  Reginald Souleyrette, professor of civil, construction, and environmental engineering, has been named the first recipient of the Gerald and Audrey Olson Professorship in Civil Engineering. The professorship provides funding to enhance instruction and research in the field of civil engineering. Gerald Olson, who received his master’s degree in civil engineering from Iowa State in 1958, is the retired founder, president, and CEO of Terracon, one of the largest geotechnical firms in the United States. CCEE now has five active endowed positions. Press Release |
  Anson Marston Distinguished Professor David Jiles has been appointed editor-in-chief of IEEE Transactions on Magnetics. Published by the Magnetics Society, the journal is devoted to areas of science and technology related to the basic physics of magnetism, magnetic materials, applied magnetics, and magnetic devices. Jiles has been an editor since 1992 and a Fellow of the Magnetics Society since 1994. |
  Warren DeVries, ME professor, who is serving as division director for the National Science Foundation’s Division of Design, Manufacture and Industrial Innovation, has been awarded the 2004 Distinguished Service Award from his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering. DeVries was recognized for his engineering educational excellence, pioneering research in material removal processes and systems, and outstanding leadership of the NSF division that is the primary advocate for the manufacturing sector. |
Halil Ceylan, assistant professor in civil engineering, has received the best paper award for the Best Novel Smart Engineering System Design at the Artificial Neural Networks in Engineering 2004 conference. His paper, "Use of Artificial Neural Networks for the Analysis and Design of Concrete Pavement Systems Serving the A380-800 Aircraft," was co-authored by Alper Guclu, a CCEE graduate student.
Special assistance
CIRAS demonstrated exemplary effort in organizing a series of three biodiesel awareness workshops in collaboration with experts from Iowa State University, the USDA, ISU Extension, and the Iowa Energy Center’s Biomass Energy Conversion Center. To date, CIRAS Industrial Specialist Rudy Pruszko and his team have conducted 14 workshops with 187 attendees from 37 states and 12 foreign countries. Topics included business management for biodiesel producers, biodiesel analytical methods, and biodiesel production technology.
Technology transfer
With assistance from CIRAS, Iowa’s Thomas Enterprises gained a 90% increase in sales and boosted its market share, making it one of the nation’s top manufacturers of racing game controller equipment. CIRAS Industrial Specialist Andy Bice helped the company upgrade its controllers with USB ports to be compatible with today’s PC technology. The project came to CIRAS through the Iowa Manufacturing Extension Partnership and received funding from the Institute for Physical Research and Technology at Iowa State.
Partnering
CIRAS brought together several entities, including Iowa State and the USDA, to launch a new biobased products initiative as defined by the Federal Biobased Products Preferred Procurement Program Act of 2002. The act requires federal agencies to purchase biobased products that meet certain standards. CIRAS Industrial Specialist Steve Devlin partnered with federal officials, manufacturers, universities, and the private sector group to develop a USDA Certified Biobased Product label, as well as a computer-based management information system, a long-term operations management system, and an outreach process for future programs.
For more information on UEDA’s mission and scope, visit the Web site at www.universityeda.org.
