Bulletins

Jennifer Harris, a senior in the Concrete Industry Management program in the Del E. Webb School of Construction, has won a $7,000 American Concrete Institute Baker Foundation Fellowship for the 2009-2010 school year. The award is given to “high-potential” junior or senior undergraduate students with interest in a career in the construction industry, and studying civil engineering, structural engineering, or concrete industry management. The fellowship will enable Harris, from Denver, Colo., to attend upcoming American Concrete Institute conventions in New Orleans and Chicago. She plans to enter graduate school in May 2010 to pursue a master’s degree in construction management.

Tim Kniseley is the new academic success coordinator in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering Office of Academic and Student Affairs. Kniseley will focus on offering services such as one-on-one assistance to help students who are on continued academic probation, medical and compassionate withdrawals, and Degree Audit Reporting Systems exceptions.  He’ll also assist with student academic workshops and academic advisor training. Kniseley, who has a master’s degree in higher and postsecondary education from ASU, worked most recently in student affairs with ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design & the Arts. Kniseley will help guide the Fulton Match program, which allows freshmen to take three to four classes with only 20 students so they can develop a more personalized support system and make and an easier transition into the university environment.

Kaushal Rege, an assistant professor of chemical engineering in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, Chemical and Materials Engineering, and a graduate faculty member in the Biological Design Program, co-edited a recently published book with colleague Igor L. Medintz of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. Methods in Bioengineering: Nanoscale Bioengineering and Nanomedicine (published by Artech House) is a collection of chapters by leading scientists and engineers in these fields. It provides step-by-step methodologies and research results to help synthesize, characterize, and apply nanoparticles for various applications in biotechnology and medicine.  The book covers a broad array topics in the fields, including the impact of nanotechnology in advanced materials, fundamental studies in cell biology, medical imaging and drug delivery. “It was wonderful to interact with leading researchers at the interface of nanotechnology, bioengineering, and medicine,” Rege says, “and to put together a book that can help other scientists make significant advancements in research.”

Bradley Goodman, a senior ASU aerospace engineering student, will represent the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) at the International Astronautical Congress Oct. 12-16 in South Korea. Goodman was chosen for the all-expense paid trip after recently winning second place in a research paper and presentation competition at the AIAA Region VI Student Conference. His paper and presentation was entitled "Solid Rocket Propellant Characterization through Crawford Strand Burner Regression Rate Testing." Goodman’s work was inspired by his involvement in Daedalus Astronautics, an ASU student rocketry club. His work was sponsored in part by the Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative (FURI). At the international conference, he’ll compete against winners of other student research paper and presentation awards from around the world. Daedalus Astronautics members Jacob Dennis, Steven Shark and Felipe Hernandez won in the Team Category at the same AIAA Region VI Student Conference for their paper entitled “Design of a N2O/HTPB Hybrid Rocket Motor Utilizing a Toroidal Aerospike Nozzle." They plan to attend the AIAA International Student Conference – held in conjunction with the AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting – in January. They will compete against team winners from other AIAA regions. Goodman and the team members worked under James Villarreal, the project manager for Daedalus Astronautics.

Yu (Kevin) Cao, an associate professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, has won the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Design Automation (SIGDA) national award for outstanding new faculty. SIGDA works to advance the "skills and knowledge of electronic design automation professionals and students throughout the world.” The award is given to “a junior faculty member early in his/her academic career who demonstrates outstanding potential as an educator and/or researcher in the field of electronic design automation.” Cao was recognized for his research on the  the Predictive Technology Model, as well as work on device and circuit reliability. The award consisted of $1,000 and a citation, presented to Cao at the 2009 Design Automation Conference, the premier event in the field of  electronic circuits and systems design.  For more information, see the web site http://www.sigda.org/aboutsigda.html

How will it impact our society if scientific advances enable people to live far beyond today's average life span? The question will be explored by Bruce Rittman, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment and director of the Center for Environmental Biotechnology, along with Dawn Schwenke of the W.P. Carey School of Health Management and Policy, at the Science Cafe, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Arizona Science Center, 600 E. Washington St., in Phoenix. Science Cafes, sponsored by the ASU Center for Nanotechnology in Society, are informal gatherings that encourage questions and comments from the audience. Admission is free. Information: (480) 965-8122.

Ron Adrian, the Ira A. Fulton professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, has been awarded the Fluids Engineering Award by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and been selected for a fellowship at the University of Melbourne in Australia. The ASME award recognizes outstanding contributions over a period of years to the engineering profession – in particular to the field of fluids engineering – through research, practice and/or teaching. Adrian is being honored for his work in understanding of turbulence and the development of laser Doppler velocimetry, particle image velocimetry and stochastic estimation techniques, and for his leadership fluid dynamics. The Miegunyah Distinguished Fellowship will enable Adrian to spend three weeks in the College of Engineering at the University of Melbourne studying the structure of turbulent flow over walls. He’ll also presented a public lecture and several talks to specialists. His public lecture is entitled "Extracting Order from Chaos: The Search for Organized Structures in Turbulent Flow."

Brad Allenby, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, has been selected to be a Stockdale Fellow for the U. S. Naval Academy Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership.  The year-long Stockdale Fellowship program brings together scholars and teachers with senior career military officers, civil servants and others to collaborate on strengthening public understanding in areas involving war, military and leadership ethics. Allenby will investigate the social, cultural, ethical and operational implications of emerging military and national security technologies. The result of these investigations will be published articles, lectures, and detailed research on emerging technologies and their implications. “Many people don't understand how important military conflict has always been to the development of new technology,” Allenby says. He points to such technological advances as the rapidly increasing use of robots in combat situations, miniaturized surveillance mechanisms, development of “telepathic” headgear, and smart drugs that enhance cognitive function. The Stockdale Fellowship “offers an opportunity to explore the implications of such technologies so that we can manage their effects on society rationally and ethically,” Allenby says. Candidates for an academic Stockdale Fellowship typically are established scholars who have achieved considerable publications of their work and have gained significant teaching experience in the areas of philosophy and ethics, international relations, behavioral science, and/or public policy.

Rahul Mitra, a sophomore at Tempe's Corona del Sol High School, has won a Governor's Celebration of Innovation Future Innovator Award, presented by the Arizona Technology Council. Mitra was mentored by Nathan Newman, an engineering professor in ASU’s School of Materials, through the Southwest Center for Education and the Natural Environment (SCENE) Research Experiences for High School Students program. SCENE is a partnership of the ASU Global Institute of Sustainability, Phoenix-area municipalities and members of the private sector. Winners of the Future Innovator Award will be presented a $1,000 scholarship at The Governor's Celebration of Innovation annual awards gala November 19 at the Orpheum Theater in Phoenix. Eligibility for the honor was reserved for first place winners of the 2009 Arizona Science and Engineering Fair (AzSEF), held March 20 – 24 at the Phoenix Convention Center. The award, one of five announced, will be presented for Mitra’s winning project, “The Effect of Gold on the Superconducting Transition Temperature of Lead.” Presented jointly by the Arizona Technology Council and the Arizona Department of Commerce, the event honors Arizona's technology innovators and showcases their accomplishments. The Arizona Technology Council is a private, not-for-profit trade association founded to connect, represent and support Arizona’s expanding technology industry.