April 2011

Students

• Colin Przybylowski '11 was named as winner of the 2011 David and Lorraine Freed Undergraduate Research Symposium for his work with bioactive glass, which could lead to advancements in the world of orthopedic replacements. Second and third place prizes went to Meghan Casey '11 and Anthony Ventura '11, respectively. Also, Andrew Woodward, Kyle Schreiner, Mary Nunley and Danny Cohen, all from the Class of 2011, earned the People's Choice Award. Three honorable mention prizes went to Alexander Bourque '12 and Jonathan Rosen '11; Jake Patterson '12; and Katherine Glass-Hardenbergh '11 and Sushan Zheng '11. The symposium, which highlights the intense researching capabilities of undergraduate students, was held March 15 in the STEPS building and was judged by renowned experts in the world of engineering. The winners also moved on to participate in the university-wide Academic Symposium, which was held on March 29.
• On April 8, the Lehigh Engineering student Formula SAE team will unveil its race car, which was manufactured using research that was conducted by mechanical engineering students in Lehigh's research labs. The unveiling will be held at 2 p.m. at Lewis Lab, and will be followed by a MechE department open house at Packard Laboratory. Various labs will be available for tours and student organizations will describe and present some of their work during the event. If you are interested in attending, please see our online registration form.
• A team from Lehigh's chapter of Engineers Without Borders, an international non-profit humanitarian organization, traveled to Honduras over spring break to do a follow-up on their previous work in Pueblo Nuevo, a rural town with contaminated water sources. Students from EWB traveled to Honduras in 2006 and 2009 to create and implement a water storage system for the town, and their most recent trip was spent making sure their water system was working as planned, as well as venturing to other towns to see who they can help next. To follow their adventures, check out the Lehigh on Location Geoblog.
• On March 1, Libyan student Ali Elmozughi, a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering, led a discussion with the Lehigh community regarding the revolutionary uprisings in Libya that began in late February. Elmozughi, who grew up in Libya and came to the U.S. three years ago, led the brown bag discussion by sharing his personal beliefs and emotions about Moammar Gadhafi's rule, supporting the rebels' cause and allowing the Lehigh community to gain insight into the momentous events that took place in his home country.
• Julie Molinari and Zheng Tian both received top honors out of 50 graduate student poster presentations at the Annual Meeting of the Catalysis Society of Metropolitan on March 16. Earning first place was Molinari's presentation, titled "Bridging the Gap between Heterogeneous and Enzyme Catalysis: In Situ Spectroscopic Study of Vanadium Haloperoxidase Enzyme Functional Mimics." She was supervised by Professor Israel E. Wachs. Tian tied for third place with her poster, titled "Hieracrhiel Engineering of Tunable Nanoparticulate and templated Porous Films," and was supervised by Professor Mark A. Snyder. Other Lehigh graduate student presenters were Kevin Doura, Charles Roberts, Peter Phivilay, Chris Keturakis, Shih-Chieh Kung, Qianying Guo, Weihao Weng, Lindsey Welch and Xiaofang Yang. All students and both professors were representing the chemical engineering department, except Welch who is of the materials science and engineering department. Also, Professor Steven McIntosh, as well as Snyder gave lectures at the meeting.

Faculty

• Professor Rick Blum, the Robert W. Wieseman Chair in electrical engineering and director of Lehigh's Signal Processing and Communication Research Lab, was recently named a Distinguished Lecturer by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' Signal Processing Society (SPS).
• Following the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in mid-March, The Philadelphia Inquirer interviewed Clay J. Naito, associate professor of structural engineering, and Frank R. Gunter, associate professor of economics, to weigh in on the situation in their respective areas of expertise.
• In early March, Lehigh President Alice P. Gast, one of three science envoys chosen by the U.S. State Department last year, traveled to Azerbaijan to identify areas for cooperation on energy, information technology, public-private partnerships and education in meetings with senior government officials, ministers, and representatives from the scientific, education, nonprofit and business communities, according to a State Department release.
• Professor William L. Luyben has been chosen to participate in the "Distillations Honors Session" at the Annual Meeting of the American Institute for Chemical Engineers, which will be held in Minneapolis this October.

Alumni

• Dedicated alumnus Hans J. Baer '47, '97H died on March 21 at age 83. Known to the world as a successful banker, Baer was famous at Lehigh for his passionate commitment to furthering Lehigh's worldwide presence. An honorary trustee and generous alumnus, he was instrumental in launching Lehigh's Global Council, endowed scholarships for international undergraduate students to attend Lehigh and established a chair in international finance—all in an attempt to raise Lehigh's profile internationally. Baer graduated from Lehigh with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, and earned an honorary doctor of laws degree in 1997. He also earned the university's "L-in-Life Award" and was a member of Asa Packer Society. Baer served as an honorary member of the Dean's Advisory Council of the College of Business and Economics up until his death.
• From March 23 to 28, various Lehigh alumni hosted current students in their homes to share a meal and spend time getting to know each other. Several Lehigh Engineering alumni opened their homes to the students, including Michael Rinkunas '02 (industrial engineering), Maureen Rinkunas '02(chemical engineering), Steve Rittler '99 (computer engineering) and Brian Merritt '99 '07G (civil engineering).
• Irwin Young '50, who earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, came to campus to lead a discussion as part of the 2011 Spencer C. Shantz Distinguished Lecture Series. Young is chairman of Du Art, a New York City film laboratory founded by his father. He discussed his 60 years of experience in the film industry, which culminated in 2000, when he received the Gordon E. Sawyer Oscar Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The next speaker in the series is Leon F. McGinnis, chair and professor of manufacturing systems at Georgia Institute of Technology, and the lecture will be held on April 28 at 3 p.m. in Sinclair Auditorium.
• Dr. Maxwell Lay '64G recently published a book in Australia, titled Strange Ways. The book chronicles the weird, strange and puzzling events that have happened on roads throughout history. According to his biography on the book jacket, Lay, a civil engineer, has "over 35 years of experience in Australia and around the world," and is an expert of roads and transport. He was given membership status to the Order of Australia in 2005. Lay is also an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia and a Professional Fellow of Melbourne University.

Programs

• The U.S. News & World Report listed among the top 50 graduate schools in the U.S. Lehigh's College of Education and its P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science. According to Dean S. David Wu, Lehigh Engineering's ranking at 43 reflects a notable increase in program quality and size via improvement in 7 out of 11 ranking criteria.
• On March 23, Lehigh unveiled two new technologies that will elevate the academic and industrial research that members of the university put forward. The recently-installed ION-TOF Qtac 100 High Sensitivity-Low Energy Ion Scattering (HS-LEIS) provides users with unprecedented surface analysis technique -- isolating and examining the very top or outer atomic layer, just 0.2 to 0.3 nm thick. The Scienta ESCA 300, one of 11 of its kind in the world and the only one in the U.S., is among the most powerful instruments available for surface science and research. With these instruments at their fingertips, Lehigh and visiting researchers can glean information about the top 10 atomic layers of a material -- an incredible advantage in understanding a material's basic characteristics.
• As part of Lehigh's Environmental Initiative, several faculty members recently met with leaders from Air Products and Chemicals Inc., PPL Corp. and the Wildlands Conservancy to discuss collaborative efforts in environmental research and awareness. The EI is an interdisciplinary program that promotes understanding and awareness of current environmental issues by allowing students and faculty to cross departmental boundaries to solve open-ended problems related to those issues. The next event hosted by EI will be the Lehigh Valley Watershed Conference on April 11.
• Recognizing the contributions of those who made the new STEPS building a reality, a dedication ceremony involving faculty, staff, students and engineering professionals was held on March 29. President Alice P. Gast, Sam Niedbala ‘84G ‘86G and Frank Pazzaglia, professor and chair of the earth and environmental science department, addressed the crowd, emphasizing the combined effort of the Lehigh and local community to educate the next generation of environmentally aware students. The dedication was highlighted by a ceremonial tying of ribbons on a young white oak tree by Gast, Pazzaglia, Anne Meltzer, the Herbert and Ann Siegel Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and David Wu, dean of the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering & Applied Science. The STEPS building embodies an important stride in Lehigh's environmental and sustainability outreach goals to educate the community while promoting the efforts of industry professionals.

     

P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science
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