A statement from the incoming and outgoing chairs of Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering at Boise State University.
The year 2020 has presented tremendous and unprecedented challenges to our Mechanical Engineering community and we are only half-way through. From a worldwide pandemic to fundamental human rights and questions about the role of government, we are facing extraordinary events that have shaken the very foundations of our nation and our community.
In these times of struggle, we must find renewed focus through our personal and professional values. As a department, the Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering faculty adopted a professional values statement to which we regularly refer to guide our actions and decisions on behalf of our faculty, students, and community. In this difficult time for all of us, we would like to take this opportunity to re-commit to these values.
The MBE faculty/staff are:
• Cooperative/Collaborative
• Inclusive/Respectful
• Professional/Ethical
• Innovative
• Impactful
The MBE faculty and staff live and work by these values every day. Through our successes and challenges, we continue to use these values to guide our words and deeds. These values were adopted unanimously in 2017 and are still true in 2020. We commit to continue to live by these values for many years to come. We also want to express our unshakeable commitment to welcome ALL students into our program and classrooms. Regardless of our unique individual backgrounds, the characteristics that bind us together are our values, our passion for Mechanical Engineering, and making the world a better place.
Yet we know we aren’t perfect, and we sometimes make mistakes. We want to assure everyone in our community that our door is always open. If there’s something you want us to know, we’ll take the time, listen, and do everything in our power to help this department live up to our ideals.
Lastly, we encourage each of you to take this time to reflect on your own personal and professional values as an engineer and as a human being sharing this planet with billions of other humans. We probably don’t talk enough about the importance of ethics in your formal education, but please know that each of us takes our responsibilities as engineers and educators very seriously. This is what has informed the department’s commitment to our shared values.
As you continue in your education, and as you embark on your professional life, we hope we have imbued within you the same passion and commitment to our profession and our society. We know that this is not always easy, and it sometimes requires us to step out of our comfort zone. It may require difficult conversations. It sometimes makes us unpopular, or even opens us up to professional or physical retaliation. Yet this is the essence of being a professional and being a member of society.
Dr. Don Plumlee
MBE Department Chair
2014-2020
Dr. John Gardner
Incoming MBE Department Chair
2020-