Membership Committee did a

solid job of vetting potential nominees, and presenting

them to the Board for approval. In addition, fruitful

discussions about Fund Raising, Constitution, and By-

Laws have been conducted.

In summation, I am quite pleased with the energy and

increased involvement I am seeing from the AAME

membership. All you have to do is walk around the building to see the impact we are

having, and the response and comments I get from students

and faculty are all positive.

These are fun and exciting

times at the U of A and I encourage all members to stay

involved and be a part of the

department’s evolution.

- Bob Harrison

Fellow AAME Members,

One of the tasks of the

President of AAME is to monitor and report to the

membership on the condition of the

Organization. It is my pleasure to report that the status of the Arkansas

Academy of Mechanical Engineering is good, and

that we have returned to a more normal financial

position. This was due in a large part to the efforts of

Zane Boatright at end of his Presidential term. In

addition, the energy level appears to be growing and

the influence of AAME within the department is

expanding.

Since the last newsletter release, we have established the Student Liaison

Committee within AAME. This group is being

organized and led by Will Myers and Keith Bradshaw.

They will work closely with Rick Couvillion, offering

assistance and support activities for the students

and faculty. These activities could include items such as:

conducting mock interviews and critiquing of resumes;

judging competitions; guest speakers / lecturers; review

and consulting on designs

President’s Corner for creative projects. From

my discussions with several of the faculty members, I am

convinced that the work borne out of this committee

will be highly beneficial to the students as well as the

faculty. Lastly, I have been impressed with the initial work that Will and Keith

have done organizing this group, and I am convinced

that this committee could become one of our hallmark

efforts in support of our

mission at the U of A.

The development of the

CDIO rooms at the department continues to

progress. The layout of the Collaborative Space and the

Virtual Machine Shop are quite impressive, with

furnishings and equipment that make the rooms very flexible. In addition, the

renovation of the atrium with new furnishings is

progressing, and will be a welcome improvement for

students and faculty, as well as enhancing the first

impression visitors get when

they walk into the building.

Other areas of progress

include Mac Hogan and his team developing our social

media platforms and blogs (see back panel for more

information). Zane Boatright presented an initial draft of the AAME

procedures manual. The

F R O M T H E

E D I T O R :

We would appreciate

your input and

contribution to this

publication to make it

more interesting for

all, so please submit

articles/topics for

inclusion. Authors of

articles will be given

proper accolades.

We also would love

to publicize what our

members are doing

for the profession.

Please e-mail these to

rrasnic@ryan-

engineering.com.

The newsletter is

published quarterly.

- Russ Rasnic

A R K A N S A S A C A D E M Y

O F M E C H A N I C A L

E N G I N E E R I N G

A University of Arkansas Alumni Association

AAME Headlines Promoting & Supporting the Mechanical Engineer

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

President’s

Update

Board Member

Spotlight—

Frank Porbeck

January

Meeting Details

Faculty

Spotlight—

Paul Millett

Outstanding

Student

Banquet

Photos

P A G E 2

Board Member Spotlight Inducted into the Academy in 1995, Frank Porbeck

serves on the Board of Directors as the Chair of

the Finance Committee. We asked Frank to tell us

a little more about himself and here’s what he had

to say:

ME: What’s your current profession?

FP: I am the president and owner of Porbeck

Engineering Corporation. Founded in 1986, the

company has 14 employees, including my wife and 7

engineers, and provides mechanical and electrical

consulting engineering services to primarily

industrial and manufacturing companies.

ME: Tell us about your background.

FP: I was born in Little Rock, attended Little Rock

Catholic High School and the UA, receiving a BSME

in 1974. My parents owned Porbeck Printing

Company, a commercial printing business started

by my grandfather. My 2 brothers and I worked at

the family business from the time we were children

until we graduated from college. Upon graduation

from UA, I went to work for International Paper

Company in the Camden, AR. A paper mill is an

excellent place to further a ME education. Within

one plant I found a power plant with steam-turbine

generators, high-speed rotating equipment, large

electric and turbine drives, sophisticated controls,

a chemical plant, tank farms, steam and condensate

piping systems, pumps and piping everywhere,

material handling conveyors and drag chains, and

process water and waste treatment. Here I

developed my interests in industrial/process

engineering work which is now the main business

of Porbeck Engineering.

ME: How did you meet

your spouse?

FP: We were in high

school and after a back-to-

school dance, I noticed,

with my keen eye, a car full

of girls leaving the parking

lot. I convinced them to

tell me where they were

going and met them at the

pizza parlor. I picked Paula out as the best looking

of the group and

impressed her

enough that she

introduced me to

her friend.

Disappointed, I

persisted and

won her away

from Larry, who I

presume is still

pining. It still

excites me to say

that I married a teenager…41 years ago.

ME: If you could invite anyone in the world (living

or dead) to dinner, who would it be and why?

FP: Among my relatives, I would invite my

grandfather who, as a teenager, immigrated from

Czechoslovakia and years later, during the

depression, bought and operated a rice farm in

Hazen, Arkansas. He died when I was a young

teenager with no real understanding of his

achievements. Among public figures, there are a

few things I would like to say to Barack Obama.

ME: What do you find yourself doing that you said

you would “never” do?

FP: OMG, Texting…LOL.

ME: What’s been your biggest challenge as an

engineer?

FP: Money. This form of scorekeeping is

overrated. Whether it is client budgets,

employee’s salaries, running a small business, or

earning enough, the money tries and often manages

to take priority over more important things. Think

how much more productively our time would be

spent working on designs rather than counting the

dollars.

ME: What do you consider your greatest

accomplishment?

FP: At the risk of sounding too corny, my greatest

accomplishment is being a part of raising a

wonderful family. My two daughters and their

families live in Little Rock and we enjoy daily

contact with them. They are good girls who chose

good husbands and are raising great kids.

Fra

nk

Porb

eck

, B

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97

4

Frank and wife, Paula

Frank and Grandsons

its first year on campus, so we kind of tagged

along with UA Chi Alpha. They had made a

10 year commitment to start campus

ministries in Bolivia, and this was their 8th

year. Anyway Jordan, his best friend, and I

ended up going to the same city when our

group split up. The three of us got to know

each other and when we came back to the

states, Jordan and I just hit it off! We got

married May 4, 2013, and I can’t imagine life

being any other way!

ME: What’s one thing that would surprise

others about you?

MS: I’m kind of a geek at heart. I love all

things Dr. Who and Star Wars, and I love

learning about Greek mythology and history.

ME: What do you do in your spare time?

MS: We have a golden retriever, Zeus,

which we take to the dog park as often as

we can. I love to spend time with either of

our families. I think my favorite pastime

would be watching a show with my husband,

though!

- Melynda Hart, ME

years before marrying Jordan Smith in

May 2013. I’m the middle child of

three girls and I have two beautiful

nieces. I’ve never lived quite so far

from my family and I must say it’s

difficult not being able to go see them

for a day without driving six hours

roundtrip.

ME: What did you tell your parents

you were going to be when you grew

up?

MS: I actually wanted to be a

Forensic Scientist when I was in Jr

high, I always told my parents that’s

what I was going to be. I watched the

shows (NCIS, CSI, etc.) so that was

what sparked my interest. When I

started college, I realized it was not

for me, though!

ME: How did you meet your spouse?

MS: My favorite! I met my husband

Jordan in May 2012 on a mission trip

with Chi Alpha Campus Ministry to

Bolivia. The Chi Alpha at ASU was in

ME Welcomes New Staff P A G E 3 P R O M O T I N G & S U P P O R T I N G T H E M E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R

In September, ME welcomed a new staff member, Morgan Smith, to

our team. Morgan will primarily assist with ABET and AAME

related activities, but we’re certain we can find plenty to keep her

busy!

We asked Morgan to tell us a little about herself and here’s what we

discovered.

ME: Tell us about your background.

MS: I was born and raised in Searcy,

AR; I went to college at ASU

Jonesboro for about two and a half

The winter board meeting will be

held in Little Rock, Arkansas on Friday, January 17, 2014. The

meeting will begin between 1-1:30

PM; details regarding location and time will be distributed closer to the

meeting date.

Prior to the meeting, Bob has coordinated a 2-hour guided tour of

the Caterpillar facility in North Little Rock. This facility is the world

-wide provider of multiple Caterpillar models, including the

January Board Meeting Announcement 14M and 16M models. The tour

will begin at 10:00 AM, so please

arrive at the facility no later than 9:45 AM. After the tour, lunch will

provided by Corky’s BBQ. Please wear safety shoes or full, leather

shoes that cover the entire foot. Additionally, no handbags, brief

cases, cameras, jewelry, etc. are allowed on the production floor.

Dean English plans to join AAME for this wonderful opportunity and we

hope you will make plans to do the same!

Prior to the meeting, the agenda and other relevant information will be

distributed to the entire membership for review and

consideration. If you have any questions on these items, contact

one of your board members and they can address any items you may have. For those wishing to attend

via teleconference, please dial

888.330.1716 and enter access code

1429139.

If you need additional information

about the Caterpillar tour or board meeting, please contact Bob

Harrison at bharrison@ecci.com.

Morgan and husband, Jordan.

P A G E 4

Dr. Paul Millett joined the ME

faculty in the fall of 2013. As a

College of Engineering alum and

son of a Distinguished Professor in

Chemistry, Paul has been part of

the UA family for most of his life

and the department is thrilled to

welcome him home.

ME: Tell us about your

background.

PM: I was born and raised in

Fayetteville, AR, although most of

my adult life I’ve lived outside of

the state of Arkansas, primarily in

Tennessee and Idaho. In terms of

my professional background, my

undergraduate and graduate

degrees are in Civil Engineering,

however this is rather misleading

because my research and

professional activities during the

last decade fall under the category

of Materials Science.

ME: Before coming to the UA,

what were you doing?

PM: Before starting my academic

career at the UA, I was a research

scientist at the Idaho National

Laboratory (INL), located in Idaho

Falls, Idaho. The INL is a US Dept.

o f E n e r g y r e s e a r ch a n d

development lab with a particular

mission of advancing nuclear energy

and nuclear energy-related

technologies. My research there

focused on understanding how the

properties of materials and nuclear

fuels inside reactor cores change

over time due to the sustained high

temperatures and radiation fields.

Such environments can dramatically

change material properties in

complex ways.

ME: Where do you consider

“home?”

Northwest Arkansas has

always felt like home to me,

and my wife and I are delighted

to be back in this area close to

our families. That being said,

we do miss many things about

our lives in Idaho, mostly the

wonderful friends we made

there. There’s always a

transition when moving to a

new place, even if that place is

where you grew up!

ME: What did you tell your

parents you were going to be

when you grew up?

PM: It’s funny, but I don’t have

strong memories during my

childhood of aspiring to enter

one particular career or

another. I had a very happy

childhood, and I think I was in

no rush to think about the

future back then.

ME: How did you meet your

spouse?

My wife and I met in a bar on

Dickson Street in Fayetteville,

although we may edit that

story as our daughter gets old

enough to ask such questions!

ME: What’s been the biggest

challenge transitioning to an

academic environment ?

PM: The biggest challenge for

me has been learning how to

most effectively and efficiently

prepare myself for class

lectures. I’ve forced myself to

take a trial-and-error approach

in terms of how to present

material to students, which at

times was nerve-racking, but I

Faculty Spotlight think that

p r o c e s s

has really

helped me

understand

my overall

t e a c h i n g

strategy in

terms of

w h a t

s t u d e n t s

respond to

best. It’s clear to me that

improving teaching skills can be a

lifetime endeavor, which to me is

exciting.

ME: What do you do in your

spare time?

PM: My spare time has somehow

dramatically decreased in the last

year. I think it has something to

do with becoming a tenure-track

professor and the birth of our first

child. In those rare periods when

I do have spare time, I enjoy doing

physical activities including

running, swimming, woodworking,

golf, and camping. Also, spending

time with my extended family is

now really easy since we’ve moved

back to Arkansas.

ME: If you could invite anyone in

the world (living or dead) to

dinner, who would it be and why?

PM: I think I would like to invite

two people, both of my

grandfathers. They were both

great people, but I didn’t know

them when I was an adult (both

passed away), and I think it would

be really fun to be able to show

them what I’m doing with my life,

and learn more about their lives

when they were my age.

A A M E H E A D L I N E S

Dr.

Pau

l M

ille

tt

P A G E 5 P R O M O T I N G & S U P P O R T I N G T H E M E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R

ME News The CDIO Committee has finalized its

recommendations on equipment for

the new Virtual Machine Shop, the

equipment and furnishings are on

order, and the installation should take

place right before the start of Spring

classes in January. We can’t wait to

have AAME visit and see the new

space!

A project 30 years in the making, the

new layout and design for the student

atrium is finally a reality! The furniture

will be ready for the students when

they arrive back from the holidays; we

are all incredibly excited!

As many of you know, the 2014 North

American Regional Conference of

CDIO will be held on the University

of Arkansas campus from March 10-11.

This will be a great opportunity for us

to gain insights from other

universities regarding their “best

practices” and “lessons learned”

while implementing the new style of

curriculum. We are very honored

to be selected to host this meeting,

as the newest member of the CDIO

organization.

The department hosted its 2nd

annual Outstanding Student Banquet

on November 13 and were very

fortunate to have several AAME

members there to help celebrate

with us and our wonderful students.

75 juniors and seniors were selected

as honorees and they are all

incredible students with very bright

futures.

Special thanks to Bob Harrison,

Russ Rasnic, Will Myers, Keith

Bradshaw, and Mike & Susan Hays

for joining us for the event.

This was a great opportunity for the

newly implemented Student Liaison

Committee to interact with our

students. Keith Bradshaw, committee

member, commented, “My impression

of the students I spoke with was that they

reminded me of what I was like at that

age—just a little uncomfortable talking

with older guys out in industry. They're

around the professors on a daily basis and

seem quite comfortable with them, but

just aren't sure how to act or what they're

supposed to say around the rest of us. No

doubt they open up and speak more

freely after some interaction, which only

confirms to me that our mission of just

being around them more will influence

them in positive ways.”

It’s an exciting time here in ME and

we’re looking forward to so many

wonderful things in the spring

semester!

- Melynda Hart, ME

Scenes from the 2013 Outstanding Student Banquet

Left: Some ME

Outstanding

Students

Right: Keith

Bradshaw, Rick

Couvillion, Uche

Wejinya, Mike &

Susan Hays,

David Jensen

Left: Bob

Harrison Shares

Words of

Wisdom

Right:

Excited Seniors!

P A G E 6

With the departure of Electrical

Engineering Professor, Scott

Smith, Mechanical Engineering

Assistant Professor Dr. Uche

Wejinya has taken over as

faculty advisor for the NASA

Robotics Mining Team. The

Space Hawgs are delighted to

be led by Wejinya for the 2013-

2014 competition period and

beyond. Dr. Wejinya brings his

extensive experience in

Robotics and Controls to this

project and his leadership will

be tremendous in keeping this

program in ME department.

The department is also

delighted to have this national

visibility program housed in the

Department of Mechanical

Engineering.

This year’s multi-disciplinary

team features 16 graduate and

undergraduate students from

the departments of Mechanical,

Electrical, and Computer

Science Computer Engineering

at the University of Arkansas.

The team’s primary objective

for the 2013 – 2014

competition year is to replace

the current frontend loader

system with a variation of the

common bucket dredge for the

excavation of NASA’s basaltic

regolith simulant, Black-Point 1.

This new system will be able to

provide signal feedback to a

Field Programmable Gate Array

(FPGA), controlling motor

speed and linear actuation. In

addition, the Space Hawgs have

high hopes of replacing the

current tele-robotic operating

system with one of autonomous

capabilities, using image

processing and computer vision.

For those unfamiliar with the

annual NASA Robotics Mining

Competition, it is a university-

based, national level

competition in which 50

interdisciplinary US teams,

comprised of graduate and

undergraduate students, are

challenged to design and

implement a robotic solution to

a celestial body excavation. Each

team is graded on their robot’s

mass, power consumption,

average

bandwidth, and

the mass of

collected regolith.

The competition is

held, annually at

the Kennedy

A Change in Management

Space Center in Florida

from May 19th to 23rd.

The 2014 Space Hawgs

thank the department and

AAME for their moral and

financial support.

For more information on

this team and project,

contact melhart@uark.edu.

A A M E H E A D L I N E S

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P A G E 7

Mike Hays & Frank Porbeck

presented AAME’s financial

report at October’s

meet in g & member

contribut ions a lready

slightly exceeded the

budgeted amount of

$30,000.

The Board recommended

to transfer $14,500 for ME

Special Projects and

$15,000 for scholarships to

be awarded in 2014.

If you have any questions

regarding contributions,

please contact Mike Hays at

479.521.9749.

Farewell, Mother Hen After eight years of dedicated service, Debbie Haynes has decided to

leave the department and begin a new adventure. Effective December 9, Debbie will move to Shreveport to be a full-time grandmother to

beautiful granddaughter, Lily.

During her eight years, Debbie has had many responsibilities, but none

are more dearly remembered than her role of “Mother Hen” to generations of young engineers, faculty and staff, alike. ME students talk

about Debbie and remember her fondly for years after graduation and often one of the first things an alum will ask is, “How is Miss Haynes

doing?”

The department wishes Debbie and her family the absolute best of luck

with this new chapter in her life. We will miss her incredibly, but

understand we have to share her with her “real” family!

Financial Report

P R O M O T I N G & S U P P O R T I N G T H E M E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R

204 Mechanical Engineering Building

College of Engineering

University of Arkansas

Fayetteville, AR 72701-1201

Phone: 479.575.4153

Fax: 479.575.6982

E-mail: melhart@uark.edu

Mission of the Arkansas Academy of

Mechanical Engineering

To promote and support the mechanical

engineering profession, to honor the Mechanical

Engineer and to work with the University of

Arkansas Department of Mechanical Engineering

to increase the appeal of Mechanical Engineering

and further the educational development of

future engineers.

2013-2014 Board & Committee Chairs: Bob Harrison, President Russ Rasnic, President-Elect/Publicity Zane Boatright, Past President Cristine Wolf, Secretary

Mike Hays, Treasurer Lamar Pettus, Honorary Advisor Keith Bradshaw Paul Ford Mac Hogan Jack Murders

Helmut Wolf Larry Young Bob Norwood, Membership Frank Porbeck, Finance Bill Green, Conduct/Bylaws Chris Weiser, Fundraising

Rick Couvillion, Awards

Arkansas Academy

of Mechanical Engineering

Social Media Thanks to the efforts of Mac Hogan & Paul Ford, we are thrilled to announce our

new presence in the social media world!

The Department of Mechanical Engineering has launched a blog, Facebook page, and Twitter stream, and we would

love for you to participate in the conversation! And because we truly want it to be an ongoing conversation, we

encourage you to share your news. How have you used your mechanical engineering degree?

Please keep us updated on your accomplishments, including career developments, research projects, and honors

received. In addition to these social media outlets, we are stepping up our media relations efforts – reaching out to

academic journals and general news publications alike so that those outside the Department may gain a better

understanding of all the exciting ways Mechanical Engineers contribute to our world.

You may follow along and keep up with the latest news here:

meeg.uark.edu/

facebook.com/uarkmechengineering

twitter.com/uarkmecheng

Please take a few moments to “like” our Facebook page, follow our Twitter feed, and comment on our blog. To

submit your news, please email Melynda at melhart@uark.edu.

www.meeg.uark.edu/aame

Promoting & Supporting the Mechanical Engineer