Professor Dan Frey

Receives NSF CAREER Award

January 10, 2005

Daniel D. Frey, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Systems, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award to work with industry to develop new methods in robust design and to use that data to work with WGBH-TV to produce a children's TV program about engineering. WGBH is the award-winning producer of ZOOM and Nova.

According to the NSF “the project integrates a research plan that advances the fundamentals of engineering design methods with an innovative educational plan that includes strong outreach to the K-12 community”.

Frey’s research will focus on new robust design methods whose applications will be tested in industry. The subsequent TV series will be designed to expose kids to the philosophy behind the research, namely experiment frequently, induce failures, and adapt quickly. It will feature kids engaged in engineering by designing systems, planning and interpreting experiments, and building hardware.

The NSF believes this project holds potential for direct, near-term impact on corporate product development processes and training programs, as the research that forms the basis of the program (Design of Experiments) will also directly influence the education of professionals who will lead major engineering projects and quality improvement programs within the next five years.

Frey will be a principal investigator of the research, along with David Wallace, Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Systems.