Does anyone remember the professor's name who taught control theory (ECE435 Elements of Controls is what I had him for)for all those years. I don't think he works at NCSU anymore. Older white gentlemen kind of mumbly.....

12/10/2012 9:09:59 PM

Wasn't this Brickley's class?

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12/11/2012 11:19:30 AM

Brickley.

12/11/2012 11:43:51 AM

haha brickley... i had that class with him. he pooted while he was lecturing so much. but yes, he got canned a year ago

12/12/2012 1:45:28 AM

the dude who never showed up to class on time and always seemed to be on sinus medication

[Edited on December 28, 2012 at 4:57 AM. Reason : ]

12/28/2012 4:56:53 AM

He got canned? Anyone know why?

I had him for a few classes. I actually like the guy.

4/1/2013 1:57:27 PM

idk use search. You'll find the answer. Basically I think he was just a weirdo and a dick and eventually enough complained

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4/1/2013 7:18:15 PM

If being a dick is a fire-able attribute than Professor Alexander would have been canned years ago.

Alexander though could at least lecture. Brickley couldn't.

4/2/2013 4:52:46 PM

There is a difference between being a dick, and not wanting to repeat yourself to students who haven't figured out in 15 years how to take notes and listen at the same time. Guess which one Alexander is.

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4/2/2013 5:41:54 PM

I, for one, thought Brickley was a great teacher for 435. Not so much for 200.

From what I heard a couple of years ago from an unnamed professor, a lot of the students who had him for 200 were going into 211 and other classes not really knowing how to do the basic circuit stuff and it was pissing off the faculty. He was also never really held in high regard by the students and he didn't like teaching anyway.

I never thought Brickley was a bad teacher, too hard, or an asshole; the only tough thing about 435 under him was keeping up with the lectures. Brickley was the kind of teacher who was merciless if you missed a class and, since that class covered so much ground, one missed lecture could REALLY fuck you. If you went consistently, paid attention, and took notes he was really one of the better teachers at NCSU. Trust me; I've had FAR worse than him. Fauntleroy for Diff Eq, Chukwu for calculus, Orji for Chemistry, Bhattacharya for 305 and Zhou for 463 were, in my opinion, SIGNIFICANTLY worse than Brickley could ever hope to be.

I think he was just socially awkward, misunderstood, and crotchety. He could be a bit of a dick when answering questions in class but it always came off as less pointed and more awkward on his part. Everytime I was one on one in his office hours he was always very friendly and very helpful with me.

[Edited on April 3, 2013 at 1:52 AM. Reason : .]

4/3/2013 1:43:55 AM

I thought Alexander was one of the best teachers in ECE if not THE best teacher. He practically did all the work for you. Thanks to his notes, I NEVER went to class ONCE except for exams when I took 301 or 421 and I got an A+ in both. I dare say that anybody who had a bad experience with him should look at themselves for fault.

He could be a dick during his office hours but it always seemed more like he just wanted to be left alone. He was always really quick to get me out of there to the point where he would solve the problems for me. I don't really think this was him being a dick as much as it was social awkwardness though. He was a great teacher but goddamn he could be eccentric.

[Edited on April 3, 2013 at 1:55 AM. Reason : .]

4/3/2013 1:53:36 AM

I dont know how anyone can compare Alexander and Brickley.

Alexander was cooky, but brilliant and knew how to teach. Plus he didn't even need a motherfucking textbook; he created the entire course content himself.

Brickley was tired, sickly, and unmotivated. He didn't give a shit if there was a mistake in the homework or the exam. He'd hand out xeroxed copies of his classnotes with glaring mistakes in them and just told you to "fill in the blanks". He came to class 10 minutes late everyday. And he kept doing this thing where he'd blow his nose and stick the kerchief in his trousers. Good riddance.

4/4/2013 12:51:43 PM

^ When I took 435 Brickley rarely had problems with this notes/HW and he was pretty prompt about sending an email clarifying any mistakes. I can't argue with tired or sickly but he definitely seemed motivated about teaching the class to the best of his ability.

He did come in late from time to time but he never held up class at the end and he always finished saying what he needed. I thought he was an awesome teacher for 435 and I really learned a lot from his class.

That being said, 435 was the kind of class that went over so much stuff that you pretty much had to go every day and I did for the most part. I could very easily see how missing 1 or 2 days would really fuck somebody over as the class moved so quickly. The one day I missed class I emailed him about what we had covered. He emailed another student in the class who had one of those tablets you can take notes on with a stylus, got his notes, and emailed them to me. I never had another professor go out of his way like that. As for the hanky, shit, the dude was old. What do you expect? I had Brickley for 200 and he definitely left a lot to be desired but he was vastly different in 435.

4/15/2013 8:32:53 PM

I really liked his class. 200 and 400 levels. I think letting him go was a mistake.

12/18/2013 7:36:11 PM

Damn, josephlava21 with the 8-month response time out of nowhere

12/19/2013 12:09:24 AM

Quote :

"I dont know how anyone can compare Alexander and Brickley."

Good call

12/20/2013 8:24:29 AM