IMPACT 2009-10

09 10 College of engineering, architecture & technology OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY

A Matter The past year has been a celebratory one for This issue introduces the newest CEAT scholOSU College of Engineering, Architecture ars and a sampling of our outstanding graduates of Quality the and Technology. Our new architecture facility whose accomplishments range from architecture

Karl Reid, dean of the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, celebrates success at the April dedication of the college’s Donald W. Reynolds School of Architecture Building.

opened to students in the fall, corresponding with the program’s 100-year anniversary and its recognition as one of the nation’s best. We welcomed home and proudly displayed the works of alumni at the building’s dedication this spring.

In the 2008 issue of Impact magazine, we described CEAT’s unique scholarships and enrichment opportunities to draw talented students.

The 2009-2010 issue focuses on other recruiting incentives the college has put in place such as innovative courses, unique facilities, prominent faculty, dedicated staff, accomplished alumni and outstanding programs and facilities — such as the OSU School of Architecture.

In this issue, you’ll read about Maude’s Quad, a readymade community for female students; an advanced psychrometric chamber; a unique speaker series; the expansion and continuing acclaim of our aerospace engineering program; and a multi-disciplinary, three-semester capstone course uniting seniors from three departments.

to entrepreneurship to rocket science. Among those are Meemong Lee and Richard Weidner, alumni of the OSU School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and principal engineers with Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.

CEAT begins working with students well before they enroll at OSU in accordance with the recommendations to strengthen K through 12 science, technology, engineering and math education set forth by the National Academies’ 2005 report, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm,” and its follow-up, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Two Years Later.”

We have placed resources and leadership on the FIRST Robotics Program and the state’s pre-engineering academies. Both are growing rapidly, and the demand for CEAT programs in engineering and technology is likewise increasing. CEAT has also designed a summer program to close gaps between the high school and college curricula. Another program, funded by the National Science Foundation, trains teachers to incorporate engineering in middle school classrooms. In this issue of Impact, you’ll read about these programs as well as our recruitment efforts, which currently lead the university.

While the critical shortage of qualified engineering professionals continues to be a major concern in engineering education and practice, we are confident that we’re meeting the problem head on and addressing it effectively. Our success results from the vision and labor of many, but we are especially indebted to the CEAT Associates whose wisdom and guidance helps prioritize CEAT’s endeavors.

CEAT has thrived because of dedicated individuals like the Associates who have given of their time and resourses. As we move forward with the university’s “Branding Success” campaign to raise funds for students, faculty, programs and facilities, we ask all our alumni and friends to remember the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology.

Karl N. Reid, Dean

College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology

photo / gary Lawson

About the cover

Fifth-year architecture student Samantha Sanders in OSU’s Donald W. Reynolds School of Architecture Building says the new 75,000-square-foot facility “feels like a reward.” Cover photography is by Gary Lawson. The related story is on page 29.

8 World Contenders Imagination takes students to the finals in a world competition.

16 A New Kind of Hero

Inspiration and opportunity advance a solution to the shortage of STEM students.

•

29 Learning by Seeing A new home for architecture provides more than space for students.

36 A New Dimension

A dynamic program grows even stronger.

45 Exercising Control Facilities present unique research opportunities.

50 Standing on the Shoulders of Giants photography / Phil shockley

Extraordinary alumni build the college’s reputation for excellence.

Departments

2 Student Digest 12 Research, Teaching, Outreach 50 Alumni Success 60 Noteworthy

OSU Orange, story on page 10

IMPACT is a publication of the Oklahoma State University College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology and is designed to provide information on college activities and accomplishments while fostering communication among the CEAT family and friends.

Visit www.ceat.okstate.edu, or arrange a VIP visit by contacting Dean Karl Reid at karl.reid@okstate.edu or 405 744-5140.

The office of publication for IMPACT is 121 Cordell North, Stillwater, OK 740788031. Copyright © 2010, IMPACT. All rights reserved.

IMPACT

Eileen Mustain, editor Paul Fleming, art director Janet Varnum, associate editor Phil Shockley, photographer Gary Lawson, photographer Kyle Wray, associate vice president of enrollment management and marketing

Oklahoma State University in compliance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other federal laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, disability, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices or procedures. This includes but is not limited to admissions, employment, financial aid, and educational services. Title IX of the Education Amendments and Oklahoma State University policy prohibit discrimination in the provision of services of benefits offered by the University based on gender. Any person (student, faculty or staff) who believes that discriminatory practices have been engaged in based upon gender may discuss their concerns and file informal or formal complaints of possible violations of Title IX with the OSU Title IX Coordinator, Director of Affirmative Action, 408 Whitehurst, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, 405-744-5371 or 405-744-5576 (fax).

This publication, issued by Oklahoma State University as authorized by the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, was printed by University Marketing Services, Career Tech, at a cost of $21,000.00 16,050/Nov 2010/job #3107.

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

2

Photography / Phil Shockley

When it comes to scholars,

CEAT claims boasting rights

Over the years, numerous students in OSU’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology have become national scholars. Four other outstanding students swell those ranks in 2009. Two of those garner prestigious National Science Foundation graduate fellowships in 2010.

Lay Receives Udall, NSF Fellowship

Ryan Paul, an aerospace engineering senior, is OSU’s 17th Goldwater Scholar.

The Goldwater Scholarship, which provides up to $7,500 per year for two years to cover the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board, is one of the most prestigious and competitive scholarships for undergraduate sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue careers in mathematics, natural sciences or engineering.

Paul excels in research, a critical element of the Goldwater candidacy according to Robert Graalman, director of the OSU Office of Scholar Development.

“Ryan has quietly put together a remarkable résumé of research and scholarly accomplishment and will eventually be known widely for his contributions to the field of aerospace engineering,” Graalman says.

In 2007, Paul, along with Dustin Gamble and Valentin Sanchez, members of Professor Andy Arena’s aerospace student team, set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world record in a point and return range mission with an unmanned aerial vehicle called the Pterosoar.

In 2008, Paul was part of a team of aerospace engineering students who collaborated with physics students to launch a student-built cosmic radiation detector with a helium-filled balloon.

That same year, he led the student team that designed Pterosoar-B, which set a world record on autopilot for time aloft.

This spring also proved eventful for Paul who served as chief engineer for the OSU Black team that took second place at the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Design/Build/Fly International competition in March.

The National Science Foundation awarded Paul a three-year graduate fellowship of $121,500.

He will study aeronautical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University. continues

IMPACT

Biosystems and agricultural engineering senior Jessica J. Lay received a Morris K. Udall Foundation Scholarship, a $5,000 scholarship awarded outstanding sophomores and juniors who are studying the environment and related fields.

Lay, who wants to research water-quality issues, went on a mission trip in January 2009 to bring fresh water to areas of Mexico. Her plans include serving in the Peace Corps after completing her master’s degree in biosystems engineering and joining Engineers Without Borders.

She has served as captain of the OSU women’s lacrosse team and received recognition for helping organize the successful “Real Cowboys Recycle” tailgate-recycling program.

She helped start the award-winning program with other students, including 2007 Udall Scholar, Cortney Timmons Cowley, biosystems and agricultural engineering, and 2008 Udall Scholar Savannah Smith, environmental science. To date, the program has collected over 120,000 aluminum cans for Stillwater’s Habitat for Humanity’s Cans for Habitat program.

Along with Cowley and Smith, Lay won the 2009 OSU Creativity Challenge for “Real Pokes Pass It On,” a program focused on donating reusable materials to nonprofit organizations.

The program raised $1,753 its first year and donated the money to the Stillwater Domestic Violence Services.

CEAT national Lay, who graduated in May 2010, is pursuing scholars are, from left, a graduate degree in the environmental option Jessica Lay, Cortney Timmons Cowley of biosystems and agricultural engineering at and Ryan Paul. OSU. In spring 2010, she received a three-year $121,500 fellowship from the National Science Foundation to help her achieve her goals for graduate study.

Paul Garners Goldwater Scholarship, NSF Fellowship

09 10

3

Heintzman, Cowley Awarded NSF Fellowships

Lesa Heintzman and Cortney Timmons Cowley received one of the most prestigious fellowships in the U.S., the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship,

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

4

which provides three years of support for graduate study leading to a research-based master’s or doctoral degree.

Each receives a $10,500 annual tuition allowance and a $30,000 annual stipend for up to three years of graduate study. The universities they attend also provide a full tuition scholarship to cover any tuition or fees that the fellowship does not cover.

Heintzman, who served as treasurer of Chi Epsilon civil engineering honor society, was a CEAT Scholar and a Wentz Research Scholar.

She received her Honors College degree in civil engineering in December 2008 and then worked as a structural engineer-in-training for Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon Inc., in Nashville, Tenn.

She started graduate school in September at Vanderbilt University, where she is pursuing a master’s degree in civil engineering and researching the use of nano cement and its ability to resist acid attack.

Cowley, a biosystems and agricultural engineering major who graduated in May 2009, is using her NSF graduate fellowship to attend Colorado State University.

While at OSU, she served as CEAT Student Council president and as an Agriscience Ambassador. She participated in the OSU Scholar Development and Recognition Program, traveling during the summer to Cambridge and Dublin for specialized courses, and held the Frank Lucas Agricultural Policy Internship.

A CEAT Scholar, Cowley twice received the competitive Lew Wentz Research Project Awards. She also received a first place in research competition from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, the college’s St. Pat Award and the 2009 Dean Fred LeCrone Award for being one of the Top Five Seniors in OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

In 2007, she received the Morris K. Udall Scholarship, and in 2008, she received the Truman Scholars Award. She was the Oklahoma Collegiate Recycler of the Year in 2008 for “Real Cowboys Recycle,” a program she helped launch along with others, including CEAT’s 2009 Udall Scholar Jessica Lay.

Lesa Heintzman, civil engineering graduate, received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

Cortney Timmons Cowley, the nation’s top biosystems and agricultural engineering student in 2009, visits with the late Gov. Henry Bellmon, OSU alumnus, supporter of education and prominent figure in the history of OSU scholar development.

‘Real Pokes’ Passes on Quality Cowley at the Top

The college named Cortney Timmons

Cowley the Outstanding Engineering Student for 2009, and the American Society

of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, meeting in Reno, Nev., last summer, awarded her the

Yoerger Preprofessional of the Year Award.

The society gives the award to the nation’s outstanding biosystems and agricultural engineering student.

The OSU recycling program “Real Pokes Pass It On” won the 2009 Environmental Excellence Award for an Educational Institution from the statewide nonprofit agency “Keep Oklahoma Beautiful.”

Jessica Lay, biosystems and agricultural engineering senior, and 2009 OSU graduates Savannah Smith, environmental science, and Cortney Timmons Cowley, biosystems and agricultural engineering, launched “Real Pokes Pass It On,” a re-use and recycling project focused on donating reusable materials to nonprofit organizations.

The Keep Oklahoma Beautiful competition recognizes exceptional efforts for environmental improvement.

The late Gov. Henry Bellmon and Cortney Timmons Cowley, biosystems and agricultural engineering graduate Photo / Phil Shockley

IMPACT

09 10

5

Leadership Honored for

Cara Cowan Watts, who recently earned a biosystems and agricultural engineering doctorate, says she was honored to be recog-

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

6

nized last year as one of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development’s Native American 40 Under 40.

The sponsor of the award, the NCAIED, is a nonprofit “OSU’s focus is on serving our rural that encourages Indian communities, which is most of economic self-sufficiency Oklahoma. …. I think that people through business ownership. at OSU challenge themselves The organization’s 40 Under to find real-world solutions.”

40 campaign honors leader— Cara Cowan Watts ship, initiative and dedication to progress in Indian businesses and communities.

Watts, a member of the Cherokee Tribal Council since 2003, earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from OSU in 1997 and a master’s degree in telecommunications management in 2002.

Cowan Watts, who joins business leaders on the 40 Under 40 list, worked for a while in the business world before moving into politics. After graduating in 1997, she worked as a mechanical engineer for Hewlett-Packard in Colorado Springs, Colo., and from 1999 to 2004 at Wiltel Communications.

OSU engineers are competitive anywhere in the world, she says. “OSU provided me with a solid engineering education. I passed the Engineering in Training/Fundamentals of Engineering exam the first time I took it. The college provides hands-on experience and skills to work in a team environment as well as opportunities to present technical materials to both peer groups and non-technical groups.”

Her training is especially helpful for use in her work. Indian tribes often have limited resources, she says, and her biosystems engineering degree will help the tribe as it manages its water quality standards. In fact, her doctoral thesis is on that very subject, looking at how nutrients affect culturally significant rivers and streams.

Cowan Watts is also vice president of the National Congress of American Indians Eastern Oklahoma Area. She has worked toward securing money to improve her district, including $1.9 million in federal funds to upgrade Interstate 44’s 193rd East Avenue exit in Catoosa. She has also worked to nail down a cross-deputization agreement between the tribe and the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office.

She is co-chair of the executive and finance committee with responsibility for approving a $500 million annual budget affecting more than 140,000 tribe members. She works on everything from solving social problems to economic development.

Cowan Watts came to OSU as a transfer student from the University of Central Oklahoma. She says Stillwater was a perfect fit for her.

“I was raised in rural Seminole County and live in rural Rogers County,” she says. “OSU’s focus is on serving our rural communities, which is most of Oklahoma. People there are friendly. I think that people at OSU challenge themselves to find real-world solutions.”

She praises OSU for its emphasis on diversity in engineering today and looks back fondly on her time working with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and the Native American Student Association.

“My brother, Dr. Brett Cowan Watts, and I have an extended family from OSU AISES and NASA that still meets today,” she says. “For me, Oklahoma State was an all-around outstanding experience.”

Matt Elliott

IMPACT

09 10

7

I

I

photo / courtesy

Imagine a vending machine that dispenses over-the-counter medicines in places where

medical care is not readily available.

Imagine the machine’s value following tsunamis or hurricanes before medical help can arrive.

Imagine the same machine reading and transmitting a person’s temperature, blood pressure and other vital information to a distant diagnostic facility or being the conduit for a real-time conversation between a patient and physician.

That’s what five OSU graduate students were envisioning last summer when their medical vending machine finished in the top six at the Microsoft Imagine Cup’s world finals in Cairo, Egypt.

The OSU team was the sole U.S. representative among the top 20 qualifying teams selected from the original 146 in the embedded development category.

Electrical and computer engineering students Vishvesh Khisty, Rohit Kadam, Ashwin Kadkol and Prashant Hegde as well as Raghavendra Rao of mechanical engineering learned about the competition from a flier displayed in OSU’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

“We wanted to build an electronically-assisted medicine vending machine to give people in remote areas or places without medical assistance access to medical help.”

­— Vishvesh Khisty

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

8

“We all got together and came up with some good ideas,” says Rao, who served as the team’s mentor.

The competition required teams to use specific Microsoft hardware and software and to address one of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to improve health care, poverty, education, equality or environmental sustainability.

The friends, all graduate students from India, grew up in cities where health care is accessible, but they realize a majority of India’s population does not live near medical facilities.

“We wanted to build an electronically-assisted medicine vending machine to give people in remote areas or places without medical assistance access to medical help,” Khisty says.

Besides dispensing non-prescription medicines, bandages, antiseptic and other items, the medical vending machine could ask yes-or-no questions verbally, making it easier for illiterate or blind people to use it.

The machine could also serve as a sort of video conference between patient and physician.

With the swipe of a credit card, the machine could locate an available, participating physician and connect both parties for a real-time conversation. At the same time, the physician could direct the machine’s built-in sensors to take the patient’s temperature, blood pressure or other medical information.

“We hope to make it completely speech interThey made their first prototype from cardactive so people can just talk to the machine board then built one with Plexiglas for the Cairo and get the medicine or medical advice they competition. Rao says transporting the demo need,” Rao says. from Oklahoma to Cairo wasn’t too difficult.

The friends combined their individual skills “It was like a Lego project that we could break in computer systems, mechanical engineering apart and then build it back at the competition,” and electrical engineering to come up with the Although all but Kadam will graduate from idea and received their professors’ permission OSU in fall 2010, the group is excited about to use OSU lab space and equipment to build moving forward with the project, which they the prototypes. are currently patenting.

“We were not well versed in the required “Our next step is to take the idea forward software or hardware, and we had to learn how and to gain input from medical experts and to build an operating system,” Kadkol says. “It find venture capitalists,” Rao says. was interesting and challenging.”

“We know we have a good idea,” he says.

“This idea can actually bridge the gap and give basic health care to rural areas.”

Janet Varnum

View the team’s video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuFhQNiUpIw

OSU engineering graduate students, pictured from left, Vishvesh Khisty, Raghavendra Rao, Ashwin Kadkol and Rohit Kadam along with Prashant Hegde, not pictured, placed in the top six at the Microsoft Imagine Cup’s world finals in Cairo, Egypt.

IMPACT

09 10

9

Photo / Gary Lawson

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

10

Arena’s preflight standard

OSU’s aerospace and mechanical engineering students have dominated the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Design/Build/Fly International competition the past several years.

Teams from M.I.T., University of Texas, University of Washington, University of Illinois, Virginia Tech and approximately 45 others have taken a back seat to OSU teams.

In 2009, OSU Black took first-place team honors and finished the competition by setting the fastest lap time, while OSU Orange was close enough behind to finish second overall. In 2010, OSU Orange took first place, and OSU Black, second, coming in ahead of third-place Purdue.

Photography /Phil Shockley

IMPACT

Since 1999, OSU teams led by Andy Arena Jr., The real story takes place in those late-night L. Maciula Professor in Engineering, have won sessions where students, working alongside seven first-place awards and eight second-place Arena, design and build their unmanned planes awards. In five of these competitions, Arena’s and in the long days where they test perforteams have taken both of the top two places. mance, redesign and rebuild, fine-tune and try The recurrent victories make it easy to forget again. Hard work and commitment are their the contest is but the final leg in a long and winning strategies. CEJIIT sometimes-arduous journey for students in OSU’s aerospace capstone course as they strive to meet ever-increasing expectations. To succeed they must meet the high standards set by previous classes.

Flying their planes on a blustery day in March 2009 near Perry, Okla., aerospace capstone students and aerospace engineering professor Andy Arena, left, pause for the camera.

09 10

11

th

WER

per!Onal Enrolling top high school graduates in OSU’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology doesn’t just happen. Talented

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

12

students can choose from the country’s best engineering programs and an assortment of scholarships and other incentives.

Competition to recruit academic all-stars can be fierce — unless the college employs unique recruitment strategies, says Kathryn Weinland, coordinator of prospective student services for CEAT. And according to Weinland, that’s something CEAT is doing quite effectively. The college’s high-talent conversion rate — the movement from admission to enrollment — is very strong.

It experienced a 13.5 percent increase in new freshmen from the fall of 2008 to the fall of 2009.

Significantly, the number of high-ability freshmen increased by a whopping 21.5 percent in the same period.

Weinland attributes the successes to a number of strategies, including CEAT’s three special recruitment events. On Design Day, current engineering, architecture and technology students display projects for high school students, and on Dean’s Day, high-talent high school juniors and seniors visit the campus and meet with Dean Reid and other college staff and faculty members.

During the CEAT Scholars Weekend, the third event, the college hosts some 100 to 125 students, selected for their applications, test scores and transcripts, to interview for scholarships and enrichment opportunities.

“Dean’s Day and Scholars Weekend have been most successful based on the large percentage that enrolls after attending these high-talent events,” she says, “but it’s personal contact that makes them successful. The process is all about communication.”

That means a lot of talking for Weinland, who cut her career-teeth recruiting students for the University of Arkansas Honors College. continues

Photo / Phil Shockley

IMPACT

09 10

13

/

/ /

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

I

/

/

/

/

/

, I

/

,I

/II/

4-1/

,

/

I

/ /

“When parents look me in the eye, I can say I truly do believe we offer the best to their child.”

­— Kathryn Weinland

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

14

Do you know a student CEAT should recruit?

Send your referrals to Kathryn Weinland, Coordinator of Prospective Student Services College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology 101 Engineering North Stillwater, OK 74078-5011

405 744-5276 Phone 405 744-6066 Fax http://studentservices.okstate.edu

Eileen Mustain

Photo / Phil Shockley

IMPACT

When she began recruiting for CEAT in September 2008, armed with enthusiasm, a master’s in higher education from the University of Arkansas and an OSU bachelor’s degree in psychology with a marketing emphasis, she hit the ground discussing recruitment needs and opportunities with stakeholders across campus as well as CEAT faculty, staff and alumni.

Since part of the college mission is to let students know how to prepare for college while in high school, she travels the state talking with high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. On campus, Weinland meets with prospective high-talent students and their parents, coordinates CEAT’s involvement with admission events, and arranges personalized tours and meetings with faculty members.

“A favorite part of my job is getting out of the office and meeting people,” she says. “We can’t just sit back with recruitment. We must be proactive. I think people can tell I’m excited about sharing our vision.”

Weinland is the only CEAT Student Services employee dedicated solely to student recruitment, but she says team effort accounts for the success.

“Everyone pitches in. I’m grateful to be part of a culture where everyone is equally committed to the recruitment of top students.”

CEAT’s key recruitment strategy is the “conversion mode,” an approach Weinland implemented last year that depends on faculty members’ interaction with students.

“The commitment of faculty is really working for us. Our college focuses on faculty and department heads making face-to-face contact with students. The involvement with faculty members gets students excited,” she says.

“Interest doesn’t always result in enrollment. Faculty emails, calls, letters and personal notes can convert students from admission to enrolling.” On the rise, CEAT’s high-talent conversion rate is significantly higher than the overall rate for the university.

OSU alumni, another avenue for effective recruitment, refer students and open their homes to recruiters who visit with prospective students in their communities. Besides providing valuable personal referrals, it’s exciting for alumni to talk with others about OSU, says Weinland, drawing on her own experience.

“I really love OSU and believe strongly in our programs.

I believe we have strongest engineering, architecture and technology programs in the nation,” she says. “When parents look me in the eye, I can say I truly do believe we offer the best to their son or daughter.”

09 10

15

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

16

Photo / Gary Lawson

BREAKAJVAY

SUCCESS FIRST founder Dean Kamen’s hope to spark high schoolers’ dreams of becoming science and technology heroes moves closer

Eileen Mustain

High school students across the state get started on their robots at CEAT, the official satellite kickoff site for Oklahoma’s FIRST Robotics Competition.

FIRST®

IMPACT

to actuality in Oklahoma with each FIRST Robotics Competition.

The annual contest continues to grow as an increasing number of eager young scientists seize the opportunity to flex their logarithms.

The number of Oklahoma teams has evolved from one active team in 2005 to 55 teams in 2010.

The OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology plays a substantial role in promoting and supporting the FIRST Robotics Competition in Oklahoma, says Dean Karl Reid. Faculty members teach summer workshops for high school teachers as well as guide students at the kickoff event that launches the national competition.

CEAT is the official satellite kickoff site for Oklahoma’s FIRST Robotics Competition. All teams across the nation, as well as those on the OSU campus, simultaneously receive the challenge and the rules along with a kit made up of motors, batteries, a control system and a mix of automation components — everything but instructions.

From the kickoff in January until their respective regional competition, the teams, mentored by volunteer professional engineers, have eight weeks to design and build robots that can meet the year’s engineering challenge. Oklahoma teams compete in March at the regionals in Oklahoma City, a “… to create a world where site designated in 2008 in large science and technology part through the CEAT’s efforts. are celebrated … where The 2010 competition introyoung people dream of duced BREAKAWAY, a robotics becoming science and game played with soccer balls on a 27-by-54-foot field with technology heroes.” bumps. Teams score points — Dean Kamen, founder of For by placing the balls in goals Inspiration and Recognition of and bonus points by suspendScience and Technology, FIRST ing one robot from another or from a 90-inch-tall tower on the field.

Kamen, borrowing from competitive sports, designed the FIRST Robotics Competition to be a challenging academic sporting event that requires teamwork, including helping the opposing team. The goal is to build analytical thinking, communication and leadership skills as well as inspire interest in engineering.

“FIRST Robotics is one of two programs the state is using to encourage students to major in science, technology, engineering and math,” Reid says.

“Although it may be too early to fully measure its impact on increasing the number of STEM graduates overall, the rising interest in engineering and the quality of our incoming students tells us FIRST Robotics is working.” CEAT

09 10

17

Photo / tom Fields

INCREASING the ODDS

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

18

A student in the pre-engineering program at Carver Middle School in Tulsa, Okla., works on an assignment from the Project Lead the Way middle school curriculum.

Key to the continuing development of the “The dropout rate during the first two years in an engineering or engineering tech- academies is the leadership and flexibility of nology program is more than 50 percent,” CareerTech’s Robin Schott and her staff, Nichols

says. “They are on the same page with us. They are working with schools on a continuous improvement initiative and facilitate a statewide leadership team to support teachers and students.”

Nichols’ involvement with the pre-engineering academies attests to Reid’s commitment.

Before he retired in 2005, Nichols worked 20 years for CEAT student academic services. He thought he was finished recruiting students and guiding them toward successful college careers — that is until Reid called him back to represent the college.

OSU has continued to play an important role in forming the academies through Nichols’ representation. He encouraged technology center leadership to adopt the half-day regional approach as opposed to an all-day residential program.

“Kids who do well in pre-engineering are also involved with friends and athletics, band and other school activities,” he says. “Denying them this social interaction and these activities would force them to choose between school and their pre-engineering academy.”

As it is now, students spend half a day at pre-engineering academies located at the technology centers and half a day at their home high schools.

The academy curriculum, which is for juniors and seniors, begins with introductory classes, including how to design on the computer.

Seniors take courses in a specific area, such as mechanical, civil, architecture, electrical and aerospace engineering. They each have a problem to research, solve with their own design, and build. They present their solutions to an audience, which usually includes the company with the problem, and compile a final written report.

Students must apply and interview along with their parents to attend the pre-engineering academy. Parental involvement is critical to the students’ success, Nichols says.

As liaison, Nichols serves on academy advisory boards, visits schools and makes personal contact with students and teachers in a supportive capacity. He also collects data on student success, minus individual student names, that the academies can use to adjust curriculum as weaknesses appear. continues

IMPACT

says Robin Schott, associate state director for the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education.

“Either the students don’t know what engineers do or they aren’t taking the right high school courses to prepare them for the rigors of college engineering programs,” she says.

“Oklahoma is addressing the problem through the CareerTech System with a curriculum aimed at helping students succeed in postsecondary engineering programs.”

Pre-engineering academies on technology center campuses, follow the Project Lead the Way® curriculum, which is a sequence of hands-on, project-based courses designed to develop problem-solving, critical thinking and creative reasoning skills.

Project Lead the Way, cited as a model by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, is a national nonprofit organization that collaborates with middle schools, high schools, and technology centers to develop and implement science, technology, engineering, math and biomedical sciences curriculum.

The academies are undeniably popular. Since Francis Tuttle Technology Center in Oklahoma City launched the state’s first pre-engineering academy in the fall of 2003, the number of academies has grown statewide to 14 with four more sites scheduled to open in the fall of 2010. From 40, enrollment has mushroomed to more than 1,100.

The growth is good news for Oklahoma State University’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, says Dean Karl Reid, an early supporter of Project Lead the Way and one who has been instrumental in shaping the pre-engineering academies.

“It’s working,” he says.

“It probably wouldn’t be successful without Dean Reid,” says Virgil Nichols, CEAT liaison for the state’s pre-engineering academies. “He had this is mind for a long time, but the expense of equipment and facilities held him back. The success of Francis Tuttle led him to speak at the statewide meeting of school superintendents in support of using CareerTech’s system for the academies. His support sold everyone else.”

09 10

19

To fill in the gaps, some schools have branched out to include courses for freshmen and sophomores as well as advanced engineering courses for the junior- and senior-level curriculum.

As it continues to grow, the initiative has added the PLTW middle school curriculum. In 2006, Carver Middle School in Tulsa and two middle schools in Bartlesville, began Gateway to Technology, Project Lead the Way’s middle school program. Since then Oklahoma has grown to 19 Gateway programs with five additions planned for fall 2010.

“The program has been a big success,” Nichols says, predicting the middle school program will boost academy enrollment. “These students in the Gateway program are in a group now, and they tend to stick together as a group when they move on to high school.”

The academies do need to continue finetuning curriculum, Nichols says. “Current OSU student data shows more than 70 percent retention rate for students in the field of engineering. The academies need to continue to strengthen students’ mathematics and science skills. We want these students to enter college fully prepared for the academic rigor required in engineering majors.”

Still, he says the program is addressing the challenges of recruiting and retaining engineering students. “The academies are attracting better and better students and preparing them to succeed — and hopefully exciting them enough to keep them here without them giving up.”

Nichols admits he measures success by the number of academy graduates who enroll in engineering at OSU. So while expressing the need for continuing to increase the academy students’ strength in mathematics and science, he is able to take the long view. He says several of the students who are now attending OSU probably wouldn’t have been here at all without the CareerTech experience.

“And some students stay at OSU and move into the other areas such as business or education. I guess you could say I’ve recruited for the entire university, and for that reason, I think we’re happy.

“Many of these kids, especially those from small towns, will be the first generation college students,” he says. “A great percentage will have a better quality of life because of Project Lead the Way.” Eileen Mustain

As CEAT liaison for Oklahoma’s pre-engineering academies, Virgil Nichols, right, visits with academy students and faculty across the state such as the Meridian Technology Center students and teacher, David Barth, pictured here.

Photo / Gary Lawson

student digest

“The academies are attracting better and better students and preparing them to succeed — and hopefully exciting them enough to keep them here without them giving up.”

— Virgil Nichols

research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

20

Photo / Gary Lawson

Spanning the Divide Multicultural Engineering Program.

Hoping to bridge the confidence gap, Griffin implemented a new program to ease student transition to university life and academics.

Based on the performance of its first class, the program holds the potential to raise the number of OSU’s multicultural engineering graduates.

The ConocoPhillips Summer Bridge Program is a four-week residential program for engineering, architecture and technology freshmen from underrepresented ethnic groups — African American, Hispanic American and Native American.

Sixteen students comprised the inaugural class in July 2009.

The program paired the students with CEAT upperclassmen who served as counselors. They facilitated activities and conducted the program’s mandatory Sunday through Thursday night study halls that gave students the opportunity to ask questions, review class material and work on individual group assignments.

“They mentored participants throughout the program,” says Griffin, who sees the interaction with upper division students as a key element in the program’s success.

The counselors also helped students with the program’s coursework: pre-calculus, a class taught by the OSU math department covering algebra and trigonometry principles, and an introduction to college life series.

Included in the college life seminar are personal development topics, CEAT departmental and industrial tours, team building exercises and educational and social activities that offered direct interaction with faculty.

“Our first students in the ConocoPhillips Summer Bridge Program increased their performance by building academic fundamentals and adjusting to campus life. The students developed the study habits they needed to begin their year productively. They learned to schedule study time and to seek help from others,” Griffin says.

“In a broader sense, the participants gained an appreciation and greater understanding of what they need to matriculate through the program.”

IMPACT

“Sometimes multicultural students need an experience to show them they can succeed at OSU,” says Travis Griffin, coordinator of the

High school students in the conocophillips summer bridge program studying math sciences.

09 10

Eileen Mustain

21

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

22

The importance of COmmunity

OSU’s Women in Engineering, Architecture and Technology had a great year, says Kathryn

Weinland, coordinator of prospective student services for CEAT. “Female freshmen enrollment increased by 47 percent in the fall of 2009.”

Weinland unequivocally attributes the success to new programs under the leadership of WEAT coordinator Angie Bale. “Maude’s Quad is a big draw as are the breakfasts and mentoring program. New female students already have a group they can belong to,” she says.

“They are already part of a strong community on campus when they arrive.” continues

photo / Gary Lawson

IMPACT

09 10

23

Maude Leads the Way

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

24

Incoming female engineering, architecture and technology students have the opportunity to choose deluxe suite-style accommodations in a living-learning community known as Maude’s Quad, located within Allen Hall, a popular housing option for engineering majors.

Maude’s Quad has flourished since opening in 2005 as a tribute to Maude Spear, a 1915 architectural engineering graduate and the college’s first woman graduate.

“Maude was skilled, spirited and determined to rise to the top of her profession,” says Bale. “As women continue to blaze trails in the male-dominated engineering fields, the college chooses to remember Maude and the path she set forth.”

Designed to enrich the first-year experience and provide bonding among the students, their academic advisors and faculty members, the Maude Quad program includes a common introductory engineering class, career exploration and course clustering, which places community members in common math, science and composition courses.

The women in the program develop the community focus by forming study, art and workout groups as well as teams for various events, such as intramural sports. They also participate in numerous organized programs, such as field trips and cultural dinners.

Maude’s Quad housed 27 freshmen students during the 2008-2009 school year, up from 20 the previous year. In fall 2009, at the request of students, the residential community opened its doors to sophomores, and the number of residents increased to 40.

In 2009, the living-learning community received Residential Life’s Community of the Year award for the program’s growth and the individual achievement of its students. But even before the award, Bale knew the living-learning community was a great success.

“Students have told me it’s easier to form good study habits and focus on work goals living with others who take the same classes and share interests. Several students have said they wouldn’t be engineers without this program,” she says.

At the WhEATies Breakfast in November 2009, speaker Richard Vasey, manager of Dillard’s in Quail Springs Mall, Oklahoma City, presented “Dressing for Success,” which included thought-provoking questions about individual style as well as tips for budget shoppers.

photos / Gary Lawson

“Maude’s Quad has proven its worth. On average, residents carry a .2 higher GPA than other female students in the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology and a .5 higher GPA than all other CEAT freshmen,” Bale says.

“A significantly higher percentage also remains in CEAT and continues to have academic success.”

Start with a Hearty Breakfast

In March 2009, WEAT began its new Maude’s Quad Corporate Mentor Program, sponsored

by Spirit AeroSystems, OSU Center for Health Sciences, Wallace Engineering, Pepsi Bottling Group, ONEOK and Crafton Tull Sparks.

The corporate mentor program matches each corporate sponsor with three to four students who meet their mentors and plan a company visit during a kickoff luncheon on campus.

WEAT also holds an end-of-the-program luncheon to honor the corporate mentors and their students. During the luncheon, the students present brief reports on their jobs shadowing experienced professionals.

Sometimes It Takes a CREW

WEAT members also have access to the Collegiate Role Models for Educating Women program. In the CREW program, freshmen and sophomores meet upper division students who act as role models, offer encouragement and share knowledge of classes, campus resources and work experiences.

The CREW role models provide the younger students information about what is happening on campus, keeping them tuned-in to informative and entertaining events. They also offer 24-7 support, supply professional connections and ready access to internship and employment information that puts participants a step ahead of competing students.

“Students have told me it’s easier to form good study habits and focus on work goals living with others who take the same classes and share interests.”

— Angie Bale

CREW is an educational resource on subjects ranging from study abroad opportunities to renting off-campus housing. CREW tours also show students examples of hands-on engineering such as the newly completed west end zone of Boone Pickens Stadium or other construction sites on campus.

“It’s a support network formed to help all women succeed in the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology,” Bale says.

IMPACT

WEAT introduced the WhEATies monthly breakfast in fall 2008 to provide an informal setting where students can become acquainted with the college dean, associate dean, faculty and advisers as well as campus-wide administrators.

“Students give WhEATies high marks. Many say they enjoy the social aspect. Some say they most appreciate meeting other female students in engineering while others particularly like becoming acquainted with other women on campus,” Bale says. “But the breakfast speakers are an all-around favorite.”

Now in its fourth semester, WhEATies breakfast has headlined OSU’s registrar, provost and vice president of student affairs, CEAT female professors and alumnae who work for companies such as Williams, ConocoPhillips, DCP Midstream and Wallace Engineering.

WhEATies has served up encouragement and advice on everything from internships, books to read and personal style to living a balanced life.

Learning from the Pros

09 10

25

photo / todd johnson

LET’S G E T REAL Creativity alone isn’t enough in today’s marketplace.

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

26

Companies rely on all employees, from the accounting and marketing staff to the R&D department, to collaborate and transform creative technology into profitable and marketable products and services.

With that in mind, OSU has taken a unique step forward with creation of a three-semester capstone course that unites seniors from three departments — biosystems and agricultural engineering, agricultural economics and agricultural communications — to solve business and design problems.

Students work in small, interdisciplinary teams to assist a manufacturing company with a specific product or process problem. Faculty members hold all students equally responsible, and everyone on a team gets the same grade whether they contribute to the design solution, business plan or communication materials.

Professors and co-principal investigators Paul Weckler, biosystems and agricultural engineering, and Dan Tilley, agricultural economics, say this interdisciplinary approach is the key to better innovation practices that benefit students, manufacturers and, ultimately, the economy.

Just like the real world where corporate cultures differ yet employees must work together for the good of the company, the seniors come from different departments but must unite to achieve a common goal.

“That’s the uniqueness of this course,” Weckler says. “We are holding our engineers responsible for the business and communications aspects of a project in addition to their engineering work.” continues

Professors Dan Tilley, agricultural economics, and Paul Weckler, biosystems and agricultural engineering

IMPACT

09 10

27

New multi-semester senior capstone class simulates real-world projects

“We are holding our engineers responsible for the business and communications aspects of a project in addition to their engineering work.”

— Paul Weckler

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

28

Similarly, the communications and economics students must gain a clear understanding of the engineering design in order to translate its financial benefits to company owners and its value to customers.

“That information is essential for a product’s success in the marketplace,” Tilley says, “and it gives the engineers an understanding of their role in the overall commercial success of a product or idea.”

Brian Pfeiff, a 2009 biosystems engineering graduate, led a multidisciplinary team his senior year to develop a new product for DitchWitch.

Pfeiff says watching an engineering concept evolve into a marketable product supported by financial analyses and advertising materials is an eye-opening process.

“It was a great experience because I never would have been involved in preparing an entry-to-market cost analysis, a comparison of lifetime maintenance or in building a product website,” says Pfeiff, now a cementing field engineer for Halliburton.

Pfeiff says he uses insight acquired from the interdisciplinary project often while interacting with sales and customer representatives as well as others involved in the company’s business development.

Some class projects pair teams with government agencies such as the Army Corps of Engineers to address environmental challenges, an area of growing interest among students.

One team formulated ideas for creating value-added products from paddlefish processing waste. “This was a tough one,” Tilley says.

“Students had to figure out a sales and marketing campaign for a program to improve a fishery and efficiently dispose of the offal from fish cleaning.”

Since 1982, job growth in small- and medium-sized businesses has outpaced the Fortune 500 companies. As a result of fewer manufacturing jobs nationwide, the U.S. has experienced a decline in research and development expenditures, capital investment and wealth generation.

Initiatives like this interdisciplinary class give graduates an advantage in knowledge and experience when they begin competing for jobs, while participating companies benefit from new product prototypes, financial analyses and marketing tools they often don’t have the time or resources to conduct themselves.

Surprisingly, adding economics to engineering capstone courses is not a common practice in higher education. “You could count on one hand the number of universities where undergraduates have this type of multidisciplinary opportunity,” Tilley says.

OSU is already regarded as a leader in providing students opportunities to work with businesses on specific projects, particularly through the New Product Development Center and the Food and Agriculture Product Center.

Besides Weckler and Tilley, faculty involved in the capstone course include Rodney Holcomb of agricultural economics, Shelly Sitton and Cindy Blackwell of agricultural communications and Ron Delahoussaye of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Funded by a USDA challenge grant of $465,595, the three-year initiative is shared by OSU, the University of Nebraska and California Polytechnic State University. OSU focuses on interdisciplinary courses in biosystems and agricultural engineering design, while Nebraska focuses on biomedical engineering and Cal Poly on agricultural education.

The replications are independent of each other, but students and faculty visit each other’s campuses to learn about their collaboration process and results. “This helps students understand their involvement in something bigger than themselves and their own projects,” Tilley says.

“They’re getting a taste of reality,” says Weckler, whose nine years working in industry before joining the OSU faculty convinced him that even the most technically prepared engineers need experience in project management before they graduate.

“The real world is where our students are going to work,” Tilley says. “And that’s what we’re preparing them for.”

Janet Varnum

It Was a Very Good Year

Both a centennial and a banner year, 2009 will long remain a remarkable page in the history of the OSU School of Architecture.

IMPACT

Compared with all other U.S. architecture programs, OSU’s undergraduate architecture program ranked among the top 20 on the DesignIntelligence list of America’s best architecture and design schools.

In addition, excited faculty and students moved into the new Donald W. Reynolds School of Architecture Building in the fall of 2009. By incorporating existing space and adding new east and west wings, the new building contains a combined 75,000 square feet of renovated and new space.

This project marks the first major facility improvement for the school since OSU renovated the old armory and gymnasium in 1976 prior to the school’s occupancy in 1977.

The formal study of architecture started in Oklahoma in 1909 when Professor W.A. Etherton offered the first courses at Oklahoma A & M to an enrollment of three students. Carl F. Harvey of Stillwater was the first graduate in the spring of 1911, and by 1915, the school was offering four-year degrees in both architecture and architectural engineering.

From its inception, the school has steadily grown in prominence, producing some of the country’s finest architects. During the centennial celebration in April of 2010, the school hosted an exhibit of student work from 1917- 2009 and displayed the professional work of its graduates in a digital exhibit titled OSU Legacy: Professional Work. The school also published a history of architectural education at OSU. Many alumni returned to Stillwater to participate in this special event, and they gathered with faculty and students in a symposium exploring the future of architecture and architectural education. The celebration culminated in the dedication of the new Donald W. Reynolds School of Architecture Building followed by a gala formal dinner where many alumni shared stories about their experiences at OSU and how their OSU education helped them to achieve distinction in their careers.

National prestige and a state of the art new facility enriched the celebration of the school’s impressive 100-year journey from a small school on the prairie to one of the nation’s best.

For OSU’s School of Architecture, 2009 was a very good year.

09 10

29

continues

photos / Gary Lawson

photos / Gary Lawson

Dane Zeiler, fifth-year architecture student sitting outside in front of the new Donald W. Reynolds School of Architecture Building, says the building is like “a firsthand account of what we’re doing here.”

Showing How It’s Done

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

30

“It feels like a reward,” says fifth-year architecture student Samantha Sanders.

That’s how she sees OSU’s Donald W. Reynolds School of Architecture Building.

It is 75,000 brand-new square feet of renovations and expansions, including wide-open studio spaces and new technology, all carefully conceived to preserve and showcase the existing building’s historic exterior, while updating its interior for modern use.

Its open spaces, hallways and staircases leave exposed the building’s inner workings, making the building, now with two new wings, a living architecture lesson. The west wing houses the new Jack and Carol Corgan Auditorium, the Cunningham Architecture Library and a new design studio, while the east wing is home to administrative and faculty offices and another new studio above.

“It’s like each day the building is showing students how it’s done,” says Dane Zeiler, one of Sanders’ classmates.

“It really is a firsthand account of what we’re doing here,” Zeiler says. “Not only are we walking by new architecture, but we’re living and working in the new space.”

Students, faculty, and staff moved into the new facility in August of 2009 and celebrated the building dedication and the school’s 100th anniversary in April 2010. The former Gymnasium and Armory, built in 1918, and designed by then architecture head Fritz Redlich, was influenced

by Italian Renaissance architecture.

The school moved out of the three-story building in 2007 and into the nearby Advanced Technology Research Center as construction began. The project was made possible by a $14.7 million gift from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, which they consequently increased to almost $16.5 million.

“We’re ecstatic!” says the school’s head, Randy Seitsinger, now settled into his office with a great view of the OSU campus to the south. Seitsinger, Professor Jeffrey Williams and four architecture students assisted in the design, which was overseen by Oklahoma City’s Studio Architects and built by Boldt Construction of Tulsa.

Before the building was home to the architecture school, it housed the first basketball court where OSU’s legendary basketball coach, Henry Iba led his players before Gallagher-Iba Arena was constructed in 1938.

“The old Architecture facility was way too small, lacked many needed features, had a mechanical system that seldom worked correctly, and an elevator that was constantly broken. The building had served the school well, but was worn out by use,” Seitsinger says.

The challenge for the project, he says, was to design a contemporary addition to an important historical building and make them both fit with OSU’s campus environment.

“We didn’t want the addition to look like it was built in 1917, but we did want it to look like it belonged on the OSU campus,” he says.

Their success couldn’t be more evident. The renovation perfectly preserved the exterior of the building, right down to the large pin oak on its south front, something Seitsinger says was a difficult feat but integral to the design of the building.

Inside, one of the most important features is the new and renovated open spaces designated for design studios. These spaces were carefully designed to create an open and inviting atmosphere to encourage collaboration and peer learning. Natural daylighting was an important consideration for these spaces, both to enhance the quality of the spaces and to save energy.

“Our open, light filled design studios help the younger students learn by seeing what others do,” Seitsinger says. “Many schools are compartmentalized. We think our openness here is an advantage.”

For Sanders, Zeiler and other students, it’s a welcome improvement. One new feature is a daylighting lab that allows students and faculty to mimic light conditions in different climates so students can design accordingly.

The school’s commitment to sustainability is showcased throughout the new facility.

“I’m glad they didn’t tear down the old building,” says Ben Persson, a fifth-year architecture student. “I think it provides a lot more space

and better interaction. That openness is crucial to the learning environment, especially for the lower year students to see how the upper-year students do their work.”

Zeiler especially likes the larger gallery space for presentations. Due to its large windows and central location on the first floor, projects there also end up presented to passersby, Sanders says.

The lighting system on the third floor mimics daylight so well it makes it easier to design for color choices and space. During the day, the light on that floor has a soft, blue-sky like quality and seems to have no single point of origin, instead of conventional lights that cast shadows in several directions at once.

Architecture students Samantha Sanders and Dane Zeiler enjoy the spaciousness of the new facility after experiencing the cramped quarters before renovation.

Matt Elliott

IMPACT

The new architecture building offers many quiet places to study for students like Lauren Snow, pictured.

At night, the building is lit up comfortably and efficiently, a nice break for architecture students who tend to work late many nights, Sanders says. In addition, the new building is chock full of out-of-the-way nooks and crannies for studying.

Meanwhile, the office space for professors and administrative personnel looks like it could be that of a slick New York City firm. Again, its emphasis is on openness with floor-to-ceiling windows in some areas while some offices are more private.

Sanders has toured some graduate schools recently and noted OSU’s facilities rank with the best. “It’s nice to know ours are comparable to those at Ivy League schools.”

It’s a fitting and auspicious new beginning for a school that Seitsinger calls one of the best-kept secrets in architecture education.

The secret started to get out last year when DesignIntelligence announced it had ranked the program among the nation’s top 20. Now, it has some appropriately state of the art accommodations to go along with it.

09 10

31

photo / Gary Lawson

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

32

“It’s like each day the building is showing students how it’s done.”

— architecture student Dane Zeiler

IMPACT

09 10

33

photo / Phil Shockley

New architecture faculty members, pictured from left, are Jerry Stivers, Awilda Rodriquez, Nathan Richardson and Seung Ra.

New Faculty Joins Architecture OSU’s architecture school welcomed several new faculty members in 2009.

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

34

Carisa Ramming

Awilda Rodriguez, Jerry Stivers, Nathan Richardson, Seung Ra and Carisa Ramming bring a wealth of private and public sector experience to the college they have joined, teaching and conducting creative research.

Stivers brings 25 years of experience working with several firms in Oklahoma and Minnesota.

That rich background includes co-founding Oklahoma City’s Studio Architecture with two partners in 2001. He also spent several years with Frankfurt-Short-Bruza Associates in Oklahoma City. He holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from OSU and has taught as an adjunct professor at the school periodically since the 1990s.

Before coming to OSU, he worked on a host of projects, including some for his alma mater, such as OSU-Stillwater’s Advanced Technology Research Center. He also had a hand in the university’s new Multimodal Transportation

Center, and Oklahoma City’s MAPS Master Plan and Project Definition. He is certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system, or LEED — a program that recognizes professionals trained in sustainable and green building practices.

At OSU, he teaches in the design studio and will be teaching a medieval architecture course next fall. He is working with the school’s European Studies program, based in France and Italy, this summer “Architecture is a delicate balance between science and art. More importantly, it’s created for people,” Stivers says. “I feel like it’s our obligation to contribute to the built environment in ways that will make a beneficial impact on the way we live.”

Joining him is Seung Ra, a native of Seoul, South Korea, who is also an OSU alumnus (class of 2003). His graduate studies were in a master’s program at Columbia University in New York City.

He’s an expert in digital design. At OSU, he teaches design studio and a course on digital design applications. Before returning to OSU, he spent three years working with New York City’s famous Studio Daniel Libeskind and also worked with Friedrich St. Florian Architects

Matt Elliott

The well-lighted, wide open-floor spaces of the student studios are comparable to those at Ivy League schools.

IMPACT

in Providence, R. I, and with DiMella Shaffer Stillwater when a visiting professorship position might otherwise find on their own,” he says. in Boston. While in New York, he taught part- came open, and she applied for a tenure-track “I really tried to teach them about the underlytime at the New York Institute of Technology. position in 2009. She has always enjoyed teach- ing principles of design. That made me think His favorite part of the job is getting to work ing, finding OSU’s students to be more polite I could really get into teaching.” and argue with students — good-naturedly. than those she has taught in the past.

Carisa Ramming had just gotten her dream He tries to keep a level relationship between “Students bring richness to my life that assignment when her dream job came along. his pupils and himself. He hopes to improve clients can’t. It’s fun to see when they finally The 2001 OSU architecture school alumna the school’s place in the digital design world. understand something. It’s quite rewarding.” was a project manager with Wallace Engineering “I never want to be seen as a ‘master.’ I always At OSU, she hopes to continue studying new assigned to the expansion of the Donald W. tell students ‘Don’t try to please me. It’s your materials and applications in new technologies. Reynolds School of Architecture Building. project, and we work together.’ That’s how She’s also looking forward to working with But she couldn’t pass up a full-time position Libeskind’s office worked.”

OSU artists, engineers and other profession- teaching students at her alma mater inside that Last February he became the first OSU als on projects. architecture building. architecture professor to receive a fellowship Joining her is Nathan Richardson, who “It was a little sad,” she says, “but I’ve sponsored by the chief academic officers of all graduated from OSU in 2003, returning six years recovered.” the Big 12 Conference universities. He spent later after finishing his master’s degree in design Ramming, who joined OSU full-time in two weeks in March working at the University studies with the Harvard University Graduate 2009, teaches structures courses in timber and of Nebraska-Lincoln where he was part of an School of Design. An expert in architecture’s steel as well as statics classes. Her first year saw experimental project in the program’s beginning intersection with enterprise and history, he her teaching nearly 500 architecture and engidesign studio. He helped introduce students brings a background in the discipline’s busi- neering students, and she realized, through all during their formative years to design and ness side, including finance and real estate the work and effort trying to stay abreast of her fundamental theory in descriptive geometry. development. extremely capable students, she loves teaching.

Awilda Rodriguez joined OSU in August Before starting at Harvard in 2007, he worked “You start to feel like their success is what 2009, where her husband, Paolo Sanza, has been for the Seattle-area firm Cutler Anderson determines your success,” she says.

Her enthusiasm comes from a lifelong and teaching architecture since 2004. A native of San Architects, which is known as one of the best Juan, Puerto Rico, she studied architecture at firms of its type in the U.S. There, he worked deep-seated fascination with how buildings are Arizona State University and, like Ra, special- on a host of commercial projects in the United constructed. Her love for OSU comes from her izes in computer-aided design. She received her States and in other nations, including a federal parents who told her she could go to OU, but bachelor’s from Arizona State University in building renovation in Portland, Ore., and a they warned, half-jokingly, they would never Tempe in 1991 and her master’s degree in 1993. private residence in White Plains, New York. visit her or send her money if she did.

She has worked in private practice for just Once he moved to Boston for graduate school, By the time she joined Wallace Engineering under a decade, started a private practice in he spent a year working in urban residential in 2004, she had master’s degrees in both archiPhoenix and worked as an architect for Fluor architecture projects for Ellsworth Associates tectural engineering and civil engineering from Corp., an engineering firm that worked on the in nearby Cambridge.

OSU, in addition to her bachelor’s degree in complex Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev. She He returned to OSU acting on a deep-seated architectural engineering. She also had interned also worked on a veterans’ memorial hospital in hunch that he wanted to teach based on his with Cyntergy and Crafton, Tull & Associates.

Phoenix. That gave her a crash course in navi- experience working as a teacher’s assistant Ramming has worked on a host of projgating the myriad regulations and policies the during his years as an undergrad. ects including Northeastern Oklahoma government requires on these types of projects.

“I just really enjoyed the opportunity to A&M’s music school as well as the renovation Her teaching career began at ASU in work with students on their projects, trying and expansion of Oklahoma City’s Wilson 2002. She eventually followed her husband to to help them find a better solution than they Elementary School.

09 10

35

photo / Gary Lawson

photo / Phil Shockley

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

36

Spacecraft Design Jamey Jacob, aerospace and mechanical engineering professor, at left, and graduate student Shawn Fleming use particle image velocimetry, a non-intrusive laser based diagnostic, to investigate the flow in a cavity flow in the OSU subsonic wind tunnel. The research, led by doctoral student James Kidd, focuses on reducing noise generation in equipment and sensor bays on aircraft, which will lead to quieter and more fuel-efficient vehicles.

High-flying, remote-controlled aircraft with inflatable wings.

Plasma propulsion systems. UAVs the size of songbirds that can perch and loiter over one area.

It sounds like science fiction. But for OSU aerospace and mechanical engineering professor Jamey Jacob, there’s no fiction about it.

His research into unmanned aerial vehicles and revolutionary plasma propulsion systems has drawn the interest of everyone from NASA to the federal government’s shadowy Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. continues

IMPACT

09 10

37

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

38

It’s work that government officials consider Jacob and students Alan Larson, Jeremy hill “sensitive,” making the Mustang-native an and Laura Morten used an OSU wind tunnel interesting conversation partner at his family to test aerodynamically the building’s spindlelike design. At present, Jacob is searching for get-togethers.

“I always have interesting things to talk about,” state funding to build a larger working model he says. When he gets questions about his work, for further tests. he often jokes, “If I tell you, I can’t kill you, but Also last summer, he took a few of his someone else will.” students to a NASA workshop at its Wallops Lately, he’s been working on everything Flight Facility near Chincoteague on the from a perching micro air vehicle (recently Virginia coast. There, they launched — at mentioned in a Forbes Magazine article, “How more than four times the speed of sound — a to Build a Spy Bat”) to a prototype building, the rocket carrying instruments they designed to brainchild of famous Oklahoma City architect study earth’s atmosphere.

Rand Elliott that produces its own electricity Their payload measured radiation levels with wind power. and monitored the performance of the vehicle, He came to OSU in 2006, partly because called a sounding rocket. They later used the he wanted to bring his children closer to their results from the experiment for hands-on grandparents but also because of the work of classroom activities and outreach efforts in Professor Andy Arena, who heads the program’s Oklahoma. senior design project.

Jacob is an alumnus of the University of “I was inspired by the program’s emphasis on Oklahoma and the University of California, undergraduate education, particularly hands- Berkeley. Aeronautical engineering drew him, on design and testing that has led to so many he says, because it fed his fascination of how aircraft design trophies,” Jacob says. air flows over a wing’s edge.

Shortly after arriving, he started a NASA “There’s a certain aesthetic to it,” he says. “If Workforce project on deployable inflatable it looks right, it flies right.” wings for small spacecraft. That morphed into He spent a decade teaching at Kentucky a Mars aircraft project in which he involved before joining OSU. In 2003 and 2004, he was some undergraduates during 2007 and work a National Research Council Summer Faculty with Boeing, Lockheed Martin and L3 today. Fellow at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base He also founded OSU’s first course in space- research laboratory. craft design.

His research has appeared in publications rangIn August 2009, he presented Elliott’s build- ing from the Journal of Physics to the American ing project to OSU benefactors Boone and Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal Madeleine Pickens. Based on a concept of of Aircraft as well as the History Channel’s From Elliott’s called turbinomics, the high-rise uses Tactical to Practical. wind turbines placed on the outside of the Matt Elliott building to catch swirling Oklahoma winds for power generation.

photo / Phil Shockley

Jim Smay, associate professor of chemical engineering, seated, chemical engineeing junior Jodie Millemon, at center, work with Stillwater, Okla., middle school teachers Becky Hammack, a seventh grade science teacher, at left, and Carmen Gulczynski, a seventh grade math teacher, right. photo / OSU School of chemical engineering

Last year, High and Cheville received a threeyear, $430,000 National Science Foundation grant to fund the program that began with to action. The associate professor of chemical six Stillwater, Okla., middle school teachers engineering says her mission is to show students in summer 2009. The teachers worked with how much fun engineering can be and how OSU faculty members learning how to incorengineers help society. porate simple and affordable math and science “As my colleague Heather Fahlenkamp says, experiments in their classes using an approach ‘Doctors certainly have an impact on their to engage students. diabetic patients, but the engineers who build This summer eight teachers are participating the automatic diabetic dosing machine impact in the program with eight scheduled for the millions,’” High says. “That’s a story we need to summer of 2011. tell, and middle school is a great place to start.”

The program — which helps teachers underHigh and colleague Alan Cheville, associ- stand how engineers design, fabricate and test ate professor of electrical and computer engi- materials and structures — uses ideas from neering, designed Transitioning Engineering engineering to show how math and science Research to Middle Schools, a program High, are integrated into today’s technology. the project’s principal investigator, describes continues as “a research-experience-for-teachers program.”

Hearing the friends of her middle-school age daughters’ talk about how much they dislike science and math spurred Karen High

IMPACT

‘Walking the Walk’ …

Straight to the Lab

09 10

39

Lynn Franzmann, Stillwater, Okla., sixth-grade science teacher, pictured, says working with OSU faculty members learning how to incorporate simple and affordable math and science experiments in her classes has been “a life-changing experience.”

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

40

The teachers explore research projects in the labs of engineering faculty members: Sundar Madihally, chemical engineering associate professor who works with multicellular structures; Jim Smay, chemical engineering associate professor who works on fabricating materials; and Chuck Bunting, electrical and computer engineering associate professor who works with high frequency microwave devices.

Two faculty members from OSU’s College of Education, Juliana Utley, math education, and Julie Angle, science education, both assistant professors in the School of Curriculum and Leadership, help the teachers take their research experiences and develop classroom activities appropriate for middle school students.

OSU students Jodie Millemon and Marcus Duffy, chemical engineering juniors, and Andrew Payne, electrical engineering senior, demonstrate their research projects to participating teachers.

“Our hope is that having undergraduate students who are midway between middle school and Ph.D.s teach their own engineering research will make the experience richer for both groups,” Cheville says.

The learning doesn’t end with the summer session. The teachers measure their students’ success with pre- and post-skills assessment.

High and College of Education faculty observe Stillwater Middle School the teachers in their middle school classrooms and use interviews and journals to gauge how Its goal is to get teachers in the K-12 arena much teachers are talking about engineering. into university research labs. NSF hopes to “We want to see if teachers have really underaddress the shortage of students in math, engi- stood and engaged in engineering research in neering and technology programs by showing the summer and then translated that experience teachers the importance of research, says High. in a qualitative sense in their classrooms, and do “If teachers understand the relevance, then they continue in subsequent years,” High says. perhaps they can excite children into learning Another component involves the participants’ math and science.” sharing materials and methodology with other She says middle school is a particularly good middle school teachers. How easily others adopt level to focus this program because adolescents the curriculum for classroom use is a measure at this age are curious about future career of the program’s success. choices and are interested in the application “There are a lot of misperceptions about engiof their math and science learning. neering out there,” High says. “Turning those Cheville explains the culture of engineering around, just like engineering, is a team effort.

— how engineers think, design, do research — This project requires teachers, undergraduate to participants and works with professors in and graduate students, engineering research the program to make the university environ- projects and faculty members from two colleges. ment appropriate for these incoming teachers.

“We’re walking the walk when we tell students High helps the teachers to develop curriculum. that they have to work in teams.”

Eileen Mustain

Karen High, associate professor of chemical engineering, and colleague Alan Cheville, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, designed Transitioning Engineering Research to Middle Schools, a program to help teachers generate student interest in engineering through hands-on classroom experiments.

“Doctors certainly have an impact on their diabetic patients, but the engineers who build the automatic diabetic dosing machine impact millions. ... That’s a story we need to tell, and middle school is a great place to start.”

— Karen High

IMPACT

09 10

41

photo / Phil Shockley

The speakers to date have been John S. Bresland, chair and CEO of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board; Dr. John Howard, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; ates who safeguard art, history and the public. and John Norman, chief of the New York Until OSU publicized the national recogni- City Fire Department’s Special Operations tion, many were unaware that the department’s Command, now retired. graduates protect people and property through“Contact with these speakers helps the out the world from fires, hazardous material students, the OSU community, and me, underemergencies, floods and other disasters — or stand what’s going on at a national level in emerthat at home they protect priceless artifacts gency response and management,” Larrañaga inside the Smithsonian Institution and historic says. structures such as the Statue of Liberty.

Bresland spoke about the role of the “We’ve experienced a growth spurt over the Chemical Safety and Hazard Board’s investigalast two years thanks to the publicity about our tions of explosions and chemical fires, the resultrecognition from the President’s Committee ing recommendations and the laws enacted on the Arts and Humanities,” says Michael based upon them.

Larrañaga, head of the school. “But despite the Howard, who also serves as the World Trade fact that we don’t teach firefighting, the percep- Center Medical Monitoring Programs coordition remains that we’re a firefighting program.” nator for the Secretary of Health and Human Broadening student perception is the main Services, talked about the complexities involved reason Larrañaga, with the help of alumnus in monitoring the health of more than 500,000 Rixio Medina, began the Fire Protection and workers and people in area of the World Trade Safety Technology Distinguished Seminar Center disaster. He discussed the illnesses resultSeries. Now at the end of its second year, the ing from exposures to poisons emitted into the highly successful speaker series has exceeded environment as a result of the collapses, such as even Larrañaga’s expectations. concrete dust and combustion products, and “The most important thing that’s come out identified measures that might have prevented of the speaker series is that people realize we some medical problems. teach much more than the science of firefightNorman, who served as Search and Rescue ing,” he says. “Students may come to OSU with Manager for the World Trade Center attack, an interest in firefighting and then they learn detailed the collapses from when the attacks there is a whole world out there awaiting them began to when the collapses occurred. He also with a multitude of opportunities.” discussed the fire department’s response and The fields OSU graduates pursue reflect that its on-the-ground decision-making. wide employment range. Only 20 percent of “You could have heard a pin drop,” Larrañaga FPST graduates work in the fire service. The says. “It was sobering. He was in command at remaining 80 percent are attracted to indus- the site, and he lost a lot of people there.” try. Of those, some 40 percent work in fire The caliber of the speakers has also interested protection, which is designing to prevent and other groups on campus, including chemical mitigate the effects of fire, and the other 40 engineering and speech classes, and impressed percent specialize in occupational safety and alumni, such as mechanical power technology industrial hygiene. alumnus Jerry Winchester, president and CEO The speakers, in what has become the Boots of Boots & Coots. Recently, the company & Coots Distinguished Seminar Series, reflect created an endowment to rename the school’s the professional diversity of those trained in distinguished seminar series. the fields of fire protection and safety. At the “Boots & Coots made this donation based top of their professions, these speakers are on the types of speakers we’ve brought in,” internationally recognized experts in their fields. Larrañaga says. “They’re saying, ‘We believe this series has value, and we want our name associated with it.’ To me, that’s amazing!”

In early 2009, OSU’s School of Fire Protection and Safety Technology received special commendation from the chair of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Calling the program a national treasure, she praised OSU for preparing gradu-

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

42

photo / courtesy

John Norman, Chief, Special Operations Command, Fire Department of New York, served as the Search and Rescue Manager for the World Trade Center attack and played a key role in rebuilding the department in the years following.

The Boots & Coots Distinguished Seminar Series is free and open to the public. While the school generally does not pay the speakers, it does hold a reception after each address to give participants a chance to meet and visit with the speaker. The Boots & Coots endowment will fund these receptions.

Only one potential speaker has turned down the opportunity to come to OSU. Larrañaga believes the quality of the OSU program, which is the only accredited fire protection and safety engineering technology program in the nation, attracts the speakers. “They know about our program and its history and are willing to do this as a service to the profession,” he says.

“The most important thing that’s come out of the speaker series is that people realize we teach much more than the science of firefighting.”

— Michael Larrañaga

Eileen Mustain

IMPACT

“Although there are a few other schools in the country that have similar programs, there is no other school bringing in this caliber of professionals. Bringing these speakers to OSU exposes our students to new experiences and, hopefully, expands their horizons to give them new ideas about career paths and maximizing their potential. It also increases the visibility of our program on a national level.”

09 10 In fall 2010, the Boots & Coots Distinguished Seminar Series will feature James M. Shannon, president and CEO of the National Fire Protection Association. Shannon, who has served as Massachusetts Attorney General, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a former NFPA senior vice president and general counsel, has launched several key NFPA initiatives.

43

Speaking of ‘Essentials’ In early 2009, the current, and fifth, edition of Essentials of Fire Fighting reached a huge milestone when it surpassed two million copies in lifetime sales.

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

44

Firefighters, anywhere in North America, In 1978, IFSTA/FPP released the first edition likely have trained using the materials devel- of Essentials of Fire Fighting, the compreoped right here on OSU’s Stillwater campus. hensive manual to help firefighters meet the Fire Protection Publications (FPP) in OSU’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology is the world’s leading publisher of fire service textbooks and training materials. And indispensable to the development of FPP’s leadership is one publication in particular.

FPP’s main office also serves as the headquarters for the International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA), whose members are international experts that provide a detailed review and validation of many of the training manuals developed by FPP staff.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) located in Quincy, Mass., develops minimum qualification standards for the various roles in the fire service, such as firefighters, apparatus drivers, officers, fire inspectors, etc.

FPP and IFSTA develop manuals and curricula that allow training agencies and their students to meet the required standards. The goal is for each firefighter to achieve certification at one or more of those levels.

The NFPA released the first editions of these standards, Standard on Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications, in 1974. At the time, no single publication provided all the information firefighters needed to meet the standard’s requirements. Students or trainers needed some 10 different IFSTA/FPP publications to gather all the necessary information.

Organizational leaders made the decision to develop one manual that would cover all of the information firefighters needed to meet the new NFPA 1001 standard. Little did any of them know of the profound impact this decision would have on the future of FPP and IFSTA.

certification requirements of the new NFPA 1001. It quickly became widely accepted by most fire departments and training agencies in North America as well as worldwide through the U.S. Department of Defense.

The increase in demand for training materials of this type spurred the growth of FPP from a half-dozen employees in the early 1970’s to today’s organization of nearly 60 full-time and 20 part-time and student employees.

Because NFPA revises standards every five years, the need to revise the Essentials of Fire Fighting manual to meet the updated NFPA 1001 standard required the revision and release of new editions of that manual in 1983, 1992 and 1998.

Essentials of Fire Fighting, currently in its fifth edition released in 2008, is the largest selling, most influential manual in the history of the North American fire service. Combined sales of the five editions of Essentials surpassed two million copies in lifetime sales early in 2009.

Mike Wieder

Mike Wieder, who holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from OSU, serves as the managing editor of Fire Protection Publications and the executive director of International Fire Service Training Association.

photo / Phil Shockley

Two unique research facilities at OSU’s Advanced Technology Research Center are helping a trio of engineering professors perform invaluable work in climate control and refrigeration.

Professors Lorenzo Cremaschi, Dan Fisher, and Jeffrey Spitler are researchers with the engineering college’s Building Environmental and Thermal Systems Research Group. At their disposal is an advanced psychrometric chamber that helps them mimic any climate from subarctic deep-freezes to jungle-like swelter, Cremaschi says. continues

IMPACT

Lorenzo Cremaschi, aerospace and mechanical engineering assistant professor and researcher in the college’s Building Environmental and Thermal Systems Research Group, can control the climate in an advanced psychrometric chamber.

09 10

45

Cool Facilities ‘Heat Up’ Research

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

46

“No matter what the weather is in Oklahoma, it allows us to replicate any weather we want,” says Cremaschi, a Milan, Italy, native and Purdue University graduate who joined OSU in 2006.

The other facility is the Building Airflow and Contaminant Transport Lab, which the group, studying everything from renewable energy to cutting-edge refrigeration technology, uses for contaminant transport, lighting and energy conservation work.

The psychrometric chamber, paid for partly through a $250,000 donation from the company AAON, and the contaminant lab are research facilities that are unique in Oklahoma, Cremaschi says.

“Drs. Fisher and Spitler worked as a team to bring the Airflow Containment Lab into being and have invested substantial time raising funds to purchase and assemble this 3-story indoor facility,” says Larry Hoberock, head of OSU’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

“They have done a marvelous job in designing this facility, purchasing the needed equipment, and finding the resources to put it together. While Dr. Cremaschi has been the lead faculty member in designing and assembling our outstanding psychrometric chamber, Drs. Spitler and Fisher took the lead in raising the key outside monies from AAON in Tulsa to match monies CEAT provided Dr. Cremaschi for this project.”

Their efforts have already paid dividends. Last July, Cremaschi and Fisher co-authored a patent for a small but more efficient heat exchanger that lessens frost buildup during freezing weather.

Ice buildup on the outdoor coils of heating systems can cause the machine to spend more time and power defrosting instead of heating a structure. That uses more energy and costs its owner more.

Their heat exchanger is a new ultra-modern “microchannel” system similar to those used in some automobile air conditioners because they’re small, lightweight and could make heating systems more efficient in cold climes.

The professors have been testing several new prototypes in the Building Airflow and Contaminant Transport Lab with the assistance of John Knight, an engineer with the energy efficiency company Johnson Controls.

Spitler’s other projects include developing foundation heat exchangers that could make ground source heat pump technology cheaper to operate. He shares the project with a researcher from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and personnel from De Montfort University in Leicester, England.

Their facilities at OSU should help their group, and the university, remain at the forefront of “green refrigeration and climate control” techniques for years to come.

“The MAE Psychrometric Chamber and the Air Flow Containment Lab give CEAT unique capabilities in the thermal systems area that very few universities can offer,” Hoberock says.

“Because of these two outstanding facilities, OSU can undertake research, testing and evaluation sponsored by government and industry that could not easily be handled elsewhere.”

Professor Dan Fisher and Regents Professor Jeffrey Spitler, aerospace and mechanical engineering faculty and members of the Building Environmental and Thermal Systems Research Group, brought into being the Airflow Containment Lab, a three-story indoor facility which the group uses for contaminant transport, lighting and energy conservation work.

Matt Elliott

•

y

IMPACT

09 10

47

photo / Gary Lawson

Carla Wiedmier, left, and Sandi Bliss, right, the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology’s new development team

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

48

Dream Makers

The “I have a passion for OSU even though I didn’t graduate from here. I believe our engineering college is one of the best in the nation, and I want it to be recognized as such.”

— Carla Wiedmier

of Engineering, Architecture and Technology’s new development team devotes long hours securing the funds to make it happen.

The reason is straightforward, according to Wiedmier, whose work as an annual fund assistant while a student at William Penn College set her career path.

“I’m the first person in my family to go to college, and I’ve always had a passion for higher education and its accessibility,” she says.

“Much of what I do is to give persons the opportunity to go to college and that includes getting the best faculty and facilities. Attending college isn’t something we can take for granted.”

Wiedmier, who holds a bachelor’s in sociology and applied computer science and a master’s in higher education administration, joined OSU as the CEAT senior development officer in early 2009. Before then, she served as director of development at Central College in Pella, Iowa, and as executive director of development at Iowa State University in Ames.

Bliss, CEAT assistant director of development, like Wiedmier, didn’t originally plan a career in advancement. The field hooked the OSU alumna, who holds a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in family science, when she worked as coordinator for the OSU Center for Health Sciences’ Communities of Excellence Program.

“I like seeing the immediate impact of someone’s generosity for students and OSU. I love OSU, so to see others care is a great thing. This is actually the better side of what I thought I’d be doing. It’s hard to be a counselor and listen to the sadness in people’s lives. Instead I get to listen to their great achievements,” Bliss says.

“I’m the first person in my immediate family to graduate high school, let alone college. It influences my work. It makes me care more about the students and their struggles.”

As CEAT developers, Bliss and Wiedmier crowd their days and evenings meeting alumni who engage with the university and have the ability to make a financial contribution. They travel frequently, at least every other week.

While a telephone call can supply information, Bliss says it’s no substitute for a face from OSU. “It’s fascinating meeting engineering alums who are affecting lives around the world. It makes me proud of OSU,” she says.

Both Wiedmier and Bliss admire the accomplishments of engineers. “We’ve a story to tell,” says Wiedmier, whose career experience focuses on fundraising for engineering education.

Even though they hold ambitious goals to advance the college, they don’t pressure donors to support specific projects. Wiedmier says they want the donor to do what he or she wants.

“When I look at the contributions and the passion of someone like Wayne Allen, I want to be part of making the college the best it can be.

I have a passion for OSU even though I didn’t graduate from here. I believe our engineering college is one of the best in the nation, and I want it to be recognized as such,” she says.

“Our approach is about building relationships and trust. We don’t push people. When I ask people about their lives, I really do want to know. We’re genuine.”

While neither development officer would ever ask anything for themselves, requesting funds for OSU and its students is another matter altogether. “When I was a child I hated trick or treat, but I’m asking for the future generations of students, not for myself,” Wiedmier says. CFAT Eileen Mustain

IMPACT

photo / Gary Lawson

When Carla Wiedmier and Sandi Bliss speak about giving students access to quality education, it’s not just trendy talk. The College

09 10

49

CEAT Confers Highest Honor The College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology established the Lohmann Medal presentation in 1991 in honor of Melvin R. “Pete” Lohmann, who served at OSU for 36 years. While dean from 1955 to 1977, he led the college to national prominence while providing leadership in the movement to adopt the professional school concept in engineering education.

Largely because of his service as president of the Engineers Council for Professional Development and the American Society for Engineering Education, Lohmann became a national advocate for the professional school model for engineering education, a model with many characteristics of law and medicine schools. The engineering programs at OSU today include many elements of the model Lohmann espoused.

Lohmann Medal 2009

The 2009 Lohmann Medal recipients are Meemong Lee and Richard Weidner, alumni of the OSU School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and principal engineers with Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., where they have served for more than 20 years.

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

50

Meemong Lee

Meemong Lee was born in Junjoo, South Korea, at a servant quarter of Kyungkee Palace rented out to the public during the Korean War. Her father studied Western philosophy and her mother studied English literature in college.

Influenced by President Park’s emphasis on electronics engineering while she was in high school, Lee became only the second female student in the electronics engineering bachelor’s degree program at Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea.

Student demonstrations and marshal law marked her time at Sogang, and her only real passion was for playing the guitar and piano until she saw a newspaper article on computer technology in America. This had a major impact on the direction of her studies.

Despite her parents’ wishes that she be married first, Lee chose to pursue a master’s degree in computer science at OSU, a place her parents felt safe in sending their daughter.

Perhaps an indication of the male dominated discipline she chose to pursue, her 1976 letter of admission from OSU began “Dear Sir.” She continued her OSU education by pursuing a Ph.D. in electrical engineering under the guidance of Rao Yarlagadda, an expert in digital signal processing. It was during this time she met Richard Weidner, another electrical engineering doctoral student. Thanks to Yarlagadda, Lee became one of only a few Ph.Ds. knowledgeable in speech signal processing — an accomplishment that took her to Intel Corporation in 1981.

At Intel, she worked with Ted Hoff, who invented the first 4-bit microprocessor and developed the automated speech transaction system.

In 1983, she joined Weidner at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., excited to have an opportunity to work for NASA. There she went to work with pioneers in the field of digital image processing and advanced image analysis systems, where she specialized in multidisciplinary modeling and simulation technology and advanced imaging techniques.

Her work at Jet Propulsion Laboratory includes the Voyager II, Magellan, Galileo, Deep Space I, Mars Odyssey and the JUNO missions.

In 1986, she received the NASA Manned Flight Awareness Certificate of Appreciation for her contributions to the Challenger investigation. In 1989, NASA awarded her its Exceptional Service Medal for supporting the Voyager II and Neptune Encounter, and in 2002, AIAA honored her with its Space Science Award for Deep Space I Comet Borrelly.

Lee resides in Pasadena, Calif., with her husband and collaborator Richard Weidner, where she continues her 26-year career at Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Richard Weidner

continues

IMPACT

Richard Weidner realized his engineering Weidner’s initial assignment at Jet Propulsion talent in high school with a desire to create Laboratory was autonomous processing of spacethings of all kinds. In a high school course for borne imagery for spacecraft navigation, which future farmers, he began welding a robot, but allowed him immediately to apply concepts the teacher, thinking it was a waste of time, of digital signal processing learned from Rao never allowed him to realize this dream. Now, Yarlagadda at OSU in the 1970s. instead of building metal robots, he builds Later he became an expert in real-time design applications for robotic exploration of monitoring, visualization and planning planouter space. etary missions, including the development of Weidner was born in Woodward, Okla., a software systems for mission simulation and descendant of immigrant farmers. He began visualization. his college education by earning his bachelor’s In 1986, he received the NASA Manned degree in electrical engineering from OSU in Flight Awareness Certificate of Appreciation for 1977 and with Robert Mulholland’s encourage- his contributions to the Challenger investigament, began graduate study at OSU. Under tion. In 1997, NASA awarded him the NASA Mulholland’s guidance, he earned a master’s Exceptional Service Medal for Mars Pathfinder degree in 1979, followed by the Ph.D. degree mission support, and in 2005, he was honored in 1981, both in electrical engineering. with the Cassini Certificate of Recognition for It was during his graduate studies he first his work in real-time mission simulation and met his future wife Meemong Lee, another visualization. electrical engineering doctoral student, when During his career at Jet Propulsion she occupied a next-door office in Engineering Laboratory, he has worked on many missions South. Weidner spent hours perfecting his skill including Voyager, Stardust, Mars Pathfinder, at darts in order to show off to Lee with her Mars Odyssey, Cassini, JUNO and others. His office dartboard. recent work includes modeling, simulation and Weidner and many of his fellow graduate visualization of a spacecraft proposed to arrive students were fascinated by the Carl Sagan PBS at Jupiter in 2016. He is also working with an television show Cosmos. Knowing of Weidner’s extension of this work in support of studies interest in space, Mulholland recommended dealing with global warming. him for a position at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Weidner and his wife, Meemong Lee, reside where he has developed an extraordinary 28-year in Pasadena, Calif., where his career continues career so far. at Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

09 10

51

Lohmann Medal 2010

The 2010 Lohmann Medal recipients are Juan Carlos Calderon in recognition of his influence on students and the world of architecture and Jerry Banks for mentoring generations of young engineers and pioneering contributions to the industrial engineering profession.

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

52

Juan Carlos Calderon

Juan Carlos Calderon was born on Nov. 15, 1932, in La Paz, Bolivia to Roberto Calderon and Elena Romero. He developed an early love for architecture, and after finishing grade school in Bolivia chose to attend OSU in 1951 because of its world-renowned architecture program.

He studied under Professors George Chamberlain and Alex Notaras and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1958.

In a chance meeting with Frank Lloyd Wright following his graduation, Wright gave Calderon this simple advice, “If you are going to be an architect, do it because you love architecture.”

He set out to fulfill Wright’s advice, starting his career as an architect in Oklahoma City, where he spent two years working with Jack Nusbaum and Associates. In 1960, he began working with William Parker McFadden and Associates in Dallas. In 1962, he moved to San Francisco, where he worked with Rockwise and Watson until joining the firm of Royston Hanamoto Beck and Abey as an associate in 1965.

In 1972, Calderon returned to Bolivia where he opened his own private practice in La Paz. During his long career, he has worked on countless projects including 85 projects in a handful of Bolivian cities. His work in his home country has made him a national hero to the people of Bolivia.

OSU Architecture Professor John Womack says, “Juan Carlos Calderon is recognized today as the preeminent architect in not only his home country of Bolivia, but the entire continent of South America and Central America.”

In 1984, Calderon decided to focus his efforts on teaching full time, imparting his knowledge to a whole new generation of students at Florida A&M University. He was a two-time winner of a Teacher of the Year award, first in 1986 and again in 1987.

His career in academia also took him to the University of Utah and later to the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz. During this time, Calderon made a lasting impression on countless students in much the same way Frank Lloyd Wright made a lasting impression on him years before.

Among his numerous awards, Calderon has received the National Prize for Culture, First Prize in the Fifth Biennial of Bolivian architecture, the Grand Prize in the First Biennial of Bolivian Architecture, special mention for all his work by the Organization of American States and the Gold Medal from the Bolivian Institute of Architects. Many Latin American publications have also featured his work.

He has returned to his hometown of La Paz, where he continues his private practice of architecture.

Jerry Banks

When he retired from Georgia Tech in 1999, Banks joined the Brooks Automation, AutoSimulations Division as a senior simulation technology advisor. In 2001, he left Brooks Automation and worked as an independent consultant until 2007.

Since then, he has served as a professor and academic leader on the faculty of the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

In that dual role, he serves as a mentor for young faculty and continues his writing in system theory and simulation and speaking at universities and industries throughout Mexico.

Banks has been a prolific writer in his field of expertise, authoring 11 books, chapters in 14 different books, 33 papers in refereed journals and more than 100 additional papers for conferences and proceedings.

He is the editor of the Handbook of Simulation, published in 1998 by John Wiley. That book won the Award for Excellence in Engineering Handbooks from the Professional Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers Inc. His well-known Discrete-Event Simulation book is now in its fifth edition.

Currently he is co-authoring another book titled Crafting Managers: 100 Principles for the Excellent Manager.

When Banks is not working, he enjoys traveling and considers himself fortunate to have been able to see so much of the world. He also enjoys spending time with his wife, Nancy, and their children. They have a permanent home in Atlanta, Ga.

IMPACT

Jerry Banks was born in Birmingham, Ala., in 1939, the son of Jake and Rose Banks. The family moved to Huntsville, Ala., in 1941, where his father would work in the new and used auto parts business until he retired in 1987.

Banks attended the University of Alabama, receiving his bachelor’s in industrial engineering in 1961 and his master’s in industrial engineering in 1963.

When Professor Robert Braswell, Banks’ mentor at the University of Alabama, said he should pursue the doctorate in industrial engineering at OSU, Banks followed his suggestion.

OSU Professor Wolt Fabrycky offered Banks a position as graduate associate and served as his dissertation adviser. Banks wrote his dissertation on “A Hierarchy of Procurement and Inventory Systems” and received his doctorate from OSU in 1966.

His first teaching position came when Georgia Tech offered him a nine-month position at a salary of $10,000 in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering in 1965.

Banks says he accepted the position “on the spot.” During the Vietnam War, he served on active duty as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. He served two years between 1966 and 1968 at the Pentagon as a science and engineering commissioned officer and achieved the rank of captain.

After his service in 1968, he returned to Georgia Tech, where he had an outstanding career in research and teaching as professor of industrial and systems engineering.

09 10

53

Hall of Fame Inducts Mitta, Kridler, Mitchell in 2009 The College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology’s 2009 Hall of Fame inductees are three distinguished graduates, Charles Kridler, A. Joe Mitchell Jr. and Sridhar Mitta.

In addition to excelling in their fields, these individuals share qualities that help inspire others and generate a remarkable foundation for the future. Their induction in 2009 brings the total CEAT Hall of Fame giants to 84 since the college began its Hall of Fame in 1954.

A. Joe Mitchell Jr.,

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

54

A. Joe Mitchell Jr., 1974 architectural engineering graduate, has had a long, successful career in the high-tech industry where he blazed a unique trail using the problem-solving and engineering background he acquired at OSU. His first professional position was design engineer with Conoco in Ponca City, Okla. In time, Conoco named him general manager of its building di­vision. In 1980, Mitchell and his family moved to Midland, Texas, where he was responsible for building the ClayDesta Plaza, a $200 million mixed-use real estate project.

There he served as president of ClayDesta Corporation.

In 1982, veering to the communications indus­t ry, he founded ClayDesta Communications and served as its president the next four years. In 1986, Telecom USA in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, secured his talents and expertise as a vice president of the company that subsequently grew to a $200 million business before going public and being purchased

by MCI. Mitchell’s entrepreneurial career strengthened in 1989 when he used $20,000 in personal finance to found VarTec Telecom. His intuition for a new venture paid off. Within four months, the company was profitable and grew steadily to a $2 billion company with 8,500 employees in 14 coun­tries.

Recognizing his accomplishments and business acumen in technology and communications, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Ernst & Young named Mitchell Entrepreneur of the Year in 1998.

Between 2004 and 2008, Mitchell founded and served as chair of four companies in the oil and gas, oil services, real estate, and cattle industries with revenues over $50 million. He has also designed and built 13 lakes on his 10,000-acre ranch in Texas.

In 2004, which marked 30 years of significant accomplishments, Mitchell decided to share his leader­ship skills with young entrepreneurs. As a mentor, he has been invaluable in helping with the start-up of five-energy related companies.

He and his wife, Connie, have helped some 100 students obtain higher education degrees through their philanthropic support. In addition, the Mitchells have offered generous support to OSU through the establishment of the Joe and Connie Mitchell Academic Enhance­ment Center — a special gift that touches both academics and athletics.

Mitchell says be­ing a small-town boy from Carrier, Okla., one of only 14 in his high school class, and receiving an education at OSU prepared him for entrepreneurship by giving him the tools to analyze problems and opportunities.

His philosophy for success is to be passionate about what he is doing and to continue learning. Mitchell’s passion and strong work ethic to make the most of each opportunity has enabled him to make his mark in the technology and communications industries as well as leave a legacy to OSU.

Sridhar Mitta

Sridhar Mitta’s stellar career as an engineer, an executive, an entrepreneur and a humanitarian has brought global recognition to this OSU alumnus, who when a student demonstrated the insight and foresight that helped guide his future accomplishments.

After completing his doctorate in electrical engineering in 1973, he returned to India where his professional contributions to his native country have made a major impact on the development and evolution of the information technology industry.

Currently, his leadership and vision in addressing societal needs through commercial entrepreneurship is bringing remarkable results that will benefit thousands of people countrywide.

Today, he is passionate about building social ventures through his founding of NextWealth Entrepreneurs Private Limited. His vision for NextWealth is to address societal needs through commercial entrepreneurship by using technology and business models to help solve society’s problems.

Currently, NextWealth is establishing multiple rural centers to create 10,000 jobs for rural graduates, reversing the trend of their migration to cities for employment. NextWealth is working with the Masonic Blood Bank of Vellore in Tamil Nadu, India, to help it grow and become financially self-sustaining through the effective use of information technology.

This project alone will affect untold numbers of individuals residing in rural and poor sections of India — a testimony to Mitta’s humanitarian efforts.

Coming to OSU, Mitta’s first U.S. experience, introduced him to American life and led to his continual association with technology and business in the U.S.

What followed was a trip to visit a cousin in Stillwater who was head of the ROTC program at OSU. Col. McPherson gave Kridler a tour of the campus where he met Architecture Profes­ sor Bill Lacy. Kridler liked what he heard and saw, realizing that architecture was a mix of art and sci­ence, two areas of interest to him.

The decision to attend OSU proved to be right for him. Throughout his study of architecture, Professors Lacy (who became Kridler’s mentor), Bill Fash and Alex Notaras had a lasting influence on Kridler in stressing the importance of learning how to analyze problems. Thus, learning to solve problems was paramount in his studies at OSU. Mentored by firm founder Art Gensler, Kridler gained recognition early in his Gensler career. The firm’s un­precedented growth and success is a testament to the talents of principals like Kridler, who have de­fined, grown and perfected its retail practice area. He is the first generation for a number for Gensler Practice Areas that now are in their second and third generations: retail, mixed-use, broadcasting, hospitality, renovation and historic renovation.

Gensler’s retail practice area received numerous project awards in 2009: the Art Deco Society of California Award for Historic Preservation; the California Preservation Foundation Restoration Award; the Association for Retail Environments Restaurant/Fine Dining Award; and final­ist in the Hotel World Global Hospitality and Design Awards Program.

For those in the field of design and architecture, Kridler serves as a role model for his own definition of hero, “the uncommon common man, the ordinary people who do extraordinary things.”

IMPACT

In India, Mitta joined Electronics Corporation of India, where as technical manager, he developed real-time computer applications for the army and air force. In 1980, Sridhar became the first employee of Wipro Limited, and as chief technology officer, he played a key role in achieving its technology leadership.

Charlie Kridler His ability to look at problems holistically Charlie Kridler, 1963 architecture graduate, and combine technology with business is one is one of the founding members and a principal of the valuable assets he brings to a company. In of Gensler, a global design and architecture 1990, Sridhar put forth strategies to transition firm named the AIA 2007 Firm of the Year.

Wipro’s captive R&D to a Global R&D. Thus, Kridler has devoted 40 years to growing the the company pioneered outsourcing and off firm from a single account to the number two shoring of IT product development that has retail architecture firm in the United States. made Wipro a $4 billion industry today and Under his leadership, Gensler plans, designs propelled India into an IT leadership position. and imple­ments the full range of retail — from That effort is his most satisfying as well as store design and rollout to retail architecture most challenging managerial achievement.

— and has spearheaded the growth and rollout Under his leadership, Wipro received the strategies that have become standard practice “Award of Excellence in Electronics” from the in retail architecture today. As a member of Government of India for five consecutive years Gensler’s management committee, Kridler is and earned the coveted CMM Level V software responsible for the firm’s strategy, financial quality certification. suc­cess and operational performance.

As an entrepreneur, Mitta founded EnThink Over the years, he has mentored all of the Inc., an intellectual property design and licensfirm’s retail leaders. He is personally responsible ing start-up company in California’s Silicon for the prominence of this practice as well as Valley in 1998; e4e Inc. (entrepreneurs for the hundreds of awards Gensler has received entrepreneurs), an organization outsourcing for retail design. The most important award, business services to companies worldwide to he says, came in 1998 with the Business Week/ facilitate deployment and management of busiArchitectural Record Award for the Gap Office ness processes, in Santa Clara, Calif. in 2000.

Building in San Bruno, Calif.

He played key roles with IndUS Kridler did not start in architecture. His Entrepreneurs, which fosters entrepreneurgeologist father influenced him to pursue a ship globally and mentors many young techdegree in geology, but after two years of study nology start-ups. at Colorado School of Mines, he admitted that was not for him.

09 10

55

aof SENSE PLACE

Dallas architect Bryce Weigand is a student of history. If you don’t know your past, then you don’t know your future.

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

56

“I’ve always loved history, and I think we don’t pay nearly enough attention to it, that’s for sure,” says Weigand, class of 1971 and a principal at the firm Good, Fulton & Farrell.

“Otherwise, we wouldn’t do some of the same things we continue to do, personally as well as corporately and socially.”

With architecture, a similar understanding of history and place is essential, and that approach is part of what has made Weigand one of the more successful alumni of OSU’s School of Architecture.

Architect magazine recently named Weigand’s firm one of the top 50 in the United States. The magazine polled subscribers and their staff and ranked firms according to profitability, sustainability and design quality. Good, Fulton & Farrell ranked number 17 in the nation.

“For me, the award says if our main purpose is to design facilities and spaces that are wonderful places to be while running our business responsibly then we’re doing a pretty good job,” Weigand says. “It’s great to be contributing to this end.”

Weigand is one of the OSU architecture school’s advisory committee members. With Good, Fulton & Farrell, he’s handled projects for everything from churches to universities.

He has been the master planner for Southern Methodist University since 1997.

He says he looks back fondly on his time at OSU, which he came to from rural northwest Oklahoma in 1966, following several cousins, an older brother and a favorite uncle who graduated from Oklahoma A & M in 1921.

“He always told the story about riding the train to Stillwater,” Weigand says. “And, to get to the train, you often had to go through mud roads from northwest Oklahoma.”

Stillwater might as well have been the big city as far as Weigand was concerned. He spent his childhood growing up on his parents’ wheat and cattle farm near the towns of Alva and Cherokee. He was a typical kid who spent his time drawing and playing near a creek when he wasn’t doing his chores.

“We were always outside fixing fences, build“We loved it up there. We had all our stuff, ing corrals or working on the barn,” he says. ink wells and drafting tables that weren’t very “My brothers and I were sort of on our own in mobile,” he says. “It was not only an environsome respects. So, the aspect of make-believe ment for learning, but it was an environment and inventing ideas while on the farm was part for socialization, fun, building camaraderie of that creative streak that blossomed.” and developing the feeling that you were truly At OSU, he ran track his first year, learned doing something meaningful. We were in the how to study and contemplated seminary school. space-making business, and creating your own While living in Cordell Hall, he got to know a space that included a chair for your girlfriend group of architecture students and developed and all the rest was always fun.” an interest in the program.

Each time he and his wife, Trish Kelly “Their admonition was, ‘This is a pretty tough Weigand, whom he met at OSU, return to program, and I’m not sure you can handle it.’ I Stillwater, they visit the campus, look for his guess I had enough wherewithal and gumption old haunts and admire how OSU has nurtured to say, ‘If you can handle it, I can handle it.’” its Georgian architecture and campus landscape.

He enrolled in some courses and quickly They also visit the building where his old apartfound the subjects inspiring. He reveled in ment was in downtown Stillwater. classes taught by professors such as George “It was just south of Stillwater National Bank Chamberlain, Charles Stevens, Lou Bass, Tom on Main Street above Zorba’s Menswear, in Dean, Bruce Miller, Cecil Elliott and Cuthbert a loft that was paneled with raw pine boards Salmon. from Poteau, Oklahoma,” says Weigand. He He and his classmates set up shop in make- lived there with fellow architecture students shift cubicles on the fifth floor of Engineering Sandy Talley, Garret Eakin, Mike Damore and North where they would stay up all night Jerry Garner. “We tapped onto the power line working. They’d have to hide when security in the alley for electricity and thankfully didn’t tried to kick them out at night. burn the place down. It was a pretty good deal at $10 per month.”

The prestigious Atlanta firm Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates hired Weigand when he graduated in 1971. The company was still young but was about to start work on what would become the Omni International Center, a famous complex that is home to CNN News. He also worked on the IBM General Systems building. His office was in downtown, and it was invigorating to be in the hustle and bustle of the big city.

Corgan Associates in Dallas recruited him in 1976, and he spent 18 years there as an associate and principal, during which he won the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects’ Young Architect of the Year award, as well as other design and delineation awards.

He joined Good, Fulton & Farrell as a principal in 1993. Leading its institutional work, he has overseen projects such as Southern Methodist University’s Centennial Master Plan, the University of Texas-Pan American Master Plan and Visitor Center, Frontier Texas! in Abilene, the Hockaday School in Dallas and St. Mark’s School of Texas.

Weigand was president of AIA’s Dallas chapter in 1997, the Texas Society of Architects in 2002 and director on the AIA’s National Board from 2003 to 2006. The American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows invested him in 1993.

Matt Elliott

The University of Texas-Pan American Visitors Center, Edinburg, Texas 2002 The first building project to develop out of Good Fulton & Farrell’s 1999 master plan, the University of Texas-Pan American Visitors Center in Edinburg, Texas, provides a new “front door,” a welcome center, for the UTPA campus.

IMPACT

09 10

57

Photo / Charles Davis Smith, AIA

it really is Rocket Science

He left Boeing briefly to work on the first guidance on it, so I could pick out a specific supersonic bomber, the B-58 Hustler, for address in London and hit it.’” Von Braun also General Dynamics in Fort Worth. During that talked about his efforts to convince Adolph class is gone now, says the 1948 OSU chemi- time, he married his high school sweetheart, Hitler of the program’s usefulness. cal engineering graduate. He didn’t remember fellow OSU alumna Patricia Ringer. Their A few years later, Thorstenberg became the many of the folks who remained, but they sure children, Lisa and Brien, both OSU graduates, proud designer of the first approved part for the remembered him. keep the connection strong today.

Saturn V, a regulator for its propulsion system.

“I told this guy, ‘I don’t remember you at all,’” He eventually became part of Boeing’s team He was still working on the program when Thorstenberg says. “He said, ‘I hate to tell you that evaluated secret projects, including revi- President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. this, but we thought you were so damn smart, sions to the B-52 Stratofortress, later the back“It came over the loud speaker that President we didn’t like to talk to you.’” bone of the Strategic Air Command’s nuclear Kennedy had been shot. There wasn’t a word He was their classmate who became an deterrent and still in service today. His group said. Everybody was just staring into space. engineer at Boeing, worked on secret govern- covertly evaluated powering the plane with a Then a couple hours later, they said he was ment defense projects and had a front-line spot nuclear reactor. After presenting its findings dead, and there was not a dry eye in that buildin the space race. The son of a crane operator to government officials at their headquarters ing,” Thorstenberg says, still choking up at the at the local Conoco refinery, Thorstenberg outside Omaha, Neb., the group received a tour. memory more than 40 years later. “That was came to OSU on a limited income. Following “We went down on an elevator, I don’t know his program.” an older brother’s example, he chose chemical how far, into a room, and there was the whole When his work was done, his bosses let engineering. world. We saw where every airplane was. There him work anywhere in the company. He chose Things weren’t easy in Stillwater. He couldn’t were tanks. It was moving. Like a big map — Seattle, where he wrote maintenance manufind a part time job, and his dad died suddenly a big movie screen. That was top secret then. als for the 707, 727 and 737 and worked on of pancreatic cancer. But Thorstenberg found And on a desk was a red telephone that went Boeing’s supersonic transport plane proposal a way to make ends meet, eventually getting a directly to Moscow.” before the company cancelled it. In 1960, he counseling job at Thatcher Hall after graduation.

After the Soviets launched Sputnik 1 in 1957, also was part of a team that tried to patent He soon finished his master’s degree and got Thorstenberg jumped at the chance to work supersonic combustion technology that would on the “hoot-owl shift” at Boeing in Wichita, on Boeing’s contract with the space program enable future aircraft to travel at Mach 3. The Kan., testing the propulsion system and fuel to develop the first stage of the Saturn V with government rejected the patent because there system components of the B-47 Stratojet. its five 1.5 million pound-thrust rockets, fuel was no foreseen use for the technology.

“I got to be a pretty good aeronautical and tanks and other gear. Overseeing the project But last May, off the southern California propulsion engineer,” he says. was Wernher Von Braun. Captured by the coast, Boeing’s Mach 5 X-51A Waverider set a Americans, the Third Reich scientist who world record with the longest scramjet-powered developed the Nazis’ terror weapon, the V-2 supersonic flight in history. It was the same rocket, went to work for NASA in the 1960s. idea his group tried to patent.

Thorstenberg vividly recalls meeting Von Laid off a year after the Apollo 11 moon landBraun in the Huntsville, Ala., auditorium where ing on July 20, 1969, Thorstenberg became an student digest the project engineers gathered. insurance sales representative in nearby Renton, “Von Braun said the buzz bombs they’d send Wash. Two years later, desperate for a new job, research, teaching, to London would run out of fuel and drop. Then he became a laborer at the refinery where his outreach he said, ‘We were building a bigger rocket with dad worked in Ponca City.

He eventually worked his way up to environmental engineer when supervisors realized his alumni success expertise. In 1985, he worked on hydrocarbons that migrated off the site into groundwater and eventually led to Conoco’s buyout of homes in noteworthy 1990. Thorstenberg retired from Conoco in 1992.

No one at Conoco knew of his time at Boeing until a story appeared in the Ponca City 58 News last year. Some of his former co-workers, many of whom were fellow laborers from when he started at the company, were astounded, Thorstenberg says.

“I’m not someone who’s going to be bragging,” he says. But he’ll gladly regale anyone willing to listen with his stories as an engineer on the front lines of history.

Richard Thorstenberg attended his high school reunion in his hometown of Ponca City, Okla., in 2008. Much of the graduating

Matt Elliott

IMPACT

09 10

59

“I got to be a pretty good aeronautical and propulsion engineer.”

— Richard Thorstenberg

Medal Winner The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence selected Andy Arena Jr., L. Maciula Professor in Engineering in the School of Mechanical

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

60

China Honor Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU) named

Afshin J. Ghajar honorary professor at a special

and Aerospace Engineering, to receive the 2009 Oklahoma Medal of ceremony in July 2009.

Excellence in Research University Teaching, the foundation’s most Ghajar, Regents Professor and director of prestigious higher education teaching award. graduate studies for the School of Mechanical The honor recognizes Arena’s profound influence on the success of and Aerospace Engineering, is a registered OSU’s aerospace engineering program from developing new courses professional engineer and a fellow of the to creating facilities for student projects.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Arena, who teaches introduction to aerospace engineering as well as He is editor-in-chief of Heat Transfer Engineering graduate and senior courses, uses a “hands-on” approach to teaching. and editor of the Heat Transfer Series for CRC “Instead of me talking about what aerospace engineers do, the students Press, both published by Taylor and Francis. build satellites that we fly to the edge of space and return so they can He is also co-author of the fourth edition recover their data,” says Arena, who shares practical experience as a of Heat and Mass Transfer: Fundamentals and commercial, instrument-rated pilot.

Applications published by McGraw-Hill released His students consistently dominate the American Institute of earlier this year and used primarily as an underAeronautics and Astronautics international competition, “Design, Build, graduate textbook.

Fly.” Since 1999, OSU teams led by Arena have won seven first-place Xi’an Jiaotong University, one of the top awards and eight second-place awards. In five of these competitions, 10 universities in China, ranks number one Arena’s teams have taken both of the top two places. in the field of energy and power engineering.

In a testimony to Arena’s methods, graduate student Dustin Gamble The honorary professorship at Xi’an Jiaotong says as an undergraduate struggling with math and science Arena invited University is one of the highest positions offered him to spend evenings working alongside seniors designing airplanes. by the university to foreign scholars.

The experience helped Gamble connect theory with real-world design, and later, under Arena’s guidance, he designed an aircraft that set two world records.

“It is through Dr. Arena’s passion and desire in teaching that I have been able to rise to the top of my engineering classes and eventually open my creative mind to new ideas,” Gamble says.

Significant Work

Extraordinary Teacher

Sohum Sohoni, assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, won the 2009 Halliburton Excellent Young Teacher Award, selected by student and faculty representatives.

Interested in the development of graphical visualization tools for classroom and laboratory instruction, Sohoni believes teaching needs to incorporate today’s presentation techniques as well as new methodologies such as case studies and team learning.

Sohoni, whose broad research interests are in computer architecture and performance analysis, received a $200,000 National Science Foundation grant in 2007 to work on cache prefetching across processes. Since then he has received NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates supplements for the grant. He advises several undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students.

IMPACT

Jan Wagner, chemical engineering profesThe American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, sor, received the 2009 Halliburton Excellent ASHRAE, has selected Dan Fisher as FELLOW Teacher Award, supported by a grant from the recognizing his longstanding and significant Halliburton Foundation. A group of student contributions to the field of heating, refrigera- and faculty representatives selects the Excellent tion and air-conditioning.

Teacher Award recipient, who excels in instrucFisher, a professor in the School of tion and mentoring.

Wagner has received several teaching honors, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, joined OSU in 1999. He has served as the OSU Society including a Regents Distinguished Teaching of Automotive Engineers Formula Car faculty Award and the Halliburton Outstanding adviser since 2000 and has authored numerous Engineering Faculty Award.

His instruction in plant design with colleague journal and conference publications.

His research interests are in the areas Rob Whiteley, professor of chemical engineerof energy conversion and thermal systems ing, has led to numerous student team awards at design. He represented OSU on the national the American Institute of Chemical Engineers research team that developed EnergyPlus, the National Student Design Competition.

Wagner’s major areas of interest are process Department of Energy’s standard in simulasafety, process design and educational resources tion software.

One of his ongoing research projects is for chemical engineering.

For the last several years, he has been workmodel development and experimental validation for the EnergyPlus Program, sponsored ing on resources and materials for integrating by the Department of Energy and Lawrence principles of process safety into the capstone Berkeley National Laboratory. Another of his design courses. Currently, he and Whiteley are current research projects involves the develop- developing teaching materials to introduce the ment of a modular, loop-based, HVAC system fundamentals of compressible and two-phase flow of real fluids in the undergraduate chemisimulation.

He is a member of OSU’s Building and cal engineering courses.

Thermal Systems Research Group.

New Perspective

09 10

61

Taking a World View In 2009, OSU recognized the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology alumnus Paul B. Liao as a member of the Henry G. Bennett Distinguished Fellows Program.

Established by the School of International Studies, the Bennett Fellows Program recognizes individuals from around the world who have made outstanding contributions to solving social, political and economic global issues.

Liao overcame many obstacles including language, culture and race when he came to the United States to become the CEO of Tetra Tech/KCM, a leading international consulting, engineering and technical services organization.

By the time he retired as chair and CEO, Liao’s career spanned the globe.

He is responsible for local, national and international projects in more than 35 countries.

Among the many projects he led around the globe, he is most proud of three in his home country Tiawan — the Penghu Aquarium, the tunnel construction project for the Taipei Mass A committee of faculty members honored Rapid Transit and the $250 million National Ranga Komanduri with the 2009 Halliburton Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium Outstanding Faculty Award recognizing distincin Taiwan. tion beyond the classroom. Outstanding Faculty Liao won the Grand Award in the honorees excel in all facets of instruction, Engineering Excellence competition, orgaresearch and mentoring as well as professional nized by the American Council of Engineering and volunteer service.

Companies, for the National Museum of Marine Komanduri, Regents Professor and A.H. Biology and Aquarium. He has received many Nelson Jr. Chair in the School of Mechanical awards in the U.S. and serves as Governor and Aerospace Engineering, joined OSU in of the Board of the Virginia Mason Medical 1989 after experience in corporate research Center, which named its general surgical center and academe and as a program director for after him. the National Science Foundation.

Liao, who received a master’s in environAmong others, the NSF and Department of mental and biological engineering from OSU Defense support his research, which focuses and a doctorate in civil and environmental on advanced manufacturing processes and engineering from the University of Washington, materials and is performed by interdisciplinhas been a highly influential as well as indisary groups. An internationally known lecturer, pensable bridge between National Cheng Kung Komanduri has published some 230 technical University in Taiwan and the University of papers, including several chapters in encycloWashington in his home city. pedias and other specialized books, and holds He and his wife Mei-Yea endowed the Dr. 21 patents. and Mrs. Paul B. Liao Endowed Regental He has won numerous honors, including Fellowships that will primarily support the OSU Eminent Faculty Award, a $10,000 students from NCKU who wish to do graduaward that recognizes the highest levels of ate work in the UW Department of Civil and scholarly achievement, and most recently the Environmental Engineering. The endowment 2009 Phoenix Award, bestowed by the OSU also will support UW students and their adviGraduate Student Association recognizing sors in study and research at NCKU and its him for his outstanding service as adviser to neighboring science park. graduate students.

Recently Liao and his wife established the Dr. On average, Komanduri works with some 10 Paul Baoho Liao and Mei-Yea Liao Fellowship to 15 graduate students, two postdoctoral fellows at OSU to benefit a Taiwanese graduate student and two or three undergraduate students. wishing to come to the United States to study civil and environmental engineering.

Man of Distinction

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

62

One of the Elite

A Standout

Daryoosh Vashaee, assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computing Engineering, is developing nanotechnology that can convert waste heat to usable energy.

He has received a five year, $700,000 grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and a three-year, $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to research thermoelectric materials that have the potential to convert waste heat, which is about 60 percent of the world’s useful energy, to electrical energy.

Developing the efficient, inexpensive thermoelectric materials has the potential to reduce large-scale energy consumption and harmful emissions, he says, noting that thermoelectric materials have a variety of applications that range from using body heat to power a pacemaker to harvesting excess attic heat to economically heat and cool the entire house.

Vashaee joined OSU in 2007 after postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He and his engineering graduate students are using the AFOSR grant to develop thermoelectric materials that will harvest wasted energy from military aircraft. He is using the NSF grant to develop a capability for predicting the relevant properties of thermoelectric nanocomposite materials, essentially providing the theoretical groundwork used by future researchers.

IMPACT

OSU named Jeffrey Spitler Regents Jay Hanan, assistant professor in the School Professor, the university’s highest rank. Spitler, of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, C.M. Leonard Professor in the School of received the Halliburton 2009 Outstanding Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, joins Young Faculty Award honoring faculty an elite group of highly accomplished and members whose work in multiple areas stands internationally recognized faculty members, out among peers. including mechanical and aerospace engineerPrior to joining OSU in 2005, Hanan worked ing colleagues Ranga Komanduri, Don Lucca four years as staff scientist with the avionand Afshin Ghajar. ics equipment section of the Jet Propulsion Spitler’s research interests include building Laboratory and before that as graduate research energy analysis and load calculations, thermal assistant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. systems simulation and design and ground Widely published, Hanan serves as an indussource heat pumps. He is author of many try adviser for advanced materials applications publications and is one of three authors of and non-destructive evaluation as well as a Heating, Venting, and Air-Conditioning Analysis reviewer for journals and proposals. His research and Design, now in its sixth edition. interests include advanced structural materials, His current research includes the geother- automation and data processing, increasing mal smart bridge, an ongoing project that aims useful service life and non-destructive analysis. at developing a bridge deck heating system Recently Hanan’s research has spun off to prevent icing and its subsequent safety two companies from OSU. One, which proposes hazards as well as prevent the steel corrosion to produce lightweight, high-strength matericaused by salt. als to aircraft manufacturing markets, was the Spitler, who joined OSU in 1990, is a fellow in $26,000 grand prizewinner in OSU’s Riata the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration Business Plan Competition. and Air-Conditioning for his research contriThe other is Verta Systems, a software develbutions. He is a member of the Building and opment firm that specializes in the application Thermal Systems Research Group. of artificial intelligence and machine vision to provide advanced products to the American military.

Waste to Energy

09 10

63

In Memoriam

Exemplary Service

Pioneering Change

Oklahoma State University graduate and inventor, H. Edward Indianapolis, Ind., at age 88. The mechaniRoberts , died on April 1, 2010. cal engineering alumnus earned a bachHistorians recognize the elecelor’s in 1943 and a master’s 1948 and trical engineering alumnus as went on to dedicate 48 years of service the inventor of the world’s first to his alma mater. commercially available personal Boggs received a Ph.D. in thermodycomputer.

Moreover, Roberts namics and heat transfer from Purdue gave Microsoft founders Bill University in 1953 and in 1955 took part Gates and Paul Allen their first in the Summer Nuclear Energy Institute at Argonne National Laboratory. He returned jobs.

Roberts began college simulto OSU where he served as head of the taneously enrolled in electrical School of Mechanical Engineering from engineering at the University of 1957 to 1965.

Miami and pre-med at Stetson He became dean of the OSU Graduate University.

After completing two College in 1965 and vice president for years, he married and joined the academic affairs one year later. OSU named Air Force Reserve to support him vice president for academic affairs and research in 1977 and twice designated him himself and his new wife.

The Air Force sent Roberts to acting president. complete his bachelor’s degree OSU developed many programs under at OSU, where the College of his leadership, including, among others, Engineering, Architecture and the Office of Institutional Research, the Technology had just taken ownerDepartment of Computer Science, the University Honors Program, a General ship of one of the first five IBM Studies Committee and the Academic 1620 digital computers placed in Appeals Board, an Environmental Institute a university. It was the 1960s, and no one in the college knew how and a Laser Research Center. to operate the IBM 1620. Roberts, He also served on the President’s who was not timid, soon became Committee on the National Medal of the primary user, considering Science of the National Science Foundation the 1620 his “personal computer.” and 20 years as a trustee for the Oklahoma After earning his bachelor’s Center for Science and the Arts. He was executive director of the OSU Education in electrical engineering, the Air and Research Foundation and twice the Force commissioned Roberts director of National Science Foundation second lieutenant and sent him Summer Institutes in Heat Transfer and to Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, N.M., where he became one of Gas Dynamics.

“Dr. Boggs was an exceptional teacher the Air Force’s experts in laser and academic leader,” says Karl Reid, a pointed weapons systems.

Interested in building elecformer student and now dean of the tronic devices, he started his own College of Engineering, Architecture company, Micro Instrumentation and Technology. “His example and his Telemetry Systems, which first encouragement influenced my decision produced tracking systems for to pursue a Ph.D. and an academic career. model rocketry enthusiasts.

“The program he developed in mechaniHe purchased “chips” from cal engineering at OSU was the first a relatively unknown company discipline in Oklahoma ranked by the called INTEL to develop the American Council on Education. It still Altair 8800 and launch the leads the college in attracting research personal computer revolution dollars,” Reid says.

James H. Boggs died Aug. 29, 2009, in

student digest research, teaching, outreach alumni success noteworthy

64

as well as the careers of Gates and Allen. The Microsoft founders, who produced Altair Basic for MITS, then launched Microsoft and developed the first version of Microsoft Basic, have praised Roberts as an early mentor and pioneer.

After producing 5,000 Altair 8800’s, Roberts sold MITS to Pertec in Albuquerque and then joined the company. When Pertec rejected his design for, essentially, the first laptop computer, he left the company, purchased a 1,000acre farm in southern Georgia, started developing management software for farmers and ranchers, and at the age of 38, entered medical school at Mercer University.

“Almost every aspect of the multibillion-dollar personal computer industry began with Ed’s inventions,” says Karl Reid, CEAT dean.

“He possessed an inquisitive and inventive mind and a pioneering and generous spirit who used his talents to improve the quality of life for others.”

In 1988, he set up practice as a doctor of internal medicine in Cockran, Georgia. He was a hero to the townspeople because of his caring spirit, skill and willingness to meet their needs. When he passed, the whole town mourned Doc Roberts.

What’s your brand of success?

Are you an OSU graduate in civil engineering? Construction management? Electrical, aerospace or chemical engineering? Fire protection and safety technology? Mechanical engineering? Architecture? Whatever your engineering field, the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology helped you reach your potential.

Now you can put your brand on CEAT. A donation to OSU’s Branding Success campaign will help tomorrow’s engineering students realize the professional success you enjoy today. The funding goal is $1 billion, half of which will go to student scholarships. The remainder will support faculty, programs and facilities.

Contact Carla Wiedmier CEAT Associate Vice President of Development Oklahoma State University Foundation (405) 385-5625 phone 400 South Monroe (405) 385-5619 fax Stillwater, OK 74074

THE CAMPAIGN FOR OKLAHOMA

STATE UNIVERSITY.

Thank you, CEAT associates No individuals have contributed more to the continuing development of academic excellence in the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology than the CEAT Associates.

CEAT Associates are organization managers and executives, professionals, alumni and friends of the college — leaders in their professions in Oklahoma and throughout the world.

They share a deep, demonstrated commitment to the college and a strong interest in participating in its continued development.

They serve as advocates for the college in many public arenas.

They provide counsel and advice on strategic plans.

They establish contacts for the college within the organizations they represent.

They participate directly in the educational experiences of students.

They help identify and secure internships and practical experiences for students as well as professional experiences for faculty.

They share ideas on emerging technological trends and issues that affect college programs.

They help secure the resources that ensure continuing excellence in college programs.

CEAT’s challenge is to prepare graduates for a dynamic and changing world where problems increasingly grow more complex.

Equipping future graduates with the tools to solve these problems will demand a better education.

Contributing to that effort will be the CEAT Associates.

If you would like more information regarding becoming a CEAT Associate please contact Dean Karl Reid 201 ATRC Stillwater, OK 74078 405-744-5141 karl.reid@okstate.edu