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Wired to the future. MSE Associate Professor Larry Genalo used the Iowa Communications Network (Iowa’s fiber-optic network) to promote engineering to teens at 10 Iowa high schools last fall. He taught a 50-minute program every month on topics the students were studying in their science classes. “This is one way we can reach out to more students,” he said. “Whether we interest them in engineering or not, we’ve performed a service. A high school counselor may say, ‘You’re good in science and math. You should become an engineer.’ We’ll show them how science and math apply to solving engineering problems.”

Genalo said he hopes in the near future to offer high school students a complete ICN-based introduction to engineering program for college credit.

Engineering entrepreneurs. The ISU Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship recently awarded scholarships to three engineering students. John and Mary Pappajohn donated five $2,000 scholarships as a reward for students with well-defined business concepts who are interested in creating their own businesses. Nearly 100 students applied for the scholarships, and of those, nearly half already operated businesses.

Perry Miller IV and Armand Assadi, both Ph.D. students in ME, received awards for their business Modelspace Corporation, which started last fall. The company uses computer-aided design to help turbomachinery manufacturers, and can help designers create or improve blades on devices such as vacuums, jet engines, and boats. David White, a graduate student in CCE, found a way to combine fly ash and plastic soda bottles into a material that is lighter than concrete but has five times the strength.

Going the distance. John Deere employees can earn a master’s degree in ME from ISU without ever leaving their workplace. Last fall, John Deere and the College of Engineering started a distance education program using video conferencing technology to deliver instruction to 34 employees in Waterloo and Dubuque. The program is expected to expand to the Quad Cities site, and later to all John Deere locations, as well as others. By taking one course per semester, a student can complete the MS program in about five years. For more information, contact ME Associate Professor Jon Van Gerpen, 2022 Black Engineering, ISU, Ames, Iowa 50011; 515/294-5563; jvg@iastate.edu.

ConE students are tops. A team of ISU ConE students won first place recently in the Associated Schools of Construction Region IV Competition in the Design Build Division. The students responded to a mock request for proposals for a 900-stall parking garage that would supposedly be constructed in Boise, Idaho. In a period of 16 hours, they developed a 50-page proposal and four computer drawings. They later presented the proposal to a group of industry judges who were involved in construction of the actual project. This is the second year in a row that ISU’s design build team won this event. ISU teams placed high in other events, as well. The commercial team placed second, and the heavy construction team took third place. The students were coached by CCE faculty Charles Jahren, Jim Rowings, Mark Federle, and Gary Smith. Nineteen teams from 10 universities competed.

Back from down under. During semester break, Brian Moorhead, EE 4, and Randy Ritt, EE 1, members of ISU’s solar car team, spent 14 days traveling across Australia with the University of New South Wales’ solar car team in preparation for a world record attempt from Perth to Sydney. “We learned heaps and heaps about their solar car and how they run their team. We had experiences we can apply to our own team to be more competitive in Sunrayce 99,” said Moorhead.

Two members of the UNSW solar car team are expected to come to the U.S. in June and travel with Team PrISUm during the 1,300-mile Sunrayce 99. This is the first international student exchange between solar car teams. Iowa State has an ongoing exchange with UNSW.