I am thrilled that the Dean’s Office will be up to full staff by mid-June with the addition of Dr. John Reis, as associate dean, and Chris Duffrin’s return from pulling double duty here and in the grants office. It is my sincerest wish that having a full staff will open more lines of communication, eliminate confusion involving time sensitive issues and most of all, create a working environment that fosters, not prohibits, free and open thinking thus generating positive actions.

As a brief retrospective look into the past couple months, we have all had to face some difficult circumstances. However, I am ecstatic that our faculty has continued to place constant emphasis on our students and the betterment of their education.

Furthermore, I am very pleased to see that our faculty members are taking the initiative to stay involved in community service projects, business and industry partnerships as well as student and professional groups outside the campus walls. These relationships are beneficial on so many levels from recruiting prospective students to raising funds for new and existing programs to establishing our college’s future as a benchmark for success.

So enjoy your time off this summer, if you have any, and I hope you come back as excited as I am for what I know will be another successful year in the College of Technology and Computer Science.

Features

Making Headlines

ECU Notes: Tech, science faculty presenting at conferences
The Daily Reflector
Monday, May 21, 2007

The College of Technology and Computer Science had several faculty members participating in conferences this weekend.

Associate professor Merwan Mehta with the department of technology systems was a speaker at the 2007 International Conference on Software Process held Saturday and
Sunday in Minneapolis. Mehta was scheduled to discuss topics involving the conference theme "Coping with Software Process Dynamics and Agility."

Following the software conference in Minneapolis, Mehta flew to Nashville to join two department chairmen and three faculty members presenting papers at the 2007 Annual Conference of the Institute of Industrial Engineers. That conference continues until Wednesday.

Mehta, along with department of technology systems chairman Andrew E. Jackson, was scheduled to present a paper on how companies can improve job scheduling. Mehta also will present two other papers.

Paul Kauffman, department of engineering chairman, presented a paper he co-wrote with East Carolina University professor Erol Ozan and University of North Carolina at Charlotte professor Yesim Sireli about product failure in new information systems.

Engineering assistant professor B.J. Kim presented a paper on how to decrease the risk of older adults falling while walking down stairs.

Technology systems professor Sandra Furterer discussed her research involving faculty from the University of Central Florida. It focused on preparing engineers for leadership and management roles as well as recruiting strategies for hiring minorities and omen into the industrial engineering field.

Engineering associate professor Evelyn Brown is serving as a chairwoman of one of the systems engineering sessions.

Construction management students save the day for local Greenville woman
Wheel chair ramp is built at her home
East Carolinian: Jami Davia, Reporter Issue date: 5/30/07

Thanks to several members of the ECU construction management program, the Jarvis Methodist Church "Shepherd's Helpers" and the Pitt County Kiwanis Club, Jane Minton now has a wheelchair ramp at her home.

The ramp was built on May 18 so that Minton could freely travel to and from her home on Sunnyside Road.

Minton has suffered from a stroke, two heart attacks and is currently battling Alzheimer's disease, which has involuntarily made her wheelchair bound, and forced to spend most of her time inside.

Roy, her son, act as her primary caregiver, providing fulltime assistance to his mother. Before the ramp was built he had to carry her in and out of the house if they traveled, therefore remaining inside had ultimately prevailed because movement was so difficult.

Minton is now able to travel the distance on her own due to the voluntary work done by the three groups.

The workers constructed a new porch and a system of ramps off the back of her home which makes traveling a whole new experience in itself.

Two large ramps were built with a platform in-between so that Minton would have an alternative, other than the porch, to rest outside.

The Pitt County Kiwanis Club funded most of the materials for this project and Shepherd's Helpers contributed the equipment and tools.

"A large part of what our construction management program teaches in not only management skills, but a sense of service and of giving back to the community,

"As a business person, I want my students to understand that while they will be contractors and will ultimately hold managerial positions they also must give back to the community," said Ronald Sessoms, construction management instructor.

The construction management students and faculty provided the labor and sparked an appreciatory response from the ECU administration.

"We always encourage our students and faculty to make an impact on the community and I am tremendously proud of all that the department of construction management, it's faculty and it's staff do to make us a success," said Ralph Rogers, dean of the College of Technology and Computer Science.

Asa Doolittle, construction management student, was on-site with this project from the very beginning.

"The experience was amazing and the most rewarding part was the look on Ms. Minton's face when shewas brought out and shown what we had created for her.

"Her son was wonderful as well, it was nice to see how appreciative and down to earth someone can truly be," said Doolittle.

This project proved beneficial for both the Minton's as well to those who participated in the undertaking.

"Overall it was a great experience and it also had a happy ending," Doolittle said.

ECU Construction Management Receives Scholarship Check at ECU Baseball Game vs. Central Florida
Date: May 9, 2007
Immediate Release

GREENVILLE (5/9/2007) – The East Carolina University Department of Construction Management was presented with a scholarship check from a local professional group during the May 12, 2007 baseball game between ECU and Central Florida.

Rob Haas, president of the Coastal Plains chapter of the Professional Construction Estimators Association (PCEA) presented a check to Dr. Douglas Kruger, the chair of ECU’s Department of Construction Management.

In 1994, the Coastal Plains chapter of the PCEA, based in Greenville, contributed $10,000 to endow a Construction Management scholarship and has increased it to $17,000 over the years.

As East Carolina celebrates its centennial, the Coastal Plains PCEA is committed to help ECU begin its second hundred years through scholarship support. With an endowment goal of $35,000, this $4,000 contribution will move the Coastal Plains Scholarship toward an annual $1,500 scholarship for an aspiring construction professional.

Construction Management has long been one of the best programs on ECU’s campus for providing students with job opportunities straight out of college. Approximately 40 members of the Coastal Plains chapter attended Saturday’s baseball game to show their support of ECU, the College of Technology and Computer Science and the Department of Construction Management.

Six current ECU baseball players are majoring in Construction Management including Josh Dowdy, Brandon Henderson, Cody Leggett, Shane Matthews, Dustin Sasser and Broc Sutton.

EAST CAROLINA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND COMPUTER SCIENCE EXPANDS BSIT PROGRAM TO INCLUDE CRAVEN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
New Bern Sun Journal— May 31, 2007

HAVELOCK — Starting this fall, students can get a degree from East Carolina or N.C. State without leaving Craven County, thanks to a new partnership announced Thursday at Craven Community College’s Havelock campus.

University Connections, a partnership between CCC and the universities, will allow students to complete the requirements for a bachelor’s or associate’s degree at CCC.
Seventeen degree programs, including business, communications, health information, industrial technology, education and nursing - will be available through University Connections.

“It means more people with skills to make us a more competitive community and region,” said Scott Ralls, president of CCC. “Most of the reasons why students can’t complete degrees are financial. This provides opportunities for students to do it without financial problems.”

Tuition rates and fees are lower at the community college than on university campuses, Ralls said. The cost per credit hour on a university campus is about $140, while a community college is about $40, said Bill Fortney the eastern regional director for distance engineering programs at N.C. State.

Additionally, Ralls said that University Connections is an attractive option for anyone stationed at Cherry Point.

An associate’s degree can be completed on site or on the Internet. The last two years of a bachelor’s degree must be completed on a CCC campus.

Resources for the program are taken care of by the schools, which doesn’t put a strain on any member of the partnership, said Ralls.

“The staffing is provided by the universities,” he said.

“Craven provides the facilities.”

Officials from ECU and N.C. State say the program will benefit everyone involved.

“What we’re doing here is capping the work of what Craven Community College is doing, not replacing it,” said Clayton Sessoms, director of the division of continuing studies at ECU. “It’s a bargain. It’s a good model, and the North Carolina system has done a good job with this.”

Fortney said the program also helps N.C. State reach its goals.

“One of our missions is outreach and making that education opportunity available to everyone,” said Fortney. “It makes it available in a format palatable for their lifestyle.”

This is not CCC’s first partnership with either university. CCC’s college transfer efforts began with a collaborative teacher-preparation program with ECU and a 2+2 ngineering collaboration with N.C. State.

College of Technology and Computer Science Faculty and Staff to assess Mid-Currituck Bridge Project

GREENVILLE (June 4, 2007) - Engineers, economists and geographers from East Carolina University received $927,000 in contracts from the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the North Carolina Turnpike Authority to assist in the supporting studies in the assessment of a new bridge across the Currituck Sound.

ECU researchers recently began work on traffic, natural resource and socio-economic studies of the proposed seven-mile Mid-Currituck Bridge that would connect the Currituck County mainland with the Currituck County Outer Banks.

ECU Project Director Ernest Marshburn said he and his colleagues are pleased to provide technical assistance to state transportation officials and other decision-makers.

“ECU’s role is to be supportive as a state agency and to conduct research related to the project’s environmental impact statement,” said Marshburn, who is the director of strategic initiatives in the Division of Research and Graduate Studies at ECU.

The $927,000 contract is the first of a three-year, $1.7 million effort to assist in the evaluation of the environmental and economic impacts of the proposed bridge. As part of the federal surface transportation bill passed in 2005, Congress earmarked funding for the study through NCDOT's federal highway apportionment.

Along with Marshburn and project manager/professor of engineering Evelyn Brown, faculty members and students from ECU’s departments of engineering and geography, and the College of Business are conducting the studies.

Paul Kauffmann, chair of the engineering department, is working on the traffic study with College of Technology and Computer Science faculty members Brown, B.J. Kim, Erol Ozan and Richard Monroe.

Amy Blizzard, professor of geography, is conducting a natural resource impact study with faculty members Dan Marcucci, Karen Mulcachy and ECU student Katerine Ball.

Jim Kleckley, professor of business, is conducting an economic impact assessment with retired business faculty member Louis “Buddy” Zincone and ECU student Chris Young.

Students in the News

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
2007 Spring Commencement Ceremony

	From Left to Right: Dr. Paul Kauffmann, Department of Engineering chair; Dr. John Placer, Department of Computer Science chair, Dr. Ralph Rogers, College of Technology and Computer Science dean; Dr. Douglas Kruger, Department of Construction Management chair; Dr. Andrew Jackson, Department of Technology Systems chair
An excited faculty makes the walk to Wright Auditorium	Here come the newest College of Technology and Computer Science Graduates!!!
Let the handing out of diplomas begin

Bring on the Graduating Class of 2007!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE COLLEGE OF
TECHNOLOGY AND COMPUTER SCIENCEGRADUATES!!!
WE WISH YOU ALL THE SUCCESS IN THE WORLD!!!

MORE STUDENT NEWS

Technology Systems students Christopher Tyson and Reginald Knight accompanied Mark Angolia to Las Vegas as guests of the National Electronic Distributor Association and Project Host to the Electronic Distributor Show May 13-15.

The students participated in three (4) hour sessions with industry executives and participated in meetings between distributors, customers and suppliers to discuss a wide range of topics including annual performance, benchmark reviews, sales figures, delivery status, inventory goals and management.

This conference was attended by students and faculty from Perdue, Texas A&M, University of Houston, Eastern Michigan University and East Carolina University.

FACULTY AND STAFF

Recently, Dr. David L. Batie chaired the Dissertation Defense of Thomas Burns, a Construction Management student in the Indiana State Consortium PhD in Technology Management. His dissertation topic was “The Effect of Selected Request for Information Variables on Steel Fabrication Outcomes”. What differed in this defense from the traditional television video conferencing used in previous defenses was the use of the ECU’s Centra web-conferencing program.

Burns was able to present his defense to faculty members at ECU, Indiana State University, Pittsburg State University, and the University of Cincinnati. Because of the summer scheduling, two of the faculty members were at home using the program. By having simultaneous audio and video capabilities, the dialog between faculty members was more robust and allowed for complete interaction.

Dr. Batie intends to continue to use the Centra system in an upcoming defense in spring 2008.

Dr. Ronnie W. Smith of the Department of Computer Science recently completed service as an Ad Hoc member of the Graduate Faculty of Duke University. Dr. Smith served as director of the Ph.D. committee for Dr.

Shannon Pollard. Dr. Pollard's dissertation is on "Defining the Complexity of Natural Language Dialogue System Domains".

As noted in a letter acknowledging this act of service by Professor David Bell, Associate Dean of the Graduate School at Duke, "Duke's commitment for high standards of graduate research quality depends upon the active participation of recognized authorities in the area of research for each of our doctoral candidates. Based on your [Smith's] credentials and status in the field, the faculty of the Department of Computer Science voted to ask you to chair the committee.... This kind of arrangement is quite rare at Duke.”

Dr. Pollard received her undergraduate degree from East Carolina University in 1997. She currently serves as an assistant professor in Computer Science at Elon University.

Dr. Erich Connell has obtained LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) AP (Accredited Professional for New Construction), and is currently the only faculty or staff member at East Carolina University having this certification. He has plans further involvement with the USGBC in areas of Residential Construction and Existing Construction for LEED-AP, with hopes of incorporating Dr. Erich Connell Ron Sessoms Dr. Ronnie Smith Dr. David Batie sustainability issues in construction into our curriculum. Dr. Connell and Ron Sessoms are starting up an Emerging Green Builders (EGB) student organization this semester.

Dr. Connell and Dr. Huanqing Lu worked with William Seyler of Bovis Lend Lease of Raleigh, NC and presented a published collaborative paper at the National Association of Industrial Technology (NAIT) Conference in Cleveland, OH. The paper dealt with the issue of wireless field configured communications that expedite the construction process by reducing decision making time and improving communications in the construction field. While at the conference, Dr. Connell was nominated as co-chair of the Construction special interest group for the NAIT Conference.

Dr. Connell, Dr. Jack Patterson, Mr. Danny Lee Morton, Dr. David L. Batie, and Dr. Douglas Kruger attended the National Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Conference in Flagstaff, AZ in April 2007. Dr. Patterson was Co-Chair of the Mechanical Electrical Academic Consortium (MEAC) Boot Camp held prior to the ASC Conference. The Boot Camp provides faculty members with the opportunity to learn how programs are addressing Mechanical and Electrical classes in other Construction Management programs. Dr. Connell conducted a session on “Lighting” at the Boot Camp. Dr. Batie attended the LEED Certification training session, and also presented a paper: “West End Project – A “Hard Hats” Service Learning Class”. Dr. Connell and Dr. Patterson also presented their on-going research on the Residential Construction Management (RCM) program at a “Research in Progress” session.

Morton, Dr. Patterson, and Lab Supervisor Katy Griffin are compiling a textbook for Small Contractors. The textbook is a practical guide to Quality Management utilizing the ISO 9001 Standard as a foundation for creating a Quality Manual and development of process control documents typically used in Construction. The text will serve as a basis for effective Contract Administration, Quality Control, and efficient Productivity and methods for productivity enhancement.

Dr. Connell, Dr. Lu and Sessoms attended the symposium in Washington, DC as part of the National Building Museum’s education programs; “Sustainable Design: New Directions in Affordable Housing” on May 29, 2007. The program included principles, policies, financing and politics of sustainability and Greening of the housing in the USA. This event was a national event had over 160 attendees from 16 states.

Dr. Christopher Duffrin has been named to the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research (NCABR) and will serve as its Treasurer. NCABR is the only organization in the state dedicated to advancing all North Carolinians’ appreciation for the remarkable benefits of bioscience research and careers. To date, more than 2,000 North Carolina K-12 teachers have participated in NCABR’s science education programs, more than a thousand North Carolinians have attended an NCABR public forum to debate biomedical research issues, and dozens of members of the North Carolina and national media have attended an NCABR science journalism program. Duffrin will serve a three year term on the Executive Board which also includes Dr. R. Randal Bollinger, Vice-Chair of Surgery at the Duke University Medical Center and Dr. Linda A. Dykstra, Dean of the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

ECU and TECS Faculty Awarded Grants for Research Projects

East Carolina University’s Division of Research and Graduate Studies awarded 21 faculty members more than $485,000 this spring in development awards for research projects.

“These awards provide seed funds for faculty members to develop preliminary data for a major research grant application to an external sponsor,” according to the division’s Vice Chancellor Deirdre Mageean. “The goal of this program is to increase both the amount of externally supported research at ECU and the number of faculty members with external support.”

Past recipients of these awards have obtained, to date, 17 grants totaling almost $2.5 million.

This year’s recipients from the College of Technology and Computer Science include:

• Dr. Tarek Abdel-Salam (Engineering) with Dr. Gerald Micklow (Engineering): “The Use of Triethylaluminum as a Scramjet Fuel Condition & Ignition Source” $15,101.
• Dr. Purvis Bedenbaugh (Engineering) with Audrey Jenkins (Comparative edicine)
  “Representation of Speech Sounds in the Auditory Thalamus” $20,000.
• Dr. Gerald Micklow (Engineering) with Dr. Tarek Abdel-Salam (Engineering): “Modeling of Biodiesel Fuel Sprays for Direct Injection Diesel Engine Configurations” $15,198.
  
  

Out of CITE!!!

The Center for Innovation in Technology and Engineering (CITE) and director David Harrawood continues a frenetic pace in the last couple weeks. Below is an article involving the Chapel Hill-based Institute for Defense and Business recently printed in the Pieces of Eight.

ECU’s Center for Innovation in Technology and Engineering provided executive training for military base commanders and senior managers from Army, Navy and Marine Corps bases nationwide through the Institute for Defense and Business’ Depot and Arsenal Executive Leadership Program in Chapel Hill. The IDB class graduated May 17.
Faculty from CITE provided Six Sigma Green Belt Certification training, a disciplined data-driven approach to eliminating defects in any process. The CITE training spanned a two-week period and was primarily taught online, but included two full days of face-to-face training to reinforce the statistical elements and provide a greater understanding of the material.

“We are very pleased to have partnered with East Carolina University’s CITE program,” said Colonel Ted A. Brewer, USAF (retired) and IDB’s Director of Operations. “By providing a majority of the Six Sigma Green Belt Certification training online, the CITE program allows our students to be able to complete the training at their own pace.”

The CITE program in ECU’s College of Technology and Computer provides a cost effective alternative to specialized industrial training and project implementation. “Our program (CITE) has become extremely successful with businesses and industries in eastern North Carolina and throughout the region, and one major reason is the online capabilities,” said David Harrawood, CITE coordinator. “As corporations are becoming busier and doing more with less, the actual cost of the training (hiring a trainer) is becoming less important than the actual time away from the job for skilled workers.”

Additionally, CITE has continued working with other businesses in eastern North Carolina such as Standard Motor Products (SMP) in Wilson which led to a newspaper article written by the Wilson Daily Times. Senior reporter Stephanie Creech attended a LEAN training class at SMP and spoke with Plant Manufacturing Manager Tommy Askew, Elmer Miller, a LEAN consultant working with East Carolina and CITE coordinator David Harrawood. Her article can be viewed by clicking on this link www.wilsontimes.com and then click Archive and type “Harrawood” in the search menu.

Upcoming Events

On June 18, 2007, the Department of Technology Systems is co-hosting an event with the College of Business where sixteen rising tenth graders from Pitt County
high schools will be on campus to tour our facilities and learn about our programs.

Additionally, eight business and information technology education teachers and career development coordinators will accompany them.

The students, teachers and coordinators will arrive around 9am for a tour of various lab areas in the College of Technology and Computer Science and participate in a number of planned activities. At about noon, they will have lunch at the Todd Dining Hall and spend the afternoon with the College of Business.

PERSONAL TOUCH

Birthdays in June and July

WEDDING BELLS

Congratulations to Amy Miller from the Advising Center on her marriage to Brian Shannon
from Fayetteville on June 9th.

GRADUATION

Amy Taylor in Construction Management is pleased to announce the graduation of her son Scott from D.H. Conley High School on June 9th.

For Giggles

THEY SAID WHAT?

"Who in their right mind would ever need more than 640k of RAM!?"
- Bill Gates, 1981

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
-Popular Mechanics , forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
-Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year."
-The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

"But what ... is it good for?"
-Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977