Graduate EDUCATION AND RESEARCH Volume 8, Issue 1
Summer 2018 Newsletter
ALUMNI UPDATE: CATCHING UP WITH JUSTIN SCHMELTZ Justin Schmeltz graduated from Parks College at Saint Louis University Spring 2016 with a Master of Science in Engineering, specializing in Structural Civil Engineering. We interrupted Justin’s volunteer work at St. Louis Family Church’s vacation bible school camp to talk about his experience at Parks and what he’s been up to since graduating.
Q What attracted you to Parks College of Engineering, Aviation, and Technology? A There were opportunities to do research and coursework in areas which
provided immersion into real world civil engineering practices. Getting this exposure seemed to be a good chance to go through graduate school while moving into the professional world as well and beginning to gain experience with the techniques of both consultants and contractors. Tell us about your time at Parks. My research area was the assessment of bracing systems to prevent excessive rotation of exterior bridge girders due to eccentric construction loading. Specifically, my research dealt with assessing a measurement program which predicted the maximum rotation that an exterior girder was to experience during construction and providing recommendations for this program’s future use by the research sponsor, IDOT. I worked under the advisement of Dr. Riyadh Hindi. I was very proud to be nominated for the Outstanding Graduate Student Award during my last semester. Another highlight of the Parks community was the helpful and friendly faculty and staff of Parks. I often stopped by the offices of Chris Hoffmann and Nicole Mispagel to chat or say hi. Tell us about life after graduation. A few weeks after graduation, I began working as a Bridge Engineer for a St. Louis-based civil engineering consulting firm called Horner and Shifrin. I became the newest member of their Structural Engineering-Bridge group and began working in the design and assessment of bridges and bridge systems. I am still there currently. Recently, I finished my first personal design start to finish this past fall for a simple span bridge to be built in Manchester, MO along Spring Meadows drive. What about your experience at Parks prepared you for your current position? Exposure to practicing professionals in the form of adjunct faculty and various extracurricular opportunities provided good preparation for the adjustment of working out of textbooks to working on bridge plans. There is a translation which is necessary to learn between how things work in theory and how they work in practice, and the experience of my education at Parks College helped to expedite my progression from student to professional. e 6)
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Message from the ASSOCIATE DEAN Parks’ Graduate Education & Research is excited to share with you our Summer 2018 newsletter. I hope you enjoy reading our news. Our 2018 graduating class included a record 45 students—8 PhD and 37 MS degrees. Of the over 100 applications we have processed for the Fall 2018 semester alone, about 50 of them will start their program with us in a few months. Our accelerated BS-MS engineering program is likewise growing. This fall, 13 students will progress into the graduate portion of their program. As always, Parks is committed to increasing national and international collaboration, research, and graduate recruiting. The INTO program helps international students ease into a graduate program here at SLU by taking Academic English courses that focus on getting their written, spoken, and oral English skills up to graduate student levels. Parks Masters Engineering Program is one of SLU’s most popular INTO programs. In 2017, we received 57 total applications. By this time last year, we had reviewed 31, and so far for 2018, we have reviewed 38, making us on track to surpass last year’s numbers. I am tentatively planning another international trip this year to encourage international recruitment and collaboration. Two visiting scholars from Spain (see page 7 for more details) will finish off their year of research in the field of structural engineering this fall, and we will welcome more visiting scholars and students this year. Parks College is undergoing some organizational changes, under the new “School of Engineering.” We are excited about how this opportunity will enhance the programs in Graduate Education & Research here at Parks College. We also just finished the first year of our three-year strategic plan, and I am happy to report that we are on track on all metrics. On behalf of Parks Graduate Education, I wish you a great summer!
Riyadh Hindi, Ph.D., P.Eng., F.SEI Associate Dean and Professor Graduate Education and Research
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Alumni Feature Message from the Associate Dean Banquet and GSA Awards Student and Faculty News Graduates Visiting Scholars
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ALUMNI UPDATE CONTINUED What does the future hold for you? My plans consist primarily of my pursuit of increasingly difficult and significant projects as I gain more experience and more exposure as a professional. I would like to progress into project management roles in addition to getting both my professional engineering and structural engineering licenses in the years to come. My most significant goal is to be able to stamp a landmark structure, on the scale of the Stan Musial Bridge. When you are not at work, how do you spend your time? I enjoy weight lifting, and can currently bench press 315lbs. I hope to someday deadlift over 500lbs. I am now the Chair of the Young Leaders Group of the Construction Forum STL group, which promotes the construction fields to youths as career paths. I also enjoy doing community service, local and nationally. Last fall I spent a week on a service trip, helping communities ravaged by Hurricane Harvey. This summer I am volunteering at JUMP! Kids Camp here in St. Louis. JUMP! is a Vacation Bible School camp that includes indoor and outdoor activities, carnival rides, water parks, and theatrical productions. I feel compelled to help others and share the joy of my faith. Community service allows me to do both, and to meet some pretty amazing people in the process.
BANQUET On Thursday, May 3rd, 2018, the Parks community gathered to celebrate the 2018 graduating class. In the past, the Office of Graduate Education and Research has held their separate banquet, but we combined with the Legacy Banquet to honor all graduating seniors, MS students, and PhD students. Held in a ballroom in the Busch Student Center, this year’s banquet was unique in that we featured entertainment by Parks students. Elizabeth Brennan, graduating Electrical and Computer Engineering MS student, performed a dance along with a real-time visual representation of the acceleration of her ballet shoe using microcontroller-based data collection on a device she engineered. Lindsey Jasper, BS-MS student, sang two songs, and Jeff Laten, graduating Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering MS student, gathered a group of other Parks students to form a Parks Legacy Band. Senior Design, APCS, and Outstanding Graduate Awards were presented as part of the program, emceed by MS student Shaun Mathews and Executive Vice President of APCS, Rob Scheidt. Attendees enjoyed dinner and drinks, a photo booth, and the unique entertainment.
GSA SYMPOSIUM
On Friday, April 27th, 2018, the Graduate Student Association held their 24th Annual Graduate Student Association Research Symposium in the Busch Student Center. Held every spring, the Symposium offers graduate students across Saint Louis University the opportunity to present their research findings in either a paper or a poster presentation. Seventeen Parks College students participated. Katherine Hixon, one of our GSA Representatives and graduating Biomedical Engineering doctoral student, won first place in the Biological Sciences Paper Category, and Adaline Buerck, graduating Master’s student in Civil Engineering, tied for first place in the Physical Sciences Paper Category. Lindsay Hill, Biomedical Engineering PhD candidate, won 3rd place in the Biological Sciences Poster Competition.
GSA REPRESENTATIVE
We have two new Graduate Student Association Representatives for Engineering for the 2018-2019 academic year—Shaun Mathews, Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering MS student, and Saahil Sheth, Biomedical Engineering PhD student. Our Aviation Science GSA Representative position is vacant, so if you are interested in being the Aviation Science GSA Rep, please contact Alex Fajardo, GSA President. Check your email for GSA announcements, and submit all conference funding requests to Shaun or Saahil before submission to the GSA. Visit http://gsa.slu.edu/awards/conference-awards.
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NEWS Outstanding Graduate awards The outstanding graduate student award recognizes Parks College graduate students who exemplify academic excellence, research distinction and a commitment to the mission of Parks College and Saint Louis University. This year we have decided to award one Master of Science student and one Doctoral student. Our Ph.D. Parks’ Outstanding Graduate Student for 2018 is Nick Duong. Nick is a gifted doctoral student and excellent researcher, having authored or co-authored seven journal articles and nine conference papers. Nick’s current research in nanomachining may have applications in biomedical, electronic, automotive, energy, and metal working industries. In additional to his groundbreaking research, he is a TA and a member of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, and ASME, American Society of Mechanical Engineers. His achievements earned him a Dissertation Fellowship from SLU for the 2018-2019 academic year. Our MS Parks’ Outstanding Graduate Student for 2018 is Madison Marcinczyk. Her research examines the use of laminin enriched hydrogels for skeletal muscle regeneration in volumetric muscle loss injuries. Maddie has been described as having a deep-rooted spirit of helpfulness, becoming the go-to person in the lab. As a BSMS student, she learned a variety of surgical, electrophysiological, histological, and biochemical techniques in a very short time frame, what her advisor described as PhD level work. She has authored 2 peer-reviewed journal articles, a book chapter, and 7 scientific abstracts, with several more in preparation or under review. She is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Alpha Eta Mu Beta, the biomedical engineering honor society, and the Society of Women Engineers. She has worked as a Camp Counselor for the Parks College Summer Engineering Academy and is very passionate about engaging young engineers, particularly those groups of students who might be underrepresented in engineering. She has volunteered and raised funds for cancer research and awareness events and served as a committee member for the SLU Dance Marathon benefitting St. Louis Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals The outstanding graduate faculty award honors an individual Parks College faculty member whose dedication to our graduate students and demonstrated commitment to excellence in graduate education and mentoring have made a significant contribution to the professional development of graduate students at Parks College. Parks Outstanding Graduate Faculty for 2018 is Dr. Jenna Gorlewicz. According to her students, Dr. Gorlewicz is an incredibly supportive and detail-oriented researcher, educator, and mentor. Her mentees say they feel their success is a priority for her, and that she gives them beneficial, real-world experience, treating them as colleagues and collaborators. She has even helped her students secure internships and funding. Dr. Gorlewicz states that the key to successful relationships with her advisees is understanding that they are real people with their own motivations and goals, and taking the time to know and work with them is crucial to building a successful collaborative relationship. She volunteers for numerous outreach programs for high school and college students, and often has high school students working in her lab over the summer. Her students say she has an intuition when it comes to teaching and helping students who are struggling. Dr. Gorlewicz’ CHROME Lab—the Collaborative Haptics, Robotics, and Mechatronics lab—includes projects ranging from the medical field to engineering education. The interdisciplinary nature of her work has been described as the future of engineering. Last year, her lab had two NSF grants funded, which allows her to fully fund all 3 of her graduate students and 3 of her 7 undergraduate students. She will be welcoming 2 additional graduate students this fall.
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STUDENT NEWS Jen Tennison, PhD student in Mechanical Engineering, has been selected as a CADRE Fellow, “a competitive fellowship designed to be a capacity-building experience for early career researchers” who are part of NSF sponsored projects. The program, that started last fall and runs through this summer, includes webinars, conference calls, and in person events. Through her experiences, Jen will be able to build her network and will gain insight into what it takes to be a successful researcher in STEM Education. Fellows will be focusing on building skills in “four strands: career pathways, writing for publication, networking, and proposal writing.” Jen is working under the supervision of Dr. Jenna Gorlewicz and expects to conduct another 2-3 years of research before defending her dissertation. http://cadrek12.org/cadre-fellows Li Hui, Mohammad Rahman and Faress Hraib, all Civil Engineering Ph.D. Students working under the supervision of Dr. Riyadh Hindi, have developed a low-cost lowpower wireless data acquisition system (DAS). The new system will be used for the bridge construction monitoring in the future. It consists of a CC-1310 Launchpad, two ADS-1256 24 bits Analog to Digital Converters and power control units. The low-power function allows the research team to monitor the structures for several weeks without changing the batteries. The new wireless DAS is cost effective, consuming only 1/10 of the energy compared to other DAS in the market. Since the cost of extension wires are also reduced, the project’s total savings amount to more than $6,000. At the recent 2018 SEI Structures Congress, the group presented two papers—Mitigation of Shrinkage Cracking in Bridge Decks Using Type-K Cement authored by Mohammad Rahman, Ying Chen, Will Lundquist, Ahmed Ibrahim, and Riyadh Hindi, and Diaphragms to Girders Connections Effect on the Rotation of Exterior Girders During Construction by Faress Hraib, Li Hui, and Riyadh Hindi. Jeff Laten, M.S. student in Aerospace Engineering, won second place in the Graduate Paper/Presentation Competition at the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Region V Student Conference, hosted by SLU. Region V consists of all aerospace programs in 10 states from Missouri to Colorado, Montana to Minnesota. Jeff’s paper was “Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuators for Aircraft Maneuvering Control”, discussing his work on designing and building a novel unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which serves as a testbed for plasma actuator-based control systems. Instead of conventional ailerons and elevators, this UAV uses plasma actuators to govern roll and pitch motion. There are only two known prior attempts to use plasma actuator controls on a UAV, and this new design aims to be the first to achieve practical roll and pitch rates.
FACULTY NEWS Dr. Silviya Zustiak, Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor, was the junior faculty member selected to receive the 2017 Scholarly Works Award, which reflects on her research and publications. She received a research honorarium gift as a reward and to kick start future research. She was also one of two faculty members to achieve the rank of associate professor this spring, along with Dr. Amanda Cox, Civil Engineering. Dr. Mark McQuilling, Associate Professor in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, won the 2018 AIAA Technical Contribution Award from the St. Louis Section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics for establishment of the new polysonic wind tunnel at SLU (May 2018). Last November, his lab completed the first major research contract with The Boeing Company using the polysonic wind tunnel, and their second major contract, with Honeywell Aerospace, Inc. is ongoing. One of his incoming students this fall, Willie Evans, PhD student, was awarded the Diversity Fellowship, which can pay up to four years of a doctoral student’s program.
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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR RECENT AND PROPOSED GRADUATES FALL 2017 Ye Bai—MS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Srikanth Gururajan Han Wu—MS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Jeff Ma Matthew R. Zinselmeier—MS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Mark McQuilling Sai Krishna Tanikonda—MS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, Non-Thesis; Advisor: Dr. Theodosios Alexander Yi Zhuang—MS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, Non-Thesis; Advisor: Dr. Jeff Ma Hady Elmashhady—MS in Biomedical Engineering, Non-Thesis; Advisor: Dr. Scott Sell Ryan David Richter—MS in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Natasha Case Kara Katsumi Tsuzaki—MS in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Natasha Case Jeanne Marie Switzer—MS in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Chris Carroll Bing Han—MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Non-Thesis; Advisor: Dr. Huliyar Mallikarjuna Yuhao Liao—MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Non-Thesis; Advisor: Dr. Huliyar Mallikarjuna Sally W. Warning—PhD in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Mark McQuilling William Jeffrey Edwards—PhD in Aviation Science; Advisor: Dr. Stephen Belt James Albert Higgins—PhD in Aviation Science; Advisor: Dr. Stephen Belt Mozhdeh Imaninezhad—PhD in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Silviya Zustiak
SPRING 2018 Justin N. Krofta—MS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Raymond LeBeau Krzysztof Wladyslaw Bzdyk—MS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, Non-Thesis; Advisor: Dr. Michael Swartwout Federico Garcia Lorca—MS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, Non-Thesis; Advisor: Dr. Srikanth Gururajan Almudena Torrero Quicios—MS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, Non-Thesis; Advisor: Dr. Michael Swartwout Xinglong Yu—MS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, Non-Thesis; Advisor: Dr. Michael Swartwout Madison Taylor Marcinczyk—MS in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Koyal Garg John Joseph Peters—MS in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Sarah McBride-Gagyi Jacob Brian Salyers—MS in Biomedical Engineering: Advisor: Dr. Yan Gai Faiz Fawzi M. Bugis—MS in Biomedical Engineering, Non-Thesis; Advisor: Dr. Koyal Garg Saïd Gabriel Redwanly—MS in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Riyadh Hindi Adaline Marie Buerck—MS in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Craig Adams Anusha Kodimela—MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Non-Thesis; Advisor: Dr. Roobik Gharabagi Xiaoyu Wu—PhD in Aviation Science; Advisor: Dr. Terrence Kelly Katherine Rose Hixon—PhD in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Scott Sell
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SUMMER 2018
Saakshi Bishnoi—MS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Mark McQuilling Kara Heimburger—MS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Mark McQuilling Jeffrey Benjamin Laten—MS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Raymond LeBeau James Tyler Slack—MS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Jenna Gorlewicz Christopher Joseph Galbreath—MS in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Michelle Sabick Jennifer Leigh Mathews—MS in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Michelle Sabick William J. Ona—MS in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Scott Sell Shwetang P. Patel—MS in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Gary Bledsoe Guangxin Hu—MS in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Yan Gai Roberto E. Reynolds Palau—MS in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Chris Carroll Elizabeth A. Brennan—MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Kyle Mitchell Sugandh Raj—MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Habibur Rahman Shyma Shajahan—MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Non-Thesis; Advisor: Dr. Kyle Mitchell Mary Katherine Jennerjohn Christianer—PhD in Aerospace Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Mark McQuilling
VISITNG SCHOLARS FROM SPAIN Miguel A. Vicente, PhD, is a Structural Engineer and Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Burgos Spain. His focus is on prestressed / post-tensioned concrete and bridges technology, particularly on fatigue in concrete, computed tomography (CT) scan technology and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of bridges. Prof. Vicente is an active member of the American Concrete Institute and several Spanish professional organizations. He is the Dean of the Research Group AUSINCO at the University of Burgos and is actively collaborating with international companies. He is author or coauthor of over 30 publications. Dorys C. González, PhD, is also a Structural Engineer and Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Burgos, Spain. Her focus is reinforced concrete, particularly fiber-reinforced concrete and computed tomography (CT) scan technology. She is also associate editor of the scientific journal “Hormigón y Acero” (ELSEVIER). Prof. González is leading some research projects related to the micro-structure of concrete and its influence on the mechanical behavior. She is author or coauthor of over 20 publications. Currently they are Visiting Researchers in the Department of Civil Engineering, Saint Louis University (Saint Louis, MO), here for one year, from October 2017 to September 2018. They are working with Dr. Hindi on research related to structural concrete and bridges technology.
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SUPPORT THE PARKS COLLEGE GRADUATE FUND I would like to support the Saint Louis University’s Parks College Graduate Fund (11364) with a gift/pledge of $______________. CONTACT INFORMATION: Name ______________________________________ Email __________________________________ Home Address _______________________________ Employer ______________________________ ___________________________________________ Title ___________________________________ City _____________________________________ Business Phone ___________________________ State _________ Zip _______________________ Cell Phone _______________________________ METHOD OF PAYMENT: □ Check (Please make checks payable to Saint Louis University) □ Visa □ MasterCard □ American Express □ Discover Card #: ______________________________________________________ Expiration: __________ Name as it appears on card: _________________________________________________________ PLEDGE PAYMENTS:
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Signature: _________________________________________ Date: __________________ Please forward this form, your payment, and any matching gift materials to: Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology 3450 Lindell Blvd McDonnell Douglas Hall, Room 1025 St. Louis, MO 63103 You can also give online at http://tinyurl.com/y9qo87z3 Thank you for supporting Saint Louis University and Parks College!
office of Graduate education and research ADDRESS: 3450 Lindell Blvd. McDonnell Douglas Hall St. Louis, MO 63103 PHONE: 314-977-8306 EMAIL: parksgraduateprograms@slu.edu WEBSITE: parks.slu.edu/graduate