ENGINEERINGNEWSP E N N S T A T E B E H R E N D S C H O O L O F E N G I N E E R I N G | 2 0 1 5

MAKING THINGS MATTERSBUILDING A BETTER ROBOT 4

PAID TO PLAY 8

TIPS TO THWART HACKERS 9

BEAUMONT HONORED 11

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DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Through bold thinking, deliberate planning, and sustained effort, initiatives of our School of Engineering’s strategic plan are coming to fruition. Several years ago, we set ambitious goals—to

grow in program offerings, to reinvigorate existing programs, and to integrate applied industry research into our students’ education through an open lab model of learning and engagement. This issue of Engineering News validates the progress we’re making toward our goals and the impact and energy our students, faculty, staff, and industry partners are generating.

On the cover, new faculty member Dr. Shraddha Sangelkar, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is shown working with two recent School of Engineering graduates. Dr. Sangelkar’s research focuses on how to teach designers to create products based on how people will most effectively use and interact with those products, which increases the potential for success in the marketplace.

On page 9, you’ll meet Dr. Zhifeng Xiao, assistant professor of computer science and software engineering, who has brought exper-tise in cybersecurity to our curriculum. Learning from and researching with Dr. Xiao gives our students experience in this burgeoning industry, which is increasingly vital to the security of individuals, industries, and nations. Students in the School of Engineering are being well-prepared to deal with cybersecurity threats; in a hands-on hacking competition, our team of students recently placed seventh out of nearly 500 teams from across the country!

Three years ago, we hired Dr. Matt White, assistant professor of game development, to lead a new Game Development program. Today, the program is thriving, and students have opportunities that few of their counterparts at other schools have. Every year, for example, students at-tend the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, where they not only participate in intensive “boot camp” classes, but have the chance to network with gaming industry insiders (see page 12). Such connections can lead to jobs, as they did for four Behrend students (see page 8).

In May, our first students in the new Industrial Engineering program will graduate. Senior Geoffrey Franger has already been scooped up by Boe-ing, a testament to the quality of the program and the commitment of the four faculty members whose efforts founded the program. (Read Franger’s story and that of a junior enrolled in the program on page 6 and 7.)

And as you see in the photo on the opposite page, we’re making progress on construction of our Advanced Manufacturing and Innova-tion Center, which will bring academic and industry partners together in a true open laboratory setting. Look for the opening of this one-of-a-kind facility in January 2016.

Through the collaborative efforts of our faculty members, students, alumni, and business partners, we are making tremendous strides.

Ralph M. Ford, Ph.D.

The School of Engineering is a dynamic environment for learning, discovery, and innovation. It’s where making things matters.

IN BRIEF

PATENT HINGED ON INDUS TRY PARTNERSHIP

In May 2011, Jon Strunk graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineer-

ing—and with his name listed as first inventor on a U.S. patent application for the design of a new fran-gible hinge. His experience illustrates the benefits of close academic-industry relationships like those fostered by the School of Engineering.

“Having a patent pending during my job search gave me an advantage over other applicants,” Strunk says. “In interviews, I could demonstrate that I had created functioning objects from a collection of concepts. The patent application also showcased the CAD, finite element analysis, statics, and ergonomics skills I learned at Behrend.”

Strunk’s patent application grew out of his senior design project, which was sponsored by Cybersonics Inc., an Erie-based medical manufacturer that recently relocated to the 220-acre Knowledge Park technology hub adjacent to the School of Engineering’s home in Burke Center. The physical proximity of Knowledge Park to the school makes it possible for its twenty tenant companies (and their 500+ employees) to access the intellectual and technical resources of the college. In turn, students have ready-made sources of internships, co-ops, and research sponsors.

FACULTY & STAFF NEWSNEW FACULTY AND STAFFThe school welcomes eight new faculty members: Dr. Faisal Aqlan, assistant profes-sor of industrial engineering; Dr. Charlotte DeVries, lecturer in mechanical engineering; Dr. Jalaa Hoblos, assistant professor of computer science and software engineering; Phil Jones, lecturer in engineering; Dr. Anuja Kamat, lecturer in engineering; Mariah Mag-agnotti, lecturer in industrial engineering; Dr. Ihab Ragai, assistant professor of mechanical engineering technology.

Jennifer Zdaniewski is the new budget administrative assistant for the school. Kelly Kemmet has joined the staff as an administra-tive assistant in the school office and will also be working with the Youth Education Outreach Office and Engineering K-12 Outreach Center.

AWARDSFour faculty members were recognized with school awards in 2014: Dr. Jun Zhou, associate professor of mechanical engineering, Excel-lence in Research Award; Steve Strom, lecturer in engineering, Excellence in Outreach Award; Dr. Shannon Sweeney, associate professor of mechanical engineering, Excellence in Service Award; Dr. Adam Hollinger, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, Excellence in Teaching Award.

Administrative assistant Sherry Cooley-Johnson received a Behrend’s Best Award, sponsored by the Janet Neff Sample Center for Manners and Civility. The award recognizes staff members for respect, kindness, and civility in working with others.

PROMOTIONSDr. Jun Zhou was granted tenure and pro-moted to associate professor of mechanical engineering.

SABBATICAL LEAVESDr. Chris Coulston, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, is finish-ing up a year-long sabbatical at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado where he serves as a visiting professor in the Department of Computer Science.

Framework is now in place for the $16.5-million Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Center in Knowledge Park, just south of Burke Center. The two-story, 60,000-square-foot building will be a collaborative research and development facility with classrooms, engineering labs, and private industry space. Industrial tenants are expected to occupy nearly half of the building. Despite delays due to an especially harsh winter, the college continues to target a January 2016 opening for the center.

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BUILDING A BETTER

ROBOTSENIOR PROJECT AIMS TO ALLOW MINE RESCUE ROBOTS TO GO DEEPER.

Mining is an inherently dangerous profession. It’s estimated that

more than fifty U.S. miners are killed on the job each year. In addition to cave-ins and explosions, miners face dangers from invisible gasses, like carbon monoxide and methane gas.

While even one life lost is one too many, the number of miner deaths has been substantially reduced in recent decades thanks to improved safety awareness, stringent safety regulations, and the use of modern technology, which has improved rescue efforts.

Among the tools used in a mine emergency is a battery-operated, explosion-proof rescue robot. Guided by remote control from the surface, the robot can be sent ahead of rescuers, its gas sensors warning of toxic fumes or explosive gases, and its cameras sending images that allow rescuers to assess damaged tunnels before setting foot in them.

Currently, the mine rescue robot can travel 3,000 feet below the surface, but the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) wants them to be able to go deeper—in excess of 10,000 feet—to meet current mine designs.

“The problem is that the robot must unspool a fiber-optic cable as it travels, and it’s not currently equipped to carry that much cable,” said Pat Urosek, a senior Mechanical Engineering major who interned with fellow student Matt Pezze at MSHA’s Pittsburgh facility last summer. Undaunted by the challenge, Urosek, Pezze and three more Mechanical

Engineering students—Christian Henckel, Brett Leuschen, and Nate Pellegrino—are tackling the problem as their Senior Design Project.

“A redesign of the cable spool was delayed due to the aggressive development of other elements of our mine rescue capabilities that consumed our manpower resources,” said Dr. Stephen Sawyer, Jr., senior robots rescue team member of the MSHA Mine Emergency Operations Division, “so when Patrick and Matt approached us and asked if there was a design project they could work on, we took that as an opportunity to have them look at this issue.”

The students’ primary task for MSHA is to redesign the robot’s fiber-optic reel so that it can carry additional cable without snapping under tension or burdening the robot.

“Though the fiber-optic cable is only about an eighth of an inch in diameter, the quantity of addi-tional cable required will add a lot of weight,” Urosek said. “We have to be concerned about the cable tangling or breaking. If it breaks, the operators on the surface lose contact with the robot.”

Further complicating matters is the fact that the robot is entering an explosive and dirty environment. All wires and motors must be carefully contained to avoid sparking fires and the wire must have a self-cleaning mechanism so that it spools properly.

The team’s work is theoretical. They are not building a prototype, but are putting their minds together to think through the design problem

The number of miner deaths has been substantially reduced in recent decades thanks to the use of modern technology. Among the tools used in a mine emergency is a battery-operated, explosion-proof rescue robot.

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The team of Mechanical Engineering students working on the mine rescue robot project are, from left, Nate Pellegrino, Matt Pezze, Brett Leuschen, Christian Henckel, and Pat Urosek.

and propose potential solutions to MSHA. The students had the opportunity to run a rescue robot through a mine in Pittsburgh over Thanksgiving break to get a feel for the mechanics and materials they were working with.

“We were able to see how easily it moves and how the cable cur-rently unspools,” Urosek said. “After that, we suggested a moveable boom arm to carry the wire, which is something that MSHA hadn’t thought of before.”

And, therein, lies the value of putting fresh minds on a problem: Innovation is practically guaranteed because students have no history in the industry.

Urosek, however, hopes he will, in fact, have a future at MSHA. “I’d like to work for them when I graduate,” he said. “It’s a nice mix of

hands-on work in the field, computer work in the office, and research work in the lab.”

“We are excited to work with the students on this project,” Sawyer said. “They’ve already provided some new ideas to consider, and we look forward to seeing their complete report this spring.”

“Boeing has many different facilities in the state of Washington and they haven’t actually placed me yet, but I know I’ll be working with commercial airplanes,” he said.

Wherever he lands, with an Industrial Engi-neering (IE) degree and a minor in Operations and Supply Chain Management, Franger is sure to be a valuable asset.

“Industrial engineers are big-picture people,” said Dr. Yuan-Han (Rick) Huang, assistant professor of industrial engineering. “They take a wide view of the machines, materials, employ-ees, and processes and look for ways to make the system more effective and efficient.”

The work is challenging. It requires a founda-tion in science, math, economics, and engineer-ing principles, plus an understanding of human factors. It’s the only branch of engineering that is concerned with people as well as things.

“Industrial engineers need to have a high level of people skills,” said Dr. Russ Warley, associate professor and chair of the mechanical and industrial engineering programs. “They are not going to be working at a desk, crunching numbers and analyzing components. They’re going to be leading teams.”

An IE degree can take graduates almost anywhere. Every industry—from health care to finance and education to transportation—has a need for experts who can examine intercon-

BEHREND’S FIRST

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERS FACE BRIGHT FUTURES

nected business and manufacturing systems and identify ways to save time and money.

Angela Zorn, a junior IE major from Meadville, had planned to major in Mechanical Engineer-ing, but realized it wasn’t right for her. She found a perfect home in Behrend’s IE program.

“My adviser suggested I look into IE and it was perfect,” she said. “The IE faculty members at Behrend are really welcoming and personable. They want you to be successful. They’ve given me tons of great advice, not just career advice, but life advice, too.”

At their urging, Zorn has done two intern-ships already—one at GE and one at Accuspec Electronics—and she plans to do another at a manufacturing company this summer.

Zorn says she hopes to work in the manufac-turing sector after her graduation.

She should have no trouble doing so. Indus-trial engineering is listed in MSN’s Top 10 Jobs for 2015, which cites a 9 percent growth in IE jobs since 2000 and a median salary of $81,036.

It’s easy to see why IE professionals would be in demand.

“There may be one hundred ways to do something, but the industrial engineer’s job is to look at all the factors involved and find the best way to do it,” Franger said.

There isn’t a business or industry on earth that couldn’t benefit from that.

The first degrees in Penn State Behrend’s new Industrial Engineering major will be awarded in May, but one soon-to-be graduate has already used his education to take flight. Geoffrey Franger, a Buffalo native, has accepted a position as an industrial engineer at Boeing in Washington following commencement.

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“ There’s a ton of opportunity in industrial engineering, especially for women. Companies are actively recruiting women.” — A N G E L A Z O R N , J U N I O R

I N D U S T R I A L E N G I N E E R I N G

M A J O R

“ There’s always going to be a market for industrial engineers, because every business or organization wants to get faster, bigger, leaner, and more profitable.” — G E O F F R E Y F R A N G E R , S E N I O R

I N D U S T R I A L E N G I N E E R I N G

M A J O R

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Imagine getting paid to play video games. What sounds like a dream was a reality for four Penn State Behrend students last summer.

“I happened to meet and talk with Jordan Lynn, player experience manager at Deep Silver Volition, at the 2014 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco,” said senior Dylan Poljak. “When I heard his company was

looking for Play Test interns, I jumped on it. He remembered talking to me and recommended me.”

Poljak recruited three game-loving student friends—Andrew Kruzan, John Chang, and John Strange—for his team. They did a one-month paid internship at the company’s headquarters in Champaign, Illinois.

Deep Silver, the publisher that owns Deep Silver Volition, develops interactive games for all platforms. The company has published more than 200 games, including the best-selling zombie action Dead Island franchise. The Behrend team worked on Dead Island: Epidemic, offering feedback from an elevated (read: game development professional) perspective.

Poljak and Kruzan are both Computer Science majors minoring in Game Devel-opment. Chang, who is now at University Park, is an engineering student. Strange, a senior Communication major, was the only non-engineering team member.

“I started in Software Engineering, but it wasn’t for me,” Strange said. “I love the gaming industry, though. I hope to work as a community manager for a developer.”

We asked Poljak, Kruzan, and Strange what they learned from their experience. THERE’S NO “I” IN TEAM: “Gaming is a really supportive work environment,”

Strange said. “Everyone who works there, from the artists to the engineers to the administrative staff, works as a cohesive and positive team.” Poljak agreed: “In a lot of industries, lone wolf behavior is encouraged. That won’t fly in game development.”

COMMUNITY IS A BIG DEAL: “The gaming industry is unlike any other because there’s not usually a dedicated marketing team,” Strange said. “There’s no barrier between the consumer and the developer, and the player community tends to

be very vocal.” Kruzan adds: “Community is everything. It’s your whole customer base, so gaming companies

work hard to keep those relationships.” DEVELOPERS MUST FIND MIDDLE GROUND:

“Sometimes what the gaming community wants is not what’s good or what will sell,” Poljak said. “The publishing house (the branch of the gam-ing industry that distributes the games) carries the biggest stick, so they get the final say.”

PASSION IS PARAMOUNT: “You have to be passionate about gaming if you expect to find a job in this industry,” Poljak said. “They want to see what you’ve done. Have you developed your

own game? Have you figured out what makes a program tick? Gaming technology changes really fast

and you have to be passionate about keeping up and figur-ing it out, not for a grade but because you find it fascinating.”

PAID TO PLAYS T U D E N T S S H A R E I N S I G H T S F R O M I N T E R N S H I P E X P E R I E N C E AT G A M I N G C O M PA N Y

Dylan Poljak

Andrew Kruzan

John Strange

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THREE TIPS TO THWART HACKERS DOWNLOAD THE UPDATES. Don’t ignore updates for your operating system or software pro-grams; they often include security fixes.USE A STRONG PASS-WORD. A complicated password is like a deadbolt. Use both upper and lowercase letters, include at least one digit, and make it as long as possible. BEWARE OF THIRD-PARTY APPLICATIONS. Apple’s App Store and Google Play defend against malicious applications with extensive scanning at a frequency and level that third-party sites cannot duplicate.

— Zhifeng Xiao, assistant professor of computer science and software engineering

CYBERSECURITY: A GROWING INDUSTRY

A s the world becomes increasingly digital, the need to protect sensi-tive data and expensive devices from hackers and online criminals is paramount. Recognizing the career opportunities for professionals who can spot, prevent, and counter online attacks, the School of Engineering has begun offering cybersecurity courses.

“Cybersecurity has become a critical national need,” said Zhifeng Xiao, assistant professor of computer science and software engineering. “It’s an industry that will grow for years to come. Every company needs to protect its business environment.”

The school now offers two courses directly focused on digital security. CMPSC 443 Introduction to Computer and Network Security covers a wide range of topics from malware analysis to software exploitation, web security, and cryptography. CMPSC 497C Cybersecurity Contest Problem Practice is a hands-on course focused on offensive security, otherwise known as hacking.

“The problem-practice course explores a pathway that connects the Capture The Flag (CTF) hacking competition series to a traditional cybersecurity educa-tion,” Xiao said. “It is a unique class that, to my knowledge, is not offered at any other college.”

Xiao’s CMPSC 443 class recently competed in a CTF competition hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and placed seventh out of 497 teams.

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John Beaumont, professor emeritus of engineering and one of the three founding faculty members of Penn

State Behrend’s Plastics Engineering Tech-nology program, is an accomplished man, but a modest one. That’s why his recent induction into the Plastics Industry Trade Association’s Plastics Hall of Fame came as a surprise to him (but not to anyone else).

“I heard there was an initiative going on to nominate me, but I didn’t think I’d make it,” Beaumont said. “It certainly feels good to know that maybe I’ve had an impact on the industry.”

FROM INDUSTRY TO ACADEMIABeaumont never planned to teach. He was heading up technical operations at Moldflow in Kalamazoo, Michigan, when he was asked to join a fledgling plastics program being developed at Behrend at the urging of several Erie leaders in the plastics industry.

BEAUMONT INDUCTED INTO PLASTICS HALL OF FAMEIn celebration of his recent retirement, we asked John Beaumont to reflect on his career in the plastics industry, his role in creating the plastics program at Behrend, his twenty-five year teaching career, his successful business, and his copyright infringement fight with China.

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“I sort of laughed it off, until I told my wife,” he said. “She thought I should consider it. It gave me pause. Within twenty-four hours, I became obsessed with the idea. I thought ‘What an opportunity to have a great impact.’ It was intriguing, a real adventure.”

EARLY DAYS IN PLASTICSIn 1989, Beaumont joined two other founding faculty members—Bob Farrell and Paul Koch—who were also plucked from industry. “It wasn’t about the degrees we had; they wanted the right people,” he said.

The early years in the plastics program were rockin’ or rocky, depending on your perspective. “We were constantly apologizing for things,” Beaumont said. “We were breaking rules of

academia to get things done. We didn’t usually know we were breaking rules, though,” he said with a laugh.

Laughter is something you hear a lot in the plastics wing of Burke Center. The program is known for good-natured ribbing and gregarious camaraderie among its members, from faculty and students to alumni and staff.

It’s a tone deliberately set by Beaumont and other early faculty members who kept the mood light and the expectations sky high.

“Now that I think back on it, we were probably verging on cruel,” Beaumont said. “We required class attendance, two projects a year, and participation in tech conferences. Students had to apply to be accepted into the program. It was really demanding and competitive.”

Clearly, the students didn’t hold grudges. Many remain in contact with Beaumont today, and he considers a number of them to be close friends. Currently, ten of them work for him.

BEAUMONT TECHNOLOGIESA former student, John Ralston ’91, was Beaumont’s first employee when he started Beaumont Technologies in 1998 after hitting upon a solution to a common industry problem—uneven mold filling. Beaumont’s melt-rotation technology came to be known as the MeltFlipper and was embraced by manufacturers. The company grew steadily and expanded its product and service offerings.

Today, Beaumont Technologies is housed in a sprawling 12,000-square-foot building in Erie and has twenty full-time employees and ten or more interns or co-op students. Most are students or alumni of Penn State Behrend.

“I know there’s no better place to recruit from than Behrend,” Beaumont said.

FIGHTING COUNTERFEITERSBeaumont’s latest battle? Fighting copyright and patent infringement by foreign manufac-turers who blatantly steal his technology.

“There was a Chinese manufacturer who had a website that was nearly a clone of ours,” he said. “They took entire parts of our website—quoting our customers and everything. That was the last straw. I was mad.”

A lobbyist for the Society of the Plastics Industry got involved and Beaumont soon found himself in a meeting with members of the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“They’re now watching for my technology to come through shipments from overseas,” he said. “It puts everyone on notice. They can be caught and it will cost them if they are. Ameri-can companies are less likely to deal with foreign suppliers who steal technology, especially if they know shipments from these suppliers might be seized.”

STILL INNOVATINGThough he retired from Behrend last year, Beaumont is far from done working. He just patented a new method of characterizing the injection moldability of plastic material called “Thermo-flo,” and he recently founded the American Injection Molding Institute, which he developed to advance the education of engineers already working in the plastics industry.

“We don’t know if it’s going to work,” he said, “but, we’re going to try.”If the past is any indication, Beaumont will have no trouble conquering another challenge.

LITTLE KNOWN FACT: “I initially planned to be a botanist. I came to the realization that it wasn’t a fit for me and thought plastics sounded like an adventure.”CREATION BY PLAY-DOH: “The idea for the MeltFlip-per occurred to me when we were driving back from a family vacation. I was so excited that as soon as we got home, I grabbed my son’s Play-Doh and built a model of it.”ON STARTING A BUSINESS AND TEACHING: “I wanted both. I didn’t want to stop teaching, but I had to start the business because I knew it would be success-ful. I was in more debt than you can possibly imagine when I started. It took a long time, but it paid off.” PET PEEVE: “People who don’t make an attempt to buy American-made products. What’s a few more dollars or cents when you know a product is made in a country with high standards by people who earn living wages?”

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Engineering News is published annually and provided free to alumni and friends of the Penn State Behrend School of Engineering by the Office of Marketing Communication, William V. Gonda, wvg2@psu.edu, director. Editor: Heather Cass, hjc13@psu.edu. Designer: Martha Ansley Campbell, mac30@psu.edu. This publication is available in alternative media upon request. Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to minorities, women, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and other protected groups. http://guru.psu.edu/policies/AD85.html U.Ed. EBO 15-218

GAMING IN THE CITY BY THE BAYS ixteen Penn State Behrend

students and two faculty members—Dr. Matthew White,

assistant professor of game develop-ment, and Heather Cole, lecturer in digital arts—spent a week at the 2015 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. In case you think it was all fun and games, let us assure you these students were working hard. They participated in intensive “boot camp” classes all day and attended evening networking events hosted by major players (pun intended) in the gaming industry. We asked the group to share photos via social media while they were away. See more at #behrendgamedev on Instagram and Twitter.

STEM FAIR DRAWS CROWD. GE and the Penn State Behrend Engineering K-12 Outreach Center teamed up to host a public STEM fair in February. The event was open to students of all ages and offered hands-on activities, videos, demonstrations, and tours of the school’s plastics and gaming labs. More than 300 people attended and got a glimpse of science, technology, engineering, and math in action.