The projects ranged from a robotic fish, underwater vehicles, medical imaging devices, jet-powered cars, rockets, renewable energy and much more. The projects are sponsored and funded by faculty and industry partners such as Boeing, Ventana Medical Systems, Northrop-Grumman, Raytheon, Texas Instruments, Edmund Optics and Honeywell. The companies also sponsor prizes and provide some of the many professional engineers who serve as judges. The judges selected projects that were worthy of the $12,000 in prize money. Among the judges, was Dr. Patrick Marcus. The judging process was a lengthy 8am-5pm ordeal. The judges meticulously evaluated the projects. The projects were divided among the judges and the judges were asked to opt out of judging a project if they had a bias towards the project in any way.

This year, the Best Overall Design award went to the Robotic Fish project, sponsored by MediaMation, a creator of 4D entertainment systems. The team also received the Blunder Education prize. Robbie Laity, the team leader and employee at Marcus Engineering, commented “We can make the biggest mistake, but come back and win the Best Overall Design award”. The point he made was ironic, yet is the reality of engineering. The Arizona Daily Star recognized the team in an article that can be read here.

Dr. Patrick Marcus was a mentor to the six outstanding students on this team. Dr. Marcus says, “I love working with the students.  It’s amazing to see how clever and capable they are.  Once they are on the right track they run, and succeed! It isn’t all altruism though.  Mentoring is the only way to identify and recruit the best talent.  The best engineers get snatched up quickly and we are getting first pick”. Moments after the announcement of the Robotic Fish success, Dr. Marcus rushed over to the rooftop of Playground to be recognized as one of Tucson’s Up & Comer. An Up&Comer is recognized for their contribution to the Tucson community.  At the reception. Dr. Marcus was surrounded by more than 30 guests who came out to congratulate him on his recognition. Many of the guests present were also University of Arizona Engineering affiliates who rushed from Design Day to celebrate and congratulate Dr. Marcus on his contributions.

“It was a tough prospect,” said Marcus Engineering President, Dr. Patrick Marcus. “We had to balance overhead costs, ample space to expand, efficient use of space, and creating a comfortable work environment that employees enjoy and customers love to visit while finding the space to house the top talent we are bringing into Marcus Engineering.”

The UofA students certainly seem to like the new offices.  “It’s really fun to be part of a move and setting up an expansion.  I’m glad I could be part of it,” said Tam Nguyen a University of Arizona Biomedical Engineering intern with Marcus Engineering.  “A short trip from the University to get some real experience is pretty cool,” says Tam.

Marcus Engineering extends a warm welcome to our newest engineer: Scott Otterbacher.

  

Scott visited Tucson looking for work at a number of engineering firms.  After meeting with Patrick Marcus he was “impressed by Patrick’s enthusiasm and ambition and felt that joining Marcus engineering was an excellent opportunity to pursue”.

Prior to joining Marcus Engineering, Scott worked as an engineer at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, TX.  Some of the projects Scott has previously been involved with are data collection, radar, space, robotic, and communication systems.

He holds a BSEE from Michigan Technological University and a MSEE from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Scott has experience in embedded development, signal processing, and hardware design. He is familiar with many microprocessor families and his hardware design experience includes digital, analog, and RF circuits utilizing a variety of software packages

Needless to say, Marcus Engineering is excited to work with Scott and all his talents. Dr. Marcus commented, “We are delighted to have Scott —he will be a tremendous addition to our team; helping expand our capacity to develop medical devices and instrumentation.  We’re building an A+ team of people who love to build make and create.  Scott clearly fits the mold”.   Dr. Marcus indicated that he plans to add several engineers and a part time marketing person in the next six months.

As Scott gets settled into his position and the new office he expressed that he looks forward to “participating in the growth of an up and coming business”.

Tucson is becoming the home of biotechnology.   Tucson has expanded it’s research initiative through programs such as Technology Research Initiative fund, the Bio5 Institute at the University of Arizona, Innovation park, and Arizona Bio science park.

Dr. Marcus is a Tucson native. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 1999 (B.S. in electrical engineering) and 2006 (McGuire Entrepreneurship program and doctorate in biomedical engineering ). When asked about his company vision he responds, “Tucson is home and Marcus Engineering is a perfect fit for Tucson”. He has always had the plan of staying in Tucson and growing his business here and helping Tucson develop as a center for biotechnology.

Patrick has an impactful influence in the Tucson community as a whole. Upon learning of Patrick’s Up and Comers award, Maria Marin, principal of Tucson Unified’s Wright elementary school, exclaims “This is wonderful!  Patrick is one special man!  He has brought so much to our students at Wright”.

On April 30th, at a reception held for the recipients of the award, Patrick was surrounded by more than 30 guests who came out to congratulate him on his recognition. He gave a moving speech on his love for Tucson and expressed his gratitude to his parents and lovely wife, Elizabeth.

Dave Hatfield, a columnist and editor, expresses his enthusiasm for the recipients, “Tucson’s future is in a positive light with people of this caliber”.

Brandon Park in Pennsylvania was chosen by Facebook users  to undergo extensive renovations in hopes of advancing the city of Lancaster’s “green infrastructure” plans. The park was in shambles with broken pavement and overgrown bushes. Brandon Park received the most votes on a Facebook poll for park renovations, awarding the park with funds from Coca-Cola and LeBron James. As part of the renovations, the Lancaster’s Public Art Advisory Board choose to implement the the abstract, Revolutions art sculpture designed by Steven Fairfield, Emily Taylor and Dr. Patrick Marcus.

Marcus Engineering has partnered with Solar Sculptures to create the illuminated and interactive sculpture at Lancaster’s Brandon Park, named Revolutions. The artwork is up for interpretation; sparking interest and curiosity. The sculpture has 300 LEDs that are in an energy saving mode until it “senses” someone approaching, in which case the lights brighten up and react to changes in directions and other movements. Locals who have grown up in the area welcome the upgrade; expressing its “cool factor”.  A local article that was published during the construction of the sculpture at Brandon Park. A video of the action can be accessed here.

Image Courtesy of Jim Harris Photography

The full article can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/sb6cCF

My post-graduate experience has been a whirlwind of opportunity, challenge, reward and frustration. Every success, failure and experience feeds the richness of character and foundation of knowledge that I have today.  See the whole article http://bit.ly/vLFiuk