Pitt Engineer - Fall 2006

engineering

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During the height of its day, it was commonly known that the sun never set on the British Empire. Borrowing this historic catchphrase, the Pitt School of Engineering today can proudly claim that our impact extends far beyond Western Pennsylvania and the boundaries of this country.

Right now, at points all across the globe, a student, faculty member, or graduate of the School of Engineering is working to make the world a better place through the educational resources of the University of Pittsburgh. In this issue of Engineering News, we are highlighting some of the many activities that demonstrate the school’s global impact.

national reputation of many Pitt faculty members results in research collaborations with their peers in countries around the world. All of this contributed to our impressive showing in a recent survey conducted by Newsweek of the “Top 100 Global Universities.” This survey, which was the first of its kind to offer a hierarchy of the world’s 100 best institutions, ranked Pitt 37th, just behind the London School of Economics, Northwestern University, and the National University of Singapore. Only 20 U.S. public universities made the list, and Pitt ranked 10th among them.

Continued advancements in technology will only further shrink our Any school with a legacy and tradiperceptions of distance, whether tion as long as ours can point to through instantaneous electronic instances of alumni accomplishments communications or the movement of or faculty collaboration with peers at goods and people through faster and international institutions. But most more efficient modes of transportaschools have not made this a point tion. Our students today understand of emphasis until recently, as the the careers they choose to follow will concept of globalization has become present opportunities unlike those more mainstream. Headline topics like of previous generations of alumni, offshoring and outsourcing, avian flu, and nearly all of them will be part terrorism, and global warming have of a workforce that can be impacted made us all realize what a small world by events taking place thousands of Gerald D. Holder, U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering we live in. These and other challenges miles away. They also know they may also present opportunities for engisomeday play a key role in something neering solutions, and today’s Pitt engineering students that impacts people on the other side of the globe. As are learning how to take their basic engineering curriculum Pitt engineering alumni, I hope you will take great pride and apply it from a global perspective. There are several in the stories of our students, faculty, and your fellow great examples highlighted in this issue, including recent alumni highlighted in this special issue. You are part of an undergraduate experiences in China and Japan (see pages engineering program—and a University—whose impact can 3–4), a new degree program being offered in Taiwan (see truly be felt around the world. page 4), and a student program in Chile (see page 5).

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Our international emphasis in the School of Engineering today is not unique on the Pitt campus. An array of opportunities awaits students in all disciplines looking to take a global view of their college education, while the inter-

Gerald D. Holder U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering

C O N T E N T S

engineering Features

Gerald D. Holder U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering Aaron Conley Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations

International Engineering Initiatives...... 2

Sonia Bembic Director of Marketing & Communications/Editor

Forging Ties........................................ 5

Kelly Kaufman Communications Manager/Editor

Alumni Features................................... 6

Don Henderson Designer Chuck Dinsmore Production Coordinator

Departments

Sarah Jordan Editorial Assistant Niki Kapsambelis Contributing Writer

Around the School............................. 11

2006 IABC Golden Triangle Award of Excellence, Magazines: 4-Color Design

Student News................................... 18

2005 Western Pennsylvania Printing Industry Award, Best of Category Have a comment or story idea for Engineering News?

Contact Sonia Bembic at 412-624-2460, or send an e-mail to sbembic@engr.pitt.edu Visit our Web site at: www.engr.pitt.edu

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Alumni News..................................... 20

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.

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.

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Published in cooperation with the Department of University Marketing Communications. UMC5933-1206 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 The computer-controlled hot deformation simulator, a modified Materials Testing System (MTS) machine, housed in the Basic Metals Processing Research Institute (BAMPRI), is one of only a few in the world. BAMPRI is a resource to the local, national, and international steel and metals industries. The institute develops and implements the latest product and processing technologies for producers, fabricators, and end-users. Pictured here are (left to right) Professor Anthony DeArdo, Fulbright Scholar Manuel Gomez, and Visiting Research Scholar Jonglee Lee.

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Broader Horizons: The Global Impact of Pitt Engineering Today

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s engineering becomes an increasingly global field, the University of Pittsburgh is giving students the hard sell on programs designed to broaden their horizons.

From freshman year on, students enrolled in the School of Engineering are steered toward international study for anywhere from a single week to an entire semester.

Opportunities are available in practically any country around the globe, and the school has worked hard to design programs that will fit into even the most tightly packed curriculum.

The reason is simple: with so many engineering jobs either migrating overseas or requiring international collaboration, schools must prepare students to work not only with colleagues in another cubicle, but also on another continent.

“The bottom line is that students are going to need to interact at a high level, an effective level, with international people. The likelihood of them working on a project in the same city as their collaborators is very small now,” says Cheryl Paul, the school’s codirector of international and interdisciplinary engineering programs. “The School of Engineering is simply thinking ahead in designing systems that students need to be competitive once they leave the University.”

Although some programs date back a decade, such as Pitt in China-Nanjing—which pairs business and engineering students in Chinese language classes during the year before sending them to China for a summer—the school’s efforts have ramped up in recent years.

Cheryl Paul stands in front of the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Paul, codirector of international and interdisciplinary engineering programs, traveled with 30 students from the School of Engineering and the College of Business Administration as part of the award-winning Plus3 program in May 2006. Plus3 is just one of the school’s international

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educational opportunities.

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and included a course taught collaboratively between Pitt and Rice using video conferencing.

Prior to their trip, participants attended lectures given by guest speakers from Pitt’s Asian Studies Program and Rice’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy on topics such as leadership, technology trends, history and politics, economics, cultural issues, and specific analyses of various business sectors. During their trip, they learned about business processes at different companies and engineering methods. After returning to the United States, students prepared an end-of-semester paper and presented at the annual INNOVATE alumni dinner.

In 2007, students enrolled in INNOVATE will visit India and Japan.

“The underlying goal of this experience is to obtain a better understanding of the impact of globalization” and to communicate effectively with international partners, Paul notes.

Though students are not expected to know the language of the countries they visit, communication has not yet been a barrier, she adds.

Often, that’s because the host countries include a large English-speaking population, although Paul said, “by virtue of going abroad, students begin to pick up on some of the language.”

Students in the Plus3 program visit the Codelco Andina Mine near Santiago, Chile.

A Firsthand Look In 2006, Pitt sponsored INNOVATE (the International Technology, Innovation, and Leadership Conference) in partnership with Rice University and under the auspices of the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE) United States. The program included a 10-day study trip for 68 American and international students to Shanghai, China, and Osaka, Japan.

Of that number, 10 were Pitt engineering students. The program coincided with the INNOVATE 2006 Symposium

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Building Bridges

by Erasing Barriers

Last year, 120 School of Engineering students studied abroad in various programs, according to Keiha Peck, the school’s study abroad advisor. Countries included Uruguay, Mexico, Australia, Chile, Brazil, China, Ghana, and Germany, among others. Unless a country’s stability is questionable because of war, health risks, or other factors, most nations are up for grabs.

Students who opt for a full semester abroad Chiang Kai-shek usually do so through third-party exchange Memorial, Taipei City programs. Internships are also available in Germany through a program financed by that Students must meet all of the University’s admission country’s government. To encourage participation, criteria, including language tests, because courses will Pitt is sponsoring a series of three-credit introductory be taught in English. A pool of 10–15 faculty members German language courses, although students who will teach in two-week rotations. have taken at least two years of German in high school would also qualify. (A similar three-credit course in Pitt is partnering with the Taiwan Auto Design Corp. in Chinese is also available.)

Taipei to use its software training facilities as a campus. Chyu says although the program is beginning in Peck believes the international experience not only Taiwan, the school hopes eventually to expand to other prepares engineering students for the reality of the countries. professional marketplace, it also helps set the student apart during the interview process.

“Their cultural base and political system are more Americanized,” he says of Taiwan, “but we are using “It’s definitely a talking point in allowing them to market this stepping stone to open up the Asian and Pacific themselves for potential job opportunities,” she says. basin area, including China and India.”

“It comes up during interviews, and the overall experience gives them a broader sense of other cultures.

Chyu believes the program will elevate Pitt’s visibility in The international experience allows them to grow and that part of the world, in addition to creating exposure mature.” for faculty.

Pitt in Taipei Minking Chyu, chair of the newly created Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, is taking the international experience a step further. For the past three years, he has been cultivating a degree program in Taiwan through which Taiwanese students will be able to earn a Pitt master’s degree by taking courses offered by visiting faculty.

The 30-credit program, due to begin in March 2007, is known as the Manufacturing Systems Engineering Program (MSEP) and will culminate in an MS degree in simulation and management.

“People already know us. We have a great international impact,” he says. “With globalization, everyone should understand what the other side of the world is doing.

When the faculty come back, they will have a much better worldview when teaching our domestic students.”

Moreover, if the school hopes to get more undergraduate students to study overseas, the Taiwan program could help.

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Forging Ties:

Casting a Wide Net

Professor Leads Freshmen on Trips to Latin America

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From the very outset of their undergraduate careers, School of Engineering students get the opportunity to sample life overseas.

Thanks to the University’s award-winning Plus3 program, freshmen are traveling far and wide, whetting their appetites for international culture and preparing for a profession that often requires foreign collaboration or travel.

“Because of the competition the U.S. has in engineering and sciences, it’s quite possible that many of these students will be sent outside the United States,” says Luis Chaparro, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “They’ll have to negotiate with people from different countries, so it’s better for them to have some prior knowledge of doing business internationally.”

Chaparro, a native of Colombia, led a Plus3 trip to Valparaiso, Chile, in May 2006. Prior to traveling, students took seminars on the history, politics, and economy of the country. They spent two weeks in Chile visiting five different businesses, including a winery, a copper mine, a bottling plant, an airline, and a food processing company.

When they returned, the students wrote a paper comparing the cultural, economic, and political issues of one company to an American counterpart. They also made a final presentation of their findings and each kept a cultural journal.

Chaparro says one benefit to the trip was the opportunity for students to see how another country’s business transactions differ from those in the United States. In the United States, business connections are based on benefits, he notes.

“There, you have to establish more of a personal relationship, and once that’s established, the deals will be done—not before that,” Chaparro explains.

Four years ago, the trip to Chile started with 12 students.

This year, that number had risen to 20, and could get larger. That’s good news for the school, which hopes to expose as many students as possible to the international experience in preparation for the global marketplace.

“I think the experience is very interesting to students,” says Chaparro. “Chile is a very nice country; the people are very friendly. In Latin America, it’s one of the most economically prosperous countries. … Most of the students come back with the desire of going back to Chile.”

“If we establish our base in that part of the world, we will establish a logical point to receive our students,” Chyu reasons. “Even though it’s a small step for the greater program, we have a view to expand this and to assist our overall plan for international education.”

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“We are going to target first- or second-line managers who are already involved in the manufacturing industry or community,” says Chyu.

Growing up in nearby Johnstown, Pa., Jim Balaschak never pictured exactly where his future might take him, but of all the places he might have considered, Moscow would have been one of the least likely. For more than the past decade, though, this former center of the Soviet empire has been his home, and he has had a front-row seat witnessing the dramatic transformation of Russia.

While living overseas can be a difficult adjustment anywhere, Moscow was just a few years removed from the end of the Soviet Union when he went there in 1995. “We literally starved,” Balaschak said about the conditions he and his wife Kim initially faced. “We lost more than 15 pounds each. There were no supermarkets; we survived on root vegetables, frozen chicken legs, and pasta, and we could not get cat food or kitty litter. But Moscow today is a totally modern capital with sushi bars and coffee shops on every corner … you can get anything you want now.”

Balaschak works for Deloitte & Touche, the global professional services firm providing audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services. He serves as managing partner in charge of consulting for Deloitte & Touche CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). He also serves as the CIS firm’s energy and resources leader. His portfolio includes TNK-BP, a joint venture between BP and three Russian shareholders. This venture includes Russia’s second-largest oil and gas company and the world’s eight largest private oil and gas companies, which collectively employ more than 100,000 and produce approximately 2 million barrels of oil daily.

help Russian companies employ best practices in people, processes, and technology to achieve operational excellence and maximize return on assets and capital.” During the past five years, Balaschak says the company has also advised dozens of U.S. and multinational companies seeking to enter the markets in Russia and the CIS. Being widely recognized as an expert on Russian business issues certainly makes him a valuable person to know, plus he plays an active role in the 800-member American Chamber of Commerce in Russia. He chaired the Board of Directors in 2000–01 and hired the group’s current president.

“My role as chairman was a lot of fun. I got to meet U.S. presidents, congressmen and senators, cabinet members, and Russian business and government elite.” He received the Chairman’s Award in 2002 for his contributions to the chamber’s work and was recognized as Chamber Member of the Year in 2005 for his leadership role in promoting trade between Russia and the United States.

Even though his role today may be more on the white-collar side of the energy sector, Balashack knows just how dirty, dangerous, and complex the operations of the oil and gas industry can be. After focusing his civil engineering studies at Pitt in the area of structural engineering and earning his bachelor’s degree in 1975, Balaschak landed his first job with Lee C. Moore Corp. in Tulsa, Okla. “They designed and built drilling structures for the oil and gas industry and had the largest market share at the time. The company was family owned, and the president and vice president were Pitt grads and recruited there.” The experience was

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Deloitte & Touche first opened a joint venture in the Soviet Union in 1989, two years before the revolution that brought an end to the cold war. With energy demand today being a continuous political and economic issue around the world, Balaschak says Russia is being looked at as never before as a provider to meet these global needs. “There are tremendous undeveloped resources in the Russian far east, west, and east Siberia,” Balaschak said. “Plus the Arctic region is untapped. Russia has the potential to more than meet all of the world’s demand growth over the next 10 years.”

As energy companies there grow, Balaschak says his company brings “financial transparency” through audit and internal controls services, adding, “We also

Jim Balaschak

Having a solid engineering background has been invaluable to his career success, according to Balaschak. Prior to joining Deloitte & Touche, he was managing director at Teledyne Technologies Inc., a major U.S. technology company active in many sectors, including metals, aerospace, and industrial and consumer goods. In this role, he was responsible for all of the company’s operations, business planning, and expansion activities throughout Russia and the CIS. “Engineering allows you to better understand the physical world. Many of the things I take for granted, I see people around me struggle to understand.”

His success may also be attributed to his effort to blend in with the Russian culture. He and his wife are both fluent in the language, and he served for several years on the board of the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin. His wife is also noted

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for a unique hobby, as she has the world’s largest collection of Russian Christmas and New Year tree ornaments, extending from the years preceding the 1917 revolution up to the 1960s. The collection will be on display through a major exhibition this winter, which they are both looking forward to. And Balaschak is also trying to help golf gain a foothold as a popular sport there, as a member and past chairman of the Moscow Country Club, which is the only golf course in the entire country—for the moment. There are more than 50 new golf courses in the works, and one designed by Jack Nicklaus is opening next year.

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great, he says, adding that he had the opportunity to design the largest drilling rig in the world at that time and got to experience the harsh working environment where many of these rigs operated. For the uninitiated, Balaschak suggests, “Try climbing up a 150-foot drilling rig in West Texas with the wind blowing 50 miles an hour!”

Whether it has been playing a role at the forefront of Russia’s business renaissance in the global energy industry, living through near-famine conditions, or being among the few people in the country to know that a birdie doesn’t always refer to something that flies, Jim Balaschak has taken his Pitt engineering education far beyond his boyhood confines of Johnstown and Western Pennsylvania. And his ability to adapt is particularly well suited to his environs. As history has shown, the allure of living in Moscow is tempered by the ever-present potential for change. “We have learned to be patient, since here, the unexpected is the norm.”

Leading International Paper into the World’s Fastest Growing Markets

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Tom Gestrich may have grown up in nearby Mars, Pa., but lately he has found himself in such unique surroundings, he may have felt he was on the planet of the same name.

In November 2005, Gestrich was named president of International Paper (IP) Asia and relocated to Shanghai, China. His territory covers much of that corner of the world, as he is responsible for all of IP’s operations not only in China, but extending west all the way to India and south to include Australia and the many island nations in between. And he’s not one to issue orders from his desk, as he logs thousands of miles traveling to the many urban areas in the region and the remote areas where the timber and production facilities supporting IP’s operations are located. Despite the varied differences in culture and language at each stop, one thing seems to be universal. “The pace of change here is nothing short of phenomenal,” Gestrich says, especially in China. “Just as an example,” he adds, “Shanghai recently announced a new, three-year infrastructure plan that included, among many other things, two commuter tunnels under a river and more than 180 kilometers of new roads, and there is no question they will accomplish all this in just three years.”

Gestrich is no stranger to the region, as he joined IP in 1990 and began traveling in the Asian markets in 1994. Recognizing the growth in that region, the company recently restructured its

operations. “Even though we are ‘International Paper,’ about 75 percent of our operations were tied to North American markets,” Gestrich says. “We are now placing more people and resources in the highest global growth areas and expect to see closer to a 50-50 split between

Tom Gestrich with the ever-changing skyline of Shanghai, China, behind him.

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From his office overlooking the Kremlin, this alumnus is witness to …

Gestrich expects to stay in China in this role somewhere between three and five years, a time frame he says is necessary to be successful. “When I was based in the United States but had responsibilities for projects or operations overseas, I thought we were pretty well ahead of the competition. Now that I’m physically here in Shanghai, I realize the only way to truly stay in the lead is to be here on the ground.”

Gestrich earned his bachelor’s degree through the College Being there, he adds, will help overcome what he sees as of General Studies at Pitt in 1969, focusing his studies the greatest obstacles to success in Asia. These include in chemistry. He also worked full time at Westinghouse developing professional networks of Research Laboratories while in school “ China alone is expected contacts (because there are fewer and got interested in chemical engimedia and Internet sources of inforneering through his interactions with to account for 40–50 mation there), the language barrier many world-class research engineers percent of the entire (which he is making the effort there. One project included working global incremental growth to overcome by taking Mandarin on the development of high-temperalanguage lessons), and understandture fuel cells as part of the Apollo 11 in paper products.” ing the culture. “You must learn mission to the moon. This experience, to solicit advice and input from people on problems, and the encouragement of Westinghouse researchers he even when you may think you already know the answer. got to know, convinced him to pursue an MS in chemical A hard-charging, American business executive style will engineering, which he finished in 1972. The Westinghouse get you nowhere here, and can be considered offensive experience also proved fortuitous as he landed a promiif it belittles or embarrasses someone.” nent NASA Fellowship to help cover his tuition bills.

During his time at Pitt, he also completed a summer internship with Procter & Gamble (P&G), which eventually led to a job offer. He joined P&G after leaving Pitt and stayed with the company for 16 years. During his time there, he worked in a soap plant and got involved in the early development behind Pringles potato chips. But he soon found his niche when P&G expanded into some new paper-based products that are now household names, including Bounty, Charmin, and Pampers. He took on new management roles

He has even learned to extend this same courtesy when traveling in the most remote areas where food options can best be described as limited. “Among other things, I have been offered—and tried—roasted cicadas and fried worms.” Regardless of the cultural differences, Gestrich knows his work ethic will see him through to success in this new role with International Paper. “I grew up on and around farms and quickly learned the value in staying with things until they get done.”

From Across the Atlantic, this Alumna Gives Back to Pitt

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Even though she’s a native Pittsburgher, Roberta “Robbi” Luxbacher could be excused for thinking first of the historic London landmark when she hears the nickname “Big Ben,” rather than the quarterback of the Steelers. For the past four and a half years, she’s called London home, and the demands of her job allow little time to follow the Steelers or much else. Luxbacher is responsible for ExxonMobil’s natural gas marketing and infrastructure holdings in Europe, one of the largest gas markets in the world. She holds the title of director of Europe gas and power marketing, and the European market she oversees is the division’s largest business unit by volume and assets.

Luxbacher grew up in the South Hills neighborhood of Baldwin, Pa., and came to Pitt initially to study physical

therapy. During her freshman year, she discovered her passion for math and science, particularly chemistry.

A little encouragement from her brother, who has a PhD in mining engineering, led her to chemical engineering, and she finished her degree in 1978.

She caught the attention of Exxon (now ExxonMobil) and was offered a position, which she started immediately following graduation, and she’s been with the company ever since. Her introduction to living abroad however, started during her time as a Pitt student when she completed a summer internship in Sweden with Supra AB (now part of Yara), made possible in part by a $500 scholarship awarded by the School of Engineering to help with travel costs.

Luxbacher is also bringing this European perspective to the School of Engineering through her volunteer role as an advisory board member to the Mascaro Sustainability Initiative (MSI). This program seeks to bring engineering solutions to the critical areas of green construction and sustainable water use—movements that are well established in Europe but only now beginning to emerge in the United States. She joined the MSI advisory board in 2003, and the next year she was also appointed to the School of Engineering’s Board of Visitors. “I especially enjoy working on the board’s under-

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Although her job requires regular trips back to the United graduate education committee,” she said. “It allows me to provide advice from an industry perspective, and it helps States to the company’s headquarters in Houston, Texas, and elsewhere, Luxbacher has developed a European me be more aware of the changes and developments in perspective she feels is critical to both her success and undergraduate engineering education. This enables me her company’s. “Although we have a multicultural manto build more accurate expectations at ExxonMobil for our agement team managing all employees outside the U.S., new college hires.”

I find that by being the only one actually living abroad, I The School of Engineering acknowledged Luxbacher’s am the most sensitive to initiatives that are ‘U.S.-centric’ many career accomplishments in 2001, when she was in design. I think I play an important role in pointing this recognized with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the out so that our programs are applicable throughout the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering. While world and more readily accepted.” Being part of the culshe says she is showing her gratitude by being an active ture, Luxbacher has observed, is the only way to develop volunteer, she went a step further last year by making this perspective. “When you live internationally, you are a multiyear philanthropic commitment in support of the immersed in the local culture—you read the papers, hear Campaign for Engineering. Her the news, discuss and debate issues “ If you are at all open-minded, commitment includes the estabwith friends and coworkers. If you you come to understand and lishment of an Engineering Legacy are at all open-minded, you come to appreciate the legitimate Fund, unrestricted support for understand and appreciate the legitithe Department of Chemical and reasons why people in another mate reasons why people in another Petroleum Engineering, and curricucountry may have different views and country may have different lum and research grants for MSI. approaches than those in the U.S. views and approaches than “I am really appreciative of the You don’t get this as a visitor.” those in the U.S.” excellent education that I received at the School of Engineering and the opportunities that it One area where her perspective has been especially valuopened up for me,” she said. “It is astonishing how much able has been helping ExxonMobil to work within a social and political environment that is considerably different one can achieve from just four short years invested in an from the United States in its acceptance of renewable engineering education. In today’s global economy, it is vital energy and other environmentally conscious matters. “As to better understand other cultures and have a broader a company, we recognize that the accumulation of greenview of the world. I am hopeful my contributions of time house gases in the earth’s atmosphere poses risks that and support help the School of Engineering prepare future may prove to be significant for society and ecosystems. students the way it did for me.”

These risks justify action now.

Consequently, we are taking steps to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from our own operations.” Innovation and the development of new breakthrough technologies, she adds, are the best approach to lower greenhouse gas emissions, and ExxonMobil is a major sponsor of research activities in this area.

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specializing in paper products and has never looked back.

“During the course of my career, I’ve been involved in the production processes for just about any kind of paper you can imagine!”

Pittsburgh may be her hometown, but London is home for Robbi Luxbacher.

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North America and other markets.” China was an easy choice, as Gestrich notes that beyond the well-known population and economic growth in the country, “China alone is expected to account for 40–50 percent of the entire global incremental growth in paper products.” With greater Western investment and new retail opportunities, such as the recent opening of Wal-Mart stores, IP’s many paper products are now reaching consumers easier than ever before. “The introduction of new stores here has resulted in a completely new market dynamic … this is the only place where I’ve experienced total gridlock, not with cars, but with shopping carts in a store!”

DeBiase joined Westinghouse in June 2001, just after earning her BSME. As part of the company’s program for new hires, she took a trip to England in 2002 to experience some of its European operations and was enamored with the idea of living abroad. “When I got back from this trip,” DeBiase recalls, “I immediately told my manager to find me a job over there!”

Fortunately for her, a position in environmental health and safety was available, so just two short years from finishing her degree, she packed up and ventured off to England for what would be a 20-month assignment. She was based at the Westinghouse operation in Hale, just outside the industrial city of Manchester. Even though she was across the Atlantic now, her new environs didn’t feel all that unfamiliar. “Manchester was very much like Pittsburgh. It was a friendly, hardworking city.” She found the cities also share a sport parallel. “Just as everyone in Pittsburgh is a Steelers fan, I quickly learned that being a new resident of Manchester meant I had to cheer for Manchester United,” which is one of the most storied and successful professional soccer teams in England.

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During her European assignment, DeBiase regularly traveled to Italy, France, Ireland, Germany, and the Netherlands. “Nuclear power is much more prevalent in Europe than the United States, so Westinghouse has to have strong overseas operations, especially in the area in which I was working.” Her duties included tracking and reporting key performance indicators, such as safety statistics, which are required by both the company and by government regulatory agencies.

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While she welcomed the challenges of her job, she found an even bigger test in overcoming England’s rigorous procedure for obtaining a driver’s license. “I took a one-hour training course prior to the exam Heather DeBiase in a Westinghouse control room simulator for nuclear power plant operator training.

and the instructor recommended I take 10 more hours of training—not because I was a bad driver, but just because the procedure was so rigorous.” She took the advice and did pass the exam, making it through her remaining time in England without incident. “Driving on the other side of the road is definitely one of the more memorable experiences of my time there,” she recalls.

DeBiase enjoyed her European assignment so much, she returned to the company’s Monroeville (Pa.) headquarters in a similar position focusing on environmental safety.

“I felt it was important to come back and apply what I learned over there.” Today, she works in the company’s unique Customer 1st program, begun in 2003 to build a culture of continuous improvement with the goal of creating success for Westinghouse customers. Customer 1st leaders within Westinghouse undergo six weeks of training conducted over the course of six months, while also completing a number of training projects. At the end of the training period, DeBiase had to take a four-hour, 100-question written exam. “Most of the questions were statistical, so this was no easy test. I actually think my driving test in England was easier than this!”

Like the driving test, she passed the Customer 1st exam.

Now looking ahead, DeBiase sees even more opportunities waiting. “Westinghouse gives new hires great opportunities, and I have enjoyed all the challenges I’ve faced here.” She is now planning on starting classes toward an MBA, which Westinghouse will support. Reflecting back on all she’s done in just five years since leaving Pitt, DeBiase thinks current students should take any opportunity they can to experience life abroad, especially through a company like Westinghouse. “If you’re willing and able, you should absolutely do it!”

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Within a period of just a few short years, Heather DeBiase went from being a high school graduate and former resident of her small hometown of Windber, Pa. (near Johnstown); moved on to Pitt to complete a BS in mechanical engineering; and then to a new job with Westinghouse Electric Co., where she ended up living in England and traveling throughout Europe. Perhaps it didn’t transpire quite that fast, but it has certainly felt like it for this young engineering alumna.

Around the School Bioengineering Savio L-Y. Woo, William Kepler Whiteford Professor of bioengineering, professor of mechanical engineering, professor of rehabilitation science and technology, and director of the Musculoskeletal Research Center, coauthored “Biomechanics of Knee Ligaments: Injury, Healing, and Repair,” the most downloaded article from the January 1, 2006, issue of Journal of Biomechanics. The article—cowritten by S.D. Abramowitch, R. Kilger, and R. Liang—was the most downloaded article via www.sciencedirect.com between January and March 2006.

On May 3, 2006, Woo received the Life Sciences Award from the Carnegie Science Center Awards for Excellence.

His research, which has revolutionized the field of orthopaedic biomechanics, has served as the foundation upon which many patients’ surgical management and rehabilitation protocols following various ligament and tendon injuries are currently based.

Professors T.K. Hung and Woo have been invited to give keynote addresses at the 15th International Conference on Mechanics in Medicine and Biology, December 6–8, 2006, in Singapore. Woo’s lecture is titled “New Bioengineering Approaches for Management of Soft Tissue Injuries.” Hung’s lecture is titled “Fluid Mechanics Analyses of Cardiac Pumping and Balloon Assist.” Woo also presented the plenary lecture “Biomechanics Research and Sports Medicine’s Future: Meeting the Challenges of Keeping Your Knee and Shoulder Healthy” at the Fifth World Congress of Biomechanics in Munich, Germany, this past year.

David A. Vorp, associate professor of bioengineering and surgery, was elected to the Board of Directors of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) for a three-year term. Vorp was recently named to the executive committee of the Bioengineering Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and to the executive council of the International Society for Applied Cardiovascular Biology.

He also was named to the editorial board of the Journal of Biomechanics and is director of the newly created Center for Vascular Remodeling and Regeneration.

Vorp was recently awarded a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for “Biomechanical Evaluation of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm.” The project will be funded over a five-year period.

Lance Davidson with student researchers in his lab in the new Biomedical Science Tower 3

Vorp has been invited to speak at the 33rd Annual Vascular and Endovascular Issues, Techniques, and Horizons (VEITH) Symposium. Vorp is one of only five nonphysicians from among more than 200 invited faculty to the VEITH symposium. This invitation recognizes Vorp’s significant contributions to vascular medicine and in particular his breakthrough work in the area of the biomechanics of abdominal aortic aneurysm. Vorp also has been invited to give a lecture titled “Biomechanical Determinants of Aortic Rupture” in the session Mechanisms of Aortic Disease at this year’s American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.

Rory Cooper, professor of bioengineering and mechanical engineering and chair and Distinguished Professor of rehabilitation science and technology for the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, gave the keynote address “It’s Simply Do-Able” at the 53rd Annual Governor’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities Conference. Lance Davidson, assistant professor, has been invited to speak at Experimental Biology 2007, the annual meeting of the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB), during the symposium Morphogenesis Meets Mathematics: How Embryogenesis can be Quantified. Davidson also has been invited to speak at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society. He will present at the premeeting workshop Opportunities in Biological Physics. FASEB also invited Michael Sacks, William Kepler Whiteford Professor, to speak at its Washington, D.C., meetings in April 2007.

Sacks will lecture during the symposium Bioengineering in Development and Disease.

John “Jack” Patzer, assistant professor, has been invited by the liver diseases research branch of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), in collaboration with the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and the Acute Liver Failure (ALF) Study Group, to attend a two-day meeting

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Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Goetz Veser, assistant professor and researcher in Pitt’s Gertrude E. and John M. Petersen Institute of NanoScience and Engineering, presented at the American Chemical Society 232nd National Meeting & Exposition.

Veser’s research on microreactors is supVeser ported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award.

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James Cobb, associate professor emeritus, represented the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) at a National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) Bio Summit held at NCEES headquarters in Clemson, S.C., on August 23, 2006. At the summit, representatives of American Academy of Environmental Engineers, AIChE Society for Biological Engineering, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Biomedical Engineering Society, and Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers agreed to develop a proposal for a bioengineering professional engineering examination. Work on establishing this new examination will likely be spread over two or three years. If the work is successful, a first administration by the 55 boards of engineering licensure in the United States might be possible by October 2009.

Balazs’ research was featured in the May 16, 2006, issue of Chemical Science. Balazs and her colleagues used computer modeling to simulate the movement of fluid-filled elastic microcapsules over a surface. Balazs noted that the interactions between capsules—and whether they will disperse or aggregate—not only depend on the rigidity of the capsules, but also on the nature of the surface on which they are moving.

J. Thomas Lindt, professor, retired on June 30, 2006, after a long and successful career in the Departments of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering. Lindt plans to explore other professional options in this country and overseas while maintaining close ties with the school and was recently given emeritus status. He is also developing new contacts within industry that will be beneficial to his continued research of reactive extrusion.

Robert S. Parker, CNG Faculty Fellow, has been promoted to associate professor with tenure. Since joining the department, Parker has helped develop the chemical engineering curriculum, including adding new classes; has initiated a more creative research program; has trained PhD students and undergraduates; has made numerous presentations; and has written exceptional papers. He also has been named graduate coordinator.

and load rating of the hundreds of other similar bridges in its inventory.

Harries conducted two full-scale load tests of girders recovered from the Lake View Drive bridge in order to assess their performance and learn more about their behavior and failure modes. Additionally, Harries developed a fundamental methodology for load rating bridges with similar geometries and existing damage.

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The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a $3.7 million grant to Pitt’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine to oversee a multicenter research program aimed at better understanding the intricate processes involved in wound healing and tissue restoration. Coordinating the effort is Stephen Badylak, adjunct faculty in bioengineering, research professor of surgery in the School of Medicine, and director of the Center for Pre-Clinical Tissue Engineering at the McGowan Institute. A large part of the team’s effort will involve examining the cellular and molecular systems that allow certain animals to completely regenerate lost tissue.

The ultimate goal of the research is to identify ways for enhancing the capacity for wound healing and tissue restoration in humans.

Engineering, will be one of the honorees at the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania’s celebration of Women in the Material World, December 8, 2006, at Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland. Balazs was nominated by Judith Yang, associate professor of materials science and engineering, and selected from more than 60 nominees for her part in “advancing the role of women in fields dealing with material products.” The selection committee was impressed by Balazs’ professional achievements and her passion for and commitment to innovation in her field.

The purpose of the event is to honor innovators in the Southwestern Pennsylvania region and to inspire young women to see the broad range of career options available to them.

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on acute liver failure, where he will speak on “Issues in Hepatitis Assist Devices for ALF.”

Amir Koubaa, academic coordinator, was added to Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers in 2006. This prestigious honor is presented to teachers who have been nominated

by Who’s Who students.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Radisav Vidic has been appointed interim chair of the department, effective May 1, 2006. He also holds the appointment of William Kepler Whiteford Faculty Fellow.

Vidic’s teaching interests include water chemistry and physical and chemical processes in environmental engineering. His primary research interests are in the area of surface science and physical and chemical processes for water, wastewater, hazardous waste, and air treatment.

Vidic’s recent work focuses on fundamental studies of molecular interactions on carbonaceous surfaces, control of mercury emissions from combustion processes by adsorption-based technologies, development of novel sorbents for elemental mercury uptake through industrial ecology, and novel disinfection methods for the control of pathogens in water distribution systems.

This past year, Vidic made two presentations at Carbon 2006 (the International Carbon Conference) in Aberdeen, Scotland; published eight papers; and secured two new research projects from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Dan Budny, associate professor and academic director of freshman programs, received the 2006 American Society for Engineering Education Distinguished Service Award, Educational Research and Methods Division.

In July 2006, Associate Professor Jeen-Shang Lin gave a keynote lecture at Advances and Applications of DDA, KBA and MM, a “mini symposium” organized as part of the Seventh World Congress on Computational Mechanics in Los Angeles, Calif. Lin’s talk was on “A Partition Unity View of the Manifold Method and Sample Applications.”

The Water Resources Bureau and the Sinotech Foundation invited Tin-Kan Hung, professor of civil engineering and neurological surgery and associate faculty member in bioengineering, to Taiwan, China, to participate in a review of the Dajia River rehabilitation and management plan.

The JiJi earthquake of 1999 and three ensuing typhoons seriously damaged the Dajia River basin as well as some dams and hydropower stations.

Dean Gerald D. Holder and Assistant Professor Kent Harries welcome Man-Chung Tang as the 2005 Landis-Epic lecturer. Tang is chairman of the board and technical director of T.Y. Lin International of San Francisco.

Professor Luis Vallejo’s paper, “Influence of Pile Shape on the Crushable Behavior of Granular Materials around Driven Piles: DEM Analysis,” coauthored by Sebastian Lobo-Guerrero (MSCE ’02, PhD ’06), geotechnical specialist at American Geotechnical & Environmental Services, was one of four award-winning papers presented at GeoCongress 2006.

Kent Harries, assistant professor, was contracted by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to investigate the collapse of the 44-yearold Lake View Drive bridge onto Interstate 70 in Washington County, Pa. The objective of the investigation was to provide guidance to PennDOT on the inspection

Additionally, Cobb presented “Production of Synthesis Gas

by Wood Gasification” at the annual symposium of the Lyondell Chemical Co. Anna C. Balazs, Distinguished University Professor and Robert v. d. Luft Professor of Chemical and Petroleum

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Three department faculty members have recently received honors. Ching-Chung (C.C.) Li was inducted as a Fellow of the International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR) at the 18th International Conference on Pattern Recognition (ICPR 2006) in Hong Kong, China. IAPR is composed of nonprofit, scientific, and professional organizations that are concerned with pattern recognition, computer vision, and image processing. Patrick J. Loughlin was reappointed to a William Kepler Whiteford Professorship in recognition of his outstanding productivity (scholarship, graduate and undergraduate education, research, and diversity) as a senior member of the faculty.

Kevin P. Chen was reappointed to a Paul E. Lego Faculty Fellowship in recognition of his outstanding productivity as a junior member of the faculty.

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Chen, assistant professor, has been awarded a three-year National Science Foundation (NSF) grant in the amount of $342,000 for research in the area of three-dimensional photonic devices. Additionally, he was awarded a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) DARPA contract in the amount of $250,000 for research and development in the area of nuclear battery. Sabeus Photonics also awarded a contract to Chen in the amount of $93,000 to complete research on advanced fiber optical component fabrication.

A photonic company has Steve Levitan with students in the John A. Jurenko Computer Architecture Laboratory

Levitan will serve as general chair of the 44th Design Automation Conference (DAC). DAC is the premier electronic design automation (EDA) and silicon solution event.

It features more than 50 technical sessions covering the latest in design methodologies and EDA tool developments and an exhibition and demonstration suite area with more than 250 of the leading EDA, silicon, and IP providers.

Minhee Yun, assistant professor, and his coprincipal investigators were awarded an NSF Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education grant. This is the first time a faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh has received this award. The $200,000, two-year grant is one of only 10 awarded. Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) at NSF aims to incorporate nanoscale science, engineering, and technology into undergraduate education through a variety of interdisciplinary approaches. The focus is on nanoscale engineering education with relevance to devices and systems and/or on the social, economic, and ethical issues that surround nanotechnology. Through this program, Yun will create a new course on integrated nanoscale science and engineering that will provide creative opportunities for undergraduate education. An interdisciplinary faculty team, made up of a professor of electrical engineering and a professor of chemistry, will be responsible for developing and teaching this researchoriented course that aims to introduce nanoscale devices created from a range of nanomaterials, including carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, and nanowires.

Additionally, Loughlin served on the technical program committee for the International Society for Optical Engineering conference, Advanced Signal Processing Algorithms, Architectures, and Implementations XVI, held in San Diego, Calif., in August 2006. This marks Loughlin’s 10th consecutive year of service on the committee.

Two new faculty members joined the department at the start of the fall 2006 term. Assistant Professor Jun Yang—formerly of the University of California at Riverside—has expertise in power- and thermal-aware computer architecture and in architectural support for secure program execution. Assistant Professor Allen C. Cheng recently earned a PhD from the University of Michigan and has expertise in embedded processors and in pioneering techniques and developing platforms for making high-performance, low-power embedded systems faster, easier, and less expensive to build.

Industrial Engineering Bopaya Bidanda, chair and Ernest E. Roth Professor, joined the Board of Trustees of the Institute of Industrial Engineers as the senior vice president of continuing education. He is also serving as chair of the Council of Industrial Engineering Academic Department Heads (CIEADH).

Bidanda recently visited Bogota and Bucaramanga, Colombia, to give invited talks to student organizations at the Universidad de los Andes (whose president, Carlos Angulo-Galvis, is a Pitt School of Engineering alumnus) and at the Universidad Industrial Santander.

Bartholomew O. Nnaji, William Kepler Whiteford Professor, was inducted into the Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE) on March 16, 2006. The academy holds the same status in Nigeria as the National Academy of Engineering does in the United States. NAE currently has 65 members.

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Joel Falk, professor, and Chen received a research program award in the amount of $167,000 for 12 months for “Raman Spectroscopy for Monitoring of Natural Gas Composition” from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)University Collaboration. Steven Levitan, John A. Jurenko Professor in Computer Engineering, and Donald Chiarulli, professor of computer science, have received a grant from NSF for “Nonlinear Model Order Reduction for Behavioral Models of Emerging Technologies,” in the amount of $200,000 for 36 months.

Patrick Loughlin, professor of electrical and computer engineering and of bioengineering, has been reappointed to the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) Technical Committee on Signal Processing in Acoustics. Founded in 1929, ASA is a professional society with more than 7,000 members worldwide and is dedicated to the science and technology of acoustics. Loughlin’s term runs through 2009.

Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science (MEMS) will be the largest in the school in terms of both students and faculty.

An extensive planning process, which included consultation and input from faculty, students, alumni, and local industry, facilitated the transition, according to Gerald D. Holder, U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering. The merger formally took effect at the beginning of the fall semester this year. “I am looking forward with enthusiasm to MEMS becoming a robust and stimulating intellectual center within the school,” said Holder.

Susan Sinclair, president of the Board of Trustees for the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) with Bopaya Bidanda, newest member of the IIE Board of Trustees

Minking Chyu, the Leighton E. and Mary N. Orr Chair in Engineering and current ME chair, will serve as chair of the combined department, and current MSE Chair and James T. MacLeod Professor John Barnard will direct the department’s materials science and engineering program.

The new department will provide enhanced research and industrial expertise as well as a stronger curriculum. For more information, visit www.engr.pitt.edu/mems.

William “Buddy” Clark, professor emeritus, has been elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Clark has been recognized for his significant engineering achievements and contributions to the mechanical engineering profession.

Frederick S. Pettit, professor emeritus, will receive the prestigious Application to Practice Award from the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS). This award is presented to a representative of an industrial, academic, governmental, or technical organization in some aspect of the fields of metallurgy and materials science who has Mechanical Engineering demonstrated outstanding achievement in transferring and Materials Science research results into commercial production and practical use. Pettit is being honored for his Department of Mechanical contributions to the development of Engineering and Materials UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Science Created protection systems for high-temperaschool of engineering ture alloys. He will receive the award The University of Pittsburgh on February 27, 2007, at the 136th School of Engineering has TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition.

307 created a new depart234-1 ment by combining the Several faculty members from the Departments of Mechanical department recently received awards Engineering (ME) and to research the new and cutting.......

Materials Science and edge area of morphing materials Engineering (MSE). The

mechanical engineering & materials science

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acquired an exclusive license from Pitt to access the active fiber optical sensing technology developed in Chen’s lab.

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and structures.

This area involves novel materials that can change their physical properties, enabling structures to undergo significant shape change. The awards include two U.S. DoD phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards, a phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award, and a DARPA contract. Currently, Galdi participating faculty members from mechanical engineering and materials science include Clark; Lisa Weiland, assistant professor; and Sung Kwon Cho, assistant professor. Also involved is Eric Beckman, George Means and Eva M. Bevier Chair in Engineering and codirector of the Mascaro Sustainability Initiative.

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Professor Giovanni P. Galdi served as visiting professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Toulon, France. While there, he gave a series of lectures on stability and bifurcation in fluid dynamics. The National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) in France sponsored Galdi’s professorship. In addition, he was a member of the scientific committee of the international conference Parabolic and Navier-Stokes Equations, at the Stefan Banach International Mathematical Center in Bedlewo, Poland.

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Along with Rolf Rannacher (University of Heidelberg) and Stefan Turek (University of Dortmund), Galdi and Anne M. Robertson, associate professor, have coauthored the book Hemodynamical Flows: Modeling, Analysis and Simulation (Birkhäuser Verlag, expected 2007). The book surveys the physical and mathematical modeling as well as the numerical simulation of hemodynamical flows (i.e., of fluid and structural mechanical processes occurring in the human blood circuit). The topics covered are continuum mechanical description, choice of suitable liquid and wall models, mathematical analysis of coupled models, numerical methods for flow simulation, parameter identification and model calibration, fluid-solid interaction, mathematical analysis of piping systems, particle transport in channels and pipes, artificial boundary conditions, and many more.

associate professor of industrial engineering and undergraduate program director, and Laura Schaefer, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and will include numerous guest lecturers.

Through a collaboration with the Carnegie Science Center, Powdermill Nature Reserve, Conservation Consultants, and Bayer MaterialScience, MSI spearheaded a new Building Green exhibit at the Carnegie Science Center.

This exhibit, which opened in mid-October, will feature green alternatives and options for flooring, lighting, wall coverings, insulation, etc. The goal is to provide young people with an interactive, hands-on opportunity to learn about green design and its impact on human health and the environment.

Vipperman is the 2006 recipient of the BeitleVeltri Memorial Teaching Award as the School of Engineering’s most outstanding teacher.

Patrick Smolinski, associate professor, has received a dual appointment as associate professor of orthopaedic surgery. Smolinski’s primary research interests include the development of new computational simulation methods and the application of computational methods to problems in manufacturing and biomechanics.

Smolinski; Lars Gilbertson, adjunct faculty; and Vijay Goel (University of Toledo) chaired the Spinal Arthroplasty/ Motion Preservation Workshop held in conjunction with the ASME 2006 Summer Bioengineering Conference in Amelia Island, Fla. Qing-Ming Wang, assistant professor, recently received a three-year grant from the Army Research Office. The objective of Wang’s research is to develop an innovative approach for on-chip integration of thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators for radio frequency and microwave frequency control applications.

Peyman Givi, William Kepler Whiteford Professor, has given numerous lectures during the past few months on his research of filtered density function. He has spoken at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Utah, University of Wyoming, University of Texas (at Austin and Arlington), University of Malaga in Spain, and for the U.S. Air Force. He also presented his research to Simulent in Toronto, Ontario, and he was invited to give the keynote lecture at the Asian Mechanics Conference in Kazakhstan.

Givi presented his research on hypersonic test media to the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense. This research is part of a collaboration between Pitt, North Carolina State University, the University of Virginia, George Washington University, and NASA’s Langley Research Center.

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Sung Kwon Cho received an NSF unsolicited grant ($234,179 for three years) for the development of micro bubble tweezers for individual cell manipulation and ultrasonic cell therapy as well as an SBIR phase

II grant ($150,000 for 21 months) from the U.S. Homeland Security Advanced Research Project Agency (HSARPA) for the development of channel-to-droplet sample extraction and purification. Cho’s work on microparticle sampling (Lab Chip, 6, 137–44, 2006) with his student Yuejun Zhao was recognized as an application highlight in Chemical Technology magazine.

Donald Plazek, professor emeritus, has been selected as a Fellow of the American Chemical Society Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) for 2006.

Institutes, Centers, and Offices MSI Update The Mascaro Sustainability Initiative (MSI) received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program in the amount of $506,000 for three years.

This program will enable MSI to create an interdisciplinary sustainable engineering fellowship program. The program is designed to equip the graduate engineering curriculum to train engineers to incorporate sustainable principles into their work and therefore be positioned to become leaders in their academic and industrial endeavors.

Progress on the $3.2 million NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Program grant is also under way. The first four students have arrived on campus, and the first graduate course, ENGR 2200: Introduction to Sustainable Engineering, is being offered during the fall semester. This course is being coinstructed by Kim Needy,

Office of Diversity Update The Engineering Office of Diversity oversaw another successful year of the Critical and Analytical Reasoning Enrichment (CARE) five-week residential summer enrichment program. CARE is a rigorous pre-engineering program that assists students in developing the critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills necessary for a career in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM).

The program targets high-achieving students from groups traditionally underrepresented in engineering who have completed 10th or 11th grade. This summer, students came from such states as Texas, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, and Virginia to receive instruction in advanced chemistry, physics, trigonometry, precalculus, and SAT preparation and to participate in hands-on engineering projects. Students explored math and science applications in engineering, basic principles of engineering, engineering design, and problem solving. Teamwork and effective communication skills were also emphasized. In addition, students participated in group sessions to help them clarify their interests in and increase their awareness of engineering majors and careers.

CARE students have access to laboratory research (above), and enjoy some free time at Kennywood Park (below).

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Jeffrey S. Vipperman, associate professor, and William “Buddy” Clark, along with collaborators from West Virginia University and Carnegie Mellon University, have been awarded a grant from NETL to develop active combustion throttles for gas turbine engines. The phase one effort will develop technology to address efficiency, emissions requirements, and fuel flexibility of the engines.

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The Musculoskeletal Research Center (MSRC) completed its 16th MSRC Summer Undergraduate Research Program in 2006. Seven undergraduates from Pitt, Bucknell University, Penn State University, West Virginia University, Carnegie Mellon University, Dresden University of Technology (Dresden, Germany), and the University of Rochester participated in the program. Students were exposed to 12 weeks of orthopaedic research, augmenting their course work with practical, hands-on experience.

Each student was responsible for completing a project that was vital to their respective research group. At the end of the summer, students wrote abstracts that are published in a yearly report and presented their work at the MSRC Summer Undergraduate Research Program Annual Symposium.

Bioengineering graduate students William Stauffer and Erdrin Charley were awarded Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) fellowships.

Stauffer received a one-year fellowship from the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC) starting September 1, 2006, and Charley received a “mini IGERT” for July and August to learn neurophysiological recording and stimulation techniques with Doug Weber. Both Stauffer and Charley are working in Tracy Cui’s lab.

Brittany Malchano, a senior in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was selected to complete a summer internship with Veolia Water North America at the company’s world headquarters in Paris, France.

Although Veolia sponsors students from around the world to participate in its internship program, this is the first time an American student has done so. Malchano assisted Veolia’s technical staff in the development of computational fluid dynamic modeling of water treatment equipment.

Silvia Wognum, a bioengineering graduate student, placed second in the student abstract/presentation competition at the 43rd Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of Engineering Science (SES), August 13–16, 2006, at Penn State University.

Wognum’s presentation was titled “Towards a Structural Model of the Urinary Bladder Wall.” She is conducting this research in Michael Sacks’ lab.

Anthony D. Finoli, a junior in materials science and engineering, has won an ASM Materials Education Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship Program award.

This highly competitive award provides full tuition coverage for one academic year.

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Bioengineering graduate student Phil Marascalco was one of only two bioengineering award winners at the Second International Conference on Pediatric Mechanical Circulatory Support Systems and Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Perfusion. Marascalco’s presentation was titled “Development of Standard Tests to Examine Viscoelastic

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Properties of Blood of Experimental Animals for Pediatric Mechanical Support Device Evaluation.” He is conducting this work in Marina Kameneva’s lab.

Two School of Engineering students, Yi Zhuang and Steven Hein, presented their research findings and preliminary recommendations regarding the possibility of designing and installing renewable energy technology in Vandergrift, Pa., as part of the Vandergrift Improvement Program (VIP). Their research has identified, for example, some environmentally friendly options for gleaning energy from the fastrunning Kiskiminetas River and represents one of the first steps in a developing collaboration between VIP, Pitt’s Mascaro Sustainability Initiative, Sustainable Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, which is managing Vandergrift’s Main Street Program.

W. David Merryman, a doctoral candidate in bioengineering, was selected to attend the first National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Graduate Student Research Festival and present his research poster. Merryman is completing his PhD work in Michael Sacks’ lab.

Zhijie Ding, a bioengineering graduate student in Partha Roy’s lab, recently had his manuscript “Silencing Profilin-1 Inhibits Endothelial Cell Proliferation, Migration and Cord Morphogenesis” published in the Journal of Cell Science (119, 4127–37, 2006). Ding is first author of the manuscript.

Multitargeted Ultrasound Contrast Agent.” Tom is also the recipient of the first Claude R. Joiner award, given in honor of the inventor of echocardiography who is also chair emeritus of medicine at Allegheny General Hospital. Tom is conducting this research in the laboratories of William Wagner (Department of Surgery) and Liza Villanueva (UPMC Presbyterian cardiology).

Anthony Finoli, winner of an ASM Materials Education Foundation undergraduate award

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Student Branch at the University of Pittsburgh received the 2005 Regional Activities Board Student Branch Membership Growth Award for outstanding leadership and results in IEEE membership development activities for Region 2. Every year, the student branch with the highest rate of growth—including increases in membership and new elections—in the region is recognized with this award.

A recent Applied Physics Letters paper by Kevin Chen, assistant professor and Paul E. Lego Faculty Fellow, and electrical and computer engineering graduate student Baojun Liu has also been highlighted at http://optics.org and in Nature Physics. Liu’s work on selective laser locking of radioactive isotopes has paved the road for nuclear microengineering for chip-scale applications.

Eric Tom, bioengineering graduate student, has been awarded funding for his American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship application titled “Non-Invasive Detection of Endothelial Dysfunction Using an Optimized

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Raymond Volpatt Sr. (BSCE ’61), chair of Volpatt Construction Corp., stands outside his company’s new office building in Castle Shannon, Pa. A generous supporter of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Volpatt founded the company in 1991.

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Edward F. Sobota (BSMEE ’67) was elected president of the International Titanium Association for a two-year term.

Sobota is president and CEO of TechSpec.

Stanley Orr (BSME ’92) recently received a PhD in aeronautical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

He continues to work in rotorcraft aeromechanics at Boeing Co. and lives in Swarthmore, Pa., with his wife and three children.

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Jeffrey J. Bailey (BSME ’90), pictured below, is vice president of operations for Soliant LLC in Lancaster, S.C. In this role, he manages and executes the tactical activities in the manufacturing of environmentally friendly paint film. He also is responsible for developing the strategic direction that supports the company’s growth objectives. Bailey held several positions in engineering, production, and plant management at Rexam prior to assuming his current position. In addition to his engineering degree, Bailey holds an MBA from Queens University in Charlotte, N.C.

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Oguzhan Alagoz (PhD ’04) was a finalist for the 2005 George B. Dantzig Dissertation Award, given annually by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) for the “best dissertation in any area of operations research.”

Leon Li (BSEE ’06), currently enrolled at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. This fellowship offers three years of support for graduate study.

Douglas R. Rabeneck

We are sorry to announce the passing of …

Gene Geiger (MSME ’55, PhD ’65) from colon cancer on July 10, 2006, at the age of 77. After receiving his graduate degrees, Dr. Geiger served as an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering for nearly half a century. He devoted his retirement years to solving the mysteries of alternative fuel. He also worked for manufacturers and served as a consultant in legal cases involving engineering accidents and claims.

Gino Giusti (BSChE ’49, MSChE ’53) in Stamford, Conn., on March 18, 2006, at the age of 78. Born in New Kensington, Pa., Dr. Giusti earned three degrees from Pitt—bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering and a PhD in economics and business administration. He became affiliated with Texasgulf, a diversified natural resource company, in 1948, when he was awarded a research fellowship at the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research. He retired as president and chief executive officer in 1989, after 41 years with the firm. The School of Engineering recognized him with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 1984. Dr. Giusti’s wife passed away in 2003, and he is survived by his five children and 10 grandchildren.

Thomas L. Tarolli (BSIE ’57), in June 2006 of a long illness.

Four of the founding members of Pex, who have passed away during the past two years: John Naponic (BSEE ’49), who spent many years of his career with Allis Chalmers; Gene Radus (BSEE ’49), who worked for General Electric; Al Bennett (BSEE ’49), who worked in the nuclear division of Westinghouse Electric Corp.; and Nick Laux (BSME ’50), who cofounded the Ruthrauff Company.

Frank Fulton (BSPET ’50), on February 20, 2006.

Jeffrey J. Bailey

Clovis Obermesser (MSEE ’55), of Elizabethtown, Pa., and Naples, Fla., on May 8, 2006, at the age of 81. He was born in Forchies-la-Marche, Belgium. Early in his life, he spent eight years in China, where his father worked in the coal mining industry. During World War II, Mr. Obermesser was detained as a prisoner by the Nazis. After his release from a forced labor camp, he attended the University Paul Pasteur in Charleroi, Belgium, graduating in 1951 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. From 1952 to 1955, he worked as a technical representative for Ateliers de Constructions Electrique de Charleroi. In 1955, Westinghouse Electric Corp. recruited him to come to the United States. He worked for the Westinghouse atomic power division, primarily on control systems for nuclear power plants. He was promoted to various management positions in the atomic power division and was recognized as a true pioneer in the development of nuclear energy. Mr. Obermesser would go on to hold many other positions with Westinghouse in both Europe and the United States, and he was highly recognized for his international knowledge.

He spoke three languages fluently—French, English, and Spanish—and was also able to communicate effectively in German and Italian. He was appointed to the Board of Builders of the Owners and Manufacturing Association, was a key subcommittee member of the Federal Government Export Committee, and was a past member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. He was also an emeritus member of the School of Engineering Board of Visitors. Mr. Obermesser was very active at Pitt, serving as a phonathon worker; alumni association member; School of Engineering alumni representative; and the Engineering Alumni Association senior vice president, secretary, and treasurer. In 1987, he received the School of Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award. Mr. Obermesser is survived by his wife Madeleine, three daughters, and four grandchildren.

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Alumni News

Mike Anderson (BSBEG ’06) placed second in the BS Student Paper Competition at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 2006 Summer Bioengineering Conference in Amelia Island, Fla. His paper, “Rotator Cuff Muscle Forces are Inversely Related to the Value of the Glenohumeral Joint Constraint Angle,” was coauthored by Jens Stehle, Patrick McMahon, and Richard Debski, assistant professor of bioengineering.

Douglas R. Rabeneck (BSIE ’88), business development manager at H.B. Maynard and Co., was elected senior vice president for technical networking of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), which is headquartered in suburban Atlanta, Ga. In this role, Rabeneck will focus on the development and enhancement of the technical networking communities and is also chair-elect of the Networking Leadership Council. Rabeneck has served IIE as Region 1 vice president, Society for Work Science board member, Applied Ergonomics Conference planning committee member, and Presidential Membership Commission member, as well as being involved in his local chapter.

Previously, he worked for the United Parcel Service (UPS) and the U.S. Army.

Alumni

news Alumni

Rafael “Ralph” A. Perez (MSEE ’67, PhD ’73) has been appointed associate dean of engineering for academics and student affairs at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla. Perez completed his PhD under the direction of C.C. Li.

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A l u m n i

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news Alumni

Homecoming 2006

5. Students in the Formula SAE student organization find a new driver for their car.

6. Rich Mellon (BSEE ’81) returned to celebrate his 25th reunion year.

7. Electrical engineering alumni from the Class of 1956 celebrate their 50th reunion year (left to right): Richard Madden, Jim Kiseda, and John Jurenko.

8. Esther Currie Gardner (BSChE ’56) returned to celebrate her 50th reunion year.

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(Above) Alumni and their guests enjoy a heated see-through tent on a cold and damp Pittsburgh evening.

1. Dean DeGrazia (BSME

M

More than 150 guests attended the annual Homecoming gala on Friday, October 20. A change of venue resulted in a dramatic jump in attendance this year, as the event was held in a clear tent on the patio of Soldiers and Sailors Memorial.

This location enabled a perfect view of the spectacular fireworks display later in the evening from the Cathedral of Learning.

Kids of all ages were entertained by an amazing balloon artist and the antics of the Pitt Panther. All alumni were welcomed back, and those celebrating special reunion years were recognized, including the Classes of 1956, 1966, 1981, and 1996.

Visit www.engr.pitt.edu/alumni/photogallery to view the 1 Homecoming photo gallery.

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’96) returned to celebrate his 10th

Some guests had the Pitt

reunion year.

Panther seeing double!

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2. Future engineers were amazed by the balloon artist.

3. Sharing a Pitt memory are (left to right) Ron Lichalk (BSME ’60) and his wife Juanita with Clem and Elaine Suski.

4. Students mingle with alumni and learn about what’s to come in

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the “real world” after graduation.

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bioengineering

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news Alumni

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UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

Sixth Annual chemical & Alumni Golf petroleum Outing

I am a PITT Engineer

school of engineering

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engineering

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This year’s golf outing was held at the Montour Heights Country Club on July 17. It had to have been one of the hottest days of the U N Iplaying V E R Sgolf!

ITY OF PITTSBURGH summer, but that didn’t stop 104 of you from

A special thanks to our sponsors …

Gift Sponsor Vocollect Blue & Gold Sponsors Ellwood Quality Steel Co. Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc. Baker Corp.

Nova Chemicals American Bridge 84 Lumber Co. URS Corp.

Beverage Station Sponsors Bridges and Company Inc. Westinghouse Electric Co. The IPR Group of Companies Putting Green Sponsor Controls Link Inc.

engineering Pittsburghschool Airport of Marriott Ibiza Tapas & Wine Bar Hard Rock Cafe Pittsburgh Improv Pittsburgh Rock Bottom Restaurant Southwest Airlines Jet Blue Airways Montour Country Club . . . Heights ....

Pitt School of Engineering Pittsburgh Steak Company Ernie Varhola (BSEE ‘59) Zenergy Consulting Inc.

civil & enviromental

1255 10-1

engineering

John Gonzalez B.S. Civil Engineering, 1979 Atlanta, Ga.

Randy Schaffer B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 1985 Redondo Beach, Calif.

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

Visit www.engr.pitt.edu/alumni/ school of engineering photogallery/ to view the team and skills results and to see more photos!

electrical & computer

370 292-1

engineering

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Beat the Pro Sponsor Zenergy Consulting Inc. Hole Sponsor Markovitz Dugan & Associates Student Golfer Sponsors Henry Bartony Sr. (BSE ’48) Robert C. Yowan (BSME ’49)

ENGINEERING n e w s

… and to our prize donors.

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Crowne Plaza Hotel Pittsburgh CLO Main Office Pittsburgh Opera RMU Island Sports Center The Pitt Shop The Book Center Panera Bread Bruegger’s Olive Garden Italian Restaurant Golf Galaxy Bravo! Cucina Italiana Quaker Steak & Lube

school of engineering electrical & computer engineering

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

Gordon Ahalt computer

school of engineering

industrial

B.S. Petroleum Engineering, 1951 engineering Ridge, N.J.

335 264-1

. . . .Basking ...

engineering

Graduate bioengineering students

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UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

school of

engineering

school of engineering

mechanical engineering & materials science

Carl Johnson and Diana Gaitan

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Foundations for Greatness The Campaign for Engineering www.engr.pitt.edu/campaign

engineering school of

The 2006 Annual Report is now available online!

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

www.engr.pitt.edu/annualreport It features • Statistics and information about the student body • Profiles of faculty and research areas of excellence • Academic department activities and honors • A look at external relations programs for alumni and the corporate sector

Visit www.engr.pitt.edu/annualreport to download the pdf!

Nonprofit org.

U.s. postage

paid

School of Engineering 240 Benedum Hall 3700 O’Hara Street Pittsburgh, PA 15261-2224

Pittsburgh, pa permit no. 511

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