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Message from the Department Head
Dr. Molly Gribb | |
The ASCE student regional conference is at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs is this weekend. We hope to see some alumni there to help cheer on the canoe team, who will be racing the Hardrocker Hog and the bridge team who will be competing with their bridge Screamin' Night Hog. Students will also be presenting papers, and participating in other competitions. Go Civil Hardrockers!
Do you have news to share? E-mail us at molly.gribb@sdsmt.edu
Visit us on the web: http://cee.sdsmt.edu
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Upcoming events
ASCE regional conference at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO, March 31-April 2. Alumni are invited to meet the ASCE student team members and faculty advisors for a post race reception - Friday, April 1, 2011, from 5-7 PM - at the Hilton Garden Inn, (1810 Briargate Pkwy) in the restaurant area near the bar. For more information about the competitions, or to RSVP for the reception, please contact Dr. MR Hansen at MR.Hansen@sdsmt.edu.
Last FE Civil-specific review sessions - 4-6 pm in CB 203 on Tuesday April 5th. Pizza will be served at 5 pm for those students attending both sessions. Dr. Hansen and Dr. Roberts - Surveying/materials and geotechnical engineering.
Dr. Benning's Sustainable Engineering class will be manning the Recycle Mania booth Tuesday, April 5th 11am-1pm in Hoven's Hub in Surbeck. Please stop by next week for a chance at $25 of Grubby Gold and learn about energy awareness from our CEE and EnvE students.
MSCE student Keri Shiferl will defend her thesis, "Sources of fecal coliforms in storm water runoff" at 3:00 PM on Thursday, April 7 in EP255.
Todd Kenner, CE alum and president of RESPEC will talk about his career at the April 12th ASCE student chapter meeting at 4 pm in CB203. |
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Important announcements about the fall 2011 schedule
We have made several changes to the fall 2011 schedule, as a result of staff and curricular changes. The key changes are as follows:
1. The fall 2011 M/W section of CEE 206L has been moved to T/Th 8:00-10:50 am, and CEE 468 has been cancelled.
2. A new course, CEE 130 (Introduction to civil engineering) has been added for fall 2011. If you are a BSCE student and have not taken GE 130, you will need to take this course to graduate.
3. CEE 325 (Intro to Sustainable Design), will be offered in spring 2012 instead of fall 2011.
4. The lab section of CEE 284 is no longer required.
5. CEE 500 (Reseach Methods), a required course for MSCE students doing thesis research, has been added.
Please check your fall schedule on Webadvisor, as you may have been affected by these changes. Contact your advisor if you need assistance. |
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Student, faculty and staff news
Please help us welcome Lois Poehls, the new CEE secretary. She will be joining Ellen Haffner in CM 118. Lois will be working part time until she graduates from Western Dakota VoTech in May.
Dr. Joe Fazio and Dr. Lance Roberts will be leaving the School of Mines at the end of the semester. We will miss them both, and wish them well in the future endeavors. Their many contributions to the department are greatly appreciated.
Soonkie Nam will join the department in fall 2011 as an assistant professor. He will receive his doctorate in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Virginia Tech this May. He earned his MSCE at Virginia Tech and also has BS and ME degrees in Civil Engineering from Ajou University in Korea. He served as a combat engineer (2nd Lieut.) and construction engineer (1st Lieut.) officer in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps before joining Virginia Tech.
His current research focuses on laboratory and in situ tests for unsaturated soils and expansive soils, and their applications in geotechnical engineering problems. Soonkie has applied his experience to investigate riverbank erosion and failure. This work combines aspects of both geotechnical and hydraulic engineering. Soonkie has a strong interest in interdisciplinary research which serves to expand his perspectives in teaching and research. Other projects that he has been involved with include consulting on the subway safety inspection in Seoul, Korea, large scale and centrifuge model tests for soil nailing and reinforced wall, small scale model tests for cut-and-cover tunnel, field experiments at a New Austrian Tunneling Method tunneling construction site, settling column tests, and development and modification of test instruments.
Soonkie passed the PE exam in Arizona, and has recently published papers in the Canadian Geotechnical Journal and Engineering Geology. We look forward to having Soonkie Nam join the School of Mines. He will teach the Foundation Engineering course this fall.
BSCE students Stephen Kilber and Tony Kulesa received $2,000 scholarships for the 2011-12 school year from the Fellowship Board of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society. Awards are based on the competitive criteria of high scholarship, campus leadership and service, and promise of future contributions to the engineering profession.
Two of the five students selected for the SDSM&T 2011 Leadership Hall of Fame this year are from our department: BSCE students Lukasz Dubaj and Garrett Monson. Congratulations!
In a collaboration with the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Program at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Dr. Joe Fazio co-authored a peer-reviewed paper titled "Modification of a Highway Capacity Manual Model for Evaluation of Capacity and Level of Service at a Signalized Intersection in India." The paper has been accepted for presentation at the 9th EASTS 2011 Conference, June 19 to 23, 2011 in Jeju, Korea and publication in its proceedings. The paper is also nominated for publication in the peer-reviewed Journal of Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies.
BS EnvE seniors Aaron Oswald, Christopher Lupo, Cassandra Schultz, and Robert Prann will travelto Las Cruces, NM, in early April, accompanied by faculty advisor Dr. Henry Mott to compete in the Waste Energy Research Consortium's 21st Annual International Environmental Design contest. During the past six months, They have assembled a bench-scale CO2 absorber, developed a mathematical/numerical model to simulate the performance of the absorber, and conducted gas-liquid absorption experiments in CEE's environmental engineering lab for this contest. Experimental results were used to determine design parameters for sizing full-scale capture systems for retrofit to coal-fired generating facilities such as Black Hills Corporation's WyGen III plant near Gillette, WY. The competition includes a design report, an oral presentation, a poster presentation, and a bench scale demonstration. Additional team members Dustin Jordan and Kristi Chamley, unable to attend the on-site activities, will be available with the team's bench scale system and poster at SDSM&T's annual design fair on April 19th.
BSCE sophomore Kaleb Nielsen-Sheffield took the first place award in the college male freshman-sophomore category at the SD National Association of Teachers of Singing statewide competition on March 26th in Spearfish. Also competing from SDSMT were Drew Coker, senior EE major, and Ben Ruege, sophomore ChE major. There were fifteen other entries from BHSU, USD, SDSU, and NSU - all of them vocal music majors. Kaleb has been an SDSMT music scholarship awardee this past year and has studied voice with Dr. Feiszli. Congratulations, Kaleb!
Dr. Thomas Fontaine and his wife Jill accompanied eight SDSM&T students to Vicuna, Chile, in a remote area of the Andes Mountains over spring break. Two of the students, Bridget McDougall, and Tom Lunzman, were BSCE students. In the mornings they placed a total of 20 cubic yards of concrete (250 batches), carrying buckets full of gravel, sand, and cement to a small mixer. In the afternoons and evenings, the team developed designs for a new building, a water purification system, systems for water supply and waste water management, and a detailed site survey for the master plan. The project was a huge benefit for the Vocations for Orphans organization, which will teach trade skills leading to good jobs for teenagers that are too old to stay in orphanages.
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Who is the man in the plaid pants?
This newspaper clipping from 1975 features our own Dr. MR Hansen early in his teaching career. Do you have a picure you'd like to share? Send a description, along with the photo and we'll share it in the next newsletter. |
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Student opportunities
Dr. Stone has summer 2011 undergraduate or graduate student research assistantship for a new NASA ESPCoR-funded life cycle assessment (LCA) modeling project. The project will track LCA inputs/outputs including water use, biomass production, harvestable product carbon sequestration and energy input/output within South Dakota agricultural production systems using remote sensing and field-level data in collaboration with researchers from SDSU and NASA. These data will be used in LCA modeling to understand which management strategies best promote sustainable agriculture in our region. Please contact Dr. Stone via email (james.stone@sdsmt.edu) for further information regarding this research opportunity.
The Northern Great Plains Network Inventory and Monitoring Program is recruiting for its
Seasonal Temporary Employment Program -
Biological Science Technician (GIS) or Computer Assistant
GS-04 ($13.41/hour)
The Network is recruiting a summer seasonal biological science technician/computer assistant to assist with the development of spatial and non-spatial natural resource datasets in 13 national park units across the Northern Great Plains region, including North and South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nebraska. As part of the data management program, the selectee will gain experience in the use of global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) technologies, centralized natural resource databases, and development of natural resource worldwide web content. The majority of the duties are accomplished in the office setting, but field opportunities will be available assisting Network ecologists with monitoring plants, birds, and prairie dogs. The selectee will be duty stationed at the Network office in Rapid City, South Dakota, where there is no government housing available. The term of the position will from mid-May to mid-August, 2011.
Recruitment closes April 1, 2011, or when a suitable candidate is found.
Successful applicants MUST be students enrolled, at least half-time, for the spring and fall semesters of 2011, and must be in a degree or certificate seeking program at an accredited college, university, or technical/vocational school. You will be required to provide proof of enrollment (e.g. registration documents or letters from school officials) prior to hiring. A background check will also be conducted.
Students may apply by e-mailing a resume (include specific dates of employment or experience, and number of hours worked per week), transcripts (which can be unofficial copies), and references to:
Stephen Wilson
NPS Northern Great Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network
231 East Saint Joseph Street
Rapid City, SD 57701
Office 605-341-2804
Fax 605-341-7192
stephen_k_wilson@nps.gov
For more information on the NPS monitoring program visit http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/ngpn/
Iowa State University offers an intensive 10-week on-campus research program in Wind Energy Science, Engineering, and Policy (WESEP) for undergraduate students. Ten fellowships are sponsored each year by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. Students will work collaboratively in interdisciplinary teams with faculty and graduate students to receive training and get hands-on research experience in areas that address critical, long-term national needs in wind energy-related areas.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
· One-on-one mentoring from a faculty mentor
· Immersive research experience in one of four wind energy-related areas
· Additional training through short courses and workshops
· Field trips to operating wind farms and turbine and blade manufacturers
· Networking with industry experts at weekly "lunch and learn"
· Access to state-of-the-art laboratories
STIPEND & EXPENSES COVERED
The program starts June 1, 2011 and ends August 6, 2011. The program provides each student:
· $5,000 stipend
· Up to $600 in travel expenses
· Free on-campus housing and meal plan
ELIGIBILITY
All applicants must:
· Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident of the United States
· Be an undergraduate in good standing
· Have completed 4 college-level courses in physical sciences, engineering, or mathematics
PROGRAM DEADLINES
Applications are due April 8, 2011.
MORE INFORMATION
To learn more about our summer research program, visit our website at www.windenergy.iastate.edu/reu.asp
The Council on Undergraduate Research hosts a Registry of Undergraduate Researchers. The purpose of this registry is to facilitate matchmaking between undergraduates who have research experience and a desire to pursue an advanced degree, with graduate schools seeking high quality students who are well prepared for research. The Registry is open to students and graduate schools in the fields of Anthropology/Archaeology, Arts/Humanities, Biology/Biochemistry, Business, Chemistry/Biochemistry, Economics, Education, Engineering, English and Linguistics, Environmental Studies, Geosciences, Health Professions, History, Journalism and Communications, Mathematics/Computer Science, Physics/ Astronomy, Political Science, Psychology, Social Work and Sociology.
Any undergraduate may go to https://www.cur.org/ugreg/reg1.asp to fill out a simple curriculum vitae form. There is no charge to the student or the student's institution and records will be made available to bona fide Graduate Schools that contract with CUR for this service. Organizations or companies seeking the students' information for other marketing purposes will not be granted access. Graduate School representatives may contact students to invite applications or visits to the campus and laboratory, or to share information about their research programs and financial support opportunities.
We hope that students who are currently in their junior year will register now, but anyone with undergraduate research experience may register at any time. You will be able to update your listing as appropriate, to include any summer research experience or information about Senior Theses and test scores. We also welcome submissions by students who are engaged in Masters' Degree programs now but who plan on going on to a PhD program. Just fill out the information on the form including the date you intend to enter a PhD program and your date of completion of your undergraduate degree. Upload a link to your CV that contains complete information about your MS/MA degree activity (school, subject, thesis topic (if applicable), and advisor).
Be sure to include a statement of your research interests, as this will be important for making the match.
Graduate schools may provide a link to their websites, and may provide a short description of opportunities, such as research fields and fellowships. For graduate schools that wish to review the student information, there is an access fee of $1,500 for the entire database, or $300 for one specific discipline. Again, there is no cost to you as a student to create a profile.
CUR believes that this service will be a great benefit for both students and graduate schools by narrowing the search for the right match. So if you are interested in graduate school, please take a moment to register now. For more information or to login if you've already created a profile, please visit: http://www.cur.org/ugreg/
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