Cohort of Illinois alumni embody a thriving ME community at Bradley

Six MechSE alumni are currently mechanical engineering faculty at Peoria’s Bradley University, leading research projects ranging from integrating economics in thermodynamics to investigating protein-ligand interactions. Bradley is a close neighbor of UIUC, located just 94 miles northwest along I-74.

Bradley holds itself out as the common ground between big- and small-school experiences. Per its website, Bradley provides “resources not found at small colleges, and more personalized experiences than large universities.”  US News & World Report ranks Bradley as the #2 Best Regional University (Midwest), behind Butler University and tied with John Carroll University. Bradley typically enrolls 5,400 students and offers 185 undergraduate courses across its colleges of business, communication and fine arts, education and health sciences, engineering and technology, and liberal arts and science. The university also offers 30 graduate programs.

Geographically, it is no surprise that Illinois graduates might congregate at Bradley, and vice versa. However, the connections that moved these alumni run much deeper.

For Professor Ahmad Fakheri (BSME ’79, MSME ’82, PhD ME ’85), serendipitous events led him to Bradley. Having deeply embraced his time as a student at Illinois, he credits his experiences with shaping him into the person he has become.

“I can say, without question, my time at Illinois was one of the most informative times of my life,” he said. “U of I provided me with a first-class education and opportunity to learn from preeminent teachers and scholars.”

While on campus, Fakheri met his future wife. She would go on to accept a faculty position at Illinois State University after graduation, moving him to accept his own faculty position at Bradley in order to work nearby. “I went [to Bradley] thinking this is not my last job, but it ended up being the one,” said Fakheri, who joined Bradley’s faculty after earning his PhD in 1985. He is now researching form in nature to understand whether the tendency of fluids to flow through branching patterns (e.g., water through river systems or blood through capillaries) could be advantageous for design in engineering systems.

While Professor David Zietlow (PhD ME ’95) also met his future wife on campus, he followed a different path, completing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering at Bradley before coming to Illinois for his PhD. As a UIUC graduate student, Zietlow was invited by his advisor, the late professor Curtis Pedersen, to submit project proposals to the Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Center (ACRC).

“I was hoping to do research to address the ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere,” Zietlow said, noting that research of similar interest was not active when he first arrived on campus. Two of his projects were accepted for funding, one of which provided experimental data for his dissertation. Zietlow also became connected with Ford Motor Company, one of the sponsors of ACRC at the time.

After graduating, Zietlow worked for three years as a design engineer at Ford, researching alternatives to R-134a for A/C refrigerant in vehicles. He then joined the faculty at Bradley, desiring to teach within the intimate class settings that the school prioritizes. “As a Bradley alumnus, I benefited greatly from the smaller class sizes,” he reflected. “The personal attention was a key to my success in my career.”

Professor Martin Morris also earned his bachelor’s and master’s in mechanical engineering at Bradley. His advisor there, Dr. Robert Hurt, was an Illinois alum who connected him with Professor Emeritus Alva “Tad” Addy, MechSE’s department head at the time. He began collaborating on research with Addy as a master’s student and then came to Illinois to complete his PhD.

“He sparked [my] life-long interest in experimental fluid dynamics,” Morris said of Addy. Reflecting on his time at Illinois, he added that he “was immersed in an atmosphere of learning.”

After completing his PhD, Morris first took a position as a visiting research professor at Illinois. He next joined the research team at the McDonnel Douglas Research Laboratory in St. Louis, getting promoted from Research Scientist to Scientist during his time there. Morris then followed his research in the shockwave boundary layer interactions of mixed-compression inlets for highspeed aircraft to become Principal Technical Specialist at McDonnell Douglas Aerospace. He later collaborated in wind-tunnel experiments at facilities such as NASA Lewis, Langley, and Ames; Wright Patterson Air Force Base; and Boeing Commercial Aircraft. McDonnell Douglas would go on to merge with Boeing while Morris was still on the research team.

Following the merger, Morris was unexpectedly contacted by Hurt about an opening in the mechanical engineering department at Bradley. “At Bradley, I knew I would have the opportunity to work with undergraduate and graduate students, [and to] develop research programs with the help of these students,” Martin said. Now Chair of the department, he is working on various projects with engineering senior design teams as well as undergraduate researchers.

Assistant Professor Shannon Timpe (BSME ’02) began doing research as a junior at Illinois, working under the late Dr. James Economy of MatSE. The project focused on developing specialized filters for removing toxins from groundwater.

“I loved the open-ended research environment,” Timpe said of his experience. “When I look back on this, with knowledge that my piece [of the project] was rather simple, this exposure changed the course of my career.”

Timpe next collaborated with Dr. Thomas Mackin of MechSE on a project that examined frictional behavior using thermal mechanical imaging, an experience that cemented his passion for research. “My experience at Illinois created a strong foundation that echoes in my career even today,” Timpe said. He would go on to earn his master’s and PhD from the University of California at Berkeley.

Like Zietlow and Morris, Timpe left academia after completing his PhD, working on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology for a Silicon Valley start-up. He then moved to the research and development division at Dow Chemical Company before looking for opportunities where he could control the scope and depth of his research. His search for autonomy brought him to Bradley.

“I have learned that working with students is the most fulfilling part of my job,” Timpe reflected. “Whether it is in the laboratory or in the classroom, there is really nothing quite like seeing that lightbulb go on as a student grapples with a difficult concept. I am privileged to be a part of it.” His students are currently exploring applications of nanomaterials.

Fakheri, Zietlow, Morris, and Timpe are joined by two other Illinois alumni in Bradley’s ME department.

“I interact with other Illinois alumni daily,” Morris said, naming Associate Professor Dean Kim (PhD ME ’97) and Instructor-in-Residence Mark Moeckel (MSME ’79) as additional alumni.

Added Fakheri, “Bradley has a large number of U of I alumni, particularly in the College of Engineering. We interact quite frequently.”

The flow of alumni between the schools follows a two-way street. “In my twenty years at Bradley, I have sent a number of graduate students to Illinois... including my daughter,” Morris said.

May our shared community continue to grow and thrive.