Saginaw Valley State University, Opportunity and Choice. VISIT: svsu.edu
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SCIENCE, ENGINEERING + TECHNOLOGY
In the SVSU mechanical engineering program, every professor is assigned a group of students to advise. Faculty advisors start by helping students “traverse the curriculum” as well as finding research projects. Advisors also communicate information about student clubs and groups, and are just “there” to help. “Some students think faculty can be out to get them. Here, we want you to succeed. Our job is to find for our students the best opportunities we can,” says professor of mechanical engineering Brooks Byam.
Dr. Byam is also the advisor for the Cardinal Formula Racing team. His teaching philosophy is to teach his students the difference between the will to win and the will to prepare to win. It must work. SVSU’s Formula SAE race team, which is entirely managed by undergraduate students, annually designs and builds a competitive race car. Since 2002, SVSU has placed 6th and 8th in the world and in 2005, 2007 and 2008, SVSU had the highest placing of participating Michigan schools.