Welcome new faculty and staff
The department welcomed four faculty members and two staff members over the summer.
Faculty
- Timothy Bigelow, assistant professor, joint appointment with mechanical engineering and electrical and computer engineering
- Baskar Ganapathysubramanian, assistant professor and William March Scholar in Mechanical Engineering
- Valery Levitas, professor, joint appointment with mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering and courtesy appointment in materials science and engineering, Schaefer 2050 Challenge Professor
- Song Zhang, assistant professor
Staff
- Carol Knutson, account clerk
- Cindy Manning, secretary
Please pardon the mess! Black Engineering renovation update
Renovations in the Black Engineering Building will continue through the fall semester. Construction has begun on the Kiewit Undergraduate Student Services Center, which is slated for completion in early November. Conference rooms 2004 and 2035 are expected to be remodeled by September 5, complete with new furniture and window blinds.
Shrotriya’s research group mentioned in Society of Manufacturing Engineering magazine
The article “Manufacturing Researchers Review Developments,” in the July issue of Manufacturing Engineering, included insight from Pranav Shrotriya’s research team, which is working on machining polycrystalline cubic boron nitride. The group is referred to as “a research team from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State University” in the article. For the full article, visit www.sme.org/cgi-bin/find-articles.pl? &ME08ART49&ME&20080701&&SME&#article.
Olsen appointed associate chair for undergraduate studies
Mike Olsen will be responsible for overall leadership of the undergraduate program as the associate chair for undergraduate studies. Olsen will also chair the undergraduate education committee, which will implement new initiatives and coordinate the department’s curriculum, academic standards, and accreditation functions.
Starns selected as teaching schedule coordinator
As the teaching schedule coordinator, Gloria Starns will work with Ted Heindel and Jonathan Wickert to develop the department’s annual teaching schedule, mapping out course offerings and assignments. Starns will coordinate courses to be offered, instructor assignments, TA needs, and time and room selections, as well as act as a liaison with other departments for those courses that are jointly offered or cross listed.
Vance quoted in article about women department chairs
Judy Vance encouraged women faculty to consider taking leadership positions, such as department chair, in a recent American Society for Engineering Education Connections article. In “Teaching Toolbox: ‘A Chair in your Future,’” Vance reflected on the elements involved in her decision to become chair, noting that it was an important step in her career path. To read the full article, visit www.asee.org/publications/connections/2008july.cfm#toolbox.
ME capstone program launches fall 2008 semester
The ME department is pleased to announce the ME Capstone Design Program is officially launching this semester. The program promotes industry sponsors to participate in the course, providing students with real-world projects to enhance their engineering education experience. Projects are sought out and coordinated with the program through the design projects coordinator, Jim Heise. If you have a project of interest or know of someone who may wish to participate, contact Heise at 515 294-3857 or e-mail him at jheise@iastate.edu.
