U NIVERSITY OF NEBR ASKA–LINCOLN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
SPring 2012
For the Love
oF engineering
ALSo inSide:
eLLiPSoMetrY’S erAS
FLAMe Weeding
>
frOM THE DEAN
Educating Engineers for the 22nd Century
Recently I was asked by the Nebraska Society of Professional Engineers to write for their
newsletter. I focused on answering the question: “How do we build a flexible and lasting
infrastructure that will meet the needs of society today, tomorrow, and every day after that
into the 22nd century?”
It is an open question that is fundamental to all of engineering, and one that we at the
UNL College of Engineering are asking ourselves as we articulate and implement a
roadmap that will serve the citizens and economy of the state of Nebraska and the global
community as a whole.
The context for this question lies in the fact that how we train the engineer of today will
have a first-order impact 100 years from now. If we do our job well today, this year’s
graduates will rise to key leadership roles over a career spanning 40-50 years. Toward the
end of their careers, these leaders will be developing the next generation of leaders–who
will, in turn, have 40-50 year careers. In sum, then, how we train our students today will
directly impact society in the 22nd century.
To see the importance of this principle, note that the University of Nebraska was founded as a land grant university in 1869,
after the Civil War, to provide the science and technology base needed to help the nation transition from an agrarian to
an industrial economy. Almost exactly 100 years later, men walked on the moon. This was a completely unforeseen legacy
of the wisdom and vision of the founders of the land grant college system, which included the University of Nebraska. We
at Nebraska Engineering, and engineers as a whole, must think about answering scientific questions and transcending
technological barriers to a future society that most, if not all, of us will not be here to see.
It is incumbent upon us, then, to structure everything we do to prepare our students to formulate solutions and create
technologies for problems and challenges we cannot even envision. This includes everything from building the fundamental
engineering science knowledge base, to creating multidisciplinary teaming and problem solving paradigms that have both
immediate and long range impact, and engaging our students in every facet of this enterprise.
If we are to equip and enable future generations to design and build their environments in meaningful and sustainable ways,
it is essential for those of us in the educational arena to start building the intellectual infrastructure they will need today.
At the same time, it is the mission of the engineering profession to not only provide current technologies and solutions, but
to simultaneously build a pathway for the profession (and society) well into the future.
On behalf of the college, we look forward to working with you in building for Nebraska and the world. With the
commitment I see embodied in Nebraska Engineering community members, especially those highlighted in this
publication, we are well on our way.
– Timothy Wei, Ph.D.
Dean, UNL College of Engineering
TABLE Of CONTENTS
www.engineering.unl.edu
From the dean Educating Engineers for the 22nd Century
2 Front & Center
Alex Henery aids MME kicking research … Olsson giving propels
engineering education … Rasmussen, Kiewit donations augment Durham
School student spaces … Nastasi leads Energy Center … ELC Spring Break
Trip brings Huskers to Houston
5
6 Cover StorY: For the Love of engineering
We asked, you answered! Alumni share why engineering is important and
how their work helps the world
10 A Field of opportunity
Mechanical & Materials Engineering boosts technology for weeding
12 reaching Past a Century—ellipsometry at UnL:
Past, Present and Future
10
Nebraska Engineering is home to research that distinguishes UNL while
advancing industry and the greater good
15 Accomplishments
18 Class notes, in Memoriam
20 Faculty Profile
Civil Engineering’s NSF CAREER Award winner Shannon Bartelt-Hunt
studies the environmental impact of prion diseases
21 From the Foundation
12
Dunn shares secrets of success
Back cover: For the future
Durham School professor helms Project Lead the Way in Nebraska, building
STEM learning structure
Editor: Carole Wilbeck | Designer: Clint Chapman | Contributing Writers: Robb Crouch,
JS Engebretson, Vicki Miller, and Ashley Washburn
Engineering@Nebraska is published by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Engineering.
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
Direct correspondence (including address changes) to cwilbeck2@unl.edu; 203 Othmer Hall, Lincoln,
NE 68588-0642; telephone (402) 472-0451, fax (402) 472-7792.
Submissions of letters to the editor, class notes, stories, photographs, illustrations, or other materials
with a University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Engineering connection are welcome. View this
magazine online at www.engineering.unl.edu/publications.
©2012, The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska. All rights reserved.
20
frONT & CENTEr
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ALUMni AUgMent dUrhAM SChooL
FACiLitieS in LinCoLn
U
NL’s Durham School of Architectural Engineering and
Construction has new classroom and learning support spaces,
thanks to donations from Jim D. and Faye D. Rasmussen and
the Kiewit Infrastructure Group.
In Nebraska Hall, the new large classroom has seating for 36, plus a
ceiling-mounted document camera and audio-visual equipment with
Rasmussen and his wife, Faye (a Kearney native who learned nursing
in Nebraska) also funded a Durham School Student Activities and
Leadership Development Fund, endowed for construction management
and construction engineering, and the Rasmussen Durham School Fund
for Excellence (unrestricted, endowed for construction management
and construction engineering). The couple’s giving also includes the
Rasmussen Nursing Education Fellowship Fund.
Jim Rasmussen, who earned a 1967 B.S. in Civil Engineering, grew
up on a farm north of Ravenna and started college in Kearney.
Transferring to the larger Lincoln campus was daunting, but he
knew he wanted to study engineering. He worked 25 years for Kiewit,
including in Canada, where he and Faye adopted their two children.
Glaser ’91 CM, is senior vice president for Kiewit Infrastructure South
Co., and has more than 20 years of construction experience with Kiewit.
He oversees district operations in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. In
both 2010 and 2011, he led the South Central District to become Kiewit’s
top-performing district, winning the Director’s Award of Excellence for
the company.
video outputs on two screens. Another classroom has table seating
for 20 and A/V equipment for distance learning. A study area has five
tables and individual computer display monitors at each table, plus
two whiteboard partitions. A meeting room has table seating for eight,
with perimeter seating for eight more.
During planning, Associate Professor Paul Harmon, program
coordinator for Construction Management with DSAEC, reached out
to Doug Glaser, a former student who’s now an executive with Kiewit’s
Infrastructure Group. Glaser involved a colleague, Chris Loeffler,
also a CM alumnus. Glaser and Loeffler then requested the Kiewit
Foundation to support this Durham School renovation.
The University of Nebraska Foundation engaged a civil engineering
alumnus, Jim Rasmussen, to fulfill the renovation project goals.
2 Spring 2012
Loeffler ’91 CM, is senior
vice president with Kiewit
Infrastructure Group and
executive vice president
with the Peter Kiewit
Infrastructure Co. He
currently maintains
executive oversight for
all Kiewit operations in
eastern Canada, including
three mega projects in
progress with a combined
contract value of over
$3 billion. His district is
comprised of 750 staff and
nearly 2,000 craft with revenue of approximately $600 million.
“I see energy playing a major role in
what’s happening at Innovation Campus.”
- Mike Nastasi
neW direCtor SeeS
energY reSeArCh PotentiAL
E
nergy research at UNL should double
within three to five years with the
Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences
Research as a catalyst.
That’s the vision of the center’s new director,
Mike Nastasi. An accomplished materials
scientist, Nastasi joined UNL in January from
Los Alamos National Laboratory where he
directed the U.S. Department of Energy’s
Energy Frontier Research Center for Materials
at Irradiation and Mechanical Extremes.
Nastasi sees great potential for NCESR and
UNL. He plans to build upon the center’s
early successes, a strong partnership with
Nebraska Public Power District, Chancellor
Harvey Perlman’s plan to increase enrollment
and research, and plans for Nebraska
Innovation Campus. “I see energy playing a major role in what’s
happening at Innovation Campus,” he said,
and added that energy research will help
attract businesses to the campus. “Faculty
are great at developing intellectual property,
and Innovation Campus is a way to get that
intellectual property out to the world.”
UNL can help tackle both applied and more
basic problems to improve the energy outlook
for Nebraska and beyond, Nastasi said.
“The center can play an even bigger role in
solving energy problems for Nebraska and also
for the nation,” he said. “Nebraska will benefit
from that expanded national role.”
He aims to further strengthen the center by
increasing the focus on research areas with the
best potential for lucrative federal funding. Noting
the center’s “incredible return on investment from
seed grants” so far, Nastasi said attracting more
funding will enable UNL to expand the scope and
impact of its energy research.
Nastasi is also a professor of Mechanical &
Materials engineering and holds the Elmer
Koch Professorship. He’ll continue his research
on developing materials for extreme radiation
environments. UNL will be a university affiliate
of the Energy Frontier Research Center at Los
Alamos National Laboratory, along with the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and
Carnegie Mellon University.
One of Nastasi’s first jobs at UNL is finding a
UNL graduate student to work at Los Alamos
National Laboratory to support his research on
materials for advanced nuclear reactor designs.
–Vicki Miller, UNL Research
engineering @ nebraska 3
frONT & CENTEr
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oLSSon giFtS booSt
CoMMitMent
C
oMMit
to CoLLege
O
lsson Associates has committed
$260,000 over the next 10 years to
support faculty members, students,
academic programs and facilities at UNL’s
College of Engineering.
The Nebraska-based engineering and design
firm with 24 offices in seven states has
established two new support funds at the
University of Nebraska Foundation while also
increasing its permanent endowments for
student scholarships and its faculty teaching
excellence awards. The gifts support the
university's current Campaign for Nebraska
fundraising initiative.
"We've had a long-term partnership with the
University of Nebraska and its campuses," said
Olsson president Brad Strittmatter, who leads
Olsson’s 600+ employees. "Our support of the
university will help the programs, students and
faculty, which is a great benefit for everyone in
our communities."
Tim Wei, dean, recognized Olsson Associates
for being among the college's top corporate
partners. "Olsson Associates definitely shares
our vision to become one of the top colleges
of engineering in teaching and research in the
nation," Wei said. "We're incredibly thankful
for its partnership and wide range of support."
Strittmatter said supporting the university comes
naturally for their firm, because John E. Olsson
created a company culture that places a value on
support for education, community involvement
and advancing the engineering profession.
In addition to financial support, Olsson
Associates supports the college in other ways.
Company employees routinely provide class
lectures and, as available, the firm offers
internship and employment opportunities to
students and graduates.
Olsson founded the company in 1956. He was 30
years old and had graduated from UNL just five
years earlier. A native of Queens, N.Y., he ended
up in Nebraska by chance, having visited relatives
in Lincoln and becoming interested in attending
the university during his visit. He began Olsson
Associates as its sole employee, added staff and
services, and led the firm until 1976. He remained
active in the firm until retiring in the early 1990s
and continues to live in Lincoln.
Olsson enjoyed serving the College of
Engineering through its Technology Advisory
Council, and he received the college's
Outstanding Alumnus Award in 1996. In 2002,
a room was named for the Olsson family in
Othmer Hall in recognition of their longtime
support and volunteer service.
– Robb Crouch, NU Foundation
UnL SPinoUt dePLoYS MobiLe
SoFtWAre nAtionWide
LPD Officer Mary Lingelbach uses CrimeView NEARme
technology developed by UNL computer engineers.
T
his spring, police departments nationwide gained access to a new
mobile software tool for tracking crime in their communities,
with technology developed at UNL. Red Brain Law Enforcement
Services LLC, a UNL spinoff, released CrimeView NEARme to allow
police officers to access location-based crime data.
Over the past six months, 75 Lincoln Police Department officers piloted
the app and found it to be what Lincoln Public Safety Director Tom
Casady called, “a groundbreaking new technology for police officers.”
He explained that “there’s nothing else like it available.”
Realizing NEARme’s commercial potential, the development team
worked with NUtech Ventures, the nonprofit responsible for building
partnerships between the university and the private sector, to license
the software.
“This is a perfect example of how university researchers, when teamed
with experts who know the needs of end users, can create value in a
market,” said David Conrad, executive director of NUtech Ventures.
4 Spring 2012
Red Brain’s president is Ian Cottingham, a UNL graduate who leads
the Computing Innovation Group with the UNL's Department of
Computer Science & Engineering. Red Brain partnered with The
Omega Group, developers of a variety of crime analysis products, to
widely release the software application.
The idea for NEARme, formerly called Proactive Police Patrol
Information, or P3i, came from Casady. Then chief of the Lincoln Police
Department, Casady reasoned that if he could find a restaurant in the
area on his phone, then officers could view location-based crime data
while in the field.
MME bioMEchanics rEsEarch
hElps kickErs iMprovE
H
usker Football’s famed kicker and engineering alumnus,
Alex Henery ’11 CM, returned to Nebraska this winter after a
successful rookie season with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.
He took time to add his leg power to research by Mechanical &
Materials Engineering graduate student Chase Pfeifer.
Pfeifer got the idea for his thesis from his experiences as a kicker at
Florida State University during his undergraduate studies. At Nebraska
Engineering, he works with Research Assistant Professor Jeff Hawks to
make field goal kicking more efficient and effective.
“Alex’s participation in this work has been amazing,” Pfeifer said.
“It’s a big step for our research, taking it from 2D to 3D.” Pfeifer also
appreciated using the Nebraska Biomechanics Core Facility at UNO,
which has markers for joint angles and equipment to measure velocity
and foot plant force.
Pfeifer hopes his research may lead to commercial use by coaches
and schools, to help kickers improve. He said he’s also interested
in working on prosthetics; learning how the body moves through
MME football kicking research. Below:
Jeff Hawks, Alex Henery, Chase Pfeifer
the torso, hips and legs serves him in designing devices for amputees,
particularly veterans.
Go online to watch a video about Pfeifer’s kicking research at
http://go.unl.edu/kick.
– Carole Wilbeck
eLC triP – hUSkerS in hoUSton
A
personal tour of NASA’s Johnson
Space Center by Nebraska astronaut
Clay Anderson was just one of the
highlights of the college's annual Engineering
Learning Community trip to Houston,
Texas in March. Forty students, along with
some alumni, staff and members of the
college Dean's Advisory Board, learned
about building deep-sea oil platforms with
a visit to Kiewit Offshore Services Ltd., and
enjoyed a bus tour of ExxonMobil's facility in
Baytown. The NASA tour featured an insider's
look at the re-created space station and the
underwater training facility for astronauts.
The students also savored a barbeque at the
home of Joe Bryant, '77 MECH, where they
networked with alumni employed in the
area. The ELC trip is held annually during
UNL's spring break and enables freshmen and
some returning students the opportunity to
experience first-hand engineering facilities
and meet alumni and industry professionals
across the nation. Much of the trip is funded
by Nebraska Engineering alumni.
– J.S. Engebretson
engineering @ nebraska 5
For national e-Week 2012 in February,
the UnL College of engineering asked its alumni
in an online survey why they think engineering
is important, and how they are helping the
world through their engineering work. instead
of a few responses expected, more than 100
poured in: reflecting the dedication, depth and
diversity of nebraska engineering graduates
throughout the world. these quotes now
appear in posters throughout the engineering
complex—to inspire students, staff and faculty—
and a number of the quotes are compiled here
for you to enjoy!
thank you to all our respondents, and
to the nebraska Alumni Association for
help in distributing the survey message.
if you have thoughts to add, please email
nebraskaengineering@gmail.com.
“Engineers do help others and are today's problem solvers” Dale L. Plugge ('51
MECH), Engineering Mgr Duo Lift Mfg., Tran-Tec Corp. Columbus, Neb. “As engineers, we have an obligation to give back to the profession in terms of
time, energies and involvement. We should look at opportunities to participate
(at the college and university level) as well as professional societies for the
betterment of our chosen profession.” Raymond Rawe (’69 B.S. and ’71 M.S.
CIVE; he also has an MBA from Rockhurst College) is Chief Engineer and
Director of Engineering Services with the Port of Seattle, including SeaTac
International Airport and the Seaport in Seattle, Wash.
“I love that as an engineer, I get to use
both sides of the brain! To be a good
engineer, you must exercise creativity
and logic almost simultaneously.”
Meghan Lyons (’06 ELEC), is an
electrical engineer with Burns &
McDonnell in Kansas City, Mo.
“Innovation is by far the most fun
… taking new technology and
turning it into usable capabilities.”
Timothy Deaver (’85 ELEC),
program manager for
Commercially Hosted InfraRed
Payload (CHIRP).
NEBRASKA ENGINEERING A
WE ASKEd, YoU ANSWEREd: Fo
“I believe that engineering
and medical sciences can
work together to cure many
diseases including cancer.”
Brian Halla (’69 ELEC),
retired president, CEO
and chairman - National
Semiconductor
“Imagine the world without
computers, I-phones, B2
bombers, 787 composite
airplanes, internet, GPS guided
farm equipment, etc.--an
engineer was involved in all
these.” Arnold Bauer (’62
MECH), retired – Boeing Co.
“Working in aerospace engineering has been
particularly rewarding -- especially seeing so
much technology that was innovated for space
and is now making our everyday lives so much
better.” Gary Markley (’80 EET), is Launch
Operations Manager with Lockheed Martin
Space Systems Company at Vandenberg AFB in
California
“Engineers are part of the innovations that drive the world forward. That's how engineers
like us help the world and why I love being an engineer.” Chris Reznicek (’10 ELEC),
works with UNL’s Raikes School of Computer Science and Management
“As an engineer I enjoyed working in many different countries with engineers with
many cultural backgrounds.” Thomas Rich ('74 ELEC), retired refinery general
manager for ConocoPhillips
6 Spring 2012
“I really enjoy when a client
such as a contractor or local
person calls with a problem
and I am able to advise
them to a suitable sensible
solution.” Scott A. Barnett
(’04 CIVE), P.E. is a project
engineer with Mid-State
Engineering and Testing,
Inc. in Columbus and
Kearney.
“When I design a
product, it’s just like my
baby. I enjoy working on
the process from a rough
concept idea on napkin
to mass production, then
finally when the product
is put on the shelves
in stores.” Weihua Ge
(’07 M.S. IMSE) works
as a design engineer
with JL AUDIO Inc. in
Miramar, Fla.
“Being an engineer gave me the opportunity
to work with multiple companies and find
environmental solutions for different industries.”
Eric Sturm (’07 ELEC) is a senior consultant with
Nebraska Air Quality Specialties.
“I enjoy being an engineer because you get
to help customers and the business solve
problems with application of sound engineering
practices.” Lyndon Jensen ('82 IMSE), Project
Manager, John Deere, Moline, Ill.
“Every day is different. You are presented with different challenges each day
whether it be the type or the phase of a project. It is extremely satisfying to carry
a project through from an initial idea or need to the finished, well operating
final product.” Kurt Ronnekamp ('89 CIVE), Project Manager, Black & Veatch
Corporation, Kansas City, Mo.
“Engineering allows me to
get into my flow: problemsolving with a team; taking a
seemingly random world and
turning it into a reproducible,
controllable system. Using that
skill to build things that make
people's lives easier, better, more
enjoyable.” Paul Bauer ('10 CSE),
Software Engineer, Nebraska
Global, Lincoln, Neb.
“My engineering degree from
UNL has enabled my career
to reach heights that I never
expected. I can't wait to see
where I go next with it.” Austen
Bryan (’10 CSE) is a systems
engineer with the U.S. Air Force
in Albuquerque, N.M.
G ALUMNI
FoR thE LovE oF ENGINEERING
“I do enjoy being
an engineer … I am
helping to make a
product that serves
people around the
world and is a key
component of their
livelihood … In making
changes that make
tractors more efficient
and decrease pollution
we are benefiting
everyone in the world,
not just our agricultural
consumers.” Marcus
Kuhl (’11 AGEN), is a
transmission design
engineer for John Deere
in Waterloo, Ia.
In “developing cost effective renewable energy projects, I'm now working to make facilities
more energy efficient to save our natural resources and save people money.” Tom Svoboda
(’90 MECH), is an energy manager with Booz Allen Hamilton at Scott AFB in Illinois.
“Engineering gives a unique perspective in medicine. Engineers have to think
logically, sort things out and find answers to problems.” David Fry ('72 CHME) M.D.,
retired, Stuart, Fla. “Great ideas can come from any
quarter, but it takes engineering—with
attention to detail—to develop the ideas
into producible, reliable, serviceable and
salable products. Such an achievement
is very satisfying.” Arlie Thayer (’60
MECH), of Tinley Park, Ill. is retired
from Panduit Corp. after 37 years there.
“The fun part is figuring out how the world
around you works and finding new ways to
make it better. Problem solving is just the
beginning. We help make the world a better
place through technology, techniques, and
working with all sorts of people.”
Nate Lowry ('10 CSE), Software Guy,
Nebraska Global, Lincoln, Neb.
engineering @ nebraska 7
“Engineering is a career of
tangible results of both design
and construction of projects that
benefit our way-of-life and create
wealth and jobs for our
economy.”Jerry Novacek ('71
CIVE, '72 M.S.), Consultant,
ECC Construction, San
Francisco Corporate Office
“I like taking things apart to find
out how they work--designing
multiple parts which fit together
to create a functional structure.”
Kevin Meyer ('86 MECH),
Senior Design Engineer at Spirit
AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan.
“My proudest area in my work is seeing a job
come to completion and seeing parts being made
that I have drawn up, designed, and been involved
with in the creation of the tool to make the part.”
Brett Drvol, ('08 MECH), Design Engineer,
Dimatic Die & Tool Co., Omaha, Neb.
“I strongly feel that an engineering degree
can prepare anyone for any type of career be
it law, medicine or business. My engineering
education gave me a strong basis for life.”
Thomas E. Johnson ('71 ELEC), retired
“As a member
of the military, I
have witnessed the
contributions and
enhancement of daily
lives to third world
countries around the
world; this is attributed
to both military and
civilian engineers.”
Phil Varilek ('03
CIVE), Pilot, USAF,
Valdosta, Ga.
“Engineers are involved in everything we see around us, from car parts to
human body parts. Engineers really do shape our world.” James L Baggs ('73
CIVE), Navigational Aids Engineer, FAA, Renton, Wash.
NEBRASKA ENGINEERING A
'08
WE ASKEd, YoU ANSWEREd: Fo
“I enjoy getting to
solve problems that are
meaningful to people.”
Anne Neilsen (’11 CSE),
software engineer - Beehive
Industries and Nebraska
Global, Lincoln, Neb.
“There is a degree of
personal gratification I feel
when drivng on a project I
helped develop and build.”
John R. Jacobsen ('71 CIVE),
retired, Omaha, Neb.
“This country was founded on ingenuity and it
will be our ability to create and problem solve
that will make us competitive in the world for
years to come.” Jerad Higman ('95 MECH),
President of Masaba Mining Equipment,
Vermillion, S.D. “Engineers change the world. Hardly a moment goes by in which someone doesn't
interact with something that an engineer designed. I wish there were more engineers
in Washington DC, because engineers know how to solve complex problems.” Kevin
Davis ('11 M.ENG.), Software Engineering Manager, Lockheed Martin, Marietta, Ga. “I love reverse engineering where I get to start with a result and work my way
backwards. It's fun.”Abhinav Pandey ('08 ELEC), Electrical Engineer at FSC MEP
Engineers, Overland Park, Kan. 8 Spring 2012
“I enjoyed my years as a Civil
Engineer as the work was
challenging and benefited
many people. Problem solving
was an enjoyable aspect. Time
spent performing applied
research was personally
satisfying.” Wellington Meier,
Jr ('59 CIVE, '60 ENGM),
retired, Tempe, Ariz.
“Understanding the
development process and the
manufacturing environment
provided during my
education at UNL has
allowed me to successfully
apply the solutions Siemens
provides to solving mission
critical issues faced by my
customers … I encourage
women to look to the College
of Engineering to provide
them with a solid foundation
from which they can define
the course of their future.”
Kathryn Meyer Drewer (’95
IMSE) is a sales executive in
aerospace and defense with
Siemens PLM Software in
Cypress, Calif.
“I enjoy solving problems that are difficult. I engage design engineers and material
vendors to solve these issues.” Todd Krofta ('87 IMSE), Sr. Quality Engineer/
Supervisor, Molex, Lincoln, Neb. “For me, engineering is not a job, it is a way of life.” Constantine Tarawneh ('03 Ph.D.
MECH), Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Texas-Pan
American in Edinburg, Texas “As engineers, we can be proud of
the work we do to produce more
while using fewer resources–
water and energy. In my job, I
also am producing food that not
only feeds people in the U.S., but
also around the world.”
James Alfieri ('98 CHME), Plant
Manager, Cargill, Kansas City, Mo.
G ALUMNI
“Solving problems through creative solutions
is just one of the many reasons I was drawn
to engineering when I was younger. Now, I
enjoy helping others as they look for ways to
overcome technical engineering challenges,
or simply figuring out creative ways to
accomplish project goals and objectives.”
Todd Leathers ('95 MECH), Engineering
Manager, Pella Corporation, Pella, Ia.
“It is rewarding to be able
to support our company,
and in turn / indirectly - our
community and the nation.”
David Johnson, Reliability
Leader (Refinery Engineer),
Lemont, IL
B.S. Civil 1980
FoR thE LovE oF ENGINEERING
“Bringing new ideas forward to the company that result
in positive results and cost reductions for production. I feel
fulfilled when I have a new idea that hasn't been brought
forward and can create a result that saves the company money.
The College of Engineering has given me a good education
that has provided me the ability to utilize my degree to
improve my company as a whole and prepared me to obtain
a PE certification.” Joseph Weiler ('09 MECH), Mechanical
Engineer, Goodyear, Topeka, Kan. “In the evolution of electric utility operation, how
these changes are addressed by the engineer is a
constant challenge–to seek out the best solution for
the benefit of customers, the utility, and the industry
in general to make this country the most efficient
and productive in the world.” Don E. Schaufelberger
(’49 ELEC), retired president and CEO of Nebraska
Public Power District
“It is very exciting to see the products I have helped develop used to improve
the quality of life for many patients suffering atrial fibrillation around the world.
... Designing a heart catheter that will be robot-driven and provide physician
feedback to reduce patient injury due to over driving of the catheter, which
can puncture the heart wall requiring surgical intervention to repair. Applying
engineering principles … for finding solutions in developing catheter based
technology reminds me every day why I chose to become an engineer.” Andrew
Oliverius (’03 MECH), product development engineer, St. Jude Medical in St.
Paul, Minn.
“It is rewarding to be able to
support our company, and in
turn / indirectly - our community
and the nation.” David Johnson
('80 CIVE), Reliability Leader
(Refinery Engineer), Lemont, Ill. engineering @ nebraska 9
A FIELD O
Work on FLAMe Weeding beneFitS F
A
University of Nebraska-Lincoln collaboration has brought forth
weeding solutions that organic farmers are testing with excitement
throughout the Midwest.
Flame weeding is not a new idea, but it has received a modern boost from
UNL mechanical engineers and agricultural scientists. Agricultural Flaming
Innovations is the company formed by George Gogos, professor of
Mechanical & Materials Engineering; Steve Knezevic, professor of
agronomy; and Chris Bruening, an MME graduate student. Lanny
Nissen '69 MECH, with 42 years of experience including 36
years with Kawasaki, recently joined AFI as a co-owner.
Knowing plants’ adaptability to herbicides and the
environmental concerns with both herbicides and
tillage, Knezevic had studied propane flaming,
a thermal weed control method. In 2007, he
connected with Gogos, who applied his years
of combustion expertise to the concept.
Gogos and Knezevic envisioned a multitorch farm implement that could treat
four to six crop rows at a time. They
began research at UNL’s Haskell
Agricultural Lab in Concord, Neb.
Knezevic knew several Nebraska
crops—including corn, sorghum,
soybeans and sunflowers—were
great candidates for thermal
weed control. Heat from an early
season flaming treatment, when
the crops’ growing points are still
beneath the soil’s surface, would
not be lethal to those plants. Amid
the crop rows, however, harmful
broadleaf weeds like redroot pigweed,
waterhemp, morning glory, velvetleaf,
lambsquarter, kochia and ragweed—with
growing points above ground and fully exposed
to the heat—would be killed by flaming.
The term “flaming” is a misnomer, according to Gogos.
“There is no burning of the weeds,” he said. “Leaf exposure
to the hot gases destroys the cell membranes, which initiates water
leakage. The weeds wilt shortly after treatment and slowly die over the
next few days.”
Bruening became involved when he was asked to retrieve some of the flame
weeding research data from the Concord lab, near the farm in Saint Helena
where he grew up. That routine errand ultimately changed Bruening’s
academic career and now, as a Ph.D. student, he is part of a start-up
company and earned the prestigious Peter Kiewit Student Entrepreneurial
10 Spring 2012
From farming in northeast Nebraska, Bruening was aware of “a growing
concern in the United States—especially in top crop-producing states like
Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska—with the degradation of water quality due to
pesticide runoff from fields.”
For organic farmers, even the age-old practice of tillage for weed control
has its downside: turning the soil reduces the moisture available to crops
and increases the chance for erosion. The AFI team found that propane’s
availability and its relatively safe and clean-burning nature make flame
weeding viable for organic and even some conventional farmers.
For the mechanical engineers, the first challenge was designing the device’s
hood configuration. They started with single flaming units in the College
of Engineering’s machine shop and then scaled up the design with fourrow iterations produced by Lincoln manufacturers Source One and Total
Manufacturing Co., Inc. (TMCO).
At that time, Gogos presented the work to members of the Engineering
Dean’s External Advisory Board, and gained several alumni mentors—
including Ken Jones ’68 CHME, Kevin Schneider ’85 MECH and Jeff
Zvolanek ’86 MECH. Project funding has been provided by the Propane
Education and Research Council (PERC), the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, as well as through the Nebraska Engineering Research Fund
via donations to the NU Foundation.
AFI’s initial four-row implement was pulled by a typical farm tractor with
a three-point hitch. It included a tank and supply network on a frame, with
eight torches directed under a low-lying hood assembly, and configuration
adjustable to the row width and the growth stage of the crop—with best
results in corn, sorghum and sunflower.
Bruening field tested the flame weeding prototype device during growing
seasons with four organic farmers in Abie, an hour’s drive north of Lincoln.
Knezevic used that data to study the effect on soil erosion. Further testing
at the Haskell Ag Lab yielded excellent results with the four-row flaming
unit: “chemically-clean” with greater than 80 percent season-long control of
weeds, deemed an excellent level of weed control by organic producers.
Back in the lab, AFI developed its own torch vaporizers, improving on
commercially available versions they’d used in their research. AFI’s design
was aimed to better stabilize the flame and burn more efficiently, which
Gogos said led to two patents.
“We developed an automated system with flame detection and reignition
for each torch, as well as a pendant with LED panels that the farmer can
use to electronically monitor the entire system of torches,” Gogos said.
He estimated the price for the manufactured four-row weed-flaming
unit at $15,000.
An April 2012 USA Today article documented
Mississippi Delta farmers’ weed control costs
doubling, to $100 per acre in some cases, due
to plants becoming resistant to glyphosate,
commercialized as Roundup.
Beyond treatment cost, removal of chemical
herbicide from the environment offers significant
value, Gogos said, especially when the flame weeding
process can preserve and enhance crop yield.
The summer of 2012 looks busy for AFI and its
partners: Behlen Manufacturing (Columbus, Neb.),
for marketing and sales of AFI products; Lincoln’s
TMCO, the main fabricator, and MIS Engineering,
handling flame detection, reignition and electronic
controls; and Moore-Built (Benedict, Neb.),
constructing the toolbar for AFI’s larger eight- and
12-row units.
Gogos said field testing and data gathering also continue. Eight
demonstration units are strategically placed for the growing season with
eight farmers in Midwest locations: Abie; Ridgeway, Ia.; Fairchild, Wis.;
Tampico, Ill.; and Braggadocio, Mo.
This fall, AFI plans to manufacture several four-, six-, eight-, 10- and 12row units. Requests from conventional farmers add to the orders, with a
David City, Neb., farmer already using a six-row unit this growing season.
Another area for AFI’s flame
weeding testing is more
archeological than agricultural.
Gogos and Knezevic are
consulting with weed scientists
and archeologists to use flame
weeding at several sites, in a
project funded by the European
Union. “We are starting with
the ancient Agora in Athens,
from the fifth century B.C.—right
underneath the Parthenon,” said
Gogos, who was born and raised
in Greece.
engineering @ nebraska 11
George Gogos
Bruening said a season might require one to three
flaming treatments to the field. With the device
using an average of five gallons of propane per
acre, the full season cost would range from about
$7 to $21 per acre, depending on the number of
treatments and the price of propane. For certain
chemical control methods, he estimated the cost per
acre ranges from $20 to $75 for a full season.
Steve Knezevic
Award in 2010 for his work in field studies and data gathering to improve
flame weeding technology.
by Carole Wilbeck
Lanny Nissen
S FArMerS And groWS nebrASkA bUSineSSeS
Chris Bruening
OF OPPORTUNITY
Reaching past a centu
Nebraska — Past, Pre
Ellipsometry measures thin films applied as coatings to the surfaces of materials. In electronics
these thin coatings control how a material can store data, display images on screens, or determine
how well a solar cell converts light into energy. Ellipsometry plays an important role in measuring
coatings for these important, everyday applications and more. It’s worth wondering: without
ellipsometry, would we enjoy the proliferation of electronic technology we have today? How did
ellipsometry become a renowned area of strength at the University of Nebraska? And what are its
possibilities for the future?
PAST
As early as 1888, scientists in Europe were studying how light reflects
off materials: the way each material has its own light signature, with
light reflected from a sample displaying a unique elliptical polarization
pattern, each revealing useful properties of
the material.
By the 1900s, a young physics professor at
the University of Nebraska named DeWitt
Bristol Brace—American-born but educated
in Germany—was experimenting with this
work. He was such a force that Nebraska was
building a lab to be named for him, when he
died abruptly in 1905 at age 46.
Nick Bashara
DeWitt Bristol Brace
Brace’s students carried on his work—some going on to work with
high regard in the U.S. Department of Commerce, for the Bureau of
Standards (now known as the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, or “NIST”).
Engineering became its own college at Nebraska in 1909, and aspects of
physics continue to be prominent in engineering studies—particularly
Electrical Engineering; with the 2011 opening of Jorgensen Hall, Physics and
“EE” (in Scott Engineering Center) are now neighbors across 16th Street.
In his article “Polarization on the Prairie,” Ron Synowicki, who earned
a B.S. in Physics and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering at UNL, wrote
that in 1956, EE Professor Nick Bashara founded the Electrical Materials
Laboratory in the basement of Ferguson Hall, where he studied the
effects of undesired porosity in thin films.
“Pores lowered the density of the material,” Synowicki wrote, “which also
lowered the dielectric constant of the films, causing semiconductor devices
to fail. The lower dielectric constant appeared as a lower refractive index
at optical wavelengths. Thus, it was possible to determine the quality of
12 Spring 2012
a deposited film by monitoring the refractive
index. Correctly determining that index
required precise knowledge of the film thickness,
however, Bashara recognized that ellipsometry
was perfectly suited for simultaneously
measuring the refractive index and thickness of
thin films. In 1961, work began in the Electrical
Materials Laboratory. Bashara's ellipsometers
were primarily homebuilt, often by heavily
modifying commercial Gaertner and Rudolph
ellipsometer systems.”
Bashara revived ellipsometry research at Nebraska. Throughout
the 1960s and 1970s, Bashara and his students made the University
of Nebraska internationally famous for ellipsometry studies. They
published 85 papers in major scientific journals and had 15 master’s or
doctorate degrees granted
from the university by
the time Bashara retired
in 1980. One graduate
student was Rasheed
Azzam, who arrived in
1967 and worked with
Bashara on generalized
ellipsometry and in pursuit
of new instrumentation
and analysis techniques.
Bashara and Azzam also
hosted the second and third
international conferences
on ellipsometry in 1968 and 1975 at UNL. Their collaboration led to
the book Ellipsometry and Polarized Light, published in 1977 as the first
English language text on this subject. “Researchers still turn to this text
today,” Synowicki noted, “as the ‘bible’ of ellipsometry.”
tury: Ellipsometry at
resent and Future
by Carole Wilbeck
PRESENT
John Woollam came to the University of
Nebraska–Lincoln in 1979 after 13 years with
NASA. He agreed to take over the work of Nick
Bashara (who was retiring). Woollam saw that
the instrumentation needed to be automated for
greater service in research on materials and thin
films. Computers enabled the automation of
data acquisition and were eventually powerful
enough to perform the complex calculations
required for data analysis in ellipsometry.
As Nebraska Engineering Contacts noted in
2003, “Optical coatings control the amounts
of light that are reflected or transmitted
whenever light is incident on the
boundary between two media. They
can be used in telecommunications
to set up multiple channels of coded
information simultaneously, while
selecting out certain frequencies.
They can also be used for
temperature control in space
through energy
conversion by
absorbing light from the sun and converting
the heat that is absorbed.”
In an early example of technology transfer,
the J.A. Woollam Company was founded in
1987: with a cadre of graduate students, the
company began manufacturing research
ellipsometers in Lincoln. Woollam, his
students and colleagues, have kept a successful
focus on what researchers and industry need
from their optics equipment.
The company also does a good job keeping
Nebraska graduates in the state, Synowicki
observed.
Woollam works with both undergraduate
and graduate students and fosters long-term
relationships. Scholarships and fellowships,
as well as donated instruments, are additional
benefits. Nebraska students who learn how
to operate ellipsometers are more valuable to
partners in industry because of that skill set.
Celebrating 25 years in 2012, the J.A.
Woollam Co. has grown to more than 50
employees, with more than 140
patents.
Leon Castro, an EE alumnus who now
works for NUtech Ventures and helps
commercialize technologies
developed at UNL, said Woollam
positively influenced his career.
“As a student I conducted
research for John, and I valued
his mentoring–helping his
students make the best choices
with their research to advance
their careers,” Castro said. “Also
John Woollam
the economic impact for Lincoln
and Nebraska, to have this
world-class company here, is incredible.”
Engineering @ Nebraska 13
Reaching past a century: Ellipsometry at
Nebraska — Past, Present and Future
FUTURE
As Bashara passed the Nebraska ellipsometry
suited for the application. It earned Schubert designation as a Fellow of
the American Physical Society (APS) and prompts strong international
collaboration—with frequent visitors to Leipzig and Lincoln among
a core group from France, Sweden, Africa, Portugal, Spain and Great
Britain. These peers welcome his Nebraska students to join in an elite
research community.
Schubert, professor of electrical engineering,
was an undergraduate at Universitat Leipzig
Mathias Schubert
in Germany—another great center of
ellipsometry—when he first visited Lincoln.
It was 1993 when he was first hosted by Woollam’s research group;
Schubert had been sent to Nebraska to “learn how to do ellipsometry” with
equipment purchased by the department where he studied.
He spent his time focused on semi-conductor applications, and “before
my return flight, John took me to O Street for a beer and started talking
about possibilities
in characterizing
anisotropic
materials—a wild
idea,” Schubert
recalled. “John said
‘work on it,’ and I did
… I came back to
Nebraska each year
to work on another
application and solve
another problem.”
UNL also sends a strong contingent to meetings of the American Vacuum
Society (AVS) and is part of the programmatic leadership, Schubert said,
adding that many research partners come to AVS “because we are there.”
With funding through the Nebraska Experimental Program to Stimulate
Competitive Research (EPSCoR), Schubert is co-directing with Dussault
the newly formed UNL Center for Nanohybrid Functional Materials
(CNFM), which combines 17 principal investigators throughout the state.
Ellipsometry is at the heart of this multi-faceted endeavor, helping to
characterize materials for a range of uses, and Schubert envisions a lab with
a large footprint, now taking shape in Scott Engineering Center.
When Woollam
scaled back from
UNL, Schubert
was hired as an associate professor: an ideal opportunity to carry on
the university’s ellipsometry operations. “I brought with me a 40-foot
container with equipment including prototypes that blended with UNL’s
work,” Schubert said. “I also brought three students and one post-doctoral
research associate, and soon we were collaborating throughout the
department and campus.”
Opportunities to work with companies
that could grow at Nebraska Innovation
Campus excite Schubert and his team.
“It’s a fantastic time for research [and
ellipsometry] at UNL—it’s becoming
stronger and with much more impact.”
torch to Woollam, in turn Mathias Schubert
carries it to enlighten new frontiers in advancing
the research in optics and beyond.
“One focus of CNFM is organic materials,” Schubert explained. This
gathering of partner researchers opens new areas of work and funding:
“Suddenly we are talking about sensing and detecting how cancer may
develop, how diseases spread, how aging progresses—targeting current
and future properties of materials
highly relevant for life sciences.” He
cites work underway with established
companies including Procter & Gamble,
Osram, Emcore Corp., and Nvisage
Technologies.
Schubert’s team quickly integrated with EE colleagues and beyond,
including Shannon Bartelt-Hunt in Civil Engineering, Angela Pannier
in Biological Systems Engineering, Patrick Dussault and Rebecca Lai in
Chemistry, and Stephen Ducharme in Physics.
Schubert is recognized for his cutting-edge work in applying existing
methods in new research. His Optical Hall effect, discovered using
instrumentation built at UNL with support from the National Science
Foundation, applies generalized ellipsometry to materials with free
electrons subjected to external magnetic fields—something early experts
predicted but couldn’t prove.
His work relates to analyzing electrical conductivity in multiple layered
structures, and helps with characterizing novel materials for modern
electronics devices, with structures and materials that are naturally best14 Spring 2012
Electrical Engineering graduate student Brian Rodenhausen works with
Biological Systems Engineering graduate student Tadas Kasputis on
biomedical thin films applications using ellipsometry. Inset: powerful
magnets augment ellipsometry research at UNL.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
>
Seniors Tyler Borcyk (Biological Systems
Engineering) and Nate Otten (Mechanical
Engineering) were named UNL Chancellor’s
Scholars for maintaining a 4.0 grade point
average in all their collegiate work.
Dean Tim Wei was interviewed by
Hundreds of guests enjoyed Omaha in April
during the Architectural Engineering
Institute student conference hosted by
UNL’s Durham School of Architectural
Engineering and Construction.
Nebraska Engineering hosted a middle
school KidWind project competition during
E-Week 2012.
UNL faculty including David Jones,
associate dean of the College of Engineering,
were fellows in the 2011-12 CIC Academic
Leadership Program.
UNL Curling Club in 2012 included (left to right):
team captain Michael McEniry from engineering,
and UNL students Rachel Rixen, Kit Connell, and
Morgan Rose. The team won the Silver Medal
at the Midwest College Curling Championships
March 11 in Hartland, Wis.
NUtech Ventures’ Executive Director
David Conrad and MME Professor
Shane farritor co-taught a course on
“Entrepreneurship for Engineers” in the
spring. Farritor and Computer Science
& Engineering student Calvin Pappas,
founder of SelectOut, spoke at the 2012
Nebraska Summit on Entrepreneurship.
NUtech Ventures offers videos from several
of its programs to serve as resources for
entrepreneurs; learn more at http://www.
youtube.com/user/nutechventures/videos.
Jared Ostdiek, a junior majoring in Biological
Systems Engineering, is a 2012 Goldwater
Scholar. This year, UNL is one of four schools
that received all four Goldwater Scholars it
nominated—a record number.
NBCLearn about his research on fluid
dynamics and how it helps swimmers on the
U.S. Olympic team. Watch for this feature to
air during the 2012 Summer Games.
Durham School student Matt Lepper was
featured in a Lincoln Journal Star article
about interns working at the Pinnacle
Bank Arena in construction at Lincoln’s
Haymarket.
Impact the World, a Big Ten Network
program about how B1G schools make
a difference, filmed several segments in
Lincoln. Watch the Nebraska Engineering
videos: Surgical robots at http://go.unl.
edu/surg-robo and SAfEr Barrier at http://
go.unl.edu/safer-b. The SAFER Barrier,
developed at UNL, was again cited for lifesaving performance in a 2012 crash by Danica
Patrick at the Daytona Speedway.
b1g red goes big time at
AiAA events
The American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics has ramped up its presence in
Nebraska as three UNL teams traveled to AIAA
competitions this spring. The University Student
Launch Initiative (USLI) gathered rocket teams in
Huntsville, Ala., where the Huskers placed third for
altitude closest to the goal in their first appearance at
the event. Point totals were: 1st--Florida A&M, 5270;
2nd--Florida State, 5237; and 3rd-Nebraska, 5228.
“We are extremely excited to get third,” said
computer engineering sophomore Paul Kubitschek.
“We beat the Big Ten schools (Michigan, Purdue
and Penn State) there, as well as MIT!”
The AIAA Design-Build-Fly team was grounded
in Wichita due to severe weather during
competition weekend. And a UNL Lunabotics
team prepared to compete in mid-May in a
challenge to develop a lunar robotic to tackle
tasks typical of NASA moon missions.
Read more about the rocketry team in the Daily
Nebraskan: http://go.unl.edu/launch.
Robotics from the Mechanical &
Materials Engineering Department
generated a record-breaking session of
Sunday With A Scientist, with hundreds
of families visiting the Nebraska State
Museum at Morrill Hall on Jan. 15. The
popular “Robot Take-over” was led by MME
Professor Shane Farritor and his students.
The Mid-America Transportation Center
based at UNL won a $3.5 million federal grant
to continue improving highway and rail safety
in the region. Larry Rilett, MATC director and
Keith W. Klaasmeyer Chair in Engineering
and Technology, said the funds from the U.S.
Department of Transportation will allow the
university to increase the number of students
and faculty involved in the undergraduate,
graduate and professional programs of the
center's consortium members.
Mathias Schubert, professor of electrical
engineering, was elected a fellow of the
American Physical Society. Schubert was
cited by the APS council for “development
of generalized ellipsometry and the
invention of the Optical Hall Effect, and
their transformative potential for industrial
characterization of materials properties.”
engineering @ nebraska 15
>
S
tudents in UNL’s
Durham School of
Architectural
Engineering and
Construction hoped to
earn one award at the
Architectural Engineering
Institute’s annual national
student conference—
instead they won in two
out of five categories.
the durham School raises the bar and
rises to the challenge
In the third annual Charles
Pankow Foundation
competition at the 2012 AEI student gathering,
collegiate teams presented designs for a
high-security government office building with
considerations for energy conservation,
sustainability, accessibility, durability,
productivity and other factors. Top honors in
the Structural and Mechanical categories went
to The Durham School team: Kelli Augspurger,
Brendan Headley, Holly Brink, Tyler Jensen,
Adam Brumbaugh, Kyle Kauzlarich, Andy
Gilliam, Jacob Zach and James Dougherty, Jr.
The team was advised by Clarence Waters,
professor of architectural engineering.
“I am extremely pleased with the
performance of UNL's Architectural
Engineering (AE) students in this AEI
national competition. We are blessed
with truly outstanding students. I
attribute this success to the accredited
BS/MAE program requiring five years of
study and a 3.0 minimum GPA of all
students, and to our strong ties with
industry. When you raise the bar,
excellent students rise to the challenge.”
- Clarence Waters, DSAEC professor
SAe teams gear up for action
Nebraska’s teams are gaining recognition in
Society of Automotive Engineers’ competitions.
UNL’s Baja team earned fourth place overall
(highest finish in team history) over 80 other
teams in the annual competition at Oregon in
May. Nebraska’s top 10 performances in rock
crawl, hill climb and acceleration put them fifth
overall in the dynamic events, adding to a
ninth place in the endurance event. They
headed to Wisconsin for the June
competition, seeking similar or
stronger results.
Nebraska’s new Formula team
prepared for more than 80
collegiate teams to arrive in June
for a competition that relocated
from California to Lincoln. Visit
the Nebraska Engineering
website for updates, or learn
more about the teams at
http://go.unl.edu/fsae (Formula)
and http://go.unl.edu/baja (Baja).
16 Spring 2012
The Nebraska students
worked hard since August
2011 on their entries,
Waters noted, and had
presented their work to
local industry professionals
and faculty in preparation
for the event. He added that
one of the industry
reviewers indicated one of
the presentations was the
best he had ever seen from
either students or
professionals.
Nebraska was the “home team” for the event,
held April 20-21 in Omaha with hundreds of
participants arriving from around the nation.
UNL competed with teams from Kansas State
University, Tennessee State University, Drexel
University, Oklahoma State University, Texas
A&M University-Kingsville, Missouri
University of Science and Technology,
Milwaukee School of Engineering and the
University of Wyoming. Judges were industry
professionals with several top A/E firms from
around the nation.
huskers soar at nASA’s Microgravity U
A Nebraska Engineering team headed to NASA’s Johnson Space Center
in Houston in April for the fifth year of testing projects developed for
Microgravity University. This year, the Huskers worked with the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and its partner, Cbana Labs, to develop
environmental monitoring sensors for the International Space Station
(ISS). The students' work involved volatile organic compound (VOC)
detectors by Cbana Labs, based on micro-electro-mechanical systems
(MEMS) technology. One of Cbana's sensors is a MEMS-based gas
chromatograph with a micro flame ionization detector (FID). UNL’s role
was to build a smaller version of the FID device, which will help detect
potentially harmful gases in the crew cabin of the ISS. Work on both the
Space Shuttle and the International Space Station has shown that flames,
even micro-flames, behave quite differently in microgravity. Testing the
performance of an FID device in microgravity, compared with the lab,
should give valuable insight on whether the design is suitable for space
flight or if redesign is needed.
Photo courtesy of NASA
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Engineering students combined art and science
in winning ways for their entries in the UNL
Nano Art Contest, sponsored by the
Nebraska Center for Materials & Nanoscience:
Engineers Without Borders’ NU Student
Chapter returned to Madagascar in May with
resources boosted by a Nebraska Engineering
alumnus’ donation. Byron Stigge ’68 MECH
(in sportcoat, with the group) and his wife,
Linda, offered EWB-NU $5,000 if the chapter
could raise a matching level of funds. Stigge leads
a Bobcat dealership—Omaha Tractor Inc.—and
was inspired to help when EWB-NU faculty
co-adviser Shannon Bartelt-Hunt (UNL assistant
professor of civil engineering) spoke at a meeting
of the Rotary Club of Omaha Suburban. With
the matching challenge, EWB-NU students
were active all spring to meet and exceed the
goal: mainly by working at several local sports
concession stands. EWB-NU continues its efforts
to bring sustainable water filtration and solar
power to Kianjavato: a community near a habitat
of endangered lemurs, where Omaha’s Henry
Doorly Zoo operates a field station.
IMSE student Danielle Simpson was one of
several Nebraska Engineering students who
served as judges at the Lincoln Public Schools
Science Fair in March.
Engineeering students Tara Asgarpoor,
Victoria fry, Travis Jackson, Monica Krause,
Michael Mumaugh and Brandon Nieveen
achieved membership in UNL’s prestigious
Mortar Board & Innocents Society. The selection
is based on leadership, scholarship and service to
the university and greater community.
1st Place—Nickel Monosilicide Jungle by
Yang Gao, Electrical Engineering
2nd Place—Nano Garden by Matt Mitchell,
Electrical Engineering
3rd Place—Carbon fiber surrounded by copper
oxide by Thomas Guillemet, Mechanical &
Materials Engineering
Honorable Mention— A Blue Earth with NSF
by Wei Xiong, Electrical Engineering
View the Nano Art Contest winners at
http://go.unl.edu/3ki.
Sandhills Publishing announced a gift
commitment to the University of Nebraska
Foundation to create the Sandhills Publishing
Student Program, benefitting Computer
Science & Engineering at UNL. Sandhills
Publishing Scholarships will provide
scholarship awards of $8,000 each to eight
students a year. Also included in the program
are company internship opportunities and
support for the Sandhills Publishing visiting
instructor, supporting an annual elective
course available to sophomores and above.
The Nebraska student and professional chapters
of the Society of Women Engineers will
host SWE’s 2013 RegionI Meeting in Omaha
for members from Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas,
Missouri, Oklahoma and Wyoming. The UNL
Student Chapter earned recognition for its growth
rate: at 182 percent, it was the highest increase
among SWE student chapters nationwide.
CHME Professor Hendrik Viljoen, and
alumni Joel TerMaat and Scott Whitney,
developed the idea for a device—now Streck
Inc.'s Philisa Thermal Cycler—to greatly
accelerate DNA testing.
The Engineering Student Advisory Board (eSAB)
in Lincoln awarded Outstanding Student, Staff,
and Faculty honors to Victoria fry, a junior
chemical engineering major; Mike Hoffmann,
professor and adviser with the Department of
Electrical Engineering; and Lark Bear, career
development and academic advising coordinator
in the Dean’s Office. The nominations sought
individuals who made a positive difference in the
Nebraska Engineering student community.
The Durham School hosted its second
Sarah Schroeder, a BSE senior, won the
annual Ph.D. Symposium in March, which
brought dozens of candidates for teaching and
leadership to Nebraska.
Yaley Award for Leadership from the Nebraska
Alumni Association. Schroeder was president of
its Scarlet Guard student group, which grew from
316 members in 2010 to 780 members in 2012.
She is active in the Cather Circle, the ASUN
Environmental Sustainability Committee and
the National Society of Professional Engineers’
student chapter at UNL. She was an algebra
and calculus tutor and has volunteered at the
Lighthouse afterschool program.
ASCE regionals hosted in Lincoln
Student teams tested steel bridges, concrete
canoes and build-your-own bowling balls
at the American Society of Civil Engineers’
Midcontinent regional
event in April in
Lincoln. Teams from
the college’s civil
engineering programs
in Lincoln and Omaha
welcomed a dozen
peer schools including
Kansas, Oklahoma
and Arkansas.
Zach Connell, Eric Markvicka,
Nate Otten, Abby Kelly and robert
Jacobberger earned 2012 Graduate
Research Fellowships from the National
Science Foundation. From MME: Connell,
of Denton, Neb., plans to pursue a Ph.D. at
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
in Electronic Materials Research; Markvicka,
from Ravenna, Neb., has already started his
master’s degree in mechanical engineering
while working in the UNL Robotics Lab led by
Professor Shane Farritor; and Otten, of Sioux
Falls, S.D., plans to begin his master’s degree
studies in the robotics program at Carnegie
Mellon University. Kelly, a BSE student from
Omaha, seeks a master’s degree in Biomedical
Engineering at UNL. CHME’s Jacobberger
now studies materials engineering at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Seth retires after 40+ years with CSE
It was standing room only, and several past
students Skyped in, to honor Sharad Seth,
who retired this spring
from Computer Science
& Engineering. At his
"last lecture," special
guests were leaders from
the early years of the
department.
Sharad Seth
engineering @ nebraska 17
CLASS NOTES
in Memoriam
Vedant Patel
>
vedant Patel, a senior in
Computer & Electronics Engineering,
was tragically slain in March at his
Omaha apartment. His bachelor’s
degree was awarded posthumously
during Commencement May 5 in
Omaha. A scholarship fund is now
established; to donate, visit
http://go.unl.edu/vedant
1950s
Dale L. Plugge, P.E.,’51 MECH, worked to
engineer crop-conditioning equipment for
manufacturing in several countries, including
Argentina, Europe, Mexico, East Africa and
China. He has been involved in agricultural
and commercial construction transportation
trailers, and fabrication and design of semiconductor coolers for the electronics industry.
roger robb, ‘57 MECH, M.S. ’73, is retired
and lives in Arizona. During his career, he
helped design, build, test and operate Nebraska’s
Hallam Nuclear Power Facility and the Palo
Verde Nuclear Facility in Arizona. He also did
development testing on SR-71 Blackbird aircraft.
Wellington Meier, Jr., ‘59 CIVE, M.S. ’60
ENGM, co-authored the book Construction
Quality: Do It Right Or Pay The Price,
published by Prentice Hall. He is retired and
lives in Tempe, Ariz.
1960s
Paul M. Martin, ‘62 MECH, M.S. ’70 MECH,
is a senior engineer with the City of Dallas
(Texas). He works on reducing costs for the
city by finding ways to consume less energy.
He’s proud of increasing sustainability with
innovative solutions at various buildings. He
has taught as an adjunct professor at Southern
Methodist University’s Facilities Management
master’s degree program. He became a LEED
certified professional in 2007.
Charles Goodrich, ’66 ELEC, writes, “I
designed a line of AM and FM high power
broadcast transmitters manufactured in
Omaha and sold and operating all over the
world. The transmitters continue to provide a
18 Spring 2012
Bill Hewit
bill hewit, ’50 MECH, died Dec. 31 at age 88. He
was born June 8, 1923 in David City and served as a
B-24 pilot during WWII. He attended the University
of Nebraska and married his wife, Betty-Ruth, also
a student. After earning his B.S. degree, he became
an independent oil producer. In 1994 the Hewits
endowed the James K. Ludwickson Professorship in
the Department of Mechanical Engineering, to honor
a favorite faculty member who was especially devoted
to student development. Hewit is survived by his wife,
daughter and granddaughter.
public service to major cities as well as remote
villages, informing listeners of current events
and information during emergencies.”
A. r. (Bert) Schultz, ’68 CIVE, with three
other engineers, in 1984 formed INTEC:
an International Offshore Engineering and
Construction Management Consulting
Company, headquartered in Houston. By
2000, the company consisted of 450 employees
in six worldwide offices. He was the senior
vice president of projects and retired in 2001
when the company was acquired by Heerema
International, a Dutch offshore construction
company. Schultz was the engineering and
construction manager for several large offshore
projects in Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico,
Taiwan and Malaysia. He is now active in a
number of community commitments.
1970s
William P. Glaser, ’71 CIVE, is a project manager
with Nevada Department of Transportation in
Carson City. He has worked on rebuilding the
roadway system outside the terminal at San Diego
International Airport, including five bridges to
separate the traffic; he also worked on the new
terminal building. Glaser is currently president
of his local UNL alumni chapter, Northern
Nevadans for Nebraska: “For one of our activities
I go to three local high school award ceremonies
and present a copy of Willa Cather's book, My
Antonía, to the student selected by the faculty as
the outstanding English student.”
David fleck, P.E., ‘72 CIVE, earned an Alumni
Achievement Award from the Nebraska Alumni
Association. Fleck chairs the board of the Sioux
Falls Construction Co., and established an
alumni chapter in South Dakota.
Marc Nagele, ’76 CHME, is a worldwide
sales manager with Chevron Phillips Chemical
in Texas. He manages “a group of Type A
sales people in a worldwide organization that
sells products in over 100 countries.” He adds:
“My engineering background allows me to
contribute to my customer's success in ways
that traditional sales people cannot.”
1980s
Thomas Bejot, ’80 AGEN, of Ainsworth, is
the owner of Bejot Feedlots. His partnership
includes a feed lot with 11,000 head of cattle
and a 3,000-acre farm.
Douglas J. Harris, Sr., ’80 ELEC, is a
technical manager with Honeywell, Phoenix.
He earned his M.B.A. from Keller Graduate
School of Management in 1993 and is a
Certified Six Sigma Black Belt and Certified
Project Management Professional (PMP). In
his recent work, he has managed development
of the first certified large-format cockpit
Electronic Information System for large
business jet and air transport applications.
He was on a team responsible for all new
displays and graphics technology development
in support of Honeywell Aerospace's Crew
Interface Technology portfolio.
Timothy W. Merrihew, P.E., ’85 CIVE,
is a capital projects and design manager for
the Village of Wheeling (Ill.), Public Works
Department.
Vern Kuehn, ’87 CM, is a senior vice
president with Kiewit Building Group, Inc.,
in Arlington, Va. He recently began this
position and relocated from Kiewit Building
Group in Omaha, where he worked on the TD
Ameritrade Park, among other projects.
Add your class notes at www.engineering.unl.edu/alumni/alumniUpdateform.shtml
1990s
Michael Bowen, ’94 CM, owns The
Weatherization Company in New Orleans. He
writes that he is putting together a program to
lead young African-American males into the
construction industry as a profession, noting that
this career path “changed my life incredibly.”
Brian Yates. ’95 MECH, is a product and
technology concept manager with Dell
Computers in Texas: “working to provide
design concepts that use the latest technologies
and the lowest cost.”
Kristan J. Yoder,
’95 CM, received the
Nebraska Alumni
Association’s Young
Alumni Achievement
Award. He is founder,
owner and president
of Quick Connect,
a computer services
Kristan Yoder
and sales business
with locations in Lincoln and Omaha. Quick
Connect was named one of KFOR’s Best of
Lincoln businesses and won the Better Business
Bureau’s Integrity Award in 2011. He also serves
as a small business counselor with SCORE,
stimulating business growth and long-term
economic stability in the area. Yoder is a third
degree black belt in Judo and volunteers as a
judo instructor at Lincoln’s Roseberry Academy.
2000s
Keith Drey, ’04 IMSE, is a production manager
with Natura Pet Products in Fremont. He values
being part of a growing company that has
flourished through recent challenging economic
times and food recalls. His recent focus has been
“improving production efficiency with new
construction projects underway and ongoing
(for) increased ingredient storage and warehouse
expansion.” Drey enjoys working to “meet
varying customer demands in terms of product
innovation and needed timeliness.”
Michelle Vigeant, Ph.D. ’08 AE, received
a $422,218 NSF CAREER Award to study
“Importance of Late-Sound-Field Properties and
Listener Envelopment to Room Acoustic Quality
and Design.” One of the nine concert halls that
she plans to survey across the US and Europe
is Omaha's Holland Performing Arts Center.
Vigeant is the second graduate from DSAEC's
Architectural Engineering program to receive
an NSF CAREER award (the first was David
Bradley at Vassar College in 2011).
2010s
Kevin Davis, ‘11 M.Eng., is a software engineering
manager with Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Ga. He
writes, “I had the privilege of working for Lockheed
Martin Skunk Works for six years. The Skunk
Works is famous for its revolutionary designs in
aeronautical engineering, like the F-117 Stealth, U2
and the SR-71 Blackbird.”
MMe 2012 reunion offers
memories and updates
Mechanical & Materials Engineering, merged
from Mechanical Engineering and Engineering
Mechanics for stronger capabilities and Big Ten
Conference presence, gathered 50 alumni and
friends for a reunion during April’s Big Red
Weekend. Thanks to the Nebraska Alumni
Association, guests visited E-Week Open House
and toured athletic facilities, then joined faculty
and college leaders including Dean Tim Wei,
Department Chair Jeff Shield and alumnus Bob
Brightfelt ’65, M.S. ’67 for a barbecue dinner.
Norm Newhouse ’73 was the evening’s master of
ceremonies, and current MME students showed
off their competitive projects.
See more photos of the 2012 MME Reunion at
http://go.unl.edu/mmereunion.
Mechanical engineering alumni Robert L. Koch,
Wilmer J. Hergenrader and Warren E. Andrews-all Class of 1954–hadn't seen each other since
graduation, but caught up at the MME Reunion.
Below: MECH alumni from several eras joined a
tour of department facilities during the reunion.
Construction Alumni honored
Joseph M. Delgado, ’80 CM, was recognized
in Lincoln and Pat Cuddigan, ’03 CET, earned
recognition in Omaha as The Durham School
celebrated its 2012 Construction Alumni of the
Year awards.
Delgado is
president of TCW
Construction, Inc./
TCW Environmental
Services/Husker
Concrete LLC
in Lincoln. After
graduating from
Joseph M. Delgado
UNL, Delgado worked
for Peter Kiewit &
Sons in Omaha.
In 1985, Delgado
joined his father in
the family business,
Tony’s Cement
Works. The younger
Delgado expanded
the operations
from residential
Pat Cuddigan
to commercial
construction and later environmental construction.
He further led the company into hazardous waste
removals, remediation system installation, and
operations and maintenance of the systems.
More recently, the company expanded with a
Butler Manufacturing dealership, providing
metal building systems for a variety of
construction needs. Installing a building for the
U.S. Department of the Interior – U.S. Forestry
Service, Delgado’s team earned an Excellence
in Construction Award from the Associated
Builders and Contractors. His company has
conducted projects for the Federal Aviation
Administration, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers.
Cuddigan, as an undergraduate, exhibited
excellent interpersonal skills and the potential to
become a successful project manager, said Terry
Foster, professor of construction engineering.
After graduating, he joined the Kiewit Building
Group where he has become a senior project
manager with projects ranging up to $25 million
in size. He has devoted his time to help DSAEC
construction classes conduct “real world”
learning. While pursuing his M.B.A. he manages
the $7.5 million PKI renovation project.
engineering @ nebraska 19
FACULtY ProFiLe:
bArteLt-hUnt WinS CAreer
AWArd to StUdY environMentAL
iMPACt oF Prion diSeASeS by Ashley Washburn
D
eadly prion diseases, such as chronic
wasting disease and bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, survive in soil for years
and can remain infectious in the environment.
A University of Nebraska-Lincoln engineer's
research could provide insights about how to
control this soil-borne threat.
Prion diseases are highly infectious and can
spread to soil through blood, saliva, feces, urine
and even antler velvet. Once in the soil,
infectious prion proteins can persist and remain
infectious for decades. Although environmental
transmission is considered an important route
for spreading of prion diseases, researchers have
limited understanding of how prions behave in
the environment.
Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, assistant professor of civil
engineering, is shedding light on the complex
interaction between prions and soil. A five-year,
$413,883 Faculty Early Career Development
Program award from the National Science
Foundation supports this research. Also known
as a CAREER award, this is NSF's most
prestigious award for outstanding pre-tenure
faculty and supports their development as
researchers and teacher-scholars.
Chronic wasting disease, which attacks deer and
elk; scrapie, which infects goats and sheep; and
bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, which
affects cattle, are in a class of fatal illnesses known
as prion diseases. Prions are misshapen, infectious
20 Spring 2012
proteins that cause
wildlife or livestock
to lose body mass
and develop
neurological
problems. Though
rare, some prion
diseases pose a
serious human
health threat. The
best known is BSE, often called mad cow disease.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control website says
strong evidence indicates BSE was transmitted to
humans, primarily in the United Kingdom,
causing a variant form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
The human health risk from BSE in the United
States is extremely low, according to the CDC.
Unlike chemicals, which typically break down
relatively quickly in soil, prion proteins are
persistently potent.
"Chemical structures don't really change after
binding to soil, but protein confirmation does,"
Bartelt-Hunt said. "For prions, researchers believe
the protein conformation is what is responsible
for the properties of the disease. We have evidence
that if (prion proteins) attach to surfaces, like soil,
that can affect their biological properties."
Prion diseases are notoriously difficult to
eliminate, which is a major concern for wildlife
managers and livestock producers. The best way to
control scrapie in a sheep herd, for example, is to
quarantine the flock and eliminate the infected
animals. Eradicating chronic wasting disease in
wild deer or elk herds is usually up to state game
managers and nature.
Quarantine, however, doesn’t address the problem
of contaminated soil. Bartelt-Hunt said it's possible
that the way protein binds to soil may protect the
protein from environmental conditions that may
otherwise cause it to degrade. She hopes to find out.
Her CAREER project involves testing how
exposure to changing environmental conditions,
including heat and moisture, alters the protein
over time. Bartelt-Hunt said her goal is to
discover which factors may slow the prions'
ability to replicate. This information could offer
insights about where to look for environmental
contamination from prion diseases, or help
farmers and wildlife managers devise strategies
to clean soil after an outbreak.
Bartelt-Hunt said although the link between
prion diseases and human health is unknown, it
could become an environmental concern if
prions leached into the water supply. Disposing
of soil or decomposing carcasses from BSEcontaminated herds also poses health risks since
BSE prions are transmissible to humans.
According to the CDC, no strong evidence of
CWD transmission to humans has been found.
Bartelt-Hunt has studied the complex
interactions between prions and the environment
since joining UNL in 2006. Her CAREER award
collaborators are Nebraska Center for Materials
and Nanoscience researchers Mathias Schubert,
a UNL professor of electrical engineering, and
Jason Bartz, associate professor of medical
microbiology and immunology at Creighton
University. Bartelt-Hunt will use an instrument
developed by Schubert to evaluate changes in
prion conformation after the prions bind to
soil. Bartz is a longtime collaborator who has
provided insight on the biological aspects of
prion transmission.
The CAREER award also supports a project to
improve retention rates of minority and female
engineering students. Bartelt-Hunt said early in
their student careers, some students lack
confidence in their ability to solve engineering
problems because a traditional lecture format
does not foster those experiences. She is
developing lesson plans for her Introduction to
Environmental Engineering class that include
more problem-solving exercises and
collaboration between classmates. Pre- and
post-lesson evaluations will show whether these
exercises improved students' understanding of
basic engineering concepts.
"Some evidence shows that problem-based
learning opportunities can improve student
self-efficacy and make students more confident
that they can stick with engineering," she said.
Dunn shares secrets of success
John T. Dunn, Retired - Human Resource Manager for ExxonMobil Products Research
and Technology, B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Nebraska–Lincoln 1970
John T. Dunn
Dunn, '70 CHME, is a 1965 Kearney High School graduate. He serves on the Engineering Advisory
Board, speaks to Nebraska engineers about career development and, along with his wife, Nancy, is on
the University of Nebraska Foundation Board of Trustees. They established the Nancy D. and John T.
Dunn Scholarship Fund – Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Scholarships in 1994, and he was
a lead supporter and co-founder for the Chemical Engineering Alumni Excellence Fund established
in 2000 as an unrestricted fund for overall support of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Department. He is also a member of the University of Nebraska Foundation Engineering Campaign
Committee. The Dunns, who live in St. Petersburg, Fla., have two children and two grandchildren.
This spring 500+ students completed their
studies at Nebraska Engineering, with many
commencing their careers. This milestone
reminded John Dunn of when he graduated
and started working for ExxonMobil at its
Baton Rouge, La., refinery. He had several
important realizations as he began his first
“real-world” job.
“I was very pleased with my choice to have
studied chemical engineering, and I saw
that my education from Nebraska was
second to none,” Dunn said. “In the
refinery I worked alongside engineers from
all over—my peers included graduates from
MIT, Big Ten schools, and all the major
engineering programs.” He added, “I was
happy that my undergraduate years at
Nebraska resulted in a first-class education
(that) helped me compete very well.”
Soon, he made another key discovery: “I
found that I enjoyed helping people launch
and develop their careers.” Dunn gravitated
to supervisory positions including department
head of personnel at the Baton Rouge
Refinery. He advanced to Houston, then
New Jersey where he was employee relations
manager at Exxon’s Bayway Oil Refinery. He
joined Exxon Chemical Company’s
headquarters in Darien, Conn., as manager of
Planning, Policies and Benefits.
He rose to be manager of Human Resources
for a series of Exxon operations in New Jersey,
then became human resource manager of
ExxonMobil Products Research Department
when Exxon and Mobil merged in 2000. He
retired from that position in 2006.
Most of those years, Dunn returned to
Nebraska on recruiting trips. He enjoyed
talking with students, hearing their
questions and trying to provide information,
and encouraging them to work hard.
“I always told them, ‘If you have any liking for
the curriculum, stick with it—you’ll be able to
do anything with your engineering degree.’
My engineering degree took me into human
resources,” he said with genuine enthusiasm.
His top tip? “Get off to a fast start—in classes
and on the job,” Dunn said. “In class it’s
easier to maintain a high GPA, rather than
working to bring it back up, and the same
applies at work: if you can be active and take
initiative, you’ll have more opportunities.”
Dunn’s wisdom has served to motivate
alumni interested in helping the College
of Engineering achieve further success,
as private giving propels the college to
new levels of engineering education. To
do more in supporting students, faculty,
programs and research during this
Campaign for Nebraska for the College
of Engineering, Dunn and Advisory
Board members hope that all Nebraska
Engineering graduates will consider
paying it forward for students enrolled
now and in the future, allowing the best
engineering education possible for fellow
Nebraskans and beyond.
Again, he emphasized an early start—
advising alumni to “try engaging early in
some way and get in a pattern of doing
that. There are many ways to help, through
time or financial resources: going back to
UNL and recruiting for your current
organization, serving on an advisory board
with your department or the college, giving
college guest lectures, hosting site visits,
visiting E-Week …”
“The point is,” Dunn concluded, “when we
were students, we benefited from alumni
involvement—and now it’s our turn.”
To contribute or for
more information
about Campaign for
Nebraska's engineering
priorities, contact
Karen Moellering
at kmoellering@
nufoundation.org or
call 800-432-3216.
Karen Moellering, Senior Director of Development
COLLEGE OF
ENGINEERING
114 Othmer Hall
P.O. Box 880642
Lincoln, NE 68588-0642
www.engineering.unl.edu
Nebraska Engineering Alumni: please share your updates at
www.engineering.unl.edu/alumni/alumniUpdateForm.shtml
For the FUtUre:
For the FUtUre:
UnL durham School professor helms
Project Lead the Way nebraska,
building SteM learning structure
O
ne pipeline most Nebraskans agree about is putting more STEM
learning in the state’s K-12 schools.
Stu Bernstein, professor with UNL’s Durham School of Architectural
Engineering and Construction, serves as Nebraska’s affiliate director for
Project Lead the Way. PLTW is working nationwide to increase Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math education.
Bernstein connects with stakeholders throughout Nebraska: teachers
and administrators from K-12 schools and higher education—including
community colleges—as well as government leaders and industry
representatives. This spring, PLTW Nebraska gathered educators for a
conference in Kearney with Ken Maguire, PLTW’s director for the Upper
Midwest Region.
Sessions at the event included distance learning methods, collaboration
opportunities and discussion of teacher training in PLTW certification, as
well as presentations by students benefiting from enhanced coursework at
their PLTW partner schools. Bernstein said the gathering brought more
Nebraska schools into the process for offering PLTW curriculum. Again
this summer, PLTW hosts training institutes at UNL for teachers to lead
classes in their schools.
From left to right are students Robbie Pothoff and Spencer Shield,
PLTW regional director Ken Maguire, student Derek Zimmerman and
PLTW Nebraska affiliate director Stu Bernstein. The group discusses
a design project the students conducted using PLTW curriculum.
At the conference, Kearney Public Schools showed off project work from
PLTW units, and student presenter Derek Zimmerman noted “the most
rewarding part about PLTW classes is knowing how to create something
in real life.” It was a comment that resonated with the educators, further
motivating their work to extend STEM learning more widely across Nebraska.
– Carole Wilbeck