JBU Engineering Program
Faculty
Larry Bland, Ph.D.
Electrical/Computer
lbland@jbu.edu
Dr. Larry Bland joined the engineering faculty in August of 2002.
Dr. Bland received his B.S.E.E. from John Brown University in 1971,
his M.S.E.E. from Southern Methodist University in 1976, and the
Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 1996. He brought over 30 years
of industrial and managing experience with companies such as, Union
Carbide, Texas Instruments, Emerson Electric Electronics and Space,
Northrop Defense Systems, to name a few. Dr. Bland has worked in
many interesting technical areas including: oil exploration, aerospace,
stealth, medical, fiber optics, and advanced research. Larry and
his wife, Diana, have three children and eleven grandchildren. All
three children have attended John Brown University and daughter,
Candice, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical
engineering in 1994. The Bland’s attend Fellowship Bible Church.
Larry is a Community Group Leader and also does pre-marriage mentoring/counseling.
He enjoys hiking, camping, boating, scuba diving, golf, and woodworking.
Larry has traveled to all continents except Antarctica (still a
dream to go there) and has seen wonderful technical, social, and
mission opportunities throughout the world that provides for an
interesting engineering career.
Ken French, Ph.D., P.E.
Mechanical
kwfjr@jbu.edu
Dr. Ken French received his B.S.M.E. from Purdue University, his
M.S.M.E. from the University of Minnesota and the Ph.D. in mechanical
engineering at the State University of New York at Stonybrook. Dr.
French acquired his engineering experience from E.I. Dupont Co.,
NASA, Louisiana State University, Ryan Engineering, and the Minnesota
Mineral Resource Research Center. He is a registered professional
engineer in the state of Arkansas. He has taught at JBU since 1971.
He and his wife, Ruth, have three sons and five grandchildren. He
is the chair of the local chapter of the Society of Mechanical Engineering.
Dr. French serves as clerk of session at the First Presbyterian
Church and is active in Church School.
Young-Gurl Kim, Ph.D.
Mechanical
ykim@jbu.edu
Dr. Young-Gurl Kim received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical
Engineering from Han-Yang University in S. Korea, his Master of
Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wyoming,
and his Master of Arts and the Ph. D. in Civil Engineering from
Princeton University. Dr. Kim is doing research in Appropriate Technology
and its application to holistic development in developing countries.
He has worked in Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Honduras, Tanzania,
Kenya, Uganda, and Sudan. He is the founder and the director of the
Institute for Biblical Community Development (IBCD), which focuses
research, training, and implementation of Appropriate Technology
in impoverished areas in developing countries. Dr. Kim also serves
as pastor of the Korean Ministry at Open Door Baptist Church in
Rogers, Arkansas.
Kevin Macfarlan, Ph.D.
Mechanical
kmacfarl@jbu.edu
Dr. Kevin Macfarlan received his B.S.M.E. and M.S.M.E. from Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and his Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas.
His doctoral dissertation was in the area of computational modeling
of gas turbine combustion and the prediction of their pollutant
levels. He was employed for nine years at GE Aircraft Engines in
Cincinnati where he received three achievement awards. While at
GE, he worked on several military jet engine programs, including
those for the B-1B, F-14, F-16, F-18, and F-22. He also contributed
on several novel engine concepts. Such as, a commercial engine called
the Unducted Fan (UDF), and the vectoring exhaust nozzle for the
F-16. Dr. Macfarlan has done research for Westinghouse/Siemens and
Honeywell Aerospace in the field of gas turbines. He and his wife,
Laura, teach a Sunday school class for young married couples at
their church, Harvard Avenue Baptist. He has also served as a deacon
and sings in the choir. Dr. Macfarlan has participated in a short-term
mission trip to Russia and hopes to partake in similar trips in
the future. He and his wife are also very busy raising (and home-schooling)
their four children: Kyle, Ginger, Luke, and Lydia. He enjoys skiing,
working on his car, and playing with his children.
Robert Norwood, Ph.D.
Electrical/Computer, Division Chair
rnorwood@jbu.edu
Dr. Robert Norwood spent almost eleven years at Stanford University.
He started with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering,
got a Master of Science along the way, and finished up with a Doctorate
of Philosophy, also in Electrical Engineering, with a Ph.D. minor
in Computer Science. The birth of Dr. Norwood's first child was
the impetus for finally getting out of graduate school, and he now
has seven children, four sons and three daughters. After leaving
graduate school, Dr. Norwood worked at Silicon Graphics before moving
to Arkansas to teach at JBU. He has also worked at Intel and Sun
Microsystems. He has been teaching at JBU since 1998 and loves it. Dr.
Norwood teaches in the Engineering and Computer Science Departments.
His professional interests include digital logic design, learning
new programming languages, and playing around with Lego
Mindstorms Robotics. His great desire is to see students
get excited about figuring out why things work the way they do and
realizing that they can begin to understand God's creation.
Leo Setian, Ph.D.
Electrical/Computer
lsetian@jbu.edu
Dr. Leo Setian earned his bachelor of arts in math in 1955 from
Brown University. After serving in the U.S. Army, Dr. Setian worked
for the Naval Underwater Systems Center in New London, CT. testing
submarine antenna systems. In 1966 he received his master of science
in electrical engineering from the University of Rhode Island and
then his doctorate in electrical engineering from Montana State
University in 1970. He and his wife, Sona, have five children and
eight grandchildren. They have taken four teams of students to Israel
as volunteers providing engineering services for Galtronics, a Christian-owned
electronics company in Tiberias, Israel. Leo has written three textbooks
on electrical engineering topics, an IEEE independent study text
on antennas, and is currently working on a revised edition to Engineering
Field Theory with Applications. He is the faculty sponsor for the
Engineers’ Club and has been voted “Teacher of the Year”.
He enjoys biking, chess, golf, ice hockey, furniture refinishing,
and gardening.