2016 Spring Newsletter

Dear friends,

Hello! It’s been another busy year in CECMEE> While student growth in CECMEE has stabilized, the other engineering programs have continued to increase. The result of this is more crowding in the engineering building. However, the upper administration has returned to addressing this problem. A task force is in place, and both short-term (the “temporary” space that was nixed in the previous budget cut from the State) and long-term (a new building/addition) solutions are on the table. Stay tuned. Other highlights:

• We will graduate our largest class of master’s students this year, 6. Four are MS in CE and two are ME in CE. We also have 13 new students coming this fall spread across all programs (MS-CE, MS-EnE, ME-CE and ME-EnE)/
• Our continuous improvement program has resulted in some program changes in CE and EnE: The 2-unit CENE 33L Water Resources Lab is now two, 1-unit labs, CENE 33L WR Lab 1 and CENE 431L WR Lab 2. The new CENE 33L is a wet lab to support fundamental hydraulic concepts; it will be located in the C4P Lab. The new CENE 431L is a revised version of the advanced hydraulic/hydrologic modeling lab (the old 2-unit lab). Much thanks to Mark Lamer, Gary Slim and Jef Heiderscheidt on getting these new courses and all the attendant lab fixtures off the ground!
• The IAB has been very active this year, with considerable input into the new program plans as well as embarking on a commitment to develop an annual workshop around “infrastructure”. The first workshop occurred in February this year with ASCE President mark Woodson providing a big picture overview of the problem, and IAB member Stewart Vaghti outlining the Tempe Town Lake dam repair. The workshops are planned to be interactive for students, and we are already planning next year’s workshop based upon feedback from this year’s.
• We welcome new Assistant Professor Bredon Russo (transportation) and Assistant Professor of Practice Kai Kaoni(CM), CECMEE advisor Kevin Tye who replaced departed advisor Megan Duskey, and Administrative Assistant Gay Spivey who replaced both Anita Bakula and Kim Pohs (yes, she is a superwoman, but I think you know what that really means). Read more about them in the Welcome New Faculty and Staff section.
• EE/CS is leaving EPP Fall 2016, to join a new School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems (SICCS) within CEFNS. While most of their faculty will be relocated to other buildings, EE/CS classes will still be in EGR, meaning that the squeeze for space continues.
• CENE is wrapping up a search for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in water resources to replace the departed Charlie Schlinger. Stay tuned on this one! In this issue of the newsletter, we are highlighting two groups of students: international students and graduate students. We have a substantial number of international students, especially in the CE and EnE programs; we now see Capstone teams composed entirely of international students, sometimes with no common first language. I thought you might be interested in learning a little about these students, so read on. Similarly, we are reaching a critical mass of graduate students, so here’s an opportunity to learn a little bit more about these students as well. Both of these groups add to our diverse student population, and bring a breadth of experiences for all of us to draw upon, as well as the support of faculty research.
  Visit our websites at: http://nau.edu/CEFNS/Engineering/ and our LinkedIn groups to stay in touch year-round!

Sincerely Yours,

Bridget N. Bero, Ph.D., P.E. Professor and Chair Bridget.Bero@nau.edu

Both the CM and CENE programs worked to develop and update their Strategic Plans this year. In August the CM faculty and industry representatives met and finalized their plan, while CENE faculty met during the academic year to begin the process and will finalize it in the coming year. Both programs have high hopes that these forward-looking documents will guide their efforts to improve construction and engineering education at NAU.

CM Program MISSION: To create the next generation of high-performance construction professionals.
CORE VALUES: People, Partnerships and Performance
Summary of the plan:
People: Recruit and retain a balance of excellent students, faculty and staff.
Partnerships: Enhance their collaborations with industry, community and within NAU.
Performance: Develop a curriculum and an educational environment that focuses on collaboration, student success and high performance systems.

CENE Programs MISSION: To prepare men and women from a wide variety of backgrounds for careers of technological innovation and leadership through curricula rooted in the fundamentals of engineering, science and mathematics, focused on the practice of civil and environmental engineering, broadened by liberal education, and guided by faculty dedicated to civil and environmental engineering practice and education; Promote the creation, utilization, and dissemination of technical knowledge and wisdom associated with civil and environmental engineering that directly enhances the welfare of society; and, enhance the stature of the engineering profession, and serve the people of Arizona, the region, and the nation through professional practice, leadership and citizenship.

CORE VALUES and Summary of the CENE Plan:
Practice-ready graduates: Offer practical, experiential learning opportunities to ensure that all students can immediately contribute to their profession following graduation.
Partnerships: Grow and maintain collaborations within NAU and with government agencies, industry, the community and other schools and universities.
Faculty Success: Continued recruitment, nurturing and development of faculty for excellent scholarship and fulfilling careers.
Teaching and Learning: Place learner needs at the center of our academic and service planning, policies, and programs.

• Dr. Jun Ho received the FY2016 Research and Creative Activity (RCA)- “Research Mentorship” award. The RCAs recognize the research, scholarly and artistic achievements of NAU faculty and students and is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research at NAU. He also received the Best Paper Award at the 2015 International Conference on Regeneration and Conservation of Concrete Structures which was held in Nagasaki, Japan in June 2015. The paper entitled “Durability Design of Fiber Reinforced Pervious Concrete in Cold Regions” was coauthored by Junyi Shan (CE MSE), Fawaz Almutairi (former CE senior), and Fahad Aloqaili (former CE senior).
• Dr. Smaglik is in the process of wrapping up two funded research projects, both of which focus on operational improvements at traffic signals. In one project, funded by the Oregon Department of Transportation, he led a team of three universities investigating the impacts of different vehicle detection technologies on higher level traffic control algorithms. Chris Sobie, a CE Master of Science student, completed a Life Cycle Cost Analysis of various detection and control technologies as part of this work. The second project had a focus on pedestrian operations. In this work, Dr. Smaglik and three undergraduate researchers worked with Portland State University (PSU) to develop, simulate, and implement a control algorithm that would reduce the delay for pedestrians at signalized intersections, with deployments in Mesa, Flagstaff, and Portland, OR. This project was funded through a University Transportation Center based at PSU, The National Institute for Transportation and Communities.
• Dr. Odem is working on a project for the City of Flagstaff investigating Alternative Landfill Liners for Cinder Lakes Landfill Expansion. The project is using industrial waste materials, fly ash from coal fired electricity generating facilities, and waste paper millings from a recycled paper plant, augmented with polymers, lime, and/or on-site soils, to create a liner for the landfill that will meet strict EPA performance criteria, while at the same time saving the city millions of dollars compared to the cost of a conventional liner. If successful the project will also divert these same waste materials from occupying valuable landfill space as waste and instead be converted to a valuable product, while still protecting deep groundwater supplies from contamination by landfill leachate.
• EnE faculty Bridget Bero and Wilbert Odem were invited to Universidad Fidelitas (UF) in San Juan, Costa Rica to give technical presentations as part of UF’s anniversary celebration. UF is now NAU’s partner institution to provide Spanish language immersion study for NAU students; it also participates in the GSEP program for engineering programs. EnE alumnus Matt Morales, Manager at the City of Flagstaff’s Cinder Lakes Landfill, accompanied them. Dr. Odem and Mr. Morales presented on their alternative landfill liner project; Dr. Bero discussed the departmental collaboration with the Arizona Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to provide undergraduate and graduate project opportunities. This visit paves the way for future collaborations between CECMEE and UF, such as joint Capstone projects, faculty exchange and collaborative research. Dr. John Tingerthal will be traveling to UF in the fall to lead a teaching workshop for UF faculty. Department Chair Bridget Bero has been working with the BLM office. Now in the second year of a five-year project, this project provides Capstone experiences for undergraduate students, projects for graduate students, and, starting this summer, internships. Projects to date have focused on BLM lands impacted by historical mining and unregulated shooting sites (sampling and risk assessment tasks), erosion on capped tailings areas, stream monitoring, groundwater modeling, and road assessment projects.
• Dr. Tingerthal was appointed as a President’s Distinguished Teaching Fellow for fall 2015. He will be on sabbatical for the Fall 2016 semester and will be serving NAU as Acting Director of Faculty Professional Development in Spring of 2017, returning full-time to the department in the fall of 2017.

Kai Kaoni – Assistant Professor of Practice

Hometown: Prescott, Arizona
Fun Fact: Kai is currently working on building a portfolio of landscape and nature paintings, which he can feature at a first Friday art walk.
Last job: Project manager for the new NAU International Pavilion

Kai received both his B.A. in Civil Engineering and his Masters in Business Administration from NAU. He left NAU after graduating and worked at a civil engineering design firm before the economy crashed and he lost his job. After living out of his pickup for “a Colorado ski season,” he landed a job on a sustainable, straw bale house project and found his love for sustainable construction. In his free time Kai says that he likes to spend time outdoors with great people and dogs. During his time at NAU Kai hopes to, “make an impact on the students I teach by sharing my own experience in the design and construction industry. Along the way, I would like to deepen my own knowledge through student projects, conferences, research and experiential learning.”

Gay Spivey- Administrative Assistant

Hometown: Birmingham, Michigan
Fun Fact: Gay is an animal portrait artist.
Last job: Operations Manager for Mountain Line

Gay has some college background and worked at NAU from 1999- 2004 and decided that she would like to work here again. Her favorite things about NAU are the atmosphere, students, and campus history. In her free time she likes to ride her horse and spend time with her six dogs. She says she’s outside as much as the weather allows. In her time at NAU Gay hopes to, “find success in my new career and stay until retirement or longer.”

Brendan Russo- Assistant Professor

Hometown: Harper Woods, Michigan
Fun Fact: Brendan plays guitar and mandolin and just got engaged a few weeks ago (which he thinks is pretty cool).
Last job: Graduate research/teaching assistant at Iowa State University

Brendan received both his B.S. in Civil Engineering and his M.S. in Civil Engineering with a focus in Transportation Engineering from Wayne State University, and his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a focus in Transportation Engineering from Iowa State University. He found this position at NAU and felt like Flagstaff would be a great place to live and work. Brendan is finding the dry air and winters full of sunshine a nice change of pace from the Midwest, and is very impressed by student efforts and the commitment to excellent teaching by all the faculty members in the department. In his free time Brendan likes to spend time exploring the outdoors or seeing live music. In his time at NAU he hopes to, “improve my teaching skills and help students be well-prepared to enter industry or grad school upon graduation. Research-wise, I want to help continue to build a nationally recognized transportation research program here at NAU.”

GEO volunteers building a compost bin.

GEO GEO completed several service projects this year including a compost bin build for at the Colton Community Garden and construction work with CMO at the Pioneer Museum. Their on- going projects are design of a rainwater catchment system for Killup Elementary and work in the small Maasai village of Lesoit, Tanzania. Four capstone teams are working on projects for the village. These projects include designing clean cooking options, optimized soil blocks for use in construction of a community center, Wi-Fi systems, and a compact telescope system that can be assembled by school children. Stu- dents will be traveling to the village this summer to gather data for the capstone teams.

Riordan Mansion

Volunteers Devin Johnston, Michael Headley, Michael Wagner, and Lindsey Griffin performed a demolition on the deck of the historic house in preparation of installing a new deck at the Riordan Mansion State Historic Park.

Megan Lindsey working on the barn door.

CMO

Pioneer Museum

CMO volunteers Tadd Neve, Devin Johnson, Michael Headley, Scott Grace, Teresa Rosales, Kathryn Vandor, Megan Lindsey, Rikki Nye, Tim Jacinto, Dylan Buchanan, Kenneth Burkett, and Andrew Staskey worked at the Pioneer Museum in Flagstaff. They fabricated and installed 60% of a sliding barn door for Flagstaff’s oldest fire engine, completed floor repairs to the main entrance, and installed wooden framework to the rear deck of the historic Gregg Cabin.

International student spotlight

Grad student spotlight

Alumni spotlight

College of Engineering, Forestry, and Natural Sciences Department of Civil Engineering, Construction Management, and Environmental Engineering

2112 s. Huffer Ln. PO Box 15600
Flagstaff, AZ 86011

Phone: 928-523-5251

Chair

Bridget N. Bero, Ph.D., P.E.
Professor and Chair
Bridget.Bero@nau.edu

Associate chair

John Tingerthal, MSCE, EdD, PE
Associate Professor and Chair
John.Tingerthal@nau.edu

Visit our websites at: http://nau.edu/CEFNS/Engineering/

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If you would like to donate to CECMEE please visit http://www.nau.edu/CEFNS/Partner/Giving/Opportunities/ and refer to these fund numbers:

CM Students and Program – Fund #4847;
CENE programs – Fund #4482;
CENE students – #4740.

If your company is interested in supporting the Construction Management Program, contact John Tingerthal to join their Generation Next campaign. Each sponsor- ship level gives companies priority to fundraising events and our Construction Industry Seminar presentations.

The CM department would like to thank their amazing sponsors for another great year: