Profile Information
ROBERT BROWN
Illinois, United States
Roles
Educator
Levels
College, Undergraduate
Subjects
Math, Career and Tech Ed
About me
I did my college work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There I earned my Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. While there, I was in the engineering co-op program at Caterpillar in East Peoria, IL, where I learned a lot, mostly the hard way.
I went on to Caterpillar and spent my career there. Mostly, I designed gears and powertrains; I also spent 3 years as a shop foreman and spent a few years in quality control, service tools, and electronics. But, first, foremost, and forever: I’m a gear head/math guy.
Gears are highly mathematical: They are a math concept turned into a 3D shape. In gear design, I learned how to “see” the shapes in equations, and I took many more math courses (at University of Illinois Springfield and NIU).
While at Caterpillar, I began tutoring math at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove, IL. Tutoring taught me how to see a math course through a student’s eyes, and how to find ways to really understand the concepts. When I retired from Cat in 2013, I came to Kishwaukee College, Malta, IL, as a math teacher. And I have had a great time of it!!
I’ve taught a variety of courses at KCC. These courses include Arithmetic, Algebra, Print Reading, Technical Math, and Math for Machine Technology.
One of my favorite things about math is that it can be used so much in our everyday lives. We are often unaware of the patterns in use, all around us, and math helps to see these. And, in our world of computers, knowing math will take out some of the mystery. I hope that you’ll learn to love it as much as I do!