Message from the CEE Department Head

Dr. Molly Gribb

Welcome back to campus, everyone! We hope you will find this newsletter useful on keeping up with curriculum changes and learning about all the great things your peers and professors are up to.

The ASCE student chapter travels to Pierre this weekend for the Dakota Cup to race their concrete canoe against the SDSU chapter. The fun begins on Saturday, September 17, 2011 at ~5PM at Cow Creek, 6 miles north of Oahe Dam on Highway 1804 (east side of the river). The event will last 3-4 hours and the South Dakota Engineering Society (www.sdes.org) will be providing burgers, brats, pop, and water ($5.00 per person/$3.00 per student). Other beverages are BYOB. The event is open to everyone to attend. E-mail ASCE student chapter president Karen Schaefers for more information.

Visit us on the web: http://cee.sdsmt.edu
 

EnvE students: Separate sections of EM 331 and EM 328 will no longer be offered. EnvE students who planned to take EM 328 should take EM 331, which will be offered spring 2012 M,W,F at noon. 

New flowchart available for BSCE students: Our suggested sequence of courses has been updated and is now available at http://cee.sdsmt.edu. 

Updates for Spring 2012 semester: As you may recall, Dr. Fazio who taught the transportation class, is no longer at Mines. As we search for a replacement this year, students may take CEE 325 (Introduction to Sustainable Design) in lieu of CEE 368 (Introduction to Transportation Engineering). CEE 325 will be offered in spring 2012, T,Th at 1-2:50 pm. For more information about the course, contact Dr. Jennifer Benning.

We have simplified the list of CE Department Approved Electives:

• Any CEE or ENVE 300 or 400 level courses not applied to another CEE graduation requirement.
• Up to 6 credit hours of CEE 498 (Undergraduate Research/Scholarship), CEE 491 (Independent Study) or CP 497 (Cooperative Education); not more than 3 credits may be CEE 491 or CP 497. Note that students can earn 3 credits of CEE 498 for design of the ASCE concrete canoe or steel bridge (available spring semesters to coincide with the regional competition).
• Up to 6 credit hours of 300 or 400 level courses in engineering, science, math or computer science not applied to another CEE graduation requirement.

All degree requirements are spelled out in the SDSM&T catalog, available here: http://catalog.sdsmt.edu/.

The department encourages all students to become familiar with the "degree progress" tool within WebAdvisor that can be used to track your completion of degree requirements. Questions? See your academic advisor or Professor Arneson-Meyer. 

Did you know? Up to 12 semester hours of graduate-level credits taken as an undergraduate and not used to fulfill requirements for the undergraduate degree may be used toward a graduate degree only after the courses in question are included on the student's program of study with all necessary approvals listed thereon. Upon written justification by the head/coordinator of the graduate student's major department, the Dean of Graduate Education may approve a minor variance from this rule.

BSCE senior student Stephen Kilber received a $5,000 AISC Education Foundation scholarship in August 2011 from the American Institute of Steel Construction. AISC, headquartered in Chicago, is a not-for-profit technical institute and trade association established in 1921 to serve the structural steel design community and construction industry in the United States. AISC's mission is to make structural steel the material of choice by being the leader in structural-steel-related technical and market-building activities, including: specification and code development, research, education, technical assistance, quality certification, standardization, and market development.

Drs. Jennifer Benning, Damon Fick, MR Hansen and Foster Sawyer contributed to a successful first year of the NSF-funded grant "OLC/SDSU/SDSMT Pre-Engineering Education Collaborative" (OSSPEEC)."  The objective of the grant is to attract more Native American students into engineering fields, and to provide them with greater support and mentorship while they work toward completion of their engineering degrees. A major component of the OSSPEEC program is the development of service/project-based learning activities in which students identify projects within their local communities, and work with other students and faculty to design and create solutions.

Four projects were established this summer by CEE professors Drs. Hansen, Fick, and Benning related to renewable energy, a memorial wall restoration, and a drainage site assessment. SDSM&T CE students working on the projects include junior Shane Herrod, sophomores Kyle White and Tyler Corbine, and OLC sophomore Lester Richards.

One of the renewable energy projects is the collection of wind data from a 100-m meteorological tower located at OLC's Piya Wiconi campus near Kyle, SD. A plan for lowering the tower and replacing the damaged anemometers has been identified, after which, current wind data will be investigated. Average monthly data were collected from 2004-07 and a comparison with current data will be made. Future efforts of the project will include selecting an appropriate wind turbine for the site and providing recommendations for electricity use on campus.

The second project includes strain measurements at the Black Hills Power Renewable Energy Research Facility. Students installed five strain gages around the perimeter of the 80-ft tall wind turbine and will compare measured and calculated strains on the tower and their relationship with different wind characteristics.

The third project involves the restoration of the Veterans' Memorial Wall located in Wanblee, SD honoring Native Americans who served during World Wars I and II. The Wall was originally dedicated in 1946 and is a historical monument for families and the community. Solutions are being designed for restoring the sandstone-engraved panels and dealing with the foundation settlement. Students will present their ideas to the Wanblee community and will coordinate the desired restoration efforts.

The final project initiated this summer includes surveying and development of a preliminary design for an improved water drainage and retention area at OLC. A recent building construction and parking lot project have changed the natural drainage characteristics of the site and have created erosion problems. A site survey has been completed and will be used to determine restoration strategies.

Dr. Andrea Surovek served as the guest editor for the September edition of the Journal of Structural Engineering along with Dr. Maria Moreyra Garlock of Princeton University. From the introduction of the journal co-authored by the editors: "This special issue of the Journal of Structural  Engineering commemorates 10 years since the attacks of September 11, 2001, by focusing on research that was motivated by the impacts of events of that day. Primarily, in response to the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, the damage and collapse of neighboring structures and the damage to the Pentagon, national organizations and structural engineers have performed substantial amounts of research in the area of progressive collapse with an emphasis on the response of structures to extreme loads. The ultimate objective of this research is to provide the means to design more robust and redundant structures that can resist progressive collapse under extreme loads, such as blast, impact, and fire, by considering both member and system response to extreme events and increasing the database of experimental results. This special issue focuses on some recent research in these areas. The papers and their list of references combined are a rich source of information and a state-of-the-art representation of structural engineering for extreme loads."

The Eighth Annual "Engineers Make Great Entrepreneurs" class begins Monday, September 19 at 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm continuing Monday October 3rd and October 17th with a final session Tuesday November 1st.  Leading this class will be Mr. Terry Rock, Venture Capitalist, Dallas TX SDSM&T (BSME 70). Main themes that will apply to success in college, careers and life will be the focus. Scholarship prizes are award with full participation.  Send your email request for an application to trock@sdsmt.edu. Deadline is September 15 @ noon. 

Cliffs Natural Resources Information Session, Sunday, September 25, 2011, 60in in CB 203. This is your chance to learn more about the international mining company and the opportunities that await you at our various locations. Refreshments will be provided. Whether it's an open pit iron ore mine in Eastern Canada or an underground West Virginia coal mine, Cliffs' employees enjoy a challenging, yet safe and rewarding, work environment. We are serious about your personal growth, and offer training and development opportunities that can lead to career advancement within our organization. If you want the potential to create positive change in a quickly growing, Fortune 500 company, and are looking to embrace a culture of trust, respect and integrity, then Cliffs may have the career you're looking for.

Aerotek Inc. is looking for a few Concrete Technicians to join our team working in Bismarck, ND. The position will involve performing various field and lab tests on soil, concrete, and aggregate materials. We will be working on large commercial projects such as the foundations of retail buildings like Target and Wal-Mart. Candidates should meet the following qualifications: Solid knowledge of soils/moisture and Concrete-Ready Mix,  ACI Field Tester 1 Certification required (Bonus Certifications: MnDot, ICC, Nuclear Density Gauge), and some construction experience.

All candidates must be able to pass a drug test and background check. If you meet these qualifications and are interested in applying for this position, send your contact information and resume for review to: Scott J. Klabunde, Environmental Engineering and Construction Recruiter, Aerotek Inc. 1275 Red Fox Rd., Arden Hills, MN 55110, sklabund@aerotek.com, Tel: 651.528.5315, Fax: 651.528.5430.

Burns & MacDonald is taking applications for 2012 internships. Burns & Mac has an extremely strong internship program; this year alone they had 108 interns. In addition, they are looking for full-time hires in all areas including engineering, construction, GIS, and computer science. They have hired around 240 full-time employees this year and plan to hire another 100 or so by year end. Interested candidates can submit an application by following the link below. They will be on campus this fall interviewing. For more info see: http://www.burnsmcd.com/Careers/Internships-Co-ops.