Golden Semesters At Purdue - Part II: spring '80 to fall '81

Spring 1980: Trip Back to Purdue A local gentleman who had his daughter living in Indiana offered to drive us to W. Lafayette just for meeting the gasoline expenses. I had already sent several boxes of books and small utensils through one of the newly hired Indian faculty who was leaving UWP. He was passing through Purdue where he has a friend. Our trip back is very smooth - the car was a big 8-cylinder Impala. The driver is a very experienced and careful driver. Some parts were so foggy that the visibility was limited to a few feet. Sharing the house with an American Family As my return was sudden, we did not have a place to move into. The married student housing has a waiting list. We had a very friendly American couple in the same building - 220, Nimitz Drive. They have a small child. The husband is doing his undergraduate studies at Purdue. They offered to share their apartment with us until we got our own apartment. It was about two weeks before I got 217-12 Halsey Drive available for our occupancy. We had no problem - the four of us - sharing the apartment with the three of them! We will cook our food after or before they cook for themselves in the same kitchen. Though there is only one bath room, we did not have any conflicts. Spring 1980- Summer 1980: I am on full-time assistantship! The sailing is smooth. I am concentrating and spending 16 to 18 hours a day to complete my research. Veda takes care of the children, follows up with their studies, participates in the parent-teacher conferences and also starts to learn driving. I have my third car now - an 8-cylinder Chevy-Impala. This is slightly older than my first Malibu. Fall 1980: In fall 80, Dr. Sinha left to India on his sabbatical and an Assistant Professor took charge of guiding my project. The research is extended to six midwestern states. I have all the data needed from federal publications, and have formulated the goal programming model. Life continues to be smooth-going in a routine fashion, with nothing other than my research in my mind. Gasoline selling at 70 cents a gallon, and my impala giving 6 to 8 miles to the gallon makes me look for a more fuel efficient car. I find a buyer for my Impala. I bought it for $350, did some brake work and sold it for $500 after a couple of months, thus breaking even. I find a yellow Gremlin, an American Motor Corportaion make - 6 cylinder car. This is much smaller than my previous one, but suppsedly will give more miles to the gallon. Dr. Sinha used to introduce me to others and say "Muthu went on his sabbatical to spend a semester in Platteville" Dr. Sinha left to India on his Sabbatical, leaving Dr. Jon Fricker to guide me. Dr. Fricker is in his early 30s, a fresh Ph. D., just hired by Purdue. I needed minimal guidance, as my approach and model have been approved by Dr. Sinha. Spring 1981 - A Turning Point: Set My Professional Licensing in Motion! I got a Teaching Assitant position to help in conducting the "Introduction to Civil Engineering" class. This course is an overview course. There is a senior professor who is the coordinator. Professors from different sub-disciplines such as Structures, Construction, Transportation, etc, lecture on the pertinent topic. The coordinator sits in the back of the class to keep an eye on the students and also prepare questions on the topic of discussion! I have to do the same in the absence of the coordinator. One of the instructors talked to the class about professional registration. Getting a bachelors degree is only the first step toward becoming a professional (licensed) engineer; next is passing an 8 hour exam on several disciplines fundamental to all traditional engineering - mathematics, statics, strength of materials, materials science, dynamics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, engineering economics, computer basics, professionalism and ethics. Passing this exam makes one an engineer-in-trainee. With 4 yeras of engineering work experience under alicensed engineer, the engineer in training is eligible to sit for the second 8 hour exam known as the professional engineering exam. This will be in the particular discipline such as civil, mechanical, chemical, etc. I went ahead and got a copy of "Engineering Fundamentals for Professional Engineers' Examinations", a McGraw-Hill publication by Lloyd M. Polentz. I had just about a week left to send my registration form and about a month to prepare for the exam. I have not used any of the material I learnt at Guindy since 1960. So, I needed to review and brush up my knowledge in these areas. Sitting for the exam was a wonderful experience - along the lines of GRE and TOEFL. There were 200 questions. One should answer about 150 of them correctly in 4 hours. These were all multiple choice questions, mostly problems to be solved quicly and pick the correct answer. Afternoon session contained 20 questions, with 10 subdivisions in each question. Least did I realize then how much of an important achiveent for me to pass this exam ( a clear 20 years of non-use of the material learned(?!)) - there was a time later in my life when my Professional Enginee (PE) status gave me a jop while my Ph.D failed! ************************************** There are two more major steps to complete my work and get my Ph. D conferred - the comprehnsive exam and the defense. The comp consists of taking tests in all the major area courses. I scheduled my comprehensive exam toward late May. There were some hurdles and I had to retake soe exams to satisfy the profs. Between my research assitantship and teaching assitantship, I am getting full-time ($1100/mo) I attend a class or two just out of my interest - auditing as they call it here. How I Bought My Own Book From Follet's One morning after a long break I go to Follet's book store just to browse. A copy of "Civil Engineering Handbook" by Urquhart in the top shelf catches my attention. I got a copy of this book as a free book when I joined the McGraw-Hill Book Club. I am just curious to know what is the price of this book at this store. I take the book and open it....... Surprise! I find my name and adress label in the inside cover. It is my copy that is sitting here! I go to the manager and explain how somebody seems to have stolen my book and sold it to him. "I am sorry. I have paid for the book. If you want it you have to buy it from me" Thus, I bought back my own book from the local bookstore. The irony is I got it free the first time! I got a Teaching Assitant position to help in conducting the "Introduction to Civil Engineering" class. This course is an overview course. There is a senior professor who is the coordinator. Professors from different sub-disciplines such as Structures, Construction, Transportation, etc, lecture on the pertinent topic. The coordinator sits in the back of the class to keep an eye on the students and also prepare questions on the topic of discussion! I have to do the same in the absence of the coordinator. One of the instructors talked to the class about professional registration. Getting a bachelors degree is only the first step toward becoming a professional (licensed) engineer; next is passing an 8 hour exam on several disciplines fundamental to all traditional engineering - mathematics, statics, strength of materials, materials science, dynamics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, engineering economics, computer basics, professionalism and ethics. Passing this exam makes one an engineer-in-trainee. With 4 yeras of engineering work experience under alicensed engineer, the engineer in training is eligible to sit for the second 8 hour exam known as the professional engineering exam. This will be in the particular discipline such as civil, mechanical, chemical, etc. I went ahead and got a copy of "Engineering Fundamentals for Professional Engineers' Examinations", a McGraw-Hill publication by Lloyd M. Polentz. I had just about a week left to send my registration form and about a month to prepare for the exam. I have not used any of the material I learnt at Guindy since 1960. So, I needed to review and brush up my knowledge in these areas. Sitting for the exam was a wonderful experience - along the lines of GRE and TOEFL. There were 200 questions. One should answer about 150 of them correctly in 4 hours. These were all multiple choice questions, mostly problems to be solved quicly and pick the correct answer. Afternoon session contained 20 questions, with 10 subdivisions in each question. Least did I realize then how much of an important achiveent for me to pass this exam ( a clear 20 years of non-use of the material learned(?!)) - there was a time later in my life when my Professional Enginee (PE) status gave me a jop while my Ph.D failed! Summer 1981: Is There Life After Grad School? Towards the end of summer 1981, I was completing my thesis. Dr. Sinha encouraged me to look for a job. This is contrary to what happens normally: the major professor typically wants to retain his Ph. D. candidate for as long as he can to get more work done, thus making it impossible for a candidate to earn a Ph. D within five or six years. April 1, 1981: I get a call from the Dean of Engineering at the University of Portland, Oregon. I was invited to go there for an interview for a tenure track position of Assitant Professor of Civil Engineering. Dean Nelson explained the interview terms: I will be paid my travel expenses for the interview under one of two conditions: (a) If I am not selected or (b) If I am selected and I accept the offer; I will not get my travel expenses if I reject the offer! I put my research work in fast pcae and start writing my thesis. Visit Portland, Oregon: I rent a car to drive to Indianapolis, fly from there to Portland, OR via Denver, Colorado. The flight through three different time-zones is quite long and exhausting. My thoughts and feelings are mixed. The expectation of getting a full-time, peramanent (?!) teaching position mixed with the fear of the unknown, made intense by past experience in Platteville run through my mind. Hopefully I will be able to give my wife and children the quality of life they deserve! The Inteview: University of Portland (UP) situated on the top of a bluff overlooking the Willamette river, is a small, undergraduate, Catholic university. Dr. Nelson metme at the motel and brought me to the School. After meeting the faculty individually, I am asked to give a seminar on my research. Then we all go to lunch at the University Cafeteria. Dr. Nelson takes me to the airport and gives me a firm handshake and tells: "Mr. Muthu, you will hear from us - very soon!" Got My Job at U of P: It is fall 1981. I have completed my thesis. Defense is over. I think I did a good job of answering the questions. My advisory committee consisted of Dr. Sinha, Dr. Fricker (both of Transportation), Dr. Ravindran from Industrial Engineering, and Dr. Virgil Anderson of Statisitcs. Jon Fricker commented to me just after the defense: "Sometimes I wondered who is the examiner and who the examinee!" I do not know if it was a complement or criticism. Anyway, Dr. Ravindran was not happy and he wanted me to rewrite a chapter. I have already received a call from Portland with the job offer, and I need to be there by early August. Dr. Sinha wanted me to stay and finish up the work. I was firm about leaving and completing the work before I leave - which I did. Visa Problem My F-1 visa is to expire in 2 weeks. I went, along with my wife and children, to Gary, Indiana, to get my practical training visa. This will enable me to accept the job at Portland, and give time to get sponsored and get my "green" card. The immigration officer is an afro-american lady. "Your request is declined. You already have had your practical training" "But I am yet to complete my studies and get my Ph.D. Also, there are only 14 days left before my current visa expires." "You got 14 days. Enough time to pack up and go home!" UP to rescue: We all returned to W. Lafayette wondering what to do now. I took the telephone to call Dr. Nelson and explain to him the he needs to get me on H-1 visa. First he hesitated. Then I explained that the only way I can start by August was for me to obtain H-1 status. He did that and I got H-1 status.