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Dr. Aubrey Sykes

Contributing Faculty (Computer Science)
Professor Emeritus (Engineering)
Engineering

Biography

Dr. Sykes has a broad set of technology and leadership skills. Much of his career has been dedicated to managing research and development for Shell Oil, Air Products & Chemicals, and AMP Incorporated. In each of these companies, he focused on environmental issues, strategies, and tactics for the development and deployment of technology for business results and personnel recruitment and development.
Dr. Sykes has licensed process technology worldwide. He led the development and deployment of many technology management practices from strategic approaches, to program and project management, to strategic and tactical use of trade secrets and patent estates, and to effective and efficient management of professionals and facilities. He has managed the development and construction of R&D facilities in the UK, in Utrecht (Holland), in Tsukuba (Japan), in Hong Kong (China), in Beijing (China) and around the US. Directly or through his leadership, Dr. Sykes has developed, improved, or produced numerous materials from which we gain daily benefits.
In recent years, Dr. Sykes has been teaching across several engineering disciplines as well as the physical and environmental sciences — first at Penn State University and now at Calvin College. His teaching experience is broad in technology range and in education level.
In addition to teaching, Dr. Sykes is a consultant to businesses in the areas of strategic planning and technology management, as well as patent portfolio management.
He was an active supporter of the development of the National Technological University and the Center for Innovation Management Studies at Lehigh University.  Since 2006, Dr. Sykes has been extremely active with the Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network (KEEN).
Since 2009, Dr. Sykes has served on the National Nominating Panel for Boren Scholarships (sponsored by the National Security Education Program and administered by the Institute of International Education).  He is also serving as an adhesives expert witness in a patent infringement court case. Dr. Sykes is writing a technology development book about addressing world hunger through facilitation of amaranth production.

Education

  • PhD in Chemical Engineering (Maryland, 1965, 1968), Sigma Xi
  • PE (State of Texas)
  • Dr. Sykes also took extensive business and management courses at the University of California-Berkley after completing his Ph.D.

Academic Interests

  • Addressing World Hunger through Facilitation of Amaranth Production

  • Preparing Students to Become Professional Engineers

  • Growing International Internships

  • Providing a Solution for Multi-effect Evaporators that Directly Solves Nonlinear Equations

  • Reviewing Recent Chemical Engineering Patents

  • Developing the Entrepreneurial Program at Calvin College

  • Integrating Business and Entrepreneurship into Engineering’s Senior Design at Calvin College

Research and Scholarship

The Feasibility of Green Roofs at Calvin College

<p><strong>Professor J. Aubrey Sykes and Ha Ram (David) Kang</strong></p>
<p>Green roofs consist of soil and plant layers placed over the roofing, usually a mastic or rubber layer, of a &ndash;generally&mdash;flat roof. Calvin College is one of the few academic institutions without some application of green roofs, and&mdash;evidently&mdash;the only college in the Grand Rapids area without at least one green roof; some local colleges have several.</p>
<p>The principal advantages of a green roof are management of water runoff (converting most of the precipitation to water transpired to the atmosphere), insulation effect (reducing energy losses or gains through roofs), and substantially extended life (indications are to 30 years vs. 7 years) for the roof &lsquo;s mastic or rubber seal. Maintenance is low consisting of minimal (e.g., annual) debris removal and occasional watering in the event of droughts.</p>
<p>Our examination of the feasibility of applying green roofs at Calvin College resulted in these recommendations:</p>
<ol>
<li>Further examination of what would have to be done to apply green roofs to Calvin College&rsquo;s existing buildings. All of Calvin&rsquo;s existing buildings were surveyed for green roof suitability and three were identified for potential. However, a green roof adds a roof load of 25 to 400 lb force, depending on the complexity of the roof (we were principally considering the lower load). Discussions are continuing with civil-structural engineers and architects to determine what would have to be done to allow green roofs on to the selected buildings.</li>
<li>Establish a campus policy that all future construction or modifications of campus buildings would be required to justify <span style="text-decoration: underline;">not</span> applying a green roof.</li>
<li>Establish a student project to build and monitor a demonstration project. The demonstration facility would most likely be located on an open area on DeVries Hall. Here two large panels would be built in similar layouts; one would contain a green roof panel and one would be a typical current green roof panel. Each would be instrumented equivalently to assess the mangement of precipitation, transfer of heat and incidence of destrutive solar radiation. The students for this project would come from Engineering, Biology and Business or Economics. The facility would help all to become acquainted with green roofs and their benefits.</li>
<li>Increase students&rsquo; awareness of green roofs and their auxiliary facilities througn seminars, site visits, and in-class discussion and problems. Auxiliary facilities&nbsp;include rain gardens for collecting excess runoff, and vertical green roofs applied like exterior Trombe walls.</li>
</ol>
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Aubrey Sykes

Contact Me

526-7188

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