Award Committee, Member, [2004-06].

Other Professional Activities

Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, [Fellow 1993, President 1996-1997]; American Association for the Advancement of Science, [Fellow 1982]; American Astronautical Society, [Fellow 1993]; American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, [Fellow 1999]; American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, [Fellow 1992, President 1996-1997]; American Physical Society; American Society for Artificial Internal Organs [Trustee, Board of Directors, President, 1988-1989]; American Society of Mechanical Engineers, [Fellow 1984, President 1998-1999]; Biomedical Engineering Society, [Fellow 2005]; European Academy of Sciences, [2002]; Florida Engineering Society, [1989]; International Society of Biorheology; Licensing Executives Society Inc.; New York Academy of Sciences, [Fellow, 1995]; Royal Society for Arts (England), [Fellow, 1987]; Society of Automotive Engineers; Society of Research Administrators International