Dr. Scott Kirkpatrick’s specialties include nano materials, plasma engineering, thin film processing, and material characterization. He co-teaches unique courses at Rose-Hulman, including a nanotechnology class that utilizes the institute’s Micro-Nano Device and Systems (MiNDS) lab and summer Grand Challenges courses, through which students address one of 14 global grand challenges posed by the National Academy of Engineering. Dr. Kirkpatrick also holds a patent in magnetics, advises the campus Role-Playing Club, and is a lifelong Pittsburgh sports fan.
Academic Degrees
- PhD, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Chemical and Materials Engineering, 2009
- MS, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Mechanical Engineering (Materials Science), 1999
- BS, Carnegie Mellon University, Materials Science and Engineering, 1995
Awards & Honors
- Monorable Mention, Best Teaching Paper, Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation Division, American Society of Engineering Education, 2016
Research Experiences
- Solar power
- Carbon nanotubes
- Energy storage
- Microscopy
- High power impulse magnetron sputtering
- Nanomagnetism
- Reactive sputtering
Select Publications & Presentations
- Bernal, A., Kirkpatrick, S. and Watt, A., “Modifying Model-based System Engineering for Undergraduate Students,” American Society of Engineering Education’s Annual Conference, New Orleans, 2016
- Kirkpatrick, S., Watt, A. and Bernal, A., “Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset Through a Summer Mega-Course,” American Society of Engineering Education’s Annual Conference, New Orleans, 2016
- Cao, K. and Kirkpatrick, S., “Experimental Results of Carbon Nanotube Fabrication via CVD with Iron Catalyst and Acetylene Precursor,” Butler University Undergraduate Research Conference, Indianapolis, 2015
- Leisher, P., Kirkpatrick, S., Granieri, S., Bunch, R. and Liptak, R., “An Activity in Design for Manufacturability Concept Generation Through Volume Production in Less Than Three Hours," American Society of Engineering Education’s Annual Conference, Indianapolis, 2014
- Watt, A., Kirkpatrick, S. and Bernal, A., “What's in the Soup? Auto-Ethnograhies from an Engineer, a Physicist, and an English Professor Regarding a Successful Multidisciplinary Grand Challenge Program,” American Society of Engineering Education’s Annual Conference, Indianapolis, 2014
- Kirkpatrick, S. R., Siahmakoun, A., Adams, T. M. and Wang, Z., “A Shape Memory Alloy MEMS Heat Engine,” U. S. Patent No. 7,444,812, 2008
- Kirkpatrick, S., Lundin, D., Helmersson, U. and Rohde, S., “HIPIMS Plasma Modeling,” Technical Conference of the Society of Vacuum Coaters, Louisville, Kentucky, 2007
- Kirkpatrick, S., Li, J. and Rohde, S., “Ellipsometric Studies of HPPMS Sputtered Chrome Films,” American Vacuum Society Conference, 2006
Teaching Interests
- Semiconductors
- Micro scale manufacturing
- Nanoscale manufacturing
- Nanoscale effects
- Multi-physics modeling
- Materials characterization
- Materials selection
- Systems engineering