Just before classes began for the semester, engineering students took part in a two-week intensive course taught by world-renowned engineer Dr. Stuart Burgess, professor of engineering design at Bristol University, U.K., and an external examiner at Cambridge University.
Burgess has worked with the European space agency helping design spacecraft since the early 2000s. He has also assisted the British Olympic Cycling Team with bike designs that will be used at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Burgess is well-known for his work in bio-inspired design — using the superior design in God’s creation as a model for designing products — and on his first visit to Liberty in the summer of 2014, he worked with the biology department to publish research related to the design of certain birds.
In his recent course at Liberty, Engineering 497: Special Topics in Engineering, Product Design, he focused on a particular aspect of systems each day. The students put into practice the different engineering approaches they learned by designing a model of a vehicle.
Burgess said seeing the students’ creativity and initiative was his favorite part of teaching the course.
“It’s been really stimulating and fulfilling for me, being with very good students,” he said. “Every one of the students I’ve had in this class has surprised me with a really interesting, exciting idea. It’s a reminder that we’re all made in God’s image; we all have that ability to be creative. I’m trying to inspire the students to make the most of that creativity and that’s been the most enjoyable thing, seeing the creativity of the students.”
Senior engineering student Tim Arcuri said he was inspired by Burgess’ faith and how he expresses that in his work.
“My favorite thing has been his overall focus on design, from the standpoint of God being the ultimate designer and design being present within creation. Then, for us as engineers, he teaches us how to draw inspiration from that and basically model our designs after God’s designs.”
