Engineering Design Expo

The April 25 Engineering Design Expo showcased the work of 330 students on 60 teams, including students in GEEN 1400 and senior projects courses. The Re-Deployable Multi-Rover System, an aerospace engineering senior capstone project (advisors Eric Frew and Joe Tanner), won the People’s Choice Award.

Senior Project Teams Finish Well Nationally
CU mechanical engineering students placed 12th out of 56 entries in Shell’s Eco-Marathon last month based on achieving fuel economy of 657 miles per gallon over the 10-mile course. The Eco-Marathon, held at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., challenges high school and college students from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil and India to design, build and drive a high-mileage concept car the farthest distance using the least amount of energy. The CU team was advised by Marcelo Bergquist.

The Design, Build, Fly senior project team from aerospace engineering sciences took 14th place out of 41 entries in the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics competition in Tucson. The team was advised by Donna Gerren and Kurt Maute.

Team ARCTIC (Arctic Region Climate Tracking and Instrumentation Cargo) from aerospace engineering sciences won second place in the AIAA Region V Student Paper Conference in Minneapolis. The team was advised by faculty members Bill Emery and Joe Tanner.

Graduate Programs Score in Top Quartile
The college ranked 40th among the nation’s best engineering graduate schools, and 22nd among public engineering graduate schools, in U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings, released April 23. By comparison, Colorado State University ranked 62 and Colorado School of Mines at 71 among engineering schools.

CU-Boulder’s top graduate specialty rankings included aerospace engineering 12th, chemical engineering 19th, environmental engineering 21st, and civil engineering 25th. All programs placed within the top quartile of accredited programs in their discipline. A complete list of the college’s rankings can be found on the website.

Honors & Awards
Congratulations to the following individuals on their outstanding achievements:

Faculty
Donna Gerren of aerospace engineering sciences was selected to receive the John & Mercedes Peebles Award for Innovation in Education. The Peebles Award will be presented at the Engineering Recognition Ceremony on May 7. She also was selected to receive the college’s Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award.

Dean’s Faculty Fellowships for the 2009-10 academic year were awarded to Chris Bowman of chemical and biological engineering, Roger “Buzz” King, Henry Tufo, and Dirk Grunwald of computer science, and to Daniel Scheeres of aerospace engineering sciences.

Roseanna Neupauer of civil, environmental, and architectural engineering received the Sullivan-Carlson Innovation in Education Award from the Engineering Excellence Fund. The award was presented at the April 25 Engineering Design Expo.

Siva Mettapulayam of civil, environmental and architectural engineering received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for his work on the failure process that occurs in engineering structures as a result of extreme events. The research will use novel mathematical methods and experimental techniques, and will have applications in disaster-resistant design of structures and in forensic engineering. Siva is one of four faculty in the college who received CAREER awards this spring.

A technology developed by Mark Hernandez of civil, environmental, and architectural engineering, which is used to remove heavy metals from wastewater, has been optioned to Boulder-based Tusaar, Inc.  The company anticipates that the inexpensive ingredients used in this technology, plus low energy requirements, lower waste disposal costs and expected compatibility with existing treatment systems will allow the company to gain a significant share of the water treatment market.

Bernard Amadei of civil, environmental, and architectural engineering has been elected a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, recognition that has been made to only 576 other members in the 157-year history of the ASCE. He also has been selected to receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Staff
Bonnee Basso of engineering management was selected to receive the college’s Outstanding Staff Advisor Award.

Claire Yang of aerospace engineering sciences, Ya-Wen Zhang of chemical and biological engineering, and Medford Moorer of civil, environmental, and architectural engineering received Employee Recognition Awards for March, April, and May.

Tip-Arpar Anderson of the dean’s office received CU’s ‘Do the Right Thing’ Quarterly Team Award for the contributions she made as a  beta testers for the new electronic expense reporting system. 

Advisory Council
George Sissel (ElecEngr ’58) was selected to receive the George Norlin Award from the CU Alumni Association. The award recognizes outstanding alumni who throughout their lives have demonstrated a commitment to excellence in their chosen field and a devotion to the betterment of society and their community.

Students
The following students will receive awards at the May 7 Engineering Recognition Ceremony:
- Julie Korak, BS in environmental and chemical engineering, Outstanding Graduate of the College
- Maxwell Moe, BS in applied mathematics and BA's in physics and astronomy, Outstanding Graduate for Research
- Jude Allred, BS/MS in computer science, Outstanding Graduate for Service
- Eric Eason, BS in applied mathematics and engineering physics, Outstanding Graduate for Academic Achievement
- Farheen Rizvi, BS in aerospace engineering, Colorado Engineering Council Silver Medal Award
- David King, PhD in chemical engineering, Outstanding Dissertation Award

The following students won awards at the April 17 Discovery Learning Research Symposium:
- Nicholas Zinner, senior in aerospace engineering sciences
- Daniel Costinett, senior in computer science/electrical and computer Engineering
- Xiao Ba, senior in chemical engineering/mechanical engineering
- Peter Kreider, senior in chemical engineering
- Benjamin Kamark, senior in environmental engineering
- Victoria Elizabeth Jones, junior in civil engineering

Ian Crocker of aerospace engineering sciences has been selected for a NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Graduate Student Researchers Program fellowship for 2009. Ian is advised by Jim Maslanik.

Edgar Flores of aerospace engineering sciences has been awarded an Undergraduate Research Award by the CU chapter of Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society.  Edgar has been doing research with Assistant Professor Mahmoud Hussein this year as a Discovery Learning Apprentice, studying wave propagation in periodic structures.

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