e@m magazine, fall 2012

MAJOR CLARK SCHOOL DONORS LEAD SCHOOL IN SMASHING CAMPAIGN GOAL, URGE MORE TO GIVE

$235,000,000 AND CLIMBING!

THE UNIVERS ITY OF MARYLAND

FA

LL

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ol.

12, N

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THE MAGAZINE OF THE A. JAMES CLARK SCHOOL of ENGINEERING

ME

S T O R I E S

2 $235,000,000 and Climbing

Join With Us

Help Our Students

Express Your Unique Vision

Transform the Campus

Be A Part of What’s Next

16 Gamera Soars Again 18 Can Your Helicopter Do 300 MPH?

D E PA R T M E N T S

1 Message from the Dean

20 Entrepreneurship

Partnership with UM School of Medicine Yields

New Start-Up

Wachsman Pioneers Transformational

Energy Technology

A Bicycle Built for Too

22 News of Note

New Undergrad Honors Program Will Prepare

Cybersecurity Specialists

Wireless Sensors Protect Roadways, Save Lives

Researchers Discover “Remote Heating” Phenomenon

CERSI Day Attracts Leaders in Drug and Medical

Device Industry

University Fills Two Senior Leadership Positions

24 Faculty News

Young Researchers Win Prestigious Awards

Faculty Appointments

Board of Regents Award

Minta Martin Professors Named

New Faculty Members

Faculty Honors

26 Students + Alumni

Steven Chalk, ’83, Leads U.S. Renewable Energy

Research

Entrepreneur, Researcher, Volunteer

Attention All Golden Terps

Jones Holds a Top U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission Post

Terrapin Take-Off Program

Clark School Welcomes Promising Students

Students Extend Winning Record in Competitions

29 The Rewards of Planned Giving

ON THE COVER

Clark School benefactors A. James Clark, left, and Robert E.

Fischell appear in this issue of E@M to urge Clark School alumni

and friends to give to Great Expectations, The Campaign for

Maryland. Fellow benefactor Jeong H. Kim was out of the

country and unable to join them for this photo.

CORRECTIONS

In the spring 2012 E@M, page 3, Keith Herold, Clark School

faculty advisor for the WaterShed solar house, was incorrectly

identified as an assistant professor. His correct title is associate

professor. Also, the page 12 caption incorrectly describes

Michelle Rosen as seen with high school students. Rosen was

pictured with fellow Clark School students.

FA L L 2 0 1 2 | TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

MEPUBLISHER

A. James Clark School

of Engineering

Darryll Pines

Dean

James F. McMenamin

Assistant Dean for Communications

Missy Corley

Communications Coordinator

EDITORIAL AND DESIGN STAFF

Nancy Grund

Editor

Beth Panitz

Contributing Writer

Laura Figlewski

Art Director

Engineering @ Maryland is published

twice a year for alumni and

friends of the A. James Clark School

of Engineering and the Glenn L.

Martin Institute of Technology at the

University of Maryland.

Letters to the editor and alumni

notes are welcome. Please send them

to Engineering @ Maryland Editor,

3214 Kim Engineering Building,

University of Maryland, College Park,

MD 20742-2831. Information can be

sent by fax to 301.314.6868 or by

e-mail to [email protected]

Please note that Engineering @ Maryland refers to the A. James Clark

School of Engineering by that name in

all cases, including stories that describe

alumni who graduated before the

name was established, in 1994,

to honor Mr. Clark’s outstanding

philanthropy.

COVER PHOTO BY

Luisa DiPietro

Darryll Pines

Dean and Farvardin Professor of Engineering

Dear Friends of the Clark School,

It’s nearly over. Great Expectations, The Campaign

for Maryland will come to a conclusion in December.

If all goes well, the university will reach its historic

$1 billion goal.

The Clark School has already far surpassed its

own goal of $185 million—by the end of June, our

generous donors had given or pledged $235 million.

This remarkable achievement is due to the dedica-

tion and commitment of our alumni, friends and

corporate supporters, and our outstanding Clark

School development staff led by Assistant Dean Leslie Borak.

Your contributions to Great Expectations have transformed our college into a premier

destination for students, faculty and staff interested in

using their skills to make a difference. Your contributions

have allowed us (1) to use scholarships to attract the best

and brightest from around the world to the Clark School;

(2) to construct and build the state of the art Jeong H.

Kim Engineering Building; (3) to launch the Robert E.

Fischell Bioengineering Department; (4) to establish

distinguished professorships and chairs to reward the

scholarly contributions of our faculty; and (5) to expand experiential learning opportunities

for students that transform their lives, including Engineers Without Borders, engineering

competitions and prizes, and undergraduate research experiences.

So, do we declare victory and go home?

No. There is still time to increase crucial support for our students, faculty and facilities,

and for our exceptional educational, research, entrepreneurship and service programs.

Take as your example three of our leading alumni—A. James Clark, Robert E. Fischell and

Jeong H. Kim. In this issue of E@M, they ask that you make your first gift to the campaign

at the level of giving that is right for you, or add to gifts you have already made.

Give to help educate a new generation of engineers. Give to help create new technolo-

gies and companies. Give to help our students tackle some of society’s greatest chal-

lenges, including clean energy and water, food and famine, and privacy and security. And

give because it feels good to be part of a great institution like the Clark School, and to say

you helped us move forward.

This is your chance to be a part of an incredible success. You can target your gift as

specifically as you like, to an individual professor, department or program, or you can give

to the Dean’s Fund so I can direct support to new opportunities as they arise.

Now is the time. For whatever cause you care about, at whatever level makes sense, give.

This is your chance to be part of an incredible

success.

THE CLARK SCHOOL IS DEEPLY GRATEFUL TO THE THOUSANDS OF DONORS WHO HAVE

CONTRIBUTED TO THE SUCCESS OF GREAT EXPECTATIONS, THE CAMPAIGN FOR MARYLAND. PROVIDED

HERE IS A BRIEF SAMPLING THAT GIVES SOME IDEA OF THE RANGE OF DONORS AND GIFTS:

$235,000,000

CLARK SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

GREAT EXPECTATIONS GOAL: $185 MILLION

JUNE 30 PROGRESS: $234.5 MILLION–127%

SCHOLARSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS: $46.5 MILLION

FACULTY AND RESEARCH SUPPORT: $72.7 MILLION

PROGRAM SUPPORT: $27.4 MILLION

FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT: $88.8 MILLION

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

GREAT EXPECTATIONS GOAL: $1 BILLION

JUNE 30 PROGRESS: $970.5 MILLION

At the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2012, the University of Maryland had secured more than $970 million of the historic $1 billion goal set for Great Expectations, the Campaign for Maryland. As of the same date, the A. James Clark School of Engineering had far exceeded its own $185 million portion of the university’s goal: our donors had given, pledged or made planned gifts of more than $235 million–127 percent of our goal and nearly 25 percent of the university’s.

The results of that exceptional generosity are already being felt. In the following pages we provide only a few examples of the 95 new scholarships, 26 new fellowships, 13 new professorships, and many innovative programs and campus-changing facilities already enhancing the experiences and capabilities of our students and faculty.

Is it time to stop and celebrate our success? Not according to Clark School Dean Darryll Pines. “We have two months before the campaign’s end on December 12. Let’s use that time to contribute still more to the campaign. We’ve already succeeded–let’s show how much more the Clark School can do to help our students and faculty, and help the university complete the campaign.”

Dean Pines is not alone. Some of our top donors–people whose names stand behind the school and many of its signature programs–offer their own message of encouragement on page 4. So if you’ve given already, please consider adding to your gift. If you haven’t yet given, you can still become a part of this amazing effort. Please contact Leslie Borak, assistant dean for external relations, at 301-405-0317 or [email protected].

WHAT CAN WE ACCOMPLISH BY THE 12/12/12 CAMPAIGN CLOSE?

PHOTO CREDITS: HAIWEN DING, ANDREW ECKART, MIKE MORGAN, AL SANTOS

Engineering @ Maryland ■ Fall 2012

2

A. JAMES CLARK SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING BOARD

OF VISITORS SCHOLARSHIP FUND

WARREN CITRIN GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS IN GLOBAL

SUSTAINABILITY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

THOMAS AND BARBARA CRANE SCHOLARSHIP

IN CIVIL ENGINEERING

BARBARA J. DIETER SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT

IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING AND WOMEN IN

ENGINEERING

ROBERT W. DEUTSCH FOUNDATION BIOMEMS

OPERATING GIFT FUND IN BIOENGINEERING

P. DOUGLAS AND KATHERINE DOLLENBERG: GIFTS TO

THE DOLLENBERG FAMILY ENDOWMENT, ENGINEERING

GENERAL SCHOLARSHIPS AND OTHERS

CLARK SCHOOL PARTICIPATION

TOTAL CLARK SCHOOL DONORS: 7,105

CLARK SCHOOL ALUMNI DONORS: 3,205

HOW MUCH MORE CAN WE DO?

THE CLARK SCHOOL CAN DO STILL MORE TO HELP OUR

STUDENTS AND FACULTY, AND HELP THE UNIVERSITY

ACHIEVE ITS HISTORIC GOAL. JOIN WITH US TO PURSUE

THIS INCREDIBLE LEVEL OF SUPPORT!

AND CLIMBING!

A. JAMES CLARK SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING ■ GLENN L. MARTIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

3

JOIN WITH USLEADING DONORS URGE MORE ALUMNI AND PARTNERS TO GIVE

The following is a joint statement by A. James Clark, B.S. ’50, Robert E. Fischell, M.S. ’53

and Jeong H. Kim, Ph.D. ’91. During Great Expectations, The Campaign for Maryland,

Clark has funded the A. James Clark Scholarship Endowment, Fischell has established

the Fischell Department of Bioengineering and Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical

Engineering, and Kim has supported the construction of the Jeong H. Kim Engineering

Building. Clark and Fischell are honorary co-chairs of the campaign.

“If you’ve been watching the progress of the Clark School over the past few years, you know that this institution has become one of the nation’s and the world’s great sources of 1) talented engineers for industry, government and academia and 2) highly cited engineering research that inspires new products, services and companies. Crucial to this success has been the outstanding leadership of Deans Darryll Pines, Herbert Rabin and Nariman Farvardin, backed by the support of committed alumni and corporate partners in Great Expectations: The Campaign for Maryland. You can be part of this historic $1 billion effort. There is still time to make your first gift at the level that is right for you, or add to the gifts you have already made. Join with us in this important initiative. It’s a great feeling to know you’ve played your part.”

A. JAMES CLARK: A Deep Commitment to

the Clark School and Its Students

His friends compare the story of A. James Clark to that of

Horatio Alger. Clark attended the University of Maryland on

a Maryland state scholarship; he paid only for his books.

That investment in Clark’s future and his positive campus

experiences inspired a deep commitment to the university. An

incredible work ethic fueled Clark’s success in the construction

field and led him to become chairman and CEO of Clark

Enterprises, which includes the Clark Construction Group, one

of the nation’s largest general contractors.

Throughout his career, Clark has never forgotten his humble

beginnings at Maryland. In 1994, Clark capped the Engineering

Centennial with a $15 million gift in support of undergraduate

engineering programs, which led the engineering school to

adopt the Clark name. He also endowed the A. James Clark

Chair in Construction Engineering and Management. More than

a decade later, Clark affirmed his commitment to the school

with the $30 million A. James Clark Scholarship Endowment,

which has provided financial support for thousands of under-

graduate engineering students (see p. 6).

Clark has received the highest professional distinction

accorded an engineer: election to the National Academy of

Engineering for the development of project controls and

construction equipment, the creation of a major construction

firm and support for engineering education. In 2010, he was

named Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian magazine.

Clark is a former member of the University of Maryland

Board of Regents, the board of directors of the University of

Maryland Foundation, and the University of Maryland College

Park Foundation Executive Committee. The university has

recognized him with an honorary doctor of engineering

degree, the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award, and

induction into the University of Maryland Alumni Association’s

Hall of Fame.

A. James Clark announces the Clark Scholarship Endowment in Annapolis.

PHOTO: JOHN CONSOLI

STEVE AND MIRIAM DUBIN: THE DUBIN FAMILY

ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP AND GIFTS TO THE

DEAN’S FUND

THE HONORABLE GORDON ENGLAND ENDOWED

MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS

ANTHONY EPHREMIDES CHAIR IN INFORMATION

SCIENCES AND SYSTEMS

EMILIO AND OFELIA FERNANDEZ: GIFTS TO THE

DEAN’S FUND, KIM BUILDING EQUIPMENT FUND AND

WABTEC ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP

FM GLOBAL: SUPPORT FOR FIRE PROTECTION

ENGINEERING

WILLIAM AND CONNIE FOURNEY: GIFTS TO THE

FOURNEY SCHOLARSHIP FUND, GEORGE E. DIETER

ENDOWED FUND AND OTHERS


4

ROBERT E. FISCHELL: Establishing

Bioengineering at the Clark School

Robert E. Fischell is dedicated to improving the quality of

life for millions of people through his life-saving medical

inventions. Fischell turned his attention to this goal following

a 36-year career at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics

Laboratory, where he obtained 15 patents for aerospace

innovations. Today, Fischell holds more than 200 U.S. and

international patents and is responsible for important medical

breakthroughs that include the first implantable insulin pump

as well as a rechargeable pacemaker and highly flexible stents

for placement in coronary arteries.

Fischell founded Angel Medical Systems Inc., where his son

David is CEO, to promote a pacemaker-sized implantable

computer that provides the earliest possible warning of

impending heart attack. Since 1969, he has developed more

than a half-dozen companies, including Pacesetter Systems,

Isostent, NeuroPace and Neuralieve. NeuroPace is developing

an implantable device for ending epileptic seizures, and

Neuralieve is developing a magnetic pulse device to stop

migraine headaches.

In 2006, Fischell’s $31 million gift to the Clark School

established the Fischell Department of Bioengineering and

the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices at the

Clark School. Fischell is a member of the National Academy

of Engineering and has received numerous awards and

recognitions, including induction into the Space Technology

Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Clark School

Innovation Hall of Fame and received Maryland’s 2001 Major

F. Riddick, Jr. Entrepreneurship Award. He has served on the

University of Maryland Foundation’s Board of Visitors and

the Clark School’s Board of Visitors.

JEONG H. KIM: Building a Symbol of the

Clark School’s Progress

With the completion of the engineering building bearing

his name, Jeong H. Kim, Ph.D. ’91, described the facility as a

tangible symbol of the Clark School’s growth. “It is a visual

cue of our rapid progress,” described Kim, Clark School

professor of practice, who generously supported construction

of the building.

Kim currently serves as president of Bell Labs and chief

strategy officer of Alcatel-Lucent. Kim also is a member of

the Alcatel-Lucent Management Committee. He originally

joined Lucent Technologies in May 1998 when Lucent acquired

Yurie Systems, Inc., a high-tech communications equipment

company, which he founded in 1992 and served as its chairman

and chief executive officer. During his tenure at Lucent, Kim

initially served as the president of Lucent’s former Broadband

Carrier Networks. In 1999 he was named chief operating officer

and later president of Lucent’s Optical Network Group.

He left Lucent in 2001 to join the Clark School faculty, with

joint appointments in both the Department of Electrical and

Computer Engineering and the Department of Mechanical

Engineering. He rejoined the company in April 2005 as presi-

dent of Bell Labs. Kim’s early career encompassed computer

design and satellite systems design and data communications,

and included seven years as a nuclear submarine officer in

the U.S. Navy.

A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Kim

was previously named as one of the top 10 most influential

Asian Americans in business by the U.S. Pan Asian American

Chamber of Commerce.

Jeong H. Kim speaks at the dedication of the Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building.

Robert E. Fischell establishes the Fischell Department of Bioengineering and Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Engineering.

PHOTO: AL SANTOS PHOTO: LISA HELFERT

ROBERT M. GAGNON SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT

PAUL AND ELLEN GASKE: GIFTS TO THE DEAN’S FUND

AND UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION SUPPORT

HANKINS AND ANDERSON, INC. SCHOLARSHIP IN

FIRE PROTECTION ENGINEERING

RODNEY A. HARRILL ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP

HILLMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION: THE HILLMAN

ENTREPRENEURS PROGRAM

BRIAN HINMAN: HINMAN CEOS PROGRAM

CHARLES A. IRISH, SR., SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT

L-3 COMMUNICATIONS CORP. FELLOWSHIPS,

SCHOLARSHIPS AND SUPPORT FOR DIVERSITY AND

STUDENT COMPETITIONS


5

HELP OUR STUDENTS

CLARK SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS LEAD THE WAY

In 2005, a revolution was launched when A. James Clark, B.S. ’50, chairman and chief executive officer of Clark Enterprises, Inc. and the man for whom the Clark School is named, committed $30 million to undergraduate scholarships–the school’s single largest fund for student support. As Clark noted in a previous issue of E@M, “What we are seeing today is an unbelievable transformation in the excellence of education and the quality of the student body at the Clark School. These scholarships will help many potential engineers who could not afford an education and will attract many of the nation’s finest students to the Clark School.” (See related story, p. 4.)

A. James Clark Scholarship recipient Javier Vandeyar, B.S. ’14, major in chemical engi-neering and minor in sustain-ability, met Clark at a recent

LAURA MILES, B.S. ’13AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

A. JAMES CLARK SCHOLARSHIP

PRESIDENT’S SCHOLARSHIP

L-3 COMMUNICATIONS CORP. SCHOLARSHIP

GLENN L. MARTIN AEROSPACE ENGINEERING SCHOLARSHIP

Laura “Liz” Miles equates her scholarship assistance

to freedom—freedom to participate in extracurricular

activities that have enriched her academic experience.

Miles has been an active member of the Clark School

chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), a non-

profit that partners with disadvantaged communities

worldwide to improve lives through sustainable

engineering projects. She helped lead an EWB

project to construct a bridge that could withstand

the rainy season in the small Ethiopian town of Addis

Alem. “After planning on paper for 18 months, it

was rewarding and life changing to travel to the site

and get the work done,” explains Miles, who helped to

collect building materials and construct the bridge

deck. As a recipient of the L-3 Communications

Scholarship—a new model for corporate support—

she receives not only funding but opportunities for

an internship and even employment at the company.

JAVIER VANDEYAR

Scholarships and fellowships are among the most meaningful ways to support the Clark School. Many donors are motivated to give back to the school in return for the scholarship assistance they once received, or to help ensure a steady supply of highly trained engineers for their companies. In addition, scholarship and fellowship support relieves the financial burden of financing a college education for students and their families; makes the Clark School a more at-tractive option for highly recruited students; and ensures a mix of diverse students who enrich the educational experience with their multiple perspectives and backgrounds.

THOMAS M. LI: GIFTS TO THE THOMAS AND

CRISTINE LI ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP FUND

RON AND KAREN LOWMAN: GIFTS TO THE

DEAN’S FUND AND KIM BUILDING FUND


6

scholarship luncheon. “It was inspiring to hear how he struggled when he began his career and how he persevered and became successful,” says Vandeyar, who recalls the advice Clark offered: Always be ready when an opportunity appears. “Mr. Clark is giving me a unique opportunity, and his gift has motivated me to reach my full potential,” says Vandeyar, a member of the Primannum Honor Society for first-year students. He has parlayed his academic interests into volunteer efforts, participating in conservation trips to New Orleans, the Chesapeake Bay and the Bahamas as part of the University of Maryland Alternative Breaks Program.

A. James Clark Scholarship Recipient Andrea Ng, B.S. ’14, electrical and computer engineering (ECE), has been involved with the Clark School since her junior year at Blair High School in Montgomery County, Md., when she worked with ECE Professor

Bruce Jacobs in his memory systems lab. “I was interested in research on computer mem-ory systems, and the campus was close to home, making it a perfect fit. Knowing someone is investing in me and provid-ing financial support pushes me to get more involved in

the engineering community,” says Ng, who represents her department at schoolwide events as an ECE Leader. In addition, the scholarship gave her more freedom in choosing job options. “I had more wiggle room in pursuing what I truly wanted to do instead of worrying about financial ramifications,” adds Ng, who continues to work in Jacobs’s research lab and as part of the university’s information technology help desk.

STUDENT SUCCESS TIED TO RANGE OF SCHOLARSHIPS

Many students have received scholarships from multiple sources to fund their Clark

School education. In coming to the Clark School, Massachusetts native Christine Pongratz, B.S. ’13, major in fire protection engineering (FPE) and minor in international engineering, faced out-of-state tuition rates nearly triple that faced by Maryland students. To offset her education costs, Pongratz gar-nered a number of scholarships, including the A.L. Brown Award through the New England Chapter of the Society for Fire Protection Engineers; the Sarah H. Bryan Award, in honor of Sarah Bryan, the late wife of the founding FPE chair Professor John L. Bryan; the Edwards Scholarship sponsored by UTC Fire & Security; the Honeywell Fire Solutions Group Scholarship;

and the RJA Group Award created by Rolf Jensen & Associates to support undergraduate FPE students.

“Thanks to my scholarships, I could focus my efforts on academics and extracurricular activities that were important to me,” says Pongratz, who earned a 4.0 grade point average last year and was recently elected pres-ident of the FPE Salamander Honor Society. After interning at ARUP, a firm that designs Olympic facilities, Pongratz’s dream is to design fire protection systems for innovative athletic facilities and ultimately join the

BEN JONES, B.S. ’13MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

A. JAMES CLARK SCHOLARSHIP

For Virginia native Benjamin Jones, the out-of-state

cost of a Clark School education prompted him to

pursue other engineering schools. When he was

accepted at Maryland and offered an A. James

Clark Scholarship, the decision was made for him.

“Without the Clark Scholarship, I probably would

not be here,” says Jones. For the last three years,

Jones has worked as an undergraduate research

assistant in the lab of Material Science and

Engineering Chair and Professor Robert Briber, where

he has gained valuable experience synthesizing

and analyzing polymer-thin films. For the last two

summers, he has held an undergraduate research

fellowship at the National Institute of Standards

and Technology (NIST). “I enjoy the atmosphere

and the experience at NIST, and I can see myself

pursuing a career at a national lab,” he describes.

On campus, Jones has made valuable contacts

through the Materials Engineering Club, and joined

fellow Astronomy Club members at the campus

observatory and stargazing around campus. At a

scholarship luncheon in fall 2011, Jones was inspired

further by his benefactor. “Mr. Clark talked about

the engineering field and how he built his company.

He amazed me with his knowledge of the Clark

School and the industry.”

CHRISTINE PONGRATZ

ANDREA NG

PHOTO CREDIT: LUISA DIPIETRO

(CONTINUED ON P. 8)

ARIS AND MARIANNE MARDIROSSIAN: GIFTS TO THE

MARDIROSSIAN ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP, WILLIAM

FOURNEY DISCRETIONARY FUND AND FARVARDIN

PROFESSORSHIP

TOW AND ROSE MOY: GIFTS TO THE TOW H. MOY

CIVIL ENGINEERING SCHOLARSHIP

MICHAEL P. MURAD PRESIDENT’S SCHOLARSHIP

JAMES N. NEWTON SCHOLARSHIP

NORTHROP GRUMMAN ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS

FELLOWSHIP IN ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER

ENGINEERING

MARILYN BERMAN POLLANS AND ALBERT A. POLLANS:

GIFTS TO THE STANFORD BERMAN SCHOLARSHIP,

MARILYN BERMAN POLLANS FUND FOR FUTURE

WOMAN ENGINEERS AND OTHERS

7


Olympic engineering design team. As a member of the world record-breaking

Gamera human helicopter team, Cody Karcher, B.S. ’14, aerospace engineering, explains, “I have had a great time working on Gamera. I can hardly believe the various

accolades that surround the project including a nomina-tion for the Robert J. Collier Trophy, one of aviation’s highest honors.” The Clark School’s rankings and its proximity to the Washington, D.C., area drew Karcher to the university, but the cost

for out-of-state students almost ended his plans to attend the school. To afford his Clark School education, Cody relies on scholarships and loans. Karcher has received several scholarships, including a NASA Aeronautics Scholarship, the University’s Banneker Key Scholarship, a scholarship from

the Department of Aerospace Engineering, and the U.S.S. Houston Survivors Association Scholarship. Karcher, who is from a small town in western Pennsylvania, states, “I am very thankful to be here at the Clark School. I have enjoyed meeting people from a variety of backgrounds and working together to accomplish great things.”

GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS FILL CRITICAL NEED

Throughout Great Expectations, The Campaign for Maryland, alumni and friends have created graduate student research fellow-ships in the areas of greatest interest to them throughout the Clark School. By attracting outstanding graduate students, these fellow-ships in turn help attract and retain the most talented faculty members. Together, students and professors create a rich envi-ronment for scientific inquiry that leads to important engineering advances and fills the

pipeline with future researchers and teachers. Establishing a fellowship is one of the best ways to spur progress in a targeted area of research.

The late Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Professor Jimmy Lin, a graduate of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Taiwan, wanted to forge a partnership between his alma mater and the Clark School. Through the Jimmy H. C. Lin Graduate Scholarships, outstanding doctoral students from Shanghai Jiao Tong are now

pursuing degrees at the Clark School.

Xiangyang Liu, Ph.D. ’16, ECE, says, “With this award, I have the time I need to success-fully develop my research interests,” which include wireless communications

decision and control systems, with an empha-sis on improving network security. “We want to develop networks that make better operating decisions so that when malicious or unexpected activity occurs, network performance is still guaranteed.”

A number of Clark School fellowship recipients are making great strides tackling the renewable and sustainable energy challenge. Entrepreneur and engineer Warren Citrin established the Warren Citrin Graduate Fellowships in Global Sustainability andEntrepreneurship to promote commercially viable research in the broad area of sustain-ability. Citrin Fellow Andrew Stephen Oles, who is working toward his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, is researching alternative energy and storage. “My long-term goal is to devel-op the architecture to enable solar thermal storage to run a utility-scale power plant or longer-term chemical storage to drive a fuel production cycle,” says Oles. “The Citrin

PEDRO PENA, B.S. ’12ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING

IGOR SIKORSKY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

L-3 COMMUNICATIONS CORP. SCHOLARSHIP

TRANSFER ASSISTANCE GRANT

As a first-generation U.S. citizen and a first-

generation college student, Pedro Pena knew

early in life that he wanted to follow a different

path than many of his peers. While attending a

series of public high schools in Washington, D.C.,

Pena decided to study engineering. Understanding

his family’s financial constraints with four siblings,

Pena enrolled at Montgomery College, a two-

year institution in Montgomery County, Md., before

transferring to the Clark School. His potential

and drive did not go unnoticed, and scholarships

funded by two major companies have supported

his Clark School education. The young father has

held a series of internships at Sikorsky Aircraft

Corporation in Stratford, Conn. In summer 2012,

he was assigned to the avionics department,

simulating and testing software and hardware

for a military helicopter currently in development.

“I hope to inspire others to work hard to achieve

their goals,” says Pena. “I want to be a role model

for other young people and for my son, and my

scholarships have pushed me to work even harder.”

ANDREW STEPHEN OLES

XIANGYANG LIU

CODY KARCHER

RICHARD N. REED, JR. AND ELEANOR H. REED:

GIFTS TO THE RICHARD N. REED JR. SCHOLARSHIP,

ENGINEERING GENERAL SCHOLARSHIP AND OTHERS


8

Fellowship makes it easier to conduct autonomous research and rely less on man-dates dictated by federal grants. It also gives

me access to the awesome resources of Mtech, including mentoring from a successful adviser who has helped me immensely in developing my ideas for a solar thermal tech-nology company.”

William T. Gibbons, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in chemical

engineering, is a John and Maureen Hendricks Energy Research Fellow. This funding supports the efforts of graduate students in the University of Maryland Energy Research Center to advance the frontiers of energy science and technology, particularly forward-looking approaches to alternative energy generation and storage. Gibbons is developing low-cost, efficient materials that can be used in solar thermal cycles to produce renewable fuels from carbon dioxide, water and concentrated sunlight. “At the Clark School we are employing a novel ceramic fiber production technique to create the materials,” says Gibbons. “The Hendricks Fellowship lets me explore the materials and take greater research risks, push my work forward more quickly, and travel to major conferences to present my work.”

Raphael K. Mandel, Ph.D. ’14, mechanical engineering, holds a Hulka Energy Fellowship, which supports graduate students in selected fields of alternative energy research. Mandel’s research focuses on ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), a renewable energy technology that utilizes the natural temper-ature difference between cold, deep seawater and the hot surface water to drive a power generation cycle. “My research is on the development of next generation, thin-film heat exchangers,” says Mandel, who notes that the project has connected him with industry leaders in the field and led to

ANTHONY MELCHIORRI PH.D. CANDIDATE

FISCHELL FELLOWSHIP IN BIOENGINEERING

WARREN CITRIN GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP IN GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

Anthony Melchiorri, who earned a B.S.E. in biomedical

engineering and a B.A. in English from the University

of Iowa in 2011, chose to attend the Clark School

because “the Fischell Department of Bioengineering

offers so many opportunities to graduate students.

The department’s collaborations with and proximity

to the Food and Drug Administration and the

National Institutes of Health provide great benefits

for a student like me, who is interested in research

and the commercialization of medical therapies.”

Another factor influencing his decision: the Mtech

program. “I saw how the Mtech programs support

students in creating viable companies from their

ideas and research,” adds Melchiorri, who holds the

Fischell Fellowship, endowed by inventor Robert E.

Fischell, B.S. ’53, physics (see related story, p. 5) to

support talented and innovative graduate students

in applying research and product design in the

biomedical industry. The fellowship has given

Melchiorri the freedom and external funding to

pursue his own research interests, leading to a

collaboration with the Children’s National Medical

Center in Washington, D.C. “I am working to develop

artificially engineered blood vessels that could help

address cardiovascular deficiencies, among the most

common congenital defects in children. Without the

fellowship, I would not have the financial resources

to pursue this project,” he says.

WILLIAM T. GIBBONS

RAPHAEL K. MANDEL

networking opportunities. “The Hulka fellowship has boosted my productivity and my reputation in the field. Fellowships reward students and encourage them to produce higher-quality work, which enhances the reputation of the school and the entire university.”

SALZBERG FOUNDATION: RUTH AND SAM SALZBERG

FAMILY ENDOWMENT (MECHANICAL ENGINEERING)

SCHOLL FAMILY FOUNDATION: GIFTS TO ENGINEERS

WITHOUT BORDERS, THE FARVARDIN PROFESSORSHIP

AND TOM AND SUSAN SCHOLL STUDENT LOUNGE

SAUL AND SYLVIA SELTZER: SUPPORT FOR THE

DEAN’S FUND

JAN AND ANNEKE SENGERS FELLOWSHIP FUND

SHAPIRO AND DUNCAN ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP IN

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT CORPORATION: SUPPORT OF

UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS IN

AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

PATRICK AND MARGUERITE SUNG PROFESSORSHIP

AND DISTINGUISHED PROFESSORSHIP IN CHEMICAL

ENGINEERING


9

What aspects of the Clark School’s mission are you passionate about? Do you believe entrepreneurship is a key area for engineering students to understand and pursue? Do you want to encourage students or faculty members to explore a particular engineering discipline? Do you want to create a pipeline of highly trained students for your company? The donors below are some of the many who have used their gifts to further their own unique visions for the school.

If you have an idea that will introduce a new program or support work in a specific area, please contact Leslie Borak at 301-405-0317 or [email protected].

UNIQUE VISION

Remembering his strong entrepreneurial ambitions as a Clark School student,

highly successful entrepreneur Brian Hinman, B.S. ’82, electrical engineering, has

made a series of gifts to fund the nation’s first living-learning entrepreneurship

program for juniors and seniors, the Hinman CEOs, and to provide a new inter-

national component to the program. Through the program, Hinman has inspired

hundreds of students to develop new product ideas and launch startup companies.

The school recently introduced a new Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program

for freshmen and sophomores, which a future donor could support and name.

A serial entrepreneur, Warren Citrin has invested in Clark

School undergraduate entrepreneurs through his Impact

Pre-Seed Fund, which supports the product development

process in start-up companies in fields from education to the

environment and healthcare. The Warren Citrin Graduate

Fellowships in Global Sustainability and Entrepreneurship

support students who have a desire to pursue research in

the broad area of global sustainability.

THE HINMAN CEOS LIVING-LEARNING PROGRAM

THE CITRIN IMPACT PRE-SEED FUND

PHOTO: JOHN CONSOLI

PHOTO COURTESY OF MTECH

EXPRESS YOUR

RICH AND STEPHANIE VOGEL: GIFTS TO THE VOGEL

GRADUATE STUDENT AWARD FUND, RICHARD AND

STEPHANIE VOGEL ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP AND

FARVARDIN PROFESSORSHIP

CHARLES E. WAGGNER: DEBORAH J. GOODINGS

PROFESSORSHIP FOR GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY

STEVEN T. WALKER: GIFTS TO THE DEAN’S FUND

PEDRO E. WASMER PROFESSORSHIP IN CIVIL AND

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

G. RONALD WEISGERBER: GIFTS TO THE WEISGERBER

UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP AND DEAN’S FUND

HARRY K. WELLS GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP IN THE

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND ENERGY RESEARCH

CENTER


10

Through the David H. and Suzanne D. Hillman Family

Foundation, the Hillmans wanted to support students from

historically disadvantaged backgrounds who, with the right

education, could successfully promote change in their own

community. The Hillman Entrepreneurs Program fosters

entrepreneurship in ambitious students who transfer from

Prince George’s Community College and are often the first

in their families to attend college.

L-3 Communications Corp., the sixth largest defense company in the

U.S., has forged a strong partnership with the Clark School, creating

a powerful model for employers concerned about filling the pipeline

of highly prepared engineers. The company supports a number of

initiatives, including fellowships, scholarships, diversity and various

student competitions.

THE HILLMAN ENTREPRENEURS PROGRAM

THE L-3 COMMUNICATIONS CORP. SCHOLARSHIPS

Charles E. “Chuck” Waggner, B.S. ’54, chemical engineering, is committed to helping

disadvantaged communities and finding sustainable solutions through engineering.

His commitment is shared by the university’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders

(EWB), a nonprofit that partners with disadvantaged communities worldwide to

improve lives through sustainable engineering projects. That shared interest led

Waggner to fund The Deborah J. Goodings Professorship in Engineering for Global

Sustainability to honor the initial Clark School EWB faculty advisor.

THE DEBORAH J. GOODINGS PROFESSORSHIP FOR GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY

PHOTO: MIKE MORGAN

PHOTO: WAYNE BOGOVICH

THE CHARLES AND HELEN WHITE SYMPOSIUM

WHITING-TURNER CONTRACTING COMPANY

SCHOLARSHIP-INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

FAYE ROSEN WOLF: GIFTS TO THE FAYE AND

SEYMOUR WOLF SCHOLARSHIP IN BIOENGINEERING,

SEYMOUR WOLF ENGINEERING SCHOLARSHIP AND

KIM ENGINEERING BUILDING FUND

WOMEN IN ENGINEERING OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP

DR. AND MRS. ERIK B. YOUNG: THE WILLIS H. YOUNG JR.

FACULTY FELLOWSHIP IN AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

11


GLENN L. MARTIN HALLL

J.M. PATTERSON BUILDING

THE CAMPUSDONORS ENHANCE CLARK SCHOOL LANDSCAPE WITH NEW AND UPDATED FACILITIES

The Clark School has come a long way since Joe Conroy, B.S. ’03, M.S. ’05, and Ph.D. ’10, aerospace engineering, attended his first class in 1999. “I was pre-Kim Building and my classes were scattered in different buildings, often in outdated labs and classrooms,” says Conroy (pictured in the middle of page 13).

What a difference a decade has made. One need only walk the halls of the Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building and the surrounding campus to feel the energy and excitement and to witness the dramatic improvements: state-of-the-art laboratories and classrooms, student-centered lounges and welcome centers, updated libraries and learning centers—all designed to create a vibrant learning environment. “Highly functional, beautiful facilities enhance your productivity and the quality of your work and make it a pleasure to study at the Clark School,” says Conroy, who now works for the U.S. Army Research Lab in Adelphi, Md., where he improves the navigation and perception abilities of micro-vehicles.

There are many opportunities to improve the Clark School’s facilities, from funding a building (see Be a Part of What’s Next) to improving the equipment in a lab. To learn how you can help, please contact Leslie Borak at 301-405-0317 or [email protected].

TRANSFORM

THE CLARK SCHOOL CORPORATE PARTNERS ARE COMPANIES THAT

MAKE GIFTS TO THE SCHOOL, SPONSOR ACTIVITIES, AND DEVELOP

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS. THEY ARE:

FM GLOBAL WELCOME CENTER/J.M. PATTERSON BUILDINGProspective students and visitors get an impressive introduction to the Department

of Fire Protection Engineering (FPE) at its FM Global Welcome Center, which

includes a reception area, a conference room and office space. Other facilities

include the FM Global Fire Phenomena Laboratory for sophisticat-

ed laboratory-scale fire experiments and the UL (Underwriters

Laboratory, Inc.) Laboratory with workstations for fire modeling

projects. “We have expanded our lab space by 50 percent and

outfitted labs with the equipment required to conduct high-level

testing,” says FPE Professor and Chair Jim Milke. “Gifts from our

long-time industry supporters were critical to this expansion.”

AFCEA (ARMED FORCES COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION), BETHESDA CHAPTER


12

MANUFACTURING BUILDING

TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT BUILDING

ENERGY RESEARCH FACILTY

ENGINEERINGANNEX

A.V. WILLIAMS BUILDING

ENGINEERING LABORATORY BUILDING

POTOMAC BUILDING

JEONG H. KIM ENGINEERING BUILDING

CHEMICAL & NUCLEAR ENGINEERING BUILDING

WIND TUNNEL BUILDING

NEUTRAL BUOYANCY

RESEARCH FACILITY

SHOWN HERE ARE THE CLARK SCHOOL’S MAJOR FACILITIES ON THE CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK. IN THE A.V. WILLIAMS BUILDING, THE CLARK SCHOOL SHARES SPACE WITH THE COLLEGE OF COMPUTER, MATHEMATICAL AND NATURAL SCIENCES.

THE MIDDLETON LIBRARY/A.V. WILLIAMS BUILDINGStudents in the Department of Electrical and Computer

Engineering (ECE) and others have access to a host of new

resources at The Middleton Library in the A.V. Williams Building.

The library was funded by ECE Professor Anthony Ephremides

to recognize distinguished researcher and pioneer in modern

statistical communication theory David Middleton and the

900-volume book collection he donated to ECE.

JEO

G

JEONG H. KIM ENGINEERING BUILDING Many people associate the Clark School’s recent

rapid progress with the completion of the

Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building in 2005.

The 160,000 square foot building features

state-of-the-art laboratories with

modifiable utility and data service,

formal and informal discussion areas,

advanced presentation and communi-

cations systems and even structural and

environmental components that teach

construction and control concepts.

TECHNOLOG

FISCHELL DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING/ KIM BUILDING ADDITION In spring 2008, the second floor of the Kim Building was

expanded to create a 6,000 square foot wing, including

laboratories and administrative office space, for the Fischell

Department of Bioengineering. The new space was added

adjacent to the Fabrication Laboratory, which is part of the

Maryland NanoCenter and a close partner in bioengineering

research.

DEWALT CONFERENCE SUITE/GLENN L. MARTIN HALLIn 2009, the Department of Mechanical Engineering unveiled its

DeWALT Conference Suite, which provided updated seminar and

conference rooms, including new flooring, furniture, lighting,

and audio and video equipment. The suite was funded by

DeWALT Power Tools, a subsidiary of Stanley Black and Decker.

DESIGN SYSTEMS SOFTWAREEach year the Clark School receives generous

gifts-in-kind to support faculty research and

student learning. Over the last decade,

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. has donated

industry-standard systems software used by

thousands of Clark School students. The

Department of Electrical and Computer

Engineering’s Very Large Scale Integration

Design Automation Lab uses Cadence soft-

ware as an integral part of senior-level and

digital systems design courses.

PHOTO CREDITS: LUISA DIPIETRO, AL SANTOS

ATK (ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS, INC.)

BAE SYSTEMS

BECHTEL CORPORATION

BGE (BALTIMORE GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY)

BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON

CISCO SYSTEMS, INC.

13


BE A PART OF Great Expectations, The Campaign for Maryland has been an unqualified success, providing crucial support for our students and faculty members, our programs and physical plant. Even so, it is always important to think about what’s next for the Clark School. Here are two initiatives that, when backed by inspired donors, will help us realize our full potential as one of the world’s top engineering schools.

BUILDING THE IDEA FACTORYThe Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building has become a Clark School landmark. Yet there is still room to expand this

wonderful facility and further develop its value for the Clark School. One example is the “Idea Factory,” a new facility designed to promote innovation in engineering. The wedge-shaped, three-story addition (preliminary rendering shown below) would extend from the Kim rotunda to the corner of Paint Branch and Stadium Drives. It would provide students and faculty members resources to help them explore current trends in a specific field; develop their own innovations in that field, from basic concept to refined proposal; obtain professional evaluations of their proposals, with selected proposals receiving seed money for further development; and access entrepreneurship/incubator programs from Mtech to take their ideas to the next level. Facilities would include virtual design labs, immersive design environments, workshops with rapid prototyping systems, testing and demonstration areas, materials and supplies, and meeting rooms with video and Internet communications support. The Idea Factory would inspire and enable students and professors, further the Clark School’s standing as a center for innovation and entrepreneurship and link a donor’s name to a unique facility and vision. To learn more, please contact Leslie Borak at 301-405-0317 or [email protected].

CLARK CONSTRUCTION GROUP, LLC

HUGHES NETWORK SYSTEMS, LLC

L-3 COMMUNICATIONS CORP.

LGS INNOVATIONS

LOCKHEED MARTIN

NORTHROP GRUMMAN


14

WHAT’S NEXT

EXPLORING

NEW FRONTIERS

Can engineers help scientists develop drugs

that are more effective, have fewer side effects and

cost less? One possibility is to improve drug testing

using “chips” that can simulate an individual

patient’s internal physical environment and permit

scientists to test new compounds within it.

At the Clark School’s Fischell Department of

Bioengineering, we have talented engineers

working on this important challenge right now.

But what if we didn’t?

Finding a way to acquire important new capabili-

ties in future-oriented disciplines like personalized

medicine is an important factor in the growth of an

engineering school. The most efficient means to

acquire those capabilities is to convince top aca-

demic engineers who work in those disciplines to join

our faculty. The best way to do that is to find donors

who believe in the importance of those disciplines

and will fund New Frontiers Professorships and

Chairs to bring them here.

A New Frontiers Professorship or Chair would

provide several million dollars as a start-up package

for the researcher and his or her team, plus several

thousand square feet of lab space supporting core

facilities for advanced technologies pertinent to the

discipline. The donor will see immediate progress

as the Clark School, through the new professor, wins

major grants we could not otherwise capture, is

selected for major awards, becomes the site for

national conferences, attracts the best post-docs

and graduate students and the interest of venture

capitalists, and overall sees its capabilities and

profile rapidly improve.

To learn more about New Frontiers Professorships

and Chairs, please contact Leslie Borak at

301-405-0317 or [email protected].

SAIC (SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORP.)

THE SI ORGANIZATION, INC.

SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT CORPORATION

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS

WHITING-TURNER CONTRACTING COMPANY

15


RECORD-BREAKING FLIGHTS MAKE HISTORY FOR CLARK SCHOOL STUDENTS

Gamera student team members study flight footage.

Left to right: NAA judge Kris Maynard, Gamera team faculty advisor Inderjit Chopra and Clark School Dean Darryll Pines.

Gamera student team members make adjustments to thevehicle’s cockpit. Engineering @ Maryland ■ Fall 2012

16

They’ve done it again. The 40 Clark School graduate and undergraduate students who designed, built and flew the Gamera II human-powered helicopter (see E@M, Fall 2011), set a new record for flight duration at 49.9 seconds, bettering the team’s 2011 Gamera I world record of 11.4 seconds by more than 400 percent. The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) announced the national record on August 9 and has submitted the flight to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale for consideration for a world record.

But the team wanted more than world records. It continued to pursue two key goals: to exceed the 60-second flight duration requirement of the American Helicopter Society’s (AHS) Sikorsky Human-Powered Helicopter Competition and to climb to a significant altitude, perhaps even approaching the three-meter AHS Sikorsky Competition elevation requirement.

It now looks like those goals are within reach. On August 28 the team achieved an unofficial flight duration of 65 seconds. If validated by the NAA, the flight will set new U.S. and probably world flight duration records. Just days later, on September 1, having repaired the craft after a major crash, the team flew Gamera II to an elevation of over nine feet, far higher than any team in history.

Clark School Dean Darryll Pines is thrilled, but not surprised, at the team’s success. “You need smart students, inspirational mentors, innovative design and dogged determination. But you also need professional practices–to test and refine your design and pass on what you’ve learned to the next students coming in. That’s how you create a record-setting program.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR GAMERA?• Look for another flight of Gamera II later this

year or early 2013.

• The team will further refine the design,

exploring options for reducing drift during flight

and improving performance of the helicopter.

FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON GAMERA’S PROGRESS, VISIT

www.agrc.umd.edu/gamera/.

PHOTO CREDITS: EARL ZUBKOFF AND ANDREW RIVERS


17

ASHISH BAGAI HELPS SIKORSKY TEAM WIN COLLIER TROPHY, ENTERS CLARK SCHOOL’S INNOVATION HALL OF FAME

From his boyhood days in Mumbai and New Delhi, watching the world-touring Concorde SST soar overhead or making and flying model gliders, Ashish Bagai had dreamed of a career in aeronautics. In 1987 he took a major step toward that dream by transferring into the Clark School’s Department of Aerospace Engineering from Delhi University. While working in the department’s renowned Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center, he obtained his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees (’90, ’92, ’95) then continued on into post-doctoral research. After a stint at Boeing, Bagai joined Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in 1998 to work on the Sikorsky X2 Technology™ demonstrator aircraft (X2). It

was a dream come true—to join a team he describes as “tack-sharp experts” determined to achieve revolutionary rotorcraft performance advances.

“There are those who say rotorcraft technology is mature and hovering flight performance cannot be improved upon other than incrementally,” states Bagai, who became principal engineer in Preliminary Design, Systems Engineering at Sikorsky. “Such proclamations are disappointingly naive at best and ignorant at worst. There is much room for improvement and it doesn’t have to be at exorbitant costs.”

In building the coaxial-rotor, compound X2 helicopter, the Sikorsky team–with Bagai leading the aerodynamic design of the main rotor blades–proved his claim. In September 2010, the X2 flew at a speed of 290 MPH (252 knots) in level flight, an unofficial helicopter speed record 100 MPH faster than current production models, and 300 mph in a shallow dive. Achieving high speed, while maintaining or improving capabilities such as high-altitude flight and maneuverability, were the key objectives for the aircraft.

X2 technologies will change the way production helicopters operate, enabling them not only to attain higher speeds but also

Sikorsky X2 Technology™ demonstrator shown from aft, with six-blade push propeller.

PH

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: S

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Can Your Helicopter Do

300 MPH?18


radically improved performance in medical, search and rescue, and military applications, while maintaining the efficient hovering and low-speed attributes of conventional rotary-wing aircraft.

In 2011, the X2 earned Bagai and the Sikorsky team the National Aeronautics Association’s Robert J. Collier Trophy–one of aviation’s highest honors–as “the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America.” For his work on the aerodynamic design of the main rotor blades, the Clark School will induct Bagai into its Innovation Hall of Fame on November 8, 2012.

A FUNDAMENTALLY NEW

ROTOR BLADEThe design of the X2 differs from heli-

copters that use single rotors or articulated coaxial or intermeshing rotors. As an “advanc-ing blade concept” design, the X2 does not require the retreating blades to produce lift at high speeds. Instead, the advancing-side blades of the rigid rotor system balance each other. While conventional helicopters generate propulsive thrust via the forward tilt of the rotor tip-path-plane, the X2 uses a six-blade pusher propeller for propulsion. To do this efficiently, and minimize drag and power losses, the Sikorsky team designed a fundamental-ly new rotor blade that enables high-speed flight from a single-engine aircraft.

Characteristics of Bagai’s novel rotor design include a non-uniform planform, positive and negative twist gradients, and a complex distribution of modern airfoils along the span of the blades–a radical deviation from the prior state of the art. Bagai holds two patents on the design of the X2’s main rotor blades.

THE IMPORTANCE

OF MENTORSBagai, now program manager in the

Tactical Technology Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, cites as a primary mentor his Clark School advisor, internationally recognized rotorcraft aerodynamics expert and Minta Martin Professor of Engineering J. Gordon Leishman, plus Professors Alfred Gessow, James Baeder, Roberto Celi and Inderjit Chopra. “I had the privilege of attending one of the finest schools for rotary-wing education and research,” Bagai states. “This brought very significant advantages: use of some of the best research facilities, unlimited access to information, and exposure to and interaction with world-class experts. Faculty members were constantly pushing new areas of research and then rolling their findings into the curriculum. Ultimately, it was the combi-nation of calculated independent thinking fostered by the Clark School, plus the guidance of exceptional people at Sikorsky, that helped lead to the X2 design.”

YOU’RE INVITED: THE INNOVATION HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY AND WHITE SYMPOSIUM ON ENGINEERING INNOVATION

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 4:30 P.M.JEONG H. KIM ENGINEERING BUILDING

Join alumni, students, faculty members and guests for the induction of Ashish Bagai, B.S. ’90, M.S. ’92, and Ph.D. ’95, aerospace engineering, program manager in the Tactical Technology Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The 5 p.m. White Symposium, on the impact of rotorcraft technology in society, will feature Bagai and military and rescue helicopter pilots.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT MISSY CORLEY AT 301-405-6501 or [email protected]

PH

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PHOTO CREDIT: JOHN T. CONSOLI


19

Partnership with UM School of Medicine Yields New Start-Up STUDENTS’ WESK MEDICAL LLC TO IMPROVE DRUG DELIVERY

It’s a winning combination: teams of talented Clark School bioengi-

neering students working closely with physician-mentors from one of

the nation’s leading healthcare institutions to solve pressing medical

problems. A partnership between the Clark School’s Fischell Department

of Bioengineering and the University of Maryland School of Medicine is

pairing undergraduates with physicians in a two-semester Senior

Capstone Design course in which students must create innovative engi-

neering solutions to problems that impact patient care.

The partnership is yielding impressive results. Mentored by Jeffrey

Hasday, M.D., professor of medicine and the head of pulmonary and criti-

cal care at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, five bioengi-

neering students have created a patent-pending device to deliver drugs

to patients with respiratory failure, the third leading cause of death in the

United States. Their invention led to the launch of Wesk Medical, LLC, a

start-up company specializing in medical device development.

“Bioengineering and medicine are so intricately and inexorably tied

together that it makes for a natural collaboration,” says team member

Kaiyi Xie, B.S. ’12, bioengineering. “Through the partnership, we were

able to identify a real medical problem and take off from there.”

AEROSOL CATHETER TO IMPROVE PATIENT CARE

Drawing on his 26 years of critical care experience, Hasday helped the

students identify the need: Patients experiencing respiratory failure are

often intubated—an

endotracheal tube is

placed through their

mouth or nose, bringing

them oxygen from a res-

pirator. When those

patients require inhaled

medications, the endo-

tracheal tube poses

physical obstacles, making drug delivery to the lungs inadequate and

unpredictable. “Academic studies show that only one to four percent of

drugs reach patients’ lungs, and we are not sure how much is absorbed,”

says Xie.

With Hasday’s guidance, the students developed a solution: the

endotracheal aerosol-generating catheter (ETAG). The tiny catheter—

only a couple millimeters wide—is threaded down the endotracheal tube,

delivering droplets of liquid drugs to a microchip at the innermost tip of

the tube. The chip uses surface acoustic waves to vibrate the droplet,

nebulizing it into consistently and optimally sized aerosol particles for

delivery to patients’ lungs.

The students also are collaborating with University of Maryland

School of Pharmacy Professor and Associate Dean Richard Dalby, whose

lab specializes in evaluating aerosol-based drug delivery systems. “There

is real value in these types of collaborations,” says Dalby. “The engineers

bring the ability to design devices, while the medical school and pharmacy

school bring a sensitivity to patient-use issues.”

HINMAN AND CITRIN PROGRAMS HELP STUDENTS

Hasday, a member of Wesk Medical’s management team, describes the

start-up as “the perfect example of bioengineers creating and implementing

ideas with clinical solutions. As we move through the product development

phase, our long-term goal for this product and others is to reach the

marketplace and improve the quality of care for patients.”

The team relied heavily on the entrepreneurial experience of members

Esmaeel Paryavi and Bernard Wong, both B.S. ’12, bioengineering, who

were enrolled in the Hinman CEOs program, the nation’s first living-

learning entrepreneurship program. The program, which is part of the

Clark School’s Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech), gives

entrepreneurially-minded students from all disciplines the tools for

launching a new venture.

“We were passionate about starting this company,” says Walter

Beller-Morales, B.S. ’12, bioengineering. “While we were working out the

engineering aspects of the device, we were going through the steps of

getting the company off the ground.”

The bioengineering capstone course also gave the students a basic

primer on how to bring a medical device to market, covering such topics

as obtaining Food and Drug Administration approval, seeking venture

capital, and addressing legal concerns. In addition, the team was inspired

and motivated by bioengineering department benefactor and namesake

Robert E. Fischell, who offered advice on biomedical entrepreneurship

as a guest lecturer for the course.

A $5,000 grant from the Warren Citrin Impact Seed Fund and a $500

prize in the 2012 University of Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition

are helping to fund the start-up. “We look forward to licensing our invention

and producing a revenue stream that will help us design other life-changing

biomedical devices,” says Xie. ■

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

From left, Wesk Medical team members Stephen Robinson, Esmaeel Paryavi, Kaiyi Xie, Bernard Wong and Walter Beller-Morales celebrate capturing first place in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering 2012 Capstone Design Competition.

“The engineers bring the ability to

design devices, while the medical

school and pharmacy school bring

a sensitivity to patient-use issues.”


20

Wachsman Pioneers Transformational Energy TechnologyTAP-BASED REDOX POWER SYSTEMS

OFFERS FUTURE ENERGY SOLUTIONS

Eric Wachsman, director of the University of

Maryland Energy Research Center, has a lofty

goal in mind for his start-up company, Redox

Power Systems, LLC: Produce and market a

viable energy technology that can help

reduce the world’s long-term dependency on

fossil fuels.

“The rate at which we are consuming fossil

fuels has a significant impact on our environ-

ment,” says Wachsman, the William L. Crentz

Centennial Chair in Energy, who holds appoint-

ments in material science and engineering and

chemical and biomolecular engineering. “Fossil

fuels produce pollutants that contribute to

greater weather variations, causing more

extreme storms and disrupting power grids

and access to electricity. It is all interrelated.”

“We are developing a transformational

technology that can address every energy sector

from transportation to stationary power plants

to private residences,” says Wachsman. The

new power generation technology is based on

solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), which are fuel-

flexible and capable of converting any kind of

fuel into electricity—not just hydrogen. “They

can operate on both conventional fuels and

future alternative fuels,” explains Wachsman.

“Through their development, we can attain

improved fuel economy, greater gas mileage,

and reduced emissions with less impact on the

environment.”

In the next two decades, the International

Energy Agency predicts that global electricity

usage will triple from its 1990 base. With no

other energy technology demonstrating the

versatility of SOFCs, Wachsman believes they

can play a major role in deploying renewable

power generation into today’s energy grid.

Earlier this semester, the technology earned

Wachsman and colleague Bryan

Blackburn a $7,500 prize at the

University of Maryland $75K

Business Plan Competition along

with a Warren Citrin Social Impact Award. The

award moved development of the technology

forward in two ways: It gave Wachsman an

opportunity to meet Citrin, an advocate for sus-

tainable engineering solutions, who now serves

as chief executive officer for the start-up, and it

helped Redox gain entry into the university’s

Technology Advancement Program (TAP).

TAP is providing the facility to manufacture

the prototype and take the company to the next

stage. Wachsman’s greatest technical challenge

is reducing the high operating temperatures of

SOFCs. Wachsman and research colleagues

published an article last year in Science describ-

ing SOFCs that operate at temperatures as low

as 350 degrees Centigrade with a new design

that features high-conductivity electrolytes

and a specially nanostructured electrode.

“When cells operate at such high tempera-

tures, there are strong restrictions on the mate-

rials you can use. Below 600 degrees, you can

use conventional materials, which improves

both cost efficiencies and durability,” explains

Wachsman, who sees SOFCs as the future of

power systems for distributed

generation and transportation.

“Distributed generation brings

power closer to consumers with

less disruption if power lines are down. In the

future, you could have power generation within

your own home, independent of the power grid.”

For more information, visit www.redoxpowersystems.com. ■

Imagine a beautiful fall afternoon, perfect for a long, leisurely bike

ride. You begin an ambitious 20-mile trek, only to find that the return

trip is more strenuous than expected. Not a problem if you are riding

the BIKETOO. Simply flip a switch, and cruise at up to 30 miles per

hour to your destination.

“BIKETOO feels and functions like a conventional, pedal-powered

bicycle with single or multiple speeds, but has a two-speed automatic

transmission,” explains Phil Adkins, a former computer consultant and

co-owner of the company with Drew Phillips, who designed the bike

and developed the prototype. “When pedaling the cycle, there is no

drag from the separate motor drive-train,” he adds. Classified as a

motor-driven cycle, the vehicle requires an automobile driver’s license

to operate and can be fueled for up to 60 miles by a one-pound bottle

of propane or for up to 100 miles on a single tank of gas.

“This invention has been 15 years in the making,” says Adkins, who

began contacting major companies with the idea about two years ago.

“Everyone agreed it was a good idea, but there were no funders even

though we had secured two U.S. patents.”

With the help of Maryland State Delegate Norman Conway, the

business partners connected with Renee Stephens, the Eastern Shore

representative for the Maryland Department of Economic and Business

Development. She pointed them in the direction of Maryland

Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) and the university’s

MIPS program (Maryland Industrial Partnerships), based in the Clark

School. “Working through MIPS,

we have made more progress in

the last six months than we made

in the previous two years,” attests

Adkins.

Through a $100,000 MIPS

grant, a team of mechanical

engineering students under the

direction of Mechanical

Engineering Associate Professor

Chandrasekhar Thamire are

refining the design of the trans-

mission and reducing the bike’s weight to an optimum 70 pounds or

less. “Chandra and his students are providing the final piece to the

puzzle,” describes Adkins. “They have tested the engine, transmission

gears and housing in a number of ways, assessing stress and vibration

levels, and are helping us move toward a production-ready casting.”

The next step: The company expects to begin manufacturing and

assembling the bikes in early 2013 in a production facility just south of

Salisbury, Md. The first bikes should be ready to roll in spring 2013.

If you are interested in learning more about BIKETOO, please visit

the website at www.biketooinc.com, usercode biketoo and password

bubber2. ■

A BICYCLE BUILT FOR TOOMIPS FUNDS RESEARCH ON HYBRID BIKE WITH PEDAL AND POWER OPTIONS

University of Maryland student Lindsay Djuhadi prepares to take a spin on BIKETOO as the bike’s creator Drew Phillips looks on.

21


NEWS OF NOTE WIRELESS SENSORS PROTECT ROADWAYS, SAVE LIVES

In the five years since the disastrous collapse of the road-

way on Minneapolis’s I-35W Bridge, which killed 13 and

injured 145 people, major advances in wireless sensor

technology are making roadway warning systems more

affordable and practical, according to University of

Maryland Research Engineer Mehdi Kalantari.

“We no longer need to roll the dice when it comes to

the structural integrity of the nation’s highway bridges,”

says Kalantari, who leads one of two engineering teams

at the Clark School addressing the safety need. Through the

Mtech incubator, Kalantari is developing a system of tiny,

long-lasting, energy-efficient, low maintenance wireless

sensors and software that analyzes real-time data. His

startup company, Resensys, has manufactured systems

for use in the private sector and for Maryland State

Highway officials, including current tests on a Maryland

interstate bridge along the Capital Beltway in suburban

Washington, D.C. Kalantari also has adapted the sensors

to monitor cracks on bridge piers 120 feet underwater.

Another Clark School team is working on a total

“smart bridge” package with multiple technology innova-

tions. Key elements of this system are being tested by

Maryland State Highway officials, the Maryland

Transportation Authority and the North Carolina

Department of Transportation. “Wireless technology

definitely makes bridge structural health monitoring

more efficient and more effective,” says Environmental

Engineering Research Professor Chung Fu, director of the

Clark School’s Bridge Engineering Software and

Technology Center and team leader.

Fu believes that as system hardware and software

prices are reduced and standardized, the technologies

may have more widespread applications over the next

decade. Both Fu and Kalantari concur that real-time remote

sensing will supplement limited, in-person inspections

that currently are not sufficient to provide highway main-

tenance authorities with an adequate margin of safety. ■

New Undergrad Honors Program Will Prepare Cybersecurity Specialists

In partnership with Northrop Grumman Corporation, the university is

creating a new undergraduate honors program to prepare students to meet the

growing demand for cybersecurity professionals. The Advanced Cybersecurity

Experience for Students (ACES) is designed to attract

students from a range of majors, including engineering,

computer science, business, public policy, and the social

sciences, in a living-learning environment that focuses on all

aspects of cybersecurity and develops team-building skills.

ACES is also an inaugural Regional Workforce Project of The Business-

Higher Education Forum (BHEF), the nation’s oldest organization of senior

business and higher education executives dedicated to advancing innovative

solutions in education and workforce challenges. “We are fully committed to

developing solutions to help eliminate the nation’s shortage of critical

STEM-educated talent. By partnering with the university, we will address

workforce challenges in the increasingly important field of cybersecurity,”

says Wes Bush, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Northrop

Grumman and BHEF chair.

Slated to begin in fall 2013, ACES will offer students an advanced cross-

disciplinary curriculum developed in collaboration with industry leaders that

will include such topics as cybersecurity forensics, reverse engineering,

secure coding, criminology, and law and public policy. Northrop Grumman

will provide guest lecturers, participate in an industry advisory board, pose

real-world problems for students to solve and

provide advisors and mentors for capstone

projects. ACES also offers students the option

of interning with Northrop Grumman and preparing for security clearance.

“The need for STEM professionals throughout the United States is critical

and partnerships with industry leaders represent one of the most effective

approaches we can take to enhance STEM education while meeting work-

force needs,” says William E. “Brit” Kirwan, University System of Maryland

chancellor and BHEF chair.

Clark School Dean and Farvardin Professor of Engineering Darryll Pines,

who has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on the impor-

tance of STEM programs and early engineering education, agrees this type

of program can help build a more competitive, STEM-prepared workforce

while establishing the university and Clark School role in producing the next

generation of leaders in the cybersecurity field. “The ACES program has the

potential to be a national model for industry-higher education partnerships

as well as providing an innovative solution to a critical manpower need,”

says Pines. ■

A wireless sensor (inset photo) developed by Mehdi Kalantari can be placed on bridges to help prevent tragedies like the 2007 Minneapolis collapse.

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22

CERSI DAY ATTRACTS LEADERS IN DRUG AND MEDICAL DEVICE INDUSTRY

Business and industry leaders joined federal

agency and university researchers at CERSI Day,

the annual showcase event for the university’s new

Center for Excellence in Regulatory Science and

Innovation (CERSI) at the Jeong H. Kim Engineering

Building on September 5. Funded by a grant from

the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), CERSI

is a collaborative initiative between the University of

Maryland, College Park, and the University of Maryland

in Baltimore that focuses on modernizing and

improving the ways drugs and medical devices are

reviewed and evaluated. The day’s events included

talks by FDA Chief Scientist Jesse Goldman, M.D.,

pictured above, and industry representatives, as well

as poster presentations by university researchers. ■

Researchers Discover “Remote Heating” Phenomenon

Picture a toaster that burns bread without getting hot, an electric stovetop that warms your

dinner but remains cool to the touch, a laptop that heats the table it sits on, but does not

overheat. Two Clark School scientists have made an analogous discovery at the nanoscale that

is completely contrary to the widely accepted scientific phenomenon called “Joule heating,”

the process by which the passage of an electric current through a conductor releases heat.

“This new phenomenon runs directly counter to our intuition and knowledge of Joule heating

at larger scales,” explains Kamal Baloch, former graduate student researcher, who made the

discovery with Assistant Professor John Cumings, materials science and engineering, who

oversaw the research project.

The two researchers used a technique called

electron thermal microscopy, which maps where

heat is generated in nanoscale electrical devices,

to observe the effect of current on a nanotube.

The heat produced did not travel through metal

contacts attached to the nanotube, but jumped

directly onto a silicon nitride substrate beneath,

heating it up while leaving the nanotube

relatively cold.

“The effect is a little weird,” admits Cumings,

who has dubbed it “remote Joule heating.” The

pair published their findings in the April 8 online issue of Nature Nanotechnology. “We believe

that the nanotube’s electrons are creating electrical fields due to the current, and the sub-

strate’s atoms are directly responding to those fields. The transfer of energy takes place

through these intermediaries.”

The researchers’ next steps are to determine if other materials can produce the effect, and, if

so, what properties they must have. “If we can understand how this phenomenon works, we could

start engineering a new generation of nanoelectronics with integrated thermal management.” ■

University Fills Two Senior Leadership PositionsThe University of Maryland has announced the appointment of two senior-level administrators, who bring a wealth of experience to their respective campus positions.

RANKIN NAMED SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND PROVOST

Mary Ann Rankin has been named senior vice president

and provost. She joins the university from the National Math

and Science Initiative (NMSI), where she served as chief

executive officer of this public-private partnership head-

quartered in Dallas. She will continue to serve on the board

of directors of NMSI, whose partners include the U.S.

Department of Education, the College Board, ExxonMobil

Foundation, Dell Foundation, Lockheed Martin and

Northrop Grumman. Previously, she served for six years as

chair of biological sciences and for nearly 17 years as dean of the College

of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.

During her deanship, she raised more than $800 million in private

funding, oversaw hiring that doubled the number of women science fac-

ulty, and was a leader in the development of a campuswide health sci-

ences initiative. She received her Ph.D. in physiology and behavior from

The University of Iowa, and held an NIH post-doctoral fellowship at

Harvard University before joining UT Austin and becoming a professor of

zoology. She replaces interim provost Ann Wylie, professor of geology.

WEILER APPOINTED VP FOR UNIVERSITY RELATIONS

Peter Weiler has been named vice president for uni-

versity relations and president of the University of

Maryland College Park Foundation. Weiler has worked

for 25 years in the field, most recently as vice president

for advancement at the University of New Hampshire

and president of the UNH Foundation. He previously was

senior vice president for development at The Ohio State

University and president of its foundation, where he

helped design and lead the university’s current $2.5 billion compre-

hensive capital campaign.

Weiler had a long career at The Pennsylvania State University, where

he managed a 300-member fundraising staff and oversaw completion of

Penn State’s $1.3 billion campaign. Weiler replaces Brodie Remington,

who served as vice president for university relations for the past 12 years

and designed and led the $1 billion Great Expectations, The Campaign

for Maryland now coming to a successful close. ■

Artist’s depiction of the remote Joule heating effect. On the left and right are metal contacts to a carbon nanotube in between. As an electric current flows through the nanotube, the substrate beneath is heated directly (as indicated by the color scale), while the nanotube itself remains cold.

Jesse Goldman, M.D., Chief Scientist, FDA


23

FACULTY NEWS

Young Researchers Win Prestigious Awards

Assistant Professor JEFFERY KLAUDA, chemical

and biomolecular engineering, has received a

National Science Foundation Early Faculty Career

Development Award for his research on how second-

ary active transporters interact with cell membranes,

using a new method called implicit-explicit mem-

brane simulation. The research could lead to a better

understanding of protein transport in the cell

membranes of mammals, plants and single-celled

organisms. As part of the grant, Klauda will develop

instructional aids to help interest high school

students in molecular biology.

Assistant Professor JEREMY MUNDAY, electrical

and computer engineering, has received a NASA

Space Technology Research Opportunities for Early

Career Faculty Award for his research on the working

principle behind solar sails, a form of propulsion

for deep-space exploration. Munday is one of only

10 researchers selected nationwide in the inaugural

year for this award, which is intended to accelerate

the development of technologies originating from

academia that support the future science and

exploration needs of NASA, other government

agencies and the commercial space sector.

Associate Professor SANTIAGO SOLARES, mechan-

ical engineering, is the first faculty member in his

department to receive the U.S. Department of

Energy’s 2012 Early Career Award, now in its third

year. Focusing on anion alkaline fuel cell membranes,

his research could provide insight into how they

degrade and guide the development of new polymer

backbones with increased mechanical and chemical

stability. The proposed testing protocols will provide

a standard procedure for the prediction of fuel cell

component life. ■

Associate Professor THOMAS E. MURPHY,

electrical and computer engineer-

ing (ECE), is the new director of

the Institute for Research in

Electronics and Applied Physics

(IREAP). His research explores

new devices and techniques that

improve the speed, sensitivity,

resolution and efficiency of optical communication

and sensor systems.

Professor REZA GHODSSI, ECE,

and director of the Institute for

Systems Research, has been named

the Herbert Rabin Distinguished

Chair in Engineering. The chair

honors former Clark School Dean

Herbert Rabin.

FIVE FACULTY MEMBERS NAMED FULL PROFESSORS

The following faculty members have been pro-

moted to full professor (shown left to right above):

JOHN FISHER, bioengineering; STEVEN

GABRIEL, civil and environmental engineering;

KENNETH KIGER, mechanical engineering;

ELISE MILLER-HOOKS, civil and environmental

engineering; SRINIVASA RAGHAVAN, chemical

and biomolecular engineering.

EIGHT PROMOTED TO ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

The following faculty members have been pro-

moted to associate professor: CINZIA CIRILLO,

civil and environmental engineering; JOHN

CUMINGS, materials science and engineering;

TENG LI, mechanical engineering; SILVIA MURO,

bioengineering and Institute for Bioscience

and Biotechnology Research; DEREK PALEY,

aerospace engineering; SANTIAGO SOLARES,

mechanical engineering; EDO WAKS, ECE and

IREAP; and CHUNSHENG WANG, chemical

and biomolecular engineering. ■

FACULTY APPOINTMENTS

24


Assistant Professor AMY KARLSSON has joined the Department

of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE). Karlsson,

who received her Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2009, specializes in the

engineering of proteins and peptides used to study and

improve the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases

caused by fungal pathogens. She will initially work to combat a

fungal pathogen called Candida albicans, the culprit behind

common human ailments, such as vaginal yeast infections

and diaper rash, that can be fatal to immunocompromised

patients. Previously, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell

University, where she was a member of the research group

of Associate Professor Matthew Delisa, Ph.D. ’00, ChBE.

Assistant Professor CHRISTOPHER M. JEWELL has joined

the Fischell Department of Bioengineering. Jewell, who received

his Ph.D. in chemical and biological engineering from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2008, specializes in

“immunomodulation,” a new field of study that explores

directing the body’s immune system response to target a

specific disease. Understanding how and why biomaterials

interact with different types of immune cells could lead to

new, biomaterial-based treatments for autoimmune disorders

such as type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid

arthritis. Previously, he was a postdoctoral research fellow in

the Departments of Materials Science and Biological

Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

and served as a healthcare practice analyst at the Boston

Consulting Group. ■

Electrical and Computer Engineering Chair and

Minta Martin Professor of Engineering RAMA

CHELLAPPA has been awarded the 2012 King-

Sun Fu Prize, which honors the memory of

Professor King-Sun Fu, an instrumental founder

of the International Association for Pattern

Recognition, who sat on Chellappa’s master’s

and Ph.D. committees. Many of Chellappa’s

mentors also are recipients of the award.

Fischell Department of Bioengineering Professor

and Chair WILLIAM E. BENTLEY was a featured

speaker at enGENEious, a student and postdoc-

organized conference held at Christ Church,

Oxford University in June. The enGENEious

conference highlights the newest advances in the

engineering of microbial “factories” designed

to create new materials, fuels, drugs and even

biologically-based information storage.

Professor of Mechanical Engineering and former

University of Maryland President C.D. (DAN)

MOTE, JR., is the sole nominee for the presidency

of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE)

beginning July 2013 for a six-year term. The

Clark School has seven NAE members among

its tenure-track faculty and another 10 non-

tenure-track faculty also are NAE members. ■

BOARD OF REGENTS AWARDThe University System of Maryland has recognized Program

Management Specialist PAT BAKER, fire protection engineering,

with a 2011-2012 USM Board of Regents Staff Award for

Outstanding Service to Students. She is the only recipient of

this award on the College Park campus this year. The awards

recognize staff members who have made exceptional contri-

butions to their organizations, students and the university

community. ■

MINTA MARTIN PROFESSORS NAMEDSix Clark School professors have been selected as Minta Martin

Professors in recognition of significant scholarly contributions in

their areas of research. The newly selected professors include:

NORMAN WERELEY, aerospace engineering chair; CHRIS

DAVIS, electrical and computer engineering; BALAKUMAR

BALACHANDRAN, mechanical engineering (ME) chair; AMR

BAZ, ME and Smart Materials and Structures Research Center;

MOHAMMAD MODARRES, ME and Reliability Engineering

Program director; and REINHARD RADERMACHER, ME and

Center for Environmental Energy Engineering director. ■

FACULTY HONORS

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STUDENTS+ALUMNI

ATTENTION ALL GOLDEN TERPS

Continue the Tradition, Join the Spring Commencement CelebrationIf you are celebrating your 50th, 55th, 60th, 65th or greater reunion in 2013, mark

your calendar now to attend the Clark School Commencement on Monday, May

20, 2013, as a Golden Terp Engineer. You can enjoy a special luncheon with

senior leaders of the Clark School and receive a gold medallion. Wearing a gold

robe and your medallion, you can lead the procession and be introduced by

name to the Clark School family.

As you make plans for your reunion, be sure to mention this special commence-

ment opportunity to your fellow Golden Terp Engineers. For more information,

please contact Josey Simpson, director of Clark School alumni relations, at

[email protected] ■

Steven Chalk, ’83, Leads U.S. Renewable Energy Research

When a deadly tornado struck Greensburg, Kan., in 2007, Steven Chalk, B.S. ’83, chemical

engineering, was among the first to survey the damage. “It was total devastation,” recounts

Chalk, deputy assistant secretary for renewable energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

“Nothing was left standing. Commercial buildings, homes and power lines were all destroyed.”

Amid the destruction, Chalk saw opportunity. He quickly assembled a team to educate

the Greensburg community on how to rebuild using the latest research on clean energy.

Five years later, Greensburg is powered completely by renewable energy resources.

Chalk’s quest to develop new clean-energy technologies continues today as he directs

DOE’s annual investment of $800 million in renewable energy research and development,

focusing on wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, biomass and hydrogen technologies. His public

sector career began nearly 30 years ago at the Department of Defense as a process chemical

engineer. In 1990, he moved to DOE, specializing in tritium,

a hydrogen isotope for nuclear bombs. When the Cold

War ended, he transferred his hydrogen expertise to the

development of fuel cells and has focused on clean-

energy technology ever since.

“In the last 20 years, we have gone from thinking of

renewable energy as an idealistic concept that could make

a difference, to developing realistic, cost-competitive

options,” says Chalk, pointing to 75 to 80 percent drops in

the price of solar power and fuel cells over the last decade.

The DOE Office of Efficiency and Renewable Energy

also oversees the DOE-sponsored Solar Decathlon, a

biannual collegiate competition to design and build a

solar-powered house. Maryland’s WaterShed entry placed

first in the 2011 competition. “University and Clark School students not only demonstrated that

a solar-powered house is economically viable,” says Chalk, “but showcased water-conservation

features, drawing inspiration from the school’s proximity to the Chesapeake Bay.”

Chalk is now leading the effort to develop bio-fuel alternatives to fossil fuels, with a national

goal to produce 21 billion gallons by 2022. Also on his agenda: making America more globally

competitive in renewable-energy manufacturing and integrating new technologies into current

power grids.

His rigorous Clark School education taught him the meaning of persistence, a critical attribute

in his ongoing search for renewable energy options. “Chemical engineering courses at the

Clark School taught me endurance and prepared me for real-world problems and setbacks,” says

Chalk. “Throughout my career, we have been on the cusp of a renewable-energy discovery

many times. When it does not pan out, you move on, find another pathway, and forge

beyond those early hurdles.” ■

ENTREPRENEUR, RESEARCHER, VOLUNTEER:Khalid Wins Prizes, Publishes, Helps Others

When Bioengineering Professor Peter Kofinas

and Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Graduate

Student Aaron Fisher had to attend

a professional conference in South

Korea in late spring, they had no

qualms sending undergraduate

research team member Mian Khalid,

B.S., B.A. ’14, bioengineering and

English, to Washington, D.C., at the

same time, to present the trio’s

start-up company, SafeLiCell, in

the American Chemical Society’s

Green Chemistry Institute Inaugural

Business Plan Competition. Their confidence in Khalid

was well-justified as his presentation won second

place and a $10,000 prize. The win followed the

company’s $15,000 prize in the Department of

Energy Atlantic Coast Conference Clean Energy

Challenge and $500 prize in the University of

Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition.

SafeLiCell’s product, Lithium Flex, is a light,

flexible novel polymer electrolyte that can be

wrapped or bent into a variety of shapes. Unlike

current lithium battery electrolytes, it is not com-

bustible and prevents dangerous pressure buildup,

making it a safer energy alternative.

The co-author of three published papers, Khalid

was awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Fellowship beginning this summer based on his

research accomplishments. “The batteries we are

developing can be optimized for biomedical

applications,” he explains. “My fellowship will focus

on finding appropriate mechanisms to tailor our

product specifically for biomedical devices such

as pacemakers and implantable defibrillators.”

Khalid’s desire to have a broader impact on the

world led to his receipt of a Global Public Health

Citation from the College Park Scholars Program in

the spring for his involvement in a campus-based

community service focused program. He served as

a program representative to the Student Advisory

Board, a body representing leaders from the

Scholars community. “I have always had an interest

in the public health aspect of my research. If we

can develop this technology more cost effectively,

it could positively impact the lives of thousands of

patients,” he says.

Khalid’s family moved to the United States from

Pakistan in 2007 to give him and his three younger

siblings better educational opportunities. Khalid

Steven Chalk

Mian Khalid


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A group of incoming Clark

School students, pictured

at the Great Wall of China,

participated in a three-credit

course this summer to

explore the engineering

challenges facing China and

visit key industries there.

Pictured left side, top to

bottom: Sahil Kulgod, Ryan

Chow, Jamel Pinder, Demetra

Tzamaras, Kevin Chao, John

Murphy, Mathew Jennings,

Abigail Henningsgaard, Marta

Cherpak and Amanda Filie.

Right side, top to bottom:

Joshua Sackstein, Jason

Rubin, Allen Kao, Boheng

Ma, Kathleen Gilder, Rachel

Grafman, Caroline McCue

and Emily Love. ■

certainly is not disappointing them. The first

member of his family to attend college, Khalid

has worked part time in high school and college

and received a host of scholarships to help

finance his education, including the H. Russell

Knust Memorial Scholarship and the Asian and

Pacific Islander American/FedEx Scholarship.

Fluent in three languages, Khalid has always

enjoyed reading and writing, which led to his

double degree in engineering and English.

“Whenever I have been personally touched by

a novel, poem or play, I have analyzed it and

written about it. I enjoy discussing and thinking

about literature,” says Khalid, who feels the

double degree will make him more adept in

communicating his engineering research to

investors and other stakeholders.

Outside the classroom Khalid is equally

busy. He volunteers at the Muslim Community

Center Medical Clinic in Silver Spring, Md., has

worked with the Maryland chapter of Engineers

Without Borders, and serves as a Clark School

Ambassador. “The Clark School has surrounded

me with wonderful people and unparalleled

opportunities. For me, every day is a new

learning experience,” says Khalid. ■

Jones Holds a Top U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Post Although she always loved high school math and physics, Cynthia

Jones, M.S. ’96 and Ph.D. ’01, nuclear engineering, began her college

career as a music major. When a fractured wrist ended her clarinet-

playing days in her sophomore year, Jones enrolled in a physics course

and fell in love with the field.

This fall, some 31 years later, Jones began her new assignment as the U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) nuclear safety attaché at the U.S.

Mission to International Organizations in Vienna, Austria. The appointment

is but the latest accomplishment in a highly successful career.

After completing her undergraduate degree—in three years while

holding down three jobs—Jones worked at the Oak Ridge Institute for

Science and Technology as a health physics laboratory instructor before

becoming a reactor and medical physicist in the Radiation Safety

Department at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Always the over-achiever, Jones then obtained her master’s degree in

health physics from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and

became a physicist in the Center for Radiation Research at the National

Institute of Standards and Technology. In 1988 she joined the NRC and

held positions of increasing responsibility as a senior health physicist

and manager. In 1994 she received one of the highest technical honors

in the federal system, the NRC Meritorious Award for Health Physics

Excellence, and two years later she was selected as the NRC’s first

senior-level advisor for health physics.

Still, as a woman in a predominately male field, Jones felt that she

wanted to expand her knowledge to remain competitive with her col-

leagues, which led her to the Clark School. “With a Ph.D., you quickly

realize that you are the expert,” recalls Jones, who considers her doctoral

degree from the Clark School as her greatest accomplishment.

“The Clark School gave me the education I needed to focus on specific

questions and formulate grounded technical answers. Just as important,

it gave me the confidence I needed to succeed,” says Jones, who recently

was elected as one of 100 scientific experts worldwide to serve on the

U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, the

nation’s pre-eminent scientific body that provides recommendations on

radiation protection and nuclear fields.

“Undoubtedly my Clark School degree was instrumental in my election

to this council,” says Jones, who most recently was senior technical advisor

for nuclear safety in the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response,

responsible for providing technical expertise and policy guidance on

nuclear security, safeguards, and radiological

protection issues.

As she assumes her new post in Vienna,

Jones identifies a tremendous need for nuclear

security specialists. “When the public hears

‘nuclear engineering,’ they think about nuclear

weapons and exposure to radiation. They need

to be educated about the field,” says Jones,

noting career opportunities in research and

development, energy and national security.

She advises today’s students to reach for the

stars in the classroom and the work world. “If

students are willing and able to open their minds to new activities, there

are unlimited opportunities,” says Jones, who has built a successful

career doing just that. ■

Cynthia Jones


27

Clark School Welcomes Promising StudentsWith each incoming Clark School class of undergraduate and graduate students comes hopes and dreams for successful engineering

careers and potential discoveries that could change the world. Following is a sampling of students joining the Clark School this fall:

COURTNEY BLUMENTHAL, B.S. ’16, CHEMICAL AND BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING, already has an invention under her belt. The Worcester

(Md.) Technical High School summa cum laude graduate participated in Project Lead the Way pre-engineering courses, completing a high

school capstone course in which her team designed a new ergonomic student desk-chair. Their design placed 11th in the SkillsUSA National

Competition, a partnership between students, teachers and industry to ensure a skilled U.S. workforce. A native of Maryland’s Eastern

Shore, Blumenthal hopes to use her degree to preserve the beauty of places like Assateague Island National Seashore through work in the

renewable energy and resources field.

CARLOS BIAOU, B.S. ’16, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, received his associate of science degree in electrical engineering from Prince

George’s Community College. His academic record earned him a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship as well

as a university Transfer Academic Excellence Scholarship. Biaou, who grew up in Benin, West Africa, where access to electric power is

sporadic, is interested in exploring ways to give developing countries access to sustainable energy. He is well on his way to accomplishing

that goal: Through an internship at the Lurie Nanofabrication Facility at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Biaou worked on zinc-oxide

based, thin-film transistors that can be used to produce flexible, robust electronics.

KELLES GORDGE, B.S. ’16, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, is a National AP Scholar and was the 2012 salutatorian of the Science, Technology,

Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Academy at Great Mills (Md.) High School. In both her junior and senior years, Gordge participated

in the International Science and Engineering Fair, winning six special awards and a third-place category award in electrical and mechanical

engineering. Gordge presented her research at the International Council on Systems Engineering Conference in Rome earlier this summer.

Outside the classroom, Gordge was a member of the high school marching band, which captured a Maryland state championship last year.

MICHAEL FAHRNER, B.S. ’16, CIVIL ENGINEERING, joined the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 2007 after he completed high school.

In 2010, while a student at Anne Arundel Community College, he was deployed as an intelligence analyst to Afghanistan. When he returned,

Fahrner completed his associate of science degree in engineering and, with the help of a university Transfer Academic Excellence

Scholarship, will attend the Clark School this fall. After assessing the infrastructure challenges facing Afghanistan, Fahrner would like to

acquire civil engineering skills to help other developing countries prepare for the future.

BRIAN BEISEL, B.S. ’12, COMPUTER ENGINEERING, who is pursuing a graduate degree in electrical engineering, has worked as an intern for

the last two years with Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Gil Blackenship at his firm, TRX Systems, which builds technology to track

first responders in GPS-denied environments. He now works full time at TRX as a computer engineer focused on the development of

algorithms and embedded devices. Beisel earned the highest grade point average among graduating computer engineering students. He credits

Blankenship with inspiring him to continue his education and looks forward to advancing his career in robotics and computer architecture.

CHRISTA ROGERS, who received her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University,

will pursue her master’s in electrical engineering with a concentration in controls. Rogers, who has worked in the simulation, test and

instrumentation division of the Scientific Research Corporation in Atlanta, chose the Clark School for the quality of its graduate programs

and “its perfect location near Washington, D.C.” A dean’s list student throughout her undergraduate career, Rogers was supported by an

undergraduate scholarship from the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals. A licensed pilot at age 19, Rogers anticipates earning

her doctoral degree and working in sense-and-avoid technology to help aircraft avoid collisions. ■

STUDENTS EXTEND WINNING RECORD IN COMPETITIONSClark School aerospace engineering graduate students recently won the

American Helicopter Society (AHS) Student Design Competition for the 11th

time in 14 competitions for their design of a lift and thrust compounded

vertical take-off and landing aircraft. The competition challenges students to

design a vertical lift aircraft that meets specified requirements, providing a

practical exercise for engineering students worldwide.

In early June, a University of

Maryland team, including Clark

School graduate and undergradu-

ate students, received the grand

prize in the Hydrogen Education

Foundation’s 2011-2012 Hydrogen

Student Design Contest. Students

from 28 universities, representing

nine countries, participated in the contest. The Maryland team designed

a combined heat, hydrogen and power (CHHP) plant for the College Park

campus, using locally available waste resources for primary energy input.

The team traveled to the World Hydrogen Energy Conference in Toronto

to receive the award.

A group of Clark School students, known as Team Thirsty Turtles, took

second place in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ mid-

Atlantic regional Chem-E-Car competition and also won the Best Poster

design award. The contest challenges students to design and construct

a small, chemically-powered vehicle whose chemical reaction will drive

the vehicle a travel distance—this year, 60 feet—revealed only when the

competition begins. Team Thirsty Turtles’ zinc-air, battery-powered car,

The Pride of Maryland, traveled 64 feet, 10 inches, coming closer to the

distance than all competitors except University of Pittsburgh. ■Members of the award-winning Hydrogen Education Foundation’s 2011-2012 Hydrogen Student Design Contest Team

STUDENTS+ALUMNI CONTINUED

28


It is no surprise that inventor and Sirius Satellite Radio co-founder Robert D. Briskman, M.S. ’61,

electrical engineering, believes that future economic growth in the United States and abroad

is directly linked to continued innovation. Impressed with how the A. James Clark School of

Engineering is preparing the next generation of innovative engineers, Briskman has taken

steps to ensure that students have opportunities to pursue their education and bring their

innovative ideas to life.

Briskman and his wife, Lenore, recently established the Robert Briskman Scholarship Fund for undergraduates

in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering through a $100,000 charitable gift annuity. “This annuity

allows us to make a continuous contribution to the Clark School long after we are gone,” says Briskman. “And it allows

us to contribute in a way that does not impact our current lifestyle.”

Briskman, who earned his master’s degree at the Clark School while working full time and supporting his

young family, cites the value of a Clark School degree. “A Clark School education teaches students to apply their

engineering skills to find improved solutions to the world’s most challenging problems.” Briskman credits

Electrical Engineering Professor Henry Reed with helping him solve major

challenges in satellite technology and advance his career at NASA

and industry giants such as Communications Satellite Corporation

(COMSAT). Briskman created innovative technologies that

enable successful satellite transmission of continuous radio

programming, formally known as Satellite Digital Audio

Radio Service (SDARS), across enormous geographical

areas. To build and implement that service, he co-founded

Sirius Satellite Radio.

The 2010 inductee into the Clark School Innovation

Hall of Fame has closely followed the progress of the

Clark School. “I’ve watched the Clark School rise in

the engineering school rankings to its status now

as one of the best engineering schools in the world,”

offers Briskman. “If our students can discover

how to innovate, that is the greatest gift we

can give them.”

The Rewards of

PLANNED GIVINGCharitable Gift Annuity Funds Scholarships to Develop Innovative Engineers

To learn how you can make a charitable bequest today

and make a significant difference in the future of the

Clark School, or to explore other planned giving options,

contact Leslie Borak, assistant dean for external relations,

Clark School of Engineering.

E-mail: [email protected] | Phone: 301.405.0317

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Whiting-Turner Entrepreneurial Lecture Series

“Up in the Ivory Tower or Down in the Trenches: What You Need to Know Before Taking the Leap to Start Your Own Business”

Thursday, October 4, 5 p.m.Kim Engineering Building, Kay Boardrooms

Alex Mehr, M.S. and Ph.D. ’03, mechanical engineering, is the co-founder and co-CEO of Zoosk, the romantic social network with 15 million monthly active users from 70 countries. Zoosk’s 2011 revenue surpassed $97 million— doubling year over year. To date, the company has raised over $40 million in venture funding. Prior to starting Zoosk in 2007, Mehr worked as an engineer for NASA and collaborated on several manned and unmanned space flights.

“The Plight of the Innovator— How to Get Out of It”

Thursday, October 18, 5 p.m.Kim Engineering Building, Kay Boardrooms

Thomas J. Fogarty, M.D., is an internationally recognized cardiovascular surgeon, inventor, entrepreneur and vintner. Fogarty has served as founder/co-founder and chairman/board member of more than 33 companies based on medical devices designed and developed by Fogarty Engineering, Inc. He has acquired 135 surgical patents, including the “industry standard” Fogarty balloon catheter and the widely used Aneurx Stent Graft. A recipient of the Jacobson Innovation Award of the American College of Surgeons and the 2000 Lemelson-MIT Prize for Invention and Innovation, Fogarty is an inductee of the Inventors Hall of Fame and the National Academy of Engineering.

Baltimore Alumni Networking Reception

Thursday, November 15, 6 p.m.National Electronics Museum Linthicum, Maryland

Enjoy an evening of networking with alumni and friends, and learn about the Clark School’s latest accomplishments from Dean Darryll Pines.

Clark School Commencement Reception and Ceremony

Thursday, December 20

Reception, 12:30 p.m. Kim Engineering Building

Ceremony, 3:30 p.m. Cole Student Activities Building

The Clark School Commencement Reception is sponsored by the Clark School’s academic departments and the Clark School Alumni Chapter of the University of Maryland Alumni Association. A special luncheon will be held for Golden Terps before the ceremony (see page 26).

For more information on any of the events, contact Josey Simpson, B.S. ’84, director of Clark School alumni relations, at 301-405-2150 or [email protected]

Join the Clark School’s Fall Events

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