Inside IIT's IPRO Program
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A publication for the alumni and friends of Armour College of Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology A Distinctively Defined Education Inside IIT’s IPRO Program Alumni Profiles in Excellence Sherita Ceasar Ben Loper Ernest Selig Armour Research Biomedical Engineering Chemical and Biological Engineering Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering Winter 2010 Electrical and Computer Engineering Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering Letter from the Dean A priority task for Armour College of Engineering is to develop and implement a strategic plan that subscribes to Many Voices, One Vision, IIT’s new strategic plan, approved by the Board of Trustees in May 2009. Areas where engineering is immediately building upon existing efforts include the Interprofessional Projects (IPRO) Program and interdisciplinary curriculum and research. I cannot stress enough the impact of the IPRO Program on Armour students. One of the distinctive educational icons of IIT, IPRO prepares our students for their chosen engineering disciplines. As we make the IPRO Program one of the top Armour priorities, we will be committed to continued excellence in technology- focused training while placing renewed emphasis on the entrepreneurial and ethical aspects of engineering. A feature on the IPRO Program appears on page 9 of this magazine. It is critical that we expand our research enterprise in areas of leading-edge engineering and applied science. Central to this is seeking out and encouraging interdisciplinary collaborations. While interdepartmental and cross-college endeavors promise to enhance Armour’s research profile, a key pursuit is innovation and knowledge creation. We are currently engaged in efforts to identify research areas that are not only of national priority but also consistent with our strengths, in order to strategically focus our growth and investment. It is also imperative that we grow our doctoral program; increasing Ph.D. student enrollment will be essential if we are to increase the impact of IIT’s research and to elevate engineering’s reputation to international stature. By crossing traditional academic boundaries, we are committed to providing our students with new and richer educational experiences. We have already begun to work in partnership with our fellow IIT colleges to develop co-terminal (B.S./M.S.) programs and other opportunities at the undergraduate and graduate levels that link engineering with other disciplines. Programs that provide engineering students with knowledge in subjects such as management, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property will offer students a distinctive and relevant education, and better prepare them to drive change in emerging technologies that have the potential to impact society. Entrepreneurship will play a more central role in Armour education for both undergraduates and graduate students. In 2009, we were pleased to announce IIT’s new Kern Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academy, which enrolls 25 top engineering students per year in a program that provides them access to successful area entrepreneurs. As the IPRO Program also works to expand its entrepreneurial component, we will be able to provide our students with more opportunities to make the jump from engineer to entrepreneur. Each of these new endeavors will increase our visibility. “Elevating engineering’s reputation to international stature” is one of IIT’s five strategic priorities. Achieving it will be a tremendous task, but through hard work and a commitment to innovation, including new programs to incentivize excellence, we will build a more competitive educational and research platform. We are committed to making strategic decisions that, in spite of this difficult current financial time, will support our efforts to educate intellectually diverse engineers and foster new discoveries in technology. We are proud to be the organizer, along with the Chicago Council on Science and Technology, of one of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges for Engineering summits. The NAE Grand Challenges for the 21st Century: Chicago Summit 2010 (April 21–22) will discuss some of the most important global issues of our time: clean water; carbon, energy, and climate; urban sustainability; and global health. This exciting opportunity will allow Armour College students and faculty to participate in a forum that will provide public awareness of contemporary issues and the significant role that engineering plays in their resolution. For more information about the Chicago summit, see page 2. Armour’s alumni and friends, students, faculty, staff, and Board of Overseers play an important role in our progress. The development of the Armour strategic plan—and more importantly, its implementation—is a team effort. I look forward to working with each of you in the coming months and thank you for your partnership and contributions to continue the advancement of Armour’s educational and research programs. Natacha DePaola Carol and Ed Kaplan Armour College Dean of Engineering inside this issue 2 Armour News 6 Faculty News 9 IPRO Distinctive Education: It Takes a Team 14 ARCS: Supporting the United States’ Future Engineers 17 Pritzker Institute: Image of Innovation 20 Clean Coal Technology at WISER 23 Alumni Profiles Ben Loper: Two Generations, One Shared Interest Sherita Ceasar: From the South Side to Converged Technologies 26 Donor Profile Above Ernest Selig: Aiming High Students at the fall 2009 IPRO Day exhibit their 28 projects to the IIT community, Obituaries sponsors, industry leaders, area high school students, 28 and other guests. Board of Overseers Nationwide Search for ECE, ChBE ARMOURNews Chairs Launched In August 2009, IIT Armour College of Engineering initiated a national search for chairs of both the Department of Armour College Accreditation Renewed Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Chemical and he Engineering Accreditation and alumni; examining student work; Biological Engineering. Commission of the Accreditation and visiting the supporting departments “Armour College is committed to Board for Engineering and and university administration. advancing in line with the university’s Technology (ABET) renewed its “Accreditation demonstrates that strategic plan, and these searches are Taccreditation of IIT Armour College of all of IIT’s undergraduate engineering a good opportunity to bring additional Engineering this year. Re-accreditation was programs meet the high standards set outstanding senior faculty to these granted to all programs in engineering. by the national accrediting body,” says departments at a time when we are moving This was the first time that the biomedical Professor John Kallend, Armour College forward with a new strategic plan for the engineering program—Armour’s associate dean, who coordinated the college,” says Dean Natacha DePaola. “We youngest—went through the accreditation review and hosted the ABET team. “Only remain grateful for the services of our process, and it was accredited. graduates from accredited engineering outgoing chairs, both for their leadership ABET representatives examined all programs can go on directly to qualify and continued efforts as faculty members.” aspects of the undergraduate programs as licensed professional engineers, and IIT Vice President for International in engineering, visiting laboratories and employers know that these graduates Affairs and Motorola Chair Professor classrooms; interviewing faculty, students, have met the standards.” of Chemical Engineering Darsh Wasan is chairing the ECE chair search committee. ECE faculty participating on the committee include Alex Flueck, Miles Wernick, Geoffrey Williamson, and Yang IIT to Provide Leadership Xu. Armour Board of Overseers member Leonard Reiffel (EE ’47, M.S. ’48, Ph.D. for Grand Challenges Summit ’53), chairman and chief executive officer of Exelar Corporation, is also serving on IIT, Armour College of Engineering, and the Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST) the committee. are the organizers for the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges Chicago Summit, Russell Betts, dean of IIT College of NAE Grand Challenges for the 21st Century: Chicago Summit 2010. Science and Letters, is heading the search The NAE’s five-city 2010 Grand Challenge Summit Series aims to draw public attention committee for the new ChBE chair. ChBE to the challenges the United States faces regarding security, sustainability, and quality of life. faculty who are serving on the committee Highlighting the role of engineering in helping the country to maintain excellence in these include Hamid Arastoopour (M.S. GE ’75, areas, the series will also build future collaborations of scientists, engineers, policymakers, and Ph.D. ’78), Fouad Teymour, Darsh Wasan, researchers in business, law, social sciences, and humanities that are needed to successfully and Don Chmielewski (EE ’9l). Sangtae address these complex issues. Information gleaned from summit dialogue will be used to better Kim, executive director of Morgridge educate students about how to address these challenges in the years ahead. Institute for Research, is representing the The Chicago summit—organized by IIT in partnership with C2ST and Northwestern Armour board in the search. University, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign—will be held April 21–22, 2010. Among the 14 grand challenge topics that the NAE has identified, the four topic areas to