Another in the series.

1. Systems Engineering
A Network of
International Alliances
in Research &
Education
2
Maritime Domain
Awareness
9
CHARLES V. SCHAEFER, JR. SCHOOL OF ENGINEERINGCHARLES V. SCHAEFER, JR. SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP IN ENGINEERING
INFOCUS
Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering
Stevens Institute of Technology
Castle Point on Hudson
Hoboken, N.J. 07030
Phone 201.216.5263
Fax 201.216.8909
www.soe.stevens.edu
SSOE
SSSOE
10 Engineering
Our Future N.J.
SPRING 2006 ISSUE
VOLUME 4
11 The Green Bullet
U.S. - Greek Alliance:
Protecting and Restoring the Environment
The mission of the conference is to:
• Exchange information, experiences and
achievements in environmental protection.
• Evaluate current applied technologies and
innovative ideas for the protection of the
environment.
• Identify educational, regulatory and
research issues for environmental
protection.
• Advance research that leads to sustainable
growth through industrial ecology, design
for the environment and prudent utiliza-
tion of our natural resources.
Engineering faculty at Stevens’ Center for
Environmental Systems (CES) played a key
role in the creation and organization of the
conference, which originally focused on
promoting environmental awareness unique
to Greece and its industry. Over the years,
the conference has expanded its scope to
advance environmental issues worldwide
through information exchange and fostering
collaboration beyond country boundaries.
"Stevens is presented with a unique oppor-
tunity to showcase its environmental tech-
nology and research, and promote its visi-
bility at an international level," remarked
Dr. Christos Christodoulatos, CES Director.
Each conference is organized by Stevens
Institute of Technology and a partnering
Greek University such as the Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki, the University of
Patras, the Technical University of Crete, the
Democritus University of Thrace and the
University of Thessaly.
The upcoming Conference in cooperation with the Technical University of Crete will
be held on July 3-7, 2006 in the idyllic port city of Chania on the beautiful island of
Crete. It will focus on the following topics: Groundwater and Soil Remediation;
Management andTreatment of Solid, Liquid and Gaseous Wastes; Waste Minimization
and Pollution Prevention; Protection and Restoration of the Coastal Environment;
Water Resources Engineering and Management; Renewable Energy Resources -
Sustainable Development; Fate and Transport of Pollutants in the Environment;
Ecotoxicology; Environmental Impact Assessment and Risk Analysis; Global Climate
Change; Atmospheric Pollution and Control Technology; Environmental Legislation
and Policy; and Mathematical Modeling and Systems Analysis.
For more information, please visit: http://www.pre8.enveng.tuc.gr
Started in the United States in 1992 by a group of Greek and Greek-American scientists and
engineers, the Protection and Restoration of the Environment Conference is a biennial meet-
ing that offers an important international forum for the dissemination of scientific research
and application studies by engineers and scientists on global environmental topics. With
more than 250 international participants and exhibitors attracting environmental scientists,
engineers, technology implementers and users, as well as policymakers from around the
globe, the conference has become world-renowned for its contributions to the creation of a
sustainable environment.
Global
Pharmaceutical
Collaboration
8

2. SPRING 2006 ISSUE
VOLUME 4
C H A R L E S V. S C H A E F E R , J R . S C H O O L O F E N G I N E E R I N G
Systems Engineering
A Network of International Alliances
in Research and Education
Responding to the Impact of Globalization
New Enterprises
Global Pharmaceutical Collaboration
Maritime Domain Awareness
Engineering Our Future N.J.
The Green Bullet: Investigating Fate,Transport
and Toxicity of Tungsten Alloys
SSoE Students
Samuel Eichner
SPOC: Tools for a Revolution in Pain Management
2005 Regional Champs Gear Up for 2006 National Competition
Academic Sparring -
The 9th Annual College Bowl
Reconfigurable Platforms at the
Embedded Systems and Robotics Lab
SSoE Heritage
John Hovey ‘57
Jim Lloyd ‘70
Stevens Welcomes Three Alumni as New Board Trustees
SSoE Faculty
Faculty News
New Arrivals
2
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
14
15
16
16
17
18
20
CONTENTS
FEATURES
INFOCUS
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Dean George P. Korfiatis
CONSULTING Patrick A. Berzinski
EDITORS Stephanie Mannino
MANAGING EDITOR Christine del Rosario
CONTRIBUTORS Dr. Richard Berkof
Patrick A. Berzinski
Dr. Ronald Besser
Dr. Alan Blumberg
Dr. Leslie Brunell
Samuel Eichner
Dr. Hamid Hadim
Stephanie Mannino
Beth McGrath
Dr. Mike Pennotti
Dr. Keith Sheppard
Dr. Dinesh Verma
PHOTOGRAPHERS Jim Cummins
Christine del Rosario
Samuel Eichner
Jan Nazalewicz
Special thanks to
the Stevens Alumni Association
EXECUTIVE
ADMINISTRATOR Marta Cimillo
GRAPHIC DESIGN KMG
Graphic Design Studio
www.soe.stevens.edu
© 2006 Charles V. Schaefer,
Jr. School of Engineering
INFOCUS
SSOE
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
IN ENGINEERING
The question of how U.S. engineering schools can maintain global
leadership remains at the center of formal and informal discussions
within academic circles.
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I hope this issue of InFocus finds you well.
Today, every leader in our academic community
is focused on how globalization will shape the
future of engineering education. At its most
fundamental level, globalization is the restructur-
ing and redistribution of the processes that drive
technology development and use, the production
of goods and the delivery of services in the global
economy. Engineering is a major enabler of such
restructuring. We saw the trends in the early
1990s and are fascinated by the rate of change in
the global economic picture ten years later. The
question of how U.S. engineering schools can
maintain global leadership remains at the center
of formal and informal discussions within academ-
ic circles. Although a well-defined national
strategic framework of global competitiveness in
engineering education has not been solidified yet,
U.S. universities have accelerated substantially
their global outreach and presence. The landmark
report of the National Academies Committee on
Science, Engineering and Public Policy, Rising
Above the Gathering Storm, illustrates the
problem and provides a comprehensive set of
recommendations for action. The President’s
American Competitiveness Initiative, promising to
double R&D funding in the physical sciences and
engineering over the next ten years starting with FY ‘07,
is the first step in shoring the foundations of future eco-
nomic growth. Much more needs to be done. Everyone is
responsible and everyone must be accountable. This
includes the federal government as well as state and
local governments and the private sector.
InFocus 2006 reports several related initiatives
undertaken by the Schaefer School of Engineering.
At the heart of our activities is the development and
sustainment of an educational environment that prepares
our graduates to become leaders in the global economy
of the future. Inventiveness, creativity and entrepreneur-
ship, as well as an understanding of the forces that shape
the global economy, are among the prevailing principles
of that environment. International outreach through
partnerships with other academic institutions and
multi-national companies and industries are expanding
our global footprint and making an impact on
engineering education worldwide.
As always, your input and comments are welcome.
My Best Regards,
Dean George P. Korfiatis
DEAN
GEORGE P.
KORFIATIS

3. Explosive Growth
In January 2001, the first SE modular course, Fundamentals of Systems
Engineering, was conducted in partnership with the Office of Secretary of Defense
and Lockheed Martin MS2 at the Defense Acquisition University in Ft. Belvoir,
Virginia. Then, during the summer of 2001, the first regional course was sponsored
by ITT in Clifton, N.J., followed by the first on-campus course that fall. In 2003, the
first private online course was sponsored by IBM Global Services and the first pub-
lic online course was offered via Stevens’ WebCampus Program.
Since its inception, the SDOE Program at Stevens has grown significantly with four
times as many students in 2005 as there were in 2002. The growth has been fueled
by an ever-growing number of industry partners who are seeking systems engineer-
ing knowledge and training. Strong industrial and government alliances have been
forged with NASA, NSA, FAA, US Army (ARDEC – Picatinny), Lockheed Martin MS2,
Sandia National Laboratories, L-3 Communications, IBM, BAE Systems, General
Dynamics, ITT, NAVAIR, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, ANSER – Homeland Security
Institute, Air Force Institute of Technology and the Defense Acquisition University.
In parallel to its revenue growth, Stevens has continually invested in new courses
and faculty. Tenured and tenure track SE faculty have doubled since 2001.
Dr. George P. Korfiatis, Dean of Engineering, explained, "Systems engineering has
been identified as one of the three ‘core’ strengths within the School of Engineering
and a key investment area in the coming years." Accordingly, total faculty including
tenured and tenure track, full-time research and instructional faculty, guest lectur-
ers, and online facilitators have increased nearly six-fold.
32
Today, systems engineering is more important than ever. Systems are becoming increasingly complex and failures, from
automobile malfunctions to the crash of a spacecraft on a distant planet, are much more likely to result from unforeseen inter-
actions between components than from the failure of a single part. In addition, highly interconnected systems, such as, the
Internet offer the promise of new, emergent behavior that may provide unforeseen benefits in the future. For this reason,
systems engineers are in high demand and the need for effective education and research in SE has never been greater.
To address these needs, the System Design and Operational Effectiveness (SDOE) Program was conceived in 1999 and devel-
oped under the Systems Engineering and Engineering Management (SEEM) Department of the Schaefer School of Engineering
at Stevens Institute of Technology. The SDOE Program was designed to fulfill the needs of practicing engineers for continuing
education that is both relevant to their work and academically rigorous. The program offers four-course graduate certificates in
Systems Engineering and Architecting, Systems and Supportability Engineering, Agile Systems Engineering and Design, Value
Chain Enterprise Systems, and Systems Engineering Management. Certificates may be applied toward a full 30-credit master’s
degree and a doctorate. The program also features flexible delivery formats to allow students to integrate courses into their
busy personal and professional lives. Courses are offered in a popular one-week modular format and a thirteen-week online
format, as well as in traditional semester-based classes. When necessary, special formats have been developed to meet the
needs of particular clients or sponsoring organizations.
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
A NETWORK OF INTERNATIONAL
ALLIANCES IN RESEARCH & EDUCATION
Systems engineering (SE) is an interdisciplinary approach to the
design and integration of complex systems that focuses on the
interfaces and interrelationships between the components of a
system, not just the components themselves. SE first emerged in
the telecommunications industry of the 1940s and was stimulated
by the challenge of developing sophisticated weapon systems for
World War II. Following the war, the discipline began to be for-
malized and, during the 1950s, academic programs appeared at
MIT and elsewhere. The new field found almost immediate appli-
cation in the U.S. space program. The success of the Apollo
Project in putting a man on the moon is often cited as the ultimate
SE triumph.
By Dr. Dinesh Verma
Professor and Associate
Dean for Outreach, Schaefer
School of Engineering
And Dr. Mike Pennotti
Industry Professor and
Director, SDOE Program
Stevens’ Open Academic Model
One of the philosophical values driving
this growth is Stevens’ Open Academic
Model. Based on an underlying notion of
partnership and collaboration, this strate-
gy has resulted in an expanding global
network of educational and research
relationships.
Partnerships in Europe
From the beginning, the growth of the
SDOE Program outside the U.S. owed
much of its success to the SDOE
Ambassadors, partners who represent
Stevens’ SE programs all over the world.
These SE partnerships based on the Open
Academic Model have flourished in the
Nordic Region – home of Stevens’
Scandinavian
Summer School.
Focused on
system opera-
tional effective-
ness, this school
became the first
international
collaboration
with Syntell, AB,
based in
Stockholm, Sweden. Conceived by Dr.
Verma of Stevens and Mr.Tom
Strandberg,Technical Director of Syntell,
AB, and SDOE Ambassador, it is set up to
bring the latest thinking in systems engi-
neering and architecting to industry and
academia in Europe. Initially, the school
was held at locations in Norway, Finland
and Sweden, on a rotating basis. For the
past three years, school organizers have
settled on the Swedish Island of Utö in
the Stockholm Archipelago. Located in a
bucolic environment that stresses
complete immersion in the course, the
1. Promote meaningful alliances with academic partners to develop and leverage
"best of breed" thinking and competencies in research and instructional initiatives,
leading to the greatest benefit for both students and sponsors. These alliances are
essential to developing more consistent standardized terminology and processes
within the SE discipline; providing greater stability and credibility within academia.
2. Blur the boundary between the academic setting and the industry/government
reality by:
I. Offering a fresh perspective to industry and government in an executable
form – a specific method, tool, heuristic or template.
II. Bringing the industry and government reality into academia in a research-
able or usable form – a problem statement, a specific challenge, guest
instructors, heuristics and case studies.
The Open Academic Model:
Dr. Pennotti, Dr. Verma,
Ms. Line Johannesen and
Mr.Tom Strandberg on the
Island of Utö
continued on next page
www.stevens.edu/sdoe
"Stevens Institute is a leader in addressing the
changing needs of our Systems Engineers."
Mary D. VanLeer
Director,
Engineering Excellence, Sun Microsystems
"Stevens’ Fundamentals of Systems
Engineering provided me a framework in
which to better communicate, understand and
interpret the requirements of my customers,
employees and peers."
Basilyn D. Bunting
Acting Program Director,
William J. Hughes Technical Center, FAA
"Attending Stevens’ Systems Engineering
programs on a remote basis through web-
based SDOE courses is not only very efficient,
it gives our experienced senior engineers an
opportunity to become lead engineers."
Anders Karlsson
Senior Engineer,
Volvo
"Stevens has partnered with us to deliver
superior systems engineering education with a
commercial orientation."
Paul R. Popick
PMP SEA Business Area Manager,
IBM
"The level of research out of SDOE is world
class and directly applicable to the challenges
of industry and government."
Ralph G. Giffin, III
Vice President,
Lockheed Martin

4. SDOE Ph.D. Candidate: Eirik Hole
Oslo, Norway
Mr. Hole earned a mas-
ters in aerospace engi-
neering from the
University of Stuttgart,
Germany. And he has
worked for the
Kongsberg Defense and
Aerospace, Norway and several German
companies including MTU Aero Engines,
UGS PLM Solutions and HOOD GmbH.
1. How did you become interested in
Systems Engineering? Why Stevens?
My background is in aerospace engineer-
ing and I have worked as a systems engi-
neer on a couple of military aerospace
projects in Europe. My interest in systems
engineering was probably latent. I have
always been interested in performance
and behavior on a systems level rather
than the details of the technologies and
the designs of individual components.
My first employer sent me to a short
course in systems engineering and from
that point on, I was hooked.
After some years in the defense industry,
I started working as a consultant, imple-
menting SE methods and tools in a vari-
ety of industries. I soon observed similar
patterns and problems and started to get
the urge to take some time off to explore
this further. A former colleague of mine
was pursuing his M.S. in SE in the SDOE
Program and pointed me to Stevens and to Dr. Verma. The enthusiasm, momentum and
flexibility of the SDOE Program persuaded me to depart from my original plan of a gradu-
ate certificate or M.Sc., and pursue a Ph.D.
2. Please explain your research and its real-world application? My research is on the role
of system architectures and how the architecting of systems plays in enterprises that get
their revenue from developing and marketing technical products and systems. More
specifically, I look at how the management of architectural knowledge affects an enter-
prise's ability to react effectively and efficiently to significant changes in the marketplace
or in the available technologies. The purpose is to give industry tools to increase their
capability to react to such changes in a purposeful and constructive way.
3. What inspired the creation of the Architecture Forum? The knowledge of architecting
systems resides mainly with practitioners in the trenches of industry. The main motiva-
tion for the Architecture Forum was to give practicing system architects a venue to
exchange experiences and practices and to establish a benchmark. The other objective
was to help ESI and Stevens capture and codify the knowledge that is exchanged and
make it generally available.
The great thing about the forum is that it brings together architects from diverse indus-
tries and different nations. This has fantastic potential for cross-fertilization between com-
mercial and government oriented industries, as well as between different cultures.
4. What do you see are the challenges and future of SE architecture research and collabo-
ration? In my view, the immediate challenge for system architecting research is to estab-
lish a solid scientific foundation. System architecting is currently based on heuristics, per-
sonal and general experience, and methods that are proprietary to every organization. To
advance this discipline, industry and academia need a common foundation and glossary
to enable more efficient collaboration.
System architectures and the skills and capability to develop, implement and manage
them are critical for success in an increasingly dynamic industrial, commercial, technologi-
cal and political environment. They provide a key "roadmap" to tie together opportunities
(or threats) with the technical, procedural and organizational solutions to address them.
school is a six-day experience, compris-
ing approximately 60 hours of classroom
time, project work and group activities.
The program emphasizes the application
of SE and architecting methods and prac-
tices. Now, in its eighth year, the school
has approximately 200 graduates in the
Nordic region.
Based on the success of the Scandinavian
Summer School, a formal alliance with
Växjö University in Sweden was champi-
oned by Anders Karlsson, Project
Manager with VOLVO Construction
Equipment and was signed by Dean
Korfiatis of Stevens and Dean Rask of
Växjö on September 29,
2004 in Hoboken, N.J.
Adopting the Open
Academic Model, this
alliance takes advan-
tage of the enormous
opportunities available through collabo-
rative research and faculty/student
exchanges
while bring-
ing the sys-
tem engineer-
ing needs of
local Heavy
Vehicle R&D
companies
into the fore-
front. Its con-
tinuing suc-
cess reflects
the emerging strength of academia to
identify, research and transfer SE knowl-
edge to industry.
Stevens’ Open Academic Model is contin-
ually ratified by the increasing number of
similar academic alliances being formu-
lated across Europe. For instance,
Buskerud University College in
Kongsberg, Norway is working with
Stevens to deliver live SE courses and a
master’s degree. Through the agreement,
Buskerud students
will earn a master’s
degree directly from
Stevens until 2008
while Buskerud
builds its SE pro-
gram. After 2008, Stevens will continue
teaching the core set of SE courses while
students earn the degree from Buskerud.
On January 27, 2006, Dean
Korfiatis and President Kristin
Ørmen Johnsen of Buskerud
signed the agreement in Norway.
Similar to Växjö, this agreement is
sponsored by five companies in
Norway: the Kongsberg Group,
Kongsberg Automotive, FMC
Kongsberg Offshore Systems,
Volvo Aero - Jet Engine Division and
Dresser Rand - Industrial Gasturbine
Division. This new alliance adds to the
growing worldwide network of collabora-
tive SE educational and research institu-
tions. While future alliances with univer-
sities such as the Technical University in
Delft, Holland are being discussed, doc-
toral level student exchanges are already
taking place to enrich the experiences of
the students and invigorate SE research.
Benefiting both students and sponsors,
SE research is also gaining momentum
5
SYSTEMS Engineering...continued from page 3
Dean Korfiatis and Dean Rask
signing the agreement between
Stevens and Växjö
SDOE Ambassadors:
Scandinavian Region
• Mr.Tom Strandberg,
tom.strandberg@syntell.se
• Ms. Line Johannesen,
line.h.johannesen@kongsberg.com
Iberian Peninsula
• Mr. Alberto Sols,
alberto.sols@electroop.es
Indian Sub-continent
• Dr. Dinesh Kumar,
dkumar1@stevens.edu
Ph.D. Exchange Student: Ingar Malmgren
Gothenburg, Sweden
Ingar Malmgren is a Ph.D.
candidate in the
Department of Shipping
and Marine Technology at
Chalmers University of
Technology.
1. How did you hear
about Systems Engineering at Stevens?
My colleague attended a course in systems
engineering organized by Stevens in the
summer 2001 and I met Dinesh Verma six
months later. The Swedish INCOSE division
is very active, so I regularly got news about
what was going on at Stevens.
In Sweden, systems engineering is not
developed as a separate subject but is more
integrated into different disciplines such as
product development, computer science
and environmental engineering. Therefore,
it was very interesting to see active research
on SE methodology at a general level
beyond just adapting it to different domain
specific situations. But I can see a change in
Sweden; SE is getting more recognized both
in industry and at the universities.
2. What attracted you to Stevens? Stevens
has a very good reputation in SE research
and education. Here, I was able to take
classes in different subjects and proceed
with my research. Stevens also has interest-
ing research in the area of ship design.
I saw a lot of synergies between Stevens
and my department at Chalmers, which
implements SE methodology in ship design.
I also really liked Hoboken. There is some-
thing special about a city dominated by an
old university. There is such a nice atmos-
phere. It is small, has a lot of cafes and
bars, and is close to NewYork City.
3. What was your experience at Stevens and
how will it support your doctoral studies?
I’ve learned a lot both from the lectures and
from my social life here at Stevens. I think
it is very important to interact international-
ly in research; it gives new perspectives and
a valuable network. The systems engineer-
ing classes I took gave me a lot of input for
my thesis. I think the systems engineering
methodology is very beneficial to sort out
complex issues. Logistic systems hold ele-
ments from both social science and technol-
ogy and the methodology employed must
be able to deal with this duality.
2006 International
Architecture Forum
Participating organizations should under-
stand the value of systems architecting
and have a clear intent to improve their
practices. They should also consider them-
selves non-competing to the extent that it
will not impede an open and constructive
exchange of ideas.
Participating individuals should be experi-
enced architects at a system/product level.
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Eirik Hole (U.S.) at ehole@stevens.edu
or Mr. Gerrit Muller (Europe) at
gerrit.muller@embeddedsystems.nl.
4
Anders Karlsson,VOLVO Articulated Haulers,
Line Holm Johannesen, Kongsberg Defense and
Aerospace, Norway and Dr.Verma on a tour at
Volvo Articulated Haulers in Sweden.
4. What are your future plans in SE?
We have recently made a major reorganiza-
tion of my department and will put an even
stronger emphasis on systems engineer-
ing. In this process, I hope my experience
here and my contacts at Stevens will be of
good use.
Next year, I hope to finish my Ph.D. thesis
with the preliminary title Logistic-Based
Innovation in Ship Design. After that, I’m
looking forward to applying these ideas in
industry. New product development is a
very interesting and challenging area so,
we’ll see, maybe that’s where I’ll end up.
Regardless, I’m sure that I will make good
use of my SE knowledge. That’s what is so
fascinating about it; the generality of the
basic concepts gives me so many
opportunities!
Dean Korfiatis and President Johnsen
in Norway
from collaboration with the Embedded
Systems Institute (ESI) in Eindhoven,
Holland, where Dr. Verma is a Scientific
Advisor. ESI is a leader of embedded
systems in Europe with robust sponsor-
ship from a number of high-technology
Dutch companies, including Philips
Medical Systems, Philips Research, FEI,
ASML, and Oce.
Recently, Stevens and ESI cooperated in
founding the International Architecture
Forum. Meeting twice a year, alternately
in Europe and in the U.S., each forum
will be hosted by a participating compa-
ny and organized by ESI and Stevens.
As a result of the efforts of Dr. Gerrit
Muller at ESI and Mr. Eirik Hole at
Stevens, the first forum was held in
Helsinki on October 4 and 5, 2005, at the
NOKIA Research Center. The meeting
emphasized practical systems architect-
ing and the application of architectural
information and knowledge. Its objec-
tive was to provide a venue for the
exchange of practical experience in the
realm of development, implementation
and management of system and enter-
prise architectures. It also provided a
platform for the exchange of ideas for
The first International Architecture Forum,
Dr. Gerrit Muller (standing, third from left)
continued on next page
Dean Korfiatis, Christopher Carlsen ‘05, Senior
System Engineer, FMCTechnologies, Dr.Verma and
Dean Rolf Qvenild of Buskerud
www.stevens.edu/sdoe/international

5. 76
The engineering profession has seen dra-
matic changes in recent years, many
driven by the effects of globalization. The
more obvious examples include the out-
sourcing of information technology jobs,
especially to Asia, and the off shoring of
a broad swath of manufacturing activities
that have traditionally represented major
sources of employment for engineering
graduates. Multi-national companies
increasingly are expanding their design
as well as research and development
functions internationally to take advan-
tage of lower cost; local integration with
manufacturing facilities, markets and
supply chains; and to leverage time
zones to reduce design and development
cycle times. Concurrent with these
changes, businesses have significantly
restructured their organizational methods
to emphasize flatter more agile structures
with an emphasis on multi-disciplinary
teams, often working internationally.
As a result of these changes, the engi-
neering graduate is emerging into a very
different work world than a generation
ago. It demands that they possess not
only strong technical skills as a given,
but also a range of other skills and
attitudes.
Stevens is well placed to respond to the
challenge. The broad-based Stevens
engineering curriculum has a proven
record since 1871 in preparing students
to be successful beyond the confines of a
narrow technical discipline. The curricu-
lum has further evolved to respond to
the increased workplace demands for
stronger "soft" skills such as teaming,
communications, problem solving, man-
agement, etc. In this regard, our unique
Design Spine, a core design sequence
running through all four years, has been
a primary vehicle.
In the Fall of 2005, we began implement-
ing further modifications to the curricu-
lum to address the globalization chal-
lenge. The Design Spine has been
revised to further strengthen the devel-
opment of multidisciplinary teamwork
skills and also foster creativity. A new
emphasis on systems thinking from the
freshman year onward has been intro-
duced to reflect the reality of the engi-
neering enterprise as it has moved away
from isolated disciplinary functions to a
holistic integration that addresses the
full life cycle for a product, process or
service.
The curriculum is also evolving to
embrace the concepts embodied in the
strategic direction of the Institute that has
been labeled Technogenesis. Please visit:
www.stevens.edu/iti/Technogenesis
At the undergraduate level, this involves
introducing elements that promote a
more entrepreneurial mindset in all stu-
dents, as well as providing them with
more opportunities to learn about entre-
preneurship. The initiative also encour-
ages students to engage in faculty-men-
tored projects that have the potential to
generate intellectual property and also
support students developing their own
entrepreneurial ideas. This new direction
is seen as a key enabler to success in the
new workplace paradigm.
In addressing the globalization challenge,
international experience is highly desir-
able to develop cultural awareness and
broaden perspective. The demands of
engineering curricula tend to run counter
to the facilitation of international experi-
ences. It is usually a challenge to provide
transfer credit that will enable a student
to stay on track without overloading.
That coupled with a lack of language
skills and a predisposition against an
international experience account for the
very low participation of engineering
undergraduates nationally.
The recent changes to the core curricu-
lum, now, provide for up to six credits
that can be applied to international expe-
riences that meet program educational
outcomes in addition to traditional
course transfer credits from study
abroad. Thus, a student has a far
stronger prospect of being able to com-
plete a study abroad period without
increasing time toward a degree. This
change coupled with a strong new focus
on international programs will go a long
way to encourage Stevens’ students to
participate in study and work abroad.
We have also been aggressively expand-
ing our international agreements. New
partnerships in the following cities will
benefit undergraduates: Växjö, Sweden;
London, England; Istanbul, Turkey;
Buskerud, Norway; Beijing, China and
Dublin, Ireland. These complement exist-
ing consortia arrangements in Limerick,
Ireland; Madrid, Spain and Sydney,
Australia, together with previous infor-
mal arrangements in Rome, Italy;
Innsbruck, Austria; Tel Aviv, Israel and
Monterrey, Mexico, among others.
An additional component of international
experience being explored within the
Design Spine is an initiative to engage
students in international virtual design
teams that emulate the real-world para-
digm. This initiative can provide an
enhanced experience for those students
who have already interacted with their
foreign design partners during
study/work abroad. It can also engage
other students, exposing them to the
challenges of international teamwork and
hopefully also encourage them to spend
a broadening period overseas. s
Responding to
the Impact of
Globalization By Dr. Keith Sheppard
Associate Dean of Engineering
improved practices, as well as the goal-oriented use of architectural knowledge and
information in different life cycle phases and enterprise functions.
Collaborations in the Indian Sub-continent
The SDOE Program has also begun building bridges into Asia through the efforts of
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Professor at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Calcutta
and SDOE Ambassador. He has been instrumental in the development and expan-
sion of SDOE’s Indian Winter Schools that have been held in Bangalore, India.
Through this mechanism, relationships have developed with the faculty at the
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in
Bombay. While a more formal agreement
between Stevens, IIT Bombay, and the
National Aerospace Laboratories is under
discussion, SDOE fully expects to expand
and diversify its partnerships in Asia
throughout the upcoming months and
years. As part of this endeavor, Mr.
Devanandham Henry has been chosen by
IIT Bombay to be their first doctoral candi-
date in systems engineering. As a full-time
graduate student at Stevens, he will begin
his studies in the Fall of 2006.
The SDOE Program’s international outreach
strategy with a particular emphasis on sys-
tems engineering is not accidental. Through
the Open Academic Model, it has estab-
lished a strong network of educational institutions and industrial partners who have
a stake in systems engineering education and research. In the global environment
that we live in, and due to the nature of necessary complex systems that do not
observe national boundaries, cultures or languages, any program seeking to estab-
lish its pre-eminence in systems engineering requires such a strategy. While SDOE
continues to strengthen its network of collaborators, partners and sponsors in the
United States, equal vigilance has been given to exploring and pursuing all such
opportunities on the global stage. s
Visiting Research Scholar:
Dr. Dinesh Kumar
Calcutta Indian Institute of Management, India
Dr. Kumar has been
researching systems
engineering for more
than ten years and has
written over 50 research
articles and two books
in the areas of reliabili-
ty, maintainability and
supportability.
He is currently at
Stevens on a year-long
sabbatical and engaged in collaborative
research with Dr. José Marquéz and Dr.
David Nowicki in the SEEM Department.
1. What is the mission of the Indian Winter
School and what impact will it have on edu-
cation in India? We have had three winter
schools on systems engineering whose
objective is to provide in-depth knowledge
in various concepts of systems engineering
for decision-makers, scientists, engineers,
and project leaders in Indian companies.
Case studies were prepared from an Indian
context and it was a unique experience, not
just for the students who attended these
winter schools but also for the instructors.
Due to the popularity of the school, systems
engineering was included as one of the
modules in the training program of scien-
tists recruited by the Defense Research and
Development Laboratory (DRDO). Every
year, DRDO recruits more than 400 scien-
tists. Now, all of them go through a sys-
tems engineering training program.
2. Why India? Why Stevens? India is one of
the largest growing economies in the world
and it is a primary destination for all kinds
of outsourcing. This makes India an attrac-
tive destination for systems engineering
education and research. And Stevens is
without any doubt the leader in systems
engineering research and teaching.
3. What SE research is focused in India?
Most of the research in India is focused
around design optimization, reliability and
supply chain management. I would like to
see more research in system architecture
and system integration. Collaboration
between Indian Institutes and Stevens will
further strengthen this research in India. I
am sure it will be a win-win proposition.
4. What is the future of SE in India and glob-
ally? SE as a subject is getting popular in
India. More Institutes have started offering
programs in SE. When the projects get big-
ger and bigger, SE is the only option that
program managers can use to manage the
projects. Stevens has an important role to
play in popularizing SE. The success of SE
at Stevens will ultimately decide the future
of SE across the world.
SYSTEMS Engineering...continued from page 5
Businesses have significantly restructured their
organizational methods to emphasize flatter more agile
structures with an emphasis on multi-disciplinary
teams, often working internationally.
Ph.D. Exchange
Student:
Devanandham Henry
Bangalore, India
Mr. Henry has a
bachelor’s degree in
Aeronautical
Engineering from
Madras Institute of
Technology and a master’s in Aerospace
Systems Engineering from the Centre for
Aerospace Systems Design and Engineering
(CASDE) at the Indian Institute of
Technology in Bombay. He has been work-
ing in Bangalore with the Aeronautical
Development Agency for the past nine years.
1.What is your current involvement with
Systems Engineering in India? Currently, I
am associated with the newly formed
Special Interest Group in SE (SIG-SE) at
CASDE in planning and conducting SE activi-
ties for the benefit of the Indian Aerospace
Industry.
2.What are your first impressions of
Stevens? Stevens interacts very well with
industry, which is vital for a discipline like SE
that cannot exist purely within the academic
domain. I am impressed with the wide range
of SE activities and the Stevens’ way of han-
dling SE education & research that has
gained recognition by many. I am very excit-
ed about joining Stevens.
3. In your opinion, what are the strengths
that India and the U.S. offer to SE research?
Why is collaboration so beneficial? SE is the
only way to handle many of today’s complex
multidisciplinary projects. It is also an evolv-
ing discipline with tremendous potential for
research and collaboration. The rich experi-
ence of the U.S. and the brainpower of India
can be a terrific combination. Together, we
can contribute towards the growth of the SE
discipline and put it to effective use, globally
and for mutual benefit.
4.What are your plans after obtaining your
Ph.D. from Stevens? I am interested in
spreading the SE message in India, particu-
larly amongst the Indian Aerospace commu-
nity. I also like teaching. So, I hope to find a
position that would give me a chance to do
these and also continue my association
with Stevens.
Dr. Pennotti (center rear) and Dr. Dinesh Kumar
(front right) with members of the National
Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore

6. Pharmaceutical/health-
care manufacturing facil-
ities are built for a wide
variety of different prod-
ucts, namely bulk pharma-
ceutical chemicals, oral
solid dosage forms, sterile
manufacturing facilities,
biotechnology, oral liquids
and aerosols, and R&D facili-
ties, as well as medical
devices and diagnostic equip-
ment. Although the products
vary, the industry is driven by
consistently strong regulatory
and legal concerns, primarily
because lives are at stake and lia-
bilities for errors can be
enormous.
Technical and regulatory challenges in
these diverse manufacturing facilities
have generated a broad need for edu-
cation. To address the wide range of
educational opportunities, Stevens
Institute of Technology and the
Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT)
in Dublin, Ireland have formulated an
exciting new initiative intended to
make a quantum improvement in
pharmaceutical higher education
around the world.
Dr. Constantin Chassapis and I from
Stevens, along with Drs. Ed Carey
and Adrienne Fleming from ITT,
recognized the importance of edu-
cational collaboration amid this
complex and increasingly global
pharmaceutical economy.
Focused on the needs of the
industry in manufacturing/pro-
duction and technical product
development, including phar-
maceuticals, biotechnology,
medical devices, diagnostics
and personal care product
companies, we co-founded the
International Center for
Pharmaceutical Education
(ICPE).
Based on the strengths of both
Stevens, and ITT’s existing
Pharmaceutical programs, this
Center provides a comprehen-
sive suite of multilevel creden-
tials and qualifications covering
professional certificates, and graduate
and undergraduate degrees. ICPE allows
corporate employees with a wide range
of educational backgrounds to obtain
specialized qualifications for career
development and to improve the per-
formance of the pharmaceutical industry.
Furthermore, course delivery involves a
flexible blended approach involving
online e-learning, practical sessions and
classroom tutorials to meet the time con-
straints of a busy work environment.
Both Stevens and ITT are located in
areas that have high concentrations of
local and global pharmaceutical-related
companies.These companies employ
thousands of engineers, scientists and
related support personnel. Further, the
global pharmaceutical industry includes
manufacturing plants and personnel
around the world, but concentrated in
locations in North America, Europe and
Asia. It is this worldwide industry that
presents an opportunity to provide edu-
cation on many levels.
Other areas of collaboration at ICPE
include: expanding our international
educational partnerships to other coun-
tries, developing international standards
for multilevel pharmaceutical education
and promoting exchange students on an
international basis for hands-on educa-
tion in pharmaceutical companies. For
more information, please contact me at
rberkof@stevens.edu. s
New technologies and systems are under
development to accurately map out and
describe the present and near-future condi-
tions occurring in both our atmospheric and
marine environment. Real-time knowledge,
known as maritime domain awareness
(MDA), is a necessary ingredient to amelio-
rating threats which may befall our infra-
structure. Research conducted at the Center
for Maritime Systems (CMS) and the CEOE
Department by faculty and students will
enable accurate, dynamic and confident
responses to a full spectrum of maritime
threats.
In support of the NewYork City emergency
management and anti-terrorism efforts, our
research team was part of a large Urban
Dispersion Program study conducted in
mid-town Manhattan in August 2005. As
part of this study, funded by both the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security and the
U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency,
perfluorocarbon tracer gases were released
and the dispersion of the tracer gases was
monitored using a network of sensors. To
understand the background meteorology
which disperses the gas, investigators from
the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
Argonne National Laboratory and CMS
researchers deployed a radar wind profiler
and launched weather balloons from the
Stevens campus which transmitted data to
computers at the CMS. The weather bal-
loons, approximately 1 m in diameter at
launch, carried a small instrument package
that measured temperature, humidity, wind
and pressure. After we received permission
from the FAA and Newark Airport air con-
trollers, the balloons were launched at two-
hour intervals during six intensive opera-
tional periods by undergraduate and gradu-
ate students. In most cases, the balloon
rose to approximately 10 km (six miles)
before it broke and finally drifted into the
Atlantic Ocean.
Initiatives led by the director of the CMS,
Dr. Michael Bruno, and I have also focused
on solving the unique problems that con-
front the urbanized coastlines and water-
ways of New York Harbor. These problems
include safe navigation, port security and
water and sediment contamination. The
solution of these seemingly disparate prob-
lems inherently involves knowledge of the
marine environment.
One of Stevens’ responses was to develop
the New York Harbor Observing and
Prediction System (NYHOPS) - an Urban
Ocean Observatory - which provides a
wealth of real-time data about tides, waves,
winds, currents, temperatures and salinities
in the waters of New York and New Jersey.
Our team of staff and students sought out
the South Street Seaport Museum's 1885
schooner, Pioneer, which recently celebrat-
ed its 120th anniversary. The Pioneer was
outfitted with the latest marine sensor tech-
nology in the form of a computerized water
quality monitoring system. In partnership
with the New York City Department of
Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), the
sensor system measures water tempera-
ture, salinity and dissolved oxygen in New
York Harbor from the Pioneer as it conducts
its public sails. As with the balloon-based
data acquisition, the marine data is also fed
via a wireless network to computers at the
CMS where it is quality controlled and dis-
played on the Internet. We hope to expand
our efforts by adding water quality sensors
onto the NYCDEP’s harbor survey vessel,
the Osprey, and on two high-speed
commuter ferries that crisscross the harbor.
A very real example of the importance of
maritime domain awareness came, sadly,
on Christmas evening 2005 when two
police officers from the Jersey City Police
Department accidentally drove their truck
into the waters of the Hackensack River. I
was asked to help locate the missing officer.
By analyzing the records of water currents
at the site of the accident, I concluded that
the missing officer would initially remain in
the vicinity of the truck. Then, the currents
would move the officer’s body slowly
upstream. His body was eventually recov-
ered four days later approximately 90 feet
from where his truck went into the river.
In order to improve NYHOPS forecasts,
CMS researchers funded by the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA), are investigating the limits to pre-
dictability in estuarine and coastal ocean
models. Skillful forecasting has advanced
substantially over the past 10 years through
the advancement of computing, observa-
tion and telecommunications systems,
development of better models and associat-
ed data-assimilation techniques. However,
uncertainties still exist. Some are associat-
ed with a lack of a complete understanding
of, or an inherent limitation of, the pre-
dictability of highly complex processes.
Others are linked to the need for better
knowledge of the underlying bathymetry
and improved forecasting of the overlying
atmosphere and associated fresh water
inflows. Our DARPA research will quantify
the reasons why forecasts go wrong by
using new approaches to uncertainty analy-
sis which will lead to more refined NYHOPS
forecasts. s
Maritime
Domain
Awareness
NEW
ENTERPRISES
8 9
By Dr. Alan Blumberg
Director of Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering (CEOE)
Global Pharmaceutical
Collaboration
A very real example of the importance of maritime domain
awareness came, sadly, on Christmas evening 2005 when two
police officers from the Jersey City Police Department acciden-
tally drove their truck into the waters of the Hackensack River.
By Dr. Richard S. Berkof, P.E.
Professor and Director of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
ICPE Steering Committee: Dr. Richard Berkof, Dr. Constantin
Chassapis, Dr. Ed Carey & Dr. Adrienne Fleming
ITT is a technical college
currently offering undergradu-
ate and graduate courses
specializing in the needs of the
pharmaceutical industry. And it
operates a fully equipped pilot
pharmaceutical plant, the
National Pharmaceutical
Education Centre for Ireland
used by leading pharmaceuti-
cal companies. The Center
includes: a 2,000 sq. ft. Bulk
Formulation Pilot Plant, a 2,000
sq. ft. Biotechnology Suite, and
a 3,000 sq. ft. Technology
Development &Transfer
Laboratory.
Stevens offers master’s degree
and graduate certificate pro-
grams in Pharmaceutical
Manufacturing which cover
multidisciplinary engineering
and manufacturing topics for
individuals in primary GMP
operations (pharmaceuticals,
biotechnology and medical
devices) and supplier support
operations
(architect/engineer/construction
firms and equipment manufac-
turers/suppliers).
www.stevens.edu/pharma
ICPE
www.stevens.edu/nyhops

7. "America’s progress has
been synonymous with
innovation. Thorough
grounding in science and
mathematics contributes to
people’s full participation in
the professional, civic, and
intellectual possibilities avail-
able in American society.
Corporate growth and econom-
ic development...are inextricably
tied to technological advance-
ment. To continue to grow, how-
ever, the U.S. needs a technologi-
cally literate society and an
engineering-minded workforce.
Unfortunately, these are two key
areas in which our education
system often fails to meet the
mark. The good news is that a
solution can be found in our K-12
classroom." ASEE, 2004
Evidence indicates that the need
for technically savvy workers is not
being met. In recent years, compa-
nies have annually spent almost
$60 billion on training, much of
which paid for workers’ training in
basic skills that should have been
taught in school. Meanwhile, poor
performance in teaching math and
science eliminates many of the
best and brightest children from the ranks
of future scientists and engineers. With
little chance to learn how science and
math skills might translate into profes-
sionally useful knowledge, students are
unable to make informed choices about
further education and work options.
"No one should have to wait until after
high school to be exposed to engineer-
ing. Early exposure to engineering will
help high school students make better
decisions on course selection."
John Brighton, NSF
As a result, many students drop out in
frustration; other, potentially capable stu-
dents never consider these subjects in
the first place. In both cases, precious
human and institutional resources are
squandered. Furthermore, females and
minorities are underrepresented in both
our college-level engineering programs
and in the national engineering
workforce.
In response to this urgent need and with
major funding from the State of New
Jersey, Stevens’ Center for
Innovation in Engineering
and Science Education
(CIESE) has launched
Engineering Our Future
N.J.: Preparing Students to
Succeed in the
Technological World. The
program aims to demon-
strate the value and estab-
lish an infrastructure to
integrate pre-engineering
into the K-12 curriculum
such that all students—not only those
who choose elective engineering cours-
es—experience engineering as a core
component of their pre-college education.
To this end, CIESE is conducting a pilot
project involving 36 New Jersey teachers
from elementary, middle, and high
schools to demonstrate the impact on
student learning in science, mathematics,
and pre-engineering competencies. And
also to assess interest and motivation in
the curriculum and in engineering
careers. The goal is to show results that
will lead to a policy change in N.J.’s edu-
cational standards requiring all students
to engage in grade-appropriate pre-engi-
neering activities from elementary
through high school.
Features of the K-12 engineering curricu-
lum materials include:
• Hands-on learning, emphasizing the
social good of engineering and its rele-
vance to the real world.
• Interdisciplinary approach, connecting
engineering to other required disciplines.
• Ensuring that teachers are able to meet
curriculum and learning objectives
through focused lessons aligned to sci-
ence and mathematics standards.
• Making engineers "cool" through proj-
ects such as restoring the infrastructure
of New Orleans or designing rides at
Disney World.
Partners in this effort include: Boston’s
Museum of Science, N.J.’s Department of
Education, the Society for Automotive
Engineers, the National Action Council
for Minorities in Education and the
Charles Edison Fund.
For more information, please visit:
www.stevens.edu/ciese/eofnj
To continue to grow, however, the U.S. needs a technologically
literate society and an engineering-minded workforce.
"One out of ten jobs in the U.S. computer, software, and information technology
industry will move overseas in the next two years. One in four IT jobs will be off-
shored by 2010." FinancialTimes, 3/17/04
"At least 3.3 million white-collar jobs and $136 billion in wages will shift from the U.S.
to low-cost countries like India, China, and Russia by 2015." CNN/Money, 3/13/03
"The business community is concerned that far too many students in our nation’s schools
are not prepared to succeed in the world economy…More public-private efforts will be
needed, particularly in programs proven to raise student achievement and interest in math,
science, and engineering – the fields that drive future innovation." The Business Roundtable, 3/24/04
10
NEW
ENTERPRISES
"Tungsten is a metal of
extraordinary properties
that make it uniquely
suitable for a wide vari-
ety of uses, from house-
hold necessities to high-
ly specialized applica-
tions," said Dr.
Christodoulatos, direc-
tor of the CES. "Since its discovery, tung-
sten and its compounds have been per-
ceived as environmentally benign, a notion
that has recently been challenged."
In September 2001, the CES initiated a
research program addressing various
aspects of the environmental chemistry,
toxicology, and fate and transport of tung-
sten and tungsten heavy alloys (WHA).
Recently published findings from these
studies (Environmental Forensics, 5, 5-13,
2004) indicate that tungsten dissolves
under mild environmental conditions and
this brings about acidification of soils and
depletion of their dissolved oxygen con-
tent. In addition, when mixed with soils in
amounts greater than 1 percent, tungsten
triggers changes in soil bio-communities
that result in the death of soil microorgan-
isms, red worms and plants (Chemo-
sphere, 61, 248-258, 2005).
This groundbreaking research work at the
CES could not have been timelier, as tung-
sten was detected in biological and drink-
ing water samples in Fallon, Nev., and two
other communities, where clusters of child-
hood leukemia were observed. This find-
ing has alarmed public health, environ-
mental, and regulatory agencies, who are
considering the regulation of the chemical
element and its compounds.
In military applications, tungsten-based
alloys and composites are being used or
are under evaluation for potential use in
small-, medium-, and large- caliber ammu-
nition and kinetic energy (KE) penetrators.
WHA are mainly composed of tungsten
(88-95 percent) with variable amounts of
iron, nickel and cobalt making up the
remaining fraction of the formulation.
Small quantities of copper and manganese
may also be present depending on the par-
ticular alloy com-
position.
Understanding
environmental and
health effects is a
high priority in the
development of future weapons systems
containing heavy metals.
CES research revealed:
• Large amounts of tungsten were found in
solution when tungsten powder, tungsten
bearing alloy pieces, or tungsten penetra-
tor fragments (from firing/impact tests)
were exposed to aqueous solutions.
•Tungsten appears to undergo strong
uptake by clay minerals and organic soils.
The sorption-desorption process showed
strong hysteresis.
• Experiments performed to assess the
potential interactions between tungsten
and lead in firing range soils showed that
the pH dependence of the leaching
behavior of Pb and W is opposite.
• Tungsten is not an inert metal in
environmental systems and it produces
strong toxic effects at high dosages.
The ongoing research conducted by
Stevens’ CES on corrosion mechanisms of
tungsten alloys and tungsten composites
will further elucidate the potential impact
that element may have on the
environment. s
_____________________________________________
Patrick A. Berzinski is a consulting editor for
SSoE InFocus
THE GREEN BULLET:
INVESTIGATING FATE, TRANSPORT AND TOXICITY OF
TUNGSTEN ALLOYS By Patrick A. Berzinski
In this study for the U.S. Army, the research team
from Stevens’ Center for Environmental Systems
(CES) sought to determine whether tungsten-
based alloys might present a more environmental-
ly safe alternative to heavy metals currently used
in military ballistics applications – thus, the term
"Green Bullet." Among the CES experts perform-
ing the research were Washington Braida, Christos
Christodoulatos, Dimitris Dermatas, Agamemnon
Koutsospyros, N. Strigul and Nicolai Panikov.
This groundbreaking research work at the CES could not have been
timelier, as tungsten was detected in biological and drinking water
samples in Fallon, Nev., and two other communities, where clusters
of childhood leukemia were observed.
The Center for Environmental Systems
is recognized as a leader in generating
new scientific knowledge for the
creation of innovative technologies,
sound environmental policy and
sensible resource management.
Recently, ranked by popular download
of Science Direct, CES was awarded
two top "25 Hottest Articles" for
Removal of Arsenic from Water by Zero-
Valent Iron by Sunbaek Bang, George P.
Korfiatis and Xiaoguang Meng (Journal
of Hazardous Materials) and Removal of
Arsenic from Groundwater by Granular
Titanium Dioxide Adsorbent by
Sunbaek Bang, Manish Patel, Lee
Lippincott and Xiaoguang Meng
(Chemosphere).
Science Direct is the online delivery
system of Elsevier, the world's largest
scientific, technical and medical
information provider and publisher.
11
By Beth McGrath
Engineering Our Future N.J.

8. The primary market will
include pain management
physicians (physiatrist),
sports medicine, athletic
trainers, physical thera-
pists, chiropractors, and
family and general practi-
tioners. Based upon the
Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the poten-
tial market is estimated at $1.5 billion with
an additional conservative estimate of $1.8
billion globally; creating a combined $3.3
billion market. Ideally, the SPOC device
will be as common as the stethoscope in a
physician’s hand, signaling a new era in
pain diagnosis where the idea of chronic
muscle pain will be virtually nonexistent.
SPOC does not compete with current
methods of pain diagnosis. Instead, it
enhances current methods of diagnosis
and treatment. MRI scan, CT scan and X-
Rays are often inconclusive as stand-alone
diagnostic tools, but when used in con-
junction with SPOC technology a precise
and accurate diagnosis is viable. A physi-
cian equipped with these modalities will
be able to prescribe a more conservative
treatment.
SPOC also complements the pharmaceuti-
cal industry by helping doctors to properly
correlate the prescription of pain killers or
other drugs to the exact source of pain.
This will help patients achieve lasting relief
by pharmaceutics alone, rather than more
drastic procedures such as surgery.
By incorporating two technologies, one of
clinical methodology and one for device
technology, SPOC has developed a com-
bined diagnostic package that allows for a
revolution in the accuracy and precision of
muscle pain diagnosis. The first is a diag-
nostic method developed more than 50
years ago by a series of key opinion lead-
ers in pain management. The contempo-
rary expert in this field is Dr. Marcus,
whose patented version of this methodol-
ogy allows for the diagnosis of muscles in
a dynamic natural state. This simple fea-
ture greatly increases the precision of the
diagnosis while the unique
methodology provides isolation
of the pain generator increasing
accuracy. The device developed
by SPOC incorporates leading-
edge technology for trans-cuta-
neous-electroneural stimulation,
a safe, effective and proven way
of stimulating muscle. The
patented “Dr. Marcus method”
and the SPOC device are inher-
ently linked, a powerful innova-
tion in the management of
chronic pain.
SPOC was conceived at Stevens
as a senior design project
in Professor Hazelwood’s
Biomedical Engineering
Senior Design class during
the autumn of 2004.
Building on the initial
meeting with Dr. Marcus,
SPOC developed function-
al prototypes that were
delivered in February 2005. Success of the
senior design project spurred the current
business relationship. The students,
together with Professor Hazelwood, Vice
President Helena S. Wisniewski, Office of
University Research & Enterprise
Development, and Dr. Marcus, launched
SPOC. The company founders are Castle
Point Holdings, Dr. Marcus, Ryan Stellar,
Jeckin Shah and Daniel Silva.
SPOC’s device was aired on WABC 7 in the
New York area in March 2005. And the
most recent design was used successfully
by Dr. Marcus at the Norman Marcus Pain
Institute in New York City without any
adverse affects.
Human clinical trials are scheduled to
begin at NYU in spring 2006. Results from
the clinical trial will provide data that
shows the efficacy of the device and
methodology. s
_____________________________________________
Patrick A. Berzinski is a consulting editor for
SSoE InFocus
My name is Samuel Eichner
and I am from Clifton, N.J.
I am a sophomore Co-op stu-
dent here at Stevens where I
am majoring in Computer
Engineering.
I became intrigued by photog-
raphy when I was young. The
concept of
being able
to capture a
moment in
time and
look back on
it in perfect
clarity forever
interested me
most. The
types of pho-
tography I
primarily do
are macro photography (taking
very high-quality pictures of small
objects such as insects and flow-
ers), nature photography, photo-
journalism and light painting.
In December of 2004, I began
experimenting with light paint-
ing by photographing
Christmas lights at night and
my friends raving with glow sticks and
LEDs. It was months later that I learned
this is called light painting and that
there is a whole style of photography
associated with it. I recently experi-
mented with a second style of light
painting in which I set up the picture in
total darkness and then take the picture
by holding the shutter open while I
"paint" the light onto the subject using a
flashlight. The picture Violin is an exam-
ple of this and is one of my favorite pic-
tures. My other favorite pictures
include: Ants on a Flower, Guard Rails,
Feeding Bee, Field of Blossoms, Where I
sit to see the City, Blue Star, Arcing, Rail
Gun, Wilting Hope and Watch a
Snowflake Grow. I consider these pic-
tures my favorites because they were
the most rewarding; as they were either
difficult to take or just a lot of fun.
From the time I was a kindergartner,
designing train tracks for my toy trains
and building Lego models, I knew I was
going to be an engineer. I love problem
solving and working with my hands to
design and construct ways to accom-
plish goals. I thoroughly enjoy being
creative and express-
ing myself through
my work. With my
camera in hand, I can
be as creative as I
want when setting
up and taking pic-
tures and I can express myself through
my unique style and perception of the
world. Inspiration for my photography
is often spur of the moment. When
something catches my eye, I photograph
it without thinking twice. I also look at
the work of other artists to get new
ideas and possibly learn new tech-
niques. I am still unsure of what I plan
on doing after I graduate, but I am sure
it will involve computers or computer
electronics. s
"From the time I was a kindergartner,
designing train tracks for my toy trains and building
Lego models, I knew I was going to be an engineer.
I love problem solving and working with my hands to design
and construct ways to accomplish goals."
13
SAMUEL EICHNER ‘09
SSOE
STUDENTS
INFOCUS
12
SPOC:
TOOLS FOR A REVOLUTION IN
PAIN MANAGEMENT
Stevens’ Proof of Concept (SPOC), LLC, a new Technogenesis®
start-
up company, has developed a clinical and technological platform
that promises to greatly increase the accuracy with which muscle
pain is diagnosed and to drive down health care costs associated
with chronic pain. SPOC has set forth to capitalize on an opportunity
to work with Dr. Norman Marcus, a leading pain management
physician, to develop a medical device to facilitate his revolutionary
method for pain diagnosis.
The patented “Dr. Marcus method” and the SPOC
device are inherently linked, a powerful innovation in
the management of chronic pain.
By Patrick A. Berzinski
Dr. Marcus
www.flickr.com/photos/descvert
Vikki Hazelwood
By Samuel Eichner

9. Embedded systems
are application-
specific computing
systems that
contain both hard-
ware and software
tailored for a partic-
ular task and are
generally part of a
larger system. They
are almost everywhere in our lives, in cell
phones, cars, washers,TVs, printers, digital
cameras and common robotics.
Embedded systems often fall under the
category of reactive and real-time systems,
meaning they contain sensors or similar
elements which constantly interact with
the external environment and must com-
pute certain results or take certain actions
within their envi-
ronment through
actuators in real-
time, without
delay, as in the
case of mobile
robots.
"Generally speak-
ing, my current research interests include
real-time embedded intelligent systems
and robotics," said Professor Yan Meng of
the Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering.
"My students and I work on research proj-
ects such as a self-reconfigurable embed-
ded system platform using System-on-Chip
technology," she said. "Basically, a real-time
complex system – for
example, an
autonomous mobile
robot – must adapt to
highly dynamic envi-
ronments and emer-
gencies under real-time
constraints."
A significant amount of processing power
is needed for such complex applications.
The resources in the embedded general
processors are typically very limited, which
imposes significant challenges for software
development.
"Instead of pushing the limit of software
design," said Meng, "we turned our atten-
tion to reconfigurable hardware and devel-
oped a dynamically reconfigurable embed-
ded system platform by integrating Field
Programmable Gate Arrays, or FPGA, and
embedded processors in a system-on-chip
environment."
This new platform can dramatically reduce
the overall system responding time and
greatly increase system robustness and
fault-tolerance, and is in the process of
implementation in a mobile robot, Pioneer
3DX, in the Embedded Systems and
Robotics Lab. Meng is also seeking to
extend this reconfigurable platform to the
design of intelligent computing systems
and devices, which can adapt to
environments through self-learning.
Her ongoing research projects on robotics
include multi-robot coordination and com-
munication. Multi-robot teams are desir-
able in some scenarios, such as planetary
exploration or urban search and rescue.
Multi-robot systems are more advanta-
geous than a single expensive robot in
several ways, including attributes such as
parallelism, robustness, scalability and
simpler programming for each unit. With
acquired multiple robotic systems, manag-
ing the communication, dynamic task allo-
cation and cooperation among multi-
robots becomes challenging.
"Our research focuses on building an opti-
mization model of multi-robot cooperation,
as well as dynamic task allocation under
good or bad communication situations,"
said Meng. s
On October 11, 2005, Faculty Advisor, Dr. Ronald Besser, accompanied Stevens’ Chapter of the AIChE to the 2005
Regional College Bowl. Vivek Nittala, President of the Student Chapter, along with Keyur Shah and Yuri Voloshin took
second place beating NJIT and Rutgers but narrowly missing the one point that would have tied them with Princeton.
The competition tested their knowledge of chemistry, physics and engineer-
ing. Each team of three is randomly given pre-selected questions. The teams
then have one minute to answer and if they finish before the bell, the mod-
erator, a chemical engineer, offers feedback and a chance to refine their
answer. During the four or five rounds of questions, two independent judges
decide the points awarded to each team based on their answer using a 1-5
scale with 5 as a perfect score.
"Their involvement in the College Bowl exposes them not only to their
regional peers but also practicing engineers, industry leaders and potential
future employers," said Dr. Besser. "They had a great time and chose to
In 2005, the American Society of Civil
Engineering (ASCE) Student Chapter at
Stevens entered the 14th annual National
Student Steel Bridge Competition. With the
support of the Senior Design Coordinator,
Dr. Leslie Brunell, P.E., the ASCE Chapter
Advisor, Dr.Yusuf Billah and significant
support from Schiavone Construction
Company the team competed successfully both
locally and nationally. The Stevens team placed
first at the regional competition in the areas of
economy, construction speed and weight,
receiving first place overall in
the Metropolitan Regional
Competition. And the team
was competitive against 50
other teams across North
America in the National
Competition held in Orlando,
Florida.
The design team was led by
captains Kurt Fischer and
Russell VanSweden, both Civil Engineering seniors. The rest of the team included:
Mark Ramirez, Ellis Farmer, Christopher Erickson, James Meyers, Katherine
Martinez, Andrei Kuzin, Kevin Chen, Brad Miller, Jessica Molinari and Jay
Peterson. These students worked throughout the year to design, finance, con-
struct, test and implement this exciting project. Their efforts paid off. They learned
a great deal at nationals and will use this new knowledge to design a more com-
petitive bridge for the 2006 competition. The details of this annual competition can
be found at http://www.aisc.org s
Academic Sparring - The 9th Annual College Bowl
15
By Patrick Berzinski
Reconfigurable Platforms at the
Embedded Systems and Robotics Lab
SSOE
STUDENTS
INFOCUS
14
donate half of their prize money to
Stevens’ AIChE Chapter."
Currently, AIChE student members
hold social events on campus and
visit local chemical plants. And in
the spring, they plan to attend the
North East Regional Spring Student
Conference to be held at Penn State.
This weekend-long event hosts
poster presentations of student
research projects, social events and a chemical car competition featuring student-built
models propelled by novel chemical reactions.
To find out more information on Stevens’ AIChE Student Chapter, please contact:
Dr. Ronald Besser at 201.216.5257 or rbesser@stevens.edu.
"My students and I work on research projects
such as a self-reconfigurable embedded system
platform using System-on-Chip technology..."
2005 Regional Champs
Gear Up for 2006 National Competition
2005 Regional Champs
Gear Up for 2006 National Competition
The Stevens team placed first at the regional
competition in the areas of economy, construction
speed and weight, receiving first place overall in the
Metropolitan Regional Competition.
2006 National
Competition
Members of this year‘s team,
Andrei Kuzin, Kevin Chen, Mun Lai
Wong and Anthony Marandola,
have succeeded in coming up with
a unique design in preparation for
the regional competition in April
2006. The top-two teams will move
on to the national competition in
Salt Lake City, Utah. Let’s wish
them luck.
The team is also continuously look-
ing for support to help with the fab-
rication of the bridge. Contributions
from sponsors will go toward steel
sections, transportation, welding
costs, safety equipment and testing.
We will proudly represent all spon-
sors on our competition t-shirts and
program. For more information,
please contact me, Dr. Leslie
Brunell, at lbrunell@stevens.edu or
201.216.5337.
Dr. Yan Meng

10. John Hovey, ‘57,
believes in giving
back. He has continu-
ously supported
Stevens through gener-
ous donations over the
years and has champi-
oned causes in Paterson,
N.J., as well. Hovey’s ties
to Paterson go back nearly
40 years. Early in his
career, after earning his
undergraduate degree in
Mechanical Engineering,
Hovey was a sales represen-
tative for John Royle and
Sons, a Paterson-based com-
pany. He then founded Videx
Equipment Corporation, a wire
and cable machinery company,
also located in Paterson and of
which he is still president.
Hovey’s connection to Stevens
did not end after he earned his
degree. He has maintained ties
with Stevens and encourages his
fellow alumni to stay involved
with their alma mater. "The
involvement and help of alumni is
beneficial to both the school and
to the alumni – it works both
ways," he said. "It’s important to
stay involved with Stevens not
only to continue friendships, but to
help Stevens become a better
school in the future. This is vital to
the health of the university and nation-
al education system. Private universi-
ties are a critical part of the national
education system."
In addition to his charitable giving,
Hovey has hosted several fund-raisers
for Stevens at his sprawling carriage
barn, in Wycoff, N.J., which houses his
impressive collection of antique cars.
Hovey, an antique car enthusiast with a
collection that includes a 1900 Panhard-
LeVassor, was able to combine his pas-
sion for automobiles with philanthropy
to bring together members of the
Stevens community for several enjoy-
able events.
His charitable involvement in Paterson
nonprofits includes 20 years of serving
on the board of St. Joseph’s Hospital
and Medical Center, during which he
was board chairman for five years.
Hovey also holds a seat on the board of
Paterson’s Memorial Day Nursery
School, one of the oldest preschools in
the country. In the 1990s, he was
cofounder of the Alexander Hamilton
Charter School in Paterson. He contin-
ues to support the school after assisting
in its transformation to the Alexander
Hamilton
Academy,
which still
follows the
charter
school
model
although it
is now run
by the
Paterson
Public
School
district. "It
was the first charter school in New
Jersey to be taken over by the public
school district and made into an
academy," said Hovey, adding that from
the time of its inception to the present,
standardized test scores have
skyrocketed.
For Hovey, one of the biggest benefits
of helping Stevens and other nonprofits
is that he enjoys it. "It’s really fun to be
involved in something you can directly
make a difference in," he said of the
charter school effort. "You can do it
through Stevens, as well as through
other nonprofits." s
17
This fall, theTrustees of Stevens elect-
ed three new members, Ralph W.
Selitto, John Schepisi and Ronald P.
LeBright, to its Board of Trustees.
"I look forward to working alongside our
new trustees as Stevens continues to
focus on enhancing its national reputation,
research capabilities, and undergraduate
and graduate programs," said Harold J.
Raveché, president of Stevens. "The active
involvement of these new members, all of
them alumni, in the important work of the
Stevens board will be a great asset in
advancing toward our shared goals. As
alumni, they understand Stevens’ long-
standing commitment to excellence in
research and education. At the same time,
they each bring unique work experiences
and professional expertise to the table."
Selitto ‘71 was appointed
to a two-year term as an
Alumni Trustee. He is a
resident of Edison, N.J.,
and a partner at the law
firm of McCarter &
English in Newark, N.J.
He is an intellectual property attorney who
focuses on the global procurement, main-
tenance and enforcement of patents,
trademarks and copyrights. Selitto is a
member of the Stevens Patent Committee
and has worked with Stevens’ Office of
University Research and Enterprise
Development on various licensing and
procurement projects designed to promote
the growth and commercialization of the
Institute’s intellectual property portfolio.
This past year, Selitto led attorney-wide
fund-raising efforts for the Edwin A.
Stevens Society. He is the current fund-
raising captain for the Class of ‘71.
Schepisi ‘65 will serve as
a Charter Trustee for a
three-year term. He
resides in Bergen County,
N.J., and is the president
of Schepisi &
McLaughlin, P.A. in
Englewood Cliffs, N.J. His
firm’s general practice areas include real
estate development, complex litigation,
construction, municipal and higher
education law.
He currently serves on the board of direc-
tors of Interchange Financial Services
Corporation, Interchange Bank, the Board
of Governors of Hackensack University
Medical Center and is chairman of the
Mullet Bay Apartments Association.
Schepisi is also a member of the
Association of Trial Lawyers of America
as well as the American, New Jersey
State and Bergen County (past president
1983-84) Bar Associations. He has repre-
sented Bergen Community College since
1988. Previously, he served as the
Edgewater Planning Board Attorney, Fort
Lee Borough Attorney, Demarest Borough
Attorney and as a Trustee of Englewood
Hospital. He was active in his class’ fund-
raising effort for its 40th reunion.
LeBright ‘55 was also
appointed a Charter
Trustee for a three-year
term. He lives in Sea
Bright, N.J. Before retir-
ing, he was senior vice
president at ABB
Lummus Crest (now ABB
Lummus Global, Inc.). Prior to that, he
served as president, chief executive officer
and treasurer at H.R. International, Edison;
president, chief executive officer at Procon
International, Des Plaines, Ill., (1981-83);
and managing director of Alesa Alusuisse
Engineering, Zurich, Switzerland (1979-81).
Earlier, he was general manager of the
Houston Division of C.E. Lummus, a proj-
ect manager at M.W. Kellogg in NewYork
City and began his career as a production
engineer at Baker and Co., Inc.
LeBright was active in his class’ 50th
reunion, held in June 2005. s
__________________________________________
Stephanie Mannino is the Editorial
Specialist for Stevens News Service.
Stevens Welcomes Three Alumni
as New Board Trustees
Jim Lloyd, ‘70 looks back fondly
on his memories of Stevens,
where he earned his Ph.D., mas-
ter’s and bachelor’s degrees in
materials science and engineer-
ing. "I’d always liked science as a
kid, so I decided to go to
Stevens," said Lloyd, a native of
Oradell, N.J.
"Metallurgy was a very interest-
ing department, with many
interesting people. I had most
of my classes in the Navy
Building." While the Navy
Building is no longer standing,
Lloyd’s career path is a testa-
ment to the strength of the
former metallurgy program.
After graduate school, Lloyd worked in
research and development at IBM
before heading to Digital Equipment
Corporation. He served as a visiting
scientist at Max-Planck-Institut für
Metallforschung in Stuttgart, Germany,
and headed his own consulting firm for
five years. Additionally, Lloyd has
taught thermodynamics and materials
science at Stevens and N.Y. Polytechnic
Institute and served as a guest lecturer
at many
universities.
Lloyd, who
has pub-
lished more than 75 professional
papers, was ultimately drawn back to
where he began years earlier: IBM. He
now works in the research department
of IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center.
He specializes in reliability science and
engineering, focusing on electromigra-
By Stephanie Mannino
SSOE
HERITAGE
16
JIM LLOYD ‘70
"The joy of doing it is really a driving force behind doing
research," he said. "I’ll sit there doing an experiment and
think, nobody’s ever seen this before, which is really cool..."
JOHN HOVEY CLASS OF 1957
tion and metallization reliability for chip
and packaging applications, and low-k
dielectrics. "I’ve been developing new
materials for integrated circuits for five
years," said Lloyd.
He truly enjoys his work, which is why he
has remained in the research field. "The
joy of doing it is really a driving force
behind doing research," he said. "I’ll sit
there doing an experiment and think,
nobody’s ever seen this before, which is
really cool – and it is."
He also developed an interest in sculp-
ture. "I first got into sculpture at Stevens
taking Paul Miller’s art course. He taught
me how to weld.
We held graduate art
shows, and that’s
really when I got into
it," said Lloyd.
Lloyd has spent the
past few years revisit-
ing his love of sculp-
ture. While each piece is unique, they all
arise out of the same basic method. "I
weld car parts together," he said. "I
haven’t seen anyone doing quite what I
do. I am compelled to create art and
make stuff." His pieces, sculpted from old
car exhaust systems, have begun to
receive recognition and have been exhib-
ited in local museums.
Lloyd is also an aviation enthusiast and
pilot. In 1986, he reenacted the first flight
across the U.S., in a "replica" of the Vin
Fiz Wright Flyer, commemorating the
75th anniversary of the flight. "It wasn’t a
true replica because it is much safer than
the original," said Lloyd. Despite modern
improvements to its design, the plane’s
engine failed several times during his
two-month journey and he and his crew
had to contend with bad weather. "We
had to rebuild the plane halfway across
the country," he said. "But it was a real
adventure and I was able to have a lot of
the same experiences as the original
pilot." During his flight, he met many
people who were present for the original.
"We asked them to sign the wing of the
airplane and by the time it reached
California it was covered with
signatures."
These days, Lloyd enjoys giving lectures
about early aviation and his flight at
museums, and maintains a website
(www.vinfiz.net) devoted to aviation,
which also includes links to many of his
sculptures. s
continued on next page
“It’s important to stay involved with Stevens
not only to continue friendships, but to help Stevens
become a better school in the future.”

11. Technogenesis™ Startup
Acquired for $17.5 Million
PlasmaSol Corporation, an envi-
ronmental technology start-up
founded by faculty and students,
has been acquired by Stryker
Corporation for $17.5 million. The
basic technology at the core of
PlasmaSol is an invention known
as Capillary Discharge Non-
Thermal Plasma. This technology
will allow Stryker to provide sterili-
zation equipment for some of its
MedSurg Equipment products.
"In 1999, a group of faculty and
graduate students founded a compa-
ny to commercialize a patented
environmental technology," said
President Harold J. Raveché. "Six
years later, this company is recog-
nized as a valuable technology asset
by a major American corporation."
Dr. Erich Kunhardt and Dr. Kurt
Becker of the Department of Physics
and Engineering Physics began work
to generate large-volume cold plas-
mas in 1996. In 1999, Professors
Kunhardt, Korfiatis and
Christodoulatos co-founded
PlasmaSol to commercialize the non-
thermal plasma technology with
graduate students Kurt Kovach, Seth
A. Tropper and Richard Crowe.
For more information, please visit:
www.plasmasol.com
Water Filtration Patent
Drs. Xiaoguang Meng and George
Korfiatis were awarded a patent
for an iron powder and sand fil-
tration process in the treatment
of water contaminated with
heavy metals and organic com-
pounds. The device is com-
prised of at least one iron filter
connected in series to a sand filter.
Removal of contaminants from water is
enhanced by the application of a source of
vibratory energy to the iron filter. Oxidizers
and coagulants may be mixed with the
water after passage through the iron filter
and before entering the sand filter to
increase efficiency. Treatment solutions for
the removal of heavy metals and organic
compounds from soil and waste water are
also viable.
An Office of Naval Research Grant
to research Cross-Layer Cooperation for
Energy Efficiency in Wireless Sensor
Networks: Game Theoretic Solutions has
been awarded to Dr. Cristina Comaniciu
over a three-year period.
"This project addresses the
problem of efficient design
for energy-sensitive sensor
networks in military applica-
tions," said Comaniciu.
"I propose a cooperative
design in which distributed
protocols are implemented
in the network by enforcing cooperation in a
two-dimensional plane: horizontally among
different sensor units; and vertically, among
various layers of the protocol stack." These
design solutions are based on game theo-
retic models, in which players individually
act to maximize their own utility metric. In
the context of sensor networks, they
become a measure related to the energy
consumption for transmitting useful
information bits across the network.
Dr. Comaniciu’s book, Wireless Networks:
Multiuser Detection in Cross-Layer Design,
written with Narayan Mandayam and H.
Vincent Poor, offers a new perspective on
the benefits and tradeoffs of multiuser
detection for future generation wireless net-
works. The book presents a survey of state-
of-the-art research on cross-layer design for
resource allocation in wireless networks
using multiuser receivers.
The National Science Foundation (NSF)
Funds a Nanotechnology Undergraduate
Education Program
Led by Dr. Frank Fisher, an
interdisciplinary team con-
ducting research in various
areas of nanotechnology has
been funded to develop
Virtual Research Experiences
for Undergraduates in
Nanotechnology. The program involves
self-contained multimedia learning modules
based on video documentation of under-
graduate nanotechnology research projects
and are designed to introduce students to
nanotechnology concepts in the context of
the active research being done at Stevens.
The team includes: Dr. Pochiraju and Dr. Shi
in Mechanical Engineering; Dr. Libera and
Dr. Du in Materials Engineering; Dr.
Sukhishvili in Chemistry; Dr. Man in
Electrical and Computer Engineering; and
the Center for Innovation in Engineering &
Science Education.
Dr. Kate Abel was recently
installed as the president of
the Epsilon Eta Mu - the
Engineering Management
Honor Society and was also
elected president of the
Engineering Management Division of the
American Society for Engineering Education.
Dr. John Farr, Director of Systems
Engineering and Engineering Management,
has been appointed to serve on the Air
Force Studies Board of the National
Academies. He is also serving on the aca-
demic advisory boards of the Systems
Engineering Programs at the State
Dr. Fisher
FACULTY NEWSFACULTY NEWS
The Advanced Materials, Manufacturing andTesting Information Analysis Center
(AMMTIAC) contract was awarded to Alion Science andTechnology with Stevens’ Design and
Manufacturing Institute (DMI) as a sub-contractor providing design, materials, a manufacturing
knowledge-base and research services.
Department of Defense Information Analysis Centers (IACs) develop critical reviews and knowl-
edge-based products from academic, commercial and defense research. AMMTIAC will leverage
materials, manufacturing and non-destructive evaluation technologies in the design, development,
testing and evaluation, manufacturing, operations and sustaining of military systems. Operations
are expected to be collocated between Alion facilities and DMI with significant involvement of
undergraduate and graduate students. The sub-contract to Stevens is valued at $1.122 million over
three years. AMMTIAC provides DMI, directed by Dr. Kishore Pochiraju, an exciting new avenue to continue its key contri-
butions to the defense product development and manufacturing communities well into the foreseeable future.
FACULTY
NEWS
18
Dr. Pennotti takes advantage of a recent
visit to London to catch up with recently
minted Ph.D. Leeza Osipenko who has
been appointed Senior Research Fellow at
the University of Warwick Medical School
in Coventry, England, where she works on
the socio-economic aspects of prenatal
screening as part of a project funded by
the EU. Advised by Dr. Farr, her disserta-
tion was titled, System Dynamics in Early
Health Technology Assessment Prenatal
Screening Technology.
University of New York at Stonybrook,
Polytechnic University, the U.S. Military
Academy, and the University of Ottawa.
He is also co-chairing a panel on Systems
Requirements, Architecture and Integration
for a two-year study on The Army’s Evolving
Role in Homeland Defense/Homeland
Security and Defense Support of Civil
Authorities for the Army Service Board.
The NSF Funds Dr. Uf Tureli’s Research,
NeTS: ProWiN:Wireless Interference:
Characterization and Effect on Network
Performance.
His work focuses on the
development of quantifiable
interference characteristics of
wireless receivers; intention-
al and unintentional
transmitters; the establish-
ment of a means of
understanding and characterizing
interference temperature; and the use of this
critical information to enhance interference
modeling-capabilities of existing network
simulation tools.
Dr. Tureli will use a newly acquired distrib-
uted radio network testbed to perform exper-
iments as well as analytical and numerical
studies. Currently, he is supervising three
senior design groups that will build hard-
ware for the project with the AFOSR funded
Defense University Research Instrumentation
Project (DURIP) entitled, Distributed Radio
Network Testbed.
NSF CAREER Award Dr. Wei Jiang of
Systems & Engineering Management was
awarded a five-year CAREER grant to
research, Data Quality Management Through
Statistical Quality Control and Data Mining.
Data quality is important due to the emer-
gence of large volumes of data. Many busi-
ness and industrial applications rely on the
quality of information stored in diverse data-
bases and data warehouses. Dr. Jiang’s
research will develop a systematic methodol-
ogy of data quality analysis and improve-
ment to achieve robust decision making
under imperfect information environments.
The outcomes are expected to provide a
concrete basis of data quality management,
which can be applied to different data-inten-
sive applications. Ultimately, it will also have
a broader impact on advanced theory and
the methodology of information quality
management, enhanced decision making
and the creation of a workforce of data quali-
ty assurance researchers and practitioners.
The NSF has awarded Dr. Constantin
Chassapis and his team a grant to study
how to create an accredited online under-
graduate mechanical engineering degree.
His research team includes: Drs. Hamid
Hadim, Sven Esche and Frank Fisher in
Mechanical Engineering; Robert Ubell, Dean
for Online Learning and Corporate
Development; and Associate Dean Keith
Sheppard, School of Engineering. Over the
next year, their research will reveal how to
best develop, implement and assess the
online program.
Cornerstone Donation Two electronic force
measuring machines, BOSE/EnduraTech ELF
3300 and 3200 models, were recently donat-
ed to Dr. Arthur Ritter, Director of
Biomedical Engineering, from Clinical
Engineering Services (CES), Inc.’s: Thomas
R. Haher, M.D. Stevens’ class of 1972;
Antonio Valdevit, Director of Engineering;
James Leible, CEO; and John McNichols,
COO. As desktop versions of the hydraulic
Instron Testing Machine (used in the
mechanical testing of materials) they are
designed to work with biological materials
and implants. CES’s endowment is intended
to establish a comprehensive biomechanical
engineering testing facility - a cornerstone
to developing one of finest Biomedical
Engineering Labs in the country.
Principles of Biomedical
Engineering, by Dr. Ritter and
his co-authors, Professors
Stanley Reisman of NJIT and
Bozena B. Michniak of the
N.J. Center for Biomaterials,
is a text book designed for
sophomore- or junior-level
introductory courses. It covers topics in cell
physiology, hemodynamics, the cardiovas-
cular system, biomedical signals processing,
biomechanics and tissue engineering from
an analytical point of view.
Dr.Tureli
Retention of engineering students contin-
ues to be a major problem affecting
engineering schools across the country.
Unsuccessful experiences within
freshmen courses contribute heavily to
student attrition. Since a solid foundation
in mathematics and physics is a necessity
for engineering students, enhancing these
courses to include engineering applica-
tions is expected to improve the retention
of subject matter, provide a basic under-
standing of how to apply key concepts for
engineering problem solving and make
learning more enjoyable.
As part of the RIEE initiative, our interdisci-
plinary team of professors, Pat Miller-
Mathematics, Ed Whittaker-Physics and
Pete DeLancey and myself-Engineering,
have developed application modules and
proof-of-concept methodologies to
enhance this integration of math and
physics into the engineering curriculum.
Our project goals
are: (1) research
effective methods
of teaching calcu-
lus and physics to
engineering stu-
dents, (2) identify the key competencies in
math and physics that are necessary to
core engineering courses, (3) develop
sample modules addressing these compe-
tencies, (4) formulate a common method-
ology for systematic problem solving of
math and physics in engineering applica-
tions, (5) create a coordinated set of
course outcomes and related assessment
methods, (6) develop physics lecture
demonstrations that reinforce the connec-
tion to engineering and take advantage of
active learning concepts and (7) conduct
assessment of the modules and
methodologies.
This project will have an immediate posi-
tive impact on the freshman and sopho-
more courses in mathematics, physics and
related engineering core courses, while its
sustained implementation is expected to
improve the entire engineering curriculum
relating to student retention, quality of
learning and overall learning experience.
For more information, please contact me
at ahadim@stevens.edu. s
Research and Innovation in Engineering Education (RIEE)
Enhanced Integration of Math and Physics into the Engineering Curriculum
By Professor Hamid Hadim, Mechanical Engineering
http://riee.stevens.edu/
Dr. Pochiraju
Dr. Comaniciu
Dr. Abel
continued on next page
Drs. Whittaker, Hadim,
Miller and DeLancey
"RIEE provides resources, both through a
seminar series and a set of catalyst grants,
to enable faculty to re-think and re-engineer
their coursework to improve student learn-
ing in the undergraduate engineering
curriculum," said Beth McGrath, Director of
CIESE. "Our strategy is to pilot some
innovative course redesign projects aimed
at improving student learning."