Eric Husmann joins the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering as a lecturer starting this fall. Learn more about him in this Q&A.
Where did you grow up and where did you live before Baltimore?
I grew up in St. Louis Missouri, but I have also lived in Golden (Colorado), Leeds (England), San Jose (California), and Blacksburg (Virginia). As such, I have lived in all four time zones of the continental U.S.!
Where did you go to school and what was your focus there?
I received my bachelor’s degree at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado, and I majored in chemical engineering. While I was briefly in a graduate program at Virginia Tech studying catalysis, I received my doctorate degree at Washington University in St. Louis.
What inspired you to pursue ChemBE as a discipline?
When I was in high school, I was attracted to chemistry as it seemed like magic to me. I wanted to understand its mechanics, but I also wanted to be able to apply what I would later learn to solve practical problems. As such, chemical engineering felt like a good fit.
What are your main areas of expertise/interest/research?
My research at WashU focused on plasma-particle interactions. The title of my thesis was “Nanoparticle Nucleation, Trapping, & Effluent Charging in Low-Temperature Plasmas” (woof!). As I was (and still am) very interested in teaching and pedagogical research, I spent a large amount of time with the Teaching Center at WashU where I developed pedagogical skills/techniques such as active learning and inclusive teaching. In the five years I was at WashU, I was the only graduate student in my department allowed to be the primary professor for a course.
What other engineer or scientist in your field has influenced you? How?
I have to break this into two parts.
In terms of my pedagogical development, mentorship from Dr. Janie Brennan and Dr. Meg Gregory have been instrumental in getting me to where I am today. Janie mentored me through my first experience teaching a classroom, and Meg provided me with the pedagogical knowledge necessary to be successful.
In terms of research, my former advisor Dr. Elijah Thimsen would have to be the most influential person towards my development as a researcher. If I had to name a scientist whose work has inspired me, I would name Dr. David Graves. His work on utilizing plasmas for medicine is fascinating.
What are some of your goals at JHU?
At JHU, in a broad sense, my goal is to push the boundaries of education in chemical engineering. As an example, exams have long been considered to be the best method for the summative assessment of students; however, pedagogical literature suggests that designing courses with no exams may be a superior practice.
Outside of teaching and ChemBE in general, what are your other interests?
I have a wide variety of interests! I enjoy rock climbing, board games (Dice Forge is my newest one), cooking, reading fantasy novels, and playing with my five-year-old black cat named Aiden (he sometimes likes to ride around on my shoulders).