Baylor Professor Receives Boeing Summer Fellowship

A Baylor University engineering professor will spend eight weeks this summer at the Boeing Co., learning about key research and technology programs and sharing his perspective with company executives.

Dr. Kenneth Van Treuren, professor of mechanical engineering at Baylor, is one of nine university professors chosen to participate in Boeing's Welliver Faculty Fellowship program. The fellowship provides these professors with knowledge on the engineering and technical skills that are required in today's world, so they can help students develop the right skills to be successful in engineering, technology and manufacturing.

"It is an honor to be given the opportunity to learn from some of the brightest minds in the industry," Van Treuren said. "Our goal is to graduate students with a broad-based technical education in engineering and fellowships like this are one of many ways we accomplish that goal."

Headquartered in Chicago, Boeing is the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined, employing 160,000 people around the world. The professors will shadow Boeing employees to get a closer look at the company's technology and engineering programs. The professors are then expected to share their expertise by suggesting how Boeing could improve the areas they observe. During the last week of the fellowship, the professors will present their findings to company executives at Boeing's leadership center is St. Louis.

Van Treuren came to Baylor in the fall of 1998 after retiring from a 21-year career in the Air Force. While in the service, he piloted operational aircraft such as the KC-10A and the KC-135. He also taught at the Air Force Academy and at the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He has authored or co-authored dozens of publications ranging from military defense research to how to increase the retention rates of engineering students. His current research projects are in the areas of heat transfer and fluid mechanics.

He is a senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a lifetime member of the Air Force Association and holds membership in the American Society of Engineering Education, the Society of Automotive Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He received his bachelor's degree from Air Force Academy, his master's degree from Princeton University and his doctorate from Oxford.

The Fellowship, which starts June 15, is named for the late A.D. Bert Welliver, who was a Boeing senior vice president of engineering and technology. Since the fellowship's inception in 1995, more than 150 professors have participated.

For more information, contact Dr. Van Treuren at (254) 710-6659.