OUTLOOK Fall 2018

ALUMNI NEWSLETTER | SUMMER/FALL 2018 | ISSUE NO. 8

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

INSIDE: Department News | Faculty Highlights | Student News and more!

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Dear alumni and friends, I am proud to say that my first year as chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Delaware has been both busy and rewarding. Our vision is to become renowned as a department focused on sustainable infrastructure and sustainable environment through research, education, and service, and we are sprinting toward that end every day.

Sue McNeil PROFESSOR AND CHAIR

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We are continuously refining our curriculum and recently added a new design-oriented fluids lab for our undergraduate students. This year, we started our new construction engineering and management major, which is off to a running start. We recently celebrated our alumni with a new canoe event on the Brandywine River. We expanded our leadership team with the appointment of Jack Puleo as the associate chair of the department, and he also became the director of the Center for Applied Coastal Research this year. What’s more, our hard work is being rewarded, as our faculty, staff and students are continuously recognized with honors and awards for their research and service. To name just a few, Chris Meehan and Nii Attoh-Okine were named ASCE Fellows, and Jim Kirby won the 2018 International Coastal Engineering Award from ASCE. Through research activities, we continue to break new ground in green engineering, the use of new materials and renewable resources, and

provisions for the security of critical infrastructure systems.

Of course, we are also continuing our favorite traditions, such as honors day and our annual alumni golf outing.

I am grateful for the outstanding work of my predecessor as department chair—Tripp Shenton. His leadership laid the foundation for many of the successes we can celebrate today.

Now, I look forward to what’s yet to come. I hope you’ll join us, and support us, as we continue on our mission: to provide a culturally diverse and intellectually stimulating environment for the discovery and application of knowledge in civil and environmental engineering, the education of our students to their fullest potential, and service to the public through outreach and professional activities. Follow along with our accomplishments in this edition of the magazine, on our newly relaunched website (http://www.ce.udel.edu/aboutus/welcome/) and on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/CEEUD/).

Sincerely,

Sue McNeil DEPARTMENT CHAIR AND PROFESSOR

Department news

Coastal Center Transitions Jack Puleo, professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been named director of the Center for Applied Coastal Research. The center’s mission is to create and distribute coastal processes knowledge to enhance the welfare of residents near coastlines along Delaware, the United States and beyond.

Excellence in Service Award Sarah Palmer, undergraduate academic advisor in the Department of Civil and Environmentl Engineering, received the College of Engineering Staff Excellence in Service Award in June 2018.

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DEPARTMENT NEWS

BUilding the future

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UD launches undergraduate program in construction engineering and management The University of Delaware Faculty Senate approved the establishment of an undergraduate major in construction engineering and management beginning in the fall 2017 semester.

The program, which admitted its first class in Fall 2017, is offered through the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The bachelor’s of construction engineering and management (BCEM) is the third degree program offered by the department.

Professor Tripp Shenton, who was department chair during the time leading up to the program’s establishment, notes that construction engineering and management is an increasingly important sub-discipline of civil engineering.

“Traditionally, civil engineering graduates have entered the workforce with a strong engineering foundation but limited exposure to construction engineering,” says Shenton. “We’re filling an important gap with this new major.”

Associate professor Edgar Small, who has more than 25 years of construction and infrastructure management experience, has joined the department to serve as program director. Small holds a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Buffalo in New York.

“As the industry evolves and progresses, the construction enterprise has become more complex and technically demanding,” Small says. “The increasing need for engineers prepared to meet the challenges of construction management has been recognized by industry, addressed by professional societies and accrediting bodies, and validated through market studies.”

there is a lack of universities in the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast offering ABET-accredited engineeringbased construction programs,” Small says.

The 126 credit-hour program, which follows UD’s common engineering curriculum for the first semester, is founded on core math and science courses, including calculus, linear algebra, chemistry, physics, and computer science. The curriculum was developed according to requirements outlined by ABET, the accrediting body for engineering programs in the U.S. All students in the program will be required to participate in a 26-week co-op experience and to complete a certificate of business essentials offered by UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics. In addition, an optional minor in business administration has been outlined for students who wish to go beyond the requirements to obtain additional credentials.

Mike Berardi, senior vice president at Wohlsen Construction and a 1992 graduate of UD in civil engineering, agrees that the program will be a welcome resource to help address the current shortage of required professionals in this industry.

Start-up of the program, including the hiring of Small as director, was enabled by a major gift from an industry partner. The department hired two additional construction faculty members, who began this fall, as well a visiting senior instructor. Small plans to expand the program with the hiring of three additional research-oriented faculty to expand the construction group to six faculty members.

“The need for construction engineers is pressing, and

“UD is ideally geographically situated to fill this need, given proximity to New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., three of the largest markets for construction professionals.”

“The construction engineering and management program at UD will provide numerous opportunities for engineering students seeking the necessary tools for a successful foundation in the construction industry,” he says.

“Regional construction and engineering firms will undoubtedly benefit from graduates of this program, who will not only hold a degree in higher education but also acquire a skill set of applied practices and hands-on experience relative to the business.”

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DEPARTMENT NEWS

Fluid Mechanics Regatta Lab course culminates in boat races at Carpenter Sports Building

The subject of fluid mechanics came to life for some engineering students in UD’s fluid mechanics lab course last spring.

Their final exam wasn’t in the lab or the classroom — it took place in the diving well at the Harry Rawstrom Natatorium in the Carpenter Sports Building, when students in Jack Puleo’s one-credit

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course had to demonstrate the “sea-worthiness” of boats they made using a variety of free, recycled, or cheap materials, including foam pool noodles, duct tape, plywood, caulk, rope and plastic buckets.

“They were tasked with designing an apparatus that could transport two team members across

the UD dive pool and back, which is 20 meters each way,” Puleo says. “The main goal was to get them to use concepts of buoyancy and stability and to work in teams to design, develop, and construct the apparatus using a standard iterative design process.”

Puleo’s only stipulations were that the students couldn’t use any ready-made devices like kiddie pools or boats. They also had a budget limit of $75 and had to account for all purchases in their final reports.

Hawaiian shirts, gold earrings, pirate flags, baseball uniforms, captain’s hats, and brightly colored leis added to the festive atmosphere.

Although all of the boats were tethered to a rope just in case they sank, the ounce of prevention turned out to be unnecessary. All seven of the boats made it across and back successfully, so all were winners in Puleo’s view.

“Prof. Puleo wanted us to work collaboratively on a semester-long assignment so that we as students could see our successes come to life in the pool,” says senior Ed Burke. “It was amazing to see how well all of our hard work paid off.

This experience is going to prepare me for future endeavors in the field of engineering.”

For Puleo, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the course was about teaching fluid mechanics in a way that would be both educational and fun.

He obviously succeeded.

The vessels bore names like Musk, Tiki Time, Minnesota Twins, Untz Untz, Floods Build-A-Boat, and Quinn and her Friends.

One was christened Lenny’s Disciples, a nod to long-time mechanical engineering professor Len Schwartz, whose face appeared on a sign accompanying the boat.

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Faculty Highlights

Welcome New Faculty

Yu-Ping (Yo) Chin

Paramita Mondal

Ri Na

Mark Nejad

Monique Head

Yo Chin joined the Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty in 2017 as a Professor in Environmental Engineering.

His expertise is in aqueous geochemistry and hydrogeology.

He received his Ph.D. from University of Michigan.

He was previously at the Ohio State University.

Paramita Mondal joined the faculty in 2017 as an Associate Professor in Civil Engineering. Paramita received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University and her research focuses on concrete and sustainable materials.

Ri Na joined the Construction Engineering and Management group in 2018 as an Assistant Professor. Ri achieved her Master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Mark Nejad joined the faculty in 2017 as an Assistant Professor in the Civil Engineering department. Mark received his Ph.D. from Wayne State University and his research focuses on transportation and civil infrastructure systems.

Monique Hite Head joined the Civil and Environmental faculty in 2018 in the Structures group.

Monique comes to us from Morgan State University, where she was the Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies in the School of Engineering.

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David Salzer

Jennie Perey Saxe

Mohsin Siddiqui

Jovan Tatar

David Salzer has joined the Construction Engineering & Management group as a Senior Instructor. David received his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rhode Island and his Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Jennie Perey Saxe, Ph.D., joined the CEE faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Environmental group in 2017.

Jennie joins us from the EPA where she held positions in the Environmental Engineering and Public Health disciplines.

Jennie achieved her Ph.D. at the University of Delaware.

Mohsin Siddiqui, Ph.D., joined the Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Construction Engineering Management program in 2018.

Mohsin achieved his Ph.D. in Construction Engineering and Project Management, Civil Engineering, from the University of Texas at Austin.

Jovan Tatar, Ph.D., joined the Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Structures group in 2018. Jovan comes to us from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he was an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering.

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Faculty Highlights

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Coastal Engineering Excellence Kirby’s models of wave behavior have helped engineers protect people and coastlines James Kirby, the Edward C. Davis Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, received the 2018 International Coastal Engineering Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Kirby develops mathematical models to predict the behavior of waves. His models, including REF/DIF, FUNWAVE, NHWAVE and NearCoM, have been utilized extensively by researchers and companies.

“They provide an engineering tool to people who do coastal remediation or design harbors, marinas, inlets, and more,” said Kirby.

His models are also widely used for hazard analysis, especially in areas affected by tsunamis.

“NHWAVE has been used a lot in tsunami applications as a means for computing the initial tsunami source, primarily due to landslides entering the water or occurring completely underwater,” said Kirby.

“People all over the place are using it.”

Kirby has published more than 130 scholarly journal articles, which have been cited more than 14,000 times. In one article recently published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Kirby and collaborators verified emerging research that predicts when waves will break based on a comparison of the speed at which the water particles are moving horizontally, and the speed of the crest of the wave moving forward. When that ratio hits 85 percent, the wave will break.

He also continues to study the effects of landslides and tsunamis, research the dynamics of water flow in estuaries and river mouths and study the evolution and resilience of salt marshes. For example, he is trying to describe the waves and wave-driven currents breaking on rocky coastlines. This could help to elucidate how larvae and other organisms living along the shoreline travel out into the sea.

It takes many hours of mathematical work and computer programming to develop these models, which have become more complex as computing power has increased over the last four decades.

mathematician’s joy in doing perfectly abstract things. I like to do things that are going to have application to something you can go out in the real world and see.”

Despite the computational nature of his work, Kirby spends a bit of his work life in the field, too, collecting data on water flow in salt marshes.

In 1989, Kirby and three colleagues founded the Center for Applied Coastal Research, which is devoted to the study of processes at the shoreline and construction within the coastal zone and has served as a training ground for some of the world’s top oceanographers.

The other founders of the Center for Applied Coastal Research, Nobuhisa Kobayashi, Ib Arne Svendsen and Robert A. Dalrymple, received the International Coastal Engineering Award in 2010, 2005 and 1999, respectively.

“This small group has made a major impact on the field,” said Kirby.

“My biggest professional joy is watching the equations march across the page,” said Kirby. “However, I don’t have a

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Faculty Highlights

Sue McNeil Awarded ASCE’s Frank M. Masters Transportation Engineering Award Sue McNeil, Ph.D., P.E., ASCE Distinguished Member and chair of UD’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has been awarded the Frank M. Masters Transportation Engineering Award. She was recognized at the ASCE-T&DI International Conference on Transportation and Development in Pittsburgh on July 16, 2018. The award is a memorial to the outstanding professional accomplishments of Frank M. Masters, Hon.M.ASCE. McNeil has made a significant contribution in the area of transportation planning especially with her recent work on the transportation aspects of disaster relief. This work, conducted in cooperation with the Center of Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation at Rutgers University, is of seminal value and it was disseminated widely through several reports and journal papers. In addition. McNeil's service as the Chief Editor of ASCE's Journal of Infrastructure Systems has been exemplary and serves as a bright example to all aspiring female civil engineering professionals.

McNeil has an outstanding record of research achievement, educational contributions, and professional service. Her research contributions to improve asset management procedures, brownfield redevelopment, and infrastructure resiliency are particularly notable and deserving of recognition with the Frank Masters award. She has been a national and international engineering leader in these important activities. She has led a variety of professional committees and panels, as well as chairing or co-chairing prominent conferences for a variety of professional organizations including ASCE and the Transportation Research Board. She has also been a role model, advisor, and teacher for a large number of civil engineers.

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Nii Attoh-Okine

New ASCE

Fellows Three percent of the 150,000 members of the American

Society of Civil Engineers are Fellows, and honor given to ASCE members who have made significant contributions to the field of civil engineering and enhanced lives in the process.

Meet two recent ASCE Fellows from UD’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Nii O. Attoh-Okine, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Delaware and interim academic director of the university’s Cybersecurity Initiative, was named to ASCE's 2018 class of Fellows. He has been at UD’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Department with a joint appointment in electrical and computer engineering since 1999. His work in neural networks and graphical probability models dates to the mid-1990s, when he introduced artificial intelligence in pavement engineering.

Attoh-Okine has published extensively in cross-disciplinary areas. Recently his work on empirical mode decomposition / signal processing technique was among the most groundbreaking achievements in civil engineering. He has authored two books that are defining the direction of research across disciplines, and the results of his research have been documented in journal articles as well as numerous keynote lectures at conferences and invited lectures, nationally and internationally. He has also advised numerous graduate students, some of whom are now professors at universities in the U.S. and abroad.

Attoh-Okine’s professional activities have included participation in ASCE, IEEE (senior member), and Transportation Research Board (TRB) committees. He was a founding associate editor for ASCE/ASME’s Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems (which he still serves) and has done associate editing for the numerous ASCE journals. He also contributed to IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C, and served as Special Issues editor for other IEEE journals.

He is a licensed professional engineer in Kansas, having earned his Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Kansas and has a Dip-Ing in applied mechanics from Rostov-On-Don Civil Engineering Institute, in Russia.

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Faculty Highlights

Chris Meehan

Chris Meehan, an associate professor of Civil Engineering, was named to ASCE’s 2017 class of Fellows. He specializes in geotechnical engineering, with particular interests in soil mechanics and soil shear behavior, slope stability, foundation engineering, geosynthetics, soil-structure interaction, soil and site improvement, intelligent compaction, and levee system design.

New ASCE

Fellows

“This is clear evidence that Chris’s engagement with and involvement in the geotechnical community is having an impact,” says Sue McNeil, professor and chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “If you have had an opportunity to hear Chris talk about any of his projects you know that he identifies interesting problems, finds innovative solutions grounded in sound engineering principles, and approaches each problem with passion and enthusiasm. He also engages graduate and undergraduate students in the research.”

Meehan joined the UD faculty in 2006, the same year he completed his Ph.D. at Virginia Tech. He is also the director of the Delaware Center for Transportation, which conducts research, development, and educational activities to advance transportation in Delaware and beyond. He has been a member of ASCE since 1996.

Among other professional career honors, he received a 2012-2013 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Grant and a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2009.

Meehan has written dozens of refereed journal articles, including seven so far this year. The National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Defense, the Delaware Department of Transportation, and the Delaware Solid Waste Authority support his research.

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Additional Honors Allan Zarembski recognized for contributions to track engineering

Vic Kaliakin wins geotechnical award Professor Vic Kaliakin was awarded the Medal of L.N. Gumilyov (Eurasian National University) and delivered the Burmister Lecture during the Second GI-Kazakhstan Geotechnical Society Geotechnical Workshop, which was held in Orlando and NYC in March 2018.

Allan M. Zarembski, Professor of Practice and Director of UD’s Railroad Engineering and Safety Program, has received the 2017 Fumio Tatsuoka Best Paper Award from the journal Transportation Infrastructure Geotechnology.

He was recognized for four papers that made significant impact on geotechnology in railway engineering, specifically in the realms of track geometry defects and track substructure. Zarembski is the fourth recipient of this award and the second from UD. Dov Leshchinsky, emeritus professor of civil and environmental engineering, won the first Fumio Tatsuoka Best Paper Award in 2014.

Allen Jayne honored for excellence in teaching Allen Jayne, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, was awarded UD’s 2016 Excellence in Teaching Award. The award was based primarily on nominations from current and past students. Awardees receive $5,000, have their portraits hung in Morris Library for five years and have bricks inscribed with their names installed in Mentors’ Circle between Hullihen Hall and the Morris Library.

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Student News

Congratulations to the Class of 2018!

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Student of the Year PhD student Will Baker is the Mid-Atlantic Transportation Sustainability Center's Student of the Year. He was presented his award at the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) Awards Banquet in Washington, DC in January.

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Student News

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UD Hosts ASCE Regional Competition ASCE Mid-Atlantic Student Conference draws from 11 universities The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Conference was held at the University of Delaware on April 7-8, 2018.

Approximately 250 students from 11 universities in the region attended the conference, which included technical papers and presentations and friendly engineering competitions. Five schools participated in a concrete canoe competition, 11 in a steel bridge competition, and four in a GeoWall competition that asks students to construct a retaining wall from paper.

“This is an opportunity for the students to display the multitude of talents they've developed in the engineering arena, including originality and ingenuity, analysis and design prowess, perseverance, and dedication,” said Allen A. Jayne, an assistant professor of civil and environmental

engineering and advisor of UD’s student chapter of ASCE. “It's also an opportunity for the students to meet peers from other schools, exchange ideas and perspectives, and even just have a good time together.”

Emily Robison ‘18, a senior civil engineering major and president of UD’s ASCE student chapter, has attended the conference each of the last four years.

“Every year the conference is an opportunity for our chapter of ASCE here at UD to display the results of seven months of hard work,” she said.

Teams from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Pennsylvania State University, and University of Maryland won the concrete canoe competition.

Teams from Lafayette College, Drexel University and Pennsylvania State University won the steel bridge competition.

Every year the conference is an opportunity for our chapter of ASCE here at UD to display the results of seven months of hard work.

Teams from Lafayette College, Widener University and Temple University won the GeoWall competition.

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Student News

UNDERGRADUATE

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT Research apprenticeships with faculty mentors give undergraduates a chance to see and take part in what is happening on the front lines of discovery. A few students answered questions about their experience, and selected responses appear here.

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Biochar, microbes and dirt Michael Rechsteiner researches biochar and how it can help sustain our environment Q: What is your research focus?

Rechsteiner: Biochar is a carbon-rich cousin of charcoal that is made by upcycling biomass, such as wood scraps, manures, poultry litter and other organic waste. I am studying the effect of different microbes in varying amounts of biochar-amended soil, as well as analyzing the different types of bacteria found in biochar-amended soil compared to untreated soil.

Q: What interests you most about this?

Rechsteiner: There is a lot of potential for biochar to help sustain our environment. Soil has a large role on our planet, whether we consider its nutritional value for the growth of plants or its ability to absorb roadway runoff.

Biochar could be a solution that optimizes the soil’s ability to perform these tasks. At UD, I am working with Julie Maresca, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Christine Chapman, a research assistant in the water science and policy program, to understand how different combinations of microbes and biochar can allow water to infiltrate the soil at higher rates and minimize roadway runoff, which could lead to less pollution in area bodies of water. Biochar also is thought to make the soil more nutrient rich, which would be good for plants.

Sometimes this involves preparing or analyzing soil samples, other times it involves extracting DNA from field soil samples to learn what types of microbes are found in biochar-amended soil compared to normal soil. In the lab, I also am incubating two known types of microbes, baccilus and p. syringae, in a mix of soil with varying percentages of biochar to test against soil samples with no microbes in them. The hope is to determine if the microbes and biochar help to create soil aggregates—or clumps—that can change how water flows between soil clumps and also how water is absorbed and held inside them, all of which may help manage water runoff.

Q: What is the coolest thing you’ve gotten to do on the project?

Rechsteiner: The coolest thing I’ve gotten to do on the project, so far, was extracting DNA from soil samples and then using a microbiology technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to break down, copy and replicate the DNA in the soil samples. Then we run something called a nanodrop test to get a reading of how much DNA we are working with. I haven’t done a lot of microbiology work before, and I thought it was cool turning dirt into really clear strands of DNA. The nanodrop machine was crazy. I put a drop of clear substance in the nanodrop machine and it told me the concentration of DNA present in the sample.

Read more at engr.udel.edu/research/ undergraduate-research/

Q: What is a typical day like?

Rechsteiner: A typical day consists of completing a step in the procedure of my laboratory experiments.

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Student News

Helping Pea Patch Island Stand Up to Waves Rachel Schaefer explores how vegetation can reduce erosion of Delaware River Island Q: What are you studying, where and with whom?

Schaefer: I’m studying the effects of marsh vegetation located on the south side of Pea Patch Island on incoming waves.

This is for my senior thesis under the advisement of Prof. Jack Puleo. I’m also working with Michael Larner, who will write a senior thesis on how ship wakes affect the bare beach on the north side of Pea Patch Island. We’re also working with Thomas McKenna, associate professor of geological sciences and associate scientist at the Delaware Geological Survey.

Pea Patch Island, which contains Fort Delaware and a nature preserve, is on the Delaware River and can be reached by a boat ride from Delaware City. I set out sensors in early June to measure water depths and velocities along a transect before and within a patch of vegetation. As the vegetation grows, the degree of wave attenuation could potentially increase. I have been conducting surveys of the transect on a regular basis to measure how the ground elevations change over time. Most researchers who have published on this topic performed controlled experiments in wave flumes, which allowed them to manipulate some variables but could not capture all of the environmental factors present in a real marsh. I plan to also explore numerical modeling of vegetation attenuation of water waves, and perhaps compare a model simulating the Pea Patch Island marsh to my data analyses.

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Q. Why is this work important?

Schaefer: Many large ships bearing heavy cargo pass Pea Patch Island and generate powerful wakes that slam into the island. Vegetation is known to reduce erosion by attenuating waves and stabilizing the surrounding sediment.

that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.

Vegetation can also trap sediment washed in, further building up the land to reduce the effects of sea level rise while improving water quality. Plants may seem like part of the scenery, but they play crucial roles in marshland and coastal environments.

Q. What is it about this topic that interests you?

Schaefer: I’m fascinated by how the interactions between plants, sediment and water play out on a small scale but have enormous implications and potential uses. While in Malawi, Africa, in 2016 implementing a water project with the University of Delaware chapter of Engineers Without Borders, I saw evidence of extensive deforestation and the devastating effects of a flood followed closely by a drought. The absence of trees and plants allows water to more quickly flow and accumulate, and allows sediment to move more freely and fill rivers. Most electricity in Malawi is generated through hydropower, and a large portion of the population depends on fish from the huge Lake Malawi. Removing vegetation near sources of water can have multiple cascading consequences.

Last year, I did a class project that involved designing subsurface flow constructed wetlands to treat wastewater for a community in the Philippines. From working on that project, I became even more interested in how water and particles can interact with plants.

I’m also interested in how plants at the interface between wetlands and water can combat sea level rise due to climate change. Wetland vegetation may only partially decay, forming layer upon layer of peat over time. The buildup of peat may compete with a rising sea level, while the peat also stores carbon dioxide

Q. What is a typical day like?

Schaefer: Many days have involved getting to work at 6 a.m. to gather equipment and catch a crew boat to the island. While there, we’re downloading data from some sensors, swapping batteries, as well as taking measurements, vegetation samples, notes and photographs. Bald eagles, herons, egrets, geese, muskrats and countless biting insects provide a constant audience.

I spend other days at the Ocean Engineering Laboratory where I read literature, process and analyze data, and watch footage downloaded from a time lapse camera I set up near my sensors to note ships coming by and subsequent ship wakes. I work with Mike to set aside equipment, charge batteries and prepare for upcoming days on Pea Patch Island. I may ask a graduate student or Prof. Puleo questions about how I’m using MATLAB to process the data, or about equations and concepts I found in my reading. In the background, I usually hear some students performing experiments in the wave flume. I’ve also been helping Prof. Puleo on an outreach project involving the construction and delivery of mini wave flumes to high schools along the East Coast. We are developing a teaching module where students can run waves and collect data to learn how vegetation can attenuate waves.

Q. What is the coolest thing you’ve gotten to do on the project?

Schaefer: Deploying water depth and velocity sensors for data collection at the beginning of June.

Designing the experiment, preparing equipment, programming sensors and deploying them to take measurements felt like leaping into the unknown.

Watching waves wash over and under my sensors, hearing the acoustic distance meters send out pulses, is uniquely satisfying. It’s easy to say “just go get some data,” but difficult to actually prepare for and execute a data collection. Leading up to the deployment, I felt increasingly buried by logistical details, but being able to finally get my hands dirty and my feet wet was amazing. Hearing the mud squelch as I drove scaffolding pipes into the ground to support the sensors made me smile. As I rode away from the island on a boat after the deployment, looking at my line of data collection stations made the project feel so real to me.

Read more at engr.udel.edu/research/ undergraduate-research/

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Alumni News

Alumni Weekend 2018 Record Number of Golfers turn out for the Tenth Annual CEE Alumni and Friend Golf Outing For a true measure of dedication, look no further than our amazing Alumni, and our equally amazing corporate sponsor and friends who came out in droves on Friday, June 1, 2018 at Deerfield Golf Club in Newark, Delaware to participate in the department’s tenth annual golf outing. The event, held in conjunction with the University’s Alumni Weekend celebration, has seen participation increase steadily over the years, but this year, 115 golfers filled the entire course in support of our undergraduate students’ scholarship awards program.

Alumni, friends and corporate sponsors from AECOM, GPI, Pennoni, Wallace and Montgomery, Whitman, Requardt and Associates, and Whiting Turner generously gave in support of the event, as did the University

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of Delaware Alumni Association.

This year’s contributions will again fund several $500 scholarship awards to the top freshman, sophomore, junior and senior.

“It was amazing to see such a great turnout of alumni …. beyond the 100 golfer goal we set for the 10th annual event.

I am proud to be involved in an event that fosters a lifelong relationship with the University and the CEE Department, as well as, being able to contribute to student scholarships. I look forward to this event year after year,” said Chance Malkin ‘10, co-organizer of the annual event.

Although the sheer number extended play a little later than usual, everyone enjoyed a midafternoon lunch. Sue McNeil, chair of the department, stopped in to thank everyone for their overwhelming support and to enjoy the company of our alumni and friends. The

first place foursome, Scott Rathfon, Jeff Niezgada, Jon Hermes, and Anthony Aglio will have their names inscribed on the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni and Friends golf trophy.

Matt Buckley, Todd Oliver, Matt Vincent and Bill Williamson were awarded second place; and Doug Barry, Ron Moore, Paul Hagerty and Pat Brewer were awarded third place. Good sports, and winners of the coveted last place prize went to Michael Giordano, Lawrence Walsh and Andrew Major. Jenna Siegel and Jim Satterfield landed drives closest to the pin, while B.J. Warner and Dana Rathfon made the longest drives. Raffle prizes were also awarded to some lucky participants. Nick Dean was the lucky winner of the grand prize package which include a stylish UD sweatshirt, tickets to men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and private lessons with a golf pro at the Newark Golf Club.

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Alumni News

Alumni and Friends Paddle on the Brandywine A beautiful day, a flowing river and few dedicated alumni and friends made for a remarkable outing on the Brandywine River during the 2018 University of Delaware’s Alumni Weekend on June 2. The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering hosted its first Canoe and Kayaking event on the river, leaving from the Brandywine River Museum. The group paddled leisurely along the quiet 6-mile stretch, past woodlands and parklands, enjoying laughs and the good company of faculty and other alums. Snacks and beverages were provided for the ride, then after passing under the infamous Smith’s Bridge the group disembarked to munch on boxed lunches before heading back to campus. Plans are underway for the second annual event. Look for detail coming soon on our website. Don’t miss out!

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2018 Alumni Award Holly Rybinski, Principal of Rybinski Engineering This award is given in recognition of exceptional leadership, commitment to education, advance of transportation engineering, dedication to the engineering profession and continued support of the department of civil and environmental engineering and the University of Delaware.

UPCOMING EVENTS Alumni Tailgate

September 15, 2018

Denver Alumni Gathering

Wynkoop Brewery, October 11, 2018, 5-7pm

Senior Design Proposals

October 17, 2018 (Purnell Hall)

Senior Design Presentation April 24, 2019 (Perkins Center)

Alumni Weekend Reception 2019 Golf Outing 2019

Golf Outing, Reception, Kayak

Bay Area Alumni Gathering In September 2017, Department Chair Sue McNeil met a group of UD CEE alumni in the Bay Area to catch up on what’s going on in the industry, where their UD experience has taken them, and the new developments in CEE.

For more details, visit:

ce.udel.edu

CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING | 27

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering | ce.udel.edu