SU_ECS_Mag_04mech.indd

Forward
Momentum
INTRODUCING DEAN DAHLBERG
FALL 2015


12
SWARM ROBOTS
14
DRIVE
The Fast-Paced Return of SU’s Formula SAE Team
18
CHANGING
BANDAGES
Startup Developing Advanced Wound Dressing Is Based on SU Research
FROM ORANGE TO ORANGE
34
CARBON CAPTURE
New Material Moves Us One Step Closer to Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions
22
IN THE MEDIA
23
FACULTY EXCELLENCE AWARDS
24
ENGINEERS TAKE ITALY
25
OMAR & ARGY
Building a Lab From the Ground Up
32
COOL IT... DATA CENTERS
02
ALL THAT
GLISTENS
Harmful Practices in Gold Mining Inspire Mercury Research in Senegal
04
VIRTUAL BODY
05
DEAN DAHLBERG
10
THE RIGHT FIT
Engineering Labs Set Up Shop in the CoE
20
AGUA LIMPIA
38
EYES IN THE SKY
46
40
48
ALUMNI NOTES
51
IN MEMORIAM
52
DONOR REPORT
HEADS UP
New Classroom Encourages Teamwork in Engineering Education
42
Q&A
With Mark Povinelli
43
BOOTS TO BOOKS
Computer Engineers Build an App to Help Veterans Transition to Students
DONOR IMPACT


FROM THE DEAN
Since my arrival at the College of Engineering and Computer Science in August, I have asked students—Why did you choose Syracuse University to study engineering and computer science?
Dean Teresa A. Dahlberg joined the College on August 1, 2015. Read the article on page 5 to learn more about Dean Dahlberg.
The answers often start in the same way. “I want a strong engineering or computer science program, and ...” However, the answers end in di erent ways. “I also want to.... do research... play sports... watch ACC games... study abroad... start a company... play in a band... act... study public policy (or business, design, law, medicine, math)... be in a diverse environment.”
An intimate, rigorous technical education, grounded in the liberal arts, situated within
a comprehensive research university—this de nes engineering and computer science at Syracuse University. We graduate engineers and computer scientists with the intellectual and emotional intelligence needed to tackle complex challenges facing the world today.
Inspiring examples of students solving problems are found in this issue. In the article Omar & Argy, you will learn how two graduate students helped build a junior faculty member’s lab from the ground up using creativity and resourcefulness. In Drive, we tell the story of how our students competed for the rst time in years in the collegiate Formula SAE competition. Despite setbacks and a car that cost far less than their competitors, they won the respect of their peers and are committed to doing it again next year. And, in Boots to Books, you will learn how a veteran student in the iSchool teamed up with students from our College to develop an app to help ease the transition from military life to student life.
Working together with this College’s dedicated faculty, creative students, supportive sta , and passionate alumni, I relish the continuous ow of creative solutions from multi- faceted engineers and computer scientists at SU. ●
Teresa A. Dahlberg Dean
FALL 2015 | 1


SPOTLIGHT
Jacqueline Gerson
Environmental Engineering Science
“I’ve always been interested in chem- istry and applied science research. As an avid hiker and camper, I’m
also passionate about preserving the environment. My mission is to use science to help protect the environ- mental systems that I love. I’m also motivated by the fact that my work can be used to help people in devel- oping countries like Senegal.”
Harmful Practices in Gold Mining Inspire Mercury Research in Senegal
On the opposite side of the globe, a blue ame ignites and its scorching heat is applied to a small cluster of shimmering silver-white clumps of mercury and gold. As the mercury burns and vaporizes, traces of gold remain. But all the while, the air is turning to poison. As those in close proximity breathe in, the mercury trickles into their system. Brain cells begin to die.
This is only a short-term e ect. The long-term e ects are widespread and can even reach as far as the food on your dinner table. This much is clear: The true cost of gold is far more than the price you pay at a jeweler.
Artisanal gold mining, as this process is called, is a common practice in some developing countries. Mercury is used because it binds itself to the gold, allowing miners to separate the gold and mercury from the rock and dirt that encase it. Then, the miners burn o the toxic mercury, often in the same small huts where they live with their families. Not only does this activity have dire consequences locally, but it is also the single greatest source of mercury in the atmosphere worldwide. Rain disperses the mercury in our oceans and land and it ends up in our food supply—mainly in seafood like tuna.
Jacqueline Gerson, a graduate student in environmental engineering science, is taking her research to a source of this environmental pollution. Funded by a graduate fellowship from the National Science Foundation, Gerson will study mercury contamination from artisanal gold mining in Senegal for the next three years. Gerson’s work is inspired by the two and a half years she served as an environment and health volunteer with the Peace Corps in Senegal.
40%
of 2010 global anthropogenic mercury emissions are attributed to artisanal and small-scale
gold mining.
70+
countries involved in this industry.
10M
people involved in this industry.
1M
estimated ounces of gold in the Senegalese Sabodala Deposit. It is mined predominately by artisanal methods.
2 | FALL 2015


Artisanal Gold Mining
1
2
3
While there, Gerson witnessed artisanal gold mining rsthand. “I had friends in the Peace Corps living where the mining was taking place—one so close that she had to relocate due to health concerns,” said Gerson. “When I went to see it for myself, I was
shocked by the conditions. This is a situation where environ- mental and health dangers truly intersect. It became clear to me that this is what the focus of my graduate work should be. I sought out Professor Charles Driscoll because of his mercury research and applied to Syracuse University.”
Gerson’s research will focus on the e ects of mercury on the environ- ment in close proximity to the mining in Senegal. She wants to under- stand what is happening in the country’s streams and soils, and by proxy, the health of the villagers. By being present in the environment, mercury nds its way into the food chain through bioaccumulation.
1 Miners extract gold ore from the earth. 2 Liquid mercury is the mixed with silt. The mercury binds to the gold, forming an amalgam which allows it to become easily separated from the other elements. 3 Heat burns the mercury from the amalgam, leaving only traces of gold. The fumes are not only harmful to those present but also to the whole environment.
In Senegal, the population consumes a lot of sh, so if mercury is in the water, it’s likely to be in the food supply. Contamination in the environment has been largely unexplored in West Africa, and little has been done speci cally in Senegal.
Gerson hopes her research at Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science adds to the world’s pool of knowledge on mercury and aids in the strategies the UN intends to implement to address artisanal gold mining and halt its damaging worldwide e ects. ●
FALL 2015 | 3
Mercury burns and vaporizes and is released into the atmosphere
Condensed water vapor containing atmospheric mercury falls back to Earth
High concentrates of mercury end up in fish—a main source of protein in the Senegalese diet


VIRTUAL BODY
What if you could enter a virtual world where you could travel through the bloodstream of the human body?
And, what if along the way you could test a new drug on di erent cells to see its e ect on every organ, tissue, and blood vessel?
While drug testing has not advanced to the point of taking you on a Fantastic Voyage-style adventure through an Oculus Rift headset, the concept of creating a simulated environment to test drugs on live human cells is in fact a reality—and it could help make the process of testing drugs more e cient and more e ec- tive. Professor Mandy Esch, and fellow researchers, are developing a “body-on-a-chip.”
When developing new drugs, pharmaceutical scientists often focus on curing or relieving one speci c health problem and, by exten- sion, one speci c part of the body. If they aim to resolve a stomach ailment, they test their drugs on stomach cells. If it’s a problem with the lungs, they use lung cells.
The problem is every organ in the body is part of a larger system that cannot be ignored. You can make the best heartburn medi- cine the world has ever known, but if it creates ulcers further down the digestive track, it ultimately doesn’t bene t the patient.
The easy way to discover the e ect a drug will have on the person is to administer the drug directly to them. Of course, this could have disastrous health consequences and is totally unrealistic and unethical. Some companies turn to animal testing to see how a drug a ects di erent areas of the body, but few drugs that work in a lab animal’s body will fully replicate that e ect in humans.
“We’ve created a micro uidic system that is connected the same way as the human body,” says Esch. “With this, we’ve basically recreated the human metabolism. We are able to simulate the exchange of metabolites between all of the body’s organs. People tend to see it as a scaled-down version of the human body, but it’s more like a thin slice of the body with all of our organs represented in a system that ts in the palm of your hand.”
In the device, human tissue from throughout the human body is laid out in an intricate network of channels and chambers sand- wiched between two glass chips.
Each channel’s thickness is determined by what is in the chamber it feeds. The channel that ows into a fat tissue chamber is quite thin compared to the channel that feeds the heart. This is to simu- late the appropriate amount of blood that ows through each area of the body. Blood ow in fat is quite low, and in a heart, it is obvi- ously high.
Each chamber is also proportional to the human tissue within. Skin, the largest human organ, is given the biggest chamber while smaller organs, like the kidneys, are provided much smaller spaces. The idea is that the closer you come to the actual situation in the body, the closer you come to being able to realistically simulate drug metabolism.
Suspended in a liquid cell culture that serves as a stand-in for blood, the test drug is fed through the top of the chip. It passes through the series of channels and chambers, generating metabolites from each tissue. After it has passed through once, the remaining mix- ture is fed back through in the opposite direction to expose every tissue to the metabolites, just as it would occur in the body. This simple technique unveils the bene cial or detrimental e ect the drug has on the cells of all parts of the body.
Using this novel system, unviable drug options can be detected earlier—saving time, money, and lives. Then scientists can move on to options that are more likely to achieve FDA approval and truly help people. “I’ve always wanted to do something that has an impact on society. Biomedical engineering and work like this is an ideal path for that,” says Esch.
Medicines of the future will have passed this simulated human body’s tests—and virtually everyone can feel better about that.
●
4 | FALL 2015


DEAN DAHLBERG
By Ariel DuChene
On a late September afternoon Dean Teresa A. Dahlberg
strides con dently into my o ce, sits down, leans in, and is ready to engage. She is calm, collected, and present—despite a grueling day of back-to-back meetings.
It isn’t easy to uncover the totality of a person in a one-hour interview, but her high visi- bility among sta , faculty, and students over the last few weeks has provided countless opportunities to see her in action.
FALL 2015 | 5


She is equally at ease sitting down in a circle of rst-year students at a weekend barbecue as she is meeting with leadership to discuss serious goals such as advancing the College’s educational impact, elevating our research prominence, and ensuring we develop a sus- tainable nancial model for the future.
She has a voracious appetite for knowledge, and her demeanor demonstrates that she is consuming as much information as she can about each aspect of the College and the University.
I’M AN IBMer
Dahlberg’s career began at IBM with a summer internship at its Research Triangle Park site in North Carolina. Her internship led to a senior year co-op and a job o er with its display products divi- sion upon graduation.
“I was the only female among 300 hardware engineers, and I was also the youngest person on the team. That was the rst time that I realized my presence was something di erent. People didn’t nec- essarily know how to interact with me. I learned quickly that it was up to me to gure out how to make it easier for them. It was one of many, many life skills I learned in my early 20s.”
“I was the only female among 300 hardware engineers, and I was also the youngest person on the team. That was the rst time that I real- ized my presence was something di erent.”
After joining IBM’s check services division in Charlotte, she worked full time while pursuing a master’s degree and a portion of her doctoral degree.
Dahlberg was selected for IBM’s resident study program, which let employees earn their Ph.D. full time, just as she found out she was pregnant with her rst child. Her son was born in May and she started the full-time portion of her Ph.D. in August.
CROSSING OVER
Upon returning to work at IBM at the end of 1993, she found a com- pany struggling with its future identity. The turmoil prompted Dahlberg to reexamine her own professional trajectory. She decided to change course too, and become a professor.
After a year at Winthrop University, the stars aligned when North Carolina approved UNC Charlotte to open its rst three Ph.D. pro- grams, one of which was electrical engineering. Dahlberg applied and landed one of the six new tenure-track positions.
“We were expected to build a funded research program in a school that had just gotten their rst Ph.D. programs. There was no senior faculty guidance, no history at the university—but it was really fun. It was scary, but it was fun.”
ABOUT DEAN DAHLBERG
The second of six girls, Dahlberg spent much of her childhood outside of Pittsburgh in the Lebanese-American community where her four grandparents lived
1979
Enrolled in Carlow College, in Pittsburgh, as a music therapy major
1980
Switched majors to electrical engineering and moved to the University of Pittsburgh
1983
Took an internship with IBM in North Carolina in Research Triangle Park
1984
Moved permanently to Research Triangle Park to work for IBM in its display products division
1987
Moved to IBM in Charlotte to work for its banking systems division
1989
Received IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award
1990
Completed her M.S. in computer engineering from North Carolina State University
1990-1993
IBM Resident Study Award for doctoral studies
1993
Completed her Ph.D. in computer engineering from North Carolina State University
1994
Left IBM to become a visiting assistant professor at Winthrop University
6|
FAL
L 2015


Dean Dahlberg welcomes rst-year students to the College of Engineering and Computer Science in Hendricks Chapel.
FALL 2015 | 7


Dahlberg developed the undergraduate and graduate wireless and wired networking curriculum from the ground up. And, in her 18 years at UNC Charlotte, she built a research program that attracted over $20 million in external grants.
For her, the process of building was energizing. And when the uni- versity decided to open up a new computing college she jumped at the chance to be a part of its creation.
BUILDING A CONSTELLATION
“We started the computing college right at the dawn of the dot-com bust, and we were worried about enrollments.”
In response, Dahlberg created one of her proudest achieve- ments—the STARS Computing Corps. Focused on student reten- tion and success for underrepresented groups, STARS engages a city around a hub university or universities, thus creating a connected national network, a constellation, for sharing insti- tutional knowledge.
After 10 years, the program boasts more than 50 university “stars,” catalyzed by the engagement of computing college students working in concert with universities, community colleges, K-12 schools, businesses, and community groups.
“Even with university support, it was di cult to get our institution to adopt proven practices into the curriculum. I thought the only way I was going to be able to implement lasting change would be by being one of the people making decisions.“
“I wanted to nd an institution that was aspirational...
Above all else, I found that same aspirational spirit here at Syracuse University.”
ROAD TO ORANGE
After serving as an associate dean at UNC Charlotte, Dahlberg set her sights on her next goal—becoming a dean. She joined The Cooper Union, a prestigious institution located in the heart of New York City, as dean of engineering and chief academic o cer. With its strikingly di erent academic environment, she was attracted to its high caliber of students, the connectivity to innovation in the city, and its focus on excellence in education.
Just prior to her joining, a decision was made to charge tuition for the rst time in its history. Communicating the great work of the students and the school became overshadowed by stories about the decision instead.
“I wanted to nd an institution that was aspirational. From the beginning of my career at UNC Charlotte to the day I left, I was part of a culture that motivated us to constantly strive to be better. Above all else, I found that same aspirational spirit here at Syracuse University.”
8 | FALL 2015


THE FIRST 90 DAYS
Many of the challenges facing the College of Engineering and Computer Science are not unique to our institution. Ubiquitous throughout higher education are issues like limited space, stu- dent retention, nances, supporting research growth, faculty size, and meeting the future needs of industry and academia all while ensuring our students develop a fundamental understanding of their discipline. And just as within companies, these challenges are colored by nuances that make the College both distinctive and extraordinarily poised for successes.
As our conversation turns toward focusing on the future, Dahlberg expresses her desire to use this time to listen, to learn, and to uncover the attributes that set us apart. In concert with faculty, sta , students, alumni, and the administration, she seeks to nd the cream and gure out how to coax it to rise to the top. But she also knows that time is a luxury. Decisions need to be made, and actions taken, even before she has a fully crystallized vision for the future.
Luckily, this is the element where Dahlberg thrives. She pursued a degree in electrical engineering because of her love for logic and strategy.
“I want to make sure we have a plan that we can embrace for the next ve years—one that aligns with the University’s plan and one that is tied to our budget so we have a strong implementation plan that establishes a roadmap to get us where we want to be.”
“If you give an engineer unlimited time and unlimited resources to design a wireless system, they could deliver a product that runs the fastest and processes the most data, with zero service failures. Add cost and time constraints—and reality—and now you have an optimization problem, and a great way to think about how we look at the College.”
“I want to make sure we have a plan that we can embrace for the next ve years—one that aligns with the University’s plan and one that is tied to our budget so we have a strong implementation plan that establishes a roadmap to get us where we want to be.”
As she gets up to head back to her o ce, she turns back to o er one last thought.
“At the end of the day, people work at universities because they love to be around students and they love the whole idea of what college is all about—and that is why I am here and what makes me proud to be a part of Syracuse University.” ●
1995
Became an assistant professor at University North Carolina (UNC), Charlotte in the department of electrical and computer engineering
2000
Joined the newly formed College of Computing and Informatics. In her time in the college she was promoted to associate professor and then full professor
2004
Founded the Diversity in Information Technology Institute. Dahlberg served as director until 2013
2004
Named UNC Charlotte Woman of the Year
2004
Received the College of Information Technology Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award
2005
Named Provost Faculty Fellow
2006
Founded the STARS (Students and Technology in Academia, Research, and Services) Computing Corps through an NSF Broadening Participation in Computing Alliance Grant. Served as director until 2013
2011
Named associate dean, overseeing all aspects of undergraduate programs
2013
Joined The Cooper Union as the dean of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering
2014
Named chief academic of cer at The Cooper Union
2015
Named dean of Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science
FALL 2015 | 9


THE RIGHT FIT
Engineering Labs Set Up Shop in the CoE
Willis H. Carrier Total Indoor Environmental Quality
Studies how temperature, humidity, air quality, lighting and sound combine to affect human health and performance in built environ- ments and on individual control of one’s local environment.
Faculty: Professors H. Ezzat Khalifa, Jianshun Zhang, Suresh Santanam, and Kwang Hoon Han
Combustion and Energy Research Laboratory
Develops alternative energy technologies to improve current thermal systems while reducing harmful emissions.
Faculty: Professor Jeongmin Ahn
10 | FALL 2015


SyracuseCoE addresses challenges in clean and renewable energy, water resources, and indoor environmental quality.
On the revitalized brown eld site where the L.C. Smith Typewriter factory once thrived, stands the SyracuseCoE—New York State’s Center of Excellence for Environmental and Energy Systems.
Led by Syracuse University, SyracuseCoE engages faculty, students, and collaborators to improve energy e ciency, environmental quality, and resilience in healthy buildings and cleaner, greener communities. The entire facility serves as an urban ecosystem research lab for the College’s faculty and students.
The SyracuseCoE headquarters facility is a true hub of discovery and innovation—making it the perfect location for the four mechanical and aerospace engineering labs that reside within its walls. ●
Thermodynamics and Combustion Laboratory
Flow Visualization Laboratory
Characterizes owing uids to reduce unwanted turbulence and provide ef ciencies, creating an understanding of how water or air ows around structures or vehicles.
Faculty: Professor Melissa A. Green
Investigates combustion properties of alternative and conventional fuels to improve energy conversion ef ciencies and reduce emissions.
Faculty: Professor Ben Akih-Kumgeh
FALL 2015 | 11


Instead of antennae, segmented bodies, and spindly legs,
these bizarre insects aunt circuitry, infrared sensors, and wheels. Theyclusteraroundablinkingcontraptiontheyidentifyastheirnest.
Suddenly, an intrepid pioneer breaks o from the others. It drives a few feet away before it hesitates, retreats a few inches back toward its tribe, and halts. For a brief moment, all is silent until another robot follows suit, zipping two feet past the rst, hesitating, backing up slightly, then stopping. Emboldened by his compatriots’ bravery, another joins the fray, positioning two feet beyond the last.
Just as this pattern seems it will repeat ad nauseam, the fourth makes a di erent choice. It maneuvers past the other three, where it discovers another blinking contraption matching their hive, but this one holds what they seek—food for the colony. It sidles up to the bug bu et and a small blinking light on its back turns from red to green, indicating the food has been stored. The insectoid impostor excitedly scurries back to the nest.
Oh’s Swarm Robot
Thissceneplaysoutinalab,whileProfessor Jae Oh and his team of summer Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) stu- dents look on with intense interest, evalu- ating every move. Oh’s team is responsible for spawning this set of “swarm robots.”
“Swarm robots are incapable of doing much on their own, but they can accomplish cer- tain tasks by working together. The larger
12 | FALL 2015
the swarm, the more it is able to accomplish. The swarms are only able to speak to one another when they are in close proximity and have no set communication links or connections,” explains Oh.
This particular swarm is designed to imitate the behavior of a colony of ants. Like ants, each robot operates independently, with no cen- tral control, leader, or man behind the curtain. However, each takes cues from others around it to help its colony “gather food.”


Worker
If in proximity to more than two beacons, it stays a worker.
Beacon
If surrounded by workers, it becomes a beacon.
“The real world is di cult for humans to deal with, much less robots. Making this work outside of a computer simulation is so unpredictable—there are so many variables,” says Oh.
Still, Oh’s lab, which has traditionally focused on arti cial intelli- gence software, is determined to move this hardware-heavy research forward. The team sees tremendous potential for advanced swarm robotics in the future, from accomplishing challenging search-and- rescue missions to exploring areas that humans cannot reach, like the surface of Mars or the deepest depths of the ocean. This technology could even be extended to ying drones to scout areas that can only be reached by air. Oh envisions swarms made up of thousands, or even millions, of robots to accomplish these ambitious tasks.
For now, Oh and his students are producing more advanced “bugs” that could lay the groundwork for this sort of futuristic system. It’s encouraging to know that ants are good for something other than ruining your picnic. ●
In their system, each robot is able to assume one of two roles— worker or beacon. Workers nd the food and move it back to the nest, while beacons position themselves between the nest and the food and send out signals to workers, telling them where they can nd food.
The robots communicate with each other using short-range infrared light to decide which job they should ful ll. If surrounded by workers, a robot becomes a beacon. If in proximity to more than two beacons, it stays a worker. The research team has achieved a working simulation in the computer that runs a “foraging algorithm” and is working to make it function in the real world.
It’s a warm summer day in July.
A group of students congregates on the Quad to share a picnic lunch. As they eat, a single ant innocently creeps up to their food. Within minutes, a throng of ants has dis- covered the feast and the eating festivities are overrun.
Meanwhile, in a lab a few hundred feet away, another hungry swarm of bugs awakens and begins to stir. But this is no ordinary infestation.
FALL 2015 | 13


THE FAST-PACED RETURN OF
SU’S FORMULA SAE TEAM
14 | FALL 2015


he list of things left to be done was as long as it had ever been. With the spring semester over, the number of people left to check things off the list had been cut in half, then cut some more. A car lay in pieces, strewn about different corners of a cramped space in the basement of Link Hall. Just two weeks before a national Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) racing competition in Nebraska, the team wasn’t even sure the engine would start.
For two full semesters, president of the SAE Joel Rosado ’16 and the rest of the team had been plugging away on Syracuse University’s rst race car in years. Quitting was not an option. They were ful lling their true mission with every step forward.
What was once a casual hobby squeezed in between classes had become a two- shift manufacturing operation behind on its deadlines. Everyone was hustling, and they were fairly sure it wouldn’t be enough to nish. With an odd sense of satisfac- tion, they continued, and still, the engine hadn’t been started.
In the nal days before the competi- tion, work shifts went around the clock, with some members forgoing sleep for assembly. They were weary, but tenacious. They were con dent that if they kept at it, they would have the car ready to make the drive to the Midwest, but there was no room for setbacks.
A moment of truth arrived around ve in the morning two days before the competi- tion. After a full night of working on the car with all hands on deck, the team members rolled it out onto the loading dock. They col- lectively held their breath, and turned the key, and the engine roared to life. They were o . Over the rst hurdle and onto the next.
THE ROADBLOCK
After an arduous 24-hour road trip, they arrived in Nebraska in time to register, set up their trailer, and prepare for a series of intense inspections. The car may have been in one piece with an engine that started, but there was still a full day’s worth of last-minute adjustments and assembly that needed to be made to ensure it would pass inspection.
During the very rst inspection, in which the car is subjected to a 100-page rulebook, they were told that the distance between the pedals and the top of their roll hoop was too short. They’d need to weld an addi- tional curved metal tube to the top of their existing roll hoop in order to pass. Back in Syracuse, this issue could easily be solved with a trip to Link Hall’s machine shop.
FALL 2015 | 15


Here on the hot asphalt at Lincoln Airpark, the team had no metal tube, and nothing to bend it or weld it with.
In a bout of frustration, Rosado broke o from the group to blow o some steam. All of their hard work was about to be undone because they’d built the car incorrectly.
Despite the SU team’s imminent demise, it wasn’t long before he began to be absorbed in the scene that was around him. Surrounded by more than 100 other teams, each with their own designs and enthusiasm, he couldn’t help but be drawn back into the excitement.
“I got talking to another team about their car and it just so happened that they had the same exact problem last year and had overcome it,” described Rosado. Instead of using the SU team’s misfortune to its advantage, this other team was kind enough to give him speci c instructions to get the job done. He rushed back to the team to nd that fellow team members Ryan Olson and Gabriel Smolnycki were one step ahead, having contacted the event’s host, the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, for help. The University gener- ously supplied the metal and the pipe bender, and a welding tent on the airpark provided the welding. Just a few hours later, the x was in place and they were over another hurdle. Of course, as with all hurdles, there were more to come.
THE CAUTION FLAG
After passing the second inspection with ease, the team was now permitted to run the engine in its paddock. Before this, the engine had only ever run about ve min- utes before loading it in the trailer to bring to the competition. The problem was that the engine needed to be tuned badly. The throttle was all over the board; it revved loudly, subsided, and then revved again. The best way to x this was to drive the car, gather data, and optimize. Unfortunately, the rulebook states that you cannot drive your vehicle until after the fourth inspec- tion. They’d have to fake it.
“We thought maybe we could tune it enough to pass the noise inspection. If we could
just sustain our RPMs at a certain level for ve seconds while keeping the noise below 110 decibels, we’d be through. We only had a couple of hours to get it tuned, but we knew we had a shot,” said Rosado.
During the noise inspection, they were derailed. The car’s battery was dead. They
charged it, and it died again. All of the frantic energy and progress on the car came to a halt. Time expired on the third inspec- tion, and the team’s race to the nish was over—done in by a drained battery.
“We didn’t do it. We were disheartened. It was a very sad moment. We realized how far
“OUR MISSION IS TO GIVE THE MEMBERS
OF OUR TEAM AN EXPERIENCE THAT THEY
CAN’T GET ANYWHERE ELSE.” - JOEL ROSADO
16 | FALL 2015


SPOTLIGHT
The SAE Dream Team
L to R: Gabriel Smolnycki ’17, Jeffrey Clark ’17, Joel Rosado ’16,
Ryan Olson ’14, G’16, Nicholas
Pypiuk ’16, Colin Pritchard ’14, G’15, Oliver Scigliano ’17,
Kyle Donaghey ’15, and Josh Beckerman ’17. Professor
Jeongmin Ahn is in the vehicle.
we had come. We weren’t angry—we were upset the we couldn’t race,” Rosado said.
As the urgency of the situation dissipated, the team members began to feel the weight of their own exhaustion. They admired the cuts, scrapes, and carbon ber splinters covering their hands and arms. They’d earned them from their e orts to complete the car and their frantic pace. Feeling a sense of accomplishment through their dejection, they stayed to watch the other
teams compete and observed lessons they could take away for the future. After a long ride home, everyone went his separate ways for the remainder of the summer.
THE CHECKERED FLAG
Despite the disappointment in Nebraska, Rosado puts very little energy into feeling sorry for himself. In fact, it’s hard to even pull a negative comment out of him. After a year of work that seemed to end in failure,
and a trip to a competition in which the SAE team wasn’t able to race, Rosado can only speak of success.
“Our mission is not to win a race. Our mis- sion is to give the members of our team an experience that they can’t get anywhere else. Without actually applying their engi- neering knowledge to something prac- tical like this, I don’t believe they will get everything they can get out of this college experience. We’re pulling things from ther- modynamics, from statics, from mechanics of solids. It’s in our hands, it’s tangible. We made something that we designed and tested and it works. Our biggest success is all of the knowledge we gained. It’s been an unbelievable experience.”
Today, the team is recharging its bat- teries— guratively and literally. The cramped room in Link Hall has returned to a more sustainable pace. If you drop in the team’s headquarters, you’ll likely see the car in some state of disassembly, as the team members begin to make adjustments for next year’s competition and after a test drive at a local go-kart track.
They know the car runs. They are confi- dent they can make it to next year’s com- petition. But most of all, they know they have the drive to complete their true mission—to learn. ●
THEY ADMIRED THE CUTS, SCRAPES, AND CARBON FIBER SPLINTERS COVERING THEIR HANDS AND ARMS.
FALL 2015 | 17


CHANGING BANDAGES
Startup developing advanced wound dressings is based on SU research
Changing bandages in the burn unit is not like ripping o a Band-Aid. The e uent that oozes from a healing burn can dry and adhere to a wound’s dressings. When the bandage is removed, new skin cells come with it. The pain is excruciating, so bad that many patients need to be deeply sedated to undergo the process.
On top of this, bandages need to be replaced often. Even the best bandages can only be left on for seven to 14 days before they need to be replaced or removed to avoid infection. By then, most ban- dages harden like a cast. This restricts the patients’ movement and can even cut into their sensitive healing skin if they move the wrong way. Every time dressings are removed, about eight hours of healing is undone, leading to longer healing times and more traumatic treatments. If burns don’t heal quickly, the skin is much more likely to scar.
Health care professionals across all specialties need a bandage that can ght infection and stay on the patient for longer periods
of time while remaining exible. Katherine Desy ’15, a graduate of the Whitman School of Management’s business program, believes that the answer to this problem lies in the research completed by faculty in the Syracuse Biomaterials Institute.
Desy founded a startup based on 2010 biomedical engineering research from Professors Pat Mather and Dacheng Ren. The work was originally selected for Desy’s senior capstone project. With her classwork complete, she has made a decision to take her work to the next level and created her company, RMD Biotech.
“When it was suggested that we look into the University’s existing engineering intellectual property, I decided to accept the chal- lenge of taking on something outside of my own comprehension because I’ve always had a strong desire to help people in a mean- ingful way. I saw Mather and Ren’s work as a real solution to a real problem that patients and their doctors face,” says Desy.
18 | FALL 2015


SPOTLIGHT
Syracuse Biomaterials Institute (SBI)
SBI is an interdisciplinary institute focused on research in biological materials, from the properties of individual cells, to their organization into tissues and organs, to the develop- ment of smart medical devices. For more information, visit biomaterials.syr.edu.
RMD’s initial product will be a wound dressing made of a unique nano ber web containing a silver hydrogel developed by Mather and Ren. When applied to a wound, the silver releases slowly over time, acting to kill the bacteria that it comes in contact with. This helps ght o infection for 10 to 15 days and does not harden. If hospitals adopt these bandages, it would save time and e ort replacing dressings and ultimately help prevent dangerous infec- tions from taking hold in their patients and hospital.
“...I decided to accept the challenge of taking on something outside of my own comprehension because I’ve always had a strong desire to help people in a meaningful way.” – Katherine Desy
Dr. Joan Dolinak, medical director of Upstate University Hospital’s burn unit, is hopeful that technology like this will live up to its potential. “In second-degree burns, the healing period is typically 10 to 14 days. If this product works, you could essentially put this on day one and not have to change the dressing at all until the wound is healed. Patients would heal quicker, they’ll be less likely to get an infection, and the likelihood of scarring will be reduced. It would be a big deal.”
Using grant money Desy earned through the Syracuse University Panasci Business Plan Competition, she is funding work by stu- dents in Mather and Ren’s labs to prepare samples and prototypes for product development and to share with potential investors. Once she has investors, she hopes to produce and sell the product to hospitals and the military. Eventually, she envisions an entire suite of products, including consumer bandages, a gel, and even a sprayable coating for internal devices like pacemakers and shunts.
Silver Hydrogel Nanostructured
Wound Dressing
RMD’s initial product will be a wound dressing made of a unique nano ber web containing a silver hydrogel. When applied to a wound, the silver releases slowly over time, acting to kill the bacteria that it comes in contact with.
Contains silver hydrogel
The silver is released, helping to ght off infection for 10 to 15 days
Mather sees the partnership as a success for the University and is hopeful to see more collaboration between colleges that drive Syracuse University research to the market. He says, “Katherine has the energy and the interest to explore the technology’s pos- sibilities. She’s going to do all the right things. It would be huge if this got out into the health industry. Partnerships like this are just the tip of the iceberg of what could be happening at SU.” ●
Does not harden
Nano ber web
FALL 2015 | 19


DONOR IMPACT
AGUA LIMPIA
If you turned on your faucet and it began to spew an opaque, brown slurry, you’d likely decide to skip filling up your water bottle. In the small, tropical village of El Ciprés, Honduras, you wouldn’t have a choice.
Every time the rainy season hits, El Ciprés’ stream-fed water supply becomes especially turbid—inundated with suspended soil particles and microbes. It takes on a murky appearance and, with it, a high risk of water-borne illnesses.
This summer, a team from the College was invited by Fred Stottlemyer of the International Rural Water Association to travel to Honduras to address this problem for the 42 families living in this remote village.
Using plans from a theoretical solution originally devised as a senior design project, the team began the installation of a low-cost, low-tech system to reduce the turbidity of El Ciprés’ water supply to safe drinking levels. The team's design consisted of a self-sus- taining treatment system powered completely by owing water. The team was made up of project designers Gerardo Martinez ’15 and Katayoun Mokhtarzadeh ’15, current students Yaskira Mota ’16 and Ejona Hadziu ’16, and Professor Svetoslava Todorova.
If this system can be mastered in El Ciprés, the International Rural Water Association will explore the possibility of expanding it to other villages that face the same problem. There is no telling how far this could go to bene t the people of Central America and beyond. ●
20 | FALL 2015


The team developed a scalable, gravity-fed system consisting of pre-treatment, ltration, and storage. It requires no electricity and will be operated and maintained by local volunteers.
FALL 2015 | 21


IN THE MEDIA
On August 3, 2015, President Obama and the EPA announced the Clean Power Plan. In anticipation of this announcement, a team of researchers, including University Professor Charles T. Driscoll, launched an independent study of the environmental and health impacts of three options for power plant carbon standards.
In May, the journal Nature Climate Change published the rst independent, peer-reviewed paper of its kind, titled “U.S. power plant carbon standards and clean air health co-bene ts.”
“The bottom line is, the more the standards promote cleaner fuels and energy e ciency, the greater the added health bene ts,” said Driscoll, the lead author of the paper. “We found that the greatest clean air and health bene ts occur when stringent targets for carbon dioxide emissions are combined with compliance measures that promote demand-side energy e ciency and cleaner energy sources across the power sector.”
To learn more about this research, visit eng-cs.syr.edu/cleanair ●
WASHINGTON POST NEW YORK TIMES U.S. NEWS HUFFINGTON POST PITTSBURGH POST- GAZETTE THE BOSTON GLOBE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO MICHIGAN RADIO SYRACUSE POST-STANDARD THE HILL PITTSBURGH PUBLIC RADIO TOLEDO BLADE GRIST MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
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DONOR IMPACT
FACULTY EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Every summer, the Faculty Excellence Awards
provide funding for faculty to develop inventive new
educational experiences for our students. This year’s
awardees raised the bar on immersive learning in the
College of Engineering and Computer Science once again.
These transformative awards are made possible by the generosity of chemical engineering alumnus and department advisory board member Brian Beals ’64 and his wife, Emily.
Professor Shikha Nangia
developed interactive web-based simulations that transform fundamental chemical engineering concepts into hands-on, active learning applications. The interactive apps simulate realistic physical systems in two-dimensional graphs, equations, and diagrams. These mathematical simulations feature sliders and levers that students can manipulate to change the conditions of an equation to visualize the outcome, allowing students to see the full spectrum of possibilities and how they relate to one another. This fall, students are using the apps to develop conceptual questions based on what they observe. These student-generated questions are used
for weekly quizzes, fostering inquiry, initiative, and teamwork. ●
Professor Pranav Soman
introduced a 3D bioprinting teaching laboratory and a series of related learning modules in his graduate and undergraduate courses. Students will
be trained to operate 3D prototyping software and hardware, learn about
the mechanical properties and
chemical di erences in commonly
used polymers, and be challenged to design and print biopolymer sca olds. Their experience in the laboratory will provide basic experimental and research skills necessary to pursue careers as independent engineers and researchers working in biomanufacturing. ●
Professor Svetoslava Todorova
developed two immersive, experiential learning modules for her Introduction to Environmental Engineering course. In two simulations, one of the United Nations’ negotiations on global mercury contamination, and the other of the litigation of a high-pro le groundwater contamination trial, students are challenged to a ect the outcome of
the decision based on the scienti c knowledge they gained in class.
Students from the College of Law will
join engineering students during the roundtable negotiations to assure that
the treaty abides by the legal principles
of international agreements. A local attorney will also engage the students
in cross-examination style questioning
to help them develop skills in scienti c argumentation and persuasive speaking. ●
FALL 2015 | 23


ENGINEERS TAKE
Few places are as suitable as Florence, Italy—renowned as the epicenter of the Renaissance— for higher learning. This past spring, a group of second-year students studying aerospace, civil, environmental, and mechanical engineering participated in a new study abroad opportunity at Syracuse University’s Florence campus.
Before now, engineering students were unable to participate in these programs without setting themselves back in their studies due to limited course o erings abroad.
“The beauty of this program is that students are able to experience unique opportunities in Italy while completing courses that contribute to their major—keeping them on track,” says Dean Can Isik.
In addition to taking courses related to engineering, students took an introductory Italian language course. They were immersed in Italian culture, living with host families, partici- pating in eld trips across the country to visit global companies, including General Electric, and seeing historical sites in Rome. ●
Genevieve Starke, ’17
“I loved having the chance to experience other cultures and travel through Europe. They had
an outstanding eld trip system. We saw Rome, Pisa, and many other great places. It’s something I wouldn’t have been able to do if I hadn’t gone there as part of this program.
“The study abroad program gave us the freedom to explore an unfamiliar place, with a strong support system to rely on.”
Alberto Gomez, ’17
“I love traveling, but besides trips to visit family in Mexico, I haven’t done much. A semester in Europe was an exciting new opportunity that I knew I couldn’t pass up.
“Florence really reminded me of Mexico at rst—the cars, the way the streets were. It felt surreal. I thought ‘Am I really here? Is this really happening?’
“The classes were challenging, but that’s expected as an engineer. After all, these weren’t electives, they were core classes. I still had lots of time
to experience Florence. It was about time management for me. If I got my work done, then
I could go explore, eat, and see the city from a native’s perspective.”
Dave Brown, ’17
“I gained a new perspective in Florence, and I loved it. I really feel that I have a more cultural view of the world in addition to a better understanding
of engineering. I dove in, studied hard on the language so I could communicate, and tried to experience as much as possible.
“I would recommend this to other students. There’s no reason not to. There’s nothing better for you than getting away from your hometown and what you know. Take yourself somewhere new, and you will learn a lot about yourself. That’s what I took away most. I developed my character, and that was immensely rewarding.”
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Omar & Argy: Building a Lab From the Ground Up
FALL 2015 | 25


N A NONDESCRIPT CORNER OF LINK HALL, THERE IS A SET OF SMALL CONJOINING ROOMS, REPLETE WITH SCAFFOLDING AND CATALYTIC REACTORS. TODAY, THEY HUM WITH ACTIVITY, BUT NOT LONG
26 | FALL 2015
Omar Abdelrahman Ali Abdelrahman
AGO, THE SPACE WAS EMPTY.
Using little more than creativity, elbow grease, and resourcefulness (along with crucial nancial support from Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, the National Science Foundation, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) two Ph.D. students have trans- formed the once vacant area into a robust chemical engineering lab that generates technologies to reduce our dependence on oil and scienti c insights to broaden our knowledge of catalytic reactions.
In August 2011, Assistant Professor Jesse Bond joined the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering. Coinciding with his arrival, Omar Abdelrahman Ali Abdelrahman and Argy Chatzidimitriou began work on doctoral degrees in chem- ical engineering. The three were intro- duced to each other through a course Bond taught to familiarize students with the focus of his research—developing cat- alytic solutions for replacing petroleum with renewable biomass. Abdelrahman and Chatzidimitriou became deeply inter- ested in both the fundamentals of catalysis as well as Bond’s applied research, and they decided to join his research team.
Bond describes, “Working with faculty at the beginning of their career is really a unique experience. When you come in as an assistant professor, the College gener- ally gives you a budget for research startup, hands over the keys to your new lab, gives you a pat on the back, and says ‘Go for it!


An indispensable
tool for the Bond lab, the batch reactor
is protected with a mix of Te on and PEEK lining and
with 316 stainless steel reinforcement. It can operate at temperatures in excess of 200°C and 1000 psi without suffering degradation.
FALL 2015 | 27


Custom-designed collars crafted at Syracuse University’s machine shop provide the clamping strength to hold together the batch reactor when under pressure.
28 | FALL 2015


We know you’ll do great, otherwise we wouldn’t have hired you!’ And then you walk into an empty laboratory. I remember thinking, ‘There is no way this is going to work out.’ Having never built a lab before, that was a brand new kind of terror for me. And it’s bad enough for the professor, but it really takes a special kind of student to willingly walk into that environment and tackle the challenge of a blank canvas head-on at the start of their Ph.D. program. I have pretty much used up a lifetime’s supply of luck getting two of them in Omar and Argy.”
nce on board, the pair was immediately bur- dened with a heavy load of coursework, learning the tools of the catalysis trade, and building a lab- oratory from the ground
up. For Abdelrahman and Chatzidimitriou, though, it’s all in a day’s work.
“When Jesse took us on, there were only two or three pieces of equipment that had already been purchased, and none were really online yet. He tossed us right into the deep end. He basically said, ‘I have these ideas and this equipment. Help me gure it out.’ We dug into it and by the end of our rst year, we were in overdrive, building as fast as we could,” recounts Abdelrahman.
Building a fully functioning, experimental catalysis laboratory from scratch is capital-
““BY THE END OF OUR FIRST YEAR, WE WERE IN OVER-
DRIVE, BUILDING AS FAST AS WE COULD.”
Argy Chatzidimitriou
intensive, and, once startup budgets are exhausted, funding for research equip- ment can be di cult to come by. “For most experimentalists, there is no way that you can a ord to buy turnkey ver- sions of all of the equipment that you’d like to have. Starting up, you might tend to trim your wish list down to the essentials, balancing the experiments that you’d like to do with those that you absolutely have to do. Fortunately for me, that wasn’t really
good enough for Omar and Argy. Once they knew what they could learn from all of those tools that I initially told them were too expensive, they began coming up with creative, frugal, do-it-yourself alter- natives and presenting their ideas to me during group meetings. To this day, their resourcefulness and ingenuity blow me away. Of course I gave them the green light,” says Bond.
FALL 2015 | 29


n order to move experi- ments forward, the team worked with whatever members could nd. They bought equipment that was used and in disrepair for a fraction of the cost
of buying new. They built sca olding and shelving out of scrap metal that the University was throwing out. If other labs were disposing of old equipment, they pounced on it. It wasn’t long before people in the Link Hall machine shop and facilities department started coming to Abdelrahman and Chatzidimitriou any time something they might be able to use showed up in surplus.
Since that time, Bond’s laboratory has been supported through additional funding from the National Science Foundation and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, but its approach hasn’t changed, and research dollars have been stretched as far as possible. Once completely unfamiliar with the technology, Abdelrahman and Chatzidimitriou now learn about every nuance of their equip- ment. This creates new ideas and possibil- ities for their research—respectively, they are working on hydrogenation and oxi- dation of levulinic acid. It has also made them experts on the equipment. With the knowledge they’ve gained, they are able to restore old laboratory equipment to per- fect working condition.
“Once you learn the instruments—what they are capable of—you nd that your needs start getting bigger and broader. We’re at the point where we are getting everything out of this equipment—far more than what we intended to use it for in the rst place,” says Chatzidimitriou.
In addition to servicing and repairing the equipment, the duo leverages resources on campus, including the Link Hall machine shop and Arts and Sciences glass shop. Sally Prasch in the glass shop and Dick Chave and Bill Dossert in the machine shop have been godsends in making the lab’s custom designs a reality. Tools and replacement parts are created right
Custom glassware
The glass FT-IR cell allows a catalyst wafer to be moved between a heated zone, where it is calcined to provide a clean surface, and a laser beam path for analysis.
SPOTLIGHT
Jesse Q. Bond
Assistant Professor, Biomedical and
Chemical Engineering
Bond’s research group is focused on the design and application of catalytic materials to improve sustainability in the production of transportation fuels and chemical products. His lab strives to advance renewable energy by promoting biomass utilization, energy ef ciency and conservation, and waste minimization.
30 | FALL 2015


on campus to meet the unique needs of their research. Such parts could never be purchased o the shelf and would be extremely expensive if ordered through an outside vendor.
Abdelrahman and Chatzidimitriou will both complete their doctorates in the next year. While Bond expresses sadness about their inevitable departure, he also describes incredible pride in all they have accomplished at Syracuse University.
“I remember before I started at Syracuse, I would hear senior faculty talk about how ‘Back when I was starting out, I somehow
“IN 10 YEARS, WHEN SOME YOUNG PROFESSOR ASKS
ME ABOUT STARTING UP, I’LL SHARE WITH THEM STORIES ABOUT OMAR AND ARGY.”
managed to nd this amazingly talented student that helped me to get things started. I don’t know what I’d have done without them.’ And I would panic and think, ‘There’s no way I’ll get that lucky.’ But somehow I did. Not just with one, but with two amazing students, both of whom really take great pride in our laboratory and have immense respect for the science that we pursue. In 10 years, when some young professor asks me about starting up, I’ll share with them stories about Omar and Argy. This lab is theirs; there is no way I could have done it without them. I know they have the drive, training, and exper- tise necessary to succeed anywhere and at whatever they take on.” ●
Four screws hold in place a two-piece enclosure to house
a four-port switching valve. Incorporated into the reactor setup, this facilitates the changing of gas streams from reactors to a bypass while working at temperatures in excess of 250°C.
#10–32 screw
0.5”
FALL 2015 | 31
0.75” 1.75” 3”


COOL IT... DATA CENTERS
It doesn’t take long for an operating laptop to become uncomfortably warm sitting on your lap. And yet, the heat it puts out is nowhere near the amount being generated by large data centers used by virtually every corporation in the world.
Syracuse University’s Green Data Center was developed in partnership with IBM and New York State.
32 | FALL 2015


SPOTLIGHT
Roger Schmidt
Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2005, Schmidt received his M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in heat transfer under Professor Ephraim Sparrow. Schmidt will teach a 500-level course called Data Centers: Infrastructure Design and Energy Ef ciency that will invite stu- dents with backgrounds in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and computer science.
Too much heat can shut down or destroy computing systems, so mechanisms to keep them cool are a necessity. Unfortunately, the combination of these servers and traditional cooling systems pulls a tremendous amount of energy from the grid.
“There are almost 10 million data centers in the world, and they use 2-3 percent of the world’s electricity. Many big data centers leave the air conditioners on full speed all day long, 24 hours a day. The amount of money people spend on this is just mind-bog- gling.” says Professor Roger Schmidt. As the world turns to more sustainable, green solutions, this is a black eye on the face of the forward-thinking tech industry. But is it a necessary evil of our technological society?
Schmidt doesn’t believe so, and this new member of the faculty is uniquely quali ed because of his expertise in developing energy e cient data centers. A member of the National Academy of Engineers and a retired IBM Fellow, he is a recognized expert in the area of thermal cooling of computer systems.
“A large part of my role at IBM was helping our clients reduce their energy usage and be more e cient, but there is still so much more to be done,” he says.
Even the average data center can use more than its fair share of energy to stay cool, but certain industries present even larger challenges that need to be met. For example, in banking and air travel, computing failure is not an option. Systems are put in place to create redundancy and safeguards, but those systems only increase the amount of energy data centers consume.
“You can’t have a data center go down for an airline—you just can’t. Planes are up there in the air and you can’t lose contact with them,” Schmidt says. “Because of that, [airlines] are risk averse, so they overcool to make sure nothing ever fails. These mission-critical applications require that the infrastructure supporting the data center has two of everything. The cost of that is enormous. There aren’t many places teaching a course on how and what technolo- gies are needed for a reliable and cost-e ective data center.”
There are a number of data center solutions being operated worldwide and Schmidt has seen many of them rsthand. He saw seawater being used in Finland, solar power in Bangalore and Kenya, and even the Hudson River to cool the IBM facility he worked in. There are also concepts that bring in outdoor air to cool the computing systems.
Schmidt was rst introduced to Syracuse University in 2008 through a collaboration among SU, IBM, and New York State to create a Green Data Center on Skytop. This living laboratory—with its own tri-generation system—was designed to use 50 percent less energy than a typical computer center. The Green Data Center is being used as the University’s primary computing facility.
He has great respect for the area of research he has helped to de ne through his career. “The complexity of these problems are great. There are so many pieces: the facility side that is cooling and powering the data center, the IT side, all the di erent pieces of equipment, and tting all these pieces together, some of which are constantly changing, is a real challenge. A data center has to evolve and keep up with those changes.” ●
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34 | FALL 2015


Trapping carbon dioxide during combustion will go a long way toward reducing emissions. A new material moves us one step closer.
FALL 2015 | 35


Fuel gas enters the tube (typically methane CH4)
O2-
NITROGEN OMISSION
FIG. 1
Removing nitrogen from the process saves energy, but not if you use energy-hungry air separation units to sort out the molecules. With this material, it’s done using a simple chemical gradient.
he Department of Energy estimates that the com- bustion of fossil fuels creates approximately 30 billion tons of CO2 every year—approximately 40 percent of all carbon emissions.
And, fossil fuels remain our primary source of energy due to limitations and low market penetration of clean, renewable energy technologies. Since we can’t go without them for the immediate future, we need to do what we can to
make the process cleaner.
FIG. 2
In Professor Jeongmin Ahn’s Combustion & Energy Research (COMER) Laboratory, Ryan Falkenstein-Smith ’13 and his fellow researchers are developing a material to facilitate the capture of carbon dioxide at fossil fuel-burning power plants before it can be released into the atmosphere. This material is just one piece of solving a larger puzzle, but eventually, it could have a big impact.
In traditional fossil fuel combustion, a chemical reaction takes place between fuel (oil, coal, or natural gas) and air (made up of pri- marily nitrogen and oxygen). This produces heat, light, and useful
FIG. 3
T
36 | FALL 2015


The material allows oxygen, O2, from the air outside the tube to pass through, while blocking nitrogen, N2. An O2 ion flux is produced without the need for external
rcuitry (2O2 + 8e- 4O2-)
ci
e-
Inside the tube, a combination reaction occurs creating energy, CO2 and water (CH4 + 4O2- CO2 + 2H2O + 8e-)
The water vapor is condensed out and CO2 can be contained by itself
SPOTLIGHT
Ryan Falkenstein-Smith ’13
Mechanical Engineering
Research Assistant
“In the COMER lab, I get to work on projects that could one day make a signi cant difference in the real world. Carbon capture is a hot topic right now and it will continue to develop. I imagine that tech- nology like ours will be widespread in 10 to 20 years.”
energy. Molecularly, we are left with nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. The material Falkenstein-Smith is developing uses a novel tech- nique to remove nitrogen from the equation. By doing this, the combustion process requires less energy and is more e cient.
Typically, removing nitrogen from air requires the use of an air separation unit. These units tend to be energy-hungry—the amount of energy they eat up counters any savings gained by burning pure oxygen. In the COMER labs, researchers are
FIG. 4
trying to overcome this obstacle with a fabri- cated ceramic material that acts as an ionic con- ductor and is molded into hollow fibers. Using a simple chemical gradient, it moves oxygen ions through its membrane, while blocking the nitrogen from the combustion process.
The oxygen is fed through the hollow bers along with the fuel. They ignite, and after combustion you’re left with carbon dioxide andwatervapor.Thiscanbefrozenandburied,orevenputtouse, sometimes in something as common as carbonating soda. ●
TRADITIONAL FOSSIL FUEL COMBUSTION
FIG. 5
Figures 1-5 indicate the nitrogen omission material’s five stages from slurry to hollow fibers
FALL 2015 | 37


EYES IN THE SKY
In the not-so-distant future, smart autonomous drones may watch over us, providing life-saving surveillance.
One day, small, unmanned, surveillance quadcopters may hover over cities, highways, and even over our shoulders inside our homes, reporting anomalous incidents to first responders. Research that could make this possible is being developed in the Smart Vision Systems Laboratory directed by Professor Senem Velipasalar.
Today, small quadcopters, or drones, as they are most commonly referred to, have become a remarkably common toy for hobby- ists. You have likely seen a video captured by one from high above the ground. Certain models are even able to follow a signal from a wristband to be used as a “ ying sel e stick” for rock climbers or skiers.
Drones are also one of the latest platforms on which researchers like Velipasalar have decided to employ wireless smart camera technology. These cameras act as a sensor, and computer vision algorithms allow for detecting obstacles and even human faces. Currently, video captured by cameras on drones is sent to a laptop or a desktop computer to be processed and a command is sent back to the drone to avoid an obstacle or follow a human face.
Velipasalar and her students intend to bring the technology to the next level by capturing and processing the video completely
onboard. In doing so, her team aims to give drones the ability to nav- igate all by themselves, eliminating the need for remote controllers.
“Autonomous drones could be programmed to independently make smart decisions about what kinds of video to record. They will navigate and position themselves to record incidents of spe- ci c interest all on their own. When they have captured something of interest, they could take action, including reporting incidents to the proper authorities,” explains Velipasalar.
“Additionally, a completely self-contained vision-based drone is a much more elegant solution for this technology. We anticipate eliminating time delays that exist in the current systems caused by transmitting large amounts of video data externally and awaiting a command. It also removes the concern of the device being hacked during transmission.”
Undoubtedly such technology is bound to spark debate and ref- erences to Big Brother’s watchful eye in the sky, but there is no denying technology’s intrinsic value for ensuring security, pre- serving environments and saving lives. In addition to emergency response, the technology could be used for countless other appli- cations, including inspecting infrastructure, contributing to search-and-rescue e orts, and documenting wildlife.
38 | FALL 2015


Tomorrow’s Drones at Work
Scenario 1
No one notices when an armed man positions himself in a window overlooking a bustling Times Square crowd, but before he is able to take aim, the authorities have identi ed his location and evacuated the area below.
Scenario 2
Across the city, a car collides with a jack-knifed tractor-trailer. 911 is noti ed seconds later, before a single person has reported the accident.
Scenario 3
In the suburbs, an elderly man living alone falls and injures himself in his home. A moment after, an ambulance is dispatched even though no one else was there to see the fall happen.
Off-the-shelf quadcopters are used in Velipasalar’s research to employ wireless smart camera technology.
Currently, Velipasalar and the researchers in her lab are only focusing on indoor applications, due to FAA regulations. They are working toward addressing some of the existing challenges in embedded computer vision to make a vision-based smart autono- mous drone possible in the coming years.
There is no telling how integrated drones will become in our society but if their capabilities attain the potential that Velipasalar envisions, then there may come a day that we no longer look at drones as an entertaining hobby, but as guardian angels keeping us safe. ●
SPOTLIGHT
Senem Velipasalar
Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science
The focus of Velipasalar’s research is on embedded computer vision, mobile camera applications, wireless embedded smart cameras, distributed multi-camera tracking and surveillance systems, and automatic event detection from videos. She is
the recipient of the NSF CAREER Award and a senior member of the IEEE.
FALL 2015 | 39


40 | FALL 2015


DONOR IMPACT
HEADS UP
New Classroom Encourages Teamwork in Engineering Education
“Heads down, pencils up.” We’ve all heard an instructor provide that direction at one point in our academic lives. Educators and students are rejecting the notion of going it alone in engineering education in a new style of classroom in Link Hall. For these stu- dents, it’s “heads up, minds open.”
This spring, the College o cially opened a state-of-the-art class- room for collaboration. The space allows students to explore their course material in ways that aren’t possible in traditional classrooms. Here, instructors design their classroom activities to foster team- based learning and are provided technology and resources that bolster their e orts. The room features 10 interconnected LED monitors, recon gurable tables, mobile whiteboards, dual overhead projectors, and a high-tech teaching station.
“We recognize that classroom infrastructure plays a critical role in active learning. In this space, that process can be facilitated. We’re thrilled to have a place where students can interact with their peers and instructors in ways that enhance their learning experi- ences and outcomes,” said Julie Hasenwinkel, associate dean for undergraduate programs and student a airs.
Funding for the collaborative classroom came from three key sources—a generous gift from alumnus Avi M. Nash, G’77; the College of Engineering and Computer Science, which includes gifts from individual donors to the Dean’s Fund; and Syracuse University. ●
SPOTLIGHT
Avi M. Nash, G’77
Chemical Engineering
With 40 years of experience in the chemical industry and corporate nance and investing, Nash is the founder and managing director of Avi Nash LLC, a global management consulting rm for the chemical industry. Nash remains actively engaged with the College, providing nancial support on a number of initiatives to enhance our impact on students, alumni, and communities throughout the world.
Amanda Walkowicz, ’16
“Projects that we were previously required to puzzle through individually, were augmented to become group projects that model the way engineers innovate in industry. By working through problems together, we’re able to solidify our understanding of
the material.”
Jannuel Cabrera, ’16
“I’m a visual learner. Having screens all over the room creates an extremely visual environment and a more interactive setting. Our professor had the ability to display different info on different screens. It makes for an easier transition between ideas.
The room certainly provides an atmosphere that is conducive
to learning.”
Molly Kollman, ’17
“Thermodynamics was my favorite class I’ve ever taken, and a big
part of that is due to the Collaborative Classroom’s resources. In professional engineering, we will always work in teams, so we need to be able to develop those skills while we learn engineering concepts. Simply being able to face another student in a comfortable, brightly lit setting helped my learning so much.”
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Mark Povinelli is the Kenneth A. and Mary Ann Shaw Professor of Practice in Entrepreneurial Leadership.
With dual appointments in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the Whitman School
of Management, Povinelli will be working across campus to encourage collaboration and learning around entrepreneurship.
How do you de ne entrepreneurship?
Sometimes there is a preconception that entrepreneurial skill sets are reserved exclusively for people who are engaged in creating a small business that involves signi cant risk. Skill sets like empathy, working well in teams, and developing innovative ideas are necessary to be successful in any work environment.
What role does empathy play in coming up with a solution?
Empathy is crucial. Students engaged in design problem solving bene t if they base their solutions on an understanding of the needs and feelings of the people they are responding to.
What is your teaching philosophy?
I want to see the students engaged in team learning through a creative, hands-on approach. I want them to experience a potential problem space through observation and study, formulate what
the problem to be addressed is, and participate in collaborative brainstorming. Then they can work through design options, prototyping, testing, get user group feedback, and iterate.
How will entrepreneurship courses help bene t students?
Engineering and computer science students spend signi cant time in lectures and learning theoretical engineering principles. Opportunities to solve real-world problems and work in diverse team environments can help develop their interpersonal and ideation skill sets, which will enhance their design capabilities.
How do you help students select what ideas to pursue?
It’s about rst removing the fear of failure by giving them the ability to try out ideas quickly to assess which ones fail and
succeed. Research and using charettes, end-user feedback, and mentorship will help them build con dence.
What role does failure play in entrepreneurship?
Failure is a necessary part of the learning process. By embracing failure early and as a tenet of the engineering design process, we allow room for the risk of trying out innovative ideas before implementation.
How will you help integrate the College into the University eco- system of entrepreneurship?
I am actively engaged in discussions and projects with the Whitman School, iSchool, and College of Visual and Performing Arts (School of Design)
on ways students can collaborate. We want our students to work with peers from other schools and colleges with di erent learning backgrounds to
give them a more diverse experience because that mirrors the working environments they will encounter
as graduates. ●
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DONOR IMPACT
Q&A WITH MARK POVINELLI


Computer Engineers Build an App to Help Veterans Transition to Students
FALL 2015 | 43


Charles Preuss had spent the previous seven years of his life with his head on a swivel. As an airborne paratrooper for the U.S. Army, his very life depended on an astute understanding of his surroundings and the people in them. Upon returning to civilian life, it seemed that every person he encountered was the opposite—absorbed by their smartphone’s tiny, glowing screen and oblivious of what was happening around them.
“I felt like I was around robots,” describes Preuss. “Being overseas for so long, I didn’t use my phone. Everyone here seemed to be walking around with their heads down, totally engrossed in their device. That was very foreign to me at rst.”
In addition to transitioning from a military life to a civilian life, Preuss was grappling with the transition from soldier life to stu- dent life as he enrolled in the iSchool’s information studies program.
“Student veterans are a very different demographic. We’re in our mid- to late-20s or older. Some are raising fam- ilies or working full-time jobs. We’re coming out of a very structured military culture into one that’s not so structured. We’re also a minority in the student pop- ulation, so it’s important that we’re able to find each other,” says Preuss.
Recognizing society’s infatuation with mobile devices and his own desire to con- nect student veterans with people they can relate to, and utilizing support from the University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families and the O ce of Veteran and Military A airs (OVMA), Preuss pro- posed a mobile application exclusively for the bene t of veterans at SU. The idea excited Ron Novack, OVMA’s executive director, so much that they set out to put boots on the ground to start the project almost immediately.
Working with Steve Masiclat, the director of new media management in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communica- tions and a Marine Corps veteran, they were quickly able to identify a team of com- puter engineering graduate students in the College of Engineering and Computer
“Ankur likes to break it down to the bare bits and bytes and wanted to know the entire architecture of how the app is being built”
“Tushar knows all the different computer languages and thinks holistically”
“Gaurav likes to go against the status quo and ask why”
“Abhilash wanted to nd ef ciencies and keep the project on track”
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SPOTLIGHT
The Of ce of Veteran and
Military Affairs
Serving as Syracuse University’s point of entry for all veteran and mili- tary related programs and initiatives, OVMA collaborates and coordinates with all stakeholders to best serve veterans, military connected stu- dents, and military family members who are students or employees at Syracuse University. For more infor- mation, visit veterans.syr.edu.
1
23
45
6
Science that was not only capable of building the app for iOS and Android plat- forms, but prepared to share the vision of supporting veterans. Tushar Bhatia, Ankur Pandey, Gaurav Bhasin, and Abhilash Krishnamurthy took on the task, devel- oping an app in just two months.
In his role as product manager for the app, Preuss found himself applying leadership skills he learned in the military. “To over- come any obstacle, you have to know your men, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to build the team so our strengths levy each weakness and form a great unit. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the military or in business, you still have a team,” he says.
“Ankur likes to break it down to the bare bits and bytes and wanted to know the entire architecture of how the app is being built. Tushar knows all the di erent computer languages and thinks holistically. Gaurav likes to go against the status quo and ask why. Abhilash wanted to nd e ciencies and keep the project on track. The product rose to another level of quality because of theirdevotiontothisproject.”
The entire cross-collaborative team ide- ated what shape the application should take and arrived at a robust, yet straight- forward, set of features. Using the app, vet- erans are provided guidance through their entire higher education experience, using a newsfeed of veteran news and events, and a step-by-step “roadmap” through the application process. It also includes a directory that connects users, listing their military branch and contact information.
“I worked for Oracle before I came to Syracuse University, so I have experience with developing products like this, but I’ve never experienced this degree of sat- isfaction with a project before,” describes Krishnamurthy. “I’m hopeful that this
1 Abhilash Krishnamurthy
2 Charles Preuss
3 Professor Steve Masiclat
4 Ankur Pandey
5 Tushar Bhatia
6 Gaurav Bhasin
app will help create a smooth transition from military to academic civilian life. We put a lot of thought into providing vet- erans with everything they need to suc- ceed at SU and gathered their feedback along the way.”
The application is in the early stages of its rollout. It is available for download in the App Store and Google Play. With most of the work behind them, the team remains hesitant to celebrate their success. “I can’t wait to talk about it when my fellow vet- erans have found value in it. That’s the moment we’re all waiting for. When vet- erans come up to us and say, ‘This app has helped me,’ that will be our measure of success,” says Preuss. ●
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L to R: Maryam Wasmund (El-Hindi) ’78 (VPA), G’80, Lawrence El-Hindi ’87, G’13, Ahmad El-Hindi ’52, Mehdi Meghezzi G’12, G’13
FROM ORANGE TO
ORANGE
At 88 years old, Ahmad El-Hindi ’52 sits at the same desk and in the same chair that he did when his company, Filtertech, was just a small o ce inside his family’s home more than 40 years ago.
On the wall is a framed picture of him on the cover of Time maga- zine announcing him as “Man of the Year.” Never mind that it is a hand-drawn cover done by one of his sons when he was in grade school.Tohisfamily,hedeservesthistitle.
The company, now headquartered in Manlius, N.Y., is a family a air. Partly because three of his children, Lawrence El-Hindi ’87, G’13, Maryam Wasmund ’78, G’80, and Joseph El-Hindi, are managers within the company, and partly because many employees have worked at the company for decades—and they too are like family.
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“There have been people who have worked on the oor since before I was here, so you go to them like an uncle,” says Lawrence El-Hindi, who is a quality engineering manager and sales engineer at Filtertech. “I have younger engineers who will come to me with questions and I’ll say, ‘Let’s ask Uncle Carl.’”
Syracuse has been home to Ahmad El-Hindi since he stepped o the boat from Palestine in the fall of 1947 to begin what he believed was a short journey from New York City to Syracuse. For 10 hours on that crisp October day, the train wound through urban neigh- borhoods, rural countryside, and farmland before arriving at his new home—Syracuse University. Just like the landscape, the weather had shifted, and El-Hindi caught his rst, but not last, glimpse of snowfall.
The son of an orange farmer, El-Hindi was, in a way, trading in one orange grove for another. The symbolism was a comforting reminder of home.


In 1948, the State of Israel was created and El-Hindi found himself to be a man without a country and without a home. With only a few hundred dollars left, he didn’t have the means to a ord school. And, as a for- eign student, he couldn’t work. Dean Frank P. Piskor of the grad- uate school assured him that Syracuse University would take care of him so he could stay.
El-Hindi worked 56 hours a week, while also taking classes, so he could send money to his family who had become displaced from its home. His thermodynamics professor, John A. King, found out about his workload and gave him a job grading papers for the class. He had to stop when students began to question the black, sooty stains that appeared on their work—evidence of his night job shoveling coal. Regardless, he never forgot about being o ered that opportunity.
“I like Syracuse University because they are really compassionate and they take care of students,” said El-Hindi.
After working for Ho man Air & Filtration Systems for 17 years, and reaching the level of a vice president, he decided he wanted to travel less and be with his family more. He had built such strong
relationships when he was at Ho man with companies like AT&T, Alcoa, and Reynolds Aluminum that they trusted him and valued his insights and recommendations, which enabled him to start his own consulting rm.
Over the decades, Filtertech expanded from consulting for compa- nies to building ltration equipment and systems. As the company has grown over the decades, it has not lost that family feeling. After having his photo taken, El-Hindi strode through the o ce handing out oranges left over from the shoot. You can take the man out of the orange grove—but not the orange grove out of the man. ●
Since its founding in 1969, El-Hindi has sat in this chair and at this desk even as Filtertech grew.
SPOTLIGHT
Filtertech
Filtertech is an international producer of liquid ltration
and waste disposal equipment for industrial applications, including wire drawing, aluminum and steel rolling, machining, grinding, and coolant disposal. It has recently developed its ltration system technologies for new applications in optical glass lens grinding and industrial waste water treatment.
FALL 2015 | 47


1950s
Frank Reick ’52 (Industrial)
Joined the senior citizen ying club known as the United Flying Octogenarians. The elite club unites more than 1,400 men and women pilots across the world with a minimum age requirement of 80.
1970s
James M. Hoe er ’77 (Mechanical)
A political science professor at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., James invented XoomRooms, a portable, temporary, sustainable wall system for dividing spaces in homes and apartments.
1980s
Renard Barnes ’87 (Electrical)
Is general counsel at AJS Shared Services, an entity that provides legal, nancial, and executive managerial support to the New Jersey- based Paulus, Sokolowski
& Sartor architectural and engineering rm.
1990s
Tom Hull G’92 (Computer Engineering)
Was named vice president and chief information o cer of Florida Polytechnic and has completed the institutional planning, technology
design, implementation,
and startup. This includes
all the technology to run the university and innovation labs for the STEM-focused curriculum. He is also a professor of computer science, including computation and programming, and digital media production.
Eugene McCabe ’92 (Mechanical)
Retired from the U.S. Air Force after 20 years of active duty. He is the manager of the engineering support and plan review section of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation in Anchorage, where he oversees a group
of civil and environmental engineers who develop and review technical standards and review wastewater system designs statewide.
Derek Landel ’93 (Computer Science)
Of Ramsey, N.J., and Darren Buck ’94 (VPA) of Boston
are co-founders of the Duke Baxter Band, an eight-piece party band specializing in the classic soul music of the ’60s and ’70s that has been going strong for 14 years.
Rosiland Rollins ’94 (Electrical)
Is a patent agent at Roylance, Abrams, Berdo & Goodman, an intellectual property law rm based in Washington, D.C.
Wanda Dann G’97 (Computer & Information Science)
Is a senior systems scientist and director of the Alice
Project at Carnegie Mellon University, received the Alumni Achievement Award from Alderson Broaddus University in Philippi, W.VA., in October.
Sarah Hamilton (Benedict) ’97 (Aerospace)
Is the mission operations planning team lead for the New Horizons spacecraft that ew past Pluto on July 14, 2015. She is employed by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
Augustine F. Ubaldi ’70 (Civil)
Recently appeared in two episodes of the History Channel series “Engineering Disasters” discussing a 2013 train accident in Cha ee, Mo. and the 2013 derailments on Metro-North in New York.
He was also interviewed by CNN and the New York Times regarding the fatal train crash on February 3 in Valhalla, N.Y. Augustine is an airport and railroad engineering expert
at Robson Forensic based in Dublin, Ohio.
Wanda Lotus McCrae
G’98 (Computer Engineering)
Is one of the inaugural artists whose black-and-white street photography was selected for exhibition by Rush Street Gallery, a digital exhibition of contemporary artistic photography. Her photography was also accepted for inclusion
in Colors of Humanity’s February show, Red.
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ALUMNI NOTES