College of Science and Engineering Reach Magazine

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2. WINTER 2016

REACH

“THE POSSIBILITY OF MY FINDINGS BEING APPLIED TO EVERYDAY LIFE EXCITES ME.”

LAUREN LAU, ’17 BIOL

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INVEST IN OUR STUDENTS! MAKE A YEAR-END GIFT. SEE PAGES 10 & 11.

A CALL WITHIN A CALL

TAKING THE LONG VIEW

Teaching, for me, is a call within a call. I am a priest who happens to teach chemistry. My calling and my vocation is to be a priest, and within that is my calling to be a teacher. The two enrich and inform each other. When I try to separate the two, each suffers. When they are in harmony, then I am both a better teacher and a better Jesuit.

As a geophysicist I think in geologic time, the long view. I also think in very short time scales about subatomic processes. One thing that scientific research has given humanity is a perspective far beyond our normal senses. Students can have access to that and see the bigger picture.

My best days of teaching are when I am really aware and prayerful, teaching out of an awareness of what is sacred and beautiful. At those times, the horizon is bigger than just this material world.

And I’m best as a priest when I am spending my life caring for others, particularly my students who are making the sometimes difficult transition from home to college.

Our students can develop new technologies and work on solving problems, but not in a vacuum.

They need to think about humanity’s place in the world and gain perspective beyond our limited temporal and spatial awareness. I want to introduce my students to the world of scholarship.

I try to open their minds to what’s been done before and what’s possible in the future.

None of us is born for herself or himself alone.

We all have a calling to make something good and holy out of our lives. My deepest hope for my students is that they discover their own calling, their own path to a meaningful and happy life.

Teaching is a great blessing to those of us who have the opportunity to do it. It is so important for all of us to learn about the past, to think about what has been written and discussed so we can move forward with knowledge of the best things that have been done.

ERIC WATSON, SJ, PhD, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, CHEMISTRY

DAVID BONESS, PhD, PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, PHYSICS

“As we celebrate Seattle U’s 125 years of empowering leaders for the greater good, I hope you are as proud of our students, faculty and alumni as I am.”

MICHAEL J. QUINN, PhD, DEAN

“ WHETHER I AM BUILDING SOMETHING FROM THE GROUND UP OR IMPROVING AN EXISTING

RIGOR FOR A DEMANDING FIELD Even as a little kid, I always had a passion for teaching others, and I still feel that way. You have to be passionate to teach. Your energy transfers to the students and they rejuvenate you when you need it. It is a very valuable relationship.

It can be painful, but I tell my students that someday when they are using these skills to write their reports on the job, they will be very proud of themselves.

Almost every year, a recent graduate will write to me and say, “I’m so glad you worked with me like that.”

I believe strong writing skills are critical for engineers. Students choose this field because of their math and science skills, not because of their passion for writing. But I put them through the mill with writing—I read and comment page by page.

My students know exactly what I expect from them and they know they have to deliver. At the same time, I believe that if I demand a great deal from the students, I should be willing to give a great deal.

They know that I will always find the time to work

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WHY OUR STUDENTS WILL CHANGE THE WORLD “I think I can.” Perhaps you, like I, remember that line from the children’s book, The Little Engine That Could. An important part of a Jesuit education is fostering in our students a sense of agency, a self-understanding that they have the ability to go out into the world and change things for the better. Here in the R College of Science and Engineering, EG M We provide it’s clear to me that we are in ’18 Y, our students R fact fulfilling this important BU with a welcoming aspect of our mission.

LS A S R environment, and E PH through discovery-based TO S I active learning experiences, we R CH challenge them to take ownership of ” .

TY their intellectual growth. Our students I V learn how to learn, and graduate prepared to TI A apply their knowledge for the benefit of others.

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with them if they need my help. Engineering is a demanding field, and this rigor prepares them for the real world. I also hope that they will give back to the professional community someday, just as they have received guidance from us while they are students. I find a lot of happiness working with students. I simply can’t see myself in another job.

NIRMALA GNANAPRAGASAM, PhD, PE, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

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Our students’ awareness of their agency increases when they successfully complete more open-ended activities outside the formal curriculum, such as faculty-mentored scientific research or year-long industry-defined engineering design projects. When they win regional or national awards for their accomplishments, as many of our students do, they gain even greater confidence in their ability to do something significant.

Another important way in which our students develop a sense of agency is through a wide variety of service learning activities. Some choose to engage with the Seattle University Youth Initiative and work for change in Seattle’s Central District. Others are working on humanitarian engineering projects halfway around the globe.

These opportunities build on each other and prepare our students to go out into the world and be men and women for others. As Seattle U alumni, they continue to work for the greater good, wherever their careers take them.

Michael J. Quinn, PhD Dean, College of Science and Engineering

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“THE PROCESS OF INNOVATION IS A MANIFESTATION OF BECOMING A NEW PERSON. I CRAVE

DESIGN FOR A NEW PARADIGM I don’t think of myself as an innovator; I think of myself as an educator. The 3D printing equipment in our new rapid prototyping lab is an educational tool. We set up this new lab because our students need this kind of experience.

AN INVESTMENT IN THE NEXT GENERATION Innovation and research are very close to each other; I do both because I want to make a difference. I have enough technical background to come up with cool ideas that can help make people’s lives better. My students say that is what they want to do, which is why I involve them in my research.

I’m drawn to space technology, and recently I have become interested in designing medical devices—I can see a more tangible application. I believe innovation can have an impact on people’s wellbeing by applying science and advancing technology. Some of the ideas I want to pursue involve designing new devices that are lean and simple to manufacture and that can improve people’s lives.

I see how the students grow as they do this work, and it makes me really happy. When they are eager to learn, they glow—and it is beautiful. I like to see those smiles when they figure out a problem. When I know that they “get it,” that’s the most rewarding thing in the world.

When I was growing up, I had several really good teachers who shaped me into the person that I am today. It’s very natural for me to want to give back.

I teach because it is an investment in our next generation. You can’t be the mother of everybody, but you can be the teacher of many. I want my students to grow and become the best people they can be.

YEN-LIN HAN, PhD, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

“There aren’t a lot of jobs where you can focus on coming up with new ideas to make people’s lives better.”

YEN-LIN HAN, PhD

In the research world, 3D printing is known as “additive manufacturing.” It is a new style of manufacturing with its own terminology and its own set of questions. We don’t yet know how to design for this type of manufacturing process.

It’s a different paradigm. We don’t have the engineering rules and guidelines for how to make functional parts and components. I believe with the interest and energy we have in the undergraduate student body, and with these tools, we can answer some important questions.

From a research point of view, the 3D lab is fertile ground. Student researchers Alex Bouck and Christopher Salsbury spent the summer printing simple engineered components using various user-defined 3D printer settings. Then they systematically tested the engineering performance of those components. The data they collected will contribute to our understanding of how 3D printer parameters can impact the design and performance of engineered components manufactured using this new technology.

This new “makerspace” will be really cool for senior engineering design students and for student project teams who want to experiment and build things and see their ideas come to life very quickly and easily.

JOSH HAMEL, PhD, PE, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

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PO I innovate for different reasons. I’m a naturally TE curious person. And I think we can always build a N TI better mousetrap. In graduate school my focus was on AL building a better mousetrap without asking why we were AN doing it.

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C After I came to Seattle U, I started to understand the difference O M between building a better mousetrap and doing it in a way that could IN change someone’s life. I’m applying my education and talents in a way that G M affects people, designing and implementing microgrids that use sustainable Y N energy. It’s challenging intellectually and it satisfies my curiosity.

I believe innovation is more than coming up with the next widget. We have the opportunity to make a difference in not just one person’s life, but in many.

I was exposed to that kind of experience after coming to Seattle University.

I want to “pay it forward” and expose my students now.

Many of my students want to go to Silicon Valley and work for a start-up. I tell them, “Think about the rest of the world.

There are 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who don’t have electricity. Why not work to provide those people with electricity? That’s a gigantic way you can make a difference. That’s where your life’s work should be.”

I have the greatest job in the world. I can wake up every morning and work on ways to make life better for people.

HENRY LOUIE, PhD, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING

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THE PUREST FORM OF TEACHING A fundamental aspect of being a practicing scientist is discovery. The most exciting and up-to-date scientific endeavor is basic research you personally engage in to answer a fundamental question. When a problem is encountered and surmounted, one gets much personal satisfaction and “really new” knowledge. This is exciting.

Now, imagine sharing that feeling and the steps that get you there with a young student who is just starting their scientific journey at an undergraduate college. That is the purest form of teaching there is. Research is a fantastic teaching tool, wherein I can help a student grapple with a real problem and not just a problem set in a textbook. Research with a student is always fresh. Each student is different, possesses different skills and abilities and approaches a problem in a characteristic way. In addition, there is always that “thunderclap” moment when a student not only gets a piece of data, but understands it and sees the big picture of your research plan.

An additional layer of doing research with students is what I learn from them. I’m especially interested when students come to me with their own ideas and a research question that isn’t in my specific area of focus. We collaborate to design experiments, read background literature and develop their independent idea. Students acquire numerous skills during this collaboration. Even if they never do research again, they have exercised their minds while grappling with a problem, which will help them in any later professional endeavor. Their experience will also help them throughout their lives with the ability to evaluate issues critically and make decisions based on their own thought process and not through the wild claims of others.

I enjoy mentoring students in the process of science by using my research as a powerful teaching tool. I also get great satisfaction by watching a student develop to their full potential.

DAN SMITH, PhD, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, BIOLOGY

“KNOWING THAT OUR FINDINGS COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF COFFEE FARMERS

INVEST IN OUR STUDENTS!

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MAKE YOUR YEAR-END GIFT TODAY. SEE PAGES 10 & 11.

I started my research into coffee quality in 2003. I am fortunate to have connections with coffee farmers in two developing countries, Nicaragua and Rwanda. The coffee farmers need to produce high quality beans so they can sell to the specialty market at a price that sustains their families.

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SEEKING ANSWERS TO COMPLEX PROBLEMS

Our students have a need to learn how to investigate complex problems like potato taste. The student researchers know they are working on a very important project; they take ownership and work very hard. We are the only ones in the world studying this problem from a chemical point of view!

Not only are Seattle U students involved, but also students at the University of Rwanda (for potato taste) and students at Universidad Centroamericana de Nicaragua (for coffee quality). We are walking hand in hand with the coffee farmers, as well as with the coffee companies that are also supportive of the farmers.

I’m retired, but there’s a need for this research and I am committed to doing it. I can’t think of a single reason why I would not do what I do!

SUE JACKELS, PhD, PROFESSOR EMERITA, CHEMISTRY

A TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHING TOOL

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We have been trying to understand more about a specific flavor defect called “potato taste” that is experienced in Rwanda and other East African countries. An insect that is unique to East Africa causes the defect, which can wipe out a farmer’s entire crop or make it unsellable. It’s a serious problem in Rwanda, where coffee is extremely important to the economy because it is one of only two crops the country exports.

It is a common misconception that large research universities are the baccalaureate source of most future science and engineering PhDs. In fact, when normalized by the number of undergraduate degrees awarded, small private undergraduate institutions like Seattle U have produced a proportionally larger number of future PhD students than research universities. Because of this, from the day I enrolled in graduate school my goal was to prepare myself for a career as an educator at an excellent undergraduate institution.

My predominant goal is to prepare my students well enough so that they are able to gain admission to top-ranked PhD programs and medical schools if they choose. Undergraduate research is the most transformative pedagogical tool available in pursuit of this goal. I maintain a funded, actively-publishing undergraduate research program for the sake of my students. Yes, doing research keeps me active in my field—but to me merely being able to call myself a “teacher-scholar” is a hollow, unfulfilling benefit. I do research because it enables student success. I define my own success by the success of my students.

JOSEPH M. LANGENHAN, PhD, PROFESSOR, CHEMISTRY

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“THANKS TO YOUR CONTRIBUTION, I FEEL CONFIDENT COMMITTING TO A MATHEMATICS DOUBLE MAJOR.

PAT AND MARY WELCH SHARE A FIRM BELIEF THAT A SEATTLE U EDUCATION CHANGES LIVES. His dad was a Seattle fireman and her dad was a policeman. He was a “townie” who lived at home while studying physics at Seattle U. She lived in the dorm and started out as a biology major, switched to English with a history minor, and added a master’s degree in education. Today, Pat and Mary Welch are faithful supporters of student research in the College of Science and Engineering, and they have pledged their financial support for the new Center for Science and Innovation.

How did you reconnect with Seattle University?

PAT: In about 2006, George Simmons, who was dean of Science and Engineering, called and said he wanted to get to know us. When I visited him on campus, I was impressed with what was going on in science and engineering.

What impresses you most about the college?

MARY: When we attend the summer research open house or engineering Projects Day, we are very gratified to see what the students are able to do working with professors one-on-one in a lab, learning that maybe they can change the world.

MARY: We support the science and

PAT: We attended a retreat of the

engineering summer research program.

The students receive training that prepares them for graduate school or their careers.

PAT: When Mike Quinn became dean, he

invited us to become more involved. We admire Mike and the department chairs.

Both of us are on Mike’s Leadership Council, and Mary serves on the Seattle University Board of Regents.

department chairs, many of whom are women. We talked with them and learned about their backgrounds and their commitment to the College of Science and Engineering.

MARY: I love the fact that there are

so many young women students and women faculty members in the college.

When I was a student here, there were very few women students in science and engineering and even fewer women faculty members to serve as role models. I might have stayed in science if someone had said, “You can do this.”

PAT: I believe that science and

engineering education is a tremendous building block. The mathematical and logical training is invaluable. Even if they decide not to pursue a career in science or engineering, this training will be useful. That, coupled with a Jesuit educational background, is very positive.

What inspired your gift for the Center for Science and Innovation?

PAT: We know we have been fortunate.

Our children have their educations and careers. We support Catholic education and programs supporting the Catholic social mission. This is a good time for us to contribute to the capital campaign.

MARY: Thinking that we may have

helped make a difference years from now because of the start that a student received at Seattle U is very powerful.

It has been wonderful to receive letters from the students attesting to the importance of the summer research program.

PAT: I hope we have made a difference

for a few students. When we donate, we trust that it is going to be well spent.

I think life is a challenge. Education is a challenge. Career choices are a challenge. If we have helped the students somewhere along the line, that’s great.

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I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW INCREDIBLE THIS EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN FOR ME.” JOSEPH KOBLITZ, ’18 CS & MATH

INVEST IN OUR STUDENTS! MAKE YOUR YEAR-END GIFT TODAY. SEE PAGES 10 & 11.

“When I decided to pursue engineering it was with one overall goal in mind: I wanted to create something new that hasn’t been seen or thought of before, in hopes that it will make the world a better place. It has been a difficult yet rewarding journey, but what you have given me by your contribution to this research program has given me even more inspiration and fuel for my imagination to continue the pursuit of my dream.” ALEX BOUCK, ’17 MEGR

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“I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE AMOUNT OF TRUST AND FAITH YOU HAVE PUT IN STUDENTS YOU

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HAVE NEVER MET —

YOU HAVE GIVEN US THE CHANCE TO PURSUE OUR DREAMS.”

NEIPORI PELLE, ’19 PHYS

INVEST IN OUR STUDENTS. INVEST IN THE FUTURE. Your year-end gift to the College of Science and Engineering Dean’s Fund is an investment in the future. Our students believe they can change the world. They need your support to make their vision a reality. Please use the enclosed envelope or go online today and make your year-end gift.

“I ONLY HOPE YOU REALIZE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF YOUR KINDNESS.”

BEN TRINKLEIN, ’18 PHYS

Visit seattleu.edu/giving and choose the College of Science and Engineering Dean’s Fund.

To discuss a gift or to get involved with our college, contact Michelle Finet, Director of Development: 206-296-2846 / finetm@seattleu.edu

Non-Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Seattle, WA Permit No. 2783

Seattle University 901 12th Ave PO Box 222000 Seattle, WA 98122

Variable data: Dr. & Mrs. Jonathan Winters 489 West Pine Street Seattle, WA 98122

“I FOUND I WOULD MAKE MOST OF MY DISCOVERIES IN A MOMENT OF INSPIRATION.” JOSEPH KOBLITZ, ’18 CS & MATH

MAKE YOUR YEAR-END GIFT TODAY! SEE PAGES 10 & 11.

Michael J. Quinn, PhD Dean, College of Science and Engineering

seattleu.edu/scieng Printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper free of chlorine chemistry.

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