A Message from the Interim Dean
Dear CEMS alums, students, faculty,
staff, and friends,
One of the greatest privileges I have as Interim Dean of CEMS is to welcome people to our College. August is especially wonderful in this regard. We have new students attending UVM for the first time, students and faculty returning from an enjoyable summertime break, and new faculty members who are starting up exciting research activities and interacting with our students. To all new CEMS students and faculty, I extend my most sincere welcome and my best wishes for success.
It is my pleasure to introduce our newest faculty member, Dr. Mary Dunlop, who is featured in this issue of Spire. Please take a moment to read about Mary's outstanding background and her exciting research. On behalf of the CEMS faculty and students, we are all thrilled to have Mary join our College as an Assistant Professor.
I offer my special welcome to our newest undergraduate students from China who joined UVM through the U.S.-Sino Pathway Program. This program was initiated to further UVM's goal of building a diverse and globally-aware university community. We are especially proud to welcome four new students from China to our College.
Congratulations to Dr. Jane Hill, Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering, who was awarded the 2010 Milt Silveira Distinguished Faculty Award. Dr. Hill has been very successful at obtaining competitive grant funding, as well as setting a high standard for research productivity. Her research group does interesting and innovative work, and she serves as a model for junior faculty in her area on a national level. This award was established in 2008 by Dr. Milton Silveira to recognize the junior faculty member in the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences who, "best embodies a 'pioneering spirit', drive and potential to succeed at the highest levels of his or her profession." The first two recipients of the award were Dr. Josh Bongard and Dr. Frederic Sansoz who were selected from strong pools of candidates. The honoree receives a plaque and a $2,000 award.
As some of you are aware — new fonts, colors and styles approved by UVM for all correspondence are being applied to UVM's web sites. These changes will be incorporated on CEMS web pages providing visitors with easy identification and smooth transition between pages. It is my goal that our web pages reflect, in a visual way, our CEMS vision to build a green, sustainable future for our global community. I hope you enjoy this issue of Spire and I wish you all the best for a happy and healthy autumn.
As always, I welcome your comments, suggestions, or any alumni news.
Bernard "Chip" Cole, PhD
Interim Dean of CEMS and Professor of Statistics
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Video Spotlights: UG Engineering Students
Do Summer Research
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Outreach to High School Students
This summer high school students experienced the excitement of working on complex mathematical problems as well as hands-on engineering projects through two of the seven Governor's Institutes of Vermont.
2010 Governor's Institute in Mathematical Sciences
A total of 32 top Vermont mathematics students from grades 9-12 participated in exploring topics such as chaos, fractals, robotics, mathematical games and mathematical problem solving during the 2010 Governor's Institute in Mathematical Sciences.
more
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2010 Civil and Environmental Engineering
Senior Capstone Design Projects
Video Story: Modifications to Harvey's Lake Dam, Barnet
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Mandar Dewoolkar, associate professor in civil engineering in the School of Engineering values rigor and theory, but sees doing as a path to knowing. Part of the curriculum requirements for students enrolled in his CE175 course is service-learning projects.
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During their last semester, students work together in groups of four to five, collaborating with community partners from site visits to final presentations. Projects vary in scope and often extend beyond engineering, as students take into consideration historic preservation, societal needs and economic factors.
Linking students and community partners creates a win-win scenario. Students gain an unique understanding of the complexity involved in finding creative solutions to specific engineering problems — community partners gain from low-cost recommendations made by students. In 2010, students worked with the City of Burlington, Towns of Essex, Barnet and Richmond, Gardenside Community in Shelburne and the University of Vermont as community partners on a total of eight projects.
» CEE Projects and Video Stories
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Engineering Students Improve Air Quality for Cheese
 Four engineering students have designed and built a prototype ammonia filter to improve the air quality for cheese at the Jasper Hill Farm, in Greensboro, VT. The filter created by Adam Wood, Paul Veselka, Evan Johanson and Dave McCloskey from the University of Vermont's College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences was installed in the cheese cave at Jasper Hill Farm and is featured on the NSF web magazine "Science360" and on the UVM home page. The video entitled, "Cheese Whizzes: Undergrads Engineer Cleaner Air for Vermont Cheese Cave", was produced by Jeffrey Wakefield, Assistant Director of University Communications.
» NSF web magazine "Science360"
» View this video on UVM's web site
» Transcript
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Emergency Shelters & Public Service Announcements:
UVM CEM Aiken/TASC
 Given the frequency and urgency of major disasters in every corner of the earth, a challenge has been made to middle and high school students to create emergency shelters that are light, portable, and fast to set up or to create an emergency Public Service Announcement (PSA) video with a universal emergency preparedness message.
Students will bring shelters and videos to UVM to compete for prize awards on Saturday, December 4, 2010 between 9:00 to Noon in the UVM tennis court area of the Patrick gym. The UVM CEMS Aiken/TASC (Technology And Science Challenges) are sponsored by The Aiken Lecture Series, the UVM College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences and approximately 60 Vermont businesses. more information
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Technology Knowledge Fair - Scouts in Engineering
 Middle school students have the opportunity to learn about aviation, architecture, computers, electricity, engineering, energy, hunter safety, metals, radio communications, photography, space exploration, and surveying, on Saturday, December 4 as part of the Technology Knowledge Fair (Scouts in Engineering) sponsored by the University of Vermont's College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, General Dynamics, the Green Mountain Council, Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scout Council of Vermont.
These introductory educational opportunities for students ages 12-17 are held in conjunction with UVM/Aiken Design TASC on Saturday, December 4, 2010. Participating students will enjoy visiting Aiken/TASC, and then participate in afternoon sessions from 1 to 4 p.m. more information
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Tactile Sketch Pad for the Blind Moves Forward
 In the Fall of 2008, a lucky contact with Dr. Al Maneki, a retired mathematician in Baltimore who is blind, led to a Senior Design project related to use of raised-line drawing methods by blind artists, engineers, scientists, architects, and others who must perceive graphics through touch. Al briefed Mike Rosen - organizer and principle instructor of the ME/EE capstone design course - on the need for more effective and sophisticated technology to meet this need, and connected him to the National Federation of the Blind. more
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Mary joined the faculty of the University of Vermont in the School of Engineering in
July 2010. She was a postdoc at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (at Lawrence Berkeley
National Lab) where she worked on improving microbial biofuel production. Her
graduate studies were done at the California Institute of Technology where she studied
dynamic gene regulation in single-celled microorganisms.
She received her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Caltech and her Bachelors degree
in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University. Among other
things, Dr. Dunlop has led the Caltech Project for Effective Teaching and worked with
numerous undergraduate researchers.
more
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Originally from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, John Wiechecki graduated in 2008 from
UVM’s College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences with a Bachelors of Science
in Mathematics. During his junior year he was offered a summer internship in Keene,
New Hampshire with Liberty Mutual as an actuarial analyst, and before the end of his
senior year he was offered a full time position with the firm.
Founded in 1912 Liberty Mutual is the 5th largest P&C insurance company in the United
States with an A.M. Best Co. 'A' (Excellent) rating, for their breadth, depth and financial
strength in the United States and around the world.
more
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Originally from Sutton in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, Rose is a senior majoring in mechanical engineering in the School of Engineering. She transferred to UVM from Colby College in Waterville, Maine as a sophomore, and joined the UVM Cycling Team.
Her passion for engineering originated from her participation as a high school student in the Governor's Institutes of Vermont (GIV) Science and Technology Institute, one of seven Institutes offered by GIV. During this Institute, she heard Dr. James Iatridis, a professor within the School of Engineering, talk during professional night about his research in Intervertebral Disc Bioengineering and Spinal Biomechanics. more
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