COEN Spotlight Newsletter Fall 2023

SPOTLIGHT

FALL 2023

College of Engineering

Access a web version of this document online at College of Engineering: College Newsletter

AN UNSHAKEABLE FOCUS ON LEARNING

FROM THE DEAN

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oise State students are audaciously purposeful in utilizing their passions and education to solve our world’s complex challenges in microelectronics and beyond. Our college provides a space for scholars, dreamers, and thinkers to thrive and explore in the pursuit of innovation. As such, our students and faculty continue to excel inside and outside the classroom, as well as in their research, which is highlighted in this year’s Spotlight.

As I conclude my last year as Dean, I am proud of all the accomplishments of these colleagues, as well as the dedicated staff, to ensure that we have an “unshakeable focus on learning,” taking our ideas to impact in every area of COEN. I remain confident that the Boise State College of Engineering will continue to be a sought after destination for workplace learning, engineering, computer science and construction management education impacting the generations of Idahoans and scholars to come.

Go Broncos!

JoAnn S. Lighty, Ph.D. Dean, College of Engineering Professor, Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering

STAY CONNECTED BSUCOEN_Dean

CREATIVE TEAM EDITOR Jamie Fink

WRITERS

Matt Jones Brianne Phillips Anna Webb

DESIGNER Michele Armstrong

ON THE COVER

Biomedical Engineering student Mone’t Sawyer examines an electron image of stem cells in the Keith and Catherine Stein Luminary at Boise State using a cell labeling protocol she developed. A special thank you to the Luminary staff for their help in displaying Sawyer’s innovative research.

COVER PHOTO BY PRISCILLA GROVER

PHOTOGRAPHERS John Kelly Priscilla Grover Allison Corona

boisestate.edu/coen

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Scan QR Code to view the full stories in the online version of Spotlight

FIRST GENERATION RESEARCHER ADVANCING FRONTIERS IN TISSUE ENGINEERING

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iomedical Engineering doctoral student Mone’t Sawyer didn’t always see herself as a scientist or engineer. At one time, she thought scientists weren’t allowed to be creative, and subsequently her creative spirit wouldn’t be able to shine pursuing a career in STEM fields.

Boise State University and the College of Engineering have provided the space for Sawyer to bridge her creative passions with her background in materials science and engineering through her research in biomedical engineering.

“A STEM career can be rewarding if that is your passion,” Sawyer said. “I began this endeavor thinking I could make a lasting change, inspire other women of color to follow this passion, and inspire others to delve into the difficulties of being a woman of color in STEM so that they could help build a welcoming environment for everyone.”

Learn more about Sawyer’s research by scanning the QR code on page 2.

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING’S FIRST TRUMAN SCHOLAR

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ivil engineer. A sustainability leader. Researcher. Scholarship Founder. Student Advocate. All of these and more have been used to describe the civil engineering major Cheyon Sheen. To many she’s just, Chey. That’s how she prefers it actually, but now she’s accumulated another title to add to her long list – Truman Scholar.

The future engineer and current student body president at Boise State University joins an elite group, 62 to be exact, chosen for her leadership, academic excellence and dedication to helping others. Sheen is Boise State’s sixth-ever and the College of Engineering’s first-ever Truman Scholar.

“I’m in disbelief that I’ve been honored with an award that acknowledges not only the work I have dedicated to serving the community, but also who I am and what I aspire to achieve,” Sheen said. “As someone who has always prioritized serving others, being recognized for my unwavering commitment to public service is truly an indescribable feeling.”

We sat down to talk with Chey about who Chey really is behind all the titles. Scan the QR code on page 2 to watch our interview with Boise State’s newest Truman Scholar.

Spotlight Newsletter | Fall 2023 3

MCMURREN’S LEGACY BUILDING SUCCESS FOR COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING FUTURE With multiple gifts to the Boise State College of Engineering, Catherine and Bob Palmer have carried on the legacy of Catherine’s father by becoming one of the most loyal COEN donors. Their generous support continues to enhance the college’s mission of creating an accessible environment with an unshakeable focus on learning where all are empowered to think critically and solve our world’s complex challenges. Read our latest donor story to learn more about what motivates the Palmers to invest in the future of Boise State.

Boise State University’s long-standing relationship with Morrison-Knudsen (M-K), once among the world’s largest engineering and construction companies headquartered in Boise, is evident all across campus from the Morrison Center to the Harry Morrison Civil Engineering Building.

For the College of Engineering (COEN), the relationship started at the establishment of the college back in 1997, but the legacy of impact is much deeper today as another M-K family builds a new relationship in honor of a former chairman who called Boise home.

William H. McMurren, a former engineer and chairman of Morrison-Knudsen, supervised major infrastructure projects in many parts of the world.

McMurren’s legacy and impact on the future of engineering and construction management is evident today thanks partly to his daughter, Catherine Palmer.

“I’m grateful that Boise State has offered meaningful ways for my family to honor my father,” Catherine Palmer said. “We were always proud of his career, as he moved up through the ranks of an international construction company from office manager to project manager to CEO.” Palmer continues her father’s legacy through her continued support of COEN student success and faculty innovation. This year, a $2.25 million gift to COEN includes $1.5 million for establishing the college’s first endowed faculty position, the William H. McMurren Endowed Chair of Construction Management.

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MCMURREN’S JOURNEY McMurren, originally from the Treasure Valley town of Ontario, Oregon, was an Army infantryman in World War II. Like many returning veterans, McMurren utilized the G.I. Bill to attend Texas A&M University where he received a civil engineering degree in 1950.

“He was like many Boise State students– a firstgeneration college graduate, which for him was only possible due to G.I. Bill scholarships,” Palmer said. “Education has always been a core value of our family.”

McMurren would be recalled to active duty in the Korean War, where he served as an engineering instructor before joining Morrison-Knudsen at the Boise headquarters in 1955.

One of the most urgent and challenging assignments ever handed to the U.S. construction industry was the building of intercontinental ballistic missile bases during America’s space age. At the age of 35 and a veteran of eight years, McMurren’s presence on this and other M-K-sponsored joint ventures boosted his 30-year career from an office manager to eventual chairman and chief executive officer.

“Like his father and grandfather, heavy construction was my father’s way of life,” Palmer said. “He and I were both raised moving from project to project, often camping in remote areas. Finally settling in Boise was a happy event for our whole family.”

An engineer by training, McMurren utilized his field and office experience to successfully lead construction of several dams and highways in

various western states, followed by large missile projects across Missouri and Oklahoma. Under McMurren’s supervision, M-K built 150 launcher silos, 15 control centers and 12 underground launching sites– all delivered ahead of schedule.

After successfully managing the Missile and Space Division for three years, he was named executive vice president in 1969. Here McMurren became responsible for all company domestic operations.

McMurren would remain in this elevated role for just three years before the company named him president and chief executive officer in 1972. He later was elected chairman and chief executive officer of Morrison-Knudsen in 1984. During this time, McMurren enhanced the traditional construction abilities of M-K and extended activities to engineering, construction management, mining, real estate, manufacturing, and shipbuilding.

On top of his responsibilities with M-K, he would also serve as director for numerous groups including the Air Force Academy Foundation, Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Albertsons, and The Beavers Charitable Trust. In 1983, McMurren received the Beavers’ Golden Beaver Award for Management.

McMurren passed away in 1985 at the age of 57.

FUTURE BUILDERS LEGACY Shortly after his passing in 1985, friends and family of McMurren established the William H. McMurren Scholarship for construction management students.

The scholarship came to the program just five years after the program was established. Over the years the family has continued to add to the scholarship endowment.

Boise State, especially the College of Engineering and the Department of Construction Management, in particular.”

Today, COEN’s Department of Construction Management (CM) has seen tremendous growth.

Over the last five years, the program has had an enrollment increase of over 60 percent, placing it as the ninth-largest undergraduate program at the university.

Although there are no direct ties to Boise State, Palmer knew her father was aware of the need for high-quality and easily accessible educational opportunities in the Treasure Valley and the beneficial synergies of having an academic center connecting directly to the economic heart of the state.

“With the establishment of new and existing endowments, the tremendous generosity of the Palmers will continue to impact the lives of many of our students, faculty, and staff,” College of Engineering Dean JoAnn S. Lighty said. “We are grateful for their generosity and proud of the legacy Mr. McMurren carries on through these gifts.”

Beyond the college’s first endowed faculty position and the scholarship, students see the legacy through the naming of William H. McMurren Hall in the Micron Center for Materials Research in 2018. More recently thanks to their generosity, the new Construction Management Building’s atrium will be the William H. McMurren Atrium.

“My father loved his job and he loved the construction industry,” Palmer said. “I know he would be gratified to see Boise State growing and teaching builders of the future.”

“It has been wonderful to see the community thriving over the years,” Palmer said. “My father would have been very pleased to see the growth of

1 RELENTLESS INNOVATION

First-ever endowed chair faculty position in the College of Engineering

The fifth largest single donor gift in college history

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$2.25M

The number of years the McMurren legacy has been impacting student success and access at Boise State.

Spotlight Newsletter | Fall 2023 5

TO IDAHO AN BOISE BACKYARD ASTRONAUTS

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f you were going to create technology to be used by astronauts on the moon, where would you go to test it for the otherworldly experience? Your test site would need to be extremely dry and have volcanic materials, stark lighting conditions and a unique geology.

Hmm…wait, I’ve got it: Boise, Idaho!

In May 2023, members of Boise State’s NASA Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students (SUITS) team, NASA Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams (Micro-g NExT) and Autonomous Robotic Systems team developed an augmented reality display, an extended reality informatics system and used mini ‘moon rovers’ to test their capabilities for the upcoming Artemis missions to the south pole of Earth’s moon.

working with real astronauts.

The team’s are led by Boise State’s distinguished Professor of Practice and retired astronaut Steve Swanson. Traditionally, SUITS testing is carried out in Houston, Texas at the Johnson Space Center. But this year, Swanson offered a new challenge to his students; to recreate the testing locally so that more students from other teams could participate and get hands-on experience

With a challenge of creating a moon-like environment in Boise, Swanson’s backyard was transformed using bright lights at eye-level to simulate the sun at a low angle on the lunar south pole. Now that the backyard was complete and the years-long projects were awaiting testing, the teams were only missing one final piece– astronauts!

During two-hour simulations, their technology was tested by Reid Wiseman, a NASA astronaut and commander of the Artemis II mission, NASA astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger and Greg Whitney, a NASA Flight Director.

To finish this story, scan the QR code on page 2 to visit our online Spotlight newsletter.

FUN FACT This is not the first time astronauts have tested moon-mission skills and technology in Idaho. In August of 1969, astronauts from the Apollo 14 team traveled to Craters of the Moon, a national monument and preserve in southern Idaho, to simulate and practice the skills they would need for lunar exploration.

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ND BEYOND SKY-HIGH SCHOLARS: ENGINEERING BRONCOS RECEIVE NASA FELLOWSHIPS

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t’s incredible how much space exploration research begins at Boise State. In keeping with a long tradition, two Broncos brought home prestigious NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium fellowships in 2022.

The fellowships provide funding for students to conduct research, attend conferences and participate in other STEM-related activities related to NASA’s mission – developing new technologies and advancing scientific knowledge.

Doctoral student Cyrus Koroni from Inglewood, California, and undergraduate Ally Almaraz from Caldwell, Idaho, study in the College of Engineering’s Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering, but are tackling different areas of space exploration with their research.

Many astronauts experience bone and muscle degeneration while in space. Almaraz is working to determine how different treatments, such as pharmaceutical or exercise simulation treatments, might increase the time that astronauts can safely be in outer space.

“I love the endless stream of possibilities,” Almaraz said. “When I’m in the research lab, I get to see things from a perspective that nobody sees.”

In the past 20 years, 27 Boise received NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium fellowships totaling $564,000.

State students have

Since the 1958 launch of Explorer, the first U.S. satellite, NASA has used batteries in all of its robotic spacecraft expeditions. Koroni’s lithium battery research is intended to answer the demand for better and longer lasting batteries.

“I am so honored to have been chosen for such a fellowship,” Koroni said.

“You always hear about all the cool things that NASA has accomplished, so to be recognized by them is an amazing opportunity.”

While Koroni’s research is meant to safely and efficiently power space exploration, Almaraz’s material research delves into the biological and physiological effects of space travel on astronauts.

$564,000

In the past 20 years, 27 Boise State students have received NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium fellowships, totaling $564,000.

Spotlight Newsletter | Fall 2023 7

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