Dr. Rick Ott’s office is a colorful room decorated with cartoon characters and other little gizmos and gadgets. His walls are covered with pictures of space shuttles and students working on projects. Ott teaches statistics and has helped fund the Sponsor Research Statistics fund at CMU for six years. The Statistics fund enables seniors to gain experience by helping out in the community. Students learn to fix their mistakes or solve problems while working on projects.

“It focuses on the community, makes sure things are correct, helps them learn from their mistakes, and gives the people a product that they are pleased with,” Ott said.

Some of his students worked on a project for NASA. Three students helped work on a small project and examined a navigation system at the distribution of airs for space stations. Their support for the project came from the Colorado Space Grant.

In a more recent project, Ott worked on a survey which was primarily conducted by his students.

“We recently did a survey for the town of Palisade, and most of the research was student-oriented,” Ott said.

Ott recieved his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, but was not as interested in the hands on experience as he was in the theory behind it. He earned his master’s in applied math and worked at the space center for a couple of years. At CMU, Ott teaches statistics and works for the nursing department. He also helps educate middle school teachers to become better qualified. Ott believes that a professor should leave an impact on his students.

“A professor should be a role model, help mold other individuals and be someone who is very productive to society. I believe a person should be well-rounded, and is not satisfied with being just okay,” said Ott.

Ott decides where the money goes and most often it is used as help for student resources. He sponsors the Research Statistics fund to help the program grow.

hvice@mavs.coloradomesa.edu