| May, 2008 |
Vol. 2, No.11
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A Message from the Dean 
This will be my final Dean’s Message for the TECS Newsletter. I will be stepping down as dean of the College of Technology and Computer Science effective June 30, 2008. I have accepted a position as Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs at Purdue University Calumet in northwestern Indiana. Since joining East Carolina in July 2003, I have been proud to lead the College of Technology and Computer Science. Additionally, to see the fruit of everyone’s labor as we celebrate ECU’s first engineering graduates is truly a tremendous accomplishment. In the last five years serving as dean, TECS has experienced among highest student growth on campus. Additionally, economic development opportunities locally and regionally are increased exponentially through the creation of the CITE (Center for Innovation in Engineering and Technology) program, and other faculty related projects. External funding for the College jumped from last on ECU’s campus to the top three. I am extremely proud of the work of our faculty and staff over the last five years. Global marketplace demands increase annually as business and industry seek professionals with an engineering and technology background. Our students are getting the skills needed to compete from an experienced faculty that knows what it takes to get the job done. New graduate programs have also begun within the College of Technology and Computer Science including the Masters of Construction Management and Masters in Software Engineering. I expect great things from this College and East Carolina University. I have made some lasting friendships and will always hold Greenville in a special place in my heart. I wish all of you the best of luck and greatest of success.
March 18, 2008 CHANCELLOR BALLARD KICKS OFF LEADERSHIP LECTURE SERIES
Ballard’s lecture, titled “From the Baseball Field to the Chancellor’s Office,” chronicled his career path from being a member of the farm team of the St. Louis Cardinals to entering higher education then heading to ECU as chancellor in May 2004. Ballard shared humorous and serious personal stories about the people who played pivotal roles in his life as well as his philosophies about leadership. “Leaders are people who care more about the organization’s success than their own personal accomplishments,” Ballard told the assembled students, faculty and industry guests. “Reputation is what other people think about you, but character is what molds you into becoming a leader.” Ballard also told the audience that leadership is not genetically ingrained nor is it only for a select group of people. “Opportunities will come and go in our lives, and it’s up to each of us to take advantage of those situations because if you don’t, someone else will,” he said. Mark Tipton, a member of the ECU Board of Trustees and former president of the National Association of Home Builders, spoke to the audience for few minutes about his experiences as an industry leader before introducing Ballard. Following his lecture, Ballard and Tipton invited the attendees to a reception where the chancellor spoke further with students about his life experiences. March 24, 2008
On Wednesday March 19, 2008, three ECU Information and Computer Technology students delivered the 15 computers to Jones Senior High School. The students spent three hours installing hardware and software packages and then configured the units to work with the Jones County School System networks. The ICT students from East Carolina were Jeff Penn, Doug Hedges and Rayna Weimer.
ECU is currently in year two of a three year National Science Foundation grant awarded in November 2006 to operate the program. Nearly 100 high school students, teachers and guidance counselors from Greene, Duplin, Onslow, Wilson, Jones and Wayne counties participated in ITEST academies at ECU in the summer of 2007. “The goal is to infuse the high school science and mathematics curriculum with examples like robotics and biomechanics. This will help the curriculum take on a real world context and encourage student interest in science and mathematics” said Dr. Paul Kauffmann, Department of Engineering Chairperson. The students from the ICT program are led by East Carolina faculty member Lee Toderick. In addition to the Jones Senior computer project, this team has also supported other school systems participating in ITEST through the installation of engineering software. Also, ECU faculty members who are involved in ITEST will make between four and five visits to participating high schools throughout the year to assist with program implementation. March 27, 2008
In true makeover fashion, the bulldozer was hidden behind an ECU Transit Bus and the crowd of Construction Management faculty, staff and students yelled “Move that bus!!!” Kruger and Mrs. Sue Williams, who is also retiring after more than 30 years in the program in May 2009, were stunned to see the new piece of Caterpillar equipment, but even more surprised to see it was painted purple and gold.
In addition to having the D3K bulldozer painted purple and gold, Cooper also had a plaque placed on the back of the machine to honor Kruger and Williams. “The relationship with Caterpillar and East Carolina’s Department of Construction Management has grown over the years and a lot of that has to do with Doug and Sue,” said Cooper. “Caterpillar is excited to help continue the progress of one of the top programs in the country and best of all the students are the ones who benefit the most.” The bulldozer marks the sixth piece of equipment Caterpillar has donated to East Carolina. The first was given in June 2000 with additional donations occurring in 2001, 2003 and 2004. In 2006, the Caterpillar Excellence Fund and Gregory Poole, a Caterpillar dealer in Raleigh, agreed to donate $500,000 over the following five years to the Department of Construction Management.
It was next to impossible to wipe the smiles off the faces of Kruger and Williams, and mainly because it’s another huge step forward for the program they stared in the 1970’s. “Even in this difficult economy and with the down turn in residential construction, ECU construction graduates are still receiving multiple job offers and are among the most sought after employees,” said Kruger. “The people at Caterpillar have been great friends, great partners and I am very touched by their kindness, generosity and desire for the success or our students.” March 2008 ECU Wins Bioprocess Engineering Teaching Grant
The project, titled "Design and Development of Educational Modules for Bioprocess Engineering," will be handled by engineering department faculty Dr. Richard Williams, Dr. Loren Limberis and Stephanie Sullivan. The engineering team, which also includes Dr. Stacy Klein of Vanderbilt University, will build on current National Science Foundation projects. "This grant will provide us with more capability to develop innovative and effective methods to inspire eastern North Carolina students from all groups, especially those who are underrepresented, to consider and succeed in engineering," Williams said. "These students will then enter the global market with competitive skills." April 3, 2008
April 4, 2008
The overall goal for Engineering and Technology Day is to showcase exciting engineering and technology careers through fun and challenging competitions. Throughout the day students and faculty from 10 different high schools will learn about potential jobs, tour labs and facilities as well as square off in Popsicle stick bridge and egg drop competitions.
North Carolina's Eastern Region Development Commission is the economic development agency for a 13-county region ranging from Nash County to Carteret and Onslow. The commission promotes economic development and works closely with the school systems in the region to promote work force development. “This has been a wonderful event over the last few years and it is creating a buzz with the young men and women in high schools,” said Al Delia, Eastern Partnership president. “The STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) programs have been identified has vital components in the 21st century and Engineering and Technology Day is a great way to get some of these kids on this path.
“Every year we have this event it has grown,” said Dr. Gerald J. Micklow, associate professor in the ECU Department of Engineering. “Word has spread very quickly in Eastern North Carolina that Engineering and Technology Day is fun and educational for the kids as well as the teachers. We are getting more requests to participate each year and that is just fantastic.”
Construction Management - Ron Sessoms and Donna Hollar with their Student Competition Team was featured in the Nation’s Building News, the newsletter distributed by the National Association of Home Builders. The story included a photo of this group when they served as representatives from East Carolina University as we received the first ever Help Award. For the full story, log on to http://www.nbnnews.com/NBN/issues/2008-03-10/Endowment/index.html.
Construction Management - Eric Connell and Sessoms traveled to Las Vegas with a student team making a visit to the Construction Exposition which featured hundreds of construction companies from all over the world including Caterpillar Inc.
Engineering - Gerald Micklow is one of the organizers for the Technical Session for the upcoming SAE World Congress and Exhibition which will be held in April in Detroit. He is also chairperson for 2 sessions and will be presenting 2 papers.
Micklow also had his paper entitled, “A Comprehensive Fuel Spray Model for High Pressure Fuel Injectors” accepted and is scheduled for publication and presentation at Turbo Expo 2008 to be held in Berlin, Germany, June 9-13, 2008.
Computer Science - Qin Ding had two recent publications:
Technology Systems - Jeanne - Marie Lawrence
Technology Systems - Merwan Mehta
Engineering - Stephanie Sullivan, Evelyn Brown, Jason Yao and a volunteer student team was praised for the assistance during the North Carolina Odyssey of the Mind Competition held on ECU’s campus April 5th. One of the coordinators called the student group “god-sends” to the day’s events.
The Construction Management Golf Tournament was held at Brook Valley Country Club on April 27, 2008. Following the event, Scott Cooper, Vice-President for Caterpillar, presented a Purple and Gold Bulldozer in honor of Dr. Douglas Kruger and Ms. Sue Williams. Kruger and Williams will retire in 2009 after more than 63 years of combined service to ECU. This latest gift marks the 6th piece of machinery Caterpillar has donated to the Construction Management program.
A Construction Management 2660 class, with faculty and lab supervisor support, volunteered to create the concrete bases for a special university project. The concrete bases will hold specially designed pirates which were sold and painted by artists. The pirates were presented April 12th at Pirate Fest. This service learning project was a great success for the CMGT students for learning hands-on skills that is often not a part of the curriculum.
Several members of the College of Technology and Computer Science were inducted as the first members of the East Carolina University Servire Society. On March 27th, as a part of the Founders Day Celebration, ECU faculty, staff and students were recognized for their volunteer work. Each member donated at least 100 hours of their time to the community, and in some cases, exceeding 200, 300, and even 400 hours of volunteer time. The inductees were Mark Angolia, Danny Morton, Ron Sessoms, Katy Griffin, Bryan Wheeler and David Batie. East Carolina University's motto is Servire - “To Serve.” In honor of ECU’s Centennial, the Servire Society will recognize those who have demonstrated a commitment to volunteer service and will challenge the ECU community to serve the larger community external to the university. (By the way, it’s pronounced Ser-Wee-Ray).
April 4, 2008
March 31, 2008
April 1, 2008
April 1, 2008 Twenty-four students from two different design courses submitted their entries prior to the January 2 deadline and competed in Category “A” (advanced level). The first place award is called the Board of Governors Award, second place is the Board of Directors Award and the President’s Award is third place. The divisions and East Carolina University award winners are as follows. In Division AC1 (residential architectural design/drafting): Each residential design entry had to meet the same set of parameters in categories such as square footage, as well as the number of stories, bedrooms and bathrooms. In Division AC1.5 (commercial architectural design/drafting): Students competing in this division were tasked to design a stand-alone, single level office building for a CPA/Accounting firm, which had to meet selected design requirements. In the A2 Division (architectural renderings - traditional) AC2 Division (architectural rendering - computer-aided) In Division AC4 (Technical Illustration - mechanical) April 14, 2008
The participants from the four teams are:
The individual teams have been working together for a couple months and were required to design a Carolina Meadows of Chapel Hill, NC duplex with certain budget restrictions and size parameters. The completed projects were set up and presented Friday morning for a panel of judges. Some of the final projects were presented with a physical small scale model, while others included a computerized virtual design. The Sustainable Building Design Competition is in its eighth year in North Carolina, and this is the fifth year that East Carolina University and Pitt Community College have teamed up. In 2007 state competition, one ECU/PCC team won the esteemed Founders Award and a $1,000 prize while a second team won 1st Honorable Mention and a $200 prize. The prize money won during the competition was split among the student team members.
ECU professors Dr. Robert Chin and Rebecca Sweet as well as Pitt Community College’s William Hofler have worked with the teams to provide support, assistance and expertise to the projects. April 14-16, 2008
Announcements and Upcoming Events Spring Fling - April 22, 2008 Graduation - May 10, 2008
This past fall semester, two East Carolina sophomores who were taking a College of Technology and Computer Science course (no specifics, sorry) and who did pretty well on all of the quizzes, midterms, labs, etc. Going into the final exam, they had solid "A's." These two friends were so confident going into the final that the weekend before finals week (even though the final was on Monday), they decided to go up to the University of Virginia to a party with some friends. So they did this and had a great time. However, they ended up staying longer than they planned, and they didn't make it back to ECU until early Monday morning. Rather than taking the final then, they found their professor after the final and explained to him why they missed it. They told him that they went up to Virginia for the weekend, and had planned to come back in time to study, but that they had a flat tire on the way back and didn't have a spare and couldn't get help for a long time. So they were late getting back to campus. The professor thought this over and agreed that they could make up the final on the following day. The two guys were elated and relieved. So, they studied that night and went in the next day at the time the professor had told them. He placed them in separate rooms, handed each of them a test booklet and told them to begin. They looked at the first problem, which was something simple worth 5 points. "Cool" they thought, "this is going to be easy." Then they turned the page. They were unprepared, however, for what they saw on the next page. It said: (95 points) "Which tire?" |
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East Carolina University Chancellor Steve Ballard launched the Construction Management Leadership Lecture Series on Tuesday night at Hendrix Theatre. The ECU Department of Construction Management, partnering with the National Housing Endowment, will host the lectures each semester with the goal of teaching students the importance of leadership in business and industry.
The East Carolina University College of Technology and Computer Science provided 15 computers to Jones Senior High School in Trenton, NC. The Dell computers were sent to Jones Senior High as a part of ECU’s participation in the National Science Foundation’s ITEST program (Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers). 
“Through ITEST we can build an excitement level about engineering, as well as math and science courses,” said Dr. Ralph V. Rogers, Dean of ECU’s College of Technology and Computer Science. “This is a way for kids to learn the skills required in the 21st century and have fun in the classroom at the same time.”
East Carolina University Department of Construction Management Chairperson Dr. Douglas Kruger is set to retire after 33 years in May 2009, but received an early surprise gift on Thursday from Caterpillar Inc. Following the 11th Annual ECCA Golf Tournament held at Brook Valley Country Club, Caterpillar Vice President and ECU alum R. Scott Cooper presented a new D3K Caterpillar Bulldozer to Kruger. 
“I am floored,” said Kruger. “I never expected anything like this today (Thursday) and I’ve got to say it really means a great deal to me and Ms. Sue to have so many people work this hard to pull this off.”
In October 2007, Kruger, his faculty and staff Chancellor Steve Ballard dedicated the program’s new High Bay Laboratory which was named it after Caterpillar and Gregory Poole. 
A team of East Carolina University professors from the Department of Engineering has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant totaling more than $136,000 to design and develop new bioprocess engineering teaching methods for undergraduate students.
Dr. Corey A. King, ECU Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Experiences announced tha t the ECU Student Chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) has been approved and is now recognized on a probationary status as an official student organization at East Carolina University for the 2008-2009 academic year! Dr. Qin Ding, from the Department of Computer Science, has been identified as the ACM Chapter advisor. 
Nearly 300 students and teachers from eastern North Carolina high schools are expected to participate in Engineering and Technology Day at East Carolina University. The event, which is co-sponsored by ECU and the North Carolina’s Eastern Region Economic Development Commission, is scheduled for Friday, April 4 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. 
The high schools students and teachers will be coming from the following counties: Onslow, Carteret, Craven, Duplin, Wilson and Edgecombe. Students will be split up into 13 different teams for the competitions and battle to see which team can complete the task successfully. Lunch and an award ceremony will be provided after the competitions are finished. 
East Carolina’s College of Technology and Computer Science, which houses the Departments of Engineering, Computer Science, Construction Management, and Technology Systems, works closely with the regional school systems and economic development community to promote technical careers. The response to this program was overwhelmingly positive and actually resulted in registration closing early once the program reached capacity. 
Construction Management - Danny Morton was presented the Scholar Teacher Award for the College of Technology and Computer Science on April 3, 2008 during a ceremony held at Mendenhall. 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. Congratulations to Danny!!
Technology Systems - David Batts presented an accepted peer reviewed paper entitled “Utilizing Engineering Clubs in Rural High Schools to Sustain Interest in STEM Fields” at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) 2008 Conference held in Las Vegas, Nevada USA, March 3-7. Ranjeet Agarwala was a co-author but was unavailable to attend the conference.
Technology Systems - Michael Behm has been invited by the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering to serve as a peer reviewer for the NIOSH Construction Research Program.
An article entitled “Support-Less Association Rule Mining Using Tuple Count Cube” in Journal of Information & Knowledge Management, Vol. 6, No. 4, Dec. 2007.
was certified as a “Certified Supply Chain Professional.” The certification exam covers four main subject areas: Supply Chain fundamentals, Building a Competitive Infrastructure, Managing Customer and Supplier Relationships, and using Information Technology to enable the Supply Chain Management. The certification is administered by the Association for Operations Management.
Published paper titled, “Providing Value to Customers in Software Development Through Lean Principles,” with D. Anderson from Corbis, Inc., and D. Raffo from Portland State University in the Journal of Software Process Improvement and Practice, Volume 13, 2008.
Technology Systems – Sam Khoury presented a paper co-authored by Leslie Pagliari and Mark Angolia at the IEMS Conference in Cocoa Beach, FL entitled Simulating Inventory Tracking and Order Entry Functions in Logistics and Distribution Courses. Khoury also presented a database at the same conference called Demonstration of a Curriculum Vitae Generation Database.
Computer Science - Junhua Ding presented my paper: “An Approach for Specification Construction Using Property-Preserving Refinement Patterns” on the 23rd Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing (SAC 2008) at Fortaleza, Brazil on March 19, 2008.
Jamelle Simmons is a sophomore at ECU, majoring in Engineering, with a concentration in Bioprocess Engineering. Jamelle spoke on WITN’s Morning Show about the importance of the engineering program as well as the need to get students involved while they are in high school. The information passed on included Bioprocess engineering is the discipline that puts biotechnology to work. Biotechnology is used to produce food, beverages, and medicine. Bioprocess engineers help to develop and improve bioprocesses while insuring products are both effective and safe.
The student team of Kyle Barnes, Kyle Brown, and Matt Harrell won a pair of awards at the R&CA poster competition held at Mendenhall on April 1, 2008. The team’s presentation “Tank Fabrication Bid Assessment System" won in the Technology category and the Computer Visualization award.
Eight East Carolina University students pursuing a BS in Design through the Department of Technology Systems, College of Technology and Computer Science, received national recognition for their work during the fall semester. The American Design Drafting Association (ADDA) held its 41st Annual Design/Drafting Contest, which is judged on a variety of levels and categories. 
On Friday April 11, East Carolina University students teamed with Pitt Community College students in the local North Carolina Sustainable Building Design Competition held on ECU’s campus. The ten teams were comprised of one PCC architectural design student and a group of ECU students in architectural technology and/or interior design. The purpose of the local competition was to identify the four teams and their design solutions that would advance from the local competition to the statewide event held in Raleigh.
The state competition engages students in North Carolina universities and community colleges to learn and apply the lessons of sustainable design and construction. Each year, statewide winners see their design built as part of the grand prize. This year’s competition is being held in conjunction with the Triangle Emerging Green Builder Natural Talent Design Competition. 
Charlotte Dietrich, a sophomore in Construction Management, finished in second place at the North Carolina SkillsUSA Competition held in Greensboro, NC. She is the first ECU representative to compete in this event and is now headed to the National Competition which is held in June in Kansas City. 
Charlotte also has been awarded the 2008 Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities award. Outcomes of her study - “Estimating Construction Costs using Building Information Modeling Software,” will be presented at the State of North Carolina Undergraduate Research Symposium in November as well as at the ECU Research and Creative Achievement Week in March 2009.
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Contact Us Science & Technology Building Suite 100 East Carolina University Greenville, NC 27858-4353 USA 252.328.9600 |