Arizona Engineer | Summer 2022 | The Global Issue by University of Arizona College of Engineering

N E W S.E N GI N E E R ING .ARIZONA.EDU

ARIZONA

ENGINEER COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

VOLUME 45

NUMBER 1

SUMMER 2022

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

INSIDE THIS EDITION PLUS 10

Researchers Pilot ‘Itty Bitty’ Device for Early Ovarian Cancer Detection

4 Fulbrighters Share Knowledge Abroad Collaborations with Cambodia, Spain and beyond

8 Engineering Leads University’s First International Joint College New campus in China has been years in the making

12 Craig M. Berge Design Day 2022 Back in person – with $46,250 in prizes!

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Summer 2022

D E A N’ S M ESSAGE

It’s a Wildcat World Celebrating UA Engineering’s presence all over Earth – and beyond.

DEAR WILDCATS AND FRIENDS, What a year it has been! President Robbins stated in the recent Arizona Alumni magazine how impressed he was by the spirit of the university’s faculty, staff and students in coming together through a pandemic. I am equally grateful for and proud of the entire College of Engineering. In true engineering fashion, we adapted, persevered and continued to excel. It was with an enormous sense of pride that I opened the awards portion, live and in person, of the 2022 Craig M. Berge Design Day, giving $46,250 in prizes to more than 40 teams. I also had the honor to present our 2022 graduates to President Robbins at the spring commencement in Arizona Stadium. I will always remember seeing the newest group of global problem solvers receive their engineering degrees. We are all in great hands.

Finding Big-Ticket Solutions Together In keeping with thematic issues, this magazine focuses on the global reach of Wildcat Engineering. One can say that Wildcat Nation is everywhere, and that’s certainly the case for this college, extending through our research, teaching and service missions. You will read about Fulbrighters’ experiences, global educational partnerships, and science diplomacy efforts. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that reach expands well beyond the Earth’s surface. Researchers are pioneering ways to manage space traffic, for example, and graduates are becoming astronauts and space entrepreneurs. Our latest graduate student fellowship from the Haq Foundation is directly related to one person’s international path and perspectives. I am also proud to note that our alums – including graduates Greg Boyce, BS/MinEng 1976, and Scott Roberts, MS/ChE, 1969 – embrace global career possibilities. Greg and Scott enjoyed careers with broad international ties, and both have recently given back in significant ways to support faculty leadership and our capital priority, the Student Design Center. We are grateful to Greg and Scott and their families, as well as our many Wildcat alums who so generously support the college.

College Growth Going Strong I have shared many times bold plans to grow the College of Engineering. Support from UA senior leadership and state legislators remains strong. I am most pleased to report that the college’s first-year class for fall 2022 is on track to be its largest ever, and the research enterprise is headed for a second consecutive year of substantial growth. The future is bright for the College of Engineering. With friends and alumni, we continue to contribute to technological advancement and economic prosperity, in Arizona and beyond – indeed on Earth and beyond. Together, in alignment with the university’s land grant mission, we will keep expanding human potential, tackling the world’s toughest challenges, exploring new horizons and enriching life for all. Wishing you a wonderful summer and looking forward to seeing many familiar faces at this fall’s Homecoming celebrations. Go Cats, and Bear Down!

David W. Hahn Craig M. Berge Dean, College of Engineering

ARIZONA ENGINEER

ARIZONA

ENGINEER COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

VOLUME 44

NUMBER 1

COVER PHOTO GLOBAL Perspectives

SUMMER 2021

The UA College of Engineering has graduates, partners and campuses throughout the world, and students and researchers who seek to explore beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

CONTENTS FEATURED STORY

IN EVERY ISSUE

10 ‘Itty Bitty’ Device Detects Early-Stage Ovarian Cancer

2 Dean’s Message

Surgeon tests biomedical engineer’s invention in a patient volunteer for the first time.

21 Class Notes 23 Thoughts on Philanthropy

IN THIS ISSUE 6

Preventing Lunar Traffic Jams — $7.5 million effort will track and manage moon-orbiting payloads.

Craig M. Berge Design Day 2022 — Back in person, the event features 97 student teams and $46,250 in prizes.

Computer on the Bone — Paper thin wireless devices created to help physicians monitor bone health and healing.

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Systems & Industrial Professor Travels to Spain as a Fulbright Specialist

COST ESTIMATION EXPERT Ricardo Valerdi, Distinguished Outreach Professor and interim department head of systems and industrial engineering, traveled to Spain in March and again in May to work with a research team based at the University Carlos III of Madrid, or UC3M. The international group, which includes a collaborator from the University of Piura in Peru, is developing a research paper and a planning tool that will help developers determine the potential cost savings associated with reusing software. The collaboration is led by Valerdi and UC3M computer science professor Juan Llorens. Their project was selected as part of the Fulbright program, which operates in over 160 countries worldwide and is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. Valerdi speaks Spanish fluently and spent part of his childhood in Mexico. He was inducted into the Mexican Academy of Engineering in 2017 and has also been a visiting fellow of several international universities. “It’s great to see the commonality in interest,” he said of working with partners outside the United States. “It’s been extremely fruitful for me because, even though they’re halfway around the

Ricardo Valerdi, shown here in 2021, is working on software reuse analysis.

world, they’re working on similar problems and research.” Reusing software code offers economic benefits, but can also bring drawbacks, said Valerdi. Some software is too old, written in an incompatible language, or of poor quality. Valerdi advises thorough planning and sees a significant need for this type of analytical tool. “Software is everywhere,” he said. “So understanding software projects and their economics is becoming increasingly important because we depend on it for everything – financial transactions, transportation, education. Even our health records are on a computer system.”

Visiting Fulbright Scholar Introduces Cambodian Architecture

AFTER EARNING A master’s degree in architecture and urban planning at Chung Hua University in Taiwan, Štefan Tkáč was eager to remain in the region. He became associate professor and chair of the architecture department at the American University of Phnom Penh in Cambodia and collaborated with the UA on a dual degree program. Tkáč, who has gone on to earn a doctoral degree, brings his international experience to the fore as an educator. “I want my students to be exposed to a broad, global perspective. I don’t want them to be limited or cut off from that global experience, and that’s why I always encourage them to participate in exchange programs,” he said.

Štefan Tkáč

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Tkáč recently participated in such a program himself as a Visiting Fulbright

Scholar at the UA with the College of Engineering. He spoke at the opening of the Vann Molyvann Exhibition, hosted by the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture and the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Mechanics. The exhibition showcased the work of Vann Molyvann, Cambodia´s first fully qualified architect, who was responsible for the new era of Cambodian postcolonial architecture, referred to as New Khmer Architecture. The presentation was the first exposition of Molyvann´s work outside the Asia-Pacific region and the first appearance in the United States. Together with the Vann Molyvann Project and the New Khmer Architecture Association, Tkáč plans to introduce the legacy of New Khmer Architecture to Japan, Taiwan, Slovakia, and the country of its origin, Cambodia, via a series of workshops and exhibitions.

Classes Present International Climate Strategy to State Department

INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS ARE important to mitigate climate change, but there’s been an increasing focus on how system-level change will have a larger impact on the future. A group of UA students came together in the fall to drive change in this way. Students in the Science Policy and Diplomacy class, taught by engineering professors Kevin Lansey and Hassan Vafai, teamed up with students in the Climate Change Adaptation class, taught by Gregg Garfin, an associate professor in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment. Together, they participated in a project hosted by the Diplomacy Lab – a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of State and a network of U.S. academic institutions. The UA students were assigned a project, developed under the Mekong-U.S. Partnership, that aims to find solutions to challenges in the Mekong region. The students focused on improving food, energy and water security in Southeast Asia’s Lower Mekong River Basin countries, which include Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Students Amplify Connections to Worldwide Ham Radio Community

IN THE AGE of the internet, almost anyone can talk to people from all over the world. But most of us use technologies without much understanding of how they work. Members of the K7UAZ Amateur Radio Club learn about wireless communication and connect with like-minded people across the world.

Club member Sarah Li installs a new antenna atop Old Engineering.

Four of the 12 students presented their policy recommendations in December via Zoom to Jung H. Pak, U.S. deputy assistant secretary for multilateral affairs. The students outlined solutions to mitigate harm caused to the region by the changing climate, to reduce the carbon footprint of the people living there and to communicate these issues in innovative ways.

“What I like about the nature of amateur radio is taking ownership and understanding how wireless communication works day to day,” said systems engineering major Sarah Li. “This is about building an understanding of the world around you and how it works.”

“I was really proud of this class and what we were able to accomplish together,” said Shelley Littin, who is pursuing a master’s degree in systems engineering. “Yes, it was classwork, but for the first time, this felt like we were also doing something with real-world impact.”

Another highlight for Li, and for other club members, is connecting with a tight-knit global community. One of the events Li enjoyed most was participating in the North American QSO Party/ Collegiate Championship, in which teams used a digital communication mode called radioteletype, or RTTY, to make as many contacts as possible in a 12-hour period. For the past few years, the group has been upgrading radios and transmission lines for their antennas, including replacing safety wires securing the antenna tower. But they took a major step forward in March, when they raised a 15-foot by 30-foot, 60-pound antenna onto the roof of the Old Engineering building.

Engineering classes team up to find solutions for food, energy and water security in Southeast Asia’s Lower Mekong River Basin, shown here.

Club vice president Hilliard Paige, a systems engineering major, explained that this will open up new communications opportunities. For example, club members now have the ability to bounce signals off the trails of meteors. 45:1

Summer 2022

$7.5M Effort Seeks to Prevent Lunar Traffic Jams

THE MOON IS top of mind for many national space programs and private companies, with some planning to send humans back to the lunar surface as early as 2025. In advance, scientists are launching satellites and other payloads to orbit the moon. But so far, no one has kept track of just how many artificial objects are already up there, or where they are at any given moment. Without a way to keep track of traffic, the orbital space surrounding the moon could quickly grow crowded. The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate has awarded UA researchers $7.5 million to get a handle on this impending lunar traffic jam. “The University of Arizona has been a world leader in space exploration for decades, and our scientists were instrumental in mapping the surface of the moon for NASA’s Apollo 11 mission in 1969,” said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins. “We are now building upon this legacy to better understand and proactively address

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possible traffic congestion between Earth and the moon.” Principal investigators Roberto Furfaro, professor of systems and industrial engineering, and Vishnu Reddy, an associate professor in the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, are developing ways to detect, characterize and track objects in cislunar space, or the space between Earth and the moon. According to NASA, there are more than 23,000 cataloged objects orbiting Earth, and congestion is an increasing concern. In contrast, Furfaro and Reddy estimate there are just dozens of payloads orbiting the moon.

“It’s like tracking a firefly that’s flying around a searchlight.” VISHNU REDDY associate professor, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory

“The orbital space around the Earth is becoming extremely congested, so the Space Force and Air Force Research Laboratory are trying to get ahead of the problem around the moon,” said Furfaro,

who initiated a space domain awareness program at the university in 2015. While the team’s prior Air Force collaborations focused on awareness of objects in geostationary range – approximately 36,000 miles out from the center of the Earth – this project extends to 437,700 miles away from Earth’s center, and beyond. Reddy and his students in the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory use dedicated sensors at the university’s Biosphere 2 research facility to characterize objects in space. Their suite of equipment includes several telescopes dedicated to space domain awareness, including one built by a group of UA engineering undergraduates. Tracking objects in cislunar space can be challenging, not only because they’re farther away than objects orbiting Earth, but because they can be lost in the moon’s glare. “It’s like tracking a firefly that’s flying around a searchlight,” said Reddy, who has pioneered the observational techniques to track cislunar objects.

Haq Foundation Honors Family’s Legacy with Graduate Level Scholarships

THE HAQ FOUNDATION has donated $500,000 to the UA to establish the Subhanul “Sam” Haq Endowed Scholarship fund, which will support graduate level scholarships for College of Engineering students. The gift supports College of Engineering students in their initial year of graduate school. The college is committed to providing additional support to see each class of Haq scholars through their degree programs, furthering the impact of the Haq family’s generosity.

“The generosity of the Haq family will empower our graduate students for years to come.” DAVID W. HAHN, Craig M. Berge Dean

The Haq Foundation was established at the behest of UA alum Karen Haq, who earned her BS in biochemistry in 1993. Karen spent many years as a caregiver for her parents until their deaths. Karen passed away from stomach cancer just months after her mother died in 2018.

in honor of her father. Her friends, who formed the Haq Foundation to carry out the mission, said Karen admired her father, who worked as an engineer for Medtronics throughout his life and held several patents for biomedical devices.

The Haq Foundation, which supports first-year graduate students, was envisioned by UA alum Karen Haq, in honor of her parents, Najma and Subhanul “Sam” Haq.

“Every student who passes through the University of Arizona is part of the Wildcat community, and we are so grateful that Karen has chosen to leave behind a legacy in the College of Engineering,” said David W. Hahn, Craig M. Berge Dean of the College of Engineering. “This support is well aligned with our commitment to being a global educator, and the generosity of the Haq family will empower our graduate students for years to come.” In her last days, Karen spoke to her friends about the causes she wanted her inheritance to support, including establishing an engineering scholarship

“One of the devices was used to try to revive her father when his heart was failing,” said high-school friend Jennifer Markley. “She felt like his own inventions were being used to try and help him, and she saw this coming full circle.” Karen herself embodied many of the traits that make a successful engineer, including curiosity and determination. “Even though Karen Haq Karen was a biochemistry major, she was always a cheerleader for engineering students,” said college friend Laura Goligoski.

Beyond Earth: Alums Prove Space Is Wildcat Country

JESSICA WITTNER, an aerospace engineering alum and US. Navy lieutenant commander, is part of NASA’s newest class of astronauts. An aviator and test pilot, Wittner is one of 10 candidates selected from more than 12,000 applicants. She will train for two years at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. After training, Jessica Wittner

Wittner could be assigned to missions involving space station research, journeys on spacecraft built by commercial companies, or deep space missions to destinations including the moon. Materials science and engineering alum Dylan Taylor also traveled to space in December 2021, aboard the Blue Origin NS-19 mission. He called the journey the most profound experience of his life. “Earth is an oasis and that notion penetrates you very, very deeply from space.” Dylan Taylor (left) poses with his crewmates for the NS-19 mission.

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French-American Collaboration Expands Student Horizons

AS A STUDENT at the Institute of Polytechnic Science and Aeronautics in France, Adrien Bouskela was required to complete one semester abroad at one of a handful of universities. He chose the University of Arizona. “What really drew me here were the labs and a chance to work with professors,” he said. “In France, it’s very difficult to jump the gap between being a mere student and working on a research project, and there aren’t as many applied projects. Whereas here, there’s a machine shop and labs, and every professor seems to be working on something. You can talk to them and get involved.” Eniko Enikov, a professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, helped establish the partnership between IPSA and the UA in 2012. The UA has since hosted hundreds of French students for a semester. Some then chose to return to spend one year

in Tucson and earn both the IPSA Engineering Diploma and the UA Master of Engineering in Aerospace Systems.. Bouskela even stayed on to pursue a PhD. In Tucson, students receive practical training in subjects like controls and mechatronics, and they often develop U.S. industry contacts. And the benefits extend beyond just the students participating in the program. Enikov visited IPSA during a sabbatical, and he used the knowledge gained there, along with funding from the UA Provost’s Investment Fund, to develop a Master of Engineering in Robotics and Automation.

“In France, it’s very difficult to jump the gap between being a mere student and working on a research project.” ADRIEN BOUSKELA aerospace engineering PhD student

Eniko Enikov

“They constantly place their students with industry, so they have their finger on the pulse of what industry needs,” Enikov said. “So, when I look at what courses they offer, I can have a clear understanding of what’s in demand.” Though most students return to France after completing their studies, some, including Bouskela, stay at the UA to pursue doctoral degrees. “The bottom line is this collaboration gives us resources to support graduate students and develop teaching skills,” Enikov said.

Engineering Leads UA’s First International College

THE FIRST CLASS of students began studying at the Arizona College of Technology at Hebei University of Technology (HEBUT) in fall 2021. The college, located in Tianjin, China, offers bachelor’s degrees in materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering, and applied physics. It has been years in the making, said interim associate dean Pierre Deymier.

While the UA has several microcampuses offering individual degree programs in other countries, this represents the university’s first joint college.

students, 400 in each of the three disciplines. Courses take place in a recently constructed, 70,000 squarefoot building.

“It really gives us a large international status,” said Deymier, former head of the UA Department of Materials Science and Engineering. “This effort, in part, was in response to the University of Arizona’s strategic plan, which includes a focus on making the UA a global institution.”

COVID-19 foiled the program’s 2020 start date, and the launch looked different than planned. Rather than UA leadership visiting campus in person, they recorded welcome messages for students and connected virtually.

Courses for the Arizona College of Technology at Hebei University of Technology take place in a newly constructed, 70,000 square-foot building.

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Nearly 200 firstyear students were enrolled in 2022. College leadership plans to grow enrollment to 1,200

“That shows a very strong desire from our colleagues at Hebei to support this program,” Deymier said. The college is hiring faculty, some UA and some HEBUT employees. Both universities hope to expand the partnership with opportunities for Hebei students to visit the UA’s Tucson campus.

National Academy of Inventors Recognizes Five Faculty Members

THE NATIONAL ACADEMY of Inventors selected three UA engineering faculty members as fellows and two as senior members in 2022. The fellow designation is the highest professional distinction for academic inventors. It was awarded to Liesl Folks, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs as well as professor of electrical and computer engineering; Mark Van Dyke, associate dean of

research for the college and professor of biomedical engineering; and Terry Matsunaga, a research professor of medical imaging in the College of Medicine – Tucson and adjunct professor of biomedical engineering. NAI senior members are widely regarded as the world’s top emerging academic inventors. This year’s class of 83 new members included Stanley Pau, professor of optical sciences and

National Academy of Engineering Elects Mining Pioneer

BARBARA APPELIN FILAS earned a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering from the UA in 1978. She has been blasting through gender barriers, leading companies and mentoring up-and-coming engineers ever since. Now the trailblazer is among the National Academy of Engineering’s newest class of 111 members. “I always thought the NAE was for academics with PhDs, not mere mortals like me with a bachelor’s degree,” said Filas, Barbara Filas one of the university’s first female mining engineering graduates. A licensed professional engineer

and third-generation miner, Filas has worked on the far reaches of six continents and is internationally known for her expertise in environmental and social responsibility. Her father – whose father before him emigrated from Finland to work in Arizona’s copper mines – also earned a mining engineering degree at the UA.

“I always thought the NAE was for academics with PhDs, not mere mortals like me with a bachelor’s degree.” BARB FILAS 1978 mining engineering graduate

NAE membership recognizes outstanding contributions to research, practice or education and is one of the highest professional honors for engineers.

electrical and computer engineering; and Judith Su, assistant professor of optical sciences and biomedical engineering. “Recent years have shown us – maybe more than any other time in recent memory – the immeasurable impact inventors can have on making a better world for all,” said Doug Hockstad, vice president of Tech Launch Arizona, the UA office that commercializes inventions.

College Names Jim Field 2022 da Vinci Fellow Chemical and environmental engineering professor Jim Field is the College of Engineering’s 2022 da Vinci Fellow. The annual award comes with a $10,000 grant, made possible by donors to the college’s da Vinci Circle.

Jim Field

In addition to his research, which uses biodegradation to remove hazardous compounds from soil and water, Field is deeply dedicated to his students. He serves as the associate dean of graduate education and was the principal investigator for the college’s Bridge to the Doctorate Program, which has received two rounds of million-dollar funding from the National Science Foundation. “Watching students evolve and then complete their dissertations and go out into the world, and, in many cases, become professors: To me, that’s the proudest of all the things I do,” he said. 45:1

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FEATURED STORY

Researchers Pilot ‘Itty Bitty’ Device for Early Ovarian Cancer Detection

Jennifer Barton has spent nearly a decade developing a falloposcope to detect early-stage ovarian cancer. Now, for the first time, a surgeon has used the device to capture images of fallopian tubes in a patient volunteer.

BIO5 director and biomedical engineering professor holds the 0.8 millimeter falloposcope she invented.

10 10

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MORE THAN three-fourths of ovarian cancer cases are not found until the disease is in an advanced stage. In fact, fewer than half of all women with ovarian cancer survive more than five years after diagnosis.

By the Numbers tube and actually see anything below the surface with high resolution,” said Heusinkveld, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the College of Medicine in Tucson. “We were very pleased with the images the device was able to capture in its first inpatient uses, and we look forward to gathering more data.”

Jennifer Barton, director of the University of Arizona BIO5 Institute and Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Engineering, has spent years developing a device small enough to image the fallopian tubes – narrow ducts connecting the uterus to the ovaries – and search for signs of early-stage cancer. Dr. John Heusinkveld, a boardcertified specialist in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery at Banner – University Medical Center in Tucson, is now using the falloposcope as part of a pilot human trial.

Saving and Improving Lives

He is imaging the fallopian tubes of volunteers having their tubes removed for reasons other than cancer. This allows researchers not only to test the effectiveness of the device, but also to establish a baseline for the appearance of “normal” fallopian tubes.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 19,880 women in the United States will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2022. About 12,810 will die from the disease. Barton hopes her falloposcope will help save the lives of some women and vastly improve quality of life for others.

“This is the first endoscope that can fit inside a fallopian

Because researchers believe ovarian cancer usually

At 0.8 millimeters in diameter, the falloposcope’s small size and high resolution are indeed unprecedented. “It’s itty bitty,” said Barton, who also holds appointments in optical sciences and medical imaging and is a member of the UA Cancer Center. “You just couldn’t have fabricated something like this, even six, seven years ago.”

“This is the first endoscope that can fit inside a fallopian tube and actually see anything below the surface with high resolution.” DR. JOHN HEUSINKVELD, UA assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology

starts in the fallopian tubes, physicians often recommend that women at risk for ovarian cancer have their ovaries and fallopian tubes removed. Many women opt for the surgery because of its potentially lifesaving benefits, but it isn’t without drawbacks. The procedure thrusts women into surgically induced menopause, with side effects including hot flashes, mood swings, and a higher risk of heart and bone disease. Barton cited one example of a study in which 122 patients who were carriers of genes known to increase the risk for cancer had their fallopian tubes removed as a precaution. Analysis of the tubes after removal showed that only seven of the women were developing cancer. “This device could allow us to tell those other 115 women, ‘Hey, you are perfectly normal, and we’ll come back and check on you every couple of years to make sure everything is OK,” she explained. With regular falloposcope screenings, patients who ultimately opt for the removal procedure could do it later in life, such as after childbearing years. “Anecdotally, I can tell you that when a patient has her ovaries removed at a young age – almost always for cancer risk reduction – she is placed on supplemental

19,880

Estimated number of U.S. women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2022

75%

share of women whose ovarian cancer is diagnosed at an advanced stage

1 mm

narrowest diameter in fallopian tubes falloposcope must pass through

0.8 mm

falloposcope diameter

10+

years the falloposcope has been in development

hormones, and a significant percentage of them come back and say, ‘You know, I just don’t feel as good as I did,’” said Heusinkveld. “So, if we can delay removing ovaries until an age where they’re truly inactive, that’s going to be a pretty big health benefit.”

The Road Ahead The team’s goal is to use the device to image fallopian tubes in patients with high cancer risk. While it will likely be several years before the device is FDA approved, this milestone represents a critical step forward. The work to develop a clinical translation of the device has been funded by the U.S. Army since 2018. Barton is also working with Tech Launch Arizona, the UA office that commercializes inventions stemming from university research.

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Students gather for the first in-person Craig M. Berge Design Day since 2019, competing for more than $46,000 in prizes.

Back With a (Flash)bang: Craig M. Berge Design Day 2022

AT THE COLLEGE of Engineering’s annual Craig M. Berge Design Day 2022, students celebrated coming together in person after two years of the event being held virtually due to the pandemic. Design Day – named for Craig M. Berge, a College of Engineering alum and longtime supporter of the college who passed in 2017 – is an annual opportunity for engineering seniors to present the results of their yearlong projects to the public and hundreds of judges. This year, 97 teams of students, who completed projects requested by industry and university sponsors, competed for $46,250 in prizes. “I talk a lot about grand challenges in society

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around food and water, energy, health care and security, and what I saw today are a number of great projects that convinced me that we are in good shape, moving forward, to tackle those problems,” said David W. Hahn, the Craig M. Berge Dean of the College of Engineering. “When you talk about solving problems, it comes down to one key word: design. Engineers design solutions to problems. Today, we come together to celebrate

“We look at the University of Arizona as a place for recruiting talent.” JASON LICAMELE, Bayer Crop Science Discovery and Optimization Lead

the culmination of a lot of hard work.” Team 22030 took home the $7,500 Craig M. Berge Dean’s Award for Most Outstanding Project, for their Blinding Resonant Incapacitating Throwable Emitter, or BRITE. Traditional flashbang grenades emit a bright light and loud sound to disorient an assailant, but they can also be potentially harmful to the person using them. The team developed a battery-powered, reusable alternative designed to be safe for the user. The team members created three full prototypes of the device and several dozen prototypes of individual parts. One of the keys to their success, they believe, is that they started early and reiterated often.

“Most of the products sitting on this table did not work,” said optical sciences and engineering major Alex St Peter, gesturing to an array of 3D-printed parts. “Did we fail? Totally. But we failed really early, so we were able to correct that.”

Saving the Planet and Taking Flight Sustainability was a common theme in this year’s Design Day projects. One team created a protein bar recipe out of mealworms. Others sought to address global food supply issues, with projects related to vertical farming, renewable energy storage and eco-friendly air conditioning. Drones were another popular subject. One team created a low-cost drone tracker that uses visible light to detect

Meggitt Tucson, has attended several Design Days to support Meggitt’s interns. This year, he attended as both a judge and a project sponsor for a team that built a tool to apply a heater blanket to lithium battery cells.

nanofabrication,” she said. “I will use my experience and expertise from this, definitely, in my career.”

“I was extremely impressed with the students’ professionalism and presentation skills. I can tell you, I graduated in 2004, and they blew me away,” said the aerospace engineering alum. “I think the university program is really training these students well for industry.” Team 22024 displays its gas pycnometer, created to examine samples from the asteroid Bennu.

drones, which are often too small to show up on radar. “We learned a lot of stuff that we weren’t taught in classes, because they can’t teach it in classes, because you have to learn through experience,” said electrical and computer engineering team member Brad Zimmermann. “We all, at some point, had to work on something that wasn’t our strength.”

Sponsors and Judges Recruit Top Talent

Jason Licamele, a discovery and optimization lead at global agriculture company Bayer Crop Science – one of many sponsor companies for Design Day – said about 60% of the employees at Bayer’s Marana offices are UA graduates. Licamele, who earned a doctorate in agricultural and biosystems engineering in 2009, anticipates the company will sponsor more projects in the future.

Students Look Ahead to Bright Futures Many students learned skills over the course of their projects that set them up for success in their careers. Optical sciences and engineering major Avalon McLeod’s team created a hyperspectral camera that won the $1,500 II-VI Aerospace & Defense Award for Best Optical Systems Design. She’s heading to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory this summer to work on another hyperspectral camera. “They were definitely interested in me largely because of this project, including the experience I gained with

Team 22023 prepares to demonstrate a drone test module they built for sponsor General Dynamics.

Electrical and computer engineering major Brian Faires and his team won the $1,500 Rincon Research Award for Best Presentation and the $1,000 Sharon ONeal Award for Best Integration, Verification and Validation for their project to create an electronic continuously variable transmission. He echoed the value of hands-on experience: “There’s nothing like getting to drive with a transmission you built.”

“We look at the University of Arizona as a place for recruiting talent,” said Licamele, who oversaw students’ work to create an imaging system to detect crop stress. “They did a great job. And I’m so excited that it’s in person again.” Paul Thompson, director of engineering at aerospace company Team 22001 presents its Microsoft project, “Let’s Boil a Computer,” consisting of a test vessel for two-phase immersion cooling of servers.

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Undergraduate Builds Cultural Connections

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING JUNIOR Logan Deane started learning Spanish when she was 3 years old. At her bilingual elementary school, her first-grade teacher, and many of her classmates, spoke little English, so she learned quickly by listening.

campus atmosphere and biomedical engineering program, she knew she wanted to study abroad. She decided to finish the requirements for her Spanish minor by studying abroad in Alcalá de Henares, Spain for four weeks in summer 2021.

“The ability to communicate with people from other cultures just became really important to me,” she said.

There, she spent Mondays through Thursdays in classes, then went on field trips to different parts of Spain on Fridays, or sometimes on overnight trips. On the weekends, she and her cohort – most of them fellow UA students – took their own trips and spent time with locals.

In seventh grade, she went to visit a friend who had moved to Guatemala, and what was originally a four-day trip turned into six weeks. The enterprising 12-year-old emailed with her principal back home in Colorado to set up an arrangement for attending school in Guatemala. Deane loved the food, practicing her Spanish, and seeing a mix of cultures, like a Mardi Gras celebration with Guatemalan food. Biomedical engineering student Logan Deane builds on experience in a 2021 program in Spain.

When she came to the UA, drawn by its

“I loved traveling – I think I saw most of Spain by the end of it,” said Deane, who expects to graduate in 2023. “On one of our field trips, we got to climb out onto one of the towers in a castle and just look over the entire city. Just getting to do that with the entire class of UA students and our professors was such a good memory.”

Student Mining Teams Take Two Top Spots at International Competition

STUDENTS COMPETING IN the 2022 Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration/National Sand, Stone and Gravel Association’s (SME/NSSGA) student design competition placed in the top three for the second year in a row. Seniors in the Department of Mining and Geological Engineering earned second place and a $1,500 prize in the metallic competition, and the juniors placed third in the same real-world test, winning $1,000. A team from the University of Kentucky won first place.

SME’s 2022 annual conference and expo, MINEXCHANGE, in Salt Lake City.

was incorporated into the park design for outreach and education.

The competition serves as a proving ground for UA College of Engineering juniors, with many moving on to the senior team. The senior team participated in the competition for their Interdisciplinary Capstone design project.

“We really took people nearby into account,” said member James Nickels. “We wanted to make sure we were stimulating the economy and providing jobs benefiting the region.”

The team of juniors conceived a plan to turn the site into a theme park once mining was complete. The former mine

Companies sponsoring the teams were Hexagon Mining, FreeportMcMoRan, Rio Tinto, Komatsu Mining Corp. and Asarco.

The Metallic Student Design Competition tasked more than 20 teams from around the world with forming mock consulting companies to evaluate a boron and lithium deposit in New Mexico and create process designs. All teams wrote and submitted technical papers in Phase 1 of the project. The top six moved on to Phase 2, presenting their designs in March at Two teams of Wildcats celebrate at the annual SME conference, with juniors wearing green and seniors wearing red.

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Engineers and Physicians Team Up to Build Ultra-Thin ‘Computer on the Bone’

A UNIVERSITY TEAM has developed an ultra-thin wireless device that grows to the surface of bone and could someday help physicians monitor bone health and healing over long periods. They call the devices osseosurface electronics. Fragility fractures associated with conditions like osteoporosis account for more days spent in the hospital than heart attacks, breast cancer or prostate cancer. Although not yet tested or approved for use in humans, the wireless bone devices could one day be used not only to monitor health, but to improve it, said Philipp Gutruf, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering and Craig M. Berge faculty fellow. “With this interface, you basically have a computer on the bone,” said Gutruf, who is also a member of the university’s BIO5 Institute. “This technology platform allows us to create investigative tools for scientists to discover how the Philipp Gutruf musculoskeletal

system works and to use the information gathered to benefit recovery and therapy.” A doctor could attach the device to a broken or fractured bone to monitor the healing process. Knowing how quickly and how well the bone is healing could also inform clinical treatment decisions, such as when to remove temporary hardware like plates, rods or screws. Some patients are prescribed drugs designed to speed up bone healing or improve bone density, but these medications can have side effects. Close bone monitoring would allow physicians to make more informed decisions about drug dosage levels.

Paper Thin and Battery Free Because muscles are so close to bones and move so frequently, the device must be thin enough to avoid irritating surrounding tissue or becoming dislodged, Gutruf explained. “The device’s thin structure, roughly as thick as a sheet of paper, means it can conform to the curvature of the bone, forming a tight interface,” said Alex Burton, who graduated with his biomedical engineering PhD in May 2022. “They also do not need a battery. This

is possible using a power casting and communication method called near-field communication, which is also used in smartphones for contactless pay.” Because the outer layers of bones shed and renew just like the outer layers of skin, a special adhesive is also needed to secure the device to the bone. To address this challenge, BIO5 Institute member John Szivek – a professor of orthopedic surgery and biomedical engineering – developed an adhesive that contains calcium particles with an atomic structure similar to bone cells. The bone essentially thinks the device is also made of bone, and grows around the sensor, forming a permanent bond. “As a surgeon , I am most excited about using measurements collected with osseosurface electronics to someday provide my patients with individualized orthopedic care – with the goal of accelerating rehabilitation and maximizing function after traumatic injuries,” said Dr. David Margolis, an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery in the UA College of Medicine – Tucson and orthopedic surgeon at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson. 45:1

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Four UA Engineers Win 2022 NSF CAREER Awards

FOUR ENGINEERING faculty members received 2022 CAREER Awards from the National Science Foundation. The CAREER Award is the foundation’s most prestigious recognition of early-career faculty with potential to serve as academic role models in research and education. “We are always proud of our CAREER Award winners, and having four in the same cycle is a tremendous success for the college,” said David W. Hahn, the Craig M. Berge Dean of the College of Engineering. “These researchers are generating realworld impact by using engineering to tackle some of society’s biggest problems. I look forward to seeing what they do next.”

Jianqiang Cheng, systems and industrial engineering Cheng is creating methods to improve the long-term generation and real-time dispatch abilities of sustainable energy sources such as wind and solar. In combination, these features will enable renewable energy plants to both plan ahead and pivot as needed. The novelty of his method lies in combining the statistical method of sampling with decomposition algorithms, which solve problems by breaking them into smaller pieces. Jianqiang Cheng

Minkyu Kim, biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering Filtering out foreign materials is one way the human body protects itself. However, these built-in protections, including the kidneys and spleen, also remove foreign materials meant to do good, such as lifesaving medications. Kim is developing a protein-based drug delivery vehicle that imitates the properties of red blood cells, in essence masquerading as an insider to move through the filters undetected. Minkyu Kim

Zheshen Zhang, materials science and engineering; and Quntao Zhuang, electrical and computer engineering Zhang and Zhuang are developing new ways to take advantage of quantum resources, which could make computing, sensing and communications systems almost unimaginably more powerful. For example, in 2019, Google’s quantum computer completed in 200 seconds a calculation that would have taken the worlds’ most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years. Zheshen Zhang

Zhang is using a classical computer that interacts constantly with and “checks the work” of quantum hardware. The quantum hardware does calculations, and the classical computer performs a measurement and recalibrates accordingly. He likens the system to a classical driver navigating a quantum vehicle.

Quntao Zhuang

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Zhuang is bridging the theoretical gap between what quantum resources can achieve in the near term and what scientists expect them to do in the future. His project focuses primarily on advancing quantum theory, while also identifying processes that can benefit from quantum entanglement even in the presence of noise.

$1.5M Advances Hypersonic Research & Technology

THE UNIVERSITY CONSORTIUM for Applied Hypersonics awarded its first round of funding, totaling $25.5 million, to projects that advance hypersonic flight, in which vehicles travel upwards of five times the speed of sound.

Hypersonic vehicles travel at five times the speed of sound.

Samy Missoum, a professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, received $1.5 million to lead the development of a surrogate aerodynamic database, an essential tool in the design of nextgeneration hypersonic systems. UA co-investigators are Alex Craig and Jesse Little, who specialize in wind tunnel experiments, and Kyle Hanquist

and Hermann Fasel, who specialize in hypersonic simulations. Michael Chertkov, chair of the UA Program in Applied Mathematics, will provide expertise in physics-informed machine learning. The group is also partnering with Raytheon Missiles & Defense. “Hypersonics is an area of strategic priority for the University of Arizona, and this funding reflects our position as a national leader in the field,” said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins. “We are proud to have a strong team of faculty members working closely with Raytheon and partner institutions to further advance this fast-growing field of critical importance to national security.” Established in 2020, the University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics is a public and private sector collaboration in support of national defense. The UA is among the consortium’s 87 member universities. The consortium also has 90 industry partners and eight national laboratories.

Partnership Fosters Talent Craig M. Berge Dean David W. Hahn and his team are working toward doubling the number of students in the College of Engineering. Longtime college and university partner Raytheon Missiles & Defense employs more than 30,000 employees globally; 15,000 are engineers.

GOV. DOUG DUCEY visited campus in December 2021 to see the state’s New Economy Initiative in action. Its fiscal year 2022 funding included support for university research in hypersonic flight.

“Our partnership with UA has fed that talent need,” said Roy Donelson, chief executive of the Raytheon Middle East North Africa Group. “We continue to hire hundreds of UA graduates, and just over the last couple of years that number has continued to grow.”

“The technology is really mind blowing,” Ducey said during his visit. “Hypersonics are a central part of the future of engineering, and, consequently, they will be a central part of the future of our workforce. It’s a no-brainer for the state of Arizona to invest in this project.”

The UA has received considerable funding from the state’s New Economy Initiative. Hahn said the College of Engineering has received about a third of the $36 million provided.

Gov. Ducey Says Hypersonic Flight Is Key Investment

Ducey toured the college’s wind tunnels – along with Raytheon Missiles & Defense President Wes Kremer, University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins, Craig M. Berge Dean of the College

Wes Kremer, Gov. Doug Ducey, David W. Hahn and Robert C. Robbins tour the college’s wind tunnel facilities.

of Engineering David W. Hahn, and engineering faculty members. Vehicles traveling at high speeds, Kremer explained, create a multidimensional engineering challenge. The UA’s wind tunnels allow the university and industry partners to conduct experiments with several principles in play.

“That initiative is all about expanding the STEM workforce and the Arizona economy. We are helping to fill that need,” he said.

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Engineers Contribute to $60M Precision Aging Network

THE UA WON a five-year, $60 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to create and lead a Precision Aging Network that could transform the way we think about the aging brain. Researchers Nan-kuei Chen and Ted Trouard of biomedical engineering and Ali Bilgin of electrical and computer engineering are contributing their expertise to the “Cognitive Assessment and Neuroimaging Core” of the project.

more effective treatments and interventions.

The network will bring together researchers from across the country to better understand how and why people experience brain aging differently, with the ultimate goal of developing

Led by neuroscientist Carol Barnes, a UA Regents Professor of psychology, neurology and neuroscience and a national leader in brain aging research, the program was inspired

normative aging brain? What are the fundamentals? Because we can’t understand the diseases that happen in an aging brain until we understand the fundamentals of what is a generally normative aging brain,” said Barnes, who is also a member of the BIO5 Institute and director of the UA Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute. Engineers are leading the “Cognitive Assessment and Neuroimaging Core” of the project.

by the field of precision medicine, which considers a person’s genetics, lifestyle, environment and other factors to customize care rather than relying on a onesize-fits-all approach. “We’re interested in exploring more deeply: What is a

The program will embark on four national-scale research studies designed to better understand the neural mechanisms that account for optimal brain performance in older age and those that underlie agerelated cognitive impairment and disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

$1M Project Fights Vision Loss Worldwide

EYE INFECTIONS ARE common in rural farming communities around the world. A scratch on the cornea caused during agricultural work can get infected and turn into a scar, then an ulcer. These corneal ulcers cause blindness and visual impairment in 4.3

million people every year, according to data published by The Lancet Global Health. Existing methods for diagnosing these ulcers can be costly, invasive and timeconsuming, and they’re not always accessible for those living in rural areas.

Dongkyun “DK” Kang is developing a confocal opthalmoscope to diagnose corneal ulcers 20 times faster than the current gold standard.

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Dongkyun “DK” Kang, a biomedical engineering and optical sciences assistant professor and a member of the BIO5 Institute, is

working on an alternative: a portable device that he’s creating with support from a $1 million grant from the National Eye Institute. In 2019, Kang was developing a smartphone confocal microscope to diagnose cancer in rural settings. On the other side of the world, Jaya Chidambaram, a senior lecturer at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, was testing out a confocal microscope for diagnosing corneal ulcers on patients in India. When Chidambaram heard about Kang’s work, she reached out to see

if his low-cost, portable technology could be applied to corneal imaging to make diagnoses faster, more affordable and accessible in rural communities. They got to work on a concept to create a portable in vivo confocal ophthalmoscope, or PICO. The PICO method is eight times cheaper and 20 times faster than the current gold standard. “We strongly believe that PICO will be adopted as a standard corneal imaging tool, and its availability in a wide range of health care settings will fundamentally improve eye care worldwide,” Kang said.

Daughter of Two UA Engineering Pioneers Comes Full Circle

AS THE DAUGHTER of two engineering PhDs, Jane Bambauer spent a lot of time on the UA campus, where her father Sidney (Sid) Yakowitz, was a systems and industrial engineering professor and her mother, Diana, was a student in the same discipline. “The whole campus, but especially the engineering department, felt like a home away from home,” Bambauer said. Diana completed a BS in physics in 1982 and her MS in systems engineering in 1983. In 1991, she became the first woman to earn a doctorate from the Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering. During his 33 years in SIE, Sid cofounded and directed the university’s Algorithmic Laboratory and made major contributions to areas including numerical analysis,

adaptive control, machine learning and pattern recognition. Bambauer studied mathematics for her undergraduate degree at Yale, and went on to earn a Yale law degree as well. When she decided to become a law professor, she didn’t realize the decision would lead her right back to the campus where she grew up. Bambauer is now a UA law professor and co-deputy director and Thrust 4 co-lead of the Center for Quantum Networks. The National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center is led by the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences and features lead researchers from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Its goal is to lay the foundations for a socially responsible quantum internet.

Sid Yakowitz, former UA engineering professor, holds his daughter, Jane Bambauer, now a professor in the UA James E. Rogers College of Law.

Her main role is to research how new quantum communication technologies will change society. Then, she’ll help communities and the regulatory landscape prepare accordingly, as well as explain quantum communication technology to the public and investors.

Isabel Barton a Far-Reaching Force in Modern Mining

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF mining and geological engineering Isabel Barton received the 2021 Outstanding Young Professional award from the mining and exploration division of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration in March.

“I’m honored to be chosen for this award, and am glad that the importance of geometallurgy is being recognized, especially the UA’s program,” said Barton, who was honored for her technical expertise, industry leadership and recruitment efforts. Barton initiated the UA’s research and teaching program in geometallurgy – which bridges the fields of geology and metallurgy, the science of separating metals from their ores – at the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources in 2014. It’s the only active program of its kind in the United States based in a mining engineering department and offering undergraduate and graduate courses in geometallurgy.

Isabel Barton accepts the 2021 Outstanding Young Professional Award from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration.

Geometallurgy is crucial to the future of mining, Barton said, because ore deposits are becoming increasingly mineralogically complex and difficult

to exploit. The discipline tailors approaches for mining and extracting the large volume and variety of metals required to support sustainable technologies. Barton came to the UA in 2008, initially planning to enter the mining industry after earning a master’s degree in geosciences. Instead, she went on to attain a geosciences doctoral degree, then started building the UA’s geometallurgy program. However, she wanted to learn to think like an engineer, so she completed a master’s program in mining engineering with a focus in extractive metallurgy. Through a National Science Foundation grant, Barton is researching how mining engineering departments can attract a more diverse range of students. She is also active in departmental recruitment efforts. 45:1

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Alum Climbs World Rankings in Wheelchair Tennis An avid tennis player growing up, Jason Keatseangsilp injured his spinal cord in a rappelling accident his senior year of high school and began using a wheelchair. After his rehabilitation, he went on to earn a UA biomedical engineering degree in 2017. He dabbled in wheelchair tennis as a hobby during his college years, then began pursuing the sport competitively after graduation, starting to play for Team USA in 2018. Now, he’s ranked the No. 2 wheelchair tennis player in the United States and No. 55 in the world in singles, out of about 500 ranked players. “I used to play tennis before my spinal cord injury, and those skills helped a lot for some parts of transitioning into wheelchair tennis, like hitting the ball,” he said. “But learning mobility and how to move in a tennis wheelchair was – and still is – a huge learning curve.” Jason Keatseangsilp

Keatseangsilp is also pursuing a master’s in engineering management at Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering.

In the future, he plans to work in adaptive and rehabilitative engineering applications. For now, he’s focused on school; working as a math, chemistry and engineering tutor; and tennis training. “The Paralympics are a goal for me, and it would be amazing to compete in the next competition.”

Engineering Inventors Aim to Protect Internet of Things Countries around the world are on the cyber offense. UA engineers have invented new strategies to mitigate future cyberattacks by helping make cybersecurity for the “Internet of Things” (IoT) more accessible for companies and organizations of all sizes. They have launched the startup BG Networks to bring their technology to the public. The team consists of co-founders electrical and computer engineering professor Roman Lysecky and Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Jerzy

Rozenblit, along with graduate student researcher Aakarsh Rao, former graduate student researcher Nadir Carreon, and professor Johannes Sametinger of Joannes Kepler University Linz in Austria. The IoT is made of interconnected sensors and devices networked with computers. While personal items like smartwatches, smart doorbells and smart speakers are all part of this network, so are many of the technologies used in the management of utility companies and oil pipelines. If

those technologies were brought down in a cyberattack, it could significantly impact the economy and society. This team of researchers has developed a two-part technology – consisting of a Security Automation Tool and an Embedded Security Software Architecture – that allows engineers without cybersecurity backgrounds to prevent such attacks. “Hundreds of thousands of bad actors are at work, and the United States has already seen its share of impactful attacks,” Lysecky said. “Implementing cybersecurity has always been a complex feat. We’ve developed tools that enable engineers to much more easily and quickly include cybersecurity in their applications.” The team worked with Tech Launch Arizona, the UA office that commercializes inventions stemming from university research and innovation, to protect the innovation and ready the startup for launch.

The BG Networks team includes, from left to right, Colin Duggan, Jerzy Rozenblit, Gary Gill, Roman Lysecky and Sam Winchenbach.

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CLAS S N OT ES was also selected for the 2022 Arizona Forward Sustainability Leadership Program. Wong works as a senior energy analyst at Bernhard.

2010s

Construction consulting company Versatile featured Katie Wood, BS/ CE 2015, as part of its Women in Construction Week series. “There is great power in knowing your value, expressing your ideas and advocating for your growth,” advised Wood, who works as an innovation engineer at Turner Construction Company.

Angelica Gutierrez

2020s

Angelica Gutierrez, BS/IE 2021, is working as an IT business relationship manager at E. & J. Gallo Winery, the world’s largest family-owned winery. “One of my biggest takeaways from my engineering classes was the importance of incorporating and balancing everything involved within a bigger system.” Malik Jordan, BS/ME 2020, is pursuing a PhD in mechanical engineering at Oregon State University, where his research focuses Malik Jordan on thermal-fluid sciences. He is also involved in the Sustainable Horizons Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to building sustainable and inclusive scientific communities. AZ Big Media named Stanley Wong, BS/ ChE 2020, MS EnvE 2021, on its list of Young Business Leaders to Watch. He

Bradley Williams, BS/ME 2013 and MS/SE 2018, is a program executive at NASA. In his prior role as the director of civil space programs at Tyvak NanoSatellite Systems, Inc., he helped his company, then known as Terran Orbital, to go public via a special purpose acquisition company at a $1.8B valuation.

2000s

Akshay Sriprasad, BS/ChE 2010, earned an MBA from Columbia Business School, and now works as a product manager at Google. His goals center Akshay Sriprasad around solving “the hardest societal and systems challenges,” he said in Clear Admit’s “Real Humans” series. Sam Credio, BS/CE 2007, was named the director of transportation and mobility for the City of Tucson in April 2022. He started as an engineering project manager with the city in 2012. “Growing up in Tucson has given me a deep love for our community, and I look forward to the great things we will accomplish,” he said.

Maj. Aaron ‘Clutch’ McBride, BS/ ECE 2005, an assistant director of operations in the U.S. Air Force, is part of a team creating a USAF-owned data backup cloud to support the service’s Air Operations Centers worldwide. “Doing this Maj. Aaron “Clutch” McBride internally, versus using a classified commercial cloud service provider, saves the Air Force approximately $5 million per year,” he told Air Combat Command. Juanita Gills, BS/EE 2001, won the product development award from HRL Laboratories, LLC, where she works as an engineer. She said her mom and friends are her role models. “They continue to inspire me to stay authentic, and to keep learning, pushing and challenging myself.”

1990s

In 2007, Michael Schweitzer, BS/CE 1995, started SWS Engineering, a civil engineering land development design and surveying firm headquartered in San Diego, CA. In 2021, the company opened offices in Nashville, TN and Phoenix, AZ. Schweitzer is also the CEO of SWS Development, which develops housing projects in all three markets.

1980s

Impulse Space Propulsion appointed Barry Matsumori, MS/EE 1985, as its chief operating officer. Impulse is a Space 2.0 company working on space payload delivery capabilities, with a current focus on low Earth orbit. Matsumori has also held leadership roles at Virgin Galactic, SpaceX and Qualcomm.

Stanley Wong

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C L AS S NOTES MFG Chemical, a global supplier of specialty chemical manufacturing, hired Katy Zukis, BS/ChE 1984, as business development Katy Zukis manager. Zukis has worked in manufacturing, purchasing, business management and sales at companies including Texaco and Dow Chemical. Jerry W. Corn, BS/CE 1983, recently retired as a senior engineer at Southern California Edison in Pomona, CA, where he worked in transmission engineering. “I wanted to say thank you for a quality engineering education. It changed my life and improved my career.” The U.S. Senate confirmed Kurt DelBene, BS/IE 1982, as the CIO and assistant secretary for information and technology at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Kurt DelBene January 2022.

The former Microsoft Office president was nominated by President Biden in November 2021.

1970s

Lawrence E. Monrad, BS/EE 1973, founded Monrad Engineering in 1982 and retired in 2005. This year, the Cornerstone Building Foundation, with support from Monrad Engineering partners Christian K. Monrad and Fernando Galvez, initiated the Lawrence E. Monrad Lawrence E. Monrad Scholarship to honor his legacy.

1960s

Kent A. Whitson, BS/CE 1969, started using the Triangular Cat art poster to introduce elementary school students to geometry and art. Then he realized it also represented a perfect opportunity to showcase the UA’s iconic Block A. Dan Mulholland, BS/EE 1965, has worked at various companies, started his own military consulting business

FROM THE ARCHIVES Thank you to the many people who wrote in, including Tony Mulligan himself, for identifying Advanced Ceramics founders Tony Mulligan (BS/ME 1988) and Mark Angier (BS/ME 1992) as the people on the back of the last issue of Arizona Engineer. Mulligan explained they are holding high-precision composite plastic lapping carriers, which they produced for computer hard drive disk manufacturing. Mulligan is also holding the first-ever U.S. Small Business Administration’s Tibbetts Award. “The machines in the background are for processing very high temperature carbide and diboride ceramics for hypersonic leading edges and rocket nozzle components,” he wrote.

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and collaborated with venture capitalists. “I decided to retire in 2017 and do volunteer work after a 52-year career, where I enjoyed all the work I did in design and developing systems, thanks to my education at the University of Arizona. Go Wildcats!!!”

How many triangles do you see?

Live Globally/Connect Locally Virtual platforms provide new ways for the college to connect with members of the Wildcat Engineering community all over the world. SOME OF OUR graduates knew early on that they wanted careers which would allow them to see the world. Others say their global vocations just happened to find them. Even those who don’t travel for their jobs often work on projects with far-reaching impact. All have found value and meaning in their lives, in part because they were willing to explore what lies beyond the horizon. This issue of Arizona Engineer shows that the college’s reach is as expansive as it is diverse. Faculty, students and alums are finding opportunities to make a difference well beyond the Tucson campus and in communities worldwide. With our ever-growing global base of UA Engineering graduates, it is important for the development team to be just as diverse in the ways we connect with you. While we always enjoy welcoming you back to campus, we understand that a trip back to Tucson just isn’t likely for many. For our international alums, physical distance used to create a real barrier for engagement. But if we have learned one lesson during the past few years, it is that distance need not be an obstacle to connecting. Virtual and hybrid engagement models are the new normal. Each January, graduates around the world can now expect to connect directly with the dean during the annual alum-focused town hall via Zoom. We’ve already had Wildcats from Japan and Canada participate in these town halls, and we anticipate that even more will tune in to speak live with the dean from the comfort of their own homes.

We also will continue to provide opportunities to hear directly from faculty about their cutting-edge research, and from fellow alums about their careers. In our virtual speaker series, faculty researchers have shared the latest on fields like hypersonics, quantum computing and additive manufacturing. The dynamic alum power duo Susan Gray and Mike Hummel recently spoke about their experience heading up Arizona utility companies.

Margie Puerta Edson, CFRE Assistant Dean, Development and Corporate Relations 520.626.0572 puertaedson@arizona.edu

We are always finding new ways to help donors understand the impact of their gifts. For example, we recently started hosting small group “brown bag” webinars between donors and the scholarship students they support. We also hosted a successful hybrid scholarship reception, an event we plan to expand further. The 2022 Homecoming Engineers Breakfast, scheduled for Friday, Oct. 28, will be both held in person and broadcast virtually. Of course, we want to see every Wildcat who can make it to campus in person, but we are excited about the possibility a hybrid event presents to engage with alums worldwide. While we gather for breakfast in Tucson, graduates in London will be taking a break for afternoon tea, while alums in Dubai will be heading to dinner. Our friends in Toyko may have to stay awake well into the night to participate, but we look forward to welcoming them to the festivities nonetheless. Have a wonderful summer!

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NONPROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID PHOENIX, AZ PERMIT NO. 2877

The University of Arizona College of Engineering 3740 E 34th St Tucson, AZ 85713

CALLING ALL ALUMS! Where has life taken you since graduation? We’d like to know and so would your college classmates. Please email us with details (no more than 300 words) and be sure to include the following information: • Name and year you graduated • Major • Degree (BS, MS, PhD, etc.) • Details of your activities

We’d also be interested to see – and share – pictures of your family, your latest work project, that boat or hot rod you just finished building in your garage, or your blossoming gardens. Vacation photos are great, too. We’ll publish your news and photos online and in the next print edition.

BEEN IN THE NEWS LATELY? Let us know if you’ve been getting some media attention. Just email the link, and we’ll keep spreading the news on the college website and in social media.

Please send your email to

classnotes@engr.arizona.edu

FROM THE ARCHIVES

This photo has us stumped. There were no notes on the back of the print to give us a clue, so we need your help identifying the people and project.

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