{"id":5683,"date":"2026-01-21T15:22:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T20:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/reporter\/winter-2026\/along-the-walk\/clayton-p-byers\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T09:26:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T14:26:00","slug":"faculty-focus","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/reporter\/winter-2026\/along-the-walk\/faculty-focus\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculty Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Clay Byers, Donald L. McLagan Associate Professor of Engineering, tells it, he had a typical middle-class childhood in the suburbs of Seattle. The son of a blue-collar union worker and a stay-at-home mother who moonlighted as a hair stylist, he was raised on stories about his grandfather\u2019s exploits as an Alaskan bush pilot in the \u201940s and \u201950s.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo by Nick Caito<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI grew up hearing my grandpa\u2019s stories about near-death experiences, raising kids out in the middle of nowhere, and grandma on the porch with a gun to scare off bears,\u201d Byers says. \u201cIt was like a classic Old West drama.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Byers was old enough to start thinking about college, joining the U.S. Air Force seemed like a natural decision. He already knew he wanted to do something technical, loved math and science, and harbored aspirations to follow his grandfather\u2019s path and become a pilot. With academic scholarships and support from the Air Force, Byers became the first in his family to graduate from college, earning a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Washington State University in 2009.<\/p>\n

Yet even before he finished his degree, Byers had realized that his dreams of flying had been supplanted by a different passion\u2014academics. He recalls,\u00a0\u201cI ended up talking to an academic adviser, and I asked him, \u2018How do I do what you do?\u2019 \u201d\u00a0But having already made a commitment to the military, Byers was commissioned as an officer\u00a0in the Air Force and spent four years as a program manager at the Space and Missile Systems Center\u00a0in Santa Barbara, California.<\/p>\n

Then, despite not having undergraduate research or internship experience, Byers was admitted to Princeton University, an achievement he credits to his leadership development and management responsibilities in the military. While at Princeton, Byers became interested in fluid dynamics and turbulence and co-founded Tendo Technologies, a start-up focused on sensor manufacturing and precision flow measurement technology. He earned a Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering in 2018.<\/p>\n

Following the suggestion of a mentor, Byers began looking into liberal arts colleges with strong engineering programs and applied for a position at Trinity. After a marathon of interviews and meetings in Hartford, Byers was immediately sold on Trinity. \u201cI realized this is where I needed to be,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n

Byers\u2019s intuition would be affirmed\u2014since joining the faculty in 2018, his positive impact has been felt by many. In 2023, Byers received the Dean Arthur H. Hughes Award for Achievement in Teaching. \u201cAs evidenced by this award, Clay is deeply committed to undergraduate education and student research in a liberal arts environment,\u201d says Lin Cheng, Karl W. Hallden Professor of Engineering and chair of the Engineering Department. \u201cHe has done an excellent job providing his students with high-quality classroom experiences and offers a strong research program outside the classroom that integrates and cultivates talented student researchers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Byers\u2019s presence on the faculty also has been appreciated by his students. \u201cProfessor Byers has been one of my biggest inspirations to stay curious and keep learning,\u201d says Sofia Iturbide \u201926, an engineering major with a concentration in mechanical engineering. \u201cI came to Trinity planning on majoring in biomedical engineering, but when I started working with him on a fluid-based project inspired by the human heart, I realized I was most drawn to fluid mechanics. His mentorship has been one of the best parts of my time at Trinity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting the evolution of his aspirations and academic interests, Byers hopes to encourage his students to follow their intuition in carving out their own paths. \u201cYou can make all the plans you want, and you should, but you never know what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d he says. \u201cI had initially planned to become a pilot, but I realized I was more drawn toward academics. I thought I would study green energy and combustion in graduate school, but instead I discovered my interest in fluid dynamics and turbulence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Byers emphasizes that he never wants to take his teaching and mentorship responsibilities for granted. \u201cIt\u2019s a privilege to have this position and to be able to work with our students,\u201d he says. \u201cThey have a great deal of trust in us, and I don\u2019t want to ever let them down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Ian Rothenberg<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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