Volume 5, Number 10
July, 2009

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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Engineering Outreach. Some may think that university campuses are quiet and move at a slower pace during the summer months, but that’s not the case at Marquette or in your College of Engineering.  A wide variety of programs and classes offered throughout Marquette are bringing learners of all ages to campus this summer and the engineering building is certainly buzzing with activity.

In June our Engineering Education Outreach Program offered a variety of summer academies for elementary, middle and high school students to enhance their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills.  These programs have been developed to get participants excited about engineering and technology through problem-based learning and hands-on projects.  The first 4 academies involved an introduction to robotics engineering with LEGO Mindstorms RCX and NXT.  View a short video of a robotics academy. Enthusiasm and creativity accurately describe the students' robotics experience.

Additional academies covering a variety of engineering and science topics will be offered during July.  Click here to explore the academies offered during July.  Please note that registration for some of the academies is closed; these academies are clearly marked.

Two of our summer academies are of special significance in 2009.  In August we officially begin the university-wide celebration of the Centennial of Women at Marquette.  In 1909 Marquette became the first Catholic university in the world to offer coeducation as part of its regular undergraduate program.  In this outstanding tradition we are offering engineering academies specifically for girls ages 6-11 and young women ages 12-18.  “Engineering for Young Women”, view a video of this academy, for ages 12-18, is being held July 21-24 and explores how engineers work to solve today’s problems and help to improve our quality of life.  Engineering as a great career opportunity for young women is one of the themes of this academy.   “Engineering . . . It’s a Girl Thing” for ages 6-11, also being held July 21-24 tackles questions like “How is science and engineering used to help protect us during a car crash?” and “Can you build a bridge out of pasta?”  Girls of similar ages will work together to experience the fun and excitement of engineering problem-solving. Click here to see more details on these academies. For more information or to register please contact the Engineering Outreach office by phone at 414-288-6720, or by e-mail at engineering@marquette.edu.  Additional engineering activities celebrating the Centennial of Women at Marquette are detailed in the article “Thinking Engineering?” in this e-newsletter.

Lead Picture: Students enjoy a recent robotics academy

Additional images from Outreach robotics academies.

Yes, You Can Go Home Again! Whether you’re celebrating your 45th reunion or your 5th, Marquette is excited to welcome you back to campus for Alumni Reunion Weekend on July 23-26.  Classes of 1964, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2004 will be celebrating their reunions this year. Information can be found online.

Please especially note that engineering alumni will have an opportunity to meet with OPUS Dean Stan Jaskolski at the Engineering Open House on Saturday, July 25, from 1 p.m. to 2.  Stop by and tour the college, share your engineering memories and hear an update about the college’s successes and future plans (please register for this event via at (www.marquette.edu/alumni/reunions.)

See you in the Haggerty Engineering Triangle Student Lounge!

Addressing a Critical Need. In yet another effort to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, Marquette’s College of Engineering, the Helen Way Klingler College of Arts and Sciences and the teacher preparation program in the College of Education have collaborated to formalize a unique educational opportunity for students to pursue traditional degrees in engineering, math or science and also become certified to teach.

The $899,514 Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant from the National Science Foundation has been awarded to Marquette to attract and train 24 highly qualified STEM majors to teach in high-need middle or high schools.

The national Noyce Scholarship Program seeks to encourage talented STEM majors and professionals to become K-12 teachers. The grant may prove especially beneficial for our engineering students, who under the new program can reduce the time it takes to earn both an engineering degree and teaching certification to 5 years instead of the 6 to 6.5 years currently required to combine the two.

The program will accelerate this process by adapting the cooperative education model that prepares engineering majors to enter the professional field into a similar program for students who wish to become teachers. While other institutions also received Noyce funding, this track for engineering majors is unique to Marquette, according to Dr. Barbara Silver-Thorn, associate professor of biomedical engineering and director of Marquette’s Noyce Scholar Program.

"This is an opportunity to get STEM majors in high-need schools and make their students aware of valuable engineering, science and math career opportunities," explains Dr. Silver-Thorn.

Recruiting more STEM teachers is becoming an increasingly critical need. According to the National Science Foundation, two-thirds of the nation's K-12 teachers are expected to retire or leave the profession in the next 10 years.  It is estimated that more than 2 million teachers will need to be hired during that period, including more than 200,000 middle and high school math and science teachers.

The funding, which started June 1, was awarded as a competitive grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the federal economic stimulus package.  About 80% of the money will be used for scholarships with the rest paying for administration costs. Recruitment for Marquette’s program will begin in the fall of 2009, with scholarships being awarded between 2010 and 2014. 

This new program will include intensive field teaching experiences integrated with classroom instruction through a partnership between these three colleges. In addition to these teaching cooperative education experiences, Noyce Scholars will participate in project-based learning activities during summer community outreach programs.

The Noyce Scholar Program also builds off Marquette’s existing partnerships with local schools, including Brown Deer High School, Dominican High School, Messmer High School, Milwaukee High School of the Arts, Rufus King High School, South Milwaukee High School, Fritsche Middle School and South Milwaukee Middle School.

"Our Noyce Scholar’s program represents a timely step in our efforts to meet the vital need for STEM teachers locally and nationally," said College of Education Dean William Henk. "It blends the strengths of three exceptional academic units, using a developmentally appropriate model that moves future educators from the awareness stage to apprenticeship, immersion and mastery."

Brady Bunch Helps Grandpa. Many of you probably received some unique gifts from your children and grandchildren for Father’s Day, but how’s this for creativity?

OPUS Dean Stan Jaskolski was surprised when three of his grandchildren presented a boot full of money to him.  The children of Stan’s daughter Amy and husband Tim Brady emptied their piggy banks and put all of the money in a glass boot decorated with blue and gold ribbon.  This was their Father’s Day gift and contribution toward grandpa’s new engineering building – the Discovery Learning Complex (DLC).

They may be our youngest contributors for the DLC, but even in their youth, they know how important this building is to their grandpa and ultimately to Marquette engineering.  The thoughtful gift from Caroline (3), Kate (5) and Jack (9) made it a great Father’s Day for Stan; who says there will be at least one Marquette engineer out of this Brady Bunch of three.

Clockwise from left: Stan Jaskolski, Caroline Brady, Jack Brady and Kate Brady

Space Consortium Promotes Research. During the past academic year, two of our engineering students Cheryl Perich, mechanical engineering undergraduate, and Michael Morrissey, mechanical engineering graduate student, received a scholarship/research award and a fellowship, respectively, from the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium (WSGC) to work with associate professor Dr. John Borg on the formation of impact craters.  This research could lead to methodologies to determine the geological makeup of planetary bodies and possibly assist in our search for water on extra terrestrial bodies.

Their preliminary findings on impact crater formation were included in Dr. Borg’s $447,000 funded grant proposal “A Multi-Scale Physics-Based Approach Toward Developing a Greater Understanding of Dynamically Loaded Heterogeneous Systems.”  He also combined the students’ experimental research with his numeric simulations to write a paper, which is under review with the International Journal of Impact Engineering.

Each year the WSGC awards a number of undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships to the best and brightest college and university students from state institutions.  Awards for the undergraduate scholarship are based on a commitment to and an indication of on-going or proposed space-related studies.  The fellowship awards are based on space and aerospace-related promise and the submission of a specific research proposal.

Mike continues to work on his master’s degree here at Marquette.  After two co-op work terms with The Boeing Company, Cheryl is currently participating in the NASA Academy at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., a select internship program in which students work on research projects under the direction of NASA engineers and scientists.

Thinking Engineering? The Engineering Outreach Program is offering two very special activities on October 14 in conjunction with the "Centennial Celebration of Women at Marquette."

"A Celebration of Women in Engineering" will host 100 high school girls from the 7-county region (M7) for the day to learn about careers in engineering.  They will participate in hands-on workshops and attend a presentation, "Girls Rule," by Celeste Baine.  Ms. Baine is a biomedical engineer, motivational speaker and award-winning national figure in engineering education.  Director of the Engineering Education Service Center, she is the author of several books about engineering education and teaching engineering. Workshops will also be offered for school personnel about engineering and how to advise students on careers in this exciting profession.  The workshops will be hosted by women engineers from Marquette and area businesses.

In the evening, "Bring Your Daughter to Engineering Night at Marquette" will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m..  Parents are invited to bring their high school daughters (juniors and seniors) to learn about careers in engineering.  Commencing with a pizza party, the high school students will attend an encore of "Girls Rule" and participate in a hands-on engineering workshop while the parents attend a presentation on preparing for college.

College of Engineering alumni are welcome and invited to participate in these events.  Please contact Jack Samuelson by e-mail or by phone at 414-288-3517 to register for or to volunteer at these events.

Research Funded. Biomedical engineering assistant professor Dr. John LaDisa received an NIH AREA grant for “Quantifying Altered Hemodynamics in Response to Stenting for Aortic Coarctation.”  This National Institute of Health award is in the amount of $227,845 for a period of 2 years.

Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect and the leading cause of death due to birth defects. Stent implantation continues to emerge as a potential means of treating aortic coarctation (narrowing of the aorta), one of the most common forms of congenital heart disease. None of the stents currently used to treat aortic coarctation are FDA-approved, indicating that these devices are not being used for their specified purpose.  This project will therefore quantify stent-induced changes in arterial and cardiac structure and function to determine the ultimate utility of stents for the treatment of aortic coarctation.

This research is being conducted with Joe Cava M.D. Ph.D.; Mary Krolikowski RN, MSN; Andrew Pelech M.D. and Margaret Samyn M.D. all from the pediatric cardiology department at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

Biomedical Engineering Students Receive Support. Sara Nomeland, a master’s degree student and research assistant in Dr. LaDisa’s laboratory, has been named the recipient of the 2009 Maurice L. Madden Biomedical Engineering Fellowship.  The award recognizes exceptional graduate students in biomedical engineering.

Srdjan Acimovic, a senior, has received a scholarship from the national engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi.  This is the second biomedical engineering student who has received this competitive scholarship in recent years; Mohammad-Ali Jazayeri received a scholarship last year.

The Engineers and Scientists of Milwaukee presented an ESM scholarship to sophomore Cara Brigman at its annual meeting and dinner on June 17.  Nominated by her department chair, Dr. Kris Ropella noted Cara’s extreme dedication to her studies and her strong communication and leadership skills.  As a side note, Cara and her triplet siblings entered Marquette as freshmen last fall.  She also has 2 older brothers attending the university, one of whom is mechanical engineering senior Garrett.

Cara Brigman and Van Walling, Executive Director of
Engineers and Scientists of Milwaukee

Nagurka Gets Published. Mechanical engineering associate professor Dr. Mark Nagurka is co-author of a textbook that has just been released.  He will be using it for the “Advanced Vibrations” class that he’s teaching this fall semester.

This third and comprehensively revised edition of Mechanical Vibration:  Analysis, Uncertainties, and Control addresses the fundamental principles of vibration theory, emphasizing its application in solving practical engineering problems.  The authors focus on strengthening the engineer’s command of mathematics as a cornerstone for understanding mechanical vibration and two related fields; namely, control and uncertainties.

Be the Difference to Marquette Engineering Alumni and Students! Volunteers are needed to assist with the planning of Marquette’s Alumni Association activities for engineering alumni, students, parents and friends.
Marquette alumni can be valuable resources for the alumni awards selection process and to help coordinate Milwaukee-based events such as the baseball outing, freshman pizza party and the annual auction to benefit the college’s endowed scholarship fund. If you live outside of Milwaukee, there are many ways to get involved in your area including helping at Mass and brunches, summer send-off parties, service projects and game-watching parties!
For more information, contact Theresa Nemetz by e-mail or by phone at 414-288-4768.

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