Capstone Engineer - Spring 2013 by University of Alabama College of Engineering

Engineer

Capstone

Spring 2013

Parked in Alabama, yet Accelerating: Former Mercedes Engineer Comes to the College

13 Annual Golf Tournament The

Capstone Engineering Society

M o n d ay, S e p t. 3 0, 2 013

Riverchase Country Club

Features 12 Leaps and Bounds 18 Not Another Face in the Crowd 20 Defending Its Turf 24 Parked in Alabama, yet Accelerating 30 Mentor UPP

Departments 2 Dean’s Message 3 Surveying the College

Noteworthy News and Research from UA Engineering

9 Currents

Events from Around the College

32 Alumni Dynamics

Items of Interest to Capstone Engineers

39 Bits and Bytes

The College from Outside

GO L F . ENG . U A . ED U

40 End User

Capstone Engineers on Today’s Technology

41 Message from the CES

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

Dean’s Message

Surveying the College

Dear Alumni and Friends,

The University of Alabama’s engineering education began 175 years ago in response to economic concerns not unlike those of today. In 1837, the issue was getting railroads to come through the state. In 2012, it’s getting quality, high-tech jobs to come to Alabama and the region. Part of the answer in both eras is producing a workforce with more engineers and, today, computer scientists. Alabama needs more people qualified to work in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math, referred to in the education community as the STEM fields, if it is to remain competitive. But Alabama will need more than just smart people with degrees. Study after study shows that for the United States to maintain our lead in innovation, we will have to produce STEM graduates who are creative and value creators, people who can start small and innovative companies. We are never going to outsource or automate ingenuity, and producing better innovators has to be a part of engineering education. At UA, we take advantage of partnerships with the arts, humanities and business to spur cutting-edge thinking in our students. The College is working hard to meet the needs of these industries so our economy can grow. Our enrollment increased 58 percent in the past five years, and the College granted 50 percent more degrees at the end of the 2012 academic year than five years before. While we have grown in quantity, we have simultaneously improved quality, as indicated by our increasing GPAs and ACT scores. Just as the University answered the call 175 years ago to help the economy by educating engineers, the UA College of Engineering stands in partnership with the state to help jumpstart the technological economy of the future.

Surveying the College Noteworthy News and Research from UA Engineering

Dr. Charles L. Karr Dean

Capstone Engineering Society 205-348-2452 Milton A. Davis, Chair, Board of Directors • Charles L. Karr, PhD, Dean, College of Engineering • Nancy Holmes, Manager, Capstone Engineering Society • Adam Jones, Editor • Judah Martin, Writer • Issue No. 47 • Capstone Engineer is published in the spring and fall by the Capstone Engineering Society. • Tori E. Nelko, Designer • Benita Crepps, Proofreader • Jeff Hanson, Samantha Hernandez, 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 website at www.eng.ua.edu. The University of Alabama is an equal-opportunity educational institution/employer. • MC8446

•

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• Visit the College of Engineering

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

Surveying the College

Previous page: Dr. Xiangrong Shen, associate professor of mechanical engineering, in his lab. Above: On the left, Dr. Yuping Bao, an assistant professor in chemical and biological engineering, and Dr. Dawen Li, an assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering, received NSF CAREER Awards.

NSF spurs careers of two young professors

The National Science Foundation selected two University of Alabama College of Engineering professors for CAREER Awards for research projects related to medical imaging and solar energy. These awards, presented to Dr. Yuping Bao, an assistant professor in chemical and biological engineering; and Dr. Dawen Li, assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering, are NSF’s most prestigious recognition of top-performing young scientists beginning their careers. Besides their appointments in the College of Engineering, Li and Bao are researchers in the Center for Material in Information Technology, or MINT, at UA. With the $493,000 grant, Bao will explore a novel technique for creating magnetic nanoparticles, and also explore the usefulness of an iron oxide nanowire, a thin worm-like magnetic nanoparticle, to enhance medical imaging. The success of the CAREER Award will directly contribute to the development of a safer and more effective contrast agent for medical imaging, addressing an ongoing and long-felt need in the field. Li, who joined UA in 2008, will use his $400,000 grant over the next five years to study organic polymer solar cells that could initially replace traditional, inorganic silicon solar technology in niche applications. The research outcome will enrich current

{ The University of Alabama }

understanding of the fundamental structure-property relationships involved in polymer photovoltaics and drive polymer solar cells to become economically competitive in the near future.

After winning national award, UA women engineers to host conference

The University of Alabama chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, or SWE, was awarded the gold level Outstanding Collegiate Society Award at the SWE National Conference in Houston, Texas. UA SWE President Rachel Mitchell said the award was based on an annual report the officer team presented detailing their involvement in the previous year. “Our chapter’s success is a direct result of the commitment of our adviser, Dr. Beth Todd; our officers; and our members,” Mitchell said. “Our membership has stepped up to the plate and been involved in everything from general meetings to the ‘WOW! That’s Engineering! Event’ we hosted in September.” UA SWE also won the bid to host its regional conference in 2014 on campus. Officers Grace Hoover and Alexandria Romine presented a proposal, including a preliminary budget, theme and locations for the conference. Mitchell said she expects sections from Alabama, Florida,

Left: Sarah Johnson, a senior in mechanical engineering, was selected for a George J. Mitchell Scholarship. Right: More than 140 teenage girls came to the “Wow! That’s Engineering!” event at UA.

Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Puerto Rico to attend the 2014 conference. In 2012, the UA SWE section was one of four sites nationwide to host a “Wow! That’s Engineering!” event. More than 140 teenage girls came to the September event meant to spark an interest in engineering and technology through hands-on opportunities.

CS professor leads effort to teach computer science in high schools

Continuing efforts to introduce computer science to high school students, a $1 million grant was awarded to The University of Alabama to train teachers in a new computer-science course and future College Board AP exam. The grant from the National Science Foundation to Dr. Jeff Gray, associate professor of computer science in the UA College of Engineering, builds upon his work with the College Board to craft a new Advanced Placement computer-science course designed to increase secondary and postsecondary educational interest in computer science and improve collegiate preparation of students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. “We’re trying to raise awareness of how software affects everything we do,” Gray said. “Software is everywhere, and computing will change all the other sciences and engineering.

Technology is as important to learn now as physics was 100 years ago, yet computer science is not taught in the overwhelming majority of high schools.” The three-year grant began in January and will train 50 high school teachers across Alabama to lead a proposed Advanced Placement course in computer science that allows students the opportunity for college credit if they score well on the AP exam. Gray is instrumental in developing the course, CS Principles, through ongoing work with NSF and the College Board. This year, UA is one of two universities to further pilot the new AP course. UA has been a member of the NSF/College Board pilot team since 2011.

ME student receives prestigious George J. Mitchell Scholarship

The U.S.-Ireland Alliance named University of Alabama student Sarah E. Johnson to the 2014 class of George J. Mitchell Scholars. In the national competition, 12 students were chosen from some 300 applicants to receive George J. Mitchell Scholarships on the basis of academic distinction, leadership and service. Johnson, of Mesquite, Texas, is a UA senior majoring in mechanical engineering and history with a minor in ComputerBased Honors Program. Her research centers on improving the performance of biofuels with a focus on the potential of butanol as a possible alternative fuel source. Continued on page 6

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

Surveying the College

On the right, Dr. Xiangrong Shen, associate professor of mechanical engineering, discusses a prototype of a below-knee prosthesis with graduate student Molei Wu.

Dr. John Van Zee, right, has researched fuel cells with experimental and computational methods since 1996. He became a department head at the College in January.

George J. Mitchell Scholarship recipients spend a year of postgraduate study at institutions of higher learning in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Johnson, also a Goldwater Scholar, plans to pursue a doctorate. She will study advanced mechanical engineering at Queen’s University Belfast. As a Hollings Scholar and intern at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Johnson performed structural design analysis for external instrumentation mounts on aircraft, and she has also interned at the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., where she worked on systems integration engineering.

solution to this problem. After receiving a grant of about $564,000 from The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, he launched a four-year project with researchers from UA, Vanderbilt University and the Georgia Institute of Technology to produce an alternative below-knee prosthesis capable of actively powering the ankle joint in use. The new prosthesis uses monopropellant, a liquid fuel that works as an energy-storing medium and decomposes upon contact with certain catalysts. The use of this fuel allows for a lightweight prosthesis that stores enough energy to operate for daily use. Also, Shen uses a sleeve muscle actuator, an artificial muscle that replaces a motor. “The idea is to benefit those amputees to live a higher quality life. That’s the motivation for all these works,” Shen said. At UA, Shen will work with Dr. John Baker, head of the department of aerospace engineering and mechanics, and Dr. Samit Roy, the William D. Jordan professor of aerospace engineering and mechanics. Shen expects the project to be completed by 2016.

served more than a year as interim head of the department. “Tim Haskew provided tremendous leadership as interim head of the department of electrical and computer engineering,” said Dr. Charles L. Karr, dean of The University of Alabama College of Engineering. “He brings an infectious excitement, a passion for young people and experience in research to the position.” Haskew is a professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of the College of Engineering’s Electromechanical Systems Laboratory. He was also director of the electrical and computer engineering graduate program. He is also a senior member of the IEEE and a member of a number of IEEE professional societies, including the Power Electronics Society, the Industry Applications Society and the Power and Energy Society. He was active on the conference committee and was the seminar chair for the Applied Power Electronics Conference from 2004 through 2010. His research interests include energy conversion, power electronics, power systems and control. He has authored or coauthored more than 50 refereed publications and two book chapters.

Haskew named head of electrical and computer engineering

Van Zee tapped to lead chemical and biological engineering department

Powering the prosthetic ankle

Most people probably do not spend much time contemplating the mechanics of walking, likely unaware of their ankle’s crucial role. The human ankle supplies considerably more energy than both the hip and knee, making it a critical part of walking. Unfortunately, the standard below-knee prosthesis does not produce enough power to support an amputee’s walk. Instead, most prostheses only dissipate energy, or store and reuse energy in walking. This requires the amputee’s other joints to work harder, causing the amputee to expend more energy and resulting in an often unnatural and asymmetric gait. Dr. Xiangrong Shen, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at The University of Alabama, hopes to develop a

Surveying the College

{ The University of Alabama }

In 2012, The University of Alabama College of Engineering named Dr. Timothy Haskew as head of the department of electrical and computer engineering. The appointment comes after Haskew

Dr. John Van Zee was named head of the department of chemical and biological engineering at The University of Alabama College of Engineering, beginning his tenure in January 2013.

Van Zee joins the department after 28 years at the University of South Carolina, where he was a professor of chemical engineering and director of the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Fuel Cells, sponsored by the National Science Foundation. “John Van Zee’s experience in leading USC’s fuel-cell center will be invaluable as he steps forward to lead our department of chemical and biological engineering,” said Dr. Charles L. Karr, dean of the UA College of Engineering. “Our department currently has several very talented young faculty members, a growing number of extremely bright students and wonderful new facilities. I feel that John is uniquely qualified to combine these ingredients with the storied history of the department to form a bright and exciting future — a future that will allow for national prominence.” Van Zee has researched fuel cells with experimental and computational methods since 1996. In 2001, he began the foundation of what would become the nation’s only fuel-cell center sponsored by the National Science Foundation. As director he recruited dues-paying companies to work with multiple professors and graduate students on pre-competitive research, and the Center for Fuel Cells has been a catalyst for community, state, regional, national and international collaboration.

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

Surveying the College

Currents

Currents Events from Around the College

In Brief ME professor named nanomanufacturing fellow

Dr. Yuebin Guo, a professor of mechanical engineering, was elected a fellow by the International Society for Nanomanufacturing, or ISNM. Fellows are distinctive members who have made significant scientific and technological contributions in the field of nanomanufacturing with at least 10 years of active practice in the field.

MTE student wins award for research paper

Larry Summerville, a senior in metallurgical and material engineering from Columbus, Miss., won first place for his research poster presentation at a November regional meeting of the National Society of Black Engineers in Montgomery, Ala. The recognition led to the opportunity to compete nationally.

Engineering professor appointed to German research association

Dr. Bharat Balasubramanian, a professor and research center executive director, was appointed to a prestigious post in the German scientific research community. Balasubramanian is chair of the review panel for the transportation program within the Helmholtz Association, an umbrella organization of 18 German research centers that makes recommendations for research spending to the German government and its federal states.

AEM professor honored with national award

Dr. J. Paul Hubner, associate professor of aerospace engineering and mechanics, was named the 2013 recipient of the Felix Zandman Award for exceptional contributions in the development of measurements and applications with the help of photoelastic coatings. The Zandman Award was established in 1989 by the Society of Experimental Mechanics, or SEM, an international network of scientists and engineers founded in 1943.

{ The University of Alabama }

Clockwise from top: Dr. Yuebin Guo, Dr. Bharat Balasubramanian, Dr. J. Paul Hubner and Dr. Wei Song

CCEE professor selected for international conference

Dr. Wei Song, assistant professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, represented the structural control and monitoring community as a member of the U.S. delegation to the sixth International Workshop on Structural Control and Monitoring in December. The workshop is held every four years with the purpose of planning future research directions in the structural control and monitoring field.

Wheelchair design leads to national recognition

A team of engineering students from The University of Alabama College of Engineering was among the top 12 finalists in the Texas Instruments Analog Design Contest, earning team members a trip to Dallas, Texas, for the Engibous Summit. Contest rules specify that teams incorporate a TI processor and analog components, and UA students said they wanted their entry to be user-friendly, inexpensive, long-lasting and accurate. The UA team submitted a wheelchair seat-cushion monitoring system designed to reduce the incidence of pressure sores in patients with spinal cord injuries.

{ Capstone Engineer â&#x20AC;˘ Spring 2013 }

Currents

The Capstone Engineering Society thanks the sponsors of the 12th annual CES Golf Tournament. Tournament Sponsors

Previous page: High school students at E-Day observe chemical and biological engineering students making ice cream with liquid nitrogen. Left: Putting at the CES Golf Tournament. Above right: From left, Larry Shirley, BSChE ’83; Katy Shirley, a senior studying chemical engineering; and Becky Gurganus Shirley at CES homecoming. Bottom right: Students at E-Day in the Large Structures Lab.

CES Golf Tournament a success

The 12th annual Capstone Engineering Society Golf Tournament on Oct. 8, 2012, raised more than $35,000 for engineering and computerscience scholarships. The CES appreciates the four tournament sponsors, 38 hole sponsors, putting-contest sponsor, silent-auction donors and 132 golfers who participated in the event and made it a big success. The CES Golf Tournament has raised more than $211,000 during the past 12 years. The results of this tournament make a difference for the Capstone Engineering Society and The University of Alabama College of Engineering in the mission to provide scholarships and to ensure that UA engineering and computer science students are provided a superior educational experience.

{ The University of Alabama }

Big turnout for annual E-Day

The College hosted nearly 750 students at the annual Engineering Day, or E-Day, on Oct. 11, 2012. The College’s open house gives prospective students a closer look at the College of Engineering, and participants receive a realistic view of how engineering skills are used in everyday life.. Lunch was provided by McAbee Pigfitters.

Alumni return for homecoming tailgate

A blustery day didn’t keep College alumni and friends from returning to the Capstone for the annual homecoming tailgate on Oct. 27 before the Crimson Tide’s victory over Mississippi State University. The tailgate was held on the Science and Engineering Quad, and tailgaters got to see items from the College’s 150th anniversary time capsule and visit with Alabama Lunabotics.

Hole Sponsors Alabama Guardrail Inc. Apache Construction Corp. Barnett, Jones, Wilson LLC BlueCross BlueShield of Alabama Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP Brent H. Paugh C&B Piping Chesapeake Consulting Inc. CS Beatty Construction Inc. David G. Courington Consulting LLC David and Jackie Courington (two holes) Dynetics Energen Resources Corp. (two holes) ESSE LLC Ferguson Waterworks Hargrove Engineers and Constructors HHB Engineers P.C. Hunt Refining Co. Jim House and Associates McAbee Construction Inc. Nucor Steel Decatur Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Inc. Process Automation & Simulation Services Inc. Ready Mix USA Robins & Morton (two holes) Seabrook Solutions LLC Southland Pipe and Supply Spectrum Environmental Inc. Terracon Consultants Inc. Thompson Tractor Inc. Volkert Inc. Vulcan Painters Inc. Wade Sand and Gravel Co. Inc. Walter Schoel Engineering Co. Inc. Whitaker & Rawson

Putting-Contest Sponsor B.L. Harbert International

Leaps

Bounds:

Interest in Cooperative Education Program booming with enrollment By Judah Martin

At left, Daniel Yu, BSME ’03 and a project engineer with Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Inc., works with Cooperative Education and mechanical engineering students Trent Willis, middle, and Trey McKinley.

{ The University of Alabama }

nly 35 years ago The University of Alabama’s Cooperative Education Program was an underdog in its field, functioning more as a professional courtesy for employers. Today, UA Co-op hosts an average of 800 students per year, placing it among the largest in the Southeast. Co-op has grown so substantially, particularly in the past three years, that the challenge is no longer to recruit students but, instead, to recruit employers. Roy Gregg, director of Co-op, attributed the influx of students to the growing UA student body, which has increased by nearly 14,000 students since 2003, along with the efforts of recruiters. “Since 2008, we have had more applicants than positions,” Gregg said. “We ask all alums for assistance by providing employer contact information so we can promote UA Co-op and interns with organizations in their areas. Our objective is to assist our students with finding work experience and career-exploration opportunities with high-quality employers coast to coast.” Gregg said he hopes to accommodate out-of-state students at the University by establishing relationships with companies closer to their home states. “We have to be able to work with students who don’t have a connection to Alabama or the Southeast,” Gregg said. “With record numbers of students choosing the COE and The University of

Alabama, we must expand our employer base and beyond the Southeastern region.” Co-op appeals to students primarily because of the opportunity to gain professional experience. In fact, 98 percent of co-op students remain in the program until graduation. The program allows them to work full time at a company and, like any other worker at the company, they receive a salary. Last year, students in the Co-op Program earned a combined income of more than $5 million. “When co-op students finish the program, they have a significant amount of progressive work experience related to their engineering degree, which makes them extremely competitive at graduation,” Gregg said. “I am told by more and more students and parents that they selected UA because of our Co-op Program option. At many institutions, internships, co-op and experiential learning programs are for juniors and seniors. Our Co-op Program is a freshman-sophomore program, and they can participate as soon as they start classes at UA.” Gregg said that the average co-op student has better than a 3.3 GPA and that at least a quarter of the students are on some form of a scholarship. As early as 1906, the Cooperative Education Program began using its system that allows students to gain work experience by Continued on page 14

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

Left: Josh Adams, a co-op student studying civil engineering, works with Brasfield & Gorrie. Right: Christa Hart, BSEE ’12, and Constance Roberts, a civil, construction and environmental engineering student on the right, work with Alabama Power Co.

spending at least two semesters with a company in their field. This “Providing a good work experience for students has provided time away from the University allows students to return to classes us with a good pool of potential candidates for hiring upon with a real-world understanding of what they are learning. graduation,” said Daniel Yu, a recruiter and project engineer for “I was working part time while in school one semester and Nucor Tuscaloosa. “Providing a positive work experience also actually took something I learned in class and applied it at work the gets us good word-of-mouth advertising for our company around exact same day,” said Austin Davis, a co-op employee for Nucor Steel campus.” Tuscaloosa Inc. "On the job, I maintain According to Yu, more than half of the drawing-handling database, change Nucor Tuscaloosa’s current engineering drawings, design for smaller projects employees began as UA co-op students. and help contractors as their contact for In the last few years Nucor Tuscaloosa information whenever the main engineer hired several mechanical, electrical and is not available. [Co-op] is an opportunity metallurgical engineering students now that I think everyone should take advantage dispersed throughout the plant. of.” When UA Co-op Program students For employers, the Co-op Program is come into Nucor Tuscaloosa, they are an opportunity to recruit talent. According immediately paired with an experienced to Gregg, roughly 35–40 percent of co-op project or plant engineer. “We have students nationwide go to work for their training throughout the year for all onemployer after graduation. —Constance Roberts, Co-op Student site team members, including the co-op Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa, the local students, on topics ranging from Arc division of Nucor Steel, is one of the largest Flash to human resources policies and steel manufacturers in the United States and among the many environmental regulations to Lock Out/Tag Out,” Yu said. companies that employ UA students. The company has participated Once trained, the main tasks for a Co-op student are to work with several technical societies on campus for informational sessions with and assist engineers with ongoing projects. “With the dynamic and has provided assistance in various senior-design projects. culture of Nucor, new ideas and projects are always coming along,

“The Co-op Program has enhanced my college career in ways no other program could.”

Trae Rowell, BSCE ’12, was hired by Brasfield & Gorrie for his co-op experience.

Continued on page 17

{ The University of Alabama }

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

Top left: Co-op students Swindle and Holden at MBUSI. Right: Kaylan Champion, studying electrical engineering, works with Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa. Bottom left: Brian Bartlett, left, and Austin Davis, both studying mechanical engineering, work with Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa.

Co-op students with Mercedes-Benz U.S. International included, from left, Malorie Swindle, studying mechanical engineering; Dejarvas Kelly, studying operations management in the College of Commerce and Business Administration; Morgan Monroe, studying operations management; Zach Holden, studying operations management; and David Moore, studying electrical engineering.

{ The University of Alabama }

which leads to a wide variety of work experience over the three semesters,” Yu said. According to Gregg, the UA Co-op Program does not hold any binding contracts with employers requiring them to use UA students. “Our former students have built our reputation, and support from the College and our faculty enable us to be a quality program of choice,” Gregg said. “Much of our success is based on the attitude, work ethic and professionalism of our students; therefore, companies keep coming back to get more Alabama co-op students.” Through Co-op, Constance Roberts worked for Southern Co. and Alabama Power. She plans on returning to the latter after graduating. “As a power-delivery co-op student, I worked on a variety of projects ranging from distribution system maintenance to providing customers with electrical services,” Roberts said. “In the office, I worked with different computer programs, including an estimating program, JETS and AutoCAD. I am looking forward to applying everything I learned as a co-op [worker] to my job as an engineer.” Unlike in similar programs, students in the UA Co-op Program begin as freshmen and sophomores, allowing them the career exposure necessary to confirm a major early on. This time also allows the student to develop professional interviewing tactics, a valued skill in competitive industry. “The Co-op Program has enhanced my college career in ways no other program could,” Roberts said. “I spent time in

the field meeting customers, taking notes and working storm trouble. I have received valuable work experience and now feel comfortable in the work place, which would have been a shocking change right out of college.”

If you or your employer

are searching for a

program that matches

exceptional students with exceptional opportunities,

call 205-348-6422 or visit coop.eng.ua.edu.

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

Not Another

in the Crowd: Engineering student gains quick notoriety for sideline passion By Judah Martin

t could have easily been his first interview, judging by the way Jackson Blankenship fiddled so nervously in his chair, self-consciously contemplating his answer to each question. But this was not Blankenship’s first interview, and, if you asked him which it was, he wouldn’t be able to tell you. Interviews are a fragment of his life after becoming one of the most published faces at The University of Alabama. He recalls vague memories of a once ordinary life – about a year ago, when he was an unknown freshman civil engineering student. “I don’t want to say I was a typical student at The University of Alabama because I definitely wasn’t,” Blankenship said. “I lived at Bryant (Hall) and I roomed with three of my good friends from high school. We’d all just go to class and play video games all the time, as stereotypical as that sounds.” An avid Alabama basketball fan, Blankenship spent many nights in the student section during games. He began to notice fans holding massive prints of basketball players and celebrities to distract the opposing team. This gave him an idea. “In the seventh grade a friend and I started this facial expression, and it kind of grew between us and a couple of our friends,” Blankenship said. “So I thought it’d just be kind of funny if I printed out a picture of my own face (doing the expression) and brought it to the game.” Blankenship contacted a friend who owned a printer in Northport and was able to negotiate a deal. “I remember talking to my mom and asking her, ‘Can I borrow your credit card to, you know, purchase this giant picture of myself ?’” Blankenship said. “I remember my dad said, ‘If he wants to ruin his life he can.’” “The face,” which he named Charles, became a reality along with an ensuing frenzy of media attention. Not long after his face became a viral Internet sensation, he began receiving calls to make television appearances on shows such as “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and the “Today” show. He’s also been featured in Reader’s Digest, Bleacher Report, Yahoo News, Redditt and ESPN’s blog.

{ The University of Alabama }

“There was a span of like two or three weeks where I would just be interviewed every day and, like, four or five of them I had no idea who they were, they’d just say, ‘We’re with the university,’ and I’d just say, ‘Oh, okay’ — I hope you were. I hope you weren’t like evil villains or anything.” Now that he’s had time to settle into his fame, Blankenship is venturing into new endeavors. He’s done stand-up comedy, joined Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and was chosen to serve on the board of Crimson Chaos, the official student group of Alabama Crimson Tide Athletics. After completing an internship with WVUA 90.7, he convinced the manager to give him a show. He and his roommate, Brian Hoff, now host a radio program where they discuss movie soundtracks, music and cinema. “It’s pretty cool because it’s one of the things I had to get on my own without the face being a part of it,” Blankenship said. Not that the face no longer comes in handy. “Charles has a special place in my heart — in both my heart and my apartment,” he said. There are now four Charleses. Charles One resides in the Paul W. Bryant Museum while Charles Two, signed by Al Roker and Jimmy Fallon, lives with Blankenship’s parents. Charles Three, signed by Questlove from The Roots, currently shares an apartment with Blankenship and Charles Four. “That’s the one I’ll probably bring with me to the games,” he said of Charles Four. “Unless I run into Angelina Jolie at the Alabama football game, then I’ll get her to sign that.” In the meantime, Blankenship is busy contemplating ways of incorporating his newfound media savvies into his future as an engineer. He plans to switch his major to mechanical engineering and possibly pursue a minor in telecommunication and film. “In an ideal world I’d build cool robots and machines, and I would also moonlight as a late-night talk-show host,” he said.

“I remember talking to my mom and asking her, ‘Can I borrow your credit card to, you know, purchase this giant picture of myself?’”

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

Defending Turf: its

Alabama Lunabotics Tries to Repeat Championship By Judah Martin

Alabama Lunabotics team members include electrical and computer engineering students, from left, Mitchell Spryn, Dalen Mullenix, Justin Headley, Caleb Leslie, Adam Melton, Jessica Colburn — public relations major — David Sandel and Dr. Kenneth Ricks, team advisor and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. 20

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{ Capstone Engineer • Fall 2012 }

within 10 minutes and the bandwidth required in communicating hey won’t be marching into a stadium on May 20, but with the lunabot. Alabama Lunabotics will be returning to Kennedy Space To retain their honor, they plan to earn bonus points by Center with the same goal as many other University of Alabama making the robot autonomous — presenting a robot at the students: defending their title as champions. competition capable of navigating across the lunar soil, excavating Last year the team of UA and Shelton State Community at least 10 kilograms and moving back across the soil to deposit College students won the NASA Lunabotics Mining Competition its collection into a bucket without the assistance of an operator. for developing a robot capable of navigating through and This is no easy task considering only three lunabots in excavating 10 kilograms of lunar soil. the 2012 competition had any autonomy at all. Initiating full “UA has consistently been recognized as an innovator,” said autonomy requires the team to create a computer for the lunabot. Dr. Kenneth Ricks, associate professor of electrical and computer They have written software algorithms and included motion engineering and team adviser. “We hope to continue that trend for sensors, laser scanners and cameras on board the lunabot. the 2013 competition.” “Autonomous operation is very difficult and will add They began preparing for the 2012 competition in June significant complexity to the robot,” Ricks said. “Success is 2011 by designing CAD models and obtaining the funding for based upon proper preparation. The the project. Creating the lunabot team must prepare for all aspects of required members to sacrifice most of the competition and have a plan to their time, including winter and spring address any problems that may arise.” breaks. When they couldn’t meet, they And prepare they have. The team worked separately and communicated is divided into groups based on the through email and video chats. subsystems that comprise the robot. “The professionalism of our team The groups meet weekly. These include members combined with diverse the software group that focuses on disciplines made our group resemble the autonomy of the lunabot, the base a business more than a college team,” group that’s in charge of mobility and said Adam Melton, team lead in 2011– the module group responsible for 12. “When the team continued to assist excavation. other teams during the competition — “They had to create initial even teams that posed a threat to our designs, model and simulate these success — it made me very proud to be designs, make modifications based a part of Alabama Lunabotics.” upon simulation feedback, order Though largely studentparts, fabricate the robot, test the governed, Alabama Lunabotics is robot under competition conditions, sponsored by Ricks. The team has —Adam Melton learn to operate the robot, write all participated in the NASA competition the software, design all necessary under his leadership since 2010. He electronics and integrate all parts said the key to their victory rested in together to make a completely functional robot system,” Ricks said an appropriate balance of mass and performance. The team has two potential lunabots to use for the competition. “UA was able to excavate very well while still being one of the The first is called the front-end loader and is significantly lighter. lightest robots in the competition,” Ricks said. “This led to a very Working like a farm tractor, its front-end shovel, decorated with the high score in the mining category of the competition. The other Sharpie-written words “Roll Tide,” is powered into the lunar soil by factor was that the UA team worked very hard to do well in all two actuators that lift and tilt its bucket. categories, while there were some teams that did well at only one The second lunabot, called the bucket-wheel excavator, category. So, this UA team was very balanced and well-rounded.” is much heavier, a drawback for this year’s competition, but is Once again, the team has spent the year preparing for the capable of collecting 100-130 kilograms of soil at once, while the NASA competition, where it will now be judged based on an front-end loader can only collect about 16 kilograms. This lunabot oral presentation, a written systems-engineering paper, project is equipped with small buckets assimilated into two large wheels. outreach in promoting STEM disciplines, team spirit and the Soil collects into those buckets and is dropped onto a conveyor mining category. Within the mining category, the robot will be belt and deposited into an onboard container. judged on its overall weight, the amount of lunar-like soil collected

“The professionalism of our team members combined with diverse disciplines made our group resemble a business more than a college team.”

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Top left: The 2012 Alabama Lunabotics take a break from work in space provided for engineering student projects. From left, the team included electrical and computer engineering students Melton and Spryn, along with Justin Baker, student in computer science who was then a student at Shelton State Community College, and Jason Watts, BSEE ’09 and a graduate student. Bottom left: Melton and Spryn work on the lunabot.

“Our advantages last year were that we were light, reliable and robust,” said Justin Headley, lead systems engineer for the team. “That’s what’s going to give us an advantage this year because we are building off the same system.” After completing modifications, the team first tested the functionality of their chosen lunabot in what the students call the sandbox. Few earthly substances are comparable to lunar soil since its top layer is six inches of dry, powdery material, like fresh cake mix, and the layer beneath compacts tightly like concrete. NASA uses a close simulant not commercially available, so the team was responsible for finding its own substitute to use for rehearsal. Their sandbox is filled with dry sand and cement, a material Ricks said is their closest substitute for NASA’s simulant. Next, they tested the lunabot in a volleyball pit on campus. Though the texture of beach sand is not at all like lunar soil, the volleyball pit allows the team to mimic the NASA competition, a 10-minute interval in which the lunabot moves across a 24-feet-long, 12-feet-wide simulated lunar surface. “Our testing is designed to mimic competition situations, including the obstacles, mining, collection and deposition of the

dirt in the bin,” Ricks said. “It is very important for this testing to include practice for the operators. Operator error and inefficiency can lead to lots of problems in the competition. So, it is important that operators get adequate time driving and operating the robot. For each competition run the operators need to carry out a carefully designed plan. So, practice is very important. As an analogy, a slightly slower car with a highly skilled driver can almost always outperform a faster car with a poor driver.” Though Ricks is behind his team every step of the way, he merely serves as a coach, providing technical insight for his students as they design, construct and test their lunabot. “Goals for 2013 are the same as they are every year: to put our best effort into the project so that UA students learn engineering skills, teamwork and what it takes to be successful,” Ricks said. “When UA arrives at the competition, we want our reputation to be one of continued success year after year. While maintaining that competitive edge, team members will represent UA in a first-class manner in all their activities.”

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

Parked yet Accelerating: in Alabama,

Former Mercedes Engineer Comes to the College By Adam Jones

Dr. Bharat Balasubramanian likes to talk about his car. He’ll show it to you if you’ve got just a moment. It’s a Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Of course, most anyone would be proud to have the wherewithal to buy the premium luxury vehicle, but he’s not bragging about his new toy. Rather, Balasubramanian is showing off his work. After all, he and his team at Mercedes designed the car. Its innovations such as semi-autonomous driving are ones he percolated as vice president of group research and advanced engineering for Daimler AG, responsible for product innovations and process technologies. Widely respected in the automotive and computer software industries, Balasubramanian’s work will help usher autonomous driving features into consumer cars later this year, and advanced research he guided will continue to influence automotive technology. Now, he and his S-Class are parked at The University of Alabama. After nearly 40 years as a research and development engineer for the Mercedes-Benz brand in Stuttgart, Germany, he retired from Daimler in 2012. Turning down high-profile opportunities in industry, Balasubramanian is now a member of the faculty in the College of Engineering. Continued on page 26

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{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

“I want to help make The University of Alabama into one of the best institutions in the U.S. for engineering.”

But his appointment isn’t a plush research projects in laboratories used by position of an occasional lecturer with faculty across the College, regardless of odd office hours who can grow a scruffy engineering focus. beard and get away with tweed jackets and Early in 2012, the College opened argyle sweaters. He’s not riding off into the the South Engineering Research Center sunset in Tuscaloosa. Balasubramanian that boasts premier facilities, including is charged with breathing new ideas into the Engines and Combustion Lab and the —Dr. Bharat Balasubramanian the curriculum and improving upon Electromechanical System Lab, both of automotive research to train students and which rely on mechanical, electrical and attract new industries to Alabama. computer engineers to tackle industry“We are very excited to have Dr. Balasubramanian join the sought research that also trains students to answer tomorrow’s College of Engineering at The University of Alabama,” said Dr. engineering challenges. Charles L. Karr, dean of UA engineering. “His extensive experience in “It’s very seldom that you see a university where different automotive research and development will be of great benefit to both departments collaborate in the same lab, similar to what is happening the University and the state of Alabama. in industry,” he said. “I was very impressed with how much effort The “He has been at the forefront of most of the major advances University of Alabama was putting into reorganizing research around that have occurred in automotive technology over the past 20 years, these collaborations.” and we are looking forward to having him work with our faculty Approaching mandatory retirement, Balasubramanian said and students on cutting-edge automotive research and on ensuring he was encouraged by friends at MBUSI to consider coming to our graduates are prepared to address the automotive challenges the Tuscaloosa to teach and research, an opportunity he pursued. world will face over the next 20 years.” “I want to help make The University of Alabama into one of the His journey from Germany to UA began in 2011. That best institutions in the U.S. for engineering,” he said. November, Balasubramanian gave a lecture on campus about the Before his lecture on campus in 2011, Balasubramanian tradition of innovation at Mercedes-Benz, especially in the area of encouraged a new partnership between UA and Daimler’s Mercedessafety. He said he was impressed with the College’s effort to organize Benz U.S. International Inc., the operator of the Mercedes-Benz Continued on page 29

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{ Capstone Engineer • Fall 2012 }

“I was very impressed with how much effort The University of Alabama was putting into reorganizing research around these collaborations.”

and as executive director of the Center automotive plant outside Tuscaloosa, which for Advanced Vehicle Technologies, or established a doctoral fellowship. The fellow CAVT, a cross-discipline research center is assigned a specific project and given focused on automotive innovation. research funding with the opportunity to —Dr. Bharat Balasubramanian Balasubramanian said he wants to work at the plant and research facilities in strengthen relationships with industry so Germany. research and development benefit both, The fellowship between UA and and he hopes to use his experience at Daimler to prepare students MBUSI is like the experience of Balasubramanian, who began working to work for the auto industry in Alabama and the Southeast. with Daimler while studying for the equivalent of a master’s degree at “Nearly every foreign automotive company has a presence in the the Technical University of Karlsruhe in Germany. A native of India, Southeast,” he said. “We not only want to make students better prepared Balasubramanian was interested in transportation from a very young to work for them, but that they are so well trained those companies won’t age, and knew since the age of 15, after reading of innovations and look at other universities before they look at The University of Alabama.” quality at Mercedes-Benz, that he wanted to be a researcher for Daimler. He is developing two courses. One is an automotive engineering That dream became reality after he graduated from the Indian Institute course called “Fundamentals of Automotive Systems” for upperclassmen of Technology in Bombay in 1973. that teaches a basic engineering understanding of the systems in a modern Mercedes hired him full time as a computational analysis engineer automobile and how they interact. The second is a more advanced in the CAE department for automatic transmissions and power steering course for graduate students that teaches finite element statics and systems after he got his master’s in mechanical engineering in 1977. He dynamics that will be applied to cars with fundamentals useful for all earned his doctorate from Karlsruhe in 1983 while working at Daimler. engineering disciplines. He took on increasing responsibility in research and development The courses will build from those he taught regularly the last 20 for the company, and, in 1988, he was named chief engineer. In years at the Technical University of Berlin in the School of Automotive 1997, he became vice president for engineering technologies in the Engineering and Railway Technology, where he was given the Mercedes-Benz passenger car research and development, and nine prestigious title of honorary professor in 1998. years later he was named vice president over all Mercedes-Benz group With CAVT, Balasubramanian hopes it will be a feather in the research and advanced engineering, responsible for close to 1,300 state’s cap when recruiting industries to Alabama by being a hub of engineers in Germany and about 1,000 more in international research automotive engineering that research companies can use to scale up and development locations. their production. Along the way, the CAVT will continue its mission of There is no such staff at UA. He has a standard faculty office off a prepping students to work in industry and academic research. third-floor hallway in SERC. After 40 years of working for a behemoth “They have been doing good work,” he said. “We will need to find German corporation, Balasubramanian thought academic work in the areas where the interdisciplinary nature of the center is leveraged to align United States might be a bit more laid back. He’s pleasantly surprised it research to what is required by industry.” is not. He is in talks with Alabama government leaders and other “One would think university life is totally relaxed, but it isn’t,” he state universities on ways to focus limited state money on beefing up said. “I’ve been impressed.” automotive research. “It will be a challenge,” Balasubramanian said. “I He began in October as a professor in both the mechanical am building enthusiasm.” engineering and electrical and computer engineering departments

{ The University of Alabama }

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

College successfully launches mentor program,

looks to expand By Adam Jones

From left, Henry Wang from electrical and computer engineering, Rachel Mitchell from chemical and biological engineering, JP Gravitt from chemical and biological engineering and Mackenzie Morris from mechanical engineering meet in the Ferguson Center.

efore coming to The University of Alabama as a freshman, JP Gravitt signed up for the College of Engineering mentoring program at the urging of his mom. “I decided to go along with it,” said Gravitt, a native of Columbiana, Ala. “I didn’t think it would be useful or beneficial to me, but after the first meeting, I knew I was mistaken.” Through email and the College’s website last summer, Gravitt’s mom had heard about Mentor UPP: Undergraduate Peer Partnering, a new program in the College aimed at providing underclassmen an opportunity to develop through relationships with upperclassmen in the College as the juniors and seniors acquire and expand leadership and networking skills. The program is a partnership between the Capstone Engineering Society, the alumni association for the College, and the UA Career Center, along with support from engineering student services. Nancy Holmes, CES manager, and Gayle Howell, a senior career counselor for engineering and computer science students, manage and oversee the program for the College. “We want to make the transition easier when students first 30

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become part of the College,” Holmes said. “Ultimately, our goal is to get students involved and increase their confidence as they work toward becoming a College of Engineering graduate.” Gravitt was paired with Rachel Mitchell, a senior in chemical engineering from Tuscaloosa. The two talked about questions and concerns Gravitt had regarding majoring in engineering, and Mitchell gave him a road map of what to expect as an engineering student, along with advice on what she would have done differently. Their conversations gave Gravitt confidence in his choice of chemical engineering, he said. “It was incredibly insightful, and I thanked mom later for making me sign up,” he said. Mitchell said she has enjoyed her time as a mentor. “Not only did it allow me to pour into younger students — and tell them things I wish I had known — but it allowed me to develop as well,” she said. “This is a program that benefits every participant in very worthwhile ways.” Holmes, Howell and a handful of students began a pilot program in Spring Semester 2012, using that experience to craft

the undergraduate program that launched in Fall Semester 2012. The feedback from mentors and the mentees was overwhelmingly positive, Holmes said. “So many of the mentors have told me that they wished they had had a program like this when they were freshmen,” she said. Even with the positive feedback from the pilot, the Mentor UPP leadership team was uncertain of what to expect when they opened the program up to the entire College. They were optimistic that enough upperclassmen would sign up in order to have one mentor joined with three mentees, taking into consideration that mentors in the Cooperative Education and Professional Practice Program might need a partner to continue mentoring during semesters away from campus. Leaders also hoped students from across the College would join because Mentor UPP is designed to commingle students from all disciplines to form a network of friends and associates for the students. Concerns for modest participation dissolved with almost 210 freshmen and transfer students joining Mentor UPP for Fall Semester 2012 and nearly 90 upperclassmen as mentors, enough for a nearly 2-to-1 ratio, providing a good cross section of the College. Again,

feedback has been positive, and the Mentor UPP leadership team checks in frequently through formal and informal meetings with mentors to gauge progress. Two professors, Dr. Beth Todd from mechanical engineering and Dr. Kenneth Ricks from electrical and computer engineering, became faculty mentors to advise the student leadership team and to offer faculty support. According to Todd, “In the past when we’ve tried to have mentoring programs, we always ran into freshmen who didn’t want it. Mentor is not part of their mindset. It is so clear to me that Mentor UPP is a professional growth opportunity for our students throughout their undergraduate career. It will help our students in ways that they do not expect.” Holmes and Howell plan to expand the program to include alumni. “We’re in the process of ironing out the details,” Holmes said. “We envision an alumni-mentoring component where alumni mentor juniors and seniors as they prepare for their future. Ultimately, a person will enter the program as a freshman and/or sophomore mentee, next become a peer mentor as a junior and senior while being mentored by an alum, then after graduation become a mentoring alum.”

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

Alumni Dynamics

Alumni Dynamics Items of Interest to Capstone Engineers and Computer Scientists

From left to right: Ronald E. Chronister and John S. Richardson

Two alumni inducted into State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame

Among this year’s class of inductees in the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame were two UA College of Engineering alumni, Ronald E. Chronister, of Athens, Ala., and John S. Richardson, of Hoover, Ala. Founded in 1987 by proclamation of the governor, the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame honors, preserves and perpetuates the outstanding accomplishments and contributions of individuals, projects and corporations/institutions that brought and continue to bring significant recognition to the state. Ronald E. Chronister has been a U.S. Army civil servant for more than 30 years, proud of the opportunity to serve with soldiers and families from all of the uniformed services. Chronister has held a variety of engineering, logistics and leadership positions during this time frame and since August 2012 has served as the deputy to the commander, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., responsible, in the support of the commander, for generation of operational space and missile defense capabilities through the integration of operational forces, capability development and materiel development functions within SMDC/ARSTRAT. Chronister’s engineering accomplishments include the development of an affordable manufacturing process for micromechanical electromagnetic systems (MEMS) gyros and

accelerometers, the development of low-cost, state-of-the-art composites for Army aviation helicopters and the development of electronic obsolescence programs that have saved the Army hundreds of millions of dollars. He was the architect of the Army aviation and missile prototype integration capability that stood in 2002 as the Prototype Integration Facility, a capability that uses existing capabilities to develop lower-cost modification solutions to Army helicopters and missile systems. The results to date include the completion of thousands of projects, from small cable design and assembly to major modifications on all Army helicopter platforms, saving hundreds of millions of dollars, but more importantly providing rapid response capabilities to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Chronister is a proud graduate of The University of Alabama College of Engineering, receiving a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering in 1982. He also earned a Master of Science in program management from the Naval Post Graduate School, Monterey, Calif., in 2002, graduating with distinction and as the recipient of the Army Scholastic Achievement Award. He was inducted as a University of Alabama College of Engineering Distinguished Fellow in 2010. John S. Richardson is an outstanding example of the benefits derived by blending an engineering education with business skills and outstanding communication abilities. Whether in the board room, talking with a group of Wall Street analysts, or visiting with employees in the field, Richardson is a distinguished business engineer. Throughout his remarkable career with Energen Resources Corp., Richardson has been a key player in the company’s growth Continued on page 34

{ The University of Alabama }

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

Alumni Dynamics

Big Thanks

We appreciate our recent partners in UA’s College of Engineering family for their support of our students and programs.

An outstanding engineering achievement, the Talladega Superspeedway was designed by William “Bill” Moss, BSCE ’59. From the geometry to the materials to the construction, everything about the design and construction was — and is — the realization of engineering innovation.

from a small, niche player in coal-bed methane development in Alabama to one of the top 25 independent oil and gas producers in the United States and the largest onshore producer in Alabama. Currently, as president and chief operating officer of Energen Resources Corp., Richardson is responsible for directing all aspects of the company, including acquisitions, exploration, exploitation and production activities, as well as playing a chief role in determining company strategy. He has recommended and executed the investment of more than $1.9 billion in acquisitions and was instrumental in the subsequent investment of more than $3.5 billion in development capital. Richardson graduated from The University of Alabama College of Engineering with a bachelor’s degree in mineral engineering in 1980 and a master’s degree in petroleum engineering in 1983. Following graduation, Richardson worked as an engineer with Jim Walter Resources, Shell Western E&P Inc. and AmSouth Bank.

Project by College alumna inducted into the hall of fame

Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR’s longest, fastest, steepest and most competitive racetrack, provides the ultimate racing experience. Records for speed and competition have been established at Talladega. If stock-car racing is an extreme sport, Talladega Superspeedway is undoubtedly its most extreme venue. After more than 40 years, the engineering at the Superspeedway is still considered extraordinary and is the ruler by which all other racetracks are measured.

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For its engineering achievements, it was inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame this year. From the geometry to the materials to the construction, everything about the design and construction of the Talladega Superspeedway was — and is — the realization of engineering innovation. In 1967, William H. France partnered with William W. Moss, a University of Alabama College of Engineering graduate, and his company to design and build a big brother to France’s speedway in Daytona Beach. Talladega, Ala., emerged as the top choice among several possible sites in the Southeast. The $4 million project was opened in 1969 as Alabama International Motor Speedway and renamed Talladega Superspeedway in 1989. The track is 2.66 miles long and four lanes wide and banked 33 degrees on each end, with 18-degree banking in the tri-oval. The backstretch is nearly 4,000 feet long, and stock cars have reached speeds in excess of 220 mph in competition. The grandstands seat 112,000 and the 240-acre infield holds many thousands more. There were and are still no design standards or recommended practices for a superspeedway. Yet, Moss and other engineers designed and placed asphalt smoothly along the track that withstands forces up to four times gravity. The basic infrastructure for the project on the once remote land has never needed to be added onto even through 40 years of growth. Safety systems, while updated, have proved capable of protecting fans and drivers despite the track’s high speeds.

ADTRAN Inc. for continuing support of the ADTRAN Mark C. Smith Endowed Engineering Scholarship Alabama Motorcoach Association for continuing support of the Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund American Cast Iron Pipe Co. for continuing support of the ACIPCO Engineering Scholarship Program Dan Bailey Family Legacy Fund for support of the William M. and Carolyn D. Fleming Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. James A. Blackwell Jr. for continuing support of the James A. Blackwell Jr. and Billie F. Blackwell Endowed Scholarship Boeing Co. for continuing support of the Boeing Corporation Scholarship and the Boeing Corporation Multicultural Engineering Scholarship Brasfield & Gorrie LLC for continuing support of the Brasfield & Gorrie Founders’ Scholarship, the Brasfield & Gorrie Endowed Support Fund, and the Brasfield & Gorrie Discretionary Fund Dr. Robin B. and Mr. William P. Buckelew for continuing support of the William P. and Robin B. Buckelew Endowed Engineering Scholarship Ms. Tammie Jean Butts for continuing support of the Tommie Ray Courington Memorial Endowed Scholarship Chevron for continuing support of the Chemical Engineering Fund, the Chevron Chemical Engineering Scholarship, the Chevron Mechanical Engineering Scholarship, the Mechanical Engineering Gift Fund, the Multicultural Engineering Gift Fund, and the Society of Women Engineers Gift Fund Mr. Andrew Cibulas for continuing support of the Andrew Cibulas Technology Support Fund Mrs. June N. Crowder for continuing support of the William E. Crowder Scholarship in Aerospace Engineering Miss Elizabeth Burford Crump for continuing support of the James Noble Crump Endowed Electrical Engineering Scholarship Mr. Harvel Gordon Deas Jr. for support of the Engineering Scholarship Fund Mrs. Karla McCain Devin for continuing support of the Nickless Devin Endowed Scholarship Drummond Co. Inc. for continuing support of the Drummond Company Annual Scholarship in Engineering and the Drummond Company Inc. Endowed Scholarship Eastman Chemical Co. for continuing support of the Chemical Engineering Fund, the Multicultural Engineering Gift Fund and the Engineering Co-op Gift Fund Mr. James M. Faircloth Jr. for continuing support of the James M. Faircloth Memorial Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Ronald W. Gray for continuing support of the Mr. and Mrs. Clifford S. Gray Endowed Scholarship

Mr. and Mrs. Kevin M. Hostler for continuing support of the Becky and Kevin Hostler Endowed Engineering Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. George M. Jones III for continuing support of the George Merrell Jones III and Carole Jurenko Jones Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Tom D. Kilgore for continuing support of the Myra Blevins Kilgore Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. MacKay for continuing support of the Rick and Barrett Brock MacKay Chemical Engineering Discretionary Fund Ms. Catherine E. Massey for continuing support of the James Bennett Massey Scholarship McAbee Construction Inc. for continuing support of the McAbee Construction Inc. Endowed Scholarship McAbee Foundation for continuing support of the McAbee Foundation Scholarship Mr. Richard A. Nail II for support of the Engineering Equipment Fund National Space Grant Foundation for continuing support of the Electrical Engineering Gift Fund Mr. and Mrs. Terry Neeley for continuing support of the Terry L. Neeley Endowed Scholarship Nucor Corp. for continuing support of the NUCOR Student Introduction to Engineering Support Fund and the Metallurgical Engineering Gift Fund Mr. Alsey C. Parker Jr. for continuing support of the Alsey C. Parker Memorial Endowed Engineering Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. David E. Roberts Jr. for continuing support of the Roberts Engineering Scholarship Robins & Morton for continuing support of the Robins & Morton Scholarship Mr. Robert S. Ryan for continuing support of the Engineering Scholarship Fund and the Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics Endowment Mr. Dennis Schroeder for continuing support of the Dennis A. Schroeder Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Sipe Jr. for continuing support of the Charles A. Sipe Jr. and Nelle Sipe Endowed Scholarship Mr. Wallace A. Swanson Jr. for continuing support of the Wallace A. and Thelma C. Swanson Endowed Scholarship 3M Foundation-Decatur for continuing support of the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Minority Scholarship and the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company Scholarship Vulcan Materials Co. for continuing support of the Vulcan Materials Company Endowed Support Fund

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

Alumni Dynamics

From left to right: Dr. Jerry W. Jackson, Michael Wolfe, Wiely Boswell, B. Keith Roberson, Cmdr. Brandt Moslener and Keith Hefner From left to right: Aubrey Allen Free, Peter Gunter Prater, Rodney Wade Summerford, Linda Rodgers Sveinsson and Paul R. Wildes

Alumni Notes 1962

1976

1968

Dr. Richard Douglas Kramer, MSEng, retired from the Missile Defense Agency as a propulsion subject-matter expert.

Col. Charles Schimmer Jr., BSMtE and MSMtE ’63, discontinued operations of GAIA-VULCAN Engineering Corp. and placed his professional license in retirement. Dr. Jerry W. Jackson, BSChE, received the Improvement Advisor certificate from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Jackson is medical director for Nephrology Associates in Birmingham, Ala., which was also named a Center of Excellence by Fresenius Medical Care.

1974

M. Blane McGlawn, BSMinE and MSMinE ’77, accepted a position with Energen Resources in Birmingham, Ala.

Joe Robinson, MSCE, retired after 37 years as an engineer with the city of Tuscaloosa, Ala., his last position as head of the office of city engineer.

1980

Michael Wolfe, BSChE, joined Brightstar Corp. as senior vice president, chief information officer and chief technology officer. Brightstar provides specialized global wireless distribution and services.

1982

In Memory

Jobs. Promotions. Awards.

Wiely Boswell, BSEE, was selected as the Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year by the Society of Broadcast Engineers. Boswell is the chief engineer for Faith Radio in Montgomery, Ala.

1983

B. Keith Roberson, BSIE, received the Joseph P. Cribbins Medal from the Association of the U.S. Army given annually to a current or retired Department of Army civilian. Roberson serves as executive director, Integrated Material Management Center, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command in Huntsville, Ala. Cmdr. Brandt Moslener, BSIE, was tapped to lead the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School.

1985

Keith Hefner, BSIE, was named to the Senior Executive Service position of manager of the Program Planning and Control Office for NASA’s Space Launch System Program at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

1993

Timothy Hugh Calvert, BSME and MSME ’95, joined Forth & Van Dyke engineering firm as a client team leader helping open the company’s first office in Atlanta, Ga.

2006

Robert “Bobby” Gibson, BSEE, was promoted to SQL database developer at Insuresoft, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

2008

Kerri Ellen Hay Carr, BSChE, joined Health Information Designs in Auburn, Ala., as a project manager. Something we missed? Please send us your professional achievement and recognitions for inclusion in Alumni Notes by visiting eng.ua.edu/alumni/update.

Aubrey Allen Free

Aubrey Allen Free died on Sept. 12, 2012, in Hoover, Ala. After serving in the U. S. military during the Korean War he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1956. Afterward, he went to work for Rust Engineering and Construction before serving as president of Cowan International in 1980. Eight years later, Free became president of SimonsBecon, an engineering and construction company in Atlanta, Ga., but later returned to Rust Engineering and Construction, where he served as president and CEO until his retirement in 1996. He was a member of the University’s Engineering Advisory Board and received the UA Department of Civil Engineering Fellow in 1993. That same year he was named a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow.

Peter Gunter Prater

Peter “Pete” Gunter Prater died July 20, 2012, in Hendersonville, Tenn. Prater received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University in 1940. After serving as a weapons engineer and test pilot for the U. S. Army Air Force in World War II, he worked as a chemical engineer for DuPont Co. and later helped to form Chemtex, an international textile manufacturer. Prater was named a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow in 1988. He was also named an Honorary Trustee for the Volunteer State College Foundation in Gallatin, Tenn.

Rodney Wade Summerford

Rodney Wade Summerford died Aug. 16, 2012, in Daphne, Ala. He joined Volkert and Associates in 1964, two years after receiving his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from UA. Summerford rose through various positions to become senior vice president, and he

retired in 2007. He was involved in crucial projects such as the Mobile Municipal Airport and Interstate 565 in Huntsville, Ala. He served as president of ASCE and ASPE. He is a department of civil, construction and environmental engineering Fellow, and he was selected in 1992 as a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow. A charter member of the Capstone Engineering Society board, he also served as chair.

Linda Rodgers Sveinsson

Linda Rodgers Sveinsson died on Dec. 6, 2012, in Falls Church, Va. A native of Northport, Ala., Sveinsson was the daughter of Dr. Eric and Sarah Rodgers. Eric Rodgers was a UA physics professor and the dean of the Graduate School from 1958 to 1971, and Sarah Rodgers was a longtime statistics professor at UA. Under a National Science Foundation Scholarship, Sveinsson graduated from the University in 1972 with a master’s degree in industrial engineering. Her bachelor’s degree in mathematics was from Birmingham-Southern College. Her diverse career included development of real-time systems in the 1960s, including online control systems for multi-megawatt steam-power plants for the Tennessee Valley Authority, and development of a unique network operating system for a multiple medical laboratories at The University of Alabama Medical Center. She also worked for Bell Laboratories. Her last assignment was as an engineering manager with Noblis.

John Milton Troha

John Milton Troha died on Aug. 26, 2012, in Birmingham, Ala. He served four years in the U. S. Navy before coming to the University to earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1965. For 30 years of his career, Troha worked for Alabama Power Co. and Southern Company Services. He was an employee at Southeastern Electric Reliability Corp. at the time of his death. Continued on page 38

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{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

Alumni Dynamics

Bits and Bytes

Bits and Bytes The College from Outside “ I have a passion for solving problems, especially problems that I myself have encountered.” — Ajit Gupta,

In Memory Continued Clinton Samuel Walker

Former engineering professor Clinton Samuel Walker died on July 13, 2012, in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Walker earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Texas Tech University in 1939. Before coming to The University of Alabama, where he taught electrical engineering for seven years, he researched what caused some U.S. torpedoes to malfunction for the Naval Ordnance Laboratory during World War II. After studying energy production at Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology, Walker joined the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Instrumentation and Controls Division and worked as an assistant editor for the Nuclear Safety Journal. In the early 1970s he worked as principal licensing engineer for the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Nuclear Engineering Branch.

Hillman Curtis Wideman Jr.

Hillman Curtis Wideman Jr. died on Sept. 16, 2012, in Maylene, Ala. After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, Wideman earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University in 1949. He spent 25 years managing construction for special projects for Arabian American Oil Co. He also spent five years in St. Louis, Mo., working as head of construction for Hospital Building and Equipment Co. in the 1970s.

Paul R. Wildes

Paul R. Wildes died Jan. 17, 2013, in Hoover, Ala. A native of Hueytown, Ala., Wildes served as a pilot in the Army Air Force during World War II, and was recalled to active duty in the Air Force Reserve during the Korean War, serving at Langley Air Force Base, Va. Between his service, Wildes earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 1948 from the University, where he was also a member of the Million Dollar Band. He worked 38 years for Alabama Gas Corp. An active member of the Capstone Engineering Society, Wildes was inducted into the first class of UA Distinguished Engineering Fellows in 1988.

MSEE ’91 and founder and CEO of Aryaka, on where he gets ideas for his businesses in the article “How Ajit Gupta’s Aryaka is disrupting the Wide Area Network business,” Forbes

Friends We Will Miss John R. Amann BSAE ’41

Teresa Madeline Lucas, BSCE ’76

Jerry Banks, BSIE ’61, MSIE ’63

Dwight L. McKay, BSChE ’47

Gerhard Paul Beduerftig, BSME ’63, MSME ’65

Walter H. Monroe Jr., BSCE ’49

Francis Clifford Berry, BSEE ’50

Jack Marshall Nuckols, BSME ’55

Daniel J. Beverage, BSEE ’74

Perry B. Morris, MSChE ’49

John E. Bowen, BSMtE ’77

Alfred J. Saliba, BSCE ’53

Malcom Eugene Cash, BSEE ’59

L. Carl Schlosser, BSME ’47

Walter R. Cureton, BSCE ’63

Jim Kevin Russel, BSEE ’81

Don Eugene Denton Jr., BSEE ’54

Thomas Marion Stone Jr., BSCE ’76

Charles H. Gilbreath, BSCE ’61

Chester Theodore Wasileski, BSME ’49

S. Morris Guthrie, BSEE ’62

Benjamin A. Rentz Jr., BSCE ’48

Paul D. Hammacher Jr., BSIE ’54

James S. Tiller, BSChE ’48

R. Gordon Heaton, BSEE ’42

Claude H. Willis, III BSChE ’76

Adrian C. Hill, BSIE ’62

John T. Wheeler, BSAE ’55

Eugene Erwin Huckaby, BSME ’60 Matthew M. Killen, BSCAE ’10

James D. West, MSEE ’91

“ People must consider how important our infrastructure is. It literally connects our country and keeps it running. And it is clearly in need of improvement.” — Andrew Tomiczek, civil engineering junior, in the published letter to the editor “The candidates are overlooking the critical topic of infrastructure,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“ This isn’t really rocket science here. You have a lot of people on the roads over Thanksgiving, so the crashes are naturally going to get worse.” — Dr. Allen Parrish, computer science professor and director of the UA Center for Advanced Public Safety, on a CAPS analysis of holiday traffic data in the article “Thanksgiving week one of the deadliest on the highway,” USA Today

“ W hen girls think of computer science, they think of the gamers and sitting in a cubicle to program, but I’ve found that you can do so much more with it.” — Cassidy Lamm, computer science sophomore, in the article “A reboot in recruiting women into computer science,” The Chronicle of Higher Education

“ But given that they’ve essentially created a rocket fuelpowered leg, it’s not a stretch to suggest that future iterations will be significantly stronger and more robust than the real thing.” — writer George Dvorsky on UA College of Engineering research into ankle prosthetics in his article “Artificial limb powered by rocket fuel,” Discovery News

Drs. Ken Fridley, left, and Ed Back on the cover of the August/September issue of Alabama Construction News

“ There are still some tricky issues to be solved, especially should the car come into an accident. I will make a prediction: the first such accident with an autonomous car is going to be a 100-year litigation case in the United States.” — Dr. Bharat Balasubramanian, engineering professor, on the dawn of commercially available autonomous cars, WIAT-CBS 42 Birmingham

Tweetgineering —

Because engineers use Twitter, too

“ It's sad that economics is my easy class this semester #EngineeringProbz” — Jacob McDill, junior, electrical engineering

“ I'm a junior and I still don't see how they have these half-floors in HM comer — it's like magic” — Jimmy Clokey, junior, mechanical engineering “ Windows in Rodgers should be able to open so myself and fellow engineers can pretend to enjoy the nice weather #organictest @bamaengineering” — Parker Graham, senior, chemical engineering

{ The University of Alabama }

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

End User

Capstone Engineers and Computer Scientists on Today’s Technology Dr. Jason Bara, an assistant professor in chemical and biological engineering, researches the development of processes for clean-energy generation that uses new solvents with little or no volatility for scrubbing CO2 emissions. Bara works in collaboration with ION Engineering to develop and deploy these technologies.

Members of Capstone Engineering Society,

CE: You’re trying to be more efficient. Make capture cheaper, essentially? Bara: Right. You can do that through chemical mechanisms, which is primarily what we’re doing. But, there are mechanical ways, too, and those all stem from efficiency — better heat exchanger, a betterpacked column. There are things you can engineer mechanically, and then there is the chemistry side of it. They both play roles. CE: You’re focused mainly on improving current ideas so you can scale up? Bara: Right. We’re not looking at things that are so novel that they’ve haven’t ever been scaled. That’s what is so nice about what we do. We’re kind of at that stage where we can talk to someone like the Southern Co., get them a couple gallons of our solvents and test it on a real plant. If you’re trying to design a completely new process that doesn’t use a solvent, a membrane or some sort of porous material,

{ The University of Alabama }

where do you start? You’ll be starting in your lab, and you’ll be playing with lab conditions for a long time, which doesn’t necessarily reflect power-plant conditions. CE: Is current technology at a level for the electric power industry to implement widespread carbon capture if, say, the federal government wanted to tax emissions? Bara: We have the technology to do this, though it’s not mature enough for full-scale capture at power plants, so the question is what is it really going to cost? Even the people doing this work at largest scales don’t quite yet know. That’s the challenge. I would say there is not enough steel or engineers available if we decided to capture CO2 from every power plant today. The chemical industry couldn’t support the demand even if we use the simplest solvents out there. You’d run out of chemicals quickly. So, it’s going to have to be phased in. There are a number of industries that will have to catch up.

It is hard to believe that four years ago I joined the College of Engineering family as the manager of the Capstone Engineering Society. In that time, I have developed so many wonderful relationships and have had the honor and privilege of getting to know and interact with so many of you. The Capstone Engineering Society has extraordinary alumni, friends, faculty, staff and students who make a significant impact to the College by sharing their ideas, time and gifts. In my tenure, I have watched the CES reach several noteworthy milestones, such as the celebration of 40 years of service as the alumni association for the College, the creation of exciting programs and events to reach our students, tomorrow’s alumni, and the Capstone Engineering Society Alumni Endowed Scholarship fund surpassing $1 million, providing numerous scholarships to many accomplished and deserving students. Additionally, the CES partnered with the Career Center and Engineering Student Services to create a mentoring and networking program, Mentor UPP: Undergraduate Peer Partnering, and we are working on the alumni component to be launched in the near future. None of these accomplishments would be possible without you. Because you care and share, you make a tremendous difference in the vision of the College and the lives of our most precious commodity, our students.

Recently, a challenge was given to the CES board of directors to invite three to five alumni to join the Capstone Engineering Society. I wish to extend the same challenge to each of you. The CES continually seeks opportunities for collaboration and partnerships that benefit our students and alumni, as well as means to engage our less active alumni. Together, let’s get as many of our alumni involved in the Capstone Engineering Society, your alumni association, and continue to move the College of Engineering forward. Thank you and Roll Tide!

Nancy N. Holmes Manager, Capstone Engineering Society

{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }

Capstone Engineering Society

Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage PAID

College of Engineering Box 870200 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0200

Tuscaloosa, AL Permit 16

“ Having been a recipient of a scholarship that helped me attend The University of Alabama, being able to help raise those scholarship funds and provide somebody else in the next generation that same opportunity is vital. It’s something that has to be done.”

In the past six years, active-alumni contributions to the Capstone Engineering Society provided more than 60 scholarships to our engineering and computer-science students. Tell a friend or colleague about the help you provide the College of Engineering through the CES.

— David Williams, ’91 BSAE, and CES member

eng.ua.edu/alumni