PARKS today
SPRING/SUMMER 2018
As we conclude the celebration of the 90th Anniversary of our College, we take a look at everything that continues to make Parks College an excellent place to learn and grow. Ater having served as dean for nearly two years now, I see that Parks College really lives out the vision of our founder, Oliver L. Parks. Historically, Parks College adopted the motto of design, build, test – and this rings true to today. We often hear that our students are desirable to industry professionals for the simple fact that they have had a strong, hands-on education and a willingness to take on new challenges. Staying true to our Jesuit roots, we stay focused on educating the whole person. Whether that is through pursuits in humanitarian engineering, undergraduate research or outreach to the next generation of STEM students, we are committed to the highest standards of teaching and research. Oliver L. Parks established a college with a focus on aviation and a penchant for training leaders. Today, we are proud and privileged to carry on his tradition and bring aviation and engineering education to a new generation of future industry leaders. I hope you enjoy the contents of this issue of Parks Today. Best Regards,
Michelle B. Sabick, Ph.D. Dean
QUICK FACTS
2017-2018
773 undergraduate students
enrollment
101 graduate students
91% retention rate
722 engineering students
152 aviation students
APPLICATIONS
undergraduate
1,514
applications
graduate
223
107
new students
applications
26
new students
STUDENTS
3.93
average high school GPA of incoming students
29
average ACT score of incoming students
29%
1221
average SAT score of incoming students
of students are women
GRANT PROPOSALS AND AWARDS
54
proposals submitted
$1,215,430 in grants awarded
$576,768
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WHAT’S INSIDE
2 Humanitarian 4 Engineering The Future of STEM 6 Learning New Aviation 7 Simulators Parks College: Then 8 and Now 9 Donor Recognition Meet the Leaders of Parks College
proposals awarded
36 full-time faculty in donations to Parks College
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MEET THE DEAN OF PARKS COLLEGE
Michelle Sabick, Ph.D., has been the dean of Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology at Saint Louis University since July 1, 2016. However, before her role as dean, she was the chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering in Parks College — a role she held since July 1, 2014. Prior to that, she was on the faculty of Boise State University in Idaho, where she also served as chair of the Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering. Throughout her career, Sabick has been passionate about improving the ways that universities deliver engineering education to students. She has been highly involved in efforts to transform teaching practices at both SLU and Boise State, where she infused classroom lectures with more interactive and hands-on learning experiences.
At SLU, Sabick recently developed an accelerated degree program in engineering that allows students in six different majors to achieve two degrees — bachelor’s and master’s — in just five years. This program graduated its first students last spring. At Boise State, Sabick helped launch the Center for Orthopaedic and Biomechanics Research (COBR), an interdisciplinary collaboration involving two different academic units. She also created a minor in biomedical engineering, the first in the state of Idaho. A noted researcher, Sabick has been awarded more than $3 million in grants from the National Science Foundation. Her research interests range from the biomechanics of baseball pitching and wheelchair propulsion to the diagnosis of shoulder injuries. She also holds U.S. patents as the co-inventor of two medical devices. As the chair of SLU’s Biomedical Engineering Department, Sabick has made a number of contributions that extend beyond Parks College. She has served on the Faculty Senate academic affairs committee, is a member of an institution-wide gender equity task force and was appointed to lead a University initiative designed to enhance STEM programs at SLU. Sabick said the University’s Jesuit mission and its focus on educating the whole person were two of the primary reasons that she came to SLU. Moving into her new leadership role at the University, she said her overriding goal is to make Parks College an even better place to learn and work. Sabick has three degrees in biomedical engineering — a doctorate and master’s from the University of Iowa, and a bachelor’s from Case Western Reserve University. Before beginning her career in academia, she worked as a biomechanics researcher at the Steadman-Hawkins Sports Medicine Foundation in Vail, Colorado, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the department of orthopedics at the Mayo Clinic. When not attending meetings and running the show in McDonnell Douglas Hall, Sabick enjoys spending time with her husband, Karl, and their two children, Zoe and Sam. She also enjoys running and playing soccer.
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MEET THE DIRECTOR Gary Bledsoe, Ph.D., has been named the first director of the newly formed School of Engineering within Saint Louis University’s Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology. His appointment is effective July 1, 2018.
OF ENGINEERING
As part of the ongoing academic reinvention initiatives that began last year, the four separate engineering departments in Parks College are being reorganized into a single school of engineering to be overseen by Bledsoe beginning July 1. All of the programs will remain intact. The college will continue to offer undergraduate degrees in aerospace, biomedical, civil, computer, electrical and mechanical engineering in addition to engineering physics, physics and aeronautics. Graduate programs will be unaffected. The new model will promote interdisciplinary collaboration across all the branches of engineering and enhance the college’s efforts to address society’s most vexing problems through both academics and research. Bledsoe is currently the chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering in Parks College, a role he has held since July 1, 2016. Bledsoe has been at Saint Louis University since 1999 and served in various roles within the College. “I am thrilled that Dr. Bledsoe will be assuming this important role,” Dean Michelle Sabick, Ph.D., said. “He is the right person to help guide the formation of the school and set it off on the right path. I know Gary has a deep understanding of our college’s unique history and a vision for its future. He will do an excellent job helping us define how we can deliver a uniquely Jesuit engineering education at Saint Louis University as we begin our tenth decade as a college.” As a researcher, Bledsoe is interested in orthopaedic biomechanics and leads the Interfacial Biomaterials/Biomechanics Lab on SLU’s campus which focuses on the healing phenomena that typically occur at a tissue material interface. “I am honored to be the inaugural director of the School of Engineering at Parks College,” said Bledsoe. “We have known that Parks produces excellent graduates for years. I look forward to working to raise the visibility and profile of SLU’s engineering programs.” Bledsoe also holds three degrees in engineering – a doctorate in engineering from The University of Memphis, a master’s degree in biomedical engineering also from The University of Memphis, and a bachelor’s in electrical engineering technology from the University of Tennessee.
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HUMANITARIAN ENGINEERING
EWB students on an assessment trip in Bolivia.
EWB assessment trip in Bolivia.
The Mission of Saint Louis University is the pursuit of truth for the greater glory of God and for the service of humanity. Students in SLU’s Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology often take this mission statement literally. While we are proud to create technically proficient graduates, our students are also going above and beyond to make the world a better place – and not just in their own backyard. ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS SLU’s Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) uses engineering as a way to improve people’s lives around the world by helping them meet their basic human needs. SLU students, supported by faculty mentors, plan implementation trips for technical projects such as providing sanitary water or electricity to small villages. Most recently the group made two assessment trips, then sent two teams to Komucala, Bolivia for two weeks to lay pipe, valves and spring boxes. It took a lot of hard work, but the group was able to bring clean, sustainable drinking water to the community. When SLU’s EWB chapter partners with a community, they make a minimum of a five-year committment. That way, the group can ensure that their work continues to help over time. SLU’s EWB chapter really doesn’t just help communities on the other side of the world, they also partner with North Grand Neighborhood Services right here in St. Louis. Sometimes this means baking cookies other times it means putting up drywall. BILLIKENS FOR CLEAN WATER Over spring break in March, members of the Billikens for Clean Water club traveled to Belize for an assessment trip. Led by Craig Adams, Ph.D., Oliver L. Parks Endowed Chair and Professor of Civil Engineering, the group spent time visiting several Mayan communities in the Toledo district where they met with community leaders, tested samples from their water sources, and analyzed the overall need for clean drinking water in the region. Not only did the group study and learn much about water quality in Southern Belize, but they also were able to learn about the
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Billikens for Clean Water on an assessment trip to Belize.
Mayan cultures throughout the area. They also developed relationships with St. John’s College Junior College (SJC) in Belize City where they met students in the Environmental Science department. The group hopes to partner with SJC on their future assessment trips. Billikens for Clean Water worked closely with Jesuit leaders in the area such, who helped organize the meetings with each village. The group is already working on upcoming trips to return to Belize and do further assessments. In the long-term, the club hopes to implement water systems to bring clean water to communities who lack access. They also are planning on organizing a camp for local high school students at a rural school in one of the communities that they visited where they will teach the students about clean drinking water. GRAND CHALLENGE SCHOLARS At Parks College, we encourage undergraduate students to participate in the National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) Grand Challenge Scholars program that challenges students to make the world a better, more inclusive place through engineering. The NAE has proposed 14 challenges facing our planet, which include topics such as advanced personal learning, making solar energy more economical, enhancing virtual reality and engineering better medicines - just to name a few. As a Jesuit school, these topics resonate with many of the Parks College students. By participating in the Grand Challenge Scholars Program, students enhance their education and get an acknowledgment on their transcripts from the NAE as nationally recognized engineers - one of the highest honors in the industry. SLU is proud to be one of a select few engineering programs in the United States to offer the Grand Challenges Scholars program. We are thrilled by the idea that our engineers are the ones that are leading the charge to tackle today’s most critical issues, all while using their cross-disciplinary knowledge, entrepreneurial spirit, global perspective and sense of mission needed to serve and lead this country. We are inspired by our students whose binterests and academic pursuits also better our world.
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THE FUTURE OF STEM LEARNING
Dr. Gorlewicz (right) and a grad student working on line-following through vibration.
Dr. Carroll’s students building a bridge.
Parks College faculty are being recognized for their innovative ideas on how to engage and educate the next generation of STEM learners both at the high school and college levels. Jenna Gorlewicz, Ph.D., assistant professor in mechanical engineering and Chris Carroll, Ph.D., P.E., assistant professor in civil engineering, are leading the way. TOUCHSCREEN TECHNOLOGY FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENTS Today’s educational system is targeted to students who are not visually impaired. Often, learning concepts that are simple for sighted students are extremely difficult for their non-sighted couterparts. That is until Jenna Gorlewicz’s research is introduced in the classroom. Gorlewicz’s research attempts to replace static, hard-to-produce tactile graphics using the haptics and vibrations of easily reconfigurable tablets. This technology will give visually impaired students better access to the graphs, charts, tables, etc. that their sighted peers have had for years. This new, groundbreaking research is a joint collaborative partnership between four universities - SLU, University of Nevada Las Vegas, The University of Alabama in Huntsville and University of Maine and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). A BETTER WAY TO TEACH FUTURE CIVIL ENGINEERS Teaming up with Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Chris Carroll is leading the charge on a partnered NSF grant with three primary goals. The first is to develop and implement full-scale experiential learning modules in structural engineering courses at Saint Louis University and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The second is to assess student learning and impact on undergraduate education. Lastly, the team hopes to disseminate findings and resources for wider impact at peer institutions across the country. In today’s undergraduate education, civil engineering programs use small-scale, hands-on projects and/or large-scale conceptual projects to teach real-world concepts. Carroll and his co-contributors maintain that this type of learning limits students’ ability to accurately predict the capacity and performance of a structure. Further, they go on to state that design and testing of full-scale structural components is essential to students’ understanding of structural engineering concepts.
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The funding gives undergraduate students the opportunity to work with more real-world components. Students will have the opportunity to design, construct and test a variety of structural components in four courses at Saint Louis University and RoseHulman Institute of Technology.
NEW SIMULATORS
IN AVIATION
Model of the new FRASCA simulator
Students training in the current CRJ-700 simulator.
THREE NEW FRASCA reconfigurable Advanced Aviation Training Devices Parks College recently purchased three FRASCA reconfigurable Advanced Aviation Training Devices (AATDs). All three AATDs will include GTN-650 GPS, navigational database, ForeFlight iPad interface, Frasca’s TruVision™ visual system with three channel visual display system, Frasca’s Simplicity™ touch screen Instructor Operator Station (IOS) and will be FAA approved. The devices will be delivered later this year. The three new Frasca AATDs will be reconfigurable between the Piper Warrior, Piper Arrow and Piper Seminole aircraft by utilizing Frasca’s Computer Generated Instrument (CGI) technology. The reconfigurable panels incorporate actual instrument bezels with glass, operational indicators, control knobs and switches which are installed over a large LCD screen and can be configured in minutes. The result is a very realistic look with the same tactile feel of an actual aircraft panel. The high level of realism enables the students to transfer a greater amount of learning from the AATD to the aircraft, reduces maintenance and increases the reliablity of the AATDS. Frasca has provided reconfigurable devices to many customers over the years, enabling schools to train students to fly a variety of aircraft in one device. These three new simulators will support our flight programs and ultimately help our aviation students on their path to becoming future aviation industry leaders. The newsimulators will arrive by Fall 2018.
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PARKS COLLEGE THEN AND NOW
It started with aviation in 1927, and today is so much more than founder Oliver L. Parks could have ever imagined. Armed with a pilot certificate signed by Orville Wright, two planes and a rented hangar at St. Louis’s Lambert Field, Parks opened his Parks Air College because he saw a need for higher standards in training for student pilots. The first federally certified flight school in the country, Parks College trained ten percent of all the Army Air Corps pilots in World War II. Today, we still train pilots, but we also train an increasingly diverse group of engineers and physicists. In fact, Parks offers programs in aerospace, biomedical, civil, computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering along with physics and engineering physics in addition to its signature programs in aeronautics. When we speak with employers, we are told that our Parks College graduates are hard-working, dedicated, and motivated— that they make great employees that develop into leaders. In fact, every year, we have employers seek out our graduates. The Boeing Company comes to campus for the sole purpose of attracting Parks grads to their programs. We also have four pipeline partnerships with regional airlines - Envoy Air, Trans States Airlines, Republic Airline and ExpressJet Airlines. Oliver L. Parks knew that future leaders of aviation needed a broader education. That was why he decided, in 1946, to donate his college to Saint Louis University. In part, the donation was in gratitude for care he received by Jesuit priests when he had a near-fatal crash near St. Stanislaus seminary. After donating the College to the University, Parks stayed on as the first dean of the College pulling in an annual salary of just $1. This year, as Parks College Dean, Michelle Sabick, welcomed faculty and staff for the fall semester, she challenged them to reflect on what the College wants to become-how to focus continuous improvement efforts as Parks strives to become, to do, to be more. Today, Parks still operates flight operations, in Cahokia, but the Collge recognizes that the facilites need to be updated. Parks is growing and thriving, and with the help and contributions of our alums and friends (specifically to the hangar renovation fund) Parks can enhance the student experience for all students in aviation. The new plan will implement renovations that will enhance the flight planning area, dispatch and flight instructor offices. Additionally, this fall, the SLU Board of Trustees approved a plan that will change the budgeting model for the Aviation Science Department and give it more autonomy in the way it conducts business. It will also allow the department to upgrade simulators and give it the ability to better plan for the future needs of the aviation students - allowing them to do more. This new campaign also identifies many ways for our alums and friends to help us do MORE to support our fantastic students– whether it is through supporting student scholarships, creating a new makerspace and student design laboratory, or supporting a new lectureship for engineering diversity. Today, Parks is immensely proud of its history and the legacy upon which it was built, but the College continually keeps its eyes on the future, and works to become more. If he were around today, Oliver L. Parks would be proud to see his college has not just lasted for 90 years, but become something more than what he ever envisioned. Here’s looking to the next 90 years...
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THANK YOU DONORS
$100,000 +
$25,000 - $49,999
Gene Block (IT ’60) John Capellupo (IT ’56) Donald Cramer (Cook ’55) James Holloran (Law ’65) Leo Kilcullin (Cook ’59) Patrick Lee (Parks ’59) Frank Magiera (Parks ’62) J. Barry McCormick (IT ’62) Daniel Rodrigues (Parks ’77) Joseph Shaughnessy (IT ’57) Tom Swiercinsky (IT ’57) Leonard Woker (IT ’49)
Art Behrens (IT ’62) Gerald Chmielewski (Parks ’58) Rodney Cottrell (IT ’57) Verle Cristman (Parks ’51) David Flavan (Parks ’53) Dennis Gatchell (Parks ’73) Stephen Goebel (Parks ’74) Frederick Greene (Parks ’77) Willard Hannon (IT ’59) Francis Hilbing (IT ’59) Richard Holdener (IT ’62) Frank Lyons (IT ’59) Roy Maurer (IT ’68) Kenneth Morris (Parks ’75) Herbert Nuttli (IT ’52) William O’Toole (IT ’49) Ivan Reddington (Parks ’57) Kevin Rhoades (Parks ’84) Robert Scoular (Law ’64) Betsy Smith (Parks ’72) Richard Ward (IT ’58)
$50,000 - $99,999 Jim Bennett (Parks ’51) George Bouckaert (IT ’56) George Brill (Parks ’85) James Conway (Cook ’55) Michael Forrest (IT ’55) William Freitag (IT ’52) Jack Groneck (Cook ’58) Thomas Incrocci (IT ’63) Gene Kranz (Parks ’54) Tom Nenninger (IT ’61) Paul Reeves (Parks ’65) John Schneider (IT ’54) Joe Steurer (IT ’59) Bill Valenta (IT ’58) Mark Weber (Parks ’75)
$10,000 - $24,999 Gene Adam (IT ’56) Thomas Alferman (IT ’65) Robert Allen (Parks ’70) Dale Anderson (Parks ’57) Jim Beaumaster (Parks ’58) Douglas Bielanski (Parks ’62) Mike Burke (Parks ’66) Ronald Cej (IT ’64) Donald Chamberlain (IT ’68) Arthur Denkmann (Parks ’83) Harold Duchek (IT ’50) Joe Eisley (Parks ’51) Theodore Esswein (IT ’55) William Fogarty (IT ’57) John George (A&S ’55) Robert Harris (IT ’51) John Hoef (Parks ’67) Paul Hudson (Parks ’74) John Hummel (IT ’66) Dick Jasinski (Parks ’56) Charles Joerger (IT ’55) Steven Kadlec (Parks ’70) Howard Kapp (Cook ’65) Thomas Kasko (IT ’68) Rodney Kettelkamp (IT ’54) Andrew Kliethermes (IT ’51) Eugene Kovarik (IT ’52) Donald Kreshtool (Parks ’73) Andrew Lang (Parks ’09) Daniel Leuthen (IT ’68) Cindy Malawy (Cook ’78)
Joseph Malburg (Parks ’05) Ed McCullough (Parks ’69) John Mellen (Parks ’62) Wesley Meyers (IT’56) Tom Molitor (IT ’57) The Hon. Gerry Mossinghoff (IT ’57) Gordon Neary (Law ’50) William Owens (IT ’64) Douglas Peterson (Parks ’87) Charles Roberts (Parks ’62) Nelson Rosario (Parks ’67) Joseph Rutter (Parks ’58) Gregory Ryan (Parks ’84) Doug Schwaab (Parks ’74) Robert Seh (Parks ’56) Frank Semmelmayer (Parks ’08) John Shillito (Parks ’84) John Shimski (Parks ’72) Buddy Springman (Parks ’78) Karl Spuhl (IT ’68) David Stolwyk (IT ’50) Edward Strasser (IT ’67) Edward Trapp (IT ’53) Myron Tygar (Parks ’54) Roy Van Orman (Cook ’62) Charles Vedane (Parks ’58) Kenneth Velten (IT ’69) Michael Winkler (Parks ’77) Ramon Wong (IT ’70) Francis Zapor (Pars ’57)
* Levels represent lifetime giving to saint louis university
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PARKS today
“We are trying to build a clean water system in Belize right now. I love knowing the technical side, but also looking at the community.” CRYSTAL BELL CIVIL ENGINEERING PARKS COLLEGE, CLASS OF 2020