{"id":26159,"date":"2022-08-02T11:25:32","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T16:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/?p=26159"},"modified":"2024-07-11T15:22:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T20:22:12","slug":"research-as-a-team-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2022\/08\/research-as-a-team-sport\/","title":{"rendered":"Research as a team sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mike Mann retires from UND after 41 years of bringing together faculty, students, staff<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Mike Mann (left), who recently retired after a 41-year teaching and research career at UND, receives the UND Foundation\/Thomas J. Clifford Faculty Achievement Award for Excellence in Research from former UND President Charles Kupchella on Founders Day in 2006. UND archival photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Harry S. Truman<\/p>\n

Some who worked with Mike Mann<\/a> during his 41-year career at UND remember this tagline from his emails because it symbolized his approach to conducting research and mentoring students and faculty in a manner likely leave a long-lasting impression on the University.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that quote perfectly sums up Mike\u2019s impact on the College of Engineering & Mines<\/a> during his time in chemical engineering,\u201d said CEM Dean Brian Tande<\/a>. \u201cIn the later part of his career, he helped build our Institute for Energy Studies and launched several new research initiatives in the college.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Michael Mann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Mann retired from UND at the end of June, he left a career filled with honors, as well as a quiet legacy of mentoring and building research teams that included everyone from freshman students to senior faculty members from around campus. His research focused on answering practical questions, attracting wide support from North Dakota industry, as well as federal and state agencies.<\/p>\n

Mann will continue to serve as a research advisor and on graduate student committees as he transitions from full-time to emeritus faculty status.<\/p>\n

\u201cMike has been one of UND\u2019s most prolific researchers and collaborative research developers,\u201d said Wayne Seames<\/a>, a UND Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and director of the ND SUNRISE program in the CEM Department of Chemical Engineering. \u201cMike leaves as one of UND\u2019s most accomplished and successful scholars, administrators and collaborators.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mann\u2019s areas of expertise included multidisciplinary and integrated energy and environmental projects, energy strategies and optimum processes based on thermodynamics and economics, while also considering social, political and regulatory implications.<\/p>\n

According to Mann, his research philosophy revolved around assembling teams and then getting the most out of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch, as I approach it, is a team sport,\u201d he explained. \u201cYou can\u2019t accomplish much by yourself, but you can accomplish a lot when you work with other people.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou recognize their strengths and add value to what they can do,\u201d Mann emphasized. \u201cYou encourage them, you empower them, you engage them and you treat them with respect \u2013 as equals. Give them credit, but then take responsibility.<\/p>\n

Getting the most out of people<\/h2>\n

\u201cKeep it a civil and collaborative work environment,\u201d he continued. \u201cIf you do that, then people rise up in ways that exceed your standards. They do things together as a team and do things that nobody can accomplish by themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mann said the most rewarding part of his UND career were the opportunities to educate and mold future engineers and leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed seeing students come in, mentoring them and turning them into good, mature engineers,\u201d he said. \u201cI get a lot of emails from former students, but the one that hit home the most said, \u2018You believed in me when nobody else did \u2013 not even myself.\u2019 That\u2019s the kind of relationship I want to have with my students, to help them grow, learn and expand.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the same with mentoring new faculty, researchers and research teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they graduate, get a new grant, earn a Ph.D. or get published in a high-prestige publication, those are the kind of accomplishments I relish the most,\u201d Mann said. \u201cThose I see as the biggest highlights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Mike Mann (white shirt) at the CEM Research Facility during a 2021 visit from the North Dakota Industrial Commission. CEM Dean Brian Tande and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are to Mann’s left. Photo by Patrick C. Miller\/UND Today. Photo by Patrick C. Miller\/UND Today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mann trained the next generations of engineering scholars, including 25 Ph.D. and 34 master\u2019s students under his sponsorship, mentorship and guidance, while serving on 75 graduate student committees from 10 different UND departments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mann grew up on a farm outside of Alsen, N.D., and received bachelor\u2019s degrees in math and chemistry from Mayville State University in 1979. He came to UND where he received his master\u2019s degree in chemical engineering in 1981.<\/p>\n

From EERC to engineering<\/h2>\n

That same year, he went to work as a research engineer at what was known as the Grand Fork Energy Technology Center, then operated by the U.S. Department of Energy. The center was defederalized in 1983 and later became the UND Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC).<\/p>\n

Mann was promoted to research manager in 1985 and to senior research manager in 1994. While working at the EERC, he earned a master\u2019s in business administration from UND in 1988 and a Ph.D. in energy engineering in 1997.<\/p>\n

Steve Benson, a former EERC associate director, a retired CEM faculty member and now the CEO of Microbeam Technologies Inc., worked with Mann at the EERC and CEM.<\/p>\n

\u201cMike was an extremely organized and diligent researcher,\u201d Benson said. \u201cHe had this calm sense about him. In research, things go wrong and things go right. Mike had a great way of navigating through the ups and downs of the R&D world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ed Steadman, EERC vice president for research, recalled traveling with Mann to power plants in western North Dakota.<\/p>\n

\u201cMike was always a great engineer and a consummate professional,\u201d Steadman remembered. \u201cHe was the guy behind the scenes you needed to make everything work. He was that quiet, stoic, competent person who was good to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Mike Mann (left) shares a light moment with a colleague while working at the UND Energy & Environmental Research Center. EERC archival photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1999, Mann began working full time at CEM. From 2000-2005, he was director of the engineering doctoral program. He chaired the chemical engineering department from 2005-2013 and also served as an associate professor in the department from 1999-2006. He was associate dean for research from 2009-2013 and again from 2021-2022. Mann was executive director of the Institute for Energy Studies from 2014 to 2022.<\/p>\n

Dan Laudal, who succeeded Mann as the director of the institute, said, \u201cWhen I think of Mike, I think of a great mentor, and that\u2019s what he\u2019s meant to me. I give him so much credit for the engineer and leader I\u2019ve become. I\u2019ve tried my best to take some of that into my own career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surojit Gupta, associate professor of mechanical engineering, said, “It was an honor to work with Dr. Mann. He is an excellent mentor and colleague in CEM. He always helped with guidance and support in grant preparation and advised on any issues.”<\/p>\n

Prakash Ranganathan, associate professor of electrical engineering, said of Mann, \u201cHe is a true energizer who can move people. Mike is like a Wikipedia for those who want to learn lessons on leadership qualities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Projects and honors<\/h2>\n

Mann was the principal investigator on 35 major CEM external grants totaling $13.5 million. He authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, 140 conference presentations, and 150+ client and agency reports. He was an named inventor on three UND patents. His work is heavily cited by other researchers.<\/p>\n

Seames said Mann is one of the most awarded faculty members in the history the chemical engineering department. His awards include:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Faculty Scholar Award for Excellence in Research, Teaching and Service (UND\u2019s Professor of the Year Award), 2020.<\/li>\n
  • Award for Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Research or Creative Works, 2014<\/li>\n
  • Excellence in Undergraduate Recruitment and Advising, UND. 2013.<\/li>\n
  • CEM Outstanding Faculty Award, 2013.<\/li>\n
  • Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, 2009.<\/li>\n
  • Distinguished Alumni Award, Mayville State University, 2007.<\/li>\n
  • Thomas J. Clifford Faculty Achievement Award for Individual Excellence in Research, 2006.<\/li>\n
  • CEM Olson Professorship for Excellence in Research, 2003.<\/li>\n
  • NSF Career Grant, 2001.<\/li>\n
  • Three papers selected as best papers in international conferences.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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