Educator without borders

Published: November 1, 2009

Photo by Ray Guansing

By Melissa Rigney Baxter

Douglas Stahl likes to push his students.

He sets high standards to drive them to work harder in class and prompts them to explore their engineering knowledge in the real world through organizations such as Engineers Without Borders.

A professor in the Architectural Engineering and Building Construction department of the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Stahl is known as an educator, mentor and leader. Peers and students recognize him as one of the best when it comes to construction education and inspiration.

“Doug’s brilliant,” fellow MSOE professor Chris Raebel said. “His attention to detail in his lectures and any projects I’ve worked with him on is just amazing.”

Stahl’s commitment to his students and his work this year earned him the Oscar Werwath Distinguished Teacher Award. Students select the award recipient from the school faculty.

Beyond the classroom walls, Stahl is the faculty adviser for the MSOE chapter of the nonprofit organization Engineers Without Borders, which began at the school in 2005.

From his first involvement with the group, which works to improve the quality of life in developing communities worldwide through projects such as water-filtration systems, Stahl was fully committed, said Mike Paddock, EWB board member and senior project manager in the Milwaukee office of CH2M Hill Inc.

“He saw it was able to make a tremendous impact on people’s lives and how students grew in their learning through the project,” Paddock said.

Danielle DeTennis, a student of Stahl’s and EWB member who helped design a bridge in Guatemala, said the educator works just as hard as he expects his students to.

“He puts a lot of work into it,” DeTennis said. “He helped us completely design the bridge. He spent hours explaining everything and helping us work through it. It was a really great experience.

“I definitely learned much more than I could have in a classroom. It gave us real-world experience.”

Just as he pushes himself to work harder, Stahl expects his students to do the same. His classes aren’t known for being easy, Raebel said, but Stahl holds students to high standards while being available to help them succeed.

“He challenges his students,” Raebel said. “He’s not somebody you’re going to get an easy A from, but you’re certainly going to learn something from him in class.”