The man no one has the capacity to resist: Kevin Ryan

I have never left one of Kevin Ryan’s lectures without smiling. His classes are full of baseball references, and he refers to his students as colleagues. He will dance to the ringtone if someone’s phone goes off in class. Besides being so engaging, he is extremely knowledgeable about electrical engineering and all of the topics he teaches. Despite these awesome qualities, Professor Ryan did not always work as a professor. 

His decision to become an electrical engineer was inspired by his love of learning about how things work. The ability to take theoretical concepts and use math and modeling to develop a working product is something he finds fascinating. His advice to all who consider pursuing electrical engineering is to love the math. It is impossible to see electrons moving in a circuit; however, math makes it possible to understand and predict what is happening. 

After college, Professor Ryan went straight to work at Bell Labs. During his time at Bell Labs, he worked in the areas of telecommunications and network equipment development. Toward the end of his career at Bell Labs, Professor Ryan worked on the development of digital transmission systems, high-speed optical systems, and wireless networks. He specifically focused on research related to 3rd generation WiFi.

Within Bell Labs research, however, he was a “little guy” and worked as a small part of the greater research team. A large part of his job was in professional development, and he was sent around the country to train other professionals. He had already been teaching for a substantial period of time when he received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stevens. 

Professor Ryan became an adjunct teacher at Stevens in 1998. He has always been attracted to academia because he loves presenting information and explaining concepts. In 2001, he realized that teaching is his real passion, and he retired from Bell Labs to become a full-time professor.

Electrical engineering’s ability to use scientific and mathematical concepts to create products that can improve people’s lives is, to Professor Ryan, wonderful. He wants to share his knowledge, experiences, and passion to create the new generation of electrical engineers. He never led groundbreaking research, or created life-changing technology, but he has impacted many people who have the potential to do amazing things. No researcher can have a breakthrough without the help, and Professor Ryan is helping to lay the foundation of many future careers.

Once at Stevens, Professor Ryan continued to collaborate with his old employer and worked on a jointly-owned Stevens and Bell Labs patent. This patent worked to develop a new model for the usage and ownership of the wireless spectrum. Currently, the wireless spectrum is operated by providers with licenses from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). These include companies like Verizon and AT&T. Each provider owns a fixed number of frequencies, and this amount is unaffected by the demand that exists within each provider.

The patent’s model aims to create a general spectrum that is dynamically allocated. This way, service can go where there is the most need. By adding the ability to increase spectrum amounts based on demand, the overall service provided would be higher quality, and access could be extended to more people. As an electrical engineer, Professor Ryan worked specifically on creating the architecture for the new system as well as developing the algorithm for the system’s application. However, although the idea has been patented, the actual system has never been built. 

Despite having worked on several projects like the one mentioned above, Professor Ryan loves teaching above all else. He never checks his watch in class. He never wishes time would move faster. In the classroom, he feels fulfilled. He truly believes that teaching is his calling. He says, “I am doing what I was created to do.”

Although Professor Ryan loves what he does and feels that he is fulfilling his life’s purpose, he did not become a professor until he was 45 years old. According to him, life is full of constraints: you need to get a job, you need to pay bills. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do something you love. According to Professor Ryan, not getting your dream job immediately after graduation doesn’t mean your life is over. It just means you have to work to find a way to incorporate your passion into your daily life. He said that the trick to life is “finding what you’re good at and figuring out what you can do with that.” Professor Ryan’s goal is to pass on as much knowledge to the next generation as possible, and here at Stevens, he loves that we create a collaborative environment and strive to create change. 

When he looks to the future, Professor Ryan sees immense change in all fields. In electrical engineering, he believes the biggest coming change is 5G. This new adaptation to wireless is currently in the process of being deployed. This faster system is created by installing routers and WiFi access points on street corners and lamp posts. This will allow for even more bits of information to be shared every second.

With access to so much information, and with the pace of life changing so fast, Professor Ryan says it is important to prioritize the people in our life. He wants everyone to be cautious of “placing technology before humanity” because the people closest to you can have the greatest impact. To see just how much Professor Ryan believes this, stop by his office and look at the doors (pictured above). They are covered in photographs of the people he loves.

By developing relationships and finding our passions, Professor Ryan says that we can work to make a positive change in the world. We don’t have to win Nobel Prizes; even impacting one person’s life can be a success. In Professor Ryan’s case, he has succeeded by the thousands.