NSBE - Convention 2010 - (Page 10)

dr. david Freeman of MIT lincoln laboratory Employing and Encouraging Innovation By Alexis Billingslea-Brown avid C. Freeman Jr., Ph.D., has spent his career doing what most engineers do: finding solutions to some of society’s toughest problems. Whether it’s to design low-cost, manufactured housing for lowincome citizens in Poland, or to design a new valve for Ford automobiles, or to create a ceramicto-metal thermal interface that can survive temperature swings of 440°F, Dr. Freeman’s mind is always thinking, always solving, always innovating. Dr. Freeman, a systems and payload engineer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, leads the team that sup“(MIT Lincoln Laboraports national security by developtory) is a great place to ing advanced technology for space-, aircraft-, naval- and land-based work. I have never be- platforms. Working on projects as the systems engineer, he must focus gun a project where on the management and completion I already knew the of the job. He must understand each engineer’s specialized component of answer.” the project to create a final product. Dr. Freeman then puts on his payload engineer cap, takes the final product and builds the device. Dr. Freeman and two Ford Motor Company employees are awaiting the implementation and production of a device that holds their U.S. Patent #7,370,645: the Variable Stiffness Flow Control Valve. “It is a positive crankcase ventilation valve located between the crankcase and intake manifold in an automotive engine,” Dr. Freeman explains. The valve resonates under high-frequency vibration. The consistent movement prevents the valve from freezing under certain conditions and regulates gases that degrade the oil. It also consumes less oil than the standard valve now in use. “The research and development took about three years, and the patent approval process took about three years also,” Dr. Freeman recalls. For another device, Dr. Freeman improved 10 • nsbe magazine d a ceramic-to-metal interface. It survived 2,000 thermal cycles of testing, whereas other devices not using his design element and testing procedure could not withstand more than 330 cycles at subzero temperatures. A native of Elizabeth City, N.C., Dr. Freeman followed his family’s Aggie tradition. “I had an uncle and great-grandfather who both attended North Carolina A&T State University, an historically black institution. Choosing engineering was something that I jumped into. It was truly by chance,” he says. But as the curriculum became more complex, he found that engineering was the career for him. With a strong education in structural engineering from A&T, Dr. Freeman traveled to the Northeast, where he earned a Master of Science degree in civil engineering and a doctorate in mechanical engineering, both at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Advising future engineers, including graduate engineering students, is very important to Dr. Freeman. At MIT Lincoln Laboratory, he often speaks about increasing the number of minority graduate students in the field. He is one of the Laboratory’s coordinators for co-ops and internships for undergraduate and graduate mechanical engineering students. He connects his undergraduate and graduate alma maters by recruiting Aggie students to work for his employer. Dr. Freeman, 42, also coaches his daughters’ First Lego League teams, which are sponsored by MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Innovation is a mindset, an ability not only to think outside of the box but outside of the parameters of conventional materials, pushing them beyond their limits. A true innovator must also execute those unconventional thoughts. Dr. Freeman loves the challenges of working at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. “It is a great place to work,” he says. “I have never begun a project where I already knew the answer.” Dr. David C. Freeman Jr., be it by choice or by chance, is indeed an innovator, and he has a patent to prove it. ■ www.nsbe.org • convention 2010 http://www.ll.mit.edu/ http://www.ll.mit.edu/ http://www.nsbe.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NSBE - Convention 2010

NSBE - Convention 2010
Contents
Get Involved
What Makes Us Great
Sandra Edmonds of Intel
Dr. David Freeman of MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Dwayne James of Jacobs
Jean Paul of Philadelphia Gas Works
Ernest Levert of Lockheed Martin
Bryan Agard of ITW
Bettye Moddy of Navair
International News
Chapter News
Region I Jobs Outlook
Engineering a Global Impact
Things To Do In Toronto
Career Fair Recruiters Speak
Golden Torch Award Winners
Save Our Kids 2010
CE Cover: Advanced Degrees
Employer Profiles
AE Members On the Move
Advertisers Index

NSBE - Convention 2010