New Teacher: Dr. Matt Miller, Engineering

This year Dr. Matt Miller has joined BSM as a new computer science teacher. Miller spent 25 years in engineering for medical devices and has extensive experience in computer software.

Miller discovered a passion for physics in high school. After high school Miller attended Wisconsin River Falls University during his undergrad. His love of physics and a desire to discover even more about the subject led him to Michigan State University where he graduated with a Masters and PhD in physics. “Each day I still find myself asking the question, I wonder how that works?” Miller said.

During his time at Michigan State, Miller researched super cooled liquids as an experimental physicist. Supercooled liquids can be any type of liquid and can become unstable if frozen too quickly. Freezing rain was an example Miller used. “I did a lot of building equipment and controlling equipment with computers. I really got into that and so I was able to translate that into a job in what was called systems engineering,” Miller said.

After college, Miller also taught undergraduate level physics at Metro State University while working for a company in systems engineering. He had no previous relationship with BSM before he was hired, but he was attracted to the culture of BSM engineering. “The engineering department and space is fantastic. I can’t imagine a better environment for an engineering and computer science teacher,” Miller said.

The structure of the engineering program and the opportunity to work with determined students are some of the highlights of BSM. “It’s been great. It really has, this space down here so unique and you know, working with … very driven people that seem to know what they want,” Miller said.

Miller can already see ways to improve the engineering and computer science programs. He is looking at the structure of the engineering programs and how they should be revamped. “Right now, [classes are] very heavily focused on the mechanical design side. There’s a little bit of programming that you get in engineering two, but we’re thinking of starting that at engineering one and having kind of a parallel track in the programming side,” Miller said.

Miller is looking forward to continuing his first year teaching. “The Staff and students have all been very friendly and helpful as I begin my first year of teaching [here]. The Engineering department and space is fantastic, I can’t imagine a better environment for an engineering and computer science teacher,” Miller said.