John Baker developed an interest for aerospace and mechanical engineering the day his dad sat him down in front of the television to watch people walk on the moon.

“It was the idea of exploring, going places that no one has ever been before, doing things never done before [that] seemed to be a great challenge,” he said.

Now Baker, a Kentucky native, will be charting new territory of his own. He was recently named the new head of the department of aerospace engineering and mechanics in The University of Alabama’s College of Engineering.

Baker, who received the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award in 2007, has been teaching engineering at the University since 2001. He teaches undergraduate and graduate-level thermodynamics courses. He also teaches elective and heat transfer courses in rocket propulsion and other space exploration-related topics.

Baker compared his new responsibility as head of the department of aerospace engineering and mechanics to the birth of his first child.

“You have the responsibilities the day before [the birth], but then you look at that child and you go, that’s yours,” he said. “The department is kind of like that. Now I feel the responsibility of taking care of the department, and making sure it grows.”

He said he wants to make sure students keep getting the best education they can at the University. The department plans to focus on improving and modernizing all the infrastructures so students can work on them, building a culture where they understand they can be their very best.

Marquise Ridlehuber, a junior majoring in aerospace engineering, said she is confident Baker will be a wonderful department head.

“He truly cares about the student and the project, not just the grade,” she said. “He is already hard at work to make the student’s education that much better through better equipment and better relationships between faculty and students.”

Baker said there will be a total of 70 faculty positions in the department this and next year.

“We are really going to grow the faculty to make sure we still get that individual attention that the students have always had,” Baker said.

He said he plans to expand the department’s doctoral program by working with the faculty and the college to get more external funding to support the students. He said the Graduates Assistance for Areas of the National Need is an ideal way to increase the size of the doctoral program. The program, through the U.S. Department of Education, can fund five or 10 doctoral level students, depending the size of the proposal.

Baker said his new position will be one of the biggest challenges of his career.

“There are a lot of additional skills sets that I need to develop,” Baker said. “It’s been a little bit overwhelming, but everybody has been very friendly, very welcoming.”

Brian Fisher, an assistant professor in mechanical engineering, said Baker will be a great leader.

“I think he has been a great professor from what I can tell. He is well liked by the students in the mechanical department and by other students outside of his department that take his classes,” Fisher said. “My opinion is that he will be a great department head. They should consider themselves lucky to have him.”