The Development and Integration of Humanitarian Engineering Curriculum in an Engineering Technology Program

Abstract

Professor Brown's background includes aerospace industry work. Among his notable project contributions were design work on the landing mechanism for the Mars Science Laboratory Rover Mission AKA Curiosity. Mechanism design work for Hubble Robotics and on Global Precipitation Measurement Instrument Missions. Additionally, Professor Brown has worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology designing test equipment to measure stress-strain relationships to superconductor performance.His past work on the tethering landing mechanism used to lower the Mars rover Curiosity to the Red Planet's surface is part of a $2.5 billion program NASA says will assess whether the Gale Crater area of Mars has ever had the potential to support a habitable environment.Professor Brown runs the NASA Space Grant program at MSU Denver. His current research interests include electric vehicle optimization and design, robotics, and harvesting solar energy, green energy, and Humanitarian Engineering. He created a course called Humanitarian Engineering, where he took students to Costa Rica for 10 days in January 2013 to work on a water project for a new school.Concurrently with his work at MSU Denver, Professor Brown is pursuing a PhD degree in Civil System Engineering under the advising of Dr. Bernard Amadei with a topic in Sustainable Community Development, and implementing technologies that help marginalized communities.With limited free time his interests outside of work include cycling (he is an ex-professional bike racer), skiing, hiking, travel and exploring other cultures.