COEN Newsletter Spring 2011

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College of Engineering

Newsletter Spring 2011

Inanc Senocak Receives NSF Early CAREER Award By Erin Ryan Inanc Senocak, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, has received the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for early career faculty. The $400,000 CAREER Award recognizes individuals who exemplify the role of teacherscholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.

Honor Role of Givers 2010 College of Engineering

(Donations received Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2010) With thanks to our donors:

Interim Dean: AMY MOLL (208) 426-1153

$500,000 – $1,000,000 Micron Technology Foundation Inc.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs: JANET CALLAHAN (208) 426-1450 janetcallahan@boisestate.edu

$50,000 – $499,999 International Society for Technology in Education & HewlettPackard, Inc. MetaGeek, LLC

Assistant Dean for Research & Infrastructure: REX OXFORD (208) 426-5744 roxford@boisestate.edu Development Director: MELINDA SEEVERS (208) 426-5470 melindaseevers@boisestate.edu

Civil Engineering Chair: ROBERT HAMILTON (208) 426-3764 rhamilton@boisestate.edu

Computer Science Chair: MURALI MEDIDI (208) 426-2283 mmedidi@boisestate.edu

Construction Management Chair: TONY SONGER (208) 426-3716 tonysonger@boisestate.edu

Electrical & Computer Engineering Interim Chair: NADER RAFLA (208) 426-2283 nrafla@boisestate.edu

Instructional & Performance Technology Chair: DON STEPICH (208) 426-1312 dstepich@boisestate.edu

Materials Science & Engineering Chair: DARRYL BUTT (208) 426-2283 darrylbutt@boisestate.edu

Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering Chair: JAMES FERGUSON (208) 426-4078 jferguson@boisestate.edu

$25,000 – $49,999 Eileen Barber Harry W. Morrison Foundation $10,000 – $24,999 The Comprehensive Group $5,000 – $9,999 Edithe Barclay C-2 Construction Robert R. Dargatz POWER Engineers Inc. SPF Water Engineering, LLC URS Corporation $2,500 – $4,999 Builders Mechanical, Inc. Norman F. Dahm General Electric Foundation Robert & Anne Hay Vanessa Hutchison Idaho Concrete Masonry Association MarCon, Inc. McMillen, LLC Perkins Construction, Inc. George W. Pomeroy Staker Parson Companies $1,000 – $2,499 Aviation Specialties Unlimited, Inc. Barbara Bowling & John Gardner Jim J. Browning, Ph.D. Forest Auto and Truck Parts Adriana L. Groff Mary Anne E. HartmanCunningham Jason Hynes The John William Jackson Philanthropic Gift Fund Dean Klein Knife River Corp.

MCM Foundation, Inc. Amy Moll & Bill Knowlton Susan & Arlen Planting Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation $500 – $999 R. Jake Baker Central Paving Company, Inc. Fengyi Chen & Wei Zhang Seung Y. Chyung Coleman Homes, LLC William & Carol Deasy Goodfellow Bros, Inc. John H. Griffin Carol L. MacGregor Maria Mitkova Ormaza Construction, Inc. Society of Women Engineers Starr Corporation $250 – $499 Blue Arc Electric Darryl P. Butt Chuck's Gear, Inc. Casey Cline Eric R. Cutbirth Melissa L. Elkinton Molly Gribb Heery International, Inc. Valerie J. Henning Kevin F. Klein Frank W. Leonard Lochsa Engineering of Idaho Laila E. Maqbool Garry C. Mattson Monte C. McClure Bill Mincks Clay & Barbara Morgan George A. Murgel Quality Thermistor, Inc. Dick & Carol Sevier Angelica M. YouHouse $100 – $249 Patrick & Bobbie Allaire Michele Y. Armstrong Robert D. Barclay Joseph D. Borelli

Linda A. Burnett Buss Mechanical Services Russell & Virginia Centanni Cloverdale Plumbing Robert J. Clune John L. Cristobal Ivan & Elizabeth Custer Tricia A. Davis Shaun H. Devine Judith & Richard Dickson Linda & Rudy Eggert Gary J. Erickson Marilyn P. Farneman Pat D. Geertson Pete & Connie Griesmyer Hardrock Excavating, Inc. Eamonn T. Harter Randall R. Hayes Mandar Khanal Cheryl & Daniel Knighton Tracy & Hans Korsvall David & Lori Kunz Brandon M. Logan Anthony W. Marker Jane M. Mason Steven G. Millard Kelly Newton Rex J. Oxford Premier Technology, Inc. The Russell Corporation Jayne Salb Mark B. Sams Margaret M. Scott Scott R. Siewert Steven P. Sprague Brandy Stemmler Robert & Melanie Stohner Sunshine Sports and Marketing, LLC Valley Cold Storage and Transportation, Inc. Brad A. Vawter Steve Villachica Brenda Wade Washington Group Foundation Thad & Donna Welch Western Construction Inc. Richard L. Wood Thomas J. Woodall

Senocak is the seventh professor ever to receive a CAREER Award while at Boise State, “Dr. Senocak is an exemplary faculty member, combining impressive work in the lab with engagement of students and community members in technical subjects that affect our lives and will shape the future,” said College of Engineering Interim Dean Amy Moll. “The CAREER Award is a fitting acknowledgement of his outstanding qualities and growing reputation in the field.” Senocak completed his undergraduate studies in mechanical engineering at the Middle East Technical University in Turkey and earned his master’s and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Florida. Before joining the Boise State faculty in 2007, he held postdoctoral research positions at the Center for Turbulence Research (jointly operated by NASA and Stanford University) and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Senocak’s research long has been focused on the atmosphere, from using supercomputers to simulate the physical processes that take place in its boundary layer to reconstructing the dispersion of airborne threats. With the CAREER Award funding, Senocak will apply his expertise to increasing the utilization of wind energy resources for electricity production. This issue is especially relevant in Idaho, which lacks the short-term forecasting and grid integration capabilities that would allow residents and neighboring states to take full advantage of vast wind energy potential.

CM Celebrates 30 Years By Margaret Scott For three decades, the Department of Construction Management (CM) has been strongly tied to the construction industry. In fact, construction management education began at the urging of the Idaho branch of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) who approached Boise State University in 1976 about the need for a construction management program. The AGC group was so supportive of the proposed new program that they donated money to help with first year funding of construction management faculty salaries, operating expenses and capital expenses. During the following year a curriculum, patterned after other established construction management programs, was developed and approved by the State Board of

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From the Dean’s Desk Spring is one of my favorite times of year. The first brave bulbs and plants start to send out new shoots of growth and the weather starts to warm up. Spring also brings commencement, one of my favorite events. It is a time the university stops and celebrates the students who have successfully completed their academic studies (more than 2300 so far). It is a real pleasure to celebrate with the students and their families and friends for achieving a milestone they have been working towards for years. The success stories are wide and varied from the traditional aged student who discovered her passion for research by working alongside a faculty member in their laboratory and is now headed to Cal Tech for a Ph.D. to the non-traditional student who spent more than ten years pursuing their degree part time while working a full time job and supporting their family. You can read about some of these success stories in this newsletter and for every student we highlight here there are hundred’s more who will graduate and move on to new things this May. The college remains focused on providing a high quality education to all of our students. It continues to be our highest priority as we face tough budgetary times. The economic challenges also have a significant impact on our students as tuition costs continue to rise. In addition to support from generous donors, over the last 6 years, the college has been successful in winning grants totaling nearly $2 million from the National Science Foundation for scholarships for undergraduate students. These awards have provided financial support for our neediest students helping them to focus on their academic studies. Yet many of our best and brightest students still struggle to afford college. Over the next few months, I will focus on finding additional resources for our students including additional scholarship funds, research experiences and internships. Research experiences and internships not only provide financial resources but also valuable skills and experience that will benefit their careers. We take great pride that here in COEN, 82% of our undergraduates either work in our research labs or have an internship. I am continually amazed by the dedication and success of our students, alumni, staff and faculty. Take some time to read through this newsletter and find out more about many of their accomplishments. I look forward to working together towards the continued growth of the college. Amy Moll Interim Dean and Professor College of Engineering

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College of Engineering Newsletter | Spring 2011

CM Celebrates 30 Years continued from page 1

Engineering drugs to fight disease

Education.

Boise State University researchers have created a novel software application that could be a powerful tool in the process of designing drugs to fight disease.

In the fall of 1979, the first construction management classes were offered to BSU students. For the first seven years, the CM program was housed in the Physics Department within the College of Arts & Sciences. In 1986, the Department of Construction Management and Pre-Engineering was created within the College of Arts and Sciences. In 1990, after the new Engineering and Technology building was completed, the Department of Construction Management and Engineering was transferred to the College of Technology. Finally in 1997, Construction Management became a separate department within the newly-formed College of Engineering.

Tim Andersen

Over the years, a very active student group developed – the Construction Management Association (CMA). This motivated group of future construction managers has helped many Treasure Valley nonprofit groups from ZooBoise to the Idaho Botanical Gardens, several elementary schools and the Deer Flat Wildlife Refuge with construction projects. In the past 30 years the program has graduated 521 students who work on engineering projects around the world. For the future, Construction Management Chair Tony Songer sees an increased emphasis on the Department's new initiatives which include developing a Masters in Construction Management and launching a program called Idaho Green. “The graduate program will focus on leadership and sustainability. Idaho Green is a comprehensive learning, engagement, and outreach program focused on sustainability in the built environment,” Songer said.

CM timeline 1980s ’78

Program approved by Idaho State Board of Education

’79

Program established in Department of Physics Marv Gabert hired as first CM faculty

’81

Construction Management Association established as AGC student chapter

’84

13th program nationwide to receive ACCE accreditation 2 full time faculty, 89 students

’85

Renamed Dept. of Construction Management and Pre-Engineering

’85 & ’89

CMA honored as National Outstanding AGC student chapter

Owen McDougal

Owen McDougal, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Tim Andersen, a professor in the Department of Computer Science, are coinventors of the application. Called DockoMatic, it is a user-friendly interface that eases and automates the creation and management of scientific experiments run through an existing software program called AutoDock. “Our research team uses AutoDock to model the binding interactions that indicate the efficacy of certain molecules in attacking diseased cells, but it requires some technical expertise and considerable time to run jobs and interpret results,” McDougal said. “DockoMatic streamlines the process, allowing scientists to focus on the science.”

The science of drug design involves identifying and testing materials against biologic threats from cancer to brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. McDougal is conducting research on Parkinson’s that involves the special venom of the marine cone snail, which shows promise in the development of a new treatment. Using DockoMatic in combination with the power of a computing cluster, he can get more results faster than with AutoDock alone. “DockoMatic does more than make running experiments easy for novices,” said Andersen. “It can take almost 30 hours for AutoDock to complete one experiment. DockoMatic allows you to run thousands of experiments simultaneously and summarizes the results.” Andersen and McDougal developed DockoMatic to be open source, meaning it will be available for anyone to download and use at no cost. Chemistry student Reed Jacob and computer science students Casey Bullock, Nathan Schmidt and Luke Hindman also contributed to what could be a key tool in the science community’s efforts to create new ways to combat threats to human health.

A scholarly publication on DockoMatic is featured in BioMed Central’s BMC Research Notes, an open access journal publishing research across all fields of biology and medicine. Read it here http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/3/289/abstract. Learn more about the DockoMatic project at https://sourceforge.net/projects/dockomatic

Going International Mechanical Engineering senior Charles Adams, spent time in March as part of a panel on Cloud Computing in Education at the 2011 HP Catalyst Worldwide Summit in New Delhi, India. He was part of the Cloud Computing in Education group along with National Chung Cheng University of Taiwan and the Galicia Supercomputing Center in Spain. Adams said he was chosen because of his work with mechanical engineering professor Joe Guarino in creating Virtual Learning Environments via Hewlett-Packard Remote Graphics Software (RGS) as part of the Hewlett-Packard Innovations in Education grant. “I presented during the panel about the Rising Cloud Project, and shared information about the University's HP Blade Workstation Cloud (16 workstations) which included a live demonstration of the Cloud itself,” Adams said. “We were able to establish many contacts for future collaboration domestically & internationally, and the Engineering Learning Community of Idaho team is very excited for the future.” A native of Orting, Washington, Adams is due to graduate in May 2012 with a major in mechanical engineering and a minor in applied mathematics.

Cheryl Schrader Named AVP for Strategic Research Initiatives at Boise State

1990s ’93, ’94, ’97, & ’99 CMA honored as national Outstanding AGC student chapter ’94

Department grows to 4 full time faculty

’95

Receives full six-year reaccreditation

’96

Materials and Methods Lab breaks ground

’97 Department

College of Engineering established with Construction Management

2000s ’00, ’02, ’08, & ’09 CMA honored as National Outstanding AGC student chapter ’02

Student Honor Society, Sigma Lambda Chi established

’02

National Association of Home Builders student chapter established Construction Management alumni chapter established

’09

CM Certificate Program initiated

’10

Program has graduated 521 students to date

Cheryl Schrader has been appointed to the new position of Associate Vice President for Strategic Research Initiatives at Boise State University, effective Feb. 15. She has served on Boise State’s faculty as dean of the College of Engineering since 2003. “Dr. Schrader has been invaluable in creating an outstanding educational experience for our students in the College of Engineering,” said President Bob Kustra. “The university is now fortunate to have her leadership in a major initiative that is critical to our role and outreach as a metropolitan research university.” Schrader will lead a campuswide effort to improve the way the university administers its research and academic centers, institutes and core facilities as part of the Division of Research. With more than 50 of these units on campus, she is charged with reviewing and managing existing centers and institutes while developing a strategic process and investment focus for new entities. Schrader also will work as the Boise State liaison to the Boise Valley Economic Partnership, connecting the university as an integral partner in the region’s economic development.? “Dr. Schrader’s excellent technical and administrative skills make her ideally suited for this important endeavor,” said Vice President for Research Mark Rudin. “She will be a key individual for Boise State to administer its research centers and institutes in a highly effective and efficient manner in the future, benefiting both the university and the region.” Schrader moves to Boise State’s Division of Research, which currently operates the offices of Sponsored Programs, Research Compliance and Technology Transfer. Her coordination of these interdisciplinary centers and institutes will better support the instruction, research and outreach mission of the university. College of Engineering Newsletter | Spring 2011

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1990s May Ji, CS ‘93 is a Lead Program Manager at the Microsoft Corporation in Washington. Brian Ellway, CM ‘94 has joined Wright Brothers, the Building Company, a general contracting/ construction management firm, as a lead estimator. He is a LEED-accredited professional and a longtime leadership volunteer for the Kuna chapter of Ducks Unlimited. Matt Cooley, CS ‘97 is the VP for Information Systems at Scentsy, Inc. in Meridian. Brandon McKee, CS ‘99 is a Software Development Engineer in Test II at Microsoft in Redmond WA.

2000s Monica Crider, CE ‘00, PE, MBA, is an Assistant Roadway Design Engineer for the Idaho Transportation Department. She is an active member in Women in Transportation Seminar, Treasure Valley chaptercurrent role as Secretary. Scott Harper, CE ’00 is working as a design engineer/project manager at EHS-Alaska, Inc. He recently passed his PE exam. Scott Walters, CM ‘00 has worked at Okland Construction for 10 years as a Project Manager, currently working on the Wellton Border Patrol Station in Wellton, AZ as the PM and the QC for civil, arch, and structural. Liz Adams, CE ’01

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Alumni News married Rory Martin on December 31, 2010. Liz is finishing up coursework for PhD in Civil Engineering (Water Resources and Sustainability focus) this semester. She is teaching Engineering Science courses at Mesa Community College and tutoring students with disabilities through the State of Arizona's Vocational Rehabilitation program. Richard Hansen, CE ‘01 has spent the past year working on the I-15; Utah County Corridor Expansion project. Two of the bridges he designed are due to be moved into place in March. Both bridges are two-span continuous steel girder bridges and will be moved on self-propelled modular transports (SPMTs). This is the first time in the U.S. that this type of bridge has been moved on SPMTs. Shannon Whitmore Kegel, ME ‘01, works for BD Medical in Sandy, Utah as a Senior Quality Engineer where she has worked for 4.5 years. Shannon is married and has three kids Konnor(8), Mason(6) and Quincy(2). Brian Warrick, ME ’02

Laila Maqbool, CE ‘03 is the Energy Efficiency Lead for Alloway Electric Co., Inc. She markets to clients, designs the retrofit and oversees the installation. She has worked on projects for Micron, the Owyhee County Courthouse, and a number of public schools through the Lighting for Schools project. Richard Newman, CS ’04

is the Chief Technology Officer at H&W Computer Systems, Inc. in west Boise. Richard completed an MBA in 2008 from Univ. of Wash. through their North American program under the Executive MBA program. Richard and his wife Jodi, are the parents of Alec (16) who attends Capital High and Treasure Valley Math and Science Center; and son, Jared (13) who attends Riverglen Junior High and TVMSC. Brad Huttash, EE '05 is a test development engineer at Aptina, LLC in Boise. Manuel Rauhut, CE ‘05 is an Assistant Project Manager at HDR in Boise.

recently joined Quality Thermistor, Inc. as a Process Development Engineer in February 2011. Matthew Leslie, EE ‘03 is a Senior Engineer with Marvell Semiconductor. He lives in Meridian, and he and his wife, Lindsey, are expecting a baby girl in May.

College of Engineering Newsletter | Spring 2011

Don Tibbets, CE ’06 is working at Republic Services as the operations manager of the Ada County Landfill. Jean Margulieux, EE ’09 is working as a hardware engineer at Cradlepoint Inc. Chris Raymes, EE ’07 is currently a Systems Engineer at Apex Manufacturing Solutions in Boise. Chris and his wife have a 3 year old daughter and a 1 year old son, and lives in Eagle.

Darrin Reed, EE ‘07

NVIDIA Names Boise State One of 20 CUDA Research Centers

Nihan Darnall, CE ’10 is a Geotechnical Engineer at CH2M HILL in Boise. Alex Miller, MSE ‘10 is a Process Integration Engineer at Transform Solar in Boise.

started working on his Ph.D. in January 2011, at Carl-von-Ossietzky University in Oldenburg Germany. His field of study is "neuro-sensory science and systems". The research involves developing perceptually and physiologically based computer models of the human auditory system. The attached picture was taken in the anechoic chamber. Behind the black fabric is an array of 32 speakers used for perceptual listening experiments. TJ Anderson, MSE ‘09

Sandeep Shende, EE ‘10

is living in New York, and is an RF Engineer at Amirit Technologies. He works on cellular/wireless system design, implementation and enhancement of wireless networks. He recently published a book: A Matlab-based FM Demodulator for the Radio Broadcast Data System. Sandeep is engaged to be married to Rudranee Deshpande, a lawyer.

Boise State University recently garnered designation as one of 20 CUDA Research Centers worldwide from NVIDIA, a world leader in visual and parallel computing using graphics processing units (GPUs). Boise State is the only CUDA Research Center in the Pacific-Northwest and one of only eight in the United States.

sequencing for forensics,” Senocak said. “Our vision is to develop and apply advanced numerical methods and computational algorithms to applications in science and engineering and broaden GPU computing research in modeling and simulation within the state of Idaho.”

The designation came from Boise State’s groundbreaking work in parallel computing, and puts it in the company of such U.S. universities as Clemson, Johns Hopkins and UCLA, as well as a number of international research centers, including Technische Universität München in Germany and Nanyang University in Singapore.

To learn more about the CUDA Research Center program, visit http://research.nvidia.com/content/cudaresearch-center-crc-program.

GPUs have traditionally been used primarily for rendering graphics in personal computers and video game consoles. Today, GPU computing is increasingly being adopted by leading software developers, academics and researchers worldwide to dramatically accelerate the processing of a wide range of computationally intensive data. Boise State was an early adopter of GPU computing for both research and teaching, and the CUDA Research Center designation aligns the university with top technical institutions that are utilizing GPU computing to solve some of the world’s most challenging computational problems.

Dustin Gorseth, ME, ‘09 ,is a Mechanical Design Engineer at MotivePower Inc. in Boise. He has a two year old daughter and a one month old son. Sharla Hopkins, MSE '09 is a Quality Assurance Engineer at Black Diamond Equipment in Salt Lake City, UT. Cole Smith, MSE ‘09 is a Ph.D. candidate at Drexel University studying condensed matter physics.

The Environmental Research Building — located along

“From world-changing scientific discoveries to commercial products that impact our everyday lives, the potential of this area of technology cannot be overstated,” said Boise State Vice President for Research Mark Rudin. “To be recognized as a leader in developing that potential demonstrates Boise State’s commitment to drive innovation that is shaping the future.” Proposals for acceptance into the CUDA Research Center Program were evaluated based on the quality of current GPU-enabled research, the vision presented for furthering the application and technology of GPU computing, and the opportunity for broad impact. Boise State’s winning proposal is attributed to principal investigator and assistant professor Inanc Senocak in the Department of Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering, and co-principal investigators professor Jodi Mead and assistant professor Grady Wright in the Department of Mathematics, assistant professor Hans-Peter Marshall in the Department of Geosciences, and associate professor Tim Andersen in the Department of Computer Science. “GPU computing with CUDA has tremendously advanced Boise State research projects in numerical simulations of mantle convection, wind energy forecasting, remote sensing of snow depths for water resources, threat reduction in chemical and biological defense, and DNA

and Haley Adams, ME, ‘09, TJ is a Materials Science Engineer for GE Healthcare X-ray tubes division. TJ and Haley live just outside Milwaukee, WI, and have a 3 month old son Brantley Golden Anderson.

Environmental Research Building (ERB)

University Drive next to the engineering complex — is nearing completion and will open this summer. The departments of Geosciences, Civil Engineering, Public Policy and Administration and Political Science will begin moving into the building near the end of the spring semester.

Alumni Notes We want to stay in touch. Please send your updates to Leandra Aburusa-Lete at laburusa@boisestate.edu

R U Following Us? Boise State College of Engineering Alumni

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BSUEngineering

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Excellence in IPT Practice Award for spring 2011 The "Excellence in IPT Practice Award" is presented twice a year to a student in the IPT master's degree program who is an exemplary learner, has used evidence-based practices in his/her work, and has made important contributions to the IPT professional community beyond the classroom. The recipient of the Excellence in IPT Practice Award for spring 2011 is Christin Lundberg. The following individuals were nominated for the award:

4. Christin Lundberg – Eden Prairie, MN

1. Leslie, Harper – Denver, CO

5. Kris Marchini -- Stansbury, UT

2. Perri Kennedy -- Silver Spring, MD

6. Chester Stevenson -- Columbia, GA

Christin Lundberg 3. Ayanne Levy -- Portland, OR

7. Julie Thomas -- Roswell, GA

Selecting a winner from among these individuals was not an easy task because each is an exemplary learner, uses evidence-based practices, and makes valuable contributions to the IPT community. In the end, however, the IPT Program Committee selected Christin because of her leadership on course projects and the variety of her published contributions (which were co-authored with other IPT students), including: Two PerformanceXpress articles -Needs assessment on service center technicians billable hours (April, 2010) Evaluating a retail management operations training program (September, 2010)

http://coen.boisestate.edu/aboutus /Blogs.asp

An article published in Performance Improvement Journal -Data gathering and analysis for needs assessment: A case study (September, 2010) College of Engineering Newsletter | Spring 2011

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Students Partner with the Boise VA by Ryan White

“This is something I think they could even sell on the open market,” said Denmark. “I was very impressed.” To nominate a project for engineering students contact Carol Sevier by calling (208) 426-1089. More information can also be found online at http://coen.boisestate.edu/students/service_learning.asp

Boise State Research Team Among 14 Nationwide Selected for NASA’s Microgravity University 2011 By Erin Ryan

BSU Engineering students and Boise VA Occupational Therapists pose with functional activities bench designed and created for veterans. Pictured left to right are: Jason Mumford; Wendy Cary; Joseph McCormick; Lisa Denmark; Michael Reynolds (in back); and Bill Adams

“Our 2011 Microgravity University team is looking at some basic biological questions in a new way, and a lot will be learned from their exploration. Like any good science, I hope it leads to more questions and opens doors for these students and those who will follow in their powerful footsteps.” – Barbara Morgan Former NASA Astonaut and Distinguished Educator in Residence

Area veterans have a unique new tool for improving their fine motor skills, thanks to a partnership between the Boise VA Medical Center and engineering students at Boise State University.

The Microgravity University experience includes hands-on experimental research, educational outreach, interaction with some of the world’s top technical minds, and test operations onboard the “Weightless Wonder.”

Four Boise State freshmen: Michael Reynolds, Jason Mumford, Bill Adams, and Joseph McCormick from the school’s College of Engineering Service Learning Program designed and built a functional tasks activity bench for the VA’s Occupational Therapy Department. When Carol Sevier, Freshman Engineering Coordinator at Boise State, first contacted Lisa Denmark, an Occupational Therapists’ Assistant at the Boise VA, she said her students wanted to design something to improve the lives of our veterans. Over the course of a few weeks, Denmark and Kristen Schultz, a Boise VA Occupational Therapist, corresponded with the students several times about project ideas. They asked the students to create a lightweight, portable workbench that would focus on common fine motor activities that veterans do in their daily lives. “‘Daily tasks’ was the coin phrase we used,” said Mumford. “A lot of things that you don’t normally think about like holding a pen, picking up a coin, using a screwdriver – we all take those for granted, but people who have burn injuries for example lose a lot of dexterity and feeling in their hands that prevents them from picking up a coin or threading a bolt or anything like that, so we put a lot of those tasks on there and a lot of repetition.” Choosing veterans as the focus for their project was an easy decision for the team of students. “I was pretty excited to start working on a project where I could actually see development in the community and actually be helping people,” said Reynolds. As experts in occupational therapy, Denmark and Schultz were very happy with the final product. Mumford said at the students’ presentation the VA Occupational Therapists “could not stop touching it and looking at it.” He said the bench exceeded everyone’s expectations. “This combined a lot of functional tasks and I haven’t seen anything like this,” said Schultz. According to her, there are similar products available through catalogs, but they usually have only one working element and are very expensive.

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College of Engineering Newsletter | Spring 2011

Some members of the Microgravity University 2011 team. Left to right, they are Barbara Morgan, David Connolly, Robert Hay, Jake Forsberg, Ben Davis, Dawn Mikelonis, Stephanie Frahs, Sondra Miller and Ellen Rabenberg. Boise State students and faculty are gearing up for one of the greatest educational adventures on the planet — or off, as the case may be. An interdisciplinary research team representing several departments in the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering has been accepted into NASA’s Microgravity University 2011. The foundation of their study is the serious issue of bone density loss suffered by astronauts who endure long periods of weightlessness. Using the fluctuation of calcium molecules in bone cells as a real-time indicator, the team will collect information on the body’s response to the environmental stress of microgravity. This is the third consecutive year Boise State teams have participated in Microgravity University and the first time one has been selected for the highly competitive, traditional undergraduate program, which challenges students to propose, design, fabricate, fly and evaluate a reduced gravity experiment that aligns with NASA’s mission. The experiments will be conducted June 2-11 during Flight Week at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The Boise State team will be joined by peers from Yale University, California Institute of Technology, California Polytechnic University, George Washington University, Utah State University, University of Washington, West Virginia University, University of Florida, Lehigh University, State University of New York at Buffalo, Oklahoma State University, Dartmouth College and Purdue University.

It is the culmination of nearly two years of work, particularly by team leader and senior Jake Forsberg (computer science), 2010 graduate Ben Davis (biology), and faculty advisors Robert Hay (electrical and computer engineering), Julie Oxford (biology) and Sondra Miller (civil engineering). For more about the team and project, visit the blog. http://microgravityu2010.blogspot.com/ For a list of all 14 selectees, project abstracts and links to other Microgravity University programs, visit the NASA site.

NSF Awards to Advance Innovations in Engineering Education Leading the Way in STEM Education Building support for innovations in teaching the next generation of engineers is the focus of two grants totaling nearly $300,000 awarded to Boise State by the National Science Foundation (NSF). “Re-energizing the education system for engineers will have broad impact, profoundly affecting economic prosperity and quality of life for future generations,” said Susan Kemnitzer, deputy director of the NSF’s Division of Engineering Education and Centers. “To address the challenge of creating a dynamic new system, we sought proposals this year from leading engineering schools across the country to support exemplary

models of student learning. Only 15 grants were awarded through this program, and two of them were won by Boise State! This is outstanding recognition for the commitment to educational excellence by the students, faculty and leadership of the university.” One grant of more than $144,000 will allow an interdisciplinary team of researchers in the colleges of Engineering and Education to examine how faculty members can move from the traditional lecture model to incorporating more innovative knowledgebuilding and problem-solving techniques. “Our ultimate goal is to support innovative engineering teaching that sends graduates into the workplace well prepared to solve real-life problems,” said principal investigator Kirsten Davis, an assistant professor of construction management and the first in the department’s history to be recognized with a grant from the NSF. “From the conditions of the work environment to the demands of the tenure process, we’re looking at potential motivations and barriers to the adoption of new teaching methods.” Davis’ co-principal investigators on the project are Sondra Miller, an assistant professor of civil engineering, and Ross Perkins, an assistant professor of educational technology. “In addition to investigating the barriers to implementing various classroom innovations, we hope to make suggestions as to how those might be mitigated,” Perkins said. A second grant of $150,000 will allow another research team in the College of Engineering to seek broad university support for the adoption of teaching innovations, bringing together expertise in engineering, workplace learning and performance improvement. The team includes principal investigator and assistant professor of mechanical engineering Don Plumlee, and co-principal investigators Linda Huglin and Steve Villachica, assistant professor and associate professor of instructional and performance technology. “Relying on our colleagues across campus as a sounding board, we’ll be looking at how to incorporate problem- and project-based learning into engineering courses in ways that will help faculty use these strategies,” noted Huglin. “Together, these two NSF-funded projects will aid in the realignment of faculty and institutional priorities with those of the larger engineering community as well as provide insight into the continuing transformation of education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM),” said Plumlee. These projects represent just a small slice of Boise State’s efforts in the advancement of STEM education. A separate $1.25 million NSF grant awarded in August is funding the university’s new STEM Central STATION. This project is dedicated to research and development of emerging STEM education best practices to help overcome a national dearth of qualified teachers in STEM-related subjects and entice more students to pursue those critical areas of study.

College of Engineering Newsletter | Spring 2011

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