Volume 4, Number 6, March, 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.

Be sure to visit the College Web site for complete information on your College.

Student team members from the Concrete Canoe, the Human Powered Vehicle and the Society of Automotive Engineers showed their actual projects and visited with guests.

The “Noggin” of your OPUS Dean Stan Jaskolski, created in his honor (see picture below), was a highlight of the silent auction.  Engineering alum Brian Knight was the winning bidder and at the basketball game he and Stan unveiled the “Noggin” in the student section to loud cheers from your engineers – and a live shot on the JumboTron.  It then traveled to Brian’s daughter, a Marquette student, to be displayed for the remainder of the game.

Thank you, Engineering Alumni Association, for planning and coordinating this fun event for our alumni and friends – and for assisting our students in need of scholarships!  We only wish this success could have continued to the end of the basketball game; when Marquette experienced a heartbreaking two point loss to Georgetown in overtime.

Stan Jaskolski and Brian Knight unveil the "Noggin"

Banner Picture: 2008 Engineering Brunch and Silent Auction

Audi and Borg Promoted. Your College is proud to announce that two faculty members have been promoted to Associate Professor, effective August 2008.

Dr. Said Audi joined the faculty of the Department of Biomedical Engineering in 1997 as a Research Assistant Professor.  In 2002, he became a Tenure-track Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care) at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Audi holds B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Marquette University. His research interest is primarily in mathematical modeling of physiological systems, in the areas of lung cell biology, lung mass transfer, lung hemodynamics, and functional/molecular imaging. Most of Said’s research is conducted in the Pulmonary Physiology Laboratory at the Zablocki VA Medical Center and is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Dr. Said Audi

With his primary area of research focused on shock physics phenomenology, Dr. Jon Borg joined the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 2002.  Prior to that, he was a lead scientist at the U.S. Naval Laboratory: Naval Surface Warfare Center, (NSWC) in Dahlgren Virginia from 1997 to 2002.  Jon received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Memphis, his Master’s in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and his Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  After receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Borg was a postdoctoral student at Cambridge University in England. 

Dr. John Borg

2008 Green Mass - March 15th. There is still time to make a reservation to attend the 2008 Green Mass, in honor of St. Patrick – patron saint of engineers - on Saturday, March 15th at 6 pm in the Alumni Memorial Union.  This is a Vigil Mass for Palm Sunday. 

Afterwards, stay for a unique beer tasting and game watching party to sample a few fine brews and spirits from Sprecher Brewery and Great Lakes Distillery and find out which team will capture the 2008 Big East Conference Championship.   Click here to make your reservation. 

An Exciting and Successful Weekend. Although Milwaukee is experiencing a very snowy and stormy winter, the weather gave us a break on Saturday, February 23rd when your College registered a record number of accepted applicants for our annual Scholarship Competition and Open House.

However, the activities actually began with Friday evening’s Casino Night, sponsored by the Engineering Student Council, with an attendance of approximately 100 prospective students who arrived the evening before their exam.  Current students and faculty were dealers, pit bosses, roulette spinners and craps dealers.  While their sons and daughters attended Casino Night, parents were treated to casual conversation and a traditional Wisconsin Fish Fry.  Over 200 dinners were served to guests who came from as far as Puerto Rico and as close as Waukesha.

The following morning, 375 students, representing twenty-five states, took the scholarship exam while their parents attended an information forum.  The top twelve test scores represented accepted applicants from the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa and Illinois and represent all programs within the College.  The scores were very high with the top scorer just missing a perfect score by two questions.  All test takers have been notified of their results with the scholarship recipients receiving personal calls of congratulations.

Immediately following the Scholarship Competition, an estimated 1000 people attended the Open House where they had an opportunity to visit with your students, faculty and staff and tour department laboratories and exhibits.  In addition to the traditional Student Information Panel, an “Engineering Women Alumnae Panel” made its debut in the packed schedule of activities.  After having lunch on us, tours of campus and residence halls were also available. At the conclusion of an already busy morning, a number of the guests joined Marquette fans at the Bradley Center to watch the Golden Eagles Men’s basketball team soundly defeat Rutgers 78-48.

Your College is thrilled with the rave reviews received from families who thanked us for the two day event during which they got an inside view of the College and the Marquette community.  Thank you, everyone, for making this event a happening!

Design for a Greener Campus. In their senior year, Marquette engineering students must participate in a design team project culminating in the development of a technically and economically viable concept and a proposal for future development.  In an effort to make Marquette’s campus more environmentally aware, one of the design teams is working to convert a Public Safety LIMO from the traditional internal combustion engine to a completely electric-powered vehicle. 

The environmental impact of this conversion is huge! The electric vehicle will not consume any gasoline; in other words petroleum, a non-renewable resource, will not be consumed to power the vehicle.  There will no longer be any exhaust coming from the vehicle, so the carbon footprint of the vehicle on the Milwaukee community will be reduced. There is also positive financial impact from the conversion; no need to purchase gasoline, lower maintenance costs, etc.

The eLIMO team consists of engineering students Ryan Agnew, Derek Heiser, Greg Lesher (who came up with the original idea), Andy Sovol, Ed Speck-Kern, Patrick Zirbel and Greg Novak and College of Business Administration students Erik Hendrickson and Tom Walsh.  Project advisors are Susan Riedel, S.M., P.E., Associate Professor, and Dr.  George Corliss, Professor, in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.  The team periodically sends updates of their progress and your College would like to share them with you:

“So far, we have been working hard to determine the best way to design this project and have been in communication with many area companies, as well as faculty and administrators.  During this project, we have formed partnerships with Marquette's Department of Public Safety (which donated the LIMO van), Rockwell Automation and Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC).  We also received a fellowship, for campus ecology projects, from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF).

The decommissioned van has been delivered to MATC’s automotive technology department for removal of the internal combustion parts of the engine as well as assistance with preparing the vehicle for installation of the Azure Dynamics electric motor and controller.  Team members also took measurements of the empty cavities to determine the best location for these new parts and batteries.

Financial assistance is essential to complete our project and we’re please to announce that the MU Student Government provided our team with $5,000 from its Reserve Funds.  In addition, we also received our initial $1,000 of the NWF Fellowship; Ed Speck-Kern and Dr. Corliss will attend a NWF national training session in Washington, D.C. regarding the fellowship.

We’re working hard and plan to keep moving forward!”

(Editor’s note:  The eLIMO design team continues to look for corporate sponsorships to help them toward their goal.  If you’re interested in assisting in this endeavor, please contact the design team.

Captain Russell Shaw, Associate Director of Public Safety, handing the decommissioned LIMO keys to
(from left) Erik Hendrickson, Ryan Agnew and Greg Novak

Participating in International Symposium. Megan Conrad, a doctoral student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, has earned a scholarship to attend the 18th Annual Meeting of Neural Control of Movement on April 29 – May 4, 2008 in Naples, Florida. 

The Neural Control of Movement Society is an international association of research scientists whose goal is to understand how the brain controls movement.  Megan’s thesis research involves studying the Effects of Tendon Vibration on Target Arm Movements Post-Stroke.  Stroke survivors typically experience paralysis on one side of their body; resulting in weakness and spasticity in one arm.  Prior research suggests sensory information from the hand and wrist musculature can influence motor control of the upper arm and shoulder.  She believes tendon vibration at the wrist excites Ia-afferent pathways to the brain and has a positive influence on upper extremity function.  Using a planar robot, she is able to study a stroke subject's ability to reach before, during and after tendon vibration is applied.  Megan works with Dr. Brian Schmit in the Neuromechanics Lab here at Marquette. 

A scholarship to attend the meeting is awarded to a limited number of graduate students.  To be eligible for support, a student must be a participant in a session or propose a poster based on his/her thesis research.  Megan will be presenting a poster on her research.  Preference is given to students who are nearing the end of their thesis research and are ready to choose a postdoctoral position. 

You make your College proud, Megan!

Former Astronaut Speaks With Students. Sponsored by your College and hosted by Marquette’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, a special guest spent time on campus with Marquette students, faculty and administrators and students from neighboring middle and high schools.  Dr. Guion S. Bluford Jr. presented The Sky is not the Limit, Spend Time in Outer Space on February 15th,discussing his experiences as a NASA astronaut and then answering questions from the audience.

Dr. Bluford is the first African-American to travel in outer space.  To get to this point in his career, he received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) respectively; a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in laser physics from the AFIT, and an MBA from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.  Dr. Bluford became a NASA astronaut in 1979.  He has logged over 5200 hours of jet flight, 688 hours in space and is a veteran of the Vietnam War.  He is currently the founder and president of an aerospace technology firm.

Dr. Guion S. Bluford Jr.

Your NAC at Work. Twice a year, the National Advisory Council to the College of Engineering (NAC) meets on campus to serve as an external advisory and consulting body to OPUS Dean Jaskolski, his staff and the overall College.  Chartered in 1975 by Rev. John P. Raynor, S.J., then President, NAC members are professionals in government, industry and academia who offer input into areas such as academic programs, cooperative efforts with industry and strategic planning. 

On February 29th, the NAC met for its bi-annual meeting, with the agenda focusing on its current Task Forces:  Development, Planning and Strategic Direction, and Recruiting.  To that end, a large portion of its schedule was devoted to break-out sessions of the individual Task Forces and presentation of the reports of their discussions to the entire group.

Other agenda items included Dr. David Shrock, Interim Provost for Marquette, who gave an update on university initiatives and Mr. Tom Ganey, University Architect, who discussed the status of the plans for a new building.

Another highlight of the meeting was when Mr. Jim Peck, from University Advancement, auctioned off a basketball autographed by Terri Mitchell and Tom Crean, Head Women’s and Men’s basketball coaches respectively.  The winning bid of $1000 was offered by NAC member Mike Wallace – which will also go to your College’s Endowed Scholarship Fund.  Thanks Mike!

NAC member Tom Fehring joins in a discussion at the meeting while Tom Cappelle listens

Students Host Professional Meeting. The Marquette Chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) hosted the Milwaukee area ASME meeting at Raynor Library on February 13th.   The joint meeting included members of ASME student chapters from UW-Milwaukee and the Milwaukee School of Engineering, as well as local area business and engineering professionals.

Topics of discussion included establishing collaborations between the local university chapters and strengthening industry involvement in student chapters.  The meeting was coordinated by Marquette students Cheryl Perich, ASME president, Stacey Erdmann, Secretary/Treasurer and faculty advisor Dr. John Borg.

Engineering Outreach Programs. Your college is offering a variety of weekend activities for elementary, middle and high school students, parents and teachers to increase interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education.  Each session features hands-on activities designed to show participants how creative thinking, combined with basic knowledge, can lead to innovation.  For additional information, please call Dr. Jon Jensen, Associate Dean for Enrollment Management at 414/288-6720 or visit the web site.

Best Wishes From Your College! We wish students and faculty a relaxing and enjoyable Spring Break!  Our warmest wishes for a happy and blessed Easter to all.

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