Dr. Bryan Riley: University professor works to help his community

Sep. 18—Dr. Bryan Riley has a passion for helping his community.

Riley, who is from Aiken, is currently a professor at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Clemson University. He got started in electrical engineering in high school. He said a math teacher directed him to a program at DuPont Savannah River Plant, which is now the Savannah River Site.

"At the time, I was fortunate to spend five summers in rotational engineering assignments at various sites at DuPont Savannah River Plant," Riley said.

He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in electrical engineering from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. He was awarded the GEM Fellowship, which paid all of his expenses.

After earning his degrees, Riley went to work for Bell Laboratories as a development engineer. After a couple of years there he decided he to go back to school for his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Ohio University, where he received a Stocker Fellowship.

"I was married at the time (to Sanquinett Cave), had been married four years and worked during the summers," Riley said. "My wife worked as an administrator on campus, and four and a half years later after going full time, working those summers, I graduated and went to work for General Motors. Actually at the time it was Ohio and a few years later I was transferred to Michigan, and that's where I spent most of my career with travels across the world."

While at General Motors, Riley said his job included doing advanced development work for features including smart cruise control, automated lane change, and blind spot warning.

"All the early features and functions that are showing up now in the high-end vehicles heading toward autonomous driving."

Riley said he had a "phenomenal career" while at General Motors.

"The promotions, the responsibility from a technical standpoint, from a career standpoint," Riley said. "It was just wonderful, amazing. Enjoyed that time until bankruptcy occurred; wouldn't wish that on anyone. I was very fortunate and blessed to have an education. At the time, I was on an advisory board at Ohio University, and so one thing lead to another, and I spent seven, eight years as an associated professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Ohio University. "

When his mother's health started declining, Riley said he and his wife made the decision that he would come back to Aiken to take care of her and his mother-in-law. While here, he taught courses at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, Augusta Technical College, and in 2019 ended up at Clemson.

"I enjoy teaching," Riley said. "I'm passionate about young people when I see the light turn on, when they master an idea or concept. Today's teaching are largely focused around student-centered projects and student-centered learning. That's a little bit of an adaptation for me in how I was trained being in the industry, but I'm enjoying the interactions with students."

As for what he likes most about teaching, Riley said he enjoys lecturing. He added that because he teaches a very rigorous course, it is important for him to find ways to communicate and encourage his students to do their best.

Besides teaching, Riley also has four patents to name. He said three of the patents were earned while he was at General Motors.

"All of the three patents are in the area of advanced vehicle electronics, and the fourth patent that I just recently was awarded as a co-inventor is focused on determining the onset of diabetes by looking at retinal images of the eye and utilizing some of the current technology, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence," Riley said. "So applying those techniques to the data we were able to, this algorithm allows us to classify whether the person has an onset, early stage of diabetes, whether they are currently in diabetes or whether they are free and clear of any onset. So it's a classification algorithm that uses techniques that are based on the patent attorney's search is new and novel. It took about four years from the time the application was filed to the actual award by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office."

Riley said he is very proud of the fourth patent because of how it can help people.

"It has a direct relation to providing valuation to society, particularly in areas where healthcare is underserved. This could be a low cost mechanism device to screen patients, hand held device for the onset of diabetes," Riley said.

Besides teaching, Riley also speaks at conferences. In July he was in Minneapolis at the American Society of Engineering Education as a session moderator.

"At this time my work is primarily in teaching with a minimal amount in research," Riley said. "In order to publish, I'm not as engaged as I was several years ago, so the opportunities to publish are limited compared to being in a faculty role where that's a higher expectation."

Riley is involved with his church, and while in Detroit he was approached and asked to consider going through training to become a deacon, which he did.

"The study and my workload was, I just remember that being tremendous," Riley said. "My dad had passed, but in talking with my uncles, they encouraged me. In my denomination, the Baptist denomination, that is, that ordination is for life."

Riley is an active deacon at Zion Fair Missionary Baptist Church, which celebrated its 152nd anniversary during July of this year.

Caroline Hale met Riley through First Christian Church, which she said she attends along with his wife and mother-in-law. She said he teaches Sunday school, which he does a great job at thanks to his being a professor.

"Bryan will do anything for you that is in his power to do," Hale said. "He's very intelligent and he's a very caring and spiritual person. He's been a good friend and he has, that's very important."

He has been an advisor and mentor to different student organizations, including Eta Kappa Nu which is an electrical engineering honor society. He is a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Riley was also a technical co-mentor to the U.S. Robotics Team.

"I spent several years mentoring an intercity team of African American males," Riley said. "The first year that we established the team we competed at the national level and earned the Rookie All Star Award. So seeing 15-18 young men, intercity that were attending alternative school earn a national award for having designed and built a robot that competed in first robotics was a tremendous award."

Another manner in which Riley helps others is by packaging and distributing food baskets to those in need in Edgefield County.

"I am passionate about the African American community here where I live, although that's not to say I'm absent minded and not compassionate about all of our communities," Riley said. "... I do what I can, and I'm motivated to be a mentor and be engaged."

When he has spare time Riley said he enjoys both watching and playing golf.

"I am a golf fanatic," Riley said. "As a matter of fact when tickets went on sale for the President's Cup almost a year ago, I purchased tickets for my daughter and I, so in September we will have a family gathering in Charlotte and attend the President's cup. Golf is my outlet."