MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Engineers who

Somewhere between the perfect life and the perfect career

lies the perfect cause to get involved in. Engineers make

decisions each day that impact the quality of life of those

who use the products and work in the facilities they build.

Industrial engineers in particular shape the processes and

systems that serve workplaces, communities and the world

at large. These are tall orders to be responsible for, and yet

so many also dedicate their time and skills to healing soci-

etys most pressing burdens.

Here, Industrial Engineer profiles three engineers who

arent only in the business of improving their organizations.

They seek project guidance from the heart, and by accentu-

ating traditional approaches with wisdom and experiences

that take humanity into consideration, these figures pos-

sess clear focus and direction. They speak with pride about

the causes theyre attached to and forge programs that will

matter for ages to come. >>>>

Education, energy and youth empowerment punctuate careers

January 2009 25

26 Industrial Engineer

Lesia Crumpton-Young

takes engineering to the streets

crime- fightingstrategy

When was the last time an industrial engineer ran for

office? Citing reasons why this tier of problem solvers

would make exceptional politicians, Lesia Crumpton-

Young, professor in the Department of Industrial

Engineering and Management Systems at the University

of Central Florida, has already campaigned for change

for many years. Her main electorate isnt old enough to

vote though. As author of the Youve Got the Power! work-

book series for children, youth program creator and a

motivational speaker, Young has fine-tuned a strategy

for improving lives, one process and one city at a time.

She has introduced her character development model

in classrooms and juvenile detention centers in North

Carolina, Texas and Florida in hopes of demolishing teen

violence, school dropout, pregnancy and suicide rates.

by candi s. cross

engineers who make a difference

January 2009 27

Youngs words are emphatic: Were engineers, we solve

problems! Lets figure out how to solve these problems! It falls

in line with the engineering approach.

Youngs time as an advocate for youth empowerment isnt

necessarily the crown jewel of her career span nor has it been a

single focus since becoming the first African-American female to

receive a Ph.D. in engineering at Texas A&M University, where

she also earned bachelors and masters degrees in industrial

engineering. Her accolades have stacked up because of inten-

sive study and hard work associated with the development of

the Ergonomics/Human Factors Program and Experimentation

Laboratory during her tenure at Mississippi State University,

design of workplace solutions for persons with disabilities,

investigation of cumulative trauma disorders in the construc-

tion industry and projects in her current position as co-direc-

tor of the National Science Foundations Industry/University

Cooperative Research Center for e-Design.

Add the Janice A. Lumpkin Educator of the Year Golden Torch

Award from the National Society of Black Engineers and the

Women of Color Educational Leadership Award and youve got

relevant material to reference when trying to motivate others.

The accolades have helped me develop a sense of accom-

plishment and satisfaction with my career, says Young.

Some people dont get that sense of accomplishment so

they have internal anxiety. It helps me in my motivational

speaking to say that I have done this and you can also. It

helps provide credibility to the message. That has been the

best part. But I must admit I really thought about that ques-

tion: Have I really gotten past the point of thinking that I

need to perform better with pressure? In my 20s, I had an

adviser who said, We call you guys ... our darker ones. This

was in 1984. Immediately I had this pressure. I remember

thinking, did he notice that I went to a high school for the

engineering profession? But he didnt see the traditional

engineering student when he was doing my orientation. In

senior design, he came to me and said that he was so wrong

about me.

Young knows she is not wrong about the potential in all

young people. You can hear the champion for them in her

voice when she refers to the Youve Got the Power series and how

she helped train 400 facilitators in the empowerment tech-

niques for classrooms nationwide. After testing her method in

strengthening character and instilling a value system of ambi-

tion, integrity, self-control and character on students in North

Carolina and Texas, Young launched a program for more than

1,800 young people in 2007. The three-month workshop took

place in 13 centers operated by the City of Orlandos Parks and

Recreation Department.

Each student received a workbook to guide them through

a daily schedule of concentration and study of principles

like believing in yourself and learning from your mistakes.

Students logged onto a Web site for further exercises that

accompany the workbook.

These workbooks were created by combining intellectual

ideas with self-exploration activities and experiential learning

exercises that motivate and encourage individuals to modify

their thoughts, behaviors and decision-making processes and

to help ensure their ultimate success in life, explains Young,

who is preparing pilot programs for potential funding by the

Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.

Spoken like a true industrial engineer, Young says that the

most frightening part of developing this program was to fig-

ure out a way to assure that she delivered a quality program

to such a large number of people. After all, in a small group

of participants, theres less variability when only one person

directs an initiative. The other scary part for Young was devel-

oping what she calls the sales part of her personality.

Ive always said to people that Im not a sales person so

thats been about putting myself through online classes, crash

courses on sales and going to a few seminars to learn as much

as possible real-time learning because I have to pay the bills!

Ideally I would love to give it all away, but...

Having worked on various projects with companies like

Caterpillar, Intel, Southwest Airlines and Lockheed Martin,

Youngs name is a fixture in science and engineering circles.

Many people assumed that she would join one of these com-

panies as a full-time ergonomist, she says; however, Young

became a teacher so she could help develop engineers who can

solve societys grand challenges. For her, this includes commu-

nity involvement at a scale that uplifts the youth population.

One girl that enrolled in her empowerment workshop con-

tinues to inspire Young. The student, a teen mother, wrote to

Young describing her life before the program and her suicidal

tendencies. She is now on the path to becoming a cosmetolo-

gist and dedicating her life to her daughter.

Young herself was raised by a single mother who told her

that if she studied hard and worked hard that she would greatly

contribute to society. Her mother also taught Young a lot about

character, love, security and trust, which are essential to build-

ing self-esteem and making smart decisions. This is an essential

formula to breaking destructive cycles, Young insists.

We have to get a handle on what causes crimes. Statistics

are showing that more girls are becoming juvenile delinquents.

We need prevention programs. Again, if I ever find myself in

politics, this is my thing! Well pay so much money to lock

people up, but we wont pay for good preventative programs.

28 Industrial Engineer

David Hrivnak

puts his conservationist ideals into practice

a burst of

energy

When you hear about the life and habits of energy conser-

vationist David Hrivnak, you might begin to think that

the worlds energy shortage could be resolved if everyone

could just plug in to him. In his time away from his day

job as an industrial engineer at Eastman Chemical Co.

in Kingsport, Tenn., he has designed and built two pas-

sive solar homes and created an electric-assist system for

his heretofore-gas-guzzling truck that he hopes to make

available to the masses.

Apparently his spare time isnt so spare.

Hrivnak, who rides his bike to work at least half the year,

says hes always been passionate about energy conserva-

tion, and this enthusiasm manifested itself in a big way 25

years ago when he designed and built his first solar home

using a technique called earth berming. The home, which was

featured in Solar Today magazine, was mostly underground.

by monica elliott

engineers who make a differenceengineers who make a difference

28 Industrial Engineer

January 2009 29

It was a self-facing lot overlooking the city, so you almost

had to dig into the hillside to put a house. The southern wall

was almost all glass taking in a nice view of the city, but on the

north side there was 14 feet of dirt, he explains.

In 2000, Hrivnak and his family were ready for new digs, so

the second solar home was erected. Both homes were built as

passive solar homes, meaning that the house is one big solar

collector, absorbing the suns energy based on its orientation

and not on any moving parts.

The house is designed so that in the wintertime, in

December, we get sun in the house from sunrise to sunset;

but in the summer, the house is completely in the shade. ...The

only thing you really have to do in our house (and I still have

challenges with my kids on this) is in the morning you raise

the shades and at night you close the shades.

Hrivnak may have felt more comfortable than most people

embarking on these projects because of his IE background.

It amazes me how few people even understand basic geom-

etry and to be able to draw out and measure sun angles and

calculate overhangs of the house so you can maximize your

solar gain those are engineering calculations.

He also gained building experience as a former president of

the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, going on builds in

six countries, including a village in El Salvador a year before a

devastating earthquake hit in 1996.

We were told that out of 550 structures in town, there were

only 40 left standing. And all 13 of the 13 Habitat homes were

among those 40 left standing, Hrivnak recalls.

Clearly he knows his way around a basic construction site,

which explains why he was anxious to be his own contractor for

his homes. He employed insulated concrete forms for the walls

and structural insulated panels for the roof.

[A well-insulated house] helps because the sunlight dur-

ing the day isnt a huge energy source. Its very constant, but

that allows us to trap and retain all that heat that you gain

during the day.

Hrivnaks utility bills are a whopping 55 percent less than

his neighbors throughout the year. And he believes that such

projects are fully within reach of most people, saying that he

spent less than an extra 8 percent for his energy-efficiency

gains, which he recouped within eight years.

While building his second home, Hrivnak realized how use-

ful it was to have a full-size truck to move materials and equip-

ment, and it also came in handy for his monthly camping trips

with his Boy Scouts troop.

Ive always gotten really fuel-efficient cars, but when it comes

to a full-size truck, there really wasnt anything out there in

terms of fuel efficiency. And when the gas prices started edging

upward a little bit, I started wracking my brain: OK, is there any-

thing that can be done that can make this more fuel-efficient?

Hrivnak discovered that there are more than 77 million

trucks and SUVs registered in the United States alone, but

after researching the subject and talking to people in the know

about motors and electric vehicles, Hrivnak began to see a way

out of the waste.

If we really want to move the needle on United States

energy independence and energy efficiency, weve got to look

at these 77 million energy hogs that are out on the highway.

You could argue that maybe people shouldnt have them, and

theres some truth to that. But the cars are already built.

Does it make sense to put them all in a junkyard? Thats not

exactly very environmentally friendly.

If we could figure out a way to convert these trucks and

give them an extra 10 percent boost in gas mileage, thats basi-

cally the same as selling a half-million new [Toyota] Priuses.

Moving a full-size truck from 14 to 16 miles a gallon saves a

lot more gas than going from a 35-mile-a-gallon Corolla to a

45-mile-a-gallon Prius because they use so much more gas.

So using new-generation technology, Hrivnak turned his

2004 Chevrolet Avalanche into a gas-electric hybrid, plugging it

into the electrical grid at night to charge. The batteries keep an

extra half-gallon of gasoline that you can use as youre running

around the town and gives you an extra boost in mileage.

Ideally, Hrivnak would like to create a kit that could be mass-

marketed for people who want to convert their trucks, but its

not economically feasible yet. He originally hoped for a cost

of $6,000 with a 25 percent to 30 percent boost in gas mileage,

but currently the cost is at $7,500 to install with a 16 percent

boost in gas mileage, which Hrivnak says is not the economic

payback it needs to be for the vast majority of Americans.

If we can come up with a kit that can be installed in one

to three days that your average mechanic around the corner

could install with some good instructions then I think we

can get a lot of these mom-and-pop garages installing semi-

standard kits.

A possible light at the end of the tunnel is recently passed

legislation allowing $7,500 in energy tax credits to anyone

purchasing a new plug-in electric hybrid. If those credits also

apply to new conversion vehicles, then, Hrivnak asserts, the

conversion kit would be viable for mass marketing.

In any case, Hrivnak is setting a standard for the rest of

us, and hes not shy about sharing how his industrial engi-

neering background facilitated his conservation efforts and

his outlook.

I cant think of a better preparation for life than industrial

engineering.

30 Industrial Engineer

engineers who make a difference

30 Industrial Engineer

Zulma Toro-Ramos

targets grade-school students for

pre-engineering program

Is there an age when a child is too young to learn about

engineering? If Zulma Toro-Ramos has her way, the answer

may soon be no.

The dean of the College of Engineering at Wichita State

University in Kansas has built an academic career of more

than 20 years experience in educating students about indus-

trial engineering and other engineering fields in different

regions of the United States. From her native Puerto Rico

to New England, then to her home in the nations heartland,

Toro-Ramos has learned that there are more challenges in

engineering academia than simply increasing enrollment.

Shes found that many grade school students are getting a

less-than-stellar education in math and science as well as

mixed signals about what a career in engineering involves

on a professional level.

by david brandt

engineers who make a differenceengineers who make a difference

30 Industrial Engineer

January 2009 31

Students, when they learn math and science in middle

schools and high schools, dont relate that to engineering. They

dont see how its applied in engineering, Toro-Ramos says.

One of the problems we face with some very good students is

that they have the level of math and science we require, but they

dont have the skills to apply that knowledge to engineering.

The woes dont stop in the classroom. Wichita is known as

the air capital of the world because of the six aircraft manu-

facturers The Boeing Co. and Cessna Aircraft Co. among

them that operate in the area. In such a volatile industry,

the desire from companies for more educated and trained

workers is high. Toro-Ramos told The Wichita Eagle in October

that local aircraft companies aim to fill between 400 and 500

more engineering jobs and thousands of skilled-labor jobs in

the coming years.

They are struggling with a shortage of engineers, she says.

We thought we had better get this problem solved because

we cannot graduate enough engineers right now to support

the local industry.

To make progress in educating grade-school students and

preparing future engineers, Toro-Ramos has long since advo-

cated a growing national engineering education program

called Project Lead the Way (PLTW). The pre-engineering cur-

riculum series is designed to provide supplemental math and

science education through study and hands-on activities that

show how the two subjects are applied to topics such as engi-

neering design, computer-integrated manufacturing and civil

engineering, among other fields. The program also encourages

students to learn and nurture skills including teamwork, pub-

lic speaking, research and data collection and analysis.

She also says that PLTW programs could potentially

readjust the public perception about the engineering profes-

sion and void any opinions that say engineering is too diffi-

cult for the average student. The program aims to show that

average students, and even some who are below average, can

be successful in the field. Without that message, Toro-Ramos

believes the program is incapable of succeeding.

We wont be able to reach the population of students we

need in order to supply the number of engineers needed in

this area, Toro-Ramos says. We seem to only focus on the

top 20 percent in academic success. Through Project Lead the

Way, we target the top 80 percent. There are a lot of successful

engineers who were not necessarily at the top of their class

in math and science, but they have the creativity and creative

skills that are very important in industrial engineering or

other engineering fields.

The program has already been implemented in some Kansas

schools through partnerships between WSU, the Kansas state

legislature and area school districts. Toro-Ramos previously

implemented PLTW programs among several Connecticut high

schools when she served as dean of the School of Engineering

and Applied Science at the University of New Haven.

Igniting an interest in engineering among Kansas students,

however, has sometimes proven to be more challenging than

in Connecticut or Puerto Rico, Toro-Ramos says. In fact, she

adds that because there was such a high interest in engineer-

ing from students applying to the University of Puerto Rico,

only about 40 percent of them could be accepted.

I would say that in the heartland, we have a harder sell.

For example, schools in small rural towns are a challenge, but

we have something to sell to them through Project Lead the

Way. My guess minus hard data is that it will take a little

while longer to expand the program across the entire state of

Kansas. You have to talk to more people, administrators and

school boards.

She does have some aid in the campaign, however, thanks

largely to what she calls a very powerful tool. Grants from

the U.S. Department of Labor and the Knight Foundation

totaling more than $2.2 million have been distributed among

area schools to help establish new PLTW courses and activi-

ties. While there are more Wichita area schools that would like

to become PLTW schools than grant funds available to trans-

form them, Toro-Ramos expects there will be at least 18 more

middle schools and nine more high schools that will become

PLTW schools in the near future. Toro-Ramos expects several

area middle schools to become PLTW schools by fall 2009.

Our hope is that most of the Kansas middle schools and

high schools will have Project Lead the Way courses. It is wish-

ful thinking to hope that all the schools will have all of the

program courses, but they can at least have some of them.

For now, Toro-Ramos is pleased that more people are discov-

ering the tie between a pre-engineering education and the eco-

nomic and infrastructure problems that are hurting the industry

that drives Wichita and its suburbs. Students are being exposed

to the different fields of engineering and real-world projects.

And regardless of a PLTW students future, Toro-Ramos says

the lessons and skills the student has adopted will be useful

throughout that students chosen career.

Even if a student who is educated through Project Lead

the Way decides to not pursue an engineering career, that

person will be more technology-savvy and better equipped

to be successful in todays society versus a person who has

not participated in the program. In todays society, the more

knowledgeable you are in technology, the better off you will

be. Were preparing students to better themselves and to be

more successful.