School of Engineering professor Merrill Ebner’s legacy will continue to inspire and challenge students through a recently developed manufacturing engineering competition funded by a grant created in his name.
In 2003, alumnus Roger Dorf, ENG ’70, and his wife Sandra created the Merrill L. Ebner Fund to encourage undergraduate and graduate students to design programs in manufacturing engineering, Dorf, one of Ebner’s students, said.
“He had a huge impact on my life, on the way I look at things, my education,” Dorf said. “The fund is a way for me to thank him for that impact.”
Dorf said he created the competition and fund to show students the importance of giving back to organizations that help them pursue their passions.
“I would like for students to be able to use the money for something useful to them . . . but I mainly want them to realize that all of us need to give back to the institutions that make us who we are,” Dorf said.
Ebner, who died of a heart attack during a BU recognition dinner March 27, is one of the most influential figures in ENG’s recent history, ENG Dean Kenneth Lutchen said.
“Ebner was one of the real fathers of the College of Engineering as it is today,” Lutchen said. “He was one of the people who set up the essential mission of the College of Engineering in the late sixties and early seventies.”
The Manufacturing Engineering Undergraduate Portfolio Contest awards the best compilation of projects from coursework, work experience and outside work related to design, making the resulting portfolio a type of “illustrated resume,” ENG senior and 2007 winner Edmunds said.
Edmunds also said that winning the award for his portfolio, which featured projects ranging from building and design to tests involving remotely controlled cars, had a positive impact on his future engineering career.
The contest awards $1,000, $500 and $250 for first, second and third place, respectively, to a student with the most creative program, but Edmunds said the money should not be the main focus.
“It’s a great resource not because of the financial reward, but because it provides the first real critique of what you’ve done by experts in the field,” Edmunds said. “The fund is there to encourage students to get involved and take pride in their own designs early on.”
Ebner retired from his full-time faculty position in 2006 after 42 years of teaching, but remained influential in the department for the past two years, Edmunds said.
“Professor Ebner was [the] source for just about anything, and he was always an inch, if not a mile, ahead of you when it came to design,” he said. “Even after his retirement, he was still here daily with casual consultant work.”
Lutchen said he expected the fund to grow, and said Ebner’s family requested donations go to the fund in lieu of flowers.
“I think that’s what he would have wanted,” Lutchen said. “Merrill was extremely dedicated to mentoring students on how to approach complex technology, and he felt that the best way to do that would be to have students working on projects to engage them in the design process. The fund gives them that chance.”