A Pitt engineering education took this US Army pilot from the aircraft to the classroom

As a maintenance test pilot for UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, U.S. ArmyCPT. Daniel Hawbaker spent 10 years moving from state to state, assignment to assignment. But in 2023, thanks to the Army’s Advanced Civil Schooling program, he had the chance to return to the classroom to earn a master’s degree in electrical engineering.

Hawbaker set his destination to the Swanson School of Engineering. Despite his decade of travel, Pittsburgh was the largest city the Pullman, Washington, native had ever lived in. The city and Pitt’s campus made a powerful first impression: “Wow, this huge building is just devoted to engineering?” Hawbaker recalled thinking to himself.

Although he had a successful undergraduate career at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Hawbaker said his return to life as a student wasn’t seamless at first. After eight years away from the classroom, it took time to relearn the rhythms of academic life.

But the discipline and structure ingrained in him through his military service gave Hawbaker a solid foundation, and he eventually created a consistent schedule that helped him adjust to the new environment with having to stay up late studying.

Support from the Pitt community also made a big difference. Hawbaker credits his advisor — Brandon Grainger, associate professor and director of the Electric Power Technologies Laboratory in Pitt’s Swanson School — for providing steady guidance during the transition.

Grainger said Hawbaker’s experiences before pursing graduate school afforded him a level of maturity that helped him succeed. The advisor also watched Hawbaker make fast social connections and build community within the lab, organizing gatherings and outings to sporting events.

“He has the personality that got the guys to break out of their shell,” Grainger said. “He always made people feel welcome and conversational and  really became the social chair of the group by encouraging golf outings, NCAA basketball bracket competitions, attending Pitt basketball games as a lab and other things.”

From Hawbaker’s perspective, he wasn’t the only one fostering an environment of friendship and support, recalling his first semester, when he was struggling with a higher-level course and his classmates had his back.

“My fellow classmates and people in my lab that were taking the same class, they were like, ‘Hey, we know you're going to help us out with other stuff. We're going to help you out with this,’” Hawbaker said. “And that really kind of made me feel like I belonged”

Although Hawbaker, like many graduate students, felt as though he had a rocky start, Grainger noted that the captain was an exceptional student, leveraging his experiences as a pilot to develop a deep understanding of how electrical systems power complex designs like helicopters.

His military career also inspired his thesis, which addressed a technical issue with electric currents in motors found in electric vehicles and even helicopters. When motors start up, they often experience an inrush current, also known as a switch-on surge, which can damage components and shorten the lifespan of critical systems.

To help solve that, Hawbaker created a simulation that controls how electricity flows into the motor when it powers on. With this approach, electrical systems behave as if a physical resistor is there to dampen electrical responses, even though there isn’t one.  Electrical engineers call this virtual resistance.

Now, Hawbaker is preparing for his next assignment: He’s returning to West Point for a three-year teaching position as an instructor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. There, he’ll trade student life for faculty duties, helping cadets navigate the same path he once walked. Hawbaker said he feels prepared for this new role thanks to Grainger and other Swanson School professors.

“I’m super excited to put the uniform back on and start developing cadets and teaching them,” Hawbaker said. “I feel like I'm ready to go teach. I think Dr. Grainger tailored how we did our meetings and how he mentored me to help prepare me to be a professor, versus preparing someone to be an engineer in the field.”

Photography courtesy of Daniel Hawbaker