School of

MagazineWinter 2015BROWN

Engineering

i n s i d e t h i s i s s u e m e s s a g e f r o m t h e d e a n

BROWN SchOOl Of ENgiNEERiNg 4 1 WiNtER 2015

Message from the Dean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Wireless Brain Sensor Could Unchain Neuroscience from Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

A ‘Clear’ Choice for Clearing 3-D Cell Cultures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Microchip Reveals How Tumor Cells Transition to Invasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Copper Foam Turns CO2 into Useful Chemicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Encapsulating Brown In a Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Re-engineering ENGN0030 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Brown Forms Partnership with Lincoln School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Meet The New Faculty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Natural Inspirations - Shreyas Mandre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Honors/News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

A Unique Blend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Brown hosts National Society of Black Engineers Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

A True Student Athlete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Building The Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Engineering Advisory Council (EAC)/Engineering Development Committee (EDC) . 24

Donor Honor Roll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Alumni Perspective - Scott Friend '87 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Campaign for Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

School of Engineering MagazineEditorialGordon Morton ’93Manager of CommunicationsSchool of Engineering

DesignAmy Simmons

PhotographyCathi Beattie, Chris Bull, Mike Cohea, Jacob Goldman, Gordon Morton ’93, Amy Simmons

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On the cover: Arto Nurmikko and David Borton working on their ground-breaking wireless brain sensor.

Larry Larson

Larry LarsonDean of Engineering

Brown University’s School of Engineering educates future leaders in the fundamentals of engineering in an environment of world-class research. We stress an interdisciplinary approach and a broad understanding of underlying global issues. Collaborations across the campus and beyond strengthen our development of technological advances that address challenges of vital importance to us all.

Brown School of Engineering Mission

One of the most wonderful features of the undergraduate Brown experience is the "Open Curriculum," a liberal academic ap-proach that includes no core requirements aside from those of the concentration the student pursues . Revolutionary at the time of its introduction in the late 1960's, it inau-gurated a national movement for student-directed learning at the University level that is even more relevant today across the en-tire landscape of higher education .

At the same time, a rigorous and deep en-gineering curriculum requires many cours-es in science and math, the ultimate goal being to build comprehensive knowledge in the student's discipline . These disciplines (mechanical engineering, chemical engi-neering, computer engineering, etc .) each constitute a body of knowledge that has been constantly refined and expanded over many decades . Each student of engineering is committed to achieving excellence in one of these disciplines over the course of his or her study at Brown .

Our engineering program here at Brown is famously adept at integrating the goals of the open curriculum and liberal learn-ing in the context of a deep and rigorous engineering education . The result is an en-gineering graduate fully prepared to be a leader in the modern world - adept at com-munication to a broad range of constitu-encies, well versed in social and historical trends and values, and comfortable in ap-plying their strong analytical and scientific skills to any problem .

One way that we externally validate the strength of our engineering program is through the every-six-year accreditation process known as ABET (www .ABET .org) . The national ABET accreditation process is an extremely thorough review of all as-pects of our undergraduate program, and the ABET "stamp-of-approval" is a validation of the high quality of our undergraduate approach .

The ABET reviewers worked with our fac-ulty intensively for a year, culminating in a

three-day campus visit in September . They met with faculty, staff and students . They reviewed our undergraduate laboratories, textbooks, exams, pedagogical approach-es, feedback mechanisms and mentoring approaches . The team was experienced and dedicated to their efforts - with a goal of en-suring that each student gets the best pos-sible education .

Though the official ABET results will not be available until much later this year, the unof-ficial feedback that we received on our pro-gram at the end of the three-day visit was extraordinarily positive . One of the aspects of our culture here that most impressed the reviewers was the extremely close ties that the faculty form with our student, and the care and attention each faculty member puts into student advising and mentoring . It is this personal commitment to the stu-dents and the community that has made the Brown engineering experience so extraor-dinary for the last 150 years, and will contin-ue to do so for the future as well .

Innovation and InspirationWe recently took our oldest daughter to see the popular movie, Big Hero 6 . After the movie, she came home and said, “Dad I want to build a robot!” It is great when young girls are inspired by STEM subjects, and we will certainly do everything we can to continue to foster her interest in these subjects .

The School of Engineering is doing its part to engage and inspire young women in engineering . Recently, Brown announced a partnership with Lincoln School, a local school for girls (page 13) . Lincoln will offer the course, Introduction to Engineering, to its students . The course will be taught at the School of Engineering and take advan-tage of the Brown Design Workshop . It will also allow Brown engineering professors to pioneer new methods of teaching engi-neering to high school students .

The program is another example of the ways that Brown continues to innovate . Over the summer faculty members, Clyde Briant and Chris Bull worked to incorpo-rate more experiential learning into the engineering curriculum, starting with the first-year course, ENGN0030: Introduction to Engineering (page 12) . With help from a grant, the School was able to hire and train 30 student mentors for the Brown Design Workshop . Their role as mentors to the first-year students was vital to the success of the course this semester .

Brown and the School of Engineering are ever-evolving and ever changing . Whether it is physical growth in the form of new buildings, or the addition of human capital with new faculty, advancement and inno-vation helps keep things vibrant and fresh with new ideas (research and discoveries, curriculum enhancements, etc .) . This inno-vative spirit is one of the reasons why fac-ulty and students want to come to Brown . It is an inspiring place to be every day .

Ever True,Gordon Morton ’93Editor

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Wireless Brain Sensor Could Unchain Neuroscience From CablesNeuroscience research has been constrained by the cables required to connect brain sensors to computers for

analysis. In the journal Neuron, scientists in a collaboration led by Brown University describe a wireless brain-

sensing system to acquire high-fidelity neural data during animal behavior experiments.

In a study in the journal Neuron, scientists describe a new high data-rate, low-power wireless brain sensor . The technology is designed to enable neuroscience research that cannot be accomplished with current sensors that tether subjects with cabled connections .

Experiments in the paper confirm that new capability . The results show that the tech-nology transmitted rich, neuroscientifically meaningful signals from animal models as they slept and woke or exercised .

“We view this as a platform device for tap-ping into the richness of electrical signals from the brain among animal models where their neural circuit activity reflects entirely volitional and naturalistic behavior, not constrained to particular space,” said Arto Nurmikko, professor of engineering and physics affiliated with the Brown Institute for Brain Science and the paper’s senior and corresponding author . “This enables new types of neuroscience experiments with vast amounts of brain data wirelessly and continuously streamed from brain microcircuits .”

The custom-engineered neuroelectronic platform is composed of two elements: a 100-channel transmitter only 5 centimeters in its largest dimension and weighing only 46 .1 grams, and a four-antenna receiver that looks like a home Wi-Fi router but employs sophisticated signal processing to maxi-mize the transmitter’s signal while the sub-ject is moving around . Via a small port em-bedded in a subject’s skull, the transmitter connects to a tiny implanted electrode array that detects the activity of scores of neurons in the cortex . The wireless transmitter is

compatible with multiple types and classes of brain sensors, Nurmikko said, with a view toward future sensor development

“Among the unique features of our tech-nology is that we developed this compact lightweight neurosensor with a custom-designed low-power high-efficiency trans-mitter,” said paper lead author Ming Yin, a research engineer in Nurmikko’s lab at Brown at the time of the work . “It dissipates two magnitudes less power than com-mercial 802 .11n transceivers to broadcast a comparable rate of high-speed data – up to 200 megabits per second – within a few me-ters distance . The low power and small size, along with built-in electrostatic discharge protection features, make our device safer and more practical for mobile subjects .”

In the study the team demonstrated that the transmitter can run

continuously for more than 48 hours on a single rechargeable AA

battery as it relays a high rate of data directly from the brain.

“The brain sensor is opening unprecedent-ed opportunities for the development of neuroprosthetic treatments in natural and unconstrained environments,” said study co-author Grégoire Courtine, a profes-sor at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), who collaborated with Nurmikko’s group on the research .

Behavioral demonstrations

Courtine and co-lead author David Borton helped to lead experiments testing whether the system could match the performance of the common wired systems . They, with col-leagues at Brown and the Bordeaux Institute of Neuroscience, also applied it in two be-havioral tasks to ensure that it relayed scien-tifically interesting neural patterns . The ex-periments employed a platform developed by the European Project NeuWalk, which is supported by a €9-million investment from European Union .

In one experiment, three rhesus macaques took walks on a treadmill while the research-ers used the wireless system to measure neural signals associated with the brain’s motion commands . Meanwhile they used other sensors to measure the activity of leg muscles . The data from the brain showed clear patterns of activity related to the movements of the muscles, demonstrating that the sensor allows for studies of how the brain controls the legs .

“In this study, we were able to observe motor cortical dynamics during locomo-tion, yielding insight into how the brain computes output commands sent to the legs to control walking,” said Borton, now assistant professor of engineering at Brown .

In another experiment, the Brown and EPFL researchers used the technology to observe brain signals for hours on end as the animal subjects went through sleep/wake cycles, unencumbered by cables or wires . Again the data showed distinct patterns related to the different stages of consciousness and the transitions between them .

“We hope that the wireless neurosensor will change the canonical paradigm of neuro-science research, enabling scientists to ex-plore the nervous system within its natural context and without the use of tethering cables,” Borton said . “Subjects are free to roam, forage, sleep, etc ., all while the re-searchers are observing the brain activity . We are very excited to see how the neurosci-ence community leverages this platform .”

In 2013, Yin, Borton, and Nurmikko unveiled a related, implantable wireless brain sen-sor with a different design . Whereas the new head-mounted sensor is intended for research use by the wider brain science community, Nurmikko said, the researchers hope that wireless brain sensor technology will be useful in clinical research as well in the coming years .

Blackrock Microsystems LLC of Utah, where Yin is now an engineer, has licensed a por-tion of the technology described in the new Neuron study from Brown University for commercial development .

In addition to Yin, Borton, Nurmikko, and Courtine, the paper’s other authors are Jacob Komar, Naubahar Agha, and Yao Lu of Brown; Christopher Bull, senior lecturer and senior research engineer at Brown, and Lawrence Larson, dean of engineer-ing at Brown; David Rosler of Brown and the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center; Jean Laurens of EPFL; Hao Li of Marvell Semiconductor; Yiran Liang and Erwan Bezard of the Bordeaux Institute of Neuroscience; and Qin Li of Motac Neuroscience . Bezard and Li are also af-filiated with the China Academy of Medical Sciences .

The U .S . National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the EU funded the research .

- by David Orenstein

Unprecedented opportunitiesArto Nurmikko, left, David Borton, and colleagues have developed a neural transmitter that can stream data from the brain to researchers while subjects sleep, wake, move about, and accomplish tasks. The transmitter can send data continuously for more than 48 hours on a single rechargeable AA battery.

A look inside: The head-mounted, 100-channel transmitter is only 5 centimeters in its largestdimension and weighs only 46.1 grams, but can transmit data up to 200 megabits a second .(Nurmikko Lab/Brown University).

Arto Nurmikko

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A ‘Clear’ Choice for Clearing 3-D Cell Cultures

Scientists have hailed recent demonstrations of chemical technologies for making animal tissues

see-through, but a new study is the first to evaluate three such technologies side-by-side for use with

engineered 3-D tissue cultures.

Because biomedical engineering graduate student Molly Boutin needed to study how neural tissues grow from stem cells, she wanted to grow not just a cell culture, but a sphere-shaped one . Cells grow and interact more naturally in 3-D cultures than when they are confined to thin slides or dishes .

But the very advantage of a culture having thickness also poses a challenge: How to see all the cells and their connections all the way through the culture . It’s a problem that con-fronts many biologists, physicians, bioen-gineers, drug developers - and others who also see 3-D cultures as a useful stage before moving to animal models .

“As I was imaging these tissues I was only able to get the outer layer or two of cells and that wasn’t a very good representation of what was going on inside of the sphere,” Boutin said .

There are inelegant ways to slice up an en-gineered 3-D tissue for imaging and then to reconstruct it, but a more tantalizing solu-tion seemed likely to come from one of the chemical treatments invented in just the last few years to make tissues see-through . But which one, if any, would work with her scaf-fold-free engineered neural tissues? To find out, Boutin and adviser, Diane Hoffman-Kim, associate professor of medical science in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biotechnology, decided to test the three simplest methods: ClearT2, SeeDB and Scale .

Their results – which read like a Consumer Reports article for the lab bench set – now appear online in the journal Tissue Engineering Part C: Methods .

For Boutin’s critieria, the ClearT2 method turned out to be clear winner . For her little balls of neural tissue – 100 millionths of a meter in diameter – ClearT2 allowed her to see fluorescing cells at all depths of focus and, importantly, it did not change the size of the tissue . Scale made her “neural spheres” substantially larger, while SeeDB made them smaller and didn’t improve clar-ity as much .

methods may vary with different samples, but they expect that for many “scaffold-free” engineered 3-D neural tissues – tissues that grow without added matrix supports – ClearT2 should work well .

Knowing that could clear the way for many research projects with 3-D tissues .

The National Science Foundation, The National Institutes of Health, and the Brown Institute for Brain Science supported the re-search . Imaging occurred in Brown’s Leduc Bioimaging Facility . Boutin created her 3-D cultures with technology from Microtissues Inc ., a company founded by Jeffrey Morgan, professor of medical science in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biotechnology at Brown .

- by David Orenstein

Diane Hoffman-Kim

Boutin feeds neural stem cell spheres in lab.

Maintaining the tissue culture size is im-portant because Boutin wants to know the physical dimensions of growth in the culture, such as the axons that one neuron might extend to another .

While ClearT2 worked within 1 .5 hours, Scale and SeeDB took three days, Boutin said .

She ran several further tests with ClearT2, in-cluding with other types of healthy and can-cerous neural cells, and ClearT2 continued to perform well, even allowing her to image extracellular matrix .

In the paper Boutin and Hoffman-Kim ac-knowledge that the results with different

Biomedical Engineering Grad Student Molly Boutin

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A ‘Clear’ solutionWithout a clearing treatment, a 3-D tissue culture, left, does not allow researchers to see deep inside. ClearT2, one of three new chemical treatments evaluated in recent tests, makes tissues see-through, right, so that researchers can study cell interactions beneath the surface. Neural stem cells are colored red and cell nuclei are blue. (above)

Image: Hoffman-Kim Lab/Brown University

A confocal microscope, in Brown's Leduc Bioimaging Facility, is used to see deep inside 3D tissues. (below)

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Microchip Reveals How Tumor Cells Transition to InvasionA microscopic obstacle course of carefully spaced pillars enables researchers to observe cancer cells directly as they

break away from a tumor mass and move more rapidly across the microchip. The device could be useful for testing

cancer drugs and further research on the mechanics of metastasis.

Using a microengineered device that acts as an obstacle course for cells, researchers have shed new light on a cellular metamor-phosis thought to play a role in tumor cell invasion throughout the body .

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process in which epithelial cells, which tend to stick together within a tissue, change into mesenchymal cells, which can disperse and migrate individually . EMT is a beneficial process in developing embryos, allowing cells to travel throughout the em-bryo and establish specialized tissues . But recently it has been suggested that EMT might also play a role in cancer metastasis, allowing cancer cells to escape from tumor masses and colonize distant organs .

For this study, published in the journal Nature Materials, the researchers were able to image cancer cells that had undergone EMT as they migrated across a device that mimics the tissue surrounding a tumor .

“People are really interested in how EMT works and how it might be associated with tumor spread, but nobody has been able to see how it happens,” said lead author Ian Y . Wong, assistant professor in the Brown School of Engineering and the Center for Biomedical Engineering, who performed the research as a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital . “We’ve been able to image these cells in a biomi-metic system and carefully measure how they move .”

The experiments showed that the cells displayed two modes of motion . A major-ity plod along together in a collectively ad-vancing group, while a few cells break off

from the front, covering larger distances more quickly .

“In the context of cell migration, EMT up-grades cancer cells from an economy model to a fast sports car,” Wong said . “Our tech-nology enabled us to track the motion of thousands of ‘cars’ simultaneously, reveal-ing that many sports cars get stuck in traffic jams with the economy cars, but that some sports cars break out of traffic and make their way aggressively to distant locations .”

Armed with an understanding of how EMT cancer cells migrate,

the researchers hope they can use this same device for preliminary

testing of drugs aimed at inhibiting that migration. The work is part

of a larger effort to understand the underpinnings of cancer metastasis, which is responsible for nine out of

10 cancer-related deaths.

‘Obstacle course for cells’

To get this new view of how cancer cells move, the researchers borrowed micro-electronics processing techniques to pat-tern miniaturized features on silicon wafers, which were then replicated in a rubber-like plastic called PDMS . The device consists of a small plate, about a half-millimeter square,

covered in an array of microscopic pillars . The pillars, each about 10 micrometers in diameter and spaced about 10 micrometers apart, leave just enough space for the cells to weave their way through . Using micro-scopes and time-lapse photography, the researchers can watch cells as they travel across the plate .

“It’s basically an obstacle course for cells,” Wong said . “We can track individual cells, and because the size and spacing of these pillars is highly controlled, we can start to do statistical analysis and categorize these cells based on how they move .”

For their experiments, the researchers started with a line of benign cancer cells that were epithelial, as identified by specific proteins they express . They then applied a chemical that induced the cells to become malignant and mesenchymal . The transi-tion was confirmed by looking for proteins associated with the mesenchymal cell type . Once all the cells had converted, they were set free on the obstacle course .

The study showed that about 84 percent of the cells stayed together and slowly ad-vanced across the plate . The other 16 per-cent sped off the front and quickly made it all the way across the device . To the re-searchers’ surprise, they found that the cells that stayed with the group started to once again express the epithelial proteins, indi-cating that they had reverted back to the epithelial cell type .

“That was a remarkable result,” Wong said . “Based on these results, an interesting ther-apeutic strategy might be to develop drugs that downgrade mesenchymal sports cars

back to epithelial economy models in order to keep them stuck in traffic, rather than aggres-sively invading surrounding tissues .”

As for the technology that made these findings possible, the researchers are hopeful that it can be used for further research and drug testing .

“We envision that this technology will be widely applicable for preclinical testing of anti-migration drugs against many different cancer cell lines or patient samples,” Wong said .

Other authors on the paper are Elisabeth A . Wong (no relation), now a medical student at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, as well as Sarah Javaid, Sinem Perk, Daniel A . Haber, Mehmet Toner, and Daniel Irimia of Massachusetts General Hospital . The work was supported by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation (DRG-2065-10), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institute of Health under (CA129933, EB002503, CA135601, GM092804) .

- by Kevin Stacey

A cellular obstacle courseBenign cancer cells that had been induced to become malignant made their way slowly around microscopic obstacles. About 16 percent of the cells moved much more rapidly across the microchip.

Credit: Ian Y. Wong/Brown University

Cells invaded an enclosed array of fibronectin-coated PDMS micropillars

Ian Wong

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Copper Foam Turns CO2 into Useful Chemicals

Scientists at Brown University’s Center for Capture and Conversion of CO2 have discovered that copper foam could

provide a new way of converting excess CO2 into useful industrial chemicals, including formic acid.

A catalyst made from a foamy form of copper has vastly different electrochemical proper-ties from catalysts made with smooth cop-per in reactions involving carbon dioxide, a new study shows . The research, by scientists in Brown University’s Center for the Capture and Conversion of CO2, suggests that cop-per foams could provide a new way of con-verting excess CO2 into useful industrial chemicals .

The research is published in the journal ACS Catalysis.

As levels of carbon dioxide in the atmo-sphere continue to rise, researchers are looking for ways to make use of it . One ap-proach is to capture CO2 emitted from power plants and other facilities and use it as a carbon source to make industrial chemi-cals, most of which are currently made from fossil fuels . The problem is that CO2 is ex-tremely stable, and reducing it to a reactive and useful form isn’t easy .

“Copper has been studied for a long time as an electrocatalyst for CO2 reduction, and it’s the only metal shown to be able to reduce CO2 to useful hydrocarbons,” said Tayhas Palmore, professor of engineering and se-nior author of the new research . “There was some indication that if you roughen the sur-face of planar copper, it would create more active sites for reactions with CO2 .”

Copper foam, which has been developed only in the last few years, provided the sur-face roughness that Palmore and her col-leagues were looking for . The foams are made by depositing copper on a surface in the presence of hydrogen and a strong elec-tric current . Hydrogen bubbles cause the

copper to be deposited in an arrangement of sponge-like pores and channels of vary-ing sizes .

After depositing copper foams on an elec-trode, the researchers set up experiments to see what kinds of products would be pro-duced in an electrochemical reaction with CO2 in water . The experiments were per-formed by Sujat Sen and Dan Liu, graduate students in chemistry working in Palmore’s lab at Brown’s School of Engineering .

The experiments showed that the copper foam converted CO2 into formic acid — a compound often used as a feedstock for microbes

that produce biofuels — at a much greater efficiency than planar

copper.

The reaction also produced small amounts of propylene, a useful hydrocarbon that’s never been reported before in reactions in-volving copper .

“The product distribution was unique and very different from what had been reported with planar electrodes, which was a surprise,” Palmore said . “We’ve identified another pa-rameter to consider in the electroreduction of CO2 . It’s not just the kind of metal that’s responsible for the direction this chemistry goes, but also the architecture of the catalyst .”

Now that it is clear that architecture matters, Palmore and her colleagues are working to see what happens when that architecture is tweaked . It is likely, she says, that pores of different depths or diameters will produce different compounds from a CO2 feedstock . Ultimately, it might be possible to tune the copper foam toward a specific desired compound .

Palmore said she is amazed by the fact that there's still more to be learned about copper .

“People have studied electrocatalysis with copper for a couple decades now,” she said . “It’s remarkable that we can still make altera-tions to it that affect what’s produced .”

The work in the study is part of a larger ef-fort by Brown’s Center for the Capture and Conversion of CO2 . The Center, funded by the National Science Foundation, is explor-ing a variety of catalysts that can convert CO2 into usable forms of carbon .

“The goal is to find ways to produce some of the world's largest-volume chemicals from a sustainable carbon source that the Earth not only has in excess but urgently needs to reduce,” said Palmore, who leads the center . “This is a way for us as scientists to begin thinking of how we produce indus-trial chemicals in more sustainable ways and control costs at the same time . The cost of commodity chemicals is going nowhere but up as long as production is dependent on fossil fuels .”

The Center for Capture and Conversion of CO2 is a Center for Chemical Innovation funded by the National Science Foundation (CHE-1240020) .

- by Kevin Stacey

E(V)

Tayhas Palmore

SEM images of electrodeposited copper foams on a copper substrate. Inset of (a) is a photo of a copper electrode immediately after electrodeposition of the copper foam.

S T u d E n T S i n T H E n E W S S T u d E n T S i n T H E n E W S

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As part of Brown University’s 250th Celebration, students came together on Saturday, September 27, in the Brown Design Workshop in Prince Lab for an all-day Design Workshop . The theme of the de-sign challenge was, ‘Brown Encapsulated,’ and students were tasked with re-imagining a ‘time capsule’ . What could be created to capture small representations of Brown cul-ture and society now to revisit in the future?

This workshop focused on design concepts and hands-on design, showcasing team-based, experiential learning . After receiv-ing an overview of the challenge, students began discussing the design process . They formed teams, but members continued to shift between groups as they generated ideas, shared feedback, and began sketch-ing models .

Throughout the workshop, students contin-ued to iterate, design new prototypes, and share feedback with each other to refine their ideas . Later in the day, each group presented its work to a group of alumni and President Christina Paxson .

After designing further iterations, more feed-back, and critique sessions, each group gave a final presentation and discussed their work .

One of the three groups worked on a “pix-elated” wall concept and consisted of Rebecca Barron ’15 .5 (engineering and ar-chitectural studies), Coleen Chan (RISD ’17/ Apparel Design), Victoria Chavez ’18 (Applied Math/Computer Science), Stewart Lynch ’16 (Computer Engineering), Maggie Mathieu ’17 (Mechanical Engineering), Eric Shine ’15 (Mechanical Engineering and Visual Arts), Haily Tran ’16 (Environmental Science and Engineering), Kassie Wang ’17 (Mechanical Engineering), and Victoria Wu ’15 (Materials Science and Visual Arts) . Their idea was to create a wall consisting of grid-like shelves

with approximately 6000 square cells, and each cell would contain a 1 .5 inch translucent acrylic cube created by a student/individ-ual at Brown . Each cube could be removed from the shelf and would contain either a token, written anecdote, and/or sound bite from one individual at Brown, some kind of personal artifact to remember them . Also embedded in every cube is an LED, which shines into the plastic cube and can illumi-nate it . The leads of the LED would connect to a metal contact on the back of the cube, and together all the cubes complete a circuit run-ning along the shelf behind every row and column .

The group planned to collect data from the

current student body using polls, with ques-tions like, “What would you consider the next ‘big thing’ in technology?” or “What is your favorite song?” and display these graphs or quotes on the screen created by the LEDs . In this way, the group hoped to capture both the general trends in Brown’s culture in 2014-15 as well as personal stories from each of its individuals, and get people “in the future” to interact with the wall .

Another one of the three groups consisted of Leanne Block ’17 (Mechanical Engineering), Adam Gosselin ’16 (Computer Engineering),

and Hayley McClintock ’16 (Biomedical Engineering) . They designed a series of trap-ezoidal blocks (50cm X 20 cm each) that fit to-gether in various configurations . Some of the blocks are made of wood and have images that represent important events in Brown’s 250 years, such as the founding of the Open Curriculum and the merger with Pembroke . The other blocks are made from a white-board material, so that students can add their own events that are either pertinent to the whole University or maybe just a group of friends . The idea is to make a growing and moving timeline .

The final design of this would include many more blocks of both types, the wood blocks would be colorful and more cohesive visu-ally, and all of the boards would be fitted with velcro backings and attached to an indoor velcro wall so that students can move them around and create new shapes as well as writ-ing and drawing on the boards, creating new connections between events by their place-ment, as well as new shapes on the wall .

A third group consisted of Tommy Jung ’15 (Computer Engineering) and Zainab Soetan ’18 (Engineering), who worked on an 8x8 LED matrix controlled by Arduino . It uses a 3-to-8 decoder to select rows and 8 pull-down pins to control columns of LED matrix . Only one of the rows can be controlled at a time, but the fast switching in row selection gives an illusion that all the LEDs could be controlled simultaneously . A number of possible ideas were suggested on uses for this . In addition, consideration was given to integrating this concept with the first group's concept of LED cubes .

Two of the prototypes will be chosen for fur-ther development and later ‘buried’ to mark Brown's 250th Anniversary celebration .

Encapsulating Brown In a Day

As part of Brown University’s 250th Celebration, the School of Engineering hosted an all-day design workshop in

the Brown Design Workshop in Prince Lab.

Ideation and Sketch ModelingStudents are involving in jump-start ideation and sketch modeling at the start of the 'Encapsulating Brown' Design Workshop.

Above left: an example of one of the block configurations. Above right a 9 x 9 prototype of the LED cube concept.

Below: Tommy Jung ’15 demonstrates 8x8 LED matrix

S T u d E n T S i n T H E n E W S S T u d E n T S i n T H E n E W S

BROWN SchOOl Of ENgiNEERiNg 12 13 WiNtER 2015

Lincoln School is partnering with Brown’s School of Engineering and the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning to offer the course, Introduction to Engineering, to Lincoln students . The course will be taught in the School of Engineering at Brown and will take advantage of the newly established Brown Design Workshop . The Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning will work with both Lincoln School and the School of Engineering to aid in the course design and student-centered pedagogy .

“Lincoln School is very excited to be partnering with Brown’s School of Engineering and the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning,” said Suzanne Fogarty, Lincoln School’s Head of School . “Lincoln is a school devoted to promoting STEM initiatives for girls and young women and this collaboration allows our students to take advantage of Brown’s excellent facilities and teaching resources while exploring engineering as an option for future study . Our shared mission is closing the gender gap in engineering .”

It is especially exciting for the School of Engineering to partner with Lincoln, an independent school that is dedicated to the education of young women . Nationwide, there have been efforts to increase the number of women who choose to enter the engineering profession . By engaging young women at Lincoln there is an opportunity to introduce them to the excitement of engi-neering earlier than is often possible for most high school students . Professors Iris Bahar and Clyde Briant will lead the effort for the School of Engineering, and Dr . Kathy Takayama, Executive Director of the Sheridan Center, will lead the effort for the Sheridan Center .

“We are very excited to work with Lincoln School on this program . It offers an opportunity to engage young women in engineering while they are at the high school level and to pioneer pedagogical methods of teaching engineer-ing to students in high school,” said Briant .

The course will include both laboratory and analytical components and introduce stu-dents to the engineering profession, engi-neering design, CAD, analysis of static struc-tures, 3D printing, engineering materials, and electronics . The students will also gain practice in applying math concepts to engi-neering problems . The course will meet once a week for three hours and students will re-ceive credit at Lincoln School for the course . The Lincoln students’ projects and experi-ences will be showcased through e-portfoli-os . A major goal will be to help the students explore their own interests in this field and also appreciate the contributions that engi-neering makes to society .

With help from a prestigious grant from the the Association of American Universities (AAU), Brown faculty members Clyde Briant and Chris Bull have been working to in-corporate more experiential learning into the engineering curriculum, starting with the first-year ENGN0030: Introduction to Engineering .

The Association of American Universities (AAU) has chosen Brown University as a project site for an initiative to improve un-dergraduate education in science, technol-ogy, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields . Brown is one of eight AAU member institutions chosen to implement the initia-tive, which is designed to encourage STEM departments to adopt proven, evidence-based teaching practices and to provide fac-ulty with the encouragement, training, and support to do so .

Brown’s three-year plan began with a re-thinking of STEM classes for first- and second-year students, starting with seven classes in physics, engineering and neuro-science, including ENGN0030 . These classes represent crucial gateways to further study in the STEM disciplines for more than 800 Brown students who take them each year, including approximately 300 students in ENGN0030 . Ensuring student engagement in these classes and an effective learning environment is a key to recruiting and re-taining students in STEM fields . In the plan’s second and third years, practices developed in these classes will be expanded to other classes and disciplines .

Faculty and graduate students have been working with Brown’s Sheridan Center

Re-engineering ENGN0030

With help from an AAU grant, Brown faculty members Clyde Briant and Chris Bull have been working to

incorporate more experiential learning into the engineering curriculum.

for Teaching and Learning and the Brown Science Center to develop new curricula that emphasizes hands-on learning, group prob-lem solving, and opportunities for original research . The hands-on learning will be con-ducted in the new Brown Design Workshop .

The grant also allowed the School to hire and train 30 student mentors for the Brown Design Workshop to expand access and hours . Prior to the semester, these engi-neering students received a week of train-ing across many areas including designing with various materials, electronics design, 3D printing, CAD, and MATLAB . Their role as mentors to the first-year students has been vital to the success of the course .

Mentor WeekStudent mentors received a week of training prior to the semester. Credit: Christopher Bull

Brown Forms Partnership with Lincoln School

Lincoln School is partnering with Brown’s School of Engineering and the Sheridan Center for Teaching and

Learning to offer the course, Introduction to Engineering, to Lincoln students.

ENGN0030: Final project presentations.

M E E T T H E N E W FA C U LT Y M E E T T H E FA C U LT Y

BROWN SchOOl Of ENgiNEERiNg 14 15 WiNtER 2015

The capacity of the human body to make in-credibly precise and powerful movements was on full display last summer during the World Cup soccer tournament . David Borton, assistant professor of engineering, knows all about the moves needed to be a successful soccer player . For two years in his late teens, he played profes-sionally for Santos FC in Brazil - a squad whose all-time leading scorer is the great Pelé . But after coming to the realization that there was more to his life than soccer, Borton decided to go back to school to become an engineer .

Now, in his neuroengineering lab at Brown, Borton is developing technologies to better understand the neurological underpinnings of human movement . Ultimately, he hopes to help develop neural prosthetic systems to restore movement for those who have lost it to injury or disease .

In part, Borton says, it is his experience playing soccer that motivates his work to help people with motor difficulties .

“It touches a little bit closer to home when you see people who are paralyzed and they can’t do the kind of things that made such a big impact in your own life,” he said . “You want to help re-store that for them, and help them get back to interacting with the world fully again .”

The appointment to the Brown faculty is a homecoming for Borton . He earned his Ph .D . here, working with Arto Nurmikko in the School of Engineering . In Nurmikko’s lab, Borton helped to develop the first fully implantable wireless brain sensor . The device, which has operated successfully in the brains of animal research subjects, records and transmits neural signals generated as the animals move . A better understanding of those neural signals will aid in making new brain-computer interfaces that can restore people’s ability to move .

The key advance of this device is that it’s wire-less . It enables researchers to collect brain sig-nals in high fidelity while animals are moving around freely .

“All of the current understanding of how our brain controls movement is learned from ani-mal studies in constrained conditions,” Borton said . “That’s because we didn’t have the wire-less technology available to us to have these animals freely moving in their natural environ-ment . Getting data from natural movement is a big thing . It gets rid of some of the traditional restraints on neuroscience research .”

Borton plans to continue to develop technolo-gies that push the boundaries in neuroscience and decode the mysteries of movement . “The focus of our lab,” he said, “is building technolo-gies that can answer old questions in neurosci-ence and help ask new ones .”

Borton already has lined up collaborations to-ward those ends .

He plans to work with Gabriel Taubin, associate professor of computer science and engineer-ing, who is an expert in computer vision . With Taubin, Borton would like to develop new ways of using computer imaging to monitor and quantify the movements of animals in the lab . Borton will also work with assistant professor Jacob Rosenstein to develop kinematic sen-sors that can be implanted directly into joints as another means of capturing fine detail in movement . Those detailed movement data can then be combined with data from brain sensors to shed new light on the neural basis of movement .

But the ultimate goal of restoring movement for people who have had a neural insult will require more than collecting neural data on movement . Borton would like to find new ways of reinstalling that information back into

Understanding the neurological basis of movement could lead to

implantable sensors that can relay the brain’s instructions to nerves and

muscles across damaged spinal cords. David Borton is working toward

such implantable “bridge” devices.

David Borton

the nervous system . During a postdoctoral ap-pointment at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, Borton worked on new techniques to do just that .

“During my postdoc, I worked on systems - not just devices, but systems of devices - that can talk to each other and find ways to read from one part of the nervous system and write into another part,” Borton said . “That means un-derstanding the information coming from the brain and building a useful signal to bring it back into the nervous system .”

The effect is a cortico-spinal bridge that recon-nects regions of the nervous system that have been separated by injury or disease . And while he is building those technological bridges, Borton would also like to build a research bridge across the Atlantic to EPFL .

John Donoghue, director of the Brown Institute for Brain Science, is on leave this year to help set up a new neuroengineering center at EPFL . As Borton settles in here at Brown, he envisions a steady stream of researchers and students mov-ing back and forth between the two institutions .

“I want to help students from both EPFL and Brown to have the experience that I had in see-ing a whole different set of labs,” Borton said . “EPFL is one of the top universities in Europe, so it’s great to have that connection .”

“The good thing about Brown is even when you are a grad student most professors treat you as a colleague anyway,” he said . “That’s one of the more powerful attributes of the Brown community .”

When asked about his teaching philosophy, Assistant Professor of Engineering Shreyas Mandre leans back in his office chair and thinks for a moment . He then pops up and procures an envelope . Inside are several paper models of maple seeds, designed by undergraduates in his fluid dynamics course . The idea was to understand the de-sign of the seeds, and how it might be useful in other applications . He excitedly tosses a few into the air . They flitter toward the floor in neat spirals .

“I like to be inspired by nature,” he says . “That’s my philosophy, roughly—to use phenomena in nature to build a fascination for the subject .”

That spirit is also what fuels Professor Mandre’s research . Whether it’s studying the way cereal moves in a bowl of milk or how the gentle, synchronous waving of seagrass helps sustain marine life, his work begins with a certain wide-eyed wonder . But, it’s more than just that: “It’s driven on one hand by curiosity and on the other by application . There has to be an unan-swered question whose answer might be useful .”

One project that fulfills that dual aim is his collaborative study on the mechanics of the human foot . Backed by a grant from the Human Frontier Science Program, Professor Mandre and two colleagues in Japan and India are in the midst of a three-year endeavor examining the form, func-tion, and evolution of the human foot . The hope is that the study’s discoveries can be applied to fields like evolutionary biology and robotics .

“There are robots that do some kind of running but none actually run like humans do,” says Professor Mandre . “We think one of the critical pieces is that none have the right kind of foot .” And what could a running robot do? For one, it could aid search-and-rescue missions in dan-gerous situations where the terrain is too unwieldy for humans or motorized vehicles .

Professor Mandre is also working with engineering faculty members Kenneth Breuer and Jen Franck on an energy-harvesting study backed by ARPA-E, an agency under the purview of the United States Department of

Energy . Dubbed the “water wing,” the project aims to harness the power and reliability of oceanic tides and convert them into a highly efficient

renewable energy source .

Support for the path-breaking work of projects like these–and the forthcoming new engineering building–will allow the School of Engineering to continue its rise as a world-leader in research and training .

Professor Mandre can hardly wait: “Getting a new building will allow us to hire new faculty and bring in interesting and new ideas . It’s going to help us grow .”

In the meantime, he’ll continue to let the natural world inspire him, finding ways to turn seemingly small observations into some-thing much bigger .

-by Jacob Goldman

Natural Inspirations - Shreyas Mandre

Assistant Professor Shreyas Mandre (right) advising grad student Michael Miller. Photo: Cathie Beattie

How tidal energy could take flight: Mounted on the sea floor, the device’s wings move up and down the stationary pole, generating power. More wings can be added,

and the device can fold flat to allow large ships or loaded barges to pass safely.- by Kevin Stacey

Fa c u lt y / s t u d e n t H o n o r s / n e W s s t u d e n t H o n o r s / n e W s

BROWN SchOOl Of ENgiNEERiNg 16 17 WiNtER 2015

Brown University Professor of Engineering Huajian Gao has been selected to receive the William Prager Medal from the Society of Engineering Science (SES) made in recognition of his outstanding research contributions in theoretical solid mechanics . The award will be presented at the 52nd Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of Engineering Science to be held at Texas A&M University, October 26-28, 2015 .

The medal is named for former Brown professor William Prager, who helped to establish the Division of Applied Mathematics at Brown in the 1940s .

Of the 22 times the Prager Medal has been awarded, a current or former Brown solid mechanics faculty member or alumnus, has won it ten times . Previous Brown recipients include: Daniel C . Drucker (1983), Rodney J . Clifton (1986), James R . Rice (1988), George J . Dvorak Ph .D . ’69 (1994), L . Ben Freund (2000), Alan Needleman (2006), Richard James ’74 (2008), Alan Wineman Ph .D . ’64 (2009), Robert M . McMeeking Sc .M . ’74 Ph .D . ’77 (2014) and Huajian Gao (2015) . Eight of the ten winners, including Huajian Gao, are also mem-bers of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) .

Professor Huajian Gao to Receive Prager Medal Doctoral Student Megan Creighton Awarded EPA STAR Fellowship

Megan Creighton, a fifth year doctoral student in the chemical and biochemcial engineering group at the Brown University School of Engineering, has been awarded an EPA STAR graduate fellowship . EPA’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program funds graduate fellowships in numerous environmental sci-ence and engineering disciplines through a competitive solicitation process and independent peer re-view . The program engages the nation’s best scientists and engineers in targeted research that comple-ments EPA’s intramural research program and those of our partners in other federal agencies .

Creighton is working with Professor Robert Hurt and her research will focus on potential applications for graphene-family nanomaterials (GFNs) . Increased use and production of such materials consequently suggests an increased likelihood of unintended occupational, consumer, and environmental exposures . This project focuses on the relation between the risks of such exposures and specific material properties so that these properties can be intelligently exploited for both function and safety . This will eventually lead to more accurate information for environmental decision-making, allowing for the safe and sus-tainable development and incorporation of GFN technology into society .

20 Students Inducted into Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society

Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, inducted 20 new members into the Rhode Island Alpha chap-ter at Brown University on Friday, December 5 . Thirteen juniors were inducted along with seven seniors .

Among the thirteen juniors elected were: Paolo Emil Burkley ’16, Kyle Erf ’16, Ian Knapp ’16, Thanin Kovitchindachai ’16, Stewart Lynch ’16, Jad Nasrallah ’16, Carlos Reyes ’16, Rohan Sanspeur ’16, Min Yee Teh ’16, Jacques Van Anh ’16, James Violet ’16, Jack Wilson ’16, and Haeri Yoon ’16 . The seven seniors elected included: Jennifer Cardona ’15, Theresa Cloutier ’15, Pawel Golyski ’15, Ethan Madigan ’15, Guarav Nakhare ’15, Jenna Norton ’15, and Emily Toomey ’15 .

Tau Beta Pi, founded in 1885, is the second oldest Greek-letter honor society in America; the oldest is Phi Beta Kappa . While Phi Beta Kappa is restricted to students in the liberal arts, Tau Beta Pi is designed to “offer appropriate recognition for superior scholarship and exemplary character to students in engineering .”

In order to be inducted into the prestigious honor society, juniors must rank in the top eighth of their class and seniors must rank in the top fifth of their class . Graduate students who have completed at least 50% of their degree requirements and who rank in the top fifth of their class are also eligible to become candidates for membership .

Brown Engineers Win Seven Awards at AIChE National Meeting

Several Brown University engineering students attended the 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Meeting in November in Atlanta .

During the meeting, the Nanoscale Science and Engineering forum hosted an award session to honor graduate students whose research achievements, in the broad area of carbon nanomaterials, demon-strate a high level of excellence . Finalists were selected based on their abstract submissions and then presented their work in the award session to a panel of judges . Brown chemical and biochemical en-gineering fifth year doctoral student Megan Creighton was awarded the first place prize for her re-search on “Molecular Barrier Functions of Graphene Oxide in Liquid-Liquid Systems .” She is advised by Professor Robert Hurt .

Nine undergraduates attended the national meeting and competed in the national poster competition, including Helen Bergstrom ’15, Anna Brown ’16, Theresa Cloutier ’15, Jenna Ditto ’15, Collin Felton ’15, Naser Mahfouz ’15, Danna Nozik ’16, Rebecca Pinals ’16, and Finn van Kreiken ’15 .

More than 200 posters were presented, and the competition was divided into ten topic areas, and the topic areas were broken down further into subgroups .

Nozik presented in the materials engineering and sciences VII subgroup and won first place . She presented a poster entitled, “Biohybrid Fibro-porous Vascular Scaffolds: Effect of Crosslinking on Properties .” Bergstrom presented in the sustainability category, and won second place . She pre-sented a poster titled, “Rethinking the Traditional Wall- Textile Wall Assembly Systems for Healthier, Energy-Efficient Structures .” Brown presented her poster titled, “Multiple Wavelength Interferometry for the Characterization of Material Properties,” and won second place in the materials engineering and sciences VI subgroup . Mahfouz presented his poster titled, “Graphene Oxide-based Materials for Environmental and Selective Barriers,” and won third place in the separations category . Cloutier com-peted in the Food, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology category and won third place for her poster en-titled, “Towards Inducing hMSC Chondrogenesis in Hydrogels through Treatment with Kartogenin .” Pinals won third place in the Materials Engineering and Sciences V subgroup . She presented a poster entitled, “Band-Gap Tuning of Colloidal Silicon-Based Quantum Dots by Surface Functionalization Using Conjugated Organic Ligands .”

Sara Kadkhodaei Wins Materials Research Society Graduate Student Award

Sara Kadkhodaei, a fifth year doctoral student in the mechanics of solids group at the Brown University School of Engineering, has won the Materials Research Society (MRS) Graduate Student Award for a pre-sentation on Mathematical and Computational Aspects of Materials Science at the MRS 2014 Fall Meeting in Boston . The MRS Graduate Student Awards are intended to honor and encourage graduate students whose academic achievements and current materials research display a high order of excellence and dis-tinction . MRS seeks to recognize students of exceptional ability who show promise for future substantial achievement in materials research . Emphasis is placed on the quality of the student and his/her research ability . At Brown, Kadkhodaei is advised by associate professor Axel van de Walle of the materials group . Her research involves devising and developing computational tools toward automated calculation of thermodynamic properties of alloys .

S T u d E n T S i n T H E n E W S S T u d E n T S i n T H E n E W S

BROWN SchOOl Of ENgiNEERiNg 18 19 WiNtER 2015

Mehrdad Kiani ’15, a materials engineering concentrator, considers his academic interests “a little unorthodox .” That is one way of putting it . One might also call them “fascinating” and “exciting .”

Specifically, Mehrdad is applying his engineering know-how to two seemingly disparate areas: archaeology and cancer research . In some ways, the two categories could not be fur-ther apart, but to Mehrdad, it just makes sense: “Materials engineering,”– the study of find-ing, designing and implementing new materials–“really is all-encompassing . When you look at many other scientific fields, there is a lot of materials-based work going on .”

There is an interesting arc, too, in working across these fields: investigating and creating 3D models of ancient artifacts helps tell stories of the past, while enhancing the components of cancer research is a nod toward the future .

As a first-year, Mehrdad aided Associate Professor Gabriel Taubin and Kevin Smith, chief cu-rator of the Haffenreffer Museum, in implementing a new kind of archaeological archiving software called REVEAL, across three active dig-sites . This meant a whirlwind summer of travel: Mehrdad headed to central Turkey, the Peruvian Andes, and a cave in Iceland . The trip, he says, was unforgettable: “These were really secluded, unique areas . In Iceland, we worked inside a massive lava cave with artifacts and animal bones from the Viking age . In Peru, there were these tiny crawlspaces that connected old buildings . I’ve never experienced anything like it .”

Last year, Mehrdad began working out of the lab of Ian Wong, assistant professor of engi-neering . Through the competitive DiMase Internship, Mehrdad spent the past summer tracking how different cells move—both physically and through computerized simulations . He will continue this work throughout his final year on College Hill, collaborating with his fel-low undergraduates and a few doctoral students .

A Unique Blend

“There’s very relevant and significant work going on here,” he

says. “The appeal of what I do is that it’s not purely biological, but

it’s not purely materials engineering either—it’s at that intersection. It’s

exciting.”

In case all of that was not enough to satisfy Mehrdad’s intellectual curiosities, he also took on the presidency of Brown’s Tau Beta Pi chapter, the national engineering honor society . Yet, he shrugs off the suggestion that his academic efforts are prodigious: “I’m still a regular college student . I go out with my friends and try to keep that part of my life intact .”

In fact, Mehrdad says, one of his favorite things about the University is how its open curriculum and focus on interdisciplinarity encourages a wide array of both academic and social interactions: “I didn’t want to go a big school where all of my friends would have been engineering students . Here I have good friends in economics, neurosci-ence, computer science and public health . If you’re looking for a school that gives you extra perspective, I don’t think it gets any better than Brown .”

- by Jacob Goldman

Brown hosts National Society of Black Engineers ConferenceBrown University’s School of Engineering hosted the New England zone conference of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) on Saturday, Oct . 18, 2014 . The day-long conference featured activities and workshops aimed at helping students from under-represented groups succeed in sci-ence, technology, engineering, and math fields .

About 60 students from universities in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island attended . Students from several Providence area high schools, including Juanita Sanchez Education Complex, Central High School, and Times Squared Academy, attended as well .

“The theme of the conference is academic and professional excellence,” said Johnathan Davis, a junior at Brown and chair of the planning committee for the conference . “We want stu-dents to leave the conference feeling better about themselves and ready to get the most from their academic work .”

The effort to bring the conference to Brown was spearheaded by the University’s NSBE chapter, which reformed last year and now includes about 30 active members .

“We restarted the organization because we felt there was a need,” said Davis, who serves as secretary for the chapter . “We want to create a community where minority students can work together and help each other succeed in the STEM fields .”

When the Brown NSBE chapter was offered the opportunity to host the conference, the group jumped at the chance .

Photo credit: Cathie Beattie Oscar Groomes '82 P'15 delivered the keynote address

“We have a lot of energy,” Davis said. “Why not take on this

challenge?”

The conference schedule included work-shops on advanced study skills, careers in engineering and resume writing . Workshop topics for high school students included choosing and paying for college . Several members of the Brown engineering and computer science faculty took part, and the keynote address was delivered by Oscar Groomes, a graduate of Brown and Tougaloo College and former president and CEO of GE Rail Services .

- by Kevin Stacey

You could say to be an engineer you need something in your soul . In my case, it was in my blood . My great-grandfather, grandfa-ther, three uncles, my mother, and my father were, or are engineers . Growing up, I was al-ways dragged out to the garage by my par-ents to watch them solder, fix an engine, or use a drill press, all while learning the theory and rationale behind what they were doing . At the dinner table my parents would ask my sister and I for ideas when they were having trouble solving something at work . Most times we could barely understand the prob-lem, much less figure out how to help them, but on the occasions that we could help it was magical . We had helped our parents, which for me was like aiding Superman spin the world in the other direction . Fast for-ward to college . My freshman year I decided to go into engineering because I was inter-ested in math and science . Day one Prof . Janet Blume opened up the ENGN 3 class, and I knew I was a goner . From day one at Brown I was an engineer .

Unlike my experience with engineering, it took some time for me to find my sport . When I was 10 years old, we moved to Rhode Island . Being a transplant, I couldn’t join the summer soccer team - we had missed the sign up period . So my parents put me in sail-ing summer camp . A few weeks later, I was hooked . Years later, looking at colleges, I wouldn’t even consider a school without a sailing team . I sailed for Brown for three years, while studying engineering and maintaining my international racing status . Unfortunately, this was a bit ambitious so

my senior year I left the Brown sailing team and only sailed internationally - a much eas-ier schedule to balance with the demands of my engineering classwork .

Being a good athlete is about dedication to the sport . That doesn’t mean simply being the strongest or the fastest, but knowing the details, studying various situations, ana-lyzing each movement for perfection, not to mention strategy . When someone asks me to describe a sailboat race, I tell them to imagine a 3D chess match where each piece doesn’t just have different moves, but is a different team . Then throw waves, wind, current, and weather into the mix and you have the mental picture . Meanwhile, there is the physical aspect of the sport - eight hours each day exposed to the elements, battling loads on lines you need to pull, le-veraging your body weight to keep the boat itself from capsizing, all while trying to steer it gracefully through the waves . Now you have a beginner’s comprehension of the stresses in a sail boat race .

Being a good engineer is about dedica-tion to problem solving . What most people don’t grasp is engineering is being creative on a deadline . That means you cannot just know the equations, you have to be able to apply them, to see a problem and see five different possible ways to reach the solu-tion and then analyze which is the best to pursue . Engineering is where the details and the big picture collide . Therefore I would argue, to be a good athlete, you have to be a technician of your sport . But to be a good sailor, you actually have to be a mechanical engineer .

Sailing is all about vectors . If the wind is coming at this angle, what angle of sail will get you to the finish line? What about your velocity made good, the velocity to the de-sired destination versus the velocity that in the direction of travel? How will the current on one portion of the course effect your speed and heading as opposed to the cur-rent on the other side?

Sailing is all about fluid dynamics . How much heel should you allow the boat given the waves’ depth and spacing? Traditionally, a flat boat is a fast boat, but in choppy waves you need heel to slice through the waves, in rolling waves you need to cant and steer the boat up the front of a wave and down the back . All of this to maximize the lift that the boat’s boards experience from the water . At what point of sail should you be at? How tight should the sail’s control lines be to maximize the power of the sail generated by the wind? In light air, you typically ease the controls a bit, or you will choke off the flow, killing your speed . In medium air, you must balance between speed and sailing with the closest angle to the wind . In heavy air, you strap on all the controls to flatten the sail, making the boat more manageable .

Sailing is all about solid mechanics . How do you position your body in each maneuver? Your body behaves as a weighted lever to balance out the motion of the boat, how you position it directly effects the lift on the boards and sails changing the boats speed and direction . How do you set up the boat? The Nacra 17, the boat I am currently racing, has both stays and diamonds . Stays keep the mast in a “vertical” position on the boat .

However, you can choose to tilt the mast slightly off vertical . In heavy air you would rake it back, this helps to depower the sails making the boat controllable . In light air you would have a perfectly vertical mast or rake the mast forward a bit to open up the slots between the sails to keep the turbulence developed on the trailing edge of one sail to affect the next sail, you let the sails breathe . Diamonds compress the carbon fiber mast, making it more or less rigid . In heavy air, you want more compression to keep the mast straighter . This takes depth out of the sails, taking power out of the sail and allowing a closer angle of travel to the wind . In light air you want less compression, permitting the mast to belly out in the middle giving the sails more volume hence more power .

Look at the Nacra 17 . It is a two person, dou-ble trapeze (wires that we hook into and hang out of the boat on), foiling (the boats hulls come out of the water completely, resulting in just the boards touching the water), catamaran (two hulls, double the water line, double the speed - 20mph aver-age speed) . Think of the engineering it took to design that thing .

But not everyone that sails goes to the Olympics . With two Brown engineering

degrees, I am frequently asked why am I giv-ing that up to train .

I am still pursuing engineering, not just by way of sailing, but also in the academic sense . I am collaborating with Prof . Joseph Liu from Brown University on several papers while I am training .

After the Olympics I plan on designing medical devices, ranging anywhere from IV drips to artificial hearts . I want my engineer-ing expertise to make a direct difference in people’s lives . I am also thinking of going to medical school to aid in my endeavors .

The Olympics is the most competitive ath-letic event . As such, you would expect the training, the qualification, and the com-petition to be the greatest challenge . For many countries, the hard part is getting on the team . After all, only one team from each country gets to go . Once on the team the country supports the athletes’ financial needs . However, for an American sailor this is not the case . The greatest challenge is raising enough money to train, qualify, and compete in the Olympics . To run an Olympic campaign costs several hundred thousand dollars a year due to the travel, coaching, equipment, and regatta fees, not to men-tion basic living expenses . In the U .S ., the sailing team’s costs are subsidized and the athletes get a jacket and a handshake . All additional funding must come from out of pocket or from private sponsorship and/or donations . That is a huge strain on the athlete . Not only is fundraising difficult and stressful, but it also takes valuable train-ing time away . However, you cannot train if you cannot afford to train . It is the Olympic catch-22 .

To try to encourage donations, I have cre-ated a non-for-profit called Sailstrong . Its purpose is not to simply raise tax-free money for my Olympic dreams . I wanted to create a foundation that would encour-age the next generation to become true student-athletes, to show that you really can

be a brain and a jock . The money donated to this foundation allows me to go to schools and give speeches to primarily elementary and middle school students about the phys-ics behind various sports . For example, we discuss how momentum conservation ap-plies to hitting a baseball, going through the equations, then we go out and play baseball . The idea is to show the kids the simplicity and magic of science while taking advantage of their inherent athleticism . Kids need a tangible role model . It is easy to point to Albert Einstein as the genius or Larry Bird as the athlete or Martin Luther King as the activist . But, all of them have a singular tal-ent . So instead, you point to Leonardo Da Vinci, the man that excelled at art, politics, and science, the man that did it all . But he is deceased and children need a living role model . Children need someone they can identify with, not a legend but a real person . That’s what I am trying to do . I am alive, I am real, I am trying to do it all . As the founda-tion grows, I am going to get other spokes-people with varying backgrounds but all multitalented and approachable . In the meantime, it is just me visiting schools and struggling to support my Olympic sailing dream .

If you want to get involved or learn more about my story please visit Sailstrong2016 .org or Followmetorio .com .

Jessica Claflin '13 Sc.M.'14 graduated from Brown with a Sc.B. in mechanical engineering as well as an Sc.M. in fluid &

thermal science. She is training to represent the USA at the 2016 Olympics in the Nacra 17, a two-person catamaran.

A True Student Athlete

- by Jessica Claflin

The renowned architecture firm KieranTimberlake was selected over the summer by the Facilities and Campus Planning Committee of the Corporation of Brown University to design a new building for Brown’s School of Engineering . The new building is part of an effort to expand facilities, faculty, and programs of the School of Engineering .

The building will be located to the west of the Barus and Holley Building, the existing engineering facility, along Manning Walk, op-posite Prince Engineering Lab, east of Brook Street . It will provide state–of–the–art laboratory space for the School’s growing faculty and expanding research efforts . Key areas of growth anticipated in the School of Engineering include micro- and nano-technology, bio-medical engineering, energy and the environment, information tech-nology, and entrepreneurial innovation .

Reflecting Brown’s spirit of collaborative and cross–disciplinary in-quiry, research facilities will be complimented by open spaces that encourage active gatherings of students, faculty and other members of the community .

"We're excited that Brown University and KieranTimberlake are joining together on the design for the next phase of the School of Engineering," said Lawrence Larson, dean of the School . "KieranTimberlake brings a unique and original perspective to each of its projects—combining a culture of deep investigation into the needs of the client and the space, the highest quality services, and leading research into improved building practices and methods . This new building will embody the aspirations of our School to create a space that fosters interdisci-plinary collaboration, breakthrough science and technology, and a spirit of learning and scholarship that will enliven our campus for many decades to come ."

Construction is tentatively slated to begin in November 2015, with final completion expected in February 2018 .

Lab Strategy and Design

Community Planning

As an important element of the new Engineering building planning effort, a Community and Program Committee has been formed with members of the Brown Engineering faculty and administration, with important opportunities planned for student input . This committee, chaired by Professor Iris Bahar, has been meeting for over a month now, and has gathered and discussed topics of com-munity importance which will become some of the foundations for the building plan .

Specifically, this committee is has been es-tablished to work closely with the architects, Kieran Timberlake on the overall design of the building, its relationship to the engineering community, and the Brown community as a whole .

An important topic which has emerged early on is the importance of physical connectivity

Engineering Building to Utilize Integrated Project Delivery

For the new School of Engineering building, Brown decided to engage with a new and innovative design, planning, and building process known as "Integrated Project Delivery ."

Integrated Project Delivery is a relatively new contracting method where the owner (Brown University), architect, contractor, and subcontractors sign a multi–party agreement that fundamentally shifts both the risk and reward away from the individual parties onto the project as a whole . The project profits and contingencies are pooled together, so the entire team is motivated to truly collaborate throughout the delivery process .

For complex projects like the School of Engineering new research building, incentivizing strong collaboration is the key to driving the best value solutions . In our first experience, with a smaller renovation project at Brown, we were able to save over 15% on the cost of the original project es-timate and add value that would have otherwise been lost back into the project to increase scope, ultimately getting more with the same planned funds .

We have built a team together with KieranTimberlake as our architect, and Shawmut as our con-struction firm, aligned around creating the best possible building for the smartest use of our fund-ing, and with all parties committed to working seamlessly end to end throughout this project to share information, decision making and execution . We look forward to seeing the output of this process and hope to utilize it in future Brown University projects as well .

KieranTimberlake to Design New Engineering Building

As a central part of the new Engineering build-ing planning effort, Dean Larson has called for a Laboratory Strategy and Design Committee to develop concepts for the adaptable and configurable research space that is the major part of the programming for the new building . This committee of faculty and administrators is being chaired by Prof . Nitin Padture and has been meeting during this semester to review both the current labs and facilities needs of the Engineering faculty and projections about fu-ture research capabilities that will be critical for the School of Engineering in the coming years .

The committee is engaging in regular work-shop sessions with the design team, led by ar-chitects from KieranTimberlake, on the lab ty-pologies needed in different areas of research as well as the organization of the supporting spaces, shared equipment rooms, and student write–up and conferencing areas that together contribute to the kind of highly collaborative and productive research communities that will help the School attract the best young and es-tablished faculty in its coming growth phases .

"Planning for a future research landscape of more convergence, more and bigger data sets, and more diverse collaborations is where we think this project should head," says Beresford .

With the prospect of close connections to all of Barus and Holley, Giancarlo, and Prince, the new building is likely to become a nexus of activity integrating many different aspects of the School’s programs, with cutting–edge re-search being the major focus . To ensure that all of the faculty research needs are represented in the planning process, the committee members worked closely with the architects to design a survey probing issues of technical needs, space configurations and sharing, and usage pat-terns . Over 85% of the faculty has completed the survey, providing a trove of data that the team is dipping into as needed as it evolves a strategy for the new lab modules and their con-text in the existing campus .

"This will be a world-class research facility," says Dean Larson, "and our process for getting there is very ’Brown’ – very inclusive, creative, and full of the excitement of discovery ."

"We are going to provide the best possible infrastructure and work environments for doing ground-breaking research in areas like biomedical engineering, nanotechnology, and energy and environmental sciences,"

said Larry Larson, Dean of Engineering.

Access to adequate research space currently is a challenge for the school . "Engineering re-search labs are now arrayed across multiple campus locations," notes Prof . Rod Beresford, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Programs, "in some cases occupying spaces that were not intended for the intensity of uses we demand ."

The new building is expected to provide re-search space for up to 18 – 20 groups, includ-ing both existing and new investigators . "We are seeing a convergence of infrastructure needs in the different disciplines," points out Prof . Rashid Zia, who also serves as Director of Microelectronics, a major shared-use facil-ity that is expected to relocate from Barus and Holley to the new building . Whereas Barus and Holley was completed just before the surge in materials–driven innovation that ushered in the growth of the world semiconductor in-dustry, this new building will be arriving at a time when engineers in all disciplines are ma-nipulating matter at the micro and nano scales, requiring access to synthesis tools and instru-ments that often were not even known a few decades ago .

Dean Larry Larson (left) reviews site plans with Brown University Assistant Vice President for Planning, Design & Construction, Michael McCormick.

BROWN SchOOl Of ENgiNEERiNg 22 23 WiNtER 2015

B u i L d i n g T H E F u T u R E B u i L d i n g T H E F u T u R E

to Barus and Holley, which is the current nerve center to the School of Engineering and to the Department of Physics . A seamless connectiv-ity will be important to merge together an inte-grated faculty and student population working in one building or the other, but also to facili-tate flow of students, staff, and visitors, and en-sure that there is no isolation or segmenting of communities .

The importance of promoting interactions across the Engineering community as well as connecting with other departments such as Physics, Applied Math and Computer Science, have been discussed throughout these first planning weeks as well .

The Barus and Holley lobby is currently home to a wide variety of events, including study groups, career networking sessions, art shows, and student presentations and com-petitions . It is also a popular gathering place

for undergraduate and graduate students . Therefore, the committee has been putting careful thought into how to maintain and en-hance the lobby since it has served as such an important component over the years . In par-ticular, the committee is considering how to im-prove connectivity between Barus and Holley, Prince Lab, and the Giancarlo building by ex-tending the existing lobby space into the new building . This extended lobby may also include a new café, as well as multi-functional seating and gathering spaces .

The committee will continue to discuss other topics including the creation of good collabor-ative spaces, and how this new building can be a part of our goal to foster a sense of commu-nity and commitment, with the idea that this new building can be a part of something that excites and inspires engineering and the whole campus for the next 50 years .

dan Leibholz ‘86 Sc.M.‘88VP, Embedded Systems Products and Tech GroupAnalog Devices, Inc .Norwood, MA

Ryan Ross (CAB Chair)Director of Software Engineering Arista NetworksBoston, MA

Tom Shannon ‘85Partner Bain & CompanyChicago, IL

Jeff Trauberman, Jd ‘76VP, Space, Intelligence and Missile Defense for Government OpsBoeingArlington, VA

Axel zur Loye, Ph.d. ‘81Chief Engineer (dual fuel engines)CumminsColumbus, IN

Joyce Mullen ‘84 P‘13 P‘13VP/GM, OEM Sales Solutions DellRound Rock, TX

Stephan Kolitz, Ph.d.Director of EducationDraper LaboratoryCambridge, MA

Paul Bechta ‘87 Sc.M.‘88Senior Director, Global ServicesEMCHopkinton, MA

Lou Hector, Jr., Ph.d.Technical Fellow, Research and Development General MotorsWarren, MI

H. B. Siegel ‘83Chief Technology OfficerIMDbSeattle, WA

david Linde Principal Firmware Engineer, Neuro System Technology MedtronicMinneapolis, MN

Lou diPalma Sc.M. ‘89 P’08Engineering DirectorRaytheonPortsmouth, RI

Colin Mercer, Ph.d.VP Research & DevelopmentSimuliaProvidence, RI

Josh BrumbergerBusiness Development Executive UtilidataProvidence, RI

Michael PereiraSenior Vice President, Technology & OperationsximedicaProvidence, RI

CORPOR ATE AFFiLiATES BOARd

Corporate Affiliates Board Members

Corporate Affiliates Board members with Brown University School of Engineering Dean Larry Larson at the October meeting.

The School of Engineering CAB was developed to ensure that the growth and evolution of the School accords with industry needs, and that the School will be guided and supported by robust industry involvement.A main purpose of the CAB is to mutually benefit industry partners and the School. This is accom-plished by developing relationships that enhance both student internship and employment op-portunities, and exploring ways for faculty to partner with industry in performing high-impact research. The CAB will provide the Dean with guidance on the School’s educational program – including its quality and relevance to state-of-the-art engineering challenges, together with the preparedness of its graduates.

Corporate Affiliates Board Mission

Sangeeta n. Bhatia ’90Professor, Investigator, Director: Laboratory for Multiscale Regenerative TechnologiesMITCambridge, MA

Seth Coe-Sullivan ’99 Chief Technology Officer QD VisionLexington, MA

Rick Fleeter ’76 Ph.d.’81Author/Adjunct Professor Brown University Providence, RILa Sapienza /University of RomeRome, Italy

d. Oscar groomes ’82 P’15Metallurgical Engineer, Physicist and Materials Scientist Groomes Business SolutionsCharlotte, NC

deirdre Hanford ’83 - ChairSenior Vice President, Global Technical ServicesSynopsys, Inc .Mountain View, CA

david Hibbitt Ph.d.’72 PMAT’96Co-Founder Hibbitt, Karlsson and Sorensen Inc .Providence, RI

Fazle Husain ’87Managing Director Metalmark CapitalNew York, NY

Mary Lou Jepsen ’87 Ph.d.’97Head of Display DivisionGoogle X LabMountain View, CA

Alejandro Knoepffler ’82 P’16PrincipalCipher Investment Management Co .Coral Gables, FL

Peter Lauro ’78 P’11PartnerSaul Ewing, LLPBoston, MA

John Lawrence, M.d. ’79Vice President, Cardiovascular Global Clinical ResearchBristol-Myers Squibb CompanyPrinceton, NJ

Andrew Marcuvitz ’71 P’06Founder, ChairmanAlpond Capital, LLCLincoln, MA

deb Mills-Scofield ’82PartnerGlengary LLCBeachwood, OH

James R. Moody ’58 Sc.M.’65 P’97Co-FounderCo-Planar, Inc .Denville, NJ

Venkatesh “Venky” narayanamurtiDirectorScience Technology /Public Policy ProgramHarvard Kennedy School Cambridge, MA

James B. RobertoAssociate Laboratory DirectorOak Ridge National LaboratoryOak Ridge, TN

John Sinnott ’80 P’16Vice PresidentGilbane Building CompanyProvidence, RI

Paul Sorensen ’71 Sc.M.’75 Ph.d.’77 P’06 P’06Co-FounderHibbitt, Karlsson and Sorensen Inc .Providence, RI

Ted Tracy ’81 P’14Vice President of EngineeringBlueJeansMountain View, CA

James E. Warne, iii ’78President WTI, Inc . Phoenix, AZ

Advisory Council Members

AdViSORy COunCiL/dE VELOPMEnT COMMiT TEE

Engineering Advisory Council Mission

Provide support and advice in the develop-ment, execution, and attainment of the School of Engineering’s strategic goals.

Ensure the School of Engineering is providing the highest quality educational experience for its students, and is embark-ing on the highest impact, highest quality, research program.

Coordinate with the Engineering Develop-ment Committee to ensure that our strate-gic and financial initiatives are achieved.

Work with campus leadership to ensure their continued support of the School of Engineering, and recognition of the key role Engineering plays in the vitality of the entire Brown community.

Development Committee

Charlie giancarlo ’79 P’08 P’11Managing DirectorSilver Lake PartnersMenlo Park, CA

Theresia gouw ’90Co-FounderAspect VenturesPalo Alto, CA

Steven Price ’84Chairman and CEOTownsquare MediaGreenwich, CT

Joan Wernig Sorensen ’72 P’06 P’06Providence, RI

Paul Sorensen ’71 Sc.M.’75 Ph.d.’77 P’06 P’06Co-FounderHibbitt, Karlsson and Sorensen Inc .Providence, RI

The EAC meets twice a year in October and February and provides critical support and advice on the School and provides important feedback to the Provost and the President .

Executive Advisory Council members with Brown University Provost Vicki Leigh Colvin (center) at the October meeting.

The October meeting of the School of Engineering’s Corporate Affiliates Board (CAB) was led by Jennifer Casasanto, Associate Dean for Programs and Planning, and Ryan Ross, CAB chair, and focused on themes around career development and industrial collaborations .

Members discussed what elements have made for successful collaborations, and how en-gaging with Brown University is unique since it is a smaller research program, there is greater access and engagement with faculty, and great diversity of research populations and diversi-ty of ideas . They also discussed increasing industrial collaborations with Brown Engineering, and the value of having multiple levels and avenues of engagement available to interact with industry . These included engaging with students in courses, hiring students, sponsor-ing student competitions and groups, funding research, sponsoring specific research proj-ects around R&D interests, donating equipment for testing, licensing patents, and others . A career panel discussion was led by CAB members who described in detail their own personal career paths, choices they made, and how they arrived at the leadership positions they hold today . Students in attendance were highly engaged and asked advice on career aspects of future industries, and strategies for their own career searches .

The CAB also received an overview and discussed applications for an innovative new re-search area of bio-informed smart lighting by Jimmy Xu, the Charles C . Tillinghast Jr . University Professor of Engineering and Professor of Physics .

BROWN SchOOl Of ENgiNEERiNg 24 25 WiNtER 2015

27 WiNtER 2015

A l u m n i P e r s P e c t i v e

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H O n O R R O L L

$1,000-$2,499

Thomas P. dimeo '52, P'83diane Zion douglass '84Benjamin n. Eldridge P'14Sabine M. von Preyss-Friedman and Michael K. Friedman P'15Elinor y. Fung '11Mary Lou Jepsen '87 Phd'97 Scd'14John H. Lawrence iii '79Erin F. Macdonald '98Stefan i. Mcdonough '90Susan M. Miller ScM'85 Phd'88*deborah J. Mills-Scofield '82Carol and Steven Miranda P'14Rachel L. Murai '17Rany ng '98Joanne and Jeffrey Shorter P'17gary H. Sockut '72*John S. Thorne '75gregory d. Thorson '83Patricia WatsonJames C. Atkins and John J. Weltman P'16

$500-$999

Luke n. Angelini '10 ScM'11Caitlin E. Ashley-Rollman '09 ScM'10Wendy L. Bernero and Richard H. Bernero '89david S. Brown '11John T. Burgess Jr. '74Beth and Ronald Cooper P'16Alan V. Feibelman '79daniel A. Felder '11James P. Hanley '88Hector A. inirio '10dana and William Keeth P'16Joseph Kenney Jr. '50H. Ezzat Khalifa Phd'76Lawrence E. LarsonCarol Lanuza and Eddy P. Lui '95nicholas A. Marcantonio '02Peter C. Mayer '63yoon y. Choo '92 and Ellis MishulovichE. Toki and Owen Oakley P'03Elizabeth J. Phalen ScM'94guruswami Ravichandran ScM'83 Phd'87Ray d. Risner '67Jeremy E. Rothfleisch '92Robert J. Rothstein '69Matthew Stein '01Sheila and Mark Toomey P'15Sabine M. Vonpreyss-Friedman

$250-$499

AnonymousPaul C. Anagnostopoulos '74Sangeeta n. Bhatia '90

Timothy P. BurnsKatharine gardner Cipolla '66 and John W. Cipolla ScM'67 Phd'70Elizabeth Lind Crane '82, P'11Theodore doucakis '96 ScM'00gary W. dulaney '97 ScM'98Richard B. Edgar '47, P'87Jeffrey g. Freudberg '78Christopher P. gallo '99Brendan J. Hargreaves '06 ScM'07Stuart E. Kirtman Phd'98*Leo Marcoux '56 ScM'64, P'82irina Meyer and Eric P. Meyer ScM'89James L. nolan '71Betina E. Pavri ScM'92James B. RobertoJosephine Scarpulladaniel g. Schweikert ScM'62 Phd'66John d. Sinnott '80, P'16Bonni and William Stanley P'15Judith and Marinos Stylianou P'15Kena K. yokoyama '96Cheung-min and Eric young P'14

$100-$249

n. Todd Becker '79Lalita Kaligotla and Ravi V. Bellamkonda Phd'95Paul P. Brown '57Wendell S. Brown iii '65 ScM'67, P'03dennis S. Buchheim '92Karl C. Buckenmaier '89Brady S. Caspar '13Stanley g. Chamberlain Phd'69Sye-Min Chan '05Emily A. Coe-Sullivan '99 and Seth Coe-Sullivan '99Thomas A. Collard '97Katherine H. Cornog '82Jenna g. dancewicz '11John B. degrazia '70Alison L. Errico '06 and Andrew M. deldonno '06Ronald C. delo '71Franklin dexter '85Clyde K. Fisk '40, P'69, P'72 ScM'73, gP'98 ScM'00,

gP'99, gP'02Richard d. Fleeter '76 Phd'81Matthew S. Forkin '07nicole and Steve Frankeldean K. Frederick ScM'61Rachel M. VanSickle-Ward and neil A. Fromer '96Frank P. Fuerst '79, P'13Julie S. greenberg and Joseph greenberg '92Michael W. Harrison '95 Phd'07Peter J. Hendricks '66Charles J. Hinckley '73Leigh R. Hochberg '90Ronald H. Hoffeld ScM'87

$500,000+

AnonymousAnonymousAnonymousdianne giannetto giancarlo and Charles H. giancarlo '79, P'08, P'11Hugh W. Pearson '58Joan Wernig Sorensen '72 and E. Paul Sorensen '71 ScM'75 Phd'77, P'06, P'06

$100,000 - $499,000

AnonymousAnonymousAnonymousSon C. yi and Wook Hyun Kwon Phd'76neal B. Mitchell Jr. '58The late John Paulson Jr. '49Howard M. Reisman '76, P'09Lisa and Lance West P'16

$50,000 - $99,999

Scott C. Friend '87Conrad B. Herrmann '82, P'16M. Fazle Husain '87nancy J. Freeman and Jeffrey A. Weiss P'12 Md'16*

$10,000-$49,999

Alexander J. Cox '51Karen and Theodore dourdeville P'15deirdre Ryan Hanford '83Eric S. Lee '89Alexander g. Weindling '84

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désirée B. Caldwell '78 and William F. Armitage Jr. '72 ScM'74, P'15

dwight K. Bann '94Vivian Bergquist Clarke '49 and Edward n. Clarke '46 Phd'51david O. groomes '82, P'15Robert W. Reinhold '83Judith Sockut Silverman '67 ScM'69 ScM'85 and

Harvey F. Silverman ScM'68 Phd'71, P'94, P'00*Michael E. Strem '58, P'97

$2,500-$4,999

Arthur Corvese Jr. '73Ronald P. grelsamer '75Merrit A. Heminway '83Sandra nusinoff Lehrman '69 Md'76 and Stephen A. Lehrman '73*Caryn g. Melrose and Michael A. Moser '81, P'13

Make a Gift

The School of Engineering is grateful for the support of all of its donors during the 2014 fiscal year (July 1, 2013 - June 30, 2014). The Honor Roll is in appreciation and recognition of those individuals, corporations, foundations, and organizations whose support makes the continued commitment to excellence in teaching and research at the Brown School of Engineering possible. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, please notify us immediately if there are any errors or omissions.

Donor Honor Roll

Katherine Cheng Huang '99 and Eric K. Huang '94 Phd'01Brian L. Hunt ScM'65 Phd'67Robert H. Hux '03Adrian M. Kaplan '02Saul J. Kaplan '75Steven B. Kaufman '87Jennifer Kaufmann and Ari J. Kaufmann '02Katayoun Shafiee '00 and Amer M. Khayyat '99Keisuke Kuida P'16dmitri K. Lemmerman '02 ScM'06Harvey B. Lemon '66Kerry i. Lenahan '95Paul H. Maysek '76, P'17Andrew Mirsky '99 ScM'00Cynthia and Arthur Morris iii P'13Lauren R. Moser '13Bryant K. ng '03 ScM'04Carl E. nielsen Jr. '56Stephen A. Osada '99Madoka Etoh and Thomas J. Owens P'14James M. Perkins '00Ann K. Pokora '93Thomas d. Pucci '46He Qi ScM'10Erin Kendrick Rebholz '98Jay A. Reichman '83donald g. Rich '51debra Thomason Roelke '83 and Marc Roelke '83, P'12, P'14, P'15Sidney A. Rosenzweig '93Arthur C. Schoeller '76The late Judith J. SchweikertRuth nagel Shelley '79Eliahu n. Shichor ScM'68 Phd'70Kara and Andrew SiegelRobert W. Singleton '70Christopher g. Street '93Michael S. Strickland '80, P'12 ScM'13Joy Sutro Truman '70 and dale Truman '68, P'02Melissa A. uppgren and John R. uppgren '80Ross n. Weene '98Elliot F. Whipple ScM'74Teng-Fong Wong '73Eileen F. Wang '07 ScMiME'08 and Charlie yongpravat '07 ScM'08Tony K. yue '83, P'16

$50-$99

daniela M. Amores '05Sara R. Berglund '09 ScM'10Peter K. Bertsch ScM'62gail Shina Browne '94 and Michael A. Browne '94Rebecca Weinstein Charous '87Mary Alice ConlonAllison M. Conta and Jonathan A. Conta '97John R. Coombs '79Amy E. Flynn '94Matthew A. Foran '93

Brock B. groth ScM'94Audra and Matthew gurin P'16Robert guroffArlene M. Hsu and Alex C. Hsu '01 ScM'03Jill u. Javier '07Sriram R. Jayakumar '13nancy Keegan and Mark J. Keegan '93Michael T. Kezirian '89Justin S. King '96Ariel B. Klein '97Kyam Krieger '08Kristina J. Leung '12Richard J. Marshall '71, P'10Linda MillsMarie L. MirandaRyan M. Mott '09Eugene B. nelson '11Marilyn B. nourse '00Ellen O'Hagan KatterMichelle Lazaro-Payumo and Francis C. Payumo '95 ScM'97Tonya Pezzutti and david A. Pezzutti '69 ScM'70Brock E. Pytlik '03neil Rajan '07 ScMiME'08nicholas g. Ringstad '04Lawrence P. Sanford '78yannis Sarantis '09Mikhail g. Shapiro '03Ruben H. Spitz '09 ScM'10Eileen P. Tooman P'10Tina M. TrahanMegan A. Wachs '05William F. Weiss iV '03Xiuhua Zhang and yongting yang P'14

$1-$49

Edward E. Backlund '13Beth Wasserman Badik '01Linnea B. Blaurock '13John F. Carrere iii '06Lisha Stewart Cole '83 and Leroy Cole Jr. '83Erin M. donohue '07Aditi dubey '08nancy S. Eichenlaub '97 ScM'98Eli J. Fine '10dana J. Frankel '08Lindsey Fujita '04 ScM'05Elizabeth A. giannuzzi '13Emily A. gilbert '14Eric C. greenstein '13Eugenia gurvich '13Chioke B. Harris '08garvin A. Heath '94Emily K. Hsieh '12Andrea L. Jones '10Jovan Julien '10nancy B. Julius P'16iphigenia-danae Kapoulea '13

Mun Ju Kim ScM'00 Phd'04dulcy Lecour P'06daniel R. Ludwig '09Miriam R. Englund and Paul n. Mathieu P'17James F. Mc ginn Jr. '52Emily g. Kunen '08 and Cash L. McCracken '08Simon C. McEntire '06James C. McLaughlin '11Susan C. Merriam '77Paula E. Miller '08Loraine and Christopher MirandaElizabeth Brisbin Mullard '81Eleni Aggelis nakou and Athanasios nakos P'12, P'16Emir V. Okan '12Shirin L. Oskooi '05Melvin A. Parker '08Vishal Patel '05Andrew M. Paulsen '01Patipan Prasertsom '13William B. Rozell '65Kyle d. Schutter '10Sepehr Sekhavat '92Robert M. Senger '00Maswazi Sihlabela '11Rachel M. Spaulding '00Rukshana and Suleman SukhyaniMichael E. Sunshine '11 ScM'11Adrienne L. Trudeau '07debbie Choi Tsang '99 and david Tsang '99Brendan J. Warner '09Reid T. Westwood '12John W. Zox '02

Corporations, Foundations, and Institutions

Analog devices*ArcelorMittalCabot CorporationCognexdPR Construction inc.Harvest Management, LLCMacrogen, inc.Medtronic, inc.university of PennsylvaniaSidney E. Frank FoundationThe Procter and gamble Fund

* These donors have given in each of the past four fiscal years since the formation of the School of Engineering on July 1, 2010.

BROWN SchOOl Of ENgiNEERiNg 28 29 WiNtER 2015

These characteristics provide a unique opportunity to help transform the School of Engineering into a force for global technological and entrepreneurial innovation by:

þ Hiring and supporting transformational faculty in key areas of explosive technological growth and profound societal impact

þ Transforming undergraduate engineering education

The time to begin these initiatives is now. Philanthropic, visionary individuals are encouraged to seize this unique opportunity to make a difference in our community and in the world.

Giving OpportunitiesNew Engineering Facility School of Engineering Building Fund starting at $100,000 New and renovated space on College Hill for education, collaboration and research including classrooms, research labs, cleanrooms, etc.

Brown Design Workshop in Prince Lab $10-15 million The focus of collaborative “making” and experiential learning for the campus

Faculty Support Endowed Professorships $5 million Providing faculty support plus start-up funds for research and infrastructure needs

Endowed Visiting Professorships $2 million Bringing new perspectives and real-world experience

Endowed Post-Doctoral Scholars $1 .5 million Training the next generation of leading faculty

Graduate Student Support Endowed Graduate Fellowships in Engineering $750,000 Support for transformative research

Transforming Undergraduate Education Endowed First-Year Seminar Fund $500,000 Provides funding for one first-year seminar each year

First-Year Seminar Fund $50,000 Provides funding for one first-year seminar

Endowed Department/Program Fund $250,000 Used broadly to help build the profile of School of Engineering programs

Endowed Technology Investment Fund $250,000 Support for enhanced classroom technology and new and upgraded state-of-the-art instructional equipment for labs

Dean’s Fund for Engineering Excellence All amounts Support investment in novel research and curriculum innovations, and the creation of new educational ventures

C A M PA i g n F O R E n g i n E E R i n g“This plan is ambitious, but Brown has implemented equally ambitious plans in the last several years.

Aiming for excellence invigorates and inspires us all.”— Larry Larson, Dean, School of Engineering

For more than 160 years, Brown University’s engineering program has sustained an exciting and unique environment for learning, teaching, and research. What began in 1847 has grown into a distinguished School of Engineering characterized by global impact, innovation, multi-disciplinary pursuits, and outstanding faculty and students.

C A M PA i g n F O R E n g i n E E R i n g

Brown’s School of Engineering is poised for a bold step forward. New teaching and research facilities are to be built on College Hill adjacent to Barus & Holley. Expanded faculty will en-sure that engineering continues to play its key role in multi-disciplinary education. Students will have opportunities to assimilate diverse disciplines required to address today’s global challenges as well as contribute to fundamen-tal scientific understanding.

Please join us in support of the Campaign for Engineering. Help us make sure that Brown students have the resources needed for in-depth scientific inquiry and the education that will prepare them for addressing key challenges fac-ing people across the globe.

Joan Wernig Sorensen ’72, P’06, P’06 E. Paul Sorensen ’71 Sc.M.’75 Ph.D.’77, P’06, P’06

Engineering Development Committee

…beliefs of entrepreneurs

“I started my post-Brown career at a big company - IBM - where I learned about sales and ac-count management and how to make your customer successful . But I always wanted to be an entrepreneur . Fortunately, I had the chance to join a start-up company after business school and then co-found my own business . I’m now a venture investor supporting young, talented entrepreneurs with great new ideas that have a chance to really make an impact . Being a venture capitalist is a fantastic opportunity because, while it sounds clichéd, I get to see the future every day in the entrepreneurs I work with and meet every week . Since I do very early-stage investing, I hear about ideas that have no business existing and products that no one has thought of before and for which there is no market . These young engineers, designers, and business people have a belief—often an irrational belief—that what they are passionate about can come true . But it’s exactly this type of irrational enthusiasm and passion that leads to the greatest successes!

“Having built a company from the ground up as an entrepreneur and helped others do the same as an investor, it’s obvious to me that teach-ing students about entrepreneurship and giving them opportunities to think through and perhaps start their own businesses is great train-ing for whatever they do in life . Entrepreneurship is an aggregation of all sorts of important skills from innovation to salesmanship to general management: it all comes together when you think about building a product and building a business .

…different but complementary skills

“The nature of Brown’s curriculum is such that students who are excited about entrepreneurship can capitalize on that passion and build those skills . Every one of my courses taught me to peel back the onion and see what was going on underneath: how to think about the world in ways that were different than I had in the past . I remember taking an entry-level engineering course on mechanics and walking around for days looking at bridges and buildings through an entirely new lens . Similarly, I had an amazing professor, Skillman, who taught what could have been a pretty dry course on labor economics . Yet his approach brought the material to life in a way that influenced how I thought at the time about markets and businesses and human resources—and those perspectives and learnings are with me still .

“And now I have the chance to go back to campus every semester when Adjunct Lecturer in Engineering Danny Warshay teaches a Harvard Business School-type case on my former business, ProfitLogic . It’s amazing to listen to students from so many disci-plines and concentrations at Brown weigh in on the challenges we faced at the time of the case—and share insights that are far more nuanced and thoughtful than I think I had at the time!

“Entrepreneurship is part of the fabric of our society in a different way than it was when I was at Brown . Starting a company, building an app, designing a product—these things are far more on stu-dents’ radar screens . And so to create an environment such as the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation at Brown that lets you collab-orate with like-minded folk and with people with different but com-plementary skills is really an amazing opportunity . It’s an incredible resource to have at the school .

…a unique environment

“I have unbelievably positive feelings about the University . The most important relationships in my life were established there—relation-ships with individuals who have become lifelong contributors to my success and happiness . It is, for the right kind of student, just an incred-ibly unique environment . I love that Brown continues to innovate and find new ways to be even better .”

Scott Friend ’87 - former head of ProfitLogic and present managing director of Bain Capital - has given to several University priorities, including the Brown Annual Fund and current-use and endowed scholarships. Currently, Friend has also pledged to support the forthcoming Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation.

- by Catharine Beattie

Friend, a member of the Brown Design Workshop Advisory Board, recently attended the first annual meeting of the group.

Scott Friend ’87 reflects on….

A L u M n i P E R S P E C T i V E

School of EngineeringBox D184 Hope StreetProvidence, RI 02912

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