VILLANOVA ENGINEER
DEPARTMENTS
Developments 2
Features 18
Student Profile 30
Alumni Profile 31
Get to Know 32
14
EMPOWERING WOMEN ENGINEERS
Student finds sisterhood in the Society for Women Engineers.
28
ENGINEERING WITH EMPATHY David Jamison, PhD, aims to hit the right notes as associate dean for Undergraduate Affairs.
BUBBLING OVER
Sandro Roco ’09 ChE connects cultures with Sanzo seltzer brand.
RESEARCH AT THE NEXUS OF PEOPLE AND THE PLANET College launches Center for Human-Environmental Systems, led by Wenqing Xu, PhD.
BEHIND THE BLUEPRINTS
How the Villanova Engineering expansion project will enhance teaching and learning in the College.
Villanova Engineer is published by Villanova University College of Engineering, Villanova, PA 19085
Drosdick Endowed Dean
Michele Marcolongo, PhD, PE
Associate Deans
Garrett M. Clayton, PhD, Graduate Studies
Noelle Comolli, PhD, Faculty Affairs
David Jamison IV, PhD, Undergraduate Affairs
Stephen Jones, PhD, Student Success and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Sylvie Lorente, PhD, Research and Innovation
Keith Argue, External Relations
Director of Communication & Marketing/Editor
Elizabeth Slocum
Contributors
Kiera Daly Soltis
Ally Dyer ’23 CLAS
Queen Muse
Yenneeka West
Photo Credits
Principal photography by:
Paul Crane Photography
John Shetron Photography
Additional photographs provided by:
Dukk Fliks Photography
Lesmes Alejandro Mora Jerez
Jim McWilliams
Paola Nogueras
Design
Suzanne Guelli
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This decree from St. Augustine is woven into the mission and culture of Villanova University. There is always room to expand our hearts and minds as we work toward a brighter future.
Last year, the College of Engineering took a major step toward that future as we broke ground on our new home. Set to open in Fall 2024, the 150,000-square-foot expansion of the Center for Engineering Education and Research will foster the type of collaborative innovations required to tackle society’s biggest challenges head-on, while preparing the next generation of Villanova engineers for success.
The future can also be seen in other spaces and faces we’ve introduced over the past year. In the fall, we launched the Center for Human-Environmental Systems, an interdisciplinary lab led by Wenqing Xu, PhD, aimed at addressing environmental concerns through biomimicry. We also welcomed a new associate dean for Undergraduate Affairs, David Jamison, PhD, whose background in industry and academia affords him a unique perspective that will serve students well as they navigate their engineering education.
Rooted in our foundation of academic excellence, we created two development programs for faculty members, supporting them as they expand their teaching and research portfolios. Several other faculty members—including Drs. Sylvie Lorente, Pritpal Singh, Al Ortega and Ahmad Hoorfar—have been honored recently on national and international stages. Meanwhile, our students and alumni have continued to impress—whether by founding successful companies, like Sandro Roco ’09 ChE, or by forging paths to success, like Dallianny Perez Lantigua ’25 CE and Taylor McDermott ’23 CpE. There’s no limit to the potential of a Villanova Engineer.
I encourage you to learn more about these engineers and others in the pages ahead. I look forward to continuing to build our future, and becoming what we are not yet.
Michele Marcolongo, PhD, PE
Drosdick Endowed Dean of Engineering Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Sylvie Lorente, PhD, associate dean for Research and Innovation, has joined the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC). As one of 22 distinguished members of the ERC’s governing body, Dr. Lorente will help set the scientific strategy for the organization, which provides funding for groundbreaking research conducted within the European Union.
Dr. Lorente was appointed to her initial four-year term by the European Commission, with her mandate beginning July 1, 2022.
“The raison d’être of the ERC is to fund exclusively bottom-up basic research without privileging any particular domain,” Dr. Lorente says. “I am thrilled and honored to join the scientific committee of a research body that favors ambitious creativity this way.”
An expert in thermal engineering, Dr. Lorente joined Villanova in 2019 and holds the position of College of
Engineering Chair in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. She is also a professor (exceptional class) at the National Institute of Applied Sciences, University of Toulouse, France, where she earned her PhD in 1996.
Dr. Lorente is recognized internationally for her deep research expertise in flow systems. She is the author of seven books, 10 book chapters and more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, and she is among the top 2% of the most cited scientists in the world.
“This appointment is a tremendous international recognition of the outstanding contributions made to the field of engineering by Dr. Lorente,” says Michele Marcolongo, PhD, PE, the Drosdick Endowed Dean of Engineering.
Established by the European Union in 2007, the ERC provides competitive funding to encourage high-quality research in Europe and support investigator-driven research across all fields. Its Scientific Council includes eminent scientists and scholars who promote innovative research on behalf of Europe’s scientific community.
Pritpal Singh, PhD, a Villanova professor of Electrical Engineering who has dedicated his career to humanitarian engineering efforts, was honored in the fall with the 2022 Duncan Fraser Global Award for Excellence in Engineering Education.
Presented annually by the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES), the award honors individuals who have made innovative and meritorious contributions with a significant impact on the advancement of engineering education. Dr. Singh was recognized in late November at the World Engineering Education Forum in Cape Town, South Africa.
“I feel honored and at the same time humbled to be recognized by this award,” says Dr. Singh, “following in the footsteps of some really wonderful people.”
Among other accomplishments, Dr. Singh was recognized for leveraging electrical and computer engineering technology to help people in underserved communities worldwide. Dr. Singh’s humanitarian efforts will continue this spring in Ecuador, where he will be a Fulbright Scholar working in collaboration with the university Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL). During his three-month fellowship, Dr. Singh will teach a course on how to implement and commercialize sustainability-focused technologies while also researching the potential for renewable energy generation on the Galapagos Islands.
“The center will work to pull together cross-campus research teams to respond to pressing issues, and advance and accelerate the University’s contributions to the field and our shared future.”
—Wenqing (Vicky) Xu, PhD, director of the Center for Human-Environmental Systems
College launches Center for Human-Environmental Systems
The College of Engineering launched a new center in the fall designed to integrate and advance interdisciplinary research and scholarship at the nexus of people and the planet.
Directed by Associate Professor Wenqing (Vicky) Xu, PhD, of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, the new Center for Human-Environmental Systems (CHES) will address environmental concerns through biomimicry; that is, designing solutions by exploring how nature itself would solve such problems. CHES will reach across disciplines, bringing in faculty members from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Charles Widger School of Law, in addition to the College of Engineering, to advance technologies and solutions that mimic natural processes and promote restorative impacts upon the Earth’s interconnected systems.
“The goal is to understand and address issues at the interface of human-environmental systems,” says Dr. Xu, whose research focuses on understanding the various ways that nature detoxifies contaminants; her work earned her the prestigious CAREER award from the National Science Foundation in 2018.
“We don’t know much about the feedback loop between human systems and the environment—and rightfully so, because we don’t have that expertise within one discipline to address this,” she adds. “The center will work to pull together cross-campus research teams to respond to pressing issues, and advance and accelerate the University’s contributions to the field and our shared future.”
Joining Dr. Xu as core faculty members in CHES are Metin Duran, PhD, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Bo Li, PhD, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering; Ryan Jorn, PhD, associate professor of Chemistry; and Todd Aagaard, JD, professor of Law. CHES is funded by 10 active grants, provided by such entities as the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency and Philadelphia Water Department.
“With a research focus on environmental justice in addition to biomimetic materials and sensing technologies, CHES has the potential to elevate the profile of the College while furthering our commitment to engineering for the greater good,” says Michele Marcolongo, PhD, PE, the Drosdick Endowed Dean of Engineering.
Supported by major grants, Villanova Engineering faculty members embark on groundbreaking research
Cleaner water and energy. Safer ships. Better treatments for and monitoring of Alzheimer’s, osteoarthritis and kidney transplants.
Faculty members in the College of Engineering are pursuing innovative research with the potential to make a significant impact on society. And institutions are taking notice: Over the first three quarters of fiscal year 2023, our researchers’ work was recognized with $8.5 million in funding, including multiple seven-figure grants and two prestigious early-career-level awards. This research productivity spans all Engineering departments and five other units or centers of excellence in the College.
Learn more about some of the important projects being pursued by Villanova Engineering.
Laura Bracaglia, PhD Assistant Professor, Chemical and
Biological Engineering
National Institutes of Health: “Tailored siRNA Delivery to Human Endothelium to Inhibit and Reverse Inflammatory Damage
One of the newest members of the College’s faculty, Dr. Bracaglia is exploring an innovative therapeutic strategy to prevent injury in transplanted kidneys. The research, which Dr. Bracaglia began as a postdoctoral fellow in Yale University’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, involves the direct treatment of endothelial cells to reduce the impact of dysfunctional inflammation, a condition that can lead to adverse kidney graft outcomes in transplants.
David Cereceda, PhD Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
US Department of Energy: “Unraveling Transmutation Effects in Tungsten-Based PlasmaFacing Materials”
Nuclear fusion made headlines in December as national researchers announced a breakthrough in their attempts to harness this clean energy source. Dr. Cereceda has studied fusion energy for more than a decade and was recently honored with a coveted Early Career Award from the US Department of Energy, the first for a Villanova faculty member. The five-year grant will support his efforts to facilitate the discovery, development and deployment of next-generation plasma-facing materials for fusion energy applications.
Meltem Izzetoglu, PhD Assistant Professor,Electrical and Computer Engineering
National Institutes of Health: “Early Assessment of Cognitive Decline Using Multimodal Neuroimaging with Embedded Artificial Intelligence”
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are highly prevalent among older people worldwide, presenting numerous physical, mental, emotional and financial burdens for these individuals and their caregivers. In an effort to improve early detection and monitoring of cognitive decline, Dr. Izzetoglu and her collaborators from Villanova University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Drexel University are developing a toolchain for the assessment of mild cognitive impairments using multimodal neuroimaging and machine learning methods.
Drosdick Endowed Dean of Engineering Professor, Mechanical Engineering
National Institutes of Health: “Molecular Engineering of Cartilage PCM
Mechanotransduction in Osteoarthritis Using Biomimetic Proteoglycans”
Dean Marcolongo and a team of researchers from Drexel University, Tulane University and the University of Delaware developed a therapy that could prevent those with osteoarthritis from experiencing pain or joint damage and avoid needing surgery. Through this five-year NIH grant, the team will further their research on their innovation, biomimetic proteoglycans, which are labengineered molecules that have been found to repair damaged cartilage when injected into joints.
C. Nataraj, PhD
Moritz Endowed Professor of Engineered Systems Director, Villanova Center for Analytics of Dynamic Systems
Office of Naval Research: “Modeling Techniques for Dynamic Systems Using Nonlinear Physics and Machine Learning with Application to PEPDS and Other Naval Systems”
Increasingly, the US Navy is deploying machine learning to manage the dynamic systems underlying its modern fleet. Over the next four-and-a-half years, Dr. Nataraj will fuse physics, artificial intelligence and data from sensors to accurately predict the response in countless number of seemingly random scenarios ships may face in both daily and wartime service. With the predictions, the goal is to optimize the in-built dynamic systems to advance the functionality and performance of the fleet.
Kristin Sample-Lord, PhD Associate Professor, Civil
and Environmental Engineering
National Science Foundation: “Coupled Phenomena Resilience and Dynamics in Bentonite Barriers”
Dr. Sample-Lord’s research on bentonite earned her the prestigious CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, the fourth for a Villanova Engineering professor in five years. Bentonite, a type of clay, is used to protect industrial, municipal and radioactive waste from reaching water supplies and the environment. The five-year grant will allow Dr. Sample-Lord to study the long-term effectiveness of these barriers under changing and intensifying environmental conditions.
by the numbers:
$8.5 million
Total funding 24
Total grants 19
Primary investigators represented 9 Departments and centers represented
10 Funding institutions
Funders Include:
National Science Foundation
US Department of Energy
Bristol Myers Squibb
Pennsylvania Manufacturing Innovation Program
National Institutes of Health
Office of Naval Research
Environmental Protection Agency
More than 350 engineers, researchers, planners and other water-resources professionals gathered on Villanova’s campus in October for the 2022 Pennsylvania Stormwater Management Symposium. Hosted by the Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership (VUSP), the biennial event aims to promote green stormwater infrastructure to combat urban flooding and protect environmental quality.
The symposium, which had a theme of “Infrastructure, Resilience, Equity,” included keynote presentations, technical sessions and moderated panel discussions, as well as almost 50 abstracts from the stormwater community, research updates from VUSP and booths from vendors. Originally set to take place in 2021, the symposium—VUSP’s 12th since 1998—was delayed a year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“One thing that is special about our symposium is that it brings the stormwater engineering community together to discuss what advances have been made and what challenges we still face as a profession,” says Rob Traver, PhD, PE, ’82 MSCE, director of VUSP and a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “You cannot underestimate the value to our research of these conversations with the engineers and regulators in the public sector in setting our future direction. Our students are also introduced to many future employers—and get introduced to their future.”
The two-day event included keynote presentations by Angus Welch, of the US Environmental Protection Agency Region 3, and Randy E. Hayman, commissioner of the Philadelphia Water Department. Another highlight was a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) panel discussion on “Equitable Engineering in Practice and Within Our Community,” moderated by Mark Orebiyi ’17 CE, ’19 MSCE of Clark Water Group.
The symposium also showcased the work of Villanova Engineering graduate students, many of whom volunteered their time to assist with planning and running the event. “The energy and success of the symposium was largely due to the contributions of our 25 graduate student volunteers,” says Bridget Wadzuk, PhD, ’00 CE, the Edward A. Daylor Chair Professor in Civil Engineering and an organizer of the symposium. “They led the DEI panel, helped to organize the entire event and highlighted their innovative research through presentations and networking.”
The next Stormwater Symposium, VUSP’s 13th, will be held in Fall 2024.
A new textbook co-authored by Professor Rob Traver, PhD, PE, ’82 MSCE, focuses on novel stormwater control measures to make for a greener tomorrow. Written with colleagues Allen P. Davis, PhD, PE, of the University of Maryland, College Park, and William F. Hunt III, PhD, PE, of North Carolina State University, Green Stormwater Infrastructure Fundamentals and Design (Wiley, 2022) brings into focus resilient stormwater control measures (SCMs) for the reduction of stormwater flows and associated pollutants that can detrimentally impact our local environmental and ecological systems. Dr. Traver is director of the Villanova Center for Resilient Water Systems and the Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership.
Professor Alfonso Ortega, PhD, a specialist in heat transfer, thermodynamics and thermal management systems, was named the 2023 inductee to the SEMI-THERM Thermal Hall of Fame. The lifetime achievement award, presented in March during the 39th annual IEEE Semiconductor Thermal Measurement, Modeling and Management Symposium (SEMI-THERM), recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the development and commercialization of thermal management technologies.
“I’m humbled and proud to receive this award, because it’s been given to a lot of people I have enormous respect for, people who I’ve looked up to in the past,” says Dr. Ortega, the James R. Birle Professor of Energy Technology in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Those recipients include Dr. Ortega’s doctoral adviser, Robert Moffat, PhD, professor emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. “And now, I find myself at this stage of my career where I’m the person who people are looking up to. It feels good to stick with something long enough to where you get recognized as an important contributor and an expert.”
Hosted annually in Silicon Valley, SEMI-THERM is an international symposium dedicated to the thermal management and characterization of electronic components and systems. As an event sponsored by IEEE, the professional organization for electrical and electronics engineers, the symposium draws attendees from both industry and academia.
Dr. Ortega bridges both those areas as site director of the Center for Energy-Smart Electronic Systems (ES2), a National Science Foundation Industry/ University Cooperative Research Center. As a partnership among researchers from Villanova, Binghamton University and the University of Texas at Arlington, ES2 works with industry partners to develop methodologies, tools and systems that will maximize energy efficiency for the operation of electronic systems.
“One of the things that I’ve always done well is interface with industry,” says Dr. Ortega, whose recent work has included research on liquid cooling systems for NVIDIA, a leader in artificial intelligence.
“As a result, I’ve always felt like I’ve worked on interesting but relevant research—research that really makes a difference, research that comes from the real engineering world.”
Dr. Ortega is SEMI-THERM’s seventh inductee into its Thermal Hall of Fame, which was formed in 2016.
Over the past year, the College of Engineering has launched two new programs aimed at both junior and mid-career faculty members looking to further their research.
The Associate Professor Research Fellowship Program was established to provide research support to associate professors who aspire to expand their portfolio, offering professional development, funding, mentorship and coaching. This program, which launched last summer with two awardees, aims to help faculty become more active within the research community while broadening their professional network and developing more competitive proposals.
Presented to four awardees for the 2022-23 academic year, the Assistant Tenure-Track Faculty Career Development Award is intended to help tenure-track faculty members facilitate relationships with mentors and collaborators at other institutions who can aid in accelerating research development.
Meet the first recipients of these two awards.
Associate Professor Research Fellowship Program:
Xiaofang (Maggie) Wang, PhD
Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The recent introduction of heterogeneous system-on-chip (SoC) field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) in cloud-based, high-performance computing systems raises a plethora of security and privacy concerns. Dr. Wang’s research is dedicated to resource- and energy-efficient architectures that integrate hardware and software techniques for securing the on-chip memory systems of cloud-based SoC FPGAs.
Rosalind Wynne, PhD
Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Treatments for chronic conditions like cancer and Alzheimer’s disease require years of development, slowly progressing from static cell cultures to clinical trials on animals, and many promising candidates fail. Dr. Wynne’s research seeks to redefine this flawed and time-consuming process by developing optical-fiber tools for microfluidic cell cultures. By allowing a continuous flow of cells with pharmaceuticals in microscopic-sized volumes, these tiny laboratories will expedite drug development toward impactful personalized
Assistant Tenure-Track Faculty Career Development Awards:
Weijian Diao, PhD Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Dr. Diao’s research focuses on heterogeneous catalysis, especially rational catalyst synthesis and its applications for renewable chemical production. In his work, he synthesizes nanostructured metal-metal and metal-metal oxide catalysts with unique composition and morphology for hydrocarbon conversion, CO2 utilization and renewable energy.
Jonathan Hubler, PhD Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dr. Hubler studies the geotechnical aspects of natural hazards. Specifically, his research group has been evaluating soil behavior during earthquake events and the impacts of extreme events on infrastructure performance.
Xun Jiao, PhD Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dr. Jiao aims to develop robust and efficient computing systems for intelligent algorithms such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. This has a broad range of application fields, including smart health care, green environment and autonomous systems.
Mojtaba Vaezi, PhD Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dr. Vaezi’s interests include the broad areas of wireless communications and information theory. In his work, Dr. Vaezi is applying emerging tools from deep learning to increase connectivity, speed and autonomy of fifth-generation (5G) and beyond wireless networks. Specifically, he is working on multiple access nodes for massive connectivity and interference management for cellular networks and drones.
In January, the College announced its second cohort of Assistant Tenure-Track Faculty Career Development Award winners. These faculty members will form collaborations within the USA, Canada and Europe.
Laura Bracaglia, PhD Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering Jiafeng Xie, PhD Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Chenfeng Xiong, PhD Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Last spring, the College of Engineering, Villanova School of Business and College of Professional Studies partnered with Boeing Co. for an intensive Applied Sustainability boot camp program. Part of Villanova’s Sustainable Enterprise Executive Education and Development (SEED) program, the boot camp taught Boeing executives the critical fundamentals of sustainability and challenged them to better incorporate sustainability principles into their organization’s strategies, business plans and culture.
“Over the past two decades, overwhelming evidence has shown that companies that pay attention to sustainability tend to outperform companies that don’t,” says Victoria Minerva ’13 MSSE, ’17 MBA, director of the SEED program. “Addressing environmental, social and governance issues strategically has enabled organizations to reduce costs, mitigate risks, drive growth and enhance their reputation.”
Faculty members from Sustainable Engineering and the Villanova School of Business led lectures and discussions on a variety of sustainability topics, including industry best practices, supply chain resilience and the role of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. Over five days, Boeing participants immersed themselves in the customized learning experience, working together in interactive small group exercises, as well as in individual reflections, to create sustainable solutions for Boeing’s biggest challenges.
At the conclusion of the in-person portion of the program, Boeing participants broke into small teams and were assigned an action-learning project to design over the course of three months. Each team applied what they learned during the boot camp to current sustainability issues at Boeing. Topics were centered around understanding customers’ sustainability priorities, building more resilient and sustainable supply chains, and integrating ESG into decision-making processes. The program concluded with final presentations at Boeing’s Seattle office. Each team shared their findings and received feedback from their boot camp cohort, as well as other Boeing colleagues. Upon completion of the program, participants received a certificate in Applied Sustainability.
“The SEED boot camp provided an opportunity to integrate the principles of sustainability into all functions of the business, and turn the principles into action,” says Sheila Remes, vice president of Environmental Sustainability at Boeing. “The program elevated our cohort of cross-functional leaders’ knowledge around sustainability so they could apply these learnings back to their daily work. The program allowed us to learn about sustainability and work on unique approaches to our business in a safe space.”
“The SEED boot camp provided an opportunity to integrate the principles of sustainability into all functions of the business.”
—Sheila Remes, Boeing VP, Environmental SustainabilityINDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT: BOEING
College community remembers longtime VESL partner the Rev. Walter Kasuboski
The Rev. Walter Kasuboski, OFM Cap., a longtime partner of the Villanova Engineering Service Learning (VESL) program who devoted his life to improving the living conditions for residents of rural Panama, died July 20, 2022. He was 75.
Villanova’s relationship with “Father Wally,” as he was affectionately known, began in 1991, when the Capuchin priest reached out to Campus Ministry requesting engineering help for his mission in the Alto Bayano region of Panama. Chris McCartin ’91 CE, newly graduated from the College of Engineering, answered the call. Having never met Father Wally, McCartin made his way to Panama for an 18-month stay, equipped with engineering textbooks, surveying equipment donated from John Barry Hall and about 20 words of Spanish.
“It was an absolutely life-changing experience for me,” recalls McCartin, now a managing director of design and construction at Tishman Speyer in New York. “I picked up enough language to get by, and within a month we were off on our own every day doing our own projects. We just synced up, hit it off on a personal level.”
The work with Father Wally centered on providing clean-water access to multiple communities in remote Panama—a mission that has since drawn hundreds of Villanova Engineering students through service-learning trips over a three-decade partnership. A few months after McCartin met Father Wally, the first group of Villanova volunteers arrived to assist with surveying watersheds, laying pipe and building water tanks.
The projects were not without their difficulties, McCartin says, but “Father Wally would go up against Goliath and just start chipping away at a problem until it was solved. He was very ambitious and very committed.”
Father Wally’s persistence led to the largest rural water system in Central America, bringing potable water to more than 15,000 people in 14 villages. With assistance from teams of Villanova students and faculty members, his mission also built churches, roads and schools in the region. In 2017, he received an honorary doctor of humane laws degree from Villanova for his humanitarian development projects.
The College paid tribute to Father Wally this spring with a memorial service on campus.
Jordan Ermilio, PhD, ’98 ME, ’06 MSWREE, director of the Center for Humanitarian Engineering and International Development, fondly recalls a piece of advice he received from his longtime friend: “When you get to the gates of Heaven,” Ermilio says, “the question is not going to be about how you felt, how you thought or what you said. It will be about what
you did for others.”Villanova President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, presented Father Wally with an honorary doctorate at the 2017 Commencement.
“Father Wally would go up against Goliath and just start chipping away at a problem until it was solved. He was very ambitious and very committed.”
—Chris McCartin ’91 CE
New Chair Chris Kitchens shares his vision for the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department
In the fall, Chris Kitchens, PhD, joined the College of Engineering from Clemson University, where he was a full professor and director of the Institute for Sustainability Education. Dr. Kitchens was also principal investigator and director of SPECTRA, or Student Pathways in Engineering and Computing for Transfers— an NSF S-STEM program supporting transfer students from South Carolina technical colleges. Learn more about his research interests and his plans as chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
Q: What brought you to Villanova?
A: It’s very hard to pass on an opportunity to truly make a difference. I had been a faculty member in Chemical Engineering at Clemson since 2006. Amid the pandemic, my family and I took a two-year hiatus in Texas, where I worked with a company on building a first-of-its-kind, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and developing products inspired by my research at Clemson. When my time in Texas ended, I was looking to begin a new chapter. This led me to Villanova. The opportunity to lead the department and contribute to the mission of the University and the College as an emerging research institution was incredibly exciting and a big draw.
Q: What are your research interests, and why do these areas resonate with you?
A: My research is at the intersection of green engineering and nanotechnology. We look at understanding and manipulating materials at the nanoscale for a wide range of applications, including a focus on principles of green chemistry and engineering. Some of these examples have included nanoparticle synthesis, microdevices, catalysis, drug delivery, bio-based composites and sustainable construction materials. Sustainability, resilience and circularity are also core aspects of my research. Much of my work is collaborative and multidisciplinary. I thrive on constantly learning and working with other researchers outside of my field.
Q: Which of your career accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: The two greatest accomplishments of my career are easy to identify. First, I am especially proud of the graduate and undergraduate students I have motivated and empowered to where they are today by providing them with understanding, knowledge, mentorship and advocacy; and second, becoming the chair of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Villanova University. This being said, I can’t help but believe that my greatest accomplishments are yet to come.
Q: What is your vision for the department?
A: My vision for CBE is to grow our reputation as a highly rated graduate research program, while maintaining our core values and dedication to our undergraduate programs and alumni. My goal is to lead our transition as an emerging research institution, providing our faculty, staff and students with the resources, guidance and motivation to achieve success and advance our goals.
Tortuca, a glass bridge prototype co-created by Joseph Robert Yost, PhD, PE, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has received a number of honors in the past year for its innovative design, including the 2022 DigitalFUTURES Project Award, a Dezeen Award and an R+D Award from Architect magazine. Named after the Latin word for tortoise, the 10.5-foot span bridge is constructed from 13 hollow-glass units that can be assembled without heavy equipment. In the fall, Dr. Yost (left, center) was joined at Villanova’s Richard K. Faris ’69 CE, ’70 MSCE Structural Engineering Teaching and Research Laboratory by two of the project’s co-creators: Masoud Akbarzadeh (left), DSc, director of the Polyhedral Structures Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, and Jens Schneider, PhD, of the Technische Universität Darmstadt in Germany, one of the world’s foremost experts on the use of structural glass.
Peter Staffeld, PhD, PE, a teaching professor of Chemical Engineering, was awarded the 2022 Engineer of the Year Award from the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers (PSPE). The award recognizes outstanding, distinguished engineers for their work for PSPE and their overall activities and accomplishments.
After a career in industry working for Mobil Oil, Polymer Dynamics and his own engineering firm, Dr. Staffeld joined Villanova as a visiting professor in 2009. He founded the Villanova student chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers as well as the campus’s link of the Order of the Engineer.
Dr. Staffeld is the 58th recipient of the PSPE award, which has been given annually since 1965, yet he is the first chemical engineer to receive the honor. He is retiring at the end of the academic year after 14 years at Villanova.
Ahmad Hoorfar, PhD, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was named a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in the Class of 2023. The director of Villanova’s Antenna Research Laboratory, Dr. Hoorfar was honored for his contributions to sensing and imaging in stratified media and optimization in electromagnetics. Dr. Hoorfar is Villanova’s third Electrical and Computer Engineering professor to be named an IEEE Life Fellow, joining Moeness Amin, PhD, and Robert Caverly, PhD.
Ijoined the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) as a first-year student for the opportunity to grow closer with fellow female engineers while gaining advice from older students and strengthening my leadership skills.
In my three years with the group, I’ve found all this and more as we’ve worked to engage our members in our activities and empower all female engineering students.
I served as the Social and Wellness Committee chair in the wake of the pandemic as SWE was rediscovering how to host in-person events and foster bonds between members after being online for a long period of time.
Now, as vice president, I am working on strengthening relationships and improving our presence on social media.
We are also encouraging members to take an active role in the organization by attending more events throughout the year. Sometimes, people join SWE only to add a line to their résumé, but there is so much to gain from participating in this group.
In the fall, I had the opportunity to travel to Houston to attend WE22, the World’s Largest Conference for Women in Engineering and Technology, hosted by SWE. Initially, I did not know the five other SWE members on the trip very well, but by the end of the weekend they felt like close friends.
The conference left me energized for my engineering career. I attended as many speaker sessions as possible, learning everything from advice about introducing sustainable practices to your boss, to initiatives for introducing STEM careers to young girls of color. The concluding keynote speaker had me crying and laughing throughout her talk, making me feel honored to simply be in the presence of so many incredible women.
WE22 also hosted an enormous career fair where countless companies were ready to network with future employees. It was amazing to see so many female engineers in one place. At one point, I walked up to a large contracting company where more than 20 female employees were waiting to network with students. I felt an incredible sense of belonging.
Each of us from Villanova’s SWE chapter received interviews with companies, and some even received internship and job offers. Every time someone got off the phone with a smile on her face, she was met with immediate congratulations from our group. The support and love I felt from each member was incredible, like a family where you could share in the joy of each other’s accomplishments and offer advice or a listening ear when needed. These women left me inspired for the future of the SWE community at Villanova.
A pin I bought at the WE22 Boutique reads, “Empowered Women Empower Women,” and that perfectly characterizes SWE. Through SWE, we as female engineering students can continue to empower one another by celebrating each other’s achievements and supporting one another through challenging times in such a demanding technical field. I love the welcoming community of SWE and am so honored to be a part of the organization’s future on campus.
Deogratius Kisitu ’21 MSME, ’24 PhD (center), a graduate research assistant in Mechanical Engineering, was honored in the fall with the InterPACK Intel Outstanding Paper Award, presented by Saket Karajgikar (left) and Przemyslaw Gromala of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Given for the best overall paper at the 2022 ASME International Electronics and Photonics Packaging Conference (InterPACK), the award was shared with co-authors Carol Caceres ’24 PhD, a fellow graduate student in Mechanical Engineering; adviser Al Ortega, PhD, the James R. Birle Professor of Energy Technology; and industry partners from ERG Aerospace Corp. The team’s paper addressed using novel compressed metallic foams for advanced two-phase cooling of modern, high-heat-flux electronics.
Andrew Kline ’24 CE was selected as one of 10 New Faces of Civil Engineering for 2023 by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). The annual honor recognizes students for their academic achievements and commitment to serving others. Kline is president of the Villanova chapter of ASCE, Speaker of the Senate for Villanova’s Student Government Association and a media assistant in the Office of Student Involvement.
The latest batch of first-year students is the largest the College of Engineering has seen in recent memory. Get to know this diverse group of learners now making their mark on Villanova Engineering.
STATES REPRESENTED
TOTAL ENROLLMENT
30
31 7
22 Percent racial/ethnic diversity
317
COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
70 Percent male
11 Percent female Percent first-gen students
MAJORS
Bob Grubic, PE, ’73 CE retired at the end of 2022 after 49 years with the civil engineering firm Herbert, Rowland & Grubic Inc., where he was CEO. But his tenure concluded on an especially high note, as he was recognized with the 2023 Legacy Award from Engineering News-Record MidAtlantic construction and design professionals whose careers have made a significant impact on the industry and beyond. Grubic was also a 2022 recipient of the Alumni Award for Professional Achievement, presented by Dean Michele Marcolongo at the Villanova University Engineering Alumni Society Awards (right). The honor recognizes contributions to technology through substantial achievements in marketing, management or entrepreneurship, as well as achievements in strictly technical fields.
Lillian Dukes ’87 MSEE, senior vice president of Technical Operations at Atlas Air Worldwide, was named one of Savoy Magazine’s Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America for 2022. “Lillian is an outstanding leader whose focus on data-driven process improvements and predictive analytics has strengthened our team and our company overall,” says John W. Dietrich, president and CEO of Atlas Air, a global leader in aircraft leasing services. “She inspires others with her thoughtful, insightful approach and commitment to safety and efficiency.” Dukes delivered the College’s annual Patrick J. Cunningham, Jr. and Susan Ward ’80 Endowed Lecture Series in Engineering in 2021, speaking on “How Good Engineers Craft Great Careers.”
Adam Beckmann, PE, ’10 CE, ’11 MSCE, an associate principal at Thornton Tomasetti in Newark, N.J., was included on the list of the Top Young Professionals of 2023, compiled by Engineering News-Record New York The structural engineer was recognized for “sustaining the cycle of education and experience.” Beckmann’s community service stretches back to his undergrad years, when he co-founded Villanova Community Action by New Engineers (NovaCANE), an outreach group that encourages middle-schoolers to pursue studies in STEM. Since then, he has volunteered with the College’s Career Compass mentorship program. “Beckmann’s professional career has provided no shortage of insights to share with his mentees,” ENR New York writes, as he’s helped lead projects for Pace University, LaGuardia Airport and Rolex USA, among other clients.
Ron Warzoha ’08 ME, ’09 MSME, ’14 PhD, an associate professor at the United States Naval Academy, received the Early Career Engineer Award at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers InterPACK Conference. An expert in electronics thermal management, thermal energy storage and nanoscale/microscale heat transfer in solid-state materials, Dr. Warzoha is the author of more than 40 peer-reviewed publications.
Memoir details 16 long-lasting friendships formed at Villanova
When Ray Kane ’67 CE, ’81 MSCE set out to write a memoir chronicling his adult life, he realized his journey was indelibly marked by his time at Villanova— especially by the friendships he formed as an Engineering student and NROTC midshipman.
So rather than embarking on his writing project alone, Kane asked a core group of friends if they cared to contribute their life stories, expecting two or three others to participate. Instead, 15 agreed to join him in detailing the bonds forged at Villanova that still unite them today.
The result is The Journey of a Band of Villanova Brothers (FriesenPress, 2022), the memoirs of 16 friends who all started at Villanova in the fall of 1962. Over more than 60 years, the men have remained close—thanks in large part to a shared appreciation for Villanova’s Augustinian Catholic values.
“We all have such a fondness for each other. We respect each other. We enjoy each other’s company. That’s a common thread through a lot of what you read,” says Kane, of Naples, Fla. “To even want to invest the energy to write the book, it’s because of our love for Villanova and our respect and admiration for each other.”
All royalties from sales of the book are being donated back to Villanova. Kane served as the book’s organizer and editor, with assistance from Lee Doyer ’66 ME. Most of the contributors met through Engineering classes or through Villanova’s NROTC program, which kept them connected even during summers as they took part in military training exercises. Each man’s chapter is broken into six sections, covering his life arc from high school to Villanova and on through their retirement years. Kane’s journey took him from
A Kinship of Midshipmen: Thirteen of the men who contributed to the book were members of Villanova’s NROTC program, shown here in 1964 during summer training exercises in Little Creek, Va. “There was a lot of contact amongst us, all year long, and that established the friendships,” says Joel DeFreytas ’67 CE, of Berwyn, Pa. “We could have gone different ways, but the more commonalities we had, the closer the friendships got.”
Villanova to the Naval Submarine Force before he settled into a 40-year career in environmental engineering and management consulting.
The book also includes a foreword by the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, ’75 CLAS, president of Villanova University, who reflects on St. Augustine’s teachings about friendship. Though written by and for members of the Villanova community, Kane says, the book’s universal themes of love and friendship should resonate with readers of any background.
“Veritas, Unitas, Caritas: They aren’t just things you learned in theology 50 years ago—they are day-to-day principles by which you try to live your life,” he says. “I honestly feel that was another thing that pulled the book together: The same principles we initially learned at Villanova have carried through our lives.”
The Band of Brothers:
John Barrow ’66 EE
Jerry Brett ’67 CE
Joel DeFreytas ’67 CE
Frank Fleming ’67 CE, ’74 JD
Bob Gallo ’66 CLAS
Mike Gray ’67 CE
Ted Hack ’67 EE
Ray Kane ’67 CE, ’81 MSCE
Greg Kuzniewski ’67 CE
Joe Lynch ’67 VSB
Fred MacAry ’67 EE
Jack Macknis ’67 EE
Mike McDermott ’67 EE
Jim Morgan ’66 CLAS
Paul Service ’66 CE
John Sherm ’67 ME
The expansion builds upon the Center for Engineering Education and Research (CEER), an 88,400-square-foot facility that opened to students in 1998. Constructed to meet high standards of sustainability, the new building will be the 10th on Villanova’s campus to achieve at least silver LEED certification. Learn more about the project at villanova.edu/CEERexpansion.
With every beam installed and concrete floor poured, excitement is growing for the rebirth of the College of Engineering’s primary academic building on campus. The $125 million construction project, which will more than double the footprint of the existing Center for Engineering Education and Research, broke ground last year with plans to open in Fall 2024 as the largest academic building on Villanova’s campus.
The 150,000-square-foot addition will allow all of Villanova’s Engineering departments to be housed under the same roof for the first time in the College’s history. Informed by years of input from faculty, staff and students, the new building advances the priorities of Villanova’s Strategic Plan, Rooted. Restless., by cultivating deeper collaborations among faculty and students and strengthening the College community as a whole.
“This project will further the College’s capabilities to foster change through interdisciplinary research and innovative teaching and learning,” says Michele Marcolongo, PhD, PE, the Drosdick Endowed Dean of Engineering. “The expansion will establish a hub for Villanova’s College of Engineering, bringing all disciplines together into one facility, which will serve as a crossroads for collaboration and innovation.”
Take a look behind the construction fence to see how the expansion project will enhance teaching and learning in the College of Engineering.
A gathering space at the heart of the building, the Jones Family Student Learning Commons has been designed with community in mind. Named for retired Air Products and Chemicals Chairman and CEO John P. Jones III ’72 ChE and his wife, Denise, the three-story, light-filled atrium will be an ideal space for students of all majors to gather in study groups or meet informally between classes—and potentially form new partnerships. “I think the Commons will allow students at Villanova to collaborate and talk about research ideas more freely and more comfortably compared to in classrooms or in research labs,” says Pamela Samonte ’19 MSChE, ’24 PhD, a doctoral candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
The expansion will include nearly two dozen state-of-the-art laboratories, resulting in a more than 60% increase in research space. These innovative labs were designed to facilitate creativity around topical areas of research. The new Robotics Lab, for instance, “will provide a large space where students and faculty can work together to develop innovative robotic platforms for collaborative human-robot missions,” says Hashem Ashrafiuon, PhD, professor of Mechanical Engineering. “The platforms include autonomous and semi-autonomous ground, air and marine robots employed in various applications including humanitarian missions such as demining.”
Named for John “Jack” G. Drosdick ’65 ChE, retired chairman and CEO of Sunoco Inc., and his wife, Gloria J. Drosdick, the Drosdick Innovation Lab will house 3-D printers, high-tech workstations and other essentials for the design-build-test process of engineering. The two-story maker space will also be viewable to the public, putting students’ innovations on full display. “There will be plenty of tools available for students to make things,” says Sridhar Santhanam, PhD, professor and chair of Mechanical Engineering. “They’ll all be in there working together on various projects, and that’s going to spur a lot of new innovations and new projects, and it should be exciting.”
Instructional spaces in the new building have been designed to adapt to the needs of the College. While the large lecture hall “will provide state-of-the-art instructional technologies to enhance student learning,” says David Jamison, PhD, associate dean for Undergraduate Affairs, it will also be useful when hosting guest speakers, open houses and other gatherings. “Having a large space to welcome prospective students and their families during our recruiting events will be an excellent way to show off the College’s impressive facilities,” says Gayle Doyle, associate director of Undergraduate Student Services and Program Operations.
Lab space in the expansion project stretches beyond the building’s walls to include three green roofs, adding to the extensive living laboratory of green stormwater infrastructure already on Villanova’s campus. “These sites not only help manage the building’s stormwater runoff, they’ll also serve as testbeds for students to explore research concepts and gain skills that will place them at the forefront of sustainable stormwater management practices,” says Bridget Wadzuk, PhD, ’00 CE, director of Strategic Initiatives and the Edward A. Daylor Chair in Civil Engineering.
Like the original CEER, the new building will be home to a café where students, faculty and staff can refuel and catch up over a cup of coffee. “The Holy Grounds café will continue to serve as the College’s proverbial ‘water cooler’—the ideal space for relaxation and refreshment between classes or labs, an opportunity to meet up with friends and colleagues or simply laugh along with the friendly café staff,” says Keith Argue, associate dean for External Relations. “And since the coffee’s always fresh, it will always be my favorite place in the building.”
Master’s and doctoral students will have dedicated spaces within the new building, enhancing their on-campus experience—and strengthening the learning environment for all. With centrally located offices and communal areas, the building will seamlessly weave this growing group of engineers in with the greater College community. “Giving our graduate students a home in our new building underscores their important contributions to our College,” says Garrett Clayton, PhD, associate dean for Graduate Studies. “Not just in research labs, but as contributors to our broader mission in the classroom, in our community and beyond.”
VIDEO: See how the expansion project will better enable Villanova engineers to collaborate and innovate.
allianny Perez Lantigua ’25 CE arrived at Villanova eager to build her future as an engineer. What she didn’t expect was to play a role in building the future of Villanova Engineering.
Last summer, Perez had the opportunity to intern with Wohlsen Construction, the company leading the College of Engineering expansion project. Working within the construction perimeter, Perez got an insider’s look at the 150,000-square-foot project while gaining insights and skills related to her Civil Engineering major.
It’s a unique experience Perez doesn’t take for granted. In fact, it’s one of several connections that she’s built with Villanova since even before enrolling as a student.
“I feel like I’m getting a sneak peek,” she says about the internship. “My friends are all very excited about the expansion, but they just know how it looks from the videos posted online. I feel guilty sometimes, but I also feel very proud that I’m part of the process of the whole expansion.”
Perez was never quite sure what to expect each morning as she arrived at the Wohlsen trailer. As a project engineer intern, she was tasked with acting as a liaison between the construction company and Villanova. This often involved poring over submittals and requests for information to ensure “everything’s where it’s supposed to be, how it’s supposed to be, and we’re contacting the people that we’re supposed to,” she says.
Working alongside Wohlsen’s staff engineers and the construction crew, she was fully part of the team, learning to remain flexible and encounter challenges head-on—like when stubborn gneiss rock at the expansion site resulted in slight alterations to the project’s plans.
On one workday, using a digital platform, she was measuring each wall in the building to form an estimate on the amount of paint that would be needed. Though this technical work could be seen as tedious, Perez says it spoke to the detail-oriented side of her personality.
With blueprints and specs at her fingertips, Perez was able to view the expansion from a vantage point available to only a select few. 3-D imaging software allowed her to peek into individual classrooms and labs to begin picturing her future as a student engineer.
One of Perez’s first stops in her virtual exploration was the Water Resources Lab, where she works during the school year as an undergraduate research assistant. While the size and new features of the lab impressed her, she was most excited by its proximity to related areas of research.
“If Water Resources wants to do something with the Soils Lab, now we’ll be just steps away from each other, rather than having to leave one building and go into another,” she says. “I love that everything is going to be in the same place. It’s really more like a community building.”
The communal aspects of the project stretch beyond the learning spaces, Perez notes, to the open and airy commons area and the expanded café—a spot she can’t wait to frequent as part of her morning routine her senior year.
A unique internship and other opportunities at Villanova form a foundation for a student’s successUntil this internship, Perez had been focused on the science side of Civil Engineering, drawing on her love of biology and chemistry. However, even without formal construction experience, Perez says she felt prepared to arrive at the job site, thanks in large part to the Civil Engineering Fundamentals course required of first-year students. “I’m very comfortable talking about anything related to the drawings,” she says. “And if I don’t know something, I know where to look for it. That class really set me up for success.”
Perez’s interest in engineering began in childhood while growing up in the Dominican Republic. Her father, a trained industrial engineer, helped spark her interest in the STEM fields. “He said to me, ‘Well, if you want to be an engineer, you need to be tough, detail-oriented and very passionate, and I was like, check, check, check,” Perez recalls. Her passion only grew after her father passed away. After moving to the US with her mother and sister, Perez followed in his footsteps by pursuing an engineering program at a technical high school in Northeast Philadelphia.
“The school had multiple fields to choose from, and I picked engineering—and I loved it,” she says. “I was good at science and math, and engineering was just an obvious fit. I was like, ‘If I have to do this every single day of my life, I will do it without a doubt.’”
In 10th grade, Perez participated in Villanova Engineering, Science and Technology Enrichment and Development (VESTED), a program offering mentorship and training to students from under-resourced communities in the Philadelphia area. Held on campus each spring, the seven-week program provides students with an in-depth engineering experience, with activities taking place on campus in Villanova’s classrooms and labs.
Although the pandemic cut Perez’s VESTED experience short, the program helped bring her future into focus.
“I told myself, ‘You know what? I’m applying to Villanova,’” she says. “It’s just where I wanted to be.”
Villanova has fully lived up to Perez’s expectations, providing a rigorous educational experience, coupled with warmth and personal care. When the transition to college coursework proved challenging, Perez found support through Villanova’s Center for Access, Success and Achievement (CASA), a student resource for tutoring and counseling. “If I were at another school, I don’t think I’d have felt the same support that Villanova offers to us,” Perez says. “This is the place where I feel comfortable.”
Though Perez isn’t sure whether her career path will lead back to construction, she’s grateful for her internship opportunity—and for the foundational experiences that Villanova has provided to help her shape her future.
“Villanova does a great job having Civil Engineering classes that are focused on team building and group projects, which is very much part of the job,” she says. “No decision is made without first consulting with others. It’s really good that I’m getting that experience, not only from the internship but in the classroom as well.”
“If I were at another school, I don’t think I’d have felt the same support that Villanova offers to us. This is the place where I feel comfortable.”
—Dallianny Perez Lantigua ’25 CE
For nearly 30 years, one Villanova Engineer has played a role in nearly every construction project on campus, from minor renovations to new buildings and major capital improvements.
“I’ve been here for a long time” says Marilou Smith ’84 EE, ’22 MBA, Villanova’s assistant vice president for Engineering and Construction.
“Looking back, its incredibly rewarding to have played a role in the revitalization or renovation of nearly every campus building.”
Each project, she says, has had a similar goal of supporting Villanova’s students, faculty and staff. With the Villanova Engineering expansion project, however, things feel a bit more personal to Smith, thanks to her direct connection to the College.
Smith grew up one of 10 in a Villanova family. Her father, a civil engineer, was a College of Engineering alum, as was her maternal grandfather. When it came time to pick a college, Smith had no doubt she’d attend Villanova.
At a time when few women pursued engineering, Smith received full encouragement from her parents.
“I never really looked at it like I was a woman in a man’s field,” she says. “My parents were very supportive of whatever we wanted to do, and so I never looked at that as an obstacle. My dad would say, ‘Be what you want, and if you want to be an engineer, be an engineer. Don’t let others discourage you from what you want to be. Be strong and independent so you don’t have to rely on someone to take care of you.’ Ultimately, that’s how each of us went through life.”
After graduating, Smith spent 13 years with an engineering firm working with Villanova as her primary client before joining the University as a project manager in 1996. Her tenure here has included overseeing construction of Driscoll Hall, home of the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, and the transformational Lancaster Avenue development, which included the Commons and the John and Joan Mullen Center for the Performing Arts, among other projects. She assumed her position of assistant vice president in 2021.
Much has changed in engineering in the decades since Smith completed her undergraduate degree, and many of those changes will be reflected in the new building, she says. “I love what Engineering is doing with the flipped classrooms approach,” she says. “We’re creating spaces designed for active learning, that is hands-on, problem-oriented and team-based, to facilitate 21st-century engineering education. Classrooms will be used for complex problems where students work together in teams as they would in industry. What good is engineering curriculum, such as calculus or the Laplace transforms, if you don’t know how to apply it to a real-life situation? This building will give students the opportunity to demonstrate those applications.
“I look at myself as a steward of Villanova University and providing each of our constituents with the best outcome that we can achieve,” she adds. “I think the new Engineering building will achieve that and more for future generations of engineers.”
By combining his technical and creative backgrounds, David Jamison, PhD, aims to hit the right notes as associate dean for Undergraduate Affairs
avid Jamison, PhD, brings a unique combination of science and art to his new position as the College of Engineering’s associate dean for Undergraduate Affairs. A biomedical engineer with prior experience in industry and academia, he is also a semi-professional musician—a background that allows the Philadelphia native to flex his creativity while keeping a keen eye on the future.
“As the world changes and becomes more diverse, so too must engineering,” says Dr. Jamison. “Engineers design and build our future world, so it is imperative that we train our students, our future engineers, to design with empathy in mind. The engineer of tomorrow needs to be more culturally and socially conscious in their decision-making and in their design.”
Dr. Jamison will have a hand in that training in his new role at Villanova. As associate dean for Undergraduate Affairs, Dr. Jamison is responsible for the College’s undergraduate recruitment and retention, as well as for preparing students for success after graduation. Dr. Jamison also joins the College’s faculty as a teaching professor of Mechanical Engineering.
The position combines what Dr. Jamison enjoys most from industry and higher education. “It has the education and mentorship aspects of what I love doing, plus the ability to manage a team of people and be involved in strategic discussions that I was seeking,” he says. “I also bring industry experience with me that I can share with students and advise them so they have a better understanding of what their future careers may look like when they leave Villanova.”
Dr. Jamison’s career path took a different route from what he envisioned in his youth. “As a kid, I was always interested in science and technology,” he says. “In high school, I thought I wanted to be a surgeon, but I soon realized I didn’t want to practice medicine. I discovered biomedical engineering, and that’s where I’ve been focused ever since.” After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in Engineering Mechanics, he earned his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Drexel University, where he investigated the biomechanics of the lumbar intervertebral disc when subjected to high-impact loading conditions.
DDr. Jamison is no stranger to Villanova’s College of Engineering. Since 2013, he has held various teaching positions in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. During this time, he developed new Biomedical Engineering courses and helped create and launch the College’s Biomedical Engineering minor. Dr. Jamison also led the overhaul of Mechanical Engineering’s laboratory course sequence and developed new laboratory exercises and streamlined learning objectives.
Away from campus, Dr. Jamison is actively involved in several professional societies, serving on the board of directors for the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and as president emeritus of the Greater Philadelphia Professionals Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).
He rejoined Villanova Engineering in the fall from his most recent position at DePuy-Synthes, a Johnson & Johnson-owned medical device company where he was a clinical research scientist. Dr. Jamison also held biomedical engineering positions with both Robson Forensic and Exigent Forensic Consulting, where he conducted forensic scientific and biomechanical analyses of personal injury matters.
Dr. Jamison lets his creative side shine through his love of music. He writes, composes and produces jazz and funk music, and since 2014 he has played percussion for the Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra. He recently released his second album, Late Bloomer, a nod to his later start in music. Dr. Jamison didn’t begin playing percussion until high school, and only three years ago did he take up bass guitar, an instrument he now features prominently in his recordings “Music makes me a better engineer,” he says. “It is a huge part of my life and complements my work. It forces me to be creative in my thinking and problem solving. Like engineering, music challenges me to mold and create something new out of nothing.”
Dr. Jamison has a personal focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, and aspires to increase the diversity of the College’s faculty and student body. He also plans to expand the experiential learning offerings and formalize faculty members’ engineering education research so that it can be further implemented at the College.
“As engineering educators, we have to be concerned with not just the future of engineering, but also the future of our world,” he says. “If all engineers look the same, it’s very difficult to achieve the diversity of thought and design that our world needs.”
As a prospective student on the hunt for her college of choice, Taylor McDermott ’23 CpE was drawn to Villanova by the chance to pursue a technical degree in a liberal arts learning environment, something that was hard to find.
But it was her tour of the College of Engineering and a chance meeting with members of the school’s Formula SAE team, known as NovaRacing, that sealed her decision to enroll.
“I actually got to go into the machine shop and the garage and talk to members of the team,” says McDermott, of San Diego, Calif. “I really enjoyed meeting them, seeing all the machinery and feeling that sense of community. I knew I wanted to be part of NovaRacing.”
Four years later, McDermott is now one of the captains of NovaRacing, which has made a name for itself as one of the best collegiate racing teams in the nation.
Sponsored by SAE International (formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers), Formula SAE is a series of international competitions in which university teams compete to design and manufacture the best performing racecars. NovaRacing placed second overall last May out of 99 teams at the annual Formula SAE competition at Michigan International Speedway. The team also placed first in fuel efficiency, second in endurance and third in acceleration, while snagging impressive top-10 placements in design and autocross.
For McDermott, the best part of being a member of NovaRacing isn’t the wins; it’s the time spent with teammates developing their vehicle.
The team spends three full semesters designing, building and testing their car before presenting it at annual SAE competitions. This is where Engineering students get to put into real-life practice what they’re learning in the classroom.
McDermott leads the powertrain section of the team, helping to build everything that makes the car go—from the engine and exhaust to the electrical, fuel and oil systems. She and her team also work on the mechanical part of the car’s engine, learning how to take it apart, identify and fix a problem, and put it back together. Though that portion doesn’t exactly align with her Computer Engineering major, McDermott says, it’s an incredible skill to have.
“I never grew up wanting to work on cars,” she says, “but I came into Formula SAE because I saw it as an opportunity to do hands-on engineering as an undergraduate. There’s really no other club like it on campus.”
After graduation, McDermott hopes to pursue a career in cybersecurity, a field in which she can continue to problemsolve while working at the cutting edge of technology. Before that, though, she’ll compete with her team one last time at the Formula SAE competition in May.
“Even though I’m not going into motorsports,” she says, “the skills that I’ve learned in Formula SAE—that problemsolving aspect and the ability to have a vision and make it a reality—I know that will be applicable to anything I go on to do.”
In 2018, Sandro Roco ’09 ChE noticed a surge of Asian influence in American culture. Crazy Rich Asians was a hit at the box office, Korean pop groups were selling out US stadiums and regional Asian-inspired restaurants were opening in major cities across the country.
At the same time, Roco, a first-generation Filipino American, was working at a startup men’s apparel company that had refrigerators full of various brands of sparkling water but in only a few basic flavors—lemon, lime and grapefruit. “There was a disconnect between what I was seeing on the grocery store shelves and in the rest of the world,” Roco says.
Recognizing a gap in the market, in 2019, Roco began creating his own Asian-inspired sparkling water in his small New York City studio apartment. After experimenting with different flavors and sharing samples with family and friends, he landed on three Asian fruit flavors—lychee, mango and calamansi. (In 2022, he added yuzu with ginger to the lineup.) He named the drink Sanzo—a combination of his first and middle names, Alessandro Lorenzo—and he hit the pavement, giving product away to grocery stores
With interest in Sanzo rapidly growing, Roco cold-called, cold-emailed and knocked on doors until he secured a manufacturer and seed funding from angel investors. “My engineering background definitely helped when developing the product, especially when looking for a manufacturer,” Roco says. “The Villanova Engineering curriculum encourages you to try to solve problems in the simplest way possible, but also encourages you to consider that the answer may be more complex. It influenced the way I think and go about solving problems.”
Roco credits Villanova’s emphasis on educating the whole person for his success. In addition to his technical training in Engineering, Roco pursued a Business minor and immersed himself in campus life, serving as co-editor of The Villanovan, festival director for Special Olympics, an orientation counselor and a member of Blue Key. “I had a holistic college experience and got a lot of value out of being able to explore different areas,” he says. “It helped plant the seeds in me for what I wanted out of a career.”
Today, Sanzo is sold in thousands of restaurants and stores around the country, including Whole Foods Market, Target, Safeway, ShopRite, Sprouts Farmers Market and Panda Express. In February 2022, Sanzo raised $10 million in funding, and in June, Sanzo was named an “F&W Game Changer” by Food & Wine. Roco was also selected as the 2022 recipient of the Villanova University Alumni Association’s Young Alumni Medal for his outstanding professional achievements and his service to the University.
Roco’s ultimate ambition is to turn Sanzo into a beloved global brand that bridges Eastern and Western cultures.
“To me, the idea of Sanzo being a beverage product is ancillary to the journey,” Roco says. “The primary reason why I got into it is because I had a revelation and self-actualization journey as an Asian American. I realized that people wanted to learn more about our culture, so I decided to introduce Americans to Asian culture through something as accessible as sparkling water. I love that we are a part of culture and are weaving ourselves into people’s daily lives.”
Chris Townend took over as the College of Engineering’s facilities manager in June 2022, but his tenure with Villanova dates back to September 1986, when he joined the University as a Mechanical Engineering technician—his first job out of college. Over the years, he’s served in various roles on campus and has grown to love everything about the Philadelphia region, from the history and mild climate to the nearby mountains and rolling hills— and, of course, that it’s home to Villanova.
Townend has seen a lot of change on Villanova’s campus— so much so that not much surprises him anymore. One of the most memorable things he’s witnessed was the moving of a giant sequoia from the campus green to a new location near Dougherty Hall. It was lifted by a rig and transported without any trimming or changes to the tree’s massive size.
Townend has enjoyed watching the College of Engineering expansion project progress. Highlights have included
seeing the workers detach the east end of the concrete structure using giant diamond blades and their preparation of the site for the footing and foundation walls. Occasional thumps and bumps and crane sightings aside, he says, the project represents “civil and construction engineering at its best.”
When he’s not in the lab or on campus, Townend enjoys traveling and fly fishing. He’s also a stalwart for clean water and serves on the board of CRCwatersheds.org, a grassroots organization serving a large portion of Delaware County, Pa. He chairs the Stream Cleanup Committee, which removed a record 40 tons of trash in 2022 with the help of almost 1,000 volunteers at 35 sites in the watershed.
Townend has always had an uncanny ability to fix things, even before internet tutorials took off on YouTube. He likes to practice the six R’s of sustainability—refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, recycle and rot—to help limit our impact on the environment. It’s a talent Townend believes we can all learn and live by.
The Villanova Engineering expansion project celebrated its ‘topping out’ in February, marking the installation of the building’s final beam.
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1. Michele Marcolongo, PhD, PE, the Drosdick Endowed Dean of Engineering, joins construction crew members and others closely tied to the project in adding her signature to the final beam. 2. Villanova President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, delivers a blessing as part of the small ceremony. 3. The final beam is hoisted into place along with a US flag and an evergreen tree, a tribute to the future success of the building and its occupants. 4. The beam was one of 6,742 steel pieces installed during the framing portion of construction.
BUILDING OUR FUTURE … AND HER OWN: Dallianny Perez Lantigua ’25 CE goes over blueprints of the Villanova Engineering building expansion during an internship with Wohlsen Construction, the company leading the 150,000-square-foot project. “I feel like I’m getting a sneak peek,” she says, “but I also feel very proud that I’m part of the process of the whole expansion.” Read more about Perez and the project on pg. 24.
