fall ’07/winter ’08
Benedum Hall Ready for Transformation San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
Overcoming Inner-city Adversity
Grand Celebration
PittSF-Oakland Civil Engineers for the Sky BayReach Bridge andReaching a World the Record Sky for a World
Ben Gordon Inner LandsCity Prestigious Overcoming Adversity Goldwater Scholarship Ben Gordon Lands Prestigious
Alumni and Friends See the GrandDonors Celebration Impact of a $100 Million Campaign Alumni Donors and Friends See the
Record with Pitt Civil Engineers
Marshall Scholarship
Impact of a $100 Million Campaign
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A New Magazine for a New Outlook on the School of Engineering
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s you’ve probably noticed, we have made some major changes to your alumni magazine. No longer Engineering News, we have renamed the magazine Pitt Engineer and integrated some unique design and format changes. The first issue of Engineering News was published in 1987 as a basic, one-color newsletter for the school’s alumni. This publication evolved into a four-color magazine over the years and most recently has experienced great success, winning design awards for four of the past five issues. After two decades, though, a change is necessary for a number of reasons. The most important of all is our growing national reputation as a leading engineering school. For our alumni, the words “Pitt Engineer” mean more today than they ever have in the school’s long and proud history. These words project an image of outstanding students, accomplished faculty, and successful alumni. To continue reinforcing this image, it makes sense to utilize the most prominent and visible publication generated by the school that is shared not only with all 26,000 living alumni, but also with deans of other engineering schools, corporate partners, foundations, and other key external constituencies.
Gerald D. Holder, U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering
“ It seemed only fitting to announce the details of this bold plan in the first issue of the new Pitt Engineer.”
This change also is a reflection of our overall efforts to continually improve our communication activities. As the scope of news we want to share with you has grown in recent years, so too has the number of media tools we now utilize to keep connected with you. The School of Engineering now shares e-newsletters with roughly 6,000 alumni for whom accurate e-mail addresses exist. And three of our six departments (bioengineering, civil and environmental engineering, and mechanical engineering and materials science) produce e-newsletters for graduates of their programs. If you don’t currently receive e-newsletters but would like to, sign up by simply completing the form on our Web site at www.engr.pitt.edu/news/ signup.php. The school’s annual report has become a big hit as well. Last year’s issue was the first annual report published since the 1990s and, like our magazine, took home a top design award from a leading
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professional marketing association. See the back cover of this magazine for instructions on how to view the 2007 Annual Report on our Web site. The timing of our impending changes to Benedum Hall through the Transformation Plan also fits well with our changes to the magazine. As the highlights of this plan suggest, the School of Engineering is taking broad and ambitious steps to both restructure our existing space, and expand our physical capacity through the addition of a new building. These changes are necessary to continue our growth in student enrollment and faculty size, while also creating an instructional and research environment that is more illustrative of our growing national reputation. It seemed only fitting to announce the details of this bold plan in the first issue of the new Pitt Engineer. I hope you enjoy the changes we’ve made and feel even greater pride in your connection to the School of Engineering. The involvement and support of our alumni and friends has become a critical factor in our continued success. I’m hopeful you will find this redesign of our alumni magazine, along with all the other new communications efforts we’ve recently implemented, to be both enjoyable and effective in keeping you connected and up to date on all the great things happening here. Best wishes, and hail to Pitt!
Gerald D. Holder U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering
The alumni magazine of the School of Engineering
Features Reaching for the Sky.....................................2 Transformation of Benedum Hall Ready to Begin ....................................... 5
Departments Around the School................................... 12 Research Features.................................. 14
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Student News......................................... 16 Alumni Notes.......................................... 18
17 22 Gerald D. Holder U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering Aaron Conley Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations Sonia Gill Director of Marketing & Communications/Editor Teralyn Iscrupe Associate Director of Marketing & Communications/ Contributing Writer Kelly Kaufman Communications Manager/Editor Don Henderson Assistant Creative Director/Designer Chuck Dinsmore Production Coordinator Sarah Jordan Rosenson Editorial Assistant Niki Kapsambelis Contributing Writer
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On the Cover Beginning in early 2008, Benedum Hall will be transformed into a green building with updated facilities that will allow for increased interdisciplinary research. Pictured here is the future home of the Mascaro Sustainability Initiative, which will connect the tower and the auditorium over the plaza at O’Hara Street.
Awards 2006 and 2007 IABC Golden Triangle Award of Excellence, Magazines: 4-Color Design 2005 Western Pennsylvania Printing Industry Award, Best of Category Have a comment or story idea for Pitt Engineer? Contact Sonia Gill at 412-624-2640, or send an e-mail to sgill@engr.pitt.edu. Visit our Web site at www.engr.pitt.edu. The University of Pittsburgh is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution. Published in cooperation with the Department of University Marketing Communications. UMC6635-0108
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F E AT U R E
Reaching for the Sky A Pitt Engineers Leading a World-Record Bridge Project in Northern California
sk any of the more than 300 Pitt engineering alumni who call the San Francisco Bay Area home just how vital bridges are to this region, and you’re likely to get the same response as if you asked a Pitt engineer in Pittsburgh. These vital links make so many aspects of daily life possible that we almost take them for granted—until something goes wrong.
That happened to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1989, when the Loma Prieta earthquake rocked the region and seriously damaged the east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. News images of a section of the top bridge deck collapsing onto the lower deck left many questioning just how safe were the area’s bridges. For this particular bridge, which was built in the 1930s, it was decided an entirely new structure was needed. Today, a Pittsburgh company, American Bridge, is leading the construction of what will become a world-record bridge, and six Pitt civil engineering alumni are helping to make it happen.
A Winning Bid Even before the bid process opened for this project, Robert Luffy (BSCE ’72), president and CEO of American Bridge, knew it was coming, as the design company T.Y. Lin International had discussed the project with American Bridge. The ambitious plan called for building a completely new east span, which connects the city of Oakland to Yerba Buena Island. The west span, which links the island to downtown San Francisco, underwent considerable retrofit work, which was completed in 2004, greatly improving its ability to withstand seismic stresses.
The most critical design aspect of the new east span had to be safety, as the bridge crosses two active seismic faults, the San Andreas and Hayward. To avoid a bridge deck collapse similar to the one caused by the 1989 quake, T.Y. Lin proposed a suspension bridge with both lanes of traffic on the same level. This would require a self-anchor suspension (SAS) design. Only four SAS bridges exist in the United States, and American Bridge built them all. This one, however, would be even more unique, as it would require both the tallest tower and the longest span in the world. “We are in business to go after unique projects,” Luffy explained, “and this was exactly the sort of project American Bridge looks forward to.” At $1.43 billion, the SAS contract represents one of the largest public works projects in the world.
Enter Pitt Engineers As president and CEO of American Bridge since 1993, Luffy knew this job in particular would require the best engineers he could find. Five of the key positions are now held by fellow Pitt engineering alumni, including the critical job of project manager. “This didn’t happen just because I’m a Pitt grad,” Luffy explained. “These guys were picked for these roles because they are the best at what they do. The fact that they’re all Pitt engineers is a coincidence, but it’s also a compliment to the caliber of graduates coming out of the school … especially the most recent ones.” Mike Flowers (MSCE ’78), the project manager, agreed. “Above all, I looked for people who had a lot of self-confidence and were driven by a desire to be part of a team to build one of the most complex bridges ever built,” he said. (See page 4 for a description of each Pitt engineer’s role in the project.)
Pitt engineering alumni (left to right) Adam Roebuck, Robert Luffy (standing), Nick Greco, Lou Wehar, Mike Flowers, and Bob Kick at the job site.
World-record Challenges Avoiding a repeat of the 1989 structural failure was key to the design process, which led to the single-tower design. Rather than the current double-deck design of the east span, the new design will be aligned as single-level parallel decks, resulting in a total of 10 lanes of traffic and a 15½-foot-wide pedestrian and bike path.
According to Flowers, for a project of this scale, the planning process is equally as important as the construction itself. “Just as many of the features of this bridge will be unprecedented, so too are many of the construction challenges.” The steel order for the tower, for example, is so enormous, it had to be filled by a steelmaker in Shanghai, China. More than 45,000 tons of steel will be needed for the project overall, with 18,000 needed for the tower alone. Some individual pieces will weigh more than 1,500 metric tons. Tower segments will be shipped into the bay upright, leaving roughly a 10-meter clearance when the ship passes beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. Unloading the shipments also will be an engineering marvel, said Flowers. “Needless to say, it will take a unique piece of marine equipment to handle these huge pieces. To do this, we are building a special barge measuring 400 by 100 by 22 feet onto which we will be mounting a shear-leg crane. The barge, which is being built in Oregon, will be equipped with a 100-meter-long boom capable of lifting up to 1,700 metric tons.” Once in place, the tower will stand 525 feet above sea level. The suspension cables will be 32 inches in diameter and will extend in length more than 4,600 feet. If all goes as planned, the project should be completed in the spring of 2013. Continued on the next page
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S pecial report
Another Legacy for American Bridge, and for Pitt As a former unit of U.S. Steel, American Bridge has a long history of bridgebuilding accomplishments in this country, and around the world. For Luffy, this legacy is something he doesn’t take lightly. “We are known around the world as a company that can get the job done, and I know many Pitt engineers who’ve worked for this company and helped to build this reputation,” he said. Seeing the next generation of Pitt grads work on projects like this one is rewarding to Luffy as both a Pitt alumnus and an industry leader. “By assigning these talented engineers to so many key positions in this project, I’d like to think I’m helping to advance both the legacy of this great company, and the reputation of the School of Engineering.” For more information about this project, including construction progress, please visit www.baybridgeinfo.org.
Pitt Engineers on the Job Robert Luffy (BSCE ’72): As president and CEO of American Bridge, Luffy oversees all aspects of the project, which is a joint venture between American Bridge and Fluor Corp. Luffy also is an active member of the School of Engineering’s Board of Visitors, was the recipient of the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1997, and created the Robert Luffy Endowed Fund in 2000 to benefit students in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Mike Flowers (MSCE ’78): As the project director and senior ranking manager on site, Flowers is responsible for leading the safe, on-time, and on-budget execution of the construction of the bridge. Nick Greco (BSCE ’00, MSCE ’02): As design engineer, Greco works with Bob Kick leading the effort behind the engineering means and methods to erect the 1,000-ton tower segments. Bob Kick (BSCET ’95, Pitt–Johnstown): Kick is one of the four area project managers responsible specifically for the construction of the tower. Kick has been extensively involved with the Chinese and Japanese fabricators involved in the project.
Transformation of Benedum Hall Ready to Begin
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fter more than a year of planning, construction is ready to begin on the comprehensive renovation and expansion of Benedum Hall. Once completed, this ambitious plan will give the School of Engineering world-class facilities for both teaching and research activities. The scale of this effort requires a plan that will follow two major phases.
Timeline for the Transformation Plan Phase One: 2008–10
Adam Roebuck (BSCE ’06): As the team’s most recent Pitt grad, Roebuck is a junior design engineer working on the erection of the orthotropic box girders and falsework required to support the boxes.
• Mascaro Sustainability Initiative (MSI) Building ground breaking, spring 2008.
Lou Wehar (BSCE ’88): As the assistant operations manager, Wehar supports the operations manager in the actual construction of the bridge. Wehar has been involved in the project from its inception, developing initial budgets and playing a key role in establishing a project labor agreement with five crafts, and is now heavily involved in the acquisition of the heavy marine equipment and fleet.
• Reconstruction of the auditorium interior begins, summer 2008. The current configuration of just one 500-seat open space will be changed through the construction of five smaller individual classrooms.
“We are in business to go after unique projects, and this was exactly the sort of project American Bridge looks forward to.” Robert Luffy
• A new mezzanine will be constructed in the sub-basement level, creating an entirely new floor. This mezzanine will be built in late 2008 and must be done to accommodate the next step in the plan. • By early 2009, construction will begin on the complete restructuring of the current basement level into a new Lower Plaza Level. The space will include 10 new classrooms, a new home for the Bevier Engineering Library, a café, offices for student organizations and clubs, and a 3,600-square-foot student computer lab. • Around mid-2009, the first floor will be transformed into the new administrative center for the school, housing the dean’s office, freshman programs, academic affairs, diversity, research, and development and alumni relations. • By early 2010, construction will begin to completely restructure the fourth and fifth floors. One will become a complex of research labs and offices dedicated to bioengineering research, and the other will be dedicated to nanoengineering.
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Phase Two: 2010–? • Floors 6–12, which house the school’s academic departments, will be renovated. • Detailed planning for Phase Two will begin in 2009. The Phase Two timeline will be dependent upon completion of the Phase One components, along with the fundraising success of the school’s Foundations for Greatness campaign.
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MSI Building Leads the Transformation Plan The most visible external feature of the overall plan will be the new building connecting the Benedum Hall tower to the auditorium building across the plaza. This entire structure will be dedicated to the Mascaro Sustainability Initiative (MSI). The existing second floor of the tower also will be completely restructured with new lab space for faculty who are conducting research in sustainability-related areas. The new building will include research and administrative space, and the option exists on the outside to utilize the roof of both the MSI Building and the auditorium for a green rooftop. This is presently being offered as a naming opportunity in the Foundations for Greatness campaign, as are the many labs and offices that will comprise the overall MSI complex. This new building, and the MSI program itself, would not be possible without the generosity of key donors. MSI was established in 2003 following initial commitments from alumnus John C. “Jack” Mascaro (BSCE ’66, MSCE ’80), the Heinz Endowments, and the estate of George Means Bevier (BS ’13). The new building is being made possible through a $5 million lead gift from Mascaro that was announced at a special event in September (see event photos on page 23).
MSI Accomplishments Although MSI has only been around since 2003, it has quickly established itself as a global leader in research and education on engineering approaches to critical issues in green construction and sustainable water use. Just a few of these highlights include the following:
Auditorium Reconstruction Creates New Classrooms The current auditorium will be divided into five smaller classrooms, with the largest being 234 seats and the rest containing between 50 and 100 seats. Reconfiguring this space accomplishes several needs, as it frees up classroom spaces in the upper floors of the tower that later will be transformed into research and administrative space during Phase Two. It also greatly benefits students, as classrooms will be smaller and more of them will be located near the ground level, thereby reducing elevator traffic, which has been a source of frustration for students (and faculty and staff) since Benedum Hall first opened in 1971.
The auditorium currently is a vast 500-seat space that rarely is used to its full capacity.
Library, Café, and More New Classrooms for a New Lower Plaza Level No longer a typical basement floor, the new Lower Plaza Level will provide, for the first time, a central complex for students to gather. Ten new classrooms will be built here, surrounding the new home for the Bevier Engineering Library. Also, a café and seating area will be here, along with offices for the many student organizations and clubs in the school. Just below this level, a new 3,600-square-foot computer lab will be available for students, along with a new second floor for the library.
• Received $3.2 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) grant, which allows graduate students to conduct research rotations in São Paulo, Brazil. • Created the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program that has received $300,000 in funding from NSF.
Illustration of the new Lower Plaza Level, at left, and the overall floor plan, above
• Developed a Sustainable Engineering Fellowship Program with a $506,000 Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) grant from the U.S. Department of Education. • Twice hosted Engineering Sustainability, an international sustainability conference that has attracted more than 200 attendees from 27 different countries.
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Ground Floor Becomes Plaza Level and the School’s New Front Door
Fourth and Fifth Floors Become New Research Complexes for Nanoengineering and Bioengineering
When Benedum Hall was designed in the 1960s, research facilities were segmented to keep faculty from the same department in the same area while also isolating them by separating their individual labs from other faculty with permanent brick walls. The image above is the original layout of the fourth floor, illustrating how all the interior labs were designed as small, isolated spaces. Since the dedication of Benedum Hall in 1971, the ground floor has been the home of the Bevier Engineering Library; student organization offices; and a student lounge, which recently was converted into a full-service café area. All these areas will be relocated to the new Lower Plaza Level, providing the opportunity to create a welcoming and impressive new reception and administration area to greet prospective students and their families, visiting corporate representatives, alumni, and potential new faculty and staff. The school’s administration offices currently are scattered over three separate floors. Relocating all these areas to the Plaza Level will result in much greater convenience for all students, faculty, and visitors to Benedum Hall.
The plan for both of these floors calls for open lab spaces to encourage greater interdisciplinary collaboration. The fields of nanoengineering and bioengineering are highly dependent upon this type of collaboration, which justifies the total restructuring of these floors to follow this new, open model of research laboratory space.
Administration Offices to be Located on the Plaza Level • Academic Affairs • Dean • Development and Alumni Relations • Diversity • Freshman Programs • Research In addition to administration offices, the Plaza Level will have numerous conference rooms, such as this one, available for meetings, classes, and special events.
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Phase Two: The Departments The second phase of the Transformation Plan will focus on the upper floors of Benedum Hall to include floors 6–12. These floors primarily are home to the school’s academic departments. Throughout Phase One, many areas on these floors will serve as temporary spaces for the offices and labs being displaced in the basement and on the second floor. As Phase One projects are completed and these temporary guests move to their new locations, the vacated spaces can be renovated. The most visible change to the upper floors will be the reduction in the number of classrooms. The restructuring of the auditorium and the creation of new classrooms in the Lower Plaza Level during Phase One will provide much greater flexibility to the departments to create customized research space, along with administrative areas for faculty offices, graduate students, and department conference rooms.
Past Homes of the School of Engineering Benedum Hall has served as the school’s home since it was dedicated in 1971, but it is just one of the buildings that has served engineering students since the first Pitt engineering degree was awarded in 1846.
State Hall Dedicated in 1910, State Hall was the first building constructed on the new Oakland campus. The University moved from downtown Pittsburgh to allow for growth and the creation of a traditional campus setting. State Hall was torn down to make way for the Chevron Science Center, which was dedicated in 1974 and houses the Department of Chemistry.
Thaw Hall Typical Tower Floor Plan
Thaw Hall also was dedicated in 1910, shortly after State Hall opened. It was recognized as the first true home of the School of Engineering, as State Hall also housed the School of Mines.
Engineering Hall Dedicated in 1957, Engineering Hall was connected to Thaw Hall and provided muchneeded space to accommodate the growing school. This was during a period in which Pittsburgh had established itself as a global leader in steel, glass, oil and gas, coal, and manufacturing and had a tremendous demand for engineers from all fields.
Sustaining the Tradition of Our Buildings These buildings are so important to the tradition and legacy of the School of Engineering, they were incorporated into another one of the school’s greatest traditions: the Distinguished Alumni Award. This award has been conferred since 1964 on those alumni whose career accomplishments, along with their record of service and support of the School of Engineering, have been truly exemplary. In 2004, an artist was commissioned to redesign the award, resulting in a bronze casting that depicts the three past buildings along with the school’s current home, Benedum Hall. At right, the 2006 recipient, Jim McGrath (BSChE ’71), is presented the award by Bob Enick, chair of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and Bayer Professor, and Gerald D. Holder, U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering.
No specific schedule or plans have been established for the second phase at this time; however, a general floor plan has been developed (above) that illustrates how the upper floors will have far more lab spaces while still retaining some space for classrooms. As Phase One construction gets under way, plans for Phase Two will follow but will be dependent on the Phase One projects being completed on schedule. The current fundraising effort for the Transformation Plan also will determine just how quickly the School of Engineering will be able to move ahead with the plans for the upper floors.
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AROUND THE SCHOOL
Faculty Headlines AWARDS Steven Abramowitch (BioE) has received the Achilles Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Research Award from the International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery & Orthopaedic Sports Medicine. Kevin Chen (ECE) was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. Rory Cooper (BioE) has received the 2007 da Vinci Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Peyman Givi (MEMS) was named 2007 Engineer of the Year by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Goetz Veser (ChE) received the R.A. Glenn Award from the Division of Fuel Chemistry of the American Chemical Society. Savio Woo (BioE, MEMS, and Musculoskeletal Research Center) has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bay Area Knee Society.
Department Code Bioengineering (BioE) Chemical & Petroleum Engineering (ChE) Civil & Enviromental Engineering (CEE)
Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) Industrial Engineering (IE) Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science (MEMS)
Visit us online at www.engr.pitt.edu/news/publications to view the detailed list of faculty accomplishments in the Web component of Around the School.
GRANTS RECEIVED
NEWS BRIEFS New Addition
Rakie Cham (BioE) received funding for her National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health RO1 grant application, “Biomechanics of Slips in Older Adults.” Sung Kwon Cho (MEMS) received an NSF grant for the development of an integrated microsystem for ultrasensitive airborne pathogen detection in real time. Xinyan Tracy Cui (BioE) received funding from NSF to work on a project titled Electrically Controlled Neurochemical Delivery System. Di Gao (ChE) received an NSF grant for “Design and Development of Super Water- and Oil-Repellent Surfaces by Topographic Manipulation.” Alex Jones (ECE) has received an NSF grant to investigate the use of circuit switching as an efficient alternative to packet and wormhole switching for achieving high-bandwidth, low-latency communication
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has created the Center for Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure, the goal of which is to advance the state of transportation infrastructure through collaborative, multidisciplinary research and education and the dissemination of new technologies and knowledge.
Going Abroad Assistant Professor Rakie Cham (BioE) was featured in an NBC Nightly News story about disabling injuries among the elderly related to slips and falls. Visit www.engr.pitt.edu/news/media to watch a video clip of the story.
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(IE) have received an NSF grant for supply-chain design through the Industry/ University Cooperative Research Centers and TIE research program on e-design. Needy and Robert Ries (CEE) have received a grant from the Construction Industry Institute to study quality management in the capital facilities delivery industry. Jun Yang (ECE) has received an NSF research grant in conjunction with Youtao Zhang of the Department of Computer Science in the School of Arts and Sciences to research achieving energy-efficient code dissemination. Piervincenzo Rizzo (CEE) has been awarded the 2007 American Society for Nondestructive Testing Faculty Grant Award.
in high-performance parallel systems. Xu Liang (CEE) has been awarded an NSF grant for her collaborative/parallel research on sensor and wireless sensor networks for environmental monitoring. Patrick Loughlin (ECE) and Mark Redfern (BioE) were awarded funding by the National Institute on Aging for a project titled Modeling Sensory Integration and Attention in Postural Control of Older Adults; coinvestigators are J.M. Furman, J.R. Jennings, and P.J. Sparto. Lisa Maillart (IE) has been awarded an NSF grant to work on a project titled Optimal Management of Expedited Placement Livers. Zhi-Hong Mao (ECE) was awarded a grant from NSF for his project, titled Dimensionality Reduction in the Control of the Human Hand. Kim LaScola Needy (IE), Bryan A. Norman (IE), and Brady Hunsaker
Steven Levitan (ECE) has been appointed an Oliver Smithies Lecturer and a visiting fellow of Balliol College at the University of Oxford in England.
News Maker The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering was front and center in its response to the August 1, 2007, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minn. Kent Harries, (above left) assistant professor and William Kepler Whiteford Faculty Fellow, was widely sought out by the media in response to this tragedy and the broader infrastructure crisis facing the nation. His expertise drew the attention of the Associated Press and Reuters, and his interviews were picked up from Wales to New Zealand. Harries conducted interviews for newspapers across the United States and Canada and even for the Tokyo Shimbun. He appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered and KDKA-TV’s Sunday Report with Al Biehler (BSCE ’67), the Pennsylvania secretary of transportation. The U.S. Senate homeland security committee later consulted Harries on the issue of deteriorating infrastructure.
Making the Grade Two School of Engineering graduate programs were ranked nationally among the top 15 public universities in the 2008 U.S. News & World Report graduate program rankings. The Department of Bioengineering was ranked sixth among public universities for the second year in a row, and the Department of Industrial Engineering was ranked 12th, up from 14th last year. Among public engineering schools with undergraduate enrollments of 2,500 or less, the Pitt School of Engineering ranked third.
Innovator Powercast Corp., a spin-off company licensing technology created by Marlin Mickle (ECE), Nickolas A. DeCecco Professor and executive director of the Pitt RFID Center of Excellence, won Best in Show for Emerging Technology at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show, the largest electronics show in the world. Powercast was chosen from an estimated field of more than 20,000 new products from around the world.
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School of Engineering Unites with Industry to Spearhead $1.25 Million Power and Energy Initiative
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s recently as two decades ago, changes in industry trends required the electric power, nuclear energy, and coal mining industries to downsize and cut back on investing in research and development.
Engineering Faculty Lead $2 Million Grant to Study Modeling and Engineering Problem Solving
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he following situation is presented to a class of engineering students: “The increasing number of fatal accidents along a heavily traveled road are due to crashes into trees. If some of the trees are removed, human lives could be saved. Would you remove the trees?”
needs of these industries, both in the way of workforce development and R and D. We can do this by educating future engineers and by seeding student and faculty research projects.”
project called Improving Engineering Students’ Learning Strategies through Models and Modeling, made possible by a $2 million multi-institutional grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education.
Lovell cites Westinghouse’s need to hire between 1,000 and 2,000 nuclear engineers within the next few years and Pitt’s response to that need, which was to develop a nuclear engineering curriculum. “They’ve expressed the need and we want to help fill it, to help revitalize the region and contribute to exciting research,” he says. (See page 18 for related news about Westinghouse.)
Lovell
Today, driven by a surge in global demand for electricity, there is a need to revitalize these industries, and quickly. Thanks to $1.25 million in grants from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Heinz Endowments, and industry partners, the School of Engineering will play a leading role in this revitalization through a new initiative. Called the Power and Energy Initiative, it will involve collaboration between the School of Engineering and industry leaders such as Westinghouse Electric Co. (nuclear energy), CONSOL
Energy Inc. (coal and gas), and KEMA and Allegheny Power (electric power), with the common goal being to bolster the workforce and restore existing gaps in research and development. Toward that end, the school has developed new courses and certificate programs in nuclear engineering, mining engineering, and electric power engineering and, together with its industry partners, has initiated several cutting-edge research projects. Says Mike Lovell, associate dean for research, “Our goal is to help fill the
The Pittsburgh region is home to a number of leading power industry companies that employ some of the foremost technical experts in nuclear, mining, and electric power engineering. By hiring industry professionals to teach its courses, the school is able to tap into these great resources—like Gregory Reed (PhD ’97), senior vice president of power system planning and management for KEMA, who teaches the introductory power systems course as an adjunct faculty member. These industry experts bring a valuable real-world perspective to the students’ education and serve as a natural bridge between the school and industry. “Pitt is a leader in education, a pioneer in research, and a partner in our region’s economic development,” says Don Shields, director of corporate relations for the School of Engineering, “and we’ve hit on all three of these with the Power and Energy Initiative.”
The Heinz Endowments
Shuman and Besterfield-Sacre are leading the project in collaboration with their colleagues at California Polytechnic State University, Colorado School of Mines, Purdue University, the University of Minnesota, and the U.S. Air Force Academy. They will incorporate learning scenarios known as model eliciting activities (MEAs) into existing engineering courses, initially in industrial engineering and later throughout the school’s curriculum.
Shuman
School of Engineering faculty members Larry Shuman, professor of industrial engineering and senior associate dean for academic affairs, and Mary BesterfieldSacre, associate professor of industrial engineering and Fulton C. Noss Faculty Fellow, complicate the situation further by noting that the trees are redwoods, an endangered and protected species. In doing so, they hope not only to give their students a realistic team-learning experience but also to better identify how ethics play a role in creative problem solving.
“One of our aims is to understand how student teams identify and resolve engineering problems,” Shuman says. “Engineering ethical dilemmas are just one type of problem that engineers will face in their work. Can we understand enough to
model this type of problem-solving process so that we can then improve learning?” Adds Besterfield-Sacre, “If we can empirically model the process by which students go about solving various engineering problems and successfully link their process to their solution, we can start to determine areas of the problem-solving process that are more critical or need more attention in our teaching of engineering.” A methodology initially developed for use in K–12 mathematics, MEAs help account for the wide variability inherent in engineering problems as well as provide a common framework for each problem, regardless of its engineering content knowledge and/or the nature of the problem. All of the engineering problems presented to the students—content related or otherwise—have real-world impact, such as “Is ethanol a viable fuel solution?” and “If you were an engineer in the auto industry, how would you address the problem of deadly rollovers of sport utility vehicles?”
“Sometimes engineers have to make decisions without having all the information,” Shuman says. “We want to prepare them for that as well as identify clues about decision making under uncertainty.” Pitt engineering faculty, alongside their colleagues from five other institutions, are studying both the solution and the process by which students arrive at the solution as part of a four-year research Besterfield-Sacre
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S tudent N ews
Mechanical Engineering Major Named Goldwater Scholar
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enjamin Gordon, a senior mechanical engineering major and University Honors College student, was awarded a 2007 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for his exceptional independent research in the engineering discipline.
“To win a Goldwater Scholarship is the highest national honor for an undergraduate studying science or engineering,” said G. Alec Stewart, University Honors College dean and Pitt’s Goldwater faculty representative. Gordon is the second School of Engineering student to be named a Goldwater scholar in the past three years. 2007 Rhodes Scholar Daniel Armanios (BSME ’07) also was a 2004 Goldwater scholar. Pitt undergrads have won a total of 37 Goldwater Scholarships, 29 since 1995.
Having grown up in a Chicago community plagued by poverty and crime, Gordon, who at age 15 was forced to become financially independent when his mother died, said it was a struggle not to become a statistic. His mother had stressed that a proper education was one of the keys to changing the conditions of a community. She taught Gordon about such famous African American scientists as Benjamin Banneker, whose life story and scientific work have been an inspiration to Gordon. Gordon has worked in the Vibration and Control Laboratory under the guidance of William “Buddy” Clark, professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science (MEMS). Under the direction of Jeffrey Vipperman, associate professor in the Departments of MEMS and Bioengineering, Gordon now works in the Sound, Systems, and Structures Laboratory researching thermoacoustics, the conversion of sound energy into heat energy and vice versa, with particular interest in improving the efficiency and performance of a prototype model for a thermoacoustical refrigerator. Gordon plans to earn a PhD in mechanical engineering and become an engineering professor, teaching and conducting research in smart structures applications.
Nick Andes, a mechanical engineering student, was the 2007 Homecoming King. Congratulations, Nick!
Bryan Norman, associate professor of industrial engineering, is leading his senior design students through real-world, hands-on projects that impact the Pitt community. The class is assisting the Mt. Lebanon Extended Day Program (MLEDP), an organization that provides beforeand after-school care for children. Operations and facility organization at MLEDP have a high degree of variability, presenting opportunities to improve training, communication, ordering, resource management, and administrative support. Using 5-S and adapted supply-chain techniques, the senior design team is creating a more streamlined, visual workplace as well as standardized procedures to help MLEDP improve the quality and efficiency of its operations for its administrative office and nine child care centers. An industrial engineering senior design team also is helping Goodwill Industries, which wants to increase the amount of donations processed in its stores. The students will help Goodwill meet this objective by redesigning store layouts, determining best methods, and creating standard times for backroom operations that will be implemented in two pilot stores. An implementation guide will be developed for Goodwill to use at the rest of its stores in the Pittsburgh area.
Burhan Sandikci, an industrial engineering PhD student, received the Bonder Scholarship for Applied Operations Research in Health Services from INFORMS (the Institute for Operations Research and Information Science). Sandikci is the second industrial engineering student at Pitt to win the Bonder Scholarship in the past three years. His advisors are Andrew Schaefer, associate professor, and Lisa Maillart, assistant professor. Rob Koppenhaver, an industrial engineering PhD student, was designated a predoctoral fellow in clinical and translational research by the Clinical and Translational Science Institute and the Institute for Clinical Research Education. Koppenhaver’s advisor is Andrew Schaefer. Luis E. Vallejo, professor of civil and environmental engineering, spent summer 2007 as a faculty member with the Semester at Sea Program, in which participants visited countries on the western coasts of Central and South America. Vallejo taught courses on the engineering wonders of the Aztec, Maya, and Inca cultures as well as on natural disasters in Latin America. Pictured at right is Vallejo with civil engineering students Kerri Gatti and Peter Daloni.
Gatti, Vallejo, and Daloni
Freshman Micah Toll was inducted into the National Gallery for America’s Young Inventors for his project, Rebuilding Lives in Post-catastrophic Disaster and War-torn Areas—A New Technology for Portable Constructional Elements and Their Production and Use as a Comprehensive Solution System to Improve Disaster Response, Relief, and Recovery Efforts. Toll’s project—which also took second place in the 2006 Intel Science and Engineering Fair and was a national semifinalist in the 2007 International Science and Engineering Fair— developed a process that uses corrugated plastic sheets to make forms that can be filled with expanding polyurethane foam to create strong and rigid construction members. These can be used to construct nearly any type of structure without power tools and can be transported to remote locations. He also has a patent pending.
Charles J. Turner, an electrical and computer engineering sophomore, presented a paper he coauthored with his father, Stephen D. Turner, at ASMAT-The Radio Amateur Satellite Corp.’s 2007 ASMAT-NA Space Symposium held in Pittsburgh in October.
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A L U M N I N otes
Steve Tritch (BSME ’71), CEO of Westinghouse Electric Co. and University of Pittsburgh trustee, signed a historic agreement on July 24, 2007, for a multibillion dollar deal to build four nuclear reactors in eastern China. Here, Tritch closes the deal with a handshake from Wang Binghua, chair of the State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. of China, during a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
The Pitt Civil Engineering Alumni Club recently toured the site of the Port Authority of Allegheny County’s North Shore Connector Project, an underground and underwater tunnel that will extend the city’s Light Rail Transit System from downtown Pittsburgh under the Allegheny River to the North Shore. If you are interested in joining the alumni club, please contact Mark Pavlick at mark.pavlick@hdrinc.com, or visit its Web site at www.engr.pitt.edu/civil/alumni.html.
(Photo: Reuters)
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Robert F. Savinell (MSChE ’74, PhD ’77) represented the University of Pittsburgh earlier this summer during the induction ceremony of the new president of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Savinell is a faculty member there and immediate past dean of the Case School of Engineering.
Annunciata Marino (MSER ’83), a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission staff member since 1993, was named cochair of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Staff Subcommittee on Energy Resources and the Environment. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Engineers Society of Pennsylvania.
William Bryan (BSME ’70, MSME ’72, MSIE ’85) received the 2007 Engineer of the Year award from the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers. Bryan currently is a corporate quality manager for ANSYS, Inc., where he has worked for 15 years. Bryan
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Yan Wang (MSIE ’99, PhD ’03) has won a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. Wang, currently a faculty member at the University of Central Florida (UCF), is the third Pitt industrial engineering doctoral graduate and the first UCF industrial engineering faculty member to win this award.
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Wanda M. Austin (MSCE ’77) has been appointed president and CEO of the Aerospace Corp., effective January 1, 2008. Austin, who formerly was senior vice president of the Aerospace Corp.’s National Systems Group, has been with the company since 1979 and has served in positions of increasing responsibility, including as general manager of the Military Satellite Communications Group and division and senior vice president of the Engineering and Technology Group. Among her many achievements are serving as a member of the NASA
Doug Condon (BSME ’85), of Pleasanton, Calif., returned to campus in the fall to be a guest speaker at the Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Seminar. Condon, who is president of Three Rivers Energy, Inc., focused his presentation on the increasing role of financial engineering in the U.S. energy markets. In appreciation for Condon’s time and effort, Bopaya Bidanda, chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Ernest E. Roth Professor, shared a small gift of thanks.
Advisory Council and a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and, most recently, being inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame. Austin was the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient for the Pitt Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and she is a member of the school’s Board of Visitors. James Stana (BSME ’73) was named affordability manager of Lockheed Martin in Orlando, Fla. He also is in training to become a Lockheed Martin Corporate Master Black Belt for Lean Six Sigma.
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Bopaya Bidanda (right) presents Doug Condon with a gift of thanks during his visit to campus.
Friends we will miss ... Henry Andrejasik (BSMEE ’49, MSMET ’53) died on November 17, 2007. A faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science for 53 years, he also was a World War II veteran, having served in the U.S. Navy on the USS Wisconsin as a radar instructor. Keith Timlin (BSME ’40) of Pasadena, Calif., died July 25, 2007. Timlin served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, he took a job with Parsons Corp., where he remained for the rest of his career. Timlin also was a member of Pitt’s 1787 Society, as he named the School of Engineering a beneficiary of a trust he had established earlier. Cheryl Pacy Colbert (BSEE ’82) lost her battle with cancer on April 1, 2007. She was 47. Born and raised in Monessen, Pa., Colbert graduated at the top of her high school class and earned an electrical engineering degree with honors at the University of Pittsburgh. She started her career as an engineer at Lockheed Martin in Akron, Ohio, where for 16 years she developed advanced training systems technology products for U.S. Air Force fighter pilots and special operations forces. She had been with Diebold Inc. in Green, Ohio, since 1998 and most recently was senior service operations manager for electronic security products in North America. Selwyn Berson (BSME ’49, MSME ’54) of Avon, Conn., died April 1, 2007. Berson spent his entire career with United Technologies Corp., rising to become president in the Pratt and Whitney commercial aircraft engine division. He was honored with a 1989 Pitt School of Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award and was a member of the school’s Board of Visitors. He also established two endowed scholarships and provided funding for the renovation of a student mechatronics laboratory in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. Yu Sun Tang died March 31, 2007, at the age of 84. Formerly of Bethel Park, Pa., Tang retired in 1984 from Westinghouse Electric Co., where he had specialized in heat transfer for nuclear reactors. He later became a part-time professor in chemical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, where he served until his retirement in 1990.
Andy Benedict (BSME ’71) of Detroit, Mich., pictured here on the far left, hosted Associate Professor Will Slaughter and a group of mechanical engineering students this summer at an NHRA drag racing competition in Columbus, Ohio.
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The New Jersey Pitt Club honored the memory of Vincent Girardy (BSCE ’61) this summer by making the club’s annual scholarship award in his name. Girardy, who died on December 18, 2006, was an active member of the New Jersey club. Pictured here (from left to right) are Girardy’s son, Jim; his wife, Estelle; Mary Hirsch; scholarship recipient Jennifer Hirsch; and Larry Hirsch. Seated in the photo is Bob Freschi, New Jersey Pitt Club scholarship chair. Jennifer Hirsch, a graduate of Ramapo High School in Wyckoff, N.J., is a freshman in the School of Arts and Sciences at Pitt. She received a $2,000 scholarship from the club.
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Homecoming 2007 U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering Gerald D. Holder provided an update about the school, including information about the transformation of Benedum Hall.
N Among the family-oriented activities were balloon sculptures and airbrushed skin art.
early 300 guests— twice as many as last year—attended the annual homecoming gala on October 19. For the second year in a row, the event was held in a clear tent on the patio of Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall. This location enabled a perfect view of the spectacular fireworks display from the Cathedral of Learning later in the evening. Kids of all ages were entertained by balloon and airbrush artists as well as the Pitt Panther and cheerleaders.
Campaign Celebration
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ore than 100 of the school’s most supportive alumni and friends attended a special event on September 28 to celebrate reaching— and surpassing—the Campaign for Engineering’s $100 million goal. Guests were treated to an update from Dean Holder on the impact of the campaign, a private screening of the video Transforming Benedum Hall, and the surprise announcement of a $5 million lead gift from John C. “Jack” Mascaro (BSCE ’66, MSCE ’80) toward the construction of the new MSI Building. After dinner, guests “earned” their dessert while visiting some of the school’s newly renovated laboratories and classrooms. Themed desserts were served to match each space, including “nanoscale sugar wafers” at the Petersen Institute of NanoScience and Engineering and “rapid prototype truffles” and “reverse-engineered cream puffs” at the John A. Swanson Institute for Technical Excellence.
(above) Guests were escorted down the red carpet across Benedum Plaza to an elegant dinner under the tent. (right) Guests learned details about the transformation of Benedum Hall from Dean Holder and Gary Carlough, project architect from edge Studio.
Reunion Class of 1957
Reunion Class of 1967
Dean Holder announced a $5 million lead gift from Jack Mascaro (BSCE ’66, MSCE ’80), center, toward the construction of the new MSI Building.
The Pitt Panther visited homecoming again this year!
A special reunion of civil engineers from the Class of 1972 Margaret and Andy (BSME ’71) Benedict traveled from Michigan to enjoy Homecoming 2007.
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Tour stops around Benedum Hall included the Petersen Institute of NanoScience and Engineering (top), the Swanson Institute for Technical Excellence (above), the Frank Mosier Learning Center in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, and the RFID Center of Excellence.
Bill Mallin (BSIE ’55) learns more about the campaign’s impact.
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Seventh Annual Alumni Golf Outing
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lumni, friends, and corporate partners attended the seventh annual Alumni Golf Outing, held July 23, 2007, at Shannopin Country Club. More photos of the event’s 125 attendees are available online at www.engr.pitt.edu/alumni/photogallery.
Brooke Coley
A special thank-you to our sponsors … Gift Sponsor Graciano Corp.
Student Golfer Sponsor Henry Bartony Sr. (BSMIN ’48)
Blue and Gold Sponsors American Bridge BRIDGES Dick Corp. Ellwood Quality Steels Co. Lennon, Smith, Souleret Engineering, Inc. Michael Baker Corp. URS Corp. Westinghouse Electric Co.
… and to our prize donors. The Book Center Bravo! Cucina Italiana Bruegger’s Crowne Plaza Hotel Golf Galaxy Ibiza Improv Mr. Ernie Varhola (BSEE ’59) Olive Garden Panera Bread Pittsburgh Airport Marriott Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Pittsburgh Steak Co. Quaker Steak & Lube Rock Bottom School of Engineering Southwest Airlines
Beverage Station Sponsors 84 Lumber Co. American Bridge The IPR Group of Companies Driving Range Sponsor American Bridge Putting Green Sponsor Controls Link, Inc.
Bioengineering PhD candidate, Class of 2008
BS, Mechanical Engineering, 1978 Chicago, Ill.
Pitt Engineering Alumni at Westinghouse Electric Co.
Hole Sponsors Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. Grogan Graffam, P.C. PEx Class of 1949 Beat the Pro Sponsor Zenergy Consulting Inc.
Monroeville, Pa.
Mark Your Calendar . . . The eighth annual Alumni Golf Outing will be held Monday, May 12, 2008, at the Club at Nevillewood, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course.
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Nik Rokop
Andrew Wuertele BS, Industrial Engineering, 1997 New York, N.Y.
Foundations for Greatness The Campaign for Engineering www.engr.pitt.edu/campaign
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Visit www.engr.pitt.edu for this exciting news. Transforming Benedum Hall Watch this eight-minute video detailing the entire Transformation Plan.
2007 Annual Report Read about all the remarkable accomplishments at the School of Engineering last year in the annual report.
Subscribe to our e-newsletters online at www.engr.pitt.edu/news/signup.php.
School of Engineering 240 Benedum Hall 3700 O’Hara Street Pittsburgh, PA 15261-3240 www.engr.pitt.edu