engineering
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
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ime is a precious commodity we all wish we had more of and something that frequently slips away before we realize what happened. I joined Pitt in 1979 and have seen countless students pass through
and earn their engineering degree in what seems to have been no time at all. Looking back on your own Pitt experience, I’m sure you feel the same way. As I now enter my eighth year as dean and 25th year of service overall with the School of Engineering, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing what so many of our graduates have accomplished since earning their Pitt engineering degree.
Pitt alumni in Detroit (l to r): Hong Li, Tom Bundorf (BSME ’55), Dave Marinaro (BSME ’71), Andy Benedict (BSME ’71), Bob Miller (BSChE ’84, MSEE ’86, MSMET ’89), John Colosimo (BSMET ’79), James Ricci (BSIE ’90), Jim Pickens (BSIE ’76), Dean Holder, and Murray Sittsamer (BSIE ’81). Ross Obley (BSIE ’51) with Dean Holder (right), wins big during the Naples, Fla. event.
I enjoyed visiting several hundred alumni at events this spring in Florida, Michigan, Texas, and California. In addition, the school hosted its fourth annual alumni golf outing and dinner for our alumni in Pittsburgh, hosted by Pex (see pages 22-23 for additional photos). All these events gave me the opportunity to personally share news on the school’s continued growth and progress, and they gave alumni the chance to network and meet others in their area. Special thanks goes to Dave Marinaro (BSME ’71) and Andy Benedict (BSME ’71) in Detroit, Mich., and Mark Papa (BSPET ’68) in Houston, Texas, for their volunteer assistance and generous gifts that made these regional events possible. We are looking forward to visiting additional cities this fall and in 2005 to help keep even more of our 24,000 Pitt engineering alumni engaged in the life of the school. I take great pride in the accomplishments of all our alumni and am grateful
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Wherever You Are, Alumni Matter to the School of Engineering
engineering Gerald D. Holder U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering Kate Ledger Director of Marketing & Communications/Editor Kelly Kaufman Communications Manager/Editor
Features
Don Henderson Designer Chuck Dinsmore Production Coordinator
Master and Commander ....................... 2
Aviva Selekman Editorial Assistant
“Streetcar College” No More ................ 4
Bruce Steele Contributing Writer Have a comment or story idea for Engineering News? Contact Kate Ledger at 412-624-7674 or by e-mail at kledger@provost.pitt.edu Visit our Web site at: www.engr.pitt.edu The University of Pittsburgh, as an educational institution and as an employer, values equality of opportunity, human dignity, and racial/ethnic and cultural diversity. Accordingly, the University prohibits and will not engage in discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, disability, or status as a disabled veteran or a veteran of the Vietnam era. Further, the University will continue to take affirmative steps to support and advance these values consistent with the University’s mission. This policy applies to admissions, employment, and access to and treatment in University programs and activities. This is a commitment made by the University and is in accordance with federal, state, and/or local laws and regulations.
Departments Around the School.............................. 5 In the News ..................................... 11
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Student News .................................. 12 Alumni Profile Pages......................... 16 Alumni Notes ................................... 19
For information on University equal opportunity and affirmative action programs and complaint/grievance procedures, please contact the University of Pittsburgh, Office of Affirmative Action, William A. Savage, Assistant to the Chancellor and Director of Affirmative Action (and Title IX and 504, ADA Coordinator), 901 William Pitt Union, Pittsburgh, PA 15260; 412-648-7860. Published in cooperation with the Department of University Marketing Communications. UMC4890-1104 The provisions of this document are subject to change at any time at the University’s sole discretion. It is intended to serve only as a general source of information about the University and is in no way intended to state contractual terms.
On the Cover
for the generous support thousands of you share each year with the School of Engineering. I hope to see you at a future event in your area or back here
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Sincerely,
Bob Oxenreiter (BSPET ’60) shares a Pitt memory with Jim Pavlosky (BSME ’52) at the Houston reception.
U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering
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Oakland A’s Manager Ken Macha (BSCE ’80) hosts (l to r) Sam Clancy, Dean Holder, Pitt Baseball Coach Joe Jordano and Pitt Athletics Director Jeff Long.
Gerald D. Holder
At the Musculoskeletal Research Center, a novel robotic/Universal-Force Sensor testing system has been developed. It has been used to measure the six degree-of-freedom kinematics of the knee and shoulder joints, as well as to elucidate the in situ forces in their ligaments, particularly the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). More importantly, this system is capable of evaluating the biomechanics of various surgical reconstructive procedures in order to provide quantitative data as a basis for the improvement of the clinical outcome for patients.
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on campus, time permitting of course.
Shipbuilder forged a career by developing talent
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Scan Roger Eshelman’s résumé, and you’ll see that he made his living in the design and construction of nuclearpowered surface ships and submarines. Talk to the man, and he will tell you what he really built were careers. More than any of his technical accomplishments—and they are many, in an industry famous for its discipline and perfectionism—Eshelman takes pride in his legacy of mentoring some of the brightest people in the field. When Eshelman retired from shipbuilding giant Northrop Grumman Newport News in June 2002, U.S. Navy Admiral Frank L. Bowman sent him a letter that read: “Your credo, ‘Knowledge brings responsibility that requires accountability,’ is evident in the many fine men and women throughout the program who have benefited from your wise leadership and counsel.”
Eshelman credits his father, a music teacher, with instilling that credo in him by example. “I remember how well he was respected because of the way he dealt with and treated people,” Eshelman recalls. “I’ve always tried to treat people [the way that] I would like to be treated.” Ironically, the man who would grow up to design ships and submarines was born and raised in Johnstown, Pa., a city made famous by the flood that devastated it in 1889. The son of two schoolteachers, Eshelman inherited a passion for music and played the baritone horn and sang. Later, as a senior at Pitt, he played with the varsity marching band. “All my life, that’s been my calling,” he says. “Everybody thought I should be a music teacher. I told them, ‘No. I like to eat.’ ”
Eshelman also tinkered around the house, which his father built with the help of some family friends. After graduating from high school in 1957, Eshelman spent two and a half years pursuing his engineering degree at what was then known as Johnstown College—now the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown—before moving to the Oakland campus to complete the degree requirements. The small size of Eshelman’s classes allowed him to bond with his professors, and he still considers them to be true mentors who shared much of their practical experience with him. “When I was at Pitt, I never had a professor who talked down to anybody. They were always very professional, and yet very friendly toward [us],” Eshelman recalls. Although he is considered a 1962 graduate of the mechanical engineering program, Eshelman actually completed his course work in August 1961—only to find a tight economy with few job prospects.
Then he trained them, apprentice style, in the ways of upper management. “I guess I chose maybe eight or 10 [people] over my career as a director and vice president,” he says. “I would bring these people in, and I would treat them like they were actually doing my job.” The employees were permitted to see confidential pay scale information and other details that required discretion. Not a single person ever broke that confidence. “Today, not one of those people is in my division,” Eshelman notes. “Other organizations wanted them, and they went into positions which provided opportunity for advancement and benefit to the company.”
“When I was at Pitt, I never had a professor who talked down to anybody. They were always very professional, and yet very friendly toward us,” Eshelman recalls.
While a typical year might yield 15 to 20 job interviews, Eshelman had two: Doubleday Publishing and Newport News Shipbuilding. Both offered him jobs, but Eshelman decided on Newport News, where he spent his entire career.
He was assigned as the company’s first power plant systems engineer to design a nuclear propulsion plant for the high speed nuclear attack submarine, which eventually became the Los Angeles Class submarines, some of the most advanced undersea vessels in the world. By the 1970s, Eshelman was taking his technical expertise to the commercial arena through the Newport News Industrial Corp., which was responsible for nuclear power plant construction, maintenance, and repair. One memorable instance was when the company pioneered a method for weld repair of piping in the nuclear reactor at the Nine Mile Point power plant near Oswego, N.Y.—a process that saved hundreds of millions of dollars in potential damage to the reactor. And, of course, there was his knack for promoting good people.
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MASTER AND COMMANDER: He believes engineering students can give themselves this kind of management potential by taking more liberal arts courses as undergraduates. “I think it just opens up people more to what’s going on if they get some liberal arts training along with their technical training,” Eshelman notes. “It widens people’s perspectives.”
Never idle for long (“I learned what work was, the hard way—there is no time to loaf,” he says), Eshelman has spent his retirement as a consultant for his old employer, now known as Northrop Grumman Newport News. Among his projects are advising the company on the design of a nuclear engine for NASA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter. As for his earthly pursuits, Eshelman is putting in two days a week at the shipyard helping one of his former peers with the new Virginia Class submarines. “That’s going to keep me busy for a couple of days,” he jokes. In the meantime, he is spending time with his family and recently bought a vacation retreat at Lake Gaston, N.C. He is also pursuing his lifelong passion for music, taking over as interim choir director at a Presbyterian church and singing in a quartet and for other church choirs. “I’ve always tried to stay kind of varied and live a Renaissance style of life,” he says.
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Eshelman said he always looked for “people who interacted well and were well-respected by their peers.”
D
uring my first year in this position, I’ve logged thousands of miles traveling around the country meeting with our closest friends and supporters while also reconnecting hundreds of alumni who have not been back on campus for years. While the alumni I visit all share fond stories of their time here, one detail seems fixed in the memory of nearly every Pitt engineer who was here in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.
To afford college, many alumni lived at home and made the daily trek on Pittsburgh’s extensive streetcar system to Oakland for their engineering classes before taking the return trip home, or more likely to a part-time job that helped pay for school. No matter where they came from, thousands of local alumni over several generations earned their degrees through hard work, persistence, and the reliable wheels of the city’s streetcars. Even though streetcars gave way long ago to congested city thoroughfares, they were a fixture of student life and remain as vivid in the memories of alumni as the Cathedral of Learning, Pitt Stadium, and the Original Hot Dog Shop (which is, by the way, still there). The legacy of these memories bonds alumni
to Pitt forever, just as strongly as the diplomas bearing their names. But the institution Pitt used to be is as long gone as the street car tracks on Forbes Avenue.
Aaron Conley
Pitt’s evolution from a strong regional leader to its position today as a national powerhouse in the sciences, medicine, the arts, and especially engineering, didn’t happen overnight. Although the pace of change in just the past decade has been dramatic, many alumni still have an image of Pitt as the streetcar college of yesteryear. Pitt has grown in size to become the largest employer in the region today, and has grown in prominence as one of only 11 public institutions with an endowment valued at more than $1 billion. Figures like these would have been unimaginable when Pitt was just a “streetcar college.” The School of Engineering has grown similarly in size and prominence. Enrollment growth is pushing us toward capacity at Benedum Hall, as more than 2,300 undergraduates and 380 full-time graduate students are enrolled here this fall. Entering freshmen weighed admissions offers from Big Ten schools and other top-ranked programs, but chose Pitt for its size, unique urban environment, and the reputation of its faculty. Our graduate programs are also attracting attention, along with top students from the United States and abroad. Four of our graduate programs, including bioengineering, chemical and petroleum engineering, industrial engineering, and materials science and engineering were placed within the top 25 among public schools and top 40 overall in the 2005 U.S. News & World Report rankings. The transformation of Pitt from a “streetcar college” to one with nationally recognized programs like those in the School of Engineering took time, strategic planning, and most importantly, resources to move forward and embrace opportunities that are now redefining who we are. Today, alumni support is a necessity if we are to build on the past decades of success. No matter when you graduated or whether the city’s streetcars were a part of your daily experience as a Pitt student, you can be proud of what the School of Engineering has become and the direction it’s headed.
tissue engineering and mechanobiology, tissue As of March 1, 2004, the Department of Bioengineering biomechanics, shoulder welcomes Savio L-Y. Woo, as a W.K. Whiteford biomechanics, and robotics Professor of Bioengineering. Woo is the director of the and computational biomeMusculoskeletal Research Center (MSRC). He has a spechanics. The MSRC was cial interest in solid mechanics and biomechanics; experiestablished in 1990 for mental, theoretical, and numerical analyses of the nonlinthe purpose of developing ear mechanical and viscoelastic properties of biological integrated programs on tissues; homeostasis of ligaments and tendons secondary orthopaedic education and research. It is an enterprise to decreased as well as increased levels of applied stress involving biomedical engineers, scientists, and physicians and motion; and effects of stress and motion on healing who work together with a dedicated staff to guide and repair of tendon, ligament, and meniscus. For more and teach highly qualified students, research fellows, than 30 years, Woo's research has focused on knee ligaand residents. The faculty of the MSRC also includes ment healing and repair—cruciate ligament and anterior Richard E. Debski, assistant professor of bioengineering, cruciate ligament in particular. More recently, his work and Steven D. Abramowitch, assistant research professor has centered on functional tissue engineering of ligament of bioengineering. The MSRC collaborates with other outstanding researchers, both at the University of Pittsburgh healing and regeneration by examining the processes from and from around the world, and features molecular to cellular to tissue levels. “Historically, infants state-of-the-art equipment including Woo has been elected to the Institute and toddlers have high- and low-payload robotic/UFS testing of Medicine, the National Academy of systems that were developed to examine Engineering, and the Academia Sinica. been overlooked synovial joint function during activities of He is also an Olympic Gold Medalist in daily living. This technology has helped by technology sports science and the winner of the 1998 improve clinical management of ACL & development.” International Olympic Committee Olympic — Harvey Borovetz PCL injuries. Under Woo's guidance, the Prize for Sports Science. Woo has been MSRC devotes much energy and effort awarded highest honors from the American to pioneering research in functional tissue engineering, Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)/Bioengineering including the use of antisense gene therapy and biological Division (the H.R. Lissner Medal), the American Society scaffolds to expedite ligament healing. of Biomechanics (the Giovanni Borelli Award), the International Society of Biomechanics (the Muybridge Medal), and the Orthopaedic Research Society/American The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine has Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (the Kappa Delta been awarded a five-year, $4.5 million contract from the Award). Woo has served as president/chair of several National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to develop a technical societies, including the Orthopaedic Research heart assist device for infants. Principal investigator for Society, the American Society of Biomechanics, American the contract is Harvey S. Borovetz, professor and chairSociety of Mechanical Engineers Bioengineering Division, man in the Department of Bioengineering and Robert L. International Society for Fracture Repair, and World Council Hardesty Professor of Surgery at the School of Medicine. for Biomechanics, among othWorking with Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, ers. Recently, Woo has received Carnegie Mellon University, and industry partners, the Pitt honorary professorships at Tongji researchers envision the pediatric ventricular assist device University, Sichuan University, to be about the size of a quarter, with features designed Huashan Hospital, and Fudan to meet the special needs of patients with congenital and University. He has presented acquired heart defects who are as young or small as a keynote and plenary lectures newborn baby. “Historically, infants and toddlers have been at prestigious events, including overlooked by technology development,” Borovetz said. the 2003 Opening Ceremonies “Yet the smallest of our patients have the greatest need of the Seventh IOC World because the only means of support available to them is Woo Congress in Athens, Greece. extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which has unacceptably high mortality and complication rates. We hope to be able to develop a device that will allow more babies The Musculoskeletal Research Center (MSRC) recently with congenital heart defects or end-stage heart disease relocated to the Center for Bioengineering. The facilities to survive to transplantation, or perhaps even recover feature approximately 6,000 square feet of space, which cardiac function and avoid the need for transplantation.” include four major laboratories focusing on functional
S C H O O L T H E A R O U N D
Bioengineering
By Aaron Conley, Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations
“Pitt was a streetcar college back then,” I’ve been told repeatedly. It seems nearly everyone who attended Pitt during this time came from Western Pennsylvania. Most were also from homes of modest means and fathers earned a living in the steel mills and did not want their children to follow in their footsteps.
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Around the School
Pediatric ventricular assist device
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S C H O O L T H E A R O U N D
“Streetcar College” No More …
S C H O O L Assistant Professor Xinyan Tracy Cui’s application, titled “Effect of Surface Characteristics and Electrical Stimulation to Neural Stem Cell Attachment, Growth and Differentiation,” has been funded through the School of Medicine Competitive Medical Research Fund Program. Richard E. Debski, assistant professor, was recently awarded the Y.C. Fung Young Investigator Award by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The award was established in 1985 by the Bioengineering Division of ASME. It recognizes an individual for outstanding contributions to the field of bioengineering through research. Debski will receive a bronze medal and an award certificate.
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Professor T-K Hung has returned to the Department of Bioengineering, having left the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. He joined the University in 1975 as its first officially designated faculty member in bioengineering and launched a bioengineering research initiative in collaboration with the Departments of Anesthesiology and Neurosurgery to investigate experimental spinal cord injury. Hung has continued to apply his expertise to problems ranging from pulsatile blood flow to earthquake engineering. He is a founding fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Tracy Cui
Debski
Sacks
Balazs
Associate Professor Karl Johnson’s research was featured on the cover of the National Science and Technology Council’s report, “Science for the 21st Century,” produced by the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The cover photograph is of his imaging of hydrogen storage in carbon nanotubes.
Assistant Professor Jack Patzer’s article titled, “Oxygen Consumption in a Hollow Fiber Bioartificial Liver— Revisited,” was published in Artificial Organs Vol. 28. It is one of the top 25 articles of 2004 viewed online at Blackwell Synergy. Michael Sacks, associate professor, delivered a series of lectures at the recent meetings of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and the European Society of Biomechanics. George Stetten, associate professor, received a 2004 Chancellor’s Award for distinguished research as a junior scholar. The Center for Assistive Technology received the Advocacy and Awareness Award at the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Pittsburgh’s 12th Annual Community Heroes Awards Dinner.
Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Robert Von der Luft Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Anna Balazs and Gilbert Walker of the Department of Chemistry are among a group of researchers who have been awarded a five-year, $2.8 million grant by the National Science Foundation’s Collaborative Research in Chemistry Program to study chemical and biological self-assembly. They are working with scientists from the University of Massachusetts, NASA, and IBM Almaden Research Center to create unique materials by exploiting synergistic interactions that arise when two distinct self-assembly processes occur simultaneously in a system. Researchers are working with two components: chaperonin proteins that self-assemble into fibers, bundles, or sheets; and synthetic block copolymers that form lamellar, cylindrical, spherical, and more complicated phases. By linking one phase to—or embedding it in— another, one self-organization process can influence the other and lead to novel assemblies.
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Kacey Marra, assistant professor, presented three posters at the Plastic Surgery Research Council meeting. James Wang, assistant professor, and Lauren Kokai (BSBEG ‘04) were co-authors. Marra also published four papers and presented four times this year.
Eric J. Beckman, Bayer Professor and chair, was honored at the 11th International Symposium & Exhibit on Supercritical Fluid Chromatography, Extraction, & Processing for his outstanding contributions in supercritical fluid science and technology.
Nanotubes
Ronald Neufeld, professor, was awarded the 2004 Professional Research Award from the Pennsylvania Water and Environment Association.
Beckman
Johnson is the principal investigator of a research team that was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to be a part of the Hydrogen Storage Grand Challenge Center of Excellence. The team will work with Sandia National Laboratories on exploratory research in hydrogen storage.
Civil and Environmental Engineering Kent A. Harries, professor of engineering, joined the faculty of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering in July 2004. Previously he was assistant professor at the University of South Carolina and a research engineer at the Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems Center at Lehigh University. He received his PhD in structural engineering and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering and applied mechanics, respectively, from McGill University in Montréal. Harries is a licensed professional engineer in Ontario. Harries’ research interests include the seismic design and retrofit of building structures, the design and behavior of high rise structures, the use of nontraditional materials in civil infrastructure, applications of full scale structural testing, and the history and philosophy of science and technology. He looks forward to taking his research to the Watkins-Haggart Structural Engineering Laboratory. Leonard Casson, associate professor, was awarded the 2004 American Water Works Association Management Division Best Paper Award for his paper, “Utility-Based Analytical Methods to Ensure Public Water Supply Security.” Chris Earls, chair, was awarded an Outstanding Young Alumni Award from the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech for 2004.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has selected Pitt to conduct environmental research for its Interstate 99 road construction. The three-year research project, funded for $2.1 million, will examine a new concept in roadway design that should preserve surface and groundwater flows at their preconstruction conditions. “Construction projects always disturb the landscape,” said Rafael Quimpo, professor and the project’s principal investigator. “Thus, it is desirable to preserve as [many] surface and groundwater flows [as possible], and this presents a formidable challenge. Stream restoration projects often improve water and wildlife conditions, although preservation of preexisting conditions is a minimum objective.” Precha Yodnane (MSCE ’75, PhD ’79), vice president of GAI Consultants in Monroeville, will assist Quimpo as associate director of the project, which will be conducted in collaboration with GAI, AWK Engineers of Turtle Creek, Gwin Dobson & Foreman Inc. of Altoona, and Unitec Engineers of State College.
Harries
Neufeld will be coprincipal investigator of the study. Faculty members from Pitt’s Departments of Geology and Planetary Science and Biological Sciences will assist in the project. Environmental monitoring will be conducted in collaboration with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Earls
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Rakié Cham, assistant professor, is providing biomechanics expertise for a project designed to evaluate neurobiological and postural control mechanisms underlying imbalance and risk of falling in elderly veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs is funding the project.
Featured in International Leaders in Biomedical Engineering Science are the computational biomechanics work of Hung and tissue biomechanics work of Woo. Both are cited as “pioneering researchers in modern biomedical fluid and solid mechanics.”
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Steven D. Abramowitch recently joined the department as an assistant professor of research. He is also a faculty member of the MSRC. Abramowitch joined the MSRC in 1999 as a graduate student. He received his BS (1998) in applied mathematics and PhD (2004) in bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Currently he serves as the codirector of the tissue mechanics and mechanobiology laboratories. He also participates in the McGowan institute and is active with Pamela Moalli of the MageeWomens Research Institute in investigating mechanisms of pelvic floor failure in women with pelvic organ prolapse.
the first engineering courses aboard Semester at Sea (l to r) Kate Thomes (librarian), Blake Orlandi (IE), Laura Gilmour (BEG), Brendan Connolly (MSE), John Day (MSE), Erich Nouse (EE), Scott Eshkenazi (IE), LeAnn Williams (IE), Heidi Smedley (IE), and Bopaya Bidanda,
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chair.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded Professor Hong Koo Kim, codirector of Pitt’s Institute of NanoScience and Engineering, a $1.3 million, four-year NSF Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT) grant to develop plasmonic chip technologies for biochemical sensing. At a more basic level, Kim Kim and his Pitt colleagues also will investigate the fundamentals of plasmonic phenomena in nanoscale metallic structures. Kim’s NIRT project involves cross-school collaboration with Professor Hrvoje Petek of the Department of Physics and Astronomy and professors Rob Coalson, David Waldeck, and Gilbert Walker of Pitt’s Department of Chemistry.
Industrial Engineering Kim Needy, associate professor, and Heather Nachtmann (BSIE ’94, MSIE ’97), assistant professor at the University of Arkansas, were awarded the Eugene L. Grant Award at
Kim Needy and Heather Nachtmann (BSIE ’94, MSIE ’97) display their award-winning paper.
the annual meeting of the Engineering Economy Division of the American Society for Engineering Education. The award is for the author(s) of the best paper published in the preceding volume of The Engineering Economist. The paper was titled “Methods for Handling Uncertainty in Activity Based Costing Systems.” The Manufacturing Assistance Center received a $300,000 grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to pay for training programs, manufacturing space, and expertise. Pennsylvania State Senator Sean Logan (D45) and Representative Frank Dermody (D-33) presented the grant to Plant Manager William Peduzzi in May. “The Manufacturing Assistance Center plays such an important role in the advancement of Western Pennsylvania business,” said Senator Logan.
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Jörg Wiezorek, associate professor, has been awarded the National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) Visiting Scientist Fellowship of the U.S. Department of Energy Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The fellowship provides funding for multiple research visits to the best equipped facility of its kind in the United States and is intended to foster the development of long-term relationships and interactions. During the next year Wiezorek will study the details and nature of the interatomic bonding and the atomic structure of crystal defects in ferromagnetic FePd and FePt intermetallics by quantitative energy-filtered electron diffraction and electron spectroscopy experiments using the atomic resolution instruments available at the NCEM. With these unique transmission electron microscopes (TEM) the atomic arrangements of crystal defects can be imaged directly, as shown in Figure 1. This TEM micrograph shows bright columns of atoms in FePd that are sepaFigure 1 rated by less than four Angstroms or four-tenths of a billionth of a meter, 0.4 nanometers. The white lines illustrate the small shift of the crystal unit cells by 0.2nm across a crystal defect known as an antiphase boundary, which is in part responsible for the pinning of magnetic domain walls in the hard ferromagnetic FePd intermetallics.
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In order to address a growing industry demand, the School of Engineering announced a graduate computer engineering program, which will offer the Master of Science and PhD degrees. Unique to Pitt, the program will be housed jointly in the School of Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, formerly the Department of Electrical Engineering, and the School of Arts and Science’s Department of Computer Science. Faculty from both departments have worked to develop a common program of study that encompasses all aspects of computer engineering, spanning hardware and software as well as theory and practice. Steven Levitan, the John A. Jurenko Professor of Computer Engineering, will cochair the program with Donald Chiarulli, professor in the Department of Computer Science.
Materials Science and Engineering
Mechanical Engineering A team of researchers led by professor Scott X. Mao has identified a key way in which nanocrystalline metals deform, or change shape, thereby confirming that “nanostructured” metals deform differently from ordinary metals.
Senator Logan and Representative Dermody share a laugh as they present $300,000 to the Manufacturing Assistance Center.
“These findings expand our knowledge of the nature of deformation in metals and will change the traditional way of thinking about the deformation process,” said Mao. This knowledge should help nanoscientists—researchers who use atoms and molecules as basic building blocks to construct minute machines, create new materials, or perform molecular tasks—to develop new metals and metal coatings with heretofore unheard of properties (for example, super-hard coatings and metals with a high degree of plasticity).
The first voyage of the Semester at Sea program Manufacturing and the Global Supply Chain in the Pacific Rim launched this summer. Developed by the Department of Industrial Engineering and led by Chair and Ernest E. Roth Professor Bopaya Bidanda, the program was the first for non-marine engineers. Course work combined site visits to manufacturing facilities and invited lecturers from various countries on the voyage. Twenty-five students from 15 schools were enrolled in the program. Eight students were Pitt engineers. Kate Thomes, head of the Bevier Engineering Library, served as the librarian onboard the ship. Look for more information in the spring issue of Engineering News. Professor Bart O. Nnaji was the plenary lecturer in the 7th International Federation of Automatic Control Symposium on Cost Oriented Automation, and the keynote speaker of the 2004 International Forum on Design for Manufacture and Assembly and the 7th Africa-USA International Conference on Manufacturing Technology.
Scott Mao and Jörg Wiezorek
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take advantage of
S C H O O L
S C H O O L T H E A R O U N D Engineering students
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Peyman Givi, W.K. Whiteford Professor, received a $500,000 grant from the Information Technology Research Program of the National Science Federation for “Algorithms for Large Scale Simulation of Turbulent Combustion,” and $80,000 from the American Chemical Society for “Affordable and Accurate Prediction of Turbulent Combustion.” He also received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Youngstown State University Chapter 143 of the Honor Society Givi of Phi Kappa Phi and was featured in the article “Sixty Years of Engineering Excellence at YSU,” which appeared in Youngstown State University magazine. Jeffrey S. Vipperman, assistant professor, has recently been awarded a grant from the Strategic Environment Research and Development Program, which is an environmental research consortium between the U.S. Department
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In the News Vipperman
Vipperman and William Clark, associate professor, have also received an additional $95,000 from the National Energy Technology Laboratory to continue work in the development of active valves for modern energy systems.
Other School News Kate Thomes, head of the Bevier Engineering Library, was elected secretary/treasurer of the ASEE Engineering Libraries Division. It is a four-year commitment that involves serving as program chair for the Chicago convention, division chair for the Honolulu convention, and past chair when the convention comes to Pittsburgh. The Mascaro Sustainability Initiative will host Engineering Sustainability 2005, April 10-12, 2005, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. This conference aims to bring together scientists and volunteers from academia, the government, and industry to share results of cutting-edge research directed at creating the next generation of green building and sustainable water use technology. For more information, visit www.engr.pitt.edu/ msi/conference.html.
Bioengineering PhD candidate Phil Marascalco was on KDKA’s Larry Richert Show on August 4. Marascalco was interviewed for his work on aloe plants and polymers with Marina Kameneva at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also featured the research and included other bioengineering graduate students Joie Marhefka and Dorian Arnold, who are researching the same topic. All three bioengineering students were interviewed on the KDKA evening news. Rakie Cham, assistant professor, was quoted in a February 3, 2004 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article titled “Simple Steps for Walking on Ice.” She said, “The most dangerous slips and falls happen when you aren’t paying attention.”
The Pittsburgh Business Times quoted Bryan Norman, associate professor, in an article about the Institute of Industrial Engineering helping a women’s shelter increase its efficiency. “At Bethlehem Haven we’re not talking about tools and dies, but nonetheless they need better inventory management and to have a specific place for everything and everything in its place,” he said. The article appeared February 6, 2004.
BusinessWeek featured the work of Harvey Borovetz, chair of the Department of Bioengineering, and his team, in developing an artificial heart for babies and small children. More than 20 news sources, including the Associated Press, announced the five-year, $4.5 million contract given by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in April.
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The Human Engineering Research Laboratories were featured on the American Association for the Advancement of Science radio show Science Update in May. The Human Movement and Balance Laboratory was featured on Morning Edition on WDUQ in Pittsburgh in September.
Mechanical Engineering Professor Scott X. Mao, Jörg Wiezorek, associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Pitt PhD student Zhiwei Shan were featured in the journal Science. Their paper, “Grain Boundary-Mediated Plasticity in Nanocrystalline Nickel,” appeared in the July 30 issue.
Leslie V. Horne, Pitt Engineering Career Access Program pre-college component director, was honored as one of 50 Women of Influence in the April 11 issue of the New Pittsburgh Courier. The list showcases women from the Pittsburgh region who have had a positive influence on business, health care, education, and community service. Horne was acknowledged for her service “as a teacher, advisor, mentor, surrogate mom and friend to more than 800 students” through her early work with INROADS Pittsburgh Inc. and her current oversight of the Critical and Analytical Reasoning Enrichment and Investing Now programs offered through the School of Engineering’s Office of Diversity.
According to results reported at the 40th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, only half of the delivered dose of a commonly used chemotherapeutic agent may be activated in cancer patients. The study, presented in a poster discussion session by Jason Fisher, a chemical engineering student, analyzed data from 31 cancer patients given 30-minute infusions of gemcitabine to determine what percentage of the drug dose was associated with concentrations that exceeded the body’s ability to activate the drug. He found that while approximately 50 percent of the gemcitabine dose was likely to be converted to active metabolites, the other 50 percent was likely to be inactivated, and as a result, possibly not contribute to a therapeutic effect. Results of the study appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on June 9, 2004. ENGINEERING 11
In addition to Mao, researchers involved in the project included Jörg Wiezorek, associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Zhiwei Shan, a Pitt PhD student; Eric A. Stach of NCEM; and David M. Follstaedt and James A. Knapp of Sandia National Laboratories.
of Defense, Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency. The $92,000 one-year seed proposal is for the development of metrics for identifying military impulse noise sources, which will leverage his current and past National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health research in hearing conservation to perform improved environmental monitoring around military installations.
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Size matters in metal deformation, Mao explained. “Traditional, coarse-grained metals deform when parts of a grain slip past one another as extra planes of atoms, called dislocations, move through the material,” he said. “But in nanoengineered metals, the grains are much smaller, say, 10 or 15 billionths of a meter in size. Too tiny to see with a traditional microscope.” When grain sizes are too small for dislocations, Mao said, a different kind of deformation occurs. The grain boundaries themselves move, sliding past one another. This allows the grains to rotate and find new ways of fitting together.
The Duct Tape Challenge was part of the 50th Anniversary of Engineers Week, hosted by the Engineering Student Council. Each team received a roll of duct tape and had three minutes to tape a student to the wall. Berny Werntges’ team (ME) won, sticking her to the wall for 13 minutes
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and 54 seconds.
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ach year students and a faculty committee nominate a keynote speaker for the school’s senior recognition ceremony.
Lindsay Hollowood (BSIE ’03) spoke at the fall 2003 event. She was the IE senior of the year in 2003, the first two-time outstanding member of the month for the Freshman Engineering Leadership Team, the 2003 Institute of Industrial Engineers student chapter president, and a longtime active member of the Engineering Student Council. Hollowood also earned a Certificate in Product Realization. She talked about her accomplishments, saying, “I realized that all the things faculty told me were attainable really were. Since sophomore year I managed to co-op, do research within my department, be a mentor and recruiter for the Freshman Engineering Leadership Team, and learn how my major can be applied to any situation, even volunteer work. I can’t believe how much we have all changed.” Hollowood is now the West Division packing planner at UPS in New Stanton, Pa. Hollowood
Kamat
Asha Kamat (BSCE ’04) was the keynote speaker at the spring 2004 event. In her speech, Kamat said, “Little did we know that we would be spending over 15 hours a day in Benedum finishing senior projects. Little did we know how much work it would take to finally reach this day. Now on the verge of graduation, we each set out to achieve new goals. Whether it be
The steel bridge event involved erecting a scaled version of a bridge in the fastest time possible. While most schools chose a simple flat bridge design, Pitt raised the bar, designing an arch bridge with cable stays painted blue and gold, and placed fifth. Six schools trekked through the mud of the Cathedral of Learning lawn during the land surveying event to close a loop using leveling and angles. Scores were based on the speed of the survey and the accuracy of the measurements. With no formal courses in surveying and a lack of equipment, Pitt took third place just behind the University of Cincinnati in second and Ohio University in first. This year’s technical paper topic was ethics in engineering. The winning paper, titled “Ethics in Civil Engineering,” was submitted by Pitt civil engineering sophomore Joe Coleman. Concrete canoe races and the awards banquet closed the conference. The Pitt concrete canoe team races at the North Park lake as part of the ASCE Regional Conference.
Nicholas Burdette (BSCE ’04) receives the Order of the Engineer ring from Sarah Pitzer (BSChE ’02).
Engineering graduates took the oath of the Order of the Engineer on April 24, 2004. Sarah Pitzer (BSChE ‘02), who was instrumental in bringing the Order of the Engineer back to Pitt in 2002, explained the history of the Order to students and guests at the William Pitt Union. Hugh Wyles, co-op employer with E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company, is one of two national recipients of the newly established Lou Takacs Award. The award, sponsored by the Cooperative Education Division of the ASEE, recognizes individuals in industry who have made a distinct contribution to the field of cooperative education. Hugh was nominated by the school for his continued dedication to providing excellent experiences for Pitt students. Many of these co-op engineers have gone on to accept permanent positions with Dupont and have excelled in their field. University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg presented the Engineering Office of Diversity with the 2004 Chancellor’s Affirmative Action Award. The office is being recognized for its efforts to increase recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce and student body, to assure that students and staff appreciate the value of diversity, and to encourage tolerance and respect throughout the school.
So you want to be an engineer? Prospective students and parents listen to Will Slaughter, associate professor and advisor to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), as he explains the SAE car and laboratory.
The Freshman Engineering Office hosted a program for prospective high school seniors titled, “So You Want to Be an Engineer?” The students toured Benedum Hall, listened to departmental presentations, and discussed the dynamics of the freshman program with the Office of Freshman Programs staff and the Freshman Engineering Leadership Team. Dan Debrah (BSBEG ’04), a current graduate student in bioengineering, received an honorable mention from USA Today’s All-USA College Academic Team for 2004. Recipients were chosen on the basis of scholarship and leadership.
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Student News
Last spring, the Pitt student chapter of ASCE hosted the 2004 ASCE Ohio Valley Regional Conference. Thirteen schools from Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana participated in the competitions, including steel bridge, concrete canoe, surveying, and technical paper writing.
Mechanical engineering student Daniel E. Armanios has been awarded a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. The premier undergraduate award of its type, the Goldwater Scholarship is in honor of the late Senator Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona, and encourages outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. Armanios, who Debrah is also majoring in political science, has either presented talks or published papers in four different fields, including physical chemistry, English, aerospace engineering, and mechanical/electrical engineering. He is the recipient of two National Science Foundation internships, one at Cornell University and one at Washington State University. Active in the National Model United Nations and the student chapter of the American Armanios Society of Mechanical Engineers at Pitt, Armanios is in the process of founding the Model Arab League on campus, as well as a chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
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success in the workforce, success in graduate school, or success at home, our personal lives will lead each one of us in a different direction, but we will all forever be tied together because Pitt was once our home.” Kamat is now working for GE Aircraft Engines in Evendale, Ohio.
next to a rheometer he used for his research investigations.
N E W S Jeffrey Martin, a graduate student in chemical engineering, has been awarded a 2004 Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium Fellowship in recognition of his outstanding academic record and research in an area related to the NASA space program. Martin’s research focuses on multiphase flow phenomena. He has spent the past several months working on the effect of surfactants on interface-driven instabilities. Apart from its numerous applications to industrial processes, this research is also at the heart of respiratory disorders involving the closure of lung airways, a focus of NASA’s mission of long-term life support in space. The causes and effects of airway closure in space are not well known, but it is expected to be far more catastrophic in a gravity-free environment than on the ground.
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N E W S S T U D E N T Jeff Martin in the lab
Paul Ohodnicki, a senior pursuing dual degrees in economics and engineering physics, has successfully presented his research work on revealing the magnetic structure of FePd intermetallics using combinations of magnetic and atomic Figure 2 force microscopy together with scanning electron microscopy at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2004, the annual meeting of the Microscopy Society of America (MSA). Paul conducted his undergraduate research work using the facilities in the Materials Micro-Characterization Laboratory of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering under the supervision and guidance of Associate Professor Jörg Wiezorek and with the help of graduate students Anirudha Deshpande and Fengting Xu. Figure 2 shows the magnetic domains in FePd as seen by the magnetic force microscope. His paper, titled “Electron and Magnetic Force Microscopy of Bulk Equiatomic FePd Polycrystals With Equiaxed Microstructure,” garnered the Presidential Microscopy Society of America Scholarship, a prestigious and competitive award from the president of the MSA.
Eric Beckman, chemical and petroleum engineering chair and Bayer Professor, presents Young scholarships to Kelly Killcrece (ChE) and Paul Bouvy (ChE).
Society of Automotive
Kelly Killcrece and Paul Bouvy have been awarded Lewis E. and Elizabeth W. Young Scholarships for the 2004-05 academic year by the Pennsylvania-Western Section of the Woman’s Auxiliary to the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc. (WAAIME) in conjunction with the AIME. Young Scholarships are available to students pursuing degrees in the earth science fields, including petroleum engineering. Both students are chemical engineering majors pursuing minors in petroleum engineering.
Engineers Team at the 2004 Fuel the Formula Benefit Dinner.
Members of the Pitt robotics team on the DIY Network show Robot Rivals.
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The Pitt Robotics Team competed June 11 in the championship finals of the DIY Network show Robot Rivals. From left: electrical engineering graduate student Ben McMillen, senior physics major Sam Scheinman, and senior computer engineering major Mark Smorul, with Robot Rivals host Brian Nave. The team beat Tennessee Tech University, the University at Buffalo, and Vanderbilt University to compete against Union College in the final round.
(PhD ’90)
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raduate students often have a different experience than undergraduate students, maybe because they spend more time in the laboratory than the classroom. Scott Berceli (PhD ’90) spent most of his time in the lab, but recalls the time with just as much excitement as that of a new student. Harvey Borovetz, chair of the Department of Bioengineering, was leading a team of student researchers in blood vessel research. The students placed blood vessels in an external chamber that would profuse them and keep them alive. Because the system had to be continuously monitored, Borovetz spent a lot of time with the team. His inspiration was part of Berceli’s journey to his current position as assistant professor of surgery at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
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A chemical engineering graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Berceli said medicine was the furthest thing from his mind when he graduated from high school. However, a slump in the oil industry during his undergraduate years led him to pursue bioengineering work and sparked his interest in medicine. He returned to Pittsburgh, his hometown, for medical school through the Medical Alumni Scholarship and earned his MD and PhD in chemical engineering. “I knew the scholarship would relieve a lot of financial burden, so I had time to pursue a PhD,” he said. Today he spends the majority of his time doing vascular surgery. He also performs clinical research with pharmaceutical companies, runs a basic science laboratory, teaches medical students and residents, and lectures for the University of Florida engineering school. His research looks at how physical forces interact with the blood vessel wall and cause accelerated disease processes, specifically in vein bypass grafts. Proteins that control scar formation within these grafts are a leading cause of heart attacks and limb loss. “I’m really trying to wed engineering and clinical medicine,” he said. Berceli recently
Robert Mrdjenovich (BSMET ’63) and Don Gressler (BSCE ’64)
received the prestigious 2004 Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award, which includes a $1 million five-year grant for basic vascular biology research. Berceli remains connected to Pitt as a volunteer serving on the Department of Bioengineering Visiting Committee. As the only physician on the committee, he said, “I try to think of how the students can be exposed to clinical medicine in the best ways possible.” A chemical engineer who is a bioengineer at heart, Berceli said, “Seeing how the bioengineering program has flourished over time has been wonderful.” Have you ever asked your neighbor where he went to college? You may be surprised to learn that he’s a Pitt alumnus, or even a Pitt engineer! That was the case for neighbors in Brighton, Mich. They had known each other for almost eight years, but never realized they shared a Pitt connection. Don Gressler (BSCE ’64) and Robert Mrdjenovich (BSMET ’63) connected earlier this year through Aaron Conley, executive director of development and alumni relations, who was in the Detroit area catching up with engineering alumni.
Persistence and perseverance. Mrdjenovich attributes his success to those two traits, and they’re evident in his education and his career. Mrdjenovich earned his bachelor’s degree from Pitt while working full time as a technician at Westinghouse and raising a family. He persisted through night school and graduated magna cum laude. Earning his bachelor’s degree took almost six years, but night school had many advantages for him. “My classmates worked in the field, so they had more advanced knowledge than typical textbooks,” Mrdjenovich said. At that time, many retired steel industry leaders were teaching courses, and he enjoyed learning from people who had work experience. Mrdjenovich went to Ford Motor Co. in May 1963 as a research engineer in automotive materials. “At Ford, you could have several careers while remaining with the same company,” he explained. Mrdjenovich also worked as a research engineer in the gas turbine program and in casting operations. While at Ford, he also earned a master’s degree from Wayne State University.
Eventually Mrdjenovich moved into management, leading environmental engineering for casting operations and then plant management, working in Cleveland, Ohio; Dearborn, Mich.; Woodhaven, Mich.; and Windsor, Ontario. He retired from Ford in 2002. One of the most exciting parts of his career required even more persistence: constructing, launching, and managing the Woodhaven Forging Plant to manufacture V8 and V10 forged microalloy steel crankshafts. Although he was told he had a zero percent chance of succeeding, Mrdjenovich did his research and presented his proposal. He was then given a one percent chance of succeeding. “Hey, that’s progress!” he said. The plant was built and is still in operation today. “The greatest application of engineering education is problem solving,” Mrdjenovich said. “In management you have to solve problems.”
Marcy Gallick (BSCE ’77, MSCE ’01)
For Mrdjenovich, living life to its fullest, especially with family, is important. “I enjoy my time now as much as I did working,” he said. His advice to young engineers: “Make sure you perfect your writing skills. If you can’t express yourself in writing, you’ll be at a disadvantage.” He enjoys writing grants for charity work today, but still retains his love for math and the sciences. His persistence and perseverance, traits that he believes were given to him by God, have paid off. “I love having a new challenge around every corner,” said Marcy Gallick (BSCE ’77, MSCE ’01). Gallick is part owner and president of Rhea Engineers & Consultants Inc., a female-owned professional corporation in Gibsonia, Pa., providing a wide range of civil, environmental, and geotechnical engineering and consulting services. She serves as both project and program manager for geo-environmental projects and also has overall responsibility for financial management, marketing, and business development;
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Scott Berceli
A Random Look at the Lives and Careers of Pitt Engineering Alumni
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N E W S A L U M N I Photo by Lisa Baltozer
Alumni Profile Pages
Many alumni have fond memories of Pitt engineering, and one memory that often comes back is of Engineers Week. Gressler fondly remembers when the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering “won the whole shebang,” he said. “We had a lot of great guys who played basketball, who worked hard on the exhibits, and some of us even entered the talent show!” Whatever talents Gressler showcased at Pitt, his engineering talent carried through his career at Jervis B. Webb Co. in Farmington Hills, Mich., which designs, fabricates, and installs material handling systems for many industries. Gressler interviewed with Webb while a senior at Pitt and began his career with the company following graduation. He spent 36 years at Webb and was the Chrysler account manager for eight years prior to his retirement in 1999. His career in sales and project management entailed working with clients and in-house engineers, taking projects from conception through completion. Gressler moved into sales after almost 10 years of working in engineering and estimating. “Sales was exciting,” Gressler said, “because I was now involved in entire projects rather than one small part.” Working well with other people helped him succeed, he said. “Many engineers like to think they can be on their own as a designer. This is not true,” he said. Working with others and working globally were important to Gressler. Among other places, he traveled to Japan, Venezuela, China, and Moscow. “Don’t hesitate to travel to other parts of the world,” he said. “From a business standpoint, see what the competition is doing. From a personal standpoint, the experience is priceless.” He also advises young alumni to “go out and conquer the world.” Gressler has tried to follow his own advice. Following a successful career, he now enjoys retirement, especially golfing and spending time with his family.
N E W S quality assurance; and office staff development. “I’ve had long hours and many successes interspersed with lots of frustrations, but I could never give it up,” she said. Gallick uses her engineering background to complete or direct other engineers in the completion of technical projects “such as solving all kinds of business problems including accounting, human resources, and data management,” she said.
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Engineering is a fabulous education base, Gallick said. “What we are essentially taught as engineers is to be ‘problem solvers.’ This skill is invaluable in numerous careers. So even if an engineering graduate decides to veer away from engineering, the skills learned in the School of Engineering will serve [him] well in whatever career path [he chooses],” she said. In her consulting work, Gallick finds that being responsive and reliable are important. “People want to feel that their needs matter to you and that you will deliver what you promise. If you can focus and be successful in these two areas, career success will follow,” she said. One area of success for her has been the recently developed technically comprehensive, yet user friendly, Recyclable Petroleum Mixing Model as an application in the Microsoft Access software package. The model develops allowable mixing ratios for used oil, used fuel, and fuel recovered from the subsurface to permit burning in a client’s central heating plant. With this system, wastes that were previously disposed of off-site now become a valuable resource. It is work like this that keeps her challenged each day.
Today he is the president and CEO of BeVocal in Mountain View, Calif. BeVocal provides voice automation solutions that enable companies to give customers an alternative to punching keys on a keypad. He spends his time interacting with many people, from recruiting employees, to helping current and potential customers, to working with investors and board members. “As a company we are lucky to have a board that has a tremendous amount of experience in shaping and defining technology industries over the last 20 years,” Berner said. “The insights that they bring to the business and the passion that they have for the company are one of the core things that make BeVocal a great company,” he added. Berner’s management style has also helped BeVocal become a successful company. He credits part of that style to Professor Marwan Simaan. “He had a colorful way of outlining problems and simplifying getting to the solution. I still use some of his sayings and mannerisms,” Berner said. That inspiration and a positive attitude give Berner belief in his company and his success. His advice to young alumni is to try to keep the momentum going by focusing on the good. And in the words of Winston Churchill, “Never, never, never give up.”
Alumni Notes The School of Engineering was awarded a school banner for the first time at the Pitt Alumni Association Banner Breakfast held earlier this year. Amy Bell (BSIE ’85, MSEE ’92), of Blacksburg, Va., an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been invited to participate in the National Academy of Engineering’s 10th Annual Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. The Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania awarded Allen D. Biehler (BSCE ’67) the prestigious William Metcalf Award. Biehler is secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). John Coyne (BSCE ’70) was named Engineer of the Year. He is the director of engineering Biehler and construction for the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh. The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) has named William Bryan (BSME ’70, MSME ’72, MSIE ’85) to its 2004 class of fellow members. The fellow membership grade honors those active NSPE members who have demonstrated exemplary service to the profession, the society, and the community. Bryan lives in McMurray, Pa.
and is employed by ANSYS. He has been a member of NSPE since 1975. Nancy Cieslak (MSChE ’84) and her husband, Stan, have started their own company, Workhorse Rail. Workhorse Rail manufactures and supplies products to the railroad industry. Nancy may be contacted at nancycieslak@ workhorserail.com. Greg Coticchia (BSIE ’82) was a finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition, which honors entrepreneurs whose ingenuity, hard work, and perseverance have created and sustained successful, growing business ventures. Coticchia is president and CEO of LogicLibrary Inc. Daniel J. DePra (BSME ’93, MSCEE ’04) is the 2004 recipient of the Young Engineer of the Year Award from the Pittsburgh chapter of the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers. Bernard J. Fedak (BSME ’68) retired as managing director of engineering from U.S. Steel Corp. Fedak, who also worked at LTV Corp. and its predecessor, Jones & Laughlin Steel, joined U.S. Steel in 1985 as general manager of plant engineering. The Pittsburgh chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) awarded the Government Engineer of the Year Award to Art Gazdik (MSCE ’91), engineer for Ross Township. Seven recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Department of Civil & Environ-
mental Engineering were among the guests who heard Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg speak at the CEE alumni lunch in April (l to r): Dean Holder, Joe Lagnese Jr. (BSCE ’51), Aloysius T. McLaughlin (BSCE ’57), Alex Sciulli (BSCE ’75, MSCE ’81), Charles Russell Jr. (BSCE ’59, MSCE ’70), Paul Bridges (BSCE ’59), Alfred Ackenheil (BSCE ’39, PhD ’54), Michael Dufalla (BSCE ’67, MSCE ’70), and Chancellor Nordenberg.
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with Dean Holder
Mikael Berner (BSEE ’93) is grateful for the education he received at the University of Pittsburgh, not only in engineering, but also in Japanese! Berner took all of the Japanese language courses offered at Pitt, although he had no idea how he would apply them in the future. “The diversity of the courses available was fantastic,” he said. “How many schools can offer that breadth and depth?” In 1993, a vice president from Panasonic Research visited Cornell University, where Berner was completing his master’s degree in electrical engineering. Because of his knowledge of engineering and the Japanese language, Berner was selected to be a researcher in the wireless technology group for Panasonic Research in Japan. His first project was to develop a new digital wireless system. Two years later, Panasonic launched the Personal HandyPhone System, a digital wireless product that quickly became the most successful consumer electronic product in history, selling one million handsets in six months. That record has since been eclipsed by other consumer products, but Berner said working at Panasonic Research “was the most surprising and exciting thing that happened in my career.”
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N E W S A L U M N I Mikael Berner (BSEE ’93)
Gallick encourages young alumni to plot a career path early and focus on three things: (1) work that is fun and fulfilling, (2) experience that you want to accumulate, and (3) where you want to be 20 years from now. “Ask advice from others to develop your plan. And make job changes or pursue advanced degrees to keep you close to your path. You will be a lot happier and more satisfied in the long run. Don’t let your career just happen.”
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Quirus
Agentase LLC, an Oakland Pa.based biotech startup founded by Keith LeJeune (BSChE ’94, MSChE ’96) and Alan Russell, director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, developed a nerve agent sensor that the U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command has named one of the top 10 Army inventions of the past year. The sensor is designed to change color when it comes in contact with sarin or similar nerve agents and is designed to be used by soldiers under chemical attack.
Don Miller (PhD ’83), director of oncology for Wyeth-Ayerst, has been selected as a Hero in Chemistry for 2004 by the American Chemical Society (ACS). He’ll be sharing this award with four of his colleagues, and he is being recognized for his pioneering accomplishments of developing the world’s first antibody-targeted chemotherapeutic agent, Mylotarg. The team, which ranged in size from 15 to 35 scientists from all disciplines along with an alliance partner in England, worked for seven years from latediscovery stage through FDA approval. ACS initiated this award in 1996 to celebrate the successes of industrial scientists whose chemical work resulted in a successful commercial product that improves people’s lives. Robert F. Nowack (MSCE ’52), Alumni Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at Clemson University, was the 2004 recipient of the Distinguished Service to People Award from Clemson, where he has taught for more than 50 years.
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Paul Iurlano (BSEE ’76) was elected to the board of directors of Allegheny Valley Bank of Pittsburgh and its holding company, Allegheny Valley Bancorp.
Timothy Palucka (MSMSE ’96) recently started the Pittsburgh chapter of the international group Café Scientifique, a place where anyone can discuss a major topic in science with the help of an expert scientist in an informal setting such as a pub or coffeehouse. If you are interested in joining the group or attending a presentation, please contact Tim at palucka@andrew.cmu.edu. Leonard K. Peters (BSChE ’62, MSChE ’69, PhD ’71), director of the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has been selected to receive the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Outstanding Leadership Award. The award was established to recognize individuals who have demonstrated sustained leadership and support of ORAU activities involving member universities and/or national laboratories. John Swanson (PhD ’66), founder of ANSYS, was awarded the John Fritz Medal by the American Association of Engineering Societies. Established in 1902, the award is considered to be the highest honor in the engineering profession and has been presented to, among others, Orville Wright, Alexander Graham Bell, Alfred Nobel, Thomas Edison, and George Westinghouse. Billy West (BSCEE ’98) lives in Cleveland, Ohio, and is a project engineer for the Pittsburgh-based Dick Corp. As a former Pittsburgh Panther football player, he ranks in the top 10 in the Big East Conference record books for number of rushes in both a single season and in a career, as well for number of 100-yard games. He said he remembers his days at Pitt fondly. “The School of Engineering prepared me well for my career, and I had some great moments playing football.” Reprinted with Jeff Krakoff’s permission.
Billy West, 1994
Alumni Return to Campus to Share Insights Each year alumni return to campus to share stories of their careers and lives with current engineering students. Here are a few snapshots of recent seminar speakers.
Bob Richardson
Ed Clarke
Ken Macha (BSCE ’80) talked to students about the importance of leadership and building relationships. Macha is now manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team. Ed Clarke (BSIE ’48), retired senior executive from Westinghouse and 1977 School of Engineering distinguished alumnus; Greg Coticchia (BSIE ’82), CEO of LogicLibrary Inc. in Pittsburgh; and Bob Richardson (BSIE ’65, MSIE ’67, PhD ’73), private consultant and professor in the Hagan School of Business at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y., spoke to IE students during the 2003–04 school year. Other presenters in 2003–04 included: Timothy Klemmer (MSMEE ’89, PhD ’95), research staff member with Seagate Technology in Pittsburgh; Robert Novotnak (BSEE ’89, MSEE ’91, PhD ’95), division manager at Aerotech Inc. in Pittsburgh; and Kenneth Sochats (BSEE ’69, MSEE ’73), director of the Visual Information Systems Center and assistant professor in the Department of Information Science and Telecommunications at Pitt. Ken Macha
Greg Coticchia
“The School of Engineering prepared me well for my career, and I had some great moments playing football.”— Billy West
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Jeannette Johnson Quirus (BSCE ’94, MSCEE ’95) was recently promoted to associate with McCormick Taylor Inc. She is a registered professional engineer and professional traffic operations engineer. Quirus works on various transportation projects for PennDOT, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and the New Jersey Department of Transportation. She also assists in managing a 15-person traffic department in the Philadelphia office.
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Fourth Annual Alumni Golf Outing Special thanks to Gerald McGinnis (MSME ’60), and Respironics for the lead sponsorship this year, as well as the other sponsors: • Kvaerner for the Harley Davidson hole-in-one prize • Michael Baker and Westinghouse for exclusive holes • Ellwood Quality Steels for a student foursome • IPR Group of Companies and Nemacolin Woodlands for the beverage carts • Jake Katz (BSEE ’49), John Voelzke (BSEE ’49), and Robert Yowan (BSME ’49) for sponsoring student golfers Special thanks to the following for their prize donations:
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Spirit Harley-Davidson Churchill Valley Country Club Ciccanti Ristorante Diamond Run Golf Club Dick’s Sporting Goods Ernie Varhola (BSEE ’59)
Le Mont Max & Erma’s Olive Garden Italian Restaurant Pittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh Steelers Starbucks Coffee
Team Results: First Place Charles Russell Jr. (BSCE ’59, MSCE ’70) Joseph Ferrero (BSCE ’59) Paul Bridges (BSCE ’59) Ollie Werner (BSCE ’59, MSCE ’70) Second Place Ernie Varhola (BSEE ’59) Glenn Zaborowski (BSEE ’81) Keith Malinoski (BSME ’82) Len Raffa (BSCE ’73) Third Place James Lagree (MSEE ’86) Gerald Leary (BSIE ’71) Joe Engel (friend) Bill Munsch (friend) Last Place Andy Hutelmyer (BSIE ’03) Lindsey Farrell (student) Mike Howell (student)
Skills Results: Closest to the Pin Phil Lenart (BSChE ’01) Gerald D. Holder, U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering Jack Momeyer (friend) Jim Lagree (MSEE ’86) Jason Flaherty (friend) Frank Vigani (BSChE ’66) Longest Putt Phil Lenart (BSChE ’01) Longest Drive Jared Ciferno (BSChE ’99) Straightest Drive Frank Marx (MSME ’80), Manager, Swanson Institute for Technical Excellence We apologize to teams two and four. We weren’t able to take your photographs because of weather delays.
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This year’s Alumni Golf Outing, hosted by Pex, was held at Diamond Run Golf Club on July 19, 2004. The weather tried to dampen the day, but the alumni kept their spirits high. Len Raffa (BSCE ’73) was within inches of winning $5,000 in our putting contest!
Honoring the classes of 1954, 1964, 1979, 1993, 1999, and 2003.
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1- Engineering alumni (l to r) Thomas J. Price (BSChE ’54, MSChE ’66), James R. Mihaloew (BSME ’54), John A. Mihaloew (BSME ’54), and Robert E. Dunkelman (BSIE ’54) celebrated their 50th reunion with Dean Holder at the 2004 Reunion Gala, held during Homecoming weekend at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association.
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It was more than 55 years ago when a group of student engineers, under the leadership of John Marous, Al Hillegass and others, proposed that the friendships developed at Pitt continue. The group chose the electrical term used in transmission line calculations, “Pex,” signifying “Pittsburgh Engineering Exponents,” as its identification for the future. In 1999, Dean Holder revived the group and the school has been inducting new members ever since. This year, Pex celebrated its 55th Reunion during Homecoming Weekend.
N E W S A L U M N I
N E W S A L U M N I
Homecoming 2004
Pex 55th Reunion
Seeking Distinguished Alumni
The School of Engineering is seeking nominations of alumni worthy of recognition for the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Awards. Consideration will be given to alumni with meritorious activities in professional engineering and the allied fields of science, industry, business, public service, and education; alumni who have met exceptional challenges in their careers; or alumni who have followed unique career paths with their engineering degree. To nominate an alumnus for consideration, please complete the form below and mail to: University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering Kelly Varley Assistant Director Alumni Relations 240 Benedum Hall Pittsburgh, PA 15261 Or e-mail your nomination to: kvarley@engr.pitt.edu
2- Dean Holder facilitated the reunion of Al Hillegass (BSEE ’49) and Joe Koepfinger (BSEE ’49, MSEE ’53) at the Pex 55th Reunion Reception.
School of Engineering Distinguished Alumni Nomination Name of nominee
3- Students and alumni swap Pitt engineering stories.
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Department/graduation year 4- Celebrating their 25th reunion are (l to r) Mark Coticchia (BSCE ’79, MSIE ’88), Eric Peter Fanto (BSCE ’79), Susan Valasek-Fanto (BSChE ’79, MSIE ’85), and Barbara Troianos (BSEE ’79) with Dean Holder.
Above: Several of the founding Pex members, along with recent alumni members, welcomed student members to Pex during the 55th reunion reception. At left: John Marous (BSEE ’49, MSEE ’53) speaks at the Pex Breakfast in Benedum Hall.
5- A Pitt engineering family prepares to cheer the Panthers on to a win against Rutgers by enjoying Breakfast at Benedum prior to the game.
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6- Salisa L. Berrien (BSME ’91) hugs Karl Lewis, founder of the Engineering Impact Program (Pitt IEP). Sponsored through Pennsylvania’s Act 101, the program recruits, retains, and helps underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students graduate. Lewis was honored at this year’s Breakfast at Benedum for his more than 30 years of service to the University and his commitment to enrolling, retaining, and graduating minority engineers.
Reason for nomination (include a brief career highlight summary). Attach a separate sheet of paper if necessary.
Jake Katz (BSEE ’49), Pex co-chair and John Marous (BSEE ’49, MSEE ’53), Pex co-founder, share old memories.
We’re sorry to announce the passing of… Paul J. Byerly (BSEE ’64) on October 21, 2002, in Manassas, Virginia.
Name of nominator
Walter P. Eckert (BSCE ’50) in November 2003. Because of the increasing costs of printing and mailing Engineering News, the School of Engineering will no longer send the magazine to alumni who graduated more than five years ago and have never made a charitable gift to the School of Engineering. If you graduated prior to 1999 and have never made a donation to the School of Engineering, this will be the last issue you receive. A contribution of any amount made prior to March 1, 2005, will ensure you receive the issue next spring and future issues.
John C. Monro (BSCE ’64, MSCE ‘66) on December 30, 2002. He worked for the National Weather Service (now National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) in the Office of Hydrology for 31 years. Monro developed a Flash Flood Early Warning Program and was awarded the Silver Medal by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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Homecoming 2004
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
Save the Date
Honoring the classes of 1954, 1964, 1979, 1993, 1999, and 2003. Pex 55th Reunion
It was more than 55 years ago when a group of student engineers, under the leadership of John Marous, Al Hillegass and others, proposed that the friendships developed at Pitt continue. The group chose the electrical term used in transmission line calculations, “Pex,” signifying Distinguished Alumni Banquet “Pittsburgh Engineering Exponents,” as its identification for future. In 1999, Dean Holder revived the group and the Marchthe16, 2005 school has been inducting new members ever since. This year, Pex celebrated its 55th Reunion during Homecoming Weekend.
Fifth Annual Alumni Golf Outing No2005 Gift = No Magazine July 18,
Because of the increasing costs of printing and mailing Engineering News, the School of Engineering will no longer send the magazine to alumni who graduated more than five years and have past? never made a charInterested in theagoschool’s Want itable gift to the School of Engineering. If to learnyou more aboutprior itstobeginnings graduated 1999 and have never a donation the School of Engineering, and themade faculty, staff,toand students this will be the last issue you receive. A conwho laid the foundation for the school? tribution of any amount made prior to March 1, Read The History of the School of 2005, will ensure you receive issue next for spring and future Engineering. Nowtheavailable $40 issues. by calling 412-624-2458.
School of Engineering 240 Benedum Hall Pittsburgh, PA 15261-2224
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