2006-volume-16-issue-2

Fall 2006

Volume 16

Issue 2

AUBURN ENGINEERING samuel ginn college of engineering

In this issue — Prime time voting Racing to better asphalt Wireless stamp of approval Into the lab — research highlights “It Begins at Auburn”

Juan Gilbert page 8

Contents

Auburn Engineering Fall 2006 Volume 16 Issue 2

Around the College From the dean

2

Alternative energy experts converge on Auburn

3

Asphalt technology coming of age

4

Auburn researchers make voting easier

8

Faculty members praise Ross Hall

10

Wireless engineering accredited

12

Engineers build rain gardens at Arboretum

14

Engineering seminar series

16

Jim Killian, editor

Funding for the Future

Contributors Sara Borchik Cheryl Cobb Beth Smith Laura Steele Katie Yester

Because “It Begins at Auburn�

Office of the Dean Larry Benefield, dean Nels Madsen, associate dean for assessment Joe Morgan, associate dean for academics Ralph Zee, associate dean for research

18

Student Points of Pride Katrina transplant finds place at Auburn

22

Students take engineering studies abroad

24

The Power of New Ideas Into the labs of Auburn

26

Rob Wellbaum, director of development

Faculty Milestones

Experience Auburn Engineering magazine online at www.eng.auburn.edu/fallmag

Jones honored by SAE

30

ECE faculty recognized

31

Read the inaugural issue of our Annual Report at www.eng.auburn.edu/ar06

Zee works with former Soviet engineers

32

Auburn Engineering is published twice yearly by the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Please send news items, suggestions and comments to editor@eng.auburn.edu.

Staying Connected

Office of Engineering Communications and Marketing Auburn University 108 Ramsay Hall Auburn, AL 36849 334.844.2308 334.844.0176 fax www.eng.auburn.edu Correction The spring 06 Auburn Engineering lists Keystone Society member William Ward as General Chairman, retired, Utilities Sales, General Electric Company. He is retired Region Manager of Southwest Power Systems Sales for General Electric Company.

Alumni profile: Bill Cutts

34

Alumni profile: Rudy Bray

36

Council recognizes alums, achievement

38

Cupola Engineering Society

40

From

the dean

One of the greatest influences in my life was Gene Metz, a member of the civil engineering faculty at Auburn when I was an undergraduate in the ’60s. I am sure that many of my fellow students remember him as well, although he is no longer with us.

Professor Metz was the person who convinced me that a career in academics was the right move for me. He was a caring person who supported, motivated and encouraged not just myself but many others. I owe him a debt that can never be repaid.

I could say much the same about Joe Judkins, my graduate advisor and another great teacher who redirected my focus from structures to environmental engineering. He was, and is, a great teacher who continues to make a difference in both my personal and professional life.

I mention them because we are now engaged in a transformational move to make a difference in the direction that Auburn Engineering takes. A great faculty brings great things to a university.

But gathering the caliber of faculty that we need to move our programs ahead takes another thing — great facilities.

As alumnus Dwight Wiggins remarked to our Auburn Alumni Engineering Council over Homecoming weekend, we are not going to attract the kind of faculty that we want if we are going to offer them a steel desk in the basement of the shop buildings.

Dwight has made a personal decision to step forward and contribute what he can as a donor — in both time and money — to move our vision forward. In addition to his significant monetary contribution, he has literally taken to the streets to involve other alums.

He cannot do it alone. As we look to build Phase II of the Sen. Richard C. and Dr. Annette N. Shelby Center for Engineering Technology, we need to raise $15 million in alumni contributions. We are going to need your help.

I encourage you to join us this calendar year to meet this important goal. And I encourage you to join us again in the new year. We are truly in that place where your participation can make a significant difference in the future of the college, in a way we may never see again.

This in fact may be the way in which we can pay back the professors who developed in us the skills that have brought us success, honor and the recognition of our peers and colleagues. Please join us in moving Auburn Engineering ahead in their names — and please — join us now rather than later, because now is the time.

Auburn Engineering • • Fall Semester 2006

Chemical engineering junior Melissa Le Maitre discusses alternative theories with a conference attendee.

Auburn University leads the way in alternative energy High prices at the gas pump are the most visible sign that our nation’s dependence on foreign energy sources has become a critical national and regional issue. Believing that Alabama and Auburn have a unique opportunity to take a leadership role in the area of alternative energy, in February AU President Ed Richardson convened a multidisciplinary faculty committee to provide him with an overview of the state’s resource base, the current technologies in the field and the challenges that lie ahead.

The review confirmed that AU not only has an opportunity but also a responsibility to move forward in this area. In August, the university’s Board of Trustees approved a budget for FY 2007 that provides $3 million in support of Richardson’s initiative.

“Auburn’s location at the center of a region rich in renewable forest and agricultural biomass resources, and its status as the state’s largest land grant university, make it ideally suited to address this issue,” explains conference co-chair Ralph Zee, associate dean for research in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. “With expertise and ongoing research in the areas essential to advancing the science and technology of alternative energy, this initiative has the potential to positively impact the quality of life for the citizens of Alabama, the Southeast and the nation.”

Turning biomass into energy The Auburn committee’s report outlined five areas of emphasis and suggested that AU host a national conference to bring together policy makers, researchers and industry groups from across the state, region and nation to discuss the unique opportunity that exists for

Auburn and other regional universities to assume a leadership role in the area of alternative fuels and energy.

More than 300 conferees had the opportunity to learn what leaders in the nation’s capital are doing to address the issue and hear updates on work ongoing at area universities and companies.

Demonstrations and a poster session showcased a wide variety of emerging science and technologies in area ranging from forest and agricultural biomass to small and large systems for converting the sun’s energy captured by this biomass into fuels, power and valueadded chemicals. Policy, economic and sustainability issues were also addressed.

“This was an exciting opportunity to see what others on campus and across the nation are doing and to form partnerships to advance the science, technology and policy in this area,” says Zee, adding that one of the goals of the conference was to help AU develop the most effective strategy for making a contribution in this area through the expansion of existing research, outreach and educational activities and the seeding of new ones.

“Not only will these efforts reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign energy sources,” explains Zee, “but they will also advance economic development through reinvigoration of Alabama’s present natural resource-based industries and the establishment of new industries based on energy and value-added products from renewable biomass. This initiative is win-win proposition for Alabama and the nation.”

Learn more at www.eng.auburn.edu/alternative-energy

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NCAT engineer Brian Prowell takes a nuclear density test as part of quality assurance at Talladega Superspeedway.

Auburn Engineering • • Fall Semester 2006

Talladega Superspeedway taps into Auburn’s experts to remake track surface You may not give it a second thought, but it can help save your life.

It can also make race cars go faster.

It’s asphalt. And it’s the heart of the world’s transportation infrastructure. In the U.S. alone, 96 percent of paved roads and streets — almost two million miles — are surfaced with asphalt, so improving its performance is critical. At Auburn University, the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) works to ensure that the Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) industry can meet that challenge.

But highways aren’t the only pavements that need help. High-performance race tracks with fast cars taking the tight turns at speeds approaching 200 mph really put asphalt to the test. A speedway must endure, so high-performance asphalt is not optional.

That’s why in 2003 International Speedway Corporation (ISC) hired NCAT engineers through the Center for Advanced Motorsports Testing and Research (CAMSTAR) to share their expertise at some of its tracks, including Homestead-Miami Speedway, Richmond International Raceway, Martinsville Speedway, and in the recent repaving of Alabama’s 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway.

construction quality assurance. So to Doug Neil, founder and CEO of CAMSTAR, bridging ISC to Auburn and NCAT seemed natural. In 2003 he brought his vision to life.

“Our office was the stepping stone for Doug to form CAMSTAR and present ISC with the opportunity to enable Auburn and NCAT’s contribution to speed-surface engineering,” explains Chip Burson, director of research programs and development in AU’s Office of the Vice President for Research. “Doug’s been involved with Birmingham’s Barber Motorsports Park since its inception. He loves racing and he loves Auburn and saw this as a great opportunity for the university and NCAT. CAMSTAR has facilitated an opportunity for Auburn Engineering to study and work in the motorsports environment, to the benefit of paving in the racing industry.”

How NCAT fits in the mix NCAT came to life in 1986 as the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) Research and Education Foundation signed an

“We’ve established ourselves as part of ISC’s engineering team,” says Brian Prowell, NCAT assistant director.

Taming the track

Significant projects like its repaving are the perfect showcase for NCAT’s broad expertise in construction oversight, design, specification development and

Photo by Motorsports Images & Archives

Built in 1969, Talladega covers about 3,000 acres including track site and parking. Its grandstands seat more than 143,000, and by holding three major records — fastest 500-mile stock car race and most lead changes and leaders in a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event — touts the distinction of “NASCAR’s Most Competitive Track.”

Auburn Engineering • • Fall Semester 2006

Thanks to NCAT’s help in resurfacing the track, four abreast racing is back at Talladega.

Prowell monitors the asphalt mix during the repaving process at Talladega. initial five-year cooperative agreement with Auburn University. Ten years later, Byron Lord of the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Pavement Technology cited the project as a perfect example of partnership between government, industry, and academia. Today, as NCAT celebrates its twentieth anniversary, the program remains relevant and strong.

“We create new testing techniques that are less expensive, safer and more accurate,” says Ray Brown, the center’s director since 1990. “Our work results in improved asphalt performance, fewer potholes, smoother pavement for less wear on tires, and fewer highway work zones.”

With a 22,400-square-foot laboratory stocked with state-of-the-art equipment, the center’s primary research goal of improving HMA

quality through new materials, mixtures, test methods, and equipment comes to life. Added emphasis is on research that can be readily applied by industry and by state and federal governments.

“We get a lot of phone calls,” adds Brown. “If they have a construction project and run into a problem, they need an answer now, and we can help them save money by getting it to them quickly.”

Putting it to the test A vital cog in the NCAT wheel lies on 310 acres in nearby Opelika, where Auburn University owns and operates a 1.7-mile oval test track that NCAT uses to evaluate the performance of various asphalt mixes.

“Test pavements from 11 different state departments of transportation and the US DOT are installed and subjected to a design lifetime of truck traffic in an accelerated manner,” explains Buzz Powell, test track manager. “The track functions as a research cooperative, where sections are replaced every three years in order to best meet the needs of research sponsors.”

Those sponsors include the Federal Highway Administration, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, state departments of transportation, NAPA, and NAPA Research and Education Foundation. The annual budget for all projects is $3 to $5 million.

Two weeks each summer the center trains civil engineering faculty from across the country, with a program including graduate courses, professor training courses, short courses in asphalt technology, and

Auburn Engineering • • Fall Semester 2006

Superpave volumetric mix design workshops. Most states have at least one university with a professor who has attended NCAT Professor Training.

Powell says the current reconstruction of the track will facilitate the third research cycle, consisting of 16 new mix performance sections and six new structural performance sections — each of the two section types with a different research focus.

Mix performance sections are to evaluate pavements containing high percentages of recycled materials; compare the performance of drainable surfaces; optimize the durability of surface mixes while maintaining rutting resistance; quantify the effect of poor volumetrics on performance; and evaluate the ability of rich bottom layers to prevent reflective cracking.

Perpetual pavement design Structural performance sections are to validate and calibrate an innovative stress- and strain-based approach to pavement thickness design. In conjunction with research aimed at optimizing mix performance, the goal of “perpetual” pavement design is to build a pavement structure that will never deteriorate from the bottom up and can be periodically rehabilitated with long lasting and safe surface mixes.

Through its textbook “Hot Mix Asphalt Materials, Mixture Design and Construction,” NCAT presents a systematic treatment of the subject of HMA, while the center’s biannual newsletter Asphalt Technology News provides a forum to highway agencies and industry for exchanging ideas and experiences in HMA technology. The center’s pavetrack.com site disseminates the center’s research to the world at no cost.

Building a reputation A testament to the theory “If you build it they will come,” NCAT has drawn the attention of industry and non-industry alike. Dan McNichol’s 2005 coffee table book “Paving the Way: Asphalt in America” includes the unique and significant work of the center, and a September issue of Bicycling magazine calls it “asphalt’s tomorrow land” where in traversing test sections for various states “you can drive across Florida in 200 feet.”

In 2004 the AU Flyers Cycling Club ran its annual race weekend at NCAT, praising the loop as “a really fast track with excellent pavement,” and last year it was included in the History Channel’s Modern Marvels program “Paving America,” the story of the nation’s 42,000mile, $125 billion interstate highway system.

According to Powell, the reconstructed track will see a total of 45 individual test sections subjected to accelerated heavy truck traffic through fall 2008.

When lengthening pavement life by just 10 percent saves two billion U.S. dollars annually, the value of NCAT’s mission of improving pavements is obvious. And it brings us right back to Talladega where safety counts.

In reaching out to industry, much of NCAT’s work is oriented toward problem solving for a technology transfer to HMA users. NCAT staff can quickly search the center’s database for any asphalt technology topic and send information to a requestor. Much of the literature is in the center’s library and can be used by industry.

In an interview with veteran sports reporter Mike Bolton from the Birmingham News, NASCAR track star Tony Stewart said that racers like himself are “going to be able to get a lot more grip here . . . it’s going to make for a lot of three- and four-wide racing” of the newly engineered NCAT surface on Talladega Superspeedway.

Auburn’s 1.7 mile test track puts triple-trailer semis loaded to 150,000 pounds through 7.5 degree banking in the corners compared to Talledega’s 33 degree slopes. The design speeds differ too: 45 mph for the former while approaching 200 mph for the latter. Testing on the NCAT track runs 16 hours a day, six days a week, over two-year periods.

He could have added that fans coming to the track would benefit as well as they made their way on the thousands of miles of asphalt road that leads to the heart of one of the nation’s most exciting racing venues.

Learn more at www.ncat.us www.talladegasuperspeedway.com

Auburn Engineering • • Fall Semester 2006

PRIME

time for

oting Auburn computer science and software engineering associate professor Juan Gilbert and his research team, partnering with Indiana University, the Auburn University Center for Governmental Services (CGS) and IBM, have developed an advanced electronic voting system called Prime III that enables people with a variety of disabilities to cast their ballot on Election Day with ease and privacy.

“By providing voting methods to members of society who can’t read, can’t hear, or can’t see, we have broadened the voting community,” says Gilbert, project director and head of the Human Centered Computing Lab. “We put in a lot of effort so that we could reach these individuals.”

The idea came to Gilbert at a conference in 2003 after a specialist in electronic voting began discussing flaws in the current systems — including ease of use and security. At the time, Gilbert was teaching a class in multi-modal interfaces (programs that use different methods to communicate with the system) and immediately connected the need for more natural methods of voting for those with disabilities.

With the help of a grant from the AU Outreach office, the team of ten Auburn graduate students and faculty members began developing the Prime Voting System, or Prime III, an innovative, multimodal electronic system that allows voting via touchscreen and voice. The name comes from the three methods of voting used by the program: visual, touch and speech.

“And what’s more natural than speaking or touching?” asks Gilbert.

The team also addressed the security issue, protecting voter privacy by using randomly generated numbers at the time the voters view or hear their options. A printed ballot and barcode system not only ensures accuracy of vote counts but also protects against malicious intent.

“Numerous checks make it tougher to break in and change the data,” explains Vince Cross, a graduate student involved in the software

development part of the system. “We believe the process is the safest out there.”

The program will undergo an extensive evaluation during the 20062007 academic year, with simultaneous studies taking place in AU’s Haley Center and in Uniontown, Ala. The usability tests will use food choices in place of political candidates, ensuring the personal political views of those participating in the tests remain private.

A security evaluation will be performed jointly by Auburn University and Indiana University, with the team going so far as to send the system to hackers for testing. Further evaluation will make sure the casing of the system is also tamperproof.

If all goes well with tests, CGS plans to work with the research team to seek approval of the improved system.

“With the system coming from a research institution not linked to a particular party or candidate, we think people will be more likely to embrace it,” adds Gilbert. “It’s not for sale and we’re not looking for a profit. We’re just hoping to offer a secure alternative that enables a larger base of voters to participate in the electoral process.”

Learn more at www.primevotingsystem.com

Auburn Engineering • • Fall Semester 2006

Beyond Prime III

Graduate students from Auburn’s Human Central Computing Lab such as Yolanda McMillian and Vince Cross (shown above) demonstrated the Prime III program in Haley Center on October 19.

TSYS execs Steven Humber (far left) and Connie Dudley present a check to Juan Gilbert of Auburn’s computer science and software engineering faculty (second from right) and Larry Benefield, dean of engineering. The donation will provide a distinguished associate professorship in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, which will be held by Gilbert.

Juan Gilbert will soon take his place as the university’s first TSYS Inc. Distinguished Associate Professor in Computer Science and Software Engineering.

And for a 2007-09 term, Gilbert will serve on the board of governors of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society.

TSYS is the world leader in retailer-managed card programs, servicing millions of retail accounts and processing billions of transactions per year. Owned by Synovus, the Columbus, Ga. company is recognized as creator of the TS2 and TS1 systems. In October, its representatives visited the Auburn campus to present a $100,000 check to the Ginn College of Engineering and meet with Gilbert and engineering administrators.

Gilbert’s post with IEEE entrusts him with guidance at the policy level to all organizational entities within the society. The board on which he’ll serve sets direction and strategy for the society and reviews the performance of the program boards and other committees and entities to assure compliance with its policy directions.

“It is an honor to be elected to this position,” he says. “It is a significant vote of confidence from my colleagues in IEEE, and it’s a huge opportunity on many fronts to be able to serve one of the most recognizable organizations in computer science.”

IEEE is a nonprofit organization with more than 356,000 members around the world and a goal of advancing global prosperity by fostering technological innovation, enabling members’ careers and promoting community worldwide.

“My background in human-centered computing allows me to bring a different perspective to the board,” Gilbert adds. “My technical background in human-computer interaction, advanced learning technologies, and databases will allow me to contribute to personalized services for the society’s members.”

Auburn Engineering • • Fall Semester 2006

What chemical engineering faculty have to say. . .

“I have traveled all over and I can honestly say that with the recent renovations our facilities are second to none. We want to become a top 20, we want to attract the best and the brightest, and these facilities have helped us attract our largest class of graduate students yet. When we brought the undergrad students into Ross, just like the grad students in Wilmore, it was like the unveiling of a brand new car: the look in their eyes showed they were amazed by the possibilities, full of wonder over what could be achieved. Seminar speakers and guests are often left speechless. There is an added sense of belonging, community and continuity. And there’s the pride. Lots of pride.” — Chris Roberts, Uthlaut Professor and department chair “Sometimes when I visit schools, the offices and labs aren’t all that impressive. When Chris Roberts first brought me into Ross and showed me, this is where your new office will be here’s where we’ll put your 1,000-square-foot lab, it made a definite impression. When a department has new construction and new faculty, you know it is moving forward. Seeing it for yourself makes you want to try your best to move forward along with it.“ — Jin Wang, assistant professor “While I was at Berkeley for my graduate studies, there was a new state-of-the-art building called Tan Hall. It was really super to come back to my alma mater and see a comparable facility, the renovated Wilmore Labs, and see it even better than the facility at Berkeley, which is consistently one of the top two schools in the country.“ — Bob Ashurst, assistant professor “As a grad student, I remember deciding what my dream lab would one day be like. When Chris Roberts showed me what I would have here at Auburn, it was like someone had taken that dream and made it a reality. Having the perfect labs and the more pleasant environment keeps us motivated and producing top-notch research.” ­— Virginia Davis, assistant professor “Words cannot express the feeling of energy and excitement within the building and the department. The centralized interaction between students and professors cannot be underestimated.

It is this type of building, with student work areas, small meeting rooms, upper-level laboratory classes, and open atriums that fosters the interactions which are crucial to success but often overlooked. The more chemical engineering students and professors interact with each other and professors from other disciplines, good things happen. The building creates the opportunity for this to happen.” — Mark Byrne, assistant professor

A foundation Five years ago, students in chemical engineering would spend an average day trekking all over campus just to attend their engineering classes. From Broun Hall for advising meetings to classes and labs in the L-building, Wilmore, Aerospace and the Textile building, a student’s day seemed more like a hiking trip than an experience in academia. There was no sense of community. No home. No identity.

But for Auburn Engineering, those days are quickly coming to a close.

As the college has taken on significant building enhancements, many departments have seen changes in the past few years not only in their surroundings but also in the development of their students, faculty and research programs. With the recent renovations of Wilmore Laboratories and Ross Hall, the departments of

Auburn Engineering • 10 • Fall Semester 2006

...and mechanical engineering faculty say about Ross Hall “You can’t aspire to be in the top tier without adequate facilities, and construction projects are the first step toward that goal. Our facilities in Ross Hall allow us to more effectively recruit outstanding students and faculty members and make the research done here even more attractive to sponsors. They also provide us the space for hands-on student projects, which really help us meet undergraduate accreditation requirements. We hope that the our new facilities coming in Shelby II will not only provide us with new research opportunities and better communication and teamwork across the board, but will most importantly give us an identity — our own building — which is something we haven’t really had . . . I think that is extremely important; it will be what takes us to the next level.” — Dave Dyer, professor and department chair “As we’re competing with other schools for research sponsorships, it’s important that we have impressive buildings and infrastructure. Our recent renovations will bring help us bring in greater research revenues while attracting a larger group of top notch graduate students.” — David Bevly, assistant professor

for the future Chemical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering in particular are seeing substantial program growth across the board.

“Ross is our home and it is nice to be back home.

Although the fundamentals of engineering are little changed since Ross was first built, the technology of how we apply those fundamentals changes continuously, and these updates help us maintain the value of our educational product. The Ross reopening has allowed War Eagle Motorsports to emerge from last year’s temporary locations and into a safe, capable environment in Wilmore and Shop Building I. We’re still spread out, but we’re looking forward to having everything we need in Shelby II to let our students achieve their best potential.” — Peter Jones, associate professor

The construction of the Sen. Richard C. and Dr. Annette N. Shelby Center for Engineering Technology, and the pending construction of Shelby Center for Engineering Technology Phase II will be the stepping stones to take us to the next level.

Learn more at www.eng.auburn.edu/scetwebcam Ross Hall is home to the chemical and mechanical engineering programs, but also serves the college as a whole; here ISE graduate Joe Forehand, former CEO and chairman of Accenture, addresses students in the McMillan auditorium in Ross Hall; above, an overflow crowd at dedication ceremonies in the atrium.

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Unique.

Accredited.

A u b u r n w i r e l e s s .

It’s official. Auburn University now offers the nation’s only accredited undergraduate degree program in wireless engineering. If enrollment is any indication, then students are giving the new program a thumbs up. It’s been growing steadily since the program kicked off in fall 2002, with current enrollment at 195.

He explains that the accreditation for Auburn’s wireless engineering program is retroactive to its first graduates — who earned their degrees in 2004. Because the evaluation is outcome based, the program must have graduates before the accreditation process can begin.

“We are thrilled to add wireless engineering to our list of accredited programs,” says Larry Benefield, dean of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. “I am extremely proud of the faculty that worked on this project. Developing and launching a new program of this quality and complexity is a tremendous effort.”

“This acknowledgment from ABET was critical to the success of this program,” Madsen says. “Employers are reporting back to us that our students are hitting the ground running. That’s exactly what we want to hear.”

In the U.S., ABET is the recognized specialized accreditor for college and university programs in engineering, applied science, computing and technology, providing leadership and quality assurance in higher education for more than 70 years. The organization is a federation of more than 25 professional and technical societies representing these fields, accredits some 2,700 programs at more than 550 colleges and universities nationwide, and is recognized by the Council for Higher Education. More than 1,500 volunteers participate annually in ABET activities.

“These societies and their members work together through ABET to develop accreditation standards,” explains Nels Madsen, Auburn Engineering’s associate dean for assessment. “They also provide the professionals who evaluate the program to make sure they meet those standards.”

According to Madsen, accreditation matters because it helps students and their parents choose quality college programs and enables employers and graduate schools to recruit graduates they know are well prepared. Employers, graduate schools, and registration, licensure, and certification boards often use graduation from an accredited program as a minimum qualification.

“The accreditation process provides us with a structured mechanism to assess, evaluate, and improve the quality of our programs,” adds Madsen. “The focus is on the student and their achievements.

Self study is an important part of the process. The goal is continual improvement.”

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Learn more at www.eng.auburn.edu/wireless

>>About accreditation In the United States, accreditation is a peer review process that ensures educational quality. Educational institutions or programs volunteer to periodically undergo this review in order to determine if certain criteria are being met.

It is important to understand, however, that accreditation is not a ranking system, but assurance that a program or institution meets established quality standards.

Specialized accreditation examines specific programs of study, rather than an institution as a whole. This type of accreditation is granted to specific programs at specific levels. Architecture, nursing, law, medicine, and engineering programs are often evaluated through specialized accreditation.

Learn more at www.abet.org

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More than just a pretty garden Faculty members in biosystems engineering recently built two rain gardens in Auburn University’s Donald E. Davis Arboretum that serve the dual purpose of bringing more research opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students and providing storm water remediation for a portion of the south side of campus.

“Our department hopes to take this opportunity to use the high profile of the arboretum to showcase this low cost, innovative storm water retention and remediation approach,” says Steve Taylor, head of the Department of Biosystems Engineering. “The rain gardens will be intriguing landscape features that deal with the runoff south of Samford Drive that could adversely affect the ecosystem of the arboretum.”

Rain gardens, first designed by biosystems engineers in North Carolina, are designed to take storm water that accumulates near the arboretum and use biological processes to remove contaminants such as phosphorus, ammonia, lead and other metals. The two gardens are designed differently, to test which design removes runoff contaminants best, but both use a combination of an underdrain, a permeable geotextile fabric, an internal water storage area, and other

biomass, along with plants that are well suited for the removal of contaminants.

“With a rain garden, the key is keeping water in the system long enough, as more time means more treatment,” said Mark Dougherty, assistant professor in biosystems engineering. “It generally takes several days to treat an inch of rainfall.”

A biosystems engineering senior design team in the 2006 spring semester worked to develop the footprint of the rain gardens, as well as a unique pump and pipe system that carries water from the arboretum’s existing runoff pond to the gardens. The pond has in the past overflowed because of sediment from nearby construction projects. Another component of the student design provides for the measurement of the flow and contaminant concentrations entering and leaving the rain garden.

“As engineers, our responsibility is to offer good recommendations based on good research,” says Dougherty. “We want our use of rain gardens to demonstrate their usefulness as a low-cost landscape

Auburn Engineering • 14 • Fall Semester 2006

Rain garden design: above, a sectional diagram of the rain gardens in the Davis Arboretum. The photos below depict steps in the rain garden installation.

feature for remediating storm water runoff in rural, developing and urban areas.”

A developing field The rain garden is just one of the ways that the Department of Biosystems Engineering is doing its part to further the field of ecological engineering. With the addition of several new faculty members over the past two years, ecological engineering has become an important research and teaching area for the department.

Ecological engineering is an emerging engineering discipline that combines engineering principles with ecological processes end economics to design, construct and manage sustainable ecosystems that have value to both human and the environment.

“In our earliest years, the major ecological issue was erosion, and it was Auburn engineers who were developing soil conservation practices throughout the state,” adds Taylor. “Today our major concern is water quality as well as the health of ecosystems we live in.”

Now, professors, researchers and students are focusing their efforts on preserving watersheds and making sure that the self organizing capacity and resilience of these ecosystems are not affected by hydrologic modifications, chemical pollution and habitat destruction.

“In all cases, these natural systems do all they can to return to their original states,” said Puneet Srivastava, assistant professor in the department. “We want to use the knowledge of how ecosystems work to protect these systems and to help them recover as soon as possible after a disturbance so that they are fully functional in providing ecosystem services.”

As development leads to urban sprawl, engineers and community planners are finding themselves looking for new and different ways to keep cities livable, such as the use of connected green spaces and low-impact development. Ecological engineers find it their responsibility to provide engineering solutions that minimize the use of natural resources and protect natural ecosystems.

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Talking it up

Seminar series brings new perspectives to students and faculty

Talk may be cheap but it’s also a powerful communications tool.

That’s why the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering has ramped up its seminar programs to foster discussion on a broad range of engineering topics.

“There’s a lot going on in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering,” says Dean Larry Benefield. “Sometimes we get going so fast in our own areas of expertise that we forget to step back to look at the bigger picture or even at what our colleagues in the offices down the hall are doing.

“One of the goals of our seminar programs is to share information about what faculty members and graduate students in engineering and related disciplines are doing, and to bring in speakers from off campus to help us put the work we do here in perspective.”

Departmental Series According to Benefield, improved communications can sometimes open the door for collaborative research or help shine a light on a new approach to an old problem.

Many of the departments within the college have had long-standing seminar series designed to provide faculty, graduate students and occasionally undergraduates with a chance to showcase their research, classroom and outreach efforts for their peers. However, until recently, publicity for these was been minimal.

“During the past year, our office has worked hard to get the word out about these seminars to a broader audience,” says Jim Killian, director of engineering communications and marketing. “While some are strongly discipline specific, others are of interest to the campus audience and occasionally a broader audience.”

For instance, a recent seminar in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Graduate Seminar Series covered research on

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designs for stairways in high rise buildings that make speed evacuation during emergencies — a concern brought home by 9/11. Another addressed a new, more efficient design for large warehouses like those used to ensure on-time delivery of goods at your neighborhood Wal-Mart.

Special Series In addition to these departmental seminars, the college has launched a number of new seminar series designed to expose students and faculty to the broader world of engineering.

The Samuel Ginn Lecture Series, founded in 2005, brings distinguished leaders from the academic and business communities to the Auburn campus to interact with faculty and students. Lectures cover subjects such as engineering, education, entrepreneurship, global engineering issues, and engineering and business leadership.

The series kicked off last year with a visit from Jeffrey Immelt, chairman of the board and CEO of General Electric, who spoke to a packed house of students and faculty.

“For many students, this was their first chance to see a CEO in action,” adds Killian. “They were impressed with his broad view of the world, intelligence, warmth and accessibility. Experiences such as this help students put what they are learning in the classroom in context.”

Posting videos of these events to the Web lets faculty, students and alums who can’t attend the seminars participate in these events. In fact, some engineering faculty members are using the seminars as a learning tool, incorporating them into their normal instructional schedule.

This fall’s Ginn College of Engineering line-up includes National Academy of Engineering member Thom Hodgson, James Ryan professor and director of the Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engi-

neering Institute at North Carolina State University, who discussed a new approach to solving complex industrial problems.

Collaborative Series Other new series include Women in Engineering and the Sciences, sponsored by Auburn’s College of Sciences and Mathematics and College of Engineering, and the NSF-sponsored Ethics of Nanoscale Seminar Series. These lectures have brought to campus speakers such as Carol Hall, National Academy of Engineering member and Alcoa professor from North Carolina State, and Kristen Kulinowski, faculty fellow in the Department of Chemistry at Rice University and director for external affairs for the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology.

“Although the number of women in engineering is growing, it is still less than 20 percent in some disciplines,” says Bonnie Wilson, recruiter for Auburn Engineering. “Seminars such as these provide an important opportunity for students, both male and female, to see women in leadership roles within the discipline, and for students to engage in discussions about today’s fast-changing technologies and their impact on the real world.”

In some cases, the college works with other units to bring in a speaker. The recent visit of Adm. Kirk Donald, director of naval reactors, provided an excellent opportunity for ROTC and engineering students to learn more about the Navy’s long standing nuclear program and the applicability of lessons learned by the Navy to the private sector as it strives to address our nation’s growing energy issues.

“I’ve been an engineer for more than three decades and I still come to work each day excited about what I do,” says Benefield. “I believe these seminars help students, who are working through an incredibly tough curriculum, put their studies in perspective by giving them a window to the world of engineering and their future.”

Learn more at www.eng.auburn.edu/seminars

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Because “It Begins at Auburn” Every year, our dedicated alumni and supporters give back to the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. They invest their personal resources because of a belief in Auburn Engineering’s ability to develop extraordinary engineers, create new ideas and drive technology in order to create a bold future for our nation and world.

These gifts are the means by which we ensure our legacy of strong undergraduate and graduate instruction, the highest quality faculty and the innovative research for which Auburn Engineering is so widely known. This generosity is the cornerstone of our future.

Our benefactors find a variety of ways to express their personal commitment to the college’s mission and vision. They contribute to the success of the college — both for today and for tomorrow.

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Giving for today Many donors choose to support the college through gifts of cash, check, credit cards, appreciated securities, bank drafts, and online giving that can be made annually or used to establish endowments.

Annual gifts provide immediate resources for student scholarships and fellowships, faculty recruitment, program support, facilities and equipment, or any one of our leading areas of research. Endowed funds also support these areas, but an endowed gift is invested and only the interest is used to support the college while the principle continues to grow, thereby creating a gift that continues to give.

Gifts in honor or memory A gift made in honor or memory of someone is a unique way to assist the college while also paying tribute to an individual who has significantly impacted your professional or personal life. These contributions recognize the importance of a loved one, a favored professor, a colleague, or someone else who has played an essential role in your life, providing an ongoing legacy for the one for whom it is named.

Terry Lawler, a 1968 Auburn textile chemistry graduate who also holds a doctorate in textiles and polymer science from Clemson University, has made such a gift to Auburn Engineering. During Lawler’s sophomore year, his best friend and college roommate Eddie Little lost his life in an automobile accident returning to Auburn from the Thanksgiving holiday. Lawler established the Eddie Little Memorial Scholarship Endowment in an effort to make Little’s memory an ongoing part of Auburn University.

“I established a scholarship in Eddie’s memory because we both bled orange and blue,” he explains. “At any Auburn event, I always think about what it would have been like for Eddie to have had the Auburn experience that I had.”

Because of his own student experience, Lawler was intentional in designating his gifts for scholarships.

“I was raised on a small farm and our family income would not allow going away to school. I was able to Lawler attend Auburn because I got involved with the co-op program. I also received various scholarships and opportunities to work in a research laboratory,” he adds. “Because of this support, I

feel obligated to help other high school students live their dreams just as many folks helped me.”

Matching gifts Many people learn at a young age that if they work together with others they can achieve more than if they work alone. Participating in a corporate matching gift program proves this rule. Many corporations are willing to match the gifts of their employees to charitable or educational organizations. Some companies double or even triple each dollar contributed. These matching gifts elevate your donation and enable you to create greater opportunities for Auburn Engineering.

“Matching gift programs are an easy way to give back to Auburn Engineering, said Bob Harris, retired vice president and general manager of the Northern Pacific Operation of the General Electric Technical Services Company. “I take advantage of GE’s offer because it doubles what I can feasibly give, and two times as much is certainly better for the college by any measurement,” he said.

“I have a very high regard for Auburn’s College of Engineering,” added the 1947 aeronautical engineering graduate whose college career was interrupted

by World War II in which he served as a flying officer, first as a flight instructor, later in the China Burma India Theater and finally as one of the test pilots on America’s first jet aircraft.

Harris “When I graduated and went to work with GE, I always felt I could hold my own with engineering grads from any university in the world. Auburn was good to me, and I want to be good to Auburn. My former company offers me a double opportunity to do so,” said Harris.

Consult with your company’s Human Resource Department to discuss ways you can partner together to enhance your investment.

Learn more at www.matchinggifts.com/auburn.

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Annual giving

Bequests

A key component of the college’s future is gifts that are consistent and dependable. Our annual giving donors range from new graduates and young alumni to benefactors who have supported the college for decades. Annual gifts that individuals make through the Auburn Fund, the Engineering Eagles Society or our Engineering Keystone Society provide valuable resources for sustaining and enhancing innovative, creative programs in which students and faculty thrive.

Including Auburn Engineering as a beneficiary in your will is an easy way to provide for future generations of Auburn students and faculty.

A bequest can include either a percentage of your estate or a specific dollar amount. Because a will allows you to provide for those who mean the most to you, a bequest to the college demonstrates your commitment and ensures resources for tomorrow.

Annual gifts can be designated for a specific use or given as unrestricted funds that allow the college to pursue on-the-horizon opportunities and new challenges in higher education. Flexible, undesignated funds provide the resources necessary to render quality engineering education, conduct leading research, and produce graduates who set the standard for excellence.

“The education I received at Auburn — sound engineering principles combined with strong business sense — prepared me to succeed in today’s work force,” says Joshua Jones, a 2006 industrial and systems engineering grad. Jones is a territory manager for ExxonMobil based out of Memphis, who joined the Engineering Eagles Society shortly after graduation.

“I chose to become an Eagle Society member early in my career because I believe firmly in the quality and value of Auburn’s engineering program, its Jones faculty and its students,” he adds. “My donation is a financial demonstration of my support of the college and my wish to help move the college into the upper echelon of engineering programs.”

Giving for tomorrow Some donors choose to support Auburn Engineering in ways that provide resources for tomorrow while leaving a legacy beyond their lifetime. These gifts, part of an individual’s total financial and estate plan, enable our benefactors to ensure a positive future for the college and achieve personal philanthropic goals.

Learn more at www.planyourlegacy.com

Although not an Auburn alumna, Sarah Davis of Point Clear, Ala. has included a bequest to the College of Engineering in memory of her The Davises late husband, Edwin Davis, a 1950 Auburn electrical engineering graduate. In addition to recognizing her husband’s fondness for Auburn Engineering, this bequest demonstrates Davis’s dedication to the future of the college.

“I am happy to establish a bequest for Auburn Engineering in memory of Edwin,” she says. “Auburn meant a great deal to him and he would be pleased to know that we will continue to support the college for years to come through a scholarship endowment. Because of his experience, I am honored to provide scholarships for wonderful Auburn Engineering students.”

Annuities Through charitable gift annuities, donors irrevocably transfer assets to the college. In return, fixed payments are made to designated annuitants for life with the principal passing to the college when the contract ends. Deferred gift annuities allow you to postpone your annuity payments until you need them, and the longer you defer these payments, the higher the effective rate you will receive. In the meantime, the principal grows tax-free.

Benefits of gift annuities include immediate tax deductions, guaranteed annuity payments for life to the donor, and the satisfaction of making a significant gift that benefits you now and Auburn Engineering in the future.

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Fleming

“When asked how and why I give back to Auburn, my answer is that it works well with my tax situation, just as it can with yours,” says Warren Fleming, a 1943 aeronautical engineering graduate. “When I reached the age of 70½ and had to begin taking MRDs (mandatory required withdrawals) from my account, I found a tax advantage in combining them with gifts to Auburn Engineering . . . and I know that many others can do this as well.”

Fleming suggests that it has never been more important to begin looking at retirement early. Investing in IRAs and 401(k)s so that investments can be laddered is a good way to facilitate giving. He notes that while he began giving on a regular basis long before retirement, the benefits of making gifts as part of a tax structuring strategy make good sense to alumni who have reached retirement.

Life insurance A gift of a life insurance policy or its proceeds is another way to help shape the future of Auburn Engineering. Life insurance gifts can be made by naming the college as a beneficiary or partial beneficiary of a policy on your life, including policies through your employment, or by naming the college as the owner and beneficiary of a paid-up policy. The college can either cash in the policy or keep it and receive the death benefit later. This option allows you to receive gift credit and an immediate income tax deduction without adversely affecting your cash flow.

“Giving through my life insurance policy enables me to give a planned gift today to help support Auburn Engineering tomorrow,” says 1959 textile management graduate Gerald Andrews, CEO of Accelegrow Technologies in West Point, Ga. “Claire and I are proud to be Auburn graduates and to participate not just monetarily, but also with our time and heart.

“Auburn people give back because we know where we would be without Auburn,” he continues.

“Auburn is just part of me, and I feel an obligation and privilege to give for the generations to come.”

New law allows you to give now and save too On August 17, President Bush signed into law H.R. 4, the Pension Protection Act of 2006. This bill contains a two-year IRA charitable rollover provision that allows people age 70½ or older to give up to $100,000 from an IRA or Roth IRA directly to a qualified charity.

But this new IRA ruling is for a limited time only.

From now to December 31, 2006 and again from January 1 to December 31, 2007, donors have a unique opportunity to give to Auburn Engineering through this provision.

Key points of H.R. 4: q Individuals age 70½ and older may transfer up to $100,000 per year (for 2006 and 2007 only) directly from an IRA to the Auburn University Foundation. q While there is no charitable income tax deduction for the IRA rollover, the distribu tion is not included in the individual’s tax- able income, thus simplifying the donor’s tax return and saving some tax. An added bonus is that an IRA rollover by December 31 of this year will qualify for all or part of the IRA owner’s required minimum distribu tion for 2006 and again in ’07. q These charitable distributions may be made in addition to any other charitable gifts a donor makes.

Provision limitations include: q Distributions must be made to qualified charities, such as the Auburn University Foundation, as defined by federal regulations. q Distributions may not be used to fund charitable remainder trusts or charitable gift annuities.

Andrews

Andrews is quick to point out his deep affection for Auburn, recounting the times that his Harvard, Boston College, Syracuse and Notre Dame colleagues teased him about wearing his Auburn lapel pin everyday. He would respond, “I don’t really wear it everyday, some mornings I get up, and I’m in such a big hurry, I forget and leave it . . . on my pajamas.”

q State tax treatments may vary.

If you are interested in discussing this new provision with us, please contact the Office of Engineering Development at 334.844.2736 or dozieae@auburn.edu.

Auburn Engineering • 21 • Fall Semester 2006

Slammed by Katrina,

Louisiana transplant finds home at Aubur n Earl Ducote didn’t come to Auburn because he loved football, he didn’t come because his parents went here and he didn’t come to try a glass of Toomer’s lemonade. He came because the university provided him with an opportunity to complete an education disrupted

by Hurricane Katrina.

Ducote was born in New Orleans but grew up in southern Mississippi. He was on track to receive his second master’s degree, this one in environmental engineering, from the University of New Orleans (UNO), when Katrina slammed into the historic city.

“I fled New Orleans with the family of an elderly woman that lived near my apartment. We didn’t have any specific place in mind — all 13 vehicles just headed up the road toward Alabama,” says Ducote, who in May added a master’s degree in civil engineering to his bachelor’s and master’s in environmental science. “Before I left, I grabbed a basket, threw in a few changes of clothes and pulled my bachelor’s and master’s diplomas off the wall.”

along with civil engineering’s Willie Harper, a future co-chairman of Ducote’s graduate committee.

“Earl had great credentials and had worked on some interesting projects,” says Dougherty. ”Despite the disruption to his life, he had taken the initiative to get everything organized and to start classes again.”

Within a short period of time, Ducote found an apartment and a vehicle and Auburn University helped him find extra money to cover his other necessities. Initially he had hoped that by the end of the semester he would be able to return to New Orleans to start his final semester of school. But when January came around with no word of classes starting back, Ducote approached Mike Stallings, head of the Department of Civil Engineering.

“I knew then that everything — my belongings, my research — everything was under water.”

Two days later, while watching television at a shelter in Montgomery, Ducote saw that a levee less than five blocks from his apartment had broken.

“I walked into Dr. Stallings’s office and said ‘I don’t know if it’s even possible, but if I could go ahead and graduate from Auburn that would be great’,” Ducote says.

“I knew then that everything — my belongings, my research — everything was under water,” he says.

With the help of his UNO professors and Auburn faculty, Ducote was able to register for his last semester, completing a class and thesis project entitled “Integrated Control of Subsurface Wastewater Dosing via Soil Moisture Feedback,” which offers an alternative to conventional septic systems in the Black Belt region of Alabama — an area known for its rich, dark soil and plagued by failing septic tanks.

A few days later, Ducote met Anne Boutwell, a volunteer from a nearby Prattville church whose son was an Auburn Engineering graduate. She contacted Auburn University trying to find Ducote a place that would fit his educational needs and was directed to Steve Taylor, head of the Department of Biosystems Engineering.

The project is part of a larger program funded by the Alabama Agricultural Land Grant Alliance, looking at the use of subsurface drip irrigation to address sewerage needs. Ducote’s part of the project involved the control system for the drip irrigation, which has a pulsing feed to prevent soil overdosing.

“It seemed like she called one day and Earl was here, ready to get started, the next,” says Taylor. “He walked into my office in a polo shirt and khakis and said, ’These are the only nice clothes I have left.’”

“Earl’s project is part of an effort to address a very important environmental issue in Alabama,” says Taylor. “Failing septic systems pollute drinking and groundwater. By using his control panel, we can make sure the system only puts out as much as the soil can absorb.”

Taylor arranged for Ducote to enroll as a transient student. Soon an opportunity to work as a research assistant became available with Mark Dougherty of the biosystems engineering faculty and,

After graduation, Ducote found a job with a branch office of Boyle Engineering Corporation in Sarasota, Fla., which specializes in

Auburn Engineering • 22 • Fall Semester 2006

Ducote, above, with a “smart” control panel that regulates septic systems. Left, the New Orleans he left behind.

planning, designing and constructing infrastructure projects, and was chosen to represent his company as part of a state wetlands team.

Already, he has taken on roles in some of the company’s major projects, such as the design of a 10 million gallon-per-day water reclamation plant utilizing membrane bioreactor technology and a substantial water main that will run through the center of Sarasota.

“It is very rewarding to be able to work in a field which I have taken such a long journey to be a part of,” says Ducote. “I could not be where I am today if it were not for Auburn Engineering faculty like Steve Taylor, Mark Dougherty, Willie Harper, John Fulton, Mike Stallings and many others who not only challenged my thought process but also provided me with guidance and financial support.”

many ways, he met Robin Putnam, a master’s graduate in human development and family studies, at Lakeview Baptist Church in Auburn. They were married in Texas over Labor Day weekend.

“For so many reasons, Auburn University holds a special place in my heart,” says Ducote. “My degree hangs proudly on my office wall, and every time I glance at it I am reminded of how truly blessed I’ve been.”

But Ducote’s successes aren’t just in the classroom and on the job front. After being uprooted, displaced and completely changed in

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Engineers go global At Auburn University, hundreds of students travel abroad each year, participating in more than 20 university study abroad programs. The majority of them study foreign culture, history, language and other humanities discipline.

“Auburn provides a great study abroad program,” says Joe Morgan, associate dean for academics in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, “but from our perspective, what it lacks is the opportunity for our students to participate in everyday engineering practices in other parts of the world.”

Those opportunities are important. As the global economy changes, and as foreign companies move their plants to the United States, many engineers find themselves working for companies that are culturally different. Because of this, more and more students are seeing the need for international experience.

“The world is definitely shrinking and international economies are becoming increasingly important in the U.S.,” adds Morgan.

“We want our students to have exposure to industry in the rest of the world, especially as international companies are becoming more prevalent in our area.”

The program would run from late June to late July and would cater to graduate and advanced undergraduate students in the fields of aerospace, mechanical and chemical engineering and physics. Aside from classroom experiences, students will also be involved in lectures and lab time with faculty members from the University of Glasgow, all while experiencing the culture of Scotland.

“I think it’s important for students to see a bigger picture than just the Southeast, or even just the U.S.,” says Hartfield. “International opportunities make students better prepared for a future in a company or in graduate school.”

Drew Winstel, a senior in wireless engineering, spent a semester in Madrid as part of a program made possible through the Vodafone Foundation. Winstel, a Vodafone scholar at Auburn, studied at the Technical University of Madrid in summer 2006.

“I would recommend the experience to anyone looking to expand his or her horizons,” says Winstel. “As long as you go in with the attitude of wanting to learn about other cultures, you will leave with two educations: the book learning that caused you to go on the trip in the first place and a cultural experience that no amount of book learning can ever hope to duplicate.”

Travel opportunities are becoming an essential component in engineering education.

Nick Conrad is director of global education initiatives for Auburn Engineering. He makes it his goal to open up opportunities for undergraduate students to study with their peers outside the country.

Conrad says the success of the program doesn’t come from how many students he can sign up to head out. Instead, he says it’s most important for the students to take the initiative in going abroad.

“This isn’t an administration or curriculum driven program,” adds Conrad. ”The success of the program is based on two things: students who want to better understand the world and faculty members who know the value of that understanding and wish to share it with their students.”

One of these faculty members is Roy Hartfield, associate professor in aerospace engineering. Hartfield has been instrumental in developing a program that would take interested students to the University of Glasgow in Scotland to study chemical rocket propulsion in summer 2007.

“I had a friend at Glasgow, and after discussing it with him, we decided that this program could provide a great deal to Auburn students,” explains Hartfield.

Winstel heard about the opportunity during a Vodafone reception and immediately discussed it with Prathima Agrawal, head of Auburn’s wireless engineering program. When the official announcement came out, Winstel jumped at the chance. A huge soccer fan, he quickly recalled the little bit of Spanish he learned in high school, booked his plane ticket for Madrid, and spent the next semester immersing himself in not just engineering, but in all things Spanish.

“Can I say that my favorite part was all of it?” says Winstel.

“I loved the people, the cultural interaction, the lifestyle, the nightlife, everything. The people were great to work with, and weekend trips to places like Barcelona will provide stories for a long time to come.”

While he put in a lot of legwork, Winstel insists that he won’t take all the credit for his experience.

“Vodafone provided me with the opportunity of a lifetime,” he says. “There’s no way I can begin to say how thankful I am.”

Auburn Engineering • 24 • Fall Semester 2006

Auburn Engineering • 25 • Fall Semester 2006

Auburn’s effort includes tactical missile optimization work for the U.S. Army, liquid and solid rocket powered missile reverse engineering for the Missile and Space Intelligence Command, and optimizations for a variety of aerospace systems including air breathing missiles, aerodynamic shapes, and propellers.

Further research in Auburn aerospace engineering is using MEMS technology to determine wind force. The department recently implemented Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)-based incidence measurement sensors in the university’s wind tunnel, which supports several commercial, academic, and defense related research projects.

R

esearch continues to be an increasingly important component of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s mission. As we seek to move into the top ranks of engineering institutions across the nation, contributions from alumni, friends and our corporate institutional partners helps to initiate and continue research projects like these, that serve to advance the field of engineering and benefit our state, region and nation.

Aerospace

— improving fuel efficiency through aerodynamics

A comprehensive program to optimize liquid and solid rocket powered missile systems has been developed in Auburn’s Department of Aerospace Engineering. Using a genetic algorithm, an analytical system model was developed and validated, and a set of preliminary design level production tools written, assembled and validated. These tools can be used to evaluate the performance of candidate missile designs based on approximately 25 critical design parameters for a given missile system.

The performance of each design is checked using the system model and the best performing designs are used as a basis for selecting the parameters for the successive “generation” of candidate designs. The process continues until the system is sufficiently optimized for the application at hand.

Precise sensing of the incidence of a wind tunnel model, also referred to as the angle of attack, is essential to the accurate determination of the forces and moments acting on the model. Conventional angle measurement techniques use potentiometers and optical encoders at the root of the model support system, which do not account for the flexing of the support sting at high tunnel speeds.

To overcome this problem, through a grant from the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal, a team of aerospace student researchers implanted a MEMS sensor near the model’s center of gravity and mounted another to the C-Strut. The real-time measurement of the two angles readily gave the differences in the angles at high speeds that would have introduced significant error in results. This technique has now been fully implemented in the new automated data reduction architecture of the wind tunnel.

Biosystems — reducing dependence on foreign oil

Reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign sources of oil is the motivation behind several Auburn biosystems engineering research efforts. Faculty have been leading efforts to characterize the physical and thermodynamic properties of various biomass energy feedstocks. The department’s research also has evaluated different bioprocessing methods that improve the economic efficiency of using biomass feedstocks for energy sources.

An Auburn multidisciplinary team of engineers and agricultural scientists is tackling the old problem of how to best handle all of the poultry litter produced in the state of Alabama. A biosystems

Auburn Engineering • 26 • Fall Semester 2006

engineering team is perfecting new processing techniques for packaging the litter into a compact, easy-to-handle form so it can be efficiently used as bioenergy feedstock.

The team is also developing a geographic information systems-based decision support system that helps producers, vendors, and potential energy users match their energy needs with the most economical feedstock sources.

Civil

— improving water quality

Pelletized switchgrass is one example of a biomass energy feedstock being studied by faculty in Auburn biosystems engineering.

Their research emphasizes new bioprocessing techniques that increase production efficiencies for fuels and power from biomass feedstocks.

Chemical — advancing technology in nanomedicine

Based on a technology developed and patented by Auburn chemical engineering faculty, this equipment utilizes supercritical carbon dioxide to produce nanoparticles of a wide variety of drugs, making it significant in the pharmaceutical industry.

An Auburn chemical engineering research team has developed a technology to produce pharmaceutical nanoparticles for use in nanomedicine. Nanoparticles can increase drug solubility, enhance availability to the body, allow tissue targeting and reduce drug side-effects. With last year’s approval of the FDA’s first nanomedicine, a breast cancer treatment called Abraxane, a greater importance has been placed on research in this field.

The researchers have developed SASEM technology to produce nanoparticles of controllable size and morphology. This patented technology utilizes supercritical carbon dioxide to produce nanoparticles of a wide variety of drugs, and has been adopted by the pharmaceutical industry for large-scale production.

A member of the Auburn team has also written the textbook “Nanoparticle Technology for Drug Delivery” to present practical issues concerning the manufacture and biological application of nanoparticles. The book discusses all four aspects of nanomedicine: production techniques, quality control, medical usage and ethical and regulatory issues.

Pharmaceutical compounds (PhACs) and their byproducts in water bodies may cause reproductive anomalies in invertebrates and humans. Brought to the forefront in the water quality community over the past three decades, these concerns have intensified over the past 20 years as improvements in analytical methods coupled with larger scale surveys revealed the broad range of apparently persistent PhACs present in the water cycle.

Investigating the removal of pharmaceutical compounds from biological wastewater treatment systems, Auburn civil engineering researchers can identify microbial species using a fluorescent probe and a procedure called fluorescent A research team in Auburn civil en- in-situ hybridization (FISH). Here, FISH is used to identify nitrifying gineering is studying the removal of PhACs from biological wastewa- microorganisms, which appear green and may play a role in the ter treatment systems — the last biodegradation of pharmaceutical line of defense for preventing the compounds. proliferation of these chemicals in our environment. The team’s work combines the use of the traditional tools of environmental engineering, such as mathematical modeling and laboratory-scale experimentation, with modern tools such as molecularly-based methods and nuclear magnetic resonance. Modern microscopic and computational tools are used to study the mass transport and fate of PhACs within activated sludge floc particles, and molecular analysis is employed to characterize microbial communities and metabolic pathways.

The long range goal of this ongoing work is to develop conceptual and mathematical models for predicting the degradation and fate of pharmaceutical compounds in biological systems.

Computer science and software — controlling mobile network congestion

Through a National Science Foundation-sponsored research project, researchers in Auburn computer science and software engineering are helping to improve congestion control for mobile computers and devices under harsh wireless transmission conditions.

Auburn Engineering • 27 • Fall Semester 2006

While the research networking community has focused for the last 15 years on the problem of routing in mobile networks, little has been done to tackle the problem of congestion in such networks and to enhance their performance. CSSE graduate and undergraduate students are participating in this effort to propose and explore new techniques.

The project’s major objective is to design unique techniques that will improve the experience of using wireless devices on the move, especially in audio and video applications.

Electrical and computer

And to improve mote reliability, the Auburn team designed an ad-hoc algorithm that allows the network to reconfigure its messaging pattern on the fly, and monitoring software that allows a user to record all communications during a certain time window and play them back one step at a time — a crucial process in understanding the detailed, intertwined sequences of events that occur in a wireless sensor network.

Industrial and systems — maximizing warehouse efficiency

— going mobile with mote technology

A research team in Auburn electrical and computer engineering has added mobility to a relatively new class of small, battery-powered electronic devices known as motes.

The size of a business card, motes typically contain a microcomputer, radio transceiver and sensors and can operate unattended on battery power for up to two years. They are usually deployed in networks of anywhere from 10 to several hundred and can communicate with each other and with a base station.

Motes can be distributed geographically in remote locations to monitor environmental conditions such as temperature, sunlight, atmospheric contamination, soil conditions and sound. They also have applications in military operations for monitoring troop Through its mobile wireless senmovements and hazardous sor network, Auburn electrical and substances, and in industrial computer engineering researchers attached a sensor interface circuit to facilities and building security. a commercial mote — battery-powered electronic device — and mounted it on By mounting a mote on a small robotic vehicle, allowing the a robotic vehicle that the mote to collect data over a wide area. mote’s computer can “drive,” the Auburn team’s research should make it possible to have a sensor network that can adapt to its environment in new and useful ways, such as detecting a gas leak and commanding its carrier vehicle to begin moving and follow the gas concentration to its source.

Auburn industrial and systems engineering research has resulted in new aisle design for pallet warehouses that translates to a reduction in item retrieval costs of about 20 percent.

Funded by the National Science Foundation and in partnership with the By reconfiguring aisle orientation in University of Arkansas, Auburn pallet warehouses, Auburn industrial faculty built mathematical and systems engineering research models to identify optimal aisle reduces item retrieval costs and designs. Taking into account increases picking efficiency. for the first time how aisles should be configured in a warehouse to minimize the expected time to retrieve an item, the team’s “fishbone aisle” strategy orients some aisles horizontally and some vertically, allowing employees to closely approximate direct “travel-by-flight” to the “pickup-and-deposit” point and making their travel to outlying locations much more direct.

Entitled “Designing Distribution Centers for the Service Economy,” this patent-pending research has drawn the interest of a major U.S. retailer.

Materials — making air and land travel safer

Civil aviation has long been the target of choice for terrorists, and there is ongoing concern over their potential use of chemical or biological agents against airliners. Awareness has also heightened over the potential role of civil aviation in epidemics and pandemics.

In response to these threats, an Auburn team of researchers from

Auburn Engineering • 28 • Fall Semester 2006

materials engineering, sciences and mathematics and veterinary medicine is leading the effort on a Federal Aviation Administrationfunded Air Transportation Center of Excellence for Airliner Cabin Environment Research (ACER).

Auburn University, as administrative lead in collaboration with Harvard A research team including Auburn and Purdue Universities materials engineering used this DC-9 and as technical co-leads and hardware for a full-scale demonstration of four other universities as its work in airliner decontamination. core team members of ACER, is conducting research on the decontamination of airliners.

This includes lab work on efficacy against biological agents; materials compatibility with airliner structural and cabin materials; and the optimal method of delivering the decontamination agent.

At Orlando International Airport, in collaboration with Steris Corporation and AeroClave LLC, ACER recently undertook a successful fullscale demonstration of whole airliner decontamination, employing a decommissioned DC-9 aircraft belonging to AeroClave. In early 2007 ACER plans to scale up this demonstration to a Boeing 747 located at the FAA’s Civil Aeromedical Institute in Oklahoma City. ACER will also demonstrate decontamination of mass transit vehicles such as buses and rail cars.

Mechanical — responding to energy demands

In response to greater energy demands and the need for very large liquid natural gas tankers, Auburn mechanical engineering researchers are re-tailoring their research conducted in the midTypical LNG tanker with five 90s to spherical containers model the complex fluid flow and thermal fields of proposed new tankers.

Through detailed modeling analysis, problems with thermal stratification and undesired boil-off can be addressed.

The research findings can also affect the storage of liquid propellants and other industrial fluids.

Polymer and fiber — giving fabric transmission capability

An Auburn polymer and fiber engineering research team is developing electronic transmission-capable fabric that could enhance the nation’s communication infrastructure.

Developing geotextile antennas that have applications including electronic transmission from beneath asphalt, a team of Auburn polymer and fiber engineering researchers test cell phone signal transmission from beneath a roadbed and through a full-sized SUV at the university’s National Center for Asphalt Technology near Auburn.

These geotextile antennas will be flexible and easily conform to natural and manmade surfaces such as trees, roofs, bridges and roads.

Since geotextiles are already used in many roadways, the antennas would serve dual purposes ­— road reinforcement/waterproofing and cell phone or other antennas. Applications of this technology would be less vulnerable to damage and probably less expensive than current highly vulnerable and costly cell towers.

The Auburn team’s first step is investigating the electronic and mechanical characteristics of fabricated textile structures containing electronic transmission and reception materials within load-bearing fibrous foundation devices. This project is laying the research groundwork to construct antennas using nonwoven geotextiles with embedded metallic or other wave carrying fibers. These fabrics are intended to become an internal, integral part of the nation’s infrastructure.

Variation of temperature in a model of a LNG-holding spherical container

Auburn Engineering • 29 • Fall Semester 2006

Auburn mechanical engineering’s Peter Jones took home this year’s coveted Carroll Smith Mentor’s Cup from the Society of Automotive Engineers in recognition of his outstanding leadership of Auburn Engineering’s War Eagle Motorsports student racers, at ceremonies at Detroit.

Peter Jones honored

by Society of Automotive Engineers “I’m thrilled, of course, more thrilled than by any other award I’ve received. It makes me feel I’ve really got something to live up to,” says Auburn mechanical engineering faculty Peter Jones of being honored by the Society of Automotive Engineers with the 2006 Carroll Smith Mentor’s Cup.

year by the Sports Car Club of America. Jones has been advisor of Auburn’s Formula SAE team for six years, also spending 12 years working with the university’s Baja SAE team.

The faculty advisor to Auburn’s Baja SAE and Formula SAE teams received the award at the 2006 Formula SAE competition in Detroit in May. “I’m deeply grateful to all my teams, who have made a success of Auburn’s War Eagle Motorsports program,” he adds, “and to Auburn Engineering, which had the vision to grasp what the teams are all about.”

The Mentor’s Cup recognizes outstanding mentoring by one of the 190 Formula SAE advisors. It is named after the late Carroll Smith, team manager for Carol Shelby’s victorious Le Mans endurance team and long-term head design judge for Formula SAE. Nominations for the award come from the teams and are then voted upon by other competition advisors. The award is presented each Auburn Engineering • 30 • Fall Semester 2006

“I’ve always admired the winners of this award because they have such all-around class as engineers, teachers and people,” adds Jones.

“They are the giants who made Formula SAE into the worldleading educational experience that it is today. It is humbling to be included in that group.”

E C E raises the bar

Faculty members are the heart of great engineering schools. Leadership in the classroom and laboratory as well as in the professional arena is the foundation from which student achievement grows.

According to Dave Irwin, Williams Eminent Scholar and head of Auburn’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, leadership in the professional world is crucial because it helps to ensure that classroom content remains relevant and research stays on the cutting edge. For the discipline of electrical engineering, that professional arena is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Comprised of more than 365,000 individuals in approximately 150 countries, IEEE is the world’s leading authority in technical areas ranging from computer engineering, biomedical engineering, and telecommunications to electrical power, aerospace engineering and consumer electronics.

“Among our faculty members we have 15 senior members and 13 IEEE Fellows,” says Irwin. “Not bad, considering the grade of Fellow is conferred by the board of directors upon a very limited number of individuals with an extraordinary record of accomplishment at the international level. Based on their current performance, I fully expect that many of our junior faculty will one day be similarly honored.”

Given these stats it’s not surprising that Auburn electrical and computer engineering is recognized internationally for leading programs and grads that rise above the bar.

“Our 32-member faculty is as accomplished and hard working as any in the world,” adds Irwin. “In the 2004-05 academic year, our faculty taught 97 percent of the undergraduate ECE courses, as opposed to classes taught by teaching assistants or adjunct faculty; directed research and taught classes for 153 graduate students; and spent an average of six to eight hours per week working with students outside the classroom. Despite a teaching load among the highest in the region, they also manage to be leaders in their profession.”

Agrawal

Bogdan Wilamowski directs the Alabama Microelectronics Science and Technology Center, a cross-disciplinary research unit investigating new concepts in microelectronics.

Selected as a national professor in Poland, he is, a leader in the areas of computational intelligence and soft computing, CAD development, solid-state electronics, mixed signal and analog signal processing and network programming. Wilamowski holds 29 patents, has authored four textbooks and serves as president of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society.

For examples of excellence, Irwin points to the directors of some of the department’s research centers — all card-carrying IEEE Fellows.

“These three individuals capture the strength of our faculty, the depth of their expertise, their strong work ethic, and commitment to our students,” says Irwin, also an IEEE Fellow. “I come to work each morning excited about these people and about this place. It is a privilege to be associated with such outstanding professionals.”

Prathima Agrawal, Samuel Ginn Distinguished Professor and director of Auburn’s Wireless Engineering Research and Education Center, leads the college’s extensive wireless efforts. Her groundbreaking research in the areas of mobile and wireless networking, computer architecture and computer-aided design and testing of integrated circuits has resulted in 35 patents.

Johnson

AuburnAuburn Engineering Engineering • 31 • Fall • 31Semester • Fall Semester 2006 2006

Wilamowski

Samuel Ginn Professor Wayne Johnson heads ECE’s Laboratory for Electronics Assembly and Packaging, which provides state-of-the-art electronics manufacturing, packaging, characterization, reliability testing, and failure analysis capability. He also directs Auburn University’s Information Technology Peak of Excellence primary research area and is editor in chief of IEEE Transactions on Electronic Packaging and Manufacturing.

Putting advanced weapons technology to good use When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, tens of thousands of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons specialists were left struggling for a way to make ends meet in the face of an uncertain political and economic future. The U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) was founded in 1995 to address international concern that struggling former weapons specialists were selling their highly advanced knowledge to dangerous rouge states and terror groups looking to build nuclear weapons programs.

“Most of that part of the world is very unstable, and the CRDF is helping to provide stability to these scientists and engineers through research grants,” explains Ralph Zee, associate dean for research in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. “Without these grants, many could not afford to feed their families. The scientists there are desperate.”

Zee has been an active participant in the CRDF program since its infancy. He began as part of a research effort to purchase highly advanced components of the Soviet nuclear space program for the U.S. government and now works with a Zee team of other scientists and engineers reviewing programs of grant applicants. In September, Zee spent a week in the small nation of Georgia evaluating the applications of former soviet scientists.

the CRDF board about which projects are worthy of grants. They hope this new group of grant recipients will soon be able to add their research to the CRDF’s long list of success stories.

Zee says that though science in Georgia has come a long way since the nation first declared its independence in 1991, researchers still rely on the CRDF grants to survive. Over the past 10 years, CRDF has given $6.8 million in grants to almost 700 Georgian scientists, including more than 200 former Soviet weapons experts.

Batumi

“We want to keep their scientists from doing weapons research,” he says, describing the program’s ultimate goal. “I hope that the program will help bring peace to this very volatile and unstable part of the world.”

Back in Auburn, Zee integrates his work with the CRDF into his approach to engineering education.

“We learn from what other people are doing,” he stresses. His travels give him first hand insight into a world of engineering being redefined by liberty, freedom and democracy.

From building better ultra sound equipment for emergency room trauma units to investigating patterns in nuclear fission and the causes of tsunamis, former communist weapons scientists are making positive scientific contributions to the world with the assistance of the CRDF and the expertise of engineers like Ralph Zee.

While traveling in the mountainous region, he and his team visited nine research centers at state universities to interview scientists about their project goals. The reviewers made recommendations to

Auburn Engineering • 32 • Fall Semester 2006

Learn more at www.crdf.org

Georgia Tbilisi

Auburn Engineering • 33 • Fall Semester 2006

From API to AT&V . . .

Bill Cutts viewed as industry leader Bill Cutts left Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1955, and like many industrial management graduates before and since, worked his way into technical sales — in his case, mostly in big-ticket industrial equipment, working in Birmingham, Detroit, Knoxville and Atlanta.

It had been a good decade out of school. It was, however, not a good day for Bill Cutts, who stood on the sidewalk, unemployed, as of 3 p.m.

It was not the result of a rush to judgment — Cutts is a methodical thinker who plays the tape to the end before making his move, and he had just been asked to cut his commissions in half by his employer.

His answer was no — even though that meant taking a chance and jumping into deep, new waters.

His ace in the hole turned out to be a good friend and colleague, Bill McKinney, who gave him a list of 15 clients who needed sales agents.

Cutts signed with six of them, including one that made heat exchangers for the nuclear generation industry.

“I made more money on one deal with them than I had made in the past six months,” the Alabama native remembers. “So I took it a step further and began to build heat exchangers with my brother, in a shop in Eufaula.”

He also sold a number of other products they built there, and made the transition from manufacturing agent to product sales. In a harbinger of the business that was later to make his name, he sold his first storage tank – for an asphalt contractor, he recollects — in 1967.

By the early ’70s Cutts was doing well, though he admits there was much to learn about running a business.

“I knew how to build the products,” he remembers, “but I didn’t know how to attract and retain people . . . something that’s very important to me now. I am surrounded now by great people who can design, build and sell our products without my direct involvement. What we have works because they work so well.”

with colleagues Jasper Reaves and Tom Bentley. The former handles field operations and the latter, product estimation.

Moving from a plate roller sitting under a pecan tree in Lucedale, Miss., the company made a strategic move to place sales and engineering in Mobile, while expanding production at a new plant in Lucedale, where some 150-200 employees are now part of the company. A second production facility was later added in Houston, managed by son W.T. Cutts, and sales offices are in Birmingham and Baton Rouge.

With Cutts as CEO, American Tank & Vessel now stands as one of the leaders in the industry, with worldwide sales in steel tanks for paper mills, petrochemical companies, and refineries. The company has also branched out into stainless tanks and pressure vessels, which are more technically complex to build, and into offshore repair operations.

“Many, many people have contributed to our success,” says Cutts during a quick tour of his facilities in Mobile, Lucedale and Moss Point, Miss., the intracoastal waterway location where many AT&V products are, quite literally, shipped. “As we move into the next decade we are looking to hire a new generation of engineers to move the company forward, and I hope that Auburn plays a big part in fulfilling that role.

“We are looking for young engineers who want to share in our future, and co-op students as well, as we help bring the next generation of engineers on line. I want them to have what I had in a great education, and in a future that you can build for yourself.”

One of those people is James Davidson, who incorporated with Cutts in 1982 as American Tank & Vessel. Cutts took on sales and engineering, with Davidson responsible for operations and labor relations. Davidson’s brother Dwaine joined the team as well, along Auburn Engineering • 34 • Fall Semester 2006

Learn more at www.at-v.com

“. . . as we help bring the next generation of engineers on line . . . I want them to have what I had in a great education, and in a future that you can build for yourself.”

Auburn Engineering • 35 • Fall Semester 2006

Auburn Engineering • 36 • Fall Semester 2006

Rudy Bray mixes process and product

at innovative Pensacola engineering firm

“Talk quick,” the student said somewhat impatiently into the phone.

“I’m in the middle of a final!”

warning sensors for helicopter navigation, and water purification systems that use engine heat to operate.

Pulled from his exam in DC machinery by his professor, senior Rudy Bray found himself in the middle of a conversation with a corporate recruiter who wasn’t offering him the interview he expected.

An air-conditioned golf cart was one of Vertec’s few misses – but more from a marketing perspective than an engineering one. An allterrain wheelchair was a hit, with a steady stream of orders for the balloon-wheeled, beach-ready product.

It was a job instead.

The Florida native accepted the offer, and began a technology-driven career that carried him to the Air Force, RCA, and Chemstrand/ Monsanto before opening his own highly successful corporation, Pensacola-based Vertec.

“I’ve enjoyed to a large degree all of my engineering assignments,” Bray recollects.

“Working for RCA at Cape Canaveral was something I really enjoyed in terms of the development work I was able to do . . . but at the same time, I wanted to be near my home in Pensacola, which is one of the reasons I went with Chemstrand.”

Along the way, Vertec has delivered stainless steel nuclear components, instrument enclosures, law surveillance equipment, assemblies for medical lasers, and laser printers.

“I enjoyed my time at Auburn . . . What I learned there has allowed me to think analytically about the kinds of engineering and business challenges I face on a daily basis.”

Following a near three-decade run with the company, which later merged with Monsanto, Bray took early retirement and joined his son Ronald, who was already working with him during Vertec’s beginnings.

At Vertec the two were involved in cutting-edge biomedical engineering, with one project successful in remote monitoring of cardiac patients with pacemakers.

“We were able to get information to doctors through tone modulated transmission over phone lines,” the elder Bray recalls. “It was really ahead of the curve at the time we worked it out, and it brought Vertec into the medical electronics field.”

It also brought the company a reputation for innovation, and for an ability to translate research and development into manufactured products.

“People started coming to us asking, ‘Can you do this?’,” he points out. “And we were generally able to translate a lot of dreams into reality.”

“A large component of our business has been prototyping high-tech components,” Bray explains. “We’ve done this, as well as the production aspects that follow, for industry as well as medical and military clients, since 1976.”

Bray’s 20,000 square-foot shop north of downtown Pensacola includes a welding shop, metal fabrication and finishing shop, machine shop, electronics development area, silkscreen printing and painting areas, and development and assembly modules that wind almost haphazardly around Vertec’s four-acre site a block or two off a main north-south traffic artery.

When he’s not at work he enjoys Pensacola’s waters — and its people. It’s obvious, as he goes through the day, that the personalities Bray interacts with, on and off the plant site, mean a lot to him in his daily routine. It’s a sensibility he brought to Auburn as well.

“I enjoyed my time at Auburn, and the opportunities that were presented to me there – as well as my professors and fellow students,” he reminisces. “It was a special time in my life. What I learned there has allowed me to think analytically about the kinds of engineering and business challenges I face on a daily basis.”

Bray has some 13 patents to his credit, and many more disclosures.

“I credit Auburn in large part for this because Auburn made me an engineer,” says Bray with pride in his voice. “It’s been great.”

Vertec has worked on process as well as product, developing thermistor-based sensing systems for feedback control in carpet tufting,

Auburn Engineering • 37 • Fall Semester 2006

Learn more at www.vertec.net

Council honors

fellow alumni

Recognized at October’s Auburn Alumni Engineering Council honors banquet for their contributions to and achievements in engineering are (from left) Jason Thompson, Jim Kennedy, James Carroll, Linda Figg, Kehao Zhang accepting for his father Shaoqin Zhang, James Hoskins and Jim Voss, accompanied by council chair Wiley Cauthen.

In conjunction with its Auburn Alumni Engineering Council, the College of Engineering honored four alums as Distinguished Auburn Engineers, awarded two alumni for their personal achievements and named an additional alumnus Outstanding Young Engineer during ceremonies at Auburn in October.

“We are truly proud of these graduates and the ways in which they have distinguished themselves in the engineering profession,” says Larry Benefield, dean of engineering. “We are grateful that they were able to take time out of their schedules and visit with fellow engineering alums on the Auburn campus.”

Distinguished Auburn engineers James H. Carroll, Jr. is a 1954 industrial management graduate and president and CEO of Carroll Air Systems, Inc., a company he founded in 1972. His service to Auburn includes Auburn Alumni Engineering Council life member, Auburn Alumni Association board of directors, Samford Society, 1856 Society, All American Society, Auburn Engineering Dean’s Club and Engineering Eagles Society.

Carroll serves on the Engineering Development Committee and the Auburn Athletic Advisory Council, and his professional society relationships include NSPE, Florida Engineering Society, and the Tampa

West Coast Chapter of ASHRAE where he was honored as engineer of the year. He has also served in multiple positions on the National Society of ASHRAE. James M. Hoskins is a 1981 electrical engineering graduate and president, CEO, and chairman of the board for Scitor Corporation in Herndon, Va. He completed a distinguished career in the U.S. Air Force before joining Scitor in 1994. His experience includes assignments at the Air Force Cryptology Depot, the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office and the Central Intelligence Agency. Hoskins received the Distinguished Service Medal from DCI, Bronze Medallion from the director of the National Security Agency, and two Defense Superior Service Medals from the Secretary of Defense. His leadership and vision have contributed to the success of Scitor’s businesses, with revenues growing from $16 million to $350 million during his tenure.

James S. Voss, a 1972 aerospace engineering alumnus, is vice president for space exploration systems at Transformational Space Corporation (t/Space) in Reston, Va. The veteran astronaut served on five space flights and logged 201 days in space, including four space walks. As part of the Expedition 2 crew that launched on March 8, 2001 aboard STS-102 Discovery, he was a member of only

Auburn Engineering • 38 • Fall Semester 2006

Technology of Shanxi Province. His awards include Innovation Award from the Shanxi Province Government, China National Expert Award from the Chinese government, and Patent Award from China’s Taiyuan University of Science and Technology.

Auburn Engineering Achievement Awards Linda Figg is a 1981 civil engineering graduate and president, CEO and director of bridge art, Figg Engineering Group, Tallahassee. She leads a family of engineering companies that is exclusively focused on creating bridges as art. Figg is experienced in all aspects of bridge development, and 1998, Engineering News Record recognized her as one of 22 Newsmakers of the Year for her leadership in managing the development of the Garcon Point toll bridge in Pensacola. In 2002 she became president and CEO of bridge art, Figg Engineering Group, which under her leadership has experienced unprecedented growth. She was honored by Florida Engineering Society (FES) Big Bend Chapter in 1999 for outstanding technical achievement for the managing development of the Garcon Point Bridge and honored by FES in 2004 for outstanding service.

the second crew to live on the International Space Station. During the expedition, he was the first person to operate the ISS Robotic Manipulator System, Canadarm2. Voss retired from NASA in 2003 to serve as associate dean for external affairs in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Now at t/Space, he is responsible for all technical space activities, including design and fabrication of a human spacecraft to support ISS. Honors bestowed upon him include membership in the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, U.S. Army Distinguished Service Medal, NASA Outstanding Leadership Award, and William P. Clements Jr. award for Excellence in Education.

Shaoqin Zhang is a 1989 mechanical engineering graduate and vice governor of the People’s Government of Shanxi Province, China. His professional experience began as principal research fellow and principal engineer at the Singapore Institute of Standards and Industrial Research. From there he moved from department head, vice president to president and professor at China’s Taiyuan Heavy Machinery Institute. In 2003 he was chosen to serve as the vice governor of Shanxi Province in charge of educational affairs — a great honor for a scholar without traditional human connections in the Chinese society. Zhang is a standing member of the China Mechanics Society in Beijing and executive board chairman of Academic, Science and

James W. Kennedy is a 1972 mechanical engineering graduate and the eighth director of NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center. Prior to this appointment, he served as KSC’s deputy director and deputy director of NASA’s George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville. He served as project manager for major initiatives such as the X-34 and the DC-XA, and led NASA efforts to help make the agency more effective and efficient by encouraging teamwork across all field centers. In 1996 he served as manager for Marshall’s Space Shuttle Projects Resident Office at KSC, and was named manager of the Solid Rocket Booster Project. In 1998 he was selected as deputy director of science and engineering, and a year later he became director of engineering. Kennedy has received numerous awards, including NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal and Outstanding Leadership Medal.

Outstanding Young Engineer Award Jason B. Thompson is a 1993 (B.S.) and 2000 (Ph.D.) Auburn chemical engineering graduate and cardiology fellow at the John Hopkins University School of Chemical Engineering in Baltimore.

He began his career with Ciba Geigy Corporation as a development engineer, returning to Auburn in 1994 to earn his doctorate, pursuing a medical degree simultaneously. During his doctoral research he developed cutting-edge techniques for the precise production of metal nanoparticles via reverse micelles to be used as marking agents in biological and medical imaging techniques, and presented his work nationally and internationally. He served as chief medical resident and instructor of medicine in UAB’s Department of Internal Medicine from 2001-04. Thompson’s extensive list of honors includes many scholarships, the Ben Friedman Award for Excellence in Teaching by an intern, the C. Glenn Cobbs Award for outstanding performance in his residency program and the Samuel Clements Little Award for his performance during his neurology rotation.

Auburn Engineering • 39 • Fall Semester 2006

Promote.

U n i f y.

S e r v e .

That is the mission of the Cupola Engineering Society — student ambassadors of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Founded by students in 1995, the society has developed into an established part of Auburn Engineering. Members interface with alumni, help with special projects such as E-Day and the BEST robotics competition, and give tours to prospective students and their parents. To schedule a tour, contact Engineering Student Services at 334.844.4310.

Learn more at www.eng.auburn.edu/cupola

From top left - Kyle MacDonald, Luke Edwards, Michael Taylor; Row 2 - Nicole Hedrick, Brooke Hill; Row 3 - Lance Rogers, Katy Milam

From top left - Nathan Smith, Christa Soutullo, Josh Connell, Paul Hutchinson; Row 2 - Yonti Anchrum, Justin Ovson From top left - Tenika Johnson, Hal Dell, Todd Dorough, Seth Curl, Prescott Burden; Row 2 - Heather Layne, Stephani Leach Auburn Engineering • 40 • Fall Semester 2006

Auburn

Engineering at a glance q The 2007 U.S.News & World Report ranks the college 35th in undergraduate engineering programs and 46th in graduate programs among U.S. public universities

q AU is first in the nation to offer an accredited bachelor’s degree in wireless engineering, graduating the program’s inaugural class in 2004, and first in the Southeast to offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees in software engineering

q A major educational and research facility, the college offers 26 master’s and doctoral degree programs, is home to 12 multidisciplinary research centers, and conducts approximately half of the university’s $71 million annual research program

q According to the American Society for Engineering Education, AU has Alabama’s largest engineering program, producing about half of the state’s engineering graduates, and ranks 34th in the nation in number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to women

q Auburn Engineering faculty and staff work closely with Alabama industry via research partnerships and technical assistance programs designed to grow and protect the state’s economy. Each year, the college’s on- and off-campus continuing education programs serve some 7,500 participants from 38 states

q The college maintains an aggressive campaign to update and expand classroom and laboratory facilities, including the new $108 million Sen. Richard C. and Dr. Annette N. Shelby Center for Engineering Technology, to advance engineering technology in multiple disciplines

q The family of Auburn Engineering alumni is more than 30,000 strong

Samuel Ginn College of Engineering Auburn University 108 Ramsay Hall Auburn, AL 36849-5330

2006-016-CoE

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Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer.