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'Most Intriguing:' YSU Stem College's Martin Abraham
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- A decade ago, the engineering college at Youngstown State University was an entity all to itself – segregated from the other science disciplines and the regional academic and business communities.
Today, that college, as well as the science and technology-based programs at YSU are under a single college and dean, and its collective punch is having a profound effect at the local and national levels.
Much of this can be attributed to the leadership of Martin A. Abraham, dean of YSU’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM. Abraham, the first dean of the college and entering his seventh year at the university, personifies its emergence as an important collaborator in academic and commercial scientific research.
“For me, I was interested in the experiment,” says Abraham, who turns 53 in February. “This is an experiment in progress: Can you merge engineering and science under one administrative umbrella and create a viable entity?”
In the six years since he’s been dean, STEM has grown and attracted more research dollars for the university than ever, instituted the first doctoral program at the college, played an important role in luring the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute to Youngstown, increased enrollment in its programs as campus enrollment decreased, and has enjoyed productive relationships with companies in the area.
The idea of integrating the engineering college with the science and technology program was the brainchild of the late Robert Herbert, former provost at YSU, Abraham recalls. “What he wanted to do was to take a set of strengths in the sciences and use that to bring back the engineering [college], which was historically very strong,” he explains. “The goal was to create more research capability in engineering that didn’t exist at the time.”
Engineers do not operate independently in the real world, Abraham observes, and undergirding their profession is applying science and mathematics to design infrastructure and the amenities we take for granted in everyday life. Therefore, it makes sense to combine the disciplines in one college and encourage collaboration among its departments.
“In the real world, engineering stands very much at the confluence of science and mathematics,” he says.
Few universities of YSU’s size have colleges such as STEM, Abraham relates, which places Youngstown State in a unique position to leverage funding for new research initiatives.
When Abraham was hired in 2007, YSU had previously secured just $1 million in funding for research projects. In 2010 alone, STEM attracted more than $10 million in research funding, Abraham reports, and continues to draw between $4 million and $5 million in funding for additional projects. “It’s significant growth relative to where we were,” he says.
This growth has also enhanced STEM’s interactions with the business community as YSU continues to work closely with local companies by providing talent, training and commercial opportunities for new ideas.
“We’ve collaborated directly and indirectly,” says Mark Peters, director of engineering at Fireline Inc., Youngstown. The company manufacturers ceramic cylinders used to cast components for the aerospace industry. As such, it relies on new technology related to the materials sciences. “What they’re doing overlaps with our interest,” Peters notes.
Fireline has enjoyed a long relationship with YSU, he acknowledges, but these partnerships have grown stronger since Abraham became
STEM dean. “With his encouragement, the faculty is focusing on research that connects with local industry,” he says.
A joint grant application that secured funds from the Ohio Third Frontier program brought new analytical equipment to YSU, which helped lay the foundation for STEM’s doctoral program in advanced materials, its first such Ph.D. program.
“Another joint application led to an earmark from the U.S. Army Research Lab,” Peters relates. “It explores how our materials can be integrated and developed for armor systems.”
Fireline has in turn supported the research of graduate students who have gone through the master’s program, and is interested in the work of one Ph.D. candidate at STEM.
“We’ve worked with others such as Case Western Reserve University and national labs, but it’s a lot easier to work with Martin and YSU,” Peters relates. “From our perspective, he’s setting the right tone for working with companies in the Mahoning Valley.”
Abraham was born and reared in Long Island, and earned his B.S. in chemical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. He pursued graduate work at the University of Delaware, where he earned his Ph. D. in 1986.
Abraham’s first academic appointment came in January 1987 at the University of Tulsa, just days after completing his dissertation. “It was a very busy time,” he recalls. “I defended my Ph.D. a couple of days before Christmas, drove to New York to see my fiancé, took a couple of days off after Christmas, drove to Tulsa on Jan. 6, and started teaching Jan. 7,” he laughs. “My furniture didn’t show up until the 13th.”
After 10 years at Tulsa, Abraham accepted a full professorship at the University of Toledo, eventually becoming associate dean of its college of engineering, and then dean of graduate studies.
He found out about the STEM position at YSU through Peter Kasvinsky, former director of graduate studies at Youngstown State. “I liked the idea of creating a STEM college. That was the objective. That was the interest in coming here.”
Abraham and his wife, Nancy, live in Boardman and have reared a son and daughter. Their daughter is a graduate student at YSU after receiving her baccalaureate in wildlife conservation at the University of Delaware. Their son is a freshman at the University of Buffalo in its mechanical engineering program.
When he’s not running STEM, Abraham spends a lot of time, well, running.
“When I was a Ph.D. student, I’d run six miles a day,” he notes, but hasn’t for several years. Recently, his daughter convinced him and the rest of the family to participate in the Color Run, a 5-kilometer race. “I’ve since done the Panerathon,” he says.
During the winter months, you’re likely to find Abraham on the treadmill at the Boardman YMCA.
“When I was younger, I completed two marathons,” he smiles.
His goal this year? Complete a 10k run in less than an hour.
Other goals include the continued growth of YSU’s STEM College, he says. “We’ve come a long way. We’ve achieved a lot and our goal is to grow on that success.”
Among his short-term objectives is securing funding for four proposals co-sponsored by STEM that NAMII is considering. “I think we could get funding for three. The fourth is a long shot.”
Barb Ewing, chief operating officer of the Youngstown Business Incubator, which houses NAMII, says Abraham understood early on how additive manufacturing could redirect the Mahoning Valley’s business climate.
“He provided a lot of support for the initial application,” she says. Abraham, along with faculty member Darrell Wallace, proved instrumental in writing the proposal for developing NAMII. “Without Martin’s vision and understanding,” Ewing says, “the profound impact NAMII may have on the community, and without Darrell’s involvement – it may not have happened.”
Abraham credits two former colleagues – Nagi Naganatahan at Toledo and Ray Flumerfelt at Tulsa – as important influences.
Naganatahan was a patient, calculating and determined dean of the engineering school who showed Abraham how incremental improvement and diligence lead to success. “He was a steady force. Go one step at a time and move forward,” Abraham says.
He credits Flumerfelt with showing him that work could be done in a limited amount of time, correctly and efficiently, when proper focus is devoted to it. “He was driven,” Abraham recalls. “He worked people very hard and wanted to make them the best they could be.”
As an example, Abraham recalls talking to Flumerfelt as he was nearing completion of his dissertation, and asked if he could start teaching in February because he was concerned that it wouldn’t be finished in time. “He said he needed me in January,” the STEM dean says.
Simultaneously, Flumerfelt sent Abraham information on the National Science Foundation’s Young Scholars program and encouraged him to submit a proposal.
“Well, I managed to get the dissertation done in December and start in January,” Abraham says. “Then, Flumerfelt turned to me and asked me how I was coming on my proposal,” which was due in a week.
Abraham confessed he hadn’t begun the proposal, given he was already pressed for time completing the dissertation. “He told me, ‘You’ll work with this secretary’ on it.
“I got it done and submitted it. It wasn’t very good, it wasn’t funded, but I learned a lesson. And that is, with the appropriate work, you can get things done.”
Six months later, Abraham submitted his second proposal, which was funded.
“He [Flumerfelt] used to say,
‘The only guarantee I can give you
is a guarantee of failure if you don’t try,’” Abraham says. “If you make the effort, you have a chance. If you don’t make the effort, you have no chance. I still work under that philosophy today.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story first appeared in the January print edition of The Business Journal, in which we profiled the four "Most Intriguing People of 2013"
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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