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BRIC Work: Dr. Truell Hyde Builds on a Dream
BY JOHN WHITSETT (‘82)
Most of us think of a brick as a rectangular block of clay, hardened by heat, and used in building or paving. In basketball jargon, it refers to a shot that never had a chance of going in the basket – one that awkwardly clangs off the rim or backboard.
But in Waco, Texas, the word is an acronym for the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC) - an initiative developed by Dr. Truell Hyde. Dr. Hyde, a 1978 graduate of SNU, has served at Baylor for the past two-plus decades as a professor and Vice-Provost for Research.
Dr. Hyde and the one of a kind, CASPER Plasma Krystl 4 analog instrument used by researchers to conduct physics investigations related to work being done on the International Space Station.
Opened in 2012, the BRIC is a 330,000 square foot facility that is the centerpiece of the Central Texas Technology & Research Park. It is a place where world-renowned scientists and researchers collaboratively work with faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students from a variety of fields on federally sponsored grants and scholastic projects. With the support of corporate partners, the BRIC provides a state-of-the-art space designed specifically for this purpose.
Featuring world class laboratory and symposium spaces, the BRIC also provides elementary and secondary students exciting discovery experiences ranging from ‘research-on-display’ tours of active laboratories to interactions with museum-quality exhibits. Formerly a tire manufacturing plant that provided 1400 jobs for the Waco community, the BRIC has become a hub of activity where cutting-edge research in emerging technologies can be developed, some of life’s hard questions can be investigated and examined, and a future generation of scientists can be stimulated and inspired.
The GEC RF Reference Cell provides researchers the ability to examine complex plasma physics. SNU Physics Dept. visit to the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC) (Left to right) Dr. Ed Neuenschwander, Jorge Carmona (‘94), Dr. Hyde (‘78), SNU students and Dr. Mark Winslow
The BRIC did not exist when Dr. Hyde first came to Baylor. It was an idea he “shopped” for a number of years. “I’m fortunate we had university presidents who caught the vision and donors who helped fund the dream,” says Dr. Hyde.
But the journey was long and arduous. “In addition to funding, which is a challenge in any big project, overseeing the design, keeping people convinced it was worthwhile, and making sure we kept everyone in the loop that needed to be in the loop was imperative,” said Hyde. University administrators, city, state, and federal leaders who provided political support, as well as university alumni and people from the surrounding community needed to be informed of what was going on in a timely and truthful manner. “Any perceived shading of the facts would have been, in my opinion, disastrous,” he said.
Today, a cutting-edge space for interdisciplinary research at a prominent university exists because a man with a calling pursued a dream with resolve and determination. Dr. Hyde had a passion to engage young people, especially those intrigued by some of life’s perplexing questions, and inspire them to set and pursue their goals.
SNU Physics Dept. visit to the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC) (Left to right) Dr. Ed Neuenschwander, Jorge Carmona (‘94), Dr. Hyde (‘78), SNU students and Dr. Mark Winslow
While his current work involves such heady things as complex plasma and astrophysics, and he collaborates with world-renowned scientists and researchers on high-profile projects like the International Space Station, his path began during his undergraduate years at SNU.
“I’m more grateful for the beginning I received at SNU with each passing year,” says Dr. Hyde. “Not only did is provide me a foundation for what I do today, but, more importantly, SNU provided me a Christian worldview that has held me steady across an ever-changing academic landscape. The tenet that anyone - particularly someone in a position of leadership - should maintain an absolute standard of right and wrong and then employ this standard to direct their interactions with those around them is almost unheard of these days. My introduction into the world of science without the dichotomy often inserted between a Christ-centered worldview and scientific research was, and still is, invaluable to me. Had my journey started elsewhere, my own worldview and spiritual journey might well have been impacted in ways I can’t even imagine.”
