Dr. Mesut Muslu is a professor and interim chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He is also a professor of sustainability and renewable energy systems.
“I came here [UW-Platteville] in fall of 1986; it’s been almost 34 years,” Muslu said. “I really enjoyed every minute of it. I love the students and the people I work with.”
Muslu who teaches power/energy courses in Electrical Engineering and SRES programs led the effort to establish a renewable energy minor in 2008 and then helped with creating the Sustainability and Renewable Energy Systems major in 2013.
“Renewable energy and sustainability are vital for the future of the world. Producing energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar is critically important to reduce the environmental impacts of energy productions and global warming,” he said. Everyone from local governments to countries recognize the importance of sustainability and are moving in that direction. In power/energy education our goal is to graduate students who will be leaders in transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable sources for a more sustainable world.”
Outside of campus, Muslu enjoys gardening and traveling abroad. “I’m originally from Turkey, and my wife is from Turkey too. We go back almost every year and spend a bit of time,” he said.
What inspired you to pursue teaching?
I graduated from University of Missouri-Rolla with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and master degrees in electrical engineering and engineering management. I had my Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey.
I came to Rolla, Missouri, for my graduate work and worked as a teaching assistant as well as a research assistant initially. In the last year I was a teaching fellow. Teaching fellows have full faculty privileges when it comes to teaching a course, grading and content material development. I did that for a year and I really enjoyed it.
I applied to UW-Platteville and it’s been a long time; I joined the faculty in 1986. I think the teaching fellowship really opened up the doors in saying, ‘I liked teaching and the interaction with students.’
You are a professor in electrical and computer engineering and sustainability and renewable energy systems. How do these disciplines complement each other when it comes to improving and innovating sustainable energy sources?
Electrical engineering is a very wide area. Every electrical engineering program has many different emphasis and research areas. In our program we have controls emphasis, computer engineering emphasis, communications and electronics emphasis and power and energy emphasis.
Power and energy directly fit into SRES. Before we had renewable energy and sustainability we were talking about sources and where the energy comes from, how dirty it is and the impact on the environment. SRES takes it the nth level. There is synergy there in the power area.
I can’t say there is synergy in other areas like computer engineering or controls, but power energy for electrical engineering and SRES complement each other. That’s why a lot of electrical engineering students with power energy emphasis get a SRES minor because of that complementing factor.
What do you hope students take away from your classes?
I hope they get a big picture more than the details. Although we are in a very technical area where there are always equations and details from the modeling to conceptualization point. But, at the end of the day in every class I teach, I want them to get a bigger picture, how does it impact society, what are the other impacts of things that we design on the economy, environment, and the lives of people. I would like my students to pay a lot of attention to the big picture rather than just the engineering detail.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
It is teaching and interacting with students, hands-down, no question about it. It is great to see those graduates succeed and have contact with them. Now I’m getting my graduates’ sons and daughters in my classes; that part is really fulfilling. Without this I think the job would be really thankless and boring.
What are your proudest accomplishments during your time at UW-Platteville?
There are a number of things. I was a department chair from 1998-2008 and during that time we established the collaborative engineering programs particularly electrical engineering at Fox Valley and Rock County. I know a student in Rock County who was a hairdresser and became an electrical engineer through the program; it’s very touching for me.
Also, the renewable energy minor and the SRES major that we established in 2008 and 2013 respectively. I was leading the whole renewable energy minor effort from the beginning. Dr. Tim Zauche lead the effort to establishing the major. We worked as a team of three and four individuals who established these programs. I am so proud of being a part of the team.
To nominate someone for the Pioneer Spotlight, contact pr@uwplatt.edu.