coen alumni newsletter fall 2013
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College of Engineering Alumni NewsletterTRANSCRIPT
Weather forecasters try to predict it.High-tech clothing is designed to resist it.Energy companies hope to harness it. AndInanc Senocak and his students are usingcomputational science and high-endcomputer systems to model it.
In J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,”Gollum tries to stump
Bilbo Baggins with a riddle:
Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.
“Wind, wind of course,” Bilboanswers.
The science of modeling andforecasting wind for energy resources isincredibly complex. It requires massive datasets and powerful, high performancecomputing capability. Accurate wind modelsare critical for evaluating wind farm siting
and layout for optimum power production. Models have to account for the effects of terrain,temperature and atmospheric conditions, and be able to predict speed, direction and turbulence. Amodel with this level of complexity requires the science of computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
NewsletterNewsletter
Today’s computing chips are incredibly complex and contain billions ofnano-scale transistors, allowing for fast, high-performance computers, pocket-sized smartphones that far outpace early desktop computers, and an explosionin handheld tablets.
Despite their ability to perform thousands of tasks in the blink of an eye,none of these devices even come close to rivaling the computing capabilitiesof the human brain. At least not yet. But a Boise State University researchteam could soon change that.
Electrical and computer engineering faculty Elisa Barney Smith, KrisCampbell and Vishal Saxena are joining forces on a project titled “CIF: Small:Realizing Chip-scale Bio-inspired Spiking Neural Networks with MonolithicallyIntegrated Nano-scale Memristors.”
Team members are experts in machine learning (artificial intelligence),integrated circuit design and memristor devices. Funded by a three-year,
$500,000 National Science Foundation grant, they have taken on the challengeof developing a new kind of computing architecture that works more like abrain than a traditional digital computer.
Researchers Building a Computer Chip Based on the Human BrainBy Kathleen Tuck
Senocak is an associate professor in theDepartment of Mechanical and BiomedicalEngineering. He recently presented the ongoingresearch in his laboratory at the InternationalConference on Future Technologies for WindEnergy, held Oct. 7-9 in Laramie, Wyo. The title ofhis presentation was “Microscale Wind Simulationsover Arbitrarily Complex Terrain using CartesianMethods and GPUs.”
Mechanical engineeringgraduate student ClancyUmphrey also attended theconference in Laramie, alongwith his labmates Rey DeLeon— a Ph.D. student and recipientof University of Idaho’sPresident’s Doctoral Scholars
award — and mechanical engineering senior LukeWeaver.
Last summer, Umphrey was accepted to theEarthCube Summer Institute 2013 at the San DiegoSupercomputer Center (SDSC) at University ofCalifornia, San Diego. He also is a recent recipientof the Idaho NASA EPSCoR Graduate Fellowship.
The EarthCube Summer Institute is designedprimarily for geoscience researchers engaged incomputational and data science, including graduatestudents, postdocs, faculty and research staff.
FFaallll 22001133
High Performance Computing Used to Model Big DataBy Rebecca Mirsky
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From the Dean’s DeskIt should come as no
surprise that the College ofEngineering is a major advocateof STEM education at BoiseState. Science, Technology,Engineering and Math are thebedrock on which every one ofour majors is built. But whatdoes that mean for our
students? The mention of these topics used to bringto mind images of thick textbooks with lots ofequations, late night hours running experiments in thelab, or solitary scholars whose best friends were theircomputers. But if you haven't been watching lately,STEM education is not what it used to be! Today atBoise State, we're coming up with a new equation for21st century STEM, and we’re using some detectivework to get there.
Like academic sleuths, we're looking at theevidence to find what works best for our students. I'mespecially excited about our recent grant from theNational Science Foundation to help faculty learnabout and adopt new teaching practices for STEMeducation. The WIDER-PERSIST project (describedfurther on page 4) is reaching across college anddepartmental boundaries, beginning with thefoundational STEM courses (e.g., General Chemistry,Calculus and Pre-calculus, General Physics, lowerdivision Engineering courses, and upper divisionGeoscience courses). Mathematics, which is crucial toSTEM student success and retention, is an importantfocus area. We’re redesigning fundamental coursesfrom the old, teacher-centered model to a new,learner-centered experience where students take anactive role in their education.
What does this look like in the classroom? Tothe students in Krishna Pakala’s Thermodynamicsclass, it looks like energy in the form of a potato chip(page 5). To the students in Gary Hunt’s Intro toEngineering class, it looks like a robot arm that canbe oriented to demonstrate trigonometry functions. Inmany other classes, students play various roles asproject team members, analyzing problems, devisingsolutions, and presenting findings.
The evidence shows that students learn more,and retain more, when they are actively engaged in thematerial – when they can hold something in theirhands, or when they have to figure out how to explainit to someone else. Evidence-based learning strategiesconnect textbook STEM topics with real-lifesituations and challenges. And as an added bonus – italso happens to be a lot of fun.
Amy Moll
Dean and ProfessorCollege of Engineering
College of Engineering Newsletter | Fall 2013
Dale Brown, a graduate student inthe Boise State University Departmentof Materials Science and Engineering, isthe recipient of a Nuclear MaterialsFellowship funded by the NuclearRegulatory Commission. The awardsupports the first year of study by ascience or engineering graduate student.
The purpose of the fellowship isto support development of a workforcewith technical expertise in nuclearscience and engineering and relatedtechnical fields. Recipients agree to workin a nuclear-related field for a specifiedperiod of time following graduation.
Engineering Student Earns Nuclear MaterialsFellowshipBy Kathleen Tuck
Engineering Student Holds Patent for ZipBinStorage BoxBy Leah Sherwood
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When little Michael tells Mary Poppins hewon’t clean his room because it isn’t fun, sheresponds by singing “A Spoonful of Sugar,” oneof the most iconic musical numbers in filmhistory, as the toys magically put themselvesaway.
Max Rothschild, a Boise State freshman,also disliked cleaning his room as a boy, but thesolution he came up with relies on ingenuityrather than magic. With the help of his father,he invented and patented ZipBin, a collapsiblestorage box perfect for holding toys.
When children are ready to play with their toys, they can unzip the four corners,transforming the box into a mat with the toys on top. When the children are finished playing,their toys and mat zip back up into the storage unit. The device is made from polypropylenefor ease of cleaning.
For more information about Neat-Oh! or ZipBin, visit neat-oh.com
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The Boise State Department ofElectrical and Computer Engineering hasawarded its first doctoral assistantships totwo students from the Basque Country. Thescholarships are made possible by apartnership among the engineeringdepartment, the Basque Studies Program atBoise State, and the Basque Museum andCultural Center in downtown Boise.
Ander Martinez and Virginia Molina were each awarded an assistantship upon theiracceptance into the electrical and computer engineering doctoral program. The assistantshipcovers the students’ cost of tuition and provides them with a living allowance for theduration of the program.
Basque Engineering Students Awarded ScholarshipsBy Kathleen Tuck
Conceptual image of high energy particlesinducing defects in an atomically thin graphene
sheet. Understanding the effects of suchprocesses could lead to novel radiation sensors orenergy-efficient transistors for applications in the
energy and aerospace industries.
Bed Bath & Beyond
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COEN Faculty and Students in Action
Yonnie Chyung
A research article titled “An investigation of the profiles of satisfyingand dissatisfying factors in e-learning” by Yonnie Chyung, professor oforganizational performance and workplace Learning (OPWL), and MarkVachon, an OPWL alum, was invited to be reprinted in the journalPerformance Improvement Quarterly. The article was originally publishedin 2005 and is one of five selected influential articles from the past in theperformance improvement field.
Chyung’s research discusses ways to deal with “healthy” and “unhealthy” attrition inonline learning environments. In the current journal issue, Chyung and OPWL student andgraduate assistant Susan Virgilio also published an article with an update on the previousresearch topic. The new article is titled “Watching both sides of the e-learning satisfactionseesaw.”
Amy Moll
Amy Moll, dean of the College of Engineering, was quoted in anIdaho Statesman story about local firms stepping up to help Boise Statesecure a $1 million grant to beef up the computer science program. Readabout it here:http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/09/13/2757883/tech-firms-kick-in-for-computer.html
Casey Cline
Casey Cline, assistant professor of construction management, wasquoted in an Idaho Business Review story about the use of tablets atconstructions sites. Cline is requiring freshmen enrolled in his classed touse iPads. The story was later rewritten by the Associated Press.
Sin Ming Loo
A Boise State research partnership with two other universities mayreduce miners’ exposure to diesel exhaust and its harmful health effects.
A $405,301 exploratory grant from the National Institute forOccupational Safety and Health will permit researchers from Boise State,University of Washington and Montana Tech to evaluate novel approachesfor assessing the exposure of underground miners to diesel exhaust.
College of Engineering Newsletter | Fall 2013
Student-Created Training for Charity Wins Award
Ronald McDonald House Charities(RMHC) of Idaho recently won an awardfor a service standards training that wascreated by a team of Boise StateOrganizational Performance andWorkplace Learning (OPWL) students.
RMHC Global’s team selected it as the winning entryover three other finalists in the Management Effectivenesscategory at the 2013 international conference in Chicago. Aspart of the award, RMHC Idaho received a $10,000unrestricted grant.
Engineering Students Experience UniqueInternship in Maryland
By Rebecca Mirsky
Three students from theDepartment of MaterialsScience and Engineering (MSE)participated in a summerinternship experience at theNational Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Md.
The experience was highlighted in theOctober/November 2013 bulletin of the American CeramicsSociety (ACerS) (volume 92, number 8). Junior Kevin Talleywrote the article describing his experience with fellow MSEstudents Koyuki Fritchman (senior) and Eric Nelson(sophomore). Talley also serves as a delegate for ACerS’President’s Council of Student Advisors, a liaison groupbetween the professional society and students of ceramicsand materials science.
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As part of aresearch effort aimedat controlling matter atthe nanoscale, BoiseState Universityresearchers havecreated a molecule-sized Boise State logousing DNA. The team,
led by Elton Graugnard, assistant professor in the Department of MaterialsScience and Engineering (MSE), used a technique known as “DNAorigami,” which was invented by Paul Rothemund, senior research fellow atCaltech.
Undergraduate MSE major Kelly Schutt and MSE Ph.D. student BrettWard programmed a long loop of single-stranded DNA to “fold” into theshape of the B logo using short, complementary, single-stranded “staple”DNA strands to hold the structure together. Using DNA-specificcomputer-aided design (CAD) software called caDNAno (created by Shawn
Douglas, now at UCSF), Schutt generated a design to program the DNAinto the B logo shape. With feedback from MSE Ph.D. student SadaoTakabayashi, the CAD design was rendered into molecular form to confirmthe target structure and analyzed by finite-element analysis using CanDo(created by Mark Bathe, MIT).
The DNA strands were mixed in solution, and roughly one trillionidentical DNA Bs were produced in about four hours. (For comparison, inthe late 1980s, IBM was able to create just one copy of their logo using 35xenon atoms.) Proper synthesis of the Bs was verified by imaging thestructures with a Bruker MultiMode 8 atomic force microscope. Theresults, shown in the figure above, demonstrate the ability to program DNAto form arbitrary shapes with extreme precision. Such DNA structures arebeing developed in Boise State’s Nanoscale Materials and Device Group asnovel materials for building future electronic and optical computer circuitsfrom molecules.
Read more athttp://news.boisestate.edu/update/2013/09/23/researchers-take-boise-state-logo-new-nano-limits/
Researchers Take Boise State and its Logo to New Nano Limits
By Rebecca Mirsky
Dale Stephenson, professor and chair of Boise State’sDepartment of Community and Environmental Health, andChris Simpson, associate professor at the University ofWashington, are co-principal investigators. Sin Ming Loo,professor and chair of Boise State’s Department of Electricaland Computer Engineering, is a co-investigator on thisproject.
4 College of Engineering Newsletter | Fall 2013 C
Over the pastdecade, teachingmethodologieshave beenevolving fromteacher-centered tolearner-centered.This evolution has
grown out of adesire by educators for
hard evidence that teaching practices areeffective, as shown by scientifically basedresearch findings. What the body of evidence isshowing is that learner-centered approaches thatengage students in active roles in the classroomare more effective than the old model teacher-centered approaches that emphasize a passivetransfer of knowledge from teacher to student.A number of exciting new initiatives in theCollege of Engineering are living proof of thebenefits and successes of teacher-centeredlearning and evidence-based instruction.
In the summer of 2013, the NationalScience Foundation (NSF) issued a programsolicitation called WIDER (WideningImplementation and Demonstration ofEvidence-based Reforms). The program's intentwas to support research that would lead towidespread and sustainable implementation ofinstructional practices aimed specifically atimproving STEM learning (Science, Technology,Engineering and Math). By targeting teachingpractices across the STEM disciplines, theprogram seeks to ultimately change practicesacross the institution, not simply in one or twocourses.
In September 2013, a team of Boise StateSTEM faculty and staff were thrilled to learnthat their WIDER program proposal had beenfunded by NSF. The Boise State project,Promoting Educational Reform throughStrategic Investments in SystemicTransformation (PERSIST), is funded by a $2million, 3-year grant. Its fundamental purpose isto help Boise State engage faculty in exploringand adopting best practices in teaching andlearning. Many Boise State STEM faculty fromboth the College of Engineering and the Collegeof Arts and Sciences were involved in thisproposal and contributed strategies they wereeager to implement in their own departments;these became the center and strength of the
successful proposal. The ultimate impact of theproject will be increases in STEM majors andbachelor’s degrees, including a specific focus onwomen and other underrepresented groups inSTEM, persistence in STEM from first tosecond year, and a university culture thatsustains long-term efforts of continuousimprovement in STEM pedagogy.
One such change is being testedthis fall in a special section of ENGR120 Intro to Engineering. In thissection, lecturer Gary Hunt isconnecting "just-in-time" math toengineering concepts - a methoddeveloped by Dr. Nathan Klingbeil atWright State University in Dayton,Ohio. The course design is beingfunded by an NSF grant under theScience, Technology, Engineering, andMathematics Talent ExpansionProgram (STEP), and is part of alarger effort at Boise State to increaseSTEM retention and graduation ratesby targeting first-year STEM students and theSTEM faculty who teach those students.
At Wright State, Klingbeil wanted toaddress the nationwide problem of studentswho were leaving engineering because they werehaving trouble with their first year math. Hissolution was to develop a novel first year "just-in-time" engineering math course, taught byengineering faculty, and including lecture, lab,and a recitation (problem solving session).Klingbeil’s course uses a hands-on approach toteach math topics in physics, engineeringmechanics, electric circuits and computerprogramming - the same topics that are actuallyused in the core engineering courses. As withother evidence-based learning, the course designis strongly supported by research on howstudents learn.
This fall semester, the College ofEngineering is testing its own version of theKlingbeil just-in-time engineering math inHunt's section of the Intro to Engineeringcourse. The section uses a special engineeringmath text, and includes laboratory exercises andrecitations modeled after the Wright Stateprogram. The students also learn to work withMATLAB, a programming platform forperforming numerical analyses of data andcreating mathematical models. Hunt isencouraged by the results he has seen so far,
which show an improvement in test scores overthe traditional approach, where students studymath and engineering in separate classes. Withina few more semesters, Hunt expects to havesolid proof that just-in-time math is assuccessful at boosting retention and graduationrates for engineering students at Boise State asNathan Klingbeil proved at Wright State.
Across the hall, in the Department ofMaterials Science and Engineering, AssociateProfessor Will Hughes is working withcollaborators from the University of Florida,North Carolina Agricultural and Technical StateUniversity, and Bucknell University to reinventthe Introduction to Materials course usingProcess Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning(POGIL). The team’s project, ImplementingGuided Inquiry in Diverse Institutions, is beingfunded by a grant from the NSF under theprogram for Transforming UndergraduateEducation in Science, Technology, Engineeringand Mathematics. Another form of evidence-based learning, the POGIL approach placesstudents in teams to complete worksheets thatguide them through the process of learning.Instead of passively listening to a lecture andtrying to sift through the information later,students are actively engaged during class incompleting the worksheets, which are designedto lead them from an idea, to inquiry, topractice. Throughout the process, studentsdevelop additional important skills such asteamwork, communication, and critical thinking.The same worksheets are being used at all fouruniversities involved in the grant, and the facultywill be working together to share best practicesand evaluate the results of the program.Preliminary results at all four universities show a
Grants Help COEN Researchers Explore New Teaching and Learning StrategiesBy Rebecca Mirsky
The Evidence is in the Learning
5 College of Engineering Newsletter | Fall 2013
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Everyday Examples in Engineering Grab Students’ AttentionBy Rebecca Mirsky
This past spring, the 80 students in Krishna Pakala’s ENGR 320 classhad no idea that they were about to become living, breathing examples ofa thermodynamic process.
The students arrived at their Thermodynamics I class one morning tofind Pakala handing out bags of potato chips, which he encouraged themto share with their classmates. Pakala, a lecturer in the Department ofMechanical and Biomedical Engineering, then asked each student toestimate the amount of energy in the chip that he or she was about to biteinto. Students could use the nutritional information on the side of thepackage to help them come up with an estimate. They then were asked tobrainstorm and write down all the different activities they would beengaged in over the rest of the 75-minute class period that would expendthat energy. The students were surprised and intrigued that they could belearning about engineering analysis and problem solving through aneveryday activity like eating a snack.
The potato chip activity is one ofseveral thermodynamics lesson planspublished in Real Life Examples inThermodynamics, one of the topical areascovered by the National ScienceFoundation’s ENGAGE project. Theoverarching goal of ENGAGE is to increasethe retention rate of undergraduateengineering students by using strategies that
improve the educational experience during the first and second years,when students are most vulnerable to switching out of engineering. Theprogram draws on the results of studies that have shown that the use ofeveryday examples to illustrate theoretical concepts has a powerful impactupon students’ satisfaction with, and perseverance in, engineering.
Pakala received a mini-grant through the ENGAGE program toimplement Everyday Examples in Engineering (E3s) in histhermodynamics class. This fit right in with an earlier ENGAGE mini-grant he had received with fellow mechanical engineering lecturer SarahHaight, focused on increasing faculty-student interaction. Other activitieshe has used in his Thermodynamics class include:
• Using a tire gauge to measure the pressure in a bicycle tire
• Using mobile devices to find the current outdoor temperature, andthen converting that reading to different temperature scales
• Discussing open and closed systems and the properties of puresubstances while brewing and drinking coffee
• Demonstrating a steam engine to explain energy conversion
• Illustrating the process of entropy by making a pile of inflatedballoons and watching them drift apart
Students had plenty of opportunities to weigh in on Pakala’s choiceof activities. Each week he handed out index cards with a problem to solveon one side and their opinions about how the class was going on thereverse (all anonymous). Feedback from mid-term evaluations showed anoverwhelmingly positive response for the E3s and lots of commentsasking for more Everyday Examples.
Pakala recently was recognized as an “E3 Hero” in the ENGAGEproject newsletter, where he was quoted as saying, “When difficultconcepts are put in simple layman terms, I remember those forever. I washoping that doing [everyday examples] with my students would mean thatthey would remember the concepts even beyond graduation.”
According to the ENGAGE website, there are three types ofEveryday Examples in Engineering (E3s): lesson plans and solutions;demonstrations (including directions for building and using thedemonstrations); and lists of engineering ideas that could be used toillustrate engineering concepts.
E3s are examples that demonstrate concepts based on objects andideas with which students are familiar, like exploding soda cans, musicalinstruments, salt-water taffy, bicycles or avalanches. Not surprisingly, thesetypes of examples are more successful at getting students’ attention thanthe more traditional examples such as steel beams and pressure vessels.
So the next time you’re looking for ideas to engage your students,give Krishna Pakala a call. You might just get a bag of potato chips out of it.
Find out more about the ENGAGE program atwww.engageengineering.org
positive impact of the POGIL approach, helpingstudents learn and retain a better understandingof the material.
Students in the STEM disciplines face anarray of challenges and opportunities as they
prepare for careers in a technologically complexsociety. They must not only learn how thingswork today, but also be ready to anticipate howthey might work tomorrow. Faculty in theCollege of Engineering recognize this, and are
researching methods that will teach students alifelong skill: learning how to learn. And whetherit’s just-in-time math, or POGIL, the methodsare based on the evidence of success.
in the Learning
6 College of Engineering Newsletter | Fall 2013
Civil EngineeringBrad Reavy, CE 2003,Owner of SawtoothStructural Engineering
Meghan MalloySlupe, CE 2006, Design Engineer atShoemaker & Haaland ProfessionalEngineers in Iowa.
Joe Lane, CE 2007, StructuralEngineer at DC Engineering, and hiswife, Ashley
Computer ScienceTeresa Triolo, CS2006, FirmwareEngineer at HewlettPackard
Construction ManagementJessica Aguilar, CM 1997, D.L. EvansBank in Corporate Real Estate &Construction
Curt Osborne, CM 2002. RegionalManager for ACCO EngineeredSystems
Mike Foran, CM2004, SeniorProject Manager atEnergy 1 inBozeman, MT
Joshua Legg, CM2004, Project Manager/ProjectController at Henkels & McCoy
Electrical & ComputerEngineeringJon Cole, MS ECE 2007, FirmwareR&D Engineer at Preco Electronics
Mike Owen, MS ECE 2007, SoftwareEngineer at JST Manufacturing
Harsh Mantri, ECE 2008, IT ProjectManager - Bed Bath & BeyondCorporate HQ in Union, NJ
Sonya ShawverChristensen, MSECE, 2012, RFEngineer atCradlePoint Inc.
Materials Science &EngineeringMariela Bentancur, MSE 2008,Project Facilities Engineer at Chevron
Shilo McCrory, MSE 2009,Demolition Contractor in Phoenix,AZ
Chris Stifter, MSE 2012, Materialsand Process Engineer at ZodiacAerospace
Mechanical & BiomedicalEngineering
Rick Everton, ME,1998, MechanicalEngineer PE atEngineeringConsultants, Inc. inBoise
Jose Lepe, ME2004, MechanicalDesign Engineer forCardiac RhythmManagementDivision at St. JudeMedical in CA
Seth Kuhlman, MSME 2007, PraxisResources in Arizona
Daniel Feeser, ME 2010,Maintenance Engineer at FiberonLLC
Ian Morse, ME 2010, EIT at L&SEngineering
Derek Reis, ME 2010, ReticleEngineer at Micron Technology
Mike Rippee, ME 2010, HardwareEngineer at Hewlett Packard
Matt Forest, ME 2012, DevelopmentEngineer at Rekluse Motor Sports
Alumni represented at theannual COEN Career Fairs!
Kelly Riley, CS2001, and hisbrother CaseyRiley, ECE1997, First toFile
Dustin Hilgert,CM 2008, andBrett Bishop,CM 1998,ProjectManagers atRSCI
Sam Campbell,CS 2013,Developer atClearwaterAnalytics
The Alumni HomecomingBBQ on October 19th
Jason Logan, CE 2003, PowerEngineers, Jeff Ward, CE 2003,CSHQA, Laila Maqbool Kral, CE,LHTAC, Brandon Logan, CE 2006,Kiewit, Yvette Barrios, ME 2003,Hewlett Packard
Anthony Guho,CM 2009, GuhoCorp, TylerResnick, CM2009, McAlvainConstruction
Nick Church, CE2007, SuperiorSteel Products, Inc.and his wife,Shannon
Matthew Leslie,EE 2007, MicronTechnology, andfamily
Doug Kellis, MSMSE 2011,MicronTechnology andhis wife, Jean
Eamonn Harter,ME 2006,CimarronTechnology andCraig Brasher,ME 2006, AHJEngineers
Ben Hawkes, ME2004, and CarlCoombs, ME2004, ConAgraFoods
Steven Parker,ME 2006,Director forResearch andDevelopment atPerformanceDesign, andfamily
Jerry Belmont, ME2013, Metalcraftand his wife,Monica
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Alumni NotesWe want to stay in touch.Please send your updates toLeandra Aburusa-Lete [email protected]
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Presentations at the 2013 EarthCube program included topics in datamanagement, interpretation, workflow, visualization and modeling — allgeared toward projects using extremely large data sets.
It was an information-packed week for Umphrey, an avid paragliderwho became interested in studying the science of the invisible currentsthat kept him aloft. Over the course of the week at EarthCube, helearned about tools such as Globus — super-sized file sharing softwarefor securely moving large data sets — and VAPOR (Visualization andAnalysis Platform for Ocean, atmosphere, and solar researchers), a sortof high performance Google Earth. He also got to meet Gordon, theSDSC’s data-intensive supercomputer. If you’re impressed by the 4 GBof flash memory in your MacBook, consider the fact that Gordon hasmore than 300 TB of high performance flash memory.
About the time that Umphrey was on his way toEarthCube, mechanical engineering senior DerekWade was returning from an intense two weeks at theArgonne Training Program in Extreme ScaleComputing. He was selected out of more than 150applicants for the 60-person program, which wasattended primarily by Ph.D. students and postdocsfrom Caltech, Stanford, MIT, national labs at Los
Alamos and Oak Ridge, and other high profile research institutions fromaround the world.
In classes that ran from 7:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m., Wade wasimmersed in hands-on training on the skills, methods and tools to designand implement computational science and engineering applications oncurrent high-end computing systems. As part of their training, studentswere given access to some of today’s most powerful supercomputingresources, such as Argonne’s IBM Blue Gene/Q systems (Vesta andMira), Oak Ridge’s Cray System (Titan), and Georgia Tech’s 264-nodecluster (Keeneland).
Starting with architecture, Wade moved on to programminglanguages, algorithms and smart code writing, all with an eye toward thenext generation of computing systems. His key takeaway was learningtechniques for smarter programming and streamlined workflow. And justas Umphrey discovered in San Diego, there are special file formats fordata intensive operations, and tools like Globus for sharing large data setswith collaborators.
Senocak already plans to integrate into his teaching some of thethings that Umphrey and Wade learned over the summer. In Spring 2014,ME 571/471, Parallel Scientific Computing, will explore visualization ofsimulation data and parallel computer programming an emerginghardware.
Bilbo Baggins may have been able to answer Gollum’s riddle, but asBoise State’s wind researchers are learning, it takes computational fluiddynamics and a supercomputer to visualize which way the wind is reallyblowing.
7College of Engineering Newsletter | Fall 2013
“By mimicking the brain’s billions of interconnections and patternrecognition capabilities, we may ultimately introduce a new paradigm inspeed and power, and potentially enable systems that include the ability tolearn, adapt and respond to their environment,” said Barney Smith, who isthe principal investigator on the grant.
The project’s success rests on a memristor – a resistor that can beprogrammed to a new resistance by application of electrical pulses andremembers its new resistance value once the power is removed.Memristors were first hypothesized to exist in 1972 (in conjunction withresistors, capacitors and inductors) but were fully realized as nano-scaledevices only in the last decade.
One of the first memristors was built in Campbell’s Boise State lab,which has the distinction of being one of only five or six labs worldwidethat are up to the task.
The team’s research builds on recent work from scientists who havederived mathematical algorithms to explain the electrical interactionbetween brain synapses and neurons.
CMOS-chip“By employing these models in combination with a newdevice technology that exhibits similar electrical response to the neuralsynapses, we will design entirely new computing chips that mimic how thebrain processes information,” said Barney Smith.
Even better, these new chips will consume power at an order ofmagnitude lower than current computing processors, despite the fact thatthey match existing chips in physical dimensions. This will open the doorfor ultra low-power electronics intended for applications with scarceenergy resources, such as in space, environmental sensors or biomedicalimplants.
Once the team has successfully built an artificial neural network, theywill look to engage neurobiologists in parallel to what they are doing now.A proposal for that could be written in the coming year.
Barney Smith said they hope to send the first of the new neuronchips out for fabrication within weeks.
This material is based upon work supported by the National ScienceFoundation under Grant No. CCF-1320987 to Boise State University. Anyopinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in thismaterial are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the viewsof the National Science Foundation.
Researcher Aims to Use Waste Heat to Make Cars More EfficientYanliang Zhang wants to make vehicles more efficient by using a resource most people aren’t even aware of
— the waste heat that results from the inherent inefficiency of engines when converting fuel into energy.
Zhang, an assistant professor with Boise State’s Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, isworking on a project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The project, “Nanostructured High-Temperature Bulk Thermoelectric Energy Conversion for Efficient Automotive Waste Heat Recovery,” received$8 million from the DOE’s Vehicle Technology (VT) Program for a total period of four years.
High Performance Computing Continued... Computer Chip Based on the Human Brain Continued...
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College of EngineeringDean: AMY MOLL(208) 426-1153
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs: JANET CALLAHAN(208) 426-1153
Assistant Dean for Research &Infrastructure: REX OXFORD(208) 426-5744
Development Director:DONALD MURRAY(208) 426-1422
Civil EngineeringChair: MANDAR KHANAL
(208) [email protected]
Computer ScienceChair: TIM ANDERSEN
(208) [email protected]
Construction ManagementInterim Chair: ROBERT HAMILTON
(208) [email protected]
Electrical & ComputerEngineering
Chair: SIN MING LOO(208) 426-2283
Instructional &Performance Technology
Chair: DON STEPICH(208) 426-1312
Materials Science &Engineering
Chair: PETER MÜLLNER(208) 426-5639
Mechanical & BiomedicalEngineering
Chair: MICHELLE SABICK(208) 426-4078
Home to more than 160 first-year students since 2005, the Engineering Residential College(ERC) is a Living Learning Community (LLC) at Boise State University for first-year engineering,computer science and construction management students. The LLC Program enriches studentlearning through direct connection with faculty who bridge academic and personal life and fosterinterdisciplinary inquiry. The LLC program is administered through Housing and Residential Life,and overseen by Melissa Wintrow, Assistant Director for Residence Education.
When Boise State University established LLCs in 2004, the College of Engineering movedquickly to support the initiative, and the first two years of the ERC were supported by facultycoordinators. In 2007, Sondra Miller, associate professor with the Department of CivilEngineering, became the first live-in Faculty in Residence. Nearly a decade later, four more facultymembers have contributed, with a fifth already approved for the 2014-15 academic year. Thecommunity has also been supported by several extremely dedicated program assistants andresident assistants.
The Faculty in Residence have been joined in their campus experiences by their families,including spouses, a teenager, a preschooler and even family pets. A big draw is the ERC's currentlocation in Taylor Hall, adjacent to the Boise River Greenbelt. In addition to the apartment for theFaculty in Residence, the floor accommodates 18 first-year students in single rooms arranged insuites.
Each year, the ERC has grown in terms of the scope of its community engagement.Between four and five hundred volunteer hours are generated annually by the ERC on communityservice activities that have included:
· Habitat for Humanity;
· Reforestation Project (planting sage and bitterbrush in burn zones);
· Fundraising for the Rose Beal Legacy Garden at the Anne Frank Human RightsMemorial;
· Discover Engineering Day (an annual outreach event attended by thousands in thecommunity); and
· Botanical Gardens accessibility ramp (with the Construction Management Associationstudent club).
By 2015, when the program will complete its first decade, nearly two hundred students willhave enjoyed the community of being an ERC member. For students and faculty alike, it is anexperience of a lifetime.
The Engineering Residential College – Nearly aDecade of Community EngagementBy Janet Callahan
Top Row: Wan Kuang, Thad Welch, Amy Moll, Sondra Miller, Krishna PakalaBottom Row: Janet Callahan, Lucy