SSOE Annual Report 2009

University of PittsburghSwanson School of Engineering

Annual Report 2009

University of Pittsburgh

Swanson School of Engineering� Annual Report

2009�

contents

IMPAct

Letter from the Dean

Healthy Metals

Powering Up

Green Building Will Grow Collaborations

Department of Bioengineering

Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department of Industrial Engineering

Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Office of Diversity

Students

Alumni, Development, and External Relations

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On the Cover: Researchers at Pitt are developing biodegradable metals that could be placed in the body and allowed to degrade when they’re no longer needed. Pictured on the cover is porous scaffolding that is created by converting a magnesium-based alloy into powder. See pages 6–11 for full article.



2009�

Gerald D. Holder

U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering, in the new facility for the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, which will house 18 faculty members and 94 graduate and postdoctoral researchers when opened during Fall 2009.

Visit www.engr.pitt.edu/BenedumTransformation to view renovation photos.

the swAnson school: IMPActIng oUr world

Despite the economic hardships our nation

has faced over the past year, I am proud to

report that the Swanson School of Engineering

continues to thrive. This past year, we’ve

experienced successes with our research,

teaching, scholarship, facilities, educational

programming, and student initiatives.

We announced during fall 2008 that we’d

help lead a National Science Foundation

Engineering Research Center (ERC), which

involves dozens of engineers and doctors from

universities and industries around the world

for a five-year, $18.5 million project. The aim

of the ERC, which you can read about on

pages 6-11, is to develop implantable devices

made from biodegradable metals. The

devices will be designed to adapt to physical

changes in a patient’s body and dissolve once

they have healed, reducing the follow-up

surgeries and potential complications of major

orthopedic, craniofacial, and cardiovascular

procedures, and sparing millions of patients

worldwide added pain and medical expenses.

This fall we also named our new associate

dean of research, Mark Redfern, who

previously served on our bioengineering

faculty. Redfern holds a PhD in

bioengineering from the University of

Michigan. Alongside Rakie Cham, associate

professor of bioengineering, his research

conducted in the Human Movement Balance

Laboratory on preventing slips and falls

among the elderly has been featured widely

by scientific and popular sources, including

recently the NBC Nightly News (visit

www.engr.pitt.edu/news/HMBL to view the

video). Redfern is associate editor of several

journals, including the Journal of Applied

Biomechanics and IEEE Transactions in

Rehabilitation Engineering.

Phase one of the Benedum Hall renovations

has been completed, and we are ready

to unveil that portion of the project,

which will house the Mascaro Center for

Sustainable Innovation and its faculty and

student researchers. Six years ago, when

Jack Mascaro (BSCE ’66 and MSCE ’80)

contributed a generous lead gift enabling the

school to become a leader in sustainability

research, the Mascaro Center consisted of

only a few offices. This fall, we will open a

three-story, 42,000-square-feet building

containing wet and dry labs for 18 faculty

members and 94 graduate and postdoctoral

researchers. The remainder of Benedum Hall

will undergo a complete transformation of

the existing space into more state-of-the-art

research, teaching, and study facilities over

the next several years.

We experienced many other accomplishments

this year, including the formal birth of our

Power and Energy Initiative, which serves as

the umbrella for our new programs in electric

power, nuclear, and mining engineering; high

employment rates for graduating students;

and a surge in the number of students who

participated in international travel. We also

celebrated the success of our alumni during

our annual awards banquet.

I encourage you to read about these

achievements and more in our 2009

annual report.

gerAld d. holder

U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering



2009�

Swanson School researchers are helping to lead a project to create novel implantable devices that will dissolve harmlessly in the body, reducing complications from surgery.

In September 2008, the school announced it had received a five-year, $18.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Titled “Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials,” the grant enabled the school to create an Engineering Research Center (ERC).

Healthy MetalsAbove photo: magnesium-based alloy that can be converted to alloy powders of controlled sizes

William Wagner

will serve as deputy director of the $18.5 million Engineering Research Center. Wagner is also deputy director, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and professor of bioengineering, chemical and petroleum engineering, and surgery.



2009�

Pitt will be part of the ERC’s central partnership along with

lead institution North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State

University (NCAT) and the University of Cincinnati (UC).

The grant will also create the first bioengineering department at

a historically black college and university, NCAT.

William Wagner, deputy director of Pitt’s McGowan Institute

for Regenerative Medicine, and professor of bioengineering,

chemical and petroleum engineering, and surgery, will serve

as deputy director of the project with UC Professor Mark

Schulz, codirector of the UC Nanoworld and Smart Materials

and Devices Laboratories. Jagannathan Sankar, NCAT’s

Distinguished University Professor of Mechanical Engineering

and director of the Center for Advanced Materials and Smart

Structures, will direct the project.

“The folks at North Carolina A&T, in particular Dr. Sankar,

with his great enthusiasm and wonderful personal magnetism,

spearheaded the effort that convinced us we should go ahead

and try to compete for one of these ERC awards,” says Harvey

Borovetz, professor and chair of bioengineering.

The collaboration melds NCAT’s expertise in metallurgy, Pitt’s

expertise in regenerative medicine, and UC’s expertise in sensor

technology. Research in the ERC will focus on developing

biodegradable metals—magnesium-based alloys that could

be placed in the body, then degrade when they’re no

longer needed.

“The goal would be that the metal would do what it needed

to do but eventually disappear, so that you would not need to

replace it or do a second procedure,” says Borovetz. “That’s the

revolutionary part: You can actually program your biomaterial to

know when to disappear, consistent with optimal healing.”

Prashant Kumta

Weidlein Chair of the Departments of Bioengineering, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, is working to develop the next generation of degradable metals.

“One of the reasons we won this award,” according to Borovetz, “was that

Dean Holder, at just the right time, hired Dr. Prashant Kumta, a recognized

authority in metals, biometallurgy, and the biocomposition of metals.”

Kumta (pictured), Weidlein Chair of the Departments of Bioengineering,

Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering and

Materials Science, is working to develop the next generation of degradable

metals: new magnesium-based alloys. With Charles Sfeir, associate professor

of oral medicine and pathology in Pitt’s School of Dental Medicine, Kumta is

using metals from Germany’s Hannover Medical School, which has clinical

experience implanting magnesium-based alloys, and characterizing their

ability to be put into bone applications.

One of the major applications of such materials is pediatric. Today when

children are born with a congenital deformity like a cleft palate, they’re fitted

with hard metal devices that have to be removed and refitted over time.

“That’s the revolutionary part: You can actually program your biomaterial to know when to disappear, consistent with optimal healing”


Swanson School of Engineering10 Annual Report

200911

Devices the ERC researchers will engineer—

crafted from magnesium alloys and other

biodegradable metals—would adapt to the

body without refitting.

Another research goal is to develop degradable

cardiovascular devices, like stents. Magnesium

stents and other supports would restore

cardiovascular function, then degrade, thus

avoiding both removing the device and exposing

the patient to the potential complications of

leaving it inside the body.

“When you get a coronary stent, that stent

is with you for the rest of your life,” says

Wagner. “Patients may need another stent

put in, and wire cages in the arteries can

get dangerous. Having it disappear after six

months with the artery remaining open would

be attractive.”

Finally, the team aims to develop tiny sensing

systems that monitor and control the safety

and effectiveness of biodegradable metals

inside the body, telling doctors whether

undesirable degradation by-products are

reaching toxic levels.

“These are ‘smart biomaterials’ in a sense,”

says Borovetz. “UC, with its expertise in

sensors, can take a piece of metal and

program it to function according to a

particular clinical need.”

Wagner’s group also will work to increase

value and functionality of nondegradable

metals by modifying their surface.

Applications include reducing blood clotting

for metals used in blood pumps, and drug-

releasing coatings for stents.

Says Borovetz, “The technical challenges are

certainly there, but more importantly, so are

the patients who need these technologies.”

Other partners in the ERC are the Indian

Institute of Technology in Madras, India, and

California State University, Los Angeles.

In addition, nearly 30 product development and

industrial partners in the nanotechnology and

biotechnology market will form a consortium

with the ERC to provide input on research and

to help transfer technology to patients.

Wagner points out that the United States

previously has lagged in biodegradable metals

research, with the leaders in this field being

mostly in Germany and China. “This was a

strategic investment for the country to get in at

an early stage in this type of research,” he says.

Borovetz notes that being selected for the

highly competitive ERC reflects the continuing

improvement and excellence of the Swanson

School, and the quality of its people. From

143 submissions at the preproposal stage,

the NSF funded just five.

“Normally, I’m not interested in applying for

grants or other awards where you have less

than a 1 in 25 chance,” jokes Borovetz.

“The faculty in the Swanson School have the

kind of reputation that is required to compete

for these awards.”

Researchers at Pitt are developing

biodegradable metals that could be placed in

the body and allowed to degrade when they’re

no longer needed.

Pictured here is a magnesium-based alloy

(A) that can be converted to alloy powders of

controlled sizes by high energy mechanical

milling. The mechanically milled alloy powders

are then converted into biodegradable 3-D

porous or non-porous scaffolds using modified

and customized thermal and piezoelectric

inkjet printers (B). One application of these

biodegradable metallics is a jaw implant, where

the scaffolding would hold the jaw in place

then degrade after human bone regenerates.

The 3-D inkjet process can be used to print

and process scaffolds comprising a variety of

complex shapes and porous architectures (c).

Another example is the ball bearing cylinder,

a shape that can be created with the alloy

metal powders (d).

“This was a strategic investment for the country to get in at an early stage in this type of research”

A

B

c

d

REVOLUTIONIZING METALLIC BIOMATERIALS


Swanson School of Engineering1� Annual Report

20091�

Center for Simulation and ModelingWhether studying the spread of a pandemic or predicting

economic collapse, computer simulations and modeling are used

when experiments are impractical or impossible. Technological

advances in computer processing can help researchers run

simulations faster, and Karl Johnson wants to help them do it.

Johnson, William Kepler Whiteford Professor of Chemical and

Petroleum Engineering, codirects the Center for Simulation and

Modeling (SAM), which allows researchers across the University

to utilize new computer processing technologies.

Most processors today have multiple cores, or virtual CPUs.

Commercial programs make the most of these multi-core

technologies, but academic-written code usually does not.

“A lot of us in the University are developing our own codes or are

modifying existing codes,” says Johnson. “The onus is on us to

figure out how to take advantage of it.”

Powering Up

Across the five research areas of focus in the Swanson School—bioengineering, energy, manufacturing and product innovation, nanoscience and engineering, and sustainability—a new center and new initiative are providing opportunities for collaboration and innovation.



20091�

Johnson says the increase in processor speeds also is being driven by

consumer electronics like the Sony Playstation 3. The highly specialized

graphics processing units (GPUs) can run codes up to 100 times faster.

“We’re investigating how we can take simulation or modeling codes that

have been written for CPUs and port them to a GPU platform,” he says.

If Johnson succeeds, a simulation that in the past would have taken 100

days could theoretically be run in just one.

The center is staffed by three consultants who don’t write the codes for the

researchers, but help them learn how to do it themselves. “It’s not a shop;

it’s more like a tutorial service or a master class service,” says Johnson.

“The consultants have hands-on prior experience with developing

applications and writing their own codes.”

One of the purposes of the center is to initiate collaborations across

disciplines. SAM offers a twice-monthly seminar series in which affiliated

researchers discuss their work, detailing their algorithms and types

of modeling.

“The idea is to try to spark a transfer of ideas from one field to another,

and also to develop collaborations where people might work together to

write a proposal or to tackle a problem,” says Johnson.

With a renaissance in new energy technologies now underway, companies

need more workers. To meet the increasing needs of employers, the Swanson

School has developed new programs in electric power engineering, nuclear

engineering, and mining engineering under its Power and Energy Initiative.

“Students and faculty had not been populating the power and energy fields

over the past couple of decades, and so we don’t have an adequate pipeline

today of properly trained engineering professionals to fill the technical

workforce requirements that we’re now embarking upon in the rapidly

emerging energy economy,” says Gregory Reed, associate professor of

electrical and computer engineering and director of the initiative.

Due to its location, Pitt is well-positioned for the resurgence. The region has

historically been a powerhouse for electric, coal, and nuclear engineering.

“If you made a topographical map of the United States for nuclear engineering

expertise, Southwestern Pennsylvania would have one of the peaks,” says

Larry Foulke, adjunct professor of mechanical engineering and materials

science and director of nuclear programs.

Adds Anthony Iannacchione, director of mining engineering and associate

professor of civil and environmental engineering, “It’s to everybody’s benefit for

Pitt to have this program since the University is right in the middle of this area.

There really is a shortage and a demand for mining engineers.”

If Johnson succeeds, a simulation that in the past would have taken 100 days could theoretically be run in just one

Over the last several decades in the power industries, technological development, investment, and infrastructure expansion have gradually declined. The result has been reduced research and education for power- and energy-related activities, including engineering.

Power and Energy Initiative

Researchers at the Center for Simulation and Modeling, Left to Right: Kim Wong, Karl Johnson (Codirector), Ken Jordan (Codirector), Nicole Johansen, Richard Christie



20091�

Larry Foulke

Director, Nuclear Programs Adjunct Professor, Mechanical

Engineering and Materials Science

By collaborating closely with industry partners, government sponsors, and other key

constituents, the program aims to educate the next generation of power and energy

engineering professionals and contribute to advanced research activities in the power,

nuclear, and mining fields.

The school now offers undergraduate and graduate concentrations or certificates in electric

power, nuclear, and mining (graduate certificate under development). The initiative also focuses

on outreach, hosting industry nights, research roundtables, and other networking events.

Regional industry partners, including Eaton Corporation (electric power), Westinghouse

(nuclear), and CONSOL Energy (mining) provide philanthropic support, collaborative research

projects, senior design projects, and scholarships.

In addition to industry support, the initiative has received funding from the Heinz Endowments,

the U.S. Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Commonwealth

of Pennsylvania. Total support for the initiative totals over $4 million.

Through a grant from Ben Franklin Technology Partners, the initiative has developed innovative

research tracks at the crossroads of electrical, nuclear, and mining engineering, focusing on

sustainability and green technology. Research areas are centered around renewable energy

integration and storage; advanced power delivery technology, especially in areas like high

performance power electronics for the transmission grid; energy efficiency; and advanced

materials for harsh energy environments.

Reed notes that when the initiative was being developed, no one expected the

stimulus package. “We developed this in a really timely manner knowing a lot of this

need was building up,” he says. “The stimulus has helped to accelerate the things

we’ve been talking about for many years now, and provides further opportunity to

enhance the value of our corporate partnerships and other collaborations.”

By all accounts, the program has been an early success. Enrollment has been

steadily increasing in all the introductory courses. Bettis and Westinghouse have told

Foulke how pleased they are with the graduates they’ve been getting. In addition,

Eaton worked with Reed to develop a new course that was offered this past summer

on power distribution engineering and smart grids, which had a strong student

enrollment and was co-instructed by an experienced Eaton employee serving

as an adjunct.

“I keep telling people that the Southwestern Pennsylvania region is in a period

analogous to what we did back in the 1940s–60s, leading an industrial revolution with

our steel industry,” says Reed. “We are in the exact same position right now in dealing

with this more technically advanced emerging energy economy. We’ve changed from

a steel town to an advanced-technology town and we have all these industries that are

poised for success. We’re well positioned as a University to be a national leader in the

power and energy technology resurgence that is beginning in America.”

Gregory Reed

Director, Power and Energy Initiative Associate Professor, Electrical and

Computer Engineering

Anthony Iannacchione

Director, Mining Engineering Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

The Swanson School is developing new programs in electric power, nuclear, and mining engineering to address industry needs for qualified engineers. Leading Pitt’s programs are:



20091�

Green Building Will Grow CollaborationsFrom green roofs to green buildings, the $100 million Benedum Hall renovation and expansion project has made substantial progress. Some key facilities will be ready for students and faculty in the fall, including the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation (MCSI) building.

The new environmentally-friendly building, expected to achieve

LEED certification, will be full of natural light and use low-volatile

organic compound paint and carpeting as well as recycled furniture.

It will house 18 faculty and 94 graduate students and postdoctoral

researchers. Research space will include dry and wet labs as well as

offices, conference rooms, and seminar rooms.

The Mascaro Center was a joint initiative between John “Jack” C.

Mascaro (BSCE ’66 and MSCE ’80) and the University to support

the Swanson School’s priority of sustainability. Mascaro donated

a substantial portion of the cost of the new building. At the same

time, the school had a plan to renovate the entire Benedum tower.

Although they’re separate projects, renovation of the second floor of

Benedum will be used for the Mascaro Center.

The MCSI building will bring together engineers from across the

Swanson School, an arrangement in which physical proximity is

expected to spark research collaborations.

For example, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental

Engineering Kent Harries’ involvement with the MCSI led him to

collaborate with Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and

Materials Science Lisa Mauck Weiland on urban wind harvesting.

“It’s a project we probably never would have thought of if we weren’t

sitting around the room together brainstorming,” he says.


Swanson School of Engineering�0 Annual Report

2009�1

In the new building, he is looking forward to being surrounded by faculty

with diverse backgrounds and interests. “I think it’s a great model,” he says.

MCSI Codirector Gena Kovalcik expects to see more cross-disciplinary

collaboration in the new building—not only with faculty, but with

students as well. She notes that the interdisciplinary MCSI Integrative

Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program has

allowed students to learn about each others’ research, giving them a

broader perspective on sustainability. “I think they’re going to graduate

with a much more thorough understanding of the breadth and depth of

sustainability and how they can have an impact.”

“The Mascaro Center has come a long way in the past six years,” Kovalcik

adds. “To really have a home and such a visible presence on the Pitt

campus is exciting.”

The third floor of the MCSI building, which will house graduate students,

will overlook the roof of the former Benedum auditorium, which has been

converted into six classrooms. The 10,000-square-foot roof will be planted

with low-maintenance foliage, helping to reduce storm water runoff and

heating and cooling costs for the building.

The plaza between the two buildings also will be planted with greenery,

creating a second green roof over the new ground floor of Benedum. “We will

still have that outdoor area where we can have gatherings and events for the

Swanson School and the University, “ says U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering

Gerald Holder. “It’s a nice venue.”

Other facilities that will be complete in the fall are a computing lab

and library stacks in the new mezzanine level of Benedum, formerly

the sub-basement.

The new ground floor is scheduled to be finished in late fall term 2009 and

will be converted into the main congregating area for students, consisting of

classrooms, a café, space for student organizations, and the library.

Based on surveys of students and faculty, administrative offices, including

the dean’s office and student services, will move to the first-floor level.

Construction on the whole tower is divided into four phases. The first

phase, lasting through late 2010, will include floors one, two, four

and five. Architects are now drawing up plans for the second phase

(floors 3 and 6–12), which will start shortly after.

The building will be reconfigured so that its main entrance is

on what’s now the basement level. “The basement is not truly a

basement because about half of it is above ground,” says Holder.

“We’ll design it so that part of the other half is above ground so

students can walk right into the basement from O’Hara Street and

don’t have to go up to the plaza.” This redesign will route foot

traffic more efficiently. Holder describes the inevitably disruptive

construction as “wonderful chaos.” “People are excited about what

we’re going to get out of this,” he says.

“My goal as dean is to have the best possible school: to have the

highest scholarship, give the best possible education we can to

our undergraduate and graduate students, and be seen as a place

of academic excellence,” says Holder. “All of what we’re doing is

designed to provide the facilities to our students and faculty so that

they may achieve those goals.”

“To attract the brightest students and faculty, we want to have

state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories,” he adds. “These new

classrooms will be really spectacular, and the labs will be the best

you can build.”

Visit www.engr.pitt.edu/Benedumtransformation to view photos of

the Benedum Hall and Mascaro Center construction.

“It’s a project we probably never would have thought of if we weren’t sitting around the room together brainstorming”

“My goal as dean is to have the best possible school: to have the highest scholarship, give the best possible education we can to our undergraduate and graduate students, and be seen as a place of academic excellence”


Swanson School of Engineering�� Annual Report

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dePArtMentsIMPAct

�� Annual Report

2009��

MIchAel sAcks (pictured), John A.

Swanson Endowed Chair, received the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Van C. Mow Medal “for contributions

in advancing biomechanics of native

and engineered heart valve tissues; and

leadership in the development of the

bioengineering profession, service to its

community, and inspired guidance of

young bioengineers.”

sAvIo l-Y. woo, University Professor of

Bioengineering and director of Pitt’s

Musculoskeletal Research Center, received

an honorary professorship from Beijing

University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

(BUAA). Woo also will serve as chair of the

International Advisory Committee of the

School of Biological Science and Medical

Engineering at BUAA.

the dePArtMent of BIoengIneerIng

will lead the Swanson School’s effort

in a joint National Science Foundation

Engineering Research Center with North

Carolina Agricultural and Technical State

University (NCAT) and the University

of Cincinnati. The $18.5 million project

will create orthopedic, craniofacial, and

cardiovascular devices that adapt to a

patient’s anatomy and dissolve when no

longer needed. (Read full story on page 6.)

AlAn rUssell, professor of

bioengineering and chemical

engineering, University Professor of

Surgery, and director of the McGowan

Institute for Regenerative Medicine, was

named codirector of the new federally

funded institution The Armed Forces

Institute of Regenerative Medicine

(AFIRM). Codirecting with Russell is

Anthony Atala, director of the Wake

Forest Institute for Regenerative

Medicine. AFIRM will be dedicated to

repairing battlefield injuries through the

use of regenerative medicine—science

that takes advantage of the body’s

natural healing powers to restore or

replace damaged tissue and organs.

Therapies developed by AFIRM also will

benefit people in the civilian population

with severe trauma or burns due to

illness or injury. Other Swanson School

faculty involved include wIllIAM

wAgner, professor of bioengineering,

chemical and petroleum engineering,

and surgery, and PrAshAnt kUMtA, the

Edward R. Weidlein Chair. Russell was

recently ranked #32 among the “100

People Who Are Changing America” by

Rolling Stone magazine.

hArveY Borovetz, chair, was designated

Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering

in recognition of internationally recognized

scholarship, leadership, and contributions

to the field of bioengineering.

Appointment to distinguished

professorship is among the highest

honors the University bestows upon a

faculty member. Borovetz also holds the

Robert L. Hardesty Professorship in the

Department of Surgery and is professor,

Department of Chemical and Petroleum

Engineering.

Department of

Bioengineering

www.engr.pitt.edu/bioengineering


Swanson School of Engineering

Michael Sacks

John A. Swanson Endowed Chair, received the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Van C. Mow Medal.



2009��

kArl Johnson has been named interim

chair of the Department of Chemical

and Petroleum Engineering. He is the

leader of a multi-university grant through

the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to

study hydrogen storage in complex metal

hydrides and a new National Science

Foundation grant to study separation and

transport of gases using carbon nanotube-

based membranes. He also has been

actively involved in promoting simulation

and modeling across the University as

codirector of the Center for Molecular

and Materials Simulation and the new

University-wide Center for Simulation

and Modeling. Johnson holds a PhD

in chemical engineering from Cornell

University. He is also a W.K. Whiteford

Professor and National Energy Technology

Laboratory Faculty Fellow.

As part of a $36 million commitment by the

DOE aimed at furthering the development

of new and cost-effective technologies for

the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) from

the existing fleet of coal-fired power plants,

erIc BeckMAn, George M. Bevier Professor

of Engineering and codirector, Mascaro

Center for Sustainable Innovation,

BoB enIck, Bayer Professor, and Johnson

are assisting General Electric Company

in the development of new solvents for

the efficient absorption of CO2 from gas

mixtures. Progress this past year includes

the screening of many different solvents

for capturing CO2 and atomistically-

detailed modeling on a number of physical

and chemical solvents with results that

are in close accord with experimental

observations.

steven lIttle (pictured), assistant

professor and Bicentennial Alumni Faculty

Fellow, continues his research on creating

particles that would behave as natural cells

do to carry out specific tasks. He received

a Beckman Young Investigators award last

year in support. The Beckman Foundation

is named for renowned scientist Arnold

Beckman, inventor of the pH meter and

pioneer of Silicon Valley, and awards novel

work with far-reaching potential.

IPsItA BAnnerJee joined the department

from Harvard University as assistant

professor. Her research interests focus on

the area of process systems engineering

and optimization and their applications

in different chemical and bioengineering

problems.

dI gAo, assistant professor and William

Kepler Whiteford Faculty Fellow, received

a grant from the National Human Genome

Research Institute (NHGRI) for basic

research on technologies that will lead

to genome sequencing at a dramatically

reduced cost. Gao’s team will lay the

groundwork to prove basic principles

for a technology where DNA strands are

pulled away from a solid surface when

stretched by an electric field. Gao also

has been featured by America.gov for his

work on developing a low-cost method

for removing arsenic from drinking

water. In 2009, he and JAson Monnell,

research assistant professor of civil and

environmental engineering, led a team of

students who won the 2009 Youth Council

on Sustainable Science and Technology

P3 Award sponsored by the AIChE

Institute for Sustainability and SustainUS

at the Environmental Protection Agency’s

National Sustainable Design Expo.

wIllIAM federsPIel, William Kepler

Whiteford Professor of Chemical and

Petroleum Engineering, Bioengineering,

and Surgery, has been named a member

of the Bioengineering, Technology,

and Surgical Sciences (BTSS) Study

Section of the National Institutes of

Health Center for Scientific Review.

The BTSS Study Section reviews grant

applications in the interdisciplinary fields

of surgery and bioengineering to develop

innovative medical instruments, materials,

processes, implants, and devices to

diagnose and treat disease and injury.

Department of

Chemical and Petroleum Engineering

Steven Little

assistant professor and Bicentennial Alumni Faculty Fellow, is conducting research funded by The Beckman Foundation.

www.engr.pitt.edu/chemical



2009��

XU lIAng (pictured), associate professor,

received two grants this past year for

environmental research. Her project

“Collaborative Research: Investigating

Temporal Correlation for Energy Efficient and

Lossless Communication in Wireless Sensor

Networks” (conducted in conjunction with

the Indiana University/Purdue University–

Indianapolis), which focuses on developing an

innovative framework to significantly improve

energy efficiency for large-scale environmental

monitoring of wireless sensor networks,

received a grant from the National Science

Foundation. The second grant, awarded

from the U.S. Department of Energy for her

project “The Role of Vegetation, Surface, and

Subsurface Processes on Mega Drought and

Its Implications to Climate Change,” focuses

on investigating the role of the land’s surface

in the duration and magnitude of droughts

induced by climate change.

Under the guidance of Associate Professor

wIllIe hArPer, Jr., YInghUA feng,

graduate student, received a prestigious

three-year National Estuarine Research

Reserve System Fellowship from NOAA.

Feng’s research project is entitled “Sensing

Soluble Organics with Microbial Fuel Cells

Deployed in an Estuary.”

dAnIel BUdnY, associate professor and

academic director, Freshman Programs,

was promoted to Fellow Member in

the American Society for Engineering

Education (ASEE), and received

Outstanding Teaching Award from the

North Central Section of ASEE.

kent hArrIes, William Kepler Whiteford

Faculty Fellow, was promoted with

tenure to associate professor. During

2008–09, he published 11 journal

articles, some in collaboration with

the University of Cincinnati, University

of South Carolina, Carnegie Mellon

University, Hong Kong Polytechnic

University, and the Port and Airport

Research Institute in Yokosuka, Japan.

He also has published 14 conference

articles and made presentations in Rio

de Janeiro, Zurich, Edinburgh, and

Nashville, and was elected to the Council

of the International Institute for FRP in

Construction in Zurich. This past year,

he led student researchers to both India

and Brazil, where they investigated the

design and construction of bamboo

buildings and developed plans for

sustainable construction. Both trips were

part of the Undergraduate Research in

Sustainable Engineering program in the

Swanson School’s Mascaro Center for

Sustainable Innovation (MCSI). The five-

year-old program gives undergraduate

students the opportunity to research

an engineering problem related to

sustainability and to be able to work

independently on a project of particular

significance to them.

The center for sUstAInABle

trAnsPortAtIon InfrAstrUctUre (CSTI)

continued to maintain its contract

with the Pennsylvania Department of

Transportation (PennDOT) this past

year, with 17 projects totaling more

than $4 million. Researchers across the

University collaborated on projects this

year, including those from the Swanson

School’s Departments of Civil and

Environmental Engineering and Electrical

and Computer Engineering, the Graduate

School of Public and International

Affairs, and the University Center for

Social and Urban Research. Outside

contractors such as GAI Consultants

and TransAssociates were also involved.

Projects across CSTI are diverse and

include researching the implementation

of biodiesel into PennDOT’s existing

fleet, repair methods of pre-stress girder

bridges, and the benefits of vanpooling.

Department of

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Xu Liang

assistant professor, received two grants last year for environmental research.

www.engr.pitt.edu/civil



2009�1

Department of

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Gregory Reed

director, Power and Energy Initiative, and associate professor, is spearheading a partnership with Eaton Corporation designed to train students in electric power engineering.

www.engr.pitt.edu/electrical

gUAngYong lI, assistant professor, and

wIllIAM stAnchInA, chair, published

an article that appeared in Applied

Physics Letters in June 2009. The article,

“Effects of Semiconducting and Metallic

Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on

Performance of Bulk Heterojunction

Organic Solar Cells,” covers Li’s research

on improving the efficiency of energy

conversion for organic solar cells from five

to 10 percent, the minimum requirement

for commercialization.

In addition to its leading-edge programs in

computer engineering, signal processing

and controls, RFID technologies, and

micro-/nano- electronics and photonics,

the department is experiencing a re-

invigoration of its programs in electric

power systems and energy-related

technologies. The following highlights some

of these new and diverse activities.

The department formed a partnership

with Eaton Corporation, a diversified

industrial manufacturer, to train students

in electric power engineering. Supported

by a $500,000 sponsorship from Eaton,

the collaboration will focus on developing

courses across a broad range of electric

power engineering and system topics,

including the growing field of smart power

grids and a digitized, efficient electricity-

delivery system. The collaboration also

will cultivate new and continuing research

related to power systems, power quality,

energy efficiency, and alternative energy

systems. gregorY reed (pictured), a

renowned electric power engineer who

is director of the Swanson School’s

Power and Energy Initiative and an

associate professor of electrical and

computer engineering, will spearhead the

partnership.

Although many turbines are driven by

natural gas (NG), the exact makeup of

NG is not usually known and the relative

quantities of methane, propane, and

ethane in NG vary with time and location.

Real-time gas composition analysis

is critical for the energy-production

industry, both to maximize turbine

efficiency and to minimize pollutant

output. For the past three years, kevIn

chen, associate professor and Paul E.

Lego Faculty Fellow, and Joel fAlk,

professor, have been funded by the

National Energy Technology Laboratory

to develop a real-time sensor system to

determine the concentrations of these

and other gases that are important to

renewable energy sources. Another

use of the system is to determine the

concentration of gases present in solid

oxide fuel cells, an important potential

source of renewable energy. Their

work uses new enhancements to an

old technique, Raman scattering. Light

incident on a gas molecule is inelastically

scattered. The scattered intensity and

wavelength indicate the concentration

of a particular gas. Chen and Falk’s

work examines enhancements to Raman

scattering brought about by new types

of gas confinement vehicles, hollow-core

capillaries, and photonic bandgap fibers.

Details of their work have been reported

at major conferences (2008 and 2009

Conference on Lasers and Electro-optics)

and in major publications (Applied Optics).



2009��

oleg ProkoPYev (pictured), assistant

professor, received more than $1.2 million

in grants this past year from the National

Science Foundation (NSF) and the Air Force

Office of Scientific Research. The research

will be completed with faculty from the

University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of

Public Health and the School of Medicine,

as well as from Purdue University.

More than 100 faculty, staff, alumni, and

friends joined the department to celebrate

the dedication of the AlBert g. holzMAn

leArnIng center, named in honor of the

former professor and department chair who

served for more than two decades in this

role. Holzman also was the first industrial

engineer to be elected to the National

Academy of Engineering.

MArY BesterfIeld-sAcre, associate

professor, and lArrY shUMAn, senior

associate dean, received a new

grant from the NSF for “Assessing

Technical Entrepreneurship Learning

in Engineering Education.” This project

will conduct a cross-institutional study

of entrepreneurship in U.S. engineering

schools and empirically model best

practices. They also received a best

paper award from the ASEE Biomedical

Engineering Division on the utilization of

process maps to produce innovative designs.

JeffreY khAroUfeh, associate professor,

who joined the faculty in fall 2008,

received two grants totaling $625,000

from the National Science Foundation to

study the performance evaluation of large-

scale sensor networks and to develop

adaptive maintenance policies for complex

systems. He was appointed department

editor of stochastic modeling and analysis

for IIE Transactions on Operations

Engineering and associate editor for Naval

Research Logistics.

lIsA MAIllArt, assistant professor, was

awarded a grant from the National Science

Foundation to study adaptive maintenance

policies for complex systems. Additionally,

she was appointed as an associate editor for

IIE Transactions on Operations Engineering.

BoPAYA BIdAndA, chair and Ernest E.

Roth Professor, was appointed fellow and

visiting professor at the European Union

Center for Rapid and Sustainable Product

Development at the Instituto Politécnico de

Leiria in Portugal.

Department of

Industrial Engineering

rAvI shAnkAr, assistant professor,

established a structural nanomaterials

laboratory with facilities for the

manufacture and thermomechanical

characterization of bulk nanostructured

metal alloys. In support of these efforts,

Shankar received a single-investigator,

three-year research grant from the NSF

for studying “Self-Assembling Ductile

and Tough Bulk Nanostructured Alloys

of High Thermal-Stability.” He was also

the recipient of the John J. McCambridge

grant from the Institute of Hazardous

Materials Management for exploring

environmentally benign manufacturing

processes.

Oleg Prokopyev

assistant professor, received more than $1.2 million in

grants this past year.

www.engr.pitt.edu/industrial



2009��

PeYMAn gIvI (pictured), William Kepler

Whiteford Professor, was elected Fellow

by the American Physical Society, “For

Pioneering Computational Research on

Turbulent Reactive Flows, and Especially

for the Development of the Filtered

Density Function Methodology.” He also

was named Engineer of the Year by the

Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Society

of Mechanical Engineers, and is serving

as the Pitt lead for the National Center for

Hypersonic Combined Cycle Propulsion,

funded by the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration/Air Force Office of

Scientific Research. In this capacity, Givi

will take the lead on performing large

eddy simulation in high-speed turbulent

combustion. This 13-member team

consists of researchers from Pitt, University

of Virginia, Stanford University, Cornell

University, Michigan State University, North

Carolina State University, SUNY–Buffalo,

The Boeing Company, and Los Alamos

National Laboratory.

JefferY vIPPerMAn, associate professor,

was elected Fellow by the American Society

of Mechanical Engineering. Along with

Minking Chyu, Peyman Givi, and Buddy

Clark, he becomes the fourth fellow in the

department.

Jörg wIezorek, associate professor and

William Kepler Whiteford Faculty Fellow,

received a highly competitive research

grant from the U.S. Department of

Energy, Office of Basic Energy Science,

to conduct a research project entitled

“Electron Density Determination,

Bonding, and Properties of Tetragonal

Ferromagnetic Intermetallics.” This effort

combines quantitative experimentation

by energy-filtered transmission electron

microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD),

and magnetometry with materials

theory to study relationships between

the electronic structure and intrinsic

properties of the tetragonal ferromagnetic

intermetallics FePd and FePt.

MArk kIMBer, assistant professor, is the

department’s first recipient of a U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission faculty development

grant. He will perform research in hydrogen

production from next generation high

temperature nuclear reactors.

sUng kwon cho, associate professor,

was featured in New Scientist in January

2009 for his research in exploiting surface

tension to move a small boat gliding over

water like a bug without moving parts.

Watch footage of Cho’s boat online:

www.pitt.edu/news/cho.

gIovAnnI P. gAldI, William Kepler Whiteford

Professor, was named Mercator Chair for

the second time in six years. The Mercator

Department of

Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Peyman Givi

William Kepler Whiteford Professor, was elected Fellow by the American Physical Society.

www.engr.pitt.edu/mems

Chair is a prestigious designation from the

Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG),

the German counterpart of the National

Science Foundation. In this role, Galdi

conducted collaborative research on self-

propulsion of deformable bodies in viscous

fluids at the Department of Mathematics

at RWTH Aachen University, one of

Europe’s leading institutions for science

and research. Additionally, he was awarded

one of seven senior visiting professorships

from the National Institute of Higher

Mathematics, an Italian government agency

similar to the Division of Mathematical

Sciences of NSF. Galdi completed his

professorship at the University of Pisa,

where he taught the course Mathematical

Topics in Fluid Mechanics, centered around

the $1 million Clay Institute Prize for the

resolution of the Navier-Stokes problem.



2009��

Office of

DiversityParticipation in national student society conferences remained strong. • Four students were selected

to attend the National

Association of Multicultural

Engineering Program

Advocates (NAMEPA)

Student Symposium in

Los Angeles, Calif. The

conference provided them

with two days of professional

development workshops and

exposed them to corporate

and graduate school

representatives.

• Twenty-eight students

attended the 2009 National

Society of Black Engineers

conference in Las Vegas,

Nev.; in the previous year 16

students attended this event.

• Sixteen students attended

the Society of Hispanic

Professional Engineers

National Conference in

Phoenix, Ariz.

The Swanson School of Engineering Office of Diversity (EOD) is dedicated

to attracting and retaining underrepresented undergraduate and graduate

students. This past year, the Swanson School increased funding available

to underrepresented students. gABrIel zeno (below left) is completing his

master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering and was awarded

the K. Leroy Irvis Fellowship, which provides full-time graduate tuition and a

stipend. The Swanson School also is proud to be able to attract outstanding

student scholars like Brooke coleY (below right), a PhD candidate in

bioengineering and Ruth L. Kirschstein Fellow, a five-year predoctoral

fellowship funded by the National Institutes of Health.

JAMIe rIchArdson, junior computer

engineering major, was selected to serve

as the Region 2 Programs chair for the

National Society of Black Engineers.

Mentoring programs continued to be successful.• During summer 2009, the EOD hosted a

Pre-PhD Scholar Program, a mentoring and

educational program developed by sYlvAnUs

wosU, associate dean for diversity. The

program is open to students from traditionally

underrepresented groups in engineering

who have earned a 3.5 or higher GPA from

any engineering school in the nation and

are interested in pursuing graduate studies.

Pre-PhD Scholars are assigned to Swanson

School of Engineering faculty mentors who

lead multidisciplinary teams in advanced

research.

• Twenty-five mentors and 28 students

participated in the 2008–09 Pitt EXCEL

peer-mentoring program. In 2007–08, the

program’s pilot year, nine mentors and

16 students participated.

• The Summer Engineering Academy, a two-

week prefreshman program, was revised to

include classes in chemistry, engineering

problem solving, math, physics, study skills,

and introduction to campus resources to

better serve the student population. The

program also included a three-hour study

session six nights per week. Twenty-two

students participated in the 2008 program.

The number

of ethnically

underrepresented

students with a

cumulative grade

point average of 3.0

or higher increased by

more than 10 percent

this past year.

Student SucceSS Spotlight

Stud

ent S

ucce

SS

Spot

ligh

t

www.engr.pitt.edu/diversity

�� Annual Report

2009��

StudentsInternational travel and real-world co-op experiences make students competitive in a global economy; student quality continues to rise

Under the direction of MInhee YUn, assistant professor, Department of Electrical and Computer

Engineering, MIchAel nAYhoUse, roBert kerestes, dAvId PerellA, and Andrew freeMAn

(not pictured) spent 10 weeks studying and conducting research in South Korea as part of

the International Research Experience for Students (IRES) Program, a summer research

program funded by the National Science Foundation. Approximately 35 percent of graduating

engineering students participated in an international experience.

www.engr.pitt.edu/IRES www.engr.pitt.edu/international


Swanson School of Engineering

coUntrIes In whIch oUr stUdents PArtIcIPAted In An InternAtIonAl edUcAtIonAl eXPerIence:

AUstrAlIA

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2009�1

The University of Pittsburgh Office

of Career Services recently reported

a 100 percent full-time employment

placement rate for students who

participated in the Swanson School’s

Cooperative Education Program, and a

93.12 percent full-time placement rate

for all other engineering students.

This past year’s participating employers

included: National Security Agency,

Westinghouse, US Airways, Curtiss

Wright, BMW, Siemens, Whiting

Turner Construction, FedEx Ground,

First Energy, General Electric, Eaton

Corporation, Johnson & Johnson,

Armstrong World Industries,

Kennametal, Mine Safety Appliances,

Medrad, Bayer MaterialScience,

Pennsylvania Department of

Transportation, Emerson Process

Management, Ansys, Inc., and Toyota.

The Employer of the Year for 2008

was FedEx Ground.

Alumni, Development, and External Relations

Stud

ent R

eSeA

Rch

Spot

light

Micah Toll, a sophomore in

the Department of Mechanical

Engineering and Materials Science,

was featured on The Circuit, an

Air Force Web show. Visit www.

engr.pitt.edu/news/toll to watch Toll

discuss his lightweight, patent-

pending portable construction

beam to be used in Third-World

and refugee populations.

Visit our alumni event photo galleries online at www.engr.pitt.edu/alumni/gallery



2009��

Swanson Alumni: Impacting Our School, Impacting Our WorldFor more than 40 years, the University of

Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering

has honored the outstanding professional

achievements of its graduates through the

Distinguished Alumni Award program. The

accomplishments of these outstanding

Swanson School graduates have brought

recognition to the University and its

academic departments, to our profession,

and to the entire Swanson School of

Engineering alumni community.

Distinguished Alumni Awards are distributed

during the Distinguished Alumni Banquet,

held annually in the spring.

dePArtMent honorees

dePArtMent of cheMIcAl And PetroleUM engIneerIng

rIchArd c. BAXendell (BSCHE ’80)—Planning, Bayer MaterialScience

dePArtMent of cIvIl And envIronMentAl engIneerIng

JAMes J. MccAffreY (BSCE ’78)—Senior Vice President, Material & Supply Chain Management and Senior Vice President, CNX Land Resources, CONSOL Energy

dePArtMent of electrIcAl And coMPUter engIneerIng

ronAld g. stovAsh (BSEE ’70)—Senior Vice President, CONSOL Energy (Retired) and President & Chief Executive Officer, PinnOak Resources (Retired)

dePArtMent of IndUstrIAl engIneerIng

tIMothY g. shAck (BSIE ’72)—Chairman, PNC Global Investment Servicing and Executive Vice President, the PNC Financial Services Group

dePArtMent of MechAnIcAl engIneerIng And MAterIAls scIence

lUke J. gIll (BSME ’65)—Vice President, Joint Strike Fighter Global Sustainment, Lockheed Martin (Retired) and Owner, G Squared Limited

dIstIngUIshed YoUng AlUMnI AwArd

rAY w. AndrIck (BSEE ’90)—Director of Software Development, Immedius

2009 Distinguished Alumni

rIchArd c. BAXendell

JAMes J. MccAffreY

ronAld g. stovAsh

tIMothY g. shAck

lUke J. gIll

rAY w. AndrIck

stePhen r. trItch

gerAld d. holder

stePhen r. trItch (BSME ’71)—Chairman, Westinghouse Electric Company swAnson school of engIneerIng honoree

www.engr.pitt.edu/alumni


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SSOE Annual Report 2009

Documents

Transcript of SSOE Annual Report 2009