Dr. Robert Stone, associate professor of basic engineering at the University of Missouri-Rolla, will become director of the university’s Student Design Competition Center on Jan. 1, 2004.

The Student Design Competition Center was home to three national champions in 2003 — the Solar Car Team, the Human-Powered Vehicle Team, and the SAE Aero Design Team — and houses many other UMR student teams.

Stone will replace Dr. Douglas Carroll, who served as director since the center opened in 2000. Carroll, the primary Solar Car Team advisor, will return to a full-time position as professor of basic engineering.

"Stone has also been associated with the center since its inception," says Dr. Robert Mitchell, dean of the UMR School of Engineering. "He has been the primary faculty advisor for the Human-Powered Vehicle Team, which won the Eastern United States championship in both 2002 and 2003. Stone also spearheaded the successful effort to host the 2003 Midwest/East Coast Human-Powered Vehicle competition in Rolla."

His responsibilities include working to increase the number of students and competitive teams involved with the center and add a new dimension of competition and design-related research.

"Robert Stone has a strong design background and proven capabilities in advising world-class teams," Mitchell says. "We look forward to his carrying on the outstanding traditions of the center and bringing even more dimensions to this center, which is one of the most visible and successful organizations at UMR."

Stone earned his bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering and master of science degree in mechanical engineering from UMR in 1992 and 1995 respectively. He obtained his doctorate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997.

Prior to initiating his graduate work, Stone worked as a space shuttle flight controller in the Missions Operations Directorate of the NASA Johnson Space Center. He joined the UMR faculty as an assistant professor in 1998.

Stone, a four-time recipient of UMR’s Outstanding Teaching Award and Faculty Excellence Award, received a distinguished paper award during the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Computers and Information in Engineering Conference in 2003. He also received the Xerox Best Paper Award during the ASME Design Theory and Methodology Conference in 1999.

Stone’s research interests include design theory and methodology, specifically product architectures, functional representations and design languages. He has developed both undergraduate and graduate courses in product design methods at UMR.