Coby joins the Olin community this summer as Senior Shop Manager and Instructor of Fabrication. We recently sat down with him for a Q&A.

Q: Share a little bit about your background and how you came to be at Olin.

A: When I was a kid, my mom was a teacher and my dad was a carpenter, I fell somewhere in between. After studying industrial design, I have been lucky to work in highly hands-on-oriented jobs. After college I worked for about a year at Autodesk’s Pier 9 workshop in San Francisco as an artist in residence and as part of the shop staff and in-house design studio. I then spent a year in southern India designing cooking stoves before buying a rickshaw and moving to Mumbai where I helped convert it into a mobile classroom for teaching hands-on building workshops for kids. For the last 8 years, before starting at Olin, I managed the Hobby Shop at MIT where I taught members from across the MIT community in a wide variety of fabrication machines and techniques.

Q: What will you be teaching at Olin?

A: I am excited to join the Shop staff at Olin and begin teaching Fundamentals of Machine Shop Operation. My version of FOMSO will focus on making machinist tools that students will be able to take with them and hopefully make use of throughout their careers. 

Q: What are you looking forward to and hoping to accomplish at Olin?

A: One of the key aspects of Olin that really appeals to me is the focus on hands-on learning and the accessibility of the Shop to all students. I’m hoping to continue fostering that spirit and encouraging students to explore and learn thorough building tangible objects. 

Q: What is your philosophy when it comes to fabrication?

A: I believe we all have a lot to gain through hands-on building. Working in the shop teaches valuable skills for an engineering career, but I also believe it teaches us to be better people. The power to manipulate and improve the objects around us is a reminder that we have the ability to make the world a better place. Building and making things is a reminder of our unique place in the world. 

Q: Describe a project you’re particularly proud of.

A: It’s hard to pick just one thing. The two wooden zoetropes I’ve made are pretty fun. Each has a 12-frame animation around a cylindrical vessel that spins to create the illusion of motion. One uses a strobe to display each frame, and the other utilizes a series of mirrors. 

Q: What do you like to do for fun in your free time?

A: When not in the Olin shop, you can find me in my home shop, sewing custom shirts, walking my dog, or working with my wife on our small garlic farm. 

Q: Oliners can ask me _________?

A: Why do you grow so much garlic? Does CNC technology belong in the art and craft world? What is your current favorite shop tool?

Q: Oliners can remind me ________?

A: Is that an Olin acronym you are using or a slang term I’m unfamiliar with?

Delaney Knapp joins the Olin Library staff as our Community Resources Librarian. Learn more about them, what they’re reading, and their reflections on a librarian’s role in the community in this Q&A.

Q: Share a little bit about your background and how you came to be at Olin.

A: I was born and raised in Iowa and spent most of my life living in Iowa City. I went to the University of Iowa for my bachelor’s degree where I majored in history, minored in rhetoric and received a Certificate in Medieval Studies. During my bachelor’s degree I TA’ed rhetoric where I got to help students conduct research into topics they were passionate about. After I graduated, I moved to Boston to get my master’s degree in library and information science from Simmons University where I focused on the technology and e-resources that libraries use to support their patrons.

Q: What are you looking forward to and hoping to accomplish at Olin?

A: As the Community Resources Librarian, my role will be to grow, maintain and assist others with the e-resources collection as well as work on general library duties. I am excited to improve upon existing library resources and help support the Olin community pursue their own passions as much as possible.

Q: What is your personal approach to helping community members navigate the library?

A: As a librarian my goal is to make the library as accessible as possible to each community member. I aim to not just be able to assist people in the short term but to help everyone develop the tools they need to explore their passions. I am passionate about making sure that all of the library’s resources are accessible to the entire community.

Q: What is on your TBR pile at the moment?

A: My to-be-read pile is ever-growing and never-ending, however, the books at the top of the list are astronaut Eugene Cernan’s autobiography The Last Man on the Moon: Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America's Race in Space and Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time series.

Q: Favorite book of all time? Favorite book you read this summer?

A: I am going to cheat and pick my favorite series of all time—the Teixcalaan series by Arkady Martine which, for now, consists of two books, A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace. This summer I have been really interested in the history of the Space Race and read Red Moon Rising, which focuses on early rocketry from both Soviet and American perspectives.

Q: What do you like to do for fun in your free time?

A: In my free time I enjoy embroidering while watching a tv show (usually something either in the Star Wars or Star Trek universes) and birdwatching.

Q: Oliners can ask me about…?

A: Star Trek, Star Wars, X-Files, Lost or any other science fiction shows. I may not know them, but I’m always happy to talk about them!

Q: Oliners can teach me about…?

A: Their interests! I always love learning new things and hearing people talk about what they are enthusiastic about.

"I’ve enjoyed most every course that I’ve taken so far at Olin, but the most impactful class has been far and away Environmental Consulting at Olin (ECO), which I took in Spring 2023. The course is co-taught by a faculty member as well as the Associate Director of Sustainability, and the entire focus is on how to ideate, design, modify, and implement a sustainability initiative on campus. Students walk through first researching a problem and evaluating possible solutions and then engage with stakeholders across campus to understand their potential impact. 

My class focused on rethinking the waste system in two of our buildings, which only had recycling and trash systems. Reviewing what other schools had done, we wanted to expand our streams to incorporate compost, e-waste, and battery disposal, so we began talking with faculty and staff members in those buildings, our custodians, and representatives from other schools to understand the benefits and challenges that would arise in adding more waste streams. 

After running pilots, soliciting feedback, and documenting the effect of the changes, we fully rolled out a program that was implemented over the summer (I actually ended up having an internship on campus that meant that I got to fully implement my own system - getting to see it from start to finish!) Now every day on campus, I see something that I helped create that is making Olin more sustainable. It not only lets me see an impact that I’ve had, but the class itself was the first time I got to see how to truly create change on an institutional level."

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“Olin’s library goes against all popular belief of what a library ‘should be.’ Here, at Olin, the library is a space where silence is broken with random rabbit hole arguments and the humming of sewing machines. Any time I walk into the library, I find familiar faces. From collaborating on work with them to providing a much-needed distraction if necessary, there’s never a dull moment in the library.

As I write this, I’m sitting at a table in the lower library, with the closest friends I’ve ever made. With the shared memories of challenging them to see who can focus the longest and actually get work done, making pretend podcasts in the Sound Studio, and holding our own impromptu office hours, the Olin library reassures me that I’m in the right space— a place where I can be myself. Here, I know there will always be someone there to talk and relate to.

Within this library’s walls, I’ve caught myself in fits of laughters so intense that they’ve left me breathless… letting me forget that my QEA final project was due that very same night. But I’ve also had 3AM conversations: when we’re just too tired with homework, meandering into profound moments of deep connection or chaotically rambling with a friend until the early morning.

Olin’s library fosters experiences that couldn’t happen anywhere else on campus —I couldn’t possibly select just one favorite moment, because I’ve had countless and still have many more to come.

Plus, it’s got books, and let’s face it, books are pretty cool.”

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"Hands down some of my favorite memories have been with The MIX. The MIX stands for the Multicultural Innovators eXperience. It is a club on campus that celebrates different cultures and backgrounds and is open to everyone. I have been very fortunate to be able to make memories with the MIX even before I got into Olin. Since my application season was during the pandemic I had a lot of time to look through my emails and read all the love letters that several colleges were placing in my inbox. One day, I saw a new kind of love letter. It was The MIX, telling me to apply to their virtual fly-in program for Olin. Since Olin was already high up on my priority list, I filled out the application immediately. An acceptance love letter, a new Olin hoodie (which I am actually wearing right now), and a zoom link later, there I was hanging out with the MIX on a Sunday evening. Even though we were on zoom, we were still able to make fond memories, arguing and laughing over a drawing game during game night.

For the second day of the fly-in, we were able to sit in on an Olin class. This was when I met one of my favorite Professors, Emily Tow. Being from Cali, Emily’s class was scheduled for 9pm eastern time but 6am pacific time. I had stayed awake too late the night before, so I woke up late! I was so worried that Emily was going to be mad at me for showing up late but when I popped into the zoom room she was very happy to see me. Even as I gave her my bad explanation for waking up late, she looked at me very compassionately and told me that it was ok and guided me to a breakout room. Once I was in the breakout room, I was surprised to see just how much fun the Oliners were having with their topic. My favorite was when they were talking about measuring the loss of heat from hot chocolate to determine the speed of wind in a wind tunnel. This was when they introduced me to Transport Phenomena, The Emily Tow class. I couldn’t believe I was late to HER class. As everyone signed off, I stayed behind to excuse my tardy one last time. As I did, I could tell that it was something that did not bother Emily, because there she was with her warm smile and compassionate eyes.

Even though Olin was already high on my list after the MIX fly-in, I knew that Olin was the place where I wanted to be.

Now fast forward, a few years later, here I am at Olin in the Commons! This space is meant to be a hub for several clubs on campus that collaborate with the Office of IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access). The biggest and most frequent club here is the MIX. Now as the MIX co-vice-president, I help run our own game nights and meetings in this room. Since the Commons was just released this year, we are still designing this space to best capture the different aspects of all the clubs that call this place home. As someone who helped work on it last year and now this year, I can’t wait to see what we create.

(fun fact: I have taken the Emily Tow class, Introduction to Transport Phenomena, just this last semester! It is definitely worth it!)"

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“I feel so comfortable being myself at Olin, in small and big ways. One small way is connecting with people around knitting. I have ADHD, and knitting keeps my hands busy so that my mind can focus. Outside of Olin, knitting at work might not be as widely accepted, but here I’ve seen it welcomed in many situations.

During my onsite interview last year, Caitrin Lynch was knitting during my teaching demonstration. She even asked a question about how data structures could be applied to her knitting pattern. Now, one year after that interview, I break out a knitting project in almost every faculty meeting, and I’m not the only one. One colleague usually does embroidery. With another colleague, I exchange notes on the best fidget toys.

I also keep a bowl of fidget toys as a centerpiece in my lab, used frequently by me and my students. In addition to the fidget toys, the Autonomous Robot Training (ART) lab features a mix of team projects, birthday celebrations, paper reading, kanban boards, and AI ethics discussions. As a new faculty member, I’m empowered to build my own lab culture, which has been especially fun to do alongside the lab’s 18 student members.

I’m looking forward to the years ahead, which will hopefully involve more crafting and connections with Olin community members.”

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Mike Nguyen has led Olin’s institutional research & decision support efforts since the fall of 2023. We recently chatted with him to learn more about his background, favorite superhero, and more!

Q: Share a little bit about your background and how you came to be at Olin.

A: I am a Southern Californian native who has spent nearly the last two decades in Utah where I completed my bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in sociology from Weber State University. I worked at Weber’s Institutional Research office during my undergrad and after graduation. I then left higher education for healthcare where I spent 8+ years in analytics, the bulk of the time working in continuing medical education. During that period, I completed my master’s degree in quantitative psychology from Ball State University. The global pandemic had quite an effect on me: I didn’t want to keep working in healthcare, and I wanted to go back to work in higher education. I found an assistant director of research and surveys role at a local community college. While I loved returning to institutional research at the community college, my husband and I still wanted to seek out our next adventure. We decided to find jobs in New England, a place neither of us had ever been before, and find a new home that would be close to the ocean, a stipulation I insisted on after being landlocked for so long. I felt like I was Moana, and the sea was calling me.

Q: What should the Olin community know about Institutional Research & Decision Support?

A: As the director of institutional research and decision support, I oversee the collection, analysis, and reporting of data to support decision-making, planning, and policy formation at Olin. I look at student demographics, enrollment trends, academic performance, and metrics, including retention and graduation rates. I prepare reports for internal (e.g., cabinet, board) and external stakeholders (e.g., accrediting bodies, federal government). I source my data from various institutional surveys and our very own data warehouse.

Though institutional research and decision support seem to be heavily data-focused, I am also interested in what I call non-traditional metrics. Olin has a fantastic retention rate and graduation rate, but there are other areas where we can be successful and improve, like how well we build a sense of belonging and community, create accessible higher education in every sense of the word, and increase student engagement and satisfaction. I am also happy to partner with faculty and students on their research projects.

Q: You are also currently a PhD student in Education Sciences. Tell us about what you’re researching/studying!

A: I am a proud University of Kentucky Wildcat who has been working on my PhD in Education Sciences for the past few years. Despite being an online program, the cohort experience with online classes closely mirrors a traditional in-person experience. More importantly, I have a wonderful cohort of colleagues and a department that is invested in my success and supports my interest in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Since my program is focused on educational leadership, my research interests also include exploring novel ways in which schools can push back against the attacks and outright bans against DEI that are cropping up throughout the country.

Q: How did you decide to focus on using comic books in the classroom to teach diversity, equity, and inclusion? Why is this area important to you?

A: DEI was always meant to be a way to fight against the pervasive and systemic inequities that are prevalent throughout all aspects of our society. From an educational standpoint, DEI could help students learn cultural competence, develop social empathy, and accept individuals from different backgrounds. I am interested in DEI because I think it is a sorely needed panacea for the division we have in the country right now. I wasn’t planning on researching comic books and DEI until a professor was meeting with me on Zoom and commented on a plastic Captain America shield I had on my shelf in the background. He shared that as a white kid in the Deep South, Spider-Man was his gateway to Faulkner, and when you grow up, and Spider-Man and the X-Men are your heroes, and they are persecuted for who they are, it changes how you see the world and the people in it. It’s not subtle that the X-Men are the perfect civil rights analogs. I am curious to explore whether there is a relationship between superhero comic book consumption and someone’s attitudes and beliefs towards diversity, equity, and inclusion.

 Q: What do you like to do for fun and/or in your free time outside of Olin?

A: Outside of Olin, my husband and I enjoy exploring the touristy sites in our new home state and trying all the delicious seafood. I have a list of places to try or visit that continuously grows—send me your suggestions! We are the proud parents of Oscar, a mini-Aussie heeler mix, and Molly, a heeler Shetland sheepdog mix, and enjoy taking them on adventures with us. I am recently learning to swim as an adult and have attempted to learn kayaking since moving here. Depending on how busy I am with school outside of work, I like to play indoor volleyball and have been playing the sport for over 25 years. I used to be a high school boys’ volleyball coach during my free time and would love to return to coaching on the side in the future. I also love cooking, and you can find me smoking pork ribs or baking sourdough from my Utah-borne starter on the weekends.

Q: Oliners can ask me about…?

A: Oliners can always stop by my office to talk shop about anything from research methods, exploratory factor analysis using small sample sizes, SQL, survey design, or my favorite Excel formula, VLOOKUP. Oliners can also stop by anytime to talk about their favorite superhero and why I think it should be Captain America, the feasibility of starting a comic book club here at Olin, why Back to the Future is the greatest film of all time, why the Pirates of Caribbean attraction at Disneyland is superior to the one at Disneyworld, and why the 5-1 offense is superior to 6-2.

Q: Oliners can teach me about…?

A: I would love to hear about your experience at Olin and what made you decide to come to Olin. I want to hear about what motivates you to complete surveys. I want to know what you plan to do when you graduate. I want to know what Engineering for Everyone means to you!