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Faculty Profiles

Mario Aguirre

In the Marine Corps, Major General Rick Phillips probably gave me the greatest boost by letting me do my thing. We ran a very successful helicopter squadron that was selected as the best in the Marine Corps in 1982. My mentor at Embry-Riddle has been Bill Herlehy (associate dean for curriculum, Extended Campus). He got me involved in faculty issues and has been a friend for 15 years. We're on the same sheet of music and understand each other.

I firmly believe we have a responsibility to give back some of the knowledge and experience we have gained in our years in the business. It is through our knowledge that students gain experience, which allows them to go further in their careers. The next generation will go to Mars, and we'll feel that somehow we contributed to that effort.

The good feeling I get at graduation ceremonies when students bring their spouses and family to introduce me as their professor - it's great. There is no greater reward than appreciation.

I once scheduled a class on a holiday. We all showed up to a locked building. I could not contact anyone because it was a holiday. I took the class to a nearby restaurant that had a meeting room. I bought the coffee and we proceeded with class. The students really enjoyed the evening and wanted to repeat it.

If I received an anonymous grant for $150,000, I'd establish a scholarship fund for students who wanted an aviation education but had no financial assistance to go to Embry-Riddle.

Airport management field is a tough field to get into because there is very little turnover in the system. Managers like their job. Prospective managers need to be patient or be willing to relocate. Generally, there is only one airport in town, so you can't go across town.

My wife and I like to travel in our motor home when we get the opportunity. We have two Chihuahuas and they also like to travel. On weekends when I'm home I work on flowers in the yard.

Everyone expects me to be rough and tough, because I'm a retired Marine Corps master sergeant. It surprises them that I'm actually a very caring person who is concerned about students and employees' well being. As one person told me, "You are firm, but you are the fairest person I have ever worked for."

Bradley Muller

My high school ceramics teacher, Mr. Matthewson, used a student's natural interest and curiosity about a subject to inspire deeper exploration. He had me digging up clay in my neighborhood in Mill Valley, Calif., screening it, making a pot and firing it, exploring the process literally from the ground up. Thank you, Mr. Matthewson, wherever you are!

I love teaching. You get to interact with young people, constantly learn new things, sometimes be a comedian, and there's plenty of time off to recuperate! I like explaining how meteorological phenomena work. I still can't believe my good fortune in having a job where I get paid to talk about the weather!

I sometimes tell the class that their responsibility, aside from learning something and getting a good grade, is to entertain me - and usually they do. I also like watching their faces when they learn something new and interesting, like the fact that some kinds of turbulence are caused by atmospheric waves breaking just like ocean waves.

Since you can't always know everything, usually you admit it, but once in awhile you try to B.S. your way through. Having lived in warm climates most of my life, I was clueless when a student asked me what "black ice" is. Decision time: should I turn off my brain and turn on my mouth? Or should I admit that I have a Ph.D. in meteorology and I've never heard of it? I unwisely turned on my mouth, and it was not long before the "northern tier" students were on me like jackals on a baby antelope!

If someone gave me $150,000, I would use it to initiate a meteorological satellite image simulation lab at Embry-Riddle.

It's hard for people to grasp how complicated the atmosphere is: "Why can't you forecast the weather better?" Or "why doesn't that cloud look like ANY of the categories listed in my textbook?" A lot of my job consists of using understandable language to guide meteorology students and future pilots through that complexity.

For fun, I swim in Florida's beautiful springs with my kids, boogie-board at the beach, contra dance, play my harmonica or guitar, and, of course, watch Florida's thunderstorms.

People are surprised that I can play blues harmonica. My parents were both artists, so my brother became a computer programmer and I became a meteorologist. Go figure!

Rachel Shinn

Jim Mueller had the most influence on my pursuit of a graduate degree in applied mathematics and on my image of teaching. He was an excellent teacher. He pushed hard, but he gave fantastic examples of how math was used in engineering and physics and got me excited about the uses of mathematics in real problems and applications. Another was John Kelley, my boss at Hughes Aircraft Company, where I was a staff engineer in the space systems group. He gave me leeway to do what I thought was needed and was a great technical advisor. This gave me the opportunity to learn spacecraft attitude dynamics and apply it to several space missions.

After tutoring math in college, I decided I wanted to show students the applications of math to real engineering problems, which meant I needed to teach at the university level. I didn't feel qualified to do this until I had personal experience in the engineering world using the math and physics I learned in college in a setting where my work could turn into reality.

I have the most fun when students get involved, when they are vocal in class, asking questions, and beginning to understand how things fit together. I enjoy seeing students discover the power to create that comes from building their skill base in math, science and engineering.

With an anonymous grant for $150,000, I would initiate a student-built satellite program so that our students could get the experience of designing, building, testing, and flying a real satellite.

Some students think my Ph.D. in applied mathematics means I can only do math. They often don't understand that it is just a base from which many problems in engineering and science can be solved and worked on. They find it odd that in industry my peers were people with degrees in engineering, math, and physics and not just engineering or one specific area of engineering.

I like to exercise the part of my brain that doesn't get exercised at work. I like to build things, garden, and do stained glasswork. I enjoy hiking and backpacking with my husband. I sing in a jazz band and with a folk group. I like to read. I practice tai kwon do.

People are usually surprised to learn that I built my garage and the addition to my house, including digging out the foundation.