2007-volume-17-issue-1

AUBURNe n g i n e e r i n gFall 2007 Volume 17 Issue 2

S a m u e l G i n n C o l l e g e o f E n g i n e e r i n g

In this Issue . . .Engineering Quad at Night

En Garde

Weathering Space

Keeping the Power on

A Vote of Confidence

From the Dean 2

Engineering Quad at Night 3

In Demand 8

En Garde 10

Weathering Space 12

Into the Lab 14

Starting Something New 18

Keeping the Power on 20

Dirty, Gritty . . . and #1 24

Another Win 25

An Auburn Reconnect 26

A Vote of Confidence 28

5 minutes with Bonnie Wilson 30

Honoring our Alumni 32

Corporations Support Auburn Engineering 34

In Memoriam 35

Remembering Bill Walker 36

Inside front cover: Facing northwest toward downtown Auburn, the engineering quad looks peaceful at night, but every Auburn engineering grad who stayed up at night working on a project or a paper knows otherwise. That is a tradition that continues with today’s undergraduate and graduate students. Story inside.

©2007 Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, Auburn University

Auburn Engineering

Fall 2007Volume 17, Issue 2

Office of the DeanLarry Benefield, deanNels Madsen, associate dean for assessmentJoe Morgan, associate dean for academicsRalph Zee, associate dean for research

Office of Engineering Communications and MarketingJim Killian, director

Beth L. Smith, editor

ContributorsSara BorchikCheryl CobbJeff EtheridgeLynette McGlamery

Katie Yester, graphic design

Office of Engineering DevelopmentRob Wellbaum, directorDan Bush, associate directorVeronica Chesnut, associate directorHeather Crozier, assistant directorRon Evans, associate directorDara Kloss Hosey, associate director

Experience Auburn Engineering magazine online at www.eng.auburn.edu/magazine

Auburn Engineering is published twice yearly by the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Please send news items, suggestions and comments to [email protected].

Contact us at:1301 Shelby CenterAuburn, AL 36849334.844.2308334.844.0176 fax

www.eng.auburn.edu

Contents

� Auburn Engineering • Fall �007

The cover of the spring issue of Auburn Engineering said it all – this is the year.

In that issue I indicated that our alumni have shown an amazing level of support in helping us attain the resources necessary to move the college to the next level of excellence. That response is continuing as we work to position Auburn to move into the nation’s engineering elite. To illustrate the progress we have made, consider the following:

o Our freshman class is the largest and brightest in recent memory. There are 770 freshmen in this class with an average ACT score near 26.5; our total undergraduate enrollment is nearly 3,100 students.

o We boast 15 national merit finalists in our freshman class, and we awarded more than $1.8 million in scholarship support to engineering students. Both of these numbers represent records for the college.

o Our student teams had an amazing year. The wireless team took first place at the Cypress Innovator Design Challenge; the ASCE student team placed third in the Southeast student chapter competition; the Formula SAE team took third place in the West competition; and the Baja SAE team took first place at the competition in Rapid City, South Dakota.

o Significant improvements have been made in rankings by the American Society for Engineering Education. For example, in 2001 we were ranked at 70 in doctoral student enrollment; in 2006 (the latest figures available) we were ranked at 63. During those same years, our rankings for doctoral degrees awarded rose from 78 to 48, and our research expenditures moved from 73 to 49.

o Our facilities have seen incredible improvement with the renovations of Ross Hall and Wilmore Laboratories, and construction of Phase I of the Sen. Richard C. and Dr. Annette N. Shelby Center for Engineering Technology.

o Finally, in conjunction with the “It Begins at Auburn” campaign, our development activity has been highly successful. More than $100 million has been raised toward our goal of $105 million, and we have been awarded a $1.5 million Kresge Foundation challenge grant as a result of your generosity.

Progress has indeed been made in our pursuit of excellence. Still, much remains to be done. Two of our most urgent needs are to raise the balance of $105 million before March 2008 to qualify for the Kresge Foundation grant; and to raise the $15 million required to complete funding requirements for Phase II of the Shelby Center for Engineering Technology.

A bold vision brings with it challenges – challenges we must meet in our quest to become one of the nation’s premier engineering institutions.

From the Dean

Engineering Quad at Night

On the perfect little village one will find, Beautiful neoclassical structures all entwined.Textile, Ross and Ramsay Hall,Engineering buildings that surpass them all.Harbert, Davis, L and Broun Filled with professors who won’t let you down. Shop buildings for student-made cars,And projects to send satellites to mars.Buildings with students, laptops in towLearning more than they know.

Nicole HedrickSenior, Amarillo, Texas

Auburn Engineering • Fall �007 �

“What hath night to do with sleep?”

– John Milton, author

While studying in Wilmore late one

evening, an upperclassman asked if

we wanted to see something cool.

Ross’ renovation was almost complete,

but the elevator could still access the

‘4th floor.’

When the elevator opened, we found

ourselves in the attic. In the middle,

there was a ladder that took us to a

platform with a hidden door. It led to

the base of the cupola and yet another

ladder. Atop that ladder, we were able

to gaze out of the cupola to see a

breathtaking view of Auburn and the

engineering quad at night.

Beau HeltonJunior, New Market, Alabama

Auburn Engineering • Fall �0074

The engineering quad at night, to me,

is just as welcoming and inviting as the

football stadium on game day. It contains

all that is familiar to me; the buildings,

the classrooms, the computer labs, the

shops, and most importantly, my fellow

classmates. Auburn is a place of family

and tradition. While I spend many nights

at the quad, I still feel just as at home

there as I am any other place.

Austin Longshore Senior, Jacksonville, Alabama

5Auburn Engineering • Fall �007

After graduation, I’ll miss the nights I spent with my classmates in Ross Hall the same way I’ll miss my Saturdays with the band in Jordan-Hare. Preparing for a big test is similar to getting ready for a big game. It takes a lot of hard work, a solid support system, and often, late nights to be successful, in the classroom and on the field.

Bryan MyersSenior and Head Drum Major

Birmingham, Alabama

I knew that earning an engineering degree

would be no piece of cake, and would

sometimes mean making sacrifices. While

my friends in other majors are at a movie,

a bar or just hanging out together, we

engineering students are busy pecking away

at our MATLAB code, making sure our stress

calculations are accurate, or spending that

extra hour or two studying for tomorrow’s test.

A parking spot—no matter how late at night—

next to the engineering quad is always hard to

come by. I find it comforting to know that I am

not alone.

Allen Craven Senior, Birmingham, Alabama

The engineering quad is at its liveliest at 4 a.m. the last week of classes. It is the one time of the semester that you are guaranteed to run into every other engineering student that you know – all of us working to finish that one last lab report.

When it is complete, we rush out of the labs just in time to see the sun come up, talking and joking around . . . too excited and too tired to sleep.

Emily AsherSenior, Newnan, Georgia


“Research is the name given the crystal formed when the night’s worry is added to the day’s sweat.”

– Martin H. Fischer, biochemist

Auburn Engineering • Fall �007 7


J u s t i n O v s o n2 0 0 7 M e c h a n i c a l E n g i n e e r i n g

As a sophomore in finance and accounting at the University of Virginia, Justin Ovson decided to make a change. His decision

led him to mechanical engineering on the merits of its technical coursework, and to Auburn on the recommendation of his grandfather – an early alumnus of the university’s building science program.

Justin completed an internship with BMW, and upon graduating, began a job hunt that was very different from the one he expected. “I was surprised by how many opportunities were available. I realized the world was my oyster,” he

said. “I had 15 job interviews and 10 offers, four of which were very good. It was not if I get a job, but rather, which one should I take?”

Justin attributes his opportunities to his Auburn engineering degree. He recalls that companies assumed he had the technical skills. What they were more interested in was his real-world experience. “Companies were hiring for the analytical mind, but

they were also looking for leadership and initiative,” he says. “Auburn helped me develop these skills through my senior design project, my internship and the opportunity I had to do research for three years with the Center for Advanced Vehicle Electronics. These things made the difference for me.”

Justin is currently a cost and schedule engineer with ExxonMobil Chemical Company in Houston and works with a team responsible for cost estimates on international projects in excess of $100 million.

A u b u r n g r a d s c o m p e t e i n t h e j o b m a r k e tIn today’s workplace, engineers are highly sought after and Auburn Engineering is producing the quality graduates that companies need to fill the pipeline. Our graduates continue to draw lucrative entry-level salaries from employers who are ready to compensate them for their student years of late nights, long labs and challenging design projects.

Following 9/11, uncertainties about the economy led to a downturn in both engineering enrollment and the job market. Today, however, as baby boomers have begun to retire, companies are seeing a growing need for quality engineers.

S a r a h W h a l l e y2 0 0 5 , 2 0 0 6 A e r o s p a c e E n g i n e e r i n g

Even as a child, Sarah Whalley wanted to explore other worlds. Her favorite subject had always been science, especially astronomy, and she dreamed of being an astronaut. She also knew that one of the criteria for becoming an astronaut was earning an engineering degree. The catch: there were no state schools in her native South Carolina that offered a specialization in aerospace engineering.

So, Sarah made her way to Auburn and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering. “While at Auburn, I participated in research, the co-op program, and internships every summer. Those experiences helped build character and independence,” she says. “I was only 19 years old when I moved to Huntsville to live and work at my co-op job. That was a long year, but in that time, I grew up.”

During her internship at The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, Calif., Sarah knew that was where she wanted to work. After discussing it with her supervisor, a job offer was in the making before she left. “I only interviewed with two companies – the other being Boeing – and both offered me a job,” Sarah recalls. “I believe my experiences at Auburn gave me a competitive edge in the job market.” Today, Sarah works in the Astrodynamics Department at The Aerospace Corporation and has worked on orbital coverage analyses, satellite constellation design and optimization, stationkeeping and orbit sustenance analyses, orbital transfer and Delta-V budget analyses.

In Demand

�Auburn Engineering • Fall �007

B e n M a y o2 0 0 7 C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g

Following an introduction to architecture class his senior year in high school, Ben Mayo decided architecture wasn’t for him. So, when it came time to pick a direction, Ben opted for civil engineering because of its wide variety of career options. He received scholarship offers from Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech and Auburn, but chose AU because he felt it would provide a broader college experience. And Auburn didn’t disappoint.

The demanding curriculum, the exceptional professors and the real-world opportunities all set AU apart for Ben, and in turn, set him apart

from other graduates. “When you’re competing against other majors, as I was with building science graduates, I think companies really favor an engineering degree

and they appreciate your ability to get a P.E.,” he says.

Ben interned for Brasfield & Gorrie general contractors in Birmingham the summer before his senior year and pursued an interview with them before even looking at other companies.

He received a job offer, but decided to check out other options. After attending a career fair and not finding a company he liked more, Ben accepted the job with Brasfield & Gorrie, at a salary on the high end for most civil engineering graduates.

Ben is currently an estimator at Brasfield & Gorrie, which was recently named the Birmingham Business Journal’s Best Place to Work.

T e n i k a J o h n s o n2 0 0 7 E l e c t r i c a l E n g i n e e r i n g In middle school, Tenika Johnson heard a young female engineer speak during an all-girl math program. From then on, Tenika set her sights on obtaining the background and discipline to be an engineer.

Years later at Auburn, Tenika experienced many opportunities that prepared her for a career. She participated in the INROADS Internship program, which places minority youth in business and industry positions. She was also involved in activities within the College of Engineering that exposed her to many alumni and college faculty, as well as job opportunities and company recruiters. According to Tenika, these experiences prepared her well for her job search.

During the interview process, Tenika learned that in addition to technical skills, companies were equally interested in her willingness to learn and work in a team environment. “My Auburn engineering degree spoke for me,” she says. “For the most part, I didn’t have to prove my technical knowledge. Most interviewers wanted to talk about my work experience, leadership positions and extracurricular activities.”

After numerous phone calls and second interviews, Tenika narrowed her choices to two companies who made her excellent offers. Today, Tenika is an engineer with Alabama Power’s corporate office in Birmingham. She works in the substation projects department creating outdoor designs and physical layouts of power substations in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area.

A u b u r n g r a d s c o m p e t e i n t h e j o b m a r k e t“In the past, companies would recruit a few graduates from many different universities. Now, they are concentrating on the top engineering programs such as Auburn to find the best engineers,” said Nancy Bernard, director of Career Development Services.

“Technological changes are demanding a new breed of engineering graduate,” said Larry Benefield, dean of engineering. “Our students have the knowledge, initiative and problem-solving skills that set them apart.”

As the only university in the nation offering a bachelor’s degree in wireless engineering, Auburn has established itself as a leader in both wireless education and research. Students interested in wireless fields see Auburn as the premier place to go for a degree in their field, and industry leaders look to Auburn to meet their research needs.

That’s why it is no surprise that the National Science Foundation awarded Auburn a $250,000 grant to join a consortium of four universities forming the Wireless Internet Center for Advanced Technologies (WICAT). Other universities in the consortium include Polytechnic University in New York, the University of Virginia and Columbia University.

“NSF could not have found a better place than Auburn for conducting fundamental and advanced wireless research,” says Prathima

I n d u s t r y t e a m s u p w i t h A u b u r n w i r e l e s s

A group of Auburn’s wireless engineering students used a team competition to make the fencing world just a bit more modern . . . and won $20,000 in the process.

Through the Cypress Innovator Design Challenge, an eight-month competition testing the team’s ability to develop new uses for Cypress technologies, the student team designed a wireless system for scoring Olympic fencing matches using the company’s semiconductor programmable radio on chip (PRoC) product.

Currently, fencers must be tethered to a glitch-prone wired scoring system that has fundamentally remained the same for many years. The Auburn team’s system eliminates all the wires, giving fencers greater freedom of mobility, as well as a more reliable system.

Representing both the hardware and software options of the wireless program, the team members received first place for the North American region and were awarded a $10,000 prize for the members

En GardeWireless students unleash fencers

Auburn Engineering • Fall �00710

I n d u s t r y t e a m s u p w i t h A u b u r n w i r e l e s s

Auburn Engineering • Fall �007 11

to share. Faculty advisers – Vic Nelson, professor and assistant head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Richard Chapman, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering – received another $10,000 for the wireless engineering program to use in funding future student projects.

“This is quite an honor, and I believe it reflects the outstanding quality of our students in the wireless engineering program,” states Nelson.

All regional first place winners were guaranteed interviews with Cypress concerning potential internships, co-ops or full-time employment positions. The other regions in the competition included teams representing Europe and the Middle East; China; Japan and Korea; India; and Southeast Asia and the remaining parts of the world.

To learn more about Cypress or the Innovator Design Challenge, visit www.cypress.com/cua.

En GardeWireless students unleash fencers

Agrawal, director of the Wireless Engineering Research and Education Center (WEREC) and principal investigator on the five-year grant. “Our unique undergraduate wireless engineering program, combined with the resources offered by WEREC make us an ideal candidate.”

WICAT is an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) whose mission is to conduct research of interest to both the industry and the university with which it is involved. The center relies primarily on the involvement of graduate students, thus developing students who are knowledgeable in industrially relevant research.

At Auburn, research will include wireless system design, wireless networking and wireless applications in fields such as cell phones, wireless internet, robotics, intelligent vehicular communications, homeland security, disaster recovery and space research.

To participate in the I/UCRC program, NSF requires universities to use funding from industry and government agencies for research conducted at centers. These organizations invest a $40,000 membership fee each year, providing the program with additional funding to supplement the initial NSF grant. Although the program at Auburn is in its early stages, half a dozen sponsor members have already enlisted, including Agilent Technologies; Telcordia Technologies; Texas Instruments – India; Transwitch Corporation; the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center; and the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command.

1� Auburn Engineering • Fall �007

Baby it’s cold up there . . . and then hot . . . and then cold . . .

Space is a harsh place – for people and for the electronics that help us explore this vast frontier. One of the keys to future explorations will be man’s ability to develop electronic systems that function perfectly in the extreme temperature fluctuations found on places such as Venus, Mars and the moon.

Auburn Engineering is helping to make that happen, working on the cutting-edge of both high-temperature and low-temperature electronics.

To date, NASA’s approach has been to provide an earth-like environment for space electronic systems – “warm boxes” for cold environments and thermal protection systems on the high end. This approach adds weight, complexity, increases energy consumption, and provides a limited operating life – sometimes measured in minutes.

“Our goal is to design electronic components that work effectively at the temperature ranges found in space and in other specialized environments,” says Wayne Johnson, faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “Some recent changes in materials availability and device technologies have opened the door to making this happen.”

With $12 million in funding provided by the NASA Exploration Technology Development Program, a world-class team comprised of researchers from Georgia Tech, Auburn, Vanderbilt, and the

Universities of Maryland, Arkansas, and Tennessee, as well as Boeing, JPL and BAE Systems, is attacking the low-temperature issue.

“This effort leverages competencies of many players and institutions towards a single goal,” explains Johnson.

Maximizing performance

At Auburn, electrical and computer engineering faculty member Guofu Niu is working at the transistor level, modeling and characterizing the devices to maximize performance over the temperature range. Departmental colleague Foster Dai, is working at the circuit level, designing complex integrated circuits out of devices based on the silicon germanium transistors that Niu and other researchers are characterizing.

Johnson’s expertise is in making sure that systems using these circuits are constructed and packaged to handle the deep chill and blast furnace of space exploration.

“The plastics used in packaging consumer electronics become brittle at low temperatures, so we are working to identify solder materials, such as indium, that remain flexible at cryogenic temperatures,” explains Johnson. “The other challenge is that as materials cool they tend to shrink. If materials that are bonded together shrink at differing rates, layers can crack and separate, causing devices to fail. We are exploring the use of packaging materials, such as aluminum nitride and silicon nitride whose coefficients of thermal expansion are similar to those of materials used in the circuits, such as silicon germanium.”

Weathering Space

1�Auburn Engineering • Fall �007

On the high end

Auburn engineers are also working in the other extreme with funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA and private industry. In fact, AU is widely recognized as the come-to place for high-temperature electronic packaging for the new silicon carbide devices that are being developed for power, communications and MEMS sensor applications and gallium nitride devices being developed for communications and analog and digital circuits.

The problem is a tough one. The polymers and solders used to package and interconnect circuits in consumer and even in military electronics decompose or melt at temperatures far lower than the 300° C target.

Johnson, who has been working in this area since the early 90s, is leading the charge. Utilizing with a mix of ceramics, metallized ceramics, composites and clad materials Johnson is developing connections and packaging that perform no matter what the temperature. “The issues at high temperatures are different than at low,” says Johnson. “We want materials that won’t oxidize, diffuse or form brittle intermetallics, or degrade system performance and reliability.”

Current Design RangesConsumer electronics: -20° to 85°C

Military electronics: -65° to 125°C

The ChallengeVenus: Surface temperature 485°C

Mars: -120° to 25°C

Moon: 230°C in shadowed craters and -180°C to 120°C cycling at the equator

Deep gas and oil well drilling: 200° to 325°C

Geothermal wells: to 325°C

More Electric Aircraft: 200° to 350°C

While space exploration is a primary target for this work, there are many other applications.

On the low end, many sensors, including the infrared or x-ray detectors used for astronomical observations or surveillance, must

operate at low temperatures. Examples include the Infrared Space Observatory and Infrared Telescope in Space. Other potential uses include cryogenic power electronics for super conducting motors.

High-temperature uses include exploration of petroleum and geothermal wells that employ probes sent deep into bore holes where temperatures may reach 200° to 325º C. There is also potential use in commercial and military aircraft, with the trend towards fly-by-wire and distributed systems, as well as in power and transportation systems,

such as nuclear power plants and electric vehicles.

“Today’s electronics have revolutionized our lives – from the way we work to the way we communicate to the way we relax,” says Johnson. “By extending the range at which electronics can operate we expect to see similar advances in scientific exploration, national security, energy technologies . . . and of course space exploration.”

s i d e n o t e

Wayne Johnson has built an international reputation in electronics packaging.

14 Auburn Engineering • Fall �007

Into the LabSpotlight on Polymer and Fiber

The Department of Polymer and Fiber Engineering has recently begun remodeling and updating its main laboratories in the Textile Building, including the chemistry lab, physical and testing properties lab, composites lab and processing lab.

“When the department changed its name from textile to polymer and fiber, it was an acknowledgement of new developments in the industry,” said Peter Schwartz, department head. “It is time for our laboratories to match those changes so that our faculty and students can participate in the cutting edge research that is necessary in this new field.”

The department coordinates and enhances polymeric composite materials research, acts as a catalyst for industrial investment, and develops new forms of high performance materials. An integral part of these efforts is to forge partnerships to better meet industry needs, and to establish credibility as a center for the development of new technology.

Close to $1 million has already been invested in new equipment for the chemistry lab. This includes a new thermo-mechanical analyzer (DMA), stress control rheometer, a thermo-gravimetric analyzer

(TGA), a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), an atomic force microscope (AFM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) with Raman capability and other equipment that will help researchers in the department characterize the chemical properties of polymers and composites.

The physical and testing properties lab has also experienced growth. Researchers test the physical and mechanical characteristics of polymer and fiber products and often serve as outside consultants for companies, or as expert witnesses in cases of malfunction, such as seatbelt, truck webbing and even skateboard failure. The department plans to invest more than $100,000 in new machines for the lab in the near future.

The composites lab and the processing labs are also in the early stages of remodeling. Many students get their first taste of composite development and processing here and learn to use equipment such as the injection molding machine and the autoclave. Several pieces of equipment have been donated in these labs, including two injection molding machines from ThermoFischer Scientific; a large hot press, a film laminating machine and additional equipment for coating films from AOC; and a double-headed braider from NASA.


ASABE is the society for engineering in biological, agricultural, food, forest, and natural resource systems. In 2007, ASABE is celebrating its 100th year of providing engineering solutions for the necessities of life, such as safe and healthy food, abundant clean water, fiber for clothing and shelter and renewable energy.

CHEMICAL

Professor Y. Y. Lee and his coworkers in the biofuels laboratory in the Department of Chemical Engineering are developing technologies that can efficiently convert renewable cellulosic feedstocks into fuel ethanol.

Production of fuels and chemicals from renewable resources is a rapidly growing industry in the U.S. Presently, the primary feedstock of this industry is corn grain, which severely limits the industry’s growth potential. Further development of biofuels requires exploration of renewable lignocellulosic resources, which are more abundant and less expensive than corn. The process of converting cellulosic materials into fuels and value-added chemicals is a complex one involving multi-step chemical and biochemical conversion. The key technical issues concern efficient pretreatment, improving cellulase enzymes, and finding microorganisms that can convert cellulose as well as hemicellulose into fermentable sugars. Lee’s current research is focused on developing pretreatment process using aqueous ammonia and a bioconversion process termed as simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF). It is the most advanced bioconversion process scheme in which cellulose and hemicellulose of biomass are converted by enzymes and concurrently converted to ethanol by genetically engineered bacteria. The lab is currently testing various feedstocks including corn stover, switch grass, pulpmill sludges and hardwood. This research is funded by Office of Biomass Programs in the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, Abengoa Bioenergy, Inc., Masada, LLC and the Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts at Auburn University.

Lee and his biofuels research team

AEROSPACE

Assistant professor Brian Thurow was awarded a $300,000 grant through the Air Force’s Young Investigator Research Program to work on the development and application of a high-speed three-dimensional density measurement technique for aero-optic applications.

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research awarded $9.5 million in grants to 29 scientists and engineers who submitted winning research proposals. The program is open to scientists and engineers at research institutions across the United States. Those selected receive the grants over a three-year period.

According to AFOSR officials, competition for Young Investigator Research Program grants is intense. AFOSR received 215 proposals relating to major areas of interest to the Air Force, including aerospace, chemical and material sciences; mathematics, information and life sciences; and physics and electronics.

The program supports scientists and engineers who have received a doctorate or equivalent degrees in the past five years. Recipients must show exceptional ability and promise for conducting basic research. The objective of this program is to foster creative basic research in science and engineering, enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators, and increase opportunities for the young investigators to recognize the Air Force mission and the related challenges in science and engineering.

BIOSYSTEMS

Oladiran Fasina, associate professor, received two prestigious awards at this year’s international meeting of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). Fasina received a presidential citation and a standards development award for leading the successful development of the new international standard, “ASABE/ANSI S593 Terminology and Definitions for Biomass Production, Harvesting and Collection, Storage, Processing, Conversion and Utilization.”

As a new bio-based economy emerges in the U.S., this standard will serve a critical role by allowing engineers, scientists, biomass commodity producers and manufacturers of biofuels and bioproducts to communicate using a consistent set of terminology. Fasina led a diverse, multidisciplinary group of engineers and scientists through the consensus building process to develop this standard. In 2006, Fasina received a leadership citation from ASABE for his role as chair of the committee whose work led to this international standard.


CIVIL

Associate professor Mark Barnett was recently appointed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, a group of experts that considers issues arising out of the operation of the nation’s more than 100 nuclear power plants and from programs related to approximately 5,000 nuclear materials licensees. Hearings often involve difficult, interdisciplinary questions at the cutting edge of science and technology, and include plant life

extensions, early site permits for locations for future power reactors, decommissioning activities, as well as licensing of the proposed high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

With Prabhakar Clement, professor and principal investigator, Barnett is also conducting laboratory tests to understand the nature of contaminants at Department of Energy sites where the processing of nuclear fuels and materials occurred. Research will also go towards developing a new software program that can be used to forecast results in to the future.

The main contaminants the research focuses on are arsenic and uranium, both elements used in the processing of nuclear fuels and materials. The sites of primary concern are Savannah River, Ga., Oak Ridge, Tenn., Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Hanford, Wash. The grant received by Barnett and Clement from the Department of Energy’s Environmental Remediation Science Program was for more than $949,000 and will support work through December 2008. It will also include work by professors Chunmiao Zheng from the University of Alabama and Norm Jones from Brigham Young University.

CSSE

Self-organizing wireless sensor networking technologies enable many novel applications of sensor networks to be rapidly developed and deployed in real-world environments. They also reduce costs, enhance efficiency and reliability, and improve the ability to transmit relevant sensor information from remote inaccessible locations to the users and data centers. To support these capabilities, associate professor Alvin Lim and his team have developed core enabling

wireless technologies, including efficient wireless ad hoc network protocols, reliable and real-time communication protocols, self-organizing network services, distributed discovery services, composition services, adaptation services, in-network information aggregation techniques, and synchronized energy conservation methods.

While these self-organizing sensor networks have many application domains, researchers have demonstrated their usefulness in a tsunami sense-and-respond system. This system integrates and interoperates the target tracking algorithm with other communication and control software.

The off-shore network of tsunami sensors communicates through wireless ad hoc network protocol where several real-time communication mechanisms have been developed to improve performance. These include an efficient flooding technique, a robust route repair algorithm, distributed services framework, and an analysis mechanism for predicting tsunami propagation behavior.

A network of tsunami sensors placed near the sea floor could also communicate through undersea acoustic modems. Barrier mechanisms for tsunami mitigation can be triggered through a real-time network protocol that supports time-critical response to actual detection of a tsunami. Lim also has extensive experience that includes wireless vehicular networks, video sensor networks, and three-dimensional undersea networks.

ECE

Professor Stan Reeves is the principal investigator on a $340,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a new way to collect and assemble a special type of MRI imagery. Collaborator Don Twieg at the University of Alabama at Birmingham will assist with data acquisition and modeling.

This special type of MRI provides images of specific chemical concentrations in tissues and organs in the body, information that can be tremendously useful for diagnostic purposes. Because the current approaches take far too much time to capture an image, this research will focus on developing a much faster way to capture images, which will improve patient comfort and reduce imaging costs.

Reeves conducts research in the area of digital image processing, medical image processing, and color imaging and image processing. He is particularly focused on computational methods for acquiring and assembling image data and improving image quality.

Mark Barnett and a student conduct laboratory tests on contaminants


MECHANICAL

Assistant professors Robert Jackson and Jong Wook Hong are investigating the development and use of micro-scale ‘smart’ surfaces in lubricated bearing applications. These self adapting surfaces are intended for mechanical seals, piston ring systems, bearings, hard disk drives, and anywhere else that friction and wear is a problem or precision control is needed. In machines, the introduction of these surfaces will offer a more reliable and energy efficient operation.

These surface structures are designed to adapt to different loads. For instance, this type of surface could be used to maintain a near constant film thickness between two surfaces for various loads. The structures are then designed so that deformation is matched with the desired load carrying capacity. In addition, adaptive ‘deformable’ surfaces will be capable of having a film stiffness that is significantly larger than conventional static surface textures.

Work in this area is scarce, but it has been shown that the load carrying capacity of bearings can be increased by 100 percent or more by using electronically controlled adapting surfaces. A

unique aspect of the proposed self-adapting surfaces is that they will operate free of electronics, using only mechanical structures to create surfaces that are self-optimizing and adaptive to different conditions.

Currently, Jackson is developing a numerical simulation to explore possible surface designs to expose advantages and disadvantages. The model incorporates thermoelastic solid mechanics to consider surface deformations coupled with the fluid film dynamics.

ISE

The Center for Advanced Vehicle Electronics (CAVE) performs reliability testing and failure analysis on new materials, substrates and

components. This work is primarily focused on harsh environment electronics including automotive, aerospace and military. The harsh environment area involves high temperatures, vibration and extended reliability requirements. Solving all of these issues in one low cost manufacturable system is the primary focus of CAVE. Projects in these areas include manufacturing process capability and assembly, environmental testing, and failure analyses.

One new project is the module level overmolding program. This project is designed to find the best material, attachment, substrate and assembly methods for an integrated powertrain controller module. The results have applications in automotive, industrial, military and aerospace industries. The technology will allow designers to reduce the size and weight of traditional controllers and reduce wiring while reducing cost and increasing reliability for next generation controllers.

John Evans, associate director of CAVE, is currently focused on the ISE component of CAVE, researching high volume manufacturing systems analysis, primarily in electronics manufacturing. This includes manufacturing systems simulation, stochastic process analyses, process capability and control, and dynamic scheduling. Evans plans to take this research into the growing automotive manufacturing community in the Southeastern.

CAVE research combines faculty in mechanical, electrical, and industrial engineering and is currently supported by Siemens VDO, Phoenix International (John Deere), Cookson Electronics, Kemet Electronics, Molex, Navy, Army, NASA, DRS, Sun Microsystems, and KTL.

Preliminary results recorded at ORNL comparing various samples.

Schematic of piezo-elastic self-adapting surface using deformable bridges to cause controlled deformation.

Students discover the exacting process of chip fabrication


1�Auburn Engineering • Fall �007

This year that support included participation in the inaugural “Alabama Launchpad” event, a university-centered state-wide business plan competition. Auburn engineering placed two teams in the finals of the events, including MCR, a carpet recycling company, and OcuMedic, the winner of the $100,000 competition.

“There’s no question that Alabama Launchpad had a big impact on our start-up activity this year,” says Wright. “OcuMedic was launched directly from its involvement in the competition, and MCR certainly received a big boost in recognition and contacts.”

“The commercialization of intellectual properties developed by Auburn University faculty represents a significant funding component as the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering moves to new levels of excellence,” notes Larry Benefield, dean of engineering. “The technologies on which these companies are based represent truly innovative and forward-focused research with real-world applications.”

If innovation is good for business, then the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering is doing its part to keep both Alabama’s and the nation’s economies going strong.

Auburn University’s Office of Technology Transfer recently announced the formation of four new start-up companies based on technologies developed within the college. Two of the start-ups will be based in the Auburn area.

“Historically, we have helped launch two new firms per year,” says Brian Wright, associate director for commercialization in the Office of Technology Transfer. “Four out of one college in such a short time is unprecedented for Auburn.”

According to Wright, a lot of this activity can be credited directly to Dean Larry Benefield and his team’s support for research and technology transfer efforts. Engineering faculty account for almost half of the University’s research expenditures. They also understand the value of licensing inventions and are active participants in the start-up process.

Starting Something New

Ready for Launch — Alabama Launchpad

is a not-for-profit organization formed in 2006 by

six Alabama research universities and the state’s

business community to support entrepreneurship and

entrepreneurship education. Founders include Auburn

University, Alabama A&M University, Alabama State

University, the University of Alabama, the University

of Alabama at Huntsville, the University of Alabama

at Birmingham and the Economic Development

Partnership of Alabama Foundation.

The foundation is a privately funded economic

development organization supported by 68 of the

state’s leading companies dedicated to quality

economic growth in Alabama.

s i d e n o t eThe four newly formed companies include:

o Aunigma Network Solutions Corp. (Atlanta): Multiple network threat protection plus unmatched performance compared to competing internet security offerings

o Modular Carpet Recyling, Inc. (Auburn): Turn-key plants that utilize a carbon dioxide-based process for efficient recycling of nylon from used carpets

o Applications Quest, LLC (Fairfax, Va.): Clustering software that allows universities to realize their diversity objectives in a manner that is both effective and in conformity with legal standards

o Ocumedic, Inc. (Auburn): A drug delivery and medical device company that creates new contact lenses to deliver medications to the surface of the eye

�0 Auburn Engineering • Fall �007

During its 100-year history, Southern Company, one of the nation’s largest producers of electricity, has transformed the lives of people across the Southeast. The company and its electric subsidiaries — Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power and Mississippi Power — have generated economic prosperity for the region by making electrical service more reliable, bringing electricity to isolated areas, employing thousands, and promoting and supporting education.

And from the beginning, this premier power company and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering have maintained a strong relationship that has greatly benefited the citizens of Alabama and the Southeast.

Auburn engineers excel

Southern Company is one of the largest employers of Auburn Engineering graduates, with 894 alumni currently working for the company, from those engineers working on the front line when the power fails to those who have risen to leadership positions.

Auburn Engineering boasts three graduates who currently serve as CEOs in Southern Company subsidiaries, and three others who are retired CEOs. In addition, we have dozens of other alumni who serve in high-ranking positions.

Charles McCrary, who followed in the footsteps of his father, Doug, as an Auburn graduate and a Southern Co. subsidary CEO, credits this long-standing relationship to the fact that at its core, Alabama Power is an engineering company, and Auburn is the state’s premier engineering institution. “We hire a lot of graduates from Auburn because they consistently produce quality engineers,” he says. Story agrees. “At Auburn, you not only learn the academics, you learn leadership and teamwork skills through the many opportunities on campus,” she says.

Topazi credits Auburn students’ ability to deal with real-world situations. “Auburn has a great track record for graduating students with superior problem-solving skills,” he says. “No matter your discipline, that skill will get you places.”

Auburn Alum Year/Degree Company Position

Charles McCrary 1973 Mechanical Alabama Power CEO

Susan Story 1981 Industrial Gulf Power CEO

Anthony Topazi 1973 Electrical Mississippi Power CEO

W. George Hairston, III 1967 Industrial Southern Nuclear Operating Co. CEO, retired

Elmer Harris 1962 Electrical Alabama Power CEO, retired

Doug McCrary 1953 Mechanical Gulf Power CEO, retired

Keeping the Power ON

�1Auburn Engineering • Fall �007

A valuable pipeline

Auburn also helps Southern Company diversify its workforce by graduating talented women and minority engineers. Story, who is the first female CEO of a Southern Company subsidiary, follows in the footsteps of other Auburn women who have set milestones in the company such as Maria Rogan Whitson, who was Auburn’s first female electrical engineering graduate and the first female engineer hired by Alabama Power in 1923.

Southern Company has also hired more than 50 alumni from the AT&T Minority Engineering Program, the college’s highly successful minority recruiting and retention program.

One of the program’s alumni is Marcus Conner, a 1999 mechanical engineering graduate and team leader with Mississippi Power. A go-getter from the moment he stepped foot on the Auburn campus, Conner was one of the first students in the minority engineering program in 1997 – a program he continues to support today through leadership on the advisory board.

“I owe much thanks to Auburn for assisting me in developing skills such as teamwork, leadership and initiative, that have served me well in my career,” he says.

Susan Story, CEO, Gulf Power

Anthony Topazi, CEO, Mississippi Power

Charles McCrary, CEO, Alabama Power

Real world experiences

Southern Company is also the largest employer of Auburn co-op students, with 44 engineering students this year. Many of these students stay with the company after graduation — and for their entire career.

Kim Durbin, director of Auburn’s cooperative education program, says students rave about Southern Company because of the people and the relevant experience it provides.

“Southern Company has a very well-organized co-op program,” he says. “They assist with housing costs during co-op work terms, the salaries and benefits are very competitive, and the work assignments are challenging and closely related to the students’ curricula. Southern Company co-op students also have the opportunity to assume significant responsibility.”

This was true for both Charles McCrary and Topazi, who worked for Southern Company as undergraduates. In fact, Topazi said that his co-op experience with Alabama Power was transformational. His family only had enough money for him to complete his freshman year at Auburn, so he turned to Auburn’s co-op office for a job. The only ones available were with Alabama Power, who wanted electrical engineering majors. Although Topazi was majoring in aeronautics, he changed to electrical engineering on the spot and got the position. Because of his positive co-op experience, he began his career at Alabama Power.

�� Auburn Engineering • Fall �007

“I understood the company and its culture, and they understood me,” he says. “The co-op with Alabama Power not only helped me pay for my college education, but it gave me a head start on my career and the maturity to help me succeed.”

Investing in higher education

As a company that requires a high level of technical literacy in its workforce, Southern Company has a deep commitment to education, ranging from furthering employees’ education to supporting Auburn’s minority engineering program and K-12 initiatives such as the BEST robotics competition.

“We need to support Auburn so we can have future leaders and engineers for our company,” says Story, who was the first in her family to graduate from college.

Furthermore, the Alabama Power Foundation has previously endowed several engineering scholarships and an endowed professorship in the college. “I want the best and the brightest faculty at Auburn who will help students reach their highest potential and power the research that will enhance economic prosperity,” says McCrary, who is also a member of the Auburn University Board of Trustees. At an individual level, Auburn alumni at Southern Company have been very generous with their own time and money, serving on alumni boards, mentoring students, making annual gifts, establishing planned gifts and contributing money for scholarships.

A win-win relationship

Topazi says that the relationship between Southern Company and Auburn runs deep and continues to grow. “There’s always been a great dialogue between us and Auburn,” he says. “Auburn anticipates the needs of our industry and works hard to meet those needs.

Whenever we look to Auburn for help, Auburn never lets us down.”

Auburn Engineering • Fall �007 ��

Auburn Engineering’s Baja SAE team has won its first victory in the competition’s storied history. The team placed first overall in a field limited to 100 entrants at an early summer event hosted by the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. In addition to coast to coast competition, seven vehicles from Canada and six from Mexico competed in the off-road free-for-all, as well as racers from Europe, the Asian Rim and South Africa.

Dirty, Gritty. . . and #1“Carl was finally free on the track, and worked on running faster, pushing every chance to pass. One opportunity pushed a bit too far, came around a flat bend fast . . . a tire grabbed grass instead of sliding in dirt, and he was on his side. Now the course watchers and radio spotters proved their worth as all the technical inspectors were hunted down and sped in Auburn’s direction. What could have been a serious delay cost only a few minutes, and Carl was back to making laps. He handed the wheel back to Jeremy for the last leg, and Jeremy ran fast and stayed out of trouble until the end of the race.”


“For me, this win represents four years of education and devotion. Satisfaction of that magnitude just can’t be described in words,” says Jeremy Hrdy, team driver.

According to faculty adviser Peter Jones, the team’s efforts were brilliantly balanced, with scores near the top of every dynamic event.

“Auburn has been nearing the top of Baja for a while, pulling in a second place and three third place finishes since 2005. The knowledge base is there, the committed alumni, the facilities, and the continuing renewal of outstanding Auburn students. And on that weekend in the Dakota badlands, there were no bobbles, no almosts, no might-have-beens, and Auburn was the greatest Baja team in sight . . .”

For more race details:http://www.eng.auburn.edu/~pjones/Mini.Baja/07dakota.pdf

While the Baja team saw victory this year in Cedar Rapids, S.D., one of its former members has received a special recognition of his own.

Darrell Krueger, who graduated in 2005 with his undergraduate degree and in 2007 with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, was awarded the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) 2007 Rumbaugh Outstanding Student Leader Award, the highest honor SAE gives to a student.

“Darrell is one of those rare Baja engineers who really sees the potential for great automotive science and has worked tirelessly to contribute to that science,” says SAE advisor Peter Jones. “He is a magnificently imaginative, hands-on kind of an engineer, and he really appreciates what the Baja program has done to focus and structure his education.”

The award was established in 2002 by Max E. Rumbaugh, Jr., past executive vice president of SAE, to identify and recognize outstanding student leaders and encourage a vision within the recipient to become an SAE leader during his or her adult career.

Through Rumbaugh’s generous contribution to the SAE Foundation, Krueger will receive a lifetime adult membership in SAE, a trip to the 2008 World Congress to receive the award, an honorarium, and invitations to attend other SAE functions.

“SAE is better for having had Darrell’s participation as a student, and for having him as a continuing member of the SAE community,” Jones says. “Since I know very well how much Darrell has meant to SAE, it is a tremendous accomplishment for SAE to also recognize it, and to grant him this distinguishing award - really, the highest honor a student engineer can receive from SAE.”

Krueger will be recognized during the awards ceremony at the SAE 2008 World Congress, April 14-17 in Detroit, Mich.

“Even though I’ll graduate in December, it certainly doesn’t mark the end of my involvement with Baja,” Krueger says. “Since my last year with the Auburn team as a senior, I helped organize the 2006 race here at Auburn, and today I am part of the national inspection team for Baja SAE, traveling to all of the Baja events.”

Another Win

Auburn Engineering • Fall �007 �5


It was ultimately tragedy that led Jim and Bertha Hoskins to Auburn University. Jim’s plan to study engineering at the University of West Virginia changed his senior year in high school when the dam above his West Virginia valley home broke, flooding homes and destroying lives. With no home and little money, Jim opted instead for trade school.

Shortly after, Jim and Bertha, who had been friends since the seventh grade, married and moved to Atlanta to start a business. Just shy of 20 years old, they were making a life in the city. In 1973, Bertha was working for a market research company that sent her to Auburn to conduct a survey at the AU Bookstore. This would be her first encounter with Auburn.

In 1974, Jim joined the Air Force and three years later became a recipient of the U.S. Air Force’s prestigious scholarship program. With the choice to attend one of five universities – Purdue, MIT, Georgia Tech, Stanford or Auburn – Jim and Bertha made their way to Auburn in 1978 where he began work on a degree in electrical engineering and she studied business administration with a concentration in accounting.

Their college careers were brief and demanding. “The scholarship program required me to finish in three years and maintain a 3.5 GPA,” Jim recalls. “In addition to a small Air Force salary, we worked cleaning apartments in married student housing at CDV,” he says. “We worked for a man called ‘the major,’” added Bertha. “We don’t know why, but that is all he was called.”

Bertha completed her degree in 1980, graduating with honors, and went to work for C.W. Amos & Company, a

A Different Look at LifeIf you are looking for a unique way to give to Auburn Engineering, look no further than your life insurance policy. Life insurance is an asset that allows donors to give

a significant gift by making small payments each year that can result in a sizable donation down the road.

Existing policiesSometimes the original purpose of an insurance policy no longer applies, such as policies purchased to provide financial security for family members, to educate children now grown or to pay estate taxes when liquid assets were in short supply. These policies can now become an asset to support philanthropic purposes by naming Auburn University as owner and beneficiary of the policy.


regional accounting firm in Maryland where Jim was stationed. While at Amos, she sat for and passed the CPA exam on her first attempt. When Jim transferred from Maryland to Los Angeles, Bertha began a 14-year career with Hughes Aircraft Company. She retired from Hughes as a financial manager for one of the largest segments of Hughes. Jim graduated cum laude in 1981 and continued in the Air Force, advancing to the rank of major. During his military and government career, he held several key assignments in the Air Force Cryptologic Depot, the National Security Agency (NSA), the National Reconnaissance Office, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). His significant contributions to national security earned him Distinguished Service medals from the director of the CIA, the director of the NSA and the secretary of defense.

Following his retirement from the Air Force in 1994, Jim joined Virginia-based Scitor Corporation, a leader in project management, systems engineering and information systems services to government agencies and defense contractors. Jim became president, CEO and chairman of the board in 2001 and was responsible for a major restructuring that led to Scitor becoming an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) with 100 percent ownership by its employees. Scitor also received a top ten placement on the Fortune magazine list of Best Companies to Work for in America.

Jim’s career path resulted in frequent moves. “We lived all over and rarely, if ever, came back to Auburn. We supported the university through annual giving, but not seriously,” he says. “We were just not that connected to Auburn.”

An Auburn Reconnect

You can also donate an existing policy and continue to pay the premiums, which are tax deductible. Group term life insurance or employer group coverage above $50,000 also make suitable charitable gifts.

The advantages of naming Auburn as the beneficiary and assigning all incidents of ownership of a policy under which you are insured include a charitable income tax deduction, available under most circumstances; tax savings from the use of the deduction, which can be invested for future income; and removal of death benefits from a taxable estate, reducing the amount of future estate taxes.

New PoliciesSome donors choose to make a significant future gift at a relatively

low cost by donating a new life insurance policy. With increasing longevity, people can purchase insurance at more affordable premium costs. You can take out a new policy with Auburn as owner and beneficiary and your continuing premium payments, usually gifted directly to Auburn, are income tax deductible.

Many of our alumni and friends are not currently able to make significant outright gifts. A gift of life insurance enables you to gain the satisfaction of helping Auburn Engineering with a larger gift than you may have thought possible.

For more information, please contact the Office of Engineering Development at 334.844.2736.

“We have stepped up our giving because Auburn feels like family.”

That is, until it came time for their son to think about college.

“We loved the idea of Alex going to Auburn,” says Jim. “The College of Engineering was instrumental in recruiting him. They really impressed him and sparked his interest in Auburn. That was the beginning of our reconnection.” Alex is now in his third year at

Auburn and the Hoskins make their way to Auburn at every opportunity.

One result of their rekindled relationship with Auburn has been a new level of financial support. They recently made a $3 million gift to the university, with $2 million designated for engineering

and $1 million for the College of Business. “We have stepped up our giving because Auburn feels like family,” says Jim.

The Hoskins made the choice to give their contribution through an insurance policy. They make payments on the policy and name Auburn

as the beneficiary. “We chose this means because it allows us to give a much more significant gift – it leverages more resources for the long-run,” says Jim. “It also allowed us to make a gift at the end of the year that put the college over its $21 million goal for 2006.” The Hoskins also point out that their gift fulfills a need to give back to Auburn. “We feel a sense of responsibility,” says Bertha. “Our education was invaluable, not just our degrees, but the thought processes, attitude and life lessons that we gained at Auburn. After living all over the country and moving 14 times, we’ve discovered that Auburn holds a special place in our heart. This is where we want to retire,” she added.


Known for supporting nonprofit organizations that advance the well-being of humanity, the Kresge Foundation has given Auburn Engineering its stamp of approval. Founded in 1924 by Sebastian S. Kresge, the father of the “5 and 10 cent” store, the Foundation has awarded the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering a $1.5 million challenge grant to support its efforts to raise $105 million during the “It Begins at Auburn” campaign.

Such a grant brings with it a certain degree of bragging rights. From the number of applications received each year by the Foundation to Auburn Engineering’s ability to endure the rigorous approval process, as well as Kresge’s

understanding that a successful fundraising campaign is evidence of an organization’s value to the community it serves – this endorsement represents a coveted credential. It signifies a confidence that the college can raise the funds necessary to move Auburn Engineering into the ranks of the nation’s best engineering programs.

“There are few universities in the Southeast that can claim a Kresge challenge grant,” said Larry Benefield, dean of engineering. “We are proud of this achievement in that it demonstrates Kresge’s belief in what we are accomplishing, as well as our potential to attain even higher goals.”

A Vote of Confidence

��Auburn Engineering • Fall �007

“Giving away money is not an easy job … Money alone cannot build character or transform evil into good; it cannot restore the influence and vitality of the home; neither can it maintain the valleys and plains of peace. Spent alone, it might as well stay in the vaults. It becomes palsied and impotent. It cries for full partnership with leaders of character and good will …”

The Kresge Foundation’s 1956 Annual Report

Meeting the challenge

During its history, the Kresge Foundation has supported a broad range of organizations, usually pledging its support in the form of a challenge. Almost from inception, the Foundation has used the challenge concept as an opportunity to strengthen leadership and giving in an organization.

This concept began with a $5,000 gift in 1929 to a school for the deaf that was contingent upon their ability to raise additional funds. The mechanism became a more formal part of the Foundation’s practice by the early 1960s. Today, it is the Foundation’s central grantmaking tool.

The challenge grant is designed to offer its grantee a means to leverage additional gifts and build relationships with donors and volunteer leaders. As such, the grant requires an organization to meet 100 percent of its fundraising goals in order to obtain the contribution. If Auburn Engineering raises its total $105 million goal by the end of the university campaign in March 2008, Kresge will then fulfill its pledge. Currently, we have raised $101,320,328 or 96 percent of our total campaign goal.

The funds contributed by Kresge will be used to assist the college in constructing the Sen. Richard C. and Dr. Annette

N. Shelby Center for Engineering Technology. The $108 million state-of-the-art facility is designed to advance technology in a variety of engineering disciplines and represents one of the largest construction projects undertaken at Auburn University.

Providing incentive

Capital fundraising campaigns are often the means by which non-profit organizations survive. The Kresge Foundation focuses its efforts on these campaigns

as a key opportunity for nonprofit growth and a means for further leveraging its contributions. As such, the Foundation looks to programs that are strong and sustainable – organizations that can achieve their mission and strengthen their community.

This description certainly applies to

Auburn Engineering. Take the college’s bold vision to become one of the nation’s premier engineering institutions and combine it with our dedicated alumni and friends, and it is easy to see why we are achieving the benchmarks that will make our vision a reality. The Kresge Foundation has issued a challenge – one that Auburn Engineering will no doubt meet.

A Born Philanthropist

The Kresge Foundation found its roots in a man who believed that giving was a natural response to his own personal success. Following a brief teaching career, Sebastian S. Kresge, a native of Pennsylvania, decided to pursue a career in retail. At the age of 30 and in partnership with John G. McCrory, Kresge opened a “5 and 10 cent” store. This endeavor eventually became a chain of stores which were incorporated as the S. S. Kresge Company in 1912, and later became known as Kmart.

In 1924, with an initial gift of $1.6 million, Kresge established the Kresge Foundation for the “promotion of human

progress by eleemosynary, philanthropic and charitable means …” He expressed specific interest in supporting organizations “whose object is to promote the well being of mankind.” During his lifetime, Sebastian Kresge contributed more than $60.5 million to the Foundation. At the time of his death in 1966 at the age of 99, he left a personal estate worth less than one-tenth of the gifts he made to the Kresge Foundation.

s i d e n o t e


What brought you to the College of Engineering?

Auburn’s engineering leadership was concerned over the downward trend of students entering the engineering field, which has affected not only Auburn, but represents a broader national phenomenon. In the context of the university’s overall planning efforts, we were looking at maintaining a student body of 3,100 undergraduates. That meant we had to grow some, and that’s why I’m here.

So let’s ask the obvious: what do you do?

I think that the most important thing I do is to get on the road. I visit high schools and prep schools and talk to students, teachers and counselors. We communicate with prospective students in other ways, but research has shown that the most effective way to recruit students is to see them in person. I also work career fairs and open houses, which are functions that bring a lot of students together in a situation that usually includes a number of recruiters from various institutions.

How successful have we been?

Well, I am thankful that I can say we’re on the right track. When I joined the college a little more than a year ago, we had a little less than 3,000 undergraduate students, and that number is now very close to the 3,100 goal. I also feel good about our entering freshmen and the direction we are heading. Our incoming class stands at about 770 students, which is significantly more than our goal of 730.

Where are these students coming from?

Alabama continues to be our largest base, of course. More than 60 percent of our engineering undergraduates come from within the state lines. At the same time, this means that we are enrolling more than a third of our students from out of state. This speaks well to the quality of our programs . . . that students and parents are willing to pay out-of-state tuition rates to attend Auburn says something. It’s a great thing for our students as well, to be exposed to such a wide range of backgrounds. Our challenge here, at least to our enrollment numbers, is in the scholarship programs available in all of the states that surround us – Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi and Georgia. All of them have “hope” styled programs that provide high school graduates with B averages scholarships at in-state schools.

Five minutes with Bonnie Wilson“Five minutes with . . . ” takes a snapshot of the views of alums, faculty, staff and students. If you want to suggest a personality who deserves a spotlight – or if you want to know more about a member of the Auburn Engineering family – let us know at [email protected].

Bonnie Wilson, our subject this issue, is the College of Engineering’s student recruiter.


How are we doing in terms of attracting female students?

If you look at the decline in engineering students at Auburn over the past five years, you will find that the losses we have seen have been concentrated in women students. Why have these numbers gone down? Nobody really knows, even though there are many educated guesses and endless conjecture. The bottom line for us, at least in the short term, is simple: we want to see 25 percent of our enrollment in female students. When I came on board it was closer to 12, and now it’s 17 percent. I know that high school girls who see me see that it can be done . . . I have a civil engineering degree and I tell them that. It lets them know that they can be successful too, as engineers.

What’s the hardest part of your job?

As practicing engineers, we forget that most people don’t really know what engineers do. While I don’t find fault here, this is true of high school teachers and counselors who don’t have a science or math background. And many of them don’t. What I have to do is talk to them, educate them, and find ways to introduce students not only to what an engineering student has to study, but what they’ll be doing when they graduate. I try to educate them as well to the fact that in many areas we are migrating from a manufacturing economy to a service and technical one, and that our future economic well-being depends on meeting changing markets head-on.

How can our alums help out in recruiting?

I have found that many of our alums are active beyond their careers in their schools and communities. I tell everybody the same thing: talk to teachers, counselors and students the same way I do, and educate them about engineering and engineers. In fact, I have received a lot of help from our alums as I travel the state and region. Jeff and Linda Stone, for example, have helped in the Birmingham area by sponsoring yearly engineering fairs at Mountain Brook High School. It has been an immense help, and would certainly be a model for other alums seeking to help in this way.

What’s next for you?

Building and maintaining our enrollments at levels where we are meeting state, regional and national demands for engineering talent is one of my top priorities. We are already beginning to see significant engineering shortages as baby boomers retire . . . and that wave has yet to crest. I know that Dean Benefield is being told by recruiters visiting on campus that we will be facing deeper shortages here, and I have no reason to doubt it. Demand for engineers is high now, and we anticipate that it will continue to be so in the future, in both the near and long term. I want them to get their education at Auburn, just as I did.


When the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council met in November, the College of Engineering recognized six of its own for their contributions to and achievements in the field of engineering. Three alumni were honored as Distinguished Auburn Engineers; one was acknowledged for his personal achievements; and one was named Outstanding Young Engineer.

“We continue to see our alums excel in the engineering profession,” says Dean Larry Benefield. “These individuals have certainly distinguished themselves and we are privileged to have an opportunity to recognize their accomplishments. We are proud to call them Auburn engineers.”

Distinguished Auburn Engineers

Philip Fraher, 1988 computer engineering alumnus, is president and CEO of Houston-based Visual Numerics, a company that develops software applications for data-intensive environments, business intelligence, data delivery and high-performance computing.

With offices around the world, Visual Numerics’ software products are used by more than a half million professionals worldwide for research that ranges from analyzing cancer treatment data to pollution analysis, to forecasting mobile phone traffic – and hundreds of other applications that require the visualization of extremely complex sets of data. The firm’s visual images are used in weather and flight tests because of their ability to translate complex data into formats that are intuitively understandable.

Fraher was elected to the company’s board of directors in 2005, the culmination of a professional journey that began at Exxon, and continued at Dun and Bradstreet where he rose to the position of vice president of finance, to Brightmail where he was chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

He is a member of the advisory board for the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, as well as a member of the Simon School Executive Board at the University of Rochester, where he received his master’s degree.

Rodney Robertson, a 1980 electrical engineering graduate, is director of the technical center of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command based in Huntsville, Ala. Robertson is a member of the Senior Executive Service, a highly selective tier of achievement met only by a select few in leadership positions in government service. As director of the missile defense command’s technical center, he manages more than 300 scientists and engineers and a contractor work force of over 3,000.

In his 26 years of federal service, Robertson has worked on numerous projects which have had a direct bearing on national defense. He is viewed as one of the most knowledgeable engineers in the field of transportable, high energy lasers with power levels of 100 kilowatts. When developed, such lasers provide countermeasures to rockets, artillery and mortar in the battlefield.

Robertson has been hailed as a consummate manager who is able to grasp vast amounts of data and technical details and drill down

to the core issues that move programs forward. In 2004, he returned to campus to accept the outstanding alumnus award from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Walt Woltosz, a 1969 and 1977 graduate in aerospace engineering, is chairman, president and CEO of Simulations Plus, a company that develops simulation software in the pharmaco-medical community. His

programs are used to model, simulate and verify complex medical therapies efficiently and with a much wider range than possible before.

The software that he has developed, including simulation of gastrointestinal absorption, pharmacokinetics and software for predicting the properties of molecules from their structures has saved the industry huge amounts of time and money, just as simulation modeling has done in the aerospace industry.

In fact, Woltosz spent 13 years in the aerospace industry, where he pioneered and managed the development of software for the simulation and design optimization of a wide range of solid propellant rocket motors and missile systems. These included the space shuttle, the advanced medium range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM), the

Honoring our Alumni

“These individuals have certainly distinguished themselves and we are privileged to have an opportunity to recognize their accomplishments. We are proud to call them Auburn engineers.”

��Auburn Engineering • Fall �007

Recognized at November’s Auburn Alumni Engineering Council honors banquet are (from left) Rodney Robertson, John Olson, George Howell, Walt Woltosz and Phillip Fraher, accompanied by council chair Wiley Cauthen.

Midgetman ballistic missile, and the Pegasus air-launched satellite booster.

Between his aerospace and pharmaco-medical software simulation careers, Woltosz had yet another, mid-life career, spending a decade and a half with Simulations Plus’ wholly owned subsidiary, Words+, where he developed augmentative communications systems for persons with severe disabilities. One of his success stories is the program he developed that allowed Stephen Hawking, renowned theoretical physicist, to communicate despite his debilitating ALS or Lou Gherig’s disease.

Auburn Engineering Achievement Award

George Howell, a 1966 graduate in aerospace engineering, is currently senior manager of the Flight Sciences Integrated Product Team on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program in Fort Worth, Texas. As manager of the F-35 Flight Sciences Team, Howell heads an international team that includes some 50 highly-skilled engineers at the core of the development of the supersonic, multi-role fifth-generation air frame. Its first flight took place 11 months ago, in a testing program that will continue through 2012.

Howell has contributed to the design, development and testing of the C-141, C-5, F-111, F-16 and F-22. In addition to staffing these programs, he has also been heavily involved in the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, Calif., and Marietta, Ga.

Howell has been involved in extensive wind tunnel testing for the F-22 program, which currently operates as our most advanced air dominance fighter, although it is also equipped for ground attack, electronic warfare and signal intelligence. Howell was responsible for making certain that its missiles, bombs and external fuel tanks could be safely separated from the aircraft – at supersonic speeds.

Outstanding Young Auburn Engineer

John Olson received his doctorate from Auburn in industrial and systems engineering in 2003. Today, he is the manager of International Space Station Operations in the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C, directing the safe operation of the $100 billion shuttle program.

Olson’s research at Auburn was honored by the Aerospace Medical Association, when he was named in 2004 as young investigator of the year. The results of his work are currently being pursued for a U.S. patent by NASA – in this instance, involving the effect of tactile sensors for astronauts who are piloting and landing the space shuttle.

Besides his ground-breaking technical work, he has been involved with the management of highly advanced systems in aerospace and is the author of some 30 articles in the field. He served 12 years as an Air Force officer with assignments that ranged from the highly technical to diplomacy and international relations as liaison with French and Russian air forces.

Honoring our Alumni


Chevron

Chevron Corporation recently presented Auburn Engineering with a check for $38,000 to support the departments of chemical, electrical, and mechanical engineering, as well as the AT&T Minority Engineering Program, the Society of Women Engineers and the TIGER Vehicle project.

ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil made a $27,000 donation to Auburn’s College of Business and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. The ExxonMobil gift will benefit the departments of chemical, mechanical, electrical, civil and industrial engineering, as well as computer science and software engineering. A portion of the gift will go to the management information systems program in the College of Business. The AT&T Minority Engineering Program received a separate $7,000 check from ExxonMobil in support of its program initiatives.

Partnerships such as the one between Auburn Engineering and the corporate community offer tremendous benefits to students and faculty, as well as the local community and the state. In addition to financial support, collaborative research efforts and co-op, internship and mentoring programs are just a few of the ways that the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and businesses work together to advance engineering education.

Auburn Engineering is grateful for the recent support provided by two of the nation’s largest oil companies.

Pictured left to right – front row: Alicia Stockstill, Chevron; Dean Larry Benefield; and Jacob Ansley, Chevron; back row: Chris Roberts, chemical engineering; Dave Irwin, electrical engineering; Sushil Bhavnani, mechanical engineering; David Dyer, mechanical engineering; Shirley Scott-Harris, AT&TMEP; and Jason Morehouse, Chevron.

Pictured left to right – front row: Dean Larry Benefield; Scott Arvin, ExxonMobil; Jay Gogue, Auburn University president; Shirley Scott-Harris, AT&TMEP; back row: Casey Cegielski, College of Business; Keith Hagler, ExxonMobil; and Dewayne R. Sanders, ExxonMobil.

Corporations Support Auburn Engineering


William F. Walker, who served as Auburn University’s 16th president, died August 7 of complications from cancer.

“I am deeply saddened by the untimely death of Bill Walker, who was both my friend and mentor,” said Dean Larry Benefield. “Bill understood what made a great university and had a vision to meet the

criteria necessary for greatness. His goal was to recruit faculty who were outstanding both in teaching and research, and to give them the resources they needed to succeed.”

Walker came to Auburn in 1988 as dean of the College of Engineering and 11 years later was promoted to provost. He was named interim president on Feb. 12, 2001, succeeding William Muse, and elevated to president by the AU Board of Trustees on June 3, 2002.

During his tenure as president, Walker outlined a vision to ensure the university’s financial soundness, to focus its sense of mission

and accountability, and to rejuvenate the Auburn spirit by improving communications with students, faculty, staff, alumni and the board of trustees.

In 2005, Walker and his wife Myrna created the William F. and Myrna Walker Family Endowment for Scholarships in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. These scholarships award students who maintain a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale while studying mechanical engineering. He also initiated the William F. Walker Teaching awards, given each spring to faculty members in the College of Engineering who demonstrate exceptional dedication to instruction.

Born Dec. 1, 1937, in Sherman, Texas, Walker earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He later earned his doctorate in mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University.

Prior to coming to Auburn, Walker was a faculty member from 1965-88 at Rice University. There, he served as chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science for nine years.

Donations in memory of Walker can be made to First Presbyterian Church Community Ministry in Auburn, the East Alabama Food Bank, or the William F. and Myrna Walker Family Endowment for Scholarships in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, 1320 Shelby Center, Auburn, AL 36849.

Dennis W. Weatherby, founding director of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s AT&T Minority Engineering Program, passed away September 15 at the age of 47. During his tenure at Auburn, Weatherby boosted minority recruitment and increased Auburn’s retention rates of minority students to nationally recognized levels.

Weatherby became the first director of the college’s minority engineering program in fall 1996. Initially sponsored by BellSouth, and officially known as the BellSouth Minority Engineering Program, it is now the AT&T Minority Engineering Program, following the recent merger of those firms. Dean William F. Walker inaugurated the program with the help of BellSouth executive Bill McNair.

“Dennis was a respected colleague as well as a close friend,” said Larry Benefield, dean of the College of Engineering. “He left a legacy that few others will ever match. Many students can credit their success in engineering, and in life, to the examples that he set.”

Born in Brighton, Ala. in 1960, Weatherby gained recognition as an engineer for his role in the development of Cascade, a lemon-scented, liquid dishwashing detergent that would become an instant and long-

term success. The solution Weatherby and his team created serves as the basic formula behind all of today’s “lemon-scented” cleaning products containing bleach.

Weatherby left Auburn to serve as associate dean of the Graduate School at the University of Notre Dame. At the time of his death, Weatherby was the associate provost for student services at Northern Kentucky University.

Donations can be made to the family in care of his widow, Mrs. Marpessa Weatherby, 10269 Goldeneye Drive, Alexandria, KY 41001 or to the Dennis Weatherby Scholarship Fund in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, 1320 Shelby Center, Auburn, AL 36849.

William Walker

Dennis Weatherby

In Memoriam

William F. Walker died at Emory Hospital in Atlanta on August 7. It was unexpected and caught Auburn’s university community by surprise. Bill Walker, dead at 69.

It was so unfair, not just to Bill, but to his wife, Myrna, family, friends and the Auburn faithful, that he was called home, too soon. Only six weeks before I visited Bill at his house on Auburn’s north side, with Dean Benefield. He looked fine, admitting only to a lack of energy that sent him back to the hospital for some tests.

When those came back, it showed that the cancer he had fought two years earlier had returned, but the prognosis was good, and Bill did not indicate that he was overly concerned. Indeed, his initial recovery was good, but complications arose that led to more surgery, and the surgery weakened him.

When he passed away, his son Forrest, daughter Audrey, and Myrna were at his side. The announcements that followed always referred to Bill as President Walker, and noted his tenure in that office from 2001 to 2004, moving up from the position of provost.

I always thought of him as Dean Walker, even after he left the College of Engineering. I worked at Bill’s side for a decade, and never got used to thinking of him as anything else.

When he arrived on campus in 1988 to interview for the dean’s position, I did not think he would make it. There were other candidates who were more connected, more politically correct, who were more . . . personable. I was initially surprised, then, to see Bill make the cut.

But when he arrived at Ramsay Hall, he rolled up his sleeves and went to work. He instituted new initiatives such as the BellSouth (now AT&T) Minority Engineering Program; held workshops and retreats for faculty, staff and administrators to get them to look at what they were doing in fresh, new ways; created an information technology environment that moved the college to new levels; and through our Alumni Engineering Council, took the first steps to revitalize engineering’s development efforts.

Through all of this, and the myriad of other responsibilities that fall to the dean of a large engineering school – or state university – he never

forgot about the student. In a way this is hard to convey. To Bill, the welfare of Auburn students – their experience in school and their preparation for a career beyond – was always the core . . . always the core.

Sometimes, some people in higher education forget why we’re here. Bill never did.

Others can speak to Bill’s accomplishments as dean and president. But I think it’s important to recognize that the things he did were done with the student in mind – and not in some abstract, administrative kind of way. Student welfare was a very personal thing to him, and it was what drove his career in academia.

He was a regular guy who looked forward to weekly staff meetings with his circle of advisors, people he could open up to without reservation, and share his dry sense of humor. He was a native of Sherman, Texas, who never quite understood why southerners barbecued pork, not beef. But he loved driving 23 miles to tiny Hurtsboro for a vegetable plate. He smoked a pipe and looked like a professor until it was time to look like a dean.

He was a complex man who made hard decisions, and in the eyes of some, not always the right decisions. He was a proud man who took to retirement reluctantly at first, but grew into it as time passed. He planned a trip to Europe – he had never been overseas – but he never got to make it. He was taken away from that trip as surely as he was taken away from us.

He changed the face of Auburn Engineering and set the stage for what we are today. As it often does, it will take the passage of time to see just how much Bill Walker did for Auburn Engineering, and for Auburn University. He was never one to leave well enough alone, or to serve as a caretaker. He admonished students to understand how lucky they were to be at Auburn, and to remind them that the clerk at the convenience store was helping to finance their education, willingly or not, as a taxpayer. He rankled against his faculty, and loved them at the same time.

He had a great vision. He was a great man.

– Jim Killian, editor at large

Remembering Bill Walker


Samuel Ginn College of EngineeringAuburn University1301 Shelby CenterAuburn, Alabama 36849-5330

NonprofitOrganizationU.S. PostagePAIDPermit #1390Mobile, AL

Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer. ENM0712C01

Engineering Dean Larry Benefield, left, reviews plans for the Shelby

Center for Engineering Technology with Sen. Richard C. Shelby and his

wife Annette, namesakes for this exciting new facility whose first phase

is nearing completion.

Documents

2007-volume-17-issue-1