Great Strides in Graduate Education
 by Gary Bertoline, assistant dean for graduate programs
Over the past few years the graduate programs in the College of Technology have showed dramatic growth in terms of students enrolled and courses offered. The graduate program currently consists of a PhD program and an MS program that includes a Weekend Masters and Professional Masters program that is primarily for working professionals. There are currently 270 graduate students in our program with 45 PhD students, 70 Weekend Masters and Professional Masters students, and 155 MS students.
The graduate programs have progressed to a point where we are moving forward with a plan to create department-based MS degree programs and move away from the current college-wide MS program. The graduate program is led by faculty representing each department in the college through the Graduate Education Committee. This committee has been charged with developing a proposal for their respective departments to seek approval from the Graduate School and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education for a department-based MS program. The committee is making great progress towards completing the degree proposals for each of our 8 departments.
The Graduate Committee is also engaged in a number of other important initiatives, such as improving the quality of the educational experience of our students both academically and socially, increasing the number of fellowships available for students, increasing our recruitment of students, and increasing diversity. Dean Depew has increased the funding to support the graduate program in the college, which includes support for faculty and students to present results of their research at conferences, small grants to support students for expenses they may incur during their research, and course development grants for faculty.
Overall, the graduate program in the College of Technology is making great progress towards providing our students and industry with the kind of quality and high impact programs that one would expect from the college and Purdue University.
MFET Receives Industry Support
California-based Northrop Grumman Corp. awarded the Manufacturing Engineering Technology program $10,000  for support of the university's faculty and student projects in advanced manufacturing. Brad Harriger, professor of MET, said the award is especially meaningful because it is the first time that Northrop Grumman, a defense and aerospace company, has given an award of this kind to a program that is not aircraft design-related.
Photo: Nick Bullen, Northrop Grumman principal engineer for production engineering, western region, hands Brad Harriger a $10,000 check on Oct. 2 while visiting Purdue. Bullen said the corporation's positive experience with Purdue was a key factor in awarding the university the first production engineering award.
Faculty Awards and Honors
Michael T. O'Hair, associate dean of engagement, has been selected to receive the Conference on Industry Education Collaboration engineering technology division's Best Session Award for "Creative Partnership Between Industry and Education II: Student Recruitment – A Common Goal." He presented at the organization's recent meeting and will receive the award Feb. 13 at a ceremony at the organization's awards breakfast in New Orleans.
Mark Jackson, associate professor of MET, was recently inducted as a founding fellow of the Academy of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering in Poland. The academy was founded in December 2005 and incorporated by the Court of the Polish Academy of  Sciences in March 2006. Jackson presented his research work on the structure of abrasive composite materials in the Collegium Novum Hall prior to receiving the fellowship of the academy and the academy's silver medal. In addition, Jackson was inducted into the academy as deputy president of the academy's steering committee and was asked to serve on the editorial boards of the Journal of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering and the Polish Academy of Sciences' journal Archives of Materials Science.
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Faculty and Student Endeavors
Chad Laux, visiting assistant professor of IT for the Anderson location, is the co-author of an article titled "Gauge R&R: An Effective Methodology for Determining the Adequacy of a New Measurement System for Micron-level Metrology," published in the Journal of Industrial Technology. Laux also gave a presentation of the same title Oct. 23-27 at the National Association for Industrial Technology meeting in Panama City, Fla., and published a conference paper on the presentation.
Columbus MET students attended the ATAIN Aerospace and Space Sciences Conference on Sept. 11 at Taylor University in Upland, Ind. Two Purdue MET students, Robert Sullivan and Grant Berkemeier, attended the conference. Sullivan and Margaret Ratcliff, an assistant professor of MET, gave a presentation titled "Balloon Launched UAV with Nested Wing for Near Space Applications." Sullivan, who also works at Cummins Inc., spoke about satellite communication networks and the need for high-altitude UAVs based on his experience in Afghanistan as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force Special Tactics Group. Also attending the conference were Joe Gangestad, George Pollock and James Goppert, all graduate students in the School of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at Purdue, and Jessica Sullivan, a student at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus. The keynote speakers were Purdue President France A. Córdova and Jason Lovell, manager of the Indiana Office of Energy and Defense Development.
Grant Berkemeier, an MET student at the Columbus location, attended the SAE AeroTech conference Sept 19-21 in Los Angeles. Grant was accompanied by Margaret Ratcliff, an assistant professor of MET, and David Gevers, CEO of Gevers Aircraft Inc. Ratcliff and Gevers presented a paper titled "Balloon Launched UAV with Nested Wing for Near Space Applications." While there, the group also attended the AIAA Space 2007 conference in Long Beach.
Stephen J. Elliott, associate professor of IT and University Faculty Scholar, has been appointed assistant department head for Industrial Technology. In addition to his support to the IT department as webmaster, software facilitator/trainer, and liaison for Statewide Technology, he has assisted with departmental alumni relations and collecting and analyzing data instrumental in departmental decision-making.
Sponsored Research Update
For an updated look at sponsored research activities from July 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007 within the College of Technology, visit the applied research section of the CoT Web site.
CoT News Submissions
Report your CoT news through the online reporting form. The next e-newsletter is scheduled for distribution on Monday, November 12.
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In the News
Purdue celebrates success of fundraising for Niswonger Aviation Technology Building
 Purdue University on Wednesday (Oct. 24) celebrated the success of fundraising on a $6.6 million project to construct an 18,200-square-foot building addition that will provide a larger, modern learning facility for future pilots, airline managers, aeronautical technologists and others pursuing careers in the aviation industry.
The Niswonger Aviation Technology Building addition, near the Purdue Airport, will be attached to the current, historic aviation technology building. It is scheduled for completion in fall 2009.
"Purdue has a long and historic relationship with aviation," said Purdue President France A. Córdova. "For example, alumnus J. Clifford Turpin helped the Wright brothers improve their engines, and famed aviator Amelia Earhart was part of our staff. The university's program is one of the largest and most highly respected in the nation.
"These generous gifts from SCoTt Niswonger and many other donors will help create a facility so that a new generation of students, faculty and staff can continue to make aviation history." News Release and Video
College faculty, staff invited to hear the 'Harbin Experience' on Nov. 14
Jamie Mohler,associate professor and assistant department head for CGT, recently completed a lecture series for Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China. He will present the "Harbin Experience" to faculty and staff in the College of Technology from 3:30-4:20 p.m. Nov. 14 in Knoy, Room B031. Mohler will present details on how to prepare, work and live in an international setting. Time will be allotted for questions and answers pertaining to international structures, organization, teaching and student expectations, as well as the differences in curriculum and course delivery.
Purdue sponsoring conference on mobile forensics in Chicago
The first Mobile Forensics World conference will bring together experts from around the world who specialize in digital device investigation to Chicago. Purdue University's Cyber Forensics Lab, housed in the Department of Computer and Information Technology in the College of Technology, and CERIAS will sponsor the event that will be held May 8-10 at the O'Hare Marriott.
Purdue University's Cyber Forensics Lab, housed in the Department of Computer and Information Technology in the College of Technology, will sponsor the event that will be held May 8-10 at the O'Hare Marriott.
The conference is open to federal, state and local forensic specialists; corporate and private forensic examiners; industry leaders; and academic researchers, said Rick Mislan, an assistant professor of computer and information technology in Purdue's College of Technology and the conference director. More Info.
Delegation from Ireland, Germany visiting Purdue announces student-exchange agreement
Eleven faculty members from technology institutions in Ireland and Germany visited the Purdue University campus the week of Oct. 22 for an announcement on a joint proposal that will provide funds for student exchange.
Ten members from the Dublin Institute of Technology in Ireland and one from Hochschule Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences in Germany toured the campus and various labs and classroom areas available to technology students.
Under the agreement, Purdue and Penn State will jointly receive $180,000, and the two European institutions will jointly receive 180,000 euros for the next four years to pay travel expenses for students to study abroad for a semester.
The funds are being provided by the European Union-United States Atlantis Program, which is part of the U.S. Department of Education. More Info.
Purdue students to compete in national supercomputing contest
Six Purdue University students will travel to Reno, Nev., from Nov. 12-15 to show off their high-performance computing skills and compete against undergraduate teams from around the world at the inaugural Cluster Challenge.
The Purdue team, made up of students in Jeff Evans' high-performance computing course in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology, will participate in the competition. The Cluster Challenge is part of the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis, referred to as Supercomputing 2007 (SC07). More Info.
Milroy, Ind., students visiting College of Technology on Nov. 1
Two groups of 22 sixth-graders from Milroy Elementary School in Milroy, Ind., will visit Knoy Hall and the Niswonger Aviation Technology Building on Nov. 1.
One group of students will start their day at 9:00 a.m. at the Manufacturing Center in Knoy Hall, where Hank Kraebber, professor of MET, and systems technologist Jerry Budd will show them the model factory that is a fully integrated collection of automated machine tools, robots, process control systems and related equipment. At 1:30 p.m., the group will tour the aviation technology building with academic advisers Rose DeLong-Bolyard and Brad Peters.
A second group of students will tour Knoy Hall at 3:00 p.m. with academic excellence coordinator Jacqueline Brown. The students will also visit the food science building, Mackey Arena, the Civil Engineering Building, the Mechanical Engineering Building, the horticulture greenhouses and residence halls. The visit by the Milroy students is part of an annual event organized by Purdue's Visitor Information Center to interest students in a future college career at Purdue.
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