Volume 5, Number 3, December, 2008

Welcome to Ahoya! Engineers - Marquette University's College of Engineering e-Newsletter for alumnae, 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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Be sure to visit the College Web site for complete information on your College.

A Very Special Celebration. Pizza with the Dean took on a whole new twist this year.   

College of Engineering students, faculty, alumni, friends and family of OPUS Dean Stan Jaskolski surprised him with an early birthday celebration!  Stan will officially ring in his 70th year on January 2nd, so imagine his astonishment when he walked downstairs to enjoy pizza with your engineering students on November 14th and the “Pit” was filled with over 200 friendly faces all singing Happy Birthday!

Father Wild began the program by wishing Stan a happy birthday and then John Jaskolski, Stan’s oldest son, offered heartfelt wishes to his dad which brought many in the room to tears.  Eleven Jaskolski grandchildren then presented their grandpa with a bank that is a replica of the new engineering facility and his four children gave him a gold shovel in recognition of all his efforts to raise money for the new Engineering facility.  (You can bet that Stan plans to put that shovel to use at the groundbreaking!).

After sharing remarks of appreciation Stan raised his arms and quoting Fr. Wild, declared, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”  No indeed, Stan – we haven’t!

It was a wonderful and memorable celebration of a man who is well respected and loved by many.   

Lead Picture:  Fr. Wild wishes Happy Birthday to a very surprised Stan Jaskolski

Stan and his grandchildren
(he’s holding the special bank received from them)

Make Your Valentine’s Day Plans Before Christmas.

St. John’s wears RED
Marquette wears BLUE
Spend Valentine’s Day with US
As we cheer on MU!

The College of Engineering Alumni Association (COEAA) invites you to the Marquette vs. St. John’s game on Valentine’s Day - Saturday, February 14, 2009 - for its annual Auction & Basketball Game event. Join us for an opportunity to meet, greet, and outbid fellow alumni, with auction proceeds benefiting the College of Engineering Endowed Scholarship Fund.

Afterwards, cheer on the Golden Eagles as they take on the St. John’s Red Storm. Let’s show St. John’s that “We Are Marquette!” Tickets are limited. Click here for complete details and online registration, please visit or call 414-288-8440.

Addressing Global Manufacturing Representatives. Dr. Kevin Craig, Greenheck Chair in Engineering Design and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, was a featured speaker at the Global Machine Builders Forum of the 17th annual Rockwell Automation Fair. In this session, Dr. Craig discussed Mechatronics, which fundamentally means the integration and simultaneous optimization of all system components from the very beginning of the design process.  His audience further learned that modeling is the key to the process, which helps define problem-solving success based on the areas where technology, business and human values overlap to define a domain where the technology is feasible, the business is viable and the values include desirability and usability.

More than 11,000 manufacturing experts from around the world gathered at the two-day event last month in Nashville to discuss industry demands, global economic challenges and the latest manufacturing automation technology.  Over 100 Rockwell Automation Partner companies also displayed their latest innovations and products at this event, the industry’s largest education forum for major manufacturers.

As one of 14 “Key Schools” in Rockwell Automation’s University Relations Program, your College of Engineering was invited to participate in the Fair and have a display booth.  Sue Michaelson, Assistant Dean and Director of Cooperative Education; Steve Lynch, sophomore in Electrical Engineering; and Rob Copsey, graduate student in Mechanical Engineering, represented Marquette University – and enjoyed seeing many Marquette alumni at the Fair. 

Do You Know a Marquette Engineer Who Has Made a Difference in His/Her Community? As Marquette College of Engineering marks its Centennial Year (1908-2008) we wish to uniquely honor our distinguished alumni, the leading lights who transform technology, industry, education and everyday life through advances, and through service and leadership.

We invite you to nominate Luminaries of Marquette Engineering

Eligibility

• Marquette alumni – living or deceased

• Innovators and achievers in the field of engineering, technology and industry

A committee comprised of Marquette University faculty and administrators will select final candidates, and the naming of the Luminaries of Marquette Engineering will be recognized in the Fall of 2009 as we enter the next 100 years of the College of Engineering at Marquette University.

Please click here for an online nomination form or call 1-800-344-7544 to nominate a Marquette Engineering Luminary by December 31, 2008. 

What Would You Like to Tell Your Teammates About Your Field? One of the major emphases of Dean Jaskolski's vision is to prepare our students to function effectively on multidisciplinary teams, as you probably do every day.

So, what should we teach them?  What should engineers in discipline X know about engineering discipline Y?  What do YOU wish your teammates understood about what you do?  What have you learned, probably the hard way, about what THEY do?

Send anything from a phrase, to a war story, to a full case study to Dr. George Corliss. We'll see what we can do.  Perhaps some of your stories will appear in next month's issue of this newsletter.

The Results are In. Two of your engineering students participated in the ACM North Central North America Regional Programming Contest last month and their team placed well in the competition.

Marquette University fielded two teams.  Team 1 consisted of Tim Blattner, Aaron Gember and Adam Mallen, all students in the Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science (MSCS).  Team 2 consisted of Gabe Van Eyck (MSCS), David Herzfeld (Biocomputing Engineering) and Andrew Varner (Electrical & Computer Engineering).

Team 1 had a very strong showing, with 6 of 9 problems solved in 5 hours, putting them in 38th place out of 170 teams.

Team 2 had an exceptional showing, with 8 of 9 problems solved in 5 hours, putting them in 16th place.

Marquette placed 1st and 3rd at their site, and was 3rd in Wisconsin, behind two UW-Madison teams.

Students Assist With New Building Design. Many of your college’s freshmen students are in team competition with their classmates to make virtual models of the machinery located in the current Discovery Learning Center Shop.  The winning models will then be used to produce a virtual model of the shop for the proposed new Discovery Learning Complex.

Students in Dr. Hyunjae Parks' portion of the GEEN 1, Engineering:  The Art of Creating Change class have been busy measuring all the machinery in detail.  Each student is responsible for creating a virtual copy of a component of a machine.  The teams then "assemble" the components together on computers to make complete virtual models.  The winning models can then be included in a model of the entire shop, which will be used in designing and promoting the new building.

This assignment is giving your freshmen students exposure to some real world challenges, team building, and expertise in designing from components to assembled units.

Freshmen engineering students measure machinery components

The End of the Semester is Upon Us. To our students, we wish you much success in your final exams and a safe trip home to be with your families.

To our faculty, we wish you happy grading of those finals and an enjoyable and relaxing semester break.

To all of our readers, our Engineering family wishes you and your family a Blessed and Merry Christmas, a Happy and Healthy New Year, and a wonderful holiday season!

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