WVU Statler College Fall 2019 EngineeringWV magazine

BENJAMIN M. STATLER COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND MINERAL RESOURCES

VOLUME 15 ISSUE 2

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

FALL 2019

In the Spotlight

Awards The winners of the College’s outstanding teaching, research and advising awards for 20182019 were announced during the annual Honors Ceremony.

Robin Hissam, teaching assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, was named the College’s Teacher of the Year. Also recognized for outstanding teaching were Hailin Li and Andrew Nix from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Jeremy Dawson from the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and Thorsten Wuest from the Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering.

Debangsu Bhattacharyya, professor of chemical and biomedical engineering, and Nasser Nasrabadi, professor of computer science and electrical engineering, were named Researchers of the Year/Senior.

Xueyan Song from mechanical and aerospace engineering and Xin Li from the Lane Department were also recognized.

Derek Johnson, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, was named Researcher of the Year/Junior.

Cindy Tanner, program coordinator in the Lane Department, and Michael Brewster, teaching instructor in Fundamentals of Engineering, were named the College’s Advisors of the Year.

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BACK ROW L-R: H. LI, X. LI, NIX, BREWSTER, FRONT L-R: WUEST, JOHNSON, HISSAM, TANNER AND BHATTACHARYYA NOT PICTURED: DAWSON, NASRABADI AND SONG

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Dean’s Message

ENGINEERING W E S T

Fall 2019

EARL SCIME

VOLUME 15 NO. 2

INTERIM DEAN Earl Scime earl.scime@mail.wvu.edu 304-293-4157

This fall marks the beginning of a series of changes and new opportunities in the Statler College. As we embrace change, welcome new faculty and staff members and say goodbye to beloved members of our College as they embark on new journeys in retirement, I am encouraged by the stories of the individuals who have been impacted by our College in the past and who continue to impact us every day.

DIRECTOR Marketing and Communications J. Paige Nesbit jpnesbit@mail.wvu.edu CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS J. Paige Nesbit Olivia Miller

SCIME

Take for instance the path forged by Michele Pauli Torres, an alumna who turned her military experience into a multimillion-dollar business that provides worldwide medical and facility architectural, engineering construction management and facility optimization services. Or Sandra Gentile who wasn’t deterred by all of the interview slots being full for a position at Texaco, instead researching the name of the person conducting the interviews and suggested they talk over lunch. Her demonstration of creativity and ambition landed her a career with the company.

NESBIT

Our alumni, our faculty and staff, and our current students set the example for what an institution of higher education can do for its state, its people and its country.

V I R G I N I A

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jack Byrd / Ann Claycomb / Garrett Cullen / Mary C. Dillon / Patrick Gregg / Olivia Miller / Janine Posey / Pam Pritt / Rachel Rogers / Jake Stump PHOTOGRAPHY Jack Byrd / M.G. Ellis / NASA Langley / J. Paige Nesbit / NETL / Brian Persinger / Jennifer Shephard / Alex Wilson / WVU Foundation ADDRESS West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources PO Box 6070 Morgantown, WV 26506-6070 statler.wvu.edu

And it doesn’t stop there, our researchers are continuing to write our legacy by seeking ways to reduce the use of fresh water by power plants to secure safe and affordable water for citizens in the U.S., preparing students to help meet the demand for cybersecurity roles across the nation, and are inventing new ways to extend the life of our infrastructure.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS WVU Foundation / PO Box 1650 Morgantown, WV 26504-1650 e-mail: info@wvuf.org www.connecttowvu.com

Our students are making their own mark by pushing boundaries and leading the College forward. The robotic drilling team took another first place finish in NASA’s Moon to Mars Ice and Prospecting Challenge, the team’s second top finish in three years. Other students are receiving prestigious fellowships and accolades around every corner.

MISSION STATEMENT

Our faculty, students and alumni of the Statler College are creating opportunities for people to thrive and excel. Tackling the most pressing problems facing West Virginia and the world is not an easy feat, but each success story becomes a source of endless inspiration.

As you turn the pages of this issue of Engineering West Virginia, I hope you find inspiration and pride in the achievements of our College. It is an exciting time to serve as dean of the College and the future looks to be even more exciting.

Interim Dean of the Statler College Oleg D. Jefimenko Professor of Physics and Astronomy

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The Statler College mission is to prepare students for success in their professional careers; to contribute to the advancement of society through learning, discovery, extension and service; and to stimulate economic well-being in West Virginia and the world through technical innovation, knowledge creation and educational excellence.

Engineering West Virginia is published twice each year, in spring and fall, for the alumni, friends and other supporters of the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.

Copyright ©2019 by the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. Brief excerpts of articles in this publication may be reprinted without a request for permission if Engineering West Virginia is acknowledged in print as the source. Contact the director for permission to reprint entire articles.

Gee Mail: President surprises a new batch of

Good EGGS WRITTEN BY JAKE STUMP

Eduardo Sosa, a research associate professor in the Statler College, is one of the featured ‘Good EGGs’ in a special edition of President E. Gordon Gee’s Gee Mail.

In a previous Gee Mail, President Gee surprised and celebrated members of the West Virginia University family who embodied the five core Mountaineer values: service, curiosity, respect, accountability and appreciation.

He’s back at it again. But this time, there’s an extra cherry on top.

Gee playfully ambushed faculty and staff in their classrooms, labs or meeting rooms to present them with tokens of appreciation

that included a shiny, new WVU Values Coin.

The targets of Gee’s surprises were all former recipients of the coin, created in 2017 to recognize faculty and staff making a difference in the campus community.

“In the interest of living our shared value of appreciation, I have asked each ‘Good EGG’ to pay it forward,” Gee said. “They will honor another faculty or staff member who personifies our values and present them with their own coin.

“Because celebrating success is the best way to inspire more success.”

PERSINGER

PRESIDENT GEE AND SOSA

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BYRD

A Letter from Dr. Byrd Dear Dr. Byrd, You won’t remember me, but I had you for three classes from 1968-1970.

I was very surprised and delighted when I looked at my freshman granddaughter’s schedule and discovered she would have you for class this fall. As I did the arithmetic, that’s over 50 years of teaching.

I’m so excited for Betsey to meet you and to be guided by you as I was.

The above is from an email I received last fall. Indeed her arithmetic was right, and this past year was my 51st year of teaching. I never felt the time was right to say goodbye. It felt like I would be abandoning students in the middle of their academic careers.

Sometimes you don’t have the choices in life you thought you would have. This May I was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. I was told that the treatment could be rough, and it has been. I unfortunately had no option but to retire.

I’ve learned that retirement does not mean saying goodbye or no longer contributing.

I’m still interacting with students and alumni, and still providing academic and career advice. I am teaching an online class, so technically this is my 52nd year of teaching. As I’m recovering from treatment, I’ve been thinking of a number of new initiatives that I hope to bring to fruition should my treatment be successful.

I want to say thank you to all those I have taught. It’s been a joy watching your success. When I’m especially low, I connect to LinkedIn and read the career profiles of graduates of our college, most of whom I have taught. I’m so proud of what our alumni are doing. I hope that I contributed in some part to your unfolding careers.

One of the last things I tell each senior class is that I refuse to say goodbye, because I believe we’ll continue to stay connected. We’ll continue to be a part of each other’s lives. While I may be retired, I still refuse to say goodbye.

—Jack Byrd You can reach Dr. Byrd at jack.byrd@mail.wvu.edu

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CONTENTS COVER STORY 19

DEPARTMENTS

Where are they now?

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Dean’s Message

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Research and Development

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Engineering 360˚

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In Support

63

In Memoriam

On the cover: Within the sea of Statler College alumni, everyone has a journey, a destiniation ... where are they now?

The WVU Board of Governors is the governing body of WVU. The Higher Education Policy Commission in West Virginia is responsible for developing, establishing and overseeing the implementation of a public policy agenda for the state’s four-year colleges and universities.

WVU is an EEO/Affirmative Action employer — Minority/Female/Disability/Veteran

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Hacking off the hackers: WVU programmed to fill cybersecurity jobs with NSF award WRITTEN BY JAKE STUMP NESBIT

When WVU first offered cybersecurity classes in 2003, the gravest fear of a casual internet user might have been opening an infected email attachment that erased computer files or reset their homepage.

And who could forget landing on some dodgy website that would generate a never-ending array of pesky popup windows.

Those problems were so 2003.

Hacking has since morphed into a more sinister creature. Espionage, extortion, election meddling, data tampering, credit card and identity theft … the list of immoral activities committed via cyberattacks is ever evolving.

This calls for more cybersecurity experts. A lot of them.

With the aid of a $1 million award from the National Science Foundation, the Lane Department

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of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering hopes to prepare students to help meet the demand for these cybersecurity roles.

According to Cyberseek.org, there are nearly 1,000 available jobs in the cybersecurity field in West Virginia. Nationwide, there are more than 313,000 open positions.

Professor Katerina Goseva-Popstojanova said the NSF award will provide a total of 120 annual scholarships of $5,000 to 40 undergraduate students over a five-year period. The project is called Attracting and Cultivating Cybersecurity Experts and Scholars through Scholarships.

“The need for cybersecurity keeps increasing as we become more dependent on computers, networks and devices,” she said. “Fifteen years ago, there were

“Cyberattacks evolve because technology evolves.

It’s a cat-andmouse game.”

—Katerina Goseva-Popstojanova

barely any smartphones or tablets. Now everything is connected to the internet or network, from health records to the water supply to critical infrastructure.

Just think about how you can now control the temperature in your home from your office. There’s potential for an attack there.

“Cyberattacks evolve because technology evolves.

It’s a cat-and-mouse game.”

The methods of cyberattacks are growing at such an alarming rate that it’s hard for government and industry to keep up. By 2021, it’s estimated there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions globally, according to Cybersecurity Ventures.

Goseva-Popstojanova highlighted ransomware as one of the newer types of malicious software.

Ransomware is designed to extort money by encrypting the files on a computer system, and thus making them unusable, until ransom is paid.

She also cautioned against the use of certain apps, even if they seem harmless on the surface. Case in point: FaceApp, the Russian mobile app that uses artificial intelligence to create a realistic rendering of what you might look like in a few decades. Despite its popularity, the app raised questions over privacy concerns.

“When you download an app, it asks for permissions, such as access to your location,” said Goseva-Popstojanova, whose research focuses on software security, information assurance and intrusion tolerance. “Apps don’t need to know that.

Maybe Google Maps, but why would other apps?

Apps collect data about users, track behavior and may sell your data for financial gain.”

WVU will begin awarding the funds in spring 2020. Recipients must be in good academic standing (at least a 3.5 high school GPA for incoming students or 3.0 GPA for current university students), have demonstrated financial need and be enrolled in an eligible bachelor’s program in the Lane department.

Since 2006, WVU has been designated by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Academic Excellence in both cyber defense education and cyber defense research.

Other faculty involved in ACCESS include Robin Hensel, Brian Woerner, Roy Nutter, David Krovich, Earl Scime and Kathleen Cullen, all of the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.

“The outcomes of the project will reach beyond West Virginia and are likely to be applicable to other states that have similar population characteristics and face similar challenges,” Goseva-Popstojanova said.

Students will learn how to program and design systems that not only thwart attacks but also allow them to continue operating if compromised.

“Developing resilient systems is important,” she said. “Attacks will happen. So how can systems keep working even if they’re attacked? You don’t want the electrical grid to get attacked and be completely out of power. The key is to make systems resilient.”

Another goal of ACCESS is to encourage diversity, such as women, in the STEM fields.

“In general, there are not very many females or minorities in STEM,” Goseva-Popstojanova said.

“We’re committed to increasing the number of women and members of underrepresented groups who get degrees with specialization in cybersecurity.

This serves such a broader impact on society.

“For me, I was raised in a family where I was never told, ‘You cannot do that.’ I became a computer scientist. It wasn’t an issue. But once you get into the system, you notice you’re one of a very few.

Wherever you go, in any country, there are fewer women than men in STEM roles.”

ACCESS will partner with other initiatives such as Girls Go Cyberstart, an interactive series of digital challenges designed to introduce girls to the cybersecurity field, and CyberPatriot, an education program created by the Air Force Association to inspire K-12 students toward cybersecurity careers.

Funding recipients will also have access to seminars, lectures, mentors and internship opportunities.

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Research and Development

Marrying science, math and humanities: NESBIT

WVU faculty to research ‘holistic engineering’

DEY

WRITTEN BY JAKE STUMP

Researchers have been awarded a $200,000 National Science Foundation grant to undertake a holistic cross-disciplinary engineering education project to advance the professional formation of engineers to better prepare them for the more complex problems of today and tomorrow. In other words, engineering students will have the opportunity to develop facets of problem-solving skills that complement their traditional math and science skills, such as management, economics, communication and public policy. The project includes co-investigators from the Reed College of Media, the John Chambers College of Business and Economics and the College of Education and Human Services.

“When we talk about engineering, the first things that come to mind are math and science,” said Kakan Dey, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and the project’s principal investigator.

“Those are predominant parts of engineering, but all of the solutions engineers develop are not solely for engineers.

“If you do not know the end user and their expectations and challenges, how can you come up with an optimum solution? Most of the time, the problems we are trying to address aren’t engineering problems. They’re social problems.”

Take the Golden Gate Bridge, for example. Built in 1937, it was then the longest suspension span in the world and considered an engineering marvel. But no one predicted the traffic congestion nightmare

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MARTINELLI

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If you’re an engineer, you can probably build a bridge or a car or an app. But can you effectively communicate? Can you market your ideas or comprehend the business side of your work? A research team, spearheaded by Statler College faculty, wants to add those sorts of tools to the toolbox of tomorrow’s engineers.

it would eventually become, with an expected 500 million crossing it annually. Even less foreseeable were the 1,700 suicides that have taken place since the bridge’s construction.

David Martinelli, a leading proponent of holistic engineering, is a civil and environmental engineering professor and co-investigator on the project: “The Golden Gate Bridge is a useful metaphor for the scope of the challenges faced by engineers in the context of today’s global grand challenges such as energy, the environment, national security and transportation. It is critical to design for a specific objective without creating unintended consequences.”

“Our project embraces a mandate that engineers must respond to a changing world,” Martinelli said.

“The new American engineer will need to have additional disciplines and skills like leadership and management, economics, psychology and communications. A new engineer must think broadly across disciplines and consider the human dimensions at the heart of every design challenge.”

The research team has developed a course that places undergraduate students from civil engineering, strategic communications and economics together to define and solve those problems. In this project, faculty from Learning Sciences and Human Development will train engineering faculty on social science research methods. Students will simultaneously work in multidisciplinary teams, on multidisciplinary topics, guided by multidisciplinary

faculty and graduate students. The grand challenge is transportation, specifically the development and implementation of autonomous vehicles.

“We want to challenge our students with openended problems because we don’t want to give them a very rigid path,” Dey said. “That limits the innovation capacity. We want to develop their innovation skills and how they can work as a team.”

In this project, students work on open-ended problems on a future automated transportation system. “Automated vehicles for transportation obviously have technical implications,” Martinelli said. “But there are also so many other facets, such as public acceptance of the technology, changes in travel demand, safety and regulatory oversight.

“Holistic engineering is catching on as an important innovation in engineering education and the NSF’s sponsorship of this project is a huge validation.”

R&D IN BRIEF WVU PARTNERS WITH GOOGLE FOR APPLIED COMPUTING SERIES To be successful in today’s workforce, students need to be proficient at analyzing and applying data. Thanks to a partnership with Google, West Virginia University will now offer a series of introductory data science courses as part of its curriculum.

“Most of the time the problems we are trying to address aren’t engineering problems, they’re social problems.”

NESBIT

Google’s Applied Computing Series teaches the foundations of computer and data science through hands-on, project-based course content, topically designed to attract students who might not consider themselves destined for a technology career.

—Kakan Dey Other WVU faculty involved in the project include Dimitra Pyrialakou, civil and environmental engineering; John Deskins, economics; Julia Fraustino and Diana Martinelli, strategic communications; Karen RamboHernandez and Abhik Roy, Learning Sciences and Human Development; and Robert Lyons, Office of Innovative Inclusion and Outreach.

This research contributes to the NSF’s Research Initiation in Engineering Formation program by introducing engineering faculty to social science research methods.

“We are continually looking for new ways to better prepare WVU students for the increasingly data-driven jobs we see coming in the economy,” said Brian Powell, teaching assistant professor in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. “Cultivating a workforce that is familiar with POWELL programming and data science is a great way that we can help move West Virginia forward.

Google’s Applied Computing Series is an opportunity for us to partner with an industry leader to help deliver resources to prepare our students for these new economy jobs.”

Faculty in the Lane Department currently teach an introductory computing course to more than 2,000 WVU students each year.

The new Google two-course sequence – Applied Computing 101: Foundations of Python Programming and Applied Computing 201: How to Think Like a Data Scientist – will replace the department’s existing Intro to Python Programming course, providing students across all majors knowledge that will help them increase the effective use of technology throughout society. Students who complete the two-course sequence will be eligible to apply for Google’s 10-week machine learning intensive program.

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Research and Development

WVU researchers thirsty for reducing fresh water use by power plants WRITTEN BY JAKE STUMP

LIN

Water is the essence of life. And electricity. Power plants across the country use more than four times as much water as all U.S. homes and account for 41 percent of total water withdrawals, according to federal data.

NESBIT

Now, with the aid of a $400,000-Department of Energy grant, West Virginia University researchers are seeking ways to quench the thirst of the nation’s power plants in a more cost-effective, environmentally-friendly fashion.

Led by civil and environmental engineering professor Lance Lin, the research team aims to maximize water reuse and reduce chemical and energy footprints resulting from thermoelectric generation.

“There are competing demands for fresh water,” Lin said. “We use it in our homes, for drinking, manufacturing and agriculture.

Nationally, power generation is second in water use, only behind food production. But in West Virginia, power generation is by far the largest water user. If we can cut down on the volume used by power plants, that lessens some of those competing demands.”

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At thermoelectric power plants, water is used to cool down high-temperature steam from turbines in a heat exchanger. The warm water is circulated to cooling towers to eject the heat into the atmosphere.

Once the water hits the cooling tower, some of it evaporates into the air, as can be seen by white plumes pouring out of the towers.

But not all of the water is lost. Some is retained and recirculates through the system. As water is lost, the natural salts in the water reach concentrations where they could foul the cooling system. So the plant purges this “blowdown water,” rife with chemicals such as calcium and magnesium that form scale on the heat exchanger surfaces, affecting heat exchange effectiveness.

Blowdown water needs to be treated, or cleaned, before it can be released back into the environment or reused.

The treatment is costly because of its chemical and energy requirements, Lin said.

But Lin’s colleague, Paul Ziemkiewicz, director of WVU’s Water Research Institute, proposed a unique solution that is twofold: Combine the blowdown water with “produced water” from Marcellus gas wells for more efficiency.

“Produced water” is a term in the gas and oil industry that describes the water that accompanies oil and gas.

The proposed treatment process consists of softening, organics and suspended solids removal, reverse osmosis, brine electrolysis and thermal desalination.

In addition to the reusable water, the treatment process will help produce two other products, chlorine and 10-pound brine. The chlorine will act as a disinfectant on the recirculating water and control bacterial growth in the recirculation system, Lin said.

The 10-pound brine, meanwhile, has commercial value as a saleable product. When water is saturated with sodium chloride, the weight of one gallon of that solution, brine, is 10 pounds. It can be used in industrial applications including water softening and oilfield fluids.

“Our process has multiple benefits,” Lin said.

“Compared to the baseline treatment, this approach can generate energy and chemical savings.”

The research team, which will have undergraduate and graduate students assisting, will collect water from Longview Power Plant near Maidsville and use real produced water from a shale gas operation at the Morgantown Industrial Park.

“We’re using real water,” Lin said. “It’s not something we’re making up in a lab.”

The project is intended to help the power industry meet the DOE’s Water Security Grand Challenge, a White House initiative to address the global need

“Compared to the baseline treatment, this approach can generate energy and chemical savings.” —Lance Lin By adding produced water to blowdown water, you get water that is clean enough to reuse, believe it or not, Lin said.

Ziemkiewicz works with both power plant wastewater and produced water.

“The elements in blowdown water are exactly what the industry uses to remove scaling elements in produced water,” he said. “This could make treatment or reuse of produced water much less expensive because you’re now using a waste product rather than buying commercial chemicals. And it helps that our power plants are located in the heart of the Marcellus gas play.”

for safe, secure and affordable water by 2030. Two of the challenge’s goals include transforming the energy sector’s produced water from a waste to a resource and lowering fresh water use in thermoelectric power plants.

Other researchers on the project include Harry Finklea, professor emeritus of chemistry; Hailin Li, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; and Fernando Lima, assistant professor of chemical engineering.

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Research and Development

Bandura’s work on detection of fast radio bursts detailed in ‘Nature’

RESEARCHERS DISCOVER WATERSHED SIMILITUDE OF STREAM WATER QUALITY

WRITTEN BY MARY C. DILLON

Omar Abdul-Aziz, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and doctoral student Shakil Ahmed, conducted the research that discovered watershed similitude to identify the dominant controls of stream water quality and ecosystem health, which was published in a recent edition of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Journal of Hydrologic Engineering.

Clean water is indispensable for human health. Human activities, coupled with natural processes, drive water quality. Various hydrologic, land use, biogeochemical and ecological processes shape stream water quality and ecosystem health. Identification of the dominant controls of stream water quality, as well as understanding their contrasting and collective roles, have been challenged by the multitude of pollutant sources, drivers and their interplays.

“We employed the concept of watershed similitude to combine the numerous drivers and parameters of stream water quality into a small set of entities,” said Abdul-Aziz. “Process interpretations of these entities provided a generalized understanding into the dynamics and controls of stream water quality and ecosystem health.”

The research quantitatively uncovered the roles of surface runoff vs. ground water, urban vs. agricultural land uses and draining watershed vs. external (e.g., coastal) drivers to determine the amounts of nutrients, biomass and dissolved oxygen in streams and rivers.

The research findings can guide water resources managers to achieve healthy stream ecosystems, as mandated by the U.S. Clean Water Act. Based on the knowledge of dominant controls, water managers can identify streams that are more vulnerable to pollutions and set a priority in management.

The research was funded by a CAREER grant awarded to Abdul-Aziz from the National Science Foundation.

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When researchers first began working on the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment, or CHIME, they envisioned a radio telescope that would make precise measurements of the acceleration of the BANDURA universe to improve the knowledge of why the expansion of the universe is accelerating.

Instead, it has become ideal for detecting fast radio bursts — radio flashes happening from far outside the Milky Way galaxy.

“The structure of the pulse is expected to tell us about the environment of the source, and is another indication that these are real events,” said Assistant Professor Kevin Bandura.

The CHIME telescope, located in the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in Kaleden, British Columbia, is comprised of four cylindrical reflectors, 256 dual-polarized antennas for data collection and an F-Engine and X-Engine for data processing. Bandura, an assistant professor in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, played a key role in developing the device’s F-Engine, which digitally processes signals from space into frequencies that can then be processed into digital maps of the universe.

As reported in the January 9 issue of Nature, the international journal of science, during its pre-commissioning phase CHIME detected 13 FRBs. Prior to this, astronomers, including WVU Astronomy Professor Duncan Lorimer, had reported between 50-60 examples since they were first detected in 2007.

The report notes CHIME’s FRB event rate is predicted to be between 2 and 50 FRBs per day.

A second report, also appearing in the January 9 issue of Nature, details that CHIME also detected only the second known FRB that repeats, radio flashes reappearing at the same point in the sky. According to a previous report, the only other known repeating FRB first appeared in 2012, seeming to originate in a galaxy some 2.5 billion light-years from Earth.

“What is interesting is that we really are seeing many of them and didn’t just get lucky. We still aren’t sure if the repeating events are different from the events we only see once,” said Bandura. “The repeater we see seems to have similar structures to the other known repeater, FRB 121102. With so few events, however, there isn’t a strong statement yet to make.”

NESBIT

NESBIT

WRITTEN BY MARY C. DILLON

ABDUL-AZIZ

R&D IN BRIEF

Research team approved for NASA grant for early-stage space technologies WRITTEN BY MARY C. DILLON

A research team from West Virginia University has been approved for a grant from a NASA fund designed to determine the feasibility of early stage technologies that could go on to change what’s possible in space.

Associate Professor Yu Gu and Assistant Professor Piyush Mehta from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering were one of 12 teams selected to receive a $125,000 Phase One grant from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Program. NIAC nurtures visionary ideas that could transform future NASA missions with the creation of breakthroughs — radically better or entirely new aerospace concepts — while engaging America’s innovators and entrepreneurs as partners in the journey.

Inspired by spiders’ ballooning capabilities, the project, Microprobes Propelled and Powered

by Planetary Atmospheric Electricity, envisions the deployment of thousands of microprobes to study planetary atmospheres.

Each microprobe will have a small payload pod hanging under a string loop, which provides both atmospheric drag and electrostatic lifts. Two electric booms will sense the atmospheric potential gradient and harvest a small amount of electricity for powering the probe.

“The payload pod will contain energy storage and conversion devices; an actuator for replenishing and regulating the static electric charge on the string loop; and integrated microprocessor, radio and sensors,” Gu said. “The motions of the microprobes will be uncontrolled along the horizontal directions but can be regulated to a limited degree along the vertical direction.”

According to Gu, the onboard control system will allow extending the mission time and increasing the probability of keeping the probe in the desired atmospheric layer. If successful, the proposed microprobes can support several future planetary missions by gaining large spatial-scale atmospheric sensing capabilities.

“Understanding the composition, structure, dynamics and evolution of the atmosphere for different extraterrestrial bodies has always been an important part of NASA’s planetary missions,” Gu said. “The proposed microprobes are ideal assets to supplement other orbiters and probes in reducing mission risks and gaining large-scale measurements.”

The funded technologies have the potential to transform human and robotic exploration of other worlds, including the Moon and Mars. Only about six percent of the concepts submitted are selected for Phase One awards. If initial feasibility studies are successful, awardees can apply for Phase Two awards.

“Our NIAC program nurtures visionary ideas that could transform future NASA missions by investing in revolutionary technologies,” said Jim Reuter, acting associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. “We look to America’s innovators to help us push the boundaries of space exploration with new technology.”

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Research team wins international award for material innovation

Research and Development

WRITTEN BY MARY C. DILLON

A pair of researchers from West Virginia University have won the Delmonte Award for Excellence for the development of their patented NextGen Multifunctional Composite System, presented by the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineers North America.

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MAJJIGAPU AND GANGARAO

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Hota GangaRao, the Maurice and JoAnn Wadsworth Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at WVU, and doctoral candidate Praveen Majjigapu, created the three-piece invention consisting of filler modules — wedge-like parts made to certain specifications — reinforcing dowels and composite materials that allow buildings and bridges to resist heavier loads while providing a significant

National Science Foundation-funded Center for the Integration of Composites into Infrastructure at WVU, and Majjigapu. In October 2018, the duo won the Most Creative Application Award in the design category at the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, North America’s largest and fastest-growing composites and advanced materials exposition and education event. In 2017, Majjigapu presented

“This award symbolizes the significance of the research that is conducted at West Virginia University, and its importance in improving society.” —WVU President E. Gordon Gee amount of shock absorption as well as moisture and fire resistance. WVU is only the second university to win the award in its 38-year history, with Stanford University winning in 1991.

The NextGen Composite System, which is designed to impact the material, manufacturing and design markets, utilizes sustainable materials, high-precision manufacturing techniques, optimized design strategies, cost-effective construction and rehab techniques and minimally intrusive nondestructive evaluation methods.

“These new composite technologies are paving the way for numerous structural applications in infrastructure, aerospace, defense, automotive, marine, furniture, recreational and other industries,” said GangaRao. “In addition, these developments/ inventions are leading to reduced maintenance while providing pleasing aesthetics both in structural and non-structural applications.

“Effective utilization of our advances in the fields of military and civil infrastructure, especially in terms of rehabilitation of in-service systems, will not only save lives under extreme events such as earthquakes and hurricanes but also accrue large sums of dollars while enhancing worker productivity,” GangaRao continued. “I am especially grateful to SAMPE for elevating the importance of applicability of this invention through this recognition and equally grateful to WVU for providing opportunities to advance this work to field installation level.”

This is not the first award for GangaRao, who directs the Constructed Facilities Center and the

the NextGen System at the Collegiate Inventors Competition to a panel of judges composed of National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office experts and finished third.

“This award signifies the importance of our invention in extending the service life of infrastructure systems to resist extreme events such as earthquakes and hurricanes while saving many lives,” said Majjigapu. “There is a significant need for innovative and cost-effective solutions to repair and retrofit infrastructure around the world. When you look at hurricanes Harvey and Irma, as well as the earthquake that recently devastated parts of Mexico, you can quickly see how a solution such as this could have saved lives and preserved many of the structures that were affected.

“Dr. GangaRao and I would like to thank Professor Ever Barbero for agreeing to serve as a nominator for this award application,” Majjigapu said. “We would also like to thank the staff and students of the Constructed Facilities Center who extended help on this project.” Barbero is a SAMPE Fellow.

“It is only fitting that this news comes as we prepare our inaugural Research Week celebration,” President E. Gordon Gee said. “This award symbolizes the significance of the research that is conducted at West Virginia University, and its importance in improving society. And what makes this even more significant is that it is a result of a partnership between professor and student. I am extremely proud of Hota and Praveen’s efforts.”

The SAMPE Delmonte Award for Excellence was established by John Delmonte in 1981. It is intended to encourage outstanding contributions in the field of materials and processes throughout the world; to acknowledge major achievements by honoring distinguished individuals in the field of materials and processes; and disseminate those technical achievements among the members of the materials and processes community.

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Research and Development

R&D IN BRIEF WVU HOSTED PEDESTRIAN SAFETY SYMPOSIUM AND SUMMIT

CRAIG ALLRED ROB ALSOP

Xingbo Liu, Statler Endowed Faculty Chair in Engineering at WVU, has been named a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society.

Liu, who has done extensive research in solving various energy problems through electrochemical applications including fuel cells, sensors and batteries, was highly recommended by the Panel of Fellows, and the ACerS Board of Directors unanimously approved his selection.

LIU

LIU NAMED AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY FELLOW

Founded in 1898, the American Ceramic Society is the leading international professional membership organization for ceramic, glass and materials scientists, engineers, researchers, manufacturers, sales professionals, educators and students.

ACerS publishes refereed journals, periodicals and books; organizes meetings and expositions; and offers technical information through web and print outlets. The society serves more than 11,000 members from 70-plus countries.

NESBIT

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The Fellow designation recognizes ACerS members who have distinguished themselves through outstanding contributions to the ceramic arts or sciences, broad and productive scholarship in ceramic science and technology, conspicuous achievement in ceramic industry or by outstanding service to the society. Every year, ACerS elevates less than 0.2 percent of its members to the grade of Fellow.

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The West Virginia Local Technical Assistance Program hosted the Pedestrian Safety Symposium and Summit to engage community members to develop strategies and solutions to improve the environment for pedestrians at WVU and the community at large. The three-day symposium on campus brought together engineers, legislators and community members to discuss the city of Morgantown’s infrastructure. The discussions generated a set of critical issues to be addressed in the future, including lack of adequate traffic calming, low visibility and other pedestrian-friendly facilities. The summit was created in honor of Leah Berhanu, an engineering student who died in a crosswalk on Patteson Avenue and of other pedestrian injuries in vehicle-related events.

Cover Story

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WRITTEN BY MARY C. DILLON INTRODUCTION BY OLIVIA H. MILLER PHOTOGRAPHS SUBMITTED BY FEATURED ALUMNI AND J. PAIGE NESBIT

The Mountaineer experience is unlike any other. The memories that are formed, the culture and the traditions, all have a unique way of capturing one’s heart. Regardless of where we called home prior to beginning our academic journey at WVU, we leave with a shared passion and loyalty to West Virginia.

Their individual stories become part of a much larger story. Each success story becomes a source of endless inspiration and provides us with ways to cope with adversity.

The College strives to prepare our students for success in their professional careers; to contribute to the advancement of society through learning, discovery, extension and service; and to stimulate economic well-being in West Virginia and the world.

We are proud of our graduates and their achievements — big and small.

On the pages that follow, six alumni share where they are now and how they got there, reflecting on both their time at WVU and beyond.

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THE PAYOFF OF TAKING RISKS

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ngineering and tennis brought Michele (Pauli) Torres to WVU, but it was her five years spent as a member of ROTC that helped shape her professional career.

“In just 15 years, Health Facility Solutions Company has expanded into 23 states, the District of Columbia and internationally to Germany,” said Cumberland, Maryland, native Torres, who graduated in 1994 with a degree in mechanical engineering. “With more than 70 employees, HFS has been awarded 23-plus prime contracts with federal agencies providing worldwide medical and facility architectural, engineering, construction management and facility optimization services.”

Like many Statler College students, a love of math and fixing things led Torres to engineering.

“My father was a machinist and was always working on building or fixing something and I was always eager to watch and help,” Torres said. “My mom suggested that I should be an engineer, and that sounded like a great idea to me.”

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MICHELE PAULI TORRES HFS COMPANY OWNER AND CEO WVU EXPERIENCE BSME 1994 ROTC LIEUTENANT TENNIS TEAM KAPPA DELTA SORORITY PANHELLENIC REPRESENTATIVE HONORS COLLEGE

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“My parents instilled my work ethic – work hard, get it done and then have fun.”—Michele Pauli Torres A weekend visit with WVU’s women’s tennis team gave Torres a feel for the school.

“WVU seemed to have a lot to offer, from sports, to social activities, to extracurricular learning. The students on the team didn’t waste any time showing me how awesome WVU is, they all had pride in their school,” Torres recalled. “They cared about each other as part of the team and had the bond of being a WVU student. No other university could compare.”

In addition to tennis and ROTC, Torres lived in the Honors dorm as a freshman, was a four-year member of Kappa Delta Sorority and worked as a ticket taker for concerts at the WVU Coliseum.

“I was not offered a tennis scholarship my freshman year but was hopeful that if I made the team and had a winning record, I would be offered a scholarship my sophomore year,” Torres explained. “ROTC was my backup plan in case my tennis skills weren’t enough to get me the scholarship I needed to continue my education. Although I made the team, an injury made the coach question my ability to continue to

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be a value to the team in future years and did not offer me a scholarship. God had a plan that turned my backup plan into my ultimate career path.”

“Engineering never seemed to stress her out and she always excelled,” said former roommate and sorority sister Paige Nesbit, who now works in the Statler College. “Back in the early 90s, there weren’t many female engineering students – I personally knew two – but she never seemed to get caught up in that. It always came across to me like, ‘This is my major, I’m going to do the best I can and these guys in my classes are students just like me. We are all on the same playing field. You show up, do your work and then onto the next.’”

“My parents instilled my work ethic – work hard, get it done and then have fun. I didn’t even think about how much time or effort engineering and ROTC would require, I just knew others had done it, and so could I,” Torres said. “I have always enjoyed a challenge, whether a math problem, a tough tennis competitor or balancing a business and a family.”

Upon graduation, Torres served stints with the U.S. Army in Germany, Kentucky and Virginia, all in the area of healthcare facility planning.

“I joined the Medical Service Corps instead of the Engineer Corps in the Army because the environmental engineers fell under the medical folks. Environmental engineering was the ‘hot’ career back then and I wanted to be a part of it,” Torres explained. “Once I entered the Medical Service Corps, I found out they have a group of architects and engineers under the Health Facility Planning Agency that supported the construction and renovation of new Army medical facilities worldwide, and I knew that was where I wanted to be. It is so rewarding to be part of the planning phase of putting the building on paper and then seeing it come out of the ground into reality.”

She served as a health facility planner for nine years in Germany for the Europe Regional Medical Command, on the LaPointe Health/Dental Clinic project in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and at the U.S. Army Health Facility Planning Agency in Falls Church, Virginia. At USAHFPA she assisted with the implementation of the Project Integration Division and earned her certification as a Project Management Professional. In 2001, she received the USAHFPA Commanders Award.

She started HFS in San Antonio, Texas, to provide services to the Assistant Chief of Staff - Facilities, U.S. Army Medical Command. She refined the Army’s medical facility investment strategies to support balanced scorecard initiatives and assist programming requirements for capital investments as part of the major repair and renewal program in support of the Army Medical Department’s $1.4 billion inventory.

“After I left the Army, I still wanted to be part of the team that worked to make the medical facilities the best for our soldiers,” Torres said. “I decided to start my own business and assist on projects as a contractor. It allowed me to use my skills and still be part of a great team, just without the uniform.”

“When she was about to complete her time in the Army, I remember her starting up her company,” Nesbit said.

“When she told me, it was so matter-of-fact. To her, it was never a question of can I do this? Most of us would have been thinking ‘I just moved back to the states, almost out of the Army, what’s my next step?’ For Michele there was no question. It was I’m going to start my own company and continue to design medical clinics.”

“With high-profile projects including the transition of the Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and the construction of the new Army replacement hospital at Fort Hood near Killeen, Texas, I turned my military experience

into a multimillion-dollar business,” said Torres, who went on to earn a master’s degree in construction management at Arizona State University, and stresses the importance of continuing education.

“Continue learning and get credentials as soon as you can. Saying you are a project manager and ‘proving’ you are a project manager with your Project Manager Professional Certification goes a long way with employers,” Torres noted.

“Don’t be afraid to try something, even if you are not sure.

If you think something might be too hard, do it anyway.

The lessons you will learn will take you further than playing it safe.”

“If you think something might be too hard, do it anyway. The lessons you will learn will take you further than playing it safe.”

—Michele Pauli Torres

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Cover Story BILL CAWTHORNE GENERAL MOTORS SENIOR MANAGER OF ADVANCED ENGINEERING FOR GLOBAL TRANSMISSION AND ELECTRIFICATION WVU EXPERIENCE BSEE, BSCPE 1994 MS 1997 PHD 1999 WVU FOUNDATION SCHOLAR HONORS COLLEGE PRESIDENT ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING STUDENT ADVISORY BOARD TEACHING ASSISTANT CREW CHIEF FORMULA LIGHTNING TEAM

A LESSON IN LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND TEACHING o say Bill Cawthorne made the most of his time at WVU is an understatement.

In 10 years, the Wellsburg native earned four degrees – two at the undergraduate level in electrical engineering and computer engineering as well as his master’s and doctoral degrees – before heading off to a career with General Motors.

“I knew from middle school that I wanted to be an electrical engineer. I had always been fascinated with electricity, electronics and computers,” Cawthorne said. “I had always been a problemsolver and enjoyed puzzles and finding solutions to problems.

Electrical engineering seemed the perfect mix of my interests and passions.”

Cawthorne made several visits to the Statler College during high school and when competing during the State Math Field Day. The opportunity to see the research being conducted in the College as well as student-led projects helped seal the deal.

“From those early trips, Morgantown and WVU had a very comfortable and welcoming feel,” Cawthorne said. “I explored other universities, but none quite felt like home as WVU did.”

A WVU Foundation Scholar and Honors College student, Cawthorne quickly immersed himself in college life, serving as president of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Student

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“I can trace the origins of my career to my work on the Formula Lightning student project, which is one of the key reasons I am an advocate for student projects.” —Bill Cawthorne Advisory Board and as a teaching assistant in what is now known as the Fundamentals of Engineering program for firstyear students.

It was his involvement in the Formula Lightning team, however, that heavily influenced his future career.

“This activity was pivotal in my development,” Cawthorne said. “I quickly became the crew chief and program leader.

Not only did I gain real-world experience and hone my technical knowledge and skills, but I learned a great deal about leadership, management and teaching.”

The 15-team competition among select engineering programs from across the nation, promoted wheel-to-wheel competition of electric open-wheel formula race cars.

According to Roy Nutter, who served as advisor to the team, competitions were held at venues that included Charlotte Motor Speedway, Indianapolis Raceway Park and Richmond Raceway.

“Bill came to me and told me we should get out of the hybrid car competition and get moving on electric car racing,” said Nutter, a professor in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. “He was the spark plug that moved that team. He was the money-raiser, he was the student recruiter, he was the technical knowledge behind the development of that car. He was truly the team leader.”

“When Bill finished his undergraduate degrees, I think he could not stand to leave the Formula Electric team and he decided to stay and get a master’s degree,” Nutter continued.

“Once he finished that degree, he decided a PhD in electrical engineering sounded like a good idea, and it allowed him to continue to develop the Formula Lightning electric racing vehicle and team. His doctoral thesis had to do with a unique electric motor for possible vehicle use.”

“Dr. Nutter played an important role as a mentor and an advisor to me throughout my 10 years at WVU,” Cawthorne said. “As the advisor to the Formula Lightning team, he provided me not only with technical guidance, but helped me develop into a better leader and helped me learn how to teach other team members.”

Cawthorne’s time spent working on student projects led to a career with GM. “Allison Transmission, which was a division of GM, was developing hybrid buses and trucks. As part of the Allison recruiting activity, they were looking for new hires with experience in electrified vehicles and focused on the Formula Lightning program for part of the candidate pool,” Cawthorne explained. “In 1998, James Sydenstricker, one of my former students from when I was a teaching assistant, and a longtime Formula Lightning team member, was recruited to Allison.

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“I attribute much of our team’s success and rise in ranking over the past five years to the support Bill has provided the team.” —Andrew Nix

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The following year when I graduated with my PhD, I worked with James to get an interview with Allison, and thus began my career with GM. “So, I can trace the origins of my career to my work on the Formula Lightning student project, which is one of the key reasons I am an advocate for student projects, which includes my involvement and passion for EcoCAR and the WVU EcoCAR team.”

Cawthorne, who currently works in GM’s Propulsion Systems division as a senior manager, served as team mentor to WVU’s entry into GM’s EcoCAR3 competition. The four-year competition challenged teams to transform a 2016 Chevrolet Camaro into an electrified vehicle. WVU finished second overall in the final year of the competition.

Cawthorne will reprise his role in the EcoCAR Mobility Challenge, which will feature the 2019 Chevrolet Blazer as the vehicle platform.

“Bill was the perfect mentor for GM to select for WVU in the EcoCAR3 competition.

His experience as an undergraduate in the Formula Lightning competition gave him experience in student design competitions,” said Andrew Nix, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and EcoCAR3 team advisor. “His years of experience in vehicle electrification at GM were invaluable to our team in building the hybrid Camaro and in developing vehicle controls.

“As GM mentor, Bill meets weekly with the team leads to help guide us through the GM Vehicle Development Process, which is a process we model in the EcoCAR competition in developing a stock GM vehicle into a hybrid,” Nix explained. “Bill to me is way more than a mentor; he is a critical component to our team and has become a close friend over the past five years. I attribute much of our team’s success and rise in ranking over the past five years to the support Bill has provided the team.”

FRANKIE CEGLIA AMAZON AIR GATEWAY OPS MANAGER II WVU EXPERIENCE BSIE 2017 INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERS MEMBER RESIDENT ASSISTANT STATLER AMBASSADOR SOCIETY OF HISPANIC AND PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS ENERGY CLUB YOUNG AMERICANS FOR FREEDOM SOLAR DECATHLON TEAM CO-LEAD FORMULA SAE TEAM

MAKING THE MOST OF A HANDS-ON EDUCATION ore than 2,400 miles and a bevy of quality engineering schools lie between Valencia, California, and Morgantown.

But once Frankie Ceglia decided on engineering, becoming a Mountaineer was second nature.

“When I was in high school, I really enjoyed art and physics. I didn’t really know what engineering was until my junior year when I started to look at colleges,” Ceglia said. “I grew up reading a lot about Nikola Tesla and I thought his work was fascinating. Once I started touring schools and seeing robots, clean rooms and 3D printers, I knew engineering was the right path for me.

“My uncle Jed (DiPaolo), who graduated from WVU in 1976, was the person that convinced me to consider studying engineering my junior year of high school,” Ceglia continued. “When I started looking at schools, I found that WVU’s engineering program was very hands-on. I wasn’t very successful in high school with a very theoretical education so I knew that for me to get through something as difficult as an engineering degree, it would have to be a hands-on one. Once the other school I was deciding between said, ‘You could go here and never pick up a screwdriver until you’re a senior,’ my decision was made.”

Ceglia became the first of what would eventually become the largest number of alumni from Trinity Classical Academy to attend an out-of-state college, all based on recommendations from the Ceglia/DiPaolo family.

A 2017 industrial engineering alum, Ceglia hit the ground running his freshman year, immersing himself in projects like Solar Decathlon, Young Life, fuel cell research and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. He even worked as a camp counselor over the summer at WVU’s Engineering Challenge Camps.

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“He’s not afraid to put himself out there, and that’s what companies are looking for.” —Jack Byrd “When I toured WVU, one of the tour guides said something that I didn’t think was that special, until I visited other schools to find out otherwise,” Ceglia said. “The tour guide said, ‘At WVU, as a freshman, you have the option to not only join student orgs and clubs, but you have the option to create one.’ Upon visiting some other schools, I found that the coolest projects were only available to graduate students.”

Ceglia still reaches out to his other mentor, Jack Byrd, professor of industrial and management systems engineering, to discuss “big life” decisions.

“He helped me decide on my first job out of college as well as how to maximize my internships prior to graduation.”

“Frankie is high-energy,” said Byrd, who estimates he met with Ceglia four to five times a semester throughout his college career. “He’s not afraid to put himself out there, and that’s what companies are looking for.”

To say Ceglia made the most out of his opportunities at WVU would be an understatement. From internships and co-ops with Ecolab, Fexco and Altec, to being a resident assistant and member of WVU’s Energy Club, Golf Club, Formula SAE team, Young Americans for Freedom and the Blue and Gold Crew, he graduated with quite an extensive resume. It was no surprise when he landed a job with multinational juggernaut Amazon.

“I met recruiters from Amazon at one of WVU’s numerous job fairs,” said Ceglia. “I applied online, and I had to take a test where they looked at what decisions I would make under pressure and how I would overcome adverse situations, as well as my ability to read data and make business decisions from it. Amazon then flew me to Washington, D.C., for six hours of interviews.

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“I got my job offer the October prior to graduation, with the stipulation that they would place me at a fulfillment center within one of 38 states, but I wouldn’t know which one until mid-May. Right before graduation, I was told I was going to be launching a new fulfillment center in southern California but first I was going to do a short-term assignment in New Jersey.”

Ceglia quickly moved into the role of continuous improvement/process engineer and was promoted two months later, a mere year from his start date. Three months later, he made the switch to Amazon Air, the company’s newest business segment, where he is building their quality program.

“Our team is designing tools to decrease operational mistakes to promote a faster on-time delivery to customers. I look at systematic ways to increase quality, while increasing productivity,” Ceglia said. “I am currently stationed out of a new fulfillment center located at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California. It’s probably the coolest thing ever to watch 767s and Air Force drones take off and land all day every day.

“I figure in 10 years I will have my own company. I am trying to learn as much as I can about people and project management before going into the abyss.”

Editor’s Note: Before this issue of EngineeringWV was published, Frankie co-founded Engiteq, a growth consulting company headquartered in Morgantown, and is now pursuing a Master’s of Business Administration degree at Pepperdine University.

FROM A FARM IN FAIRMONT TO AN OI L FIELD IN KAZAKHSTAN

BEVIN VANGILDER TENGIZCHEVROIL FGP PRODUCTIVITY MANAGER WVU EXPERIENCE BSPE 2003 SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS OFFICER

eing a problem-solver came naturally to Fairmont native Bevin VanGilder.

“As a child, you could often find me alongside my dad, tinkering in the garage or on the farm,” said VanGilder. “I loved watching him fix things: his sketches and measurements, the care that he took with his tools and equipment, his ingenuity and his ability to find practical solutions to a problem.

“My mom is an amazing teacher who inspired my love of learning. She is also a fantastic problem-solver, with tremendous organizational and planning capabilities. We joke that our favorite thing to do is make lists! While neither of my parents were engineers, I think my love of problem-solving came from their influence, which naturally led me into engineering.”

An internship at NASA’s Independent Verification and Validation Fairmont facility during high school led her to WVU, where she planned to major in mechanical and aerospace engineering. But a first-year course taught by Shahab Mohaghegh, professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering, and some coaxing by Department Chair Sam Ameri led her to change majors.

“After interning with Chevron as a reservoir engineer in Bakersfield, California, the summer after my sophomore year, I knew I made the right decision,” VanGilder said. “The ability to work on complex problems using state-of-the-art technology with so many opportunities around the world was the perfect fit for me.”

That first internship led to a second and ultimately to a 16-year career with Chevron that has taken her from California to Louisiana to Angola to Kazakhstan.

“In 2012, I accepted my first international assignment based in Malongo, Angola, as the production engineering team lead, where I supervised and mentored our production engineering team,” VanGilder said. “After a stint at Chevron’s headquarters in California working in corporate strategic planning, I moved to Tengizchevroil (a joint venture between Chevron, ExxonMobil, KazMunayGas and LukArco) in Tengiz, Kazakhstan. Since

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“The best advice I can give students is to be proactive ... seek out additional opportunities.” —Bevin Vangilder joining TCO, I have worked as the operational excellence/ health, environment and safety advisor; the fatality prevention project manager; and now as the Future Growth Project-Wellhead Pressure Management Project productivity manager.”

The Tengiz Field is the world’s deepest producing supergiant oil field and the largest single-trap producing reservoir in existence. FGP-WPMP is designed to increase total daily production from the Tengiz reservoir and maximize the ultimate recovery of resources.

“As the productivity manager,” VanGilder said, “my organization’s goal is to make our contractors successful by enabling them to safely execute ‘the right work, at the right moment, the right way.’”

VanGilder is quick to credit her mentors from WVU who have helped shape her career over the years.

“I was lucky enough to have four fantastic mentors: PNGE Department Chair Sam Ameri, Shahab Mohaghegh, Kashy Aminian and Ilkin Bilgesu. I am forever grateful for the guidance and the personal care they showed me,” VanGilder said. “Each brought their own area of expertise and skillsets, and I was able to learn so much from them. Their dedication to their students continues to inspire me and is evident in the caliber of students I meet as I visit WVU as a recruiter for Chevron. It is also an honor to serve on the WVU PNGE Visiting Committee, ensuring that students have the skills needed to be marketable in the industry.”

“I consider it a pleasure to have been able to recruit excellent and talented individuals like Bevin into our department during the time I was representing petroleum engineering in the freshman engineering program,” said

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Mohaghegh. “She was a great student and ended up being a fantastic engineer for Chevron. This fact did not surprise me at all. This was exactly what I expected from her. I am glad that the people at Chevron were smart enough to realize this fact and take good advantage of her incredible talent and enthusiasm.”

Ameri concurred, noting, “In all of my interactions with Bevin, I observed her integrity, honesty, conscientiousness, high standard of ethics, dedication to hard work, academic excellence, eagerness to learn and tremendous pride in her accomplishments. She was a student that educators like me always remember and hold in the highest regard. She also displayed a sense of humility about herself, and a timely sense of humor that I appreciated tremendously. I knew in those very early years of her education that she was going places, that she would be a future leader of our industry. She has proven me very right.”

“The best advice I can give to students is to be proactive,” VanGilder said. “Your success in your career and in life is your responsibility. To do so requires you to put in the time and effort. Seek out additional opportunities. Get actively involved in student organizations. Begin developing your leadership and communication skills. Seek out internships, especially if they give you field experience. Don’t be afraid to get dirty. Spend as much time as you can out in the field with those that are using the equipment that you will be designing.

Show them the utmost respect – they have earned it – and learn as much as you can from them. You will be humbled by their knowledge and be a much better engineer for your time spent with them.”

LEARNING FROM PEOPLE AROUND HI M

KEVIN DICKEY QUAKER HOUGHTON VICE PRESIDENT WVU EXPERIENCE BSME 1994 SOCIETY OF MINING ENGINEERS PRESIDENT

urrounding himself with people he could learn from started early for Kevin Dickey.

“After retiring from the Air Force, my dad purchased a hotel and bar in his hometown, where miners would gather after work. I grew up hearing about the mining industry,” Dickey said. “I considered going into the Air Force Academy to become a pilot but my eyesight was imperfect, which impeded my acceptance. Taking my dad’s advice, I decided to pursue mining engineering.”

Dickey enrolled at WVU and quickly took advantage of opportunities presented in the Department of Mining Engineering.

“I was very active in the Society of Mining Engineers and took several leadership roles, including the president of SME,” Dickey said. “I always thought this was a way to develop skills that were important in the business world beyond the technical knowledge I was learning in my classes every day. I always found internships and co-ops through the summer, which helped me purchase my first car, as well as my first real estate assets.

“Being a mining engineer, I realized many of the skills I was learning were transferable to other areas/industries, and I leverage these skills to this day.”

After graduating from WVU in 1994, Dickey worked in various underground mining roles at Consol Energy, and then moved into the petroleum industry.

“I wanted an opportunity to grow my real estate business while having more structured work hours. I realized that the petroleum industry wanted mining engineers to help promote their products and technologies into the mining industry,” Dickey said.

“It was a great opportunity for me because I stayed in touch with my roots but developed a wealth of knowledge that went beyond what I had been exposed to in my early years as a professional.”

After several years in the petroleum industry, Dickey was approached by Quaker Chemical (now Quaker Houghton), who was looking for someone to develop their global mining industry from the ground up. The position, Dickey said, was attractive because it allowed him to use the skills he developed in both mining and petroleum engineering.

“I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit so the opportunity at Quaker allowed me to be entrepreneurial while working for a global leader in the chemical industry.”

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“Being a mining engineer, I realized many of the skills I was learning were transferable to other areas/ industries, and I leverage these skills to this day.” —Kevin Dickey

As vice president for global energy with Quaker, Dickey manages the company’s global organization but is also invested in new product development.

“It is very important for our business to stay in tune with the everchanging needs of our customers and the demands for superior products that respond to the challenges they face,” Dickey explained. “These challenges can be operational, or related to health, safety and the environment. My experience working underground left a big mark on me, and I have always been committed to creating products that have mine and miner safety at the forefront. However, as a businessman I understand that in a commodity market it is important for companies to remain profitable, so my job at Quaker is basically to create products that respond to both. I develop our strategy on a global level, develop our product portfolio and lead a highly skilled global team of mining experts.”

Jim Dean, former director of mining and industrial extension at WVU, remembers Dickey as a student, having taught his section of Underground Equipment Selection.

“A lot of Kevin’s mentorship came from Calvin Kidd, who has a long history of working with our students,” Dean said.

“Calvin has supported our chapter of SME and made sure that students like Kevin had the opportunity to attend professional

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meetings. Calvin actually joined Quaker in 2012 as global director of business development for the energy and mining division of the company and reports directly to Kevin.

“Kevin has been incredibly supportive of the Department of Mining Engineering as well as the Department of Mining and Industrial Extension,” Dean continued. “Quaker has made financial contributions to the Center for Mine Training and Energy Technologies, and has assisted us with start-up costs for WVU’s student mine rescue team.”

Dickey credits his professional and personal success to his ability to learn from the people around him.

“Learning from the people around me, whether it be from their accomplishments or mistakes, inspired me to become the person I am today,” Dickey said. “I always advise my children to surround themselves with people they can learn from, and I ask them to be positive members of their community who inspire others. As humans we have a responsibility to help each other constantly improve. Do not be afraid to think about the future and share your life with someone. At the end of the day, family is where I have found my greatest happiness, and you need to invest time into this area to truly understand what fulfillment really means.”

THE IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD WORK ETHIC

orking two jobs and being closed out of interview sessions her senior year did not derail Sandra Gentile’s dream of becoming an engineer.

“I knew I always wanted to major in something where I could utilize my math and science skills,” the Morgantown native said.

“Engineering seemed like a good option as it would allow me to not only grow my knowledge of math and science but also help me achieve my dream of owning my own construction company.

“My career, however, turned out very different from what I had ever dreamed.”

While construction was not in her future, engineering certainly was. And so was travel.

SANDRA GENTILE HESS GHANA RETIRED DIRECTOR AND GENERAL MANAGER WVU EXPERIENCE BSCE 1981 AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS KAPPA KAPPA GAMMA SORORITY

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Cover Story

Within two weeks of starting at Texaco she found herself traveling via helicopter to offshore drilling rigs and production platforms, spending about 10 days a month offshore.

Gentile has spent more than 35 years in the petroleum industry, working in more than 20 countries for Texaco and Hess Corporation. Highlights of her career include serving as a key member of the negotiation team with the Ghanaian government to secure a petroleum agreement for the West Keta deep-water license and successfully negotiating a medium-term gas sales contract for select North Sea fields.

“When I was getting ready to graduate, I didn’t have much money, so I planned on working for several years to earn enough money to start my company,” Gentile said. “I had hoped to get a civil engineering position with Texaco; however, all the interview slots were filled.”

While most students might have been deterred, Gentile plowed on, finding out the name and office location of the person from Texaco who would be conducting the interviews.

“I called Texaco’s New Orleans office and asked for Pete Bremer. I explained to him that all the interview slots were full and suggested perhaps we could talk over lunch instead.

He agreed to lunch with me, and I was offered a position as a petroleum engineer at a rather generous salary. It was too good to pass up, and I figured it might be interesting to learn a different industry for a few years.

“Several months after I started, I inquired why I was offered a petroleum engineering position versus civil,” Gentile said. “I was told that there was a shortage of petroleum

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engineers and they found my approach to getting an interview both creative and ambitious. They thought these traits would make me a good candidate to be able to switch engineering disciplines in a timely manner.”

Within two weeks of starting at Texaco, Gentile found herself traveling via helicopter to offshore drilling rigs and production platforms, spending about 10 days a month offshore.

“It was wonderful to actually see the work taking place,” Gentile said. “While in the office I got excellent exposure to the senior engineers and management, which greatly helped me increase my knowledge of the industry. Crude oil is one of the most important commodities in the world, and I enjoyed learning not only the technical aspects of the industry but also the business side, such as what influences oil prices.”

Over the past 16 years, Gentile’s career has taken her from England, to Scotland, to Azerbaijan, to Ghana. That’s quite a lot of travel from a girl who spent the first half of her life on Grant Avenue in Sunnyside.

“My parents were my mentors. My father graduated with a degree in chemistry from WVU and worked as a safety engineer for the Bureau of Mines. My mother raised five kids and always managed to have dinner on the table each night,” Gentile said. “Although I didn’t know it at the time, those family dinners were a good foundation for learning how to

“Sandra has a great deal of experience in the oil and gas industry, and she is poised to help us with our teaching in the future.”

—Sam Ameri share not only food but our thoughts and perspectives on various topics. My parents also highly stressed the importance of having a good work ethic, which I find missing in so many people today.”

Gentile stresses that it’s important for students to give some thought to what career success means to them.

“Too often students jump into a job and/or industry that really isn’t the right fit for them. They should first consider what it is that they want out of a career,” Gentile said. “Is a work/life balance important or are you happy to work 10-12-hour days? Do you want to be a technical expert or move into a leadership role? Do you want to work in a team environment or are you more content being an individual contributor? Is working for a major global corporation attractive or would you prefer a smaller company? Do you want to settle down in one location or are they mobile and if you’re mobile, would you consider positions outside of the United States?”

She retired from her position with Hess Corporation in 2016 and is currently working as an adjunct instructor in the Statler College’s Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering. She was also recently inducted in WVU’s Academy of Civil Engineers.

“Sandra has a great deal of experience in the oil and gas industry, and she is poised to help us with our teaching in the future,” said Sam Ameri, chair of the department.

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Engineering 360˚

A LEADER WHO CHANGED OUR

landscape

JoAnn DiDomenico April 10 All the BEST Gene!

Laura Badzek April 10 You are a star and your leadership will be missed.

You have done amazing things!!!

Cary Landis April 10 A highly respected leader! Congratulations for your many successes and the changes Gene!

Lucy Freed April 10 Thanks Gene, for your friendship, dedication and leadership!

ELLIS

You left an indelible mark on generations of engineers.

Dean, you will be missed!

CILENTO

Gene Cilento, the inaugural Glen H. Hiner Dean in the Statler College, stepped down on June 30 from the administrative position he held at WVU for 19 years.

After a stint as interim dean, Cilento was appointed dean in July 2001. During his tenure, the College experienced nearly two decades of revitalization and renewal, which included new brick and mortar projects, research and laboratory enhancements, new curriculum development and significant growth in student enrollment and faculty hires.

“It has been a distinct honor and privilege to lead this great college that continues to have a wonderful future,” Cilento said. “We have enjoyed great success and growth in our enrollment, graduation and research programs and in our national reputation among our peer group over the nearly two decades of this new millennium. I know the Statler College will continue to grow in stature and be an integral part of WVU’s next strategic plan.”

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Patti Wyatt Layne June 30

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@BiometricsNerd May 16 When I visited campus for the first time as a high schooler, @JusttGene was there.

When I entered, when I graduated, when I came back to join the @wvustatler board, he was there for me. I don’t know the #WVU College of Engineering without him & so glad to see him being celebrated!

@YASCapital May 17 Well deserved for lifetime achievement of massive innovation and creation to our school, we are so proud of you @JusttGene

Nancy Mcormick Dipaolo June 30 One in a million. Dean Gene made us all proud of our engineers and proud to be Mountaineers!

Emer OBroin Gunter June 30

@DarinWilsonWVTX April 10

Gene - thank you for making a difference! You have left a big footprint!

Thanks @JusttGene for your leadership as you prepared the College to be a leader in the future

Michael Flowers June 30 The successful growth of the College during your 19 years is a tremendous reflection of your leadership.

Thanks for a job well done!

@LarryO June 24 Thanks @JusttGene for your leadership as you prepared the College to be a leader in the future

Bethany Ann June 30 You are an amazing leader and friend! Sad to see you leave that post, but excited to see what your next adventure brings to the College.

Cheers!

Appointed

WU NAMED TO ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIP Nianqiang “Nick” Wu, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, was named the George B. Berry Chair of Engineering, effective as of January 1.

Matthew Valenti, professor in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, was named interim department chair, effective as of July 1.

NESBIT

Valenti began his career as a faculty member in the Lane Department in 1999 after receiving his doctorate in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech earlier that year. He has received numerous awards throughout his career, including the 2013 WVU Foundation VALENTI Outstanding Teaching Award and Fellow status from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Valenti currently serves as a faculty representative on the WVU Board of Governors, past faculty chair for WVU’s Faculty Senate and director of the Center for Identification Technology Research.

Joshua Brady, associate director of mining extension, was named interim director of the Department of Mining and Industrial Extension, effective as of May 15.

A member of the Extension faculty since 2014, Brady directs operations at WVU’s Academy for Mine Training and Energy Technologies, training more than 4,000 miners annually. He previously served in safety-related positions with Murray American Energy Corporation, CONSOL Energy and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration.

BRADY

Established by the George B. and Carolyn A. Berry WU Educational Trust, the endowment provides funds to develop cross-disciplinary engineering programs with a focus on environmental issues. George Berry graduated from WVU in 1958 with a degree in chemical engineering. He went on to have a very successful career, serving as president of Oxy Metal Industries, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, and OMI International Corporation. He was chairman and chief executive officer of Omicron Capital Corporation until his passing in 1996.

Wu, a materials scientist, is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to the fundamental understanding of charge transfer and energy transfer in electrochemical and photoelectric materials and devices.

“I am very grateful for the support from the George B. Berry Endowment,” said Wu. “This will facilitate discovery and innovation, help retain the sustainability of our research program and create opportunities for collaboration with scholars.”

Brady earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and technology at Fairmont State University and will earn a master’s degree in safety management from WVU this May. He replaces Jim Dean, who had served as director 25 years and will continue as an extension agent.

Elected as a Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineering

Kenneth Currie, professor of industrial and management systems engineering at West Virginia University, was reappointed to his administrative post as chair of the department for a five-year term, effective as of July 1.

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CURRIE

As detailed in his five-year review, Currie has been a fierce advocate for students and faculty. Moving forward he hopes to expand on the recently upgraded advanced manufacturing labs by adding state-of-the-art equipment. In addition, Currie will explore adding more online courses as well as online master’s programs.

GUPTA

Rakesh Gupta was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineering. Fellows are honored for their outstanding contributions in the field of plastics engineering, science or technology, or in management of such activities. Candidates must be sponsored by an SPE Division or Special Interest Group and elected by the Fellows Election Committee on the basis of their professional record as well as written sponsorships from at least two SPE members. Only 340 members have been awarded this prestigious title since it was introduced in 1984.

An active researcher, Currie has served as either principal or co-principal investigator of over $9 million in externally funded research, with clients ranging from private industry to government agencies.

In 2016, Currie received the highest classification given to members of the Institute of Industrial Systems Engineering, the Fellow Award, which recognizes outstanding leaders in the profession who have made significant, nationally recognized contributions to industrial engineering.

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WVU ROBOTICS TEAM WINS SECOND NASA COMPETITION IN THREE YEARS WRITTEN BY PAM PRITT

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Persistence, combined with a bit of a gambling spirit, carried West Virginia University’s robotic drilling team to another first place finish in NASA’s Moon to Mars Ice and Prospecting Challenge, the team’s second top finish in three years.

PHOTOGRAPH BY NASA LANGLEY

It wasn’t certain until the very end that WVU’s When a sensor didn’t register the presence of Mountaineer Ice Drilling Automated System III, water, though, the team wasn’t sure if MIDAS III led by Powsiri Klinkhachorn, was going to pull out had been successful. the victory over teams from Massachusetts Institute “We waited until the last 45 minutes of the of Technology, Stevens Institute of Technology, competition and then started to pull the water out,” Virginia Tech or Northeastern University, the 2018 Klinkhachorn said. “With a bit of surprise, the water winner. kept coming.”

“Our students can compete with anyone, and In fact, it kept coming at a rate of 10 times more I believe that the dedication and passion of the than the second-place team, Stevens Institute of student teams and advisors are the key ingredients Technology. to WVU’s success,” said Dean Emeritus Gene Just like drilling for water on Earth, the team Cilento. “Looking back on this NASA prestigious didn’t know exactly what it would encounter when and selective competition for drilling through layers of soil the last six years, our team has and rock. One of the extremely won first place three times, hard overburden layers took second place three times, and a its toll on MIDAS III, claiming number of additional awards.” four polycrystalline diamond Derek Roesch of Nazareth, compact drill bits.

Pennsylvania, Bertrand MIDAS I came home Wieliczko of Holderness, New with a first place in 2017 and Hampshire, Ian Hostottle of MIDAS II a second place in Williamstown, Nathan Owen 2018. of Fairfax, Virginia, and Karan The team is sponsored KLINKHACHORN, ROESCH, WIELICZKO, HOSTOTTLE, OWEN AND SAH (Kermit) Sah of Lexington, by the Benjamin M. Statler PHOTOGRAPH BY NASA LANGLEY South Carolina, are the students College of Engineering and behind MIDAS III. Mineral Resources, Lane WVU was a close second to MIT at the close Department of Computer Science and Electrical of the first day of competition at NASA’s Langley Engineering, the WVU Honors College, the West Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Virginia NASA Space Grant Consortium and Klinkhachorn said WVU was one of three teams ProtoLabs. Additional support came from Ilkin that extracted water from the test bed on the first Bilgesu as the team’s co-advisor with his expertise day, with MIDAS III pumping 2,040 milliliters, the in petroleum and natural gas engineering and Jim most of any team; however, MIT got an extra 103 Hall of the Chemical Engineering Machine Shop, milliliters in the hands-off operation. who allowed the team to use his machines and for After a drill bit stuck in a hard layer of parts fabrication. overburden and then came loose from the drilling According to NASA’s website, the competition apparatus, the team called off its all-in-one probe helps inform its approaches for future human down to the ice layer with only three-and-a-half space exploration and prompts college students hours to hit water on the second day. Minor repairs to investigate, plan and analyze space exploration and a part replacement left MIDAS III in good and design at different states of development. shape to finish the competition.

The Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concept“We were able to get down to the ice layer Academic Linkage competitions fuel innovation for within 50 minutes, so we just needed to melt the ice aerospace system concepts, analogs and technology and recover the water,” Klinkhachorn said. prototyping, the site says.

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NESBIT

BARTH

WRITTEN BY RACHEL ROGERS

BARTH SELECTED TO HOST 2019 INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK WEBINAR Karl Barth, the Samples Distinguished Professor of Structural Engineering, hosted a webinar titled “Experimental and Field Testing of Press-Brake-Formed Shallow Steel Tub Girders” as part of Infrastructure Week 2019, a weeklong event in Washington, D.C., that aims to highlight the critical importance of infrastructure in the economy. The nonprofit organization, Infrastructure Week, is leading the fight to rebuild and modernize America’s infrastructure.

Barth’s webinar discussed the innovative press-brake-formed shallow steel tub girder (PBTG) system. The system, developed by Barth and a team of researchers at WVU, was created in response to the national bridge crisis. The PBTG bridge is an innovative, cost-effective and lightweight system that is able to last 100 years or more.

Poland named director of Statler College Advising Center

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Michelle Poland has been named director of WVU’s Statler College Advising Center, a position she has held on an interim basis since August 2018. The Advising Center will ultimately serve as the advising home for sophomores, juniors and seniors in the Statler College. Based in room 151 of the Engineering Sciences Building, Poland and her team are currently advising students from the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

POLAND

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A $767,000 donation from the Asphalt Pavement Association of West Virginia (APAWV) will fund the creation of a new endowed faculty chair within the Statler College. The gift will be paired with earlier donations from the group that funded a faculty professorship.

In 1993, the APAWV, which is comprised of multiple contractors from around the state, created an endowment with the WVU Foundation to fund an asphalt technology professorship. Professor John Zaniewski has held that position since 1997. After Zaniewski announced late last year that he would be retiring, board members of the APAWV voted to pledge additional money to raise the position from an endowed professorship to an endowed chair.

The Asphalt Technology program in the Statler College exposes civil engineering students to the latest asphalt pavement technology, practices and materials. At the time of its inception, the program was only the second of its kind in the country. In addition to teaching students valuable skills, Pat Parsons, Asphalt Pavement Association of West Virginia Executive Director, said the investment is beneficial for the pavement industry.

The Asphalt Pavement Association, a division of the Contractors’ Association of West Virginia, is a nonprofit trade association representing a variety of firms involved indirectly and directly in the asphalt industry. After the fulfillment of its latest pledge, the group’s total giving to the Statler College will be $1 million.

A new approach Assistant Professor of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Thorsten Wuest published his textbook “Introduction to Advanced Manufacturing” with Ramy Harik, associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of South Carolina. The experienced and passionate engineers had a mission to make the subject of advanced manufacturing easy to understand. The new textbook paves the way for those interested in new opportunities in the industry.

WVU FOUNDATION

Asphalt Pavement Association funds creation of new faculty chair

KRISTIN BREWSTER WINS REGIONAL ADVISING AWARD

BREWSTER

AWARDWINNING RESEARCHER EARL SCIME NAMED INTERIM DEAN

The award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding qualities associated with academic advising of students or academic advising administration. The NACADA Region 3 is made up of Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.

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NESBIT

Kristin Brewster, curricular outreach program coordinator in the Statler College, received the National Academic Advising Association’s Region 3 Award for Excellence in Advising – New Advisor.

SCIME

WRITTEN BY ANN CLAYCOMB

A TEN-YEAR PARTNERSHIP LEADING INNOVATION IN SPACE EXPLORATION

Earl Scime has been named interim dean of the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. Currently the chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Scime has been a member of the WVU faculty since 1995 and has held a series of named chair positions since 2007. He has also served in numerous leadership positions at the University, first as chair of physics and astronomy in 2002. He served as interim associate vice president for research, a University-level position in the Research Office, from 2013-2015. He left that role to return to his administrative post as chair.

In a private ceremony, the West Virginia Robotic Technology Center, operated by the West Virginia University Research Corporation, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center celebrated ten years of partnership and innovation.

Former Provost Joyce McConnell acknowledged Scime is “an unconventional choice, but also an exciting one,” noting that he has worked with engineering colleagues on interdisciplinary research for many years.

In attendance from the WVRTC was principal investigator Gene Cilento, program manager Giacomo Marani and their fellow engineers joined by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Director Christopher Scolese, along with WVU faculty and staff.

He is also a member of the College’s award-winning robotics team, a natural extension of his own service as the founder and leader of Mountaineer Area Robotics, an internationally recognized high school robotics team whose mission is to inspire youth throughout the state and the world.

During the ceremony, Bridenstine spoke of future technical advances for space inhabitation, commercialization and sustainability.

“Robotics is the key to our future and we’re going to need technologists, engineers and scientists,” Bridenstine said, “WVRTC is chief among those in my mind.”

“Earl is a visionary leader and a world-class scientist who truly understands both the value and the caliber of the work being done in Statler,” McConnell said. “He will guide the faculty, students and staff through the upcoming transition period with tremendous wisdom and expertise.”

During recent RRM3 tests on the International Space Station, WVU and West Virginia Robotic Technology Center engineers tested machine vision algorithms that will help robot operators locate specific objects of interest and interact with them.

PHOTOGRAPH SUBMITTED

A first-generation college graduate, Scime has received WVU’s highest awards for research (the Benedum Award for Distinguished Scholarship), teaching (WVU Foundation Outstanding Teaching Award) and service (the Heebink Award for Distinguished Extended Service), as well as teaching and research awards from the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. He has also been recognized nationally for his research and for his mentoring of students of all ages.

“This is an exciting and humbling opportunity,” Scime said. “I look forward to serving the exceptional students and faculty of the Statler College.”

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Engineering 360˚

WVU, Marshall, Morgantown High and Buckhannon-Upshur students capture grand prizes in statewide business plan competitions WRITTEN BY PATRICK GREGG

This year’s winning business ideas in the West Virginia Collegiate and High School Business Plan Competitions are a sign of the times: STEM learning, food and gaming. Three collegiate and two high school teams are a step closer to their entrepreneurial dreams.

The competitions are hosted by West Virginia University’s BrickStreet Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (recently renamed the Encova Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation), located in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics.

In April, winning collegiate teams included two from WVU who were judged as top entries in the STEM and Hospitality and Tourism categories — a “STEM kit” called Iconic EDU, which enables students to fuse concepts taught in the classroom to real world ideas, and The Neighborhood Kombuchery, an idea to open a brewery specifically for kombucha. The third collegiate winner, in the Lifestyle and Innovation category, came from Marshall, called Farm to Fork Meat Processing. Each of the collegiate winners were awarded a $10,000 grand prize.

Winning collegiate teams were Kyle Gillis, James Carnes and Alan Brockman, Iconic EDU, WVU; The Neighborhood Kombuchery, Andrew Rhodes, WVU; and Ashley Hoskins and Aaron Simon, Marshall University.

The high school competition saw Morgantown High School student Marleah Knights win a $10,000 college scholarship with the idea of WV2U, a farm-to-work meal

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kit service. Representatives of BrickStreet Insurance (now Encova Insurance), whose support created the entrepreneurship and innovation center at WVU, announced an additional $10,000 prize at the high school competition, enabling a second college scholarship to be awarded to Invisible Castle Gaming from Buckhannon-Upshur High School, a team comprised of seniors Zachary Wellman and Carter Glover.

“The final day of the competitions was such a fantastic one, all the way around,” said Tara St. Clair, senior program manager at the Encova Center. “We saw that students had really upped the level of competition and their ideas this year, and that makes the competitions better. And of course, we were surprised by the addition of a second $10,000 scholarship. It was a great day.”

Among collegiate prizes was $10,000 provided by ZinnStarter, whose support for the business plan competition made it part of a national network that includes Brigham Young University, San Jose State University, Utah Valley University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Ray Zinn, the longest-serving CEO in Silicon Valley and founder of Micrel Semiconductors, provided $10,000 to the Encova Center in 2017 to make it part of the ZinnStarter program. For the second consecutive year, those funds will be distributed to any teams with promising business ideas, outside of the grand prize money. The program is designed to allow students to create go-to-market plans, finish prototypes and ultimately be evaluated on the performance of their use of funding.

“Submitting to the West Virginia Business Plan Competition was the beginning of an unexpected journey we will never forget,” said Gillis, Iconic EDU. “We went into

WILSON

The Neighborhood Kombuchery is a craft kombucha brewer located in Morgantown. Team member Andrew Rhodes, accepts the team’s prizes.

WILSON WILSON

Alan Brockman and Kyle Gillis, WVU, winners of the West Virginia Collegiate and High School Business Plan Competitions.

Iconic EDU is an education technology company that develops STEM kits that enable students to connect concepts taught in the classroom to real-world examples. Team member Alan Brockman, WVU, accepts the team’s winnings.

the competition with an idea and a few rough sketches. After going through the process of the competition and utilizing the given resources, we now have a fully developed product that’s been in students’ hands all around Monongalia County. Using the money from the competition, we will continue to work hard and refine our product throughout the summer so we can officially launch this August.”

Upon accepting the grand prizes, winning collegiate teams will work toward opening their businesses in West Virginia. High school competition winners were awarded $10,000 prizes, scholarships which will go toward their college educations at West Virginia schools supporting the competition.

The Encova Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is part of the WVU Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship Applied Ecosystem, a University-wide web of centers, offices and programs that foster and support innovation and

entrepreneurship among WVU students, faculty and staff while engaging the statewide community.

Other areas include IDEA Faculty Fellows, WVU Women’s Business Center, LaunchLab Network, Davis Young Innovators program, WVU Extension Service, Patent and Trademark Resource Center, Health Sciences Innovation Center, Legal Clinics, Media Innovation Center, Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the MakerLab and Technology Transfer.

Fostering the creation of new businesses has been identified as a goal for the WV Forward initiative to advance the state’s economic future. WV Forward is a statewide collaboration led by WVU, the State Department of Commerce and Marshall University to help grow the economy by adding jobs, investing in education, and improving health and wellness to create the most prosperous West Virginia possible.

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Engineering 360˚

Students awarded prestigious NSF summer research fellowships

PERSINGER

Hite, who is from Harpers Ferry, is a senior double-majoring in mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering in the Statler College. He’ll assist in testing new material for aircraft, helmets or body armor under impact. Although his first interest was in artificial intelligence in robotics, his classroom and research experience helped him find a passion for materials science; Hite plans to pursue a master’s degree in that field.

PERSINGER

HITE

Baker, of Glen Dale, is a senior majoring in chemical engineering in the Statler College. He participated in WVU’s Research Apprenticeship program in spring and fall 2018, and presented his research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in April. His research will focus on validating current thermodynamic models using the stability and oxidation properties of materials.

Baker plans to pursue his PhD in chemical engineering before pursuing employment with NIST.

BAKER

Salvi Singh, a master’s student in computer science from the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering was awarded the NSF Travel Award for her presentation at the 9th ACM Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, and Health Informatics.

PHOTOGRAPH SUBMITTED

Daniel Baker and Chad Hite are among four from WVU who spent 11 weeks contributing to ongoing research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology sites in Boulder, Colorado, and Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Singh Awarded Prestigious Travel Award

SINGH

The title of her presentation was “Genet-CNV: Boolean Implication Networks for Modelling Genome-Wide Co-occurrence of DNA Copy Number Variations.” Singh, working with her mentor Lan Guo, uses an algorithm to detect DNA copy number variation networks that may be important for lung cancers. Her current research focuses on identifying genes that may be drivers in lung cancer initiation and metastasis.

Mountaineer Racing team receives award from DENSO Foundation WRITTEN BY JANINE POSEY

PHOTOGRAPH SUBMITTED

West Virginia University’s Mountaineer Racing team recently received a $30,000 award from the DENSO North America Foundation in support of the development of an engine dynamometer testing facility. The facility will be used to test and tune the team’s racing engines.

The team submitted a proposal to the DENSO Foundation to build an engine and powertrain dynamometer that will benefit WVU’s Formula SAE and Baja teams. The proposal included a problem statement describing the team’s need for a suitable engine testing facility, the goals and objectives of the project, a timeline for completion of the work and detailed budget.

The dynamometer will enable the Formula SAE team to conduct testing to tune their engine to achieve the best performance and efficiency, and evaluate intake and exhaust systems, cooling systems, engine control unit options and fueling systems. The Baja team will use the dynamometer to test, tune and optimize their continuously variable transmissions.

“The Mountaineer Racing Formula SAE team is honored that our proposal was selected and funded by the DENSO North America Foundation,”

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said Scott Wayne, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and faculty advisor of the team. “I am proud of the hard work and dedication that my students devoted to writing a competitive grant proposal. We are grateful to the DENSO North America Foundation for sponsoring the WVU Formula SAE racing program. The grant will greatly enhance the competitiveness of the team.”

The award will also support travel to vehicle dynamics and engine tuning workshops where students will learn about the fundamentals of race car vehicle dynamics, data acquisition and analysis and engine tuning procedures.

Founded in 2001, the DENSO North America Foundation helps students advance their education in engineering, technology and other related programs by providing grants to colleges and universities that help communities prosper through the development of a skilled and knowledgeable workforce. In recognition of the award, the competition cars will display the DENSO logo.

LOH

NESBIT

Harrison “Henry” Loh, a doctoral student conducting research in materials science and engineering, is the recipient of a 2019 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. The award will allow the Wheeling native to expand his research in the area of flexible technologies and devices.

GREGG AND BYXBEE

Loh is currently studying graphene-based inks and their use in the fabrication of versatile and tunable chemical and gas sensors.

PIONEERS IN A CULTURAL EXCHANGE

The extremely competitive NSF Graduate Research Fellowships are used to support the most promising graduate students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Loh will receive $32,000 per year for three years to support his research, as well as additional provisions to cover graduate school tuition.

NESBIT

Sullivan awarded DAAD RISE Germany summer internship

PHOTOGRAPH SUBMITTED

Loh wins National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

SULLIVAN

Joseph Sullivan, a sophomore computer science major, was awarded a summer internship with the German Academic Exchange Service – or DAAD – Research Internships in Science and Engineering program. Sullivan is the first WVU student to be awarded this opportunity.

DAAD RISE Germany offers undergraduate students from North American, British and Irish universities the opportunity to complete a summer research internship at top German universities and research institutions. The program’s objective is to promote student exchange to Germany in the fields of natural science, engineering and life sciences, as well as motivating undergraduate students to learn more about Germany’s research landscape and study opportunities.

The competitive scholarship allowed Sullivan the opportunity to conduct research at Leuphana University of Lüneburg under the mentorship of a doctoral student. Approximately 300 scholarships out of over 1,900 applications were awarded this year.

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Civil engineering students Kaitlyn Gregg and Hanna Byxbee joined Tatianna Evanisko from the Davis College as the first women from WVU to participate in a two-week cultural exchange program at China University of Mining and Technology’s Nanhu campus in Xuhou this past June. Students will research science, engineering and safety practices related to green energy and participate in classes about the humanities and social sciences relevant to Chinese history, policies and economy.

The CUMT program included field trips where students enjoyed Chinese culture and practice their Mandarin language skills. Previous WVU students visited the Great Wall, the city of Shanghai, the Huangshan mountains and experienced the life of a university student in a Chinese city.

WVU has been participating in CUMT’s summer program since 2015. It is ranked as the best mining university in China.

Tuition and living expenses are sponsored by CUMT with additional contributions for travel and personal expenses from WVU’s Energy Institute, Statler College, Davis College and the Office of Global Affairs.

BENJAMIN M. STATLER COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND MINERAL RESOURCES

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Engineering 360˚

NEW FACULTY

GARNER

EMILY GARNER ASSISTANT PROFESSOR Civil and Environmental Engineering

Education: PhD: civil engineering, Virginia Tech, ’18 BS: civil engineering, WVU, ’13 Teaching interests: environmental engineering, water and wastewater treatment, environmental microbiology, biological waste treatment, environmental biotechnology Research interests: environmental microbiology, public health, wastewater reuse and sustainable water treatment, bacterial growth in pipe networks, microbial ecology, application of next generation sequencing technologies

ZHANG

GOUZD

XINYU “CATHERINE” JEREMY GOUZD ZHANG ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR TEACHING ASSISTANT PROFESSOR Fundamentals of Engineering

Education:  PhD: environmental engineering, University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, ’12 MS: environmental science and engineering, Tsinghua University, ’07 BS: environmental engineering, Dalian University of Technology, ’05 Teaching interests: engineering fundamentals, engineering design, hydraulics, environmental engineering, and biomanufacturing/bioprocess

Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Education:  PhD: occupational safety and health, WVU, ’18 MS: education, Fairmont State University, ’15 BS: mechanical engineering, Fairmont State University, ’13 Teaching interests: safety management, controlling environmental and personal hazards, safety and health training Research interests: ANSI Z87.1, eye and face protection

Research interests: engineering education, environmental engineering, and biomanufacturing

LIU

ZHICHAO LIU

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Education:  PhD: industrial engineering, TX Tech, ’19 MSc: mechanical engineering, Dalian University of Technology, China, ’13 BSc: mechanical engineering, Qingdao Agricultural University, China, ’10 Teaching interests: manufacturing processes, additive manufacturing, and sustainable manufacturing Research interests: directed energy deposition additive manufacturing of superalloy, high added-value components remanufacturing with laser additive manufacturing, and sustainability assessment of additive manufacturing processes

RETIREES

The following people have officially retired from the Statler College, effective June 30, 2019.

We thank them for their years of service.

JACK BYRD

Industrial and Management Systems Engineering

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Industrial and Management Systems Engineering

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MARK JERABEK

Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

KEN MEANS

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

FLANERY DELIVERS 2019 COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS WRITTEN BY MARY C. DILLON

CILENTO, PRESIDENT GEE, HAUSER AND FLANERY ELLIS

A 1978 graduate of West Virginia University’s Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering delivered the address and received an honorary doctoral degree at the Statler College’s 2019 Commencement.

Sharon Flanery is a member of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC in its Charleston office, where she chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Department and is a member of the executive committee. She concentrates her practice in energy and mineral law and has represented major oil and gas, coal, pipeline and hydroelectric companies. As a petroleum engineer with both an operating and legal background in the energy industry, she brings real-world experience to her law practice. Her experience includes acquisitions and divestitures, mineral leases, joint ventures, contract mining agreements, joint operating agreements and sales and marketing agreements, as well as gathering, transportation and processing agreements. In addition, she has substantial experience in land and legal due diligence associated with energy transactions and in the legislative and regulatory arenas.

Flanery is recognized by The Best Lawyers in America in the fields of energy, energy regulatory, mining, natural resources and oil and gas law. She is also recognized by Chambers USA as a leading lawyer in the natural resources field.

Flanery is a recipient of the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation’s John L. McClaugherty Award for Dedication and Service and is a past president of the Foundation. She is also a member of the advisory committees for the Statler College and its Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering. She was an inaugural inductee into the department’s Academy of Distinguished Alumni, and she was selected as a guest lecturer of the Statler College’s Distinguished Lecture Series.

Prior to joining Steptoe & Johnson, Flanery served as vice president of exploration for Columbia Natural Resources Inc., where she was responsible for the geoscience, reservoir engineering, marketing and land departments. Before obtaining her law degree, she worked as a reservoir engineer in Appalachia and also at Aramco in Saudi Arabia.

Flanery received a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University in 1991, where she was a member of the Law Review. She is a member of the West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio bars and holds a United States Patent and Trademark License.

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PHOTOGRAPH SUBMITTED

Engineering 360˚

PHOTOGRAPH SUBMITTED

NSF Award to fund undergraduate summer robotics research Eight undergraduate students, mostly from the Appalachian region, will come to West Virginia University for the next three summers to conduct state-of-the-art robotics research, thanks to a more than $287,000 award from the National Science Foundation.

WVU teams finish first and second at regional civil engineering competitions

Under the direction of Yu Gu, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, the Research Experiences for Undergraduates site will provide training, mentorship and support to undergraduate students so that they can become independent researchers. Joining Gu on the project as mentors are Powsiri Klinkhachorn, professor of computer science and electrical engineering, and Assistant Professor Jason Gross and Associate Professor Guilherme Pereira from mechanical and aerospace engineering.

For the third time in four years, teams from West Virginia University finished at or near the top in the Steel Bridge and Concrete Canoe competitions at the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Virginias Conference and the American Institute of Steel Construction Competition held recently at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia.

WVU named 2019 Foundation Scholars The best and brightest senior high school students who had their choice of some of the nation’s most esteemed colleges have chosen to attend WVU as 2019 Foundation Scholars, the highest academic scholarship the University awards. Statler College received two out of the five recipients:

ELLIS

Comprised of eight civil engineering majors – Daniel Boyles (Morgantown), Alyssa Braddee (Uniontown, Pennsylvania), Connor Croghan (Burke, Virginia), John Dickson (Salisbury, Maryland), Rachel Formica (Montville, Ohio), Jacob Hise (Dunmore), Adam Roh (Morgantown) and Titus Smith (Bridgeport) – the Steel Bridge team spent most of the fall semester designing the bridge and preparing for fabrication.

ELLIS

The events brought together 13 schools from West Virginia, Virginia and Washington, D.C., to allow students to gain valuable hands-on experience by competing in various engineering related competitions. WVU captured top honors in the Steel Bridge competition, while finishing second in the Concrete Canoe event.

BISCHOF

LEVINE

Lillian Bischof, a Wheeling native, who discovered her love for science in sixth grade through the Regional Environment Action program at Oglebay Park, is anxious to research the role of genetic modification for food security and accessible healthcare. She will major in chemical engineering and finance and join the Society of Women Engineers and other student organizations that empower women in STEM. She is the daughter of Deborah and Lee Bischof, a WVU alumnus.

Daisy Levine, of Shepherdstown and daughter of David and Monica Levine, believes that degrees in physics and mechanical engineering will provide a strong foundation for her career as a research scientist focused on sustainable energy products. Her longtime goal to move out of state came to a halt after visiting several Ivy League schools, where unlike at WVU, she did not feel like a priority. She plans to use her stipend for study abroad in Barcelona, Spain, where she can master the Spanish language and improve her intercultural skills.

To qualify for the Foundation Scholarship, students must meet a rigorous set of criteria, including holding West Virginia residency, possessing a minimum GPA of 3.8 and achieving a minimum composite score of 31 on the ACT or the equivalent SAT score. Nearly 170 high school students initially applied for the scholarship, and of those, 20 were invited to campus for interviews. The value of the Foundation Scholarship, when paired with the PROMISE Scholarship, is more than $90,000 over four years.

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SPE STUDENT CHAPTER RECEIVES GLOBAL ACCLAIM The WVU Society of Petroleum Engineers student chapter was awarded the 2019 Student Chapter of Excellence Award by the Society of Petroleum Engineers. The chapter has been recognized for succeeding in fulfilling SPE’s mission by serving local members. This prestigious award is the second-highest honor a student organization may receive and is awarded to only 20 percent of student chapters around the world.

NESBIT

WVU SPE student chapter officers from l-r: Morgan Measures, Saleh Alateeqi, Josh Dietz, Ashley Konya, and Sam Ameri, faculty advisor.

PERSINGER

THRASHER

Virginia Thrasher, a member of the Honors College from Springfield, Virginia, was one of eight students selected to receive WVU’s highest student honor, the Order of Augusta, and was among the 41 students selected as WVU Foundation’s Outstanding Seniors.

Thrasher graduated with a degree in biomedical engineering in May. While at WVU she was a member of the WVU rifle team, WVU Student Athlete Advisory Council, WVU Biomedical Engineering Club, Mountain Honorary and currently a member of the U.S. National Rifle Team. Winner of the gold medal in the women’s 10-meter air rifle event at the 2016 Summer Olympic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a finalist for the 2019 Rhodes Scholarship, Thrasher was a powerhouse in and out of the classroom.

NESBIT

Thrasher received Order of Augusta KREPS, PALLY, VARGAS QUISPE, CUTLIP

SENIOR DESIGN TEAMS FINISH SECOND AND FIFTH IN INTERNATIONAL ROBOTICS COMPETITION

Two teams of students from West Virginia University traveled to Oklahoma State University to compete in the 10th Annual Mercury Remote Robot Challenge.

Under the mentorship of Powsiri Klinkhachorn, professor of computer science and electrical engineering, the teams took their senior capstone design class projects to the event. Mechaneer — created by computer engineering and electrical engineering dual majors Troy Pallay from Bridgeport and Sean Kreps from Clearwater, Maryland, electrical engineering major Vincent Cutlip from Morgantown and computer engineering major Mirella Vargas Quispe from Ranson, finished second, behind event winner Kansas State.

WVU Sharknado — created by computer science majors James Harrick from Morgantown and Jakob Heilman from Weirton, computer engineering majors Fares El Amine from Beirut, Lebanon and Michael Watkins from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and electrical engineering major Laura Foster from Little Hocking, Ohio, finished fifth.

The competition challenges teams to design and create a robot capable of completing a remote mission. The robot must be controlled via the internet from at least 50 miles away.

Other universities competing included Oklahoma State, University of Oklahoma, University of Bogota, Columbia and Technologico de Monterrey from Mexico.

WVU has a record of success in the event, finishing second twice, third twice and winning the Best Design Award. This is the final year of the competition.

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Our Alumni

SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING ALUM WINS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD

PHOTOGRAPH SUBMITTED

PERSINGER

Carl Heinlein, a safety and environmental engineering alumnus, has been named a recipient of the Board of Certified Safety Professionals 2019 Award of Excellence. Since 1969, the Board of Certified Safety Professionals have been setting and certifying the technical competency criteria for safety, health and environmental practitioners.

YASSINI

DISTINGUISHED ALUM INDUCTED TO LIGHT READING HALL OF FAME

HEINLEIN

A leader in his field, Heinlein joined the American Contractors Insurance Group in 2002, where he contributes to the successful safety initiatives of construction clients. In addition, Heinlein worked as the director of construction services for FDR Safety and is the former national safety and health director for the Associated General Contractors of America.

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING ALUM RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS PRESIDENTIAL EARLY CAREER AWARD PHOTOGRAPH BY NETL

Rouzbeh Yassini, a Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering alumnus, has been inducted into the 2019 Light Reading Hall of Fame for his pioneering work in the broadband industry. Originating in 2010, the Light Reading Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have made a notable contribution to the global communications sector.

Yassini, otherwise known as the “father of the cable modem,” is a renowned author, philanthropist and engineer. He has gained an international reputation for inventing the cable modem and for establishing the cable modem industry standards.

To pursue his long-term vision of ensuring global, ubiquitous broadband connectivity for all, Yassini founded the University of New Hampshire Broadband Center of Excellence in 2012, where he serves as executive director. Yassini is a member of the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Distinguished Alumni Academy as well as the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni.

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MUSSER

The United States government has named Jordan Musser, mechanical engineering alumnus, a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. This award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government to outstanding scientists and engineers who are beginning their independent research careers and who show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology. Musser will receive a citation, plaque and up to five years of funding to advance his research.

PHOTOGRAPH SUBMITTED

Kristen Beatty-Graham, a Marion County, West Virginia, native and Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources alumna, has been honored as a member of the 2019 Generation Next: 40 under 40 program by the State Journal and NCWV Media. Beatty-Graham holds bachelor’s degrees in computer and electrical engineering and a master’s degree in software engineering. Beatty-Graham serves as the head of global partner IT applications and strategy at Mylan, a global pharmaceutical company committed to setting new standards in healthcare.

ADEKUNLE

Leading the way Computer engineering alumnus Ola Adekunle is a successful patent lawyer for Google, LLC, where he utilizes his computer engineering, law and MBA degrees from WVU to help scientists and engineers protect their discoveries and inventions. He has been selected for the Class of 2019 WVU College of Law Lawyers and Leaders Award. The award is given in honor of those who have dedicated their lives to advocating for the rights of others by West Virginia Executive Magazine and the WVU College of Law. In addition, Adekunle has been elected to the WVU Foundation Board of Directors, where will serve a three-year term.

BEATTY-GRAHAM

Generation Next

BEATTY-GRAHAM

Alum named to U.S. Department of Labor Advisory Committee In May 2019, the secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration appointed 15 members to serve on the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health. Christopher Fought, a safety management alumnus and Global Construction and North America Construction safety manager, General Motors, LLC, has been appointed to serve as a public representative.

Serving a two-year term, the members represent the public, employers, employees and federal and state government interests. The committee advises the secretary of labor and the assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health in the formulation of standards affecting the construction industry, and on policy matters arising in the administration of the safety and health provisions.

Making history

NESBIT

SCHULLER

Compass Minerals International Inc., a leading provider of essential minerals, has hired George Schuller, a mining engineering alumnus, as its first chief operating officer. In this position, Schuller will be responsible for managing all global operations across the company’s salt and plant nutrition business. Compass Minerals provides salt for winter roadway safety and other consumer, industrial and agricultural uses, and specialty plant nutrition materials that improve the quality and yield of crops.

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BENJAMIN M. STATLER COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND MINERAL RESOURCES

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Annual Report GRADUATE STUDENTS

ENROLLMENT COLLEGE TOTAL 4,453

AEROSPACE

INDUSTRIAL

BIOMEDICAL

INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE

CHEMICAL

MATERIAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

31 4

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

52

AEROSPACE

CYBERSECURITY

CIVIL

BIOMEDICAL

ELECTRICAL

COMPUTER ENGINEERING

BIOMETRIC SYSTEMS

FUNDAMENTALS OF ENGINEERING

369

108

1

132

40

1,440

CHEMICAL

INDUSTRIAL

CIVIL

MECHANICAL

180

265 COMPUTER ENGINEERING

104

COMPUTER SCIENCE

206

341 343 MINING

57

PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS

242

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FALL

17

21

MECHANICAL

78

MINING

17

COMPUTER SCIENCE

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH

ELECTRICAL

PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS

67 52

ENERGY SYSTEMS

3

ENGINEERING

3

ENGINEERING NON-DEGREE

3

TOTAL 625

TOTAL 3,828

52

58

39

14 28

SAFETY MANAGEMENT

89

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

40

2019 RESEARCH EXPENDITURES BY SOURCE TOTAL $23,029,424.64

OT

STATE

$2 HER $687,966.26 ,76 3,3 18 .79

RESEARCH EXPENDITURES 2018-19

FEDERAL

$19,578,139.59

BY SOURCE

BY DEPARTMENT AND TENURE TRACK FACULTY

2019 RESEARCH EXPENDITURES TOTAL $23,029,424.64 Research Expenditures per Department

Statler Dean’s Office

Research Expenditures per Tenure Track Faculty

$71,831.36 $334,109.27 $47,729.90

Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Mining Engineering

$563,317.33 $112,663.47

Mining and Industrial Extension

$924,910.36 $9,979,944.07

$302,422.55

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Industrial and Management Systems Engineering

$214,974.10

Fundamentals of Engineering Program

$200,433.67

Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

$113,198.33

Civil and Environmental Engineering

$152,747.95

Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

$195,239.94

$0

$2,149,741.04

$3,169,567.35 $2,902,210.98 $2,733,359.21

$2,000,000

$4,000,000

$6,000,000

$8,000,000

$10,000,000

TOTAL EXPENDITURES $23,029,424.64 WVU

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BENJAMIN M. STATLER COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND MINERAL RESOURCES

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In Support

WVU ALUM, WW II VETERAN LEAVES MORE THAN $2 MILLION FOR ENGINEERING STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS WRITTEN BY GARRETT CULLEN

A late WVU alumnus and World War II veteran has left $2.3 million in his will to the University.

The estate gift from Forrest D.L. Coontz will benefit students in the Statler College, significantly boosting the already established and endowed Forrest and Barbara Coontz Scholarship.

Coontz, who attended Philippi High School in Barbour County, was drafted into the Navy after high school, serving aboard an infantry landing craft and gunship in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. Part of his time at war included the taking of Saipan

by American forces.

Following the war, Coontz went to WVU on the G.I. Bill (established initially to help veterans of World War II).

“Mr. Coontz’ generous gift is a testament to a lifelong commitment of service to others,” said Jerry Wood, director of the WVU Center for Veteran, Military and Family Programs. “The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, otherwise known as the G.I. Bill of Rights, played a critical role in the history of our nation.

“The legislation provided an opportunity for many returning servicemen to attend college who would have, more than likely, not otherwise had,” Wood continued. “It is plainly obvious that the financial investment our nation made in providing a path to education for Mr. Coontz in return for his service as a sailor in the Pacific is now providing an incredible return.”

Coontz enrolled at the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, eventually earning a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering.

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PHOTOGRAPH SUBMITTED

The estate gift of $2.3 million from West Virginia University alumnus and World War II veteran Forrest D.L. Coontz will benefit students in the Statler College significantly boosting the already established and endowed Forrest and Barbara Coontz Scholarship.

FORREST AND BARBARA COONTZ

Coontz climbed the career ladder with General Motors, being promoted over a span of 30 years from process engineer, general foreman, senior engineer to superintendent, where he supervised the processes for the manufacturing of parts, and machinery used to produce them.

A couple of early career projects Coontz worked on included the manufacture of an 18-cylinder aircraft engine to be used in the Korean War effort and the launch of the V-8 engine plant that produced engines for 1955 model Chevrolets.

He eventually retired from the Flint, Michigan, GM V-8 Engine Plant in July 1980.

Coontz and his wife Barbara, who passed away in 2008, were married in September 1952. Barbara Coontz also had ties to West Virginia, as her mother spent part of her life in Morgantown.

Coontz, who was born in Star City, died in April 2018 at the age of 93.

“Like our post-WWII veterans, today’s veterans and their families are fortunate to have the benefits of the Forever G.I. Bill,” Wood said. “Because of this benefit, WVU is home to nearly 500 students utilizing their G.I. Bill benefit. We are grateful to Mr. Coontz and his family for their generosity and are confident that our nation’s investment in today’s veterans will provide similar returns.”

SUCCESSFUL ALUM HELPS STUDENTS WITH MAJOR GIFT

MICHAEL MANLEY

WRITTEN BY RACHEL ROGERS

A lot has changed since Manley received his master’s degree in computer science from WVU in 1975. Personal computers had yet to be invented, some businesses used mainframes, and many businesses just used pencil and paper. Tuition was about $100 per semester for in-state residents.

However, according to Manley, one thing has remained the same: the importance of a college education.

He worked his way up to senior programmer in WVU’s Computer Center after earning both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University, and then moved to the downtown area of campus to manage the Administrative Information Group (now Computing Services).

“WVU has given me not only an education from the formal perspective in the classroom, but also business life experiences that you get when you’re in a job,” Manley said.

Although he still lived in the area, Manley no longer had daily interaction with WVU after opening Software Systems, Inc., a Morgantown-based company, in 1975. He was reconnected with the University and its students in 2010 when he was inducted into the Lane Academy of Distinguished Alumni. In addition, he learned of the financial burden that college now places on many students.

“When I found out these challenges that kids now face, I thought there needs to be something done about this,” Manley said.

Around the time of his Lane Academy induction, he saw the effect of scholarships when his high school graduating class in northern Hancock County decided to donate leftover money from its 50th class reunion to create scholarships for graduates of their alma mater, Oak Glen High School.

The timing seemed right for Manley to set up an endowment after noticing a need for scholarships a few years earlier. He recently paid off the mortgage on his office building and has no intentions of retiring.

PHOTOGRAPH SUBMITTED

A $500,000 donation from WVU graduate Michael Manley of Morgantown will create two endowed scholarships for students in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

“I’ve always saved all I could and put the max in my retirement account. I was surprised that when you reach a certain age, you’re required to start taking money out of that account, and aren’t allowed to put any more in,” Manley said. “You also reach the point where you need to start taking your Social Security benefits. I’ve set up 529 plans for my great-grandkids, and now have all I need for my family’s future.”

This leaves additional money that he feels should be used to help students.

“I feel guilty having extra money. I never had anything extra in my life, which I didn’t put back into my business, or family,” Manley said.

Manley says he was taught the importance of giving back to the community by the example his parents set when he was a child.

“Mom would take the extra money she had and put it in a drawer, and I knew where it was, but I never knew what it was for,” Manley said. “Somebody in the community would have a problem and she would dip into it and help them out, not wanting anyone to know. Dad was also always there to help everyone in the community.”

He hopes the two scholarships will cause a ripple effect after the recipients graduate.

“My intention is as these kids get these scholarships and they make their way through college and get a good job, maybe someday in the future when they have some cash, they can turn that back into a scholarship for somebody else,” he said.

The Manley Family Scholarship will be awarded annually to undergraduate and/or graduate students in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

The Manley Family Oak Glen Scholarship will also be awarded to undergraduate and/or graduate students in the same department who are graduates of Oak Glen High School.

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In Support

Honor Roll of Donors

We would like to thank our benefactors who have generously contributed to the College. We are grateful for your support; we could not accomplish what we do without your help. Listed below are individuals and organizations who contributed to a program or department in our College from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019.

Individuals $1,000,000 & Up Mr. Forrest & Mrs. Barbara Coontz Estate of Emil Czul Ms. Antoinette M. Petrucci $500,000 to $999,999 Estate of Karl G. Morey $100,000 to $499,999 Mr. Mark Campbell Mrs. Émer OBroin Gunter Mr. Mark & Mrs. Jessie Leidecker Mr. & Mrs. William G. Poulson Mr. J. Wayne & Mrs. Kathy Richards Mr. & Mrs. Maurice A. Wadsworth Mr. Royce J. Watts $25,000 to $99,000 Dr. & Mrs. James P. Anderson Mr. & Mrs. Mark K. Angelelli PE Mr. & Mrs. Brian A. Carpenter Mr. & Mrs. Randall K. Drazba Mr. David K. Hendrickson Mr. Donald R. Holstine John L. Kirkland Trust Mr. & Mrs. Robert S. Long Mrs. Cheryl May Nason P. Pritchard Trust Mr. & Mrs. Verl O. Purdy Mr. H. Wood Thrasher $10,000 to $24,999 Mr. & Mrs. John C. Allen Dr. David W. Baker Mr. & Mrs. George E. Booth, Sr. Mr. & Mrs. Dennis C. Chambers Mr. & Mrs. Edward J. DiPaolo Dr. Ronald W. Eck Mr. & Mrs. James G. Faller

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Dr. & Mrs. William L. Fourney Mr. & Mrs. Stuart N. Goodman Dr. Samuel Berhanu & Mrs. Seble W. Hailu Mr. & Mrs. James B. Haines Mr. & Mrs. G. Tom Harrick Mr. Glen & Mrs. Ann Hiner Mr. Kevin F. Kokal Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey M. Kukura Mr. & Mrs. Floyd E. Leaseburg II Dr. & Mrs. Ray E. Martin PhD Mr. & Mrs. Robert O. Orders, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Kevin K. Sidow Mrs. Rebecca M. Vest Mr. Bob Welch $5,000 to $9,999 Mr. & Mrs. Bart A. Aitken Mr. & Mrs. Robert J. Alvarez Mr. & Mrs. Steven C. Ball Mr. & Mrs. Thomas C. Burlas Mr. John W. Campbell Mr. & Mrs. Frank Cerminara Dr. Eugene V. Cilento Mr. & Mrs. Ronald F. Davoli Mr. Glen A. Dodson Dr. & Mrs. W. Samuel Easterling Mr. Barton R. Field Mr. & Mrs. Malay K. Gupta Mr. & Mrs. Dean W. Harvey Mr. & Mrs. Hsaio-Whi Hsu CDR & Mrs. Joseph A. R. Larry PE Mr. & Mrs. Joseph P. Lester Ms. Mary E. McGivern & Mr. Bill Jones Mr. H. Leo Mehl Mr. & Mrs. Thomas E. Messmore Mr. & Mrs. Wayne D. Morgan Mr. & Mrs. Walter J. Scheller III Mr. John P. Smith

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Mr. & Mrs. Richard N. Smith Dr. & Mrs. John E. Sneckenberger Dr. & Mrs. Alan D. Stemple PhD Col.(Ret) & Mrs. James E. Taylor Mrs. Margaret H. Teeter Mr. & Mrs. Chester L. Whitehair Mr. Jeffrey A. Wilson $1,000 to $4,999 Mr. Roger P. Adams Dr. & Mrs. M. Dayne Aldridge Mr. & Mrs. Chester L. Allen Mr. & Mrs. C. Ben Arney Dr. Murali D. Atluru PE Dr. Steven R. Auvil & Mrs. Jane Auvil Mr. Edward J. Bailey Mr. & Mrs. Tracy A. Baker PE Dr. Richard H. Barnard Lt. Col.(Ret) & Mrs. Robert C. Basinger, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. James L. Bero Mr. & Mrs. Dennis E. Bibbee Dr. Christopher J. Bise Dr. & Mrs. William D. Blackburn, Jr. Mr. James W. Boyd Mr. & Mrs. Raymond A. Bradbury Mr. Paul D. Browning & Mrs. Kathleen Johnson Mr. Joseph A. Bush, Jr. Dr. & Mrs. Raymond W. Chafin II Ms. Anesa T. Chaibi Lenore McComas Coberly Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. Corsi, Jr. Cindy H. Currey Dr. Kenneth R. Currie Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Dado Dr. Paul T. Daniell Mr. Victor W. Dean

Mr. & Mrs. Joseph R. DePond Mr. & Mrs. Thomas J. DeWitt Dr. & Mrs. J. Reginald Dietz Mr. & Mrs. Robert C. Doeffinger, Jr. Mr. Patrick A. Jackson & Mrs. Dayna L. Doricich Mr. Dean & Mrs. Gina Dubbe Mr. & Mrs. Michael D. Flowers Rev. James E. Galford & Mrs. Sheila L. Galford Ms. Carolyn A. Gerrits Mr. & Mrs. David J. Gingerich Mr. & Mrs. Ryan D. Gum Mr. & Mrs. Nazih M. Hage Mr. & Mrs. Scott A. Hair Mr. Jon K. Hammock Mr. & Mrs. James R. Haney Dr. Naveed U. Haque Mr. & Mrs. Benjamin A. Hardesty Dr. William M. Hart Dr. & Mrs. Masood Hassan Mr. & Mrs. James L. Herndon Mr. & Mrs. Earl Kieffer Hess, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. James R. Hess, Jr. Mr. Javid Jaraiedi Mr. James M. Jarrell Mr. & Mrs. John H. Jarrett PE Dr. & Mrs. Edwin C. Jones, Jr. Mrs. D. Joan Jones Dr. & Mrs. Samuel J. Kasley Bob & Joyce Keith Dr. & Mrs. William F. Kellermeyer, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Junior H. Landes II Mr. & Mrs. Larry J. Lilly Mr. & Mrs. Dale W. Linaweaver Mr. Michael E. Lukey Mr. & Mrs. Porter A. Lyon Mr. & Mrs. Joseph A. Marcinek, Jr. Mrs. Gina M. McCann Mr. & Mrs. William D. McClung, Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. S. Fenton McDonald Mr. Edgar R. McHenry Mr. & Mrs. Robert B. Moffett, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Randy L. Moulton Miss Emily M. Myers Mr. & Mrs. George J. Oberlick Mr. & Dr. Allen S. Pack, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Charles B. Palmer Mr. & Mrs. Marion Parsons, Jr. Drs. Peter L. & Cheryl L. Perrotta Mr. & Mrs. William R. Powell Mr. & Mrs. Alan S. Pyle Ms. Rhonda L. Radcliff & Mr. Robert Mullenger Mr. & Mrs. Louis D. Rocchini Mr. Richard C. Rockenstein Dr. & Mrs. Ziad A. Sabra Dr. Lara S. Schmidt Mr. & Mrs. Shalin M. Shah Mr. W. David Shinn Mr. Paul J. Smith & Ms. Alexia Kniska Dr. & Mrs. James M. Snider Mr. Peter L. Spence Mr. & Mrs. Craig M. Squires Dr. & Mrs. Charter D. Stinespring Mr. & Mrs. Vincent J. Stricker Mr. Tommy L. Stuchell Mr. Richard J. Sustakoski Mrs. Susan H. Terry Mr. Robert O. Thoman CAPT Charles H. Tilton USNR (Ret) Dr. & Mrs. Curtis J. Tompkins Mr. & Mrs. Steven E. Trail Mr. James R. Turner, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Joseph R. Turner Mr. & Mrs. David R. Vaughn Mr. & Mrs. D. Stephen Walker Mr. & Mrs. Robert W. Walter Mr. & Mrs. Richard M. Whiting Mr. & Mrs. D. Alan Wise

Prof. & Mrs. Brian D. Woerner Dr. Wei-Pin Wu Ms. Jane Yohe Cooley Mr. & Mrs. Eugene M. Zvolensky, Sr. $500 to $999 Miss Erika A. Allen Mr. & Mrs. Joseph A. Alvarez Mr. Jeffrey L. Andrews Mr. & Mrs. Richard B. Ballengee Ms. Maaza Belachew Mr. & Mrs. Mark S. Boggs Mr. Christopher H. Braden Mr. & Mrs. Francis S. Brezny Mr. & Mrs. Ross D. Brown, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Gary D. Burkett Mr. & Mrs. Henry E. Cicci Mr. David W. Coffman Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey M. Cutright Mr. & Mrs. John R. Dale Mr. Kellen A. Davis Dr. & Mrs. John P. Dever Mr. & Mrs. Michael L. Dever Mrs. Kathleen M. Devlin Ms. Mary C. Dillon Mr. & Mrs. Dale W. Dodrill Mr. Harold G. Fisher Mr. Richard E. Fletcher Mr. & Mrs. Alexander H. Ghiz, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Phillip T. Glyptis Mr. & Mrs. William R. Gray, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. John S. Hill Dr. & Mrs. Nicholas Hollingshad Ms. Lindsay M. Hypes Mr. Shawn P. Jackson Mr. Marcus A. Jordan Mr. Richard J. Kacik Mr. David B. Kahan Mr. Pravin M. Khandare Dr. Lesley Ann Klishis & Dr. Michael J. Klishis Dr. Christopher A. Klocek Ms. Philomena Krosmico Michael & Diane Lambert Mr. Paul J. Lewis PE Mr. & Mrs. Douglas A. Long Mr. Donald C. Lycan Mr. Bryce L. Maddox Mr. & Mrs. Jacob D. McCarty Mr. & Mrs. Arthur M. McClain Mr. & Mrs. Walter G. McKinney Mr. & Mrs. James C. Miller Dr. & Mrs. James E. Mitchell Mr. & Mrs. Mack T. Moore Mr. Thomas L. Moore II Mr. William R. Parr

Mr. & Mrs. Edward L. Perry Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth R. Phares Dr. & Mrs. John M. Pullen Mr. James B. Reese Ms. Melisa L. Ridenour Mr. & Mrs. Joseph S. Robertson Mr. Michael D. Sabatelli Ms. Ruth A. Sands Dr. Carolyn C. Seepersad & Mr. Clyde Seepersad Mr. Shijun Shen Mr. & Mrs. Morris M. Shor Mr. & Mrs. Barrett L. Shrout Mr. & Mrs. David J. Smith Ms. Jennifer L. Smith Mr. Phillip L. Stalnaker Mr. & Mrs. John R. Stemple Mr. & Mrs. Walter M. Stender, Jr. Dr. Judith G. Stitzel Mr. & Mrs. John A. Strohmeyer Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Talbott Mr. & Mrs. James J. Vasoti Mr. & Mrs. David A. Velegol, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. William D. Walko Dr. Richard E. Walters & Mrs. Ann S. Walters Mrs. Ann S. Walters Dr. Yajie Wang Mr. & Mrs. Edward A. Ward Mr. George A. Waters Mr. & Mrs. William R. Werner Ms. Janie M. West & Mr. David A. Rose Mr. Robert W. Wheeler Mrs. Patricia Z. Wilhelm Dr. & Mrs. John S. Wilson Mr. Suyoun Won Mr. & Mrs. David A. Young, Jr. Dr. Ann S. Zirkle Dr. John W. Zondlo & Ms. Rena L. Bouchal $250 to $499 Mr. Edward C. & Alison D. Anderson Mr. & Mrs. Tony A. Angelelli Dr. & Mrs. Frank T. Baker Mr. Scott A. Bartlett Dr. & Mrs. Navinchandra B. Bhatt Fidelity Charitable Fund Bhatt Family Mr. Christopher A. Bias Mr. & Mrs. James D. Blue Ms. Kara M. Bonitatibus Mr. & Mrs. Richard C. Bourne Mr. & Mrs. John L. Broschard III

Mr. Salvatore J. Cilento Mr. & Mrs. Richard E. Cline Mr. & Mrs. Bernard C. Corker Mr. Charlie L. Cornett Mr. & Mrs. Mark W. Cottrill CPA Mr. & Mrs. Steven K. Darnell Mr. & Mrs. Richard M. Davis Mr. Gilbert W. Devine Dr. Dianne Dorland PhD Mr. Samuel T. Dusi Mr. Steven E. Easley Mr. & Mrs. Charles J. Fleischer Mr. & Mrs. John F. Gardner Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth W. Goff Mr. & Mrs. Lewis G. Grimm PE Mr. William F. Haley Mrs. Choo-Yieng Hamilton Hampton - Mahood Charitable Fund Maj. Gerhard B. Hartig Mr. & Mrs. James W. Hess Mr. John B. Hinkle Mr. Ryan M. Hoffman Mr. & Mrs. David A. Horvath Mr. & Mrs. Charles G. Howard Mr. James J. Hurley Mr. & Mrs. Brian D. Inman Mrs. Gertraud F. Irwin Mr. & Mrs. Munther T. Jabbur Mr. & Mrs. Sudhir V. R. Koka Mr. & Mrs. James A. Kutsch, Jr. Mrs. Adrea L. Leach MSN Mr. & Mrs. Kristopher C. Lilly Mr. & Mrs. Joseph S. Luchini Ms. Sara S. Mahood Mr. Andrew J. Maloney Mr. & Mrs. Peter M. Martin Ms. Ramona McCoy Mr. & Mrs. Joseph R. Mitchell Mr. Stephen R. Montagna Dr. & Mrs. Ian R. Moore Mr. Cleveland G. Mosby, Jr. Mr. JoDean K. Myers Mr. & Mrs. Gregory S. Nailler Mr. Terence J. Nypaver Mr. Bradley D. Parrish Mr. & Mrs. Vijendrakumar C. Patel Mr. & Mrs. John R. Pinion II Mr. David A. Price Mr. & Mrs. John Raley Dr. Leroy C. Reid, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Jon M. Ridgway Mr. & Mrs. James J. Rusenko Mr. Steven C. Saab & Miss Madison R. Bowles Dr. Simsek Sarikelle Mr. & Mrs. Frank W. Schneider

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Mr. & Mrs. James W. Schumacher Mr. & Mrs. Gary J. Schweitzer Mr. David W. Shaffer Mrs. Susan Falck Silcox Mr. R. Patrick Simms Mr. Michael D. Snodgrass Dr. & Mrs. James E. Spearman Mr. & Mrs. Richard H. Stelle Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey R. Stevens Dr. Larry E. Stewart Mr. John M. Stickler Dr. Richard J. Stock Mr. & Mrs. William H. Stroup Mr. & Mrs. Thomas E. Tallman PE Mr. & Mrs. Robert K. Tinney Mr. & Mrs. Charles E. Tupes Mr. Jay J. Turner PE Dr. Richard Turton & Mrs. Rebecca S. Turton Mr. Kelles L. Veneri Mr. Thomas E. Watson & Mrs. Audrey A. Watson Mr. Daniel A. Weber Mr. & Mrs. Robert C. Whiteman Mr. & Mrs. Paul J. Wielgus Dr. & Mrs. James D. Wilson Mr. Richard Yungwirth Mr. Hao Zhang $100 to $249 Mr. Jay J. Allen & Dr. Anna M. Allen Mr. Randy L. Allison Mr. & Mrs. Richard G. Almes Dr. Jenny N. Alsop Mr. Steven T. Andraka Mrs. Colleen D. Andrews Mr. Saif A. Azam Mrs. Rita A. Bajura Mr. Brett S. Barthelmess & Mrs. Angela L. Barthelmess Mr. William E. Beckers Lt. Col.(Ret) & Mrs. Paul G. Bellia Mrs. Terry L. Benson Mr. & Mrs. Duane T. Bernard Mr. David A. Bernemann Mr. Arun Bhat Mr. & Mrs. David P. Billings Mr. & Mrs. John L. Blair, Jr. Mr. Jerry D. Blue Mrs. Irene F. Bohuslavsky Mr. & Mrs. Dean W. Boley Miss Hadley R. Bolinsky Mr. James S. Bonar, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Charles R. S. Bond Mr. & Mrs. John W. Botts

Mr. Gregory J. Bowles Mr. & Mrs. Robert S. Bragg Mr. Arthur M. Bree Mr. Michael E. Brennan Mr. Joseph M. Brown Mr. & Mrs. Jason L. Brown Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth D. Brown Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Brown Mr. David R. Bungard Dr. Dan Burkhart Dr. Yang Cai Mr. Barry H. Cain & Mrs. Wendy A. Cain Mr. Gregory T. Cammerata Mr. & Mrs. Donald F. Campbell Mr. Overton H. Caperton Dr. & Mrs. Joseph C. Capito Mr. Thomas A. Caserta Mr. Keith A. Castilow Mr. Anthony J. Castronovo Mr. & Mrs. William C. Cavage Dr. William R. Cawthorne & Mrs. Jennifer L. Cawthorne Ms. Katie F. Chaddock Mr. Burdell D. Chapman III Mr. Edward J. Chehovin Mr. & Mrs. Christopher J. Chehovin Dr. Hsi F. Chou Mr. Joseph P. Cinalli, Jr. Mr. Kenneth J. Claudio Mr. Robert A. Clise Mr. August D. Coby Mr. & Mrs. Robert J. Cochenour Mr. Ronald L. Coddington Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey S. Coe Mrs. Teresa A. Cole Mr. & Mrs. James E. Connell Mr. & Mrs. Russell V. Costanza Mr. Matthew T. Costanzi Mr. & Mrs. William Crise Ms. Amanda R. Crosby Mr. & Mrs. Michael T. Cullen Mr. Gaylord Cumberledge Mr. Andrew W. Cummings Mr. Carmine D. D’Alessio Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Dalton Dr. & Mrs. Earl Z. Damewood Mr. Sheetu Dasari Ms. Dianne C. Davidson Mr. Dean R. Davidson Mr. James P. Davidson III Dr. Paul C. Davis Mr. & Mrs. John C. Day Mr. Leonard J. DeCarlo Dr. Cerasela Z. Dinu Mr. Paul Ditson Ms. Michelle R. Duckworth Ms. Sally Epton

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In Support Mr. & Mrs. Clifford W. Essig Dr. John R. Etherton Mr. Stephen K. Evans Mrs. Melinda F. Fagundus Mr. & Mrs. Bradley Favro Mr. & Mrs. William G. Fields Mr. Wilbert Fields III Mr. & Mrs. John P. Figurski Mr. Andrew R. Ford Mr. Jingang Fu Mr. & Mrs. John L. Gallagher, Jr. Mr. John A. Gallucci Mr. Larry D. Garner Mr. Michael J. Garska Mr. & Mrs. Brian P. Gaudet Mr. & Mrs. John P. Gay Mr. & Mrs. John F. Gerard Mrs. Laura E. Gergen Mr. Brian J. Gialluco Mr. Andrew A. Gillette Mr. & Mrs. Joseph M. Giordano Dr. Tirzah Y. Glebes Mr. Frank D. Gmeindl Mr. & Mrs. Matthew G. Goff Mr. & Mrs. John M. Goldie Mr. & Mrs. Barry A. Goodwin Dr. & Mrs. Leonard E. Graham Mr. & Mrs. F. Gail Gray Mr. & Mrs. Garret W. Green Mrs. Jamie L. Gutmann Mr. Alexander G. Guy Mr. Ronald A. Hahn Dr. & Mrs. George A. Hall Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Halstead Mr. William T. Hamilton Mr. & Mrs. Stephen A. Hamrick Mr. Ahmed A. Haque Ms. Amna Haque Mr. David C. Hardesty & Mrs. Susan B. Hardesty Mr. James E. Hardy & Mrs. Mary A. Hardy Mr. & Mrs. Samuel R. Harman Mr. & Mrs. Gregory S. Harness Mr. & Mrs. James E. Harris Mr. Richard F. Hashinger Mr. & Mrs. William R. Heathcote Mr. James F. Heavner Mr. William D. Hegener Drs. Richard B. & Judy H. Helm Dr. Robin A. M. Hensel Mr. & Mrs. Thomas A. Hill Mr. & Mrs. Eric D. Himler

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Mr. James R. Hobstetter Mr. Mark S. Hoffman Mr. & Mrs. John A. Holmes Mr. J. Bradley Homan Mr. Daniel H. Hugh Mr. & Mrs. Ching Y. Hui Mr. Hugh B. Humbert, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Wayne K. Hunter Lt. Col.(Ret) Robert L. Huss & Mrs. Catherine J. Huss Mrs. Amy L. A. Hutcherson Mrs. Judith B. Iszauk PE Rev. & Mrs. Jay K. Jackson Mr. Kiran K. Jain MBA Mr. John B. James Dr. Nicole V. Johnson Mr. Brian E. Johnson Mr. Robert E. Johnston Ms. Deborah S. Joyce Ms. Sandra Joyce Mr. Jacob T. Judy Mr. Srivatsan Kannan Mr. Prashanth Kaparthi Mr. & Mrs. Charles F. Kazienko Ms. Alice L. Kerns Dr. & Mrs. Mohamad A. Khalil Mr. & Mrs. Shams Khan Mr. Steve T. Kimble II Mr. & Mrs. Eugene F. Kopyar Dr. John S. Koval Mr. & Mrs. Gregory A. Kozera Mr. Charles P. Kraft Dr. & Mrs. John M. Kuhlman Mrs. Vicki R. Kurrle Mr. Frank E. Lanham Mrs. Eleanor W. Laughlin Mr. Loren L. Lazear Mr. & Mrs. Gregory T. Lee Dr. Jonathan M. Lester Mr. & Mrs. Stephen C. Lewis Mr. James E. Leyh Mrs. Barbara Lilly Ms. Catherine A. Loikith Mr. & Mrs. Shih-Shang S. Lui Mrs. Lori J. Mace Mrs. Rose Ann Maloy Mr. & Mrs. Jeb M. Mandeville Mr. & Mrs. Dennis J. Mantlick Mr. Daniel J. Marinacci Ms. Nancy H. Marsh Ms. Amanda L. Martin Mr. & Mrs. G. Stuart Matthis II Mrs. Christine S. Mayernik Mr. Stephen P. McBride Ms. Mary McCann Mrs. Margaret McCartney Mr. & Mrs. George P. McCarty

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Mr. Eric P. McClusky Mr. Richard L. McDonald Mr. Joseph K. McFadden Mr. Scott J. McGrail Mr. David L. McIlwain Dr. Ronald B. McPherson PhD Mr. & Mrs. Carl W. Miller II Mr. Jonathan L. Miller Ms. Karin A. Miller Mr. & Mrs. John C. Miller, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Robert D. Mills Dr. Chinnarao Mokkapati Mr. & Mrs. William D. Monaghan Mr. William P. Monaghan Mr. & Mrs. Guy E. Mongold, Jr. Mr. Raymond A. Montgomery, Jr. Mr. Robert F. Montgomery Mr. David P. Moon Col.(Ret) & Mrs. Philip S. Morris Mr. & Mrs. Richard A. Morris Ms. Jennifer E. Mosser Mr. Thomas A. Musser Mr. Richard E. Myers Mr. & Mrs. Richard S. Napier Mrs. Patricia N. Napier Morrison Mr. Ralph D. Nelson, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Randy A. Nicholson Mr. Leonard S. Nicholson Mr. Paul F. Nocida Mr. & Mrs. Terrence L. Parsons Mr. & Mrs. Thomas H. Parsons Mr. Richard B. Pellegrino Mr. Sandy K. Pennington Mr. Richard J. Perin CDR & Mrs. William P. Pierson Mr. & Mrs. Mark M. Piper Mr. & Mrs. Timothy J. Pizatella Mr. & Mrs. Michael Pochettino Mr. & Mrs. Michael D. Poling PE CDR Michael A. Pollack Rick & Elizabeth Porter Mr. Martin Potts Mr. Timothy J. Poulin Mrs. Beth B. Probst Mr. Charles S. Prosser III Michael E. & Carolyn S. Prudich US Charitable Gift TrustPuskar Charitable Fund Miss Carli K. Quaine Mr. & Mrs. Roger D. Rader Dr. Anne M. Raich

Mr. Walter J. Ramsey Mr. David C. Ravenscroft Dr. & Mrs. Mark F. Reeder Mr. & Mrs. Joseph E. Reger Miss Clara M. Rhodes Mr. & Mrs. Boyd W. Rhodes Mr. Herbert L. Ridder Herbert L Ridder Revocable Trust Dr. & Mrs. Billy M. Riggleman Mr. Terry D. Rings & Dr. Patricia M. Rings Mr. & Mrs. Carl T. Ripberger III Mr. Ray R. Ritchie & Mrs. Margaret M. Ritchie Mr. & Mrs. Reed D. Robinson Mr. & Mrs. James P. Robison Mr. Anthony D. Rossetti Mr. Blaine B. Royce, Jr. Ms. Donna Ruhl Mr. & Mrs. Michael A. Rupar Mr. Andrew D. Rush Mr. Roger K. Russell Mr. & Mrs. Hani S. Saad Mr. Phillip M. Sabree Mr. & Mrs. W. Thomas Sanderlin Ms. Sadaf A. Sarwari Mr. & Mrs. William A. Savage Mr. Jeremy Schlussel Mr. Arthur K. Schuler Mr. Bryan N. Schwalm & Mrs. Megan Schwalm Mr. Jeffery M. See Mr. & Mrs. Gilbert T. Seese PE Mrs. Tracie L. Seivertson Mr. & Mrs. John E. Seknicka Mr. Stan T. Serpento Mr. Charles A. Shaver Mrs. Susan K. Siebken Dr. & Mrs. Mihir K. Sinha Dr. Hema J. Siriwardane Mr. & Mrs. Thomas W. Sirk, Jr. Mr. Robert D. Skelton Dr. & Mrs. Ojars Skujins Joshua & Polly Smith Mr. & Mrs. John C. Smith Mr. Robert K. Snyder CLU Dr. & Mrs. Marcus L. Speaker Mr. John Spears Mr. Stephen Stahovic Mr. Jeffrey R. Stevens Mr. & Mrs. Lester W. Stone Dr. & Mrs. Larry D. Strickland Mr. & Mrs. John R. Suitlas PE Mr. John M. Svedman Ms. Sara A. Swanson

Mr. & Mrs. David L. Swearingen Mr. & Mrs. Caleb A. Tarleton Mr. George M. Tataseo Dr. Douglas L. Timmons Mr. & Mrs. Leonard J. Timms, Jr. Dennis & Mary Townsend Mr. & Mrs. Harold Turner Mr. Nicholas G. Underwood Mr. & Mrs. Todd J. Urness Mr. Thomas E. Urquhart Mr. Rick J. VanSeters Mrs. Patricia W. Vetter Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Wallace II Mr. Samuel E. Wallace Mr. & Mrs. Gary W. Wamsley Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth M. Ware Mrs. Amy H. Wen Mr. & Mrs. Scott C. Wenger Mrs. Deborah A. & Mr. Kevin West Mrs. Wilma Jean Westbrook Mr. & Mrs. Harry L. Westerman Mr. Robert W. Whipp & Mrs. Beverly K. Whipp Mr. Richard R. White Ms. Kathryn R. White Mr. & Mrs. Michael J. Wiercinski Mr. & Mrs. Jason D. Williams Mr. J. Eldon Williams Mr. & Mrs. Christopher J. Williamson Mr. & Mrs. Alan R. Williamson, Jr. Mr. Michael S. Wilmoth & Ms. Amy L. Tarleton Mr. & Mrs. Steven F. Wilson Mr. & Mrs. David D. Wilson Mr. & Mrs. Howard V. Withrow II Ms. Karen Woodfork Mr. Marvin C. Woodie, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. William H. Wray, Jr. Mr. David A. Wyrick Mr. & Mrs. Stephen A. Yano Mr. & Mrs. Frank R. Yoke III Mr. & Mrs. Kurt Zachar Mr. & Mrs. Steven G. Zahn PE Mr. & Mr. Zhong Zhang Mr. Gary R. Zidzik Mr. & Mrs. George T. Zimmerman PE The Lengyel Family Trust

Corporations, Associations and Foundations $500,000 and Up Asphalt Pavement Association Tray3 LLC $100,000 to $499,999 Concept Laser General Electric Foundation Schneider Electric $50,000 to $99,000 A&L Motor Sales Chevron EQT Foundation Kelly Paving, Inc. The Thrasher Group $25,000 to $49,999 Assurant Foundation Exxon Mobil Foundation Halliburton Hendrickson & Long Mountain State Insurance Agency, Inc. WVU Alumni Association Mineral Resources $10,000 to $24,999 Antigo Construction, Inc. Bear Contracting LLC Chevron Products Company Deloitte & Touche Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Dr. Charles M. Vest J.F. Allen Company Shell Oil Company $5,000 to $9,999 Antigo Construction, Inc. Asphalt Materials, Inc. Associated Asphalt Partners LLC Carl Kelly Paving, Inc. Chevron Corporation Matching Grants Program Eaton Corporation Fidelity Charitable- Mehl Charitable Fund Martin Marietta Aggregates Pratt & Whitney Canada Inc. Proto Labs, Inc.

RF Technologies Inc. Rodeo Committee Soils Southwest, Inc. The Duke Energy Foundation Toyota Motor Manufacturing of WV (TMMWV) Toyota4Good $1,000 to $4,999 Amgen Foundation Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Aid to Education Board of Certified Safety Professionals Boca Construction, Inc. BOEING Boeing Company Matching Gift Program CRJ Physician Services LLC Deloitte Consulting Fidelity Charitable – Scott & Debbie Hair FirstEnergy Corporation Gimme Foundation, Inc. GMS Mine Repair and Maintenance, Inc. IBM Corporation J. M. Huber Corporation Keylogic Systems, Inc. Leela & Murali Atluru Family Foundation, Inc. Material Handling Education Foundation, Inc. Mountaineer Power Consulting MPLX NC3, LLC North Carolina Coal Institute, Inc. Northrop Grumman Corporation Pfizer, Inc. Pratt & Whitney Canada Inc. Siemens US - Matching Contributions Program for Employees Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc. Stem Enterprise Inc. USI Insurance Services, LLC West Virginia Manufacturing Extension Partnership $500 to $999 Altec Industries Amgen, Inc. Anonymous - FY2019 Eaton Corporation Matching Gift Program

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Grace Foundation Inc. Harris Foundation MaxSent Microsoft MVI Properties LLC Samson Second Roach Pond Family LP Synchrony Financial The Hand Foundation $250 to $499 Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. American Endowment Foundation - Bourne Family Buckingham Coal Company Cardinal Health IMSE Advisory Committee Lockheed Martin Corporation Norfolk Southern Corporation Raytheon Travelers The Williams Companies, Inc. Wells Fargo Insurance $100 to $249 Apple Matching Gift Program BP Brown Development Company ConocoPhillips Johnson Controls, Inc. Lubrizol Foundation Matching Gift Program New York Life Foundation Olashuk Environmental, Inc. PPG Industries Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. TE Connectivity Matching Gift Program The Fluor Foundation The Traffic Group, Inc. Verizon Foundation Verizon West Virginia, Inc. Walt Disney Company Foundation Wells Fargo Insurance

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In Support

Irvin Stewart Society

Making a Difference for Years to Come To the right, you will find a list of the members of the Irvin Stewart Society. These generous alumni and friends have included the Statler College in their estate plans. They are helping students of the future through gift provisions in their wills, life insurance or gifts of real estate with a retained life state. We are forever grateful to them.

Robert D. Bewick Jr. ’52 Stanley C. Browning ’57, ’59 John W. Campbell ’64 Mark Campbell ’57 Frank Cerminara ’70 Susan Klatskin Cerminara ’69 Vudara Chuop ’80 Wils L. Cooley III, PhD Rena Cyphert Irene V. Desmond Robert M. Desmond, PhD Kathleen J. DuBois ’85 Anita Haddad Walter Haddad ’58 Margaret M. Hall ’74, ’76, ’81 John R. Hardesty Jr. ’65 Mary Anne Hardesty Gregory L. Herrick ’70 Sheila G. Herrick ’74 Glen H. Hiner, PhD ’57, ’90

Please consider joining the Irvin Stewart Society by including our College in your estate plans. For more information please contact Shams Khan at 304-293-4036 or shams.khan@mail.wvu.edu.

Betty J. Hurst* ’53 Elmo J. Hurst* ’53 Emil Johnson ’63, ’72 Penny Christie Johnson ’64 Joseph L. Koepfinger James R. McQuay Jr., ’77 Betty L. Miller ‘’47, ’57 Toni R. Morris ’82, ’89, ’99 Margarette E. Offutt Jean H. Orders ’52 James B. Reese ’70, ’77 Lora Virginia Richards Jacqulyn L. Sample Paul E. Sample, PhD ’55, ’57 J. Ted Samsell, MD ’67, ’71 Melody Samsell Charles M. Schaeffer ’59 Shirley Crane Schaeffer ’57 Barrett L. Shrout ’61, ’62 Nancy S. Shrout

Kathryn Ann Simms Patrick Simms ’66 William A. Simms ’64 John E. Sneckenberger ’64, ’66, ’70 Mary (Scottie) Sneckenberger ’67 Tommy L. Stuchell, JD ’87 Jo Ann Wadsworth ’51 Maurice Wadsworth ’51 Gary W. Wamsley ’65 Betty S. Watkins ’61 W. Richard Watkins ’64, ’65 Frank T. Wheby ’56 Erna F. Wilkin F. David Wilkin, EdD ’67, ’69 Donald W. Worlledge ’55 Mary S. Worlledge Jane Yohe Cooley Eugene M. Zvolensky ’70 *Charter Members

Supporting opportunities into the future Education was highly valued by Antoinette Petrucci and her husband, Glen G. Guth, who passed away in 2015. Petrucci included WVU in her estate plan and established a scholarship in the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources in honor of her husband.

“We would often talk about what kind of legacy we wanted to leave,” Antoinette said.

“Education always rose to the top as a priority for us. I think I thought about it for 10 seconds and I knew instantly that I wanted to do this now as a way to honor my husband’s life forever.”

ANTOINETTE PETRUCCI AND GLEN GUTH

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To learn more about how bequest, life-income and other gifts can help you achieve your goals, contact the development office 304-293-4432 or Statler-DevOffice@mail.wvu.edu.

Alumni Academies ACADEMY OF AEROSPACE ENGINEERING W. Garth Smith

CURRENT POSITION: co-founder and president of MetaVR EDUCATION: BS, aerospace engineering, WVU PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS: co-founder of MetaVR and issued the first release of their Virtual Reality SMITH Scene Generator™ which is used by all U.S. military services, including special operations as well as many NATO partners; worked for DoD consulting firm; serves on the Advisory Committee of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at WVU; offers a VRSG software license to any WVU student free of charge.

ACADEMY OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERS Paul Daniell

CURRENT POSITION: teaching associate professor, WVU EDUCATION: BS, chemical engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; MS, PhD, chemical engineering, WVU PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS: joined Union Carbide in 1986 in UNIPOL DANIELL Process R&D; served as R&D licensing representative for several international licenses; was a research lead on the Dow-Exxon joint venture; joined the engineering faculty at Marietta College where he won the McCoy Teaching Excellence Award; joined the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at WVU in 2018.

Stuart Goodman

CURRENT POSITION: senior shareholder representative, Brunei and managing director of Shell Deepwater Borneo EDUCATION: BS, chemical engineering, WVU; MS, chemical engineering, University of Houston; MBA, University of Texas PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS: GOODMAN senior shareholder representative, Brunei; managing director of Shell Deepwater Borneo; on the board of directors of the upstream, midstream and downstream joint ventures; senior business development manager; vice president of finance and strategic planning southern cone gas and power and production manager for Shell’s ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol.

ACADEMY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS Rusty Allen

CURRENT POSITION: retired EDUCATION: BS, civil engineering, West Virginia Institute of Technology; MS, civil engineering, WVU PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS: progressed from structural engineering to middle management with Union Carbide Corporation; project director for a large petrochemical project in Malaysia; following Dow Chemical’s ALLEN purchase of UCC, he was assigned as global director of construction; after retirement he concluded his career with a construction management firm.

Michael Flowers

CURRENT POSITION: retired EDUCATION: BS civil engineering, WVU; MSC civil engineering, University of Pittsburgh PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS: registered professional engineer, projects included the reconstruction of the Williamsburg Suspension Bridge in New York City, MacArthur Causeway in Miami, Tagus River Suspension FLOWERS Bridge in Portugal, Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver, Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Maryland, Queensferry Crossing in Edinburgh and Tappan Zee Bridge in New York; became the project director for the American Bridge venture that built the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge in California, he oversaw all aspects of construction of the bridge project; awarded the Golden Beaver Award for Supervision and the American Society of Civil Engineer’s Roebling Award.

Doug Frost

CURRENT POSITION: senior vice president of Dewberry Engineers Inc. EDUCATION: BS, civil engineering, WVU; MS, civil engineering, WVU PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS: registered professional engineer in five states; served as Dewberry’s managing director for a large joint venture providing FROST disaster re-construction engineering and building inspection services for the federal government; recognized as Dewberry’s prestigious Project Manager of the Year; appointed by Governor of Virginia Terry McAuliffe to the GENEDGE alliance board of trustees; serves as chairman of the human resources and compensation committee.

Sandra Gentile

CURRENT POSITION: retired EDUCATION: BS civil engineering, WVU; Executive Program in Corporate Strategy, Chicago Graduate School of Business PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS: joined Texaco as a petroleum engineer in 1981; joined Hess Corporation in 2001 as director of upstream strategic planning in GENTILE London, England; relocated to Aberdeen, Scotland, in 2003 as north sea production manager; moved to Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2005 as country manager for Hess’ Caspian sea assets; served on the BTC pipeline board of directors; relocated to Accra, Ghana, in 2010 as director and general manager.

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In Support Ziad Sabra

CURRENT POSITION: president and CEO at Sabra & Associates, Inc. EDUCATION: BS, civil engineering; MS and PhD, civil engineering, WVU PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS: selected as one of 17 finalists nationwide under the FHWA Eisenhower Research Fellowship program to complete SABRA his doctorate research at the FHWA Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center; joined a start-up civil engineering firm in 1985 as a transportation engineer; promoted to vice president in 1990; launched his own engineering firm in Maryland in 1993 and by 2017 the firm grew to 160 professionals serving the mid-Atlantic region from four offices.

LANE DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING ALUMNI ACADEMY Glen A. Dodson

CURRENT POSITION: senior vice president and general manager, National Security Group, Oracle Corporation General Motors Global Propulsion Systems EDUCATION: BS, electrical engineering, WVU PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS: serves as senior vice president and general manager of the National Security Group; his career with the intelligence community began at the National Security Agency in DODSON 1984; hired by Oracle in 1993 where he represents and advances Oracle’s mission and commitment to the U.S. intelligence committee as appointed by the executive chairmen of Oracle’s board; supported various military and joint chief of staff contingency missions in support of the U.S. intelligence community and Department of Defense; joined Booz Allen Hamilton’s intelligence technology practice working in the area of signals collection and processing after leaving the NSA; joined Concentric Technologies as vice president.

ACADEMY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Thomas Moore

CURRENT POSITION: director, tactical propulsion advanced and development programs, Northrop Grumman EDUCATION: BS, mechanical engineering, WVU; MS, technical management, Johns Hopkins PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS: served over 35 years in various engineering and management positions in defense and aerospace; managed a rapidly increasing MOORE portfolio of R&D contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense; served as the inaugural director of the Defense Systems Information Analysis Center; served on the technical staff of the Johns Hopkins University’s Chemical Propulsion Information Analysis Center, rising to the position of deputy director; served on the Joint Army-Navy-NASA-Air Force interagency propulsion committee; a member of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA); AIAA associate fellow; received the AIAA Solid Rockets Outstanding Service Award.

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Carolyn Conner Seepersad

CURRENT POSITION: professor and general dynamics faculty fellow, mechanical engineering, University of Texas at Austin EDUCATION: BS, mechanical engineering, SEEPERSAD WVU; MS, PhD, mechanical engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS: received the inaugural International Outstanding Young Researcher Award in freeform and additive manufacturing; University of Texas Regents’ Award for Outstanding Teaching; Outstanding Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers design automation committee; received the American Society for Engineering Education Outstanding New Mechanical Engineering Educator Award.

PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS ENGINEERING ACADEMY Mike Ellis

CURRENT POSITION: Retired EDUCATION: BS, science and civil engineering, WVU PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS: served as a petroleum engineer with Amoco Production Company in both Corpus Christi and Houston, Texas; ELLIS founded Alta Mesa Holdings in Houston, Texas, in 1987 where he served as chairman and chief operating officer until 2018; served on the advisory board of petroleum engineering at WVU since 2009.

Mark Leidecker

CURRENT POSITION: retired EDUCATION: BS, petroleum and natural gas engineering; MS, mining engineering PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS: began his employment as an engineering in training with Halliburton Services; served as a drilling engineer with Equitable LEIDECKER Gas Company; drilling and production engineer, Controlled Resources; district engineer, Kewanee Oil Company; research engineer, Conoco; vice president, production and completion engineer, Cabot Oil and Gas; formed his own company, Jesmar Energy, Inc.; became the coalbed methane operator for Cumberland, Emerald and Tunnel Ridge coal mines; served as an adjunct professor at Belmont College.

In Memoriam Assistant Professor Ahmed E. Ismail passed away on April 25, 2019. Ismail joined the chemical and biomedical engineering faculty at WVU during fall 2015. He received his PhD in chemical engineering from MIT in 2005 and a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Yale University in 1998.

ISMAIL Ismail came to WVU from RWTH Aachen University, Germany, where he served as a junior professor. He is survived by his parents and twin brother, who reside in Texas.

Allen C. Cogley, 79, of Athens, Alabama, passed away on June 2, 2019. Allen was the first dean of the newly merged colleges of engineering and mineral and energy resources at WVU that formed the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources in 1995-1996. He was the spouse of Kay King Cogley.

James D. “Jim” Stuart, 74, passed away on June 25, 2019. Stuart was a 1963 graduate of Roosevelt-Wilson High School and received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University. He was a member of the Harrison Rural Electrification board of directors, where he served for 22 years. Stuart also represented West Virginia as past national director for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Associate. He is survived by his wife, Barbara Ward Stuart, his two children, Lee Ann Stuart and DJ Stuart and two cousins.

Sheila Kay Arbaugh, 55, of Morgantown, West Virginia, passed away on July 14, 2019. Arbaugh received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science in 1986 and 1993 respectively. She was employed as a software engineer for ManTech and was a member of Lynch Chapel Church. Arbaugh is survived by her husband, Ernest Clinton Arbaugh Jr., her children, Elizabeth Virginia Arbaugh and Ernest Clinton Arbaugh III, her four sisters and numerous nieces and nephews.

Joseph Francis Oliveto, 88, passed away on April 18, 2019. He interrupted his studies at WVU to enlist in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean conflict and served five years as a first lieutenant and jet pilot. He graduated in 1958 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He worked as a tax preparer for H&R Block and a financial consultant at American Express, served as a docent at the California Science Center and taught engineering courses at L.A. Valley College and L.A. Pierce College. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Virginia Oliveto, his children, Veronica Scheyving, Frank Oliveto, Hugh Oliveto, Denta Oliveto, Rudi Gany and David Oliveto, along with his nine grandchildren.

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