As the first professor to be highlighted in the Professor Highlight Series, it is fitting that this professor is one of the most beloved in the Electrical Engineering Department. Doctor Bryan Ackland shows an immense amount of passion and dedication to the field of Electrical Engineering in the classroom and through his successes in the field. Since this is his last semester at Stevens before retirement, Professor Ackland has quite the history to share, starting from his undergraduate years in Australia to now as a professor at Stevens.
As a high school student, Professor Ackland had an interest in Physics and Science and naturally found himself pursuing an undergraduate degree in Physics. As an Australian native, Ackland attended Flinders University in South Australia for four years only realize that he had a real passion for circuitry rather than physics. After graduating from Flinders, Ackland graduated in 1975 from the University of Adelaide two years later with an Engineering Degree in Electrical Engineering. The decision to pursue a completely different degree because of a change of passion from physics to electrical engineering was a deciding factor for the rest of Professor Ackland’s professional career.
After graduating as an Undergraduate student, Ackland continued his education at the University of Adelaide for a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and completed his thesis in studying high-speed memory processing in small computers. While completing his Ph.D., Ackland was approached by a friend that was working at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey and was asked to join as a Member of Technical Staff in Research. With the full intention to move back to Australia after a few years at Bell Laboratories, Ackland remained on the east coast after being promoted to Director of Research at Bell Labs. He then became the Vice President of an integrated circuit company that branched from Bell Laboratories. Then, in 2004, Ackland took a risk in joining a photography and optics Start-up with a group of colleagues from Bell Labs. The start-up ended up falling under in 2010 due to a lack of marketing, but Ackland states that “…its failure does not bother me…it was a really exciting and fun 6 years working with an extremely talented team”. Traveling to and from his family in NJ on the weekends and work in MA on the weekdays, each new discovery the team made in night vision photography using geranium and silicon made it worth the commute.
After arriving at Stevens in 2011 as an Adjunct Professor, Professor Ackland will be completing his seven years as an Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Professor. During his time here, Professor Ackland has “…enjoyed seeing the enthusiasm in students…” and the challenging questions that keep him on his toes. As a piece of advice to all Stevens students, “…always have some idea of what an answer should look like and if it is ridiculous do not be afraid of acknowledging that it is ridiculous.” In addition to teaching classes and sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience to his students, Ackland has taken full advantage of learning about the other Stevens academic departments by attending talks and concerts.
Most importantly, what is Professor Ackland going to do during his retirement? He plans on learning how to play the oboe, traveling back to Australia for 2 months, and volunteering at the Homeless Shelter.
Be First to Comment