ENGINEERING FALL 2013
A L i f e t i m e o f E x p l o r a t i o n B r i n g s D e a n I w a n A l e x a n d e r t o U A B
Winds of Change
ENGINEERING AGENDA
DEAR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS,
Welcome to the new issue of UAB Engineering. I am hon-
ored to serve as the school’s sixth dean, and I am grateful to
the leaders who preceded me for leaving a strong foundation
upon which to build a collaborative platform that will strength-
en our research and education programs, increase their value
and impact, and evolve them to deliver the necessary skills to
meet the emerging challenges facing our global society.
Our undergraduate programs, offering degrees in five disci-
plines, merge theory and practice, emphasize rigor, and pro-
vide experiential learning opportunities that enable our gradu-
ates to excel professionally. Our graduate programs immerse
students in collaborative settings with diverse research
topics ranging from medicine to manufacturing. With online
graduate programs that are already nationally recognized, our
faculty, together with UAB’s new Division of eLearning and
Professional Studies, will work to evolve our traditional and
online programs to make us a destination school for engineer-
ing education.
Over the next few months, our faculty will be merging and refining departmental plans to produce the
school’s strategic plan for UAB21. This plan will reflect our mission to provide research and educational pro-
grams in engineering that are internationally recognized for their impact on society and that will inspire creativity,
ingenuity, and productivity.
Finally, achieving our mission could not be possible without the continued support of the community that
has generously committed time and resources to helping our school to become what it is today. Whether you
are a graduate, an industry partner, or a friend, I look forward to sharing my vision on how we plan to create an
environment that epitomizes “knowledge that will change your world.” These are exciting times to be a part of
UAB —and I want to invite each of you to join me in helping to define the future of the School of Engineering.
Best Wishes,
J. Iwan Alexander, Ph.D.Dean, UAB School of Engineering
1 UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • Fall 2013
UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • Fall 2013 2
F e a t u r e s
Dynamics of Change: Familiar Faces Promoted to Department Chairs ............... 8
Crash Science: Faculty and Alumni Put the Pieces Back Together ............ 9
Meetings of the Minds: Conferences Attract Engineering Leaders ...................... 10
D e p a r t m e n t s
Student Spotlight ............................................................. 11 Alumni Profiles ................................................................ 13 Development ................................................................... 17
CONTENTS
UAB Engineering is published by the UAB School of Engineering in collaboration with the Office of Public Relations and Marketing.
Executive Editors: Matt Windsor, Victoria Allen • Managing Editor: Grant Martin • Writers: Grant Martin, Cindy Riley, Kevin Storr, Kelli Taylor • Executive Art Director: Ron Gamble • Art Director: Jessica Huffstutler • Photography: Steve Wood • UAB Engineering Editorial Board: Iwan Alexander, Ph.D., Dean; Zoe Dwyer, Ph.D., Assistant Dean; Victoria Allen, Director of Development and External Relations; Leann Neal, Alumni Relations Officer; Tina Bryant, Administrative Support
PAGE 3
PAGE 11
PAGE 9
PAGE 17
A Lifetime of Exploration Brings Dean Iwan Alexander to UAB Winds of Change
IWAN ALEXANDER, PH.D., has
spent his life embracing a series of
scientific passions; geology, ocean-
ography, outer space, and the search
for renewable energy—an unusual
trajectory that culminated earlier
this year in Alexander being named
the sixth dean of the UAB School of
Engineering. Alexander took the helm
of the school in August, replacing
Linda C. Lucas, Ph.D., who stepped
down in 2011 to take over as UAB
provost.
“One of the things I’ve enjoyed
doing in my career is either
starting something from scratch
or taking something in a bold new
direction,” says Alexander. “When
I first visited UAB, I got the sense
that the faculty wanted to do some-
thing dramatic, to change things for
the better. I could see that desire,
and I see the necessary ingredients
in infrastructure, so this is an excit-
ing time to be part of the School of
Engineering.”
Alexander comes to UAB
from Case Western Reserve
University, where he was the Cady
Staley Professor and Chair of the
Department of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering. In 2007, he
led the creation of the Great Lakes
Energy Institute (GLEI) at Case
Western, which works to provide
low-cost, reliable, and sustainable
energy solutions.
Prior to that, Alexander earned
degrees in geology and ocean-
ography, and he even spent a
few months exploring the Pacific
Northwest in search of barite before
turning his gaze skyward, exploring
the effects of a space environment
on fluid motion as a researcher
at the University of Alabama in
Huntsville (UAH).
“I’ve been very lucky to find
opportunities that engaged my inter-
ests,” says Alexander. “It may not
seem like it when you lay it all out,
but my career has followed a logical
progression. Each step has led to
the next, and I’ve been very fortu-
nate to be associated with leader-
ship that allowed me to pursue each
of my goals.”
3 UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013
A Lifetime of Exploration Brings Dean Iwan Alexander to UAB
The rocks were the first to catch his eye.
Then came the waves. Finally, the stars.
“WHEN I FIRST VISITED UAB, I GOT THE SENSE THAT THE FACULTY WANTED
TO DO SOMETHING DRAMATIC, TO CHANGE THINGS FOR
THE BETTER.”
Winds of Change
UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • Fall 2013 4
From Rocks to Stars
As a young boy, Alexander was
surrounded by the striking rock for-
mations that dominate the landscape
of his family home in Cardiff, Wales.
“My grandfather, David Morris,
had a passion for geography, and
he helped instill in me an interest
in landforms—especially those in
Wales left by the glaciation in the last
ice age,” Alexander says. “My father
introduced me to topographic maps
and encouraged me as early as eight
years old to explore the countryside
around our home. That was how I
developed an interest in rocks and
geology.”
While the waves of the ocean and
the rocks of the shore may seem
like opposing forces, Alexander’s
scientific curiosity found room for
both. “At that time, Cardiff was still
a major port,” he explains. “My
father’s family came from a long line
of seafarers. I started sailing when I
was 11. By the time I was in my late
teens I had become a keen surfer, so
it was a natural progression for me
to want to study both geology and
oceanography.”
continued on next page
DEGREES:
• Ph.D. in geology, Washington State
University, 1981
• B.Sc. in oceanography and geology,
University of Wales, Swansea, 1977
HONORS:
• Chair of the American Society
of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Water Technology Committee
• American Institute for Aeronautics
and Astronautics (AIAA) associate
fellow
• Director of the National Center
for Space Exploration Research
(2005-2010)
• Awarded NASA’s Exceptional Public
Service Medal (2008)
FAMILY
Alexander’s father, Jim Alexander
Jr., obtained a degree in chemistry
at University College London. His
mother, Valerie, earned a degree
in home economics from the
University of Swansea. His par-
ents and a sister, Jane, reside in
Wales. Alexander’s wife, Helga, a
graduate of UAH, is a physicist with
expertise in metrology. They have
two children, one of whom lives in
Atlanta with Alexander’s grandson
and soon-to-arrive granddaughter.
THE ALEXANDER FILE
5 UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013
As Alexander matriculated through
undergraduate and graduate school,
he says those interests led to a “con-
vergence through the application of
fluid mechanics to solving rock defor-
mation problems at very low strain
rates. Later in my career, my early
interest in rocks and minerals helped
me develop expertise in industrial
solidification, crystallization, and
materials preparation processes.”
Alabama Introduction
It was while working for the
Florida Institute of Technology in
the mid 1980s that Alexander first
became interested in outer space—
but he would have to go through
Alabama to get there. “At some
point in the mid 1980s, I watched
the movie Hail Columbia!, and it
piqued my interest,” he says. That
movie, about the maiden voyage of
the first space shuttle, was the cata-
lyst that began to turn Alexander’s
focus away from his earthbound
interests. “I mentioned to my men-
tor, Bob Sekerka, that I’d seen in
the movie that they were growing
crystals in space, and I expressed
some interest in that. Before I knew
it, I was interviewing to be a visiting
scientist at Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville. I had some
experience modeling various types
of materials preparation processes—
mainly compound semiconductors—
so I became interested in the effects
of the space environment on fluid
motion.”
Alexander joined the faculty at
UAH as an associate professor of
physics and director of the Center for
Microgravity and Materials Research.
He would remain in Huntsville for
more than 10 years, conducting
NASA-funded research on residual
acceleration effects on spacecraft
experiments—work that first put him
in touch with researchers from the
UAB School of Engineering.
In 1998, Alexander left Huntsville
to become the chief scientist for
fluids at the National Center for
Microgravity Research at Case
Western Reserve, where he studied
the dynamics and stability of liquid
interfaces. In 2005, he became the
director of the center, now called
the National Center for Space
Exploration Research.
A Case for Energy
At Case Western Reserve,
Alexander found new areas that
were ripe for exploration. In 2006,
he turned his energies to a new
focus—energy. “Along with a bunch
of other faculty, I crafted a white
paper that became the foundation
for the Great Lakes Energy Institute,
which we began in 2007.”
“WHEN I BEGAN LOOKING AT THIS
JOB, THE COMMON THREADS BETWEEN
THIS AND MY PREVIOUS POSITIONS
ARE THE ONES CONCERNED WITH SUSTAINABILITY.”
UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013 6
The GLEI grew from initial fund-
ing of around $4 million per year to
approximately $12 million per year in
its first four years. It now includes 75
faculty members from three schools
and colleges. “I feel privileged to
have been involved in the beginning
of the GLEI and to see it grow,”
Alexander says. “That was what got
me looking for other opportunities—
another place where I could find
untapped potential and help grow
it beyond anyone’s expectations. I
believe I have found just such a place
at UAB.”
Small School, Big Future
While the School of Engineering
has a strong record of success,
Alexander says he hopes to open
avenues for growth through new
collaborations within the university
and with industry, while simultane-
ously shaping a new face for engi-
neering education. “We have the
groundwork in place for the School
of Engineering to grow its research
efforts to unprecedented heights,”
he says. “UAB has emerging areas
of opportunity across schools and
departments where we can provide
a foundation for a sustainable and
relevant approach that meets the
challenges our students will face in
the future.”
That future, Alexander says, is
one that will likely involve issues of
sustainability. “When I began look-
ing at this job, the common threads
between this and my previous posi-
tions are the ones concerned with
sustainability,” he says. “To me, that
means ensuring that our activities
today do not adversely impact the
activities that might go on tomorrow.
That poses some fantastic chal-
lenges to manufacturers of products
and to people who build infrastruc-
ture. Engineers are the ones who
are going to have to tackle those
problems at the very outset. The
challenges can be met, but they’ll
require new ideas, new products,
new industries.”
Alexander says the School of
Engineering already has a good start
in that direction. High-level research
with industry and medical partners is
already reshaping thought processes
in many areas concerning sustain-
ability and consumer safety. As those
efforts continue to grow, Alexander
says he hopes the impact will extend
to undergraduate education.
“When I talk about a putting a
new face on engineering education,
I’m talking about an academic side
that looks very hard at the practical
side of where engineering careers
“AS FORMER DEAN, I AM PROUD TO SAY
THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING IS RAPIDLY
DEVELOPING NEW TECHNOLOGIES, AND
ALEXANDER HAS THE KNOWLEDGE AND THE
INVOLVEMENT TO ACHIEVE EVEN MORE WITH THE
SCHOOL’S INNOVATIVE DISCOVERIES. HIS DIVERSE
BACKGROUND WILL MAKE A BROAD, POSITIVE
IMPACT ON THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENGINEERING
FACULTY AND STUDENTS FOR YEARS TO COME.”
– UAB Provost Linda C. Lucas, Ph.D.
continued on next page
7 UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013
are going,” he says. “There should
be a concerted effort to make things
relevant. Of course, it still doesn’t
change the fundamentals. Force is
still equal to mass times acceleration,
and that still must be taught well and
understood well. But I think showing
students how they have opportuni-
ties to use that knowledge—but
also to think beyond that and to have
experiences with day-to-day prac-
tices in industry—is really important.
I think you’ll see more businesses
demanding that in the future and
more students demanding that they
get that kind of exposure.”
Although much of his career has been concerned
with research based on land or among the stars,
Alexander has never lost his love for the water. A sailor
since he was a young boy, Alexander says he is part of
a long family tradition.
“My great-great grandfather was a ship’s carpenter,”
Alexander says, “and my father’s mother was born in
Norway and settled in Cardiff, where her father opened
a ship’s chandler’s shop in the early 1800s. My great
grandfather, Jim Alexander, was a ship’s captain who
served in the merchant marine and Royal Navy.
“I learned to sail when I was 11, and a few years later,
I was sailing small boats off the coast year-round—
which was exciting, as capsizes were frequent and very
cold.”
Sailing is more than just a youthful passion for Alexander, who says he spent a great deal of
time sailing Lake Erie in his 30-foot sailboat during his time at Case Western Reserve—including
point-to-point and double-handed races. “My wife, Helga, and I also like to sail away for a week-
end trip, and once a year we’ll sail on a four- or five-day vacation,” he says. “We’ve kayaked and
surfed various places on the Atlantic and Pacific as well.”
GREAT LAKES TO THE GULF
UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013 8
During his 15 years on the faculty of the School of
Engineering, Murat Tanik, Ph.D., has seen a lot of things
change for the better—in the university as well as in the
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Moving forward, it will be Tanik’s vision that will help
guide future change in the department as electrical engi-
neering continues its development as an integral part of
interdisciplinary science at UAB.
Tanik, who joined the engineering faculty in 1998, was
recently named chair of the Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering. With vast experience in multi-
disciplinary studies and rapid-development prototype
research, he says he hopes to use that experience to
position the department to address industry demands.
“I will build on the existing strength of the depart-
ment’s excellent undergraduate record in power systems
engineering and extraordinary new medical-oriented
research faculty,” Tanik
says. “I also plan to advance
a collaborative atmosphere with other departments and
centers across UAB and enterprises in the community.”
A native of Izmir, Turkey, Tanik is co-founder of the
Society for Design and Process Science, the interdisci-
plinary and international society that promotes innovation
and change as a solution for civilization’s problems. He
says he wants to use his international affiliations to lever-
age exposure and new endeavors for the department.
“Murat’s experience, knowledge, and expertise make
him an outstanding choice to lead the Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering,” says Iwan
Alexander, Ph.D., dean of the School of Engineering.
“His leadership will enable the department to build
strong collaborations within the university and with
external partners.”
The Department of Mechanical Engineering has built
quite a bit of momentum over the past decade, and few
people know that better than David Littlefield, Ph.D.
A longtime associate and eventual recruit of former
chair Bharat Soni, Ph.D., Littlefield was recently named
the new chair of the department where he has been on
faculty since 2005. “I am honored to have been selected
to lead the faculty of this department,” Littlefield says.
“It’s a big responsibility, and I want to live up to those
expectations. I look forward to building on the legacy
that’s been started here.”
Littlefield, an expert in advanced computer weapons
research, is the on-site technical lead for computa-
tional structural mechanics at the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center
in Vicksburg, Mississippi, sponsored by the Department
of Defense. His primary interests include computational
solid mechanics and com-
putational magnetohydrody-
namics. Littlefield has written
or co-written more than 120
papers and technical reports
in these areas.
Before joining UAB,
Littlefield worked in Texas
with the Southwest Research Institute and the Institute
for Advanced Technology.
“David has been a vital part of this department through
its impressive growth in recent years,” says Iwan
Alexander, Ph.D., dean of the School of the Engineering.
“He understands and is committed to our vision.”
Littlefield is a member of several professional organi-
zations, including the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers, where he was named a fellow in 2002.
Dynamics of ChangeFamiliar Faces Promoted to Department Chairs
Electrical and Computer Engineering—Murat Tanik, Ph.D.
Mechanical Engineering—David Littlefield, Ph.D.
9 UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013
Crash ScienceSOE Faculty and Alumni Use Engineering Expertise to Put the Pieces Back Together
VEAR Inc., is located at UAB’s Innovation Depot.
Does the company have any official connection
to UAB?
There is a strong connection but not an official one.
We have a total of eight employees, and seven of us
have degrees from UAB or are current or former faculty
members. I received my master’s degree in mechanical
engineering from the School of Engineering in 2008, and
now I’m working on my Ph.D. in interdisciplinary engi-
neering, which is a good fit for what we do.
How did the company get started?
Retired UAB physicist Dr. Ed Robinson, who passed
away in 2012, founded Robinson and Associates, an
accident reconstruction company in the ’70s, when he
assisted Ford with the Pinto wrecks. In 2008, his com-
pany merged with Vista Engineering and created VEAR
(Vista Engineering Accident Reconstruction). The part-
ners in VEAR are retired UAB faculty Dr. Thomas Talbot,
Dr. Raymond Thompson and myself. Today, VEAR con-
centrates on vehicular accidents, and Vista Engineering
concentrates on metallurgy and mechanical failures and
manufacturing consulting.
What is a typical procedure for recreating an
accident?
By nature, there aren’t a lot of “typical” accidents, so
in forensic engineering, we gather all the evidence we
can and we apply the laws of physics to determine the
causes. There are typically three parts: Gather the avail-
able data, analyze that data, and reach an opinion con-
cerning the events. We go out and gather the physical
evidence, photograph the scene, retrieve the black boxes
from passenger cars and big trucks, and study witness
testimony about the events. Then we enter the informa-
tion into one or more crash simulation programs, which
To the vast majority of motorists, highway crashes are
anything but orderly. High-speed accidents typically produce
a few seconds of chaos—and then an aftermath that can
befuddle even the most experienced highway patrolmen.
But to a highly skilled team of engineers at VEAR Inc., there
is a definite order in the mayhem. VEAR manager and SOE
alumnus Gary Johnson recently answered questions about
how the company uses basic engineering and physics princi-
ples—along with a healthy dose of technology—to reconstruct
highway and industrial accidents down to the finest detail.
UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013 10
typically involves building a 3-D model of the roadway
and the two vehicles, and then we crash them into
each other according to the data collected and see how
they behave. We also do visibility studies that allow
us to evaluate how visibility changes, such as a car of
a certain height going over a hill, affect the operator’s
reaction to the events.
How much has technology changed since you
started?
When I ran computer simulations for Dr. Robinson in
the late 1990s, it took us 10 minutes to simulate a five-
second event. Back then, the 3-D simulation program
we like to use (HVE, which stands for Human Vehicle
Environment) used to come with its own specialized
computer due to its complexity relative to the abilities
of that generation of computer. Now we have high-end
laptops that run the HVE program. We scan the acci-
dent site and vehicles at the scene using lasers—we
just wave the laser scanner like we’re painting—and
the laptop acquires all the information it needs to cre-
ate a 3-D model of the vehicle. Technology allows us to
preserve evidence without destroying the cars.
The Board of Trustees recently named Jay Goldman, D.Sc., Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the UAB School of Engineering. Goldman joined UAB in 1984 as dean and professor and was appointed Distinguished Service Professor of Engineering and recognized as dean emeri-
tus in 2001. In 2004, he received the Medallion Award from the Institute of Industrial Engineers.
Hundreds of engineering leaders converged on UAB in the summer
and fall, as the School of Engineering played host to two high-level
conferences, drawing international participation.
In June, the Alabama Composites Conference returned to
Birmingham as it has every two years since 2006. This year’s event
brought 410 participants from across several disciplines, largely from
industry. There were also more than 40 exhibitors who provided
exhibits of a high technical quality, and three workshops over two
days focused on applications development for engineered composites
in transportation, defense, power and energy, corrosion prevention,
infrastructure, and emerging technologies.
Forty high school students also participated in the conference
thanks to support from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The Department of Energy (DOE) Graduate Automotive Technology
Education (GATE) program also supported parts of the conference.
Agile Ground Vehicle Symposium
In September, the school hosted another high-profile event, as some
of the world’s most prolific engineering researchers, profession-
als, and educators attended a symposium to explore emerging
technology, trends, and research in agile ground vehicle dynam-
ics, energy efficiency, and performance in severe environments.
The Agile Ground Vehicle Dynamics Energy Efficiency and
Performance in Severe Environments International Engineering
Symposium was hosted by the UAB School of Engineering and
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Barber Motorsports,
Southern Company, Birmingham Chapter of American Society
of Mechanical Engineers, and the International Society for
Terrain Vehicle Systems.
Meetings of the MindsConferences Attract Engineering Leaders
VEAR INC. TEAM
Gary M. Johnson, MSME, ACTAR,
EIT
Manager, accident reconstruction,
event data retrieval and preservation
Raymond G. Thompson, Ph.D., PE
FAWS, FASM
Engineering design, failure analysis
and manufacturing methods
Thomas F. Talbot, Ph.D., PE
Vehicular and industrial accident
reconstruction, engineering design,
manufacturing processes and failure
analysis
Preston Scarber Jr., Ph.D.
Accident reconstruction, simulation
Michael Loop, Ph.D.
Visual psychophysical
Analysis and Human Factors
Dale S. Feldman, Ph.D.
Injury biomechanics
Dustin Nolen BMtlE EIT
Accident reconstruction,
simulation, animation,
event data retrieval and
preservation
Cameron Robinson
Technician
UAB’s biomedical engineering
Capstone Design Course,
Mary Graham experienced
the playground like never
before. The wheelchair is
equipped with a joystick
and a kid-friendly paint job,
and it is at ground level so
that toddlers do not loom above
their peers. It also has an override
system so that parents can stop
the child’s movement at the flip of a
switch.
“It is such a great option for
children who may not be mobile,
instead of a clunky wheelchair,”
Sheppard says. “It makes it fun so
that they can explore, and that helps
them cognitively.”
For more than 15 years, and with
the assistance of a National Science
Foundation grant, engineering and
business seniors have partnered with
various community agencies includ-
ing United Cerebral Palsy, Children’s
of Alabama, and others to create
biomedical devices to aid people with
disabilities. Engineering students
work with their client to identify an
engineering need. Business students
develop a market analysis and busi-
ness model, and then create a proto-
type.
“It’s a chance to solve a real-
world engineering problem,” says
Alan Eberhardt, Ph.D., professor
11 UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013
n the MoveSOE Students Invent a Specialized Wheelchair to Help Youngsters Stay Active and Stay Safe
When Jennifer Sheppard
learned that UAB engineering
and business students created
a motorized wheelchair for 1- to
3-year-olds, she was eager to
let her daughter give it a try.
Mary Graham, 2, was born with sco-
liosis, hip dysplasia, and muscular
dystrophy. Sheppard’s dreams of her
daughter running and jumping were
replaced with plans for a life seated
in a clunky wheelchair.
After getting in a one-of-a-kind,
car-shaped wheelchair created as a
senior project by undergraduates in
SOE Graduation
The School of Engineering held
a reception last spring for the
graduating class of 2013, whose
members are now officially a
part of a growing network that now includes
more than 5,000 SOE graduates.
stu
de
nt
sp
otli
gh
t
and associate dean of the School of
Engineering. “The students spent
the past four years working in text-
books and computers. The Capstone
Design Course allows them to put
their knowledge to task.”
This past year, a group of under-
graduates—Ryan Densmore, Shelby
May, Dan McFalls, and Stephen
Mehi—constructed the wheelchair
for the Bell Center, an early interven-
tion program for infants and toddlers
with special needs. The center,
where Mary Graham is a client, need-
ed a mobility device to train young
children to use a powered wheel-
chair; it was using a borrowed one.
The students spent countless
hours in the
design lab
coming up with
a model that would
help the children, as well
as meet specific design codes and
regulatory standards. With a budget
of $1,500, the students had to be
inventive, scavenging parts from the
power system of an old wheelchair.
“The process of building it has
been the best part of my college
education,” says Densmore, a senior
from Morris, Alabama. “The entire
project was an opportunity to apply
all the knowledge I have accumu-
lated over my four years at UAB.”
Bell Center Physical Therapist Kate
Stribling says
the wheelchair
has many benefits.
“It is teaching children
that they can be independently
mobile, especially for those who have
never experienced that,” she says.
The students’ design is being
reviewed for its potential marketabil-
ity. If translation into a viable busi-
ness venture is feasible, the project
may be incorporated into a new
engineering graduate program.
“It is a great feeling to help some-
one, especially children,” Densmore
says. “I cannot think of a better
place for it.”
UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013 12
n the Move
School of Engineering students partici-
pated in the school’s first-ever Order of the
Engineer Ceremony last spring. The Order’s
purpose is to foster a spirit of pride and
responsibility in the engineering profes-
sion, to bridge the gap between training
and experience, and to present a visible
symbol identifying the engineer.
Order of the Engineer
IT HAS BEEN quite a year for
biomedical engineering graduate
Latisha Salaam, Ph.D.
Over the summer, Salaam
found out she was being awarded
the Lloyd N. Ferguson Young
Scientist Award from the National
Organization for the Professional
Advancement of Black Chemists and
Chemical Engineers.
“It was an honor to be nominated
for the award, but I had no idea
how much attention
it would get if I won,”
Salaam says. “I’ve had
quite a few people
from my network from across the
U.S. who have let me know they
heard about it.”
To those who knew Salaam at the
School of Engineering, the award
probably comes as no surprise. After
receiving her undergraduate degree
in chemical engineering at Tuskegee
University, Salaam earned her mas-
ter’s (2003) and Ph.D. (2005) from
UAB—but her studies here didn’t
follow the typical path.
“At that time, there was no one at
UAB who was working on drug deliv-
ery systems, and least not in the way
that a chemical/biomedical engineer
and materials scientist would think
of it,” Salaam says. “We did have
scientists studying the synthesis of
small molecules and protein crystal-
lography, but no one was looking at
materials as drug delivery vectors.”
Rather than find a mentor who
was already working in her area of
interest, Salaam had to seek out a
faculty member who was willing to
oversee her research. The result of
that research was three publications,
Philip Zicarelli was raised on con-
struction. The son of a general con-
tractor, Zicarelli spent his early days
observing the process of how vacant
lots are transformed into inhabitable
structures, and those firsthand looks
ultimately determined his career
choice.
“Ever since I was big enough to
climb into my dad’s truck, I would
spend summers working with him.,”
explains Zicarelli, who earned a
bachelor’s degree in electrical engi-
neering from UAB in 1984 and a
master’s degree in 1989. “As I grew
older, he’d encourage me to work
with the different subcontractors to
get a broad understanding of what
skills and activities are required for
each phase of a project. I realized
I enjoyed the time I spent with the
electrical contractors the most.”
Zicarelli, director for the Power
and Industrial Division of KBR in
Birmingham, is responsible for
resolving various issues, from
operational oversight of projects, risk
awareness, and management to legal
department liaison and corporate
licensing.
13 UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013
alumni profiles
Latisha Salaam
Philip Zicarelli
“The most difficult part of the job
is also the most satisfying,” he says.
“Most assignments involve working
between the various functional depart-
ments to improve project execution,
risk mitigation, and back-office func-
tions.”
Having worked for the same com-
pany for nearly 35 years, Zicarelli has
assumed a variety of positions over
the past three decades. “I started as
a co-op student for BE&K, which was
acquired by KBR in 2007,” he says.
“I’ve worked as an engineer in the
electrical department and process
staff department and as a project
manager, site manager, start-up coor-
dinator, and field engineer.”
Recently, Zicarelli led the devel-
opment team’s efforts to create a
proprietary computer system, which
utilizes close-range photogrammetry
and surveying to create 3-D com-
puter models of existing facilities.
This highly successful development
led to the creation of a wholly owned
subsidiary of BE&K, called As-Built
Data, where he served as president.
“Prior to the acquisition, I served as
the assistant to the chairman and
managed a project to implement our
enterprise resource planning system. I
later spent over a year living in Russia
to establish three engineering offices
across the country,” he says. “To say
Russia is different is a huge under-
statement. You really can’t appreciate
it until you’ve lived it.”
Zicarelli, who currently serves on
the advisory board for the UAB School
of Engineering and the ECE depart-
ment, is at his best when solving
problems. “I love to sift through all
the data, define the problem, break
the problem down into manageable
pieces, and pursue a solution in a
methodical manner. That’s what engi-
neering is all about.”
eight invited presentations, and sev-
eral graduate awards.
Today, Salaam works as a research-
er for Procter & Gamble, where she
has been awarded 12 patents, and
she has been recognized with P&G’s
Research and Development Innovation
Award and Outstanding Contribution
Award. And although her work isn’t
directly related to her doctoral work
at UAB, she says the experience she
gained at UAB has been invaluable.
“It’s related in the sense that all sci-
ence is related,” Salaam explains.
“The basis for a Ph.D. is learning how
to command scientific method, and
the fundamental science I used in my
Ph.D. work is the same that I will be
using in some of my current projects.”
Although Salaam works at the P&G
facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, she stays
connected with UAB through her role
on the Department of Biomedical
Engineering’s Advisory Board. She
also has a younger sister, Amanee
Salaam, who earned her master’s
from UAB and is currently working on
a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering. “I
am one of four sisters; one is a nurse,
and the other three of us are engi-
neers,” Latisha Salaam says. “People
find that interesting.”
UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013 14
15 UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013
alumni profiles
WHEN ABHAY PANDIT, PH.D., first
visited UAB in the late 1980s, there
is no way he could have known the
ways his chosen field would change
over the next 20 years. That hasn’t
stopped him from leading the way in
a field that has continuously evolved.
Today, Pandit is director of the
Network of Excellence for Functional
Biomaterials Science Foundation
Ireland at the National University of
Ireland, Galway. He moved to Galway
in 2002 after spending seven years
working in industry. Prior to that, he
received a master of science and a
Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at
UAB, as well as a master’s degree
from the UAB School of Public
Health.
“I was very interested in the bio-
materials program at UAB after my
first visit to Birmingham,” Pandit
recalls. “There was a critical mass of
researchers there who were clearly
making an impact. I might not have
been able to articulate that at the
time, but I knew it was a well-regard-
ed program, and the science they
were doing made sense to me.”
While the science has developed
far beyond what Pandit could have
anticipated as a 22-year-old engineer-
Abhay Pandit
OUTSIDE OF WORK, Katie Mowry,
Ph.D., says some friends may not
understand exactly what she does
for a living. With biomedical engi-
neers working in such a wide variety
of areas, it can be difficult for some
to fit the profession into an easily
defined category. “It’s such a ver-
satile field,” Mowry says. “There
are a lot of career paths available
to people with biomedical training.
I’ve known people who have earned
their degree and then gone to
medical school, dental
school, or veterinary
school, and others
who pursued a career
at an academic institution or worked
in the medical device industry.”
Mowry currently works as a
senior research engineer at Nutech
Medical in Birmingham, but it was
the diverse opportunities that first
caught her eye as an undergradu-
ate. “I always had a natural knack
for math and science,” says Mowry,
a native of Yazoo City, Mississippi.
“When other people dreaded math
homework, I always saw it as a puz-
zle—something to figure out. But I
didn’t really put it together until I vis-
ited Mississippi State with a friend
who was interested in engineering.
I tagged along with him and ended
up talking with the dean of engineer-
ing at length about my interests.
He thought I would enjoy biomedi-
cal engineering. I thought about it,
signed up for the classes, and ended
up loving it.”
Mowry would go on to earn both
a master’s and a doctoral degree
in biomedical engineering from
UAB. She credits the School of
Engineering faculty for keeping her
on track. “I was lucky enough to
have an amazing committee and
Katie Mowry
UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013 16
ing student, he says the end goals of
the research continue to inspire him,
just as they did back then. “I had a very
personal interest that helped steer me
toward this particular area of science,”
he says. “My grandfather developed
bed sores after he suffered a stroke,
and I felt very strongly about the ben-
efits of tissue engineering and tissue
regeneration. I felt that this was an area
that had tremendous potential.”
After receiving his master’s degree,
Pandit moved on to jobs in industry
in Massachusetts and Minnesota,
where he says he was able to practice
research from a variety of industrial
perspectives. “I worked at a fairly
large company, a midsized company,
and a start-up,” he says. “So I have
experience in the three main sectors
of the medical device industry. When
I moved to Ireland, I had a solid base
of industry and academic experience,
and I was moving to an area that
hadn’t been very active in this type
of research. In some ways, it was the
wisest thing I ever did.”
Pandit’s impact in Ireland was
immediate. He secured accreditation
for the first undergraduate biomedical
engineering program in Ireland and
would later establish a critical mass
of biomaterial expertise in Ireland
by obtaining funding for a National
Strategic Research Cluster at NUI
Galway. The research center is now
one of the major biomaterials research
centers in the European Union.
“The timing was perfect when
I moved to Ireland,” Pandit says.
“Galway is a medical device hub, and
since the Strategic Research Cluster
was created, we have generated
research contracts totalling more than
€25,000,000.”
That isn’t to say Pandit’s work has
been without challenges. “Our center
is funded through industry participa-
tion, and the government matches it,”
he says. “Right now, the economy
is in recovery mode, so the govern-
ment always wants to know how
our research is going to benefit the
taxpayer. It has forced us to actu-
ally make that connection between
our research and job creation. That
doesn’t necessarily fit with the way
a lot of people view research, but it’s
good to make that connection.
“I believe in the conflation of scien-
tific ideas,” he adds. “To do solid sci-
ence and to truly understand what’s
going on, I want to take things to clin-
ic, but I also want to be sure that we
understand the mechanisms involved
in the lab setting as thoroughly as
possible. The years I spent at UAB,
as well as the time I spent in industry,
taught me to take a broader view.”
dissertation advisor. Dr. Susan Bellis
was my graduate mentor, and played
a huge role in my training, for which I
am incredibly thankful,” she says.
In her role at Nutech, Mowry spends
a lot of time planning and executing
research projects focused on current
products or products in the pipeline.
She also works with different aspects
of the business, including marketing
and sales training materials and sci-
ence-based product-related questions.
“What I enjoy most is the research
aspect of my job—thinking about a
question, designing a set of experi-
ments to address it, performing them,
and assessing and writing up the
results, which is consequently also
the most difficult part of my work. I’m
passionate about what I do, because
it never gets boring. There’s always a
new avenue to investigate or a new
question to answer in the lab. I also
really enjoy the fact I’ve gotten the
chance to work on quite a few projects
since I started here.”
When she isn’t in the lab, Mowry
and her husband enjoy learning to
play golf and spending time at various
hiking trails throughout the city. “I’ve
been in Birmingham for five years and
would call it home now.”
development
CHARLES MACHEMEHL has a
long list of accomplishments behind
his name, but of all the legacies he
will leave behind, he says the ones
that mean most to him have other
people’s names attached.
Machemehl recently committed
funds toward an endowed scholar-
ship in honor of UAB Professor
Emeritus Edmund P. Segner Jr.,
Ph.D., on Segner’s 80th birthday.
“Ed and I have known each other for
years, and we worked closely togeth-
er when I was on his board and he
was chair of the Department of Civil
Engineering at UAB,” Machemehl
says. “It was a surprise to him, but I
wanted to do something that would
continue to honor him long after
we’re all gone.”
Segner joined UAB in 1990 as
chair of the Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering. During
his UAB tenure, he earned numerous
awards, including engineering edu-
cator of the year from the Alabama
Society of Professional Engineers
in 1995 and engineer of the year
from the Engineering Council of
Birmingham in 1998. Segner and
Machemehl are both members of the
Civil and Architectural Engineering
Academy of Distinguished Alumni at
the University of Texas at Austin.
The gift was not the first time
Machemehl has bestowed such an
honor on someone. He has endowed
scholarships at his alma mater, the
University of Texas, as well as at
Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Georgia,
Alabama, and Auburn, among others.
“It’s probably the best place you
can put your money for two rea-
sons,” Machemehl says. “It’s an
honor for the person who’s named
in the endowment, but it also helps
a young person go to school who
might not be able to otherwise.”
Machemehl and Segner’s friend-
ship began at the University of Texas,
where Machemehl played football
and was involved in ROTC. After
graduating in 1957, he spent three
years as a civil engineering officer in
the U.S. Air Force.
In 1968, Machemehl took a job
as a research engineer at Vulcan
Materials and rose to vice president
for marketing and business before
retiring in 1995. During those years
at Vulcan, he also served in the
Alabama Air National Guard, where
he rose to the rank of brigadier gen-
eral in 1987 before retiring in 1988
with 31 years of service.
Today, he continues to work as a
civil engineering consultant on sev-
eral ongoing projects.
17 UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013
Charles A. Machemehl’s Gift Honors Former Professor and Longtime Friend
A Lasting Legacy
Brigadier Gen. Charles A. Machemehl Jr.
Awards• Legion of Merit (1988)
• The CIT Group/Industrial Financing Rebuilding America Award (1992)
• The National Stone Association’s State Association Executive of the Year (1998)
• Metro Atlanta E-Week Engineer of the Year Industry Award (1999)
Professional Associations• National and Georgia Societies of Professional Engineers
• American Society of Civil Engineers
• Society of American Military Engineers
• National Crushed Stone Association
• UT Austin Engineering Foundation Advisory Council
THE SCHOOL of Engineering was
presented a gift of $100,000 from
KBR, a global engineering, construc-
tion, and services company, at a
reception in the UAB Alumni House
earlier this year. The donation, spread
out over the next five years, is for
the Advanced Safety Engineering
and Management (ASEM) Master of
Engineering program.
“This leader-
ship gift from
KBR is trans-
formational,”
says Martha
Bidez, Ph.D.
“This generous gift will help leverage
philanthropic opportunities with other
companies and will keep our program
on the cutting edge.”
SOE alumnus Phillip Zicarelli (pic-
tured above at left), director of KBR’s
Power and Industrial Division, was
instrumental in facillitating the gift.
(For more on Zicarelli, see the alumni
profile on page 13.)
The KBR funds will be used to
grow the international student enroll-
ment of the ASEM program, which
will in turn spread safety best practic-
es farther around the world. The pro-
gram currently has 103 national and
international students enrolled. In May
2012, the program graduated 16 stu-
dents in its inaugural class, including
one who lives and works in Nigeria.
The program was recently ranked
as one of the best online master’s
programs by U.S. News & World
Report and is the only master’s of
engineering degree with a safety
emphasis offered wholly online.
ASEM Scholarship Established in Memory of Leah McCraneyEarlier this year, friends of Leah McCraney and the Advanced Safety and
Engineering Management program established an endowed scholarship
in memory McCraney, the former ASEM program director.
McCraney, who was the inaugural program
manager for the master of engineering
graduate track in the School of Engineering,
showed an unwavering commitment to aca-
demic excellence throughout her career. She
died of natural causes at her home in May
2012 at age 51.
Martha Bidez, above, speaks at a
memorial for Leah McCraney. At left are
McCraney’s mother, Dorothy McCraney;
brother, Nathan McCraney; and friend
and donor Albertine Doibo.
KBR donates $100K to UAB School of Engineering ASEM program
UAB ENGINEERING MAGA ZINE • FALL 2013 18