Legos highlight alumnus’ “Wonders of Automotive Engineering” teaching
A chance encounter during lunch at HFC (then Henry Ford Community College) set Dr. Don Wilcher on his career path to become an engineer, and later a teacher.
“I developed an interest in electronic circuits while working on my associate degree at the College. During lunch at the Student Center one day, a pre-engineering friend told me he could not only build electronic circuits but design them,“ recalled Wilcher, who found the idea so intriguing that he pivoted toward engineering.
Fascination with electronics at a young age led to engineering career
A Detroit native, Wilcher is the youngest of two sons. He lives in Birmingham, AL with his wife, Mattalene. They have three adult children, ages 31, 26, and 25.
After graduating from Cody High School in Detroit, Wilcher attended HFC, where he earned his associate degree in electrical-electronics technology. He transferred to Wayne State University to complete his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.
Wilcher is a 2-time alumnus of Capella University in Minneapolis, MN, where earned his master’s degree in education innovation and technology and his doctoral degree in education with a specialization in personalized and competency-based instruction. He is also a certified associate electronics technician from the Electronics Technician Association (ETA) International in Greencastle, IN.
His interest in electronics began as early as age 2, when he became fascinated with the small components inside an old transistor radio. He was soon fascinated by electrical motors, batteries, and lightbulbs.
“As a child, I would take apart old TVs and radios and scavenge their parts to build electronic circuits for projects and experiments,” he said. “I took electronics courses in high school to further my passion and knowledge in technology. HFC was the next logical progression in my education.”
Building dreams, one brick at a time
Wilcher worked in the automotive and consumer industries as an engineer for 25 years, including at General Motors, Chrysler, Visteon Corporation, and the Lego Group.
The Lego connection turned out to be a pivotal moment.
“My first encounter with Legos occurred during elementary school. I received a Lego kit from my mom. My interest in Legos was resurrected when I read the research conducted at MIT on building a programmable brick or Robot Command Explorer (RCX) to teach robotics. While working at Chrysler as a product engineer, I started a 6-week Saturday educational program called ‘Wonders of Automotive Engineering’ to expose minority learners to opportunities in the automotive industry,” explained Wilcher.
The Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP) sponsored Wilcher’s Wonders of Automotive Engineering program. He used the MIT research results to develop hands-on lab activities that demonstrated how various electrical and electronic systems worked in a vehicle. The Lego Mindstorms robotics kit was a consumer product that evolved from the MIT research. The kit had a programmable RCX, electronic sensors, LEDs, and motors. These components allowed hands-on labs to be developed to demonstrate vehicle systems like automatic windshield wipers, headlights, and the operations of engine control and body controller modules.
Wilcher wrote a book called Lego Mindstorms Interfacing for children and adults to build electronic and software interfaces with Lego Mindstorms. He created a character called Mr. Don, who is largely autobiographical.
“I wanted the book to engage the reader. Mr. Don – along with the other characters like Carl Capacitor, Randy Resistor, and Tom Transistor – was born,” explained Wilcher. “Mr. Don and the other characters would provide a dialogue with the reader and explain key concepts in electronic circuits, design, and prototyping techniques used in the book’s projects.”
This book contains 12 illustrated applications and construction plans, each complete with project descriptions, screenshots, color art, photographs, and descriptive text.
“The Lego Mindstorms Interfacing book was spawned from wanting to show the reader how to add electronic circuits and sensors to the Lego RCX,” said Wilcher. “The book also reflected on my approach to designing automotive electronic modules using a systems engineering perspective. The techniques in the book were based on electronic prototypes, modules, and controllers I have developed individually or as a team member in the automotive industry.”
“Sparks of imagination and innovation”
Wilcher, who also wrote Lego Mindstorms Mechatronics, has been teaching for about 23 years. He has taught engineering at Lawrence Technological University; Jefferson State Community College at its Birmingham and Pell City, AL campuses; Lawrence County Center of Technology in Moulton, AL; Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis, TN; and Bevill State Community College at its Fayette and Sumiton, AL campuses. For the last two years, he has been an assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
“I enjoy watching sparks of imagination and innovation being spawned from curious and passionate learners,” he said. “HFC is a great learning institution and serves the community well with their vision based on an innovative curriculum focus on workforce development. HFC prepared me to be a lifelong learner to share my knowledge, skills, and experiences, and to become a servant educator in electrical and computer engineering.”