October 2009 issue:
- It's a Go!
- Alumnus helps rebuild New Orleans
- Family Weekend Open House
- Seminar on generating innovative ideas for difficult times
- A busy Saturday for the COE
- Biomedical engineering faculty awarded grants
- Emeritus/retired faculty luncheon
- Engineering freshman receives scholarship from SWE
- Rockwell hosts corn roast
- Help us spread the news
It's a Go!
The Marquette Board of Trustees approved moving ahead with the first phase of the new $100 million College of Engineering facility, which will be known as the Discovery Learning Complex.
The first phase will involve construction of a five-story, 100,000-square-foot building on the south side of Wisconsin Avenue between 16th and 17th streets. Preparation of the site has already begun with soil testing and environmental demolition work on the interior of four university-owned apartment buildings. Marquette President Robert A. Wild, S.J., said the university expects to break ground for the new building in spring 2010 with initial occupancy planned for August 2011.
The structure will feature an innovative Discovery Learning Laboratory and a two-story engineering materials and structural testing laboratory, as well as other new teaching and research laboratories, common areas for students and office space. The initial structure will be linked to a future 150,000-square-foot building that will include classrooms, offices and additional laboratories.
“With $25 million cash in hand and pledges of $10 million we expect to receive over the next two years, the board expressed confidence in our ability to move forward,” Father Wild said. The university has more than $68 million of the projected $100 million cost of the total project pledged and will continue aggressive fundraising to complete the entire project as soon as possible, he said.
Tom Ganey, university architect, said the phased approach to construction allows the university to move forward with the funds on hand while continuing to raise funds for the balance of the project.
Please view the Engineering on a Mission Web site for the latest information.
Banner picture: Rendering of proposed College of Engineering Discovery Learning Complex
Alumnus helps rebuild New Orleans
Rhaoul Guillaume, Eng ’71, and president of GOTECH, Inc., an engineering and consulting firm in Baton Rouge, La., will present “Being the Difference: Post-hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” Wednesday, Oct. 28, in the Alumni Memorial Union Monaghan Ballroom.
Registration will begin at 4:30 p.m. with the presentation at 5 p.m. followed by a 6 p.m. reception. Guillaume will share his experiences of rebuilding his hometown of New Orleans. Please register by Monday, Oct. 26, by phone 414-288-7431.
Family Weekend Open House
100 parents of our engineering students met with faculty and staff at an Open House in Haggerty Engineering as part of Marquette’s annual Family Weekend. Coming from near and far, parents had an opportunity to share their sons’ and daughters’ experiences at Marquette and to ask any questions they had about the college and its programs, classes and various activities offered for students. Dr. Michael Switzenbaum, Executive Associate Dean, updated the guests on recent initiatives and successes in the college. Parents then toured the Discovery Learning Center and viewed videos of the freshman Deep Dive presentations. Parents and students provided positive feedback and enjoyed the opportunity to personally meet with faculty and staff.
Seminar being offered on generating innovative ideas for difficult times
On Nov. 3, Marquette University and the Society for Information Management Wisconsin (SIM) will host a morning seminar entitled “Leveraging Emerging Technology for Growth and Cost Control.” It will be held in the Alumni Memorial Union on campus.
The keynote speaker, Russ Neumeier, of GE Healthcare, will present the topic “Social Networking – How you get to Sesame Street,” discussing the different tools, technologies and challenges of bringing collaboration and social media applications into a corporate environment.
In addition, there will be breakout sessions focusing on Cloud Computing, Mobile Computing, and Software as a Competitive Tool in Manufacturing. Master of Ceremonies will be Chris Murphy, Senior Editor of Information Week.
Please join us for this entertaining and informative event. Click here for information and registration.
A busy Saturday for the COE
Weekends are normally quiet on campus, but the College of Engineering was bursting with activity on September 12. Deep Dive presentations, engineering workshops and Open House brought together students, faculty, alumni and prospective students and their parents.
Early in the morning, freshman engineering students presented their Deep Dive projects to faculty and alumni judges. The Deep Dive experience covered the first two weeks of their Engineering Discovery course as freshmen participated in four person teams to tackle human-centered design challenges, putting them on the road to becoming engineers. Each of the 60 design teams was mentored by a sophomore engineering student. The projects, which were chosen and formulated by sophomore interns last summer, focused on challenges faced by the Marquette community: campus security, dormitory efficiency, dining hall efficiency, crosswalk safety, personal storage and climate acclimatization. The enthusiasm and creativity demonstrated by the freshmen impressed all in attendance.
2009 Freshman Deep Dive Presentation
Concurrently, Engineering Outreach offered workshops to high school students on various engineering disciplines: biomedical, construction, environmental, electrical and two sessions in mechanical engineering - manufacturing and mechatronics. During the workshops, parents of the students were offered a short information session by engineering representatives and optional campus tours.
Engineering workshop for high school students
At the culmination of the morning activities, the college held its annual fall semester Open House which offered an opportunity for prospective students and their parents to speak with enthusiastic faculty and students about our engineering programs and activities, and to tour the building and take campus tours.
Fall 2009 Engineering Open House
A busy day for all, participants and guests were treated to an outdoor barbeque feast under the Olin Engineering overhang. Thank you to our students, faculty and alumni for making this a successful event.
Biomedical engineering faculty awarded grants
Drs. Scott Beardsley, Robert Scheidt and Brian Schmit recently received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for their research proposals.
Dr. Beardsley is a co-PI (Principal Investigator) for a 2 year $916,533 R01 grant from the NIH for “Perception and Recovery of Motion for Visually Guided Behavior in Humans.” The project combines human psychophysics, functional imaging and computational modeling to investigate how stroke impacts patients’ ability to perceive visual motion relevant to everyday activities such as walking, driving, obstacle avoidance, and visually guided navigation.
A 2 year $844,600 NIH grant was awarded to Dr. Scheidt for “Functional Remapping of Hand Control,” which will examine how the brain learns to reorganize coordination of the hand when required to learn a novel object manipulation task.
Dr. Schmidt received two new awards. A 2 year $772,692 NIH grant “Reflex Regulation of Motor Function in Human SCI” will examine how people with spinal cord injury control the movement of their legs after they receive different types of medications. “Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Spinal Cord Injury” is a 3 year grant from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs in the amount of $450,000. This project involves developing and testing new ways of imaging the spinal cord after an injury in order to predict recovery and the response to treatments.
Emeritus/Retired faculty luncheon
On Sept. 29, College of Engineering retired faculty and Professors Emeriti joined OPUS Dean Stan Jaskolski for a lively lunch. After swapping many memories and stories, Dean Jaskolski shared an overview of the threefold transformation underway in the college.
Front row seated: Bob Brebrick, Dave Kuemmel, Al Szews and Tom Ishii
Middle row: Cindy Jaskolski, Marion Seitz, Marian Brebrick, Eiko Ishii and Margo Szews
Last row: Stan Jaskolski, Nick Nigro, Rich Gaggioli, Marty Seitz, Ron Sonntag, Al Zanoni and Jim Heinen
Engineering freshman received scholarship from SWE
Christine Matheney of Castro Valley, Calif. has been awarded a $1500 Admiral Grace Murray Hopper Scholarship from the Society of Women Engineers. Only five female freshman engineering students throughout the country receive this annual scholarship.
Christine, who just began her studies in Computer Engineering, is a Marquette Ignatius Scholar and Magis award winner. She is also a recipient of the Engineering Dean’s Top Scholar Award for 2009.
Christine Matheney and Dr. Jon Jensen, Associate Dean for Enrollment Management
Rockwell hosts corn roast
In what has become an annual tradition, Rockwell Automation hosted a Corn Roast for engineering students and faculty on Sept. 15. Offering an opportunity for hundreds of students to learn about the company and its Co-op/intern and career opportunities, Rockwell representatives were kept busy demonstrating their products and answering questions.
The food was delicious and in great supply – roasted corn, brats, hot dogs, cookies and refreshments. In addition, door prizes were drawn, games were played, and engineering student organizations had displays.
Thank you, Rockwell Automation, for a great and informative event. And, of course, for all the free food!
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