Volume 4, Number 11, August, 2008
Welcome to Ahoya! Engineers - Marquette University's College of Engineering e-Newsletter for alumae, alumni, students and their families, faculty, staff, and MU friends. We want you to know what’s happening in your College of Engineering. This newsletter will be published periodically to share our accomplishments, milestones and activities.
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Is There an Engineer in the House? On July 25th – 27th some 450 engineers were welcomed back to campus. Your College joined with Alpha Omega Epsilon sorority and Sigma Phi Delta and Triangle fraternities to host reunion events launching Marquette Engineering’s Centennial year. Alumni, families and friends reconnected and celebrated with barbeques, the “Engine House” open house, and a Saturday dinner with Father Robert A. Wild, S.J., and OPUS Dean Stan Jaskolski.
Nuts, bolts, screws, gears—Rah, Rah Engineers! Take a look at some of the fun and festivities.
Support Marquette Engineering in its Centennial Year. If you would like your gift directed to the new Engineering building, you may type in COE BUILDING in lieu of the drop-down menu options.
Lead Picture: Former classmates Lou Rutigliano (left) and OPUS Dean Stan Jaskolski (right) “catching up.”
Identifying Alumni Achievements. As your College marks its Centennial Year (1908 – 2008) we wish to uniquely honor our distinguished alumni, the leading lights who have transformed technology, industry, education and everyday life through their service and leadership.
We invite you to nominate Luminaries of Marquette Engineering to honor alumni - living or deceased - who serve as innovators and achievers in the field of engineering, technology and industry.
A committee comprised of Marquette faculty and administrators will select final candidates, and the naming of the Luminaries will be recognized in the Fall of 2009 as we enter the next 100 years of the College of Engineering at Marquette University.
In order to nominate an individual for one of the areas of recognition - Outstanding Achievement in Management or Entrepreneurship, Innovation in Engineering, or Contributions to the Profession or Society – click here for an online nomination form or call 1-800-344-7544 by December 31, 2008.
Promoting STEM to All Ages. For the third consecutive summer, Marquette Engineering Outreach has offered STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) academies on-campus in the Haggerty Engineering Building. The mission of the academies is to motivate students and adults to study STEM and understand why STEM skills are necessary to be successful in the 21st Century, innovation-driven global economy.
Over 200 participants, most of whom were students age 6-17, attended 13 academies in June and July. The most popular academies were about robotics, but other offerings included topics on polymers, computer-aided-design and general engineering. Several new academies were also offered: "Engineering is a Family Affair," which teamed parents and their children; "Engineering...It's a Girl Thing," for girls age 6-11; and "CAD Computer-Aided Design," for students age 12-18. A common theme in all of the academies was to understand how creative thinking leads to concrete problem solving - i.e., innovation.
For the first time, Engineering Outreach will offer academies in the fall/early winter. Fifteen offerings will be held on Saturdays and during school vacations from September through January. There will be a new physics series that covers topics in fluid dynamics, energy, and mechanics. Advanced robotics academies will also be offered for the first time, as well as a series that teams students and their grandparents. For younger students, "The Physics of Toys" is a new option also. For more info, contact the Engineering Outreach office at 414-288-6720 or engineering@marquette.edu.
Future engineers from "Engineering...It's A Girls Thing!" making a water rocket with a payload of a raw egg.
The goal is to return the egg safely – uncracked - after a launch of up to 60 feet.
Improving Treatment Outcomes. Dr. John LaDisa, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, has been awarded a 3-year Junior Faculty grant for $411,251 from the American Diabetes Association for a proposal titled "A novel interdisciplinary approach to characterize and minimize vascular changes contributing to restenosis after stenting in type 2 diabetes mellitus." Judy Kersten, MD and Professor of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Medical College of Wisconsin is a collaborating investigator on the grant.
This project relates to the impact that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has on cardiovascular disease. Nearly 21 million Americans, 7% of the population, are diabetic and the majority of these individuals suffer from T2DM. Cardiovascular disease accounts for 65-80% of T2DM deaths as these individuals have a 2 to 4-fold increased risk of developing coronary artery and peripheral arterial disease.
Stents are permanent metal scaffolds that are frequently used as a treatment for cardiovascular disease, but their success is limited by poor results in 37-51% of cases involving patients with T2DM. Drs. LaDisa and Kersten are optimistic that the results of this project and the subsequent application of these results will improve treatment outcomes in individuals with T2DM who suffer from cardiovascular disease. In particular, the project is focused on adverse cardiovascular changes unique to individuals with T2DM and ultimately tailoring the current treatment of stenting to be more effective for these patients.
Presenting "The Best of Wisconsin." Dr. Charles Melching, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (CEEN), was one of the key organizers of the U.S.-China Water Consortium: A Wisconsin Idea Approach to Connecting Science, Policy, and Practice. This meeting was held at the Wisconsin locations of Madison, Door County, and Milwaukee, July 18-25, 2008. Meeting co-organizers with Dr. Melching were Jeff Smoller, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; Gary Vaughan, Fox Valley Technical College; Marty Finkler, Lawrence University; Bob DeKoch, Boldt Construction and New North economic development group; and Xiaojun Lu, Environment and Public Health Network for Chinese Students and Scholars.
Dr. Melching was in charge of organizing the technical sessions presented in a 2-day workshop at the Björklunden Conference Center of Lawrence University near Bailey’s Harbor. The goal of this workshop was to expose the Chinese visitors to the technology being employed in the water/environmental fields in Wisconsin. Sessions included: Water Administration, Policy, and Management; Remediation of Contaminated Sediments; Drinking Water Purification Technology; Groundwater Pollution; Wastewater Treatment Technology; Water Law; Agricultural Runoff Management/Diffuse Pollution; and Stream Restoration and Ecology.
Prof. Melching gave a welcoming talk and chaired several sessions including a closing session on next steps to be taken and Dr. Daniel Zitomer, Associate Professor of CEEN, gave a presentation on Anaerobic Treatment of Wastewater (see photo below). Other presenters included staff from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Green Bay, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, Wisconsin Public Service Commission, Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, Door County Soil and Water Conservation Department, Foth Engineering, Boldt Construction, GW Partners, Siemens, Godfrey and Kahn, and Axley Brynelson. The broad participation of Wisconsin universities, government agencies, and companies provided a good overview of water management and technologies in the state to the Chinese participants and truly showed the “Best of Wisconsin.” Dr. Melching greatly thanks all the Wisconsin participants for their help with the meeting.
Twenty five Chinese government officials and professors attended the workshop, ten of whom gave overviews of conditions in China on the previously mentioned subjects to their American hosts. Approximately 10 Chinese students from Wisconsin universities also attended, as did Marquette students Ben Borowicz (undergrad) and Jin Liang (graduate). Marquette Provost John Pauly joined Prof. Melching at the closing luncheon at Discovery World on July 25, 2008.
Dr. Melching is hopeful that this successful meeting will promote further cooperation between Marquette University and Chinese colleagues including opportunities for Marquette students to visit China for similar technical meetings.
Dr. Dan Zitomer
Fall Semester Already??? Where has the summer gone? Students and faculty, the first day of classes is right around the corner – August 25th! Enjoy the remaining days of summer and have a safe trip back to campus. And then it’s “back to the books!”
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