17 Dear Alec returns!..and he’s ready to answer your questions

9 Interview with Dr. John G. Ekerdt We discuss the new Cockrell School buildings

13 Risk Management Training

Why you can’t ignore it

Vector March 2010

Vector March 2010 issueVector eDitors:

Jose ParakkatAn Nguyen

Vector oFFicers:

Layout – Kaitlin Deckeradvertising - Isaac Aggreyarticles – Sope Lanlehinsecretary - Charlotte FriedleyWebmaster - Michael Janusacartoonist - Matthew Leos

Vector staFF:

Jason Erasmo Castro D.Kristen ParrishJeff WangJen Nordhauser

A special thanks to SEC, the Cockrell School of En-gineering and ECAC.

table of contents

research articles..............................2-8

Vectortainment.....................................6

Dr. John ekerdt interview................9-11

Non-themed articles....................12-14

society News.................................15-16

Dear alec.......................................18-19

Get your thoughts and ideas published in ut’s only student-run engineering newspaper!

You’d be amazed to realize how many peo-ple would love to read about your thoughts,

comments, ideas, and even beliefs.

advertising in the Vector is a great way for companies to get their name out to students.

if you are interested in getting your word out in the Vector contact us at vector.ads@gmail.com.

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Vector March 2010

You may not be researching right now because you do not know how to start or

you may not be interested. Well, for those who do not know how to start research, you can start taking steps by researching how to get into research opportunities. Here at UT, a student is presented with great opportunities for engaging in front-line research at a major research university. There are sev-eral entry points in which a student can begin researching.

One is the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI), which offers hun-dreds of first year stu-dents chance to begin learning the techniques of research. The course spans over three semes-ters in this time which the students will be supported and mentored by faculty and graduate students. The aim of this program is to allow students to produce publishable work and skills needed to work in world class research facilities. If there’s not enough time during the academic school year for research, there are summer research fel-lowships open to undergraduates.

Students have the opportunity to work at UT, other universities, at federal agencies (NASA, NIH, Department of Energy, etc.) and with industry.

Students may also research abroad! For the adventurous types, this is a way to see the world without leaving the lab. If that’s not enough, students may also find a professor to research with in a faculty lab. For those uninter-

ested, you might want to reconsider or just think over some of the reasons why you should re-search. Five reasons why you should:

1. Doing research with a program such as the FRI, students may obtain full course credit (in-cluding lab credit) losing

no time in having to spend extra time in separate classes. 2. Improve your grades! Re-searching forces students to think critically and out of the box. Normally, the average GPA of FRI students is 3.26 and non-FRI students is 2.93. 3. Working with a professor builds a solid foundation in the

FreshMaN researchGett ing star ted ear ly

understanding of whatever you decide to research in and it also builds a solid relationship for a solid recommendation letter. This is an important reason *hint hint*4. Research increases your chances of getting into gradu-ate programs, business school, medical school, law school and any other professional school by building relationships and connec-tions with university faculty and industry.5. Most importantly, be recog-nized for your work by publishing it in research journals and present-ing it to receive grants and show your contribution to research. Pro-fessional schools love to see this.

Interested? ContactDr. Sarah SimmonsDirectorOffice for Honors, Research, and International StudyPainter Hall 3.01512 232 9358 s.l.simmons@mail.utexas.eduhttp://cns.utexas.edu/students/ohris

-Jonathan Le

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BeGiNNiNG researchWhy you need to rethink your ant i -Research att i tude

Have you ever wanted to break convention? To push beyond the bound-

aries of the accepted? To tread where none have ever stood before? Or perhaps have you just really wanted to wear a lab coat and carry around a clipboard? Then undergraduate research in engineering just might be for you!

Face it, even the liberal arts and business majors have to admit that it’s the advancement of sci-ence that has kept society moving forward throughout history. More than any other field of study, sci-ence has been the catalyst ensuring continued progress in civiliza-tion. And in today’s world, with the need for new energy sources,

green technology, and a better mousetrap, expansion in scientific research is as vital as it has ever been.

All right, so maybe this is a spiel we’ve all heard before, briefly agreed with, and then immediately forgotten. After all “I’m no Ein-stein, what good could I possibly

do for science?” PLEN-TY!!! Here at the Uni-versity of Texas, research across all the engineering disciplines by both faculty and students has con-ceived countless advances in science. In my own department of Petroleum Engineering, we have a list a mile long (about 1.61km to you Canucks and Eu-ropeans out there) of achievements our faculty and students have made throughout the years. And although I’m sure all the undergraduate engineering students reading this (every single engineering student on campus, undoubtedly) would love to justify sit-ting out of such academic endeavors by thinking “Oh, I don’t know enough, I haven’t taken enough classes to be of any help,” this is simply not true. True, you may not start off as glamorous petawatt laser technicians, or fluid flow modeling specialists, but I can promise that you can never work your way there if you don’t start

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somewhere. One has to search before they can RE-search. *ba dum psh* Ha ha! See what I did there? Anyways... Let’s get right to the good stuff.

There are countless reasons why students should strive to secure an undergraduate research position here at UT. Here’s a quick run down of some of the best reasons. First of all, you get to take part, no matter how small a role, in groundbreaking research. From designing more efficient diamond headed drill bits to discovering the Higgs Boson, there’s so much one can accomplish doing research at UT. Second of all, participating in research can help you gain an internship position at a prestigious engineering firm in your field. Few things looks as good on a resume as actual hands on experience in your subject mat-ter. Speaking of resumes, whether it’s applying for an internship, a full-time job, or a scholar-ship, engineering research will do wonders to make your resume stand out from the others. It will be good for your career. Whether you decide to work strictly in academia doing research, or join the industry with a managerial position, research experience can only help you better understand your subject matter, a plus for any job position. And if you’re more concerned with the short term (you shouldn’t), research will be fun! If

“... even the liberal arts and business majors have to admit that it’s the advancement of science that has kept society moving forward throughout history.”

you truly enjoy the subject matter of your department, be it biomedi-cal or electrical engineering, you will enjoy getting hands on experi-ence researching. And if you posi-tively hate it, then perhaps you’re in the wrong department to begin with and you can save yourself a lot of time and effort before spend-ing another three years studying a subject you can’t stand.

All right, so research = good, no research = bad. I believe we’ve established at least that much. But why NOW? Why not just spend the first few years of our college lives partying and wait until we’re seniors or something to look for research positions? Once again, starting early ensures that you’ll

have a chance to play a role in truly important and interesting projects. The early bird gets the wormhole navigation software development spot (or whatever the EE’s are up to nowadays...). Research, like any other extracur-ricular activity is also a great way to hone your time management skills. It can also help your gpa by giving you greater insight to your future classes subject mat-ter. Working alongside your future

class professors and peers can only help your gpa as well. And if your grades aren’t too hot to begin with, research experience can help to set you apart when companies are comparing you with your class-mates when offering internships. Many, if not all, departments also offer summer research positions for undergrads, meaning you can spend your first one or two sum-mers without an internship being productive and gaining experience.

So, there you have it. Research in UT Engineering is an all around great opportunity for undergradu-ates! The best way to go about getting such a research opportunity is simply to ask. Every department is different and the projects and positions they have available are likewise varied. So get out there and ask your professors, ask your department counselor, ask the up-perclassmen and graduate students, just get out there and ask how you can start off doing research in your department. Just like moving forward in science, the only way to move forward in your education and career is to be proactive and reach beyond what you already have.

-Michael Rodriguez

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What is a huMaN BeiNG?A rel ig ious v iew on Man’s quest for knowledge

In my understanding there is no greater question to be asked as individuals living on this earth.

Everything that we study, every-thing that we research is centered on the basic principle that we each seek to understand something new. We try to discover and even predict via means of science. It is amazing to me that even the most scientific of reasoning revolves around trying to understand the spiritual; that which is truly not seen, yet requested of us to believe by faith. It is my belief that all of us at one point or the other are in a quest to assimilate the fact that we really don’t know much of what is around us; we don’t really know who we are. I have wondered if it is actually something that can ever be comprehended. Along with try-ing to understand who we are we come to other questions as to what is my purpose while here. It is somehow a balance which begins to go heavier on the one side and less plentiful on the other. What is a human being who possesses the limited character-istics of our creat-ed nature which in-clude the capacity to understand limited knowledge of the seen, and much lesser knowl-edge of the unseen?

The declaration made in Psalm 8 relates to me a declaration of

What is man that you take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet you have made him a little low-er than God, and you crown him with glory and majesty!

Psalm 8

humility perhaps more than a declaration being made by some-one seeking knowledge; the true essence of research. It is to me a declara-tion of humbleness before an all power-ful, all knowing, all everything God. It is a question that is directed to the only being capable of an-swering for even in the question one rec-ognizes the grandeur of our God for the answer can only be asked of one whom is greater than we; greater than me. It makes allure to our anxiety in ref-erence to the fundamental human experience of feeling insignificant in the face of the vastness of the cosmos. What possible meaning and significance can I or any other human being have in the midst of this cosmos that seems to have no

end in time or space; research has proven this concept truer than we would at times like to admit. It is a declaration that states that we are created, as was the

rest of the cosmos, and therefore dependent on He who created.

Evident sufficient are they that attempt with science and human intellect to give reasoning to that

which is not ours to question or to doubt, only to believe. It is pitiful for man to degrade himself and

compare his ori-gins with mat-ter/animal and somehow find pride in the fact that the said answer came from within himself. God places man as the crowning part of creation, while man throws himself into the infe-riority that is to be the shell

of the imagery we carry - miscon-strued research at its best.

I am therefore reminded that God is God and I am not. It is therefore necessary to know our limits and make our time count for something. It is imperative there-fore for one to grow in the knowl-edge of God by walking in his ways. As we continue on in this choice journey we will find that the answer to the question is that we are He. It is the realization and acceptance that I live no longer, it is the Creator who lives in me and what I now live in - this shell, I live in the faith of he who loves me. I am spirit therefore I must create, I must research.

-Jason Erasmo Castro

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By: Matthew Leos

Vector March 2010

If you’re intrigued by the idea of research, UT is a great place to get some experience and

think about a career in research. With a Top 10 graduate program in engineering, there is a wealth of cutting edge research on campus. Should you find that you’re inter-ested in research, graduate school should be seriously considered as an alternative to finding a bach-elor’s level job after graduation. This article discusses some con-siderations for those considering research as a career, and recom-mends considering an engineering graduate program as a possible career path after graduation.

There are many reasons to con-sider graduate school for engineer-ing students: intellectual curiosity, wanting a more challenging career or a job that isn’t accessible with-out an advanced degree. However, if you are interested in research, perhaps the most compelling rea-son to consider graduate school is that many careers involving research require some advanced degree; many positions at national labs or in academia require doctoral degrees. Beyond being a means to an end (more interesting job, high salaries), if you enjoy

research, graduate school should be a rewarding experience in itself.

Graduate students who enjoy graduate school appreciate what they’re doing: learning first hand by doing novel research that very few are currently exploring, in an area that they are very interested in making a scientific contribution to.

Other perks (depending on your advisor, funding, or other situa-tions) include flexible schedules and having more control over your time, a challenging environment, and access to classes, member-ships, lecture series and others that are not available to non-students.

Also, engi-neering gradu-ate stu-dents are gener-ally funded, either by a re-search as-

sistantship, teaching position, or fellowship. Students interested in research (and PhD programs)

generally have a better chance of getting funding at most major research universities.

Many students who are interested in graduate school debate when to apply: to start right after graduat-ing with a bachelor’s degree, or wait a while and work? You’ll find arguments for both options. For

students interested in re-search or who are interested in careers that need at least a masters

or doctoral degree, in my opin-ion it is easier to go right after graduating from college. Being used to the student life (and not a big paycheck), and with classes a recent memory, the transition to graduate school was not as dif-ficult as it could have been. How-ever, there are a lot of factors to consider in your decision. Factors such as student debt, being tired of school, not being sure what you want to do or not being a competi-tive applicant may make applying to graduate school less desirable. Working, especially at a research lab or some other company that can give you applicable experi-ence, can help all these issues. By taking a year (or a few years) off, you can save up money to pay off student loans (and give you some extra money for graduate school), get a ‘break’ from school, and get relevant experience that will help

What it reaLLY MeaNsResearch f rom a Graduate perspect ive

Graduate students who enjoy graduate school appreciate what they’re doing: learn-ing first hand by doing novel research that very few are currently exploring, in an area that they are very interested in making a scientific contribution to.

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you make a more attractive candi-date for a graduate program. I had personally thought about taking a year or two off to work, so that I could come back to grad school more ready for the long haul that is a PhD program. Ultimately I decided to go straight to graduate school, mostly because I wanted to use the “momentum” I had from undergrad - and because I thought it would be too hard to leave a big paycheck for a much smaller

(though still sufficient!) one. If you’re a junior or a sophomore, now is a great time to start think-ing about graduate school. This summer is a great time to try to get relevant work experience (or better, an REU - Research Experi-ence for Undergraduates). You can also try to get on a project here at UT during the school year - talk to professors who have taught classes you’ve enjoyed, and your TAs. Be-

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sides helping you figure out if you want to consider a research career, research experience will really help your application.

-Kristen Parrish

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Vector March 2010

Feb. 15 – As soon as the editors at Vector heard about the new plans for construction for the Cockrell School of Engineering, we decided to get the inside story from the man behind the plan, Dr. John G. Ekerdt, Cockrell School Associate Dean of Research. Most of the general information about the plan is open to the public on the Cock-rell School’s website, but we asked Dr. Ekerdt a few questions to find out more.

Vector: What factors led to the idea of a new engineering build-ing?

Dr. John Ekerdt: This process started several years back with a vision for building an interdisci-plinary facility that would involve

teaching and research com-bined in one building. This was a vision that a number of people had, but where this was supposed to be and what shape it would take was always in the eye of the beholder. There was never any question in that we needed it, but it was about understanding the whole process and what needs to be replaced, and what could be renovated. The need for a Master Plan study goes back years and years, and it just culminated over the last year and a half.

V: Looking at the map for the Master Plan, there are a lot of different spaces that are going to be used by

different departments at different times, or even at the same time. Why is there a shift towards more interdisciplinary space rather than departmental space?

JE: There will be growth in grad-uate student populations, and there will be growth in faculty within the departments, so when build-ings are renovated, or when build-ings are built, the allocated space may be different from the current allocations of space. We’re go-ing to wring some efficiencies out of the current buildings, but the departments aren’t going to shrink. So there will be new space because we need new space for hiring, for graduate research and for modern educational teaching methods that we don’t have now.

It’s not that the depart-ments aren’t going to be involved in the new space but that groups of faculty from different departments will be there. In the end, they’re going to have to flow back out to the departments, so there’s going to be a breathing back and forth [between the departments and the new research space]. So it is new space, but it’s not that the depart-ments are getting de-emphasized. It’s that there will be an expansion of space.

V: And of course there will be new spaces for the ECE students. JE: New space? Well, it’ll be a new building. But the question is how much additional space will there be for ECE students and faculty because ECE is distributed throughout a number of different buildings. There are students and faculty out at the microelectronics building on the Pickle Research Campus, and none of these people are necessarily going to move back [to the main UT campus] be-cause the research that they’re do-ing and the facilities that they rely on are located out there. There [will be] new space but how this gets parsed out, well, the planning hasn’t been done for that yet. It’s all roughly going to be the same amount of square footage but more efficiently used.

V: What will prospective students see in these new buildings to make them say, “The Cockrell School of Engineering is for me”?

a chat aBout the “Master pLaN”

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JE: The vision of the building is that it would be a collaborative environment, and there would be more openness to the building, a more inviting presence. I think there would be a lot of movement of people and interaction, so it would be “a destination for col-laboration.” I think the building design the architectural firm that is ultimately hired to do this will embody this spirit of an iconic building that embraces modern engineering education and draws those elements in. I think the ideas that have been presented to us through the firm that was doing the Master Planning really carries those elements forward. The image you see is inviting, and there’s a dynamic movement of both un-dergraduate and graduate students and faculty in a common space. I would want to be there.

V: This first building in the plan, the EERC (Engineering Education and Research Center) will have to have at least the silver LEED cer-tification, as mandated by build-ing standards for the UT campus.

What sustainable technologies and building elements are being considered for this effort?

JE: As far as the LEED certifi-cation, for all buildings that are being designed and built now, the question is how you can be more energy efficient and more sustain-able in a building, and that’s a target that everyone works toward. The question of what the certi-fication actually is has not been determined yet, but the trade-offs are that you might have a very low

energy impact, but then the cost of maintenance is astronomical. The university has been presented a spreadsheet of options that they could consider as the building moves forward for the design phase.

V: How is the EERC going to be financed?

JE: The project costs are being

estimated at around $290 mil-lion. The school is anticipating that through gifts to the school, we will come up with $100 million. $190 million then are going to be defined and identified through the offices of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas system.

V: The School of Engineering website refers to a goal of the Master Plan to be “an environ-ment that links students, staff, and visitors to the campus, the natural

beauty of Waller Creek and open space.” How will it realize this goal?

JE: There’s sev-eral ways you can think about this. There is the Pelli Mas-ter Plan for the campus, and if you start down at the Blanton Museum, and you start imag-ining tree-lined

streets heading all the way up to 24th street and maybe beyond, there are plans to make that into a pedestrian avenue. There’s a layout that envisions connecting major corridors. As you get farther south, the dorms along Waller Creek and the alumni center incor-porate the creek very nicely into their architecture. The idea here is to incorporate Waller Creek into the architecture of this new facil-

With Dr. JohN G. ekerDt

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ity. It’s about changing the whole character of the way [the creek] is landscaped in that region of San Jacinto Boulevard. V: That sounds really nice. There are also a lot of renovation plans for existing buildings. Where will the students go during the renova-tions? Will other spaces be tempo-rarily used?

JE: Initially, when the ECE building and those two temporary buildings come down to make way for [the new EERC building], the people that occupy that space will have to be accommodated somewhere. We’re beginning the process of identifying just how much space we need and what those space types are. The plan that was put forward is a sequencing of building and unlocking of building space. This begins by building [the EERC] on that site, and then you can begin to do renovations as you move people back and forth between buildings. You’re unlocking a new building that allows you to surge people in for a short time while you renovate the space they were in before, and they can surge back out. There’s discussion in the Master Plan of a building going in at the Pickle Research Campus. You could imagine a number of research groups from Civil, Ar-chitectural, and Environmental Engineering relocating out there. Some would come back, some wouldn’t. Two new buildings after this first building would allow this

movement back and forth until the dust settles. That’s how it will happen, but we have to unlock the system through the disruption that will be inevi-table when the ECE department [is] accommodated during the construction of the new building.

V: What types of renovation plans are in place? And how dramatic will these renovations be?

JE: I think the renovations will be quite extensive. If you visit mod-ern, newly constructed, newly-designed buildings in educational or university settings, they’re more open, there’s more of a collabora-tive feel to them. There’s a dis-tribution of spaces that allows the flow of people and light. The buildings that we’re in simply don’t have that because of when they were built. The archi-tectural style [of the time] and the functional purpose determined the design of these buildings, so there will be extensive remodeling. There are inefficiencies in layouts of floors. In ECJ, every floor is a little bit different. There aren’t men’s and women’s rooms in the same column on each floor, and so, spaces will be more uniform, offices will have a common size, and research labs will have a uniform size. These buildings’ exteriors will appear the same, but the interiors will be considerably different.

V: When should current UT students start watching out for the demolition of ENS and the con-

struction traffic?

JE: The plan is for about fall 2015 to be when we start reoccupying the building. I don’t think we’re looking at people moving out or the wrecking ball showing up for two years, sometime in 2012. We have to move to this next phase and be given the green light to go ahead and start the construction. We’re really looking at about a two-year window before no one occupies that [site] but a construc-tion crew.

V: Which part of the plan gets you the most excited?

JE: I think just getting the first building because it’s a very excit-ing project, and what we’re trying to accomplish here is so differ-ent from the way we [currently] approach engineering education at both the undergraduate and graduate level. I think it will be culture-changing for this campus. It will energize the students, and if the visioning that has come together around this building, if the design, the architecture and the layout of this building are realized and things flow the way we want them to, it will be a really exciting place. It will just make everyone proud.

-Jennifer Nordhauser

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iN DeFeNse oF poLiticsPol it i t icians are engineers without t r ia l s

Every now and then I hear students say that they don’t care about politics. But I

don’t quite understand. Is there a feeling of futility? Is there too much conflict? Or has politics ac-quired a reputation so terrible that being involved in political matters makes you a less ethical person?

Politics, at its most basic, is not inherently “evil”. It’s an ongoing debate on how to improve the state of society. Every politician takes their own approach, but they are promoting a potential solution. A solution that someone believes should become law. I admit that sounds overly optimistic. But keep in mind, promoted solutions are not always well-intentioned solutions. Engineers go through a similar process – except their decisions do not usually have such immediate, far-reaching implica-tions. When an engineer wants to initiate a project that he/she be-lieves would better their company, or perhaps society, they convince their bosses that it would be ben-eficial with the help of their tech-nical calculations and projections. And even then, miscalculations and unforeseen circumstances can turn a good project into a failure. Now imagine going through the same process, but in an intangible and uncertain environment where emulating a working set of laws from another state for your own could result in a failure because of complex cultural differences. Politics tend to be complicated, but the failures and bureaucracies of government exist because they

do not have the luxury of repeat-ed trials before implementation.

Our political system is not perfect. Gener-ally speaking, there is exces-sive partisan-ship, undue monetary influ-ence on politi-cians, superficial drama cloud-ing the real issues and so on. These sorts of issues make the job of hold-ing a political office confusing. You want to help people by passing legislation you believe in, but in order to do that you have to stay in office, and in order to stay in office you need to run a campaign, and in order to run an effective campaign you need money, and in order to have enough money to match your op-ponent, you have to get it from sources that are unrepresentative of your constituents. The politician becomes trapped in a survival con-test. I believe that most politicians, like everyone else, do start with good intentions, but the system re-directs their attention to issues that are harmful or don’t matter.

That being said: We can’t cut our politicians any slack. We can fix or minimize the problems that exist within the political system.

If everybody actively participated in politics, government might just focus more on society as a whole instead of special interest groups and corporations. Actively partici-pating doesn’t mean you have to stand on a street corner and shout out your ideas to a crowd. Actively participating can be as simple as staying informed on issues, ac-tively evaluating new ideas and re-evaluating your own, and vot-ing. Through these actions, we can change the system. We can create a system that makes it so that we elect more moderate politicians. We can remove the financial temp-tations from politicians. We can base our votes on the issues-at-hand instead of gossip magazines. We can all vote like engineers.

-Christopher Lam

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risk MaNaGeMeNt traiNiNGHow it Affects Your Organizat ion

If you have any large student engineering organization listed on your resume, you should be

aware that many of these orga-nizations have begun to enforce official membership requirements much more rigorously. In 2007, the Texas House of Representa-tives and the Texas State Senate both unanimously passed a new risk management bill (H.B. No. 2639 and S.B. No. 1138), which the University of Texas at Austin and other institutes of higher edu-cation in Texas must enforce.

The law states:1. Possession and use of alcoholic beverages and illegal drugs2. Hazing 3. Sexual abuse and harassment4. Fire and other safety issues, including the possession and use of a firearm or other weapon or of an explosive device5. Travel to a destination outside the area in which the institution is located; 6. Behavior at parties and other events held by a student organiza-tion; and 7. Adoption by a student organiza-tion of a risk management policy

--(H.B. No. 2639 and S.B. No. 1138)

There is also a small, not-com-pletely-related section (Section 2) concerning the amount of insur-ance a fraternity’s chartering or national organization has. This is probably because the bill as originally introduced in the House refers specifically to “fraternities

and other student organizations” in its introduction as opposed to just “student organizations” like the final version does. This is not to say, of course, that all fraternities experience the issues mentioned, or that other student organizations are immune to these issues.

You may be wondering, though, why large student engineering organizations have begun to more rigorously enforce their member-ship requirements -- or why stu-dent engineering organizations should be affected by this bill at all. After all, engi-neering or-ganizations aren’t what you usually think of when you hear about drugs, alco-hol, haz-ing, sexual abuse, firearms, or the other items mentioned above. The risk manage-ment bill, however, doesn’t make any distinctions between fraternal and academic student organizations, but rather allows the university to decide which organi-zations or types of organizations “could particularly benefit from

risk management guidance.” The University of Texas at Austin, un-fortunately, has decided that many student engineering organizations should be subject to these new risk management requirements -- one of which is a risk management presentation for all official mem-bers.

Now, normally when presenta-tions such as these are required of student organizations, they would quickly breeze through the presen-tation (or part of the presentation -- or just talk about how they were

sup-posed to give the presen-tation) at one of their meet-ings, a few people would show up to the meeting, fewer still would actually pay at-tention, and af-terwards

everyone would forget about the whole thing and life would go on as usual. To prevent this from hap-pening, though, the risk manage-ment bill requires that all official members see the presentation. The

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university requires, in addition, that attendees sign before the pre-sentation that they are present to see the presentation, and then sign afterwards that they have seen the presentation. The attendance list will then be checked with the official member list of the organization to ensure that each and every official mem-ber has seen the presenta-tion. Also, the university has specified exactly what must be in the presentation and has even provided a reference presentation: an extremely long, drawn-out series of slides with fairly obvious information about drugs, alcohol, hazing, life safety issues, etc. and a few slides on more-university-specific topics.

The attendance list will then be checked with the official member list of the organization to ensure that each and every official mem-ber has seen the presentation. Also, the university has specified exactly what must be in the pre-sentation and has even provided a reference presentation: an ex-tremely long, drawn-out series of slides with fairly obvious informa-tion about drugs, alcohol, hazing, life safety issues, etc. and a few slides on more-university-specific topics.

For fraternities -- one of the main groups originally targeted by the bill -- the presentation is probably not too big of an issue. Similarly, smaller engineering organizations shouldn’t have too hard of a time with the presentation, even though

it is definitely more than just a minor annoyance. For larger stu-dent engineering, though, the only way to ensure that each and every official member has seen the pre-

sentation is to rigorously enforce official membership requirements.

The consequences for not com-pleting the various risk manage-ment policies -- and there are many more requirements besides the presentation -- include regis-tration bars for the officers of an organization, freezing of Student Organization Bank accounts, pro-bation, or even disbandment.

Now, although official member-ship requirements may be tight-ened, most large engineering organizations will still have their events open to non-members. The IEEE Student Branch, for ex-ample, requires membership with the international IEEE organiza-tion (with all current dues paid) to be considered an official member of the local branch. All general meetings, though, and most other events are still open to non-mem-bers. Elections, of course, require official membership, as do some competitions and giveaways for

free prizes. Also, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, if you have “The IEEE Student Branch at the University of Texas at Austin” or any other organization listed on

your resume, you must be an official member.

If you are unhappy with the risk management requirements, please be

aware that officers of organizations are affected as much as members by the new requirements -- if not more so (as mentioned previously, there are many other risk man-agement policies which must be implemented -- most do not affect members directly) -- and are try-ing to make the process as easy as possible for members. The IEEE Student Branch and many other student engineering organizations are still trying to convince the uni-versity to revise its list of affected organizations or to at least make it easier for large engineering orga-nizations to enforce the new risk management policies.

--Jeff WangSEC Representative for the IEEE Student Branch at the University

of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin, unfortu-nately, has decided that many student engineer-ing organizations should be subject to these new risk management requirements -- one of which is a risk management presentation for all official members.

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societY NeWsBME UAB

The Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Advisory Board is a platform for BME undergradu-ate students to explore the de-partment’s current approaches to research, academics, and relation-ships with industry and other in-stitutions, to develop well thought out recommendations for improve-ment in those areas, and work with the department to implement those recommendations.

The BME UAB recently held The Bioscience and Biotechnology Symposium (BABS) in collabo-ration with the Natural Science Council, Graduate Students Coun-cil, and the Engineering Career Assistance Center. The sympo-sium was a success, consisting of a speaker panel, student research poster presentations followed by a career fair with many representa-tives in the bioscience and bio-technology industries.

Currently, the BME UAB is host-ing The Ultimate Robotic Arm Design Challenge. The challenge will be to design a robotic arm that can perform a designated task. Teams will use robotic kits but are required to make basic modifica-tions such that the robotic arm is able to perform the predefined task while at the same time meeting other criteria like minimal power consumption or adaptation to some adverse environment and so on. Teams consist of four to five mem-bers and the competition is open to any engineering student. Registra-

tion is currently open from now until March 1st. The competition begins on March 5th and teams will have until the last day of class to complete the challenge when they will have their final presenta-tion.

There will be two components to the final demonstration. First, teams will directly compete against each other in performing a task based on speed and accuracy. In the second component, teams are asked to demonstrate some other unique task their modified robotic arm has been designed or programmed to perform (e.g type a word, play the keyboard etc). This latter portion will be in form of a 5 -10minute presentation. The winning design(s) will be awarded with a cash prize (to be deter-mined). 1st, 2nd and 3rd place will be given certificates.

If you have any interest in design-ing a robotic arm, no matter what your major is, don’t hesitate to find some friends and sign up! Register at http://web.engr.utexas.edu/uab/designsignup.html.

-Kelsey HillBME UAB SEC Representative

BMEp

Beta Mu Epsilon(BMEp), the Biomedical Engineering honor society, is an organization whose shallow roots run only as deep as the budding undergraduate BME program here at the University of Texas. Despite our relative lack of history, BMEp has steadily grown

since its inception and proudly boasts induction classes of 15-20 students per semester. Our organi-zation is grounded on three prin-ciple tenets: service to our depart-ment, service to our community, and professional fellowship among our members. Each semester, our events are carefully planned with these objectives in mind.

As a service organization, our members are involved in a mul-titude of service events. This semester, we will be featuring a large construction project at the Texas School of the Blind and Visually Impaired. This project, in which we will be constructing a large wooden playhouse, will be a joint effort by our members and employees of Zimmer Orthope-dics, the world leader in artificial knee and hip replacements. This event serves the community and also provides our members with a unique opportunity to meet po-tential employers in an informal setting. Similarly, the industry representatives will be able to get to know rising biomedical engi-neers without the stiffness of suits and resumes hanging over the conversation.

Beta Mu Epsilon is the only honor society specific to biomedical engineering. Because of this, our organization is blessed with some of the most elite students BME has to offer. This provides us with a unique opportunity to give back to the department in the form of peer advising- providing advice regarding career planning and

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class selection to the underclass-men. In the near future, we hope to extend our service to the depart-ment by establishing a mentorship program with the intent of helping freshmen biomedical engineering students transition from life as a high school student to life as an engineering student. We real-ize that such an undertaking will require manpower. We understand that while we are still a relatively small organization, we do not have to operate like one. As long as the field of biomedical engineering continues to grow, our department will grow and Beta Mu Epsilon will be there to serve the depart-ment and its students.

-Kevin LinBMEp Service Chair

SHPE

SHPE started off the Spring se-mester strong! We held our 2nd Fajita Taco Fundraiser of the year to raise money for the victims of the Haiti disaster. Despite the rainy, cold weather the fundraiser was a success and all the proceeds were donated to the Red Cross to help the aid effort. SHPE also had their first volunteer-ing event of the semester with Feria para Apren-der, which targets students to pursue math and science degrees.

The Manitas/Manitos mentorship program is gearing up for their an-nual Kayaking Social where Bigs and Lils are able to take a load off studying and have fun while get-ting to know their mentor or men-tee better. At the upcoming Annual Lonestar Showdown, between the UT and A&M SHPE chapters, the UT chapter is planning to defend their basketball championship title. SHPE welcomed back their members with their General Meet-ing which brought back familiar faces and many new ones. SHPE is looking forward to another great semester!

-Catherine Gonzales Student Chapter Co-Journalist

TBP

It’s that time of year again: the snow is melting and the grass is sprouting. Graduation is ap-proaching, and many of our seniors are moving on to greener pastures. All these signs point to the approach of one of our peren-nial favorite events, the Engineer-ing Talent Show! That’s right, thanks to popular demand, Tau Beta Pi will be hosting this spec-

tacular conver-gence of the visual and per-forming arts, mu-sic, danc-ing and signing galore!This

year’s talent show will be held in the same location as last year’s, the Texas Union Theater, on Fri-day April 16th at 4 pm. Since part of the voting will be determined by the audience, it is imperative that you come out and show your support for your friends. The 3rd Annual TBP Engineering Talent Show will be bigger and better than before. In addition to the regular 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes of $350, $250, and $150, we will be giving out door prizes at the end of the event, before the final voting is announced. Possi-ble door prizes include iPods, gift cards, and other awesome goodies, so make sure to mark it on your calendar!

If you are interested in display-ing some of your awesome tal-ents (last year’s event included yo-yo, bands, singing, skits, and piano playing), be sure to contact TBP’s special events coordinator by email at rnseidel@gmail.com or stop by the TBP office in ETC 2.106 for sign-up information. Keep an eye out for flyers and emails with updates and clarifica-tions about event details. Sign-ups will closed before the end of March, so if you want to partici-pate make sure to get your applica-tion submitted soon. See you all on April 16th!

-Robert SeidelSpecial Events Coordinator/

SEC RepresentativeTau Beta Pi

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Dear Alec,

I’m having a lot of problems this year in class. I’m a second year Mechanical Engineer and I’m keeping up just fine in most of my classes... But between all of my AP test credits and Credit by Examination hours, I’m a good deal ahead of a lot of people in my class. Because of this I really don’t know anyone in several of my more difficult classes and have a really hard time getting into study groups, sharing notes, comparing work, and all the

other tricks I’ve used to keep up in my other classes. What can I do to change this?

-T.J. Henderson

Dear T.J.,

Modern scientists are now closer than ever to unlocking the secret to time travel. It should be clear that now is the perfect time for you to apply yourself to perfect-ing the science behind time travel, allowing you to attend class with your classmates a year in the future. A few general tips on the subject: Make sure you carefully

check the calibration of your flux capacitor, as otherwise you risk trapping the entire engineering quarter in time stasis. 88mph is the optimal speed for initiating the flux dispersal phenomenon, anything slower would simply trigger a nuclear meltdown in your fusion reactor and traveling any faster would vaporize most of downtown Austin in your wake. In return for this undoubtedly life changing advice, I expect you to use your pioneering technology for the good of mankind. If Hitler loses the Second World War and the Zombie Apocalypse of 1978

Dear aLecYes, I’m real

Dear Texas engineers,Surprise! You didn’t know that I know how to use a computer, did ya? Remember, as your patron saint, I was there with you when you haunt-ed the engineering halls the night before your test. Yes, I was there when you and your study group took a break and read Kanye West meme, watched keyboard cat on youtube.com, giggled at the “Overheard at Texas” facebook group, facebook-stalked your friends.... wait a min-ute, you did not get a lot of studying done that night!Yes, I know all about you, your hab-its, and your concerns. So when An and Jose approached me, asking me to write an advice column for VEC-TOR, I decided to take this chance to show you what a caring saint I am. You can submit your questions to:DEARALEC@GMAIL.COM. Ask away!.-ALEC

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never happens, we’ll know you’ve succeeded!

Dear Alec,

I saw an article a while back in the Daily Texan where this biolo-gist claimed that albino squirrels are not actually albino! Does this mean the legend of the Albino Squirrel isn’t real?

-An Engineering Freshman

Dear An Engineering Freshman,

I don’t remember this article, but let me assure you that the squirrels on this campus are albino, no mat-ter what a biologist says. I don’t care if they specialize in albino squirrels and have been study-ing them for 50 years; as a patron saint that has existed since ancient times, I can assure you that those squirrels are indeed albino.

I am pleased to see that you know the legend of the albino squirrel, one of the lesser known ones of UT. Supposedly, when you see the Squirrel the day before your test, you are supposed to get an A. Now, I’ve seen many students spend their time looking for the albino squirrel instead of studying, and I must say this is a waste of time, as the albino squirrel must come to you, not the other way around.

What else is not known is that there are some certain conditions that must be met before you are

guaranteed that A. Below is a list of what you must do should you encounter the squirrel on the day before the test.

1) The squirrel must be encoun-tered the day BEFORE the test, not sooner, and not the day of. This is essential if you want the luck to begin.2) You must feed the squirrel. The Albino Squirrels are actually bolder then the average squirrel, and would love to eat a nut or too. Different sources say that peanuts work best, but I have seen them work with any sort of nut3) You must ask the squirrel for an A on the test the next day, letting it know when and where you are tak-ing said test, and on what subject it is.4) You must then back away slowly from the squirrel with your head bowed to show respect to the creature.5) Make sure that you have actu-ally studied for your test and know the material on it and are capable of doing the problems.If you do all that, you are sure to get an A. If you don’t, the squirrel comes with a luck back guarantee if you are not completely satisfied.

If you are interested in the Albino Squirrel, there is apparently an organization known as the Albino Squirrel Perseveration Society that makes sure that these furry guys are kept safe. Feel free to Google them to learn more.

Dear Alec,

My girlfriend in the business school complains all the time about how much work she has and how hard business is. Now, obviously business isn’t nearly as hard as the one true major (i.e, engineering), and her com-plaints are really starting to an-noy me. I really love her, though, but what should I do?

-Lovestruck

Dear Lovestruck,

I know that you know that SHE knows that business is nowhere near as intimidating as engineer-ing. If you seriously want to know how to handle such a delicate situation I would not base your affection for her on her intellectual affiliation. After all, the business school is not really known for its ability to outsmart us – a truth best reinforced by Rivals Week every year.

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