Ingenuity Magazine 2011

Russ College of Engineering and Technology Stocker Center 1 Ohio University Athens OH 45701.2979

2011

The Annual Magazine of the Russ College of Engineering and Technology

New program boosts freshman math scores

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS From the Dean’s Desk

Student Achievements

Research Feature: Junior Faculty Research 10 Selected External Research

Awards

Giving to the Russ College

Faculty and Staff Awards

Alumni Profiles: On the Right Track

Faculty and Staff Recent Accomplishments

Student Life: Adventures Abroad

Academic Feature: Freshman Math Adds Up

From the Board

New Hires and Retirees

Research Spotlight

President’s Perspective

Not Your Typical Hacker: The Russ Prize 2011

Class Notes

Cooperative Education Report

1.

FROM THE DEAN’S DESK

FROM THE DEAN’S DESK And you may recall the STEAM project: A three-year, $1.67 million National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded effort. Our graduate students worked with area middle school teachers over that period to develop virtual science courses.

STEAM was one of just 15 teams in the nation invited to represent the NSF in the first U.S. National Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C., held last fall on the National Mall.

Mark Dawson

Each time we send Ingenuity off to our campus design team, we’re reflecting on our past academic year while preparing to begin a new one. In 2012, we’ll celebrate our second anniversary of opening the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations and Charles R. and Marilyn Y. Stuckey Academic & Research Center—a building so successfully collaborative that we can’t keep its moveable furniture in one spot before another student group sets up camp to study, holds a student org meeting, or huddles on their senior design project.

The moving tables and chairs, long hours, and midnight brainpower result in some exciting accomplishments that these pages unfold—accomplishments like that of Joe Morris, a grad student who got his pick of multiple nationally competitive fellowships he was awarded.

Or, the mechanical engineering senior design team that won $20,000 in prize monies for their valve assembly design in a national competition that supports solutions for workers with disabilities. There was also the team of young women aviators—Erin Derosa B.S. ’11, Rachael Johnson, B.S. ’11, Brooke Furz, Kelley McCoy, and Catherine Meyer, who attended the Women in Aviation International Conference in Reno, Nevada, after their own successful fundraising campaign.

Preparing to create polyurethane from castor oil, chemical and biomolecular engineering Ph.D. candidate Amber Tupper sets up a heating apparatus with the guidance of Dr. Sunggyu “K.B.” Lee, Russ-Ohio Research Scholar in Coal-Syngas Utilization.

2.

Jonathan Maple

Dean Dennis Irwin

Master’s student Nathan Andre, B.S.C.S. ’10, (R), coaches exhibit visitors about propagation of energy through a medium in the form of a wave via the STEAM-developed game WaveHero. Modeled after the popular Guitar Hero game, it teaches users about key concepts such as transverse and compression waves, wavelength determination velocity, frequency, mediums, resonance, and particle properties.

While the growth of our students inspires us, we’re also energized by the potential of our faculty. Our new Russ-Ohio Research Scholar in Coal-Syngas Utilization, Dr. Sunggyu “K.B.” Lee, has settled into his new 16,000 square-footlab nicely—after a whopping seven semi trucks delivered his equipment! But Dr. Lee didn’t just bring his groundbreaking alternative fuels technologies with him. He also brought eight graduate students to work in the lab, four of whom will become our alumni. His Sustainable Energy and Advanced Materials Laboratory is one of the finest labs in the nation specializing in process and product research and development in alternative fuels, functional materials, and high-pressure technology—particularly products that can be made using sequestered CO2.

I’m also proud to highlight several junior faculty members. On pages 8-9, you can read about assistant professors who, early in their careers, have already received noteworthy grants from major federal organizations.

As we look back on the past year, we also celebrate the accomplishments of our alumni, such as Retired Brigadier General and Russ College Board of Visitors member James Abraham, B.S.E.E. ’43, B.S.I.E. ’48. Jim was recognized in August by the City of Gahanna, which dedicated its city hall in his honor. You can read more in Class Notes—and be sure to see in that section how to send us your news so we can include you next time.

Finally, a biennial event that we are most grateful to share, one that grew from the hearts of our beloved friends Fritz, B.S.E.E. ’42, H.O.N. ’75, and Dolores Russ: the Russ Prize.

In February, the sixth Russ Prize was bestowed on visionary cross-disciplinary scientist Leroy Hood, one of the pioneers of the Human Genome Project (see page 18). We’re honored to be the home of the world’s top prize in bioengineering—and we’ll be honored to welcome Dr. Hood to Ohio University in February for a visit during Engineers’ Week 2012.

It will be one of many events to look forward to hearing about in our next issue.

Alia Kasey

In a collaborative effort among three of our programs, other faculty shared their expertise with colleagues at Iraq’s Al-Anbar University by assessing its programs with a focus on the ABET accreditation process. Department Chair and Neil D. Thomas Professor Gayle Mitchell, Russ Professor Shad Sargand, Associate Professors Eric Steinberg and Ben Stuart, and Research Engineer Andrew Russ of Civil Engineering; Mechanical Engineering Chair Greg Kremer; and Associate Professor Costas Vassiliadis of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science collaborated with five visiting colleagues from Iraq.

Brian Hoyt

Professors from abroad on their first day of the Al-Anbar project (from L to R, all of Al-Anbar University unless otherwise noted): Abdulqader Ismail Abdulwahab, dams and water engineering; Adil Nuhair Abed, dean; Bashar Al-Tarawneh, University of Jordan (Amman, Iraq), civil engineering; Talal Hussein Fadhil, civil engineering; Obaid Talaq, deputy dean.

WRITE TO US!

James Abraham, B.S.E.E. ’43, B.S.I.E. ’48, is congratulated on his City of Gahanna honor by a fellow soldier.

We welcome letters from readers. We reserve the right to edit for space, collegiality, and grammar. Please include your contact information. E-mail to ingenuity@ohio.edu, or mail to Ingenuity magazine, Russ College of Engineering and Technology, Ohio University, Stocker Center 177, Athens, Ohio, 45701.

3.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS A team of five senior mechanical engineering students won first place in the national 2011 Ability One Network Design Challenge. The second Ohio University team in three years to come in first, “Frapptastic Five” took home a prize of $10,000 to split and another $10,000 for their department, for their design to improve assembly of valves for McDonald’s frappe dispensers.

Kyle Royer, Broc Pittenger, Logan Dobrovich, David Few, and Michael Koh, all of whom received their bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering in June, worked with Parkersburg, West Virgina, company SW Resources, which employs disabled workers. Work is now safer and easier for the disabled employees, and productivity has improved more than 100 percent.

The Flying Bobcats flight team was named National Champions for Safety at the National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference (SAFECON) in May. At the regional competition in October, junior Travis Fisher and freshman Grant Rhue placed first in the “message drop,” in which they had to manually drop two message containers from 200 feet in the air. Fisher also came in second place in the “short field approach and landing,” in which students had to land on a short approach and touchdown on the runway in a 200-foot zone, similar to landing on an aircraft carrier.

Grace Sallar, a civil engineering major, received a $1,000 award as part of a case study competition at the 2010 Undergraduate Leadership and Creativity Symposium, a three-day intensive workshop held in November at Ohio State on leadership, creativity, product innovation, entrepreneurial thinking, and persuasive communication.

Electrical engineering master’s degree candidate Joe Morris, B.S.E.E. ’11, was offered four of five fellowships he applied for, receiving an honorable mention for the fifth. He accepted the Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation Fellowship with the Department of Defense. Once he completes graduate studies in June 2012, Morris will begin a full-time position at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that he already has been guaranteed as part of the fellowship.

Chemical and biomolecular engineering doctoral student Dake Xu won second place for the best student poster in applied corrosion technology during the 2011 National Association of Corrosion Engineers Conference in Houston for the poster “Mitigation of souring and MIC due to SRB in the presence of sand using a triple biocide cocktail consisting of glutaraldehyde, EDDS (a biodegradable chelator), and methanol.” Xu received the Harvey Herro Prize, including a plaque and $1,000, as part of the honor.

Civil engineering master’s student Stephen Busam, M.S.C.E. ’11, was selected Outstanding Student of the Year and awarded a $1,000 prize by the Ohio Transportation Consortium.

4.

A team of chemical and biomolecular engineering students won the Inherent Safety in Design Award at the 2010 National Chem-E-Car Competition hosted by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in Salt Lake City, Utah. Abbey Hackenberg, Philip Palumbo, Marcie Howard, Ryan Lang, and Keeley Schneider, who organized the 2010 North Central Regional ChemE-Car Conference, hosted by Ohio University earlier in fall 2010, also were invited to present at the conference on what made their regional conference so successful.

All the students received their bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering in June.

A team of civil engineering students participated in the spring 2011 Ohio Contractors Association’s Estimating Competition. Each team was given a set of plans for a road construction project, including labor and equipment rates, and then was required to complete an entire bid package within several hours and present it to a panel of judges.

Steven Slover, B.S.I.S.E. ’11, a senior industrial and systems engineering major, won best technical paper at the 2011 Regional Institute of Industrial Engineers Conference, which Ohio University hosted in February.

Two teams of chemical and biomolecular engineering students attended the 21st International Environmental Design Contest at the Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The design contest challenged students to solve technical problems ranging from CO2 emissions to disinfecting rural water sources.

Electrical engineering seniors Matt Miltner, Derek Fulk, and Samantha Craig placed first in the Institute of Navigation’s first robotic snowplow competition held in January in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The team received a $2,500 check for its first-place finish as well as $500 for the presentation, along with a “Golden Shovel” plaque.

A group of undergraduate, graduate, and faculty women from the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science participated in the Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing at the Mohican Lodge and Conference Center, in Perrysville, Ohio, in February. One hundred and seventy-five women computer scientists gathered to explore career opportunities, share research and professional accomplishments, and network.

5.

STUDENT LIFE

ADVENTURES ABROAD

By Amy Goodnite

Industrial and engineering systems student finds herself a world away Recipient of a U.S. State Department Critical Language Scholarship, industrial and systems engineering junior Amy Goodnite spent the summer in Japan as part of an initiative to encourage students to learn a less-commonly-taught language that is important to American interests. She spent four hours in class each day, complemented by cultural activities and her home stay with a Japanese family. Goodnite, whose father served in the Air Force, hopes to become a military officer or government contractor at an overseas base.

When I first started studying Japanese as a freshman, I wanted to learn more about a language and culture I had little knowledge of.

I never dreamed it would take me halfway around the world or affect my career choices.

I’ve always enjoyed mathematics and science, but I was just as interested in foreign languages, culture, and history. Industrial and systems engineering is a field where I can combine all of my interests and use all of my strengths.

People might ask what engineering has to do with culture and history, or how knowing Japanese could be useful. For me, the connection is strong. Economies of various countries around the globe become more and more intertwined. Products that are designed and sold in the U.S. are produced elsewhere, and our products are exported.

If we, as engineers, don’t take the initiative to study other cultures, how can we know what they consider important in terms of products and services? If we don’t understand how factories are set up or why work is divided a certain way, confusion could affect product quality or schedules.

In short, if we don’t understand where our foreign customers and employees come from, how can we hope to remain competitive?

For two months in Kyoto this summer, I studied Japanese in intensive language classes, explored cities, and

6.

Industrial and systems engineering senior Goodnite at Ginkakuji, the Temple of the Silver Pavilion, in Kyoto, Japan.

experienced daily life firsthand through my home stay. I made lifelong friends.

I also got an up-close look at the organization of Japan’s transportation systems when I took the Shinkansen, or bullet train, to and from Kyushu.

The 375-mile trip took three hours instead of the six that it would have taken by car. And because my host family lived an hour outside of Kyoto, I had to take a train and two different subway lines to school. I thought I’d be late because of delays, but that was not the case at all. If I was the one who was late, the next train was never far behind.

As a systems engineering student, I was duly impressed by the efficiency.

I hope to pursue a career in logistics with the U.S. military overseas. As part of my experience, I met the Japanese ambassador to America and learned about why some of our largest bases are in Japan.

I also was able to travel to Hiroshima, where I toured the peace memorial and museum—and heard directly from a survivor in her native language what it was like the day the atomic bomb fell.

Her story impressed upon me the responsibility that I, like all engineers, have to the rest of humanity: not just to develop technology, but to ensure that technology is tempered by morality.

It is a message I plan to carry with me wherever the future takes me.

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT

The Latest on

RUSS COLLEGE RESEARCH Avionics Engineering Center The Avionics Engineering Center is supporting Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation) in testing the GPS and inertial guidance systems installed on the F-35, the nation’s new Joint Strike Fighter jet. The result will be a proven aircraft sensor suite serving as the keystone of safe navigation, precision landing, and other missions for the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marines, and eight allied nations.

Center for Advanced Software Systems Integration Russ College researchers are working in partnership with PolymerOhio to develop a cost model that would estimate the costs associated with off-shoring and re-shoring manufacturing operations for polymer products (molds, molded parts, and assembly). The team has finished the first part of the project, interviewing a number of polymer companies in Ohio to determine their reasons for going abroad or bringing back manufacturing.

By Mary Reed

Center for Electrochemical Engineering Research (CEER) CEER was recently awarded a $74,946 EAGER (Early Concept Grant for Exploratory Research) grant from the National Science Foundation to study the development of novel photonic chemical sensors. The sensors are based on nanoscale membranes composed of amorphous semiconductor materials. They are predicted to be significantly more sensitive than what is currently available. Among other advantages, advanced sensors have applications in the diagnostic and design of batteries, fuel cells, and other energy storage technologies.

Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology (ICMT) In January 2011, ICMT started a new joint industry project sponsored by six major oil and gas companies (Baker Hughes, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Petrobras, and Statoil) focusing on naphthenic acid corrosion. Corrosion caused by naphthenic acids occurs at high temperatures and high velocity, causing significant damage to distilling units in oil refineries.

Mark Dawson

Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment (ISEE) Ohio University is the lead in the Ohio Third Frontier’s Wright Project, “Center for Algal Engineering Research and Commercialization.”

Working with the University of Toledo, Algae Producers of America, Algaeventure Systems, and 11 other academic, nonprofit, and commercial entities, ISEE researchers will help advance the commercial potential of algal technologies in the state of Ohio.

Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering Diana Schwerha and PolymerOhio President Joe Jacomet discuss opportunities for reshoring polymer companies to Ohio. Increasing energy costs and labor costs abroad have made offshoring more expensive, while reshoring shortens the supply chain.

Center for Scientific Computing and Immersive Technologies (CSCIT) CSCIT researchers designed, developed, and deployed a customized, distributed, fully automated sequencing and analysis software for the Illumina Genome Analyzer, a commercial machine for DNA sequencing analysis. Enabling users to specify sequencing and analysis parameters and options, the software provides automatic results.

Ohio Coal Research Center In partnership with a leading utility company, the Ohio Coal Research Center is developing two biomass pre-treatment methodologies that will increase the ability to utilize biomass as fuel in large power plant facilities. The first methodology focuses on biomass integration within existing coal power plants, utilizing thermal energy from within the facility to produce a biomass product with higher energy density. The second utilizes supercritical carbon dioxide from an advanced gasification-based power facility to improve biomass feed and gasification properties.

Ohio Research Institute for Transportation and the Environment (ORITE) Several state departments of transportation are supporting an ORITE multistate study of thermoplastic pipe. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) sets Load and Resistance Factor Design Bridge Design Specifications, which encompass culverts, including those with thermoplastic pipes. The project will reassess the AASHTO specifications governing installations of thermoplastic pipes in the light of current materials and technologies, develop a rational design procedure better matched to real-world results, and recommend improved installation methods.

7.

RESEARCH FEATURE

JUNIOR FACULTY ENGAGED IN

SIGNIFICANT RESEARCH

By Mary Reed

Junior Russ College faculty members are taking everyday situations—from Wikipedia searches to traffic safety—and making them more accurate and safe for the public.

One way to measure the importance of this research is the $2.3 million in grants these projects received in just the past fiscal year.

BREAST CANCER RESEARCH

ONLINE ANSWERS

Monica Burdick, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, recently won a $500,000 award from the National Science Foundation to study breast cancer stem cells (the basic cancer cells from which other specialized cells are generated). “We’re trying to figure out how a breast cancer stem cell marker set may be related to the mechanical properties of a cell— how soft or how solid a cell is—and whether or not those mechanical properties may be another type of marker that we could use to study or otherwise identify these cancer stems cells,” she says.

Burdick is also a principal investigator on a three-year, $442,000 National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute grant to analyze the biochemistry of cancerous tissues. “In the simplest sense, we are trying to bring in an engineering analysis to standard pathology assays, which are the things that doctors use to figure out if you have cancer or other diseases,” she explains.

Razvan Bunescu, assistant professor of computer science, has won a $224,000 National Science Foundation grant to create computer programs that analyze the Wikipedia text and allow computers to then process the information. “Suppose you learn about a subject at school, then you get a question on the exam. The path that you use to get to the answer is based not only on knowledge in the textbook. You also use knowledge you have about the world—common sense knowledge,” Bunescu says.

“The computers, they process only what is given to them.”

His program will create graphs, which include nodes—basic information pieces, such as the city of Athens or the state of Ohio—and arcs, which connect these nodes to their categories, in this case city, county, and state.

Along with his colleagues at the University of North Texas, Bunescu wants “to build a computer program that identifies the true categories—ones that indicate a true subsumption relationship,” he says. The resulting graph of world knowledge might then be used in a wide array of natural language processing applications, such as in helping Web users connect with answers to questions they post in natural language on sites such as Yahoo! Answers.

Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Monica Burdick in her Academic & Research Center lab.

8.

COMPUTING POWER

TRAFFIC SAFETY Deborah McAvoy, assistant professor of civil engineering, received a $244,817 U.S. Department of Justice grant to evaluate the effectiveness of lighting, paint, and reflective material schemes on first responder vehicles. “There are no federal guidelines as to what emergency vehicles should look like—no regulations,” she says. The average crash rate for all vehicles is 1.27 per million vehicles miles traveled. For ambulance drivers, the rate jumps to 7.7. “Drivers have a lot of distractions,” McAvoy allows. She hopes to determine what works to “get them back into the zone”—and save lives.

McAvoy also received nearly $23,000 in Federal Highway Administration funds from the University of Akron to evaluate socalled dynamic speed signs, which look like regular speed limit signs, but use LED lights to allow for a change in the speed limit. For instance, when road construction reduces two lanes to one, changing the speed limit from 65 to 45 can reduce crashes and traffic backups. “We know they work in theory—it’s just that when people see those signs, will they obey them?” McAvoy asks. She performs some tests in the field and some in the driving simulation lab on campus, a facility that opened in 2010 with funding from the National Science Foundation.

Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Avinash Kodi and Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering Wojciech Jadwisienczak have each won a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant. Kodi received a five-year, $407,000 grant to improve the way computer cores—they execute the instructions from any computer application—communicate with one another. As computing demands increase, the number of cores in a computer also increases. “These computing cores are going to talk to each other, and inter-core communication is actually a bottleneck.

That’s where a lot of power is being consumed,” Kodi says.

His research uses optics (in the form of photons) rather than metal (electrons) to communicate, and does so while reducing power consumption by a significant factor. Silicon photonics technology, while considered the future of computing, is also expensive. Kodi is working on maximizing the utilization of available photonics via novel reconfiguration techniques.

LASER LIGHTING Jadwisienczak received a five-year, $444,000 award to continue his research in optoelectronics, specifically solid state lighting devices, such as LEDs and laser diodes.

“The principle is to capitalize on efficient energy conversion which is happening in semiconductors,” he says. Currently, much of the energy in solid state lighting devices is wasted as heat. Along with colleagues and graduate students, Jadwisienczak is working to make this energy conversion even more efficient than today’s compact fluorescent lights.

“We’re trying to engineer new materials capable of doing that. Engineering materials means we need to better understand the semiconductors we work with—their physical, chemical, and structural properties when adopting them for specific optoelectronic applications.”

9.

RESEARCH AWARDS

SELECTED EXTERNAL RESEARCH AWARDS For 2010–2011, the Russ College reported approximately $16.1 million in research and sponsored programs. These are the top 10 awards, also including one award from each department and research unit that received grants.

$1,890,500

U.S. Army Corp of Engineers

CEER researchers take water samples at the Athens Wastewater Treatment Plant to test the removal of ammonia from wastewater.

Electrochemical Engineering Research Center Distributed Power from Wastewater Phase II • To design and build ammonia and urea electrolyzers to recover energy from waste and produce hydrogen for military applications.

$790,000

Center for Advanced Software Systems Integration COMPEAT$TM Cost Model Development and Maintenance • To develop and improve methodologies for estimating the manufacturing cost of a variety of products, including jet engines, gas turbines, wind turbines, and steam turbines.

$725,000

BP, ENI S.p.A., Champion Technologies, Chevron, Clariant Oil Services, ConocoPhillips, Exxon, Nalco, PTT, Saudi Aramco, Total, INPEX Corporation, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Petrobras, Petronas, BG Group, Encana, TransCanada, Wood Group Information Management, MI-SWACO Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology Corrosion Center Joint Industry Project • To develop MULTICORP corrosion prediction software, a mechanistic model of CO2 and H2S corrosion for the upstream oil and gas industry, in order to advance scientific knowledge and practical understanding in the field of CO2 corrosion in multiphase flow systems via cutting-edge research driven by industrial needs, and to educate and train future researchers who will implement and disseminate this knowledge throughout the corrosion engineering community.

10.

10.

Brad Chaffin

General Electric Corporation

$599,228

Science Applications International Corporation Avionics Engineering Research Center Federal Aviation Administration Technical Operations Navigation Services Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) Procurement Support (Task 3) • To provide key technical consultation and implementation optimization support for modernization of the United States’ DME ground-based infrastructure, in order to achieve Next Generation Air Transportation System Area-Navigation capabilities that increase the efficiency of the national airspace system.

$500,000

Ohio Department of Development Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment Third Frontier (WPP): Center for Algal Engineering Research and Commercialization • To establish a state-wide center for assisting algae companies in commercializing new technologies.

$499,926

Federal Aviation Administration Avionics Engineering Research Center TTD-2 Acquisition and Implementation Support for Ground-Based Navigation Services • To provide the Federal Aviation Administration with technical expertise and unique research facilities in order to support a broad range of navigation and landing system equipment acquisitions, improvements, and implementations.

$422,990

$306,697

Avionics Engineering Research Center Automated Aerial Refueling Program • To develop computer models for determining system availability, accuracy, continuity, and integrity, and to analyze system design in order to enable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to rendezvous and refuel using tanker aircraft, thus enabling extended missions.

Ohio Research Institute for Transportation and the Environment (ORITE) The Boat-of-Knowledge in the Science Classroom (Books in Classroom) • To conduct on-boat samplings and experiments along the Ohio River from Marietta to Gallipolis, in order to support graduate research and develop an online Boat-of-Knowledge for use in a sustainable science curriculum for area middle schools.

$409,690

$240,000

Avionics Engineering Research Center Collaborative Research and Development Effort on Precision GPS/EO Nav/Navigation Fusion • To support research on advanced navigation concepts, in collaboration with Ohio State University, Miami University, and the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Center for Advanced Materials Processing Affordable, High Conductivity Graphite Foam Heat Exchangers Phase II • To develop thermal models for graphite foams in phase II of a grant in which Russ College researchers are developing and optimizing high-conductivity graphite carbon foams for heat exchangers and thermal energy storage devices in aerospace and also high heat flux systems.

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Ohio State University

$399,961

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Avionics Engineering Research Center Design, Development, Verification, and Validation of an Integrated Alerting and Notification Function for an Intelligent Integrated Flight Deck • To develop and test an integrated alerting and notification system for a nextgeneration cockpit instrumentation and display.

$348,000

U.S. Department of Energy Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment Multi-Hybrid Power Vehicles with Cost Effective and Durable Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell and Li-ion Battery • To develop a technology to create durable polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells for hybrid vehicles by reengineering ionomers so they can operate at higher temperatures in reduced relative humidity.

National Science Foundation

Ohio Aerospace Institute

$224,540

National Science Foundation Center for Scientific Computing and Immersive Technologies Building a Large Multilingual Semantic Network for Text Processing Applications • To create automated natural language processing software for the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

$199,506

Interthyr Corporation Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering TLR Signal Inhibition: A Novel Therapeutic Paradigm • To identify and characterize small molecule inhibitors of pathological inflammation and cancer.

$194,348

Ohio Department of Development Center for Air Quality Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Climate Change Impact Analysis • To provide the State of Ohio with energy policy options that address climate change, and to develop a unique simulation model showing the potential economic and environmental effects of future policies, in collaboration with the Voinovich School and Ohio State University.

$119,832

National Science Foundation Mechanical Engineering Interactive Virtual Haptics: Augmented Statics and Dynamics Activities • To create and evaluate haptics, or forceand-touch, augmented educational activities for undergraduate engineering dynamics courses.

$99,747 GS1-Global

Engineering Technology and Management GS1 Symbology Testing • To test the performance of cell phones as a bar code scanning device, and the performance of scanners when presented with multiple bar codes.

$35,000 Google, Inc.

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Modernizing TCP • To analyze network communication between Google and YouTube and their customers, in order to find ways to improve data exchange quality and speed.

11.

11.

Student math success rates increase by 50 percent hen Jose Jimenez took Electrical Engineering 101, his professor told the class, “If you know calculus, feel free to use it.” Problem was, Jimenez didn’t know it. “So I had to do it the hard way,” he remembers, figuring out the problems with more basic math.

But Jimenez enrolled in the Russ College’s new math program, where he took pre-calculus, calculus A and calculus B. Now, the sophomore electrical engineering major says he would recommend the program to anyone.

“It brought me from the level of not even knowing what integrals are to knowing what they are and being able to use them,” he says.

Jimenez is one of at least 500 students aided by the twoyear-old program, which provides math instruction specifically for Russ College students. The results tell the story: Success rates for pre-calculus students have improved from about 50 percent to 80 percent and, for the calculus courses, from about 50 percent to 75 percent. In addition, Russ College freshman retention rates—keeping students enrolled at the Russ College—increased from 81 percent the year prior to the program’s inception in fall 2009, to 84 percent for the Teaching Assistant Doug Hoffman (L) works with a student in a Thursday homework session.

12.

ACADEMIC FEATURE

Doug Hoffman—the framework for the program is also designed for success.

For starters, the courses are set up across three lecture session meetings with 60 students, then one breakout session meeting with groups of 20 students divided among the three instructors.

Finally, there is a onemeeting homework session where students come to the classroom and simply work on their homework while the Math Instructor Salley Hyatt teaches Math 263A (Calculus I). instructors stand by to answer questions.

2009–10 academic year.

“I went every Thursday, and it “We’re really trying to build really helped me,” says Marissa Singley, a bridge between that high school a sophomore mechanical engineering experience and the college experience,” major. “(The instructors) would come says Salley Hyatt, Russ College math around to you individually and answer instructor. questions about homework or what we The former high school math did in class the day prior.” teacher turned math department The courses are nearly identical to teaching assistant says she uses her those offered in the math department, skills from both former roles in her in terms of texts and tests. “They use current one. “I check their homework. the same final exams as in the other I check attendance. I make sure I know math courses, so this is not grade everybody’s name. I can say ‘hi’ to them inflation,” says Ken Sampson, Russ in the hall and let them know, ‘We College associate dean for academics. know your name, we know who you Most first-year students enrolled are, we care about you, we want you to in the Russ College math program are do well.’ also members of learning communities, Hyatt also created a pre-calculus groups of about 20–25 students who workbook that includes engineeringtake a set of courses together. This and technology-specific math problems, enables them to get to know each other which help students learn the math and form study groups early on. as it will apply to their courses and future work. For example, one problem requires students to use trigonometry to figure out the span of beams necessary to repair a bridge damaged in an earthquake. “Our students think really concretely,” Hyatt says, “the workbook gives us a way to apply the math.”

In addition to highly qualified teaching staff—Hyatt plus two math department doctoral candidates who are teaching assistants, Josh Beal and

Teaching Assistant Josh Beal (L) works with a student in a Thursday homework session.

“The other thing that we do is have the classes meet in the Academic & Research Center. It fits in with our overall strategy of trying to bring firstyear students into the college culture early,” Sampson says. “They don’t always take engineering classes their first year. We’re bringing these students into the building and in a place where they can meet their colleagues . . . and it has been wildly successful.”

The Russ College math instructor’s salary is funded by the Russ Legacy Endowment—which was created with funds from the 2008 estate gift of $95 million from the late Fritz J., B.S.E.E. ’42, HON ‘75, and Dolores Russ—while the TAs’ salaries are paid for by the Department of Mathematics. As the program continues, the Russ College hopes to expand it to cover all lowerlevel math courses.

Singley wishes she could continue her math courses sophomore year with Hyatt as her instructor. “(Calculus A) made me really decide that I actually kind of like math. It’s not just something I can do. It’s something I like to do as well.”

13.

PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE

FOCUSING ON OUR FUTURE “Promise Lives” campaign will propel University, Russ College to new heights Ohio University President Roderick J. McDavis

“Ohio University will be the nation’s best transformative learning community, where students realize their promise, faculty advance knowledge, and alumni become global leaders.”

The Promise Lives campaign aims to raise $450 million to ensure that Ohio University becomes the nation’s best transformative learning community. It is an historic goal. But as an alumnus, alumna, or friend of the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ College of Engineering and Technology, you know we’re capable of it. You’re no stranger to having a vision, designing a plan, or charting a flight, and assembling the many intricate pieces required to get there.

5 priorities drive us:

• Cultivate Learning: Cultivate outstanding academic and student- life experiences $50 million • Expand Opportunity: Increase access and opportunity $175 million • Inspire Discovery: Invest in research, discovery, and creative activity $105 million • Nurture Place: Enrich the campus environment $100 million • Encourage Community: Expand outreach and partnerships $20 million

The Russ College is a key player in our strategic objectives. Ohio University is already a leading public institution in the United States.

We offer affordable, quality higher education in order to graduate “meta-engineers”—well-rounded engineering and technology leaders of the future.

To that end, we will increase access and opportunity by raising funds for scholarships, graduate student stipends, and a student activities fund that Beth Stocker, wife of Paul Stocker, B.S.E.E. ’26, HON ’74, established with an initial contribution of $500,000 in 2004.

By growing the principal and enhancing earnings, we will strengthen support for the Russ College student successes you read about in these pages.

The leading researchers at the Russ College influence our state, nation, and world with discoveries that improve our lives and positively influence our region’s economy with new research centers and commercialization that create jobs.

We also will invest in research, discovery, and creative activity by raising funds for faculty recruitment, so the best and brightest make Ohio University the home of their breakthroughs. Additional endowed chairs in the Russ College’s identified strategic research areas— transportation (air and ground infrastructure, logistics) and energy and the environment—are vital to recruiting, and to retaining faculty whose excellence in teaching and research make them sought-after experts.

A strategic research fund will support, for one, grant-matching requirements, as many grants require that Ohio University match all or a portion of the award amount. Just this fall, the Russ College is developing a proposal for a $3.5 million, U.S. Department of Transportation-funded grant to establish a University transportation center—and it requires a 1:1 match from non-federal funds.

Patrick Oden

The Russ College aims to be the best undergraduate engineering college and top research college in its focus areas in the country. We’ll get there—with your support. Each and every individual in the Bobcat family is part of the design that will transform our University.

From L to R: Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit, Margaret M. Walter, Margaret “Peggy” McGreevy Walter, B.F.A. ’67, Robert D. Walter, B.S.M.E. ’67, HON ’97, and President Roderick J. McDavis cut the ribbon around the Walter International Education Center. As part of The Promise Lives campaign, the Walters provided $2 million through the Walter Family Foundation for the project. The building, occupying the former Sigma Chi fraternity house at 15 Park Place, is set to become the first Ohio University building to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, pending approval by the U.S. Green Building Council.

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GIVING TO THE RUSS COLLEGE

PARKER HANNIFIN

Creates student lab in honor of alumnus The course “Robotic Applications,” or ETM 464, will integrate the lab into class activities on hydraulic and pneumatic clamping, grippers, and effectors. “Hydraulics and Pneumatics” ETM 320 will use the lab to expand its content to include motion control. “Kinematics and Dynamics of Machines,” or ME 301, will use the lab for student projects that often involve hydraulic actuation.

“This lab is so meaningful because it links the university I love, education—which is my passion—and the company I worked at for 35 years,” Myslenski says.

Industrial and Systems Engineering From left to right: Parker Vice President and President/Hydraulics Group Jeffery A. Cullman, Department of Engineering Technology and Management Pete Klein, Jack Myselnski, Russ College Dean Dennis Irwin, and Parker Executive Vice President/ Human Resources Daniel S. Serbin

Parker Hannifin Corporation, the international motion and control company, has made a gift of more than $180,000 to the Russ College in honor of alumnus and board of visitors member Jack Myslenski, B.S.I.T. ’74.

The gift will be used to create a new fluid power lab in Myslenski’s name. Myslenski worked for the company for 35 years, starting as a first-line supervisor in 1973 and retiring as executive vice president for marketing, sales, and operations support.

“During his many leadership roles over the years, Jack has been an inspiration and mentor to people both inside and outside of Parker, including many students at Ohio University,” notes Parker’s Chairman, CEO, and President Don Washkewicz. “Parker’s record results in sales, earnings, and cash flow during Jack’s last four years at Parker simply would not have been possible without his contribution,” he explains.

Fluid power applies to both pneumatics and hydraulics, which are used in equipment such as aircraft landing gear and construction vehicle lifting mechanisms. Located just off Stocker Engineering Center’s lobby, the new lab will feature Parker Hannifin products, including trainers, components, and control systems.

Myslenski, whose wife and several children and children-in-law also attended Ohio University, credits his father with noticing that he was mechanically inclined—but Myslenski started college wanting to be a teacher. In the end, he chose engineering.

“The Russ College of Engineering and Technology and especially the Department of Engineering Technology and Management (ETM) made it abundantly clear that showing up and working hard was not just an option,” he says.

Department Chair Pete Klein says the department has a rich history in the area of fluid power. “Classes in this technology have been taught continuously since the early 1960s,” Klein notes.

Open to various Russ College programs, the lab will get the most use from students studying ETM and mechanical engineering.

PROFESSOR’S EXPECTATION OF EXCELLENCE LIVES ON The late Helmut Zwahlen was known for his high expectations of students. “In Dr. Zwahlen’s simulation class, all the aspects of a realworld situation had to be distilled and recreated—simulated—within the confines of a computer program,” says Russ College alumnus Michael Gardner, B.S.I.S. ’81. “Only with rigorous preparation and above-average effort was one able to succeed,” Gardner adds.

Gardner, president of Findlay, Ohio’s Superior Trim, which manufactures interior trim components for heavy trucks, and his colleague Robin Hayward, B.S.I.S. ’85, recently made a $50,000 gift to establish the Dr. Helmut Zwahlen Award for Outstanding Student Achievement in Simulation. The annual award will provide $2,500 for an undergraduate student who is excelling in an advanced simulation course.

Zwahlen, who taught simulation, joined the Russ College in 1971 as an assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering and later became a Russ Professor.

“He was a prolific researcher whose work led to the creation of high-visibility highway signage in use on American highways today, where it continues to save lives,” Department Chair Bob Judd says of Zwahlen.

Late Russ Professor Helmut Hayward, senior operations Zwahlen at his desk in the Research analyst at Superior Trim, and Technology (RTEC) Building participated as a subject and in the early 1980s. A native of lead researcher in Zwahlen’s Switzerland, Zwahlen passed away in March 2010. work for the Ohio Department of Transportation. He says that he and Gardner also wanted to recognize the global influence of Zwahlen’s research.

“The opportunity to be involved in projects and research that had a real-world impact was significantly more influential on me as time has gone on, as opposed to the classic textbook education,” Hayward notes. “Dr. Zwahlen taught with an intelligent practicality that helped his students understand how what we learn can apply to real-life situations.”

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ALUMNi PROFILES

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

Alumnus likens building a model train set to building a business

By Mary Reed

T

he story is now legendary. A seven-year-old Dick Kughn, on his way home from school, dug out a Lionel train from someone else’s trash and took it home.

He and his dad refurbished it and got it running again.

It was the beginning of a lifetime of collecting models trains—and later a few real trains as well as cars—that peaked when Kughn owned Detroit’s Carail museum, holding many of the cars and model trains that he had collected over the years. At some point in the young Kughn’s life, he learned that engineers aren’t just the people who drive the trains, and when he took an aptitude test in high school he scored near the top in engineering.

Though an eye condition that causes double vision made academics challenging for Kughn, Ohio University accepted him in 1949 in civil engineering on probationary status.

“The University was beautiful and still is,” Kughn says. He took courses and participated in ROTC. “The professors and the teachers and the (administrators)—I had nothing but the best to say about all of them.”

He roomed with his old grade-school buddy and fellow engineering student Bob Wismar, B.S.A.E. ‘52. “Dick is one of the hardest working people I’ve ever known,” Wismar says. “He’s always had a job, even as a kid. He’s a very bright person,” Wismar notes. “He was kind of an inventive guy.

Still is, I think.”

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But after just one semester, Kughn had to leave Ohio University for eye surgery.

“What I did was out of necessity, but I would not recommend that to anybody,” he says of leaving the University.

Planning to return to Ohio University the following fall, he took a summer job in construction and soon found himself managing the project. The company then offered him a full-time job in Chicago— and Kughn found the opportunity too good to pass up.

At age 25, he met Al Taubman, the future billionaire shopping mall magnate, and so began Kughn’s 30-year career at the Taubman Company, where he rose to president and CEO. Today, Kughn is the chairman and president of Kughn Enterprises (also a real estate company) and a handful of other successful businesses.

Along the way, he collected model trains. “I would go to train shows, two to three a year,” Kughn recalls. “At the same time, I was collecting and my collection grew quite large. For about three or four years in a row, the other enthusiasts would say to me, ‘Dick, why don’t you buy the Lionel Train Company? It’s the only thing you don’t own.’”

One day, Kughn got a call from his attorney with news that perhaps Lionel was for sale. Despite the serious reservations of his accountants—Lionel’s luster had faded after a stint of manufacturing in Mexico— Kughn bought the company.

Within a few years, Kughn improved both the company’s product line and bottom line. During this time, he met rock star Neil Young—another model train enthusiast— and the two collaborated to create Lionel Technologies, or Liontec. They brought to the market a realistic digital sound system for the model trains as well as a new remote control technology.

Kughn sold controlling interest in Lionel in 1995 and remains in an ambassadorial role. He auctioned off much of his car and train collection in 2003, closing Carail. Now 81, he has earned an honorary doctorate and today still works and continues with civic affiliations full time.

Kughn’s advice to today’s college students is to work hard and have fun. “Do good things for society and for other people.

By all means, if you’re not having fun, don’t do it. Because if you’re not having fun, you won’t be good at it.”

EDITORIAL

FROM THE BOARD

By Emmett Boyle, M.S. ’70 It’s an honor for me to greet you for the first time.

Working with the Russ College Board and Dean Irwin is insightful and invigorating. In our biannual meetings and our monthly phone conferences, we discuss how to capitalize on what is great about the Russ College while encouraging strategic areas that will strengthen our college and Ohio University.

We do that with metrics developed under the leadership of Dean Irwin. We’re unique at Ohio University—and among academic institutions nationwide, I suspect—in having such a set of measurable goals to guide us. An important piece is the Russ Vision Plan, a long-range look at how to invest the 2008 Russ bequest. I’m happy to report that the plan already has reaped benefits.

Fueling our junior faculty successes with grants (see pages 8-9) is a new grant writing position supported by the Russ bequest. During the last year alone, the Russ College grant writer worked on more than 60 proposals, emphasizing junior faculty and very productive senior faculty. Our grant writer reviews up to 30 grant funding announcements a day; does research to find appropriate funding sources; and leads workshops specifically tailored to Russ College faculty, researchers, and graduate students.

Our new math program, which you can read about on pages 12-13, is also supported by the Russ Vision plan. In its first year, it dramatically increased our students’ success rates.

By providing more individualized teaching, we give students who enroll in the Russ College a stronger footing—so they will stay enrolled and graduate from the Russ College.

Scholarships is another area we’re targeting, toward the goal of increasing enrollment. Ohio’s population is declining, so higher education institutions are competing harder for

INTRODUCING Please welcome Susan Lee to the Russ College. As the Russ College’s chief fundraising officer, she oversees and directs all charitable giving activities. Susan, who has 15 years of experience in higher education fund-raising, also holds a doctorate in higher education administration/ leadership studies.

Susan Lee Senior Director of Development for the Russ College

students. But between fall 2010 and fall 2011, the Russ College enjoyed an increase of more than 50 applicants, from 999 to 1050 Emmett Boyle, M.S. ’70, is prospective students. As a chair of the Russ College result, enrollment has grown.

Board of Visitors and We offered more scholarships the college’s campaign committee for The Promise in that time period, and it’s Lives campaign. With paying off. more than 45 years in the Another portion of the aerospace and aluminum Russ Vision Plan—and again industries in engineering, a unique characteristic of management, and the Russ College—is tied ownership roles, he now intimately to the Russes. resides in Ohio and Florida Their bequest included the with his wife, Debra Russ Research Center, a Boger, where they operate technology park near Dayton, The Elmwood Group, a Ohio, that was home to their consulting company. He company, Systems Research was inducted into the Russ College Academy of Laboratories. Today’s tenants Distinguished Graduates include Sensor Technology in 2006.

Systems, which develops night vision goggles for military special operations teams, and Cornerstone Research, which provides high-tech prototyping for new products.

A very special feature of the park is the Russ Venture Group building, a free-standing structure in the front corner of the property. It was once Fritz’s personal office and workshop. To foster additional connections with engineering and technology firms, we’ll renovate it into a small innovation center, with offices of various sizes and accompanying office equipment to support start-ups.

Our strategies and plans move our college forward not just on spreadsheets and in numbers. As we see returns on our investments, our students, faculty, staff, and alumni are making their mark on our nation and world. These are the discoveries, collaborations, and breakthroughs we all share as part of the Russ College legacy.

For more information about how to give to the Russ College, contact her at lees3@ohio.edu or 740.593.0894.

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RUSS PRIZE

NOT YOUR TYPICAL HACKER

Robin Layton, B.S.J. ‘85

Sixth Russ Prize recipient cracks the code of the human genome Leroy Hood is a man after one very big thing: paradigm changes. He got there by spending a lot of time on very small things: DNA. Hood, a bioengineering pioneer, was awarded the sixth Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize in February by the National Academy of Engineering for developing the automated DNA sequencer. His invention made possible the sequencing of the human genome in just more than a decade instead of a century.

“The human genome project transformed biology as perhaps no other science project has ever done,” Hood says.

The Russ Prize, created by Ohio University with a gift from alumnus Fritz Russ and his wife, Dolores, recognizes a bioengineering achievement in widespread use that significantly improves the human condition. It is the top bioengineering prize in the world.

“One of the University’s greatest sources of pride is the Russ Prize—a vision Fritz and Dolores had decades ago,” notes Ohio University President Roderick J. McDavis.

An inventor, scholar, and visionary, Hood—who calls himself a cross-disciplinary scientist—has been a pioneer in bringing engineering to biology through his invention and commercialization of many of the key analytic instruments in use today. His successful application of these instruments has addressed fundamental problems in modern biology and medicine.

To date, more than 1,000 genomes have been revealed using the automated DNA sequencer, transforming many areas of biology. The advancement also led to expressed sequence tagging, which ultimately helped to predict gene function, and the ability to identify genes involved in diseases. Hood’s work also has led to a change in how pharmaceutical companies make drugs.

Dennis Irwin, dean of the Russ College of Engineering and Technology at Ohio University, notes that the invention of the automated DNA sequencer is unique in the history of the Russ Prize because of its application to forensic science.

“The sequencer has enabled the development of important drugs that are crucial to the realization of personalized medicine and therefore have saved lives. It’s also true that many people wrongly accused of crimes have been exonerated and been given back their lives,” he says.

President and co-founder of the nonprofit Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington, Hood and his colleagues today are using advances in genomics, proteomics, and molecular diagnostics to pioneer advances in diagnostics, therapeutics, and prevention—in order to focus increasingly on promoting wellness rather than merely treating disease.

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Russ Prize recipient Leroy Hood (L) talks with Nobel Prize Laureate James Watson (R) in 1988 at a human genome project meeting at Wason’s Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

He predicts another sea change—in healthcare as we know it— with the advent of what he terms “P4” medicine (predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory), made possible by his work.

“This revolutionary new medicine will have important societal implications by sharply turning around the ever-escalating costs of healthcare—and will have important medical implications because the twin visions of P4 medicine are wellness quantified and disease demystified,” Hood explains.

Previous Russ Prize recipients are Elmer Gaden (2009), engineering and commercialization of biological systems for large-scale manufacturing of antibiotics and other drugs; Yuan-Cheng “Bert” Fung (2007), the father of biomechanical engineering; Leland C. Clark Jr. (2005), inventor of biosensors; Willem J. Kolff (2003), the father of artificial organs; and Earl E. Bakken and Wilson Greatbatch (2001), inventors of the heart pacemaker.

Watch the Video

Learn more about Leroy Hood in a special Russ College video production that features his colleagues past and present. See it online at www.ohio.edu/engineering/video/russprize/2011.

FACULTY & STAFF AWARDS

RUSS COLLEGE HONORS FACULTY AND STAFF The Russ College honored faculty and staff in May for outstanding contributions in teaching, research and service.

“It’s an honor to recognize these individuals for their work throughout the year,” says Russ College Dean Dennis Irwin. “They make us all proud to be part of the Russ College.”

The Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Awards were established by alumnus Fritz J. Russ, B.S.E.E. ’42, HON ’75, and his wife, Dolores, in 1981 and carry a plaque and cash award of $1,500.

Professor of Mechanical Engineering Bob Williams received the Russ Teaching Award.

“Winning the Russ Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award is a huge honor because our college has many good teachers in many departments,” Williams says.

Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering Avinash Kodi received the Russ Research Award for his paper, “Exploring the Design of 64-and 256- Core Power Efficient Nanophotonic Interconnect.”

Established by Marvin, B.S.C.E. ’47, and Ann White, the White Awards honor outstanding faculty members for recognition in teaching and research. The White Research Award recognizes continued and sustained achievements in research, scholarship, and the creation of new knowledge by a faculty member in each department. The gift carries a plaque and $500 award.

Recipients were: Bryan Branham, assistant professor of aviation; Kevin Crist, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering; Shad Sargand, Russ Professor of civil engineering; Wojciech Jadwisienczak, assistant professor electrical engineering; Kevin Berisso, assistant professor of engineering technology and management; Dale Masel, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering; and Frank Kraft, associate professor of mechanical engineering.

Recognizing dedicated teaching and student advising, the White Teaching Award also honors a faculty member in each department. Recipients were: Ron Faliszek, assistant professor of Aviation; Darin Ridgway, associate professor of

Research Engineer Issam Khoury helps civil engineering senior and Engineering Ambassador Grace Sallar prepare to look for material properties such as a Young’s Modulus and Poisson’s Ratio as she places a fiber glass tension specimen in a material testing system.

chemical and biomolecular engineering; Deborah McAvoy, assistant professor of civil engineering; Frank Van Graas, Russ Professor of electrical engineering; Zaki Kuruppalil, assistant professor of engineering technology and management; Diana Schwerha, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering; and Bob Williams, professor of mechanical engineering.

The Russ College’s Outstanding Administrative, Technical, and Classified Employee Awards honor employees with superior results-based performance and award the recipients with a plaque and $750 cash prize.

“It’s important to note that these recipients were nominated by their peers,” Irwin says.

Honorees were: Erin Root, administrative coordinator for student services (classified); Issam Khoury, information/ computer specialist and lab coordinator for the Department of Civil Engineering (technical); and Laquetta Cortner, coordinator for minority, women and outreach programs (administrative).

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ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Dale Masel, associate professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, tied for first place for the Innovations in Curriculum Award presented at the Annual IIE Honors and Awards Dinner and Ceremony, held in May in Reno, Las Vegas. The award, given by the Council of Industrial Engineering Academic Department Heads, recognized Masel’s implementation of senior professional concentrations into the curriculum.

Sang-Soo Kim, associate professor, Department of Civil Engineering, had his Asphalt Binder Cracking Device (ABCD) adopted by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials as a standard test method.

This is a major step toward the product becoming an industry-required test.

FACULTY/STAFF ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2010–2011 Gerri Botte and Srdjan Nesic, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, were named Russ Professors. The two new professorships were made possible with the 2008 estate gift of $95 million from the late Fritz J., B.S.E.E. ’42, HON ’75 and Dolores Russ.

Dean Bruckner, assistant director, Avionics Engineering Center; Frank van Graas, Russ Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Trent Skidmore, senior research engineer, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science: • Awarded the Dr. Samuel M. Burka Award at the Institute of Navigation International Technical Meeting for their co-authored paper “Algorithm and Flight Test Results to Exchange Code Noise and Multipath for Biases in Dual Frequency Differential GPS for Precision Approach,” Navigation, Fall 2010.

B.J. Galloway, associate professor, Department of Aviation, was awarded the Patriotic Employer Award by the Department of Defense’s National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.

Tingyue Gu, associate professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, placed in the top five percent of cited authors for journals in biology and biochemistry.

Wojciech Jadwisienczak, associate professor and Avinash Kodi, assistant professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, each won five-year National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development grants of more than $400,000.

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David Juedes, associate professor, chair, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, was awarded senior member grade in the Association for Computing Machinery.

Savas Kaya, associate professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, co-authored “Electrochemically grown metallic nanocomb structures on nanoporous alumina templates,” Appl. Phys.

Lett. 98, 223105 (2011).

Peter Klein, professor, chair, Department of Engineering Technology and Management, was re-elected for a second term as president of the Manufacturing Division of the Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering.

Sunggyu “K.B.” Lee, Russ-Ohio Research Scholar, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is editor of the Green Chemistry and Chemical Engineering book series for CRC Press and Taylor & Francis Group.

Terry Masada, professor, assistant chair, Department of Civil Engineering, was selected as a 2010 Outstanding Reviewer for the Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice, a publication of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

David W. Matolak, professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science: • Gave several invited talks in Korea: “Mobile Ad Hoc Networks: Fundamentals, Existing Insights, and New Results on Performance,” in May at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute in Daejeon; and “Wireless Channel Modeling,” “LTE Fundamentals,” and “Spread Spectrum Communications,” at Chungbuk National University in Cheongju.

• Co-Authored “Worse-than-Rayleigh Fading: Experimental Results and Theoretical Models,” IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 49, no. 4, pp. 140–146, April 2011 and “Airport Surface Area Propagation Path Loss in the VHF Band,” Proc. AIAA/IEEE Integrated Communications, Navigation, & Surveillance Conf., Herndon, Virginia, 10–12 May 2011.

• Co-Authored the book chapter “Aircraft Communications and Networking,” Encyclopedia of Aerospace Engineering, R. Blockley and W. Shyy (eds.), pp. 4829–4838, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Chichester, UK, 2010.

Todd Myers and Thomas Scott, associate professors, Department of Engineering Technology and Management, were named Kraft Family Scholars for outstanding performance and potential for future contributions to the department. Myers also was awarded laureate ranking in Epsilon Pi Tau International, the international honor society for professionals in technology. Myers was nominated by the board and trustees based on his service to EPT and lifetime achievements in work, research, and teaching in technology.

Richard McFarland, director emeritus, Avionics Engineering Center, received the “Captain of First Flight” award from the North Carolina Transportation Department’s Division of Aviation. The award was presented for the avionics and aviation safety work that McFarland completed over recent decades in North Carolina’s portion of the National Airspace System.

Gayle Mitchell, Neil D. Thomas Professor, chair, Department of Civil Engineering: • Participated in an ABET Accreditation visit to accredit civil engineering programs in Israel, including those at Technion University in Jerusalem and Sami Shamoon College in Beersheva.

WELCOMES & FAREWELLS

NEW HIRES AND RETIREES Shannon Bruce, grants coordinator, Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment Saikat Ghosh, research scientist/ database project manager, Center for Air Quality

Jason Trembly, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering; and assistant director, Ohio Coal Research Center Corey Shafer, research lab engineer, Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology

Brian Hassler, facilities manager, Center for Electrochemical Engineering Research

• Co-authored “Removal of medium and low concentrations pollutants from simulated highway runoff using a vegetated biofilter,” paper no.

11-3291, presented at the 90th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board in January in Washington, D.C. • Co-authored “Vegetated Biofilter for Post Construction Storm Water Management for Linear Transportation Projects—Dormant Grass Test Supplement,” Final Report No. FHWA/OH2010/7 Supplement, for the Ohio Department of Transportation, Ohio Research Institute for Transportation and the Environment, Civil Engineering Department, Ohio University, December 2010.

Chuck Overby, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, authored: • “Reflections on Two Peace and Justice Birthdays—Japan’s Article 9’s 64th —and the Article 9 Society’s 20th,” a five-page paper distributed across Japan, summer 2011.

• “An Engineer’s Reflection on Some Kafkaesque and Silencing Experiences in Searches for ‘Truth’ and ‘Communities of Justice’ in our ‘PossessiveIndividualist,’ ‘Entropic-Economic,’ ‘Corporatized’ Culture,” Concerned Philosophers for Peace Annual Conference, University of Dayton, Ohio, November 5–7, 2009.

Robert Curtis, associate professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 32 years Kenneth Halliday, associate professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 30 years

Gail Houlette, administrative associate, undergraduate studies, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Bryan Riley, associate professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

William Austad, instructor, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 20 years

Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Jason Trembly and chemical engineering master’s student Phil Hansel inspect the contents of a super-critical CO2 reactor, which extracts oil from biomass. Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment researchers will use the reactor system to evaluate the feasibility of using CO2 captured from coal-fired power plants to improve the process of co-firing biomass with coal.

Michael Prudich, professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, was elected chair of the Chemical Engineering Division of the American Society for Engineering Education.

Shad Sargand, Russ Professor, Department of Civil Engineering: • Was awarded the William W. “Bill” Baker Award from Flexible Pavements of Ohio in March 2011 for his commitment to quality and overall impact on the Ohio asphalt paving industry.

• Co-authored “Viscoelastic FE Modeling and Verification of a U.S. 30 Perpetual Pavement Test Section,” International Journal on Road Materials and Pavement Design, Vol. 11, No. 4, 2010.

• Co-authored “Evaluation Of Warm Mix Asphalt Mixtures Containing Rap Using Accelerated Loading Tests,” ASTM Journal of Testing and Evaluation, Vol. 39, No. 3, 2010.

• Co-authored “Roads and Retaining Structures Specifically for Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan,” U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center/Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory report ERDC/CRRL TR-11-01, United States Army Corps of Engineers, Hanover New Hampshire, January 2011.

Sandi Mathews, administrative coordinator, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 15 years Roger Radcliff, professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 29 years

Lonnie Welch, Stuckey Professor, director of the Bioinformatics Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, co-edited Advances in Genomic Sequence Analysis and Pattern Discovery, a textbook for bioinformatics researchers.

Bob Williams, professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering: • Co-authored “Contour Crafting Cartesian Cable Robot,” U.S. Patent No. 7,753,642, July 13, 2010.

• Co-authored “A Stiffness Discrimination Experiment including Analysis of Palpation Forces and Velocities,” The Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, 5(5): 279–288, October.

• Co-authored “Humanoid Walking Robot: Modeling, Inverse Dynamics, and Gain Scheduling Control,” Hindawi Journal of Robotics, Vol. 2010, Article ID 278597.

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CLASS NOTES

CLASS NOTES 2011 What’s new with you?

New job? Addition to the family? Other personal or professional news? Or, do you know someone who would like to receive Ingenuity?

Drop us a line and let us know! Visit www.ohio.edu/engineering/update or contact us at ingenuity@ohio.edu or 740.593.1488.

James Abraham, B.S.E.E. ’43, B.S.I.S.E. ’48, was recognized by the Internal Revenue Service in Columbus, Ohio, for his 30 years of free tax assistance to area residents as part of the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs. The City of Gahanna also recognized him in August by naming the city hall in his honor.

Mark Arnold, B.S.I.S.E. ’81, was inducted into the Ohio University ROTC Society of Alumni and Friends’ ROTC Hall of Fame in April. Arnold joins fellow Russ College alumnus James Abraham, a retired brigadier general, in the hall of fame.

Dan D. Cislo, B.S.I.T. ’09, is employed at Harbor Distributing, LLC in Anaheim, California, as an operations process improvement analyst, improving the process of all operations from warehousing, delivery, and sales.

Brad S. Clark, B.S.C.E. ’03, is a senior project engineer at Stantec’s Cincinnati office, in water infrastructure, environmental management, and geotechnical engineering.

Shane D. Colvin, B.S.A. ’10, is employed at CAE-Simuflite in Dallas as a business aviation sales representative, selling simulator services and training for CAE Simuflite.

Bryan Crosby, B.S.M.E. ’10, is in the U.S. Navy working as a nuclear engineer trainee and is also a possible officer candidate.

Nilesh Dagia, Ph.D. ’04, was awarded the 2010 Young Scientist Award by the Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India. The award aims to encourage Indian scientists who have conducted original research with commercial application in pharmaceutical sciences.

Matt Delaney, B.S.C.S. ’00, M.S.C.S. ’05, is a registered patent attorney at Sand & Sebolt in Canton, Ohio. Mike Sand, B.S.E.E. ’61, is the firm’s founder.

William Dixon, B.S.E.E. ’10, is a civilian engineer in the U.S. Navy. He supports maintenance and upgrades of VISTOL aircraft electronics.

Arinze T. Ezepue, B.S.C.E. ’10, received his engineer intern certificate at a ceremony hosted by the Ohio Society of Professional Engineers held at the Ohio Statehouse.

Patrick J. Fahey, B.S.Ch.E. ’10, is a chemical and biomolecular engineering Ph.D. candidate at North Carolina State University.

Matt Delaney

Ray Lewis

Carla Lucchino Lauren H. Logan

22.

Raymond B. Fogg Sr., B.S.C.E. ’53, owner of Ray Fogg Building Methods, led the clean-up of a once-contaminated industrial property in Euclid, Ohio, with help from the state’s Jobs Ready Sites program. A planned business park will be LEED certified and could bring more than 1,000 jobs to the area.

Gregory Godic, B.S.I.T. ’10, is an industrial engineer at Empire Die Casting Co., Inc. in Macedonia, Ohio.

He is in charge of all bills of materials, routings, work instructions, labor rates, and job cost analyses.

Larry Griffith, B.S.C.E. ’64, has retired after 46 years as a civil engineer, the last eight of which he spent as the city engineer of North Ridgeville, Ohio.

Wes Hines, B.S.E.E. ’85, was named interim vice chancellor for research and engagement at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, where he is a professor of nuclear engineering.

Edward B. Jackson, B.S.C.E. ’40, passed away on January 30, 2010.

Brendan Kelley, B.S.C.E. ’10, is a master’s degree candidate in the Russ College Department of Civil Engineering.

Ray Lewis, B.S.M.E. ’90, is working at Rexam Closures as the maintenance manager and manager of technical innovation.

Lauren H. Logan, B.S.E.E. ’10, received the top fellowship from Tau Beta Pi, the nation’s second-oldest honor society. Logan was awarded the Centennial Fellowship, given to the society’s most outstanding fellow of 219 applicants. She was a research assistant for the Russ College Bioinformatics Lab. Logan is pursuing doctoral studies in ecological sciences and engineering at Purdue.

Carla Lucchino, M.S.I.S.E. ’82, received the Ohio University Alumni Association Medal of Merit at Homecoming 2011. She is the Department of the Navy’s assistant for administration, overseeing an annual budget of about $2 billion for more than 40 Navy and Marine Corps organizations that comprise 6,000 individuals.

Charles R. Stuckey Jr., B.S.M.E. ’66, was awarded the Ohio University Foundation’s greatest honor, The John C. Baker Founder’s Award, which recognizes exemplary service to the foundation. Formerly a national trustee on the Ohio University Board of Trustees, he is chair of the campaign steering committee for the University’s The Promise Lives campaign.

Ryan Marinis, B.S.M.E. ’02, was awarded a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and has accepted a position as senior member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Wei Sun, Ph.D. ’06, received a National Association of Corrosion Engineers award for Best Paper in the Corrosion Journal during the 2011 NACE conference.

James Milton Massard, B.S.C.E. ’50, passed away on September 13, 2010.

Prithu Sundd, Ph.D. ’08, received a $90,000 post-doctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association.

James Nebraska, B.S.C.E. ’63, passed away on April 24, 2011.

Andrew J. Szink, B.S.Ch.E. ’10, is participating in the sales management development program at Actuant Corporation in Butler, Wisconsin.

Louis Overstreet, B.S.C.E. ’67, received the Ohio University Alumni Association Medal of Merit at Homecoming 2011. He is chief operating officer of RCT Engineering in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Christopher Wilkins, B.S.I.T. ’06, is the new father of Brayden Christopher Wilkins and was promoted to project manager in the Advanced Engineering in Life Sciences group at Battelle in Columbus, Ohio.

Rob Sampson, B.S.M.E. ’10, is working at Swagelok in Solon, Ohio, as an engineer in the career development program, on six-month rotations in various departments for two years.

Alexander Zychowicz, B.S.C.E. ’10, is a sales engineering and estimator at Monroe Engineering in Monroe, Michigan. He designs components for municipal clarification of water, gas, and air.

Alan Schaaf, B.S.C.S. ’10, is founder of Imgur.com (pronounced imag-er), an image-sharing website, which is now the 46th most popular site in the United States.

Daniel Silla, B.S.E.E. ’10, is a process engineer at Pilkington in Northwood, Ohio, where he improves cost effectiveness and efficiency of existing functions.

23.

COOPERATIVE EDUCATION REPORT

Junior mechanical engineering major Matt Bardeen inspects an industrial compressor at Ariel Industries.

Each year, Russ College students participate in co-ops—salaried positions at various companies where they gain real-world experience and perspectives on career paths. For the 2010–11 academic year, nearly 80 students worked in co-op assignments, choosing from 450 employers in eRecruiting®.

Civil engineering junior Erica Toussant (L) and civil engineering master’s student Ashley Chucray, B.S.C.E. ‘11, (R) on assignment with the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Highlighted Co-op Employers The Russ College thanks our co-op employers for their commitment to engineering and technology education. To get your company involved as an employer, contact the Russ College Office of Career Programs.

• 31 Gifts

• Kenworth Truck Company

• ADB Airfield Solutions

• Kokosing Construction Company

• AK Steel

• Lockheed Martin

• AEP

• Marathon Petroleum Company LLC

• Abbott Labs

• Michelin

• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)

• Microsoft

• Allegheny Energy

• Moen, Inc.

• Ariel Corporation

• Momentive Performance Materials

• BBC & M Engineering

• Montgomery County Sanitary Engineering

The Russ College Office of Career

• NASA (various locations)

Programs offers students the use of

• National Security Agency

eRecruiting®, a Web-based, 24/7

• Boeing Company • Buckeye Power, Inc. • Component Repair Technologies, Inc. • Diagnostic Hybrids • Diamond Power Specialty Company • E. I. Dupont • Federal Highway Administration • FirstEnergy • GKN Sinter Metals • General Electric • Glatfelter • Honda of America Motor Manufacturing

24.

• Northrop Grumman • Ohio Coal Research Center • Ohio Department of Transportation

comprehensive career management system that connects Russ College

• PCC Airfoils

students with employers for co-op

• Rockwell Collins

opportunities. For more information

• RoviSys

or to sign up, contact the Office of

• Toyota Motor Manufacturing

Career Programs at coop@ohio.edu or

• Wright Patterson Air Force Base

740.593.2533.