11/30/2022 Daniel F. Le Ray
MatSE's tight-knit family yields so many wonderful connection stories. Take alumni and Darrin Hansen, '88 B.S. and '90 M.S., and Amanda (Burreson) Hansen, '90 M.S., for example. Now married, the couple got to know one another through a graduate student project funded in part by the U.S. Air Force. The two now work together at Boeing and recently returned to the UIUC campus — Amanda for the first time since graduation — to direct graduate student research alongside Swanlund Endowed Chair and Materials Science and Engineering Department Head Nancy Sottos.
Written by Daniel F. Le Ray
In seventh grade, Darrin Hansen, ’88 bachelor’s and ’90 master’s MatSE recipient, traveled traveled to UIUC from Mount Prospect, Illinois, as a finalist in a science fair project.
“I loved the size and beauty of the campus,” Darrin recalled. After a campus tour and a basketball game, Darrin’s mind was set: Illinois was his top choice for college. When it came time to apply, the avid student-athlete and budding engineer considered sports scholarships, but Darrin realized that he could “go to a good school and get college paid for, but those were not top engineering schools.” So he enrolled at Northern Illinois University with the goal of transferring to UIUC in his junior year.
Darrin eventually earned his bachelor’s degree in ceramics engineering at UIUC before enrolling in a master’s program in Materials Science and Engineering. During his first year as a graduate student, Oregonian Amanda (Burreson), ’90 master’s MatSE recipient, was was on campus meeting with Darrin’s then-adviser, Joseph Hominy, about enrolling in the program. Amanda remembered her first encounter with her future husband.
“He barged in, dripping in sweat, and said: this project’s rough!” she said.
Darrin laughed, adding, “I was frustrated because none of my experiments were working out, and I had had enough.”
After enrolling in UIUC’s MatSE master’s program, Amanda first got to know her future husband during a graduate student project. Funded in part by the Air Force, the project studied silicon carbide fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composite materials.
Her work included some travel to Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee to use specialized measurement equipment. “They had a Nanoindenter — equipment that could indent individual fibers — as a way of measuring the frictional stresses at fiber/ matrix interfaces,” Amanda explained.
Although working in the lab was important, so were the connections the Hansens made with fellow students.
While Amanda was the only woman in their cohort, there was geographical and ethnic diversity among their graduate group. Darrin recalled spending time with the family of a fellow student from India, Anil Murthy.
“His mother gave us lessons in Indian cooking and treated us to many wonderful dinners,” Darrin said. “With such a small department, we had great camaraderie. However, the best memories are always with Amanda. By far, the best thing to happen to me at UIUC was meeting my best friend, work colleague and life partner.”
The analytical skills gained at UIUC have also served them well in their careers.
In his first job working on the Endeavor Space Shuttle at Rockwell International, Darrin explained, “I had to reach out and seek mentoring and advice from a few older, wise-but-gruff and intimidating engineers. Had I not gained the confidence to problem solve and not be afraid to ask questions at UIUC, I would not have been as successful in my first job.”
More than 30 years later, the couple — who married in 1995 — now both work for Boeing in Seattle — Darrin as an associate technical fellow for product development and sustainability, Amanda as a senior project engineer.
“I was trying to interview with every division but hers,” said Darrin. “We thought some separation after being in grad school together would probably be healthy!”
Then, Amanda recalled, the day before Darrin started, “my lead came up to me and said, hey, do you mind if we sit someone next to you on Monday? There’s a guy named Darrin Hansen who’s going to be starting in our group. I panicked and turned bright red,” she added.
Darrin laughed, explaining that “days before I arrived, they had transferred me to her group, unknown to both of us, due to budget shifts.”
The Hansens’ career paths eventually diverged: Darrin moved on from materials development work to direct airplane program support (737, 787 and 777X programs) and has spent the last 15 years developing lightning protection solutions for composite wing fuel tanks. Amanda worked in various engineering positions from materials and processes research and development, customer service engineering, flammability and quality engineering for 787 and 777X airplanes.
However, they have recently been reunited in Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ Product Development organization, working on new materials and processes to improve flight safety and efficiency.
The Hansens recently returned to campus — Amanda for the first time since graduation — to direct graduate student research alongside Swanlund Endowed Chair and Materials Science and Engineering Department Head Nancy Sottos.
“An engineering degree from UIUC opened doors for my first and second jobs,” Darrin explained. “Boeing has recognized that and selected UIUC as a strategic partner.”
The couple is impressed by the quality of work current students are doing. And while that is important, Darrin added, “none of that matters if you aren’t able to work collaboratively and communicate well with your peers and the leaders of your company. Take time now to hone these skills.”