By Bob Emro, CEPS

A University New Hampshire mechanical engineering professor is one of ten worldwide to receive the Society of Automotive Engineers International’s Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award.

Brad Kinsey, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in UNH’s College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, was presented the educational award during the SAE 2006 World Congress in Detroit.

Kinsey is the faculty advisor for the school’s Robotics Club, which supports FIRST Robotics programs. The club has worked with high school students from St. Thomas Aquinas and middle school students from throughout seacoast New Hampshire, recently presenting Girls Connect, a one-day workshop introducing girls to LEGO Mindstorms in preparation for FIRST LEGO League. He is a member of SAE International, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society for Engineering Education, and the North American Deep Draw Research Group. He received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan and his master’s degree and doctorate in mechanical engineering from Northwestern University.

The award, established in 1965, recognizes outstanding engineering educators and offers them the opportunity to meet and exchange views with practicing engineers in their fields. The award is funded by the late Ralph R. Teetor, 1936 SAE International president, who believed that engineering educators are the most effective link between engineering students and their future careers.

The other recipients of the 2006 Teetor awards were: Gregory D. Buckner, North Carolina State University; Kuang-Hua Chang, University of Oklahoma; Wei Che, Northwestern University; Adelbert Cheng, San Francisco State University; Jim Cowart, U.S. Naval Academy; Hong Im, University of Michigan; Valentin Ivanov, Belarusian National Technical University in Minsk; Charles Koch, University of Alberta in Edmonton; John-David Yoder, Ohio Northern University.