Graduate EDUCATION
AND RESEARCH
Volume 9, Issue 1
Summer 2019 Newsletter
ALUMNI UPDATE: CATCHING UP WITH Miranda Pizzella Miranda Pizzella graduated from Parks College at Saint Louis University Spring 2017 with a Ph.D. in Engineering, specializing in aerospace and mechanical engineering. We caught up with Dr. Pizzella to see how she transitioned to industry after defending her dissertation. What attracted you to Parks College of Engineering, Aviation, & Technology? I was encouraged by Parks faculty to apply for a national women’s Ph.D. fellowship for women in STEM. The fellowship supported almost my entire Ph.D. program, allowing me to conduct research that was extremely interesting. The complex physics, the technical challenges, the computational tools, working with an industry sponsor and collaborating with others—these aspects combined on one project kept me challenged and engaged throughout my graduate studies. Tell us about your research. My research was part of a Boeing sponsored project related to normal shock wave boundary layer interactions (SBLIs) for military aircraft applications. This project had two main branches: experimental and numerical. I was responsible for the numerical investigation of normal SBLIs. I used Boeing proprietary computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code to simulate the physics occurring in the Parks polysonic wind tunnel. The challenges of simulating very complex flow phenomena afforded me the opportunity to learn more about non-commercial computational tools and the need for collaboration. What are you doing now? I graduated in May 2017 and joined Watlow as a Computational Engineer in June 2017. Watlow is the industry leader in the field of thermal sciences and engineering serving numerous industries including semiconductor processing, environmental chambers, energy processes, diesel emissions, and medical. Watlow designs and manufactures full thermal systems consisting of industrial heaters, sensors, controllers and supporting software to our customers providing them with optimal thermal performance, decreased design time and improved efficiency. As a computational engineer at Watlow, I support their data management and data analytics initiatives by performing finite element analyses (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses for all areas of our business. I enable innovative thermal solutions through the use of our FEA and CFD software in support of new product development, exiting product lines and customer applications. I also support systems modeling of our thermal applications. Here I create a mathematical representation of the thermal system and develop control algorithms that can be used to predict and control our thermal systems. My plan is to focus on our systems modeling and advanced control technology. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 3)
table of contents Alumni Feature....................................... 1 & 3 Message from Assoc. Dean................... 2 GAB, Banquet & GSA.......................... 3 Awards..................................................... 4 News........................................................ 5 & 6 Graduates................................................ 7
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Message from the ASSOCIATE DEAN
Riyadh Hindi, Ph.D., P.Eng., F.SEI
Parks’ Graduate Education & Research office is excited to share with you our Summer 2019 newsletter. I hope you enjoy reading our news! Our 2019 graduating class included 44 students—8 Ph.D. and 36 M.S. degrees. Of the over 75 applications we have processed for the Fall 2019 semester, half of them will start their program with us in a few months. Our accelerated B.S.-M.S. engineering program is likewise growing as we received 25 applications this spring, as opposed to only 12 last spring. Eight B.S. graduates will be progressing into the M.S. portion of their accelerated program this fall. Since Fall 2013, we have doubled our total enrollment, which translates into almost 1500 registered hours this past academic year! In an increasingly connected world, we prioritize international collaboration, research, and graduate recruiting. Last fall I attended an international recruiting event, NAJAH, in Abu Dhabi where I met with prospective students and other educators from around the world. Then I traveled to Turkey, where I met with administrators and faculty from 5 Turkish universities in Istanbul and Ankara. Our plan this year is to expand to east Europe and far east Asia. Early March we hosted the Iraqi Cultural Attaché of the Iraqi Embassy, Dr. Ali Al Mayahi, to discuss research collaboration and their sponsorship of Iraqi Ph.D. students at SLU. We have two Ph.D. students currently in engineering through this partnership, and are working with several more applicants. Last year, we hosted two visiting scholars from Spain—Miguel Vicente and Dorys Gonzalez—Civil Engineering faculty from University of Burgos. Parks is currently hosting a visiting scholar from Korea, Jungyol Jo, professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering at Ajou University, who is conducting research on Landmark Based Navigation of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). This spring, we hosted two visiting scholarstudents from Spain—Álvaro Mangado and Fernando Calderón de Diego—and have been in talks with other potential visiting scholars for the 2019-2020 academic year. These visiting scholars reinforce our values of research and scholarship, and we welcome the input from international and local colleagues. At the beginning of the spring semester, we organized a lunch so our Deputy Vice President for Research at SLU, Dr. Enrico DiCera, could speak to our faculty about best practices in research and priorities at SLU. Parks is committed to increasing diversity in our graduate programs. Our Fall 2019 class is comprised of about 30% female graduate students, and about 29% international graduate students. We are continually looking for and implementing new ways to make our graduate programs attractive, welcoming, and valuable for a diverse student body. We welcome your input as we prepare our engineers and aviators for the challenges of tomorrow. On behalf of Parks Graduate Education, I wish you a great summer!
Riyadh Hindi, Ph.D., P.Eng., F.SEI Associate Dean and Professor Graduate Education and Research
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ALUMNI UPDATE CONTINUED What about your experience at Parks prepared you for your current position? At Parks College, collaboration was encouraged. This gave me an appreciation for not only the technical skills learned, but how to share that knowledge. I learned the importance of knowing your audience. As a result, I can share technical content with varied audiences. This has been especially helpful at Watlow. I have presented on Watlow’s modeling capabilities at a Global Sales meeting with team members from all over the world and at a recent Technology Summit on systems modeling. I can effectively communicate with our customers and I have many opportunities to share the new technology I am working on within the organization, from the business side to engineering. My experiences at Parks prepared me well for my position in industry. Watlow has given me abundant opportunity to collaborate and grow as an engineer.
Graduate Advisory Board Updates This Spring, the Parks Graduate Advisory Board welcomed two new members—Arun Sebastian, M.S., and Michael McKee, Ph.D. Arun currently holds the position of Senior Application Consultant at Brainlab, which is a leader in the field of image guided surgery and radiotherapy, focusing on neurosurgery. He works closely with neurosurgeons in the operating room to ensure Brainlab systems and products are being used optimally for their workflow and patient care. Dr. McKee serves as Chief Engineer for multiple advanced concept definition programs in the Advanced Weapons division of Boeing Phantom Works in St. Charles, MO. His areas of expertise include applied aerodynamics, advanced vehicle design, design optimization, aero-optics, directed energy, unmanned vehicles, ground and flight testing, systems integration, and program management. These professionals bring experience in industry to our Board, and we look forward to how their knowledge and input will guide our programs. At our last meeting in March, we invited four of our graduate students to attend and give feedback on our programs. The Board was very eager to ask the students specific questions on their experiences, and decided to hold a panel in the fall where we invite students and Board members to discuss ideas for improving our programs for Parks graduate students. Current students and faculty should check their email for information on that panel, which will be scheduled for Fall 2019.
Banquet On Thursday, May 2nd, 2019, the Parks community gathered to celebrate the 2019 graduating class. The Legacy Banquet honors all graduating seniors, M.S. students, and Ph.D. students. Held in a ballroom in the Busch Student Center, we had a short cocktail hour followed by dinner and the program. Senior Design, Association of Parks College Students (ACPS), and Outstanding Graduate Awards were presented as part of the program, emceed by M.S. student Shaun Mathews and President of APCS, Nick Weaver.
GSA Symposium On Friday, April 26th, 2019, the Graduate Student Association held their 25th Annual Graduate Student Association Research Symposium in the Busch Student Center. Held every spring, the Symposium offers graduate students across Saint Louis University the opportunity to present their research findings in either a paper or a poster presentation. About 20 Parks College students participated, and Jen Tennison, Ph.D. student in aerospace & mechanical engineering, was awarded 2nd place in the Physical Sciences poster competition.
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2019
OUTSTANDING GRADUATE AWARDS The outstanding graduate student award recognizes one Parks College M.S. and one Ph.D. graduate student who exemplify academic excellence, research distinction, and a commitment to the mission of Parks College and Saint Louis University.
Our first Parks College Outstanding Graduate Student for 2019 is Saahil Sheth. Saahil is an extremely talented doctoral student and excellent researcher, who started as an undergraduate volunteer in 2013, and today has 7 research publications with 4 more in progress. Saahil holds 2 patents for his work and has given 24 conference presentations. His work is collaborative and requires understanding of different disciplines. In the summer of 2018, Saahil was selected for a prestigious summer internship at the National Institutes of Health. He is a member of the Biomedical Engineering Society, Society for Biomaterials, American Chemical Society Bioengineering Technology, Alpha Epsilon Mu Beta, and is an associate member of the SLU Institute for Drug and Biotherapeutic Innovation. Saahil has also served Parks as a representative for the Graduate Student Association. In his free time, he volunteers in the MRI department of SLU Hospital, for the Hindu Students Community Organization and for the Association for India’s Development. Saahil expects to finish his program Fall 2019. Our next Parks College Outstanding Graduate Student for 2019 is Muhamed Talovic. Muhamed was on the accelerated B.S./M.S. track, earning both degrees in 5 years. Muhamed has co-authored 4 peer-reviewed journal articles, a book chapter, and 2 review articles, and presented at 8 conferences, as well as having 2 first-author publications currently under review. His research focuses on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, but he is also well versed in other engineering disciplines. Muhamed is a member of the Biomedical Engineering Society, a committee member of the Bosnian Islamic Center of Saint Louis, and the co-founder of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Student Association. He also volunteers with St. Louis Bosnians, Inc. and the St. Louis Crisis Nursery on the weekends. Last fall, Muhamed won the Three Minute Thesis Competition here at SLU. Muhamed successfully defended his thesis this May. The outstanding graduate faculty award honors an individual Parks College faculty member whose dedication to our graduate students and demonstrated commitment to excellence in graduate education and mentoring have made a significant contribution to the professional development of graduate students at Parks College. The Parks College Outstanding Graduate Faculty Member for 2019 is Dr. Koyal Garg. According to her students, Dr. Garg is an incredibly supportive and passionate researcher, teacher, and mentor. Students that work in her lab say that collaboration and communication are always a priority for her, and that she’s always encouraging them to do their best and learn all that they can. Dr. Garg is also great at recruiting high quality students to her lab, and works to provide them funding. Dr. Garg’s Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering Laboratory focuses on the development and evaluation of biomaterial and stem cell based therapies for the enhancement of skeletal muscle regeneration and function following injuries, disease and aging. Dr. Garg has secured two impressive federal grants to fund her lab in the last year, with one from the Department of Defense and the other from the National Institutes of Health. Her lab has three Ph.D. and three M.S. candidate students, as well as many trained undergraduate research assistants. Since 2017, Dr. Garg’s lab has pumped out an impressive 8 publications, 1 book chapter, and 15 presentations, as well as 2 provisional patents.
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NEWS Nnaoma Agwu, M.S. student in Mechanical Engineering, presented his research on April 16th at the University of Minnesota for Design of Medical Devices Conference, hosted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, on “A Curved Port Delivery System for Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy of Brain”. He met with industry professionals and academic researchers within the medical device field learning about new innovations such as a total non-replaceable artificial heart and advanced deep brain therapies to treat motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease. Kianoosh Sattari, M.S. student in Mechanical Engineering, will present his paper “Thermodynamic Potential Analysis and Phase Field Simulations of Barium Zirconate Titanate Solid Solution” at the Society of Engineering Science, 56th Annual Technical meeting in October 2019. He will also present his paper at the sixth LAMMPS Workshop and Symposium in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the University of New Mexico on August 13-15. LAMMPS is a molecular dynamic simulator, which Kianoosh plans to use for 2-D material simulation. Amy Morris, Ph.D. student in Civil Engineering, presented her poster “Flood Risk- Levee Improvement Prioritization” at the Geo- Resolution conference hosted by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency on April 9th. She also presented her poster at the Academic Research Colloquium at the University of Dayton in Ohio, in September 2018. This research is focused on developing a framework to analyze LiDAR change detection, existing levee records, demographics, and other infrastructure data to better manage risk. By combining remote sensing technologies and big data analytics, larger spans of levees can be efficiently evaluated to make best use of perpetually limited resources. Shaun Mathews, recent M.S. graduate in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, has accepted a job as a Systems Engineer for Aircraft Modifications at Boeing in Oklahoma City. He was also inducted into the Alpha Epsilon Lambda Honor Society in April 2019. Faress Hraib, recent Ph.D. graduate in Civil Engineering, has accepted a position at St. Louis based company ABNA Engineering. Li Hui, recent Ph.D. graduate in Civil Engineering, has accepted the position of visiting assistant professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Osama Mohammed, Ph.D. student in Civil Engineering, presented his paper “A Machine Learning Approach to Short-Term Traffic Flow Prediction: A Case Study of Interstate 64 in Missouri” at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Smart Cities Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, in September 2018. Mohammad also presented his paper “Ensemble Learning Models for Crash Clearance Duration Estimation” at the Transportation Research Board 98th Annual Meeting, in January 2019, in Washington D.C. He also presented a poster at the 25th Annual Graduate Student Association Research Symposium on April 26, and at the Geo Resolution conference hosted by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency on April 9th. Jacob Salyers, M.S. graduate May 2018, and Yue Dong, current Ph.D. student, both working under the supervision of Dr. Yan Gai, had their paper “Continuous Wavelet Transform for Decoding Finger Movements from Single-Channel EEG” published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Transactions on Biomedical Engineering journal on October 15, 2018.
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NEWS
Muhamed Talovic, M.S. student in Biomedical Engineering, was awarded first place in the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition here at Saint Louis University on November 30th, 2018. The competition, developed by the University of Queensland, requires students to summarize their thesis or dissertation research for a general audience in under three minutes. Competitors are allowed one PowerPoint slide as a visual, but no other resources. Disseminating one’s work in a short pitch to a varied audience is a valuable skill that will serve Muhamed well as he enters the workforce. Brandon Gillis, M.S. student in Civil Engineering, presented a session titled “Evaluation of the Orientation of Concrete Finishing Machines in Skewed Bridges using Finite Elements” at the Spring 2019 Concrete Convention and Exposition in Quebec City. His research showed that using a screed machine in a perpendicular orientation to the bridge skew created higher rotation and deflection values in a bridge’s steel girders than using a parallel orientation. It is quite an honor for an M.S. student to be invited to an international conference to share research. At the same conference, Dr. Riyadh Hindi, presented research titled “Mitigation of Rotation of Bridge Exterior Girders due to Construction Loads” as part of the session “Innovative Techniques for Monitoring and Evaluating Concrete Bridges and Bridge Elements.” Dr. Jenna Gorlewicz, Ph.D., assistant professor in the aerospace and mechanical engineering programs has been awarded two grants by the National Science Foundation, serving as the principal investigator. The first grant, “Increasing Social Connectedness in Telerobotic Platforms Through Adding Gesture Capabilities” is a collaborative grant with a team at SIUE, a total funding of $471,148, with $251,502 coming to SLU. The second grant “Perceptual and Implementation Strategies for Knowledge Acquisition of Digital Tactile Graphics for Blind and Visually Impaired Students,” is a research partnership between SLU, University of Nevada Las Vegas, University of Alabama and the University of Maine. The total funding of the award is $916,798 with $350,151 coming to SLU. We have two new Graduate Student Association Representatives for Parks for the 2019-2020 academic year— Constance Wall, Biomedical Engineering M.S. student, and Hussein Khalaf, Civil Engineering Ph.D. student. If you have questions about the Graduate Student Association, feel free to contact your reps, who can be found in People Finder. Check your email for GSA announcements about events and benefits to you as a SLU graduate student. You may also be eligible to receive partial funding for conference attendance or presentations. For more information or to apply for such an award, visit http://gsa.slu.edu/awards/conference-awards.
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CONGRATULATIONS recent and proposed graduates! Fall 2018
Christopher J. Galbreath- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Michelle Sabick Ruud Schrijver- M.S. in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Sridhar Condoor
Spring 2019
Elizabeth Brennan- M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering: Advisor: Dr. Kyle Mitchell Emma C. Buckles- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Michelle Sabick Weiquan Chen- M.S. in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Chi Hou Lei Zahra Eslami- M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Yan Gai Aakash Gupta- M.S. in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Sanjay Jayaram Brandon J. Kauling- M.S. in Aviation Science; Advisor: Dr. Terrence Kelly Milan Khadka- M.S. in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Jalil Kianfar Stephanie M. Kroger- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Silviya Zustiak Megan Josephine Martinez- M.S. in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Amanda Cox Shaun Sam Mathews- M.S. in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Michael Swartwout Elizabeth Claire McLaughlin- M.S. in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. James Carroll Krishna H. Patel- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Koyal Garg Shwetang Patel- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Gary Bledsoe Isaac X. Rider- M.S. in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Michael Swartwout Tyler Robert Roxby- M.S. in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. James Carroll Muhamed Talovic- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Koyal Garg Yifei Wang- M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering; Advisor: Dr. William Ebel Joseph Michael Wendl- M.S. in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. James Carroll Kun Zhang- M.S. in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Jalil Kianfar Khalid Abdullah Alqmaize- Ph.D. in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Riyadh Hindi Nick Hung Duong- Ph.D. in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Jianfeng Ma Faress Hraib- Ph.D. in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Riyadh Hindi Li Hui- Ph.D. in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Riyadh Hindi Janice Renee McCall- Ph.D. in Aviation Science; Advisor: Dr. Saul Robinson
Summer 2019
Alexandra Blanco- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Silviya Zustiak Gerald Dumar- M.S. in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Mark McQuilling Jacob Chapin- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Andrew Hall Miran Hannah Choi- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Gary Bledsoe Jacob Crapps- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Andrew Hall Kyle James DeProw- M.S. in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Jenna Gorlewicz Brandon T. Gillis- M.S. in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Riyadh Hindi Hugo Alberto Gonzalez- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Scott Sell Michael Kotthoff- M.S. in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Chi Hou Lei Joseph Robert Krebs- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Natasha Case Jennifer Leigh Mathews- M.S. Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Michelle Sabick Andrew Oliver- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Michelle Sabick Joseph Fenton O’Neill- M.S. in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Mark McQuilling Roberto E Reynolds Palau- M.S. in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Chris Carroll Kyle Jerome Vogt- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Silviya Zustiak Michael Christian Elsenrath- Ph.D. in Aviation Science; Advisor: Dr. Terrence Kelly Gregory Pasken- Ph.D. in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Jianfeng Ma Hamed Rahimi- Ph.D. in Civil Engineering; Advisor: Dr. Riyadh Hindi
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office of Graduate education and research ADDRESS: 3450 Lindell Blvd. McDonnell Douglas Hall St. Louis, MO 63103 PHONE: 314-977-8306 EMAIL: parksgraduateprograms@slu.edu WEBSITE: slu.edu/parks