Lecturer always knew he wanted to invent
The only thing that lecturer Don Cripps wishes he could change about his job are the sad faces that come with end-of-semester grading. Cripps is not a professor, but engineering students consider him to be because of the effort he puts in to making sure that those who attend his lectures understand the concepts being portrayed. He said his only goal for the next 10 years is to not only teach engineering, but become the best teacher that he can be.
Steve Guest, freshman in electrical engineering, took a class from Cripps last semester and said that it was one of his favorite.
“He was always willing to explain things and take as much time as I needed so that I could gain the understanding I needed,” Guest said. “He explained everything in a funny way so it was easy to understand him through his lighthearted approach.”
Cripps said he loves seeing the light come on in students’ faces when a difficult idea has been grasped and that understanding makes his occupation satisfying.
“His office hours were anytime, so if I didn’t get my questions asked in class, I was never worried that they would go unanswered,” Guest said.
Cripps attributes part of his teaching style to his wife, who is also an educator. He said she believes it is important to emphasize the big picture and then follow it with the ugly details. Grades are not the most important thing in college, he said. It is most important to truly seek knowledge and then “let the grades fall where they may.”
For those wondering how to get an A throughout the semester, conceptual questions must be able to be answered. Being computationally correct constantly isn’t even the half of it, Cripps said. He said the rigid course work that comes with being an engineering student all pays off in the end when a career worth getting excited about every morning is finally achieved.
“You will get to create things that the world has never seen before and you will likely be very happy,” Cripps said.
Cripps said he always knew that he wanted to be an inventor of some kind and he also knew that he wanted a career that had nothing to do with the farm work he did as a child growing up in Preston, Nev.
“It took me a long time to figure out that engineers are today’s inventors,” he said.
When he decided to pursue this career path at the University of Utah, he graduated with his bachelor’s degree and then immediately began work for companies like Boeing and Autonomous Solutions. He assisted in a project which “made an old Jeep Cherokee drive itself at over 50 mph.” After 20 years, Cripps said he went back to school here at USU to earn his Ph.D. and begin teaching.
Freshman James Beukers, computer engineering major, also said he appreciated Cripps’ unique teaching style.
“He is a funny guy and makes class super interesting,” Beukers said.
Electrical engineering sophomore, Jon Jensen agreed.
“He’s electrifying,” he said. “His class is shocking.”
–catherine.meidell@aggiemail.usu.edu