The Bridge - Issue 2, 2019 - 28

Professional Profile

Society is an international community of thousands
of IEEE members that promote, advance and
disseminate state-of-the-art scientific information
and resources related to the theory and practice of
engineering and computer science education.

Dr. Russ Meier
Eta Chapter '18

Dr. Meier is a Professor of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science at the Milwaukee School
of Engineering (MSOE). He received B.S., M.S.
and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Engineering from
Iowa State University. At MSOE, he mentors future
engineers in the areas of digital logic, computer
architecture and electronics. His research interests
include engineering education, embedded systems,
evolvable hardware, and computer architecture.
He has a 28-year history of teaching at the
undergraduate and graduate levels. His teaching
skills have been recognized with an Iowa State
University Teaching Excellence Award, the Iowa State
University Warren B. Boast Award for Undergraduate
Teaching Excellence and the MSOE Oscar Werwath
Distinguished Teacher Award.
Dr. Meier is a member of IEEE and IEEE-HKN, and
the Computer and Education societies, as well as the
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
and its Electrical and Computer Engineering and
Educational Research and Methods divisions.
In addition to his teaching career, Dr. Meier works
to improve engineering education as part of his
professional service. Over a 20-year period, he has
helped to create multiple workshops, conferences,
online seminars, and certification programs for
engineering and computer science professors. He
currently is serving a two-year term as the IEEE
Education Society President. The IEEE Education
THE BRIDGE

Dr. Meier has received multiple service awards from
IEEE societies. In addition, the International Society
for Engineering Education awarded him the title
"International Engineering Educator Honoris Causa"
in 2012 for outstanding contributions in engineering
education. And, in 2017, IEEE elevated Dr. Meier
to the rank of Fellow for his contributions to global
online engineering education.
How has Eta Kappa Nu (IEEE-HKN)
impacted your life? Your career?
I was inducted as a Professional Member of HKN
in 2017. Already, I have met new people and
made new friends that inspire me. When I wear my
HKN lapel pin, members stop me and introduce
themselves. Through these conversations we
discover shared interests and usually projects that we
can work together to implement within IEEE. These
projects help IEEE achieve its mission of advancing
technology for humanity.
What inspired you to choose the engineering field?
I grew up on a livestock farm in Nebraska just
as the personal computer era was beginning. I
was surrounded by large mechanical machines
- tractors, combines, planters, augers - that
fascinated me. I learned how gears, hydraulics,
levers, and other mechanical components
transferred energy to do work for us. These years
growing up in the agricultural heartland of America
were complemented by the arrival of computers
in my high school. The Apple II and the BASIC
programming language showed me the future
would be radically changed by the microcomputer
revolution. I sold some livestock and bought a TI994A home computer and began learning to program.
It was awesome! I could make the computer
do anything I wanted it to do. It was my ah-hah
moment. I knew I had to pursue building machines
that had computers inside.

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The Bridge - Issue 2, 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Bridge - Issue 2, 2019