New Faculty Spotlight: Brian Taylor

Brian Taylor

Assistant Professor
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

With his face pressed against the glass of the airport window, a young Brian Taylor asked his father who was responsible for building airplanes. When his father told him it was the job of aeronautical engineers, he knew that was the career for him. 

Now, Taylor, who is a triple alumnus of the Case School of Engineering Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has assumed the role of assistant professor in the department. 

After receiving his PhD in 2012, Taylor went on to work for the Air Force Research Laboratory as a research mechanical engineer, and while he liked his job, he also realized that his favorite parts of it were centered around academic activities鈥攎entoring and teaching students, doing research and trying to solve problems.

鈥淚 figured that I could stay in my job and try to fit those activities in,鈥 he said. 鈥淥r [I could] pursue a career where those activities were a part of the job description.鈥

Taylor鈥檚 research focuses on animal navigation, magnetoreception, biologically inspired engineering and robotics. In addition to using this expertise to provide students with a solid understanding of fundamental concepts and how they are applied in practice, Taylor feels that empathy is the most powerful teaching tool.

鈥淲hen I ask 鈥榳ho thinks this is hard?鈥 I raise my hand with them,鈥 he said.

Taylor shares his own life challenges with students, too, like his experience with losing a parent. 

鈥淓mpathy has helped me to catch and guide students that are faced with crises,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t's also helped students find confidence and inner strength they didn't even know they had.鈥

Learn more about Taylor through the questions below.

What is your favorite thing about engineering?

When the idea that you've been tinkering with鈥攕ometimes struggling with鈥擜CTUALLY starts to work and do what you expected, or even more.  To me, it's literally bringing your imagination to life.

What are you most looking forward to at 星空传媒?

I went to 星空传媒 for college because it allowed me to explore engineering and music. I come back now as a professor because it's an environment that embraces the mixture of biology and engineering that is my research, and the people I work with. Put simply, 星空传媒 helps me to feed all the parts of my soul.

If you鈥檙e a Cleveland local, what is your favorite thing to do in Cleveland? If you鈥檙e new to Cleveland, what鈥檙e you most looking forward to exploring?

I'm looking forward to exploring the city from a new perspective. Not as a student who is just here, but as a professional who has decided to call Cleveland home.

What鈥檚 the best piece of advice you鈥檝e ever received?

This is hard. There are so many gems from so many people! A cousin once told me to not be afraid of doing life differently. Years later, after getting married, she told me she was proud of me for doing things on my own terms. When I look at my life, at least to date, I think the times that I've been the most successful or happy (personally or professionally), were on my own terms doing things the way I wanted to do them.