CAPSTON
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NGINEER S PR I N G /// 20 1 9
Vicki Hollub found her purpose early. She joined Occidental Petroleum upon graduation and worked her way to the top, becoming the first female CEO of a major U.S. oil and gas company.
FEATURES ENGINEERING FIRST-CLASS FACILITIES
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LEGENDARY LEGACY
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DEVELOPING EXPERIENCED ENGINEERS
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FROM ATHLETE TO ACCREDITED
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H.M. Comer Hall renovated to one-stop shop for students
Young alumna gives back
UA’s Co-op and Career Center merge under Division of Student Life
UA alumna returns to newly accredited program as faculty
DEPARTMENTS SURVEYING THE COLLEGE
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Noteworthy News and Research
BY THE NUMBERS
Events from Around the College
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Items of Interest to Capstone Engineers & Computer Scientists
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Stats from the College of Engineering
CAPSTONE CURRENTS
ALUMNI DYNAMICS
BITS & BYTES
The College from Outside
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41
Dear Alumni and Friends, In August 2018, we officially reopened H.M. Comer Hall as the gateway to The University of Alabama College of Engineering. H.M. Comer Hall has been a critical part of UA’s College of Engineering since it opened in 1962 as the Mineral Industries Building. Eventually, the name was changed to H.M. Comer Hall after Hugh Moss Comer, the son of Gov. Braxton Bragg Comer, a Birmingham industrialist who served as the first chairman of the Greater University Development Campaign. Renovations to the building began in February 2017 and were completed in August 2018. The budget for the project was $22 million with plans that included a new west-side entrance, and exterior to match adjacent buildings and updated interior systems. With the extensive renovations complete, H.M. Comer Hall is now the home of the College of Engineering’s administration, including offices for all seven academic departments, the Dean’s Office, the Tom and Carol Patterson Welcome Center, the ACIPCO Engineering Career Development Center, and the Brasfield & Gorrie Engineering Advising Center. It is truly the entry to the College, and a one-stop shop for students. Whether it’s prospective students looking to tour the College, current students seeking advising for class registration, or upcoming graduates looking to apply for jobs, H.M. Comer will be the one location engineering students visit to have all their needs met. I am eager to see the positive changes to come with this renovation. Our faculty in the College of Engineering is a dedicated and talented group of people, and we have a fantastic base of alumni who are passionate about the development and education of young people. We look forward to the opportunity to reach our goals for the future through the updated H.M. Comer Hall, and are proud of the commitment we have seen from our faculty, alumni and industry partners as they have come together on the project. Most importantly, I would like to personally thank our donors for their generous contributions: • • • • • • • •
American Cast Iron Pipe Company Brasfield & Gorrie William P. and Robin B. Buckelew The 2017-2018 Capstone Engineering Society Board of Directors Dynetics Eastman Chemical Company Tom D. and Myra B. Kilgore Kristin M. Marczak
• • • • • •
Leroy McAbee Sr. Pierce H. Norton II and Debbie S. Norton Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa, Inc. Thomas L. and Carolyn L. Patterson Riley D. Wicker Jr. and Amy D. Wicker And many others who helped make this project possible
We can’t wait to have you back on campus to see this new portal to The University of Alabama College of Engineering.
Dr. Charles L. Karr Dean
CAPSTONE ENGINEERING SOCIETY 205-348-2452 R. Anthony McLain, Chair, Board of Directors • Charles L. Karr, Ph.D., Dean, College of Engineering • Nancy Holmes, Manager, Capstone Engineering Society and Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement • Alana Norris, Editor • Gillian Castro and Alana Norris, Writers • Issue No. 57 • Capstone Engineer is published in the spring and fall by the Capstone Engineering Society • Kaly Glass, Designer • Alana Norris, Proofreader • Jeff Hanson, Bryan Hester, Zach Riggins, Matthew Wood, Photography • Address correspondence to the editor: The University of Alabama, Capstone Engineering Society, College of Engineering, Box 870200, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0200 • Visit the College of Engineering website at www.eng.ua.edu • The University of Alabama is an equal-opportunity educational institution/employer. MC9273
SURVEYING THE COLLEGE Noteworthy news and research from UA Engineering
UA BUILDING INNOVATIVE RADARS TO HELP FLOOD, DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
UA researchers, with assistance from colleagues at the University of Kansas, will develop ultra-wideband, or UWB, radars for aircraft to begin field testing in the spring of 2019. UWB radar operates over a large bandwidth to penetrate deep into snow and soil, as opposed to commercial radios or satellites that use microwave frequencies with large antennas
Researchers at The
to transmit over longer distances.
University of Alabama will lead a project to develop
The proposed radar will image below the aircraft and on the
and deploy radars that
sides, allowing it to view a larger swath of earth.
obtain information about
Over the longer term, the UWB radars will be made smaller
snow and soil moisture to help manage the nation’s water resources.
and integrated with sensors operating on other parts of the Dr. Prasad Gogineni
The project is funded through a $6 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, in partnership with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, or UCAR. It includes $5 million for the University and $1 million for UCAR to establish new capabilities to enable the National Water Model, the nation’s first-ever continental-scale hydrologic prediction system operated by NOAA’s National Water Center, located on the UA campus. Faculty, students and staff with the UA Remote Sensing Center, part of the Alabama Water Institute, will lead the development of radars capable of high-resolution measurements from radar fixed to airplanes flying at medium and high altitudes. Dr. Prasad Gogineni, the Cudworth Professor of Engineering at UA and an internationally recognized expert in the field of remote sensing, directs the center established by UA trustees in 2017. Precise measurements of snow depth and water in the soil can help those who manage water resources, such as reservoirs, and officials who prepare and manage for flood or drought events, Gogineni said. Researchers with UCAR and NOAA will model and analyze the data. As part of its mission, the National Water Center models and forecasts flood and droughts, and data from the radar imaging developed by UA will improve those forecasts, Gogineni said.
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electromagnetic spectrum to provide high-resolution, finescale imaging over large areas. The system should be able to image snow as thin as 3 centimeters to as thick as 2 meters from high altitudes. Funding will support new technical and administrative support staff for the Remote Sensing Center along with providing leading-edge technological research to a post-doctoral researcher, 15 graduate students and 15 undergraduate students.
RESEARCHER WINS NSF AWARD TO STUDY DORMANCY IN METASTATIC CANCER Metastatic breast cancer cells lodging in the brain may rest in a sleep mode before awakened to wreak havoc, but the reasons why the cells stay dormant and later become active is not fully understood. With funding from a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a groundbreaking bioengineering project at The University of Alabama will engineer environments that mimic conditions in the brain to gain insight into this process in metastatic breast cancer. Dr. Shreyas S. Rao, the Reichhold-Shumaker Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, said not much is known about how these cells can stay dormant in the brain and wake up at a later time and result in recurrence. If they understand the mechanisms, he said they can potentially develop therapeutic approaches that essentially target these cells.
SURVEYING THE COLLEGE There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer, or stage IV
The Faculty Early Career Development, or CAREER,
breast cancer. The five-year relative survival rate for patients is
Program is a foundation-wide activity that offers NSF’s most
about 22 percent, according to the American Cancer Society.
prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have
Metastatic breast cancer cells travel primarily to the lungs, liver, bones or the brain, but each organ offers these cells a different environment, meaning understanding the process in
the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.
one organ does not translate to another. For the study, Rao and his students are developing a 3D experimental model of dormancy in brain metastatic breast cancer cells using hydrogels that can mimic certain aspects of the brain tissue. These hydrogels are created using hyaluronic acid, a major component of the brain environment, and will allow the team to test whether biophysical, biochemical and cellular cues regulate the dormancy of breast cancer cells that have metastasized to the brain.
PRINTING A MILITARY ADVANTAGE: UA DRIVING MILITARY IN PROJECT TO RECYCLE SCRAP METAL INTO 3D PRINTED PARTS When a metal part of a machine breaks at a military base in the field, replacing it comes through supply convoys or in the on-site machine shop. The former is risky, while the latter takes a lot of energy and time. Dr. Brian Jordon, associate professor of mechanical engineering at The University of Alabama, said deciding what to do with scrap metal left abroad is an issue. The options, he said, are either to give it to locals or pay to get it out. But what if scrap metal from Forward Operating Bases, as they are called, could be recycled through 3D printing, using the military’s own waste to repair equipment needed by soldiers? A project at UA attempts to show this is possible. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, UA researchers are examining how a new 3D printing technology that prints metal parts easily and quickly using most any metal available could be used at Forward Operating Bases. Specifically, the research will use discarded metal chips from on-base machine shops along with damaged aluminum airfield matting used in establishing temporary runways. Dr. Paul
Akshay Narkhede, a graduate student in chemical and biological engineering, makes hydrogels in Rao’s lab that can mimic aspects of the brain environment.
Allison, UA assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is leading the project. With this technology, he said the scrap metal can be used to repair battle-damaged equipment or to use the battle-damaged material to fabricate new components.
Rao and his students will engineer brain tissue mimicking
In addition to its expertise in the area, UA was selected for
environments incorporating signals they believe may play a
the project because the UA College of Engineering is the first
role in cancer dormancy such as stiffness of the tissue, the
university in the world to have an entirely new type of additive
presence of certain biomolecules and native cells in the brain.
manufacturing machine produced by the MELD Manufacturing
The researchers want to find what combinations of signals
Corp., a spin-off of technology developed by Aeroprobe Corp.
keep the cells dormant, what wakes them up, and what makes this switch happen. The grant will also cover an educational component that
The MELD B8 machine at UA uses a type of 3D printing called Additive Friction Stir Deposition, which spins, or “stirs,” metallic powder or rod feedstock to heat and plastically
will give four cohorts of six high school students and three
deform it, without melting, depositing layers of the metal on
high school teachers from the state’s economically challenged
top of each other. This SERDP project compresses scrap metal
Black Belt region the opportunity to learn and work in Rao’s
into rods that are fed into the machine and then heated and
lab for four days during summer over the course of the grant.
stirred for printing.
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Materials science graduate student Brett Tucker, center, discusses the printing process with Drs. Brian Jordon, left, and Paul Allison.
With the MELD printer, the metal stays a solid, avoiding
to support further developing the technology. Ultimately,
the issues with melting metal such as bubbling, shrinking
the project is designed to give the military confidence this
and cracking. Dr. Luke Brewer, a UA associate professor of
technology can help soldiers in the battlefield.
metallurgical and materials engineering, who is also working on the project, said it’s malleable but not molten. New parts can be printed right on top of an existing metal component because the MELD printer has smoothed the metal to bond. Instead of scrapping a whole casting, Allison said it is possible to work over the defect and add the new material. The printer does not have the spatial resolution of other methods of printing metal, but it is much faster and can use many different metals. Unlike other metal printing technology, the MELD printer does not use lasers and can print without grinding the metal into powder, two processes difficult to carry out near battlefields. The professors and students will characterize printed metal from the atomic- to the macro-level with powerful microscopes, test the metal’s mechanical properties and also create computer simulations of the printing process to improve it. Jordon said the team needs to show how well the part printed in theater will work so the military can have the data
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PREDICTING VIEW: PROJECT CREATES HIGHER QUALITY IMMERSIVE INTERNET VIDEOS WITHOUT LAG IN STREAMING Videos that let users see 360-degrees around a fixed point are an immersive experience that make the user feel like they are actually standing there looking at the entire setting around them. At its most basic level, a 360-degree video is data sent over the wires and cell towers of the internet to our devices. But, a 360-degree video is a vast amount of data. In fact, it is difficult at the rate data travels over computer networks, called bandwidth, for the entire high-quality video to arrive perfectly at the outset, said Dr. Jacob Chakareski, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at The University of Alabama. As the user views the video sphere, there is often a lag between what comes from the internet and what the user wants to see. In virtual reality and augmented reality formats,
SURVEYING THE COLLEGE
Ridvan Aksu, a graduate student in electrical and computer engineering, demonstrates using a 360-degree video on a virtual reality headset.
this lag can cause motion sickness as viewers’ brains and eyes move faster than the video can load, or stream, off the internet. In his lab, Chakareski is developing a method to smooth this lag by predicting where users will look. This process sends a smaller, high-quality spatial segment of the 360-degree video panorama for the areas likely to be viewed and a low-quality version for the parts of the video unlikely to be navigated by the user. He said this technique prevents motion sickness and enhances the quality of the immersion experience for the user. The work received the attention of Adobe, which gave Chakareski the Data Science Research Award in fall 2017 and invited him to its Digital Experience Research Symposium at the company’s headquarters near Silicon Valley in September 2018. Currently, gaming, entertainment, education and training are the main applications for virtual or augmented reality (VR/ AR), but it is anticipated that other industries will adopt the technology. Environmental and weather sciences, disaster relief, transportation, search and rescue, and remote sensing for a range of applications are potential adopters. Expanding the use of 360-degree video will require overcoming the delay and insufficient network bandwidth when streaming to a VR headset, especially in the wireless setting, he said.
Sending the whole video at once does not work well because network bandwidth, which can vary widely depending on a host of factors, means it arrives piecemeal. This creates an excessive lag, even at multiple seconds in length, between what the user wants to view and what is onscreen. Also, the problem of insufficient network bandwidth is compounded because data is sent, but not used, he said. Chakareski is creating intelligent methods to separate and stream the 360-degree video content, only sending highquality video where the user looks at the moment and sending the rest of the video in a low-quality format. This is achieved via a rigorous analysis of the required data rate across the 360-degree video panorama to maximize the delivered video quality, while meeting the present network bandwidth limitations. The area sent in high quality is what the user sees plus a border area around the view. Chakareski and his students built machine learning software that uses data from experiments with users viewing 360-degree videos on VR headsets. It can accurately predict where a user is likely to turn to view the video panorama next, sending only that spatial slice of the video in high quality. The streaming of the video is dynamically adapting to the user’s head movements, and, even if a user strays from the
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prediction, a low-quality version of the remaining portions
In addition, they will
of the video panorama is always available. Since that low-
merge these different
quality video uses less data, the navigation experience is
observations with model
more seamless for the user, reducing the chance for motion
outputs through an
sickness from lag, according to Chakareski’s work.
innovative approach
In other words, it is better to see a slightly lower quality video immediately than for the mind to wait for a clear video to load. The method shows a 50 percent savings in data sent to the user and noticeable improvement in experienced visual quality, while also providing considerable reduction in lag, which further enhances the immersion quality of experience for the user.
called data assimilation to reduce uncertainties and ultimately improve drought monitoring and prediction. He added that his team’s research findings and products will be shared with the NOAA
UA PROFESSOR TO ADVANCE U.S. DROUGHT MONITORING AND PREDICTION Drought is among the costliest natural hazards in the
National Integrated Drought
Dr. Hamid Moradkhani
Information System program to improve its ability to help stakeholders better monitor, forecast, plan for and cope with the impacts of drought.
United States. Regions across the country have felt its wrath this summer. Due to population growth and climate variation, there is a growing concern that droughts have intensified, threatening the sustainability of our water resources. Communities around the United States need accurate drought monitoring and prediction information to prepare for impacts, but currently available products only partially account for errors and uncertainties in observations and modeling, limiting their reliability. When uncertainty is accounted for, the focus is primarily on precipitation even though drought is also characterized by other environmental variables such as soil moisture. With a new $473,000 grant from the NOAA Research MAPP Program, Dr. Hamid Moradkhani, the Alton N. Scott Professor of Engineering at The University of Alabama, will tackle these issues and help improve NOAA scientists’ ability to predict when and where our country is most at risk of drought. To mitigate drought vulnerability, Moradkhani, who also is executive director of the UA Center for Complex Hydrosystems Research, said accurate land surface data is essential to characterize drought fully. Thus, he and his collaborators at the NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service will use a combination of available satellite soil moisture and evapotranspiration (evaporation from the soil and plant surfaces) observations,
UA ENGINEERS DEVELOP SOLUTION TO HEATRELATED VEHICLE DEATHS An average of 37 children die each year in the United States from being trapped inside a hot car, and engineering researchers at The University of Alabama have crafted a solution to prevent these tragic accidents. A patent-pending device can alert a cellphone when a human or animal is inside a parked vehicle getting too hot. It was developed by UA students from a concept devised by Dr. Timothy A. Haskew, department head and UA professor of electrical and computer engineering. The device monitors carbon dioxide levels from human or animal breath inside a vehicle along with temperature and car movement, using computer algorithms to determine when to alert a cellphone. The technology was derived from Haskew’s background in developing methods to detect harmful levels of carbon monoxide in gas-powered electric generators for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which can become deadly if the generator runs in a confined space. With this project, a generator would not be turned off, but instead the device could alert a person of danger. Haskew asked Dr. Edward Sazonov, a UA professor of
as well as other land surface observations like albedo (the
electrical and computer engineering who has a background in
reflectivity of the earth’s surface and vegetation), vegetation
sensor technology, to help create the computer programming,
and land surface temperature.
or algorithm, necessary to make the device work.
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Dr. Timothy Haskew prepares an initial prototype of a device that monitors carbon dioxide levels and temperature inside vehicles as well as whether the engine is running. BELOW: The UA-engineered device sends alerts to a cellphone if it detects a person or pet is in a vehicle that is off.
Then, Haskew handed the idea and a system diagram to a group of students who used their senior year to develop the device. Using themselves and family, they collected data, CO2 levels and the temperature inside a car with and without people. With that data, they programmed a sensor to detect the gas and coupled it with a temperature gauge and an accelerometer to detect small vibrations that come from the engine. When it senses the car is off, it begins monitoring heat and CO2 levels. An alert is sent to a cellphone when quickly rising heat and a buildup of the gas are present. Bluetooth technology in the device allows users to program the cellphones to send a text message. The UA Office for Technology Transfer is marketing the intellectual property, which is the device and signal processing necessary to tie in the sensors and alert system. Haskew and Sazonov are listed as inventors on the patent.
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FACULTY
ACCOLADES
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING PROFESSOR RECEIVES FULBRIGHT AWARD One College of Engineering professor and two other University of Alabama faculty members will receive Fulbright Awards this year. Dr. Steven Jones, professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, and Dr. Angela D. Benson, professor of instructional technology, will receive Fulbright Teaching/Research Scholar Awards to universities in Namibia. Dr. Catherine M. Roach, professor in New College in cultural studies and gender studies, will receive a Fulbright Specialist Award to a university in Greece. Jones will be a Visiting Scholar at the Namibia University of Science and Technology in the capital, Windhoek, from January to December 2019. The focus of his research is to develop a collaboration addressing the urgent public health problem of road crashes in Namibia. Jones will develop and
Dr. Steven Jones
teach a course on traffic safety that focuses on traditional engineering countermeasures and strategies to address the human-centered nature (behavior and culture) of crashes. Additionally, he will work with faculty, students and administrators to teach a course called “The Business of Research.” This course is intended to develop soft research skills aimed at making future Namibian researchers more effective at engaging international networks, obtaining funding and managing projects. The Core Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program provides awards through an annual competition to more than 800 U.S. scholars and professionals to lecture or conduct research at institutions in more than 125 countries in a wide variety of academic disciplines. Program duration ranges from a semester to a year.
THOMPSON NAMED UNIVERSITY RESEARCH PROFESSOR The University of Alabama’s Board of Trustees named Dr. Gregory B. Thompson, professor in the department of metallurgical and materials engineering, a University Research Professor in May. Thompson’s research emphasis is in the thermodynamics and mechanisms of phase transformations and their effect on microstructure. Trustees can appoint the title in recognition of extraordinary, internationally recognized scholarly attainment in an individual field. Thompson serves as director of UA’s Central Analytical Facility and director of the materials science doctoral program. He joined the University as an assistant professor in 2003, received tenure and a promotion to associate professor in 2008, and became a full professor in 2012. During his time at UA, Thompson gained global recognition as a leader in the study of the
Dr. Gregory B. Thompson
mechanisms that underlie structural phase transitions in materials. His research interests include phase transformations, deformation mechanisms and analytical microscopy. He has studied a variety of materials including magnetic thin films, shape memory metal alloys, ultra-high temperature ceramics and, most recently, ceramic fiber processing. He has also participated in extended research visits at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, the Air Force Research Laboratory in Ohio and Dynetics in Alabama. In 2012, Thompson served as organizing chair for the 53rd International Field Emission Symposium that brought more than 170 scientists from 15 countries to campus for a weeklong conference on atom probe and high field nanosciences.
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SURVEYING THE COLLEGE Thompson has received more than $12 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, NASA, various U.S. Department of Defense agencies, national laboratories and industrial partners. He has authored or co-authored more than 170 journal articles, conference proceedings and extended abstracts along with three book chapters. He has mentored nearly 20 master’s thesis students and 20 doctoral students to graduation since joining UA. He has served as the chair for the Phase Transformation Committee of The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, secretary for the International Field Emission Society, and is an active member of the Microscopy Society of America. Thompson was given both the TMS Young Leader and the National Science Foundation CAREER awards in 2005. In 2007, he received an honorable mention for the TMS Young Faculty Fellow award, and a year later, he was named the TMS Japanese Institute of Metals Young Leader International Scholar. Thompson was recognized as a Brimacombe Medalist for his research in multiscale materials characterization from TMS in 2017. Thompson has been honored with the Hackney Leadership Award by the College of Engineering in 2018 and the UA BlackmonMoody Outstanding Professor Award in 2014. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from Brigham Young University in 1996 and went on to earn both his master’s and doctorate in materials science and engineering from Ohio State University in 1998 and 2003, respectively.
STUDENT
ACCOLADES
UA STUDENTS WIN REGIONAL ROBOTICS COMPETITION The University of Alabama Robotics team became the first UA robotics team in school history to win the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers SoutheastCon Hardware Competition. Seven electrical and computer engineering students represented UA at the 2018 regional conference held in April 2018 in Tampa, Florida. The UA team competed against 50 teams from across the southeast. Over the past eight years the UA team has consistently placed in the top 10, and this is the first year UA won the entire competition. The goal of this year’s pirate themed competition was for each team to build an autonomous robot capable of solving a series of tasks. The robots had to navigate through a pirate ship while completing tasks like turning a wheel to raise a pirate flag, going down a plank while avoiding water, and loading a treasure chest on the robot and returning it back to the ship. The competition was set up in three rounds with the teams having to complete the tasks in under five minutes. Every team competed in the first two rounds, and then the top four teams at the end of round two competed in a final round to decide the winner. The UA team completed each round in under 46 seconds. Dr. Kenneth Ricks, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, advised the team. Seven electrical and computer engineering students competed: •
Will Bounds, senior from Delmar, Maryland.
•
Patrick Dunleavy, junior from Western Springs, Illinois.
•
Hunter Foster, senior from Birmingham, Alabama.
•
Tommy Gonsewski, senior from Eufaula, Alabama.
•
Nick Hohs, senior from Kenosha, Wisconsin.
•
Nick Rodriguez, senior from Atlanta, Georgia.
•
Daniel Zahn, senior from Raleigh, North Carolina.
UA engineering students Daniel Zahn, Tommy Gonsewski, Nick Hohs, William Bounds, Nick Rodriquez, Hunter Foster and Pat Dunleavy hold their first-place trophy after the IEEE SoutheastCon Hardware Competition in Tampa, Florida.
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UA METALLURGICAL AND MATERIAL ENGINEERING STUDENTS WIN CASTING COMPETITION Two teams of nine metallurgical and material engineering students took first and second place in a local casting competition in April 2018. The American Foundry Society Casting Competition consisted of making a small-scale version of Birmingham’s Vulcan statue and a technical presentation of their work. The teams were judged on resemblance to the statue, overall use of the casting process, use of casting principles, use of engineering tools, creativity, quality and presentation. The students used bronze and A356 aluminum alloys to cast the replica statues in the MTE metalcasting lab. The process took about two weeks to complete. The first and second place finishes
Dr. Laurentiu Nastac, Molly Wardlow, Morgan Ross, Maegan DeNardo, and Dr. Ramana Reddy, ACIPCO professor of metallurgical and materials engineering at UA, attended the Birmingham chapter of the American Foundry Society’s Casting Competition in April 2018.
earned the student teams a cash reward, which the students plan to use for travel to technical conferences. In addition to both teams placing in the top two at the competition, each student also received the local Foundry Educational Foundation Scholarship. Students must be involved in metalcasting activities, registered to the FEF, nominated by their school’s FEF key professor and approved by the organization to receive this scholarship. The total value of the FEF scholarships and the AFS awards received was $10,000. The competition was organized by the AFS Birmingham chapter. The UA students competed with students from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Laurentiu Nastac, UA associate professor of metallurgical and materials engineering, advised the students. The UA metallurgical and material engineering students that competed were: •
Michael Amling, junior from Valparaiso, Indiana.
•
Maegan DeNardo, junior from Monroe, Louisiana.
•
Thomas Foster, junior from Cumming, Georgia.
•
Aaron Kaboff, junior from Vernon Hills, Illinois.
•
Jack Little, junior from Pasadena, California.
•
Kristen Marrapodi, junior from Montgomery, New Jersey.
•
Morgan Ross, junior from Meridian, Mississippi.
•
Kathryn Stoettner, junior from Western Springs, Illinois.
•
Molly Wardlow, junior from Carmel, Indiana.
UA ENGINEERING STUDENTS PLACE IN INTERNATIONAL ANTENNA CONTEST FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR For the second consecutive year, a team of engineering students at The University of Alabama placed in the international Student Antenna Design Contest held by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Antenna and Propagation Society. The UA team, made up of four electrical and computer engineering students, placed second in the international contest held July 8-13, 2018, in Boston. In 2017, the team came in first place at the contest held in San Diego. The UA team was one of six teams selected as finalists to design an antenna system to sound wireless channels and locate radio signals. The finalists included teams from Michigan State University, Colorado School of Mines, two teams from Greece and a team from Spain. Each team received stipends to help develop the antenna system and travel to the annual symposium.
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SURVEYING THE COLLEGE The UA team was comprised of three undergraduate students, a graduate student and faculty adviser Dr. Yang-Ki Hong, the E. A. Larry Drummond Endowed Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the UA College of Engineering. The challenge this year was to create a portable device to locate in real time a hidden radio transmitter at the frequency of a common wi-fi router, as opposed to the lower frequency used by amateur radio enthusiasts in transmitter hunting contests. The possible applications, especially if tuned to higher frequencies used by mobile phones, include search-and-rescue operations and wildlife management. The compact, low-cost device designed by the UA engineering students uses a four-pronged antenna system to create a Doppler shift to discern changes in the signal that can help reveal the location of the
Dr. Yang-Ki Hong, foreground, discusses the antenna system in his lab with team members, from left, Hoyun Jay Won, Leo Vanderburgh and Jonathan Platt.
source of a radio signal. As stipulated in the contest rules, the device also uses channel sounding technology to sift out the signal’s location around obstacles such as walls in a building that can block or create multiple ways for a signal to travel. The next step for the UA team will be to publish their findings and file for a patent. The team will also prepare for the upcoming year where they will present their work and compete at the 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation with professors and doctoral students rather than other college teams. The electrical and computer engineering students on the team include: •
Hoyun Jay Won, graduate student from Incheon, South Korea.
•
Katelyn Isbell, undergraduate student from Chesapeake, Virginia.
•
Leo Vanderburgh, undergraduate student from Dayton, Ohio.
•
Jonathan Platt, undergraduate student from Lumberton, New Jersey.
UA ENGINEERING STUDENTS PLACE IN BIG BEAM COMPETITION University of Alabama student team, Alabeama, placed third in the 2018 Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute Big Beam Competition. The objective of the national competition was to design, fabricate and test a precast and prestressed concrete beam to span 20 feet and to support at least 32,000 pounds and fail, or break, before reaching 39,000 pounds. The competition also required a video component to be submitted by each team documenting their progress and results. The team worked with industry partner Gate Precast in Monroeville, Alabama, to create the beam used in competition that earned them third out of 20 teams nationally. This is a significant improvement from the previous years’ results of ninth and seventh.
Civil, construction and environmental engineering students Sumedh Sharma, Emily Gould, Daniel Valentim, Gabi Willis and assistant professor Dr. Sriram Aaleti test their beam in a lab on campus before competition.
In addition to the real-world hands-on experience gained through this process, the student team received $1,500 for the third-place finish. Several UA team members intend to participate in next year’s competition.
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Alabeama consists of four civil, construction and environmental engineering students: •
Emily Gould, master’s student from Charleston, West Virginia, graduating in 2019.
•
Daniel Valentim, doctoral student from Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil, graduating in 2021.
•
Sumedh Sharma, doctoral student from Kathmandu, Nepal, graduating in 2020.
•
Gabrielle Willis, undergraduate student from Jacksonville, Florida, graduated in 2018.
•
The team’s advisor is Dr. Sriram Aaleti, assistant professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering.
UA CHEM-E CAR TEAM PLACES IN REGIONAL COMPETITION The University of Alabama’s Chem-E Car Team received the Creativity Award and placed third in the Poster Competition at a professional organization conference, marking the best placement in the team’s history. The American Institute of Chemical Engineering Southern Regional Conference was held in April 2018, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The AIChE student conference included networking opportunities, presentations on cutting edge research and the Chem-E Car Competition. For the competition, teams had to design a car that starts and stops as a result of a chemical reaction. The UA team’s car, called Chem-E Chimes, was a pressure-operated vehicle that ran on the reaction between potassium carbonate and citric acid. The reaction produced carbon dioxide that was then fed to the engine and powered the car. The amount of carbon dioxide could be varied to achieve different distances. Chem-E Chimes moves past the starting line to the target goal during the Chem-E Car Competition at the American Institute of Chemical Engineering Southern Regional Conference.
The UA Chem-E Car team placed third in the first portion of competition, which was a poster contest. The teams were judged on their knowledge of the car, the safety of the car, the quality of their poster and their ability to explain the vehicle to the public. Each team had to score at least 70 percent during this portion to continue competing. After receiving a qualifying score, the UA team advanced to the next level of
competition where they were randomly assigned an amount of water to transport and a distance for the car to travel in a twominute period. Out of 19 teams, the UA team finished seventh and narrowly missed a chance to compete at the national conference. The team earned the best results in Alabama Chem-E Car history. The team also received the 2018 SRC Chem-E Car Creativity Award for the safety of the car, the decisions made to overcome backpressure issues, and the recognition of the difficulty in designing a pressure-operated system that ran reliably. The four UA chemical and biological engineering students who participated in this year’s competition: •
Ryan Brightwell, sophomore president from Columbia, Missouri.
•
Jeremy Server, sophomore vice president from Evansville, Indiana.
•
Stephanie Mitchell, senior treasurer from Dearborn, Michigan.
•
Kaitlyn Grady, freshman from Elmhurst, Illinois.
•
Other freshmen chemical and biological engineering majors on this year’s team were Greg Shank, Hannah Slater and Sydney Kaiser.
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UA Chem-E Car team members Jeremy Server, Kaitlyn Grady, Stephanie Mitchell and Ryan Brightwell placed third in the poster contest and seventh overall in the Chem-E Car Competition held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in April 2018.
SURVEYING THE COLLEGE UA ENGINEERING STUDENTS CHOSEN TO PARTICIPATE IN TESTING AT JOHNSON SPACE CENTER A team of six University of Alabama mechanical engineering students were selected to participate in testing at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The students were selected by NASA, for the third consecutive year, based on a competitive proposal submitted for the Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experimental Design Teams. This program challenges undergraduate students to design, build and test a tool or device that fixes a current space exploration challenge.
UA engineering students Brett Lewter, Meichelle South, Katie Lambert, Brandan Banker, with Emily Cox a Neutral Buoyancy Lab Diver, Coleman Wlodarski, and holes to the side of the International Space Station. The device was Keating Mefford, and Dr. Beth Todd participated in the tested in the NASA Johnson Space Center Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory NASA Micro-g NeXT challenge in the Neutral Buoyancy in June 2018, by a diver taking direction from the student team. Lab at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. UA’s proposal was to create a device to detect and repair damage
The tool consisted of two pieces, a handle and a guide. The third piece, a plug, was placed into the guide, and the handle was used to push it into the hole. Five of the six mechanical engineering students that participated in this testing were 2018 graduates: •
Meichelle South of Scottsdale, Arizona.
•
Keating Mefford of Brownsboro, Alabama.
•
Austin Brett Lewter of Athens, Alabama.
•
John Coleman Wlodarski of Huntsville, Alabama.
•
Brandan Banker of Mesa, Arizona.
•
Katie Lambert, senior, of Demopolis, Alabama.
•
The team worked with Dr. Beth Todd, UA mechanical engineering associate professor, and Dr. Sundar Krishnan, UA mechanical engineering associate professor, on this project for capstone design.
TWO UA STUDENTS RECEIVE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SCHOLARSHIP The U.S. Department of Defense awarded two University of Alabama mechanical engineering graduate students a scholarship that covers their full tuition and secures them a job after graduation. Olivia Miller and George Stubblefield were awarded the Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation, or SMART, Scholarship for Service. The program, through the DOD, funds undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a STEM — science, technology, engineering or math — Olivia Miller
degree with an interest in working for the government after graduation. The prestigious scholarship includes full tuition and education related fees, health insurance, summer research internships, mentoring and guaranteed employment at a DOD facility after graduation. Miller and Stubblefield were encouraged to apply by Dr. Paul Allison, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at UA, who is working with the students on their research. Miller will work at the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Alabama. She said the USASMDC has a need for alloys that protect against corrosion because many of its projects are located in corrosive environments, which falls in line with her research. She will receive funding for a year and a half, which is the projected time necessary to finish her master’s degree.
George Stubblefield
Stubblefield is working with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He will receive funding for three years.
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COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ETHNICITY
2018-19 BY THE NUMBERS UA VS. COE ENROLLMENT
Asian
2%
Black/African-American
7%
Hispanic/Latino/Latina
4%
International
3%
Other/Undesignated
9%
White
75%
COE Enrollment
UA Enrollment
38,392
6,050
COE is 16% of UA Student Population
COE STUDENT ENROLLMENT COE Graduate 435
BY PROGRAM
(UNDERGRADUATE ONLY) 9% AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
COE Undergraduate 5,615
2% ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING 16% CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
10% CIVIL ENGINEERING 1% CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING
COE GENDER
14% COMPUTER SCIENCE
11% ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING 2% ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
Female 23% 31% MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Male 77%
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1% METALLURGICAL & MATERIALS ENGINEERING 3% UNDESIGNATED
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SURVEYING THE COLLEGE
DRIVING INNOVATION HONORS COLLEGE STUDENTS
9,410
2,924
2018
9,782
3,058
2017
2,778
2016
7,731
2,015
2014
1,720
2013 2012
1,362 0
6,965 6,374
ENROLLMENT SCHOLARS
5500
8,722
2,445
2015
UNDERGRADUATES ON MERIT-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS
There are more Honors students in engineering than in any other single college at The University of Alabama.
5000
TOTAL
4500
ENGINEERING
5,672 4,903
4000 3500
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000
3000
NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARS IN BACHELOR’S PROGRAM
2500
300
2000 1500
250
1000
200
500
150
0
12-13
100
13-14
14-15
15-16
16-17
17-18
18-19
50 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
THE AVERAGE STARTING
SALARY FOR DEC. 2017 COLLEGE GRADUATES
$62,899
30
MEAN ACT SCORE FOR ENTERING FRESHMEN
29.9
27.0
25 SINCE 2006,
CAPSTONE ENGINEERING SOCIETY (CES) HAS AW ARDED
$599,650 IN SCHOLARSHIPS
ENGINEERING
20
UA AVERAGE
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
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2015 2016
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CAPSTONE CURRENTS Events from around the College
Alabama Summer Computer Camps
Student Introduction to Engineering (SITE)
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING HOSTS SUMMER CAMPS Alabama Summer Computer Camps Hosted by the computer science department and taught by UA faculty, students in this series of computer science camps were introduced to multiple topics within the discipline while learning to program a computer in several exciting contexts. The computer science camps encouraged self-exploration across multiple projects. The middle school camp, held June 18-22, targeted rising seventh through ninth graders. The high school camp, held June 25-28, was offered to incoming sophomores through seniors. The camps were organized by Dr. Jeff Gray, UA computer science professor, with assistance from UA graduate and undergraduate students. To learn more, visit outreach.cs.ua.edu/camps. Student Introduction to Engineering (SITE) Ever wonder what makes bridges capable of withstanding 100-mph winds or why a skyscraper does not collapse during an earthquake? Student Introduction to Engineering, or SITE, a weeklong summer camp for high school students entering the 11th and 12th grades, is designed to help participants discover engineering as a career option. Three separate weeklong sessions were held throughout the month of July with about 40 students in each session. Students attended classes, went on an industrial plant tour and competed in a design contest among other activities. The annual camp was organized by Gregory L. Singleton, UA director of engineering student services, and led by a team of current faculty and students. For more information, visit site.eng.ua.edu.
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Leslee Griggers, UA Early College recruiting specialist, talks with prospective students and parents at E-Day 2018 about the UA Early College program.
High school students visited the metallurgical and materials engineering table at E-Day 2018 held on the Shelby Quad.
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING HOSTS E-DAY TO INSPIRE STUDENTS The University of Alabama College of Engineering was host to more than 1,000 young students for a day dedicated to educating them about the world of STEM. E-Day, the College’s annual open house, was held Oct. 5, 2018. The day consisted of lab tours in several engineering facilities, a resource fair with displays from student organizations and teams and lunch on Shelby Engineering and Science Quad. The student Ambassadors of the College of Engineering, or ACEs, planned and facilitated the event. Blythe Johnston, senior civil engineering student and vice president of events for the ACEs, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, said E-Day shows the student guests what it is like to be an engineering student at UA and helps inspire an interest in STEM. Although the overall goal of the day is to encourage high school students to explore STEM, a big part of the event is to get them excited about the entire college process. Some of the students attending E-Day with their class may not have had the opportunity to visit a college campus otherwise. Johnston wants those students to realize college is accessible. In addition to the College of Engineering student groups and teams participating in E-Day, a number of University departments and resources attended the event including UA Financial Aid, Early College and Honors College.
Prospective students and parents visited the aerospace engineering and mechanics table at E-Day 2018 in October.
Collin Sewell, UA research engineer, shows prospective students the labs in the South Engineering Research Center on E-Day 2018.
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ENGINE FIRST-CLASS FACILITIES H.M. Comer Hall Renovated to One-Stop Shop for Students 17
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By Alana Norris
EERING The new H.M. Comer Hall radiates professionalism
building renovation. “Also, with the level of detail in
and class and is a one-stop shop for students to get all
the building, we are able to really communicate a very
of their engineering needs met in one place.
high level of professionalism that’s associated with
The newly renovated building provides an appropriate entryway into the Shelby Engineering
engineering and computer science.” The building is a comprehensive space for the entire
and Science Quad and has become the portal into
College and not any specific department. Having these
The University of Alabama College of Engineering.
student support offices in the same building is an
From advising to administration, the building houses
advantage, Fridley said, because it is easier to guide
each office students will need to visit throughout their
students to the appropriate offices for their various
college career.
academic needs.
“We have a really nice place for students to come at
“When you’re working with students and you need
a single location,” said Dr. Ken Fridley, senior associate
to refer them to someone else, they are all in the same
dean for administration, who took the lead in the
location,” Fridley said. “It really focuses those support
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H.M. Comer Hall went through 17 months of renovation starting in February 2017 and completing in August 2018. The building was gutted and transformed efficiently in order to open for the Fall 2018 semester.
services for faculty and students in a single location.” UA College of Engineering Dean Chuck Karr said the only thing the Shelby complex lacked was an entryway to the College. By renovating Comer, Karr said that need was addressed and created a showpiece facility the College is proud of having on display. College of Engineering,” Karr said. The two goals of the project were for people who entered the building to recognize that they were at The University of Alabama and that they were at a premier college of engineering. “For us to be able to have, now, that first impression be really what the College deserves in terms of our quality and the scope of our programs, it was really important to get that sooner than later,” Fridley said about the timing of the project. The renovation process started in February 2017. At that time, several offices moved from Comer to a temporary home in Hardaway Hall. The goal was to complete the project by August 2018. “It was very important to the College that we move in prior to the fall semester starting,” Fridley said, adding he was very pleased with how it came together.
in the halls because he feels it clearly communicates the mission and history of the College. Most academic buildings do not necessarily advertise the engineering administrators to make it clear that this college is part of UA. College administrators were inspired by the University’s athletic facilities and worked with the same graphics design company, 49 Degrees, to make this goal a reality. The second goal was to have open spaces that were accessible and not locked behind closed doors. The large foyer and glass walls throughout the building help draw people in to the activity of the College. “We really think the architects, contractors, engineers and interior design teams involved hit it out of the park on this one. They really were very successful,” Fridley said. Walking through the front entrance to H.M. Comer, visitors are greeted by a three-story entryway, the Leroy McAbee Grand Foyer. To the left, the student innovation lab, The Cube, is surrounded by glass walls where all who enter the building can watch innovation at work. The corridor that runs alongside The Cube is the Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa, Inc.
Karr is delighted to have a space students, faculty, staff and alumni can be proud of calling their own, and he believes
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particular, he is especially pleased with the unique signage
institution where they are located, and it was important to
“We wanted to make a statement that you’ve arrived in the
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the new building will be a major benefit to the College. In
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Innovation Hall and displays the name of patent holders who did their research at UA.
To the right of the foyer is the Tom and Carol Patterson Welcome Center. Prospective students visit this area and can receive tours from the College’s ACEs, or Ambassadors to the College of Engineering. Past the welcome center is a 152-seat lecture hall for classes and guest speakers. In front of the lecture hall is the Marczak Student Lounge with tables and a seating area for students to study and relax. The building, and the first floor specifically, is the first line of recruitment where prospective students and faculty will visit and get their initial impression of the school. The second floor centers on student support and alumni relations. Nine faculty offices are located in two small corridors on the south side of the building. The Brasfield & Gorrie Engineering Advising Center is also located on this wing of the building. There are 12 advising offices in addition to the director’s office and a centrally located conference room. In Collegiate Hall, a list of degree programs and student organizations are posted. On the north side of the second floor is the ACIPCO Engineering Career Development Center, which houses the cooperative education and career services offices. Engineering Services and Facilities Management, Financial Services, External Affairs and Development and the Capstone Engineering Society round out the end of Alumni Hall. A display of endowments, outstanding alumni volunteers, CES board members and distinguished engineering fellows are presented on the walls. Administrative and departmental offices are located on the third floor of H.M. Comer. Department heads and administrative assistants for all seven departments have offices on the south side of the third floor. A student corridor called Honors Hall is decorated with the names of former outstanding seniors and student honor societies. The Dean’s suite, conference room and Tom and Myra Kilgore Parlor are all located on Leadership Hall, which is decorated with a timeline of the history of the College. Donor funding from alumni and industry partners made much of the $22 million renovation possible. Fridley said students can see the value of their education when alumni come back and invest in both the College and the current students’ success. “The building as we see it would not have been made possible without their generosity and their commitment to the College,” Fridley said. “We wouldn’t have the building we have now without their support.” Karr said donor support was a major factor in the renovation project as well as in planting roots in the College for years to come.
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Dean Chuck Karr, center, talks to Jon and Madge Noland at the H.M. Comer Grand Gala held in August 2018 to officially open the building.
“It’s critical not just for the financial aspect of it, but
Fridley said the new H.M. Comer Hall has already
it’s critical to have names on facilities — names of really
started to attract prospective students and faculty to UA.
prominent people and great companies and organizations,”
The renovations are one way for the College to keep up
Karr said. “Certainly, we really appreciate the financial
with other universities in recruitment. It’s still a little early
contribution, but more than that, we appreciate the fact
to know if those students will enroll, but he said positive
that these companies are willing to lend their name to the
communication with families visiting campus has already
College of Engineering. That means an awful lot to us.”
begun.
Over the past few years the progression of upgrading and
“The wow factor is significant,” Fridley said. “We’ve really
building engineering facilities led to the Comer renovation.
set a high watermark in terms of that first impression they get
With Comer now complete, Karr is looking at the next piece
when they walk into the college.”
of the puzzle — Hardaway Hall.
From the families’ first stop on their tour at the Patterson
The 1936 building is the oldest engineering facility on
Welcome Center, it is evident that the College is a first-class
campus and houses several faculty offices, labs, student
institution, Fridley said, which was exactly the goal of the
competition teams space and senior design project space.
renovation.
The focus is to now refine those areas over time. “Investing in upgrading that building, from a facilities
“We don’t have to say it,” he said. “The building communicates it.”
standpoint, is our first priority now,” Fridley said.
LEFT: Janice and Dr. Ed Back, civil, construction and environmental engineering department head, talk to Dr. Kevin Whitaker, UA provost for academic affairs, at the H.M. Comer Grand Gala, a grand opening event for the renovated building. RIGHT: UA President Stuart Bell, center, shakes hands with Donald Simpson of KPS Architects and talks with UA College of Engineering Dean Chuck Karr, left, and Dr. Ken Fridley, senior associate dean for administration, at the H.M. Comer Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in September 2018.
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18 -20 17
ering Socie ine ors R ty 20 g oom En irect D
Young alumna gives back
By Gillian Castro
L E G E N D A RY
Legacy
“Giving back to the University is my way of saying thank you to those who went before me and to pay it forward to the next generation of Alabama engineering graduates.”
This quote by University of Alabama College of
“I feel like the poster-child for how to leverage matching
Engineering graduate Kristin Marczak is now memorialized in
funds,” she said. “Company-sponsored matching funds
the new student lounge in H.M. Comer Hall made possible by
programs are so powerful and really help you maximize the
Marczak and the matching funds program of her employer,
impact of your donation dollars in your community.”
Shell Oil Company. As a 2000 graduate of UA’s chemical engineering
With the renovations to College of Engineering facilities and specifically to H.M. Comer, students are able to work and
program, Marczak has seen the growth in the University and
learn in a higher quality atmosphere than before. Marczak
the College over the years and has decided to become a
believes the improvements to the building will lead to overall
lasting part of the change.
advancements in the work put forward by the students.
“I had previously started a scholarship, and for me, that
“The quality of the labs, the creative and innovative spaces
scholarship really resonated with me because that’s how I
that [the College of Engineering] has now, the overall feel
got through school,” Marczak said. “And then I realized that
of the campus is just so different and so amazing,” Marczak
H.M. Comer had also been a pretty integral part of my life
said. “I got to do a tour of some of the labs a couple of
and career. I certainly spent a lot of time in that building in
years ago, and I was so impressed at the kinds of projects
classes and in labs, and I actually had the meeting where I
students are getting to work on now. I think it makes such a
ended up getting my long-term job in that building.”
big difference for people as they enter the workforce to have
The generosity of College of Engineering alumni, like Marczak, help students that are both in-state and out-of-state
that kind of hands-on experience.” When Marczak began working in industry after her
attend The University of Alabama. Marczak, a Florida native,
graduation 18 years ago, she started at Shell’s Norco Refinery
was able to attend the University because of a scholarship
in New Orleans, Louisiana. Since then she has remained
she received through the benevolence of the alumni that
with Shell and is now a business manager at Shell’s Martinez
came before her.
Refinery in the San Francisco Bay area.
When Marczak chose to donate, she did so in the hopes
As a young alumna, Marczak feels it is very humbling to be
that other students would be able to have the same positive
able to give back to the school alongside other successful
experience she had through H.M. Comer, the College and
alumni.
the University. In addition to a solid education, Marczak learned to be a leader and had opportunities at UA that prepared her for a career after school. “I think it’s important for us to continue to foster those
“This year has seen some phenomenal donations by some very notable Alabama grads,” Marczak said. “To be able to be part of that, even on a smaller scale, is just really humbling, and I hope my contributions demonstrate to the
students and to continue to grow good leaders in our
next generation of Alabama alums how accessible giving
community,” Marczak said. “Being able to contribute to the
back can be.”
College of Engineering is one way I get to do that.” Marczak worked with the College of Engineering staff to set up the previously endowed scholarship and the contribution to H.M. Comer using a multi-year donation pledge process.
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DEVELOPING E
Neil Adams, assistant director of the Cooperative Education Program, talks with a student employee in his new office located in the ACIPCO Engineering Career Development Center on the second floor of H.M. Comer Hall.
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EXPERIENCED
ENGINEERS UA’s Co-op and Career Center merge under Division of Student Life By Gillian Castro
Students attend college with the ultimate goal of finding a job after graduation. In order to achieve this goal, they need both a degree and experience, which is where the ACIPCO Engineering Career Development Center becomes an asset. The career development center exists with the main purpose of providing students the tools they need to be successful after graduation. In January 2018, a merger was announced between The University of Alabama’s Career Center and the Cooperative Education and Professional Practice Program. The unification positions these programs to both be part of UA’s Division of Student Life and to create a one-stop shop for students seeking assistance at any stage of their career development. “Our audience is all the same,” said Amy Ratliff, director of the ACIPCO Engineering Career Development Center. “We serve engineering students and employers that are interested in recruiting engineering students for various opportunities. There is a common goal.”
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Kristal Williams, office associate; Amy Ratliff, director; Lara Ellen Locke, coordinator; and Mandi Bitterman, administrative secretary, discuss the Cooperative Education Program in the ACIPCO Engineering Career Development Center team room.
The merger between the Career Center and Co-op was
Whether students are looking for a co-op, an internship
announced after the plans for the new H.M. Comer Hall were
or a full-time position, the new career development center
drawn. To accommodate the union, a wall was removed from
offers a variety of resources for guidance at any level of their
the building’s blueprint to prioritize location convenience
professional career. These resources include assistance with
for students and faculty, which created a larger space for
interviews, networking skills, resume reviews and personality
the newly formed center to be housed. The center was
assessments to determine a career path that is a good fit.
made possible by a donation from American Cast Iron Pipe Company.
To further benefit students with their future career paths, the career development center features interview rooms with
The ACIPCO Engineering Career Development Center
Skype capabilities and two team rooms, the Dynetics Team
is now located on the second floor of the newly renovated
Room and the Eastman Chemical Company Team Room.
H.M. Comer Hall across from the Brasfield & Gorrie Advising
These rooms are available for use by staff and students on a
Center. The move took place in August 2018 when the
daily basis.
building renovations were complete. The new location gives students an easy way to pair advising and academics with their future career plans.
Ratliff suggests starting the process in their freshman or sophomore year. Each co-op requires a three-semester
“It’s all a perfect partnership,” Ratliff said. “You’re here to earn your degree. To earn your degree, you must work with advising to ensure you acquire the classes you need to graduate and get the job you want. You also need experience while you’re in school and that connects back in to [the ACIPCO Engineering Career Development Center] as well.”
29
For students interested in participating in co-op,
commitment to the program. “[When it comes to co-op] be open minded,” Ratliff said. “The biggest lesson that I have learned over the years is that students that come in with an open mind are often pleasantly surprised because they can get offers from employers that they thought they weren’t interested in, and it can turn out to be the best thing.”
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Gail Howell, manager of the Career Center Satellite for Engineering, reviews a resume and cover letter with a student in her office on the second floor of H.M. Comer Hall.
About 1,200 UA students are enrolled in all stages of the co-op program at one time. Those stages consist of students
ACIPCO ENGINEERING CAREER DEVELOPMENT CENTER STAFF:
applying, currently enrolled or those who have already completed their co-op work and are finishing their school requirements. On the employer side of this process, there are about 65-95 employers who participate each year with a full
•
Education Program • •
opportunities within their own workplace to promote professional development. “Employers have the opportunity to mentor students to some extent and to cultivate the corporate environment within a potential employee,” Ratliff said. “They have an
•
have the opportunity to give back to the future society and
Gayle Howell Manager, Engineering Career Center
•
Lara Ellen Locke Coordinator, Cooperative Education Program
•
Amy Ratliff Director, ACIPCO Engineering Career Development Center
opportunity to market themselves on campus, to build their future employment and interest in their field, and they also
Rachel Bohin Senior Office Associate, Engineering Career Center
this process as much as the students. Companies have the chance to teach young engineers and to provide mentorship
Mandi Bitterman Administrative Secretary, Cooperative Education Program
database of 300-400 companies fluctuating in participation every recruiting season. The employers can benefit from
Neil Adams Assistant Director, Cooperative
•
Kristal Williams Office Associate II, Cooperative Education Program
future generations.”
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2012
31
From Athlete
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to Accredited UA alumna returns to newly accredited program as faculty By Gillian Castro
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Students analyze water quality samples to determine specific fractions of organic matter in Dr. Leigh Terry’s civil, construction and environmental engineering lab in the North Engineering Research Center.
From University of Alabama track star to assistant
engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
professor of an accredited civil, construction and
Academia and teaching were always a part of the plan for
environmental engineering program, Dr. Leigh Gilmore Terry
Terry.
has been part of the Alabama family since the beginning of her collegiate career.
search for knowledge, solving problems with out-of-the-
“I’m from Alabama, and it’s always a dream to work at the university in which you’re from,” Terry said. “It is definitely a dream to come back and work at UA.” Starting her career near her hometown of Grove Hill, to raise her infant son in her home state.
academia.”
family is at the top of that list,” Terry said.
Terry knew she wanted to be involved in engineering. students hosted by The University of Alabama College of Engineering. This program taught Terry that a career
Terry earned her Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering with a minor in environmental engineering from the University in 2012. Before returning to UA, Terry received her master’s and doctoral degrees in environmental
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in the Student Introduction to Engineering program, or SITE, SITE is a summer engineering program for high school
“There are a lot of important things in this world, and I think
CAPSTONE ENGINEER
box solutions, research and the teaching component of Since her junior year of high school when she participated
Alabama, gives her the chance to be close to her family and
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“I love the academia world,” Terry said. “I love the
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in engineering combines her love for math, science and problem solving. “In engineering, you use your science and math knowledge and apply those skills to real world applications.
Dr. Leigh Terry, an assistant professor at UA, discusses characterization of natural organic matter in surface water samples used for drinking water with students in one of her engineering labs on campus. The environmental engineering program, as well as the architectural engineering program, became ABET accredited in October.
I enjoy the application of my scientific background in
engineering program and an architectural engineering
engineering,” Terry said.
program. Both programs became accredited by ABET, the
Terry credits her varsity track career at Alabama for teaching her dedication and time management skills that transfer to her professional career today. “Managing your time well is a skill that I use daily as I am pulled in different directions with research, teaching, advising, writing proposals and working in the lab. Perseverance keeps me submitting those proposals when the acceptance rates are currently low and competition currently high,” Terry said. By attending another university for her master’s and doctorate degrees, Terry said she was able to research under other professors, learn new skills to bring to UA as a professor and be more of an asset to students. Terry believes the UA College of Engineering will benefit from the addition of both an undergraduate environmental
national accrediting agency for engineering and computing programs, in 2018 and are housed in the civil, construction and environmental engineering department. “Now that UA has an environmental engineering B.S. degree, it’s advantageous for students to attend the Capstone. It will attract students from across the country because they can get an ABET accredited degree whereas [before] if they wanted an environmental engineering degree, they might not have chosen UA,” Terry said. The ABET accreditation process for the environmental and architectural engineering programs started in January 2017, and the two programs officially became accredited in October 2018. The multi-step process included comprehensive reports of all aspects of the programs as well as official site visits.
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ABET accreditation requires all students following an engineering degree path to have the same high standard of success across all accredited institutions. The accreditation of these two programs extends back to 2015 and applies to all environmental and architectural engineering degrees received in that time period. “To be a credible program in engineering in the U.S., that program must be accredited,” said Dr. Derek Williamson, associate professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering at UA. “In terms of standing and recognition of the degree programs, being ABET accredited is tantamount to being acceptable on a national stage, and for the most part, not being accredited means not being recognized as a viable engineering program.” With the ABET approval of these two programs, 11 undergraduate degrees in the college are now accredited. In addition, Williamson said The University of Alabama is the only institution in the United States with civil, construction, environmental and architectural engineering degrees all ABET accredited. “It really sets us up to succeed on a larger scale because having an established undergraduate program will then attract graduate students, which continues the ripple effect into research productivity, papers published and ultimately jobs for our students,” Terry said. “The ability to have the breadth of 11 accredited programs in engineering sets us on the trajectory for success.” Thanks to the newly accredited environmental engineering program, Terry was able to come back to UA and work alongside some of her own professors that helped her get to where she is today. Dr. Pauline Johnson had a profound impact on Terry’s education because she taught most of her undergraduate environmental courses. In addition to Johnson’s support, Williamson and Dr. Rocky Durrans served as mentors to Terry and encouraged her to attend the University of Colorado, Boulder for graduate school. Durrans has since retired, but Terry is now colleagues with her other undergraduate advisers. “It feels like coming home,” Terry said. “Your four years in undergrad definitely help shape who you are.”
“The ability to have the breadth of 11 accredited programs in engineering sets us on the trajectory for success.”
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Assistant professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, Dr. Leigh Terry and her students evaluate potential contaminants in drinking water treatment samples in her lab in Bevill last November. Terry is a UA alumna and was on the track team while she was a student.
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ALUMNI DYNAMICS
Items of interest to Capstone engineers & computer scientists
UA ALUMNA JODY SINGER NAMED DIRECTOR OF MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
18TH ANNUAL CES GOLF TOURNAMENT RAISES MORE THAN $39,000 The 18th Annual Capstone Engineering Society Golf Tournament was held Sept. 17, 2018, at Old Overton Golf Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama.
University of Alabama
Thanks to generous contributions, more than $39,000 was
alumna Jody Singer has
raised for the Capstone Engineering Society Scholarship
been named director of
Fund. Thirty-two teams participated in this year’s tournament.
NASA’s Marshall Space
Members of the CES golf committee were Ken Todd,
Flight Center in Huntsville,
Suzanne Chapman, Rick Nail, Al Faulkner, Nathan Reamey,
becoming the first woman to assume the role in the center’s history. Singer, a native of
Gaston Large, Valerie Wade, Shaw Gilmer, Milton Davis, Singer earned her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from UA in 1983.
Hartselle, earned her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from UA in 1983. In her role as director, Singer will lead one of NASA’s largest field
Tony McLain and John Covington. The tournament had two beverage sponsors, 22 hole sponsors, a putting contest sponsor, nine tournament sponsors and an executive sponsor to help make the event a success. Tournament Winners: First Place – Gross: Jon Noland, Mike Pearson, Mike
installations. “My time at the University significantly prepared me for
Sanford, Clyde Clausen – American Team 1
my career,” Singer said. “My professors did a wonderful job
First Place – Net: Austin Minter, Chris Cater, Stephen Burton,
of exposing me to the industry and provided great technical
David Holt – Bradley Arant Boult Cummings Team
knowledge and people skills.”
Second Place – Net: John Dempsey, Nathan Reamey, Mike
Singer started her NASA career in 1985 as an engineer in NASA’s professional intern program. She has served in numerous roles over the years. Singer served as the first female project manager for the Reusable Solid Rocket Booster She was deputy director of the Marshall Space Flight Center prior to her new appointment. As director, she will lead almost 6,000 civil service and contractor employees and manage an annual budget of approximately $2.8 billion. Singer has received countless awards during her NASA career including two Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive Awards, the highest honor for career federal employees. Singer and her husband, Chris, reside in Huntsville. They have three children and two grandchildren.
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Putting Contest Winner: Ronnie Chronister – Dynetics Closest to the Pin: John Summers – Enercon Team 1 Longest Drive: Adam Smith – Enercon Team 2
Project from 2002 to 2007.
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Hays, Tommy Lee – Vulcan Painters
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ALUMNI DYNAMICS UA ALUMNI INDUCTED INTO STATE HALL OF FAME Over the past two years, three University of Alabama alumni have been inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame. Brian D. Barr, a 1981 civil engineering graduate, was inducted in the class of 2017. Daniel K. Glover, a 1980 civil engineering graduate, and Vicki A. Hollub, a 1981 mineral engineering, petroleum option graduate, were inducted in the class of 2018. Founded in 1987 by proclamation of the governor, the Hall of Fame honors, preserves and perpetuates the outstanding accomplishments and contributions of individuals, projects, corporations and institutions that brought, and continue to bring, significant recognition to the state. Brian D. Barr
Daniel K. Glover
Vicki A. Hollub
Brian D. Barr has more than 30 years
With 40 years of service to the people
of construction industry experience and a
of Alabama, Daniel K. Glover left an imprint
throughout her more than 35-year
proven track record of successful project
on the history of his home state. Through
career, rising to become one of the most
deliveries. He joined Brasfield & Gorrie in
dedication to the power delivery systems
influential women in the global oil and
1997 and was tasked with developing an
of Alabama Power Company, he ensured
energy industries.
industrial construction division. Since then,
homes and businesses received power,
teams under his direction have built more
especially after natural disasters.
than $5 billion in technically challenging projects across the country, including highprofile projects in Alabama. Since working at Brasfield & Gorrie,
Vicki A. Hollub has blazed a trail
As president and chief executive officer of Occidental Petroleum Corporation,
A native of Akron, Glover began his
an international oil and gas exploration
career with Alabama Power as a student
and production company, she is the first
engineer in distribution based in Reform.
female CEO of a major oil company in the
He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree
United States. The company is one of the
Barr has led the company into new
in civil engineering in 1980 from The
largest U.S. oil and gas companies based
markets while working his way to
University of Alabama and joined the
on equity market capitalization.
regional president for the company’s
company as a full-time junior engineer in
operating group that handles
the Western Division. He held numerous
engineering construction projects such
engineering, supervisory and managerial
as water treatment plants, heavy civil
positions within the power delivery
works, infrastructure improvements,
organization, and became a registered
manufacturing facilities, and power plants.
Professional Engineer in Alabama in
Barr is also the executive team leader for
1991. He also served on the UA College
corporate initiatives regarding Brasfield &
of Engineering Leadership Board and is
Gorrie’s approach to risk management. He
a member of the Capstone Engineering
has influenced the culture, processes and
Society.
best practices of the company.
Glover retired in 2017 after 40 years
He is actively involved with The
with Alabama Power, having overseen
University of Alabama, serving on the
a $272 million capital budget and $519
President’s Cabinet and The University
million operating budget his last year as
of Alabama College of Engineering
Distribution vice president.
Leadership Board and is a member of
A native of Bessemer, Hollub graduated from The University of Alabama in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in mineral engineering, petroleum option, and joined Cities Services, which was acquired by Occidental in 1982. She has held a variety of management and technical positions with responsibilities on three continents. She has been a member of Occidental’s Board of Directors since 2015. She was inducted into the UA College of Engineering 2016 class of Distinguished Engineering Fellows and is a member of the Capstone Engineering Society.
the Capstone Engineering Society. In 2001, he was named a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow, and the UA College of Engineering honored him for his contributions in 2004 as Outstanding Alumni of the Year.
Brian D. Barr
Daniel K. Glover
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Vicki A. Hollub
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ALUMNI
NOTES Jobs. Promotions. Awards. Recognition.
Garry Lyles
Vice Admiral Charles A. “Chas” Richard
Dr. Olivia Underwood
Dr. Chad Hornbuckle
1975
2013
Garry Lyles, BSME, received the 2018 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics George M. Low Space Transportation Award for his visionary leadership in the development of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. Lyles has served as the SLS chief engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, since the program’s beginning in the fall of 2011. He has been at NASA since 1976.
Rachel Mitchell Hughes, BSChE, released the official music video for “Search Me O God,” the first single from her album “There You Are” in August 2018. Mitchell is the director of asphalt processing at TAMKO Building Products.
2014
1982 Vice Admiral Charles A. “Chas” Richard, BSEE, was named commander of U.S. Navy Submarine Forces, Submarine Force Atlantic and Allied Submarine Command in August 2018. As commander, he is the undersea domain lead and is responsible for the submarine force’s strategic vision; oversees all Atlantic-based U.S. submarines, their crews and supporting shore activities; and provides advice to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Strategic Commanders on submarine related issues.
Nathan Butler, BSAE, MSAE ’15, received a performance award from management within the Materials and Processes Lab at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The performance award was in recognition of his work over the past fiscal year in support of the Space Launch System Core Stage manufacturing, production, testing, certification and qualification. The award recognizes an early career employee deemed to have adapted quickly and made significant contributions to the NASA MSFC mission. Evan Graves, BSEE, MSEE ’15, was featured in the article “Where Are They Now: UA’s Evan Graves,” on EcoCAR3.org. Since graduating, he has been an active safety integration engineer at General Motors in Milford, Michigan.
2008 Dr. Olivia Underwood, BSMtE, MSMtE ’09, was featured in the news release “Sandia materials scientist looks to inspire students through STEM program” on sandia.gov for her volunteer work with HMTech, a Sandia-sponsored summer STEM program for middle and high school students.
SOMETHING WE MISSED? Please send us your professional achievements and recognitions for inclusion in Alumni Notes by visiting eng.ua.edu/alumni/update.
2009 Dr. Chad Hornbuckle, BSMtE, MSMtE ’12, PhD ’14, a materials scientist with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory’s Weapons and Materials Research Directorate, was featured in several articles published in August 2018 about his research. He specializes in microstructural characterization using electron microscopes and atom probe tomography, and is working on atomic-level research.
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Rachel Mitchell Hughes
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Nathan Butler
Evan Graves
IN MEMORY CHAD HENDERSON
FRIENDS WE WILL MISS John M. Alley, BSIE ‘72
Clinton Chad Henderson, of Tuscaloosa, died July 17, 2018, at Hospice of West Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He graduated from Winfield City High School in 2002, and was a 2006 graduate of The University of Alabama with an electrical engineering degree. His wife, Aimee DeLauro Henderson, is also a graduate of UA in electrical engineering.
Donald G. Anderson, BSME ‘62 Crawford A. Battle, BSAE ‘54 Ernest O. Bayless Jr., BSME ‘61 Gary E. Blodgett, BSEE ‘66 Cecil R. Brown, BSEE ‘60 Thomas A. Clinton, BSEE ‘62 James R. Crane Sr., BSCE ‘59 Dr. Bervil D. Davis, BSEE ‘57 Jack P. Faulkner, BSME ‘59 John T. Feller, BSIE ‘49 Edward B. Field, BSCE ‘57 Joseph Handwerger, BSCE ‘53 Joseph R. Holley Jr., BSIE ‘49 Chase A. Lanke, BSCE ‘15 Gregory A. Mann, BSME ‘78 Wayne McCullough Jr., BSEE ‘50 Fred S. Moore Jr., BSIE ‘49 John M. Nelson, BSME ‘60, MSME ’64
WALTER SCHOEL JR. Walter Schoel Jr., of Vestavia Hills, died July 29, 2018. He was born and raised in Birmingham, where he lived his entire life. Schoel graduated from Phillips High School in 1942. He attended The University of Alabama until his education was interrupted by World War II. Schoel enlisted in the Marines, serving until honorably discharged in 1945. He returned to UA and graduated in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Schoel worked his entire adult life for Walter Schoel Engineering Company. He became a partner in the firm in 1960, and became company president in 1968. Walter served in that position until 1998, and remained an officer in the firm until his death. Schoel was a life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He was named a Distinguished Fellow of the UA College of Engineering and a Distinguished Departmental Fellow of the civil engineering department of The University of Alabama.
Tandy B. Nicholson Jr., BSEE ‘05 Robert R. Orr, BSME ‘49 John J. Page Jr., BSCE ‘66 Henry A. Parker, BSE ‘66 Donald E. Phillips, BSME ‘58 George F. Riley, BSEE ‘72 Marion M. Satterfield, BSEE ‘62 Paul G. Slaughter, BSME ‘49 William B. Smith, BSME ‘70 Reginald D. Swain, BSCS ‘96 Edward F. Thomas, BSMtE ‘43 Fray Thompson, BSEE ‘71 Donald W. Thorn, BSAE ‘71 Billy G. Wilson, BSME ‘59
JAMES B. THOMASON James Bruce Thomason died on Aug. 3, 2018, in Daphne. He was a native of Fayette, and graduated from The University of Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1974. He was a registered professional engineer and worked as the ninth division traffic engineer with the Alabama Department of Transportation and led numerous major transportation improvement projects in Alabama until retiring after 25 years. After retiring from ALDOT, he worked for 15 years with Volkert, Inc., supervising construction management projects in Florida and Alabama. He was a member of the Capstone Engineering Society.
BITS & BYTES The College from Outside
“As the only member of this year’s program from Alabama, I feel a great sense of pride not only for the industry, but for my local area as well. I’m looking forward to excelling at the academic challenges ahead of me. I can’t wait to see where this opportunity will take me.” — J.D. Strickland, mechanical engineering student, in the “Our vision for the building to be a grand and heroic portal to the College of Engineering and the Shelby Engineering
article “German study leads Strickland to engineering internship” in The Madison County Record.
and Science Quadrangle is absolutely being realized. Anyone entering H.M. Comer will surely recognize they have arrived at a premier college of engineering at a premier
“What robotics can do is provide
university. The new H.M. Comer cements Senator (Richard)
that great spark of interest.
Shelby’s vision for premier teaching and research space at
[Students] can touch it and watch
the University of Alabama.”
it move around...But that’s just
— Dr. Ken Fridley, senior associate dean for administration, in
a start. We want to build that
the article “H.M. Comer Hall set to reopen next month” in The
interest.”
Tuscaloosa News.
— Dr. Jeff Gray, computer science professor, in the article “Schools encouraged to apply for $1,500 state grant for robotics programs” on
“UA was a simple choice for me. I’m good at math and
AL.com.
understand physics pretty well. It seemed like a logical choice to become an engineer with those strengths, and I knew Alabama had a successful engineering program.” — Evan Graves, electrical and computer engineering alumnus, in the article “Where Are They Now: UA’s Evan Graves” on ecocar3.org.
“I always liked science, but wasn’t super into cars. But that changed when I got down here…I’d wake up thinking about EcoCAR. I was always coming to my team with new ideas.” — Bethany Corne, public relations and marketing alumna and former communications manager for UA’s EcoCAR 3 team, in the article “Newport native leads EcoCAR 3 team” in The Monroe News.
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BITS & BYTES
“I was very excited the first time I saw the MELD technology. It was and still is obvious that MELD provides a breakthrough in manufacturing technology that overcomes the technical barriers of fusion-based processes. That innovation is why I was eager to purchase a MELD machine and to work with the MELD team to pioneer research for this technology.’’ — Dr. Paul Allison, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, in the article “Aeroprobe’s patented MELD is first-ever metal 3D printing technology without melting” on 3ders.org.
“There are a number of interesting and innovative occupancy sensor technologies already commercially available for both commercial and residential applications, but we anticipate the next generation of advanced sensor technologies to be available by the summer of 2021. The current pace suggests a future of massively integrated sensors with advanced HVAC systems as common as light switches nowadays. The business advantage to building owners will push the technology.” — Dr. Zheng O’Neill, associate professor of mechanical engineering, in the article “Setting the Standard for SensorDriven HVAC Control” on ACHR News.
“To me, mentorship and developing the next leaders and having our senior leadership team involved with the next set of leaders is critical. That’s one of the things I’m passionate about, paying it forward and developing the next leaders. I don’t think we have an option not to.” — Jody Singer, director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, in the article “New Marshall director: ‘My dream has come true’” in the Decatur Daily.
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2018 CES GOLF TOURNAMENT EXECUTIVE SPONSOR
TOURNAMENT SPONSORS
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2018 CES GOLF TOURNAMENT PUTTING CONTEST SPONSOR
HOLE SPONSORS Bernhard TME
Nucor Steel Decatur
C&B Piping
Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa
C.S. Beatty Construction
Process Automation & Simulation Services, Inc.
Dunn Construction ENERCON Ferguson Waterworks Gonzalez-Strength & Associates, Inc. Hargrove Engineers + Constructors Hunt Refining Company LBYD Engineers LSINC Corporation
Schoel Engineering Co., Inc. Seabrook Solutions, LLC Thompson CAT Volkert, Inc. Vulcan Materials Company Vulcan Painters, Inc. Wade Sand and Gravel
Morell Engineering
BEVERAGE SPONSORS Barnett Jones Wilson, LLC
SAIIA Consruction Company
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2018 CES GOLF TOURNAMENT
The 18th Annual Capstone Engineering Society Golf Tournament was held Sept. 17, 2018, at Old Overton Golf Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama.
Dr. John Wiest, associate dean for research and economic development, Dr. Chuck Karr, dean of the UA College of Engineering, and Mike Simmons, UA civil engineering alumnus and CES board member, talk between holes at the golf tournament.
During the tournament, 32 teams of alumni and friends competed for first-place gross, first-place net, second-place net, putting contest winner, closest to the pin and longest drive.
The tournament was a success raising more than $39,000 for the Capstone Engineering Society Scholarship Fund and having 35 sponsors contribute to the event.
INTERESTED IN SPONSORING THE 2019 CES GOLF TOURNAMENT? CALL 205-348-2452 OR VISIT GOLF.ENG.UA.EDU. 45
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Dear Alumni and Friends, What an exciting time it is for The University of Alabama and the College of Engineering. In August 2018, the College of Engineering reopened the newly renovated H. M. Comer Hall. Continuing the tradition of excellence, Comer is now the portal into the College and conveys to our alumni and friends, current and prospective students, and faculty and staff that you are at The University of Alabama and a premier college of engineering. Special thanks to our alumni, friends and corporate partners who have made significant contributions to the H.M. Comer Building Fund and have named areas throughout the building. •
Leroy McAbee Sr. - McAbee Grand Foyer
•
Riley D. and Amy D. Wicker - Wicker Cube Shop Area
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Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa - Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Innovation Hall
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Thomas L. and Carolyn L. Patterson - Patterson Welcome Center
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Kristin M. Marczak - Marczak Student Lounge
•
ACIPCO - ACIPCO Engineering Career Development Center
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Dynetics - Dynetics Team Room
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Eastman Chemical Company - Eastman Chemical Company Team Room
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Capstone Engineering Society 2017-2018 Board of Directors CES Board Room
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Brasfield & Gorrie and Partners - Brasfield & Gorrie Engineering Advising Center
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Tom D. and Myra B. Kilgore - Kilgore Dean’s Parlor
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William P. and Robin B. Buckelew - Buckelew Dean’s Conference Room
•
Pierce H. and Debbie S. Norton - Rey-Barfield Conference Room
We invite you to come home to the Capstone and experience today’s College of Engineering. Our staff would love to take you on a tour of our incredible facilities and find out how you wish to engage with the College. I believe you will find that your degree is more valuable than ever. Don’t forget to: •
Update your most current personal and business contact information, marital status/name changes and other updates.
•
Join the Capstone Engineering Society LinkedIn Group to connect with other alumni, students, faculty and staff and join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. The CES is the alumni association for the College of Engineering.
•
Get involved - mentor a student, work with student and professional organizations, participate on discussion panels, assist with mockinterviews, offer job shadowing opportunities or share industry information.
Another feature in this issue of the Capstone Engineer is a giving envelope. Because of the generous support provided by our alumni, friends and industry partners, we are able to provide many students with scholarships, engagement opportunities, and leadership and professional development programming, and our alumni are provided with invitations to our tailgate tents and regional events as well as copies of the Capstone Engineer magazine. Thank you for the tremendous support that you provide for our students, the College and the CES! Roll Tide!
Nancy Holmes Capstone Engineering Society Manager Assistant Director of Student and Alumni Engagement
Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID The University of Alabama
Capstone Engineering Society College of Engineering Box 870200 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0200
The 19th
Annual
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GOLF TOURNAMENT SE P T. 16
OLD OVERTON COUNTRY CLUB VESTAVIA HILLS, ALABAMA