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Civil and Environmental Engineering e-News


 

Feb. 29, 2012
In This Issue
Message from the dept. head
Announcements
Curriculum notes
Department news
Student opportunities

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Message from the CEE Department Head

Dr. Molly Gribb

 

We've had many visits from our alumni lately: Alex Fisher lectured in the senior design class earlier this month, Daniel Stanton 
(BSCE 2001) lectured in the professions class this week, and Jeanne Berg (BSCE 90, MSCE 92) is visting with the ASCE student chapter in March. We greatly appreciate our alumni's willingness to share their experiences with our students.

 

This Leap Year edition of our e-newsletter highlights just a few of the many of the outreach activities that our faculty and students do to generate interest in civil and environmental engineering. Want to help? The next Go to Mines event is April 28th, and we're always looking for volunteers.

 

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

 

 
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Announcements

 

In the news: Civil engineering listed as one of the best jobs for 2012 by US News and Report: http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2012/02/27/best-jobs-2012-civil-engineer

 

Alumna Jeanne Berg (BSCE 90, MSCE 92), who was our CEE Department Outstanding Recent Graduate Award in 2000, will address the ASCE Student Chapter at 3 pm in CB 204E on March 13, 2012. Ms. Berg is the Vice President/Director of Engineering, Test Lab, Inc., a firm specializing in geotechnical and materials engineering in Tampa, Florida. She plans to speak about lessons learned from the Crosstown Expressway design flaw/failure in Tampa, Florida and the Trilevel dewatering design flaw in Saint Louis, Illinois.

 

Upcoming outreach event at the School of Mines: Hundreds of female middle and high school students will explore science and math careers when they attend the annual Women in Science Conference hosted March 6 at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

 

Professional women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields will guide 430 Black Hills area students through hands-on sessions showcasing their careers. The number of students registered this year is up dramatically from last year when 315 attended. The majority of participants will come from middle schools.The goal is to expose students to career possibilities at an early enough age for them to enroll in a math and science track through middle and high school and pave the way for a STEM-related career.

 

Dr. Molly Gribb is among those leading hands-on activities for the conference. "This program is a fantastic way to show young women that engineering and science are exciting fields of inquiry that lead to great careers. I'm so pleased to be part of the program again this year and encourage these young women to pursue STEM fields so that they too can follow their dreams and make a difference." [Excerpted from an University Relations press release. Read the whole story at: http://news.sdsmt.edu/press/179194/] .

  

Curriculum notes

 

As you may have heard, School of Mines students will be allowed to graduate in August or December 2012 following the new 130-credit curricula that were recently approved by the Board of Regents.  

 

The key changes for the BSCE degree requirements between the 130 credit and 136 credit curricula are: 1) Physical Education credits are no longer required, 2) an additional science or math elective is required, and 3) one fewer department approved elective is required. If you took IE 301 instead of IE 302, you will still meet the graduation requirements as long as you have enough total credits.

 

The key changes for the BS EnvE degree requirements between the 130 credit and 136 credit curricula are: 1) PE is no longer required, 2) CEE 425 is no longer required, 3) one technical elective is no longer required, and 3) EnvE 317 and EnvE 318 are now 3 credits (instead of 2).


The flowcharts for both BSCE curricula and the checklists for the BS EnvE curricula are available on our web site:

http://cee.sdsmt.edu/103529/. The easiest way to chart your progress is to review your transcripts from Webadvisor and mark off all the courses you've taken so far on the flowchart/checklist.


Notes for BSCE students: If you took CEE 358, you may use CEE 357 as a department approved elective in either curriculum. Similarly, if you have taken both ME 221 and ME 211, you may count one of these as a department approved elective in the 130-credit curriculum. Finally, if you took CEE 368, you may use that in lieu of CEE 325 (which is now required) or as a department approved elective.


Notes for BSCE students with an environmental engineering emphasis: The degree requirements for the new environmental emphasis in the 130-credit BSCE curriculum are shown on the web site: http://cee.sdsmt.edu/103529.


Questions? Please see your advisor.

Department news

 

Dr. Scott Amos, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves (ESGR) employee outreach director, attended an event in Pierre on February 9, 2012 where Governor Dennis Daugaard signed an ESGR Statement of Support. This document demonstrates the governor's support of the South Dakota National Guard Soldiers and Airmen. ESGR is a Department of Defense agency that develops and promotes a culture in which all American employers support and value the military service of their employees.

Featured in the photo from left to right: Dr. Scott Amos, ESGR employer outreach director, Mr. Ron Mielke, ESGR state chair, Governor Dennis Daugaard, and Major General Tim Reisch, the adjutant general of the South Dakota National Guard.

 

Dr. Venkataswamy Ramakrishnan participated in a workshop entitled "Guidelines for Fiber Reinforced Concrete" on February 12, 2012 in Nagpur, India. He also presented a keynote paper at the Fiber Reinforced Concrete-Global Developments conference on February 13-14, 2012. The paper entitled "Fiber Reinforced Concrete-Past, Present, and Future" was published after the proceedings of the conference. Dr. Ramakrishnan also opened the conference with an inaugural address.

 

In addition, Dr. Ramakrishnan presented a keynote paper entitled "Case Studies in Fiber Reinforced Concrete" at the National Workshop on Fiber Reinforced Concrete held on February 15, 2012 and organized by Y.C. Engineering College in Nagpur, India. He also presented a special lecture for a large group of engineers from The Ambuja Cement Company.

 

Dr. Scott Kenner participated in Career Days at Canyon Lake Elementary on February 24th, sharing his passion for civil and environmental engineering via sessions with 1st through 5th grade students.

 

Dr. Sangchul Bang made a presentation entitled "Update on Federal Highway Administration Full Depth Reclamation Research at SDSM&T," at the 2012 Preservation and Rehabilitation Conference organized by the Asphalt Recycling and Reclaiming Association in Bonita Springs, Florida, on Feb. 23. This research co-PI's are Dr. Lance Roberts of RESPEC and Dave Huft and Dan Johnston of SDDOT. Many current and former MSCE and MES Ph.D. students have participated in this research, including Jon Fairchild (MSCE 2011).

 

Dr. Bang also published an invited review and summary article entitled, "Suction Anchors and Piles for Offshore Foundations," Deep Foundations, in its Mar/Apr 2012 edition (pp. 72-74).

 

The steel bridge team sent six students to Pierre, SD to gather the 2011 steel bridge, which was on display at the SD Discovery Center. The students assisted the Central Chapter of the South Dakota Engineering Society (SDES) with Discovery Days, a local outreach event which hosted over 100 children from the Pierre area. While children visited the Discovery Center, they had the chance to meet the steel bridge team, build their own cardboard bridges, and watch them be tested in a load frame (photo below). The trip was a great way for the CEE students to collaborate with professional engineers in SD and to share their passion for engineering.

 

 

ASCE student chapter officers Ben Wolf, Brian Ruppelt and Abby Fleck and faculty co-advisor Dr. Molly Gribb attended the ASCE Workshop for Student Chapter Leaders in Kansas City, MO Feb. 10-11, 2012. Students were able to interact with other chapter leaders as well as the leadership of ASCE to gain new ideas about how to improve the chapter. 

Student opportunities

  

The University of South Florida in Tampa, FL, announces summer research opportunities for qualified junior and senior undergraduate students and is now accepting applications. The program is funded by the National Science Foundation's Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. Students selected to participate in the program will work with faculty, share their experiences with fellow participants, attend seminars, acquire oral and written presentation skills, and learn how to conduct independent research. Application deadline is March 23, 2012. http://seamreu.eng.usf.edu/

 

The South Dakota Soil and Water Conservation Society is awarding two $500.00 scholarships to students who are enrolled in agriculture or natural science conservation related majors. The SD Soil and Water Conservation Society has provided this scholarship annually since 1983 to a total of 68 students, giving almost $22,000 in assistance. Applications can be found at www.sdswcs.org

 

The Minnesota Surveyors and Engineers Society (MSES) is providing scholarships to deserving Minnesota college students who demonstrate strong academic performances along with an interest in working in the transportation field. The 2012-13 applications can be found at www.mses.org click on the "scholarships" button at the top, then choose "Scholarship applications" or go directly to them at http://www.mses.org/download.php?list.6

 

The National Park Service's Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program is now accepting applications for its summer 2012 program. The Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program (CRDIP) provides a career exploration opportunity for diverse undergraduate and graduate students ages 18-25 in historic preservation/cultural resources work. The program places interns with National Park Service park units and administrative offices, other federal agencies, state historic preservation offices, local governments, and private organizations. Intern sponsors provide work experiences that assist interns with building their resumes in this field. Please visit http://www.nps.gov/history/crdi/internships/intrnCRDIP.htm 

for a list of internships offered and application instructions. Applications are due Friday, March 2, 2012. Please contact Paloma Bolasny at [email protected]