48 minute read
From the dean
FALL 2020 // Volume 30, Issue 2
DEAN
Christopher B. Roberts
DIRECTOR AND EDITOR, COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING
Austin Phillips
CONTRIBUTORS
Chris Anthony Jeremy Henderson Cassie Montgomery Virginia Speirs Alyssa Turner Lauren Winton
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Danny Doyle
WEB MANAGER Tyler Patterson
VIDEOGRAPHY/PHOTOGRAPHY
Mary Ballard Marcus Kluttz John Sluis
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Auburn Engineering is published twice yearly by the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.
Engineering Communications and Marketing c/o Editor 1210D Shelby Center Auburn, AL 36849 334-844-2444
© 2020 Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, Auburn University
Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer. It’s hard to believe that we are more than nine months into alternate operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And while 2020 has presented more challenges than we could have ever imagined, I could not be more proud of how resilient our students, faculty and staff have been through it all. We have remained focused on our vision of providing the best student-centered engineering experience in America – even under these extraordinary conditions.
In the middle of the summer semester, our students began slowly returning to campus. That increased exponentially in the fall, although we are still nowhere near what could be called “normal” operations.
With the move of many classes to remote online and blended instruction, our students and faculty have made the best out of an unfortunate situation, and I’m confident that we’ve all learned many valuable lessons that will pay off in the future. In the spring, our plan is to increase the number of in-person class offerings, while ensuring the safety of our students, faculty and staff remains paramount.
In addition, I am so proud of how our staff has worked tirelessly to provide the support services that our students have become accustomed to. From tutoring and advising to career development and student organizations, our staff has been dedicated to serving our students in the safest and most efficient and effective ways possible.
This unmatched Auburn Engineering work ethic was evidenced as the college recently maintained its spot among the Top 30 public engineering colleges in the nation, coming in at No. 29 for the second year in a row. It has also proven true through our continued upward trajectory in research grants and awards, with the college having another banner year bringing in more than $72 million. Top that off with our development efforts bringing in more than $30 million, and we are poised to make 2021 even better.
I hope you will enjoy this issue of the Auburn Engineer magazine, as we highlight many, many other amazing accomplishments around the college, including the opening of our state-of-the-art $22 million Advanced Structural Engineering Laboratory.
Have a wonderful holiday as we close out this unprecedented year, and I look forward to a healthy and happy 2021!
War Eagle!
Christopher B. Roberts Dean of Engineering
Auburn renames civil engineering department to include environmental focus
Civil engineering is the oldest department in Auburn University’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, but it now has the newest name.
In order to reflect its evolving educational mission, the department is now the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
“Changing the department’s name will better reflect environmental engineering as a distinct profession,” said Andy Nowak, chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
The department, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary, already offers a specialization in environmental engineering, and the name change will better reflect this concentration.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, environmental engineering is classified as an independent profession with 55,400 practitioners.
“The change will improve our competitiveness for students, faculty and funding within the state and beyond,”
Edward “Ed” Austin, ’91 civil engineering, was recently named chief engineer for the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT).
“My first position at ALDOT was as a graduate civil engineer in our design bureau,” Austin said. “I’ve been at ALDOT for almost 30 years. Getting this new position has been kind of overwhelming, as you can imagine, but I’m very honored by the opportunity.”
Austin credits much of his success to his alma mater. Nowak said. “It will enhance our visibility and help highlight the significant accomplishments of our students and faculty in the environmental engineering field.”
Nowak specifically hopes the name change will help boost the department’s female enrollment. In 2018, an American Society for Engineering Education study showed that 50.6% of environmental engineering concentrated bachelor’s degrees were awarded to women, compared to 21.9% across all other engineering degrees.
“The name change will better reflect the current and future employment trends and, along with our expansive facilities, emphasize the efforts Auburn University and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering have made as part of our vision to be the best student-centered engineering experience in America,” said Christopher B. Roberts, dean of engineering.
Ed Austin
“Auburn has always had a strong civil engineering program and still does,” Austin said. “Transportation-wise, it is very strong. The asphalt test track was there when I was in school, still is. Many of the professors that I recognize from my time at Auburn are still teaching and conducting research that has been very beneficial to the student body.”
Auburn ranked top 30 public engineering college by
U.S. News and World Report
Auburn University’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering has again been recognized for its premier engineering education, ranking No. 29 among public institutions in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2021 Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs.
This is the second consecutive year Auburn has been ranked a top 30 public engineering institution.
In addition, Auburn was also ranked No. 27 for best First-Year Experiences and No. 35 on the Most Innovative Schools list.
“U.S. News & World Report continues to recognize our efforts to create an exceptional student-centered engineering experience at Auburn,” said Christopher B. Roberts, dean of engineering.
“When students come to Auburn, they receive hands-on experience both inside and outside the classroom, backed by expert faculty and unparalleled student support programs. Our alumni have long known this, but more and more, our engineering peers surveyed by U.S. News & World Report are seeing this, too,” he added.
Auburn Engineering offers 13 undergraduate degrees across 10 engineering disciplines as well as a host of graduate programs.
The new Brown-Kopel Engineering Student Achievement Center offers one of the most comprehensive, active-learning environments for students in the country.
Frank Cilluffo
Auburn’s Cilluffo testifies before House committee
Auburn University’s Frank Cilluffo once again testified in front of Congress in July to address recommendations made by the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission in March.
Cilluffo, who serves as the director of Auburn’s McCrary Institute and is a commissioner on the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, testified in front of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities. Cilluffo was joined by commission Chairman and U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine; commission Chairman and U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis.; and Commissioner Patrick Murphy, who serves as the Distinguished Chair of Innovation at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
In March, the commission unveiled its
McCrary Institute, Air University Join Forces in Strategic Partnership
Auburn University’s McCrary Institute is partnering with Air University to examine challenges related to cyber and critical infrastructure security, for the purpose of advancing U.S. national security.
The two entities will combine their extensive expertise on national security issues to spur dialogue and action on pressing problems and practical solutions.
“Our partnership with Air University is an exciting and strategic step forward,” said report detailing a comprehensive strategic approach with policy recommendations for implementation. After conducting an extensive study including more than 400 interviews, the commission advocated a new strategic approach to cybersecurity — layered cyber deterrence. The desired end state of layered cyber deterrence is to reduce the probability and impact of cyberattacks of significant consequence. The strategy outlined three ways to achieve this end state: shaping behavior by working with allies and partners to promote responsible behavior in cyberspace; denying benefits to adversaries who have long exploited cyberspace to their advantage and to American disadvantage; and imposing costs by maintaining the capability, capacity and credibility needed to retaliate against actors who target America through cyberspace.
The official report consists of more than 82 recommendations, which include 54 specific legislative proposals, organized by six key pillars: reform the U.S. government’s structure and organization for cyberspace, strengthen norms and non-military tools, promote national resilience, reshape the cyber ecosystem, operationalize cybersecurity collaboration with the private sector, and preserve and employ the military instrument of national power.
Frank Cilluffo, McCrary Institute director. “Together, our networks and capabilities will be greater than the sum of the two parts. Each side will significantly extend its reach and impact.”
Air University, based at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, is the intellectual
Pengyu Chen
NIH awards $2.6 million grant for cancer immunotherapy research
Pengyu Chen, assistant professor of materials engineering, was awarded a $2.6 million RO1 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a biosensor designed to guide a novel immunotherapy for better treating cancer, specifically leukemia.
“I am very happy to see NIH continuously fund our research in the field of noninvasive point-of-care diagnosis,” Chen said. “This is promising field with lots of challenges and opportunities to explore.”
Chen’s biosensor is designed to evaluate the functions of an engineered T-cell with a protein called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). The technology will enhance the visualization of the communication between CAR T-cells, immune system cells and cancer cells through real-time, direct signals produced from these cells in the tumor microenvironment.
and leadership center of the U.S. Air Force, providing full-spectrum education, research and outreach, through professional military education, professional continuing education and academic degree granting.
The McCrary Institute, based in Auburn with additional centers in Washington, D.C. and Huntsville, seeks practical solutions to pressing challenges in the areas of cyber and critical infrastructure security.
Through its three hubs, the institute offers end-to-end capability – policy, technology, research and education – on all things cyber.
FAA invests $3 million in Auburn University additive manufacturing research
Thanks to a recent $3 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence (NCAME) at Auburn University will soon initiate a two-year project focused on improving commercial air travel through the use of 3D-printed (or additively manufactured) metal components.
The project involves fabricating metal parts from multiple industrial-scale metal 3D printers.
It aims to specifically address issues related to understanding the variability in performance of the same parts made on different machines, as well as issues
Interdisciplinary Center for Advanced Manufacturing wins $4.26 million DoD award
The Interdisciplinary Center for Advanced Manufacturing Systems (ICAMS) at Auburn University has received a $4.26 million award from the U.S. Department of Defense to explore the digitalization of manufacturing and become a resource for small and medium manufacturers throughout the country.
“The most significant way ICAMS can make a difference is in helping small and medium manufacturers understand the technologies they should be utilizing and helping them understand the need for adopting Industry 4.0/Smart Manufacturing concepts, therefore really digitalizing the full supply chain,” said Gregory Harris, ICAMS director and associate professor of industrial and systems engineering.
There is a growing digital divide between large manufacturers and the small- to medium-sized manufacturers that make up 85% of the industrial base in the United States.
Nima Shamsaei (left) and Steve Taylor
related to understanding how microscopic features in the 3D-printed metal affect overall fatigue and fracture properties.
Both are key areas in the development of additive manufacturing (AM) specifications that the FAA wants to eventually apply in commercial airlines.
“This is what I call the ‘Achilles heel’ of additive manufacturing,” said NCAME director Nima Shamsaei, the PhilpottWestPoint Stevens Distinguished These large, original equipment manufacturers have blended their manufacturing physical and virtual domains into an Industry 4.0 environment, achieving positive productivity results. help close this gap, in part by promoting advanced “The ideal student coming into this making things and realizing innovations, you will thrive. That’s the kind of student we’re looking for,” Harris said. ICAMS is led by Harris and several additional faculty members from the Department of Industrial and Systems Associate Professor of mechanical engineering. “Such variations make the qualification and certification of AM materials and parts challenging.”
The FAA said the partnership is ultimately intended to improve safety by standardizing certification of existing and emerging structural applications of advanced materials, a research area in which NCAME quickly emerged as an international leader, especially in the area of materials used for spaceflight.
Established in 2017 through a publicprivate partnership between Auburn and NASA, NCAME is also one of the founding partners of the ASTM International Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence, which aims to close additive manufacturing standards and workforce
ICAMS researchers hope to ICAMS faculty leadership manufacturing principles Engineering: assistant professor Peter to create a skilled workforce pipeline Liu, assistant professor Konstantinos that starts in high school and continues Mykoniatis, associate professor Lewis through community college and beyond. Payton and assistant professor Gregory program is somebody who is a cross The center is also supported through between a mechanical engineer, a partnership with the City of Auburn’s an industrial and systems engineer Industrial Development Board, which and a computer scientist. It’s a very has provided a facility to house large interdisciplinary environment where equipment and provide a hands-on if you’re interested in computers and learning laboratory for ICAMS students.
gaps. Purdy.
Listen to our podcasts with Greg Harris at
eng.auburn.edu/ginning
Christian Fauer
Mechanical engineering senior awarded prestigious climate control industry scholarship
Christian Fauer, a senior in mechanical engineering, has received the Duane Hanson Scholarship presented by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning (ASHRAE).
The scholarship is named after the president of Gayner Engineers, a mechanical and electrical engineering consulting firm in San Francisco, California. It is one of seven $5,000 scholarships awarded by ASHRAE each year.
ASHRAE is a global society that directly impacts and interacts with the energy efficiency industry by envisioning a healthy and sustainable built environment through its advancements in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and allied fields.
College partners with City of Auburn to meet advanced manufacturing needs
As manufacturing continues to shift from a manual to a more advanced industry, the need to better train skilled workers continues to grow.
To address local advanced manufacturing needs, Auburn University’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and the Industrial Development Board (IDB) of the City of Auburn are partnering to provide resources for Auburn’s workforce.
The result of this partnership is the Auburn Advanced Manufacturing Training Center (AMTC). Located in the Auburn
Auburn awarded $1.21 million by Department of Energy to develop nuclear energy technology
The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded Auburn University Xiaoyuan Lou a combined $1.21 million to develop advanced manufacturing technology for next-generation reactor designs and expand the university’s existing nuclear research infrastructure. The two awards are among the DOE’s $65 million research investment to domestic universities and national laboratories for 93 advanced nuclear technology projects across 28 states.
“In the United States, nuclear power represents approximately 20% of the electricity consumed without greenhouse gas emission,” said Xiaoyuan Lou, principal investigator of both awards and associate professor of materials engineering. “Innovative manufacturing technologies and advanced materials are both crucial to the future economic outlook of nuclear power and the development of next-generation reactor designs such as small modular reactor (SMR) and GEN IV advanced reactors.”
Through the first award of $1 million funded by the DOE’s Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET) program, Auburn will lead a joint university-industry team to develop and demonstrate the powder metallurgy-hot isostatic pressing (PM-HIP) cladding and joining strategies to manufacture dissimilar metal pressure retaining components.
The second infrastructure award of $210,000 supports Lou to enhance the advanced mechanical testing capabilities at Auburn University. Bart Prorok, interim program chair for materials engineering, is the co-PI on the project.
Lou said the new equipment acquisitions would boost the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s nuclear research and training opportunities and expand the existing nuclear research programs.
Auburn Advanced Manufacturing Training Center
Industrial Park, the center provides space for training and machine prototyping, setup and development. To combat hurdles that may prevent companies from a training center with the help of Auburn Engineering.
“AMTC is the result of three years of thoughtful listening and planning to provide solutions to the gap described by manufacturers in the precision five-axis machining, advanced measurement and Industry 4.0 technology skill areas,” said City of Auburn Economic Development Director Phillip Dunlap.
“The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering sees advanced manufacturing as advancing in Auburn, the IDB developed
an opportunity for intersection and engagement of industry and education,” said Christopher B. Roberts, dean of engineering.
“As the AMTC continues to develop and deliver courses to industrial partners, we are pleased to provide expert instruction from our engineering faculty and graduate assistants as a full partner of the AMTC.”
Collins McMurray
Chemical engineering sophomore to serve as Miss Auburn University for second term
Collins McMurray, a sophomore in chemical engineering, will serve a second term as Miss Auburn University due to the postponement of the 2020 pageant year by the Miss America Organization as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Serving for a second year is very unusual, and nationally, it has never happened before,” she said. “I am so excited and honored to be able to serve Auburn University again, as well as represent Auburn at Miss Alabama in June of 2021. I may be a little bit biased but I think Auburn is the best place to represent, so being able to do it two years in a row is amazing.”
McMurray plans to use her second year as Miss Auburn University to further promote her platform, “The Importance of the Arts in Education.” With a passion for arts education advocacy, she has cultivated relationships with local art programs and Auburn-area school systems and sees the pandemic as a unique challenge that her platform could help address.
“An area that I am really expectant for my platform to grow in is helping school systems that are struggling due to COVID-19,” she said. “The arts in education is so valuable to a child’s growth and development and being online has caused it to be even harder for students to be immersed in the arts. I am hopeful that I will be able to provide students with arts access, even though the format for school looks different this year.”
Wheeler Crook, ’05 civil engineering, has been named a 2020 “rising star” by Civil + Structural Engineering magazine.
Crook is a divisional vice president for Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, Inc. (GMC), one of the largest architecture and engineering firms in the southeast, where he has worked for 15 years designing and managing engineering and construction of large-scale infrastructure projects.
“It was no surprise to hear that Wheeler received this honor,” said Robert Barnes, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Wheeler is precisely the type of Auburn engineer that the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering strives to develop.”
Crook has earned multiple awards for his work in the civil engineering industry,
Auburn Engineering hires first student initiatives administrator
Jenny Sconyers, a former student services coordinator for the Office of Student Services in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering — and Auburn University’s newest Employee of the Year — has been hired as student initiatives administrator, a brand-new position within the college.
Jeffrey Fergus, associate dean for undergraduate studies and program assessment, said Sconyers’ primary role in her new position will be to support and give guidance to Auburn Engineering student organizations through fundraising efforts and activity planning, and by connecting them with administrative offices that can facilitate each organization’s goals and mission.
Wheeler Crook
including the 2012 American Water Works Association Young Professional of the Year Award for the Alabama-Mississippi Region and the 2012 GMC Inaugural Leadership Academy Award. He has been published in The Military Engineer and has presented at several regional and national conferences.
Crook said he is honored by the magazine’s recognition.
“This distinction is not a reflection of my achievements alone,” he said, “but a testament to the amazing people who have surrounded me in educational institutions, Goodwyn Mills & Cawood, and my community.”
Jenny Sconyers
“I am thrilled to begin my new role,” Sconyers said. “I want to help every engineering student find their place to connect with other students with similar interests.”
“I am so excited for the opportunity to work alongside our amazing engineering student organizations and their leaders as we continue to make Auburn’s the best student-centered engineering experience in the country,” she said.
Listen to our podcast with Collins McMurray at eng.auburn.edu/ginning
Governor names engineering alumni, faculty to statewide commissions
Gov. Kay Ivey recently established two statewide commissions to address innovation, promote entrepreneurial growth and focus on STEM education in the state: the Alabama STEM Council and Innovate Alabama.
Innovate Alabama is comprised of a 15-member commission chaired by state representative Bill Poole of Tuscaloosa and includes members with expertise across various industries from economic development to technology solutions.
The six-member advisory council includes innovation leaders with ties to Alabama,
Biosystems students and faculty take home ASABE awards
Several faculty members and students in the Department of Biosystems Engineering recently took home awards at the annual meeting of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers International.
Professor emeritus James Donald received the Henry Geise Structures and Environment award.
Established in 1988, the award recognizes outstanding and meritorious significant achievement in advancing the science of
Aerospace assistant professor reports asteroid surface sampling a success
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission recently completed a complex series of tasks that involved landing on, sampling and departing from Asteroid Bennu, a carbonaceous asteroid more than 321 million kilometers from Earth. Auburn University aerospace engineering assistant professor Masatoshi Hirabayashi, a collaborator supporting the OSIRIS-REx
Gov. Kay Ivey
including former United States Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and two Auburn Engineering alumni; Zeke Smith, ’82 industrial engineering, who has been tapped to serve as the president of the Innovate Alabama advisory council, and Chris Moody, ’90 electrical engineering.
The Alabama STEM Council will feature three individuals who have ties to the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering:
agriculture structures and environment. Donald was selected for his work in improving the profitability of live bird production and increased efficiencies in housing, energy, equipment and environmental control.
Hannah Thomascall, ’20, received the 2020 Student Honor Award, which encourages scholarship and activity in student affairs, while senior Kiara McDonald received the 2020 ASABE Foundation Engineering Scholarship.
Senior Sydney Williford and graduate student Vivek Patil took home first and second place, respectively, in the Ethics
team’s scientific investigations, reports that the sampling mission was successful and the spacecraft collected at least 2 ounces of the asteroid’s surface material. Virginia Davis, the Dr. Daniel F. and Josephine Breeden Professor of chemical engineering; K-Rob Thomas, ’01 civil engineering and power delivery general manager at Alabama Power; and Tim McCartney, ’80 civil engineering and chair of the Alabama Workforce Council.
“Alabama has continued to grow into an advanced manufacturing, aerospace engineering and cybertechnology center of excellence and as a result, the demand for qualified labor in these sectors has skyrocketed,” Ivey said. “The Alabama STEM Council will play a vital role in ensuring that our state’s future leaders have the opportunity to learn STEMbased skills that will help them transition into successful career pathways upon graduation.”
Essay Competition, while juniors Grace Phung and Patrick Redman won first place in the Ethics Video Challenge for their video “Due Diligence.” Second place went to senior Katelyn Wolfe, sophomore Nolan Bennett and junior Brynn Bartholomew for their video “Ethical Management of Hazardous Wastes.”
The sampling event highlights the mission team’s ability to pinpoint the spacecraft’s landing position, a feat completed without the benefit of conventional positioning technology, Hirabayashi said.
Hirabayashi is also a co-investigator for Hayabusa2, a Japanese asteroid exploration mission focused on targeting Ryugu, a carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid. His research investigates the geophysical features of target asteroids such as Bennu and Ryugu.
Software engineering senior receives Best Poster Award for PolyFold research
An Auburn Engineering student has received the Best Poster Award in the 11th ACM Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Health Informatics for a collaborative research project.
Andrew McGehee, a software engineering senior, led the design of the poster, “PolyFold: an interactive visual simulator for distance-based protein folding,” alongside fellow Auburn students Sutanu Bhattacharya and Rahmatullah Roche and computer and software engineering assistant professor Debswapna Bhattacharya.
PolyFold is an interactive visual simulator for distance-based protein folding. PolyFold aims to provide an intuitive, easy-to-use visual interface that exemplifies the process of distance-based protein folding to researchers and nonexperts.
It embeds powerful stochastic optimization algorithms with ondemand customizations and interactive
Civil and Environmental professor awarded $1.3 million DoD grant
Natalie Cápiro, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental engineering, has been awarded a $1.3 million grant by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, an environmental science and technology program for the Department of Defense, for her project “Development of Predictive Tools for Assessment of Natural Attenuation Capacity and Treatment Transition at Chlorinated Solvent Sites.” manipulations in present-time to fold a protein molecule.
It is achieved through the satisfaction of spatial constraints derived from a protein’s inter-residue distance matrix.
“Our group has worked diligently over the past couple of years in developing this open-source protein folding simulator to accelerate scientific discovery and promote citizen science,” Debswapna Bhattacharya said. “This award is a testament to the hard work Andrew and the team have devoted to the project and the potential it has in advancing computational biology and bioinformatics.”
McGehee’s work is supported by an Auburn University Undergraduate Research Fellowship. He attributes his success to his advisor’s guidance, Auburn’s excellent education and the
Visit our magazine online at eng.auburn.edu/magazine for videos and photos of all these stories.
department’s extra-curricular community.
Natalie Cápiro
Cápiro’s project aims to develop a quantitative understanding of the relationships between the processes that govern long-term attenuation at contaminated sites that are characterized by complex hydrogeology and failure of prior remediation efforts.
Alice Smith
Industrial and systems engineering professor named a 2020 Woman of Impact
Alice Smith, the Joe W. Forehand/ Accenture Distinguished Professor, has been named a Woman of Impact by Yellowhammer Multimedia. Smith, a professor of industrial and systems engineering, is the first Auburn University faculty member to receive the distinction. She joins Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey as one of the few Auburn women to have received the award since its inception in 2018.
“I am especially pleased to be the second (I am told) woman so honored with this award with Auburn connections – the first being our Governor Kay Ivey. My work over the past 40 years on the challenges and achievements of women in STEM, especially engineering, are a huge part of this recognition and I hope that the Yellowhammer Women of Impact Awards will continue to inspire young women and girls to follow their dreams and aspirations,” Smith said.
According to Cápiro, current nationwide estimates of costs and predicted cleanup times required for the restoration of federal and state hazardous wasteimpacted groundwater sites are underestimated. The cleanup timeframe for sites with complex hydrogeology can exceed acceptable timeframes, which are typically considered to be 30-50 years. Cápiro’s work aims to develop a holistic remediation approach accounting for natural attenuation processes that control chlorinated solvent contaminant persistence in groundwater, while providing long-term cost-saving measures and safeguarding drinking-water supplies.
Listen to our podcast with Dremere Woods at eng.auburn.edu/ginning
New additive printers boost NCAME capabilities
It’s been only three years since Auburn University, through a public-private partnership with NASA, established the National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence (NCAME) inside the recently renovated Gavin Research Laboratory. Yet, due to rapidly growing collaborative interest from additive manufacturing (AM) industry leaders, it’s already getting cramped inside the center’s state-of-the-art facilities.
“But that’s a good problem to have,” said NCAME director Nima Shamsaei, the Philpott-WestPoint Stevens Distinguished Associate Professor of mechanical engineering. “We’re obviously pleased that leading companies appreciate our vision and expertise.”
One of the center’s newest machines is the TruPrint 3000, a new universal medium-format machine produced by leading German industrial machine manufacturer TRUMPF, that allows a large build volume ideal for general industry applications. A second new addition is a Coherent CREATOR, a top-line 3D-metal printer for fabricating prototype and short production run components, was gifted to NCAME by Coherent Scientific.
Shamsaei said that NCAME, as a founding partner of the ASTM Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence, will also use the new machines to conduct R&D in support of standardization.
Auburn aerospace engineering sophomore named a Top 100 Intern by WayUp
Dremere Woods, sophomore in aerospace engineering, was recently named to WayUp’s Intern 100 list for 2020.
Woods has spent two semesters as a technical intern with GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric and one of the top aircraft engine suppliers in the industry. Over the summer, one of his coworkers suggested Woods apply for the Intern 100 award.
“Because of the pandemic, I was only able to work for GE Aviation for one-third of the time I was supposed to,” Woods said. “Even so, I was still able to learn a great deal and accomplish a lot with them. I am extremely honored to be recognized by WayUp through GE Aviation.”
One of the main reasons he was selected for the title was because of an optional project he worked on within his co-op, Woods explained. For the project, Woods was a member of a team that created an online survey designed to discuss diversity and inclusion. The successful survey won first place in the project’s competition.
The Council of Engineering Graduate Students hosted the 2020 Finish in Five competition, presenting Billur Kazaz, graduate student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the top prize of $500 for her presentation titled “Deep learning-based aerial stormwater inspections.” Vinita Shinde, chemical engineering graduate student, and Jacob Larson, graduate student in mechanical engineering, were awarded second and third prize, respectively.
The event was redesigned to abide by coronavirus restrictions. In the initial round, faculty judges reviewed 60 video
Dremere Woods
“On top of my regular aviation responsibilities, I participated in this optional competition and I did well with both,” Woods said. “That’s when people began to recognize that I had the potential to receive the award from WayUp, because I went above and beyond.”
Woods said that he has already accepted another co-op opportunity with GE Aviation in the summer of 2021, despite getting offers to work elsewhere. He said he plans to continue to work hard on the track to graduation.
WayUp is a recruiting platform designed to connect employers with students and recent grads to fill internships and entry-level positions. Launched in 2018, WayUp’s annual Intern 100 list recognizes the contribution of interns to the workforce.
Finish in Five winners
submissions. The top 10 participants presented a live 5-minute summary of their research in front of a panel of judges.
“It’s very difficult to take a technical subject and break it down for a general audience, much less a general scientific audience. I thought everyone did a fantastic job,” said Christopher B. Roberts, dean of engineering.
NCAME cultivates additive manufacturing vendor partnerships for NASA
Inside a state-of-the art 50,000-square foot South Dakota facility, within view of Mount Rushmore, one of the largest examples of subtractive manufacturing in the world, sits one of the world’s largest additive manufacturing machines, or 3D printers for metal parts.
“The 557XR is for blown powder laser directed energy deposition (DED),” said Nick Wald, general manager of RPMI, the pioneering Rapid City-based additive manufacturing (AM) company behind the massive professional grade system. “It’s a big machine.”
And, thanks to the latest developments in Auburn University’s public-private partnership with NASA, it’s got a big job to do.
Associate professor Daniel Tauritz has been named interim director of the Auburn Cyber Research Center, according to an announcement from Dean of Engineering Christopher B. Roberts.
In this role, Tauritz will lead more than a dozen faculty and staff affiliated with the center, which integrates cutting-edge engineering technology with research to develop innovative methods of protecting our nation’s cybersecurity.
The center’s research has focused on four main thrusts: secure software engineering, cloud security and forensics, RPM Innovations (RPMI) is one of several leading specialized technology vendors in a domestic advanced manufacturing supply chain cultivated by Auburn University’s National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence (NCAME). The supply chain is integral to a growing AM research and development contract from NASA for improving the performance of the liquid rocket engines that will return astronauts to the moon and beyond.
Titled Rapid Analysis and Manufacturing Propulsion Technology (RAMPT), the project aims to evolve light-weight, largescale novel AM techniques like DED — RPMI’s specialty.
“RAMPT aims to develop and advance new manufacturing technology, with the primary application being a largescale thrust chamber assembly for liquid rocket engines,” said RAMPT coprincipal investigator Paul Gradl, a senior propulsion engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.
“This large-scale demonstrator nozzle is critical to demonstrate the technology’s potential and to spur innovation in small commercial businesses in the industry. It’s a forward-thinking public-private partnership,” he added.
Daniel Tauritz
artificial intelligence (AI) for security and advanced manufacturing security.
“Daniel was already playing a key role in the Auburn Cyber Research Center, so he was an excellent choice to lead the center during this interim period,” Roberts said. “He has an impressive record of applying AI approaches to solving national security problems in cyber, critical infrastructure
Three Auburn engineers featured in cybersecurity episode of ‘Reinventing School’
Three Auburn engineers were recently featured on a new episode of “Reinventing School,” a web series that examines the future of education as schools have increasingly shifted to digital platforms in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The episode featured Frank Cilluffo, director of Auburn University’s McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security, and two students advancing in the cyber security field: software engineering senior Charlie Harper and computer science sophomore Vicki McLendon. Harper is president of Auburn’s Ethical Hacking Club, of which McLendon is also a member. The episode, titled “Cyberattack!,” explored the ways in which a giant cyberattack could disrupt industry and schools.
and other areas. I am confident in his ability to elevate the center’s impressive body of work through this new role.”
Tauritz’s primary research interest is the creation of novel AI techniques to solve complex real-world problems, with an emphasis on applications in the national security and cyber domains, ranging from adversarial models in cyber (physical) security to evolving graph algorithms for network security.
The associate professor of computer science and software engineering is an internationally recognized researcher in the AI subspecialties of evolutionary computing and the automated design of algorithms employing hyper-heuristics.
Bryan Beckingham
Improving fuel efficiency with NSF award
Ion-containing polymer membranes are found in many energy generation and storage devices. Using artificial photosynthesis, these devices convert water, sunlight and carbon dioxide into energy in an electrochemical cell, such as a solar fuel cell. Maximizing the efficiency of solar fuel cells requires understanding the relationships between polymer membrane structure and the transport of ions and molecules.
Chemical engineering assistant professor Bryan Beckingham will explore the relationships between ion-containing polymer membrane structure, membrane physiochemical properties and membrane-transport behavior with a $259,036 award from the National Science Foundation. The project, “Cooperative Transport in Ion-Conducting Membranes,” seeks to provide guidance for the future design of ion-containing polymer membranes to improve the efficiency of solar fuel cell devices.
Through lab experiments, Beckingham will examine transport properties such as permeability, solubility and diffusivity for a neutral solute (methanol), an ionic solute (acetate) and complex mixtures of the two. Beckingham, with his graduate students, will be utilizing infrared spectroscopy in a novel way that will allow them to examine the diffusion behavior of multiple species at once, streamlining the characterization process.
Listen to our podcasts with Daniel Taurtiz and Zac Young at eng.auburn.edu/ginning
Aerospace students, alumnus honored by aeronautics institute
Two students from the Auburn University Department of Aerospace Engineering and an alumnus of the department have been recognized by the Huntsville Section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Timothy Marquardt received the Graduate Student of the Year award; Anna Grace Miller received the Undergraduate Student of the Year award; and aerospace engineering alumnus Mark Miller received the organization’s Toftoy Award.
Doctoral candidate Timothy Marquardt was nominated for the Graduate Student of the Year award for his research into swirl-enhanced hybrid rocket combustion physics, for his analysis of both hybrid and nuclear thermal rocket propulsion engines for NASA and for outstanding academic performance. He is a member of the Advanced Propulsion Research Laboratory at Auburn University and is advised by its director, Joe Majdalani, the Hugh and Loeda Francis Chair of Excellence in the Department of Aerospace Engineering.
Undergraduate honoree Anna Grace Miller is a 2020 graduate of the Department of Aerospace Engineering. In her time as an Auburn Engineering student, Miller served as vice president of Sigma Gamma Tau Aerospace Engineering Honor Society,
Mechanical engineering senior wins SEC Pitch entrepreneurial competition
Zac Young, a student in Auburn’s Entrepreneurship Program, resident in the New Venture Accelerator, and senior in mechanical engineering, found a way to make power lines safer for linesmen to install, more effective and cost-efficient.
Using lessons learned from the entrepreneurship offerings afforded him by Auburn University and the Harbert College of Business, Young is able to cultivate his business idea.
Anna Grace Miller, Mark Miller and Timothy Marquardt
as a Cupola Engineering Ambassador and as a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, which represents the top 10% of Auburn students. She was also selected to be the College of Engineering Graduation Marshal at the 2020 spring commencement ceremony, which was rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Holger Toftoy Award is presented in recognition of outstanding technical management in the fields of aeronautics and astronautics. The 2020 recipient of this award is Mark Miller, a two-time Auburn aerospace engineering graduate who earned a bachelor’s degree in 1984 and a master’s degree in 1985. He is vice president and division manager of the missile and aviation systems division at Dynetics, a division he originally established at the firm. The Department of Aerospace Engineering named Miller as its 2012 Outstanding Alumnus. He presently serves on the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council and on the department’s advisory board.
Zac Young
Young took first place and a $5,000 prize in the virtual SEC Pitch Competition. Young, owner of Vulcan Line Tools, created the Wave Timer — a small device that measures sag, tension and the temperature of power lines in a matter of seconds.
FEATURES
// BY JEREMY HENDERSON
STRUCTURAL
INTEGRITY
Located at the corner of West Samford Avenue and Shug Jordan Parkway, Auburn’s new 42,000 square-foot Advanced Structural Engineering Laboratory is a technological marvel. “If I’m a student who wants to be a structural engineer,” said Steve Taylor, associate dean for research, “Auburn is the best place to go to school in the nation.”
America has an infrastructure problem.
Auburn now has a $22 million solution. It’s at the corner of West Samford Avenue and Shug Jordan Parkway, it’s nearly 42,000 square feet, and it’s spectacular.
“The U.S. is dealing with significant issues related to aging infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, railways, airports, waterways, and water and wastewater facilities,” said Steve Taylor, associate dean for research. “It’s a safety issue, but also an economic development issue. Without safe and functional transportation networks, our economy fails. Without safe and functional water and wastewater systems, our economy fails. Auburn researchers in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering will now be able to better contribute to designing newer, cost effective infrastructure solutions for years to come thanks to the new Advanced Structural Engineering Laboratory (ASEL).” “Advanced” is almost an understatement. The ASEL, one of the largest structural engineering labs in the world, is a technological marvel.
The facility, which opened in early December, includes a high bay laboratory with a strong wall and strong floor specially engineered to handle extreme structural testing loads; a geotechnical chamber within the strong floor; a concrete materials research and testing laboratory; wind testing capabilities that can replicate hurricane-level loads; and faculty and graduate student spaces.
“The new technology and functionality obviously excited our faculty when we first discussed building the ASEL, but another huge plus was that there would be so many things close together on one research campus,” Taylor said. “For years, we’d had an excellent structural testing lab that’s part of the Harbert Engineering Center, but we had outgrown it.
We’d come to the point that we needed to replace it, due in part to its surroundings.”
Indeed, one of the most attractive aspects of the lab, is the ease of access. Due to its location on the engineering campus, the previous structural testing lab, which was built in 1988, could only accommodate elements 40 feet in length or under.
“And even that took a lot of work,” said Robbie Barnes, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Let’s just say that a few signs may or may not have been bent. But with the new facility, we can bring in elements like full-scale bridge girders that are 140 feet long. A lot of care was put into the design to ensure that a long vehicle, be it a truck or trailer, can basically just back right up to the building.”
Plenty of care was also put into providing peace of mind once that vehicle’s cargo is inside; the ASEL’s strong floor is twice as large, and features anchor points that hold 10 times the load as the floor in the previous lab, which will be repurposed for other academic and research use.
But the ASEL’s most unique feature may be the 4,700-cubicfoot geotechnical test chamber within the strong floor footprint — one of the few test chambers in the nation included in a university laboratory — that will allow the department’s geotechnical researchers to conduct testing on foundations, anchorages and towers previously only possible in the field.
“After a devastating season of hurricanes in the Southeast, we are reminded of the fragile nature of some aspects of our critical infrastructure,” said Justin Marshall, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and the director of the ASEL. “The unique capabilities of the ASEL will allow for full-scale, controlled testing including the soil, the foundation
The $22 million ASEL includes a high bay laboratory with a strong wall and strong floor specially engineered to handle extreme structural testing loads.
The college’s previous structural testing lab could only accommodate elements 40 feet in length or under. The 42,000 square-foot ASEL allows researchers to bring in elements like full-scale bridge girders that are 140 feet long.
In addition to its incredible research amenities, the ASEL includes graduate student study spaces.
and the structural system to develop and evaluate innovative, high-performing, resilient and cost-effective infrastructure that will endure and perform well into the future.”
Marshall calls the ASEL “game-changing.” Andy Nowak, chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, goes a step further.
And Nowak is excited about who will be doing it.
“In addition to helping us secure research grants and projects, the ASEL will help us to recruit the best faculty and the best students,” he said.
Taylor agrees.
But the ASEL isn’t just a recruiting tool for the university, it’s a huge one for the state.
“Auburn University continues to serve a pivotal role in the development of our state’s second-to-none workforce,” said Gov. Kay Ivey, a 1967 Auburn University graduate. “I am proud to celebrate the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s new Advanced Structural Engineering Laboratory and the fact that this is not only a giant step for Auburn but a giant step for Alabama. When you have what is arguably the best lab of its kind, you are signaling to the world that Alabama is the place to do business.
“I remain committed to working in partnership with Auburn University as we move our state forward into the next century,” she said.
The unprecedented investment in Auburn’s structural and geotechnical engineering expertise not only coincides, but pairs perfectly, with the college’s continued efforts to elevate its transportation engineering initiatives; many of the full-scale structures and components that the ASEL can test, such as guardrails, long-span bridge girders and other bridge foundation systems, are integral to transportation infrastructure.
“As it is in many other areas of research, I’m proud to say that Auburn is now one of the top destinations in the world for structural engineering,” said Christopher B. Roberts, dean of engineering.
“Whether it’s developing new innovations or finding ways to significantly lengthen the life of our existing infrastructure, while decreasing costs to taxpayers, the ASEL allows our faculty in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering to take the lead in solving some of our nation’s most pressing problems. That’s what industry experts have come to expect from Auburn Engineering,” he added.
Visit our magazine online at eng.auburn.edu/magazine for an enhanced version of this story with videos and photos
A FAMILY
WITHIN THE AUBURN FAMILY
This is what the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) has become for so many Black students in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. First formed in the late 1980s, the Auburn University chapter of NSBE continues to thrive, even amid a global pandemic, because of the passion of its members and a dedicated network of alumni supporters.
Each fall, NSBE hosts a week of social and athletic events to welcome new and returning club members.
Adia Foster, current chapter president, is a junior studying software engineering. Her NSBE membership seems destined from birth. She is the daughter of two Auburn Engineering alumni — Bernard, ’92 industrial engineering, and Mendolyn, ’92 electrical engineering — who met at NSBE’s Fall Regional Conference (FRC). Her father would later serve as the Auburn chapter president.
“I went through phases of wanting to be a doctor and then a teacher, but I would always come back to being an engineer. Once I decided I wanted to study engineering, there really wasn’t any other school that, in my opinion, compared to Auburn Engineering, especially as close as I wanted to be to home. It was a no-brainer,” said Foster, a Montgomery native.
She joined NSBE and attended FRC that first semester because it was what her parents did their freshman year. The conference is a chance to travel to another city, compete against engineering programs from throughout the Southeast and form bonds with classmates that last throughout college and beyond. What Foster found at her first NSBE conference opened her eyes to the value that an organization such as NSBE can offer to students such as herself.
“Everywhere you look at FRC, there’s Black people dressed up in professional attire – just business professional from head to toe. A lot of us don’t ever get to see that,” she said. “It’s
The NSBE 2019-20 executive board at a themed gathering. Adia Foster, current chapter president, is pictured at center.
hundreds of people who look like us dressed professionally and doing great things in engineering.”
A community of support
The organization was founded by six Purdue University students in 1975 in an effort to combat a high dropout rate among Black engineering students – a rate that reached as high as 80% in the late 1960s. Today, NSBE has more than 600 active collegiate, professional and pre-collegiate chapters with more than 24,0000 members in the United States and
NSBE welcomes professional speakers and recruiters to its weekly meetings.
NSBE members meet with prospective Auburn Engineering students.
abroad dedicated to advancing the organization’s mission: “To increase the number of culturally responsible Black Engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.”
Organizations such as NSBE offer Black students an oncampus community of peers with shared life experiences.
“I would say there are two groups within the Black student population at Auburn. There’s the group that grew up with only Black peers and then there’s the group of students who were the only Black student at their high school,” Foster explained. “I was the only Black student at my school and whether you’re going from being the only one like me or you were surrounded by Black people, now you might be the only in your engineering class. Just because you’re the only one in that class, you are not the only one overall. And that’s where NSBE comes in.”
Jeffrey Fergus, associate dean for undergraduate studies and program assessment, is the faculty advisor for the Auburn chapter. He emphasizes the value of NSBE as a support system for Black engineering students.
“In addition to organized professional development programs, NSBE provides a community of support to help its members persevere in times of struggle and celebrate in times of success,” he said. “Such support is important for all students, but the opportunity to spend time with other Black engineering students is especially important for NSBE members, because they are often the only or one of a few Black students in their classes.”
Navigating difficult circumstances
The Auburn NSBE chapter is comprised of nearly 100 active members who, during a regular non-pandemic semester, would meet weekly in the Brown-Kopel Engineering Student Achievement Center to listen to guest speakers cover a range
NSBE has more than 15,000 collegiate members across the United States and abroad.
of topics from the history of voting rights in the South to negotiating a salary offer.
This year, with coronavirus precautions restricting indoor meetings and large gatherings, chapter events have looked different, though enthusiasm and participation remains high.
Weekly chapter meetings have transitioned to Zoom, but the format has opened the door to greater participation from professional speakers and recruiters who may not normally have been able to travel to Auburn for an in-person event.
“One of the biggest benefits to virtual meetings is that we’ve had the opportunity to have representatives from far more companies join our meetings and speak to our students than ever,” Foster said. “Some of these people would never have been able to come to Auburn in person – take the Microsoft representative who joined from Seattle, for example. We’re using the virtual format to our advantage.”
Transitioning online has also allowed the Auburn chapter to welcome its first full-time distance learning member who is completing an online computer science degree.
“He’s our first member who has been a part of the online programs that the College of Engineering offers, but he’s been able to join all of our meetings and attend everything, so that was an awesome benefit,” she said. Virtual events can only go so far, however. In a regular year, students would normally look forward to attending and competing against other engineering schools at FRC, throwing themed get-togethers, hosting the annual Cultural Fashion show and celebrating one another’s achievements at their annual awards banquet.
Foster and the organization’s executive board hope to hold as many of these events as possible during spring semester.
Leaving a lasting impact
NSBE is one of many Auburn Engineering student organizations that enjoy the support of dedicated alumni who give of their time and resources to ensure the success of the next generation.
“Alumni provide examples of what students can look forward to becoming when they graduate. They can provide useful advice on how to succeed and encouragement by sharing how they may have also struggled at times as a student but persevered,” Fergus said. “The Samuel Ginn College of
Past NSBE members, including Mendolyn (Brooks) Foster and Bernard Foster (top row center and right), gather for a gala dinner.
Engineering and NSBE have many dedicated alumni who provide inspiring examples of success and generously spend time with our students.”
Jeremy Woods, ’16 software engineering, is one such dedicated NSBE alumnus. His enthusiasm for NSBE started before his college days as a member of the Birmingham NSBE Jr. chapter.
Woods, now a software engineer at Google and a member of the Auburn Engineering Young Alumni Council, recently established the Jeremy Woods Endowed Scholarship in engineering. The endowed scholarship, which was matched by Google, will provide meaningful support to engineering students, with preference given to students who participate in NSBE. He also volunteers as a Google Engineer and does recruiting at Auburn that focuses on groups such as NSBE, the Society of Women Engineers and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.
“When I first graduated, I would normally have communication with the Auburn NSBE executive board and provide feedback and advice when possible. Since then, most of the students I know personally have graduated so I have switched to trying to leverage my resources in favor of underrepresented groups who are pursuing engineering. The scholarship prioritizes students in NSBE because that was a big part of my college experience,” he said. “I know college organizations run on alumni support and I think it is important to support the organization that I feel supported me.”
MaTais Caldwell, a senior in computer science and NSBE membership chair, appreciates the time and energy alumni pour into the organization.
For Caldwell, who joined NSBE for the chance to network among his peers and the opportunity to grow as a leader, there has never been a question of whether he would remain involved with the organization after graduation.
