The U’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Advisory Board are proud to recognize David Christensen as our 2024 Alum of the Year. Christensen is an Associate Professor and Chair of Engineering at Utah Tech University. Over the last 8 years, he has been at the startup of four engineering bachelor’s degrees, taught 23 different courses, developed 13 courses, planned and assembled 8 lab spaces, and much more.
Christensen didn’t start off focused on mechanical engineering. He initially came to the University of Utah with a full-ride scholarship to study electrical engineering with an interest in power engineering. With many of the recommended power engineering courses being in mechanical engineering, he switched his degree to mechanical engineering and used his tech elective courses to focus on electrical engineering.
“I really loved my time at the U,” said Christensen. “I enjoyed the labs, the engineering culture, and opportunity I had to get to know and work with many faculty members.”
Christensen continued at the U for his graduate work, receiving both an MS and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the department. Toward the end of his PhD, he moved to St. George to be close to family. As he finished his dissertation, he took an adjunct position teaching math at Utah Tech.
“I started teaching MATH 1050 and fell in love with teaching,” said Christensen. “You have to experience things to know what you love to do. Eventually, the Dean found me and asked if I would write a proposal to build out engineering programs for the university.”
This effort led to the creation of the Engineering Department at Utah Tech. Christensen helped ramp up all four engineering bachelor’s degrees. The engineering pathways he and his team have built allow cross-disciplinary work on projects and the department is now offering 20 tech electives across the four degrees.
“One of my favorite accomplishments in Discovery & Design Day. This is an annual interactive event with projects, shows, and displays from engineering, computing, design, biology, chemistry, math, and environmental science. There is something for everyone from Miniatronic Golf to research posters and boat rides to industry-collaborative projects.”
Christensen loves teaching and developing new experiences for his courses. He focuses on hands-on projects and in particular opportunities to bring in people from the community.
“Carve out the time required to really learn engineering,” Christensen advises new students. “As students get busy, there is a tendency to take the path of least resistance by adopting the mantra ‘C’s earn degrees’ or focusing on the minimum final exam score required to pass the class. In these cases, students experience a growing gap between the rate at which they learn engineering and the rate that engineering requires them to learn. Scheduling is key to success.”
Christensen will be presenting his Alum of the Year seminar “Working Outside the Box” on January 17th at 3pm in MEK 3350. Refreshments and a social will follow.