Shannon Thornburg

Brief Bio

Growing up in Rapid City, I naturally enrolled at South Dakota Mines, initially choosing to major in mechanical engineering. I was drawn to the areas of dynamics and control systems, and this led me to add electrical engineering as a second major. For graduate work, I chose aerospace engineering, continuing to focus on dynamics and control. After completing my degree work, I returned to Rapid City and joined in running a family business, which included some elements of structural engineering and a lot of business management. After 20 years, we sold that business and I was happy to have an opportunity to return to South Dakota Mines to teach. In addition to my role as Lecturer, I also serve as the EE department's Corporate Engagement Liaison.

Teaching

My teaching areas focus on dynamical systems and control, plus introducing our freshmen to electrical engineering: EE 110 (Explore Electrical and Electronics Engineering), EE 250 (Sensors and Actuators), EE 453/553 (Feedback Control Systems), EE 456/556 (Digital Control Systems), and EE 451 (Fundamentals of Systems Engineering). I've also taught a number of other courses: CENG 244 (Introduction to Digital Systems), CENG 420 (Design of Digital Signal Processing Systems), CENG 448/548 (Real-Time Operating Systems), CENG/EE 464 (Senior Design I), CENG/EE 465 (Senior Design II), and EE 314 (Control Systems).