Seattle University's College of Science & Engineering REACH Magazine, Issue 6

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 1. SPRING 2019

REACH

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One of three women in her class, mechanical engineering alumna Bridget Brewer, ’88, is now President of NIC Global Manufacturing Solutions, headquartered in Woodinville, Wash. With a staff of 650 in four locations in the U.S. and China, NIC Global specializes in sheet metal fabrication and manufacturing, boasting clients such as PACCAR, Philips Medical, Siemens, Merz, Stryker, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and Leviton, among others.

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I think engineering is in my blood. I loved math and science as a kid. My father was an engineer, and three of my siblings, including one of my sisters, are engineers. My dad was very ‘DIY,’ and I helped him work on our cars. I’m very experiential, and I liked that engineering at Seattle U was very physical.

My senior year at SU was the second year of the Project Center. We got our assignment in the fall quarter and worked on it all year. My team was sponsored by Kenworth Truck Company, and my exposure through the project was my foot in the door at the company.

I joined Kenworth, a division of PACCAR, as a design engineer in 1988. Almost all the trucks have custom elements requested by the customer. I was solving specific requirements for those customized trucks, designing primarily metal parts, castings and plastics, laying out chassis components, making sure everything fit.

In 2000, after 12 years at PACCAR, I joined NIC Global as engineering and materials manager. At that time, many of our major customers began offshoring work to the Pacific Rim, so we adapted our business model to become more globally competitive. We established supply chains in Asia for simple, high-volume items, and we produce the more complex, lower-volume items here in the U.S.

I became president of NIC Global in 2009, during the economic downturn. We had some bleak months, but we got super creative and were able to retain staff. Coming out of the recession, we expanded and opened new plants in Texas, Tennessee and Ohio. We also maintain an engineering office in China.

The mechanical engineering degree from Seattle U teaches you to problem-solve, to separate the variables from the givens. In your coursework, you’re striving for an answer. In the business world, problems are much vaguer to start with. The discipline of engineering is to remove that vagueness. You do the discovery work, ask the questions and understand what the customer needs.

The project experience is very valuable for the students. They are given a problem and their first task is to frame that problem and discover why their sponsor—the customer—wants it solved.

The students have to ask: Why do you want this product? What is it supposed to do? How much do you want it to cost?

At Seattle U, the engineering coursework and the capstone project itself are very good at teaching how to separate and define information. Is it something that is fixed or is it variable? What are we trying to do with this information? That skillset is transformative in the workplace, and it has taken me where I am today. We do that kind of discovery work and problem solving every day on the job.

What I gained from Seattle U is the Jesuit concept of questioning and owning my decisions and owning my values. What’s unique about this kind of education is the complete picture: soul, body and mind. The engineering capstone project brings that to a closure. You’ve learned the thinking part and the technical part of engineering, and you apply that to a problem from the business world.

Experiencing that kind of ‘real life’ while they’re still totally immersed in their education helps students become well-rounded professionals.

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PROJECTS

DAY MEET OUR OUTSTANDING STUDENTS

PROJECTS DAY: June 7, Noon-6:00 PM RSVP to projectcenter@seattleu.edu SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 12:30 Opening Remarks

12:45-4:15 Student Team Presentations 4:15 Poster Session and Reception

FROM PROBLEM TO SOLUTION

For mechanical engineering seniors Brittany Dale, Shane Serns, Ryan Sargent and Sean Bayless, designing a press brake lift assist device for NIC Global has been far more than a capstone project. “It’s an opportunity to use everything we have learned in different classes and design a solution,” says Sean.

The students have also experienced firsthand what it takes to meet a client’s expectations on time and on budget.

As the team members embark on the critical design review phase of their project, they are confident. “We have had eight months of exposure to the structured process that is part of every engineering design solution,” Brittany says. Her teammate Ryan adds that his participation in the process from initial research through fabrication will be to his advantage when he joins the Air Force as a design engineer after he graduates in June.

This is the second project sponsored by NIC Global. According to company president Bridget Brewer, the students deliver value. “The student engineering team had a totally fresh perspective and looked at all kinds of solutions,” she says. “They contributed energy and ideas that invigorated our engineering team. And they came up with a solution that we believe will work.”

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Through our award-winning Project Center, teams of students tackle realworld challenges from some of the region’s most important companies, public organizations and nonprofits. For our students, the experience is much more than a capstone project—it’s a bridge to their careers.

A GOLD MINE OF LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Life safety is the basic objective for seismic design. In the event of an earthquake, it is also crucial for essential facilities to remain operational. This year, a team of four civil engineering majors has been working with Seattle City Light to perform an assessment of the structural health of the powerhouse building at the Ross Dam, one of several essential facilities that make up the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project.

Since first taking readings and measurements at the powerhouse last September, seniors Romina Guibao, Jorge Lara Alvarado, Rio Sano and Kalei Sur have spent hundreds of hours engaged in the project. They began by studying current seismic codes and comparing them to the codes in place when the powerhouse building was constructed in the 1960s. To identify possible deficiencies, the students performed in-depth calculations and modeled the transfer of forces through different elements and connections of the building during an earthquake. Then they designed a potential seismic retrofit for the powerhouse.

As the students have tackled structural engineering problems that are not typically taught in undergraduate classrooms, each of them has discovered a love for the discipline. “Our passion for structural engineering keeps us driving forward. Even when it gets hard, we feed into each other’s excitement,” says Kalei. “This project has made me certain that I want to study structural engineering in graduate school.”

Civil engineering professor Paul Smith and Seattle City Light’s senior civil engineer, Robert Cochran, have provided guidance—but not hand-holding.

“Our faculty advisor and project liaison are adamant about not interfering with us doing our own calculations and analysis,” says Rio. “They point out our mistakes and allow us to readjust, which is part of the learning experience.”

The students have presented their findings to engineers at Seattle City Light, where they fielded tough questions about their proposed solution. And in June, they will deliver a four-part report that provides real value to their sponsor.

“Working with the Project Center is a collaborative way to make headway on evaluating our structures,” says Robert Cochran. “By utilizing student teams, Seattle City Light furthers our knowledge base on the structures while the students learn seismic analysis and perform the heavy number crunching under our supervision.”

“The opportunity to network with professionals at this level is something I would not have had at another school.”

ROMINA GUIBAO, ’19

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“I am honored that our sponsor trusted us with this project. It has helped me see myself as an environmental scientist.”

ERIN THOMAS, ’19

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

Can food waste from grocery stores be upcycled into a product that improves agricultural practices? WISErg Corporation, an agricultural technology startup, is doing just that. And this year, they’ve had some help from five environmental science students, Erin Thomas, Maria Ilioukhov, Vincent Mai, Noel Kim and Naod Sebhat.

WISErg asked the students to determine how the company’s fertilizer amendment, Synergy, affected overall soil health and plant growth. Additionally, they asked whether Synergy could reduce negative environmental effects of nutrient movement associated with traditional fertilization processes.

After receiving their assignment in September, the students realized they would be spending quite a bit of time in the lab. “The questions we’re working on pertain to both plant and soil health, two necessary components of the agricultural industry’s challenge of meeting the world’s ever-increasing food demand,” says Vincent. “The optimization of our food systems becomes increasingly important as climatic stability decreases.”

The team began with a literature search, then designed three experiments. In the first two, they chose to grow leaf lettuce and hybrid poplars. Both plants mature quickly, enabling the students to evaluate differences in the plants’ root structure, height and biomass. To test nutrient movement in the third experiment, the team built soil columns filled with homogenized field soil.

From this, they discovered how Synergy affects fertilizer’s ability to adhere to soil.

“Nutrient runoff is a huge issue in agriculture,” explains Maria. “By applying various treatments to the columns and flushing them with deionized water, we were able to measure how much of the fertilizer amendment is retained in the soil, and how much leaches out under certain conditions.”

The students have enjoyed the research aspect of their project, and they’re proud of the contribution they’ve made toward their sponsor’s goal. Erin sums it up: “We hope that WISErg will take the work we’ve done, look at our successes and mistakes and further develop their own research.”

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Parents of students considering a science major at Seattle U often ask, “Will my son or daughter have the chance to do research?” To which Biology Chair Lindsay Whitlow responds, “Absolutely!”

“Our science curriculum, along with the way we teach, enables more students to get a chance to do real research throughout their academic career,” he says.

“Lab experiences are built into the biology curriculum, for example, beginning with first quarter of the first year. Lab assignments involve designing an experiment, gathering the data and presenting it, at a level appropriate to the students.”

These lab experiences—even for first-year students—are not at all what their parents experienced in college. “We don’t give them an assignment where they simply have to get the right answer,” Dr. Whitlow explains, “All of our labs now require students to test hypotheses.”

Science majors in their second and third years of study explore specific areas of interest in biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics, learning about the most recent discoveries in those fields. “At this point, the science becomes more open ended, and the lab techniques more advanced,” Dr. Whitlow says.

“More time is allotted to digging deeper and developing specialized skillsets.”

This highly experiential program results in graduates who understand the scientific method, are confident setting up and running an experiment, and can communicate their findings. Students who develop a passion for scientific inquiry may join faculty researchers in the lab, either for credit during the academic year or as paid research assistants during the summer months.

“Our teaching is designed to engage students with broad backgrounds, and we have the faculty expertise and quality to provide the highest caliber students with the training to succeed anywhere,” says Dr. Whitlow. “We have multiple recent graduates who can stand toe to toe with students from the most prestigious institutions in the country. They have received the same awards and have been accepted to the same prominent REU programs and graduate programs.”

“We want our students to be able to ask relevant, interesting questions that will advance the science they are interested in. This enables them to succeed and meet their personal goals as curious, developing scientists, and it also contributes to our overall scientific knowledge.”

LINDSAY WHITLOW, PhD, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR & CHAIR, BIOLOGY

DISCOVERY-

SCIENTIFIC THINKING, FROM THEIR FIRST DAY TO GRADUATION DAY

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BASED LAB

>> INQUIRYBASED LAB

Students research an open-ended scientific problem. Neither they nor their instructor knows the answer.

>> FOUNDATIONAL LAB COURSES

Students perform scientific inquiry.

They don’t know the answer, but their instructor does.

Students learn to set up and test a hypothesis.

The primary research experiences hard-wired into our science curriculum can be the tipping point for Seattle University science majors who are seeking internships or lab positions at biotech companies.

“Employers frequently ask me about our students’ research experiences,” says Associate Professor Brett Kaiser, who teaches labbased biology courses to all four grade levels. “When requesting a reference, employers ask about a student’s attention to detail and confidence with troubleshooting in the lab. They want to know if the student can take ownership of a research project and achieve reproducible results.”

For many biology majors, Dr. Kaiser’s introductory biology course is their first college-level science class. As part of the lab section, they are required to propose a hypothesis and devise an experiment. “We begin the quarter by exploring basic questions, and we step up expectations toward the end,” Dr. Kaiser says.

“These senior-level courses ratchet up the level of involvement and independence required of the students and contribute to their development as scientists.”

BRETT KAISER, PhD, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, BIOLOGY Sophomores and juniors in his biotechnology course spend 10 weeks addressing an experimental question that develops their skills in molecular biology, basic protein biochemistry and experimental design. He poses a slightly different question each year that is an extension of the previous year’s course and relates to his own research on DNA cleaving enzymes. The answer is unknown—even to Dr. Kaiser.

“I have found that structuring the lab this way promotes a high level of student buy-in,” he says. “The students spend the first six weeks cloning a gene and producing proteins, and four weeks doing experiments to test our hypothesis. By the end of this course, students have been exposed to a core set of tools that are widely used in a variety of research labs. They are not experts, but they have developed confidence and they’re ready to move on to a summer internship.”

Cell and molecular biology majors must take one of three “Projects” courses: Molecular Biology Projects; Protein Projects; or Genomics. Dr. Kaiser designs his Protein Projects course around a specific experimental goal. “During two four-hour labs per week, the students collectively tackle an ambitious problem,” he says. “These senior-level courses ratchet up the level of involvement and independence required of the students and contribute to their development as scientists.”

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Delaney Kirchmeier, ’19, had been performing course-related labs since her first quarter at Seattle U. But it was her biotechnology class during her sophomore year that showed her what life might look like in a molecular biology lab.

“I set up an experimental question from the beginning, and became familiar with important techniques and methods,” says Delaney, who is majoring in cell and molecular biology. “We practiced conducting literature searches, and the class culminated in a paper that had us writing scientific literature based on our own work. We annotated our own figures and wrote our own discussion section.”

Guest speakers introduced the students to the exciting research taking place in the area and the wide variety of careers available. This was a plus for Delaney, who plans to study genomics in graduate school in preparation for a career researching genetics, immunology or gene therapy.

The following year, in Dr. Brett Kaiser’s Protein Projects class, Delaney and her classmates worked in small groups on an extensive project involving protein methods. The experience was very different from what she calls the “one-and-done” labs of her previous years. “The stakes were higher,” she says. “The course required a lot of independent preparation. We conducted various optimization assays to see how we could improve upon existing methods. We depended on one another in order to progress through the project, so each person’s results mattered.”

Toroid illustration: Barry Stoddard, PhD, and Phil Bradley, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Brett Kaiser, PhD, Seattle University Biology Department

In addition to ongoing research work, the course included two deliverables: an independent proposal for the entire experiment and a poster developed by the group. “Creating the poster was a very collaborative process,” Delaney says. “We had to prioritize what we wanted the reader to take away, including the question we were trying to answer, the steps we took, our results and the importance of our research.” The resulting poster was informative, engaging and aesthetically pleasing. It even resulted in a class T-shirt design!

The independent nature of the course helped build Delaney’s confidence as a researcher. “We were seeking to answer a question that hadn’t yet been answered. I felt that I was part of an advancing field, and that what I was doing had a broader purpose that extended outside the classroom.”

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MARK YOUR CALENDAR:

STEM RESEARCH SHOWCASE October 25, 3:00-5:30 PM

“The realization very early on that that you can use what you are learning to strengthen your community is a powerful thing.”

JESSE GONCALVES, ’19

“So much of what I learn in class is not explicitly tied to its application for social good, and that is something that I really want to focus on,” says math major Jesse Goncalves, ’19. As a Bannan Scholar engaged in community-based projects, he is acutely aware of his peers’ often unrealized potential to apply and contextualize their learning through projects in the community.

Jesse had an idea: What if a group of creative, highly motivated students were to collaborate on projects of particular importance to the community? That idea became Impactathon, an interdisciplinary problem-solving session focused on issues that ranged from designing new educational spaces for public schools to community health programs and a local urban farm.

Jesse and his classmates Dominic Burgi, Brian Le, Tudi Le, Oliver Tufte, Ben Viehoff and Jared Mead spent last summer in planning mode. Jesse met with representatives from local nonprofits, asking about their projects and inviting them to participate in the Impactathon. Faculty and staff from the College of Science and Engineering and the Center for Community Engagement served as advisors for the student-led event.

Then, in early September, 50 students from across the university spent 36 hours collaborating on projects proposed by seven community partners.

“What appealed to me was working collaboratively across disciplines with people we rarely get the opportunity to see in class, combining all our skills to positively engage with our community,” says Tudi Le, ’19, a cell and molecular biology major.

The experience was a joyful one for civil engineering major Jorge Lara Alvarado, ’20, who applied what he calls “mindful engineering” to a multidisciplinary team project for the Black Farmers Collective. “I have been looking for ways to give back to my community,” he says. “It is important to use my engineering knowledge and also exercise sensitivity to the needs of the community members.”

Physics major Camille Zaug, ’20, helped design a nutrition empowerment program for Lifelong, an organization serving individuals with HIV and AIDS. Camille addressed the task the way she approaches a research problem. “You have to think critically. Is your solution feasible? Does it make sense for the community?” she says.

Participating organizations—including Lifelong and the Black Farmers Collective—are putting the students’ ideas to use as they move forward with their projects. And looking ahead, the students intend to expand the scope of the Impactathon, increasing participation from students majoring in business, communications and design and welcoming an even greater number of community partners to the event.

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Rendering by EYP/Mithun

Expanded Engineering Project Center A NEW HOME FOR STUDENT INNOVATION COMING IN 2020

In the expanded Engineering Project Center, students will devise innovative solutions to complex problems assigned by corporate sponsors. Students engaged in these yearlong projects will expand their technical knowledge, hone problemsolving and communication skills and forge professional relationships.

Your gift in any amount helps fund this exciting new space, where students will: • Collaborate with their peers on challenging real-world engineering problems • Meet with corporate liaisons and mentors from leading companies • Build relationships with industry professionals The new Engineering Project Center—part of the Center for Science and Innovation initiative—opens in 2020!

YOUR GIFT MAKES IT POSSIBLE Visit seattleu.edu/scieng Select the GIVE button in the right column, designate Center for Science and Innovation OR

Contact Michelle Finet 206-296-2846 / finetm@seattleu.edu

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My dad loved the outdoors, so when I was growing up, our family went camping a lot. One summer he took us through the Painted Hills in central Oregon. I was too young to appreciate the geological forces and the span of time that created this wonder. Now that I am older, I realize how special that place is.

Like a geological formation, professional formation doesn’t happen in a day. You can’t take any university education and toss in a little professional formation at the end. For a student to grow—academically, personally and professionally—it takes time and the right conditions. Here in the College of Science and Engineering we provide just that, through experiential, project-based learning.

As educators, we are constantly asking: What are the right experiences outside the classroom and traditional labs that will best prepare our students for what’s coming next? Across our college, students benefit from project-based learning, whether they are designing solutions to an engineering problem or tackling an open-ended scientific problem.

In civil, electrical and mechanical engineering, as well as computer science, we work with advisory boards made up of industry leaders, many of whom are alumni of our college. By engaging with these professionals, we continue to refine our curriculum, both academically and in terms of professional development. Engineering, computer science and environmental science majors convert theory into reality with course-based projects, and they spend their senior year solving a challenge assigned by an industry partner.

In a similar way, we provide our science and math majors with research experiences that prepare them for graduate school. Our lab-based science courses require science majors to design and perform their own experiments. Upper-level students engage with faculty researchers in unique lab-intensive courses.

Students who excel at research are often invited to join the labs of faculty members who are investigating contemporary problems in science and mathematics.

I still marvel at the Painted Hills and the forces that shaped them. And I continue to marvel at the achievements of our students as they mature and become young professionals under the mentorship of capable and caring faculty members. I am proud to be leading a college that is doing such a good job forming young men and women who graduate ready for the next step in their chosen profession.

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

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

2019

SEATTLE UNIVERSITY 901 12th Ave PO Box 222000 Seattle, WA 98122

PROJECTS JOIN US! PROJECTS DAY: June 7, Noon-6:00 PM

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

206-296-5500

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

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