Engineering and Innovation
Innovation, right where you live. Some of the most powerful learning occurs when you are exposed to experiences that aren’t always in the curriculum. In the Engineering and Innovation Living Learning Community (EIC), you will connect with other students who are interested in engineering disciplines like mechanical engineering, computer science, and construction management. We work hard – and play hard. Your access to resident faculty, advising sessions, and frequent community events will prepare you for the careers of the future. Let us help you engineer your future.
Located in Morrison Hall
Why You Should Apply
The EIC prepares students for a career by exposing students to topics that are not always included in the formal curriculum. Topics such as communication and career search skills, speakers from many different engineering and technical fields, and teamwork. The EIC fosters an amazing academic environment for all students, while also enabling students to connect for common interests such as outdoor sports, games, social events, and campus clubs.
Community Events
Residents are able to participate in many experiences during their time living on campus both academic and social in nature such as Evening with a Faculty, rafting or other day trips, off-campus dinners, industry visits, and many more fun adventures.
Curriculum
EIC Classes provide students an opportunity to meet on a regular basis to support an active living and learning community. Together, participants will explore aspects of success in engineering through a series of academic and team-building activities. Invited speakers from a large range of industries will visit the class to present “day in the life” discussions and answer questions on their background, how they got where they are, what path(s) are available to get there, and so on.
Faculty
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Dr. Aaron Smith
Faculty-in-Residence, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Department
Dr. Aaron Smith is a first-generation college student that started his academic career at Boise State University – in fact, he participated in the Engineering Residential College (what is now the Engineering and Innovation Learning Community) and lived in Morrison Hall during his first and sophomore years! His experience with the residential community helped guide him through his first years of college, provided mentors that advised him along the way, and has resulted in connections that he still maintains to this day. He began researching in Dr. Peter Mullner’s Magnetic Materials Laboratory during his junior year where he met a visiting professor from Finland. He was later invited to pursue a Ph.D. in Finland at the Lappeenranta University of Technology after graduating as a Top Ten Scholar with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Boise State.
Aaron spent three years in Finland (nearly 5,000 miles away from his Boise hometown) studying magnetic shape memory materials and completing his Ph.D. However, his time in Finland was far more than just academic: He experienced a new culture (with hundreds of hours in the sauna!), made friends from many different countries, celebrated the midsummer holiday Juhannus and visited several other countries in Europe. He has slept beneath the Midnight Sun (and in a quinzhee during the winter), seen the aurora borealis, skated (and biked) across frozen lakes during the winter, and rowed through them with a church boat team during the summer. Living in Finland opened his eyes to life beyond his hometown as well as opened new opportunities afterward.
Over the six years since returning from Finland, Aaron has helped develop a new business, worked closely with industrial-grade 3D printers, and has been involved in many interdisciplinary product development projects (one of which led him to be on the field during Super Bowl LIII’s Halftime Show). Aaron has returned to Boise State and is now a lecturer with the Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Department where he teaches the department’s Senior Design Capstone course. He believes it is a unique privilege to return to his alma mater as faculty, teaching alongside his previous professors. Aaron plans to capitalize on his unique background in academia, research, international travel, entrepreneurship, and industry to help guide new students through their college careers and prepare them for their own next steps, wherever that may take them.
Contact Dr. Smith: AaronSmith9@boisestate.edu
Dr. Aaron Smith is a first-generation college student that started his academic career at Boise State University – in fact, he participated in the Engineering Residential College (what is now the Engineering and Innovation Learning Community) and lived in Morrison Hall during his first and sophomore years! His experience with the residential community helped guide him through his first years of college, provided mentors that advised him along the way, and has resulted in connections that he still maintains to this day. He began researching in Dr. Peter Mullner’s Magnetic Materials Laboratory during his junior year where he met a visiting professor from Finland. He was later invited to pursue a Ph.D. in Finland at the Lappeenranta University of Technology after graduating as a Top Ten Scholar with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Boise State.
Aaron spent three years in Finland (nearly 5,000 miles away from his Boise hometown) studying magnetic shape memory materials and completing his Ph.D. However, his time in Finland was far more than just academic: He experienced a new culture (with hundreds of hours in the sauna!), made friends from many different countries, celebrated the midsummer holiday Juhannus and visited several other countries in Europe. He has slept beneath the Midnight Sun (and in a quinzhee during the winter), seen the aurora borealis, skated (and biked) across frozen lakes during the winter, and rowed through them with a church boat team during the summer. Living in Finland opened his eyes to life beyond his hometown as well as opened new opportunities afterward.
Over the six years since returning from Finland, Aaron has helped develop a new business, worked closely with industrial-grade 3D printers, and has been involved in many interdisciplinary product development projects (one of which led him to be on the field during Super Bowl LIII’s Halftime Show). Aaron has returned to Boise State and is now a lecturer with the Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Department where he teaches the department’s Senior Design Capstone course. He believes it is a unique privilege to return to his alma mater as faculty, teaching alongside his previous professors. Aaron plans to capitalize on his unique background in academia, research, international travel, entrepreneurship, and industry to help guide new students through their college careers and prepare them for their own next steps, wherever that may take them.
Contact Dr. Smith: AaronSmith9@boisestate.edu
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Dr. Courtney Hollar
Faculty-out-of-Residence, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Courtney Hollar is a Boise native who originally became interested in engineering while attending STEM-based community events such Discover Engineering Day and E-girls throughout junior high and high school. After deciding to attend Boise State University, she began to explore research. As an undergraduate, Courtney worked in Dr. Peter Mullner’s Magnetic Materials Laboratory. From her sophomore year until her senior year, she researched the mechanical properties of magnetic shape memory alloys. She graduated as a Top Ten Scholar with her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. This research opportunity inspired her to go on and enroll in graduate school to work towards her Master’s degree.
After being awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, she graduated with her Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Boise State and continued her educational journey to obtain her Ph.D. from the University of Idaho. During this time, she researched methods to measure the thermal properties of both thermoelectric and nuclear materials in Dr. David Estrada’s Advanced Nanomaterials and Manufacturing Laboratory. Clearly Courtney had such a great experience as a student at Boise State, that after graduating, she joined the Mechanical and Biomedical Department and Engineering Plus Program as a faculty member. She currently teaches engineering design centric courses. Courtney is passionate about teaching and is dedicated to the success of her students. Her experiences at Boise State, as once a student and now a faculty member, provides her an opportunity to help students make the most out of their college experience and to help them work towards their goals after graduation. Courtney is excited to join the Engineering and Innovation Community as the new Faculty-out-of-Residence Fall 2023.
Contact Dr. Hollar: courtneyhollar@boisestate.edu
Dr. Courtney Hollar is a Boise native who originally became interested in engineering while attending STEM-based community events such Discover Engineering Day and E-girls throughout junior high and high school. After deciding to attend Boise State University, she began to explore research. As an undergraduate, Courtney worked in Dr. Peter Mullner’s Magnetic Materials Laboratory. From her sophomore year until her senior year, she researched the mechanical properties of magnetic shape memory alloys. She graduated as a Top Ten Scholar with her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. This research opportunity inspired her to go on and enroll in graduate school to work towards her Master’s degree.
After being awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, she graduated with her Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Boise State and continued her educational journey to obtain her Ph.D. from the University of Idaho. During this time, she researched methods to measure the thermal properties of both thermoelectric and nuclear materials in Dr. David Estrada’s Advanced Nanomaterials and Manufacturing Laboratory. Clearly Courtney had such a great experience as a student at Boise State, that after graduating, she joined the Mechanical and Biomedical Department and Engineering Plus Program as a faculty member. She currently teaches engineering design centric courses. Courtney is passionate about teaching and is dedicated to the success of her students. Her experiences at Boise State, as once a student and now a faculty member, provides her an opportunity to help students make the most out of their college experience and to help them work towards their goals after graduation. Courtney is excited to join the Engineering and Innovation Community as the new Faculty-out-of-Residence Fall 2023.
Contact Dr. Hollar: courtneyhollar@boisestate.edu