Utah State Engineer, Fall 2020 by USU Libraries

Transforming Electrified Transportation Explore our New NSF-Funded Engineering Research Center

COLLEGE of ENGINEERING

2020

Utah State Engineer is the annual alumni magazine of the College of Engineering at Utah State University. For questions or delivery information, please contact eng.marketing@usu.edu ©2020, Utah State University

engineering.usu.edu USU Engineering | USU College of Engineering

On the Cover:

A Sustainable Future for Transportation The National Science Foundation has awarded Utah State University a five-year, $26 million grant, renewable to 10-year, $50.6 million, to develop an Engineering Research Center dedicated to advancing sustainable, electrified transportation. The center is expected to raise more than $200 million over the next decade in government and industry support. Learn more on page 20.

Dr. Regan Zane is the director of the ASPIRE Engineering Research Center.

Credits: Managing Editor: Matt Jensen Art Director: Brooke Nielson Copy Editor: Maren Aller Webmaster: Levi Sanchez Advancement Support: Shelly Wardell

Class of 2020 Snapshots

How We Define a Successful Future Engineer

#AggieStrong: Students and Faculty Respond to COVID-19 Pandemic

CONT E N TS Design 16 Senior Program Reaches New Heights

Engineers 18 Aggie Dot the Nation

Water Lab Researchers Work to Save Columbia’s Tallest Dam

Free Flow 28 The of Water Data

USU Launches ASPIRE NSF-Funded Engineering Research Center for Electrified Transportation

“I Made the Most of My Education” MAE Senior Builds One-to-One Model of R2D2

Alums Develop 32 Aggie Industry-Changing Aviation Technology

Dean’s Message

College at a Glance $24,750,356

Persevering Through Challenging Times Each of us witnessed a historical transformation this year when the pandemic reached our corner of the world. At USU we responded positively, transitioning to a virtual learning environment to safeguard everyone’s health and safety. Our engineering students, faculty and staff demonstrated remarkable agility navigating this unprecedented public health crisis while completing rigorous academic requirements and capstone projects.

Our students showed the highest level of professionalism and accomplished what no other class has done before. Today, we are proud to honor the Class of 2020. Your training and experience from USU will help you face the complex challenges ahead. To each of you we offer our warmest congratulations and best wishes for a bright future. Despite challenging times and budget cuts, we are forging ahead with an ambitious research agenda and plans for expanded industry collaboration. We recently launched

in Research Expenditures (2019 – 2020)

Air Force YIP Award

141

the new NSF-funded ASPIRE Engineering Research Center for electrified transportation. ASPIRE will bring $50 million in NSF funding over 10 years and an estimated $200 million in economic impact. Our world-class faculty continue to secure competitive research grants, and our students are excelling at national design and scholarship challenges.

While our campus experience has changed, our commitment remains the same. We have expanded student resources and continue to offer the highest quality advising services. We’re looking after one another and staying positive during a difficult time. As we welcome students back to campus, we’re reminded of the generous alumni and industry donors who help make the Aggie experience possible for so many. We are thankful for your contributions and for the difference you make in the lives of our students. Go, Aggies!

Office of Naval Research YIP Awards

EURP

Student Fellows

(since 2010)

PECASE Awards

USU has the

2nd

Oldest

Undergrad Research

NSF CAREER Awards

Program in the U.S.

(following MIT)

15%

Undergraduate Enrollment (Fall 2020, across all five departments)

Female Enrollment

1,946

(Fall 2020)

Jagath Kaluarachchi,

Graduate Enrollment

PhD | PE | D.WRE | F.ASCE | F.EWRI Dean, College of Engineering, Utah State University

(Fall 2020, across all five departments)

234

Degrees Awarded

302 4

Bachelor’s Degrees

102

Master’s

(2019-2020)

PhD

News & Events Mars Rover Team Places in Finals

Sharing Electrical Engineering Research with the World Professor and Associate Dean Dr. Rose Hu was named a distinguished lecturer for the Vehicle Technology Society of IEEE. She will present lectures on communication technology around the world. Earlier this year, Hu was also named an IEEE fellow, a rank achieved by less than 0.1 percent of members.

A New Normal for Recruiting

USU Team Awarded $1.1M Grant for Critical Zone Research

Even as schools across the country closed their recruiting operations during the pandemic, College of Engineering recruiter Danielle Roth kept future Aggies engaged with online recruiting events and virtual meetings.

Despite the cancellation of the main event, USU students wowed judges at the 2020 University Rover Challenge. USU’s Mars rover team placed 16th against 68 international teams. The rover features a lightweight aluminum frame and innovative differential system that allows the vehicle’s suspension to handle rough terrain.

Professors Jeff Horsburgh and David Tarboton will lead a collaborative effort to improve communication, data services and education and outreach activities for researchers working in Critical Zone science and engineering research. The work is supported by National Science Foundation’s newlyfunded Critical Zone Collaborative Network.

Berke Wins Coveted Air Force Research Grant

A Better Student Experience Students returned this spring to find a newly remodeled undergraduate advising center. The new space doubled the center’s footprint to 1,923 square feet. The expansion will improve advising services and help accommodate future growth. 6

Engineering Safer Dams Sims Named Fellow of IBE Longtime professor of biological engineering Dr. Ron Sims is one of the newest fellows of the Institute of Biological Engineers, known as IBE. Sims has led a 45-year career in industry, government and higher education. He has provided lasting contributions in the fields of biological and biomedical engineering, and his work has improved public health and environmental sustainability.

Engineering students (from left) Braiden Amata, Kyler Olsen, Jack Tousley and Kat Margetts, with faculty advisor Dr. Brian Crookston, won the 2020 Association of State Dam Safety Officials dam model competition. The USU team was selected for its technical merit and design.

Dr. Ryan Berke, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, is one of 40 researchers nationwide to receive the prestigious Air Force Young Investigator Research Program award, known as YIP. He is the only researcher from Utah among the 2019 awardees.

News & Events

In Memoriam

The New Leaders in Biological Engineering About 150 people attended USU’s second annual Intermountain Biological Engineering Conference in November. The event connects leaders from industry and research with students from eight universities across the region.

L. Douglass James

Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research Returns to USU

Biological Engineers Get $1.9M DOE Grant for Wastewater Study

For the second time in its 14-year history, the Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research returned to USU. Students from the College of Engineering presented posters and oral presentations. Dr. Elizabeth Vargis, associate professor of biological engineering, delivered the keynote address.

A study by Professors Ron Sims and Charles Miller addresses wastewater treatment and the prevention of toxic algae blooms. Researchers will use wastewater to cultivate algae in a controlled environment. The biomass can be harvested and converted into bio-based products including fuel, fertilizer and plastics.

Former civil engineering professor and former director of the Utah Water Research Laboratory Dr. L. Douglass James died April 3 after a month-long battle with COVID-19. He was 83 years old. James (BS ’57, MS ’58, PhD ’65, Stanford University) dedicated his life to serving the water resources and hydrology community and leaves an important legacy in the field.

Undergraduate Published in Via Satellite Magazine Aerospace engineering student Grace Graham is becoming the voice of the next generation of aerospace engineers. She hosts an aerospace-themed podcast and in January published a cover story in Via Satellite magazine. She discusses the connection between climate change and hurricanes and why satellites play an important role in preventing damage to the space industry’s facilities and equipment on the East Coast.

Rex Plaizier

College Welcomes Undergraduate Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator Undergraduate advisor Carly McNiece joined the College of Engineering in June. Graduate program coordinator Aleena Moss joined the Department of Biological Engineering in September.

Native American Student Featured in Winds of Change Computer engineering senior Cedric Mannie was recently featured in the magazine of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Mannie is a first-generation college student who has enjoyed a successful experience at USU. He’s part of a research effort to develop a low-cost wristband to monitor health.

Rex Plaizier, a longtime supporter of the College of Engineering, died Aug. 27 following an 8-year battle with cancer. As CEO of WesTech Engineering, he collaborated on research in the Biological Engineering Department and was an avid supporter of the Engineering State summer camp program. He served on the Industry Advisory Board, and in 2018, he was the featured speaker at the College of Engineering convocation. 9

2020 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools

Top Rankings for USU Engineering Programs

A Y ear o f S tu dent Suc ce ss

Jack Elliott

Tim Clark

Jade Snyder-Echard

Irene Garousi-Nejad

$138,000 scholarship and stipend from National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program

$2,000 scholarship from American Water Works Association

$10,000 stipend from Environmental Engineers of the Future

$1,000 Eva Nieminski Scholarship from the American Water Works Association

PhD Student, Engineering Education

Master’s Student, Civil & Environmental Engineering

$1,500 scholarship from American Water Works Association

PhD Student, Civil & Environmental Engineering

#49 Aerospace Engineering

tied with University of Oklahoma, University of Kansas and New York University, Tandon

#27 Biological Engineering tied with University of Missouri and North Dakota State University

#75 Civil & Environmental Engineering

Motasem Abualqumboz

Ferdousy Runa

Andrew Kjar

$2,750 scholarship from Air & Waste Management Association

$4,000 Matt Riffkin Legacy Scholarship from the Women’s Transportation Seminar

$15,000 scholarship from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship & Excellence in Education Foundation

Master’s Student, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Undergraduate Student, Biological Engineering

tied with the University of Utah, Brigham Young University and University of Kentucky

Students and Faculty Respond to COVID-19 Pandemic

#Ag g i e St ron g 12

The Rapid Shift to

Online Learning Seemingly overnight, students and faculty adapted to an unprecedented university experience. On March 12, USU announced the remainder of its spring semester would take place entirely online. Professor of Practice Austin Ball was confident he could rise to the occasion, but he soon learned his initial strategy would fail to impress.

“My first attempt at online content was a complete failure,” he said. “I tried to deliver the same lectures I gave in class; but without engaging interaction, the lectures fell flat.” A lack of community and context was hurting his online teaching. “I wanted to create a sense of camaraderie, and I wanted students to know I cared about them,” he added.

Ball quickly adopted a new approach. With smartphone in hand, he toured the engineering projects he had worked on as a practicing engineer, highlighting hidden features in the bridges, tunnels and roadway projects he helped complete. “A virtual field trip was the perfect approach because I could show students how various disciplines come together in a single project.”

Austin Ball

Professor of Practice

While describing the construction process of a particular site, it occurred to Ball that illustrations would be much easier. “That gave me the idea to build the site with LEGOs, which was exciting for my kids at home because their schooling had also come to an abrupt halt.” Ball produced stop-motion animations using LEGO mock-ups of bridge and tunnel projects. The clips contained numerous pop culture references, jokes and hidden images. The intent was to teach but also keep students engaged. The project required about 50 hours, though Ball said it was worth it. “The response was fabulous. Nearly every student commented about their favorite part or something they saw that other students did not. Some told me they held viewing parties with friends.” The shift to online learning wasn’t perfect, but Ball credits USU students for their patience during a difficult time. “While filming at a particular site during a rainstorm, I made an off-hand comment in my narration saying, ‘The things I do for you…’ It was my way of joking about getting caught in the rain. One student commented, ‘Thanks for always rising to the occasion.’ That made me realize the work was successful because I created a space where we could experiment to find the best approach. I love these Aggies.”

Professor of Practice Austin Ball used his kids’ LEGOs to create stop-motion animations of a real-world civil engineering project he worked on as a professional engineer.

#AggieStrong

Aggies Help Shield Front-Line Workers Engineering students teamed up with the Center for Persons with Disabilities to make face shields. The headband and ear pieces are 3-D printed. The shield portion is an overhead projector transparency sheet. The resulting design is lightweight and comfortable. Students in the Idea Factory used 3-D printers and a computerized router to make the headband portion. In total, the College of Engineering provided 410 face shields.

USU Leads Nation in Wastewater Monitoring Program Mechanical engineering students Ethan Bjornn (left) and Barak Stephens helped make 3-D printed face shield components for health care professionals.

Out-Computing COVID: How Airborne Droplets Spread Viruses Researcher Dr. Som Dutta is part of a global team of scientists and engineers who harness the power of supercomputers to better understand COVID-19. His research addresses a critical gap in our understanding of person-to-person transmission of airborne respiratory infectious disease. His work will help us understand how virus-laden droplets from human airways mix with indoor ambient air.

“We know that aerosolized droplets from human airways may contain the virus,” said Dutta. “But we don’t fully understand how those droplet clouds are transported and how they mix with the indoor environment.”

Findings from the study may lead to improved air circulation systems for hospitals. The research is one of 62 projects in the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium, a group of government, industry and academic leaders who use the world’s most powerful computers to support COVID-19 research.

This supercomputer rendering shows air movement inside an empty hospital room. The visualizations can help researchers understand how virus-laden droplets from human airways circulate in indoor environments.

USU was one of the first universities in the nation to implement a COVID-19 wastewater monitoring program. Individuals who are infected with COVID-19 shed the virus in feces and urine. Beginning in July, wastewater samples were collected at strategic locations near student housing facilities and processed for the extraction of genetic material known as ribonucleic acid, or RNA. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA can indicate infection.

“Analyzing wastewater to monitor an infectious disease was used to monitor the polio virus,” says Dr. Keith Roper, a USU professor of biological engineering who helped lead the study. “This is the first time, however, that wastewater monitoring has been performed using modern technologies at a broad scale during a pandemic.”

Professor Ryan Dupont developed a campus-wide sampling system that collected wastewater from sewer lines at campus housing facilities.

Biological engineering student Jake Accordino processed and analyzed wastewater samples at the USU NanoBioPhotonics Lab.

Industry Advisory B oard Todd Adams

E M P OWE R I NG I NNOVAT I O N

Utah Department of Natural Resources

Kathy Allman

Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems

Richard Anderson Hewlett-Packard

Marsha Bala

Idaho National Laboratory

Jake Barker Rocky Mountain Power

Lori Belnap

S e n i o r D e s i g n Pr o g r a m R e a c h e s Ne w He i g h t s

Northrop Grumman Technology Services

Greg Crane

In the last five years the College of Engineering has worked with more than 170 companies and organizations to develop exciting senior capstone projects. These partnerships have generated an average of $70,000 per year in new project sponsorships. Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors and mentors, we’re on track to continue a 10 percent annual growth rate in projects.

GE Health Care

Neil Holt

Space Dynamics Laboratory

Larry Jacobsen

Because of COVID-19, this year’s Senior Design Night was canceled. Students presented their capstone projects using video and posters. We invite you to browse the projects by scanning the QR code below. To become an industry sponsor or mentor, contact Dixon Nielson at 435-797-5548 or dixon.nielson@usu.edu

Campbell Scientific ’19–’20 Academic Year

Kent Jones

Utah Division of Water Rights

Ki Ho Kang Kihomac

Colonel Jeff Kwok Hill Air Force Base

Eva Nieminski Utah Department of Environmental Quality

Jim Nottingham Hewlett-Packard

Scotty Nowlin BAE Systems

Mark Ripke Boeing

Steven Rowlan Nucor

Aurora Taylor-Rojas

L3 Harris Broadband Comm. Sector

Mel Torrie

Autonomous Solutions

Engineering Giving

Aggie Engineers

Dot the Nation By David Kunz

Being an Aggie engineer isn’t just about studying in Cache Valley, it’s about making your mark in Puget Sound, Silicon Valley or the Beltway. And Utah State’s impact isn’t just nationwide — it’s worldwide. Thank you for representing your alma mater wherever your career has taken you!

Recently we heard from Jerry Franklin of Torrington, Wyoming (MS – ’74). With his manufacturing engineering degree, Jerry made a career in Air Force Logistics Command. Today, he’s enjoying retirement and has decided to do more with his investments by creating a generous scholarship for mechanical engineers. We love hearing from Aggies who are considering leaving a legacy.

Crystal Fowler

Mechanical Engineering Calvin G. and Brigitta S. Clyde Scholarship

“I am grateful for the scholarship I received because it gives me the opportunity to devote more time to my studies and get involved in the College of Engineering. I’m so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had here at Utah State, and this scholarship has made it possible for me to attend.”

To help engage alumni scattered across the nation, Kade Burnham has joined the College of Engineering as a new development officer. He will be working with alumni from Southern California, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. As an avid Aggie, he brings a passion for all things Utah State and is eager to connect with alumni.

Our development office would love to speak to you about your ideas for engagement with the College of Engineering and Utah State University. We are here to help you accomplish your philanthropic goals and provide gratifying gift and engagement experiences. Please contact us about your vision and let us help ensure your gift is awardable, impactful and provides meaningful return on your philanthropic investment. Go, Aggies!

Thomas Bradshaw

It Pays to be a Utah State Engineer In the ’19-’20 Academic Year,

David Kunz

Kade Burnham

Senior Director of Development ’00 Public Relations david.kunz@usu.edu 435-797-8012

Development Officer ’16 Finance & Economics kade.burnham@usu.edu 435-797-0769

363

scholarships awarded

totaling

$537,627

Electrical Engineering W. Brent & Beverley J. Robinson Scholarship

“This scholarship helps me be at ease with my financial situation. Both my wife and I are studying at Utah State, and we can only work part time. We are so grateful to receive this scholarship because it will help pay for my education while money is tight. This way I can support the family I dream of having in the future.” 19

Cover Story

A Sustainable Future for Transportation

ASPIRE researchers are developing holistic solutions that eliminate range and charging as obstacles to the broader electrification of all vehicles, including passenger cars and long-haul, heavy-duty trucks.

SU and Cache Valley are synonymous with the space industry. Now this corner of Utah will become a national hub for the coming transformation in electrified transportation. In August, The National Science Foundation awarded Utah State University a five-year, $26 million grant, renewable to 10-year, $50.6 million, to develop an international research center dedicated to advancing sustainable, electrified transportation. The center is named ASPIRE — Advancing Sustainability through Powered Infrastructure for Roadway Electrification. It is expected to raise more than $200 million over the next decade in government and industry support.

USU Launches ASPIRE NSF-Funded Engineering Research Center for Electrified Transportation

a sp i re.usu .e du

“ASPIRE represents the very best of what a research university brings to the state and community,” said USU President Noelle E. Cockett. “The center will provide unprecedented opportunities for students and further Utah State’s ability to cultivate a diverse and innovative workforce ready to address complex challenges such as air quality and sustainability.”

The center launches at a critical moment in U.S. history. Nationwide, transportation and electric utility infrastructure are in need of extensive renovation. At the same time, vehicle emissions have serious impacts on public health and the environment, and fluctuating oil prices affect household budgets and economic stability. Electric vehicles play an important role in transforming

the future of transportation, yet challenges remain to achieve sustainable and widespread adoption. Key to this new model of electric vehicle use is the development of charging technology that is built into roadways and parking facilities. ASPIRE researchers are developing holistic solutions that eliminate range and charging as obstacles to the broader electrification of all vehicles, including passenger cars and longhaul, heavy-duty trucks. “Now is the time to move past century-old mindsets and rethink how roadways and electric grid infrastructure can be co-designed to support low-cost, sustainable solutions for vehicle electrification and decarbonization of the electric grid,” said USU Professor and ASPIRE Center Director Dr. Regan Zane.

State leaders have long praised USU’s electrified transportation research as a means to improve Utah’s air quality. Earlier this year, the state committed $3 million to help attract NSF funding for the new center.

“Our mission is to improve health and quality of life by catalyzing sustainable and equitable electrification across the transportation industry,” said Zane. “We have organized a phenomenal team with proven dedication to students, community and engagement, and we intend to have a lasting positive impact on the state of Utah, our partner states and the nation.” ASPIRE will be headquartered at USU and operated through strategic partnerships with Purdue University, University of Colorado Boulder, The University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Auckland New Zealand.

Cover Story

ASPIRE Will Transform the Electric Utility and

Transportation Industries Dr. Regan Zane David & Diann Sant Endowed Professor ASPIRE Center Director

A message from the ASPIRE Center Director

CHARGING • Grid Integration • Roadway Charging • Parked Charging

NETWORKING • Grid Management • Traffic Management • Vehicle Management

USERS • Passenger Vehicles • Long-haul and heavy-duty trucks • Public Transportation

With skyrocketing interest in electric vehicles and the increasing need to rebuild our aging infrastructure, we’re at the forefront of a rare opportunity to change our nation’s course in sustainability.

Now is the time to move past century-old mindsets and rethink how city and highway transportation and electric grid infrastructure can be co-designed to support low cost and equitable solutions to widespread vehicle electrification. We envision a seamless and ubiquitous charging experience for electric vehicle owners through comprehensive networks of interoperable solutions to public charging infrastructure. Our goal is the widespread electrification of all vehicle classes, improved air quality and modernized electric roadway and electric utility infrastructure. We are taking a systems-of-systems approach to cooptimize transportation and electric utility systems and enduser experience and productivity. We have a phenomenal team committed to deep integration across disciplines, including engineering, social science, policy and business and active engagement with industry, government and community partners. We intend to have a lasting, positive impact on our students, our communities and our nation. We invite you to join us at this exciting time as we rethink and rebuild our nation’s critical infrastructure to support a brighter, electric future in transportation.

Faculty Research

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In a few short years, USU has become a national hub for transportation engineering research. Our engineering faculty lead exciting transportation studies that may forever change how people and goods get around.

Dr. Hongjie Wang

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Assistant Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Dr. Ziqi Song Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering

Ziqi Song has a message for anyone interested in transportation engineering: A lot has changed. Gone are the days of engineers in ties sitting at drafting tables designing stretches of interstate. Today’s transportation engineer works in many different areas, including electrified transportation, mobility-as-a-service, autonomous vehicles, and UAVs. Song specializes in modeling and optimization of emerging transportation systems. In July, he received $1.75 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to study the technical barriers to large-scale transit electrification. His work addresses electric bus infrastructure planning and operations, energyefficient route optimization, grid impact analysis and travel behavior.

Dr. Patrick Singleton Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering

If given the choice, would you prefer your regular commute or teleportation? The thought experiment highlights an important question about travel behavior: Do commuters enjoy the journey, or would they prefer an instant arrival? Patrick Singleton is a transportation social scientist whose research covers transportationrelated behaviors, attitudes and health and safety topics. One of his recent studies focuses on pedestrian data. Measuring pedestrian volume is difficult, so Singleton and a team of undergraduates watched 10,000 hours of video from 90 intersections across Utah. By comparing observed counts with activations of push-to-cross buttons at crosswalks, they developed a model to predict pedestrian volume, thus turning traffic signals into automated pedestrian counters

Believe it or not, transportation electrification is happening and will change our future daily life. Efficient, reliable, secure, cost effective and sustainable solutions for transferring energy from sources to electric vehicle batteries play a key role in transportation electrification. With expertise in power electronics, Hongjie Wang is working with industry and academia partners on the development of cyberphysical, security-enhanced extreme fast chargers, megawatt-level wireless power transfer systems, and electric-vehicle-retired, second-life battery reconditioning systems. His work is sponsored through U.S. Department of Energy grants. He is also exploring the health monitoring, failure prediction and reliability modeling of chargers for electric vehicles.

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The next time you drive through a work zone on the interstate, consider the complexity involved in keeping roadways maintained without stopping traffic. Michelle Mekker studies traffic operations. She’s exploring how connected and autonomous vehicles, or CAVs, generate loads of new data that can be used to improve roadway design or enforce speeding laws. The data can also be used to inform the design and operation of work zones. But as departments of transportation collect vehicle data, concerns about privacy and ethics will come up. Mekker and her colleagues are working on a new study aimed at measuring public perception of the collection and use of connected vehicle data.

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Assistant Professor of Transportation Engineering

Dr. Abhilash Kamineni Assistant Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Electric vehicles are changing transportation. Yet questions remain about the necessary infrastructure needed to support them. Abhilash Kamineni is working with cybersecurity experts, vehicle manufacturers, national laboratories and utility companies to develop a smart charging management control system. The goal is to better support modern electric vehicle infrastructure and distributed energy resources. The result will be improved control for grid operators. His work will mitigate cybersecurity threats by addressing vulnerabilities in existing and new grid technologies. Testing and hardware validation will take place at USU’s state-of-the-art Electric Vehicle and Roadway Research facility. 25

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New Pl a n s f o r t he Ro ad A he a d

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Faculty Spotlight

“Keith Roper is quickly establishing himself as a trusted leader at USU.”

The Right Leader at the Right Time When science correspondents from NPR and Business Insider needed an expert for stories about COVID-19, USU recommended Dr. Keith Roper. When Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality initiated an innovative study to monitor coronavirus in wastewater, Roper marshaled resources to help lead the effort. When USU implemented its own campus-wide wastewater testing program, Roper took the lead and built a system that accurately identified a spike in coronavirus infections. When critical times call for the right leader, Roper invariably rises to meet the challenge.

Roper was named head of the Biological Engineering Department in spring 2019. He oversees the academic and research affairs of one of USU’s most active organizations. The nationally-ranked department offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees and is home to 11 award-winning faculty members, many of whom are top researchers in their respective fields. Roper is also serving as president of the Institute of Biological Engineering and as associate editor for Transactions on Nanotechnology published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE. Roper is also

the lead investigator on a multiuniversity research center dedicated to advancing the connections between engineering and agriculture.

“Keith Roper is quickly establishing himself as a trusted leader at USU,” said Dr. Jagath Kaluarachchi, dean of the college. “By listening to people and bringing people together, he develops the right ideas to move the department forward.”

A Unique Summer Experience Engineering Education Faculty Get NSF Grant to Promote Undergraduate Research There’s a growing effort in higher education to encourage more undergraduate students to learn the basics of research sooner. Proponents say undergraduate research experiences increase students’ understanding, confidence, awareness and interest in STEM subjects. In addition, research experiences help students develop social and leadership skills that help them succeed in future careers.

Dr. Keith Roper

Head, Department of Biological Engineering President, Institute of Biological Engineering

USU’s Dr. Oenardi Lawanto and Dr. Wade Goodridge recently secured a grant from the National Science Foundation to create a new Research Experiences for Undergraduates, or REU, site at USU. Each year for three years, a cohort of nine undergraduates will take part in a 10-week experience.

The program is designed to offer opportunities for participants to engage in authentic research tasks, both individually and collaboratively, as well as an opportunity to gain experience in managing project deliverables. This REU has the potential to open a conduit to attract new graduate students and STEM professionals into educational research.

Dr. Oenardi Lawanto Associate Professor

Dr. Wade Goodridge Associate Professor

Faculty Research

“Hydrologic information systems help us assemble and organize water data collected by multiple people and organizations to develop holistic solutions for water problems.”

Dr. Jeffery Horsburgh

Associate Professor

Dr. David Tarboton Professor

The Free Flow of Water Data By Jeffery Horsburgh, David Tarboton and Eric Butterman

ater is life. Its supply and quality are critical to society.

But water is also numbers — numbers that measure flow, volume and quality to support decisions about how water is managed. Water data are as diverse as the community of people who collect them, so it’s easy to see how challenges arise when comparing data collected by scientists, water managers, governments or even citizens. Yet making informed decisions requires the highest quality data. This is where Utah State University and a team of collaborators across the country are making important advancements. “When I started my career, I spent huge amounts of time navigating agency websites, downloading data in different forms and then manipulating them into formats I could use,” says Dr. Jeffery Horsburgh, an associate professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. He wasn’t alone. Researchers and scientists all over the country were doing the same thing, wasting time with inefficient systems.

“More than 15 years ago we joined a team of researchers to build a program that creates better ways to store and share data,” he explained. “We wanted to get away from the practice of everyone doing their own thing toward more standardized water data formats.” The solution was a new data management philosophy called hydrologic information systems. These new software tools enable scientists to perform Google-like searches to find and access data in a common format.

water data collected by multiple people and organizations to develop holistic solutions for water problems.” The first hydrologic information system project had lasting impact with government agencies including the United States Geological

Survey and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Because these agencies adopted the standards we defined, we can drastically reduce the amount of time spent accessing and organizing data. It gives us more time to do the actual work of science,” says Horsburgh. The team’s initial efforts sparked a nationwide push to improve water data standards. It also highlighted an important shortcoming in the scientific community.

“If you work closely with someone, you can usually get access to their data. But outside those circles, it requires multiple phone calls or meetings,” said Horsburgh. “That’s a problem because many water research studies are paid for by taxpayers, and the funding agencies require that researchers make their data available.”

Horsburgh and Tarboton stepped in as leaders and helped develop a powerful software tool called HydroShare. The new software is creating new opportunities for research, including an initiative called the Cyberinfrastructure for Intelligent Water Supply project. Horsburgh and his team are collecting highresolution residential water use data to learn more about how and when people use water. The project could be a game changer for municipal water delivery systems. “The data we collect can identify individual uses of water in homes such as sprinklers, showers, toilets and sinks. It shows opportunities for conservation and helps us predict water use,” he said. “It has enormous potential, but it wouldn’t be possible without the data management infrastructure we

and our colleagues created. Without it, we’d be swimming in data.” Tarboton is leveraging HydroShare’s ability to work with plug-in type software tools. He’s co-developing software that allows scientists to model and share any watershed in the U.S. using the cloud. The new tool, called HydroFrame, launches directly from HydroShare and gives users the same high-performance computing capabilities. Horsburgh says these data infrastructure projects are critical to managing a resource more valuable and vulnerable than people realize. “We live with a limited water supply, and in some places both quantity and quality are on the decline,” he said. “We don’t have a choice but to be smart about how we use it.”

“A goal of hydrologic information systems is to enable better decisions and better research through tools that integrate data from multiple sources,” says Dr. David Tarboton, director of the Utah Water Research Laboratory, who, along with Horsburgh, helped establish one of the first research programs for hydroinformatics. “Issues are better understood and decisions are better made when supported from different lines of evidence. Hydrologic information systems help us assemble and organize 29

Water Research

300,000 Vinyl Spheres

How USU Researchers are Working to Save Columbia’s Tallest Dam Engineers at the Utah Water Research Laboratory are racing to develop a unique solution to ensure the safety of the largest hydroelectric project in Columbia. The Ituango Dam on the Cauca River is the tallest in this South American country. The dam’s hydroelectric plant is projected to generate 2.4 megawatts of power.

In 2018, the project suffered a setback when landslides blocked a diversion tunnel designed to route the Cauca River around the construction site. The blockage caused the dam to fill beyond its designed capacity. A separate diversion tunnel, which was intentionally sealed during construction, reopened and caused a surge of outflow. The flows prompted evacuations along the river’s path. Now engineers are working to seal the partially-clogged tunnel. Their solution is to fill the tunnel with 30

thousands of vinyl spheres. Dr. Brian Crookston, an assistant professor of civil engineering at USU and hydraulic engineering researcher Dr. Daniel Valero of the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands, designed the concept. “Our idea is rather simple,” said Crookston. “The diversion tunnel is already partially full of debris. By filling the remaining voids with vinyl spheres, we may be able to stop the flow completely. We use access shafts to drop the spheres into the void until it’s completely filled.”

USU’s Dr. Brian Crookston (right) works alongside IHE Delft Institute’s Dr. Daniel Valero to test a 1:10 scale model of a system designed to save Columbia’s tallest dam. The plan involves filling a leaking tunnel with thousands of vinyl balls.

The team tested the concept using a 1:10 scale model at the Utah Water Research Laboratory. Last fall, a delegation of Columbian authorities visited the lab to see a demonstration.

Engineering Alumni

“It was remarkable to see Autoland progress from a conceptual design to a fully certifiable system capable of landing an airplane and stopping it on the runway without any pilot interaction.”

Aggies Develop

Industry-Changing Aviation Technology Photo: Garmin

U Bailey Scheel

BS – ’14 Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

SU alumni Bailey Scheel and Eric Sargent are part of a team at Garmin International that created the Autoland flight control system for general aviation aircraft. In the event of an emergency involving pilot incapacitation, Autoland controls and lands an aircraft at the nearest suitable airport with no human intervention.

Scheel, who learned to fly an airplane before driving a car, served as Autoland project manager and systems engineer. Sargent, a graduate of USU’s renowned professional pilot program, formerly part of the College of Engineering, served as an Autoland test pilot. The pair worked together on the project for two years. Scheel says Autoland was one of her favorite projects at Garmin.

USU alumni helped develop Garmin’s newly-certified Autoland system for general aviation.

“When I was a kid, my grandfather taught me the basics of flying just in case anything happened to him while we were in the air,” said Scheel. “I later became a pilot because I was interested in aviation, and I became an engineer because I wanted to help people and do exciting new things.” Scheel credits USU’s senior design program for helping her land a career at Garmin. She encouraged students to learn more about their majors and take advantage of campus opportunities. “The communication experience I gained from my senior design project was invaluable,” she said. “I discovered I really enjoy that sort of technical communication and coordination. And now I get to do it every day. My advice is to take advantage of clubs, research, parttime jobs and internships.”

Before joining Garmin as a flight test pilot, Sargent was a flight instructor at USU. He was one of the first aviation students in the country to fly USU’s new fleet of airplanes equipped with Garmin’s all-glass cockpit. Learning to use and understand the modern system, he said, gave him a competitive edge.

Eric Sargent

BS – ’09 Aviation

“It was remarkable to see Autoland progress from a conceptual design to a fully certifiable system capable of landing an airplane and stopping it on the runway without any pilot interaction,” he said. “People often ask me what it was like performing the first Autoland. For me it was like teaching my first student how to fly solo. While I’m confident that I trained them correctly, I still monitor their progress to make sure they perform all the steps correctly.”

Engineering Alumni

Mikal Hunsaker Named Intel Fellow Alumnus Mikal Hunsaker was recently added to the prestigious list of 129 fellows at Intel, an important career advancement reserved for the company’s most accomplished leaders.

Colter Hollingshead

BS/MS – ’11 Civil & Environmental Engineering

USU Grad’s Thesis Has

100,000 Downloads Colter Hollingshead holds the title for a win he wasn’t expecting. His 93-page thesis is the most-downloaded research manuscript at Utah State University.

The paper, “Discharge Coefficient Performance of Venturi, Standard Concentric Orifice Plate, V-Cone, and Wedge Flow Meters at Small Reynolds Numbers,” answered an age-old question. “Basically we wanted to know if water flow meters could accurately measure viscous fluids, such as oil,” he said.

Under the direction of Research Professor Dr. Michael Johnson, Hollingshead used computational fluid dynamics to find the answers. It turns out the conventional meters

can be used to measure the flow of oil under the right conditions. His findings were published in the Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering in 2011.

Hollingshead encourages civil and environmental engineering undergraduates to find opportunities at the Utah Water Research Lab. “The experience you’ll gain there is invaluable,” he added. “There’s a stigma that you need to leave the state for grad school, but in my opinion USU has some of the best professors and programs in the country when it comes to water resources engineering.”

Hunsaker has led a 25-year career at Intel and has been involved with chipset silicon design since joining the company in 1995. As a product architect for Intel’s Client Computing Group and chief architect for chipsets, he is responsible for product definition of client chipsets and I/O for client CPUs. Hunsaker is originally from Tremonton, Utah. He currently lives El Dorado Hills, California, with his wife, Jennifer. He has four children, three of whom are USU alumni, and two grandchildren.

Mikal Hunsaker

Sr. Principal Engineer, Intel Corporation BS – ’89 Electrical Engineering MS – ’90 Electrical Engineering

Aggie Named Bureau of Reclamation Area Manager College of Engineering alumnus Kent Kofford was named The Bureau of Reclamation’s newest area manager for the Provo Area Office. He oversees 17 water projects throughout Utah, Southwestern Wyoming and Southeast Idaho. Kofford began his Reclamation career in 1990 as an inspector during the construction of Jordanelle Dam. Kofford played a key role in the Central Utah Project, the largest water resources development program in the state.

Kent Kofford

Area Manager, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation BS – ’89 Civil Engineering

Changing Roles & Ranks

New Faculty

College of Engineering Faculty Serve in Multiple Capacities

Dr. Brady Cox

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Dr. Tianyi He

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Mr. Zac Humes

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Dr. Blake Tullis

named Associate Vice President for Research

Dr. Laurie McNeill

named Interim Head of Civil & Environmental Engineering Department

Dr. Tim Taylor

named President of USU Faculty Senate Executive Committee

Dr. Bethany Neilson

Dr. Paul Barr

promoted to full professor

named Vice Provost of Utah State University

Dr. David Rosenberg

Dr. Elizabeth Vargis

promoted to full professor

promoted to associate professor with tenure

Dr. Cassandra McCall Engineering Education

Dr. Yanqing Su

Dr. Kyle Moor

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Dr. Haoran Wang

Dr. Shuna Ni

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Dr. Colin Phillips

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Dr. Yingying Zheng Biological Engineering

Student Feature

“I Made the Most of My Education” When Glen Wright walks into a room, excited faces light up when they see who’s following closely behind. As a junior, Wright joined a team of student ambassadors who travel the state promoting USU engineering programs. He decided to build a replica of a famous Star Wars character as a way to get young people excited about engineering. “We wanted to get people’s attention, and there’s no better way than to build something that seems out of place and yet so recognizable,” he said. The droid contains all the famous R2D2 features, including a rotating dome, lights and 200 sound effects. It even has working logic displays, the iconic blue and silver light show inside R2’s dome, a feature that often intimidates would-be builders. “I decided to include this, though I really didn’t know what I was getting into,” said Wright. “After some networking, I eventually figured out how to illuminate 277 LEDs, which requires soldering 650 individual pins.”

It took Wright about two years to build the model. Midway through, he realized the project represented a culmination of his USU experience. “It left me feeling like a real engineer or at least that I was on my way to becoming a real engineer,” he said. “I applied what I learned in class — and not just on the R2D2 project but in my internships, my networking opportunities and my undergraduate research. I graduated knowing I made the most of my education.”

After graduating, Wright received a job offer with Northrop Grumman in Roy, Utah, where he’ll work on the U.S. Air Force Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent program. He plans to earn a master’s at the USAF Test Pilot School and train as a flight test engineer. Later, he hopes to earn a PhD and teach engineering at a university.

Photo: Matt Jensen

Glen Wright

BS – ’20 Mechanical Engineering with Aerospace Emphasis

Mechanical engineering alumnus Glen Wright (BS – ’20) built a one-to-one replica of a famous Star Wars character to get young people excited about engineering.

Preparin g Student s

ENGINEERING ENGINEERING STAT STATE E 2021 2021

June 21–24

Registration Opens January 1, 2021

fo r To morrow’s En g i n eerin g W o r kfor ce Meet Anika and Cooper, two students taking initiative to find leadership and engagement opportunities for themselves and their peers. USU students are answering industry’s call for graduates who are prepared to work in a modern workforce where communication and interpersonal skills define the successful engineer.

Cooper Karras

USUSA Engineering Senator Civil Engineering

Anika Knudsen

Engineering Council President Mechanical Engineering

Visit estate.usu.edu for updates 40

Utah’s Engineering Summer Camp will return in 2021. Join us June 21–24 on the beautiful USU Logan campus for this four-day experience designed for students between their junior and senior year of high school. Participants explore how engineering has changed our world and get a sneak peak at the university experience. Registration is $250, which includes accommodations and all meals.

NON-PROFIT ORG

Utah State University College of Engineering Office of the Dean 4100 Old Main Hill Logan, Utah 84322-4100

U.S. Postage Paid Utah State University

A Thunderous Tribute

On April 30, a squadron of F-35 jets from nearby Hill Air Force Base dazzled spectators along the Wasatch Front with a spectacular military flyover. The roaring tribute from Hill’s 388th Fighter Wing honored Utah’s health care workers, first responders, military personnel and other essential workers who served on the front lines at the beginning of pandemic. 44

engineering.usu.edu