Inside
Spring/Summer 2007 Greener and cleaner: the Environmental Engineering and Science program engineers a better world Charles Ellis recognized for design of the Golden Gate Bridge by Professor Emeritus William J. Hall
Alumni news and features
Contents Department news 5 Illinois in unity with Virginia Tech/Robert H. Dodds Jr., Professor and Head 21 Setting the record straight on the Golden Gate Bridge/Professor Emeritus William J. Hall 28 Concrete canoe team takes second at regionals, heads to nationals 29 Steel bridge team to compete at nationals 30 Student awards 33 Department news 33 MAE Center key in FEMA’s broad, new mission 6 34 Nominations invited for department alumni awards 35 Spencer to head Newmark Structural Engineering Laboratory 35 Structures conference held in April 36 Student team wins City of the Future contest 37 Global Leaders students travel to Dubai 37 Professor Mesri is Chi Epsilon Chapter Honor Member Research and instruction 8 Greener and cleaner: Environmental Engineering and Science at Illinois 10 International relationships foster a global perspective 11 Global warming, explosives byproducts 12 Water researchers plan major collaboration network 13 Safer airports 14 Waterborne pathogens 14 Student-run symposium highlights environmental research 15 Constructed wetlands 16 Waterborne viruses, antibiotic resistance 17 Emerging micropollutants 18 Clean air technology, membrane fouling 19 Urban lakes, sustainable membrane use
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This newsletter is published twice a year for members of the CEE Alumni Association and friends of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Robert H. Dodds Jr., Professor and Head John E. Kelley, Director of Development and Alumni Relations Carla J. Blue, Program Coordinator Celeste Bragorgos, Editor/Designer Your letters, comments and editorial contributions are always welcome. Please direct them to: CEE Newsletter, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1117 Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory, MC-250, 205 North Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, (217) 333-6955, celeste@uiuc.edu Visit CEE on the web at http://cee.uiuc.edu
CEEAA Board of Directors
Alumni news and features 4 Letters 7 The role of the CEEAA board/John Carrato 22 Beyond the collection plate/Richard Sasse (BS 75) 24 Alumnus supports the troops via email 25 Where are they now?/Jonathan E. Lewis (BS 99, MS 01) 32 Alumni awards 38 Alumni news 39 Obituaries 40 Chicago Regional Dinner Meeting 2007 41 Alumni reception at TRB 42 Old Master: Carroll Carson Wiley Development news 6 Student Center campaign continues 26 Byrne, Armstrong bequest will provide fellowships 27 Railroad gifts to help expand rail program 43 Department gift and pledge form 43 Join the U of I Alumni Association
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President John L. Carrato, P.E., S.E., (BS 79, MS 80) Alfred Benesch & Company, Chicago Vice President Kenneth M. Floody, P.E., S.E. (BS 83) Ingenii LLC, Oak Park, Illinois Second Vice President Lawrence P. Jaworski, P.E., (BS 72, MS 73) Black & Veatch Gaithersburg, Maryland Past President Gregory D. Cargill, P.E., (BS 71) Clark Dietz Inc., Chicago
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Secretary Daniel A. Kuchma Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UIUC Ralph E. Anderson, P.E., (BS 77) Illinois Department of Transportation Springfield, Illinois Stanley M. Herrin, P.E., (BS 74, MS 78) Crawford, Murphy & Tilly Springfield, Illinois
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Alan J. Hollenbeck, P.E., (BS 75, MS 77) RJN Group Inc., Wheaton, Illinois Deron G. Huck, P.E., (BS 90) CH2M HILL, Kansas City, Missouri John P. Kos, P.E., (BS 77) DuPage County IDOT Wheaton, Illinois
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Don’t miss an issue!
Only members of the CEE Alumni Association receive every issue of the CEE newsletter, your best connection to your home department at the University of Illinois! When you join the U of I Alumni Association, you automatically become a member of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association. As a member, you’ll receive the CEE newsletter twice a year and stay up-to-date on the activities of the department and your fellow CEE alumni. To join, see page 43 or sign up online at http://www.uiaa.org/urbana/.
Cover photo: © Emrah Turudu/istockphoto.com
Walter S. Kos, P.E., (BS 71) Cook County Highway Department, Chicago Tracy K. Lundin, P.E., (BS 80, MS 82) Hanson Professional Services Springfield, Illinois Kevin A. Michols, P.E., S.E., (BS 79, MS 81) Construction Technology Laboratories Inc. Skokie, Illinois Wilbur C. Milhouse, P.E., (BS 94, MS 95) Milhouse Engineering & Consultants Chicago Colleen E. Quinn, P.E., (BS 84) Ricondo and Associates Inc., Chicago Allen J. Staron, P.E., (BS 74) Clark Dietz Inc., Chicago David J. Stoldt (BS 80) Commonwealth Pacific Ventures Hopkinton, Massachusetts Christopher M. Thomas (BS 96, MS 97) Clark Construction Group Inc. Bethesda, Maryland Elias Zewde, P.E., (BS 73, MS 75) Khafra Engineering Consultants, Inc. Louisville, Kentucky
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We write to acknowledge the receipt of and thank you for another copy of the CEE newsletter. We laud the initiatives taken by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, to gather the opinions of the future care-takers and potential leaders of the world and provide them with a platform to share their perspectives, expertise and concerns with the Earth’s ecology, among the many diverse topics of your newsletter. We know that this will bring about a change for the better and hope that it will bring us closer to our common aspiration of a more peaceful and safe world for all. We hope that the CEE newsletter will continue to circulate to its worldwide readership and inspire people, particularly future civil and environmental engineers, to work hard towards the achievement of world peace. Fidel Valdez Ramos (MS 51) Former President of the Republic of the Philippines Chairman, Ramos Peace and Development Foundation
ticular day, it was my first impression, however technologically impossible, that somehow the earthquake generator was out of control. I estimate the vibration went on for some 20 to 30 seconds and increased in amplitude and noise level. We were certainly beginning to be uneasy! When it stopped, people from the various offices rushed into the hallway. As it turned out, Professor Norby Nielson, whose specialty was earthquake engineering, was in that day and he remarked, “Boys, you’ve just experienced an earthquake.” Material Professor Nielson provided for one of his classes showed that the New Madrid fault was an area of several severe earthquakes in the late 1800s. John F. Harris (PhD 70)
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As the last of the Babbittonians (I received the only B.S. in Sanitary Engineering awarded in June 1954), I was extremely pleased to see Professor Babbitt profiled in the Fall/Winter CEE alumni newsletter. The article brought back many memories. I read the article about Illinois’ vulThere are, however, a couple of nerability to earthquakes [Earthquake things in the article that appear unusual. Researchers Examine Illinois’ Vulnerabil- Perhaps these are due to editing as I do ity, CEE newsletter, Fall/Winter 2006]. not think Professor [John D.] Haltiwanger Sometime in the 1968/1969 time frame, would have allowed them in the struca couple of my fellow graduate students tural course I took from him. and I were in our offices on the third First, the third paragraph says Profloor of the Civil Engineering building—I fessor Babbitt chose early retirement in recall it was in the late morning. Sud- 1954. He was 66 years old at the time denly, a low level vibration of the build- which appears to be a routine retireing began—along with “sounds” of mo- ment age. Perhaps this was early by CEE tion. Now, a bit of further background: department practice, but it strikes this The “concrete guys” had just taken de- reader as normal. livery of an earthquake generator and The fifth paragraph reports Profeshad been trying it out for a few days sor Babbitt’s prolific writing. However, prior to the event. the second sentence implies that he Since our office shared a wall with wrote for 30 years after retiring which the high bay area of the lab, the noise is twice as long as he lived. Did not the and vibration from the earthquake gen- 30 years begin in about 1922 with the erator were quite noticeable. publication of his first textbook? As the vibration began on this parThe Old Masters series is a fine way
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to keep alumni aware of the great traditions of the department. Keep it going. Paul A. Kuhn (BS 54) Professor Emeritus Haltiwanger responds: Paul, I was delighted to read your letter. To begin with, your note is evidence that people like you are reading our efforts to keep alive the memories of those who contributed so much to the history of our department, and that makes us feel good. It is important to us that we, collectively, not forget what these giants of the past meant to all of us and, indeed, to the profession. And now, may I congratulate you on your careful reading of the Babbitt piece; your observations certainly are in order. First, as to whether retirement at age 66 constituted “early” retirement is subject to debate; it certainly is not now so-considered, but it appears to have been so-considered by Professors R. S. Engelbrecht, W. M. Lansford, William A. Oliver, and Milton O. Schmidt who prepared the memorial statement commemorating Babbitt’s contributions for the College of Engineering shortly after his death, from which document we stole the term. And concerning our reference to “a period of intensive writing that continued unabated for 30 years,” that term was also taken from that document, but regrettably, we used it out of its intended context. You were correct in suspecting that the 30 years began at the beginning of his membership on our faculty, and not at the time of his retirement. In that regard, although we can’t find any list of his publications to confirm it, we are quite sure that his publication habits did continue for a long period after his retirement. This judgment is made on the basis of his quite extensive list of post-retirement professional activities, and his known proclivity to document his achievements through the publication of the results obtained through them. But thanks for pointing out our errors, and for reading our writing. —JDH
Illinois in unity with Virginia Tech by Robert H. Dodds Jr., Professor and Head, (MS 75, PhD 78) M.T. Geoffrey Yeh Endowed Chair of Civil Engineering
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he shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech shocked us all. In the days since the tragedy, we in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have watched in great sorrow as our friends and colleagues at Virginia Tech have grieved lost loved ones and experienced the fear and anger that such a senseless act of violence engenders. Our hearts truly are with them. It is often said that the world is small. The close-knit community of civil and environmental engineers reflects this view. Illinois and Virginia Tech share many connections, both professionally and personally. Our field prides itself on collaboration, cooperation, and a strong sense of purpose as we address great challenges facing society. During this time of mourning, our deepest sympathies go out to everyone affected—the Virginia Tech students, faculty, staff, families, friends and colleagues. Universities are by nature free and open environments, both physically and intellectually. The tragedy at Virginia Tech reminds us that we must protect this atmosphere of freedom and also, very simply, support one another. As we stand beside Virginia Tech in this time of profound loss, let us focus our attention on the comfort of the bonds we share and a future of healing for all concerned. i Your thoughts, suggestions and comments are always welcome. Please feel free to contact me any time at rdodds@uiuc.edu or (217) 333-3276.
Backdrop: Burruss Hall at Virginia Tech, ©Brian Adams/istockphoto.com
Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007
a vision, an opportunity
The addition will function as a CEE student center, providing critically needed classroom space and many other features that will enhance the educational experience of the department’s students. Numerous naming opportunities exist to recognize contributions to this project.
For more information, please contact: John E. Kelley, Director of Development and Alumni Relations 1102 Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory MC-250, 205 North Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (217) 333-5120, jekelley@uiuc.edu
Visit CEE web http://cee.uiuc.edu Visit CEE onon thethe web atat http://cee.uiuc.edu
Sketches by Teng and Associates Inc., Chicago
Our outstanding CEE students will be the beneficiaries of the department’s new student center, planned as a building addition to Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory. The campaign continues to fund this new campus landmark, an investment in the education of future civil and environmental engineering professionals.
The role of the CEEAA board by John
L. Carrato, P.E., S.E., (BS 79, MS 80) President, Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association Board of Directors
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n the fall 2006 newsletter I wrote, “We are always looking for alumni who would like to get involved with CEEAA activities or serve on the board.” I was pleasantly surprised to be contacted by several people expressing their interest in getting involved. One of those alumni, Katie Hall (BS 85, MS 87, PhD 91) recommended that it would be helpful if I described the role of the Board of Directors. This confirmed my suspicion that we are probably seen as a “black box” by many alumni. In order to correct that, I will attempt to explain what we do and how we do it in the following paragraphs. The CEEAA bylaws state: “The mission of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association is to support the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty, staff, students and alumni and to inspire lifelong loyalty and pride among alumni and friends by developing and enhancing their continued relationship with the department. To fulfill its mission, the Association has a Board of Directors to provide advice and counsel to the department, to recognize distinguished alumni, to foster collegial alumni relations and alumni support of the department, to mentor students and facilitate their entry into the civil and environmental engineering profession, to represent the department’s activities conducted by the Alumni Association, and to support the department’s public outreach activities.” The Board of Directors may consist of up to 19 members, including five officers and up to 14 directors, at least one of whom cannot be older than 35 at the time of election. We currently have 19 members serving on the Board of Directors. Eighteen of these are alumni, and one is a faculty member. The officers are a President, Vice President, Second Vice President, Past President and Secretary (faculty member), each serving two-year terms. The typical progression is from Second Vice President to Vice President to President. There is an election held every two years to officially fill these positions. The directors serve four-year terms and can serve a maximum of two consecutive terms. The terms of the directors are staggered by two years, so
currently the term of seven of the directors runs through September 30, 2008, and the term of the other seven directors runs through September 30, 2010. The next election of officers and directors will be held in 2008. The Board of Directors meets three times a year. Traditionally, we have met on the Friday before Homecoming in Champaign, prior to the Chicago Regional Dinner Meeting in early February, and on the Friday before the Awards Banquet in April in Champaign. For the last two years we have given out the Alumni Awards at the Chicago Regional Dinner Meeting instead of at the Awards Banquet, so our spring meeting is no longer tied to the Awards Banquet. In addition, the CEEAA is considering holding dinner meetings in Springfield and St. Louis on a rotating biannual basis. If we do this, we may hold our fall board meetings in conjunction with those events. Several years ago under the direction of Past President Don Eckmann (BS 56) it was decided that the most efficient way to serve our mission was to create a series of committees. We now have five standing committees. They are the Executive-Finance, Alumni-Faculty Interaction, Alumni Interaction, Student Support, and Award/Nominating committees. The committees meet in conjunction with the board meetings and also perform tasks in between meetings. I’m running out of space, so I can’t go into great detail on what the committees do. However, if you are interested in their activities, please visit http:// cee.uiuc.edu/alumni/. On the right side of the page there are several links. One of them is to the Board of Directors Handbook. This describes the responsibilities of the officers, directors and committees. It also discusses what is addressed at each of our meetings and includes our bylaws and the rules for our alumni awards. There are also several other helpful links on the website including the CEEAA Event Calendar. I hope you can make the time to visit the website and learn more about what we do. Finally, I hope you like what you see and choose to get involved. You can reach me at (312) 565-0450 or jcarrato@benesch.com. I look forward to hearing from you. i
The mission of the CEE Alumni Association is to support the department’s faculty, staff, students and alumni and to inspire lifelong loyalty and pride among alumni and friends by developing and enhancing their continued relationship with the department.
Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007
http://cee.uiuc.edu/environmental/
Greener and cleaner Environmental Engineering and Science at Illinois
By Benito J. Mariñas Ivan Racheff Professor of Environmental Engineering, and Environmental Engineering and Science Program Chair The Environmental Engineering and Science (EE&S) program, featured on the next 12 pages, has enjoyed a long tradition of excellence from its earliest days as the Department of Municipal and Sanitary Engineering (1890-1926). The program got its start under the stewardship of Professor Arthur N. Talbot, author of “The Champaign Septic Tank,” published in 1897. In 1926, a portion of this pioneering department was integrated with what is now known as the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. It became a highly ranked program, within a top-ranked department, under the early leadership of Professors Harold E. Babbitt (1925-1954) and Richard S. Engelbrecht (1954-1977), and remained so under our most recent past program coordinators, professors John T. Pfeffer (1977-1985), Vernon L. Snoeyink (1985-1999) and Mark J. Rood (1999-2005). The EE&S program has evolved over the years through the work of several generations of outstanding faculty and bright graduate students, with invaluable input from our loyal alumni. Interestingly, despite evolution we have been working on similar problems over the years. For example, one of Professor Talbot’s students built and tested an aerator/filter pilot system to remove iron from the water supply of Urbana-Champaign after concluding that the alternative of lime treatment was “unsatisfac-
tory” because a “long period of rest was necessary to secure the deposit of any large proportion of the iron through sedimentation alone.” Well, despite this early recommendation, our local water treatment plant uses lime treatment today. But in all fairness, unlike more recent generations of Environmental Engineering students, Professor Talbot’s student did not have the benefit of taking Water Chemistry from a more recent iron/lime treatment expert in our program, Professor Snoeyink. Our EE&S program currently has 17 faculty members teaching and doing research with graduate and undergraduate students in various areas of special-
EE&S at a glance Undergraduate students: 40* Graduate students: 80 Ph.D.: 55 M.S.: 25 Tenure-track faculty: 15 Research faculty and scholars: 3 Adjunct faculty: 1 Post-docs and Professionals: 4 Current rankings, U.S. News & World Report: Graduate program: No. 2 Undergraduate program: No. 5 * declared juniors and seniors
Visit EE&S on the at http://cee.uiuc.edu/environmental/ Visit CEE on the webweb at http://cee.uiuc.edu
ization including Air Quality Engineering and Science (Tami Bond, Sue Larson, Mark Rood, Massoud Rostam-Abadi), Ecological Engineering (Ed Herricks), Environmental Chemistry (Timm Strathmann), Environmental Microbiology (Kevin Finneran, Julie Zilles), Environmental Systems and Information Technology (Wayland Eheart, Barbara Minsker), Hazardous Waste and Subsurface Science (Al Valocchi, Charlie Werth), and Water Quality Control Engineering (Mark Clark, Benito Mariñas, Eberhard Morgenroth, Helen Nguyen, Vern Snoeyink). In addition, we are also planning for program evolution in response to emerging societal needs and globalization trends. At a recent retreat, the EE&S faculty selected three areas for future program development: Urban Watershed Management, Ecological Engineering, and Air Quality Modeling. In addition, Vern Snoeyink is developing international program initiatives with current emphasis in Asia (formal collaboration programs have been developed with the National University of Singapore, and Tsinghua University, China) and he plans to focus on Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa in the future. Our EE&S program has also benefited from leading major national initiatives and centers. Barbara Minsker is a leading figure in the development of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Water and Environmental Research Systems
(WATERS) Network initiative. Ed Herricks is developing Bird Strike Advisory Systems technology for the Center of Excellence for Airport Technology, and Charlie Werth and Benito Mariñas are co-leaders of Microcontaminant Control and Disinfection interdisciplinary teams of the NSF Science and Technology Center of Advanced Materials for the Purification of Water with Systems (The WaterCAMPWS). Our research facilities continue to improve. Because of the recent successful renewal of The WaterCAMPWS, a new 2,000-square-foot disinfection research laboratory will be built on the fourth floor of Newmark (in the area previously occupied by two old chillers) with predicted inauguration date of May 2008. Our education program also continues to thrive. Our students are learning
how to practice without impairing nature in the new course on Sustainable Urban Engineering taught by Charlie Werth, and how to be better communicators in the Cultural Awareness and Speech Enhancement course developed by Vern Snoeyink. Support and involvement by our alumni and friends in professional practice, industry and government continue to play a key role in maintaining and improving the excellence of the EE&S program. In-kind and financial contributions support the renovation of facilities, upgrade of equipment, endowments for fellowships and scholarships, and discretionary funds for various academic activities from which generations of students, both graduates and undergraduates, have benefited in their educational and research endeavors. We are very
Above, the pilot system tested by Professor Arthur N. Talbot for the removal of iron at the Urbana and Champaign Water Co. (1910). A: aerator; O1: orifice tank; B, C and D: sequential gravel filters; E: sand filter; K: flow control box with float valve; O2: orifice tank. Illustration reprinted from the University of Illinois State Water Survey Bulletin #9, March 25, 1912 (University of Illinois, Urbana).
appreciative of this continued support. And yes, we still find time to enjoy socializing and interacting outside Newmark. The EE&S Program picnics continue to be successful events. If you happen to be in town on the first Friday of the fall semester or the last Friday of the spring semester, please plan to join us. We would love to have you back. i Below, faculty, students and their families gathered on Aug. 26, 2006, for the EE&S Program Fall Picnic.
CivilCivil andand Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007 Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007
“If you look at where most of the pathogens are and where most of the people are dying in the world due to a lack of safe water, it’s in sub-Saharan Africa. This is something that has motivated a new generation of environmental engineering students.” Benito Mariñas
International relationships foster a global perspective By Vernon L. Snoeyink Professor Emeritus
The CEE department and the University of Illinois have long recognized the importance of good relations with foreign universities. Our research and departmental reputation have enjoyed significant benefits because of the outstanding students that have come from these universities to do graduate study here, and our faculty likewise have benefited from many excellent collaborations with faculty from these universities. The innovative “3 plus 2 program,” just established with Tsinghua University in China, in which Chinese undergraduates will study for three years at Tsinghua, followed by two years at Illinois and an industrial internship, and then will receive a master of science degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is an example of our University’s interest in strong global partnerships. Similar arrangements are available for U of I undergraduates under the 3 + 2 program. Such activities and programs are essential for top universities today, according to a recent journal article by our former Dean of Engineering, Professor William R. Schowalter, now adviser to the President of the National University of Singapore. In the article “Future of U.S. Research Universities in a Globalized World: A Chemical Engineer’s View from Singapore,” which appeared in the September 2006 issue of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Journal, Schowalter writes: “Students will be ill served and the global rankings of our universities will decline if we are unwilling or unable to grasp the opportunities afforded by the challenges of a globalized society.” We in the Environmental Engineering and Science (EE&S) program recognize that the world’s economy is rapidly globalizing and that environmental en-
ranging for our gineering firms are undergraduate an important part and graduof that movement. ate students to In this environment spend internwe also must gloships and “vabalize our program cations” at the because our graducenter working ates must now compete for jobs with Professor Emeritus Vernon L. Snoeyink at a panda on environmengraduates from park in Chengdu, China, with his wife, Jeannie, and tal problems in the best universi- Xintong Liu, niece of CEE alumna Qilin Li (PhD 02). the region. We have ties throughout the world, and we must prepare them for made progress toward achieving our this competition. Having a strong inter- goals. To date we have: • Formalized memoranda of undernational program will give us increased visibility throughout the world, and it will standing covering research and educabenefit us in our recruitment of the best tion programs in environmental engiinternational graduate students, in their neering and science with the National placement after graduation, and in en- University of Singapore and Tsinghua abling us to do research that will have University in Beijing, China. • Established an agreement for gradapplication throughout the world. The goals that the EE&S faculty has set for uate student exchange with the National such a program include the development University of Singapore (NUS) that will of strong, sustainable joint graduate re- facilitate joint research being done unsearch and education programs with der the direction of professors at NUS the National University of Singapore and the U of I. • Held two workshops, one in Singaand Tsinghua University in China. Such programs could include co-advising of pore and one at Illinois, for the purpose doctoral and post-doctoral students by of developing ideas for joint research. Since retirement, I have increased faculty from each university, faculty and graduate student exchanges, and jointly my international activities, and I am in a good position to help the EE&S profunded research. We also want to establish a pro- gram achieve its goals. Currently I am gram with a Latin American university in spending approximately three months order to meet the desires of our students per year as a visiting professor at NUS, and faculty for meaningful involvement and I have just agreed to spend at least in environmental issues in developing one month per year at Tsinghua Univercountries. Such a program could include sity. Our EE&S program goals should be working with such a university to obtain easier to achieve given my personal congovernmental funding for a water re- tacts with leaders at these universities. Increasingly, the best environmental sources center that would include both faculty and facilities. This center would engineers are those with a global pereducate students on topics such as wa- spective. Here in the EE&S program at ter supply and pollution control, and our Illinois, we are positioning ourselves to EE&S program could assist with course ensure that our future graduates will development, the offering of University continue to rank among the best in the i of Illinois courses via satellite, and ar- world.
Visit EE&S on the at http://cee.uiuc.edu/environmental/ 1010 Visit CEE on the webweb at http://cee.uiuc.edu
http://cee.uiuc.edu/research/bondresearch/
Better atmospheric models, better decisions about global warming Global warming is one of the biggest political issues of our time, but decisions regarding what to do about it have been hindered by incomplete information. What human activities contribute to climate change? Can changes in individual behavior really make a difference? The research of Assistant Professor Tami C. Bond promises more comprehensive models of atmospheric chemistry, leading to more accurate information for those who use such models to make policy decisions and a better understanding about the effects of individual actions on global climate change. Although most people associate carbon dioxide with climate change, combustion sources produce other gases and particles that also affect climate. In order to model how these sources affect the atmosphere, many pollutants must be measured. In a project funded primarily by the National Science Foundation, Bond and her research team are characterizing the particles produced by solid-fuel combustion, specifically wood combustion. Wood burning gen-
erates 80 to 90 percent of all carbon particles emitted from combustion and 20 percent of the total particles in the atmosphere, Bond says, but this type of combustion hasn’t been adequately studied. As a result, the particles in the atmosphere haven’t been correctly characterized, leading to incomplete computer models. Bond’s team has spent three years taking field measurements of emissions from wood cooking fires in a village in Honduras. By partnering with non-government humanitarian organizations, they have been able to observe and measure the actual practices of people who regularly cook over wood fires, a previously unmeasured source of combustion particles in the atmosphere. Now the team is working to recreate these particles in the lab so they can be studied intensively and accurately characterized for use in models.
Preliminary results have shown that there are significantly more particles from wood combustion in the atmosphere than was previously thought and that more of these particles are of a type that contributes to atmospheric warming. Because of this, measures like providing people with more efficient cook stoves are likely to slow climate change in the near-term, Bond says. In the long term, better models will lead to more confident decision-making among policy-makers. “We’re trying to reduce uncertainties that people give as reasons for not making decisions,” Bond says. “We’re trying to bring those uncertainties down to a manageable level.” i
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/finneran/www/
A microbial solution to explosives byproducts in the soil Live-fire training is necessary for military readiness, but explosives leave toxic byproducts in the soil. If these toxins migrate through the groundwater, they can pose a health hazard to people in the communities near military training areas. Fortunately, there are microorganisms already present in the soil with the power to harmlessly eliminate these contaminants. They just need a little encouragement. That’s where Assistant Professor Kevin T. Finneran comes in. Through research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Finneran, an environmental microbiologist, has identified the most effective of these microorganisms and developed a way of stimulating them to activity, resulting in the harmless elimination of explosives byproducts in the soil.
The byproducts RDX and HMX have long been known to biodegrade, but until recently, the details of the process were not understood. Through laboratory experiments on samples gathered from DoD sites, Finneran’s team identified naturally-occurring microbes called iron-reducers as the dominant organisms in this process and developed a way to encourage their activity in an anaerobic environment. The method uses electron shuttles, substances that transport electrons from the iron-reducers to the contaminants without the need for direct contact. The process is fast and thorough, resulting in only innocuous end products. With what he’s learned, Finneran hopes to provide the DoD with a method for cleaning up already affected sites, as well as strategies for continual treatment of the
soil at military training sites. The project illuminates one of Finneran’s favorite aspects of his work: the diversity of organisms and the flexibility that affords to the environmental engineer who harnesses their power for bioremediation. “It’s fantastic,” he says. “There’s almost nothing microbes can’t tackle.” i Photo: Assistant Professor Kevin T. Finneran holds a solution containing iron-reducers.
CivilCivil andand Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007 Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007 11 11
“In my career, more and more, teaching is a bigger part of the thrill.” Mark Clark http://cee.uiuc.edu/emsa/index.html http://www.watersnet.org
Water researchers pursue a big-picture approach to research A vast new project still in the planning stages promises to revolutionize water research in the United States, and Professor Barbara S. Minsker is at the forefront of the initiative. A project of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering and Geosciences directorates, the WATERS Network is envisioned as a networked infrastructure of highly instrumented experimental and field facilities that will allow multidisciplinary
at management issues, at engineering designs, in a way and at a scale at which we’ve never been able to,” says Minsker, Principal Investigator of the WATERS Network Project Office. “From the perspective of researchers, this system will be transformative.” Plans for the Water and Environmental Research Systems (WATERS) Network as it is currently envisioned began in 2005 with the merging of two coali-
Professor Barbara Minsker stands before an image of the testbed observatory in Texas for which she is principal investigator.
research and education on complex, large-scale environmental systems and an unprecedented level of collaboration and information-sharing among water researchers. It promises nothing less than an environmental engineering and hydrologic science revolution. “When we put all this together, we’re going to be able to look at policy issues,
tions of researchers, both funded by the NSF, that were planning separate networks for environmental engineering and hydrology research—CLEANER, the Collaborative Large-Scale Engineering Analysis Network for Environmental Research, and hydrologic observatories proposed by CUAHSI, the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of
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Hydrologic Sciences Inc. Recognizing their similar infrastructure and technology needs, NSF facilitated their collaboration. A national effort is currently underway to design the network and define key scientific questions to be addressed. If all goes according to plan, the WATERS Network will begin operating in 2015. “It’s a huge community-building effort to lead everyone through the process to understand what it is that we want—what kind of science we want to be able to do, how this infrastructure is going to enable it—and ultimately come to a very detailed design document that lays out what this network is going to be,” Minsker says. As part of the network design and planning process, NSF has funded 11 testbed observatories throughout the nation. These instrumented research locations are smaller-scale versions of the types of sites that will ultimately make up the network. Minsker is the principal investigator of one of the sites in Texas’ Corpus Christi Bay off the Gulf of Mexico. Department researchers also are exploring the establishment of a new testbed site in the Chicago area as part of a broader Illinois River Basin Observatory testbed being developed by Professor Praveen Kumar within the Institute for Sustainability of Intensively Managed Landscapes. A concurrent, NSF-funded cyberinfrastructure project at the U of I’s National Center for Supercomputing Applications, called Environmental CyberInfrastructure Demonstrator, is helping WATERS Network planners understand the network’s informatics needs and aid in its design. Our nation’s persistent problems with water quality and quantity, as well as a general lack of understanding about the causes of such troubles as pollution, floods and water shortages, demonstrate the need for collaboration among water researchers, Minsker says. Cur-
rently most research is done by single investigators in small-scale experiments, which help to understand fundamental mechanisms but not how those mechanisms interact at large scales. “We’re now reaching the point where we need large-scale observatories; we need multiple disciplines to look at the interactions that happen,” she says. “We have specialized ourselves so much that you have people who look at groundwater, you have people who look at surface water, you have people who look at air, all as separate components. We need to understand the interactions and be able to look at water as an integrated cycle.” Other department faculty members involved with the WATERS Network initiative are Professor Mark J. Rood, a member of the environmental engineering and science research committee; Professor Praveen Kumar, who serves on the modeling committee and Advisory Board; and Professor J. Wayland Eheart, who serves on the organization committee. For Minsker, who holds a joint appointment at the U of I’s National Center for Supercomputing Applications, and whose area of expertise is environmental resource systems analysis, the bigpicture approach to managing the environment that the network promises is particularly appealing. “For me, this project is systems Nirvana,” she says. i
“We’re starting to look at waste more as a resource than as a liability. We’re taking the good things out of the waste, and we’re producing valuable compounds from it.” Eberhard Morgenroth
http://cee.uiuc.edu/faculty/herricks.htm
Innovative systems for safer airports An important objective of environmental engineers is designing human systems that function efficiently, safely and sustainably within the natural world. For those who design and operate airports, failure in this goal can be tragic. Collisions between aircraft and wildlife, most often birds, cost human life and billions of dollars in damage each year. A research team led by Professor Edwin E. Herricks, an expert in the analysis of interactions between human and natural systems, promises to make airports safer by reducing bird-plane collisions. The team is deploying and evaluating radar systems to detect birds near airports with the goal of one day establishing a warning system for controllers and pilots. An expert in ecology, Herricks heads the safety program for the Center of Excellence for Airport Technology, a CEE-based research center funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the O’Hare Modernization Program. “The efforts we have through this airport safety research and development program are to look at the whole question as a system,” Herricks says. “That’s where my training as an ecologist and the practicality of being in an engineering department come into play.” The system includes three major focus areas: geographic information systems to help airport personnel keep track of
wildlife; bird-detection radar; and different detection systems to warn of foreign object debris on runways, another cause of crashes. The team is currently operating a bird radar at the Naval Air Station at Whitby Island, north of Seattle, Wash., and this summer they will be operating other radars at Seattle-Tacoma Airport and O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. Detection systems for foreign objects will operate in Providence, R.I., Boston and Chicago. Their technical reports will help the FAA establish performance standards for these safety systems, a first step toward widespread use. Because airports are typically attractively landscaped, wide open spaces, they are wildlife magnets. As part of the modernization initiative at O’Hare, Herricks is collaborating with colleague Bruce Branham in the U of I’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences to redesign the airport to be unattractive to wildlife. Using what they know about healthy ecosystems, they are working to achieve the opposite, creating a safer airport for humans. “It’s the kind of collaboration that comes out of a creative university atmosphere like the one we’re running through the Center,” Herricks says. i Photo: Professor Ed Herricks explains stream ecology to his Freshman Discovery Class.
CivilCivil andand Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007 Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007 13 13
“Engineers are all about control, but you can’t really control the environment; you can really only influence the environment.” Kevin Finneran
http://cee.uiuc.edu/Faculty/marinas.htm
New tactics against waterborne pathogens The goal of drinking water disinfection is to eliminate health threats from bacteria, protozoa and viruses that can cause illness. But no one technology is effective against every pathogen. In addition, chemical disinfection can cause dangerous byproducts. Researchers led by Professor Benito Mariñas are working to stay ahead of the changing needs of the water treatment industry by increasing understanding about current disinfection methods and developing new technologies that are safe and effective against a range of pathogens. Until recently, most American municipalities disinfected their drinking water with chlorine. But that method has proven ineffective against the common waterborne pathogen cryptosporidium, a protozoan parasite that causes gastrointestinal illness. Another disadvantage of chlorine dis-
infection is that it is associated with potentially carcinogenic byproducts. New government regulations announced in 2006 call for municipalities to move away from chlorine disinfection within the next few years, a measure that will present new challenges. A common alternative replaces the “free chlorine” with the sequential use of ultraviolet light and “combined chlorine,” a form of chlorine produced in the presence of excess ammonia. However, although this method is effective against cryptosporidium and bacteria, it is ineffective against waterborne viruses. Funded by the Water CAMPWS and private industry, Mariñas’ team is studying combined chlorine to develop data that demonstrates its ineffectiveness against viruses, determining what new
byproducts will be formed by this new method, and exploring new, comprehensive technologies that will inactivate all pathogens without harmful byproducts. “We keep changing technologies, and each time we change technologies there’s a new pathogen that comes to the front,” Mariñas says. “We’re trying to understand what the industry is getting into.”
EE&S research is the focus of annual, student-run symposium By Evan Coopersmith
Environmental Engineering and Science students presented the 13th annual Environmental Engineering Symposium on April 20 at the Levis Faculty Center in Urbana. Areas of discussion included air pollution, remediation of contaminants, environmental biotechnology, contaminant transport and decay, membrane fouling, and the modeling of environmental systems. Though the symposium serves primarily as an opportunity to highlight the department’s research efforts as a supplement to the Avanced Graduate lecture series, in recent years the event has been well-attended by members of the academic and industrial communities alike. This year was no different as professors, graduate students,
ally, for those student undergraduates, and committee members environmental consulresponsible for the tants all turned out, orchestration of the with the total day’s event, the symposium attendance falling built managerial exclose to 100 people. periences uncommon Unlike other simito degree candidates lar University-sponat this stage. sored presentations, This year, the the spring symposium, Evan Coopersmith, right, chair of the from its initial plan- 2007 symposium, with fellow EES student environmental engineering department ning to its execution is King Shan Kwok. welcomed Paul Koch entirely student-run. For the master’s and Ph.D. candidates (BS 66, MS 68), senior vice president presenting their work, this event offered with MACTEC Engineering and Conthe opportunity to showcase their intel- sulting Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio, as the lectual acumen as well as to network keynote speaker. His lifetime of work with representatives from leading in- in the practical application of environdustrial and consulting firms. Addition- mental engineering techniques as well
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“A lot of times the debate about whether to do something about climate change is ... about money. And I think it’s exciting that there are actions you can take which everybody wants to achieve. Perhaps they haven’t occurred because the money is in the wrong place, but there are definitely things you can do that can make a difference now. We’re bringing that to people’s attention and making it credible through measurement and modeling.” Tami Bond
Thompson-McClellan
http://cee.uiuc.edu/Faculty/weheart.htm
The project requires work with live viruses, for example adenovirus, one of the toughest pathogens faced by the industry. “Adenovirus is very persistent in nature and has the strongest resistance to disinfection by ultraviolet light—stronger than any other virus, stronger than any bacteria, stronger than any protozoa, stronger than anything we’ve ever seen,” Mariñas says. Among the new technologies being explored is photocatalysis, which utilizes a photo-reactive material— for example, titanium dioxide—to enhance the effectiveness of ultraviolet light. In the meantime, the research will provide water treatment professionals with valuable information about current technology and lead to cleaner, safer water now and in the future. i
as his dedication to the increasingly vital area of sustainability allowed him to offer insight and inspiration to all who attended. Eloquently adapting an Aldous Huxley title, A Brave New World, Koch spoke charismatically of the need for continued scientific, public, and political energy devoted to the cause of a more sustainable tomorrow. Student presentations were approximately 10 minutes in length with five minutes allotted for inquiry. The discussions were lively, the audience was genuinely intrigued, and the result was a successful day of intellectual discourse. i Evan Coopersmith is a first-year master’s candidate in environmental systems analysis and chair of this year’s spring symposium.
A comprehensive look at constructed wetlands When the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago began exploring the use of constructed wetlands as a potentially less expensive alternative to traditional treatments for removing nutrients from water, the agency came to Professor J. Wayland Eheart. The result is the most comprehensive picture to date of the conditions under which constructed wetlands can provide a feasible alternative to traditional methods. Constructed wetlands, in use since the 1970s, are gaining in popularity because more stringent environmental regulations are on the horizon in most areas of the country, and municipalities are seeking less expensive ways to comply, Eheart says. A constructed wetland looks the same as the naturally occurring kind and provides a habitat for wildlife and a potential recreation area for fishermen, hunters and bird-watching enthusiasts, while simultaneously removing harmful nutrients from the water. Constructed wetlands require significantly more land than treatment plants, however. Along with graduate students Tze
Ling Ng and Thomas Hu, Eheart used computer modeling to analyze hypothetical wetlands, adjusting factors like land cost, nutrient concentration, and elements like pumps, liners and earthworks. To ensure their models were realistic, they visited existing wetlands and scouted potential areas in Illinois for new ones. They found that in situations where land is cheap and nutrient concentrations are high, constructed wetlands have advantages over traditional methods. Even in cases where land is more costly, it’s possible to offset the expense of the wetland by charging recreationists to use it. This kind of arrangement can be accomplished through the use of transferable discharge permits, which allow private entities to bid on contracts to provide water treatment and “establish an incentive for innovation,” Eheart says. In May, Eheart presented his findings in a workshop to a group of Illinois wastewater treatment professionals. The new knowledge could be used by municipalities of any size whose goal is effective water treatment at a lower price. i
CivilCivil andand Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007 Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007 15 15
“Certainly I enjoy many aspects of my work—the challenge of the research and coming up with innovative solutions to improve water quality. But working with students and seeing them make their first accomplishments within their careers—giving their first presentations, publishing their first papers—I enjoy those interactions the most.” Timothy J. Strathmann
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/thn/www/index.html
A precise approach to the problem of waterborne viruses Waterborne viruses can cause a range of illnesses, such as diarrhea, colds and pneumonia. Such viruses, like adenoviruses and noroviruses, can be particularly resistant to traditional methods of drinking water treatment. Chemical disinfection is effective but can produce harmful byproducts. The search for a new physico-chemical method for removing viruses from drinking water is the challenge of the newest member of the environmental faculty, Assistant Professor Thanh (Helen) H. Nguyen.
In collaboration with other researchers participating in the Water CAMPWS, a multidisciplinary National Science Foundation-supported research center at the U of I, Nguyen and her students are studying interfacial behavior of viruses with the goal of finding an additive that will cause viruses to clump together so they can settle or be filtered out of the water. The team has been working with a model virus, the bacteriophage MS2, but when a planned renovation of the environmental laboratories on the fourth
floor of Newmark Lab is completed next summer, they will receive the permit necessary to work with pathogenic viruses such as adenovirus. Nguyen holds a B.S. in geology from Ivan Franko National University of L’viv, Ukraine; M.S. degrees in Earth and Environmental Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago and in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University; and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Before joining the faculty at Illinois, she
http://www.cee.uiuc.edu/people/jzilles/
A clearer picture of antibiotic resistance Antibiotic resistance is a significant public health concern. The tendency of microbes to become immune to the antibiotics that cure infections has been
blamed on a number of possible factors, including the use of antibiotics in meat production. The work of Research Assistant Professor and microbiologist Julie L. Zilles is exploring this connection using an innovative new method for measuring antibiotic resistance in the environment. Antibiotics given to farm animals make their way into the environment primarily through the animals’ manure, which is used as fertilizer. It has been speculated that these antibiotics in the environment have contributed to the development of resistant strains of bacteria. But traditional methods of measuring antibiotic resistance have severe limitations, making this link difficult to study. A new method developed by CEE graduate student Zhi Zhou has made it possible to measure resistance in all microorganisms under the microscope. Zilles, Zhou and CEE student Toshio Shimada-Beltran are using this more reliable, more comprehensive method to study agricultural soil samples in a proj-
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ect funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Pork Board. The method utilizes a staining procedure that causes sensitive microbes to appear fluorescent under the microscope. The team analyzes photographs of the samples to determine the level of resistant microbes, comparing that information with lab results that reveal the levels of antibiotics present. Soil samples from farms with and without antibiotic use are being examined. A surprising preliminary finding indicates that the soil of organic farms contains significantly higher levels of antibiotic-resistant microbes than previous studies have discovered. These results are still being analyzed, says Zilles, but they may illuminate the advantage of the staining method over traditional methods for detecting resistant microbes. Zilles hopes her research can one day be used to give farmers specific recommendations about antibiotic use, contributing to reduced levels of antibiotic resistance. i
“I came out of a background in operations research and industrial engineering. … I had taken one course in environmental systems analysis … For me that was very compelling—to be able to do the kinds of mathematical modeling that I love and apply it to the environment where I thought I might make a difference. … Certainly if I had stayed in manufacturing or banking like most of my colleagues, I’d probably be a lot wealthier than I am today, but I love what I’m doing, and that’s more important.” Barbara Minsker
was a Gaylord Donnelley Environmental Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University. The virus research makes good use of one of Nguyen’s areas of expertise—applying precise tools of biomedi-
cal research to environmental engineering problems. For example, a sensitive microbalance can be used to measure adsorption in nanograms. During her post-doctoral year at Yale, Nguyen used such techniques to study biological micromolecules. “I want to apply the technical knowledge I learned during my post-doc to the virus problem,” she says. i
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/strthmnn/www/index.html
Better understanding of emerging micropollutants There is a growing concern among water treatment professionals about a number of emerging classes of water micropollutants, including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, hormones, and even byproducts of the disinfection process in wastewater treatment plants. Conventional wastewater treatment plants are not designed to handle these compounds, and as a result many of them are being discharged into natural water bodies that are often used as drinking water sources. A project by environmental chemist and Assistant Professor Timothy J. Strathmann promises to expand knowledge about these micropollutants with an eye toward developing treatment technologies for rendering them harmless. Testing by the U.S. Geological Survey has revealed the presence of many of these compounds in bodies of water throughout the country, raising concerns of the public and regulators alike. Although no federal regulations currently
exist for many of these contaminants, a growing number of studies suggest that continuous exposure to many of these compounds poses potential risks to aquatic organisms and human health. In addition, Strathmann says, chemicals that are not harmful on their own may prove dangerous when mixed with other pollutants in the environment. Because of concerns about these potential health effects, there is growing interest in the development of new technologies capable of effectively and efficiently treating water containing these micropollutants. Funded by the National Science Foundation through the Water CAMPWS—a University of Illinois research center—as well as funds from the American Water Works Association Research Foundation, Strathmann’s work illuminates the basic chemical processes behind technologies for selectively removing specific pollutants from the water. Through laboratory tests, Strathmann and his research group are learning how fast such reac-
tions occur, how other ingredients in the water affect the processes, and what the final products are. A significant preliminary finding has been the discovery that toxic disinfection byproducts and x-ray contrast agents that are particularly resistant to traditional treatment methods can be rapidly transformed to harmless byproducts at room temperature using metal catalysts in combination with hydrogen gas. “Ultimately we hope that this work will lead to engineered technologies that are highly efficient and selective,” Strathmann says, “so that we could work with reactor engineers to develop sustainable treatment processes to protect human health and the environment.” i
CivilCivil andand Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007 Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007 17 17
http://aqes.cee.uiuc.edu/
Innovations in clean air technology Innovative technologies for removing hazardous air pollutants from gas streams are available thanks to Ivan Racheff Professor Mark J. Rood’s research group. The Vapor Phase Removal and Recovery System (VaPRRS™) and Steady State Tracking (SST) Desorption System use adsorption technology to capture air pollutants for either sustainable reuse or disposal. These methods are applicable in a range of industries and are more efficient and sustainable than previously developed methods, Rood says. “We’re using an activated carbon fiber cloth that has very unique properties to do a much better job of removing materials from the gas streams than traditional granular activated carbons,” he says. Thousands of metric tons of hazardous air pollutants are emitted into the atmosphere every year, and industry is required to prevent those emissions. The VaPRRS™ technology, available for licensing through the University, and SST
Desorption offer simpler, cheaper, more efficient options. These technologies were developed with co-inventors including Patrick D. Sullivan (PhD 03), and K. James Hay and B.J. Kim of the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory. Research leading to the development of these technologies started in 1990, Rood says, and has been funded by the Department of Defense, the State of Illinois, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Grainger Foundation. This summer, these technologies will be demonstrated as full-scale devices in Utah and Texas. The development of new technologies in an academic setting contributes to students’ education and increases the impact of research, Rood says. “Students are able to apply first principles they learn in the classroom to solving realistic problems and see the devel-
Thompson-McClellan
opment of technology evolve from very simple proof-of-concept testing to demonstrations in the field,” he says. Students who have contributed to this area of Rood’s research include Mark P. Cal (MS 93, PhD 95), Mehrdad Lordgooei (PhD 99), Sullivan, David Ramirez (MS 00, PhD 05), Amit Kaldate (PhD 05), Zaher Hashisho, and Hamidreza Emamipour. “I’ve been very fortunate in having very high quality graduate students,” Rood says. “We’ve been able to focus on their education while going from simple lab experiments at the bench scale to actually building full-scale technologies that will be tested in the field.” i
http://cee.uiuc.edu/people/mmclark3/clark1.htm
A molecular exploration of membrane fouling
Membranes represent the future of water treatment technology, but the problem of their fouling, or clogging, has confounded researchers. The need to clean membranes adds expense and reduces efficiency, but the exact nature of the “dirt” fouling the membrane is often a mystery, complicating efforts to prevent it. The problem is one of scale; the openings in membranes are so miniscule that they can’t be examined with a traditional microscope. Other methods, such as elec18
tron microscopy or charge-measuring, can give conflicting information. Research by Professor Mark M. Clark, graduate student Won-Young Ahn, and Department of Geology Professor Andrey Kalinichev is examining membrane fouling on a molecular level, promising a deeper understanding of the fouling process. The project, funded by the Water CAMPWS, has already produced the most comprehensive computer models in existence of what happens during membrane fouling. “We’ve been trying to understand what actually decreases the productivity of the membrane in the water,” says Clark, who has worked on issues of water filtration for more than 20 years with approximately 30 graduate students. “What’s the dirt? Is it clay, is it silt, is it natural organic matter, or is it bacteria that actually bond to the surface and form colonies? When we got into it, we found out it wasn’t real obvious which of the different substances were causing the
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membrane fouling.” Working under Clark, Ahn is using molecular dynamic simulation to construct 3D computer models of the membrane surface, the water, natural organic matter, and other molecules present in the water. Ahn’s models, the most comprehensive being produced anywhere, show how all the components interact at the molecular level, giving significantly more information than any other method in use. “The molecular level of understanding is essential, because without that, no uniform model could fully predict the fouling scenario,” Ahn says. The use of membranes is related to the concept of sustainability, Clark says, because better water filtration enables water recycling. The results of this research could lead to better membrane design or recommendations for use that would prevent fouling, making a promising technology that much more feasible. i
http://cee.uiuc.edu/people/werth/
Cleaner urban lakes The lakes and reservoirs that dot our urban landscapes provide drainage and add visual interest but are often too polluted for recreational use. Associate Professor Charles J. Werth is collaborating with researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to find out why pollution in urban lakes is so high, discover the sources of the pollutants, and explore methods for keeping the lakes cleaner. The work is supported by the National Institute of Water Research and the USGS. Along with USGS researchers Peter Van Metre and Barbara Mahler, Werth and graduate student Yaning Yang are focusing on a class of pollutants called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are toxic to humans and aquatic life. Most prevalent in urban areas, PAHs come from roofing tars, parking lot sealants, oil and grease, and automobile emissions. These materials form particles, in some cases through weathering, and are carried
through storm water systems during rainfall events and into urban lakes. The team is focusing on two watersheds in Ft. Worth, Texas, the Lake Fosdic Watershed and the Lake Como Watershed, where they are collecting water samples from the lakes and samples of possible pollutant sources in the surrounding areas, such as street dust, parking lot dust, residential soil and commercial soil. Analyzing the samples should yield a clearer picture of where the lakes’ pollutants are coming from and how harmful they might be in the environment. Werth’s project may be the most comprehensive study to date of the role particles play on pollution fate in urban lakes, because the focus is the whole watershed, which includes not only the body of water but also the surrounding area that drains into it. He hopes his results will lead to recommendations
for best-management practices to reduce PAHs flowing into urban lakes. Because PAHs become less availble to aquatic organics or break down slowly over time, just stemming the tide of pollutants could ultimately lead to cleaner, better utilized urban lakes. i
http://www.cee.uiuc.edu/research/morgenroth/
More sustainable membrane use Membranes are an emerging technology in water treatment that produce higher quality water than traditional methods. But membranes are prone to fouling, or clogging with organic material, and frequent cleaning adds to the cost of using them. Research by Assistant Professor Eberhard F. Morgenroth is combining membranes with biological treatment to reduce fouling, making membranes more cost-efficient, and produce energy in the process. An expert in biological processes for cleaning water, Morgenroth is collaborating with membrane developers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University in an effort to combine the two technologies and develop new procedures for membrane reactors. Using a laboratory-scale reactor, Morgenroth is testing his system against a range of compounds that could potentially foul the membranes. The anaerobic process employs microorganisms, specifically heterotrophic bacteria and
archaea, to clean the water and membranes to filter it, so the bacteria stay contained. “Bacteria eat up the waste or organic matter, so they do 98 percent of the treatment, then the membrane keeps them from passing through and out,” Morgenroth says. The process also produces methane as a byproduct, which can power a generator to produce electricity. The production of energy as well as the promise of cleaner water at a lower cost will make membrane technology more feasible for municipalities, which are increasingly concerned with conserving energy and recycling water. “We don’t have endless resources in terms of energy and money, so having a treatment process that can efficiently treat dirty water and produce clean water, that’s essential,” Morgenroth says. “We’re looking at cleaning dirty water
to the standards that you can either put it into the river again or you could treat it to a level where it would be safe to irrigate land again.” i Photo: Assistant Professor Eberhard Morgenroth at the Urbana Sanitary District.
Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007
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save the date:
September 6, 2007 5-7 p.m. Illini Union
The University of Illinois Railroad Engineering Program and Engineering Career Services announce the first recruiting event exclusive to the railroad industry
“A New Look at the Railroad Industry: A History of Innovation� Featuring: aAn overview of the industry and how it has changed aA panel of industry professionals discussing opportunities available to students aA networking session, similar in format to a small career fair For more information, contact Sarah Zehr, szehr@uiuc.edu Engineering Career Services s Suite 3270 DCL 1304 W. Springfield Avenue s Urbana, Illinois 61801 217-333-1960 s email: epo@ews.uiuc.edu website: http://ecs.cen.uiuc.edu s job board: www.uiucengineeringjobs.com
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Golden Gate Bridge revisited Seventy years later, a former U of I professor is given due credit for his design
Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections
a Purdue graduate, a good friend of the writSeventy years later, former Univer- er, and one of the last sity of Illinois Civil Engineering Professor living former students Charles A. Ellis has been formally cred- of Charles Ellis. ited with the design of the Golden Gate Charles Alton ElBridge. Although the upcoming change lis was born June 23, of official credit for the design of the 1886, and educated iniGolden Gate Bridge was known to some tially at Wesleyan Uniof us for many months, we thank alumnus versity in Middletown, Thomas J. Byrne (MS 55) for providing Conn. He worked as us with the first official notice a draughtsthat “The Golden Gate Bridge man, checker Report of the Chief Engineer, and designer at the American Volume II” is available for $70 Bridge Co. from 1900-1908. at the Golden Gate Bridge His career included serving gift shop. on the faculty of the UniverIt is in this book, an addensity of Michigan as an assisdum to the Final Report written tant professor from 1912-14. about 70 years earlier by JoIn 1914 he joined the Departseph Strauss, that the official ment of Civil Engineering at recognition is given. In fairthe University of Illinois as ness, Strauss is to be credited an assistant professor. He with the vision for the bridge was promoted to Professor and in raising funds for its conof Structural Engineering in struction. The CEE department 1915, a position he held unhas ordered a copy of the til 1921. At that point Ellis book, and this volume eventuleft and took a post as Chief ally will be placed in the SpeStructural Engineer of the cial Collection on the Golden Joseph Strauss Engineering Gate Bridge that resides in the Charles Alton Ellis Corporation in Chicago. He (1876-1949) Grainger Engineering Library designed the Golden Gate of the University of Illinois at Bridge from 1929 to 1930, Urbana-Champaign. Over the but for some reason he was past 50 years, professors Nathan New- dismissed in 1931 by Joseph Strauss. Elmark, James Stallmeyer and the writer lis later became a Professor at Purdue have collected Golden Gate Bridge ma- University, where he finished out his caterials from alumni and friends. The most reer. He died in 1949. recent contributions have come since We possess a full set of the Gen1992 from John Van Der Zee, author of eral Plans for the Golden Gate Bridge “The Gate: The True Story of the Design signed by Charles Ellis on August 1930 and Construction of the Golden Gate on behalf of the Strauss Engineering Bridge” (Simon and Schuster, 1986); the Corporation—the bridge that was actulate Russell Cone, son of the Chief Engi- ally built—in our collection at Illinois, as neer; and Fred Apsey of Galesburg, Ill., does Purdue University. Joseph Strauss
© Stephan Hoerold/istockphoto.com
By William J. Hall (MS 51, PhD 54) Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering
reportedly prepared the final report on the Golden Gate Bridge and never once mentioned Charles Ellis, thus leading to the long effort by many individuals to have this omission corrected. For more details, see the book by John Van Der Zee, as well as archival materials on Ellis at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign and at Purdue University. Among other significant contributors to the design of the bridge known to us are Wilbur M. Wilson of the Civil Engineering department, who worked on the properties of the bridge steels and riveted joints for Bethlehem Steel Co.; Russell G. Cone (BS 22) chief engineer; Charles U. Kring (BS 32, MS 39, PhD 48), a principal engineer overseeing cable spinning; John R. Blondin (BS 28); Charles H. Clarahan, (BS 18); Edwin P. Davenport (BS 32), pier foundations; and W. Bernard Dickman (BS 32). Often the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, for which Charles E. Andrews (BS 1906) was Chief Resident Engineer, are referred to as “Illinois Bridges.” In due course we may wish to publish more on the Golden Gate Bridge. Anyone who may have related information to share with us is urged to send it to the editor of this newsletter. i
Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007
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M
Beyond the collection plate Engineers who volunteer their time and talent as facility managers can be a treasure to nonprofit organizations
By Richard Sasse , P.E., (BS 1975)
Reprinted with the permission of the Society of American Military Engineers, Copyright 2006, www.same. org/tme. 22 Visit CEE on the web at http://cee.uiuc.edu 22 Visit CEE on the web at http://cee.uiuc.edu
ost people understand the importance of volunteering, especially those with young families. There always are opportunities to volunteer with Little League, Scouting, PTA, swim clubs and the other organizations that families join as part of participating in everyday life. These nonprofit organizations rely on volunteers, and being a coach, leader, or fundraiser is an ideal way to share your free, and even not-so-free, time with your family and other families. If you also happen to be an engineer, you are in even greater demand. Recent natural disasters have highlighted opportunities to help those in greatest need. Yet it is easy to overlook the opportunities closer to home to volunteer facility management expertise to nonprofit organizations. The nonprofit organizations that spring to mind instinctively are those that cannot easily raise dues or admission fees and often rely on gifts and pledges to balance the budget. The face of the organization itself is usually its premier (or only) facility, and its mission’s success depends on the quality of the facility. Poor facility management leads to a failing organization program. Keeping these missions going becomes a problem as their facilities age and become historic properties. Volunteer facility managers are needed in a variety of areas including property committees, plant and property committees, buildings and grounds committees, and prudential committees. Sometimes you can identify an organization’s needs simply by reading your local newspaper. In Providence, R.I., for example, the newspaper reports on the efforts of volunteer property committees, their decisions and their problems. Public libraries may be another good place to volunteer technical expertise, given traditional funding problems. For example, the chairman of Providence Public Library Property Committee grew up in the town and loved the library. As an engineer at a major engineering consulting firm in nearby Massachusetts,
he feels so strongly about the library that he has served on the committee for years. Scouting is always in need of volunteers. One of the committees on which I’ve volunteered my time is the Narragansett Council of the Boy Scouts of America’s Properties Committee. Scout Camp is where young boys want to be in the summer. But that is made possible by a lot of behind-the-scenes work, including work on code compliance, discharge permits, property boundary disputes, fire safety upgrades, life cycle planning, facility condition assessments, water treatment plant upgrades and adaptation for the Americans with Disabilities Act. Scout Camp today is a lot more than just tents and latrines. Your local place of worship also presents a good opportunity for volunteer work. I also volunteer on the Property Subcommittee of my church, the Central Congregational Church, an historic property on the East Side of Providence. This 115-year-old structure provides a hands-on laboratory for any engineer looking to share expertise and learn from others. The subcommittee’s makeup consists of many retirees and, typical for New England, mostly veterans. The senior members are former mill managers, and members include a realtor, two architects, a retired engineering professor, a local insurance magnate, a retired submarine sailor, an engineer at a precious metals recycler, a psychology proRichard Sasse, P.E., received his B.S.C.E. from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign in 1975 while in the Coast Guard Civil Engineering Program under Professor John D. Haltiwanger. He is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a retired Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard, having served in the Coast Guard’s shore facilities program. He is also a graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the University of Rhode Island. He lives in Providence, R.I., and works for VFA in Boston as a Facilities Consultant. He is pictured on the facing page in front of the Central Congregational Church in Providence, R.I.
fessor, our minister and our sexton. From this membership list it is easy to see that there is great wisdom to be exchanged among group members, which provides a personal and professional reward for the volunteer. The church’s work list of issues is long. It also is a good example of the type of facility that needs engineering expertise, because the subcommittee’s decisions affect the long-term integrity, appearance and functionality of the building and they must be done right the first time. Many facilities, like my church, also need assistance in making major upgrades to fire safety systems. Rhode Island, for example, has stiffened its fire safety laws as the result of the Station Night Club fire in 2003 in which 100 people died and 200 people were injured. More typical problems facing nonprofits include electrical systems that often go through multiple life cycles before they can be replaced and safety issues, particularly for organizations that offer daycare. A common theme is that the best solution may not be what could be done with a more generous budget. Real money goes into fixing things, not into feasibility studies. That’s where the volunteers contribute. Nonprofit organizations of all types are in severe distress as a result of reduced funding and volunteer time, not to mention decreased community participation. Sound engineering decisions will need to be made to keep these facilities from dipping so low that they cannot be restored for continued use to fulfill their original missions. Some of these facilities are doomed to become adaptive reuse projects after they are sold off to pay bills. Engineers can help prevent that by volunteering. Whether you have a personal connection to a nonprofit or simply read about one that is trying to regroup, there is great need for you to share your professional expertise. The skills that we engineers have acquired through education and practice are in demand. We
have the ability to read building codes; we understand the presence of fire hazards, asbestos, lead and historicity; and we know how to perform an economic analysis. The other members of these organizations whose skills lie elsewhere depend on the engineers to present the
facts, opinions, alternatives and recommendations that will support continued operation of the facility and its mission. When the pipe organ is due for major capital work, it may well be the engineer, not the organist, whose recommendation is selected. i
Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007 23 Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007 23
Alumnus supports troops in Iraq with engineering expertise via email More than two years ago, Jeff Tatarek, P.E., S.E., (BS 86), a structural engineer with Hanson Professional Services Inc. in Springfield, Ill., joined a civilian engineer volunteer list for the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), Rock Island Post. On Thursday, Jan. 4, he was called to action. Through the engineering volunteer list, Tatarek was contacted initially by a coordinator from the Rock Island District,
Photo by the North Carolina National Guard 105th Engineering Group showing explosives damage to a bridge on a highway in Iraq.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who called on behalf of the North Carolina National Guard’s 105th Engineering Group in Iraq. The 105th had an urgent problem. A bridge on a main highway in Iraq had been damaged by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and the 105th needed Tatarek’s assistance to make the bridge structurally sound again. Individuals in the 105th Engineering Group are trained combat engineers and many have design and constructionrelated backgrounds. In extreme cases 24
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such as this, they also use the skills of concerned about a large truck causing professional engineers who volunteer for catastrophic failure. Vehicle loading is special assignments through SAME. very different here. They don’t follow “The damage to the bridge was ex- the same rules we do in the States.” tensive,” said Maj. John Wolf, P.E., North Using this information, Tatarek Carolina National Guard worked into the night prepar105th Engineering Group in ing detailed recommendaIraq. “The blast not only tions. He was aware of both destroyed the deck but also the urgency of the situation damaged the end of the preand the limited resources of stressed concrete girder and the 105th. With this in mind, destroyed the diaphragm. he designed both tempoThe willingness of fellow rary and long-term solutions. professional engineers from For the immediate repair, back home to help us out in a he drafted details which intime of need like this gives us cluded placing a large steel Jeff Tatarek the opportunity to keep our plate over the affected area focus on the many other issues that we and bolting the plate in place, which are dealing with on a daily basis.” would allow the bridge to be opened Due to the nine-hour time differ- to traffic. For a long-term solution, he ence and a few email glitches, Tatarek created a more in-depth plan to fully rereceived information on the project the pair the concrete and support beam. By following Monday, including detailed 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, he had completstructural damage, measurements and ed the recommendations and immediphotographs of the bridge. He prompt- ately emailed the information to Wolf. ly began to analyze the details and “They needed the repair details create possible solutions for the dam- right away. With the time difference age. According to the 105th Engineer- and communicating solely by email, I just ing Group, the northbound bridge was wanted to get it done as soon as posdamaged from an IED, likely placed on sible,” Tatarek said. the surface of the bridge. The IED creTatarek has previous experience anated two large holes approximately 6 alyzing explosive effects on structures, feet wide. The southbound bridge was but this project was his first experience also damaged by an IED placed under working on actual damage. According the bridge, making the bridge unsafe by to Tatarek, this experience has been escreating a surface opening nearly 2 feet pecially interesting as well as a unique wide and 8 feet long and destroying the opportunity to lend a helping hand. end of a support beam. “The project was rewarding, and my On Tuesday, Tatarek was updated kids thought it was cool!” he said. “Halfabout a few makeshift repairs made to way around the world, a bridge is still the bridges. a bridge. With digital photos and an “The traffic never stops over here for understanding of what needs to be acanything and blocking off the bridge complished, we can provide the support didn’t work,” Wolf said. “The locals just that the troops need to complete their move the barricades out of the way and mission.” i continue on through. They were just driving around the hole. While we weren’t concerned with additional damage to Story and photos courtesy of Hanson Profesthe bridge by a passenger car, we were sional Services Inc.
where are they now? Work sure is easy when you love what you do By Jonathan E. Lewis (BS 99, MS 01) Structural Engineer, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Vice President, Chi Epsilon, 1998-99 Editor, The Benchmark Student Newsletter 2000-2001
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hen I was first asked if I’d like to be the subject of the “Where Are They Now” feature in the CEE Alumni Newsletter, visions of the VH1 television program of the same name kept filling my head. Getting the latest gossip on former celebrities like MC Hammer and Macaulay Culkin can make for pretty entertaining television. However, installments of the VH1 version of “Where Are They Now” rarely end happily. But I guess that’s what makes them entertaining in the first place. So I suppose my challenge is to distill the first five years of my professional life into several interesting paragraphs, without the dramatic effect of recovering from financial ruin, jail time, or any other problems that always seem to befall the Hollywood types. I’ll be the first to admit that I loved being in college, particularly graduate school. Great classes, a research assistantship (ka ching!), and good friends made it tough to leave. Of course, my adviser, Professor Keith Hjelmstad, might say that it was tough for him to finally get me to leave! But leave I did in August 2001 for a job with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE), a premier forensic engineering firm comprised of structural engineers, architects, and materials scientists with offices nationwide. There is no shortage of Illini at WJE, which certainly helped with my transition from graduate hanger-on to junior engineer at WJE’s Northbrook, Ill., headquarters. In many ways, my first day at WJE was a microcosm of the following frenetic five years. Before I could even
compare the construction quality of the CMU walls in my WJE office with those of my old office at 2119 Newmark Lab, I was thrust into my first lesson in crisis management. It seemed that another young engineer at WJE, who was expecting her first child, gave birth several weeks earlier than expected. So, in addition to delivering a healthy new baby boy, she had also delivered one extremely short-handed and agitated project manager to my office door. I still remember the project manager saying, only half in jest, “The good news is she had her baby. The bad news is she had her baby.” So, reluctantly, I postponed memorizing the thousand-page company resource manual for another day, and got waist-deep in structural analysis for a well-known western sports arena. It felt great and exciting to be contributing, albeit in a relatively small way, right out of the gate. Work sure is easy when you love what you do. At WJE, I’ve had the privilege to work on a wide range of projects for a diverse clientele. Since our firm focuses on serving the nation’s existing building stock, there really is no “typical” project that we do. It hardly seems possible, but I’ve performed close to 100 investigations and analyses since I started at WJE: some for single-family homes, some for multi-million dollar facilities. I’ve been able to hang off the side of buildings for facade inspections (see inset) and crawl around on bridge girders performing fatigue and redundancy evaluations. Although there weren’t any CEE courses that specifically taught me how to do
this type of engineering, I found myself very well prepared for success. With healthy servings of analytical and behavioral courses in school, I was armed with the problem-solving skills that I use everyday. It’s also great having the opportunity to get out of the office to job sites and interact with other people inside and outside our profession. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t cross paths with a fellow U of I student or alumnus on a project, at a seminar, or just walking through downtown Chicago. At WJE, we like to pride ourselves on working hard—my average work week is probably somewhere around 45 hours—but also playing hard. One benefit of having such a large Illini contingent is that it’s usually not too hard to round up a few of the usual suspects to watch a basketball game at the local watering hole or put together a lastminute road trip to see a football game. Play time has recently taken on a whole new meaning for my wife, Michelle (BS 98, MS 00), and me, though, with the arrival of our first son, Evan Michael (BS 2028, MS 2029), in June 2006. We’re going to strongly encourage him to continue the family engineering tradition. Perhaps my writing this article will entitle Evan to a tuition discount? Please? i
Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007
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Byrne and Armstrong bequest will provide graduate structures fellowships Alumnus Thomas J. Byrne (M.S. 55) and his wife, Jane Armstrong-Byrne, have made a bequest to the department in support of graduate education. Income from the Thomas J. Byrne and Jane Armstrong Structural Engineering Fellowship Fund will provide fellowships to students with an interest in a structural engineering career with private industry. Byrne and Armstrong-Byrne are the owners of Armstrong Ranch, a Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard in Napa Valley, Calif. Byrne is a retired structural engineer who earned his degrees at Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. After serving in the Army for two years at the Engineering Research and Development Lab in Fort Belvoir, Va., Byrne joined the Chicago architecture and engineering firm Lundstrum and Skubic as a structural engineer. In 1964 he joined Jewel Food Stores as a structural engineer in the construction department. He spent his career working for various subsidiaries of Jewel Companies Inc., retiring in 1990 as vice president of construction and store development of American Superstores, which acquired Jewel in the mid-1980s. In 1992, he and Armstrong-Byrne, who had married in 1974, moved to the vineyard they had planted in 1984.
Armstrong-Byrne is a home economist and registered dietitian, and a graduate of Iowa State University. Her career included being Head of Test Kitchens for the American Dairy Association; Director of Home Economics for the Wheat Flour Institute; and a Home Economist and later Vice President of Consumer Affairs for Jewel Food Stores. She was one of the first woman vice presidents in corporate America. Fond memories of his time at Illinois prompted Byrne to remember the department in his will. In awarding the graduate fellowships their gift will provide, the couple has stipulated that preference be given to students who exhibit superior problem-solving skills in the spirit of the teaching approach of Professor Thomas Shedd, one of Byrne’s favorite teachers. “He was not a very tall man, and he had those great big, bushy eyebrows
and those steel-rimmed glasses,” Byrne recalls. “Class would begin with his going to the blackboard and sketching out a problem or a truss or something. And then he would turn around and say, ‘And now, Mr. Byrne…’ And he would proceed with a question. You would always just sort of cringe down in your seat hoping he didn’t pick you to answer this question. But you knew he was just the epitome of what a structural engineer should be. He was very imposing, even though he was of small stature.” Other professors who made an impression on Byrne were Ralph Peck (now Emeritus), Jamison Vawter, and Walter Austin (MS 46, PhD 49), who taught for Nathan Newmark (MS 32). Byrne recalled using Newmark’s numerical methods approach to solving complex engineering problems, an offshoot of Hardy Cross’ Moment Distribution Method. “Moment distribution was the greatest tool that structural engineers had back in the 1950s, and it was created right there at the University of Illinois,” Byrne says. “In the ’30s and ’40s the University of Illinois was where everybody was, if you were somebody in civil engineering. “I have a great feeling about the University and what it stands for. I really appreciated my time there. … It’s time for us to give something back.” i
Railroad Environmental Conference Illini Union
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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October 23-25, 2007
Featuring presentations on: Environmental Management Systems Energy l Emissions and Air Quality Pollution prevention l Environmental Training l Compliance l Remediation Waste Treatment and Management l Passenger Rail and Transit Environmental Topics Short Line and Regional Railroad Environmental Topics l Risk Management Registration: 217-244-0841 or http://cee.uiuc.edu/railroad
*--*/0*4 3 Ē Ě ĝ ģĠĒ ĕ & ğ Ę Ě ğ Ė Ė ģ Ě ğĘ 1ģĠĘģĒĞ
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Gifts from CN, CSX enable expansion of railroad engineering program Plans to expand the Railroad Engineering Program are underway, thanks to two recent gifts from railroads. Significant gifts from railroads CN and CSX will support the department’s initiative to expand and improve its rail program, already considered the best in North America. The gifts will be pooled with other funds to establish a new Railroad Engineering teaching position. “This new faculty member will teach classes, mentor students, and encourage their interest in careers in railroad engineering,” says Associate Professor Christopher P.L. Barkan, director of the railroad program. The University of Illinois has been an academic and research leader in railroad engineering for more than a century. The Railroad Engineering Program has the largest selection of courses and broadest array of rail-related research of any North American university. Illinois is also home to one of only three Association of American Railroads affiliated laboratories in the nation, and Illinois’ lab is the oldest and most mature. Adding a faculty member will enable the department to expand its railroad engineering course offerings and encourage more students to pursue careers in the field. Numerous career opportunities exist in the railroad industry due to
an aging workforce. Half of all railroad engineering professionals are expected to retire in the next five years, Barkan says. CN, a leader in the North American rail industry, crosses the continent east-west and north-south, serving ports on the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts and linking customers to all three NAFTA nations. The company is a longtime supporter of the railroad engineering program. “CN is very proud to be associated with one of the top engineering schools in the country,” says Gordon T. Trafton, senior vice president of CN’s Southern Region. “We recognize the importance of investing in a program that will encourage students to pursue a career in railroading. These are the people who will shape the future of our company and the North American economy, which depends on the efficient flow of goods and raw materials.” CSX Transportation Inc., headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., operates the largest railroad in the eastern United States with a 22,000-mile rail network linking commercial markets in 23 states,
the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces. A CSX spokesperson expressed the company’s confidence that the Illinois program can help the industry achieve its goals of a larger, educated work force. “CSX realizes the great need for railway engineers as we anticipate a large number of retirements over the next five to seven years,” says Lisa Wheldon of CSX Human Resources. “Chris Barkan has developed a great rail program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and CSX strongly supports his initiatives. We are looking for strong future leaders who will continue our vision of being the safest, most progressive North American railroad, relentless in the pursuit of customer and employee excellence. ” Other donors who have contributed to the expansion of the Railroad Engineering Program are the George Krambles Foundation, Hanson Professional Services Inc., and Norfolk Southern, which recently renewed its commitment to fund the William W. Hay Railroad Engineering Seminar Series. Such industry support enhances the Railroad Engineering Program in numerous ways, Barkan says. “I view our relationship with the railroad industry as a partnership, and a strong one at that,” he says. “Our students are tremendously fortunate because of our involvement with railroads and with the Association of American Railroads. ... [They] get a tremendous view inside this industry and can understand not only the technical issues but the context in which their engineering solutions have to be developed and applied.” i Photos: Railroad engineering students on a recent field trip.
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Boneyard Yacht Club takes second place at regionals, heads to nationals By Stefano Truschke and Carrie Peterson
After another year of hard work, the concrete canoe team once again put together a phenomenal canoe. This year’s effort paid off in a second-place overall finish at the regional competition, which earned the team the right to compete in the national concrete canoe competition at the University of Washington in Seattle in June. Our success this year can be attributed to several new construction techniques and well-trained paddlers. Early in the school year, the team decided to pay tribute to U of I’s very first concrete canoe, Mis-Led. Constructed in 1971 in Professor Emeritus Clyde Kesler’s (BS 43, MS 46) concrete mix design class, it was first raced against Purdue University at Kickapoo State Park in Danville, Ill. Since the Great Lakes Conference was to be hosted by Purdue University this year, it seemed fitting to pay tribute to that first canoe. In addition, this year’s national competition will be the 20th annual one, and we wanted to contribute to that celebration. With these ideas in mind, we created Mis-Led II, incorporating the most revolutionary ideas in concrete canoe design. The first goal was to improve on last year’s hull design. Last year’s canoe, Brigantine, had a significant amount of water splashing over the bow and filling
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Above: members of U of I’s 2006-2007 Concrete Canoe team pose with Mis-Led II. Photo at left: this year’s canoe featured a decorative Block I inlay. Below (from left): senior Andrew Jackson, sophomore Will Kolbuk and senior Stefano Truschke paddle into second place.
the canoe, due to its vertical bow and blunt corners. This year’s canoe featured an angled bow and sharpened corners. We also reduced the overall height of the canoe from 12 inches to 10 inches. This helped reduce the weight of the canoe and improved the paddlers’ reach. Additionally, as seen in many of the most impressive canoes from last year, a decorative concrete inlay was included in Mis-Led II. Since this was to be our first attempt at such an inlay, we selected a simple “Block I” design. At the point of the inlay, we doubled the thickness of the canoe so the inlay would not be relied upon as a structural element.
In order to create an orange and blue canoe and still follow the more stringent rules (no paint allowed), we used pigmented concrete. The majority of the canoe was dyed orange with blue decorative inlay and concrete-encased endcaps. This helped reduce the time usually spent at the end of the year staining or painting at the eleventh hour. Finally, we designed a more workable mix for Mis-Led II. Recent years’ canoes have had issues with thicknesses, resulting in overweight canoes that were difficult to maneuver. Using depth gages and the improved mix, we achieved the exact required thickness and were
able to trowel the mix to a near-perfect finish. This reduced sanding time from a few weeks to only one night. With all of these improvements and new techniques, we were able to put forth an amazing effort at regionals. Coming within three seconds in some of the races against national champion Wisconsin-Madison, we took second place in the races. A solid technical effort led to a second-place design paper and a third-place oral presentation. With a third-place final product (despite some minor but unsightly cracking), MisLed II achieved a second-place overall finish. Qualifying for nationals for the first time since 1996, the Illinois team has high standards to uphold. The 2,100mile trip to Seattle, Wash., will put the canoe team in a tight financial spot, but it is worth it to field a team at the big show. To learn more about the concrete canoe team or contribute as a sponsor, feel free to check out our website at www.uiuc.edu/~boneyardyc. If you would like to be added to our alumni listing for emailed updates throughout the year, please send your name and contact information to the team at boneyardyc@uiuc.edu. i Stefano Truschke and Carrie Peterson are co-captains of the 2007 Concrete Canoe team.
Illinois steel bridge team places second in Great Lakes conference, qualifies for nationals By Jeff Viano
The Steel Bridge Team traveled to Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., on April 28 to compete in the Great Lakes Regional Competition, sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Institute of Structural Engineers. The Illinois team faced 10 teams this year from Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, including the powerhouse team from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The Illinois team placed second only to Wisconsin, a performance good enough to qualify the team for the national competition in Northridge, Calif. The rules for the bridge competition this year dictated that the bridge be 20 feet long and have a single span. The bridge had to be designed to resist deflection from a 2,500-pound load placed at a random location along the bridge deck. In addition to this, the bridge had to be designed for ease of construction, as construction speed is a large factor in determining the score at the competition. The final design for the
bridge was a trapezoidal truss with six rods connecting the top cord of the truss to the roadbed. This design allowed the bridge to be built without the need to enter the “river” the bridge spanned. In the end, the bridge was designed for ease of construction and lightness, often at the cost of deflection. These tradeoffs helped us maximize our score in two important categories. Our 240-pound bridge performed very well at the competition, with a maximum deflection under the 2,500pound load of 0.3 inches. Our building speed was just under 12 minutes with only four builders, good enough to beat every team except Wisconsin. Our performance at regionals earned the team second place trophies in lightness, construction speed, construction economy, aesthetics, and overall performance. The success of this year’s steel bridge team is due in large part to the generous monetary support from CEE alumni. If you are interested in sponsoring the team for the 2007-2008 school year, please contact Jeff Viano at viano@ uiuc.edu for more information. i Jeff Viano is co-captain, with Craig Weiland, of the Steel Bridge Team.
Photo at top of page: members of the U of I’s 2006-2007 Steel Bridge team, from left: John Sticklen, Brian Worrasangasilpa, Craig Weiland, Alex Schultz, Jeff Viano and Jackie Plocher. Below left: Craig Weiland, background, and John Sticklen, foreground, connect pieces of the roadbed to the top of the truss during timed bridge construction as judges, in yellow, look on. Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007
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2007 Student Awards The Central Illinois Section ASCE Award Christiana Barnas ASCE Outstanding Instructor Award Larry Fahnestock Harold R. Sandberg Scholarship Adam Janzen Civil Engineering Class of 1943 Award Scott Banjavcic Lawrence J. Fritz Undergraduate Scholarship Joseph Blecha Alvord, Burdick & Howson Award David Yaksic Wayne C. Teng Scholarship Lauren Stromberg Mark Hirschi Ana Eisenman Angelia Tanamal Koch Scholarship in Civil and Environmental Engineering Joseph Lamplot CH2M Hill Transportation Endowed Scholarship Denise Soehrman William A. Oliver Endowed Scholarship Mark Messner Doris and James Willmer Scholarship Claire Joseph
Harvey H. Hagge Concrete Scholarship Peter Pascua Amanda Bordelon Anna Lee and James T.P. Yao Scholarship Ryan Duckworth Max Whitman APWA Scholarship Scott Uranich Industry Advancement Foundation of Central Illinois Builders of the Associated General Contractors Scholarship Kevin Foster Walker Parking Consultants Scholarship Scott Wojieczko Crawford, Murphy, Tilly Award Alec Danaher Ezamil Suhaimi Klein and Hoffman Inc. Scholarship Jodie Green Bowman, Barrett & Associates Outstanding Scholar Award John Zeman Illinois Association of County Engineers Award David Simpson John Zeman Kevin Spitz David Galey
Brett C. Zitny, left, president of the student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers presented the Outstanding Instructor Award to Assistant Professor Larry A. Fahnestock.
Chicago Outer Belt Contractors Association Scholarship Li-Wei Chen  Grant W. Shaw Memorial Scholarship Kevin Spitz Charles E. DeLeuw Travel Award Rapik Saat Elham Fini Harry R. Hanley Memorial Scholarship Jodie F. Green Norman Carlson Scholarship Mark Dingler
Photo at left: Todd C. Ude (BS 89), second from left, of Teng & Associates, Chicago, presented the Wayne C. Teng Scholarship to, from left, Mark C. Hirschi, Angelia Tanamal, Lauren L. Stromberg and Ana A.P. Eisenman. Photo at right: Vicki L. Trimble, right, of the University of Illinois Foundation, presented the George L. Bridwell Memorial Scholarship to Anne Zhang. 30
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Ernest L. Doctor Memorial Scholarship Andrew F. Braham
2007 Student Awards George L. Bridwell Memorial Scholarship Anne Zhang
Walter E. Hanson Graduate Study Award James Hansen
RJN Foundation Civil Engineering Scholarship Jonathan Czuba
Gordon and Monalea Dalrymple Undergraduate Scholarship Zhuangqiang Tan Leigh F. Zebree Scholarship in Civil Engineering Alec Danaher Clement C. Lee Outstanding Scholar Award in Honor of Houssam Mahmoud Karara Jeffrey Dolian Bob Zieba Memorial Scholarship Maren Somers Samuel C. Roberts Award in Civil Engineering Adam Wedoff Chester P. Siess Award Won Hee Kang Earle J. Wheeler Scholarship Maciej Mroczek Brian Schertz
Professor and Associate Head Albert J. Valocchi, left, presented the Chester P. Siess Award to Won Hee Kang.
William John MacKay Award Caleb Fader Justin Lewis Wiryaputra Pramono George L. Farnsworth Jr. Scholarship Matthew Sugihara Woolpert LLP Scholarship Carol Peterson William E. O’Neil Award Omar El-Anwar
Maude E. Eide Memorial Scholarship Christiana Barnas Benjamin Burroughs Daniel Fey Sayo Chaoka Lauren Stromberg Bates and Rogers Scholarship Matthew Sugihara Ira O. Baker Memorial Scholarships Thomas Radovich Abigail Ekstrand
Professor and Head Robert H. Dodds Jr., center, presented the Ira O. Baker Prize to Cameron Talischi, left, and Sean L. Poust. This year, instead of awarding first and second prizes, the department honored both recipients equally with first-place awards.
Henry T. Heald Award Peter Pascua A. Epstein Award in Civil Engineering Cameron Talischi Allen Barton Sang Kyu Kang Ira O Baker Prize (first) Sean Poust Cameron Talischi
Delores Wade Huber Scholarship Johanna Gemperline Peter Maraccini
Wilfred F. and Ruth Davison Langelier Scholarship in Sanitary/Environmental Engineering Christiana R. Barnas William C. Lindsay At right (near): Mark G. Calvino (BS 83, MS 84), of Klein and Hoffman Inc., Chicago, presented the Klein and Hoffman Inc. Scholarship in Honor of Frank Klein to Jodie F. Green. Next photo: Patrick J. McGowan (BS 86), right, of W.E. O’Neil Construction Co., presented the William E. O’Neil Award to Omas El-Anwar. Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007
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2007 Alumni Awards Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association
The winners of the CEE Alumni Association’s (CEEAA) annual alumni awards, presented Feb. 8 at the Chicago Regional Dinner Meeting at the Union League Club in Chicago, pictured with CEEAA President John L. Carrato, back row, left. They are (front row, from left) Robert P. Elliott, George C. Hoff, Elmo L. DiBiagio, Robert L. Martin, (back row, from left) Carrato, Sharon L. Wood, Robert G. Pekelnicky and Benjamin L. Davis.
Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Award
Elmo L. DiBiagio (PhD 65)
Technical Adviser, Division for Instrumentation and Performance Monitoring Norwegian Geotechnical Institute Oslo, Norway For outstanding long-term leadership in design and monitoring of instrumentation for major civil engineering construction projects, including offshore and waterfront structures, dams, tunnels, bridges and transmission lines.
Robert P. Elliott (BS 69, MS 70, PhD 84)
University Professor of Civil Engineering University of Arkansas Fayetteville, Arkansas For technical contributions to the improvement of pavement overlay design procedures employed by state highway agencies, and for significant contributions to fostering the development of young engineers throughout their college careers.
George C. Hoff (BS 61, MS 68) Robert L. Martin (BS 77, MS 78)
President, Hoff Consulting Clinton, Mississippi For research and development of unique structural concrete applications, particularly in marine environments, for dedicated professional society service, and for demonstrated commitment to civic endeavors.
General Manager DuPage Water Commission Elmhurst, Illinois For contributions to the advancement of the practice of water supply engineering, and for dedicated service to the civil engineering profession.
Sharon L. Wood (MS 83)
Professor of Civil Engineering University of Texas at Austin For valuable, innovative and far-reaching research, as well as practice contributions to the fields of reinforced, prestressed and precast concrete structures, and exceptional national service to the civil engineering profession.
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Young Alumnus/Alumna Achievement Award Benjamin L. Davis (MS 99)
Lieutenant Commander, Facility Engineer U.S. Coast Guard Telecommunication and Communication Systems Command, Alexandria, Virginia For development and implementation of innovative programs to meet unanticipated conditions faced by the U.S. Coast Guard, as illustrated by his effective preparation for and recovery from the effects of Hurricane Isabel, and for outstanding management of numerous mission-critical Coast Guard construction projects.
Robert G. Pekelnicky (BS 00, MS 01)
Project Engineer, Degenkolb Engineers San Francisco, California For substantial contribututions to earthquake and blast engineering practice, and for promoting multi-hazard mitigation engineering approaches within the civil engineering profession.
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Department News Professor Imad Al-Qadi recently was recognized with four honors. He received the 2006 D. Grant Mickle Award from the Transportation Research Board for the outstanding paper in the field of operation, safety, and maintenance of transportation facilities. The paper is titled “Viscoelastic Model to Describe the Mechanical Response of Bituminous Sealants at Low Temperature.” Co-authors are Mostafa A. Elseifi of Bradley University; Samer H. Dessouky, a Research Scientist at the Illinois Center for Transportation and the Advanced Transportation Research and Engineering Laboratory; and CEE Ph.D. student Shih-Hsien Yang. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) awarded Al-Qadi the James Laurie Prize for 2007. This award is made annually to a member of ASCE who has made a definite contribution to the advancement of transportation engineering, either in research, planning, design or construction. In addition, the November-December 2006 issue of TRNews published a profile on Al-Qadi to recognize his many and outstanding contributions in leadership, research and education on transportation issues facing our nation. This article can be viewed at http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/trnews/trnews247toc.pdf. Lastly, Al-Qadi was elected an honorary member of the Societa Italiana Infrastructure Viarie, Italy. Assistant Professor Tami Bond of the environmental engineering group received the 2007 Xerox Award for Faculty Research. Bond joined the faculty in 2003 and is an Arthur and Virginia Nauman Faculty Scholar. Each year, the Xerox Foundation honors a faculty member for outstanding research through the Xerox Award for Faculty Research. Bond was cited as an emerging leader in the area of air quality and its impact on the earth’s climate. Matt D’Ambrosia, a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Professor David A. Lange, was awarded First Place in the Student Paper Competition at the Concrete Platform ’07 Conference held in Belfast, Ireland, April 19-20. The award recognizes D’Ambrosia’s paper entitled “Modeling Internal Stresses in Concrete Using Relative Humidity as a Driving Force,” co-authored with Lange. D’Ambrosia received a certificate and a $700 cash prize. Former CEE Head and Dean of the College of Engineering David E. Daniel, now President of the University of Texas at Dallas, was elected an Honorary Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Continued on the next page
MAE Center key in FEMA’s broad, new mission As a result of lessons learned from the Hurricane Katrina disaster and response, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, has been reorganized, expanding its mission for “preparedness and response to all hazards.” The Mid-America Earthquake (MAE) Center, headquartered within CEE, is playing a prominent role in this new initiative. “The objective of our project is to improve the emergency preparedness in the region affected by the New Madrid seismic zone, a 150-mile long fault involving ... eight states,” said Amr Elnashai, director of the MAE Center, project principal investigator, and the William J. and Elaine F. Hall Endowed Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering. “It will serve as the basis for how we will respond to a major earthquake by providing realistic estimates of losses and impacts.” FEMA already has awarded a $2.5 million grant to the MAE Center for this work and expects to award additional funding, Elnashai said. The outcome will be a comprehensive assessment of seismic losses, identification of vulnerabilities, advice on response and recovery, and recommendations for the development of HAZUS, a risk-assessment software tool for analyzing potential losses from disasters. The 2005 hurricanes demonstrated the need for a broader approach to disaster planning, according to Harvey Johnson, FEMA’s deputy administrator and chief operating officer, who testified April 26 about FEMA’s reorganization before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. The agency’s new scope involves a “risk-based approach that will focus on the expanded comprehensive emergency management components of preparedness, response, recovery,
and hazard mitigation,” Johnson said. “FEMA now has a broader mission, a wider constituency and a greater depth of penetration with the National Preparedness Goal and grants programs.” The new FEMA is constructed around four catastrophic disaster planning regions—one of which includes Illinois and the seven other states centered on the New Madrid fault zone. Forty-four million people live in the region, 12 million in the high-risk area. An earthquake on the New Madrid fault would have a significant impact on the security, critical infrastructure and economy of the United States. The MAE Center’s projections will provide information on a wide range of outcomes, including injured and displaced people; damaged buildings and bridges; water and sanitation needs; and numerous other related aspects of response and recovery. The MAE Center is cooperating on this project with colleagues at George Washington University and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Engineering Research Laboratory in Champaign. Concurrently with the Federal study and planning activities, the MAE Center has been working with the State of Illinois to study the probability and consequences of an earthquake in Illinois. In addition to the probabilities of a damaging earthquake occurring in Illinois, the study will consider what types of structures are likely to be damaged, how transportation and utility infrastructures will be affected, and the short- and long-term economic impacts to the region and the state. As one of three national earthquake engineering research centers established by the National Science Foundation and its partner institutions, the MAE Center is a consortium of nine core institutions. It is funded by NSF and each core university as well as through joint collaborative projects with industry and other affiliations. i
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Department News Professor Doug Foutch (BS 70) was awarded the 2007 Special Achievement Award from the American Institute of Steel Construction Inc. for his outstanding contributions through advanced analysis to engineering knowledge of the performance of steel moment frames subjected to earthquakes. Professor Jerome F. Hajjar has been elevated to the rank of Fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers. Fellows occupy the Society’s secondhighest membership grade, exceeded only by Honorary Members. Professor Emeritus Neil M. Hawkins (MS 59, PhD 61), former CEE Head, received the Tewksbury Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) at the Structures Congress in Long Beach, Calif., on May 17. The award is given to someone who has advanced the interests of SEI through innovative or visionary leadership. Hawkins was cited for his leadership in the education of structural engineers; for the technical advancement of engineering through collaborative work with other organizations; for establishment of a long-term vision for the profession; and for outstanding support of, and service to, the SEI as an organization. Professor Keith D. Hjelmstad, associate dean for academic affairs for the College of Engineering, is the 2007 winner of the George Winter Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers, “for his accomplishments in structural engineering research, his dedication to the education of future structural engineers, and for his exemplary community and artistic service in leading the Parkland Community Orchestra as Concertmaster for 15 years.” Professor Gary Parker will be the first recipient of the International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research (IAHR) M. Selim Yalin Lifetime Achievement Award. Professor Yalin of Queen’s University in Canada was known worldwide for his seminal work on sediment transport and rivers. The award will be presented at the IAHR Congress in Venice, Italy. Continued on the next page 34
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Nominations invited for CEE Alumni awards If you know of a deserving colleague who graduated from CEE, please request a nomination form for the Distinguished Alumnus Award or the Young Alumnus Achievement Award from Carla Blue, Program Coordinator, 1117 Newmark Lab, 205 N. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801; fax 217-333-9464, blue1@uiuc.edu. You must fill out the nomination form, but we will assist you as needed.
Nominations are due no later than July 15 for consideration for the following year’s awards. Please make sure you make a clear case for the professional achievements and contributions of your nominee. A nominee will be considered for the award when the nomination form is completed and returned by the nominator. Criteria for the awards are as follows:
Distinguished Alumnus Award This award recognizes professional accomplishments or unique contributions to society of civil engineering graduates. Recipient will have distinguished themselves by outstanding leadership in the planning and direction of engineering work, by administration of major engineering work, by contributing to knowledge in the field of civil engineering, by fostering the development of young engineers, or by uniquely contributing to society. They should be dedicated to the ideals of the profession as evidenced by their contributions to the recognition and promotion of civil engineering activities and professional organizations. CEEAA board members are ineligible until at least two years after their terms have ended. UIUC faculty members are ineligible for at least two years after ending their faculty status.
Young Alumnus Achievement Award This award recognizes a graduate who has received his or her most recent degree from the University within the past 10 years, with special consideration for those candidates who are 35 or younger. Recipients shall have distinguished themselves in their fields of endeavor and achieved a level of accomplishment significantly greater than that of other recent graduates. Recipients shall have demonstrated one or more of the following: outstanding technical advancement or achievement; design innovation and excellence; enhancement of civil and environmental engineering education; outstanding leadership resulting in significant accomplishments; exemplary service to the profession. Consideration is given to volunteer activities in civic, religious or charitable groups and organizations.
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CEE Newsletter 1117 Newmark Lab, MC-250 205 N. Mathews Ave. Urbana, IL 61802 Email: celeste@uiuc.edu
Spencer to direct structures lab Professor Bill F. Spencer Jr. has been appointed Director of the Newmark Structural Engineering Laboratory (NSEL). He will provide leadership and establish a long-term vision for the future of the NSEL, provide a liaison between CEE faculty and structural engineering researchers and practitioners in the U.S. and abroad, promote the dissemination of research results, and actively seek new opportunities for the laboratory. He also will chair the NSEL Oversight Committee, direct dayto-day operations, and coordinate the many CEE groups and research centers that conduct projects in NSEL. Spencer is the first Nathan and Anne Newmark Endowed Chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Since joining the department in 2002, he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in structural mechanics, structural dynamics, and structural reliability. He is the author of two books. The CEE department at Illinois has a long tradition of excellence in largescale and advanced experimental research in structural engineering. Research conducted in the lab has contributed greatly to the state-of-the-art in civil engineering. Most recently, the national and international leadership of the NSEL has been enhanced by establishment of the Multi-axial Full-scale Substructure Testing and Simulation (MUST-SIM) facility, part of the National Science Foundation George E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation and Smart Structures Technology Laboratory. i
Annual structures conference held in April About 250 practicing engineers, students and educators gathered at the Illini Union on the University of Illinois campus April 5 for the eighth annual Structural Engineering Conference. This year’s sessions represented a broad range of structural engineering topics. Richard Weingardt, CEO and Chairman of Richard Weingardt Consultants Inc. in Denver, Colo., spoke on engineering and consulting challenges in his presentation, “Reaching Your Highest Level.” William Baker (MS 80), Partner, and Lawrence Novak (BS 85, MS 86), Associate Partner, of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, in Chicago, gave a presentation on the Burj Dubai, a skyscraper under construction in Dubai, United
Arab Emirates, that will be the world’s tallest building. Other topics included collaboration in tall building design, sustainable design, bridge aesthetics, and value engineering. Founded in 2000, the conference highlights the department’s longstanding leadership in structural education and research and offers registrants an opportunity to stay current in their field, network with colleagues, and earn professional development hours. For the many alumni who attend, the conference is a chance to catch up with former classmates and professors. For information about next year’s conference as it becomes available, visit http://www.conferences.uiuc.edu. i
Professor Feniosky Peña-Mora is co-chair of the Chancellor’s Diversity Initiatives Committee. Formed in August 2006, the 28-member committee was appointed by Chancellor Richard Herman and Provost Linda Katehi. The group’s goals include increasing representation of students, faculty and staff members from under-represented groups through more aggressive recruitment and retention efforts, creating an environment of respect in the workplace and in education, enhancing diversity scholarship, promoting diversity in the community, and through civic engagement. Peña-Mora also was selected to receive the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize for 2007. The Huber Prize is awarded to members of the Society in any grade for notable achievements in research related to civil engineering. Peña-Mora was cited “for contributions to engineering practice and research on construction management, involving state-of-the-art quantitative models and information technology for collaboration, change management and conflict resolution in large-scale constructions projects involving geographically distributed A/E/C teams.” The selection committee particularly noted his collaboration on the creation of the Interaction Space Theory. Graduate student Jennifer Rice was named the Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Teaching Fellow for academic year 2007-2008. Rice is a fourth-year graduate student in structural engineering working with Professor Bill F. Spencer Jr. She will teach CEE 360 Structural Engineering in the fall 2007 semester under the mentorship of Spencer and Professor and Head Robert H. Dodds Jr. Professor Mark Rood, of the Environmental Engineering and Science group, has been selected to receive the Outstanding Cooperator’s Award (2006) from the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS). An Ivan Racheff Professor of Environmental Engineering, Rood has collaborated for more than 20 years in research programs with the staff of the ISGS. In 1987, the first student to be co-advised by the USGS and the University of Illinois received her M.S. degree in Environmental Engineering. Since then, Rood and Dr. Massoud Rostam-Abadi of the USGS have worked together on nine projects and have co-advised seven M.S. and five Ph.D. students to completion. Together with these students, they have made more than 30 professional presentations, and published more than a dozen papers in engineering journals.
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Department News CEE team wins City of the Future Engineering Student Challenge competition where television viewers determined the grand prize winner by casting votes in January 2007. The winning Chicago architecture team—and ultimately the grand prize winner in the national voting—was UrbanLab, an architecture and urban design practice in Chicago. Details on the three winning entries from each city are posted on The History Channel website. The Student Challenge required university teams to implement the concepts developed by the architecture teams using inventive, innovative solutions. UrbanLab’s concept, “Growing Water in 2106,” envisions a future where water is the new oil—a valuable resource that drives the need for reducing consumption, d e c e n t ra l i z i n g wastewater treatment, and returning treated water Pictured (from left): Duffy Gaynor, Vice President, IBM Global Ser- to Lake Michigan. Working withvices; CEE students Sean Poust, Christiana Barnas, Cameron Talischi and Peter Pascua; Professor David Lange; Robert Reid, Manager, in the one-month Corporate Community Relations, IBM; Sarah Dunn, UrbanLab; and time constraint, Martin Felsen, UrbanLab. the U of I team developed an inby IBM, the American Society of Civil novative proposal for “EcoTowers” to Engineers, and The History Channel. be the modular residential living system The Student Challenge was the sec- of the future. Each cluster of EcoTowers ond stage of a two-stage competi- would have its own graywater and blacktion. In Stage I, architecture teams in water treatment capacity. The graywater New York, Chicago and Los Angeles is passed through a biomimetic forward were asked to develop design visions osmosis membrane bioreactor, and then for the future of their cities. The win- through a novel technology that uses the ning team selected for each city ad- windows of the tower for UV disinfection. vanced to the national stage of the Disinfected graywater would be reused in A team of CEE students won first place in the City of the Future Engineering Student Challenge held March 1 in Chicago. Team members Christiana Barnas, Peter Pascua, Sean Poust and Cameron Talischi worked with team adviser Professor David A. Lange to implement a design concept by a team of practicing architects who had won the first phase of the competition. The City of the Future Engineering Student Challenge is sponsored
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the EcoTower while blackwater would be treated in a clever greenhouse with a vertical treatment train. The proposal included other features such as green roofs, pervious surfaces for water retention, and wetlands and recreational areas along Eco-Boulevards that stretched across the UrbanLab vision of Chicago. “We had to be innovative, but at the same time, we had to create a proposal that was realistic,” says CEE senior Sean Poust. “Working with the professors gave me some guidance on what was out there and currently being done, but the 100-year design time of the project gave me the freedom to think creatively and grow as a result.” Each member of the winning student team received $1,250, a new IBM Thinkpad computer, and the designation, “IBM Engineer of the Future.” Other benefits of competing, students say, were insight into the teamwork of the consulting world and a lesson in the importance of effective communication. “No matter how hard you work to design and implement an engineering solution, you must work equally as hard to make it presentable, aesthetically pleasing, and appealing not only to engineers, but to the general public,” says CEE junior Peter Pascua. “Not all of our judges were water engineers or environmental engineers; we had to account for that in preparing our method of presentation.” “This experience with Sean, Christiana, Cameron and Dr. Lange was an invaluable one that I will carry with me forever,” he says. “I told them that I will always have the door open for creating a consulting firm with the five of us. Keep an eye out for ‘Orange and Blue Consulting.’” i
Global Leaders trip: construction in Dubai Nine students and three faculty members from CEE’s Global Leaders in Construction Management Program traveled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in January. An international trip is part of the curriculum for the program, established in 2005 to prepare students to take on leadership roles in construction management in an environment of increased globalization. Dubai is a strong international construction market with several signature projects under construction. For 10 days, the Global Leaders group visited important projects such as Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world; the Palm Islands; the Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world; and QatarGas II Offshore Project, all of which are under construction by well-known companies such as Nakheel, Emaar, Zetas, Turner Middle East International, and Exxon Mobil. Each project presented different challenges, but all of them shared a multi-cultural organization for project execution, including de-
From left, Professor Feniosky Peña-Mora, Assistant Professor Khaled El-Rayes; Visiting Assistant Professor Carlos A. Arboleda; Adam Jansen; Robert Kuang; Allen Barton; Michael Addison; Numan Velioglu; Michael Gustavson; Jeffrey Dolian; and Eric Meister. They are posing behind a model of The World, a mixed-use private and commercial island development of the construction firm Nakheel.
signers from the United States, workers from India and Pakistan, suppliers from China, and managers from Europe. This international flavor was one of the most relevant aspects of this visit, besides the technical and logistic challenges encountered in the daily operations. Faculty chaperones for the trip were Visiting Assistant Professor Carlos A. Arboleda; Assistant Professor Khaled El-Rayes; and Professor Feniosky PeñaMora. The students were undergraduates Michael Addison, Allen Barton, Michael Gustavson, Adam Jansen and Eric
Meister; graduate students Jeffrey Dolian, Robert Kuang and Numan Velioglu; and Ph.D. candidate Ibrahim Odeh. Previous Global Leaders trips have included visits to Japan, the United Kingdom, and France. In 2008, Global Leaders students will travel to China to visit the Olympic venues in Beijing, the infrastructure for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, the Three Gorges Dam, and the historical buildings in Xian, Chongqing, and Fengdu. i
Chi Epsilon Alpha Chapter names Mesri Chapter Honor Member By Brett Zitny
Professor Gholamreza Mesri (BS 65, MS 66, PhD 69) was elevated to Chi Epsilon Chapter Honor Member at the December 2006 Chi Epsilon Alpha Chapter initiation ceremony. Mesri was nominated by the Alpha Chapter due to his significant achievements in the field of Geotechnical Engineering, as well as his strong ties to the University of Illinois. He has served on the faculty of the
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 1969. Mesri has contributed significantly to the field of civil engineering and the University of Illinois. As a world-renowned geotechnical engineer, he has served as a consultant to both government and private organizations in projects all over the world. He also represents a very rich tradition of civil engineering at the University of Illinois, because he
received all of his degrees from the department and has been a member of the faculty here for more than 35 years. His distinguished achievements, coupled with his close ties to our school, were our motivation for elevating him to such an honor. i Brett Zitny is president of Chi Epsilon Alpha Chapter.
Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007
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Alumni News 1950s
Edward Brooks (BS 50) and his wife, Helen, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in July with a family cruise to Alaska. Brooks was a civil engineer with the Illinois Department of Transportation Division of Highways for 37 years, retiring in 1988. He also retired in 1976 as a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserves after 29 years of service. Robert L. Carsello (BS 56) retired in January as Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Kraft Construction Co. Inc. in Naples, Fla., where he had worked since 1970. Dean Merchant, P.E., (BS 51) in 2007 will be named an Honorary Member of the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS). Merchant is a professional engineer and surveyor, and founder of Topo Photo Inc. The award is the highest honor of the ASPRS. Geoffrey M.T. Yeh (BS 53) in November received an Honorary University Fellowship from the Open University of Hong Kong for outstanding achievements in his field and exceptional contributions to the University. Yeh is the retired Chairman of Hsin Chong International Holdings Ltd. in Hong Kong. He was cited for significant and lasting contributions to the local construction and financial sectors.
1960s
Shamsher Prakash (MS 61, PhD 62), Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri-Rolla, delivered the keynote lecture to the International Symposium GEOSingapore in Dec. 2006. He was admitted as Honorary Fellow of the Indian Geotechnical Society in 2006 and was cited for outstanding lifelong contributions to Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics, including liquefactions of fine-grained soils and seismic behavior and analysis of rigid retaining walls. He received the IGS Kueckelmann biannual prize for significant contribution to geotechnical engineering in India and was admitted to the Order of the Golden Shillelagh of MSM-UMR Alumni Association. Douglas A. Wallace (BS 60) was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame of Elgin High School in Elgin, Ill. Voted Elgin High’s greatest quarterback, Wallace also was a three-year letterman in football during his time at the University of Illinois. He is an environmental engineering consultant.
1970s
James L. Daugherty (BS 72, MS 73) qualified to join the American Academy of Environmental Engineers with the designation Board Certified Environmental Engineer. 38
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Joe H. Leach (MS 70) marked 25 years of service with Crawford, Murphy & Tilly (CMT) Inc. Consulting Engineers. Leach is manager of CMT’s Construction Services Group and is currently serving as the firm’s Project Manager of construction phase services for the rehabilitation of the McKinley Bridge over the Mississippi River in Venice, Ill. Richard W. Liesse, P.E., (BS 76) in June 2006 was elected president of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers. He is a vice president and partner for Costello Inc., a consulting engineering and surveying firm in Houston. He lives in Houston with his wife, Debby; sons Nicholas and Matthew; and daughter, Elizabeth. David Ludwin, P.E., (BS 77, MS 78) is Regional Business Group Manager for CH2MHILL’s Water Business Group in its nine-state Southwestern U.S. region. Before joining CH2MHILL in 2006, Ludwin was director of engineering for the Orange County Sanitation District. David W. Reed (BS 78) was appointed referee for the Yolo County, Calif., Superior Court. His responsibilities will include adult and juvenile traffic court, small-claims matters and unlawful detainer cases. Reed earned a law degree from McGeorge School of Law after graduating from U of I with his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He began practicing law in California in 1983. Scott M. Smith (BS 75) is president of HNTB Corp. of Kansas City, Mo., a national, employee-owned infrastructure firm that offers design, engineering and planning services. Smith joined the firm in 1985. Charles D. Wurster (MS 76), a vice admiral in the U.S. Coast Guard, in 2006 assumed command of the Coast Guard Pacific Area. Wurster has been a commissioned officer for 35 years. He and his wife, George Ann, have two grown sons.
1980s
Brian Josephs (BS 84) is Vice President-Produce/ Floral for Topco Associates. Douglas D. Perry, P.E., (BS 88) married Sarah E. Sundberg on June 24, 2006, in Steamboat Springs, Colo. Perry is a division engineer with BNSF Railway.
1990s
Michael A. Beckett (BS 96, MS 98) is an associate in the Intellectual Property Department at Bell, Boyd & Lloyd LLP in Chicago. He focuses his practice in patent transactions and domestic and international patent prosecution in the areas of mechanical, chemi-
cal and biotechnology patent law. James Dedrick (BS 96) married Nara Goldman on May 27, 2006, in Phoenix, Ariz. Dedrick is employed by A.C.S. Engineering of Phoenix. Dewayne Fender (BS 90, MS 91) in January became county engineer of Mercer County, Ill. He and his wife, Kim, have two sons, Alec, 13, and Adam, 10. Kenneth J. Elwood (MS 95) and Jack P. Moehle (BS 78, MS 78, PhD 80) won the Chester Paul Siess Award for Excellence in Structural Research from the American Concrete Institute. They were cited for estimating the residual axial capacity of reinforced concrete columns damaged during earthquakes in their paper, “Axial Capacity Model for Shear-Damaged Columns” (ACI Structural Journal, V. 102, No. 4, July-August 2005, p. 578-587.)
2000s
Anthony S. Anczer (BS 03) married Lisa Becker June 30, 2006. Anczer is employed by Baxter & Woodman in Mokena, Ill. Jason C. Fuehne (BS 02, MS 03) married Meggie D. Stauder on Aug. 4 in Champaign. Fuehne is a civil engineer in the Aviation Department at Burns & McDonnell in Kansas City. Katherine Thompson Hammer (BS 03, MS 05) married Benjamin R. Hammer on Sept. 10, 2005, at the Polo First United Methodist Church in Polo, Ill. She is an environmental engineer with Greeley and Hansen in Phoenix, Ariz. Alicia N. Johnson, P.E., (MS 02) married Joseph P. Pitlik IV, P.E., (BS 97) on Nov. 25 in Elgin, Ill. Rashod R. Johnson, P.E. (BS 00), director of engineering for the Mason Contractor’s Association of America, has earned a professional engineering license from the State of Illinois. Johnson serves on codes and standards committees representing the interests of mason contractors throughout the country. Andrew Keaschall (BS 04, MS 05) married Kristin Frankowiak on June 17, 2006. He is a design engineer at Alfred Benesch & Co. Jesse L. Oster (BS 05) married Kara L. Scott on Nov.11 in Chicago. He is a Level I engineer at Seargent and Lundy. The couple lives in Chicago. Tias Paul (MS 06), Ph.D. student in Environmental Engineering and Science, received a graduate student paper award from the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Division of Environmental Chemistry for
In Memoriam 1930s her paper entitled, “Visible Light-Mediated TiO2 Photocatalysis of Fluoroquinolone Antibacterial Agents.” Paul was also awarded second prize in a poster presentation Tias Paul competition at the Engineering Conferences International Water Treatment and Reuse II conference, held in Tomar, Portugal, in February. Her poster was entitled “Selective Oxidation of Fluoroquinolone Antibacterial Agents by Visible Light Photocatalysis.” Michael J. Siwek (BS 03) married Kristine M. Pohl on Aug. 5 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Morris, Ill. Siwek is employed by the Concord Group. The couple lives in Milwaukee, Wis. Joseph W. Sweitzer (MS 04) has joined Cannon Design, an architectural firm in St. Louis, Mo., as a project architect. Gregory A. Wilken (BS 01, MS 03) married Catherine E. McDonald on Nov. 24. He is a structural engineer with Buehler and Buehler Structural Engineering Inc. Mark K. Wilson (BS 05) married Melissa Lynn Teesdale on June 10 in Jupiter, Fla. He is a civil engineer for CMT in Indianapolis, Ind. Jacob R. Wolf (BS 97, MS 01) married Kendra Gilles Oct. 28 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Pesotum, Ill. Wolf is a design engineer at Frauenhoffer & Associates in Champaign.
Fred W. Leake (BS 38) of Dixon, Ill., died Jan. 4. He served as Lee County Superintendent of Highways for almost 20 years.
1940s
Robert W. Brown (BS 46) died Dec. 30. He received his B.S. from the U of I in the U.S. Navy V12 Program and was a commissioned officer. His career included owning Benton and Overburry, a commercial construction company in British Columbia, Canada. Hugh H. Connolly (BS 48, MS 49) died April 7. Connolly served in WWII as a B-24 pilot. After the war, he taught engineering at the University of Arizona and the U of I. He also worked for the U.S. Public Health Service and as Chief Engineer at a private consulting firm in Tucson. Kenneth E. Cowser (BS 47) died Dec. 26, 2006. He worked for 32 years at the Oak Ridge National Lab/ Martin Marietta Energy Systems Inc. in the field of environmental safety and health. Leslie B. Harding (MS 47), of Atlanta, died Dec. 23. A West Point graduate, Harding served in World War II, the Korean Conflict, and Vietnam, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. After military retirement, he worked as a supervisor of construction for the U.S. Postal Service Southeast Division. Albert F. Raulin (BS 43) died April 6. He served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy Seabees during WWII. His career included employment by the University of Chicago and Du Pont De Nemours Corp. on atomic energy projects, and a position as city en-
Eli W. Cohen, structural engineering pioneer
1927-2007 Eli W. Cohen (BS 55), a Chicago structural en- worked as a singing waiter gineering pioneer credited with shaping the Chicago during the summers in the Catskills. skyline, died May 2 at his home in Evanston, Ill. Cohen’s career began Cohen was known for his refinement of the composite steel high-rise with a reinforced concrete with a brief stint working core. His composite steel designs received awards on bridges for the Illinois from the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois Division of Highways. He for Most Innovative Design in 1987 for 10 S. LaSalle then joined Paul Rogers St.; Best Structure Award in 1991 for 181 W. Madi- Associates, a structural son St.; and Best Structure Award in 1992 for 77 W. engineering firm in Chicago, becoming a partner Wacker Drive. Born in Germany in 1927, Cohen moved with his in 1965, then in 1969 president and principal of the family to Palestine in 1935. After high school, he firm he founded, Cohen-Barreto-Marchertas (CBM). served as a communications officer in the Haganah, In 1993, CBM merged with Thornton Tomasetti. This department honored Cohen in 1990 with fighting for Israeli Independence in 1948. He moved to the United States in 1953 and earned his bache- the CEE Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus lor’s degree in civil engineering from the University Award. In 1999, the College of Engineering awarded of Illinois in 1955. To put himself through school, he him the Distinguished Service Award.
gineer of Marion, Ohio. Raulin owned and operated the Albert F. Raulin Engineering Co. in Naples, Fla., until he retired in 1993.
1950s
William C. Boyd (BS 50) died Oct. 15 in Quincy, Ill. As a civil engineer for Klingner and Associates, he was responsible for working with almost all of the area water supply facilities in Illinois and Missouri. David W. Carnegie (BS 50) of Dowagiac, Mich., died Oct. 29. His career as a structural steel engineer included 28 years with Roberts and Scheffler in Chicago, for which he built coal processing plants. William L. McClure (BS 56) died Nov. 17. He was the first city engineer in both Grayslake, Ill., and East Moline, Ill., and later became the East Moline Director of Public Works. In 1969 he founded McClure Engineering Associates Inc. He retired in 1995 and joined Ament Engineering as a senior engineer. Kenneth G. Medearis (BS 52, MS 53) of Fort Collins, Colo., died Feb. 15. His career included teaching civil engineering at the University of New Mexico, Arizona State University, San Jose State University, and Colorado State University. He founded Kenneth Medearis Associates, a consulting engineering firm. Medearis established a graduate education fund in CEE at the U of I. Kenneth E. White (BS 58), P.E., died Sept. 8. White’s career included working for the California Division of Highways and as Chief of Engineering Design for the Port of San Diego.
1960s
Richard S. Kramkowski (BS 60) died Sept. 17. He was a safety professional and industrial hygienist, employed for 27 years with the U.S. Public Health Service before retiring as a captain in 1989. Al A. Kupelian (BS 62) died Jan. 26. His career included owning the general contracting firm Kupco Construction, which concentrated on large commercial projects in Miami and Houston. Jerome R. Sachno (BS 65) died Feb. 27. He was a retired engineer for the City of Chicago Streets and Sanitation.
1970s
Thomas E. Connor (BS 72) died March 25. He was president and chief executive officer of Hurst-Rosche Engineers in Hillsboro for many years.
1990s
Timothy A. Kramer (PhD 97) died Dec. 9 in Annapolis, Md. Kramer was an associate professor in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A & M University.
Civil and and Environmental Environmental Engineering Engineering Alumni Alumni Association—Spring/Summer Association—Spring/Summer 2007 2007 Civil
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Chicago Regional Dinner Meeting More than 200 alumni, faculty and friends of the department gathered at the Union League Club in Chicago on February 8 for the annual Chicago Regional Dinner Meeting. A 27-year tradition, the event included a cocktail reception, dinner, the presentation of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association awards, and a department update by Professor and Head Robert H. Dodds Jr. About 50 CEE students traveled to Chicago to attend the event, as well as a tour earlier in the day of the construction site of Trump International Hotel and Tower at 401 N. Wabash. The students were hosted by department alumni Kinjal Patel (BS 00) and Torsten Trupp (MS 04) of Bovis Lend Lease Inc. The tour arrangements were made by Leigh Manson (BS 05) and William F. Baker (MS 80) of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Photos, from top, clockwise (people listed left to right): Walter D. Linzing (BS 49); Paul D. Koch (BS 66, MS 68), Donald E. Eckmann (BS 56), Robert L. Martin (BS 77, MS 78); CEE students Michael R. Mendoza, left, and friends; and Christopher N. Yamaya (BS 78, MS 84), Shawn Shiffer (MS 01), and CEE student Yang Zhang.
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The department extends its thanks to the following sponsors of the Chicago Regional Dinner Meeting 2007:
Gold Level
Patrick Engineering, Daniel P. Dietzler
Silver Level
Alfred Benesch and Company Bowman, Barrett and Associates Inc. CH2M HILL Clark Dietz Inc. CTE CTL Group F.H. Paschen H.W. Lochner Hanson Professional Services Inc. Milhouse Engineering and Construction RJN Group SOM Teng & Associates TranSystems Corporation W.E. O’Neil
Bronze Level
CDM Greeley and Hansen HDR Engineering HNTB Corporation Metcalf & Eddy Ricondo & Associates Inc. 40
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Transportation Research Board Alumni Reception
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The department gratefully acknowledges the following sponsors of the alumni reception at the 2007 Transportation Research Board meeting:
Corporate
American Concrete Pavement Association Applied Pavement Technology Inc. Applied Research Associates Inc. CTLGroup Soil and Materials Engineering Inc.
About 200 alumni, faculty and friends of the department attended the 14th annual CEE alumni reception at the Transportation Research Board meeting January 23 in Washington, D.C. Guests enjoyed a cocktail reception at the Marriott Wardman Park. Photos, from top, clockwise (people listed left to right): Angela S. Wolters (BS 99, MS 00) and Christopher M. Thomas (BS 96, MS 97); Robert A. Rodden (BS 04, MS 06), Assistant Professor Jeffery R. Roesler (BS 92, MS 94, PhD 98), and Stanley M. Herrin (BS 74, MS 78); Eli Fini, Shihui Shen (PhD 06),Katie Chou (PhD 04), and Professor Emeritus Samuel H. Carpenter; Amanda Bordelon, Mario Cristian Gaedicke Hornung, Matthew Beyer, Professor Jeffery R. Roesler, Francisco Evangelista Jr., and Victor Cervantes; Professor and Head Robert H. Dodds Jr. and John E. Wagner (MS 59, PhD 61).
Individual
Laurence Burley Jr. Charlie Greer Kathleen Hall Stan Herrin Katie Zimmerman
University of Illinois ATREL Illinois Center for Transportation U of I Transportation Faculty Center of Excellence for Airport Technology
Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association—Spring/Summer 2007
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Old Masters
Engineering giants of the department’s history
Carroll Carson Wiley 1884 -1971 Educator, researcher, national expert in highway and traffic engineering By William J. Hall and John D. Haltiwanger Emeritus Professors of Civil Engineering Carroll Carson Wiley was born in Edinburg, Ill., in 1884. He graduated from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign with honors in June 1904 at age 19. After two years in industry he returned to join the department faculty, remaining for 46 years until his retirement in 1952, at which time he was awarded Professor Emeritus status. He was awarded the professional C.E. degree by the University of Illinois in 1910. Wiley’s fine teaching of railway, highway and traffic engineering was his most important contribution during his long years of service to the University.
gineering Conference, which took place nearly every year, was in large part responsible for the development of the close cooperation that exists even today among the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), contractors and engineering firms, and this campus; it is still held annually on the Urbana campus. He also organized and directed in 1941 the first conference on traffic engineering, another annual event still ongoing here. As an active consultant, Wiley spent most summers with municipal and state entities participating in and directing work in his fields of spe“I was through high school before I ever saw an cialty. During WWI he automobile; I was through college before I ever rode participated in the conin one; I was teaching highway subjects on the en- struction of Chanute Field gineering faculty before I ever drove one; and it was in Rantoul, Ill., and also directed much of the work another three years before I owned one.” to upgrade the Armory on He enjoyed his contacts with his students the Illinois campus for use by what is now and spoke of the fun of teaching, and his known as the Reserve Officers’ Training students reciprocated with their obvious Corps. As a concerned citizen, he served enthusiasm for his methods. on the Parking and Traffic Commission of Wiley carried on research on high- the Champaign Chamber of Commerce ways and roads, including their design, when downtown Champaign was reconmaterials of construction, and traffic us- figured. He was a major adviser on the age. His studies were extensive, leading location and construction of U.S. Highto a widely used Engineering Experiment way 45 in this region of Illinois. Station Circular and Bulletin, many techWiley’s 1936 study of automobile nical papers and reports, and two text license plates is of historic significance. books, including Principles of Highway Suggested by the Secretary of State of Engineering. Published in 1928 and re- Illinois, the study addressed the numbervised in 1935, it was for many years the ing system and legibility of the plates. standard textbook in the field. Wiley The result of his study was the retention was a popular speaker at local and na- of the straight numerical system with contional conferences. trasting colors which the studies showed In 1914, with Ira O. Baker, he or- to be the simplest, leading to rapid and ganized the nation’s first conference on accurate reading. Another example highway engineering. The Highway En- of Wiley’s service to the public was his 42
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study of road signs, which significantly influenced their design. In 1955 the C.C. Wiley Traveling Award was established to honor Wiley. The General Paving Foundation of Champaign provided funds annually for the outstanding senior in highway engineering to travel during the summer following graduation to study and report on highway activities throughout the United States. This award continues today. Wiley was an active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE); he was a charter member, first secretary and later President, of the Central Illinois Section. He also was instrumental in the establishment of the student chapter of ASCE in this department. Wiley’s long association with the motor car began late in his career. In 1964, upon being honored during the 50th Illinois Highway Engineering Conference, he said, “I was through high school before I ever saw an automobile; I was through college before I ever rode in one; I was teaching highway subjects on the engineering faculty before I ever drove one; and it was another three years before I owned one.” Wiley’s professional stature was recognized nationally and especially in the State of Illinois. His advice was usually accepted and adopted by leaders in state government, as well as by the University and this department. His many contributions to the field of highway and traffic engineering were studied widely and had a major influence on highway engineering as we know it today. Wiley died on July 7, 1971, in Urbana. i
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Gift Form Name Address City, State, Zip $1,000
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free your mind
seminars include Earn Professional Development Hours from the convenience of your own computer.
Use of FRP in Seismic Design and Blast Mitigation Frieder Seible University of California Forensics Engineering Jeff Garrett CTL Inc. Bridge Engineering: the Other Structural Engineering John L. Carrato Alfred Benesch & Co.
The Illinois Society of Professional Engineers and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have teamed up to offer a series of online seminars that make it easier than ever for civil and environmental engineers to earn Professional Development Hours.
how it works
aChoose an online seminar at http://www.illinoisengineer.com/UofIOnLineSeminars.asp and watch it at your convenience. aPrint out and complete the seminar quiz and Professional Development Hour request form. Submit your quiz and form with your payment of $20 (check or credit card) to ISPE. aIf you earn 80 percent or better, your PDH certificate will be sent to you. Quiz and certificate processing take about three weeks. aAll seminars are about one hour long and are worth one PDH.
Failure Investigation Gary Klein Wiss, Janney & Elstner Structural Design of the Burj Dubai and Trump Towers Bill Baker Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Professional engineers licensed in Illinois must earn 30 Professional Development Hours in each two-year renewal period. To learn more about the professional development requirements for engineers, to view a complete list of seminars, or to access the ISPE/University of Illinois Online Seminars, visit http://www.illinoisengineer.com.
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