Civilremarks Civil and Environmental Engineering at Maryland
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FALL 2017 | THE A. JAMES CLARK SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING CIVILREMARKS CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AT MARYLAND Better Together Cross-cutting capstone equips graduates for professional careers Chair’s As our alumni know, the University You’ll also meet current students and recent graduates of Maryland Department of Civil and who leveraged our active student groups to apply Message Environmental Engineering is ded- classroom knowledge and hone the skills needed to icated to equipping students with be successful in the years after graduation. the knowledge and skills needed to And you’ll learn about a nine-year partnership with tackle grand challenges. We have a the U.S. Department of Agriculture that has given proud history of providing hands- students the rare opportunity to impact national on experiences, mentorship, and efforts to preserve the environment. challenging research, co-curricular, These and numerous other endeavors are made extracurricular, and service-learning possible by dedicated faculty and staff, exceptional opportunities. students, and engaged, generous alumni. My deepest In this issue of Civil Remarks, you’ll read about some thanks to all those who work for the success of our of the strategies our faculty employ to not only build students as we look forward to another great year in engineering knowledge but also instill professional Glenn L. Martin Hall. best practices, raise awareness of important social issues surrounding the field, and foster an appreciation for multidisciplinary collaboration. Charles W. Schwartz, Ph.D. PROFESSOR AND CHAIR DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING TABLE OF CONTENTS CIVILREMARKS CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING 1 Better Together 10 Alumna Spotlight: Martina Driscoll AT MARYLAND PUBLISHER 4 Innovative Teaching Strategies in 11 Women Forge New Opportunities Department of Civil and Environmental CEE: Redefining the Norm for CEE Students Engineering Charles W. Schwartz, CHAIR 5 More Than Calculations: Course 12 Jose Torero Directs Center EDITORIAL & DESIGN STAFF Offers Holistic Understanding of for Disaster Resilience Anjanette Riley, EDITOR Sustainability Laura Figlewski, ART DIRECTOR 12 Michelle Bensi Joins CEE Faculty 6 Student Concrete Group Earns COVER AND FEATURE PHOTOS 12 Lui, Xui Recognized for Scholarly Terrapin Design Group and Al Santos Regional, National Recognition Excellence 6 UMD Solar-Powered House Bears 13 Faculty Achievements Fingerprints of CEE Students 13 Student Achievements 7 Student Spotlight: Sami Khan 8 UMD, USDA Partnership Puts Student Research Into Action 9 Steel Bridge Team Builds Their Way to Nationals at UMD-Led Event Civil Remarks is published annually for alumni and friends of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland. Please send letters to the editor and alumni notes to [email protected]. Better Together 1 Community gathering spaces, stormwater filtration, and high- University of Maryland’s quality retail just steps away from residences—these and other amenities proposed by Terrapin Design Group will reinvigorate civil and environmental Rossborough Lane in College Park and support users of the Maryland Transit Administration’s new Purple Line light rail. engineering capstone One of a dozen design proposals under consideration, the project will also harmonize with the University of Maryland (UMD) historic campus. integrates six civil If it were real. But in fact the design firm, proposal, and bid competition exist only in Glenn L. Martin Hall, where seniors engineering fields to in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) are fulfilling the final requirement of their capstone course. Like many capstone courses, ENCE 466 challenges students better equip students to complete a design project with real-world parameters. What sets the UMD curriculum apart is its melding of for professional careers. transportation, structural, geotechnical, water resources, and environmental engineering principals, as well as project man- agement, into a single, semester-long project. “This course is the jewel of our undergraduate program,” said Charles Schwartz, CEE chair. “With its multidisciplinary focus and seamless integration of industry mentors, ENCE 466 helps our students hit the ground running after graduation.” A. JAMES CLARK SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING | GLENN L. MARTIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY The Making of a Company Design, Revise, Repeat Spring 2017 firms, for example, were Terrapin Design Group began much like With each firm established, the three- charged with designing a transportation every capstone firm in the last decade. credit course begins to mimic the and building site plan that created a The eight-person team was one of 12 traditional project development process. total of 160,000 square feet of retail, created in Spring 2017 with special care “In the first phase, the teams develop office, and residential space near a to distribute expertise in the three CEE at least two design alternatives and proposed Purple Line station. The tracks: geotechnical and structural, compare their impacts to the base case teams also had to make room for 234 transportation and project management, impacts,” explained Anderson. “They’ll parking spots, on-site bicycle parking, and environmental and water resources. give a midterm presentation where they and a 30-dock bike sharing station. This mix and match of specialties is justify why they chose to move one To accommodate larger crowds, students largely functional—each firm is, after all, alternative to the next phase. Then I’ll introduced turning lanes, reconfigured expected to put forward a comprehensive throw a little detour their way before intersections, planned out additional design proposal. But the benefits extend they complete a detailed design in the pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and modi- far beyond the project at hand. final phase.” fied the Purple Line train signal priority. “Working with people in different The project changes with each semester. Final proposals also featured strategies disciplines to solve a cross-cutting problem Students use real data—including CADD to address stormwater runoff from the simply makes for better engineers,” said files showing existing topography and roofs, sidewalks, and other impervious 2 “This course is the jewel of our undergraduate program. With its multidisciplinary focus and seamless integration of industry mentors, ENCE 466 helps our students hit the ground running after graduation.” CHARLES SCHWARTZ, CEE CHAIR IMAGE: AL IMAGE: SANTOS Russ Anderson B.S. ’97, M.E. ’14, a trans- underground features, recent traffic surfaces called for in the designs. In portation engineer at Wallace Montgomery counts, soil borings, and property plats accordance with Maryland’s stormwater and the ENCE 466 instructor. “It helps —to develop an alternative to current management laws, students integrated them understand how problems are conditions or a proposed master plan natural hydrology and nature-based approached differently across fields and scenario. Final designs must adhere controls to capture and treat runoff from what constraints others face.” to local codes and engineering best their sites. “The real world requires people to practices while balancing overarching “The fact that we had a class where communicate and work in multidisciplinary goals of safety, mobility, sustainability, each one of our disciplines was actually teams to accomplish a challenge in a set livability, and economic vitality. working together on a simulated, real- time frame and budget,” added STV “It’s ultimately just a glimpse of what life project was really interesting and Incorporated Senior Vice President Joel working in a consulting firm is really an amazing opportunity,” said Sami Oppenheimer, who has advised capstone like,” admitted Schnabel Engineering Khan, who completed the course in students for more than 10 years on Associate Bill Billiet B.S. ’06, M.E. ’13. Fall 2016. “It was one of my favorite nontechnical career skills. “But that glimpse is invaluable.” classes.” CIVIL REMARKS | 2017 A Jury of Their Peers of Transportation State Highway given ample opportunity for professional In the final days of the semester, capstone Administration Regional and Intermodal development. firms present their designs to two very Planning Division. Weekly lecture topics range from best practices for different pavement different audiences: community members Judges score elements of each design on types to the importance of honing and technical experts. a scale of 0 to 10 as firms walk through strong communication skills. “Civil engineers—we’re the only detailed mockups of the proposed struc- Some lectures are given by Anderson, ones who have to regularly work with tures, transportation modifications, and but others come from government and the public,” said Anderson, adding that stormwater controls. Students also present industry guests. It’s a tradition that began the emphasis he puts on developing a a plan for connecting new buildings to with Donald Vannoy, who taught the public outreach plan is inspired by his the grid and lay out a construction and class for roughly 20 years before retiring experiences in the Maryland Department cost schedule. in 2006. of Transportation. “The integration of industry assessment “It is important to connect education After providing a project overview in the final grade is one of the major and industry for the long-term good of tailored to the public,