The Non-Linear Path to Engineering Success

Maurice Sturdivant never worried about being pigeonholed when he chose to become an engineer. 

But, he realized early on that he needed to figure out what path was best for him: academia or industry. 

“In Pittsburgh alone, there are several opportunities for research and internships,” said Sturdivant, who just recently completed his master’s thesis for the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “I knew early on that I had to explore as many options as I could to really find where I’d fit.” 

In his very first days as a first-year student in Benedum Hall, home of the Swanson School, he turned to Pitt EXCEL, a program focused on the retention and support of underrepresented engineering students, for answers. 

“Maurice is never above learning more,” said Yvette Moore, Director of Pitt’s EXCEL and Equity and Inclusion for Undergraduate Strategic Initiatives. “When I first met him, he was the type of scholar that wanted to take advantage of every opportunity in front of him.” 

Sturdivant decided to explore every avenue he had, leading to his internship in power electronics with Eaton that evolved into a full time position starting this summer. His position will require him to begin an entirely different position from his internship. This isn’t out-of-ordinary for Sturdivant, who could never learn enough. 

His path is, intentionally, never linear. 

A Fresh Start at Pitt

When Sturdivant first met Brandon Grainger, associate professor and Eaton Faculty Fellow of electrical and computer engineering, through Pitt EXCEL’s Summer Research Internship (SRI) program, he didn’t know how to solder or design circuit boards –  necessities in the electrical engineer’s skillset. 

That’s pretty standard for an engineer. What isn’t standard is learning how to do it in a student’s first year. 

The SRI program looked promising to Sturdivant because of its ability to help him develop these skills, which he would apply in co-ops and internships outside of Pitt.

“I wanted to gain experience outside the classroom as soon as I could,” Sturdivant said.

Trying to always be one step ahead, it was a no-brainer for Sturdivant to enroll. Scholars in SRI are assigned to faculty mentors who lead research teams and complete a research project in their field of engineering. Sturdivant reached out to Grainger to be his mentor for not only his work in power electronics, but because of his approachability and willingness to mentor first-year engineering students. 

Grainger and Sturdivant started from scratch, spending at least 30 hours together a week in Grainger’s Electric Power Technologies Lab. He studied a Texas Instruments reference design for USB Type-C chargers and learned to use circuit simulation and PCB design tools to understand the engineering research and design process. 

“Professor Grainger used that summer to teach me the fundamentals of the engineering design process,” Sturdivant said. “Because of his approach to the program, the things I learned routinely came up again throughout my time at Pitt as both an undergraduate and graduate student.” 

Grainger continued to mentor Sturdivant well-after the completion of the SRI program, including undergraduate course selections, choosing companies to work for through the CO-OP program or summer internships, and finally overseeing his research work up to his defense in May of this summer. 

“It was natural that Maurice stayed involved with me,” Grainger said. “We were always asking, What was the next step? What part of electrical engineering would scratch that itch for him? We continued that journey for over six years and were able to sharpen his skills a little more each year.” 

As the mentorship continued and Sturdivant built his skills, he was now a two-time recipient of a scholarship from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power and Energy Society (PES), further funding his explorations.  

A Future of First Days 

Sturdivant continued to take power electives through his time as an undergraduate. 

Through his various internships at Ford Motor Company and GE Power Conversion, his enthusiasm about the field grew. 

“There’s always a first day for something,” Sturdivant said. “I always went into each position with an open mind to learn about the opportunities for growth. That’s why mentorship is so important. You don’t always know what possibilities there are until you meet new people and build relationships..” 

He realized that he still wanted to learn more about electric power engineering and research. He stayed at Pitt for his graduate studies to pursue that intertest. 

Grainger, with colleague Paul Ohodnicki, recruited him to continue work in his lab and the Advanced Magnetics for Power and Energy Development (AMPED) Consortium. Ohodnicki is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, and collaborates with Grainger on advancing power and energy technologies. This is when Sturdivant’s interest in power electronics really started to take off. 

His research was supported by the US Department of Energy Technology Office and the Graduate Engineering Education Scholarship (GEES) from the Swanson School’s Office of Diversity. He focused on modeling and experimentally measuring specific power losses in inductors – critical components to power electronic systems. 

“Several factors can increase losses in an inductor, causing them to perform worse than expected,” Sturdivant explained. “I studied the impact of air gaps, a standard inductor design feature, on the power loss in their magnetic cores.” 

By using the findings of his work and software tools, Sturdivant was able to optimize inductor designs to identify which magnetic core materials could provide the best balance between mass and power loss for a given application. 

“These metrics are important because increasingly efficient and compact devices are needed to support the development of electric vehicles.”

Now that his thesis is done, Sturdivant is closing his chapter in research – for now. What’s next for Sturdivant? 

He recently started with Eaton in their Cherrington facility for the first year of his leadership development program. He described the field of electric power engineering as “vast,” so he has plenty to explore. He plans on learning more about the ways that power electronic technology supports power conversion, circuit protection and the overall energy transition through Eaton and its Leadership Development Program. In the future, he plans to focus on integrating more novel power electronics with existing technology so it can make a positive impact while also being safe and reliable.

He wouldn't be at this point if it wasn’t for the mentorship he actively sought out along the way.

“Every experience taught me something different which led me to where I am now, but there’s that cyclical need for mentorship,” Sturdivant said. “It's important for students and professionals to share what they know and make themselves a resource. It's easy to think that you don't know enough or that you're too young to be a ‘mentor,’ but your experience and advice is still valuable to someone else.”