Faculty/Departmental News

FACULTY / DEPARTMENTAL NEWS
AE Newsletter - Spring/Summer 2001
FACULTY HONORS AND AWARDS Dr. Jelena Srebric was the recipient of the ASHRAE Homer Addams Award at the Society’s 2001 Annual Meeting in Cincinnati, OH on June 23, 2001. The award was given in recognition of Dr. Srebric’s work on ASHRAE research projects while she was a graduate student attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She received her Ph.D. degree from MIT in June 2001. Dr. Louis F. Geschwindner was selected by the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society as the 2001 National Outstanding Advisor of Tau Beta Pi. He is the eighth awardee in this program, which recognizes those who promote excellence in engineering education. STRAWBALE PROJECT WINS GREEN DESIGN COMPETITION FOR AE TEAM A team of AE students and faculty were awarded the Grand Prize for their entry in the Eighth Annual Green Design Competition held at Penn State. The entry, entitled A Model Strawbale Home: A Green Design Solution for Community-Built Sustainable Housing, featured a simple plan that could be built by community volunteers with minimal outside assistance. Led by Dr. David Riley, the team included students from three options: Cherie Boublis and Carla Palavecino (structural), Andrew Tech (mechanical), and Jeffrey White (construction). The Northern Plains served as the target region for the design, where the high-insulating value of stucco-veneered strawbale walls is useful in protecting residents from extreme temperatures and severe weather. Prof. Riley and the students presented the merits of loadbearing strawbale construction as a method to address the housing crisis facing American Indians. Three poster presentations showed the alignment of the design with green design principles, along with a cost analysis and energy savings calculations. The entry also included a scale model of the home design. The competition was held in conjunction with the 8th Annual Green Design Conference held in April at the Zoller Gallery on the University Park campus. The conference showcased innovation and sustainability in an exposition of architecture, engineering, landscape/ garden design, and the creative arts. Finalists received awards in each category, with the overall grand prize going to the AE team. The prize money will be used this summer to send the four AE students to the site of the strawbale home construction project on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana. Dr. Riley and a team of volunteers and organizations will also be working on projects to improve the living conditions of American Indian Tribes. Next year, Prof. Riley plans to develop a Design-Build course for students in AE, Architecture, and Landscape Architecture. The class will participate in the design and construction of a Strawbale Design and Learning Center on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. IPAC MEETING HELD The Industrial and Professional Advisory Council (IPAC) meetings were held in the College of Engineering on March 14-16, 2001. AE faculty and student representatives consulted with four members of industry. The focus of the discussions was strategic planning in the AE Department. NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK Assistant Professor John Messner, ’94 and wife Anne are proud new parents of a baby boy, Joseph Samuel, born on April 19 and weighing 8 lbs. 1 oz. He joins 3-year old big brother Isaac. FEI Engineer David Thompson, ’91 and wife Tania welcomed twin sons, Jeremy Tyler and Titus Julian, born January 30, 2001. Jeremy weighing in at 6 lbs. 6 oz., and brother Titus at 5 lbs. 6 oz., join fellow siblings Lathom (6 yrs.), Savanna (4 yrs.), and Kinsey (2 yrs.). COMMENCEMENT 2001 Commencement for the College of Engineering was held on May 11, 2001. Architectural Engineering conferred sixty-eight B.A.E., fifteen M.A.E., three M.S., four M.Eng., and one Ph.D. degrees. An evening reception was held at the Bryce Jordan Center for the AE graduates, their guests, and the AE faculty.	PARTINGS Dr. Victor Sanvido is leaving Penn State AE effective August 2001. He will be joining Southland Industries, a national design builder of advanced technology facilities, as vice president of operations and systems. In this position, he will be working to improve their operations and systems with more than 30 Penn State alumni, several of whom are in leadership positions, and more than one thousand other dedicated individuals. Mr. John S. (Jack) Futrick has announced his retirement from Penn State effective August 2001 after 38 years of service in the AE Department. He has served under five University Presidents, five AE Department Heads, and numerous faculty members. Throughout his tenure in AE, Futrick has hired and directed the activities of many people. He has provided administrative knowledge and leadership that resulted in efficient service and support to all AE faculty and students. His expertise and irrepressible good humor will be greatly missed in the AE Department. We all wish Jack a long and happy retirement! PROMOTION We are pleased to announce that Ms. Nancy Sabol has been promoted to Administrative Assistant IV in the AE Department effective July 1, 2001. Nancy joined the AE Department as part-time bookkeeper in 1996, and has held the bookkeeper position full time since 1998. She holds a B.S. degree from Penn State in Recreation and Parks. BOWERS PROGRAM REPORT FOR 2000-2001 The Bowers Center provided funding for a Green Design Conference. The conference, organized around the theme of environmental sustainability, featured an open competition among Penn State University faculty and students, and included invited speakers and demonstrations of sustainable design practices. Competition categories included engineering design, architectural design, landscape and gardening, ecological innovations, and art. Students in the departments of Architectural Engineering, Architecture, and Landscape Architecture, as well as of students in other fields from across the University and from the State College community at large, participated. The grand prize was awarded to a team led by Associate Professor David Riley ’91(B.A.E.), ’94 (Ph.D.), who created a model of tribal housing built with strawbale walls. (see article left) Other projects have been initiated for the next academic year. A call for faculty proposals has been launched with the intention of funding at least two Bowers Program projects for 2001-2002. Planning is underway to initiate a “Bowers” component into the first-year seminar courses offered by the three departments. Further information will be published in upcoming newsletters. FACULTY TRAVEL Dr. William Bahnfleth traveled to Australia in March 2001 to assist in the start-up of a new stratified chilled water storage system at Curtin University, in Perth, WA and to give seminars on thermal storage in Perth and Brisbane, including a presentation to the faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Western Australia. The new system at Curtin is the fourth in Australia with which he has been involved since 1997. Dr. William Bahnfleth gave a presentation and participated in a panel discussion on "Simulation in Education" at the annual meeting of the International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA) in Cincinnati, OH on June 23, 2001. The panel included educators from six Mechanical and Architectural Engineering departments in the U.S. and Europe.

FACULTY / DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

AE Newsletter - Spring/Summer 2001

FACULTY HONORS AND AWARDS
Dr. Jelena Srebric was the recipient of the ASHRAE Homer Addams Award at the Society’s 2001 Annual Meeting in Cincinnati, OH on June 23, 2001. The award was given in recognition of Dr. Srebric’s work on ASHRAE research projects while she was a graduate student attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She received her Ph.D. degree from MIT in June 2001.

Dr. Louis F. Geschwindner was selected by the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society as the 2001 National Outstanding Advisor of Tau Beta Pi. He is the eighth awardee in this program, which recognizes those who promote excellence in engineering education.

STRAWBALE PROJECT WINS GREEN DESIGN COMPETITION FOR AE TEAM
A team of AE students and faculty were awarded the Grand Prize for their entry in the Eighth Annual Green Design Competition held at Penn State. The entry, entitled A Model Strawbale Home: A Green Design Solution for Community-Built Sustainable Housing, featured a simple plan that could be built by community volunteers with minimal outside assistance.

Led by Dr. David Riley, the team included students from three options: Cherie Boublis and Carla Palavecino (structural), Andrew Tech (mechanical), and Jeffrey White (construction). The Northern Plains served as the target region for the design, where the high-insulating value of stucco-veneered strawbale walls is useful in protecting residents from extreme temperatures and severe weather. Prof. Riley and the students presented the merits of loadbearing strawbale construction as a method to address the housing crisis facing American Indians. Three poster presentations showed the alignment of the design with green design principles, along with a cost analysis and energy savings calculations. The entry also included a scale model of the home design.
The competition was held in conjunction with the 8th Annual Green Design Conference held in April at the Zoller Gallery on the University Park campus. The conference showcased innovation and sustainability in an exposition of architecture, engineering, landscape/ garden design, and the creative arts. Finalists received awards in each category, with the overall grand prize going to the AE team. The prize money will be used this summer to send the four AE students to the site of the strawbale home construction project on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana. Dr. Riley and a team of volunteers and organizations will also be working on projects to improve the living conditions of American Indian Tribes. Next year, Prof. Riley plans to develop a Design-Build course for students in AE, Architecture, and Landscape Architecture. The class will participate in the design and construction of a Strawbale Design and Learning Center on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.

IPAC MEETING HELD
The Industrial and Professional Advisory Council (IPAC) meetings were held in the College of Engineering on March 14-16, 2001. AE faculty and student representatives consulted with four members of industry. The focus of the discussions was strategic planning in the AE Department.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Assistant Professor John Messner, ’94 and wife Anne are proud new parents of a baby boy, Joseph Samuel, born on April 19 and weighing 8 lbs. 1 oz. He joins 3-year old big brother Isaac.

FEI Engineer David Thompson, ’91 and wife Tania welcomed twin sons, Jeremy Tyler and Titus Julian, born January 30, 2001. Jeremy weighing in at 6 lbs. 6 oz., and brother Titus at 5 lbs. 6 oz., join fellow siblings Lathom (6 yrs.), Savanna (4 yrs.), and Kinsey (2 yrs.).

COMMENCEMENT 2001
Commencement for the College of Engineering was held on May 11, 2001. Architectural Engineering conferred sixty-eight B.A.E., fifteen M.A.E., three M.S., four M.Eng., and one Ph.D. degrees. An evening reception was held at the Bryce Jordan Center for the AE graduates, their guests, and the AE faculty.

PARTINGS

Dr. Victor Sanvido is leaving Penn State AE effective August 2001. He will be joining Southland Industries, a national design builder of advanced technology facilities, as vice president of operations and systems. In this position, he will be working to improve their operations and systems with more than 30 Penn State alumni, several of whom are in leadership positions, and more than one thousand other dedicated individuals.

Mr. John S. (Jack) Futrick has announced his retirement from Penn State effective August 2001 after 38 years of service in the AE Department. He has served under five University Presidents, five AE Department Heads, and numerous faculty members.

Throughout his tenure in AE, Futrick has hired and directed the activities of many people. He has provided administrative knowledge and leadership that resulted in efficient service and support to all AE faculty and students. His expertise and irrepressible good humor will be greatly missed in the AE Department. We all wish Jack a long and happy retirement!

PROMOTION
We are pleased to announce that Ms. Nancy Sabol has been promoted to Administrative Assistant IV in the AE Department effective July 1, 2001.

Nancy joined the AE Department as part-time bookkeeper in 1996, and has held the bookkeeper position full time since 1998. She holds a B.S. degree from Penn State in Recreation and Parks.

BOWERS PROGRAM REPORT FOR 2000-2001
The Bowers Center provided funding for a Green Design Conference. The conference, organized around the theme of environmental sustainability, featured an open competition among Penn State University faculty and students, and included invited speakers and demonstrations of sustainable design practices. Competition categories included engineering design, architectural design, landscape and gardening, ecological innovations, and art. Students in the departments of Architectural Engineering, Architecture, and Landscape Architecture, as well as of students in other fields from across the University and from the State College community at large, participated. The grand prize was awarded to a team led by Associate Professor David Riley ’91(B.A.E.), ’94 (Ph.D.), who created a model of tribal housing built with strawbale walls. (see article left)

Other projects have been initiated for the next academic year. A call for faculty proposals has been launched with the intention of funding at least two Bowers Program projects for 2001-2002. Planning is underway to initiate a “Bowers” component into the first-year seminar courses offered by the three departments. Further information will be published in upcoming newsletters.

FACULTY TRAVEL
Dr. William Bahnfleth traveled to Australia in March 2001 to assist in the start-up of a new stratified chilled water storage system at Curtin University, in Perth, WA and to give seminars on thermal storage in Perth and Brisbane, including a presentation to the faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Western Australia. The new system at Curtin is the fourth in Australia with which he has been involved since 1997.

Dr. William Bahnfleth gave a presentation and participated in a panel discussion on "Simulation in Education" at the annual meeting of the International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA) in Cincinnati, OH on June 23, 2001. The panel included educators from six Mechanical and Architectural Engineering departments in the U.S. and Europe.

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