UofSC Engineering minizine

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & COMPUTING / UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA / SPRING 2015

Engineering & Computing

Contents

In this issue 4/

SPRING 2015 College of Engineering & Computing Dean / Tony Ambler Director of Communications and Marketing / Kathryn McPhail Senior Director of Development / Lori Ann Summers ’88 loriann@cec.sc.edu Alumni Relations and Development / Jeff Verver ’90 verver@cec.sc.edu CEC Communications Office Swearingen Engineering Center Columbia, SC 29208 Phone: 803-777-2576 Email: mcphailk@cec.sc.edu Department Chairs John Weidner / Chemical Engineering Robert Mullen / Civil and Environmental Engineering Manton Matthews / Computer Science and Engineering Roger Dougal / Electrical Engineering Jamil Khan / Mechanical Engineering University Home Page: sc.edu College of Engineering & Computing Home Page: cec.sc.edu University Writers Group / University Creative Services Editor / Chris Horn Designers / Michelle Hindle Riley and Linda Toro Dodge Contributing writers / Steven Powell and Jeff Stensland Proofing Editor / Carolyn Parks Photographer / Kim Truett

The University of South Carolina does not discriminate in educational or employment opportunities or decisions for qualified persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, genetics, age, disability, sexual orientation, or veteran status. The University of South Carolina has designated as the ADA Title II, Section 504 and Title IX coordinator the Executive Assistant to the President for Equal Opportunity Programs. The Office of the Executive Assistant to the President for Equal Opportunity Programs is located at 1600 Hampton Street, Suite 805, Columbia, SC; telephone 803-777-3854. UCS 14389 3/14

Around the College News from chemical, civil and environmental, computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering departments

8/ By the numbers Eleven quick facts about the College of Engineering and Computing’s progress

10/ Skype on wheels An engineering professor is collaborating with social work faculty to develop new tools for helping older adults live independently.

12/ Alumni of the year Two graduates recognized by the college for professional accomplishments and devoted service.

13/ Freeze cleaning Mechanical engineering team gets two patents for new method of destroying asthma-causing allergens.

14/ The art of equanimity Irene Au has climbed the summits of the tech world and learned how to find balance in life.

On the Cover — ­ Senior Maria Piroli works in the newly renovated biomedical engineering lab.

2014

was nothing short of record breaking for the College of Engineering

and Computing — from student enrollment to fund raising!

In the fall, we welcomed the largest undergraduate class in the history of our college with about 2,400 undergraduate students. The incoming freshmen also boasted an average SAT score of more than 1220. Our efforts to find the best and brightest students in the state,

country and beyond are working.

Thanks to our generous alumni, friends and corporate partners, we raised $10.4 million in our development efforts for fiscal year 2014, which makes the college the second largest academic fundraising unit on campus.

What is most impressive about reaching this goal is knowing that these gifts make an empirical difference in the level of education we deliver to our students and in the caliber of research our faculty produce. We are generating graduates who find immediate careers in high-demand industries. They are not only bolstering the economy of our state and region but also creating innovations that will improve our ever-chang-

TONY AMBLER, DEAN

COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE

ing, global society.

Further proving our students are highly sought after, at our recent Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Career Fair, more than 100 companies filled the convention center to recruit our students for full-time jobs as well as internships and co-ops. In the last year, we’ve seen a 14-percent increase in employer participation.

These companies tell us that our graduates are highly skilled and have the experience needed to be successful in the workplace. Plus, the starting salaries for our engineering and computing graduates averages $57,000 — that makes them the highest paid USC graduates of any academic discipline.

The records we are breaking in enrollment, career placement and fund raising confirm that the College of Engineering and Computing is striving for excellence. Together with supporters like you, we will continue to improve the quality of education our students receive and the level of pride we hold for USC. Our faculty research, which you’ll read more about in this issue, continues to thrive and drive public-private partnerships.

U NI V E RS I T Y O F S O U T H C A R O LIN A

/3

AROUND THE COLLEGE We highlight the accomplishments of faculty, students and

M ECHANIC AL ENG IN EERING

alumni by showcasing work from the College of Engineering

Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell Center leads the way among SmartState Centers

and Computing’s five departments — proving once again that the CEC is one of the university’s benchmark colleges.

New graduate program develops management skills This fall, the College of Engineering and Computing launched a new master’s degree program designed to help engineers and computer science professionals learn to manage innovation and projects within their companies.

The Master of Science in Engineering Management program was created as a result of S.C. companies expressing their dire need for technically trained professionals with management expertise.

“These companies are impressed with the technical skills of our CEC graduates but urged us to offer more management courses so these professionals can lead a team and manage large-scale projects,” said Dean Tony Ambler.

The executive format program includes interdisciplinary courses in engineering, business, law and communications taught by professors from the CEC, the Darla Moore School of Business, the School of Law and the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies.

“The program is an alternative to the MBA that should be appealing to professionals who desire to stay on a technical track as they move forward in their careers,” Ambler said.

The curriculum covers topics from managing product development and optimizing resources to providing leadership in making economic decisions and negotiating new projects.

Designed for working adults, the program is structured with weekend classes, including some lectures that will be streamed between USC’s main campus in Columbia as well as the Lowcountry Graduate Center in North Charleston and the University Center in Greenville.

For more information, contact Rebecca Wessinger at 803-777-8318 or rineharr@cec.cs.edu.

4 / CO L LE GE O F E N G IN EERI NG AND COMPUTI NG

The Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell Center, one of 51 SmartState Centers in South Carolina, has been ranked No. 1 in total funding among the centers with $54 million.

The center is a world leader in solid-oxide fuel cell and energy systems research. Solidoxide fuel cells are an essential component of advanced clean energy solutions, as they are highly efficient, work with a variety of fuels and emit no toxic byproducts.

Under the direction of Ken Reifsnider, the center’s team of more than 50 faculty and students works to develop technology that can provide power for municipalities, rural areas and industries; heat and electricity for homes; automobiles that operate on several fuels without emissions; and long-lasting mobile power for computers, cell phones and other electronics.

The SmartState Program was established in 2002 and is funded by the state Education Lottery. It authorizes Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina, the state’s three public research institutions, to use the funds to create research centers in areas that will advance the state’s economy. The program has attracted more than $1.2 billion in nonstate investment and has led to the creation of more than 7,000 jobs.

M ECHANIC AL ENG IN EERING

Nuclear engineering program awarded $4 million grant

BUILDING BETTER MATERIALS If you’re interested in faster iPhones with longer-lasting batteries, cheaper high-octane gasoline that emits less pollution and TVs with thinner yet wider high-def screens, then you’re interested in seeing progress in materials science.

Materials are the physical pieces of just about everything people find useful. Research and development has produced a cornucopia of better materials over the years, and that progress is largely the result of scientists creating, testing and commercializing materials with increasingly complex makeup.

Chemical engineering professors Jochen Lauterbach and Jason Hattrick-Simpers are among a small group of scientists selected to define the future of the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), announced three years ago by President Obama. The goal of the initiative is to combine computational and experimental tools to help businesses bring new materials to market in half the time it once took.

That leadership was recently recognized at a workshop supported by the White House, where the two CEC professors were tapped to help determine the future of high-throughput materials science in the MGI. “What our workshop was devoted to was identifying the key

The nuclear engineering program has received a $4 million federal grant to research ways to more effectively store spent nuclear fuel.

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded the grants to five universities — USC, Georgia Tech, MIT, the University of Wisconsin and Penn State.

Currently, spent nuclear fuel is stored safely around the country in dry cask storage canisters made of steel and concrete. The used fuel is expected to be stored for decades before it can be disposed of in an eventual geologic repository or recycled as fuel for future reactors.

Under the direction of COE professor Travis Knight, the grant will allow scientists to study the drying process for the spent fuel.

“Used fuel is temporarily placed in pools of water to cool it down,” Knight said. “Then it is dried using a vacuum process once it’s moved to the long-term dry cask storage. We expect that a small amount of water remains in the canisters.”

Knight and his fellow researchers will work to determine through various methods how to reduce the amount of water left in the canisters.

stakeholders at national labs, academia and industry,” says Lauterbach. “We are going to get together and identify key data formats, key necessary experimental resources and key technological hurdles that the community can all agree to advance materials discovery. That way we’ll all be benefiting from one another’s work.”

U NI V E RS I T Y O F S O U TH C A R O LIN A

/5

Riding in style Sir Big Spur, USC fans’ favorite gamecock, was riding in style this football season thanks to the creative minds of a group of electrical engineering students.

As part of a year-long senior design project, the students developed and designed a new “ride” for the beloved gamecock, which is owned by Ron Albertelli and his wife, Mary Snelling, of Aiken.

The College of Nursing raised money for the design, which includes LED lights, a motorized goal post, and a removable top complete with Gamecock carpet.

“We wanted to make them something that’s attractive, reliable, sustainable and efficient,” said student Luke O’Hara.

CO M PUTER SCI EN CE & EN G I N EERI N G Each year, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) recognizes a handful of distinguished artificial intelligence scientists for their outstanding contributions to the theory or practice of AI. USC computer science professor Michael N. Huhns was named an AAAI fellow for his significant contributions to the field of multiagent systems and its applications in information management and service-oriented computing. Fellows are honored for providing intellec-

VETERAN PROFESSOR NAMED NEW DEPARTMENT CHAIR IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

tual leadership and

Manton M. Matthews has been named chair of the Department of Computer

making significant

Science and Engineering. He joined the faculty in 1979 doing research in

research or service

graph theory and K1, 3-free graphs.

contributions to the

He is known for a conjecture, now called the Matthews-Sumner conjec-

field, usually over a

ture, which stimulated a flurry of research and led to six international work-

period of at least a

shops. His recent research focuses on parallel algorithms utilizing GPU and

decade or more.

many-core devices.

“In computer science and engineering, our graduates work in the most exciting and

innovating careers at Microsoft, Google, Amazon and beyond,” he said. “They face many great opportunities upon graduating, making these exciting times for the department.”

6 / COLLE GE O F E N G IN E ERI NG AND COMPUTI NG

By the numbers:

scholarships

Nearly 330 engineering and computing students were awarded a college-level scholarship in 2014-15, a 23 percent increase in recipients in the past two years. The CEC awarded $515,000 in college scholarships this year thanks to the generosity of about 80 individual or corporate donors.

• 46 biomedical engineering students

• 79 chemical engineering students

• 47 civil and environmental engineering students

• 53 computer science and engineering students

• 31 electrical engineering students

• 73 mechanical engineering students

Students got to meet and thank the donors who fund the scholarships that help them attend USC at a luncheon in October 2014.

“I was able to see a great benefit from my education. I want to give back to the University, which helped me get where I am today, by supporting other students.”

— Gregory Disher, ’89, electrical engineering NStar Electric and Gas, Massachusetts

ELEC TRIC AL ENG IN EERING

High-voltage A group of senior electrical engineering students are designing a power system strong enough and smart enough to run a U.S. Navy ship.

The four students began a year-long design project, under the direction of Dr. Roger Dougal, to create a protection circuit to regulate the elaborate power grids used on electric ships.

“The system we are creating is like the circuit breaker in your home but for a massive ship,” said student Patrick German.

“This device must separate the power to various parts of the ship so it can compensate for a problem or overload in one part of the ship without affecting the entire vessel. “ German and Dan Bauer are building the hardware while classmates Brittany Richards and Jacob Roper are focusing on the control system or software.

“We hope to test out our project at the industrial level at the end of spring,” Roper said. “We hope that the results will be relevant to not only the electric ship industry but also any large power grid system.”

U NI V E RS I T Y O F S O U T H C A R O LIN A

/7

BY THE NUMBERS The College of Engineering and Computing has been making steady progress for several years on a number of fronts. Here’s a snapshot of what’s being accomplished.

329

Number of engineering and computing students

awarded a college scholarship in FY 2014. That’s a 23 percent increase in the past two years.

10x Giving to the College of Engineering and Computing from alumni has increased 10-fold since 2010

($142,895 to $1.4 million).

$70 million The College of Engineering and Computing’s goal toward the overall

$1 billion Carolina’s Promise campaign. The college has exceeded its goal.

+29% Amount of increase in graduate (master’s and Ph.D.) enrollment 2009-13 in the College of Engineering and Computing.

8 / CO LLE GE O F E N G IN E ERI NG AND COMPUTI NG

Average starting salary of College of Engineering and Computing graduates in Class of 2013, the highest for any major on campus.

Engineering & Computing/ Law Program The College of Engineering and Computing is developing

an interdisciplinary program with the USC School of Law.

Amount of private giving to the College of Engineering and Computing in FY 2014.

>100

1226 Average SAT score of College of Engineering and Computing’s 2014 freshman class.

The number of companies recruiting College of Engineering and Computing students for full-time positions, internships

and co-ops increased by more than 10 percent in the past year.

ON THE RISE Each of the college’s departments, mechanical, computer science and engineering, biomedical, civil, chemical and electrical have all registered enrollment gains in the past few years.

2,400 Number of undergraduates enrolled in the

College of Engineering and Computing in fall 2014, a 127 percent increase since 2006.

U NI V E RS I T Y O F S O U T H C A R O LIN A

/9

10 / COLLE GE O F E N G INEERI NG AND COMPUTI NG

‘Skype on wheels’ Professor developing technology that gives caregivers new tools to stay in touch with the elderly.

Jenay Beer wants to develop technologies that will allow older adults to live fuller and more independent lives.

The computer science professor received her undergraduate degree in psychology before deciding she wanted to study the interactions between robots and humans, specifically people older than 65. That led Beer to earn a doctoral degree in the emerging field of engineering psychology. Now she is an assistant professor with a joint appointment in the College of Engineering and Computing and the College of Social Work.

“Engineers focus on how to design and develop a product, but is it also important to focus on how it will effect the lives of the people who use the product, “ said Beer. “But because of my psychology background, I understand that a product isn’t useful if a customer can’t figure out how to operate it or if it doesn’t help them improve their lives in some way.”

Beer has teamed up with College of Social Work researcher Sue Levkoff; both are faculty associates in USC’s SmartHome initiative. The center connects researchers in social work, medicine and engineering with the goal of enabling older adults to stay in their own homes longer through the use of new technologies and community services.

“There is a myth that older adults aren’t good with technologies. I have found the opposite to be true. If they see a tangible benefit, they tend to be more willing to adopt the technology,” Beer said.

Recently, she’s been working with “smart presence,” which she describes as “Skype on wheels.” The device typically stands about five feet tall and consists of a pole-mounted computer screen connected to a motorized base.

Imagine the device stored in a kitchen nook. An older adult could create a user profile for her children or other caregivers that would allow them to remotely check in regularly. Caregivers could turn on the device from their home computer, which then projects the caregiver’s face as it roams the home, finds the older adult and initiates a conversation.

Is there food in the refrigerator? Are dishes washed? Is Dad steady on his feet?

“Technology can really be a bridge between people to promote a healthy lifestyle,” Beer said.

Beer also hopes to introduce smart presence in several assisted living centers around Columbia.

“We want to see how older adults interact with the devices,” Beer said. “Maybe there is also a way for medical professionals to use smart presence to get a true look at the patient while making certain health decisions — at any hour and even from several states away.

“We are not looking to replace medical professionals or family interaction, but these devices could serve as another tool to help older adults communicate and maybe even receive better care.”

U NI V E RS I T Y O F S O U T H C A R O LIN A

/ 11

Alumni of the year

The College of Engineering and Computing recently honored two alumni for their professional accomplishments and devoted service to the College. The CEC named Casey Borowski as 2014 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award, and Kari Morrison accepted the 2014 honor for the Young Alumni Award.

The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes an individual who has made notable contributions to his or her profession, community and university.

Casimir “Casey” Borowski Jr., Class of 1969, graduated with a degree in chemical engineering and attended Harvard Business School where he earned his MBA in 1977. Borowski is the president/CEO/director and part owner of Texas Molecular Limited Partnership and Sea Lion Technology Inc. near Houston, Texas.

“Being the first in my family to attend college, USC and the Naval ROTC scholarship were the start of a new life for

12 / CO L LE GE O F E N G IN EERI NG AND COMPUTI NG

me. It was a great experience, and I’m eternally grateful for the wonderful teachers and mentors,” Borowski said.

The Young Alumni Award recognizes an individual who graduated within the past decade and who shows the potential to make a positive impact professionally and serve as an example for other recent graduates.

Kari Morrison is a 2009 Honors College graduate with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. This past May, she earned an International Master of Business Administration degree from USC. She recently began a new position as a business analytics consultant with Cisco in Austin, Texas.

“I think there are so many reasons to stay connected with your alma mater,” Morrison said. “I cannot count the number of times I’ve reached out to an old professor for advice. I have attended different alumni events and made many connections, all thanks to the University of South Carolina.

Alumni engineer a new scholarship endowment Call it a philanthropic group

fellow Gamecocks in whatever way we can, whether it be

funding plan of sorts — several

through recruiting, mentorship, involvement with student

College of Engineering and Com-

organizations or, in this case, by pooling our resources to

puting alumni who work for Exxon-

start the endowment,” Blohm said.

Mobil started a scholarship endowment for undergraduate students last year. And it continues to grow.

Jeff Blohm, mechanical engineering ’97, launched the USC Alumni-ExxonMobil Engineering Endowment in 2014 along with six other colleagues scattered across

“Our hope is that the endowment will help engineering students for years to come get the great education, experience and leadership skills that are offered at the University of South Carolina.”

The endowment will fund undergraduate scholar-

the country from Texas to Michigan to Virginia. Several of

ships for mechanical and chemical engineering students.

them are still in their 20s.

ExxonMobil offers a 3-to-1 matching gifts programs, mak-

“Many of the ExxonMobil alumni from South Carolina and I have always had a strong desire to help our

ing these alumni donations even more impactful. The endowment is expected to reach $90,000 within five years.

Freeze cleaning Patented method destroys asthma-causing allergens A team of researchers has received two patents for a new method to rid carpets, mattresses and other fabrics of harmful allergens and pests that cause asthma.

The patents (Methods and Compositions for Eliminating Allergens and Allergen-Producing Organisms) are the work of Michael Matthews, Jian Zhang and Allan Quick and use CO2 to “freeze clean” home fabrics. The process deactivates proteins found in pet dander and can remove smoke residue and other allergy-causing substances. The freezing process also kills dust mites embedded in carpets and mattresses, which are a major cause of asthma.

The researchers are currently perfecting the application method, which utilizes CO2 vapor sprayed directly on fabric.

The vapor cools on expansion to form tiny micro-pellets of

dry ice that are quickly vacuumed and the result is fabric free of allergy-causing agents. Early tests suggest a single cleaning treatment lasts about six months.

The work is funded with multiple external grants, including two from the National Institutes of Health. About 7 million children in the U.S. suffer from asthma, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Matthews said physicians could eventually order the treatment as an effective intervention for children with asthma.

“We realized that there was a critical national need to address the removal of asthma triggers from the home,” Matthews said. “These triggers, which are actually proteins produced by pets and pests, can be removed with our technology.”

U NI V E RS I T Y O F S O U T H C A R O LIN A

/ 13

art of equanimity

The

Call it cosmic fate or destiny or good timing — whatever it

risk making mistakes than wait to be told what to do; on

was, the stars aligned for Irene Au. She graduated summa

Internet time, you can’t afford to wait. Finally, you have to

cum laude with degrees in electrical and computer engi-

listen and get feedback.

neering in 1994 and, after graduate school, landed design positions at Netscape, Yahoo and Google. Now she has

Q: What are some of the career mistakes — and smart

taken another career leap as a partner in a venture capital

moves — that you’ve seen people make?

firm, while also finding a place of balance in her life.

The biggest career mistakes stem from insecurity or fear.

When someone is insecure, they’re less apt to listen to

Q: What should professionals ask themselves if they’re

feedback because they fear being shamed and judged.

looking for a better alignment of their goals and skills?

Fear can also prevent people from reaching out to oth-

What are you curious about? Curiosity is the primal

ers, which is unfortunate because so many opportunities

source of passion and interest. When you’re curious, you

happen when people connect. Conversely, some of the

want to dig deeper and learn more, and you have fun.

smartest moves come from a growth mindset, which isn’t

When you’re not curious, learning feels like a chore. Many

possible without a very strong sense of self. People with

of us have the misconception that when we’re successful,

a growth mindset understand that with hard work, persis-

we will find happiness. But the converse is true: When we

tence and iteration, they can improve.

are happy, success follows.

Q: How have yoga and meditation helped?

Q: You’ve worked in positions that were so new there

Mindfulness practices have helped me to be present, to

was no template to follow. What was your strategy

stay calm and to feel love and compassion. Meditation

for adaptation?

and yoga help train the mind to pay attention, clearly and

I learned to stay curious, and I was eager to learn and

purposefully, in spite of distractions and past experiences.

try new things. I also learned that you have to be will-

By being present, it’s easier to see clearly what the priori-

ing to take risks and fail. It was better to take action and

ties are and what needs to be done.

14 / CO L LE GE O F E N G IN EERI NG AND COMPUTI NG

CIVI L AN D ENVI RO N M ENTAL EN G I N EERI N G

Honoring a veteran professor If you graduated with a civil engineering degree in the past 30 years, you likely have at least a few good stories to tell about longtime professor Mike Meadows.

Meadows cemented his reputation as a premier mentoring professor, with hundreds of current and former students benefitting from his knowledge. Last year, his friends, family and colleagues honored Meadows with the announcement of the the Mike Meadows Civil Engineering Endowment Fund.

In January 2013, one of his former students, Ray Ammarell, ’88, ’89, took the lead in establishing the scholarship, spearheading an effort to contact former students, friends and colleagues about contributing to the endowment.

“It is my hope that we can show appreciation for the years of dedication and work Dr. Meadows has given, not just to engineering, but also to the well-being of his students in the field of civil engineering,” Ammarell says.

The endowment will provide scholarships to worthy undergraduate civil engineering students and will continue to provide a continuous legacy for Meadows.

Anyone interested in contributing to the Mike Meadows Civil Engineering Endowment Fund should contact Jeff Verver, director of development for the College of Engineering and Computing, at 803-7773612, or via email at verver@cec.sc.edu.

CH EM IC AL EN G IN EERI N G

IN MEMORIUM — HENRY M. ROTHBERG Henry M. Rothberg, a longtime supporter of the College of Engineering and Computing, passed away in 2014 but his legacy lives on through the successes of students who earned degrees thanks to his generosity.

Rothberg earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the college in 1944 and later received an honorary doctorate from the university. He and his brothers built a successful floor covering and furniture business in South Carolina before he moved back to his home state of Connecticut.

In 1956, he developed the first commercially accepted, latexmodified adhesives for thin installations of ceramic tile and stone, branded LATICRETE®. By combining his knowledge of chemical engineering with his firsthand experience in floor covering, Rothberg is widely considered to be the pioneer of polymer thin set adhesive technology for ceramic tile and stone.

In 2000, Rothberg started an endowed scholarship fund, which has since provided scholarships for nearly 200 undergraduate chemical engineering students. He also started a fellowship fund for graduate students.

When he passed away in March 2014, the 91-year-old’s family asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be given to the CEC. The overwhelming response was proof of the respect and love with which Rothberg was held.

U NI V E RS I T Y O F S O U T H C A R O LIN A

/ 15

Nonprofit U.S. Postage PAID University of South Carolina

Columbia, SC 29208

As a Gamecock, my observations have No Limits.

Yan Tong, faculty

A huge smile, a nervous grin, a devious wink or a deadpan gaze— facial expressions reflect our moods and let others know how we’re feeling. But what if a computer could do the same thing: recognize our feelings by the expressions on our faces? Yan Tong, a computer science researcher, is focused on computer vision and pattern recognition, with the goal of programming computers to detect certain emotions.

If successful, her work could help teach autistic children, improve online instruction or even detect impaired drivers. Yan’s study is just one way USC research is turning science fiction into science fact.

sc.edu/nolimits sc.edu/nolimits