Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 5, 1991 TAG: 9104060378
SECTION: FOUNDERS DAY PAGE: VT-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Baird lettered three years in football as an offensive guard and linebacker at Michigan State University, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees. He received Academic Big Ten and All-America honors during his junior and senior years at MSU, and was a member of the 1966 National Championship team. He received an NCAA scholarship to pursue graduate studies, the second player in MSU history to receive that honor.
Believing that he had only just "scratched the surface" of his engineering studies, Baird went on to the University of Wisconsin where he earned a Ph.D. in 1974 in engineering mechanics, with a minor in chemical engineering. He worked for Monsanto as a research chemical engineer before joining Virginia Tech in 1978. Last year, he was appointed the Harry C. Wyatt Professor.
Baird says he was recruited by Ivy League schools but only a few Division I schools. He decided to enroll at MSU on a partial academic scholarship rather than accept a full athletic scholarship at a university that lacked the academic programs Baird was interested in. MSU's football coaches were at first not very interested in him, "especially since they had no investment in me," Baird says.
Baird spent his freshman year as a walk-on, running the ball for tackling drills. When he didn't get an invitation to return the following year, he wrote the coach, Duffy Daugherty. "I may have convinced you that I can't play. But I haven't convinced myself yet that I can't play," Baird wrote.
His confidence must have impressed Daugherty. Baird was brought back for the fall drills and moved into a starting position where he stayed for the next two years. He's proud of the fact that he was able to compete at such a high athletic level, playing with such teammates as Bubba Smith and against such all-time greats as Terry Hanratty of Notre Dame and O.J. Simpson of Southern California.
Playing college football also taught Baird about organization, discipline, determination and sacrifice - his Saturday nights were often spent studying. "It's knowing how to make your time count and knowing what's important to you."
A specialist in polymer processing, Baird is currently working on developing a cheaper way to make plastic resins stronger, stiffer and more environment-friendly. If polypropylene could be made strong enough to replace metal as the outside shell of motor vehicles, cars would be lighter and would use less fuel. At the same time, Baird's work also would make such plastics recyclable. Many plastics are currently stiffened with glass fibers, but the glass content makes it impossible to recycle the plastic.
His research will also benefit the medical industry if the new plastics can be used to make better catheter balloons for stretching clogged arteries during heart surgery. He has obtained two patents, one of which is for a one-step manufacturing process for plastic material that has been hard to make.
by CNB