Experienced engineering educator appointed director of Northwestern’s program

Northwestern College has appointed Dr. David Winyard, a career engineer with teaching and leadership experience at three Christian colleges, as program director for its engineering program. Winyard’s 37-year career as a professional engineer included design work with the Naval Surface Warfare Center and design and managerial work with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).

“We are excited to have Dr. Winyard lead our engineering program,” says Dr. D. Nathan Phinney, vice president for academic affairs. “He has extensive experience as a practicing engineer, as well as program development and accreditation experience at intentionally Christian colleges. His background makes him an ideal fit for the next phase of our engineering accreditation process and program growth.”

From 2014 to 2018, Winyard led the launch of the engineering program at Ohio’s Mount Vernon Nazarene University by teaching classes, advising students, hiring faculty, and developing shops, labs and curricula toward its eventual accreditation by ABET. He later taught at Grace College and Indiana Wesleyan University. His technical expertise is in thermal-fluid sciences and systems engineering.

As a civilian engineer, Winyard contributed to the design of systems for Seawolf- and Virginia-class submarines. At DLA, he led value engineering projects to reduce weapon system costs and then managed development of a deployable distribution center that supports military, humanitarian and disaster relief missions worldwide. Among the honors he received during his engineering career are the DLA Distinguished Career Service Award in 2012 and the Department of Defense Value Engineering Professional of the Year Award in 2001. He holds five patents, plus a confidential “Notice of Allowability.”

“At the end of my government career, my interests shifted more to how engineering fits into society and how technology fits with Christianity,” says Winyard. “I’ve thought a lot about how to be a Christian first and an engineer second, and I love helping young men and women develop that view as they prepare to use their technical skills to participate in God’s creation mandate. With my experience doing that at three Christian colleges that launched engineering programs, I have the sense that God prepared me for this job.”

Before beginning his second career as an engineering educator, Winyard earned a doctorate in science and technology studies from Virginia Tech. He earlier earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland and the University of Rochester, respectively.

A former visiting scholar for Reasons to Believe (RTB), Winyard encourages Christians to understand and shape our technology-saturated world from a biblical perspective. He has worked toward that goal through RTB blog posts and publications for Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, the academic journal of the American Scientific Affiliation.

Northwestern’s engineering program—offering concentrations in civil, computer, electrical and mechanical engineering—began in the fall of 2024 with 15 students and expanded to 37 students last year. The program will be eligible to achieve ABET accreditation upon graduation of the first cohort in 2028.

Winyard replaces Dr. Young-Ji Byon, the program’s founding director, who is moving to a larger community due to the medical needs of a family member.