Robert Dent, BSME’54

Robert Dent, BSME’54, established the Harry and Evelyn Dent Endowment for the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering (CAE) in honor of his brother, the founding chair of Lawrence Institute of Technology’s construction engineering department.

The department was renamed to civil engineering during the academic year of 1989-1990. Bob established the endowment during his lifetime and added to the fund with a bequest gift that was included in his estate plan. The endowment provides annual revenue to the CAE department and affords academic leadership the flexibility to address highest priority needs or respond to opportunities created by the ongoing innovation at Lawrence Technological University.

Revenue generated by the Harry and Evelyn Dent Endowment was recently used to bring cutting-edge equipment to campus benefiting the CAE department. Funds were used to purchase Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technology from Trilion, a company that supplies advanced measuring instruments throughout the transportation sector and beyond. “DIC has long been a critical quality control tool in manufacturing and is used by Ford, GM, Honda, Toyota, NASA and Boeing,” says Dr. Edmund Yuen, a civil engineering associate professor in the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering.

“This technology is a game-changer. It really brings advanced experimental methods into the civil engineering curriculum,” says Dr. Elin Jensen, chair of the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering.

For instance, instead of relying on photos or faculty to describe the effect of geometric changes (cracks, voids, etc.) on the stress redistribution in the structural members, students now use DIC technology to visualize the deformation of the entire surface of a structure as well as the localized intensities onscreen and in real time. DIC, with the use of thousands of optical sensors, replaces the use of discrete electrical and mechanical gauges. According to a Trilion representative, although DIC is widely used by research universities only a few other colleges are using the technology to teach undergraduates.

“What the students love the most is that they are able to complete all the advanced analysis using the associated software package and they see the immediate relevance of the advanced technology to structural health monitoring,” Dr. Jensen says.

Incorporating industry-level technology into the curriculum is just one example of the impact Robert Dent’s philanthropy will have on generations of LTU students. Because it is an endowment, the fund will continue to grow and provide meaningful support. These financial resources will allow LTU’s faculty to deftly respond to a rapidly changing landscape while celebrating the legacy of the department’s founding chair.

Ultimately, future engineers will realize the gift’s impact through practical experiences that shape theoretical perspectives and real-world applications.

Like Bob, you have the power to change the way students learn and gain new insights into their fields of study through a gift in your estate plan. Contact Kevin Finn at 248.204.2305 or kfinn@ltu.edu to discuss your options for making a lasting difference at LTU.