Out of this world: Dr. Marc Robinson, along with other investigators at SDSM&T (Drs. Duke, Salem, and Cross) and USD (Drs. Koodali and Wang) were recently awarded a $750,000 NASA EPSCoR grant to develop advanced composite materials, via scalable processes, with thermal insulation and mechanical properties suitable for lunar habitat construction applications.

Dr. Sangchul Banghas joined the editorial board of the Korean Society of Civil Engineers Journal of Civil Engineering. First published in 1997, the KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering has reserved a significant part in its editorial board for those professionals who are experts in their respective fields. The KSCE is by far the largest engineering society in Korea with more than 24,000 members, and provides a forum for scholarly exchanges at both national and international level.

Dr. Scott Kenner recently presented his paper, "Watershed Assessment for TSS Site Specific Water Quality Criteria, Cheyenne River," at the International Conference on Knowledge Based Industry, hosted by the Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST), July 6-7 2011. The conference was hosted by MUST. His visit included connecting with previous students Baigalmaa and Tunga. Dr. Kenner visited the Energy Resources new surface coal mine where Baigalmaa is a senior executive. He also had the opportunity to travel across the Gobi Desert to visit a new underground copper mine. Dr Kenner connected with more previous students - Shugar and Purevdorj (PJ) - and current PhD student Battsengel. He visited with several faculty members at MUST and the Erdenet School of Technology to plan for a Fulbright Scholarship application to spend a sabbatical year there teaching and conducting research.

Dr. Robinsonand co-author Dr. John Kosmatka (UC-San Diego) recently presented a paper entitled "Dynamic Response of a Light-Weight Composite Bridge" at the EURODYN 2011 conference of structural dynamics held in Leuven Belgium. The paper describes experimental testing and analysis of the dynamic response of advanced composite bridging for battle-field and emergency response applications.

Bryce Pfiefle (MS GeoE) recently was awarded second overall (and won $200) in the oral presentation contest at the American Society of Mine Reclamation conference in Bismarck ND.  His talk was titled "Arsenic Speciation in Sediment and Pore Waters of the Historical Mining-Impacted Belle Fourche and Cheyenne River Floodplains." Bryce works with Dr. Stone on this project.

Chris Lupo (MSCE student, BS EnvE 11) and Dr. Stone recently submitted a manuscript entitled "Bulk atmospheric mercury fluxes for the Northern Great Plains U.S." for peer review to the journal Atmospheric Environment.

Tyler Hengen (BS EnvE) and Dr. Stone submitted an abstract to the upcoming Eastern South Dakota Water Conference in Brookings October 13, 2011

(http://www.sdstate.edu/abe/wri/activities/ESDWC/index.cfm) entitled "Life cycle assessment analysis of engineered stormwater control methods common to urban South Dakota watersheds." Tyler will also be presenting this talk at the South Dakota Water and Wastewater Association annual meeting in Huron, SD on September 15, 2011 (http://www.sdwwa.org/).

Dr. Stone will be attending and presenting at the U2011 Uranium Symposium and Tradeshow in Casper WY, September 18-21, 2011 (http://www.u2011.org/).  His talk is entitled "Sediment pore-water equilibria interactions associated with arsenic and uranium transport within a historical uranium mining-impacted watershed in South Dakota."

ASCE President Kathy Caldwell recognized Dr. Molly Gribb, who recently was elected a Fellow by the ASCE at a reception held in Rapid City on July 29. Dr. Bruce Berdanier, Head of the Civil Engineering Department at SDSU was also recognized for his election to Fellow status in the organization. The reception was co-sponsored by the Black Hills Branch of ASCE, the CEE department, and several private donors, in honor of the ASCE Board of Directors, who were in Rapid City for their summer meeting. Recently elected city council member and alum, Jerry Wright (BSCE 71), was among the attendees.

Dr. MR Hansen visited with one our of former students earlier this summer and brought back this report: Josh Daiss (BSCE 97) has made his career at Recreational Adventures Co., the largest franchisee of KOA campgrounds. After growing up in Hill City, Josh attended SDSM&T and worked for the Mt. Rushmore KOA/Palmer Gulch Lodge during the summer time. After graduation, he started his career at the Harpers Ferry, WV KOA as the assistant manager, moved on to manage the Branson, MO KOA campground and now is the general manager of the Mt. Rushmore KOA/Palmer Gulch Lodge and Regional Authority for RAC, who own 12 KOAs nationwide. With a population of about 2,500 people per day and about 100 employees during the summer time, Palmer Gulch is one of the larger cities in the Black Hills. It has its own water system from several wells, a zero-discharge sanitary sewer system, daily garbage collection, and miles of roads - a perfect job for a civil engineer.