William Harbour, Jr, PhD

College of Science and Engineering
Engineering
  • Assistant Professor of Engineering
  • Chair, Department of Engineering

Education

  • PhD, Engineering, University of Arkansas
  • MS, Electrical Engineering, University of Oklahoma
  • BS, Electrical Engineering, University of Oklahoma

Courses Taught at Louisiana Tech University

  • ENGR 120 (ENSC 1411/1412) Engineering Problem Solving I
  • ENGR 121 (ENSC 1411/1412) Engineering Problem Solving II
  • ENGR 122 (ENSC 1411/1412) Engineering Problem Solving III
  • ENGR 221 (ENSC 2361) Electrical Engineering & Circuits I
  • ELEN 242 (ELEN 2341) Introduction to Microprocessors
  • ELEN 292 (MATH 4303) Introduction to Numerical Methods
  • ELEN 321 (ELEN 3361) Linear Systems
  • ELEN 333 (ELEN 2341) Introduction to Digital Design
  • ELEN 406 (ENSC 4311/4312) Electrical Engineering Design I
  • ELEN 407 (ENSC 4311/4312) Electrical Engineering Design II
  • ELEN 408 (ENSC 4311/4312) Electrical Engineering Design III
  • ELEN 423 (ELEN 4341) Embedded Systems
  • ELEN 472 (ELEN 4373)   Introduction to Digital Control

Teaching Focus

My areas of industry experience and teaching interest include engineering education, embedded systems, control systems (specifically using fuzzy logic), real-time firmware development (in both assembly and C), real-time operating systems, microprocessors and microcontrollers, robotics, PLC programming and networking, local and wide area networking, data acquisition and analysis, hardware prototype development and the Internet of Things.

Research Interests and Publications

  • Harbour, D, Cronk, S., Shakya, N. “Work in Progress: Adding the Internet of Things to a Freshman-Level Engineering Course”, ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Tampa, FL, June 2019 (presenting author)
  • Harbour, D., Hummel, P., “Migration of a Robotics Platform from a Freshman Introduction to Engineering Course Sequence to a Sophomore Circuits Course”, 40th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Washington, DC, October, 2010
  • Swanbom, M., Harbour, D., “A Microprocessor-based Control System Project for an Integrated Freshman Curriculum”, ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Austin, TX, June, 2009

Previous Academic/Professional Positions

  • Senior Lecturer, Electrical Engineering, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA (2015 – 2021)
  • Program Chair, Electrical Engineering, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA (2009 – 2019)
  • Lecturer, Electrical Engineering, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA (2007 – 2015)
  • Instructor, Electrical Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (2006-2007)
  • Lecturer, Electrical Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (2003-2005)
  • Teaching Assistant, Electrical Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (2003)
  • Graduate Fellow, GK12 Fellowship Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (2002-2003)
  • Teaching Assistant, Mathematical Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (2001-2003)
  • Project Engineer, Controls Group, Sedco Forex (M/D Totco), Houston, TX (2000-2001)
  • Senior Principal Engineer, V-ICIS Group, M/D Totco, Europe, Aberdeen, Scotland (1998-1999)
  • Senior R&D Manager, V-ICIS Group, M/D Totco, Cedar Park, TX (1996-1998)
  • R&D Manager, Advanced Drilling Applications, M/D Totco, Cedar Park, TX (1994-1996)
  • Senior R&D Engineer, Advanced Drilling Applications, M/D Totco, Cedar Park, TX (1993-1994)
  • Senior R&D Engineer, Sedco Forex (M/D Totco), Montrouge, France (1992-1993)
  • Firmware Engineer, Seagate Technology, Oklahoma City, OK (1987-1992)
  • Electrical Engineer, R&D, Totco, Norman Oklahoma (1984-1987)

Additional information

Professional Society Memberships

  • IEEE
  • ASEE

Church Affiliation

  • First Assembly of God (Board member currently)

Personal interests or hobbies

  • Boating, camping, hiking