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

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