Who wants to be a civil engineer? An innovative (interactive) teaching style

Women at Work Diversifying the construction business

Recovering from Katrina How one family is picking up the pieces

PURDUE CIVIL ENGINEERING

FALL 2005

The Long Road to Energy $avings

Looking for answers in asphalt

up front

Purdue Civil Engineering

From the EditorWe’re officially underway with Impact, the new magazine for the School of Civil Engineering (CE). As the title suggests, we

hope to leave a mark with this publication. First and foremost, we want to tell stories here. Among this first batch you’ll learn about an innovative teaching style that is helping students learn. You’ll get a glimpse behind the scenes of the busy under-graduate office. You can read about some civil engineering solutions for saving energy. Bear witness to the growing number of young women entering the construction field thanks, in part, to internships like those offered by our construction engineering and management program. And see how the family of Robert Frosch, a native of New Orleans and a CE associate professor, has been affected by Hurricane Katrina.

But we’d also like to hear your stories. Drop us a line and let us know how you’re doing, how you think we’re doing, and what else you’d like to see within these pages.

William MeinersEditorpeimpact@purdue.edu

On My MindWelcome to Impact, the new magazine for the School of Civil Engineering.

Within this new format, we are sharing stories of what’s happening within our school. I invite you to read about a few of our students, faculty, and alumni— all impacting the world around them.

It’s an exciting time for the civil engineering profession. Public demand is high for a safe and effective infrastructure, as well as a clean environment. Purdue’s civil engineering graduates are leaders in the profession, with over 800 currently serving as presidents, CEOs, or vice presidents for a variety of companies.

Our school is in a growth phase with 57 faculty members, 300 graduate students, and 530 undergraduate students. Our educational programs—among the nation’s best—rank seventh and 17th at the undergraduate level for civil engineering and environmental engineering, respectively, while our graduate civil engineering

program ranks fifth. We also offer unique sub-disciplines of study in geomatics, construction engineering management, geotechnical engi-neering, hydraulics and hydrology, structural engineering, environmental engineering, materials engineering, and transportation engineering.

Purdue’s Civil Engineering research program is strong, with a budget of $12 million in faculty-directed research projects this year. We’ve brought in several new faculty members to work in the cross-disciplinary signature areas of Intelligent Infrastructure Systems and Global Sustainable Industrial Systems. And our five year fund-raising campaign is helping increase our number of chaired professorships, scholarships, and fellowships, as well as generating funding for much needed facilities renovation.

I hope you enjoy this glimpse into our school.

M. Kathy BanksProfessor and Interim Head

Cover photo from Corbis

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UP FRONT

Messages from the head of the school and our magazine editor

COMING UP

Noteworthy events for 2006 2

AROUND CE

Interactive classrooms and school news 3

BEHIND THE SCENES

Sharing the busy workload in the CE undergraduate office 6

IN MY VIEW

Nick Aschilman, vice president at Fugro, on energy and the 7 role of civil engineers

COVER

How well-paved and smooth-running roadways can lead to energy savings 8

FEATURE

More women in a man’s world: construction engineering and management 12 internships at work

UP CLOSE: STUDENTS

Fund raisers, organizations, and students abroad 14

UP CLOSE: FACULTY

How one faculty member’s family is picking up the pieces 16 after Hurricane Katrina

CAMPAIGN IMPACT

Building on the success of The Campaign for Purdue 18

UP CLOSE: ALUMNI

A high tide to success: Phil Stutes and opportunities seized 19

ALUMNI NEWS

Class notes, announcements, in memoriam, and more 20

CHECK IT OUT

Looking for answers to a 50-year mystery 23

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

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Purdue Civil Engineering

Calendar 2006

January4 Chicagoland CE Basketball Outing Chicago, Illinois

22 Transportation Research Board Annual Washington, D.C. Meeting & CE Reception

February16 CE Alumni Achievement Awards Banquet Purdue

17 CE Advisory Council Meeting Purdue

March2 Distinguished Lecture • Madeleine Albright, Purdue

Former U.S. Secretary of State

3 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Purdue Convocation & Reception

28-30 92nd Purdue Road School Purdue

April8 CE Breakfast & Gala Weekend Purdue

27 CE Scholarship Awards Program Purdue

May10 CE Golf Open Purdue

13 CE Commencement Reception Purdue

School of Civil Engineering

John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering ........................................Linda P. B. Katehi

Professor and Interim Head ............... M. Katherine Banks

Director of Development ......................................Jim Brehm

Manager of Alumni Relations and Communications ......................................Cindy Lawley

Director of Engineering Marketing and Communications ............................................Rwitti Roy

Editor ..........................................................William Meiners

Graphic Designer .......................................Susan Ferringer

Photographer ...............................................Vincent Walter

Contibuting Writers .................................Suzanne Karberg,Cindy Lawley, Kathy Mayer,

Cynthia Sequin, Linda Terhune

CE Impact is published by the Purdue University School of Civil Engineering for 11,800 alumni, faculty, students, corporate partners, and friends. We welcome your comments. Please send them to the following address:

Civil Engineering Impact Purdue University 1435 Win Hentschel Blvd., Suite B120 West Lafayette, IN 47906-4153

Articles herein may be reprinted by nonprofit organi-

zations without permission. Appropriate credit would

be appreciated.

To make a gift to the School of Civil Engineering,

or to learn more about rennovation plans for the

CE Building, please contact:

Jim Brehm

Director of Development

(765) 494-2236

brehmj@purdue.edu

Cindy Lawley

Manager of Alumni Relations & Communications

(765) 494-7089

lawley@purdue.edu

Purdue is an equal access/equal opportunity university

Produced by the Engineering Communications Office

One Last Look: With the new Neil Armstrong Building now well on the rise in front of the Civil Engineering Building, here’s a view that will not be seen again. Known on campus maps as CIVL, the building was constructed in 1962, expanded and remodeled in 1988. Here’s looking at you, CIVL.

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Who Wants to Be a Civil Engineer?With a nod to television’s “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” a civil engineering professor is challenging his students with “lifeline” questions.

asked at the end of lectures usually re-sults in an increase of 70-75 percent cor-rect answers. Then students are allowed to consult with one another to develop an argument for this position and convince each other of their reasoning. In a sense,

they’re seeking a lifeline. When the ques-tion is asked for a third time, a great majority of the class (approximately 95 percent) chooses the correct answer.“For me, this method provides instan-

taneous feedback on whether the stu-dents understand what you’re teaching,” Weiss says. “I can clear up misconcep-tions immediately, make sure all stu-dents are actively participating in the lecture, and promote teamwork.”

While many of these students, however much they want to be, may not become millionaires, their interactive classroom experience could surely help put them on the road to be civil engineers. And that’s a pretty good final answer.

—W.M.

Jason Weiss, an associate professor of civil engineering, first experimented with the use of remote control answer devices in his spring 2005 “CE 331 Class on Engineering Materials.”

It’s Veteran’s Day. On a Friday morning last November 11th, some 50 civil engi-neering students fill the tiered seats in a lecture hall in the Physics Building. Everyone in the largely baseball-capped crowd quickly reaches for a re-mote control, which cost them each six bucks at the beginning of the semester. They know the routine by now.

On this day Jason Weiss, an associate professor of civil engineering, runs through a PowerPoint, detailing, in part, the “role of carbon content on the prop-erties of steel” in this materials class. After introducing some concepts, he quizzes the students with chalkboard problems and asks them to buzz in with their answers—offering multiple choice options of A, B, C, or D. Their responses are displayed immediately on the screen. As the audience weighs in on why answers are right and wrong, Weiss occasionally rewards participants with a thrown piece of candy.

Weiss first experimented with the use of remote control answer devices in his spring 2005 “CE 331 Class on Engineering Materials.” The devices enabled the students to answer questions during class, have their answers automatically recorded in a computer database, and immediately summarized the percent-age of right and wrong answers.

“Students have told me that it keeps them interested in class,” Weiss says,

“while allowing them to deal with more real-world concepts.”

It also keeps them more involved than the typical lecture. You won’t find sleepers or students tucked behind Exponents here. Typically, Weiss begins the class by posing a practi-cal question to get the students think-ing about a particular problem. For example, in a class dealing with concrete technology, the students might be asked to review a series of concrete mixture designs and to pre-dict the mixtures that would have the highest strength, highest durability, and lowest costs. Students are able to use their “natural instincts” and

information from the pre-class readings to draw a conclusion.

While this first question may only result in 20 to 35 percent of the class predicting the correct answer, Weiss believes this approach is effective in that it triggers critical thinking as students search for concepts that they can ap-ply to the question. The same question

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Robert J. Connor joins Purdue as an assistant professor of civil engineer-ing in the structures group from Lehigh University ATLSS Center. He has over 14 years of experience in the research and testing of bridges. His research focuses on fabrication flaws, fatigue cracking, fracture, and failures. He has developed repair strategies for struc-tures for a variety of agencies includ-ing state DOT, rapid transit authorities, construction companies, and structural consultants. He is currently developing fatigue design specifications for high-way bridge structures, sign and signal structures, and bridge expansion joints for NCHRP and state agencies.

Ayhan Irfanoglu joins Purdue as an assistant professor of civil engineer-ing in the structures group. After receiv-ing his Ph.D. in 2000 from California Institute of Technology, he served as an engineer for a nationwide engineer-ing consulting company, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. in California. His research interests include devel-opment of conceptual and practical frameworks for performance-based structural design and evaluation, uncer-tainty modeling and rational decision-making in engineering, earthquake and blast engineering, modal testing and analysis, structural health-monitoring, large-scale structural analysis and sim-ulation, and engineering seismology. Irfanoglu has also been a team mem-ber in evaluating and providing techni-cal support for the Bingol earthquake, May 2003, the Kocaeli earthquake,

August 1999, and the Northridge earth-quake, January 1994.

Samuel Labi joins Purdue as an assistant professor of civil engineer-ing in the transportation group. He completed his Ph.D. at Purdue in 2001. In 2002, Labi was awarded the Milton Pikarski Award for Best National Ph.D. Dissertation in Transportation Engineering (Science and Technology category) by the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC). His research and teaching interests include management and evaluation of highway infrastructure systems, system opera-tions (traffic monitoring, safety, and congestion, and intelligent transporta-tion systems), transportation economics and financing, and application of sta-tistical and operations research tools in infrastructure systems management.

Hugo Ochoa-Acuña is an assis-tant professor of environmental epide-miology at Purdue in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology with a partial appointment in civil engineering with the environmental group. After receiv-ing his Ph.D. in 1999 he completed postdoctoral work at the University of Florida Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology. His research inter-ests include environmental epidemiol-ogy, ecological risk assessment and modeling, ecophysiology, and ecotoxi-cology. Dr. Ochoa-Acuña has initiated an ecological risk assessment labora-tory where simple ecological systems are used to determine adverse effects of chemicals.

Santiago Pujol joins Purdue as an assistant professor of civil engineering in the structures group. He received both his master’s and Ph.D. from Purdue. His research interests include earthquake engineering, seismic vulnerability of existing structures, performance-based methodologies, instrumentation and testing of structures, response of struc-tures to impulsive loads, structural-health monitoring, and repair and strengthening of structures. He has participated in the seismic evaluation of reinforced concrete buildings in Azerbaijan, California, the Dominican Republic and Turkey. He provided technical support for a litiga-tion process involving estimation of the extent of damage attributable in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake in buildings owned by the County of Los Angeles.

Thomas P. Seager joins Purdue as an assistant professor of civil engi-neering in the construction and envi-ronmental groups. He graduated from Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York, with his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in civil and environ-mental engineering. His interests in-clude industrial ecology, sustainability, systems analysis, energy analysis, and environmental manufacturing manage-ment. At Purdue, Seager is active in the newly-founded Discovery Park Center for the Environment, where he is cur-rently leading the Sustainable Futures launch team. The mission of the team is to create a research agenda that fosters sustainability through economic and environmental progress.

Robert ConnorNew Faculty

Ayhan Irfanoglu Samuel Labi Hugo Ochoa-Acuña Santiago Pujol

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Maria S. Sepúlveda is an assistant professor in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources with a partial appointment in civil engineering with the environmental group. She completed her Ph.D. in Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, at the University of Florida. Her research interests include ecotoxicology, with special emphasis on evaluating the sublethal effects of contaminants and other environmental stressors on the reproductive physiol-ogy of fish and wildlife; development and application of molecular biomark-ers of exposure and effects to environ-mental contaminants; bioaccumulation rates and factors affecting bioavailabil-ity of contaminants in biota; and impact of diseases on wildlife population, with special interest on parasite diseases.

Thomas Seager Maria Sepúlveda

Stepping DownFred Mannering stepped down as

head of the School of Civil Engineering this past summer. He has returned to the faculty to pursue scholarship ac-tivities and explore new opportunities in the transportation area. During his tenure as head, the school has had an incredible expansion including the ad-dition of 15 new faculty members and securing a nearly 50 percent increase in external funding from research grants and contracts. Alumni and friends have committed in excess of $20 million to help construct a state-of-the art labora-tory, enabling the school to attract and retain the best faculty and students, with commitments for five new endowed professorships and numerous endow-ments for student scholarships and fellowships. This progress has not gone unnoticed—the 2006 U.S. News and World Report rankings have the gradu-ate program moving up to number five in the nation. The hard work of faculty and staff, and the generous contribu-tions of alumni and friends contribute to

the continued success of the School of Civil Engineering.

Daniel Halpin will step down as head of the Division of Construction Engineering and Management and retire from the University at the end of the year. Serving as the head for more than 18 years, Halpin has worked for four engineering deans and two univer-sity presidents. For 16 years in a row BSCEM graduates have been hired at a 100 percent rate upon gradua-tion. Internships are a unique compo-nent of the Purdue BSCEM program. Each student is required to complete three, 12-week work periods in a U.S. construction organization. Recruiting at Purdue by a wide range of employ-ers, including the largest and most advanced firms in the U.S., is intense. Purdue’s CEM degree is respected by leaders in the construction industry across the U.S. as one of the best—many say the best—engineering de-gree in preparation for a professional future in construction.

Fred Mannering, who stepped down as head of civil engineering last summer to return to teaching and research, surveys the final construction inside the Robert L. and Terry L. Bowen Laboratory of Large-Scale Civil Engineering Research.

Daniel Halpin, in the “soft hat,” observes the deconstruction of the old Creative Arts huts with CEM students.

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Left to right: Tammi Thayer, Jim Meyers, Maeve Drummond, and Linda Higgins.

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For the 400 students enrolled in Purdue’s School of Civil Engineering, the under-graduate office is the mother ship. It’s the advising center, the place where classes are shaped and scheduled, where scholarships are sought and awarded, where a friendly face helps solve everyday problems and more complicated challenges on a daily basis, and staples and candy are handed out free.

“The school wanted to restructure how the undergraduate office functioned so that it had a more service-oriented approach,” says Tammi Thayer, undergraduate program adminis-trator for the school. “Our feedback has been very positive, so we take a lot of pride in that.”

The office on the main floor of the Civil Engineering building is a busy place. The first stop for a visitor may well be at the desk of Linda Higgins, administrative assistant by title, mother and friend by action. She is also textbook coordinator, grade reporter, Coop program/internship/employment assistant, and much more.“One of the most rewarding areas of my job is the interaction with civil students. I

get to know many of them well,” says Higgins, who has worked in the office for seven years. “Students come to share their successes, just say hello, and some have even taken me to lunch. They are excited upon graduation to introduce me to their parents as their ‘Mom away from home.’”

She is much more than Mom, though. In response to frequent calls from employers seeking to hire the school’s graduates, Higgins helped to develop a valuable employ-ment web site that was originally a list of corporate contacts. It is now a database that allows employers to log in with a password and post job descriptions and company information and keeps students up-to-date on job opportunities.

The back office is run by Thayer and Maeve Drummond, who job-share and handle a multitude of responsibilities. Drummond is curriculum deputy and schedule deputy, duties that involve arranging each semester’s course schedule, wrestling with such

details as ensuring that civil engineering class times don’t conflict with popular courses outside of the school, setting enrollment capacity, and ushering new courses through the development stage.

The staff of the undergraduate office consists of Higgins, Thayer, Drummond, and James Meyers, assistant head for Undergraduate Programs. Many of the responsibilities of the office are accom-

plished through a team effort with dif-ferent members of the staff taking the lead in different areas. For example, Thayer administers the school’s schol-arship program, but the entire staff discusses award criteria and helps evaluate applicants. She also adminis-ters the Civil Engineering Ambassadors Program, a student recruitment effort that everyone helps pull off.

This team approach has also resulted in the creation of a new course for freshmen interested in civil engineer-ing. This course, “Civil Engineering in Action,” has had capacity enrollments (60 this year) for the three years that it has been offered. Although Meyers leads this effort, he is quick to point out the very significant involvement of all staff members.

While the office is always busy, there are intense crunch periods when incoming sophomores arrive in August and during registration times. Thayer humbly acknowledges limiting herself to no more than 10 30-minute advising appointments a day during that period.

“The undergraduate office is an exciting place to be. It definitely can be very hectic and busy at times, but the interaction with students, the faculty and staff, as well as working with industry contacts make for a rewarding experience,” Higgins says.

Currently the undergraduate office is going through a period of transition with Meyers retiring at the end of December 2005 and faculty member Steve Johnson taking over leadership of the office. In addition, Drummond has accepted a new position as administrator of the Graduate Office, and a new member of the team is being recruited.

—Linda Terhune

Civil ServantsAmidst the fast pace of CE education, the undergraduate office provides a steady refuge.

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Energy DemandsCivil engineers will have adapted roles in the world of energy.

Nicholas J. Aschliman (BSCE ’68) is vice president of Fugro Consultants LP.Personal experience says that there is clearly a place for a Purdue civil engineer in

the bustling world of energy. Many years have lapsed since the “green grad” moved to Houston to join the nascent environmental unit of a major oil refining company. Sudden emphasis on a cleaner earth cast the young engineer into unexplored dimensions of wastewater treatment, conservation, permitting, economics, and public communica-tions. Fortunately, the broad base of civil engineering coupled with visionary insights of special, Purdue professors created the right combination for the opportunities at hand.

That was then. By comparison, the challenges associated with today’s energy situation far surpass those of the earlier environmental frontier. Consequently, the future of a civil engineer entering the energy field has never looked better. But it will be different.

With dwindling supplies of abundant energy in “easy to find” places; surging global demand; higher risks and greater project complexity; plus a certain degree of urgency, a new day has dawned on the industry—and on each of us for that matter.

Looking at the supply side, exploration and development of fossil fuel sources are taking engineers and scientists into increasingly remote, harsh areas. This pres-ents unique obstacles for surveying, site access/improvements, equipment support, and project infrastructure. For the largest projects, entire cities—far from current civilization—are being built to accommodate job site personnel. Civil engineering is in the middle of the action.

In the processing arena, civil engineers lay the groundwork and design struc-tures for production facilities, refining units, petrochemical plants, emission controls, product storage, and shipping. All aspects of civil engineering come into play in siting and building facilities, which satisfy safety and production requirements; in-ternational quality standards; and environmental limits.

As production and processing sites mover farther away, increased emphasis is placed on shipping and distribution. Civil engineers examine new sites for terminals, pipelines and rail; survey, engineer, and manage construction of mega-facilities; and participate in maintenance and operations.

And, of course, there is the demand side of the business. Increased consumption of motor fuels and electrical power spurs the need for more efficient and intelligent transportation systems; fuel-saving pavement technologies; power generation; and electrical transmission. Following closely are renewed looks at nuclear power, grain-to-alcohol, coal/shale, wind, and hydroelectric power. Indeed, there’s a strong place for civil engineering in each and every alternative being addressed.

In upcoming years, engineers from around the world representing multiple disciplines including petroleum, chemical, mechanical, electrical, and of course, civil/environmental will work together in unprecedented ways. Teams will confer with financiers, attorneys, risk managers, and political representatives in a variety of cultures to accomplish projects via experimental project delivery methods. There will not be many dull days.

Undergirding the whole process will be sound research and technology like that coming out of Purdue. Traditional building blocks of math and science equip the engineer to work directly in energy exploration and production, if that becomes a chosen career path. Specialization in geomatics, structures, geotechnics, construction materials, environmental sciences, and construc-tion management provide further skills in other areas of problem solving.

In conclusion, the world’s burgeoning energy needs call for enlightened en-gineering and management solutions. Fortunately, Purdue civil engineers will be ready to deliver powerful answers.

—Nicholas Aschliman, P.E.

Nicholas J. Aschliman (BSCE ’68) is vice president of Fugro Consultants LP.

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John Haddock, an associate professor of civil engineering, and Brandon Celaya, a master’s student, are focused on the asphalt.

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Sometimes a bump in the road is just an aggravating start to a Monday morning commute. But if your well-traveled road is too well-worn, it can quickly lead to wear and tear on your car. On the other hand, a smooth road will not only keep your coffee in your cup, but put you on course for energy savings.

John Haddock, an associate professor of civil engineering, is trying to engineer better roads. His success may lie in the asphalt. The liquid asphalt used to build hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavements comes from crude oil, Haddock says, “the bottom of the barrel.”

The less asphalt we use to build roads, the more fossil fuel we save, he says. “When asphalt refining first began, the residual material, or bottom of the barrel, was seen as waste by gasoline refiners. They were glad to be rid of it for use in refining asphalt. However, over the years, refining methods have improved and much of the residual material can now be refined for ‘high-end’ products such as gasoline and jet fuel. Although it costs more to refine the residuals into gasoline, when gasoline prices rise, it becomes cost effective. So, even the crude oil used for asphalt becomes more expensive.”

In essence, if engineers can uncover better ways to make HMA roads last longer, less asphalt and thus less crude oil will be used. This goal of developing technology to be used in constructing stronger, more durable HMA pavements has been a primary focus of research being done at Purdue and funded by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) through the Joint Research Transportation Program.

In one such effort, Haddock looked at how initial pavement density affects the perfor-mance of HMA pavements. During the project, laboratory performance of fatigue, per-manent deformation (rutting), permeability, and moisture susceptibility were measured on HMA specimens compacted to various densities. Although the results have not yet been published, according to Haddock, it is known that when the density of HMA is increased, it becomes more durable and lasts longer. This project tried to quantify the improvements so that user agencies would have the tools to make informed decisions.

Better roads through better asphalt and efficient maintenance practices can lead to energy savings.

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The trench in the pavement tells researchers which layer of the pavement has deformed. In this case, one can clearly see that the deformation, or rutting, has occurred in the surface layer.

“Improving roads helps conserve en-ergy in several ways,” Haddock says.

“First, research appears to indicate that smoother roads contribute to better vehicle fuel economy. Second, if HMA pavements can be made to last longer, the time intervals for periodic mainte-nance, or major rehabilitation, can be lengthened, thus producing a savings in construction energy consumption. Third, if HMA pavements can be made to last longer, then less asphalt binder is needed. Asphalt binder is refined from petroleum, so its decrease leads directly to energy savings.”

In another project, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program funded Purdue to perform research in hopes of discovering a more efficient way to determine which layers in an HMA pavement have failed. In other words, what layer caused the rutting in an individual road? Where did the deformation come from? Traditionally, the only way to diagnose which layer in the pavement failed was to cut a trench across the road thus ex-posing the damaged layer. This method is expensive, and requires the road to be closed. The result is increased fuel consumption as motorists must be stopped, or detoured around the work. This project developed a simple, efficient method that makes use of a computer program to determine which road layer has failed. Instead of physi-cally digging a trench, a straight edge, typically 12 feet long, is placed across the road in question. The straight edge is used to produce a road profile that, when entered into a spreadsheet, is able to show what layer has failed. This allows for efficient repairs, saving both the user agency and the traveling public time and energy.

Another research being completed by Haddock and funded by INDOT involves the mixing and compaction temperatures of HMA. In order to pro-duce HMA pavements, liquid asphalt

binder must be combined with aggre-gates in a central mixing plant. This has traditionally been done at temperatures in the range of 275-300F. However, a recent trend is to add polymers to HMA to increase its durability. This addition has driven up the temperatures used to mix and compact the HMA. This burns more energy and adds to the cost of the process. INDOT wants to determine if polymer-modified HMA mixtures can be produced and placed at lower tempera-tures without adversely affecting their performance. Haddock and his gradu-ate students visited job sites where they gathered materials and HMA mixture samples. The mixtures were tested in Purdue’s CE Bituminous Laboratory. The results, although not yet published, indicate that lower temperatures can be used when mixing polymer-modified HMA, thus saving energy and result-ing in a cleaner and more cost-efficient process.

Other Inroads to Energy Savings

The never-ending quest for long-last-ing HMA roads involves research not only in material technology but also in the way available resources are used. Over the years, Kumares Sinha, the Olson Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering, has carried out research in various areas geared towards ensuring that the maximum possible quality and road life are obtained through a variety of

management tools. For example, in a re-cent project, Sinha, with the assistance of Samuel Labi, a newly appointed assistant professor in civil engineering, developed a software package now being used by Indiana’s pavement designers to help in deciding the appropriate designs and schedules for rehabilitation and mainte-nance over the life of the road pavement.

Liberal thicknesses and rehabilitation schedules translate into highest quality but exorbitant cost. On the other ex-treme, conservative pavement design and preservation strategies are inex-pensive but yield pavements that typi-cally last only for a short time. To help INDOT develop balanced and rational policies, the life-cycle cost analysis software package considers the costs of construction and preservation and the benefits of pavement condition en-hancement and longevity to help select the optimal design and preservation strategy that offers highest possible benefits at least cost.

In other research aimed at seeking cost-effective highway construction prac-tices, Sinha, Labi and Bob McCullouch, a research scientist, investigated the use of warranties. “The concept of warranties shifts the burden of construction quality control, product performance and prod-uct maintenance from the owner to the contractor,” Sinha says. “Our research results suggest that warranty projects yield a product that is generally more

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Sinha confers with graduate students in CE’s Transportation Computational Lab. He has also analyzed large-scale highway overhauls. In the Hyperfix, for example, crews working around the clock can save time and money. INDOT’s decision to completely close the section of highway where I-65 and I-70 converge took the reconstruction from 180 days to 55 days.

cost-effective in terms of pavement con-dition and longevity compared to tradi-tional projects and ultimately lead to lower life-cycle cost.”

The group advised INDOT that war-ranty practices could be continued as more warranty projects reach matura-tion and as more data is made avail-able for future investigations.

In a related research project that examined the inability to complete projects on time and within budget, Sinha and his research team assessed the extent of the problem of cost over-runs, time delays, and change orders associated with INDOT construction projects, and determined that such problems are not only related to fac-tors such as design, unexpected site conditions, increases in project scope, weather conditions, but can be pre-dicted from contract administration parameters such as bid amount and contract duration. For relatively small projects (up to $6 million), increasing bid amounts lead to decreasing cost overruns while for relatively large proj-ects (over $6 million) increasing bid amounts lead to increasing cost over-runs.“This may be because as small proj-

ects become larger, they attract higher-class contractors and are therefore managed more efficiently, resulting in lower cost overruns,” Sinha says.

“However, for large projects, the advan-tage of higher-class contractors seems to be outweighed by the management problems engendered by the multi-plicity of subcontractors and commu-nication lapses. The net effect is an increase in likelihood and amounts of cost overrun.”

The research also determined that projects of longer durations are more likely to incur cost overruns, and that the cost of each unit time delay in con-tract completion is 12-fold the savings of each unit time of early completion. The results therefore strengthen the

argument for establishing incentives and bonuses for expeditious contract execution and maintaining penalties (liquidated damages) for tardy contract execution.

In 2003 INDOT executed an ambi-tious interstate reconstruction project in Indianapolis, named Hyperfix. This project completely closed a section of I-65/70 on which 250,000 vehicles travel daily. During the 55 days of reconstruc-tion, the main section was completely closed to traffic, an unprecedented event that had major effects on traffic

flows in and around the city. Sinha and his colleagues analyzed the impact of the project on construction management, traffic management, local businesses, and public safety, and made recommen-dations that serve as a useful guide in managing future undertakings of similar scale and scope.

In the end, getting us from point A to point B smoother—through improved roads, fewer roadblocks, and even less red tape—makes not only for a safer trip, but a better energy-saving plan.

—Suzanne Karberg and W.M.

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The construction industry has long been regarded as a rough and rug-ged business where a man’s strong back, hard hat, and thick skin are often akin to the structures he helps raise. In an increasingly diversified world, however, more and more women are throwing their hats into the construc-tion game. And the folks in Purdue’s Division of Construction Engineering and Management (CEM) are helping to shape that change.

For Bryan Hubbard, director of CEM’s renowned internship program, it’s a change much welcomed. “We continue to bring women students into our department,” he says. “In the end, the added diversity will help improve the construction industry.”

Hubbard spends much of his sum-mer checking in with the students and sponsor companies at construction worksites all over the country. CEM stu-

Hard-Hatted WomenPurdue’s Construction Engineering and Management program is helping more

young women break into fields once reserved for men.

dents are required to work three sum-mer internships before they graduate. This year 134 students worked on sites in 22 states, including Hawaii. One student even worked on an industrial facilities site in Mexico. The experience usually pays off for them. Since 1987, CEM has placed 100 percent of their graduates into jobs, many of them with their internship sponsor firms.

There’s also ample opportunity for a broad range of experience, Hubbard says. “Our students are on sites help-ing build everything from heavy civil projects, like bridges and roads, to offices, to commercial sites such as schools and hospitals, to industrial sites like power plants.”

Fast Track Safety

Many sites provide research oppor-tunities for graduate students as well. Julia Spadaccini, a master’s student in civil engineering, was able to observe and provide quantitative information regarding production and safety at an Indianapolis I-465 “Fast Track” project—where bonus-driven construction com-panies work through nights to complete a section of highway in record time.

Dulcy Abraham, a professor of civil engineering and construction engi-neering and management, serves as Spadaccini’s major professor. She’s working with both the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the Indiana Department of Transportation on safety practices in construction. “We can be very safe within the timeframe,” Abraham says,

“but if the work is not getting done with-in the timeframe then the whole issue of doing it at night is defeated.”

Amanda Fryzlewicz is not trespassing (as the sign might suggest), but working on an internship in downtown Indianapolis.

Jerrilyn O’Brien (near right), a junior in con-struction engineering management, and

Julia Spadaccini, a master’s student in civil engineering, talk strategy on site of the

I-465 “Fast Track” project in Indianapolis.

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Spadaccini will link on-site observa-tions of nighttime construction operations and surveys of nighttime workers and project owners with variables like the safety record of the company, the experi-ence of the workers, and the type of safe-ty equipment used. Ultimately, she’ll be able to provide the company with quan-tifiable data that can be used to improve both productivity and safety practices. She’s also working with three undergrad-uate students on the research project.

Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Will this type of experience put Spadaccini and her female classmates on the fast track in the construction business? “I think there’s a glass ceil-ing, but the environment is a lot more open to having women at all levels than it was five years ago,” Abraham says.

“Many women are making their way up through the ranks, starting as a field or project engineer. That adds credibility

to the leadership roles that women now undertake in this industry.”

Anne Bigane Wilson (BSCEM ’79) had planned on such a career path. A graduate of the inaugural CEM class, Wilson went to work for her sponsor firm Rieth-Riley right out of Purdue. In the mid-1980s, she joined her father at Bigane Paving in Chicago, and felt well supported to learn the ropes of the family business. When her father died suddenly, however, she found herself suddenly at the helm.“I was exposed to the negative early,”

Wilson says. “As the oldest of five girls, the common assumption was that we would sell the business after my father died.”

She persevered, though, as has the company, which is now a fourth-

Haley Hypes, a junior in construction engineering and management, worked at a commericial site on the north side of Indianapolis.

generation family firm specializing in asphalt paving and site development. In 2000, Wilson won a Governor’s Small Business Award as a “Person of the Year.” She’s also a founding member and past president of the Federation of Women Contractors.

Today, Wilson sits on the advisory council for CEM. Her advice for young women entering the construction work-force: “Look for mentors, both male and female,” she says. “It can be a bit daunting in a male-dominated field, but construction offers the thrill of seeing the products you build.”

Because a worker’s pride in a sky-line’s new high-rise, or even a highway overhauled, can surely be enjoyed by either gender.

—W.M.

up close: students

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Expanded Views Three CEM students gain more than experience with time spent in Guadalajara.

For three students studying abroad, the chance to bolster new language skills and take in a new culture, all while gaining knowledge of construction trends, should situ-ate them better in a globalizing marketplace. Such has been the case for Brandon Stutzman, Julia Watkins, and Evan Wisthuff, the trio of construction engineering and management seniors who spent two weeks in Guadalajara, Mexico, last summer.

“Each day there I engaged in conversations with Mexican students, participated in their classes, and heard various lectures in English on the Mexican government, politics, construction companies, housing, culture, and history,” says Stutzman.

“After the classes, some students and professors would take us to either a job site or company office to see how construction work is managed and performed in Mexico.”

From visits to a government housing site where around 4,000 small, concrete hous-es were being built in a subdivision to visits to hospital, warehouse, and high-income housing sites, the students saw a variety of buildings on the rise in a rapidly evolving country. For Wisthuff, an education in the Spanish language and Latin culture are valu-able assets for construction jobs in the United States. “On my first summer CEM internship in Richmond, Virginia, I noticed that about 40 percent of the workers spoke Spanish and very

Left to right: Brandon Stutzman, Julia Watkins, Bryan Hubbard, and Evan Wisthuff.

From visits to a government housing site where around 4,000 small, concrete houses were being built in a subdivision to visits to hospital, warehouse, and high-income housing sites, the students saw a variety of buildings on the rise.

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Expanded Views Three CEM students gain more than experience with time spent in Guadalajara.

Left to right: Jessie Rykels, George Hwang (the Big Man on Campus 2005), and Megan Burke.

little English,” he says. “I was in Guadalajara to learn, so I tried to learn as much as I could.” Wisthuff also had additional incentive because he stayed in Mexico (Juarez, specifically) for a summer internship with Graycor, a Chicago-based construction firm.

Julia Watkins says it’s an experience she will always treasure. She really values the opportunity she had to learn the economic and political char-acteristics of Mexico while studying the potential for growth in a grow-ing construction market. “Going to classes at Panamericana University, living with other students, taking the job site tours,” she says. “It was all very culturally rewarding.”

And all three suggest that their CEM colleagues look into learning opportunities abroad. Says Stutzman, “I would highly recommend study abroad to anyone who wants to get involved with large, interna-tional contractors, work outside the U.S., or simply acquire a broader view of the world.”

—S.K.

Professional Societies

BMOCStudents raise money to fight breast cancer.

Megan Burke and Jessie Rykels, both seniors in the civil engineering, put their right brains to the test last February, when they organized Purdue’s largest Greek-sponsored philanthropy, Big Man on Campus (BMOC). The event featured 22 Purdue male students showcasing their talents and answering questions in pageant-like style. The week leading up to the show featured Penny Wars, a sheet sign competition, t-shirt and ticket sales competition, and a “boiler-pop” competition at the Boiler Market.

With over 1,500 students, parents, and faculty in attendance, BMOC raised over $33,500 for breast cancer awareness and research and was a high-light of Rykel’s and Burke’s college ex-perience. “It was challenging trying to balance school work with the committee meetings and planning of BMOC, but the hope that our efforts may help edu-cate people about breast cancer made the late nights worth it,” says Burke.

Career FairThe Civil Engineering Student

Advisory Council (CESAC) hosted the 2005 Civil Engineering Career Fair on Tuesday, September 27, 2005. A record number of over 70 companies visited Purdue Civil Engineering for this job fair. Students representing every discipline within Civil Engineering, in-cluding Construction Engineering and Management and Land Surveying and Geomatics Engineering, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels can expect to meet recruiters from various companies throughout the country look-ing to hire both interns and graduates.

ASCE has been awarded a 2005 Letter of Honorable Mention. The Chapter was recommended for this award by the Committee on Student Activities based on the enthusiasm and hard work of the student officers. Visit their website at bridge.ecn.purdue.edu/~asce/.

Concrete Institute (ACI–Purdue) was established in August 2004 to bridge the gap between academic learning and professional practice in the construction indus-try. During this first year the members participated in the international ACI student competition in New York City, winning first prize for the best prediction of failure load and deformation. Visit their website at bridge.ecn.purdue.edu/~concrete/.

ASCE sponsors the Concrete Canoe Competition each year.

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Purdue Civil Engineering

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Historic DamageHurricane Katrina hits the family and home of a civil engineering professor, displacing family members while erasing several sites and mementos of their past.

Reared in New Orleans, Purdue civil engineering associate professor Robert Frosch hopes to use his structural engineer-ing expertise to help repair and rebuild the areas of Louisiana left devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Frosch’s heritage in the New Orleans area dated to the 1800s. He grew up with hurricanes, as did his parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.

When Frosch accepted a position at Purdue, he became one of the first in his extended family to leave the area. A graduate of Tulane University, he observed the levee systems, floodgates, and drainage systems under construction as a child in New Orleans. In fact, as an undergraduate student he interned working on part of the levee systems in the area.“I was fascinated by the structures,” he says. “It’s what got me into civil engineering.

I wanted to understand how everything worked.”Frosch was carrying on a family tradition. His great-great-grandfather worked in

construction in New Orleans.“We’ve been Louisiana residents for as long as anybody in our family can remember,”

says Warren Frosch, Robert’s father. “My great-grandfather helped put up the Robert E.

Lee statue in downtown New Orleans. Several of the ropes failed, and he was the only person to keep holding on. He lifted the statue by himself to its final position as it stands today. In doing so, though, he broke his back and died several days later.”

The family history took a new turn after Katrina. Their homes destroyed and with no return to the area in the foresee-able future, Frosch’s extended family is scattered across five states. Warren and his wife, Bessie, are staying with Robert and his wife, Maria, in West Lafayette. Other aunts, uncles, and cousins have found temporary housing in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.

Nearly a month after Hurricane Katrina forced them to leave, Warren and Bessie Frosch returned home to near-total devastation.

Background photo courtesy of Department of Defense

Impact Fall 2005

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“We’ve been through a lot of hurri-canes in the past,” says Bessie. “We did intend to leave because Katrina looked like such a massive storm on the satellite, and then my sister called at 3:30 a.m. and said we better leave soon. We packed our things, but if I’d known then what I know now I would have packed a lot more of our things. I had our wedding photos and Bible in my hands, but Warren said, ‘Leave it, we’ll be back in a couple of days.’”

The couple left St. Bernard’s Parish near New Orleans at 5:30 a.m. and arrived in West Lafayette around 9 p.m. that night.“Those two days turned into five

weeks,” Bessie said.Since the disaster struck on August

29, Robert has kept abreast of the di-saster through the Internet. Katrina, a Category 5 hurricane, left more than a million people homeless, 1,302 dead, and a range of $70 to $130 billion in damages. It is considered the worst natural disaster to hit America. It will be years before the areas affected can rebound.“I watched a whole way of life disap-

pear,” he says. “My childhood neigh-borhood in New Orleans went under water, my high school, entire parishes,

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such as St. Bernard’s—everything dis-appeared under water.”

“We kept asking ourselves, ‘What can we do? Where should we go? What’s going to happen to us?’” Bessie says.

“I sit and cry all the time, but that’s not going to change anything but is just a way to release my emotions.”

On September 26, the Frosches rented a truck and drove back to their old neighborhood. Upon their arrival, Bessie had her keys ready to unlock the front door of their three-bedroom, two-bath ranch-style home, but the door was gone and the frame had splintered—a gaping hole stood in its place.“We found the door frame and side-

light in the kitchen,” she says. “We also found a tree, a dead fish and

a live frog in the house,” says Robert. “The floor and all the counters were cov-ered with muck residue.”

They heard that Canadian Mounties were the first to visit the area after Katrina hit.“While we were there, a FEMA repre-

sentative stopped by to see what we were doing and warned us not to take any of our clothes because of the mold,” Bessie says. “We had soldiers stop by several times to check on us and see

if we needed water, food or medical supplies.”

The water stain marks on the walls of the house reached more than five feet.“It was just total devastation, and I

can’t say it any better than that,” Bessie says.

Working for 10 days, Bessie, Warren, Robert, and Maria salvaged what they could and piled the vast majority of their ruined articles, clothing, and furni-ture on their front lawn.“We were advised that we didn’t even

need flood insurance for our area, but we had some anyway,” Warren says.

“Still it isn’t enough to cover our losses.”“We’re on a limited income, and we

can’t start over,” Bessie adds. “We don’t know what we’re going to do.”

For now, the focus is on salvaging a lifetime of photos, many water-stained beyond recognition but just as many capturing the memories of past holidays, Boy Scout uniforms, First Communion, and other precious moments.

Robert is ready to use his skill as a structural engineer to help rebuild his childhood city.

“I have already contacted people in the area and offered my services,” he says.

—S.K. and Cynthia Sequin

Robert Frosch, an associate professor of civil engineering, takes a break from the recovery effort.

campaign impact

Millions of dollars

Raised to date

Campaign goal

Scholarships

Faculty support

Facilities

Programs

Unrestricted

4.0

6.7 8.0

8.0 12.0

1.9 2.6

3.5 5.0

Campaign Progress to Date

12840 1062

2.4

Purdue Civil Engineering

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As we complete the fifth year of our seven-year Campaign for Purdue, we contin-ue to be amazed by the generosity of our civil engineering alumni and friends. Gift totals for the school increased by over 17 percent from the previous fiscal year for a grand total of $3,529,902. We have also reached 71 percent of our total campaign goal of $31,600,000 for support of students, faculty, programs and centers, facili-ties, and unrestricted monies.

With the completion (in 2003) of the Robert L. and Terry L. Bowen Laboratory for Large-scale Civil Engineering Research, we now turn our attention to the renovation of the current civil facilities, including lab space, housing for CE Centers and techni-cal programs, and team-learning modules. Another key focus during this time is to increase in the number of faculty professorships, undergraduate scholarships, and graduate fellowships.

We’ve raised $2.4 million of the $4 million goal for endowed scholarships and fellowships. This endowment income will allow the school to increase the number of undergraduate scholarships by 30 percent and the number of graduate scholarships and fellowships by 50 percent.

Endowed professorships are a critical incentive to attract and retain outstanding faculty. The campaign has a goal of raising $8 million for professorships, enabling 20 percent of our faculty to hold endowed professorships, which is reasonable and comparable to the target set by other top civil engineering programs in the country. We’ve raised $6.7 million toward that goal.

The school has numerous affiliated programs and centers. These centers provide a focus for research and dissemination activities and will play a key role in achieving the school’s educational and research goals. The campaign has raised $1.9 million of the $2.6 million goal for civil programs and centers.

Although the School of Civil Engineering currently occupies over half of one of the largest buildings on campus, the school’s current space is inadequate. The goal

of raising $12 million for facilities will go a long way in this endeavor. The Bowen Laboratory, the first large construction project of the campaign, is among the best in the nation, allowing Purdue to reach new levels of excellence in infra-structure research. As additional space becomes available elsewhere on cam-pus and at the Bowen lab, our school will be able to occupy more of the exist-ing Civil Engineering building. As part of this campaign effort a renovation is needed. This expansion into new space will enable Civil Engineering to transform undergraduate labs into premier sites for hands-on exploration and support new technologies that enhance exploration, teaching, and learning, as they facilitate collaboration between students, faculty, practitioners, and guest speakers.

The most forward-thinking plans can-not possibly anticipate every need and opportunity that will arise. That’s why gifts of unrestricted funds are critical to the future success of the school. In the past, unrestricted funds have been used to award undergraduate schol-arships, provide competitive start-up packages for new faculty recruits, up-date laboratory facilities, allow students to attend national conferences, and support student organizations and com-petitions such as Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge. The campaign hopes to raise $5 million of unrestricted monies.

The school’s success depends upon the contributions of all its stakeholders— corporate partners, faculty, students and their parents, state and national con-stituents, and alumni. This successful campaign will enable the School of Civil Engineering to continue its tradition of ex-cellence and fulfill its promise to become the nation’s top civil engineering program.

—Cindy Lawley

Building CEGifts to The Campaign for Purdue help raise the value of a civil engineering education.

Robert L. and Terry L. Bowen Laboratory for Large-scale Civil Engineering Research

up close: alumni

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“Yes” to a night dispatcher job, “Yes” to one semester of college after another while working, and “Yes” to a year away from home to gain new skills took Philip Stutes (MSCE ’75) up the ladder of success.

Climbing each rung of seized opportunity, he stands today at the helm of 304-employee Fugro Chance Inc., which has enjoyed double-digit growth in recent years. The Lafayette, Louisiana-based marine surveying company, a division of multinational Fugro, supports North and South American oil and gas development.“Being named president of an organization I grew up from a baby in, I’m proof

there’s upward mobility,” says Stutes. One of four children of a machinery salesman, he grew up in Rayne, Louisiana. After his 1966 high school graduation, he enrolled in the University of Southwestern Louisiana, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, not sure what he wanted to do. “My older brother studied civil engineering, so I said, ‘Well, I’ll just try that.’ I always

envisioned a job working outdoors some of the time. It was a lucky stroke,” he says of his decision.

Taking a job manning radios at night in May 1968 so he could continue his education proved to be another bit of luck. The company was John E. Chance & Associates, predecessor to the company that’s been his employer ever since and which he now heads.

Earning his degree in 1971—“I was an early trendsetter, taking five years to finish”—Stutes continued climbing the Chance ladder. One day in 1974, coming ashore from work in the Gulf of Mexico, he was called to the boss’s office. “We want you to go to school,” he was told, and given his pick of Ohio State or Purdue University. Choosing Purdue was life-changing, Stutes says.“That was when the Transit Satellite Navigation System was being released to the

general public. John Chance realized no one in the company had the skills to deal with this technology.”

Stutes’ instructions were to audit a few appropriate classes. Instead, he enrolled as a full-time student, believing, “A half of a master’s would be better than none.”

At the end of his first semester, as he, his wife and four young children prepared to return home, “Purdue called my boss and said, ‘If you let him stay another semester, he can take 18 hours and earn a master’s.’”

The boss said “Yes,” and so did Stutes.“My year at Purdue was wonderful. What I took were practical classes I applied

as soon as I came back to work. We bought several satellite systems, I figured out how to use them, and taught others in the company,” he says. “As the years passed, I became in charge of the offshore division, then general manager of the company, and then president in 1994.”

August 2005’s Hurricane Katrina hit close to home, escalating the company’s already busy workload. “As big as that storm was, there was still a fairly small percentage of production in the Gulf that was affected,” he says.

He believes production there will continue for some time. “I think there’s a lot of energy yet undiscovered in the Gulf of Mexico,” he says. “There’s not enough to

Yes ManSeized opportunities take Stutes to the top.

meet the United States’ needs. But we’ve gone deeper and made tremen-dous finds. While it’s a mature energy province, there are still a lot of reserves to be found in the Gulf, and we have better techniques for extracting and exploiting them.”

—Kathy Mayer

Philip Stutes (MSCE ’75) CEO of Fugro Chance, Inc.

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The 2004 Civil Engineering Alumni Achievement Award recipients (from left to right): Evan Nyer, Susan Frey, Nicholas Aschliman, Robert Shanks, and Richard O’Connor.

CEAAA ’04Congratulations to recipients of the 2004 Civil Engineering Alumni Achievement Award

presented in February of this year.

advisor while also retaining his seat on the Board of Directors. Bioxel Pharma is a leading manufacturer of naturally derived taxanes and targeted oncol-ogy drugs used in the development of therapeutic drugs for the treatment of cancer and other diseases, includ-ing psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, and cardiovascu-lar disease.

Robert W. Shanks (BSCE 75, MSCE 76)—St. Louis, MO—Bob has been named president of Arch Coal’s Eastern

Geza Cseri (BSCE 59)—McLean, VA—Geza has retired from the Federal Government Service and was awarded the Distinguished Civilian Award. He is a consultant to the Department of Homeland Security.

Pierre Lacroix (PhD 71)—Quebec, CANADA—Pierre, who was a founder of Bioxel Pharma, has retired from the presidency of that firm. He will contin-ue to serve the corporation as special

operations. Since 1998, Bob has served as president of Arch’s west-ern subsidiary, which includes one of the world’s largest and most produc-tive surface mines and three highly productive longwall operations. He is a former chairman of the Bituminous Coal Operators Association and a past chair-man of the Illinois Coal Association.

James Lambrechts (MSCE 76)—Charlestown, MA—Jim was awarded the 2005 Ralph W. Horne Award by the Boston Society of Civil Engineers

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Nicholas J. Aschliman (BSCE 1968) A television ad introduced a boy from modest Swiss heritage to civil engi-neering—becoming a civil engineer then became his child-hood dream. Through his studies at Purdue, Nick gained appreciation of the interplay among science, engineering, business, and public interest. That knowledge serves him well today as vice president of Fugro Consultants, LLP, a company that provides advice to over 50 countries worldwide on the earth’s surface and the soils and rocks underneath for purposes related to the oil and gas industry, the mining in-dustry, and the construction industry.

Susan M. Frey (BSCE 1976, MSCE 1977) Working along-side her parents and four brothers in the family business in Hobart, Indiana, Sue began to excel in math and science. Part way through her freshman year at Purdue, where she was enrolled in chemistry, when a dorm mate suggested that the School of Civil Engineering needed a second female stu-dent, the die was cast. Sue has been employed for 28 years by CH2M Hill, a multidiscipline engineering firm specializing in environmental, municipal, and transportation infrastructure. Sue’s career expanded to Oregon State University where she has been an adjunct faculty member since the early 1990s, teaching masonry building and code design. Sue now serves as a senior technical resource for CH2M Hill’s firm-wide design organization as well as a multidiscipline design manager.

Evan K. Nyer (BSE 1973, MSE 1974) The decision to specialize in environmental engineering at Purdue was one that Evan credits to Ralph Nadar and the inaccuracy of his books. After learning the facts at Purdue, Evans’ first book, Ground Water Treatment Technology, came out in 1986 followed by four other books, all on the remediation of soils

and groundwater. His other major writing over the years has been the column “Treatment Technology,” published in Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation for the past 20 years. Evan is currently a senior vice president for Arcadis G&M, Inc., a worldwide infrastructure and environmental con-sulting firm. He is in the midst of building the largest biological treatment system for ground water remediation in the world.

Richard T. O’Connor (BSCE 1974, MSCE 1975) A small-town boy from southwestern Indiana, Dick’s interest in math and science and admiration of the pioneers of land-mark skyscraper and large river crossing steered him to civil engineering at Purdue. Dick currently serves as senior vice president and treasurer of RQAW Corporation, a multidisci-plined engineering and architectural firm. He has worked on converting conventional bridges into cable-stayed structure and designed Indiana’s only curved steel box girder structure. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the State of Indiana, Governor Joe Kerman named Dick a Sagamore of the Wabash on January 9, 2005.

Robert W. Shanks (BSCE 1975, MSCE 1976) From a young age, Bob planned to study civil engineering. After coming to Purdue his focus shifted from building bridges to hydrology and water resource engineering. After working for several years on hydrologic impact studies, pollution control and land reclamation projects, Bob’s shifted to the opera-tional side of the business. In March of 2005, he was named president of Arch Coal’s eastern operations. Arch Coal is the nation’s second largest coal producer and mines low-sulfur coal exclusively. Through its subsidiary operations in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah, Arch provides the fuel for approximately seven percent of the electricity generated in the United States.

Section (BSCES). This award rec-ognizes individuals who have been outstanding in unpaid public service in elected or appointed government posts, or in philanthropic activitiy in the public interest. For decades, Professor Lambrechts has researched, published, and actively addressed the public about problems caused by lowered groundwater levels and their poten-tial solutions. For the last 10 years, he has served, pro bono, as the Boston Groundwater Trust’s consulting geo-technical engineer.

Joseph M. Cibor (BSCE 76, MSCE 78)—Silver Spring, MD—Joe has been elected president of the Engineers’ Leadership Foundation. The Foundation was established to foster the development of engineer-ing leaders. He is president of Fugro Consultants LP, a 400-person geotech-nical engineering firm headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Ed Haslam (BSCE 87, MSCE 88)—San Mateo, CA—Ed has been named vice president of product marketing for

Orbital Data. He brings more than 18 years of experience in product man-agement and market strategy from companies including Sybase, Red Brick, and Inktomi. Prior to Orbital Data, Ed was the head of product marketing at Composite Software, an enterprise information software company, where he oversaw the company’s entry into the marketplace and spearheaded its product and marketing efforts.

Jeffrey S. Russell (MSCE 86, PhD 88)—Madison, WI—Jeff was awarded

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In Memoriam2005

1930sGordon G. BeemerBSCE 1930 • Winnetka, IL

J. Wayne GredericksBSCE 1938 • Bronxville, NY

Robert O. JacksonBSCE 1939 • Indianapolis, IN

Frank MilnerBSCE 1937 • Sun City Centre, FL

Boyd C. OstrootBSCE 1939 • Portage, IN

Philip J. SchrinerBSCE 1937 • Kankakee, IL

1940sWilliam L. AltherrBSCE 1948 • Lafayette, IN

William A. DarlingBSCE 1942 • Fort Wayne, IN

Robert T. DouglassBSCE 1946 • Dayton, OH

Joel M. Field, Sr.BSCE 1949 • Louisville, KY

Paul W. Freitag, Jr.BSCE 1944 • Barrington, IL

Edward GoetzeBSCE 1947 • St. Joseph, IL

Robert W. GrassBSCE 1947 • Mattoon, IL

Tom L. GreenwoodBSCE 1942 • Midland, TX

J. Kenneth KolbrookBSCE 1948 • Louisville, KY

Alfred D. Land, Jr.BSCE 1941 • Mentor, OH

Irving E. LindermanBSCE 1940 • Indianapolis, IN

Safford W. McMylerBSCE 1944 • Neenah, WI

James H. MillerBSCE 1949 • Anacortes, WA

Robert L. PerkinsBSCE 1947 • Houston, TX

Frank D. RaycherBSCE 1949 • Conway, AR

Marion B. ScottMSCE 1944 • Williamsport, PA

Robert L. SteinBSCE 1943 • Mount Prospect, IL

Bertram A. WeinshenkerBSCE 1942 • Albuquerque, NM

Richard B. WetzelBSCE 1949 • Indianapolis, IN

1950s George M. BriggsBSCE 1952 • Maple Valley, WA

Murray F. BurnetteBSCE 1951, MSCE 1960 •

Huntsville, AL

Robert L. BuschmanBSCE 1950 • Orange City, FL

John J. ContarinoBSCE 1950 • Lynchburg, VA

Michael C. GasawayBSCE 1952 • Westmont, IL

Gerald E. KeerbsBSCE 1956 • Los Angeles, CA

Theodore F. MillerBSCE 1952 • Decatur, IL

Robert P. PeelerBSCE 1953 • Indianapolis, IN

Andrew L. PoulosBSCE 1952 • Lake Worth, FL

Frank W. RaymondBSCE 1950 • Trucker, CA

Walter C. SchinnererBSCE 1950 • Hot Springs Village, AR

Gaylord H. Widner, Sr.BSCE 1950 • Fort Wayne, IN

Leonard E. WoodPhD 1956 • West Lafayette, IN

1960sWilliam C. NewcombBSCE 1962 • Evansville, IN

J. Nick SeibelBSCE 1962 • Decker, IN

1980sPatrick J. ClearyPhD 1989 • Ames, IA

Kenneth C. WardMSCE 1987 • Beaver Dam, WI

a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) in Washington, D.C. The National Science Foundation administers the award on behalf of the White House. The award recognizes those who encourage people from traditionally underrepre-sented groups, including women and minorities, to participate in science and engineering. Jeff is passionate about developing future leaders from underrepresented groups. His mentor-ing efforts couple a local “one-on-one”

approach with “global” participation. Nationally, Jeff has led and participat-ed in initiatives to increase awareness of and publicize diversity issues within engineering education and practice.

Julie Roehm (BSCE 93)—Auburn Hills, MI—Julie, the Director of Marketing Coummunications for Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge, has been named one of the 100 Leading Women in the North American Automotive Industry. In her role, she oversees the sixth-largest advertising budget in the United States.

Class NotesWe are always interested in featur-

ing recent news about our alumni. To have your accomplishments included in this magazine and share them with fellow alumni, please email informa-tion on awards/honors/recognition, promotions, etc. to Cindy Lawley (lawley@purdue.edu).

Please be sure to include the year(s) and Purdue degree(s) you have received.

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Impact Fall 2005

23

Not so long ago, an interesting request came to the attention of Marty Burns, the Purdue Alumni Association director of alumni activities. Bill Ridgely, of DeForest, Wisconsin, was trying to solve a 50-year-old mystery. His letter details his parents’ friendship with Fritz and Rachel Ulrich a half-century ago in Springfield, Ohio. “Fritz was an engineer and worked for the federal government,” Ridgely writes. When the couple transferred to the West Coast, or overseas, “they asked my parents to temporarily store some of their furniture and personal property.”

The temporary storage turned into years. “Apparently my parents did ship some of their furniture to them at their request,” he writes. But as time passed communi-cation became scarce and then nonexistent. The remaining furniture would even-

tually find its way to the curb, but his parents held on to “a small bit of per-sonal items with sentimental value.”

Ridgely would discover the sentimental box again—labeled “Fritz and Rachel”—as he was cleaning out his mother’s house after his father died in 1998. “As I browsed through the box, I knew I could not throw it away,” he writes.

More recently, before Ridgely retired, he was going through 35 years of accumulated work and related items in his basement when he happened again upon the box. That was when he decided

“to locate Fritz and Rachel and return this last bit of personal property to them.”

From the contents of the box, he knew this much: Fritz was born Fred William Ulrich, a 1940 Purdue civil en-gineering graduate. He married Rachel Emily Fahl, perhaps in 1940, and they had two daughters—Susan Kay and Becky Ann—born in 1945 and 1946 in Springfield. The box contains family photographs, a Bible given to Fritz by his parents, notebooks from Purdue, a 1940 graduation invitation and class list, along with other personal items, some of them dating back 80 years.

Through the internet and the Social Security death index Ridgley learned that a Fred Ulrich died in Orlando, Florida, in 1996 and an R. Ulrich had an Orlando address, but the phone was not in ser-vice for incoming calls in 2001. A letter sent was neither answered nor returned.“I don’t know if there is any hope of

finding Rachel,” Ridgley writes. “But maybe the girls would like to have these old family items.”

That’s where we come in. Anyone with any clues to this mystery can

email us at peimpact@purdue.edu.

Finding Fritz and RachelOne man tries to find the family that belongs to a 50-year-old box.

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