May 19, 1998

Zia Elected an Honorary Member by American Concrete Institute

Paul Zia, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Civil Engineering, was elected an Honorary Member by the American Concrete Institute in recognition of his many years of active participation in the technical and administrative activities of ACI and his leadership as President of the Institute. His former students and friends also honored him by presenting a Symposium on High Performance Concrete at the recent ACI Convention.

May 19, 1998

Nagle to Receive IEEE Emberson Award

Dr. H. Troy Nagle, professor of electrical and computer engineering, will receive the 1998 IEEE Richard M. Emberson Award at the society's annual Honors Ceremony to be held June 27 in Detroit. The award is given in recognition of Nagle's "outstanding technical leadership and dedication to the IEEE."

Nagle is a fellow and past president of IEEE, the largest technical and professional society. He has held leadership positions in IEEE's Computer Society, Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Industrial Electronics Society and Neural Networks Council.

The Richard M. Emberson Award was established in 1986 to honor "Distinguished service to the development, viability, advancement and pursuit of the technical objectives of the IEEE."

May 12, 1998

HELIOS Team Takes Top Prize at Competition

Left to right, front row: Rob Bledsoe and Amanda England of the HELIOS team; Dean Masnari; Jason Janet, HELIOS adviser; Dr. Abdel Bayoumi, mechanical and aerospace engineering; back row: Dr. Bill Allen, electrical and computer engineering; and Bryan Laffitte, industrial design.

A team of engineering and design students and faculty from NC State University took first place in the Space '98 Robotics Competition held in Albuquerque, NM, April 26-30. NC State's Habitat Exploration Leaders in Outer Space (HELIOS) team designed and built working prototypes of a robot, lunar lander and habitat module for the event.

Sponsored by NASA and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the national competition is part of the Space Education Initiative. Ideas generated by the competing teams will be reviewed by NASA personnel and members of the aerospace industry in an effort to meet NASA's goal of making the moon habitable by the year 2010.

Ten HELIOS team members attended the April competition, including Amanda England, Rob Bledsoe, Johnnie Jones, Dwayne Lancaster, Chris Roseman, Scott Pratt, Taylor Arnold, Sara Washburn, John Colthar and Terri Buchanan. Jason Janet, an adviser for the team, also attended the competition.

The HELIOS team has been working on the project since 1996. Over 60 students and faculty members from electrical and computer engineering, mechanical and aerospace engineering, civil engineering and the School of Design have been involved in the project. Faculty advisers for the project are Dr. Bill Allen, electrical and computer engineering; Dr. Abdel Bayoumi, mechanical and aerospace engineering; Janet, electrical and computer engineering; Bryan Laffitte, industrial design; Dr. Philip Lambe, civil engineering; Dr. Gordon Lee, mechanical and aerospace engineering and James Tomlinson, design.

The competition is designed to challenge students in traditionally non-space-related engineering disciplines to apply their skills toward the solution of space-based problems. NASA provided a set of specifications, and each team presented design proposals and demonstrated proof-of-concept using 1/12th scale prototypes of everything needed to build a home on the moon for researchers and space travelers.

At the center of the HELIOS team's project is a remote-controlled robot named Thumper. About the size of a small dog, Thumper is a working prototype robot that can do all of the assembly and excavation of a lunar habitat before any humans return to the moon. The robot has variable speed control and can work completely untethered. In addition, Thumper sports an on-board video camera with a radio-frequency video link, an extendible boom with a dual-purpose bucket that can both transport the habitat and excavate soil, and a six-wheel positive-traction drive system for better maneuverability.

May 11, 1998

Baliga Receives O. Max Gardner Award

Dr. B. Jayant Baliga, Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering and director of the Power Semiconductor Research Center, received the state's highest faculty honor April 29. The Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina system selected Baliga to receive the O. Max Gardner Award in recognition for his research and teaching in the area of power semiconductors.

The award was established by former Governor O. Max Gardner to recognize faculty who have "made the greatest contributions to the welfare of the human race."

One of the leading researchers on power semiconductors and high-voltage integrated circuits, Baliga is a prolific inventor--he holds 97 patents with 5 currently pending. In addition to his many patents, he has written 8 books and published nearly 500 scientific publications. His inventions are known around the world in the power industry. A member of the prestigious National Academy of Engineering, he was recently named one of the "new candidates for hero status" by Glenn Zorpette in a special issue of Scientific American magazine, entitled "The Solid State Century," commemorating the invention of the transistor.

In the early 1980s, Baliga invented the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT), a device that saves energy and controls power flow in commercial and industrial power systems. It is used in everything electronic, including Japan's Bullet train, air conditioners, electric cars, lighting systems and many industrial and household appliances. The device increases efficiency resulting in a reduction of fossil fuel use and a reduction of environmental pollution. Recently, this device has been used to make compact, portable defibrillators for saving the lives of cardiac arrest victims. The American Medical Association projects that this development will save 100,000 lives each year in the United States alone.

Baliga joined the College of Engineering faculty in 1988. He is the founding director of the Power Semiconductor Research Center (PSRC), an international, industry-supported center established at NC State in 1991 for research in the area of power semiconductor devices and high voltage integrated circuits. The PSRC is the only university center of its kind in the world, providing a unique learning environment for students and state-of-the-art research and development in the area of power semiconductors.

Baliga worked for 14 years as a researcher, project leader and manager at the General Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady, N.Y., before coming to NC State. He received his master's and doctoral degrees in 1971 and 1974, respectively, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his bachelor's degree in 1969 at the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, India.

April 24, 1998

Prospective Students Learn About Engineering at Annual Open House

An estimated 2,000 prospective students, parents and other visitors toured departments and participated in hands-on demonstrations at the College of Engineering's annual Open House held Saturday, April 18, on the NC State University Campus.

Tours featured hightlights of current engineering research projects, including an artificial retina prosthesis, rapid prototyping machines, a subsonic wind tunnel, an electronic nose and mobile robots.

NC State University's College of Engineering offers 16 undergraduate, 17 master's and 14 doctoral degree programs. The college has the sixth largest undergraduate program in the United States and ranks fifth in the nation in industry-sponsored research. The college has 221 tenured and tenure-track faculty members and 10 members of the National Academy of Engineering.

April 21, 1998

College of Engineering to Hold Spring Faculty Meeting

The College of Engineering will hold its annual spring faculty meeting at 3 p.m. Thursday, May 14, in 216 Mann Hall. Agenda items must be forwarded to the dean's office by Monday, May 11. At the meeting, department heads will report on activities and announce honors and awards. Chancellor Larry Monteith will also address the engineering faculty.

April 17, 1998

NC State College of Engineering Honors Outstanding Alumni

The North Carolina State University College of Engineering has named Dr. E. James Angelo Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., James M. Davis Jr. of Raleigh and A. Fred Gant of Raleigh as its 1998 Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award winners.

The awards were announced by Nino A. Masnari, dean of the College of Engineering, at a banquet April 16 at the Capital City Club in Raleigh, as part of the annual Alumni Weekend activities. The awards honor alumni whose accomplishments further their fields and reflect favorably on the university.

Dr. E. James Angelo, Jr.

Angelo, a native of Winston-Salem, is a retired professor and electrical engineer. He received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from NC State in 1939.

He worked for Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company in Louisville, Ky., after his graduation from NC State. In 1941, he reentered academe as an instructor and later an assistant professor at Tulane University in New Orleans. He continued his academic career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an instructor and graduate student from 1947 to 1952 and an assistant professor from 1952 to 1953. He received his master's and doctoral degrees from MIT in 1949 and 1952, respectively. In 1953, he accepted an associate professorship with the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and was promoted to full professor in 1957.

While on the faculty of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, he took a leave of absence for a year to serve as a visiting lecturer in electronics at Cairo University and Ain Shams University in Egypt as part of a Fulbright Commission Assignment. He returned to industry in 1968, taking a position with Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey.

Angelo is the author of three textbooks, and the second edition of his Electronic Circuits textbook is used around the world as one of the most popular texts of its kind in print. During his career, he developed a number of techniques for the analysis and design of vacuum tube and transistor circuits and unified active circuits with passive electric circuits.

James M. Davis Jr.

Davis, a native of Rocky Mount, N.C., is senior vice president of Power Operations at Carolina Power & Light Company. He earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from NC State in 1958. He also is a graduate of the Harvard University Advanced Management Program.

Following service as a reserve officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1958 to 1961, he became a test engineer in the Experimental Engineering Department of Pratt and Whitney Aircraft in Conn. In 1965, he joined Carolina Power & Light Company as a heating and cooling engineer. He rose through the company holding various positions, including manager of Rates and Service Practices, vice president of Fuel and Materials Management and senior vice president of Operations Support before taking his current position.

A leader of volunteerism, he serves as vice president of the North Carolina Engineering Foundation and has worked on the Campaign for NC State Students. A former president of the Episcopal Laymen of the Diocese of North Carolina, he is a member of St. Michael's Episcopal Church and the Kiwanis Club of Raleigh.

A. Fred Gant

A native of Greensboro, N.C., Gant is a retired pharmaceutical executive. A graduate of Xavier Military Academy of New York, he earned his bachelor's degree in industrial engineering in 1955 at NC State.

After graduation, Gant held managerial positions with U.S. Vitamin and Miles Laboratories Inc. before moving into corporate executive positions with Merck and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. In 1980, he was named vice president of Key Pharmaceuticals in Miami, Fla., and served on the Board of Directors of Key Pharmaceuticals of Puerto Rico, Inc. He also held the senior vice presidency and sat on the Board of Directors of Granutec, a drug company in Wilson, N.C. During his career, he designed and built high technology pharmaceutical plants in Puerto Rico, Florida, Ohio and North Carolina and directed the process development of transdermal sustained release products and over-the-counter and prescription drugs that sold worldwide.

An active alumnus, he is a member of the North Carolina Engineering Foundation and a volunteer for the Campaign for NC State Students. He is a member of the Canova Society of the United Arts Council, the Raleigh Racquet Club, and the Raleigh Sports Club, and he attends Sacred Heart Cathedral in Raleigh.

March 30, 1998

College of Engineering Seeks Student Applications for Summer Programs

The North Carolina State University College of Engineering is accepting applications to its two summer programs through April 27. The programs, Student Introduction to Engineering (SITE) and the Young Scholars Program in Nuclear Science and Technology, are residential programs for high school students.

SITE, a program open to high school sophomores and juniors, features demonstrations, lectures, laboratory experiments and hands-on exercises in engineering labs. Two one-week sessions will be held this summer. Session I runs from June 14 through 19, and Session II runs from July 5 through 10.

The Young Scholars Program, a two-week program to be held June 21 through July 2, introduces rising high school seniors to nuclear science and technology through laboratory tours and lectures during the first week. Students work directly with faculty researchers and graduate students on research projects during the second week.

Tuition for SITE is $350 per student. Tuition for the Young Scholars Program is $500. The fees for both programs include room, meals, supplies and materials, gymnasium access and insurance coverage.

For SITE applications and information, call Kay Leager at (919) 515-9669 or (919) 515-3693, or write to SITE, Box 7904, College of Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695. E-mail may be sent to kay_leager@ncsu.edu.

For information about the Young Scholars in Nuclear Science and Technology program, call Lynne Bridger at (919) 515-1463. E-mail inquiries may be sent to bridger@ncsu.edu.

March 20, 1998

College of Engineering Announces Awards for Excellence Winners

Dean Nino Masnari announced the winners of the 1998 Award for Excellence for the College of Engineering March 18 at an afternoon ceremony and reception honoring the nominees. Gwen Bell, assistant to the director in the North Carolina Engineering Foundation, and Rose Hardison, student services assistant in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, are the SPA employee award recipients. Robert Edwards, director of the North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership, received the EPA employee award.

In addition to the award recipients, the nominees included Lynne M. Bridger, nuclear engineering; Lola Eaddy, computer science; Nancy K. Evans, Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engineering Institute; Carol E. Hubbard, Mars Mission Research Center; Shirley Kow, chemical engineering; and Martha Olsen, Video-Based Engineering Education program.

January 27, 1998

College of Engineering to Hold Career Fair

Latesha Young, a senior in computer engineering, discusses job opportunities with Lynne Torning, a representative from Anderson Consulting, at the first Engineering Career Fair sponsored by the NC State University Engineers' Council. An estimated 1500 students attended the fair to meet with representatives from 58 companies.

The College of Engineering will hold its first annual Engineering Career Fair from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, in the McKimmon Center. Alcatel Telecom, DuPont, Fujitsu Network Communications, GTE, IBM, Intel, Kimberly Clark, Lockheed Martin, and Sprint are among the many companies that will have representatives on hand to provide information on co-ops, internships, and full-time positions. Students interested in engineering careers are invited to attend. A shuttle bus will be available to take students from the Student Center to the McKimmon Center throughout the day. The event is sponsored by the Engineers' Council.

January 26, 1998

Weston Receives Two CASE District III Awards