FALL 1996
Jim Killian, editor
William F. Walker, Dean of Engineering
M. Dayne Aldridge, Associate Dean, Cross-Disciplinary Programs
Larry D. Benefield, Associate Dean, Academic Affairs
James O. Bryant, Jr., Associate Dean, Engineering Extension Services
John M. Owens, Associate Dean, Research
Shirley C. Burson, Assistant to the Dean
"We are already seeing the ratio of white males, who have traditionally made up the bulk of engineering graduates, diminish as more women and minorities enter the work force," explains Larry Benefield, the associate dean for academics who has done much of the legwork in making this program a reality at Auburn.
"We don't want to be left behind the curve as this demographic shift gains momentum," he adds. "In fact, we want to involve ourselves as leaders and become a model for minority recruitment and retention not just in the Southeast, but nationally."
The groundwork for the college's MEP initiative began in 1993 when Dean William F. Walker called for an in-depth assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of Auburn engineering students, the curriculum, and its future direction.
"Even then we were concerned about the question of retention, since we knew that about 50 percent of our students left engineering before attaining the undergraduate degree," Benefield notes. "We felt that a large number of these students were leaving for reasons other than a lack of an ability to succeed in the engineering curriculum; however, most of our information was anecdotal."
With the dean's emphasis on the collection of hard data within the structure of a continuous quality improvement framework, college administrators undertook a comprehensive evaluation program utilizing both standard and custom testing instruments developed under the guidance of Glennelle and Gerald Halpin, the former an educational psychologist and the latter a statistician in the College of Education.
"We began to accumulate an extensive data base on our students, and through the testing of incoming freshmen identified a number of characteristics that they possessed in common when they entered Auburn," Benefield notes. "As part of this process we also identified students who were at a high potential for dropping out of engineering."
In fact, some of the hard numbers gathered in 1993 showed that 53 percent of the student body entering in 1991 left the college before the end of pre-engineering studies.
"We are currently showing a retention rate for minorities that is significantly lower than for the student body in general, at 33 percent compared to 55 percent overall," Benefield states. "This alone led us to the feeling that we needed to develop strategies that could help more minorities be successful in attaining their engineering degree."
Arguably one of the most proven methods has been the implementation of a minority engineering program, which has proven successful at other institutions.
"I believe one of the most significant innovations of our MEP program was that we did not rely on informed guesses, hunches or anecdotal data in its implementation," Benefield comments. "We built ours on hard data, and as we test and develop the concepts that underpin these efforts over the next five years, we have a good chance of coming out with a national model that others will look to."
One of the first realizations to come out of Auburn's MEP efforts will be the establishment of a summer bridge program next summer, Benefield notes.
"One of the most important points we began to understand was that many minorities who come to Auburn with an extremely high potential for success find themselves compromised through inadequate preparation," he explains.
"The reasons for that are complex and quite frankly beyond the scope of our program," he adds. "But we do know what to do to bring them into the engineering curriculum's mainstream, which begins with courses that are based on the fundamental concepts of science and mathematics in a framework of problem-solving and skills development."
In addition to the development of a bridge program, engineering administrators led by Dennis Weatherby, who heads the minority engineering program, are looking to foster an ambience that makes the college more attractive to minorities.
"On one level this includes academic enhancement and tutorial programs, but in a much greater sense it involves mentoring these students in the fullest sense of the term not just in the class, but beyond it," Benefield adds. "We need to develop a sense of community that addresses some of the pressures that these students encounter in what is fundamentally a large, white institution."
As the college makes progress in this arena, Benefield is preparing for the next step, which he terms the question of student retention in general.
"We are going to proceed on the basis of careful research and continuous assessment," he explains. "Ultimately what we want to do is apply these concepts to a quality environment that does not tolerate the loss of half of its product, to put it in terms industry understands.
"At the same time, we not only refuse to compromise the level of quality that has come to be expected of Auburn, we anticipate moving toward a higher level as we embrace new and tougher ABET standards."
In addition to his tenure at CSU's water resources center, which he joined in 1989 as an academic advisor and recruiter, he has worked in private industry as well, first for the Proctor and Gamble Company, and then for Morton International's Whittaker Corporation. He graduated from CSU in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, and from the University of Dayton in 1984 with a master's in chemical engineering.
Weatherby will work for the recruitment, retention and enhancement of minority students in the College of Engineering, who currently comprise some 6 percent of enrollment.
For the past six years Weather-by has served as the primary recruiter, advisor and counselor for students in the environmental program at CSU, which is a historically black university located just east of the Dayton metropolitan area. Under his leadership, the program experienced a more than 400 percent growth in student enrollment with a retention level of better than 80 percent.
Weatherby also served as chair of an externally sponsored undergraduate science symposium to showcase research conducted by students that involved six area colleges and universities.
Weatherby is a native of Brighton, Alabama, and a graduate of Midfield High School.
"He knows the state, and has a working familiarity with the Auburn campus as well," Walker notes. "He is committed to a continuous quality improvement approach to the college's overall mission, as well as the personal goals he has set for himself as director of the minority engineering program. His blend of university and corporate experience should serve him well in this new capacity."
As you read this issue, the college will have taken the first step towards renovation of the 65,000 square-foot facility, the presentation of schematic plans to the university's board of trustees.
Following board approval, site preparation will begin on the transformation of this landmark structure, which has served generations of Auburn engineers in constantly evolving ways.
Retaining accreditation for the College of Engineering has played no small part in the impetus behind this $10 million-plus project. Simply put, accreditation teams who visited chemical and materials engineering last year expressed strong concerns about the substandard condition of Wilmore Labs.
Had it been time for Aero or ME visitations, much the same would have been said by those team members.
We are not going to lose our accreditation. I can think of no greater disservice to our students, whose careers are on the line; our alumni, whose pride is on the line; or our faculty, too many of whom have given Auburn far more than they have received in salary in comparison to peer institutions.
We don't need your help if you don't want to give it, because for approval to go ahead with our plans, we had to pledge student fees as a contingency against alumni giving. These fees, which amount to $5 per credit hour for every engineering course, were initiated during the summer quarter.
But what if you do donate toward Wilmore's renovation? Then I can take those dollars, which are really allocated toward laboratory equipment, and give them to my department heads so that they can replace, maintain, and upgrade their laboratory facilities.
That is, put those dollars where they were meant to be used. It would mean that up-to-date equipment would be in place when Wilmore goes on line again and elsewhere in the college as well.
In planning for Wilmore, we put in a base line of $2.5 million for alumni giving, and $1.6 million for student fees. (State funds add another $2.3 million; a National Science Foundation grant, $2 million; and the university, $2 million.)
You can do the math; we really need something a little over $4 million from our alumni, and we're working hard to make headway on that goal. I'd like to ask you to be a part of that goal now because it's important to us; and by 'us' I mean students, alumni and faculty, for the reasons mentioned at the beginning of this column.
If we were renovating Ramsay Hall, I couldn't and wouldn't ask you for a dime it's becoming a collection of administrative offices. But Wilmore has, is, and will continue to be the heart of Auburn Engineering . . . the pulse of our future and yours, as engineering alumni. Please make your commitment to the college a reality.
The next stage will be the presentation of the building's schematic floor plan to the university's board of trustees, according to John Owens, associate dean for research and project coordinator. The renderings will be introduced at the November meeting of the trustees, and following their approval, a full set of drawings will be produced for the bid process. Detailed plans will then be used in the actual renovation of the laboratories.
Construction is expected to begin next summer. In the interim, the shop buildings east of Ramsay will be readied for occupancy by the programs in chemical engineering and pulp and paper now located in Wilmore. The interactive air traffic control and flight simulator lab located in the lab's northwest quadrant will be relocated temporarily to the shared classroom facility adjacent to the Aerospace Building.
Finally, the mechanical engineering fabrication shop will be relocated to the shop buildings. Mechanical and materials engineering labs will be moved to Shop Building III if necessary.
"Although it is too early in the quarter to tell, we don't see a significant fall or rise in the incoming freshman class for the College of Engineering," he says.
The summer's Camp War Eagle sessions were well attended, he adds, with a good mix of students from within the state, as well as a sampling of out-of-state students ranging from Texas to Connecticut to the midwest.
"In talking with students and parents it appears that the positive and friendly reception they have received here has been a major factor in our student recruiting efforts," Conrad notes.
"At a time when we are seeing a concentration of universities in large urban areas, we are finding out that many are looking at Auburn for a competitive and challenging engineering program that exists side by side in a safe, community-oriented atmosphere."
In addition to an incoming freshman class of more than 700 students, an additional 300-plus transfers are expected to enroll, from both two and four-year institutions, according to information he has received.
Funded through a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, Auburn's colleges of Science and Mathematics and Engineering have developed the "Coordinated Approach to Pre-Engineering." The program combines introductory physics, math and engineering courses, says Phillip Zenor of the Department of Mathematics.
"It's designed to reorganize those courses that are in most of the pre-engineering curricula and that use calculus as a tool so that the commonality of the ideas and theories expressed are conveyed and demonstrated to the students."
Zenor says the program's foundation in mathematics makes it original.
In the beginning, Zenor said the math courses will use engineering applications to reinforce the mathematical base.
"By the end of the program, the mathematical element together with the understanding of how it fits with the physics and engineering that they've seen is going to give the students a tremendously powerful tool as they pursue their engineering careers," he said. "It turns the old scattershot approach (of teaching these courses) into a process."
Dayne Aldridge, associate dean for cross-disciplinary programs, attended the meeting held in Baltimore as an officer and delegate.
"We're looking at the most dramatic change in engineering education since the post-war period characterized by the fifties," Aldridge observes. "ABET's intention is to totally revamp the criteria under which all engineering programs in the country will be accredited."
Foremost among the group's goals is to assure that all engineering programs meet the needs of industry (and government agencies) in terms of the knowledge and skills required to practice engineering in the next century.
It's a response, Aldridge says, to the many calls from industry for changes in the content of engineering courses and how they are taught at the college level. Among the mandates put forth:
Graduates better prepared to begin practice on graduation without intensive in-house training, including the ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams;
An understanding of the impact of engineering in terms of global and societal impacts as well as public protection;
The ability to communicate effectively with an understanding of professional and ethical responsibilities;
And, of course, a strong technical background.
These new criteria will require all engineering programs to have a close relationship with industry, Aldridge points out.
"Our Alumni Engineering Council membership will be an important part of this effort," he adds. "This partnership will include the establishment of specific program objectives, evaluation methodologies and detailed procedures for developing new curriculums."
The council will be contacted through surveys and some will be asked to serve in advisory capacities to establish and monitor the process, particularly in terms of program assessment. The new curriculum is expected to be set into motion in the fall of 1997, with full implementation by 2001.
Editor's note: Aldridge is vice chairman, policy, and chair- elect of ABET's Engineering Accreditation Commission. He is joined by James Williams of aerospace engineering and Paul Turnquist, head of the Department of Agricultural Engineering, as members of the 55-person group that comprises the ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission.
"One of the most unfortunate examples of the way in which we are having to scale back recruiting programs can be seen in our relationship with the Alabama School of Science and Mathematics in Mobile," Walker notes. "We can no longer continue this program or ones similar to it."
The College of Engineering had been hosting junior and seniors at the state magnet school in an annual intensive one-day field trip to the Auburn campus, where the students were exposed to classes, labs and given an introduction to the college's computer network.
"We also gave them a general overview of the institution and a look at campus life beyond the classroom," Walker explains. "Our intent was to attract these students, who are among the state's finest, to pursue a career in engineering at the state's premier engineering school. It was a natural partnership."
He notes, however, that the College of Engineering has sustained a series of budget cuts and proration of state funds over the past several years, resulting in severe restrictions to funding outlays beyond classroom instruction.
"Similar cutbacks to recruiting in our athletic program would be considered inexcusable," Walker points out. "While I fully support our athletic department in their efforts, it seems unfair that similar activities inside the academic schools have to be eliminated. Our students come here primarily for an education."
Walker adds that the inability to bring students who have demonstrated talent in science and mathematics, and have been recognized as gifted, is particularly sobering.
"At this point I would like to explain that we are still extremely interested in bringing students like these onto the Auburn campus for an overview of engineering. These arrangements will now have to be worked out differently, with students paying their own way."
The event begins at 9 a.m. with registration and departmental tours, which will leave from the patio every 20 minutes. A bluegrass band is scheduled at 10:30, and barbecue will be served from 10:30 through noon. The homecoming game against Northeast Louisiana follows the barbecue with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
Admittance to the event is $12 per person. For more information, contact Shirley Burson at (334) 844-2304.
She phrases her thanks three different ways, because Dr. Wilcox is insisting it's nothing, really nothing, he's done. The credit is yours, he says. Take what you have and be your best. She stands in the doorway for another thirty seconds. What to say to this gruff professor?
"Really, thanks again . . . for all you've done."
And she begins to leave, her destination a small high-tech company in California, Wilcox says.
"Keep in touch," he reminds her. "Just send us twenty percent of your salary off the top," he adds with a laugh.
Roy Wilcox has gone through this with thousands of students in his career in materials engineering at Auburn. Now he's ready to go.
"I have a student in class next quarter whose father I advised as a master's candidate," he reflects. "When you begin teaching their kids, it's time to retire."
It's something Roy will do at the end of the year, after some 37 years of teaching, first at Virginia Tech, and the past 27 at Auburn.
He's seen a lot of changes.
"When I came here, all Auburn had was two shopping centers, and they were both small Midway and Glendean. The explosive growth that this town has undergone still amazes me," he says.
"The school was also a lot smaller, I think ten or twelve thousand compared to twenty-two today . . . Haley had just been built, and the construction of Broun for EE was years away. To me, Broun was the military science building next to Ramsay."
So it was for a lot of students who passed through as Dr. Wilcox reared a family and watched town and campus grow up around him. His children, a boy and a girl, are now adults.
Have the students changed much, he is asked.
"You know, they don't seem as well prepared today as they used to be, or want to put out the same amount of effort," he reflects. "They seem to want their due."
It's a surprising comment given his reputation of going to bat for his students, but one that has been echoed by other faculty as well.
"Roy has always been seriously student-centered, then and now," a colleague observes. "I have to agree that many of the students that came in earlier decades as veterans were older and more aggressive in their studies. On the other hand, students are taking heavier loads now, and the demands of changing technology have mushroomed on them."
So too have the demands on the professors, Wilcox would argue.
"In a sense, I don't envy young faculty coming into the profession today," he says. "It's a good career, but it's also hard given the demands of teaching and research."
He cites in particular the time spent by faculty in securing research funding.
"It's a catch-22 situation where you have a conflict in the time that you can prepare for teaching and the time you spend chasing after the dollars." he points out.
"Research is necessary not only because part of your livelihood depends on the 'soft funding' it brings in to make up for chronic shortages in teaching salaries, but because it's the only way to stay current in the field."
While he reflects that teaching seemed like more fun earlier on (and hey, it probably was), he takes a senior professor's burden of administrative duties seriously.
"When new students come to me I map out their schedules through graduation, and if they stick to it, they'll graduate on time instead of spending an extra year here. That's important to a lot of students. College is expensive."
He considers Auburn's primary mission as undergraduate education, and his philosophy has always been 'to get it to the student in a manner they can understand.'
He's known to be tough on tests early in the quarter ("That's how you get their attention and raise the quality of their academic experience . . .") and, he says, doesn't like to hear students ask stupid questions.
"You know what a stupid question is, of course," he asks. "One that the professor can't answer. A dumb question is one a student already knows the answer to."
He has always taught materials, and is a metallurgist by training.
"There is a lot of emphasis on composites now, but it's a field that serves as a complement rather than a replacement for metallurgy," he points out. "We're doing research now on 'smart' or adaptive metals that can be used in everything from eyeglass frames to bridge sensors that can telegraph damage to a structure as it occurs, and prevent accidents."
Can he leave it all behind?
"I'm going to be the student now," he says, detailing the plans he and his wife are making to attend a series of Elderhostels across the country.
He plans to get to them with the 27-foot motorhome he bought in 1990 that has already seen a trip to Alaska.
"It's a lifestyle," he explains. "We get to where we want to go as leisurely as we want, camping along the way. The food's in the fridge and the shower's down the hall.
"We pulled into a rest stop in Kansas in the middle of a huge thunderstorm and people were jumping from their cars to the restroom as fast as they could in the pouring rain.
"I was fixing a ham sandwich and watching them out of the window. You know, it was sort of funny."
"I don't know if (Engineering Dean) Bill Walker invited me to that game because I was from Kalamazoo or not," the CEO and board chairman of the Stryker Corporation said. "But I was pulling for Auburn all the way."
Auburn's been good to him, Brown says, and admits that football means less to him than the academic preparation he received as a transfer student from a small Christian college in rural western Tennessee where he grew up on a farm.
"I remember Auburn it was API then as a good school for serious students, and a good education for the money," he recalls. "It was relatively inexpensive for out-of-state students, which attracted me to the campus."
To a large extent, that situation still exists, and Auburn engineering continues to be a good draw for out-of-state students. However, political debate has sometimes been heated over the merits of teaching non-Alabama students.
Brown would probably be uncomfortable around such posturing.
"When I think back to my own days at Auburn, the vet school was making a national name for itself, and doing so on its ability to draw highly intelligent and motivated students from around the region," he notes. "They blew a lot of in-state students away with the grades they made."
Wilford Bailey, then head of pathology and parasitology in the School of Veterinary Medicine, and later president of the university itself, has remained a lifelong friend whom Brown greatly admires.
(Bailey on Brown: 'a very capable individual in terms of his professional activities, and a considerate person who works well with other people. His wife Rosemary is very much the same.')
Brown's own curriculum choice was chemical engineering, which in the fifties was a part of the chemistry department. (It would not come into its own as a department until 1969.)
A 1957 graduate, Brown points out that Auburn's greatest gift to him was learning how to solve analytical problems in a logical way.
"A scientific and technical background," he adds, "is a good preparation for life."
His own career began in a joint venture between Olan Chemical and Revere Brass and Copper in the Ohio Valley, and progressed through the technology-driven manufacturing giants Thiokol and Squibb. He also worked for Edward Weck, a corporation specializing in hospital-related equipment, from hemostats to microscopes.
"Most of my career has been heavily involved in new products, product marketing, and product management," he explains.
For the past 20 years he has been associated with Stryker, which makes medical equipment ranging from arthroscopic and endoscopic probes and cameras to implants that stabilize patients who have knee, hip and spinal surgery.
He now heads the company and has manufacturing sites in California, Michigan, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, France and Switzerland. Nearly half of its sales are overseas, and spread throughout 80 countries. Stryker is considered as one of the preeminent suppliers to the field.
With annualized growth of some 20 percent over the past decade, Brown has definite ideas about team-building among Stryker's six divisions.
"I look to three things in employees as indicators for success: you have to be smart, work hard, and be able to communicate," Brown states.
"This, frankly, is one of the challenges I view in higher education, because I see whole cadres of students now who are bright kids, but not well educated relative to industry's needs.
"I say this of education in general, because I see so many college graduates who don't know how to analyze problems in a logical way," he adds. "But I still see in a scientific and technical background the challenge and opportunity to succeed not only in engineering, but in a number of areas."
To this end he believes Auburn should continue to stress its reputation as an excellent undergraduate training ground with a strong technical dimension.
"That's what it was for me," he notes. "At the same time, we need greatly strengthened programs in selected graduate areas, where we have established depth. I say this because at Stryker we hire right through to the doctoral level."
Students should consider their time at Auburn as preparation for the future, and not as a mere rite of passage.
"Grades are important," he stresses. "There is a lot of hard competition in the business world, not only in the sector in which I operate, but everywhere. A college education is now a commodity that's as necessary as a high school degree was a generation ago."
One thing hasn't changed, he suggests.
"Auburn. Before I came back last fall, it had been a few years. There were more buildings, but beyond the brick and mortar, I saw the same attitudes that make the town and the campus so friendly. People walk up and talk to you. The students impressed me. It was fun to be back."
She moves with a quiet charm and easy cadence that hides the strength of the academic gifts that brought her here, first as the winner of a freshman engineering scholarship and then as a university-level presidential opportunity scholar.
She has the glow of an Auburn student.
Her first visit to Auburn was as a high school junior in the college's MITE program Minority Introduction to Engineering even though she had dreams of becoming a lawyer.
When she returned to school for her senior year, however, she attended Bishop State Junior College at night under an advanced student program, where a friend talked her into taking a chemistry class.
It was there that a teacher kindled her interest in science and put Auburn on the horizon as the place where she could follow her newfound interests.
Her academic credentials took her other places as well, notably Virginia, which also held her interest.
To Auburn's good fortune, she admits proudly but shyly, she was and is daddy's girl.
"He didn't want me going too far,"
the senior chemical engineering student says. "I'm so close to him."
She also adds that the small-town charm of Auburn attracted her.
"I felt that I would be able to concentrate on my studies here," she points out. "And the people were just great. I'd be walking on campus, and everybody would speak to me . . . I'm from Mobile, and at first it, I don't know, surprised me so much."
She was also overwhelmed, like so many freshmen.
"The town was so small and the campus was so big. I remember walking to my first class. It was . . . a long mile," she smiles.
Her career at Auburn has been balanced by a brunt of activity she hints has left only time as the thing she lacks. She has chosen now to concentrate on undergraduate research, leaving a job behind to do so.
She is using her background in chemical engineering to work on sulfonated polyanalines, a new class of electronic substrates that will allow microcircuits to be assembled easily and cheaply, and on a large scale, in both number and dimension.
"It's been very exciting to me, and has made me think about the possibilities of graduate school through the interaction that I've had with graduate students," she relates. "Having seen it, I really want to do research."
She has won two awards for her research: second place at the fourth annual NSF-AMP Student Research Conference held in Tallahassee, Fla., in July, and first place in energy-related research at UAB's internship conference in Birmingham, held over the summer under the sponsorship of the Alabama Alliance for Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Science Education.
She adds with a smile that the interaction she has experienced with research faculty has convinced her that "the professors here aren't so strange after all."
And while she may take a job straight out of Auburn with an undergraduate degree it depends, she says, on the market she insists that her employer would have to give her the option of further study.
"The process of learning is so important," she says, and its a feeling she shares with others.
She has been involved as well in a mentoring group for minorities that places upperclassmen and freshmen together over pizza once a week.
"We're doing in an informal way what we hope the Minority Engineering Program (MEP) will do on a regular, more structured basis as it becomes a reality," she notes.
"We share our experience at Auburn with these students . . . tell them not to drop out of the engineering program when they're discouraged early on . . . to get help with homework . . . not to get caught up with friends in less demanding programs."
She adds that "being a freshman engineering student can be a lot if you're not ready for it . . . there is a lot of pressure there. I wish I could just shake one thing into freshmen: get help if you need it!"
The implementation of the MEP program is going to be important for Auburn, she says, and it's clear she puts retention above recruiting as its focus. She served on the committee that brought Dennis Weatherby to the College of Engineering as its first MEP director.
At the same time she calls attention to Christine Curtis of the chemical engineering faculty as her mentor.
"I was slacking her class," she admits. "And she took the time out to talk to me. A lot. She instilled something in me that I'll never forget: you can have anything you want if you fight hard for it.
"That includes grades. She was hard on me, and I learned a lot."
It's an awareness that she will take with her into graduation next August as a senior in chemical engineering's pulp and paper option.
Professional plans? Couldn't tell you now.
"There's so much out there. The environment. Politics, which I've always loved. I've even wondered about working for GAP clothing, because they are so forward-minded about recycling."
What would she do to change Auburn?
"The College of Engineering needs more scholarship support. There are so many schools out there that offer so much more in terms of aid. I can't stress that need more strongly."
Bright, articulate and focused. No wonder her father, an assistant director in the Port of Mobile's customs division, won't let go of her. But when that day comes he will unleash a storm of opportunity into the world that will reward him a thousand times over.
Jolley, a senior in mechanical engineering from Montgomery, is heading this year's effort to field Auburn Engineering's second entry in the annual Formula SAE race held in Pontiac, Mich., and sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers.
Auburn's 1996 entry, engineering's first, finished as the rookie entry of the year, coming in eighteenth in a field of 97 cars. It was an impressive finish for Auburn's inaugural effort in the highly competitive event.
"It took a lot of effort and a lot time," explains Jolley, whose parents are both Auburn alums his father, Ron, in business, and his mother, Carlotta, in education.
The team began by looking at the competition at Georgia Tech and the University of Texas at Arlington, and took notes on how to run a racing program. Members then drew up a plan and took it to John Owens, the college's associate dean for research and himself a car buff.
Owens agreed to be the team's advisor, and enlisted the help of senior research technician Hugh Fellows to help the team with the nuts and bolts of running the program.
"The rest was follow-through," Ryan notes. The team, composed of students from several disciplines in engineering, as well as undergraduates in the College of Business, went to work.
"The criteria from SAE were simple," Jolley recounts. "It called for the design and construction of a non-professional weekend racer that could be built for $8,000 for a total market of 1,000 cars."
That's where the interplay with the students from the College of Business came in every weld, foot of tubing, sheet metal panel, screw, nut and bolt had to be costed out.
"That aspect of engineering alone having to figure in production costs was an education," Jolley explains, adding that the 'business factor' added a new dimension to the team's experiences.
"Of course, the biggest challenge was the engineering itself," he points out. "We designed our car from ground zero, from a clean sheet of paper."
The team plans to use what it learned building its first racer to field this year's entry, but under Formula SAE rules, a new car must be entered each year.
"Because we can't use the same car we plan to build on a new, improved frame, and plan modifications to the suspension as well," Jolley notes. "We have to use a 600cc motorcycle engine fed through a single 20mm intake restriction as a point of departure for the power plant."
Team members coaxed 70 horsepower out of Honda's popular FLCBR engine last year, a technical triumph of 'plenum plumbing' over the stock engine's 78 rated horsepower a number Honda achieved by using four stock carburetors on tuned, multiple runners.
"Our engine was normally aspirated but still competitive against the turbocharged entries. It held together really well," Ryan observes. "One of the turbos threw a rod during competition, and others had problems, so I don't know if we'll go turbo next year or not."
The event consisted of static displays the first day, with judging of design and preparation as well as concept and presentation. The second phase consisted of dynamic events, including acceleration, skidpad and autocross competition. The final event was a 15-mile endurance race consisting of 24 laps split by a pit stop.
"We placed fourteenth in the endurance run," Ryan notes.
The team is now looking for sponsors and technical help for next year's race, which will be held in May. Ryan says they need tires, fiberglass technology for the body, fuel injection components, and 'all the other bits and pieces.'
(They can be reached at War Eagle Motorsports, 202 Ross Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849, by phone at (334) 844-2322, and also by email at jollejr@eng.auburn.edu.)
"We really learned to apply what we had learned in class to this project," Ryan points out. "At the same time, we brought ideas back into the classroom. We discovered concepts that went beyond racing and motor sports that are applicable to engineering in general.
"There was a huge benefit in gaining practical knowledge, but this project also taught us teamwork, how to achieve a common goal, and the dynamics of problem solving."
He says of the nine rookies at the race last year, none of the others were even close to the performance that the Auburn entry achieved.
"Honda invited our team and just one other to do additional research and development on the engine," he adds.
"In addition to his classroom contributions, Rogers was instrumental in curriculum development, and had an active part in shaping not only the curriculum being taught in the department today, but in the design of tomorrow's as well," Larry Benefield, associate dean of academics, said. "It is a fitting tribute that his contributions to the college and community will live on in the careers of his students, many of whom viewed him as a mentor as well as a teacher."
He is survived by his wife, Jackie, and children Luke and Mattie. He is also survived by a brother, Joseph, and granddaughter Leah. Reflecting his dedication to his students, the family requests that memorials be made to the Dr. Charles Rogers Scholarship Fund in care of SouthTrust Bank, Auburn.
The Kent Luttrell Endowment Fund for Scholarship was established by Mr. and Mrs. Bob Luttrell of Huntsville in memory of their son, who was named as the outstanding graduate in aerospace engineering for 1995.
The Betty Duke Lee Fund for Scholarships was established by C.C. "Jack" Lee in honor of his wife. Scholarships from this fund may be awarded to students in disciplines other than engineering, but qualified aerospace students have priority, according to John Cochran, department head.
"We are extremely grateful for the addition of these scholarships to our awards base," Cochran added. "This is one of the most important ways in which our alumni and friends can support aerospace engineering at Auburn."
It is anticipated that the earnings from the endowment will be sufficient to provide in-state tuition to an electrical engineering student in each award cycle. The scholarship recipient must be a junior or senior, and preference will be given to students who express an interest in studying electric power. The scholarship will extend for two years.
Cutchins, along with Betty DeMent, vice president of Alumni and Development, recently gave a presentation at the ODK national convention held at Purdue University. Cutchins joined the Auburn faculty in 1966.
Under a multi-university grant from the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program for Stimulation of Competitive Research, AU textile engineers are working on ways to convert fibers and plastic wastes into new textile and composite materials.
The new value-added materials can be used in the construction industry, in roadway surfacing, filtration, and recreational products, says Yasser Gowayed of textile engineering.
Alabamians dump more than 5 million tons of solid waste in the state's landfills annually, says Gowayed.
"The amount grows each year, and landfill space is dramatically decreasing," he says. "Therefore, this type of research stands to have significant impacts, both economically and environmentally."
Auburn's textile and chemical engineers are focusing initially on ways to reuse carpet fibers and plastics.
"About 20 percent of the solid waste volume in landfills is plastics," Gowayed said. "We think we have developed a basic scheme for recycling post-consumer carpets."
While AU textile engineers tackle one aspect of the problem, researchers from chemical and mechanical engineering are developing techniques to convert plastics, tires and waste oils into usable fuels and developing better separation technologies for de-inking and recycling newspaper.
"Some people call these materials trash," Gowayed said. "We call it raw materials."
Joining with Auburn in the three-year, $3 million project are the University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Alabama at Huntsville and the University of South Alabama.
Roy Hartfield of the aerospace engineering faculty; Homer Carlisle of computer science and engineering; John Hung of electrical engineering; Peter Jones of mechanical engineering; and John Lundberg of aerospace engineering were participants in NASA's Summer Faculty Fellowship Program, which pairs university faculty with NASA scientists.
The teams exchange ideas, and over the course of the summer, each individual participated in the role of researcher, teacher and student. By also conducting research for the space program, the faculty member gains additional teaching enrichment skills. The participants also attended weekly seminars during the 10-week program to learn about Marshall projects.
Since 1966, some 7,000 college faculty have participated in the summer program.
The awards went to Ralph Zee and William Gale of the Department of Mechanical Engineering; Richard Chapman, Computer Science and Engineering; Sabit Adanur, Department of Textile Engineering; and Russell Meller, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
All awards are through the Experimental Program to Stimulate Research programs within each agency.
Zee received a $330,000 grant through the Department of Defense EPSCoR, which supports academic research with potential defense applications. The award will be spread out over a three-year period to fund his research.
Chapman, Adanur, Meller and Gale are recipients of CAREER awards through the state and National Science Foundation's EPSCoR. Through its CAREER awards program, the NSF provides funds to support research of junior faculty within the overall context of their career development.
Chapman's proposal, "Tools for High Level Synthesis and Hardware-Software Design," received a $297,000 award; Adanur's proposal, "Fast Net Shape Manufacture of Polymer Composite Structure," received a $210,000 award. A $205,000 award went to Meller's proposal titled, "Internal Production Systems Operations and Facility Layout Decisions;" and Gale received a $200,000 award for his proposal, "Joining of Intermetallic Compounds."
Most companies design their production systems facility layouts sequentially, according to Meller.
"By the time the facility layout is designed, a lot of the parameters that influence it have already been decided," he said. "This can result in increased material handling costs, increased inventory costs, decreased machine efficiencies, or duplication of resources."
Meller will study how production system operations influence facility layouts. His goal is to design a computer algorithm that can determine the impact of production system design on facility layout design. He believes this approach can be used not only to play what-if games, but also to suggest ideas for developing new designs.
"I envision such an algorithm to be broad enough to cover most manufacturing and distribution facilities and hopefully some service facilities, too," he said.
The National Science Foundation, with support from the Alabama Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), will administer the award, which consists of $50,000 per year for four years plus $5000 for equipment. In connection with this NSF research project, Meller will also be eligible for $25,000 per year in matching funds for additional industry projects.
"Dr. Jaeger's selection to this select group of scientists and engineers speaks highly of the regard in which he is held among IEEE's membership," David Irwin, head of the Department of Electrical Engineering, said of the appointment.
Jaeger was named as an IEEE fellow in 1986, and is currently editor of the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits. He also served as the founding editor of IEEE MICRO.
Jaeger was also named Auburn's Distinguished Graduate Faculty Lecturer for 1996.
Jaeger was chosen for the AU Graduate School's highest honor by a graduate faculty committee based on his achievements as a researcher and a teacher, said John Pritchett, dean of the Graduate School.
"Dick Jaeger is a shining example of what we feel graduate education should be about accomplished faculty working with bright students to address contemporary issues," said Pritchett. In addition to his teaching duties, Jaeger is also director of the Alabama Microelectronics Science and Technology Center at Auburn.
"We kept hearing, 'You're providing young engineers with superb technical educations, but they need help in basic leadership skills'," said Dean William Walker. "This is our response to the needs of our constituents, the Alabama engineering community."
The Engineering Extension Service has hired George Blanks to develop the College of Engineering's Leadership Development Program. Formerly of the Office of Student Affairs at Auburn, Blanks brings with him over 18 years experience in training and developing young leaders.
"Our primary target audience," states Blanks, " is the young professional, men and women with 3-10 years of experience as engineers, who lack any formal training in leadership. There's an entire generation of engineers emerging leaders as we're referring to them who represent the next wave of leadership in their organizations and industries.
"Our target in this program includes up-and-coming, promising young engineers who not only possess the drive to be more effective, but who also have the deep desire to be leaders. We're learning from industry leaders that they're willing to fund such developmental training for this unique population in the work force. They see it as developing the future of industry."
In recent years, greater emphasis has been placed on the importance of engineers having personal transferable skills that can be utilized in a variety of organizational settings and contexts.
Graduates are increasingly expected to not only be technically competent, but also to be self-confident, able to communicate effectively, capable of working on and leading integrated work teams, and astute at understanding organizations and what makes them function efficiently.
"Beginning next year," Blanks explains, "We'll be offering an intensive week-long institute in a retreat setting designed for young professionals to receive innovative, energetic skill-building leadership training. We'll complement this with on-going courses and on-site training programs.
"The kind of program I envision," he adds, "is one that will become the preeminent leadership program for young engineers in the state. The needs are too great, the timing is too right, and the information is too dynamic to do anything short of that."
Blanks' efforts don't end there. A similar leadership development program is being planned for undergraduates.
"We seem to teach everything at Auburn except how to be effective at leading yourself and others," Blanks notes, "This is exactly where the university wants its graduates' aspirations: becoming effective leaders and contributors in society.
"We're taking a proactive stance by establishing a 'feeder program' for industry, one that will equip students to have a more immediate impact on the work place upon their graduation from Auburn.
"My favorite leadership model is Max DePree, chairman and CEO of Herman Miller, Inc., who introduced the concept of leaders as 'institutional heirs' who are committed to practicing stewardship toward their jobs and who earnestly strive to leave legacies of quality for others who follow.
"I want to build these programs on the concept of developing institutional heirs who will become stewards who will continue to support our efforts long after they've completed their training."
Nov. 5 Land Boundaries and Legal Descriptions
Nov. 7 Ground-Water Hydrology
Nov. 12 Business Practices for Small Engineering and Consulting Firms
Nov. 14 Soil Testing
Nov. 19 Environmental Protection
Nov. 21 Urban Planning and Design: The Arcane Art and Science of "City Building"
Dec. 3 Construction Estimating
Dec. 5 Steel Construction
These programs are being presented on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6-9 p.m. in the Birmingham Office of the Engineering Extension Service, which is located at 85 Bagby Drive, Suite 100. The cost of each three-hour program will be $75. Additional information may be obtained by calling 205/942-7900 or faxing to 205/942-2800.
"Blanks' appointment marks a major step in the effort of Auburn's College of Engineering to bring leadership development education to engineers in Alabama and the Southeast," said William F. Walker, dean of the College of Engineering. "Industry leaders are telling us of their need for engineers with leadership skills communications, team building, goal setting to complement the strong technical tools we provide our graduates."
According to Walker, Blanks' initial focus will be to develop a series of leadership development seminars for graduate engineers and other professionals who are making a transition from purely technical duties to management and supervisory responsibilities.
"We also see him as the catalyst to develop a similar program to provide leadership development opportunities to our undergraduates and give them a head start on their careers. George Blanks has the experience and enthusiasm to help us meet this need and fulfill our vision of excellence in engineering instruction," said the dean.
Blanks brings to the Engineering Extension Service more than 18 years of experience in leadership development in higher education. He was previously employed with Auburn University's Office of Student Affairs. He holds the bachelor of arts degree in communication from Samford University in Birmingham and the master of arts in counselor education from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. He currently is completing his doctorate in educational leadership at Auburn University.
T. Dean Hendrix, who joined the faculty in September, received his bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science from Jacksonville State University, his master's in information and computer science from Georgia Tech, and his doctorate in computer science and engineering from Auburn. His experience includes seven years of teaching at Jacksonville State and seven years as a private consultant. His teaching interests span the entire undergraduate CSE curriculum with emphasis in software engineering, data base, and programming languages.
Civil Engineering has hired three new faculty members who will be starting during the 1996-1997 academic year. They include Mary Stroup-Gardiner, Timothy Kramer and Michael Vermace. Stroup-Gardiner is completing her doctorate at the University of Minnesota and has expertise in pavement materials, specifically asphalt. She will be working closely with the National Center for Asphalt Technology.
Kramer is receiving his doctorate form the University of Illinois and will work in the environmental area. Vermace is receiving his doctorate from the University of Iowa in the geochemistry/environmental area.
Teague, who graduated from Auburn in 1939 with a degree in chemical engineering, returned to Auburn in 1982 following his retirement from ITT-Rayonier. He served as president of the chamber of commerce and mayor pro tem in local government, reflecting his strong interest in Auburn schools, recreation programs and business development.
"This department never had a better friend than Sam Teague," said William Walsh, head of textile engineering. "He was a great representative for engineering, and was always ready to do more than his share when called upon."
Teague is survived by his wife Frances, children Russell Teague of Ambler, Pa., and Melanie Giardino of Phoenixville, Pa., and grandchildren Ryan and Scott Teague.
Nembhard earned a bachelor's degree in management from Claremont McKenna College and a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Arizona State University, both in 1990. She received her doctorate in 1994.
Her research emphases include formulating and solving models for continuous manufacturing systems to address control, production, quality, and economic concerns that arise while systems are in start-up or transient phases. She is working with Russell Corp. of Alexander City, Ala., and Interface Flooring Systems of LaGrange, Ga., in these areas.
James H. Cross II has been named as chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. The appointment was effective in July.
Cross, who is completing his tenth year on the faculty, succeeds Stephen Seidman, who left for a position at Colorado State University.
He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in software engineering and directs research in the areas of software methodology, testing, reverse engineering, and metrics.
As well, he has developed software engineering courses in design methodology and software environments. His most recent research efforts include the projects funded by NASA and the Department of Defense.
Cross has served as general chair and program chair for numerous IEEE Computer Society and ACM conferences. He served for two years as secretary for the Computer Society Publications Board, is a member of the Computer Society Technical Council on Software Engineering (TCSE), and has served on the group's operating and executive committees.
He served four years as the founding chair of the TCSE Committee on Reverse Engineering, which numbers more than 600 active members. He is currently serving as secretary of the TCSE. Cross received the undergraduate degree in mathematics from the University of Houston in 1971, and the master's in mathematics there in 1976. He received his doctorate in computer science from Texas A&M University in 1986.
"Its a privilege to chair a department that consists of talented and productive faculty and students," Cross noted. "I anticipate good progress and continued improvement in the quality of CSE's instruction and research."
Cross adds that "the number of companies coming to campus to interview our undergraduates increased by 40 percent from last year.
"Predictions by the Department of Labor of continued growth in the
job market for CSE graduates have been on target."
"We are sorry to see Gary leave us," Dean William Walker said, adding that "he had been on board with us during some very important developments in the continued growth of Auburn engineering the university's capital campaign, and the push to begin the renovation of Wilmore Laboratories."
Bouse noted that the move would be an opportunity for professional
advancement, and at the same time, would allow him to be closer to family. He is a
graduate of Texas A&M University.