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An investiture on Oct. 29 at the DeVos Center formally celebrated Nicholas Baine as the James R. Sebastian Endowed Chair in Engineering Cooperative Education and Educational Development.

Baine, associate professor and chair of electrical engineering, is the third person to serve in that role. The position has been redefined to strengthen Padnos College of Engineering’s co-op education program to better meet the needs of students and industry partners.

He said his goals are to understand and measure what students gain from co-op experiences, create flexibility within the three rotations and ensure the co-op's educational components become more meaningful to students.

"The course content students engage with during co-op should help them step back from their immediate work and consider the larger lessons within those experiences," he said. "It should help students connect practice with questions of ethics, economics, communication, organizational culture, professional responsibility and their own developing identity as engineers."

Adebayo "Bayo" Ogundipe, dean of the Padnos College of Engineering, said Baine's experiences as an advisor for student organizations and coordinator for first-year engineering courses will enhance his current role.

“Nick’s commitment to our students, to the Padnos College of Engineering and to Grand Valley, is all-encompassing,” Ogundipe said. 

“His leadership, innovation and service make him the perfect choice for this role, in which his passion for teaching and learning will help both our college and our industry partners.”

The Sebastian Chair was established by James R. and Audrey M. Sebastian. Their support for GVSU's engineering program began in 1969 with the creation of an internship program and continued with the introduction of the co-op program in 1987. 

The couple's legacy and support for the Padnos College of Engineering is now carried forward by family members and the Sebastian Foundation. 

Nicholas Baine shows the medallion he received as endowed chair to his daughter, Fiona Baine, after an investiture at the DeVos Center on October 29. (Cory Morse)

Baine earned three degrees, including a Ph.D., in engineering at Wright State University and a master of business administration from GVSU. He joined Grand Valley's faculty in 2013. 

He said he wants to build on Sebastian's advocacy for professional experiences within engineering education. 

"It shows that Jim understood that we could not accomplish all of it inside a classroom," Baine said. "My hope is that we can build on that idea by asking the next question, which is not simply, 'Did our students complete a co-op?' but, 'Who did they become because of it?'"

John Sebastian speaks during the ceremony at the DeVos Center's Regency Room. (Cory Morse)