OU Engineer

OUENGINEER

THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Leading by Example A feature story on retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Jerry Holmes FALL 2014

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Welcome From the Dean

THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

DEAN Thomas L. Landers, Ph.D., P.E., AT&T Chair PHOTOGRAPHY Jawanza Bassue, Karen Kelly, Hugh Scott, Robert Taylor, Tricia Tramel and Sarah Warren DESIGN AND LAYOUT University Printing Services COVER PHOTO: President David L. Boren visits Maj. Gen. Jerry Holmes' Presidential Dream Course in February 2012.

OU ENGINEER is published annually by the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering Communications Office. For more information, contact: I am eager to share our 2014 publication, newly renamed — OU Engineer. I hope you KAREN KELLY Director of Communications 202 W. Boyd St., Rm. 104 Norman OK, 73019-1021 Phone: (405) 325-9037 www.ou.edu/coe engineering@ou.edu

will enjoy reading its pages. There is much to celebrate in the life of OU’s College of Engineering.

In this edition of OU Engineer, we honor leadership. As many of you are already aware, on Sept. 12, President David L. Boren announced the Live On, University campaign. In celebration of OU’s 125th anniversary, the priorities of the campaign are scholarships and fellowships, faculty endowments and new facilities. Your generous gifts to the College of Engineering, including the Annual Fund and J.H. Felgar Society, will be

This publication, printed by OU Printing Services, is issued by the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering.

5,000 copies have been prepared and distributed at no cost to the taxpayers of the State of Oklahoma.

counted as part of the Live On campaign. Please see the Giving Update section for

© 2014 University of Oklahoma.

Holmes, new inductee into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame, has taught a leadership

more information.

We have so many exemplary leaders that invest in our students. Retired Maj. Gen. Jerry class to university students for 18 years. Diana Bairaktarova is inspiring students

The University of Oklahoma in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, genetic information, sex, age, religion, disability, political beliefs, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices or procedures. This includes but is not limited to admissions, employment, financial aid and educational services. For questions regarding discrimination, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, or sexual harassment, please contact the Office(s) of Institutional Equity as may be applicable -Norman campus at (405) 325-3546/3549, the Health Sciences Center at (405) 271-2110 or the OU-Tulsa Title IX Office at (918) 660-3107.

Please see www.ou.edu/eoo.

For accommodations on the basis of disability, please contact the College of Engineering at (405) 325-9037.

iii EVOLVE

through creativity and technology in the classroom. Robert Nairn continues to bring environmental awareness to students and clean water to Commerce, Oklahoma, and beyond. Our new Leadership Speaker Series features accomplished executives who share their life experiences and wisdom with our students. Doug Kelly and John Stupka were our inaugural guests of this new program. From members of our advisory boards, many of you support our college through leadership and service.

Our faculty members continue to garner distinction. Pramode Verma was honored with one of the highest awards given by the government of India. J.R. Cruz is the Armstrong Medal recipient. Jeff Harwell has been named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

CONTENTS OU Engineer Features Welcome from the Dean (continued) Our student leaders deserve recognition, too. You will learn about an organization, Sooners Helping Sooners, founded in part by Beth Huggins, a recent chemical engineering graduate.

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Students displaced by the January Alpha Gamma Delta sorority house fire received much-needed assistance from this service organization.

You will read about strategic projects and transitions in our leadership team. I hope you enjoy this installment of OU Engineer.

Live on, University!

Tom Landers Dean and AT&T Chair

When Sooners Help Sooners Cleaning Water in the Wastelands The Art of Science

Inside every issue Updates

12 RESEARCH

16 ALUMNI The University of Oklahoma College of Engineering challenges students to solve the world’s toughest problems through a powerful combination of education, entrepreneurship, research, community service and student competitions. Research is focused on both basic and applied topics of societal

22 COLLEGE NEWS

significance, including biomedical engineering, energy, engineering education, civil infrastructure,

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nanotechnology and weather technology.

The programs within the college’s eight areas of study are consistently ranked in the top third of

FACULTY

engineering programs in the U.S. with research expenditures of more than $22 million and the

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formation of 12 start-up companies.

STUDENTS

44 GIVING UPDATE

46 IN MEMORIAM

47 CLASS NOTES

48 SUMMER BRIDGE FALL 2014

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Leading by Jerry Holmes, U.S. Air Force (Retired) From humble beginnings in Wewoka, Oklahoma, to a military career in the U. S. Air Force with more than 50,000 troops under his command, to what many consider to be his greatest legacy yet — teaching a leadership class to University of Oklahoma students, retired Maj. Gen. Jerry Holmes continues to lead by example.

By Karen Kelly

Humble Beginnings Jerry Holmes is no stranger to hard work. From the age of 10 when he had his first paper route, to jobs cleaning sewers and digging ditches, he learned to appreciate some of life’s most important lessons.

“You have to respect your workers. They are the ones who make things happen,” said Holmes.

During summer break following his freshman year of college at OU, Holmes worked for the Cherokee Pipeline Co. near his home in Wewoka. One day he found himself in a ditch filled with oil from a leak in the pipeline. His job — patch the leak. It was from this vantage point that he looked up to see a man in a starched white shirt standing nearby with a slide rule in his belt holster.

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Jerry Holmes has been a lifelong family friend from my home county. I greatly admire the military service he has given to our country. Now it is a joy to see him as a teacher, making a difference in the lives of countless students.

- University of Oklahoma President David L. Boren Force. In 1964 he received his master of science degree in aerospace engineering, also from OU. Early Leadership Connections

“Who’s that?” he inquired of a co-worker. “That’s the engineer,” his co-worker replied. That’s when Holmes decided he would become an engineer.

Holmes’ connection to the Boren family goes back much further than Norman, Oklahoma. Growing up next door to David Boren’s paternal grandparents, Holmes often visited them. He particularly remembers the homemade cornbread and churned butter he would enjoy during his frequent visits.

In 1958, Holmes earned his bachelor of science degree in geological engineering from OU and an officer’s commission in the U.S. Air

Holmes has a tremendous amount of respect for OU President David L. Boren — not only because of his impact as the youngest governor

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Example of Oklahoma or his influence as a senator, but also because of his leadership and vision for OU. As OU celebrates David Boren’s 20th anniversary as president, Holmes reflects back 18 years ago when Boren was guest lecturer in his first leadership course.

“He got the class off to a great start,” reflected Holmes. “What a visionary.”

Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder Holmes served in the Air Force for 31 years, beginning as a college cadet in the Reserve Officer Training Corps program and rising in rank to major general.

Each of the many milestones of his career could fill a history book. As a command pilot, Holmes logged more than 5,000 flying hours in 17 types of aircraft, including F-15s, F-16s, F-111s, RF-4s, RF-101s and AWACS. He piloted and led 135 combat missions in Vietnam. He commanded both a combat fighter wing and the U.S. and NATO Airborne Warning and Control System. Holmes was chief of staff, deputy commander and senior American officer of the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force, an international command in Heidelberg, Germany. He also served as commander of the NATO Airborne Early Warning Force Command with headquarters in Belgium – an assignment that put him in command of personnel from 12 nations and bases throughout Europe, from Norway to Turkey.

Holmes’ military decorations and awards are numerous. They include the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with six oak leaf clusters and Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame in 2000. His most recent recognition is induction into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame.

From Cockpit to Classroom Holmes' humble leadership style was forged by the many relationships he built during his Air Force career.

“Like many fighter pilots, I thought pretty highly of myself and my skills,” Holmes said. “I quickly learned I was only a small part of the equation that made a mission a success.”

If there was a failure in the plane’s hydraulics, electronics or weapons systems, the mission failed.

“I came to realize that I wasn’t all that important after all. It was the people around me who maintained the aircraft that made the real difference,” Holmes said. “As pilots, we broke many aircraft, but it was the people who fixed them who were important.”

Whether as husband, father, commander of more than 50,000, pilot to then-President George H. W. Bush or teacher to college students, Holmes sees himself as a servant.

Upon retirement from the Air Force and while working and living in Norman, Holmes was invited in 1990 by thendean of the College of Engineering, Billy Crynes, to serve on the OU College of Engineering’s Board of Visitors. The group, made up mostly of alumni, provide the college with guidance and leadership, and support its mission to educate engineers. An idea of offering a leadership class emerged from the Board of Visitors, and Dean Crynes asked Holmes to teach it.

“My initial reaction to Dean Crynes' request was no. I don’t know how to do that,” said Holmes.

But after some consideration, Holmes began to formulate a plan. He would bring in experienced leaders to speak to the class and review some Harvard business case studies. His intent was to see how it went for a year or two.

Holmes taught his first class in 1996. Eighteen years later, Holmes has welcomed speakers including David L. Boren, Archie Dunham, John Brock, Bill Kennedy and Billy Crynes.

Dean Crynes still comes every year. He likes to begin his lecture by telling students what he doesn’t like about the general. Crynes tells the students of his own long, committed career as an educator.

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Gen. Holmes, Crynes explains, came out of retirement to teach a class and, “he has more teaching awards than I do!”

They have one son, Joe, from Gilbert, Arizona; a daughter, Kelly, from Hampton, Virginia, and six grandchildren.

Holmes asks these high-achieving guest speakers to tell the students more than just what they’ve accomplished in their careers.

An Extended Family

“Tell them about your failures,” Holmes says. “We all make mistakes.

I want my students to know that these successful people are just like them.”

Holmes’ class is a favorite among students. Its structure is simple: lectures by Holmes, guest lectures and group projects. But there is one small assignment early on in the semester that students cite as one of the most impactful assignments in the class. In the essay of self-discovery, students are asked to consider their strengths, weaknesses, passions and goals.

“Tell me who you are. Tell me about your passion—not what your parents' passion is for you,” Holmes tells his students. “This is your life, so honor and respect your parents, but you have to do what you love and what you are passionate about.”

Students are asked to consider such questions: How do you learn? Do you like to work with people? Do you prefer to work alone? Are you a decision maker? Are you an adviser? How can you use your strengths and skills to contribute?

Holmes believes these exercises of self-discovery place students on a focused path to a life spent investing themselves in a career of their choosing. Built on a firm foundation of a technically sound education, they embark on the future expecting to create “pockets of excellence” everywhere they go.

Each May during the convocation ceremony, you can find Jerry Holmes several rows behind the graduating class. As the graduates file in to the familiar chords of Pomp and Circumstance, Holmes stands at attention. His starched shirt and sharp gaze say it all – this generalturned-beloved-teacher is beaming with pride and is here to show his respect to his students.

For the general, these students are more than graduates. They are family. “I am so proud of them, and I love them so much. I have more than 2,700 grandchildren.”

Afterward, Holmes is the epicenter of a throng of students. They are there to shake his hand, to introduce him to parents, exchange a hug, and tell him the impact he has had on their lives.

For 18 years now, Holmes’ charges to his students have echoed through halls and classrooms of the OU engineering buildings. “Be yourself, but think of others. Look ahead and see where you can contribute. We can all make the world a better place.”

And that’s exactly what the general has done. He has led by example.

He has lived his leadership lessons in every chapter of his remarkable career. He has proven himself to be a servant to others. He listens, and he teaches his students to be listeners. He makes everyone around him feel special. And he expects us to accomplish great things.

And we will—because he expects us to, and we do not want to disappoint him.

The Woman Beside the Man Nina and Jerry Holmes’ love story began early. They first noticed one another in second grade and were high school sweethearts. They were both 18 years old when they married. This year they celebrated their 61st anniversary.

“She’s still my sweetheart,” Holmes said with a sparkle in his eye. “She’s my best friend; the person I love being with more than anyone else.”

Student Postscript

Following are several student comments about the impact Holmes’ leadership class has had on them. If you would like to share your story, please visit www.tumblr.com/blog/honoringthegeneral to post on a blog that has been created to provide your message of thanks to the general.

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Nick Marquez, B.S. Mechanical, 2003 Senior Manager at Main Street Hub

Todd Stair, B.S. Mechanical, 2011 Technical Professional at Halliburton

Gen. Holmes is someone I greatly admire and am honored to consider a personal and professional mentor.

He has always been incredibly supportive since taking his leadership course at OU and continues to take a vested interest in the success of all his former students.

His class is arguably the single-most important and relevant that I was fortunate enough to have taken. I have so much to be thankful to Gen. Holmes for, but one of the most memorable gestures was when he arrived really early on a Friday morning to offer impromptu training to my entire staff. Two years later that is still a lasting memory for all of us, and it truly epitomizes what Gen. Holmes is all about.

I took Engineering Leadership and Management and did undergraduate research with Gen. Holmes. Of all the classes I took at OU, I far and away took the most from his course. I have recommended his class to every student I speak with, engineering or not. His example of work ethic and leadership are second to none. His influence has played a tremendous role in my young career, and I anticipate that what I learned from his example will greatly shape the future of my life and career for the better.

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Jesse Berdis, B.S. and M.S. Architectural Engineering, 2011, 2013 Aerospace Technician/Structural Engineer at NASA Gen. Holmes is the most humble and sincere person I know. It is incredible that a man of his standing went out of his way to spend time and get to know college students on a personal level. He teaches life lessons that most students will not get the opportunity to experience in college. I took his class once and liked it so much I retook it the following year as his teaching assistant. Gen. Holmes teaches more than an Engineering Leadership class: it is a class for life.

Holmes Career Timeline 1958 Earned bachelor of science degree in geological engineering from OU; commissioned in the Air Force through the ROTC 1959 Completed pilot training at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma 1959 – 1962 Air Training Command 1962 Air Force Institute of Technology program at OU 1964 Master of science degree in aerospace engineering from OU, Assigned to the Space and Missile Systems Organization, Los Angeles, California 1965 Squadron Officer School 1966 Transferred to Royal Air Force Station Upper Heyford, England 1969 – 1970 Flew 135 combat missions in RF-101s and RF-4s from Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Republic of Vietnam 1970 Returned to the U.S., assigned to the Air Staff as a planning and programming officer within the Fighter Branch, Tactical Division, Directorate of Plans, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. 1976 Graduated from National War College, transferred to the 363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina 1976 – 1979 Served as deputy commander for operations 1980 Commander, after a short time as Vice Commander, of the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing, Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho 1981 Commander of the 552nd Airborne Warning and Control Wing, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma 1982 – 1986 Tactical Air Command's assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia 1985 Harvard University program for senior executives in national and international security 1986 Chief of staff, 4th Allied Tactical Air Force, Heidelberg, West Germany 1987 – 1989 Commander, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Airborne Early Warning Command 1990 – 1992 Consultant to Titan Corporation, San Diego, CA 1992 – 1996 Senior Vice President and General Manager, Frontier Engineering 1996 – present Adjunct instructor for the OU College of Engineering 1997 Inducted into the OU College of Engineering Distinguished Graduates Society 2000 Inducted into the Oklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame 2007 – 2009 Recipient of the OU Foundation Alumni Teaching Awards (Seven Awards) 2008 Recipient of the Acton Foundation Teaching Award in Austin, Texas, one of 25 awards in the United States 2014 Inducted into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame

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When Sooners Help Sooners: One Engineering Student Makes a Big Difference

By Sarah Warren

Huggins with her parents at graduation.

Students participate in the OU Homecoming parade to spread the word about SHS.

A Fire. A Tooth. And a Chance to Make a Difference.

For the first time, Huggins realized the large number of her fellow OU students from every walk of life – international, in-state and from across the country – with significant, unmet needs.

It all started in August of 2011 when chemical engineering sophomore Beth Huggins was a resident adviser at the Cate Center residence hall on the OU Norman campus. A fire at an off-campus Norman apartment complex displaced a number of OU students. While most found quick alternate housing arrangements, it was largely the international students impacted by the fire who were left in vulnerable situations.

International students, Huggins would soon learn, often deal with a drawn-out process when securing off-campus housing because of additional required documentation and logistics. So far from home, many also lack the support system local students benefit from.

Huggins watched as the staff at OU’s Housing and Food Services sprang into action, making arrangements and special accommodations to get the displaced students immediate campus housing.

For Huggins, watching OU employees step in to help was an experience that stuck in her mind. It led to a discussion with her adviser at the OU Student Life office, where she learned of another international student in a difficult situation.

This student needed a root canal, but without dental insurance, couldn’t afford one. Her only treatment was pain medication so strong, it caused her to be too tired to go to class, placing her at risk of failing out of school. A group of OU staff members learned of the student’s situation and made personal donations to get her the care she badly needed.

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“We call ourselves this OU family, but what does that really mean?

Huggins asked. “What does it mean, even if you don’t know the person who needs help?”

She discovered the red tape that often keeps needs from being met. OU Financial Aid Services does everything they can to support students on a case-by-case basis, but there are many constraints, she explained.

Knowing that OU employees were trying to fill those gaps when they could, Huggins decided there was something she and other OU students could do.

“If the university supports us in so many ways, there should be some type of responsibility as students that we also respond during times of need.”

A Dream Becomes Reality Huggins dreamed of an organization that would be ready to help when a student has a pressing, unmet need and an organization that would empower fellow students and the entire OU family to help meet those needs. With the idea planted, it was time to go to work. She learned about an organization at Kansas State University called K-State Proud that raises money for an allocation fund, for which students can apply in times of need.

Meanwhile, members of the OU Development staff attended a Big 12 development conference, where they also learned about K-State Proud and envisioned a similar organization at OU.

LEADERSHIP “I was working with Student Life, and the Development office was also talking through the concept. The two ended up crossing paths,” explained Huggins.

Huggins tackled the formation of SHS while the OU Development office helped raise the initial funds. Funds came through a generous grant from the OU Alumni Association as well as a donation from an alumnus looking to fund a meaningful campus project.

Along with donations from alumni and students, OU faculty and staff have been some of the organization’s most faithful supporters. Huggins credits the immediate support from the entire OU family for providing legitimacy to the organization.

Where so many student organizations never find their ground and wither away, SHS started strong and has stayed strong.

Just as in class, when a set of variables for a problem doesn't perfectly align with the information she is expected to produce, the connection between the idea of SHS and what the organization would eventually become was not always clear, especially in the initial stages. This forced Huggins to rely on engineering logic to help her build relationships from one variable to the next, as SHS came closer and closer to becoming a reality.

Initial efforts at fundraising were not always successful.

“Sometimes the experiment will fail, but as engineers, we are taught that failed experiments are just as important as successful ones,” said Huggins.

What began from Huggins’ observation of students left vulnerable after a fire became a thriving campus organization ready to help students in times of need.

Two years have passed since SHS launched. According to Carmen Bao, associate director of OU Student Life and SHS staff adviser, SHS has provided 108 grants to students in need, totaling $47,920.

Of those grants, approximately 22 percent went to students suffering from a medical emergency, 25 percent to students who either could not find a job or had transportation problems getting to their job, 12 percent to students who lost a parent or guardian, and 25 percent to students with miscellaneous needs such as replacing stolen text books or purchasing school essentials like a computer for a graphic design student. Among all recipients, 53 percent used the grant to pay for basic needs like food, utilities and rent.

SHS came full circle in 2014 with a circumstance similar to the apartment fire that started it all.

On Jan. 14, a fire ripped through Alpha Gamma Delta sorority house. No one was injured, but the fire made the house unlivable, immediately displaced all 61 residents and destroyed almost everything.

This time, SHS was established, funded and ready to help. The group provided a total of $15,500 in grants to the residents. SHS helped cover the immediate costs of residents’ losses, getting checks to the displaced students within two days of the fire.

A Unique Perspective While starting a student-led philanthropic organization and chemical engineering seem to be unrelated, Huggins credits her classes at the OU College of Engineering for developing a unique engineering perspective that helped her during the formation of SHS. “As engineers, we desire to know the answers but also to push the limits of what currently exists: how can we make things better, faster, stronger?” she explained. “We challenge the given so we can discover new things.”

Huggins with local children while on a medical-focused trip with the OU chapter of Global Brigades.

Framing failed fundraising efforts in this way staved off discouragement and helped SHS continually adjust fundraising strategies until they found ones that worked.

The College of Engineering’s emphasis on experiential and team-based learning taught Huggins valuable communication skills. Group activities in her classes taught her to effectively communicate her ideas while also listening and learning from others.

“What I learned in my engineering classes is ultimately that people have a need to be felt, heard and connected. Using these interpersonal skills helped me seek donations and lead my peers.”

A Continuing Journey Huggins graduated from OU in May 2014. She plans to attend medical school and then to practice medicine in countries impacted by poor water sanitation. She’s left her legacy on campus and taken with her the lessons learned along the way.

There’s one that stands out among all the others.

“You are not alone. You can rely on your OU family.”

To learn more about Sooners Helping Sooners, visit www.ou.edu/give/shs.

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Cleaning Water in the Wastelands: Whether in the conference room, classroom or contaminated water site, Robert Nairn’s leadership affects change.

By Becky Cavnar Football in the small northeast Oklahoma town of Commerce highlights more than the prowess of high school players. It is also a visual reminder of the toxic waste residents are forced to live with on a daily basis. Every Friday night, fans can see the stream of polluted orange water flowing alongside the high school football field. It is the passion and mission of Robert Nairn and his team to eventually make those toxic orange waters run clear.

For more than a century, financially lucrative mining operations in the Tri-State mining district of northeast Oklahoma, southwest Missouri and southeast Kansas removed zinc and lead minerals from the earth. The evidence it left behind included land scorched with contamination and valuable water resources too damaged by zinc, lead, iron and cadmium to support aquatic life. In 2004, Robert Nairn launched an ambitious project to remove the mineral contamination and restore the water in the northeast Oklahoma portion of the polluted area, called the Tar Creek Superfund site. By implementing a cost-effective, low-effort passive water treatment process, Nairn and his team of environmental science and engineering students are helping communities enjoy cleaner water, returning wildlife and a home where they can be comfortable raising future generations.

In his work, Nairn wears two hats. As Sam K. Viersen Family Foundation Presidential Professor in the University of Oklahoma School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, he educates students on the dangers of water contamination and the benefits of remediation and restoration. As director of the Center for Restoration of Ecosystems and Watersheds, Nairn helps bring communities and ecosystems back into balance. While traditional active treatment systems typically involve chemical mixing and aeration, Nairn’s passive system requires minimal human maintenance, relying on naturally occurring biogeochemical, biological and physical processes to improve water quality. Nairn’s work, both in the classroom and in the field, represents the application of ecological engineering — the design of sustainable ecosystems that integrate human society with the natural environment for the benefit of both.

“The residents in northeast Oklahoma deserve a healthy environment free from the toxins left behind by previous industrial activity,” Nairn said. “I remain hopeful that someday we’ll be able to restore the water in the Tar Creek watershed to levels that are safe for human health and the environment.”

As the CREW team monitors the success of the passive water treatment at Tar Creek, Nairn is expanding the process with a second system. Funded by a $1.6 million grant from the Oklahoma

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A CREW environmental scientist collects ecological data next to one of the surface flow wetland process units.

Department of Environmental Quality, design and construction of the Southeast Commerce Project is expected to begin in 2015.

Combined with his previous work in the area, Nairn will be able to focus decontamination efforts on a small first-order tributary in the Tar Creek area. Through work in Commerce, on the lands of the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma and other areas around Tar Creek, Nairn and his students are directly experiencing how their science and engineering efforts – combined with Mother Nature’s processes and Father Time’s patience – are helping restore communities that were once thought of as ruined.

“In the decade I’ve worked with Dr. Nairn in the Tar Creek area, I’ve been able to see dramatic progress in both the environment and the community,” said Julie LaBar, CREW graduate research assistant and OU doctoral candidate. “The people now have a hope that they can live in a community that is clean and healthy for future generations – that their home won’t become a wasteland.”

Nairn doesn’t limit his remediation and restoration efforts to the Tar Creek Superfund site. His work has taken him to the coal mines of eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas as well as the silver and tin mines in the Bolivian Andes Mountains. In the coal mines of Oklahoma and Arkansas, the design of the passive water treatment systems is similar to Tar Creek, though the process is specific to each site. In Bolivia, environmental components – such as a drier, more arid landscape; higher altitude; unique communities and cultures; and less government involvement – are different than in the central United States. Still, Nairn and his students put in place an effective pilot program, and have

LEADERSHIP observed dramatic improvements in the environment, such as an increase in aquatic life. Local townspeople, who also see the remarkable progress, are now pressuring the government to build a larger project to help clean up more of the affected areas.

“The most rewarding aspect of our work is the legacy we are leaving for the communities we are helping,” LaBar said. “We have proven that passive Waters exiting the Mayer Ranch passive treatment system are much cleaner than those that enter. Removal rates are treatment systems can be successful 97 to 99% for iron, zinc, lead, cadmium and arsenic. and designed sustainably with comparatively little effort and cost and that it is possible to solve a problem that was once thought unsolvable.”

Though Nairn is seeing important and impactful success, his work is far from over. The mines in the Tar Creek area have long closed operation, but evidence of their chemical and mineral waste in the watershed will remain for centuries longer. The demonstration projects address only a small portion of the larger problem. The design life for the Tar Creek passive treatment process is 30 years, but significant maintenance like pond excavation and rebuilding will need to be completed in order to continue the water remediation process. But with Nairn’s design and the efforts of his team and the Tar Creek communities, a vision for a clean, healthy future is within reach.

“Cleaning the waters of the Tar Creek watershed and other locations is a lifetime passion for me,” Nairn said. “After seeing the way poor water quality affects the people and the land, I’m dedicated to finding the team, funding and support to help heal these communities.”

When Robert Nairn isn’t in the classroom or the field with his students, he’s leading the American Society of Mining and Reclamation as a former president and now in his role as past president. We wanted to know how he was using his national platform to help influence other reclamation and remediation experts around the world.

This year’s national ASMR meeting was held in Oklahoma City. How do you think visitors enjoyed their experience in our state?

“We had a large turnout of more than 200 participants. Oklahoma doesn’t have a significant mining industry like past meeting sites, so it was positive to see the large number of attendees come to learn about the advancements we’re making in Oklahoma. I accompanied a group of visitors from Pennsylvania, Canada, Korea, China and South Africa to see our progress at Tar Creek.

They were able to learn from our projects and modify them to address the needs in their own communities.”

Hosting the national meeting as ASMR president isn’t typical. Did you find the two roles difficult to balance?

“The president isn’t usually heavily involved with planning the national meeting, so it was a lot of hard work to perform my presidential duties, help plan the meeting, play host and continue my work at OU and with my students. But because we have such a strong team of students and staff, the meeting went very well, and I’m glad I got to experience it from all different perspectives.”

What does your new role as past president entail?

“I am able to mentor the new president in his role as leader of ASMR. My role as president was challenging as well as rewarding, and I hope to use my experiences to help our new president and ASMR as a whole as much as I can.”

Aerial view of the Mayer Ranch passive treatment system in 2013, showing parallel treatment trains and 10 distinct process units. Water flows from left to right via gravity, and contaminants are sequentially removed in each process unit without the use of fossil fuels and with limited maintenance.

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The Art of Science Diana Bairaktarova engineers creativity in thermodynamics

By Becky Cavnar

Diana Bairaktarova

Students visit a power plant in Edmond to learn first-hand the impact of thermodynamics principles in practice.

Thermodynamics is the science of transforming heat into work, such as an engine powering an automobile or nuclear energy operating a power plant. In her classroom, Diana Bairaktarova focuses on the analysis of thermodynamic energy systems and their application to real-world contexts. While these complex systems can be difficult to understand, Bairaktarova encourages students to tap into their creative side and translate thermodynamics into a language they can clearly understand.

As assistant professor of engineering practice in the College of Engineering, Bairaktarova’s job is to promote experiential learning in foundational engineering courses and to create an environment where students learn and understand the laws and principles of thermodynamics. She strives to empower future engineers to collaborate with others and help communities around the world overcome challenges in creative, responsible and sustainable ways. Using her extensive real-world engineering experiences and sophisticated knowledge about how people learn, she provides students with contextual, authentic engineering experiences. Her class sessions are interactive and include in-class discussions of current events, individual and group problem-solving activities, and projects that make thermodynamics tangible and practical rather than merely philosophical.

Research shows that people learn more deeply when extraneous words and pictures are excluded from textbooks and presentation,

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when words are written in a conversational rather than formal style and from supplemental animation and video that supports main concepts. Based on this research, Bairaktarova strives to create learning environments and assign creative projects that stimulate students’ learning and motivation for education.

“Text books often make abstract concepts too complex, overloading students with sophisticated words, pictures and images,” Bairaktarova said. “Students are more eager to learn when they see their classroom projects proving thermodynamic principles rather than simply reading about it in text books.

They use their innate creativity to understand science on a practical level.”

While students still have assignments and regular quizzes to complete, Bairaktarova seeks to limit the lecture portion of her teaching and emphasize group work and project involvement.

She believes when students put their heart into a personal project – rather than their nose in a book – they learn more effectively.

That’s why for the final project of the semester, the only parameter she enforces is that the project must explain a learned concept of thermodynamics. How the students explain the concept is completely up to their creative whims.

Creativity can be vastly different for each student. Bairaktarova appreciates each individual’s efforts to turn the mountains of

LEADERSHIP science into molehills of practical application and understanding.

She has been serenaded by students with songs about the virtues of thermodynamic principles. She has watched examples of thermodynamic events played out in film. She has read a poem penned by a student that lyrically explains the four laws of thermodynamics, which she proudly displays as a poster-sized copy in her office.

“I want to prepare my students for the real world,” Bairaktarova said.

“By allowing them to find their own ways of learning and applying advanced science principles, I’m helping them see how science can come alive outside of the textbook.”

Dan Carlton, a junior majoring in aerospace engineering, has firsthand experience with Bairaktarova’s atypical style of teaching.

From designing a thermal system for the country of Namibia, which has budding energy problems, to creating a board game requiring players to correctly answer fundamental thermodynamics questions, Carlton believes Bairaktarova’s approach of more activities and less lecture has helped him better understand the complex and specialized subject of thermodynamics.

with a few helpful apps, was a natural fit. She uses the iPad to record and post lectures before class time, enabling students to review the material prior to class. She also uses apps to record and solve problems that students can later use as examples for class activities, quizzes or exams. Inspired by the several design studios where engineers from all over the world come together through technology to collaborate on design in real time, Bairaktarova uses similar technology in the classroom.

Now her students are able to work together on the same type of global design activities without leaving the classroom. The iPads and other creative and technological tools enable students to learn material in a contemporary, interactive and supportive educational environment. For Bairaktarova, this alignment of content, assessment and innovative teaching is critical to the success of her students’ learning and understanding complex engineering concepts.

“Dr. Bairaktarova gives us a lot of freedom to explore what thermodynamics is and how we can apply the concepts in ways we can personally understand them,” Carlton said.

Bairaktarova encourages her students to continue applying their scientific passions through creative means beyond the classroom, he added.

Last summer, Transatlantic Program-Young Technology Leaders: Aerospace Engineering & Aviation Technologies in Germany selected Carlton as a delegate. Typically reserved for graduate students, the organization said Carlton’s position was the result of his diligent student work and passion for aerospace technology. Carlton credits Bairaktarova for challenging his potential. She played an instrumental role in persuading Carlton to fill out the application, giving him tips on how to conduct a successful phone interview and even encouraging him to brush up on a few German phrases to communicate with and impress the German interview panel.

“Daniel’s curiosity for science is inspiring, and his enthusiasm to learn is contagious,” Bairaktarova said. “I want my classroom to bring out that excitement in all my students. I want to know that my work is helping positively affect future generations of scientists and engineers.”

Bairaktarova is constantly looking for ways to incorporate creative learning in the classroom. She recently received financial support from the OU Center of Teaching Excellence to incorporate iPads into her teaching. She already taught using her own personal iPad, so the idea for students to use the same technology,

“By using the newest technology and teaching students in interactive ways, I’m meeting them where they are in their current lives,” Bairaktarova said. “I am finding my students more engaged and providing more feedback in class.”

From requiring interactive movement in her classrooms to assigning app downloads for homework, Bairaktarova is not only teaching students in fun, innovative ways but also proving that the concepts of creativity, science and engineering are not mutually exclusive. Students see that learning even complex subjects like thermodynamics can be enjoyable and their principles applied in everyday ways. Just as John Keats proclaimed, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” Bairaktarova sees the beauty in the truth of science and engineering. Her goal is to get students to express that beauty, whether that is reading about heat transfer in fluid flow or writing poems and singing songs about the principles of thermodynamics.

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RESEARCH

Engineering a Healthy Heart

By Debra Levy Martinelli Photos by Hugh Scott Reprinted with permission by Sooner Magazine

John Dyer isn’t a doctor—and doesn’t even play one on TV. He’s an electrical engineer who is making important contributions to the research and treatment of heart patients at OUHSC.

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RESEARCH Just as doctors and lawyers specialize within their respective professions—perhaps dermatology, pediatrics or neurosurgery for physicians, or criminal, corporate or family law for attorneys—so do engineers.

Electrical engineer John Dyer specializes in small signal processing, applying his expertise to a range of industries and fields that include aviation, navigation, energy production and arrhythmias associated with cardiac electrophysiology.

Small signal processing applied to therapies for the human heart?

It’s a natural, Dyer says.

“The heart does two things: it’s a mechanical pump, but there also is an electrical circuit that keeps it pumping in rhythm,” explains Dyer, a research assistant professor in the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering and staff member of the Heart Rhythm Institute at the OU Health Sciences Center. “We can study both the proper and improper operation of that electrical circuit.”

still see what the heart was doing while they were ablating the small amount of target tissue.

With these improvements in place, the HRI team later tackled an ablation procedure to address atrial fibrillation, the most common cardiac arrhythmia. Atrial fibrillation occurs when the heart's upper chambers—the right and left atria—beat chaotically and out of coordination with the two lower chambers—the right and left ventricles.

“We’re starting to understand that, like everything else in biology, there’s a range of causes of atrial fibrillation, some of which are amenable to drug therapy and others that need ablation therapy,” says Dyer, who, in addition to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering also holds a bachelor of science degree in physiology.

Darren Tepe was an atrial fibrillation patient who, over a period of years, required both.

Think electrocardiogram, probably the most common procedure for recording electrical heart activity.

Supporting his colleagues at the HRI, Dyer has helped refine a procedure called ablation therapy that identifies and treats cardiac arrhythmias by destroying the millimeter-scale pieces of aberrant tissue that cause irregular heartbeats.

Dyer was recruited by HRI co-founder Warren “Sonny” Jackman, M.D., in the early 1990s, when Dyer was completing his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at OU and working as a lab technician.

Jackman was developing an ablation process for accessory pathways in the heart, using the same access technique cardiologists use for an angiogram: inserting an electrical catheter into an artery or vein in the groin area and guiding it to the heart.

“I went to one of Dr. Jackman’s first ablation procedures,” Dyer remembers. “The catheter went up into the heart, and when the doctors passed the ablation current through it, they had to unplug the catheter from the electrical recording system, which meant they couldn’t see the signals from the catheter anymore. They were working on blind faith, hoping it was working.”

It was working, he says, because Jackman has a gift for visualizing the movement of the electric circuit through the heart based on watching the electrical tracings on the recording system.

But Dyer immediately recognized how engineering could come to bear on improving the ablation process and came up with two solutions.

He first created a switchbox into which Jackman and his colleagues could plug both the catheter and the ablation unit and just flip a switch when they were ready to apply the ablation current without disconnecting any other equipment. Then he designed and built a filter for the surface leads—the electrodes attached to skin that record the electrical activity (electrocardiogram)—so that the doctors could

“I had my first attack when I was 35,” recalls Tepe, now a 54-year-old engineer at the Federal Aviation Administration in Oklahoma City.

“My heart rate went up to 180 beats per minute. When that happens, you get a shot of adrenaline, so if you’re in bed—which I was—you become wide awake. It’s like you’re running a marathon. I went to work the next day and felt good, even though I didn’t get much rest the night before.”

Still, he sought medical attention. Under the care of a cardiologist, Tepe took medication that managed the atrial fibrillation for several years. But then the attacks steadily became more frequent, often landing him in the emergency room.

“As time went on, after I had an attack I felt extremely nauseated and got a really bad headache,” Tepe says. “It was pretty debilitating.”

He researched his options, which ultimately led to Jackman, Dyer and the HRI. (Coincidentally, Tepe and Dyer worked together at Lucent

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RESEARCH Technologies in Oklahoma City years earlier.) Tepe had the ablation procedure in February 2011.

“It gave me my life back,” he says.

While a success for Tepe and many others, Dyer says ablation therapy still has a way to go.

“The current ablation method is to look for sites of aberrant electrical activity in the atria and ablate each one,” he explains.

“The difficulty is that there is no objective parameter that helps to determine when to stop looking for them. We use signal processing to try to acquire global electrical information from the atria and look at how structured the electrical circuit is. If it’s working properly, the circuit should be very organized and structured; if it’s not working properly, it’s very chaotic.

“Our goal is to see if we can find a point in the spectrum where we can say, ‘We’ve done enough ablation, now let’s send the patient home. If he needs to be on an anti-arrhythmic drug for a little while to maintain sinus rhythm [normal heartbeat] until he gets better, that’s OK.’ ” Dyer says some recent research indicates that if a person can be kept in sinus rhythm for an extended period of time, atrial fibrillation starts to go away.

“If we can get someone to a point where he or she can stay in sinus rhythm with anti-arrhythmic medications, then over a year to a year-and-a-half the medications can be reduced and eventually eliminated. That’s the goal. And then that person can live a normal life,” he states.

A person like Tepe just a few years ago found that possibility hard to imagine.

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“The ablation procedure changed everything for me,” he declares. “I want other people with atrial fibrillation to have that opportunity, too. When you get a gift like that, you want it to be available for everybody.”

Dyer, the self-proclaimed “small-signal guy,” sees the potential for great progress in the treatment of atrial fibrillation.

“We’re discovering there is a lot of interaction between the brain at the level that regulates body activity and the various organ systems, including the heart,” he says. “Our basic laboratory studies show that stimulating the vagus nerve [a major nerve that extends from the brain stem to the abdomen via the heart and other organs] may reduce the propensity for atrial fibrillation.”

If his team’s clinical studies currently underway clearly demonstrate that finding, they will better understand the condition’s underlying mechanism.

Dyer and his colleagues also are exploring whether external oscillating magnetic fields—long used in orthopedics to help heal broken bones—might be beneficial in treating atrial fibrillation.

“As we gain a better understanding of the cause of atrial fibrillation, we can keep moving toward less invasive treatments that address the system as a whole and lead to better long-term results,” he relates.

Still, Dyer is humble about his role.

“The physicians are the real pioneers in this field,” he says. “But it’s nice that I can bring to bear engineering tools to help them refine their technique.”

Debra Levy Martinelli is principal of LevyMart Public Relations in Norman. She writes freelance articles for Sooner Magazine.

RESEARCH Research Leads to 20 Percent Cuts in Energy Consumption in Buildings

By Lori Johnson formula detects unreliable systems and faulty equipment that affects energy consumption. Song’s formula creates virtual sensors to identify energy waste at the air-handling unit as well as at a whole-building level.

“Waiting until exorbitant utility bills appear may be a sign that the equipment hasn’t worked optimally for years,” said Song. “This method allows earlier detection of minor equipment faults, possibly preventing an overhaul of the entire system.”

Besides saving companies money on utility bills, Song’s formula is a low-cost option to commercial monitors, making it easier for more companies to track energy efficiencies. Song estimates one ultrasonic flow meter, which monitors water pump performance, could cost as much as $5,000, and an organization would need to buy several monitors to get an accurate picture. Song’s virtual process uses little to no hardware and is within ±2% uncertainty ranges compared with commercial meters.

Prior to developing virtual sensing, Song implemented the energy monitoring and operation fault detection and diagnosis manually in more than 100 buildings with cumulative savings exceeding $70 million. In one building alone, her method reduced annual electricity consumption by 53 percent, electricity demand by 21 percent and gas consumption by 49 percent in one year. In another building the structure qualified as an Energy Star building five months after the evaluation.

Companies are being robbed annually of millions of dollars and don’t even realize it. But rather than a person walking out the door with a bag full of loot, money is leaving the building through inefficient heating and cooling systems.

Nearly 95 percent of all U.S. companies don’t monitor their building energy efficiency due to a lack of awareness, existing infrastructure restrictions or the prohibitive cost of commercial monitors.

Li Song, University of Oklahoma assistant professor in the College of Engineering’s School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, along with her research colleagues, Gang Wang, University of Miami assistant professor, and Mike Brambley, staff scientist, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, have invented a method that overcomes these barriers to significantly reduce building operating costs as well as energy consumption. Her applied research has potential to reduce energy consumption in a single structure by as much as 20 percent. Depending on the building conditions, Song estimates peak savings could be as much as 30 to 50 percent.

Song devised a mathematical formula using existing output data, such as pump speed and power, to monitor energy use in heating, ventilation and air conditioning units. Based on the results, the

Song’s research, which has focused on corporate efficiencies, is now entering the government sector. Her research team was recently awarded a three-year, $1 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to increase building efficiencies at military installations. Her first analysis focuses on Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City.

“The U.S. Department of Defense spends $4 billion each year in facility operations,” said Song. “They have a federal mandate to reduce building energy consumption by 30 percent by 2015. My research team thinks we can double the reduction.”

Song is one of a few researchers in the United States working on improving HVAC efficiencies using virtual sensor measurements. Her next research focuses on creating wider applications for the virtual sensors using equipment data beyond “vents and pumps.”

Song also is in the process of developing a smart-device that contains all the mathematical formulas so the building owner can plug it into an existing system easily and monitor energy efficiency on an ongoing basis.

“The virtual valve flow meter won’t replace conventional flow meters if they are needed for utility metering for billing,” said Song, “but it does offer companies an inexpensive and readily accessible solution to monitor energy consumption. Companies can use the information to create a more efficient system, saving them money while reducing energy consumption.”

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ALUMNI

Faces of Innovation:

RUSTOM MODY Rustom Mody earned his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the OU College of Engineering in 1977.

Now he is giving back to students in a big way.

This excerpt was reprinted with permission from Baker Hughes’ Connexus Magazine, Volume 5, Number 2.

Rustom Mody is an innovator’s innovator. Regardless of who is talking (colleagues, protégés, or innovators from other industries), the comments share a common thread: Here is a man who is passionate, not only about the evolution of technologies to create transformational value and commercial success, but also about leading, mentoring, and motivating people to bring about that evolution.

“My passions are technology, innovation, and mentoring young engineers,” says Mody, Baker Hughes vice president of technology for Completions, from his office at the Center for Technology Innovation (CTI) in Houston. His words are genuine.

From the through-tubing product line to the CTI, to advanced materials and nanotechnology, Mody has played a key role in advancing value-adding technology in the company, in the upstream oil and gas industry, and beyond. He also has championed and nurtured innovation-enabling initiatives such as Endeavor, a Baker Hughes peerled program to motivate and accelerate the professional development of employees with less than 10 years of experience in the oil and gas industry; the Baker Hughes Women’s Resource Group; the 21st Century Co-op Program

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Rustom Mody at the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy Laurence S. Youngblood Energy Library. (photo by Jawanza Bassue)

ALUMNI at the University of Oklahoma (OU); and Pumps & Pipes, an ideas and technology transfer program among Houston’s energy, medical, and aerospace communities.

Mody’s life, both professional and personal, has been guided by four tenets—discipline, devotion, perseverance, and strategy—all of which he learned as a child growing up in 1950s India. He credits his father with instilling these values.

“My dad taught my brother and me discipline from a very young age,” Mody says. “He was a boxer and an ex-military man. He wouldn’t let us walk around outside the house in sandals. It had to be shoes. And, he would dress every night in a shirt and tie for dinner.

“We always had dinner together, regardless of what was going on. That is a tradition that I have stayed committed to with my own family.”

Brain vs. Brawn As an adolescent and then as a college student, Mody followed in his father’s footsteps and excelled in boxing. Graduating from high school and entering university at age 16, he literally fought against all odds, against young men far larger and more experienced.

“The first match I fought was with a guy who was six-foot-four, a skinny guy with long arms, a much more senior guy,” Mody

“That was the best thing that could have happened to me, because I developed my communication skills and I learned far more when I was teaching than when I was a student,” Mody says. “They say, ‘If you want to learn, teach.’ I totally agree with that.”

During his second year at OU, Mody was named Outstanding International Student. Upon earning his master’s degree in mechanical engineering, he chose Smith International (now part of Schlumberger) in Houston over offers from other companies in Kansas and Oklahoma, primarily because of Houston’s diversity and cosmopolitan culture.

It was during his tenure with Smith that Mody was introduced to a young medical resident. This was one time when Mody didn’t do things incrementally. “I met Dina, and, after seven days, I proposed to her— and she accepted!” he says with a laugh. “That was 33 years ago.

I just knew she was the right person.”

Today, the Modys’ two children are pursuing careers in medicine— their son in anesthesiology, and their daughter in obstetrics and gynecology.

Innovating at Baker Hughes After earning a Master of Business Administration degree, Mody joined Baker Service Tools (later to become part of Baker Oil Tools) in 1987 as

Rustom has the innate ability to dream and transform the dream into reality. This is evidenced by his enduring legacies at Baker Hughes and the University of Oklahoma.

Rustom clearly is a role model for us all to emulate.

- AME professor and 21st-Century Co-Op faculty mentor Farrokh Mistree remembers. “He had a long reach, but he wouldn’t stretch. So, I would go inside and punch away at his middle body while he was trying to hit me on the outside. I won the fight very easily. He never even landed a punch.

“It was all about strategy—both having a strategy and executing on it. In boxing, you score a lot of punches and build on that goal, rather than going for a knockout. You also follow through on your strategy, even when your opponent throws you a surprise punch.”

Mody says it’s quite the same with technology innovation. “It’s a strategy: successful, incremental, persevering,” he says. “Get the appropriate talent, the appropriate skill sets. Then, build on it over time. You put your mind, your will, and your back into it, and you go for it. And, you stay focused on executing your strategy, while avoiding adversity or distractions.”

Go West, Young Man Mody’s boxing career ended after university, but his innovative thinking and pursuit of excellence continued. Having decided to come to the U.S., he won a scholarship and a position as a teaching assistant at OU.

a project engineer. In 1989, he was named director of the thru-tubing intervention product line. As a member of the core group of Project Renaissance, the initiative to implement SAP enterprise resource planning software throughout the Baker Hughes organization, he saw a need for another type of change.

“When I was working for Baker Service Tools, I didn’t know what any of the other divisions did,” Mody says. “We were siloed, and that had a negative impact on technology development and on the Baker Hughes brand. So, I proposed a new standard product development process across the enterprise that would bring technologists from the different divisions together.”

The result of that proposal was the product development management (PDM) process, which is still in use throughout Baker Hughes. Early technology innovations that emerged as a result of cross-division communication and collaboration included drilling with casing and the PathMaker™ single-trip window cutting technology.

As director and then vice president of technology for Completions, Mody saw his vision for a world-leading center for completion technology research and innovation come to fruition, with the

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ALUMNI support of the company’s senior leadership, in the form of the Houston-based CTI. Like all good leaders, Mody believes in surrounding himself with smart and creative people. “I feel very fortunate to have worked with such creative and dedicated teams over the years,” he says. Four of his team members have won Baker Hughes Lifetime Achievement awards for their work.

Mentoring Tomorrow’s Innovators Ed O’Malley is director of applications engineering, sales, and operations support for the Baker Hughes U.S. Land organization and has collaborated with Mody on numerous papers and publications, including two presented at Pumps & Pipes conferences. O’Malley also works closely with Mody on another pet program—the Baker Hughes 21st Century Co-op Program at OU—through which Baker Hughes is helping to develop the industry’s next generation of thought and technology leaders.

Through this unique dual-degree program, students graduate in five years with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and a specialty in petroleum engineering. A customized course plan; closely monitored, paid internships; and joint mentoring between the university and Baker Hughes provide an opportunity for students to learn how to anticipate and adapt to the rapidly changing technology needs of the oil and gas industry.

As part of the program, student interns work three summers in technology and product development at Baker Hughes.

Their degree requires that they work on a special project and present a master’s thesis.

Mody (left) joined AME professor Farrokh Mistree to hand out awards at the annual OU School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Capstone with Poster Fair.

Most mechanical engineering majors know little to nothing about petroleum recovery processes. The BHI 21-st Century Co-op has given me a working knowledge of general theory and methods used in the oil and natural gas recovery, and I believe this is critical for a mechanical engineer to be successful in the industry. I am thankful that the program exists because it allows me to gain a distinct advantage over other mechanical engineers in the industry by encouraging learning, cultivating teamwork, and expecting high performance.

- Wiley Abbott, Mechanical Engineer Junior and Co-Op Scholar “Rustom is drawn to problems that are interesting to solve,” O’Malley says. “He is also drawn to problem solvers. And he’s happy to give advice to anybody. But, there are people who really impress him, and he will seek them out to guide them. He is always willing to have a conversation.”

Mody says that he doesn’t want the students in the co-op program to feel pressured to join Baker Hughes, but admits, “I’m hoping

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that, by the time they graduate, they will have developed such a connection to us that they will join us.”

Mody will know whether his hopes have been realized by the end of 2015, when the first batch of co-op students completes the program.

ALUMNI A remarkable journey for LyondellBasell and CEO Jim Gallogly Jim Gallogly is a University of Oklahoma Law graduate and College of Engineering Board of Visitors member. The Chemists' Club honored him with the ICIS Kavaler Award in September 2014.

By Joseph Chang October 6, 2014 Reprinted with permission from Joseph Chang/ICIS Chemical Business It’s been a remarkable journey for LyondellBasell so far with CEO Jim Gallogly at the helm.

Gallogly’s achievements were highlighted by his acceptance of the ICIS Kavaler Award, sponsored by The Chemists’ Club, and in association with The Valence Group at a special event at the Metropolitan Club of New York on 30 September 2014.

Gallogly had announced his planned retirement for early 2015, a day before the event – a move that came a surprise to many in the industry and investment community, as the company has been posting record financial results, and the stock price hovering near record highs. Yet Gallogly expressed high confidence in the current management team and a potential successor from the group.

Gallogly joined LyondellBasell as CEO in May 2009 as it was going through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process after a “failed merger” between US-based Lyondell and Netherlands-based Basell, which loaded the petrochemical company with over $20bn in debt.

Coming from what he called a “dream job” heading up oil and gas major ConocoPhillips’ exploration and production (E&P) business, Gallogly was intrigued by the opportunity. “When I took the job, everyone thought I had lost my mind,” he said in his acceptance speech at the event. “And at my first day at work, I was convinced I had made an enormous mistake.”

Inspiration During Dark Times The company was in dire straits, he recalled, with creditors ready to take the European assets into receivership and people streaming out the door.

How do you engineer a turnaround from the depths? It’s hard to get people excited about simply emerging from bankruptcy. The vision has to be more compelling.

On Gallogly’s first call with management, he told them: “I didn’t come to help you exit bankruptcy – I came to help you build the greatest petrochemical company in the world.”

After exit from bankruptcy in April 2010, shares of LyondellBasell closed at $22 on the first day of trading on 28 April 2010. They would drift lower to close at a low of $16.57 about a month later on 25 May 2010.

So what do you do with a commodity business just out of bankruptcy and with a history of underperformance? Gallogly focused on a “back to basics” strategy of running assets optimally with a focus on safety and cost effectiveness, while maintaining a strong balance sheet.

“We also put together a top-flight team. We wanted people who ran to a fire to put it out – not run from a fire in fear,” Gallogly said.

“It’s all in the chemistry – for a reaction, you need heat. And I provided a lot that. You also need pressure, plus a catalyst,” he noted. That catalyst was inspiration – to be the “greatest petrochemical company of all time”.

Finding a Different Path Of course, the US shale gas boom gave a positive jolt to the entire US petrochemical industry, including LyondellBasell. Yet the company has taken a very different approach than many of its competitors and has outperformed.

Rather than undertake huge new capital projects, the company embarked on a series of debottlenecks and expansions at existing sites to come early to market and ahead of the competition. This includes expansions of ethylene capacity at Channelview, La Porte and Corpus Christi, Texas, US; the restart of an idled methanol facility at Channelview, and an expansion of butadiene capacity at Wesseling, Germany.

LyondellBasell’s stock price closed at a record high of $114.35 on 29 August 2014. It closed at $105.00 on 1 October following a recent overall market downdraft.

While acknowledging the exceptional performance of the company, Gallogly stressed the importance of focusing on the future. “Yesterday is irrelevant. People invest in us for tomorrow. Let’s continue to amaze.”

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ALUMNI Three Inducted Into the Distinguished Graduates Society During May Convocation Alan Armstrong Alan Armstrong graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.

He is the president and chief executive officer of Williams, as well as chairman of the board and chief executive officer for Williams Partners L.P. Since joining Williams in 1986, his notable career has included previous appointments as president of Williams’ midstream and olefins businesses in North America, vice president of gathering and processing, vice president of commercial development, vice president of retail energy services, and director of commercial operations for Williams’ midstream business in the Gulf Coast region.

Armstrong served as a board member and past chairman of the OU College of Engineering’s Board of Visitors. He is committed to education and community service, and serves on the boards of directors of several education and community-focused organizations including Junior Achievement USA, Junior Achievement of Oklahoma, Teach for America – Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Business Education Coalition and the Tulsa Regional Chamber’s executive committee as the vice chair of economic development. He is also on the boards of The Williams Foundation and the Philbrook Museum of Art. Armstrong lives in Tulsa with his wife, Shelly, and their children Caitlin, Claire, Jarret and Gabrielle.

Anil Gollahalli Anil Gollahalli graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. In 2000, he received his juris doctorate from the University of Chicago Law School.

Gollahalli serves as University of Oklahoma vice president and general counsel. Within that role, he is also counsel for the OU Board of Regents, and is responsible for the legal matters of all OU campuses, Cameron University and Rogers State University.

His past appointments at OU include vice president and associate vice president for technology development, assistant general counsel and Fellow in the Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth. He has taught classes at the university in both the College of Law and the Price College of Business. Before returning to OU, Gollahalli worked in the field of litigation and intellectual property law.

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Gollahalli is involved in Leadership Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence and the Oklahoma Venture Forum. He is a board member of Oklahoma Youth in Government, and sits on the community investment committee of the United Way of Norman.

Among his many awards and commendations, Gollahalli was a recipient of the “Forty under Forty” award by OKC Business in 2006 and “Achiever Under Forty” by the Journal Record in 2009.

Gollahalli lives in Norman with his wife and children.

Charles Richard "Dick" Sivalls Dick Sivalls graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree with distinction in mechanical engineering. He is a licensed professional engineer and a Fellow with the National Society of Professional Engineers.

Sivalls is the president and chief executive officer of Sivalls Inc., and has been employed with the company since 1959.

Under his leadership, Sivalls Inc. has grown to be a major lease surface equipment supplier worldwide. He also is the president of Control Equipment Inc. and Tectrol Inc., both in Odessa, Texas.

In addition to being a leader in his field, Sivalls has authored more than 40 technical papers on oil and gas production and processing equipment design, and has taught short courses on gas processing and oil treating practices at OU, Texas Tech University and Texas A&M University. As a young man, he served a brief stint in the U.S. Army.

Sivalls has held multiple leadership posts in many civic organizations, including the Odessa Chamber of Commerce, Odessa Industrial Development Corp, Odessa Rotary Club and other local organizations. He is an active lay leader in his church.

He lives in Odessa, Texas, with his wife, Lura Jo. He has a son and daughter and three grandchildren.

In 1990, the College of Engineering established the Distinguished Graduates Society to honor our most accomplished alumni. Selection is based upon prominent and distinguished professional or technical achievement, notable public service, outstanding contribution to and support of education, honors of election in organizations and other contributions to the engineering profession.

Membership in the society affords the public acknowledgment and recognition befitting administration, faculty and students of the College of Engineering at the University Convocation.

ALUMNI

DGS members are inducted during the spring College of Engineering Convocation ceremony.

Gavia Named One of Nine Regents' Alumni Award Recipients Professionally, Gavia was instrumental in encouraging Baker Hughes, where he serves as product manager of drill bits in the North America region, to sponsor mechanical engineering capstone projects, and has served as a mentor to teams for two years. He has participated on the Baker Hughes Campus Champions team for OU and regularly engages in recruiting and interviewing activities. A true ambassador for OU, Gavia regularly uses social media to share Sooner success stories, ensuring new audiences have access to the great work of OU students, faculty, staff and alumni.

Nine exceptional University of Oklahoma alumni and friends received Regents’ Alumni Awards for their dedication and service to OU in a ceremony May 9 on the Norman campus.

David Gavia, who earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2000, is the sole holder of two U.S. patents and the co-inventor on three patents, all related to drill bit technology. He has been published twice by the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

A walk-on member of the Sooner cross country team for two years, Gavia studied abroad at Polytechnic University in Valencia, Spain, was a member of the Multicultural Engineering Program and an officer of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

Gavia serves as a member of the College of Engineering Dean’s Advisory Board on Diversity and Inclusion, currently on the external relations committee. Dedicated to guiding and encouraging students through their pursuit of an engineering degree, he spends countless hours mentoring and coaching students in person and virtually.

He and his wife, Jennifer, have supported OU through a number of initiatives, including establishing a Multicultural Engineering Scholarship to provide financial assistance to students from underrepresented groups in the College of Engineering.

Presented by the OU Board of Regents and OU Alumni Association, the Regents’ Alumni Award honors the important roles of OU alumni and supporters to the life of the university. A committee formed by the Alumni Association selects the award recipients from nominations made by alumni, friends, and OU faculty and staff. Each year’s recipients receive a plaque and their names are engraved on a permanent plaque in Oklahoma Memorial Union.

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COLLEGE NEWS

OU College of Engineering Closes Gap in Big Data New Master’s Degree of Engineering Program With a Concentration in Data Science and Analytics

By Lori Johnson Big data – two small words that will have a major impact on how companies make key decisions about everything from improving productivity to predicting consumer behavior and, in some cases, the future strategy of the company. But the copious numbers only tell part of the picture – how the organization interprets and applies the data determines its business impact.

The University of Oklahoma College of Engineering is helping shape the application of big data in its new interdisciplinary master’s degree of engineering with a concentration in data science and analytics. While many companies take advantage of big data to monitor and track everything from retail purchasing to product performance, being able to predict future operations and behaviors is the key that will revolutionize the way companies compete, produce and innovate. The new program’s curriculum

types of systems, across all types of enterprises, are wide open,” said Randa Shehab, director of the OU School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Many reports, including one published by McKinsey Global Institute, have identified the urgent need to address the current shortage of data scientists in the United States, which is expected to exceed the number of current graduates by as many as 200,000 hires over the next decade. The White House has launched the “Big Data Research and Development Initiative,” which includes expanding the workforce to support the needs of the big data community as one of its primary objectives. The MSDSA at OU plays a major role in accomplishing these objectives by helping to prepare a future workforce that can design, analyze and apply big data solutions.

“Big data needs big intelligence, and OU College of Engineering’s MSDSA program is bridging the gap between real-world problems, abstract data and effective solutions." teaches algorithm development from a systems perspective. OU graduates will have the skills to design and build tools to extract, assimilate and analyze data, and the systems understanding to predict and enhance future performance for enterprises across all domains of the private and public sectors. A collaboration between the schools of Computer Science and Industrial and Systems Engineering, the first cohort of students started their graduate work this fall.

“The insight big data can provide is far-reaching. The opportunities to use the information to predict and improve performance of all

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“As computing power has grown, so has the vision for how this power is harnessed for research, innovation and economic growth,” said Charles Jones, OU College of Engineering Advisory Board member and retired consultant for McKinsey & Co., a global management consultant company. “But the volume, velocity and variety of big data require big investments from industry and education to really capture its true potential.”

Over the past 20 years, big data science has evolved from merely creating descriptions of what happened from 500 gigabytes of

COLLEGE NEWS internal data to forecasting what is likely to happen based on petabytes of data captured from multiple sources.

“In the 1990s, companies were limited to making strategic decisions based on descriptive, retrospective data analysis and gut feelings,” Jones said. “Fast forward 25 years and several monumental technological advancements, and progressive companies are building strategies around data that not only forecasts what’s likely to happen, but also describes why it will happen."

"While most companies recognize the importance of big data, many are overwhelmed by the challenge of integrating, analyzing and finding value in the volume, variety and velocity of the data sources available to them. Companies can easily access massive data from a variety of sources, including home appliances, credit cards and social media posts. But just because a company has this data, doesn’t mean that they can turn raw numbers into actionable insights.”

“The data deluge presents both an opportunity and a challenge to most companies,” said David Franke, OU College of Engineering Advisory Board member and chief scientist at Vast, provider of marketplaces and big data insights for consumers’ big purchases. “The opportunity lies in a company’s ability to easily collect, store and test data sets and use that information to enhance business performance measures like supply chain management and customer satisfaction.

The challenge lies in the lack of people who possess the skill set to create value from raw data."

Big data by itself tells more about what has happened than why it has happened. “Determining the why is where data science becomes an art form,” Franke said. “Not only must data scientists possess technical skills in computer programming and statistical analysis to test the data, but they also need analytical skills and contextual knowledge to extract and isolate the meaningful interconnections in the data and transform it into actionable intelligence.”

“Companies don’t need people to just tell them what’s happened, they need people to help them predict what’s going to happen and provide options to capitalize on these predictions,” said Jones. “Big data needs big intelligence, and OU College of Engineering’s MSDSA program is bridging the gap between real-world problems, abstract data and effective solutions. The program is designed to teach students how to define the problem and then find solutions in the data.”

The MSDSA coursework will be driven by case studies, and students in the program will complete an industry internship or a research practicum. Students will work closely with an industry or government partner to solve real-world scientific or business problems in preparation for their career.

“With the advent of the Internet and big data, we had a revolution of tools to gather data,” said Franke. “With the MSDSA program, we are leading a new revolution of tools to do something with that data – to glean meaningful information from the vastness of big data so we can make better large-scale, long-term decisions.”

L I V E O N , knowledge

Big Data Helps Big Energy Find Big Solutions COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

The energy industry has been leveraging big data for decades to determine where natural resources reside and how to bring them to the surface. But despite advancements in tools, technologies and data storage, many oil and gas companies struggle to translate data into tangible business value.

“Energy companies have trouble extracting and finding meaning from the vast amounts of data points on the path from construction to production to delivery,” said Charles Nicholson, OU College of Engineering assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering. “This problem is as much of an infrastructure issue as it is a human resources issue.

There simply aren’t enough people who have computer, mathematical and industry-specific knowledge to harness the power of big data.”

The College of Engineering is partnering with Oklahoma energy companies to help capitalize on big data in a big way.

Through strategic partnerships with companies like Devon Energy, MSDSA students will work directly with professional teams to transform disparate data points into valuable assets that improve decision making, operational efficiency and customer service.

“Partnerships with companies like Devon Energy address the skills gap issue that emerges between the classroom and the corporate office,” said Nicholson. “The MSDSA program’s research and internship opportunities allow our students to contribute to solutions for everything from estimating costs and timelines for projects to optimizing field exploration, equipment maintenance and delivery.”

“It’s easy to forget that data in and of itself has no tangible value until a human being finds and assigns it value,” Nicholson said.

“Our program is focused on developing a well-rounded data scientist who can combine technology, process and human intuition to solve complex problems.”

“I wish I were 25 again, so I could go back to college and get a master’s in data science and analytics, then the fun would really begin,” said Jones, chuckling.

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COLLEGE NEWS Computer Science Stereotypes Limit Workforce Potential

By Deborah Trytten in Honor of National Engineers Week, Feb. 16-22, 2014 Each year we celebrate National Engineers Week by recognizing the latest advancements in science, technology, engineering and math. This year, however, criminal technology is making the headlines as major retailers are being hacked, putting customers at financial risk. Successful information thefts like these will increase as hackers become more sophisticated.

We can reduce these attacks by growing our computing workforce by reaching our biggest untapped resource— underrepresented groups.

While the demand for computer scientists continues to grow, female and minority participation continues to decline. The U.S. Department of Labor reports 12 percent of women were in the computing and information technology workforce in 2012, down from 36 percent in 1985. In 2013, only 19 percent of the people who took the CS Advanced Placement examination were women.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers reports fewer than 8 percent of all computer science and engineering degrees in 2009 were earned by African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans. This low participation contributes to the predicted shortage of computer scientists and reduces diverse perspectives necessary to create innovative technologies.

The barriers for these groups are not a lack of skills or knowledge, but rather a negative perception of the profession. The common stereotypes cited by students include: having to work in isolation, doing work that doesn’t benefit society and the perception that all computer scientists are socially inept geeks. The good news is studies show that increased exposure and student engagement in computer science can positively change these perceptions.

At the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering, annual events like the OU Society of Women Engineers' High School Girls Day, BP Engineering Academy and BP DEVAS Summer Camp are designed specifically for young women and members of minority groups to dive into the engineering and computer science worlds. This year we invited high school teachers across the country to learn how to incorporate computer science into their curriculum and recognize hidden participation barriers like gender and ethnic stereotyping. We created free online courses to allow everyone in the world to learn about computing and computer programming.

To encourage diversity and motivate more students to learn computer science, we need to reach students on all levels as educators, parents, business leaders and policy makers. Let’s seek and encourage underrepresented groups to enroll in computer science classes and invite computer scientists with diverse backgrounds to mentor students. Let’s start thinking about how we can make sure that every high school student in Oklahoma understands enough computer science to participate meaningfully in our society.

Let’s use National Engineers Week to renew our passion to help future generations excel in our ever-evolving technological world.

Together we can help tomorrow’s leaders learn how to stay ahead of technological disasters. By recruiting and encouraging diversity within computer science, we are better prepared to create innovative technologies that improve the world rather than steal from it.

Deborah A. Trytten is an associate professor of the School of Computer Science at the University of Oklahoma.

Research Featured as Cover Story by Rotary International

OU students and Bolivian colleagues atop Cerro Rico de Potosi (over 15,800 feet), referred to as the "Mountain that Eats Men."

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Research by Associate Professor Robert Nairn (School of Civil Engineering & Environmental Science) and students in the Center for Restoration of Ecosystems and Watersheds Science focused on implementing ecological engineering solutions to metal-contaminated mine water problems in Bolivia. Their research was featured as the cover story in the May 2014 issue of The Rotarian, the official publication of Rotary International, which is distributed to approximately 1.2 million members worldwide. To read more about their research, go to therotarianmagazine.com/thetroubled-waters-of-potosi/

COLLEGE NEWS College of Engineering Leadership Update M. Cengiz Altan was promoted in October from interim director, where he served since August 2013, to director of the School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. He began his career at OU in 1989 after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Delaware.

Altan has been an outstanding educator and a prolific researcher in the area of composite materials, leading the university’s Composite Materials Research Group where he has received more than $6 million in research funding from both public and private sources during the last two decades. His primary research interests are manufacturing, characterization and design of advanced composites and nanocomposites. His research contributions have been widely used by various research groups and composites industry worldwide.

Along with a host of teaching awards, including his designation as a President’s Associates Presidential Professor in 2006, the Alumni Teaching Award in 2008 and the Regents’ Award for Superior Teaching in 1998, Altan holds three patents in composite research and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals and conference proceedings. He organized and served on the scientific board of a number of national and international conferences and gave several invited and keynote lectures. Altan is an ASME Fellow and has been on the Executive Committee of the International Polymer Processing Society since 2004.

John Antonio became the associate dean for academic affairs in January. Antonio was a faculty member at Purdue University and Texas Tech before joining OU as professor and director of computer science in 1999. During seven years of service as the director of the School of Computer Science, he oversaw a 50 percent growth in the number of computer science faculty members and a tripling of the school’s research expenditures.

Antonio has been an investigator for a number of funded research projects. Defense agencies supporting this work include Rome Laboratory (Air Force Research Laboratory), NRaD (Navy Research and Development), DoD/STTR, and DARPA. This body of work included a major project funded by DARPA for the design and development of an ultra-low-power parallel computing platform, housed on a small unmanned aerial vehicle, for real-time synthetic aperture radar processing. From 2008 to 2011, Antonio received grants from RiskMetrics Group Inc. This work included research and development of scheduling and control mechanisms for a massively distributed computing platform. From 2011 to 2013, he worked for MSCI Inc. where he led a global team chartered with optimizing the performance and stability of the company’s massively parallel production computing platform.

As the associate dean for academic affairs, Antonio represents the dean’s office on matters related to academic programs and services, including outreach, recruiting, scholarships, advising, diversity and inclusion programs, and accreditation. He also provides leadership in identifying and developing opportunities for students to grow through experiential learning, professional development and leadership training, with the ultimate goal being to equip students with competitive advantages in pursuing future careers.

J. R. Cruz, professor and Tilley Chair of Electrical Engineering, began serving as director for the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the summer.

Cruz is a nationally recognized educator and researcher, with extensive experience both in industry and academia. He started his career as an engineer and task leader at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and later became a member of the research staff of Motorola. He is a worldrenowned expert in signal processing and coding for magnetic recording and is currently the principal investigator on a three-year NSF project to develop the next generation of two-dimensional magnetic recording technologies. Cruz is a Fellow of the IEEE "for contributions to communications signal processing and education," and Distinguished Lecturer of two IEEE societies: Communications and Vehicular Technology. He holds several patents and counts among his numerous scholarly publications the Best Paper Prize at the 2007 IEEE International Conference on Communications.

Cruz assumes the leadership of ECE at an exciting time, building upon the outstanding leadership of Jim Sluss, who is assuming the role of senior associate dean for the College of Engineering.

Sluss says of Cruz: “I am delighted that J. R. Cruz has accepted the appointment as director of the School. He is held in very high regard by the ECE faculty and brings a wealth of experience to the position of director, having served on Committee A and as chair of the ECE Undergraduate Studies Committee. He also has substantial administrative experience through his service in various positions within the IEEE. I have the utmost confidence in him to lead the school to new heights of achievement.”

ECE growth in recent years, both in terms of scope and achievements, is justly reflected in rising prestige and national rank.

Brian Grady, Conoco/DuPont Professor in the School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering and director of the Institute for Applied Surfactant Research, assumed the role of director of the School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering on Aug. 16. Grady is replacing Lance Lobban, who stepped down as director after 16 years.

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COLLEGE NEWS The Institute for Applied Surfactant Research currently has 15 industrial sponsors, including a number of Fortune 500 companies. Grady also serves as one of three outside members of the steering committee for the Petroleum and Petrochemical College at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.

Grady is the sole author of a book titled Carbon NanotubePolymer Composites. His team’s research has been featured in more than 110-refereed papers and 10 book chapters. He is a Technical Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers and also has held numerous leadership positions in that organization.

He currently serves as president of the North American Thermal Analysis Society and secretary of the Surfactants and Detergents Division of the American Oil Chemists Society.

Jerry Holmes, retired Maj. Gen., U.S. Air Force, and member of the College of Engineering’s Distinguished Graduates Society, has been named the faculty-in-residence at the ExxonMobil Lawrence G. Rawl Engineering Practice Facility, following the recent retirement of professor John Fagan. Holmes developed the course, “Leadership and Management for Engineers,” which his students describe as life changing. The REPF is the home of the undergraduate engineering processes for product and professional realization. As faculty-in-residence, Holmes will be uniquely positioned to mentor all of the leaders in our student organizations through the process of becoming professionals.

Theresa Marks was promoted to assistant dean for academic student services in January.

She served for more than six years in the college as the director of advising and currently leads the Williams Student Services Center in the administration of advising, retention, graduation and related academic student services. She also oversees the college’s study abroad programs, which includes one program in France and three in Italy specifically designed for engineering students.

Marks serves as a member of the OU Provost’s Advisory Committee on Academic Advising, President’s Graduation and Retention Task Force, Advisory Board for International Student Services and is a staff adviser for the Tau Beta Pi honor society.

In 2012 she was the recipient of the Provost’s Outstanding Academic Advising Administrator Award, and recently was recognized at the national level with a 2013 Certificate of Merit Award for Outstanding Academic Advising Administrator at the National Academic Advising Association annual conference.

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P. Simin Pulat moved to Evans Hall in July to serve OU as the vice provost for faculty development. During the past eight years, Pulat has served the OU engineering community as associate dean and most recently senior associate dean. While continuing to be highly productive as an ISE faculty member, she has had a transformative influence on the entire College of Engineering. She has been a most effective agent for positive change in engineering education.

She has given extraordinary leadership in the engineering accreditation process and led our initiatives in experiential learning, including first-and second-year courses that are attracting substantial private support and national recognition.

We are grateful for all she has done and for the opportunity to continue working with her in advancing the university and the college through initiatives in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics as well as faculty professional development.

Jim Sluss, the Morris R. Pitman Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, became the senior associate dean on July 1. Previously, he served as the director of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

His current research and teaching interests are in the areas of optical communications, photonics, and intelligent transportation systems. He has been awarded seven U.S. patents, has authored/co-authored numerous journal and conference publications, and has been principal/co-principal investigator on over $11 million in sponsored research grants and contracts.

In his new role as senior associate dean, Sluss will focus on career development of faculty, including the full scope of teaching, research and service, as prescribed by our newly adopted PP03 policies and procedures. He will lead the research administration in the College of Engineering and will direct the engineering graduate program.

COLLEGE NEWS OU Online Courses Bring Unprecedented Enrollment Offerings include courses in computer programming, computational thinking

By Lori Johnson University students majoring in engineering, science and mathematics typically are the ones who enroll in college-level computer courses, like computational thinking and computer programming. Now, through the University of Oklahoma's Janux online courses, anyone with an interest in computer science can learn more about the subject from college professors. With almost 2,000 students enrolled in these two classes alone, it is apparent the first-time courses are opening an academic portal for nontraditional students.

Students have the option of enrolling in traditional for-credit or not-for-credit courses through the university’s online learning platform, Janux. The OU College of Engineering’s Introduction to Computer Programming is offered as both a for-credit and not-for-credit course. The Power and Elegance of Computational Thinking is a not-for-credit course created specifically for Janux. All of the not-for-credit courses are available to anyone with online access, and include video instruction and written materials. The popularity of taking these challenging classes for the sake of learning is evident as enrollment numbers are nearly 10 times that of traditional on-site courses. Introduction to Computer Programming has more than 1,200 students enrolled and The Power and Elegance of Computational Thinking has more than 600 students.

“It is exciting to see so many people interested in computer science,” said Deborah Trytten, OU associate professor of computer science and instructor for the Janux Introduction to Computer Science course.

Trytten said the reasons for enrolling in the Janux courses are as diverse as the student demographics. They include adults who are considering a career change, homeschooled students, professionals wanting to keep their skills current, students considering majoring in computer science, and students who want to get a head start on computer science majors.

“As an open course, Janux allows students to experiment with intellectual achievement in a new framework,” Trytten explained.

“Without the cost commitment and grading pressure of a traditional degree-seeking program, students are free to learn merely for the sake of learning.”

Anthony Vogt, an OU senior majoring in Latin, is enrolled in the Janux Introduction to Computer Programming course. Vogt was attracted to the course because it allowed him to explore his interest in computer programming without the cost or structured time commitments of typical college-level courses.

“After just a few sessions, I’ve already learned more about programming and other things related to computing than I

have in years,” Vogt said. “I can take my class while working overnight shifts, which makes the courses highly useful for the working student.”

The all-time access to the course, combined with continuous online community support facilitated by the platform, makes it easier for students to learn complex subjects. Janux goes beyond other online platforms by allowing students to share notes, form groups, live chat and interact with other students and professors throughout the entirety of the course.

“Programming can be frustrating, particularly at first,” said Trytten.

“Being able to get help and support around the clock minimizes the challenges of learning to program.”

Amy McGovern, OU associate professor of computer science and instructor for the Power and Elegance of Computational Thinking, sees the far-reaching implications of web-based courses like Janux.

“Higher education is undergoing a revolution,” said McGovern.

“Through the Janux platform, students of all levels and backgrounds have the opportunity to gain more personal, distinct knowledge, whether it is for a college degree, or for the sake of learning. By recognizing the diversity of today’s students and meeting their individual learning needs, OU’s College of Engineering is helping redefine higher education."

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COLLEGE NEWS College of Engineering Sponsors Solar Challenge Pit Stop The University of Oklahoma College of Engineering hosted the American Solar Challenge stop-over July 22 and 23 at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The ASC competition is an eight-day, 1,700-mile road course crossing seven states from Austin, Texas, to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ten qualifying teams, both national and international, competed with the following finish in hours, minutes and seconds elapsed: 1st: University of Michigan – 41:27:29 (hh:mm:ss elapsed) 2nd: University of Minnesota – 45:19:09 3rd: Iowa State University – 50:18:46 The Sooner Solar Car team, while not a participant in this year’s competition, was on site with their previous solar car, looking to learn from the participating teams as they work to build a new vehicle.

A dinner on July 22 was hosted by the OU College of Engineering for more than 200 people in attendance.The event consisted of competing teams, event staff and observers.

The first-place team for this leg of the race departed at 9 a.m., followed at one-minute intervals by the remaining vehicles.

View Fox 25 OKC coverage: http://bit.ly/10tm771.

The ASC is a unique competition, which promotes educational excellence and celebrates engineering creativity while fueled by the spirit of friendly competition and teamwork. Each team designs and builds a solar powered vehicle within a set of rules, which then must pass a series of inspections and successfully complete a track qualifier to prove the road worthiness of the vehicle. The ASC route is broken into a series of stages with mandatory stops along the way to interact with the public and media as well as check-in with event staff for timing purposes and updates. To finish the ASC, teams face hilly terrain, normal traffic conditions and unpredictable weather, all while carefully managing their power.

Winning the competition requires a combination of a reliable car, efficient driving and an effective strategy. The winner of the ASC is determined by the total elapsed time to complete the race route. Learn more at www.americansolarchallenge.org. View Fox 25 OKC coverage: http://bit.ly/10tm771.

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COLLEGE NEWS Wolfinbarger Honored as Outstanding Mentor

E-Week Sponsored by Engineers’ Club in celebration of National Engineers Week Feb. 16-22, 2014

From left: Mike and Kim Wolfinbarger with State Sen. Rob Standridge of District 15, Norman.

Kim Wolfinbarger was one of 52 outstanding Oklahoma mentors who were honored Jan. 15 during the second annual Oklahoma Mentor Day at the State Capitol. Wolfinbarger serves as recruitment coordinator for the OU School of Industrial and Systems Engineering and is the founder of the Industrial Engineering Leadership Program, which provides juniors and seniors with opportunities for professional and leadership development. Members attend workshops and seminars led by noted business leaders, visit companies to learn about the modern business environment, and attend lunches and networking events with practicing engineers. The leadership program also matches students with professional mentors who meet students at least once a month to discuss life goals, strategies, decision-making, and other professional issues.

“All of the students in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering know Kim and see her as a great resource for any kind of advice that they might need,” said OU student Cole Jackson. “She plays an integral role in creating an environment of success and community in the department, and she has played an integral role in creating a positive college experience for me as a student.”

The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence first honored Wolfinbarger in 1992 as an Academic All-State Scholar.

Oklahoma Mentor Day, an initiative of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence and its David and Molly Boren Mentoring Initiative, recognizes outstanding mentors from all types of youth mentoring organizations around the state. Mentor Day is held in conjunction with National Mentoring Month in January.

Each February, engineering students in the College of Engineering and the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy, in conjunction with National Engineers Week, celebrate their rich history with a week of special events that include a Road Rallye scavenger hunt, games tournament, quiz bowl, talent show and e-Olympics. The engineering campus celebrates its Irish connection and turns green, as is evident by the display of shamrocks, shillelaghs and leprechauns. The tradition is based on the Irish legend of St. Patrick O’Reilly, known for his engineering prowess and credited with removing all snakes from Ireland. The E-Week Banquet is the final and culminating event, with awards recognitions and the crowning of the king and queen.

2014-2015 ENGINEERING ROYALTY Engineering Queen – Emily Canaday, Chemical Engineering junior Engineering King – Joe Saucedo, Mechanical Engineering senior BRANDON H. GRIFFITH AWARD, OUTSTANDING FACULTY MEMBER – IN THE CLASSROOM Chad Davis, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering CHERRY GRIFFITH AWARD, OUTSTANDING STAFF MEMBER Lisa Morales, Diversity and Inclusion Program KNIGHT OF ST. PAT AWARD, OUTSTANDING SENIOR Tanner Blair, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering JOHN E. FAGAN AWARD A new award was established this year in honor of recent retiree, John Fagan, from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Fagan and his wife, Cathy, were honored with the award at this year’s banquet. This award honors a faculty member who is dedicated to serving students outside of the classroom with experiential learning projects, such as competition teams, student organizations, etc.

CANNED FOOD DRIVE RESULTS: Students, staff and faculty members contributed to the Canned Food Drive competition. A total of 996 canned goods were donated and $419 was raised for Food and Shelter for Friends in Norman.

1st – Industrial and Systems Engineering 2nd – Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering 3rd – Electrical and Computer Engineering Leprechaun graphic: There has been a long-standing rivalry between the College of Engineering and the College of Law. This image celebrates that tradition, which has become friendlier in recent decades.

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COLLEGE NEWS Radar Innovations Laboratory Dedicated OU officials dedicate Radar Innovations Laboratory in public ceremony Oct. 22 on Research Campus.

The Radar Innovations Laboratory is the eighth research facility to be built on the OU Research Campus in less than a decade, contributing to the overall success of the OU research enterprise, which is creating new jobs and growing the state’s economy. The Research Campus was named the No. 1 research campus in the nation in 2013, placing it among such past recipients as the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, Purdue Research Park in Indiana and University City Center in Pennsylvania.

The 35,000-square-foot facility encourages creative thinking and collaboration among faculty, students and external partners with a goal of innovating the next-generation of radar, microwave electronics and related technologies. The lab serves both the research and educational missions of the university, providing a hands-on active learning environment for OU’s engineering and science students.

At least 60 students and 20 faculty from the Advanced Radar Research Center are housed within the lab and have access to an expansive microwave laboratory that features a full suite of state-of-the-art test equipment, a high-bay garage for mobile radar trucks, prototype fabrication facilities, a machine shop, two precision echoless chambers, experimental observation deck, and a unique “Ideas Room” to foster collaboration and innovation.

“The dedication of this new Radar Innovations Laboratory demonstrates the continued growth of our Research Campus, which was named the most outstanding University Research Campus in the U.S. this year,” said OU President David L. Boren. “This facility, along with OU’s outstanding faculty in the radar field, will enable the university to remain in the forefront of this nationally growing and important field of radar research.”

The OU ISE Leadership Program members visited GE Oil & Gas in Oklahoma City on Sept. 26.

The Industrial and Systems Engineering Leadership Program provides junior and senior ISE students with opportunities for professional and leadership development. Members attend

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workshops and seminars led by noted business leaders, visit companies to learn about the modern business environment and attend lunches and networking events with practicing engineers.

COLLEGE NEWS

Weather App Puts Kids in the Pilot Seat OU’s College of Engineering Students Create App Focused on Meteorology

By Becky Cavnar Kids growing up in tornado alley are used to bright, splotchy radar patterns moving across a television screen, and most know the difference between a tornado watch and warning. But do they understand how to read and predict the weather based on radar images and forecasts? Students at the OU College of Engineering wanted to remove the mystery around weather forecasting by speaking to kids in a language they could better understand – gaming.

Collaborating with the School of Meteorology, OU students created an app that teaches kids about weather patterns by putting them in the pilot seat to navigate a plane during weather events. The game encourages kids to see meteorology as a problem-solving tool rather than just a segment of the evening news.

With funding from the National Science Foundation and collaboration with the School of Meteorology, an educational app for kids focused on meteorology was created. Shown here: Amy McGovern (center), OU associate professor of computer science, and engineering students Andrea Balfour, Marissa Beene and David Harrison.

With funding from a more than $600,000 National Science Foundation grant, Amy McGovern, OU associate professor of computer science and adjunct associate professor of meteorology, and engineering students Andrea Balfour, David Harrison and Marissa Beene created Storm Evader, an iPad app aimed at elementary and middle school students. The app challenges players to route airplanes from one U.S. airport to another while avoiding pitfalls like difficult weather patterns and long routes that waste fuel.

The app features two modes of game play – free play and career play. In free play mode, players fly their planes during actual recorded severe weather events, including the widest tornado documented in history in El Reno, Oklahoma. In career mode, players are encouraged to delve deeper by researching weather forecasts before deciding the safest route for their planes. In both modes, players can give control to the computer to help find the best route to the correct airport.

“We want to teach kids about weather in a fun and interactive way,” said Harrison, a sophomore majoring in meteorology with a minor in computer science. “In Storm Evader, kids see how weather forecasting and radar works in real-life and can actually solve problems.”

At the National Weather Festival held last November in Norman, the team presented the app to a group of more than 500 children, letting them play the game and provide feedback. The results confirmed their hypothesis that the app would appeal to a younger demographic, but

in less formal testing, the team was surprised to learn that older ages benefit, too.

“The app’s advanced forecasting features remind adults how weather affects everyday situations,” said Balfour, a sophomore majoring in computer science and meteorology. “Knowing how to read and understand weather forecasts can be helpful and even necessary.”

Encouraged by Storm Evader’s success, the team is already creating another weather-related app. It focuses on teaching kids how tornados evolve and how to be prepared in severe weather situations.

McGovern is pleased with her team’s results, especially since they are still early in their academics.

“When they were creating Storm Evader, these students hadn’t even taken advanced computer science courses,” McGovern said. “Their work beat all my expectations, and they have a done a great job proving that technology can be used to make sense of everyday situations.”

Storm Evader is available for iPad and is free in the App Store on iTunes.

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COLLEGE NEWS Water Symposium Links Oklahoma Drought Burdens to World Water Challenges

By Becky Cavnar From Oklahoma to Ethiopia and California to India, access to clean water is becoming a challenge that cities, towns and villages all over the world face. As the problem becomes more urgent, governments and city administrators are turning to water and sanitation experts to help find solutions.

“Your challenges are our challenges,” said Jim Chamberlain, co-director of the University of Oklahoma Water Technologies for Emerging Regions Center. Addressing a crowd of leading water experts at the 2014 WaTer Symposium, Chamberlain demonstrated how water challenges are now being addressed in the Sooner State.

Chamberlain compared the city of Batu, Ethiopia, Joe Foote – dean of the OU Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication served as panel which is forced to pipe clean water from nearly moderator at the OU WaTER Center Symposium. Panelists included Emmanouil Anagnostou, professor 23 miles away, with central Oklahomans who also of the University of Connecticut; Braimah Apambire, director, Center for International Water and rely on lengthy piping systems to access usable Sustainability, Desert Research Institute; Rafael Callejas, executive director, Millennium Water Alliance; water. Though Oklahoma has more technology Jenna Davis, professor and senior fellow, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University; Pawan Labhasetwar, head of Water Technology and Management Division, National Environmental and government resources to help mediate water Engineering Research Institute, in India; and Jan Willem Rosenboom, senior program officer in Water, scarcity, the state’s water challenges are similar Sanitation and Hygiene Strategy, Gates Foundation. to developing cities and villages. It’s projected that by the year 2060, central Oklahoma’s water demand will more than double. Yet freshwater supply will remain OU hosts the biennial Oklahoma Water Symposium to help to unchanged, if not decrease, due to climate change and abnormal address this challenge. The event gathers some of the world’s variations in rainfall. Such a scenario will create a difficult problem leading experts in water sustainability and sanitation to discuss of increasing demand on a limited supply.“ their latest research and experiences in bringing water and sanitation to remote areas of the world.

Some rural ranch families in Oklahoma still don’t have access to potable water,” Chamberlain said. “They must retrieve water At this year’s event, environmental engineer Peter Lochery was from a local source, carry it to their home by hand and boil it to announced as the 2015 OU International Water Prize recipient. make it useable – a scene that I thought I could only see in the Selected by a panel of six water experts from around the world, developing world.”

Lochery was chosen for his three decades of advocating for and supporting rural communities in the developing world that lack Chamberlain suggested looking at water reuse and household access to clean water, safe sanitation and basic hygiene. The rainwater catchment, which has been practiced for centuries in prize is one of the first and largest awards solely dedicated to the Cambodia, as viable alternatives to conserving water. Water reuse field of water supply and sanitation in remote areas of emerging blends treated wastewater back into the supply system, while regions, and it honors an individual that has made significant indirect water reuse employs an environmental buffer contributions in these areas.

– a lake or underground aquifer – to store water until needed.

These conservation practices are being implemented successfully Lochery will formally receive the prize and give the plenary lecture as far away as Singapore and Australia and as close as Wichita at the OU International WaTER Conference, scheduled for Sept. 21Falls, Texas.“ 23, 2015. The conference includes local and international speakers, breakout sessions and poster and paper sessions in the fields of The United States is one of the most powerful and prosperous social entrepreneurship, behavior change, water technologies, countries in the world, but we have much to learn from other climate change and hydro-philanthropy in the developing world. countries and cultures about how they approach water shortages,” For more information about Lochery and the conference, visit Chamberlain said. “We need to work together to address our www.water.ou.edu. challenges and determine possible alternatives to help prevent any severe shortages for our future.”

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COLLEGE NEWS New College of Engineering Leadership Speaker Series Launched

Doug Kelly, Vice President of Refining for KBR Technology, met with students to provide insight as the inaugural Executive-in-Residence for the College of Engineering’s Leadership Speaker Series.

On Oct. 17, the College of Engineering launched a new Leadership Speaker Series, headed by Kim Wolfinbarger, coordinator of recruitment and student leadership development for the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. Throughout the year, OU alumni and other outstanding leaders will share their insights with the engineering community. Featured events include technical presentations and public keynote addresses.

Engineering students had several opportunities to gain insight from the inaugural Executive-in-Residence, Doug Kelly of KBR Technology. Kelly joined KBR in 2010 and is currently responsible for KBR’s global refining technology business that includes licensing, basic engineering and design, and proprietary equipment. His experience ranges from large corporations to small start-ups, both in the U.S. and around the world.

Kelly holds a chemical engineering degree from OU and is a Licensed Professional Engineer registered in Texas. He serves on the Board of Directors for the American Fuel & Petrochemical Association and is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Kelly also gives back to the community

by serving on the Board of Directors of Houston’s Youth Development Center.

The next Executive-in-Residence scheduled this semester is John Stupka, president of Strategic and Tactical Support Inc., a consulting company serving the wireless telecommunication industry. Stupka launched his telecom career in 1974 with Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. He advanced through a series of operational assignments and entered the wireless arena in 1984 with his appointment as Vice President-Network for the Southwest Region of AMPS, the AT&T organization that preceded Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems. He advanced to serve as its president and CEO. Under Stupka’s leadership, Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems gained wide recognition as an industry–leading company.

Stupka earned his undergraduate degree in industrial engineering from OU and an MBA from Millsaps College. He is a senior active member of the OU College of Engineering Board of Visitors.

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FACULTY Verma Receives Prestigious Award From Indian Government Pramode Verma, Ph.D., director of the Telecommunications Engineering Program at the University of Oklahoma – Tulsa School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, recently returned from New Delhi, where he received one of the highest awards bestowed upon non-resident Indians by the government of India. Verma was honored with the 2014 Hind Rattan award, (translated to English as “jewel of India”), given annually by the NRI (non-resident Indians) Welfare Society, under the umbrella of the government of India. The award is given to people of Indian origin in recognition of their research, professional accomplishments and positive contributions to the scientific community and a growing world economy.

James Sluss Jr., Ph.D., Director and Morris R. Pitman Professor, University of Oklahoma School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, said, “The fact that Dr. Verma has been presented with this prestigious award is a clear indication of the high regard in which he is held by the engineering profession and the notable contributions he has made over his exemplary career.”

Dr. Verma also holds the Williams Chair in Telecommunications Networking. Prior to joining the University of Oklahoma in 1999, he held a variety of professional and leadership positions in the telecommunications industry at AT&T Bell Laboratories and Lucent Technologies. He is the author/co-author of more than 100 journal articles and conference papers, and several books in telecommunications engineering. He is also the co-inventor of seven patents. He has been a keynote speaker at several international conferences and has lectured in several countries.

In his acceptance speech, Dr. Verma called the evening “an exciting moment,” and said he was thrilled to be in the company of other honorees.

“As I reflected on this award, I thought of a quote from Gandhi that has resonated with me: ‘Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.’ When I look back at my own accomplishments – it is this tenet of learning, lifelong learning that has been the key to my success. Even today, after being in a diverse and rewarding career that has spanned over 40 years, I continue to learn and apply new ideas to what I do every single day. I credit this desire for lifelong learning to my upbringing in India. From my family who supported my education to my grade school teachers who kept me interested and to the brilliant educators at the Indian Institute of Science that I had the fortune of learning from and who inspired and stretched me to be my best. Suffice it to say, it is this India, this culture and the vibrancy

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and talent of this nation that helped me get my start and gave me the tools I needed to be successful.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not recognize my wife, Gita, who has been alongside me in this career journey, who has unconditionally supported me, and is never short of great advice. I truly would not be here without her and she is as deserving as I of this recognition. Gita, I share this award and recognition with you.”

Harwell Named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors Jeffrey Harwell has been named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, a high professional distinction awarded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.

Harwell, who holds the Asahi Glass Chair and is a former associate dean of the OU College of Engineering, has 30 patents in 12 countries and has launched and collaborated with start-up companies in the areas of enhanced oil recovery, ground water remediation and carbon nanotubes. These companies, based wholly or partially on his inventions, employ more than 30 people in Oklahoma. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies around the world to invent and improve surfactants, nanoparticles and colloids for better product performance, greater cost efficiency and reduced environmental impact in areas such as nanotechnology, consumer products, environmental remediation and polymer composites.

Harwell’s creative pursuit of inventive concepts, determination to reduce them to novel practices and his ability to apply them in the world have yielded tangible impact on society through the creation of jobs, a cleaner environment and a generation of students prepared to emulate his leadership.

Harwell was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors as a Fellow by Deputy U.S. Commissioner for Patents Andy Faile, from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, during the Third Annual Conference of the National Academy of Inventors in March in Alexandria, Virginia at the headquarters of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

He was presented with a special trophy and a rosette pin. Fellows were also honored in a full-page advertisement in The Chronicle of Higher Education and in an issue of Technology and Innovation— Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors.

Lakshmivarahan Inducted into Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame Sivaramakrishnan Lakshmivarahan was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame Oct. 14.

Lakshmivarahan (Varahan) joined OU in 1978, investing himself in the scholarship and teaching of students studying computer science. His

FACULTY

Dr. Lakshmivarahan at the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Oct. 14 with his wife, Shantha (left), OU alumna and chief financial officer for the Oklahoma State Department of Veterans Affairs, and daughter Subha Varahan (right), OU alumna and medical doctor at the Oklahoma Heart Hospital.

four major areas of contribution have focused on learning algorithms, parallel and distributed processing, dynamic data assimilation and computational sciences, and finance. He has directed more than 40 master's and 30 doctoral degrees, and has been ranked an outstanding teacher each year for 21 years.

Varahan was recognized as the Halliburton Distinguished Lecturer in 1984-’86; the Associates Distinguished Lecturer in 1986-’87, College of Engineering Distinguished Lecturer in 1987-’92 and the Regents’ Award for Superior Teaching in 1991. He received the OU College of Engineering Alumni Teaching Award for five consecutive semesters.

He received the Regents’ Award for Superior Research and was named a George Lynn Cross Research Professor in 1982. He has authored/ coauthored six books, published 72 archival journal papers and has presented at 114 national and international conferences.

conference of the IEEE Communications Society) in Atlanta. The first issue will include several high-profile researchers, including Mario Gerla from UCLA, and was published in October. There are nine editors from the United States and Europe.

Yang Hong One of Four Selected to NASA Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Science Team Yang Hong, professor in the OU School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, director of the Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing Lab, and assistant director of the WaTER Center, has been named a member of the NASA Precipitation Measurement Mission Science Team.

Global Precipitation Measurement is an international network of satellites that provide the next-generation global observations of rain and snow. The GPM concept centers on the deployment of a “Core” satellite carrying an advanced radar/radiometer system to measure precipitation from space and serve as a reference standard to unify precipitation measurements from a constellation of research and operational satellites. Through improved measurements of precipitation globally, the GPM mission will help to advance our understanding of Earth’s water and energy cycle, improve forecasting of extreme events that cause natural hazards and disasters, and extend current capabilities in using accurate and timely information of precipitation to directly benefit society. The GPM Core was launched in February.

J.R. Cruz Awarded 2014 Armstrong Medal by the Radio Club of America

During the course of his career, he has secured research grants totaling several million dollars, has been the keynote speaker at five international conferences, given 78 colloquium talks and offered more than 30 short courses at major centers of higher learning in Canada, China, England, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan and the United States. He was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) in 1993 and a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in 1995. His recent 2006 book received the 2007 Outstanding Scientific Paper award by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Atiquzzaman Appointed Founding Editor-in-Chief of Vehicular Communications Mohammad Atiquzzaman, Edith Kinney Gaylord Presidential Professor in the School of Computer Science, was appointed as the founding editor-in-chief of Vehicular Communications, (www. journals.elsevier.com/vehicularcommunications), a new journal from Elsevier. The aim of the journal is to publish high-quality peer–reviewed papers in the area of vehicular communications, including vehicle–to–vehicle and vehicle–to– infrastructure topics.

The Radio Club of America has awarded its highest distinction, the 2014 Armstrong Medal, to J. R. Cruz, director of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The award, presented last November at the RCA Awards Banquet in New York City, honors Cruz’s contributions to the technical field of communications.

Cruz, who has invested his talent in the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering for 30 years, was named director of ECE this summer. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Radio Club of America.

Previous medalists include professor Donald Cox, Stanford University, in 2010 and Walter Cronkite in 2007.

The Armstrong Medal This first major award was established in 1935 with a special scroll, which was presented to Major Edwin H. Armstrong. The medal is bestowed by the board of directors upon any person within its membership who shall have made in the opinion of the board of directors and within the spirit of the club, an important contribution to the Radio Art and Science.

The journal was officially launched in December at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Globecom (the flagship

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FACULTY

A Tribute to the Faculty From The University of Oklahoma April 10, 2014

Fifth from left: Qi Cheng, Friederike Jentoft, President David L. Boren and in tan sports coat, Robert Nairn.

President's Distinguished Faculty Mentoring Program Outstanding Mentor Award School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering Brian Grady

Presidential Professorships School of Computer Science Qi Cheng, Williams Company Foundation Presidential Professorship

Patent Awards

School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering Friederike Jentoft, Anadarko Presidential Professorship

School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering Roger Harrison Daniel E. Resasco

School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science Robert Nairn, Sam K. Vierson Family Presidential Professorship

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Patrick J. McCann James J. Sluss

Celebrating 20 Years of Service School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering Brian Grady

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Telecommunications Pramode K. Verma

School of Industrial and Systems Engineering Floyd Grant

Inventor Awards

School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science Gerald Miller Kanthasamy Muraleetharan

School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering Jeffrey H. Harwell

Regents' Award for Superior Research and Creative Activity School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science Yang Hong

David Ross Boyd Professorship School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science Randall L. Kolar

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School of Computer Science Rex Page Krishnaiyan Thulasiraman School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Ramkumar Parthasarathy

STUDENTS

Astronauts Find Next Technological Pioneer at OU The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Awards $10,000 to OU Student

By Megan Fountain Forty-five years after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation is working hard to make sure U.S. students are making the next giant leap for mankind.

The astronauts found one of the next great technological pioneers, Daniel Grimmer, at the University of Oklahoma’s College of Engineering. Although Grimmer, a senior studying physics engineering, doesn’t plan on becoming an astronaut, he’s honored to have received the prestigious scholarship.

“I was excited when I got the news that I received the scholarship,” Grimmer said.

“It’s a tremendous honor knowing that the same astronauts who inspired countless nights of looking through telescopes with my dad reviewed my application and believe in what I’m doing.”

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation was created 30 years ago by the six surviving Mercury 7 astronauts to ensure that the United States maintained its leadership in technology by awarding 28 merit-based scholarships a year to the best and brightest college students excelling in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Today, more than 100 astronauts from Mercury, Gemini, Skylab and Space Shuttle missions have joined the initiative.

“Our Astronaut Scholars are some of the best STEM students in the country,” said Apollo 16 Moonwalker and ASF board member Charlie Duke. “We look forward to watching their progress.”

Grimmer is working closely with OU College of Engineering professor Barbara Capogrosso-Sansone to develop an entirely new form of matter known as the supersolid.

Though theoretical, a supersolid is a form of matter that exhibits both liquid and solid properties. Supersolids take a rigid form like a solid, but like a liquid, some of its particles are able to flow freely within the rigid form.

said. “Though this state is still theoretical, I don’t think the scientific community is far from producing it.”

While the lunar landing was truly a pivotal moment in U.S. history and an extraordinary technological leap, Buzz Aldrin knew this was just another testimonial to the capabilities of man to turn dreams into reality.

“I feel we need to remind the world about the Apollo missions and that we can still do impossible things,” Aldrin said in a recent interview with The Washington Post.

Grimmer said he plans on studying how to make the impossible possible for years to come.

“I read the fine print in the application,” Grimmer said, chuckling. “I don’t have to go to space. I wouldn’t mind, but it’s not a requirement.

Instead of leaving Earth’s gravitational pull, I plan on staying on the planet, attending graduate school and developing a better theory to explain the force of gravity in quantum physics.”

“We’re using the supercomputer at the National Weather Service to help us design the parameters to create a supersolid,” Grimmer

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STUDENTS

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STUDENTS

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STUDENTS Software Studio Brings Student Ideas to Digital Life In a large brightly-lit room, young people hustle between computers loaded with the latest software programs, a conference table littered with various handheld devices, an interactive whiteboard testing the latest version of their electronic creations and a well-used coffee pot.

But this isn’t a start-up technology company in Silicon Valley, nor is it a technology classroom where the main goal is a high grade. This is the Software Studio at the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering, where students dream up, design and develop computer programs to enhance their college experiences and perhaps, the world.

The brain-child of Sridhar Radhakrishnan, director of the School of Computer Science, the Software Studio is a working environment designed to help students explore high-level computer programming, collaborate with non-computer disciplines and connect to business professionals. Radhakrishnan is quick to point out, however, that this program is not a classroom where students complete tests and earn grades. Rather, students work together in their spare time to explore and create computer programs that interest them beyond the classroom.

“The Software Studio gives students from all areas of study the access and support to bring their big ideas to digital life,” Radhakrishnan said.

“This is not organized by a professor, but rather by groups of students who have the desire to learn and apply computer science in almost any area of their lives.”

In the program’s first year, teams developed apps for mobile devices, a web application and even an interactive video game. However, the students don’t need computer programming expertise to significantly contribute. Backgrounds in the inaugural groups included finance, chemical engineering, biology, graphic design and even music—and their goals for participating were just as diverse. Carli Lewis, visual communication major, and James Hulsey, violin performance major, wanted to explore how computer programming could complement their non-computer skills. Zack Burgess, computer science major and co-developer of the Boomer Beat, developed an app that organizes and displays events happening at OU to help fellow Sooners better navigate college life.

Andrew Tierney, Drew Knox, Ryan Phillips, Robert Byrd and Nick Ortiz celebrate at the Oklahoma Governor’s Cup business competition. The team competed with their web application SIREN and took home third place and $6,000.

But a few students wanted to use their project to create career paths and monetize their ideas. Ryan Phillips, Nick Ortiz, Drew Knox, Andrew Tierney, Robert Byrd, Ali Hajimirza, Nikhil Mutalik, Lingzhou Lu and Carl Szmutko created the web application SIREN to improve big rig driving safety. The website overlays real-time trucking data with current weather forecasts and sends the information to each driver’s in-truck GPS unit to alert them of any hazardous road conditions on their route ahead. Truckers and dispatchers can then make immediate decisions about continuing to travel the route or detouring to avoid risks.

“Our team wasn’t particularly interested in trucking or road safety before we joined the Software Studio,” said Szmutko, a chemical engineering major. “But we knew we wanted to come up with a unique idea to solve a big challenge.” Szmutko said the team’s research revealed that a large number of trucking accidents are due to dangerous weather, so they collaborated with the Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth and the National Weather Center to come up with SIREN. After traveling across the country, competing in national business and technology competitions, receiving thousands of dollars in awards and funding and consulting with large computer technology companies, SIREN is ready to launch. The team is working with several Oklahoma trucking companies to beta test SIREN in 1,700 trucks. The testing will provide valuable feedback, paving the way for launching the web application to a larger audience.

“Building SIREN was just the first step,” said Phillips, who recently graduated with a computer science degree. “The opportunities that have come from the Software Studio are more than we ever expected.

We have incredible visionaries on our team and mentors who opened our eyes to options we never thought about before.”

With just a quick phone call or coffee shop meeting, Software Studio mentors make themselves available to students for advice, direction and encouragement. Spanning the technology, business development, entrepreneurial and academic industries, mentors are eager to share their experience and knowledge.

President David L. Boren and Dean Tom Landers listen to the Software Studio student presentations.

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STUDENTS Chris Utz, OU alumnus, Software Studio mentor and head of development for NextThought, said people with different ideas and perspectives collaborate on projects everyday in the workplace. “The Software Studio helps students hone these work skills before they enter the workforce – beneficial for both students and employers.” Utz added the work experience gained in the lab will launch the students ahead of their competition for future jobs.

While some of the inaugural participants have used their experience in the Software Studio to enhance their resumes, or simply increase their knowledge of computer programming, others are using their technological creations to direct future career aspirations. Phillips, now earning his master’s degree in computer science at OU, already has an offer to work at a large computer technology company after graduation but is hesitant to leave SIREN on the shelf.

“The Software Studio is unique in that our students have free and easy access to an incredible network of OU alumni, Board of Advisors members and successful business professionals,” Radhakrishnan said.

“Our mentors generously donate their knowledge and experience so students can learn, grow and become the technological innovators of the future.”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Phillips said. “Do I accept the position with all its stability and guaranteed income, or take a risk on SIREN and see where it leads? I think the potential of SIREN could be bigger than we all ever imagined.”

OU-Tulsa Team Takes First Place in ITERA Student Case Study Competition communications system linking five sites that store dangerous materials.

“ITERA’s annual conference is highlighted by a challenging network design case study open to teams of graduate and undergraduate students,” said ITERA Board Chairman Michael Bowman, associate professor of Telecommunications System Management at Murray State University. “In addition to the technical aspects of a network, students must include critical business and project management issues such as return on investment, business plan and life cycle costs.

We congratulate the University of Oklahoma – Tulsa’s winning team.”

A team of OU-Tulsa telecommunications engineering students took top honors in the ITERA (Information and Telecommunications Education and Research Association) Student Business Case Study Competition, held at ITERA’s 12th Annual Conference on Telecommunications and Information Technology, April 4-6, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Students Rasha El Hajj, Kyrus Kuplicki, Kashish Jaiswal and Rupesh Nomula were awarded first prize for their presentation, “Critical Infrastructure Secure Network.” They developed their project in response to a solicitation by the U.S. government and the governments of Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee for the design, implementation and operation of a secure and sustainable

Student team leader Rasha El Hajj said it was an honor to represent OU-Tulsa in the ITERA case study competition. “We learned a great deal and worked hard, so it is gratifying that our work was acknowledged. We are grateful to our faculty sponsor and to everyone else who supported us.”

Pramode Verma, Ph.D., Professor and Director of the Telecommunications Engineering Program at the OU College of Engineering, served as faculty sponsor.

James J. Sluss Jr., Ph.D., Senior Associate Dean of the College of Engineering said the college is proud of OU-Tulsa’s student team.

“The first-place win is strong evidence of their intellectual capability, excellent academic preparation, competitive spirit and strong work ethic.”

The University of Oklahoma Schusterman Center is home to all OU programs in Tulsa. Located on a 60-acre campus at 41st and Yale, it strengthens OU’s presence in northeast Oklahoma and expands educational, research and patient care programs in the Tulsa area. OU-Tulsa offers six bachelor’s degree completion programs; 14 master’s degree programs, including the physician assistant program, nurse practitioner program, doctoral programs in medicine, physical therapy, education, early childhood education, engineering, pharmacy and nursing, as well as nine residency programs in medicine. It is also home to the OU School of Community Medicine, created with the explicit purpose of improving the health of all Oklahoma communities. For more information about OU-Tulsa, call (918) 660-3318 or visit tulsa.ou.edu.

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ALUMNI & FRIENDS

Dick Wainerdi (’52 PE) with Katrin Passlack, Ph.D. Bioengineering student at the Felgar Gala

Bob Purgason (’78 ChemE), past chair of the Board of Visitors, with David Vreeland, 2013 Outstanding CoE Senior at the Felgar Gala

Associate Dean John Antonio with Senior Associate Dean Jim Sluss and his wife, Julie, at the REPF Open House

Jill Hughes, and Michael Beier (’08 ISE, MBA) in Burbank, California, where he works at Walt Disney Imagineering

Truman Bell (HQ Community Relations Manager at ExxonMobil) and Jill Hughes at the Engineering alumni dinner in Dallas before OU/Texas

DeLanna Mead (’05 ME) with Dawn Sullivan (’90 CE) at the Diversity and Inclusion reception in Oklahoma City.

Dean Landers (center) and team at Tulsa Flight Night, an event to support STEM education

Marilyn Culp (’90 ChemE), Jarrod Calhoun (’04 ME), Jennifer Gavia (’02 CS), Yadira Upshaw (’91 ME) at the Tulsa Diversity and Inclusion reception

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Dean Tom Landers visits with Monica Mitchell, (’91 ISE; ’94 MBA) at the OU AT&T Alumni lunch in Dallas

ALUMNI & FRIENDS

Lisa Morris (’91 EE) and nephews Gabriel and Grant Quinn enjoy the REPF Open House Jill Hughes visits with E.F. "Bud" ('61 BBA) and Adrienne McMullin Jr. in Naples, Florida

Yadira Upshaw (’91 ME), Misha Acosta (’14 IE), Christella Chavez (’16 Ph.D. ENGR candidate), Susana Hernandez (’11 IE) and Marilyn Culp (’90 ChemE) at the Tulsa Diversity and Inclusion reception

Jill Hughes with Darrell Bull and his son Mitchell, John Mikos, Jeff Roberts ('93 ME), David Iverson and Jon Warzel (’86 ChemE)

Emmanuel Livingston, III (’12 PE) with Tafara Cameron in Tulsa

Bill Weppner (’64 EE) with Dean Tom Landers

Jill Hughes with Kinnan Goleman (’61 IE) and his granddaughter Leah

OKC CoE Diversity and Inclusion program reception

Dolese CEO Mark Helm, and wife, Roxanne, with concrete canoe team members Daniel Velazquez, Jacob Choate and Grant Rilling

CoE Board of Visitors member Keith Miller with his wife, Linda

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GIVING UPDATE Your Development Team Is Here to Help Jill Hughes Executive Director of Development (405) 325-5217 jillq@ou.edu

Tricia Tramel Director of Annual Giving (405) 325-4211 tramel@ou.edu

Susy Calonkey Development Officer (405) 325-6971 scalonkey@ou.edu

Stephanie Buettner Development Officer (405) 325-1957 sbuettner@ou.edu

Live On, University!

Just a few weeks ago, President Boren announced the "Live On, University" Campaign in honor of the 125th anniversary of OU. What a wonderful time to celebrate your support of engineering.

Because of you, we continue to provide our students with the best engineering education possible. Students enjoy hands-on learning, undergraduate and graduate research, study abroad opportunities and leadership training to ensure they are the best-equipped graduates in the country. Our outstanding student quality drew more than 160 companies to the 2014 Engineering Career Fair!

As we look forward to the next 125 years of Sooner engineering excellence, I hope you will consider making a gift as part of our Live On, University Campaign. Whether you support our annual fund, become a member of the J.H. Felgar Society or include OU engineering in your estate, any investment you make in the next 15 months will count as participation in our Live On, University Campaign. To learn more, please visit www.ou.edu/liveon, or you can always contact me directly.

Live On, Engineering!

Jill Hughes Executive Director of Development (405) 325-5217 jillq@ou.edu

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GIVING UPDATE There are many areas that will benefit from your participation in the LIVE ON, UNIVERSITY Campaign, including:

L I V E O N , diversity

L I V E O N , excellence COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Establish endowments to support Multicultural Engineering, Women in Engineering and an Engineering Leadership program.

L I V E O N , knowledge COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Seed funding to establish an online Master of Science and Graduate Certificate in Data Science and Analytics.

Graduate Fellowship endowment to ensure we have strategic resources to recruit the best master’s-and Ph.D.-level students.

L I V E O N , research COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Scholarship, Fellowship and Faculty support to establish School of Biomedical Engineering.

To make a gift, visit www.ou.edu/liveon or www.oufoundation.org/OnlineGivingWeb/Giving/OnlineGiving/CoE, or contact one of our development team members.

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IN MEMORIAM Ed Coon , 90, died Jan. 21, 2014. Coon served in the Army Air Corps for three years as a navigator on a B-29, serving in the Pacific in WWII, making 24 bombing missions and earning two Distinguished Flying Cross Medals and five Air Medals. He served two years in Korea as a forward observer, flying 42 missions.

Coon graduated from Classen High School and The University of Oklahoma College of Engineering. In 1984, he established his own engineering company with son, Bryan, and daughter, Patti.

He is survived by wife of 68 years, Billie, their three children, seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Harold Omar Ebeling, 92, died Aug. 26, 2013.

Ebeling attended New Mexico Military School and graduated from Classen High School in 1939.

He joined the Air Force to serve during World War II, which he was honorably discharged as a Second Lieutenant Navigator in 1945. He gained his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering and in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 1948.

Ebeling was involved in Mason's Blue Lodge, OU’s College of Engineering, Phi-Kappa-Psi, Pi Tau Sigma, the Petroleum Club and First United Methodist Church. He was President of Latoka Engineering in Tulsa and Drumright. His success was mirrored by the many patented gas dehydration equipment he invented.

Ebeling is survived by his wife of 68 years, Billie Anne Bergman. He is also survived by two children and one granddaughter.

Wayne Lowe, 92, died Oct. 23, 2014, in Hutchinson, Kansas.

After graduating from the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1942, he received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 1947. Lowe served in the Army Air Corps in World War II and joined McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1947. He earned a Master of Science degree in 1956 from Washington University in St. Louis.

In 1987, Lowe retired from a 40-year career with McDonnell Douglas Corporation. He began his career as a design engineer on jet fighter aircraft, advanced to program manager of a number of military missile and space programs, and was finally named vice president, deputy general manager of McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co. From 19661969 he also participated in the establishment and management of the McDonnell Douglas Missile Production Facility in Titusville, Florida.

46 OU ENGINEER

Lowe served as a member of the College of Engineering’s Board of Visitors. He traveled widely with U.S. government representatives to NATO countries and allies in Asia, and served as the U.S. representative at a NATO Committee meeting in Brussels. In 2012, he participated in a Kansas Honor Flight trip to Washington, D.C., where he saw his first aerospace assignments at McDonnell Douglas on view in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Lowe’s wife of 32 years, Betty Ann, died in 1982. He is survived by wife Polly Adair, two daughters, one stepdaughter, one son, five grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and three step-great grandchildren.

Burton Stern, 83, passed away at home on Nov. 8, 2013, after a long illness. Stern received a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and continued to support his alma mater throughout his life. He received a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from New York University and an advanced degree in Management Development from Harvard Business School.

Stern's love of airplanes led him to a career in aeronautics. He was Chief Financial Officer of Grumman Data Systems, Chief Operating Officer of Grumman International, Vice President of Fairchild Republic, and Vice President/Chief Operating Officer of CPI Aerostructures. He later worked in Securities and Investment Banking.

Stern is survived by his wife, Sandi Stern, three children and three grandchildren.

Maurice Lee Rasmussen, 78, died peacefully in his sleep Nov. 16, 2013, after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.

He attended Oregon State University, where he graduated in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and in 1959 with a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering. In 1964 he received a Doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University.

In 1967, Rasmussen became a professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the OU College of Engineering. He authored many professional journal papers and articles, and was well known for his research in Waverider design. He received many honors while teaching at the university, including the David Ross Boyd Distinguished Professorship in 1988, and was the first professor to receive the distinguished L.A. Comp Chair in 1994. Rasmussen and his family made Norman their home for many years.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Barbara; his brother; his two sons; and four grandchildren, Heather, Mason, Colleen, and Lauren.

CLASS NOTES Ryan Burge

Eric Mai Class of 2007 - Civil Engineering

Class of 2007 - Industrial Engineering Ryan Burge, managing partner for the Boulevard Consulting Group, LLC, in Washington, D.C., recently published a book, Engineering Solutions to America’s Healthcare Challenges. The book, according to the company’s website, covers the technologies, systems and processes that are emerging in hospitals, clinics, community centers, universities and the White House to repair health care in the United States. Focusing on the importance of individuals being proactive about their own state of health, it presents a systems approach to changing the way health care professionals do business and take care of their patients.

Burge also holds a master of science degree in engineering management from George Washington University as well as a master of business administration degree and a master of arts degree in government from Johns Hopkins University. He is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and is recognized nationally as an innovative consultant focused on financial impact, supply chain management, risk analysis and corporate strategy. dent judges.

Emily Campbell Class of 2003 – Industrial Engineering Emily Campbell was recently elected to the shareholder ranks of the Dunlap Codding law firm. She has been an associate at the firm, an intern during law school and the first undergraduate technical specialist hired by the firm. Campbell has served as the head of the firm’s trademark, copyright, Internet and e-commerce practice group since 2012. She graduated from Oklahoma City University School of Law in May 2007. She currently serves on the OU School of Industrial and Systems Engineering advisory board and was the inaugural chair of Ignite Oklahoma City, where she continues to serve on the board of directors. She also is a member of the Junior League of Oklahoma City, and as such contributed more than 30 hours of volunteer service in the past year. ependent judges.

Eric Mai received CNN's Top10 Inventions award for Automatic, an iPhone app he created and for which he is a founding member. Automatic also made Apple's Top Holiday Gifts list for 2013 and Fast Company has called it a “visionary gadget that makes any driver more fuel efficient."

Eric graduated with his master's degree in civil systems from UC Berkeley in 2010. While at Berkeley, Mai created “BayTripper,” a mobile app that provides real-time public transportation routing information. While at OU, he conducted research on neural networks under the supervision of Jin-Song Pei.

Charles Richard “Dick” Sivalls, B.S. ME 1957 Class of 1957 - Mechanical Engineering

Sivalls Inc. President Dick Sivalls, right, and his daughter, vice president of administration Stephanie Latimer, stand next to one of the separators that the company manufactures in Odessa and sells to Russian oil companies. Sivalls manufactures and sells oil and gas production equipment to companies around the world from their various facilities, including the current location in Odessa, where they have been since 1947.

Sivalls Inc. was featured in the Odessa American, an online newspaper, in a story celebrating 114 years since Dick Sivalls’ grandfather founded the company. The story highlights the impact technology and advanced drilling techniques have made during the course of the last century. Read more: http://bit.ly/1wMIn94.

We want to hear from our alumni! Let us know more about you, your family and your career. We would love to share this information with your fellow alumni in our annual OU Engineer magazine. Email us at engineering@ou.edu to keep us up-to-date on what's happening with you.

Zahid Hossain, Ph.D. CEES 2013 Class of 2013 - Ph.D. in Civil Engineering and Environmental Science Zahid Hossain, assistant professor of civil engineering in the College of Engineering at Arkansas State University, received the “Excellence in Scholarship” award for his research into the use of novel paving materials.

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SUMMER BRIDGE College Students Get a Jump Start on Engineering Major OU summer program helps acclimate diverse students to their future college engineering coursework

Thirty-eight incoming freshmen at the University of Oklahoma this fall, participated in the College of Engineering’s AT&T Summer Bridge Program, gaining academic preparation for the first semester of calculus and college life as an engineer.

Less than 10 percent of U.S. engineers are from critically under-represented minority groups but they represent more than 25 percent of the U.S. population. The OU College of Engineering is encouraging diversity in the engineering field through their selection of thirty-eight incoming freshmen, 28 men and 10 women majoring in an engineering discipline, who took part in the camp.

“These students are setting themselves apart from other students by attending AT&T Summer Bridge and ensuring a successful transition to OU Engineering,” said Lisa Morales, director of the Diversity and Inclusion Program for the College of Engineering.

“The program prepares students academically for the rigor of

The University of Oklahoma AT&T Summer Bridge Program is a four-week-long, residential camp for incoming freshman students who have been accepted to the University of Oklahoma and are planning to major in engineering. This program is geared toward students who are African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, Alaskan Native/Pacific Islander, American Indian or first-generation

48 OU ENGINEER

engineering coursework through course credit, team building exercises and seminars. Additionally, they build meaningful relationships with peers, faculty and staff.”

Bridging the gap between high school and college, this four-week, on-campus program is designed to help prepare African American, Hispanic/Latino, Alaskan Native/Pacific Islander, American Indian or first-generation students for their first year of engineering coursework. The students enrolled in a MATH course for credit, in addition to a refresher course in chemistry and the program gave students the opportunity to work in teams on engineering projects inspired by the off-the-wall contraptions famously designed by Rube Goldberg.

"Through the experiences of developing a Rube Goldberg project, students learn how to work together to accomplish a precise task, and they take great pride in their contraptions," Morales said.

students; however, the program considers all applicants regardless of background. Beginning seven years ago, this annual program is intended to encourage diversity within the College of Engineering, helping students connect with engineering students, faculty and staff, acclimate to the college and prepare academically for engineering and math coursework.

CONNECT WITH US! THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

FALL 2014 49

The University of Oklahoma College of Engineering 202 W. Boyd St. Carson Engineering Center, Room 107 Norman, OK 73019-1021

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