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 be discussed at the Chicago summit include global health; carbon, energy, and climate; clean water; and New Advancement urban sustainability. Officer Joins Armour Confirmed speakers or moderators at the Chicago summit (as of December 15, 2009) include Roger Frechette, director of building services and sustainable engineering for Skidmore, In October 2009, IIT Armour College of Owings & Merrill; John Holdren, assistant to the president for science and technology, and Engineering welcomed Stuart H. Gold as director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy; Blair Kamin, architecture critic for the new senior major gifts officer for the the Chicago Tribune; Bill Kurtis, acclaimed journalist and conservationist; Ray LaHood, U.S. college. He will work closely with Dean Secretary of Transportation; Lord Ernest Ronald Oxburgh, member of the House of Lords and Natacha DePaola, the Armour Board of member of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology; John W. Rowe, chairman and Overseers, and other volunteers to secure chief executive officer of Exelon Corporation, and chair of the IIT Board of Trustees; Charles Vest, philanthropic commitments to support the president of the National Academy of Engineering; and Tachi Yamada, M.D., president of the engineering program. Global Health Program for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For updated information about the Chicago summit, visit www.iit.edu/grand_challenges or email [email protected]. 2 | Armour Recruitment and studentaccomplishments Enrollment Surpasses Goals MMAE undergraduate Anthony Castaneda was ast fall, IIT Armour College of Engineering welcomed an selected as one of 24 student leaders nationwide to increased number of undergraduates and new transfer students compared to academic year 2008–09 figures. This participate in the Society of Automotive Engineers 2009 includes 260 new first-year students, an increase of 7 percent Leadership Development Program. The Leadership Lover the previous year. Gerald Doyle, vice provost for undergraduate admission and Development Program recognizes some of the most financial aid, credits Armour College faculty and staff for their role in contributing to recruitment, which included writing letters promising SAE student leaders and works to further to and phoning students, referring students, and participating develop their leadership skills for application to future roles in outreach activities such as recruitment symposia for high school students. Faculty and staff were also an important part of in SAE International and their professional careers. student retention. “Faculty members and faculty advisors were very involved ChBE Ph.D. candidate Andrey Ivankin received the in the outreach process to students beginning as early as fall 2009 Ludo Frevel Crystallography Scholarship award 2008, especially with our currently enrolled students who were experiencing financial challenges as a result of the slowdown in the from the International Centre for Diffraction Data. The United States and global economy,” says Doyle. While graduate student numbers were down slightly, the scholarship is presented annually to 10 students working in number of credit hours in which these students enrolled was up the area of crystallographic research. compared to the previous year. Armour College would like to thank its faculty and staff as Third-year ChBE student Omaditya Khanna won well as colleagues in IIT undergraduate and graduate admission for their continued efforts to increase enrollment and enhance second place in the 2009 Annual Meeting of the retention at the college. Biomedical Engineering Society’s undergraduate research competition. Khanna, who gave the talk, “The Synthesis of Multilayered Alginate/Poly-L-Ornithine/Alginate Microcapsules and the Sustained-Release of Fibroblast Students and faculty celebrated the start of a new academic year at the fall 2009 Armour Growth Factor-1 from the Outer Alginate Layer,” conducts College Cookout. research with BME graduate student Monica Moya and BME Assistant Professor Eric Brey.

Omer Onar, EE doctoral student, won two international fellowships from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The Joseph J. Suozzi INTELEC Fellowship is awarded to electrical engineering graduate students studying power electronics as applied to communications systems. One student worldwide receives this fellowship annually. Onar’s second award, the IEEE VTS Transportation Electronics Fellowship, is given to a single graduate student worldwide every two years.

| 3 MAJOR DEPARTMENTAL IIT to Receive Up to $8 Million AND for Wind Energy Research INSTITUTIONAL In October, IIT was one of three academic institutions selected to receive up to $8 million in total funding from the United States Department of Energy to support an extensive wind energy research, education, AWARDS and workforce development project. Under the leadership of Electrical and Computer Engineering Chair and Bodine Professor Mohammad Shahidehpour, the project taps a university-industry consortium to install a test turbine, a GE 1.5 MW turbine, at an existing wind-generation site MIRC Receives Several owned by consortium partner Invenergy, LLC, located in Marseilles, Ill. Research Grants Additionally, IIT will purchase up to two turbines that will be used to perform reliability studies. The Medical Imaging Research Center, part of Advanced concepts for rotor control and drive-train control, robust sensors for blades, and improved aero-elastic models to improve wind IIT’s Pritzker Institute of Biomedical Science and turbine performance and reliability will be tested at the site. Because Engineering, was the recipient of several significant IIT’s test turbine will be installed near an existing wind farm, this grants and awards in 2009. Read more about MIRC arrangement will facilitate the study of turbine-to-turbine wake and the Pritzker Institute on page 17. interaction, wind farm interaction, and wind energy efficiencies. To Professor Yongyi Yang (M.S. AMAT ’92, Ph.D. further enhance research and education, IIT will develop and offer EE ’94) received a $1.35 million grant from the wind energy courses that address the technical, operational, social, and National Institutes of Health to develop a software environmental aspects of wind energy in consultation with industry. The university will also offer annual fellowships for undergraduates and tool to aid radiologists in the interpretation of master’s students studying in wind energy engineering fields. mammograms. This concept will be demonstrated at The project is a collaboration between IIT researchers, six other the University of Chicago Hospitals. universities, and more than 20 industry partners. The consortium Associate Professor Mark Anastasio (EE ’92) advisory board included the late IIT professor Henry Linden (Ph.D. received $300,000 in funding from the National CHE ’52) and current members Richard Gowen, former president of Science Foundation to study imaging of carotid the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; Robert Galvin, artery plaques. IIT regent and founder of the Galvin Electricity Initiative; and Michael Polsky, president and chief executive officer of Invenergy, one of the top- ECE Assistant Professor Jovan Brankov five largest owners of wind generation assets in the United States. (M.S. EE ’99, Ph.D. ’02) received a $227,000 IIT’s interdisciplinary representation on this endeavor includes administrative supplement of his five-year, $2.1 faculty members from electrical and computer engineering; mechanical, million grant from the NIH supporting his work materials, and aerospace engineering; business; architecture; and to develop numerical observers (mathematical Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research. algorithms rooted in machine learning) for more Shahidehpour and ECE Associate Professor Zuyi Li (Ph.D. EE ’02) accurate diagnostic imaging. were also the recipients of a separate $750,000 DOE grant for their project “WINS: Market Simulation Tool for Facilitating Wind Energy The United States Department of Justice awarded Integration,” which will use specially designed software to decipher the Motorola Endowed Chair Professor Miles Wernick, best way to integrate wind energy into the U.S. electric power grid. MIRC director, a one-year, $150,000 grant to work with the Chicago Police Department to develop data-mining techniques to predict crime patterns in Roadway Safety Project Chicago. The grant will support efforts to plan a $3 million demonstration project. Oracle will partner Funding Extended in the project. The Department of Civil, Architectural, and MIRC Research Associate Adam Zysk received Environmental Engineering renegotiated a $141,000 NIH National Research Service its $1 million contract with the Federal Award fellowship grant to study a new form of Highway Administration to investigate mammographic imaging. Wernick is the lead safety issues on roadways during investigator and mentor on the project. construction seasons. IIT will continue as the prime project contractor for this project www.iit.edu/mirc under the leadership of Professor David Arditi and Assistant Professor Zongzhi Li.

4 | FDA Contract to Aid in Drug Development

The United States Food and Drug Administration awarded a $1.19 million contract to the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education, a consortium of 11 leading pharmaceutical technology research universities, including IIT, to develop guidance on process design, scale-up, and validation for drug manufacturers. An active member of NIPTE since its founding in 2005, IIT is currently the only Illinois university participating in this project. IIT received funding to use computational fluid dynamics for the design and optimization of the fluidized-bed drying process with consideration for product stability. Henry R. Linden Professor of Energy Hamid Arastoopour (M.S. GE ’75, Ph.D. ’78) is the IIT researcher participating in the NIPTE project. In November 2009, IIT was awarded a second project to develop dynamic models of bioreactors used in manufacturing biological pharmaceuticals and to build simulation software for research and education. ChBE Professor Satish Parulekar (M.S. CS ’91) is leading this project with assistance from Vice Provost for Research and Professor Ali Cinar. IIT hosted the semiannual NIPTE Board of Directors meeting in December 2009. Cinar is a member of the NIPTE board.

uCoSM Receives Seven Grants in understanding of thrombotic deposits that lead to heart attacks and strokes. The total costs at IIT are about $620,000 (50 percent Past Year of the grant).

The Center for Molecular Study of Condensed Soft Matter, part of IIT’s Pritzker Institute of Biomedical Science and Engineering, Grant to Support Study of Optimal received seven grants since November 2008 totaling in excess of Scaffolds for Blood Vessel Growth $3.1 million. The interdisciplinary center conducts research into the connection between molecular structure and macroscopic Georgia Papavasiliou (CHE ’96, Ph.D. ’03), assistant professor of properties of condensed soft matter, both synthetic and biological, biomedical engineering, is the recipient of a two-year, $375,000 and is under the leadership of Jay Schieber, ChBE professor. grant from the National Institutes of Health to support the project www.iit.edu/ucosm “PEG Hydrogel-Enabling Technologies for Guiding Endothelial Cell Function.” The project focuses on computational modeling and Grant to Support Modeling of Blood experimental design of polyethylene glycol diacrylate hydrogels— nontoxic, water-soluble polymers used in tissue engineering—to Clot Growth optimize scaffold properties that enable the formation of blood vessels from cells in vitro. BME Chair and Director of the Pritzker Institute of Biomedical Co-investigators of this project are BME Assistant Professor Science and Engineering Vincent Turitto is the lead investigator Eric Brey and ChBE Professor Fouad Teymour. The grant also on a subcontract for a project that will model the growth of includes a subcontract with the Chicago Association for Research complex blood clots on vascular and prosthetic surfaces. His and Education in Science with co-investigator Howard P. Greisler, research group will measure the kinetic parameters important in M.D., of Loyola University Medical Center. The study will provide this process and correlate the behavior with mathematical models quantitative tools for predicting desired biomaterial outputs using developed by the principal investigator, Professor Aaron Fogelson a rigorous engineering as opposed to an empirical approach, at the University of Utah. The project, titled “Multiscale Modeling and will be used to design scaffolds for rapid vascularization of of Platelet Deposition and Coagulation in Flow,” was awarded a engineered tissues. four-year, $1.3 million R01 grant, and will help lead to a better

| 5 FacultyNews Awards and Honors

 Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Alan Cramb, MMAE professor, was named Promotions and a fellow of ASM International Appointments Endowed Appointments and appointed as an honorary member of the American Institute  Roberto Cammino (CHE ’95, M.S. MAE  Professor Hamid Arastoopour (M.S. GE of Mining, Metallurgical, and ’98, Ph.D. MAE ’01) was appointed as a ’75, Ph.D. ’78) was named Henry R. Linden Petroleum Engineers. lecturer in mechanical engineering. He was Professor of Energy. most recently a principal staff engineer at  Provost and Senior Vice President for Motorola and MMAE adjunct professor  Harris Perlstein Professor of Academic Affairs Alan Cramb was at IIT. Electrical and Computer Engineering named Charles and Lee Finkl Chair in and Director of the Electric Power  Nancy Karuri joined IIT as assistant Metallurgical and Materials Engineering. and Power Electronics Center Ali professor of chemical engineering. Karuri  Professor Ali Emadi was named Harris Emadi was named as one of 15 was previously a postdoctoral fellow at Perlstein Professor of Electrical and “Chicago Matters” Global Visionaries Princeton University. who “are leading our region into the Computer Engineering.  Cindy Menches will join IIT this spring next century and putting our city on  Materials Engineering Professor John as assistant professor of civil and the global map.” Kallend was named associate dean for architectural engineering. She was most Armour College.  Ralph Muehleisen, CAEE assistant recently a CAEE assistant professor at the professor and director of the Miller University of Texas at Austin.  Derek Kamper was promoted to Acoustics Lab, was elected a fellow of associate professor of biomedical  Aleksandar Ostrogorsky was engineering and awarded tenure. He is the Acoustical Society of America. appointed professor of materials and also a research scientist at the Rehabilitation aerospace engineering. Prior to joining  Professor of Materials Engineering Institute of Chicago. IIT, Ostrogorsky held a joint appointment and Director of the Thermal in the Department of Materials Science  Joohee Kim, previously a senior lecturer, Processing Technology Center and Engineering and the Department of was appointed assistant professor of Philip Nash was named a fellow Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at electrical and computer engineering on a of ASM International. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. tenure-track.  Jai Prakash, acting chair  Shawn Shadden was hired as assistant  Zuyi Li (Ph.D. EE ’02) was promoted and professor of chemical professor of mechanical and aerospace to associate professor of electrical and engineering, received the 2009 engineering. From 2006–09, he pursued computer engineering and awarded tenure. Research Award from the Energy doctoral research at Stanford University’s  Associate Professor of Mechanical and and Technology Division of the School of Medicine under a Mathematical Aerospace Engineering Francisco Ruiz Electrochemical Society. Sciences Research Fellowship from the was named associate chair of MMAE National Science Foundation. undergraduate programs.  Bodine Professor and ECE Chair Mohammad Shahidehpour  Professor Jafar Saniie was named Walter received an honorary doctorate and Harriet Filmer Endowed Chair in from the Polytechnic University of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Bucharest in Romania.

Vijay Ramani, assistant professor of chemical engineering, was awarded a 2009 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award. Given to the country’s most promising junior faculty, the CAREER award recognizes faculty-researchers whose work supports the educational mission of their institutions. Ramani’s work focuses on fuel cell technology, specifically component durability.

Ramani has developed mitigation strategies that lower degradation rates during fuel cell operation. Further study and research, supported by the award, will allow him to develop a non-corrosive, mixed conducting material that will improve efficiency and durability by conducting both protons and electrons on its surface simultaneously. The applications of this research range from automotives to consumer electronics.

6 | Armour Research Awards Double in FY2009

Dean Natacha DePaola was invested ponsored research awards to IIT Armour College of Engineering faculty as the Carol and Ed Kaplan Armour and programs doubled in the total amount awarded from fiscal year College Dean of Engineering. At the 2008 to fiscal year 2009, from $6.3 million to $12.6 million (dollars are October 2009 investiture ceremony, rounded). The IIT fiscal year runs from June 1–May 31. IIT Trustee Ed Kaplan (ME ’65) and his S wife, Carol, [above] were recognized Below is a list of awards of $50,000 or greater that Armour College received from for their generosity and dedication to June 1, 2008–October 31, 2009; some amounts are totals for separate disbursements the university. on the same award. Primary investigators are listed. Additional awards are featured in this issue on pages 4–6. Some awards may not be listed.

Biomedical Engineering Chemical and Biological Engineering  Sammy Tin was promoted to associate professor of materials Mark Anastasio—$157,393 from Hamid Arastoopour—$101,288 engineering with tenure. the National Science Foundation (NSF) from the United States Department of for “CAREER: Development of Biomedical Energy (DOE) for “Dense Multiphase  Professor David Venerus was named X-Ray Phase-Contrast Tomography” (2006); Flow Simulation: Continuum Model for Hyosung S. R. Cho Endowed Chair in $97,689 from the NSF for “Novel X-Ray Poly-Dispersed Systems” (co-PIs Dimitri Chemical and Biological Engineering. Imaging of Carotid Plaque Microstructure” Gidaspow, Matteo Strumendo);  ECE Professor Miles Wernick was (co-PIs Eric Brey, Miles Wernick) $320,029 from the DOE for “Integrated named Motorola Endowed Chair Professor. Konstantinos Arfanakis—$388,873 Advanced Energy Systems Research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at IIT” (co-PIs Matteo Strumendo, for “Development of a Brain Template Ken Zdunek) Publications and Editorships for Diffusion-Tensor MRI” (co-PIs Gady Ali Cinar—$219,936 from the NIH for  MMAE Professor Sudhakar Nair Agam, Mark Anastasio) “Multivariable Closed Loop Technologies published a new textbook, Introduction Eric Brey—$216,732 from the NSF for Physically Active Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes” to Continuum Mechanics (Cambridge for “REU Site: Summer Engineering University Press, 2009). The book Research Experiences in Diabetes for Jai Prakash—$88,000 from is intended for graduate and senior Undergraduates” (co-PI Vincent Turitto); Brookhaven National Laboratory for $63,209 from CARES for student support “‘Metal Oxide Electrocatalyst’ New Acid- undergraduate students majoring (co-PI Georgia Papavasiliou); Stable Catalytically Active Thin-Layer and in mechanical, aerospace, civil, and $55,000 from the NIH and Wake Forest Nanoparticle Oxides with and Without chemical engineering, and applied University Baptist Medical Center for Pt Deposits”; $68,008 from Argonne mathematics. Nair was the recipient “Bioengineering a Bioartificial Pancreas” National Laboratory for “Thermal Studies of Li-ion Cell Electrodes and Components” of the Distinguished Alumnus Derek Kamper—$59,232 from the Award of the Department of Aerospace NIH for “Mechanisms Impairing Finger Jay Schieber—$260,000 from the Engineering at the Indian Institute of Extension Following Stroke”; $53,856 NSF for “Determining the Relation Science during its Centenary from the NIH for “Development of a Between Molecular Structure and Hand Exoskeleton for Rehabilitation Macroscopic Heat Transport in Year Celebrations in May 2009. Following Stroke” Oriented and Stressed Polymers” (co-PI David Venerus) David Venerus—$50,000 from the NSF for “SGER: Flow-Induced Anisotropic Thermal Energy Transport in Elongational Flows of Polymer Liquids” (co-PI Jay Schieber)

| 7 Armour Research Awards (continued)

Civil, Architectural, and Yongyi Yang—$347,642 from the NIH David Williams—$134,984 from the Environmental Engineering for “A Suite of Diagnostic Aids Based on AFOSR for “MURI Proposal”; $204,362 from the AFOSR for “Understanding the Zongzhi Li—$57,000 from University Image Retrieval” (co-PI Miles Wernick) Flow Physics of Energy Extraction from of Illinois at Chicago Urban Transportation Chi Zhou—$140,408 from the Air Force Gusting Flows to Enhance Micro Air Center for “Rapid Replacement/Construction Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) for Vehicle Performance” of Bridges” (co-PI Jamshid Mohammadi) “Performance Analysis of Wireless Multimedia Communications Systems Under Dynamic Benxin Wu—$100,000 from the NSF Electrical and Computer Engineering High Interference” for “Collaborative Research: Mathematical Tricha Anjali—$399,999 from the NSF for Modeling and Experimental Study of Mechanical, Materials, and “NeTS: Small: Secure and Efficient Multipath- Femtosecond Laser Machining of High-Aspect Aerospace Engineering Based Network Utilization: A Game Theoretic Ratio Structures” and Optimization Approach” (co-PIs Gruia Boris Pervan— $418,656 from the Jamal Yagoobi—$478,514 from the Calinescu, Sanjiv Kapoor) Federal Aviation Administration for “Global Small Business Administration for “Illinois Navigation Satellite System [GNSS] Coalition for Manufacturing Innovation” Yu Cheng—$250,000 from the NSF for Evolutionary Architectures for Civil Aviation”; (co-PIs Philip Nash, Xiaoping Qian, “NeTS-NEDG: Squeezing the Most Out of $197,935 from L3 Communications/ Wireless Access and Backhaul Networks: A Sammy Tin); $291,816 from NASA for “A Electrodynamics, Inc. for “Precision GS Generic Cross-Layer Analytical Approach” Two-Phase Heat Transport Device Driven by [PGPS] Navigation for the Unmanned Electric Conduction Mechanism in Micro and Ali Emadi— $359,350 from the NSF Combat Aerial System [UCAS]”; $127,424 Macro Scales” (co-PI Kevin Cassel) for “GOALI: Novel Integration of AC/DC from The Boeing Company for “Technology Charger and DC/DC Converter for Plug-In Concept Demonstration [TDC] in Support of Hybrid Electric Vehicles” (co-PI Alireza the iGPS Program iGPSProgram/RFP Letter” Award Collaborations Khaligh); $642,643 from DRS Test & Xiaoping Qian—$320,237 from the NSF Armour College faculty were co-principal Energy Management, LLC for “Hybrid Electric for “GOALI: Computing Tip-Specimen Shape investigators on the following interdisciplinary Conversion Kit (HECK)” Interaction for Accurate, High Throughput research projects that were awarded Alireza Khaligh—$113,142 from the NSF Nano-Imaging of General Three-Dimensional ipro $50,000 or greater last year. Some amounts for “REU Site: Summer Engineering Research Structures by Atomic Force Microscopy”; are totals for separate disbursements on the Experiences in Hybrid Electric and Plug-In $115,031 from the AFOSR for “Dynamic same award: Hybrid Electric Vehicles” (co-PIs Ali Emadi, Sensing and Modeling Through Multimodal Darsh Wasan (ChBE)— Vivian Weil) Sensors: An Emerging Paradigm for 3D $7 million Digitization”; $300,000 from the NSF for from the United States Food and Drug Zuyi Li—$341,408 from the NSF for “Direct Digital Design and Manufacturing Administration to Support “Cooperative “Coordination of Renewable Hydro-Wind (D3M) from Massive Point-Cloud Data”; Agreement to support Illinois Institute of Units for Enhancing the Hydrothermal $143,327 from the NSF for “GOALI/ Technology” at IIT’s National Center for Food Power System Operation” (co-PI Collaborative Research: Understanding Safety and Technology; PI is Martin Cole, Mohammad Shahidehpour) and Controlling Variation Propogation outgoing NCFST director in Periodic Structures: From Geometry to Kui Ren—$273,680 from the NSF for Eric Brey and Vincent Turitto Dynamic Response” “NeTS-NECO: Collaborative Research: New (BME)—$92,025 from the NSF and the Approaches for Secure and Dependable and Ganesh Raman—$50,302 from the University of Illinois at Chicago for “Chicago Distributed Data Storage and Access Control AFOSR for “High-Frequency Excitation for Transformation Teacher Institutes” in IIT’s in Mission-Critical Wireless Sensor Networks” Cavity Flow Control: Combined Experiments Department of Mathematics and Science Mohammad Shahidehpour— and Linear Stability Analysis” Education; PI is Norman Lederman, $3,956,260 from the DOE for “The Matthew Spenko—$133,000 from the MSED chair Perfect Power Prototype for Illinois Institute Army Research Office and Massachusetts Eric Brey (BME)—$308,229 from the of Technology” (co-PIs Alex Flueck, Institute of Technology for “Design and NSF for “Addressing Ethics in the Natural Chi Zhou, Zuyi Li) Control of Ultra-High Mobility Unmanned Course of Research: A Joint Research Course Ground Vehicles” Miles Wernick—$303,225 from for Philosophy of Science, Engineering, and the National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute Candace Wark—$217,025 from Science Graduate Students” at the IIT Center for “4D and 5D Image Reconstruction for NASA and UIUC for “NASA Space Grant for the Study of Ethics in the Professions; PI is Cardiac SPECT” (co-PI Yongyi Yang); College and Fellowship Program” (co-PIs Vivian Weil, CSEP director $50,054 from the NIH for “Optimization Hassan Nagib, Matthew Spenko, of In-Line Phase Contrast Mammography” David Williams) (co-PI Adam Zysk) IPRO 341 team members

8 | ipro

Distinctive Education: I t Takes a Team IPRO 341 team members IIT’s Interprofessional Projects (IPRO) Program

| 9 challenge is at hand. A medical device company has developed a novel product with the potential to change lives worldwide. After nearly two decades of engineering research and development, the product is ready for market. The important decisions the company makes now will affect the success of the product sales and, ultimately, the company itself. Has the product been tested sufficiently? Where will it be manufactured?A Are consumers aware of the personal and social implications of using the product? This is the type of real-world situation IIT’s Interprofessional Projects (IPRO) Program challenges its students to address, and specifically, the problem that Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Phil Troyk’s IPRO students are investigating in his course, IPRO 334: Planning for Human Implantation of a Cortical Visual Prosthesis, which Troyk co-instructs with Margaret Huyck, professor of psychology.

IIT launched the IPRO Program in Through a choice of 40–50 unique At the end of each semester-long 1995 with the goal of teaching students and contemporary IPRO team course, IPRO teams present the results relevant professional skills by exposing projects each semester, all upper-level of their work to the greater Chicago- them to real-world team situations that undergraduates fulfill their general- area community—including volunteer they may not experience in a research education requirements by completing professionals who serve as judges, IPRO setting or traditional courses. An two semester-long IPRO courses. sponsors, employers, and area high school IPRO project joins 10–15 students of For many engineering students, students, teachers, and counselors—at a variety of majors and backgrounds the IPRO experience is their first brush a formal IPRO Day conference. Over its to study a problem—defining its scope with the reality of what it means to be 15-year history, the IPRO experience and determining viable paths forward an engineer. has become a signature component of on their own—along the way building “IPRO is the first time when we get undergraduate education at IIT and a and testing their teamwork, problem- hit with certain aspects like cost, time, required part of the curriculum, and solving, entrepreneurship, innovation, and ease of manufacturing. Even though has inspired similar programs at other and communication skills. Oftentimes an idea may seem logical it may not be universities across the country. corporations, small businesses, community practical; even though an idea will work For Troyk, the IPRO Program is organizations, and entrepreneurs— it may not be efficient. It seems very an opportunity to engage students in a including IIT alumni—sponsor IPRO overwhelming at first; it is like nothing study and assessment involving his own projects, benefiting from fresh perspectives we have seen before,” says Carlos Sardi work. Since 1983, he has been leading a of students and their faculty instructors. (ME, 4th year). National Institutes of Health-funded team,

10 | also supported by private funds, that has the workplace: the smart engineer who developed a prototype intracortical visual lacks communication skills. “Few people prosthesis. The device uses miniature in their careers work in isolation. Their electric stimulators that rest on a patient’s work usually involves issues that are much brain, under the skull, to produce the tiny more complicated than just the technology. IPRO 309 team members currents needed to drive 1,024 miniature IPRO asks students to expand their minds electrodes implanted in the visual cortex. and to think of things that are outside of The simulators are linked wirelessly to a their normal thought process,” he says. a problem whose solution is aimed at video camera mounted on a pair of glasses “If, as an engineer, you can’t recognize enriching the quality of life for physically that serve as the patient’s “eyes.” contributions from other people with challenged individuals. This project is an While the technology behind Troyk’s different specialties, then you can’t really extension of Meade’s own work developing device is nuanced and highly technical— work productively with a team,” says Mary orthotics and prosthetic devices and well beyond the expertise of engineering DeRoo (EE, 4th year), a student in Troyk’s teaching technicians in Latin America, students, he says—the types of issues course. “Through IPROs, students learn specifically in the area of spine trauma that his project team, who is sponsoring to figure out things outside of their major and deformities. the IPRO, will face in taking its device because they have to. This means later on to clinical deployment present students multiple avenues for investigation. This includes a study of the product’s technology, market viability, and ethical “IPRO asks students to expand their minds and social implications. and to think of things that are outside of “We researched similar visual prosthetic devices and brain implants to their normal thought process.” Associate Professor Phil Troyk understand how the IIT team’s device compares to ones that have already received FDA approval and studies in human volunteers. We are trying to offer in life, they won’t have to confront their “There is a need for 900 orthotics and our sponsor a critical recommendation of employer and say, ‘I haven’t learned this’ or prosthetics technicians in Colombia alone,” both its progress thus far and direction ‘this isn’t part of my job description.’” says Meade (MAE ’74, M.S. AMAT ’78). toward testing in a human volunteer,” says Similarly, students in Professor Kevin He points to Colombia’s high rate of David Bern (BME, 3rd year). Meade’s course, IPRO 309: Orthotics and amputees due to landmine explosions, Troyk says the IPRO Program Prosthetics Education for Latin America as well as the overall lack of accredited addresses a nearly universal problem in and the United States, are researching training programs in that country. In the past seven semesters of the IPRO project team that he has coached, students have collaborated with IPRO 341 team members universities and colleges in Colombia and the U.S., rehabilitation-device companies, and children’s hospitals—and also met with patients and their families—to develop educational modules to help teach orthotics/prosthetics technicians. These modules are currently in use at two partner institutions, Joliet Junior College and Centro Don Bosco, a technical high school in Bogotá, Colombia. “There are other things in the process aside from calculating the biomechanics of the device, like patient education on how to use the device properly and efficiently,

| 11 the medical insurance the patient needs improving the design of a tool cabinet for a project that involves students from a in order to get the device, understanding Versatility Tool Works, a manufacturer variety of different engineering majors why there are landmines in the first place, of precision tooling and sheet metal and whose objectives are not always and the social and political implications of components, who also sponsored the easily identified. requiring this type of device,” says Sardi, IPRO course. “You don’t know who you’re going a native of Colombia, who participated Over the course of the semester, to meet in the workplace, so IPRO brings in Meade’s IPRO in 2008. “We learn that students worked in two groups to tackle that different aspect of real life to there are many different faces regarding the same issue. Many further questions arise, and students therefore appreciate “In IPRO, I’m not just answering the the larger scope of life.” “Students can look at photos and questions professors are giving me, I’m videos of patients all they want, but when they are in a room with a kid whose leg learning how to come up with new ideas has been amputated, the mom, and the dad, it’s a much different story,” says and to be a leader.” Thomas Hotz (ME, 4th year) Meade. “The driving factor behind this IPRO project is people helping people and that we are helping to create a new career the problem: improve an industrial the class,” says Shahmeer Khaliqdina path that wasn’t there before.” cabinet system so that its drawers can (EE, 4th year), referring to the mix of During the IPRO project course this hold 550 pounds of weight and sustain students in the course. “In that way, IPRO fall, the team researched ways to make 20,000 cycles of use, and research the gives you a head start.” the educational program at Centro Don product’s leading competitors in the “IPRO has helped me to articulate Bosco more fiscally sustainable while market. The design subgroup assessed and a project’s deliverables,” says Thomas recommended existing and new product Hotz (ME, 4th year). He adds that features, including handles, wheel types, IPRO offers practical experience that attachments, and drawer mechanics, while goes beyond internships and co-ops, the testing subgroup tested the durability which are valuable but may not come and functionality of the drawers. with significant responsibilities. “At my Because IPRO requires students internship, there were no opportunities for to offer solutions on their own, the presentations. I know that I will be ready instructors’ roles are often those of if I am ever called upon to sell a product professional mentor, devil’s advocate, and at my job, because IPRO has given me an IPRO 333 team members even motivational speaker. Addressing his opportunity to do that. class prior to its midterm meeting with “In IPRO, I’m not just answering the at the Museum of Science VTW, IPRO 341 co-instructor William questions professors are giving me, I’m and Industry’s Fab Lab Maurer, industry professor in industrial learning how to come up with new ideas technology and management, urged the and to be a leader,” Hotz says. In reality, students to generate enthusiasm with the learning to scope the problem, and to sponsor and coordinate communication identify and ask the right set of questions enhancing its training curricula. IPRO across the subgroups to show the team’s that cut across professional boundaries, students developed a business model cohesiveness. Associate Professor of is as much a part of the IPRO experience for a program that would teach CDB’s Materials Engineering Sheldon Mostovoy (and some would say more so) as coming up students how to fabricate custom-made-to- (ME ’58, Ph.D. MET ’68), co-instructor, with the “right answer.” measure orthotics and prosthetic devices. and Maurer stressed the importance of In IPRO 333: Fab Lab: Creating The CDB students would learn under the representing their ideas visually and Design-to-Prototype Learning Modules watchful eyes of professionals, patients engaging the sponsor in an idea share, at the Museum of Science and Industry, would benefit from a decreased waiting even if the students are reluctant about students are developing educational time for such devices (which, due to high their initial direction, as a way to “gain projects for schoolchildren grades 4–12 demand, can take up to one year or more feedback and stay on a fruitful course,” and other visitors to the Museum of to fabricate), and CDB would generate Mostovoy told the class. Science and Industry’s Fab Lab facility. a revenue stream to support this new “We’re teaching the students to The Fab Lab is a small-scale workshop, program and other initiatives. be proactive,” says Maurer. Of the located on the museum’s third floor, which In some IPROs, students are professional experience students gain allows museum guests to use a variety of responsible for designing, building, and through such presentations, he tells them, specialized equipment to make prototypes. testing prototypes. In IPRO 341: Design “You will take this with you for the rest The role of the IPRO team, in its third and Global Market Analysis of a Tool of your days.” For their part, the students semester of sponsorship by the museum, Product, students got hands-on experience say it’s a welcome challenge to work on is to increase visitors’ interest in using

12 | Faculty advisor David Gatchell and IPRO 333 team member Carlie Douglas (ARCH, 5th year)

the lab, enriching their understanding whereas another may of engineering and rapid prototyping have more experience principles, and to develop projects for the using AutoCAD or guests to try. This semester, students SolidWorks. It is fun to studied how to make the lab more user- see groups of students friendly and worked to build a matrix of forming natural through teaching—which, as Stelcel sample projects that meet science and collaborations to facilitate understanding describes it, “helps students figure out mathematics education goals as published of how the machines work, the capabilities what they don’t know”—and enriching the by the State of Illinois and the National of the machines, and how the machines museum and its guests, something that is Science Foundation. interface with the software.” not lost on the students. Sample projects the IPRO students “The machines in the Fab Lab are very “The best part is probably seeing have created instruct visitors on how useful and common at many jobs. Gaining kids walk into the lab and seeing the to develop their own planetarium, a the experience of learning how they work wheels in their minds start cranking,” rubber-band-powered train, and and using them is very helpful for a future says Robert Boyer (BME, 4th year), who integrated circuits. job,” says Carl Stelcel (BME, 4th year). works on the team’s marketing subgroup “Understanding the needs of these By the time the students—primarily and built an IPRO Fab Lab Wikipedia students and their teachers requires input architecture, biomedical engineering, and site. “Once you say, ‘Here, you can build from multiple disciplines, not just input other engineering majors—complete the practically anything you want!’ they start from engineering students,” says David IPRO, they have mastered the Fab Lab’s to think about everything they could Gatchell, BME senior lecturer, who teaches equipment, which gives their performance build and how they would do it. It’s one the course with Blake Davis (CRP ’79, in other courses at IIT an extra boost. thing that this IPRO really excels at; it M.A.S. ’92), INTM faculty member. “By “This semester alone I have over a lets your imagination flourish, for kids gaining exposure to other disciplines, the dozen BME students who have used the and grownups alike. This is really about engineering students gain insight into Fab Lab to create mock-ups for their BME creating your own solution, not rewriting the strengths and weaknesses of their design course. This has never happened someone else’s solution.” own preparation. They realize that other before. As a result of using the tools in the For more information about IPRO, disciplines have skill sets that complement Fab Lab, their mock-ups are created faster please contact Thomas M. Jacobius (MAE their own—skills that they want to develop and are more accurate than the mock-ups ’71), director of Interprofessional Studies for themselves.” created in past years,” says Gatchell. and the IPRO Program, at 312.567.3986 or For some IPRO students, it is “Diagramming circuits is something [email protected]. their first hands-on experience with that engineering students have to get used sophisticated design-build equipment. to before we feel comfortable with it. IPRO “Because engineering students 333 gave me the opportunity to design IPRO Program at IIT: entering the Fab Lab are not typically then synthesize circuits, and the hands-on experts in rapid prototyping, they have experience went a long way toward helping http://ipro.iit.edu to climb several learning curves. This me gain that comfort,” says Jered Diego Fab Lab Wikipedia site: process tends to bring the students Linares (BME/CS, 5th year). together,” Gatchell says. “One student may Beyond the practical application of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fab_Lab_MSI have a stronger background in electronics engineering theory, they’re also learning

| 13 ARCS S upporting th e U ni ted S tates ’ F ut ure E ng ineers

IIT ARCS Scholars with President John Anderson [from left to right]: Tristan Sloughter (CS ’07, CSCI Ph.D. candidate), President Anderson, Richard Duncan, Robert Dawe, and Michael Walker

n October 1957, the successful launch of the Soviet Union’s Sputnik

satellite ushered in a new phase of the Cold War—the Space Race.

Up until this date, most people in the United States believed the U.S.

was the world leader in space technology, and many were alarmed

that the country was falling behind the rest of the world in this area. IThough Sputnik was harmless, the prospect of the Soviet Union’s ability to launch

objects into space sent the U.S. into a near panic.

14 | and has decreased their amount of decreased student and has Dawe, loans. Robert and a job. For others, it allowed has them attend to conferences concentrate rather juggle their energy on research than research, studies. Fortheir graduate many, it allowed has them to disciplines. engineering and aerospace, biomedical, and chemical thein mechanical degrees scholarship recipients pursuing are year’sARCS IIT This received the recommendations of their respective departments. average high-level in and engaged haveof are 3.5, research, studentsThese a pointcumulative grade have maintained for partner ARCS.” great benefit to the research world,it on a focused cutting-edge making is very unique,”of she excellence is says. engineering in “IIT traditionstrong “IIT’s aligned. are and IIT the missions of ARCS support. annual $10,000 in University studentsmost of promising granted IIT’s Chicago, are School of Medicine, NorthwesternStritch University, and the university. Loyolascholars from Joining University of Chicago membership and faculty professional in at organizations each grants, of publishedtestresearch scores, articles, scientific the number programs, of degree size, and quality the strength, for which includes a comprehensive evaluation that considers the criteria its in scholarship program, participate to selected is one area the in ofChicago four institutions of higher learning U.S. students. 12,000 to scholarships in 13 bestowed and states, has $70 moremillion than members 16 1,600 in has currently organization The chapters in sciences, medicine, and engineering. the scholarships in natural students and graduate talented undergraduate selective with continued has its missionprovide to ARCS 50 moreyears, than at helping supremacy the race. For U.S.the in regain technology Scientists Foundation, Inc., a national women’s aimed organization founded Angeles Los thein Achievement for Rewards College IIT’s ARCS scholars agree the award is invaluablescholars agree towards ARCS IIT’s students IIT 30 scholarships. 1985, haveSince received ARCS president SueChapter, Dindia, of ARCS the believesChicago was established1977. in Chapter Chicago ofThe ARCS IIT Sputnik’s launch, aa ofafter group year women than Less

study Duncan’s researchposterattheARCSLuncheon. Richard Duncan,MichaelWalker, andPresidentAnderson arcs success as professionalas success engineers. and journeydevelopment, on research and ultimately, on future With the help Foundation, of the their theyARCS focus can society. in a difference make poised to scholars are ARCS IIT’s patients in disease or developing technology, clean coal-processing my with field.”those not familiar and present conceptsmy a in clear and simpleresearch way for zone luncheon.comfort I hadstep to out engineering of the typical the annual memberspresent during the to my ARCS research noting, herfound “I share to research, itto chance very useful welcomed ’09) the ’07, MAE M.S. (AE/AMAT Bastrzyk Marta professionsleaders Chicago. the in in science and engineering endeavors latest research membersfellow to and other ARCS students’ mentors. faculty Natacha Dean DePaola, and the College of Engineering Armour IIT Cramb, Alan President for Academic Affairs support honoreesof IIT’s included Provost and Senior Vice representatives the from university who joined Anderson in Awards theas speaker at invited Luncheon. the Other 2009 PresidentIIT John Anderson delivered the keynote speech Awards forgather Chicago Luncheon. annually the ARCS for funds of a variety expenses.” discretionary scholarshipbeen ahas godsend that in it provides me with ARCS Ph.D.adds, candidate, “The a biomedical engineering represent models idealized of everyday applications that can planes, and boats. studies The he conducts, while very theoretical, air, such solid with pipes,as interact boundaries, buildings, hehow in fluids,is interested terms, suchasmoving andwater those under complexespecially simpleIn gradients. pressure layers, turbulent boundary studying is currently Duncan Richard Richard Duncan Armour College Current ARCS Scholars Whether studying MRI imaging to help to identify Alzheimer’s imaging MRI Whether studying eventThe gives students showcase to thetheir opportunity additionIn recipients the to scholarship, throughout ARCS

(AE ’05, M.S. FIN ’07, MMAE Ph.D. Candidate) Ph.D. ’07, FIN MMAE M.S. ’05, (AE | 15

Photos: Courtesy of the ARCS Foundation, Chicago Chapter, Inc. Past Armour ARCS Scholars Continue to Excel

help engineers better understand the mathematics and physics of complex The Sky is the Limit problems. Duncan hopes to produce a data set beyond the capabilities of those arta Bastrzyk (AE/AMAT ’07, M.S. MAE ’09) graduated at other research facilities, to have a great from IIT with the goal of finding a position in which she could impact on simulations and modeling in contribute to groundbreaking research in the aerospace the aerospace, meteorology, and biological M fields. He adds that in many of these fields, engineering field. Just a few months later, she finds herself employed by even a relatively small improvement in the University of Akron as a senior research associate working at the the accuracy of computer simulations NASA Glenn Research Center. She’s applying the research skills she can produce large gains in efficiency obtained working with MMAE Associate Professor Ganesh Raman to and predictability. her current project, the “Development of a Low-Impact Docking System Main Interface Seal.” Bastrzyk is working with a team of researchers to test and develop seals that are responsible for Robert Dawe (BME ’06, BME Ph.D. Candidate) ensuring astronaut safety by keeping breathable air inside a spacecraft and preventing it from escaping to the space vacuum. Robert Dawe has a personal connection Bastrzyk is one of many Armour College alumni who have benefited from undergraduate to his research, having two grandparents who suffer from neurodegenerative research. During her second year at IIT, Raman recruited her to work in his lab, providing her diseases. He is focusing on early, non- the opportunity to work on a variety of projects in different areas within aerospace engineering. invasive detection of Alzheimer’s disease Bastrzyk chose to continue her studies at IIT after earning her undergraduate degree because of using new MRI techniques. Dawe hopes to her interest in Raman’s research area and her positive experiences within the MMAE department. understand the ways in which Alzheimer’s In the coming years, Bastrzyk sees herself as a researcher overseeing a team of scientists pathology affects the diffusion of water and engineers working to advance aircraft and spacecraft technologies. molecules within specific pathways of the brain. This work could provide researchers with biomarkers of Alzhemier’s disease, Track Injury Leads to a Career in allowing doctors to identify the pathology at an early and potentially treatable phase. Rehabilitation Technology Dawe hopes to work in a hospital, where he can bring the latest MRI technology to n high school, Kristen Triandafilou (EE ’04, M.A.S. BMI ’09) patients while continuing his research. suffered a knee injury at a track meet that sent her to physical therapy for several weeks. The experience inspired her interest Michael Walker I in rehabilitation research and medicine. Now, Triandafilou is (ChBE Ph.D. Candidate) combining her interests with her education while working at the Michael Walker’s research focuses on Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago as a research engineer in BME the analysis of gasification-based power Assistant Professor Derek Kamper’s Hand Rehabilitation Laboratory. and chemical-production systems. This includes applications such as flexible-feed She played an active role in research there while pursuing her systems, flexible product generation, clean master’s degree in biomedical imaging and signals in the ECE department, working on projects coal technologies, hot gas cleanup, and involving the mechanisms associated with hand impairment following stroke. Specific areas process integration. He uses computer- of her research include investigation of upper-extremity weakness following stroke through the aided design techniques to create models quantification of muscle atrophy using ultrasonography to directly measure the size of the muscles and perform analysis on commercially controlling the index finger. available process-simulation software. Her experiences at RIC have introduced Triandafilou to the life-changing effect that hard- His work aims to provide accurate, predictive, non-processor-intensive models working scientists and engineers can have on stroke survivors. She hopes to dedicate her of advanced gasification-based power and career to neural engineering research toward the advancement of knowledge, treatments, and chemical plants. These models can be used ultimately, cure of disorders and diseases pertaining to the central nervous system. to aid in process development, operational Triandafilou has a sincere desire to help both the individuals benefiting from her research streamlining, and economic analysis. and the next generation of engineers. She says, “I plan on mentoring young individuals Walker hopes his research will promote interested in neural engineering research. I hope to share my experiences and expertise with clean coal-processing technology to reduce the upcoming generation to preserve and promote the advancement of scientific knowledge in power plant emissions. neuroscience and neuroengineering.”

ARCS Chicago: www.arcsfoundation.org/Chicago NASA Glenn Research Center: www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/home/index.html Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago: www.ric.org 16 | P rit z ker I nstitute Image of Innovation

here are many things that make IIT unique, such as a campus designed by an architectural genius and a breathtaking view of downtown Chicago. A special part of the university’sT research landscape is the innovative work being conducted in the area of biomedical engineering, despite the absence of a university medical center. Leading the way in breakthroughs in the field are IIT Armour College of Engineering faculty members conducting research as part of the interdisciplinary Pritzker Institute of Biomedical Science and Engineering. Through five research centers under the umbrella of the institute, advancements in breast and prostate cancer screening, Alzheimer’s disease research, brain mapping, diabetes modeling, and tissue engineering are executed on IIT’s Main Campus in collaboration with top medical research centers.

| 17 Mark Anastasio

The Pritzker Institute was founded in Accreditation Commission of the 1982 through the generosity of Robert Accreditation Board for Engineering A. Pritzker (IE ’46, Hon. Ph.D. ENG ’84), and Technology (ABET). an IIT trustee and university regent. With the growth of the BME At the time, Pritzker had the foresight department came the expansion of to recognize the importance of biomedical the Pritzker Institute. Its five centers, engineering well before it became involving 25 IIT faculty members as a major research focus at United part of their core research groups— States universities. Medical Imaging Research Center, discipline of great importance in The institute has grown significantly Engineering Center for Diabetes Research biomedical engineering. Over the past since 2001, the year Vincent Turitto and Education, Center for Integrative 50 years, medical imaging has grown assumed leadership as its director. At the Neuroscience and Neuroengineering from simple X-ray technology to mature time, relatively few IIT faculty members Research, Center for Molecular Study of techniques that are changing the way were engaged in biomedical research. Condensed Soft Matter, and the Biophysics doctors diagnose diseases. The field has Turitto says, “I had three goals when Collaborative Access Team—started the expanded from radiological X-ray images of I joined IIT: expand the foundation year with a collective annual research dense bone to include complex techniques of the Pritzker Institute, build strong budget of $6.4 million. Researchers within that are able to produce images of brain relationships with leading medical centers each center partner with organizations function. Medical interpretations that were in the Chicago area, and get more IIT such as the University of Chicago Medical once based solely on specialized knowledge faculty involved in biomedical research.” Center, Rush University Medical Center, are now supported by vast databases Tasked with growing the institute Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, and of information. Sophisticated imaging and its reputation, IIT secured $2 million Argonne National Laboratory to conduct technology allows specialists to examine in grants from the Whitaker Foundation work related to their field. organs and other functions within the body and $1 million in private donations to “The centers within the Pritzker to pinpoint abnormalities that would not help establish a new Department of Institute receive significant funding from otherwise be visible without surgery. Biomedical Engineering. The money external sources to help support high-level MIRC represents IIT’s expertise in enabled the department to hire eight research,” adds Turitto. These sources the medical imaging field. The center, faculty members over the course of four include the National Institutes of Health, directed by Motorola Endowed Chair years and to begin offering undergraduate the National Science Foundation, various Professor Miles Wernick and housed in and graduate programs in 2003. There other government agencies, and other the state-of-the-art University Technology are now 10 tenure-track faculty members private entities. “This funding helps to Park at IIT, is receiving peer recognition in the department, six of whom have provide financial packages to top graduate and noteworthy funding for its research. achieved the rank of associate professor. and postdoctoral students interested in The center’s faculty recently secured $6.3 More than 170 students, including 33 biomedical research,” he adds. million in grants to support research in Ph.D. candidates, are currently One example of a center that reflects X-ray imaging, photoacoustic imaging, enrolled in the program, the successful activities at the Pritzker computer-aided diagnosis, diagnostic which is accredited Institute is the Medical Imaging Research accuracy assessment, and a new effort by the Engineering Center. Medical imaging is a with the Chicago Police Department to predict crime. The center seeks to develop new imaging modalities and techniques for the acquisition, processing, and analysis of medical images to advance research and diagnoses for brain disorders, heart conditions, cancer, and other conditions. To say medical imaging has revolutionized the health care industry would be an understatement. Before these technological advances, invasive, exploratory surgeries were required to determine an ailment in the body that traditional imaging could not reveal. Today, a patient can undergo an MRI, for example, allowing doctors to locate cancers clearly within the brain. As the developments in medical imaging have progressed, doctors can rely on diagnostic software programs and comparative image

Yongyi Yang

18 | 2009 Robert A. Pritzker Distinguished Lecture

Friends and family of IIT alumnus Robert A. Pritzker established the Robert A. Pritzker Distinguished Lecture in 2007 to honor Pritzker’s dedication to the advancement of the biomedical engineering field. It brings increased recognition and prestige to the Pritzker Institute and IIT through its association with databases to diagnose irregularities, top biomedical researchers. The annual Pritzker Lecturer delivers a plenary talk at the annual BMES reducing human error. conference, followed by a presentation in the spring on IIT’s Main Campus. Advancements in the field have also led to an increased understanding of the human body. Three-dimensional, real-time The Third Annual Robert A. Pritzker Distinguished Lecture was presented by Donald E. Ingber, imaging allows researchers to study how M.D. on October 8, 2009 at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Biomedical Engineering Society in blood flows through the heart. Detailed Pittsburgh, Pa. Ingber is the director of the Wyss Institute for MRI scans help researchers understand Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, the development of neurological disorders Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard that were not previously understood, in Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston, and addition to revealing the workings of professor of bioengineering at Harvard School of the mind. Medical imaging is enabling breakthroughs in treatment, prevention, Engineering and Applied Sciences. His lecture, “From and cures. Cellular Mechanotransduction to Biologically Inspired To carry out the center’s mission, Engineering,” discussed the design principles that Wernick is joined by ECE Professor govern biological systems and scientific advancements Yongyi Yang (M.S. AMAT ’92, Ph.D. EE in the field of biologically inspired engineering. Ingber ’94), BME associate professors Mark will present his research on April 16, 2010 at IIT. Anastasio (EE ’92) and Konstantinos Arfanakis, and ECE assistant professors Jovan Brankov (M.S. EE ’99, Ph.D. ’02) Donald E. Ingber [left] and Vincent Turitto, and Imam Samil Yetik. The group’s Pritzker Institute director credentials speak for themselves: one NSF CAREER Award, three Sigma Xi Awards Photo: Emilia Radkiewicz for Excellence in Research, hundreds of publications, conference presentations, and invited lectures. The six faculty members imaging. Arfanakis is the advisor for other centers affiliated with the Pritzker collaborate with researchers around the Robert Dawe (BME ’06), a BME Ph.D. Institute, Turitto says, the institute is globe to pursue advancements in medical candidate. Dawe says that his coursework well positioned to significantly increase imaging technology. has provided him with a broad, solid its research budget and expand the scope In addition to the recently funded foundation for understanding biomedical of its activities in 2010. The total amount projects highlighted on page 4, MIRC engineering concepts; however, the of funding to faculty in the Pritzker researchers are engaged in a multitude laboratory experience he has gained from Institute that is anticipated for grants of subject areas. Wernick’s most recent working with Arfanakis has been the that were awarded in 2009 or were in endeavors focus on advancements in conduit to his goals. Dawe says, “In a their first year in 2009 is in excess of $17 mammography and cardiac imaging. given month, I may scan postmortem million. IIT faculty and students at the Yang is developing diagnostic software human brain specimens in a clinical MRI Pritzker Institute will further impact and techniques for finding deadly plaques scanner, process the images to obtain data advancements in biomedical research, in coronary arteries. Tomography is at relevant to what we are studying, and making significant contributions to the the center of Anastasio’s research, most present the findings at an MRI or medical way doctors detect, diagnose, treat, and recently in the area of phase-contrast imaging conference.” eventually, cure patients with a wide X-ray imaging and photoacoustic imaging. Through the outstanding research variety of diseases or abnormalities. Arfanakis’ latest projects concentrate of faculty involved in MIRC and the on MRI techniques for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, development of an atlas of the human brain, and optimization of diffusion-tensor MRI for tractography. MIRC: www.iit.edu/mirc Advancements in tomography for nuclear cardiology and cardiac imaging techniques Pritzker Institute: www.iit.edu/pritzker_institute are at the core of Brankov’s current BME department: www.iit.edu/engineering/bme research projects. Yetik is developing an approach to imaging prostate cancer using MRI technology. The breadth of research conducted by MIRC faculty BioCAT Joins Pritzker Institute members provides an ideal environment for IIT students The Biophysics Collaborative Access Team (BioCAT) is the latest research group to join the Pritzker to gain experience in medical Institute. The center is an X-ray facility located at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. Funded by the NIH, the group studies the structure and dynamics of partially ordered biological systems of biomedical importance. BioCAT is also a part of the Center for Synchrotron Radiation Research and Instrumentation; Thomas C. Irving, professor of biology and physics, directs the operations of both centers. | 19 For more information, visit www.bio.aps.anl.gov. CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGY AT WISER Coal-fired power plants generate 50 percent of the electricity used in

the United States, but they are also one of the primary sources of CO2

emissions. From 2007 to 2008, CO2 emissions jumped by 671 million

tons worldwide, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak

Ridge National Laboratory. Coal-fired plants are also the largest

source of mercury pollution globally.

20 | oal won’t disappear from the conversion and gasification processes energy mix anytime soon— based on computational fluid dynamics. indeed, the DOE refers to They have developed mathematical models coal as “one of the true for coal gasification, or the conversion measures of the energy of coal into gas, a means of producing strength of the United States.” While CO electricity that is cleaner than burning C 2 emissions have slowed slightly in the past raw coal. Their CFD approach, which has year, a trend during times of a recession, received support from the National Science Hamid Arastoopour they are expected to continue to increase Foundation, the DOE, and industry, globally alongside a growing population applies kinetic theory to gas/particle flow and energy demand. systems and the design of coal gasification developed at the National Energy The United States has taken steps processes based of fluidized-bed systems. Technology Laboratory, which aids in the to reduce CO2 emissions from coal- This research is considered to be one of the understanding of the role of fluidized-bed fired plants stateside. In October 2009, major contributions toward scaling up coal combustion systems. the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it will establish new limits on the emission of dangerous byproducts The WISER approach to sustainability utilizes a least-cost strategy to: from coal-fired plants by November 2011.  This marks a shift in policy established by Provide reliable, secure, and affordable energy the 1990 Clean Air Act, which set limits on  Improve energy efficiency and conservation the amount of toxic materials that entities  Continue the ongoing decarbonization of the global energy system could emit into the air but did not subject  Minimize wastes and pollutants power plants to those rules. Clean coal technology—and its WISER researchers believe that the endpoint of this evolution will be the electrification of necessary role in power generation as most stationary energy uses with such high-tech renewables as photovoltaics, solar-thermal defined by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—will help to drive a and wind energy, and the use of non-fossil-based fuel as the dominant transportation fuel. clean energy future. Such innovations as In other words, sustainable energy systems must meet two criteria: gasification-based power-generation plants,  The primary energy sources must be renewable or essentially inexhaustible. and CO separation and sequestration, are 2  The system must cause minimum CO emission or other potentially harmful, among the leading contenders for power 2 WISER Philosophy generation in projects such as FutureGen, dissipative material flows into the biosphere. a public/private collaboration to design, build, and operate the world’s first coal- fueled, near-zero-emission power plant. gasification processes from the laboratory His research is also leading to a new Compared to coal combustion-based power and pilot level to the commercial level. approach for predicting particle size plants, for example, the gasification- Using kinetic theory, Arastoopour distribution variation in the fluid/particle combined cycle processes have higher plant has developed a theory and model for and fluidized-bed processes due to particle efficiencies. The gasification processes the flow of multi-sized particles that is reaction, agglomeration, and breakage are capable of using various feedstocks, being used in the design of processes by linking population balance equations such as coal, residues from refineries and for coal gasification and separation of with CFD. His approach includes using petrochemical plants, and biomass. In hydrogen from CO2. His research is the method of moments in a finite-sized short, they are more versatile, efficient, being incorporated in the DOE’s MFIX domain using a complete set of orthogonal and cleaner alternatives. (Multiphase Flow with Interphase functions. This not only provides a highly Clean coal technology is one of the key eXchanges) computer program, efficient computational system, but also focus areas of research at IIT’s Wanger calculates reconstructed particle size Institute for Sustainable Energy Research. distribution. It is a major yet fundamental Several projects are currently underway, step in enhancing the design and addressing the efficient and advanced simulation of fluid/particle systems such as design of coal and solid waste gasification gas separation and coal gasification. and CO2 separation processes, hot gas For Gidaspow, coal cleanup is cleaning including desulfurization, and happening on a small scale, figuratively. mercury remediation. He has been using a different concept WISER Director and Henry R. Linden for the production of electricity from coal Professor of Energy Hamid Arastoopour using molten carbonate fuel cells. This (M.S. GE ’75, Ph.D. ’78) and Distinguished involves feeding fine coal particles, such as Professor Dimitri Gidaspow (Ph.D. GT ’62) nanoparticles, with steam into the anode are pioneers in the advanced design of compartment of the fuel cell in which

| 21 Dimitri Gidaspow WISER Research Initiatives

Clean coal is just one part of the country’s energy future. IIT’s Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research was founded in 2007 to unite energy and sustainability research activities at the waste heat from the fuel cell is used Industry is already benefiting from the university under one multidisciplinary to produce synthetic gas, which reacts one IIT study that shows coal has a way umbrella. Involving more than 40 faculty- electrochemically. Gidaspow has developed to go before it passes the white-glove a CFD model for the gasifier fuel cell. test. Associate Professor of Mechanical researchers, WISER activities are divided In FutureGen, the heat for the and Aerospace Engineering Herek Clack into three primary areas: gasification reaction is obtained from is researching how to remove mercury additional combustion of coal with emissions from coal-burning processes Energy production oxygen. Since molten carbonate and and developing more reliable emission- solid electrolyte fuel cells produce more control systems. He leads the Advanced • Clean coal technology than sufficient heat for coal gasification, Thermal and Environmental Systems • Production of methane from hydrates Gidaspow has developed a concept to Research Laboratory, which focuses on and unconventional sources combine the endothermic gasifier and the mass transfer associated with pre- and • Biofuels exothermic fuel cell into one unit to ideally post-combustion phenomena. As a member achieve 100 percent efficiency. In this of the United Nations Environment • Renewable energy (solar, hydrogen concept the product will be nearly pure Programme’s Global Mercury Partnership, storage, wind, fuel cells, and batteries)

CO2. The water needed for gasification will which aims to reduce global mercury be recycled, and the impurities in the coal emissions, Clack is helping to distribute Energy Efficiency, Conservation, will be removed from the CO2 stream and best practices that can be implemented by from the electrolyte through recycling. plants worldwide. and Sustainability Gas Technology Institute Associate The leading practice for reducing • Hybrid systems Professor Javad Abbasian (M.S. GE ’78, mercury emissions is to inject a powdered • Sustainable built environments Ph.D. ’86) is conducting research adsorbing material into the flue gases just (integrated photovoltaics and wind) directed toward the development of before the emissions enter an electrostatic high-temperature regenerable sorbents precipitator, where coal ash particles are • Innovative recycling solutions for removal of pollutants and greenhouse charged and extracted from the flue gas gases from advanced power processes, using an electric field. While ESPs can Power as well as improving and optimizing process large volumes of gas efficiently, • Installing a Perfect Power System gasification-based processes. Abbasian’s Clack’s review of DOE data on the on IIT’s Main Campus, a smart team at IIT has succeeded in developing effectiveness of ESPs—which involved a a number of highly reactive, durable, first-of-its-kind computer model of mercury grid project and attrition-resistant sorbents to capture by suspended particles—found • Enhancing power market remove H S, SO , NO , and CO from that the amount of mercury removal was 2 X X 2 operations with coordinated gas streams at high temperatures, exaggerated. The reason: powders injected wind/hydro/gas energy essentially eliminating solid wastes and at increasing levels coagulate, rendering the energy penalty associated with low- them less effective at filtering out the • Small hydroelectric temperature processes. The economics of mercury, something that industry experts the advanced gasification-based processes have suspected but not verified in large- can significantly improve with utilization scale tests. Using a laser-light extinction WISER: www.iit.edu/wiser of these sorbents and the selection of technique to detect coagulation, Clack’s the optimum process configuration and team verified the onset of coagulation in ATESR Lab: www.mmae.iit.edu/atesr_lab operating conditions predicted by the his research lab. simulation models.

22 | Two Generations of Scarlet Hawks, profile One Shared Interest alumni in Engineering

service in the company’s refinery chemicals group. As his career continued with American Cyanamid, he held various high-level positions, including assistant general manager of the plastics division, president of Cyanamid Canada, president of the organic and inorganic divisions, and president of the international divisions. As president international, he was responsible for one-half of Cyanamid’s sales and manufacturing. He adds with a smile, “I was very fortunate with the company.” Since retiring, Ben has remained an active IIT alumnus. He served on the Ben Loper [left] with Department of Chemical and Biological grandson, Michael Keane, Engineering’s Industrial Advisory Board, and wife, Ginny and has met all of the IIT presidents since Henry Heald. On a recent visit to campus to visit his grandson, he added President his country and hopes to be a pilot or ore than 60 years ago, John Anderson to his list. Ben’s pride engineer in the United States Air Force. Ben Loper (CHE ’50) in his university and the education he He is attending IIT through an Air Force took his first steps onto received at IIT is evident. ROTC scholarship, and was attracted to IIT’s campus to pursue Michael’s alumni story is yet to be the university because of its large ROTC his bachelor’s degree in written, but if he’s anything like his detachment. He was already well aware chemicalM engineering. This past August, grandfather, he’ll soon become another of the school through conversations with his grandson, Michael Keane, took those proud IIT graduate. Ben. “My grandfather mentioned going to same steps in pursuit of his own bachelor’s IIT quite a few times. Whenever he would degree in aerospace engineering. Air Force ROTC at IIT: talk about getting an education, he said he Both Ben and Michael’s interestsHamid Arastapoor in www.iit.edu/~recruiting was quite fortunate to receive an education engineering flourished at a young age. Ben from a school like IIT,” he adds. “I knew excelled in chemistry and physics in high that for the major I was looking at doing, school, fueling his desire to study chemical IIT would be one of the best colleges where engineering. He attended Mississippi I could receive my degree.” State College for a year before enlisting in Ben is thrilled his grandson is the Army Air Corps to fight in World War attending his alma mater. “When I learned II. After returning from the Southwest Michael was accepted and intended on Pacific, he enrolled at IIT and briefly enrolling at IIT, I was ecstatic. He knows considered switching to aeronautical that the school will be tough, but his engineering but decided to remain with dedication to learning and the help he chemical engineering. gets at IIT should enable him to succeed,” Always fascinated by airplanes, Ben says. aerospace engineering is a natural fit for Long retired, Ben still fondly Michael. “Ever since I was a little kid, remembers many of his teachers from IIT, flying has always fascinated me,” especially those who sparked his interests he explains. “Aerospace engineering is in oil refinery processes and heterogeneous the perfect major for me. It goes into a catalysts. After graduating in May 1950, depth about aircrafts that, right now, I Ben accepted a position with American can only imagine.” Cyanamid. He started out in research, Michael, a licensed pilot, also shares was promoted to plant operations and his grandfather’s aspiration to serve plant engineering, and then to technical

| 23 s a young girl growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1970s, Sherita Ceasar (ME ’81, M.S. ’84) dreamed of achieving the most out of life. Her early interest in mathematics and science, and a knack Afor problem solving, led Ceasar to IIT to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. Today, the determined girl from 38th and Wells sits near the pinnacle of corporate success as vice president of product engineering, cross platform applications, and engineering services for Comcast Cable, Inc. Sherita CEAsar From the South Side to Converged Technologies

Ceasar is no stranger to adversity. She Once on campus, Ceasar found herself and gained full-time employment there is the eldest sister to four brothers, and within an immediate community of after completing her master’s degree. gained a tremendous work ethic by helping African-American students, many of whom The experience proved invaluable to her, her working mother with the household. At also participated in the EID Program. exposing Ceasar to engineering mentors home, Ceasar loved to fix things; at school, She remembers, “It was a great experience who helped make theoretical problems she loved math and science, soaking up as we had come to know each other over taught in the classroom more realistic every opportunity to learn. A schoolteacher several summers, making it easy to get by allowing her to put them to practical once called her a “smart mouth,” a term into the campus life.” Ceasar continues, use. “The lessons learned at the research she concluded meant that being different “The experience was very welcoming institute gave me insights about delivering was cool. because the current African-American results when promised, navigating in a Her enthusiasm and motivation as students became our big brothers and corporate culture, and the importance of a student made her instantly stand out, sisters to help us navigate within IIT.” having a mentor,” she says. so much so that an IIT representative In her last semester as an In 1988, Ceasar joined Motorola, Inc. at a college fair determined her to be an undergraduate, Ceasar applied for and as a staff engineer and quickly rose excellent fit for the university’s Early received the Graduate Engineering through the ranks, eventually becoming IDentification Program (EID Program) in Minorities Scholarship, which allowed director of manufacturing for the North engineering and science. The program was her to choose between three colleges America Subscriber Paging Division in the designed in the 1970s to attract minorities for graduate studies. After receiving Paging Products Group of the company. to the disciplines by engaging them in encouragement from then mechanical At the time, she was the highest-ranking projects focused on skills development, engineering professor Lois Graham (M.S. African-American female engineer out education, and practical applications ME ’49, Ph.D. ’59), Ceasar decided to stay of 10,000 associates worldwide in the of engineering fundamentals. Ceasar at IIT to pursue her M.S. degree. Graham company’s paging group. Ceasar was excelled in the program and scored the became her thesis advisor. “At a time part of the leadership team that led second highest in the mechanical aptitude when one of her sex and color was rare in the division’s increase in revenue from exam, prompting her to enroll at IIT any engineering program, Sherita had $400 million to $3 billion in four years and major in mechanical engineering. her mother’s inspiration and support to in executive roles in quality The summer before her first year at the succeed to a level and in an area new to and manufacturing. university, she participated in her first her family,” says Graham. Ceasar left Motorola in 1996 to corporate internship with General Electric While earning her degree, Ceasar assume the position of vice president as a direct result of her performance in a worked part-time as a mechanical of quality and then vice president and mock interview through the program. technician at IIT Research Institute general manager of SciCare Broadband

24 | alumniprofile

Services of Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. There, Her path to success hasn’t always president and senior life member of the she expanded her already stellar résumé been easy. Throughout her career, Ceasar Society of Women Engineers. Additionally, with the responsibilities of new product says, she has faced stereotyping, gender Ceasar is on the board of Women in Cable development, manufacturing operations, discrimination, and racism, but has and Telecommunications, driving an quality assurance, and service business learned quickly to diffuse it with humor initiative called Tech It Out. The program management. She left the company in 2004 and education. Her commitment to was developed to build awareness of the to join Charter Communications, Inc. as providing Comcast’s customers with the gaps between men and women employed vice president and general manager for the best products possible drives her to strive in cable technology professions, to promote state of Georgia. for excellence each day. the cable technology profession and its Now, Ceasar sits at the near top of the She is also actively involved at IIT. opportunities, and to help empower telecommunications industry as a vice Ceasar is a member of the Board of women to enter these professions. Ceasar president at Comcast Cable, Inc. Her duties Trustees and a member of the IIT Alumni comments, “I’m very passionate about include the design, implementation, and Relations Board of Directors. For the past increasing the number of women in deployment of cross-platform applications; five years, she has served on the Advisory technical careers.” and the development, implementation, and Board for the Department of Mechanical, Her advice to women seeking a support of engineering analysis, product Materials, and Aerospace Engineering. career in engineering: focus on delivering trial and evaluations, product security, In this role, she collaborates with other results, find a mentor to help navigate the engineering development tools, and engineering leaders to contribute to the company’s culture, and build relationships engineering product lifecycle processes strategic planning for the growth and within and outside your team to build a requirements for PE video, data, voice, success of the department. She welcomes network for assistance and guidance. “If and cross-platform products supporting the opportunity to help with the direction you are passionate, all of the opportunities Comcast markets. The company has of the department, remarking, “I am very will come to you,” she adds. more than 24 million cable subscribers, proud of the mechanical engineering Ceasar is driven by solving tough making it the largest cable company in department at IIT. I enjoy staying engaged problems and accomplishing results. She the United States. with the department and knowing my has grown from a child who enjoyed fixing As a direct result of her management contributions are making a difference.” things to a well-respected businesswoman skills, business savvy, and technical Jamal Yagoobi, chair of the MMAE bestowed with numerous professional prowess, Ceasar often appears on the lists department, adds, “Sherita is an extremely accolades. Yet, she considers one thing to of top leaders in the telecommunications valuable member of MMAE’s Advisory be her greatest motivation. She says, “I industry, especially those recognizing Board, taking her responsibility seriously know that the things I do affect the lives women and minorities. “It gives me great and always contributing keen industry of many. At the end of the day, I know I’ve pleasure to see Sherita’s accomplishments, insight and constructive input toward the made a difference.” and I am glad to have had the opportunity growth of the department.” of working with her,” reflects Graham. Despite her busy schedule, Ceasar “Sherita is a hard worker and richly makes time to contribute to nonprofit deserves the recognition she has organizations dedicated to advancing been given.” women in technology. She is a past

Sherita Ceasar biography, Women in Technology International Hall of Fame: www.witi.com/center/witimuseum/halloffame/1999/sceasar.php IIT MMAE department: www.iit.edu/engineering/mmae Comcast: www.comcast.com

| 25 hat do Chicago’s John Hancock Center and moon dust have in common? W They are two projects Ernest Selig (M.S. MEC ’60, Ph.D. CE ’64) made substantial contributions to while pursuing his advanced degrees at IIT and working at IIT Research Institute. Selig, now retired, is regarded as a leading expert in geotechnical engineering, particularly in the areas of railroads and underground structures. He credits much of his success to the experiences he gained while a student at IIT.

Selig and his wife, Rae, recently made the generous gift dynamic loads; to be more specific, how buildings were affected of $105,000 to establish an endowed fellowship to help by a nuclear explosion,” adds McKee. “Soil mechanics was a current and future students in the Department of Civil, significant part of this group’s research for two reasons. First, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering achieve their highest many of the structures of interest were buried in the ground, and career aspirations. second, for above-ground structures, foundation failure was a Selig came to IIT after earning his bachelor’s degree in major challenge.” igh mechanical engineering from Cornell University, in a five-year As Selig’s interest in the subject area grew, he approached program that emphasized mechanics, industrial engineering, and former IIT professor Eban Vey about switching his major to business. He was attracted to IIT’s graduate programs because of civil engineering to continue his studies in soil dynamics. Selig the opportunity to combine engineering practices with coursework remembers, “This turned out to be a good decision all around. My H through IITRI. He adds, “Having IIT in the center of Chicago has career was very rewarding and exciting, and took me in different the added advantage of being able to meet with experienced directions, each step of the way providing new interests.”

professional engineers working at the highest levels in the major The opportunities presented to Selig while working at IITRI firms of the world.” during his studies and early in his career as manager of soil While Selig intended to pursue a master’s in applied mechanics research gave him the best possible classroom to mechanics, his career took a different path after he arrived develop his skills. On a visit to NASA, he learned the agency on campus. Keith McKee (CE ’50, M.S. ’56, Ph.D. ’62), was concerned about what kind of landing conditions spacecrafts Selig’s supervisor at IITRI and current director of IIT’s Industrial would encounter on the Moon. Selig asked if NASA would like Technology and Management Program, approached him the researchers at IITRI to look into the question, leading to Selig’s with a new challenge: become an expert in soil mechanics. important contributions to the United States’ mission to land on McKee indicated that IITRI needed someone with this capability the Moon. He was responsible for laboratory tests that created to meet the requirements of its research sponsors. He proceeded simulated moon dust and atmosphere in a replicated space to give Selig a pile of books and instructed him to see what he chamber to conduct penetration and weight-bearing experiments. could learn. This was the first research conducted on the subject and was “The primary focus of the research being done in our group critical to the development of a lunar-landing module. Selig’s work when Dr. Selig arrived was the behavior of structures under helped determine how much weight could be supported upon landing on the Moon. Back on Earth, Selig also made contributions to Chicago’s skyline, helping to pinpoint problems with the John Hancock iming Center’s foundation during construction. Developers of the sixth- tallest building in the United States had experienced shifting within the foundation below ground. Selig and his fellow IITRI A

Ernest and Rae, on campus 1957 26 | and editorial board member.and editorial board inas such roles chairman division leadership or committee served and Foundation Engineering. In manygroups, of these Selig of Soil Mechanics Society International and the Geotechnology, Railway for WayCommittee International Association, the Railway American the Engineering and Maintenance-of- above, In mentioned addition to those he was inactive Award. PipePolyethylene Association Award B. Charles Medal Dudley from ASTM, Corrugated and the L. Tighe Civil Engineering Distinguished Teaching Award, the Pipe James Association, Concrete the American from the Merit D. Pipeline Engineering Award, Bechtel Awardthe of Special ofawards, many professional national Stephen including the on railroads and pipelines. iscommittees Selig recipient also the ofTransportation the Research Board and anmember emeritus Testing for and Materials, EngineersSociety American and the of Civil profession. isHe Society a of American fellow the engineering his his for geotechnical to peers the contributions Massachusetts–Amherst. Civil and Environmental Engineeringof University at the of isinHe emeritus Department nowroadbeds. the professor of railroad performance and the and ofpipes culverts, buried interaction and organizationsprivate inof soil-structure fields the career,academic workedSelig asmany afor consultant public of PretoriaUniversity the Africa. inIn addition to hisSouth of Technology,Institute University, Oxford Massachusetts and as a visiting at areas inand research served professor these of infrastructure. part important in arebut curriculum engineering the a not included usually very was on pipes/culverts and railroad are engineering,that subjects focus His primary structures. and foundations, earth-retaining stability, structural highway embankments, earth-slope pavements, monitoring, design and utilization ofpipelines and culverts, buried engineering,ground for including instrumentation geotechnical positions, he involvedwas actively in of faculty research the both of ascivil a professor engineering. In Massachusetts–Amherst of New York In 1978, at Buffalo. of joinedSelig University the professor,and later of University civil State at engineering the evaluating performance. in conditionsof variability field and about adifficulty great deal Highway Program.Interstate participants the taught The project highway for was Federal the The application for construction. within our group,” McKee. says 10 years of earning a Ph.D. young Dr.“The wasSelig a star in achievements Engineering within engineering outstanding for of Mechanical Tau Society American from the SigmaMedal Gold and many years of delay. Thisremovedbe and a replaced. inlarge caused increase cost column column.requireddefective the The solution that concrete causing ofa mud layer sucked intohorizontal to be voidthe of the at lower depths, columns separated had concrete the They found to investigate. to were use their tester researchers dynamic called Selig wasSelig involved also heavily in organizations. professional hisThroughout career, great recognition from received Selig of his in support more200 than published articles He in IITRI 1968 left Selig professor, an associate to become specifications wasproject earthwork to develop Another him at IITRI, leading continued His to Pireceive the success IIT CAEE department: IIT Research Institute: further benefit theireducation. benefit further to similar to willseek chance have opportunities the students a mold career. Now, through his and his wife’s kindness, CAEE to Dr. their gratitude and their Mrs. generosity.”for Selig fromthis to benefit gift,and would likeare fortunate to express and students The CAEE faculty objectives. in educational needs right at arrived the newstime usour to and help certainly meet Mohammadi, CAEE chair. “Dr. Selig’s was gift generous welcome resources,”additional for a need has prompted remarks Jamshid his career. ashim he started tremendously they helped believes in wasSelig during to partake hisable studies, and graduate he were in activities. These opportunities interdisciplinary themselves and involve to intravel conferences, societies, professional involved recipients willthe engineering. also become hopes Selig or engineering,structural transportation, geotechnical inyear who is each soilinterested mechanics, student through this gift.”of current students by support the returned be major role in this could of achievement. some this that Ibenefit felt career,adds, “I’ve successful a had and and aIITRI had IIT very of Engineering,fellowshipendowed College in Armour IIT Selig and I am proud to call himaccolades, a friend.” His has wonresearch colleague. himfriendly many and honors worker, research as a dedicated and as a most and congenial “Dr. at IITRI, asserts, me colleague hasSelig always impressed and Selig’sof Engineering Emeritus in CAEE the department Selig toisSelig help a believerfirm inexperiences professional in five past the years of CAEE growth the department “The The fellowship to one CAEE willgraduate provide support an Regardingand Selig his that gift the to support wife made Sidney Guralnick, Perlstein IIT Distinguished Professor E L I F O R P www.iit.edu/engineering/cae donor www.iitri.org | 27 Zalman Lavan Henry R. Linden Zalman Lavan (M.S. Henry R. Linden (Ph.D. ME ’62, Ph.D. ’65), CHE ’52) was an icon who served on the IIT at IIT and a global faculty from 1965– authority in energy 1991, was MMAE research and policy. professor emeritus and An IIT faculty member a pioneer in the fields since 1954, Linden most of heat and mass recently was the transfer, solar energy, and computational fluid Max McGraw Professor of Energy and Power dynamics. He earned international recognition Engineering and Management, director of the IIT for his work in alternative energy sources and Energy + Power Center, and a member of the held multiple United States patents for his advisory boards for IIT’s Wanger Institute for groundbreaking research. Sustainable Energy Research and Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. During his time with MMAE, he supervised a multitude of master’s and Ph.D. dissertations, Linden served the Institute of Gas Technology in was a member of several professional societies, various management capacities for 30 years, and consulted for many energy companies including 17 years as director and four years throughout the country. In 1976, Lavan and a as president and trustee. He was instrumental small team of his students won the top prize in establishing the Gas Research Institute, the in an international university competition on United States natural gas industry’s cooperative alternative energy in Albuquerque, N.M., research and development arm, and served beating out 37 entries including those of as its first president and member of the board Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the of directors from 1977–1987. In 2000,

obituaries University of California Berkeley, and other IGT and GRI merged to form the Gas major institutions, with a groundbreaking Technology Institute. prototype for efficient solar energy conversion. With the global energy crisis of the 1970s, he After retiring from GRI, he turned his energy was a sought-after, dynamic speaker throughout and attention to establishing a comprehensive the world, firmly at the forefront of finding new research and education program in sustainable solutions for alternative energy sources. global energy development at IIT. As interim president of IIT from 1989–1990, Linden oversaw a year of important developments, including an $8 million grant from the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation to upgrade

IIT Armour College of Engineering 2009–2010 Board of Overseers

Sherita Ceasar (ME ’81, M.S. ’84) Pradeep Khosla Paul F. McKenzie Vice President Dean, Carnegie Institute of Technology Vice President Product Engineering, Cross Platform Philip and Marsha Dowd Professor Biologics Pharmaceutical Development and Applications, and Engineering Analysis Founding Co-Director, CyLab Marketed Product Support Comcast Cable, Inc. Carnegie Mellon University Centocor R&D, Inc. Robert A. Cornog (MET ’61) Sangtae Kim Bhakta B. Rath (Ph.D. METM ’63) Retired Chairman, President, and Executive Director Associate Director of Research Chief Executive Officer Morgridge Institute for Research Head, Materials Science and Component Snap-on Incorporated Bruce C. Liimatainen (ME ’77) Technology Directorate Arlene A. Juracek (MAE ’72), Co-Chair Chairman and Chief Executive Officer United States Naval Research Laboratory Retired Vice President A. Finkl & Sons Co. Leonard Reiffel (EE ’47, M.S. ’48, Ph.D. ’53) Energy Acquisitions Linda S. Manning (EE ’72) Chairman and Chief Technical Officer Exelon/ComEd Co-Founder Exelar Medical Corporation Groupe Manning, LLC

28 | the residential and athletic facilities of the added, and Stuart School of Business was interface, the magazine of Illinois Institute of university and to begin work on the university’s founded. During his tenure, IIT grew to be Technology Armour College of Engineering, is Downtown Campus. the biggest engineering school in the United published annually in cooperation with the Office of States, a period IIT historians refer to as a Communications and the Office of Alumni Relations Linden was a member of the National “golden age” for the university. for alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of Armour Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the College of Engineering. American Association for the Advancement Before joining IIT, Rettaliata, a fluid dynamicist, of Science, the American Institute of Chemical was employed by Allis-Chalmers, where Natacha DePaola he worked building steam turbines for Engineers, and the Institute of Energy. He Carol and Ed Kaplan Armour College served on several federal advisory bodies military destroyers, earning a position on the Dean of Engineering dealing with energy policy, technology, United States National Advisory Council’s 312.567.3009, [email protected] and regulation, beginning with the Kennedy subcommittee on aeronautics gas turbines. administration, and held a presidential He worked during and after World War II in John Kallend appointment during the Ford administration. consultation with the U.S. Navy and Air Force Associate Dean An author or co-author of more than 240 on gas turbines and other projects. publications and 27 patents, he wrote and 312.567.3054, [email protected] lectured extensively on U.S. and world energy While president of IIT, Rettaliata held a seat issues throughout his lifetime. In 2008, AIChE on the National Advisory Council on Marilyn Birden named him to its One Hundred Engineers Aeronautics, and then was appointed by Assistant Dean for Administrative and External Affairs of the Modern Era list in celebration of the President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the 312.567.6477, [email protected] organization’s centennial anniversary. National Aeronautics and Space Council, the planning body of the newly formed National Darci McHale John T. Rettaliata Aeronautics and Space Administration. Budget Manager John T. Rettaliata Attending bi-monthly meetings in the White 312.567.3848, [email protected] was IIT’s second House cabinet room, Rettaliata and the other president following council members drew up plans for what Courtney Leigh Beisel the merger of would be the United States space program. Writer Armour Institute of Technology and Office of Communications: Lewis Institute, and Chelsea Kalberloh Jackson oversaw the greatest Design: Nancy Schoon growth period in the history of the university. Photos: Scott Benbrook, Bonnie Robinson Rettaliata served as president of IIT between 1952–1973, during which time Main Campus IIT Armour College of Engineering was built, Chicago-Kent College of Law was 10 West 32nd Street Engineering 1 Building, Room 220 Chicago, IL 60616-3793 Phone: 312.567.3009 Fax: 312.567.7961 Email: [email protected] Web: www.engineering.iit.edu

Amir Shahkarami Subodh K. Toprani (EE ’77, M.S. ’82) IIllinois Institute of Technology is accredited Senior Vice President Chief Executive Officer by The Higher Learning Commission of the Exelon Nuclear ZettaCore, Inc. North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Site Vice President Commission url: Henry J. West (ME ’65) Braidwood Nuclear Station www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org Executive Vice President Commission phone: 312.263.0456 Carl S. Spetzler (CHE ’63, M.B.A. ’65, The Marmon Group Ph.D. BE ’68), Chair Kenneth J. Zdunek (Ph.D. EE ’91) Chairman interface is printed on FSC certified Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Strategic Decisions Group recycled paper. Read it, share it, recycle it. Roberson and Associates, LLC Tim Stojka IEEE Fellow, WiNCom Research Center If you would prefer to receive an electronic Chief Executive Officer Senior Research Scholar, Department of copy, please notify the interface editor at Fast Heat, Inc. Electrical and Computer Engineering [email protected]. Illinois Institute of Technology

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You can be a bridge for the future

To uphold the Armour Help Us to Identify the Next Alumni Scholarship Application College tradition Generation of Engineers Children and grandchildren of alumni, and of excellence in If you know a talented prospective siblings of currently enrolled students at IIT are first-year or transfer undergraduate eligible to apply for the Alumni Undergraduate engineering education, engineering student, please email Scholarship (awards range from $1,000–$2,500). we ask Armour alumni or call Jerry Doyle, vice provost For more information, please contact Jill to help connect IIT for undergraduate enrollment Sifuentes, associate director for undergraduate with the brightest and and financial aid ([email protected], enrollment and recruitment, at [email protected]. 312.567.5203). The student will most promising future receive a letter indicating that you First-Semester Book Voucher students. You can be referred him/her, along with our New first-year or transfer students who enroll a valuable partner in viewbook about the undergraduate at IIT upon the recommendation of an Armour our future—and theirs. programs at Armour. We will also alumnus will receive a $100 book voucher in the send the student, free of charge, a Armour alumni’s name toward the purchase of copy of “Engineering: Go for It!” their first-semester’s books in IIT Armour College an informative 64-page guide to a of Engineering. career in engineering and technology published by the American Society There is no better testimony to the quality of for Engineering Education for high an IIT education than the endorsement of its school students, their parents, and alumni. Thank you for lending your support their guidance counselors. to this important Armour College initiative.

http://iit.edu/undergrad_admission