ME professor Omer Savas has been teaching at Berkeley since 1991. He is an experimental fluid dynamist with research interests in vortex dynamics in aeronautical applications and biofluid dynamics in diseased vasculature. He is a member of the Ocean Engineering Graduate Group.

Professor Minute: Interview with ME professor Omer Savas

What do you do to forget about engineering and/or work ?

Many things that are considered completely unrelated to engineering are not! I like to look out the window overlooking the bay, I like to take long walks in Tilden, I like to re-re-revisit NASA’s ‘astronomy picture of the day’ Web site. I do these things to daydream, reflect on the meaning of life, and escape from Earth. It sets my mind free, which is what one needs to remain creative and sane. The mundane answer would be that I jogged for nearly three decades until my knees gave out, wind surfed for a while, and still sail occasionally.

What is your personal recipe for success?

A presumptuous question! If the question were on how I got here, I would say I followed my curiosity, and with unwavering patience have paid attention to both the goal and the detail.

What can a student do to get through your hardest class?

I would like my students to see me not as a repressive authority figure, but as an eager source of encouragement. I would like them to come to class having
read the material and follow what I discuss, even if it means not being able to take notes. They can always find good set of notes in the text book. The classroom time must be used for explicit and implicit
participation. They must take part in class and ask questions. I was personally never shy to ask questions, even at the risk of being ridiculed.

Why did you become a professor?

I have no I idea why or how I became a professor. I do know that I started my journey to make things work, to make things that work, and eventually
to help the young do the same. I am now at a phase where I take immense pleasure in interacting with the eager minds around me.

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