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Highlights from April 2008Wharton Named New
President
Wharton will assume leadership from Dr. Charles Ruch, who is retiring June 30 after five years as president of the School of Mines. "I am honored to be selected by the Board of Regents to serve as the next president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology," Wharton said. "I am enthusiastic about leading the dynamic growth and stewardship of this elite, world-class university and continuing the institution's proud heritage of excellence in preparing students to serve as leaders in the professions of engineering and science." "I am extremely fortunate to be assuming the presidency from Dr. Charles Ruch, who has provided incredibly successful leadership over the past five years," Wharton said. Wharton looks forward to collaborating with the regents, administrative colleagues, faculty, staff, Foundation trustees, alumni, community, political and business leaders, legislators and other university stakeholders to "achieve academic excellence, enrich students' lives and ensure their success, substantially grow the research enterprise, create public value, and fulfill the school's exciting 21st century vision and its mission." He added, "Working together, we will significantly enhance the School of Mines' reputation and contribute robustly to the economic development of South Dakota." "I fully support the Board of Regents decision to appoint Dr. Wharton to the presidency. His experience makes him an excellent match for the School of Mines," Dr. Ruch said. "I greatly enjoyed my time on campus and the quality of people that I have been privileged to work with, and I am confident that Dr. Wharton will do the same." As the chief academic officer at ISU, Wharton has been responsible for advancing the academic and scholarly life of 13,280 students and 670 faculty members on the Pocatello campus and at four outreach centers. He successfully led the first campus-wide effort to implement and align evidence-based strategic planning, budgeting, and assessment at ISU, and led student recruitment and retention efforts that resulted in a four percent enrollment increase as of fall 2007. Wharton is also a tenured professor of biology at ISU and previously served as its chief research officer, leading the university's efforts to foster, support, and expand its research enterprise. Wharton’s Ph.D. in botany is from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He also holds a master’s degree in biology and a bachelor’s degree in botany from Humboldt State University in California. Wharton is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, The Explorers Club, and the Royal Geographic Society. He is a recipient of the United States Antarctic Service Medal, and he has served on the National Research Council's Polar Research Board. He has been actively involved in a number of community outreach and volunteer activities including Rotary International and service on the local boards of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Boy Scouts of America, the Greater Pocatello Chamber of Commerce, and the Bannock Development Corp. President-elect Wharton is married to Carolyn R. Fassi, a native of St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Fassi has 20 years of experience working in health care administration at the federal, state, and local levels, in private industry and in academe as a faculty member. Her doctorate in public administration is from the University of Southern California, and she holds a master in public health degree from San Jose State University. Wharton’s son, Matthew Wharton, is a software engineer with Medtronic Corp. in Colorado. Cargill’s Gift to Benefit Chemical and Biological Engineering
Throughout every student’s educational career, at least one chemistry-related course or lab is required. This means that every degree-seeking student must habitually pass through the halls of the Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Building. If the popular vote were tallied today, the outcome would undoubtedly show the unanimous opinion that a new, updated Chemistry and Chemical Engineering facility is well overdue. The current building was constructed in 1957 and has seen no major upgrades or additions in the last 50 years. A new building would allow for teaching facilities that are higher quality, safer, more flexible, and more conducive to teaching modern programs in biochemical engineering for the students of today. And now, thanks to some help from the South Dakota Legislature, a new Chemical and Biological Engineering/Chemistry Building, with an approximate $20 million price tag, will be constructed on campus, perhaps beginning as early as the fall of 2008. The new facility will be primarily financed with $8 million in bonds and $10 million from the Higher Educational Facilities Fund. “We are grateful to the South Dakota Legislature and to the taxpayers of South Dakota for this $18 million which will set the wheels in motion for a new facility,” said Dave Dixon, chair/professor of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. “But with the cost of the building, which is still in the design phase, currently set at $20 million, there are ample opportunities for others to join in funding the facility.” Dixon added, “We are depending on private donations from both individuals and industry partners to help during this defining moment for these departments.” This is where Cargill has recently stepped forward as the first corporate supporter in a campaign to raise dollars for the new Chemical and Biological Engineering/Chemistry Building on the School of Mines campus. With a five-year, $500,000 commitment, Dixon is encouraged by Cargill’s generosity, and he is hopeful that other corporations and individuals might follow suit. Cargill’s total gift of $500,000 will be split into two components. The first $250,000 will be used to provide bioprocessing laboratory and teaching space for the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department within the new building. The second $250,000 will be used to fund new bioprocessing equipment, student field trips, and continued education of the faculty of the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department. The gift was made possible by contributions from several of Cargill's businesses including Cargill Corn Milling, Cargill Grain and Oilseed Supply Chain and Cargill Dressings, Sauces and Oils. “We’ve had a great relationship with Cargill over the years,” added Dixon. “And now one of the primary recruiters of our chemical engineering students is also one of our major contributors. We couldn’t be happier.” Patrick Gilcrease, assistant professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, is leading the development of the bioprocessing curriculum at SDSM&T. He explained, “While chemical engineers have traditionally worked in the oil and gas/petrochemical industries, global demand for nourishing foods, biofuels, biopharmaceuticals, and bioremediation requires that chemical engineers understand both chemical and biological systems.” “Our chemical engineering program is evolving to teach the skills and knowledge that bioprocessing companies like Cargill need; these skills are also critical for the development of value-added agriculture within the state of South Dakota,” added Gilcrease. "Cargill has a long history with the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and many of its graduates are now valued employees," said Bob Siegert, vice president of Cargill's corn milling business, who was on hand for the March 2000 presentation. "We're proud to partner on this project and help these students achieve success in the classroom and beyond." "On behalf of the entire university, I would like to thank Cargill for its generous gift," Dr. Charles Ruch, School of Mines president, said. "Our longstanding, successful partnership has been strengthened by this generous donation that will help prepare future engineers and scientists." Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services. With 158,000 employees in 66 countries, the company is committed to using its knowledge and experience to collaborate with customers to help them succeed. This recent gift also earns Cargill a spot at the Visionary giving level, reserved for donors of at least $500,000, in the Building the Dream capital campaign. William Capehart (associate professor, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences) announced that Shawn Honomichl (senior, Interdisciplinary Sciences – Atmospheric Sciences, Rapid City) has been accepted to this year’s National Center for Atmospheric Research Undergraduate Leadership Workshop to be held in Boulder, Colorado, in June. Each year, about 20 participants from the current pool of college senior meteorology students nationwide are selected for this program. This five-day workshop is a way to inform students about exciting research and career opportunities in atmospheric and related sciences. Arden Davis (professor, Geological Engineering) has been appointed to the ABET Board of Directors. He was installed as a board member at the ABET Annual Meeting on November 3, 2007. As the governing body for ABET, the board is responsible for strategic vision and policy. ABET is the accreditation agency for engineering programs, as well as computing, applied science, and technology, in the United States. David Dixon (chair/professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering) is proud to report one of the department’s top seniors, Travis Walker (senior, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Winner), has recently authored an article. The article entitled “Harnessing Natural Energy” was published in the March 2008 edition of Chemical Engineering Progress, the professional journal of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). This article is a result of the research Walker conducted as a Washington Intern representing AIChE at the Washington Internships for Students of Engineering. Walker’s article can be found online at http://www.aiche.org/uploadedFiles/CEP/Issues/2008-03/0308S23.pdf Gerald Grellet-Tinner (assistant professor, Geology and Geological Engineering) is co-author of an original paper that has been accepted for publication in the famous German NATURE Journal. Grellet-Tinner’s co-authors include Amy M. Balanoff, Mark A. Norell, and Matthew R. Lewin. The manuscript, entitled "Digital Preparation of a Probable Neoceratopsian Preserved within an egg, with Comments on Microstructural Anatomy of Ornithischian Eggshells," appeared in the January 12, 2008, issue of the publication. The paper describes in detail the first (in the world) embryo of a late Cretaceous Neoceratopsian found in an egg. This discovery was made in the Gobi Desert by one of the authors. The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology recently hosted a book signing to celebrate the publication of a new book edited by Dr. James Martin (professor, Geology and Geological Engineering/executive curator, Museum of Geology) and David Parris (Paleo 68/curator of natural history at the New Jersey State Museum). The book signing was held in the Museum of Geology and was open to the public. The new book, The Geology and Paleontology of the Late Cretaceous Marine Deposits of the Dakotas, published by the Geological Society of America, is a major contribution to the knowledge of marine rocks and fossils from the end of the Age of Dinosaurs in South Dakota. Subjects examined include invertebrate fossils such as some associated with a new species of shell-crushing marine reptile, the first clear recognition in North America of a European mosasaur (Hainosaurus), a new species of short-necked plesiosaur, and a new species of flightless diving bird. According to Kyle Riley (chair/associate professor, Mathematics and Computer Science), the School of Mines will be well represented during the Mathematical Association of America’s upcoming regional conference held at Black Hills State University at the end of April. The School of Mines will have 11 undergraduate students involved in 9 presentations. SDSM&T will also have 7 faculty members giving presentations at the conference. Students involved in the presentations will include: Cody Alsaker (Junior, Math, Sheridan, Wyoming); Kaycee Carson (Senior, Math, Rapid City); Christopher Cody (Sophomore, Math/Computer Science, Saint Peter, Minnesota); Melody Dodd (Junior, Math, Box Elder); Adam Grajkowske (Senior, Math/Computer Science, Parkston); James Haiston (Senior, Math/Mechanical Engineering, Rapid City); Darren Harrell (Senior, Math, Thornton, Colorado); Luke Pendo (Senior, Physics/Math, Rapid City); Travis Walker (Senior, Math/Chemical Engineering, Winner); and Jessica Weidenbach (Senior, Math, Rapid City). Jim Sears (director, Additive Manufacturing) has been invited to present the paper "Flash Lamp Curing of Nano-Particulate for Passive Devices" at the third Pacific International Conference on Applications of Lasers and Optics (PICALO) to be held in Beijing, China, from April 16-18, 2008. Andrea Surovek (assistant professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering) has been selected to receive the 2008 Ferdinand P. Beer and E. Russell Johnston, Jr. Outstanding New Mechanics Educator Award on behalf of the Mechanics Division of American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). Established in 1992, this award is given annually to up to three individuals who have shown a strong commitment to mechanics education. The winners are selected on the basis of their exceptional contributions to mechanics education. This is a great honor for Surovek, the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, the College of Engineering, and the School of Mines. For more information about Beer and Johnston or this award, visit http://comp.uark.edu/~jjrencis/aseemechanics/awards/beer&johnston.htm 2008 Outstanding Recent Graduates Named Eight alumni were honored as Outstanding Recent Graduates at a program and luncheon on February 21, 2008. The awardees included Eric R. Broughton (EE 97), Joshua G. Goddard (ME 97), Jennifer E. Kennedy (Chem 98), Christopher A. Kinney (MetE 97), Matthew P. Potts (CEng 97/EE 97), Lance A. Roberts (CE 98/MS CE 99), Shawn G. Wilczynski (MinE 97), and Todd Youngman (CSc 97/EE 97/CEng 97). The Outstanding Recent Graduate Program was established at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology to honor graduates who have achieved exemplary career progress and recognition within ten years of their graduation. The program was originated and is sponsored by the SDSM&T Alumni Association and the SDSM&T Foundation. Criteria for selection includes level of responsibility and entrepreneurial effort, advancement (promotion) in total responsibility, responsibility in research and authorship or patents and other evidence of creative activity, professional or business organization involvement, balance of technical and entrepreneurial accomplishments with community service and involvement, and company or community awards or recognition. The individuals selected for this award are considered to be excellent role models to show our current students the importance of continued personal growth in a rapidly changing world. Eric Broughton came to the School of Mines from Canton, South Dakota, and completed his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering in 1997. He has become a respected leader in the information technology community by authoring white papers, presentations ranging from project management to data architecture, and serving as president of Chicago’s Oracle Users Group. As director of business development for Yield Technologies, a Morgan Stanley start-up company, Eric is responsible for driving strategy, sales and marketing in addition to taking the lead on high profile initiatives. Eric and his wife, Jennifer, have three daughters and reside in Naperville, Illinois. Josh Goddard came to the School of Mines from Prairie City, South Dakota, and completed his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1997. He has worked for Caterpillar Inc. for the past ten years and is currently an engineering supervisor at the Caterpillar Technical Center in Mossville, Illinois. He leads an engineering staff responsible for the laboratory and on-machine development of powershift transmissions for off-highway trucks. He has co-authored one U.S. patent, served as a Caterpillar 6 Sigma Green Belt / Project Sponsor on multiple product and process improvement initiatives, and has responsibilities for on-campus engineering recruiting. Since completing her bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1998, Jenni Kennedy has had an interesting and varied career. She was a chemical weapons inspector in Iraq, headed up an EPA contract emergency response team, and spent two years teaching children in Central America. Kennedy’s career then turned to finance, and she is currently a director in the Global Wealth & Investment Management division of Bank of America. She also received her master of business administration degree from Florida State University. According to Jenni, her greatest accomplishment is surviving cancer and being active in the fight against the disease. After completing his bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering in 1997, Christopher Kinney has continually risen with his technical abilities and responsibilities. As a senior metallurgical engineer for Caterpillar Inc., he is a recognized national expert in Remanufacturing Technology and holds several current and pending patents. Included is a change in cast iron repair technology resulting in over $2 million savings. His remanufacturing efforts are expected to double current production by 2009. Kinney’s process was also recently featured in the Annual Caterpillar Sustainability Report. He is a strong advocate and supporter of SDSM&T. Matt Potts came to the School of Mines from Rapid City, South Dakota, and completed his bachelor’s degrees in computer engineering and electrical engineering in 1997. Matt has worked as a computer engineer in the broad area of hardware/software design and ASIC design for the past ten years. He has written system-level tests for microprocessors and has led and managed engineering teams in system-level testing of VLSI and ASIC designs. Matt has been a very active volunteer with his church activities, including worship and music leader activities. While in college, he also performed with the Master Chorale. Dr. Lance Roberts earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from SDSM&T in 1998 and 1999. While with consulting firms from 1999-2006, he gained significant experience in structural and geotechnical design and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri at Kansas City while employed as a project engineer. Roberts secured a temporary appointment with the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the School of Mines in January 2007, and shortly thereafter secured his current tenure-track appointment. Roberts has authored or co-authored twenty articles and presentations, maintained membership in seven professional societies, served on eight society committees, and assisted in conducting the State of Missouri MATHCOUNTS competition for four years. Shawn Wilczynski is known for his excellent professionalism, great attitude, and his high integrity and values. In several of his presentations, be it work related or general topics, one always comes away with awe at his excellent focus on safety, integrity, and a great value system. He has been a source of inspiration to many of our current students since earning his own degree in mining engineering in 1997. Shawn has also been a vocal advocate and a strong champion within his company regarding a substantial donation to the school, which includes a scholarship component for the SDSM&T mining engineering students. Todd Youngman graduated from SDSM&T in 1997 earning triple bachelor’s degrees in computer science, electrical engineering, and computer engineering. His drive to excel has continued during his career in industry. He used his knowledge of software and hardware to lead the design and implementation of multiple systems for IBM and LSI, leading to four U.S. patents and three additional patent applications. In addition to the great technical work he has done, he found the time to lend a hand to his community and to SDSM&T. The department is proud to recognize Todd Youngman as an Outstanding Recent Graduate in Computer Science. Spring Phonathon a SuccessThe SDSM&T Foundation offers our sincere thanks for the continued generous support of alumni who participated in the spring 2008 phonathon. Pledges and contributions totaled over $62,500, making this the largest spring phonathon on record. Many alumni choose to give unrestricted dollars which are allocated to the area of greatest need on campus. Others choose to direct their funds toward a particular group, department, endowment, or need on campus. Students callers from the spring 2008 phonathon included: Alexis Braun is a five-time phonathon caller who is a senior majoring in civil engineering with an emphasis in water resources. She will graduate this May. Alexis came to SDSM&T from Bismarck, North Dakota, where she grew up on a farm with four siblings. She keeps busy on campus with a variety of activities including the Ski and Snowboard Club, Rock Climbing Club, American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Mentor/Mentee (M&M) program. She’s proud to say that she gave up french fries for New Year’s three years ago and has yet to break her resolution. She decided to work on the phonathon again this spring because she has had fun in the past and because she needed the cash to pay for her online clothing purchases. Alex Brech is a two-time phonathon caller who is a freshman computer engineering student from Wabasso, Minnesota. He came to the School of Mines because he knew about its great reputation from his brother, Dale Brech (EE 99), and his father who was a past student. Alex likes being in the Black Hills, and he likes the size of the university as well. When Alex is not busy studying, he is involved with the Amateur Radio Club, the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, IEEE Robotics, Engineers and Scientists Abroad, band, and pep band. He is also pledging Theta Tau this year. Alex decided to work on the phonathon again because he likes getting future career ideas from alumni. He added that he also works on the phonathons because he is a “poor college student who needs money.” Kendra Frank is a junior geological engineering student from Dickinson, North Dakota. Kendra transferred to the School of Mines last year and has come back to work on this, her fourth phonathon, in order to earn a few extra dollars. Kendra is happy to be at the School of Mines because of its great reputation in the field of geological engineering and because it’s close to her hometown. When she is not busy with schoolwork, Kendra loves going to the lake, spending time outdoors, camping, fishing, hiking, helping at her grandpa’s farm, rock hunting, and planning weddings. Or at least her own. Kendra is getting married in May. Josh Green is a junior mechanical engineering student and a three-time student caller from Peoria, Illinois. Josh’s dad, Jim Green (ME 73), helped Josh decide that the School of Mines is the place for him. In his spare time, Josh has quite an assortment of interests and hobbies including the Rock Climbing Club and choir. In addition, Josh taught himself how to play the guitar just over a year ago. We know from hearing Josh perform at a variety of local venues that he’s a quick learner and very musically talented. Brandon Lampe is a senior geological engineering major from Salem, South Dakota, who worked on this, his first-ever phonathon, because he needed the extra money. When he is not busy working and studying, Brandon is active in many campus activities including the Rock Climbing Club, Engineers and Scientists Abroad, and Society of Metallurgical Engineers. Brandon is also a self-proclaimed outdoorsman who enjoys the location of the School of Mines in the beautiful Black Hills. Pete Linde is a non-traditional student from Rapid City who is taking classes on the School of Mines campus with the end goal of becoming a nurse. In addition to being a student, Pete wears many hats. He is married and has a family, he owns his own business, and he is building a new home. He decided to work on this, his first-ever phonathon, because he enjoys talking to alumni and thought it was “really a lot of fun.” Conlan Nelson is a freshman mechanical engineering major from Denver, Colorado. Conlan’s mom, Jill Nelson (MinE 82), and dad, Mark Nelson (ChemE 83), are both graduates of the School of Mines who helped him decide that the campus was the right place for him to pursue his engineering studies. When Conlan is not busy studying, he is a part-time student worker in the Foundation office, is the vice president for the Hardrocker Flying Club, and is active in Circle K. He joined us on his first-ever phonathon in order to make a few extra dollars to help pay for flying lessons. Aryn Rowe is a junior geological engineering student from Rapid City who is a two-time phonathon student caller. Her mom, Becci Rowe, is a current student and works in the Graduate Education office, and her sister, Makayla Rowe, also attended the School of Mines. Aryn says she came to the School of Mines because it is close to home, it’s a great school, and because of the influence of her mom and sister. She worked on the spring phonathon to make a little extra money, but she had to cut her time of calling short by a week because she was getting ready to leave to study abroad in Germany for the rest of the semester. Kathleen Schwabe is a sophomore geology/paleontology major who left her pet flying squirrel at home in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and came all the way to the School of Mines “to hunt dinosaurs.” On campus, Kathleen is active in the Paleontology Club and Society of Economic Geologists. When she’s not busy with her schoolwork, she enjoys swimming, water skiing, and playing softball. She joined her roommate, Kendra Frank, in working on this, her fourth phonathon, because, “It’s fun!” Kathleen also wanted everyone to know that she is a big Boston Red Sox fan. Engineers Make Great Entrepreneurs A group of entrepreneurial School of Mines students recently participated in the highly anticipated fourth annual Engineers Make Great Entrepreneurs Speaker Series and Scholarship Competition. The annual program, targeted at students with an interest in starting their own businesses, is primarily funded by Terry Rock (ME 70). Rock initially established the Terry Rock Entrepreneurial Scholarship at the School of Mines, but he wanted a way to evaluate the entrepreneurial qualities of SDSM&T students and reward the students with the best entrepreneurial character accordingly. Rock’s idea evolved into the Engineers Make Great Entrepreneurs Speaker Series and Scholarship Competition, a highly esteemed annual student competition that has created a venue for South Dakota entrepreneurs to share their stories of struggle and success with students from a variety of engineering and science disciplines. The seminar series, which is advertised and open to all SDSM&T students, hosted 17 students who had to qualify themselves by completing an application form and agreeing to attend all four Monday evening sessions. At these meetings, a variety of speakers including alumni, local business leaders, and entrepreneurs presented information covering topics related to their personal experiences, successes, and struggles in their respective businesses. The first event in January 2008 was held at the Black Hills Business Development Center located on the School of Mines campus. Later events were held at Symcom and at various locations on campus. Co-sponsors included Wheeler Manufacturing, Daktronics, Symcom, and the Rapid City Office of Economic Development. Throughout the competition, several local business leaders provided real-world discussions regarding starting and succeeding at business in South Dakota. They were: Randy Daughenbaugh (Chem 70), retired president, Hauser Chemical; Kip Larson (EE 87), president, Symcom, Inc.; Larry Meiners (EE 67), vice president of engineering, Phase Technologies; Rob Wheeler (Chem 73), vice president, Wheeler Manufacturing; John Gomez, entrepreneur; and Patrick Zimmerman, past director, IAS. The culmination of the speaker series was held in early March. The event, which took place at the Christensen Hall of Fame, allowed students the privilege of hearing an address by Terry Rock. At this same meeting, students gave a two-minute oral presentation on what they learned about being an entrepreneur and about their own personal entrepreneurial attributes, and top finalists were chosen. Several local business leaders and campus faculty attended. A panel of judges made up of the sponsors and the speakers from the series selected top students based on their initial application, their participation at all events, their response to two essay questions, and their final oral presentation. First place ($1,000 scholarship) was awarded to Mark Wager, a freshman mechanical engineering student from Gettysburg. Second place ($750 scholarship) was awarded to Aaron Guliuzza, a sophomore industrial engineering student from Rapid City. Three third place prizes ($500 scholarships) were awarded: Raunaq Bhushan, a senior computer engineering student from India; John Eppen, a junior electrical engineering student from Fountain, Minnesota; and Don Wishard, a master’s mechanical engineering student from New Underwood. All other students who completed the necessary components of the program received a $250 scholarship for their participation. A total of 57 students have received scholarships through this program since its inception in 2005. About Terry Rock: Terry Rock, a prominent high tech industry spokesperson, has extensive experience in the venture capital business, and he believes that the best new business ideas almost always come from engineers. Rock grew up in Kadoka, South Dakota, and attended the School of Mines, graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1970. After graduation, he took a job with Texas Instruments in Dallas and spent 12 great years there, primarily in Austin. In 1983, Rock formed a start-up company, Convex Computer Corporation, and moved back to Dallas. In 1987, he took Convex Computer Corporation public, and he ended up on the New York Stock Exchange and running the company. He sold the company to Hewlett-Packard in 1995. In 1996, Rock started a venture capital firm, CenterPoint Ventures, and he has been in the venture capital business ever since. Rock also co-founded the STARTech Technology Incubator in the Telecom Corridor near Dallas, and he is the managing general partner of the STARTech Seed Fund. Ethanol from Wood Waste Becomes a Reality KL Process Design Group, in conjunction with the School of Mines, has created a method to produce ethanol from wood waste. The resulting ethanol, called cellulosic ethanol, is now being generated on a small scale at a waste wood commercial facility in Upton, Wyoming. According to KL representatives, their objective is to help solve energy needs by supplying cost effective renewable fuels from the excess cellulosic materials that exist across the country and the world. KL’s processes and advances in cellulosic ethanol recently drew the attention of Sir Harry Studholme, a friend of George (ME 56) and Nancy (EE 57) Dunham. Sir Studholme recently visited the United States and met with representatives from KL Process Design and the School of Mines. From left to right are Randy Kramer, Dave Litzen (ChemE 81), Sir Harry Studholme, Charles Ruch, and Dennis Harstad. Sky Is the Limit for Civil Engineering Sophomore Scull R.C. Scull has had a passion for the outdoors as long as he can remember. “I have always loved to camp, hike, and just be out in nature,” he said. His love of the outdoors will come in handy over the course of the next year as Scull attempts to live out his dreams. At the age of 21, Scull, a School of Mines civil engineering sophomore from Rapid City, intends to be the youngest person to summit the tallest mountain on each continent. “I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to experience the outdoors all of my life, beginning as a youngster in Boy Scouts,” said Scull. “After becoming an Eagle Scout at age 16, I searched for more adventurous backpacking trips and took a two-week Outward Bound Mountaineering Course in the Colorado Rockies. I was instantly hooked on high altitude mountaineering.” The next summer, Scull participated in another two-week mountaineering course with Alpine Ascents International in Washington. “In that two-week time, we learned crucial high-altitude survival skills, summited several small mountains, and in the last few days, we climbed Mount Baker,” he said. Scull had become so captivated with high-altitude climbing that he returned to Washington a few months later to take on Mount Rainier. “It’s been said that Mount Rainer is the hardest mountain to climb in the lower 48 states, but I had no problems arriving at the summit. And I had an amazing trip,” he added. Scull’s dream to climb the tallest mountain on each continent came into focus at that point, and he has spent most of his time during the last several years planning, preparing, and training for this feat. Together with his father, Bob Scull (CE 82), R.C. has already climbed four of the highest peaks including Mount Aconcagua in South America in December 2005; Mount Elbrus in Europe in August 2006; Mount Denali in North America in May 2007; and Mount Vinson in Antarctica in December 2007. On March 29, 2008, Scull left Rapid City for two months to attempt his fifth summit, Mount Everest in Asia, which at 29,035 feet is the highest mountain on Earth. R.C. left from Nepal and is climbing via the South Col route. Bob accompanied R.C. to the base of Mount Everest, but he is not joining his son on this climb. If everything goes as anticipated at Mount Everest, R.C. will have just three climbs left: Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia in July 2008, Kosciuszko in Australia in August 2008, and Kilimanjaro in Africa in December 2008. If he completes all of the climbs on the timetable he has set forth, Scull will be just 21½ years old at the completion. He will break the world record for being the youngest climber to climb all eight peaks by one and a half years, and he will break the United States record by six years. When asked what is driving him to complete the eight summits, Scull said he is living out his dream, but he also hopes to inspire and encourage people of all ages. “If a 21-year old from Rapid City can be the youngest person to summit the eight tallest peaks in the world, then the sky is the limit for others as well,” concluded Scull. Scull is currently funding his climbs with his own resources as well as through a sponsorship program he has launched. For more information about Scull’s sponsorship program, or to learn more about Scull’s current attempt to summit Mount Everest, visit his website at www.rcscull-sevensummits.com For nearly 50 years, the Hardrocker Flying Club, a one-of-a-kind student organization on the School of Mines campus, has been giving School of Mines students the opportunity to fly at a reasonable cost. From its early beginnings and continuing through today, students who join the Flying Club are high achievers who excel in their studies and will be successful in their careers. The Flying Club has owned several airplanes over the years, and its current plane, a 1998 Cessna 172R, is financed through the SDSM&T Foundation. “The Foundation has been extremely helpful with necessary loans to purchase the plane keep it in good working order,” said Conlan Nelson, vice president of the Hardrocker Flying Club. “However, we have recently had to purchase a new engine to replace an older engine that had reached its useful lifetime." Nelson added, “We are also attempting to pay off our loan principal while keeping the plane accessible to students at a reasonable cost.” To help with these added expenditures, members of the Hardrocker Flying Club have been seeking assistance from alumni, friends, and corporate sponsors. “All contributions, large or small, will really make a difference,” continued Nelson. “Gifts can be earmarked for flying scholarships to students, reduced rates for students, assisting with maintenance, or even loan reduction for the current plane.” If you are interested in helping future generations of flying Miners, send your contribution to the SDSM&T Foundation with the note Hardrocker Flying Club. Visit the Hardrocker Flying Club website at http://www.flyingclub.sdsmt.edu for more information. Mining Department Benefits from Maptek Gift Thanks to a generous donation from Maptek, the Mining Engineering and Management Department at the School of Mines recently celebrated the opening of a new, state-of-the-art computer lab and global communications center. The Maptek Advanced Mine Design Center, which is the result of a transformation and redesign of two lab areas, will directly benefit the Mining Engineering and Management Department and will enhance the faculty's ability to promote and teach advanced technical aspects of the mining industry with emphasis on 3D modeling and design. With the rapid growth of the mining program on campus and the student numbers climbing to 80, the need for a state-of-the-art mine design lab and global communication center became evident. The new facility will be twice the size of the old lab and will enable 25 students access to computers. Other features of the new center will include video conferencing capabilities for distance education and global communications; dedicated wall space for both a large plasma screen and blackboard; a ceiling mounted air projector that is networked to all tablet PCs and desktops; ergonomic seating and new equipment furniture; new flooring and improved lighting; and air conditioning and updated heating and ventilation. The Maptek Center will also serve as a major design hub for the DUSEL geomechanics activities. The Mining Engineering and Management Department at the School of Mines has focused heavily on detailed mine design by leveraging the Vulcan software from Maptek. Today, many of the senior and executive engineering positions in the mining industry are held by School of Mines mining alumni. About Maptek: Established 25 years ago, Maptek offers a range of cutting-edge software and hardware technologies. Vulcan software, a 3D geological modeling and mine planning system, is currently used at more than 600 sites worldwide. The School of Mines hosted 99 employers from around the country during its Career Fair on February 12, 2008, making this the largest spring Career Fair in university history. The Surbeck Center Ballroom and lower level were filled to capacity during the daylong event. “We had employers on a waiting list for booth space, which is a good problem to have,” said Darrell Sawyer, director of the Career Center. “That shows the strong level of demand by industry for our students.” Wendell E. Dunn, Jr., arguably South Dakota’s most prolific inventor, died in Tucson, Arizona, on December 24, 2007, at the age of 85. Dunn had resided in Spearfish and the Black Hills area for nearly 35 years. Born in Baltimore in 1922, he was the first son of educators Wendell E. Dunn (a South Dakotan) and Edythe H. Dunn. Their young family lived in South Dakota for 11 years from the mid 1920s, returning to Baltimore in the midst of the Great Depression. A graduate of Baltimore City College, Wendell Jr. earned a degree in chemical engineering from The Johns Hopkins University in 1943, thereafter serving to Captain with the U.S. Army Air Forces until 1946. After completing the Harvard/MIT V12 program in 1944, he was engaged in aircraft terrain avoidance radar research in both the United States and Occupied Germany. It was during his time at Cambridge that he met his wife of 48 years, Lillian (Billie), a gifted organist, who predeceased him in 1992. He was repatriated in 1946, returning to his young family and his studies, earning the Ph.D. at Hopkins in 1950, and soon after joining E. I. DuPont de Nemours in Wilmington, Delaware. He was a key member of the research and development team that perfected DuPont’s process for the production of high-purity titanium dioxide as a paint pigment and received his first sole-inventor U.S. patent in 1954. He remained with the firm for 19 years during which time its process grew to become the dominant technology worldwide. In 1968, Dunn left DuPont to form his own contract research and development firm in Delaware and Sydney, Australia. He worked closely for several years with major Australian mining house Peko-Wallsend Limited to develop a technology to produce a low-cost titanium process feedstock. Thereafter he returned to his boyhood home and, for the next three decades, continued from the Black Hills his signature contributions to the field of high-temperature chlorination of metal ores. Between 1975 and 1995, Dunn consulted to a variety of international corporations and performed research and development that formed the bases for several start-up ventures in South Dakota and beyond. He worked with the Lien Brothers and others in the Rapid City area to develop processes for the extraction from ore of ultra-pure niobium and tantalum metals for use in electronic applications, and for the efficient separation and recovery of gold from low-grade ore and scrap. From the late 1980s until the late 1990s, Dunn joined with European and Asian interests to develop a process for low-cost titanium-based pigments, working in India for months at a time. Throughout much of this period, he was also an active adjunct faculty member at SDSM&T. Dunn continued to consult and invent until late 2005 after which failing health limited his activities. In addition to multiple recognitions by DuPont, he was issued nearly 100 U.S. and international patents. While at least one new patent application remained incomplete at the time of his death, several of his inventions were still actively in use in the United States, Mexico, and India. Dunn was known for his quick, sharp wit, a fondness for deep technical or philosophic discourse, and his generosity – he gifted the carillon at SDSM&T. He was a soft touch for any in need, whether a battered woman or the local volunteer fire department – whose station sits on his donated land. He is best remembered by his (and others’) children as an extraordinary bedtime storyteller whose fantastic tales had few equals in print. His one non-technical book, The Sex Tax, a political fantasy first published in 1979, has proven popular with a variety of readers. During his years in Delaware, Dunn was an active private pilot and aircraft owner and, throughout his life, as time permitted, an avid fly fisherman. His early morning treks to the creek at the bottom of his “compound” in beautiful Spearfish Canyon were rewarded, more often than not, with a creel full of brown trout – a unique breakfast treat for any lucky enough to be his and Billie’s guests. Dunn served the SDSM&T Foundation as a trustee and member of the Board of Directors for many years along with chairing the Investment Committee. Memorial gifts may be sent to the Wendell E. Dunn Jr. Memorial Fund at the SDSM&T Foundation. Math Students Puzzled Over Mathematical Modeling For the seventh straight year, a team of students from the School of Mines competed in the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) that was held in mid-February. Students competing in this 24th annual competition included: James Haiston (Senior, Math/Mechanical Engineering, Rapid City); Cody Alsaker (Junior, Math, Sheridan, Wyoming); and Christopher Cody (Sophomore, Math/Computer Science, Saint Peter, Minnesota). In the Mathematical Contest in Modeling, teams of three undergraduate students are given open-ended complex problems where they are required to research the topic, develop a mathematical model, use a computer to simulate the model, and write a technical report. The contest typically draws the participation of hundreds of teams of students from around the world. According to faculty advisors, Kyle Riley (chair/associate professor, Mathematics and Computer Science) and Travis Kowalski (assistant professor, Mathematics and Computer Science), the truly amazing part of this contest is that the competitors have only a weekend to complete their work. This year’s contest challenged the School of Mines team to develop an algorithm that would automatically generate Sudoku puzzles. The team’s primary challenge was the development of an algorithm that was as efficient as possible to create puzzles that varied among four levels of difficulty. “One particular challenge of this contest is the open nature of how the questions are posed and the variety of ways to attack the problem,” said Riley. “Students often get frustrated on how to identify their approach, but they also marvel at how connections can be made from an array of different classes.” Although the official results of the contest have not yet been released, Riley is proud of how the School of Mines team competed. “Our students worked very hard and were able to make an amazing amount of progress in the amount of time they were given.” For further details regarding the contest problems please see http://www.comap.com/undergraduate/contests/mcm/ The faculty, staff, alumni, and students at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology joined forces with practicing engineers of the Black Hills Chapter of South Dakota Engineering Society (SDES), the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers, scientists, and K-12 teachers to host the 31st annual Engineers Week at the School of Mines. A variety of activities, panels, workshops, and speakers were enjoyed by students and non-students alike. The traditional favorites were back again this year. Engineers Week began with the Cardboard Bridge Contest that asked middle and high school students to build the strongest bridge possible from a notebook-size piece of cardboard. Three high school students from Hill City took first, second, and third place. Later in the week, elementary school children participated in the Kids’ Block Contest sponsored by the National Association of Women in Construction (Black Hills Chapter). Participants were asked to engineer a specified building project using only interlocking building blocks, a 12” piece of string, a 12” square of foil, and their imaginations. South Dakota Engineering Society, Black Hills Chapter, again sponsored the MathCounts contest for West River Middle School students on Saturday afternoon with over 60 students from 8 schools participating. In addition, the South Dakota Engineering Society teamed with the Engineers Week Committee to sponsor a luncheon with guest speaker Mike Trykowski. Trykowski is chair of the board of the South Dakota Energy Infrastructure Authority (SDEIA) that was created by the state Legislature in 2005 to assist with energy development in South Dakota. He presented “Issues Affecting Wind Power Development in South Dakota.” This was attended by over 100 students, staff, faculty, and the general public. The always-popular Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, open to high school and college student teams and sponsored by the School of Mines Theta Tau Fraternity, asked participants to “assemble a hamburger consisting of no less than one precooked meat patty, two vegetables and two condiments, sandwiched between two bun halves.” Theta Tau fraternity took first place, Hill City High School students earned second place, and Triangle fraternity earned third place. An Engineers Week luncheon, during which eight graduates were honored as Outstanding Recent Graduates and current senior students were inducted into the Order of the Engineer, was also held. The “Order” fosters a spirit of pride and responsibility in the profession of engineering. Over 100 initiates were presented the traditional stainless steel ring and a certificate of membership. At the end of the week, approximately 1,350 area middle school students were on campus to take tours and to watch the chemistry shows sponsored by the American Chemical Society students under the direction of the SDSM&T chemistry faculty. Engineers Week culminated with an evening banquet sponsored by the South Dakota Engineering Society (SDES). David Emery, chairman, president, and CEO of Black Hills Corporation, spoke on the topic of energy in the future. David is a Black Hills native, and a third generation Black Hills Corporation employee. His father, Jim Emery, worked 35 years and retired as Southern Hills manager for Black Hills Power in 1996. He also served in the South Dakota State Senate. His grandfather, also Jim Emery, retired from Black Hills Power in 1969 after working for 17 years in a Rapid City maintenance shop and power plant. Vi Stoltz, senior secretary of Academic Affairs and primary organizer of Engineers Week, stated, “It truly was one of the best Engineers Weeks we have had.” Sustainable Concrete Developed at SDSM&T A School of Mines research team led by Dr. M.R. Hansen (professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering) has developed a sustainable type of concrete that replaces 50% of its cement with fly ash. Cement, the critical ingredient in making concrete, is energy intensive to produce and contributes large amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Fly ash is the waste product created when coal is burned to generate electricity. Fly ash can be captured before it leaves a stack using electrostatic precipitators. Concrete made with fly ash is sometimes called “green” concrete because capturing the fly ash prevents it from being released into the environment. If “green” concrete were widely adopted, it could significantly help sustainability efforts by beneficially using a waste product, by reducing green house gases, and ultimately, by reducing energy consumption. While small (10%-20%) concentrations of fly ash have been used in concrete for many years, this type of “green” concrete is often referred to as High Volume Fly Ash (HVFA) concrete and is the culmination of a five-year research project at the School of Mines. Hansen, assisted by several civil engineering graduate students, tested many batches of concrete at various levels of cement replacement. According to Hansen, the factors important to concrete are chemical durability to combat alkali-silica reactivity and sulfate attack, strength gain, and time of set. Hansen stated, “We gradually increased the amount of fly ash and decreased the amount of cement in the mixtures and tested the critical parameters as we went along.” As described by Hansen, cement consists of tiny particles that are angular due to grinding; this requires extra water to make the concrete workable. Fly ash, on the other hand, consists of tiny particles that are round due to their formation in the hot gases going up the stack. At the 50% replacement level, the ball-bearing effect of the fly ash spheres improves the concrete workability enough so that significant water can be removed from the mixture, reducing the water-cement ratio, increasing the early and long-term strength, and outperforming the control concrete made without fly ash. Chemical durability must be verified by research and testing for each fly ash source. Hansen recently presented a summary of his research as a keynote speaker to the International Conference on Advances in Concrete and Construction in Hyderabad, India. His refereed paper will be published in the proceedings. He will also present this report to the Concrete Technology Forum: Focus on Sustainable Development in May 2008 at the Marriott Denver Tech Center. Hansen’s research was partially supported by the National Science Foundation through the EPSCoR program and by Black Hills Corporation. Self-Healing Concrete: Scientific Developments at SDSM&T Almost all concrete will crack sometime during its service life. Can you imagine concrete that will heal itself after it cracks? A School of Mines research team comprised of Dr. M. R. Hansen (professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering) and his students, Rebecca Vandine and Cassy West, both recent graduates of the master’s program in civil engineering, has recently completed the first phase of a research project to study and develop self-healing concrete. Self-healing includes the ability to both regain strength and eliminate permeability caused by the cracking. The concrete under study has regained its original strength by 50%-140% and results look very promising for further development. After studying the complicated chemistry of cement hydration, the research team tried two methods. The first method, spearheaded by Vandine, consisted of making conventional concrete with carefully selected mixture proportions to promote healing in a controlled temperature and humidity environment. This method would emphasize critical residual ingredients inside the concrete that would be activated upon cracking. The second method, spearheaded by West, consisted of making high performance concrete and then soaking it in a water bath. This would provide water from the outside to combine with residual ingredients to promote the internal healing. The team of researchers first cracked the concrete test specimens and measured the strength of the specimens. The concrete specimens were then healed for 28 days and tested again for strength. The group then investigated and identified the healing products of hydration using the School of Mines’ scanning electron microscope at 10,000x magnification. According to Hansen, both methods were deemed successful considering they were first tries for novel approaches. Hansen added that the research team also discovered additional factors that affect concrete healing, and they will do further investigation in Phase II of this project. This type of basic concrete research is not currently funded because most agencies wish to obtain useful research results immediately rather than investigate new approaches. However, with these exciting outcomes, Hansen and his students hope to obtain funding from research agencies such as the National Science Foundation. This scientific report will be submitted for presentation and publication at the International Conferences in Japan and Singapore in 2008. The Frank F. & Clare M. Aplan Native American Fund in Metallurgy, used to recruit and retain Native American students majoring in metallurgical engineering, was established at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology by Dr. Frank Aplan (MetE 48) nearly a decade ago. In the past, Aplan made annual contributions to fund scholarships, but recently, he decided he wanted his contributions to go on for perpetuity and made the decision to endow the Aplan Native American Fund. The criteria remain the same, but the scholarship will continue infinitely, ensuring future generations of metallurgical engineering students the same benefit that today’s students are receiving. The year was 1933 when 10 year-old Frank Aplan first became acquainted with Glen Martin, a house painter in Fort Pierre. This meeting was to spark Frank’s lifelong interest in science. Glen was a bachelor, and not particularly well versed in the ways of children, but he must have seen something in the young boy in front of him as he patiently and simply explained paint formulation. Glen had been a chemistry student at Iowa State earlier, but he had to quit school when his father died. He maintained his intense interest in chemistry over the years and had his own chemistry lab at home. Shortly after their first meeting, Frank received a Gilbert chemistry set for Christmas, and Glen served as Frank’s consultant and mentor. They were to carry on extensive discussions on chemistry for the next decade. Others in Fort Pierre also served to maintain Frank’s interest in science. These mentors included druggist Guy Loupe, high school science teacher, Dorothy Gillespie, and school superintendent and math teacher, S. M. Stockdale. Classmate Bill Porter, who was interested in electricity, radio, and telegraphy, also helped by sharing his knowledge of these fields. When Frank found a 1923 Radiola III Portable Radio in his grandfather’s attic, the boys thought they were in heaven (“portable” wasn’t quite the proper word for this radio which weighed 23 pounds and required 24 pounds of batteries!). Bill and Frank would go hiking through the sagebrush north of town toward Scotty Phillips’ buffalo pasture where they would camp and each share an earphone to listen to the radio most of the night. To make this trek, they carried the “portable” radio and its batteries, bedrolls, food, and water. Bill’s dog, “Woofer”, was fitted with saddlebags and pressed into service by the hikers. All during the 1930s, Frank dreamed of going to the nation’s leading technical school, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). However, the school’s cost, high admission standards, and its location in far off Boston made this an unattainable pipe dream. He never dreamed that two decades later he would receive the doctor of science degree in metallurgy from MIT. Encouraged by his mother, Helen Fischer Aplan, Frank entered SDSM&T after graduating from high school 1941. At “Mines,” one could receive an economical, yet high-quality education. The school provided so many with that helping hand needed to succeed in a technical profession. Frank quickly found the college to be a challenging and stimulating place where good teaching abounded and everyone took great pride in the school. After taking a course in general metallurgy, enthusiastically taught by Professor Bancroft Gore, Frank decided that his life’s work would be in metallurgical engineering. Two of Fort Pierre’s successful metallurgical graduates from “Mines”, Zay Jeffries and Donald Ricketts, would serve as role models. Frank was also energized by the geology courses he took from Professor Paul Gries. On November 2, 1942, Frank hitchhiked up to Fort Meade and enlisted in the Army. After finishing the school term, he was sent to basic infantry training and later assigned to the 69th Infantry Division for further training. He went overseas with his division in November 1944 and served as a combat infantryman in Europe during World War II. He was discharged in 1946 as a T/Sgt. holding the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Bronze Star Medal, and a couple of battle stars. He re-entered “Mines” that fall and was stimulated by metallurgy professors Jerry Van Duzee and Alex McHugh. Frank has long attested to the high quality education he received at SDSM&T. For the balance of his professional career, Frank would alternate between academia and industry. This would lead to a rather nomadic life but a fantastic learning experience. He has lived in places from Seattle to Boston, in 11 states, and on foreign assignments. His activities included further education at Montana School of Mines (MS 50) and MIT (PhD 57), university faculty positions at the University of Washington and at Penn State University, and employment by five different corporations (Homestake, Climax Molybdenum Co., Day Mines Inc., Kennecott Copper Corp., and Union Carbide Corp.). In total, he has had 15 years of industrial experience in the mining, metallurgical, and chemical industries doing everything from plant operations to research and development. Further, he has had over 30 years of academic experience emphasizing both teaching and research. The highlight of this era was his marriage in 1955 to Clare Marie Donaghue of Boston, Massachusetts. Today they have three grown children: Susan Bower, a school physical education teacher and girls track coach living in Berwick, Pennsylvania; Peter Aplan, a pediatric oncologist in Buffalo, New York; and Lucy Aplan, a marine scientist in Charleston, South Carolina. After a decade with Union Carbide where he rose from research engineer to group manager of mineral engineering research and development, Frank strove to achieve family permanency by accepting an offer as professor and department head, Mineral Processing, at Pennsylvania State University. During his many years there, he served as department head, section chairman, and distinguished professor. He continues today as a distinguished professor emeritus, and though retired, he still does some teaching, works with graduate students, and authors technical papers. Arrival at Penn State presented Frank with a wonderful opportunity to modernize the mineral processing program. His prior academic and industrial experience had exposed him to the possibilities of new directions, as had consultations with friends in the academic community, such as Doug Fuerstenau (MetE 49) at the University of California, Berkeley, whom he has known since School of Mines days in 1946. Thus armed, Frank attracted new faculty, modified old courses, and introduced new ones to broaden the curriculum and thus improve job opportunities for graduates from the program. He enthusiastically entered into undergraduate teaching and focused his research on the needs of industry and of society. Frank takes great pride in the nearly 50 graduate degree students trained under his direct supervision. Frank emphasized environmental remediation by building on the past strengths of the existing academic program and an increased environmental emphasis in all courses. This was a logical extension of the program because the separation of metals and glass from municipal solid waste, the removal of acids and metals from water, and the trapping of fine particles from industrial off-gases all require techniques that extractive metallurgical engineers have used long before environmentalism became popular. In his spare time, Frank’s vocation is also his avocation. He has an extensive collection of books on the history and the ghost mines of the West, emphasizing Black Hills mining and metallurgical history. He has taken several thousand photographs of the ruins of these long-abandoned operations and correlates these with a literature search of the same operations in their heyday. He has received many professional honors, but he is proudest of his election to the National Academy of Engineering, SDSM&T’s Guy E. March Medal, and having an award named in his honor by the Engineering Foundation. When asked his philosophy of life, Frank notes that a great many people help you along life’s way. It is often not possible to pay back all of these people for their kindness, but you can pay forward by helping someone else. Help Create Future Scientists and Engineers The School of Mines is again offering a variety of educational opportunities for middle and high school students, and you can help by spreading the word. Again this summer, the School of Mines is allowing students to try their hand at engineering and science before they arrive at college by attending a summer residential camp or day class. Here are just some of the great camps offered for summer 2008: Leadership Camp Working in cooperative teams, students will learn leadership skills. Students will identify a problem in their community that requires a solution, gather and evaluate information on the problem, examine and evaluate alternative solutions, develop a proposed policy to address the problem, and create an action plan to get the policy adopted by government. Socket to Me! Computer Science and Computer Engineering Camp This camp provides a hands-on computer science and engineering experience. Students will learn the importance of being computer literate, computer basics, how to disassemble and reassemble a computer, PC maintenance, basic and Web programming, and electronics. Space Adventures! Camp Students will explore the birth of the universe, the life cycle of stars, black holes, relativity and time travel, star mythology, satellites and global positioning. Participants will take field trips to the Air & Space Museum and the Hidden Valley Observatory, as well as build and launch their own model rocket! STEPS Engineering Camp Science Technology Engineering Preview Summer Camp (STEPS) is an introduction to the world of technology and engineering. Campers will participate in hands-on activities that give them an understanding of what engineers do, science and engineering topics such as materials, clean manufacturing, CAD, and team building, and group presentations of their project. Youth Geology Field Camp Through daily field trips, participants will learn an introduction to rocks and how they form, mining, gold panning, geologic history of the Black Hills, and unique rocks and different fossils. Field trip locations include the Mammoth Site, The Black Hills Institute, Mt. Rushmore, and the Badlands. More information on these camps and scholarship forms can be found at http://sdmines.sdsmt.edu/learn/youth or by calling (605) 394-2693. If you know of a young person who might be interested, please let them know about these terrific programs. William Arbegast (director, Advanced Materials Processing and Joining Laboratory/instructor, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Department) received an additional $96,250 from Friction Stir Processing Industry/University Cooperative Research Center Memberships for his project entitled “Intelligent Process Control System Algorithms for Aluminum and Steel Friction Stir Welding.” Arbegast also received an additional $96,250 from Friction Stir Processing Industry/University Cooperative Research Center Memberships for his project entitled “Design, Analysis, and Performance of ‘Built-Up’ Aluminum Friction Stir Welded (FSW) and Friction Stir Spot Welded (FSSW) Structures.” John Helsdon (dean, Graduate Education/interim director, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences/professor, Atmospheric Sciences Department) received an additional $40,500 from the National Science Foundation for his project entitled “Graduate Fellowship Program.” Jon Kellar (chair/professor, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Department) and Keith W. Whites (professor/Steven P. Miller Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department) received three awards totaling $215,300 from South Dakota State University for their project entitled “The 2010 Initiative: Science-Based Leadership for South Dakota.” Alvis Lisenbee (professor, Geology and Geological Engineering) and Arden Davis (Mickelson Professor, Geology and Geological Engineering) received $15,878 from the West Dakota Water Development District for their project entitled “Aquifer Mapping (1:24,000) of the north half of the Hill City Quadrangle, South Dakota.” Patricia Mahon (vice president, Student Affairs/dean of students, Student Affairs) received $12,500 from Black Hills Special Services for her project entitled “Tobacco Prevention.” Ronald Marshall (technical assistance provider, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department) received $14,553 from South Dakota State University for his project entitled “Local Rural Road Safety Audit and Safety Tool Box.” James Martin (professor/paleontology program coordinator/curator of vertebrate paleontology, Geology and Geological Engineering Department) received awards of $20,000 and an additional $5,000 from the U.S. Department of Interior – Bureau of Land Management for his project entitled “Curation of Oregon Horse Fossil.” Dana Medlin (associate professor, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Department) and Jon Kellar received $15,000 from Radiance Technologies for their project entitled “Advanced Electronic Rosebud Integration (AERI) Research and Development Program.” Gautam Pillay (professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering Department/vice president, Research Affairs) and Haiping Hong (research scientist III, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Department) received an additional $100,000 from the United States Department of Defense – Army Research Laboratory for their project entitled “Advance Materials & Processes for Future Combat Systems.” Pallaoor Sundareshwar (assistant professor, Atmospheric Sciences Department) received $13,750 from the United States Department of Interior – United States Geological Survey for his project entitled “31P NMR Analyses in Prairie Pothole Wetlands Across a Land Use Gradient.” Scholarship Established in Memory of Schwaller The Shawn Schwaller Memorial Scholarship was established in September 2007 in memory of Shawn Schwaller (EE 95). Schwaller, 35, passed away on September 9, 2007, after a short battle with leukemia. This endowed scholarship will be awarded to students majoring in electrical engineering at the School of Mines Shawn Robert Schwaller was born February 13, 1972, in Wiesbaden, Germany, to John and Rosemary (Gooby) Schwaller. Shawn’s early years were spent traveling with his family. His father’s job as a field service technician took the family throughout the United States and the countries of Germany and Jordan. In 1982, Shawn’s family returned to the United States and settled in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where Shawn completed his high school education, graduating from Brandon Valley High School in 1990. He continued his education at the School of Mines where he received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1995. Following graduation, Shawn
worked as a firmware engineer for Rockwell in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He then moved
to Denver in 1998 and was employed at Raytheon Company as a software engineer
where he excelled at problem solving and collaborating with his team members.
Shawn was united in marriage to Tricia Mohrhauser (EE 98/CSc 98), on October 10,
1998, at Hartford, South Dakota. His greatest passion was his love for cars, car shows with his dad and best friend, Monte Bossman, and getting together with his friends from his car model club (GFD Denver). Shawn was a wonderful husband, colleague, and friend, and his smile and sense of humor touched the hearts of everyone he met. He will be missed by all. Hinrichs Remembered with Scholarship The Dallas Hinrichs Memorial Scholarship fund was established by his wife, Cathleen F. Hinrichs, and his children, Heather Taylor and Matthew Hinrichs, along with other family and friends. The Dallas Hinrichs Memorial Scholarship is being offered as a tribute to Dallas R. Hinrichs (Chem 72) who died in a car accident in May 2007. This non-endowed scholarship will be awarded annually to a junior or senior chemistry major at the South Dakota School of Mines who graduated from a South Dakota high school and who has proven academic success and active involvement in the university and community. Dallas was proud to be a South Dakota “farm kid” growing up on a farm in northeast South Dakota. After graduating from Groton High School, he entered SDSM&T as a physics major but found his true calling in chemistry as a sophomore. He graduated in 1972 with bachelor’s degree in chemistry. Dallas was always an outgoing and gregarious person, and his years at the School of Mines were truly a juggling act between academics and activities. He was actively involved in many campus events, including chairing the first Earth Day Committee and being one of the founding fathers of the Beta Phi chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma fraternity all while being married and having a young family. After graduation he started his career at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in the Amino Acids Lab. He continued his 34 years at Mayo working as both a tech and a supervisor in the Lipids Lab and last in the Biochemical Genetics Labs. His love of chemistry, learning, and teaching made him a mentor to many young lab techs, fellows, and new residents at Mayo. This giving nature extended over the years to teaching Science in Education at local grade schools, judging science fairs, being an advisor in Junior Achievement, and a Boy Scout Troup Master for over a decade. He approached all with a gentleness and willingness to share his experience and knowledge. His love of rural South Dakota never left him, and he and his wife, Cathleen, planned to return to the Black Hills in retirement. “It is our family’s hope that this scholarship will encourage each student to value their South Dakota heritage and SDSM&T education, and share both with others throughout their lifetime as Dallas did,” said Cathleen Hinrichs. Alexanders Establish Scholarship The Thomas M. and Frances F. Alexander Scholarship fund was recently established by Tom (MinE 81) and Frances Alexander (MinE 81). This endowed scholarship will be awarded to a junior or senior student majoring in mining engineering and management at the School of Mines. First preference will be given to students with financial need who were born and raised in the United States. Tom and Frances are from North Carolina and graduated from Wake Forest University with degrees in psychology and political science, respectively. Tom joined the U.S. Air Force and served in the Strategic Air Command as navigator/radar navigator/bombardier flying B-52Hs. While stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, Tom earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mining engineering from SDSM&T, and Frances earned a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering from the School of Mines and a master’s of business administration degree from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. Tom attained the rank of Captain and, after an honorable discharge, entered the civilian workforce in 1981 as a petrophysical engineer for Schlumberger Offshore out of Houston. Frances was then a production engineer for Shell Western E&P. Upon the birth of their daughter, Elizabeth, in 1988, Frances was promoted to “domestic engineer.” Elizabeth attends Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Tom’s career has been entirely in oil and gas in Texas, Colorado, and Arkansas. He is currently the completions manager for Southwestern Energy Company’s unconventional shale gas project in north central Arkansas. The Alexanders now reside in Kingwood, Texas. Mystery History Remains a Mystery
George Decker (CE 39) of Fairfax, Virginia, was the only alum who replied. Although he does not recall the names of the young men setting the Class of 1939 plaque, George did share that he was the photographer who snapped this shot on M-Hill almost 70 years ago.
If you have the answer, please send it along with any other information you would like to share, and we will print some or all of the replies (depending on space) in the next issue. Do you have your own mystery history photo of SDSM&T alumni that would be perfect for our next issue? If so, send the photo (via mail or email) along with a note identifying everyone in the photo to the address below. We will pick the best photos and run them in future Foundation Updates. SDSM&T Foundation, Mystery
History, 501 East Saint Joseph Street, Rapid City, SD 57701 or email
Sandra.Carlson@sdsmt.edu
George Dunham Establishes Scholarship The Dunham name has been getting a lot of press from the School of Mines lately. Nancy and George Dunham have been named as co-chairs of the Building the Dream campaign, Nancy established the Nancy Ward Dunham Scholarship a year ago, and now George (ME 56) has established his own endowed scholarship as well. The George Dunham Scholarship will be awarded to School of Mines students majoring in mechanical engineering. Preference will be given to students with ACT scores between 20 and 23 or those who plan to participate in varsity athletics. The first two scholarships from this endowed fund will be awarded to students next fall. George Dunham’s childhood was spent in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He attended Lowell grade school and Washington High School and entered the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 1952. George could not have attended the School of Mines without his football scholarship for $90 per quarter. He was an offensive guard on the Hardrocker football team for four years, was named as All Conference his senior year, and was described in a Rapid City Journal article as the best guard in the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference. In addition to football, George was an active member of Triangle Fraternity, and he sang in the Singing Engineers chorus and in a quartet during his college years. He graduated with honors with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1956. George married Nancy Ward (EE 57) in December 1955 while they were both still in school. After graduation, they stayed in Rapid City, and George taught in the Mechanical Engineering Department while Nancy finished her degree. George and Nancy then worked for an architect/engineering firm and, in 1960, they founded Dunham Associates, Consulting Engineers, with subsequent branch offices in Bismarck, Sioux Falls, Minneapolis, Casper, Reno, and Las Vegas. During his 45 years in the business, in addition to being CEO of the engineering company, he served as an Adjunct Professor at the School of Mines. He is also a co-founder of SymCom, Inc. and Rapidata, Inc., and a founder of Meditrol, Inc. and Huot Instruments, LLC. George is a registered Professional Engineer in numerous states and his accomplishments include the design of mechanical systems for more than 2,000 building projects across the country. George has served as National Director of the Consulting Engineers Council and as a member and chair of its Interprofessional Committee. He is also a member of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Alumni Association and is a lifetime member of the National Society of Professional Engineers. He received the SDSM&T Centennial 100 award in 1985, was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of SDSM&T in 2000, received the Guy March Medal in 2007, and was named as one of the Triangle Fraternity’s “Men of the Century.” Since retiring in 1999, George winters in Maui, spends Septembers in England, and spends most of the rest of his time in Rapid City where he provides volunteer assistance for the City of Rapid City on engineering issues, helps the YMCA and other organizations with building projects, and maintains his involvement with SymCom as Chairman of the Board. The C. Robert & Dorothy Todd Scholarship has been established by the Todd’s son and daughter-in-law, Larry (MetE 78) and Jayne Todd. The scholarship honors Robert and Dorothy for their commitment to the education and cultural development of high school students throughout their adult lives. The C. Robert & Dorothy Todd Scholarship is an endowed fund that will be awarded to an incoming freshman student who graduated from high school in western Nebraska. If there are no freshmen from western Nebraska, the scholarship will be awarded to either a Native American student or a student from Fall River County, South Dakota. The scholarship will be available to the recipient for two years if a minimum grade point average is maintained and progress is being made towards completion of a degree. C. Robert and Dorothy Dodson Todd graduated from Sturgis High School in Sturgis, South Dakota, in 1947 and 1946 respectively, and they were married in 1950. Robert earned a bachelor of science degree in 1952 from Black Hills State College in Spearfish, South Dakota. He received a master of divinity degree in 1955 from Iliff Seminary in Denver, Colorado, and was ordained as a minister in the South Dakota Conference of the Methodist Church. During the early years of their marriage, Robert and Dorothy lived in Edgemont and Oelrichs, South Dakota, where Robert served congregations, as well as in the nearby communities of Pringle, Oral, and Smithwick. Their daughter and two sons were born in Hot Springs. During the time when they lived in Oelrichs, Robert began substitute teaching at the local high school; this eventually evolved into a full-time teaching profession. He received a master’s of teaching science degree in 1966 from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. In 1963, the family moved to Harrison, Nebraska, where Robert became the science teacher at Sioux County High School, a position that he held until his retirement in 1993, having taught two generations of students from local families. His commitment to the education of Sioux County students was recognized by Governor E. Benjamin Nelson who appointed him an honorary Admiral in the Great Navy of Nebraska. Dorothy worked in banking upon graduation from high school and continued in that profession when the family moved to Harrison. She retired in 1994 as a vice president of the Sioux National Bank. Dorothy is an accomplished pianist and organist and has been an integral part of bringing music to the community as church organist, accompanist for school musical programs, community events, weddings, and funerals. The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology is woven firmly into the fabric of the Todd and Dodson family histories. Those who are part of the tradition include: brothers Richard Todd (ME 58) and Ronald Dodson (CE 60); sister and brother-in-law Coral Etta (Todd) Stevens (former staff) and Laverne Stevens (ME 60 and former professor); sons Wayne Todd (ME 93) and Larry Todd (MetE 78); nephew Mike Laughlin (EE 73); and uncles Vern Haas, Maurice Haas (MetE 24), and Edward Haas (MinE 27). Larry Todd graduated from Sioux County High School in 1974 and completed a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering from SDSM&T in 1978. Jayne (White) Todd graduated from Chadron High School in Chadron, Nebraska, in 1974. Despite growing up within 60 miles of each other in the Nebraska panhandle, they first met in Arizona in 1979. They were married in 1982 and have since lived and worked in Nevada, California, Arizona, Washington, New Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru. Larry’s job as a process metallurgist and manager has led to a progression of positions via transfers and mergers with Duval Corp., Battle Mountain Gold, Gold Fields Mining Corp., Hanson Industries, Santa Fe Pacific Gold, Newmont Mining Co., Phelps Dodge, and Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold. He is currently the manager, Hydrometallurgical Operations, for Freeport’s Safford Mine in Safford, Arizona. In December 2007, Larry completed the successful start-up of the first major copper mine in the United States in over 30 years. Jayne obtained an associate of applied science degree from Arizona Western College in 1996 and a bachelor of arts degree from Washington State University in 2003. Jayne has worked for over fifteen years in community colleges and universities, and she has a passion for the college educational setting in shaping and developing both young adults and non-traditional students. She is currently an assistant supervisor in Record and Registration at Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher, Arizona. A college education opened the doors to great opportunities, experiences, and friendships for Larry and Jayne, and they hope to assist an aspiring student to achieve their passion. The family is honored to continue the support of SDSM&T and its students through this endowed scholarship. The Goldey Family Scholarship was recently established by Greg (CSc 86) and Laurie Goldey. This non-endowed scholarship will be awarded to two students each year. One award will be given to an incoming freshman female School of Mines student who has high scores on SDSM&T entrance exams. The other award will be given to a junior female School of Mines student with a minimum 3.0 grade point average. For both scholarships, first preference will be computer engineering majors, second preference will be electrical engineering majors, and third preference will be computer science majors. Greg is a proud alum of the School of Mines, and he and Laurie have enjoyed many career rewards. In the 20 years that the Goldeys have worked in the electronics industry, they have witnessed a shortage of women in the computer science, computer engineering, and electrical engineering disciplines. The Goldey Family Scholarships were created to encourage women to pursue a valuable and worthwhile career in one of these disciplines. Greg was born and raised in Rapid City. He graduated from St. Martin’s Academy High School in Rapid City. Following graduation, he continued his education at the School of Mines where he graduated in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a minor in electrical engineering. He went on to receive a master’s degree in business administration with an organizational development emphasis from the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs in 1996. Laurie was born and raised in Elko, Nevada, where she graduated from Elko High School. After high school, she went on to attend the University of Nevada-Reno where she graduated in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. Greg and Laurie first met at Texas Instruments in Colorado Springs where they both worked as engineers on defense contracts (ground support equipment for missiles and fighter aircraft). They were married in 1991. Shortly after the Goldeys were married, Texas Instruments closed its Colorado Springs office. Laurie went to work for Omnipoint Corp. in Colorado Springs as an electrical engineer responsible for embedded processors for wireless telephony equipment. She left Omnipoint in 1999 to work in the Denver area. She currently works for SEAKR Engineering as a staff engineer working on aerospace and memory system products primarily for government contracts. After Texas Instruments, Greg went to work as a software engineer for EchoStar (a satellite television provider) located in Denver. After EchoStar launched a national digital satellite television service (Dish Network), Greg became a software engineering manager in the Set-Top Box (STB) Software Development Group. Because of his interest in organizational development, Greg’s career path took him into the operational aspects of software development. He was promoted to director of software operations in 1999 where he managed the project management, test, configuration management, and software release planning functions of the software engineering group. Greg soon assumed managerial responsibilities for a STB development engineering team in Atlanta while maintaining his Denver-based responsibilities, and in 2004, Greg was promoted to his current position as vice president of software operations. In addition to his other duties, Greg plans and coordinates college recruiting. He has recruited at SDSM&T for over eight years and has hired numerous graduates making EchoStar the largest Colorado-based employer of SDSM&T graduates. The Goldeys have one daughter, Jordan, who was born in 1995. Jordan is a 7th grader who is active in her school, participating in extracurricular, academic, and athletic activities. She is an honor student who likes science, math, and reading, and she is considering following in her parents’ footsteps and becoming an engineer.
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