Student Honor and Activities
Sedi Di Roma—AE goes to italy
30 AE students spent seven weeks this summer in Rome, Italy participating in the ever popular Sedi di Roma study abroad in Rome summer program. The students took a heavy course load of 12 credits of architecture courses that could count towards an architecture studies minor.
The program includes two courses, Architecture of Rome and Cartography of Rome, which were taught on location. Sitting on the actual ruins they were learning about, students attended lectures by Prof. Romolo Martemucci and Prof. Alan Ceen. Prof. Dan Linzell of civil engineering offered a course in medieval masonry. The studio project consisted of the conversion of an existing building at Piazza Collegio Romano into a refugee center. The students work will be on exhibit in the gallery of Engineering Unit B this fall.
Sede di Roma is located in the heart of Rome. Students resided in a former convent at Piazza Navona and attended classes and studio in Palazzo Doria Pamphili, both historical and without air-conditioning. In addition, there were several field trips to Venice, Parma, Florence, Pompeii, Paestum and Villa Adriana. During their free time, many students took advantage of the beautiful beaches and resorts in northern Italy and enjoyed the thrilling World Cup championships.
We can attest that Penn State AE’s are all over the world. One day while standing outside the Palazzo Doria Pamphili, Prof. Moses Ling was approached by a clergy member. He said, “This can’t be.” It was Fr. Phil Sanders (’86, ’89g), an AE lighting/electrical graduate. Is there any doubt that all roads lead to Rome?
For additional information on AE study abroad programs, see www.engr.psu.edu/ae/study_abroad/rome_italy.asp.
Student Awards
Heather Sustersic was awarded the Art Livingood Scholarship Award sponsored by ACI on April 21, 2006. She was nominated by Drs. Thomas Boothby and Linda Hanagan.
The Penn State team landed first-place in the HVAC System Selection and HVAC System Design categories of the 2006 ASHRAE Student Design Competition. They selected and designed HVAC systems for a multi-unit residential/commercial building in Dallas, TX. The team included: Justin Bem, Kevin Kaufman, Jonathan Gridley, Jessica Lucas, and Yulien Wong. Dr. William Bahnfleth served as their advisor.
GRAD STUDENT WINS 2006 JURAN DOCTORAL AWARD
Leidy Klotz, an AE graduate student, has won the 2006 Juran Doctoral Award. The award is administered by the Joseph M. Juran Center for Leadership in Quality and is designed to stimulate doctoral students' thinking about quality principles early in their careers. Winners of the doctoral award receive a $2,500 prize, as well as a $2,500 match from the provost's office for award recipients from Penn State. Klotz's winning proposal is titled, "Continuously Improving Green Buildings: Using Quality Principles to Identify Valuable Green Building Delivery Process Features" and discusses the work he's doing with the design and construction division at the University's Office of Physical Plant.
NEW B.A.E. CURRICULUM APPROVED
Incoming AE students will matriculate under the new undergraduate curriculum starting this fall. The AE Curriculum Committee responded to a request from the Dean of the College of Engineering to review all existing programs for quality and efficiency. After over a year of examination and deliberation by the committee, the revised curriculum was reviewed and approved through the University, cumulating with the approval this June by the University Faculty Senate.
Key components of the revised program are:
AE202 – This standing second year course will move forward to the fall semester of the second year to introduce new AE students to concepts in architectural engineering such as sustainability, building envelope, fire protection, professional practice and engineering economics. (Don’t worry, the solar house will not be lost.)
AE404 – A new structural course will introduce non-structural option students to a system approach to structures. AE404 will replace the formerly required AE401 (steel) and AE402 (concrete) for students in the other three options.
CMPSC201 – After over 30 years of being a required course in the AE curriculum, neither Fortan nor C++ will be a required subject for the AE students. In place of a programming language, students are expected to learn application programs within normal coursework. AE was the fourth engineering program in the College to eliminate the programming language requirement.
AE439 and AE475 – These two formerly required courses will become department elective courses for structural students.
AE475, EE425 and EE461 – At the request of the electrical engineering department, these courses will become department elective courses for lighting/electrical students. Students electing these EE courses are expected to complete the prerequisites as well.
As the result of the adjustments, the program totals 160 credits, an 8-credit reduction from the previous 168 credits. Student workload will average 16 credits per semester. (See www.engr.psu.edu/ae/advising)