Exemplar 2009 - College of Engineering - Wayne State University
Exemplar 2009 - College of Engineering - Wayne State University
Exemplar 2009 - College of Engineering - Wayne State University
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WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE <strong>of</strong> ENGINEERING<br />
20 th Anniversary Issue, April <strong>2009</strong><br />
Inside This Issue:<br />
• Cynthia Bir, Sport Science Scientist<br />
• The Marvin I. Danto Development Center<br />
• <strong>Exemplar</strong>: 20 years old<br />
• Understanding “Blasts on the Brain”<br />
Cynthia Bir,<br />
Scientist on the Sport Science set
EXEMPLAR:<br />
Sydney Redigan<br />
Associate Editor<br />
David Reich<br />
Editor<br />
Matthew Garin<br />
Graphic Designer<br />
Rick Bielacyzc<br />
Mary Jane Murawka<br />
Alonso delArte<br />
Photography<br />
Indera Robinson<br />
Pro<strong>of</strong>reader, WSU Marketing<br />
and Communications<br />
Message from the Dean<br />
“Moving On In Big Ways”<br />
20 th Anniversary Issue, April <strong>2009</strong><br />
Ralph Kummler<br />
Dean<br />
Yang Zhao<br />
Chair, Electrical and Computer<br />
Walter Bryzik<br />
Chair, Mechanical<br />
Chuck Manke<br />
Chair, Chemical and Materials Science<br />
Carol Miller<br />
Chair, Civil and Environmental<br />
Ken Chelst<br />
Chair, Industrial and Manufacturing<br />
Chih-Ping Yeh<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Technology<br />
Albert King<br />
Chair, BioMedical<br />
Michele Grimm<br />
Associate Dean, Academics<br />
Mumtaz Usmen<br />
Associate Dean, Research<br />
Gerald Thompkins<br />
Associate Dean, Students<br />
EXEMPLAR is published annually for<br />
alumni, friends and corporate sponsors <strong>of</strong><br />
the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>.<br />
Please address comments to:<br />
<strong>Exemplar</strong> editor<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>, Rm. 1153<br />
5050 Anthony <strong>Wayne</strong> Drive<br />
Detroit, MI 48202<br />
(313) 577-6531<br />
(313) 577-5300 fax<br />
dreich@eng.wayne.edu<br />
Please visit www.eng.wayne.edu<br />
Welcome to the 20 th<br />
anniversary <strong>of</strong><br />
EXEMPLAR in this, the<br />
75 th anniversary <strong>of</strong> the <strong>College</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong>. The old Chinese<br />
proverb says, “May you live in<br />
exciting times!” We certainly<br />
are. By the time you read this,<br />
we will have taken over most <strong>of</strong><br />
the Marvin I. Danto <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Development Center (EDC), adding<br />
82,000 square-feet <strong>of</strong> premier<br />
space for faculty and student<br />
experimental and theoretical<br />
studies. We will be expanding<br />
our already elite Department<br />
<strong>of</strong> Mechanical <strong>Engineering</strong> engine dynamometer<br />
capability, our alternative energy<br />
capacity, consolidating our strong nanoengineering<br />
capability in the Department<br />
<strong>of</strong> Chemical <strong>Engineering</strong>, and providing<br />
new facilities for the Department <strong>of</strong><br />
Electrical and Computer <strong>Engineering</strong> in<br />
smart sensors, robotics and imaging.<br />
Finally, the student Formula SAE team<br />
will be able to consolidate in a single lab.<br />
The new endowed chair holder and student<br />
Collegiate Entrepreneurial Organization<br />
(CEO), sponsored by alumnus James<br />
Anderson, will have <strong>of</strong>fice space. Also, the<br />
college will finally have conference and<br />
multimedia space, including a PACE Lab<br />
to focus our $408 million gift from GM/<br />
PACE. Reallocation <strong>of</strong> faculty labs will enable<br />
expansion for all our departments<br />
and student organizations. We will hold a<br />
ribbon cutting for the EDC on April 28 th .<br />
This has truly been the year <strong>of</strong> the outreach<br />
as you will see in the following pages.<br />
President Jay Noren announced our joint<br />
programs with the Macomb Community<br />
<strong>College</strong>’s South Campus, and the college<br />
immediately responded with programs<br />
in engineering technology, mechanical<br />
engineering, and a new construction<br />
management degree. Formula SAE competed<br />
all across the country; students were<br />
chaperoned in South Africa by Associate<br />
Dean Thompkins; and dozens <strong>of</strong> alumni<br />
have contributed their favorite stories to<br />
our 75 th anniversary theme. Yousif Ghafari<br />
became our first alumni ambassador (to<br />
Slovenia), Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Cynthia Bir <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Department <strong>of</strong> Biomedical <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
hit the Fox Sports Network and Ford Field<br />
in big ways, and much, much more that<br />
you can read about inside, check out on<br />
the Web, read in our new email newsletter,<br />
or visit on LinkedIn.com on the<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Alumni Association page. So<br />
read on and keep sending us your stories!<br />
Ralph H. Kummler<br />
photo by Rick Bielacyzc
Contents <strong>of</strong> this Issue<br />
UP FRONT<br />
The Marvin I. Danto Development Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2<br />
<strong>Exemplar</strong> 20 Years Old . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4<br />
AROUND HELIOS<br />
Blast Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8<br />
Flash <strong>of</strong> Genius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8<br />
Drive Safely to <strong>Wayne</strong> Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Job Fair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17<br />
2<br />
FEATURE STORIES<br />
Embracing a Green Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20<br />
Understanding the Effects <strong>of</strong> Blasts on the Brain. . . . . . . . . 22<br />
Q and A with Ralph Kummler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24<br />
Undergraduate Writes Code for NASA Robotics . . . . . . . . . 26<br />
Direct Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28<br />
12<br />
FACULTY/STAFF BRIEFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30<br />
NEW FACULTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33<br />
STUDENT SECTION<br />
Polishing the Bent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34<br />
Student on Fulbright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35<br />
Order <strong>of</strong> the Engineer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37<br />
COVER STORY<br />
Cynthia Bir Sport Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40<br />
20<br />
28<br />
TRANSITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44<br />
REFLECTIONS<br />
Looking back 75 years-A college timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48<br />
Avoiding a Catastrophe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49<br />
<strong>College</strong> Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50<br />
The Race for Clean Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52<br />
40<br />
PHOTO GALLERY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54<br />
ALUMNI<br />
Message from the President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56<br />
Dear <strong>Exemplar</strong>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57<br />
Alumni Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58<br />
NIGHT OF THE STARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62<br />
CLASS NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64<br />
PROFILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68<br />
DONORS TO ENGINEERING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72<br />
62
The<br />
Marvin I. Danto<br />
Development<br />
Center<br />
New Facility Inspires and<br />
Clarifies <strong>College</strong> Vision<br />
A ribbon-cutting to <strong>of</strong>ficially open the<br />
EDC is planned for April 28<br />
photo by Alonso del Arte
The <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> enters a new era in its 75-<br />
year history with the <strong>of</strong>ficial opening<br />
April 28 <strong>of</strong> the Marvin I. Danto <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Development Center. The cutting-edge facility<br />
-- four years in the making -- clarifies the<br />
future course <strong>of</strong> the college, while its monochrome<br />
silver and glass exterior showcases its<br />
assets to the outside world.<br />
The <strong>Engineering</strong> Development Center<br />
(EDC) is the new home for strategic research<br />
and development activities producing essential<br />
applications and engineering services –<br />
alternative fuel technology, nanotechnology,<br />
cancer diagnosis and treatment advances,<br />
and other products meeting the challenges<br />
<strong>of</strong> our time.<br />
As faculty, students and staff begin to transition<br />
to the new facility, the lobby/atrium<br />
has already become a magnet for students<br />
congregating in the open spaces furnished<br />
with small tables and upholstered chairs.<br />
“We’ve been burgeoning out but have been<br />
confined by space for nearly a decade,” says<br />
Ralph Kummler, dean <strong>of</strong> the college. “The<br />
new facility focuses our energies and redoubles<br />
our purpose.”<br />
“When Michigan returns to economic<br />
health, it will be because<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> and Michigan’s<br />
other research universities act<br />
now to commit ourselves to<br />
nurture and attract knowledgebased<br />
economic ventures in<br />
numerous cutting-edge fields”<br />
Labs in the new three-story facility are designed<br />
and equipped for the most advanced<br />
research and development. The floor plan<br />
includes various teaming areas for students<br />
and faculty to work in multi-disciplines. And<br />
the modular lab spaces and other areas are<br />
flexible to facilitate collaboration and accommodate<br />
rapid changes in existing and emerging<br />
fields.<br />
By design, construction <strong>of</strong> the new building<br />
followed a package <strong>of</strong> criteria specified by<br />
the U.S. Green Building Council for its green<br />
building rating system. Facilities, Planning<br />
and Management at WSU is expecting the<br />
EDC to be certified in the silver category, a<br />
level just below the top in sustainable energy<br />
and environmental design.<br />
Also by design, the new futuristic-looking<br />
facility gives the college a face to the outside<br />
world. “We wanted it to be a focal point for<br />
the college,” says Michele Grimm, associate<br />
dean <strong>of</strong> academic affairs. “The building is<br />
now in three parts. We have our 1950s old<br />
lab wing. We have the 1980s <strong>of</strong>fice wing.<br />
And we have this beautiful area in front with<br />
a great face on Warren Avenue that includes<br />
the Alternative Energy Lab and the student<br />
studio and activities space where we can display<br />
student team projects.”<br />
Pivotal engineering programs expected to<br />
gain the most from the new center are: the<br />
Advanced Propulsion Alternative Energy<br />
Lab, which is advancing fuels, emissions<br />
and vehicle wear automotive systems; the<br />
Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems<br />
lab, which is developing micro-systems<br />
for artificial vision, real-time cancer detection,<br />
and other types <strong>of</strong> biological and<br />
neurological implants and smart sensors;<br />
the Nanotechnology Lab, which focuses on<br />
advanced research in surface science, tissue<br />
engineering, drug delivery and biomaterials;<br />
the Urban Infrastructures Research Lab,<br />
which concentrates on infrastructure and<br />
transportation systems; and the Team-based<br />
Student Project Lab.<br />
More than four years ago, the college<br />
launched the first master’s degree program<br />
in alternative energy technology (AET) in<br />
the country. Enrollment in this multi-disciplinary<br />
program has grown as auto engineers<br />
transition careers to work on renewable and<br />
non-fossil fuel technologies critical to sustain<br />
the environment.<br />
Bi<strong>of</strong>uel research and development has<br />
become an important piece in the energy<br />
puzzle made up <strong>of</strong> different alternative energy<br />
developments all needed to wean the<br />
U.S. <strong>of</strong>f its dependence on foreign oil. <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> engineering researchers at the National<br />
Bi<strong>of</strong>uels Energy Lab at Techtown just north<br />
<strong>of</strong> campus are working on the best formulation<br />
for a standard bi<strong>of</strong>uel using 20 percent<br />
biomass (B-20). At the same time, other college<br />
researches led by leading diesel engine<br />
expert Naiem Henein, pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> mechanical<br />
engineering, are testing these formulations<br />
in their labs, soon to be housed in the<br />
new building.<br />
“When Michigan returns to economic<br />
health, it will be because <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> and<br />
Michigan’s other research universities act<br />
now to commit ourselves to nurture and attract<br />
knowledge-based economic ventures<br />
in numerous cutting-edge fields,” says WSU<br />
President Jay Noren. Among the fields he<br />
lists are biomedical sciences, alternative<br />
energy, engineering innovation, nanotechnology,<br />
robotics and health care. “These<br />
approaches and other sources <strong>of</strong> energy<br />
like wind power, have much potential for<br />
Michigan — the <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> and URC research<br />
capacity can make these innovative<br />
ideas functioning realities,” he says.<br />
Research and development activities at<br />
the college, particularly in the last decade,<br />
have been producing successful spin-<strong>of</strong>f<br />
companies with engineering products and<br />
services. Examples include the Smart Sensors<br />
and Integrated Microsystems (SSIM) program,<br />
SenSound and NSec. “The EDC <strong>of</strong>fers<br />
continued on page 39
BIGGEST Class Notes Section Ever! 66<br />
UP FRONT<br />
<strong>Exemplar</strong> was created<br />
20 years ago to be a<br />
communications tool<br />
for the college<br />
C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G<br />
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE <strong>of</strong> ENGINEERING<br />
In that time,<br />
we’ve learned that<br />
“communications” is<br />
about connecting the<br />
human spirit and our<br />
experiences.<br />
2 0 0 3<br />
SMART SENSORS &<br />
INTEGRATED MICROSYSTEMS<br />
Lab Expansion<br />
Celebrated<br />
ALSO INSIDE:<br />
WOMEN’S RIGHTFUL PLACE<br />
IN ENGINEERING<br />
Danto Donates $3 Million<br />
For <strong>Engineering</strong> Development Center<br />
ALSO INSIDE:<br />
STUDENTS HELP DEVELOP<br />
ARMY PARTS HOSPITAL<br />
2002 NIGHT OF THE STARS:<br />
A CELEBRATION<br />
OF ACHIEVEMENT<br />
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE <strong>of</strong> ENGINEERING<br />
The PACE Era<br />
Begins<br />
• WSU Police To Operate World’s First F-Cell Powered Police Car<br />
• Agreement With Chinese <strong>University</strong> To Bring 200 Grad Students A Year<br />
• Concussions In The NFL: Assessing The Stress And Strains On The Brain<br />
by Distinguished Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Albert King<br />
• <strong>College</strong>/Karmanos Researchers Demonstrate Promising Breakthrough In<br />
Targeted Cancer Drug Delivery<br />
photo by Alonso del Arte<br />
Fall 2006 www.eng.wayne.edu<br />
2007 - THE YEAR IN REVIEW<br />
Michigan Job Report:<br />
Budding Engineers Find<br />
Jobs In Michigan 32<br />
Jack Morton<br />
BSEE’35, Was On Path To<br />
Develop The Microchip 46<br />
www.eng.wayne.edu<br />
When we did a tribute to EX-<br />
EMPLAR magazine on its 10 th<br />
anniversary, we wrote about how<br />
the magazine was conceived and inaugurated<br />
in 1988. We then traced the major<br />
developments the college went through<br />
over the decade from 1988 to 1998.<br />
In 1998, I had been the college’s information<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficer for three years and editor <strong>of</strong><br />
four issues. The current issue is my 12 th . It’s<br />
been a long run, and while I’m neither a<br />
graduate nor a faculty member, the magazine<br />
has been my connection to you.<br />
What binds us, keeps us interested and<br />
attracts me to this job—in addition to the<br />
engineering, fascinating research, technology<br />
and students who keep us young and<br />
are definitely the reason we’re here—is<br />
the experience we’ve all had at one time<br />
spent on a common ground called the<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>.<br />
That’s what keeps us connected.<br />
We could write about all the important<br />
benchmarks <strong>of</strong> the college. And<br />
we do in other stories in our “Reflections”<br />
section as we celebrate the 75 th<br />
year <strong>of</strong> the college. EXEMPLAR is about<br />
accomplishments, but it is also about<br />
people -- their achievements, <strong>of</strong> course,<br />
but more importantly, their humanness.<br />
The stories we tell about human achievement,<br />
the stories we’ve shared with you<br />
over the past 20 years that emerged most<br />
poignantly to tell a human story, are<br />
the heart <strong>of</strong> EXEMPLAR magazine.<br />
My favorite story, “Photos from Joe Scheufler,<br />
BSCE’50” was a simple piece that ran last<br />
year on the inside back cover. The story started<br />
with a large packet— including a letter<br />
and disc <strong>of</strong> photos— left on my desk by the<br />
chair <strong>of</strong> civil engineering. Joe Scheufler had<br />
captured his memories <strong>of</strong> a field trip he and<br />
4
ingrained by the river and our camaraderie,” <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> female engineering students.<br />
Fred began his story. It may not be widely The piece resonated with the voices <strong>of</strong> those<br />
known by today’s students— who might not courageous female engineering students <strong>of</strong><br />
think WSU ever had a crew team— and, we the time who walked in the hallways and<br />
were proud to document it in EXEMPLAR. attended class more than 70 years ago.<br />
In the 1996 EXEMPLAR, freelancer Wensdy This magazine is about you. As we<br />
White wrote about Harold Donnelly, the celebrate EXEMPLAR’s 20 th anniversary<br />
most popular pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> the college, at and look back on 75 years <strong>of</strong> history, I<br />
least as legend has it. “He was here almost a invite you to send us your memories. After<br />
half century, from 1936 when he made his all, they are what make us today. ■<br />
teaching debut while still an undergraduate,<br />
to his retirement in 1982,” we wrote David Reich<br />
in the introduction to her story. Donnelly Editor<br />
was instrumental in initiating the chemi-<br />
EXEMPLAR magazine<br />
a handful <strong>of</strong> classmates had taken in 1948 cal engineering Phd program at the college<br />
from Detroit to Hinton, W. Va. to study the by recruiting his former students, many<br />
Bluestone Reservoir Dam. And he wanted to working as chemical engineers, to teach<br />
share his memories with us. Thank you, Joe. here. To do so, he helped them obtain Phd’s<br />
Ten years ago, the 1998 EXEMPLAR cover from other schools so they could return to<br />
included the photo <strong>of</strong> 10 undergraduate the college as educators. The story includes<br />
mechanical engineering students and their one <strong>of</strong> my favorite EXEMPLAR photographs.<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essor proudly standing by their reengineered<br />
Chevy Malibu ethanol vehicle nelly as a young, strapping undergraduate<br />
It is a black and white image, with Don-<br />
parked in front <strong>of</strong> the Capitol Building in during “Flag Rush” <strong>of</strong> 1931 in the center<br />
Washington, DC. They had just become <strong>of</strong> a group <strong>of</strong> young male students engaged<br />
in what looks like a rugby scrum.<br />
winners <strong>of</strong> the national 1998 Ethanol<br />
Vehicle Challenge. “The emerging tightknit<br />
team <strong>of</strong> student engineers succeeded peared in the last issue, “Path to Discovery,”<br />
In another “Reflections” story that ap-<br />
in doing something others have not,” we we chronicled the story <strong>of</strong> another alum<br />
wrote. It was easy to get swept up with their named Jack Morton. “In 1936, Jack Morton,<br />
enthusiasm. The memory <strong>of</strong> their accomplishment,<br />
and that enthusiasm, became next leg <strong>of</strong> his path to discovery. He was<br />
BSEE’35, landed at Bell Labs by chance, the<br />
an inseparable part <strong>of</strong> the college spirit. headed for a career in academia when<br />
“Men <strong>of</strong> Eight” by Fred Levantrosser,<br />
he graduated from <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> in electrical<br />
engineering, but a chance meeting<br />
BSCE’60, MSCE’67, ran in EXEMPLAR 1999.<br />
Fred was a member <strong>of</strong> the original WSU with a Bell Labs research director landed<br />
varsity rowing crew formed in 1957, <strong>of</strong> which him a job at the telephone research facil-<br />
engineering majors<br />
made up the<br />
leadership. “The<br />
rowing shells are<br />
long gone, who knows<br />
where, but most <strong>of</strong> the<br />
members <strong>of</strong> the WSU<br />
original rowing crew<br />
are still around – albeit<br />
getting on in years and<br />
scattered across the country<br />
– with vivid memories<br />
the experience we’ve all<br />
had at one time spent<br />
on a common ground<br />
called the <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
ity. In his 35-year career,<br />
the former WSU Tartar<br />
football player and engineering<br />
alum pioneered<br />
the development <strong>of</strong> the<br />
transistor at Bells Labs.”<br />
Another story, “They<br />
Paved the Way” written<br />
by freelancer Jackie<br />
Headapohl in the<br />
1997 EXEMPLAR, was<br />
about the history <strong>of</strong><br />
5
AROUND HELIOS<br />
Study abroad in<br />
South Africa<br />
Neil Patel, an electrical engineering<br />
senior, knew very little about South<br />
Africa except for what he briefly read in<br />
the news. But the mystery <strong>of</strong> the country<br />
is what Patel says attracted and led him to<br />
apply for the opportunity to learn firsthand<br />
about the history <strong>of</strong> apartheid.<br />
CAE students (back row, left to right) Darushan<br />
Govender, Neil Patel, Nakaiya Okan-<br />
Mensah, Mark Mock, Kendall Calkins, (front<br />
row, left to right) Ashantie Alford, Ernestine<br />
Lyons-Mayweather, Sara Bratek; photo by<br />
Neil Patel<br />
Patel and Nakaiya Okan-Mensah, who<br />
graduated last May with a master’s degree<br />
in biomedical engineering, were among<br />
11 <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> undergraduate and grad<br />
students who spent three weeks last June<br />
on a study abroad trip to South Africa. The<br />
students were accompanied by WSU <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Associate Dean Gerald Thompkins,<br />
history Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Ron Brown, and<br />
Study Abroad Director Kelli Pugh-Dixon.<br />
They toured historically significant places<br />
in the South African major cities <strong>of</strong> Durban,<br />
Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria,<br />
and Soweto, as well as an African village<br />
in Zululand, and took a course in South<br />
African history taught by Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Brown.<br />
The group was exposed to the many<br />
faces <strong>of</strong> the country, from a single mother<br />
living on 220 rand a month (less than<br />
$1 a day) to a Catholic lawyer heading<br />
a think-tank working to bridge church<br />
and state. The group spoke with people<br />
residing in shantytowns outside Johannesburg<br />
and with students from universities<br />
in each <strong>of</strong> the major cities.<br />
Despite her awareness <strong>of</strong> apartheid,<br />
Okan-Mensah says she was completely<br />
surprised by what she saw. “I knew South<br />
Africa has struggled as a country, but<br />
I have never encountered a divide between<br />
races like I did in South Africa.”<br />
Says Patel, “I left the country with a great<br />
appreciation for America and a belief in<br />
the strength <strong>of</strong> human will. Despite dire<br />
circumstances, people with hope and<br />
optimism showed they could survive.”<br />
The students who participated in the<br />
study abroad trip are majoring in various<br />
disciplines, but are all participants<br />
in the Center for Academic Excellence<br />
(CAE) program. The trip was conceived<br />
to provide an opportunity for students<br />
to fulfill the cultural immersion requirement<br />
for the CAE program.<br />
“Students take undergraduate classes<br />
in National Security Intelligence Studies<br />
as well as earn a bachelor’s degree<br />
in their respective fields,” says Thompkins,<br />
who developed the program for the<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> campus supported by $2.3<br />
million in grants from National Geospatial-Intelligence<br />
Agency. The program is<br />
designed to increase the pool <strong>of</strong> eligible<br />
applicants for positions within the intelligence<br />
community with an emphasis<br />
on students with diverse cultural backgrounds,<br />
language pr<strong>of</strong>iciency, geographical<br />
expertise and related competencies.<br />
After graduating in summer 2008, Patel<br />
planned to start graduate work in biomedical<br />
engineering at the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
Southern California while working for<br />
the Information Sciences Institute. The<br />
institute is a government-related group<br />
that laid the foundation for the Internet<br />
and works today on satellite signal processing<br />
and RADAR. Okan-Menseh is looking<br />
for her first job at a governmental agency.<br />
The trip brought Patel new insight into<br />
his future career, he says. “It reinforced<br />
my direction toward working globally<br />
and keeping my perspective. Academically,<br />
I came back grateful for the<br />
opportunities available to me.” ■<br />
—by Sydney Redigan<br />
WSU researchers receive<br />
$790,000 grant to study<br />
traumatic brain injury<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong> biomedical engineering<br />
researchers have increased<br />
efforts to determine why so many soldiers<br />
return from Iraq with symptoms <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
associated with mild to moderate trauma<br />
to the brain after being exposed to the<br />
pressure wave caused by roadside bombs.<br />
The researchers have received more than<br />
$2 million in grants for their research as<br />
they redouble their efforts not only to<br />
determine the cause <strong>of</strong> the injuries, which<br />
include long-term headaches and memory<br />
lapses, but also treatment and prevention.<br />
Blast Researchers Cynthia Bir and Pamela<br />
VandeVord take blast tube measurements<br />
photo by Rick Bielacyzc<br />
6
“The $790,000 grant we received from<br />
the Office <strong>of</strong> Naval Research allows us to<br />
continue our efforts to investigate this<br />
critical issue that will potentially affect<br />
thousands <strong>of</strong> Americans as our soldiers<br />
return home,” says Cynthia Bir, associate<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> biomedical engineering,<br />
and the lead investigator in their project<br />
called “Blast Induced Neurotrauma.”<br />
The injuries to U.S. troops and bystanders<br />
are being called the signature wound <strong>of</strong><br />
the Iraq War. Roadside bombs, also called<br />
improvised explosive devices (IEDs), are<br />
the cause <strong>of</strong> most cases <strong>of</strong> brain injury<br />
and account for almost 80 percent <strong>of</strong> all<br />
wounds to U.S. troops. Many troops caught<br />
near these explosions suffer symptoms<br />
such as perforated eardrums, ringing in<br />
the ears, blurred vision, memory lapses,<br />
headaches, and more long-lasting effects.<br />
Bir and her co-investigators Drs. Mark<br />
Haacke and John Hannigan, and Pamela<br />
VandeVord, assistant pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong><br />
biomedical engineering, use a specially<br />
designed air-driven blast tube that simulates<br />
the features <strong>of</strong> mild traumatic<br />
brain injury (mTBI) observed in human<br />
victims exposed to explosions.<br />
Currently, methods to identify and treat<br />
soldiers with mild traumatic brain injury<br />
are lacking. There are key questions without<br />
answers: How is the pressure wave transmitted<br />
through the body How is the pressure<br />
causing shock and injury to the brain cells<br />
“We suspect that the wave passes directly<br />
through the skull and causes high stresses<br />
to the brain, starting a process <strong>of</strong> cell death,”<br />
says VandeVord. “When cells die, they give<br />
<strong>of</strong>f proteins. If our theory is correct, we hope<br />
to be able to identify damage by administering<br />
a blood test to detect the proteins<br />
linked to the trauma caused by the blast.”<br />
The researchers will also be investigating<br />
the effectiveness <strong>of</strong> drugs both before and<br />
after exposure to the air blasts. “We understand<br />
that time is <strong>of</strong> the essence,” says Vande-<br />
Vord. “Our goal is to identify a biomarker<br />
and an effective drug treatment that can be<br />
provided to the medical staff in the field as<br />
both preventative and treatment tools.” ■<br />
see page 22 for feature story on this work<br />
WSU Formula SAE Team competes in California<br />
team <strong>of</strong> engineering students competed<br />
at the Formula SAE West<br />
A<br />
Competition June 25 through 28 in<br />
Fontana, Calif. The <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> team<br />
worked on its mini Indy style car over the<br />
past year to compete. The team ranked 42<br />
in overall performance out <strong>of</strong> 82 teams<br />
from around the world, and earned an<br />
outstanding 7th place in the Cost Event.<br />
It was the fifth <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> team to<br />
compete in one <strong>of</strong> the annual Society<br />
<strong>of</strong> Automotive Engineers International<br />
student competitions. The events, initiated<br />
by SAE in 1979, are now held at<br />
seven international locations each year.<br />
The team has been advised for the past<br />
five years by Michele Grimm, associate<br />
dean <strong>of</strong> academic affairs for the college.<br />
Past accomplishments for <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> include the Henkel Technologies<br />
Award for best use <strong>of</strong> structural foam<br />
in the 2005 Formula SAE car.<br />
The 2008 WSU Formula Team; photo by Amanda Luba<br />
The 2008 WSU Formula SAE team<br />
members who attended the competition<br />
in Fontana, Calif. were Lucas Bultema,<br />
Dan Fryatt, Phil Hughes, Rachelle<br />
LaPorte, Amanda Luba, Tom Miller,<br />
Gil Poisson, Sanket Sirpotdar, Rohit<br />
Tanksale and Murtatha Zalzala. ■<br />
The WSU Formula SAE Team will<br />
be attending these Spring/Summer<br />
<strong>2009</strong> events with its racecar:<br />
• SAE <strong>2009</strong> World Congress (at<br />
Cobo Center) April 20 - 23<br />
• Formula SAE Michigan<br />
Competition, May 13 - 16<br />
• Ann Arbor Classic Car Show - the<br />
Rolling Sculpture Car Show - July 10th<br />
• Bloomfield Township’s Classic Car Show<br />
during the Woodward Dream Cruise<br />
7
AROUND HELIOS<br />
WSU hosts international<br />
blast injury symposium<br />
Film immortalizes “the<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essor from Detroit”<br />
Research on how to detect and prevent<br />
mild traumatic brain injury<br />
(mTBI) from bomb blasts is crucial. That<br />
is why <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s Department <strong>of</strong><br />
Biomedical <strong>Engineering</strong> hosted the<br />
Blast Injury Symposium, May 15 —16,<br />
at the McGregor Memorial Conference<br />
Center. Researchers from the Department<br />
<strong>of</strong> Biomedical <strong>Engineering</strong>, which<br />
is conducting landmark research on<br />
mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) with<br />
funding from the U.S. Office <strong>of</strong> Naval<br />
Research, chaired the symposium.<br />
The symposium attracted world experts<br />
to discuss what is known about<br />
brain injury, including mTBI, and what<br />
the next steps are for researchers.<br />
The symposium drew internationally<br />
known researchers who addressed<br />
several key aspects <strong>of</strong> blast injury by<br />
presenting data on highly relevant<br />
topics, including blast injury models,<br />
protective equipment, vehicle safety,<br />
injury diagnosis and treatment.<br />
David Woodruff, the brother <strong>of</strong> ABC<br />
news anchor and traumatic brain injury<br />
victim Bob Woodruff, was the co-keynote<br />
speaker. Bob Woodruff’s brain injury,<br />
sustained during his coverage <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Iraq War, drew national attention to the<br />
pervasiveness <strong>of</strong> traumatic brain injuries<br />
among U.S. troops. David Woodruff<br />
discussed how the impact <strong>of</strong> his brother’s<br />
injury affected him and his family, and<br />
how this syndrome debilitates countless<br />
American soldiers and their families.<br />
Unanswered questions remain<br />
about how changes in air pressure<br />
caused by a blast can result in<br />
brain damage even when there is no<br />
sign <strong>of</strong> external physical trauma.<br />
“Thousands <strong>of</strong> soldiers have suffered<br />
brain injury, and although they may<br />
be experiencing symptoms, they may<br />
not understand,” says Pam VandeVord,<br />
assistant pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> biomedical engi-<br />
(left to right): Pamela VandeVord, <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> assistant pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> biomedical engineering;<br />
keynote speaker Dr. Ibolja Cernak,<br />
from the applied physics Laboratory <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Johns Hopkins <strong>University</strong>; keynote speaker<br />
Dave Woodruff, brother <strong>of</strong> injured ABC News<br />
correspondent Bob Woodruff; and Cynthia<br />
Bir, WSU associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> biomedical<br />
engineering at the Blast Injury Symposium<br />
neering and conference co-chair. “We’re<br />
working hard to understand how the<br />
brain injury is occurring and what<br />
can be done to prevent and treat it.”<br />
Ibolja Cernak, from the Applied Physics<br />
Laboratory <strong>of</strong> the Johns Hopkins<br />
<strong>University</strong>, presented the other keynote.<br />
Cernak has 20 years experience in both<br />
clinical and experimental blast injury<br />
research, as well as clinical management<br />
<strong>of</strong> blast injured patients. She has<br />
been recognized as one <strong>of</strong> the world’s<br />
authorities on explosion-induced neurotrauma,<br />
and as such has been invited to<br />
present at various international forums.<br />
“We were very excited to have two, very<br />
prominent keynote speakers for the<br />
conference,” says Cynthia Bir, associate<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> biomedical engineering and<br />
co-chair <strong>of</strong> the conference. “By bringing<br />
together researchers from around the<br />
world, we hoped to provide an environment<br />
that will foster further collaboration<br />
in a much needed research area.” ■<br />
Robert Kearns was on the faculty <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Department <strong>of</strong> Mechanical <strong>Engineering</strong> at<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> for more than a decade (1957<br />
- 1967). But the life <strong>of</strong> the creator <strong>of</strong> the<br />
intermittent windshield wiper as portrayed<br />
by Hollywood in the recently released docudrama,<br />
Flash <strong>of</strong> Genius, was not on campus.<br />
Associate Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Kearns first worked<br />
in the basement laboratory <strong>of</strong> his modest<br />
Detroit home near Eight Mile Road where<br />
he and his wife, Phyllis, raised six kids. He<br />
continued to tinker with the wiper electronic<br />
control and assembly system that he cobbled<br />
together until he was finally able to manipulate<br />
the wiper to engage in a new mode.<br />
It then became his one-man battle against<br />
the automakers to recognize his invention after<br />
Ford Motor Company withdrew an agreement<br />
to buy his patented creation. The battle<br />
consumed his life and took every ounce <strong>of</strong> his<br />
being to endure. It was a David-versus-Goliath<br />
story—Kearns became his own lawyer early<br />
on, making his<br />
personal case<br />
before the courts<br />
—only Goliath<br />
did not fall in a<br />
heap from a deftly<br />
thrown rock.<br />
Kearns’ battle<br />
lasted more than<br />
20 years until the<br />
last word by the<br />
Supreme Court<br />
in 1995 confirming<br />
his lower court victories.<br />
But it came at considerable expense. The<br />
wreckage <strong>of</strong> his obsession included what<br />
most <strong>of</strong> us recognize as the most important<br />
thing in life—love. Kearns may now be a rallying<br />
cry for the individual inventor, which<br />
the movie clearly depicts. But he mostly<br />
lost his family, friends and community. (He<br />
died <strong>of</strong> cancer in 2005 at the age <strong>of</strong> 77.)<br />
In Flash <strong>of</strong> Genius, a very good film, Greg<br />
Kinnear acts powerfully as Kearns and is<br />
8
supported artfully by Lauren Graham in<br />
the role <strong>of</strong> Phyllis Kearns. Not considered a<br />
box-<strong>of</strong>fice hit, the movie opened on Sept.<br />
3 and played in theatres only until Sept.<br />
23 before its DVD release in February.<br />
This is a very tough film. It delves into difficult<br />
issues, not the least <strong>of</strong> which is the spousal<br />
and family stress caused by addiction. This<br />
was a loving family with good intentions, and<br />
it is hard to watch the family disintegrate.<br />
The <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> was engaged<br />
peripherally with this independent docudrama<br />
directed by Marc Abraham, produced<br />
by Spyglass Entertainment, and distributed<br />
by Universal Pictures. When Spyglass began<br />
preparations to shoot on location in the<br />
spring <strong>of</strong> 2007, its costume designer contacted<br />
the college for images <strong>of</strong> students and<br />
campus life from the 1960s, when Kearns<br />
taught here. The college kindly obliged.<br />
As with most independent films, the producers<br />
had a tight budget. They opted to shoot<br />
the dramatic scenes in Toronto – including<br />
the one classroom scene at the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
Toronto—where tax incentives at the time<br />
were more attractive than Michigan’s. Later,<br />
the film crew spent several days in Detroit<br />
filming Rouge River shots and the Ford<br />
Assembly Plant for B-roll footage that appears<br />
in the movie. The dramatic scene when<br />
Kearns brings his invention to Ford engineers<br />
for a demonstration was not shot in front<br />
<strong>of</strong> Ford Headquarters in Dearborn as it appeared.<br />
The scene was shot on the ro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> the<br />
municipal building in downtown Toronto.<br />
Abraham invited the Kearns family members<br />
to Toronto to watch filming and meet<br />
with the actors portraying them. Abraham<br />
and Kinnear <strong>of</strong>ten talked to Phyllis and the<br />
older sons on the phone to better understand<br />
the family and the person who was Robert<br />
Kearns. Phyllis and most <strong>of</strong> the children, who<br />
are now grown up and raising families <strong>of</strong> their<br />
own, came to Toronto at the end <strong>of</strong> the summer<br />
to see the dramatic courtroom scenes<br />
that define the final phase <strong>of</strong> the movie. They<br />
were struck by the remarkable resemblance<br />
between Kinnear and Kearns, and the authenticity<br />
he gave the part, according to Phyllis<br />
who has been in contact with the college.<br />
The studio publicist in Detroit<br />
arranged for special preview<br />
showings at the Southfield AMC<br />
in late September and early<br />
October <strong>of</strong> 2008 for the <strong>College</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> and <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
community. The making <strong>of</strong> the<br />
film precipitated much anticipation<br />
at the college. At the preview,<br />
which was attended by Dean Ralph<br />
Kummler, WSU Director <strong>of</strong> Corporate<br />
and Public Affairs Francine Wunder,<br />
and <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> Public<br />
Affairs Officer David Reich, Phyllis<br />
and several <strong>of</strong> the children were introduced<br />
to the invitation-only audience.<br />
The family’s presence was a ringing<br />
endorsement <strong>of</strong> the film. Despite leading<br />
to divorce, the fight had led to redemption<br />
in the courts. The film brought the<br />
story to the world. And its showing in Detroit<br />
brought it back to where it all began.<br />
When this “Detroit pr<strong>of</strong>essor,” as he is referred<br />
to in the film, is asked by the Ford<br />
engineer in the scene outside Ford headquarters<br />
what school he graduated from,<br />
the pr<strong>of</strong>essor replies, “Case Western.”<br />
Kearns earned his PhD from there.<br />
Kearns earned his master’s degree in mechanical<br />
engineering from <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>. While the<br />
university can claim Robert Kearns as its student<br />
and pr<strong>of</strong>essor, it is never mentioned in the film.<br />
Flash <strong>of</strong> Genius, the docudrama, as a body<br />
<strong>of</strong> work, may not have achieved the acclaim it<br />
deserves. It is an excellent dramatized documentary<br />
appealing to a small vocal population<br />
<strong>of</strong> viewers, in particular, viewers who relate to<br />
the crushing impact <strong>of</strong> the corporate culture<br />
on the individual. To them, he is a hero.<br />
But in the creative process <strong>of</strong> retelling the<br />
story, the other dimensions <strong>of</strong> the real Bob<br />
Kearns are not so developed, including his<br />
role as pr<strong>of</strong>essor. Both friends and those who<br />
remembered his time at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> say he<br />
was a good and caring teacher. Bob Kearns<br />
lived many lives, each full <strong>of</strong> rich and amusing<br />
stories, his friends say. None <strong>of</strong> these<br />
other lives were portrayed in the film. ■<br />
— by David Reich<br />
Kearns<br />
left <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> and<br />
became<br />
Detroit’s<br />
Building<br />
and Safety<br />
Commissioner;<br />
photos courtesy<br />
WSU Walter<br />
Reuther Archives<br />
9
Thanks to considerable<br />
press, most metro Detroiters<br />
have heard about the new<br />
green ro<strong>of</strong> on the Joe Louis<br />
Arena People Mover station.<br />
What most people<br />
don’t know is that a<br />
small group <strong>of</strong> <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
engineering graduates are<br />
responsible for the idea.<br />
photos by Alonso del Arte
STUDENTS<br />
HELP<br />
MAKE THE<br />
DETROIT<br />
PEOPLE<br />
MOVER<br />
GREEN<br />
In February 2007, Leslie Coxon, Rich<br />
Gifaldi and Amit Shah were researching<br />
the sustainability <strong>of</strong> the Detroit People<br />
Mover for Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Carol Miller’s Environmental<br />
Management and Sustainable<br />
Development course. As part <strong>of</strong> their<br />
research, the students attended a board<br />
meeting for the People Mover where they<br />
learned that most <strong>of</strong> the stations would<br />
soon be getting new ro<strong>of</strong>s and that General<br />
Manager Barbara Hansen was interested<br />
in environmentally-friendly options.<br />
Gifaldi graduated in 2007 with a bachelor’s<br />
degree in civil and environmental<br />
engineering and is currently pursuing a<br />
master’s degree while working for the U.S.<br />
Army Corps <strong>of</strong> Engineers in Detroit. He<br />
spoke with Hansen after the meeting and<br />
asked if she had considered green ro<strong>of</strong>s as<br />
an option. “She said, ‘yes,’ but was having<br />
trouble convincing staff at the People<br />
Mover to go with green ro<strong>of</strong>s,” says Gifaldi.<br />
Gifaldi proposed shifting the focus<br />
<strong>of</strong> the project for Miller’s class from<br />
the general sustainability <strong>of</strong> the People<br />
Mover to the costs and benefits <strong>of</strong> adding<br />
green ro<strong>of</strong>s to the stations. With<br />
Miller’s support, the team began work.<br />
The students did extensive research<br />
on green ro<strong>of</strong>s, studying different projects<br />
in Michigan and Chicago and finding<br />
information on various suppliers so<br />
that if the board picked up the project,<br />
they would have ample information.<br />
Coxon, who also graduated in 2007 with<br />
a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering<br />
and currently works as a structural engineer<br />
with Ruby and Associates in Farmington<br />
Hills, credits the U.S. Green Building<br />
Council (USGBC) as a critical source. A<br />
nonpr<strong>of</strong>it organization dedicated to sustainable<br />
building design and construction, the<br />
USGBC <strong>of</strong>fers courses and workshops that<br />
educate people about green buildings.<br />
According to the U.S. Environmental<br />
Protection Agency, there are two types:<br />
intensive and extensive. Intensive ro<strong>of</strong>s<br />
require at least a foot <strong>of</strong> soil depth, considerable<br />
maintenance, elaborate irrigation<br />
systems and space to accommodate larger<br />
trees, shrubs and gardens. Extensive ro<strong>of</strong>s<br />
require only one to five inches <strong>of</strong> soil depth,<br />
accommodate vegetative ground cover<br />
or grasses, use simpler irrigation systems<br />
and need only minimal maintenance.<br />
“Our specific recommendation to the<br />
People Mover Council was to use an extensive<br />
ro<strong>of</strong> because <strong>of</strong> its lighter weight<br />
and lower cost,” says Coxon. “While a<br />
more substantial ro<strong>of</strong> is nicer to look<br />
at, this one will still have its benefits.”<br />
These benefits are mostly temperature<br />
The green ro<strong>of</strong> on the Joe Louis People<br />
Mover station (left page) The view <strong>of</strong><br />
downtown Detroit from the green ro<strong>of</strong>.<br />
and noise control. “The ro<strong>of</strong> will create<br />
a situation much like with a basement;<br />
it will be significantly cooler in the station,”<br />
says Coxon. “It can also absorb a<br />
certain amount <strong>of</strong> decibels <strong>of</strong> sound.”<br />
The team presented their research to<br />
the People Mover Board <strong>of</strong> Directors in<br />
May 2007, but heard nothing for more<br />
than a year. Gifaldi recalls seeing the<br />
ro<strong>of</strong> on the station at Michigan and<br />
Cass redone with traditional gravel and<br />
thinking the team’s efforts had failed.<br />
Then, in August 2008, a co-worker<br />
handed Gifaldi the business section<br />
from that day’s Detroit Free Press. “There<br />
was the article about the new ro<strong>of</strong>,” he<br />
says. “Even though the work <strong>of</strong> my<br />
team wasn’t mentioned in the article, I<br />
was very happy to see the work from<br />
a class project come to fruition.”<br />
Coxon shares Gifaldi’s sentiment that,<br />
although their contribution was never<br />
formally acknowledged, just being involved<br />
in the process is satisfying. “It<br />
feels great to work with a city on such a<br />
project,” says Coxon. “And <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>,<br />
because <strong>of</strong> its location, gave us an opportunity<br />
you wouldn’t have, say, at a<br />
university in the middle <strong>of</strong> nowhere.” ■<br />
—by Sydney Redigan<br />
11
AROUND HELIOS<br />
Drive Safely to <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> Campaign <strong>2009</strong><br />
photos by Rick Bielaczyc<br />
With 60 years <strong>of</strong> experience<br />
in automotive safety design<br />
research and testing, and with the<br />
only graduate degree program in<br />
transportation engineering in the<br />
state, it is only fitting that <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> produce an annual campaign<br />
highlighting traffic and road safety.<br />
Fox 2 Traffic Reporter Jackie Paige<br />
kicked <strong>of</strong>f the fifth annual Drive Safely<br />
to <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> Campaign September<br />
22 before an assembly <strong>of</strong> the state’s<br />
leaders in traffic and road safety.<br />
The two-day event, which takes<br />
place on <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s Gullen Mall, is<br />
organized by the <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> Transportation<br />
Research Group (TRG) with<br />
participation by the Michigan Office<br />
<strong>of</strong> Highway Safety Planning (OHSP),<br />
The ceremony brings several prominent<br />
elected <strong>of</strong>ficials and experts in the<br />
area <strong>of</strong> transportation research, including<br />
Terri Lynn Land, Michigan secretary<br />
<strong>of</strong> state; Robert A. Ficano, <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
County executive; Alberta Tinsley-<br />
Talabi, councilwoman, city <strong>of</strong> Detroit;<br />
Kirk Steudel, director <strong>of</strong> the Michigan<br />
Department <strong>of</strong> Transportation (MDOT);<br />
Capt. Harold Love, second district commander<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Michigan <strong>State</strong> Police;<br />
Kathy Farnum, planning and program<br />
development manager <strong>of</strong> OHSP; and<br />
John Friend, engineer <strong>of</strong> delivery <strong>of</strong><br />
MDOT. WSU Provost Nancy Barrett<br />
and <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> Dean Ralph<br />
Kummler also spoke at the ceremony.<br />
“The Drive Safely campaign is not<br />
about <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> or the Transportation<br />
Research Group, but the bigger<br />
idea <strong>of</strong> saving lives,” says Tappan<br />
Datta, pr<strong>of</strong>essor and head <strong>of</strong> the TRG,<br />
who made the closing remarks.<br />
Elected <strong>of</strong>ficials and experts in the area <strong>of</strong><br />
transportation research, as well as Dean<br />
Kummler, Jackie Paige and Tappan Datta at<br />
the Drive Safely ribbon cutting<br />
Safety belt usage up<br />
While work to reduce injuries and fatalities<br />
on the road remains, Michigan road<br />
safety leaders can be proud <strong>of</strong> their role<br />
in raising awareness <strong>of</strong> the importance<br />
<strong>of</strong> using safety belts. A second statewide<br />
safety belt observation survey at the end<br />
<strong>of</strong> the summer by the WSU Transportation<br />
Research Group revealed belt use<br />
in Michigan has jumped yet again to an<br />
all-time high <strong>of</strong> 97.2 percent. Michigan’s<br />
belt use rate far exceeds the national average<br />
rate, which stands at 83 percent.<br />
“This is a positive achievement for Michigan<br />
motorists who have adopted the important<br />
and life-saving habit <strong>of</strong> buckling up,” says<br />
Col. Peter C. Munoz, director <strong>of</strong> the Michigan<br />
<strong>State</strong> Police. “We believe this bodes well<br />
for safety on our streets and highways.” ■<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> County Executive Robert Ficano and<br />
Capt. Harold Love, second district commander<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Michigan <strong>State</strong> Police, at the Drive Safely<br />
opening ceremony<br />
12
photo by David Reich<br />
Summer programs<br />
<strong>of</strong>fer educational<br />
fun for middle and<br />
high schoolers<br />
Several dozen seventh and eighth graders<br />
from the Detroit area now have ideas<br />
about their futures they may never have<br />
thought about before. The college launched<br />
a new, two-week engineering camp last<br />
summer concluding July 18 for young men<br />
designed to strengthen their interest in math<br />
and science, and develop life goal skills.<br />
The Young Men in <strong>Engineering</strong> Program<br />
(YMEP), a federally funded program,<br />
attracted 23 youths from Detroit,<br />
Hamtramck, Warren, Pontiac, Southfield,<br />
Romulus, Sterling Heights, and Eastpointe<br />
to <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s campus. Associate Dean<br />
Gerald Thompkins says he established the<br />
program to reach out to urban youth, who<br />
are dramatically underrepresented in the<br />
numbers <strong>of</strong> U.S. engineering graduates.<br />
“The numbers are a disgrace,” Thompkins<br />
says. “We can’t always rely on the<br />
public schools to deal with this issue.<br />
Students from these areas who show<br />
an early interest in math and science<br />
deserve the same opportunities others<br />
have to form a vision for their future.”<br />
Students take one-hour courses in chemistry,<br />
technical writing, engineering, math<br />
and life skills. The instructors are African-<br />
American men. The students also take field<br />
trips and participate in team-building recreational<br />
activities. On one <strong>of</strong> the last days <strong>of</strong><br />
camp, the young men gathered in teams on<br />
the athletic field to launch remote triggered<br />
chemically-powered miniature rockets.<br />
“Judging from the look <strong>of</strong> awe on their<br />
faces as they watched their rockets punch<br />
into the muggy skies, these young men<br />
are already aiming higher,” says David<br />
Reich, public affairs <strong>of</strong>ficer for the college.<br />
Cost for the camp is $100 and participants<br />
receive all supplies for the<br />
classes during the program. This YMEP<br />
program joins other summer programs<br />
at the college, including one for<br />
girls, another for high school students,<br />
and one for incoming freshmen.<br />
“My goal is to expand the YMEP program<br />
to a four-week summer program next year<br />
for it to be effective,” Thompkins says. “We<br />
are currently soliciting additional funding<br />
to help make that expansion a reality.” ■<br />
—by Arthur Bridgeforth<br />
Other WSU summer<br />
engineering programs<br />
The High School <strong>Engineering</strong> Training<br />
Institute (HSETI) was developed<br />
to increase the pool <strong>of</strong> underrepresented<br />
minorities and women in the field <strong>of</strong><br />
engineering. Students begin the four-week<br />
program in the summer after their freshman<br />
year <strong>of</strong> high school and continue<br />
with the program every summer until they<br />
graduate. Offering courses in engineering,<br />
science, mathematics, national security<br />
and writing, this year’s program was held<br />
June 23--July 18 with 24 students attending.<br />
The Women in <strong>Engineering</strong> Training<br />
(WET) program was held at the same<br />
time as the HSETI program. This year, 30<br />
middle school girls from metro Detroit<br />
attended. The program is designed to<br />
spark interest in math and engineering<br />
in girls through hands-on activities and<br />
projects, and provides opportunities to<br />
interact with female students at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>.<br />
From July 7 to Aug. 1, 21 recent high school<br />
graduates participated in the Michigan<br />
Louis Stokes Alliance Minority Participation<br />
(MI-LSAMP) program. MI-LSAMP<br />
is a joint effort by <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>, the <strong>University</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> Michigan, Michigan <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
and Western Michigan <strong>University</strong> to significantly<br />
increase the number <strong>of</strong> underrepresented<br />
minorities earning bachelor’s degrees<br />
in science, technology, engineering and<br />
mathematical fields. For four days a week,<br />
the students take courses related to these<br />
fields, work in labs on Fridays, go on tours<br />
and hear speakers. The MI-LSAMP program<br />
works with students throughout their undergraduate<br />
careers, providing tutoring and<br />
research and internship opportunities. ■<br />
(top and above) Students at the Michigan<br />
Louis Stokes Alliance Minority Participation<br />
(MI-LSAMP) program<br />
photos by Michelle Reeves<br />
13
AROUND HELIOS<br />
Program to lead to<br />
intelligence careers<br />
The Center for Academic Excellence<br />
(CAE) in National Security Intelligence<br />
Studies at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> provides<br />
a great opportunity for students interested<br />
in pursuing a career in intelligence<br />
with one <strong>of</strong> the 16 federal agencies.<br />
Undergraduates who complete the<br />
program in National Security Intelligence<br />
Studies are guaranteed priority<br />
access when applying for a job<br />
with federal intelligence agencies.<br />
Although the program is centered<br />
within the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>,<br />
the government is interested in<br />
recruiting students from all disciplines,<br />
says Gerald Thompkins, associate<br />
dean <strong>of</strong> student affairs, and<br />
creator and director <strong>of</strong> the program.<br />
Besides elevating the image <strong>of</strong> the<br />
intelligence community and increasing<br />
the pool <strong>of</strong> qualified individuals,<br />
the U.S. government seeks diversity in<br />
its intelligence community. “They are<br />
trying to change the mindset <strong>of</strong> people,”<br />
says Assistant Director Michelle<br />
Reaves. “They’re not only interested in<br />
students from Ivy League schools, but<br />
also schools such as <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> with<br />
its diverse population <strong>of</strong> students from<br />
different cultural backgrounds with<br />
fluency in two or more languages.”<br />
There are only 10 CAE programs in<br />
the United <strong>State</strong>s, including <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong>. While some <strong>of</strong> the courses existed<br />
as part <strong>of</strong> the regular WSU curriculum,<br />
Reaves sought pr<strong>of</strong>essors to create<br />
Intelligence Community courses when<br />
the two-year National Geospatial Intelligence<br />
Agency grant <strong>of</strong> $750,000 for<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> was approved in 2006. The<br />
grant support now totals $2.3 million.<br />
The courses provide the following skill<br />
sets: foreign language pr<strong>of</strong>iciency, Middle<br />
Eastern awareness and understanding,<br />
Far Eastern and Asian competencies,<br />
international relations, geopolitical<br />
Gerald Thompkins<br />
and cultural awareness, communications,<br />
personal development, interpersonal<br />
skills and financial management.<br />
A total <strong>of</strong> 46 students have participated<br />
in the CAE program. They are<br />
eligible to receive study abroad scholarships<br />
and participate in internships at<br />
various intelligence agencies. Students<br />
from a variety <strong>of</strong> academic disciplines<br />
are eligible for the CAE program.<br />
While Thompkins describes the certificate<br />
as more <strong>of</strong> a symbolic gesture, he<br />
says, “It does alert Intelligence Community<br />
recruiters that a student has participated<br />
in a CAE program. That fact<br />
alone gives students a major advantage<br />
when applying to intelligence agencies.”<br />
Those agencies include Air Force Intelligence,<br />
Army Intelligence, Central<br />
Intelligence Agency, Coast Guard Intelligence,<br />
Defense Intelligence Agency,<br />
U.S. Department <strong>of</strong> Energy, U.S. Department<br />
<strong>of</strong> Homeland Security, U.S. Department<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>State</strong>, U.S. Department <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Treasury, Federal Bureau <strong>of</strong> Investigation,<br />
Marine Corps Intelligence, National<br />
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National<br />
Reconnaissance Office, National Security<br />
Agency, Navy Intelligence and the Office<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Director <strong>of</strong> National Intelligence.<br />
Applicants must be U.S. citizens and<br />
enrolled in any undergraduate program at<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>. They are also required to have<br />
a grade-point average <strong>of</strong> 3.0 or above. ■<br />
—by Justyna Konczalska<br />
Ford and WSU partner<br />
to improve quality<br />
production<br />
As the Ford Motor Company fights for<br />
its survival in hard economic times, 70<br />
Ford factory workers are participating in a<br />
year-long quality control retraining program<br />
taught by <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> engineering and business<br />
instructors Ford initiated to improve<br />
the quality <strong>of</strong> vehicles coming <strong>of</strong>f the production<br />
line.<br />
Ford and the UAW worked closely with<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> to design the program that<br />
brought the workers from each <strong>of</strong> Ford’s U.S.<br />
assembly plants to <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> last June.<br />
14
The participants then returned to their<br />
work sites to continue the retraining by<br />
way <strong>of</strong> seminars and online coursework.<br />
The workers are using their new skills<br />
to track statistical data derived from the<br />
assembly line, identify problem areas and<br />
contain them before new vehicles roll <strong>of</strong>f<br />
the line. “The coursework focuses on everything<br />
from basic computer training to<br />
complicated analytic skills workers can take<br />
back to the production line,” said Ahmad<br />
Ezzeddine, associate vice president for education<br />
outreach at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>. ■<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Ece Yaprak<br />
heads to Finland on<br />
Fulbright Fellowship<br />
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Ece Yaprak,<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> engineering technology,<br />
was not raised for the cold, rough winters<br />
<strong>of</strong> Finland. But after being selected<br />
for a Fulbright fellowship there, she<br />
packed her suitcases with warm clothing<br />
to spend six months to Oulu, Finland,<br />
where she is conducting research<br />
on a Fulbright-Nokia Award. Hopefully,<br />
she did not forget a pair <strong>of</strong> wool socks.<br />
In January, Yaprak began work at the<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Oulu Research Center For<br />
Wireless Communications. Before applying<br />
for the Fulbright fellowship, Yaprak<br />
knew that besides her research work and<br />
letters <strong>of</strong> recommendation, she would<br />
also need an invitation from a university<br />
where she could conduct her research<br />
work. After studying different schools,<br />
Yaprak found the wireless communications<br />
center at the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Oulu. “I<br />
saw that their lab is a good fit for what<br />
I’ve done research on,” she says. After<br />
exchanging emails with the Oulu faculty,<br />
“They said they’d love to have me.”<br />
Oulu is the largest city in Northern Finland<br />
with a population <strong>of</strong> about 130,000.<br />
The <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Oulu, which is one <strong>of</strong><br />
Oulu’s most important employers, expressed<br />
interest in Yaprak’s work and published<br />
papers. “I have had NASA and navy<br />
fellowships before,” she says. The <strong>University</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> Oulu will pay for Yaprak’s housing<br />
costs and the Fulbright fellowship should<br />
cover the travel and living expenses.<br />
The Fulbright Fellowship program is<br />
one <strong>of</strong> the U.S. government’s flagship<br />
programs that allow international educational<br />
exchange <strong>of</strong> faculty and students.<br />
In 1945, Senator J. William Fulbright<br />
<strong>of</strong> Arkansas proposed this program to<br />
the U.S. Congress. It was approved and<br />
signed into law one year later by President<br />
Truman. Fulbright viewed the proposed<br />
program as a much-needed chance for<br />
promoting “mutual understanding between<br />
the people <strong>of</strong> the United <strong>State</strong>s<br />
and the people <strong>of</strong> other countries <strong>of</strong> the<br />
world.” Fulbright grants are made to U.S.<br />
citizens and nationals <strong>of</strong> other countries<br />
for a variety <strong>of</strong> educational activities,<br />
primarily university lecturing, advanced<br />
research, graduate study and teaching<br />
in elementary and secondary schools.<br />
“I always wanted to do this, but when<br />
my children were young, I didn’t even<br />
apply,” says Yaprak, a mother <strong>of</strong> three.<br />
Today, her 26-year-old daughter is working<br />
as an engineer in California, her<br />
22-year-old son will soon graduate<br />
with a degree in International Studies,<br />
and her youngest son, a sophomore<br />
in college, is majoring in engineering.<br />
While Yaprak is in Finland, her husband,<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Attila Yaprak, a WSU pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
<strong>of</strong> international business, will be teaching<br />
and conducting research in France,<br />
Spain and Turkey. “Somehow we will<br />
meet,” Yaprak says. She wants to fly across<br />
Europe on weekends to meet her husband.<br />
Yaprak is very enthusiastic about this opportunity<br />
to study in Finland. “Their lab is<br />
great, and I am looking forward to doing<br />
research with them,” she says. She knows<br />
that the winters in Oulu can be very cold.<br />
The average temperature in December is<br />
Ece Yaprak embarked for Oulu, Finland in January<br />
<strong>2009</strong> to study on a Fulbright fellowship.<br />
17.6 degrees Fahrenheit, but can drop to as<br />
low as 40 below zero. “I know it’s cold there,<br />
so I will focus on working,” says Yaprak.<br />
She hopes to network and to establish<br />
long-term relationships with the Oulu<br />
faculty. Yaprak imagines writing and<br />
eventually publishing research papers<br />
with pr<strong>of</strong>essors from the Oulu faculty.<br />
She also considers establishing a studentexchange<br />
program in the future. ■<br />
—by Justyna Konczalska<br />
15
AROUND HELIOS<br />
Beaumont Hospitals and<br />
SSIM lab collaborate to<br />
retrain surgeons<br />
Thanks to the collaboration between Beaumont<br />
Hospitals and <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s<br />
Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems<br />
(SSIM) program, many surgeons<br />
returning from active military duty will be<br />
retrained on the newest technology.<br />
The project is funded with a $242,931<br />
grant from the U.S. Department <strong>of</strong> Defense’s<br />
Telemedicine and Advanced Technologies<br />
Research Center.<br />
Researchers led by Beaumont’s Dr. Charles<br />
Shanley, and WSU Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Greg Auner,<br />
director <strong>of</strong> the SSIM program, are measuring<br />
surgical skills and designing retraining protocols<br />
for surgeons whose specialized skills<br />
may have depreciated during deployment<br />
or who need to learn new surgical advances<br />
developed during their time in the field.<br />
The research may also have implications for<br />
training <strong>of</strong> new surgeons, including those<br />
about to be deployed on active duty.<br />
This pioneering research pairs the advanced<br />
simulation capabilities in Beaumont’s<br />
Marcia and Eugene Applebaum Surgical<br />
Learning Center at the Royal Oak facility<br />
with sophisticated motion and vision-tracking<br />
technologies developed by <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s<br />
SSIM program. The center is a virtual reality<br />
lab equipped with two, full-scale operating<br />
rooms, patient simulators, a tissue skills lab<br />
and a distance-learning classroom.<br />
“To our knowledge, this is one <strong>of</strong> the first<br />
attempts to objectively measure technical<br />
skills in surgeons and to use that information<br />
to help them return to their pre-deployment<br />
skill level or better,” says Shanley,<br />
chairman, Department <strong>of</strong> Surgery, and senior<br />
vice president. “Objective assessment <strong>of</strong><br />
surgeon performance using the technologies<br />
developed from this research will contribute<br />
greatly to improved patient safety and could<br />
potentially contribute to bioterrorism medical<br />
response.”<br />
Inside Beaumont’s Surgical Learning Center; courtesy <strong>of</strong> Beaumont Hospital<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s SSIM lab is equipping a surgical<br />
simulator with hand and eye-tracking<br />
sensors and using real-time digital video<br />
analysis to give immediate feedback on the<br />
trainee’s performance during different tasks.<br />
These tasks include both basic techniques<br />
(for example, knot-tying and suturing) and<br />
more advanced (for example, connecting<br />
two blood vessels). Reset training protocols<br />
are being developed by surgical and educational<br />
specialists to target skill deficiencies.<br />
“The implementation <strong>of</strong> advanced and<br />
emerging technology will enable us to provide<br />
new insights on surgical assessment and<br />
greatly aid in the retraining process,” says<br />
Auner. “This requires the pioneering <strong>of</strong> new Inside Beaumont’s Surgical Learning Center,<br />
technologies and understanding for the measurement<br />
<strong>of</strong> surgical skill sets and advanced<br />
courtesy <strong>of</strong> Beaumont Hospital<br />
models for individualized retraining at the<br />
highest skill levels possible.” ■<br />
16
Students and company reps network<br />
at the college's <strong>Engineering</strong> Job Fair<br />
Two floors <strong>of</strong> the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>’s<br />
main building were packed last<br />
October with students and representatives<br />
from more than 45 companies<br />
looking to network with each other.<br />
DTE Energy, Ford Motor Co., Micros<strong>of</strong>t<br />
Corporation, Marathon Oil and other<br />
companies registered for the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> 2008 Job Fair to meet the current<br />
crop <strong>of</strong> engineering students at WSU,<br />
and recruit them for internships, co-ops<br />
and, possibly, employment opportunities.<br />
“Given the current economic climate, I<br />
was quite surprised by the number <strong>of</strong><br />
companies present this year,” says Gerald<br />
Thompkins, associate dean <strong>of</strong> student affairs.<br />
“We had more than 45 companies.”<br />
He adds that the companies came “not<br />
to show their flag, but were here to<br />
hire. A lot <strong>of</strong> students have already received<br />
follow-up interviews as a result.”<br />
When asked why they recruit at WSU, the<br />
representatives responded similarly. “The<br />
curriculum at <strong>Wayne</strong>’s <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
is why we recruit here,” says Kristi<br />
Wynne-Jones, a human resources generalist<br />
at Plastipak, which makes plastic bottles.<br />
“We wouldn’t keep coming if we weren’t<br />
impressed by <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>,” says Vinh Dok,<br />
a subject matter expert for mobility at Ford.<br />
Ala Bataresh, BSECE’00, a Micros<strong>of</strong>t s<strong>of</strong>tware<br />
design engineer and graduate <strong>of</strong> WSU,<br />
says he has confidence in WSU engineering<br />
graduates because <strong>of</strong> his own experience<br />
with the college. “My education at <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
has <strong>of</strong>fered me great opportunities,” he says.<br />
“Because <strong>of</strong> internships through <strong>Wayne</strong>, I<br />
was prepared to get the job I have now.”<br />
Gary Madej, BSCE’73, MSCE’78, vice<br />
president <strong>of</strong> Soil and Materials Engineers,<br />
Inc., says he recruits at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> because<br />
he can trust the students and likes<br />
the diversity <strong>of</strong> the graduates. “My <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> education has helped me a lot,” he<br />
says. “That’s how I got my job here, and<br />
I’ve been with SME 35 years now.”<br />
Shayla Fletcher, who expects to graduate in<br />
<strong>2009</strong> with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical<br />
engineering, has already seen many <strong>of</strong><br />
the <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> educational benefits <strong>of</strong><br />
which alumni speak. She received a job<br />
<strong>of</strong>fer from a hybrid mechanical engineering<br />
design company in Indianapolis and<br />
says that she has greatly benefited from a<br />
co-op at the U.S. Army Tank Automotive<br />
Research Development and <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Center (TARDEC) that complements her<br />
in-class education. “At TARDEC, I was able<br />
to use things that I had just learned in<br />
class,” she says. “And being able to do those<br />
things makes the concepts come alive.”<br />
While most <strong>of</strong> the students say they feel<br />
confident in their preparedness for the<br />
work force, concerns were raised about the<br />
current economic downturn and depressed<br />
job market for graduating students. Selina<br />
Zhao, a mechanical engineering student<br />
who expects to graduate in about one year,<br />
expressed such a concern. “Two or three<br />
years ago, you could always find a job in<br />
Michigan,” she says. “Now, that’s not so.”<br />
But many company representatives and<br />
students were optimistic. Mia Johnson, a<br />
senior staffing specialist with DTE Energy,<br />
says she was excited about the challenges the<br />
energy field is facing and the opportunities<br />
that will be created as a result. “Energy is the<br />
future,” she says. “In regard to the Michigan<br />
Gary Madej, far right, Vice President <strong>of</strong> SME,<br />
talks about the company.<br />
Ala Bataresh, a Micros<strong>of</strong>t s<strong>of</strong>tware design engineer,<br />
reviews a student’s resume<br />
economy, DTE has awesome opportunities.<br />
This state used to be all about automotive.<br />
DTE is now the big thing in Michigan.”<br />
Danton Garcia and Nick Johnson, who<br />
both graduated in December 2008 with<br />
bachelor’s degrees in Alternative Energy<br />
Technology, believe that green engineering<br />
will continue to expand. “The future <strong>of</strong><br />
engineering will be in renewables, solar and<br />
winds,” says Johnson. “Anything to find usage<br />
out <strong>of</strong> what we already have is key.” Garcia<br />
agreed, adding that he looks for environmental<br />
responsibility in a future employer.<br />
While students at the job fair were looking<br />
for various qualities in potential employers<br />
ranging from location and benefits to<br />
environmental awareness. Recruiters were<br />
looking for these traits in job candidates:<br />
experience, leadership and motivation.<br />
“Drive and initiative are important,” says<br />
Thomas Pakula, BSChE’78, MSChE’81, a<br />
representative from Marathon Oil. “We<br />
can train employees in skills, but you<br />
can’t train drive and initiative.” ■<br />
—by Sydney Redigan<br />
photos by Alonso del Arte<br />
17
AROUND HELIOS<br />
WSU engineering<br />
degrees <strong>of</strong>fered in<br />
Macomb County<br />
The <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>, and other<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> colleges are establishing<br />
a new presence in Macomb County<br />
to bring four-year, advanced technology<br />
and business degree programs<br />
where there is a strong demand.<br />
In a much ballyhooed press announcement<br />
last October, WSU and Macomb<br />
Community <strong>College</strong> (MCC) presidents<br />
Jay Noren and Jim Jacobs said the degree<br />
programs will address new workplace<br />
demands to retool the work force in a<br />
slumping Michigan economy. To this<br />
effort, <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> will lease space in<br />
a building to be constructed by MCC<br />
on its South Campus called the WSU<br />
Advanced Technology Education Center.<br />
The <strong>Engineering</strong> Technology program<br />
began <strong>of</strong>fering two courses at<br />
MCC last fall, and planned to add<br />
three more for the winter semester<br />
as it builds a complete course <strong>of</strong>fering<br />
leading to a bachelor’s degree.<br />
The <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> plans<br />
to add a new bachelor’s program in<br />
construction management, and later<br />
in mechanical engineering, and master’s<br />
degree programs in engineering<br />
Macomb Community <strong>College</strong> students congregating<br />
on the South Campus Quad; photo<br />
courtesy Macomb Community <strong>College</strong>.<br />
management, industrial relations, and<br />
global supply chain management.<br />
Classes in social work have been available<br />
to MCC students. Future <strong>of</strong>ferings by<br />
other WSU departments include bachelor’s<br />
degree programs in computer science and<br />
graphic design, in executive education,<br />
and pr<strong>of</strong>essional development courses.<br />
“This is something Macomb Community<br />
<strong>College</strong> students want and the times<br />
demand,” says Chi-Ping Yeh, director <strong>of</strong><br />
the WSU Division <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> Technology.<br />
“<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s programs will not<br />
only serve the population <strong>of</strong> Macomb<br />
County where there are no four-year colleges,<br />
but also surrounding counties.”<br />
Students will have dual enrollment<br />
through the <strong>Wayne</strong> Direct Program at both<br />
WSU and Macomb, and will be able to register,<br />
transfer credits, and continue with<br />
financial aid through the WSU system. ■<br />
BME researchers<br />
mapping brain injury<br />
About 50,000 Americans die each year<br />
after sustaining a traumatic brain injury<br />
(TBI). The majority <strong>of</strong> the 1.5 million<br />
injuries per year are the result <strong>of</strong> auto<br />
crashes, followed by sports accidents, falls<br />
and violence. For many victims there is<br />
no effective prevention or treatment.<br />
A team <strong>of</strong> <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> biomedical engineers<br />
has embarked on a unique fouryear<br />
study <strong>of</strong> the biomechanical basis <strong>of</strong><br />
brain trauma, which may lead to more<br />
effective prevention <strong>of</strong> these injuries.<br />
Supported by a $1.3 million grant<br />
from the National Institutes <strong>of</strong> Health,<br />
the researchers are tracking and mapping<br />
the response <strong>of</strong> laboratory-induced<br />
trauma to shed light on the precise<br />
mechanical events that lead to brain<br />
injury at the axonal and cellular levels.<br />
“At <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>, we’re uniquely positioned<br />
to study and understand the mechanisms<br />
Liying Zhang<br />
<strong>of</strong> severe brain trauma because <strong>of</strong> our<br />
expertise in impact biomechanics and<br />
our leading position in the development<br />
<strong>of</strong> world class computer models <strong>of</strong> the<br />
human brain,” says Liying Zhang, associate<br />
research pr<strong>of</strong>essor in the Department<br />
<strong>of</strong> Biomedical <strong>Engineering</strong> and the<br />
principal investigator on the project.<br />
An expert in injury biomechanics and<br />
neurotrauma, Zhang is one <strong>of</strong> only a<br />
few researchers in the world specialized<br />
in computer modeling <strong>of</strong> head protection<br />
using finite element techniques.<br />
“Brain injuries can be prevented with<br />
available technologies if we can understand<br />
the mechanical conditions that<br />
produce the injury,” says Zhang. “The<br />
standards that exist today for crash safety<br />
are based on data more than four decades<br />
old. The standards need to be updated<br />
if we are going to make significant inroads<br />
into preventing brain injuries.”<br />
The critical missing piece is a reliable<br />
predictor <strong>of</strong> the stresses and strains that<br />
produce these injuries. Once mapped,<br />
protective equipment such as helmets and<br />
airbags can be designed to prevent these<br />
injuries. The NIH study will examine<br />
photo by David Reich<br />
18
how brain tissues respond to mechanical<br />
insult at the cellular level and the stresses<br />
and strains that cause brain injury.<br />
Zhang is working with WSU Pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong><br />
Biomedical <strong>Engineering</strong> John Cavanaugh,<br />
M.D., an expert in impact biomechanics<br />
and neurophysiology. Cavanaugh’s lab has<br />
performed extensive research in axonal<br />
injury, concussion and spinal disorders.<br />
While researchers elsewhere study the<br />
mechanics <strong>of</strong> the impact and response<br />
<strong>of</strong> the brain to injury, or analyze the<br />
cellular changes in the brain using histopathologic<br />
techniques, the <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> team is uniquely capable <strong>of</strong> reconstructing<br />
the injury process dynamically<br />
by integrating both approaches.<br />
“Dr. Zhang and Dr. Cavanaugh have been<br />
leaders in the study <strong>of</strong> brain injury,” says<br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> Dean Ralph Kummler.<br />
“This new NIH grant allows them to<br />
translate years <strong>of</strong> experimental research into<br />
computer analysis and design tools that will<br />
save lives and enhance the lives <strong>of</strong> thousands<br />
<strong>of</strong> accident and battlefield victims. It<br />
is an outstanding example <strong>of</strong> the leading<br />
edge research being done in BME.” ■<br />
John Cavanaugh<br />
Dendrimer research<br />
stepped up<br />
The use <strong>of</strong> dendrimers or polymer nano-vehicles<br />
in targeted drug delivery has been quite<br />
promising for cancer treatment. And the lessons<br />
learned are being applied to treatments<br />
for other diseases. Supported by grants totaling<br />
more than $2 million, Rangaramanujam<br />
Kannan, pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> chemical engineering,<br />
has teamed with DMC Ligon Center and<br />
Children’s Hospital clinical researchers to<br />
develop targeted therapeutic approaches<br />
for the treatment <strong>of</strong> cerebral palsy (CP) and<br />
age-related macular degeneration (ARMD).<br />
An increasing body <strong>of</strong> literature demonstrates<br />
how neuron-inflammation plays a<br />
key role in the pathogenesis and evolution<br />
<strong>of</strong> both ARBD and CB. “Our collaborative<br />
research in animal models has revealed<br />
that dendrimers are preferentially taken up<br />
by the activated microglial cells that cause<br />
neuro-inflammation,” Kannan explains.<br />
“We have also discovered that these nanodevices<br />
show significantly better therapeutic<br />
efficacy in treating retinal degeneration<br />
than the current state-<strong>of</strong>-the-art methods<br />
for sustained drug delivery within the eye.”<br />
Kannan says he expects the collaborative<br />
research to have a strong impact<br />
on advancing treatment <strong>of</strong> neuroinflammatory<br />
diseases in general.<br />
Macular degeneration is estimated to affect<br />
9 million older adults in this country, while<br />
cerebral palsy affects millions <strong>of</strong> children.<br />
In addition to Kannan, the collaborators<br />
are: Dr. Sujatha Kannan, Kannan’s wife<br />
and a pediatric physician at Children’s<br />
Hospital <strong>of</strong> Michigan, Dr. Roberto Romero,<br />
director <strong>of</strong> the National Institute <strong>of</strong> Health<br />
(NIH) Perinatology Research Branch (PRB),<br />
and Dr. Ray Iezzi, a Ligon Center ophthalmologist<br />
at the Kresge Eye Institute.<br />
Rangaramanujam and Sujatha Kannan<br />
work with a team <strong>of</strong> students, physicians and<br />
postdocs from engineering, pharmaceuticals,<br />
and medical backgrounds to build an effort<br />
that goes from nano-device design, chemistry,<br />
all the way up to clinical applications.<br />
Rangaramanujam Kannan<br />
Kannan and other chemical engineering<br />
researchers concentrating their work<br />
in nanotechnology will soon move into<br />
new advanced laboratory space in the new<br />
Marvin I. Danto <strong>Engineering</strong> Development<br />
Center. The physical improvement <strong>of</strong> the<br />
lab should facilitate and enhance their<br />
work with the other collaborators.<br />
Kannan and his group have been successful<br />
using folic acid to solve a challenging issue:<br />
getting drug carrying dendrimers (5 to<br />
10 nanometers in length) to transport themselves<br />
through the targeted tumors, into<br />
cells, and release the drug at the right time.<br />
Grant money from the National Institute<br />
<strong>of</strong> Child Health and Development<br />
(NICHD) and the Wilson Medical Research<br />
Foundation ($200,000), and the Dryer<br />
Foundation ($75,000 per year) are going to<br />
directly support the ARMD and CP project.<br />
Kannan is also supported by an NIH grant<br />
to create a nanotechnology branch in the<br />
PRB for the development <strong>of</strong> dendrimerbased<br />
nanotechnology platforms for the diagnosis<br />
and treatment <strong>of</strong> chorioamnionitis,<br />
and maternal-fetal medicine in general. ■<br />
photo by Rick Bielacyzk<br />
19
At The Crossroads<br />
FEATURE STORIES<br />
In April 2008, several hundred people<br />
assembled at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s Community<br />
Arts Auditorium to discuss,<br />
espouse and take on a subject critical to<br />
our future. The unusual conference was<br />
organized by the <strong>University</strong> Research<br />
Corridor institutions – <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>, <strong>University</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> Michigan, and Michigan <strong>State</strong>,<br />
in partnership with WWJ-AM Radio.<br />
Faculty experts, including those from<br />
the WSU <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>, in<br />
combination with business leaders and<br />
the directors <strong>of</strong> nearby NextEnergy<br />
and TechTown, expressed with passion<br />
their understandings <strong>of</strong> the energy and<br />
economic challenges we face in Michigan.<br />
WWJ broadcasted live from the<br />
auditorium foyer, and posted interviews<br />
and conference forums on its Web site.<br />
It became apparent that<br />
this was no ordinary conference.<br />
The issues had implications<br />
for the future, and<br />
those who spoke did not shy<br />
away from expressing this.<br />
In some strange way, the<br />
experts as well as the attendees<br />
became bound in the<br />
understanding that each <strong>of</strong><br />
us has, as one <strong>of</strong> the speakers<br />
suggested, “a moral responsibility”<br />
to embrace the future.<br />
Embracing<br />
A Green<br />
Michigan<br />
Carbon Culture<br />
At The Crossroads<br />
Following is a report <strong>of</strong> the event by<br />
the editor <strong>of</strong> the Great Lakes ITT Report,<br />
a daily e-newsletter on technology<br />
news produced by WWJ. If his story<br />
moves you, you can learn more about the<br />
event, and listen to podcasts from that<br />
day by going to http://www.wwj.com/<br />
Embracing-A-Green-Michigan/2042402.<br />
You didn’t have to be there to learn, and<br />
to figure out how you can embrace the<br />
future, too. How you do it is up to you.<br />
For some, it may start with a diligence at<br />
home to recycle. For others, it may reach<br />
a higher level that could include lobbying<br />
your state congress person. But the<br />
underlying message is clear: Embracing<br />
means cultivating a compassionate space<br />
in our hearts for the survival <strong>of</strong> the planet,<br />
beginning with our communities. ■<br />
Michigan Alternative<br />
Energy: Frustrated Now,<br />
Optimistic Long Term<br />
By Matt Roush<br />
Editor, Great Lakes ITT Report<br />
Members <strong>of</strong> Michigan’s alternative<br />
energy community Tuesday<br />
expressed a mixture <strong>of</strong> immediate<br />
frustration and long-term optimism<br />
about the future <strong>of</strong> the renewable power<br />
industry in our state and nationally.<br />
Skip Pruss, special adviser for alternative<br />
energy and the environment to<br />
Gov. Jennifer Granholm, urged passage<br />
<strong>of</strong> a renewable portfolio standard<br />
(RPS) for the state, which would require<br />
power companies to generate or buy<br />
a certain percentage <strong>of</strong> their power<br />
output from renewable sources.*<br />
Speaking at a WWJ Newsradio 950 and<br />
<strong>University</strong> Research Corridor event at<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong>, Pruss said it would<br />
be irresponsible for Michigan to fail to<br />
take advantage <strong>of</strong> alternatives like wind<br />
and solar power. Such power sources, he<br />
said, could provide Michigan with the<br />
chance to grab a piece <strong>of</strong> a growing industry,<br />
while also limiting its exposure to big<br />
fluctuations in the price <strong>of</strong> fossil fuels.<br />
Pruss also said Michigan policymakers<br />
have a moral obligation to support energy<br />
alternatives, calling global climate change<br />
“the mother <strong>of</strong> all good reasons” to limit<br />
carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels.<br />
At a panel discussion after Pruss’ speech,<br />
James Croce, former CEO <strong>of</strong> Detroit’s Next<br />
Energy Center and WSU electrical engineering<br />
alum (1986), lamented that while<br />
Michigan was once a leader in developing<br />
an alternative energy strategy, the state<br />
has fallen behind other states in terms <strong>of</strong><br />
creating the policies needed to make the<br />
industry grow here as well as it should.<br />
20
photos by Mary Jane Murawka<br />
Better Policies Needed<br />
However, Croce said, while the state is<br />
letting itself become “more and more irrelevant”<br />
in terms <strong>of</strong> energy policy, it is<br />
far from irrelevant in terms <strong>of</strong> resources<br />
and talent. He said the level <strong>of</strong> talent<br />
here, the expertise <strong>of</strong> our manufacturers<br />
and capabilities <strong>of</strong> our universities,<br />
make him optimistic that Michigan will<br />
be able to leverage “our carbon legacy”<br />
and become a leader in new energy.<br />
Stephen Forrest, a pr<strong>of</strong>essor and vice<br />
president <strong>of</strong> research for the <strong>University</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> Michigan, said green business has<br />
shown that it can be good business. He<br />
also said Michigan’s natural on-shore<br />
and <strong>of</strong>fshore wind resources, along with<br />
its manufacturing capabilities, put it in<br />
a good position to become a renewable<br />
energy leader. He described himself as<br />
Michigan was once a leader<br />
in developing an alternative<br />
energy strategy, the state has<br />
fallen behind other states in<br />
terms <strong>of</strong> creating the policies<br />
needed to make the industry<br />
grow here as well as it should.<br />
“extremely optimistic” and Michigan as a<br />
place where “transformation is going on.”<br />
Randal Charlton, director <strong>of</strong> <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s<br />
TechTown technology business incubator, said<br />
Michigan can be a world leader in the business<br />
<strong>of</strong> combating global warming. But, he<br />
added that attitudes have to change and a new<br />
sense <strong>of</strong> urgency is needed. Unlike Europe,<br />
Charlton said, the U.S. treats fuels “in an abusive<br />
way” and does not do enough to promote<br />
conservation and alternative fuels. For that<br />
reason, he said, it is not enough for Michigan<br />
to make itself a leader among U.S. states when<br />
it comes to alternative fuels. He said Michigan<br />
needs to start comparing itself to places like<br />
Germany, Denmark and Sweden, where the<br />
commitment to environmentalism is deeper.<br />
Soji Adelaja, director <strong>of</strong> the Land Policy<br />
Institute at Michigan <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong>, said<br />
recognizing the importance <strong>of</strong> alternative fuels<br />
is part <strong>of</strong> recognizing that the world has<br />
changed and that Michigan is now part <strong>of</strong><br />
a “flat world” global economy. Michigan was<br />
a technology leader in the past, he said, and<br />
is in a good position to be one in the future<br />
– if we change the “Michigan mindset”<br />
and come to terms with new realities.<br />
A good way to show a change in mindset,<br />
Adelaja said, would be to adopt an RPS. He<br />
said RPS statutes are one big factor that separates<br />
states making big progress in alternative<br />
energy from those that are making less<br />
progress. He also said the state’s universities<br />
have a big role to play going forward,<br />
in educating the state about the need for<br />
sustainable power and helping to develop<br />
the technologies that will make it a reality.<br />
A second panel at the event featured<br />
representatives <strong>of</strong> Michigan’s traditional<br />
industries – autos, steel, glass – and representatives<br />
<strong>of</strong> the emerging energy industry, and<br />
how they’re coping with energy changes.<br />
Ray S. Siada, corporate energy manager<br />
at Guardian Industries Corp., the<br />
glassmaker that is a prodigious user <strong>of</strong><br />
energy, complained that Michigan lacks<br />
an aggressive state policy to promote<br />
energy efficiency. He also said Guardian<br />
invested in a wind farm to provide part<br />
<strong>of</strong> its power needs at a plant in India.<br />
Paul Savage, CEO <strong>of</strong> New York-based Nextek<br />
Power, which is manufacturing its distributed<br />
power generation accessories in Detroit,<br />
said he’d like to work more closely with<br />
the auto industry – since his “boxes” are<br />
virtually identical in function to the power<br />
control boxes in hybrid electric vehicles.<br />
Ronald P. Krupitzer, vice president for automotive<br />
applications at the American Iron<br />
and Steel Institute, pointed out that steel<br />
has a lower carbon footprint than producing<br />
aluminum, other metals or carbon fiber.<br />
Mary Beth Stanek, director <strong>of</strong> environment,<br />
energy and commercialization at the<br />
General Motors Corp. Public Policy Center,<br />
defended the auto industry against charges<br />
continued on page 39<br />
E<br />
A<br />
M<br />
C<br />
A<br />
21
FEATURE STORIES<br />
Understanding<br />
the effects <strong>of</strong> blasts<br />
on the brain<br />
Cynthia Bir and Pamela VandeVord; photo by Rick Bielacyzc<br />
It’s a scientific question driven by the hard<br />
realities <strong>of</strong> today’s global war on terror:<br />
What happens to the brain <strong>of</strong> someone<br />
who has been exposed to a blast<br />
The answer is likely<br />
to come not from the<br />
battle fields <strong>of</strong> Iraq<br />
and Afghanistan, but<br />
from research labs<br />
thousands <strong>of</strong> miles<br />
away – such as that<br />
<strong>of</strong> biomedical engineers<br />
Cynthia Bir and<br />
“The goal is to learn how the<br />
cells respond to different levels<br />
<strong>of</strong> blast injury. The researchers<br />
look at whether cell membranes<br />
Pamela VandeVord,<br />
PhDs. They are part <strong>of</strong><br />
a small but growing<br />
number <strong>of</strong> researchers<br />
studying the biological<br />
effects <strong>of</strong> blasts on the brain.<br />
With funding from the U.S. Department<br />
<strong>of</strong> Veteran Affairs (VA) and the Office <strong>of</strong><br />
Naval Research (ONR), the <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> team<br />
studies brain cells that have been exposed<br />
get damaged, for example, or at<br />
what point cells ultimately die.”<br />
to “overpressure” in a lab device called a<br />
barochamber. The investigators dial up or<br />
down the pressure and control its duration.<br />
“If there’s an explosion, there’s a shock<br />
wave,” says VandeVord.<br />
“But once it gets transmitted<br />
to your brain,<br />
it’s not a shock wave<br />
anymore. It’s a highspeed<br />
compression wave.<br />
We are generating that<br />
compression wave in the<br />
barochamber. It simulates<br />
what we believe<br />
occurs in the brain.”<br />
The goal is to learn<br />
how the cells respond<br />
to different levels <strong>of</strong><br />
blast injury. The researchers look at whether<br />
cell membranes get damaged, for example,<br />
or at what point cells ultimately die.<br />
While the VA study focuses on cells, the<br />
ONR project focuses on tissue. The find-<br />
22
ings from both will help create a complete<br />
picture <strong>of</strong> the biology <strong>of</strong> brain injury.<br />
The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury<br />
Center estimates that from 10 to 20 percent<br />
<strong>of</strong> troops serving in Iraq or Afghanistan have<br />
suffered some type <strong>of</strong> brain injury. Most <strong>of</strong><br />
the injuries are considered mild – but many<br />
<strong>of</strong> these cases will involve permanent cognitive<br />
and emotional problems that can tear<br />
apart the lives <strong>of</strong> veterans and their families.<br />
Much <strong>of</strong> the ONR-funded phase <strong>of</strong> <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong>’s work takes place in a large, open space<br />
equipped with a 22-foot-long metal shock<br />
tube. The back end <strong>of</strong> the device – the driver<br />
– forces a sudden burst <strong>of</strong> air down a long cylinder,<br />
simulating the pressure wave <strong>of</strong> an explosion.<br />
The researchers wear ear protectors<br />
and wait in a separate, Plexiglass-enclosed<br />
room when the blasts rip through the tube.<br />
Inside the shock tube is a lab rat or<br />
brain cells suspended in gelatin. The<br />
blasts range in size from 5 to 20 pounds<br />
per square inch (PSI) – small by comparison<br />
with typical roadside bombs. But<br />
the blasts are scaled down for testing on<br />
PhD candidate Alessandra Leonardi Dal Cengio<br />
checks the settings on the “shock tube” that<br />
the WSU research team is using to simulate the<br />
pressure wave caused by a bomb blast; photo<br />
by Lawrence Marchionda<br />
rodents. Depending on the duration<br />
<strong>of</strong> exposure, a lethal dose <strong>of</strong> overpressure<br />
for a rat would be around 35 PSI.<br />
“We’re trying only to induce mild brain<br />
injury,” says VandeVord. She says using<br />
animals is the only way scientists can<br />
learn what might be happening in human<br />
brains. ‘We’re at a critical point in the<br />
research, and we can’t practice on people.<br />
We have to go through these steps and<br />
optimize what we can before we can get<br />
approval to try something in humans.”<br />
Research may lead to<br />
therapies for combat zones<br />
Based on findings from both the VA and<br />
ONR-funded work, the WSU team will<br />
aim to design therapies that can be administered<br />
in the combat zone to troops<br />
– either before they go out on patrol as a<br />
preventative measure; or after a blast has<br />
occurred, to stem damage to the brain.<br />
According to VandeVord, in more<br />
severe injuries, brain cells die and the<br />
damage is more likely to be irreversible.<br />
In milder brain injuries – including<br />
many instances where soldiers or<br />
Marines are many feet away from the<br />
blast and suffer no visible wounds – cells<br />
may not die, but they become damaged.<br />
Says VandeVord: “A lot <strong>of</strong> the guys<br />
with mild TBI can recover in six months’<br />
time. What is the point where the cells<br />
will die, and what is the point where<br />
the cells can still repair themselves”<br />
Figuring out the relationship between<br />
the power and distance <strong>of</strong> a<br />
blast, and the exact effects on brain<br />
cells and tissue, is her focus right now.<br />
Studies include genetic<br />
component<br />
Some <strong>of</strong> the lab rats undergo post-blast<br />
brain scans using a rodent-sized MRI<br />
machine. Others undergo blood tests<br />
in which the scientists look for proteins<br />
released by injured cells that could be<br />
biomarkers <strong>of</strong> brain injury. This may lead<br />
to a blood test that military medical personnel<br />
could give to troops immediately<br />
after a blast to determine if they are physically<br />
okay, or if there is subtle damage.<br />
“We’re hoping this can translate to the<br />
soldiers,” says VandeVord. “If we find<br />
something that’s in the blood, it could<br />
enable doctors to do a quick test to see<br />
how much damage has occurred and<br />
then administer therapy accordingly.”<br />
The rats also undergo cognitive testing<br />
before and after the blasts. The researchers<br />
hope to correlate changes in memory to the<br />
level <strong>of</strong> blast exposure and to specific changes<br />
they are seeing in the rodents’ brains.<br />
“We use a maze,” explains Vande-<br />
Vord. “We do several training periods<br />
and we see how long it takes the rats to<br />
perform a task. Then we test them after<br />
the blast to see if it takes them longer.”<br />
Through the VA-funded cellular work and<br />
the ONR-funded animal studies, the WSU<br />
team also hopes to learn which genes get activated<br />
in brain injury. Figuring out a way to<br />
turn <strong>of</strong>f those genes with a drug could spell<br />
a breakthrough for the treatment <strong>of</strong> brain injury<br />
on the battle field and in field hospitals.<br />
“When the brain is exposed to overpressure<br />
from a blast, we believe there’s a cascade <strong>of</strong><br />
negative events that occurs, and this is set<br />
in motion by certain genes that get turned<br />
on,” says VandeVord. “If we can learn how<br />
to stop the expression <strong>of</strong> those genes with<br />
some type <strong>of</strong> pharmacologic agent, we<br />
can stop this cascade <strong>of</strong> events within the<br />
brain and possibly limit the damage.” ■<br />
This story appeared originally in the April-<br />
May 2008 edition <strong>of</strong> VA Research Currents.<br />
23
FEATURE STORIES<br />
Q A and with<br />
Dean Ralph<br />
Kummler<br />
The Alternative Energy Landscape:<br />
the state and direction <strong>of</strong> emerging<br />
non-fossil fuel technologies and<br />
what WSU is doing to find solutions<br />
Ralph Kummler was a steady presence at the<br />
college long before he assumed its leadership<br />
in 2001. A critical and creative thinker, his<br />
educational background in chemical engineering<br />
and experience in solid waste management<br />
and environmental engineering matters<br />
have given him a keen perspective on the issues<br />
<strong>of</strong> the economy and the environment.<br />
His particular experience has taken him on<br />
the path <strong>of</strong> leadership related to environmental<br />
matters and events. Former Gov. John Engler<br />
appointed Kummler in 1996 (he was reappointed<br />
in 1998 and 2001) to the Michigan<br />
Environmental Science Board. He is co-chair<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Cairo Conference on Energy and the<br />
Environment,which is now in its third decade<br />
and provides the forum for an international<br />
exchange <strong>of</strong> research and technology to reduce<br />
our dependence on fossil fuels. He was appointed<br />
by former President Irvin D. Reid to head <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong>’s Task Force on Environmental Initiatives,<br />
charged with examining and implementing ways<br />
to reduce the campus environmental footprint.<br />
The college, in many ways, is a footpath and a<br />
crossroad to the interchange <strong>of</strong> ideas and proposals<br />
that <strong>of</strong>ten end up in collaborative projects<br />
between the university and industry. In these<br />
times when the environment and economy are<br />
the critical issues <strong>of</strong> the day, new start-ups and<br />
young companies emerging in the alternative<br />
energy sector come to the college for collaborations.<br />
Perhaps Dr. Kummler’s best talent is<br />
encouraging faculty and industrial interactions.<br />
EXEMPLAR: Considering the current state<br />
<strong>of</strong> the economy, and our environmental<br />
challenges, what exactly is our task<br />
KUMMLER: Weaning the United <strong>State</strong>s<br />
<strong>of</strong>f <strong>of</strong> oil. The reason is two-fold: finding<br />
alternative energy sources would not only<br />
benefit the environment, but would boost<br />
the U.S. economy, keeping more American<br />
dollars in the country, rather than overseas.<br />
EXEMPLAR: However apparent the need<br />
for no-fossil energy is, the best alternatives to<br />
oil are much more difficult to decipher. How<br />
do you sort through all the options Where<br />
are we going with this It’s rather daunting<br />
to wrap your arms around. Let’s start<br />
with automotive, given that this sector is so<br />
important to the Michigan economy and<br />
its environmental impact is large. How do<br />
you see the challenge playing out here<br />
KUMMLER: The production <strong>of</strong> hybrid<br />
cars has grown tremendously. In 2010,<br />
we will see the second generation Ford<br />
Escape, the first hybrids from BMW and<br />
Mercedes, as well as improved hybrids<br />
from Ford, Honda, Chevrolet and Saturn.<br />
However, some <strong>of</strong> the biggest buzz is around<br />
the Chevrolet Volt, available in 2010.<br />
(The Volt is different from both regular hybrids<br />
and plug-in cars <strong>of</strong> the past. Unlike a regular<br />
hybrid, which runs on both an engine and<br />
a battery pack, the Volt operates entirely as<br />
an electric car for its first 40 miles after a full<br />
charge. It burns no gasoline during those miles,<br />
drawing energy from a 400-pound lithium-ion<br />
battery pack. Current from that pack powers<br />
an electric motor that drives the Volt’s front<br />
wheels. After the first 40 miles, the Volt’s flex-fuel<br />
engine kicks in, but only to power a generator<br />
that recharges the battery enough to give<br />
the car another 300 miles <strong>of</strong> range -- ed).<br />
The Volt can be practical for people with<br />
both long commutes and short commutes.<br />
Some people drive 5 or 10 miles to work. For<br />
them, the Volt may never have to use gasoline.<br />
Others may drive 20 or 30 miles and will<br />
have to use some combination <strong>of</strong> gasoline and<br />
plug-in overnight. The introduction <strong>of</strong> the Volt<br />
has an additional bonus for Michigan. The<br />
lithium-ion batteries used in the car will be<br />
manufactured in Michigan, providing many<br />
jobs to a state that desperately needs them.<br />
24
But despite the economic and considerable<br />
environmental benefits <strong>of</strong> the Volt and<br />
other plug-in vehicles, there is still a huge<br />
question about electric vehicles. Where do<br />
we get the energy from The U.S. is both<br />
blessed and cursed with the existence <strong>of</strong> the<br />
world’s largest coal resources, and so we<br />
can create whatever energy we need to run<br />
our transportation fleet in hybrids, plug-in<br />
hybrids or all-electric vehicles by using coal.<br />
But, do the economic benefits <strong>of</strong> coal outweigh<br />
the environmental risks While coal has<br />
become 70 percent cleaner since 1970, it still<br />
emits 30 percent more carbon per unit <strong>of</strong> energy<br />
than oil, and 80 percent more carbon than<br />
natural gas. Today’s coal plants are much cleaner<br />
than they used to be. But, again, society will<br />
need to evaluate whether cleaner than yesterday<br />
is good enough for today and tomorrow.<br />
EXEMPLAR: What about<br />
wind and solar power<br />
KUMMLER: Wind and solar are possible<br />
alternatives to coal, but alternatives not always<br />
viable in Michigan. We couldn’t go 100<br />
percent to wind because the wind doesn’t<br />
always blow. The same is true <strong>of</strong> solar energy. I<br />
think, yes, we should be installing some solar<br />
energy capacity. Yes, we should definitely be<br />
taking care <strong>of</strong> wind energy, but we need to<br />
be careful about going overboard in any <strong>of</strong><br />
those areas. But that doesn’t mean that they’re<br />
not really helpful to the overall approach.<br />
EXEMPLAR: What else is on your list<br />
KUMMLER: Hydrogen and compressed<br />
natural gas (CNG) are two fuel alternatives<br />
potentially viable for the United <strong>State</strong>s. CNG,<br />
made by compressing natural gas (mostly<br />
methane) to 1 percent <strong>of</strong> its regular volume,<br />
produces greenhouse gases, but is environmentally<br />
cleaner than gasoline or diesel<br />
and is much safer in the event <strong>of</strong> a spill. It is<br />
used extensively in many other parts <strong>of</strong> the<br />
world, and California uses it for local city and<br />
county fleets as well as public transportation.<br />
It’s viable, but because you don’t have the<br />
compressed gas station on every corner, like<br />
we have a gasoline station, it will be somewhat<br />
limited until we decide this is really a viable<br />
way to go. The same is true <strong>of</strong> hydrogen.<br />
However, hydrogen has found more popularity<br />
in the United <strong>State</strong>s, including several fueling<br />
stations in metro Detroit. Hydrogen might<br />
have a real positive effect on the economy.<br />
Normally, we’d say that if we change from<br />
a gasoline to a hydrogen economy, it would<br />
be too expensive. But that may not be true<br />
anymore. It would certainly be a good economic<br />
stimulus package to the country if<br />
we decided to convert. We’re not ready in<br />
terms <strong>of</strong> vehicles and the length and ability<br />
<strong>of</strong> fuel cells available. But I think those who<br />
say economically it will never happen are<br />
probably not having the proper vision yet.<br />
EXEMPLAR: Let’s turn to what <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> is doing. What is the college doing<br />
to address these issues <strong>of</strong> our time<br />
KUMMLER: The <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> is the premium university<br />
in the U.S. on diesel engine work.<br />
We’ve got a bank <strong>of</strong> 10 labs, we’re building<br />
five more in the <strong>Engineering</strong> Development<br />
Center, and those labs do cutting-edge<br />
research for the army, which <strong>of</strong> course<br />
moves its material using primarily diesel.<br />
Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced her 21st<br />
Century Jobs Initative Grant program from the<br />
college in 2006.<br />
Diesel, which has long had a reputation as<br />
a noisy and smoky fuel, is now considered<br />
a feasible oil alternative. Many <strong>of</strong> us at my<br />
age remember the old diesel engine era<br />
when you could smell and hear it. Diesel<br />
engines have dramatically improved, so<br />
in many cases, unless you knew ahead <strong>of</strong><br />
time, you wouldn’t know the difference<br />
between diesel and a gasoline engine.<br />
WSU is also home to the National Bi<strong>of</strong>uels<br />
Energy Lab (NBEL), a joint effort between<br />
mechanical engineers who do diesel engine<br />
research and chemical engineers who characterize<br />
the biodiesel fuels. This work is important,<br />
as one <strong>of</strong> the keys to making biodiesel<br />
viable is standardizing the biodiesel fuels<br />
and making sure that they are consistent.<br />
Our chemical engineering faculty is trying<br />
to do that standardization and characterization.<br />
After they’ve done that, they give it to<br />
the mechanical engineers who run it in our<br />
diesel engines and test it and characterize it<br />
in terms <strong>of</strong> the power, fuel efficiency and its<br />
environmental emissions. So between the two,<br />
they’re trying to make a quantum jump toward<br />
the commercial viability <strong>of</strong> the biodiesel<br />
fuels. Auto companies are happy with B5, but<br />
NBEL has attained an ASTM standard for B20.<br />
EXEMPLAR: There are so many options<br />
and different ways to go. Do<br />
you see any pattern to all <strong>of</strong> this<br />
KUMMLER: The next issue is where are we<br />
moving in terms <strong>of</strong> possible long-range solutions<br />
Is it the hybrid, the plug-in hybrid, the<br />
all electric vehicle, the fuel cell vehicle, hydrogen,<br />
compressed gas I think the answer<br />
is not one <strong>of</strong> these options, but all <strong>of</strong> these<br />
options. Each one is a piece <strong>of</strong> the alternative<br />
energy puzzle. Every piece, whether<br />
it’s 1 or 5 percent, will be in commercial<br />
application and will help us in the next five<br />
years. Every percentage represents a large<br />
amount <strong>of</strong> money that we don’t send overseas.<br />
Sending money overseas prevents us<br />
from competing for existing oil supplies. ■<br />
25
FEATURE STORIES<br />
Undergraduate<br />
writes code for<br />
NASA robotics<br />
camera<br />
By Amy Oprean,<br />
WSU Graduate Research Information Officer<br />
Though her sights are set on a career in the<br />
aerospace industry, third-year mechanical<br />
engineering major Kelly Foster’s undergraduate<br />
research at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> has already proven to<br />
be an asset to a NASA-funded research project<br />
in the college.<br />
As a student assistant in the Computer Assisted<br />
Robot Enhanced Systems (CARES) group<br />
under the supervision <strong>of</strong> Abhilash Pandya, PhD,<br />
assistant pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> Electrical and Computer<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> (ECE), and Keshav Chintamani, an<br />
ECE graduate research assistant, Foster was part<br />
<strong>of</strong> a team developing camera features aimed<br />
at improving astronauts’ ability to operate the<br />
remote-controlled robots that build and repair<br />
facilities on the International Space Station.<br />
“It was the first time I had done research, in<br />
any respect,” says Foster, who presented her<br />
project at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s fifth annual Undergraduate<br />
Research Conference in November.<br />
“And being a project that was contributing to<br />
this bigger aspiration for NASA made it very<br />
interesting.”<br />
photo by Alonso delArte<br />
NASA uses robotic systems to build and<br />
maintain the facilities on the space station.<br />
Too dangerous for astronauts to complete<br />
themselves, the labor is performed using<br />
robots, which the astronaut controls with<br />
a joystick inside the station. In order to<br />
see their work area, operators previously<br />
depended on several static cameras positioned<br />
around the site. Using cameras with<br />
two-dimensional camera views to navigate a<br />
three-dimensional work area, however, can<br />
skew the robot operator’s perception <strong>of</strong> his<br />
work space, potentially causing errors.<br />
To amend the problem, pan/tilt/zoom cameras<br />
– which give operators a broader, more<br />
dynamic view – were recently integrated<br />
with static cameras at work sites. The WSU<br />
CARES group is developing several additions<br />
that could make the cameras even more<br />
user-friendly. The first is “augmented reality,”<br />
which is projecting a three-dimensional view<br />
<strong>of</strong> the robot arm on the two-dimensional<br />
viewing screen, complete with trajectory information<br />
and the overlaying <strong>of</strong> coordinates<br />
<strong>of</strong> the robot arm’s position in space.<br />
Another feature being developed enables<br />
the camera to automatically follow the robot<br />
arm as it moves, a task that is currently accomplished<br />
by astronauts manually adjusting<br />
their cameras. The goal <strong>of</strong> both features is<br />
to increase the robot operator’s speed and<br />
efficiency, and avoid possible errors while<br />
performing a mission.<br />
“One <strong>of</strong> the examples we use in the training<br />
program is grabbing a satellite without<br />
damaging or sending it <strong>of</strong>f, because even<br />
lightly bumping a satellite in space will send<br />
it traveling away indefinitely due to the lack<br />
<strong>of</strong> gravity,” Foster says.<br />
Upon joining the project out <strong>of</strong> an interest<br />
in robotics, Foster was given the job <strong>of</strong><br />
creating the code that enables the camera to<br />
follow the movement <strong>of</strong> the robot arm – no<br />
small feat for someone who had never used<br />
Visual C++, the programming language <strong>of</strong><br />
the code. Used mostly by computer programmers<br />
and electrical engineers, C++ is<br />
Kelly Foster; photo by Rick Bielacyzc<br />
not traditionally taught to mechanical engineering<br />
undergraduates. Despite her unfamiliarity<br />
with it, Foster learned the language and<br />
used it to write the code in only four months.<br />
“They pretty much just threw me in and said,<br />
‘Try it, and if you have any questions, ask us.’<br />
It was actually a really good way to learn a<br />
programming language.”<br />
The next step <strong>of</strong> Foster’s research with<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Pandya will be testing whether the<br />
pan/tilt/zoom camera actually increases the<br />
robot operator’s speed and efficiency when<br />
performing a task, when compared to operators<br />
using only static cameras.<br />
Foster’s ultimate goal is to obtain a career<br />
in aerospace design, a field that she began<br />
exploring last summer with an internship at<br />
Cessna Aircraft Company, where she worked<br />
on the design aspects <strong>of</strong> revamping a jet. Her<br />
experience in code writing will help her in<br />
any job along the way that involves designing<br />
and testing components.<br />
26
“Learning C++ is something I never<br />
would’ve had a chance to learn, especially<br />
with the type <strong>of</strong> supervision and mentoring<br />
that I had with Dr. Pandya’s lab,” she says.<br />
“And the fact that I was able to develop<br />
something using this code really adds to<br />
what I can <strong>of</strong>fer in future jobs.”<br />
Pandya says that not only will Foster’s<br />
use <strong>of</strong> C++ make her stand out to potential<br />
employers, but her involvement with CARES<br />
also gives her an edge.<br />
“She has taken advantage <strong>of</strong> the fact<br />
that <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> is a research facility by<br />
proactively immersing herself in a research<br />
laboratory,” says Pandya. “The knowledge<br />
and experience <strong>of</strong> doing research projects,<br />
presenting them, preparing reports, working<br />
with peers/pr<strong>of</strong>essors and struggling<br />
through technical challenges is invaluable<br />
and will give her an advantage in today’s job<br />
environment. I encourage more undergrads<br />
to follow suit.” ■<br />
Amy Oprean graduated in 2008 with<br />
a bachelor’s degree in journalism from<br />
Michigan <strong>State</strong>, where she was a reporter for<br />
The <strong>State</strong> News, MSU’s independent student<br />
newspaper. She has also contributed to<br />
venuszine.com and Real Detroit Weekly.<br />
Green story continued<br />
from page 23<br />
<strong>of</strong> foot-dragging on environmental<br />
advances, saying GM now has a large<br />
demonstration project <strong>of</strong> hydrogen<br />
vehicles in the field. She also said<br />
there are other factors behind ethanol<br />
production in recent food price<br />
inflation, including poor harvests in<br />
some parts <strong>of</strong> an increasingly food-interdependent<br />
world, and a weak dollar.<br />
Aaron Crumm, co-founder <strong>of</strong> Ann Arbor<br />
fuel cell maker Adaptive Materials,<br />
pointed out that he’s helping run the<br />
largest fuel cell company in Michigan,<br />
with 57 employees making solid oxide<br />
fuel cells that run on commonly available<br />
fuels like propane. They’re intended<br />
as higher-powered, longer-lasting<br />
replacements for batteries in high-end<br />
applications like the military. ■<br />
*On Sept. 18, 2008, Michigan legislators<br />
passed the state’s first Renewable Portfolio<br />
Standard (RPS). The legislation mandates<br />
10 percent <strong>of</strong> the electricity the two providers<br />
sell to Michigan retails customers be<br />
generated from renewable or advanced<br />
cleaner-energy sources by the end <strong>of</strong> 2015.<br />
Also at the event, Version 2.0 <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Michigan Alternative Energy Directory<br />
was released, compiled by the staff<br />
<strong>of</strong> WWJ Newsradio 950 to demonstrate<br />
the extensive resources and capabilities<br />
<strong>of</strong> Michigan’s alternative energy industry.<br />
To find it, go to: http://www.wwj.com/<br />
Embracing-A-Green-Michigan/2042402.<br />
—Editor<br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> WSU<br />
Participants:<br />
Simon Ng,<br />
director,<br />
AET degree program<br />
Carol Miller,<br />
chair,<br />
civil and environmental<br />
engineering<br />
Greg Auner,<br />
director,<br />
SSIM program<br />
Caisheng Wang,<br />
assistant pr<strong>of</strong>essor,<br />
engineering technology<br />
Ralph Kummler,<br />
dean,<br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
27
FEATURE STORIES<br />
direct<br />
IMPACT<br />
Celebrating 70 Years <strong>of</strong> Bioengineering at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s<br />
bioengineering<br />
department is an<br />
internationally<br />
known hub<br />
for automotive<br />
research. But it’s<br />
also making a name<br />
for itself in other<br />
areas, including<br />
blast injuries and<br />
sport science.<br />
by Leslie Mertz<br />
photos by Carol Gould<br />
“The Biomedical <strong>Engineering</strong> Department<br />
has touched the daily lives <strong>of</strong> every single<br />
person who drives.” says King Yang, pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
in the Biomedical <strong>Engineering</strong> Department<br />
and the director <strong>of</strong> the Bioengineering Center.<br />
It is a bold statement, but every word<br />
is true. Standards developed through<br />
work performed by <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s biomedical<br />
engineers have been used<br />
for decades to make our lives safer.<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> began this research with carsafety<br />
testing in 1939, when Bonnie and-<br />
Clyde-style cars rumbled along U.S. roads.<br />
Now, nearly 70 years later, department researchers<br />
continue to perform car-safety testing,<br />
along with research in many other areas,<br />
including blast injuries and sport science.<br />
“The one area for which <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
is the most famous comes from its location<br />
in Detroit, the Motor City,” Yang<br />
says. “We are really the very first university<br />
in the United <strong>State</strong>s and also in the<br />
world to study automotive crash-related<br />
injury using modern-day technology.”<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s place in automotive history<br />
can be traced most notably to late pr<strong>of</strong>essors<br />
Herbert Lissner and Lawrence Patrick<br />
and the so-called <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> Tolerance<br />
Curve, which used data collected for about<br />
three decades — in part through tests on<br />
cadavers — to determine the amount <strong>of</strong><br />
force required to cause head injuries in<br />
a car crash. A major paper published in<br />
1960 summarized the findings, and that<br />
in turn led to the development <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Head Injury Criterion that is used today<br />
to design safe cars around the world.<br />
In the 1970s, <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> researchers<br />
examined the safety <strong>of</strong> laminated and tempered<br />
side windows for cars and found that<br />
laminated windows were more dangerous<br />
than tempered glass. Because <strong>of</strong> that, car<br />
windows are made <strong>of</strong> tempered glass, and<br />
chances are, your house windows are, too.<br />
The department’s researchers also<br />
had a hand in the familiar threepoint,<br />
shoulder-and-lap seat belt.<br />
“The three-point belt was originally<br />
developed in the 1950s at Volvo,” Yang<br />
says. “They thought it was a good idea,<br />
but they didn’t know if it was actually<br />
good or not. So, they sent the invention<br />
over to <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> for testing, and we<br />
tested it and collected the data saying<br />
that it was a very good design. Nowadays,<br />
all cars have a three-point belt.”<br />
Today, the Biomedical <strong>Engineering</strong> Department,<br />
led by department chair Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
Albert I. King, remains an internationally<br />
known hub for automotive-safety research,<br />
and has a reputation for research on developing<br />
better athletic safety equipment.<br />
“Biomedical engineering is a combination<br />
<strong>of</strong> biological sciences and engineering,<br />
so we’re trying to look at different ways<br />
<strong>of</strong> treating or preventing injuries to the<br />
28
ody through engineering analysis,” says<br />
Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Pamela VandeVord.<br />
Currently in the department, work<br />
ranges from the effects <strong>of</strong> explosive blasts<br />
to developing a computerized model <strong>of</strong> the<br />
human body its designers believe will one<br />
day take the place <strong>of</strong> the presently used crash<br />
dummies. The department also is adding<br />
an imaging concentration that is tapping<br />
magnetic resonance (MRI) and computerized<br />
tomography (CT) scans to observe how<br />
traumatic injury causes blood-flow and<br />
changes in different areas <strong>of</strong> the body.<br />
As an exclamation point to the department’s<br />
many accomplishments, one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
department’s researchers is even creating a<br />
buzz as the engineering expert for an Emmy<br />
award-winning sports television program.<br />
King Yang, pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> biomedical engineering<br />
and director <strong>of</strong> the Bioengineering<br />
Center: “We are the first university in<br />
the United <strong>State</strong>s and also in the world<br />
to study automotive crash-related injury<br />
using modern-day technology.”<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> for ‘dummies’<br />
1939 — <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> engineers start to do<br />
tests on cadavers to learn how much force<br />
the body can sustain before injuries occur.<br />
1960s — <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> engineers publish<br />
data related to impact response and tolerance<br />
for different body regions based on<br />
tests on cadavers. That data, in turn, are<br />
used to develop crash-test dummies to<br />
estimate the risk <strong>of</strong> human injury from an<br />
automobile crash or other severe force.<br />
1972 — GM engineer and <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> graduate Dr. Herald Mertz introduces<br />
a frontal-impact crash dummy<br />
that quickly becomes the gold standard<br />
for automotive crash-related testing.<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s car-safety testing<br />
Now, fast-forward to 2008. Although dates back to 1939, and has included<br />
crash-test studies have continued, and crash tests using cadavers.<br />
updated data are available, the same<br />
1972 model <strong>of</strong> the crash dummy is still<br />
used for automobile-safety testing.<br />
“Over the years, the whole paradigm <strong>of</strong><br />
automotive safety was to do cadaver tests,<br />
then use the biomechanical data gathered<br />
from cadavers to design crash dummies,<br />
and then use the crash dummies to<br />
design cars,” says King Yang, pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong><br />
biomedical engineering and director <strong>of</strong><br />
the university’s Bioengineering Center.<br />
“When you still have crash-related injuries,<br />
you go back to the biomechanical<br />
data to design a better crash dummy.<br />
“The reality, however, is that the dummy<br />
hasn’t changed. The currently used frontalimpact<br />
dummy was designed in 1972, and Lawrence M. Patrick, a research pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
we are still using it 36 years later. In that at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> from 1958 to 1976,<br />
36 years, you can imagine there are a lot <strong>of</strong> volunteered to ride the crash sled for<br />
data that have been generated, but unfortunately<br />
they are not put into the dummy.”<br />
the sake <strong>of</strong> scientific advancement.<br />
In other words, Yang explains, “If a<br />
dummy is not designed properly, then<br />
you could design a whole bunch <strong>of</strong><br />
photos from the WSU Walter Reuther<br />
cars that are really safe for this dummy and <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> archives<br />
but not very safe for a human.”<br />
29
FACULTY BRIEFS<br />
Yinlun Huang, pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
<strong>of</strong> chemical engineering,<br />
was co-chair <strong>of</strong><br />
an international chemical<br />
engineering sustainability<br />
forum held Sept.<br />
25--28 at South China<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Technology<br />
in Guangzhao,<br />
China. The forum, the<br />
first <strong>of</strong> its kind in Asia, attracted more than<br />
400 researchers, scientists and practitioners<br />
from throughout the world to discuss the<br />
advancement <strong>of</strong> product and process engineering<br />
through the effective integration <strong>of</strong><br />
sustainability. Charles Manke, chair <strong>of</strong> the<br />
WSU Department <strong>of</strong> Chemical <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
and Materials Science, spoke on how to promote<br />
PhD research in a session co-chaired by<br />
WSU PhD student Christina Piluso. The<br />
event provided a unique forum for sustainability<br />
experts to assess and critique the<br />
current status and direction <strong>of</strong> research and<br />
development in designing and manufacturing<br />
green chemical products and materials<br />
using green processes and technologies.<br />
The WSU Alumni Association has honored<br />
Greg Auner, pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> electrical<br />
and computer engineering, with its Faculty<br />
Service Award. The award is presented to<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> faculty whose pr<strong>of</strong>essional or<br />
civic efforts have brought about a greater<br />
appreciation <strong>of</strong> the university’s contributions<br />
to community service. In 2007, Auner,<br />
director <strong>of</strong> the Smart Sensors and Integrated<br />
Microsystems (SSIM) lab, was named an<br />
“Everyday Hero” by the RARE Foundation.<br />
SSIM projects are finding solutions to critical,<br />
real-world problems such as delicate fetal<br />
and infant surgeries, early diagnosis and<br />
treatment <strong>of</strong> diseases such as Parkinson’s,<br />
and auditory and visual implants to restore<br />
failing eyesight and hearing loss to people<br />
with hearing and visual impairments.<br />
Congratulations to the 10 engineering<br />
faculty and 8 staff members who were<br />
recognized for their years <strong>of</strong> service to the<br />
university at the 2008 Employee Recognition<br />
Program: Albert King, chair <strong>of</strong> biomedical<br />
engineering, for 50 years <strong>of</strong> service; Karen<br />
McKissick, personnel <strong>of</strong>ficer, for 30 years<br />
<strong>of</strong> service; Eugene Snowden, instrument<br />
design leader (30); Josephine Zito-Zasuwa,<br />
administrative assistant for Academic Affairs<br />
(30); Feng Lin, pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> electrical and<br />
computer engineering, for 20 years <strong>of</strong> service;<br />
Marvin Santure, instrument designer<br />
(20); Gary Wasserman, associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
<strong>of</strong> industrial and manufacturing engineering<br />
(20); Sean Wu, distinguished pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
<strong>of</strong> mechanical engineering (20); Angela<br />
Childrey, budget analyst, for 15 years <strong>of</strong><br />
service; Yinlun Huang, associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
<strong>of</strong> chemical and materials science engineering<br />
(15); Gina Shreve, associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong><br />
chemical and materials science (15); Mukaa<br />
Ssemakula, associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> engineering<br />
technology (15); Ece Yaprak, pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
<strong>of</strong> engineering technology, (15) Ivan<br />
Avrutsky, assistant pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> electric<br />
and computer engineering, for 10 years<br />
<strong>of</strong> service; Timothy Jones, multimedia<br />
specialist (10); Michelle Pickett, secretary<br />
for the associate dean <strong>of</strong> students (10); Barbara<br />
Richardson, budget analyst (10);<br />
and Hwai-Chung Wu, associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
<strong>of</strong> civil and environmental engineering (10).<br />
Olena Palyvoda, SSIM researcher, was<br />
recognized by the 2008 Nikon Small<br />
World Photomicrography Competition<br />
for her fluorescence image captured on<br />
a microscope. Her image <strong>of</strong> “rat embryo<br />
cortical neuronal network on nano-layered<br />
self assembled mono-layers” was selected<br />
for an Image <strong>of</strong> Distinction Award.<br />
Warren Hardy,<br />
researcher and<br />
instructor in biomedical<br />
engineering, was<br />
the winner <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Best Paper Award at<br />
both the 2007 and<br />
2008 Stapp Car Crash<br />
Conference. The Conference<br />
is the most<br />
prestigious conference<br />
dealing with automotive-related<br />
injuries. Hardy is now an associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
at the Mechanical <strong>Engineering</strong> Center for<br />
Biomechanics at Virginia Tech <strong>University</strong>.<br />
photo by Rick Bielacyzc<br />
Greg Auner<br />
Olena Palyvoda<br />
Albert King (right) with Tsinghua Vice President<br />
Wang Jinsong.<br />
30
Simon Ng, pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
<strong>of</strong> chemical<br />
engineering and director<br />
<strong>of</strong> the National<br />
Bi<strong>of</strong>uels Energy Lab,<br />
has been named by<br />
former WSU President<br />
Irvin D. Reid a Gershenson<br />
Distinguished<br />
Faculty Fellow.<br />
Albert King, distinguished pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
and chair <strong>of</strong> the Department <strong>of</strong> Biomedical<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong>, was named Honorary Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
at Tsinghua <strong>University</strong> in China. Tsinghua<br />
Vice President Wang Jinsong presented the<br />
letter <strong>of</strong> appointment to Pr<strong>of</strong>essor King.<br />
Founded in 1911, Tsinghua <strong>University</strong> – one<br />
<strong>of</strong> China’s most famous universities – is<br />
closely linked to China’s development and<br />
is a major contributor to classic and modern<br />
knowledge in the sciences and humanities.<br />
Tsinghua is particularly interested in<br />
automotive safety and impact injury because<br />
<strong>of</strong> the high traffic fatality rate in China.<br />
King, 73, has served <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
now for more than 50 years, starting<br />
at the WSU Bioengineering Research<br />
Center. <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> recognized his many<br />
years <strong>of</strong> service to the university at the<br />
Employee Recognition Program on April 18.<br />
Dean Ralph Kummler made the keynote<br />
address on “The Future <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>”<br />
to the Michigan Society <strong>of</strong> Pr<strong>of</strong>essional Engineers<br />
(MSPE) annual conference June 5--8 in<br />
Chantelle Hughes and Olena Palyvoda<br />
Thompsonville. Kummler argued that in order<br />
for human development to be sustainable,<br />
it must look to alternative solutions. Also<br />
participating at this year’s Building a Better<br />
Engineer conference was Mumtaz Usmen,<br />
associate engineering dean <strong>of</strong> research, who<br />
led a seminar on “Ethics in <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Construction: The Global Perspective.”<br />
Harpreet Singh,<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> electrical<br />
and computer<br />
engineering, has<br />
been named editorin-chief<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Journal<br />
in Computer <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
and Electronics.<br />
Associate Dean Mumtaz Usmen was honored<br />
with the highest <strong>Engineering</strong> Society<br />
<strong>of</strong> Detroit (ESD) award, the Gold Award, at<br />
the 37th Annual ESD affiliate council Gold<br />
Award Banquet.<br />
The Gold Award<br />
is presented annually<br />
to distinguished<br />
individuals who<br />
demonstrate outstanding<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />
achievement and<br />
community service.<br />
Usmen was the<br />
chairman <strong>of</strong> the WSU Department <strong>of</strong> Civil<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> for 18 years until his appointment<br />
in 2007 as the college’s associate<br />
dean <strong>of</strong> research. During his leadership,<br />
the department was actively involved<br />
in civil engineering projects throughout<br />
the region as well as in developing wellqualified<br />
civil engineers. He is an active<br />
researcher in his specialty <strong>of</strong> construction<br />
engineering and management with a focus<br />
on site safety, quality, ethics leadership,<br />
and organizational movement. Usmen<br />
has received numerous academic awards<br />
for university teaching excellence such as<br />
Michigan Society <strong>of</strong> Pr<strong>of</strong>essional Engineer’s<br />
Outstanding <strong>Engineering</strong> in Education<br />
and Engineer <strong>of</strong> the Year awards, and ESD’s<br />
Outstanding Council/Committee Leadership<br />
and Distinguished Service Awards.<br />
Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems<br />
(SSIM) research staff members Olena Palyvoda<br />
and Chantelle Hughes each received<br />
2008 Women <strong>of</strong> <strong>Wayne</strong> Awards. The awards,<br />
which include a $1,000 research grant, are<br />
an attempt by the Women <strong>of</strong> <strong>Wayne</strong> association<br />
to expand women’s opportunities for<br />
education and to recognize <strong>Wayne</strong> women<br />
for their contributions to society. In 2007,<br />
SSIM staff members Barbara House and<br />
Michelle Bruscatori received the same award.<br />
Nabil Sarhan, assistant pr<strong>of</strong>essor,<br />
electrical and computer engineering,<br />
received the 2008 Outstanding Pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Year Award from the Institute<br />
<strong>of</strong> Electrical and Electronics Engineers<br />
(IEEE), Southeastern Michigan Section, for<br />
his many accomplishments in multimedia<br />
computing and networking research<br />
and university teaching pr<strong>of</strong>ession.<br />
Nabil Sarhan<br />
Jeffrey Pot<strong>of</strong>f, assistant pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
<strong>of</strong> chemical engineering, received<br />
the <strong>Engineering</strong> Society <strong>of</strong> Detroit’s<br />
Chemical Engineer <strong>of</strong> the Year Award<br />
at the 37 th Annual ESD affiliate council<br />
Gold Award Banquet in 2008.<br />
31
FACULTY BRIEFS<br />
photo by Rick Bielacyzc<br />
SSIM program coordinator<br />
earns entrepreneur award<br />
Katherine Abramczyk made the segue<br />
from a fine arts major at the <strong>College</strong><br />
for Creative Studies to a vice president<br />
at Visca L.L.C., a nanotechnology<br />
and microtechnology firm.<br />
Late in 2000, Abramczyk, who was trying<br />
to figure out how to make a living from her<br />
artistic talents, was told by a friend there<br />
was a temporary job available at <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong>'s <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>, assisting an<br />
associate dean. She started in January 2001.<br />
“I thought it was going to be two weeks.”<br />
Going on eight years later, she’s still<br />
in the department, and for more than<br />
six years she has been coordinator <strong>of</strong><br />
the school’s program for Smart Sensors<br />
and Integrated Microsystems (SSIM).<br />
Funded by a large number <strong>of</strong> big federal<br />
grants, the program involves tiny but<br />
powerful sensors with applications that<br />
range from deep space aboard NASA<br />
satellites to inside the human body<br />
(cochlear implants to help the deaf hear<br />
and retinal implants to help the blind see).<br />
Visca<br />
L.L.C. was<br />
formed in<br />
2004 by Greg<br />
Auner, SSIM<br />
director,<br />
and c<strong>of</strong>ounded<br />
with<br />
Abramczyk.<br />
Its purpose<br />
is to help<br />
bridge the<br />
gap between<br />
university<br />
research<br />
and industry needs, finding realworld<br />
applications for its sensors and<br />
microsystems. It develops, markets and<br />
licenses technology in a wide range <strong>of</strong><br />
markets, including biomedical, homeland<br />
security, defense, automotive and<br />
aerospace. The company’s business<br />
headquarters is in Troy while lab<br />
space remains in TechTown.<br />
Abramczyk, 32, who currently is in the<br />
MBA program at WSU, has an equity<br />
stake in Visca. As vice president <strong>of</strong><br />
administration, she oversees important<br />
parts <strong>of</strong> the business, such as grant<br />
applications, Small Business Innovative<br />
Research grants from the U.S. Small<br />
Business Administration, industry<br />
liaisons, invoices and billing. She<br />
leads marketing efforts, has headed<br />
lab and <strong>of</strong>fice space design and is<br />
responsible for contractual oversight.<br />
The company has 13 full- and parttime<br />
employees. It has generated about<br />
$660,000 in revenue in the first nine<br />
months and $2 million to date.<br />
Abramczyk has blended her vocation<br />
with her avocation. A microscopic<br />
cross-section <strong>of</strong> a retina, for example,<br />
which she found “absolutely beautiful,”<br />
provided inspiration for a painting<br />
she titled, Eye Candy, which was<br />
accepted into a juried art show.<br />
“I’ve found that the creativity that<br />
goes into the scientific process is<br />
very much the same as what goes<br />
into art. You start with an idea<br />
and work through it,” she says.<br />
This story by Tom Henderson was reprinted<br />
with permission from Crain’s Detroit Business<br />
Yinlun Huang in<br />
Europe on Fulbright<br />
Yinlun Huang, pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> chemical<br />
engineering, is working with<br />
various European universities for six<br />
months in the area <strong>of</strong> sustainable engineering<br />
on a Fulbright Scholarship.<br />
He is lecturing and conducting research<br />
mainly at the Technical <strong>University</strong> Berlin<br />
where he is teaching an intensive onemonth<br />
course. “I will not teach a whole<br />
semester because I have to travel,” he says.<br />
Huang will also lecture at the<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
Achen, Germany,<br />
the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
Manchester in the<br />
United Kingdom,<br />
and the Technical<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
Denmark. Huang<br />
will also visit BASF<br />
company headquarters<br />
in Ludwigshafen,<br />
Germany.<br />
Huang’s uses<br />
the principles <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>itable pollution<br />
prevention to minimize waste, the<br />
use <strong>of</strong> raw materials, local energy and<br />
exchange waste in the manufacturing<br />
process. His work is supported by<br />
the National Science Foundation.<br />
Huang is abroad with his wife Jianning<br />
Wu. Their 19-year-old daughter is currently<br />
studying English in London. Their<br />
23-year-old son, a MIT engineering<br />
graduate, remains in the United <strong>State</strong>s.<br />
At the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Berlin, Huang<br />
is collaborating with Günter Wozny,<br />
one <strong>of</strong> Germany’s leading sustainability<br />
engineers, and his team. ■<br />
32
NEW FACULTY<br />
Amar Basu, Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor,<br />
Electrical and Computer <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
Amar Basu joined the<br />
ECE faculty after receiving<br />
a PhD in electrical<br />
engineering-circuits and<br />
microsystems from the<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Michigan<br />
in August 2008. He also<br />
has a master’s degree in<br />
biomedical engineeringbiotechnology,<br />
a master’s degree in electrical<br />
engineering, and a bachelor’s degree in<br />
electrical engineering, all from the <strong>University</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> Michigan. Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Basu’s<br />
primary research interests are MEMS and<br />
integrated microsystems for applications<br />
in biology and nanotechnology. Specific<br />
interests include high-throughput analytical<br />
systems for cellular and biomolecular<br />
analysis, droplet-based micr<strong>of</strong>luidics, surface<br />
tension-based fluidic actuation using<br />
the Marangoni effect, microprobes for cell<br />
stimulation and sensing, scanning thermal<br />
microscopy (SThM) and microcalorimetry,<br />
and maskless nanolithography with scanning<br />
probes.<br />
Mark Ming-Cheng Cheng,<br />
Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor, Electrical and<br />
Computer <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
Mark Ming-Cheng<br />
Cheng joined the ECE<br />
faculty in 2008. He<br />
was a research assistant<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essor at the Brown<br />
Institute <strong>of</strong> Molecular<br />
Medicine and Biomedical<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong>, the<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Texas<br />
Health Science Center at Houston, TX. He<br />
received a bachelor’s degree and a PhD in<br />
electrical engineering from National Tsing-<br />
Hua <strong>University</strong> in Taiwan. He was a joint<br />
postdoctoral researcher between National<br />
Cancer Institute and the Comprehensive<br />
Cancer Center at Ohio <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
from 2003 to 2006, working on biomedical<br />
nanotechnologies for early detection <strong>of</strong><br />
cancer and treatment. From 2001 to 2003,<br />
he was a Physics Department researcher at<br />
Georgetown <strong>University</strong> to develop novel<br />
bandages for real-time glucose monitoring<br />
for American soldiers. Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
Cheng’s research interests include biomedical<br />
microdevices, integrated microsystems,<br />
lab-on chip, controlled drug delivery<br />
systems, nanobiotechnology, nan<strong>of</strong>ludics,<br />
BioMEMS, micro/nan<strong>of</strong>abrication and biosensors.<br />
Marcis Jansons, Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor,<br />
Mechanical <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
Marcis Jansons has<br />
most recently worked<br />
at the WSU Center for<br />
Automotive Research as<br />
a postdoctoral research<br />
fellow and as a lecturer<br />
at the U.S. Coast Guard<br />
Academy. He received<br />
a bachelor’s degree in<br />
mechanical engineering, aerospace option,<br />
from Rutgers <strong>University</strong> in 1990, a master’s<br />
degree in mechanical engineering from the<br />
New Jersey Institute <strong>of</strong> Technology in 1992,<br />
and a PhD in mechanical engineering from<br />
Rutgers <strong>University</strong> in 2005. Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
Jansons is performing engine research<br />
in the Center for Low Combustion group at<br />
WSU as well as teaching graduate courses in<br />
internal combustion engines and emissions,<br />
and serving as the student SAE chapter<br />
advisor. With his research, Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
Jansons hopes to explore fundamental<br />
questions regarding auto-ignition, kinetics<br />
and combustion, as applied to practical<br />
combustion systems.<br />
Shawn McElmurry, Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor,<br />
Civil and Environmental <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
Shawn McElmurry, who<br />
joined the department<br />
in fall 2008, received<br />
both his PhD (2008)<br />
and his master’s degree<br />
(2002) in environmental<br />
engineering from<br />
Michigan <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
where he was a graduate teaching<br />
and research assistant. Assistant Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
McElmurry earned his bachelor’s degree<br />
in chemistry with a minor in biology from<br />
Central Michigan <strong>University</strong> (1998). His<br />
research interest is assessing how geochemical<br />
processes within surface water systems<br />
are altered by anthropogenic influences in<br />
an effort to address fundamental gaps in<br />
the understanding <strong>of</strong> aquatic chemistry. His<br />
work continues to shed light on this area <strong>of</strong><br />
aquatic chemistry that holds the key to sustainable<br />
water practices. He is examining the<br />
mechanisms responsible for dissolved organic<br />
carbon (DOC)-pollutant interactions, as<br />
well as DOC formation and transformation.<br />
33
STUDENT SECTION<br />
Polishing the Bent<br />
Each semester, new initiates to the<br />
Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society<br />
can be found gathered outside<br />
<strong>of</strong> the engineering building, cleaning<br />
and polishing a small brass sculpture.<br />
The cleaning <strong>of</strong> the Bent, as the sculpture<br />
is called, is part <strong>of</strong> the Tau Beta Pi<br />
initiation process. Initiates are given<br />
a smaller version <strong>of</strong> the Bent to polish<br />
individually before they come together<br />
to work on the large Bent.<br />
This academic year, however, the society<br />
met with an obstacle. The Bent happened<br />
to be blocked by a construction<br />
fence for the Marvin I. Danto <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Development Center. The construction<br />
company, however, realized the<br />
value <strong>of</strong> the Tau Beta Pi tradition and<br />
allowed the students access to the construction<br />
site for one day in October.<br />
With the weather cooperating, the<br />
students washed the Bent with Brillo<br />
pads and polished it with Brasso. “The<br />
Brasso is what really makes it shine,”<br />
said Vanda Ametlli, an industrial and<br />
manufacturing engineering student.<br />
Vanda Ametlli<br />
In addition to the cleaning, Tau Beta Pi<br />
initiates perform several other tasks such as<br />
tutoring, community service, and gathering<br />
canned food and clothes. Elias Taxakis, vicepresident<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Tau Beta Pi Michigan Epsilon<br />
Chapter, said the society hopes to better<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong> through these volunteer<br />
efforts and “washing the good Bent outside<br />
that represents our good organization.”<br />
story and photos by Alonso del Arte<br />
A Green Technology<br />
Symposium<br />
The growing trend toward environmentally<br />
friendly technology makes this an exciting<br />
time in the metro Detroit engineering<br />
community. In 2008, a group <strong>of</strong> engineering<br />
students organized the Green Technology<br />
Symposium, which provided an opportunity<br />
for companies to showcase their products<br />
and innovations as well as spark dialogue<br />
and partnerships for future research and<br />
development with university researchers.<br />
“We are proud that <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
can act as a host,” says Lavie Golenberg,<br />
president <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> chapter <strong>of</strong><br />
the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization,<br />
which organized the symposium along with<br />
the Society <strong>of</strong> Women Engineers (SWE).<br />
The symposium attracted 150 students,<br />
faculty, and industry representatives<br />
from seven companies who gathered<br />
to discuss the sustainable future <strong>of</strong> Michigan,<br />
and what it means for engineers.<br />
“The event was a great success,” says Rebecca<br />
Whalen, president <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> section<br />
<strong>of</strong> SWE. ”It gave students the opportunity to interact<br />
with industry pr<strong>of</strong>essionals who are currently<br />
implementing sustainable technologies.”<br />
Speakers from top local companies presented<br />
the ways their companies are embracing green<br />
technology. DTE Energy Executive Vice President<br />
Steve Kurmas (BSCHE’79, MSCHE’83) discussed<br />
alternative energies, including the benefits<br />
and costs <strong>of</strong> solar, wind and nuclear power<br />
There were several breakout sessions.<br />
Ryan Kline <strong>of</strong> Turner Construction Co. presented<br />
“Leadership in Energy and Environmental<br />
Design.” Christopher Bradlee, a<br />
BASF Chemical Co. representative; Ross<br />
Good, Chrysler’s senior manager for energy<br />
and substance control; and PhD student<br />
Cristina Piluso also made presentations.<br />
This spring, students were busy preparing<br />
for the second annual conference April 3<br />
A familiar scene in front <strong>of</strong> the college<br />
—by Lavie Golenberg<br />
34
PhD Student studies in<br />
Germany on Fulbright<br />
Last June, Jenifer Blacklock, MSBME’06, a<br />
26-year-old biomedical engineering PhD<br />
student, embarked for Germany to research<br />
localized gene delivery. Four years ago, she<br />
would never have imagined herself studying<br />
gene therapy on a Fulbright grant, let alone<br />
pursuing a PhD in biomedical engineering.<br />
As an undergraduate manufacturing<br />
engineering student at Miami <strong>University</strong>,<br />
Blacklock was intrigued by the doctoral<br />
work some <strong>of</strong> the university’s graduates<br />
were doing in biomedical engineering.<br />
“I never imagined I’d be working in this<br />
area when at Miami,” Blacklock says.<br />
Intrigue led her to <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>, where the<br />
Sylvan Lake native was familiar with the biomedical<br />
engineering program. She enrolled<br />
in an introductory class on gene polymers<br />
with Guangzhao Mao, a pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> chemical<br />
engineering and materials science and associate<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> biomedical engineering, and<br />
from there Blacklock’s future came into focus.<br />
“I liked her,” Blacklock says <strong>of</strong> Mao. “I liked<br />
her research. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to<br />
go into, but I liked what she was doing.”<br />
Jenifer Blacklock (foreground) with adviser Guangzhao Mao<br />
Fortunately for Blacklock, Mao had just begun<br />
collaborating with David Oupicky <strong>of</strong> the namics <strong>of</strong> layer-by-layer films, which is<br />
Her research focuses on the release dy-<br />
WSU Department <strong>of</strong> Pharmaceutical Science. achieved by the layering <strong>of</strong> DNA and polymer.<br />
When inserted into the body, the<br />
Blacklock’s interest in biomedical engineering<br />
proved to be a good match for their research. polymer, or coating, breaks down and the<br />
“Jeni was perfect for the project,” says Mao. DNA is then able to permeate the nucleus<br />
She was so perfect for the project that its area <strong>of</strong> cells and produce therapeutic proteins.<br />
<strong>of</strong> research – bio-reducible layer-by-layer films Blacklock is working with another student<br />
for localized gene delivery applications - became<br />
the focus <strong>of</strong> Blacklock’s doctoral work. paper. She says that if there were ever a place<br />
from Russia, conducting research and writing a<br />
Gene therapy is the insertion <strong>of</strong> genes<br />
to do highly focused work, it’s at Max Planck.<br />
into an individual’s cells and tissuees to<br />
“If you’re there for a couple <strong>of</strong> months and<br />
treat hereditary diseases in which a defective<br />
mutant allele is replaced with<br />
Blacklock. “I have every piece <strong>of</strong> equipment<br />
you have a goal, you can reach it,” says<br />
a functioning one, according to the<br />
I could ever need there and also have technicians<br />
and people who are willing to help.”<br />
U.S. National Library <strong>of</strong> Medicine.<br />
Researchers are making promising advancements<br />
in localized gene delivery,<br />
work, Blacklock says she’s enjoy-<br />
In addition to her academic<br />
but treatment is still delivered through<br />
ing the other aspects <strong>of</strong> Germany.<br />
inhalation which can be dangerous, or<br />
Her experience has been so positive, she’d<br />
injection which is not as effective.<br />
like to conduct post-doctoral research at<br />
During her Fulbright year, Blacklock is<br />
Max Planck for another one to two years<br />
working at the Max Planck Institute <strong>of</strong> Colloids<br />
and Interfaces in Potsdam (where<br />
“I am learning German, and I am learning to<br />
after she receives her PhD this spring.<br />
Mao was a visiting pr<strong>of</strong>essor in 2002) in<br />
work in an international environment,” she<br />
collaboration with the Fraunh<strong>of</strong>fer Institute<br />
<strong>of</strong> Biomedical Technology. Because<br />
the world, which is interesting in itself.”<br />
says. “I am meeting people from around<br />
<strong>of</strong> her particular research area, she acts<br />
as a go-between for the two institutes.<br />
—by Sydney Redigan<br />
photos by Alonso del Arte<br />
35
STUDENT BRIEFS<br />
Success at Hydrogen Design Contest<br />
Two teams from <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> were<br />
among five runner-up finalists in the<br />
Hydrogen Education Foundation’s 2007-8<br />
Hydrogen Student Design Contest.<br />
Teams from around the world were challenged<br />
to use a budget <strong>of</strong> $3 million to<br />
design the most effective airport hydrogen<br />
system that would address the three main<br />
challenges for airports today: noise, air<br />
pollution and groundwater contamination.<br />
The two WSU teams stemmed from the<br />
2007 fall semester Advanced Thermal Fluid<br />
System Design Class taught by Ming-Chia<br />
Lai, pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> mechanical engineering,<br />
and Monier B. Botros, adjunct pr<strong>of</strong>essor.<br />
The students joined other finalists<br />
from McMaster <strong>University</strong>, Missouri<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Science and Technology and<br />
the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Waterloo to present their<br />
designs at the National Hydrogen Association<br />
Conference 2008 in Sacramento, Calif.<br />
Mark Winston-Galant and Donald<br />
Edwards, grad students in the AET<br />
program, and mechanical engineering<br />
undergrads, Roxane Elders, Dan<br />
Lascu, Reema Gupta, and Amandeep<br />
Singh, made up the first <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
team. They designed a plan for the<br />
Columbia International Airport in South<br />
Carolina using Ford Silverado pickups<br />
converted to fuel-cell powered HIEC<br />
(Hydrogen Internal Engine Combustion)<br />
vehicles for the airport’s service fleet.<br />
Mark Winston-Galant, Reema Gupta, Roxane Elder, Dr. Monier Botros and Donald Edwards<br />
at the Hydrogen Education Foundation’s 2007-8 Hydrogen Student Design Contest.<br />
The American Institute <strong>of</strong> Chemical Engineers<br />
(AIChE) Sustainable <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Forum’s Award Committee has selected<br />
Cristina Piluso, a recent graduate in chemical<br />
engineering advised by Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Yinling<br />
Huang and now with BASF, as the co-recipient<br />
<strong>of</strong> the AIChE 2008 Best Paper Award.<br />
Jennifer Blacklock, a PhD student in<br />
biomedical engineering, was awarded a Fulbright<br />
Award for 2008-9 to conduct research<br />
at the Max Planck Institute <strong>of</strong> Colloids and<br />
Interfaces in Germany. She is a student <strong>of</strong><br />
Guangzhao Mao, pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> chemical and<br />
material science engineering, and David<br />
Oupicky, associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> Pharmacy<br />
and Health Science. (See story on page 37)<br />
Tara Troxel, BMEPhd’08, along with her<br />
advisers, Pr<strong>of</strong>essors Michele Grimm, John<br />
Melvin, and Paul Begeman, won the Ralph<br />
H. Isbrandt Automotive Safety <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Award for their paper submitted to the<br />
2008 Society <strong>of</strong> Automotive Engineers World<br />
Congress. Troxel was the lead author for the<br />
paper entitled, “Biomechanical Investigation<br />
<strong>of</strong> Thoracolumbar Spine Fractures in<br />
Indianapolis-type Racing Car Drivers During<br />
Frontal Impacts.“ The award was presented by<br />
alumnus Priya Prasad, MSME’68, PhDBME73,<br />
and SAE President Thomas W. Ryan, III.<br />
During his 45-year automotive career, Isbrandt,<br />
SAE’s 1967 president, provided a constant<br />
inspiration to young engineers seeking and<br />
following a mobility engineering career.<br />
A team representing the WSU Student<br />
Chapter <strong>of</strong> the Biomedical <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Society won First Place and a $1,000 prize in<br />
the design competition at the First Annual<br />
Stryker <strong>Engineering</strong> Challenge held last year at<br />
Stryker’s facility in Kalamazoo. The challenge<br />
required the students to redesign the existing<br />
Waste Management System Neptune 1<br />
with inputs from nurses, doctors, field nurses<br />
and technicians. For the second contest, the<br />
students needed to modify and/or create<br />
a new test fixture for their Stryker Saggital<br />
Bone Cutters. The student team consisted <strong>of</strong><br />
Aditya Belwadi, Adinarayana Kadapa,<br />
Saurabh Deshpande and Kyle Sutton.<br />
36
Civil <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
graduate Mark Mathes,<br />
CEE’07, received the university’s<br />
David D. Henry<br />
Award for fall 2007. The<br />
award is given annually<br />
in the fall semester to<br />
a <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> student<br />
who has made outstanding<br />
contributions to the Mark Mathes<br />
university in the areas <strong>of</strong><br />
student activities, leadership and service, while<br />
also demonstrating high scholastic achievement<br />
Among various academic distinctions, Mathes<br />
was awarded the 2007 Institute <strong>of</strong> Transportation<br />
Engineers’ student scholarship for his<br />
involvement in student activities as president<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Chi Epsilon National Honor Society<br />
and vice president <strong>of</strong> the Institute <strong>of</strong> Transportation<br />
Engineers student organization.<br />
Described by Carol Miller, chair <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Department <strong>of</strong> Civil <strong>Engineering</strong>, as an<br />
“exceptional leader and mentor to many<br />
undergraduate students,” Mathes continues<br />
to demonstrate these qualities as he pursues<br />
a graduate degree in transportation.<br />
Luke A. Mackewich, a senior in civil engineering,<br />
was awarded the 2008 Major Elbert A.<br />
Welsh Education Award at the banquet <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Society <strong>of</strong> American Military Engineers (SAME).<br />
Mackewich is a full-time student and supports<br />
his studies through his responsibilities as a resident<br />
advisor in a campus dorm. He is also involved<br />
in engineering activities on campus, including<br />
the American Society <strong>of</strong> Civil Engineers<br />
and the <strong>Engineering</strong> Student-Faculty Board.<br />
Richard Gifaldi, a graduate student in<br />
civil engineering, was selected to receive the<br />
Michigan Society <strong>of</strong> Pr<strong>of</strong>essional Engineers<br />
Detroit Chapter 2008 Student Engineer <strong>of</strong><br />
the Year Award. Gifaldi received a bachelor’s<br />
degree in civil and environmental engineering<br />
in May 2008. Since then, he has been<br />
working as a hydraulic engineer at the US<br />
Army Corps <strong>of</strong> Engineers – Detroit District. His<br />
master’s coursework is increasing his expertise<br />
in hydraulic modeling,<br />
sustainable design and<br />
river restoration. Gifaldi<br />
balances his studies and<br />
career with community<br />
service activities,<br />
including his work as<br />
founder and president<br />
<strong>of</strong> Amagoro Charitable<br />
Fund, which provides Richard Gifaldi<br />
assistance to underprivileged<br />
children in Amagoro, Kenya.<br />
The <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> Chapter <strong>of</strong> the American<br />
Society <strong>of</strong> Civil Engineers visited the<br />
new MDOT Ambassador Bridge Gateway<br />
Construction project last spring. The project<br />
features reconstructed freeways, a new I-75<br />
and I-96 interchange, a pedestrian bridge that<br />
will connect east and west Mexicantown, and<br />
a redesigned Ambassador Bridge Plaza. The<br />
students experienced firsthand the various<br />
civil engineering aspects <strong>of</strong> the project.<br />
Order <strong>of</strong> the Engineer<br />
Forty-two December engineering<br />
graduates, both undergrad and<br />
grad students, were inducted into<br />
the pr<strong>of</strong>essional Orders <strong>of</strong> the Engineer<br />
and <strong>Engineering</strong> Technology at<br />
special commencement ceremonies<br />
held by the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
at the Community Arts Auditorium,<br />
December 13. Dean Ralph Kummler,<br />
associate deans, and department<br />
chairs <strong>of</strong>ficiated the Order <strong>of</strong><br />
Engineer and Pr<strong>of</strong>essional Order <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Technology ceremonies,<br />
with 95 relatives, friends, faculty and<br />
staff witnessing the event. Paul Sgriccia,<br />
MSCEE’97, managing principal<br />
<strong>of</strong> Golder Associates, was the guest<br />
speaker.<br />
(above) Amrinder Singh and Pargat<br />
Singh at the December 2008 Order<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Engineer (above left) Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
Harpreet Singh surrounded by electrical<br />
and computer engineering graduates.<br />
Many students come to study at the<br />
college as a result <strong>of</strong> Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Singh’s<br />
ties and recruiting trips to India.<br />
37
STUDENT BRIEFS<br />
The Howard M. Hess Award for academic<br />
excellence is given to outstanding<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Technology graduating<br />
seniors from each semester.<br />
Andre L. Tillman, (ET’07), graduated<br />
Summa Cum Laude with a 3.8 GPA. A<br />
graduate <strong>of</strong> Henry Ford Community <strong>College</strong>,<br />
he is currently employed by DTE Energy<br />
as an associate nuclear engineer and<br />
plans to pursue an MBA at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>.<br />
The Robert C. Wingerter Award is presented<br />
each year by the college to outstanding engineering<br />
seniors demonstrating exceptional qualities<br />
<strong>of</strong> scholarship, character and leadership.<br />
Roxanne Elder, (ME’08), graduated with<br />
a 3.64 GPA. She has served as Tau Beta Pi<br />
vice president twice and has been secretary<br />
and an <strong>Engineering</strong> Student Faculty Board<br />
representative. In addition, she has mentored<br />
for the <strong>Engineering</strong> Bridge Program and was<br />
a key member <strong>of</strong> a design team that won<br />
first runner-up for the National Hydrogen Association’s<br />
Design Contest. She had planned<br />
to work for Chrysler beginning last summer.<br />
Roxanne Elder (right)<br />
Andre Tillman (right)<br />
Iniabasi Nkanga, (IME’08), graduated<br />
with a 3.73 GPA. She has been president<br />
<strong>of</strong> the <strong>Engineering</strong> Student Faculty Board<br />
and has won numerous awards and scholarships,<br />
including the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Community Service Award, the Chrysler<br />
Corporate Minority Scholarship and<br />
the Willoughby Annual Scholarship. She<br />
interned with Ford where she planned<br />
to work full-time beginning last fall.<br />
Iniabasi Nkanga (right)<br />
Scott Bone (right)<br />
Scott Bone, (ET’08), graduated<br />
with a 3.7 GPA. He holds an associate<br />
degree in computer-aided design<br />
from Oakland Community <strong>College</strong><br />
and designs suspension components<br />
for Chrysler’s Jeep Grand Cherokee.<br />
His next goal is to pursue an MBA.<br />
Benjamin Langrill, (ECE’08), graduated<br />
with a 3.97 GPA. A four-year Presidential<br />
Scholarship recipient, he was named<br />
president <strong>of</strong> Tau Beta Pi, received the Richard<br />
R. Kaminski scholarship and the Tau Beta<br />
Pi Outstanding Tutoring Award. He is now<br />
a graduate student and an assistant in the<br />
Department <strong>of</strong> Biomedical <strong>Engineering</strong>.<br />
David Peraino, (CE’08), graduated with<br />
a 3.7 GPA. He served as president <strong>of</strong> the<br />
American Society <strong>of</strong> Chemical Engineers<br />
with which he has developed a tutoring<br />
program. Additionally, he organized a<br />
meeting on greenhouse gas emissions and<br />
global warming and participated in a co-op<br />
assignment at EFTEC. He planned to work<br />
at Marathon Oil following his graduation.<br />
Benjamin Langrill<br />
David Peraino (right)<br />
38
New building story continued from page 4<br />
a mechanism for the business community to<br />
identify opportunities for collaboration by<br />
which new companies are born, and existing<br />
ones can accelerate their R&D activities,”<br />
says Kummler. “In the larger arena, as one<br />
<strong>of</strong> the state’s three research universities, we<br />
are accelerating these activities, helping to<br />
create critical business activities and jobs to<br />
drive the state’s economy toward health and<br />
prosperity.”<br />
The new building has already invigorated<br />
student life as students congregate socially<br />
and study together in the open spaces in the<br />
lobby <strong>of</strong> the new building. “Other than the<br />
student organization <strong>of</strong>fice, I’ve never really<br />
hung out in the college,” says Ben Langrill,<br />
president <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Engineering</strong> Student Faculty<br />
Board (ESFB). “This gives us a much nicer<br />
area -- both the lobby and auditorium – and<br />
the ability to host events here.”<br />
On the road<br />
with WSU<br />
Show your Warrior pride with the<br />
updated <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
license plate now available from the<br />
Michigan Secretary <strong>of</strong> <strong>State</strong>. The plate<br />
features the new graphic W that is easy to recognize at a<br />
distance and immediately identifies you as a <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
supporter. These special fundraising plates cost $35 and<br />
WSU receives $25 <strong>of</strong> that fee. The money — between<br />
$25,000 and $35,000 annually — is donated to the Alumni<br />
Association Scholarship Fund.<br />
Those familiar with the college remember<br />
the courtyard at the center <strong>of</strong> the old engineering<br />
building wings, accented with Helios,<br />
a tall, brushed aluminum sera fated sculpture.<br />
In warm weather, students and staff<br />
used the courtyard for various events, but it<br />
never became a general congregating area.<br />
While the new building footprint has taken<br />
up much <strong>of</strong> the courtyard space, a smaller,<br />
perhaps more functional one remains.<br />
“We’re making use <strong>of</strong> the windows and<br />
outside area,” says Grimm. “The courtyard is<br />
actually more functional than we had before<br />
because it really connects with the inside<br />
space. In nice weather, we’ll have picnic<br />
tables and benches out there.”<br />
The new building features a new PACE<br />
Teaming Center on the second floor for<br />
student design and learning that encourages<br />
multi-disciplinary team collaborations.<br />
Partnership for the Advancement <strong>of</strong><br />
Collaborative <strong>Engineering</strong> Education (PACE),<br />
a consortium <strong>of</strong> industry partners and<br />
universities, supports the college with computer-based<br />
engineering tools. “Instead <strong>of</strong> a<br />
classroom with rows <strong>of</strong> chairs, it’s actually<br />
designed for team-based work,” says Grimm.<br />
The students will also have their own<br />
studio to design, build and test entries for<br />
student engineering competitions. The current<br />
Formula SAE racecar team will soon take<br />
over this area, but it will be available for all<br />
future student design competition projects.<br />
“We have a wonderful institution here,<br />
but not many people know about us,” says<br />
Grimm. “We have tremendous amount <strong>of</strong><br />
top research. If you look at research per<br />
faculty member, we compete very well with<br />
top institutions in Michigan and around the<br />
country. With this facility, we are positioning<br />
ourselves to take a greater leadership role<br />
in the <strong>University</strong> Research Corridor.” ■<br />
39
COVER STORY<br />
Bir was recruited in 2005 to<br />
serve as consultant and on air<br />
scientist for Fight Science, the<br />
Original National Geographic<br />
Channel series bringing<br />
together martial arts and scientists<br />
on the dojo stage set<br />
Cynthia Bir<br />
enjoys role <strong>of</strong><br />
TV scientist<br />
researcher<br />
mom<br />
photo courtesy Base Productions<br />
By David Reich<br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Public Affairs Officer<br />
At the annual giant “YES” science<br />
expo at Ford Field in Detroit, she<br />
signed autographs for high school<br />
students on photos <strong>of</strong> herself on the set <strong>of</strong><br />
Sport Science, a popular television show.<br />
She has not reached the notoriety <strong>of</strong> the<br />
likes <strong>of</strong> Mr. Wizard or Mr. Science, the<br />
popular television hosts who introduced<br />
the world <strong>of</strong> science to millions <strong>of</strong> kids in<br />
the 1950s and 1990s. But in their absence,<br />
Cynthia Bir, associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> biomedical<br />
engineering, is the face <strong>of</strong> science<br />
and technology for today’s generation <strong>of</strong><br />
school-age children who watch the show.<br />
The fact that she is a female makes<br />
her role even more inspiring.<br />
Mrs. Scientist, PhD is not a role she sought,<br />
or even imagined. Before she was discovered<br />
by Los Angeles producers looking for on-theset<br />
scientists for their new show nearly four<br />
years ago, she was perfectly content doing<br />
what she studied long and hard to do: investigate<br />
the mechanism <strong>of</strong> injury and hoping<br />
to make a difference in discovering treatments<br />
and improving the quality <strong>of</strong> our lives.<br />
It’s not that she has given up that role.<br />
Most people, including her four children, see<br />
her on television attaching accelerometers to<br />
such top-notch athletes as NFL wide receiver<br />
Chad Johnson. But her true calling puts<br />
her steadfastly in the lab, examining with<br />
colleagues and her grad students weighty<br />
issues such as injuries caused by roadside<br />
bombs or so-called non-lethal weapons.<br />
Her 7-year-old daughter, Becca, once asked<br />
Bir, “Mommy, how do you get on TV” Bir<br />
had the right answer. “The best way is<br />
to go to school, work hard, and someday<br />
someone might recognize you for it.”<br />
In a nutshell, that’s what Cynthia Bir<br />
is all about – being true to your calling,<br />
looking at your possibilities and options<br />
early on, and loving it along the way.<br />
And while she does not describe herself<br />
as a soccer mom, she manages to be deeply<br />
engaged in life at home with four kids<br />
with the strong support <strong>of</strong> her husband.<br />
Family is important to her. And so is her<br />
calling. And while the two don’t perfectly<br />
mesh, you get the feeling that her road<br />
has been a lesson for us all about how<br />
it is possible to do both successfully.<br />
We need more students interested in science<br />
and math. Our country is losing our<br />
former technological edge in the world. Bir<br />
understands this, and moreover, her place<br />
and opportunity as a role model in making<br />
40
it happen. “There are two reasons why I do<br />
this show,” explains Bir. “The first is to get<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s name out there and to show<br />
we’re leaders in research. The other reason is<br />
to show how science can be cool, the many<br />
neat things that can be taught, and that<br />
science and engineering has a fun side to it.”<br />
What is really neat is, that unlike<br />
Mr. Science and Mr. Wizard, Cynthia<br />
Bir is a working scientist.<br />
So, how do you get on TV<br />
Bir, 40, grew up after Don Herbert (Mr.<br />
Wizard) went <strong>of</strong>f the air, and before the first<br />
broadcast <strong>of</strong> Mr. Science personified by Tim<br />
Perkins. Instead, she had a “visible doll” and<br />
a basement science lab her dad, a computer<br />
programmer, built for her in the house in Sturgis.<br />
Her grandmother, a nurse, had the first<br />
“visible woman and a visible man,” the same<br />
type that can be seen today on Gray’s Anatomy,<br />
the popular TV show. Her grandmother<br />
gave the doll to Bir when she was about 10.<br />
“I’m going to come <strong>of</strong>f as a real geek, but<br />
I had a science lab in the basement, and<br />
my mom was always concerned I was going<br />
to start a fire,” says Bir “I had a whole<br />
chemical set.” She also had a microscope<br />
she got for Christmas she used to look at<br />
spider legs and other things she’d collect<br />
from the natural world outside her house.<br />
By the time she arrived in high school,<br />
her thoughts were already focused on<br />
med school. At Sturgis High School, she<br />
participated in a women’s engineering<br />
program at Michigan Tech and began<br />
thinking about biomedical engineering<br />
for her undergraduate studies.<br />
“I don’t think that’s unusual,” says Bir. “I<br />
think there’s a lot <strong>of</strong> high school kids who<br />
start thinking early on what they want to be<br />
when they grow up. I wish my kids would<br />
start thinking about what they want to do.<br />
You don’t have to have a set plan. But I think<br />
you should be aware <strong>of</strong> what’s out there.”<br />
Medical school was on her mind in high<br />
school, but that was before she started dating<br />
a guy named David. “At the time, I was<br />
dating a guy who I ended up marrying,” Bir<br />
At Ford Field last November at the “YES” expo, Bir demonstrated that an accelerometer attached<br />
to the ankle can measure the force used to kick a football and soccerball.<br />
says with a certain look in her eye. “I just coursework, she enrolled in night classes<br />
kind <strong>of</strong> thought, ‘I don’t want to spend at community college to “get up to speed<br />
eight years in school and another four or and make up deficits” in basic engineering<br />
five in residency. I knew I wanted to have courses she would need to apply to grad<br />
a family. When you’re 18 and in love, I<br />
school in biomedical engineering.<br />
just decided a career in medicine was<br />
In 1990, the same year she graduated<br />
not going to work out that well.”<br />
from nursing school, she was accepted into<br />
Bir’s choices perfectly<br />
express the<br />
biomedical engineer-<br />
the graduate program in<br />
added complications<br />
faced by bright<br />
Michigan. She worked<br />
ing at the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
women growing<br />
as a nurse on a surgical<br />
up in America with<br />
floor and she went to<br />
ambitions who want<br />
graduate school, earning<br />
her degree in 1992.<br />
to make an impact<br />
on the world beyond<br />
Cynthia and David,<br />
a patent attorney<br />
raising a family. The<br />
path was not as clear<br />
with a law degree and<br />
to her as it would have<br />
master’s degree in electrical<br />
engineering, embarked<br />
been if she was a man.<br />
Cynthia and David were married between as partners on a path that included the<br />
her junior and senior year at Nazareth <strong>College</strong><br />
in Kalamazoo. But she did not give up topher (13), Rebecca (7) and Rachel (4).<br />
raising <strong>of</strong> four children, Alex (15), Chris-<br />
on her high school ambition. During her Bir also embarked on her individual path<br />
senior year while taking full-time nursing to earn a PhD in biomedical engineering.<br />
photo by Mary Jane Murawka<br />
41
COVER STORY<br />
But first, she needed another graduate<br />
degree in mechanical engineering<br />
at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>, which has a great<br />
tradition in bioengineering research<br />
and applications. As usual, she was<br />
working full time, raising a family,<br />
and taking a full load <strong>of</strong> courses.<br />
“It’s how I am,” she says. “I’m type A.<br />
I’ll be the first to admit that. But I like<br />
to think I’m type A positive most <strong>of</strong><br />
the time. I want to rewrite that book.”<br />
Today, Bir does the juggling without<br />
much thought to it, along with the<br />
help <strong>of</strong> her husband. Her work with<br />
Sport Science, now entering its second<br />
season, sometimes takes her away from<br />
her family for a month when shooting<br />
takes place in Los Angeles. It tears at<br />
her. “He (David) has been supportive. He<br />
knows I enjoy doing it, and it’s not easy<br />
for him for me to be gone for a month.”<br />
But this is not typical. Typical is getting<br />
up at 6 a.m. on school days to get<br />
the kids ready for school, and arriving<br />
at work at 9 a.m. “When I leave here<br />
at the end <strong>of</strong> the day, I can’t afford<br />
to relax, although by 10:30 p.m., I’m<br />
ready to go to bed. Even though I’m<br />
not a Brownie Troop Leader, I am a<br />
mom with mom responsibilities.”<br />
When you think about it, Bir is the<br />
perfect role model for kids. She is bright,<br />
and a woman with naturally good looks.<br />
She is quite relatable. She is engaging.<br />
She talks a common language and<br />
can communicate with us non-geeks.<br />
Because <strong>of</strong> her path that included<br />
an early vision and a natural bent<br />
Setting up a test for Fight Science.<br />
Fight Science martial artists with Bir on the dojo stage set; photos courtesy Base Productions<br />
to work hard at a goal, she carries an<br />
high school classes as a result <strong>of</strong> the show.<br />
important message for today’s generation<br />
<strong>of</strong> youth, a generation weaned<br />
show, Bir wants to get high school kids to<br />
As a spokesperson for science and the<br />
on television, video games, computers<br />
start thinking as early as possible about<br />
and the Internet, <strong>of</strong> fading newspapers,<br />
microscopes and spider legs.<br />
love my job and I’m very fortunate. As<br />
what they want to do with their lives. “I<br />
“I don’t see in my kids what I had as a you have choices presented to you, you<br />
child,” says Bir. “While they’ll be great have to take everything into consideration,<br />
when they get older working with technology,<br />
their curiosity is not the same<br />
how it will affect your entire life.” ■<br />
with all these computer games and<br />
graphics catching their eyes. There’s no<br />
interest anymore in conducting experiments,<br />
because it’s not that entertaining.<br />
Everything is so real on the screen.”<br />
That’s where Sport Science comes in. It’s<br />
a hook. “The producers know what I<br />
refer to as ‘eye candy,’” Bir says. “One <strong>of</strong><br />
them is computer graphics. It may not<br />
be scientific, but it pulls people into the<br />
show. You need that hook, something that<br />
catches their eye and they can relate to.”<br />
Recognizing the value in this, the<br />
producers have created and are broadcasting<br />
a classroom version <strong>of</strong> the show. Bir<br />
has already led several tours <strong>of</strong> her lab for<br />
42
Sport Science Wins Emmy<br />
How do you go from studying brain<br />
trauma to holding up an Emmy your<br />
Hollywood production team won last<br />
year at the 29th Annual Emmy Awards<br />
for Sports held in New York City<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong> Associate Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
<strong>of</strong> Biomedical <strong>Engineering</strong> Cynthia Bir can<br />
tell you. It is hard to believe how the world<br />
for this mother <strong>of</strong> two boys and girls, ages 4<br />
to 15, has changed in the past several years.<br />
She started her career as a research nurse,<br />
earned her PhD in biomedical engineering<br />
at WSU, and joined the faculty in 2000.<br />
In 2005, Base Productions sought bioengineering<br />
consultants for its National<br />
Geographic Channel project to analyze<br />
and capture the science <strong>of</strong> martial arts. The<br />
show aimed to demonstrate incredible<br />
athletic feats and answer such questions as,<br />
“How powerful and lethal is a karate chop”<br />
Starting that summer on a Hollywood<br />
dojo stage set, Bir rode the show’s success<br />
-- leading to a new series on Fox Sports Net<br />
called Sport Science in 2007, and renewal<br />
<strong>of</strong> the show by Fox for a second season.<br />
As the lead scientist and the only female<br />
engineer on the set, Bir is a natural icon<br />
for the show. She has given interviews<br />
to Detroit print and radio media, was<br />
showcased on WXYZ TV, and appeared<br />
on the cover <strong>of</strong> Twist, the Detroit Free<br />
Press Sunday feature supplement.<br />
In the laboratory, Bir’s research examines<br />
the effectiveness <strong>of</strong> non-lethal<br />
weapons and, most recently, the injury<br />
mechanism and treatment <strong>of</strong> head trauma<br />
caused by the pressure wave produced<br />
by roadside bombs in Iraq.<br />
Sport Science was nominated for four<br />
Emmys, including the Technical Achievement<br />
Award. The technical team consisted<br />
<strong>of</strong> Bir and Base Productions Executive<br />
Producers Mickey Stern and John Brenkus.<br />
Besides setting up and analyzing<br />
the data, Bir and Brenkus appear in<br />
the on-air shots with the athletes.<br />
On Emmy night, the Sport Science team<br />
went one for four; the Emmy won was<br />
for Outstanding Graphic Design. “I’m<br />
really happy that <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> and our efforts<br />
were recognized by the nomination<br />
and by Mickey Stern [executive producer]<br />
during the acceptance <strong>of</strong> the award,” Bir<br />
says, “Even though we didn’t win the<br />
technical achievement Emmy, John (Brenkus)<br />
said several times that the Emmy<br />
for Outstanding Graphic Design should<br />
be considered ‘won’ by everyone.”<br />
The second season <strong>of</strong> Sport Science began<br />
March 22 at 9 p.m., Eastern time. This<br />
season features many new athletes, including<br />
NFL stars Ray Lewis, Drew Brees, Larry<br />
Fitzgerald, Vernon Davis and Tank Johnson;<br />
NBA stars Stephon Marbury, Kevin Love, Amare<br />
Stoudemire and Luke Walton; and Major<br />
League Baseball’s Matt Kemp and James<br />
Loney <strong>of</strong> the Los Angeles Dodgers and pitcher<br />
Jake Peavey <strong>of</strong> the San Diego Padres. ■<br />
Sport Science photos by Jose Garcia Davis<br />
43
TR ANSITIONS<br />
James McMicking,<br />
1929-2008: His door<br />
will always be open<br />
Michael J. Rabins,<br />
mechanical engineering<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essor, 75<br />
By David Reich<br />
James McMicking tells the story about<br />
failing German in high school. It<br />
ultimately factored into his decision<br />
to scuttle plans to become a Lutheran<br />
preacher. Instead, he landed at <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong>, studied chemical engineering, and<br />
became an institution in the Department<br />
<strong>of</strong> Chemical <strong>Engineering</strong> where<br />
his door was always open to students.<br />
James Harvey McMicking, pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
emeritus <strong>of</strong> chemical engineering and<br />
materials science, passed away Aug. 9,<br />
at his home in St. Clair Shores, from<br />
congenital heart failure. He was 79.<br />
During an era when research became<br />
king, McMicking was the last faculty<br />
member to be hired (in 1958) who was<br />
not tied to research. He stood out as the<br />
increasingly rare pr<strong>of</strong>essor who placed the<br />
student above all. Throughout his 40-year<br />
teaching career, he dedicated himself<br />
to his students inside and outside class,<br />
maintaining positions on the <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Student Faculty Board, and other<br />
student-related councils and committees,<br />
not to mention leading roles in social<br />
activities involving students and faculty.<br />
To his four children and six grandchildren,<br />
he was also constantly teaching, says<br />
son, James. “He taught people no matter<br />
what he was doing. Whether it was with<br />
us, at church, at Boy Scouts, the Power<br />
Squadron, whatever organization he was<br />
with, he was always engaged in teaching.”<br />
Upon his retirement in 1999, McMicking,<br />
by far the longest-standing faculty<br />
member at the college, maintained an<br />
<strong>of</strong>fice in the chemical engineering wing<br />
and continued to teach two classes<br />
a semester as pr<strong>of</strong>essor emeritus.<br />
James McMicking<br />
McMicking leaves sons, James C. (wife<br />
Carolyn), John (wife Judy); and daughters<br />
Jane, and Joan (husband Paul) Monson;<br />
grandchildren Lauren, Brendan,<br />
Joshua, James, Naomi and Isaac; and<br />
sister Faye (husband Lester) Fouchey.<br />
The funeral service was held Aug. 13 at Historic<br />
Trinity Lutheran Church in Detroit. ■<br />
In memory <strong>of</strong> his special contribution to the<br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>, the college has set up<br />
a scholarship fund to support undergraduate<br />
chemical engineering students. If you wish<br />
to make a donation, make checks payable to<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong> and on the memo line<br />
write James McKicking Fund.<br />
Send your check to:<br />
Attention: Kate Kendro<br />
Assistant Director <strong>of</strong> Development<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
5050 Anthony <strong>Wayne</strong> Drive<br />
Detroit, MI 48202<br />
Michael J. Rabins, former chair <strong>of</strong> the Department<br />
<strong>of</strong> Mechanical <strong>Engineering</strong>, passed<br />
away Sept. 30, 2007, in <strong>College</strong> Station, Texas,<br />
from complications <strong>of</strong> leukemia. He was 75.<br />
Rabins served as chair <strong>of</strong> the department<br />
from 1977 to 1987, and associate dean <strong>of</strong><br />
research from 1985 until he resigned in<br />
January 1987 to become head <strong>of</strong> the mechanical<br />
engineering department at Texas<br />
A & M <strong>University</strong> in <strong>College</strong> Station. While<br />
research dean, he wrote the proposal for<br />
the Institute <strong>of</strong> Manufacturing Research<br />
at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>, which still exists today.<br />
Rabins co-authored <strong>Engineering</strong> Ethics:<br />
Concepts and Cases, with Michael S. Pritchard<br />
and Charles E. Harris, a best-selling textbook<br />
translated into many languages.<br />
His pr<strong>of</strong>essional success, however, was<br />
superseded by the happiness he created in<br />
his personal life, according to his family.<br />
He traveled the world with his wife<br />
and family, and was always happiest when<br />
he could be with the people he loved.<br />
Michael J. Rabins<br />
44
Rabins was born February 24, 1932, in New<br />
York City. He earned his bachelor’s degree<br />
in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts<br />
Institute <strong>of</strong> Technology in 1953,<br />
master’s degree in mechanical engineering<br />
from Carnegie Institute <strong>of</strong> Technology in<br />
1954, and a PhD in mechanical engineering<br />
from the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Wisconsin in 1959.<br />
Survivors include his wife <strong>of</strong> 51 years, Joan;<br />
sons, Andrew (wife Teresa Borzcik), and<br />
Evan (wife, Yee-Way Chow); daughter, Alix<br />
(husband, Jeff) Clyburn; grandchildren,<br />
Sophia, Dexter and Julius; and sister, Elaine<br />
(husband Robert) Adamenko. A memorial<br />
service was held Oct. 5, 2007, at Memorial<br />
Funeral Chapel in <strong>College</strong> Station. ■<br />
Edward Zobel, former<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> mechanical<br />
engineering, 84<br />
We recently learned <strong>of</strong> the passing <strong>of</strong><br />
Edward Zobel, longtime respected<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> mechanical engineering,<br />
who died Oct. 27, 2005, at his home in<br />
Traverse City. He was 84. Ed was interim<br />
chair <strong>of</strong> the Department <strong>of</strong> Mechanical<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> from 1984 to 1985 after serving<br />
as associate chair for six years. After<br />
his retirement in 1986, he was bestowed<br />
with the title <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essor emeritus.<br />
He was born Oct. 25, 1921, in Manistee,<br />
and earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical<br />
engineering (1948) and master’s degree<br />
in engineering mechanics (1950) from the<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Michigan. He was a fighter<br />
pilot in the U.S. Air Force during World<br />
War II. He joined the WSU Aeronautical<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> faculty in 1948 as a part-time<br />
instructor, left WSU for outside engineering<br />
work in 1951, only to return to the Department<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> Mechanics in 1954. In<br />
1959, he became the first recipient <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Arthur Carr Excellence in Teaching Award.<br />
In retirement, the Zobels moved to<br />
Traverse City, where Ed spent summers as<br />
Edward Zobel<br />
a boy. He leaves his wife <strong>of</strong> 50 years, Faith;<br />
daughters Mary Shoichet <strong>of</strong> Bloomfield<br />
Hills, Faith Rowean <strong>of</strong> Augusta, Ga., and<br />
Nancy Zobel <strong>of</strong> Traverse City; granddaughters,<br />
Catherine Shoichet, Jennifer Mason<br />
and Anne Bradford; sister, Natalie Wade <strong>of</strong><br />
Marathon, Fla.; and nieces and nephews.<br />
Burial was at Boughton Cemetery in<br />
Vicksburg. Visit Ed’s memory page at<br />
www.lifestorynet.com, where you can read<br />
his life story and share a memory. ■<br />
Edward Fairchild, former<br />
electrical engineering<br />
associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor, 96<br />
The <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> honors<br />
the memory <strong>of</strong> Edward Fairchild,<br />
former long-time associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
<strong>of</strong> electrical engineering who died<br />
Oct. 20, 2007, at the age <strong>of</strong> 96.<br />
Fairchild studied and taught power engineering<br />
and materials in the pre-microchip<br />
era, and was a local chapter leader in the<br />
Illumination <strong>Engineering</strong> Society <strong>of</strong> North<br />
America, which seeks to improve the<br />
lighted environment to benefit the public.<br />
Fairchild earned his bachelor’s degree<br />
(1932) and master’s degree (1942) in electrical<br />
engineering from <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Michigan.<br />
In 1946, he became a special instructor on<br />
electrical engineering at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>University</strong>,<br />
and became a full-time member <strong>of</strong><br />
the faculty until his retirement in 1976.<br />
“He was a good teacher, and a good<br />
friend,” says Robert Thornhill, BSME’51,<br />
MSBE’55, and a longtime colleague <strong>of</strong><br />
Fairchild’s who taught mechanical engineering<br />
at the college from 1955 to 1980.<br />
Fairchild served more than three years as<br />
counselor for the Joint Student Branch <strong>of</strong><br />
American Institute <strong>of</strong> Electrical <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
(AIEE) and Institute <strong>of</strong> Radio Engineers (IRE),<br />
devoting considerable effort and time, both<br />
<strong>of</strong>f and on campus. He was also a member <strong>of</strong><br />
the Educational and Student Branches Committees<br />
<strong>of</strong> the AIEE’s Michigan Section. ■<br />
Edward Fairchild<br />
45
TR ANSITIONS<br />
Robert Dane Barnard,<br />
former electrical engineering<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essor, 79<br />
Research support<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficer, Ed Sackett,<br />
retires<br />
The <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> laments the passing<br />
<strong>of</strong> former long-time and well-respected<br />
electrical engineering pr<strong>of</strong>essor Robert<br />
Barnard <strong>of</strong> Sterling Heights, who died after<br />
a long illness and heart failure on April 2,<br />
2008. He was 79.<br />
Barnard joined<br />
the faculty as<br />
an associate<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essor in 1965.<br />
He was an example<br />
<strong>of</strong> a bright<br />
mathematician<br />
who applied his<br />
skill to advance<br />
control theory,<br />
including nonlinear<br />
issues. He<br />
was an unusually<br />
good teacher as well, and colleagues and<br />
students alike praised him for his ability to<br />
engage his students.<br />
He served as interim chair <strong>of</strong> electrical and<br />
computer engineering in 1993, and after<br />
retiring in May 1994, was asked to return to<br />
serve as interim chair and teach one course.<br />
He enjoyed serving as a part-time pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
for many more years.<br />
“My husband’s love was mathematics,” says<br />
Jean Barnard, his wife <strong>of</strong> 59 years.<br />
Barnard continued to teach part-time until<br />
ill-health forced him to quit, family members<br />
said.<br />
He was born Robert Dane Barnard in Chicago,<br />
Ill., on March 17, 1929. In high school,<br />
he excelled in track, basketball and football,<br />
and was drawn to mathematics as an early<br />
teen. Having been exposed to music early<br />
by his classical pianist mother, Barnard also<br />
played violin.<br />
At 18, he joined the U.S. Navy in 1946 as<br />
an electronics technician to be eligible for<br />
G.I. benefits, according to Jean. He served<br />
until 1948, and again from 1952 to 1953<br />
when he was recalled to serve during the<br />
Korean conflict, but not before earning his<br />
bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering<br />
from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1952.<br />
He earned his master’s in 1955, also from BPI,<br />
and he earned his PhD in electrical engineering<br />
in 1959 from Case Western <strong>University</strong>.<br />
Barnard worked for Bell Laboratories in<br />
Murray Hill, N.J.,from 1959 to 1961, and<br />
again from 1962 to 1965 after a one-year<br />
stint as an associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>.<br />
He returned to the faculty in 1965 to make<br />
research and teaching his career. In 1977 for<br />
his sabbatical, he conducted collaborative research<br />
at the Department <strong>of</strong> Applied Mathematics<br />
at the prestigious Weizmann Institute<br />
in Israel. He helped establish mathematical<br />
controllability criteria for stabilization and<br />
tracking <strong>of</strong> large-scale nonlinear systems, in<br />
particular, electrical power systems.<br />
In addition to his reputation at work, he<br />
was devoted to his family. According to his<br />
children, he was an exemplary role model<br />
and mentor. “His sound advice and his interminable<br />
support for his family was unwavering,”<br />
says Laura Barnard.<br />
Barnard leaves his wife, Jean; four children:<br />
Christine Shlagor (Peter), Laura Barnard,<br />
Timothy Barnard (Margaret), and Janet<br />
Barnard; seven grandchildren: Sean Carlson,<br />
Jeremy Andres, Jessica Carlson, Katurah<br />
Peters, Breanna Cheek, Chelsea Kneip, and<br />
Celeste Barnard; and one brother, James Barnard.<br />
He is preceded in death by his parents,<br />
Dr. Robert D. Barnard and Kathleen Barnard,<br />
and sister, Hannah Barnard.<br />
There was no funeral. He requested cremation<br />
and the family held a private gathering.<br />
Memorial contributions can be made to the<br />
Michigan Humane Society in memory <strong>of</strong><br />
Barnard’s dog Danny and cat Puddy, or to<br />
the American Heart Association. ■<br />
After 27 years, the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>’s<br />
research support <strong>of</strong>ficer, Edward<br />
Sackett, has retired.<br />
“I’m glad I spent this time in academia<br />
and in research support,” Ed told a<br />
gathering <strong>of</strong> well-wishers at a retirement<br />
reception held for him at the college last<br />
spring. “I may not have lit any candles <strong>of</strong><br />
knowledge, but at least I helped keep the<br />
matches dry.”<br />
In a college where some $15 million in<br />
grant and contract supported research<br />
is conducted annually, Ed’s job assisting<br />
faculty with proposals, tracking grant<br />
opportunities, and preparing, managing<br />
and recording the many individual<br />
faculty researcher budgets was critical. “Ed<br />
was the mainstay <strong>of</strong> our pre-award effort<br />
for most <strong>of</strong> my time at WSU,” says Dean<br />
Ralph Kummler. “It has been difficult to<br />
continue work without him. I always enjoyed<br />
a good budget discussion with Ed.”<br />
Besides these responsibilities, Ed served<br />
on university and college committees,<br />
including the Academic Staff Tenure and<br />
Promotion Committee and the <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Academic Staff Salary Committee.<br />
46
Ron Gibson, former<br />
ME pr<strong>of</strong>essor, retires<br />
Ed used his expertise and fluency in the<br />
English language – he holds a master’s<br />
degree in English from the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
Wyoming – to edit documents and other college<br />
materials. And his skills as a cartoonist<br />
provided much humor to the workday.<br />
Ed is the author <strong>of</strong> the guidebook, A Short<br />
Guide to Proposal Preparation, and a short<br />
story, “A Full Day’s Wages,” published in the<br />
Saturday Evening Post, among other works.<br />
Ed is busier now than before retirement, he<br />
says, as recognition <strong>of</strong> his pottery work widens.<br />
His pottery can be bought at Pewabic<br />
Pottery on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit. ■<br />
With no formal training in the characteristics<br />
<strong>of</strong> composite materials, he built a<br />
lab at the college to research its mechanics<br />
that became instrumental in the development<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s undergraduate<br />
and graduate programs in this field.<br />
Ronald Gibson, pr<strong>of</strong>essor in the Department<br />
<strong>of</strong> Mechanical <strong>Engineering</strong> for the<br />
past 19 years, retired last May. He now<br />
lives in Reno, Nev., where he is an adjunct<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essor at the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Nevada-Reno.<br />
Together with his wife Maryanne, he<br />
will travel the western United <strong>State</strong>s, including<br />
Seattle where their daughter Tracy<br />
lives with her husband and two children.<br />
The study <strong>of</strong> composite materials was<br />
just beginning when he was a student. “I<br />
tell my students that I never had a course<br />
in composite materials as a student because<br />
there were no such courses available<br />
then,” Gibson says. “So I had to pick it up<br />
on my own by experience and attending<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essional conferences.”<br />
After receiving a PhD in mechanics<br />
from the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Minnesota in 1975,<br />
Gibson taught at Iowa <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
and the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Idaho. He came to<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> in 1989, bringing with him<br />
this expertise in composite materials. The<br />
university also benefited from Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
Gibson’s personal successes, which Ken<br />
Kline, former chair <strong>of</strong> mechanical engineering,<br />
says helped spread the name <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> to the engineering community<br />
worldwide.<br />
Gibson’s personal achievements include<br />
being elected president <strong>of</strong> the American<br />
Society for Composites and fellow <strong>of</strong> both<br />
the American Society <strong>of</strong> Mechanical Engineers<br />
and the American Society for Composites.<br />
He has also published a widely<br />
used textbook, Principles <strong>of</strong> Composite Material<br />
Mechanics, now in its second edition.<br />
When asked what in his career has<br />
brought him the most pride, Gibson recalls<br />
his students. “I’m very proud <strong>of</strong> the<br />
accomplishments <strong>of</strong> my students, both<br />
undergraduate and graduate. It is very<br />
satisfying to see that many <strong>of</strong> them have<br />
gone on to have successful careers in industry,<br />
government or education, and to<br />
know that I played a small role in preparing<br />
them.”<br />
Former colleagues praise Gibson for<br />
his dedication and outstanding work in<br />
teaching, research and service. “He was<br />
the perfect colleague and the ideal friend,<br />
hard-working, loyal, extremely capable,<br />
always willing to take on a difficult task,”<br />
says Kline. “Taking into account the<br />
three areas <strong>of</strong> teaching, research and service,<br />
I cannot think <strong>of</strong> any other pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
at other universities across the country<br />
or at WSU who surpassed Ron.” ■<br />
47
REFLECTIONS<br />
Looking back 75 years - A college timeline<br />
They Paved the Way<br />
In 1928, a mere eight years after women won<br />
the right to vote, <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>, then known<br />
as Detroit City <strong>College</strong>, awarded a degree<br />
in chemical engineering to its first female<br />
engineering graduate. Elinor Batie blazed<br />
a trail for women<br />
engineers at <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong>, but it took six<br />
more years before<br />
another woman<br />
followed in her path.<br />
Today, there are<br />
many more women<br />
in engineering<br />
than there were<br />
30 years ago, but<br />
the numbers <strong>of</strong> male and female engineers<br />
are still disproportionate. While Batie and<br />
other female pioneers across the country<br />
cleared the path for women in engineering,<br />
there is still a long journey ahead.<br />
The 1970 Clean Air Car Race<br />
The year was 1970. Unleaded gas was not yet<br />
part <strong>of</strong> everyday vocabulary. But to four <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong> students, it was the formula<br />
for an unforgettable summer. With Newsweek,<br />
The New York Times, and Motor Trend magazine<br />
tracking the progress <strong>of</strong> the 1970 Clean Air<br />
Car Race, the <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> team emerged<br />
victorious.<br />
Brian Geraghty,<br />
MSME’72, then a<br />
grad night student<br />
and full-time Ford<br />
Motor Company<br />
carburetor engineer,<br />
remembers it like<br />
yesterday and the<br />
experience rivals anything he has done in all<br />
his years at Ford, says the 62-year old. “We<br />
took what was available in the labs and<br />
stretched them out into the unknown,” he says.<br />
48<br />
Joe Scheufler Trip<br />
In 1948, Joe<br />
Scheufler, BSCE”50,<br />
10 classmates, and<br />
their pr<strong>of</strong>essor, Bob<br />
Zumstein, caught a<br />
train and traveled<br />
495 miles to the<br />
little town <strong>of</strong> Hinton,<br />
W. Va., to study the<br />
Bluestone Reservoir<br />
Dam that was nearing completion.<br />
“The dam was very impressive,” said<br />
Joe. “However, one <strong>of</strong> my lasting memories<br />
was a poker game that five <strong>of</strong> us played<br />
on the train. Five-card draw, nothing wild,<br />
and I hit a full house. Three <strong>of</strong> us bet like<br />
crazy. When the betting was over, I was<br />
beat by a bigger full house that was beat<br />
by a four-<strong>of</strong>-a-kind,” he remembers.<br />
Walter O. Stanton<br />
Anyone who grew up before compact discs<br />
(CDs) remembers that<br />
when a phonograph<br />
needle wore out, you<br />
simply replaced it<br />
with a new cartridge<br />
assembly. Before<br />
they were available<br />
in the early 1950s,<br />
you’d have to send<br />
back your worn-out<br />
needle to the factory.<br />
This easily replaceable stylus was<br />
the invention <strong>of</strong> Walter Oliver Stanton,<br />
former <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong> electrical<br />
engineering student. It was one <strong>of</strong><br />
many designs developed by Stanton, a<br />
pioneer in the audio phonics industry.<br />
Men <strong>of</strong> Eight<br />
The boat house on Belle Isle no longer<br />
exists. The rowing shells are long gone, who<br />
knows where. But most <strong>of</strong> the members <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s original rowing<br />
crew are still around – albeit getting<br />
on in years and scattered across the<br />
country – with vivid memories ingrained<br />
by the river and their camaderie.<br />
Fred Levantrosser, BSCE’60, MSCE’67, MBA’73,<br />
recalls how he and the other members <strong>of</strong> the<br />
1958 crew set the tone for the university’s<br />
once great rowing program and how the<br />
experience <strong>of</strong> the demanding sport has carried<br />
him throughout his pr<strong>of</strong>essional career.<br />
Ethanol Vehicle Challenge ‘98<br />
Ten years ago, a team <strong>of</strong> ten engineering<br />
seniors landed first place in the 1998 Ethanol<br />
Vehicle Challenge. Working diligently for nine<br />
months in a first-floor lab, the emerging tightknit<br />
team <strong>of</strong> student engineers succeeded in<br />
doing something neither the competition’s<br />
major sponsors – General Motors and the<br />
U.S. Department <strong>of</strong> Energy – nor the other<br />
automobile manufacturers had done. They<br />
were able to convert a stock gas powered car<br />
to clean burning ethanol without sacrificing<br />
fuel economy or performance. The team, in<br />
fact, improved on the baseline fuel economy.<br />
To read these reflections in their entirety, visit<br />
www.eng.wayne.edu/news.phpid=1269
AVOIDING A<br />
In 1984, faulty steel truss welds were discovered during construction<br />
<strong>of</strong> the <strong>Engineering</strong> Faculty Administration Building...<br />
photos and story by David Reich<br />
Sometimes we hear a story that seems too Anthony <strong>Wayne</strong> Drive to the corner <strong>of</strong><br />
far-fetched to believe. Often, the story has<br />
Warren Avenue where a welder was working<br />
on a steel truss to go into the struc-<br />
been stretched by time as it passes by word<br />
<strong>of</strong> mouth. On rare occasions, the person who ture, now about three-fourths erected.<br />
is part <strong>of</strong> the original story appears, and<br />
The truss was suspended overhead from<br />
we are treated to the story straight from the a crane when the multi-ton steel beam<br />
horse’s mouth. The following is such a story. dropped to the ground almost directly at<br />
their feet. The impact caused the beam to<br />
In the fall <strong>of</strong> 1984, when construction <strong>of</strong> break into separate sections at the weld.<br />
the new <strong>Engineering</strong> building to house faculty<br />
and administrators was nearing comple-<br />
to a halt. “If you can tell me, Mr. Mi-<br />
The impact also brought their discussion<br />
tion, John Micheli, BSChE’86, was arguing cheli, why that truss broke, I’ll give you 15<br />
with his pr<strong>of</strong>essor, Clark Corey, for seven points,” Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Corey told his disciple.*<br />
more points on his metallurgy midterm.<br />
Micheli, a junior engineering student at<br />
They had just completed class at Manoogian<br />
Hall and had walked across<br />
detail and clarity as if it was<br />
the time, recalls the story today with such<br />
yesterday.<br />
Micheli explains that Corey, a former Air<br />
Force engineer, had taught himself and his students<br />
to be incredibly resourceful and efficient.<br />
And so, Micheli, with only a sheet <strong>of</strong> sandpaper,<br />
a handsaw, and hydrochloric acid, set out to<br />
test a piece <strong>of</strong> the truss broken <strong>of</strong>f at the weld.<br />
“We used the handsaw to break <strong>of</strong>f the piece;<br />
the workers weren’t even aware <strong>of</strong> what was<br />
happening,” says Micheli. “We did it in his<br />
<strong>of</strong>fice in one <strong>of</strong> the old houses on Putnam.” In<br />
those days before completion <strong>of</strong> the new building<br />
in 1986, the faculty and administrative<br />
<strong>of</strong>fices were located in apartments on Putnam<br />
just north <strong>of</strong> the existing engineering building.<br />
They found that the truss had broken in the<br />
“heat-inflected zone” where a worker had welded<br />
the two surfaces. The hydrochloric acid applied<br />
to the surface in a petri dish revealed that<br />
the truss consisted <strong>of</strong> a high carbon grade <strong>of</strong><br />
material. That kind <strong>of</strong> material requires an entirely<br />
different welding treatment, Micheli says.<br />
Faced with the discovery <strong>of</strong> defective welds,<br />
the contractor had no choice but to replace<br />
all the trusses—one at a time. Under closer<br />
scrutiny, the steel beams showed signs <strong>of</strong><br />
cracking, causing further delay, says Tapan<br />
Datta, pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> civil and environmental<br />
engineering. Datta recalls clearly the problems<br />
with the defective materials and how<br />
construction was delayed about a year.<br />
The loss <strong>of</strong> life and injuries that might have<br />
occurred if the defective welds had gone<br />
undetected can only be conjecture. But one<br />
thing is certain, it wouldn’t have been good. ■<br />
* Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Corey was notorious for his impossibly<br />
tough exams. A score <strong>of</strong> 15, therefore,<br />
was considered a good score. —editor<br />
49
COLLEGE REFLECTIONS MEMORIES<br />
Brian Geraghty,<br />
MSME’72<br />
Geraghty has retired<br />
from Ford Motor<br />
Company and is now<br />
on the adjunct faculty<br />
<strong>of</strong> the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>.<br />
He began<br />
working at Ford in<br />
1965 and was doing<br />
a co-op there. He<br />
stayed for 42 years. He says the greatest pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />
lesson he learned at the college was how<br />
to work as a trusting team member. Geraghty’s<br />
favorite memory <strong>of</strong> his time at the <strong>College</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> was being a part <strong>of</strong> the team<br />
that won the 1970 Clean Air Car Race, beating<br />
out competition from more than 90 other<br />
universities. His best advice for students is to<br />
keep current in technical fields and explore the<br />
newest ideas.<br />
Dan Simon<br />
BSME’01, MSME’04<br />
Simon, who works<br />
for NVH as a vehicle<br />
development engineer,<br />
says his favorite<br />
memory <strong>of</strong> his time<br />
at the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
was staying<br />
up all night to install<br />
a sound system in<br />
the Chevy Silverado that <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> entered<br />
in the 1999 Ethanol Vehicle Challenge. He says<br />
the most important things he learned at <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> was how to give a good formal presentation<br />
by practicing and taking pride in it. “It is<br />
a great reflection <strong>of</strong> what type <strong>of</strong> engineer you<br />
are,” he says. His advice to current students is<br />
to get involved in student programs to make<br />
friends and contacts that last a lifetime.<br />
Joe Boelter,<br />
BSChE’65,<br />
MSChE’66<br />
Boelter, owner <strong>of</strong> Management<br />
Recruiters <strong>of</strong><br />
Plymouth, L.L.C., says<br />
his favorite memory<br />
<strong>of</strong> the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> was the<br />
sense <strong>of</strong> community<br />
and family from college<br />
<strong>of</strong>fices in an old house and the tree-lined<br />
street on which it was located. Boelter’s advice<br />
for current students is to be active in student<br />
groups and to “network like crazy.” He says the<br />
most important lesson he learned at the <strong>College</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> was how to do structured<br />
problem solving.<br />
Edward Paley, BSME’58<br />
Paley, now retired, is the owner <strong>of</strong> Hydraulic<br />
Powers Systems, Inc., a design and manufacturing<br />
firm providing hydraulic components<br />
and systems for industrial, aerospace and oil<br />
exploration. Paley advises current students to<br />
learn and apply concepts, not merely memorize<br />
them. A married veteran with a child while<br />
at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>, Paley says his favorite memory<br />
was graduation.<br />
Paul Nahra,<br />
BSME’98, MSME’00<br />
Nahra got his job as a<br />
combustion engineer<br />
at GM through the<br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Job Fair and by<br />
networking. He says<br />
the most important<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essional lessons he<br />
learned at the college<br />
were to pay attention to detail and that “close<br />
is not good enough.” Nahra’s favorite memory<br />
<strong>of</strong> his time at the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> was<br />
winning the 1998 Ethanol Vehicle Challenge.<br />
“It was the culmination <strong>of</strong> a lot <strong>of</strong> hard work, a<br />
great year <strong>of</strong> learning and building a team <strong>of</strong><br />
lifelong friends.” Nahra’s advice for current<br />
students is to ask questions.<br />
James H. Frye, BSME’51, MBA’64<br />
Frye retired in 1995 after 44 years with Chrysler,<br />
where he helped plan and implement the<br />
Chrysler Challenge Fund, Chrysler’s university<br />
research program. Some <strong>of</strong> his favorite instructors<br />
were Alfred Nelson who taught Math<br />
107 and Differential Equations, Bill David, and<br />
Robert Jones (industrial engineering). “One <strong>of</strong><br />
the more interesting assignments took place in<br />
senior Mechanical <strong>Engineering</strong> Lab where we<br />
were given the assignment <strong>of</strong> installing equipment<br />
used to measure the cetane rating diesel<br />
fuels in one <strong>of</strong> the test cells in the “new” engineering<br />
building (currently the old lab wing),”<br />
says Frye.<br />
Alumni have responded to our call to send<br />
us your college memories. Here are a few.<br />
We'd love to hear yours. To submit your own<br />
memories, visit www.eng.wayne.edu/page.<br />
phpid=5487 or email David Reich at<br />
dreich@eng.wayne.edu<br />
50
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Member #1<br />
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at same address; regular memberships<br />
Help<br />
only)<br />
Your<br />
Organization<br />
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Alumni are encouraged to utilize Career Services<br />
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low alumni while learning valuable career<br />
Membership is available to alumni and friends <strong>of</strong> the university.<br />
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REFLECTIONS<br />
The RACE<br />
for CLEAN AIR<br />
How <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong> Students designed, built, developed<br />
and drove their way to win the 1970 Clean Air Car Race.<br />
By Brian Geraghty, P.E., MSME’72<br />
The 1970 Clean Air Car Race was conceived and<br />
run by students from the Massachusetts Institute<br />
<strong>of</strong> Technology (MIT) and the California Institute<br />
<strong>of</strong> Technology (Caltech), who were inspired by the<br />
1968 Great Electric Car Race. That race had two<br />
competitors, and the Caltech and MIT students<br />
thought they would get a few more for the 1970<br />
race. They never imagined that 43 teams would<br />
enter the competition.<br />
Here, Brian Geraghty, (third from left in above<br />
photo) then graduate student and full-time Ford<br />
Motor carburetor engineer, tells the story <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s overall victory in the 1970 Clean Air<br />
Car Race.<br />
photos courtesy Brian Geraghty<br />
Dan Harmon met me with a smile, “They<br />
found a car for us to use!”<br />
The Ford Capri had fallen <strong>of</strong>f the car hauler<br />
ramp and was now ours to use as the base for<br />
our entry in the 1970 Clean Air Car Race.<br />
Ever since we decided to enter the race a few<br />
weeks before, our already full schedules were<br />
busy with meetings and plans. We had weekly<br />
phone calls to the Race Organizers at MIT to<br />
clarify the not-so-detailed rules and team meetings<br />
to discuss the car.<br />
From those discussions, we determined that<br />
we needed a small, light, aerodynamic vehicle<br />
with very low rolling friction and a low-polluting,<br />
but powerful, powertrain. Because four <strong>of</strong><br />
us worked in carburetor design and development<br />
at Ford, we were going to build an entry<br />
with powertrain technology in which we were<br />
skilled: a gasoline-powered, internal combustion,<br />
piston engine.<br />
Our preference was to use technology from<br />
the MUTT (Military Unit Tactical Truck) engine<br />
being developed by the U.S. Army. This was a<br />
direct injection, stratified charge, four-cylinder<br />
engine that had excellent emission test results<br />
in an Army Jeep-type vehicle. When put in the<br />
lighter, more aerodynamic Capri, we figured it<br />
would be a sure winner.<br />
We approached the Army representatives<br />
and presented ourselves as the “Strati-five”<br />
group that would bring positive attention to<br />
their work. The Army representatives were<br />
interested, and gave us engine drawings and<br />
arranged for a mockup engine to be sent to<br />
our garage. But after working for a few weeks<br />
to get the engine and all the systems modified<br />
to work in the Capri, we were notified the<br />
Army would not allow us to use the engine for<br />
the race. We had just over six weeks until the<br />
race, and we had a car with no engine.<br />
We spoke with our major sponsor, Ford, and<br />
agreed that we would use a highly modified<br />
Mustang V8 engine with catalysts from Engelhard.<br />
In a way, this was easier for the team as<br />
that engine and fuel system were very familiar<br />
to us. However, we did question the durability<br />
<strong>of</strong> the catalysts. At that time, catalysts<br />
were only used on vehicles and equipment<br />
operating in mines to keep the air clean when<br />
working underground. They had not yet been<br />
put on production cars.<br />
Three weeks before the race, we had our<br />
car emission–tested at the Environmental<br />
Protection Agency (EPA) facility in Willow Run<br />
to make sure it met the low emission requirement<br />
needed to enter the race. The EPA technicians<br />
thought their equipment was broken<br />
because the exhaust at idle was cleaner than<br />
the air going into the engine from the lab. We<br />
knew then we had a good shot at the race<br />
because other teams had not run into the<br />
same issue.<br />
Getting to the starting line<br />
and the cross country trip<br />
Two weeks later, we loaded the car—painted<br />
white with <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> lettering on the side—<br />
onto the trailer, and began our trip to Boston.<br />
A crew van with a car trailer and a pickup<br />
52
truck with 150<br />
gallons <strong>of</strong> leadfree<br />
gasoline<br />
joined us. In<br />
1970, gasoline<br />
in the United<br />
<strong>State</strong>s was<br />
leaded and if we<br />
had used it, it<br />
would coat the<br />
catalysts and<br />
render them<br />
ineffective.<br />
Brian Geraghty today<br />
During the<br />
with team trophy<br />
trip, we took<br />
the Capri <strong>of</strong>f the<br />
trailer for a few miles to make sure the systems<br />
were working well. We wondered if the Massachusetts<br />
Turnpike Authority was still looking for<br />
the little white Capri that entered the turnpike<br />
and took a toll ticket, but never exited.<br />
We arrived at MIT where the race would start<br />
and scheduled ourselves for the first elements<br />
<strong>of</strong> the competition. An exhaust emission test,<br />
a presentation on the car’s technology, and a<br />
performance test at a local airfield were the<br />
highlights <strong>of</strong> the crowded schedule. A film<br />
crew that would be chronicling the race interviewed<br />
each team. Photographs <strong>of</strong> all 43 race<br />
cars were taken.<br />
Before we knew it, we were on the road,<br />
heading for our first scheduled overnight stop<br />
in Toronto. Because the entry from the <strong>University</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> Toronto was well-supported, there was<br />
a great reception for all the cars by the press in<br />
Toronto.<br />
The following day, we headed to the next<br />
checkpoint in Detroit. It was nice to see friends<br />
again, get clean clothes and sleep at home,<br />
even for just four hours.<br />
Everyday, an observer from the race committee<br />
rode with the team to make sure we took<br />
the prescribed route and did not tow or trailer<br />
the car. The observer penalized any team that<br />
missed the route, violated any traffic laws, or<br />
was late to the checkpoints. Some teams were<br />
already losing points by not reaching the<br />
checkpoints in time. <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> was one <strong>of</strong><br />
only eight teams to get a perfect route score<br />
for the full race.<br />
From Detroit we traveled to Champaign, Ill.,<br />
and then headed south to Oklahoma City, Okla.<br />
The aerodynamic configuration <strong>of</strong> the Capri<br />
used flush, fixed side windows, and with the<br />
August sun beating down, the further south we<br />
went, the warmer it got in the car. We agreed<br />
to have the film crew track us for some time<br />
during that leg, and it was tough to watch<br />
them and other cars drive by with the air conditioning<br />
on. We only had the fresh air vent to<br />
cool us in the closed—window Capri.<br />
The next day we headed to Odessa, Tex.,<br />
then to Tucson, Ariz. the following day. At<br />
each stop was a collection <strong>of</strong> press and wellwishers,<br />
along with an enjoyable outdoor barbeque<br />
provided by the local hosts. It was great<br />
to talk to our competition and share our stories<br />
<strong>of</strong> the day. We stayed at university dorms at<br />
most stops, which were neither air-conditioned<br />
nor quiet. Luckily, we did not stay long enough<br />
for it to bother us too much.<br />
Approaching the finish line<br />
On the final day, fewer cars arrived at the<br />
starting line because many were running<br />
behind with durability issues. This final day<br />
would prove challenging to the teams as we<br />
had to cross the Rocky Mountains on our way<br />
to the finish line in Pasadena. Our car had no<br />
problems getting over the mountains, but our<br />
heavily-loaded van, with the observer in it, at<br />
times could not reach 70 mph on an uphill<br />
grade, so it had to catch up on the downhill<br />
parts.<br />
As we rode close to Pasadena, we began to<br />
feel the excitement. We stopped a few miles<br />
before the finish line to clean the road grime<br />
from the car so it would look nice in the finish<br />
line photos. Team Captain Richard Jeryan<br />
drove across the finish line smiling for the<br />
camera. Only 15 cars crossed the line entirely<br />
on their own power, while another 25 or so<br />
finished with some help from a tow for part <strong>of</strong><br />
the route.<br />
But the race was not over. We had to take<br />
more exhaust emission tests and wait for the<br />
scores to be compiled. We had the highest performance<br />
score, tied for the highest route score,<br />
and were three percentage points lower than<br />
the top score for fuel economy. At the awards<br />
ceremony, we celebrated as we were declared<br />
the overall winner <strong>of</strong> the Clean Air Car Race. ■<br />
The Clean Air Car Race brought much recognition<br />
to <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>, as it was the first win for<br />
the university in a national engineering student<br />
competition. Interest from the student teams in<br />
1970 helped foster a spirit that infused future<br />
engineering students with the determination to<br />
enter competitions we see today.<br />
Geraghty notes that the control concept used<br />
in the <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> car - using oxidation and<br />
reduction processes in different catalysts to reduce<br />
total pollution – is now standard in almost all<br />
light vehicles.<br />
As for the car that won the race, it was lent<br />
to the EPA for an evaluation, then given to the<br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> where students used it for<br />
subsequent design competitions. Geraghty says<br />
he saw the car parked in a <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> lot several<br />
years ago, but neither he nor his teammates<br />
know if still exists today.<br />
The <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> Clean Air Car Race team<br />
members were Richard Jeryan (Team Captain);<br />
Dan Harmon; Brian Geraghty, MSME’72; Mike<br />
Riley, MBA’72; Larry Wagle; Al Raquepau,<br />
BSME’71; and John Karol, BSME’71. The team<br />
had strong support from sponsors Ford and<br />
Engelhard. The EPA funded the race and gathered<br />
additional sponsor support.<br />
53
PHOTO GALLERY<br />
Detroit Auto Show charity fundraisers pose with<br />
WSU Formula SAE race car on display at the<br />
show January 16 at Cobo Hall.<br />
photo courtesy Gains Detroit<br />
The For Inspiration and Recognition <strong>of</strong> Science and Technology (FIRST)<br />
Robotics Detroit Play<strong>of</strong>f, held March 14 and 15, 2008 on <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s<br />
campus; photo by Rick Bielacyzc.<br />
photo by Alurso del Arte<br />
Proud Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Harpreet Singh (front, center) surrounded by<br />
students recruited from India and their families; these students<br />
have all graduated and started their careers.<br />
Dan Lascu demonstrates the Linear Actuator with Virtual<br />
Screw Rolling Ring he designed along with Andrew Kruger<br />
for their mechanical engineering design class in 2008;<br />
photo by Alonso del Arte.<br />
54
Business Major Prem Janveja poses in the new EDC lobby. Noleet<br />
Rice, a WSU junior and image consultant, wanted to take advantage<br />
<strong>of</strong> the futuristic look <strong>of</strong> the new building. Photographer is<br />
Jonathan Jackson. Make up artist Sharla Mohney.<br />
PhD students Ali Taghavi (left) and Adel Alaeddini at the<br />
Industrial Manufacturing <strong>Engineering</strong> Research Symposium,<br />
November 21; photo by Alonso del Arte.<br />
photo by Alonso del Arte<br />
Brittney Woodward and Jordan Richardson at the Detroit Area<br />
Pre-<strong>College</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> Program (DAPCEP) Robotics workshop<br />
held the week <strong>of</strong> June 23 at the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>.<br />
The Helio’s sculpture is removed from the<br />
college courtyard in July 2007. It returned to<br />
the front or the new building in late 2008.<br />
55
ALUMNI<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Alumni<br />
Board 2008-<strong>2009</strong><br />
Officers:<br />
Message from the President<br />
President:<br />
Paul Nahra (BSME’98, MSME’99)<br />
General Motors<br />
Vice President:<br />
Tony Duminski (BSEE’65, MSEE’69, MBA’82)<br />
The Norris Group, Inc.<br />
Financial Officer:<br />
Fritz Quitmeyer (MSME’83)<br />
Secretary:<br />
Dan Simon (BSME’01, MSME’04)<br />
Past President:<br />
Brian Geraghty (MSME’72)<br />
Ford Motor Company<br />
Board Members<br />
• David M. Chegash (BSIE’75)<br />
• Joe Boelter (BSChE’65, MSChE’66)<br />
Management Recruiters <strong>of</strong> Plymouth<br />
• Robert L. Byrum (BSME’58)<br />
Sensor Manufacturing<br />
• Tamer Girgis (BSChE’02, MSChE’03)<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Graduate<br />
Student Association<br />
• Coleen Hill (BSCE’00, MSCE’02)<br />
Hubbell, Roth & Clark, Inc.<br />
• David Kolodziej (BSME’59, MSME’62)<br />
• Fred Levantrosser (BSCE’60, MSCE’67,<br />
MBA’73)<br />
• Don Neuman (BSEE’72, MSCE’82.<br />
PhDCE’99)<br />
General Dynamics<br />
• Edward Paley (BSME’58)<br />
HPS, Inc.<br />
• Offer Preuthun (BSME’48)<br />
American Axle and Manufacturing<br />
• David Schmitz (BSME’71)<br />
Pro Results, Inc.<br />
• Tony Wojtowicz<br />
Lakeside <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
• Ben Langrill (ESFB)<br />
• Jeremy Dady (WSUAA)<br />
Dear Alumni and Friends,<br />
is shaping up to be a great<br />
<strong>2009</strong> year for the <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Alumni Association (EAA) at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong>. At the beginning <strong>of</strong> the year, we<br />
sought prospective members interested in<br />
joining our Board <strong>of</strong> Directors. The response<br />
was overwhelming! At our January board<br />
meeting, attendance was double our normal<br />
level with new members getting involved in<br />
our committees immediately. There is still opportunity<br />
to get involved if you are interested.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the new members, Nathan Bennett,<br />
introduced to the board the <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Alumni Association LinkedIn group. LinkedIn<br />
is an online pr<strong>of</strong>essional networking Web<br />
site that allows members to connect with<br />
other people they know or with whom they<br />
share common interests. Nathan created the<br />
engineering group after graduating to keep<br />
in touch with schoolmates. As <strong>of</strong> February,<br />
the group had grown to 179 people.. I<br />
encourage you to join the WSU engineering<br />
LinkedIn group to get connected with the<br />
people associated with the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>.<br />
Check it out at www.linkedin.com.<br />
Another area our alumni continue to be<br />
involved in is the support <strong>of</strong> student design<br />
projects. The <strong>Engineering</strong> Alumni Association’s<br />
EAGER Fund (<strong>Engineering</strong> Awards and<br />
Grants for Education and Research) was set<br />
up in the late 90s to support such projects.<br />
This year has sponsored the Formula<br />
SAE Competition and the Concrete Canoe<br />
Competition. Fred Levantrosser, an EAA<br />
board member emeritus, was instrumental<br />
in creating the EAGER fund and continues to<br />
personally support student design competitions.<br />
Thanks Fred for your contributions.<br />
Fundraisers organized by our activities<br />
committee, such as the <strong>Engineering</strong> Alumni<br />
Golf Outing, contribute to the EAGER fund<br />
for sponsorship <strong>of</strong> future student projects.<br />
This year, the seventh annual Alumni Golf<br />
Outing will be Monday, May 18, at Fieldstone<br />
Golf Course in Auburn Hills. Get your<br />
foursome together, and join us for a fun<br />
afternoon while contributing to the success<br />
<strong>of</strong> student projects at the college.<br />
Go to www.alumni.wayne.edu/events<br />
for more information and registration.<br />
Paul Nahra, P.E.<br />
President, EAA
Dear EXEMPLAR magazine,<br />
I graduated from the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
at <strong>Wayne</strong> in May, 1998. When I was there, I<br />
was trying to resurrect the <strong>Wayne</strong> Engineer<br />
(W.E.) publication, but we couldn’t get the<br />
proper funding to continue it. At this time, do<br />
you know if it is even in existence Our <strong>of</strong>fice<br />
was on the second floor <strong>of</strong> the engineering<br />
building, shared with SAE at the time. It faced<br />
Anthony <strong>Wayne</strong> Drive.<br />
Anyway, the second question would be Is<br />
David Reich still involved with the alumni<br />
group or another at <strong>Wayne</strong> I knew him back<br />
then when we were trying to resurrect the W.E.<br />
publication.<br />
I found copies <strong>of</strong> some <strong>of</strong> the old <strong>Wayne</strong> Engineer<br />
publications for which I did an article for<br />
David way back in 1997/1998, and I wanted to<br />
make sure that the college had these originals<br />
back. I apologize that they were still in<br />
old boxes <strong>of</strong> stuff I had from college, including<br />
material that we were going to use for a<br />
publication that never got funded! Please let<br />
me know if you have any ideas as to where I<br />
could drop these <strong>of</strong>f, or what to do with the<br />
original magazines. Any help would be greatly<br />
appreciated!<br />
Thank you. Take Care.<br />
Edward D. Zmich<br />
Graduate Engineer<br />
Hubbell, Roth & Clark, Inc.<br />
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48303<br />
Thanks, Ed. we remember you well. Student interest<br />
in <strong>Wayne</strong> Engineer was never enough after<br />
its last issue in 1993 despite your valiant efforts<br />
to resurrect this treasure <strong>of</strong> the college. We keep a<br />
“morgue” <strong>of</strong> the back issues dating back to 1934<br />
when it was called the Buzz Saw. As you know, it<br />
is our best source <strong>of</strong> college history. It is where we<br />
go for our “Reflections” section. We have a number<br />
<strong>of</strong> issues missing and would be grateful if you<br />
or anyone else has copies to complete our archive.<br />
By the way, the old <strong>Wayne</strong> Engineer <strong>of</strong>fice is now<br />
the FormulaSAE Team <strong>of</strong>fice.<br />
David Reich, editor<br />
Edward D. Zmich, 1998<br />
Dear EXEMPLAR magazine,<br />
The Welcome <strong>Exemplar</strong> arrived yesterday, just<br />
as I had a brief flash recall <strong>of</strong> a very special<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> lecture series I attended as a grad<br />
student, I think, very shortly after WWII.<br />
It would have been about 1947 at the earliest,<br />
my class graduation year, to the mid-1950s.<br />
Possibly 1946, 47, 48 As I recall, I was taking<br />
required physical chemistry in the Chemistry<br />
Department in Old Main, <strong>of</strong> course, when<br />
this series was promoted. I was honored<br />
and privileged to be invited to audit and I<br />
did— although much was over my head. The<br />
most famous American names in theoretical<br />
chemistry and physics <strong>of</strong> the war period<br />
were invited and came. I can only guess at<br />
the names, now, but they were the greats—<br />
Bohr may have been one, and some atom<br />
bomb greats as well. You would recognize<br />
all or nearly all <strong>of</strong> the names even today.<br />
The ‘seminars’ were fairly small. I<br />
think aimed at grad students who<br />
took it for credit. A similar series may<br />
have continued for years, but the high<br />
point was during this year or two.<br />
The purpose <strong>of</strong> this message is to suggest<br />
a possible story in <strong>Exemplar</strong>. Although these<br />
were chemists and physicists as I remember,<br />
it represents one <strong>of</strong> the fine achievements<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Wayne</strong> even back in that era. Even<br />
the name <strong>of</strong> the organizing pr<strong>of</strong>essor who<br />
knew these people is lost to me now.<br />
Perhaps this was an important enough<br />
program to remain well known within the university.<br />
If not, and if not enough interest to engineering,<br />
this almost 60-year-old story might<br />
be <strong>of</strong> interest to chemistry <strong>of</strong> physics as a historical<br />
note. I’m sure records exist somewhere.<br />
—Andrew R. Spencer, BS in Metallurgical<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong>, Jan 1948 (never did complete<br />
my MS - after 25 years <strong>of</strong> trying)<br />
Thanks for your excellent idea. The college hosts<br />
many seminars throughout the year sponsored by<br />
all the engineering departments. There are also<br />
university symposiums in engineering and science<br />
that bring engineers and scientists at the top <strong>of</strong><br />
their field to <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>. In this current issue <strong>of</strong><br />
EXEMPLAR, we highlight two— Nanoscience and<br />
Blast Injury. As far as any record <strong>of</strong> the seminar<br />
you mentioned, unfortunately, there is none <strong>of</strong><br />
which we are aware. But perhaps someone reading<br />
this will remember and come up with one.<br />
David Reich, editor<br />
57
ALUMNI<br />
Quarter million dollar gift<br />
fuels WSU’s urban mission<br />
Detroit businessman and Bloomfield Hills<br />
resident Avinash Rachmale and one <strong>of</strong><br />
his pr<strong>of</strong>essional colleagues, Farmington Hills<br />
resident Andrew Haliw III, both <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> engineering alumni, have pledged<br />
a total <strong>of</strong> $250,000 to the Marvin I. Danto<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Development Center (EDC).<br />
Rachmale is founder, president<br />
and CEO <strong>of</strong> Detroit-based Lakeshore<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Services, Inc. (LES).<br />
“I am proud to be a WSU graduate and<br />
feel very fortunate to be able to provide<br />
this gift,” says Rachmale. “Because <strong>of</strong> the<br />
outstanding education I received from<br />
WSU, I was able to build a world-renowned<br />
construction firm right here in Detroit. Now<br />
I am in a position to give back to my school<br />
and support its commitment to the inner<br />
city as well as provide opportunities for a<br />
wonderfully diverse<br />
student body.”<br />
The contribution<br />
supports a lab<br />
specially designed<br />
for the college’s<br />
Department <strong>of</strong> Civil<br />
and Environmental<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> in<br />
the EDC. The<br />
Civil <strong>Engineering</strong> Andrew Haliw III<br />
Infrastructure<br />
Research<br />
Laboratory will expand exploration in the<br />
department’s five areas <strong>of</strong> specialization:<br />
structural, environmental, geo-technical<br />
and transportation engineering, as well<br />
as construction management. The lab<br />
will be named in the donors’ honor.<br />
“The generosity<br />
<strong>of</strong> Mr. Rachmale<br />
and Mr. Haliw to<br />
the university is<br />
inspired by their<br />
understanding<br />
<strong>of</strong> how integral<br />
a quality<br />
education is in<br />
the increasingly<br />
complex business Avinash Rachmale<br />
world, “ says WSU<br />
President Jay<br />
Noren. “The gifts support the state-<strong>of</strong>the-art<br />
civil engineering lab, helping<br />
advance the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>’s<br />
commitment to structuring programs<br />
that foster research excellence.”<br />
The background on Rachmale and Haliw<br />
• Avinash Rachmale was born in a<br />
poor farming village in India. After<br />
attending college in his native country,<br />
he immigrated to the United <strong>State</strong>s.<br />
He received his master’s degree in<br />
civil engineering and a certificate<br />
in hazardous waste management<br />
from <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> in the early<br />
1990s. Rachmale was honored with<br />
the college’s most distinguished<br />
award for alumni in 2006, when<br />
he was inducted into the <strong>College</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> Hall <strong>of</strong> Fame.<br />
• Andrew Haliw III, whose parents<br />
were forced to work as laborers in<br />
Nazi Germany during World War II,<br />
immigrated to the United <strong>State</strong>s as a<br />
displaced person, was raised in Detroit,<br />
and attended Cass Technical High<br />
School before earning a bachelor’s<br />
degree in electrical engineering from<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> in 1968. Upon graduation<br />
and by working the midnight shift at<br />
Jones and Laughlin Steel, Haliw put<br />
himself through <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s Law<br />
School, graduating in 1982.<br />
• Haliw currently serves as corporate<br />
general counsel and executive vice<br />
president <strong>of</strong> Internal Operations at<br />
Lakeshore <strong>Engineering</strong> Services.<br />
• In June 2006, Lakeshore established the<br />
non-pr<strong>of</strong>it Lakeshore Economic Coalition<br />
to support workforce development and<br />
21 st century jobs for under-employed<br />
and unemployed individuals in Detroit,<br />
Highland Park and Hamtramck. Through<br />
the Coalition, Rachmale sponsors<br />
Project Best, a pre-engineering project<br />
for ninth- and tenth-grade students at<br />
Highland Park High School. Students<br />
from this program attend the FIRST<br />
Ralph Kummler (left) and WSU President<br />
Jay Noren with Avinash Rachmale (right)<br />
Robotics event and summer camps<br />
hosted at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>. The colleges <strong>of</strong><br />
engineering and education will also work<br />
with other community-based companies<br />
to show adolescents and families that<br />
once they have the proper training, the<br />
path to becoming a leader in the field <strong>of</strong><br />
engineering and technology is there.<br />
58
WSU’s Team Ethanol<br />
reunites at 2008<br />
homecoming<br />
The <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> Homecoming<br />
was held Saturday, Oct. 11. The day<br />
began with a brunch for alumni and friends<br />
followed by remarks from Dean Kummler<br />
and Paul Nahra, president <strong>of</strong> the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Alumni Board <strong>of</strong> Directors.<br />
Nahra was a member <strong>of</strong> the WSU Team<br />
Ethanol that won first place in the 1998<br />
Ethanol Vehicle Challenge. Members <strong>of</strong> the<br />
team, along with their car, reunited at the<br />
Homecoming for the 10th anniversary <strong>of</strong><br />
their win.<br />
Homecoming guests went on tours <strong>of</strong> the<br />
PACE labs and the new auditorium in the<br />
Marvin I. Danto <strong>Engineering</strong> Development<br />
Center. They then split up to tour either the<br />
Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems<br />
labs or the Center for Automotive Research<br />
bi<strong>of</strong>uel and testing and optical engineering<br />
labs.<br />
The afternoon ended with a ticket giveaway<br />
for the WSU football game held at noon that<br />
day. The Warriors beat Northern Michigan<br />
<strong>University</strong> 24-10.<br />
“We had a record turnout and were especially<br />
pleased to welcome back the 1998<br />
Ethanol National Champion Team,” says<br />
Dean Kummler. “The weather committee<br />
did a great job and the football team won! A<br />
great day for the college and for WSU.”<br />
EAA Golf Outing <strong>2009</strong><br />
May 18, <strong>2009</strong>, 10 a.m.<br />
Fieldstone Golf Club<br />
1984 Taylor Rd., Auburn Hills, MI<br />
For more information and to register: www.alumni.wayne.edu/events<br />
Your gift can have<br />
a big impact.<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s long-standing commitment<br />
to affordable education has kept<br />
the tuition rate competitive. To continue<br />
this tradition, the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
relies on alumni and friends to help<br />
support the programs and facilities that<br />
benefited them or someone they love,<br />
as well contribute to new initiatives<br />
that keeps the college on the leading<br />
edge <strong>of</strong> engineering education.<br />
Each year, alumni, faculty, staff and<br />
other friends <strong>of</strong> the college provide<br />
critical financial support to instructional<br />
and research programs, scholarships<br />
and student resources, faculty services,<br />
facilities and outreach. By giving,<br />
you have a tremendous impact on<br />
the college’s ability to maintain and<br />
enrich the educational experiences<br />
available to students, thereby enhancing<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s ability to recruit the<br />
most motivated and talented scholars.<br />
Contributing to the college is easy:<br />
Make your gift online at our secure<br />
Web site: www.giving.wayne.edu;<br />
mail your gift with a note regarding<br />
what area you wish to support to:<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong>,<br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> Annual Fund,<br />
5475 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI<br />
48202; or call 1-888-WSU-GIVE.<br />
Many employers will match your gift to<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>. Your gift could have double<br />
or even triple the impact for the college.<br />
Your human resources <strong>of</strong>fice can tell<br />
you if your company provides matching<br />
gifts. No matter how large or small, every<br />
gift is important. Donations are taxdeductible<br />
to the extent allowed by law.<br />
golfers from the 2008 outing<br />
59
ALUMNI<br />
Anderson fulfills pledge <strong>of</strong><br />
$1 million to <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Ventures Program<br />
Alum Tom Monahan<br />
establishes scholarship<br />
The Ronald and Alberta Nelson Endowed<br />
Scholarship was established in 2008<br />
with a gift by Tom Monahan, BSEE’67,<br />
MSIE’75, in gratitude to <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> for<br />
the engineering education he received and<br />
in honor <strong>of</strong> his mother Alberta Nelson<br />
Monahan for her dedication, love and<br />
support in reaching his educational goals.<br />
The scholarship fund will recognize<br />
scholastic achievement, encourage<br />
continued progress, and provide assistance<br />
to full-time electrical engineering<br />
junior and senior students who hold<br />
an Amateur Radio License issued by the<br />
Federal Communications Commission.<br />
With the call letters “K810S,” Monahan<br />
first became a licensed amateur radio<br />
operator while in high school.<br />
He has had a successful career in<br />
electromagnetic compatibility at<br />
Delco Electronics and Chrysler.<br />
Ron Monahan with Ralph Kummler and<br />
Yang Zhao (right), chair, electrical and<br />
computer engineering.<br />
Aware <strong>of</strong> the impact <strong>of</strong> amateur radio<br />
on today’s technology, Monahan hopes<br />
that this scholarship will influence<br />
students to become knowledgeable<br />
about amateur radio and become<br />
involved in organizations <strong>of</strong> amateur<br />
radio enthusiasts as he did before<br />
and while attending <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>.<br />
Jim Anderson, BSCE’66, MSCE’70, has<br />
always lived with a vision, whether it was<br />
when he started his own company, Urban<br />
Science, in 1977, or in 2004, when he<br />
returned to <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> with his first pledge<br />
<strong>of</strong> $.5 million to the college. His vision<br />
was for a unique engineering education<br />
program to prepare students to become<br />
successful engineering entrepreneurs.<br />
Anderson has taken upon himself<br />
to nurture engineering students<br />
with an interest in business and in<br />
becoming captains <strong>of</strong> industry. Since his<br />
announcement <strong>of</strong> plans for the <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Ventures program in 2004, a group <strong>of</strong><br />
students, inspired by Anderson, launched<br />
the Collegiate Entrepreneur Organization<br />
(CEO). Like Anderson and his Detroit-based<br />
business, students in the organization<br />
want to span the bridge between science<br />
and industry with their own businesses.<br />
Remembering his first break, his<br />
determination and innovativeness he<br />
used to come up with a creative solution<br />
for his very first client in 1977, Anderson<br />
loves to share this and other experiences<br />
with students. He likes to watch how they<br />
figure out how to succeed in realizing their<br />
visions. “Why do I do this I think we’re<br />
all obligated, as teachers and citizens, to do<br />
the best we can to make the world better for<br />
the next generation,” he says. “Why now I<br />
figure if I have something to give the next<br />
generation, I need to get on with it now<br />
before I forget all those tricks I’ve learned.”<br />
The vision for the <strong>Engineering</strong> Ventures<br />
program is now closer with the donation <strong>of</strong><br />
another $.5 million to the college, for a total<br />
<strong>of</strong> $1 million. With the opening <strong>of</strong> the new<br />
Marvin I. Danto <strong>Engineering</strong> Development<br />
Center, the program will have a space, and<br />
a place for Anderson to work with students.<br />
60
Drs. Anthony and Joyce<br />
Danielski Kales Endowed<br />
Scholars Awards<br />
Gifts-in-kind provide<br />
benefits for the college<br />
and tax benefits to you<br />
Drs. Anthony and Joyce Danielski Kales<br />
Four graduate biomedical students have<br />
received the first scholarships from the<br />
Drs. Anthony and Joyce Danielski Kales<br />
Endowed Scholars Awards. Created in<br />
2008 with a gift <strong>of</strong> $100,000, the awards<br />
were intended by the donors to recognize<br />
commendable scholastic achievement,<br />
encourage continued progress, and provide<br />
assistance to students in financing their<br />
education in biomedical engineering.<br />
In fall 2008, students Xin Jin, Alessandra<br />
Leonardi and Lai Yee Leung each received<br />
a $2,000 award, and in winter <strong>2009</strong>, Erin<br />
Hanlon was awarded the scholarship. The<br />
students, whose research areas range<br />
from blast wave induced brain injury to<br />
computer-aided surgery, are encouraged<br />
to submit publications to archival journals<br />
and acknowledge that their work at WSU<br />
is supported in part by the scholarship.<br />
Anthony; BS’56, MD’59; and Joyce; BS’56,<br />
MD’60; created the scholarship as a way to<br />
give back to WSU. They met as undergraduate<br />
freshmen in 1952 and left Detroit after<br />
graduating with high distinctions from the<br />
School <strong>of</strong> Medicine. They have achieved<br />
great success in their chosen fields: Joyce<br />
in community mental health and Tony in<br />
sleep disorders research. The Kaleses credit<br />
the school for much <strong>of</strong> their success and<br />
say they will “continue to make substantial<br />
commitments to support our alma mater.”<br />
Donors <strong>of</strong> engineering materials are<br />
among the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>’s most<br />
valued supporters. New and slightly<br />
used engineering items may represent<br />
valuable additions to the college. Giftsin-kind<br />
are defined as non-monetary<br />
gifts <strong>of</strong> tangible or intangible property<br />
that promote and/or are directly related<br />
to the mission <strong>of</strong> the university.<br />
Our current wishlist <strong>of</strong> items includes:<br />
laptop computers for students,<br />
laboratory components, smart boards,<br />
s<strong>of</strong>tware, turbine machinery, hydraulic<br />
machinery and passenger vans to<br />
transport students to competitions.<br />
Due to the high cost <strong>of</strong> transportation,<br />
storage and limited space, the<br />
college is not able to accept all in-kind<br />
gift <strong>of</strong>fers. For more information about<br />
making an in-kind contribution to the<br />
college, please call Katora Cole, director<br />
<strong>of</strong> development, at 313-577-5840.<br />
Jim Anderson<br />
61
Night <strong>of</strong> the Stars 2008<br />
Celebrating and Honoring Achievement<br />
2008 Awardees – Saturday, September 27, 2008<br />
Detroit Institute <strong>of</strong> Arts, Detroit, Michigan<br />
Photos by Rick Bielaczyc<br />
Ten <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> alumni<br />
were honored for their outstanding<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essional achievements at the college’s<br />
Night <strong>of</strong> the Stars, held at the<br />
Detroit Institute <strong>of</strong> Arts in September.<br />
Six alumni were inducted into the college’s<br />
Hall <strong>of</strong> Fame, joining a prestigious<br />
group <strong>of</strong> 100 other alumni who have made<br />
substantial contributions to the college’s<br />
mission <strong>of</strong> excellence in engineering.<br />
Four alumni were presented with the Outstanding<br />
Industry Achievement Award, which<br />
celebrates pr<strong>of</strong>essional accomplishments.<br />
Funds raised at the event broke a record.<br />
Nineteen corporate and individual sponsors<br />
contributed a total <strong>of</strong> $51,000, while<br />
the silent auction proceeds brought in more<br />
than $8,000. “We made well over $35,000<br />
in pr<strong>of</strong>it that goes to student activities,<br />
Order <strong>of</strong> the Engineer, and the <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Honors Convocation,” says Katora Cole,<br />
the development director for the college.<br />
Sponsors<br />
Industry Achievement Awards<br />
Al Beydoun, PhDECE’99,<br />
Lear Corp.<br />
Carey J. Suhan, MSCE’95,<br />
Testing Engineers & Consultants, Inc.<br />
Gerald Locke, BSME’87,<br />
Lear Corp.<br />
Eric Tucker, BSCE’98, MSCE’02,<br />
Tucker, Young, Jackson, Tull, Inc.<br />
Urban Science<br />
Lakeshore Group<br />
Karmann<br />
ArvinMeritor<br />
CDM<br />
Lear<br />
Ford<br />
E.C. Korneffel Co.<br />
Bob and Barb Byrum<br />
EDS<br />
GM<br />
Ghafari
Hall <strong>of</strong> Fame Inductees<br />
Distinguished <strong>Engineering</strong> Alumni Achievement<br />
Thomas A. Amato,<br />
BSChE‘86, is co-chief<br />
executive <strong>of</strong>ficer <strong>of</strong><br />
Asahi Tec Corporation<br />
and chairman and chief<br />
executive <strong>of</strong>ficer <strong>of</strong> its<br />
subsidiary, Metaldyne<br />
Corporation. In these<br />
roles, Thomas provides<br />
strategic and operational leadership to the<br />
global automotive supply company. He<br />
began his career with Imperial Chemical<br />
Industries, a multinational chemical and<br />
pharmaceutical company. He then worked<br />
on numerous domestic and international<br />
acquisition, divestiture and financial projects<br />
for the former MascoTech and served as<br />
vice president <strong>of</strong> corporate development<br />
for Metaldyne’s Diversified Industrial Group.<br />
Thomas also served as executive vice president,<br />
commercial operations <strong>of</strong> Metaldyne<br />
and as vice president <strong>of</strong> corporate development<br />
before taking his current position.<br />
Andrew Jerome Haliw,<br />
III, BSEE‘68, is the corporate<br />
general counsel and<br />
executive vice president<br />
<strong>of</strong> Internal Operations<br />
with Lakeshore <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Services, Inc. While<br />
in law school, Andrew<br />
was divisional electrical<br />
engineer in charge <strong>of</strong> the Jones and Laughlin<br />
Stainless Strip division and worked as a<br />
s<strong>of</strong>tware designer for General Electric and<br />
Westinghouse. He later founded Advanced<br />
Systems and Designs, Inc. and co-founded<br />
American Supplier Institute. As a registered<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essional engineer and a patent attorney,<br />
Andrew focuses his legal practice on businesses<br />
in the technical and engineering fields.<br />
Bilal Kaafarani,<br />
BSChE‘81, was appointed<br />
vice president <strong>of</strong> Research<br />
and Innovation at the Coca<br />
Cola Company in 2006. As<br />
head <strong>of</strong> Global Development,<br />
Bilal is responsible for<br />
the leadership and development<br />
<strong>of</strong> Coca Cola’s global<br />
R&D strategy, the management <strong>of</strong> the<br />
global innovation pipeline, and bringing<br />
all R&D centers into an effective global<br />
network. Prior to joining the Coca Cola,<br />
Bilal served as vice president <strong>of</strong> Research &<br />
Development and chief technology <strong>of</strong>ficer<br />
for UK, Europe, and Middle East and Africa<br />
for Frito-Lay. He held prior leadership roles<br />
with Frito-Lay, Tropicana, Procter and Gamble<br />
and worked at Kraft for almost 10 years.<br />
Anthony Mong-On Tai,<br />
MSEE‘74, PhDEE‘78,<br />
headed the Environmental<br />
Research Institute <strong>of</strong><br />
Michigan’s (ERIM) Electro-<br />
Optics Techniques and Devices<br />
Department in the<br />
Advanced Concepts Division<br />
from 1986 to 1993. In<br />
1994, he co-founded EOTech, Inc. Anthony<br />
became the president and CEO <strong>of</strong> EOTech in<br />
2000. Together with other members <strong>of</strong> the<br />
management team and several board members,<br />
he acquired EOTech from ERIM in 2002.<br />
After the company was sold to L-3 Communications<br />
Corp in 2005, Andrew became<br />
the chief technology <strong>of</strong>ficer <strong>of</strong> the company,<br />
which became L-3 Communications EOTech.<br />
William H. Osborne,<br />
MSME’87, recently left<br />
Ford Motor Company as<br />
president and CEO <strong>of</strong> Ford<br />
Australia and took the position<br />
<strong>of</strong> president and chief<br />
executive <strong>of</strong>ficer <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Federal Signal Corporation.<br />
In 2005, William was appointed<br />
president and CEO <strong>of</strong> Ford Canada<br />
Limited. Under his leadership, Ford moved<br />
to manufacturing hybrid technology vehicles<br />
in Canada. After joining Ford in 1990,<br />
William held a variety <strong>of</strong> roles. He led the<br />
V-Engine design <strong>of</strong> Powertrain Operations,<br />
the Engine System activity for Duratec V-6<br />
engines, and Ford’s Advanced Powertrain<br />
activities in noise and vibration research.<br />
Rob Rutenbar, BSECE‘78,<br />
is currently the Stephen<br />
Jatras Chair in Electrical and<br />
Computer <strong>Engineering</strong> at<br />
Carnegie Mellon <strong>University</strong><br />
where he has worked<br />
since 1984. In 1998, he<br />
co-founded Neolinear, Inc.<br />
to commercialize the first<br />
practical synthesis tools for analog designs<br />
and served as its chief scientist until its<br />
acquisition by Cadence Design Systems. He<br />
is also the founding director <strong>of</strong> the Focus<br />
Research Center for circuits and system solutions,<br />
a consortium <strong>of</strong> 19 U.S. universities<br />
and more than 50 faculty funded by the U.S.<br />
semiconductor industry and the U.S. government<br />
to address future circuit challenges.
CL ASS NOTES<br />
Robert W. Kupp, BE’47, wrote his second<br />
book, “ENERGY – A Solution,” about past, current<br />
and future issues regarding energy. His first<br />
book, “A Nuclear Engineer in the Twentieth<br />
Century,” was published in 2005.<br />
Hebon J. Ducote Jr., BSChE’48, is retired and<br />
recovering from a recent spinal operation. He<br />
resides in Saratoga, Calif.<br />
Robert Harroun, BSChE’48, is retired from<br />
BASF. He enjoys his retirement from his home in<br />
St. Gabriel, La.<br />
Edward Demirjian,<br />
BSEE’51, works part-time<br />
as an electrical engineering<br />
senior designer at VVG, Inc.,<br />
in Huntsville, Ala. He received<br />
the NASA Exceptional<br />
Service Medal. He resides in<br />
Madison, Ala.<br />
Robert B. Thornhill, MSME’55, a long-time<br />
member <strong>of</strong> the mechanical engineering faculty<br />
(1955—1980), worked on robotics for Lockheed-Martin<br />
from 1981 to the late 1990s when<br />
he retired in Florida. Robert headed the curriculum<br />
committee when the <strong>Engineering</strong> Technology<br />
Division was first established at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>.<br />
He was chair <strong>of</strong> the division for several years. In<br />
his retirement, Robert enjoys teaching part-time<br />
at Valencia Community <strong>College</strong> where he instructs<br />
a CAD course.<br />
Roger Rio, BSChE’56, is retired and won a<br />
ping-pong tournament on a cruise. Roger, who<br />
lives in Black Mountain, N.C., enjoys playing<br />
the piano, golf and tennis and restoring old cars.<br />
Norman Li, BSChE’57, founder <strong>of</strong> NL Chemical<br />
Technology, Inc., has been named to the list<br />
<strong>of</strong> “100 Chemical Engineers <strong>of</strong> the Modern Era.”<br />
Norman, a longtime friend and advocate for the<br />
WSU Department <strong>of</strong> Chemical <strong>Engineering</strong>, has<br />
held positions as a senior scientist at Exxon Research<br />
and <strong>Engineering</strong> Co., and research director<br />
at UOP and AlliedSignal (now Honeywell).<br />
He is a member <strong>of</strong> the U.S. National Academy<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> as well as a member <strong>of</strong> the Chinese<br />
Academy <strong>of</strong> Sciences and the Academia<br />
Sinica in Taiwan. He and his wife, Dr. Jane Li,<br />
reside in Mt. Prospect, Ill.<br />
Ray A. Hunter, BSChE’62, MSChE’67, is<br />
retired and interested in pursuing a PhD at<br />
WSU. Ray left <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> in 1965 after joining<br />
Atomic Power Development Associates, a<br />
Detroit Edison-managed company responsible<br />
for design and operational evaluation <strong>of</strong> the<br />
sodium-cooled Enrico Fermi Atomic Power<br />
Plant. Ray was included in the fifth edition <strong>of</strong><br />
the Who’s Who in Science and <strong>Engineering</strong>. He<br />
resides in Frederick, Md.<br />
Rolf Eppinger, BB’65,<br />
MS’68, PhD’72, retired<br />
from the National Highway<br />
Traffic Safety Administration<br />
in the summer <strong>of</strong> 2006 and<br />
now makes his home in<br />
Silver Springs, Md., where<br />
he enjoys sailing as well<br />
as reading about former colleagues. Shortly<br />
after earning his PhD, Rolf began working for<br />
the National Highway Traffic Administration in<br />
Washington D.C. on several initiatives to understand<br />
the causes and consequences <strong>of</strong> vehicular<br />
crashes. Over the next 34 years, he contributed<br />
to the reduction <strong>of</strong> injury caused by automotive<br />
crashes. He eventually became chief <strong>of</strong> the<br />
National Transportation Biomechanics Research<br />
Center.<br />
Among his many achievements are his leadership<br />
in creating a side-impact test standard that<br />
included a new side-impact dummy design,<br />
the design <strong>of</strong> a device to measure dynamic<br />
2-dimensional deflection <strong>of</strong> a test subject at any<br />
level <strong>of</strong> the thorax, and the early recognition <strong>of</strong><br />
the value <strong>of</strong> human computer models to understand<br />
human impact response.<br />
Richard Siorek, BSME’65, retired after 40<br />
years as a senior research engineering manager<br />
with the U.S. Army and now spends his time<br />
building models, consulting and enjoying his<br />
grandchildren. In 1997, he received the Defense<br />
Logistics Agency World Class Partner <strong>of</strong> the Year<br />
award.<br />
James Anderson,<br />
BSCE’66, MSCE’70, was<br />
awarded the DMC Rehabilitation<br />
Institute <strong>of</strong> Michigan’s<br />
(RIM) Humanitarian Award.<br />
The award recognizes all the<br />
ways Jim gives back, including<br />
his funding <strong>of</strong> degrees<br />
for engineering students at WSU affected by<br />
Sept. 11 events, college funds for the children<br />
<strong>of</strong> soldiers, Red Cross efforts after Hurricane<br />
Katrina, and support <strong>of</strong> RIM’s efforts to provide<br />
new treatments for the disabled. He also continues<br />
to build Urban Science, <strong>of</strong> which he is president<br />
and CEO, into an international company<br />
with 13 <strong>of</strong>fices around the globe and by doing<br />
business in 60 countries.<br />
James Ford, BSIE’66, is senior structural engineer<br />
at Hawker Beechcraft Corporation in Little<br />
Rock, Ark.<br />
Joel Reisman, BSME’67, is a senior air quality<br />
specialist and consultant at ARCADIS. He resides<br />
in Folsom, Calif.<br />
Victor Skirmants, BSME’67, is involved in<br />
building and racing Porsche 356s as the owner<br />
<strong>of</strong> 356 Enterprises. He writes that he lives “on<br />
10 acres in the countryside outside North<br />
Branch (Michigan).”<br />
Jay Shah, MSCE’70, vice<br />
president <strong>of</strong> corporate<br />
development at Somat <strong>Engineering</strong>,<br />
Inc., was appointed<br />
to the Michigan <strong>State</strong><br />
Hospital Finance Authority<br />
(MSHFA) by Gov. Jennifer<br />
Granholm. The MSHFA issues<br />
bonds and makes loans to hospitals, nursing<br />
homes, homes for the aged, hospices and<br />
certain retirement housing providers to finance<br />
and refinance the acquisition, construction, improvement<br />
or alteration <strong>of</strong> hospital facilities.<br />
For the past four years, Shah served on the<br />
Michigan Strategic Fund Board to represent<br />
the private sector. His expertise is management<br />
<strong>of</strong> municipal, transportation, environmental,<br />
64
structural and construction engineering projects.<br />
Shah was inducted into the WSU <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Hall <strong>of</strong> Fame in 2002.<br />
Patrick J. Smithbauer, MSCE’71, was presented<br />
with the U.S. Green Building Council’s<br />
Outstanding Achievement Award.<br />
Ronald Basar, BSChE’72, is the vice president<br />
for GM operations at Bomarko, Inc. Ronald is<br />
a manufacturing executive with more than 20<br />
years <strong>of</strong> leadership experience and comprehensive<br />
technical experience in high-volume,<br />
leading-edge product, process and materials<br />
design and development. His daughter, Amber,<br />
recently gave birth; Ron is now a grandfather.<br />
He resides in Buffalo Grove, Ill.<br />
Wolodymyr Birko, BSEE’72, is a senior telecommunications<br />
engineer with the Oregon<br />
Public Utility Commission. His primary responsibility<br />
is to make sure adequate telecom service is<br />
provided by telephone companies. Wolodymyr<br />
resides in Dallas, Ore.<br />
Bahman Ghorashi, BS’73, interim dean <strong>of</strong><br />
the Fenn <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> at Cleveland<br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong>, has been appointed as an ex<strong>of</strong>ficio<br />
member <strong>of</strong> the Cleveland <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Society’s board <strong>of</strong> directors.<br />
Sabina Johnson (formerly<br />
Gurewicz), MSEE’77 sends<br />
her greetings from the Alpha<br />
Project winter shelter tent in<br />
San Diego, Calif. She wishes<br />
the college the best <strong>of</strong> luck<br />
with the new development<br />
center.<br />
Henry E. Reiff, MSIE’77, retired from the<br />
Chrysler Technology Center in Auburn Hills. He<br />
was awarded an “Outstanding Symposium Paper”<br />
for his presentation on “Applying Quality<br />
Reliability Disciplines” at the Third Chrysler Q &<br />
R Symposium held in 2005 at the Chrysler Technology<br />
Center. Henry resides in Glasgow, Va.<br />
Michael A. Sieperski, BE ’80, ME’85, is director<br />
<strong>of</strong> engineering at Recaro North America,<br />
an automotive seating and child seat manufacturer<br />
in Auburn Hills. He is the father <strong>of</strong> 4-yearold<br />
twins, Andrew and Grace.<br />
Partap Lall, MSChE’82, works for the Environmental<br />
Protection Agency (EPA) in the Superfund<br />
Program. He has been selected for many<br />
awards, including the EPA bronze medal. He<br />
resides in Canton.<br />
Thomas Amato,<br />
BSChE’86, is chairman and<br />
CEO <strong>of</strong> Metaldyne, and<br />
co-CEO <strong>of</strong> Asahi Tec, Metaldyne’s<br />
Japan-based parent.<br />
He resides in Grosse Pointe<br />
Woods.<br />
Grace Bochenek, BSEE’86,<br />
director <strong>of</strong> the U.S. Army<br />
Tank Automotive Research<br />
Development and <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Center (TARDEC) in<br />
Warren, was selected for a<br />
2008 Meritorious Presidential<br />
Rank Award. The award<br />
goes to a select group <strong>of</strong> federal government<br />
career senior executives. Grace directs the<br />
research, development engineering, fielding<br />
and sustainment <strong>of</strong> all ground combat tactical<br />
vehicles. Her nomination letter by her agency<br />
head stated, “She has embraced the challenge<br />
<strong>of</strong> transforming business practices to meet 21 st<br />
century customer requirements while supporting<br />
a nation at war.”<br />
John Micheli, BS’87, is the founder and president<br />
<strong>of</strong> AOM <strong>Engineering</strong> Solutions and has<br />
served in various executive and management<br />
positions over the past 20 years. Currently, he is<br />
leading several programs in China that include<br />
teams in Japan, Korea, Germany, Spain and the<br />
United <strong>State</strong>s.<br />
Joseph Olivieri, PhDME’88, a member <strong>of</strong> the<br />
WSU <strong>Engineering</strong> Hall <strong>of</strong> Fame, was recognized<br />
posthumously with the Detroit chapter <strong>of</strong> the<br />
American Society <strong>of</strong> Heating, Refrigerating and<br />
Air-Conditioning <strong>Engineering</strong> Distinguished<br />
Service Award.<br />
Consider a planned<br />
gift to the college<br />
A bequest or other planned gift is a great<br />
way to support the college’s important<br />
mission while honoring someone you love<br />
or creating your legacy at the college in<br />
perpetuity. The <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
needs scholarship funds to assist promising<br />
engineering students and unrestricted<br />
funds to improve and expand its instructional<br />
and community service programs.<br />
Examples <strong>of</strong> Planned Gifts are: bequest<br />
in your will or trust, life-income<br />
gifts such as a charitable gift annuity or<br />
a charitable remainder trust, gift from<br />
your retirement fund at the end <strong>of</strong> your<br />
lifetime, a life insurance policy that will<br />
benefit the college after your lifetime.<br />
Potential Benefits are: satisfaction <strong>of</strong> supporting<br />
the college, reducing income tax<br />
liability, avoiding or minimizing probate<br />
costs, reducing estate and inheritance<br />
taxes, receiving annual payments for your<br />
lifetime or the lifetime <strong>of</strong> a loved one.<br />
Gerrie Paulson, director <strong>of</strong> Planned Gifts,<br />
can explore with you<br />
these options<br />
and determining<br />
the gift<br />
best for<br />
you. Your<br />
attorney,<br />
accountant<br />
or financial<br />
advisor can<br />
help explore<br />
which plan will be most<br />
beneficial for you. For more information,<br />
call Gerrie at 313-577-6483 or Katora Cole,<br />
director <strong>of</strong> development for the college at<br />
313-577-5840. We look forward to working<br />
with you to establish a legacy that can<br />
impact the college far into the future.<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>
CL ASS NOTES<br />
Taras Rudnitsky, BSME’88, MSME’93, is the<br />
founder and attorney with the Rudnitsky Law<br />
Firm in Lake Mary, Fla., where he resides. After<br />
graduation, he worked as a design/release and<br />
performance engineer at GM, working primarily<br />
with air bags, seat belts, interiors and occupant<br />
crash protection. He left GM in 1995 to attend<br />
the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Michigan Law School from<br />
which he graduated in 1998. Taras opened a<br />
consulting firm, concentrating on car safety defect<br />
litigation cases that involve forensic investigations.<br />
In 2003, he moved to Florida where he<br />
“pursues justice for victims <strong>of</strong> vehicle defects in<br />
cases throughout the United <strong>State</strong>s,” he writes.<br />
Mark Wehner, BSME’88, is the president <strong>of</strong><br />
Key Safety Systems Inc., an automotive safety<br />
company specialized in seat belts. He resides in<br />
Rochester.<br />
Scott C. Sterbenz, BSME’94, MSME’96, has<br />
been a Ford Motor Co. employee for 13 years<br />
and is a Six Sigma certification Master Black Belt<br />
in Body <strong>Engineering</strong>, supporting all <strong>of</strong> Ford’s<br />
vehicle lines. He was appointed to the U.S.<br />
Bowling Congress Equipment and Specification<br />
Committee, which assists the governing body<br />
with data and the creation <strong>of</strong> specifications that<br />
regulate the sport. He resides in Brownstown<br />
Township.<br />
O’Neil Biscette, MSME’98, is an ophthalmologist<br />
with the Lansing Ophthalmology’s East<br />
Lansing <strong>of</strong>fice. He resides in Grand Ledge.<br />
Cleophas Jackson, MSME’99, was recognized<br />
by the National Society <strong>of</strong> Black Engineers<br />
for “Dedicated Chapter Support.”<br />
Jayant Trewn, PhDIME’99, is a research<br />
faculty member at Beaumont Hospital. He<br />
is designing, managing and implementing<br />
performance improvement programs. Jayant<br />
resides in Grosse Pointe Park.<br />
Cheul Hyung Cho, PhDChE’03, has joined<br />
the Biomedical <strong>Engineering</strong> Department at<br />
New Jersey’s Science and Technology <strong>University</strong><br />
as assistant pr<strong>of</strong>essor. He is conducting<br />
research in the area <strong>of</strong> stem cell bioengineering<br />
and regenerative medicine, along with<br />
multi-lineage differentiation <strong>of</strong> embryonic<br />
stem cells. He resides with his wife, Meekyeng<br />
Jung, and two children, Christine and<br />
Andrew, in Whippany, N.J.<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> Haider, BSEE’90, is a product design<br />
engineer at Ford. He resides in Dearborn.<br />
Mark Bush, MSME’92, is program manager<br />
for operations for the American Association <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> Highway and Transportation Officials. He<br />
previously worked in several positions in the<br />
Michigan Department <strong>of</strong> Transportation. He<br />
resides in Okemos.<br />
Capt. Jason Miller, ECE’04, is currently<br />
an F-16 pilot in the U.S. Air Force,<br />
stationed at Misawa Air Base, Japan, in<br />
the 14th fighter squadron. (The picture<br />
shows him about to fly a combat airsupport<br />
mission out <strong>of</strong> Balad Air Base,<br />
about 40 miles north <strong>of</strong> Baghdad, Iraq.)<br />
Sonja Haugen (formerly Boike), BSChE’93, is<br />
a senior process specialist at Chrysler, LLC. She<br />
received an MBA from Walsh <strong>College</strong> in 2007.<br />
Sonja resides in Sterling Heights.<br />
David R. Finley, ME’94,<br />
is the vice president for<br />
Academic Affairs at Tri-<strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> (TSU) in Angola,<br />
Ind. David has been teaching<br />
at TSU for the past 12<br />
years and was promoted to<br />
full pr<strong>of</strong>essor in the McKetta<br />
Department <strong>of</strong> Chemical <strong>Engineering</strong>,<br />
a department within the Allen School<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> and Technology. David worked<br />
previously in the environmental engineering<br />
field in the Detroit metropolitan area. He resides<br />
in Angola.<br />
66
Remembering<br />
Charles Clayton Perry, BSME’47,<br />
MSME’50, passed away Oct. 21, 2008.<br />
Charles was a pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> engineering<br />
mechanics at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong>.<br />
Until recently, he worked as a consulting<br />
engineer in private practice. Charles retired in<br />
1984 from Vishay Measurements Group, Inc.,<br />
a subsidiary <strong>of</strong> Vishay Intertechnology, Inc.<br />
where he was a senior vice-president. Prior<br />
to joining Vishay in 1967, he held positions<br />
including engineer in charge <strong>of</strong> research,<br />
Vickers, Inc. and vice-president, W. M. Chace<br />
Co. He served in the U.S. Navy, and received<br />
an honorable discharge.<br />
Widely known for his work and publications<br />
in experimental stress analysis, Charles was<br />
the principal author <strong>of</strong> The Strain Gage<br />
Primer. He also authored or co-authored<br />
numerous other publications in stress analysis,<br />
fluid mechanics, technical education, and<br />
the design <strong>of</strong> thermally responsive bimetallic<br />
elements. Charles earned a PhD in<br />
mechanical engineering at the <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
Michigan, in addition to his bachelor’s and<br />
master’s degrees in mechanical engineering<br />
from <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong>.<br />
He is survived by his wife <strong>of</strong> 30 years, Gloria<br />
Bonilla Perry, his special colleague and friend,<br />
Marti Spalding, and several nieces and<br />
nephews.<br />
Eli Welt, BSME’50, passed away Nov. 14,<br />
2008, in San Diego, <strong>of</strong> cancer. Eli served<br />
as a pilot in World War II and worked as a<br />
businessman in Las Vegas before retiring to<br />
San Diego with his wife, Doris, in 1988. Eli<br />
is survived by Doris; their children Gerald<br />
Welt, Rich Welt and Sue Welt-Israel; five<br />
grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.<br />
After graduation, Edward worked with several<br />
employers, including <strong>Wayne</strong> County, Stran<br />
Steel Corp., Bechtel Associates <strong>of</strong> Ann Arbor<br />
and Cunningham-Limje. He is survived by his<br />
wife Sandra; daughters Kristine Krosnovsky,<br />
Karen Papathendore and Dr. Kathleyn<br />
Apostos; and two grandchildren, Nicholas<br />
and Katherine. He was a resident <strong>of</strong> West<br />
Bloomfield for 40 years.<br />
Paul Daniel Brzezinski, BSCHE’80, former<br />
resident <strong>of</strong> Inkster and Plymouth, passed<br />
away Jan. 25, 2008, in Downers Grove, Ill.<br />
<strong>of</strong> complications from cancer. He was 49.<br />
Daniel graduated from Plymouth Canton<br />
High School in 1976. He leaves his wife Terri<br />
(Roller); daughters Sarah, age 13, and Emma,<br />
age 11; his parents, Paul and Velma Jean; and<br />
eight brothers and sisters.<br />
Steven G. Shelton, MSET’08, passed away<br />
Sept. 5, 2008. He was 27. He is survived by<br />
his wife Caitlin, his mother Lou Ann Shelton,<br />
brother Dennis Shelton, grandparents Willis<br />
and Louise Shelton and Ruth Wurth, and a<br />
large extended family.<br />
Please bring us up to date on what you are<br />
doing or share your loss with us by writing David<br />
Reich, <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>, Rm. 1153, <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong>, 48202, or e-mailing us at:<br />
dreich@eng.wayne.edu. Be sure to include your<br />
phone number and address.<br />
Your support is<br />
recognized and<br />
honored in<br />
various ways.<br />
The <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> is grateful<br />
for the generosity <strong>of</strong> its many donors.<br />
They enable us to excel in our<br />
educational mission and enhance<br />
public service. Contributions from<br />
individuals, couples, corporations and<br />
foundations are recognized through<br />
the following recognition societies:<br />
The Anthony <strong>Wayne</strong> Society<br />
The Anthony <strong>Wayne</strong> Society honors<br />
an exceptional group <strong>of</strong> donors who<br />
have responded generously to the university’s<br />
need for private support. Cumulative<br />
giving determines the level <strong>of</strong><br />
recognition from $10,000 and above.<br />
The Old Main Society<br />
The Old Main Society recognizes donors<br />
who provide for <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong>’s<br />
future through their estate and financial<br />
plans such as wills and trusts, life-income<br />
plans, retirement fund gifts, life insurance<br />
gifts and charitable lead trusts.<br />
If you are interested in how your<br />
contribution(s) may be recognized in<br />
these groups, please contact Katora<br />
Cole, <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> director<br />
<strong>of</strong> development, at 313-577-5840.<br />
Edward Elia, BSCE’51, MSCE’59, passed<br />
away Oct. 14, 2007, surrounded by his<br />
family. He served in the U.S. Army 42 nd<br />
Airborne Division before attending WSU.
PROFILES<br />
Ghafari returns after 9<br />
months as ambassador<br />
Yousif B. Ghafari, chairman <strong>of</strong> Ghafari<br />
Associates, had a busy year in 2008.<br />
Two weeks after receiving an honorary<br />
Doctor <strong>of</strong> Laws degree at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s<br />
May commencement ceremony, he<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficially assumed his appointment as<br />
United <strong>State</strong>s Ambassador to Slovenia.<br />
Ghafari (foreground) and entourage<br />
ascend Mt. Tiglar.<br />
Ghafari, whose name adorns <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong>’s newly constructed Yousif B. Ghafari<br />
Residence Hall, is the first alumnus to achieve<br />
this status in the university’s history. His<br />
previous recognition at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> includes<br />
the Corporate Leadership Award in 1994<br />
and a Distinguished <strong>Engineering</strong> Alumni<br />
Award in 1990. He also is a member <strong>of</strong> the<br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>’s Hall <strong>of</strong> Fame.<br />
Because Ghafari was appointed by former<br />
President George W. Bush, he resigned from<br />
his position in January when President Barack<br />
Obama took <strong>of</strong>fice. However, he says his<br />
nine months in Slovenia were very positive.<br />
“Everywhere that I have gone in<br />
Slovenia, the people have been very<br />
warm and gracious,” he says. “In fact, in<br />
one Slovene city, a local poll listed me as<br />
the fourth most popular personality.”<br />
Ghafari adds that the U.S. presidential<br />
election also earned him popularity,<br />
as many Slovenians showed great<br />
interest in American politics.<br />
“The Embassy hosted a very popular<br />
election night program and reception<br />
in which Slovenes participated in<br />
debates, voted in mock elections, and<br />
tracked news reports,” he says.<br />
Of the Slovenian people, Ghafari says<br />
he was impressed. He explains how their<br />
economy developed very rapidly after<br />
their independence from the former<br />
Yugloslavia in 1991 due to the nation’s hard<br />
work. As a leader in precision machinery,<br />
pharmaceuticals and electronics, Slovenia<br />
enjoys a high standard <strong>of</strong> living, says Ghafari.<br />
Ghafari says that not only is Slovenia<br />
an “undiscovered gem” for business, but<br />
also for tourism. His travels throughout<br />
the country with his wife Mara awakened<br />
him to the beauty <strong>of</strong> Slovenia.<br />
“I particularly enjoyed climbing Mount<br />
Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia,”<br />
he says. “They say you’re not a Slovenian<br />
until you climb Mount Triglav, so I now<br />
consider myself an honorary Slovenian.”<br />
Ghafari’s role as ambassador, however,<br />
was not all fun. He explains the focus <strong>of</strong><br />
his work in Slovenia, which was primarily<br />
strengthening ties with the United <strong>State</strong>s<br />
in the fields <strong>of</strong> trade and investment<br />
and academic and cultural exchange.<br />
“We also worked closely on a number<br />
<strong>of</strong> shared regional and global priorities,”<br />
he says. “I am pleased to say that<br />
Slovenia takes its obligations as a NATO<br />
ally very seriously and has sent soldiers<br />
to Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo.”<br />
Ghafari says diplomacy skills that he<br />
employed as ambassador to Slovenia have<br />
been honed from years <strong>of</strong> experience in<br />
business and other experiences. Ghafari was<br />
one <strong>of</strong> three U.S. public delegates to the 59th<br />
United Nations General Assembly in 2004.<br />
He also was a member <strong>of</strong> a contingent that<br />
met with the prime minister <strong>of</strong> Lebanon and<br />
Secretary <strong>of</strong> <strong>State</strong> Condoleezza Rice at Paris<br />
III, an international donor conference seeking<br />
to build a more promising future for Lebanon.<br />
—by Sydney Redigan<br />
All About Ghafari<br />
• Ghafari moved to Detroit when<br />
he was 19 and enrolled at <strong>Wayne</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong> where he received<br />
a bachelor’s degree in mathematics<br />
in 1974, a master’s degree in<br />
applied mathematics and computer<br />
applications in 1975, and a master’s<br />
in chemical engineering in 1981.<br />
• After earning an MBA from Michigan<br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong>, he became a licensed<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essional engineer, determined<br />
to build his future on the use <strong>of</strong><br />
computers in manufacturing design.<br />
• Ghafari established his company,<br />
Ghafari, Inc. in Dearborn in 1982. It is<br />
ranked by Crain’s Detroit Business as<br />
Southeast Michigan’s second-largest<br />
architectural/engineering firm, and has<br />
locations in Chicago and Indianapolis.<br />
• Ghafari projects have won awards from<br />
the American Society <strong>of</strong> Landscape<br />
Architects, the Construction Association<br />
<strong>of</strong> Michigan, the <strong>Engineering</strong> Society<br />
<strong>of</strong> Detroit and others. Among<br />
many notable architectural and<br />
engineering projects on the firm’s<br />
resume are the refurbishment <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s Old Main building and<br />
design <strong>of</strong> the new Marvin I. Danto<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Development Center.<br />
Yousif B. Ghafari<br />
68
Eugene Tomlinson,<br />
pursues love <strong>of</strong> painting<br />
Eugene Tomlinson, BSChE’56,<br />
MSChE’61, MBA’74, left the Detroit<br />
area with his wife Sandy in 2001 to start<br />
a new beginning--sometimes called<br />
retirement--in Santa Fe, New Mexico.<br />
For Gene and Sandy, Michigan was a big<br />
part <strong>of</strong> their lives. Gene attended Fordson<br />
High School in Dearborn graduating in<br />
1950 and Dearborn Junior <strong>College</strong> where he<br />
received an associate’s degree in 1952. He<br />
attended <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> receiving a bachelor’s<br />
degree in 1956, a master’s degree in chemical<br />
engineering in 1961, and an MBA in 1974.<br />
Gene represented the college on the<br />
<strong>University</strong>’s Alumni Association Board<br />
and served as its president from 1974 to<br />
1975. He also served on the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Alumni Association and the<br />
School <strong>of</strong> Business Alumni Association<br />
boards for more than 30 years.<br />
His life in semi-retirement consists <strong>of</strong><br />
working part-time for the New Mexico <strong>State</strong><br />
Government, Departments <strong>of</strong> Labor and the<br />
<strong>State</strong> Treasury in Santa Fe, being an active<br />
member <strong>of</strong> the Santa Fe Rotary Club, traveling,<br />
and oil and watercolor painting. Together with<br />
Sandy, Gene <strong>of</strong>ten flies to Michigan, Illinois<br />
and Oregon to visit their two sons, Gene’s<br />
three other children and five grandchildren.<br />
Gene is very active and passionate about his<br />
work with the Club, <strong>of</strong> which he has been a<br />
member since 1986, and as past president <strong>of</strong><br />
the Birmingham Michigan Rotary Club. He<br />
works with the Santa Fe Rotary Club to collect<br />
new and used music instruments for junior<br />
high and elementary school students. “We<br />
collected over 225 instruments in five years<br />
and the program is still continuing,” says Gene.<br />
His life in New Mexico’s high desert<br />
landscape inspires Gene to pursue his<br />
strong passion--painting. To do this, he’s<br />
added a large room with a covered patio<br />
area to his home that he uses as his studio<br />
and Sandy as her garden room. He mostly<br />
paints still-life, landscapes and portraits.<br />
Just recently, he completed a portrait <strong>of</strong><br />
former <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>University</strong> alumnus Bill Canup,<br />
class <strong>of</strong> 1943. Gene feels especially honored to<br />
capture Bill’s image on canvas. Bill received<br />
his war certificate, which is an equivalent<br />
to a bachelor’s degree, while serving in<br />
the USAAF as a navigator on a B-24.<br />
—by Justyna Konczalska<br />
All About Slovenia<br />
• The Republic <strong>of</strong> Slovenia declared<br />
its independence from the former<br />
Yugoslavia in 1991 and became a<br />
member <strong>of</strong> the European Union in 2004.<br />
• Slovenia is among the most successful<br />
<strong>of</strong> the countries in transition from<br />
socialism to a market economy. Since<br />
its independence, Slovenia has<br />
privatized its economy, stabilized<br />
inflation and wage growth, halted<br />
rising unemployment, strengthened<br />
its currency, relaxed the flow <strong>of</strong> capital,<br />
and modernized its taxation system.<br />
• Slovenia is bordered by Austria to the<br />
North, Hungary to the East, Croatia<br />
to the South, and Italy to the West.<br />
• Slovenia is slightly smaller in size<br />
than the state <strong>of</strong> New Jersey.<br />
• Four major European geographic regions<br />
meet in Slovenia: the Alps, the Dinaric area,<br />
the Pannonian plain and the Mediterranean.<br />
• More than 80% <strong>of</strong> the 2 million people<br />
who live in the country<br />
are Slovene, with<br />
Italians and<br />
Hungarians being<br />
the two largest<br />
minority groups.<br />
• Nearly 60% <strong>of</strong> the<br />
population is<br />
Roman Catholic,<br />
but almost 40<br />
other religious or<br />
spiritual groups<br />
exist in Slovenia.<br />
69
PROFILES<br />
Hazardous Waste<br />
Management alum<br />
goes batty<br />
Dave Kugler, MSHWM’02, was in the<br />
process <strong>of</strong> applying to <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>’s graduate<br />
school when his work brought him to the<br />
home <strong>of</strong> the future dean. The animal control<br />
company that employed Kugler received<br />
a call that Ralph Kummler, then director<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Hazardous Waste Management<br />
Program at the <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>,<br />
needed help removing bats from his attic.<br />
Kugler seized the opportunity: “While<br />
he was asking questions about the habits<br />
<strong>of</strong> bats, I was inquiring about <strong>Wayne</strong>’s<br />
environmental engineering program,” Kugler<br />
says. “It was a great way for me to break<br />
the ice prior to starting the program.”<br />
As an undergraduate in biology at Oakland<br />
<strong>University</strong>, Kugler worked part–time for<br />
A&D Animal Control in Oakland County. “I<br />
really enjoyed the work and I wanted to<br />
eventually start my own business.”<br />
Kugler’s dream was finally realized in 2005<br />
when he founded Critter Catchers, Inc.<br />
after working in the environmental, health<br />
and safety field for more than a decade.<br />
Critter Catchers, Inc. provides animal<br />
removal services in Southeastern Michigan,<br />
specializing in humane bat removal.<br />
Based in Ortonville, Critter Catchers is the<br />
only bat exclusion company affiliated with the<br />
Organization for Bat Conservation (OBC), a<br />
non-pr<strong>of</strong>it based at the Cranbrook Institute<br />
<strong>of</strong> Science in Bloomfield Hills, whose mission<br />
is to preserve bats and their habitats through<br />
education, collaboration and research.<br />
Kugler considers bat education to be a<br />
large part <strong>of</strong> his company’s responsibility,<br />
and makes great efforts to dispel common<br />
misconceptions about the creatures and to<br />
emphasize their environmental importance.<br />
“Humans instinctively fear the things<br />
in our world we don’t understand,” he<br />
says. “And bats, unfortunately, seem to<br />
land at the top <strong>of</strong> that list, regardless <strong>of</strong><br />
the many benefits they provide, like insect<br />
control around the home and garden.”<br />
Dave Kugler with an African Straw Colored Fruit Bat<br />
The company’s Web site, www.<br />
center and participate in the expansion<br />
crittercatchersinc.com, serves as a<br />
<strong>of</strong> our understanding <strong>of</strong> many <strong>of</strong> the<br />
useful educational tool, providing ample bats that are common in the Midwest.”<br />
information on the environmental benefits If the first three years <strong>of</strong> Critter Catchers<br />
<strong>of</strong> bats and the myths surrounding them. are an indication, Kugler will be busy. He<br />
In addition to the educational efforts made is now considering adding another vehicle<br />
through the Web site, Critter Catchers <strong>of</strong>fers to the fleet to better meet the needs <strong>of</strong><br />
a $1,000 grant to let the OBC grant provide the company’s growing customer base.<br />
supplemental funding toward its Live Bat<br />
While the transition from hazardous<br />
programs, which give young students and waste management and environmental<br />
educators an invaluable learning experience. engineering to critter control and bat<br />
For college-level students who have<br />
conservation may appear extreme, the two<br />
already cultivated an interest in the animals, areas can be viewed as very much related.<br />
Critter Catchers created a Bat Conservation Both require a thorough understanding<br />
Scholarship. Started in 2007, the scholarship <strong>of</strong> the ways in which systems work<br />
is available to students from Indiana <strong>State</strong> and the importance <strong>of</strong> all the parts.<br />
<strong>University</strong> (ISU) and six Michigan universities, “Bats are important to the ecosystem,”<br />
including <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong>, which have research says Kugler. “They have many<br />
programs linked to the research associates environmental benefits, such as<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Indiana <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong> Bat Center. reducing pesticide use. Reduce, reuse<br />
“The ISU Bat Center consists <strong>of</strong> the<br />
and recycle – that’s my environmental<br />
largest group <strong>of</strong> bat biologists in North<br />
engineering side showing through!”<br />
America,” says Kugler. “The scholarship is<br />
a way for Critter Catchers to support the<br />
—by Sydney Redigan<br />
photo by Dave Kugler<br />
70
October 3, <strong>2009</strong><br />
SAVE THE DATE<br />
Saturday, October 3<br />
In conjuction with <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> Homecoming at the<br />
Marvin I. Danto <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Development Center.<br />
For more information,<br />
sponsorships or to join<br />
the auction team, call Katora<br />
Cole at (313) 577-4840
I n d i v i d ua l Donor s to Engi n e e r i n g<br />
A u gus t 1, 2007 through Feb r ua ry 1, <strong>2009</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> Society<br />
$500,000 to $999,999<br />
Mr. James A. Anderson<br />
1868 Society<br />
$250,000 to $499,999<br />
Estate <strong>of</strong> Robert T. Marshall<br />
Mr. Yousif B. Ghafari<br />
Heritage Society<br />
$100,000 to $249,999<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Alvin M. Saperstein<br />
Cornerstone Society<br />
$50,000 to $99,999<br />
Anthony Kales, M.D.<br />
Mr. Donald C. Foren<br />
Charter Society<br />
$25,000 to $49,999<br />
Mr. Avinash W. Rachmale<br />
Mrs. Doris L. Letts<br />
Anthony <strong>Wayne</strong> Society<br />
$10,000 to $24,999<br />
Ms. Nancy L. Philippart<br />
Mr. Edward Forton<br />
William C. Rands, III<br />
Paul U. Strauss, M.D.<br />
Mr. Lawrence J. Achram<br />
Mrs. Susan M. Plasencia<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> Club<br />
$5,000 to $9,999<br />
Mr. Ronald L. Monahan<br />
Mr. David G. Kolodziej<br />
Mr. August W. Colandrea<br />
Dr. Ralph H. Kummler<br />
Gerald O. Thompkins<br />
Mr. James Williams<br />
David & Judy Reich<br />
Mr. Steven E. Kurmas<br />
Dean’s Club<br />
$1,000 to $4,999<br />
Ms. Linda P. McMath<br />
Mrs. Michele J. Grimm<br />
Mr. Thomas M. Pakula<br />
Mr. Egidio Basso<br />
Richard C. Viinikainen<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>. Harpreet Singh<br />
Andrew Brown, Jr., Ph.D., P.E.<br />
Mr. Anthony M. Tai<br />
Mr. Robert L. Byrum<br />
Mr. Randy R. Rogers<br />
Mr. Raymond J. Tessier<br />
Mr. Harpreet Singh<br />
Mr. Theodore J. Dombrowski<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Naeim A. Henein<br />
Dr. King-Hay Yang<br />
Mrs. Sandra J. Gardner<br />
Dr. Norman N. Li<br />
Mr. Randal T. Murphy<br />
Mrs. Mollie C. Leonelli<br />
Mr. Erik Roeren<br />
Mr. David A. Skiven<br />
Mr. Robert L. Ryan<br />
Mr. Donald E. Penrod<br />
Mr. Harry Kalajian<br />
Mr. Victor L. Berdichevsky<br />
Mr. Mark D. De Caussin<br />
Mr. Samir I. Musa<br />
Mr. Keith R. Outland<br />
Mr. Kenneth M. Pascany<br />
Mr. Jeng I. Chang<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Gregory W. Auner<br />
Mr. Gary A. Stasie<br />
Mr. Robert D. Brown<br />
Mr. Gerard J. Powierski<br />
Mr. David E. Scroggie<br />
Dr. Sean F. Wu<br />
Vinod K. Sahney<br />
Mr. John MacDougall<br />
Mr. James H. Frye<br />
Mr. Louis B. Deziel<br />
Marshall and Ying Ma<br />
Kye H. Ha, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Bruce L. Jacobs<br />
Green and Gold Club<br />
$500 to $999<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Evgeny I. Rivin<br />
Mr. Paul A. Simpson<br />
Mr. Joseph A. Boelter<br />
Mr. James W. Kosakowski<br />
Mr. Feng Lin<br />
Dr. Stanley K. Stynes<br />
Mr. Donald H. Suszko<br />
Mr. Douglas E. Phillips<br />
Mr. Harold E. Deen<br />
Ms. Edith M. Grashik<br />
Mr. Daniel J. Obudzinski<br />
Mr. Erhard W. Rothe<br />
Mr. Frank Mioczynski, Jr.<br />
Ms. Cynthia J. Percell<br />
Daniel Patrick Simon<br />
Mr. Michael J. Brady<br />
Mr. Martin R. Goldsberry<br />
Ms. Joan R. St. Amour-Scheske<br />
Mr. Dwight D. Jennings<br />
Mr. Frederick A. Walas<br />
Mr. William R. Callow<br />
Mr. Richard T. Gutowski<br />
Mr. Edward M. Vuylsteke<br />
Shyam Sharma<br />
Mr. Frank W. Green<br />
Mr. Paul S. Reynolds<br />
T. Krolikowski Buck<br />
Mr. Joseph Caschera<br />
Howard W. Matthew, Ph.D.<br />
Jesse S. Ruan, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Andre’ Alexander<br />
Mr. Dwight Battle<br />
Ms. Debora R. Marth<br />
Mr. Tito R. Marzotto<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Yang Zhao<br />
Joseph F. Louvar, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Frank Perna, Jr.<br />
Mr. John Nyland<br />
Mr. Leonard Wu<br />
Andrew A. Seleno, P.E.<br />
Mr. Mohindrapal S. Gill<br />
William T. Birge, P.E.<br />
Mr. James B. King<br />
Mr. Lushman S. Grewal<br />
Ms. Lydia B. Lazurenko<br />
Mr. Joseph M. Gasidlo<br />
Mr. James R. Schaaf<br />
Mr. Philip W. Husak<br />
Mr. Raj Vattikuti<br />
Mrs. Johnetta J. Miller<br />
Mr. Adrian Toader<br />
Mr. Thomas G. Herbon<br />
Mrs. Athena M. Carson<br />
72
Mr. Javan M. Banks<br />
Greg Mitchell<br />
Mr. Robert M. Grant<br />
Mr. Gopichand Kalahasthy<br />
Diana Siblini<br />
Ms. Katherine Abramczyk<br />
Mr. Francis G. King<br />
Peter McCafferty<br />
Ms. Virginia H. Black<br />
Ms. Jean R. Barnard<br />
Manubhai G. Patel<br />
Century Club<br />
$100 to $499<br />
Mr. David M. Farone<br />
Ms. Kathryn Russell<br />
Mr. Robert L. Pence<br />
Mr. Naidu G. Golla<br />
Mr. Brian J. Geraghty<br />
Mr. Gary T. Carlson<br />
Donald E. Neumann, Ph.D<br />
Ms. Helen A. Rychlewski<br />
Dr. Utpal Dutta<br />
Mrs. Janice L. Zryd<br />
Mr. Timothy A. Auch<br />
Ms. Colleen L. Hill<br />
Mr. Matthew D. Laba<br />
Dr. Albert I. King<br />
Mr. Nabil G. Chalhoub<br />
Ivan Avrutsky<br />
Catherine Hartner<br />
Mr. David M. Buchesky<br />
Mr. Steven Piehl<br />
Mr. Joseph P. Szafranski<br />
Mr. Andrew J. Haliw III<br />
Mr. Gerald A. Confer<br />
Mr. Hans J. Kuschnerus<br />
Mr. George R. Martell<br />
Mr. Christopher P. Petrous<br />
Enno Koehn, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Donald J. Connell<br />
Mr. Richard J. Mazur<br />
Mrs. Michaline J. Szady<br />
Mr. Kevin M. McLaughlin<br />
Mr. Jeffrey M. Zryd<br />
Ms. Pamela S. Confer<br />
Ms. Rebecca King-Shelby<br />
Mr. Paul R. Nahra<br />
Ms. Vera A. Blake<br />
Mr. Syed M. Mahmud<br />
Radovan Miucic<br />
Mr. Mark S. Laginess<br />
Mr. Ryan B. Moulliet<br />
Mr. John D. Kostun<br />
Mr. Douglas J. Ziemnick<br />
Mr. Frederick C. Quitmeyer<br />
Mr. Vittorio Veltri<br />
Mr. Montgomery P. Liu<br />
Dr. Gregory T. Roginski<br />
Mr. Richard J. Fekete<br />
Dr. Robert A. Smith<br />
Leslie Rhodes<br />
Mr. John H. McMicking<br />
Mr. John M. Sweier<br />
Daniel A. Harden, Jr.<br />
Ms. Cristin B. Grove<br />
Richard Darin Ellis<br />
Mr. Leonard R. Urban<br />
Mr. Harvey C. Hamel<br />
Mr. James K. Kohut<br />
Mr. Paul D. Vial<br />
Mr. Kevin C. DeLisle<br />
Maria C. Staab, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Prasad L. Nannapaneni<br />
Ms. Soma R. Haque<br />
Mr. Anthony W. Opipari, Sr.<br />
Dr. Harold J. Mertz, Jr.<br />
Mr. Edmund J. Jonoski<br />
Mr. Juhan Telmet<br />
Walter Mazur, Jr.<br />
Mr. David B. Murphey<br />
Charles E. Rossiter, Jr.<br />
Mr. James G. Newton<br />
Jinagna Shah<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Snehamay Khasnabis<br />
Mr. Kerry H. Borchardt<br />
Ms. Karen A. Raggio<br />
Ms. Katora M. Cole<br />
Mr. Leroy E. Drake<br />
James C Klotz<br />
Sam Nasser, M.D.<br />
Mr. Glenn W. Czupinski<br />
Ms. Michelle A. Brusatori<br />
Mr. Michael S. Dymek<br />
Mr. Costantinos A. Kircos<br />
Ms. Susan Samrah<br />
Mr. Michael A. Bott<br />
Shuo Yang, Ph.D<br />
William C. Vogel, Jr.<br />
Dave Mechergui<br />
Glenn Karbowski<br />
Charles B. Leffert, Ph.D.<br />
Gerald Goeschel<br />
Mr. Amit Kapoor<br />
Dr. Rolf H. Eppinger<br />
John C. Montagna, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Frederick C. Levantrosser<br />
Mr. David L. Klaasen<br />
Mr. Gerald L. Goldberg<br />
Mr. Robert Arnold Schuessler<br />
Mrs. Elizabeth A. Ardahl<br />
Ms. Tobenette Holtz<br />
Mr. Richard W. Hornby<br />
Mr. Benny F. Baker<br />
Mr. Jerry A. Beresh<br />
Mr. James H. Horn<br />
Mr. Clifford C. Chou<br />
Kingman E. Yee, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. John T. Kerrigan<br />
Mr. Michael J. Cynecki<br />
Harmahendar Singh, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. James G. McLeish<br />
Mrs. Barbara J. Levantrosser<br />
Mr. David R. Morrison<br />
Mr. James E. Bailey<br />
Nayan Patel<br />
Clay L. Snyder<br />
Tobenette Holtz<br />
Ms. Shirley A. Abar<br />
Mrs. Rita Brown<br />
Daniel Neumann<br />
Mr. Mark D. Gartner<br />
Dr. Purna G. Pai<br />
Dornis C. Morin, Jr.<br />
Mrs. Joann C. Greene<br />
Mr. Robert N. Morris<br />
Ms. Gail W. Ehle<br />
Mr. William A. Wiktor, Jr.<br />
Mr. Thomas A. Amato<br />
Victoria Ann Stacey<br />
Mr. Dale R. Palmer<br />
Mr. Marvin A. Olane<br />
Mr. Carl G. Benninger<br />
Mr. Michael J. Durisin<br />
73
I n d i v i d ua l Donor s to Engi n e e r i n g<br />
A u gus t 1, 2007 through Feb r ua ry 1, <strong>2009</strong><br />
Mr. Roger P. Kalinowsky<br />
Mr. Jack C. Trabin<br />
Ms. Dorothea T. Pomfret<br />
Mr. John E. Edry<br />
Mr. David R. Finley<br />
Mr. Christopher J. Dakin<br />
Mr. Thomas J. Malbouef, Jr.<br />
Mr. Dominic J. Allam<br />
Mr. James R. Panyard<br />
Mr. John C. Friend<br />
Chun Zhou, Ph.D<br />
Dr. Edward L. Walker<br />
Mr. Sam J. Criscenti<br />
Mr. Jeffrey S. Burlingame<br />
Mr. Michael R. Hanchin<br />
Ms. Cynthia A. Bir<br />
Mr. David J. Schmitz<br />
Mr. James R. Wetterstrom<br />
John M. Cavanaugh, PhD<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Carol J. Miller<br />
Mr. Robert W. Brown<br />
Mr. John R. Hepola<br />
Mr. John F. Schmitt<br />
Mr. Jim Groening<br />
Mr. George W. Niepoth<br />
Mr. Marc I. Rich<br />
Mr. Alexander J. Anderson<br />
Mr. Wendell J. George<br />
Mr. Kenneth C. Milner<br />
Mrs. Pamela M. Brady<br />
Mr. Frank C. Wong<br />
Mr. Vern E. Brooks<br />
Mr. Donato Palizzi<br />
Mr. Gerald A. Gorrell<br />
Mr. Sergio L. Calderoni<br />
Mr. Robert A. Fenech<br />
Mr. Simond S. Taylor<br />
Mr. Jack D. Kindree<br />
Mr. Allen Forsaith<br />
Mr. Thomas A. Knurek<br />
Mr. Ihor Melnykowycz<br />
Mr. Bruce D. Towle<br />
Mr. Don B. Kantz<br />
Mr. Ronald M. Gabel<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Gurchiek<br />
Mr. George B. Newitt<br />
Mr. & Mrs. Claude G. Robinson<br />
Mr. Joseph Podorsek<br />
Mr. Louis J. Pedicini<br />
Dr. Stephen Tennyson<br />
Mr. Norb L. Keller<br />
Mr. George Bakopoulos<br />
Mr. John R. Edwards<br />
Mr. John C. Schmuhl<br />
Mr. Thomas K. McGathen<br />
Mr. Steven C. Setsuda<br />
Mr. Vernon A. Brown<br />
Mr. James W. Paquet<br />
Dr. Paula A. Whitlock<br />
Mrs. Hedwig E. Whitman Kasotis<br />
Mr. David P. Sczomak<br />
Mr. Thomas J. Sluchak<br />
Mr. Adolph K. Lohwasser<br />
Ms. Tynetta M. Alston<br />
Mr. Ralph Bugamelli<br />
Mr. Albert Edward Hong<br />
Mr. Kenneth P. Kaufman<br />
Mrs. Tracey A. Goddeeris<br />
Dr. Roger C. Shulze<br />
Mr. Ronald M. Revyn<br />
Ms. Nancy A. New<br />
Mariana G. Forrest, Ph.D.<br />
Ms. Ruth Ma<br />
Mr. Allen Forsaith<br />
Mrs. Barbara A. Shulze<br />
Ms. Karen E. Ridgway<br />
Dr. Suresh B. Vemuri<br />
Mr. Thomas P. Weiss<br />
Mr. Thomas M. Perkins<br />
Mr. Michael J. Szydlowski<br />
Mr. Dinu P. Taraza<br />
Suvra Chakrabarti<br />
Mary Lou Dudley<br />
Niladri Sannigrahi<br />
Tejveer Soodan<br />
Tintu Abraham<br />
Lia Grillo<br />
Ariadne Moore<br />
Mr. Kirk Bailey<br />
Mr. Karl O. Anderson<br />
Mr. Irwin D. Meyers<br />
Mr. Kamlesh Mathur<br />
Mr. Robert N. Sliwinski<br />
Mr. Trilochan Singh<br />
Mr. Edward Yosick<br />
Mr. Leo Batchelor<br />
Mr. John M. Stencel<br />
Mr. Orest Iwasiuk<br />
Mr. Balbir S. Tuteja<br />
Mr. Michael J. Law<br />
Mr. Thomas D. Barker<br />
Mr. Warne J. Crocker, Jr.<br />
Donald J. Smolenski, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Jerome V. Krinock<br />
Mr. Joseph A. Becker<br />
Mr. Darryl R. Stanbrough<br />
Mr. Arthur A. Kriewall<br />
Mr. Douglas S. Szopo<br />
Mr. William R. Knapp<br />
Mr. Kenneth R. Rygwelski<br />
Mr. Robert Kakos<br />
Yeau-Jian Liao<br />
Mrs. Denise A. Burns<br />
Mr. David E. Kowalski<br />
Mr. James A. Castelvetere<br />
Ms. Lori M. Bartsch<br />
Mr. Roman T. Nestorowicz<br />
Mr. Daniel C. Morris<br />
Ms. Elizabeth M. McKinney<br />
Mr. Manuel G. Suero<br />
Ms. Mary J. Coppinger<br />
Mr. Ensign D. Emerson<br />
Mr. Larry E. Thow<br />
Mr. Donald D. Tomayko<br />
Mr. Frank G. Brandenberg<br />
Mr. Alexander Kargilis<br />
Mr. Edward R. Coleman<br />
Mr. Weston L. Schultz<br />
Mr. <strong>Wayne</strong> M. Neeley<br />
Mr. Glenn A. Goodwin<br />
Mr. Terry M. North<br />
Mr. Thomas E. Rutt<br />
Mr. Sukh D. Kaushal<br />
Arvind J. Padgaonkar, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Stewart B. Mitchell<br />
Mr. Lawrence Baranyai<br />
Mr. Terry M. Manion<br />
Mr. Keith W. Donaldson<br />
Mrs. Nancy Holt<br />
Mr. John L. Clement<br />
Mr. Douglas House, M.Ed & Family<br />
Mr. Gordon D. Hauk<br />
Mr. George W. Miller<br />
Mr. David A. Winer<br />
74
Mr. Michael A. Capraro<br />
Leslie F. Monplaisir<br />
Mr. Michael Muscat<br />
Mr. David M. Chegash<br />
Mr. Ricky G. Hendershot<br />
Mr. Mark G. Rotary<br />
Mr. Robert R. Woodard<br />
Charles W. Manke, Jr.<br />
Mr. Herold J. Lueders<br />
Mr. Daniel B. Kolton<br />
Mr. Douglas K. Waineo<br />
Mr. Roger W. Liska<br />
Mr. Michael A. Reuter<br />
Mr. Sankara Warrier<br />
Mr. Nassif E. Rayess<br />
Mr. Rolf R. Amsler<br />
Mr. Frederick A. Creswick<br />
Mr. Gary E. Abell<br />
Mr. Willard O. Keightley<br />
Mr. Robert M. Mutch<br />
Mr. Bradford D. Hughley<br />
Mr. Paul T. Sgriccia<br />
Mr. Richard L. Allman<br />
Lee H. Runk<br />
Mr. Jack V. Daquano<br />
Mr. Andy Okab<br />
Mr. Richard B. Katnik<br />
Ms. Billie E. Lampinen<br />
Mr. Stephen L. Finley<br />
Mr. Steven P. Wharton<br />
Ms. Alice J. Cornwell<br />
Robert G. Huff, Jr.<br />
Mr. Marcello Veneziano<br />
Mr. Cleveland M. Simmons<br />
Mr. Elhadi M. Saeed<br />
Mr. George K. Baumgartner<br />
Mrs. Jennifer N. Kindseth<br />
Mr. Paul S. Brzezinski<br />
Ms. Mary K. Schied-Maki<br />
Mr. Lawrence Rogers<br />
Mr. Kun-Ling Shen<br />
Mr. Huichang Wang<br />
Mr. Suresh K. Panganamala<br />
Mr. Suresh B. Yarlagadda<br />
Mrs. Barbara J. Herard<br />
Mr. T. K. Hollandsworth<br />
Ms. Kimberley R. Taylor-Will<br />
Mr. Donald H. Chambers<br />
Ms. Norma DiVirgilio<br />
Ms. Martha A. Pale<br />
Mr. Darnell Wiley<br />
Mr. Balasubramania Suresh<br />
Mr. David J. Moan<br />
Mr. James C. Roach<br />
Claude A. Fiori, Jr.<br />
Mr. Martin Kiernicki<br />
Mr. R. Trevor Gersch<br />
Mr. Tejinder Singh<br />
Mr. Mark A. Narduzzi<br />
Mr. Steven J. Drake<br />
Mr. Tsan-Hai Chue, Ph.D.<br />
John P. Barletta, M.D.<br />
Dr. John G. Venious<br />
Mr. Bhavesh B. Merchant<br />
Mr. Lee E. Bowling<br />
Mr. Douglas R. Sinclair<br />
Ms. Ellen M. Bernard-Buie<br />
Mr. Kevin M. Swenskowski<br />
Mr. Gopal P. Mohanty<br />
Sharmistha Basu, Ph.D.<br />
Ms. Patricia J. Novak<br />
Mr. Lyndon P. Williams<br />
Mr. Paul J. Charron<br />
Mr. Young J. Kim<br />
Mr. Kevin C. McCann<br />
Mr. Richard H. Lewthwaite<br />
Ms. Cui H. Lee<br />
Mr. Keith J. Kalinowski<br />
Mr. Paul S. Bryant<br />
Mr. Sean E. Granger<br />
Mr. Anthony J. Gullitti<br />
Mr. William A. Miller<br />
Mr. Mafaz Zafar<br />
Mr. Richard F. Urban<br />
Guangjun Wang, Ph.D<br />
Mr. Krishnan S. Narayan<br />
Mr. Partap C. Lall<br />
Ms. Huan Liu<br />
Feng Luan<br />
Ms. Denise A. Trabbic-Pointer<br />
Mr. Kenneth E. Horn<br />
Mr. Attila Yaprak<br />
Chaoyan Chen<br />
Dr. James H. McMicking<br />
Mr. Tapan K. Datta<br />
Mr. Thomas M. Heidtke<br />
Dr. Mulchand S. Rathod<br />
Mr. Gary K. Cleary<br />
Mr. Eugene M. Tomlinson<br />
Ning Zhang<br />
Ms. Lori J. Dereniewski<br />
Mr. Walter Wang<br />
Xuemei Liang<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Melvin P. Shaw<br />
Mr. Murray Burnstine<br />
Mr. Sanford L. Pearl<br />
Mr. Robert N. Pease<br />
Mr. Vahram V. Guiragossian<br />
Mr. Harry M. Ferrari<br />
Mr. George R. Schatz<br />
Mr. Julius Damrow<br />
Mr. Gerald J. Demirjian<br />
Mr. Hans Peter Hugger<br />
Mr. Roger A. Olin<br />
Mr. Arun K. Kapoor<br />
Arthur E. Schneider, Jr.<br />
Mr. James R. Walker<br />
Mr. Edward D. Paley<br />
Mr. Richard S. Mazzella<br />
Mr. Max Frank<br />
Mr. Harry R. Kansman<br />
Mr. Herbert E. Rickert<br />
Louis W. Geisling, Jr.<br />
Mr. John A. Ellis<br />
George I. V. Cascos<br />
Mr. John R. Martini<br />
Mr. John M. Paterson<br />
Mr. Warren S. Peterson<br />
Mr. Jared G. Cuddy<br />
Mr. Raymond R. Yadach<br />
Mr. Victor T. Squires<br />
Mrs. Diana C. Koenig<br />
Mr. Orville E. Homeister<br />
Mr. Donald J. Ray<br />
Mr. Yogindra N. Anand<br />
Mr. Alfred P. Blomquist<br />
Mr. Daniel T. Craig<br />
Mr. Paul R. Tomandl<br />
Dr. Frank W. Bliss<br />
Mr. Nicolaos Tapazoglou<br />
Mr. Ralph J. Hitchcock<br />
Dr. Michael F. Kowalski<br />
Mr. Gediminas Balanda<br />
Mr. Rudolph J. DeSanto<br />
75
I n d i v i d ua l Donor s to Engi n e e r i n g<br />
A u gus t 1, 2007 through Feb r ua ry 1, <strong>2009</strong><br />
Mr. John L. Gorsky<br />
Peter Kalakailo, Jr.<br />
Mr. Edouard Stines<br />
Priya Prasad, Ph.D.<br />
William A. Crozier, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Robert F. Gurchiek<br />
Mr. Douglas C. Wagner<br />
Mr. William D. Timmins<br />
Mr. Daniel Morgul<strong>of</strong>f<br />
Mr. Sol Love<br />
Mr. William A. Cummings<br />
Mr. Ronald P. Meyers<br />
Mr. Warren M. Lydecker<br />
Mr. Milton Ruderman<br />
Mr. James E. Friant<br />
Mr. Arthur S. Ochotny<br />
Mr. Helmut Lelke<br />
Mr. Ronald R. Boltz<br />
Mrs. Sharon K. Francis<br />
Mr. Onorio J. Coletti<br />
Mr. William Wen<br />
Mr. Allen K. Lim<br />
Mr. Ram H. Shahani<br />
Mr. Stephen R. Turns<br />
Mr. Robert G. Kraynak<br />
Mr. Fred Boynton, III<br />
Mr. Michael A. Anleitner<br />
Mr. Edward M. Singleton<br />
Ms. Diane L. Mudge<br />
Mr. Mark G. Loch<br />
Mr. Kevin M. Hinman<br />
Mr. Stanislao Krasucki<br />
James L. Czekaj, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Robert L. Vassel<br />
Mr. Douglas B. Stapleton<br />
Ms. Nancy M. Poma<br />
Atulbhai S. Shah, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Thomas M. Roberts<br />
Mr. Kim R. Parham<br />
Mr. Oscar A. Ruiz<br />
Mr. Henry L. Chapman<br />
Mr. Michael J. Krivitzky<br />
Mr. Robert L. Varilone<br />
Mr. Lawrence R. Chute<br />
Dr. Athanacios N. Nasr<br />
Mr. William Mesler<br />
Ms. Kimberly L. Pittel<br />
Mr. George W. Thompson<br />
Mr. Richard Lynch<br />
Mr. Thomas A. Hurst<br />
Mr. Gerald W. Powers<br />
Mr. Robert J. Bush<br />
Mr. William R. Hansen<br />
Mr. James E. Horton<br />
Mr. Joseph P. Kent<br />
Amjid Hussain<br />
Ms. Lynda K. Jeffries<br />
Haojie Mao<br />
Noshir A. Langrana<br />
Ms. Joann O. Parrinder<br />
Marion M. Bowen<br />
Mr. Jason J. Robinson<br />
Mr. William E. Brammer<br />
Mr. Mark Kane<br />
$99 and Under<br />
Ms. Gladys P. Maxwell<br />
Abhilash Pandya<br />
Mr. Anthony A. Daneshyar<br />
Mr. Gary L. Zaddach<br />
Ms. Anna Veksler<br />
Mr. Ron Ruckdeschel<br />
Mr. Alex Nicholas<br />
Ambrosia Brown<br />
Ioana C. Finegan, Ph.D<br />
Mr. Sudhakar Inguva<br />
Mr. Andrew B. Pelto<br />
Mr. Morgan Everett<br />
Mr. Todd R. Jarson<br />
Mr. Paul A. Mazur<br />
Mr. John B. Cox<br />
Allean H. House<br />
Ms. Alicia Chapman<br />
Eric Brush<br />
Mr. Jerry P. Lindsay<br />
Ms. Robin C. Bishop<br />
Mr. Carl M. Rose<br />
Mr. Charles R. Gietzen<br />
Mr. Ravi Murugesan<br />
Mr. Michael T. Vallie<br />
Mr. Shobhit S. Sharma<br />
Mr. Roger J. Boileau<br />
Mr. Michael D. Bolon<br />
Mr. Peter W. Maurin<br />
Mr. Thomas J. Mieszczak<br />
Mr. Carl I. Lafata<br />
Mr. Jack L. Campau<br />
Mr. D. Edward Dolgorukov<br />
Mr. George H. Klaetke<br />
Mr. Archibald McLelland<br />
Mr. Judson A. Lehman<br />
Mr. Duane D. DeDene<br />
Mrs. Patrice Fisher<br />
Mr. Timothy S. Klepaczyk<br />
Mr. William Mar<br />
Mr. Michael Shaw<br />
Kenneth A. Kline<br />
Dr. Edward R. Fisher<br />
Ms. Carol Irvine<br />
Mr. Carl LaFata<br />
Ms. Susan Byrum<br />
Mr. Bruce H. Fonda<br />
Mr. David R. Mulligan<br />
Mr. Stanley T. Rae<br />
Dr. Barbara K. Krieger<br />
Mr. Giovanni Bolgiani<br />
Mr. Ronald E. Compton<br />
Mr. Robert L. Delong<br />
Mr. Mumtaz A. Usmen<br />
Mr. Frank G. Dumont<br />
Mr. Joseph Anthony Zielonka<br />
Michelle Larsosa<br />
Mr. John E. Wolf<br />
Mr. Richard A. Curtis<br />
Mr. Hymie Cutler<br />
Mr. William Margolin<br />
Mr. Leonard W. Kata<br />
Mr. Joon-Sup Oh<br />
Mr. Terrence D. Grace<br />
Dhruba Sinha, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Thelbert L. Holland<br />
Mr. Gwo-Jyh Tseng<br />
Mr. Amit K. Bhowmick<br />
Mr. Thomas A. Tobin<br />
Mr. Dale A. Huebner<br />
Mr. Donald W. Rees<br />
Mr. Anthony N. Duminski<br />
Mr. Maurice Rapkin<br />
Mr. Richard W. Duden<br />
Mr. William C. Hausman<br />
Mr. Rajesh L. Saxena<br />
Mr. John Torvinen<br />
Lucious Tyrone Shellman, Jr.<br />
Mr. Tom T. Kallapure<br />
76
Mr. William C. Ford<br />
Ms. Julie A. O’Connor<br />
Ms. Gail P. Evans-Hoze<br />
Feng Bin, Ph.D<br />
Rimvydas V. Mickevicius, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Pavlos Karabinas<br />
George C. Renninger, Jr.<br />
Mr. Mark T. Hall<br />
Mr. David A. Whitton II<br />
Mr. Dominic D. Galia<br />
Mr. Frederick D. Roseman<br />
Mrs. Nancy M. Brunette<br />
David R. Terrace, P.E.<br />
Mr. <strong>Wayne</strong> A. Bloem<br />
Ms. Melissa T. Pettijohn<br />
Ms. Marina I. Carducci<br />
Mrs. Teresa A. Whalen LeFevre<br />
Mr. Sang S. Koh<br />
Mr. Jon M. Kinsler<br />
Nabil A. Hachem, Ph.D<br />
Mr. Nicola A. Broggi<br />
Mr. Willard W. Schultz, Jr.<br />
Mr. Carey J. Suhan<br />
Mr. David F. Dunayczan<br />
Mr. Amer M. Haidar-Ahmad<br />
Mr. Nickolaos S. Katrivesis<br />
Mr. Anthony F. Mazzola<br />
Mr. Roger B. Johnson<br />
Bonnie Wood<br />
Ms. Karen L. Johnson<br />
Mr. Yuanzhan He<br />
Mr. David T. Bozek<br />
Mr. Terence A. Smith<br />
Mr. Lawrence W. Grant<br />
Ms. Gloria J. Yarber<br />
Ms. Mary Beth Cobbs<br />
Mr. Daniel J. Opalewski<br />
Mr. Gregory C. Fleck<br />
Mr. Peter J. Maciejewski<br />
Mr. Michael E. Stoeckle<br />
Mr. Matthew L. Behr<br />
Mr. James T. Czech<br />
Mr. Theodore D. Dziurman, P.E, P.C.<br />
Mr. Michael T. Riley<br />
Ms. Malgorzata Macks<br />
Elizabeth C. Buc, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. William S. Seibel<br />
Mr. Syed A. Raza<br />
Mr. Damon John Robinson<br />
Mr. Tianjian Yan<br />
Ms. Kathleen M. Shields<br />
Mr. Sa’Ad M. Merayyan<br />
Ms. Flaminia Serina<br />
Mr. Dale T. Titus<br />
Harlan F. Worden, Sr.<br />
Mr. Ramachandra R. Kurchkulla<br />
Mr. Eric E. Bernreuter<br />
Mr. Jianrong Qin<br />
Mr. John M. Davis<br />
Mr. Christopher L. Harden<br />
Mr. Mark S. Bercik<br />
Dr. Jerome Meisel<br />
Mr. Paul G. Shumejko<br />
Justin G Wiseman<br />
Ms. Ramzi J. Basharahil<br />
Mr. Raymond J. McDonald<br />
Paul Benton<br />
Mr. Manohar B. Motwani<br />
Ms. Yvonne Johnson<br />
Dongmei Rong<br />
Mr. James R. Moden<br />
Mr. Curtis W. Kovach<br />
Mr. Alfred D. Stevens<br />
Rolland S. Fulton, Jr.<br />
Mr. Sung C. Liu<br />
Mr. Neal Hepner<br />
Mr. John C. Prakken<br />
Mr. Stanley C. Kulczycki<br />
Mr. Richard S. Kirk<br />
Mr. James C. Repp<br />
Mr. Carl D. Taulbee<br />
Mr. Csaba Z. Konya<br />
Mr. Robert D. Chute<br />
Mr. Bernard A. MacIver<br />
Mr. Fred Menders<br />
Mr. Stephen L. Bussa<br />
Mr. Dominic Sebastiani<br />
Shirley Schwartz, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. John G. Frank<br />
Mr. Marco B. Rentis<br />
Mr. John A. Svera<br />
Mr. Raul A. Galindo<br />
Mr. Ronald E. Mutzelburg<br />
Mr. Patrick J. Smithbauer<br />
William C. Baxter<br />
James S. Campbell, Jr.<br />
Mr. Harvey C. Yates<br />
Mr. Edmund J. Piasecki<br />
Mr. Proves R. Banks, Jr.<br />
Peter C. K. Lui, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph and Carol<br />
Urbance<br />
Mr. Ronald W. Kind<br />
Mr. Timothy E. Schmitz<br />
Mr. Peter T. Rock<br />
Mr. Joseph P. Barzotti<br />
Mr. Joseph B. Nowell<br />
Mr. Kamlesh A. Pai-Panandiker<br />
Mr. Joseph J. Wehener<br />
Mr. Bernard G. Guenterberg<br />
Mr. Bruce G. Schelden<br />
Dr. Ronald J. Pogorzelski<br />
Mr. George J. Naff<br />
Mr. John D. Compton<br />
Mr. Fredric H. Kaehler<br />
Mr. Larry I. Ross<br />
Mr. Michael J. Salata<br />
Mr. Richard Kozlowicz<br />
Mr. Naresh C. Kapila<br />
Mr. Frederick C. Navarre<br />
Mr. Chester D. Skrzypek<br />
Mr. Robert J. Parys<br />
Mr. Walter L. Pickwick<br />
Dr. Robert C. McCune<br />
Mr. Daniel Olah<br />
Mr. Jack R. Whitehead<br />
Mr. Oleh D. Berezowskyj<br />
Lucille Sellinger Seitz<br />
Mrs. Mary H. Sieg<br />
Mr. Nimish K. Desai<br />
Mr. Gary M. Gaworecki<br />
Mr. Paul G. Barletta<br />
Mr. Mark G. Geis<br />
Mr. Kenneth A. Brooks<br />
Mrs. Joanne M. Caruana-Hayes<br />
Mr. Timothy G. H<strong>of</strong>fman<br />
Mr. Mohammed Aslam<br />
Mr. Joseph J. Mihm<br />
Mr. Michael V. Grobbel<br />
Mr. Sid M Broder<br />
Mr. V. S. Rajagopalan<br />
Mr. John D. Gustaf, Jr.<br />
Mr. Dezi O. Seabrooks<br />
Mr. Kirk D. Arthurs<br />
77
I n d i v i d ua l Donor s to Engi n e e r i n g<br />
A u gus t 1, 2007 through Feb r ua ry 1, <strong>2009</strong><br />
Mr. Peter W. Woryk<br />
Mr. Rogier D. Durand<br />
Ms. Monique K. Mansoura<br />
Mr. Kenneth L. Zerafa<br />
Mr. Michael G. Houghton<br />
Mrs. Loretta B. Nelson<br />
Mrs. Cathrine A. St Clair<br />
Mr. Andrew W. Zichichi<br />
Mr. Kenneth W. Bowen<br />
Mr. Thomas M. O’Brien<br />
Thomas J.P. Wysocki<br />
Mr. David K. Smith<br />
Mr. James D. Joseph<br />
Mr. Thomas J. Turnbull<br />
John K. Brennan, Ph.D<br />
Ms. Mary T. Horgan<br />
Ms. Vijayenndra S. Hadagali<br />
Mr. Nathan Konopka<br />
Bhavan Pandya<br />
Kiattisak Wongsopanakul<br />
Mr. David J. Barrett<br />
Balaji Myrtheunjayan<br />
Hari Priya Myneni<br />
Mr. Ron Lawson<br />
Mr. Timothy J. Gates<br />
Ms. Shelly Nawojski<br />
Rose Baldwin<br />
Ms. Diane M. Bercik<br />
Mr. Gerald R. Provencal<br />
Mr. Michael Martin<br />
Ms. LaVonne W. Swift<br />
Ms. Xiaohuai Yang<br />
Mr. Victor C. Yarne<br />
Mr. & Mrs. Robert & Laurel Jones<br />
Kedrick D. Adkins, Jr.<br />
Mr. Gerald E. Piontek<br />
Mr. Michael F. Van Tull<br />
Mr. Stephen L. Hahn<br />
Ms. Mary K. Michno<br />
Scott R. Frump<br />
Mr. Dennis M. Briggs<br />
Mr. Manas Thongpreda<br />
Mr. La Verne A. Caron<br />
Mr. Anthony J. Martinico<br />
Ms. Darlene L. House<br />
Mr. Herbert J. Strather<br />
Mr. Roderick Casey<br />
Mrs. Gloria A. Harkness<br />
Mr. Fred H. Reinhart<br />
Mrs. Sylvia Iwrey<br />
Mr. David E. Guastella<br />
Mr. Weichung Chang<br />
Mr. Richard A. Hachenski<br />
Mr. Zhaowu Huang<br />
Mr. Salman A. Mohammed<br />
Mr. Gary L. Fauser<br />
Mr. Snehal R. Patel<br />
Archie Kinney<br />
Mr. John E. Sanders<br />
Mr. Ben-Zion Rosenblum<br />
Mrs. Cindie L. Bucks<br />
Mr. Lee M. D’ziekan<br />
Henry Lybeck, P.E.<br />
Mr. Lawrence M. Kutcher<br />
Mr. James T. Bates<br />
Ms. Li Wang<br />
Christopher Hiler<br />
Ms. Adrienne Gregg<br />
Ms. Cheryl A. Hughes<br />
Mr. Frederick J. Krestik<br />
Ms. Merrilyn L. Ruch<br />
Mr. Thomas H. Harvey<br />
Ivy Miller<br />
Ms. Catherine J. Seamon<br />
Mr. Marvin E. Leibson<br />
Mr. Knute R. Wicklund<br />
Mr. Andrea L. Lijoi<br />
Mr. Lawrence V. Krzesowski<br />
Mr. William P. Ramroth<br />
Mr. Gregory E. Bockheim<br />
Mr. Robert E. Alvey<br />
Mr. Hebon J. Ducote, Jr.<br />
Mr. Donald M. Lai<br />
Mr. Michael A. Koziara<br />
Mr. John E. Anderson<br />
Mr. Timothy A. Kelly<br />
Ms. Sharon A. Mabe<br />
Ms. Shannon M. Kowalski<br />
Mr. James R. Palm<br />
Mr. Allan Taylor<br />
Mrs. Ann S. White<br />
Mr. Gregory M. Everly<br />
Mr. Nicholas G. Zorka<br />
Mr. Jim H. Klozik<br />
Mr. Joseph W. Turckes<br />
Mr. Alan F. Judge<br />
Mr. David L. Bussell<br />
Ms. Cathy M. Smalley<br />
Mr. Muqthar Ahmed<br />
Mr. Steven L. Chetcuti<br />
Ms. Jennifer Boss<br />
Ms. Tracy J. Ledingham<br />
Mr. Ted S. Paterson<br />
Mr. Kenneth O. Peebles<br />
Dana M. Johnson, Ph.D<br />
Mr. Michael S. McMullen<br />
Ms. Zina J. Kozak-Zachary<br />
Ms. Allison M. Rosinski<br />
Mr. Lawrence D. Dropiewski<br />
Mr. Steven E. Muldoon<br />
James Young<br />
Ms. Rosemary L. Limes-Ziegler<br />
Stephen Taylor<br />
Rahmatollah Golshan, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Rodney B. Lewis<br />
Mr. Melrose Cole<br />
Mr. Ray A. Hunter<br />
Mr. Richard L. Monnett<br />
Mr. N. Peter Kenyon<br />
Mr. Noray Sarkisian<br />
Mr. Sol Panush<br />
Mr. Thaddeus S. Stanek<br />
Mr Peter G. Kremlick<br />
Mr. Edmond J. Van Elslander<br />
Mr. August R. Zielinski<br />
Mr. George Mouradian<br />
Mr. Frederick C. Becker<br />
Mr. Carl E. Demek<br />
Mr. Robert A. Husen<br />
Mr. James C. Hobson<br />
Mr. Robert J. Salloum<br />
Mr. Leonard R. Laskowski<br />
Mr. Frank V. Olivero<br />
Mr. Alfred Goldstein<br />
Mr. Alvin M. Kurz<br />
Mr. Marion A. Culpepper<br />
Mr. Krishan L. Bedi<br />
Mr. Nathaniel A. Ustick<br />
Mr. Darwin D. Diederich<br />
Kenneth S. Opiela, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Kim L. Jackson<br />
Mr. Michael D. Platzke<br />
Mr. Paul W. H<strong>of</strong>fman<br />
Mr. James A. Hesla<br />
78
Mr. Edward S. Soltysiak<br />
Dr. Fred D. Davis, Jr.<br />
Mr. Michael White<br />
Mr. Clifton E. Tally, Jr.<br />
Ms. Karla Jaeger<br />
Mr. Lee S. H<strong>of</strong>fman<br />
Mr. Cono Emanuele<br />
Mr. John J. Laybourn<br />
Benny Vann, Jr.<br />
Mr. Kenneth J. Duluk<br />
Mr. William M. Taylor<br />
Mr. John P. Makinen<br />
Mr. David A. Johnson<br />
Mr. Arthur P. Roberts<br />
Mr. Muhammad A.R. Siddiqui<br />
Mary Kathryn Kendro<br />
Ms. Kathleen Russeau<br />
Mr. Manojkuma A. Sadselia<br />
Mr. Lawrence R. Smentowski<br />
Mr. Dennis J. Karl<br />
Mr. Huiyao Liu<br />
Kamal M. Shenaq, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. Thomas A. May<br />
Mr. Donald G. White<br />
Ms. Colleen McIlwain<br />
Mr. Richard C. Gray<br />
Huiqin Ding<br />
Mr. Deb K. Bandhopadhyay<br />
Ms. Melinda L. Bacon<br />
Ms. Dane Simovski<br />
C. Robert Finkelstein<br />
Mr. Bert W. Cartwright<br />
Mr. George E. Aho<br />
Mr. Edward C. Marckwardt<br />
Mr. John E. Kotwick<br />
Mr. James T. Wuori<br />
Mr. Peter G. DiSante<br />
Mr. John S. Chin<br />
Ms. Henrietta D. Skauge<br />
Mr. Gang Wang<br />
Arvadia M. Howard<br />
Billy Potts<br />
Mr. Joseph Singer<br />
Mr. Madhukar N. Badheka<br />
Mr. Subhash C. Gupta<br />
Mr. Naresh R. Shah<br />
Mr. Viraf B. Khambatta<br />
Mr. Paul M. Laginess<br />
Mr. David W. Turnquist<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth J. Zielesch<br />
Ms. Lan Guan<br />
Mrs. Andrea I. Eisenberg<br />
Ms. Sherry L. Pauli<br />
Mr. Charles S. Williams<br />
Paul Bologna<br />
Mr. Jurgis Gerulaitis<br />
Mr. Allen J. Rossell<br />
Mr. Bhupendra H. Deliwala<br />
Mr. Kenneth M. Robson<br />
Mr. Donald A. Vesey<br />
Mr. Stephen M. Rivet<br />
Mr. Robert V. Norrito<br />
Mr. Joseph A. Gutierrez<br />
Robert L. Byrum, Jr.<br />
Gurdial Dhami<br />
Ms. Mary Jo Vagts<br />
James T. Low, Ph.D.<br />
Mr. & Mrs. Michael J. Sovel<br />
Mr. Louis P. Thornton, III<br />
Mr. Gary White<br />
Corporate Donors<br />
President Circle<br />
$1,000,000 to $4,999,999<br />
Partners for the Advancement <strong>of</strong> Collaborative<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Education (PACE)<br />
DELPHI Corporation<br />
<strong>University</strong> Society<br />
$500,000 to $999,999<br />
Ford Motor Company Fund<br />
Urban Science Applications, Inc.<br />
Heritage Society<br />
$100,000 to $249,999<br />
Visca, L.L.C.<br />
General Motors Foundation<br />
TIAA-CREF<br />
Chrysler Foundation<br />
Ghafari Associates L.L.C.<br />
Great Lakes Protection Fund<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Technology Associates, Inc.<br />
Cornerstone Society<br />
$50,000 to $99,999<br />
National Operating Committee on Standards<br />
for Athletic Equipment<br />
Sencom, Inc.<br />
Society <strong>of</strong> Manufacturing Engineers<br />
DTE Energy Foundation<br />
Citi Smith Barney<br />
Charter Society<br />
$25,000 to $49,999<br />
NSK Corporation<br />
Kalgidhar Trust<br />
Ford Motor Company<br />
Lakeshore <strong>Engineering</strong> Services, INC.<br />
NFL Charities<br />
Anthony <strong>Wayne</strong> Society Member<br />
$10,000 to $24,999<br />
Community Foundation for Southeast<br />
Michigan<br />
ServoTech<br />
E-Light, L.L.C.<br />
Margaret L. Ashdown Trust<br />
John Deere Waterloo Works<br />
79
Co r p o r at e Donor s to Engi n e e r i n g<br />
A u gus t 1, 2007 through Feb r ua ry 1, <strong>2009</strong><br />
Joy and Hank Kuchta Foundation<br />
John Deere U.S. Ag, A Division <strong>of</strong> Deere &<br />
Company<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> Club<br />
$5,000 to $9,999<br />
Girl Scouts <strong>of</strong> Metro Detroit<br />
Grosse Pointe Public Library<br />
The Association <strong>of</strong> Sikh Pr<strong>of</strong>essionals<br />
AAA (Automobile Club <strong>of</strong> Michigan)<br />
Scholarship Foundation, The<br />
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund<br />
Marathon Petroleum Company L.L.C.<br />
KARMANN USA, INC.<br />
Detroit Medical Center<br />
SEI Private Trust Company<br />
Garden Food Distributor Inc.<br />
Sun Microsystems Inc.<br />
Dean’s Club<br />
$1,000 to $4,999<br />
Denton, ATD, Inc.<br />
ArvinMeritor, Inc.<br />
Guardian Industries Corp.<br />
General Motors Corporation<br />
Electronic Data Systems Corporation<br />
Institute <strong>of</strong> Transportation<br />
Tisco Group, Inc<br />
Society <strong>of</strong> Women Engineers<br />
E-Merging Market Technologies, L.L.C.<br />
Lear Corporation<br />
E.C. Korneffel Co.<br />
Urban Land Consultants<br />
The Medtronic Foundation<br />
ATMF Realty & Equity Corporation<br />
Cooper-Standard Automotive<br />
Graphik Concepts<br />
RH & Associates Inc.<br />
Manufacturing Services and Development,<br />
Inc.<br />
E-Light, L.L.C.<br />
Aerotech, Inc.<br />
K-Log, Inc.<br />
Merrill Lynch & Co. Foundation, Inc.<br />
Bank America Foundation<br />
Stryker Instruments<br />
Takata Corporation<br />
Honda R & D, Americas, Inc<br />
Palmer National L.L.C.<br />
Green and Gold Club<br />
$500 to $999<br />
MR OF PLYMOUTH, L.L.C.<br />
GreatBatch, Inc.<br />
ExxonMobil Foundation<br />
Autoliv ASP, Inc.<br />
E. G. Compliance-1 L.L.C.<br />
DTE Energy Company<br />
Albert Kahn Associates, Inc.<br />
Hartford Memorial Baptist Church<br />
Aristeo Construction Company<br />
Accenture Foundation, Inc.<br />
HNTB Corporation<br />
SAE Foundation<br />
Safety Forensics, P.L.L.C.<br />
Century Club<br />
$100 to $499<br />
BASF Corporation<br />
The Christman Company<br />
Detroit Section AICHE<br />
International Business Machines Corporation<br />
Walnut Creek Country Club<br />
Oracle Corporation Matching Gifts Program<br />
Malo<strong>of</strong> Jewelers<br />
Crystal <strong>Engineering</strong> Solutions, Inc.<br />
Ferry Street Management L.L.C.<br />
Dow Chemical Company Foundation<br />
Tucker, Young, Jackson, Tull, Inc.<br />
RSCH Operations Inc.<br />
Northrop Grumman Foundation<br />
United Consulting<br />
Taminco Higher Amines, Inc.<br />
Motorola Foundation<br />
Pro Results Inc.<br />
Electro-Matic Products, Inc.<br />
EDS<br />
SulfoTechnologies, L.L.C.<br />
Pfizer Foundation, Inc.<br />
Akzo Nobel, Inc.<br />
Cooper Industries Foundation<br />
Dow Corning Corporation<br />
Johnson Controls Foundation<br />
Hubbell, Roth & Clark, Incorporated<br />
Abbott Laboratories Fund<br />
BASF Corporation<br />
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund<br />
Spalding DeDecker Associates, Inc.<br />
Damico Development, Inc<br />
DJR Investment Group, L.L.C.<br />
South Main L<strong>of</strong>ts, L.L.C.<br />
Riverbend Commons<br />
Chesterfield Development Co., L.L.C.<br />
Parsons Brinckerh<strong>of</strong>f Group Administration,<br />
INC<br />
John Coletti Enterprises, Inc.<br />
Micros<strong>of</strong>t Matching Gifts Program<br />
Teledyne Technologies Incorporated<br />
$99 and Under<br />
Lubrizol Foundation<br />
Global Impact<br />
Detroit Tigers<br />
Rockman & Sons Publishing Co.<br />
James R. Moden, Inc.<br />
Progress Energy Service Co.<br />
Merck Partnership For Giving<br />
RHG Kingfish L.L.C.<br />
Friar Tucks <strong>of</strong> WSU<br />
Pfizer Foundation Matching Gifts Programs<br />
Boeing Corporation<br />
80
EAGER CONNECTION<br />
E A G E R C O N N E C T I O N<br />
The students need your help<br />
to support the Formula SAE<br />
and Concrete canoe projects.<br />
It is no secret that engineering<br />
students today need more than a<br />
good education. As members <strong>of</strong> the<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Alumni Association, we are<br />
always searching for new ways to<br />
support each other, the faculty and the<br />
students, and thus, support our alma<br />
mater. Today, the EAA is 1,200<br />
Engineers strong — one <strong>of</strong> the most<br />
proactive groups on campus — paving<br />
the way for the advancement <strong>of</strong><br />
engineering education and technology<br />
at <strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong>. One such<br />
program that has proven to help our<br />
graduates obtain hands-on experience is<br />
the EAA’s own grant program – EAGER –<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Alumni Grants for<br />
Education and Research. In its fourteenth<br />
consecutive year, EAGER has proven to<br />
be a successful source <strong>of</strong> funding for<br />
collaborative student projects that<br />
promote teamwork, engineering<br />
ingenuity and creativity.<br />
The WSU Team Ethanol, the 1995<br />
Hybrid Electric Vehicle, the 1996 and<br />
1997 Human Powered Vehicle Team,<br />
the <strong>Wayne</strong>Rover autonomous vehicle,<br />
the Mini-Baja vehicle, the IEEE<br />
Computer Center <strong>of</strong> Excellence, the<br />
2001 <strong>Engineering</strong> Ball, and the 2001<br />
ACI Annual Concrete Egg Protection<br />
Device Competition were all supported<br />
by EAGER.<br />
Make the EAGER CONNECTION. It will<br />
make your membership in the EAA<br />
much more meaningful. Not to mention<br />
helping elevate the national pr<strong>of</strong>ile <strong>of</strong><br />
your alma mater. Your donation will<br />
help assure that these collaborative<br />
projects continue to be a challenging<br />
opportunity for engineering students —<br />
giving our graduates not only a first-rate<br />
education, but also the “hands-on”<br />
experience WSU students are known to<br />
graduate with. These students may also<br />
look to you for advice and mentoring.<br />
So let us know if you are interested in<br />
mentoring and/or donating in-kind<br />
gifts.<br />
Mail to:<br />
<strong>Engineering</strong> Development Office<br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>,<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
5050 Anthony <strong>Wayne</strong> Drive<br />
Detroit, MI 48202<br />
Yes! I want to make the EAGER CONNECTION …<br />
Name __________________________________________________________________________________<br />
Address ________________________________________________________________________________<br />
City ____________________________________________ <strong>State</strong> __________________ ZIP ____________<br />
Phone __________________________________________ E-mail Address __________________________<br />
Year Graduated __________________________________ Major __________________________________<br />
My company will match this gift, company name ____________________________________________<br />
I would also be willing to mentor a student, my area <strong>of</strong> expertise ______________________________<br />
Enclosed is my check made out to WSU for:<br />
$25 $50 $75<br />
$100 other amount $_______________<br />
Or, charge my gift to VISA Mastercard<br />
Signature________________________________________________________________________________<br />
Account No. ____________________________________Expiration Date __________________________
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
5050 Anthony <strong>Wayne</strong> Drive,<br />
Room 1153<br />
Detroit, MI 48202<br />
fax: (313) 577-5300<br />
phone: (313) 577-3780<br />
www.eng.wayne.edu<br />
Alumni -<br />
What Are You Doing Now<br />
We are interested in what you are doing now!<br />
Please take a moment to complete the following<br />
information and return it to us via fax,<br />
Email or U.S. mail to:<br />
Your current position (title and employer)<br />
David Reich<br />
Editor, Helios News/<strong>Exemplar</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
5050 Anthony <strong>Wayne</strong> Drive, Room 1153<br />
<strong>Wayne</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
Detroit, MI 48202<br />
Fax: (313) 577-5300; Email: dreich@eng.wayne.edu<br />
Recent Awards<br />
What are you doing<br />
Name:<br />
Where do you live (city and state)<br />
Year <strong>of</strong> Graduation:<br />
Degree: