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Features 22 Launching Inspiration Student starts rocket contest for middle schools 24 Opening Borders Group from UA, first engineering students
to study in Cuba since the revolution
28 Pitching Code
Computer science student designs app for baseball, starts company
30 Tide Continues to Roll Astrobotics win another championship
Departments 2 Dean’s Message 3 Surveying the College
Noteworthy news and research from UA Engineering
15 Currents
Events from around the College
34 Alumni Dynamics
Items of interest to Capstone engineers and computer scientists
47 Bits and Bytes
The College from outside
48 End User
{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2017}
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Dean’s Message
Dear Alumni and Friends, We talk a lot about strengthening graduate education and research programs these days, and for good reason. Graduating students with Ph.D.’s helps our educational mission, our research offering and economic development. At the same time, though, we will not sacrifice our commitment to the thousands of young people who choose The University of Alabama College of Engineering for their undergraduate education. The caliber of students coming to our bachelor’s programs is incredible, and it shows in the sort of success they have while at the Capstone. Alabama Astrobotics continues to shine winning the NASA Robotic Mining Competition for the third time in 2016, more than any other collegiate team. Our EcoCAR 3 team did well in its second-year contest, winning 11 first place categories. A team of students qualified for the 2016 SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition, and two student teams were chosen for the 2016 NASA Micro-G Next competition at the Johnson Space Center. Our Formula and Baja SAE teams continue to improve. We also encourage innovation and creative problem-solving among our students. A senior in computer science, Matt Bowen, has filed patents for a software program he wrote that creates a virtual umpire for consumer use, and he and some of his friends here have created a company to sell the technology. Jared Cassity and Patrick Powell, two recent graduates, have taken an idea they helped develop as seniors with Jeff Allen, head trainer of UA Athletics, into a company that sells medical sideline tents to sports teams. Nagaraj Hegde and Matthew Bries in electrical engineering placed third at the TI Innovation Challenge Design Contest in North America for designing and crafting a wireless shoe insole that monitors activity users can track on a mobile phone app. These are just some examples of the success of our students. They are proof that the hard work to improve our undergraduate offerings over the past decade is benefiting them, us and our society.
Dr. Charles L. Karr Dean
Capstone Engineering Society 205-348-2452 Selina S. Lee, Chair, Board of Directors • Charles L. Karr, PhD, Dean, College of Engineering • Nancy Holmes, Manager, Capstone Engineering Society • Adam Jones, Editor • Judah Martin, Writer • Issue No. 54 • Capstone Engineer is published in the spring and fall by the Capstone Engineering Society. • Sarah O’Mary, Designer • Adam Jones, Proofreader • Jeff Hanson, Bryan Hester, Zach Riggins, Matthew Wood, Photography • Address correspondence to the editor: The University of Alabama, Capstone Engineering Society, College of Engineering, Box 870200, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0200 website at eng.ua.edu. The University of Alabama is an equal-opportunity educational institution/employer. • MC8983
•
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• Visit the College of Engineering
Surveying the College
Surveying the College Noteworthy news and research from UA Engineering
{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2017 }
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Surveying the College
Previous page: Dr. Michael Kreger, director of the Large Scale Structures Lab, speaks to the media and guests before a demonstration of NASA technology being tested in the lab. Above: The SidelinER was created in collaboration between the UA College of Engineering and UA Athletics, and is an example of the kind of project anticipated from I-CAST.
UA Trustees Establish Sport Technology Research Center The University of Alabama will be home to a new center whose researchers will study the intersection of sports and technology, involving Crimson Tide athletics in an innovative approach to improve training and performance of athletes across the world. The UA System Board of Trustees approved the Integrative Center for Athletic and Sport Technology, or I-CAST, at its meeting in June, establishing the research center devoted to the development of new technologies and the application of existing technologies for the purposes of reducing injury, accelerating recovery from injury, enhancing human performance and optimizing nutrition in performance and recovery. The central theme of research and development of new technologies directly associated with competitive sports gives UA faculty, staff and students the opportunity to be part of the first such
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research center in the nation. I-CAST leadership and participants will be drawn from across campus, reflecting the interdisciplinary mission of the center. Researchers from the Colleges of Engineering, Education and Human Environmental Sciences will be part of I-CAST along with trainers and staff from UA Athletics and UA Adapted Athletics.
UA Engineering Assisting NASA with Test of Spin-Off Technology Engineers with NASA used the Large Scale Structures Lab, LSSL, in the College of Engineering to help develop a spin-off technology aimed at girding structures against earthquakes. NASA tested what is called a Disruptive Tuned Mass, or DTM, technology to demonstrate the new technology’s capabilities to mitigate a building’s response to earthquakes. Originally developed to solve a severe vibration issue on a rocket, NASA’s new
Surveying the College
Student members of UA’s EcoCAR 3 team celebrate for a photo after the Second-Year Competition, where the team won 11 first-place awards.
DTM technology has potential for applications across multiple industries. Civil structures are a natural fit. As steels get stronger and construction techniques make buildings lighter, vibration control will be needed on more buildings.
UA Student Team Racks Up Awards in National Vehicle Contest
A team of UA students in a competition among North American universities to design and construct an advanced, energy-efficient vehicle was recognized with several first-place awards after completing the second year of a four-year program. The UA team in the EcoCAR 3 program placed first in 11 categories including the Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, the National Science Foundation Innovation Award and the General Motors Women in Engineering Award. The awards were given during the Second-Year Competition in Yuma, Arizona, and San Diego, California, The team was also recognized as the top
communications program for the year. “There is a lot to be proud of from year-two competition,” said Joshua Stoddard, the engineering manager for UA EcoCAR 3 from Memphis, Tennessee. “Our awards demonstrate a strong team through various areas — communication, management and technical.” In 2014, UA was selected as one of 16 institutions to participate in EcoCAR 3, an engineering competition sponsored by General Motors Co. and the U.S. Department of Energy. The competition challenges students to create a car that uses less energy and emits less pollution without sacrificing performance, safety or consumer appeal.
Baker Receives UA Engineering’s Hackney Leadership Award
The UA College of Engineering’s Dr. John Baker, head of the
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Surveying the College
Dr. John Baker, head of the aerospace engineering and mechanics department, speaks at a reception after receiving the 2016 T. Morris Hackney Endowed Faculty Leadership Award.
department of aerospace engineering and mechanics, was the 2016 T. Morris Hackney Endowed Faculty Leadership Award recipient. The T. Morris Hackney Endowed Faculty Leadership Award honors a faculty member who exemplifies the constant guidance and leadership necessary to make the College of Engineering exceptional. Before his appointment in 2013 to his current position, Baker was a professor in the department of mechanical engineering and an adjunct professor in aerospace engineering and mechanics. He teaches thermodynamics courses at the undergraduate and graduate level along with heat transfer courses and elective courses in rocket propulsion and other space exploration-related topics. Baker has taught engineering at the University since 2001 and has been campus director for the Alabama Space Grant Consortium since 2004. In 2009, Baker was made a full professor in the College of Engineering. His research interests include heat transfer, fluid dynamics, propulsion and computational modeling/simulation. He has 6
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worked extensively with NASA and directed students on spacerelated projects. He authored or co-authored more than 70 papers in journals and conference proceedings, and he has been part of 34 external grants and contracts since coming to UA. Baker is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Society of Engineering Educators. This award was created as a tribute to T. Morris Hackney and was made possible by the contributions from John H. Josey and his son, Howard Josey.
UA Engineering Alumni Outstanding Senior
Honor
Stephen Peter Rowe, who graduated in 2016, was selected for the 2016 Capstone Engineering Society Outstanding Senior Award. Along with the award, Rowe was given a $500 stipend to honor
Surveying the College
Stephen Peter Rowe, center, winner of the 2016 CES Outstanding Senior Award, graduated in mechanical engineering and plans to pursue a career in mechanical design. He is presented the award by Dr. Charles L. Karr, dean of the College of Engineering, left, and Nancy Holmes, right, manager of the Capstone Engineering Society.
his achievements. A graduate of Westbrook Christian School in Gadsden, Rowe earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Rowe earned the rank of Eagle Scout with the Boy Scouts before graduating high school, and he came to UA on Presidential, Engineering Leadership and Alumni Scholar Award scholarships. A student in the UA Honors College, Rowe was inducted into the national mechanical engineering honor society, Pi Tau Sigma, as well as Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society. While at UA, he completed a Cooperative Education rotation with BMW Manufacturing Co. in Greer, South Carolina, and he also interned with Fitz-Thors Engineering in Bessemer. Rowe co-authored a successful proposal to NASA for a team of UA students to participate in the Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams contest and led the team’s design of a space-walking tool for the Asteroid Redirect Mission. The CES began the Outstanding Senior Award in 1986 to honor an exceptional student who deserves distinction among
his or her peers. An outstanding student is selected from the 11 academic programs in the College, and the overall winner is determined by a selection committee after assessing each student’s academic performance, professional and technical activities, College leadership, external leadership and other activities.
ME Professor Wins NSF CAREER Awards
The National Science Foundation selected Dr. Alexey Volkov for a CAREER Award for his research. The multi-year award funds both basic research and outreach efforts. Volkov, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is receiving $500,000 to study ceramic-based nanocomposite materials. With funding from his CAREER Award, Volkov is developing a number of computer models that simulate specific ways to enhance ceramic-based nanocomposite materials, deepening scientific understanding of the process of material fabrication
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Surveying the College
With funding from his CAREER Award, Dr. Alexey N. Volkov in mechanical engineering is developing a number of computer models that simulate specific ways to enhance ceramic-based nanocomposite materials.
while also showing a way to make the materials stronger and more durable for certain applications, such as within the aerospace industry. Through developing a computational model as a virtual lab, Volkov hopes to better understand gas-assisted material synthesis for producing nanocomposited materials. This could help in crafting lighter multifunctional materials with the durability and strength surpassing those used currently in the aerospace industry, which could help spacecraft shave weight for travel beyond Earth’s orbit.
UA Researchers Expand Opportunities with Upgraded Atom Probe Technology
A new, powerful microscope recently installed at the University will expand exploration into nanotechnology and geological sciences, helping research and spurring economic development. UA acquired the newest generation Local Electron Atom 8
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Probe, or LEAP, in early 2016. This microscope shows researchers the location and distribution of atoms in materials. Unlike the previous LEAP at UA, the new instrument, the CAMECA LEAP 5000, provides tremendous versatility that reveals a more detailed atomic map of a material with the ability to probe such geological materials as fossils and minerals. “UA is the first academic institution in the Western Hemisphere to acquire a LEAP 5000, and it keeps UA at the leading edge of nanoscience and nanotechnology,” said Dr. Carl A. Pinkert, vice president for research and economic development. “Elevating our research capabilities with a new instrument will open up international collaborations for our faculty and give our students greater opportunities to work with advanced technology.” The LEAP 5000 is set up in UA’s Central Analytical Facility, a research lab dedicated to nanoscale characterization — studying and manipulating materials that can be 1,000 times smaller than a human hair.
Surveying the College
Rich Martens, manager of the UA Central Analytical Facility, demonstrates the CAMECA LEAP 5000, housed in the Tom Bevill Energy, Mineral and Materials Science Research Building.
Students Earn National Scholarships
The impressive run of undergraduate students in the College of Engineering earning nationally-prestigious scholarships continued last year. Two students were selected as Goldwater Scholars while another was named a Hollings Scholar. Also, one student was the first UA student chosen for a Hertz Fellowship. Two chemical engineering students, Andrew Raddatz from Austin, Texas, and Jacob M. Robinson from Dexter, Missouri, were chosen by the Goldwater Foundation for scholarships in 20162017. Raddatz conducted research with cancer stem cells while at UA. Robinson is pursuing a career focused on researching novel screening methods and treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. The one- or two-year scholarships will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 a year to encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in research in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. The College ranked among the top 10 of similar colleges and
first in Alabama in the number of students honored as Goldwater Scholars over the past decade. Tzofi Klinghoffer of Wilton, New Hampshire, received the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship for 2016-2018. The scholarship provides $9,500 a year for full-time study during the junior and senior years and $7,000 for a 10-week internship at NOAA or a NOAA-approved facility during the summer between the junior and senior years. Since the program’s inception in 2005, UA has had more engineering and computer science students named Hollings Scholars than any institution. Klinghoffer studies computer science with minors in international studies and Chinese. He focuses on the development of network protocols to optimize underwater communication. Also, Sarah McFann from Arlington, Tennessee, received an elite Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Fellowship for 2016. McFann is the first UA student to be named a recipient of the award that has been presented to fewer than 1,200 students in its 53-year
{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2017 }
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Surveying the College
From left, Dr. Carl A. Pinkert, UA vice president for research and economic development, and Joan A. “Jody” Singer, deputy director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, sign a Space Act Agreement in a ceremony in the North Engineering Research Center.
history. McFann, who graduated in chemical engineering, was chosen for the fellowship from a field of more than 800 students from top universities nationwide who will pursue doctorates in science, engineering and mathematics. Winners are selected for their intellect, ingenuity and potential to bring meaningful improvement to society and are encouraged to pursue science for the public good. The foundation provides doctoral tuition and stipend support for five years while offering its Fellows full research freedom. As a Hertz Fellow, McFann is pursuing her doctorate in chemical and biological engineering at Princeton University. McFann, who also minored in chemistry, biology and UA’s Computer-Based Honors Program, conducted several independent research projects that involve the development of computational cellular models to aid in optimizing bacterial cells for biobutanol production and mammalian cells to produce cancer-treating monoclonal antibodies.
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NASA, UA Sign Space Act Agreement
Students in the College of Engineering are working with NASA to enhance understanding of propulsion systems for small satellites — CubeSats — that orbit the Earth, participating in a research project that will help further scientific discovery. Joan A. “Jody” Singer, deputy director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, signed a Space Act Agreement that formally starts the project along with Dr. Carl A. Pinkert, UA vice president for research and economic development, on campus in November. The signing was part of two days of NASA events at UA including a career fair, panel discussions and technical sessions. The work laid out in the Space Act Agreement is a senior design project for a team of students in the STEM Path to the MBA, a program managed by UA’s Culverhouse College of Commerce that allows students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math to earn a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration within five years, along the way getting the chance
Surveying the College
Dr. Stuart R. Bell, UA president, speaks to members from the participating institutions of the Alabama Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, or ALSAMP. UA will administer ALSAMP, which is aimed at increasing the number of students from underrepresented minority groups in STEM fields.
to work as a group on entrepreneurial experiences. NASA, as part of its CubeSat Launch Initiative, wants to provide CubeSats with a method of propulsion, and NASA is tasking UA students with devising a method for doing so in such a way that it does not damage the satellite. The students were given equipment to test ways to keep the propellant cooled during firing, and they are analyzing and testing the technology in a lab setting.
UA Leads Effort to Spark Minority Participation in Science, Technology
The University of Alabama is now the lead institution in the state in a national effort to increase the number of students from underrepresented minority groups in the science, technology, engineering and math fields. UA was awarded a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to head the Alabama Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, or ALSAMP. To kick-off the five-year grant, UA hosted a meeting on campus among top administrators from the
participating nine universities, four community colleges and six industry partners. Dr. Viola L. Acoff, associate dean of undergraduate and graduate programs, will serve as project manager of ALSAMP. The grant, which provides about $1 million annually for five years, comes to UA, and will be distributed among ALSAMP members who will then use the funding for student support. The program awards performance-based stipends to incoming college students to help cover some tuition as well as offering a summer program, meant to be a bridge between high school and college, and a spring research conference. In the new grant cycle, ALSAMP will provide outreach activities that promote STEM fields to middle school students, funding to help minority high school and college students participate in research activities during the summer and offer a bridge program for students transferring from community colleges to four-year institutions.
{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2017 }
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Surveying the College
In Brief Distinguished University Research Professor Honored
Highly-regarded for his research and a devoted scholar, Dr. Arunava Gupta, Distinguished University Research Professor, was the 2016 recipient of the Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award, one of the highest honors bestowed on professors at the University. Gupta, who holds a joint appointment in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences and College of Engineering and is associate director of UA’s Center for Materials for Information Technology, or MINT, is widely known for his expertise in investigating thin films and nanostructured materials for use in information technology and energy applications.
DOE Selects Graduate for Fellowship
A recent graduate from the College of Engineering was one of 27 students nationwide selected for a highly competitive graduate fellowship in computational science from the U.S. Department of Energy. Thomas Ludwig, who graduated with a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering in May, was chosen for the Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship. Originally from Brunswick, Ohio, Ludwig was also a student in UA’s Computer-Based Honors Program.
NSF Selects Graduates Competitive Fellowships
for
Two recent graduates accepted admittance to the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Sarah McFann from Arlington, Tennessee, and Samantha Tilson from Littleton, Colorado, both in chemical and biological engineering, were two of 2,000 NSF Graduate Research Fellows selected from more than 13,000 applicants. The students from UA received financial support for graduate studies.
UA Announces 2016 Premier Award Winners
Shuwen Yue, chemical engineering and chemistry graduate from Tuscaloosa, received the 2016 Catherine J. Randall Award that is given to the most outstanding graduating senior at UA. It
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Clockwise from top left: Dr. Arunava Gupta, Thomas Ludwig, Samantha Tilson and Sarah McFann
is the seventh consecutive year a student from the UA College of Engineering was recognized with the award.
AEM Professor Selected for Leadership Position with Composites Group
Dr. Samit Roy, the William D. Jordan Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics, was elected to head a technical division within the American Society for Composites, or ASC. The ASC Executive Committee selected Roy as the chair of the Emerging Composites Technologies Division. The main goal of the Emerging Composite Technologies Division is to serve as a focal point for new developments in composites, including nanostructured composites, and provide an interactive forum to communicate technical information.
Surveying the College
Retirements Dr. Marcus Brown,
associate professor of computer science, retired after more than 27 years of service to UA. Prior to coming to UA, Brown was a campus minister at Northeastern Oklahoma State University and then worked as a programmer and earned his Ph.D. at Texas A&M University. His research centered in the human-computer interface, seeking to make computer tools better suited to help humans complete their tasks. During two summers as a Summer Faculty Fellow at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, he researched navigation of large information spaces and training applications in virtual environments. This research led to his invited participation in two conferences to set future research agendas in the area of virtual reality for NASA and NSF. He made discoveries in the area of user authentication using typing characteristics, with significant implications for computer security.
Dr. S. Rocky Durrans,
professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, retired after 25 years at UA. Durrans has a doctorate from the University of Colorado. His main research emphasis lies in development and application of probabilistic and statistical methods for civil and environmental engineering problems. His specific focus has been on statistical modeling of hydrologic and meteorologic extremes, including floods, low-flows (droughts) and extreme precipitation. Research projects and public service activities include hydrologic and meteorologic extremes with prediction of flood frequency relationships downstream of regulating structures and with assessment of the potential effects of climatic change and climatic variability.
Dr. John E. Jackson Jr., professor of aerospace
engineering and mechanics, retired after 26 years at the University. Jackson earned all three of his degrees from UA, earning a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering in 1971, master’s degree in engineering mechanics in 1973 and a doctorate in engineering mechanics in 1977. After finishing his studies on campus, Jackson joined TVA in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1976 as a mechanical engineer, leaving in 1978 to join the mechanical engineering faculty at Clemson University. In 1990, he became a full professor at Clemson and subsequently returned to his alma mater to head the department of aerospace engineering and mechanics the same year. He stepped down as head of the department in 1998 to head a
Clockwise from top left: Dr. Marcus Brown, Dr. Rocky Durrans, Dr. John Jackson, Dr. Phillip Johnson, Dr. Alan Lane and Dr. Allen Parrish
lab that established research agreements between UA and Redstone Arsenal. A registered Professional Engineer in Tennessee, his research interests include aircraft structural analysis, finite element methods, plasticity, structural stability, deformation processing of materials and MEMS gyroscopes.
Dr. Philip W. Johnson, associate professor of
civil, construction and environmental engineering, retired after 26 years at the University. Johnson has the unusual distinction of having been honored for teaching excellence in three different departments at UA – mineral engineering in 1992, chemical engineering in 2000 and civil engineering in 2007. He conducted and published research on high-speed centrifuges, advanced materials, turbo machinery, heat transfer, cuttings transport in drilling, using air as a drilling fluid,
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Surveying the College coal permeability, mine ventilation, multiphase and transient flow in porous media, remediation of oily soils, carbon sequestration, waterjet drilling, highway warranties, lightweight fill, construction change orders and engineering education. Johnson trained professionals from major international oil companies in countries across the globe, and was often quoted in national and international media as an expert on the oil industry. He visited more than 80 countries through his professional experiences and travels, and he worked to offer similar opportunities to his students. A strong supporter of service learning, he founded the Alabama chapter of Engineers Without Borders, now Student Engineers in Action, with his colleague and wife Dr. Pauline Johnson.
Dr. Alan M. Lane,
professor of chemical and biological engineering, retired with nearly 30 years of service to UA. Prior to coming to the University, he worked for Union Carbide Corporation, Battelle’s Pacific Northwest Laboratories and Pacific Northwest Testing Laboratories. He was a visiting scholar at Boise Cascade Corp. in 1990, Qingdao Institute of Chemical Technology in 1993, the University of Wales in 1995 and Argonne National Laboratory in 1999. His academic research projects covered a broad spectrum of chemical reaction engineering, especially heterogeneous catalysis: chemical reactions during metal casting, dioxin formation during waste incineration, selective synthesis gas reactions, green manufacturing, diffusion in porous media, hydrogen production for fuel cells and fuel cell electrode reactions. His teaching interests focused in chemical reaction engineering. Lane also performs as singer-songwriter Doobie “Doghouse” Wilson, and would often perform for his students.
New to the College Dr. Xiaowen Wang, assistant professor, AEM Dr. Ju-Won Jeon, assistant professor, ChBE Dr. Zhe Jiang, assistant professor, CS Dr. Aaron Brovont, assistant professor, ECE Dr. Mithat Kisacikoglu, assistant professor, ECE
Dr. Stephen Yan, assistant professor, ECE Dr. Steven Daniewicz, professor, ME Dr. Vishesh Vikas, assistant professor, ME
Dr. Allen Parrish, professor of computer science, Dr. Ruigang Wang, associate professor, MTE
retired from UA to become the founding head of the department of cyber science at the United States Naval Academy. Parrish came to UA in 1990 to teach computer science. In 2000, he became the director of the CARE Research and Development Laboratory, which became the Center for Advanced Public Safety, or CAPS, in 2009. Through Parrish’s vision and direction, CAPS evolved its portfolio into a myriad of research and software products and services in the areas of traffic safety, law enforcement, homeland security, criminal justice and, most recently, health and human services. In 2015, he was named associate vice president for research at UA. He was the recipient of the 2012 T. Morris Hackney Endowed Faculty Leadership Award from the College of Engineering and, in 2013, was recognized as a Fellow of CSAB, the lead society for accreditation of degree programs in computer science.
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Currents Events from Around the College
{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2017 }
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Currents
Previous page and bottom left: Students from across the Southeast participated in the Chem E Car contest at the Bryant Conference Center on campus as part of the AIChE conference. Top and bottom right: Student teams compete in the ASCE and American Institute of Steel Construction Steel Bridge Competition on campus as part of the ASCE Southeast Student Conference.
UA hosts ASCE Conference
The American Society of Civil Engineers Southeast Student Conference was held on campus in March 2016, bringing at least 800 students and close to 200 other attendees from 26 schools. A committee of UA engineering students developed, planned and hosted the conference, the University’s first time hosting the conference since 2005. Among the events were contests for concrete canoe and steel bridge.
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AIChE held at UA
The regional conference for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers was hosted on campus in the spring and included the annual Chem E Car contest. About 375 students and professors from 20 institutions attended the AIChE Southern Regional Conference, which was hosted by students from the UA chapter.
Currents
Top and bottom right: High school students competed in a design contest at the UA Rec Center during SITE camp in the summer. Bottom left: More than 150 grade-school students participated in the Alabama Robotics Contest. The keynote speaker was Dr. Nan Boden, center, director of engineering at Google, who graduated from UA with a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics.
CS hosts robotics contest
In April 2016, the College and the Department of Computer Science hosted the annual Alabama Robotics Competion at the Bryant Conference Center at UA. In all, 42 teams participated from 30 different schools bringing 155 students with more than 250 parents and teachers. Students program robots, hoping their instructions are good enough to win the contest. The competition, which is in its sixth year and open to students from kindergarten through 12th grade, is meant to spur interest in computer science among the state’s primary and secondary education students, said Dr. Jeff Gray, professor of computer science.
Students introduced to engineering
The College hosted about 150 rising juniors and seniors in high school for the Student Introduction to Engineering, or SITE, a summer camp of three week-long sessions. SITE students live in residence halls and engage in team exercises. They attend minicourses in mathematics, engineering, computer science and English. As part of the camp, students participate in a design competition, and this year students designed boats made of cardboard boxes, garbage bags and packing tape and tested them at the UA Recreation Pool.
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Currents
Top and bottom left: Students and parents had an opportunity to tour labs as part of the annual E-Day. Bottom right: Alumni gathered on the Quad as part of the annual Homecoming Tailgate. Opposite page: In the Alabama Robotics Competition, students were challenged with programming robots.
Crowd comes for annual E-Day
The College of Engineering hosted about 1,000 prospective students, parents, teachers and counselors at the annual Engineering Day, or E-Day. The College’s open house gives prospective students a closer look at the College, and participants receive a realistic view of how engineering skills are used in everyday life. Lunch was generously provided by McAbee Pigfitters.
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Alumni return for homecoming tailgate College of Engineering alumni and friends returned to the Capstone for the annual homecoming tailgate on Oct. 10, before the Crimson Tide’s victory over the Kentucky Wildcats. The tailgate was held on the UA Quad. It was one of three tailgates hosted by the Capstone Engineering Sociecty during the 2016 football season.
Currents
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COLLEGE OF E N G I N E E R I N G by t he n um b ers COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ENROLLMENT 6000
UA VS. COE ENROLLMENT
BY CLASSIFICATION TOTAL UNDERGRADUATE GRADUATE
5000 4000
COE Enrollment
3000
UA Enrollment
37,665
2000
5,882
1000 0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
2012 2013
2014
2015
2016
WOMEN IN COE
BY DEGREE (UNDERGRADUATE ONLY)
COE Undergraduate Enrollment
Female Undergraduate Enrollment
5,882
1,335
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING COMPUTER SCIENCE
CIVIL, CONSTRUCTION, ENVIRONMENTAL AND ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING
NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARS IN BACHELOR’S PROGRAMS
CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
250
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS UNDESIGNATED
200 150 100 50 2007
2008
2009
2010
2011 2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
NO.1
IN HOLLINGS SCHOLARS
FROM ENGINEERING AND
COMPUTER SCIENCE
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DRIVING INNOVATION HONORS COLLEGE STUDENTS 2016
UNDERGRADUATES ON MERIT-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS
2,778
2015
8,722 7,731
2,445 2,015
2014
0
ENGINEERING
5,672
2012 1,362 2011 1,048
5000
TOTAL
6,374
1,720
2013
5500
6,965
4,903
ENROLLMENT SCHOLARS
4500 4000
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
3500 3000
DEGREES AWARDED
• • •
22 88 334
• • •
19 98 366
• • •
34 101 362
• • •
31 88 468
• • •
33 75 503
• • •
2500
41 97 747
2000
PHD MASTER’S BACHELOR’S
1500 1000 500
444
TOTAL 10-11
30
483
497
11-12
12-13
TOTAL
TOTAL
587
TOTAL 13-14
611
TOTAL 14-15
885
0
TOTAL
MEAN ACT SCORE FOR ENTERING FRESHMEN
30
27.1
SINCE 2006,
24.6
CAPSTONE ENGINEERING SOCIETY (CES) HAS AWARDED
ENGINEERING
20
UA AVERAGE
2007
14-15 15-16 16-17
15-16
26.3
25
11-12 12-13 13-14
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
THE AVERAGE STARTING
SALARY FOR COLLEGE
GRADUATES
2016
$465,924 IN SCHOLARSHIPS
$63,123
{ Capstone Engineer • Winter 2016 }
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By Adam Jones and Judah Martin
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hen Cassidy McCool was 4, her grandfather asked what she wanted to be when she grew up. Like most preschool children, McCool had no clue. “He said, ‘why don’t you be an astronaut?’” she recalls. “I don’t know what it is about that, but I always held on to it.” Growing up, McCool would study astronomy and space exploration on her own, watching documentaries and reading books her parents bought her. Now a junior in mechanical engineering at The University of Alabama, McCool continues dreaming of working in the aerospace industry after graduation, but along the way, she hopes to inspire the next generation to find enthusiasm about space exploration. To do that, McCool helped found and manage the Tuscaloosa Rocketry Challenge, a program where UA students help local sixthgrade students learn about and develop simple rockets for a contest. In its second year, about 600 students in three nearby middle schools participated in the program, and McCool hopes to expand it this year. “We are obsessed with space because we want to be the people exploring the next frontier,” McCool says. “We’re the generation that’s going to send humans to Mars. We want to go above and beyond what others have done before us. We want these sixth-graders to literally shoot for the stars, and to broaden their minds because life’s not about keeping your feet on the ground.” A native of Duncanville in Tuscaloosa County, she hopes to work for NASA or a private space company after graduation, and she dreams of one day starting her own company. McCool credits her family for fostering her creativity and passion for science, but says she understands not every child has that support system. She also realizes secondary and primary schools often struggle for the resources to teach deeper science and engineering lessons. So she became ecstatic when, after becoming involved with Alabama Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, or AL SEDS, McCool was asked to help co-found an outreach program for middle school students. “[Our president] mentioned it, and I just ran away with it,” she says. “Our mission is to educate our community on the importance of space exploration. The Tuscaloosa Rocketry Challenge helps engage everyone with interest in space exploration at UA, and it gives our club a purpose.” With the help of many UA student volunteers, AL SEDS coordinated the Tuscaloosa Rocketry Challenge, initially reaching out to McCool’s former school, Hillcrest Middle School, south of
the UA campus. This year the challenge expanded to Duncanville and Echols middle schools, also in the Tuscaloosa County School System. UA students educate sixth-grade students by leading a three-day lecture series on such topics as space exploration, basic Newtonian physics and water-rocket building. On the final day, using materials such as two-liter bottles, duct tape and foam, the students are shown how to construct the rockets. The sixth-grade students formed teams and designed their own rockets for a “Battle of the Classes,” where winning teams were chosen to compete in a final challenge. About 100 students made it to the final Tuscaloosa Rocketry Challenge. During the competition, rockets launched from an airpressurized pad aimed across the football field. Afterward, UA students measure the distance each rocket traveled and helped the middle-school students identify design factors that boosted efficiency or hindered performance. The top three teams received a trophy, and members got the opportunity to come to UA and work alongside engineering students on their spacerelated projects. “There’s a lot of math involved,” McCool says. “There’s a lot of science happening, but it’s very simple, and they can understand it. They do everything. We just give them the concepts.” McCool hopes to eventually reach all the middle schools in Tuscaloosa County because teaching science is more meaningful than donating money, she says. “We could simply host a fundraiser, but you will never understand the difference you can make until you are physically in the classroom sharing what you know and love with these students,” she says. “The purpose of this program is to cultivate our students’ problem-solving abilities and to help our community realize that space exploration is relevant and impacts our lives daily.”
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A
s relations between the United States and Cuba began to thaw, The University of Alabama found itself in a unique position to reach out to universities on the island nation thanks to a long-established relationship of cultural and heritage exchange. As a result of this strengthening relationship, eight students from the UA College of Engineering spent three weeks on the campus of a Cuban university in May 2016, becoming the first engineering students from the U.S. to study in Cuba since the Cuban Revolution. “Politics are politics,” said Preston Jutte, a graduate student and BSCE ’16 who went to Cuba. “It’s the interaction between the people that can help relations and move things forward.” Preparations for the trip began in 2002, when the U.S.
Department of the Treasury issued academic travel licenses to Cuba and the University. Since then, 85 professors and 75 students have traveled to Cuba, and institutions have sent professors, staff and students to UA. In 2015, UA trustees established the Center for Cuba Collaboration and Scholarship. Faculty members from the College began taking trips to lay the groundwork for more collaboration, said Dr. Steven Jones, associate professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering. “I do a lot of international work, and I’m always interested in working in new countries,” he said. “I tell students to do these things while you’re in school.” In 2014, Jones executed an agreement with Universidad Tecnológica de La Habana, or the Technological University of Havana. “Because of the current laws, we cannot do technical
Group from UA, first engineering students to study in Cuba since the revolution By Adam Jones
or scientific research with Cubans, but we can have an educational exchange,” Jones said. “Through this program, we internationalize engineering education for our students.” Jones and Dr. Derek Williamson, associate professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, taught two courses over roughly three weeks to the eight students with assists from guest lectures by Cuban professors. The courses taught transportation and air quality, both an emphasis for Cuban engineers. “We used Havana as a living observatory to see what we were talking about in the classroom,” Williamson said. In a presentation made in Tuscaloosa this past fall on the
experience, Dr. Maria Heidi Trujillo Fernandez, coordinator of the International Collaboration Office and the International University Chair for Intercultural Development at Havana Technological University, said UA students visited cultural and historical locations with educational objectives along with visits most tourists would not see, such as difficult traffic situations in the city. “We wanted them to think about creative solutions,” she said. Along with the educational experience was a cultural experience with Cuban engineering students, which taught both groups the importance of communication in overcoming differences. “Engineers are good at technical skills, but not at cultural skills,” she said.
As part of their study abroad experience in Cuba, the UA civil engineering students visited places many tourists do not normally visit as well as more traditional locations.
“Sometimes that can hurt us in business negotiations.” Dr. José Maria Ameneiros Martínez, director of International Programs at Havana Technological University, said the experience with UA was great for both sides. “This was something that overcame our initial expectations,” he said in a presentation made in English at UA. “It is important to develop these links between North
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American and Cuban universities.” Elizabeth Hartzog, a junior in civil engineering from Orange Beach, said she wanted to go on the Cuba trip for the opportunity to experience a country few Americans visit. “It was so unknown, so for me it was the opportunity,” she said. “With a lot of other places, you can see so much on the Internet that you can sort of go without going, but you can’t do that with Cuba.” Jones and Martínez hope the relationship between their universities can grow. “The future should be related to research,” Martínez said. “We have to sustain the courses with the students, but we also have to develop relationships for joint projects.” Jones said along with the civil engineering disciplines, UA is also working to partner mechanical engineering and chemical engineering with Havana Technological University, but, for now, government regulations severely limit joint research between the two countries. “The issues are between our governments, but the people are great,” Jones said.
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Computer science student designs app for baseball, starts company
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Great ideas begin with questions, and for a University of
Alabama student, his questions led him to an invention. Now, Matt Bowen and some classmates are turning that idea into a company. “This has been way more than I could have ever imagined,” said Bowen, a senior from Huntsville. Bowen, who played baseball growing up and is an avid fan of the game, wondered why couldn’t he and countless other youth and recreational players have the same technology as the big league players and broadcasters. The answer he provided to himself — they can. Professional and other high-level baseball players and teams use cameras and computers to record a pitcher throwing the ball, analyzing that data to improve performance. Sports broadcasters use the technology to create video-game like graphics that show viewers a pitch’s speed and placement over the plate. It is an expensive technology, often out of reach for families hoping to help junior get that curve ball into the strike zone. Bowen, who studies computer science at UA, thought he could create a similar system using smart phones and laptops. As part of the UA Emerging Scholars Program, Bowen was paired with Dr. Jeff Gray, professor of computer science, his freshman year. The program provides freshmen with the opportunity to create research partnerships with UA faculty. “I got to pick a project I wanted, so I saw the strike zone technology on TV and said, ‘I want that,’” Bowen said. He wrote the code for what is now called Pitch Analyzer, which uses a camera on a smart phone or other high-res cameras to track a baseball as it travels from the pitcher to home plate, allowing the application on a computer to display the speed of the pitch and the ball’s place in the strike zone. “It’s basically a virtual umpire for everybody,” Bowen said. “It uses image size to calculate distance and the frame rate as a measure of time. From there it uses simple physics to do the math. It brings major-league analytics to the consumer level.” As a mentor to several Emerging Scholars, Gray helps students take what they learn in the classroom to a more practical application. Bowen was different, he said. For one, he came from Bob Jones High School near Huntsville that offers computer science classes. Two, Bowen had the idea for the pitching app from the get-go and did not need help finding a project.
“This may not have happened without Emerging Scholars, but Matt was a little bit different case than most,” Gray said. “I guided him a little, but mostly I just had to get out of his way.”
Seeing the value of the application, Gray got Bowen to several computing conferences, including the nationally competitive Association for Computing Machinery Student Research Competition in 2015 where Bowen placed second for his work. The conferences helped Bowen discover the possible value of the program, and helped him refine his presentation, Bowen said. “I knew it was a great project, and he had a great shot at some of these academic conferences,” Gray said. “You could tell there was some commercial appeal.” Earlier this year, Bowen and two of his friends in computer science formed PA Software, a company to sell and market the Pitch Analyzer. Jacob Zarobsky, a senior from Chicago, Illinois, and Andrew White, a junior from Louisville, Kentucky, worked to set up a cloud database to store the information created from the pitches for customers, allowing users to find trends in the data over a longer timeline of pitching sessions. “We added that as a service to our customers,” Zarobsky said. Also on the team is Will Bowen, who graduated in 2014 from UA with a degree in aerospace engineering and works in the Huntsville area. He is also Matt Bowen’s brother. In August, the group filed for a patent, and received support from a private investor who found PA Software while searching for similar intellectual property. For now, PA Software offers the program for laptop or desktop computers that work with a mobile camera, but the next steps include refining the application to use on Apple iPhones and developing the application for Android-based systems. Bowen has also created and filed a patent for a similar program for hitting, so the team is improving that application to be sold. Bowen did not come to college to start a business, but the lessons he and the team learned along the way have been invaluable. “It’s a lot harder than it looks, but if it were easier, everyone would do it,” he said.
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UA ROBOTICS TEAM HAS SUCCESSFUL YEAR BY ADAM JONES
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here’s a team of students at The University of Alabama who have won multiple national titles in recent years and perform at a high level. This team doesn’t play football, though. It creates and competes with robots. Alabama Astrobotics won its third national title at a NASA robotics contest in 2016, the second championship in a row. In fact, in the contest's seven years, the team from the University is the only team to win it more than once. “Our successes are the result of having talented, dedicated students who recognize the value of hard work and who are not afraid to put in the hours necessary to be successful," said Dr. Kenneth Ricks, UA associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and team adviser. “Our students understand the commitment required, and they have demonstrated they are willing to do the work.” Made up of students from across engineering disciplines, computer science and other areas of campus, along with
students from Shelton State Community College, Alabama Astrobotics bested student teams from 45 other institutions in the challenge to build a robot capable of navigating and excavating simulated Martian soil at the 2016 NASA Robotic Mining Competition at Kennedy Space Center. Robots are judged not only on how much simulated soil they can dig and deposit into bins but also on their ability to operate on their own, or autonomously. The robots are also judged on size and weight, and Alabama Astrobotics built a robot that performed well in all three areas. The team placed first in the categories of mining, autonomy and technical presentation. “Every year the level of competition improves across the board,” Ricks said. “What separated the UA robot from the others is that it performed well in all three areas: digging and collecting; robot mass; and autonomy. That combination was unequaled by the competition.” Even with the success in the mining competition, the team
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Previous page: Some members of Alabama Astrobotics pose for a photo on Butler Field at UA. Above: The robot built for NASA Sample Return could pick up objects as part of the contest. Below: 2016-17 team leader Joe Kabalin, now a senior in mechanical engineering, works with 2015-16 team lead Caleb Leslie, then a graduate student in electrical engineering, in the Astrobotics workshop in Hardaway Hall.
was not finished with NASA contests. The team turned its attention to a different NASA challenge, the Sample Return Robot Challenge. Both contests required the students to build robots capable of collecting samples from the ground. Team members said the overlap between the contests
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improved both robots they built over the past year. “There were members of the team who wanted a new problem to solve, so tackling Sample Return has given us that opportunity,” said Caleb Leslie, a graduate student in electrical and computer engineering who served as team lead for Alabama Astrobotics at the time. In the mining contest, robots can be controlled by human operators, although UA’s team was the only one to complete the challenge with a self-guided robot. In Sample Return, robots are required to operate on their own to locate and retrieve specific sample types from locations over a wide and varied terrain and return those samples to a designated zone within two hours with limited mapping data. Leslie said the contest takes place over an area roughly the size of UA’s Quad, and the samples the robots have to collect range from colored rocks to metallic objects. “It’s just an entirely different problem,” he said. “You learn little pieces between each one
that contribute to the other, but the biggest carry over are some of our localization algorithms and the way we can see our environment and move around.” The contest is divided into two levels. In June 2016, Alabama Astrobotics became the first team in the five-year history of the challenge to successfully advance to Level 2 on its first try. The team’s robot also completed the challenge the fastest, clocking in at 6 minutes and 15 seconds. Only five of the 18 teams, comprised of citizen inventors, university teams, families and small businesses, who competed in the challenge last year advanced to the final round. Only seven teams ever made it to Level 2 in the contest’s history, including the UA students. The team did not win the contest, but Joe Kabalin, a
senior in mechanical engineering from Cincinnati, Ohio, and team lead for Alabama Astrobotics this year, said the lessons provided were invaluable. “We are learning every day how to do new things,” Kabalin said. “We take what we learn in class and apply it in a practical way.”
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Alumni Dynamics Items of interest to Capstone engineers and computer scientists
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Alumni Dynamics
The 2016 Distinguished Engineering Fellows are, from left, Robert Drummond, Vicki A. Hollub, Terry K. Spencer, Pierce H. Norton II and Jonathan B. Sharpe.
Five Honored as Distinguished Engineers
The University of Alabama College of Engineering honored five alumni by inducting them into its 2016 class of Distinguished Engineering Fellows. Each year, the College of Engineering inducts a select group of alumni and friends as Distinguished Engineering Fellows. Recognition as a Distinguished Fellow is the highest commendation given to graduates and others who have strengthened the reputation of the College of Engineering through their efforts. Since the recognition’s inception more than 25 years ago, fewer than 400 individuals have been recognized as Distinguished Engineering Fellows. The 2016 class includes Robert Drummond, of Houston, Texas; Vicki A. Hollub, of Houston, Texas; Pierce H. Norton II, of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Jonathan B. Sharpe, of Huntsville; and Terry K. Spencer, of Tulsa, Oaklahoma. Robert Drummond, president and CEO of Key Energy Services, is an accomplished executive with extensive oilfield business experience in operations, sales management and strategic planning. Drummond has leveraged his engineering background to lead two oil and energy companies. He graduated from the University in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in mineral engineering, petroleum option. He went
to Louisiana to join Schlumberger North America, taking increasing responsibility until he was selected as president of Schlumberger North America, which had 23,000 employees across 16 business units with revenues more than $16 billion annually. After 31 years, he retired from Schlumberger in June 2015 to become president and chief operating officer for Key Energy Services in Houston, which provides well intervention services with operations in the U.S., Latin America, the Middle East and Russia. In March of this year, he was named CEO. Vicki A. Hollub has been president and CEO of Occidental Petroleum Corp., since April 2016. She is responsible for all operations, the financial management of the company and for creating and implementing the company’s strategy. Occidental is an international oil and gas exploration and production company, and one of the largest oil and gas companies based on equity market capitalization in the United States. Hollub brings nearly 35 years of experience to her role at Occidental, having previously held a variety of management and technical responsibilities on three continents. Hollub was elected to the board of directors in 2015. A native of Bessemer, Hollub graduated from UA in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in mineral engineering, petroleum option, and joined Cities Services, which was acquired by Occidental in 1982.
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Alumni Dynamics
Members of the College of Engineering Leadership Board will fund a graduate fellowship in honor of Dean Karr, center holding the award. The fellowship was announced at the annual banquet for Distinguished Engineering Fellows.
Pierce H. Norton II, president and CEO of ONE Gas, is a native of Heflin and earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University in 1982. Norton worked for several companies in the energy industry before, in 2004, joining ONEOK, a diversified energy company and general partner of ONEOK Partners, a national leader in the gathering, processing, storage and transportation of natural gas and natural gas liquids. At ONEOK, Norton held roles of increasing responsibility and, in 2011, was appointed executive vice president and chief operating officer of ONEOK and ONEOK Partners. In January 2014, ONEOK spun off its natural gas distribution business to form ONE Gas headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Today, Norton is president and chief executive officer of ONE Gas, one of the largest publicly traded, 100-percent regulated natural gas utilities in the United States. Jonathan B. Sharpe is Huntsville site director and director of Weapon Systems Integration at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. In a career dedicated to our nation’s civil space and missile defense programs, Sharpe developed and implemented innovative solutions to challenging problems, along the way strengthening human spaceflight capabilities and contributing to improved national and allied security. Sharpe began work with Lockheed Martin after graduating in chemical engineering from The University of Alabama in 1984. He has been part of several initiatives with the company, including work 36
{ The University of Alabama }
on the NASA Space Shuttle Program, where he provided support to more than 100 launches, ultimately serving as director of Lockheed Martin’s Civil Space operations at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. In 2010, he was named the Huntsville Site director and director of Weapon Systems Integration for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Missile Systems and Advanced Programs business unit. He oversees operations of the Huntsville site with over 600 employees and teammates. Terry K. Spencer, president and CEO of ONEOK and ONEOK Partners, is responsible for the organizations’ operations and support functions, including corporate planning and development, human resources, information technology, corporate services along with investor relations and public affairs. He is a member of the ONEOK Partners board of directors. Originally founded in 1906, ONEOK in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a Fortune 500 company involved in the natural gas and natural gas liquids industry. A native of Moundville, he graduated from The University of Alabama in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in mineral engineering, petroleum option. After his studies, he went on to hold positions of increasing responsibility in the natural gas gathering and processing industry before joining ONEOK in 2001. He became president in January 2012.
Alumni Dynamics
Selina S. Lee, outgoing chair of the CES Board of Directors, was honored as the Outstanding Alumni Volunteer at the Distinguished Engineering Fellows banquet.
Lee Recognized as Outstanding Alumni Volunteer
The UA College of Engineering recognized Selina S. Lee as the 2016 Outstanding Alumni Volunteer. She has demonstrated her consistent loyalty to the College of Engineering, and in 2015 she was elected to a two-year term as chair of the Capstone Engineering Society board of directors. Eastern Division’s general manager for Alabama Power Co., she earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from UA in 1990 and has been part of the CES Board of Directors since 2003. In 1995, the UA College of Engineering began a yearly tradition recognizing an alumnus who provided excellent volunteer assistance as the Outstanding Alumni Volunteer. While a member of CES, Lee has served on the Outstanding Senior Selection Committee, participated at CES Networking Receptions and serves as an alumni mentor in the Mentor UPP: Undergraduate Professional Partnering program. She has led alumni outreach efforts within Alabama Power and the Southern Company. Lee joined Alabama Power as an engineer after graduating from UA. Taking on increasing responsibility, she worked in roles such as transmission line maintenance supervisor in Birmingham, engineering supervisor in Pell City, assistant to the senior vice president of Alabama Power
and distribution support manager in Birmingham. In 2006, she was promoted to her present position in Anniston. As general manager of distribution in eastern Alabama, Lee is responsible for the safety of 225 employees who provide electricity to 220,000 customers in eight counties. Along with her degree from UA, she earned an Executive MBA from Auburn University in 2003.
Leadership Board Endows Graduate Fellowship to Honor Karr
Members of the College of Engineering Leadership Board have established Dr. Charles L. Karr Endowed Graduate Fellowship. The announcement was made at the annual banquet for UA Distinguished Engineering Fellows to the surprise of Karr, dean of the College. “I was basically speechless,” Karr said. “Having the College of Engineering Leadership Board set up a fellowship in my name was so incredibly humbling and a total shock. I cannot express how honored I am to have something named at a university that has given so much to me and my family.” When fully funded, the fellowship’s endowment will exceed $200,000 and provide for tuition and a stipend for a graduate student. Hugh Mathews, chair of the board, said the members wanted to honor Karr in a way that furthers
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Alumni Dynamics
The annual golf tournament brought more than 100 golfers to Riverchase Country Club in Hoover. The tournament was made possible by seven tournament sponsors, hole sponsors, a putting-contest sponsor, tent sponsor and donors for the silent auction.
the vision Karr has for the College and President Stuart R. Bell has for the University. To be successful in recruiting graduate students, the college needs to be able to fund their tuition and research activities, he said. “For many on this committee, it’s been a learning experience about what having a strong graduate program means for this University and the economy of this region and of this state,” said Mathews, who graduated from UA with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1981 and is now president and CEO of the engineering firm England, Thims & Miller Inc. in Jacksonville, Florida. “A lot of people think undergraduate education is what the University should be about. It is, but it needs to be about a whole lot more,” he said. “The graduate programs provide that next dimension that we believe is worth supporting.” Mathews worked closely with fellow board members James Bambarger, chairman emeritus of TTL Inc. in Tuscaloosa, and Tom Kilgore, who retired as CEO and president of the Tennessee Valley Authority in Chatanooga, in establishing the fund.
Brasfield & Gorrie’s Barr Inducted into Hall of Fame Brian D. Barr was among this year’s class of honorees in
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the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame. He was inducted at a ceremony at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Spa at the Convention Center in Montgomery in February. Barr has more than 30 years of industry experience and a proven track record of successful project deliveries. In 1997, he joined Brasfield & Gorrie in Birmingham, and was charged with developing an industrial construction division. Since then, teams under his direction have built more than $5 billion in technically challenging projects across the country, including critical and high-profile projects in Alabama. A native of Florence, Barr earned a bachelor’s in civil engineering from the University in 1981 and began his career at Texaco’s Central Offshore Engineering Department managing the design and construction process on offshore oil and gas production projects in the Gulf of Mexico, California and the Far East. After more than four years at Texaco, he went to Stanford University, where he earned a master’s degree in civil engineering in 1986 with an emphasis on construction engineering and management. Barr then worked in heavy construction with Dunn Construction and then BEC Industrial and Civil Contractors, now Saiia, before joining Brasfield & Gorrie in 1997. Since joining Brasfield & Gorrie, Barr has led the
Alumni Dynamics
Dean Karr handed out trophies to the team that won first place for gross score at the CES Golf Tournament. From left, the team includes Laramie Cook, Jerry Cook, Trey Hayes and Larry Cook.
company into new markets while working his way to regional president for a company region encompassing three operating divisions and handles treatment plant, heavy civil, infrastructure and power construction projects. Under Barr’s leadership, his region has delivered nearly $1 billion in construction volume over the past four years. In addition, his region has secured high-profile clients including Airbus, Raytheon Missile Systems, Aleris and NASA as well as numerous power clients such as American Electric Power, Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Southern Company, CERT, Duke Energy, Cheyenne Light Fuel & Power Company and Florida Power and Light. His region recently completed several notable projects such as the Galveston Causeway Vertical Lift Rail Road Bridge; Airbus Final Assembly Line Hangar, Service Building and Logistics Center and CUP; and South Wastewater Treatment Plant Wet Weather Improvements and IAP. Notable recent projects include the SunTrust Park/ Atlanta Braves Stadium and NASA Space Launch System Test Stands. He is actively involved with The University of Alabama, serving on the President’s Cabinet and as a member of the The University of Alabama College of Engineering Leadership Board and Capstone Engineering Society.
In 2001, he was named a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow, and the UA College of Engineering honored him for his contributions in 2004 as Outstanding Alumni.
CES Golf Tournament a success
The 16th annual Capstone Engineering Society Golf Tournament was held in October at Riverchase Country Club in Hoover. This year, six tournament sponsors, 28 hole sponsors, one putting-contest sponsor, one tent sponsor, multiple silent-auction donors and 104 golfers participated in the tournament. Thanks to generous contributors, nearly $37,000 was raised for the Capstone Engineering Society. Over the past 16 years, the CES Golf Tournament has raised more than $368,000 for the College of Engineering. “The results of this tournament certainly make a difference for the Capstone Engineering Society and The University of Alabama College of Engineering in our mission to provide scholarships and to ensure that UA engineering and computer science students are provided a superior educational experience,” said Nancy Holmes, CES manager. “We are grateful to our sponsors, players and volunteers who made the CES Golf Tournament a success.”
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2016 CES Golf Tournament Sponsors
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Apache Construction Corporation Barnett Jones Wilson LLC BKI-Burk-Kleinpeter LLC Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP Building & Earth Sciences Inc. C&B Piping Inc. Chesapeake Consulting Inc. C.S. Beatty Construction Dunn Construction Enercon Ferguson Waterworks Gonzalez-Strength & Associates Inc. Hargrove Engineers + Constructors Hoar Program Management Hunt Refining Company
LBYD Inc. McGiffert & Associates LLC Morell Engineering Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Inc. Process Automation & Simulation Services Inc. Schoel Engineering Co. Inc. Southland Pipe & Supply Spectrum Environmental Services Volkert Inc. Vulcan Materials Company Wade Sand & Gravel Co. Inc. Roscoe, Nicole, Mackenzie, & Roscoe Jr. Wallace Whitaker & Rawson LLC
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Alumni Dynamics
2016 CES Golf Tournament
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Alumni Dynamics
Mike Tracy
Vick Hollub
Jody Singer
Alumni Notes 1973
Jim Ogle, MSIE, retired as
board chairman of INC Research.
1974
Mike Tracy, BSMinE and MBA ‘86, was named CEO of Drummond Company.
1979
Keith Jackson, BSCE and BSME, joined HNTB Corporation as regional business development officer and senior vice president.
1981
Vick A. Hollub, BSMinE (Pet.), was named CEO of Occidental Petroleum Corp. Ken Novak, BSIE, was elected vice president of Alabama Power’s Southeast Division.
1983
Joan A. “Jody” Singer, BSIE, was named deputy director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
Benjamin Self
Ashley Bolt
Jobs. Promotions. Awards.
1987
Mark Whorton, BSAE and MSAE ‘89, was named the executive director of the University of Tennessee Space Institute. Kevin Akers, BSMinE (Pet.), was promoted to senior vice president, Safety and Enterprise Services, at Atmos Energy Corporation.
1988
Stuart Countess, BSEE, was appointed chief administrative officer for Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia.
1989
David Palmer, BSCE, won reelection to the Russellville City Council. Palmer is an engineer with the Franklin County Highway Department.
1991
Stuart Countess
Pam Johnson, BSAE, was recognized with the Chancellor’s Award for Administrators by the Alabama Community College Association. She is an associate dean at Gadsden State Community College.
1992
Rhett Marlow, BSAE, founded LexHelper, a technology company that provides virtual assistants and aids attorneys in solo projects.
1997
Benjamin Self, BSChE, founded and opened Uptown Brewing Co. in Greenville, North Carolina.
2012
Ashley Bolt, BSEE, joined the law firm Fish & Richardson as an associate in the intellectual property litigation group.
Slavko Djukic, BSEE, was hired as chief technology officer for Zinwave, a provider of wideband distributed network solutions for in-building wireless.
2016
2003
Steve Colella, BSChE, was appointed business development leader for healthcare packaging in the northern half of the U.S. for Multisorb Technologies.
2007
2008
Clay B. Randolph, BSCE, was named an associate at BurkKleinpeter Inc.’s Tuscaloosa office.
Martin Neal, BSChE, was named a 2016 Woodrow Wilson Georgia Teaching Fellow and is studying at Piedmont College in preparation to teach in a highneeds secondary school. Something we missed? Please send us your professional achievements and recognitions for inclusion in Alumni Notes by visiting eng.ua.edu/alumni/update.
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Alumni Dynamics
In Memory Edward Lyle Cain
Edward Lyle Cain died Nov. 7, 2016, in Birmingham. Cain graduated from Decatur High School and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1966. After college, he worked at Boeing in Huntsville, contributing to the Saturn rocket program. In 1968, he moved to Birmingham to join Thompson Tractor Co. and enjoyed close to 30 years there, working his way up to vice president of sales. He was honored to have been chosen a Distinguished Engineering Fellow at The University of Alabama, and he was a director of the Capstone Engineering Society. He was a past board member of the School of Mines and Energy Development at UA, Alabama Roadbuilders Association, Alabama Forestry Association and Alabama Forestry Foundation.
Stephen Daniel Davis
Stephen Davis died Aug. 31, 2016, in Cropwell. A native of Bessemer, he graduated from the University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1969, later earning a master’s of business administration from UAB. He worked at ACIPCO, Vulcan Engineering, Rust International, CB&I and EC&S. He served on the UA Department of Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board.
Garry Neil Drummond
Garry Neil Drummond died July 13, 2016, in Birmingham. Born in Sipsey, he was the son of H.E. Drummond, who began a company that provided coal to individuals, and Garry Neil Drummond began working in the coal mines when he was 15. Drummond received an associate degree from Walker College in 1959 and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from The University of Alabama in 1961. After graduation he joined Drummond and became the first engineer hired by the company. Working with his brothers, Drummond built the company into one of the leading coal producers in the nation. Drummond led the company as chairman and CEO for more than 50 years, and oversaw expansion of coal and mining operations in the U.S. and Central America. He was a long-time member of The University of Alabama Board of Trustees and served as president pro tem of the board. A UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow, he was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor in 1989, the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 1997, the Alabama Business Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Birmingham Business Hall of Fame in 2010.
Kendall Arthur “Gus” Gustafon
Kendall Arthur “Gus” Gustafson died Sept. 8, 2016, in Arlington, Texas. Born in Meriden, Connecticut, Gustafson was a fighter pilot for the Navy during World War II. After finishing his military service, he came to UA, where he earned a bachelor’s in aeronautical engineering. He went to work for Chance Vought, later called Ling-Temco-Vought, assigned to Missiles and Space Craft. He retired in 1985 as the deputy director of the 44
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Anti-Satellite program, which was a successful “intercept and destruction” of an orbiting satellite. In 1988, he was honored as a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow.
Charles Allen “Pap” Long Jr.
Charles Allen “Pap” Long Jr. died June 1, 2016, in Point Clear. After serving in the Navy, he earned a bachelor’s in civil engineering from UA in 1950. After graduation, he joined the firm of Sullivan, Long & Hagerty, becoming chairman of the board and CEO in 1971. While leading the company in its basic construction business, he also diversified its activities by creating other companies to serve as producers of a variety of products under his 14 U.S. and foreign patents. Honored as a Distinguished Engineering Fellow in 1988, he was also inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 1991. He also served as chair of the Capstone Engineering Society.
Robert G. Mapes
Robert G. Mapes died March 25, 2016, in Huntsville. A native of Tuscumbia, he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War before coming to UA, where he earned a bachelor’s of electrical engineering in 1957. He joined the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency in 1958, working with the original team of German scientist in the Guidance and Control Laboratory. In 1960, he joined Astro Space Laboratory to develop new inertial guidance instruments. He left as vice president of marketing to join Battelle Memorial Institute where he was director of its Huntsville operation for 22 years before retiring in 1995. He was honored as a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow in 1988.
Robert S. Ryan
Robert S. Ryan died April 15, 2016, in Madison. After serving in World War II, Ryan returned to the University of North Alabama to earn a bachelor’s of science and taught science and coached basketball at Priceville High School, winning two state championships in the 1950s. In 1956, he went to work for the Army Ballistic Agency in Huntsville before his team was transferred to NASA. He earned his master’s degree in engineering mechanics from UA in 1964. Every major undertaking at Marshall Space Flight Center during his tenure there owes something of its success to Ryan. He monitored key developments shaping the NASA Saturn, Apollo, Skylab, Spacelab, Space Shuttle, Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Telescope and International Space Station projects. When he retired from NASA in 1996, Ryan was the deputy director of the Structures and Dynamics Laboratory. He went on to consult with Boeing and NASA on several high-profile projects and also taught short courses. He was honored as a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow in 1988 and inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 2008.
Alumni Dynamics
Emmett Beeson Wheeler Jr.
Emmett Beeson Wheeler Jr., of Millersville, Maryland, died Feb. 14, 2016. A native of Pisgah, Wheeler served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the University in 1959. He spent his career with Westinghouse, where he was instrumental in the development of the F-16 fighter jet radar system. Wheeler rose through the ranks to eventually become the Vice President and general manager of the aviation division. He was named a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow in 1995.
Richard Shaul Woodruff
Richard Shaul Woodruff died April 23, 2016, at age 103 in Birmingham. He earned his bachelor’s in civil engineering from UA in 1937. He retired after 37 years from Alabama Power Company, where he was manager of Hydroelectric Plant Planning Section for Southern Company Services Inc. While with APCO, he worked as an executive engineer on hydro projects including Logan Martin, Weiss, Bouldin, Henry, Lay, Smith, Holt, Bankhead and R.L. Harris Dams. He served the industry and profession in leadership positions with the American Society of Civil Engineers. He was named a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow in 1988.
Friends We Will Miss
Charles Lucien “Chuck” Adams Sr., BSCE ‘53 James Robert Adams, BSChE ‘86 Donald Carter Bailey, BSIE ‘52 Phillip Eugene Barker, BSIE ‘58 William “Bill” Lewis Beeker, BSAE ‘60 Dr. William Henry Bentley, BSChE ‘59 William E. Bess, BSEE ‘46 Clay Allen Bishop Sr., BSE ‘60 James M. Blount, BSME ‘63 Theodore “Ted” Cassius Bottema, BSME ‘43 David Francis Bowers Sr., BSMtE ‘59 Frank Lamar Boyd Sr., BSCE ‘53 Albert Leon Branscomb Jr., BSAE ‘62 William Ted Bryan, BSCE ‘51 James Hill Coleman, BSIE ‘61 Thomas Lea Douglas, BSE 1968; MSCE ‘69 James C. Easterling Jr., BSAE ‘60 David W. Gibson, Ph.D.E ‘02 James Edward Guin, BSMinE ‘76 Thomas Daniel Farmer Jr., BSCE ‘49 John Burt Ford, BSIE ‘67 Furman Leo “Sonny” Furlong Jr., BSAE ‘60; MSAE ‘68 James Donald Harper Sr., BSME ‘57 James Warren Harper, BSEE ‘51 Joseph Anthony Heiberger, BSIE ‘51 Carl Phillip Hesselbach, BSEE ‘62 Gerald Hilton Hickman, BSCE ’65
Charles Edward Higginbotham, BSME ‘73 Mark Percy Hinton, BSMinE ‘75 Charles Gordon Hooks, BSCE ‘61; MSCE ‘62 James “Jim” Alan Hopkins, BSME ‘65 William “Bill” Bee Horner, BSAE ‘51 Peter “Pete” Joseph Jones, BSME ‘15 Edward Ernest Jungerman Jr., BSEE ‘65 Tyler Goodwyn Hegenwald, BSMinE ‘49 Kenneth O’Neal Hundley, BSIE ‘54 Edwin Glenn Lewis, BSEE ‘78 James C. Mays, BSME ‘61 Donald Kenneth McRae, BSAE ‘53 George William Megginson, BSEE ‘53 Roy Lee Miskelley, BSME ‘61 Travis Elton Mitchell, BSIE ‘52 H. David Moore, BSME ‘63 Dewey Myers Jr., BSMtE ‘53; MSE ‘54 Ralph Lee Nelson Jr., BSMtE ‘48 Dalton Hoffman Penn, BSChE ‘52 Luther Everett Powell, BSEE ‘58 Robert McLester Ramsay, BSME ‘49 Thomas B. Richardson Jr., BSIE ‘48 Verba Goodman Richardson, BSIE ‘86 Donald Joseph Sampietro, BSIE ‘61 James Louis Saxon, BS in Chemical, Metal and Ceramics Engineering ‘43 Abb Llewellyn Scarbrough, BS in Chemical, Metal and Ceramics Engineering ‘42 Joseph Eldred Simpson Jr., BSME ‘63 Earl Wilbur Smith, BSME ‘49 Ralph Austin Smith Jr., BSCE ‘48 Donald D. Snyder, BSMinE ‘54 Warren Frederick Spanutius, BSEE ‘52 James Gordon Stanley, BSAE ‘49 Alison Lannie Sudduth, BSME ‘81 Glenn Walter Swanson Jr., BSME ‘52 Robert Wayne Tarwater, BSEE ‘75 Kenneth O. Thompson, Ph.D.E ‘67 Winston Leon Wallace, BSAE ‘49 Benjamin Dean Wires, BSChE ‘13 Joe Davis White, BSMinE ‘50 Charles Edward Woodrow III, MSEE ‘64 James Edward Wren III, BSMtE ‘72 Robert D. Van Dyke, BSME ‘50 Fred Horace Vines Jr., BSCE, ‘48
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Alumni Dynamics
Because of You
Our students express gratitude for the support of the College’s alumni and friends.
“I’ve had an amazing experience studying here at The University of Alabama, and that’s made possible by scholarship program supporters. The facilities, professors and overall learning experience here are top-notch, and I’ll always treasure my time at UA.”
—Nick Larsen, junior in mechanical engineering from Charlotte, North Carolina “It has truly been a blessing to be able to focus on my academic pursuits without worrying about how to pay for college. Your generosity is incredibly appreciated, and has made a big difference in my life.”
—Robert Sarafin, senior in mechanical engineering from Greer, South Carolina “Even after having been at this magnificent university for over a year, I still cannot even begin to encapsulate my gratitude for my scholarship in one single letter. It truly is a pivotal reason for making my final decision in where to attend college. The fact that the CES Scholarship Program has such generous supporters to help someone like myself is nothing short of a blessing.”
—Michael Richier, sophomore chemical engineering major, biology minor on the pre-medicine track from Peoria, Illinois 46
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Bits and Bytes
Bits and Bytes The College from outside “I like it personally, because when someone gets hurt, no matter if it’s serious or not, you can go in there and have them evaluate you without everyone looking or having a bunch of attention on you.” –Crimson Tide wide receiver Richard Mullaney in the article “Alabama football-backed sideline injury tent headed to market” on SI.com “I’m doing exactly what I want to be doing right now. I want to build things for the rest of my life. I actually want to design obstacle courses and then construct them.” – Casey Suchocki, senior in civil engineering, in the article “Hope Hull man competes on ‘American Ninja Warrior’ contest” in the Montgomery Advertiser.
“All of those homes, 85 percent of the area, could have experienced much less damage.” – Dr. Andrew Graettinger, professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, on the lower wind strength experienced on the edges of strong tornadoes in the article “Homes can be built to avoid wind damage, but no codes or inspectors in some rural counties” in the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “The beauty and pain of EcoCAR is that very few students attempt to do what hundreds, if not thousands, of engineers, do for every vehicle model in industry...engineers in industry are more likely focused on one subsystem within a subsystem.” – Travis Foust, BSME' 14, MSME ’16 and leader for UA’s EcoCAR 3 team, in the article “Real-world competitions bridge the gap from campus to career” in Siemens Academic. Foust was hired by GM after graduation. “The place that I think would be a radical change is if this is shown to be effective…masonry reinforced buildings that are really old… Even if the building doesn’t collapse, you’ve got a major investment. Even if everybody in the building got out, your building may be a total loss.” – Dr. Michael Kreger, director of the Large Scale Structures Laboratory, in the article “NASA’s Rocket Technology May Save You During An Earthquake” in Now Space.
“If the velocity’s not right, it’s crap. Having the velocity was essential.” – Matt Bowen, a senior in computer science, in the article “Alabama student’s software calls balls & strikes with a smartphone” on SI.com
“If we see a problem we try to fix it instead of ban it. That’s what research is for.” – Dr. Thang Dao, assistant professor of civil engineering, on a city’s decision to ban construction of wood buildings taller than three stories in the article “Wood construction: How does it stack up?” in Construction Drive.
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End User
End User
Capstone engineers and computer scientists on today’s technology Integrative Center for Athletic and Sport Technology, or I-CAST, was formed using students and researchers from the colleges of Engineering, Human Environmental Sciences and Education along with staff from UA Athletics and UA Adapted Athletics. The central theme of research and development of new technologies directly associated with competitive sports gives UA faculty, staff and students the opportunity to be part of the first such research center in the nation. Dr. Tim Haskew, professor and head of the department of electrical and computer engineering, is the director of I-CAST.
CE: You have said before a lot of what I-CAST is dealing with is low-hanging fruit. What do you mean by that? Haskew: A lot of the issues that high-level sporting fields deal with are things where technology already exists to deal with the issue. The technology just hasn’t been applied in that way before. We take the issues facing competitive athletics and have them come to a one-stop shop to find ways to bring technology to bear on the problem. Every problem in the real world isn’t some grand issue that requires a monstrous think tank to come to bear for years through a long research project. Some of them are very straightforward. Those can produce confidence for students right off the bat, and produce results almost immediately. This is the ideal place to blend practical education with taking things to the next level through research. CE: Will there be more long-range, cutting-edge research through I-CAST? Haskew: That’s the vision. I see it as what I call now-gen, next-gen and future-gen. Now-gen is the low-hanging fruit where there are solutions to problems we can come up with really quickly, and next-gen is maybe more complicated than that. Those provide hands-on training and develop problem-solving skills for our students. Future-gen is where there is opportunities for academic research, and that will be fueled by traditional funding, industry partners and the projects that produce – we hope – external revenue streams. The future-gen stuff is in the areas of bio-sensing, nutrition, training, and it will really involve a lot more than just engineering, which is the purpose of the center.
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CE: Will there be wider appeal from this work than just athletics? Haskew: We think so. Some of the things applicable to the sports world are applicable to a lot of different fields – healthcare, industrial workforce, military and law enforcement. If we can trickle the technological innovations developed here to those fields, we can have a much broader impact.
CES Message
Dear Alumni and Friends, With the College of Engineering’s incredible growth comes the challenge of staying connected and engaged with our alumni, friends and industry partners. This issue of the Capstone Engineer is special as we have combined the fall 2016 and spring 2017, sending it to all of our UA College of Engineering alumni and friends. As you peruse the pages, I am sure you will be extremely proud of the accomplishments of our students, alumni, faculty and the College, and we hope you will want to become more involved. There are numerous ways for you to become connected. • Update your most current personal and business contact information, marital status/name changes and other updates. • Join the Capstone Engineering Society LinkedIn Group to connect with other alumni, students, faculty, and staff and join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. • Get involved – mentor a student, work with student and professional organizations, participate on discussion panels, assist with mock-interviews and offer job shadowing opportunities or share industry information. Let us know how you wish to be engaged. Enclosed is a pull-out engagement card with the various ways you and others can connect with the College and the Capstone Engineering
Society (CES). Learn about opportunities through social media and our website. Become a mentor in Mentor UPP, share the “Get Involved” link and tell other alumni about the CES. The engagement card is small enough to fit into your wallet so you can refer back to it easily. Another feature in this issue of the Capstone Engineer is a giving envelope. The CES is the alumni association for the College of Engineering. Because of the generous support provided by our alumni, friends and industry partners, we are able to provide many students with scholarships, engagement opportunities and leadership and professional development programming. We can also provide alumni with invitations to our homecoming, tailgate and regional events as well as publish the Capstone Engineer magazine. Thank you for the tremendous support you provide for our students, the College and the CES! Roll Tide!
Nancy N. Holmes Manager, Capstone Engineering Society
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Capstone Engineering Society College of Engineering Box 870200 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0200
Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID The University of Alabama