ENGINEER SPOTLIGHT: Marcus D. Ashford - Driving
Force
WHAT DO YOU DO FOR AN ENCORE
WHEN, AS A MECHANICAL ENGINEERING GRAD STUDENT, YOU
HELPED DEVELOP A SYSTEM THAT REDUCED FORD NAVIGATOR
EMISSIONS BY 80 PERCENT?
Well Marcus D. Ashford accepted an appointment
as an assistant professor in the mechanical engineering
department at the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa.
He's been teaching since only last fall—initially
a graduate course in thermodynamics—but is thoroughly
enjoying the experience. The feeling of freedom that
comes from being able to design a course "his way" is
gratifying as well as humbling, he admits. Ashford,
32, has worked for the ExxonMobile Chemical Co. and
the Ford Motor Co. He draws on those experiences in
the classroom. He recalls how he understood thermodynamics
as a student, but not nearly as well as he did when
he worked for a chemical company. The improved catalytic
converter he helped design was part of his doctoral
dissertation at the University of Texas-Austin. Ashford
is planning research projects in the area of automotive
combustion, particularly the use of hydrogen. When Ashford,
who's an African American, was an undergraduate at Louisiana
State University, none of his engineering professors
were black. So he hopes he can be a role model for black
engineering students. "Forget about hydrogen. Women
and minorities, in engineering, they are the real untapped
resources," he says.
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