Engineering with Purpose: Professor Daniel Raja Brings Real-World Connection to the Classroom
Published: December 09, 2025
Author: Liz Dowell
Whether it’s explaining projectile motion through a football toss or helping students fast-track their degrees, Professor Daniel Raja’s approach to engineering starts with knowing who’s in the room—and where they’re headed.
When Professor Daniel Raja joined Greenville University's engineering faculty in 2022, he brought more than a background in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and machine design. He got a philosophy: education is not a destination—it’s a journey.
“My goal is for students to see engineering in everything,” Raja says. “Once they see it in their sport, they’ll see it in their car, in an airplane, even when they’re doing dishes at home.”
It’s an approach that has made engineering concepts accessible for GU's diverse student body, many of whom are athletes. He adapts his teaching to their world, using game-day plays to teach concepts such as projectile motion or team strategy, illustrating problem-solving. "Math means more when it connects to what they already care about," he says.
Teaching the Fundamentals – and the Context
Raja teaches a wide array of courses, including Introduction to Engineering, Fluid Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Engineering Graphics, Computational Methods, Vehicle Dynamics, Manufacturing Sciences, Machine Design, and the Senior Design Sequence. But for him, the content is only part of the equation.
“I teach my students not just to provide numbers, but to give context,” he says. “Seven doesn’t mean anything until you know if it’s too much, too little, or just right.”
This emphasis on clarity extends to technical writing—a skill he believes is as essential as equations. "Engineers must explain their choices, materials, and assumptions in ways others can understand."
Research for a new era of Engineering Education
At the 2025 ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education) conference in Montreal, Raja presented two innovative papers. The first proposed a unified introductory engineering course, a single class that exposes students to all major engineering branches before they choose a specialty.
“Some students arrive knowing exactly what they want to do,” he says. “Others just know their parents told them engineering was a good career. This course helps them discover where they truly belong and grounds their expectations in reality.”
His second paper outlined a protocol for awarding credit for prior CAD knowledge, a standardized evaluation process that could let qualified students bypass a course, saving both time and tuition. The approach combines technical assessment with GU’s Christ-centered values, ensuring students understand not only how to design, but also how to design ethically.
Both papers drew interest from faculty across North America, opening the door to future collaborations with institutions such as SIUE, SIUC, SLU, and Washington University in St. Louis.
Beyond the Classroom
Raja’s vision extends past GU’s campus. He’s developing a curriculum for the unified course that could be adopted at other universities, to collect data on its effectiveness nationwide. The skills taught, including teamwork, time and resource budgeting, and clear communication, are designed to prepare students for the realities of the industry.
“Deadlines matter in the real world,” he says. “If you tell a client three weeks, you need to plan for three weeks. That’s as much a part of engineering as any formula.”
Raja’s commitment to lifelong learning is personal. Before teaching engineering, he trained as a public speaker and learned to tailor his message to his audience.
The analogy he often leaves his students with comes from the book of Exodus: "When the Israelites followed the cloud by day and the fire by night, they only saw the next few hundred feet—not the whole journey. In life and engineering, focus on the next step. Trust God to get you the rest of the way."
