Dimensions 2007

DIMENSIONS

2007-08 ANNuAl RESEARch REpORt

Dear Colleagues and Friends;

I am extremely proud of the accomplishments the James Worth Bagley College of En-gineering (BCoE) faculty, staff and students have worked so hard to achieve during this past year. In recognition of their achievements, engineering peers on the regional and national level have honored their research and service projects. In this edition of Di-mensions, our faculty tell stories of how they, as role models and mentors, help students make the connection among classroom assignments, research and the world of work.

Dr. Adrienne Minerick, a chemical engineering professor and the director of the Medi-cal Micro-Device Engineering Research Lab, received the American Society for Engi-neering Education-SE New Faculty Research Award for her creative ability to transfer innovative research techniques into effective, hands-on classroom experiments.

In the areas of civil and environmental engineering, Drs. William McAnally and James Martin are inspiring students through their research, designed to protect the natural resources found in one of our nation’s largest river systems. The award-winning pro-fessors’ research projects cover an area of three states and a vast network of water-ways, with a total of 200 rivers, bays, creeks, bayous, and lakes, which all flow into the Mobile Bay. Their efforts are helping to protect this fourth largest watershed in the United States.

The college’s environmental consciousness flows into protecting and preserving our nation’s transportation infrastructure. In the story, “Turning the Blacktop Green,” Dr. Isaac Howard shares his story of conducting research to find ways to create pavement that saves “green,” both in the environment and taxpayers’ pockets.

In the area of recycling to preserve the environment, the U.S. Department of Defense is working with BCoE researchers to clean up firing ranges at the nation’s military bases. Researchers at the Institute for Clean Energy Technology were so successful in their first round of research that the DOD will provide the group an additional $2.7 million to begin the second phase.

Finding ways to conserve energy is one of the Office of Naval Research’s top priorities. The BCoE’s department of electrical and computer engineering is part of a seven-uni-versity consortium conducting research to help engineer the next-generation, all-electric ship. Because of their successes, the group has been guaranteed $8.5 million yearly for the next five years for its continued efforts.

The High Performance Computer Collaboratory (HPC2) is supporting faculty research by creating virtual environments from their research data. The new Virtual Environment for Real-Time Exploration (VERTEX) facility gives researchers the ability to create 3-D virtual environments of their research. The visualization capabilities help scientists gain a visual sense of their research subject.

I dare to say that the real reward from all this outstanding research and teaching is that we are inspiring our next generation of leaders. As you read about all their national and international awards, you will be truly impressed, and that, my friends, is why we invest so much of ourselves and our resources into the BCoE.

All my best,

Sarah A. RajalaDean of the Bagley College of Engineering

tABlE OFBCoE Students Earn National and International Recognition Among Peers .............................................. 2

College Profile ............................................ 6

Research Stories ................................... 8-21

Running ship-shape research in the BCoE ............................................ 8

With VERTEX seeing is believing ..................................................... 10

Guardians of cyberspace ..................................................................... 12

Research that may revolutionize medical care .................................... 14

Preserving a precious commodity ....................................................... 16

Lessening the cost of national defense ................................................ 18

Making the black top green ................................................................. 20

Research Centers & Laboratories .......... 22

Research Sponsors .................................. 24

Dean’s Advisory Council .......................... 26

BCoE Leadership ..................................... 28

Credits ....................................................... 29

cONtENtS

Students sweep IGARSS international competitions

Electrical and computer engineering students won the only two interna-tional competitions sponsored by the IEEE’s 2008 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IG-ARSS.) The competitions included a team data fusion contest and a student paper competition. Mississippi State’s teammates Jacob Bowen, Jeff Brantley, Terrance West, Matthew Lee, and Saurabh Prasad claimed victory out of over 2,000 in-ternational team competition submis-sions. Among the top five teams, they rated as the only team from the United States as well as being the only team comprised of all students. Prasad continued the university’s sweep by taking top honors in the student paper competition. His paper was chosen from over 45 international submissions to be one of 10 presented

at the symposium during the final round of competition. He admits to being impressed by his competitors re-search and was honored that his paper earned first place.

iGEM student team earns bronze medal in internation-al competition

The International Genetically En-gineered Machines (iGEM) student team placed in the top three among 54 universities from around the world whose teams competed at the iGEM 2007 Competition. Competing against world renown biological engineering teams from institutions, such as the Massachusetts Institute for Technol-ogy, Harvard, Caltech, Princeton, and Cambridge, MSU’s iGEM team earned third-place honors by designing a genetic component that accelerates the detection method for identifying which combination of tagging genes are responsible for regulating fat in

plants. Experts could use the knowl-edge gleaned by the team’s research to produce oil (fuels) from non-food plants.

ASCE student chapter claims ‘Deep South’ championship

The student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) designed and built a concrete boat that claimed the championship title at the 2007 ASCE Deep South Regional Concrete Canoe Competition in south-ern Louisiana. The concrete boat did more than float; it carried up to four passengers during several water races, placing them in the winners’ category in each event. The 10-member civil and environmental engineering team made history as the first-ever MSU concrete canoe team to qualify for the ASCE national competition in Seattle, Wash., where the students competed against 18 other regional champions from across the nation.

BcOE StuDENtS

EARN NAtIONAl AND INtERNAtIONAl

REcOgNItION AMONg pEERS

2 Bagley College of Engineering

Electrical and computer engineering students claim IEEE Regional championship

The ECE student team built an inde-pendently operated robot that plays a modified version of Ping-Pong, tennis and basketball. The foot tall, comput-erized machine competed against 37 other robots built by student teams from throughout the Southeast region. The double elimination tournament was set up much like NCAA basket-ball tournament brackets. The BCoE student team’s robot won 12 rounds of competition to capture the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engi-neers Southeast Region 3 Conference (SECON) 2007 Championship title.

Building upon the previous year’s competition success, the students competed in the 2008 regional com-petition, pitting their robotics skills against those of engineers from 41 other schools in the Southeast. MSU’s student-built robot took second-place honors at the 2008 Institute of Electri-cal and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Southeast Region 3 Student Hardware Competition.

Named LUNAR, for lunar unmanned navigation and acquisition robot, MSU’s device outscored its closest competition by 25 points in the first rounds of the competition to earn the top seed in the final, head-to-head por-tion of the event. This led spectators to declare that MSU’s robot was the most fundamentally sound.

Students take top honors at Southeast Collegiate Cyber Defense competition

For the first time ever, the computer science and engineering department’s students and their adviser Ray Vaughn, a William Giles Distinguished Profes-sor, and Billie Jay Ball, professor of computer science and engineering, organized a “cyber” team. The team entered the 2007 Southeast Collegiate Cyber Defense regional competition.

In its debut, the student team placed in the top three in regional competition. Throughout the competition, students were learning how to defend against different types of cyber crime and the ability to keep information technology services available during a security breach. The competition is spon-sored by the federal Department of Homeland Security to better prepare students for the information security industry.

Student AISC team qualifies for national steel bridge competition

Civil and environmental engineering students qualified for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) 2007 national steel bridge competition. At the regional level the student team had to design, fabricate and construct a steel bridge. They were judged on standards for strength, durability, constructa-bility, usability, functionality, and safety. In addition, the real twist was maintaining speed and practicing safety, while building the bridge over a simulated ravine without support machinery or builders in the water. The average speed to construct a steel bridge for a winning team is around three minutes. The Bagley College of Engineering team was awarded excellent ratings in the categories for stiffness, lightness, construction speed, display, efficiency, and economy.

Society of Scholars recognizes two outstanding students

Seniors James Moore of computer science and Brandon Witbeck of mechanical engineering were inducted into the Society of Scholars, the high-est honor offered to MSU undergradu-ates. The society, which has honored students for 25 years, only recognizes about 50 students of the approximate 2,700 undergraduate degree candi-dates each year. The society requires that students demonstrate the highest levels of academic excellence and also

possess a broad and rigorous exposure to courses in the arts, sciences and humanities.

Chemical engineering students receive national recognition

The Dave C. Swalm School of Chemi-cal Engineering’s student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is the 2007-08 “Outstanding Student Chapter of the Year.” This is the seventh consecutive year the MSU student organization has been honored with the prestigious, national award.

Dr. Bill Elmore, associate professor and Hunter Henry Chair is the group’s adviser, “This honor is awarded to only 10 percent of the 160 chemical engineering programs in the country.” He added, “Since the award came into existence in the 1970s, we’ve won it 17 times.”

The honor is based on student leader-ship and service for chemical engi-neering, as well as university, commu-nity and state outreach.

National organization recognizes student’s achievements

The National Society of Black Engi-neers (NSBE) named Darvin J. Griffin, a senior biological engineering major, a 2008 Fulfilling the Legacy Scholar at its Golden Torch Awards ceremony. Funded in part by the Kellogg Corpo-rate Citizenship Fund, the scholarship was presented at the organization’s conference in Orlando, Fla.

The scholarship recognizes NSBE members who fulfill the group’s mission to increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community. Griffin detailed his success in each area in an entry essay he completed when applying for the scholarship.

www.bagley.msstate.edu 3


BCoE Students win back-to-back GM and DOE Challenge X national championships

General Motors (GM) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), lead sponsors for the Challenge X: Cross-over to Sustainable Mobility engineer-ing competition, recognized students from the Bagley College of Engineer-ing, who took top honors at the 2007 competition and again in the final year of competition.

The team was among 17 universities selected from across North America to find innovative ways of redesigning a fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly SUV. The teams re-engineered a Chevrolet Equinox that employs advanced propulsion technologies that increase fuel efficiencies and reduce environmental impact, while retaining consumer appeal. MSU’s vehicle is an electric hybrid powered by a 1.9 liter GM direct injection turbo diesel engine fueled by B20 biodiesel. It achieved a 38 percent increase in fuel economy over the production vehicle.

Student team soars to competition success

Students in the BCoE illustrated how high an interdisciplinary team can soar by taking top honors in a national unmanned aerial system (UAS) com-petition.

Sponsored by the Association for Un-manned Vehicle Systems International, the competition pitted MSU’s 17-mem-ber team X-ipiter against students from 13 other universities. In addition to an oral presentation and journal paper submission, each team flew an autono-mous mission to acquire the location and description of various targets.

“Competing with an uninhabited aerial system requires precise performance from an interdisciplinary team,” ex-plained Dr. Anthony Vizzini, head of the aerospace engineering department. “The UAS team has demonstrated the excellence that we have come to expect from our students. They are am-

bassadors who exemplify the quality of the programs and students at MSU.”

The first place finish earned the team over $10,000 in prize money while its performance netted numerous other honors. The team also was recognized for the best flight, and scored second in the journal paper and oral presenta-tion competitions. The total score for team X-ipiter was the highest number of points posted by any team in the six-year history of the competition.

Although many teams compete with planes built from kits, MSU’s “Xawk X-2C” features an original design that was developed, built, tested, and auto-mated by BCoE students.

“I feel our interdisciplinary team, with classifications ranging from freshmen to graduate students, really gives us an edge. Coming together and creating a product like this team did is similar to what you would see at any company,” said Calvin Walker, the team co-advis-er. “This competition is an invaluable learning experience for students.”

ISE student wins regional competition while helping company run safely

J. Stan Morelock, a senior industrial systems engineering major, won the student technical paper competition during the 2008 Institute of Industrial Engineers’(IIE) Region 3 Conference. The region is comprised of 16 univer-sities from the Southeastern United States, including fellow engineering powerhouses, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Florida, Louisiana State University, and the University of Puerto Rico.

This is the second consecutive year that a Bulldog has earned this regional honor. Brian Porter, an MSU alumnus, won the competition last year. Both students’ papers focused on applying Six Sigma principles to companies during their cooperative education (co-op) work semesters.

Six Sigma is a discipline that helps companies operate in a more efficient

and productive manner while elimi-nating problems in the manufactur-ing process. Morelock employed the methodology to complete a project during his last co-op semester with Caterpillar Inc.’s Global Core Receiv-ing Facility in Corinth. He worked with the company to improve many areas, including safety.

Having bested the competition in the regional event, Morelock’s paper qualified for the national contest. Held in conjunction with IIE’s annual conference, the competition allowed Morelock to compete against other regional winners from across North America.

Motor sports team places 14th overall at international competition

Working countless volunteer hours creating a formula-style race car for the annual Society of Automotive Engineers International Competition paid off for mechanical engineering students. Out of 50 entrants, the BCoE student team placed fifth for the engi-neering and design of their vehicle.

When it came time to compete, members of the formula-one race team were tested on the knowledge they gleaned from the classroom by build-ing a small formula-style car that they raced at the famed Virginia Interna-tional Raceway. Judges assessed the vehicles based on maneuverability, speed, safety, and the durability of the power train and chassis.

The BCoE team placed above engi-neering powerhouses, such as Auburn and Marquette universities, the Uni-versity of Massachusetts, and the U.S. Air Force Academy.


cOllEgEpROFIlE

DEGREE PROGRAMSAerospace Engineering (BS, MS)

Biological Engineering (BS, MS)

Biomedical Engineering (MS, PhD)

Chemical Engineering (BS, MS)

Civil Engineering (BS, MS)

Computer Science (BS, MS, PhD)

Computer Engineering (BS, MS, PhD)

Computational Engineering (MS, PhD)

Electrical Engineering (BS, MS, PhD)

Engineering (PhD) - Concentrations below

Aerospace Engineering Applied Physics Biological Engineering Chemical Engineering Civil Engineering Industrial Engineering Mechanical Engineering

Industrial Engineering (BS, MS)

Master of Engineering

Mechanical Engineering (BS, MS)

Software Engineering (BS)

CERTIFICATE PROGRAMSAutomotive Engineering

Computational Biology

Energy

Entrepreneurship

Geospatial and Remote Sensing

Information Assurance

Manufacturing

Materials

Six Sigma

Software Engineering

UNDERGRADUATE MAJORSFall 2007 Enrollment: 1,991ASE = Aerospace Engineering ...............................161BE = Biological Engineering ...................................216ChE = Chemical Engineering ..................................205CE = Civil Engineering ............................................291 CPE = Computer Engineering ................................163CS = Computer Science ........................................116EE = Electrical Engineering ....................................183IE = Industrial Engineering ......................................126ME = Mechanical Engineering ................................467SE = Software Engineering .......................................53UENG = Engineering Undeclared .............................10

GRADUATE MAJORS Fall 2007 Enrollment: 545ASE = Aerospace Engineering .................................. 21BE = Biological Engineering ........................................ 4BME=Biomedical Engineering ................................... 14ChE= Chemical Engineering ...................................... 16CE = Civil Engineering ............................................... 36CME = Computational Engineering ........................... 21CPE = Computer Engineering ................................... 40CS = Computer Science ........................................... 69EE = Electrical Engineering ..................................... 106ENGR = Engineering ............................................... 162IE = Industrial Engineering ......................................... 23ME = Mechanical Engineering ................................... 33

ME6%

ASE4%

BE1%

BME3%

CE7% ChE

3%CME4%

CPE7%

CS12%

EE19%

ENGR30%

IE4%

UENG1%

ASE8% BE

11%

CE15%

SE3%

ME23%

IE6%

EE9%

ChE10%

CPE8%

CS6%

6

RESEARCh ExPENDITURES

Based on 2008 National Science Foundation Engineering Expenditure Rankings based on FY06 data

STUDENTSFall 2007 Enrollment: 2,537Undergraduate Women ................................................316Undergraduate Men ..................................................1,675Master’s Women .............................................................55Master’s Men ................................................................234Doctoral Women .............................................................54Doctoral Men ................................................................203

GRADUATESAcademic Year 2007: 437B.S. ...............................................................................339M.S. ................................................................................79Ph.D. ...............................................................................19

RESEARCh CLUSTERS Advanced Electronic SystemsComputational EngineeringEnergy & EnvironmentEnterprise SystemsHuman Factors & SystemsInformation SystemsMaterials21st Century Transportation Systems

EThNICITY ENROLLMENTWhite .......................................................................... 76%African-American ........................................................ 10%International ................................................................ 11%Other ............................................................................. 4%

FACULTYTenured ...........................................................................77Tenure Track ...................................................................40Research Faculty ............................................................38(non-tenure track)Fellows of Professional Societies ...................................24Endowed Chairs and Professorships .............................27

7

RuNNINg ShIp-ShApE RESEARch IN thE BcOE


Preparing to test its sea-legs for the first time, the Bagley College of Engineer-ing (BCoE) has geared up to shove-off into a new phase of ongoing research. With support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) the college’s depart-ment of electrical and computer engi-neering, is continuing efforts as part of a consortium, consisting of seven universities, to help engineer the next-generation all-electric ship.

“We just finished our first five years of research and received a renewal for an-other five,” explained Dr. Noel Schulz, associate professor of electrical en-gineering. “During the first research cycle, we learned to work together as seven universities and began developing tools for practical sys-tems. Now, our goal is to merge our development and research activities to test on real-life systems.”

The consortium received $10 mil-lion annually for its first research cycle and has been guaranteed $8.5 million yearly for its continued ef-forts. The group is addressing issues relating to the survivability and efficiency of a ship powered solely by electricity. Current mechanically driven ships lose the capability to power other systems when not traveling at full throttle. This causes a lot of wasted energy and creates weaknesses in the ship’s defenses.

“Size and weight are important on a ship. You can’t stack a lot of extra energy on board; and pulling up to the local gas station isn’t an option,” Schulz said. “The idea of the electric ship is to use energy more efficiently, eliminating some of the worry over wasted fuel. Even dur-ing propulsion, sailors will have the capability to send energy to other parts of the ship to also run defense and radar systems.”

Before the consortium can move closer to realizing its goal of testing its electric systems on real ships, there are many unique issues that need to be addressed. Schulz explained that ship dynamics are different from the terrestrial systems commonly studied in electrical engineering, but MSU has several strength areas that are prov-ing to be beneficial for this project. BCoE researchers are addressing safety issues, including high-voltage cable insulation, electrical pollution and the ability to reconfigure power systems in the event of damage to the ship.

Mississippi State is the only school in the consortium with a shipyard in the state, providing BCoE researchers the opportunity to access the practi-cal side of ship engineering. Much like hybrid cars, the electric ship risks loosing precious storage space with the

addition of new electrical systems, but through a partnership with Northrop Grumman, the researchers are helping develop new on-board configurations to accept the additional load. Additionally, the relationship with the Mississippi shipbuilder allows the BCoE to work as a research arm of the company and add more cargo to the college’s electric-ship engineering activities.

“Our collaboration with Northrop Grumman allows us to see that what we are doing is implementable and not just something we do in a research lab,”

Schulz said. “That relationship has helped produce an adjunct faculty position and allowed us to extend our research activities to help the state. We are now working with the company in a number of areas and with the added ship engineer-ing projects, we are able to bring that research into our educational environment.”

She explained that the university’s work with the all-electric ship has shown a need for more engineers who understand the dynamics and systems involved with ships. Seeing the potential for on-board electrical advances to translate to local utilities, the researchers are working to integrate their electric-ship research into advanced classroom experiences for students, allowing MSU to further its stand-ing as a leader in power engineer-ing education.

“There aren’t a lot of universities working in the area of ship design and ONR really feels that this is an

area where MSU can become a leader nationally,” Schulz noted. “By continu-ing our efforts to develop new tools and technology in this area, we know we can help our costal communities, while giving our students a broader under-standing of the field of electrical and computer engineering.”

“You don’t want to have to hit ‘control-alt-delete’ in the middle of a battle, so before these systems are ready for real-life use, we have to be sure that the many different systems will get quality power, even if the ship takes a hit,” Schulz noted. “Mississippi State is also in the unique position to help address the issue of space configuration by partnering with a shipyard on the coast.”


WIth VERtEX SEEINg IS BElIEVINg


We no longer live in a material world—today it’s all about visualization.

From television reenactments to enhanced computer monitors, people are living by the adage “seeing is be-lieving.” As the public begins to crave more visual information, scientists can use emerging technology to open new doors of collaboration. Research-ers using MSU’s Virtual Environment for Real-Time Exploration (VER-TEX) facility will use their engineer-ing efforts to bridge the gap among scientists from different specialties and allow them to benefit from each other’s findings.

“We are convinced that this modal-ity of visualization has much more value than a typical desktop display,” explained Dr. Robert Moorhead, a professor in electrical and computer engineering and a Billie J. Ball Professor in Engineering. “We are working with applied scientists to be a part of their research and help them better visualize the phenomena they are modeling or studying. By providing a new way to analyze data, we hope to help pave the way to new discoveries.”

Housed within Mississippi State’s High Performance Computer Collaboratory (HPC2) the VERTEX facility gives engineers the ability to create any type of virtual environment imaginable. The system uses three rear-projected walls and a top-projected floor to allow users the chance to be completely immersed in a 3-D, virtual representation of their research. Moorhead, who serves as deputy director in the GeoSystems Research Institute (GRI) in the HPC2, realizes the technology’s potential and hopes through promoting more aware-ness of the facility’s capabilities, he and others can help make the world of science a more efficient place.

Engineers researching the VERTEX technology have formed working relationships with various units within Mississippi State University, including the GRI, Center for Advanced Vehicu-lar Systems, Simcenter, College of Forest Resources, and department of geosciences. With a better understand-ing of how applied scientists analyze and use their data, the engineers hope to further enhance their visualization technology and their ability to display the simulations provided by scientists of different specialties.

“Currently, one of our major focus areas is coastal environments where important interactions occur between the air, ocean and land,” Moorhead explained. “The environment we are working to create will allow us to take interrelated data sets that are generated by different working groups and display them as one model in the same space, effectively running the models simultaneously.”

Working with meteorologists and oceanographers as an example, Moorhead described how important efficient, collaborative research can be to developers. He explained that while these scientists study differ-ent areas, it is beneficial, in certain circumstances, for their findings to be studied as a whole. Using research from both groups, the high performance visualization technol-ogy could generate a representation of a hurricane, allowing scientists to move through the environment and study it from both above and below sea level. This allows scien-tists to not only view their research in a new way, but also provides a real-time demonstration to show the public and, possibly, help save lives.

“Putting a device like this in the hands of organizations that work to keep us safe, like the National Hurricane Center, could change

how we prepare for and respond to disasters,” Moorhead noted. “By using this high performance visualization environment to display their measure-ments and models, they can derive useful information that might not have presented itself on an ordinary display.”

For more information about the VERTEX facility and the High Perfor-mance Computing Collaboratory please visit www.hpc.msstate.edu. Information about the GeoSystems Research Institute can be found on the recently revamped Web site at www.gri.msstate.edu.

“We are trying to gain a better understand-ing of what makes this environment better for understanding phenom-enon,” Moorhead said. “We are developing user interfaces and devices to see how scientists look at models and measure-ments to understand what they are studying. That’s why our collabora-tions with applied scien-tists are so important.”


guARDIANS OF cyBERSpAcE


Each time consumers make online purchases with their debit or credit card, they should thank a BCoE gradu-ate who specialized in computer se-curity engineering for protecting their personal information from identity theft or unauthorized use.

America’s private, state and federal government sectors are benefiting from the college’s Center for Comput-er Security Research (CCSR), which teaches a new generation of experts to deal with a wide variety of cyberspace security issues, such as the protection of critical U.S. infrastructures from Internet attacks, defense of computing resources, protection from industrial espionage, and other anti-computer hacking techniques. The federal government has invested heavily in the CCSR to produce graduates who can protect government and commer-cial computer systems from attack. This includes protection from identity theft, as well as protection from the loss of highly sensitive information.

“The reality is the country’s economic and national security depends on graduates who can keep informa-tion systems safe from harm. Almost everything we depend upon today for our daily needs is, in some way, influenced by a computer system,” said Ray Vaughn, director and founder of the CCSR and an MSU William L. Giles Professor of Computer Science and Engineering.

The Center for Computer Security Research is based in the computer science and engineering department and has recently—for the third time—been designated by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Informa-tion Assurance Education. The CCSR was one of the first 20 colleges across the nation to meet the stringent criteria

set by the U.S. Committee on National Security Standards. This highly sought after designation allows the center to seek additional federal funding.

“Students chosen for the center’s Cy-ber Corp Scholarship program benefit from full scholarships paying nine-month salaries ranging from $12,000 to $17,000, plus free tuition and supplies, all fees and, in some cases, housing assistance,” stated Vaughn.

The CCSR not only teaches under-graduates and graduates about cyber crime, it has expanded its work in the field. Addressing the shortage of trained computer forensic investiga-tors, the CSSR created the Southeast Regional Forensics Training Center that trains local and state law enforce-ment on the specific processes and procedures of conducting forensic investigations. The program is offered to them at no cost and has been in operation since 2005.

“My colleague, Dave Dampier, is the director and his team teaches students

how to collect online evidence, dis-sect and analyze storage disks, keep detailed logs, protect the chain of custody and present expert testimony,” Vaughn explained.

Collaborating with the Missis-sippi attorney general’s office, the FBI and Jackson State University, more than 2,000 police officers and judges throughout the nation have received classroom and hands-on training in the areas of computer crimes, such as child pornography and identity theft.

“The hands-on training takes place in Jackson where officers work on real cases in a real-world environ-ment, sitting shoulder to shoulder with computer forensic investiga-tors in a computer crime lab where they are able to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom,” stated Vaughn.

The MSU Forensics Training Cen-ter has conducted classes by invitation in California, West Virginia, Minne-sota, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas.

“We are truly becoming a ‘National Training Center,’” Dr. Vaughn added.

In addition to holding the designation as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education, the CCSR at Mississippi State was recent-ly designated as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research (CAE-R). The MSU CCSR is among the first 23 universities in the country to receive this title by the National Security Agency. The CAE-R recognizes universities that integrate research activities into the curriculum and the classroom.

“Through the National

Security Agency and

the National Science

Foundation, we par-

ticipate in the Cyber

Corps program that

offers full scholarships

to students who work

for the U.S. government

following graduation,”

explained Vaughn.


RESEARch thAt MAy REVOlutIONIzE

MEDIcAl cARE14 Bagley College of Engineering

For most patients, going to the labora-tory for blood work creates feelings of great apprehension. Thoughts such as, “I hope this phlebotomist gets it on the first try,” become more like a prayer, as the needle that will draw the blood seems to grow larger the closer it gets to the arm. The illusion becomes more enhanced when the lab technician reveals to the patient’s line-of-sight the five vials that must be filled for the tests the doctor ordered. It’s at this point in the process that many patients’ anxiety levels seem to soar extremely high.

In the future, patients may be able to avoid this pain and agony. Innovative research conducted by Dr. Adrienne Minerick, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, focuses on using microchips and low voltage electric fields to study and evaluate red blood cells. The microchips contain chan-nels, which are approximately the size of a human hair, where special electric fields, called dielectrophoresis, probe the blood cells. Using this micro-technology, Minerick is developing handheld medical devices that would require only a single drop of blood to do the same series of medical tests that currently require one vial of blood for each test ordered.

“It could revolutionize medical care. Currently, most blood samples are sent to multi-million dollar lab facilities, because not every medi-cal clinic can afford to have a lab on-site,” explained Minerick. “A technician who is running sample after sample has a tendency to make mistakes, which can result in false positives or false negatives. The idea is to make these handheld devices so user friendly that medical staff can load a drop of blood into the device, hit a button and minutes later the device would display the results.”

Another medical breakthrough is Minerick’s second-generation blood typing device. The first generation

was able to distinguish O-positive blood from all other blood types with greater than 95 percent confidence rates in less than 4 minutes (This work is under review by the journal Elec-trophoresis). The device will screen all the blood types and quantify their responses. These handheld microchip devices could provide vital informa-tion that emergency medical personnel are seeking in first-response disaster situations where victims are not carry-ing blood type cards. It’s a device that could mean the difference between life and death because non-compatible blood transfusions are lethal.

The mechanism becomes even more popular when doctors discover they can provide patients with accurate, im-mediate results, thus enabling more co-hesive and proactive health care. The potential for this miniature medical diagnostic device climbs even higher if Minerick’s team can isolate the desired electrochemical responses from the competing forces in the microdevice. Gravity, extracellular buffer, device variability, and other chemical interac-tions currently influence cell responses in the dielectrophoretic microdevice.

“It’s going to be really amazing when we start picking up on that difference. This places the information at doctors’ fingertips, so they can begin treating diseases at the early stages and slow or stop disease progression,” stated Minerick.

Of course, Minerick hasn’t forgot-ten the importance of building this machine so patients can have access to high-quality, affordable health care. The machine uses platinum electrodes because they are inert, meaning they have a lower tendency to chemically react with the samples in the electric field. However, the challenge is that platinum is a precious metal and its value continues to rise.

“One of the subprojects we’re trying to determine is how long we can use these platinum electrodes before we start seeing adverse reactions,” said Minerick. “If platinum electrodes will last for 1,000 samples that saves a considerable amount of money. We can design a disposable test chamber and re-use the electrode contacts for multiple samples. This would take the cost per test down to maybe $5.”

Minerick’s research is not only mak-ing a difference for us today, but the professor is also making a difference by teaching future generations her discoveries in medical and chemi-cal research. She developed a new course called “Analytical Microde-vice Technology,” is a 2007 National Science Foundation CAREER award recipient, and recently was awarded the American Society for Engineer-ing Education Southeastern Sec-tion New Faculty Research Award, which recognizes her contributions in transferring her groundbreaking research into classroom instruction.

“The moment we can

distinguish between those

environmental forces and

reliably amplify the impor-

tant cell responses, we’re

golden. That means we

could identify, in a five-

minute test, between an

unhealthy diseased cell

and a healthy cell, and

then quantify disease pro-

gression by automatically

counting each type of

cell,” Minerick explained.


pRESERVINg A pREcIOuS

cOMMODIty


Water sports enthusiasts and those who enjoy the more grounded recreational activities may not realize the value of the clear liquid they play in and drink.

Other than quenching their thirst and bringing them happiness, it also sustains life. What is important to understand is that water sustains the many microscopic plants and animals, known as phytoplankton and micro zooplankton, which are the beginning of the food chain for larger animal species. Humans are included in this sustaining, cyclical ecosystem. If the water is contaminated and these plant and animal organisms are killed off, a domino effect occurs through out the ecological system.

The role of water resource managers is vitally important. Their job is to try to keep Mother Nature’s delicate, symbiotic relationship in balance. Consequently, they are constantly measuring water quality and quantity, which isn’t always easy, considering the boom in human population. That boom has caused increased levels of wastewater runoff—water washing over land (watershed)—whether from rain, car washing, irrigation of crops, agricultural chemicals from farmland, or nutrients and toxic materials from urban and suburban areas.

The civil and environmental engineer-ing (CEE) department is working with the GeoSystems Research Institute on three research projects that are fo-cused on improving the tools and in-formation available to water resource managers in order to help them do a better job of protecting, conserving and managing these natural resources. The Northern Gulf Institute funds the projects. It is one of 21 cooperative institutes around the country created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“The Northern Gulf Institute is a NOAA cooperative institute that is focused on the resource management

area of the Northern gulf,” explained William McAnally, professor of CEE and the project’s lead investigator. “Our research covers a resource area that is the nation’s sixth largest river system. It flows into the Mobile Bay, which is the fourth largest watershed in the United States.”

“Five universities form the institute that is directed by David Shaw,” he continued. “Mississippi State is the lead university. The other institutions include the University of Southern Mississippi, Louisiana State and Florida State universities. The Dauphin Island Sea Lab represents all the uni-versities in the state of Alabama.”

“What were trying to do is to take a holistic approach and understand the connections among all the water sys-tems. For instance, we’re developing tools that will quickly and easily deter-mine the water elevation, the quality of rainfall runoff and the quantity of sedi-ment that affects, let’s say the Tom-bigbee River, and how these changes in one watershed system can have domino-like effects throughout the

whole system,” explained McAnally. “In short, what happens here in North Mississippi affects the whole Mobile Bay and the Mississippi Sound.”

Along with developing improved water elevation and watershed quality technologies to support water resource management professionals, one of the projects is studying the practice of us-ing high-performance computing with advanced spatial technology to develop modeling systems that will display and help predict water-surface quality.

“The goal for these three projects is to develop an easy-to-use technology and technique that will integrate all

this information and output it into one visualization that the water resource manager can glance at and say, ‘This is what is happening,’” clarified McAnally.

Fresh watersheds—water running “downhill” from cities, towns, forests, and fields—water eleva-tion and flow, as well as the salt water from our bays and oceans are the eco-strands that sustain the earth’s ecosystem, and any changes in quantity, quality and character-istics of the water can reverberate throughout the whole system.

“Dr. McAnally’s work is incred-ibly important for the entire region. Everything that happens in the entire Mississippi River watershed has a direct impact on both fresh waters and the Gulf of Mexico,” concluded David Shaw, director of the Northern Gulf Institute and a

Giles Distinguished Professor.

These three Northern Gulf Institute Mobile Basin-related research projects cover a vast network of waterways, with a total of 200 rivers, bays, creeks, bayous, lakes, cutoffs, branches, and sloughs.

These water resources conservation projects become very important to Americans, especially since 97 percent of the earth’s water is ocean water. The remaining 3 percent is mostly frozen and 1 percent is stored underground, which leaves just a precious, prized portion available to sustain human life.


lESSENINg thE cOSt OF

NAtIONAl DEFENSE


Most people realize that maintaining national security comes with many costs, however, few think beyond the demands it puts on the economy and military personnel to see the effects it has on the environment.

The U.S. Department of Defense strives to develop new systems and extensively train troops to ensure battlefield superiority. However, inten-sive use of bases or ranges for testing and training with specific weapons systems can result in environmental consequences. But, with help from the Bagley College of Engineering (BCoE), researchers are cleaning up the nation’s military bases, making them safe for everyday use.

“Our project has been developed to help maintain ranges where depleted uranium has been, or is being used, and minimize costs associated with range management. We hope to dis-cover the most sensitive and accurate methods for detecting and locating fired depleted uranium rounds in order to facilitate the recovery of this material,” said Dr. Charles Waggoner, deputy director and associate research professor of Mississippi State’s Insti-tute for Clean Energy Technology.

Most countries use ammunition composed of tungsten, but the United States utilizes depleted uranium projectiles because of their superior performance. While studies have indicated that tungsten may be more toxic, it lacks the radioactive proper-ties that make depleted uranium sub-ject to federal regulations addressing its use and disposal. It is with that in mind that the Department of Defense is funding BCoE researchers in their efforts to intelligently locate and map the location of expended rounds.

“We are working to address two major issues associated with maintaining do-

mestic ranges. First, the material needs to be recovered in a cost-effective manner. When these projectiles hit the ground, they often become buried. We need to accurately find their location to prevent unnecessary, expensive excavation.” Waggoner explained. “Secondly, we want to ensure that this superior material can continue to be used by making it easier for the Army to comply with all federal require-ments associated with use of depleted uranium.”

Like many metals, uranium oxidizes in the environment turning charac-teristic colors of green and yellow. Additionally, ions of the element emit a florescent glow when exposed to certain wavelengths of light. Wag-goner explained that these behaviors allow the element to be detected when it is on the surface, however, for more embedded projectiles, the researchers have to rely on a more sophisticated form of identification.

“We are also taking advantage of the fact that uranium is a very dense material with a high-heat capacity,” Waggoner noted. “Significant advanc-es have been made in being able to detect items of different temperatures, even though there are physical barriers between the item and the observer. We are employing long wavelength infrared spectroscopy for detecting fired depleted uranium rounds in areas of extensive ground cover.”

The DOD provided the research-ers with $1.65 million in funding for their first research cycle, which was recently completed. Consid-ering the promising reports and advances in detection technology seen in the initial projects, the group will receive $2.7 million to begin the second phase of their research. With this additional sup-port, Waggoner hopes to narrow the scope of the research efforts to focus on developing an expert detection system. This will include software packages to interpret collected data and produce colored maps that will aid in the recovery of fired rounds and the overall management of our military bases.

“Excavation can be costly and damaging to our environment, but certain amounts of it are necessary to eliminate hazardous materials,” Waggoner said. “Our interdis-ciplinary team knows that with

continued success, we can help our military continue to train with the best battlefield technology available while preserving the integrity of our national landscape.”

The researchers are focusing their efforts on three fundamental properties of uranium to ensure accurate detection and recovery. Advanced detection systems are designed to discriminate the chemically processed depleted uranium from naturally occurring ra-dioactive materials that may be present in the environment.


MAKINg thE BlAcK tOp gREEN


It forms much of our nation’s infra-structure, however most people never realize what it takes to create the pave-ments they rely on every day.

Despite its prevalence in modern life, the construction and preservation of pavement remains less “green” than people would like. With the help of funding from the Mississippi Depart-ment of Transportation (MDOT), researchers in the Bagley College of Engineering hope to find ways to create pavement that saves “green,” both in the environment and taxpay-ers’ pockets.

“Mississippi doesn’t have quarries of limestone or granite like many other states. That means our pavements are primarily made of gravels that often have undesirable properties,” ex-plained Dr. Isaac Howard, an assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering. “These material dif-ferences mean much of the national wisdom doesn’t apply to us, causing a lot of challenges within the state to keep construction processes going.”

Howard, a materials specialist, has four individual projects which he hopes not only will help Mississippi’s pavements, but also provide new standards for the pavement industry. One such project focuses on recy-cling asphalt. Although the practice has been around for years, MSU’s research hopes to turn it into an engi-neering process instead of just a way to dispose of old pavement.

“The purpose of this project is to develop more intelligent methods for using high volumes of recycled materi-als. Current practices for building new pavement include about 15 percent re-cycled materials,” Howard noted. “We are trying to increase that percentage to 50 or 75 while achieving the same properties seen with new materials.”

The recycled asphalt research also is being coupled with new advances in “warm-mix” technologies. These methods use less energy to create the asphalt mixture and, because of the lower temperature, “warm-mixes” pro-duce fewer greenhouse emissions. But while Howard has found success with recycling materials, his other projects focus on reducing the need for repav-ing altogether.

Howard’s other pavement-related projects focus on identifying the properties of the materials used in the state and finding ways to improve them. One project aims to develop a statewide construction specification for all chemically stabilized pavements. Another hopes to enhance the common practice of sealing aged pavements by studying emulsified asphalts applied to surfaces and evaluating the property changes caused.

“Although we have used sealants for years, we don’t really understand what property changes they cause,” Howard said. “We are hoping to discover why these changes happen, how they can extend the lives of pavement, and how the changes can benefit taxpayers.”

Howard also is working to evaluate the aggregates used in pavement through-out the state. To conduct these evalu-ations, the researchers are utilizing a scanning electron microscope and a wheel-tracking device that is one of only two in existence.

“Because of the amount of gravel used in Mississippi, it’s important to understand the effects of using dirty materials. Gravel can contain con-taminates, which may negatively affect the quality of the finished pavement,” Howard explained. “We need to ana-lyze the chemical properties of these materials and see how they correlate to performance. All pavements, whether they are recycled, sealed or new, must perform to the highest standards.”

Recognizing the impact this research can have on the state, MDOT has provided $600,000 in funding with the hope of developing more consistent, stable and long-lasting pavements. This research has also drawn the atten-tion of other states facing similar prob-lems with their own pavement systems, but, for Howard, it’s not about gaining fame, it’s about advancing a science to the next level.

“These projects have the potential to impact the environment, economy and safety of people in the state,” Howard said. “Paving is extremely expensive, so Mississippians often have to deal with unpleasant roads. It takes a toll on people and their vehicles, but with these advances, we hope to provide the public with a product that they can use safely and enjoy.”

“Many of the com-monly accepted pro-cesses in paving are effective, but can be improved. We hope to modify them to make them more beneficial,” he said. “Recycled asphalt is just one area we hope to improve. Many pavements in the state are wearing out faster than they should, but, hopefully, we can extend their lives by understanding why they are deteriorating.”


Center for Advanced Vehicular Systemshttp://www.cavs.msstate.eduRoger L. King662.325.5431

Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems Extensionhttp://www.cavse.msstate.eduClay T. Walden601-407-2700

*Center for Computational Scienceshttp://www.ccs.msstate.edu/Ratnasingham Shivaji662.325.8278

Center for Computer Security Researchhttp://www.security.cse.msstate.edu/Ray B. Vaughn662.325.7450

Center for DoD User Productivity Enhancement and Technology Transferhttp://www.hpc.msstate.edu/pet/Joe F. Thompson662.325.8278

Computational Simulation and Design Centerhttp://www.simcenter.msstate.eduDavid L. Marcum662.325.3193

Construction Materials Research Centerhttp://www.cee.msstate.edu/constructionmatresearch.htmlThomas D. White662.325.3050

*GeoSystems Research Institutehttp://www.gri.msstate.eduDavid R. Shaw662.325.9573

*high Performance Computing Collaboratoryhttp://www.hpc.msstate.eduWilliam B. (Trey) Breckenridge, III662.325.8278

high Voltage Laboratoryhttp://www.ece.msstate.edu/hvl/index.htmlStanislaw Grzybowski662.325.2148

Industrial Assessment Centerhttp://www.me.msstate.edu/IAC/iac.htmlB. Keith Hodge662.325.7315

Industrial Outreach Servicehttp://ios.msstate.edu/Joe Jordan662.325.0513

Institute for Clean Energy Technologyhttp://www.icet.msstate.eduW. Glenn Steele662.325.2105

*Institute for Digital Biologyhttp://www.idb.msstate.edu/Susan M. Bridges662.325.7505

*Institute for Neurocognitive Sciencehttp://www.inst.msstate.edu/Shauncey F. Hill662.325.8739

RESEARch cENtERS & lABORAtORIES

* Centers managed outside of the Bagley College of Engineering.


Microsystems Prototyping Laboratoryhttp://www.ece.msstate.edu/research/mpl/Robert B. Reese662.325.3154

Mississippi Transportation Research Centerhttp://www.cee.msstate.edu/transportresearch.htmlThomas D. White662.325.3050

National Center for Intermodal Transportationwww.ise.msstate.edu/ncit Royce O. Bowden662.325.7623

*Northern Gulf Institutehttp://www.northerngulfinstitute.org/home/ngi.phpDavid R. Shaw662.325.9573

Raspet Flight Research Laboratoryhttp://www.ae.msstate.edu/rfrlDavid L. Lawrence662.325.3274

Southeast ChP Applications Centerhttp://microchp.msstate.eduLouay M. Chamra 662.3235.3260

Southeast Region Forensics Training Centerhttp://www.security.cse.msstate.edu/ftc/Ray B. Vaughn662.325.8997

*Sustainable Energy Research Centerhttp://www.serc.msstate.eduWilliam D. Batchelor

662.325.7938


RESEARch SpONSORS & pARtNERS

Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources

Alcoa, Inc.

Alldyne Powder Technologies

Alltech

ALung Technology

AMCO Express

American Eurocopter, LLC

American Trucking Association

Applied Resources, Inc.

Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Foundation

Aquatic Plant Management Society

Army Engineer Research & Development Center

ATA Engineering

Atlas Manufacturing Company, Inc.

BAE Systems

Battelle

Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc.

BioMed Central Limited

Boeing Company

Bureau of Plant Industry

CAE Solutions Corporation

CAEC, LLC

Cessna Aircraft

CFD Research Corporation

Colorado School of Mines

Concept Matrix

Cornell University

DEPSCoR

Diversified Technology, Inc.

Drexel University

EDAptive Computing, Inc.

Entergy Services, Inc.

EWA Government Systems, Inc.

Faurecia

Federal Aviation Administration

Florida State University

Franklin Corporation

Furniture Foundation

General Atomics

General Electric Company

General Motors Research & Development Center

Geneva Aerospace, Inc.

Geo-Centers, Inc.

George Mason University

Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority

Georgia Tech

Greater Starkville Development Partnership

High Performance Computing Center

HyPerComp Engineering

Idaho National Engineering Laboratory

II-VI, Inc.

International Military & Government

Jackson State University

Lawrence Technological Institute

Logistics & Supply Chain Management

LS9, Inc.

Manufacturing Extension Partnership of MS

Miltec Corporation

Mississippi Technology Alliance

MODUMAT

Morgan Aircraft, LLC

Morgan Research Corporation

MS Department of Environmental Quality

MS Department of Finance

MS Department of Transportation

MS Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks

MS Development Authority

MS Ethanol

MS Institute of Higher Learning

MS Institute for Forest Inventory

MS Office of Homeland Security

MS Space Grant Consortium

MS Technology Alliance

MS/AL Sea Grant Consortium

NASA Headquarters

NASA Marshall

NASA Stennis


National Automotive Center

National Center for Preservation Technology & Training

National Institute of Health

National Marine Sanctuary Foundation

National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

National Science Foundation

National Security Agency

National Transportation Research Center, Inc.

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Navistar Defense

nCode International

NEES Consortium, Inc.

Nissan

Nissan North America

Northrop Grumman Ship Systems

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Ocean Systems Engineering Group

Office of Naval Research

Parsons Engineering

Pat Harrison Waterway District

Pearl River Valley Water Supply

Plymouth Tube Company

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc.

Propane Education & Research Council

Purdue University

Radiance Technologies, Inc.

Savannah River Company

Seemann Composites, Inc.

SemiSouth Laboratories, LLC

Sentel Corporation

Sepro Corporation

Small Business Administration

Smart Synch

Smith Nephew, Inc.

Solar Group, Inc.

South Delta Planning & Development District

Southern States Energy Board

St. Johns River Water Management District

State of Mississippi

Synapse Group, Inc.

Tennessee Valley Authority

Tetra Research Corporation

Tetra Tech, Inc.

U.S. Air Force Office of Science Research

U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command

U.S. Army Corp of Engineers

U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command

U.S. Army Tank Automotive & Armaments Command

U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. Department of Army

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity

U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Transportation

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Geological Survey

University of Alabama at Birmingham

University of California in San Diego

University of Denver

University of Georgia

University of Iowa

University of Maryland

University of Massachusetts

University of Mississippi

University of MS Medical Center

University of Southern Mississippi

University of Texas at Austin

UQM Technologies, Inc.

USDA CSREES

Virginia Tech

Wade Services, Inc.

Washington Savannah River Co., LLC

Wintronix, Inc.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute


DEAN’S ADVISORy cOuNcIl

James W. BagleyExecutive Chairman of the BoardLam Research Corporation

Fred W. BaileyPresident (retired)BailSco Blades and Casting

William B. BerryExecutive Vice President ofExploration and ProductionConocoPhillips

D. hines Brannan, Jr. Managing Partner (retired)Accenture

Fred P. BurkePresident and CEOGuardian Pharmacy

William M. CobbPresidentWilliam M. Cobb and Associates

Earnest W. Deavenport, Jr.Chairman and CEO (retired)Eastman Chemical Company

henry W. “Buddy” FaulknerPresidentAdvanced Sales Institute, Inc.

Michael ForsterSenior PartnerInternet Capital Group

Carl Ray FurrExecutive Vice President (retired)Engineering Associates/Pickering

Frank F. GallaherExecutive Vice President (retired)Entergy Services, Inc.

A. P. “Jack” hatcherChairman and CEO (retired)Robertson-Ceco

Matthew L. holleman, IIIChairman and CEO (retired)Mississippi Valley Gas

Virginia L. Carron EilandPartnerFinnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett and Dunner, LLP

Rodger L. JohnsonPresident and CEOKnology, Inc.

Vess L. JohnsonPresident and CEOSilicon Metrics

Elton R. KingPresident (retired)BellSouth

William W. “Bill” LamptonPresident - Asphalt DivisionErgon, Inc.

Steve A. LindsayVice President of Corporate Marketing-Company OperationsLam Research Corporation

Douglas J. MarchantCEO and General ManagerUnified Health Services, LLC

Terry J. MoranPrincipal (retired)Moran and Machado

Franklin T. MyersSenior Vice President of Finance and CFOCameron International Corp.

Marc PaganiniPresident and CEOAmerican Eurocopter

Richard RulaPresident and CEOHemphill Construction Company

Mark M. Seymour, Sr.Principal (retired)Seymour Engineering

Bobby S. ShackoulsPresident and CEO (retired)Burlington Resources, Inc.

Danny J. WindhamCEODigium, Inc.



lEADERShIpADMINISTRATION

Dean and Earnest W. and Mary Ann Deavenport Jr. ChairSarah A. Rajala

Associate Dean for Academics and AdministrationDonna S. Reese

Associate Dean for Research and Graduate StudiesLori Mann Bruce

Assistant Dean of Diversity and Student DevelopmentTommy J. Stevenson

Undergraduate CoordinatorRobert A. Green

Manager, Graduate and Distance EducationRita A. Burrell

K-12 Outreach CoordinatorN. Eric Heislet

Director and Jack Hatcher Entrepreneurship ChairGerald C. Nelson

Technical Communications CoordinatorJohn W. Brocato

Publications Coordinator and Graphic DesignerHeather M. Rowe

Computer Support SpecialistFuquiang “John” Ye

Director of DevelopmentW. Bennett Evans

Assistant Director of DevelopmentBrett B. Aldridge

Business ManagerCarol J. Martin

DEPARTMENT hEADS

Aerospace EngineeringAnthony J. [email protected]

Agricultural and Biological EngineeringWilliam D. [email protected]

Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical EngineeringMark G. [email protected]

Civil and Environmental EngineeringDennis D. [email protected]

Computer Science and EngineeringJulia E. [email protected]

Electrical and Computer EngineeringNicolas H. Younan, [email protected]

Industrial and Systems EngineeringRoyce O. [email protected]

Mechanical EngineeringLouay M. Chamra, [email protected]


cREDItSArt DirectionHeather M. Rowe

EditorKay F. Jones

PhotographersKristen Hines BakerMegan BeanDiane L. GodwinRuss E. HoustonSusan E. Lassetter

WritersDiane L. GodwinSusan E. Lassetter

Discrimination based upon race, color, reli-gion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or veteran’s status is a violation of federal and state law and MSU policy and will not be tolerated. Discrimination based upon sexual orientation or group affiliation is a violation of MSU policy and will not be tolerated.

Documents

Dimensions 2007