Information for advocates of the IPFW School of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science

Vol.1,No.1
Fall 1996

The objective of the School of ETCS is to be an increasingly valuable technological resource for its students, and to serve society as an integral component of a unique and comprehensive university with vigorous regional ties and a growing national reputation.

Within he broader mission of the university, the school's goal is to prepare technicians, technologists, computer professionals and engineers, and to provide its students with opportunities to develop fundamental skills and knowledge and a professional attitude.

The School of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science is pleased to announce an enrollment increase of 6.6 percent in credit hours this year. This is good news for area employers because it means a larger pool of co-op students, interns, and ultimately, graduates of ETCS.

Enrollment statistics from the file departments are as follows:

• Civil and Architectural Engineering Technology (CAET): 35.0 percent (mainly due to the addition of the interior design program)
• Computer Science (CS): 4.4 percent
• Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology (ECET): 9.8 percent
• Engineering (ENGR): 4.3 percent
• Manufacturing Technology (MFT): <10.7 percent>

As we prepare this first issue of ETCS Advocate, we have been asking ourselves, "Who will be reading this publication and why would they want to read it?" Our main goal is to communicate with the advocates of IPFW's School of ETCS about the technological advances and the exceptional people that make things happen at our school, in industry, and in our global community. We would like this communication to be a two-way street. We want to hear your news and hope that you would like to know more about our programs and would like to get involved in some way. Students have needs, the faculty has needs, the industry has needs, and the university has needs. At the risk of sounding like President Clinton and Senator Dole, we want to build bridges to support these needs.

We need to build bridges to industry that carry employees back to the university for traning and updating of their skills. We need to build bridges to carry students looking for co-op experiences and jobs out to industry. We need to build bridges to carry industrial leaders back to the university to give advice on curriculum issues or perhaps even to teach an undergraduate course in their field of expertise. These bridges can carry faculty wanting to share their knowledge as consultants, and can carry to industry faculty who want more practical experience. Our interim dean, Professor Ronald C. Emery, is committed to these ideas. He reorganized the Industrial Advisory Committee and is working closely to bridge these gaps. We hope that you enjoy the ETCS Advocate. We look forward to hearing from you.

- Brenda H. Groff, co-editor

Professor Ronald C. Emery, longtime electrical engineering technology faculty member, will server as interim dean for the 1996-97 academic year. Emery came to IPFW in 1966 and searved as chair of EET and as associate dean. A search committee will conduct a national search for a permanent dean this year.

The Department of Electrical Engineering Technology has changed its name to Department of Elecrical and Computer Engineering Technology. The purpose of the name change is to recognize the importance of the computer in the curriculum and to provide a better description of the department and degree to prospective students, graduates, and employers.

The A.S. and B.S. in electrical Engineering Technology are now supplemented with an option in computer engineering technology, through which the graduate can combine programming skills (including a minor in computer science) with his or her knowledge of analog and digital electronic devices, communications, and control systems.

"Our new computer engineering technology option enables students to learn additional programming skills along with electronics," stated Harold L. Broberg, ECET chair.

Interim Dean Emery renamed and reorganized the School of ETCS's advisory committee. The former industrial Advisory commitee will now be called the Advocates Council. EET alumnus Michael Fritsch, director of research, Logikos Systems and Software, will chair the steering committee; John Whitacre, vice president for engineering, Zollner Corp., will serve as student programs director; and Mitchell L. Springer, director of corporate training and employee development, Hughes Defense communications, will serve as faculty programs director.

Fritsch

"I appreciate the opportunity to participate in helping ETCS work to become a more potent force in the Fort Wayne community. With Ron, John, Mitch and many other industrial leaders on the team, the job of directing this steering committee is easy. IPFW is in the unique position of being able to directly and closely contribute to the specific manpower needs of Fort Wayne companies. This committee is charged with providing an interface between those companies and ETCS to provide information and assistance in both directions. As a graduate of IPFW EET department 14 years ago and a member of the Fort Wayne high-tech community ever since then, I understand the importance of this interface. I encourage all of you to get involved and make this committee work. It will definitely benefit all of us." -Mike Fritsch, director of research, Logikos Systems and Software

Whitacre

"I graduated from IPFW when it was much smaller than it is today. I continue to be amazed at the growth and vitality so obvious at our Fort Wayne campus. This facility is a major asset for Fort Wayne and the surrounding area. I am very happy to have the opportunity to give something back to such an important part of our community. A major goal I have for 1997 is to spread awareness of the Scholarships for Excellence program throughout a broad segment of our area businesses. Working on programs that directory benefit students at IPFW and, in fact, make it possible for some to attend is truly an honor." -John Whitacre, vice president for engineering, Zollner Corp.

Springer

"In today's highly competitive global marketplace it is becoming increasingly important that industry and local universities form strategic alliances which support a more efficient transition from university to industrial life. One vehicle for accomplishing this is to help IPFW identify, and subsequently support them in acquiring, the hardware and software representative of that use in industry. With the proper equipment, design methodologies, and practices, students can more readily assume meaningful roles when they join the workforce.

Another area of interest to the industrial community is providing opportunities for IPFW faculty to practice their disciplines in industry. This helps to maintain technological currency in IPFW faculty and provides for potentially greater learning experience for IPFW students int the classrooms. As a community, we need to be active participants in helping our citizens to obtain the required knowledge and skill demanded from us in today's environment. The future of our organizations is contingent on our collective know-how and ingenuity. I am pleased to be a member of this committee for the School of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science here at IPFW." -Mitch Springer, Ph.D., director of corporate training and employee development, Hughes Defense Communications

The ETCS Search committee has prepared an advertisement to be placed in the Chronicle of Higher Education and other professional journals. The committee established a tentative timetable for their work and is discussing screening criteria. Screening of applications will begin on Nov. 1, and interviewing of candidates will begin February 1997.

Committee members are:

Bruce A. Franke, CAET

Peggy L. Lane, CS

Thomas S. Laverghetta, ECET

Vahid Badii, ENGR (EE)

Nashwan T. Younis, ENGR (ME)

Edward E. Messal, MFT

Rebecca A. Blair, secretary, ECET

Michael Fritsch, alumnus/advocates council steering committee chair

Jason Weir, student

Judith A. Dilorio, chair

The computer science department launched its Master of Applied Science program in August. The program is designed to meet northeastern Indiana's need for information systems designers and software engineers.

"Student will devise a plan of study that may include graduate courses from mathematics and business, as well as , computer science," said James L. Silver, computer science chair. " Classes are scheduled to meet the needs of working students. Employers in the area indicated they need individuals with the knowledge and skills to deal with increasingly complex computer/information systems and software engineering." IPFW is responding to that need.

Lynn M. Schlager, Ph.D., associate professor of mechanical engineering, came to IPFW in 1989. He is the faculty advisor for Society of Women Engineers and has been active locally and nationally in American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). He is a member of American Society of Mechanical Engineers and earned his professional engineer status in California. His research interests are applied heat transfer and thermodynamics. Schlager has been employed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center the last two summers as a faculty fellow investigating the performance of capillary pumped loops for spacecraft thermal management.

Technical Assistance Program (TAP)

TAP, a program represented locally by Schlager, has been active at West Lafayette for the past 10 years. The program provides short-term technical expertise for companies in Indiana. In 1995, in an effort to serve the entire state better, IPFW was invited to participate. Schlager is the first faculty member from IPFW to be a representative. He currently splits his time 40 percent for TAP and 60 percent on IPFW duties. Some examples of projects worked on the first year include: fatigue failure of pontoon boat structures; locking mechanisms on tool cabinets; redesign of the roller-share mechanism; and performance evaluation of a hydronic heating fixture.

Schlager serves as the local contact for the TAP program. Projects outside his area of expertise are referred to appropriate faculty here or at West Lafayette. He available to meet with companies about specific problems. He can also talk to companies or community organizations to discuss the TAP program in general and describe how it can be used to help Indiana businesses. Please call 219-481-6357, fax 219-481-5728, or e-mail schlager@engr.ipfw.indiana.edu.

Ramesh v. Narang, Ph.D., Cmfg. E., received the 1996 Edward F. Roth manufacturing Standards Grant Award, which is administered by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Educational foundation. Established in 1988, the Roth Award recognizes faculty who exemplify the best application of design for manufacturing, concurrent engineering, and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing to specific component manufacturing problems.

Narang use his course IET 401 manufacturing Process Planning, as the model. The class work requires teamwork between design, manufacturing, and quality engineers and is taught by a combination of faculty members and industry representatives. The award consists of a plaque and $2,500 to the faculty member who teaches the course. Only two of these awards are given a year. The other recipient was Edward H. Hensel of New Mexico State University.

Narang practices what he teaches. He has formed a valuable partnership with Auburn gear over the last two years working as an industrial engineer on cost reduction and continuous improvement issues. Cris Horton, manufacturing engineering manager, says of Narang, "I am a strong believer that the university resource and industry must and should work together to achieve mutual goals and remain competitive. Narang is a good example of how such a partnership can work."

As of July 1, the interior design program is now part of the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering Technology. Formerly residing in the School of Business and Management Sciences, the interior design program brings 80 new students into CAET.

"The change was made so that the interior design program will benefit by being associated with the more similar disciplines, teaching methods, classroom equipment, and student career patchs as offered in CAET," Program Director John L. Vollmer said.

Since 1986, desrving students have been awarded scholarships in the School of ETCs through the Scholarship for Excellence program. Companies and individuals have given generously and last year we were able to award 37 scholarships amounting to $35,100. This year our goal is to award $45,000 in scholarships. In upcoming weeks, you should receive a scholarship packet. The packet describes the program and how it benefits students and the community at large. If you don't receive a packet and would like one, please contact Mary Jane Casiano at 219-481-6839.

OmniSource recently gave $1,000 to the Department of Computer Science to help integrate the ORACLE database program into is classroom curriculum. The OmniSource gift will help pay license fees and expand IPFW's computer disk capacities to run the program. Tim Davis, Chief Information officer of OmniSource Corp., presented the check to Aug. 7 to Y. Daniel Liang, assistant professor of computer science.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering technology and the Department of Manufacturing Technology have new chairs. Harold L. Broberg, associate professor of ECET, will serve as chair of that department. Broberg, who came to IPFW in 1985, replaces Ronald C. Emery, who is now interim dean.

G. Allen Pugh, associate professor of industrial engineering technology, will serve as chair in MFT. He came to IPFW in 1981 and replaces C. Jack Quinn, who retired in the spring.

The School of ETCS has a home page on the World Wide Web. It is loacted at http://www.engr.ipfw.indiana.edu/. You'll see a listing of our degree programs, scholarship information, faculty information and this newsletter. Check us out!

Do you need some research done or are you looking for more efficiency in the workplace? Our faculty are your greatest resource. They are available as consultants or researchers and are looking for school-year or summer opportunities.

Our students are in need of cooperaive education experiences and inerships. Real world experiences strengthen their skills and help to bridge the gap between school and work. For more information, call:

Scholarships: Mary Jane Casiano 219-481-6839

Industory Contact: Brenda Groff 219-481-5709

• training
• faculty expertise
• equipment donations

Cooperative Education: Diana Hergatt 219-481-6593

• internships
• co-op