USF Envision Magazine: Spring 2019

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE of the University of South Florida College of Engineering Issue 16 - June 2019

Head-to-Head: College of Engineering’s Neuro-Machine Interaction Lab Hosts USF’s First Brain-Controlled Drone Race Page 3

Alum’s Jackpot Makes Ph.D. Students Winners, Too

Alexander Alava Chonchol ’19 @ Twitter

Willie McClinton Receives Goldwater Scholarship

Krishna Barri MSEE’03 won the Florida Lottery and created three fellowships in electrical engineering.

Alex interned at the social media giant during his last semester and now he’s a

The computer science major with an interest in robotics is just one of 11 in USF history to

Page 62

Page 16

software engineer there.

earn the scholarship.

Page 38

Message from the Dean The College of Engineering is expanding beyond campus and reaching new heights.

June 2019 The Institute of Applied Engineering (IAE) is making great

Envision is produced by

strides forward. The headquarters is moving into new space

the College of Engineering at the

in Tampa’s Uptown District in the Uptown Mall (formerly

University of South Florida.

University Mall) on Fowler Avenue. The idea to move engineering into a more public location has been in discussion

Editor:

for several years now. It’s important for people to know just

Janet Gillis MSM ‘00

how broadly their lives are impacted by engineers in the design and functionality of Writers: Janet Gillis

the products and devices they use every day. As we say at the college, “Engineering

is Everywhere.” As the institute grows and matures, we will recruit faculty, students,

Russell Nay ‘18

Brad Stager

engineers, scientists and support staff who will want to collaborate on projects and the

Photography:

Russell Nay

Uptown Mall space provides a modern ecosystem seeded with the fundamental idea of

Manny Pontoriero

working and living and playing in the same area.

Sandra Roa

Brad Stager

The IAE was established to work closely with SOCOM at MacDill Air Force Base and

Ryan Wakefield

is optimally configured to work on contracts (as opposed to grants) flowing out of the

Designed by:

Ryan Wakefield

government. Although the college has long worked in the defense sector, the IAE’s mission is to employ its core competencies to provide applied engineering solutions at the speed of relevance. We aim to seek truth at high velocity.

MISSION STATEMENT

To profoundly shape and impact lives through

Small satellite technology is growing in importance as space hardware technology

the steadfast pursuit of world-class engineering

matures and becomes more reliable, smaller and less costly, and requires less power while

research, education, and innovation.

delivering more capability. One very popular small satellite form factor is known as a CubeSat sized at 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm.

Janet Gillis Communications and Marketing Officer College of Engineering University of South Florida 4202 E. Fowler Ave. ENG 030 Tampa, FL 33620 email: janetgillis@usf.edu

The Katherine Johnson NASA Independent Verification and Validation Facility (NASA IV & V) team provides CubeSat developers access to a low-cost pathway to conduct research under the NOS3 program that allows for multiple developers to build and test flight software with simulated hardware models. Technology developed by students and researchers at the College of Engineering in partnership with the University of West Virginia and NASA IV & V team is orbiting the Earth embedded in a CubeSat as part of NASA’s Simulation-to-Flight 1 (STF-1) mission. The primary focus of the STF-1 mission is to demonstrate the utility of the NASA Operational Simulator for Small Satellite

www.usf.edu/engineering

(NOS3) technologies across the small satellite development cycle, from concept planning to mission operations.

The USF-University of West Virginia-NASA IV & V team developed an inertial measurement unit (IMU) based on Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) technology. This device allows us to dead-reckon the satellite position, velocity, and orientation during times when external sensor updates (for example, from GPS) are unavailable. The IMU payload was part of a CubeSat launched on a rocket, designed and built by a private company, Rocket Labs.

It successfully launched on December 16, 2018, from the Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand.

The CubeSat, built by a West Virginia University team, is carrying four payloads, including the MEMS IMU. I am happy to report that the MEMS IMU payload is operational.

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Envision Magazine

Robert H. Bishop, Ph.D., P.E. Dean, College of Engineering

Photo: Ryan Wakefield

Brain-Drone Racing League members and volunteers watch a drone pull ahead as racers at the other end of the court prepare for their match.

Head-to-Head: College of Engineering’s Neuro-Machine Interaction Lab Hosts USF’s First Brain-Controlled Drone Race

By Russell Nay

S

tudents, faculty and USF community members watched

A total of 60 students registered for the qualifier.

as USF students faced off at the USF Yuengling Center during the university’s first-ever brain-controlled drone

race.

The event’s announcer counted down each race, and on “go” the racers would focus on a computer screen window with a multicolored cube in the middle. By focusing on pushing

The crowd of more than 300 filtered into the Corral of the

the cube while wearing their electroencephalography (EEG)

event center, where the USF Volleyball team court was cleared

headbands, students could coax their drones to lift off their

and surrounded by nets with two sets of tables at each end.

starting pads and hover toward the finish line.

For the next four hours, groups of two student competitors would go head-to-head on the court to see who could move a

Reaching the other side of the court, however, was no easy

drone the fastest with nothing but their minds.

task. Some drones refused to budge, while others stopped halfway across the court as their drivers had a momentary

The students, who represented the U.S., Brazil, India,

lapse in focus. Racers needed to focus completely on their

Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Bangladesh, Kuwait and

drone moving forward to win their matches.

Japan, were the 16 students with the quickest times who passed a qualifying round in January to compete in the race.

Continued on next page.

Envision Magazine

3

Watch Video

A brain-controlled drone takes off during USF’s first Brain-Controlled

Photo: Ryan Wakefield

Drone Race.

Representing Kuwait, computer science

“I’ve always wanted to work with

and engineering graduate student

(Andujar) and do research with him,”

Khaled Alshatti won all four of his

Alshatti said. “Seeing the (registration)

matches to be declared the champion

email and knowing it was part of his

of the competition and said his key to

research really got me interested in it

winning was blocking out distractions.

as well as me watching drone racing at home.”

“During the race I tried not to focus on anything around me and just focus

Computer science and engineering

on the simulation itself,” Alshatti said.

senior Emily Cardella, one of the

A BCI like the EEG headband worn

“It was mainly distracting whenever I

competitors representing the United

by competitors allows users to send

saw the person racing against either

States, said she enjoyed getting to use

electrical signals to a computer or other

moving their drone or getting close to

the brain-controlled drone technology

device like a surgical implant. These

my drone.”

in a race and would encourage more

signals can then be programmed to

of her classmates to sign up for future

trigger a certain task, like the fingers

potential races on campus.

of a prosthetic arm closing or a drone

While the prize for winning the competition included a Tello drone

lifting off the ground.

and title of USF Brain-Drone Race

“It was fun just to be part of making

champion, Alshatti said the research

USF history,” Cardella said. “The

Andujar said that holding an event like

behind the race motivated him to sign

whole marriage between hardware and

the brain-drone race is a great way to

up.

software was what got me interested in

introduce BCI technology to the public

computer engineering in the first place,

with an application of the tech that

Organized by the Neuro-Machine

so something like this that combines the

anyone can be a part of. This includes

Interaction Lab led by USF Department

two is perfect … Now I want to join Dr.

users with physical disabilities. Unlike

of Computer Science Professor Marvin

Andujar’s lab just to see how everything

traditional drone racing which requires

Andujar, Ph.D., and Brain-Drone Racing

works.”

a controller, brain-drone racing requires

League volunteers, this brain-drone

only brain activity.

race was the second that Andujar has

Before the race at UF, Andujar was

planned. The first, held at the University

already studying brain-computer

When he interned at Intel in 2013, he

of Florida (UF) in 2016 when he was a

interfaces (BCIs) and brain-controlled

said that Intel team members would ask

Ph.D. student there, was the world’s first

drones at Clemson University with

him what he thought the “killer app” for

brain-drone race at a university.

his colleague Chris Crawford in 2012.

the technology was. That is, what BCI

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Envision Magazine

Photo: Sandra Roa

Brain-Drone Racing League members prepare for the next race.

The Neuro-Machine Interaction Lab’s brain-drone race simulation allows players to use a real EEG headband to fly a virtual drone through a simulated race track.

their brain activity to see how attentive

application would be most popular and contribute to its widespread adoption. He and Crawford thought brain-controlled drones were a good choice.

“We saw drones and especially drone racing becoming more popular,” Andujar said. “When we got to UF in 2014 … to finish our Ph.D., that’s when we came up with the idea of braindrone racing.”

BCI technology was first developed for biomedical applications — like assistive devices and prosthetics that help users regain lost movement and communication abilities — but has since contributed to research in a wide variety of fields from security and neuromarketing to entertainment and gaming.

The Neuro-Machine Interaction Lab

they were while studying. Andujar said

began in the summer of 2018 and

he plans to expand work on this app

currently consists of a team of four

to study how it can be used specifically

Ph.D. students, one master’s student

by individuals with Attention Deficit

and about 20 undergraduate students.

Hyperactivity Disorder.

Andujar said there’s also a waiting list of 30 undergraduate students waiting

Lab collaborators include Intel, which

to join.

donated three drones to use during the USF Brain-Drone Race, Tampa video

“We’re not bigger because we don’t

production company Diamond View

have the space,” he said. “I get students

- which created a promotional video

every other day and from all over who

for the race - and Ybor City-based

tell me they want to join the lab as a

U.S. Special Operations Command

Ph.D. student.”

collaborator SOFWERX, which is working with lab researchers on

One of the lab’s earliest projects

projects for the U.S. Air Force.

was a simulation of a brain-drone race, which lets players use a real

Andujar said that he still collaborates

EEG headband to fly a virtual drone

with Crawford — who now researches

through a simulated race track. The

human-computer interaction at the

lab demoed the simulation at the 2018

University of Alabama — on further

and 2019 Synapse Summit tech events

developing brain-controlled drone

in Tampa.

technology. At the time of the USF Brain-Drone Race, Andujar had not

The lab team is currently working to

heard of another lab at an American

research how a drone’s camera can be

university that researches brain-

used to analyze emotion and also on

controlled drones. He said that he and

an app that can help students monitor

Crawford are two of only a handful of

Continued on next page.

Envision Magazine

5

researchers currently researching the

a student organization made to teach

subject in the U.S.

students about BCI tech and promote brain-drone racing on campus.

Dante Tezza, a second-year Ph.D. computer science and engineering

As the lab’s event manager and BCI

student in the Neuro-Machine

club president, Pinto played a large

Interaction Lab, will likely soon join

role in planning and organizing the

them. Tezza worked with unmanned

USF Brain-Drone Race. In previous

aerial vehicles (UAVs) for the Brazilian

years, she was on the USF Engineering

Air Force, contributed greatly to the first

Expo student board, which she said was

fully autonomous takeoff and landing

great experience for organizing events

system in Brazilian aviation history

at USF. It also helped her navigate the

and spent nearly four years in the UAV

obstacles of planning an event involving

industry after getting his undergraduate

drones, including space and netting

degree.

requirements, special permits and approval from three different offices on

He said he decided to join the lab last

campus.

year after hearing about the lab’s work with brain-controlled drones. He’s

Pinto currently works on the lab’s

currently researching new methods

brain-controlled virtual reality painting

people can use to interact with drones

project, which would allow users

including via a person’s emotions.

to control brushstrokes in a VR art

Tezza and fellow lab Ph.D. student

program. The lab plans to publish a

Sarah Garcia also had a paper accepted

paper on the project in the future and

to appear at the July 2019 Human-

currently has a prototype in the works.

Computer Interaction International Conference regarding the use of BCIs

Pinto said that further developing the

for gaming and brain-controlled drones.

BCI club is also on the lab’s to-do list this year.

“I think the biggest advantage of graduate school is that you can really

“Our main goal was to host the race,

pick the area that you want to work

but we also want to tell people about

will succeed because there’s so many

in,” Tezza said. “Basically everything

the tech, and we’re planning on hosting

possibilities for using it to help people

that I work with here, I want to keep

workshops in the future on how to build

in various ways and for entertainment,”

working with after I graduate. It’s great

drones and how brain-controlled drones

Rodriguez said.

experience and lets me work in projects

work,” she said.

that I really enjoy, so it’s definitely aligned with my goals.”

Romeu, a Tampa middle school student, Angela Rodriguez, a USF computer

said that while he became familiar with

science and engineering student and

the concept of brain-drone racing at last

Blanche Pinto, who will be starting

Brain-Drone Racing League volunteer,

year’s USF youth robotics competition

her computer science and engineering

said she loved taking Andujar’s course

Roboticon, seeing the Brain-

Ph.D. program at USF in the fall, said

on BCI and its applications. She also

Drone Racing League’s first official

she first joined the lab while taking a

enjoyed seeing her son Angel Romeu get

competition at USF and getting to fly

class on BCIs taught by Andujar. Talking

to pilot a brain-controlled drone himself

a brain-controlled drone himself was a

with Tezza and Andujar about plans to

at the league’s community table where

completely different experience.

host a brain-drone race at USF piqued

audience members could line up and

her interest, and in the spring of 2018

put on EEG headbands of their own.

she became president of the Brain Computer Interface Club. The club is

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Envision Magazine

Romeu went to Roboticon through the College of Engineering’s Bulls-EYE

“I think it’s a new technology that

Mentoring program, which provides

Watch Video

Computer science and engineering graduate student Khaled Alshatti is presented with a trophy after winning all four of his matches at the USF Brain-Drone Race.

Photo: Sandra Roa

underrepresented middle school

from schools including the University

students in the USF Tampa community

of Cambridge and the University of

with STEM and engineering experiences

Tokyo. Ideally, he said, this year’s race

through a summer program at USF.

will also serve as a pilot for races that would welcome students from other

“I think it’s really cool and extraordinary

universities around the world in future

how the technology is getting better

years.

these days,” Romeu said. “To be honest, this is something I didn’t think would be possible until like the 2030’s.”

In the future, Andujar said he hopes to

Join the Brain Computer Interface Club student organization at https://orgsync.com/173081/chapter

send USF students to brain-drone races hosted at universities all over the world.

He said the Brain-Drone Racing League, of which the University of Alabama and the University of Florida are currently members, has also received interest

Envision Magazine

7

Photos: Chen Wang | Sweet Lighting Photography

Photo: Brad Stager

Christopher Alexander working in his lab.

Building a Career by Protecting Concrete and Steel

By Brad Stager Corrosion never takes a break.

The lab provides corrosion control engineering services to clients throughout the United States, as well as Florida.

One cause of bridge aging, especially for bridges spanning

Alexander is the new director of the lab, taking over from

saltwater, is structural deterioration and exterior cracking

its founder and recently retired, Distinguished University

of concrete due to the corrosion of embedded steel cable

Professor Alberto Sagüés, Ph.D.

or rebar. According to assistant professor Christopher Alexander, Ph.D., it is important to mitigate corrosion much

“One of our main research focuses is the corrosion of civil

before it becomes so severe that concrete deterioration is

infrastructure,” says Alexander. “We also work a lot with the

visible.

Florida Department of Transportation.”

Researching how to keep bridges and other civil

Alexander, who earned his bachelor of science in civil

infrastructure in good shape is a key area of interest of the

engineering at USF initially wanted to design and build

College of Engineering’s Corrosion Engineering Laboratory,

bridges, but once he discovered the many facets of bridge

located on the north side of USF’s Tampa campus.

construction and maintenance he decided to continue his education at the graduate level. Alexander also credits his

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Envision Magazine

undergraduate research experience with Professor

footprint, and we’re trying to understand how steel

Gray Mullins, Ph.D. for introducing him to career

performs in those concretes.”

possibilities in academia.

Alexander also says the lab uses mathematical “I started doing research with Dr. Mullins in

modeling as well to quantitatively project

my sophomore year and continued with him

corrosion damage, a method especially useful for

throughout until I graduated, and that’s where my

underwater structures associated with bridges.

passion for research began to grow.”

Students and recent graduates working in the Alexander, an NSF-LSAMP Bridge to Doctorate

lab gain practical experience they can apply

and McKnight Dissertation Fellow, earned a

to their own research. Postdoctoral research

master’s degree in civil engineering and a Ph.D. in

scholar Hesham Mraied, who earned his Ph.D.in

chemical engineering at the University of Florida.

mechanical engineering at USF, is interested in

His research focuses on using electrochemical

corrosion performance of construction materials

analysis to determine what happens when

and is especially interested in aluminum and

chlorides, such as from salt water, permeate

magnesium. He says he is gaining knowledge that

concrete structures that have steel reinforcement

will help him take his career to the next level.

within them. That sums up a good bit of what is going on in the 2,500-square-foot corrosion lab

“It’s a good transition for my future in academia,”

where Alexander and a team of research assistants

says Mraied.

analyze and experiment with structural samples from bridges around the United States as well as

According to founder Sagüés, who is active in

Florida.

research as emeritus faculty in the College of Engineering, the Corrosion Engineering Lab

“We are trying to understand corrosion on a level

under Alexander’s leadership will continue to

where we’re able to reliably predict its occurrence

strongly contribute to the overall effort to protect

in certain environments related not just to Florida,

infrastructure from corrosion.

but the nation as well as the world,” says Alexander who adds that the goal is to apply that knowledge

“Dr. Alexander is a very capable researcher

to improve civil and commercial reinforced

who already has his own career going on, and

concrete infrastructure design, material selection

I’m very confident that we’re going to continue

and future reliability.

having a successful relationship with FDOT,” says Sagüés. “We’re very fortunate to have a seamless

Many of the projects the lab works on are related

continuation going forward.”

to transportation, ranging from bridges to mechanically-stabilized earth walls, and fall under

Alexander, who also teaches materials engineering,

the responsibility of the Florida Department of

says there is a lot he enjoys about his work.

Transportation. Alexander says there is commercial interest as well in the services the corrosion lab

“The satisfaction comes from engaging with

provides.

students and other researchers and being in an environment where I am constantly learning new

“We also have an industry sponsor focused on

things.”

making novel concretes with a lower carbon Envision Magazine

9

David Murphy Receives NSF CAREER Award to Study Insect Flight in Air and Water for Engineering Solutions

R

esearch by USF Mechanical Engineering

known as biomimetics, is a long-standing interest

assistant professor David Murphy, Ph.D.

for Murphy, who once built a working model of a

about how some of the tiniest winged

swimming manta ray that replicated the marine

creatures in existence move through water and

creature’s fin movements for a high school science

air has received a boost with a $438,249 National

fair project.

Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER grant.

Murphy became interested in the planktonic sea The funding comes at a time when Murphy, who

butterfly Limacina helicina, which is common in the

joined the College of Engineering faculty in 2016,

Pacific Northwest, while researching zooplankton

says he is prepared to go beyond his previous

for his Ph.D. thesis at the Georgia Institute of

research into the locomotion of wing-footed marine

Technology, “Hydrodynamics of Swimming and

snails known as pteropods, or sea butterflies, and

Sensing in Zooplankton.” His move to USF on

that the award makes it possible to do so.

Florida’s West Central coast brought him closer to the natural ocean habitat of sea butterfly species

“This will allow me to continue funding my

such as the cone-shaped Hyalocylis striata.

students, build on what we’ve done before and

“With the pteropods we wanted to study how that

expand in new directions like soft robotics.”

wing flexibility really impacts the hydrodynamics,” he says, leading to his question: “How can we design

Soft robotics, which makes use of compliant

machines that are also similarly flexible and achieve

materials that often mimic tissues or structures of

some of the same benefits that these organisms

organisms, is an emerging field with possibilities

have?”

that became apparent to Murphy as he studied sea butterflies, which move through water by flapping

Answering that question is a focus of research

pairs of highly flexible wings.

for the Murphy Fluids Lab at the University of South Florida, which has traveled to the island

“The really unusual thing about these pteropods is

of Bermuda, home to the Bermuda Institute of

that they have wings that can bend a tremendous

Ocean Sciences (BIOS), and close to where sea

amount,” he says. “They can bend 180 degrees in

butterflies thrive.

either direction and can essentially give themselves a hug on both sides of their body, and so that’s a

Comparing the aquatic flight maneuvers

really interesting adaptation.”

performed by the sandgrain-sized sea butterflies with those of airborne insects,

Some of the possible uses of soft robotics include

some even smaller than fruit flies and

harvesting of sensitive crops like fruits by machines

mosquitoes, revealed similarities in their actions

and as adaptive prosthetics in healthcare.

and the fluid dynamics they create.

Studying nature for engineering inspiration,

For example, the sea butterflies create motion by

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Envision Magazine

Photo: Samantha Newton

By Brad Stager

Sea butterfly illustrations by Samm Newton.

clapping their wings together at the end

measuring and analyzing the

important, and how we can learn from

of the upstroke and flinging them apart

movements of insects and the fluid

nature to solve engineering problems.”

at the beginning of the down stroke. The

dynamics they create through high-

same technique is used by tiny flying

speed photography. Murphy says the

The book will be illustrated by artist

insects, the difference being that the sea

NSF grant will enable the purchase of

Samm Newton who is known for using

butterflies are creating lift with water

a new 3D flow measurement system to

art to creatively communicate scientific

instead of air.

facilitate that, and will also fund return

concepts.

research trips to BIOS. “The ultimate goal is to take some

“I want people to walk away from my

design inspiration from these organisms

Besides professional publications and

paintings with a renewed sense of

and apply them to little micro-vehicles

presentations that work of this nature

curiosity about the world,” she is quoted

or micro-robots that could do the same

and magnitude usually generates,

as saying in a profile published on the

thing,” says Murphy, who adds that he

there is also funding for publishing

BIOS website (bios.edu).

is collaborating with the University

an educational children’s book, says

of Florida, Institute of Food and

Murphy.

Agricultural Sciences Extension, in examining possible applications of his research to aid in controlling flying crop pests.

“If we can better understand how they fly then maybe we can design better control mechanisms or bio-friendly control strategies.”

Much of the research involves

“

It will teach children what sea butterflies are and why they are important, and how we can learn from nature to solve engineering problems.

- David Murphy, Ph.D.

According to Murphy, “There is a lot of design inspiration that we can get from these snails.”

Murphy also has conducted research related to the fluid mechanics and interactions of oil, water, and chemical dispersants in offshore oil spills such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its aftermath. To learn more about

“It will teach children what sea

research conducted at the Murphy Lab,

butterflies are and why they are

visit murphyfluidslab.com.

Envision Magazine 11

Photo: Russell Nay

Engineering Expo puts College of Engineering on Display for USF Community

By Russell Nay

E

ach spring for the past 47 years, the College of

Exhibitor stations could be found in clusters from the USF

Engineering and surrounding areas at USF are

Connect research park near USF’s main entrance to the

transformed for one weekend into the university’s

Interdisciplinary Sciences Building at the heart of campus.

largest annual science fair – the USF Engineering Expo.

The event also featured interactive presentations, a series of electric car races, guest speakers and shows. One of the

This year, the two-day event attracted about 15,000 guests

most popular student-run shows, organized by USF student

between February 16 and February 17, including K-12

organization X-Labs, invited 200 guests at a time to watch a

students from more than 100 schools throughout Florida.

handful of electrifying experiments, including a live Tesla coil

Engineering Expo aims to get Florida schoolchildren excited

musical performance.

about a variety of STEM concepts and introduces them to different engineering disciplines.

USF chemical engineering senior and former Engineering Expo executive board member Oluwagbemisola Aderibigbe

Dozens of student organizations and community partners like

helped run this year’s series of X-Labs shows. Aderibigbe

TECO, Lockheed Martin, MOSI, and Jabil ran 56 exhibition

said that successful exhibits at Engineering Expo show K-12

stations filled with unique experiments and exhibits for guests

students something fascinating they’ve never seen before and

to watch and interact with.

allow USF students to interact with them.

Exhibits ranged from Van de Graaff generators and a

“I can see the kids and ask them, ‘What’s your favorite part of

demonstration of elephant’s toothpaste to a simulation of a

Expo?’ or, ‘What was the best exhibition you saw?’” she said. “I

disaster response robot and an interactive flight simulator.

can also encourage them to be engineers. I’ve asked a couple

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Envision Magazine

Photos: Ryan Wakefield

The USF Biomedical Engineering Society challenges K-12

A student lights up a row of light bulbs with kinetic energy

students to a robotic arm wrestling match controlled by the

by peddling a stationary bike at one of the Tampa Electric

electrical signals of students’ bicep flexes.

Company exhibits.

The USF X-Labs Tesla coil launches a trail of forked lightning during an X-Labs show, briefly lighting a fluorescent light tube.

of them, ‘Do you want to be an engineer

Rosemar Hernandez Suero, an 8th

New Springs Schools had its own

when you grow up?’”

grader at K-8 Tampa public charter

student-built experiments at

school New Springs Schools, said that

Engineering Expo, including a

Aderibigbe said it’s important for today’s

watching the USF Engineering Medical

demonstration of physics with inertia

younger generation of students to have

Society’s (EMS) demonstration of a

beads and DNA double helix models.

the opportunity to be introduced to

laser that could pop balloons and leave

First grade New Springs School teacher

STEM fields, explore possible career

behind a cloud of colorful smoke was

Brenna Wonsey said she hopes her

interests and get the chance to ask

“the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”

school will return each year to table at

college students what it’s like to attend

“I’ve seen things I never knew about

future expos.

a university. She said there were no

and things I couldn’t have imagined,”

opportunities for her to learn about

Hernandez Suero said. “At school, I feel

“We’re a STEM school, so we feel like

college life or engineering careers

like there’s more limits, and it’s more

STEM education is very important,

when she was in grade school, so she

restrictive (for science experiments.) …

and we wanted to bring that into the

wanted to help Florida’s K-12 students

There were things I couldn’t have seen if

community and show ourselves off,”

explore the idea of attending a college

I hadn’t come to Expo.”

Wonsey said.

She said coming to Expo also reinforced

She said that while students’ curriculum

her thoughts of someday becoming a

includes a weekly STEM class and

“Also, it’s good because USF students

biomedical engineer but that she also

that students can join the school’s

can know, ‘I helped this kid out with

liked meeting exhibitors and learning

robotics team or compete in local STEM

this,’ or, ‘I taught this kid something,’”

about the different careers she could

competitions like the Florida Science

Aderibigbe said. “There’s actually a

pursue through engineering.

Olympiad, Engineering Expo shows

engineering program through exhibits at Expo.

student in charge of X-Labs this year

students what engineers do on a day-to-

who was a child that came to Expo with

“A bunch of people here have provided

day basis and connects STEM lessons

his dad when he was younger, and now

solutions to problems that … could help

students learn in the classroom with

he goes to USF.”

humanity push forward,” she said. “I

real-world examples.

want to make a change.”

Continued on next page.

Envision Magazine 13

Photo: Russell Nay

Guests take the flight simulations at Lockheed Martin’s Engineering Expo exhibit for a spin at the USF Research Park.

“Here they get to see (STEM concepts)

these different (exhibits),” Mohamed

in a career setting,” she said. “We’ve

said. “But you also want to make sure

had kids come up to our table today, do

that you have something there that

Most rewarding, Mohamed said, is

our experiments and literally say they

catches their attention. That way they

seeing all of the club’s hard work pay

want to be scientists now.”

get interested and listen to what you

off by inspiring K-12 students to learn

want to say, and it’ll be something

more about his engineering field.

One exhibit that students from the

memorable that sticks in their mind

“This is something that we all worked

USF Biomedical Engineering Society

and will actually have an impact on

on together,” he said. “After all these

(BMES) designed and built to inspire

them.”

months of preparing and building …

the next generation of engineers was

with right now.”

our favorite part of Expo is seeing the

an arm wrestling station featuring

Mohamed, a biomedical engineering

kids get excited about the booth and

3D-printed robotic arms. Students

Ph.D. student, said he thinks it’s

get interested in this (engineering)

flexed their own arms, which turned

important for Bulls in student

program.”

their muscle contractions into

engineering organizations to get

electrical signals sent via electrodes to

involved in Engineering Expo because

Chemical and biomedical engineering

the robotic arms. Whoever flexed the

of how much more students can get

senior and EMS at USF founder Carlos

hardest would find their robotic arm

out of their clubs by participating.

Cruz said the student organization

on top.

He said the event not only brings

also spent months preparing for

different disciplines of student

Engineering Expo this year.

BMES Engineering Expo coordinator

engineers together to work on a project

“It starts from day one in the fall

Youssef Mohamed said the student

but that the exhibits students create

semester,” Cruz said. “We’re already

org focused on making the exhibit

also build on what they learn in the

generating the experiments we’re

a short but engaging experience to

classroom.

going to have, trying to see what EMS

interest K-12 students in biomedical engineering.

members would like to see at Expo, “The same signals we’re collecting

gauging how many members would

(from the BMES exhibit) are used

like to volunteer and how much of a

“You have to make sure that your

in the real world for veterans and

budget we’ll need.”

presentation is quick because their

amputees … to control a bionic arm,”

attention span is usually not that

he said. “That’s the medical application

Cruz said that EMS at USF chose

long, and they want to go explore all

of the technology that we’re working

to include its balloon-popping laser

14

Envision Magazine

demonstration in its exhibit lineup to

the Tampa community how all types of

inspire the next generation of engineers

highlight an emerging medical procedure

engineering are behind the energy it

while staying in touch with life at USF.

that uses a laser to kill tumors by

makes every day.

Turgeon said she knows many TECO

heating them. This way, students can

engineers who are USF alumni and that

teach guests about advancements in

“(Energy) is a very broad area to work in

she started coming to Engineering Expo

the medical engineering field through

because we take all engineers,” Turgeon

as a junior to help the American Institute

simple, entertaining science experiments.

said. “An engineering degree is so flexible

of Chemical Engineers at USF run its

that it’s nice to show the kids … what we

exhibits.

“It’s nice to just show basic science

do day to day. I even talked to parents

experiments to engage the community

today about how power is made.”

“I’ve been coming here for so long that

(with EMS at USF),” he said. “This is a

This year, TECO engineers taught

each year would be incomplete without

really nice way to show them that they

curious Engineering Expo guests of all

going to Expo,” she said.

Photos: Ryan Wakefield

(L) USF Society of Aeronautics and Rocketry (SOAR) members present a team-built rocket to middle school

Photos: Ryan Wakefield

students. (R) Middle school students jump to propel air-powered rockets.

can be involved in engineering and that

ages about electric circuits and basic

See more from this year’s Engineering

it can be a lot of fun.”

properties of electricity, how power

Expo by visiting USF Engineering Expo

plants work and the behind-the-scenes

on Facebook (@EngineeringEXPOUSF).

Tampa Electric Company (TECO)

mechanical work that goes into powering

project engineer and USF chemical

a home. They brought a Van de Graaff

and biomedical engineering alumna

generator to teach K-12 students about

Jessica Turgeon said that along with

static electricity and let them make

TECO’s Manatee Viewing Center

electricity themselves with a stationary

and participation in Great American

bike and some kinetic energy.

Teach-Ins, Engineering Expo is one of the company’s main STEM outreach

Engineering Expo is also a chance for

programs for teaching K-12 students

Turgeon, and other TECO engineers,

about engineering at TECO and showing

to return to campus each year and help

Envision Magazine 15

A Passion for Progress

By Russell Nay

A

fter finishing high school, Alexander Alava Chonchol decided there were three academic fields he wanted to study most in college —

computer engineering, economics and political science.

Alava Chonchol grew up in Venezuela and attended the same school — Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola in Caracas — from the age of four until he was 17 and finished secondary schooling in 2014. By the time he could start applying to universities, Venezuela was in the midst of an evolving economic crisis.

“When you come from a country like mine where you’ve been living all your life seeing the consequences of a bad economic system … it definitely wakes up your interest in economics,” he said. “Through engineering — if it’s computer engineering, chemical, mechanical, whatever field it is — there’s so much you can achieve to help communities around you. Having that knowledge of computer engineering and economics should be a good package for me to help empower communities around me.”

Near the end of 2015, the BBC cited that Venezuela would experience an inflation rate of over 150%, was already experiencing major food shortages and that most of the country’s pharmacies had a general shortage

USF Computer Science and Engineering senior Alexander Alava Chonchol.

of 70% of their medications.

Forbes reported that the Venezuelan bolívar lost more than half its worth in 2015 due to inflation and falling oil prices and that corporations like Ford, Energizer and Colgate had major problems with the Venezuelan currency exchange rate beginning in 2014.

Venezuela’s education department was greatly impacted as a result of the mounting economic downturn, and Alava Chonchol said students looking for financial aid to study at universities were limited by the major they chose. In his case, he was only eligible to access financial aid if he pursued an engineering degree out of his three options. With relatives in Weston, Florida and the need to fly home and visit his family once a year, Alava Chonchol decided to apply to USF.

16

Envision Magazine

After being accepted into USF and taking classes, however, he learned the financial aid program he had expected would help fund his education was not available at all despite his career selection. Instead of thinking about dropping out or reducing his course load, Alava Chonchol realized there was a good chance he could handle double majoring and sat down with academic advisors to plan out how to best fit an economics degree on top of his computer engineering workload.

“I have this weird belief that the more I put on my plate, the better I’ll organize myself,” he said. “I knew I could handle 18 credits a semester, and if I came out of school and did nothing related to economics I would regret it moving forward. …

Whenever you want to do something, and you’re willing to put in the effort, you shall succeed.”

After two summer internships at Twitter, Alexander Alava Chonchol (back row, second from right) will join the social media platform’s development team in July.

Now a senior at USF at the time of writing with a 4.0 GPA in

not to shut down one of its models. He found that shutting

both computer engineering and economics, Alava Chonchol

the model down would allow more than 135,000 interactions

expects to join Twitter’s software engineering team this July.

from fake accounts and advised that Twitter keep the model running.

Alava Chonchol first joined Twitter for a three-month software engineering internship in May 2017 where he led

“That was a big decision for the company,” he said. “Me being

a project on preventing spammers from using Twitter cards

able to be in the driver’s seat on that research and gather data

— the platform’s feature that displays a visual preview of

and convince people to not do something harmful for the

links and media below tweet text — to publish inappropriate

company … at only 21 years old was something really great.”

and prohibited content, bypassing Twitter’s existing security systems.

When Alava Chonchol starts full-time with Twitter in July, he said he still expects to work building applications to monitor

Alava Chonchol was successful in developing a system that

fake accounts but also expects to work more with the backend

hid sensitive content in Twitter cards capable of filtering

of user tools and applications for the platform.

through 1000 tweets every minute, and the system is still

He said he’s looking forward to working at Twitter especially

currently in use on the platform.

because of how personable, employee-oriented and flexible the company is. While switching jobs in an industry typically

“Me transitioning between my sophomore and junior year

means switching companies, Alava Chonchol said that he can

and already being able to do something on a platform that

simply switch to another project team if he’s ever looking for a

millions of people use every single day of their lives was really

new experience at Twitter.

amazing,” he said.

“Hopefully I’ll be there for a while, and my plan is to be there Alava Chonchol returned to Twitter next May for another

for as long as I feel like I’m learning and to just keep doing my

three-month internship where he focused on analyzing

best,” he said. “July can’t come soon enough.”

and improving the platform’s machine learning models — programs responsible for monitoring and regulating the

Alava Chonchol said he first met Twitter reps at a booth at

activity of fake Twitter accounts.

the 2016 Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) National Convention in Seattle, Washington. From there, he

Depending on his research, Twitter would decide whether or

followed up with the company and got an interview, which led Continued on next page.

Envision Magazine 17

Plain País 2019, hosted by the Venezuelan Student Alliance at USF, featured committees, discussion panels, guest speakers and presentations focused on what can be done to plan a better future for Venezuela.

to a trip to the company’s headquarters in San Francisco and

prospective Venezuelan students. He said this is also

another interview.

beneficial for USF because it helps attract students from Venezuela to attend the university. Alava Chonchol said his

Aside from leading to a full-time position, Alava Chonchol

brother will most likely apply to USF after finishing secondary

said his internships at Twitter were generally great

school and is also likely to study engineering.

opportunities for professional development. He said he had the opportunity to work with and learn directly from

“There’s going to be more Venezuelans coming to USF and

Twitter personnel — some of whom were students from top

schools all over the U.S., and (it’s helpful) for their parents

engineering schools or renowned engineers like former MIT

to be able to send them to a school where they know a

Blackjack Team member Jeff Ma.

Venezuelan community … and people like them are already here and established,” he said. “It’s great to be around people

“Just being around people like that, you automatically grow,”

who are facing the same challenges as you or maybe have

he said. “Internship opportunities teach you a lot. You see

family back home … that you can share your thoughts with.”

your career from a completely different perspective outside of the classroom.”

This spring, VENSA at USF hosted Plan País 2019 at USF — a national, annual conference that brings Venezuelan

Aside from attending SHPE’s national conferences every year

youth together with a multidisciplinary group of experts and

he’s been at USF, Alava Chonchol has also been involved with

professionals to discuss what can be done to improve the

the Latin American Student Association (LASA) at USF since

current state of Venezuela.

2015 and founded the Venezuelan Student Alliance (VENSA) at USF in 2017.

The student organization currently has more than 300 student members signed up, and Alava Chonchol said

After spending a year as LASA’s treasurer and then a year

he would like to look proudly back at the organization in

as its president, Alava Chonchol found himself wanting to

five years and find that it has grown even further. Long-

spend more time advocating for specifically the Venezuelan

term goals he wants to see it accomplish are connecting

community as conditions in Venezuela continued to decline.

USF’s Venezuelan community to the larger Venezuelan

He decided to step down from his LASA USF presidency and

communities of Tampa and Miami and creating a leadership

become an advisor for the organization so he could found

and professional network that Venezuelan students can access

VENSA at USF.

internships and job opportunities through.

As described on its BullSync page, the student org “aims

Alava Chonchol said he recommends students build their

to showcase and promote the Venezuelan culture among

professional networks early so they have a better chance of

students.” Alava Chonchol said he also wanted to create

getting a job in their field that they’ll enjoy.

VENSA in order to create a community for current and 18

Envision Magazine

“Whoever you know and the network

gives students advice on scholarship

and exceptional academic achievements.

you have really raises your value a lot,”

and internships opportunities, course

As an active member of Colegio San

he said. “You never know who’s going to

selection and student orgs on campus.

Ignacio de Loyola’s student government

be your next boss, who links you to your

since 14, he said joining USF Student

next job or who’s out there that can help

He said that when he first came to USF,

Government in any way was one of the

you out. … That’s the value I found in

there were many aspects of campus life

first things on his mind when he came

student organizations.”

and succeeding in college that he had to

to USF, and so he did by joining SG’s

figure out himself. He said that having

Street Team.

He also stresses that stepping outside of

another student advise him when he was

one’s comfort zone to surround oneself

a freshman would have made his early

“I don’t like being in the back seat

with people from different backgrounds

college life much easier.

and seeing how everyone takes care of

and with different thoughts and beliefs

things,” he said. “I like to be involved. …

is vital for one’s professional and

“It’s a great way to fulfill another one

I’ve always been that kind of person.”

personal development.

of my passions, which is mentoring,”

Alava Chonchol said he’s made lasting

he said. “There’s so many times that

friendships and connections through

Alava Chonchol’s USF involvement also

you can do very little and have a huge

all organizations he has been in contact

includes time spent mentoring other

impact on the lives of other people

with and that his involvement at USF as

College of Engineering students as a

around you.”

a whole means much more than lines on

learning team peer leader and helping

his resume.

The Order of the Golden Brahman

member of The Order of the Golden

members represent the interests and

“In order to grow as a complete

Brahman.

ideals of the USF community, sit at

individual, there’s so many other things

USF Student Government’s community

that you need to work on,” he said.

As a College of Engineering learning

discussion table and advocate for

“Don’t do something just for the sake of

team peer leader, Alava Chonchol not

the development of the university.

doing it or having it on your resume. It

only leads tutor sessions for students

Alava Chonchol was invited after his

should be something you’re passionate

in Pre Calculus and Physics I but also

involvement in student organizations

about.”

ALUMNI NEWS

lead the university’s community as a

Diego Martinez, ‘11 MSIE, ‘15 Ph.D. (IMSE) is now an assistant professor

Himanshu Thapliyal, ‘11 Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Electrical

at The Johns Hopkins University

and Computer Engineering at the University

School of Medicine.

of Kentucky, has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award.

Envision EnvisionMagazine Magazine 19

Engineering Inspirations

By Russell Nay

W

hat do an Intel Technical

he served as a branch chief in the

Lead and a former Deputy

Command Systems Operations Division

Director for Operations

within the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the

at the U.S. Pentagon have in common?

Pentagon.

Both completed a Ph.D. in computer science and engineering at USF.

Here, Hansley was responsible for classified military systems — and

Earnest “Earnie” Hansley, Ph.D., who

the staff that helped manage them

served in the U.S. Army for 33 years

— containing secret and top secret

before retiring, began his doctoral

information that the appointed Joint

program at USF in 2000 with a focus

Chiefs of Staff used for military

on biometric recognition under USF

operations.

Department of Computer Science and Engineering Chair Sudeep Sarkar,

“The tools that I learned from

Ph.D., as well as current University of

taking courses on operating systems

Notre Dame computer science professor

and algorithms and, of course, the

Kevin Bowyer, Ph.D.

programming I had to do, all positively impacted my ability to carry out my jobs

Hansley was one of a handful of

(as branch chief ),” he said. “I was using

accepted applicants who had applied

my degree. If they needed systems, they

for a Ph.D. program through an Army

depended upon my group.”

education program. In 2004, he moved to Washington D.C. to continue

Hansley also spent four years as Deputy

his military career. For three years,

Director for Operations at the Pentagon,

20

Envision Magazine

Earnest “Earnie” Hansley, Ph.D.

where he served as Military

that Hyman would become a

new features and capabilities.

Assistant for the Deputy Assistant

mechanical engineer himself

Currently, Hyman works as an

Secretary of Defense for Research.

while his sister would become

Intel AI Technical Lead and Deep

In this role and with the rank of

an electrical engineer. However,

Learning Software Engineering

Colonel, Hansley was responsible

Hyman’s interest in MS-DOS

Manager. He mentors a team

for prioritizing, assigning and

computer games and in his

of four senior engineers in

overseeing the development of

family’s Macintosh computer

becoming proficient with deep

solutions for STEM-related —

growing up led him down the

learning technology and efficient

and often military-oriented —

path of computer engineering. In

computation and optimization of

issues that subject experts within

order to play more graphically-

neural networks. This requires

the Pentagon were tasked with

advanced games he had to

him to lead group programming

solving.

learn each game’s hardware

sessions and provide technical

requirements, which taught him

guidance when a member of his

This included aviation safety,

about computer processes and

team is stuck on a project.

space operations, electronic

microprocessors when he was still

warfare, cybersecurity, medical

in elementary school.

“There’s a small population

research and especially any

of people who have a lot of

problems involving active military

Hyman carried this interest in

knowledge within AI,” Hyman

fighting overseas in Afghanistan

computer hardware through

said. “There’s a responsibility

and Iraq like the use of drones

middle and high school, as well as

as a mentor, as a manager and

or avoiding improvised explosive

through an undergraduate degree

as a tech lead to make sure that

devices.

in mathematics at Bethune-

engineers I mentor are aware of

Cookman University (BCU) in

what deep learning is as a field

“We’re talking about dealing

Daytona Beach. After spending

and how they’ll be able to be

with critical tasks that impact

a summer in Computer Science

successful at their job.”

the Department of Defense and

and Engineering Professor Miguel

our nation’s defense,” Hansley

Labrador’s National Science

As a doctoral student, Hyman

said. “In terms of decisions, I’ve

Foundation (NSF) Research

served as president of the IEEE-

been in organizations where we

Experiences for Undergraduates

Computer Science Society at

looked at … $10,000 and did a

(REU) program in computer

USF and as a mentor to several

lot of thinking about it, but the

science, he made the decision

minority undergraduates in the

Pentagon would make million-

to pursue graduate studies at

computer engineering program

dollar decisions in a minute or

USF with support from the NSF

at both BCU and USF. Recently,

less. We would pull in some of

Florida-Georgia Louis Stokes for

he held a virtual discussion with

the best and brightest — not

Minority Participation Bridge to

USF computer science students

just within the military but from

the Doctorate activity.

in the NSF S-STEM Flit-Path

industry and academia also — to

scholarship program about the

figure out how to come up with

In addition to publishing four

daily life and responsibilities of an

solutions.”

peer-reviewed papers with his

Intel Tech Lead, as well as advice

advisor, Hyman received a best

and interview tips for pursuing

Ransford Hyman, Jr. Ph.D., began

presentation award during

a career with a Silicon Valley

his doctoral program in 2006

the Richard Tapia Celebration

company.

with a focus on the reliability and

of Diversity in Computing

optimization of microprocessors

conference.

“Some of that knowledge is

under the late Distinguished

well-known here because it’s

University Professor Nagarajan

In 2011, Hyman began working

Silicon Valley,” Hyman said. “But

Ranganathan, Ph.D.

for Intel as a senior software

sometimes that knowledge stays

engineer where he coded,

siloed within this area, so it’s good

Hyman said his father was

provided data analysis solutions

to be able to share with the goal

an engineer and often said

and modeled Intel hardware for

that it will hopefully help them

Continued on next page.

Envision Magazine 21

Ransford Hyman (front row, right) takes a photo with other San Francisco Bay Area members of /dev/color — a nonprofit that helps black software engineers grow into industry leaders. pursue their careers.”

“What we determined was that

that become widely used by society,

given the anticipated demographic

he said that a lack of representation

Hyman and Hansley are the second

population shifts — in order for the

in future tech advances — like those

and third African-American students,

U.S. to remain the strongest country

that could help decide legal cases or

respectively, to achieve a Ph.D. in the

in the world — we need to ensure that

determine credit loan eligibility — could

Department of Computer Science and

everyone is represented in STEM,” he

cause them to benefit only certain sets of

Engineering at USF, and both agree

said. “To address diverse challenges

people and disadvantage others.

that diversity in engineering and in

of this century and beyond, we need

STEM professions is vital to the national

to have diverse solutions and diverse

“If you have those technologies and

security and economic well-being of the

populations working on them.”

they’re not evaluated and don’t have an

United States on a broader scale.

understanding of the people they serve, Regarding the development of new

it can become very dangerous,” Hyman

Hansley said the final position he held

technologies, Hyman said that

said. “It’s good to make sure that we’re

at the Pentagon prior to retirement was

individuals from diverse backgrounds

designing and building things that build

working for a presidential appointee

should be included throughout the

the future that we really want. We’re

responsible for the Department of

entire engineering and information

on the cusp of some technologies that

Defense’s STEM portfolio, and one

technology workforce, including within

can have very long-term implications if

major concern was that too few students

senior-level leadership.

they’re not done right.”

Due to the broad impact of technologies

Academically, Hyman said he would

of color were taking courses that built strong STEM foundations.

22

Envision Magazine

like to see more computer science and engineering

more underrepresented students and more

programs around the country both acknowledge

underrepresented graduate-level professors in

the importance of diversity and inclusion as well

computer science and engineering programs.

as outline tangible steps that are transparent and

Hansley and Hyman said their best advice to

monitored for colleges to reach their diversity goals.

students pursuing engineering careers is for them to start building their professional networks as early as

These include increased outreach to schools

possible and to learn what resources are available to

that serve a significant number of students from

help them through their programs.

underrepresented and financially-disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as hiring diverse faculty. He

“You don’t want to start building your network the

said that some elite colleges and Silicon Valley

year you need to pursue graduate school,” Hyman

companies tend to field graduates from narrow

said. “Start when you can build a meaningful

pipelines of students rather than promoting

relationship with people and you’re able to follow

increased diversity in computer science and

up and build mentorships by attending conferences

engineering.

like the National Society of Black Engineers, Black Engineer of the Year, Society of Hispanic

Hyman named partnerships between USF and

Professional Engineers, Hispanic Engineer of the

historically black colleges and universities like BCU

Year and Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity

and the University of the Virgin Islands as positive

in Computing. Everyone needs role models and

examples.

mentors to lean on from time to time in your career, so it’s important to take care of your network.”

“If (diversity and inclusion) is something you care about, then you should also back it up both

“

Along with the guidance he received from College of Engineering Diversity Director Bernard Batson, Hansley said that a one-year dissertation fellowship

If (diversity and inclusion) is something you care about, then you should also back it up both not only by hiring but also investing in those communities.

he received from the Florida Education Fund’s McKnight Doctoral Fellowship program gave him access to seminars, presentations and professional connections that were crucial to achieving his Ph.D. At the onset of his Ph.D., Hyman was awarded a fellowship from the program, and Hansley and Hyman are two of 43 doctoral students from the College of Engineering that have received McKnight five-year fellowship or dissertation awards between 2007 and 2018.

- Ransford Hyman, Jr. Ph.D.

“Bernard told me to apply for the program even though I’m retired military,” Hansley said. “The McKnight Program could help me with my tuition,

not only by hiring but also investing in those

but more important is that they have leadership

communities,” he said. “It’s also important as far as

along with a caring community willing to mentor

inspiring the younger generation to pursue a career

me, provide networking opportunities and other

in engineering and computer science. If they see

available resources that could help me make it

role models who they can identify with pursuing

across the finish line for my Ph.D.”

those careers and making change, it gives them the inspiration to also aim higher.”

Hansley said he would generally like to see

Envision Magazine 23

Photo: Ryan Wakefield

Huabei Jiang, Ph.D.

Huabei Jiang Brings High Expectations to the New Medical Engineering Department

By Brad Stager

H

uabei Jiang is enthusiastic

the department. “We designed the labs

of hope and had a dream to be able to

about what lies ahead for

ourselves so we can be more productive.”

do world-class research.”

Florida’s new Department of Medical

Productivity has a lot to do with how

That dream became a goal in life

Engineering. The department, a

Jiang became a well-known biomedical

while growing up in Szechuan, China

collaboration between the College of

researcher. He has two doctoral

and reading a biography of the great

Engineering and the USF Morsani

degrees, a Ph.D. in electronic physics

American inventor Thomas Edison.

College of Medicine, now has a home

from the University of Electronic

in the Tampa campus’ Interdisciplinary

Science and Technology of China and

“I was really excited,” said Jiang. “He

Sciences Building with its own suite of

another in Biomedical Engineering

had so many inventions. I was very

labs, dedicated to the kind of training

from Dartmouth University, which he

inspired.”

and research unique to biomedical

completed in three years.

the University of South

engineering.

Jiang also finds inspiration in the “I just worked very, very hard,” said

work to be done in the biomedical

“The new space is fantastic,” said Jiang,

Jiang. “No weekends, no holidays for

engineering field, which was just getting

who is the first faculty member hired in

those three years. I was young and full

established when he entered it.

24

Envision Magazine

“It’s very meaningful and should have a lot of room to do

preeminence status. Jiang acknowledged that commitment

really great research.”

from the University’s leadership.

Much of Jiang’s career has been spent developing

“USF really respects the work of its faculty.”

computational methods as well as devices to yield imaging solutions offering health benefits such as detecting and

Jiang added that the word is spreading around the

monitoring cancer and cardiovascular disease with diffuse

biomedical engineering community about the Department of

optical tomography and photoacoustic tomography.

Medical Engineering.

One application in the works is creating a wearable scanner to produce whole body images simultaneously.

“There are faculty of top universities who want to join us.”

Jiang’s research has been widely published in academic journals and publicized in the mainstream media.

As for the research to be performed in the Department of Medical Engineering, Jiang said tangible results that go

This is not Jiang’s first involvement in creating a new

“from the bench to bedside” and help solve health-related

biomedical engineering department. He was one of

problems are the expectation.

the first faculty recruited to the University of Florida’s Department of Biomedical Engineering when it

“We’re ready to produce something.”

was created. His arrival at USF two years ago was made possible because of the funding USF received and used to create the Department of Medical

COLLEGE NEWS

Engineering as part of its successful quest for

Congratulations to this team of USF engineers for winning first prize in the wastewater division for the tenth year in a row at the 2019 Florida Water Environment Association - FWEA Student Design Competition! The team will be representing Florida in the national Student Design Competition at WEFTEC in October.

Participating USF Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE) students (left to right, not including USF CEE Professor Sarina Ergas third from left) included Carley Trask, Xiantong Lin, Hung Bui, Tiffany Crosby and Tyler Bridenstine. The team investigated the potential to use sewer mining and decentralized wastewater treatment to provide reclaimed water for the City of Temple Terrace.

Envision Magazine 25

Photo: Ryan Wakefield

Olukemi Akintewe, Ph.D. - College of Engineering Graduate Returns to Teach Others By Brad Stager

C

reating an academic department

was bioengineering, which she had first

“I was really impressed with the

in an emerging field like

explored while earning her bachelor’s

collaborative research opportunities

biomedical engineering can be

degree in chemical engineering from

presented to me and the diversity I saw

a challenge, and Olukemi Akintewe, a

City College of New York and her

in the college.”

returning USF chemical engineering

master’s degree in materials science

Ph.D. graduate, combines her enthusiasm

and engineering from The Ohio State

While the College of Engineering is a

for teaching with research and industry

University.

place where Akintewe could pursue

experience to help do that while supporting students’ success.

bioengineering research, such as When her husband, an Air Force reserve

microfabrication of tissue precursors, it

officer, was hired to a key position

also provided opportunities for support

As one of the first faculty hired in the

at MacDill Air Force base in Tampa

from within the college to promote her

new Department of Medical Engineering,

she saw an opportunity to conduct

success, as well as from external awards

Dr. Akintewe is building on her own

bioengineering research and possibly

recognizing the quality of her work.

professional and academic achievements

fulfill her dream of teaching by earning

She was selected as an Alfred P. Sloan

as she prepares her students for the

her Ph.D. at USF.

Minority Ph.D. program scholar and

same.

also received a United Negro College “I was looking to go back to school for a

Fund/Merck Graduate Science Research

Before earning her doctoral degree at

Ph.D. because I wanted to be a faculty

Dissertation Fellowship.

USF in 2015, Akintewe researched and

member,” she said, adding that her first

developed materials for corporations

visit to the College of Engineering was

Through her work as a doctoral student

in fields as different as the tire and

favorable.

research assistant, Akintewe contributed

aerospace industries. But her interest

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Envision Magazine

to the development of USF’s biomedical

know-how and tools necessary to succeed in a career in engineering and health related fields”.

But getting a chance to teach has also been a motivation for Akintewe’s pursuit of a Ph.D., and having realized her goal of being an instructor Akintewe is now ready to do whatever she can to help her own students, such as posing tough questions.

Students in Dr. Akintewe’s Medical Engineering lab display the variety of tools they use in their work. From left to right: Matthew Lee Yuen, Rachel Llewellyn, Arsany Gad, Dr. Akintewe, Jacob Dunn, Blake Sanborn, Deena Bhula.

engineering program, before it evolved

“We want our students to succeed and we’re going to provide them the resources

department is focused on.

into the Department of Medical Engineering, as a member of the Cellular

“What we’re doing is understanding on a

Mechanotransduction and Biomaterials

molecular level and a cellular level, how

Laboratory as well as the Polymer

cells interact with scaffolds, and then we

Science and Smart Materials team. She

can build multi-cellular layers of that.”

was also active in promoting a culture of

to do that,” she said, adding that she wants her students to think beyond the technology they work with when she asks, “How do you affect the world with your engineering principles?”

To prepare USF students for the workforce, Dr. Akintewe is identifying

success for herself and fellow students

internships with local industry and

by co-founding a USF chapter of the

clinical opportunities with local

American Association of University

hospitals.

Women that focuses on STEM careers.

Akintewe says, “I want students to have

“We wanted a sense of community, so

summer internships, research or clinical

we created a support system to empower

experience and participate in STEM

each other and to prepare for the

competitions and entrepreneurship

workforce by organizing professional

programs. I believe these entities will

workshops on how to interview, how

help bring to life the knowledge taught in

to publish papers,” she said. “It was a

courses and help cultivate a well-rounded

rewarding experience for me.”

student”.

Dr. Olukemi Akintewe

Following her graduation, Akintewe was selected for a postdoctoral fellowship in a multidisciplinary research training

Dr. Akintewe added that the goal is to

program at Boston University’s (BU)

learn how to fabricate cellular constructs

biomedical engineering department

that can be implanted in a diseased

and the BU Medical Center’s Whitaker

organ.

Cardiovascular Institute’s Training Program. The experience she gained

Dr. Akintewe’s keen interest in student

in that medical setting is likely to be

success is not just within the classroom

useful preparation for her work in the

but beyond her tenure on campus.

Department of Medical Engineering, which is a collaboration between the

“My goal as an instructor is to ensure

College of Engineering and the USF

that I have thoroughly equipped

Morsani College of Health. She said

our students with the fundamental

tissue engineering is one of the areas the

engineering concepts, the technical

In Dr. Akintewe’s new role, her teaching responsibilities are the BME undergraduate labs, Foundations of Engineering Lab, and Molecular and Cellular Engineering course. Along with that, she has a supportive role in the department’s undergraduate admissions and advising committee. Also, she mentors students in the BMES and AAUW organizations as well as other underrepresented Ph.D. students in the college.

Envision Magazine 27

New Medical Engineering Department Supports Student Success and USF Preeminence

By Brad Stager

M

odern artificial hearts have come a

hour undergraduate program contribute to USF’s

long way since 1982 when the first one,

status as a Preeminent State Research University,

made of aluminum and polyurethane,

especially in terms of student success metrics,

was implanted into a patient who lived his last

such as qualifications, retention and time-to-

112 days tethered to an air compressor about

graduation.

the size of a washing machine used to power the mechanical organ.

“The BME major is set up to be completed in

Even though such devices have vastly improved,

graduation metrics, and because the students have

partly because of advances in tissue engineering,

good credentials the attrition rate is very low. In

3D printing and portable power technology, they

fact, in our first class of 55, none of them left USF

still mainly serve as a bridge organ for cardiac

after their initial year.”

patients until a human heart can be transplanted.

The quest for artificial organs that function like

That first cohort of undergraduates entered the

original body parts is just one facet of biomedical

undergraduate BME program in fall 2017.

Photo: Sandra Roa

four years so it contributes positively to time-to-

engineering, and the University of South Florida’s role in training people to produce a variety of

Another reason that students may be highly

systems and products that improve medical

motivated to choose and stick with biomedical

outcomes gets a boost with a new Department of

engineering as a major and career, is that the

Medical Engineering.

median annual salary for undergraduate degree workers in the field was $88,040 in 2017,

As the first formal departmental partnership

according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

between USF’s College of Engineering and Morsani College of Medicine, the new department

Department of Medical Engineering Interim Chair Robert Frisina and BME

represents a response to the biomedical

undergraduate instructor Olukemi Akintewe analyze a biomedical circuitry.

engineering industry’s growing need for people who can apply engineering principles and standards to collaboratively solve healthcare problems, says Department of Medical Engineering Professor and Interim Chair Robert Frisina.

“One of the reasons we created the new department and our new undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME) major, is that BME is percentage-wise the fastest growing area of engineering, so it’s a good professional choice for people with an interest in both medicine and engineering.”

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Envision Magazine

Photo: Sandra Roa

Frisina adds that the new department and 126-

Watch Video

Rasheda Toomer, a TA for BME undergraduate Lab sets up auscultation instrumentation.

The Department of Medical

career that focuses on biology or

The Medical Engineering Department

Engineering was created in 2016 but

health, as well as students like Rachel

also increases the research capability

it wasn’t until 2018, when the Florida

Llewellyn, who initially considered

of USF by recruiting faculty who are

Board of Governors designated USF as

medical school, but is instead now

leaders in biomedical engineering. The

a Preeminent State Research University,

pursuing a career developing medical

first research faculty member hired

that much of what exists now became

devices.

was professor Huabei Jiang, who is an

possible. That’s because the preeminent

expert in theranostic tomography. Also

status meant an additional $6 million

“I was originally interested in the

joining the department is professor

dollars in funding that the university

medical field thinking I wanted to be a

and neuroscientist George Spirou, who

could spend on new programs like

practicing physician, but as I got further

researches advanced, 3D optical-based

the undergraduate BME degree and

along in my engineering coursework,

cell and tissue imaging technologies.

recruiting new faculty to elevate USF

I realized that it appealed to me

According to Frisina, the department’s

research spending.

more, due to the problem solving and

research projects include opportunities

analytical aspects,” says Llewellyn.

for students at all levels to work with

Graduate degrees in biomedical

distinguished faculty.

engineering have been available through

“And of course, biomedical engineering

the College of Engineering for a long

is the perfect combination of the

“The students get exposure to frontline

time, but the new undergraduate

medical field and the problem solving

research and help us make progress on

program, leading to a bachelor’s of

tools of engineering.”

our federal grants, such as NIH-funded

science in biomedical engineering,

projects.”

or BSBE, is attracting interest from

USF is one of four Florida universities

students looking for an engineering

offering undergraduate degrees in

Continued on next page.

Envision Magazine 29

Olukemi Akintewe, Ph.D. prepares medical engineering equipment.

biomedical engineering.

“We want our students to succeed at

Dr. Charles Lockwood is the senior

high levels, and if we need to purchase a

vice president of USF Health and dean

Home for the Department of Medical

piece of equipment or collaborate with

of the Morsani College of Medicine;

Engineering is a dedicated section of the

another department, we will do that.”

what a tremendous research experience

USF Tampa campus’ Interdisciplinary

opportunity for an undergraduate

Sciences Building. Of particular

The collaboration Akintewe refers to is

importance is the new, state-of-the-art

inherent to the Department of Medical

lab space for students to apply their

Engineering and students like Llewellyn

Llewellyn’s Biomedical Engineering Lab

knowledge.

who are encouraged to engage in a

I classmate Arsany Gad found a summer

variety of transdisciplinary projects.

position that has continued into the

There are wet and dry areas for teaching

engineering major.

school year with the College of

concepts ranging from cellular biology

“Last spring the Department of Medical

Engineering’s Center for Assistive,

to physiological instrumentation. The

Engineering gave us the opportunity

Rehabilitation & Robotics Technologies

lab even has fabrication and biological

to work in a lab for the summer, and

(CARRT) lab, working with assistant

3D printers and a new scanning

we could choose between a lab in the

research professor Stephanie Carey

confocal laser microscope. The labs and

College of Engineering or the Morsani

of the Department of Mechanical

related courses are the responsibility of

College of Medicine,” says Llewellyn.

Engineering, who is also an affiliated

Olukemi Akintewe, a returning Ph.D.

faculty member in medical engineering.

alumnus of the College of Engineering.

“I was able to work in Dr. Charles

She says the priority of the department

Lockwood’s obstetrics and gynecology

Much of Gad’s time has been spent

is to provide students with whatever

lab where we were looking at and trying

capturing motion data to better

they need to learn to be outstanding

to better understand the mechanisms of

understand how a body’s joints work,

biomedical engineers.

preterm birth.”

but he also has a chance to work on a personal research project.

30

Envision Magazine

“I’m working on using

Beyond the collaborative degree

need to get ABET accreditation

microcontrollers to treat focal

programs, there is an interest in

for the undergrad program.”

dystonia for people who have

creating more opportunities for

Also on the list is establishing

this motor disorder in their

BME students to work alongside

relationships with members of the

hands,” says Gad who hopes to

health care professionals in

biomedical industry, especially

expand his research on dystonia,

medical settings such as Tampa

in the Tampa Bay region, so that

a neurological condition that

General Hospital and in industry

they can become involved in

causes uncontrolled muscular

biomedical laboratories. Graduate

the creation of a departmental

contractions to human motor

BME students have accompanied

advisory board and the

control areas.

and observed physicians in

development of senior capstone

clinical settings, even in the

R&D projects.

Assisting Akintewe in teaching

operating room at Tampa

lab courses is Rasheda Toomer,

General, and Frisina says there

“The people that we’ve

a graduate student pursuing a

are expectations to do more to

approached so far in local

Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering.

expand these singular options for

industries have been very

She says the USF undergraduate

our engineering students.

interested in developing better

BME program focuses on

relations with USF and our new

Photo: Sandra Roa

providing students with a broad

“The idea is to get the

range of hands-on knowledge and

bioengineers and the medical

department.”

cutting-edge skills.

school faculty and the doctors

Frisina also says that outreach to

together to do projects that are

generate interest in biomedical

“We make sure in this lab to

meaningful and can get patented

engineering among Tampa Bay

include many different facets

and licensed and innovative

area middle and high school

of biomedical engineering

things of that nature.”

students is another priority.

information,” says Toomer, who

Frisina adds that one possible

While the task of establishing

is a Florida Education Fund

approach is to provide teams

a new academic department is

McKnight Doctoral Fellowship

of students and faculty from

a formidable one, Frisina says

awardee. “I didn’t have that at

both colleges with startup pilot

the two colleges work together

all as an undergrad and I love

funds to conduct research and

admirably and have a chance to

that USF is giving them that

development that could yield

do so in a well-planned manner

experience.”

useful biomedical technologies

that will lead to success.

because they’ll be using all this

and intellectual property to the This unique collaboration

students, faculty, colleges and

“Setting up a program and a

between the College of

USF.

department from the beginning

Engineering and Morsani College

is a very unique but challenging

of Medicine also gives students

Looking ahead, Frisina says

opportunity in today’s tumultuous

who eventually want to practice

there is still much work to do in

socio-political-economic

medicine a couple options.

terms of getting the Department

environment, but it’s very

There is a defined pathway for

of Medical Engineering fully

advantageous because you can do

undergraduate students to enter

running as an established

it in a way that makes good sense

the BME program and ultimately

academic unit.

right from the beginning, so I

graduate with a doctor of

believe the future is quite bright.”

medicine degree from USF. There

“We need to continue recruiting

is also a dual degree program

internal and external faculty

whereby students can earn a

so that we have the minimum

Ph.D. in biomedical engineering

critical mass to have a department

and an M.D.

and support the BME academic programs, and in Engineering we

Envision Magazine 31

From M&Ms to Social Media: Doing What it Takes to Educate

By Brad Stager

M

eaningful research is a big

“I’ve always been interested in starting

part of what lies ahead for

something or startup projects just

the Department of Medical

because of the opportunity to serve and

Engineering, and to accomplish that the

be part of that foundation,” said Zekri.

classroom pedagogy needs to be strong.

“It does require a lot of effort, but it’s

To help ensure students —especially

very rewarding.”

those in the new Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering program — are

Service was a major facet of Zekri’s

successful, the College of Engineering

graduate student experience at USF,

has turned to Souheil Zekri, Ph.D. an

such as his participation in a National

alumnus with experience as a pre-K

Science Foundation-funded program,

through 12th grade educator.

known as the GK-12 STARS (Students, Teachers, And Resources in the

“Beyond the research interest, there is a

Sciences). This program promoted

focus on teaching,” he said.

STEM education to elementary school students in the Tampa area, many

Zekri has also spent a lot of time in

of whom may not have had many

College of Engineering classrooms.

opportunities to consider a high-tech

He has bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D.

career.

degrees in mechanical engineering to his credit, as well as a Master of Science in

“We were developing kits and modules

Biomedical Engineering. After earning

for kids to teach them about technology,”

his doctoral degree in 2007, Zekri

said Zekri, who revealed a novel way to

followed his interest in the educational

satisfy a child’s hunger for knowledge:

field and became an administrator at

“We showed them how nanotechnology

a recently established independent

works with M&Ms.”

school. He not only provided academic leadership as its principal but also

After a successful K-12 administrative

used his technical expertise to develop

career, Zekri had the desire to bring

online learning resources and create

his experience in education back to the

a curriculum with a strong STEM

College of Engineering at USF.

element.

“I always knew I would come back to The chance to participate in creating

engineering education, so when this

a new department at USF has a strong

opportunity came up I jumped on it.”

appeal to Zekri.

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Envision Magazine

Souheil Zekri, Ph.D. Now, as a biomedical engineering instructor, Zekri has found different considerations when it comes to teaching highly motivated university students in a rigorous academic program.

“A lot of the advising has been to help these students navigate a highly competitive program,” he said. “About half of them are pre-med students so they’re preparing for many things.”

Besides developing engaging course content and effective classroom skills, one way Zekri creatively supports students is by being an online presence, such as imparting tips for success on the USF Biomedical Engineering Society Facebook page. According to Zekri, finding what helps students learn is the priority.

“This department is really about the student, and it is infused from the leadership all throughout,” he said.

“We’re in the business of guiding these students and making sure they are successful not only as engineering students but also later on if they become doctors or go on to grad school or to industry.”

Former USF Engineering Student Council Chair David Williams (left) and current E-Council Chair Curtis Gaskins (right) take a photo outside the 2019 National Association of Engineering Student Councils Engineering Leadership Summit at Colorado State University.

USF E-Council Gains Membership in the National Association of Engineering Student Councils The USF Engineering Student Council — or USF Engineering E-Council — is a strong example of the growing College of Engineering leadership programs created under Dean Robert Bishop.

By Janet Gillis

S

ince arriving at the College of Engineering in 2014,

organization with representation on the council,” Bishop said.

Dean Robert Bishop created several leadership

“Funding requests to student government are streamlined

programs for students designed to give them an

into one request for all engineering student organizations. It’s

opportunity to hone their leadership talents and team-

effective and it’s efficient – the hallmark of great engineering.”

building skills.

The NAESC’s goals include advocating for engineering The USF Engineering Student Council (E-Council), for

students and schools across the nation, collaborating with

example, was formed in 2015 and was recently accepted as a

councils to learn how to serve students and developing

member of the National Association of Engineering Student

students’ skills to become well-rounded engineers.

Councils (NAESC).

The NAESC held a national leadership summit in Boulder, “The structure of E-Council provides each student

Colorado, and former E-Council Chair David Williams and

Continued on next page.

Envision Magazine 33

current chair Curtis Gaskins both

to communication, comprehensive

and various presidents of engineering

attended as the only officers from a

professional development and modern

student organizations.

Florida engineering student council to

leadership with integrity. During

attend the summit.

the conference, participants have an

“Curtis and the rest of the new board

opportunity to learn professional skills

have already shown great commitment

“The NAESC Engineering Leadership

from industry representatives, attend

to carry on with the extraordinary

Summit gave me a very good insight into

salient skill sessions and exchange

efforts by David Williams, E-Council

what the engineering council at USF

innovative solutions to mutual

Chair for the 2018-2019 school year,”

could be and best practices of how other

challenges at our respective universities.

Marrero-Pláceres said. “I’m excited to

engineering councils are structured,”

The USF E-Council plans to attend the

continue working with the Engineering

Williams said. “Currently, Engineering

upcoming NAESC Southeast conference

Student Council as it remains focused

Council at USF is a funding council but

this fall.

on striving for excellence.”

a programming organization enabling

“At the NAESC conference, we met

In addition to E-Council, Bishop was

students to form bonds.”

different e-councils across the United

also instrumental in establishing

States who gave us their perspectives

Bulls L.E.A.D., a program designed

Support from College of Engineering

on how they ran their e-councils,”

to develop a high level of leadership

faculty and USF leadership was

Gaskins said. “USF E-Council is looking

skills in engineering students. Along

instrumental in the success of

to broaden its vision next year. While

with Sanjukta Bhanja, associate dean

E-Council, which is recognized by

allocating money for engineering

of academics, Bishop established the

USF Student Government as a council

student organizations, we also want

National Academy of Engineering

with a single voting bloc. Engineering

to serve these engineering student

Grand Challenges Scholars Program,

students are very active in student

organizations and the engineering

a combined curricular, co-curricular,

government, and there are currently

community here at USF.”

and extracurricular program with five

it’s my vision to see it move into more of

seven engineering students serving in the USF Senate.

competencies that are designed to E-Council recently held executive board

prepare the next generation of students

elections and is making changes to its

for addressing the grand challenges

The NAESC Engineering Leadership

leadership structure and responsibilities

facing society in the 21st century.

Summit is a highly-anticipated, two-day

to better serve engineering student

national conference meant to prepare

organizations. USF Dean of Engineering

high-achieving student leaders for

Executive Assistant Carol Marrero-

their future in both engineering and

Pláceres said Gaskins is already working

leadership. Each year, this conference

on developing leadership training

emphasizes a collaborative approach

for both E-Council board members

LEARN MORE TODAY: https://www.usf.edu/engineering/undergraduate/e-council.aspx

34

Envision Magazine

Electrical Engineering Student William Serrano-Garcia Wins Fulbright Grant By Russell Nay

W

illiam Serrano-Garcia, a USF Electrical Engineering

expand scientific knowledge in the field, resulting in extended

doctoral student, was recently awarded a Fulbright

engagement between the National University of Singapore and

Program grant to continue his dissertation research

USF,” Serrano-Garcia said.

in the study of fiber organic semiconductor polymers for nanodevices at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

In a letter to the U.S. Fulbright Program board, Ramakrishna wrote that he had invited Serrano-Garcia to serve as a

According to Times Higher Education’s 2019 worldwide

contributing author for a review paper published within a special

university rankings, NUS is ranked as one of the three best

issue of peer-reviewed journal Science China Materials during

universities in Asia and one of the top 25 universities in the

his 2017 visit to NUS. For his Fulbright proposal, Ramakrishna

world. In his Fulbright grant proposal, Serrano-Garcia wrote that

wrote that Serrano-Garcia will have all of NUS’ research and

continuing his research at the university will

networking resources to help him accomplish his

give him the opportunity to create long-

research goals and develop as an international

term collaborations with research leaders in

researcher.

his field.

“William will have full access to state-of the-art “It will provide me with the ideal

equipment in all (NUS’) respective laboratories

environment to exchange research ideas

and affiliated research institutes, nearly 25

within a multicultural, international setting

faculty members from departments across

to advance my career goal to become a

campus, research staff and other students to

globally-trained scientist,” he said.

conduct cutting-edge research activities,” he said. “NUS is a global leader of education and

Serrano-Garcia is currently conducting

research in materials science and engineering, as

nanotechnology research at the Advanced Materials Bio & Integration Research

we annually host distinguished faculty and guest William Serrano-Garcia, Ph.D.

researchers from throughout the world.”

(AMBIR) Laboratory led by his major professor, USF Electrical Engineering Professor Sylvia Thomas.

As an undergrad and graduate student, Serrano-Garcia has

While a student researcher in the AMBIR lab, Serrano-Garcia

published eight journal and conference papers, has two

visited NUS for two months in 2017 as part of a National

manuscripts under review, has given more than 20 presentations

Science Foundation (NSF) East Asia Pacific Summer Institutes

and has a patent application in organics and nanofibers.

fellowship.

His work with NUS will be the latest in a long series of research His visit to NUS resulted in a submitted publication and

collaborations with international universities and research

currently pending review paper, both written while in the

centers throughout his academic career, including the University

NUS Center for Nanofibers & Nanotechnology Laboratory and

of Bologna, the Center for Nanoscience and Technology Italian

under the supervision of lab director Seeram Ramakrishna,

Institute of Technology in Milan and the Institute of Polymers,

Ph.D. Ramakrishna is a global research leader on the science

Composites and Biomaterials Italian National Research Council

and regeneration of nanofibers with 20 patents and 600 peer-

in Naples.

reviewed papers, as well as the rank of one of the top 25 scientific authors and most cited materials scientists in the world.

In addition to the Fulbright Program and NSF, Serrano-Garcia

Ramakrishna will also be Serrano-Garcia’s research supervisor

has also received support from the U.S. Department of Defense,

during his 10-month research plan to achieve his nanotechnology

the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship program and the USF College

research goals outlined in his Fulbright proposal.

of Engineering to collaborate with researchers at national labs such as the Brookhaven National Laboratory, Idaho National

“This collaboration with Dr. Ramakrishna and his laboratory will

Laboratory and Air Force Research Laboratory.

Envision Magazine 35

Watch Video Photos: Manny Pontoriero

Photos: Manny Pontoriero | Photography by Emanuele

Engineering Honors Presented by

Alumni and friends of the College of Engineering received Engineering Excellence Awards during a program and celebration on April 13, 2019, at Bryan Glazer Family JCC. The sold-out event was hosted by Dean Robert Bishop and USF System President Dr. Judy Genshaft. Mark Schreiner, WUSF Public Media, was the master of ceremonies.

Robert Andrew ‘89, ‘92, received the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award.

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Envision Magazine

Dr. Yogi Goswami, Distinguished University Professor, USF, accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Israel Morejon ‘88, President of Integrated Engineering Technology, accepted the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.

USF System President Judy Genshaft and College of Engineering Dean Robert H. Bishop stand with the 2019 Engineering Excellence Award honorees.

Dr. Rachana Vidhi ‘14, Project Manager of NextEra Energy Resources, accepted the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.

Shawn Morin ‘87, President and CEO of Ingram Content Group, accepted the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award.

Gennadiy Afanasiev ‘96, Head of Design Engineering at Siemens Energy, received the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award.

Darrin Porter ‘93, President of Vistech Consulting, LLC, accepted the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award.

Envision Magazine 37

USF Engineering Student Becomes One of USF’s 11 Goldwater Scholars

By Russell Nay

Computer Science and Engineering junior, Willie McClinton.

U

SF Computer Science and Engineering junior Willie

McClinton will attend May 4 through May 9 in Scotland, as

McClinton is one of two USF students this year to

well as the 21st Human-Computer Interaction conference this

earn a Goldwater scholarship — the most prestigious

July in Orlando.

undergraduate award in natural sciences, engineering and mathematics.

“Presenting research in other places tends to be really expensive, so having that extra money for conferences and

McClinton is one of 11 students in USF’s history to earn the

presentations would be really helpful,” he said.

scholarship, which supports college sophomores and juniors who show promise of becoming the nation’s next generation of

While he was born in Tampa, McClinton spent several years in

research leaders. Only around 1,300 students are nominated

California, Las Vegas, other cities in Florida and New Mexico

for the scholarship each year, which provides students with

while growing up due to his father serving in the Air Force.

$7,500 for educational expenses and research support.

His mother had completed a master’s in speech-language pathology at USF, and after finishing high school in New

“The success of Willie demonstrates that our undergraduate

Mexico, McClinton decided to return to Tampa to pursue an

students are among the cream of the crop,” said USF

M.D. in neuroscience.

Department of Computer Science and Engineering Chair Sudeep Sarkar, Ph.D. “It paves the way for USF to be an

He applied for the U.S. National Institute of Standards and

attractive option for talented high school students to apply for

Technology’s (NIST) Summer Undergraduate Research

a productive education and research program in their studies.”

Fellowship in his freshman year — a competitive program connecting undergrads with federal research facilities to

One way McClinton said he may apply the scholarship is

participate in a unique, tech-focused research experience.

by presenting brain-computer interface (BCI) research he completed in the lab of USF Computer Science

McClinton helped run and build the surveillance event

and Engineering Professor Marvin Andujar, Ph.D., at

detection portion of NIST’s 2018 TRECVid evaluation —

international conferences. This includes the ACM CHI

an annual contest where university researchers, including

Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems that

those from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of

38

Envision Magazine

Tokyo last year, use machine learning

disease. McClinton wanted to see if the

of McClinton was mostly general

algorithms to scan and analyze vast

lab could incorporate this technology

advice and help with small issues, as

amounts of images and videos from

into a VR environment using Oculus

McClinton always had ideas for what

social media to automatically detect

Rift headsets and development engine

the next steps of the project should be.

important events like fires and riots.

Unity.

The experience showed McClinton the

As he still wanted to focus on studying

for knowledge and really wants to

impact of computer science research

the brain, he said that this project was a

succeed,” he said. “I could definitely

and was one turning point in his

good combination of computer science

see him succeeding as a Ph.D. student

transition from neurologist to computer

research and brain research through

… for being an undergrad that young

scientist.

BCI.

and being able to handle a Ph.D.-level

“I applied for the NIST fellowship

The project began with McClinton as its

my freshman year, and getting to do

sole researcher, and he worked under

Andujar said the facilitation of the

research in a national lab that early on

the guidance of Andujar and lab Ph.D.

project in his lab has been one part

really helped me construct a career in

student Sarah Garcia throughout the

of a year-long collaboration between

research and showed me what research

Summer 2018 semester until the lab’s

computer science and engineering

“I think he has initiative, a hunger

project by himself.”

in computer science would be like,” he said.

Another turning point for McClinton was meeting USF Office of National Scholarships Director Sayandeb Basu, Ph.D. Basu highlighted the differences of a Ph.D. and an M.D. for McClinton, as well as what his role as a doctor would be compared to that of a computer scientist.

McClinton applied last spring for an undergraduate research position in Andujar’s Neuro-Machine Interaction Lab before the lab was even finished, and he began his work there by leading development of a program that would allow users to paint in virtual reality (VR) using just their

Willie McClinton (second from right) won first place for his presentation at the 2018 ERN Conference, and he received funding to attend from the NSF FGLSAMP through the USF College of Engineering’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion Programs.

thoughts sent through a BCI. later rapid expansion led to a larger

professors and Basu to help McClinton

Similarly to the lab’s brain-controlled

team for the project.

succeed in winning this year’s Goldwater

drone research, users wouldn’t need

“I did the front-end work, the code and

Scholarship.

to hold a controller or move to operate

the EEG (implementation) as well,”

the program. They would only need to

McClinton said. “That’s been my baby

He thought the project would be

wear an electroencephalography (EEG)

for a while.”

competitive because of the scarcity of

headband. McClinton said that the

BCI research in the U.S. — especially

creative expression and resulting art

Andujar said that most times he

when combined with a VR application.

exhibits that can come from painting

stopped by the lab last summer, he’d

He said he’s only known of similar work

by thinking have been proven to be

find McClinton already busy working

having been done in Europe.

beneficial to people with Lou Gehrig’s

on the project. He said his guidance

Continued on next page.

Envision Magazine 39

“For the Goldwater — the most

content to identify potential instances of

“Willie is one of the top two

prestigious undergrad scholarship in

cyberbullying, protecting users’ privacy.

undergraduate students

the nation — students need their own

The resulting app could one day alert

I’ve worked with in the last

project, and it’s something that has

parents through their phone carriers to

15 years,” Chellappan said.

to be very unique,” Andujar said. “I

abusive messages without either party

“Many of my grad students

don’t think any other computer science

needing to read them.

like to involve Willie in

student in Florida or even in the nation would have this kind of project.”

their projects … and he will “Developing this app is a complex

push the boundaries (in his

procedure,” Chellappan said. “I wouldn’t

research).”

To apply for a Goldwater Scholarship,

ask any other students to do it except

students can’t apply directly. Instead,

Jim or Willie.”

As part of the lab’s project to build an app that can

Photo: Russell Nay

they must be nominated by their university campus representative

Youth study participants report to

help users identify disease-

in addition to supplying three

McClinton and fellow researchers when

carrying mosquitoes,

recommendation letters, a research

they feel bullied during the project

McClinton and the lab

essay and outstanding academic

to help match malicious messages to

team spend several hours

transcripts. McClinton was nominated

telltale metadata. Their interactions

photographing droves of

by Basu, who worked closely with him

are set up so that participants remain

mosquitoes whenever they

and faculty mentors to perfect his

anonymous and messages are never

are captured and identified by

application and write a meticulous

read, ensuring privacy while researchers

Hillsborough County’s mosquito control.

nomination letter, respectively.

are pointed in the right direction.

While more than 40 species of mosquito live in Hillsborough, only four or five

One of those mentors was computer

“You get an outside perspective of the

are capable of carrying deadly diseases

science and engineering professor

impact of engineering technology,”

like malaria and the Zika virus.

Sriram Chellappan, Ph.D. McClinton

McClinton said. “(The College of

has been a student researcher in

Education’s) Dr. Nathan Fisk comes

Photographing all of these mosquitoes

Chellappan’s USF Social Computing

from an educational and social sciences

one by one under a microscope gives

Lab since January 2018. Working with

background and really knows the social

McClinton and Mirzakhalov the dataset

computer science and engineering

impact our technology could have and

they need to build an app giving people

junior Jamshidbek “Jim” Mirzakhalov,

what we can do to ensure we’re actually

the ability to tell a disease-carrying

he’s currently co-developing two

helping and not creating more problems

mosquito apart from a relatively

smartphone applications for projects

along the way.”

harmless one.

Chellappan said McClinton was

“We now have a database of about

highly recommended to him by

20,000-25,000 mosquito images taken

The project on cyberbullying detection

Mirzakhalov before he joined the lab.

from smartphones, and we may be the

is funded by a three-year grant from the

Between McClinton’s mathematics and

only people in the world that have that

National Science Foundation (NSF) and

programming knowledge and his ability

data,” Chellappan said. “We’re trying to

is also a collaboration between faculty at

to work well with a team, Chellappan

submit a paper any time this week or

the USF College of Engineering, College

said he had an impact on the lab from

next week.”

of Education and College of Arts and

his first day there.

to identify disease-carrying mosquitoes and help detect cyberbullying.

Sciences.

McClinton is using data mining and feature extraction techniques to develop an app that analyzes messaging patterns and timing of texts — metadata — from the phones of teens and pre-teens. The metadata doesn’t need to show message

40

Envision Magazine

“

Users would be able to take a picture

Willie is one of the top two undergraduate students I’ve worked with in the last 15 years.

- Sriram Chellappan, Ph.D.

of a mosquito, and the app would tell them its genus, species and the diseases it carries. In the future, these pictures could be uploaded online and gathered by organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to detect potential disease outbreaks.

Willie McClinton (second from right) has traveled to hackathons across the U.S. with the USF Society of Competitive Programmers and recently won a sponsor challenge with his team at USF’s Hackabull 2019.

“This work has an important impact on

“I’m always for research that can have a

career, I thought it would be what’s due

Florida, and also globally,” said Sarkar.

good impact on a lot of people,” he said.

of me to give back,” he said.

“There’s a huge impact (general purpose Aside from his roles in the Neuro-

robots) could have if done right.”

Machine Interaction Lab and USF

McClinton will also apply for an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship this

Social Computing Lab, McClinton is

McClinton plans to pursue a Ph.D. and

fall. The fellowship is one of the most

also a co-founder of the USF Society

wants to mentor undergraduate and

prestigious national fellowships for

of Competitive Programmers. The

graduate students later in his career to

Ph.D. students in STEM and is one

organization allows USF students to

guide them through their own research

of a host of future scholarships and

travel to hackathons hosted around

the way his mentors guided him.

fellowships that being a Goldwater

the country, which challenge students

Scholar will support him in earning.

to team up and design and build a

“With all the amazing mentors and

program, robot or other tech idea

people who helped me throughout my

throughout a weekend.

McClinton and other students in the organization have traveled to numerous hackathons since the club’s creation

About the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship

last spring, including ones hosted at MIT, Caltech, Stanford, UC Berkeley,

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education

the University of Pennsylvania and

Program was established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator

several Florida universities.

Barry M. Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier

In the future, McClinton said he would like to focus his research efforts on general purpose robots — robots capable of performing a wide variety of tasks on demand, such as cleaning,

and statesman, including 30 years of service in the U.S. Senate. The purpose of the program is to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in these fields.

taking care of pets or even shopping.

Envision Magazine 41

Printing the Future USF mechanical engineering alumnus Justin Nussbaum, Ph.D., shares how he’s getting an early start at building his own manufacturing company featuring a new 3D printing method he co-developed at the College of Engineering.

By Russell Nay

J

ustin Nussbaum, Ph.D., always

U.S. Department of Energy science and

isn’t a better opportunity for me out

thought he would need to finish

energy laboratory in the country.

there.”

experience and save up to reach his

“We’re working at what’s called the

Nussbaum, who received his Ph.D. in

life’s goal of starting his own company.

Manufacturing Demonstration Facility,

mechanical engineering from the USF

That was, however, before he laid

which was actually just named by one

College of Engineering, is working on

the foundation of his business in

of the presidential reports as one of the

taking his research on a new additive

the National Science Foundation’s

most advanced science and technology

manufacturing (aka 3D printing)

(NSF) I-Corps program and was later

manufacturing centers in the U.S.,”

method from the lab to the commercial

awarded an entrepreneurial research

Nussbaum said. “I get to work with

market. Called Large Area Projection

fellowship from Oak Ridge National

the world’s experts in 3D printing to

Sintering (LAPS), this new method

Laboratory in Tennessee — the largest

develop this technology, so there really

fuses 3D printing materials together

his doctorate, get industry

USF Mechanical Engineering alumnus Justin Nussbaum, Ph.D.

42

Envision Magazine

to create whole printed layers simultaneously.

studied under Crane throughout his master’s and

Conventional 3D printers can only fuse or

Ph.D. programs, and the two worked together

form materials at one point at a time and must

extensively to develop LAPS while Nussbaum was

repeatedly scan over these points to create

completing his Ph.D.

layers.

“He was a lot of the brainpower behind it along This new method would increase 3D printing

with myself, and I was kind of the hands …

production rates and allow for a broader range

building prototype systems and doing testing,”

of materials to be used while giving printed

Nussbaum said. “Then we would look over the

materials stronger mechanical properties.

results together and evaluate what the next steps should be. We had a great relationship, and I

“To compare our technology to something,

really enjoyed working with him.”

it’s like the way you would draw a picture by hand with a pencil compared to just printing

Crane is currently on the board of advisors in

it out on a printer,” he said. “That’s the same

Nussbaum’s company, Ascend Manufacturing,

type of innovation we’ll be providing to the

and provides input on new company concepts and

manufacturing industry.”

ideas. Nussbaum said he plans to hire Crane to the team once the business has grown further.

Nussbaum said the concept for LAPS was originally the idea of former USF

Nussbaum formed the business model for Ascend

mechanical engineering professor Nathan

Manufacturing while he was in the NSF I-Corps

Crane, Ph.D. Crane thought of LAPS as

in 2017, a seven-week program in which academic

a solution to the production problems of

entrepreneurs are provided with a $50,000

manufacturing companies after studying

grant and lectures on the skills they need to take

the industry as part of a Fulbright

their academic research to the marketplace by

scholarship in the U.K.

developing a company.

“The technology we were developing

Nussbaum said his grant was spent on

was born out of industrial need, more

interviewing 119 different potential customers

so than a lot of technologies out there,

of LAPS in order to focus the technology’s

where the technology is developed

development to meet the needs of business

first and then (the inventors) look for

owners in the 3D printing and manufacturing

an application,” Nussbaum said.

industry.

Nussbaum first worked under Crane

“That’s the number one issue with startups who

in the Micro-Integration Lab as an

fail — not getting enough sales because they

undergraduate volunteer, which

developed a product people don’t want to pay for,”

was his introduction to 3D printing

he said.

and the additive manufacturing field. One of his first projects

Through the program, Nussbaum also made a

was repairing and improving a

number of industry connections that he said he is

Fab@Home in the lab — the

still in regular contact with and will be influential

first hobbyist 3D printer model

in bringing LAPS to market. During this time,

available to the public.

Nussbaum was even able to meet and interview Carl Deckard, Ph.D., who is a co-inventor of

Nussbaum later filed his

selective laser sintering, one of the first 3D

first patent with the same

printing methods that is still widely used today.

printer and worked with Crane on a variety of additive

A contact Nussbaum met while in the I-Corps

manufacturing projects. He

program also told him about Oak Ridge National Continued on next page.

Envision Magazine 43

industry connections. As a national hub of 3D printing research and innovation — including one project to 3D print a Shelby Cobra highlighted in a visit to the lab by former President Barrack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden to announce a $259 million 3D printing initiative — Oak Ridge is a valuable source of partnerships.

Nussbaum said Ascend Manufacturing was able to partner with global Fortune 500 chemical manufacturing and supply Ascend Manufacturing and Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers finished the design and construction of a prototype of the company’s LAPS 3D printer system in May. Laboratory’s Innovation Crossroads

“They’re really pushing to advance

program. The program is one of three

additive manufacturing’s capabilities to

Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship

unprecedented levels, solving a lot of big

Programs hosted by the Advanced

industry problems,” he said. “I feel like

Manufacturing Office in the U.S.

I’m really lucky that everything’s just

Department of Energy.

worked out so well.”

Every year, Innovation Crossroads

In addition to having access to the

“connects the nation’s top innovators

lab’s world-class experts, mentors and

with experts, mentors and networks

facilities, Nussbaum said Innovation

in technology-related fields to take

Crossroads has allowed him to “focus

world-changing ideas from research and

100 percent on the company.” Oak

development to the marketplace” per

Ridge awarded Ascend Manufacturing,

the program’s website.

Nussbaum’s company, with $500,000 for LAPS research and development,

Nussbaum later applied to Innovation

hiring employees, a living stipend and

Crossroads at Oak Ridge and a

full benefits. As the company’s CEO

sister program at Argonne National

and with only one employee who he

Laboratory in Illinois. Through

hired through Innovation Crossroads

Innovation Crossroads, Nussbaum

— mechanical engineer Michael Tenuta

would compete against 59 applicants

— Nussbaum said he underestimated

from other schools — including Ivy

how much time it would take to grow

League universities — in order to secure

his business. He typically spends time

one of the lab’s five available spots for

during the day designing and fabricating

researchers that year.

the company’s LAPS pilot system in his machine shop, and he spends nights

After a facility tour and several rounds

doing business development work for

of interviews ending in April of 2018,

Ascend Manufacturing.

Nussbaum’s application was accepted to take LAPS from the lab to the

Innovation Crossroads has also

marketplace with his own team of

contributed to Ascend Manufacturing’s

research advisors he assembled at Oak

growth by connecting Nussbaum with

Ridge.

a number of influential manufacturing

44

Envision Magazine

company Eastman Chemical after he was invited out to the company’s headquarters in Tennessee.

“Luckily at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility I work at, pretty much all the big name companies and many smaller companies have come to the facility looking for strategic partners,” Nussbaum said. “Each researcher you speak with here has many of their own connections with these companies and are happy to make an introduction.”

While a commercial version of a LAPS 3D printer will likely be made first at Oak Ridge, the technology itself and first three prototypes were developed at USF. Throughout his years at the College of Engineering, Nussbaum said he can’t possibly count the number of undergraduate and graduate students that helped work on developing LAPS. The technology was even the focus of mechanical engineering student Christopher Gardiner’s master’s thesis, who Nussbaum said was instrumental in early development of a LAPS prototype.

LAPS was also the subject of an NSF research experience program for high school students and teachers, who visited USF to learn about the new technology and used it to get lab experience, conduct their own scientific research and help improve STEM lessons at their schools.

Justin Nussbaum works in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, designed in part to provide a world-class environment for fostering breakthroughs in additive manufacturing.

“I feel like we had a very big impact

Manufacturing received an award from

very quickly. If we wait 10 years to get

on all the students from high school

the Bull Ring Accelerator Grant (BRAG)

our product on the market, we may be

all the way up to graduate students

program, which provides $25,000 to

out-innovated.”

and the teachers, but they also had a

support start-up tech companies formed

huge impact on us,” Nussbaum said.

from USF-licensed technologies to help

Nussbaum said he’s confident that

“They helped evolve the technology

them succeed in commercialization.

USF will make a profit on the money

much better and much quicker than we

Because LAPS was first developed in a

it invested filing patents for LAPS

would’ve been able to do on our own.”

USF lab with university equipment by

through the technology’s licensing fees

USF students and faculty, Nussbaum’s

and through the success of Ascend

Nussbaum himself has been part of

early LAPS printer prototypes — and

Manufacturing.

a handful of student and community

five patents related to LAPS — are

programs through USF, including a

currently co-owned by USF.

“If we’re successful, USF is going to be

popular three-day workshop he started

Nussbaum said he plans to use the

successful too,” he said.

and conducted for students to learn

BRAG program grant to build a

how to use a 3D printer and do basic

pilot LAPS 3D printer that Ascend

Currently, Nussbaum said his goal

3D modelling. He worked to fix a 3D

Manufacturing can sell commercially

is to continue scaling up the current

printer and assisted with printing

due to early interest from clients in a

LAPS 3D printer system until Ascend

for a Tampa chapter of e-NABLE, a

LAPS 3D printing system. He said the

Manufacturing can bring a production

global volunteer network assisting

grant will have a huge impact in helping

model of a LAPS 3D printer to market.

people with 3D printing prosthetic

the company get its LAPS 3D printers to

He hopes that by his program’s May

arms and hands when they can’t afford

market and start making early sales.

2020 end date, Ascend Manufacturing

medical-grade prosthetics. He also ran

will have a smooth transition into its

demonstrations during the College of

“Right now there’s a lot of different

next stage as a company with additional

Engineering’s Engineering Expo and 3D

breakthrough concepts that we’ve

funding and strong relationships with

printing demonstrations during a Great

already incorporated into our

Oak Ridge and other industry partners

American Teach-In to interest grade

technology, so we need to get this into

to support its future growth.

school students in 3D printing and

the market, as quickly as possible,”

STEM concepts.

Nussbaum said. “One issue with the

“Things are progressing forward very

additive manufacturing market and 3D

well too, so we’re really looking forward

printing in general, is that it’s evolving

to what the future brings,” he said.

This February, Nussbaum said Ascend

Envision Magazine 45

Alexandro Castellanos, Ph.D., poses with students from Middleton High School.

High School Students Start Early on Their STEM College Degrees

By Brad Stager

A

dual-enrollment program

Electrical Engineering Computer

opportunity to community colleges and

between the College of

Methods.

high schools,” says Castellanos. “Then

Engineering and Middleton

we started a rigorous process with

High School in Tampa is giving a group

The dual enrollment classes are

Middleton to start. Finally it took us a

of STEM students a head start on their

administered through the Department

year to develop the course content.”

college experience.

of Electrical Engineering and the

The impact of delivering university-

relationship was initiated by former

level instruction to students at an early

Middleton High School is a STEM

department chair Tom Weller according

age can go beyond the classroom, adds

magnet school of the Hillsborough

to Alexandro Castellanos, one of the

Castellanos.

County School District preparing

USF instructors teaching the Middleton

students for careers in Science,

students.

Technology, Engineering and

“This program expands our department’s influence in the region,

Mathematics fields. The two USF dual

“Two years ago, Dr. Weller thought

making it possible to detect and recruit

enrollment courses offered at Middleton

about expanding the department’s

already engineering-oriented students

are Introduction to Digital Logic and

influence in the region by offering this

from magnet and IB programs and

46

Envision Magazine

community colleges. This will also

“Both professors have been

to be seen how the program

allow students to start at USF’s

excellent, have accepted and

ultimately will affect the college’s

EE department with previous

encouraged our students, and have

recruiting efforts.

knowledge so they will be able to

helped them build confidence

choose more elective courses or do

in their knowledge, skills, and

“It is very early to answer since we

more research as undergrads. All

abilities.”

just started this program. We are

Photo: Brad Stager

of this will impact our final results

planning to expand the program

in terms of student quality which

Also teaching the Middleton

to more local high schools. Maybe

will benefit our region’s industry.”

students is electrical engineering

in a year or two we can come up

instructor Chung Seop Jeong, who

with an answer.”

Teaching the courses at Middleton

says the skills students learn in

is Russell Grieshop, an electrical

the classes will be useful in many

According to Grieshop, there is

engineering alum of USF. He says

engineering areas such as robotics,

indeed interest in attending USF

the level of instruction delivered

game design, cybersecurity and

among his students.

to his students is making great

developing apps.

things possible for them.

“I know of at least two students in “Every engineer should have a

this current dual enrollment class

“This dual enrollment program

certain amount of knowledge on

who are definitely going to USF,”

has benefited our Middleton

programming nowadays.”

says Grieshop.

opportunity to participate in

Middleton science teacher

The University of South Florida

electrical engineering courses that

Grieshop says the programming

has agreements with several

they normally couldn’t access,”

skills his students acquire are

school districts allowing public

says Grieshop. “Having the

opening new doors to them.

high school students to enroll in

students by giving them an

support of the professors, being

classes at USF.

able to view the lecture videos,

“They are excited about learning

and having the time set aside in

coding skills, especially in terms of

Dual-enrollment allows

their high school day has meant

creating a software product or tool

high school students to take

they have been able to focus on

and applying these skills to real-

college courses and is open to

the course with dedicated time,

world problems.”

academically qualified students

and have been very successful with this material.”

who are home-schooled or One potential benefit to the

currently enrolled in public or

College of Engineering is the

private high schools.

Grieshop adds that besides access

chance to attract undergraduate

to instructional information, his

students who have already begun

students are getting support and

their college education at USF,

validation of their engineering

reducing the time needed to

aspirations from the USF faculty.

graduate with a bachelor’s degree.

However, Jeong says it remains Envision Magazine 47

Sensing the Future of Technology

W

By Brad Stager

hen Tempestt Neal landed

able to collaborate with different people

mobile device,” says Canavan. “She is

her first job after earning

with similar research interests,” says

interested in the mobile sensor data,

her computer engineering

Neal. “I felt USF supported my desire to

while I am interested in analyzing

doctorate at the University of Florida,

be surrounded by mentors with similar

human characteristics such as face, eye

she was happy to begin her faculty

research interests, allowing me to get a

gaze, etcetera.”

career in the Sunshine State.

lot more detailed advice about the work I want to do.”

“Florida is awesome,” says Neal, who

It is the kind of research that can lead to a useful option for users of ever-present

received her Ph.D. in August 2018 and

Applications based on ubiquitous

mobile and IoT (Internet of Things)

began teaching and researching as an

sensing of data, such as classifying

devices, says Neal.

assistant professor within the same week

activity and behavior, characterizes

in the USF Department of Computer

much of Neal’s work. One of those

“Imagine a time we never have to use

Science and Engineering (CSE).

expressing an interest in working with

a password or fingerprint ID because

her is CSE Assistant Professor Shaun

the device somehow knows who you

While living in Florida has its good

Canavan, who researches in the areas of

are. While you’re interacting with your

points, what most attracted Neal to

facial feature and emotion recognition,

smartphone, the device knows, ‘this is

USF was the reception of her work in

as well as the interaction between people

my rightful owner.’”

biometrics which leverages smartphone

and computers.

sensors from the department’s faculty.

“It came down to collaboration, to be 48

Envision Magazine

Much of the research conducted in “Dr. Neal and I are working on a project

the College of Engineering involves

for continuous authentication from a

collaboration beyond academic

departments and disciplines. Neal is also working

involve natural language processing and early

on a transdisciplinary proposal for mental health

detection of cyberbullying research. You can learn

applications.

more about the lab by visiting online at csee.usf. edu/~tjneal/ciber.

“It’s kind of like biometrics for mental health,” says Neal.

Teaching and advising graduate students are also a part of Neal’s job now, and she says her perspective

Working with Neal on the proposal is assistant

as a recent graduate is useful in the classroom.

professor Kristin Kosyluk, Ph.D., of the Department of Mental

“I try to teach based on my

Health Law and Policy. Kosyluk

experiences,” says Neal.

says ubiquitous sensing can be

“I like for my classes to

a useful tool for corroborating

be interactive because I

events and locations with

learned when teachers were

behavior as well as validating

interacting with me so I try

self-report data. It can also be

to do that in my classrooms.”

a means to provide tailored mental health interventions

Neal, who teaches Biometric

“via smartphone to be delivered

Authentication on Mobile

at specific times when they

Devices

would be most helpful to the

and Object-Oriented

individual.”

Software Design, adds that her own education

According to Neal, the process is

continues with the teaching

straightforward.

experience.

“We’ll collect smartphone

“I’m learning just as much

sensing data in the background; users will periodically tell us if

Tempestt Neal, Ph.D.

they are feeling stressed or if they’re feeling relieved or if they’re in a social setting.

from them as they’re learning from me; it is teaching me to think about

things holistically.”

Our goal is to correlate the sensing data with these self-reports.”

Earning a technology-oriented Ph.D. was not Neal’s original plan when she began her college education.

She adds that researching at the intersection of

She started out studying music as her major at South

technology and human behavior opens many

Carolina State University in Orangeburg, but says

possibilities for adding value to the mobile device

she found the music curriculum did not resonate

experience, especially among the most prolific users

with her creative interests. However, computers did.

of the devices.

“You can use a computer like a crayon,” says Neal. “A “In terms of research I think my research area is

lot of students consider computers or programming

attractive to a younger generation because of their

as barriers to getting things done but they’re really

heavy use of smartphones,” says Neal.

enablers. You can use a computer to do whatever you want, like make music. The opportunities are endless

Neal’s work is produced through her Cyber Identity

if you switch your thinking and don’t be afraid to try

and Behavior Research (CiBeR) Lab. Besides her

something new.”

mobile device interests, other projects underway

Envision Magazine 49

Driving Toward a Connected and Autonomous Transportation Future

By Brad Stager

Fully autonomous, self-driving cars

In the fall of 2018, more than a

are not in dealer showrooms just yet,

thousand Tampa area privately owned

Evaluation program.

but a major connected vehicle project

and public transportation vehicles

“CUTR conducts research on

underway in Tampa is helping to pave

were equipped to communicate with

several topics within the realm of

the way in that direction as well as

each other and traffic infrastructure to

transportation, spanning from public

improve driving safety and mobility.

exchange data such as location, speed

transportation safety to new and

and lane movement. That information

developing technologies,” says Concas

Known as the Tampa Hillsborough

can alert drivers about unsafe conditions

who has a Ph.D. in Economics from the

Expressway Authority (THEA)

and can also be useful to transportation

University of South Florida.

Connected Vehicle Pilot, it is funded

agencies to improve traffic mobility.

by a $17 million contract the roadway

The pilot program focuses on

operator has with the U.S. Department

Research about how connected vehicle

commuters in the downtown Tampa

of Transportation (USDOT) and is

technology can increase transportation

area where cars, pedestrians, buses and

getting support from the University

safety and efficiency fits into the

streetcars create an environment in need

of South Florida’s Center for Urban

mission of CUTR, according to Sisinnio

of the safety and traffic management

Transportation Research (CUTR) to

Concas, Ph.D. director of the center’s

benefits offered by connected vehicle

help measure and evaluate performance.

Autonomous-Connected Mobility

technology. Other partners include

50

Envision Magazine

“

the City of Tampa, the Florida Department of

visualized on the rear-view mirror,” says Concas.

Transportation and Hillsborough Area Regional

“In the future many vehicles will be equipped with

Transit Authority among others. According to Concas,

this kind of technology and if you are getting these

CUTR’s participation puts the center at the fore of

advisories and follow them you can achieve two goals:

the push toward a connected and autonomous vehicle

travel safer and more efficiently.”

future.

Concas also says that making vehicle mobility more

Because of the U.S. leading the development in the field of autonomous vehicles, car manufacturers are actively working on developing new technologies all the time, at a faster rate than in Europe.

- Sisinnio Concas, Ph.D.

efficient can also save resources like fuel and reduce harmful tailpipe emissions.

Instances of drivers traveling in the wrong direction lane occur for a variety of reasons and the pilot is using the Selmon Expressway’s reversible travel lanes to find ways of mitigating the problem. The reversible direction lanes are intended to accommodate heavier inbound and outbound flow during peak morning and afternoon rush hour times, which can also lead to instances of wrong-way entry onto the expressway.

“It is a growing area of research internationally, and in the U.S. above all,” he says. “Because of the U.S. leading the development in the field of autonomous vehicles, car manufacturers are actively working on developing new technologies all the time, at a faster rate than in Europe.”

Participating vehicles are equipped with onboard units that communicate with other connected vehicles and Intelligent Traffic System (ITS) infrastructure such as signal lights and crosswalks within the deployment area, which is Tampa’s downtown business core.

The Lee Roy Selmon Expressway, which is operated

by THEA, delivers commuters to the area in the morning and returns them home to other parts of Hillsborough County in the evening. Through its the Reversible Express Lanes (REL), THEA provides a direct connection between Brandon and downtown Tampa, allowing for express travel of people in cars and buses. One feature of the REL is a steep curve at the downtown exit where backups, or traffic queuing occurs which result in rear-end crashes. It is a situation that connected vehicle technology addresses with an application called End of Ramp Deceleration Warning, which transmits information about the traffic queuing at the ramp and sends an alert with recommended speed changes for approaching drivers.

“You have a warning that could be audible or

The ITS technology deployed in the Tampa pilot can warn drivers they are entering or traveling in the wrong direction lane or that a wrong-way driver is nearby.

The pilot also addresses public transportation and pedestrian issues as well. The Transit Signal Priority (TSP) application allows buses to communicate with traffic signals to prioritize their movement through an intersection to stay on schedule, and the Pedestrian in Signalized Crosswalk (PED-X) application warns a connected vehicle driver a pedestrian is detected in a crosswalk that lies in the vehicle’s path. Pedestrians also participate in the pilot via their smartphones to receive and transmit movement information.

“We have many connected vehicle applications that are intended to make travel safer and more efficient,” says Concas.

At the outset, CUTR’s role in the USDOT Tampa pilot was to assist with determining research design and protocol for recruiting participants, one of whom is Concas who has an onboard unit to process and exchange data tucked under the front seat of his car.

“As a researcher, I don’t want to just talk about it, I want to get my hands dirty so I’m one of the test subjects,” says Concas.

With the deployment in progress, about 3 million

Envision Magazine 51

data points of information are generated and collected each day. Concas says CUTR is also responsible for analyzing and feeding the data to people who can use it, such as researchers and agencies like USDOT. “We have two major tasks. One is the performance assessment, the second one is to process the data, remove any sort of identifiable information from the users generating data, and once we sanitize the data we make it available to the USDOT ITS public data hub, which is a repository of the connected vehicle data for research purposes in the U.S.” Concas adds that the data will influence transportation policies and assist in the development of connected vehicles, as well as autonomous self-driving ones, which he says are about 20 years away from becoming the dominant mode of transportation.

Sisinnio Concas, USF CUTR’s Autonomous-

“It’s time to think of autonomous vehicles in our future” says

Connected Mobility Evaluation director,

Concas, who adds that the changes may alter how people

helps collect data for THEA’s Connected

meet their personal transportation needs.

Vehicle Pilot program himself with a data collection device in his car.

“You might give up ownership of your vehicle, you might just call up a vehicle to serve you. Think of Uber with no driver.”

The Tampa pilot is one of three connected vehicle technology deployments that USDOT has rolled out to research and develop the technology in a variety of environments.

The other two locations are a stretch of Interstate 80 in Wyoming and the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The idea is to test the connected vehicle technology in a variety of environments and conditions.

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Envision Magazine

Wainella Isaacs Awarded Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Fellowship for Women in STEM

W

ainella Isaacs, a Ph.D. student in the Department

management for mosquito vector control (Aedes aegypti),

of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the

and taught classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

University of South Florida, has been awarded

Wainella has received support from the USF Women in

a highly competitive Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for

Leadership & Philanthropy (WLP) program, USF Education

the Future Fellowship for Women in STEM. The fellowship

Abroad, College of Engineering scholarships, and the NSF

covers a stipend, tuition and fees, medical insurance, and

PIRE (Context Sensitive Implementation of Synergistic

research and conference travel. She was one of 38 new

Water-Energy Systems) award. She has also worked for the

awardees out of more than 500 applications received for the

last 3 years as a Graduate Student Assistant for the College

2019-2020 academic year. Fellowships are awarded based

of Engineering’s Diversity Programs. This past year, Wainella

on the applicant’s academic ability, leadership qualities, and

received the People’s Choice award in the Three Minute

engagement in STEM outreach activities in under-served

Thesis (3MT®) competition organized by the USF Office of

communities in their home countries.

Graduate Studies.

Wainella is completing her doctorate in Environmental

The long-term goal of the Schlumberger Foundation Faculty

Engineering under the supervision of Professor Maya Trotz.

for the Future Fellowship for Women in STEM Program is

She holds a Master’s Degree in Engineering Science –

to generate conditions that result in more women pursuing

Concentration Environmental Engineering from USF, and

scientific careers. Faculty for the Future Fellows are expected

a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry and Environmental and

to return to their home countries after completion of their

Natural Resources Management with a minor in Economics

studies to contribute to economic, social and technological

from the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine.

advancement by strengthening the STEM teaching and

She graduated at UWI as the first Dual Valedictorian for

research faculties of their home institutions, and to pursue

the Faculties of the Science and Technology, and Food and

positions in the public sector where their newly acquired

Agriculture.

technical and scientific skills can help provide evidence-based support for STEM policy making. Wainella has collaborated

Wainella’s research interests are at the nexus of sustainability,

with WHYFARM (We Help You-th Farm), a NGO in Trinidad

resilience planning, and gender mainstreaming of water and

and Tobago, in the writing of a successful Bill and Melinda

energy infrastructure development. As part of her graduate

Gates Foundation grant that is promoting the importance

training she has co-written grant applications (including

of sustainable agriculture among youth and children. After

technical reports – gender analysis; environmental and social

completing her Ph.D. in May 2020, she plans a return to the

impact assessment) for the Green Climate Fund on behalf

Guyana/Caribbean Region to continue working in sustainable

of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre and

infrastructure planning and policy development for the water,

the Barbados Water Authority. During her Ph.D. studies she

energy and agriculture sectors.

has also worked on projects related to green infrastructure for stormwater and nutrient management, water resources Envision Magazine 53

Jonathan Gaines, Ph.D.

The College of Engineering Implements a Culture Shift by Introducing First-year Students into the Design Process

By Janet Gillis

F

irst-year engineering students are now required to take

The course teaches approximately 500 students each semester

a 3-credit Foundations of Engineering lab, which is

and satisfies the USF Fundamentals High Impact Practice

modeled to harness an engineering mindset and design

criteria through a service learning aspect. Students design

thinking. While advancing the goal of embedding creative

project deliverables in collaboration with the community

engineering design competencies, this design experience

partners participating in the program. This year’s partners

benefits the USF community through active engagement with

included: The Girl Scouts, Mort Elementary School, Turner-

community partners.

Bartels K-8 Middle School, and Tampa Housing Authority.

Jonathan Gaines, Ph.D., mechanical engineering

“Both parties get something out of the relationship,” says

instructor and a member of Academy of Distinguished

Gaines. “The community partners get a much-needed design

Engineering Educator, is leading a team effort. Thanks

and the students get real life experience in listening and

to the engineering department chairs, the course has an

analyzing, designing and problem solving, which mirrors the

impressive doctoral teaching team comprising Oscar Rios

process professional engineers utilize in their careers. In the

(Mechanical Engineering), Schinnel Small (Computer

middle and elementary school partners, the students get early

Science and Engineering), Alexandro Castellanos and Ralph

exposure to STEM.”

Fehr (Electrical Engineering), Olukemi Akintewe (Medical Engineering), Daniel Simpkins (Civil Engineering), William

The project experience requires the students to complete

Lee (Chemical Engineering), and Walter Silva Sotillo

the ideation phase during the first half of the semester,

(Industrial Engineering).

collaboratively develop and share their ideas with a

54

Envision Magazine

community partner, and fabricate

when the team will explore new ideas,

freshmen into the design process early

their ideas during the second half of

stakeholders and pedagogies.”

in their academic career, whereas

the semester. The interactions are

previously students weren’t exposed to

continuous through various design

Gaines has been trained by the USF

review processes where community

Office of Community Engagement

partner feedback is incorporated into

and Partnerships (OCEP) on service-

Every engineering student in the

forming and solving problems.

learning. A pilot program was

college will have an early exposure

conducted in 2017 through a mini-grant

to solving community problems and

“This course has secured a phenomenal

he received from the USF OCEP that

sharpening their engineering design

beginning and would not be possible

only incorporated the hands-on aspects

and computational thinking through an

without a fascinating teaching team,

of the course.

experiential learning framework, which

an exceptional leader and a group of

will guide them as they mature through

dedicated community partners,” says

“I’m impressed with the speed at

Sanjukta Bhanja, associate dean of

which this change was implemented

academics. “The course is taught with

– from classroom learning to service

extremely tight synchronization between

learning,” says Robert Bishop, College

sections in the first version. Next

of Engineering Dean. “This signifies

semester, further creativity is expected

a major cultural shift to introduce

mark your calendar

this until their junior or senior year.”

February 21 & 22, 2020 48th Annual Engineering Expo

their undergraduate coursework.

March 28, 2020 EAS Bullarney Event

Envision Magazine 55

Working to Improve Bicycle Safety in Tampa Bay and Beyond By Brad Stager

W

arm sunny days year-round and generally flat

Those numbers don’t discourage Julie Bond who, as a senior

terrain make Florida seem like a bicyclist’s

research associate at the Center for Urban Transportation

dream place to ride, but the state’s roads were

Research (CUTR), promotes bicycle and pedestrian safety.

built for automotive efficiency and can be a factor in turning

Julie is also a lifelong cyclist who has ridden in cities and

a pleasant bike outing into a dangerous situation.

rural areas throughout the United States.

Florida routinely places among the top states nationally for

“Tampa Bay really is a great place to ride a bike,” says Bond.

bicycle fatalities in published studies. The Tampa Bay area

She adds that it is not a risk-free activity and the task for

in particular is often cited as having high crash and fatality

CUTR and other transportation agencies is to help make

rates for cyclists in metropolitan areas. A National Highway

biking as safe and comfortable as possible for all levels of

Transportation Safety Administration study released last year

riders.

reported that the Tampa-St. Petersburg area led the nation with *7 deaths per-capita in 2016. According to the Florida

Much of Bond’s efforts for making bicycling a safe mode

Integrated Report Exchange System, there were 6,559 bicycle

of transportation is done through Bike/Walk Tampa Bay

crashes in Florida during 2018, resulting in 147 fatalities, 17

(BWTB), a local coalition of individuals and organizations

of which were in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

who share that vision. BWTB’s founding partners include

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Envision Magazine

the Florida Department of Transportation

with colleagues Dr. Erin Scheffels and Dr. Lorraine

(FDOT), New North Transportation Alliance, the

Monteagut, examined language patterns in how

Tampa Downtown Partnership, the St. Petersburg

drivers and bicyclists were portrayed in fatal bike

Downtown Partnership, the Westshore Alliance,

crashes in local media reporting.

Forward Pinellas, and the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization. As BWTB’s

According to Scheffels in a BWTB news release:

program director, Bond says the organization’s

“Overall, the results indicate that standard media

efforts cover a lot of ground to approach bicycle

reports about fatalities depict them as either

safety from different perspectives.

unpreventable or as something the bicyclist is responsible for. If the goal is to reduce these

BWTB offers a variety of education and training for

traffic fatalities, the study suggests there’s a more

groups, such as certification for people interested

complicated picture for the public to view.”

in becoming trained cycling instructors and presentations covering the rules of the road with

Besides promoting bicycle safety in the Tampa Bay

associations or groups that bike together. Bond

area, CUTR is also working at the state level with

says BWTB presentations teach the concept of

Florida Department of Transportation and other

“vehicular cycling,” which treats a bicycle as a legal

agencies to conduct public outreach and research

vehicle. Bicyclists fare best when following traffic

throughout Florida. The program is managed

laws and asserting a visible presence in traffic. That

by CUTR’s Intelligent Traffic Systems, Traffic

can mean “taking the lane,” and traveling in the

Operations and Safety Center which is directed by

middle of a roadway when it is safer than traveling

Dr. Pei-Sung Lin. The center manages Alert Today

off to the side.

Florida, a statewide bicycle and pedestrian FDOT initiative that provides resources to communities

Sometimes the lessons offered in these classes

and safety advocates.

challenge widely-held beliefs, such as that riding on a sidewalk is safer for adults. “It is not always the

Bond has lived in the Tampa Bay area for more

safest option,” says Bond. “Riding on the sidewalk

than a decade and says she sees positive changes

can be dangerous because of numerous driveways

when it comes to bicycling in the region. St.

and drivers aren’t expecting a bicyclist.” Bond adds

Petersburg adopted a Complete Streets plan that

that sidewalks, however, are preferred for children

is especially ideal for walking and bicycling safety

riding bicycles in most situations.

to more businesses accommodating cyclists with secure bike racks and sometimes even repair

Raising awareness of bicycling as a mode of

stations to perform basic maintenance. Tampa’s

transportation means not only providing education

new mayor, Jane Castor, has served as BWTB’s

and distributing personal safety gear at events, but

chair, which is a positive indication that improving

also hitting the local streets and meeting people

bicycle and pedestrian safety may be a higher

who will most benefit from the work CUTR does to

priority for the city moving forward.

improve transportation options for everyone. Bond says it is gratifying.

With all the effort, energy, and money expended on programs that improve bike and pedestrian safety,

“When I talk to people walking and biking on the

Bond says achieving that goal can be summed up

street; they’re very thankful that we’re out there

with this advisory slogan: “Together we can get

listening to them and trying to understand their

there safely.” The slogan reminds us that we’re all

issues.”

just traveling on the same roads and we need to look out for each other.

Research about bicycle and pedestrian safety is also conducted at CUTR. A recent study by Bond, along

Envision Magazine 57

Using Big Data to Accomplish Great Things

By Brad Stager

A

rtificial Intelligence

kinds of things, which I thought

loose approximation of the brain’s

may seem to have burst

were interesting so I decided to

circuitry, so in that sense you can

onto the tech scene

go on for a graduate degree in

explain some of what goes on with

in the last few years, but it has

computer science,” says Hall, who

people through mathematics.”

in some ways been a subject of

earned his Master of Science in

consideration since the days

Mathematics with a computer

Among the areas of interest

of classical antiquity, as with

science option from Florida State

Hall draws upon in his work are

the winged automaton Talos of

University in 1982, followed by his

extreme data mining and thusly,

Greek mythology, a precursor to

Ph.D. in computer science, also

distributed machine learning,

the drones of today that provide

from FSU in 1986.

an approach to handling large

security, herd livestock and deliver goods.

amounts of data that incorporates When Hall arrived at USF as an

a variety of computer science

assistant professor in 1986 he was

applications. The ability to

As a modern research topic AI

working and publishing in the

process large amounts of data

has been around since about the

area of fuzzy logic, an approach

makes it possible to conduct

middle of the 20th Century, with a

to computing based on partial

research related to bioinformatics,

defining moment arriving in 1997

or degrees of truth, instead of

pattern recognition and

when IBM’s Deep Blue became

the binary Boolean logic of true

integrating AI into image

the first computer to beat a chess

or false, yes or no. It is a field of

processing.

champion, defeating Russian

study that Hall says appeals to his

grandmaster Garry Kasparov.

interests.

One of Hall’s recent presentations is titled, “Leveraging Big Data

By the time Distinguished

“I like to solve problems that are

in Medical Image Analysis,”

University Professor of Computer

a little bit difficult, and in writing

which was delivered at the 2016

Science and Engineering Larry

programs you have to be very

International Conference on

Hall received his Bachelor of

specific in the solutions to the

Intelligence Science and Big

Science in Applied Mathematics

problems.”

Data Engineering, in Guangzhou,

from Florida Institute of

China, and reflects what much of

Technology in 1980, considerable

The term “fuzzy” logic may

his professional work has been

progress had been made in basic

suggest imprecision, but Hall

dedicated to.

AI theory and robots were starting

says most of his work has

to show up for work in some

“mathematical underpinnings”

Among the grant-funded research

factories.

to quantify nuanced states of

he has worked on at USF are

equipment, systems or even

National Institutes of Health

For Hall, his introduction to

human behavior, and that

studies such as MRI Segmentation

the field started during his

mathematics is an important tool

for Tumor Volume Measurements,

undergraduate studies, as he

to explain the world.

while Development of Automated

enjoyed working with computers

Image Analysis Software for

and decided to pursue learning

“Different kinds of mathematics

Suspended Marine Classification

more about them.

tend to explain to some degree

is an example of his work for the

what people do. There’s logic that

Department of Defense. National

“While I was doing math I took

you can explain reasoning with,

Science Foundation research

some computing classes like

there’s the mathematics behind

includes Microscope-based

Assembly language and these

neural networks which are a very

Technology for Automatic Brain

58

Envision Magazine

Call Counts Using Unbiased Methods. Hall has also published

it so people outside of the research group can understand it

nearly 100 journal papers in his areas of interest.

and staying up-to-date on scientific advances are all essential to success.

Collaboration is essential to successful research and Distinguished University Professor Dmitry Goldgof has often

Looking ahead, Hall says there is ongoing interest in the

worked with Hall on grants and publications in their shared

CSE department and with collaborators throughout USF in

fields of interest.

conducting big-data research, especially in medical imaging, that can support non-invasive medical decision making. One

“Dr. Hall is a world expert and pioneer in the AI, data mining

of his major projects uses imaging to effectively monitor lung

and related areas and as such is invaluable in my work on

nodules for cancer development.

biomedical image analysis,” says Goldgof, who is the vice chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

Hall credits the collaborative environment that has developed

“His expertise seems to provide an ideal fit to help me

over the last three decades for advancing his work and

advance my research.”

helping to keep it interesting as well.

Besides research, Hall has advised dozens of graduate

“I think that the reputation of the College of Engineering

students, including 45 Ph.D. graduates. He says he has found

brings people for example, from Moffitt Cancer Center or the

that at that level, grades and test scores are not the only indicators of success.

Medical School looking to collaborate, which is really a good thing because unless you are doing very theoretical computer science you need

“What I look for is somebody who is a

some ability to apply it, and certainly in AI you

hard worker,” says Hall, who was chair

need to apply it to some domains.”

of CSE from 2008 to 2015. “If you work hard you are going to go far.”

Hall adds that self-criticism of one’s work, clarity in communicating about Larry Hall, Ph.D.

Envision Magazine 59

Praxsys Tech Supports Cybersecurity Program with Undergraduate Scholarship

By Brad Stager

I

n a data-driven world, outdated software, applications, networks or systems may get the job done for a company operating like it’s 1999, but that kind of old technology isn’t a

good fit for doing business in the 21st Century.

Using what is known in the software industry as legacy systems could cause operational inefficiencies for a company or allow it to become an easy target for cybercriminals looking to exploit system vulnerabilities.

Praxsys Tech is one business helping organizations modernize or migrate from legacy systems so they can be up-to-date and secure.

Praxsys also provides new software development and staffing support. Founder and Chairman William Volmuth, who earned bachelor’s (’86) and master’s (’89) degrees in electrical engineering at USF, summarized the mission of the company owned and operated by him and wife Gina.

“Praxsys wants to solve interesting problems and wants to make the challenges of bringing all these disparate technologies together as seamless as possible,” William said, adding that the growth of cloud data solutions and the need for different systems to be able to communicate are creating a demand for the services his company provides.

According to Chief Executive Officer Gina Volmuth, ensuring the security of their clients’ digital resources is a top priority, which creates a staffing opportunity for Praxsys Tech.

“We focus on software management within the security space, and we are faced daily with the tremendous need for developers who understand security implications.”

Praxsys is committed to ensuring there are cybersecurity professionals available to perform the needed work. The Volmuths have initially pledged $25,000 over the next five years to sponsor the Praxsys Tech Scholarship Fund, which will be awarded to students enrolled in USF’s new Bachelor of Science in 60

Envision Magazine

Cybersecurity (BSCyS) major.

incredibly useful because I jump

engineering teams.”

into industries that are completely The undergraduate program

different pretty much on a daily

While Praxsys’ home office is in

prepares students to deal with

basis.”

northwest Tampa, William said the

cyber threats that range from

employees and contractors who

data-based attacks to behaviorally

Praxsys combines engineering

make up the company’s project

driven events. According to

principles and process-driven

teams can be as geographically

USF Computer Science and

methodologies with user-friendly

dispersed as their clients.

Engineering Professor and

design features to create reliable

Associate Chair of Undergraduate

and secure software solutions for

“They go wherever they want to

Affairs Ken Christensen, the

clients throughout the United

go, and technology allows us all to

kind of support provided

States. This synergy reflects

work together.”

by Praxsys Tech can have a

the talents and backgrounds of

substantial impact on a student’s

the Volmuths, especially when

In an industry where the median

ability to successfully finish the

it comes to user interface and

annual salary is $95,510 (as of

program and pursue a career in

experience considerations.

2017, according to the Bureau of

cybersecurity.

Labor Statistics), the Volmuths While William’s background is in

recognize the value of providing

“The Praxsys Tech Cybersecurity

software engineering, Gina started

more than a substantial paycheck

Scholarship will make it possible

out as a photographer and grew

to their employees.

for selected academically talented

her business into a marketing

and financially needy students to

and design firm, Innoveir Design

“We have a desire for our

pursue and complete a BSCyS,” he

Group.

employees to be treated well,

said. “Completing this major will

and to a large degree that means

be a life-changing opportunity

“I discovered I liked marketing

ensuring our employees have

for the students who are awarded

and branding as much as I loved

balance in their lives and are

the scholarship. The department

photography,” she said.

working in a virtual way allows for

is very thankful for this donation

a lot of flexibility that contributes

that will help its students to be

Opportunities for the couple to

to that work-life balance,” said

successful.”

work on projects together grew

Gina, who added that the work

into a marriage and ultimately

ahead will go beyond managing

Success in developing software

a business partnership that still

data.

solutions for a variety of clients

reflects the values and methods

that include the Thales Group,

they started with.

and Honeywell International, Inc., means working collaboratively with professionals from a variety of industries. William credited the wide scope of the engineering education he received at USF with making it easier to do so.

“They were known for being very

“

“In our changing world, our ability to secure our infrastructure and

Working with collaborative teams allows us to approach customer projects in a way that others are not able to.

systems is paramount. It’s a war that requires evolving solutions, and we believe that the engineers that USF is educating will be prepared to face the challenge.”

- Gina Volmuth

hands-on and very broad,” he said. “You had to take classes in

“Working with collaborative

mechanical, material, computer,

teams allows us to approach

chemistry, electrical; so I got

customer projects in a way that

experience in all the different

others are not able to,” said Gina.

facets and I have found that

“Our specialty is to work with

Envision Magazine 61

Alum’s Jackpot Makes Ph.D. Students Winners Too

By Brad Stager Krishna describes his time in Dr. Ferekides’ semiconductor laboratory as “sweet memories.”

K

rishna Barri, ‘03, considered himself lucky before he

someone Barri attributes much of his current success to, as

won the Florida Lottery.

Ferekides hired him as a research assistant when he was just

When he arrived at USF in 2000 to earn a master’s degree in

starting graduate school and really needed one of the few positions available -- as did a lot of other students.

electrical engineering, he considered the pending diploma to be a ticket to a career that would enable him to support his

Persistence in the matter, which included researching

family.

Ferekides’ work in thin-film electronic materials and devices and stopping by his office to chat about the subject, paid off

“My goal was to pay the rent on my parents’ house and take

for Barri who recalls what Ferekides told him upon hiring.

care of them,” said Barri.

“The ball is in your court now.”

By the time he purchased a winning Florida Lotto ticket worth $14.5 million in December 2018, he was the owner of

When Barri, an occasional Florida Lotto player, realized he

a prospering software company employing more than 100

won millions of dollars from one of 10 tickets he bought at a

people.

local grocery store, there was no hesitation as to what to do with some of the money.

He shared his winnings with the College of Engineering by donating a $500,000 gift to create three Ph.D. fellowships in

“I immediately thought about Chris,” said Barri. “I’m here

the Department of Electrical Engineering, where Professor

because if he didn’t provide that job to me it would have been

Christos Ferekides is the interim department chair. He is also

a disaster. He gave me confidence, and immediately when I

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Envision Magazine

Krishna Barri ‘03 MSEE

Barri as a graduate student.

got this news I thought about him because I don’t want

“Now I have a lot of employees and I’m taking care of

to change my lifestyle. I want to change people’s lives.”

them and I’m very happy,” said Barri, who cites 5-star Google Review ratings from employees as evidence of

That kind of response to such good fortune did not

WB Solution’s supportive corporate culture.

surprise Ferekides, who kept in touch with his former student.

Among the reviews are comments from Jyothsna Kurapati, who writes, “I have been working with WB

“He was ready to give before he won it,” he said. “What

Solutions since 2013 and it’s a great company to work

he couldn’t have, he’s making possible for others.”

for. Upper management treats us more like a family

It took Barri a while to change his own life and start

than employees.”

his career after earning his MSEE in 2003, as he found cashing in on an advanced degree is sometimes more

You can learn more about WB Solutions at w-b-

difficult than winning a game of chance.

solutions.com.

“I could not get a job for 14 months after getting my

While Barri has accomplished considerable

master’s degree,” said Barri.

professional success, it wasn’t his original plan. He intended to pursue his Ph.D. but the need to earn a

Barri found communication systems work as a junior

living took precedence, so his academic dreams were

developer with Verizon and advanced to lead software

put on hold.

engineer by the time he left in 2012 to co-found WB Solutions, an IT services and staffing company

“I wanted to go for a Ph.D. with Dr. Chris after my

in Tampa. At that time, Barri did not have a Lotto

master’s, but at that time I had to go for a job. If I

windfall as a financial backup.

would have had a scholarship like this or money, I would have done that because it’s a fascinating subject

“We have to take risks in life so I quit the job ,” he said.

for me.”

“I was without a job for five months, and that’s how we started WB Solutions.”

Barri’s half-million dollar gift is the largest for the Department of Electrical Engineering and will support

The projects WB Solutions undertakes for clients

PhD student success for a long time to come.

--Fortune 400 companies among them--range from developing specialized applications for mobile devices

“The real results are going to be the kids who are

to providing business intelligence and reporting

benefitting from this, and it’s not just going to be one

services.

or two or for one year or five, it’s going to go on forever, Continued on next page.

Envision Magazine 63

hopefully. Now the ball is in our court to recruit and to grow

The fellowships are named in honor of Barri’s parents

the fellowship fund.”

Nageswara and Tulasi Barri and his brother-in-law Raghavendra Rao Palepu, all of whom he credits for his

Students receiving the fellowships will receive an award

success.

of $10,000 a year, as well as a full-time research assistant position. Ferekides hopes the ability to offer such a

Originally from Visakhapatnam, India, Barri also gave

proposition will facilitate recruitment from among the top

$500,000 to support students in his home country.

Ph.D. applicants, who may have multiple offers to consider.

Helping others achieve their goals is an act that aligns with “We will use it to help recruit high caliber students with a

what Barri values in life.

financial need,” he said, adding that doing so supports USF’s preeminence status through the higher quality of research

“Education is the greatest gift you can give somebody,”

that is conducted and through improved academic metrics,

said Barri who plans to attend the graduations of students

such as the number of graduates and the time taken to earn a

receiving the fellowships.

degree.

“I want to see the smiles on their faces.”

Engineering Fitness for Microgravity

W

By Russell Nay

ith NASA working to put astronauts on Mars within the

Environment (CAREN). CAREN is capable of creating an immersive

next twenty years and with increasing pressure to return

environment for users who stand on its tilting motion platform,

to the moon within the next decade, research on how

split-belt treadmill and in front of its panoramic screen fitted

astronauts can remain able-bodied during extended space trips will

with motion capture cameras. The device can produce a variety of

be vital as humanity ventures further into space.

simulated environments, such as a rocky forest trail or a swaying boat on a lake.

Part of staying healthy in space involves a good workout regimen, which helps combat the muscle deterioration, loss of exercise

Data from the study, including measures of force exerted during

capacity and bone loss experienced after lengthy periods in

the exercises and the joint angles of volunteers taken from the

microgravity. But as USF biomedical engineering junior Abby

motion capture recordings, could one day be used to improve special

Blocker knows, exercising in space is a science all to itself.

exercise platforms for astronauts that limit vibrations resulting from exercising. While inconsequential on Earth, the vibrations created

Blocker is a student research assistant at the USF Center for

by the repetitive movement in an exercise have been known to wear

Assistive, Rehabilitation and Robotics Technologies (CARRT) where

down the degradable microgravity environment of the International

she works with USF researchers and project partners to collect and

Space Station. Relatively little research has been done on the

process data on the effects of exercise on the human body and its

interactions between people and these platforms.

surroundings. She’s also part of a research team working to develop an orthopedic device.

The project stems from a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship awarded to USF Mechanical Engineering graduate

“We have a lot of projects going on, and you can jump into whichever

alumni Kaitlin Lostroscio, who led the project at CARRT and now

ones you’re interested in,” she said. “It’s nice to be able to get a broad

works at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Blocker and

range of research in the biomedical field.”

the team send her weekly updates on how the project is progressing.

Blocker and CARRT researchers brought healthy, adult research

Blocker presented the project at the 2018 Biomedical Engineering

volunteers into CARRT and asked them to do rows and squats while

Society annual conference in Atlanta last October and joined

standing on the center’s Computerized Artificial Rehabilitation

Lostroscio to help present findings at the annual 2019 NASA Human

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Envision Magazine

Abby Blocker (second from left) and 15 other students from Florida universities visited the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex as part of the 2018 Space Trek Academy program.

Research Program Investigators’ Workshop

different schools and different majors and

Blocker has also been a member of the USF

in Texas.

see everyone’s interest in space exploration,”

Biomedical Engineering Society since she

Blocker said. “Everybody could bring

was a freshman and became the student

Blocker’s involvement with NASA also

something different to the table, but we all

organization’s secretary in the fall of 2018.

includes a trip to the Kennedy Space

got the project done.”

With a new influx of biomedical engineering

Center’s Space Trek Academy program

undergrads, she said that she’s been helping

in December of 2018. Blocker was one

A Florida native, Blocker grew up about an

the club expand its member base by reaching

of 16 students selected from universities

hour away from USF and said that when

out to students of all biomedical engineering

throughout Florida to participate in the

it came time to pick a university to attend,

levels and helping manage club events that

four-day program, which gave students the

she liked USF’s campus most. Engineering,

involve other engineering disciplines.

chance to work as a team to plan, design

however, was not Blocker’s first choice.

and conduct a weather balloon launch used

While she enjoyed math in high school, she

One event every member of the organization

to collect information about Earth’s upper

wasn’t aware of the different career paths an

could participate in this year was the USF

atmosphere.

engineer could take and initially enrolled as

Engineering Expo — the university’s largest

a biomedical sciences major.

science fair featuring exhibits from student

The program also included lunch with

organizations and community partners

astronaut Wendy Lawrence and a tour

“I knew I didn’t want to be a doctor, but I

during which thousands of K-12 Tampa Bay

around the Kennedy Space Center Visitor

really liked the research and was interested

students visit campus for two days every

Complex. Blocker said all the students

in that part of it,” Blocker said.

spring and are introduced to a variety of

worked well as a team and that they broke

STEM concepts and engineering disciplines.

up into different project roles depending

One day, she received an email about the

on their strengths — whether it was

College of Engineering’s recently-created

Blocker said she and other USF Biomedical

programming the balloon, tracking the flight

biomedical engineering undergraduate

Engineering Society members worked

or crafting the return parachute.

program and decided she would give it a

on their exhibits for about a year, one of

try. As part of the first class of biomedical

which gave student attendees the chance

On the final day of the program, the team

engineering undergrads, Blocker said she

to remotely arm wrestle each other by

got to livestream their launch online from

enjoyed her new coursework, classmates and

controlling a pair of 3D-printed arms with

Space Trek Academy’s Facebook and Twitter

professors but that working at CARRT with

electrical signals from the flexing of their

accounts.

center research coordinator Stephanie Carey,

own arm muscles.

Ph.D., was the biggest factor in her decision “It was really nice to meet people from

to stay in biomedical engineering.

Aside from the student org, Blocker is also a

Continued on next page.

Envision Magazine 65

part of Tau Beta Pi — the oldest engineering

She and other USF students spent a few

Horace and Dorothy Endowed Scholarship

honors society — and the USF Honors

days volunteering to help clean a nearby

Fund — a merit-based scholarship awarded

College.

maternity ward and to help with farming

to engineering students who demonstrate

tasks.

academic excellence, as well as notable

She joined Tau Beta Pi last year and said

involvement in community or campus

that being a member has benefited her in

Part of the trip also included hiking

building her early engineering career and

and horseback riding up the Ausangate

examining local internship opportunities.

mountain.

activities.

Following her graduation, Blocker plans to either pursue a master’s or spend some

“They have a lot of career-building events

“It was such an amazing experience,” Blocker

time working in the engineering industry

and a big network with a lot of members in

said. “I’ve never been out of the country,

before returning to advance her education

the community,” she said.

ridden a horse, hiked a mountain — I’ve

as a graduate student. Some of her most

never done any of that. It was a bunch of

preferred engineering positions include

firsts.”

continuing her work with human spaceflight

Through the USF Honors College last year, Blocker took a course all about the

research at the Johnson Space Center, as well

country of Peru before taking a two-week

She said she plans to travel to Botswana this

study abroad trip there. She visited a small

June in a joint project with the USF Physics

as a career in exercise science research.

mountain village outside of Cusco where

Department and the USF Honors College

“I think space research is a really interesting,

villagers taught her and other students

to help install solar panels there as part of a

cutting-edge field, and I really enjoyed

about their farming practices, how they’re

renewable energy initiative.

(working with CARRT) so far,” she said.

trying to adapt their agriculture to a rapidly changing climate and how it’s affecting

In January, Blocker was one of three College

their way of life in the Peruvian mountains.

of Engineering students to receive the

CARRT’s Computerized Artificial Rehabilitation Environment has a panoramic screen that can be linked to its motion platform, allowing the device to react physically to a virtual environment.

66

Envision Magazine

Julia Clarke (right) received the SWE Houston Area Section’s 2015 Young Engineer of the Year Award.

Advancing the Profession

E

By Russell Nay

very year, the American Society of

Clarke has since become president elect of

loan options, Clarke’s mom received a call

Civil Engineers (ASCE) Houston

the ASCE Houston Branch and currently

one day from USF College of Engineering

Branch awards one of its members

works as a senior project manager overseeing

Office of Diversity and Outreach Director

with the Edmund Friedman Young Engineer

geotechnical engineering projects at Texas-

Bernard Batson.

Award.

based engineering consulting firm Raba Kistner.

Batson’s call was the first either had received

The award is given to engineers 35

from any university, and Batson told Clarke’s

years old or younger who demonstrate

Born in Jamaica, Clarke and her mom

mom that the USF College of Engineering

outstanding service to the advancement of

immigrated to the U.S. when Clarke was 10.

valued Clarke’s enrollment, told her more

the civil engineering profession, technical

Her parents grew up in a rural part of the

about USF’s engineering program and told

competence, high character, integrity,

country and only ever went through grade

her about the scholarships Clarke would be

leadership ability, and contributions to the

school before moving to Florida. Clarke’s

eligible for.

public.

mom became a bakery clerk at Publix and

Julia Clarke, a civil and environmental

raised Clarke through high school as a single

Even with a Florida Bright Futures

mom.

scholarship, the expense of tuition was a

engineering USF alumna, received the award

major barrier for her to attend a college, as

in 2017 during ASCE’s Engineers Week.

Clarke found an interest in math and science

she and her mom wouldn’t have been able

“I love my career, I love giving back, and

in high school through two of her physics

to afford the cost alone. The scholarships

to be recognized for the hard work that I

teachers who were taking breaks from their

offered to her through USF, however, paid

put in is a great honor,” Clarke said. “This

engineering industry careers to teach. She

for her program completely.

award is a reflection of how ASCE changed

had joined a school club the teachers formed,

my life and how I’ve grown through the

created to introduce girls and students of

“What brought me to USF was that personal

organization.”

color at the school to STEM professions.

touch with Mr. Batson speaking to my

She applied to a number of state universities

mom,” she said. “That somebody from the

At the time, Clarke had spent a year in 2014

throughout Florida during her senior

admin office called and said, ‘I really want

as the president of the Society of Women

year but decided on USF because of her

her to come to my school. Don’t worry. We

Engineers (SWE) Houston Area Section and

personalized admissions experience and the

have funding for her, and we have a great

was working as deputy geotechnical project

potential scholarships available through her

engineering program.’ — that’s what brought

manager of the design of a cable-stayed

enrollment at USF. She said that while other

me there.”

bridge in Pasadena, Texas.

universities sent her acceptance letters and

Continued on next page.

Envision Magazine 67

Clarke first became involved with ASCE in

and their joint research projects influenced

The best professional development

her junior year after becoming a civil and

Clarke’s decision to switch her focus from

opportunities to tackle while still in school,

environmental engineering student at USF.

structural and transportation engineering to

Clarke said, allow students to build their

A classmate of hers was part of the ASCE

geotechnical engineering in her master’s and

engineering skills, don’t take too much time

USF student chapter and convinced her to

her career.

away from their coursework and involve

help the student organization prepare for a

work that students are passionate about or

student ASCE bridge building competition.

Besides networking as soon as possible to

enjoy doing.

The experience led to her student ASCE

build long-term career relationships, Clarke

membership, and she went on to participate

also recommends that current engineering

“That’s how you’ll be able to show that you’re

in other collegiate ASCE events, including

students join a project or organization

doing something different,” she said. “Just

a conference at which she won fourth place

outside the classroom that allows them to

choose one organization or a program … and

for the presentation of one of her summer

develop professionally as engineers while

you’ll see that your skillsets will improve in

undergraduate research projects.

showing employers their commitment to

whatever you’re working toward.”

their communities or professions.

Clarke was named an outstanding graduate

While enrolled in her master’s program

of the USF Department of Civil and

“When I’m looking for a candidate for an

at Purdue, Clarke received an $8,000

Environmental Engineering when she

engineering position at my company, I’m

fellowship from international geodata

graduated from USF in 2005 and in the

looking for somebody who is a great student,

specialist company Fugro. One of the

same year enrolled at Purdue University to

but I’m looking more for somebody who is

company’s executive members at the

pursue her master’s in civil engineering. She

going to get involved in their engineering

time was a Purdue alum who wanted to

said that one of her professors and mentors

community or some other community,”

support the university’s graduate students

at USF who helped lead her to Purdue

she said. “We’re looking for well-rounded

and increase recruitment efforts there.

University was a geotechnical engineer,

people.”

After finishing her master’s program in

Julia Clarke (second row, second from right) takes a picture with co-workers at Raba Kistner as part of a company initiative that supports the fight against breast cancer.

68

Envision Magazine

2008, Clarke took her first geotechnical

organization that refused to adopt the new

After helping SWE Houston Area Section

engineering position with Fugro as a project

canon for a student event both organizations

members pursue professional awards, Clarke

engineer.

were involved in.

became the section’s vice president and

Clarke’s first supervisor soon recommended

“That’s when I had a lot of respect for ASCE

was elected president of the SWE Houston

she resume her activities with ASCE from

for them to do that,” Clarke said. “It’s not

Area Section and spent a year advancing the

when she was a student chapter member,

that the committee just put together a

organization and helping plan branch events,

and she attended a meeting with the ASCE

document that was just words. The board

including the section’s annual scholarship

Houston Branch in 2008. Clarke said she

said, ‘These are our values, and we’re not

banquet.

was accustomed to the member diversity

compromising on our values. This is who we

she saw in the ASCE USF chapter and that,

are.’”

Fugro’s SWE representative. In 2014, she

at the time, the ASCE Houston Branch’s

Clarke said the banquet featured former astronaut Bonnie Dunbar, Ph.D., as a

size of around 3,000 members and the

Clarke said she’s only ever experienced

keynote speaker and that for the first time

demographics of its members made her

positive support from ASCE leadership

in the branch’s history, it was able to give

uncomfortable.

in her presidency and in her work to help

out over $15,000 worth of scholarships to

advance the civil engineering profession. She

women entering college in STEM programs.

“No one looked like me,” she said. “The table

said that while it takes time and planning to

I was at was primarily white gentleman that

influence broad change in an organization of

Currently, having spent just over a year as

were 60 years old and nearing retirement.

its size and age, the ASCE Houston Branch

a senior project manager at Raba Kistner,

They were nice to me, but I remember

has changed a lot since her first meeting in

Clarke is managing nearly $4 million

thinking, ‘This isn’t the right crowd right

2008. Approximately half of the branch’s

worth of geotechnical services provided to

now.’”

executive board members are women, and its

the Texas Department of Transportation.

average board member age is considerably

She said that most of her work is with the

younger than it used to be.

state’s department of transportation. She’s

Since then, Clarke was elected vice president of the ASCE Houston Branch and then

responsible for managing project teams

branch president elect in 2018. Clarke

Clarke said that a professional organization’s

as well as evaluating and assisting with

will begin serving as branch president this

diversity is also a key element in determining

project work, mentoring company engineers

September, becoming the seventh woman

its strength and its effectiveness for its

and helping the company’s transportation

and the first woman of color to be named

members.

leadership pursue new projects.

“Now you can see people who are of different

Clarke said she’s on a three-year plan to

branch president since the ASCE Houston Branch was founded 76 years ago.

backgrounds, races, ages and experiences

becoming an associate with the company

Today, Clarke sits on the ASCE Committee

are having opportunities,” she said. “We’re

and thinks that one day becoming a vice

for Advancing the Profession — a council

in a world where you have so many different

president would be a great fit for her future.

of ASCE members who work with the

varieties of thought, and if you keep sticking

While her supervisor suggested a more

organization’s global diversity and inclusion

to one way of doing things, you can get

immediate path of becoming senior vice

council to address diversity and inclusion

behind the curve in a hurry.”

president — a prime position to rise to

issues in the civil engineering profession across the world.

president of the firm — she said she’s aware Part of Clarke’s election to branch president

of the sacrifices that come with the highest

elect in the ASCE Houston Branch was

titles in engineering organizations.

Clarke and the committee also guided the

due to her time in SWE. Following her first

creation and finalization of a new canon

ASCE Houston Branch meeting in 2008, she

“I would love one day to start a family, but to

to ASCE’s code of ethics. Adopted in 2017,

discovered the SWE Houston Area Section

be a president, a mom and a wife — that’s a

the canon states that member engineers

and decided to attend the organization’s next

lot,” she said. “If I’m a vice president of Raba

must “treat all persons fairly and encourage

annual planning meeting.

Kistner, then that’s it for me. Where I am,

equitable participation without regard to

right now, that’s the goal.”

gender or gender identity, race, national

She said she enjoyed the branch’s smaller

origin, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual

size of around 200 women at the time

orientation, disability, political affiliation, or

and also liked the organization’s focus

family, marital, or economic status.”

on leadership, professional soft skills

This was the first revision to the

and women’s issues in the engineering

organization’s code of ethics since 2006

profession. During the meeting, the section’s

and resulted in the termination of an 18-

president asked Clarke if she would be the

year partnership with another engineering

section’s awards chair, which she accepted.

Envision Magazine 69

Incubating Innovation Read how Rolls Royce Program Lead, Innovation Cory Nation used his industry experience to help shape his current role at the company, how he found his path to engineering and the part his involvement at USF played in his career.

By Russell Nay

2011 USF Mechanical Engineering alumnus Cory Nation had an engineering mindset long before he began his degree.

Starting when he was 10, Nation helped his dad build homes and worked neighborhood landscaping and construction jobs in high school. He did automotive mechanical work and rebuilt the engines of cars, trucks and tractors he worked on. Eventually, instead of simply fixing vehicles, he would design and implement improvements to old parts and engines – something he said he at first had no idea was connected to engineering.

Nation, the first in his family to attend and graduate from a university, originally had no desire to go to college after graduating high school. It wasn’t until a former teacher Nation was doing landscaping work for recommended he look into getting a college education. He made the decision to attend Pensacola Junior College where he first learned about mechanical engineering as a future career path.

“I liked making things, I enjoyed sciences and I was pretty darn good at math,” he said. “Mechanical engineering at its base embodied many of the hobbies I enjoyed … It gave a mathematical and scientific basis to what I already wanted to do but was also a general kind of engineering degree I could translate to multiple areas.”

Cory Nation stands in front of a Rolls-Royce Trent XWB — a turbofan jet engine that enables the Airbus A350 to stay in the air longer than any other commercial flight.

Nation is currently applying his mechanical engineering background and an evolving background in business administration to a first-of-

and internationally.

its-kind strategy and research management position with multinational engineering company Rolls-Royce.

The job also requires Nation to consider how customer-centric RollsRoyce’s products are and to think about how existing technologies and

Rolls-Royce designs and manufactures products and systems for the

new tech trends — ranging from 3D printing to virtual reality — could be

aerospace industry, energy industry, and militaries around the world. As

used to create a new product or client solution.

Program Lead, Innovation since 2017, Nation leads Rolls-Royce’s North America innovation program from the company’s Indianapolis, Indiana

He gave the example of improving one of the company’s products, gas

location and supports its global innovation program.

turbine engines, which are made of thousands of interlinked parts designed to never fail while in use.

“It’s about helping employees think about problems and solutions in a different way to apply next-generation technology to our existing product

“Every part, every time, has to be right,” he said. “So much of what I do

line,” he said. “That’s not just about costs. That could also be about

is helping technologists and engineers across the business develop and

employee morale or adjacent new business offerings we could bring to the

incubate their ideas into something that will always be right and will also

marketplace.”

increase our competitiveness within that engine environment. It could be design, material selection, the process or manufacturability — all of those

In order to help the company continually innovate product lines and

things come into play.”

improve operations, Nation mentors Rolls-Royce employees and builds relationships within internal and external stakeholders both domestically

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Envision Magazine

This gives Nation an expansive job description, and last year he said

he found himself quickly transitioning

centrifugal compressors — 14-foot tall turbocompressors each with a

from designing a future production facility

few hundred parts often used in the oil and gas and process industries.

to developing an innovation leadership

He was responsible not only for designing the compressor units but also

training for Qatar Airlines, which he

worked with the company’s sales team to show customers how they could

delivered in Doha, Qatar. Throughout his

meet their needs and was the main engineer on the shop floor assisting

career, Nation has facilitated brainstorming

with production and fixing parts.

and innovation workshops in six countries — USA, UK, Germany, Canada, Mexico,

Nation’s performance and the nature of his job made him a good

and Qatar – and said that having a global

candidate to add the role of productivity leader to his work. In 2013,

perspective is very important to understand

he was given responsibility of a cost reduction portfolio featuring

the art of the possible.

projects and initiatives to greatly reduce the cost of the 300-person site’s operations. This was in addition to the graduate coursework he

Rolls-Royce created Nation’s position after

was taking at the University of Dayton in Ohio to achieve his master’s in

his previous role analyzing and reducing the

mechanical engineering.

costs of making turbine engine components, which he started in 2016. He said his

“Your studies can’t interfere with your workload, so most days I would

role of innovation leader enhanced after

start work at 5 a.m., get off around 3:30 p.m. to drive to Dayton — about

incorporating his prior career experience

an hour and a half drive — for two classes and get home around 10 p.m.

improving productivity, mentoring engineers

and repeat for two years,” he said. “If it were easy, it wouldn’t necessarily

and inventing industrial improvements into

be worth doing.”

his job description.

One reason he decided to pursue a master’s was to stay competitive with While his engineering background alone

his peers, many of whom Nation saw pursuing their own master’s degrees

could have one day allowed him to serve as

around the same time. He said he looked at where he wanted to be in

a Rolls-Royce Chief Engineer, Nation said

his career in five years and knew that having a master’s would give him a

he’d like to focus more on managing the

better chance to get there.

company’s tech portfolio from a business standpoint. He’s currently pursuing an

GE also offered full reimbursement for the credits he took, and he was

MBA from Butler University in Indiana to

able to immediately take what he learned in class and apply it to his work

help Rolls-Royce innovators make solutions

with the company.

that are not only effective and efficient but profitable as well.

“I could go to an energy efficient manufacturing class and learn something in the classroom that I could then apply directly the next day

“One of my mentors once said that the

and achieve significant business value,” he said. “With each class, I was

career winners in the world will be the ones

able to actually directly implement something from the coursework into

who can speak both technical and business

a business environment.”

languages,” Nation said. “You can have a great idea, but without it actually creating value, it’s not an innovation.”

In 2015, Nation became a lead design engineer with GE and achieved his lean six sigma black belt certification with the company. The certification

Before leading innovation at Rolls-Royce, Nation spent more than four

name is based on the statistical concept of sigma, which measures how

years at GE Oil and Gas in Indiana while he completed his master’s in

far a process deviates from perfection. It also refers to the concept of

mechanical engineering and gained the experience he’d need to pioneer

mastery associated with a black belt in karate and the six core values

his multi-faceted role as business administrator and futurist.

used by GE engineers to guide their work, solve problems and reduce product defects.

He first met GE reps at a Society of Women Engineers conference, which led to an interview and job offer. Nation said he was looking to work

The new certification also put Nation in a position to focus less on cost

for a company with engineers that made products on-site as opposed to

reduction and more on mentoring fellow GE engineers who were still in

one that had its products built elsewhere and fragmented its production

the green belt phase of their six sigma certification. He would guide six

process.

sigma green belt engineers through a company project of their choosing, analyzing how they define, measure, examine and effectively solve

“Connersville, Indiana was a very small town, but … (GE) had a lot of

presented problems. Green belt engineers who performed well could be

potential for growth,” he said. “(It was an opportunity) for me to grow as

confident that they could then earn their own black belt certifications.

an engineer and as a leader in a very large organization.”

Nation said he would mentor around a dozen engineers at a time at GE and that he’s since mentored 45 to 50 green belt engineers throughout

GE Oil and Gas hired Nation as a design engineer in 2011 for its

his career.

Continued on back page

Envision Magazine 71

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Nation was also the recipient of several

keep diversity in mind as they develop in their

He also recommends engineering students

workplace awards from GE for his creativity

careers and look for networking opportunities.

begin building their professional networks

and dedication, as well as his awareness

He said his involvement with the Society

early — something he began doing at USF as

of diversity and inclusion in projects and

of Women Engineers at USF helped him

a member of engineering honor society Tau

employee workshops. He was site lead for the

develop a stronger understanding of different

Beta Pi. Being a part of the society gave him

location’s inclusion council, which required

viewpoints in the engineering industry and

the chance to meet engineering professionals

him to be mindful of the diversity of a team’s

that diversity is an important component of

outside the classroom and get a head start on

skills and composition of its members’ races,

innovation.

advancing his career.

to apply his experience as a former student

“Put a heavy focus on diversity and inclusion,

“The major steps in my career that I’ve

member of the USF Engineering Council in

including the underrepresented people that are

been able to take have been the result of my

this role, as being on the council allowed him

not getting their ideas out there and heard and

network,” Nation said. “Cultivating a strong

to connect student engineers of a variety of

how we can bring those ideas forward,” he said.

network is crucial to growing. A lot of it is what

backgrounds together to plan events and meet

“If there’s a person that hasn’t had their voice

you know, but you may not be able to apply

the needs of student organizations.

heard, it’s very likely they have a novel idea or

what you know if it’s not for who you know.”

genders and backgrounds. He said he was able

innovative process the world hasn’t heard of Nation recommends engineering students

72

Envision Magazine

yet.”