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CHE Department History - Department Chairs
Dr. Timothy J. Anderson - (1991-2003)
 Tim
Anderson, who took over the Chairmanship in 1991, came to us in 1978. A BS CHE
graduate of Iowa State, he obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley. Tim
is an example of the new, young breed of chemical engineer. You could tell that
by looking at his hair style when he first arrived, although now, almost 20
years later, his appearance differs little from that of a corporate executive.
Historically, chemical engineers have designed and operated oil refineries,
chemical plants, paper mills, etc., and are concerned with unit operations like
evaporation, distillation, and filtration. The new chemical engineer takes the
micro rather than the macro view. Think of the following as unit operations:
bulk single crystal growth, thin film formation, impurity mixing, ion
implantation, photolithography—all of which are important operations in the
solid state processing of integrated circuits. This is Anderson's view of
chemical engineering. He is particularly interested in the compounds formed from
the group 3A and 5A elements rather than the usual group IV silicon-based solid
state devices. These second-generation semiconductors have the advantage of
higher electron mobility than silicon, which permits faster switching times.
Another advantage of these compounds is their ability to form completely
miscible solid solutions on group III and group V sublattices, which allows the
bandgap to be varied continuously between the binary limits. This is the area of
research that keeps Tim Anderson and his many graduate students busy and keeps
him plane-hopping from one country to another, lecturing and consulting.
Tim has also taken a new approach to the teaching of engineering. He helped
initiate and is the director of the SUCCEED
(Southeastern University and College Coalition for Engineering Education)
Engineering Education Coalition. It is one of six coalitions sponsored by
universities and the National Science Foundation and is now in its third
five-year period of funding. The $16-million-per-year SUCCEED coalition includes
Virginia Tech, North Carolina A&T State, N.C. State, UNC-Charlotte, Clemson,
Georgia Tech, FSU-FAMU, and UF.
SUCCEED is developing a new curriculum model based on the desired attributes of
graduates. These graduates should be technically competent, critical and
creative thinkers, life-long learners, effective communicators, team players,
and globally aware. They should understand process and systems design and
integration, display high ethical standards, appreciate the social context of
engineering and industry business practices, and have a positive attitude toward
life. The key change elements in the curriculum content and structure are
subject integration, early and multidisciplinary design, explicit success skill
development, and exposure to professional practice.
The curriculum model enhances student learning through the use of
technology-based delivery systems (e.g., multimedia, electronic delivery,
electronic advising and mentoring), the development of faculty (e.g.,
teaching/learning style awareness, student performance evaluation,
self-evaluation), the establishment of a learning support system (e.g., student
mentoring, pre-season programs), and the institution of a continuous improvement
culture (e.g., outcomes assessment tools, continuous curriculum renewal).
With the SUCCEED Project, his regular departmental duties, and his research, Tim
Anderson is never bored. Sometimes he even gets to visit with his family. Tim is
a very productive chairman, in the style of Olaf Hougen. He runs from here to
there, from crisis to crisis, but always gets things done, as evidenced by the
high efficiency of the Department.
Tim has received many awards, including the AIChE Charles M.A. Stine Award for
outstanding contributions to materials engineering and sciences, the AIChE Gary
L. Leach Award (with Dale Kirmse), and the Professional Progress in Engineering
Award.
See Dr. Anderson's Faculty Page > >
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