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Summer 2020
Department Newsletter
Toward the Use of Nature-Inspired Approaches to Engineer Living Civil Infrastructure
By Dr. Yaghoob "Amir" Farnam
Engineering future intelligent infrastructure systems requires revolutionary approaches to create multifunctional, responsive capabilities in infrastructure. One major problem that our infrastructure faces is the occurrence of inevitable damage and cracks due to harsh environmental and manmade conditions that it experiences over its service-life.

The NSF-funded research project I am working on with my co-PI's, Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs, Caroline Schauer (MSE), Associate Professor Chris Sales (CAEE), and Assistant Professor Ahmad Najafi (MEM), will investigate a new self-healing cementitious material enriched with bio-inspired, multifunctional, microbial, polymeric fibers to improve durability and resilience of civil infrastructure. In this project, a nature-inspired design paradigm will be studied where the occurrence of the damage in an organism is naturally a trigger to activate the living units to repair itself, e.g., wound healing of skin by multilayer skin fibrous structure (Figure 1). Using nature-inspired concepts of self-healing skins and microbial calcium carbonate precipitation (MCCP) coupled with principles of fracture mechanics, this project will develop science-based design strategies for a new bio-inspired, fiber-reinforced, concrete composite (BioFRC). BioFRC can intelligently and autonomously heal its cracks at early stages and prevent formation of major defects, thereby increasing durability of concrete structures.

If successful, this project will result in designing a novel construction material (i.e., BioFRC) which can (1) be easily adopted by practitioners and engineers, (2) help society to ensure construction of sustainable and resilient infrastructure with high level of safety, (3) result in a decrease in infrastructural cost by increasing the service-life and lowering yearly repair and rehabilitation needs, and (4) help taxpayers save money by fulfilling other important societal needs. The findings and the scientific platform revealed in this project will have far-reaching implications not only in elucidating a robust autonomic self-healing approach in concrete, but also in other scientific problems dealing with damage healing mechanisms in brittle materials, or materials/cell delivery systems.
Professor Jim Mitchell Retires From Drexel After 31 Years Of Service
By Kim Spina
Beloved architectural engineering professor, Jim Mitchell, joined the Drexel faculty in 1988 as an associate professor immediately following a career of 15 years as an architect, including holding the position of principal at two design firms. He earned a BA in applied physics and an MS in fluid mechanics from Harvard University, and a master’s in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. Throughout his time at Drexel, he has been a passionate advocate for exceptional teaching, a champion of undergraduate engineering students. He previously served as the interim department head of CAEE and is the long-time developer and director of the architectural engineering program. He is the founder and former co-director of the Faculty Development Center, the precursor to today’s Teaching and Learning Center. Mitchell has twice served as associate dean of undergraduate affairs for the College, most recently from 2015 to 2019. He has earned a number of awards at Drexel, including a College of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award (2013), College of Engineering Outstanding Teaching Award (2004), Drexel University Senior Faculty Award, Undergraduate Level (Teaching Excellence – 2002), and Drexel University Award for Outstanding Service to the University (2001).

I had the opportunity to sit down via zoom with Professor Mitchell to talk with him about his retirement and his career at Drexel.

Q: Why did you pick the year 2020 to retire?

A. I felt as though I achieved most of what I thought I could. I helped build the architectural engineering program, I held several senior level positions and there are no more challenges with which I could assist. I also felt that I might be beginning to get a bit stale in the classroom.

Q: What was your favorite course to teach at Drexel?

A. I have enjoyed almost all of the courses I've taught at Drexel but I put my stamp on AE 390 and 391 "Architectural Engineering Design I and II". I am happily leaving them in the capable hands of Professor Simi Hoque, who will take over this course.

Q: Tell me a little bit about your experiences with Senior Design?

A. There are teams that have done extraordinary work, some on the national level. With Senior Design, I have had the pleasure of seeing my students pull together as a team, take on professional world challenges and recognize that they do not learn everything in the classroom. They have also shown that they have mastered many different aspects of our profession such as analyzing and explaining their projects to those who are not experts and using a very comprehensive approach.

Q: What do you feel are some of your greatest accomplishments at Drexel?

A. I feel a strong sense of satisfaction and pride in building the architectural engineering program and a delight at seeing students grow and graduate doing things that looked impossible four years before.

Q: As Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs, what were your biggest challenges and what was most rewarding.

A. Significant curricular changes were made to improve the curriculum for engineering students. Also, we improved the advising system by coordinating effectively. Seeing us through yet another ABET cycle was worthwhile, if not enjoyable.

Q: Is there a co-worker from the past or present you admire? Why?

Dr. Edward Doheny, the former Engineering Geology professor in the CAEE taught me how to deal with students who had academic difficulty.  He was a wonderful mentor, as well as one of the best story tellers I’ve met.

Dr. Richard Woodring, the former Dean, when I came to CAEE, gave me the confidence to leave my architectural firm to come to Drexel. He really understood how to be a Dean, to encourage, to demand, to listen, and to act.

I am so grateful to so many people at Drexel. Dr. Joe Martin helped me obtain tenure. I am grateful to Joe Hughes, Trish Gallagher, Michael Waring, Jin Wen, Chuck Haas, and many, many others.

Q: Do you have any advice for current or future architectural engineering students?

A. Do not become an architectural engineer for the money. Do it because this is a field you want to be involved with for the rest of your life.

You can go home at night thinking you did something to make the world a better place. That’s a wonderful feeling.

Q: Do you have plans to remain engaged on campus, maybe teaching part-time or mentoring students?

A. Yes. I hope to do something meaningful. I will not teach a regular class but will perhaps do some guest lecturing. I may continue to be involved with the Drexel Teaching Academy. I will also continue to contribute some things in CASTLE.

Q: For many faculty, retirement can be filled with mixed emotions. How are you feeling right now?

A. I feel very fortunate to not have to live through more of this immensely difficult time, the middle of a pandemic with it’s great pressure on students, faculty, staff and the leadership at Drexel.

Q: What will you miss the most when you leave Drexel?

A. Although I enjoyed being an Associate Dean working with an incredibly good group of advisors and faculty, what I will miss most is teaching and working with students.  The continuing rewards of seeing them grow and enter life as young professionals kept me intellectually and emotionally engaged every day.

“I feel extraordinarily fortunate to have been a part of Drexel for 31 years,” reflects Mitchell. “My colleagues, and most especially my students, have supported and delighted me throughout.”
Rob Swan Promoted to Full Teaching Professor
Congratulations to Professor Rob Swan for being promoted to Associate Teaching Professor, effective September 1, 2020!

Professor Swan is an integral part of the advising team and teaches many classes including CAEE 202 - Introduction to Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering (for the first time this coming fall and spring), CIVE 240 - Engineering Economics, CIVE 250 - Construction Materials, CIVE 312 - Soil Mechanics I, CIVE 315 - Soil Mechanics II, CIVE 477 - Senior Seminar I, CIVE 478 - Senior Seminar II, CIVE 650 - Geosynthetics I, and CIVE 730/731 - Experimental Soil Mechanics, typically as independent studies due to limited class size.
PhD Student Mohammad Balapour Receives NSF Internship 
By Dr. Yaghoob "Amir" Farnam
Mohammad Balapour, a PhD candidate in civil engineering, has been awarded a NSF Internship with funding of $55,000 to visit Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for six months. This grant will provide Mohammad with the opportunity to augment his research assistantship with non-academic research internship activities and training opportunities that will complement his academic research training. It will also allow him to pursue new activities aimed at acquiring professional development experience that will enhance his preparation for multiple career pathways after graduation. Mohammad will be working in the Building Technologies program at ORNL focusing on conducting research on building envelopes, a program managed by Dr. Diana Hun. Mohammad will be specifically involved in the following tasks:

1- He will investigate the usability of the CCA-based LWA developed at Drexel University for the production of lightweight precast concrete envelopes to improve their thermal and sound insulation. ORNL possesses large-scale experimental facilities enabling him to perform scale-up works to industrialize the NSF- Partnership For Innovation (PFI) research.

2- The mixture optimization for high-performance concrete can be performed from the thermodynamic modellng perspective. In this regard, Mohammad’s knowledge in the field of thermodynamic modeling will be employed to develop phase diagrams showing the formed phases corresponding to each mixture. Therefore, based on this predictive modeling method, the performance of each mixture can be assessed and compared with one another to achieve a high-performance mixture.

3- Mohammad will be working on evaluating the carbon footprint of developed concrete using supplementary cementitious materials and CCA-based LWA by applying life-cycle assessment (LCA) tool.

This internship allows Mohammad to practice and apply the acquired technical knowledge during his PhD research to explore industrial problem solving at the industrial level. ORNL will provide him a unique opportunity to expand his network and be exposed to projects beyond what he does at Drexel. Moreover, this internship will enable Mohammad to work and be exposed to national projects brought to ORNL from industrial organizations.
In Memoriam: Alden Hoke
Alden Hoke, a third year student in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, passed away unexpectedly on May 26, 2020, of a pulmonary embolism. He was 21 years old.

Alden was in the BS/MS program for Civil Engineering and was a recipient of the Freeman Award for Study in Asia. Alden used this scholarship award to study in Singapore in Fall 2018. 
 
In honor of Alden and in recognition of his high cumulative GPA and completion of substantial coursework, he will be awarded a posthumous degree. The University has spoken with Alden's mother, Amy, and his brother Chad, who shared how much Alden loved Drexel and all of his experiences on campus and in Philadelphia. We share in their mourning and offer our deepest condolences from our college family to theirs. A ceremony and tree planting will take place in his honor on Drexel's campus in the spring term of 2021.
Student News
Environmental engineering PhD student Brian Bermann (Waring and Capps Research Group), in recognition of his academic excellence and professionalism, was awarded the Jacqueline Shields Memorial Scholarship in the amount of a $4000.00 for the 2020-21 academic year.  This designation was given to recognize his exceptional work in waste management research and study.
Environmental engineering PhD student Congmeng "Trammell" Lyu (Capps Research Group), in recognition of his academic excellence and professionalism, was awarded the Air Pollution Control and Waste Minimization Research Scholarship in the amount of $2,500 for his research on the health impacts of air pollution emissions and inverse modeling.
BS/MS (Chemical/ Engineering/Environmental Engineering) student Maddie Pelchat received a Tau Beta Pi scholarship in the amount of $2,000 for the 2020-2021 academic year.

The Tau Beta Pi Association Scholarship Program was established in 1998 with five awards named in honor of former Emeritus R.H. Nagel. Awards have been made to more than 2,798 Scholars for their senior year of engineering study. 
Environmental engineering PhD candidate Dienye Tolofari, under the advisement of Dr. Patrick Gurian, received the 2020 Dave Caldwell scholarship offered by Brown and Caldwell in partnership with the American Water Works Association (AWWA). She was awarded $5,000 for her research in water quality in premise plumbing and was also featured in the Pennsylvania AWWA section website celebrating the award. The article can be found using the following link. https://www.paawwa.org/awwa-water-equation-news-two-pennsylvania-students-received-corporate-scholarships-congratulations-andrew-pogue-and-dienye-tolafari/
Architectural engineering student Ethan Yen received a Gilman Scholarship for study abroad in South Korea in fall 2021.

The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program supports undergraduates studying and interning abroad in a diverse array of countries and world regions. Scholars are selected for their academic preparedness, diversity of background and experience, connection of their program to their academic and professional goals, and plans for impacting their community upon return to the U.S.