Getting to know: Andy Klein
Official Title at Western: Assistant professor, Engineering and Design
Number of years at Western: 1
Favorite statue on campus: Richard Serra is one of my favorite living sculptors, and it's amazing to have one of his giant steel statues just ten steps from my office.
Favorite Book: Codex Seraphinianus
Favorite Movie: Metropolis
Favorite Band: Stereolab
Favorite Quote: "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." -A. Einstein
Favorite Restaurant: Ciao Thyme
Favorite place in Bellingham: Secret mushroom-hunting spots in the foothills of the Cascades, though I guess the best ones are technically outside the city limits.
Do you speak any other languages? Besides pig latin and Python, I also speak French.
What do you enjoy most about teaching at Western? It's refreshing to be at an institution that encourages experimentation in the classroom, and values high quality teaching with a focus on hands-on and project-based learning. I also really value the fact that teaching and research are viewed as complementary activities.
What is your day-to-day like? It's summer, so today I'm finishing up a manuscript I hope to submit tomorrow, I'm supervising a few undergraduate students working on extremely precise synchronization of clocks, and maybe I'll do a trail run before I head home.
Any projects you are working on? Most of my externally funded research has centered around application of stochastic signal processing to design next-generation wireless networks. I'm working with several undergraduates and external collaborators on this project, and right now we're focused on the clock synchronization project I mentioned, as well as the dissemination of channel state information throughout a network. I also have a funded project on STEM education to assess the value of bringing more tinkering and gaming into the classroom. And, there's a growing side project that has been getting more of my attention: I have been working on some fun problems in the field of computational art history, which uses signal and image processing to aid the study, analysis, and attribution of art.
What is something you would like to do or accomplish in the next five years? Well, let's see. I hope to find the elusive matsutake, I'd like to spend some time sailing around the San Juans, and at some point I hope to get a chance to learn how to play this curious Pacific Northwest pastime called pickleball. Professionally, I hope to inspire many diverse minds to pursue careers in engineering!