Keynote Speaker

The Keynote speaker of Engineering Expo this year is Dr. William S. Hammack. He is
a professor of engineering for the University of Illinois department of Chemical Engineering.

Public Radio Program

Every week for the last couple of years
Hammack has produced an essay focusing on common articles found in everyday
life. In this program, called Engineering & Life, he's described how
the invention of Velcro was inspired by a walk in the woods that left an
engineer's socks covered with burrs. Hammack has discussed the origins of the
typewriter and of potholes, as well as the amazing career of Leon Theremin, who
in the 1920s invented an early electronic instrument that would eventually
inspire the development of the synthesizer, and who was later kidnapped by the
KGB. Another piece described the story of Spam the canned meat, not the
electronic variety.

His talks lasting just two or three minutes, are distributed across the state
by Illinois Public Radio, and can be heard in Urbana-Champaign on Tuesdays.
They are broadcast on WILL AM 580 at 7:20 and 9:20 in the morning. The radio
pieces are available nationally at his web site www.engineerguy.com

Teaching Non-majors About Engineering

His course, The Hidden World of Engineering, is taught every semester to a diverse mix of students majoring in commerce,
architecture, photography, history, and graphic arts. This popular course gives
students an appreciation for engineering and for how engineers think. It is
taught in a unique way that lets the students work in teams and actually do
engineering.

Public Speaking

Professor Hammack uses the stories he has gathered to speak
to the public about engineering. For example, he recently gave a keynote
address to the top 100 Graduating Seniors of the University of Illinois,
talked to a local service club about engineering, and helped kick off the
opening of the Women in Engineering Summer camp.

Come see Dr. Hammack at Engineering Expo!