CAST Scholar Promotes Faculty-Student Collaboration

Dr. Scott Anson, P.E., assistant professor and program chair of the College of Applied Science and Technology's (CAST's) manufacturing engineering technology program, has consistently promoted faculty-student research collaboration. Since joining CAST's manufacturing and mechanical engineering technology/packaging science (MMET/PS) department in 2003, Dr. Anson has conducted multiple research projects and coauthored 11 publications with students.

"I am extremely passionate about combining research and teaching to inspire today's students to fully engage in their education and future careers," states Dr. Anson. "Simply put, I enjoy seeing students 'get it' and realize that they can learn, discover, publish and ultimately excel in their careers." Dr. Anson continually integrates his research publications back into RIT's electronics manufacturing curriculum.

In August 2008, Dr. Anson was interviewed at the Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA) international conference in Orlando, Fla., where he discussed how the SMTA professional society and conferences facilitate student mentoring, research, dissemination and a student-industry connection. Click here to watch the video

In addition to student-focused research, Dr. Anson has also produced five additional publications at RIT and has been co-PI and PI on two NSF proposals and one Small Business Innovation Research proposal totaling more than $630,000.

Prior to joining RIT, Dr. Anson spent eight years in the electronics manufacturing industry conducting failure analysis and process development. Today he greatly enjoys a career where one set of people can be his customers, products, and research collaborators, often at the same time - his RIT students.

Dr. Anson earned his BS, MS, and Ph.D. from Binghamton University. He was nominated for RIT's Richard and Virginia Eisenhart Provost's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2005, RIT'S Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2008, and repeatedly receives top ratings on his students' teaching evaluations. Dr. Anson was recently named editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Science and Engineering Technology (JASET).

CAST Exceptional Scholar Continues to Inspire

Dr. Abi Aghayere, acting chair and professor with the civil engineering technology/environmental management and safety (CETEMS) department, was honored as the CAST exceptional scholar and board of trustee (BOT) scholarship nominee representing CAST in 2006-7.

Since joining the RIT faculty in 1996, Aghayere has been a dedicated and passionate teacher, scholar and mentor. "Scholarship is something I’ve always mixed in with my teaching," says Aghayere. In addition to designing and teaching courses and certificate programs, Aghayere's scholarship activity has been steady and impressive: a paper he co-authored with former CAST Dean Wiley McKinzie earned the Best Paper Award from the American Society for Engineering Education in 2003. More recently, Aghayere’s scholarship has focused on student learning and course assessment. In April 2005, he co-authored and presented a paper with four CET students ("Enhancing Student Learning through Continuous Course Assessment") as part of the RIT Faculty Scholars Series. Aghayere also has published two textbooks in the last two years, and has two more in the works. Aghayere has served as faculty advisor to the RIT steel bridge team since 1996; he also serves as faculty advisor to about 20 CET students.

"I view my students and me as working on the same team towards the goal of student...excellence, and view their success as my success; this motivates me to be the best teacher, mentor and coach that I can be," says Aghayere.

Originally from West Africa, Dr. Aghayere previously worked as a structural engineer in Toronto and as a teaching and research assistant at the University of Alberta in Canada. He also was a lecturer in civil engineering at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria. Dr. Aghayere received RIT’s Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2005.