DONALD P. SH I LEY SCHOOL OF ENGI N EERI NG
Engineering Success through Partnerships SPRI NG 2019
Engineering for Impact Technical Excellence. Social Integrity. Environmental Consciousness. Leadership. Innovation.
Strengthening our industry partnerships has been a primary goal for the Shiley School of Engineering for the last five years. Short-term summer internships and guest lectures remain important, but we also want our students to have opportunities to work closely with experts in their fields for longer time frames. We want them to see and understand the professional skills that they will need to thrive after they leave UP. Over the last two years, we’ve made huge strides toward this goal. Last year we announced our new Shiley Project Hub, a center designed to match our senior engineering students with real projects sponsored by the private, public, nonprofit, and start-up sectors. The Shiley Hub has expanded to include meaningful partnerships with a number of clients, which are showcased in this year’s report. The first story features our biomedical engineering graduate students working with BIOTRONIK on a one-of-a-kind device. A partnership between the Shiley School and BIOTRONIK is fitting for many reasons, but there is a unique connection to the heart. Donald P. Shiley ’51, for whom the school is named, invented (among other devices) the prosthetic heart valve, and the founder of BIOTRONIK invented the first German pacemaker. Both devices have saved millions of lives.
Other highlights include a team of seniors helping The Nature Conservancy with a complex rerouting project to improve the Salmon River estuary, and our extensive cooperative program that places students for six months at two different companies while they are completing their degrees. Lastly, we are thrilled to unveil our latest initiative, which places product development labs sponsored by industry on campus where professional engineers work side-by-side with our students—in a variety of settings—from a onesemester course to multiple paid experiences spanning academic years. At University of Portland, we are proud of our students. They immerse themselves in their engineering and liberal arts classes. They take advantage of myriad activities to further their education by studying abroad, contributing as undergraduate researchers, and participating in academic clubs and service work. Our final article highlights one of our alumni who is now leading his own start-up, WalkWise. Our students and alumni are having an impact in their communities. I hope you enjoy reading about them! With best regards (and Shiley Pride!), SHARON A. JONES, PH.D., P.E. (CA), B.C.E.E. DEAN, SHILEY SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
BY THE NUMBERS
#18 100% OF SENIOR CAPSTONE PROJECTS ARE EITHER INDUSTRY-ADVISED OR WITH AN INDUSTRY CLIENT
39% TOP
OF UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING STUDENTS SELF-IDENTIFY AS UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES
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NATIONAL RANKING BY U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT AS A “BEST UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING PROGRAM”
IN “TOP 25 STEM COLLEGES OF 2018” BY FORBES.COM
#1
IN OREGON FOR VALUE ACCORDING TO MONEY MAGAZINE
4+1
STEM UNDERGRADUATES CAN EARN A MASTER’S DEGREE IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING IN ONE ADDITIONAL YEAR
33%
OF ENGINEERING FACULTY ARE WOMEN
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TOP PHOTO: BIOTRONIK’S ENGINEER HABIB HOMAYOUN WITH BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING GRADUATE STUDENTS (LEFT TO RIGHT) LEXI HARTMAN, JACOB GIUSTI, AND EVAN FONTAINE BOTTOM PHOTO: EXAMINING A BIOTRONIK IMPLANTABLE CARDIAC DEFIBRILLATOR
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This project has given me the opportunity to work on a real-world problem with the goal being to produce a product that will be used in a company’s research.” —LEXI HARTMAN ’19
Anatomical Heart Device Biomedical engineering students partner with BIOTRONIK With offices in more than 100 countries, BIOTRONIK is a global leader in developing innovative medical technologies to support cardiovascular and endovascular health. Fortunately, for University of Portland students, one office is located just outside the city of Portland and company engineers Eric Austin and Habib Homayoun ’79 BSEE, ’81 MSEE, agreed to sponsor capstone projects with the Shiley School of Engineering. This partnership has led to biomedical engineering graduate students Lexi Hartman ’19, Evan Fontaine ’19, and Jacob Giusti ’19 developing an anatomical model of the right ventricle and atria of a human heart. “Because BIOTRONIK develops pacemakers, an important component of the device is for researchers to be able to implant a pacemaker, gather information from it, and observe the way the device functions within the heart,” explained Hartman.
Fontaine added, “The model needs to replicate the flow rate, pressures, motion, shape, and beats per minute of an actual human heart. This is the first device of its kind. There are no public accounts of an anatomically accurate heart model that beats like a real heart ever being made before.” The students also found they’ve been given the support they needed to be successful – both at BIOTRONIK and at UP. “Eric and Habib have been very helpful by telling us what they wanted but at the same time giving us the freedom to find our own path,” Fontaine said. And “Dr. Kathleen Bieryla (an assistant professor at UP) has helped us along the way with lots of check-ins and interesting lectures on biomedical engineering.” Hartman agreed, “I’ve been challenged since I began the graduate program but have had continual support from all the advisors and professors.” The benefits are clear to Homayoun, too. “The Shiley School team has done a fantastic job. Our company can see that UP engineering graduates gain more practical knowledge, not just theory. They are ready to work.”
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Professional Preparation through Six-Month Co-Ops Cooperative programs take coursework out into the field Civil Engineering major Abbey Hill ’20 interns with NW Natural – As a participant in the Civil Engineering Cooperative Program (CECOP), Hill spent the last six months at NW Natural supporting the management of two construction projects.
“This internship program piqued my interest because it seemed like a great way to gain extended experience and learn more about the industry,” Hill said. “I get to test out different professional environments and see where I would want to work.”
“During my internship, I tracked the daily progress of the projects and went on site visits. I also created new systems to better document NW Natural’s purchasing and use of materials with their standards and procedures committees. I also learned how engineering principles and calculations are translated into instructions and how these instructions are implemented during construction,” Hill said. “This internship experience helped me learn and grow as a young professional.”
Next year, Hill will complete a second sixmonth internship, most likely in the private sector, through CECOP. After graduation, Hill plans to get her master’s degree and is interested in studying either waste water treatment or energy efficiency in the built environment.
NW Natural transmission engineer Andrea Kuehnel was Hill’s mentor. “Abbey’s knowledge of the natural gas industry and understanding for the larger utility industry will be helpful as she pursues her career,” Kuehnel said. “She advanced her technical research, professional communications, and technical writing skills over the course of the internship.”
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ABBEY HILL (LEFT) AND INTERNSHIP MENTOR ANDREA KUEHNEL ON SITE AT NW NATURAL
INSIDE DAIMLER’S IT DEPARTMENT WITH ELIAS PARAISO ’19 (LEFT) AND TYLER ACEVEDO
Elias Paraiso ’19, a computer science major and math minor, interns with Daimler – Through the Multiple Engineering Cooperative Program (MECOP), Paraiso was based in Daimler’s IT infrastructure department and worked on a wide range of software projects relating to server configuration, automation, web-development, and robotics. “This internship allowed me to observe and experience what the life of a full-time employee is like at a large corporation. I gained an understanding of how Daimler’s IT systems were designed and configured. I also learned new programming languages, new software technologies, and improved my all around coding abilities,” Paraiso said. Tyler Acevedo, technical integrator at Daimler, was Paraiso’s mentor. “Elias had a chance to see not only the challenges developers have, but also the impact that infrastructure can have in supporting development. Giving him this all-around experience will help him be a better team player and a better developer,” Acevedo said. Paraiso credits the Shiley School of Engineering and MECOP for his success. “If it weren’t for my
experiences in the engineering school, I would not have been qualified for my internship,” Paraiso said. “UP has taught me the best practices for programming and has given me the team project experiences necessary to prepare me for the real world.” Paraiso firmly believes that the six-month internships were invaluable to his professional development. After graduation, Paraiso plans to apply for developer positions and begin his career as a computer scientist.
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The professional experience gained from the internship has given me confidence and will help me as I pursue a career as a computer scientist.” —ELIAS PARAISO ’19
Hyster-Yale’s Campus Lab A new model for industry-university partnerships
Tucked in a corner of University of Portland’s physical plant building, you can find innovation leader Edmund Stilwell of Hyster-Yale Group Inc., surrounded by work stations, rolling whiteboards, and student interns who drop in and work on projects as their schedules allow. It’s a bit hard to find at first, but Stilwell hopes the Hyster-Yale Group Innovation Lab will play a big part in the UP’s long-term relationships with industry leaders. And this hope is already starting to be realized. The Shiley School of Engineering has just announced a similar partnership with Tektronix.
AS A GUEST INSTRUCTOR FOR INNOVATION AT UP AS WELL AS A FUNCTIONAL SYSTEMS LEADER FOR INNOVATION WITH HYSTER-YALE GROUP, EDMUND STILWELL BELIEVES IN THE POWER OF TEACHING STUDENTS HOW TO FAIL.
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The beginnings of this new concept of bringing industry to campus began in 2017 when Hyster-Yale’s Portland development center reached out to Shiley School of Engineering Dean Sharon A. Jones, hoping to open an innovation and product development lab on campus. “She loved the idea,” Stilwell says, “but didn’t think the school had room for us given significant enrollment growth. My company wanted to make it work any way we could, since we know UP engineering graduates are academically strong. She found space for us in a less-frequently used lab and we got started in Spring 2018.”
JESSIE LEE AND JESSICA CHERRY, BOTH OF WHOM ARE MAJORING IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, REVIEW DATA FOR THEIR GROUP’S HYSTER-YALE PROJECT, AN EMERGING MARKET FORKLIFT TRUCK DESIGN.
Using the lab, interns find themselves immersed in the latest practices of innovative product development for emerging markets— discovery skills, questioning, exploration, testing viability, and working within time and money constraints. “Hyster-Yale promotes innovation in a lean way,” Stilwell says. “Fail often, fail fast, it’s okay not to know everything. The important thing is to give students experiences they will face in their careers.”
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Stilwell also annually teaches an Introduction to Innovation class in the Hyster-Yale lab. This one-credit course, which is open to all majors, explores new ideas and the culture of innovation in a wide range of situations, stressing benefits of cross-disciplinary discussion, team methods of problem-solving, taking ideas to market, and integrating social mission.
Members of the 2018 class developed a human machine interface for electronic vehicles to indicate how much power was left in the fuel cell. An error code, such as an oil light in cars, would indicate low power. The results were presented to HysterYale’s vice president of product We are very excited that the leaders at development and marketing Hyster-Yale Group and Tektronix want to staff. “They were impressed engage in this next level of partnership by how UP students simplified with UP. These partnerships are as the design of the product,” close as we can get to simulating the says Stilwell. “The end result is a product that is engineering product development viable and going into environment on campus for our students. production in the future.”
This experience is also influencing how we design a new Innovation Center so that we can create this environment for even more students.” —SHARON A. JONES, DEAN, SHILEY SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
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EDMUND STILWELL WITH ENGINEERING INTERNS IN UP’S HYSTER-YALE LAB
Engineering students have been quick to embrace opportunities made available by the innovation lab. “I’ve been able to apply my knowledge of engineering principles to real world applications,” says Hyster-Yale intern Michaela Sorrentino ’19, “which is helping me become a more well-rounded engineer.” Jeremy Quilizapa ’20 says having the lab on campus is a huge benefit given his busy schedule. “I’ve been able to visit Hyster-Yale’s main office too,” he says. “I’ve met many full-time engineers there, and collaborate with them regularly.” Now in his second year at University of Portland, Stilwell envisions the Hyster-Yale lab developing into an open innovation area where any company could come in and work
TESTING TEKTRONIX EQUIPMENT RIGHT OUTSIDE OF SHILEY HALL
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to develop products. “Different businesses can help each other learn about new developments and innovations,” he says. “For example, agriculture, construction, and transportation industries can combine ideas and learn from each other’s fields and disciplines.” This idea of collaboration is what drew Tektronix to also open a product development lab of its own on UP’s campus. Kyle Bernard, principal engineer from Tektronix, sees the benefits from not only an industry perspective but also from that of a student. Bernard graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from UP in 1985 and was able to personally benefit from hands-on learning opportunities.
TOP: STUDENTS ACROSS MAJORS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE NEW MAKERSPACE (AKA PILOT SPACE) TO TEST AND PROTOTYPE MODELS. BOTTOM: THE HYSTER-YALE LAB BRINGS TOGETHER STAFF AND STUDENTS FROM BOTH ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING: UP’S TECHNICIAN SUPERVISOR ALLEN HANSEN, INDUSTRY RELATIONS MANAGER KATE ROHL; DANIELLE PARMER ’20, EDMUND STILWELL, JEREMY QUILIZAPA ’19, JESSICA CHERRY ’20, AND JESSIE LEE ’20.
Innovation and multidisciplinary collaboration are critical drivers for engineering and the University. The University opened the Pilot Space, an interdisciplinary makerspace, in Shiley Hall in fall 2017 after receiving a $25,000 grant from the ESCO Foundation. Students have access to 3D printers, a laser cutter, soldering stations, prototyping materials, and other equipment necessary to rapidly prototype their solutions. The long-range vision, already underway, is to create an Innovation Center by remodeling an existing physical plant building on campus to support industry partnerships.
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We are in a long-term journey with UP,” Stilwell says of the Hyster-Yale program’s future. “We want to grow with our students, creating processes and products that people love.”
Engineering Environmental Solutions Students team up with The Nature Conservancy U.S. Highway 101 is world-renowned as a scenic marvel situated close to the Oregon coast, wending its way some 300 miles between the north and south boundaries of Oregon. But that scenic beauty comes at a cost: 101 crosses at least 14 coastal river estuaries on fill, not bridges, disrupting salmon runs, bird migration, and natural water flow. Five students, led by professor Cara Poor, are teaming up with The Nature Conservancy, an international nonprofit with a local office in Oregon, to study solutions to this problem as part of the senior capstone design project. Students were tasked with improving the connectivity of the Salmon River estuary under Highway 101 near Otis, Oregon. “Within the estuary is a mile-long portion of Highway 101 built on fill,” explains team member Bailey Smithline ’19. “It acts as a dike and restricts the mixing of fresh and salt water, which disrupts the distribution of important nutrients.”
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Working with The Nature Conservancy’s Oregon coast ecologist, Debbie Pickering, the team studied four possible solutions: building an elevated roadway, a floating bridge, or multiple culverts under the roadway; or moving the highway out of the estuary. “We defined the scope of work, researched environmental characteristics of the estuary, and evaluated environmental, technical, and economic benefits and costs of each alternative,” adds Alyssa Lau ’19. The team chose moving Highway 101 away from the estuary. The students are now working on designs. They are aiming to meet the needs of highway transportation while allowing unrestricted tidal flow of water and sediment for the estuary. This project is a clear example of how external partnerships offer hands-on experience beyond the classroom. “It exposes us to real-world engineering with real-world constraints,” says Mustaf Mohamed ’19. “It’s a great learning experience for the work we plan to do in the future.”
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Working on this made me realize how civil engineering can have a beneficial impact on people’s lives and the environment.”
DEBBIE PICKERING, OF OREGON’S NATURE CONSERVANCY, DISCUSSES IMPACT OF UP’S PROJECT WITH UP STUDENTS MUSTAF MOHAMED, SHEA CHUN, AND BAILEY SMITHLINE, (NOT PICTURED: ALYSSA LAU).
—ALYSSA LAU ’19 11
Alumnus Profile Peter Chamberlain ’14 has always enjoyed product design. As founder and CEO of WalkWise, Chamberlain combines his love for design with his engineering knowledge to save lives and help seniors maintain their independence. As a University of Portland student, Chamberlain gained the skills necessary to run his own assistive technology company.
“I started working on technologies for older adults during my senior design project for mechanical engineering,” Chamberlain said. “Seeing my professor, Tim Doughty, work on simple, yet effective solutions for people with Parkinson’s disease got me thinking about assistive technologies.” In 2016, Chamberlain started WalkWise with fellow alumni Nick MacKinnon ’15 and Sean O’Rourke ’14, creating the first smart walker attachment, which sends safety and health alerts directly to families and caregivers. The University’s LaunchPad fund, which offers seed funding and incubation opportunities, was the first investor in the company. “I wanted to create something that people use every day,” Chamberlain said. “This technology promotes fitness and walker use among seniors and has proven effective at reducing falls, detecting emergency situations, and screening for infections.”
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Through his roles as founder and CEO, Chamberlain oversees product design, customer service, business development, sales, and marketing. “Although the business aspects of starting a company were put upon me out of necessity,” Chamberlain said. “I enjoy learning about new things every day, whether it’s a new JavaScript framework or a new marketing channel.” After earning his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and a minor in music, Chamberlain went on to receive a master’s degree at MIT in 2016. Chamberlain looks back fondly at his time at UP. From studying abroad in Salzburg, Austria, to his internship at a medical device manufacturer, Chamberlain took advantage of every opportunity during his undergraduate years. “My engineering classes were small, so I was able to get to know every one of my mechanical engineering classmates,” Chamberlain said. “The access to labs and dedicated professors in Shiley Hall proved to be invaluable.”
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Inside PAGE 2
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BIOTRONIK’S Anatomical Heart Device
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Professional Preparation through Co-Ops
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Hyster-Yale’s Campus Lab
Engineering Environmental Solutions