C H R I S T I N E . B R O A D B R I D G E

The following feature story appeared in the campus publication MOSAIC in October, 1997.

Christine Caragianis Broadbridge

Transforming nature into technology

Where one person might look at a desert and see only sand, Assistant Professor of Engineering Christine Caragianis Broadbridge looks at the sand and envisions ways to make computers run faster. Broadbridge focuses her teaching and research interests on how materials can be processed to exhibit specific properties needed to make high-tech instruments and devices. In one of her current research projects, for example, Broadbridge is examining how thin film silica aerogels (which are composed of the silicon found in purified sand) can be processed to make capacitors that would enable electronic devices like computers to operate at faster speeds.

Broadbridge wants her students to understand how nature can be transformed into technology, and she knows that seeing is believing. So she seizes every available opportunity to share her vision with her students.

"My aim is to motivate students to learn theory by providing interesting examples and applications. Once they see the applications, they have the insight needed to see why it is they're learning the theory," she says. Michael A. Guillorn '98, an engineering major who took Broadbridge's course in "Semiconductor Electronics," explains, "In the class we were talking about abstract concepts, but Professor Broadbridge presented them in such a way that we could understand them. She's a highly organized teacher, who sets high standards and expects us to work up to them."

"Being a faculty member at Trinity is the perfect thing for me," says Broadbridge. "I enjoy research and, at the same time, I have the opportunity to get my students involved in my research and to bring that research into the classroom."

A new dimension in electrical engineering

A Rhode Island native who holds an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from the University of Rhode Island and a doctoral degree in materials science from Brown University, Broadbridge joined the Trinity faculty in 1993. She teaches courses in introductory engineering, semiconductor electronics, optoelectronics, and materials engineering. She also is the project director of United Technologies/Trinity College Engineering Initiative (UTCEI), a five-year initiative of Hartford-based United Technologies Corporation and Trinity aimed at bringing women and students of color into the fields of science and engineering.

In the relatively short time that Broadbridge has been at Trinity, she has left a distinct impression on the campus. "Because of her background in materials science, Christine has brought a new dimension to teaching electrical engineering to the department," says Professor of Engineering and Department Chair David J. Ahlgren. "She's also helped to add two previously nonexistent laboratories to the College, a materials lab and an optical diagnostics lab. She worked with the biology department on a successful grant proposal for the purchase of a transmission electron microscope. And she's done a wonderful job with UTCEI. She has helped to introduce engineering and science to high school students, and already six of the students who participated in the program have enrolled at Trinity."

Aerogel research

For Broadbridge, teaching means demonstrating applications of the theories and principles she covers in her engineering courses. Frank Stellabotte '00 has firsthand experience with Broadbridge's pedagogical approach. This past summer, Stellabotte was a recipient of a Dexter Corporation Fellowship, awarded to undergraduates to do research in materials science. The sophomore worked alongside Broadbridge and Associate Professor of Physics Barbara Walden in the materials engineering laboratory on the silica aerogels that Broadbridge is exploring as a high-speed replacement for computer capacitors.

For two months Stellabotte worked to fabricate the highly porous and ultralight solid. He then learned how to use an ultraviolet/visible spectrometer to characterize the results. He compares the painstaking fabrication process to a somewhat more commonplace operation. "It's like the process of making Jell-O(R) and then removing the water," he explains. "In this case, instead of removing the water, you remove the ethanol without disturbing the network of the aerogel."

His experience impressed him. "Before I did the research, I didn't even know what a capacitor was. Professor Broadbridge explained the entire process and many other things to us. She was fantastic! She's enthusiastic, very organized, and very hard working. I learned a lot from the experience."

Engineering major Mariam S. Farag '98 worked with Stellabotte on the same project in her capacity as a UTCEI Fellow, an honor bestowed on students who work as team leaders in the UTCEI program. Farag used the atomic force microscope (AFM) to characterize the results of the fabrication efforts. "I took an independent study with Professor Broadbridge last semester where I learned to operate the AFM," she explains. "Being able to work with an AFM as an undergraduate is a real advantage. Professor Broadbridge gives you a lot of attention and she's always available."

Students like Stellabotte and Farag will continue to be able to assist Professors Broadbridge and Walden on the aerogel research, thanks to a National Science Foundation grant for $74,965 recently awarded to Trinity in support of their research program.

Broadbridge says there are many benefits to teaching engineering at a liberal arts college. "What we're doing here is really cutting edge, as I see it. Our students aren't just technically trained. Their education goes well beyond that. They have a good strong background in the sciences, and beyond that they also have the opportunity to pursue other avenues. Employers are looking for people who can communicate, who have the ability to solve problems, who are technically literate but at the same time can work effectively with other people. Our students do that very well."

--Suzanne Zack

">