TA Profile: Eric Mortensen
By Stacy Montgomery
Meet one of UW-Madison’s most entertaining and instructive TAs.
Eric Mortensen is better known as the engaging and incredibly helpful TA for Civil Engineering 310: Fluid Mechanics. While Mortensen is not dazzling his students with his fluids finesse, he is working for his two master’s degrees from the UW-Madison College of Engineering and UW-Madison’s Nelson Institute in water resource management and water resources engineering. The Wisconsin Engineer Magazine sat down with this exceptional teacher to explore his experience of coming to where he is today.
Wisconsin Engineer Magazine: So Eric, what brought you to teaching fluid mechanics?
Eric Mortensen: So honestly, the first time I took fluid mechanics, I hated it and thought because of it, I was not going continue with my degree in civil engineering from the University of Iowa.
WEM: How did you get from hating fluid mechanics to instructing the class?
EM: It has to do with two things you know, the first being I had to suck it up. It’s difficult with the equations and the concepts, but it’s a pretty cool topic when you look beyond these things. And second, just serendipity came into play. It worked out in Iowa that I needed some extra cash and I like teaching and I like people, so I first began to TA for fluids there, and when applying to Madison, Paul Block offered the position to me here, and here we are today.
WEM: So, you survived undergrad and have made it to UW-Madison. What is your area of research?
EM: I research for both the engineering and water resource management degrees here at UW-Madison. For the engineering degree, I am doing a project based in Peru with Professor Paul Block, and the technical term we use to describe the research is “reducing climate vulnerability for stakeholders.” In southern Peru, there are a variety of stakeholders, as there is a lot of mining and farming as well as some big cities, and they all need water. Because of the climate, the water availability changes from year to year — and sometimes, there’s not any water. The research we do tries to give them opportunities to prepare for instances where they have no water. We make these predictions a season ahead by using computer models that take in account sea surface temperatures and El Niño indices… So giving this model to these people, we can help them prepare for the impending crisis by soliciting international donors or government aid, which I’m excited for as it has more of the person aspect — numbers are great, but helping people is the goal.
“The numbers are great, but helping people is the goal.” -Eric Mortensen
WEM: And for your other research? There were whispers about a pond.
EM: Oh yes, the pond. There was a group of about 10 of us last summer, and we got together to go to an impaired pond in Middleton to, essentially, roll around in the mud. My contribution to the group consisted of modeling with HydroCAD to create simulations of what the pond was doing, and with that information, give the city recommendations of what they could do to remediate the pond. Funnily enough, this site was not originally a pond, but a wetland. However, urban development caused increased water concentration in that area. Currently, the pond is used by the city as a storm water management site, but people use it recreationally to fish and kayak.
WEM: What are your plans after your Master’s?
EM: Well, by the end of Spring 2017, I will have achieved my two Master’s in Water Resource Management and Water Resource Engineering. Most importantly, I want to go out and work in the “real world” before, and if, I go on to get my PhD.
WEM: You’re nearing the end of your school time then, but you have had a very active school career. How have you managed to keep your sanity?
EM: The key to sanity is to involve yourself in other things. For me, here at Wisconsin, it’s been important for me to reach outside of engineering and research management and having friends outside of these fields. Another thing I do is BRIDGE, the international friendship group here, that has helped me reach outside of typical social settings and gives me international friends. That’s truly been the key for me to enjoy my time at Wisconsin.
You may catch Eric Mortensen around the UW-Madison campus or in the fluid mechanics lab for a limited time only! Otherwise, we wait patiently to hear more about his accomplishments as he goes out to save the world, one water resource problem at a time.
