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Welcome to the fall newsletter. This is an exciting time for the civil and environmental engineering department at Penn State. As I move into the role of department head, my primary goals are to deliver a top quality education to our students and advance our national and international reputation. In the coming year, the department will see important activities and initiatives related to personnel, research, curriculum, service, and outreach, and I look forward to alerting our alumni and friends on these developments. Stay tuned, there is much more to come!
Patrick Fox, Shaw Professor and Head,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
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In the News
Two civil and environmental engineering alumni honored with Penn State's Distinguished Alumni Award.
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Three members of civil and environmental engineering have recently retired.
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Penn State engineering professors cultivate creativity worldwide.
Only above-water microbes play a role in cave development.
Media Mentions
Martin Pietrucha featured in WalletHub's 2015 best and worst states for summer road trips.
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Recognitions and Awards
Geological Society grant supports Susquehanna Shale Hills research.
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Two civil engineering juniors selected for Pennsylvania-based scholarship.
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Alumni Updates
Aqua Pennsylvania appoints alumnus Marc Lucca to Vice President, Network.
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Civil engineering alumnus Christopher Simon, PE, CCM, promoted to associate at Dewberry.
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Upcoming Events
September 24:
ASCE Career Fair from 12-5 p.m. at the Bryce Jordan Center
October 7:
CEE Major Night at 5:30 p.m. in 207 Sackett
October 15:
Harleman Memorial Lecture
featuring Dr. Marcelo H. Garcia of the University of Illinois
November 4:
AEESP lecture series featuring Dr. Nancy Love of the University of Michigan
November 11:
Hankin Lecture
featuring Dan Fulton, retired president and CEO of Weyerhaeuser Company, at 4 p.m. at the Nittany Lion Inn
November 12:
NAHB Student Chapter Banquet at the Nittany Lion Inn
November 15-20: Global Week
December 8: Larson Lecture
featuring Lillian C. Borrone, Chairman at Eno Center for Transportation, at 1:30 p.m., in the Penn Stater: Deans Hall 1
December 18:
Graduation reception and Order of the Engineer Ceremony at the Hintz Family Alumni Center from 1-3 p.m.
December 18: Commencement at the Bryce Jordan Center
For a full list of events, please visit our
website
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About this month's cover photo:
Moringa oleifera seeds, pictured in this month's photo, are an inexpensive alternative to clean water in developing nations. Read more about these useful seeds and the research being conducted at Penn State here.
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Join our alumni-student mentoring program!
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The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and the Penn State Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Society, in cooperation with the Penn State American Society of Civil Engineers student chapter, collectively sponsor the Civil and Environmental Engineering Mentoring Program.
The program provides career guidance to current Penn State CEE undergraduates by Penn State graduates currently engaged in the civil engineering profession and facilitates a bridge between academia and industry for current students.
Mentors and proteges interact on a one-to-one basis using mutually agreed upon methods of communication. This effort also includes group meetings and activities of all program participants several times a year.
Detailed information on the program can be found
here.
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 Research Snapshot: Computational Modeling of Landslide Runout
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Researchers are looking into methods that would allow modeling of slide initiation and flow of liquefied soil and rock with more capability than conventional mesh-based analysis methods.
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SPH simulation of soil runout from cylinder runout test.
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Tong Qiu, associate professor of civil engineering, is investigating the runout of massive landslides using a novel mesh-free computational method called Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH).
Rapid landslides such as mud flows, debris flows, and rock avalanches are capable of impacting large areas and often flow far from their source due to high mobility. Globally, rapid flow-like landslides cause billions of dollars in damage and thousands of deaths and injuries each year. As evidenced by the 2014 Oso, WA, landslide, in which 43 people perished, landslide mobility and travel distance remain poorly understood. The SPH method allows for modeling of slide initiation and flow of liquefied soil and rock with more capability than conventional mesh-based analysis methods.
Qiu's research team is also conducting experimental investigations to understand why some landslides have unusually long runout distances. With additional study of available case histories, the team hopes to improve current landslide hazard assessment and ultimately help reduce future losses to society from these devastating geohazards.
This research is supported by a National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, which is one of the most prestigious awards given to young faculty members.
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Researchers study inexpensive process to clean water in developing nations
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Moringa oleifera seeds, used in ancient Egypt to clarify drinking water, contain a protein that makes bacteria clump together and die.
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What would happen if a common tree had the potential to turn c
loudy, contaminated water into clean, safe drinking water for millions in need? Penn State researchers are hoping to find out using the seeds of the Moringa oleifera tree.
Lack of potable water is a huge problem in many developing countries. According to UNICEF, 783 million people worldwide are without improved drinking water, and the World Health Organization estimates that lack of proper drinking water causes 1.6 million deaths each year from diarrheal and parasitic diseases.
Part of the problem is that many of these countries must import expensive chemicals to clarify the water, limiting the amount they can afford to produce.
But there may be an alternative.
LINK TO FULL STORY>>
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Student-built bridge provides access to education, health care in rural Panama
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| The Penn State student chapter of Bridges to Prosperity spent the summer making a difference in Panama. |
Members of the Penn State student chapter of Bridges to Prosperity have returned home after constructing a pedestrian footbridge near the remote village of Tucuecito, Panama.
"Overall, the trip went really well," said project manager Jacob Rausch, senior in civil engineering. "We really connected with the community, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we all learned a lot and grew as individuals."
The 10 students spent four weeks in Tucuecito, a poverty-stricken village roughly four hours southwest of Panama City, assembling the framework for the new bridge, which is 30 meters long and one meter wide.
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| Three new faculty members join civil and environmental engineering |
| The new faculty members include two assistant professors and an instructor. |
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Penn State's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering added three new faculty members this semester.
Brian Naberezny has joined the department as an instructor of land surveying. He received a bachelor's degree in surveying from Penn State and a master's degree in spatial information science and engineering from the University of Maine.
Kostas Papakonstantinou has joined the department as an assistant professor in civil engineering. He received a diploma and master's degree in civil engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and another master's degree and doctorate in civil engineering from the University of California, Irvine.
Nathaniel Warner has joined the department as an assistant professor in environmental engineering. He received his bachelor's degree in geology from Hamilton College, his master's degree in hydrogeology from Miami University, and his doctorate in earth and ocean sciences from Duke University.
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Bruce Logan reaches significant milestone on Google Scholar; also set to receive ACS award
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Logan has been recognized for both the number of papers he has published that have been cited and for his invention and development of devices that use microorganisms to convert waste material into useful products.
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Bruce Logan, Kappe and Evan Pugh Professor of Environmental Engineering, reached a career milestone recently by hitting 100 on the Google Scholar h-index, which
indicates how many papers a researcher has published that have been cited that many times and provides a way for authors to gauge the visibility and influence of their articles in scholarly publications. Most researchers never reach 100. In fact, notable scientist Albert Einstein has only narrowly beaten out Logan with an h-index of 103 -- but Logan still has time to surpass the famous maven.
Logan has published over 420 journal articles and several books and book chapters during his career. Most of his research involves microbial fuel cells, bioenergy production and water and wastewater treatment.
In addition, Logan was recently named the 2016 recipient of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology for his invention and development of devices that use microorganisms to convert waste material into useful products such as electrical power and hydrogen gas.
The award, sponsored by the ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry and the ACS Publications journal Environmental Science & Technology and Environmental Science & Technology Letters, was established to encourage creativity in research and technology or methods of analysis to provide a scientific basis for informed environmental control decision-making processes, or to provide practical technologies that will reduce health risk factors.
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Johnson will remain in the department as a faculty member.
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After nine years as department head of civil and environmental engineering at Penn State, Peggy Johnson has officially stepped down.
"I feel like I've accomplished everything I set out to accomplish and the department is in really good shape," Johnson said. "Now it's time to move in a different direction."
Johnson is taking a sabbatical through the fall semester and will rejoin the faculty as a professor in January when she will begin teaching fluid mechanics and open channel flow at the undergraduate level and river engineering and reliability at the graduate level.
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Respected civil engineering professor Andrew Scanlon retires
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Scanlon has served many roles during his tenure at Penn State.
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After a rewarding 28 years at Penn State, Andrew Scanlon, professor of civil engineering, has traded in his work boots for golf shoes.
He retired at the end of August.
Scanlon has served in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as a professor, department head, and interim department head.
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