CHANGE IS BEAUTIFUL CONFUSING

As we begin a new year and a new semester, we are once again forced to become chameleons, forced to adapt to our ever changing environment. It seems the only constant, is change. New systems, methods and procedures continue to mold the scope of our university, our college and individual departments/units.

Within the College of Technology and Computer Science, we are actively seeking three new department chairs. This will bring about change in just about every avenue possible. The important component is that we must continue to progress and move forward.

Change is never the easy course of action, but it can be done. I believe we have a very capable faculty and staff to handle these changes as they cross our plates. The problem is with change comes uncertainty and question, often times trying to explain a rationale that just isn’t rational. Another issue that tends to rear its ugly head during times of change and adaptation is the blame game.

The College of Technology and Computer Science continues to grow every semester by leaps and bounds. We are seeing growth in students, faculty, departments, and best of all graduates. The exception to our university wide growth continues to be limited space and resources. And while this should cause us to join together to fight the fight as one, more often than not it forces into separate corners to defend what we have individually.

Growth causes change. Personnel moves cause change. Change is the only commonality that we can expect to occur. It’s not always a bad thing, unless we let it become so. I believe we are moving in the right direction and as long as we can continue in that direction as a whole, we will achieve all of the goals we have set out to accomplish.

Have a great semester!!!

Making Headlines

ECU Construction Management Instructor Delivers Hope to People in Nicaragua

Many people kicked off 2008 with hopeful New Year’s resolutions such as, losing weight, going to the gym, quitting smoking or spending more time at home instead of work. Unfortunately, by the end of the first week of January, those resolutions are often history.

The same cannot be said for how Bryan Wheeler spent his first full week of 2008. The East Carolina University Construction Management teaching instructor led a team of volunteer workers to one of the most poverty stricken nations, Nicaragua. His was not a hopeful resolution, but a resolution to deliver hope.

“The people in these towns and villages have nothing,” Wheeler said. “They struggle to find food for their families and their drinking water supply came from a dirty contaminated creek following a rain storm.”

Wheeler, who joined ECU in the fall of 2007, tapped into his 13 years of construction coordinator experience to join forces with the First United Methodist Church in Wilson, North Carolina to make this trip. The team of 25 Eastern North Carolinians arrived in Nicaragua January 5th and began working the very next day.

“We don’t typically work on Sundays, but there was such a need for our help, that we all decided to jump right in and get going,” Wheeler added.

On January 6th, the team was driving to San Jose, Nicaragua. Knowing there were about 100 children at their destination point, they stopped to get groceries. Wheeler and company made 100 bologna sandwiches, passed them out to the kids and were stunned by their reaction.

“Not a single child took a bite of the sandwich. They thanked us and scattered.” Wheeler was told that this area was extremely poor and the children, all ages 2-12 years old, were taking the sandwiches home to their families so they could all share it.

The team’s first task was to renovate, repair and paint a wing of a 30 year old hospital that cared for pre-mature babies. Conditions are much different in Nicaraguan hospitals than in the United States. It is very common for 3-5 people to share a room, regardless of their illnesses. When the day was done, ten hospital rooms in the preemie wing looked like new and now the mothers of these tiny gifts of hope could stay with them in the hospital.

The following day led the group to a village in San Jose where two school buildings, a church and church facility needed a major overhaul.

Wheeler said this team is strong in construction experience and knowledge and was put to the test at every step. “We replaced windows and basically completed a full restoration process on each site which included simple repairs all the way to totally painting both schools inside and out.”

The most grueling work is often the most rewarding and that was never more evident than what this group accomplished on January 10th in San Jose. The 450 residents live in houses built from bamboo trees and use black plastic wrapping around the roof and walls to protect from cold temperatures and rain. The children are being raised by children. The average age for girls to begin having babies is 12. Additionally, the best student in the class at the end of the term becomes the teacher of the next class.

“We knew there were some things that we couldn’t change about the culture in this country,” Wheeler said. “However, when we learned they had no clean water supply, we knew something could be done.”

The team cleared out a 10 X 20 foot area behind the church up on a hill and decided to construct a clean water supply area for the residents. Wheeler said the first step was to build a solid foundation.

“We used a shelter near the church to mix the concrete by hand and carried it in buckets to the site. The next step was moving these huge slabs of rock, each weighing 90 pounds, up the hill to the foundation.”

And the job required a total of 50 of those huge slabs of rock to be done properly. Once the foundation was completed, it was ready to hold a pair of 650 gallon water tanks. From there the residents jumped in and hand dug a trench from the foundation up a mountain to a clean water spring.

“It was about 1500 meters worth of trench that was then filled with a tube that ran from the clean water spring to the water supply tanks.”

Wheeler said another team heading to Nicaragua this week will bring a solar panel chlorination system to the village.
The team members weren’t doing this for thanks or appreciation, but they got it anyway.

The church pastor in San Jose said, “We are extremely grateful to our brothers and sisters from the United States for all their help.”

This is Bryan Wheeler’s 16th foreign mission trip and second to Nicaragua, but for him, the most rewarding feeling comes from the faces of the children. And there was one 12 year old girl in particular who said something Wheeler will never forget.

“Her name is Maria and in a culture where most girls her age are destined for poverty and raising children as a child, she wanted more. ‘I want to stay in school and I hope to become an architect.’ That blew me away to hear her say that.”

He freely admits making a trip like this isn’t for everyone, but the willingness to help others is something each of us should pursue, in some form or fashion.

“We (ECU faculty and staff) all have special skills that are unique to only us,” Wheeler encourages. “For some it’s medicine, religion, or just a wish to serve others. For me, it’s construction.”

So one week into the New Year and Bryan Wheeler, and a team of volunteers from our state, has already fulfilled his resolution, by delivering hope.

Faculty News

On December 10, 2007, LOREN LIMBERIS participated in Science at the Starlight in December and received high praise from those in attendance as well as from across ECU’s campus.

On November 27, 2007, ERICH CONNELL hosted a class with two professors from HAN University in the Netherlands. About a hundred students in the Introduction to Construction Management class heard from Dr. Anton Van Bakel and Dr. Alfred Meyers. They discussed the current and historic designs, architecture and styles in the Netherlands. Additional topics covered included Post World War II styles, the historic Amsterdam School and Organic Designs.

NASSEH TABRIZI has been asked to be a lecturer at the 2008 American Computing Conference held at MIT in Cambridge, Mass in April. He will be speaking about his Agent and Virtual Reality (AVR) system and how some VR is being used as an emerging medium demonstrated in many areas already familiar to today’s students, such as computer games, entertainment systems, and visualization. He will further discuss the issue that existing online course delivery systems are not capable of giving high-quality interactive lecture content, and that existing systems are quite labor-intensive for the faculty member, a true barrier to distance education development.

DANNY MORTON was named the TECS 2007-2008 Scholar Teacher Award Winner. The purpose of the annual provost and vice chancellor for academic and student affair’s scholar-teacher awards is to recognize faculty members who effectively integrate research/creative activity in classroom teaching. Danny will be honored at the scholar teacher awards and symposium on April 3.

GENE DIXON has had his paper entitled Followers: The Rest of the Leadership Process accepted by SAE. Additionally, his research has been included in a new book that is in book stores this month and available online. The book is called The Art of Followership…How Great Followers Can Create Great Leaders and Organizations. Chapter 12 is authored by Dr. Dixon and is called “Getting Together.” The book is a part of the series by The Warren Bennis signature series.

EROL OZAN – (TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS) – His courseware submission has been approved to be certified/re-certified as mapping 100% to the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) National Standards 4011 and 4013E. He will receive an official certificate during the CNSS Awards Ceremony, at the 12th Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education (CISSE) in June 2008 held in Dallas.

GERALD MICKLOW and TAREK ABDEL-SALAM have had multiple journal publications and presentations accepted in the last month. 1. “Intake and the In-Cylinder Flow of a 4-Valve Diesel Engine”, Proceedings of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering, 2007. 2. “Numerical Study of Two- Dimensional Turbulent Jets issued from an Inclined Wall”, accepted for publication, International Journal of Fluid Mechanics Research, 2008. 3. “Investigation of the Grid and Intake Generated Tumble on the In-Cylinder Flow of a Direct Injection Compression Ignition Engine”, accepted for publication Proceedings of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering.

Dr. Micklow and Dr. Abdel-Salam also presented at the 2008 AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Reno, Nevada early in January. The pair is also scheduled to present at the 2008 SAE World Expo in Detroit and the 2008 International ASME Gas Turbine Turbo Expo in Berlin, Germany.

GENE DIXON had a series of guest lecturers for the Engineering Senior Capstone Design ICEE 4010 class. The lecturers included Winfred Felton from Westside Church of Christ; Richard Corbi, CFO at Greenville Utilities; Tony Khoury, President of The East Group; Susan Hill, Energy Engineer at DSM Pharmaceuticals; and David Cox, Past-president of the Professional Engineers of Eastern North Carolina.

TED KARR hosted a Spaghetti Bridge Competition from his IENG 2020 class. Teams of 2-3 students had to build a bridge from cylindrical spaghetti and glue, epoxy or resin. Each team had set height, weight and bridge width requirements to follow to be eligible for the competition.The Bridge Project demonstrates to students that even a lightweight structure made of weak material can become a strong one by understanding the forces acting on the structure and redirecting those forces.The students also learn another very important engineering concept-the strength to weight ratio. The winning team was Jeffrey Swann and Jennifer Wiegard and their Bridge itself weighed only a total of ½ pound yet it was able to support a weight of just over 30 pounds without failure. Karr hopes to create an open competition across campus in the near future as well as organize a regional or state high school competition at ECU for STEM classes.

Alumni News

Technology Systems – Johnny Graham, now a Verizon Business Manager wrote to us saying, “Since receiving my Master of Science degree in Technology Systems, I have leapfrogged my career in IT. The education I received from East Carolina has helped me tremendously with my current position. The training I received was current and in-line with my day to day activities. I recently put my Information Security skills to work by developing a disaster recovery plan for my department. It seemed as if I was completing an assignment for the DTEC 6823 class. Thank you all for the valuable education ECU has given me.”

Construction Management – Michael Taylor is a recent graduate of Construction Management (Fall 2006) and is currently employed as a superintendent with WIMCO Corporation in Washington, NC. He has made rapid progress since joining the company last February and is moving up. At the company’s year-end meeting last month, Michael was named WIMCO Corp New Employee of the Year for 2007. This is a special honor and the Department of Construction Management and the College of Technology and Computer Science send our congratulations.

Student Spotlight

Construction Management – 18 students formed an Emerging Green Builders (EGB) organization during a regularly scheduled ECCA (East Carolina Construction Association) meeting. The EGB is part of the U.S. Green Building Council initiative to get young emerging leaders involved with issues relating to Sustainability. Dr. Erich Connell will serve as the advisor for this group. Dr. Connell, an architect and LEED AP, introduced the students to the organization’s mission and fielded questions about Sustainability, LEED and Green Building. Membership to this group remains open to any student, in Construction Management or not, interested in this subject. The ECCA chapter of EGB will be a part of the larger Triangle Chapter of USGBC in Raleigh, NC.

Technology Systems – ADDA Certification - The following individuals earned their American Design Drafting Association (ADDA) drafter certification—architectural in December: Crystal Barber, Ryan Benner, Philip Butler, Kyle Byrne, Shalonda Cunningham, Emily Dwyer, David Gambardella, Wesley Hassell, Daryl Key, Justin Lane, William Moore, Benjamin O'Kelley, Jacek Rykala, Kyle Sanders, Christopher Schwindt, Edward Tramble, Charles Wade, and Matthew Wilson.

The above were students in Dr. Robert A. Chin’s Architectural Design and Drafting course. They are also students pursuing a BS in Design with a concentration in architectural technology. The BS in Design is National Association of Industrial Technology accredited program and ECU is an ADDA Authorized Testing Site.

In addition, the following individuals earned their ADDA drafter certification—mechanical in December: Patrick Costello, Michael Sasser, Brian Smith, Aaron Taylor, and Kevin Willard. These were students in Dr. Chin’s Engineering Graphics II course. They are also pursuing a BS in Design with a concentration in either architectural technology or mechanical technology.

Technology Systems – Four graduate students in the Master of Science Occupational Safety program recently had their text review published in the Journal of Safety Health and Environmental Research, an online peer-reviewed journal published by the American Society of Safety Engineers. They completed this text review as a part of a summer special topics graduate class developed by Dr. Michael Behm on the social and historical aspects of occupational safety. The students are Vicki Huebler, Matt Rice and Michael Hupfauer, who are recent graduates while Barry Loudermilk is finishing up in spring 2008. To see the review, go on the web to www.asse.org/academicsjournal/feature01.php

Engineering – The first Department of Engineering senior class made fall presentations for their Senior Capstone Projects. The student teams presented reports on their projects on site of the companies they’ve partnered with as well as to a review board. The review board had members of the engineering faculty, company representatives and advisory board members. The companies participating in Senior Capstone Projects included DSM, Carver Machine Works, Nucor, Bartlett, USASE, General Electric and Conagra.

Technology Systems – (Alumni Submission) Johnny Graham, now a Verizon Business Manager wrote to us saying, “Since receiving my Master of Science degree in Technology Systems, I have leapfrogged my career in IT. The education I received from East Carolina has helped me tremendously with my current position. The training I received was current and in-line with my day to day activities. I recently put my Information Security skills to work by developing a disaster recovery plan for my department. It seemed as if I was completing an assignment for the DTEC 6823 class. Thank you all for the valuable education ECU has given me.”

Announcements and Upcoming Events

Announcements

Combined Campaign – TECS GREAT WORK
The East Carolina University Combined Campaign for 2007 was a great success campus wide, but the College of Technology and Computer Science made a major splash with its contributions. ECU raised $218,295.28, which is about 8k more than last year. Here is a list of the top three contributing groups (number in parentheses represents the percentage of employees making contributions in that college, department or unit):

     1. Athletics Department (57%)
     2. Technology and Computer Science (47%)
     3. University Advancement (39%)

     WAY TO GO TECS FACULTY AND STAFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

East Carolina University 2008 Centennial Awards Nominations

NOTE!! This is a reminder to all TECS Faculty and Staff about the 2008 Centennial Awards for Excellence Call for Nominations. ECU is accepting nominations of worthy faculty and staff for its highest awards of excellence in the following areas: Service, Leadership, Ambition and Spirit.

Dr. Austin Bunch sent out the nomination forms on January 9, 2008 and the submission deadline is February 8, 2008 by 5:00pm. Each of the above categories can have up to three recipients and must be nominated by someone else. The three recipients for each of the four categories will represent one staff member, one faculty member and one other recipient, which could be an administrator or team of administrators, a second staff member or staff team or a second faculty member or faculty team. No person can nominate themselves for this award.

Please refer to the e-mail about nomination forms, letters of support and other relevant information. We know we have some outstanding people in our College and they need to be recognized properly. If you have any questions or would like the Dr. Bunch e-mail forwarded to you, please contact Chris Stansbury at (252) 328-9611.

Upcoming Events

Next College Meeting – February 21, 2008 from 4-5pm – Location will be announced closer to meeting. Scheduling Note!! All TECS College meetings are limited one hour in length, with the exception of the semester starting kickoff meetings. The fall and spring kickoff college meetings, the first meetings of each semester, will be limited to two hours in length. If there is any change to this schedule, faculty and staff will be notified in advance.

Engineering and Technology Day – March 5, 2008

Spring Break – March 9, 2008 – March 16, 2008

MSOS Golf Tournament – 1st Annual James P. Kohn Golf Tournament to be held on April 4, 2008 at 1:00pm at Brook Valley Country Club in Greenville. Golfers and sponsors are welcome to participate in this fantastic event. The cost of the tournament is only $65 per person or $260 per foursome, which includes: green fees, golf cart, cash prizes for the top three teams, and a gift bag as well as lunch and dinner provided by CPW’s of Brook Valley. Numerous sponsorship possibilities are available as well as opportunities to qualify for great prizes. For more information or to sign up, please contact Dr. Michael Behm at (252) 328-9674. The deadline to participate in the golf tournament is March 26, 2008.

Birthdays and Special Events

** If you have a birthday in these two months that is not listed, please submit to Chris Stansbury at stansburyc@ecu.edu

For Giggles

Top 10 Signs Your Son is a Computer Hacker

1. Your phone bill lists 1,987 household lines.
2. Your son tells you that his private interview with the Secret Service agent was for a social studies class essay.
3. You receive mail addressed to Phil E. Phreak.
4. The kid cheers Lex Luthor whenever a Superman movie runs on TV.
5. The CEO of a regional Bell operating company appears on your doorstep, sobbing uncontrollably and begging forgiveness.
6. You find a copy of Phrack magazine hidden under the underwear in your son's bedroom dresser.
7. The kid asks for a Novell Access Server for his birthday.
8. The little silver-colored wheel on your electric meter spins so fast it flies off, slices your neighbor's elm tree neatly in two and flattens a tire on a Chevy Monte Carlo three blocks away.
9. Your son's English teacher calls, sounding really curious, to ask why the kid selected the Oklahoma City phone directory for his monthly book report.
10. He names Robert Morris Jr. as his "Most Admired American."