Student Feature: Ivan Blount, CoT at South Bend

Ivan Blount, a senior in organizational leadership and supervision at the College of Technology at South Bend, has made history. Blount, who will graduate in May, is ending his tenure as the first Purdue student to serve as student government president for Indiana University - South Bend. Below, he shares a little about what he has learned in his role and at his time at Purdue.

Q. You are a student at the Purdue College of Technology at South Bend. How did you become student government president for IUSB?

A. Since Purdue's campus in South Bend is fairly small, its students are permitted to become involved in activities at the nearby campus of IUSB, which tends to have more traditional-type college activities. I wanted to get involved in something where I could really make a difference. I started as a justice, then became a senator, then ran for president last year.

Q. What kinds of projects have you been involved with while serving as IUSB student government president.

A. It's an endless list, but some of the projects include diversity, student housing, strategic planning for IUSB and working on the new facility in Elkhart. We partnered with Notre Dame recently to organize a dance marathon featuring Regis Philbin as emcee, the proceeds of which went to help the homeless. I also got to take part in the inauguration of IU President Michael McRobbie.

Q. What have you learned from your service at IUSB?

A. It's been a great experience. Most importantly, I've been able to see both sides of issues, both as a student and as the way faculty and administrators view things. It goes so much further than book learning, because I've gotten to witness how others govern and make my voice heard as a student.

Q. You are a nontraditional student. Why did you choose the College of Technology at South Bend?

A. I started at Saint Joseph's College and was a student there for a couple of years and was on the football team. I left and pursued a variety of jobs, but then heard about the Purdue College of Technology at South Bend. It was a very inviting place for me. I am raising three children and a nephew, and the professors have a different perspective of learning that really appealed to me. They are great at showing you how your studies apply to the real world and understood that I had a lot of priorities to juggle. They would always tell me, "Life happens."

Q. You will receive your bachelor's degree in May. What's next for you?

A. I'll be off to graduate school next year at Eastern Illinois University, where I will study student affairs.

South Bend hosts open house

The OLS 325 "Meeting Management" class organized an open house April 19 for the College of Technology at South Bend.bout 125-150 people attended the event, at which the community was invited to learn more about the five majors offered at the location. Admissions and financial aid representatives were on hand, as were representatives from the St. Joseph County Alumni Association and the location's new director, Michael D. Sanders.

The following students in Fred Ziolkowski's class helped organize the event: Jeffrey M. DeJaegher, Janell L. Graves, Esaw Harris, Michael Kinsey, Audrey E. Koczan, Tonda S. Lowell, Michael E. Miller, John M. Pinda, Gage W. Rynearson, Nicole Spencer, Michael N. Spross and Kenisha L. Wells.

Staff, faculty, and other students involved were Lori A. Butchko, student services coordinator; Kim Sippel, administrative assistant; Michael D. Sanders, director; Karl Perusich (ECET), Gene Harding (ECET), Sarah Leach (MET), Bruce Flora (Adjunct, MET), Carley Augustine (CGT), Gil Laware (CIT), Julie Alexander (IT student), Kirsten Heintzberger (CGT alum) and Kevin Kucharski (CGT alum).

Faculty Honors

Prof. John P. "JP" Lisack, who has worked in the College of Technology for more than 40 years, received the college's first Distinguished Service Award.

Lisack received the award April 21 at the College of Technology Faculty and Staff Recognition Luncheon.

"J.P. Lisack has made countless contributions during his 43 years of service to the College of Technology, including roles in teaching, research, working with Indiana industries and getting the word out about the college," said College of Technology Dean Dennis R. Depew. "Even after retirement, he has continued to serve the college and maintains an office in Knoy Hall. It's hard to imagine what the college would be like without the many positive contributions of J.P. Lisack over the years."

Lisack began at Purdue in 1965 as an associate professor of technology and director of the Office of Manpower Studies. He was promoted to professor in 1970 and retired in 1988, when he was named a professor emeritus and director emeritus.

Lisack has taught engineering technology and industrial technology courses and has helped market and promote the college's curricula and academic programs to students and outside civic and business organizations. As director of the Office of Manpower Studies, he developed and published more than 50 manpower reports and research studies about the manpower and training needs of Indiana industries. His work has been cited in reports to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education on curricula and course development.

Lisack has served as past chairman of the state advisory council for the state Employment Security Division and served on the City of West Lafayette's recycling committee from 1988-2001.

Before coming to Purdue, Lisack served in the Illinois National Guard and the U.S. Air Force, where he was an aerial flight engineer and maintenance officer in the Pacific and European theaters of World War II. He was awarded eight battle stars, the Legion of Merit Award and the Presidential Unit Citation. He retired with the rank of colonel.

After the war, he was an assistant professor of air science at Ohio State University, where he taught general military and aerospace subjects. Lisack also served as chief of the commitments and requirements branch of operations at the headquarters of the U.S. forces in Europe, as well as a variety of other roles in the Air Force before retiring in July 1965.

Lisack received a bachelor's degree in industrial arts in 1948 and a master's degree in vocational education, both from Ohio State University, and a doctor of business administration from Indiana Northern University in 1974.

Lisack was nominated for the award by Matthew Stephens, a professor of industrial technology.

Several College of Technology faculty received awards April 13 during the university's annual Honors Convocation in Elliott Hall of Music.

Linda Naimi, assistant professor of OLS, was honored with a Murphy Award. Six exceptional teachers were honored with 2008 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Awards in Memory of Charles B. Murphy. The Murphy is given annually in recognition of outstanding teaching in all phases of undergraduate instruction at the West Lafayette campus. The university's highest undergraduate teaching honor, the Murphy is accompanied by a $10,000 cash award and induction into Purdue's Teaching Academy, which provides leadership for the improvement of undergraduate, graduate and outreach teaching.

Richard M. French, assistant professor of MET, received the James G. Dwyer Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching. Recipients of awards for excellence in teaching received commemorative plaques and cash awards from their college or school.

Patrick E. Connolly, associate professor of CGT, and Nathan W. Hartman, assistant professor of CGT, received the Award for Excellence in Distance Learning: Best Noncredit Program for "Discovery Park: Product Lifecycle Management Certificate Program." Each received a $500 cash award. The awards for Excellence in Distance Learning recognize professional accomplishment and innovative approaches to "teaching-at-a-distance." They spotlight initiatives in distance learning that are under way throughout the Purdue system.

Faculty Honors (cont.)

Stephen Elliott, professor of IT, was promoted to vice chair for membership and ballots for the International Committee for Information Technology Standards M1 Technical Committee on Biometrics. The M1 committee helps set biometric standards for data interchange formats, common file formats, application program interfaces, profiles and performance testing and reporting. M1 serves as the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (U.S. TAG) for the international organization ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 37 on biometrics and is responsible for establishing U.S. positions and contributions to SC 37, as well as representing the United States at SC 37 meetings.

Michael Whitt, assistant professor of MET, recently received the 2008 Achievement in Science and Technical Disciplines Award from the Indianapolis-based Center for Leadership Development. The center's mission is to foster the development of minority youth in central Indiana as future professional, business and community leaders by providing experiences that encourage personal development and educational attainment.

Two OLS alums share experiences as leaders

Two organizational leadership and supervision alums visited Jim Windle's OLS 484 "Leadership Strategies for Quality and Productivity" class recently to share insights with students on their respective careers at General Electric - Aviation.

Kristie Sturgeon, OLS '97, is the plant leader for the GE Aviation advanced composite engine components operation under construction in Batesville, Miss.

Sturgeon started at GE in 2005. Her first job after graduating from Purdue was as a second-shift operations manager at International Truck and Engine, where she learned a lot in the UAW-rich environment.

"It was a very challenging atmosphere," she said. "I was 22, and these guys I was managing were my grandfather's age with an average length of time on the job of 28 years. It forced me to grow up very quickly. It was a great experience."

She continued at the company in various other roles until 2003, when she became an operations manager at Carrier Corp. in Tyler, Texas. She served in this role until 2005, when she moved to GE, where she started as a Six Sigma Black Belt.

She called her current assignment as plant leader at the Batesville operation "a dream come true" and "an awesome opportunity."

Her advice to students is to remain open to any and all job opportunities.

"It's important in all your jobs to understand the takeaways," Sturgeon said. "What you learn on any job is totally transferrable to the next one."

She said the keys to success are to be firm, fair and consistent. Also, having a passion for what you are doing is essential. "It's not about the money," Sturgeon said. "It's doing what you like to do. The money will come."

Justin Whitman, OLS '99, is serving as human resources leader for the Batesville plant. Whitman's career has taken a different path, which has included human resources jobs at Simon & Schuster Publishing in Indianapolis and Owens Corning facilities around the nation. He joined GE in 2006, where he started as a human resources leader in the Madisonville, Ky., supply-chain/aviation/turbine/airfoils facility.

He sees his new role as human resources leader at the Batesville plant as a tremendous opportunity. "We're building a culture," Whitman said. "That's a neat project."

His advice for students is to get as much experience in various units of an organization as possible.

"Don't ever underestimate those tactical jobs you do — even jobs like making copies," Whitman said. "You can extract value out of any task. Every job adds to your toolkit."

He said students should figure out where they want to be, have a career plan to get there, and be flexible about moving around the country and the world.

"Always take the tough role," Whitman said. "You'll get respect, and you can do it."

Ground was broken on the Batesville plant in August, and it is scheduled to be operational by early 2009.

Faculty and Student Endeavors

The Purdue Solar Racing Team received first place in the solar division of the Shell Eco-Marathon, held this month in Fontana, Calif. The objective of the competition is to design and build a vehicle that uses the least amount of fuel to travel the farthest distance. The team, made up of engineering and technology students, received $1,600. In addition, they received the highest overall miles-per-gallon run of any competing team, but were not eligible to win that competition because the winner is required to have a gasoline-powered engine. Their solar vehicle, named Pulsar, achieved 2,861.8 mpg (1,216.4 kilometers per liter). It was the first time the team has competed in the marathon. Members of the student organization built the solar vehicle in about three months and are planning to compete in the Shell competition next year and may compete in the North American Solar Challenge in July. The team's adviser is Heather Cooper, assistant professor of MET.

Two students and a staff member from the College of Technology at Anderson were featured speakers at the American Society for Quality's East Central Indiana meeting on April 16 in Muncie.

Michael Salmon, who is graduating in May with a bachelor's degree in organizational leadership and supervision, reviewed some of the projects and assignments he did while a student. He also was a department planner at GM for many years.

Jason Koons is graduating in May with a bachelor's degree in industrial technology.He discussed his work in the area of information technology and his work as a student.

Dave Riegle, the Anderson student services coordinator, did an overall presentation on programs offered at Anderson and presented information about Purdue's new Six Sigma Green Belt certification starting in the fall.

John Eddy's career celebration May 5

The College of Technology at Anderson is holding a retirement open house May 5 for John Eddy, who retired in October as special assistant to the assistant dean for statewide technology.

The open house, which is open to the public, is 3-5 p.m. at the Anderson location at the Anderson University Flagship Center, 2705 Enterprise Drive off Interstate 69 at exit 22.

 Eddy worked in various positions at General Motors in Anderson from 1959-98 before joining the College of Technology at Anderson in 1999. At Purdue, he served as a student adviser and location director before becoming special assistant to the assistant dean.

He received a bachelor's degree in industrial management from Purdue in 1959 and is a member of John Purdue Club and the Purdue President's Council. Eddy also supports Purdue Musical Organizations, is chair of the advisory board for Indiana Public Radio and is on the board of directors for the Anderson Education Foundation and the Rotary Club. 

His wife, Sonya, also is a 1959 graduate of Purdue, receiving a bachelor's degree in speech and audiology.

The Eddys have a long history with Purdue. John's father, Ray, was a former Purdue basketball coach, associate director of intercollegiate athletics and was last year posthumously inducted into the Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame. Sonya Eddy's father, Albert P. Stewart, was founder and head of the Purdue Musical Organizations and director of the Purdue Glee Club. The Eddys' grandson Jeffrey will start at Purdue in the fall, making him the fifth generation of the family to attend Purdue.

Sponsored Research Update

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