February 2010 issue:
- Groundbreaking scheduled for March 5
- Finalists for OPUS Dean announced
- Dr. Widera honored as Engineer of the Year
- Engineering Alumni Association Silent Auction and Brunch
- A great loss for the college
- Win a trip to the Big East Tournament
- Dr. Melching's research featured in Marquette magazine
- Summer engineering academies for K-12 students
- David Wood receives national essay award
- Dr. Nagurka collaborates in Taiwan
- Research center moves forward
- Record number of students train in DLC shop
- Picture-perfect Marquette pride
- Help spread the news
Groundbreaking scheduled for March 5
You are cordially invited to join Robert A. Wild, S.J., President of Marquette University and Stan V. Jaskolski, OPUS Dean of the College of Engineering at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Discovery Learning Complex, future home of the College of Engineering.
For those of you who cannot be with us for this historic occasion, we invite you to view a video recap of the event beginning Tuesday, March 9.
Banner picture: Site of new Discovery Learning Complex; building demolition almost complete and site preparation under way.
Finalists for OPUS Dean announced
Marquette attracted outstanding candidates for the OPUS Dean of the College of Engineering and the search committee selected two finalists: Dr. Robert Bishop, Joe J. King Professor of Engineering, Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin and Dr. David Cohn, Director of Business Informatics at IBM. Each candidate makes a public presentation on campus, which alumni can view online.
Click here for information on the candidates’ background.
Dr. Widera honored as Engineer of the Year
Dr. G.E.O. (Otto) Widera received the 2009 Engineer of the Year award from Engineers & Scientists of Milwaukee (ESM) at the recent 57th Annual Engineers’ Week banquet. This prestigious award is presented annually to “an outstanding contributor to the engineering profession from the greater Milwaukee area who has helped raise the visibility of the profession and ESM, while also serving as a role model to others who have or may select the engineering profession as a career.”
Dr. Widera, professor of mechanical engineering, received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He joined the University of Illinois - Chicago in 1965 and in 1982 became chair of the mechanical engineering department. In 1991, Dr. Widera joined Marquette’s mechanical engineering department as chair. Since then, he served twice as interim dean of the college and was senior associate dean from 1999-2007. He also held interim appointments at the Ladish Company and Argonne National Laboratory, was a von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Stuttgart and served as a consultant to the National Institute of Standards and Technology and to a number of corporations.
Dr. Widera currently serves as editor of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology. He has also served as chair of the ASME Research Committee on Pressure Vessels and on its Board of Pressure Technology Codes and Standards. More recently, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Center Manufacturing Productivity and ESM, and was president of the Wisconsin Association of Research Management. He also served as chair of the ASME Pressure Vessel and Piping Division and of the 21-country International Council on Pressure Vessel Technology. For three years, he was a vice-president of ASME.
A life fellow of ASME, Dr. Widera is currently a member of the boards of directors of the Welding Research Council and the Material Properties Council. In 1995, in recognition of his contributions to the profession, he received an ASME lifetime achievement award, the Pressure Vessel and Piping Medal, and in 2009 he received ASME’s Dedicated Service Award.
Congratulations, Dr. Widera, on receiving this most recent award for your contributions to engineering!
Dr. G.E.O. (Otto) Widera
Engineering Alumni Association Silent Auction and Brunch
The College of Engineering Alumni Association (COEAA) invites you to its annual Silent Auction, Brunch and Basketball Game event on Saturday, March 6. Tickets to the game are sold out, but brunch only tickets are available for purchase here or by calling the Alumni Association at (800)-344-7544. Proceeds will benefit the College of Engineering Endowed Scholarship Fund and the Discovery Learning Complex Building Fund.
Join us for an opportunity to meet, greet, and outbid fellow college friends and afterwards, cheer on Marquette as they take on Notre Dame. This exciting opportunity is open to all alumni, faculty, staff, parents and friends of the College of Engineering.
A great loss for the college
Dr. Arthur C. Moeller, professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering, passed away on Jan. 31, 2010, at the age of 90.
Dr. Moeller earned degrees in mathematics and electrical engineering from Western Reserve University, Michigan State University and Marquette University, and then earned a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin. After teaching for a year at Denison University in Ohio, he joined the faculty of Marquette University in 1944.
During his many years at Marquette, Dr. Moeller held various faculty and administrative positions, including dean of the College of Engineering and, for seven years, vice president for academic affairs, the first lay person ever to hold that position at a Jesuit university. After his official retirement in 1996, he continued to serve more than 12 years as director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, which involved extensive interaction with and advising of undergraduate students, demonstrating his passion for undergraduate education.
Dr. Moeller was a life member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a fellow of the International Engineering Consortium, where he was a member of the board of directors for forty years. He received many honors and awards for his teaching and service, including the Marquette University Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence and membership in Pi Mu Epsilon, Eta Kappa Nu, Tau Beta Pi, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, and Alpha Sigma Nu.
Dr. Moeller was especially active in Triangle Fraternity and received its Triangle Service Key award in 2003.
With over 60 years of service to the college and the university, Dr. Moeller was a great inspiration to all who knew him and worked with him. As OPUS Dean Stan Jaskolski expressed in his eulogy, ”I would like to additionally focus on Art as a loving human being, who simply all of his life, gave of himself to make others happy. We have no better or higher memory of Art other than to say, he always worked to help others.”
Dr. Art Moeller will truly be missed by many. Memorials in his honor may be made to Marquette University for the Arthur C. Moeller Scholarship Endowment for Academic Distinction.
Dr. Art Moeller
Win a trip to the Big East Tournament
Attention, alumni! Get in the game by sharing your e-mail address by Feb. 24 and you could win a trip to see Marquette men’s basketball team play in the BIG EAST tournament this March. Click here for details.
Dr. Melching’s research featured in Marquette magazine
Over a period of years, Dr. Charles (Steve) Melching has been conducting research studies to improve the water quality in the Chicago Waterway System. Professor of Civil, Construction and Environmental engineering and internationally recognized for his water research, Dr. Melching has been working with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Great Chicago (MWRDGC) to determine a quality standard for the system that receives approximately 1.4 billion gallons of treated wastewater every day.
The winter 2010 issue of Marquette magazine features an article on his research. Read the full article.
Summer engineering academies for K-12 students
Marquette Engineering Outreach has released its summer schedule for K-12 students. A total of 16 academies will be offered from June 28 through July 30, including 7 new ones.
Among the new academies are three programs from the "Engineering is Elementary" project developed at the Museum of Science in Boston: "A Sticky Situation: Designing Walls," "Marvelous Machines: Making Work Easier," and "A Work in Process: Improving a Play Dough Process."
Also new this year: "Engineering for Young Minds, with LEGOS," "Experimenting Using the LEGO Mindstorms NXT," "Introduction to Engineering,” and "Robotics Seminar."
Many popular academies from past years will return, including "The Ultimate LEGO Experience," "Engineering is a Family Affair," "Engineering...It's a Girls Thing," "Engineering for Young Women," and introductory courses in Mindstorms RCX and NXT Robotics.
Engineering Outreach now posts its programs online. You can also register online.David Wood receives national essay award
The Association of General Contractors of America (AGC) National has selected Marquette engineering student David Wood as the James L. Allhands Award recipient. Named for one of the founding members of AGC, the award recognizes a student essay that’s deemed beneficial to the advancement of the construction industry. This is the second consecutive year this award has been given to a Marquette student.
David is currently a senior at Marquette and is on track to become the first graduate of the college’s new construction engineering and management program. He is originally from Eden Prairie, Minn., and will have his third internship with Mortenson Construction this summer in their Seattle office.
The prize winning essay was titled "Building a Professional Construction Company – The case for attracting, educating and retaining highly effective managers." David and a team of other engineering students are in the process of starting a new AGC student chapter at Marquette
Dr. Nagurka collaborates in Taiwan
Dr. Mark Nagurka and his wife Anita visited Dr. Chen-Wen Yen in the Department of Mechanical and Electro-Mechanical Engineering at National Sun Yat-Sen University in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in January. Dr. Yen was a master’s and doctoral student of Dr. Nagurka’s at Carnegie Mellon University. The trip was part of Dr. Nagurka’s sabbatical this semester.
During the last few years they have jointly pursued several research projects related to pattern recognition and signal processing, including a project on signal conditioning for detection of sleep apnea, and have published several journal articles. During their recent visit, Drs. Nagurka and Yen discussed future joint research projects.
Research center moves forward
The Southeastern Wisconsin Energy Technology Research Center (SWETRC) has had a very successful startup and looks forward to continued progress. This collaborative initiative between the U.S. Department of Engergy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, the colleges of engineering at Marquette, UW-Milwaukee and MSOE, along with several regional companies and foundations, brings together resources to establish a national center that will develop high-potential research in the energy field.
Another meeting was held last month at which Alan Perlstein, general manager of DRS Technologies and representing the SWETRC Board of Directors, gave updates on the organization structure, mission and operating principles of the research center. Project updates on the seven current seed projects were also presented.
An announcement was made for a new round of proposals. The following research focus areas were identified based on regional strength and member interest: micro grid and smart grid management technology; alternative power and energy technology; energy storage technology; energy efficiency and conservation; and advanced materials for energy applications.
Breakout sessions were then held during which faculty and industry members had the opportunity to begin planning proposals for the next round of funding.
Record number of students train in DLC shop
A record number of students have accessed the Discovery Learning Center in the first few weeks of spring semester as part of their class requirements. Over 150 freshman students were trained in introductory safety and basic shop processes for their Engineering Discovery 2 course. This alone nearly triples the number of students trained in one semester for any given class.
In addition, nearly 60 junior level mechanical engineering students of Dr. Joseph Domblesky have been taking advanced machining training to prepare for their class projects, which will entail building an air motor, evaluating tool wear, principles of metrology, welding fundamentals and more.
Past experience has demonstrated that engaging in these hands on activities greatly adds to the abilities and overall understanding of our students in relating real world experiences to their theoretical training as engineers.
Picture-perfect Marquette pride
We asked for your photos showing your Marquette pride — and in little more than a week more than 300 photo submissions rolled in from students, alumni and university friends in the first National Marquette Day contest.
From those entries, five winners were selected, one of them being the picture below submitted by Engineering ’94 alums Eric Salys (left) and John “Robb” Hoenick.
Photo story (by Salys): “We made the banner after Marquette beat third-seeded Kentucky in the second round of the 1994 NCAA tournament. We began planning our trip to Tanzania during the 2000-01 basketball season and reminisced about the fun we all had on the trip to the Sweet 16 game. It was then that we decided we needed to bring the banner. We spent the night before our final assent camped next to Furtwangler Glacier (18,788 feet), just a few hundred feet below the summit. It was the longest night of the trip, and there was little sleep. After an hour-long climb we made it to the summit at 7:18 a.m. For the record, I beat Robb. We almost didn’t take the photo with the Marquette banner due to numb fingers and difficulties finding it tucked away in my backpack. After a few quick photos and a final feeling of accomplishment, we began our descent.”
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