Mechanical Engineering Professor Working to Get Exchange Program in Sync

Bill Springer, associate professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas, has been appointed to the department's Twenty-First Century Endowed Professorship. The endowed chair is a one year appointment, open to tenured or tenure-track faculty who have been members of the department for at least three years. The recipient is chosen largely on the basis of a proposal that addresses a department need and/or enhances professional expertise in ways related to teaching and/or research.

Springer will use the funds that come with the endowment to strengthen the department's exchange program with Politecnico di Torino, in Turin, Italy. This is the second year of the collaboration between the two institutions and this semester is the first time seven students from Politecnico are taking courses at the University of Arkansas. In the spring semester as many as seven Arkansas students will study in Turin.

"The programs at the two schools are organized a bit differently, as you might expect," said Springer. "What I am primarily doing is working to co-ordinate the exchange courses so that the students from both schools can get the most out them."

Springer also wants to get the Politecnico students involved in two of his department's main projects: the mini-Baja and solar boat competitions.

"I want to use video links to connect the students in both countries to these design projects," said Springer. "Turin is the automobile capital of Italy, so the students at Politecnico are already involved in auto design. I plan to encourage them to join in the solar boat design as well, and perhaps enter their own boat in the annual competition."