Summer 2019

Department Newsletter

First Year of Eureka! a Smashing Success By Simi Hoque, Associate Professor

This summer, during the month of July, the College of Engineering hosted a STEM program for middle school girls called Eureka! This was the first year of this exciting civic engagement program, and every summer, we will engage underserved girls from Philadelphia and South Jersey for a month of education, self-growth, sports, and experiential learning. Eureka is co-sponsored by the non-profit organization Girls Inc. of Philadelphia, and its goal is to broaden STEM learning among local girls who are just beginning to set their career goals. Supportive STEM education is crucial to help mitigate the attrition of girls in STEM subjects. The Drexel Eureka! scholars are recruited from poor and marginalized communities that cannot meet their educational needs. Many are at a high risk of disengagement despite their pronounced abilities. Over 50 volunteer instructors drawn from across the Drexel campus, including professors, graduate and undergraduate students, and staff, worked with the girls this summer to provide them with exciting and enriching STEM experiences. The Eureka! program requires a five-year commitment so that the girls – from diverse cultural, economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds – participate from 8 th grade through high school graduation. This is important because studies show that girls in secondary school experience a decline in STEM-content interest. Early interventions are essential, and particularly effective. The College of Engineering and in particular, the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering (CAEE), were responsible for organizing, developing, and managing the Eureka! curriculum and instruction, as well as lab reservations, field trips, planning, logistics, documentation, and programming for each cohort of 30+ girls. This expansive, time-intensive initiative is led by CAEE Assistant Director of Outreach and Development, Kim Spina, and Associate Professor of Architectural Engineering, Simi Hoque. The College’s support for this valuable program was also an important part of the success of the program, and the purchase of iPads used by the girls as electronic portfolios is an investment in the long-term evaluation and continued development of the Eureka! curriculum.

Steel Bridge Team Wins First Place in Lightness and Second Place Overall at National Finals Competition  By Kevin Robinson and Mark Kraidman, Co-Captains, Steel Bridge Team Drexel University’s Steel Bridge Team, after months of preparation and hard work, from design to fabrication, competed in the annual Student Steel Bridge Competition (SSBC), sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Drexel’s team was successful in coming home with an award for First Place in Lightness , as well as Second Place Overall at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Competition (MAR). With the accomplishment of coming in second place regionally came an invitation to compete in the SSBC – National Finals hosted by the Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois in late-May. This makes 2019 the third year since 2016 that Drexel has been invited to the National Finals. After making their way to Illinois, the team competed with the first and second place teams of each region. With about 43 teams participating, there was enough competition to fill the much-anticipated weekend. After much networking, peer-learning, and socializing throughout the weekend, all were sorry to see it end. However, Drexel’s Steel Bridge Team was able to return home to Philadelphia with an award for First Place in Lightness in the country. The bridge weighed in at 159 pounds and was able to hold the mandatory weight of 2,500 pounds, well enough to secure them a spot of 18th Overall in the country. Drexel’s team is happy to be featured in the August 2019 edition of Modern Steel Magazine, as well as in AISC’s summary video of this past year’s National Finals. Due to the team’s success, as well as the team’s motto, printed largely on their shirts for the past two years, "Bridge is Life," the team is also proudly featured on AISC social media accounts and AISC Steel Bridge PowerPoint presentations. The team has already spent over 80 man hours fabricating connections and await the 2020 SSBC Rules and Specifications, which should be released in late-August. For more photos and team updates, please follow on Instagram: @drexelsteelbridge

CAEE Student Nguyen a Double Scholarship Winner By Wendy Plump, CoE Staff Writer Joan Nguyen, a second-year BS/MS student in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, has been awarded the prestigious Freeman-ASIA Scholarship, and a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. She will be studying at Seoul National University this fall. Read More

Student Awards Xiangang "Frances" Lai  (pictured left), a PhD student in civil engineering, was selected as a recipient of the $750 International Travel Award from the Office of Global Engagement and Education Abroad to attend the 8th International Conference on Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures (EVACES-8) in Nanjing, China this September.

Congmeng "Trammell" Lyu  (pictured right), a PhD student in environmental engineering, was selected as a recipient of an early career student grant for domestic travel and lodging for the Frontiers of Atmospheric Science and Chemistry: Integration of Novel Applications and Technological Endeavors (FASCINATE) workshop in Boulder, Colorado from September 9 - 12, 2019.

Dienye Tolafari  (pictured left), a PhD student in environmental engineering, attended the 2019 American Water Works Association Annual Conference and Exhibition from June 9 - 12, 2019, in Denver, Colorado. While there, Dienye presented a poster on "Determining the Effects of Water Use, Pipe Material, and Pipe Diameter on Chlorine Residual Decay in Building Pipe Systems: An Artificial Neural Network Approach." Dienye won first place for her "lightning" presentation of her work.

Md Rasheduzzaman  (pictured right), a PhD student in environmental engineering, won the Drexel Graduate College's Research Excellence Award for a pre-candidacy student on May 30, 2019. Research Excellence Awards are presented to graduate students who have completed original, innovative research, scholarship and/or creativity during their career at Drexel. The awards are designed to recognize widely disseminated student research with significant impact on the field or society.