CONNECTIONS
Bridges Between Past & Future
Civil Engineering
Departmental Newsletter
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Fall 2003 Connections Newsletter (#3)
Note from the Department Head
Welcome to a new academic year and our continuing efforts to keep you up with the activity of the
Civil Engineering Department at New Mexico State University. We have started a new year and so far it looks like an exciting time. I am pleased to report that our undergraduate enrollment has increased despite a very large graduating class last spring. We now have 280 undergraduates in the program and continue
aggressive recruiting and retention. We also had a large increase in graduate enrollment which now totals about 45 with about one-third in the Ph.D. program. Again, we have been very active in recruiting students especially from our own undergraduate population. Our students continue our tradition of being very
active in the student organizations such as ASCE and Chi Epsilon. We have good leadership in both organizations (both student leaders and faculty advisors).
I hope that you enjoy reading the latest news about our alumni, students and faculty. We invite
everyone to contribute newsworthy items for future editions. We also invite everyone to become active in department development. We have great interactions with alumni through our Academy and Advisory groups. If you would like to participate, please contact us.
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Kenneth R. White, Ph.D., PE
Professor and Department Head
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Happenings in the Civil Engineering Department
Faculty Award
Dr. David V. Jáuregui was selected as the recipient of the “Junior Faculty / Staff Award” for the third annual University Research Council Award for Exceptional Achievements in Creative Scholarly Activity.The award is presented annually by the University Research Council to NMSU faculty and staff in recognition of exceptional research and/or other creative scholarly activity.
Since joining the faculty in January 1999, Dr. Jáuregui has directed several successful research projects for the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). His research findings have been published in several diverse and prominent
engineering journals such as the ASCE Journal of Bridge Engineeringand the TRB: Transportation Research Record. The areas in which he has made the most significant impact are in the bridge engineering field and include virtual reality, photogrammetry, experimental load rating, and damage detection.
Two examples of his recent publications are:
Jáuregui, D. V., White, K. R., Woodward, C. B., and Leitch, K. R. (2003). "Non-Contact Photogrammetric Measurement of Vertical Bridge Deflection." ASCE Journal of Bridge Engineering 8(4): 212-222.
Jáuregui, D. V. and White, K. R. (2003). "Implementation of Virtual Reality in Routine Bridge Inspection" Transportation Research Record 1827: 29-35.
Faculty Changes
Dr. William McCarthy has been appointed Interim Dean of the College of Engineering. He has served as Associate Dean of Academics for the COE and, among other responsibilities, is the Director and Principle Investigator for RASEM Squared.
Dr. Kenneth R. White has returned to the Dept. of Civil and Geological Engineering as Department Head after his year as Interim Dean of the College of Engineering. We welcome him back.
Dr. Ronald McPherson, formerly retired, is teaching CE 444 (Steel Design) this
semester. Good teachers never really retire . . . thank goodness!
More Faculty News
There will be the presentation of the collections of professional papers by Professors Emeritus
John W. Hernandez and Narendra Gunaji in the lobby of Hernandez Hall.
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Energy Production from Manure
Drs. Zohrab Samani and Adrian Hanson are working on converting feedlot manure waste into energy and compost. Manure management is a major environmental issue. At the same time manure has potential to produce much needed methane energy (similar to natural gas) which is used for heating and electric generation. Using a novel bi-phasic anaerobic digestion system which is tailored to the dry
climate of the southwestern U.S. and uses a small amount of water, the investigators at NMSU are able to produce 100 cubic meter of methane from each ton of manure. In the State of New Mexico, 100,000 tons of manure waste is generated each month which can provide energy requirement for 120,000 households. The residual from the operation is used as compost. The entire process takes about three weeks.
BIA Training Course - 2003
This marks the 11th year that Civil Engineering has hosted the Water Resources Technician Training Program from June 1-26, 2003. This year a larger number (28) of students attended as part of the nationwide program to help develop or improve water resources and issues on the various reservations. The principal investigators were Drs. A. Salim Bawazir and J. Phillip King of Civil Engineering, who coordinated with Mo Baloch, the program administrator of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. The program had instructors from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Geological Survey, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), U.S. Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Office of Surface Mining and the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, all of whom donated their time and expertise in the diverse aspects of water resources, including groundwater surface water, water and waste water treatment, and water law and regulations. As in other years, there were both class work and various field trips to illustrate the basic water issues and potential problems in the field. Each student was required to write a paper and give a presentation on the subject of choice, demonstrating how much he had learned. In addition, several week-end trips to various locales helped alleviate the rigorous coursework. Tours of White Sands and the Carlsbad Caverns were very popular.
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Evapotranspiration (ET) Studies
A total of 16 students (7 graduate and 9 undergraduate) participated in water-related research projects this summer under the direction of Drs. A. Salim Bawazir and J. Phillip King. Various research projects included seepage from earth lined canals in the Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID), evapotranspiration of riparian vegetation (salt cedar, cottonwood and Russian olive) in the Middle Rio Grande and agricultural (pecan) in Dona Anna County, evaporation of open water at
Elephant Butte and irrigation efficiency in the Rio Grande Valley. The students benefited from the projects by learning how research in the field of water is conducted, how to work in a team, how to use monitoring sensors and interpret the data collected, and how math and science are applied in solving “a real world” problem. The funding for these research projects are sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission and other local and federal agencies and monitored by the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute.
SWE (Society of Women Engineers)
The NMSU student section has about ten CAGE students among its active members this Fall 2003. This student organization offers numerous opportunities for community service, outreach activities, professional development, networking, mentoring, and fun. A team representing NMSU-SWE, including CAGE student Judith Gallardo, recently participated in the Children’s Miracle Network Annual Walk. SWE was also present at the Annual Spring Visitor’s Day and Aggie Experience, encouraging young women to pursue higher education in engineering at NMSU. Robin Standring, former president, and Julie Westerman, former vice-president of SWE, are Civil Engineering students, demonstrating the important participation of our students in SWE activities. Drs. Jeanine Cook (EE)
and Paola Bandini (Civil Engineering) are faculty advisors for SWE. Civil Engineering alumni and company representatives interested in meeting SWE members or supporting our initiatives can contact Dr. Bandini at 505-646 2471, Paola's E-mail, or
SWE E-mail.
Some other interesting statistics on females in engineering:
Women received 35% of all science and engineering doctorates awarded in 1999 versus 28% in 1990.
(NMSU Women’s Studies Newsletter Fall 2002
The Civil Engineering student body is composed of 25% females versus 22.3% females in the
College of Engineering (Fall 2003, College of Engineering Enrollment Report)
Percentage of degrees in engineering awarded to females:
| Degrees |
Year
1971 |
% by Females |
Year
2000 |
% by Females |
| (Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2002, Tables 279-280, p.176-177) |
| Total # of B.S. degrees |
50,046 |
0.08% |
72,555 |
18.5% |
| Total # of M.S. degrees |
16,443 |
1.1% |
26,522 |
20.9% |
| Total # of Ph.D. degrees |
3,638 |
0.06% |
5,390 |
15.5% |
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Virus Attack!
Sounds like the beginning of a “B” grade movie, designed to strike terror in the minds of men. Well the second part is right if you’re a computer technical support person. This semester began badly for the tech personnel here at Civil Engineering and elsewhere on campus. In the week before classes started, the Lovsan worm struck with a fury. That same week it was followed by three or four other viruses. It was a particularly nasty entity as it only needed a machine to be connected to the network to become infected. Its payload file was called MSBlast that would launch a DOS (denial of service) attack against the Microsoft update web site.
It took about three days of concerted effort to clean and then patch the machines since this was an
attack against a flaw in the operating system and not a true virus. With the latest service packs and updates from Microsoft, we have now set the machines to auto-patch each morning at 3:00AM when new updates are present. The virus scanning software updates at midnight and then scans the entire machine at 1:00 AM. Please DO NOT turn off your office machines; doing so could have disastrous results. My thanks to my staff, especially Jeremy McBurney and Brian Smith, who put in extra hours to fight the menace.
- Percy Walls, Tech IX, Computer Lab Administrator
Adelmo "Del" Archuleta- Educator / Engineer Par Excellence
Adelmo “Del” Archuleta is nationally recognized as both an engineer and a proponent of education. As a professional water resources engineer and CEO of Molzen-Corbin & Associates in Albuquerque, he has gained an enviable reputation through managing numerous projects that directly improved the quality of life in communities throughout New Mexico, and through designing several award-winning
state and regional treatment facilities.
Del began his professional engineering career 28 years ago after completing his master’s degree in civil (environmental) engineering at New Mexico State University in 1975. By 1982, Del had became Executive Vice President of Molzen-Corbin & Associates. In 1984, only nine years after graduating from NMSU, he became the majority stockholder and Chief Executive Officer of Molzen-Corbin & Associates. Del’s quick rise through the company is a testament to his contagious energy, drive, and relentless dedication to excellence.
Through the years, Del has been extremely active in his community as well as throughout New Mexico and has shown an unusually high dedication toward the welfare of others. As part of his civic commitment, he has always been interested in education, both locally and throughout the state. He was appointed to the State
Board of Education by Governor Bill Richardson in January 2003, subsequently confirmed by the New Mexico State Legislature. In April 2003 the Board elected its new officers, electing Del to serve as President of the 15-member board. This past summer, Del also was appointed by Governor Richardson to serve as New Mexico’s representative on the Education of the States Commission, and to serve as a commissioner on the Information Technology Commission. Previously, he completed serving a six-year term on the New Mexico State University Board of Regents which began in 1997 when he was appointed by Governor Johnson to serve.
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Academy of Civil Engineering (ACAGE)
Recent meetings of the Civil Engineering Academy officers have focused on the following activities:
1. Planning the initiation banquet for new members of the Academy during Homecoming on October 31, 2003.
The banquet will include "roasting" of our newest honor member, Adelmo (Del) Archuleta. In addition the Academy has helped plan and will participate in significant associated activities that day. During the luncheon meeting, Rhonda Faught (BSCE, 1980) will be recognized as the Outstanding Alumni for the College of Engineering for 2003. At 3:00 pm, there will be the dedication of
Engineering Complex Quadrangle to honor Dr. Samuel P. Maggard for his many years of service, then at 3:30 pm a dedication of display of "Presidental Citations" to recognize the accomplishments of Drs. Naren Gunaji and John Hernandez.
2. Support for Dr. Conrad G. Keyes, Jr. in his quest for nomination as President-Elect of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Election materials and personal contacts with nominating groups has been the focus to date. The next step is get ALL Academy members that are also members of ASCE to vote for Dr. Keyes next spring.
3. Support for Dr. Kenneth R. White in his quest to become the Dean of Engineering at NMSU. Various members of the Academy have contacted NMSU and have provided strong support for Dr. White.
Nominees for the Academy of CAGE include Rhonda Faught and Theodore Harris as Regular members, David Grabiel and Gilbert Tellez as
Associate members, and Kristopher Schafer, to become a Regular member from an Associate. Adelmo Archuleta will be nominated as an Honorary member. As part of the Academy of CAGE ceremonies of October 31, 2003, the courtyard at the east entrance of Hernandez Hall will be dedicated to Samuel P. Maggard, professor emeritus. Finally, later in the evening the annual Academy banquet will be held at the Hilton Inn.
Alumni Feedback
In the last issue of the mailed newsletter, return-postcards were enclosed, asking members for address changes and/or interest in graduate education and professional development opportunities. A very low number of cards were returned, but an assessment was made for those that were. Of them, most indicated an interest in water resources engineering, followed by environmental engineering. Frequently both were checked. Of the remainder, an equal number indicated geotechnical engineering or structural engineering but these choices were definitely in the minority.
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Civil Engineering Student Highlights
Concrete Canoe Competition
On April 26th, the NMSU team placed first in the Rio Grande Concrete Canoe Competition,
sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The competition was held on Caballo Lake, New Mexico. As winners, the team participated in the National Concrete Canoe Competition in Philadelphia, June 20-22.
This year’s concrete canoe team is started out a little different and a little bit earlier than last year. Scott Burns, the captain of the team, had been working on the team organization, setting deadlines and assigning project leaders for the paper, mix design, and presentation. One of the new ideas was to make a fiberglass boat to simulate the actual concrete experience. In addition, several new features of design were tested. In order to keep the boat from tipping over or breaking apart, and to make it easier to move the paddle from one side to the other, the sides had rounded edges. The keel was inverted in the middle, but left extraverted on the sides. The inverted part of the keel enabled the boat to turn faster and the extraverted portion helped maintain the boat on the straight part of the courses. This year, work was done on the canoe in the Hydraulics Lab located in Engineering Complex I. Testing of the design
was done on Caballo Lake. Around ten people, both undergraduates and graduates, expressed interest and have been working on the canoe this year.
Student Awards
Jose A. Solis was selected as the recipient of the “1st Place Oral Presentation Award” by the New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation at their 2003 Student Research Conference. His presentation was titled “Automatic Class A Evaporation Pan Using Load Cell Sensors.” He presented a Power Point demonstration of his research in the field. During the conference, both oral and
poster presentations were evaluated by the audience as well as by selected judges. Jose and Brandice Long had previously worked on an undergraduate research assistantship sponsored by the New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation (New Mexico AMP). They presented a poster on the same topic at the
Creative Arts Symposium on the NMSU campus earlier in the semester. Their mentor, Dr. A. Salim Bawazir, guided them through the assistantship and field research.
Four students, maded up of two teams, competed in the 2003 Hydropower Contest held in Buffalo, NY at the end of July. Jared Lujan and Anil Nampally competed in the student division efficiency class while Jimmy Moreno and Chris Almy competed in the student division power class. Both teams were required to construct a device that converts the gravity potential of water into mechanical power that will lift a weight through a fixed distance. The efficiency class was trying to use the least amount of water to lift a 3-kilogram weight with a turbine that the students designed themselves. The power class was trying to lift a 1.5-kilogram weight in the least amount of time using a turbine that the contest provided. Both teams placed third in their respective class.
Amanda White was chosen as the outstanding Civil Engineering Senior by the NM Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (
ASCE) based on academic performance, participation in ASCE and
Chi Epsilon. She is an active member of Student Chapter of ASCE, President of Chi Epsilon, in addition to being a member of the Concrete Canoe Team that made it to Nationals.
Ashleigh Wilson was chosen for Doc Harrington award. She is a graduate of NM High School (Clovis), an active member of Student Section of ASCE and was also a member of the Concrete Canoe Team.
Laurie Epps was announced as the Outstanding Senior for the College of Engineering this semester.
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Other Highlights
RASEM2 Partner Retreat
The second annual RASEM2 Partner Retreat was held at the NMSU Corbett Center on Friday and Saturday, October 17 and 18th. At the retreat middle and high school special education and science / math teachers, Partner faculty, students, parents, and interested others learned how to take advantage of RASEM2 resources that benefit students with disabilities on campus majoring in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. During the two day retreat, parents and students from across New Mexico and west Texas built and programmed robots made out of legos on Friday, then witnessed a hot air balloon ascent at 8 am. Saturday at the Aggie Memorial Station.
This year, Dr. Donald Thompson, Division Director of Human Resource Development for the National Science Foundation, was the keynote speaker. Other speakers included Sarah Traino, co-founding member of the National Disabled Students Union; Steve Hanamura, President of Hanamura Consulting, Inc.; and Dr. Larry Sharp, Coordinator, Counseling and Disabled Student Services, Doña Branch Community College.
Learn more by going to the RASEM2 website at
http://rasem.nmsu.edu
-Ed Misquez
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Julie Moore, Editor
Civil Engineering Department
New Mexico State University
P.O. Box 30001, MSC 3CE
Las Cruces, NM 88003-8801
