David May committed to engineering for life
David May completed the MSc program in 15 months. A paper based on his findings was accepted for publication in the AIAA Journal of Aircraft.
Photo by peter mccabe
David May has a perfect GPA of 4.3, but he wouldn’t want you to make too much of it.
“The four courses in the thesis option of the Master’s of Applied Science are practical, and most master’s students are pretty good students anyway,” he explained.
The native of Notre Dame de Grâce has always been a serious, methodical student.
“When I first went [to Concordia], I was intimidated, so I decided to hit the books hard right from the start.” He had worked in high school and at Dawson College, but university required even more application.
“That’s what you do at university — you study. Oh, you take a few little breaks with your friends now and then, but that’s what you’re there for.”
He was attracted to fluid dynamics through one of his professors, Georgios Vatistas, and started helping him with his research.
“Dr. Vatistas was a great guy to work with, and he quickly became the one I would be a research assistant for. I spent summers solving equations, reading the literature on vortices, and helping the graduate students.”
After his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, he went straight into the master’s program and decided to do the thesis option. “It’s maybe a romantic choice,” he mused, “ but I wanted to concentrate deeply on something.”
May has been working at Rolls Royce in Dorval, using the knowledge he acquired with such dedication. “I just love engineering.”