A Conversation with FourGenerations of Engineers

Past, Present, Prospective

A Conversation with FourGenerations of Engineers

SynergyWINTER 2001 Volume 1, Number 2

SynergyThe Magazine of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, The George Washington University

First WordDean Timothy W. Tong

ReengineeringEngineering Education

Headline News

Gifts for the New Century

Cover Story: Past, Present, ProspectiveA Conversation with FourGenerations of Engineers

Alumni News

From the NationalAdvisory Council

Winter 2001 • Volume 1 Number 2Synergy is published by the School of Engineering andApplied Science, The George Washington University. 110 Tompkins Hall, 725 23rd Street, NWWashington, DC 20052. 202-994-6080 or www.seas.gwu.edu

Stephen J. TrachtenbergPresident of the University

Timothy W. Tong, Ph.D. Dean

Rachelle Heller, Ph.D.Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Department ChairmenWilliam Roper, Ph.D.Civil & Environmental Engineering

Bhagirath Narahari, Ph.D.Computer Science

Branimir R. Vojcic, Ph.D.Electrical & Computer Engineering

Thomas A. Mazzuchi, D.Sc.Engineering Management & Systems Engineering

Michael Myers, Ph.D.Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Emily R. TurkEditor

Design Central, Inc.Design

Gary Landsman ProductionsPrincipal Photography

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CONTENTS Winter 2001

From the Editor

SEAS Graduation 2001, page 4.

This second issue of Synergy is double in size and tackles some critical issues oftransition in the field of engineering — and the constant adaption of engineer-ing education to step-up to the future. As you will read, SEAS is a leader

in innovative approaches to education and is fast earning a reputation for respondingto the needs of students, the business community, and the nation. We continue to askfor your input — write us, tell us how we’re doing, and what you’re doing.

F I R S T W O R D W I T H D E A N T I M O T H Y W . T O N G

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State of SEAS

In my first 100 days, I developed a strategicplan for the school. One crucial goal was recruit-ment of promising students and an increase offreshman enrollment to 200. This past fall thefreshman class numbered 155, up from just 111 theprevious year. At this pace, we may reach our goalby next fall — far ahead of expectations. You canread more about the initiatives that are helping usattract young people on page 2. We have workedclosely with the University in recruiting studentsand have created innovative programs of our ownthat are proving successful. This year’s class isbright, with an average SAT score of 1250. Morethan one-third of the class are women. And onceagain, one-third of these students have selectedcomputer science as their major.

Even more impressive, I think, is the fact thatone-third of this year’s entering class comes toSEAS with a scholarship in hand. Increasing theamount of money available for scholarships wasanother important goal — one that is fast becom-ing reality. More than 60 were awarded, the resultof generous contributions from alumni and friends of SEAS.

When I first entered the doors of Tompkins Hall,it was clear that improving the infrastructure of theschool was key to its development. We are burstingat the seams of the nearly 50-year-old building. By January 2002, the Engineering Management

In some quarters, it’s the first 100 days of an administration that tests the mettle of leadership. But true growth and change takes time – and a cast of thousands. I have never been more cognizant of the crucial value of partnership than now as I approach the first anniversary of my tenure as Dean. Much has been accom-plished with support from many people — the University and SEAS administration,faculty, alumni, and students.

and Systems Engineering Department will bemoved several blocks away to 30,000 square feet of new space, which will house laboratories andbring EMSE doctoral students on campus. Therooms vacated in Staughton Hall will be renovatedfor use by other departments.

Among the most important accomplishments ofthe last year has been the shaping of partnerships

for SEAS. Corporations, government, alumni, professional organizations, and other academicinstitutions are being engaged in collaborativeprograms. These partnerships are key to expand-ing SEAS’ reach and reputation, enhancingresearch, and providing students with unique educational experiences in the real world. Dr. JimTegnelia, an alumnus and member of the NationalAdvisory Council, talks about one such partnershipwith Sandia National Labs in his commentary onpage 23.

These cooperative projects have attracted newsupport for research, as well, with funding nowreaching more than $11 million, representingmany diverse investigations by our faculty.

This is just the beginning of a renaissance forSEAS. With your support, we can continue ourplan for the future — to build an environmentthat reflects the expeditious growth and value ofthe engineering profession in our society.

At this pivotal time in our nation’s history highcaliber technical expertise will be needed both toprotect and to expand our national infrastructure.SEAS stands ready to contribute human and intel-lectual capital to a united effort from the veryheart of our nation’s capital.

“We can continueour plan forthe future — to build an environ-ment that reflectsthe expeditiousgrowth and valueof the engineeringprofession in oursociety.”

SEAS: ReengineeringEngineering Education

here is no such thing as statusquo in engineering, or in engi-neering education. GW’s Schoolof Engineering and AppliedScience has adopted this princi-ple as its mission, and is reengi-neering engineering education

with innovative programs to bring students to theschool —- and the school to students!

That innovation begins with a recruitmentstrategy aimed at attracting the best and brightesthigh school seniors. “We do make a strong effortto attract and keep the most qualified students,”

says Shelly Heller, Associate Dean for AcademicAffairs. “And we are succeeding. Enrollment is onthe rise,” she says, “and that’s in large measurebecause of the faculty’s commitment. Like me,they understand the true value of SEAS — it’s asmall school at a medium-size university in a largeand powerful city.”

Open Door to Access “You can get a good engineering education at manyuniversities,” says Heller, “but SEAS offers some-thing that other schools simply can’t. That’s access.

“We are smaller than many schools across thecountry,” she explains. “That is attractive to poten-tial students who want to feel they will get someindividual attention. We have made a real effort tocommunicate with students and offer extraordinaryaccess to faculty, administration and other students.”Both undergraduates and graduate students benefitfrom this open-door environment. It has givenSEAS added insight into what students need andwant from their education.

Enticing first year students is a fine-tuned sys-tem that integrates University recruitment efforts,with SEAS’ own brand of recruitment that includespersonal calls from a faculty member to each

“What’s the truevalue of SEAS?It’s a small school at a medium-sizeuniversity in a largeand powerful city.”

Tstudent accepted to the school — a perk that a larg-er school would not be able to offer potential fresh-men. By the time they arrive at GW, most studentshave already spoken with a dean and a professor.That kind of access helps build a sense of community,which Heller believes is the SEAS critical edge.

Entering students get to know each other, facul-ty and administration at the annual freshmanretreat — a bonding opportunity that takes placeeach year in a rustic camp on the Chesapeake Bay.New students take a course that is organized witha cross section of students from multiple disci-plines. “And right away they are engaged in acourse in their own discipline,” Heller explains.“This type of course is often delayed until prerequi-sites are taken. But we know that students want toget a real feel for their chosen field at the begin-ning of their education, so we give it to them.”

This kind of experience creates “buzz” amongstudents, and GW is getting a reputation for provid-ing challenging and creative engineering curriculum.

Mix and MatchThere are other unique offerings that are makingthe school more attractive to students, Heller adds.Among these initiatives are the dual Bachelors ofArt degrees now available in conjunction with GW’sColumbian College of Arts and Sciences and ElliottSchool of International Affairs. Students can blendcomputer science with an allied field such as graph-ic design, business, or economics. A traditional BSin computer science is also available. Students can

2 Winter 2001

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also earn a BA in applied science and technology.Integrated degrees also join engineering with lawand medicine, allowing students to earn both a BStogether with a JD or MD.

The Walk on the Moon course, created througha grant from the National Science Foundation, wasoriginally designed to attract women to the engi-neering profession. The course offers students —both male and female — the opportunity to workin teams to solve design problems.

Market SavvySEAS is perhaps most recognized for the market-ing savvy it has used in responding to the needs ofthe region’s working professionals looking tosqueeze career advancement into their 40-hourplus work week.

Dr. Tom Mazzuchi, chair of EngineeringManagement and Systems Engineering (EMSE),says, “GW has always been a place for both tradi-tional and nontraditional students. And SEAS hasbeen successful at understanding the Washingtonmetro area as a fertile marketplace.”

The EMSE department leads the pack, havingfashioned a collection of masters and certificateprograms that in 2000 attracted 400 people to itsoff-campus graduate programs — half of itsenrollment. It offers an accelerated masters pro-gram in six locations as far away as Annapolis,Maryland, where students can earn an MS or MEM in 16 months of evening or weekend classes.

Accelerated Masters degrees are also offered bythe department of Electrical and ComputerEngineering, which provides convenient course-work at the SEAS Virginia campus. The entireMasters of Science in Telecommunications andComputers can be completed in 16 months ratherthan in two years. It’s an intense format scheduledfor weekends in which students meet on alternatingFridays and Saturdays for a concentrated eight-hour day. The program attracts many telecommu-nications professionals from area businesses.

To tap further into this market, Mazzuchi says, “We decided to take short-term programs to theworkplace.” Certificates in four disciplines are offeredat four area businesses and a governmental agency.“There are 200 students working on certificates,” saysMazzuchi. “We have made it easy by taking professorsto them and scheduling the classes immediately afterthe workday.” And he adds, “After earning their cer-tificates, a number of these students make the com-mitment to earn their masters at SEAS.” All five SEASdepartments offer certificates aimed at reaching theworking student.

This kind of business–to–business marketing isproving a boom for both the school and the technolo-

Business–to-business marketing isproving a boom for both the schooland the technologyindustry.

gy industry. “The businesses get better quali-fied, motivated professionals and we developrelationships for future corporate partners,”says Dean Timothy Tong.

Tong has championed this type of partner-ship with private industry and the public sector— the AOL collaboration to develop new inter-active technology for the home was the brain-child of Dean Tong and Dr. Irwin Price, execu-tive dean, GW Virginia campus. Tong is follow-ing in a SEAS tradition that has included along association with NASA, which providestraining for graduate and post-graduate stu-dents who have front-line experience in theaerospace industry (sees News, page 7 ).

The Dean is brokering new partnerships, as well. In recent talks with Saudia Arabia,Turkey, and Korea, he is bringing SEAS to aninternational audience. A study abroad pro-gram is just underway, with schools in Londonand Paris — a unique offering for a schoolwith just 500 undergraduates.

Now SEAS is taking on the long-distancelearning market with the development of itsfirst internet-based course in Statistics to beoffered Summer 2002 (see News, page 9).

“These initiatives are just the beginning ofan ongoing evolutionary process,” says DeanTong. “At SEAS, we’ve adopted a philosophy ofeducation that reflects the true tenor of theengineering profession — anticipate, adapt,articulate, change. Engineers create productsto enrich our lives and make them more effi-cient and effective. We’re creating an education-al environment at SEAS that will do the same.”

4 Winter 2001

Headline news

n a reflective look at GW’s namesake, SEAS commencement keynote speaker, renowned aerospace engineer Dr. Hans Mark, told graduates that in attitude and character, George Washington was really the nation’s first engineer. Washington “not only surveyed what was then called the frontier,” Mark said, “he thought what could be done with it.” That same temperament pushes engineers to create what has

never been, he said.

True to this temperament, Washington imag-ined a great nation. If he had been with the graduates that day, Mark added, “he wouldremark, ‘This is exactly what I had in mind.’”

Mark encouraged the graduates to practicetheir profession with Washington’s fervor and to“imagine and implement what has never been.Believe me,” he added, “there is nothing moreinteresting or exciting to do than that.”

At the May 20 ceremonies, nearly 200 under-graduate and graduate degrees were conferred: 75 BS degrees, 14 BA degrees, 22 Masters inEngineering Management, 82 Masters in Science,one Engineer degree, and 19 Doctor of Sciencedegrees.

Nathan D. Campeau took home the most honors as the recipient of the DistinguishedScholar Award for both academic achievementand school service, the Alfred Martin FreudenthalPrize, the Norman Ames Memorial Award, and the Benjamin C. Cruickshanks Award in civil engineering.

“imagine and implementwhat has never been. Believe me,there is nothing more interesting or exciting to do than that.”

— Dr. Hans Mark

ISEAS 2001

GraduationKeynoter looks back at nation’s first engineer

Other Cruickshanks awardees, representing thehighest academic standing within their depart-ments, included: Cathy Abi-Khattar, applied scienceand technology; Bassam Abdulrahman Noaman,

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Other Cruickshanks awardees, representing thehighest academic standing within their departments,included: Cathy Abi-Khatter, applied science andtechnology; Bassam Abdulrahman Noaman, computer engineering (who also received theAbdelfattaf Abdalla Prize); Jaime Nicole Panaia,computer science; Hanadi Al-Sheikh, computerscience; Nini Khozeimeh, computer science;Jennifer Sri, computer science; Tarek Arikat, electrical engineering; Esayas Kebede, electricalengineering; Nikolaos Beratlis, mechanical engineering; and Rana Atie, systems analysis and engineering.

Additional awards included: the George EllowitzAward to Scott Levi; GW Alumni Association Awardto Kristy McDonnell; Shelly and Steve Heller Prizefor Women in Computer Science to Alison Alvarez;Philip Kaplan Prize in Electrical Engineering toEsayas Kebede; the Martin Mahler Prize toBenjamin Rupple and; the Tau Beta Pi OutstandingSophomore Award to Pascale Doumit.

The development of the parametric ultra-sound imaging device is a collaboration betweenSEAS and GE Medical Systems, Inc. The deviceharnesses the acoustic signals backscattered fromthe breast to distinguish microscopic differences intissue. “Structural variations at microscopic levelproduce unique backscattered signals,” Guoexplains. “These signals associate with the status of breast masses — benign or malignant — asevidenced from our preliminary results.” Thedevice utilizes these signals to form images that canbe used to diagnose breast cancer non-invasively.

The device could become the next generationbreast cancer screening tool — more exact indetermining which suspicious masses requirebiopsy and better at detecting malignancies hiddendeep in dense tissue that can be overlooked bymammography.

Dr. Zhenyu Guo and his team of biomedicalengineers are developing a more effectivebreast cancer early detection tool.

Nathan Campeau, most honored graduate,with Dean Timothy Tong.

Dr. Zhenyu Guo, director of biomedicalengineering, received nearly $250,000 insupport from the Susan G. Komen Breast

Cancer Foundation to investigate a more effectivenon-invasive tool for the early detection of breastcancer. Today, suspicious results of a mammo-gram (breast x-ray) require a biopsy to determinea breast malignancy. And nearly 80 percent of allbreast biopsies turn out to be benign. Patientsundergoing biopsy suffer from both physical andemotional trauma. A better pre-biopsy diagnostictechnique means reducing the number of patientswith benign breast lesions who must undergounnecessary diagnostic biopsy. Guo’s parametricultrasound imaging and electrical impedanceimaging tools will distinguish between benign andmalignant breast lesions noninvasively and reducethe need of surgical and needle biopsy.

BME Receives Komen Grant

6 Winter 2001

Staff and students of SEAS Institute for Crisis,Disaster and Risk Management (ICDRM)were among the first to respond to the tragic

attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Centeron Tuesday, September 11.

Institute Co-Director Dr. Joseph Barbera, anemergency medicine physician, oversaw GWUniversity Hospital’s Emergency Operations Planand helped coordinate a city-wide medical disasterresponse for victims of the Pentagon attack. ByWednesday, Barbera was dispatched to New YorkCity, where at the request of the U.S. Public HealthService’s Office of Emergency Preparedness, heassessed public health needs. He worked closelywith the Mayor’s Office of EmergencyManagement, Fire Commissioner, Chief MedicalExaminer’s Office, and other agencies to helpcoordinate emergency operations.

Barbera also spent a portion of the two weeksfollowing the attacks at the Pentagon, as a medicalunit leader for the FEMA Urban Search & Rescue

Headline news

Incident Support Team. His role there includedhelping to minimize health risks for the rescuers.Six doctoral students and four students in theInstitute’s masters program were also deployed torespond to the events, and provided the full gamutof support and leadership to a number of federaland private agencies.

Barbera, who for the last decade has led effortsto increase the country’s ability to respond to masscasualties, teaches a terrorism preparedness courseat SEAS. He and many of his colleagues have oftenbeen alone in advocating that greater resources bechanneled to emergency preparedness. While hesays more attention has been paid to the issue inthe last five years, he cautions that much moreneeds to be done. “What we have been doing isreasonable preparedness,” he says. “But there is a wide gap between reasonable and adequatepreparedness.”

There are single-discipline systems in place,Barbera explains, “but all-hazards preparedness

SEAS Responds to Terror Attacks

Two Washington region executives havebeen named the first fellows of the Cyber-space Policy Institute (CPI). John Bischoff,

former vice president of finance and operations atAmerica Online, and Michael Bruce, co-founderand chairman of Singleshop, Inc., will conductresearch in cyberspace policy. The fellowshipswere made possible by the financial support pro-vided by a special gift to SEAS by GW trustee andVirginia Governor-Elect Mark R. Warner.

Aided by a full-time research assistant,Bischoff and Bruce are addressing perplexing pol-icy problems related to computer and communi-cations systems. Bruce is focusing his research onthe impact of cyberspace on the global economy.

Bischoff is exploring the growing field of bio-metrics technology, which is the use of properties

requires a cross-disciplinary response system —and we are not yet there in this country.” Morefunding may now be funneled into the problem he adds, “but funneling money under fire may notresult in the best outcome.”

Dr. Jack Harrald, co-director of the ICDRM withBarbera, says the Institute has been developed withrepresentatives from the many disciplines needed to manage crisis preparedness and response. Thattemplate, says Barbera, should serve as the modelfor local and national crisis response systems thatintegrate risk analysis, information systems, med-ical response, and other expertise.

Barbera, who lost many colleagues and friendsin the September 11 attacks, says, “People whoanalyze risk for a living have said that the attackswere unpredictable, but not unexpected. Now weneed to be certain that we look critically at the systems in place, and create sane public policy to develop a more cohesive approach to this kind of tragedy.”

Cyberspace Policy Institute Names First Fellows

of people foridentificationpurposes.Biometrics,such as fingerimaging, isrevolutioniz-ing the identi-fication andsecurity industries and raising issues about publicsafety and personal privacy.

The Institute is directed by Dr. C. DianneMartin, professor of computer science, and wasbegun in 1993. CPI works with government andprivate organizations to serve as a catalyst for discussion among a multidisciplinary group ofprofessionals.

CPI’s first fellows Michael Bruce (left) andJohn Bischoff.

The four-personteam from SEAS’sJoint Institute for

the Advancement ofFlight Sciences (JIAFS)beat out six other studentgroups to win NASA’shighly competitive 2001Engineering DesignCompetition. The JIAFSteam designed a storagefacility called MarsPortCryogenics andConsumables Station(MCCS ). It producesand holds water, oxygenand methane on thesurface of Mars for useby astronauts, and tohelp launch the space-craft at the end of afuture Mars mission.NASA plans to integratethe MCCS design into the infrastructureplanned for the Martian surface.

The GW students competed against teamsfrom Cornell University, EmbryRiddleAeronautical University, Georgia Institute ofTechnology, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville,and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The team was awarded first place during aMay 2001 conference at the Kennedy SpaceCenter. The GW MarsPort Team included facultyco-supervisors Drs. Robert Tolson and PaulCooper; and graduate students Corey Hernandez,Paul Escalera, Alicia Dwyer, and Jill Hanna.

JIAFS students at NASA’s Langley ResearchCenter have also been deeply involved in the Mars2001 Odyssey Mission, launched on April 7, 2001

NOTABLES

MarsPortDesign aWinner

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Pictured left to right are the SEAS winning Marsport DesignStudent Team: Alicia Dwyer, Corey Hernandez, Jill Hanna, Paul Escalera and Professor Robert Tolson; and the Mars Odyssey vehicle that incorporates JIAFS student designs.

on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Odyssey reached Mars in October 2001. Graduate students Alicia Dwyer, Jill Hanna, and Ben George have been working on aerobraking simu-lations for Odyssey. Aerobraking occurs when a spacecraft dips into the atmosphere to shed energy. This places it in a lower orbit where it can make its scientific observations. The students are investigating variations in aero-braking, and Hanna’s approach will be tested during this Mars mission.

Nathan Campeau, BS, summa cum laude,civil engineering, 2001, and graduate student in civil engineering, was named the SEAS Dean’s Fellow for 2001, working on special projects for Dr. Timothy Tong.

Dr. Shelly Heller, professor of computer science and associate dean for academic affairs, served as the Adam Chair Professor of Technology at the U.S. Military Academy during Spring 2001, and serves as co-editor of Computers & Education Journal.

David J. Nagel, research professor, was one of five U.S. delegates to the World MicroMachine Summit in Freiburg, Germany, in May.

Dr. Joseph N. Pelton, director of the acceler-ated masters program in telecommunications andcomputers, was installed in the Hall of Fame ofthe Society of Satellite Professionals at their recentInternational Gala. Pelton was one of just a fewindividuals around the world so honored.

Robert C. Waters, professor of engineeringmanagement, was awarded the 2001 SarchetAward from the American Society for EngineeringEducation in honor of his contributions to theengineering management field. Dr. Waters wasalso the recipient of the Bernard R. SarchetAward of the American Society of EngineeringManagement (ASEM) for his leadership inadvancing the field and ASEM.

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Ateam from the SEAS student chapter of theSociety of Hispanic Engineers (SHPE) wonfirst place in a nationwide design contest

with an innovative Greek laser beam entry.Competing against dozens of chapter entries, SEAS team design was ingenious, and exceededthe standards of the competition, which is to createa commercially marketable product that is a bene-fit to mankind and improves the quality of life.

The Greek laser beam uses a basic principle ofgeometry and two laser beams to accurately meas-ure height, a common task in the constructionindustry. The GW team, led by SEAS electricalengineering doctoral student Jose Hernandez withmember Raquel Mendez, based their ingeniousdesign upon an ancient method of measurement.

“In ancient cultures, shadows cast off a wall toform a triangle on the ground were used to calcu-late height,” explains Hernandez. The team’sminiature prototype device fits into a four by three-inch box and uses the same principle, substitutinga laser beam for the shadow. A jury of five industryleaders thought the device was clever — andmarketable — earning the team a $3,000 prize,and an IBM hand-held computer for each member.

Headline news

Aunique study abroad program is nowunderway for SEAS undergraduates, end-ing months of negotiations by Shelly Heller,

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. This fallFrench student Melodie Borja de Mozota, amechanical engineering student from the EcoleSuperieure des Techniques Aeronautigues et deConstruction Automobile (ESTACA) in Paris, isspending a semester at GW through a newexchange program. Melodie, who has a specialinterest in automotive engineering, sought outSEAS and is the first student to take advantage ofthe exchange program. SEAS students will also beable to study in Paris, according to the agreement.

SEAS Overseas

SHPE created the contest to demonstrate thetechnical and business capabilities of its studentchapter members to industry and potentialemployers.

Another winning SEAS student team from the Department of Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering captured first place in the regionalcontest and among the top 30 in the nationalcompetition of the Steel Bridge Contest.

The team beat both Howard University andJohns Hopkins in the regional event last Apriland went on to the national competition heldthis past summer. The GW team, led by NathanCampeau, BS, 2001 and graduate student in civil engineering, designed and fabricated themodel of a complex arched bridge — a 30-piece assembly that is 23 feet long and weighs 150 pounds. Contestants are judged by theirdesign and, in a timed competition, by how swift-ly they can reconstruct their bridge. The SEASteam assembled its bridge in seven minutes and 50 seconds.

The contest is sponsored yearly by All SteelConstruction and the American Society of CivilEngineers.

In addition, three SEAS undergraduates will be studying in England this year in an agreementreached with Syracuse University and the CityUniversity of London.

The London program is run by Syracuse incooperation with the City University. Elliot Frostbegan his junior year at City University this pastSeptember, and will continue his studies in com-puter engineering. Juniors Rachel Miller and JeffRakitt will spend their spring semesters at the CityUniversity of London completing course work incivil engineering.

Key in the negotiation process was reconcilingthe different programs to ensure that, while abroad,SEAS students would continue to earn credit

toward their degrees. “We are extremely pleasedabout these agreements,” says Heller. “And we arehoping to expand the program. We are now in dis-cussion with schools in Beijing, China and Perth,Australia. Living and learning abroad is a specialopportunity to be exposed to new ideas and cul-tures,” she adds. “It is unusual for a small engi-neering school like SEAS to be able to offer a studyabroad program, and it’s just one more way we areenhancing the SEAS curriculum.”

Two SEAS Teams Score Big Wins

Top: A greek laser design of SEAS Society ofHispanic Engineers members Raquel Mendez(second from left) and doctoral student JoseHernandez (third from left) won first place inthe nationwide competition. Also pictured:Enrique Gomez of IBM (left) and (right) RaulAlvarado, SHPE President.

Bottom: The SEAS Steel Bridge team assem-bled its 30 piece bridge in seven minutes towin the regional event. Winning team membersare (left to right) Jeff Rakitt, Nick Parypinski,Tyler Wean, Rudulfo Guerra, Johann Aakre,Marsha Fisher and Nathan Campeau.

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Dr. SamehBadie, assistantprofessor, civil andenvironmentalengineering, joinsSEAS to lead thedepartment in thearea of structuralengineering. Hereceived his Ph.D.in Structures at the University of Nebraska, wherehe taught until his GW appointment.

Badie has been active in the design and build-ing of bridges throughout the U.S. and Canada,and has conducted much research related to rein-forced and pre-stressed concrete bridges.

Dr. Tarek El-Ghazawi, newlyappointed associateprofessor, electricaland computer engi-neering, joins SEASfrom George MasonUniversity (GMU).El-Ghazawi, whoreceived his Ph.D.from New Mexico State University, previouslyserved on the research faculty of SEAS from 1990to 1997. He is the major developer of UPC, a com-puter language, and will continue this research at SEAS.

Dr. Marvine P.Hamner joinsSEAS as an assistantprofessor, engineer-ing managementand systems engi-neering. Hamner,who received herdoctorate in engi-neering and policy

GWhas received a $100,000 grantfrom the Raymond John WeanFoundation to create the

school’s first course offering in a distance-learn-ing format. The grant is being overseen by Dr.Tom Mazzuchi, chair of the department of engi-neering management and systems engineering,and Dr. William Lynch of GW’s Center forDistance Learning. Together they are developingan online statistics course — a pre-requisite forevery engineering undergraduate in the nation,and for many masters programs, as well.

“We selected statistics because it is so univer-sally required — and because it is often so uni-versally relegated to the end of student’s wishlists,” says Mazzuchi, who teaches the course, but understands most student’s reluctance aboutit. “It is a difficult course,” he adds.

A distance-learning format that is easy toaccess on the Internet, is self-driven and can easily fit into a student’s busy schedule, is boundto be a popular choice. The course will alsoallow non-traditional students, such as thosestudying abroad or those in summer study or co-op programs to take the course.

“It is just one more creative way that SEAS isexpanding access to its programs,” says Mazzchui,“and just the beginning of the school’s distance-learning offerings.”

Says John Wean, a Foundation trustee, “Weare pleased to support this initiative of SEAS intothe distance-learning arena — a growing andimportant educational field. We are encouragedthat the creation of this statistics course will be acatalyst in leading the school toward a significantpresence in distance learning.”

The course, which will begin in summer 2002,will initially be a multi-media, self-learningexperience, but will ultimately incorporate real-time interactive faculty support.

Surfing Statistics Introducing…New SEAS Faculty

from Washington University, was previously engi-neering section supervisor with Johns HopkinsUniversity Aeronautical Science and TechnologyGroup. She has performed significant research influid dynamics.

Dr. Rajat Mittal,recently namedassistant professor,mechanical andaerospace engineer-ing, was previouslywith the Universityof Florida. Mittalreceived his Ph.D.at the University ofIllinois, and completed a post-doctoral fellowshipat the Center for Turbulence Research at Stanford.His research interests are varied and include com-putational fluid dynamics and modeling, andcharacteristics of microfluids.

Dr. Sead Muftic,professor, computerscience, will serveas director ofresearch for theCyberspace Institute(CPI). Muftic hashad a varied careerin academia andindustry with spe-cial expertise in computer security. He is founderand CEO of SETECS Corporation and has taught at a number of universities, including StockholmUniversity, the Royal University of Technology, andthe University of Sarajevo. He earned his Ph.D. atthe Ohio State University. He previously served asa visiting professor at SEAS, teaching courses inNetworks and E-commerce Security before hisrecent appointment at CPI.

Dr. Sameh Badie

Dr. Rajat Mittal

Dr. Sead Muftic

Dr. Tarek El-Ghazawi

Dr. Marvine P. Hamner

10 Winter 2001

E S S E N T I A L SD O N O RClara L. Cannistra, to memorialize husband Stephen

T H E G I F TFunds to name “The Excellence in EngineeringClassroom,” in memory of Stephen A. Cannistra

K E Y W O R D SRespect, devotion, lasting legacy

Q U O T E“Engineers are indispensable to society.”

Gifts for the New CenturyC L A R A L . C A N N I S T R A

he School of Engineering and Applied Science is fastapproaching its ambitious goal in the University-wideCenturies Campaign. TheUniversity hopes to reach itsgoal of $500 million by 2003:

SEAS is committed to raising $20 million by that time. With more than $16 millionraised — 81 percent of its goal — theschool’s first major development effort isexceeding expectations. Since the cam-paign began in 1996, donors have estab-lished 26 endowed scholarships; 30 gifts tostudent projects, classroom, and curriculumenhancements; and 11 gifts of software,hardware, laboratory equipment, and bricksand mortar projects. The majority of dona-tions have come from the individual gifts ofalumni and friends. Corporate in-kind gifts,estate gifts and outright donations frombusinesses complete the mix of donations to the campaign.

This issue of Synergy profiles one of the campaign’s many donors, Clara L.Cannistra — philanthropist and generousfriend of SEAS.

T

The Centuries Campaign

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After a short stint back home in Pittsburgh, theCannistras traveled back to Birmingham whereStephen had accepted a position with the IngallsIron Works — traveling the country designingbridges and highways during the boom years of theearly 1950s.

But like many young couples of the time, theCannistras soon headed toward the nation’s capitaland public service. On the horizon lay Camelotand the charismatic era of the Kennedys. It was anexciting time of growth in Washington, and in 1959Stephen began a 35-year, illustrious career with theFederal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Stephen was ambitious with a keen facility forlearning — a Renaissance man with wide inter-ests. While hard at work at the FAA, he took grad-uate courses at GW’s School of Engineering andApplied Science, an experience he credited withaccelerating an already meteoric career. In morethan five decades as an engineer, Stephen amassedmany honors. By the time he retired in 1993, hehad earned a reputation as one of the nation’s

When Stephen A. Cannistra crossed theMason Dixon line he was headingstraight toward his destiny. In 1950 the

Pittsburgh native, raised and educated in the north,moved south for a professional opportunity withthe Koppers Company in Birmingham, Alabama— the very heart of Dixie. But instead of a clash of cultures, Cannistra found his future — and thestart of a new life.

Fresh out of the army, where Captain Cannistraserved in the corps of engineers, he came home toPittsburgh. But he soon found himself on his waysouth. It was there that he would find a new pro-fessional challenge. Most important, it was inAlabama that Cannistra would discover his heart.

Clara, a southern belle, both beautiful andbright, worked for a firm that supplied material toKoppers. Stephen and Clara met on the telephone,in conversations filled with order numbers anddelivery schedules that never hinted at what layahead. But when they both attended a dance sometime later, romance blossomed and marriage soonfollowed in 1954.

“Most engineers goquietly about theirwork making our lives significantlybetter, yet fewreceive recognitionand fewer still toottheir own horns.”

Dean Timothy Tong with donor Clara L. Cannistra, who is memorializing her husbandStephen with a gift to SEAS.

preeminent structural engineers in civil aviation,and as a man of integrity, courage, and intelligence.

Sadly, Stephen Cannistra died two and one-halfyears ago. But Clara is keeping his memory alivewith a generous gift to SEAS, which honors herhusband’s love for learning and Clara’s respect forhis chosen profession.

“Most engineers go quietly about their workmaking our lives significantly better,” says Clara,“yet few receive recognition and fewer still toottheir own horns. But engineers are very talentedpeople who make important contributions everyday. And GW seemed like a natural fit for me —a local university with an excellent school of engi-neering,” she adds. Her generous gift will helpaspiring engineers pursue their dreams.

“Giving is part of the American way of life,”explains Clara, matter-of-factly. “When you giveanything away you lose nothing. It returns to youtwo-fold — in feelings of gratitude and ofaccomplishment.”

S

12 Winter 2001

B E N E F A C T O R S O F S E A SSEAS is happy to acknowledge and thank benefactors to the Centuries Campaign who made a gift to the School between July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2001. They include businesses, foundations,alumni, friends (non-graduates), faculty, staff of SEAS, and individuals who have rememberedSEAS in their Wills. Their gifts total nearly $2.8 million, and include pledges, payments on previouspledges, gifts in kind (equipment), outright gifts of cash, and estate gifts.

Gifts of $100,000 and moreAOL, Inc.CASDE CorporationAnonymousFrederick H. KohlossMargaret G. KohlossThe Estate of Byron Butler MizellOracle Service IndustriesPaperStreetMediaTrident Data SystemsThe Raymond John Wean

Foundation

Gifts of $10,000 to $99,999Adapco, LtdARCS Foundation, Inc.M. Mintu BachannGary BardJudy BardWalter J. BurmeisterClara L. CannistraJon Bruce HalpernBetty HekimianNorris C. HekimianMark V. Hughes, IIIJet Propulsion LabMary O’Brien JonesThe Estate of James A. KelleyLivermore Software Technology

CorporationJacqueline Z. MorrisRobert L. MorrisMSX International Adteam DivisionNational Academy of SciencesNortelNicholas G. PaleologosRobert Bosch CorporationScience Applications International

CorporationSun Microsystems, Inc.Telogy NetworksTimothy W. Tong +Union Switch & SignalVirginia’s Center for Innovative

Technology

Walcoff & AssociatesDavid I-Jaw Wang

Gifts of$1,000 to $9,999Bernard B. ChewCynthia P. DanielsRichard G. DanielsAna Cristina DebevoiseDell Computer CorporationDean S. Edmonds FoundationMartin A. Elf *Emilio A. Fernandez, Jr.Jeffrey C. HantganElahe HessamfarHoneywell FoundationEdward S. KeenShaun KimThe Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer

FoundationWilliam Baldwin Levin, Jr.Patrick J. MartinBeverly MohlNicolet Vascular, Inc.Humberto A. OliveroPhillips Petroleum Foundation, Inc.Spencer S. PrentissRosenthal CompaniesFrank L. SalizzoniDolores S. SmithGilmore T. SpiveyOrville Standifer, Jr.StorageTek FoundationCharles Kenneth WattWilliam Wrigley Jr. Company

Foundation

Gifts of$100 to $999Ronald Craig AasenHaregewoin AbaySusan Lynn AbbottRobert B. AbelAccenture Foundation, Inc.Bennet R. AckermanJeanne V. AckermanAnn Halstead Adams

Kostas G. AlexakisFaiz A. Al-KhayyalThomas K. AllenJames AllerBP Amoco Foundation, Inc.Davinder K. AnandForrest W. Andrews, Jr.Adrienne N. ArmstrongDavid R. ArmstrongIbrahim A. AshieWilliam M. AskinsAT&T FoundationRoland D. AugustMarshall Jacob AzraelGlen H. BalloweJonathan F. BardLawrence P. BariscianoKenneth Dale BarkerWylie W. Barrow, Jr.John D. BauersfeldC. Edwin BecraftJohn S. BeersWade Douglas BelcherNorman B. BeleckiVernon E. BenjaminDavid W. BergRichard L. BernardHoward Leonard BernsteinKeith Sherman BestJohn H. BickfordHerbert D. Black, Jr.James F. BloseDonald L. BlountGaret A. BornsteinJames Robert BoundsDavid M. BovetRobert K. BoydJ. Michael BrameTaft H. Broome, Jr.Craig E. BrownThomas Michael BuchananScott Eric BumgarnerCadence Design Systems, Inc.Francesco A. CalabreseJorge Javier CalvoPatricia Balduman CalvoMark S. Castellani

Francis M. Cevasco, Jr.David Mark ChadwickHai-Feng ChangMeena Alagu ChelliahHung-Kuei ChenSean Patrick CoakleyTerry Leo CollinsCompaq Computer CorporationRobert Harry ComptonGerald K. CorneliusLoretta CorneliusJoseph John CranePhilip J. CrossfieldWilliam C. Curtis, Jr.Mark Warren CutlipWilliam A. DanielWilliam Reid DarrowKevin B. DeasyNeilson T. Debevoise, Jr.Eugene Bernard DecShejal Vipin DesaiJon L. DesmondSidney O. DewberryThomas P. Dillon, Jr.Donald B. DingerArthur S. DistlerJohn E. DodgeAndrea Trulson DolphLawrence E. EarlDonald L. EddinsJohnson Aimie EdosomwanEdward EgloffTimothy John EhrsamGreg C. EichertHoward Eisner +Energen CorporationJoseph Orvis ErbWilliam B. EsserJohn Richard EthertonWoodrow W. Everett, Jr.Exxon Mobil FoundationExxonMobil CorporationPastor FarinasJerome P. FeldmanChristian Michael FernholzCharles W. Field, Jr.Wayne J. Fischer

James Anthony FisherJohn Alton Fitch, IIIHoward W. FliegerCharles A. Fowler, IIILawrence D. Freeman *Michele Karyn FriedmanN. Richard FriedmanCarolyn Jane FritzDennis G. GallinoWilliam Francis GarrahanWilbur R. Garrett, Jr.Frederick J. GauvreauWilliam Victor GaymonGeneral Dynamics CorporationGeneral Motors Foundation, Inc.General Public Utilities CorporationFrederick George GluckCharles A. GoodLynda J. GordonRichard D. GordonRebecca Dorothy GrasserGTE FoundationJames F. Hahn, Jr. Harry A. HamiltonJohn B. HandyMelvin R. HansenMark Lamon HansonDale D. HapemanDwight F. HastingsRobert C. HavenRobert E. HayesEdward Anthony HeckAran HegartyJohn Hanson HeidemaStephen Allan HerrleinJorge HidalgoJuan Francisco HidalgoDorothy D. HodgesMalcolm F. HodgesCraig A. HolbergerRichard H. HollingsworthJohn B. HolmbladTin Ki Chan Tin Powe HooEdmund C. Hughes

Deceased * Professors, faculty or staff+

13Synergy

Van Trune HulammCheryl S. JobeJohnson & Johnson Family of

CompaniesPaul B. JohnsonThomas W. JohnsonKonstantinos KarayianisPatricia Mary KeeganEdward Francis KellerCharles A. KenglaJames J. KisenwetherJohn Arthur KlaymanJohn Herbert KloteSasha R.P. KoffVictor S. KoreaWilliam E. KotwasKarl Hermann KruegerFee Woo LeeRonald Joseph LepkowskiAlexander LevinDelbert F. LewisRobert Henry LightseyJohn C. LinzLockheed Martin Corporation

FoundationWilliam C. LohnesOmer M. LongHenry J. LorenzettiRobert J. Lynch Jr.Robert Howard LyonEdward M. MacCutcheonJean L. MacCutcheonDouglas E. MacDonaldEdward W. MacLaren, Jr.Margaret D. MacLarenJames Bernard MahoneyHelen S. ManningJohn R. ManningJoseph Peter Manzo, Jr.Thomas George MartinCarlos E. MartinezJoseph Robert MartiniGeorge MasiukGeorge M. Mathews, IIIRuth MazurekJames Franklin McArthurRobert D. McCalleyPaul J. McCeneyMichael F. McGrathWilliam R. McWhirter, Jr.Eric S. MendelsohnJoseph Richard MilettaMark R. MillerPeter R. MillerEdward F. Mitchell, Jr.Reginald S. MitchellCharles T. MontgomeryMarcia Anne MontgomeryFranklin C. MooreMalcolm R. Moore

Robert M. MooreMorrison & Foerster, LLPSteven Willard MoserThomas Frederick MosherFrank MoyThomas Edward NadolnyMark Louis NagelNCR CorporationVishnu Waman NerurkarJane D. NewellJohn Bernard NienstedtAlok C. NigamMalcolm Edward O’HaganDavid Kenneth OwensJames R. OwensMichael T. PayneRobert L. PeganJeffrey Gregg PeifferBarry G. PiferMichael Gene PolakCharles Edward PolingerAndrew Gregory PonceGeneva Phillips PopeJohn David PopeThe Prudential FoundationRobert E. Pulfrey, Jr.Albert R. PurchaseQwest CommunicationsInternational, Inc.William D. RandolphM. Christine ReillyRichard C. ReynoldsDebra Hoke RichardsonRobert Townsend RichardsonIlia I. RiosLincoln E. RobertsMitchell Seth RobinsonGeorge J. Rogers *Wilfred A. RohdeAlma M. RohlfsBernice Dora RothsteinPhilip Jennings RushRobert L. RushJoseph E. RussHarry B. RutemillerLawrence A. SamesAntonio Aguilar SanchezDebra Price SarvelaJack A. SchaefferMichael SchildcroutDouglas G. SchinkeArthur H. SchneymanBernard S. SchuchnerAnthony Joseph ScovazzoThomas Hugh SeymourRichard J. ShimkoHowell B. SimmonsJoseph Hugh SinnottKenneth W. SmithArthur Lee Smookler

Richard Martin SolandRalph E. SpencerJohn Anastas SporidisRaymond J. StanekenasDonald P. SteinBarbara S. SundayJames Bryon SweckerCynthia Rose Gautier SwimJasper A. Swim, IIPeter SypherRobert John TarczaVytas A. TarulisJames A. TegneliaRichard E. Tennent, Jr.Ivan Victor ThraneKwok Foo TomSteven David TompkinsTRW FoundationHarry J. Tucker, Jr.Charles Franklin TurnerRobert Michael TurnerTimothy Edward UdiciousPeter Joseph UnanueLeonard Adolphus Van LoweRobert H. Van SicklerRonald C. VansickleLeonard W. Varner, IIIMarguerite L. VarnerLouis P. WagmanMelvyn T. WahlbergTimothy Allan Waire, Jr.Andrew M. WalkerSean P. WalshIvan W. WashburnRobert C. Waters +Cleveland F. WatkinsDonald B. WeaverDonald A. Weiss *Lin WengPatricia Ann WennerJohn H. WhitneyHorace A.F. WhitworthCarl E. WickFrank E. Williams, Jr.Roger M. WilliamsClifton R. WilliamsonGretchen Elizabeth WilmouthJeffrey P. WinbourneFrank WongLily Lieu WongPu-Chiang WuJohn S. Zavadil

Gifts of$1 to $99Nana Apreh AckahCharles N. AdkinsGhazi Luaibi Al-kinaniWilliam H. AlkireAllan Howard Anderson

Christine Gauch AndersonCoe M. Anderson, Sr.Robert A. AndersonRobert A. Anderson, Sr.Stephen Bruce AndrewsRaymond Kuoc-Leong AoAngela Y. ApintiloaieiCarolyn Bernard ArenaLawrence J. ArenaRobert L. ArmacostDonald William ArmisteadGilbert D. ArmourDaniel Felix ArnaudEugene L. AronneRobert Herman AronsteinCollins ArsemOmar Ezz-Eldin AtiaFrank Fisher AtwoodSerena Maria AunonKarl B. AvellarStaci H. BachmanAbdoulaye BahRichard J. BakaCharles A. BakerBaltimore Gas & Electric CompanySushil Kumar BalujaPickard F. BarghJ.E. BarnhillElizabeth N. BartonRichard E. Barton, Jr.Anthony S. BasileRobert C. Basinger, Jr.Earl J. BassRay Harrison BazilJohn Bloomfield BeachEric Jay BeckerMargaret Tierney BelingPeter Adam BelingArthur E. BellerSamuel Duval BennJ. Louis BergerBernard BernsteinMichael BeronCameron Craig BerryJames William BinckleyWilliam Lawrence Bird, Sr.Elmer H. BirdseyeAnne H. BlackstenH. Ric BlackstenJorge BlancoRonald H. BlizzardMichael Lee BlumenthalSteven E. BolltMichael F. BondyJohn Edward Boon, Jr.John R. BortzAmy M. BossongMounir Salah BoudjemaaDolores Maxine BoulandHeber D. Bouland

Harry J. Bracken, Jr.Leonard BraitmanMark David BraunsteinGeorge Edward BreenWilliam F. Brittle, Jr.David H. BrooksMary Sue BrooksAlexander C. Brown, Jr.Laurence R. BrownMargaret Rushbrook BrownMerrill R. BrownAnn Warren BryanWilliam Littell BryanWayne H. BryantMarvin A. BudoffLeonard Jay BurdickRichard W. BurnsJohn Robert ButlerLaura J. ByrdCharles J. CamardaClifford B. CampbellDonald H. CampbellGeorge B. CampbellJames A. Carelock, Jr.Ronald L. CarlbergThurston Page CarletonArnold A. Carlson, Jr.Paul M. CarterFrances H. CartinThomas J. CartinArturo Y. CasanovaDudley M. CateGary Lawrence CauthenJohn Samuel CavalliniPeter Angelo CavalloGeorge R.C. CavellJoseph V. CesaitisPomsit ChakkaphakCharles E. Chambliss, IIIRobert F. ChandlerKien Cheng ChangDouglas M. ChapinHarvey R. Chaplin, Jr.Robert Manion ChapmanSteven B. ChaseMan-Ming ChengWarren Lynwood ChestnuttAlessandro ChiericiRose-Marie ChiericiDonald L. ChuEvan Yu-Ling ChuBo Hyung ChungArthur Brodie ClarkCraig J. ClarkDavid Webster ClarkDewey Lee Clemmons, Jr.Lewis C. Cohen

B E N E F A C T O R S O F S E A S

Deceased * Professors, faculty or staff+

14 Winter 2001

B E N E F A C T O R S O F S E A S

Ronald David ColangeloJoan Pamela ColemanDavid C. Colony, Jr.William Bernard Compton, IIIThomas Zane CooperRobert H. CorbittJames L. CorderJorge A. CortinaM. Joseph CostelloAndrew Gustav CottermanClair A. CraigBarrett Russell CraneBradford James CraneRobbin P. CraneCharles R. CrockettGeorge H. Cronin, IILois Blankenship CrumpKevin J. CummingsForrest C. CunninghamRobert A. CurtisRobert F. CustardJohn David CuthbertsonNorman CzajkowskiCurtis Howard DaltonDavid Lawrence DalyNolan K. DanchikCharles Osei DankwahAllen R. Davidson, Jr.Harold F. DavidsonJohn C. Davies, IIIRudolph M. Decatur, Jr.Joseph M. DelpinoRobert Louis DennigLarry A. DenyerJames L. DeprosperoLuis DescaireRichard DettmeringThomas Gilbert DewaldAlfredo DiazHarry A. DickersonLouis Joseph DiMentoThomas R. DobynsArthur B. Dodd, Jr.Alan S. DorenfeldMichael Oren DoronLeonard Vincent DorrianWilliam W. DorseyTrudy Connor DossGordon Barker DoveRobert J. DoyleRoger W. DoyonRomain Jean DuchezCarroll G. DudleyRichard P. DunbarAnthony F.D. DurhamAnthony DursoCesar Eduardo EderyGuy Henry EdwardsJerry L. EdwardsDennis Lee Egan

Richard L. Eilbert, Sr.Vicki Lynn EiseleEric Seth EislerMatthew Michael EkdahlEfremfon Frank EkpoRobert A. ElliottRolland Victor ElliottAmr Abdelhamid ElsawyJohn C. Elwood, Jr.Gholamreza EmamiPhilip Joseph EmmermanAllan B. Ensign *Robert H. ErlerEugene Erri EstintoDonald Gene EvansGeorge Henry EvansJohn Joseph FahertyMostafa Abdel-Hamid FahmyBehrooz FakhariJohn Sin-Wei FangKaveh FarboudCarl Burton FauseyJohn T. Fearnow, Jr.Michael G. Fekete, Jr.Martin A. FelkerJohn Michael FerriterLowell E. FinchCarol M. FineblumSolomon S. FineblumSteven A. FischerAriel Todio FisterJohn Richard FlanaganFred S. FlatowAudrey R. FliegerEarl C. FlowersEugene G. FlurieKenneth H. FolseV. Stuart Foote, Jr.Larry Elwood ForbesVan Patten Toll FosterHenry W. Franklin, Jr.Henry James Franks, Jr.Kara Morley FrechErnest R. FreemanJames T. FreemanJ. Luis FrenkInger Pincus FriedmanFrede F. Froehlich, Sr.David A. FrommerJack A. FrostWillie N. FullerJohn J. GabrielMichael J. GageMary B. GarnerJames Patrick Gary, Sr.Richard Bernard GeigerKenneth E. GeisingerAndrea Dale GelenterGE FundKenneth Foster Gerard, Jr.

David Paul GianettinoDennis M. GiblinDonald A. GiffhornSamuel P. Ginder, Jr.Jonathan Alvin GlosterPatricia Pope GlussThomas J. GolabReza GolamporDavid GolanEdward Alan GoldJerry G. GonickJulio GonzalezKristen Lucille GoochRobert Lawrence GoodmanJohn L. GoodwinDustin GravesRandoph A. Graves, Jr.James Richard GrecoMichael Lawrence GreenPaula Miller GreenJohn C. GrimbergFrederick J. GrozingerRobert Bruce GruppMatthew Phillip GrzechArnold E GuevaraMaliha Dayyeh HaddadRichard A. Haefs *Gregg Don HagedornPaul M. Haldeman, Jr.John William HaleDean Edward HallJohn T. HallHarriet W. HanlonRobert F. HanlonJames P. HansenJohn Henry Harrington, IIIAnn Elizabeth HarrisonHarvey R. HarrisonLloyd Rogers HarrisonDavid C. HauptEarnest Lyle Heatwole, Jr.Curtis Alan HeckelmanJohn C. HeldJames Douglas HendersonRobert James HendriksGary Edward HendrzakDeborah Ture HenryClarice F. HensRussell James HensFrancis L. HermachLee P. HerndonHerbert G. Herrmann, IIINorman J. HessWilliam James HillRobert L. HinebaughStephen H. HinesJoyce Ann HiresI. Jerry HlassDavid Lawrence HobsonPeter Hoch

Henry Jameson HolcombeJohn H. HolmesRosalind Lee HomWai L. HomWilliam David HomickEverson Jackson HottelMichael John HoulihanLawrence David HuebnerJames H. HughenPaul Kendrick Hughes, IIJoseph George HugoPeter S. HuiJames P. Hum, Jr.John A. HunterJohn Henry Hurd, Jr.Jerean Camunez HutchinsonWynne S. HyattEve Thornberg IgnatiusHideo IharaRuth IharaLuigi IoriNeal H. IshmanZora IskenderianCharles E. Jackson, Jr.Leon Frederick JacksonDouglas Armstrong JamiesonRobert M. JimesonJames D. JogerstMatthew Ernst JohnsonRobert B. JohnsonHarry New JonesMaris JubertsHenry David KahnJerry KaminetzkyLawrence J. Kastner, Jr.Robert M. KautzHoward Eric KeaKevin C. KeatingOrron E. KeeWarren E. KeeneAlan Gilbert KellerJune E. KellerRobert J. KeltieRobert E. KemelhorWilliam J. KenisLinda June KennedyEvelyn S. Kerper *Matthew J. KerperWendell L. KeyesSimon H. KfouryLudie M. KiddYong Sung KimJohn J. KinlochGerald E. KisselJohn Peter Kissinger, Jr.Burton R. KleinVincent Allen KlineJohn R. KlingWilliam Robert KlockoSuzanne Marie Knight

James Joseph KnitisEdward M. KocharianRichard Gerard KocinskiPhilip Crowell KoenigMatthew F. KoffWilliam L. KonickThomas Charles KorchArthur E. KoskiIrma R. KoskiDavid Alan KoteckiDonald Joseph KoverWilliam E. KozakKatherine McCarthy KraenzleRobert KramerRichard A. KrasneyJeffrey Lawrence KrichmarTrina N. KrichmarCraig Miller KuhneRichard L. KujawaHak J. KwonAndrew Robert LacherElizabeth Smith LacherNicholas Theodore LagenLeonel LaguardaChristine LangeRobert George LangeBilly R. LanierRobert Henry LaningCharles Richard LaskoAlbert K. LeeDavid LeeHyok LeeKathryn Owen LeedyThomas Force LeedyHoward Louis LeikinJoseph Robert Lentini, IIIJohn A. LeReche, Sr.Thomas W. LesniakowskiRobert Scott LeszczynskiAlan M. LetowFrank John LevandoskiAbraham LeventhalS.S. LevineMarshall A. LevitanHarry Lawson LightTian Siu LimGee C. LinJames G. LinWilliam A. LintnerEdward G. Lippitt, Jr.William F. ListCynthia J. LittleDavid T. LokersonDonald C. LokersonFrancis John LowePaul Michael LowellHenry Eugene Lubean

Deceased * Professors, faculty or staff+

15Synergy

Lorin Michael LundBrian Ban LuuCornelia Conrad LynnDana C. LynnKenneth E. LyonsWilliam John MacCormackJason Gary MaderJohn C. MagnusonWinston W. MahSam S. MahatanRobert L. MalinowskiKalisankar MallikJan Anthony ManningPhilip John MansourSandy J. MarenbergDonald L. MargoliesRonald Clifford MarlandVictor D. MaroneJames L. MartinChristos L. MaskalerisEva Chris H. MaskalerisRonald Kenneth MassaroJohn Cannon Matheson, Jr.Floyd F. Mathews, Jr.Arlon S. MatsunagaJohn S. MatusikMarco A. MayorElizabeth H. May-SalazarJohn Patrick MazzJames W. McAllisterCarl P. McCallDonald W. McChesneyRobert C. McClenonCharles R. McClintonRichard D. McConnellMcCormick & Company, Inc.Stewart W. McCormickGerald M. McDonaldJames Robert McGillicuddyPatricia S. McGovernWilliam F. McGovernGerald T. McKindlesTurner S. McLaurinJames L. McVoyNader MehravariRobert J. MelvinGabino W. MendozaJanice M. MenkerHerbert MeyersonStephen Paul MiceliHaaren Albert MiklofskyFred MintzDouglas N. MittenCarl R. MocklerJohn Hannes MoffettJulia MogaveroLouis N. Mogavero *Michael Edward MonacoJohn A. MorenoJames S. Moretz

William M. MorrisJames N. MossMotorola FoundationJohn E. MoyeEllen Elaine MoyerDaniel R. MulvilleKevin Martin MurrayPaul Richard MusseyCharles Robert NaegeliShahram NakhostinMichael Chester NatrellaJames C. NeelyStephen K. NeelyEdward D. NewellChau Thuong NguyenLuong Van NguyenWesley G. NicholsRichard S. NickellRobert E. NiederstrasserJose Manuel NievesBernard Aloysius NolanRichard David NormanMohammad Ali M. NourbakhshThomas Joseph O’ConnorHarlan J. OelkeMartha S. OngPhilip Yoon-Lim OngJohn J. OnufrakAndrew E. OrebaughMary Ellen OrsinoW. Thomas PackardWilliam Gosnell Paine, Jr.Richard E. ParkYong Chin ParkSusan Caroline PartykaThomas Arthur PearsonPEC Solution Inc.Kimberley Kane PellegriniWilliam A. PercivalRonald Eugene PerisonAlfonso PetrobonoJohn C. PfeiferMaritza G. PiedrahitaMaurice William PittBrenda A. PlattGeorge Brand PleatAbraham S. PollackMichael Kamano PontonRaymond S. PotterStephen Roy PrattBarry Lee PriceIhor Myroslav ProcinskyJohn Henry Pruden, IIIWilliam S. PruschLawrence Robert PryluckAndre Alois PuginKenneth PutkovichGeorge W. PynnRonald K. QuesenberryRemedios A. Quiroz

Ivatury Sanyasi RajuAnne Hawkins RamseyHarold Kalman RappoportCordell S. RatnerCarl Glenn RayRaytheon CompanyWilliam L. Reed, Jr.Paul Anthony RegeonWilliam Dennis ReidEliahoo M. ReubenArlene V. ReynoldsRobert W. RhodesSteven Duane RichJames C. RichardsAlfred W. RichmondKarl Joseph RickertMark Thomas RickertVincent William RiderMaurice E. RingenbachVincent Carmen RittsJohn W. Roberts, Jr.Carmen Palomera RockwellPeter Gordon RockwellEdward C. RodgersCharles C. Rogers, Jr.Lillian H. RohrerMichael W. RohrerWilliam Rudolph RorerSamuel B. RothbergMark Alan RothenbergDennis William RoweBeverly C. RudmanRichard S. RudmanGregory Alan RussellWilliam D. Rust, Jr.Thomas R. RutherfordKenneth W. RutlandWilliam Edgar SalazarBernice Ellen SamuelsLeo Darrell SanfordSidharth SankarSteven Frank SchillerMartin S. SchletterPaul E. SchmidGraham R. SchofieldJack H. Schofield *Bernard C. SchulerErich J. SchulzChristian SchumacherMichael Howard SchwartzJohn Deal Scott, Jr.Jakob Williams SeeligAlfred L. SeivoldAdlai Stephen ShawarebTimothy David ShecklerVictoria Farinas ShecklerLogan Clay ShelmanFrancis W. ShepherdMargaret Elizabeth ShoultsLinda Jean Sibert

Leon H. SibulG. Wayne SingleyJames A. SinsabaughAnthony D. SkufcaAnn Cynthia SmithNina Duncanson SmithRosanne C. Anderson SmithArnold L. Snyder, Jr.Andrew Kiyung SohnBojana SosicBruno Lawrence SovaDonald William SoykaNed A. SpencerDon M. SpillmanKaren S. SpindelRonald SpitalneyDharapuram Narasingarao SrinathDianne Carol St. JeanGeorge Mathew StarkenJerome H. SteffelChristopher L. SteffensEdwin O. StengardM. R. StogsdillFrank William StrasburgerAubrey J. StringerAlfred Stroh, Jr.Gregory Freeman SullivanKenneth F. SullivanMaureen R. SuppleMelvin Webb SutphinStephen J. SuttonRoger Larry SwansonMelvin Ernest SwordRichard C. SzymanskiLloyd Huong TangSteven Chhor TangBeverley E. TaylorHarry William TaylorJames Albert TaylorJames Scott TaylorAnita C. TeraudsJohn J. TeraudsRoy L. TerwilligerPaul R. TeterMalcolm Vincent Thaden, Jr.Edgar A. ThibaultGerald L. ThomasGeorge Richard ThompsonChandrashekhar M. TipnisHung Duong TranToan Quoc TranElizabeth H. TrivelyMartin C. TrivelyPatrick Francis TruittT.J. TsaiSteven TsakosWilliam M. TuckerFrances T. AckleyUnited Technologies CorporationDouglas B. Uthus

Ado ValgeDennis Peter Van DerlaskeMary Lou Hunn Van DerlaskeHoward J. Vandersluis, Jr.Stanley J. VestPhilip Robert ViarsJonathan Lorenzo G. VillanosVirginia Electric & Power CompanyPhilip VitaleOscar von BredowCharles M. WaespyCharles E. WaldenEdward F. Walker, Jr.Robert Lawrence WalkerMichael Ambrose WallaceDonald J. Waltman, Jr.Kuo-Ping WangTiffani Renee WarrenPhillip L. WatkinsDaria Darden WebbMartin Herman WeikClaude M. WeilJerry WeintraubRaymond Howard Weir, Jr.Peter WeissWallace H. WeissClarence Harry WeissensteinUlysses WeldonRichard H. WellesBradley Steven WelliverRaymond Douglas WhippleDonald Gene WhiteHarry D. White, Jr.Kyle Everette WhiteMelvin S. WhittDerek Arnold WidmayerJohn B. WilliamsFrank G. WilsonRobert A. WisePeter Walker WitherellMichael Joseph WojcikAugust Richard WolzRonald F. WonischJosef Arnold WonseverBarry Edward WoodFranklin WoodEdward Hennen WrightSheila S. XuAli YazdiLee D. YelshinYan-Ching YihKenneth O. YoungAlan Joseph Zampella

Deceased * Professors, faculty or staff+

B E N E F A C T O R S O F S E A S

his past fall, Dean Timothy Tong and four alumni of the School of Engineering andApplied Science met to discuss the transformation of the engineering field. Representing far-ranging experiences, each offered a unique perspective on the past, present andfuture of their shared profession. Here are excerpts from their conversation.T

A C O N V E R S A T I O N w i t hF O U R G E N E R A T I O N S o f E N G I N E E R S

T H E P A N E LJohn R. Manning, Esq., BS, engineering 1957; JD 1961, is a retired division director for the National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration, and is today an attorney and intellectual property consultant.

Issa Khozeimeh, B.S.E.E. 1966; M.S.E.E.1973; D.Eng 1984,electrical engineering; D.Sc 1993, engineering management, is Manager,Utilities Services at Washington Dulles International Airport and teachesat area universities, including SEAS.

Past, Present, Prospective

Pictured left to right Fariba Nazemi, Issa Khozeimeh, Linda Nichols, and John Manning — four generations of SEAS alumni.

16 Winter 2001

Linda Jones Nichols, D.Sc 1996, operations research;MS 1984, operations research, is a lead analyst for Mitretek System’sCenter for Information Systems.

Fariba Nazemi, BS 1981, electrical engineering; MS 1983,engineering management; applied scientist, systems engineering management, 2001, is a senior systems engineer manager for TEAM(Technology Automation and Management Corporation).

Tong: Welcome. Thanks so much for beingwith us today. This will be a brainstorming ses-sion — we will take a look at the past and aheadat the future. First, let’s take a look back. Whatdo you think is the single most important engi-neering innovation of the last 50 years?

Khozeimeh: The PC — and our abilityto have personal access to technology that onceoccupied an entire room, and now sits in thepalms of our hands.

Nazemi: Absolutely, the personal computerhas revolutionized our lives. When I attendedschool at GW as an undergraduate in the late1970s, the only way to have access to a computerwas in the middle of the night and with a keypunch card. There were long lines and longerwaits to use the computer. But beyond the com-puter, I have to say that the Internet is the realtechnology equalizer. It provides access to infor-mation that was once only available throughhours of tedious research in a library.

Tong: The Internet has dramatically alteredthe way you do your job — the way you accessinformation.

Nichols: Even further, the Internethas had a critical, positive impact on theeconomy. And it’s created a more intelligentpublic aware of engineering innovationsbecause every day we utilize this sophisti-cated technology — kids, adults, all of us.

Manning: I agree that electronicshave revolutionized our lives. But I’d nameanother invention as the most life-alteringof the last half-century — the transistor.Without the transistor, we would have noneof today’s electronic equipment. I wasactive in the early days of the developmentof the transistor and its patent application.Still, I don’t think we can ignore otherinnovations such as chemical advances andnew materials, which have dramaticallyaffected our lives.

Khozeimeh: It all leads back toelectrical devices. Without those no othertechnology would have emerged.

Manning: Linda mentioned eco-nomics earlier. That is really the linchpin forit all. It drives invention, public desire andneed for products and people’s ability to payfor these products. And the source of prod-uct innovation is always consumer need.Someone somewhere asks, “Why don’t weput a handle on that cup to reduce the heattransferred to our hands. And then the mugis created and the public clamors to buy.

Tong: When the economy is strong, itfuels innovation. Or does development con-tinue despite a slowdown in consumer con-fidence?

Nichols: Basic development is ongoing.Engineers somewhere are creating new and betterways to do most everything — it simply movesmore slowly to the marketplace when the economyis weaker.

“I’d name anotherinvention as themost life-altering of thelast half-century— the transistor.”

— John Manning

Synergy 17

18 Winter 2001

Tong: What about the engineeringeducational experience — how do youthink that has changed?

Manning: I have heard engineerswho were educated in the 1930s and 1940ssay that the education they received wastantamount to what electricians receivetoday. The availability of information andaccess to virtually endless informationresources raise the level of what it takes to be successful.

Khozeimeh: Yes, that is the mostdramatic difference. I can recall sitting for hours in the library taking notes on 3”by 5” cards. Now you can sit at home in a comfortable chair and the world isaccessible to you — even four and five-yearolds are savvy about gathering information!

Nazemi: Also, there’s the fact that educationis packaged in a way to be convenient. That is atremendous benefit, as well. Teleconferencing,multiple locations, video — all of it brings you whatyou want, where you want it, when you want it.

Nichols: Add online courses to that list. I teach an online statistics course. And while it’s a challenge, being able to work one-on-one withstudents is a fantastic advantage I didn’t have as a student.

Tong: This gives students real access toinstructors. Is there a downside to it?

Nichols: There is now a milieu of instanta-neous responses that has been created by theInternet — in the classroom, the office, even in our personal lives. It forces you to keep linesof communications open.

Nazemi: Yes, we may be too preoccupiedwith instant response and instant information.Real communications may suffer, I’m afraid.

Tong: Linda, you said earlier that people havea better understanding about engineering. But, doyou think the public has misconceptions about theprofession?

Khozeimeh: Yes. But we can change that.We have to start in middle school to expose stu-dents to engineering. There are programs for kidsas young as ninth grade that encourage an interestin science and engineering. I’ve judged studentprojects and some of them have been amazing.Mentoring students is the best way to market thefield.

Nichols: I don’t think people know whatengineers do. Issa is right — we have to reachstudents early.

Khozeimeh: I think confusion comes fromthe term engineer. It is used in so many contexts,from locomotive drivers to building maintenancesupervisors. No wonder the public is confused.

“...you can sit at home in a comfortable chairand the worldis accessibleto you — even four and five-yearolds are savvyabout gatheringinformation!”

— Issa Khozeimeh

“...we will see enormous leaps in the medicalapplicationof engineering — especially in genetic engineering...”

— Linda Nichols

19Synergy

Tong: If we’re successful in marketing engi-neering to students, what would you tell themabout it as a career choice?

Nichols: I’d tell them that the true advan-tage of engineering is its versatility. If you have a strong foundation in almost any field, you cantranslate it into engineering. I came from liberalarts as an applied math major. I really liked thefact that my classmates came from so many back-grounds. That’s impressive.

Nazemi: Engineering is a creative field — I think the public overlooks that. The sky is thelimit in engineering — there are all kinds of possibilities.

Tong: What innovations do you think this newgeneration of engineers will develop?

Nichols: I think we will see enormous leapsin the medical application of engineering — especially in genetic engineering, which is a bitfrightening.

Manning: Yes, medical technology is boom-ing — everything from capsule-sized camerasthat are swallowed to view the small bowel, toreadily available body parts made of phenomenalnew materials. This will revolutionize health care.

Tong: Telemedicine is already increasingaccess to health care, improving diagnosis andbringing more specialized care to more people. Ithink this is where much will happen in the nextseveral decades. Of course, there is a price to bepaid for this technology.

Khozeimeh: These things will be devel-oped as long as we are willing to pay for them.But I think transportation will be revolutionized— private citizens in space will be commonplace.

Nazemi: I see much change in the work-place — everything from robots to increasedtelecommuting. Most of us will be working fromour homes.

Khozeimeh: That may be true. But I amafraid that we will lose a great deal — all of thathuman contact “around the water cooler” thatsparks creativity and serendipitous invention.

Tong: It’s difficult not to talk aboutSeptember 11. What role will engineers playto create a safer nation?

Nazemi: There will be some ingen-ious security and surveillance advances thatwill result.

Khozeimeh: Structural engineersare already studying how to better protectour buildings.

Nazemi: That epitomizes the profes-sion, I think. We are in the business of ana-lyzing situations and finding solutions —it’s the essence of engineering and probablywhy each of us chose it for our careers.

“...analyzing situations and finding solutions —it’s theessence of engineering...”

—Fariba Nazemi

20 Winter 2001

It is ironic that in the beginning of ourcareers — when we need help to establishourselves —we overlook a vital resource:the Engineering Alumni Association (EAA).So many of us don’t take advantage of the

potential of this organization until later in ourprofessional lives, when we are well established.Yet it’s our newest graduates who can truly benefitfrom the potential career connections that analumni association can bring — it’s the ultimatenetworking opportunity for younger men andwomen engineers. These are also the people whocan bring vitality and energy to the association —new ideas and unique perspectives that will helpus become more relevant and more attractive toall SEAS graduates.

That’s why we are making a special effort toattract young alumni to the EAA. We have enlistedthe help of recent SEAS graduate KristyMcDonnell, BS, 1999, civil engineering, masters in engineering management, 2001. McDonnell is a member of the board of the EAA — one of just a few younger alumni in a leadership position. But both the Board and I want to remedy this generation gap.

McDonnell — who served for two years asSEAS Presidential Administrative Fellow — isworking with us to fashion a number of activitiesthat will meet the unique needs of younger alumni.

Alumni news

Bridging the Generation Gap

It begins with a social event to be held later thisyear in Washington — a good way to see oldfriends and meet new ones.

But other initiatives will provide more thanentertainment. The University-wide program thatmatches undergraduates with mentor alumni givesgraduates a chance to test their leadership, teach-ing, and management skills. SEAS has not been avery active partner in this program, but we believeyounger alumni would make ideal mentors. Their

“It’s our newestgraduates who can truly benefitfrom the poten-tial careerconnectionsthat an alumniassociation canbring.”

undergraduate experience is fresh and they are just now facing the challenges of beginning acareer, as well as balancing their professional andpersonal lives.

Plans are underway to repeat a successful networking panel held earlier this year in whichundergraduates had the opportunity to share theirresumes with young and older alumni representingregional businesses. Last year nearly 100 peopleparticipated in the event. We hope to expand thisprogram, which is planned for 2002 to coincidewith Career Week. We also hope more youngeralumni will get involved — it is an opportunity fornetworking, not just for students, but for graduatesas well. We want to encourage younger alumni toserve as judges for local high school science fairs inMarch 2002, and hope all alumni will tell us howthey are doing so that we can share it with readersof Synergy.

To learn more about any of these activities,please feel free to contact Jason Miller, EAA-AlumniHouse Coordinator, at jpmiller@alumni.gwu.edu,or call Jason at 202-994-3987 (1-800-ALUMNI-7).

Mike WhitleyBS, Mechanical Engineering, 1986President, Engineering Alumni Association

21Synergy

Sonia Al-Assar (nee Schmitt), BS,Engineering Management, 1995, was promotedto Senior Principal TCP/IP Architect with Cable& Wireless, where she designs wide-area net-works (WANs) for global enterprises. She wasmarried in December 2000 and is completingher dissertation in Marketing of Technology.

Darnell Bennett, BS, electrical engineering2000, recently received a National ScienceFoundation Fellowship, and is currently studyingfor a master’s in electrical engineering at SEAS.

Esayas Kebede, BS, electrical engineering,2001, was awarded a National ScienceFoundation Fellowship.

Michael Mansouri, MS, operationsresearch, 1977, is chairman and CEO of iPassInc., a data communications and informationsystems industry in Redwood Shores, California.He recently appeared on a special business feature aired on ABC News. Mansouri’s company has been selected by NetStar GroupAustralia to supply corporate access globalroaming services to its corporate customers in Australia.

Kristy McDonnell, BS, 1999, MS, 2001,was recently named an energy engineer forPACE Global Energy Services, in Fairfax,Virginia.

Douglas Sheppard, BS, 1989, ComputerEngineering, recently started a technical consulting firm in San Francisco, California(http://douglasandcompany.com).

Randy T. Sultzer, MEM, 1992, has joinedthe staff of the Director of Space Policy withinthe Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense,where he is responsible for developing, reviewing and coordinating U.S. national and defense space policies and positions.

Sergio Yanes, MS, 2001, engineering man-agement, was awarded a Fulbright BinationalBusiness Grant and is completing an internshipin Monterrey, Mexico for Cementos Mexicanosdoing business development for theirCxNetworks group. He is studying at theInsituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, where he is studying internationalbusiness and international management.

TRANSITIONS

This past spring, the EAA honored alumni for their distinguishedservice to the School of Engineering and Applied Science.Roma Malkani, who earned her Masters in electrical engi-

neering at SEAS and completed course work for a D.Sc. in computerscience, and Walter Burmeister, who received his MEA from SEAS,were recipients of the EAA Alumni Achievement Award. The honoreeswere recognized for their outstanding career accomplishments — aswell as their commitment to advancing the engineering profession.

Malkani is president of Information Systems and NetworksCorporation (ISN), a telecommunications and systems integration

firm she founded in 1980. By 1990, it was the largest woman-owned,federal government contractor. Today, ISN is the Washington area’slargest minority-owned business with work in both the governmentaland private sectors in 30 locations nationwide. Malkani was among the first members of the SEAS National Advisory Council and hasserved on the Northern Virginia GW campus advisory board.

Burmeister, a current member of the SEAS National AdvisoryCouncil, is president of World Access, an international telecommunica-tions company. He joined World Access after it merged with FacilComInternational (FCI), the company he founded in 1995. FCI was just one of a number of highly successful telecommunication businessesBurmeister has founded in more than 30 years in the industry. He has also served as chair of the SEAS National Advisory Council.

EAA Honors Its Own

Synergy welcomes your news. You may email updates for Transitions to Lee Williams atlwilliam@seas.gwu.edu; fax to 202.994.2684; or mail to GWU-SEAS, Tompkins Hall, Room 210, 725 23rd St., NW, Washington, DC 20052.

Roma Malkani

Walter Burmeister

Be a Judge for Future Engineers

The Engineering Alumni Association (EAA) Board of Directorshas participated in judging projects at annual high schoolscience fairs across the Washington metropolitan area for a

number of years. Participation as a judge is voluntary and open toall SEAS alumni. The fairs are generally held on Saturday morningsin the early spring, and most Washington-area fairs have recentlybeen held on the same weekend. The EAA coordinates SEAS alumniwho are willing to judge science fair projects as representatives of theUniversity. It invites alumni of any class year to join it in spring2002. You can help “show the flag” for GW and SEAS, give studentsinsight from practicing engineers, and see what and how currentstudents are studying. To register your interest, please emailseasalum@gwu.edu or call Jason Miller at Alumni House at (202) 994-3987.

Sign On

There are nearly 14,000 alumni of the School of Engineering and AppliedScience — just 10 percent of them are now registered with the School’s listserve — its email communications network.

Visit us online at www.gwu.edu/alumni/listserve/subscribe.cfm to registerand become part of this front-line information system. News, activities andcalls to action are blast emailed to all alumni who subscribe. Sign on andhelp build the list.

For more information about the EAA, contact: Jason Miller, EAA-Alumni House Coordinator jpmiller@alumni.gwu.edu/ phone: 202-994-3987 • 1-800-ALUMNI-7Visit the Website: www.alumni.gwu.edu

22 Winter 2001

Alumni newsUP & COMING

• February 17-23, 2002National Engineering Week

• March 1-2, 2002 National Advisory Council Meeting

• March 26, 2002Alumni Achievement Awards

• March 2002 EAA Networking Event for Alumni and Students

• April 12-13, 2002 Mid Altantic 2002 StudentConference Hosted by GW JAFS

• May 17, 2002SEAS Commencement

• May 18, 2002 Distinguished Alumni Awards

• October 10-13, 2002Alumni Weekend

IN MEMORIAM

• The School of Engineering and Applied Scienceis deeply saddened by the death of JohnSammartino, B.S, electrical engineering,1986. John was among those who lost theirlives in the terror attacks of September 11,2001. Before his death John was an engineerwith XonTech Inc. in Rosslyn, Virginia.

• SEAS is very sad to report the death ofDonald A. Weiss, a member of the National

Advisory Counciland alumnus of the class of 1958.At the time of hisdeath this pastspring, Don wasmanaging partnerfor AVM FinancialGroup in Chicago.

23Synergy

From theNational Advisory CouncilJ I M T E G N E L I A , M E A , 1 9 7 5

Iam happy to have this chance to speak to SEAS alumni and membersof the NAC — my gratitude to NAC President Gary Bard for inviting me to share my thoughts.

I’ve been a member of the Council for several years and today, I serve on its Industry Committee. The NAC membership represents

a wide spectrum of people who confer with the Dean on new directions inadvanced education. We helpto answer a crucial question:what capabilities should SEASgraduates possess to makethem attractive to prospectiveemployers and successfulengineers? The Council canhelp open doors of opportunityfor SEAS, as well. More thanever before in its history, it ishelping build mutually benefi-cial partnerships between theschool and industry.

This year as the VicePresident for DOD Programsof Sandia NationalLaboratories, I played host to Dean Tong and ProfessorsMazzuchi, Myers,Singpurwalla and Zaghloul. I was happy to reintroduce Tim Tong to the labwhere he worked some years ago and to discuss future collaboration betweenSandia and the school.

Sandia is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy and hasbeen involved in issues of the nation’s defense and energy infrastructure formore than 50 years. There are a number of areas of intersection between the

National AdvisoryCouncil MembersMichael Azizi, President,

Azitex Trading Corp.Mintu Bachann, Former CIO and COO,

EquidityGary Bard, Retired, CEO,

Aydin CorporationGurminder Bedi, VP,

North American Truck, Ford Motor Company

Walt Burmeister, President, World Access

Michael Caglarcan, Former CEO, Headlight.com

Chung-Lung Chang, President, Johnson Safety, Inc.

David H. Dastvar, VP, Dasc Corporation

Ray Everett-Church, Esq., Managing Member, PrivacyClue.com

Dr. Jim Goodrich, President, Goodrich Enterprises, Inc.

Randy Graves, D.Sc., Director, Eurotech, Ltd.

Jon Halpern, Former VP, Modernization, Millar Elevator Service Co.

Al Herskowitz, Retired, Sector VP, Global Affairs, SAIC

Elahe Hessamfar, Former Chief Technology Officer,Dun & Bradstreet

John Holmblad, Exec. VP, Diveo Broadband Networks, Inc.

Mark Hughes, Sector VP, and Deputy Manager, SAIC

Lou Hutchinson, CEO, Crunchy Technologies, Inc.

Pradman Kaul, President & CEO, Hughes Network Systems, Inc.

Shaun Kim, VP, Engineering, William Wrigley Jr. Co.

Jim Lafond, Managing Partner, Washington Area, PricewaterhouseCoopers

“...what capabilitiesshould graduatespossess to makethem attractiveto prospectiveemployersand successfulengineers?”

continued next page

24 Winter 2001

Bill Levin, Deputy Director, Instrumentation & Control Division, Naval Reactors

Michael Mansouri, Chairman & CEO, iPass, Inc.

Dr. Pat Martin, President & CEO, StorageTek

Fariba Nazemi, Sr. Systems EngineeringManager, TEAM

John O’Brien, VP, Technical Services,Storage Computer Corp.

Dr. Malcolm O’Hagan, President, National Electrical Manufacturers Association

Nick Paleologos, Partner & President, Miller & Long Concrete Construction Co.

Mikal Pedersen, President, Mika Systems, Inc.

Rich Reich, Senior VP & CIO, Lifeline Systems Inc.

Herbert Schantz, President, HFS Associates Intnl.

David Stefan, Former VP, Sales, Efficient Networks, Inc.

Murray Stein, Professor & EngineeringConsultant, CEE, SEAS/GW

Dr. Jim Tegnelia VP, DOD Programs, Sandia National Labs

Pete Velde, Esq., President, Richard W. Velde & Associates

David Wang, Chair, Paperloop.com; Retired, Exec. VP & Dir.,International Paper

Dr. Charles Watt, Chairman of the Board,Scientific Research Corp.

Don Weiss, Managing Partner,* AVM Financial Group

Shariar Zaimi, CEO, Engineering Design Group, Inc.

Kurt Zetzsche, President, Cascade Steel Rolling Mills, Inc.

*Deceased

National AdvisoryCouncil Members

Lab’s work and the school that may figure in a future partnership: micro-electronics and microsystems activities;modeling and simulation, includingrisk assessment; and analysis of agingaircraft. We touched on these and otherissues during Dr. Tong’s visit, and welook forward to further discussionsleading to cooperative research andeducation programs with SEAS.

Sandia is in the business of nationalsecurity — a field that is crucial intoday’s environment. It has a long his-tory of relationships with academia —each year we invite Deans from schoolsacross the country to visit and providesmall grants to universities, as well assponsor joint research activities. Weoffer internships to science and engi-neering students, understanding thatnothing is more meaningful thanhands-on experience in helping youngadults make critical career decisions.

That’s why the NAC is so importantto SEAS and its students — we canoffer access to the broad engineeringcommunity so students can sample thereal world of engineering while com-pleting their education. And we canhelp to develop relevant educationalexperiences that ultimately benefit theprofession as well.

I want to encourage other NACmembers and SEAS alumni to thinkabout how their businesses can play arole in developing a top-notch curricu-lum for SEAS students. I am sure youwill find the investment more thanworthwhile.

Top: Alison Alvarez, recipient of the Shelly andSteve Heller Prize for women in computer science, is congratulated by Gary Bard and Dean Tong, at the fall NAC meeting, which brought togetherdonors, alumni and students.

Middle: Gathered at the recent NAC meeting areCouncil members who have given generously to the SEAS Century Campaign: (seated left to right)David Wang, Jon Halpern, Murray Stein and BillLevin; and (standing left to right) Mintu Bachann,Gary Bard, Dean Tim Tong, Randy Graves, JohnHolmblad and Mark Hughes.

Bottom: Gary Bard and Dean Tim Tong congratulateSEAS 2001 graduate Nathan Campeau, Dean’sFellow and Class of 2001 most honored graduate.

continuedNational Advisory Council

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