engineering_annual report 2007

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING 2007 ANNUAL REPORT A

Advancing the boundaries of engineering education and research

U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G HS I T Y O F P I T

B UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

www.engr.pitt.edu/annualreport

Making National HeadlinesIt is difficult to look back on the past year and attempt to summarize through just this brief welcome message all that the School of Engineering has accomplished. It is even a challenge to do it through this entire annual report. The 2006–07 academic year will truly be one of my most memorable as dean because of the many achievements for which our students and faculty were recognized throughout the year. It seemed I was continuously being informed of someone being recognized in an article in a national publication like Scientific American or The Wall Street Journal, and this was usually followed by more news about someone receiving a major research award or publishing a groundbreaking study in a leading academic journal.

Making headlines is not something new for our students, faculty, and alumni, but what is new is the frequency with which it seems this is happening. During the past decade, there is little question that we have significantly raised the bar on many performance measures here, including the academic quality of students we are attracting and the teaching and research prowess of our growing faculty. Being here every day, these incremental changes and improvements are not always immediately noticeable. However, it is clear from all the national recognition our people and programs are receiving that Pitt engineering is being noticed with greater frequency as a leader in advancing the boundaries of engineering education and research.

I hope you enjoy reading more about our remarkable year in this annual report.

Gerald D. HolderU.S. Steel Dean of Engineering

Want to learn more? Visit www.engr.pitt.edu/research for details about the school’s research institutes and a comprehensive list of labs.

Research at the Pitt School of Engineering Research at the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering focuses on five primary areas: nanoscience and engineering, energy, bioengineering, manufacturing and product innovation, and sustainability. The multidisciplinary nature of these foci requires teamwork across all departments within the school and with other members of the University community and the region, including in the corporate and technology sectors, and federal research laboratories.

As a result, School of Engineering research institutes and centers incorporate the efforts of many disciplines—including engineering; the natural, environmental, and health sciences; and biomedicine—as well as the cooperation and involvement of people throughout the University, the Western Pennsylvania region, and beyond.

Major Research Institutes and InitiativesBasic Metals Processing Research Institute (BAMPRI)Human Movement and Balance Laboratory

(a partnership of the schools of the health sciences and the Department of Bioengineering)

Musculoskeletal Research CenterNational Science Foundation Center for e-Design and Realization

of Engineered Products and SystemsGertrude E. and John M. Petersen Institute of NanoScience and

Engineering (a partnership with the School of Arts and Sciences)John A. Swanson Institute for Technical Excellence (comprising the following): John A. Swanson Center for Product Innovation John A. Swanson Center for Micro and Nano Systems RFID Center of ExcellenceManufacturing Assistance Center (MAC)Mascaro Sustainability InitiativeMcGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine

(through the School of Medicine)

JEOL JEM-2100F Transmission Electron Microscope, with Gatan GIF Tridiem and Oxford Instruments INCA for XEDS analysis

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING 2007 ANNUAL REPORT 1

2 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

where researchers explore phenomena occurring at the size of molecules and atoms.

“That’s where a number of fundamental discoveries and breakthroughs can be made,” explains Hong Koo Kim, the institute’s codirector. “That’s where our infrastructure is designed.”

At the micro level or higher, many developments already have been made. That’s why Pitt is targeting the new generation of nano research. Toward that end, the institute is adding five new instruments (see “NanoFab at a Glance,” right).

Pittsburgh is building a reputation as a hub for nanotechnology, in large part because of the institute’s efforts. Its interdisciplinary approach—a collaboration among faculty in engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine—is unique, as is the institute’s long-term vision and strong fundamentals.

“Culturally and physically, we are really well positioned,” notes Kim, who points out that the various departments are a five-minute walk from one another, and researchers have a long history of working together toward a common goal.

“There seems to be a strong commitment by the University to support this,” says Mike McDonald, manager of the institute’s 4,000-square-foot Fabrication and Characterization Facility in Benedum Hall, who came to Pitt after working in the military and industry for 35 years.

The institute’s instruments play an important role in fostering that collaboration. “It involves almost all particles, almost all physical science and engineering disciplines,” says Kim. “Our research is really in-depth, high-level work.”

Currently, the institute is training internal users to work within its facilities, and it anticipates opening its doors to corporations and other universities within the year. And as nanoscience engineering research gains recognition, the number of faculty members in the expert base is likely to expand, Kim says.

“The projections on how nanotechnology will be seen all vary; some may say it’s still 10 years out,” says Kim. However, he notes, the technology tends to come to market quickly.

In May, the University’s nano efforts received kudos from the field at the 10th annual Nano Science Technology Institute conference in Santa Clara, Calif. NanoLambda, a company that was founded in 2005 as a spin-off from Pitt, won the Nanotech Ventures Award in the electronics category. The company is developing an ultra-compact, low-cost spectrometer-on-a-chip based on novel plasmonic nanowire arrays.

“That is quite a nice recognition of our research,” says Kim.

For more information about nanotechnology research at Pitt, visit www.nano.pitt.edu.

NanoFab at a GlanceThe NanoScale Fabrication and Characterization Facility, located in Benedum Hall, houses advanced equipment with core nano-level (20 nm or below) capability for fabrication and characterization, including an electron-beam lithography system, dual-beam system, TEM, multifunctional scanning probe station, and modular XRD.

Instruments in place or planned for the future include:Electron-Beam Lithography System Raith model e-Line

Transmission Electron Microscope JEOL model JEM-2100F with: Oxford EDS Gatan GIF and EELS

Dual-Beam System (Focused Ion Beam/Electron Beam) JEOL model SMI-3050SE with: Oxford EDS

Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition System Trion model Orion II PECVD

Reactive Ion Etching System Trion model Phantom LT RIE

Multisource Electron-Beam Evaporation System Thermionics model VE-180

Plasma Cleaner South Bay Technology model PC-2000 RF Plasma Cleaning System

Mask Aligner Neutronix/Quintel model Q-4000-4 with IR backside alignment

Surface Profiler KLA-Tencor model Alpha-Step IQ

Inspection Microscope Carl Zeiss model Axio Imager M1m

Wet Stations Reynolds Tech model FWS-184-SS (photolithography hood) model FWS-184-PV4910 (general purpose acid hood) model FWS-172-PV4910 (general purpose caustic hood)

Spin Coater (L6) Laurell model WS-400B-6NPP-LITE

Hot Plates (P5, L8) Barnstead/Thermolyne model Nuova Aluminum Top Supernuova Ceramic Top

Ultrasonic Cleaners Branson 9.5L

On order: Wafer-Scale Scanning Probe Microscopy Station High-Sensitivity Modular X-ray Diffraction System

Selection process under way: Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) Spectrometer with: Imaging Microscope Confocal Optical Microscope Spectroscopic Ellipsometer

Growth in Nanotechnology Fuels Research, Boosts City’s Profile

Some of the biggest growth in the School of Engineering is happening in the smallest spaces—at the molecular level, to be precise.In its first year of operation, the Gertrude E. and John M. Petersen Institute of NanoScience and Engineering hired nine nano faculty experts and purchased more than a dozen instruments, with plans to add five more. And that’s just one of the reasons Pitt is rapidly owning the space of nanotechnology’s tiniest frontier—the core nano level,

Growth in Nanotechnology Fuels Research, Boosts City’s Profile


Xuetian Han, graduate student researcher, and Andreas Kulovits, research associate, both in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, conduct research in the Petersen Institute of NanoScience and Engineering, located in Benedum Hall. The institute brings coherence to the University’s research efforts and resources in the fields of nanoscale science and engineering, and researchers from across campus use the nanofabrification laboratory.

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING 2007 ANNUAL REPORT 54 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

Sustainable Engineering Students Prepare for Travel to Brazil

Pursuing a PhD in engineering is a challenging

task for even the brightest students. But only

the most daring would add a foreign country

to the mix. A cadre of doctoral students is piloting the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program through the school’s Mascaro Sustainability Initiative (MSI). As part of their PhD dissertations, the students will spend six months in São Paulo, Brazil, at the University of Campinas, where sustainable design is an academic strength in line with Pitt’s vision of its future.

The idea is to give students a meaningful international experience while they work to solve what is ultimately a global problem.

“We provide training that’s highly relevant to the globalization of technology,” says Eric Beckman, codirector of MSI. “We’re trying to behave more like the places these folks are going to go to after they graduate.”

Students spend their first year taking courses and working to pass the PhD qualifying exams, which are a requirement for acceptance into the IGERT program. Nine students are currently enrolled, and the grant—which is renewable—covers 24 graduate students for a total of five years.

In addition to studying their course work and taking the exams, students also take a number of new courses designed specifically for IGERT: Introduction to Sustainability, a seminar about Brazil, a capstone design course in sustainable engineering, and three Portuguese language courses designed for engineers. Although their colleagues in South America speak English, “you really can’t benefit from being in another country without having some sense of the language,” explains Beckman.

The program helps set Pitt’s sustainability initiatives apart from those of other universities, and it attracts a high-caliber student, says Gena Kovalcik, MSI codirector.

“They’re a great group,” she says, noting that the first crop includes mechanical and chemical engineering students.

Beckman agrees. “You need someone with a little more adventure in them, and what’s funny is that’s what industry wants right

now,” he says. “All the big companies are global, and they want employees who are willing to pick up and go places they’ve never been before. And our premise is if you can do it in Brazil, you can do it anywhere.”

As a companion piece to the IGERT program, MSI received a grant from NSF’s International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) to create a 12-week summer program during which undergraduates will complete four-week rotations at the University of Campinas. The program kicked off in summer 2007.

Other 2007 highlights included the recruitment of the initiative’s first faculty member, Amy Landis, who joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in September.

Additionally, the school hosted a highly successful Engineering Sustainability conference in April at Pittsburgh’s Sheraton Station Square Hotel. According to Kovalcik, 240 people attended from academia, industry, nonprofit organizations, and government.

Scientists attended from several other countries, notably Ghana, Japan, Kuwait, Korea, Nepal, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Australia, and Brazil, “which really added to the conference,” says Kovalcik. “Sustainability is a global issue, and it needs to be looked at from the perspective of how we can all come together to solve these challenges.”

Topics included green building design and construction, water solutions for the developing world, sustainable power for the built environment, and the intersection of technology and policy, among others.

Funding for the conference came from 17 industrial sponsors, with major support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Green Chemistry Institute.

But to Beckman, the real triumph may be yet to come. As the School of Engineering updates its facilities to become greener, it will be mixing faculty of various disciplines—which he believes will foster creativity in thinking about sustainable design.

“Our great legacy may be that we broke the ice to really mix the disciplines,” he says.

Read more about Pitt’s sustainability research at www.engr.pitt.edu/msi/research.

“ We provide training that’s highly relevant to the globalization of technology.”

Eric Beckman, codirector, Mascaro Sustainability Initiative

Andrew Fuchs, mechanical engineering PhD student, and Candice DeLeo, chemical engineering PhD student, were pilot participants in Pitt’s NSF IGERT program in sustainable engineering.

6 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH6 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

or graduate research. It’s a truly remarkable relationship, synergistic to the nth degree. We provide the educational underpinnings of the McGowan Institute, so it couldn’t be a better fit.”

Research under way at the institute has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and CNN, and two of its bioengineers, William Wagner and Michael Sacks, were listed among the Scientific American 50, recognizing leadership in science and technology.

“What’s unique is that MIRM’s principal investigators welcome our graduate and undergraduate students,” notes Borovetz. “UPMC and the School of Medicine are our partners in every conceivable way. They provide opportunities for our students to see the real problems that need solutions, be it better ways to deliver chemotherapeutic agents, better organs for orthopedic implants, or better ways to perform minimally invasive surgical procedures.”

David Vorp, an associate professor in the Departments of Surgery and Bioengineering, is a prime example of the engineer’s approach to a medical dilemma. A biomechanical engineer by training, Vorp is working on a diagnostic tool to predict which abdominal aortic aneurysms are most likely to rupture.

Using Finite Element Analysis, which in other settings might help engineers predict stresses on structures such as bridges or car parts, Vorp is able to get a patient-specific assessment of a vessel’s susceptibility to rupture.

“I looked at the aortic aneurysm as a pressure vessel, just like any other,” says Vorp. “The failure or rupture that occurs is simply a mechanical failure of the wall. So we started attacking it from a mechanical perspective.”

Ten years ago, the idea of cardiac patients regrowing healthy heart tissue or people who’ve lost fingers being able to regenerate their digits was completely implausible. Yet a University of Pittsburgh team of bioengineers is helping to make those seemingly impossible scenarios a reality—and making believers out of even the most hardened skeptics.

The key, they say, is the interdisciplinary approach that provides seamless interaction among the best minds of the School of Engineering, School of Medicine, and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) through the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine (MIRM). Here, medical dilemmas are solved from a variety of viewpoints, attacking each aspect of the problem and finding answers that collectively add up to very real solutions.

“The only way these sorts of problems can be addressed is by crossing disciplines,” explains Stephen Badylak, director of the institute’s Center for Pre-Clinical Tissue Engineering. “It’s a major effort and goes to questions that underlie the basic mechanisms of how tissues develop. If we can figure that out, we can probably figure out the answers to a lot of other questions as well.”

That’s why Harvey Borovetz, chair of the Department of Bioengineering, has worked so hard to create an environment in MIRM that is aligned with bioengineering research and educational missions.

“We have a unique relationship in that essentially every core faculty member at the McGowan Institute has a secondary appointment in the Department of Bioengineering,” Borovetz explains. “That means the McGowan Institute is a true centerpiece for our students to conduct their undergraduate

Human Synergy: Bioengineering Fuses Disciplines to Solve Real-World Problems

For Badylak, who arrived at Pitt four and a half years ago, the opportunity to work side by side with top scientists—not to mention the physical proximity of world-class engineering and medical facilities—was a dream come true.

“When I came here, I was like a kid in a candy store,” he says. “I have clinicians who come to me constantly, saying, ‘We’ve got this potential problem, and we understand you’re doing this. Can we work together to solve it?’ ”

Badylak points out that while many top engineering schools obtain National Science Foundation grants, Pitt’s School of Engineering is unique in the amount of funding it is awarded by the National Institutes of Health.

“I’m happy here,” he says. “It’s a terrific environment; there’s great leadership in both the School of Medicine and the School of Engineering. Instead of barriers, they provide the infrastructure for me to become successful. What more can I ask as a faculty member?”

Read more about MIRM at www.mirm.pitt.edu.

(right) Researchers in David Vorp’s lab. Vorp is working on a diagnostic tool to predict which abdominal aortic aneurysms are most likely to rupture.

Stephen Badylak’s research on tissue engineering was featured on the front page of the February 12, 2007, issue of The Wall Street Journal.


8 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING 2007 ANNUAL REPORT 9SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING 2007 ANNUAL REPORT 98 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

A new quality requirement issued by the

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

18000 series, which regulates radio frequency

identification (RFID) technology, has been

advantageous for the School of Engineering—

home of the RFID Center of Excellence.

The center will test battery-powered RFID tags, as required by part 7 of the ISO standards. And for the immediate future, at least, the center will be the only facility in the United States equipped for such precise testing.

Toward that end, the center recently acquired an anechoic chamber that will allow RFID transmissions to be examined in a room free of other signals, “so it effectively lets you test the transmission of the devices without worrying about the external effects of the environment,” says Marlin Mickle, the center’s executive director and Nickolas A. DeCecco Professor.

The chamber, manufactured by ETS-Lindgren, is modeled after the one Motorola uses to test the Specific Absorption Rate—or user exposure to radio waves—of its cell phones.

The center also has a second chamber that measures 14 x 10 x 8 feet, although it is not mounted and is technically considered portable. The new facility was made possible entirely through alumni support and will consist of the John A. Jurenko RFID Electricity and Magnetism Characterization Laboratory and the Wesley C. Pickard RFID Anechoic Laboratory. Additional funds, in the form of a donor challenge, were provided by John A. Swanson.

Mickle, already one of the world’s most respected experts in the field of RFID technology, believes the testing capabilities will enhance the School of Engineering’s profile.

“It’s a piece of infrastructure that most schools or universities and industries are not going to have,” explains Mickle.

“It was partly my wanting to have it in the first place,” he acknowledges. “We can’t do basic research work without having

the chamber. If you really want to understand what you’re doing, you need an environment clean of frequencies or energy.”

Testing fees will vary, but Mickle says the revenues generated by outside users will pay for the chamber, probably within the first year.

“It’s the intellectual property that we hope to generate, and the research, that will be the biggest returns,” he notes. “The chamber, coupled with what we’re already doing, will make a big difference in our reputation.”

Already, several companies travel through the center each week seeking membership—with the two most recent corporate additions being McKesson Corp. and Boeing. Together with the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and the Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Information Sciences, the School of Engineering also is working on a project that uses RFID to analyze the supply chain of pharmaceuticals to support the FDA’s new rulings on the chain of custody of drugs.

The role the testing plays in research is simple: After a scientist refines the RFID antenna, which transmits coded information to the reader, the test verifies that the tag works the way it’s supposed to.

“You’re never quite sure you’ve got it as precisely as you can without that test,” says Mickle. “The proof is really, ‘Can you build it, test it, and show that it really does behave that way?’ This allows us to close that loop.”

Visit www.engr.pitt.edu/site/rfid for more information.

New Testing Chamber, FDA Project Highlight RFID Developments

Marlin Mickle stands in front of a portable anechoic chamber, manufactured by ETS-Lindgren and modeled after the one Motorola uses to test the Specific Absorption Rate—or user exposure to radio waves—of its cell phones.


Driven in part by the renewed interest of industry, the school is preparing the next generation of engineering leadership across several energy disciplines: nuclear energy, mining, and electricity.

“Everything we’re doing in power and energy is being driven by industry—mainly because over the past few decades, companies in these fields have not invested in workforce development, not invested in their infrastructure, and not invested in their technology,” explains Don Shields, director of corporate relations.

To enhance its programs and ensure they meet the needs of a field that is rapidly evolving, the school has partnered with several corporations to develop curricula; provide funding; and, in some cases, teach the courses. Westinghouse Electric Co. provides expertise in nuclear energy, CONSOL Energy in mining,

Energy Programs Unite Industry, School in Partnership for Education and Research

and KEMA and Allegheny Power in electricity. More may appear in future years; as Shields puts it, “We are branching out and pitching to other companies all the time.”

In addition to supplying a workforce, Pitt’s role is to help with research and development and create new technologies as energy suppliers improve infrastructure and meet the demands of their markets. Research grants have been established with the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Larry Foulke segued into his role as director of the school’s nuclear engineering program just a few months after retiring from the Bettis Laboratory, a West Mifflin, Pa., company that develops advanced naval nuclear propulsion technology. In fall 2006, the first course,

With fuel prices soaring and demand for power outpacing suppliers at an alarming rate, energy

is a topic at the forefront of many academic disciplines, not to mention popular culture.

Fortunately for students at the School of Engineering, the University of Pittsburgh is ahead of the curve.


Photo reprinted with permission from Westinghouse Electric Co.

Photo by Harry Giglio Productions Inc. Reprinted with permission from Consol Energy Inc.Photo by Harry Giglio Productions Inc. Reprinted with permission from Consol Energy Inc.

Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, was offered in hopes of attracting a few dozen students. Seventy-two enrolled. At least seven courses are in the works for graduate-level students.

“The students were largely stimulated by the fact that Westinghouse is hiring very aggressively,” says Foulke. “Over the next two years, Westinghouse expects to hire 1,500 people in anticipation of the worldwide business in building new plants.”

The school’s plan with nuclear engineering, as with the other energy-related programs, is to offer certification programs instead of full degrees in each discipline. Students’ degrees would be in existing majors such as mechanical engineering, the idea being that a broader education will be more valuable after graduation.

Shields emphasizes the importance of the role that industry partners have in shaping the programs, which also have earned the support of the Heinz Endowments.

“They are very important to our region because they’re physically located here,” Shields says of the companies. “They can’t be outsourced to India. It’s important for the Pittsburgh region. Pitt is a leader in education, a pioneer in research, and a partner in regional development. And we’ve hit all three things with this initiative.”

Visit www.engr.pitt.edu/research/energy for more information.

Beyond the Drawing Board: NSF Center for e-Design Creating, Evaluating New Ideas

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING 2007 ANNUAL REPORT 1312 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

Kim Needy (center) is working on design for supply chains with the NSF-funded Center for e-Design, which gives 22 industry members access to training tools.

In the not-so-distant future, the expression “back to the drawing board” may become obsolete, thanks to the work of the School of Engineering’s National Science Foundation Center for e-Design. As the lead university in a consortium that includes Virginia Tech, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Massachusetts, and the University of Central Florida, Pitt is collaborating with industry partners to develop products along common research themes.

“Obviously, [the consortium] adds a lot,” says Mike Lovell, the School of Engineering’s associate dean of research and the center’s acting director. “At each school, there is different expertise, and the products utilize the strengths of the collaborative partners.”

The schools meet formally twice a year to discuss their projects, and they also collaborate virtually on the conceptualization, design, and redesign of products using virtual tools. As this is the only NSF-funded center in the history of the School of Engineering, expectations run high, but Lovell is confident that the faculty are up to the task.

Kim Needy, associate professor in the industrial engineering undergraduate program, is working on design for supply chain by which participants consider the implications of the supply chain during the design phase of the project.

“The benefit of doing this virtually is the designers as well as the suppliers really are spread out across the world, so we may be obtaining parts outside the United States. If we can do this virtually, then this enables us to do things faster and cheaper,” says Needy. “A lot of manufacturing is being offshored, and the suppliers aren’t at arm’s length away, so it’s increasingly more important.”

After four years of operation, the center is now immersed in research and adding some testing modules to the mix. In 2008, everything will begin to be integrated into a common environment and made available to universities as well as to industry part-ners. Now numbering 22, those partners gather twice a year and pay $30,000 per year for their membership, which includes training and access to the developed software tools. Members also enjoy the first right to license technology if they decide to bring it in-house.

The center’s tools allow users at multiple locations to securely share virtual designs and to obtain important information about a design’s quality and reliability, Lovell says. In one center project, for example, a tool is being developed to quantitatively rate the innovativeness of different design concepts based on measured levels of novelty, usage of available technology, and meeting targeted requirements such as cost.

Needy’s team is looking at the trade-offs between optimal solutions and methods that are high-quality substitutes. Currently, the team is using generic products with multiple suppliers and components, as well as a supply chain network with breadth and depth. The idea is to create a model that can be applied to industries as varied as automobiles, aerospace, or medical devices.

“This is a case where we’re doing theoretical work that has a practical application,” says Needy. “To me, that’s very exciting.”

For more information about the NSF Center for e-Design, visit www.e-designcenter.info.


department ofbioengineering


National Student Success Stories• Kristie Henchir Burgess received a prestigious graduate

fellowship from the Whitaker Foundation, enabling her to undertake PhD research to develop a first-of-its-kind miniaturized artificial lung.

• Six graduate students have received NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral F31 Fellowships. Research is under way by Brooke Coley (Adaptive Postural Strategies: Impact of Aging), Dan Debrah (Role of Relaxin in Systemic Vascular Mechanics and Function), Donald Freytes (Engineered Polymers —Extracellular Matrix Hybrid Scaffold Material), Tim Maul (Influence of Mechanical Forces on Adult Progenitor Cells), Scott VanEpps (Coronary Arterial

Dynamics and Atherogenesis), and Rachelle Prantil-Baun (Biomechanics and Function of a Pathologic Urethra).

• Graduate students have produced 60 peer-reviewed publications, 34 proceeding publications or chapters, and 121 abstracts; delivered 65 meeting presentations; and received 28 awards or fellowships.

Departmental Rankings, Awards, and RecognitionThe department:

• is ranked sixth in the nation in the latest Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index (FSPI) for bioengineering, as reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

• is ranked sixth among public institutions and 16th overall in the 2008 U.S. News & World Report graduate rankings.

• is currently in receipt of 78 grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

• is in receipt of three NIH T-32 Predoctoral Training Grants: Cellular Approaches to Tissue Engineering and Regeneration (Alan Russell, principal investigator), Biomechanics in Regenerative Medicine (Michael Sacks, principal investigator), and Cardiovascular Bioengineering (Sanjeev Shroff, principal investigator).

For the past 10 years, the Department of Bioengineering has been making headlines— gaining success with faculty research, department awards, and student achievements. The close interaction between engineers and medical researchers is at the heart of the bioengineering discipline. At the University of Pittsburgh, this collaboration is strengthened by the relationship between the highly ranked Department of Bioengineering, the School of Medicine (including the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine), and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Together, these organizations and their researchers, educators, and students are developing procedures and conducting research that is gaining Pitt national recognition—and creating a better, healthier future.

Faculty Making National Headlines • Michael Sacks, William Kepler Whiteford Professor, and his

colleague William Wagner, professor of surgery, chemical engineering, and bioengineering and deputy director of the University’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, were named one of the Scientific American 50 for their research contributions to the development and biomechanical analyses of novel cell microintegrated biodegradable scaffolds that mimic many of the critical properties of cardiovascular tissues. The announcement was in the December 2006 issue of the publication.

• Bioengineering faculty members published more than 300 journal articles, many in high-impact factor peer-reviewed journals.

• Sacks was named editor of the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.

• Wagner is the founding editor of the biomaterials journal Acta Biomaterialia, now in its third year in circulation and listed on Medline.

• Several faculty members were named to editorial boards—David Vorp, to the Journal of Biomechanics and Annals of Vascular Surgery; Tamer Ibrahim, to the new International Journal of Antennas and Propagation; and Richard Debski, to the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.

• Bioengineering faculty and their students gave 160 conference presentations around the world.

• Department research expenditures exceeded $7 million— a department record and an increase of 7 percent over the previous year.

The Department of Bioengineering receives funding to support nine highly competitive individual predoctoral fellowships through the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and American Heart Association.

Michael Sacks (right) and his colleague William Wagner were named among the 2006 Scientific American 50 for their research contributions to the development and biomechanical analyses of novel cell microintegrated biodegradable scaffolds that mimic many of the critical properties of cardiovascular tissues.

2007 Quick Facts*Chair: Harvey BorovetzFaculty: 15 full time; 90 part timeUndergraduate Students: 147Graduate Students: 162www.engr.pitt.edu/bioengineering*fall 2006 data



department ofchemical & petroleumengineering


department ofchemical & petroleumengineering

Setting the Pace for Nearly a CenturyWhen the University of Pittsburgh founded the Department of Petroleum Engineering in 1910, it became a record setter in the field of engineering: Pitt’s was the first petroleum engineering education program in the world.

Today, the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering continues to make records and set standards.

Faculty ExpertsThe department is home to faculty experts who continually earn national awards and recognition. This past year’s highlights include:

• The work of Anna Balazs—Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Robert von der Luft Professor—was featured twice during the month of November 2006 in Science magazine. The world’s leading journal of original scientific research, global news, and commentary, Science publishes about 8 percent of the papers it receives. Balazs was lead author of the article “Nanoparticle Polymer Composites: Where Two Small Worlds Meet” in the November 17, 2006, issue and coauthor of an article about pulsating gels in the November 3, 2006, issue. She also wrote a paper with several undergraduates that was published in the April 22, 2007, issue of Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

• The department’s faculty published 53 journal articles, including in such prestigious publications as the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Nature, Macromolecules, Science, Physical Review Letters, and Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

• The department had $4.5 million in research expenditures.

• Assistant Professor Steven Little was selected to participate in the Clinical Research Scholars Program (CRSP) through the K12 mechanism of the National Institutes of Health. The primary intent of the four-year program is to provide training toward independent status at the interface of the fields of chemical/bioengineering, immunology, and transplantation.

• Three faculty members—William Kepler Whiteford Professor J. Karl Johnson, Associate Professor Götz Veser, and Bayer Professor and Chair Bob Enick—were selected as U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Institute for Advanced Energy Studies (IAES) fellows. Each of these positions will provide for between one and four PhD students’ energy-related research that primarily will be conducted with NETL.


The work of Anna Balazs, Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Robert von der Luft Professor, was featured twice in one month in Science magazine, which publishes about 8 percent of the papers it receives.

2007 Quick Facts* Chair: Robert M. Enick, Bayer Professor of Chemical Engineering Faculty: 16 tenure/tenure stream; 11 adjunct; 4 emeritusUndergraduate Students: 152Graduate Students: 43www.engr.pitt.edu/chemical*fall 2006 data

• Professor Emeritus Shiao-Hung Chiang received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Filtration and Separations Society.

• Johnson and John T. Yates Jr. (Department of Chemistry) completed their textbook, Molecular Physical Chemistry for Engineers, which now is in print and is being reviewed by departments across the country.

• Assistant Professor Di Gao received a three-year National Science Foundation grant for the design and development of super water- and oil-repellent surfaces by topographic manipulation. The outcome of the research will have practical significance in enabling technologies to make green construction materials such as self-cleaning windowpanes, anti-fog glass, and contamination-free surfaces.

• Assistant Professor Sachin Velankar and his students are applying insights from small-molecule two-phase systems to polymers. Inspired by recipes for preparing mayonnaise and ice cream, Velankar is developing new kinds of polymer blends and foams with exceptional toughness and stability under processing conditions.

The Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering hired four new faculty members. Pictured here are (left to right) Sachin Velankar, Götz Veser, and Steven Little. (Not shown is Di Gao.)


Meeting Challenges The University of Pittsburgh has a proud tradition in civil engineering education dating back more than 150 years. Today, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering graduates are leaders in their professions, serving the public through government positions, with private consulting firms, as contractors, and in research and academic institutions.

The department offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs covering such topics as structures, the environment, water resources, green construction, geotechnical engineering, and construction management. Electives range from applied mechanics and mathematics to legal issues and computer-aided design.

The department’s accomplished faculty, top-notch educational and research facilities, and industry partnerships combine to give graduates the necessary edge to pursue satisfying careers and help meet the environmental, engineering, and sustainability challenges of the 21st century.

During the past year, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has made great strides.

• For the second year in a row, research expenditures have doubled and are now at approximately $2.36 million. The majority of funding is from the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Federal Highway Administration, and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).

• The department is expanding its expertise, having hired two new faculty members to support its sustainability and environmental focus areas, and is searching for three additional faculty members this academic year.

• The department completed the contract to administer an intergovernmental agreement between the University of Pittsburgh and PennDOT. This five-year agreement—capped at $25 million—names Pitt as one of the leading institutions in the commonwealth that will assist PennDOT in the development and implementation of new technologies and operational strategies in the transportation sector.

• The department plays a critical role in the recently established Center for Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure. The center will advance the sustainability of transportation infrastructure through collaborative, multidisciplinary development and dissemination of new technologies and knowledge, as well as the education of the workforce to sustain this critical industrial sector.

• Outstanding research efforts by department faculty resulted in 50 peer-reviewed articles in the leading engineering and science journals in 2006.

Broadening OpportunitiesThe Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering also is committed to providing its students with broad educational opportunities.

In spring 2007, the department expanded its curriculum to offer new programs in mining engineering and transportation engineering.

The undergraduate Certificate in Mining Engineering was developed to address the increasing demand for mining engineers in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Pitt has a strong history in mining engineering, as many of its engineering alumni have achieved great success and leadership positions in the mining industry. The program was developed in conjunction with alumni at such companies as CONSOL Energy, Beckwith Machinery, Eickhoff, and Jenmar Corp.

The Certificate in Mining Engineering requires a sequence of five courses:

• Underground Coal Mining• Advanced Mine Design• Mine Ventilation Engineering• Engineering Geology• Rock Mechanics

The new graduate program in transportation engineering focuses on a comprehensive approach to transportation engineering, with emphasis on three major areas:

• Planning • Design • Operations

Faculty aim to enhance not only students’ analytical, quantitative, and communication skills, but also their product development and product management skills so they are better prepared to face the challenges of the profession. Students have the opportunity to apply these skills in the capstone project management course, which incorporates all phases of an engineering project (project conception, preliminary design, stakeholders’ involvement, environmental impact, financial aspects, etc.).

The program is structured so that it can be completed in two years, and all courses are offered at times that accommodate the schedules of both full- and part-time students.

2007 Quick Facts*Chair: Radisav D. Vidic Faculty: 13 full time; 14 part timeUndergraduate Students: 270Graduate Students: 70www.engr.pitt.edu/civil*fall 2006 data


Following the collapse of an Interstate-70 bridge in Washington, Pa., the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) asked civil engineering faculty member Kent Harries to investigate the collapse and conduct structural tests on other girders recovered from the structure.

Pitt’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering was front and center again in its response to the August 1, 2007, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minn. Harries was widely quoted in newspapers around the world. He also spoke on NPR’s All Things Considered and KDKA’s Sunday Edition with Al Beihler, Pennsylvania secretary of transportation and a 1967 Pitt civil engineering alumnus.

©2007, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, all rights reserved, reprinted with permission.

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Minhee Yun is a recipient of a National Science Foundation Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education grant, one of only 10 such awards in the United States.

Steven Levitan, John A. Jurenko Professor, has been appointed an Oliver Smithies Lecturer and a visiting fellow of Balliol College at Oxford University in England.

2007 Quick Facts*Chair: William StanchinaFaculty: 24 full time; 4 part timeUndergraduate Students: 361Graduate Students: 90www.engr.pitt.edu/electrical*fall 2006 data


Research at the Leading Edge Faculty Achievement on a National—And International—Scale

The faculty of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering are receiving national—as well as international—recognition for their research prowess. This past year, the faculty generated $2.2 million in research expenditures and received funding from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, and Office of Naval Research as well as from several business entities. Here are some specific examples of the department faculty’s reach:

• Minhee Yun, assistant professor, is a recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education grant, one of only 10 such awards in the United States. The grant will allow the University to develop a course on integrated nanoscale science and engineering. Pitt recently was ranked second in the nation in nano- and microscale research by Small Times magazine. Yun’s coprincipal investigators are Alexander Star, assistant professor of chemistry in Pitt’s School of Arts and Sciences, and Noreen Garman, professor in Pitt’s School of Education. Yun and Star also are researchers in the University’s Gertrude E. and John M. Petersen Institute of NanoScience and Engineering. “Nanotechnology is booming, and the NSF is encouraging professors to develop nanotechnology educational programs,” said Yun. “Not many of these programs exist yet in undergraduate curricula.” The hands-on, research-oriented course will introduce nanoscale devices and their applications created from a range of nanomaterials, including carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, and nanowires.

• Steven Levitan, John A. Jurenko Professor, has been appointed an Oliver Smithies Lecturer and a visiting fellow of Balliol College at Oxford University in England. The Oliver Smithies Lectureship is awarded to a visitor to present two or three university-wide lectures on a subject of the lecturer’s choosing. While a visiting fellow, Levitan will be collaborating with Dominic O’Brien, reader in electrical engineering, and Thomas Melham, professor of computer science. Additionally, Levitan was

general chair of the Design Automation Conference, which was attended by 10,000 people, had more than 50 technical sessions, and had an exhibition with more than 250 participating companies.

• Alex K. Jones, assistant professor, has been awarded an NSF grant for research in the area of compilers for high-performance computing as well as a grant from the Technology Collaborative to develop a low-power reconfigurable computer and design automation tool.

Recognition for Graduate Student Research The department also has been gaining recognition for its graduate student research.

Research conducted by Baojun Liu was highlighted in Applied Physics Letters as well as on optics.org and in Nature Physics. Liu’s work on selective laser locking of radioactive isotopes has paved the way for nuclear microengineering for chip-scale applications. The work of graduate students Ben McMillen, Chuck Jewart, and Michael Buric also was highlighted in Applied Physics Letters. All four students work under the direction of Kevin P. Chen, assistant professor and 2007 recipient of an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award.


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Andrew Schaefer received the Outstanding Young Industrial Engineer in Education and Industry Award from the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE).

2007 Quick Facts*Chair: Bopaya Bidanda, Ernest E. Roth ProfessorFaculty: 14 full time; 5 part timeUndergraduate Students: 163Graduate Students: 74www.engr.pitt.edu/industrial*fall 2006 data

Bopaya Bidanda (above) was recognized by the Council of Industrial Engineering Academic Department Heads for his contributions while serving as president.

Larry J. Shuman (at left) was recognized as one of 12 new fellows of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).


Student ExcellenceTwo graduate students in the department have received IIE awards as well: Nan Kong earned the Pritsker Doctoral Dissertation Award and Tuba Pinar Yildirim earned Best Paper: Engineering Education Track.

IE on the RiseOnce again this year, it is the award-winning faculty and students of the Department of Industrial Engineering that helped the department earn its ranking of 12th among public institutions and 19th overall in the nation among other graduate industrial engineering programs, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Faculty Recognition on a National ScaleThe 14 full-time faculty members in the Department of Industrial Engineering have made significant achievements during the past year. They’ve generated nearly $1.7 million in research expenditures, produced 36 publications, and delivered 22 presentations. They’ve also been winning awards, honors, and recognitions on a national scale.

• Bopaya Bidanda, Ernest E. Roth Professor and department chair, was recognized for his contributions while serving as president of the Council of Industrial Engineering Academic Department Heads. This organization of more than 120 schools worldwide represents the academic side of the industrial engineering profession.

• Andrew Schaefer, associate professor, received the Outstanding Young Industrial Engineer in Education and Industry Award from the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE).

• Larry J. Shuman, professor and senior associate dean for academic affairs, was recognized as one of 12 new fellows of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).

• Lisa Maillart, assistant professor, received the IIE Transactions on Quality & Reliability Engineering Best Paper Award.

• Kim LaScola Needy, associate professor, was elected secretary of the American Society for Engineering Management (ASEM).


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International Conference on Microalloyed Steels in Pittsburgh, July 16–19, 2007. Nearly 150 conference attendees from all over the world visited Pitt and the Basic Metals Processing Research Institute (BAMPRI), which DeArdo and Garcia codirect.

• Laura A. Schaefer—associate professor, Bicentennial Board of Visitors Faculty Fellow, and Mascaro Sustainability Initiative deputy director—and Sung Kwon Cho, assistant professor, were invited panelists at the National Science Foundation (NSF) Workshop for Frontiers in Transport Phenomena Research and Education, May 17–18, 2007. Held only about once a decade, the workshop helps determine the future direction of research and education in the international thermal sciences community.

• Anne M. Robertson, associate professor and graduate director in mechanical engineering, gave invited talks on her research on cerebral aneurysms at three international conferences in Japan, Switzerland, and Portugal. She also gave a keynote lecture at the Fifth World Congress of Biomechanics in Munich, Germany. Robertson is the 2007 recipient of the School of Engineering’s Beitle-Veltri Memorial Award for excellence in teaching and Robert O. Agbede Faculty Award for Diversity.

• Qing-Ming Wang, associate professor, received an International Research and Education in Engineering (IREE) grant from NSF that will support two MEMS students—Christen M. Hydrean and Fang Li—in their summer research projects at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. They will conduct research on thin-film materials and devices for electronic and biological applications. Wang’s research in these areas is being supported by three concurrent NSF grants.

• Judith C. Yang, associate professor and B.P. America Faculty Fellow, was awarded a $300,000 NSF grant to carry out a research project titled Fundamental In Situ Nano-Oxidation Mechanisms of Metals and Metallic Alloys. This is built on the research accomplishments of her NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award. Yang maintains a high level of research in materials science, generating nearly $800,000 in research expenditures every year.

• Sung Kwon Cho received an unsolicited NSF grant for the development of micro bubble tweezers for individual cell manipulation and ultrasonic cell therapy and a U.S. Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) phase II grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Advanced Research Project Agency for the development of channel-

Combining StrengthsIn fall 2007, the mechanical engineering and materials science departments merged to become the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science (MEMS). The new department is the largest in the school in terms of students and faculty.

An immediate result of the integration of these two departments has been increased collaboration among researchers. MEMS combines core strengths in the traditional areas of bioengineering, manufacturing, microsystems technology, smart structures and materials, computational fluid and solid dynamics, and energy systems research. Key foci are reflective of national trends, which are leaning toward the micro- and nanoscale systems level.

Faculty and Students in the National—and International—SpotlightMEMS faculty members and researchers have been recognized across the country and around the world in 2007:

• Frederick S. Pettit, emeritus professor and Harry S. Tack Chair, received the 2007 TMS Application to Practice Award as a result of his many contributions to the development of protection systems for high-temperature alloys.

• Giovanni Paolo Galdi, William Kepler Whiteford Professor, was the focus of the International Conference on Mathematical Fluid Mechanics in Estori, Portugal, May 21–25, 2007. The conference, held in honor of Galdi’s 60th birthday, featured world-renowned researchers in the mathematical fluid mechanics community.

• Anthony DeArdo, William Kepler Whiteford Professor of Engineering, and C. Isaac Garcia, research professor, jointly organized the Association for Iron and Steel Technology

Judith C. Yang was awarded a $300,000 National Science Foundation grant to carry out a research project titled Fundamental In Situ Nano-Oxidation Mechanisms of Metals and Metallic Alloys.

Frederick S. Pettit won the 2007 TMS Application to Practice Award. Pettit received this prestigious award because of his many contributions to the development of protection systems for high-temperature alloys.

2007 Quick Facts* Chair: Minking K. Chyu, Leighton E. and Mary N. Orr Chair in EngineeringFaculty: 24 full time; 12 adjunct/researchUndergraduate Students: 365Graduate Students: 116www.engr.pitt.edu/mems*fall 2006 data


to-droplet sample extraction and purification. Cho’s work on microparticle sampling was chosen as an application highlight in Chemical Technology magazine.

• Benjamin Gordon, a mechanical engineering student, was awarded a 2007 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for exceptional independent research. Gordon, who has worked under the guidance of several MEMS faculty members, now works in the Sound, Systems, and Structures Laboratory researching thermoacoustics—the conversion of sound energy into heat energy, and vice versa—with particular interest in improving the efficiency and performance of a prototype model for a thermoacoustical refrigerator. Gordon plans to earn a PhD in mechanical engineering and become an engineering professor, teaching and conducting research in smart structures applications (see page 29).


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academic support and enrichment, college planning, career awareness, cultural awareness, and parental involvement activities.

• Three EXCEL students—Daniel Armanios, Benjamin Gordon, and Adam Iddriss—won national awards. Armanios was named a Rhodes scholar in 2007, a Truman scholar in 2005, and a Goldwater scholar in 2004. Gordon was named a Goldwater scholar in 2007, and Iddriss was named a Truman scholar in 2006.

• Enrollment of underrepresented students in Pitt engineering degree programs is on the rise. In fall 2006, underrepresented students made up 24 percent of the MS program and 38.6 percent of the PhD program.

• The percentage of incoming female students has increased to 25.5 percent, making Pitt engineering 2 percent above the national average.

• African American undergraduate enrollment is at the national average of 5 percent.

• More freshmen from ethnically underrepresented groups are choosing to study abroad. During the 2005–06 academic year, 12 percent of the students in this population studied abroad at the end of their freshman year. During the 2006–07 academic year, 32 percent of the students in this population chose to study abroad.

The EOD Diversity Action Plan would not be complete without goals that include faculty and staff diversity initiatives. EOD offers programs for faculty and staff, including seminars on gender and generational differences and combating sexual harassment.

A Model Program Several years ago, the Engineering Workforce Commission of the American Association of Engineering Societies recognized the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering Office of Diversity (EOD). The school ranked number one in Pennsylvania for enrollment of African American students and Bachelor of Science and doctoral degree recipients, as well as third in the state for awarding Bachelor of Science and doctoral degrees to women.

Today, EOD continues to make strides. • One hundred percent of the students in the Pitt Engineering

Career Access Program (PECAP) Pre-College Component enrolled in college. Forty-five percent have chosen to major in science, technology, engineering, math, or medicine (STEMM), and 88.7 percent are from an underrepresented group in STEMM disciplines. PECAP seeks to enhance the success of academically excellent high school students from groups underrepresented in STEMM careers through

A Model Program

Adam Iddriss, a double major in bioengineering and chemistry with a minor in Asian studies, credits the Pitt EXCEL Mentoring Program for Excellence in Engineering (MPE2) as having helped him achieve his educational goals, which include receiving a 2006 Harry S. Truman Scholarship for outstanding academic achievement and leadership. To read more about Iddriss, please visit www.engr.pitt.edu/news/featured/iddriss.html.

2007 Quick Facts*Leadership: Sylvanus N. Wosu, associate dean for diversity affairs and associate professor, mechanical engineeringStaff members: 10www.engr.pitt.edu/diversity*fall 2006 data

Graduates of the 2007 PECAP Pre-College Component



Academic year 2006–07 brought with it many impressive student achievements. • A freshman class of 403 students entered the School of

Engineering in fall 2006.

• Twenty-one percent of students were from out of state.

• More than half of incoming freshmen* ranked in the top 10 percent of their graduating high school class (*from high schools that kept rankings; 20 percent came from schools that do not keep rankings).

• The average SAT score of the incoming class was 1290.

Students Receive Prestigious National Awards, Travel InternationallyDaniel Armanios, a University Honors College student from Marietta, Ga., who graduated in April with degrees in mechanical engineering and political science, was chosen as a 2007 Rhodes scholar. Armanios was among only 32 U.S. students selected, making Pitt one of only five U.S. public universities with a 2007 Rhodes scholar, the only Pennsylvania school—public or private—to win, and the only public university in the nation to win in both 2006 and 2007. Moreover, Armanios is the only undergraduate engineering student to be named a Rhodes scholar in 2007. A 2004 Goldwater scholar in engineering, science, and mathematics

and a 2005 Truman scholar for leadership as an undergraduate, Armanios is the fifth University Honors College student to win a Rhodes award since 1983 and the first Pitt student to win three such prestigious awards. He also was one of 20 students selected from 600 candidates to USA Today’s 2007 All-USA College Academic First Team.

Benjamin Gordon, a mechanical engineering major, was awarded a 2007 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for exceptional independent research. Growing up in a community plagued by poverty and crime, Gordon, who at age 15 was forced to become financially independent when his mother died, said it was a struggle not to become a statistic. His mother had stressed that a proper education was one of the keys to changing the conditions of a community. She taught Gordon about such famous African American scientists as Benjamin Banneker, whose life story and scientific work have been an inspiration to Gordon. At Pitt, Gordon has worked in the Vibration and Control Laboratory under the guidance of William Clark, professor of mechanical engineering, and now works under the direction of Jeffrey Vipperman—associate professor of mechanical engineering and bioengineering—in the Sound, Systems, and Structures Laboratory researching thermoacoustics, the conversion of sound energy into heat energy and vice versa, with particular interest in improving the efficiency and performance of a prototype model for a thermoacoustical refrigerator.

Students Making National Headlines and International Visits

Daniel Armanios, a University Honors College student from Marietta, Ga., who graduated with degrees in mechanical engineering and political science, was chosen as a 2007 Rhodes scholar. He was the only undergraduate engineering student in the nation to receive this honor.

2007 Quick Facts*Leadership: Larry Shuman, professor and senior associate dean for academic affairsUndergraduate Students: 1,951Graduate Students: 552www.engr.pitt.edu/students*fall 2006 data

Once again, School of Engineering students took part in INNOVATE: The International Technology, Globalization, and Leadership Conference for Engineering held in Beijing, China, and also travelled to India (above). Students studied contract manufacturing, entrepreneurship, and ethical obligations of globalization and technology.



A Tale of Two DecadesPrivate support from alumni and friends during just the past decade is transforming the School of Engineering today. The outright cash total received during this period exceeds $90 million, nearly five times the amount received the decade before.

$100 million

$75 million

$50 million

$25 million

$0PRIOR DECADE 1998–2007

$90.4 MILLION

$18.6 MILLION


Campaign Success: $100 Million and CountingThe school’s $100 million campaign goal was surpassed on December 31, 2006—half a year ahead of schedule. The impact of this effort has benefited faculty and students throughout the school.

Engineering Legacy FundsThe goal of raising 50 Engineering Legacy Funds by June 30, 2007, also was successfully achieved this year. These funds are unrestricted endowments established with a minimum of $10,000. Donors could designate their funds’ income for schoolwide needs, or for a specific department.

A total of 57 funds were created, with 32 designated for a specific department and 25 left unrestricted for schoolwide needs. The combined value of these funds totaled more than $1.1 million.

Campaign start Campaign Impact July 1, 1997 as of June 30, 2007

Total number of 78 152Endowed Funds

Endowed Undergraduate 42 65scholarships

Endowed Graduate 11 17Fellowships

Endowed Professorships 5 19

Endowed Chairs 1 9

Total Market Value of $31.8 million $82.9 millionEngineering Endowment

Engineering Endowment

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

$0 $20 $40 $60 $80 million million million million

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External Relations


Students from the Steel II class, taught by Brian Kozy, adjunct faculty member in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, took a field trip to U.S. Steel Corp.’s Edgar Thomson and Irvin plants to see steel production and processing firsthand.

The 2007 Distinguished Alumni honorees (front row, left to right): John A. Jurenko, Thomas D. Mino, Michael Bilirakis, (Student Leadership Award winner) Daniel Armanios, Craig Staresinich, (back row, left to right) Dean Gerald D. Holder, Michael J. Fasolka, Aldo Zini, and Dennis P. Yeskey

Students in the Formula SAE organization find a new driver for their car.


2007 Distinguished AlumniSince 1964, the School of Engineering has been honoring its most accomplished and supportive alumni through the annual Distinguished Alumni Awards. This year’s honorees returned to campus for the award ceremony on April 4, 2007, and many also made time to visit with students and faculty during the day.

School of Engineering HonoreeJohn A. Jurenko (BSEE ’56)Vice President, Sales and Marketing (Ret.)ADTRAN, Huntsville, Ala.

Department HonoreesDepartment of Chemical and Petroleum EngineeringThe Honorable Michael Bilirakis (BSPET ’59)Congressman (Ret.)U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringDennis P. Yeskey (BSCE ’72, MSCE ’73)National Director, Real Estate Capital Markets PracticeDeloitte & Touche USA, New York, N.Y.

Department of Electrical and Computer EngineeringThomas D. Mino (BSEE ’68)President and CEOLumera, Inc., Bothell, Wash.

Department of Industrial EngineeringAldo Zini (BSIE ’75)President and CEOAethon, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa.

Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials ScienceCraig Staresinich (BSAE ’69)Vice President and General ManagerNorthrop Grumman Corp. Mission Systems Sector, Fairfax, Va.

Distinguished Young Alumni HonoreeMichael J. Fasolka (BSMET ’94)Director, NIST Combinatorial Methods CenterNational Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Md.

Office of Development and Alumni Relations staff (front row, left to right): Kristen Bires Carothers, Jennifer Welton, Amanda Meyer, (back row, left to right) Don Shields, Aaron Conley, Sonia Gill, and Peter-John Leone

To view more photos of outreach activities, please visit the online photo gallery at www.engr.pitt.edu/alumni.

Outreach ActivitiesThe number and size of outreach activities grew once again this year, as the school continued to reach out to its 25,000 alumni as well as corporate partners. Regional alumni events were held in Houston; Detroit; Cleveland; Atlanta; Philadelphia; Naples, Fla.; and Washington, D.C. The school’s sixth annual alumni golf outing drew a record crowd of more than 100 golfers, and the homecoming celebration drew more than 150 alumni and their families. Alumni also were welcomed back to campus through opportunities to speak to classes and other special programs.

Engineering alumni at American Bridge Co. gather for a photo at the site of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The company, headed by Robert Luffy (BSCE ’72; standing, at back left) is building the single-tower self-anchored suspension span, which will be the largest in the world when it’s completed. The project, and these alumni leading it, will be featured in the fall 2007 issue of the school’s alumni magazine.

(below) Robert Colwell (BSEE ’77) returned for a special book-signing event. He spoke to students and faculty about his book, The Pentium Chronicles: The People, Passion, and Politics behind Intel’s Landmark Chips. The event also celebrated his recent induction into the National Academy of Engineering.

Dennis Yeskey (above) made time to visit over lunch with the officers of the Engineering Student Council, of which he served as president during his student days at Pitt.

Aldo Zini (left) spoke to a class of industrial engineering students about his company, Aethon, and the future of robotics in the healthcare industry.

Tom Mino (below middle) got a hands-on demonstration of the equipment in the Getrude E. and John M. Petersen Institute of NanoScience and Engineering.


School of Engineering240 Benedum Hall3700 O’Hara StreetPittsburgh, PA 15261

The University of Pittsburgh is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution. Published in cooperation with the Department of University Marketing Communications. UMC6277-0907

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