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| BU
College of Engineering Magazine - Fall 2003
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| ENG News |
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| Seven New Faculty
Join the College of Engineering |
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Timothy S. Gardner
joined the Biomedical Engineering Department (BME) as
an assistant professor. With a Ph.D. from Boston University,
Gardner’s research centers on the development
of tools for identifying and controlling the genetic
circuitry underlying the behavior of living organisms.
He is applying such tools to the development of improved
antibiotics, microbial bio- technologies for energy
production and environmental cleanup, and efficient
methods for drug compound screening and development.
Gardner’s pioneering demonstration of a genetic
flip-flop in Escherichia coli helped to launch the field
of synthetic gene circuit engineering. His work has
been recognized by Technology Review magazine, New Scientist,
the New York Times, and the International Solid-State
Circuits Conference, where he received the Draper Award
for the outstanding technology directions paper. |
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Mark Grinstaff joined
the faculty of BME as an associate professor, with a
joint appointment in the BU Chemistry Department at
College of Arts and Sciences. Grinstaff received his
Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
and trained in inorganic and materials chemistry as
a graduate student with Dr. K. Suslick at Illinois and
as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. H.B. Gray at Caltech.
Grinstaff has a wide-ranging and well-funded research
program. Of particular interest is his recent work on
the synthesis and evaluation of new dendrimer-based
polymers for use in healing wounds in the eye, which
demonstrates how his work will advance the application
of chemistry to problems in biomedical engineering. |
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Catherine Klapperich
joined the Department of Manufacturing Engineering (MFG)
with a joint appointment in the Department of Biomedical
Engineering as an assistant professor in affiliation
with Boston University’s Whitaker Foundation Leadership
Award. Klapperich earned her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering
from the University of California, Berkeley, where she
studied the nanomechanical surface properties of modified
polymers for orthopedic implants. Before joining Boston
University, she spent a year at ACLARA Biosciences,
a microfludics company, before starting her most recent
position as a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory in the labs of Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi.
Klapperich’s research interests include studying
the gene expression patterns of cells in contact with
new biomaterial surfaces and in protein-surface interactions,
having implications for micro-fluidic devices and tissue
engineering applications. |
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Jerome Mertz
joined the faculty of the Department of Biomedical Engineering
as an associate professor. Mertz received his Ph.D.
in Physics from the Université Paris VI and the
University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses
on the development of new microscopy techniques for
biological imaging. |
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Elise Morgan, who earned
her Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley,
joined the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department
(AME) as an assistant professor. Morgan recently completed
a year of postdoctoral research at Stanford University
where she studied distraction osteogenesis, the process
in which bone is cut and the resulting parts are slowly
pulled apart at a rate of 0.4 mm per day (commonly known
as leg lengthening). Her research concerns the various
aspects of the mechanics of trabecular bone, bringing
the ideas from large-deformation theory and computational
structural mechanics to bear on the mechanics of microstructures
within bone tissue. She concentrates on the micro- mechanics
of multiscale media, the measurement of in vivo loading
conditions, and damage growth mechanics. Her approach
is highly interdisciplinary. |
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Roberto Paiella
joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
(ECE) as an assistant professor. Paiella earned his
Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the California Institute
of Technology. Paiella’s current research focuses
on high-temperature semiconductor lasers and all-optical
signal processing. |
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Christopher L. Passaglia
joined BME as an assistant professor. Passagila received
his Ph.D. from Syracuse University and his research
focuses on how visual information is represented in
the eye’s input to the brain and how the representation
changes as diseases, such as glaucoma, inflict damage
upon the retina. Passagila’s laboratory tackles
these issues by recording the electrical activity of
neurons, visualizing neurons with anatomical stains,
building computer models of the mechanisms that shape
neural responses, and relating neural performance to
visual behavior. |
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| ENG Alumni Awards
2003 |
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| (From left) John Grieco, Gordon
Walsh, Marguerite Matson, Dean David Campbell,
Ging Lee, Wayne Cheung, and Nicholas Lippis. |
Wayne Cheung (ENG’99, B.S. in manufacturing
engineering) received the Service to
Alma Mater Award. Not only does Cheung support the
College of Engineering, he also works closely with
the University Development and Alumni Relations Office
to reestablish the Boston University Alumni Association
of Hong Kong (BUAAHK) and serves as a main alumni
contact in Hong Kong. As a member of the BUAAHK, Cheung
demonstrates his leadership and directs the association
in the right direction.
John Grieco (ENG’59, B.S. in engineering)
received the Service to Alma Mater Award as he has
continued to serve BU since his days as a student.
Grieco currently acts as an alumni volunteer for the
Office of Admissions, which involves attending college
fairs at several high schools in his hometown of Buffalo,
NY, to speak to prospective students about Boston
University. Grieco has done this for the past six
years and continues to stay up to date with University
news to remain knowledgeable about BU so he can portray
accurate information to potential students. Before
coming to Boston to accept this award, Grieco had
just attended two college fairs in New York.
Ging Lee (ENG’70, B.S. in systems
engineering) received the Service to
Alma Mater Award. Lee joined the College of Engineering
Alumni Board in spring 2002. Since then, he has given
110 percent to his alma mater through a number of
ways. He has been a volunteer for the Career Development
Office at ENG by helping to critique students’
résumés and has helped the Alumni Relations
Office by taking on the role of Reunion Chair, spending
much of his personal time making calls to members
of reunioning classes in an effort to increase participation
at reunion. In addition to his role on the Engineering
Alumni Board, Lee is also a member of ENG’s
Awards Subcommittee, where he helps review and vote
on several alumni-related student awards. The College
is fortunate to have Lee as an active member of the
Board and as a loyal alum.
Marguerite Matson accepted the Service
to Community Award in memory of her husband David
E. Matson (ENG’62, B.S. in engineering).
For many years, Matson served on the ENG Alumni Board.
He was also an outstanding volunteer in his community,
working with Community Supper and Common Cause by
collecting signatures in initiative petition drives
and by writing letters to the media to promote good
government. He was chairman of the petition drive
for campaign finance reform in the Acton, MA, area.
Matson passed away in January at his home in Acton,
after a struggle with Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia.
Nicholas Lippis (ENG’84, ’89,
B.S. in electrical engineering and M.S. in systems
engineering) received the Service to
Profession Award. Founder and president of Lippis
Enterprises, Inc., he is a world-renowned authority
on corporate computer networking and has designed
some of he largest computer networks in the world,
and has advised many Global 2000 firms on network
strategy, architecture, equipment, services, and implementation.
Lippis founded Strategic Network Consulting, a well-respected
industry consulting concern, which was acquired by
Softbank in 1997. Currently, Lippis is dedicated to
a new communications channel (The Lippis Report) to
facilitate dialogue among computer network professionals.
Gordon Walsh (ENG’67, ’68,
B.S. and M.S. in engineering) received
the Service to Profession Award. Walsh is a senior
executive adviser who assists leaders of various-size
companies to create shareholder value and to manage
organizations effectively. Founder and president of
GRW Enterprises, he consults with, advises, and mentors
Boards, CEOs, key executives, and leadership teams.
He works actively with key executives in areas including
business development, acquisitions, divestitures,
mergers, and alliances. Prior to establishing his
own business, Walsh was president and CEO of Interturbine
N.V., an international entrepreneurial manufacturing
and services company. In addition to Interturbine,
he spent several years in officer and key leadership
positions with Lucas Aerospace, Interlake Corporation,
and General Electric Company. |
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| The Merrill L. Ebner
Fund Honors Beloved ENG Professor |
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| (From left) Steve Witkowski,
Merrill Ebner, Roger Dorf, and ENG Dean David
Campbell. |
The Merrill L. Ebner Fund was established by Roger
A. Dorf, a 1970 graduate of the College of Engineering,
and his wife, Sandra M. Dorf, as a tribute to Professor
Merrill L. Ebner. The fund is permanently endowed,
and the income will provide support for student-based
programs that foster critical design in manufacturing
engineering. At the presentation, Dorf said, “There
are a few people in your professional life that have
really made a difference, and Merrill is one of those
people. I am very proud to have the opportunity to
honor Merrill with this gift.”
A high-tech industry veteran, Dorf has more than
thirty years of experience in executive and engineering
leadership. He recently retired from Nortel Networks
where he was the vice president and general manager
of Nortel Network’s Broadband Access Business
Unit, a premier provider of next-generation, multi-service
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) access products for
the central office environment. He also served as
president and chief executive officer at Promatory
prior to the company’s acquisition by Nortel
in March of 2000.
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| Manufactuing Engineering professor
Merrill Ebner (left) Roger Dorf (ENG'70) |
Before Promatory, Dorf served as president and chief
executive officer of Sync Research, Inc., president
of AT&T Network Systems for the Caribbean and
Latin American region, and executive vice president
and chief operating officer at AT&T Paradyne.
He started his career at IBM where he held several
senior management positions including site general
manager (Austin, TX) and vice-president of operations
ROLM. Today he serves as an outside director of Amplifynet,
Inc. and Apta Software, and also serves on the board
of the Educate the Children Foundation.
Dorf chose to name the fund in Ebner’s name
rather than his own so others who have been similarly
influenced by the professor will contribute to the
fund. If you would like to learn more about this opportunity,
please e-mail us at engalum@bu.edu
or contact the College’s director of development,
Steve Witkowski, at 617-358-0608. |
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| Manufacturing Engineering:
Better Than Recycling |
The Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has named Leopold
Felsen, a professor in the Department of
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (AME) and the
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
(ECE), as the recipient of the 2003 IEEE Electromagnetics
Award. The award recognizes Felsen’s contributions
to the field of electromagnetic theory and in methodology
and phenomenology, which has helped expand the understanding
of wave behavior in complex interdisciplinary settings
such as submarine detection, radar identification
of airborne targets, mobile communications, and buried
land-mine detection and imaging.
Also from AME, Associate Professor Raymond
Nagem was named the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers Faculty Member of the Year, 2002–2003,
and Associate Professor Donald Wroblewski
received the 2003 National Research Council/Air Force
Faculty Summer Fellowship Award.
James J. Collins, professor in the
Biomedical Engineering Department (BME), co-director
of the Center for BioDynamics, and director of the
Applied BioDynamics Laboratory, has been named a 2003
MacArthur Fellow. The fellowship will provide Collins
with a five-year, $500,000 “no-strings-attached”
grant. He is one of 24 individuals named by the John
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to receive
fellowships in 2003.
Described by the MacArthur Fellows Program as “a
scientist who crosses the boundaries of engineering,
mathematics, and biology to explore the complex mechanisms
regulating biological systems,” Collins draws
on both theory and experiment for his innovative research
into understanding how the human body works.
Collins excels in finding order and reason within
abstract principles and using that understanding to
solve concrete problems of biological systems. His
research addresses a range of issues, from exploring
the genetic interactions that help maintain processes
within a cell to determining the effect that stimulations
to touch-sensitive nerves in the soles of the feet
can have on our ability to maintain balance when standing,
this latter recently reported in The Lancet.
The 24 Fellows who receive this year’s award
will help mark an important milestone for the MacArthur
Fellows Program: its 25th anniversary. During this
quarter century, a total of 659 individuals have received
this honor, three of whom are at Boston University:
poet, playwright, and Nobel laureate Derek Walcott,
mathematician Nancy Kopell, and Collins.
The Fellows Program is designed to emphasize the
importance of the creative individual in society.
The selection process is rigorous, and candidates
are reviewed solely on the originality and creativity
of their work and the potential they have to do more
such work in the future.
Popular Science magazine recently released
its second annual “Brilliant 10” list
of young scientists in the United States who are doing
extraordinary work. The list includes Tejal
Desai, an associate professor of biomedical
engineering at BU, who was recognized for her work
in the field of tissue engineering and in making artificial
vessels that coax the body to grow replacements and
then bio-degrade, leaving the new natural vessels
behind. An article on the elite group of scientists
appeared in the September 2003 issue, spotlighting
a group of men and women who “have the potential
to redefine the world in which we live.”
Desai also received the 2003 EURAND Grand Prize Award
for Outstanding Research in oral drug delivery, the
2002 Johnson & Johnson Focused Giving Award, the
McGowan Institute Award for Regenerative Medicine,
and the National Academy of Sciences Frontiers in
Engineering Award.
Also of the Biomedical Engineering Department, Professor
Carlo De Luca was invited to serve
on the National Advisory Council for the National
Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
of the National Institutes of Health; Professor Lucia
Vaina received the Ritorno dei Cervelli Award
from the Italian Ministry of Education and Academy
of Sciences; and Professor Herbert Voigt
received the 2002 Biomedical Engineering Society President’s
Award.
In the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
(ECE), Assistant Professor Enrico Bellotti
received the office of Naval Research Young
Investigators Award, Associate Professor Jeffrey
B. Carruthers was promoted to IEEE Senior
Member, Assistant Professor David Starobinski
received a CAREER Award from the National Science
Foundation, and Assistant Professor Venkatesh
Saligrama received the Presidential Early
CAREER Award for Scientists and Engineers.
In the Department of Manufacturing Engineering (MFG),
Professor Uday Pal was awarded the
2003 Extraction and Processing Technology Award by
the Minerals, Metals, and Material Society, and Fraunhofer
Assistant Professor Xin Zhang received
the 2003 Faculty Early CAREER Development Award from
the National Science Foundation. |
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| Collaborative Team
Receives $2.5 Million Grant from the NSF |
Faculty affiliated with
the College of Engineering’s Center for Information
and Systems Engineering (CISE) has received a $2.5
million grant from the National Science Foundation,
Division of Design, Manufacturing, and Industrial
Innovation.
The five-year grant will advance the state-of-the-art
in sensor network control and communication technology
with far-reaching applications that include manufacturing;
homeland security; and space, weather, and radar.
The grant supports an interdisciplinary team including
Professor Christos Cassandras, Project Director, and
Associate Professor Ioannis Paschalidis of the Manufacturing
Engineering Department (MFG), Professor David Castañón
of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
(ECE), and Professor and Chair John Baillieul of ENG’s
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (AME) department.
Faculty from UMASS Amherst are also collaborators.
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| Standing from left: Abhi Deshmukh
and Weibo Gong of UMASS Amherst. Sitting from
left: John Baillieul, Christos Cassandras, Ioannis
Paschalidis of ENG, and Robert Gao of UMASS Amherst. |
“Our team’s approach is a combination
of addressing fundamental research issues, all the
while maintaining a focus on a specific application
domain, namely a manufacturing enterprise, in order
to generate concrete, implemental results,”
Cassandras says. “With focus on manufacturing,
advances will result in increased energy efficiency,
accelerated growth in productivity, improved product
quality, and enhanced workplace safety and security.”
As a highly complex system operating in an uncertain
and potentially adverse environment, most of the issues
related to a manufacturing enterprise are fundamentally
similar to a variety of settings.
Other recent significant awards to CISE- affiliated
faculty (along with other University collaborators
in some instances) include a $400,000 NSF CAREER award
for Murat Alanyali (ECE), two NSF awards totaling
$1.1 million to Eric Kolaczyk, Department of Mathematics
and Statistics; a $935,000 NIH award to Pierre Dupont
(AME), a $350,000 NSF award to David Starobinski and
Ari Trachtenberg (ECE), a $400,000 NSF award to Michael
Gevelber (MFG), and a $350,000 NSF award to CISE Director
Michael Caramanis (MFG) and Ioannis Paschalidis (MFG).
While research specializations for faculty affiliated
with the Center encompass many application domains,
common ground are the methodological approaches of
optimization methods, information theory, control
theory, applied probability and statistics, and simulation
and modeling. This fall, the Center for Information
and Systems Engineering will showcase some of its
affiliated faculty at the weekly Friday Seminars.
For a current schedule of the upcoming seminars, see
the center’s Web site at www.bu.edu/systems/sem03f. |
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