They say that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. And for Orlando Ayala, associate professor of engineering technology, what's true in the orchard is true in the engineering technology lab. Ayala says that's because of a special relationship he has with his father. My interest in engineering began when I was a kid," he says. "I had the privilege to have a dad who is a mechanical engineer and a faculty member in my home town university in Venezuela." The rest is history.
Ayala explained that his research interests (which include multiphase flows, turbulent flows, transport of particles in fluid flows, compressible flows, heat transfer, numerical modeling, and high-performance parallel computing and scientific computation) were fostered directly by his father's college lectures. "I used to go to his classes and I fell in love with the phenomena," he explained.
This early interest gave Ayala a thirst for learning more. "It all started when my dad, in every opportunity he had, tried to explain to us (my brothers and I) phenomena that we could see in front of our eyes. He was (he is!) really good at explaining things to the level of an elementary school kid. "That sparked my curiosity in science and engineering. As I grew up, I looked at other physical phenomena related to fluid mechanics that I wanted to learn more about. I guess the fact that I grew up in a family where academic conversations were always around helped me to be where I am."
Ayala feels that he has have been blessed in his life. The blessings include having the opportunity to pursue higher academic degrees, which put him in the front of research and getting a job in an engineering consulting firm after completing his PhD. "That gave me an important perspective and exposure to industry, which I lacked up to that point. The systems I designed pushed me to think out of the box always in the engineering context. The time I worked for that company deepened my love for mechanical engineering."
Another blessing, Ayala says is that at some point of his professional life, he overlapped his industry and academic work when he started teaching at a university. "The knowledge I got from my PhD time, the real engineering application I was involved with in the industry, and the countless awesome conversations I had with my dad on engineering topics, helped me to better be ready to teach to young minds eager to learn," he says.
Ayala says that he enjoys teaching and finds it both exciting and rewarding. "I receive emails or phone calls from former students to let me know that what they learned from me has been useful in their professional life." He also has the benefit of seeing his students in their student organizations performing and utilizing what he has taught them. In addition to his in-class responsibilities, Ayala has published more than 30 journal papers and more than 50 peer-reviewed conferences papers. He says that over the past six years he has received an average of more than 42 citations per year of all his published work, and that he is regularly invited to peer-review papers from different important journals in his field.
Ayala, who deeply values diversity, feels that the engineering field should reflect the composition of our society: a profuse mix of individuals with different rich backgrounds/experiences. "It is through the differences that humankind has made progress through the centuries. It is always important to listen to everyone's point of view and this view has been formed through the individual and different backgrounds of everyone. Thus, differences (diversity) should always be welcomed and also, they should be respected and encouraged. For that, every single member of our community must feel fairly treated (equity) and included (inclusion) in every aspect of their professional lives."