Pitt Engineer - Spring 2005

engineering

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

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class in U.S. history is expected to graduate. Nonetheless, the School of Engineering isn’t just attracting more students—it’s attracting more of the top students. Since 1996, the school has seen an increase in quality among incoming freshmen, both in average SAT scores and in the percentage who graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class. (See Chart 1.)

U.S. News & World Report’s annual list of academic program rankings has become the most widely accepted benchmark of performance for colleges and universities. The newest graduate school rankings were released in April, and I’m proud to inform you that Pitt engineering’s graduate program cracked the Top 50 for the first time, coming in at 49. Just five years ago, it was ranked 78th.

Faculty research efforts also have been increasing steadily (see Chart 2), and the School of Engineering has been bringing in more competitive funding. Federal support— through grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, and other similar agencies—is awarded based on reviews of multiple research proposals from many different schools at any given time. Corporate-sponsored research is just as competitive, so this upward trend shows that in addition to receiving more research grants, the school’s reputation is growing stronger.

But other measures of Pitt engineering’s success exist as well. Some of the strongest indicators the school uses to track its progress are (1) demand for admission, (2) quality of students, (3) faculty research expenditures, and (4) overall philanthropic support. All of these measures have shown tremendous growth in recent years and have enabled the School of Engineering to undertake an ambitious strategic plan to substantially grow its enrollment and faculty size.

Sonia Bembic Director of Marketing & Communications/Editor

CHART 1

2004

1287

53%

2000

1231

42%

Year

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Incoming Freshmen in Top 10% of HS Class

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Chuck Dinsmore Production Coordinator

03–04

1195

32%

CHART 2

Research Expenditures ($ Millions)

In the News ..................................... 12

Have a comment or story idea for Engineering News? Contact Sonia Bembic at 412-624-2640 or by e-mail at sbembic@engr.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.

Student News .................................. 13

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Alumni Profile Pages ......................... 17 Distinguished Alumni ........................ 20 Alumni Notes ................................... 23

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. UMC5025-0505 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

CHART 3

$20

Total Philanthropic Support ($ Millions)

Year

$15

$25

Interdisciplinary

2004

$10

2000

$15

$5

Around the School .............................. 6

Niki Kapsambelis Contributing Writer

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

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1996

Departments

Corrine Price Aviva Selekman Editorial Assistants

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Now That’s Performance ...................... 5

Don Henderson Designer

Sincerely,

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Breathing Easy ..................................... 2

Kelly Kaufman Communications Manager/Editor

Applications to the School of Engineering have tripled during the last decade, indicating plans to Gerald D. Holder expand enrollment are right on track. U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering Undergraduate enrollment in the School of Engineering is targeted to reach at least 2,000 by 2010, up from about 1,700 in 2003. This Without the support of alumni and friends, the school’s figure could go as high as 2,300 but will depend on the performance measures during the past decade could not number of new faculty and staff positions the school can have reached their current record levels. The future is add each year to accommodate its growing student populadefinitely bright for the School of Engineering, and the tion. Graduate student enrollment is also expected to school is setting its sights even higher, continuing to grow increase during this period, from 500 to approximately 800. in size and stature.

Average SAT Score of Incoming Freshmen

Features

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

The support of our donors has also been growing (see Chart 3). Just as more fans will support a winning sports team, more donors invest in organizations that have a successful track record and that they believe will continue to succeed. For the better part of two centuries, the School of Engineering has been delivering on its mission to educate aspiring engineers, conduct advanced engineering research, and serve Western Pennsylvania as a resource for enhancing the region’s economic capacity and quality of life.

The number of students applying to and attending college is also on the rise. Data from the U.S. Department of Education indicate there has been a significant upswing in the number of high school graduates, and the trend will continue through 2009, when the largest high school

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erformance measures are vital tools for calculating growth and ensuring continued achievement in any successful business. While there are fundamental differences between how universities and corporations operate, academic institutions indeed benefit from using corporate management tools, particularly to assess performance and plan for the future.

School

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1996 $0

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Charles Jewart and Ben McMillen (electrical and computer engineering) Incoming use this fiber bragg grating Average writing station to directly inscribe optical devices Freshmen inKrF excimer SAToptical Score inside fibers with its 248-nm of Incoming Top 10% oftheir doctorates laser. Both students are completing under the direction of Assistant Professor Kevin Freshmen HS Class Chen. This technology is patent-pending and is being developed for cryogenic, vacuum, and chemical 1287 sensing. Photonics Spectra53% magazine invited Chen to submit an article on this technology for its April 2005 issue. It is titled “In-Fiber Light Powers Active Fiber Optical 1231Components.”42%

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32%

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engineering

Measurements of Success

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F

ormal schooling and on-the-job training taught Gerald McGinnis how to build all manner of devices, from the useful to the arcane.

As a master’s degree student at the University of Pittsburgh, and later as an employee at the legendary Westinghouse Research Laboratories, McGinnis was exposed to every imaginable type of technology. Some of his colleagues’ work resulted in today’s common conveniences; other projects collected dust, fated to become what he terms “engineering monuments.” But it was a patient at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh who inspired McGinnis to put a new design, elegant in its simplicity, to the ultimate practical use— saving human lives.

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Breathing MASTER Easy: AND COMMANDER: Engineering Alumnus Finds Success, Gratification in Design of Life-Saving Technologies a pulmonary patient who was experiencing complications from an endotracheal tube. As the doctors discussed what kind of surgery might correct the damage, McGinnis tried to figure out what had caused the problem in the first place. As it turned out, the hospital staff was inserting the tube correctly, but because of its design, the tube was causing further damage. When a cuff on the tube was inflated to control the patient’s airway, it frequently overinflated, thereby acting as a tourniquet. There was no way to prevent the problem. McGinnis redesigned the tube and included a safeguard to prevent overinflation. His design proved to be so successful that he founded a company, Lanz Medical Products Corp., in his own kitchen simply to manufacture the tube. It remained his company’s flagship product, and the same design is still in use today.

The company he founded in 1976, Respironics, creates products that assist people with respiratory, cardiopulmonary, and sleep disorders. Today, the Murrysville, Pa.-based firm employs more than 3,500 people in “Once you have anything that looks like a marketing 125 countries. McGinnis—who regularly contributes organization for a single product and are dealing to the development, design, and with customers, it’s pretty hard “ In health care, people manufacturing technology of many to bring another product along,” Respironics products—holds 20 say, ‘You saved my life.’ McGinnis says. registered U.S. patents. That’s the ultimate In the mid 1970s, McGinnis sold “I fell in love with the field,” McGinnis positive feedback.” Lanz to a larger, public company then says of health care. “The tremendous bought back all its assets except people you deal with are the smartest and most committhe tube. The new company became Respironics ted people that you would deal with anywhere. The prob—and the rest is history. lems are challenging, and the rewards are plentiful.”

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Simplicity and Practicality

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The journey that led to the founding of Respironics began when McGinnis left Westinghouse to work in a surgical research laboratory at Allegheny General. Far from the research-oriented atmosphere of Westinghouse laboratories, where PhD- and master’s-level engineers enjoyed free reign over whatever projects most suited their technological fancy, the hospital required urgency and practicality—“the essence of what needed to be done and no more,” McGinnis says. As part of his job, McGinnis frequently accompanied surgeons on their rounds. In one case, he visited

Making a Difference

From his childhood in Ottawa, Ill., it seemed apparent that McGinnis would grow up and build things. Like many a budding engineer before him, he tinkered with household items, frustrating his mother on the occasions when he could not reassemble things he had taken apart. After earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois, McGinnis came to Pittsburgh to work for Westinghouse, where he was one face in a crowd of 500 or so engineers distributed among various departments within the company. As he began to negotiate his way up the corporate ladder, McGinnis decided he could use more education. So he enrolled in a Westinghouse-financed program at the School of Engineering, attending classes at Pitt and conducting research for his thesis in the company’s laboratories. Evenings were spent sharing pitchers

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In recognition of his dedication and lengthy record of accomplishments, the School of Engineering recognized McGinnis earlier this spring with the Distinguished Alumni Award.

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At Pitt, for the first time in his collegiate career, McGinnis was able to apply the theories of academia to a real-world setting. That experience helped him form a theory that he still holds: “It’s not technology itself that’s wonderful, it’s what it can do for people.” That said, McGinnis believes engineering students should forge their careers with an eye toward making a valuable contribution to society, not just going after whatever jobs offer the highest pay or the best perks. “You really don’t want to start worrying about what you’re going to get out of your career economically,” he says. “You want to look at what you’re going to get out of it spiritually and personally.”

A Culture of Ethics Westinghouse also taught McGinnis the value of instilling in his employees a code of business ethics. As he met people outside the company through his work on various contracts, he realized “they didn’t see me as Jerry McGinnis—they saw me as Westinghouse.” Recognizing that employees form the identity of a corporation, McGinnis instituted a code of ethics when he founded Respironics—something that is common in today’s post-Enron business environment, but wasn’t in the 1970s.

Samples of Respironics products (top to bottom, right to left): Spectrum® Single-Patient-Use Full Face Mask, Tidal Wave® Sp Hand-Held Capnograph/Pulse Oximeter, ComfortFull™ Full Face Mask, 920M™ PLUS Pulse Oximeter, and Respironics Total™

ENGINEERING NEWS

Face Mask

New hires to Respironics receive copies of the ethics code and attend workshops to learn the company’s expectations. Regular internal audits measure compliance, and employees are encouraged to use anonymous surveys and a confidential whistleblower hotline to report any violations. In recognition of its ethical corporate culture, Respironics won in the large company category, Pittsburgh chapter, of the 2004 Society of Financial Service Professionals Business Ethics Awards.

“Ethical practice is the first thing a company has to have. People have to take your word as your bond,” he says. “The last thing you have when you die is your reputation. That’s the first thing you strive for.”

High Stakes, High Reward Because Respironics is in the business of creating life-saving technologies, the stakes could hardly be higher for McGinnis’s success. But that’s the way he likes it. “You’ve got to do something that you’re interested in. What drives people at the end of the day when they walk to the parking lot is having that feeling that boy, they really accomplished something today,” he says. “In health care, people say, ‘You saved my life.’ That’s the ultimate positive feedback.”

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To date, the company has experienced very few problems with ethical violations—perhaps because McGinnis sets an example at the top.

Now That’s Performance By Aaron Conley, Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations

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anaging investments is a tricky business. The dot.com boom and bust are not far enough in the past for many people to forget the agony they felt while watching tech stocks plummet faster than a penny dropped off the top of the Cathedral of Learning. Individual investors weren’t the only ones who suffered big losses in the aftermath of the days of “irrational exuberance.” Many nonprofit organizations rely heavily on the income generated from endowments to provide support for critical programs and services and to meet basic operational needs. Just like individual investor portfolios, institutional endowments commonly comprise a mixture of securities, bonds, and cash. The earnings from these assets help fund institutional programs, so when earnings are negative, institutions suffer. For too many nonprofits, the lure of big returns drew them to shift more of their asset mix into high-risk options that didn’t deliver. Colleges and universities get to compare their endowment performance every year, thanks to an annual study conducted by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). The tough years of 2001 and 2002 may have put the national average of endowment returns in the red; however, solid investment management of the University of Pittsburgh endowment led to its substantial growth. And although 2003 was a little off pace, Pitt’s endowment came roaring back in 2004, even besting a terrific national average of 15 percent. (See Chart 1.) Earning a great return on their investment isn’t the only thing Pitt donors should be proud of. Among the thousands of university endowments, there is an exclusive club of just 47 schools whose endowments are valued at $1 billion or more. Pitt is ranked 31st overall, with $1.36 billion, just behind elite private schools like the University of Southern California, Johns Hopkins University, and New York University, and ahead of prominent institutions such as the University of North Carolina, California Institute of Technology, Purdue University, and Boston College. With an endowment at this level, Pitt can rely on millions of dollars in investment income to help support student scholarships, faculty professorships and chairs, and countless special programs that distinguish it as a leading academic institution. For School of Engineering donors who helped create endowed scholarships, graduate fellowships, and professorships and chairs, the strong performance of the Pitt endowment means their funds have experienced

extraordinary growth. As Chart 2 illustrates, the market value of the School of Engineering’s endowment has risen from $26.8 million in 1996 to more than $64 million in 2004. The Campaign for Engineering has clearly bolstered the school’s endowment resources. Since the campaign began in 1997, donors Aaron Conley have committed to endowing new National funds to support students, faculty, Average Return on Endowment and facilities. With a little more than two years to go before the campaign ends, the School of Engineering 2004 15.1% is seeking to broaden its base of endowment support beyond 2003 3.0% major gifts for student and faculty funds. 2002 -6.0% 2001 -3.6% As a way of reaching out to more alumni and friends,

Pitt Endowment Returns 18.0% 0.9% 4.6% 8.4%

the school is setting a goal in the closing years of theSource: NACUBO Endowment Study campaign to establish 50 Legacy Funds. The goal in creating these legacy funds is to build a stronger base of endowment assets that are unrestricted and can be used by the school to meet its most pressing needs from year to year. Setting up a legacy fund will require only the Endownent minimum donation the University has established forEngineering an endowed fund ($10,000), and the amount can be given ($ Millions) over a period of five years. $75 “Legacy” is an obvious choice for the name of the new $50 funds. Pitt engineering has been a leader for nearly two CHART 1 centuries in educating National Pitt Less than a decade... aspiring engineers while $25 Average Return Endowment market value more than doubles also conducting groundon Endowment Returns breaking research in 2004 15.1% 18.0% all fields of the profes$0 1996 2000 2003 3.0% 0.9% sion. The permanence of these funds ensures 2002 -6.0% 4.6% they will contribute to 2001 -3.6% 8.4% the continued success Source: NACUBO Endowment Study of the school for decades CHART 2 to come. Legacy funds give alumni of all ages Engineering Endowment ($ Millions) and income levels the $75 chance to put their name on a fund that will last Engineering Endownent $50 forever, generating sup($ Millions) port every year to help $75 $25 carry on the tradition of Less than a decade... excellence in the School market value more than doubles! of Engineering. $50$0 1996

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of beer with classmates at the Pitt Pot, their feet crunching across a floor strewn with peanut shells as they mingled with coeds and listened to music. By 1960, the year he earned his master’s degree in mechanical engineering, he had met and married his wife, Audrey, a former Westinghouse secretary.

Less than a decade... market value more than doubles

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Research Center

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The journal Acta Biomaterialia was officially launched in November 2004. Edited by William R. Wagner, associate professor and McGowan Institute deputy director, the journal aims to be the publication of choice for biomaterials scientists and engineers who are focused on structure-property-function relationships in biomaterials.

The journal will be published six times a year, and the first volume is available for free at Elsevier’s ScienceDirect Web site, www.sciencedirect.com. David A. Vorp, associate professor of surgery, bioengineering, and mechanical engineering and director of the McGowan Institute Vascular Biomechanics and Vascular Tissue Engineering Research Laboratories, was recently elected to a two-year term as chair of the Biofluids Technical Committee of the Bioengineering Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He also was selected to the ASME selection committee for the Y.C. Fung Young Investigator Award. Vorp and two colleagues are helping organize the Second U.S. National Symposium on Frontiers in Biomechanics for the U.S. National Committee on Biomechanics, to be held June 20–21, 2005, in Vail, Colo. Professor Rory Cooper, director of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories and the VA National Center of Excellence on Wheelchairs and Associated Rehabilitation Engineering, has been appointed adjunct professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University in Xi’an, China, for the next four years. This prestigious appointment will promote collaboration between Xi’an Jiaotong University and the University of Pittsburgh.

Vorp

Velankar

Cooper

Cooper recently received the 2004 Excellence Award from the American Paraplegia Society. The award recognizes his accomplishments in the field of spinal cord health care, research, and education. He also serves as chair and professor of the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and has been appointed a Distinguished Professor of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, the highest honor the University confers on faculty. Cooper specializes in wheelchair and rehabilitation engineering and assistive technology research, and he recently was appointed the first Federation of Independent School Alumnae (FISA) Foundation Paralyzed Veterans of America Chair for Rehabilitation Engineering.

Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Sachin Velankar and Goetz Veser each received a 2004 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for new faculty members. This program supports the career development of new faculty members who have academic leadership potential. Faculty are selected based on a creative career development plan that integrates research and education while keeping in Veser mind the mission of the university. Velankar and Veser, both assistant professors, are now eligible for the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The presidential award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists and engineers who are beginning independent careers. Enick

Professors Badie I. Morsi and Shiao-Hung Chiang were members of the organizing committee for the 21st Annual International Pittsburgh Coal Conference (PCC-21), held September 13–17, 2004, in Osaka, Japan. The conference was titled Coal—Energy and the Environment and covered a wide spectrum of topics on the research and development of coal utilization technologies and related policy and environmental issues. It featured more than 250 presentations and was attended by approximately 370 people from more than 20 countries.

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“We’re very pleased with our inaugural issue. It reflects both the breadth and the depth of the community we Savio L-Y. Woo, W.K. Whiteford Professor and director of will be serving,” Wagner said. “We have a high quality the Musculoskeletal Research Center, recently presented publication that benefits from the experience and reputaa plenary lecture titled “Contribution of Biomechanics tion of the Acta Materialia name in the materials science to Clinical Practice in Orthopaedics” at the 26th Annual community and also enjoys the technological advanInternational Conference of the Institute of Electrical and tages, quality, and impact associated with our publisher, Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Engineering in Medicine and Elsevier.” Wagner also noted that the second issue will Biology Society in San Francisco, Calif. to press in the coming weeks. “ With so much growth go His lecture followed the keynote lecture “With so much growth in the biomateriin the biomaterials of Paul Lauterbur, the 2003 Nobel Prize als community, there is an increasing in Physiology or Medicine recipient. community, there is need to rapidly publish important work,” he said. “Acta Biomaterialia Woo presented “Biomechanics and an increasing need is committed to a streamlined review Sports Related Injuries” at the 250th to rapidly publish process and the publication of Anniversary of Columbia University accepted manuscripts in close important work.” symposium, where Nobel laureate Eric —William Wagner proximity to their acceptance date.” Kandel also spoke. Finally, Woo pre-

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sented the plenary lecture “Frontiers of Ligament & Tendon Research: Opportunities for Biomedical Engineers” at the 2nd World Congress for Chinese Biomedical Engineers in Beijing, China.

Woo in the

Eric Beckman, Bayer Professor of Chemical Engineering and codirector of the Mascaro Sustainability Initiative (MSI), has resigned as department chair to focus on growing the MSI. Robert M. Enick, professor and Macleod Faculty Fellow, has been named chair.

McCarthy

Joseph J. McCarthy was proFederspiel moted to associate professor, and William J. Federspiel was promoted to professor in 2004. In 2005, J. Karl Johnson was promoted to professor.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Luis E. Vallejo was promoted to professor, effective September 1, 2004, and was elected to the editorial board of the American Society of Civil Engineers Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. He also serves on the editorial board of the international journal Engineering Geology.

Vallejo

Christopher J. Earls, chair, has received funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to conduct a two-year research project, “Safety Assessment of Steel Bridges Damaged by Truck Strikes.” The project will focus on the occurrence of impacts involving overheight trucks and the underside of steel bridge overpass

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Around the School

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S C H O O L Earls

Ronald D. Neufeld has been elected to the University Senate Commonwealth Relations Committee for a threeyear term, May 2004–07. The provost recently offered him a secondary faculty appointment—professor of environmental and occupational health—in the Graduate School of Public Health.

Electrical and Computer Engineering After more than six years as chair, Professor Joel Falk decided to return to full-time teaching and to pursuing his research interests in lasers and optics. Professor Pat Loughlin was named interim chair. Kevin Chen, assistant professor, received combined grants of more than $400,000 from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse for the development of a chip-scale nuclear battery. Chen was one of six chosen by DARPA to develop nuclear batteries to power next-generation microsystems for the U.S. military. His research interests also include fiber optics, biosensing, ultra-fast laser processing, nanophotonics, and nuclear engineering. The February 2001 issue of Laser Focus World featured his work. In fall 2004, Chen was named the Paul E. Lego Faculty Fellow.

and addressing fundamental engineering and physical issues of radio frequency identification (RFID) tag operation and tag/reader communication. It is published four times a year. The U.S. Office of Naval Research awarded Michael McCloud, assistant professor, a $260,000 grant for a three-year project titled “Distributed Detection of Weak Targets in Sparse Sensor Networks,” which is part of the Undersea Signal Processing Program. McCloud’s article “Analysis and Design of Short Block [Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing] Spreading Matrices of Use on Multipath Fading Channels” was published in IEEE Transactions on Communications.

The Heiskell Awards recognize programs that remove institutional barriers to international study and broaden the base of participation. “Tomorrow’s engineers will have to become more innovative, function as systems integrators, and be able to work in diverse cultures if they are going to compete successfully for jobs in a worldwide market in which others, with the same technical skills, will work for a fraction of the salary,” Shuman said. Bopaya Bidanda, Ernest E. Roth Professor and chair, was invited to join the associated editor panel of the new journal Virtual and Physical Prototyping, to be launched in September 2005. The panel comprises faculty from around the world.

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private sector, honored Pitt’s Plus3 program with an Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education in January 2005. Jointly organized by faculty from the College of Business Administration and the School of Engineering, Plus3 is a three-credit optional addon to required first-year courses in both schools. Participants attend preparatory lectures and lessons in survival language skills before embarkBidanda ing on a two-week international research trip at the end of the semester. In 2004, site options included Valparaiso, Chile; Nanjing, China; Prague, Czech Republic; and Augsburg, Germany. In 2005, the program will include sites in Brazil, France, and Beijing, China.

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superstructures and how such accidents pose problems for decision makers trying to protect the public and preserve interstate commerce. Through the deployment of state-ofthe-art laser scanning technology and robust image processing techniques, the actual postincident geometry of the damaged structure can be precisely determined so sophisticated nonlinear finite element models of the structure may be constructed very quickly. The finite element models then permit a virtual load test to be conducted so the reserve capacity of the damaged bridge may be ascertained, with a very high degree of accuracy, in a matter of hours instead of weeks.

Bartholomew Okechukwu Nnaji, William Kepler Whiteford Professor, was awarded the 2004 Nigerian National Merit Award. The award was presented by the president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo. Nnaji is known internationally as an authority in robotics. Bryan A. Norman, associate professor and William Kepler Whiteford Faculty Fellow, was appointed associate editor for the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Journal on Computing, which publishes papers quarterly on the intersection of operations research and computer science. Most papers contain original research, but the journal also welcomes special papers in a variety of forms, including feature articles on timely topics, expository reviews that focus on the comprehensive survey and evaluation of a subject area, and reviews that collect and integrate recent streams of research. All papers are refereed.

Beijing, China

Industrial Engineering An add-on course designed to pique an interest in international study among freshman engineering and business students—codeveloped by Larry Shuman, professor and associate dean for academic affairs—has won recognition from worldwide nonprofit group, the Institute of International Education (IIE). IIE, which administers the Fulbright Program and promotes foreign study for colleges, universities, and the

“ Tomorrow’s engineers will have to become more innovative, function as systems integrators, and be able to work in diverse cultures if they are going to compete successfully for jobs in a worldwide market in which others, with the same technical skills, will work for a fraction of the salary.”

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Marlin H. Mickle, Nickolas A. DeCecco Professor, has been asked to serve as editor of the International Journal of Radio Frequency Identification Technology and Applications. The journal is the primary forum for reporting Loughlin

Chen

Mickle

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ENGINEERING NEWS

—Larry Shuman

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Pettit

Judith Yang’s research requires her to work with an atomic oxygen

Frederick S. Pettit, professor and Harry S. Tack Chair, was honored at Superalloys 2004, held at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Champion, Pa., during the fall. The conference proceedings were dedicated to Pettit for his contributions in the area of oxidation resistance and thermal barrier coatings, and for an erosion/oxidation program he developed with Neil Birks, faculty emeritus. The award has been given since 1972, and because the conference is held every four years, Pettit was only the ninth person to receive it.

Judith Yang, associate professor, received a BP America Faculty Fellowship appointment for outGaldi standing productivity as a junior faculty member. The fellowship honors Yang’s contributions in the areas of scholarship, quality in undergraduate and graduate education, research quantity and funding, and enhancement of diversity. The appointment is for two years.

source. Pictured here is a VG-STEM, an ultrahigh vacuum scanning transmission electron microscope that characterizes materials at the nanometer scale

Pradeep P. Phulé, professor, was honored at the American Ceramic Society’s (ACS) annual meeting in Indianapolis, Ind., April 18–21, 2004. Phulé is a fellow of the ACS and served as the president of the Ceramic Educational

and below.

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Council (CEC), a division of the ACS. He has written two prominent textbooks on materials science and engineering and conducts research related to smart materials. John Leonard, assistant professor, received a 2004 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for new faculty.

Mechanical Engineering Giovanni P. Galdi, professor, was awarded a three-year NSF grant for “Mathematical Analysis on Some of the Problems of Particle-Liquid Motion.” Additionally, he presented the plenary lecture in applied mathematics at the annual meeting of the German Mathematical Society in Heidelberg, Germany, as well as a lecture at Wall-Bounded and Free-Surface Turbulence and its Computation, a series of seminars, tutorials, and workshops hosted by the Institute for Mathematical Sciences of the National University of Singapore. Galdi coedited Contributions to Current Challenges in Mathematical Fluid Mechanics, a volume in the series Advances in Mathematical Fluid Mechanics. The book explores the mathematical theory of the Navier-Stokes equations through a series of articles that suggest new answers to questions about the equations, particularly in regard to turbulence modeling, regularity of solutions to the initial-value problem, and flow in a region with an unbounded boundary and compressible flow. The NSF recently awarded Qing-Ming Wang, assistant professor and the principal investigator, and James H-C. Wang, assistant professor, a $232,675 grant to carry out a three-year research project titled “An Acoustic Wave Cytosensor System for Living Cell Study.” The objective is to develop biosensors with living cells on their surfaces that function as biological transduction elements so that the system can be used to quantitatively probe the behavior of living cell attachment, spreading, and growth kinetics under various biological conditions.

ENGINEERING NEWS

William Clark was promoted to professor. Jeffrey Vipperman was promoted to associate professor.

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Institutes and Centers Mascaro Sustainability Initiative (MSI) served as an award sponsor and provided judges for the Pittsburgh Regional Future City Competition, held January 15, 2005, at Carnegie Music Hall. The National Engineers Week Future City Competition is a program sponsored by the engineering community to promote technological literacy and engineering to middle school students. Each student team creates a city, displaying residential, commercial, and industrial areas; power plants; transportation systems; and communication systems. Students address important issues such as pollution, traffic density, taxes, and budgets while creating their city. MSI sponsored a new award—Best Use of Green Construction—that encourages students to utilize a method of design and construction that minimizes the burden on natural resources and the environment. As part of the award sponsorship, MSI was able to provide three judges: Eric Beckman, codirector; Jack Mascaro (BSCE ’66, MSCE ’80); and Megan Moser of the Green Building Alliance. The Best Use of Green Construction Award went to the team representing St. Bede School, which also finished first overall and represented the Pittsburgh region at the national finals in Washington, D.C., February 19–24. The Society for Biomaterials has awarded the prestigious Clemson Award for Applied Research to Stephen Badylak for 2005, based on his discovery in the mid-1980s that small intestinal submucosa (SIS) can be used as a biomaterial scaffold in place of synthetic graft materials. Developed from the small intestines of pigs, SIS is increasingly used

by surgeons to restore damaged tissues and support the body’s own healing process. SIS has already helped more than 250,000 people suffering from hard-to-heal wounds such as second-degree burns, chronic pressure ulcers, diabetic skin ulcers, and deep skin lacerations. Badylak is a research professor in the Department of Surgery and director of the Center for Pre-Clinical Tissue Engineering in the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Imaging is a powerful measurement technique for conducting a wide range of research applications on medical and mechanical devices, automobiles, aerospace, multiphase and microfluidic flows, etc. One of the advantages of imaging is that it’s nonintrusive, enabling researchers to make velocity measurements without disturbing flow structure. The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine’s Flow Visualization Laboratory, operated by William Federspiel and Stephanus Budilarto, focuses on the development and use of particle image velocimetry and the light sheet flow visualization technique. Both techniques provide two-dimensional velocity measurements.

Eric Beckman attended the National Engineers Week Future City Competition, a program sponsored by the engineering community to promote technological literacy and engineering to middle school students.

Q.M. Wang

Badylak

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N E W S Alan Russell, professor of surgery, chemical and petroleum engineering, and molecular genetics and biochemistry, and director of both the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative, was profiled by the Pittsburgh PostGazette on December 28, 2004. The profile highlighted Russell’s accomplishments during the year, including how he “developed a material that might be used to build an artificial retina, found a way to preserve follicles in a test tube so women might have babies after cancer treatment, and took home a prize for one of the Army’s top 10 inventions.” The article featured a photo of Russell, his wife, and their five children.

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Stephen Badylak recently headed up the team that helped reconstruct tissue in Liko the dolphin. Liko tore its fin at Dolphin Quest, a swim-with-the-dolphins park in Hawaii. Badylak, director of the Center for Pre-Clinical Tissue Engineering in the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, was featured in Medical News Today (www.medicalnewstoday.com) on October 20, 2004. The tissue reconnection procedure was the first Badylak and his McGowan Institute team had performed on an underwater animal. “Liko’s story helps introduce the concept of regenerative medicine to the veterinary field,” he said.

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Do you suffer from joint aches and pains? Hard floors could have something to do with it, Mark Redfern—vice chair of undergraduate programs, professor of bioengineering and industrial engineering, and professor of otolaryngology in the School of Medicine—told an inquisitive

Ronald Neufeld, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and director of the Green Construction and Sustainable Development Program, was quoted in the February 1, 2005, edition of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. He was sought as an expert after a train derailed near East Deer, Pa., and leaked toxins into the river. Neufeld explained that nearby residents risked lower exposure levels because the toxins weren’t released into the air. The research efforts of Hong Koo Kim, codirector of the Institute of NanoScience and Engineering, were featured in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review on January 21, 2005. Kim’s research focuses on integrating optic and electronic devices on a nano-sized chip made from semiconductor material. The Institute of NanoScience and Engineering plans to break ground this spring on a 4,000-square-foot, $6 million nanotechnology laboratory in Benedum Hall. “We have reached the fundamental limits of the evolution of microtechnology,” Kim said in the article. “Now we need to prepare for more revolutionary technology, but we can’t do that without understanding the unique phenomena that happen at the nano scale.”

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The January 2005 issue of Automotive Engineering International reported that a team of researchers headed by Scott X. Mao, professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, had identified a prominent way in which nanocrystalline metals deform (change shape)— thereby confirming, for the first time, that nanostructured metals deform differently than do ordinary metals. The article quoted Zhiwei Shan, a PhD student in Mao’s lab.

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Anirudha R. Deshpande, PhD student in materials science and engineering and part of Jörg M.K. Wiezorek’s intermetallics research group, won first prize for his poster at the 2004 Materials Research Society Fall Meeting. There were 53 submissions from 20 countries. Deshpande used electron microscopy to determine the mechanisms by which crystal defects are produced, a process that is critical to the optimization of technical properties in ordered intermetallics.

Nathan Potter (civil and environmental engineering) took second place in the American Society of Civil Engineers Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) national undergraduate student paper competition with his contribution, “Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage with Combined Sewer Overflow in Abandoned Mine Voids.” He presented his winning paper at the EWRI conference in Salt Lake City and received a plaque and monetary award. Ronald D. Neufeld, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and director of the Green Construction and Sustainable Development Program, served as Potter’s advisor and sponsor.

Bioengineering student Stephanie Bechtold placed third in the BS student paper competition at the 2004 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) International Mechanical Engineering Congress and RD&D Expo for

her abstract “Repeatability of Establishing Anatomical Coordinate Systems and the Initial Configuration of the Knee.” Mohammed El-Kurdi, also bioengineering, finished third in the master’s degree student competition for his paper, “Regulation of Cell Adhesion and De-Adhesion Proteins in Veins Perfused under Arterial Conditions ExVivo.” Mohammed is the fourth winner in the last four years from David Vorp’s lab, out of six students who competed in either the MS or PhD competitions. Pitt graduate engineering students have received more of these awards than students from any other university.

Jörg Wiezorek (left) and Anirudha R. Deshpande

Graduating seniors Lauren Horstman (industrial engineering) and Jean-Claude Rwigema (chemical engineering) represented the University of Pittsburgh and were chosen as finalists for the 2004 National Co-op Student of the Year Award, presented at the Conference for Industry and Education Collaboration (CIEC) February 1–4, 2005, in Savannah, Ga. Horstman was nominated by her employer, H.B. Maynard and Co. of Pittsburgh, and Rwigema, who did a co-op with Honeywell in Richmond, Va., was nominated by the University of Pittsburgh. The award is sponsored by the Cooperative Education Division of the American Society of Engineering Education.

(Left to right) Nick Davic of H.B. Maynard; Lauren Horstman, finalist for 2004 National Co-op Student of the Year; and Dean Gerald Holder

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Anna Balazs, Robert Von der Luft Professor in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, along with her colleagues, authored “Self-Directed Self-Assembly of Nanoparticle/Copolymer Mixtures,” in Nature. The paper described a method that has significant advantages over previous research in the area of self-assembling mixtures of nanoparticles and polymer layers that spontaneously assume different orientations. Their findings have applications in such areas as chemical sensing, data storage, and photonic materials.

reader of The New York Times “Science Times” section on January 25, 2005. The reader had written to Times editors and asked if the wood floors over a concrete base in her new apartment could be causing her joint aches and pains. Redfern responded that though the physiological reasons are not clear, industrial studies confirm the reader’s suspicions. Redfern, who studies human movement and ergonomics and published research in 1995 about people who stand for long periods of time at work, explained laboratory and assembly line studies have shown that the harder the floor, the more discomfort people feel. On the other hand, too soft a surface can cause pain as well, because of the energy required to move around. For maximum comfort Redfern recommends—in addition to padded carpeting —a floor surface of medium firmness and thickness.

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Cooperative Education Program; Jean-Claude Rwigema, finalist for 2004 National Co-op Student of the Year; and Dean Gerald Holder

N E W S Horstman spent a term on Semester at Sea and also studied in Monterrey, Mexico. During her rotations at H.B. Maynard, she was given assignments not normally entrusted to a co-op student. One of her projects in standards development was adopted by a chain of retail stores. Horstman’s third rotation was in a not-for-profit warehouse, where she managed a team of consultants, setting standards and implementing visual management techniques. She is very interested in the nonprofit sector and devotes much of her time to volunteering. She is also working to organize a textbook transfer as part of Engineers for a Sustainable World, which sends textbooks to third world countries. Rwigema is a native of Rwanda. He attended LaRoche College and Pitt, graduating in 2005 with a degree from each university, in chemistry and chemical engineering, respectively. Rwigema also earned a Six Sigma Green Belt during his tenure as a co-op student with Honeywell. He was involved in volunteer work both in Richmond, Va., and in Pittsburgh, and worked as a visiting nurse in the Pittsburgh area while completing his course work. Other student finalists included Craig Deah, mechanical engineering, with US Airways; Stacey Williamson,

ENGINEERING NEWS

Steve Hackworth (BSEE ’04), currently pursuing the Master of Electrical Engineering degree; Doreen Jacob (MSME ’04); and Abhiram Bhashyam, a junior at Bethel Park High School in Pittsburgh, constitute Pitt’s Blink Right E-Team, which recently presented at March Madness for the Mind. The ninth annual event, highlighting new work by 14 teams of student inventors from across the country, was sponsored by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA). It was held March 19 at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego, Calif. Pitt’s Blink Right invention employs silicon chips and radio frequency technology to facilitate blinking with both eyes

The award-winning Semester at Sea program exposes students to both international business practices and cultures. At left, a student observes high-precision machinery that makes small drills at a Kennametal facility in Shanghai.

in people with Bell’s palsy (facial paralysis thought to be caused by virally induced swelling of the seventh optical nerve) and other facial nerve damage. A tiny silicon chip is implanted in the lid of the good eye that can detect nerve function or muscle movement whenever that eye blinks. In response, it transmits a radio signal to another chip in the lid of the bad eye, telling it to blink as well. The signal is transmitted via two other chips embedded in the frame of a pair of eyeglasses. The project was developed at the John A. Swanson Center for Product Innovation. Marlin H. Mickle, Nicholas A. DeCecco Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, served as a faculty advisor to the team along with Michael Lovell, associate professor of industrial and mechanical engineering and the school’s associate dean for research, and Susan Tonya Stefko, assistant professor in the medical school’s Department of Ophthalmology.

with 31 students from 17 schools across the country participated in “Manufacturing and the Global Supply Chain in the Pacific Rim.” Students met with manufacturing company executives to discuss the differences between the manufacturing culture of the host country and other countries where that company operates. 2004 participants toured such companies as Kennametal (Shanghai) Co., KCR Consultants, Dynascan Technology Corp., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., and Hyundai Heavy Industries. The summer 2005 program will be led by Jayant Rajgopal, professor and Department of Industrial Engineering graduate program director. industrial engineering students Leeann Williams and Blake Orlandi, along with Bopaya Bidanda, chair of industrial engineering, in PetropavlovskKamchatski, Russia, the most seismically active region in the world. In the background is a volcano.

For the second consecutive year, engineering and business majors attended the Semester at Sea program. Bopaya Bidanda, Ernest E. Roth Professor and chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering, and Professor Larry Shuman, associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Engineering, along

“Harry the Head” winks

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American Bridge Co. has been selected by the University’s Cooperative Education Program and the School of Engineering as Outstanding Employer of the Year for 2004. American Bridge has strongly supported Pitt’s cooperative education program since 1995 by placing a significant number of students in relevant and challenging assignments. Many of these students travel to different areas of the country and work on important structural projects, and several graduates of the program have been hired by American Bridge. The award presentation was made at the annual cooperative education reception in December 2004. Mike Flowers and Stan Walker accepted the award on behalf of American Bridge.

while Steve Hackworth and Doreen Jacob make modifications on their Blink Right project that will help facial paralysis victims blink their eyes.

Andrew Russell/Tribune-Review

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Barcic, director of the

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industrial engineering, with Hershey Foods Corp.; and electrical engineering students James Wiltz with ANSYS, Sean Kluse with Advanced Integration Group, Brian Venus with NASA Langley, and Melanie Golembiewski with MEDRAD.

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Since its founding in 2001, the Swanson Institute for Technical Excellence (SITE) has provided engineering students with hands-on learning opportunities, enabled faculty to collaborate with local companies on their research, and generated new technologies that have resulted in the formation of new companies. SITE began with a generous gift from alumnus John A. Swanson (PhD ’66), which was followed by additional gifts from alumni and grants from local foundations. At its inception, SITE had only one operation—the Swanson Center for Product Innovation (SCPI), which served as a new product incubator for area companies by employing such processes as rapid prototyping and reverse engineering.

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In 2003, the Swanson Center for Micro and Nano Systems (SCMNS) was added to provide similar expertise and assistance to companies specializing in extremely small devices. A cleanroom was built on the sixth floor in Benedum Hall to provide the controlled environment necessary for the development of new materials and products on a micro and nano scale. SITE’s accomplishments during its brief existence are impressive and include • more than 500 fee-for-service projects completed with nearly 100 different companies, • an estimated 226 new or reengineered products

This track record of success led the SITE advisory board to approve plans for a substantial expansion of existing operations in SCPI and SCMNS while also adding new programs, including • a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Center of Excellence, designed to further advance emerging technology in the area of radio frequency identification; • a Molecular Rapid Prototyping Laboratory, which will design and synthesize new molecular structures to be developed for broad application to materials such as polymers, biomedical implants, or fuel cells; and • a Micro and Nano System Characterization Laboratory, which will serve as a sister lab to SCMNS and focus on characterizing the physical behavior of micro and nano devices and materials.

SITE Technology Helps Save U.S. Crystal Tradition Jacob Sussman (left) and Bradley Lawer demonstrate how the Swanson Center and St. George work together. Shown is a vacuum casting system used to make small-quantity urethane replications for prototype field testing and acceptance by

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St. George customers.

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The only producer of lead crystal products left in the United States—St. George Crystal Ltd. in Jeannette, Pa.— came to the School of Engineering in 2002 to work with the Swanson Center for Product Innovation. St. George executives were looking not only to use SCPI’s technology to improve their new product development efforts, but also to save the 20-year-old company. “After September 11,” recalls David Rifenburgh, vice president of special operations, “the economic shockwave resulted in an unprecedented global drop in the purchase of luxury goods.” The downturn was too much for Lenox, the only other lead crystal manufacturer in the United States at that time. Its exit from the industry left St. George to stand alone with international competitors, such as European leaders Waterford Crystal and Swarovski. St. George crystal products range from high-end pieces found at prominent retailers like Tiffany & Co. and Macy’s to moderately priced crystal items sold through Wal-Mart and Kohl’s department stores. The advanced rapid prototyping capabilities of SCPI resulted in dramatic cost savings for St. George. The process of developing new crystal figurines used to take as long as a year to complete. Project teams of engineering students reduced the product development time to 2–3 months, allowing St. George to more than double the number of new products it introduced each year. “There is no question our work with the Swanson Institute saved St. George Crystal and the 300 jobs we provide to Western Pennsylvania citizens,” says Rifenburgh.

A Random Look at the Lives and Careers of Pitt Engineering Alumni The next time you kick a football, lace up a pair of boots, or pack your suitcase, you may be benefiting from the work of Andy Papanek (BSME ’50) without even knowing it. Papanek’s company, Puritan Industries, produces heavy-duty industrial sewing machines that are used by major sporting goods manufacturers like Wilson and by outdoor footwear producers L.L. Bean and Red Wing Boots. Manufacturers of specialty products such as ballet shoes, golf club bags, cricket and rugby balls, and others whose products require single and multiple needle-heavy penetration sewing machines, also purchase and use Puritan’s machines. Although Puritan Industries has made quite a mark on both the consumer and industrial sectors, the unassuming facility in Collinsville, Conn., 12 miles west of Hartford, has just five employees. In 1981, Papanek purchased Puritan from the Torrington Co. of Torrington, Conn., a division of Ingersoll-Rand, and moved it to its current location. Puritan’s roots can be traced back to Boston in the 1890s.

uses for his machines. Papanek describes them as nearly indestructible, which means he gets very few orders from existing customers to replace aging machines. However, orders for replacement parts such as needles, awls, and other items continue to pour in. “I know many Puritan sewing machines have been in service for more than 50 years, which is certainly impressive, but it forces us to find new customers and new uses for the machines,” Papanek says. One area that he sees as promising is using the machines for stitch reinforcement of lightweight composites such as carbon fiber materials, which would have a wide range of applications in the aerospace industry. Papanek is a native of Bridgeville, Pa., where he attended Bridgeville High School. He received a scholarship, earned a bachelor’s degree from Pitt, and later completed his master’s degree in aerospace engineering at what is today Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Prior to purchasing Puritan Industries, he held general management positions with several wellknown industrial corporations.

Dean Gerald Holder visits with Andy Papanek (BSME ’50) at Puritan Industries, a company Papanek has taken global.

Don’t be fooled by Puritan’s small size and family-friendly atmosphere, however. Papanek emphasizes it is a global company. “We work with and distribute to users in 20 countries,” he says. “The cricket balls are made in India, for example. The army boots are made with Puritan machines in Colombia, and industrial work boots, in China.” While most of Papanek’s former School of Engineering classmates have slowed down and are enjoying retirement, he doesn’t seem to know the meaning of the word. “I turned 77 in November and have no interest in retiring,” says Papanek. “I enjoy working and find I always need to have my mind focused on something.” One challenge that keeps him particularly busy is finding new

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developed and 263 new jobs created as a result of these projects, • more than 75 research projects completed by undergraduate students, • more than 30 federally funded research projects completed by graduate students, • seven companies formed through new products developed within SITE, and • 20 invention disclosures submitted to the University’s Office of Technology Management.

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N E W S During the last few years, Rustagi’s company has also developed a solid line of software products, one of which is distributed nationwide. “Major cable systems may have the resources to develop software on their own,” she says. “But our expertise in the multivendor digital systems, our experience in the iTV applications, and our reputation for delivering high quality software makes itaas the unique and obvious choice for meeting their development needs.” itaas certainly is delivering. Rustagi has signed deals with two of the largest cable systems in the country, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications. The company’s extensive client list of more than 70 customers includes Scientific-Atlanta, Liberate, Digeo, BigBand Networks, GoldPocket Interactive, Bluestreak, and ESPN Enterprises.

Vibha Rustagi (BSEE ’87)

Rustagi is eager to expand itaas’ position and presence in the digital broadband industry. Her company is investing in various technical industry initiatives, given that the distinctions among providers of cable, telephone, and Internet Almost 2,000 University of Pittsburgh alumni call Atlanta, Ga., services continue to blur. “We have to stay ahead of the home, including approximately 200 Pitt engineers. One curve to continue to be the premier provider of end-to-end of them recently received some well-deserved attention digital broadband services and products,” she says. “As for her success as a high-tech entrepreneur. a result, we continue to form partnerships and alliances with cutting-edge companies The October 8, 2004, issue “ Our customers are a top priority to give our team an in-depth of the Atlanta Business understanding of the chalfor us, and so we will continue to Chronicle included Vibha do what we do best: listen to them lenges the industry will face Rustagi (BSEE ’87) in a in the near future.” select group named Atlanta’s and understand the challenges Top 40 Under 40. Rustagi In addition, Rustagi hopes to they are and will be facing.” is the president and CEO of expand itaas’ services and —Vibha Rustagi itaas, which supplies compreproducts portfolio by adding hensive digital interactive TV technology. She sees the software tools that maximize operational efficiency and successful growth of itaas and its position of leadership provide revenue growth opportunities for her customers. in the industry as ample reward for the experience she “Our customers are a top priority for us, and so we will gained while at Scientific-Atlanta, a manufacturer and supcontinue to do what we do best: listen to them and underplier of integrated and interactive video, data, voice media, stand the challenges they are and will be facing.” and hardware, where she worked for 11 years. Visit www.itaas.com to learn more about Rustagi’s company. “My business partners, Jatin Desai, Jaspal Bhasin, and I saw an increased demand for digital cable TV expertise,” The winding streets of Boston’s financial district may be Rustagi says. “We recognized the void in this area and we one of the last places you would expect to find a Pitt engiknew that we could best fill that need as a comprehensive neer, but John Bitler (MSMIN ’79) has spent more than a service provider.” Out of this vision, itaas was incorporated decade there as a partner with Levitan & Associates Inc. in 1999. (LAI), a consulting firm specializing in energy and public Rustagi and her company now call the northeastern Atlanta utilities. Bitler need only check out the view of Boston from suburb of Duluth home. It is an area bustling with new his 32nd floor office to realize how important energy is to enterprises like itaas. Staying ahead of the competition is a sprawling urban area—and how great a task it is for public a challenge for any entrepreneur, but Rustagi appears to utility companies to effectively meet the growing demand. have succeeded at the primary rule of small business: find

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a niche market for a product needed by someone else— in this case, larger established companies. She cofounded itaas to serve the booming cable television industry with end-to-end digital television expertise, from set-top clients to head-end servers, and to help her customers deploy innovative services on accelerated schedules.

LAI caters to both energy providers “ My courses at Pitt were Prior to joining LAI in 1992, Bitler was and end users. Bitler believes what of Environmental Catalyst taught by adjunct faculty president sets LAI apart from its competitors Consultants Inc. He also worked as with 20 to 30 years of is not just the services it provides, an executive consultant with Stone but also the mix of consultants it & Webster Management Consultants experience. This was employs. “Many firms do not have New York City, where he met invaluable to a working inRichard the heterogeneity we do,” Bitler says. Levitan, the founder of LAI. professional like me.” “Our group is a mix of MBAs, econoBorn in Eastern Pennsylvania, Bitler —John Bitler mists, geologists, physical chemists, came to Pitt after completing an and engineers. This diverse background allows us to proundergraduate degree in mineral economics at Penn State vide comprehensive strategic direction to our clients.” University. He completed his MS in mining engineering The company carries a broad client list, ranging from large in 1979 while working full time for the U.S. Bureau utility companies such as Allegheny Power and Long Island of Mines and later U.S. Steel. Power Authority to end users such as the Massachusetts “I had a different perspective in graduate school because Water Resources Authority, the National Institutes of I was working full time and going to school on the side,” Health, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. says Bitler. “My courses at Pitt were taught by adjunct facBitler’s background in directing feasibility studies and marulty with 20 to 30 years of experience. This was invaluable ket analyses of power plant emissions control processes to a working professional like me.” makes him a good fit for his current position as principal In fact, the biggest reason Bitler chose Pitt was that it had and partner in the consulting firm. “Mainly, we are provida part-time graduate program. “I liked having a lot of peers ing our clients with simulation modeling of pipelines and who were also working during the day,” he says. “We’d power grids,” he says. “We are particularly concerned with share stories about hustling to get to class after a full pipeline infrastructure. On days with high gas demand there day’s work. I was just recently married then and had a new may also be a high power demand, and any conflicts within baby, so it was quite a juggling act.” the engineering of the infrastructure can be catastrophic.” Visit www.levitan.com for more information about Levitan & Associates. John Bitler (MSMIN ’79)

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Bruce M. Coull is professor and head of the Department of Neurology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, Ariz. Coull received his BS and MS in chemical engineering and his MD from the University of Pittsburgh, and he completed training in neurology at Stanford University. With primary research interests in the areas of acute stroke therapy and secondary prevention, Coull has been a principal investigator in numerous stroke research projects and clinical trials focused on prevention and treatment. He is currently director of the stroke program at the University of Arizona. Coull has published widely in the area of cerebrovascular disease and serves on the editorial board of several journals. He is currently a member of the Stroke Progress Review Group of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and serves on the Neurological Sciences and Disorders K clinical trials review committee. Coull has also worked for the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Creating a Vision for Space Medicine During Travel Beyond Earth’s Orbit. Its major effort is to plan a manned mission to Mars. The results of the committee’s work were published in Safe Passage: Astronaut Care for Exploration Missions. Coull is a lifetime member of the University of Pittsburgh Alumni Association. Wanda M. Austin Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Master of Science, 1977 Senior Vice President, National Systems Group The Aerospace Corp. Chantilly, Va. Since joining The Aerospace Corp. in 1979, Wanda Austin has held increasingly prominent management positions across many divisions of the corporation. She is currently senior vice president of the National Systems Group. Aerospace is a private, nonprofit corporation responsible for the success of national security space programs and for providing technical support to space-related programs managed by other organizations. It is headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif., and has facilities in 20 locations throughout the United States. Austin’s work with systems engineering and with the architecture, acquisition, development, and orbital operation of satelite communications systems and programs is internationally acclaimed. She has received numerous awards and citations, among them the Air Force Scroll of Appreciation, the National Reconnaissance Office Gold Medal, the Air Force Space and Missile System Center’s Martin Luther King Spirit of the Dream Award, the National Society of Black Engineers Alumni Extension Award, the Society of Women Engineers Upward Mobility Award, and the Women in Aerospace Outstanding Achievement Award. She was also named one of America’s Best and Brightest by Dollars & Sense magazine.

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Austin is a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, the International Academy for Astronautics, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Society of Women Engineers, and the Board of Visitors for the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering.

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Austin earned a BA in mathematics from Franklin & Marshall College, MS degrees in both civil engineering and mathematics from Pitt, and a PhD in systems engineering from the University of Southern California.

As manager of process and control technology at Westinghouse Savannah River Co. (WSRC) in Aiken, S.C., Kenneth Cooper is responsible for supporting the complete life cycle of process control systems and information systems across all operating facilities. He is also responsible for control and information system design for all new projects, as well as the development and support of engineering automation systems. Cooper joined WSRC in 1989 and has held increasingly responsible management and engineering positions. WSRC is a key U.S. Department of Energy industrial complex that processes and stores nuclear materials in support of national defense and U.S. nuclear nonproliferation efforts. The site also develops and deploys technologies to improve the environment and treat nuclear and hazardous waste left over from the cold war. Cooper taught at the University of Pittsburgh for 14 years as an adjunct instructor of electrical engineering and was involved in research programs. He has also been a longtime member of the electrical and computer engineering department’s visiting committee. Cooper actively serves in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as a member of its Control Systems and Engineering Management Societies. He is chair of the IEEE Committee on Engineering Accreditation Activities and serves as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) curriculum evaluator for IEEE for electrical and computer engineering. Cooper earned both his BS and PhD in electrical engineering from Pitt and earned an MSEE from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. John Innocenti Department of Industrial Engineering Bachelor of Science, 1972 Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Presbyterian/Shadyside Pittsburgh, Pa. John Innocenti is the senior vice president and chief operating officer of UPMC Presbyterian/ Shadyside, the flagship hospital of the UPMC system. UPMC Presbyterian/Shadyside—which includes UPMC Presbyterian, UPMC Shadyside, UPMC Montefiore, the Eye & Ear Institute, and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic—contains more than 1,100 medical/surgical, 190 intensive care, and 270 psychiatric beds. It is also a level 1 trauma center and houses the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, one of the nation’s largest transplant programs. The Shadyside campus includes the Hillman Cancer Center and the newly renovated Posner Pavilion. Innocenti has both a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a member of numerous boards, including the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) and the Center for Emergency Medicine. He is also president of the South Park school board. Innocenti worked at the University Hospitals of Cleveland and as a consultant for several years prior to joining Montefiore Hospital in 1976. Innocenti has assumed various administrative responsibilities in his 29 years with the health system. He has also taught management courses for more than 20 years.

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Bruce M. Coull Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Bachelor of Science, 1967, and Master of Science, 1968 Professor and Head, Department of Neurology University of Arizona College of Medicine Tucson, Ariz.

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2005 Distinguished Alumni

Kenneth F. Cooper Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Bachelor of Science, 1959 Doctor of Philosophy, 1980 Manager of Process and Control Technology Westinghouse Savannah River Co. Aiken, S.C.

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N E W S In 2001, McGlone joined Copperweld Corp. as vice president of sales, was promoted to president and chief operating officer, and has led Copperweld in his current position as president and CEO since March 1, 2004. Copperweld was founded in 1915 and today is North America’s largest and most diversified producer of steel tubular products and the world’s leading manufacturer of bimetallic wire and strip products. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Copperweld employs more than 2,300 people at 13 locations in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The company just ended a record year with more than $1 billion in sales. M. Roger Eshelman Department of Mechanical Engineering Bachelor of Science, 1962 Vice President, Carrier Overhaul and Nuclear Services (Ret.) Northrop Grumman Newport News Newport News, Va. Upon completing his degree, M. Roger Eshelman began his 41-year career with Newport News Shipbuilding, the nation’s sole designer, builder, and refueler of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and one of the only two companies capable of designing and building nuclear-powered submarines. He was hired as a junior designer to perform propulsion plant fluid system design for conventional and nuclear powered ships, and he held increasingly responsible positions—senior engineer, design supervisor, and engineering manager—in the submarine nuclear design department. In 1977, he moved to the corporate subsidiary Newport News Industrial Corp. (NNI) as director of engineering for commercial nuclear power plant construction, maintenance, and repair. Under Eshelman’s direction, NNI pioneered several engineering methods and processes, including the design and on-site fabrication of the primary reactor containment structure for the Perry Nuclear Power Plant. Almost a decade later, Eshelman returned to Newport News Shipbuilding to manage the radiological control program and by 1990 had advanced to vice president of nuclear engineering. He retired in 2002 as sector vice president of nuclear services and aircraft carrier overhaul. Since his retirement, Eshelman has served as a consultant to his former employer—now known as Northrop Grumman Newport News—on various projects, the most notable being the design of a nuclear engine for NASA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, which is projected to launch in 2015.

ENGINEERING NEWS

Eshelman was named the Virginia Peninsula Engineer of the Year by the Peninsula Engineers Council. He completed a Master of Science degree in thermal engineering at Old Dominion University and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management business program for senior executives.

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Young Alumni Award Richard D. Schaub Jr. Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, 1989 Master of Science in Chemical Engineering, 1993 Doctor of Philosophy, Bioengineering, 1999 Senior Biomedical Engineer Artificial Heart Program (UPMC)/Vital Engineering Pittsburgh, Pa. Richard D. Schaub Jr. is a senior biomedical engineer for the Artificial Heart Program (AHP) of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Founded in 1985, AHP has used a variety of mechanical circulatory support (MCS) technologies to support more than 500 patients suffering from endstage heart failure. MCS devices range in complexity from intra-aortic balloons to implantable ventricular assist devices (VAD) and total artificial hearts. Also in 1985, Schaub and a group of AHP staff members founded Vital Engineering, a consulting company specializing in the clinical application of MCS technologies. Vital Engineering has provided highly skilled consultation and training to more than 150 clinical centers and 500 healthcare providers, as well as to two of the leading manufacturers of MCS devices in the world. Schaub joined AHP in 1988 while he was a chemical engineering undergraduate. He continued working there while completing both his master’s and doctoral degrees. Research for his master’s thesis focused on improving the flow patterns in a clinically used VAD and contributed to a redesign of that device. Schaub’s doctoral research focused on the development of a novel method for visualizing cellular activity in blood-contacting medical devices. In 1998, he accepted a full-time appointment as AHP’s clinical research coordinator. In 2001, Schaub accepted an appointment as adjunct assistant professor of bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He teaches several classes in the freshman engineering program and bioengineering department and directs the undergraduate and graduate clinical internship programs with AHP. This past December, alumni from the Sugar

Alumni Notes Amy Bell Amamoto (BSIE ’85, MSEE ’92), associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, participated in the National Academy of Engineering’s 10th Annual Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering in Irvine, Calif., in September. Bell has developed a strong research program in signal processing and is director of the university’s Digital Signal Processing and Communications Laboratory. Kenneth R. Balkey (BSME ’72, MSME ’80) was recently selected by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 2004 Nominating Committee and elected by the ASME membership to serve as vice president of ASME Nuclear Codes and Standards from June 2005 to June 2008. ASME has 120,000 members worldwide. As an officer of the society, Balkey will be responsible for directing about 1,000 volunteers. By day, he is a consulting engineer at the Westinghouse Electric Co., where he has been employed for 33 years. Daniel Bolger (BSCE ’60) is the founder of the Bolger Group, a consulting and management firm that has received awards for excellence in operations and materials handling. The Bolger Group is located in Millersport, Ohio. William J. Flaherty Jr. (BSME ’81) has been named systems engineer specialist in the Information Technology Center at Timken Corp., a leading global manufacturer of bearings and steel in Canton, Ohio.

Land and Missouri City, Texas, areas got together for a networking breakfast in Houston

Michael Franzi (BSEE ’77) was promoted to vice president, sales, of THX Ltd., a company specializing in audio and entertainment technology based in San Rafael, Calif. James M. Geisler (BSCOE ’04) represents the third generation of engineers—on both sides of his family— to graduate from Pitt. The Pitt engineering legacy includes his father, Martin J. Geisler Jr. (BSCE ’79, MSChE ’84); mother, Barbara Mrenna Geisler (BSChE ’80); paternal grandfather, Martin J. Geisler (BSEE ’56, MSEE ’67); and maternal grandfather, Stephen A. Mrenna (BSEE ’51).

with Aaron Conley, executive director of development and alumni relations. (Left to right) Steve Coluccio (BSME ’69, MSME ’72), Jeff Hunter (BSEE ’95, MSEE ’02), Dan Rinkes (BSEE ’94), Mike Mangan (BSEE ’64), Bill Schaub (BSPET ’55, MSPET ’68), and John Kulha (BSPET ’73)

W W W. E N G R . P I T T. E D U

After earning his BS in metallurical engineering in 1971, Dennis McGlone began his career in marketing and sales as a commercial marketing representative for Mobil Oil Corp. Several years later, he transitioned to the steel industry by joining Cyclops Corp., where he held increasingly responsible positions and later became president of the Coshocton Stainless Division of Cyclops. Following Cyclops’ merger with Armco Steel Corp. in 1992, McGlone was promoted to vice president and commercial and corporate officer of Armco. Armco was subsequently acquired by AK Steel Corp. in 1999.

A L U M N I

N E W S A L U M N I

Dennis McGlone Department of Materials Science and Engineering Bachelor of Science, 1971 President and Chief Executive Officer Copperweld Corp. Pittsburgh, Pa.

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alumni in the Naperville, Ill., area (near Chicago) in January. Front row (l to r) Jerry Shore (BSMET ’59), Gerry Werber (BSChE ’52), Dean Gerald Holder, Maurice Oxenreiter (BSChE ’48, MSChE ’49, PhD ’52), and Dennis Wisnosky (MSEE ’68), and back row (l to r) David Emanuel (BSChE ’89) and Ron Bonomo (BSCE ’66)

N E W S Rona Colosimo Warner (MSIE ’95), director of operations, Model 250 helicopters for Rolls-Royce Corporation, received the Outstanding Contribution to the Manufacturing Industry award from Women & Hi Tech.

Allegheny Energy (Greensburg, Pa.) has a new vice president and chief information officer: James B. Kauffman (BSCE ’74, MSIE ’77). Raymond F. Mignogna (MSMET ’80) has completed the requirements for registration as a patent agent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He and his wife, Joan, reside in Valley Cottage, N.Y. Rachel Marie Funyak-Nolan (BSBEG ’03) received a 2004 National Science Fellowship Award. She is currently a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University. She and husband, Tim Nolan (BSBEG ’00), reside in Baltimore. Tim is a laboratory director of bioengineering research at the University of Maryland. Mark N. Ottemiller (BSCE ’80), president of NuTec Design Associates in York, Pa., received both the International Distinguished Leadership Award (from the Community Leadership Association) and Leadership York’s Outstanding Alumnus Award. George C. Pangburn (MSER ’78), director of the Division of Nuclear Materials Safety in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s King of Prussia, Pa., office, received the Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award. Marc Rudov (BSEE ’76) has published a new book, The Man’s No-Nonsense Guide to Women: How to Succeed in Romance on Planet Earth.

ENGINEERING NEWS

Sheppard J. Salon (PhD ’77), professor in the electrical, computer, and systems engineering department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., is the recipient of the 2004 IEEE Nikola Tesla Award. His work has resulted in improved predictions of electric machine behavior.

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Lloyd Yates (BSME ’82) assumed the position of senior vice president, energy delivery, at Progress Energy Carolinas on January 1, 2005. In his new role, he manages the four regional vice presidents in the organization and serves on Progress Energy’s senior management committee.

2005 Distinguished Alumni Award Banquet Yates

Maxime Faget, designer of the original spacecraft for NASA’s Project Mercury. Faget was awarded an honorary doctorate by the School of Engineering. She was 83. Milan Filcik (BSIE ’52) on April 18, 2005, at the age of 76. Filcik served in the U.S. Air Force, was a marketing manager with Northrop Grumman Corp., and belonged to the National Association for Remotely Piloted Vehicles. He was also an active member of the Cincinnati/Columbus/Dayton Pitt Club. Blaine I. Leidy (BSME ’51, MSME ’57, PhD ’63) on October 27, 2004. He was 81. Leidy was assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering for 38 years. When he retired in 1990, a scholarship was established in his name. Michael G. Zabetakis, age 80, former assistant dean of the School of Engineering. He will be fondly remembered for his accomplishments as a scientist and a distinguished educator.

Many alumni attended the event and caught up with old friends. Pictured here are (l to r) Paul Messineo (BSCE ’86), Al Ackenheil (BSCE ’39, PhD ’54), and Michael Dufalla (BSCE ’67, MSCE ’70)

Monday, July 18, 2005 Diamond Run Golf Club, Sewickley, Pa. Cost per person: $145 (includes greens fees, cart rental, lunch, and dinner)

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Registration: 11:30 a.m. Casual lunch: noon Shotgun start: 1 p.m.

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In October 2004, alumni gathered for lunch with Dean

John Bitler (MSMIN ’79), and Jim Coull (BSCE ’57)

2005 Alumni Student Leadership Award recipient Chad Eckert (third from right) with his family. Eckert graduated in 2005 with a BS in materials science and engineering.

Presented by the School of Engineering and Pex

Payment: Please make check payable to the University of Pittsburgh. Complete and return this form along with payment to University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering Kristen Bires 247 Benedum Hall Pittsburgh, PA 15261

Susan Zellmann-Rohrer (BSEE ’77), Fred Becker (BSME ’67),

Dean Holder (right) presents the School of Engineering award to Gerald McGinnis (MSME ’60), founder and chairman of Respironics. Depicted on the award itself are the school’s buildings, past and present, representing its growth over the years.

Fifth Annual Alumni Golf Outing

For more information, visit www.engr.pitt.edu/alumni, or contact Kristen Bires by e-mail (kbires@engr.pitt.edu) or by phone at 412-624-9813.

Holder, Walter Lachman (BSMIN ’60), Alan Kivnik (BSEE ’68),

Alumni award recipients

We’re sorry to announce the passing of…

Randy T. Sultzer (BSME ’86) has been appointed to a renewable one-year term as a member of the American Institute

Gerald Holder in Concord, Mass. Pictured are (l to r) Dean

The 2005 Distinguished

March 16, 2005

Registration Deadline: July 5, 2005 Space is limited. Please register early.

Home E-mail___________________________________________ Company Name ________________________________________ Title __________________________________________________ Business Address ______________________________________ City __________________________________________________ State_____________________ Zip ________________________ Business E-mail ________________________________________ Business Phone _______________________________________ _____ I am registering as an individual. Please match me with other players. _____ I am registering as a foursome. The other golfers are listed at right. (Confirmation will be sent to the player listed above).

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W W W. E N G R . P I T T. E D U

a networking lunch for

A L U M N I

N E W S A L U M N I Dean Gerald Holder hosted

of Aeronautics and Astronautics Public Policy Standing Committee. He has been an associate fellow of the organization since 2001.

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Dean G. Raymond Fitterer plans Pitt’s first Engineers Week with student leaders in 1956.

Do you know how Engineers Week became a tradition? Find the answer to this and other questions in The History of the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering. To order a copy, e-mail alumni@engr.pitt.edu or call 412-624-2640.

Save the Date The 5th Annual Golf Outing, Monday, July 18, 2005 Diamond Run Golf Club, Sewickley, Pa.

Homecoming, October 21–22, 2005 Celebrating the Pitt School of Engineering Classes of 1955, 1965, 1980, and 1995

School of Engineering 240 Benedum Hall Pittsburgh, PA 15261-2224

ENGINEERING NEWS

www.engr.pitt.edu

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