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U of A College of Engineering Dean Kim Needy (center) accepts her distinguished alumni award from Lisa Maillart, interim chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering (left), and Sanjeev Shroff, interim U.S. Steel Dean of the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering.

College of Engineering Dean Kim Needy was among seven alumni honored in April as part of the 2024 Class of Distinguished Alumni for the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering.

The school celebrated the new class of honorees at a dinner and awards ceremony April 10 at the campus' University Club.

A native of Pittsburgh, Needy earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in industrial engineering from the Swanson School of Engineering in 1984 and 1987, respectively. She earned her Ph.D. at Wichita State University.

"In industrial engineering and engineering education far and wide, Dr. Kim Needy is well known and highly regarded, especially here at her alma mater," said Lisa Maillart, interim department chair of industrial engineering. "Kim is a Pittsburgh homer ... She is also a valued mentor and role model for women engineers throughout academia."

Prior to her academic career, Needy gained industry experience working at PPG Industries and The Boeing Company. She taught at the University of Pittsburgh 1993-2008 before joining the U of A in 2008 as the head of the Department of Industrial Engineering, a post she held through 2014. She served as dean of the Graduate School and International Education 2014-2020.

She was named dean of the College of Engineering in November 2020 and holds the Irma F. and Raymond F. Giffels Endowed Chair in Engineering.

The Swanson School of Engineering's recognition comes immediately before Needy will lead festivities honoring 20 early career and distinguished alumni of the U of A College of Engineering this Saturday, April 20. In addition, Needy will announce her choices for the college's highest honor, induction into its Hall of Fame.

"Honoring our alumni takes on even more meaning for me this year because it's been so fun and rewarding to be recognized by my own alma mater," Needy said. "It's important to pause sometimes and look at our accomplishments and those of others to see how far we've come and dream about where this foundation can lead us."

Needy was joined by her husband, Bill; her father, John LaScola; and her sister and brother-in-law, Kathy Feehan and Rob Feehan, for the Pittsburgh alumni banquet.

Other recent honors for Needy include being named among the U of A Chancellor's Commission on Women's 2021-2022 Extraordinary Woman Faculty. In 2023, she was selected as among the Top 100 Women of Impact in Arkansas and Ones to Watch in 2023 for Celebrate Arkansas Magazine.

From left, Rob Feehan and Kathy Feehan, John LaScola, Kim Needy and Bill Needy.

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Needy Honored as Distinguished Alumna of University of Pittsburgh Engineering College - University of Arkansas Newswire

Rose Hu, the associate dean for research in the College of Engineering and professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Utah State University, has been selected as a fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The fellowship is one of the nations highest scientific achievements.

I am extremely honored to be named as an AAAS Fellow, Hu said. It is a huge recognition of dedication, curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge in the world of science and innovation.

Hu is being acknowledged for her extraordinary contributions to design and performance analysis of mobile wireless communications systems and for exceptional administration, leadership and service in academia and professional societies. Of the 502 fellows selected this year, Hu is the only recipient from USU and one of three in Utah.

Hu is also a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Society for Engineering Education. She is an established researcher and engineer who has published six books and more than 300 journal articles and conference papers throughout her career. She currently serves as editor-in-chief for IEEE Communications magazine. Prior to joining USU, Hu held various industry and academia positions, actively participating in industry 4G standards and technology development and system-level simulations.

In addition, she has more than 20 patents in her name.

The tradition of electing AAAS Fellows began in 1874 and is acknowledged with a certificate and rosette. AAAS Fellows are a distinguished cadre of scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized for their achievements across disciplines, from research, teaching and technology to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.

Notable AAAS fellows include W.B. DuBois, Thomas Edison and Steven Chu.

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USU Engineering Professor Elected as AAAS Fellow - Utah State University

In its 13th year, The Citadel School of Engineeringinducted five new members into theAcademy of Engineerson April 11 Dr. Eric M. Bailey, 84; Mr. Hernan Pea Jr, 84; Col. Linda J. Riedel, SCARNG, 11; Col. Ned Sanders, USAF (Ret.), 53; and Maj. Sandra Wright, MD ARNG, 04.

The Citadel Academy of Engineers honors engineering leaders from both the public and private sectors who have enjoyed substantial success in their professional lives and made significant contributions to their communities. All of the inductees have lived a life consistent with The Citadel School of Engineerings mission, which is to educate and develop principled engineering leaders to serve a global community. Additionally, each inductee embodies The Citadels core values of honor, duty and respect by building the reputation of engineering education excellence, modeling responsibility for student-centered success and giving mutual respect in The Citadels inclusion of all students.

We are so pleased to induct this years class of The Citadel School of Engineerings Academy of Engineers inductees, who embody what it means to be aprincipledleader and trailblazer in engineering, cybersecurity, the military, and public service. Their stories and experiences, which they have been able to pass down to our cadets and students, are truly inspiring, said Andrew Williams, Ph.D., dean for The Citadels School of Engineering.

The 2024 Academy of Engineers inductees are:

Dr. Eric M. Bailey is a distinguished engineer with over 60 patents and more than 40 years of experience in Aerospace, Security and Medical Imaging. He was a 1984 graduate of The Citadel, captain in the U.S. Air Force and recipient of an honorary Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Northeastern University. He served in the USAF on the development of the Peacekeeper intercontinental ballisticmissile and conducted two underground nuclear tests. Later, he served with Northrop Grumman to develop guidance systems for missiles, vehicles and satellites. In the mid 90s, Bailey led a team of engineers to build the worlds first multi-slice, high speed, dual energy CT scanner for detection of explosives in checked airline luggage. This machine is the modern basis for all medical CT machines built since. The death of his brother due to brain injury in the remote mountains of New Hampshire, where the small hospital did not have a CT scanner, compelled him to found NeuroLogica Corp (now part of Samsung), to develop the worlds first portable head CT scanner.

He also invented the concept of Mobile Stroke Units, which could include such CT scanners, with the thought that someday they could be used in treatment of traumatic brain injury patients such as his brother. His many accolades include a personal exhibit in the Boston Museum of Science, Chairman of Lahey Hospital Quality & Safety, Citadel Alumni of the Year 2011, as well as teaching and lecturing regularly at Northeastern University and Harvard Medical School. Eric created a Joint Venture with Siemens Healthineers to design the next generation portable CT scanners. He presently serves as the Chief Commercial Officer of Sense Neuro Diagnostics Inc., a startup developing a low-cost, radio-frequency-based headset to detect stroke and traumatic brain injury in ICUs, ERs, ambulance, military, nursing homes and sports.

Hernan E. Pea Jr. serves as the Deputy Executive Director and COO at the Charleston International Airport (CHS). With a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The Citadel and a Master of Engineering from California Coast University, Pea is a Certified International Airport Professional, Certified Airport Manager and an Airport Certified Employee in Airport Operations and Aviation Security. Peas leadership at CHS includes overseeing airport operations, engineering projects, and planning and he spearheaded the $250 million Airport Terminal Redevelopment Project, which included major aviation infrastructure upgrades. Before joining CHS, Pea worked alongside Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. on Charlestons infrastructure, recovery from Hurricane Hugo and transportation projects as he served as Charlestons Director of Transportation for 16 years, contributing to significant projects like the Arthur Ravenel Bridge, the James Island Connector Bridge, the Herbert Fielding Connector and the Septima Clark Roadway Project.

Pea has provided professional consulting services for over 31 years in the transportation sector globally, where he has undertaken over 70 projects worldwide, advising both domestic and international clients, including the U.S. Government, on project pre-feasibility studies and technical assistance. Peas expertise as a transportation consultant has been instrumental in shaping infrastructure projects across Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America, reflecting his profound impact on global transportation systems. Throughout his distinguished career, Pea has garnered recognition for his contributions to the engineering profession, having received prestigious awards such as the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Past Presidents Award, South Carolinas ITE Transportation Engineer of the Year Award, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Regional Professional Leadership Award and was the inaugural recipient of IEEEs Wilbur B. Smith Outstanding Electrical Engineer Award in South Carolina.

Col. Linda J. Riedel is the Brigade Commander for the 228th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade, South Carolina Army National Guard (SCARNG) located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Riedel began her military career initially as an enlisted soldier and later received her commission through South Carolinas Officer Candidate School, Palmetto Military Academy. She is a recent graduate of the Cyber War College at the National Defense University, College of Information and Cyberspace at Fort McNair, Washington, DC. Riedel is South Carolinas first commander of the 125th Cyber Protection Battalion. Riedel formed a new cyber battalion, basically from scratch, and within six months prepared the battalion for deployment in support of Task Force Echo comprised of more than 150 soldiers from various branches across the country to support the Cyber Mission Force in March 2018-2019. Riedel continues to support the cyber initiatives of the Army National Guard and the cyber community.

A career Signal Officer with 30 years of service, Riedel was selected and awarded the AOC 17A Cyber Operations Officer designation in 2019. In 2023, Riedel was deployed to Kuwait in Support of Operation Spartan Shield and served as the Deputy G6 Forward for US Army Central responsible for overseeing, directing and coordinating the provision of a full range of information technology services in the Middle East. In March 2018, Riedel served as the Task Force Commander for Task Force Echo II. The Task Force was aligned under the 780th Military Intelligence Brigade, which falls under the operational control of the U.S. Army Cyber Command. In June 2012, Riedel served in support of Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo (KFOR16). Her responsibilities included Civil Affairs Officer and S-1 for the Multinational Battle Group (East) KFOR 16. In February 2003, Riedel was ordered to active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While deployed, her assignment included Signal Platoon Leader, 114th Signal Company.

Col. Ned M. Sanders, PE, USAF (Ret.), 53, as a Citadel cadet was active in the American Association of Civil Engineering student chapter, sports editor of The Sphinx and served as a company commander. He graduated as a Reserve Distinguished Military Graduate. Following The Citadel, Sanders had a military career involving training, teaching, education, flying and civil engineering. He flew various types of Air Force planes for 5,500 hours and taught Engineering Graphics and basic military skills at The Air Force Academy for three years. Soon after, he was assigned as the Civil Engineer at an aircraft warning radar site in Alaska. Sanders received a masters degree in Structural Engineering at The University of Colorado. His thesis, Splice Length in Reinforced Concrete, was based on testing beams taken to structural failure. That research resulted in changing the applicable section in the American Concrete Institute code of construction. Sanders also received and passed his PE exam in Colorado. Sanders became Chief of Base Civil Engineering design, maintenance and construction at Scott Air Force Base for three years.

After Scott AFB, there was a period of three years for training and duty flying combat in South Vietnam. After, he entered graduate school at Clemson University and was a teaching assistant for concrete and asphaltic materials. He then became a Construction Engineer at Robins AFB. Sanders was promoted to be the Base Structural Engineer and was then made Chief of the Civil Design group. He was then promoted to be Chief of Civil Engineering design and construction where he worked on 100-120 projects per year, varying from $5,000-$20 million or more, and supervising over 45 professionals. Sanders was then promoted to be Chief of Civil Engineer Programs at the national level for the Air Force Reserve where he managed engineering and architectural projects for 13 Air Force Reserve bases.

Maj. Sandra Wright is an Engineer and Military Police Officer, currently serving as the Operations Officer in the 115th Military Police Battalion in the Maryland Army National Guard. Her military career began in 1997, when enlisting into the Army, and she has worked as a light-wheel vehicle mechanic, Blackhawk Helicopter Mechanic, Engineer, and Military Police Officer in various positions throughout the Maryland Army National Guard. After graduating from The Citadel and beginning work as an electrical engineer, Wright decided to return to the Army and commissioned as an Engineer Officer in 2010, later serving as the Commander for the 244th Vertical Engineer Company. She deployed her unit to build schools in El Salvador and to Puerto Rico for construction efforts to rebuild portions of Camp Santiago. In 2016, Wright was selected as the Maryland Army National Guard Associations Company Grade Officer of the Year and in 2019 as the Military Reserve Exchange Program Officer, earning an opportunity to serve in Estonia for the Spring Storm Exercise as the S-3 Operations Officer for a multi-national Engineer.

Wright served during the 2017 and 2021 Presidential Inaugurations, the 2021 Capitol Response Mission, three activations for military support to Marylands COVID response force and is preparing for the 2025 Presidential Inauguration. In 2021-2022, Wright was deployed with the 29th Infantry Division under Operation Spartan Shield, serving as the Division Engineer for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and working on construction projects to transition from the Army footprint on an Air Force Base from expeditionary living to semi-permanent structures. During this deployment, Wright directed more than 150 Army volunteers to the Air Forces on-base noncombatant evacuation operations by managing daily requests for support to more than 1,200 Afghans with disembarking aircraft, in-processing, biometrics screening, visa paperwork review, COVID testing and lodging activities under Operations Allies during the 2022 retrograde operation from Afghanistan. In 2021 and 2023, Wright served as the lead instructor of Be Strong, which offered free self-defense training to around 600 women and girls in the Kuwait City community.

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The Citadel School of Engineering's Academy of Engineers inducts five new honorees - The Citadel Today

A chatbot turns hostile. A test version of a Roomba vacuum collects images of users in private situations. A Black woman is falsely identified as a suspect on the basis of facial recognition software, which tends to be less accurate at identifying women and people of color.

These incidents are not just glitches, but examples of more fundamental problems. As artificial intelligence and machine learning tools become more integrated into daily life, ethical considerations are growing, from privacy issues and race and gender biases in coding to the spread of misinformation.

The general public depends on software engineers and computer scientists to ensure these technologies are created in a safe and ethical manner. As a sociologist and doctoral candidate interested in science, technology, engineering and math education, we are currently researching how engineers in many different fields learn and understand their responsibilities to the public.

Yet our recent research, as well as that of other scholars, points to a troubling reality: The next generation of engineers often seem unprepared to grapple with the social implications of their work. Whats more, some appear apathetic about the moral dilemmas their careers may bring just as advances in AI intensify such dilemmas.

As part of our ongoing research, we interviewed more than 60 electrical engineering and computer science masters students at a top engineering program in the United States. We asked students about their experiences with ethical challenges in engineering, their knowledge of ethical dilemmas in the field and how they would respond to scenarios in the future.

First, the good news: Most students recognized potential dangers of AI and expressed concern about personal privacy and the potential to cause harm like how race and gender biases can be written into algorithms, intentionally or unintentionally.

One student, for example, expressed dismay at the environmental impact of AI, saying AI companies are using more and more greenhouse power, [for] minimal benefits. Others discussed concerns about where and how AIs are being applied, including for military technology and to generate falsified information and images.

When asked, however, Do you feel equipped to respond in concerning or unethical situations? students often said no.

Flat out no. It is kind of scary, one student replied. Do YOU know who Im supposed to go to?

Another was troubled by the lack of training: I [would be] dealing with that with no experience. Who knows how Ill react.

Other researchers have similarly found that many engineering students do not feel satisfied with the ethics training they do receive. Common training usually emphasizes professional codes of conduct, rather than the complex socio-technical factors underlying ethical decision-making. Research suggests that even when presented with particular scenarios or case studies, engineering students often struggle to recognize ethical dilemmas.

Accredited engineering programs are required to include topics related to professional and ethical responsibilities in some capacity.

Yet ethics training is rarely emphasized in the formal curricula. A study assessing undergraduate STEM curricula in the U.S. found that coverage of ethical issues varied greatly in terms of content, amount and how seriously it is presented. Additionally, an analysis of academic literature about engineering education found that ethics is often considered nonessential training.

Many engineering faculty express dissatisfaction with students understanding, but report feeling pressure from engineering colleagues and students themselves to prioritize technical skills in their limited class time.

Researchers in one 2018 study interviewed over 50 engineering faculty and documented hesitancy and sometimes even outright resistance toward incorporating public welfare issues into their engineering classes. More than a quarter of professors they interviewed saw ethics and societal impacts as outside real engineering work.

About a third of students we interviewed in our ongoing research project share this seeming apathy toward ethics training, referring to ethics classes as just a box to check off.

If Im paying money to attend ethics class as an engineer, Im going to be furious, one said.

These attitudes sometimes extend to how students view engineers role in society. One interviewee in our current study, for example, said that an engineers responsibility is just to create that thing, design that thing and tell people how to use it. [Misusage] issues are not their concern.

One of us, Erin Cech, followed a cohort of 326 engineering students from four U.S. colleges. This research, published in 2014, suggested that engineers actually became less concerned over the course of their degree about their ethical responsibilities and understanding the public consequences of technology. Following them after they left college, we found that their concerns regarding ethics did not rebound once these new graduates entered the workforce.

When engineers do receive ethics training as part of their degree, it seems to work.

Along with engineering professor Cynthia Finelli, we conducted a survey of over 500 employed engineers. Engineers who received formal ethics and public welfare training in school are more likely to understand their responsibility to the public in their professional roles, and recognize the need for collective problem solving. Compared to engineers who did not receive training, they were 30% more likely to have noticed an ethical issue in their workplace and 52% more likely to have taken action.

Over a quarter of these practicing engineers reported encountering a concerning ethical situation at work. Yet approximately one-third said they have never received training in public welfare not during their education, and not during their career.

This gap in ethics education raises serious questions about how well-prepared the next generation of engineers will be to navigate the complex ethical landscape of their field, especially when it comes to AI.

To be sure, the burden of watching out for public welfare is not shouldered by engineers, designers and programmers alone. Companies and legislators share the responsibility.

But the people who are designing, testing and fine-tuning this technology are the publics first line of defense. We believe educational programs owe it to them and the rest of us to take this training seriously.

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Are tomorrow's engineers ready to face AI's ethical challenges? - The Conversation

An ongoing research grant awarded last year by the United States Department of Agricultures National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) has prompted new levels of cross-college collaboration between Purdue faculty.

Robert Nawrocki, Purdue Polytechnics principal investigator on the grant, is an assistant professor in the School of Engineering Technology specializing in organic electronics and sensors. Nawrocki has brought Darrin Karcher from the College of Agriculture and Thomas Siegmund from the College of Engineering onto the project as co-principal investigators.

Nawrocki provided some language from the teams original grant proposal, which clarifies some of the points of collaboration in this research:

Up to 73% of egg laying hens experience catastrophic and sometimes even fatal changes to their keel bone. Besides the humanitarian aspect of animal suffering, it has direct financial consequences for farmers and consumers alike.

This research aims to develop and deploy new sensors, as well as construct an animal computer model, to (finally) determine the root causes of the problem. As expressed by our industry partners, the results of our investigations will be used to re-design bird housing, including changes to perch, nest and litter area(s), to minimize or eliminate the keel bone damage.

The project will implement patent-pending sensor technology, and the research background which has guided the methodology includes the works listed here:

"Effect of Additive Manufacturing on -Phase Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride)-Based Capacitive Temperature Sensors"Fan, et al.

"Electric poling-assisted additive manufacturing technique for piezoelectric active poly(vinylidene fluoride) films: Towards fully three-dimensional printed functional materials"Fan, et al.

"Capacitive sensors and methods and apparatuses for producing capacitive sensors"Nawrocki, et al.

"Piezoelectric sensors and methods and apparatuses for producing piezoelectric sensors"Nawrocki, et al.

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USDA grant creates rare three-college collaboration between Polytechnic, Agriculture, Engineering faculty - Purdue ... - Purdue Polytechnic Institute