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For the fifth consecutive year, ASEE's Two Year College Division (TYCD) held the national Model Design Competition at the ASEE annual convention, held in Nashville this past June. The competition was open to engineering students attending two-year colleges as well as freshmen and sophomores attending four-year colleges. The objective was to build a battery-powered vehicle from scratch that could navigate a maze-like track as quickly as possible.
Student teams from all over the country spent months designing electrical and mechanical systems that they hoped would lead them to victory. Nine student teams brought their cars to the competition. Cedarville University, now three-time defending champion, entered two vehicles and took first and third place in the competition. Binghamton University captured second place and Central Carolina Community College finished in fourth place. Also competing were teams from Tidewater Community College, Broome Community College, and Central Ohio Technical College.
Rules for the 2004 competition during the ASEE Annual Conference in June are available from Paul Gordy, ASEE TYCD Chairman at PGordy@tcc.edu.
The winning teams for the 2003 TYCD National Design Competition are:
1st Place: Cedarville University
(Team: Hare II)—Cedarville, Ohio
Team members: Nathaniel Smith, Jeremy Wheeler, Tim Linden
Adviser: Clint Kohl
Time: 16.77 seconds2nd Place: Binghamton University–
Binghamton, N.Y.
Team members: Alex Zelenka, Eyal Cohen, Greg Alton, Matt Hilt, Ryan Ahern
Adviser: Richard Culver
Time: 21.00 seconds3rd Place: Cedarville University
(Team: Tortoise II)—Cedarville, Ohio
Team members: Nathaniel Smith, Jeremy Wheeler, Tim Linden
Adviser: Clint Kohl
Time: 23.22 seconds4th Place: Central Carolina Community College–
Sanford, N.C.
Team members: Orfilia Lemus, Karla Diede, Jason Matthews, Scott Fincher
Advisers: Jerry Clendenen and Steve Lympany
Time: 28.38 seconds
The American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) announced the winners of the 2003 Gunlogson Environmental Design Student Competition. Held July 30 at the ASAE Annual International Meeting in Las Vegas, the competition had two options for participants. The "Treatment of Sugary Waste" option called for the design and on-site construction of a small-scale system to treat water contaminated by sugar. Making its debut at this year's competition, "Fountain Wars" required students to design and build on-site a water fountain capable of, among other things, balancing a 12-inch beach ball atop a water stream. Schools could participate in either or both options.
Two teams, from Iowa State University and Ohio State University, competed in the first option. The Iowa State team of Patrick Murphy, Vincent Stout, and Mark Mommsen took home top honors. Over the six-hour test period, their system's 90 percent sugar removal rate far surpassed the minimum required rate of 70 percent.
In addition to floating a beach ball, the four teams competing in the "Fountain Wars" were judged on their fountains' aesthetic appeal and the amount of spray they could direct into a beaker. Adding to the challenge were the high winds battering team members as they struggled to construct their fountains outside. Each team managed to build their fountain and Brad Heilwagen, John Liszka, Emily Poynter, Laura Schutte, and Brad Tadlock of the University of Illinois won the competition.
In its third year, the Environmental Design Student Competition is named in honor of ASAE Life Fellow G.B. Gunlogson. His estate funds the annual competition and the Gunlogson Countryside Engineering Award.
ASAE is an educational and scientific organization based in St. Joseph, Michigan, whose goal is the advancement of engineering applicable to agricultural, food, and biological systems. Founded in 1907, the society has some 9,000 members in over 100 countries.
Last year, Prism was again recognized by the publication and design community for its accomplishments in publication excellence.
Three Prism layouts have been chosen for inclusion in Print magazine's 2003 Regional Design Annual. Honoring the magazine's picks for the best designs, illustration, and photography appearing in American magazines, the Annual will showcase the following Prism layouts: "Finally, A Little R&R," January 2002; "Where Is OTA? (When You Need It)," February 2002; and "Change in Course," April 2002. Over 22,000 entries from every state in the union were submitted. The Annual features designs appearing in publications such as Rolling Stone, the New Yorker, the Washington Post, and Vibe.
The American Association of Educational Publishers gave Prism a Distinguished Achievement Award, Article Design, for "The ABC's of Engineering," November 2002.
Prism has also won the following APEX Awards for Publication Excellence: Award for Magazines and Journals, Printed Four Color, February 2002; Award for Spreads, "25 Ways to Fight Terrorism", February 2002.
By Clare F. Cook
Associate Professor
Ferris State UniversityJ.P. Moshen
Associate Professor
University of LouisvilleThe ASEE North Central Section (NCS) has been an active component of the national society. This section includes the geographic areas of Michigan, Ohio, the western side of Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. With its more than 1,200 members, much activity has been taking place in the section. Activities include sectional conferences, participation at the national level, support of sectional and national recognition, and awards.
Our most recent sectional conference, held at Ohio State University, attracted participants from across the section. Paper presentations included topics on teaching, capstone design, K-12 outreach, and research. Starting two years ago, the section included a student paper session with a $100 award for the one deemed best. This has attracted student submissions from across the section and produced many excellent presentations. The 2003 winning paper is "Simplified Integrated Design for Fixed Film Biological Nutrient Removal (FFBNR)", authored by Derek Heckler and Andrew Glover with their adviser Bruce Berdanier of Ohio Northern University. The best paper award went to Margaret F. Pinnell and Leon Chuck, both of the University of Dayton, for their paper "Developing Technical Competency and Enhancing the Soft Skills of Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Students Through Service-Learning". This paper also won the Zone II Best Paper award for 2003.
The sectional conferences are traditionally held in April and draw attendees from across the North Central and other sections. Oakland University, Case Western Reserve University, the University of Akron, Michigan State University, Cleveland State University, and the University of Detroit-Mercy have hosted other recent conferences.
Industry has played a key role in the North Central Section conferences over the years. The section has enjoyed donations, vendor displays, training sessions, and paper presentations at the conferences. Companies such as National Instruments, Autodesk, Prentice Hall, General Motors, and Ford Motor Co. have helped make the sectional conferences multidimensional. Each conference has provided a vehicle for faculty members to interact on important issues of the day. This year's issues included reaction to state budget problems, diversity in the classroom, and attracting students to engineering programs. Feedback has indicated that both faculty and industry attendees gain information they can use on a daily basis.
NCS is also active on the national level. Frank Croft recently was elected as the PIC III Chair. Frank has been a longtime member of ASEE and has held leadership positions in both sectional and national committees. He has also been a Zone II chair serving the Illinois/Indiana, Southeast, and North Central sections. Sandra Yost has recently been elected as Zone II Chair. She has been an active participant in NCS activities, serving as campus rep. coordinator, vice chair, and chair of the section.
The NCS has been able to award honoraria to winners of the annual outstanding teacher award, outstanding campus representative, four best paper awards, and a student paper award. These awards are presented annually at the section conference. The 2003 Outstanding Teacher Award went to Clint Kohl from Cedarville University. Additionally, in 2002, the section recognized Frank Croft and Hossein Mousavinezhad with Distinguished Service Awards for their many years of outstanding service to the section. These service awards are given only when an individual exhibits truly outstanding service to the section. Both Frank and Hossein are very deserving of the award.
The 2004 NCS annual conference will be hosted by Western Michigan University, April 1-3 in their new engineering complex. The theme of the conference is "Excellence in Engineering/Technology Education and Research". Visit the conference Web site at www.wmich.edu/ece for details about the conference and the call for papers. NCS invites all ASEE members to Kalamazoo, Michigan, to participate in what promises to be an outstanding conference.
James L. McGraw, professor emeritus and longtime leader of the engineering technology programs at the University of Dayton, passed away on August 27, 2003. In 1962 McGraw chaired the ASEE committee that recommended the standards for engineering technology curricula. He is considered the principal author of the "Characteristics of Excellence in Engineering Technology Education." Referred to as the "McGraw Report", it is still used as a reference for curriculum development. This achievement won him the ASEE Arthur Williston Award for significant contribution to the literature of technical education.
He also worked on accreditation issues at the national level with ABET's predecessor organization, Engineers Council for Professional Development (ECPD).
McGraw worked as an industrial engineer for Delco Products Division of General Motors Corp. in Dayton before joining the University of Dayton faculty as a part-time instructor in 1952. Two years later he became the first full-time member of the Industrial Technology faculty. In 1963 he assumed the leadership role for all Dayton's engineering technology programs, a position he held until his retirement in 1990. In the early 1960s he oversaw the initiation of the university's bachelor's of science in engineering technology degree (BSET), building on the successful associate's degree programs begun in 1950.
In 1993, the centennial year for ASEE, McGraw was named as one of ten Pioneers of Engineering Technology Education.
ASEE and Tsinghua University invite papers for the 2004 International Colloquium on Engineering Education to be held September 7-10, 2004 in Beijing. Conference topics are: continuing education and its delivery, engineering education reforms, and international recognition of qualifications. Prospective presenters are invited to submit an abstract on one of the above topics. Abstracts must be submitted electronically via the ASEE CAPS system at www.asee.org/conferences/caps_conf. Abstracts should be 200-300 words long and in English. The ASEE CAPS system accepts Microsoft Word documents, Corel Word Perfect documents, and Adobe .pdf files. Abstracts will be accepted until April 1, 2004. All abstracts will be peer reviewed by the Program Planning Committee, and accepted authors will be asked to submit a paper for publication on the CD ROM of the conference proceedings. All accepted authors will present their papers in a poster session or 5-minute oral presentation on Tuesday, September 7. This year, the program committee has decided to limit presentations to either poster presentations or oral presentations. The paper review committee will decide in which format your paper will be presented.
The Society of Engineering Mechanics (SEM) is issuing a call for papers for its 2004 SEM International Congress on Experimental and Applied Mechanics and Concurrent Symposia. The Congress will be held at the Hilton Costa Mesa, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, June 7-10, 2004. SEM will be accepting technical abstracts (online only, at www.sem.org) through the end of November 2003.
The International Conference on Monitoring, Simulation, and Remediation of the Geological Environment, held July 5-7, 2004, in Segovia, Spain, is looking for papers on the following topics:
Earth's Materials and Resources
Earth's Dynamics
Geo-Environmental Planning and Management
Environmental Remediation
Geo-Information Sources
The conference aims to attract researchers, practitioners, and government employees from diverse backgrounds such as geology, civil engineering, forest and agricultural engineering, geography, biology, ecology, and hydrology interested in the geological environment. Full conference details are available at: www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2004/geoenvironment04/index.html.
Did you know that ASEE administers a number of fellowships? There are programs for doctoral, postdoctoral, and faculty research. For more information, contact the ASEE Projects Department at (202) 331-3525, or projects@asee.org, or visit www.asee.org/fellowships.
NDSEG Fellowship Program
The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship program is sponsored by the Department of Defense with the goal of providing the United States with talented, highly trained American men and women who will lead state-of-the-art research projects in disciplines having the greatest payoff to national defense requirements. The fellowships are awards conferring high honors upon the recipients, three years of full support in pursuit of a doctoral degree in disciplines of military importance in science and engineering, and are portable, allowing recipients to pursue their graduate studies at whatever U.S. institution they choose to attend.
The 2004 NDSEG Fellowship competition will award approximately 170 new three-year graduate fellowships in April 2004. Fellows beginning tenure in 2004 receive a $28,000 annual stipend, $1,000 annual health-insurance allowance, and full tuition and fees. NDSEG Fellows do not incur any military or other service obligation. The NDSEG program is open only to U.S. citizens and nationals, and is intended for students at or near the beginning of their graduate studies who intend to pursue their Ph.D. The application deadline is January 9, 2004. For more information, or to apply, visit www.asee.org/ndseg.
Helen T. Carr Fellowship Program
Under the auspices of ASEE's Historically Black Engineering Colleges Committee, the Helen T. Carr Fellowship Program provides up to $10,000 per year to African-American students pursuing a doctoral degree in engineering. Upon completion, the recipient must teach at a participating Historically Black College or University (HBCU). Application deadlines are January15, 2004 for students enrolling in Fall 2004 and May15, 2004 for those intending to enroll in Spring 2005.
Participating institutions are Alabama A&M University, Normal, Alabama; Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia; Howard University, Washington, D.C.; Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland; North Carolina A&T University, Greensboro, North Carolina; Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas; Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee; and Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama. For more information, see www.asee.org/fellowship/hbecc.cfm.
Army Research Laboratory Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
The Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program is designed to significantly increase the involvement of creative and highly trained scientists and engineers from academia and industry in scientific and technical areas that are of interest and relevance to the Army.
Applications are received on an ongoing basis and can be submitted at any time. Most research opportunities at ARL are open only to U.S. citizens. The selected participants will work in an Army laboratory with senior ARL scientists and engineers. Fellowships are awarded for one year but may be renewed for a second and third year based upon the recommendation of the fellow's adviser and availability of laboratory funds. Stipends range from $48,000 to $57,000 based upon experience and research interests. Higher stipends are available for senior appointments. The program provides participants with family health insurance and life and disability insurance. Travel and relocation funds are also available. For more information, visit www.asee.org/arl.
Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) sponsors a Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at a number of Naval R&D centers and laboratories. The program is designed to significantly increase the involvement of creative and highly trained scientists and engineers from academia and industry in scientific and technical areas of interest and relevance to the Navy.
The NRL Postdoctoral Fellowship Program provides approximately 40 new postdoctoral appointments per year. Fellows are competitively selected on the basis of their overall qualifications and technical proposals addressing specific areas defined by the host Navy laboratories. The selected participants will work in a unique Navy laboratory environment while interacting with senior laboratory scientists and engineers. Competitive stipends, based upon research experience and direction, are offered. A group health-insurance program is provided for participants (paid for by the fellowship) with optional coverage for dependents (to be paid for by the participant). Travel and relocation allowances are also available. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis. Participants selected for support under a NRL Postdoctoral Fellowship must be U.S. citizens and eligible for a Department of Defense security clearance of "Secret." For more information, visit www.asee.org/nrl.
FACULTY RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
Office of Naval Research Summer Faculty Research and Sabbatical Leave Program
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) sponsors the Summer Faculty Research Program and the Sabbatical Leave Program for U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents who hold teaching or research appointments at U.S. colleges and universities. These programs provide an opportunity for faculty members to participate in research of mutual interest to the faculty member and professional peers at U.S. Navy laboratories. Participants have the opportunity to establish continuing research relations with the R&D personnel of the host laboratories, which may result in sponsorship of the participants' research at their home institutions.
Summer Faculty Research Program
The Summer Faculty Research Program is a 10-week program, beginning in May 2004. There are three levels of appointment: Summer Faculty Fellow, Senior Summer Faculty Fellow, and Distinguished Summer Faculty Fellow. Stipends range from $1,400 to $1,900 per week for the summer program. Each fellow will be reimbursed for expenses incurred on an optional pre-program visit to the sponsoring laboratory and one round-trip encompassing travel to the sponsoring laboratory at the beginning of the program and travel back to their home residence at the end of the program. Relocation assistance is provided to qualifying participants. At the discretion of the Navy lab, fellows may be allowed to bring a student to the lab to assist with the summer research. Faculty members from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI's) are especially encouraged to apply.
The application deadline is December 1, 2003.
Sabbatical Leave Program
The Sabbatical Leave Program provides fellowship appointments for a minimum of one semester to a maximum of one year in length. Participants in the Sabbatical Leave Program receive a monthly stipend making up the difference between salary and sabbatical leave pay from their home institutions. Relocation and travel assistance are provided to qualifying participants. This is a residential sabbatical and participants must conduct research on-site. Applications are accepted on a continuing basis but should be submitted at least six months prior to the proposed starting date.
For more information about these programs, please visit www.asee.org/summer.
NASA Faculty Fellowship Program
The NASA Faculty Fellowship Program (NFFP) offers hands-on exposure to NASA's research challenges through 10-week summer research residencies at participating NASA research centers for full-time science and engineering faculty at U.S. colleges and universities. Fellowships are awarded to qualified engineering and science faculty members and other related disciplines for work on collaborative research projects of mutual interest to the fellow and the NASA center. Each fellow will work with a center colleague and will be associated directly with the aeronautics and space program and the concomitant basic research problems. Fellows may reapply for a second summer.
Stipends are $1,200 per week. A travel allowance will be paid. In addition, a relocation allowance will be provided for those fellows who must relocate their residence.The application deadline is February 2, 2004.
The NASA Faculty Fellowship Program is jointly managed by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). The NFFP combines aspects of two successful former and long running NASA programs: the NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program and the NASA/USRA Joint Venture (JOVE) program.
For more information about the NASA Faculty Fellowship Program, please visit www.asee.org/nffp.
John Kuhman, professor in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department at West Virginia University, has been named a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering. The fellow grade recognizes outstanding contributions and achievements to the mechanical engineering profession. A member of the West Virginia faculty for 18 years, Kuhlman earned his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees at Case Western Reserve University.
Robert Nerem, director of the Parker H. Petit Institute of Bioengineering and Bioscience and professor of mechanical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, received the Pierre Galletti Award from the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. The annual award recognizes and individual's efforts to raise public awareness of medical and biological engineering and technical education in general.
