2016 Spring newsletter
Annual NAU CECMEE overview
Note from the Chair
Bridget N. Bero, Ph.D., P.E. Professor and Chair
Dear Friends,
Hello! It’s been another busy year in CECMEE. While student growth in CECMEE has stabilized, the other engineering programs have continued to increase. The result of this is more crowding in the engineering building. However, the upper administration has returned to addressing this problem. A task force is in place, and both short-term (the “temporary” space that was nixed in the previous budget cut from the State) and long-term (a new building/addition) solutions are on the table. Stay tuned.
Highlights
Master’s students Accordion Closed
We will graduate our largest class of master’s students this year, 6. Four are MS in CE and two are ME in CE. We also have 13 new students coming this fall spread across all programs (MS-CE, MS-EnE, ME-CE and ME-EnE).
Program changes in CE and EnE Accordion Closed
Our continuous improvement program has resulted in some program changes in CE and EnE: The 2-unit CENE 333L Water Resources Lab is now two, 1-unit labs, CENE 333L WR Lab 1 and CENE 431L WR Lab 2. The new CENE 333L is a wet lab to support fundamental hydraulic concepts; it will be located in the C4P Lab. The new CENE 431L is a revised version of the advanced hydraulic/hydrologic modeling lab (the old 2-unit lab). Much thanks to Mark Lamer, Gary Slim and Jeff Heiderscheidt on getting these new courses and all the attendant lab fixtures off the ground!
IAB workshops Accordion Closed
The IAB has been very active this year, with considerable input into the new program plans as well as embarking on a commitment to develop an annual workshop around “infrastructure”. The first workshop occurred in February this year with ASCE President Mark Woodson providing a big picture overview of the problem, and IAB member Stewart Vaghti outlining the Tempe Town Lake dam repair. The workshops are planned to be interactive for students, and we are already planning next year’s workshop based upon feedback from this year’s.
New faculty Accordion Closed
We welcome new Assistant Professor Brendan Russo (transportation) and Assistant Professor of Practice Kai Kaoni (CM), CECMEE advisor Kevin Tye who replaced departed advisor Megan Duskey, and Administrative Assistant Gay Spivey who replaced both Anita Bakula and Kim Pohs (yes, she is a superwoman, but I think you know what that really means). Read more about them in the Welcome New Faculty and Staff section.
EE/CS joining School of Informatics Accordion Closed
EE/CS is leaving EPP Fall 2016, to join a new School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems (SICCS) within CEFNS. While most of their faculty will be relocated to other buildings, EE/CS classes will still be in EGR, meaning that the squeeze for space continues.
Note from the Associate Chair
John Tingerthal, MSCE, EdD, PE Associate Professor and Associate Chair
It has been another great year for the construction management program here at NAU. The student organization completed community service projects for the Pioneer Museum, the Riordan Mansion Historic State Park, and Habitat for Humanity. We fielded five teams for the ASC competition in Reno, taking home accolades for our presentation skills. Our enrollment remains strong at 170 students as we continue to recruit through outreach efforts at high schools, community colleges and in the local community. We recently completed a strategic plan, which will guide us in the coming years, focusing our energy on People, Partnerships and Performance. With this plan in place and the continued support from our industry sponsors we are well poised to keep construction education at NAU among the best in the country.
Faculty news
Dr. Jun Ho Accordion Closed
He received the FY2016 Research and Creative Activity (RCA)- “Research Mentorship” award. The RCAs recognize the research, scholarly and artistic achievements of NAU faculty and students and is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research at NAU. He also received the Best Paper Award at the 2015 International Conference on Regeneration and Conservation of Concrete Structures which was held in Nagasaki, Japan in June 2015. The paper entitled “Durability Design of Fiber Reinforced Pervious Concrete in Cold Regions” was coauthored by Junyi Shan (CE MSE), Fawaz Almutairi (former CE senior), and Fahad Aloqaili (former CE senior).
Dr. Smaglik Accordion Closed
He is in the process of wrapping up two funded research projects, both of which focus on operational improvements at traffic signals. In one project, funded by the Oregon Department of Transportation, he led a team of three universities investigating the impacts of different vehicle detection technologies on higher level traffic control algorithms. Chris Sobie, a CE Master of Science student, completed a Life Cycle Cost Analysis of various detection and control technologies as part of this work. The second project had a focus on pedestrian operations. In this work, Dr. Smaglik and three undergraduate researchers worked with Portland State University (PSU) to develop, simulate, and implement a control algorithm that would reduce the delay for pedestrians at signalized intersections, with deployments in Mesa, Flagstaff, and Portland, OR. This project was funded through a University Transportation Center based at PSU, The National Institute for Transportation and Communities.
Dr. Odem Accordion Closed
He is working on a project for the City of Flagstaff investigating Alternative Landfill Liners for Cinder Lakes Landfill Expansion. The project is using industrial waste materials, fly ash from coal fired electricity generating facilities, and waste paper millings from a recycled paper plant, augmented with polymers, lime, and/or on-site soils, to create a liner for the landfill that will meet strict EPA performance criteria, while at the same time saving the city millions of dollars compared to the cost of a conventional liner. If successful the project will also divert these same waste materials from occupying valuable landfill space as waste and instead be converted to a valuable product, while still protecting deep groundwater supplies from contamination by landfill leachate.
EnE faculty Bridget Bero & Wilbert Odem Accordion Closed
They were invited to Universidad Fidelitas (UF) in San Juan, Costa Rica to give technical presentations as part of UF’s anniversary celebration. UF is now NAU’s partner institution to provide Spanish language immersion study for NAU students; it also participates in the GSEP program for engineering programs. EnE alumnus Matt Morales, Manager at the City of Flagstaff’s Cinder Lakes Landfill, accompanied them. Dr. Odem and Mr. Morales presented on their alternative landfill liner project; Dr. Bero discussed the departmental collaboration with the Arizona Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to provide undergraduate and graduate project opportunities. This visit paves the way for future collaborations between CECMEE and UF, such as joint Capstone projects, faculty exchange and collaborative research. Dr. John Tingerthal will be traveling to UF in the fall to lead a teaching workshop for UF faculty. Department Chair Bridget Bero has been working with the BLM office. Now in the second year of a five-year project, this project provides Capstone experiences for undergraduate students, projects for graduate students, and, starting this summer, internships. Projects to date have focused on BLM lands impacted by historical mining and unregulated shooting sites (sampling and risk assessment tasks), erosion on capped tailings areas, stream monitoring, groundwater modeling, and road assessment projects.
Dr. Tingerthal Accordion Closed
He was appointed as a President’s Distinguished Teaching Fellow for fall 2015. He will be on sabbatical for the Fall 2016 semester and will be serving NAU as Acting Director of Faculty Professional Development in Spring of 2017, returning full-time to the department in the fall of 2017.
Welcome new faculty members
Kai Kaoni – Assistant Professor of Practice Accordion Closed
Hometown: Prescott, Arizona
Fun Fact: Kai is currently working on building a portfolio of landscape and nature paintings, which he can feature at a first Friday art walk.
Last job: Project manager for the new NAU International Pavilion
Kai received both his B.A. in Civil Engineering and his Masters in Business Administration from NAU. He left NAU after graduating and worked at a civil engineering design firm before the economy crashed and he lost his job. After living out of his pickup for “a Colorado ski season,” he landed a job on a sustainable, straw bale house project and found his love for sustainable construction. In his free time Kai says that he likes to spend time outdoors with great people and dogs. During his time at NAU Kai hopes to, “make an impact on the students I teach by sharing my own experience in the design and construction industry. Along the way, I would like to deepen my own knowledge through student projects, conferences, research and experiential learning.”
Gay Spivey– Administrative Assistant Accordion Closed
Hometown: Birmingham, Michigan
Fun Fact: Gay is an animal portrait artist.
Last job: Operations Manager for Mountain Line
Gay has some college background and worked at NAU from 1999- 2004 and decided that she would like to work here again. Her favorite things about NAU are the atmosphere, students, and campus history. In her free time she likes to ride her horse and spend time with her six dogs. She says she’s outside as much as the weather allows. In her time at NAU Gay hopes to, “find success in my new career and stay until retirement or longer.”
Brendan Russo– Assistant Professor Accordion Closed
Hometown: Harper Woods, Michigan
Fun Fact: Brendan plays guitar and mandolin and just got engaged a few weeks ago (which he thinks is pretty cool).
Last job: Graduate research/teaching assistant at Iowa State University
Brendan received both his B.S. in Civil Engineering and his M.S. in Civil Engineering with a focus in Transportation Engineering from Wayne State University, and his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a focus in Transportation Engineering from Iowa State University. He found this position at NAU and felt like Flagstaff would be a great place to live and work. Brendan is finding the dry air and winters full of sunshine a nice change of pace from the Midwest, and is very impressed by student efforts and the commitment to excellent teaching by all the faculty members in the department. In his free time Brendan likes to spend time exploring the outdoors or seeing live music. In his time at NAU he hopes to, “improve my teaching skills and help students be well-prepared to enter industry or grad school upon graduation. Research-wise, I want to help continue to build a nationally recognized transportation research program here at NAU.”
Events supporting CECMEE
Golf Tournament Accordion Closed
October 9, 2015- The CM program held their annual golf tournament at Oak Creek Country Club in Sedona, Arizona. All of the Generation Next Sponsors competed. As always the event would not have happened without the department sponsors and student volunteers.
Congratulations to the winners!
1st Place– Sundt
2nd Place – Mccarthy
3rd Place – Adolfson and Peterson
Clay Shoot Event Accordion Closed
February 26, 2016- The CM Industry Advisory Board put on the 4th Annual Sporting Clay Tournament sponsoring the Construction Management program. Thirty-eight teams of four supported the program at the 10-station course at the Ben Avery Clay Target Center. Congratulations to the winners!
1st Place– PaidSuite
2nd Place – Sundt Construction
3rd Place – Gilbane Building Company
CM Banquet Accordion Closed
April 29, 2016- The CM program hosted their annual Demolition Ball at the High Country Conference Center. They hosted 230 people including the NAU president, provost and the Dean of CEFNS. There were 18 spring graduates recognized along with scholarship recipients. In addition to celebrating this year’s graduates they also celebrated the 10-year CM reunion of 2006 graduates.
Service projects
GEO Accordion Closed
GEO completed several service projects this year including a compost bin build for at the Colton Community Garden and construction work with CMO at the Pioneer Museum. Their on- going projects are design of a rainwater catchment system for Killup Elementary and work in the small Maasai village of Lesoit, Tanzania. Four capstone teams are working on projects for the village. These projects include designing clean cooking options, optimized soil blocks for use in construction of a community center, Wi-Fi systems, and a compact telescope system that can be assembled by school children. Stu- dents will be traveling to the village this summer to gather data for the capstone teams.
Riordan Mansion Accordion Closed
Volunteers Devin Johnston, Michael Headley, Michael Wagner, and Lindsey Griffin performed a demolition on the deck of the historic house in preparation of installing a new deck at the Riordan Mansion State Historic Park.
Pioneer Museum Accordion Closed
CMO volunteers Tadd Neve, Devin Johnson, Michael Headley, Scott Grace, Teresa Rosales, Kathryn Vandor, Megan Lindsey, Rikki Nye, Tim Jacinto, Dylan Buchanan, Kenneth Burkett, and Andrew Staskey worked at the Pioneer Museum in Flagstaff. They fabricated and installed 60% of a sliding barn door for Flagstaff’s oldest fire engine, completed floor repairs to the main entrance, and installed wooden framework to the rear deck of the historic Gregg Cabin.
Adopt an Avenue Accordion Closed
Every year ASCE picks up trash alongside S. Plaza Way. This is a great way for their club to give back to the community and make Flagstaff a cleaner place.
Student activities
STEM Night Accordion Closed
March 3, 2016 approximately 4,200 people filled the SkyDome for the 3rd Annual Flagstaff Community STEM celebration. There were 65 interactive exhibits and activities from almost every school in Flagstaff. Including, CCC, NAU, and many STEM businesses, government agencies, and non-profits. The CM and ASCE programs both had booths at this event and enlightened younger students about the program.
ASC Student Competition Accordion Closed
February 9-13, 2016 fifty CM students and faculty members competed in the annual Associated Schools of Construction competition in Sparks, Nevada. Five teams competed in five categories: Commercial, Heavy Civil, Mixed Use, Concrete Solutions, and Sustainable Building and LEED. NAU teams and individuals received the following awards:
Best Presentation– The Sustainable Building and LEED team
2nd place Alternates problem-Kathryn Vandor
MVP Mixed Use– Callie Johns
WERC Accordion Closed
Environmental Engineering seniors (as pictured from left to right) Ryan Marshall, Christopher Young, My Hoang, and Christopher Yazzie demonstrating their project, a Sequencing Batch Reactor that treats high-strength wastewater, at the 2016 International Environmental Design Contest, in Las Cruces, NM.
Steel Bridge Accordion Closed
The 2016 steel bridge team consisted of Logan Couch, Brian Jouflas, Matthew Roders, and Kaitlin Vandaveer. In addition to the steel bridge team, Manny James and Dillon Corrington were on the build team during the conference. NAU was one of two beam bridge designs out of 17 schools participating in the conference. The second beam bridge (U of A) did not pass the lateral load test due to their beam bridge swaying past the 1’’ allowable lateral deflection. NAU’s team built their bridge in 25 minutes with four, 15-second time penalties. They received a 20-pound penalty toward the overall weight of the bridge for members being 1/8’’ too wide. Overall deflection was 2.1’’ over a 21’’ span from footing to footing and the total weight supported by the bridge was 2,400 pounds. The total self-weight of the bridge was 252 pounds (not including the 20 pound weight penalty from competition). The team completed second order analysis through a Finite Element Analysis Program (RI- SA-3D) as well as supplemental hand calculations to determine if local buckling of members and plates would be an issue. The team put in over 1,500 hours into the design and construction of the bridge.
Concrete Canoe Accordion Closed
ASCE annually hosts a National Concrete Canoe Com- petition (NCCC) in which engineering students have the opportunity to design, construct and race a concrete canoe. A group of five NAU civil engineering capstone students, sponsored by CEMEX, competed: Chelsie Kekaula (project manager), Colton McConnell (construction manager), Brent Lipar (structural engineer), Emily Melkesian (reinforcement lead), and Evan Kaichi (concrete lead). To succeed at the competition, students must apply skills pertaining to task management, scheduling, and budgeting, as well as hull design, structural analysis, concrete mix design, reinforcement, and construction management. Each canoe is scored based on the following four equally weighted categories: a design paper, final product, paddling races, and an oral presentation. This year, NAU placed 6th overall (out of 17 teams) and the team hopes that future NAU concrete canoe teams can build off of the progress made this year and continue to improve.
Student scholarships Accordion Closed
Emily Day | Shelton Hannig Civil Engineering Scholarship |
---|---|
Hanako Ueda | AZ Engineering Company Scholarship |
Sabrina Ballard | AZ Society of Civil Engineers |
Yijie Gao | AZ Society of Civil Engineers |
Bethany Kieffer | Richard E. Boehl Memorial Scholarship |
Meg Stevens | Structural Engineers Association of AZ |
JC Acuna | NACE |
Tyler Saganitso | Jon & Christine Bourgeois Scholarship |
Sarah Reddinger | Engineering Scholarship Fund (general EGR scholarship) |
Brando Gutierrez | Engineering Scholarship Fund (general EGR scholarship) |
Josue Juarez | Fred and Edith Ohlinger Scholarship (general EGR scholarship) |
Camile White | Brian Patrick Lindsay Memorial Scholarship (ME minor) |
Adi Zilberstein | Scott William McFarland Memorial Scholarship for Construction Management |
Callie Johns | Chuck Orr Construction Mgmt Scholarship |
Aubrey Mollett | Construction Financial Mgmt Assoc. |
Aubrey Mollett | Ben Griggs/ASA Scholarship |
Mason Rowley | Ben Griggs/ASA Scholarship |
Mason Rowley | GLHN Scholarship |
Justin Flint | Kitchell Native American CM Scholarship |
Scott Grace | Ben Griggs/ASA Scholarship |
Scott Grace | The Beavers Heavy Construction Scholarship |
David Heckard | CEMEX scholarship |
International student spotlight
Yijie Gao Accordion Closed
Yijie is from Fuzhou, Fujian, China and she has been at NAU for almost two years. She is working on getting her degree in Civil Engineering while she is also getting a degree from her Chinese school, Huaqiao University. She is hoping to finish this dual degree program in three and a half years. Her favorite thing about Flagstaff is the four distinct seasons and after graduation she is hoping to specialize in one area and go to grad school. Yijie was also recognized as an ASCE “New Face of Engineering” for 2016. This is a very rare award; out of the tens of thousands of engineering students only 10 are recognized nationwide each year.
Phoo Myat Sandy Maung Accordion Closed
Phoo is from Myanmar (Burma), which is located in Southeast, Asia, and she has been at NAU for 4 years. She is studying civil engineering and her favorite thing about Flag- staff is that mountains and pine forests surround it, which makes it very beautiful. She plans to stay in Flagstaff until she finishes her bachelor’s degree. She has plans to go to graduate school and then return home to work in Myanmar.
Saud Al Dandan Accordion Closed
Saud is from Kuwait and has been studying Civil Engineering at NAU for four years now with one semester left before he graduates. He found out about NAU via a recommendation from his friend’s father. His favorite part about Flagstaff is the weather and he says that, surprisingly; there was nothing weird to get used to. After graduation Saud plans to go back to Kuwait to find a job.
Graduate student spotlight
Jessica Kettelkamp Accordion Closed
Jessica, born and raised in Phoenix, AZ got her undergrad from NAU in Civil Engineering with a minor in Mechanical Engineering. She wants to work in industry when she graduates and already has a job offer working for the US Army Corps of Engineers. Jessica says that she didn’t really choose graduate school, she was asked by Dr. Tuchscherer to work on a project with him and if he had not asked she would not have considered grad school. Currently she is working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for CENE running the Mechanics of Materials lab.
Nicholas Reimers Accordion Closed
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Nicholas is from Mission Viejo, California and earned his undergraduate degree in Environmental Engineering and French from NAU. His favorite part about NAU is the faculty he gets to work with and the town of Flagstaff. After he finishes grad school Nicholas would like to join the Peace Corps for a water and sanitation hygiene project. He says it doesn’t matter where, he just wants to be able to travel and engineer solutions for more livable conditions. Currently he is employed by the university as a graduate research assistant.
Cristina Linares Accordion Closed
Cristina is from Almeria, which is a city on the Mediterranean coast of Europe located in the southeast of Spain. She studied Civil Engineering at the University of Granada in Spain. During her undergrad she spent a year in Portugal and then was selected to study abroad in the U.S. which is how she ended up at NAU. She says that she really values the American educational system because of its focus on research. Her favorite part about NAU is the on-campus life and how NAU operates like a city itself as opposed to her time in Spain where the academic buildings were spread out all over the city. Currently she is working as a Research Assistant for CECMEE and hopes to teach at the university after graduate school.
Alumni spotlight
Devin Kelley Accordion Closed
Devin majored in Civil Engineering with minors in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics during his time at NAU. Currently he is working on getting his Private Pilot License at Orange Coast College and he is learning American Sign Language at Irvine Valley College. After graduation in 2014 Devin spent time in Uganda as an engineering intern and missionary through Engineering Ministries International. He says, “living in such a beautiful and dynamic part of the world has definitely put a new perspective on my life in the States. I hope to return [to Uganda] in the future.”
Since his time abroad he has started his career with Rick Engineering in Orange County as an Assistant Engineering Designer. He works on a plethora of projects ranging from 400-acre housing developments, apartment complexes, traffic signals, street designs, and utility designs. On a typical day in the office you can find him nose-deep in calculations and his CAD software. He misses the Flagstaff snow and tight-knit community aspect of NAU, especially within the Engineering department and his favorite class was his capstone because, “it resembled what real-life engineering is all about: seeing a need, finding a solution, and implementing that solution.”
Additional information
Contact us Accordion Closed
2112 S. Huffer Lane
PO Box 15600, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011
Phone: 928-523-5251
Bridget N. Bero, Ph.D., P.E.
Professor and Chair
Email: Bridget.Bero@nau.edu
John Tingerthal, MSCE, EdD, PE
Associate Professor and Chair
Email: John.Tingerthal@nau.edu
Visit our websites to learn more.
Giving to CECMEE Accordion Closed
If you would like to donate to CECMEE, please visit the links listed below that are accompanied by their fund numbers:
CM Students and Program – Fund #4847;
CENE programs – Fund #4482;
CENE students – #4740.
If your company is interested in supporting the Construction Management Program, contact John Tingerthal to join their Generation Next campaign. Each sponsor- ship level gives companies priority to fundraising events and our Construction Industry Seminar presentations.