Summer 2011 The Nebraska Engineer

Transcription

July 2011
WESTERN
NORTHEASTERN
MIDSTATE
The
Nebraska
Engineer
EASTERN
SOUTHEAST
Nebraska Society of Professional Engineers – A state society of the National Society of Professional Engineers
Volume 37 No. 4
Sports Engineering and Cycling Aerodynamics
By Kim B. Blair, Ph.D.
Sports Engineering
I am a Sports Engineer, a field of engineering that, while relatively focused within a
single industry, is exceptionally broad in
the technical disciplines included, as well
as the types of careers and projects that
an engineer may encounter even over the
period of a single year. Thus, I begin my
contribution with an overview of the Sports
Engineering field followed by a specific
case study example of an application of
sports engineering, that of aerodynamics
and cycling.
Kim B. Blair, Ph.D., Vice President and Director of
Sports Engineering at Cooper Perkins, Inc., Director of
the Sports Engineering Program at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), and President of the
International Sports Engineering Association (ISEA)
Until relatively recently, engineering, technology and sports were rarely topics of
the same discussion. While over the years
there were numerous instances where
technology had a game-changing impact
in the outcome of a sports event, today,
nearly every sport and sporting event
has discussions of how engineering and
technology has had an effect on
the sport. Today, nearly every
aspect of a sport is engineered,
including the sports equipment,
the sports arena or playing
surfaces, and the apparel,
footwear and protective gear
being used by the athlete. And
this is true not only at the top
college and professional level of
sports, but all the way through
to youth sports.
The International Sports Engineering Association is well into
its second decade of existence.
During the early years, the field
of sports engineering worked hard to
define itself as a recognized academic discipline as well as professional field in the
sports industry. Today, the field is largely
recognized as a distinct discipline of engineering as evidenced by annual international conferences, numerous regional and
technical specific conferences, and four
distinct journals.
The field of sports engineering is quite
wide and certainly very interdisciplinary.
A sports engineer may be researching the
latest materials or chemical coatings for
wicking moisture in a next to skin garment,
designing a baseball bat for optimum
performance that meets the latest sports
governing standards, developing noninvasive performance measurement tools
that collect and share sports performance
data with athletes and fans, or writing
software to enhance the sports viewing
Continued on page 6
Delegates settling in for the opening session at the 2010 8th
Engineering of Sport Conference in Vienna, Austria. Photo courtesy
of the International Sports Engineering Association.
July 2011
The Nebraska Engineer
IN THIS ISSUE
2011-2012 NeSPE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ArticlePage
President
Vice-President
Sports Engineering and
Cycling Aerodynamics . . . . . . . . 1, 6, 16-19
Karl Fredrickson, P.E.
Lincoln, NE
P (402) 477-4240
F (402) 477-4268
Kyle Vohl, P.E.
Omaha, NE
P (402) 895-4700
From the President’s Pen . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Home Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
[email protected]
Welcome New NeSPE Members . . . . . . . 5
[email protected]
Landscapes Unlimited, LLC
makes presentation to NeSPE
Southeast Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
President Elect
Secretary / Treasurer
Mark D. Massman, P.E.
Columbus, NE
P (402) 564-2876
F (402) 563-3655
Matt Kruse, P.E.
Omaha, NE
P (402) 496-2495
F (402) 496-2730
[email protected]
[email protected]
First Vice-President
Past-President
Doug Holle, P.E.
Lincoln, NE
P (402) 488-2500
Daniel B. Owens, P.E.
Omaha, NE
P (402) 496-2498
F (402) 496-2730
Why I Have Chosen to Major
in Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Member Spotlight: Krystal Lynn Trojan . . 7
Nathan J. Sorben, P.E. Recognized
as State Society’s Young Engineer
of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
NeSPE Elects New Secretary/
Treasurer Matt Kruse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Farewell and Thanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Nebraska Board of Engineers and
Architects Announce New Licensed PEs 9
[email protected]
[email protected]
UNL Student Chapter Update . . . . . . . . . 9
NeSPE Chapter Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
NeSPE Elects House of Delegate to
Represent Society at National Level . . . 10
Milestone Memberships:
E. Terence Foster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
William E. Splinter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
James Goedert, P.E., FNSPE
Omaha, NE
P (402) 880-3138
House of Delegate
Steve Wadas, P.E.
Columbus, NE
P (402) 564-9623
F (402) 563-5090
[email protected]
[email protected]
Second Vice-President
State Scholarship and Awards . . . . . 12-13
Clarion Zoucha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Northeastern Chapter Hosts
State Annual Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-16
NeSPE Honors Members with
Anniversary Membership Certificates . 14
NeSPE STATE OFFICE
301 South 13th St., Ste. 400
Lincoln, NE 68508
P (402) 310-1988
F (402) 476-6167
Director of Finance
and Administration
Kay Lemon
[email protected]
Executive Director
Kristin Crawford
[email protected]
Director of Communications
Katy Boggs
[email protected]
How Do You Motivate Engineers? . . . 21-22
UNL Selects Rensselaer’s
Timothy Wei as Engineering Dean . . . . . 22
The Nebraska Engineer is a
quarterly NeSPE publication
whose purpose is to provide the
membership with engineering
updates, news, and events in
the State of Nebraska.
2
Kristin Crawford
Has your contact information changed?
All changes MUST be made through NSPE Member Services.
How? Send an email to [email protected]
Questions? Call 1.888.285.6773
July 2011
FROM THE President’s Pen
By Karl Fredrickson, P.E., NeSPE President
As incoming President of NeSPE I want
to thank all those who have influenced
my life and career choices. My parents,
my wife, teachers and my co-workers
have all played a role in my being
where I am and who I am today. NeSPE
members have also had a profound
influence, keeping me apprised of professional engineering issues, providing
professional development, and developing professional relationships. I want
to thank the NeSPE membership for
confirming me as this year’s President.
I thank Dan Owens for his leadership
last year and handing the “reins” over
with NeSPE in great condition and
stature.
I congratulate the Northeast Chapter for
a very successful annual meeting! Attendance was fantastic and speaker topics
were excellent. Curt Tomasevicz was an
exciting and inspirational speaker for the
banquet and he truly made you proud to
be a Nebraskan!
As the Officers were being installed
at the banquet I intently listened to
the oath given. Not by the officers,
but by the members. The members affirmed they would support the officers.
This brings me to my request—the
NeSPE Officers and I need your support. Here are some items we need your
support with:
Membership; Steve Wadas has done a
yeoman’s job in increasing our membership; we need to continue to increase
our membership. I request you to
reach out to co-workers, employers,
professional friends and ask them to
join—then ask again. Our strength, our
influence, and our success reside within
our members.
MathCounts; This NSPE sponsored
event is a great way to reach out to
future engineers. There are always
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volunteers needed; graders, proctors,
chapter and state coordinators. I always
have a great time volunteering for this
event. I ask you to please volunteer and
promote this event.
Education Foundation; The NeSPE Education Foundation provides educational
opportunity to youth while providing a
positive image for NeSPE. I ask for your
contribution to this worthy program.
The professional engineer and licensure
is under constant pressure from outside
entities. I have the opportunity to speak
at the NSPE Annual Meeting this year
on the subject “Threats to the Role of
the PE Affecting the Public.” We have
been successful in maintaining licensure
in Nebraska, but we must continue to be
diligent. Maintaining good relationships
with the State Senators, Governor, and
the Board of Engineers and Architects is
essential as they look to us for guidance. Maintaining strong partnerships
through the Professional Engineers
Coalition gives us additional influence
with elected officials.
I look forward to a successful year with
your help. Thank you for your support.
Nebraska Board
of Engineers and
Architects Announce
newly licensed
professional engineers
David J. Andersen
Jarod A. Anderson
Christopher Thomas Artz
Scott A. Barnett
Eric K. Bender
Blake Edward Birkel
Sohan Birla
Nickolaus J. Clinebell
Lindsey A. Connot
Kyle Crouch
Nicholas Ryan Decker
Joshua E. Dodson
Patrick Michael Dowse
Eric John Farley
Mark Daniel Fischer
Russell L. Freye
Ryan M. Frost
Mark D. Gragert
David A. Graiver
Sarah Elizabeth Gudeman
Marshall S Hohman Jr
Jonathan Duane Jakub
Owen M. Killham
Joel Steven Koch
Bryan D. Kratky
Andrew Lang Morrissey
Michael D. Middendorf
Kevin D. Moody
Andrew I. Nelson
Carl Alden Nelson
Joshua S. Palik
Benjamin R. Ptacek
Lucas Leo Rief
Samuel R Thompson
Devin P. Townsend
Kirk M. Vanosdall
John Larkin Whisler
Vernon W. Wineland
Jeremy T. Wright
July 2011
Home Fires
by JoAnne Beiermann
I am the mother of a mathlete. Just please
don’t call him that.
After all, it’s not cool when you’re a seventh grader to compete in math. It’s way
cooler when you’re 13 to have an accurate
three-point shot than to accurately add
three numbers with decimal points. It’s
more admirable to put on some pads and
tackle the other team than it is to tackle a
quadratic equation with a pad of paper.
But this is exactly the kind of attitude that
had led the U.S. to fall embarrassingly
behind other countries when it comes
to math and science, maybe one step
above, say, Yugoslavia. What? Yugoslavia’s no longer a country? We stink at
World Geography too.
But the math-science issue seems to
be the more pressing concern, and one
that programs like Mathcounts is trying
to change.
Mathcounts is a middle school math
competition in the U.S, whose national
sponsors include the National Defense
Education Program under the guidance
of the U.S. Department of Defense, the
largest federal employer of scientists
and engineers.
Groups like these are working hard to
encourage students who show an early
aptitude for math and science. Students
like my son.
Left to Right: Larry, Cole, Zach, Emily, Alex, Blake and JoAnne Beiermann
Good point.
We tell him he should do it because he’s
really good at math. We tell him he should
do it because it would really help the
school team. Then, when reasoning fails,
we do what all other bumbling parents do:
we bribe him.
Truth be known, I’ve bribed my kids for
lesser things than math.
Besides, math comes easy for him. We
knew this early on. In second grade his
teacher introduced square roots to his
class in the very simplest of forms. From
there he went on and filled two pages of
square roots on his own, all of them right.
It was both impressive and frightening.
Of course, seventh-grade Cole is oblivious
to his country’s problems. He has his own
concerns, like should he and his buddies
go to the rollerblading rink Friday night or
to a movie?
I’d like to say this is a result of us working
long and hard with him instead of letting
him sit for hours and hours soaking in
SpongeBob.
All he knows is that when his middle
school is putting together a math team in
the fall we think he should do it. But on a
scale of one to 10 he has zilch desire to
the nth degree to do this.
He doesn’t get it from me. As far as I’m
concerned, every number is an irrational
number, and all fractions are improper just
because they exist. And numbers should
never under any circumstance be mixed together with the alphabet and parentheses.
“Why would I want to go to school an hour
early to do math when I could be sleeping?” he says.
4
Yes, I’d like to say that.
Fortunately for him, he’s had teachers
along the way who’ve challenged him,
from elementary to middle school, including teachers who worked hard to convince
school officials to let them teach sixthgrade math to fifth-grade students like him
who were ready.
For months Cole wakes early, and he and
the other Mathcount members deal with
integers and exponents before most of us
have even had our Fruity Pebbles. Finally,
they’re ready for the regional competition,
where his four-member team places first,
and individually he places second in the
written test, which then qualifies him for
the countdown round,
This is when, in the world of Mathcounts,
things get exciting. Oh sure, watching
math competitions sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry to most people.
But the countdown round pits the top ten
finalists against each other in a head-tohead competition. Math problems are
projected on a screen and players ring in
with the correct answer. With three correct
answers you advance to the next round.
Many are the kind of problems that make
even educated adults shudder, the “if two
trains leave the station at the same time”
kind of problems.
It’s nerve-wracking to watch, like waiting
Continued on page 5
July 2011
home fires
(CONTINUED)
for your son to make the game-winning
free throws.
But Cole sails through the semis and then
the finals and finishes first.
State competition is next. He makes us
promise he will not have to go to nationals in Washington, D.C. if he places in the
top four, even after I tell him some national
competitions in past years have been
aired on ESPN. We promise, but we’re not
concerned. State will be tougher.
At the state competition my husband and
I arrive at lunch time, right after the kids
have finished their written tests. We catch
a glimpse of Cole.
After lunch they name the top ten finishers.
Half are from the same middle school—a
school, rumor has it—that has dominated
the state competition for years, like the
Yankees of Mathcounts. Others are from
magnet schools and private schools.
But our boy does well, placing seventh in
the state. Perfect, really, his dad later tells
him: in the top ten but not high enough to
qualify for nationals.
Much to our surprise he’s not quite ready
to hang up his calculator yet, and is actually considering competing again next
year. In fact, he’s beginning to figure out
even if it’s not all that cool, math is his
thing, like it or not.
“Well,” my husband says, “I don’t know
how he did on the tests, but he was first in
line for pizza.”
Just don’t call him a mathlete. He might
just tackle you with a quadratic equation.
That’s our boy.
JoAnne Beiermann lives in Columbus with
her husband and five children.
Welcome New
NeSPE Members
(As of July 2011)
Nels Anderson
Shaddi Assad
Brian Furby
Alfred Tsubaki
Jake Lee
Nick Mertens
Kyle Wroblewski
Huishu Shen
Lauren Kennedy
Carmen Brower
Jeremy Anderson
Jeremy Wright
Landscapes
Unlimited, LLC makes
presentation to
NeSPE Southeast
Chapter
Ty Arndt, Landscapes Unlimited, LLC,
made a presentation to the Southeast
Chapter on May 25, 2011 at the Imperial
Palace in Lincoln. His company, Landscapes Unlimited, LLC is a nationwide
construction company who has specialized in the construction of golf courses,
or similar construction. His presentation
centered around the design aspects of a
golf course from concept through construction. Some key components mentioned were early involvement of engineers
in the planning stages to account for the
necessary infrastructure improvements for
the golf course, foremost of these is water
and power. Mr. Arndt stated that water is
the lifeblood of a golf course, and in some
locations in the Southeast US where water
5
is a commodity, waste water effluent is
used to irrigate the course. Mr. Arndt
also mentioned the importance of
erosion control measures during
construction to make sure they are designed correctly. The presentation was
attended by 11 members and 10 guests.
This picture is a golf course that Landscapes Unlimited
built, in fact it is one of the golf courses that was
referenced in the presentation with respect to being
in an extremely tough county with respect to Erosion
Control regulation & permits and how that process
would have been much harder and longer had it not
been for the knowledge, expertise and cooperation
that the Engineers provided us with. It is the Colorado
Golf Club in Parker, Colorado (Douglas County) and
was designed by Coore & Crenshaw.
July 2011
experience for television or website sports
audience.
Clearly, every engineering technical discipline has an impact in sports engineering.
But perhaps more importantly, the sports
engineer needs to work with many disciplines outside of traditional engineering.
Sports engineers are typically developing
products that people use and thus need to
address product design and user experience issues, as well as be concerned with
business factors that range from supply
chains to marketing, sales and distribution. And of course, one cannot ignore the
athlete that is of course the focal point
of many sports engineering projects. An
understanding of biomechanics, sports
physiology and, in some cases, sports
psychology, is necessary.
In my work, I have largely focused on the
equipment that athletes use in their sports.
I contribute to the sports engineering field
as both an academic, supervising undergraduate student projects in the Sports
Innovation Program at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), as well as a
consultant with the technology development and product design firm Cooper
Perkins, Inc. This dual role has enabled
me to be involved in the entirety of the
process of creating new sports equipment,
from the early research stages, typically the domain of the academic world,
through technology development and
product design phases, where inventions
are combined with insights into the user
and the marketplace to create innovative
new products.
Sports engineers are often themselves
athletes, with a passion for sports and
sports products. I am no exception, having
started as a member of the Grand Island
high school swim team, picking up running as a hobby during my undergraduate
years at Nebraska, and eventually adding
in cycling to become a triathlete during
graduate school at Purdue. All three of
those sports are heavily influenced by
sports engineering. In the early 2000’s the
development of speed suits for competi-
(CONTINUED)
tive swimming set off an arms race in suit
development, resulting in world records
being broken at every major competition with the introduction of faster and
faster suits until in 2011, speed suits were
outlawed by FINA, the governing body
that sets competitive rules for swimming.
The sport of running has seen a variety of
new technologies enter the market over
the years, including shoes and apparel,
but also in the electronic devices runners
use to measure performance. Heart rate
monitors, introduced in the 1980’s are now
ubiquitous, as well as GPS systems that
are able to track performance and share
that performance with the world through
the Internet and social networking. Cycling
is of course the most equipment focused
of the three-triathlon disciplines. While a
recreational cyclist or triathlete can find an
entry-level racing bike for around $2000,
a top-end racing bike constructed from
the lightest and strongest carbon fiber
with electronic shifting and optimized for
aerodynamic performance can retail for
over $10,000.
The Sports of Cycling and Triathlon
It is July, and in the world of sports, that
means Le Tour de France, the preeminent
event in the sport of professional cycling.
For a period of three weeks, cyclists race
across France in daily stages, through city
streets, across mountaintops and wind
swept valleys and through all types of
weather, from potentially extreme heat to
cold and rain, for up to 160 miles a day.
Le Tour is one of three grand stage races
on the competitive cycling calendar each
year, and is often called the most grueling
sport in the world.
The Speedo Fastskin suit. Accused of being too fast, this suit resulted in drastic rule changes regarding
competitive swimwear. Photo courtesy of Speedo Inc.
The 2011 event will cover 2100 miles over
21 days of racing, with the longest stage
being 140 miles. The event is incredibly
competitive, with top contenders marking each other’s moves with tactics and
strategy that require a psychological and
Continued on page 17
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July 2011
Why I Have Chosen to Major In Engineering
Member Spotlight
by Sarah Schroeder, NeSPE UNL Student Chapter Scholarship Winner
As I have grown more mature, both physically and intellectually, I have come to recognize the limited and finite nature of the
earth’s resources. It is inconceivable to me
that mankind can continue on our current
path of uncontrolled consumption without
gravely risking the health and livelihood of
future generations.
In college, I chose biological systems
engineering as my major because it is a
relatively new field filled with possibilities
to help humans map a sustainable path to
the future. Now, after learning more about
environmental engineering, I have come to
the realization that I can make a significant
impact for people and their lives, both
today and tomorrow, through the development of new efficient forms of energy.
As a leader in the “green” energy movement I believe it is my duty to educate
people about sustainable energy, including
the immediate benefits and those benefits
that have yet to be recognized. I am by
nature an impatient person; I have always
wanted to help as many people as I can
as quickly as I can. Through my studies, it
has become evident to me that my chosen
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path of endeavor is truly my calling. The
potential for good is limitless. As a result,
I aspire to work upon my graduation for
a respected firm in the energy sector that
clearly has a passion for efficient and
sustainable forms of energy. My ultimate
goal is to develop the processes and
implementation of important sustainable
energy projects.
I believe I will achieve my goals because
I have passion for a cleaner planet. I am
driven to succeed, to make a difference in
the world. I do not shy away from leadership. Throughout my academic career I
have exemplified a work ethic that has
always pushed me to excel. Biological
systems engineering provides me with a
foundation from which I will build upon.
The technical skills and education that I
receive from the University of NebraskaLincoln will prove invaluable when I begin
my career.
I am a senior biological systems engineering major emphasizing in environmental engineering with a minor in energy
sciences. I like to be involved and I will
be participating in the following organizations during my senior year: I will be
the President of an organization called
Scarlet Guard, which is also known as the
Student Alumni Association, I am on the
environmental sustainability committee
for the student government of UNL, I am
part of an organization called Cather Circle
which is a women’s organization providing
mentoring and networking opportunities, I
am also in a sorority called Kappa Kappa
Gamma and last but not least the new
student chapter of NeSPE. I recently took
a study abroad trip to Germany to learn
about environmental sustainability and different energy systems. We also learned a
lot about German agriculture and policies
and regulations that go with it. In the future
I hope to use my degree to work with energy systems and to minimize waste
and emissions.
Krystal with her cousins from Indiana—Bailey,
Krystal, and Casey.
Name: Krystal Lynn Trojan
Company: Nebraska Public Power
District
Education: East Butler High School
Graduate, B.S. in electrical engineering
in progress at UNL
Favorite accomplishment to date: Teaching my dog Kassie to say “hello”
like Scooby Doo. Tell a little about your family: My
parents farm corn and soybeans in Butler
County. I have younger brother that also
wants to go into electrical engineering. We are of Czech descent, so both
grandmas cook pretty amazing kolaches.
Coke or Pepsi: Coke
Best vacation spot: Grand Cayman
The last book I read: the Twilight series
Favorite band/singer: Van Halen
Pet peeve: When people chew with
their mouth open.
When I’m not working, I like to:
Bake goodies
Piece of technology I could not live
without: My droid
July 2011
Nathan J. Sorben, P.E. Recognized as State
Society’s Young Engineer of the Year
The Nebraska Society of Professional
Engineers (NeSPE) has named Nathan
J. Sorben, P.E. recipient of the Young
Engineer of the Year Award for 2011.
The award was presented during the
state meeting of the NeSPE on May 4
in Columbus.
Sorben was recognized by his local
chapter last month and competed against
candidates from chapters throughout the
state for the award. Criteria for the award
include educational and professional
achievements, professional and technical society activities, as well as civic and
humanitarian activities.
Sorben received his Bachelor of Science
degree in Civil Engineering from the South
Dakota School of Mines and Technology
in 1999. He has been an engineer for the
past 11 years, including his current position at the Nebraska Department of Roads
(NDOR). Sorben was also employed at
TranSystems Corporation, Omaha; Klingner & Associates, P.C., Hannibal, Missouri;
and TranSystems Corporation, Kansas
City, Missouri.
Engineering achievements include Sorben’s responsibilities as Roadway Design Unit head for seven engineers and
designers responsible for project initiation
through bidding by coordinating with other
Dan Owens presents Nathan Sorben with the Young
Engineer of the Year Award. Congratulations Nathan!
8
NDOR Divisions and field Districts.
Currently this design team has approximately 50 projects assigned and
is scheduled to submit for letting
purposes approximately $30 million
in projects for calendar year 2011.
Sorben has worked on several projects
at previous employers which received
awards, including the ACEC/Kansas
Award for the Olathe Grade Separation project. As the project engineer,
he provided preliminary engineering for
construction of the four grade separations on the BNSF Fort Scott Subdivision
at Loula, Park, Santa Fe, and Ridgeview.
Sorben also worked on the Argentine Connection Flyover Project that received the
AREMA W.W. Hay Award and the ACEC/
Kansas Notable Award. The Argentine
Connection Project included developing a
construction sequence in order to optimize the amount of trains to pass through
the Santa Fe Junction during construction
of the Argentine Connection for the new
tri-level railroad structure.
Sorben’s NeSPE activities include serving
as State Scholarship and Awards Chairperson from 2007 to 2010. He has been
active as a member of both the Eastern
Nebraska and Southeastern Nebraska
chapters. Prior to his affiliation with the
NeSPE, Sorben was a member of the
Missouri Society of Professional Engineers, in which he helped re-charter the
Northeast Missouri Charter.
Foremost among Sorben’s many civic and
humanitarian activities is his service as the
director of the Regan Elise Sorben Foundation, formed in 2011 to assist bereaved
families dealing with infant loss. Other
activities include serving as a volunteer
judge for a middle school and high school
robotics competition in Waverly, Nebraska,
and volunteering with the Waverly Kiwanis
Club. Sorben is a member of St. Patrick’s
Catholic Church.
NeSPE Elects
New Secretary/
Treasurer
Matthew Kruse, P.E., PTOE is currently a Senior Project Engineer in
the Transportation Group at Lamp,
Rynearson & Associates for 5.5
years, 11 years of engineering in
Omaha. He holds a B.S. and M.S.
in in Civil Engineering from University of Nebraska – Lincoln.
Matt was a member of NeSPE in
1998 to 2003 and then 2008 to
present. He has held chapter
positions as Eastern Chapter
Director and Eastern Chapter’s
Membership Chair. In 2008-2009 he was awarded
Young Engineer of the Year for the
Eastern Chapter.
Matt stated, “I would like to fulfill
the duties of the position and expand and introduce NeSPE to the
new and future young engineers.”
Matt also shared that he would
like to continue and build on the
growth in membership over the
past year and half for engineers of
all ages and experience. July 2011
Farewell and thanks
By Ronald S. Feuerbach, P.E. F, NSPE, Nebraska HOD Representative
Just a quick note from your representative
to the House of Delegates to say thank you
one last time for letting me represent the
Nebraska Society of Professional Engineers
at the national level. The past four years
have been interesting and rewarding. NSPE
to me has always been about the profession of engineering and at the national level
a good deal of time is spent promoting
the profession. If you attended the Annual
meeting (this year in Las Vegas) you heard
many foreign guests address the House
on how they are working to develop similar
organizations in their home countries. They
recognized the value NSPE contributes to
the individual and to society in general.
Unlike technical engineering organizations
that sponsor research to improve the “body
of knowledge”, NSPE focuses on the individual, and the development of leaders. As
such, the Society’s operating procedures include term
limits for members of the
House of Delegates. I support this policy
to allow others in each State
organization to have the
opportunity to participate at
this level. We are fortunate
in Nebraska to have many
qualified members willing
to serve the membership.
Steve Wadas will represent
us in the House of Delegates
going forward.
If you have not yet been involved in your
Chapter activities or at the State level,
please consider volunteering. If we are to
remain strong we need everyone to participate. Attend the Legislative Luncheon,
volunteer for Mathcounts, or attend the
ceremony at the State Capital to honor
new registrants. Demonstrate to others
your commitment to our profession and
to our members.
Nespe: UNL Student Chapter Update
By Steve Irons, P.E.
The Nebraska Society of Professional
Engineers (NeSPE) has been working with
University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL)
students to establish a NeSPE student
chapter on campus. Steve Irons, who is
the Southeast Chapter Student Chapter
Liaison, has taken on this responsibility with assistance from Steve Wadas.
Currently there are more than 15 student
chapter members in NeSPE. Several
key students that are involved with this
process are Krystal Trojan (President) and
Jeremy Anderson (Treasurer). We are also
working closely with Lark Bear at UNL
who is the organizations student advisor
representative who works in the College of
Engineering office.
On May 11, 2011 the student chapter got
a letter from the Association of Students
of the University of Nebraska (ASUN)
granting temporary recognition as an UNL
student organization. This letter provides
90 days to complete a constitution for
9
review and approval prior to becoming an
official group on campus. Once the constitution is reviewed and approved by ASUN,
the student chapter will be able to recruit
members and hold meetings on campus.
The constitution has been completed and
is currently being reviewed prior to submittal to ASUN in the next couple of weeks.
The next key task that will take place once
the group is established is recruiting additional board members and organizing the
first student chapter meeting of the school
year. Also, Lark Bear has mentioned there
are a lot of other great opportunities for
all our NeSPE members to assist with
educating and mentoring college students.
Several examples of how NeSPE members
will be able to assist UNL include educating students about the importance of
taking the EIT test to become professional
licensed, assist with mock interviews,
review student resumes and help during
E-Week.
- Save the Date -
NeSPEEF
Golf Outing
Friday, Sept. 16, 2011
Woodland Hills
Golf Course
Eagle, Nebraska
July 2011
CHAPTER UPDATES
Northeast Chapter
Eastern Chapter
By Chuck McCumber, P.E.
By Bob Matlock, P.E.
Calendar of Events
In May, the Eastern Chapter held the
Awards Luncheon and Election of Officers. Award winners included Paul
Woodward as Young Engineer of the Year,
Maher Tadros as Engineer of the Year,
Bob Matlock for the Meritorious Service
Award, Louie Caparelli for the Distinguished Service Award, and the Whitted
Creek Stream Rehabilitation Project as
the Engineering Excellence Award. 2011-2012 Meetings (tentative)
General Membership (Dusters)
October 3, 2011
November 7, 2011
December 5, 2011
January 9, 2012
February 6, 2012
March 5, 2012
April 2, 2012 Awards Banquet – Friday, May 4, 2012
Board Meetings (Valentino’s)
September 14, 2011
October 19, 2011
November 16, 2011
December 14, 2011
January 18, 2012
February 15, 2012
March 14, 2012
April 18, 2012
May 16, 2012
Mathcounts
February 4, 2011
Snow Date February 18
Central Community College,
Columbus
February 2, 2012
Snow Date February 16
Central Community College,
Columbus
10
A presentation by Martin Cleveland with
the Papio NRD, and Emily Holtzclaw
with CH2MHill, was given describing the
success of the project. Three Scholarships were announced at the luncheon as
well, including two high school students
(Hunter Severin & Laura Triplett) and
a UNO student (Chris Beaty). Finally,
the new Eastern Chapter Officers were
elected including Bob Matlock, President,
Paul Vovk, President Elect, and Brock
Beran, Vice President. Our next chapter meeting will be in September, so enjoy the summer!
southEast Chapter
By Nathan Sorben, P.E.
The Board of Directors of Southeast Chapter of NeSPE invited its members to take
part in a planning session at Brewsky’s
on June 15. The focus of the session was
to get member feedback, and input with
regards to the chapters future and sustainability. This session included evaluating
results from an online survey, starting a
chapter golf outing, improving meeting attendance, and several other items. Some
of the outcomes include the creation of the
SE Chapter Golf Outing, more consistent
meeting dates, and more focused involvement from the membership.
NeSPE elects
House of
Delegate to
Represent
Society
at National
Level
Steve Wadas was elected NeSPE’s
House of Delegate at the annual
meeting in May to replace term limited Ron Feuerbach, P.E., FNSPE.
Wadas has been a member of
NeSPE since 1991. He has held
the position of chapter president,
state president and currently is the
state membership chair. He has
been employed by Nebraska Public
Power District for 20 years.
As Nebraska’s representative to
the House of Delegates, Wadas
will monitor national issues and
proposed by-laws changes and
report back to the state society
regarding its potential impact to the
organization. As the State Membership Chair,
Steve hopes to achieve continued
growth in membership, as well as
help with the creation of a vibrant,
active UN-L student chapter. July 2011
Nespe celebrates milestone memberships:
milestone
memberships:
Name: E. Terence Foster
Company: University of Nebraska College of Engineering Durham School of
Architectural Engineering and Construction
Education: Ph.D., Structural Engineering, University of California, Berkeley,
1967
S.M., Nuclear Engineering, MIT, 1964
S.B., Civil Engineering, MIT, 1963
How many years have you been a
member of NeSPE? 40
Why did you join NeSPE? My Father
had been a NSPE National Director
from Professional Engineers of Nebraska, a predecessor of NeSPE. I wanted
to join when I became a P.E. to follow
his example.
Why do you believe young engineers
should join NeSPE? NeSPE and its
national parent, NSPE, address issues
of how engineers should conduct their
practice ethically, economically, legally,
and technically. Young engineers need
exposure to these ideas.
What has NeSPE done for you professionally? In NeSPE and NSPE I
have access to a network of engineers
concerned with how they practice their
profession.
What would you tell others about
NeSPE? Join as soon as you can to
get to know about ways to progress in
the engineering profession.
Did you ever serve as an officer? If
so, list service. 2006-2007: NSPE National Delegate from NeSPE
11
2005-2006: NSPE National Vice President, Practice Divisions
1999-2000: NSPE National Director
from NeSPE
1985-1986: NeSPE State President
1981-1982: NeSPE Eastern Chapter
President
What is a favorite memory you would
like to share regarding NeSPE and/
or your membership? I was fortunate to become the first NSPE Fellow
member from Nebraska in 2001. Since
then I have enjoyed helping several
other NeSPE members gain this level of
membership.
Tell a little about your family: My wife,
Mollie, and I were married in 1965. Our
older daughter, Hilary, is a violinist in
the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in
Norway. Our younger daughter, Sydney,
is an attorney with the U.S. Department
of Justice in Washington, D.C. Hilary
and her husband, Greg, are the parents
of our only grandchild, their daughter,
Dakota.
Tell a little bit about your professional
accomplishments: 1991- present:
Professor of Construction Engineering and Associate Director, University
of Nebraska College of Engineering
Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction – Developed
the Construction Engineering program
that is EAC-ABET accredited and offers
degrees from the bachelor through the
doctoral level.
1988-1990: Assistant Vice President,
Union Pacific Corp. – Headed Advanced Technology Unit that developed
information applications in logistics.
1976-1987: President, MultiTec (also
served five years on the Nebraska
Engineers and Architects Board during
this time) – Led construction organization specializing in heavy construction,
design-build, and leasing of facilities
and equipment.
1970-1975: Vice President, HDR – Managed HDR Systems, the information
science subsidiary; and introduced distributed computing into the architecture
and engineering industry.
1968-1969: Captain, U.S. Army –
Served as military intelligence officer at
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and
the Pentagon.
How has NeSPE changed over the
years? The members seem to get
younger every year!
What would you like to see NeSPE
focus on in the next 5 years? Improve
the image and public understanding of
the engineering profession.
July 2011
milestone memberships:
By Morgan B. Sykes
Name: William E. Splinter
This month I’m writing to introduce you
to the winners of our scholarships for this
year. If you have not had the opportunity
to meet them yet, these young men and
women are outstanding examples of the
quality and abilities our recent and upcoming graduates have. By offering scholarships, NeSPE is able to share our individual and firm successes and help the next
generation of engineers succeed with us.
More information on each of our winners is
included in this month’s newsletter.
Company: University of NebraskaLincoln
Education: B.Sc-UNL, M.Sc.-Mich.
State U., Ph.D.-Mich. State U.
member of NeSPE? 40+ years
Why did you join NeSPE? For engineering contacts throughout Nebraska.
Why do you believe young engineers
should join NeSPE? To be a professional rather than a technician.
What has NeSPE done for you professionally? Provided leadership opportunities and professional contacts.
NeSPE? The engineering profession changes rapidly and this is a
way to keep professionally current.
Did you ever serve as an officer?
Vice President—1985-6, First Vice
President—1986-7, President—198889, Chairman, Low Level Waste
Committee-1990-96, Member, Joint
Committee on Professioinal Practice—
1990-1996, President, NeSPE Educational Foundation—1996-2000. What is a favorite memory you
would like to share regarding NeSPE
and/or your membership? While serving as President participating in several
national NSPE meetings and conferences.
Tell a little about your family: My first
wife, Eleanor, passed away in 1999. I
have since married Betty and we have
travelled around the world twice. My
oldest daughter is a Professor of Occupational Therapy at Eastern Kentucky
University. My oldest son is an Air
Traffic Control Supervisor, Los Angeles Center. My youngest daughter tests
people with brain injury for a Psychia-
12
State Scholarship
and Awards
trist. My youngest son is an engineer
with NASA. I have five grandchildren.
I owned a private plane for 40 years,
nearly 5000 hrs, instrument rated.
Tell a little bit about your professional accomplishments: Research
Professor, N.C. State U. 195468.—6 patents. Head Ag. Eng. Dept.
UNL, 1969-88, Vice Chancellor for
Research, UNL, 1991-93, Int. Dean,
Col. of Eng. UNL, 1994-5, 2001-2.
President of American Society of Agricultural Engineers—1978-79, First Nebraska engineer elected to the National
Academy of Engineering—1984.
years? I do not think it has changed
appreciably. It continues to be a place
to learn of new engineering developments outside of your field and to meet
with other engineers.
focus on in the next 5 years? Mathcounts is a great activity. The bridge
competition at Grand Island could be
expanded. Regain members from the
University, Highway Department and
major manufacturers.
First, let me introduce Anna Sorensen
from Creighton. Anna is the first of this
year’s winners. This young woman had a
great application and somehow manages
to balance a crazy number of activities
and involvement in her community while
maintaining an outstanding GPA. She is
pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering at
the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
Next, please meet Zach Foster from Papillion. Zach is also looking to attend UNL in
the field of Biological Systems Engineering. Zach needs multiple pages to list all
of his activities and accomplishments
and he, like Anna, does all of this while
maintaining an incredibly high GPA. You
should definitely look for him to excel and
potentially carry on from engineering into
medical school.
July 2011
milestone memberships:
Name: Clarion Zoucha
Company: Self Employed - Technical
Consultant
Education: B.S. Engineering 1973
Univ. of Nebraska
member of NeSPE? 37
Why did you join NeSPE? I was
Inspired by the Engineers Creed.
“To be Honest, Live and Work by
the Law, and High Standards of Conduct. Service before Profit. To use
my abilities for Mankind’s Good”.
Why do you believe young engineers should join NeSPE? Once
you take the Oath, it is easier
to stay on the right path, also it provides fellowship that lasts a lifetime.
What has NeSPE done for you professionally? Provided Networking and
Respect
NeSPE? Great organization, especially
at the Chapter and State Level
Did you ever serve as an officer? If
so, list service. Yes, Many NE Eastern Chapter Offices including President, and then Secretary and President
of the State
What is a favorite memory you would
like to share regarding NeSPE and/or
your membership? Wayne Kingery and
I met with Charles Durham to ask for
a MATHCOUNTS contribution. He gave
us a lot of encouragement along with a
check for $10,000.
Tell a little about your family: Married for 46 years to my beautiful wife
Julie. Daughter Christie ( Brad ) Hinton
and son Mike. Three fantastic grand
kids, Paul, Drew, and Molly Hinton State Scholarship and Awards (continued)
Lastly, for State Awards, allow me to
introduce, or reintroduce, Nathan Sorben
of Lincoln. We selected Nathan as the
Nebraska Young Engineer of the Year.
Nathan works for NDOR and has a very
impressive resume and list of accomplishments and we felt he was very deserving
of this award.
Keep an eye out and you may get an opportunity to meet and congratulate this
year’s scholarship and award winners. To
13
add to the excitement, our winners, Anna,
Zach and Nathan, are only a few of the
incredibly impressive applicants we saw
this year. I am sure you will have an opportunity to meet some of the others as they
progress through their careers and when
you do, hold on to your socks!
From the Scholarship and Awards Chair,
here’s to a wonderful, and busy, summer.
years? More Lobbying
focus on in the next 5 years? The “E”
in STEM
July 2011
Northeastern Chapter Hosts Informative,
Valuable, and Well-Attended State Annual Meeting
On May 5th and 6th, the Northeast
Chapter hosted the NeSPE State Annual
meeting at the Elks Country Club located
in Columbus, Nebraska. The effort was led
by the Northeastern Chapter leadership:
President, Justin Jakub, P.E.; PresidentElect, Charles McCumber, P.E.; Secretary,
James Schmidt, P.E.; Treasurer, Josh
Watson, E.I.T.; Membership Chair and
State Past President, Steve Wadas, P.E.;
Northeast Chapter MathCounts Coordinator Rick Stava, P.E.; and Director Matt
Petersan, P.E.
Day one of the annual meeting kicked
off with the NeSPE State Board Meeting,
State Annual Meeting and Election of Officers. Sixty-eight members attended the
Lincoln Haymarket Arena Infrastructure
presentation by John S. Olsson of Olsson Associates and then traveled to the
Archer-Daniels Midland Company (ADM)
to tour the ADM Ethanol and Co-Generation Power Plant led by Kelly Gassen.
Thursday’s events closed with the 2011
NeSPE State Awards Banquet. An (unofficial) record number of members and
special guests were in attendance to
participate in the presentation of awards
and installation of NeSPE officers and
NeSPEEF Directors. NeSPE Membership
Chair Steve Wadas recognized members
with Anniversary Certificates ranging from
40 years to 5 years of service. Nathan
Sorben, P.E. from Southeast’s Chapter
was named NeSPE Young Engineer of the
Year, and scholarship recipients from both
the State and Northeastern Chapter were
recognized and honored.
The night concluded with Olympic Gold
Medal Winner (and electrical engineer)
Curt Tomasevicz’s keynote address, “Finding Your Own Personal Success.” Curt
Tomasevicz, a Shelby, Nebraska native
who was part of the 2010 USA four-man
bobsled team, shared with his fellow engineers and guests, “know where you’ve
Clarion Zoucha, P.E. honored for 37 years of
membership.
NeSPE Honors Members with
Anniversary Membership Certificates at State Annual Meeting
5 YEARS
25 YEARS
John Benefiel
Brock Beran
Ryan Kosola
Robert Lapke
Guy Lindeman
Dale Murdoch
Matthew Petersan
Aaron Rasmussen
David Schlautman
Richard Snyder
Nathan Sorben
Morgan Sykes
Jeff Wagner
Kenneth Hansen
Chris Jensen
Daniel Thiele
Edward Thiele
10 YEARS
Danny Pudenz
15 YEARS
Richard Bogus
Bob Cousins
Ann Kouba
Brian LeCuyer
James Luedke
Jim Musilek
Randall Samson
20 YEARS
Some of the newly elected NeSPE Officers with Olympic Gold Medalist Curt Tomasevicz at the Annual Meeting.
The officers elected are as follows:
President: Karl Fredrickson, P.E.
President Elect: Mark Massman, P.E.
1st Vice President: Doug Holle, P.E.
2nd Vice President: Jim Goedert, P.E., FNSPE
14
Vice President: Kyle Vohl, P.E.
Secretary/Treasurer: Matt Kruse, P.E.
House of Delegate: Steve Wadas, P.E.
Past-President: Dan Owens, P.E.
Steven Benesch
Ron Bottorff
Kendall Curry
Sharon S
Baum Kuska
Frank Reida
Larry Vandergriend
Brett Wawers
Timothy Yager
30 YEARS
Richard Clemens
Martin Cleveland
Michael
Hasenkamp
Kevin Prior
Greg Wolford
35 YEARS
Clarion Zoucha
Larry Rainwater
40 YEARS
E. Terrence Foster
Larry Hagewood
Richard Lewis
William Preston
William Splinter
Spencer Stevens
Arvid Thomsen
John Velehradsky
50 YEARS
Richard Gibson
July 2011
Northeastern Chapter Hosts Informative, Valuable, and
Well-Attended State Annual Meeting (CONTINUED)
been, know where you are, and know
where you’re going.” Tomasevicz shared
that the small town of Shelby, Nebraska
raised $25,000 (unlike other teammates
from larger cities who raised less) to help
him continue on competing in the sport of
bobsledding. Tomasevicz shared valuable lessons and life experiences citing
his high school football coach, his mother
(who always wanted him to at least be
reading a book), Nebraska football, and
his inspiration, Louie Zamperini, a former
track star who was an airman during World
War II who was shot down and forced to
survive for 47 days in the Pacific Ocean.
Tomasevicz also clearly
enjoyed mixing in a
couple of engineering jokes which this
crowd appreciated as
he holds a Bachelor’s
and Master’s degree in
electrical engineering
from the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln.
Tomasevicz graciously
entertained technical
questions from the
group regarding the
design of the sled and
track and displayed
his Gold Medal to the
group and for pictures.
Karl Fredickson, P.E. speaks to the members as the new NeSPE President.
The second day of events kicked off with
presentations by Guy Evasco on NPPD’s
Norfolk “Certified LEED Gold” Operation Center and Tony Raimondo Jr. from
Behlen Manufacturing on Solar Panels and
Past-President Dan Owens and Curt Tomasevicz
Geothermal Designs. NeSPE members
also received a sneak preview of the TD
Ameritrade Park new home the College
World Series, with a presentation by Josh
Render of the Kiewit Building Group, Inc.
NeSPE honors Anna Sorenson,
State Scholarship Winner at the
2011 NeSPE Annual Meeting.
Anna Sorenson and
Gold Medalist and
keynote speaker,
Curt Tomasevicz.
Past President Steve Wadas and Josh Render,
Kiewit Building Group, Inc.
15
July 2011
Northeastern Chapter Hosts Informative, Valuable, and
Well-Attended State Annual Meeting (CONTINUED)
Brian Wilcox from NPPD gave a short
presentation on Wind Energy in Nebraska
before Lt. Governor Rick Sheehy provided
a legislative update. The Lt. Governor took
time out of his busy schedule to stay for
lunch and the 18 hole golf scramble also
held at the Elks Country Club.
Forty-four golfers participated in the golf
scramble which was sponsored by Thiele
Geotech and Kirkham Michael.
A special thank you to the 2011 NeSPE
Annual Meeting Sponsors:
Gold Level – Ameriprise Financial
Silver Level – Olsson Associates, The
Harry A. Koch Co., k-state distance,
Nebraska Public Power District
Bronze Level – Mid-State Engineering
and Testing, Inc.
Kyle Vohl takes a swing at the Elks Country Club in Columbus.
Past President Dan Owens, Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy and Legislative Chair Dan Thiele
16
July 2011
(CONTINUED)
cycling leg is completed as a time trial,
with no drafting or teamwork allowed. The
time trial is all about the performance of
the rider—and their equipment—which is
where the work of the sports engineer can
make a significant impact.
Greg Lemond on sprinting toward the finish of the
1989 Tour de France. This was the first use of aerobars
in professional cycling.
mental toll that matches the physical toll.
In spite of the length and distance of this
event, the time separating the top finishers is often on the order of minutes, and
in perhaps one of the most famous Tour
finishes ever, the 1989 Tour where on the
final day of the race, a 25 km time trial,
Greg Lemond overcame a seemingly insurmountable deficit of 50 seconds to win
by 8 seconds. This win is often attributed
to new style of handlebar Lemond used
during that event to improve his position
on the bike and reduce the aerodynamic
resistance during his ride.
Bike racing is a team sport, with groups
of riders on the team working together
to put the team leaders in contention for
the win, both in each day’s stage, as well
as the overall lead. Many days, there are
races within the race for sprinter’s points,
the order in which riders cross designated
mountaintops, while all the time trying
to focus on the final win. However, one
particular stage, the time trial, is called
“the race of truth.” In the time trial, the
riders start off one-by one, with the goal
of covering that day’s stage as quickly
as possible. The time trial is called the
“race of truth” as there is no-where for the
cyclist to hide. The rider cannot rely on his
teammates for shelter from the wind, or on
drafting, riding close behind another rider
to conserve energy for a powerful sprint
to the finish line. In the sport of triathlon,
and in particular in Ironman triathlons, the
17
I do want to note, that Le Tour is but a
timely inspiration for this article. There are
over 65,000 members of USA Cycling and
over 130,000 members of USA Triathlon in the US. These people represent
those cyclists that compete in sanctioned
events, but there are many more cyclists
who do not formally compete but are still
focused on performance. A quick trip to
your local bicycle specialty retailer will
provide a visual illustration of the number
of companies and products available for
the consumer that desires to improve
their performance through the purchase
of equipment. Cycling equipment companies invest an enormous amount of money
and effort in research, development and
marketing with the hopes that their equipment will help a cyclist or triathlete to win
The vast array of cycling performance products
available in the market.
a high profile race, thereby driving the
sales of their product in the commercial
marketplace. With rare exceptions, the
same equipment used by professional
cyclists is available to anyone wishing to
purchase that equipment for their own
training and racing. So while it appears
that “money is no object” in the pro
ranks, in fact the technology and product development teams must take into
consideration the eventual retail cost of
the products they are designing, as these
products are headed straight to the commercial marketplace.
Cycling Aerodynamics
At the top level, from a physics viewpoint, the sport of cycling is relatively
straightforward. The cyclist pushes on
the pedals, and the bike moves forward.
Some of the energy of the cyclist is used
up by deflection of the various components on the bike, some is consumed by
frictional losses in the drivetrain and at the
contact patch between the tires and the
road, but at racing speeds, over 20 mph,
nearly 90% of the rider’s effort is used to
overcome the aerodynamic forces acting
on a rider. Of that, nearly 2/3 of the drag is
due to the rider. For a professional cyclist,
even a 5% reduction in aerodynamic drag
can result in a time savings significant
enough to mean the difference between
1st and 4th place in an Olympic cycling
time trial event.
Photo of the author (front) competing in a triathlon in
Massachusetts.
July 2011
The Sports Innovation Program at MIT
has the good fortune to have access to
the MIT Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel. This
wind tunnel was commissioned in 1938
and has a test area cross section of 7 ft. x
10 ft., just large enough to accommodate
a bike and rider for aerodynamic testing.
Beginning in 1999, I launched a series of
student projects at MIT to develop the
systems necessary to perform research
and testing of cycling aerodynamics.
The concept of wind tunnel testing is
actually quite simple. Commissioned in
1938, The Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel
is a closed circuit wind tunnel, meaning
that the same wind is circulated around
inside of the tunnel, powered by a 2000 hp
motor. The inside of the tunnel is designed
to move the air around the circuit with as
little turbulence and energy loss as possible, so that the air enters the test section
in a smooth, laminar flow condition with a
uniform pressure and speed.
The object under study, in this case the
bike and rider, is mounted in the test section. As the wind blows against and past
the bike and rider, the force exerted by the
wind on the object is measured by a wind
tunnel balance located underneath the
floor of the test section of the wind tunnel.
While simple in concept, like most engineering experimental systems, obtaining accurate, repeatable and useful data
requires attention to every detail, including
the design of the system used to mount
the bike in the wind tunnel and the data
acquisition system. These experiments often include a rider as a test subject, a test
subject that is as interested in the result as
the engineers running the tests. While the
researchers may be interested in the minutia of the data collected in order to gain a
better understanding of the nuances of the
interaction of the air and the test object,
the rider wants one question answered—
“will this make me faster?”.
In 2003, Brian Hoying, at that time an MIT
undergraduate student, was tasked with
the design and construction of the mounting system for bicycle testing in the wind
tunnel as a senior thesis project. Prior to
the start of his project, a couple of prototype concepts had been tried in the wind
tunnel with mixed success. Brian started
(CONTINUED)
his project by evaluating those systems to
understand their benefits and drawbacks,
surveyed both academic literature and the
cycling/triathlon press for any information
available on cycling wind tunnel testing,
and assembled an advisory committee of
both aerodynamic experts and representatives from the cycling industry and requested their input into the design. The result of this preliminary research was a set
of requirements for the new wind tunnel
mount. These requirements included the
ability to safely and securely hold a bicycle
and rider, a maximum of adjustability to
allow for a range of bicycles from smaller
women’s bikes up to a long wheelbase
recumbent bicycle, the ability to spin the
wheels, the ability to measure the rider’s
power output and of course minimize the
aerodynamic interference between the
bike and the mounting system.
The conflict between the first, securely
mounting the bike, and the last requirement, minimal aerodynamic interference
was of course the most difficult consideration. The challenge in mounting any object in a wind tunnel is always the potential
that the mounting system will disturb the
airflow over the object of interest to a
degree such that the resulting data is not
valid. The close proximity between any
portion of the mounting system and the bicycle will result in an altered wind flow. To
minimize this effect, the wind tunnel mount
was designed to connect to the bicycle
at the front and rear axles by gripping the
skewers that hold the wheels on the bike.
Thus, the bike can be mounted in the
wind tunnel in an “as-ridden” condition.
In a significant departure from all previous
designs, widely separated vertical risers
were used to assure that the wake from
the risers would not contact the bike during testing. These risers were adjustable
in height to accommodate a bike with any
wheel size.
Photo of the author refining is time trial position in the MIT Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel.
18
July 2011
(CONTINUED)
format, as well as processed to present
the drag force on the rider normalized
for standard atmospheric conditions and
adjusted for the angle at which the bike is
mounted in the wind tunnel. This normalization corrects for any drift in the atmospheric conditions in the wind tunnel, as
well as small variations in wind speed over
the duration of a test session allowing for
instant run-to-run comparison between
test cases.
Brian Hoying’s thesis project, the wind tunnel bicycle mounting system. A: Front Section, B: Front Arm,
C: Riser, D: Rear Section, E: Rear Arm, F: Wheel Drive Mechanism, G: Threaded Extension,
H: Balance Mounting Plate, I: Length Adjustment.
In order to address the other requirements,
the rig was designed to be adjustable in
length to match the wheelbase requirement for most bikes. The tires mount
against rollers that can be powered to
spin the wheels. For rider testing, a power
measurement system can replace the rollers under the rear tire to record the rider’s
power output during testing.
The entire bike rig sits on a column
designed to interface to the wind tunnel
balance that measures the aerodynamic
forces applied to the rider. In order to
match outdoor conditions of clean airflow
around the bike, a false floor and windshield is placed over the test rig such that
only the mounting points on the test rig
are exposed to the wind, minimizing any
possible interference effects between the
rig and the wind tunnel.
While the data acquisition system for the
19
wind tunnel was already in place, specialized software was desired for the collection and analysis of the data collected
during testing. LabVIEW software is used
for this software interface.
Mark Cote, also a former MIT undergraduate, undertook the development of the
software interface as a special project
beginning in his freshman year. As with
the design of the mounting rig, his project
started with research and discussions with
stakeholders to identify the key requirements for the software system. At its
core, the software needed to record the
data from the wind tunnel, including wind
speed, temperature, pressure and humidity, as well as the forces measured by the
tunnel balance. Since a cyclist pedals
while riding, it is desirable to collect data
over a specified time period and average
that data over several pedal strokes. The
collected data is recorded in both a raw
The wind tunnel software also allows for
projecting an information screen on the
floor of the wind tunnel in front of the
cyclist, as well as a video of the cyclist’s
profile. It is loud in the tunnel, and the
only way to communicate with the cyclist
is via typing commands into the software
that are displayed in front of the rider. The
floor projection provides the cyclist instant
feedback on the test as well as direction
from the wind tunnel test engineer for
adjusting his/her riding position.
Over the years, we have had the opportunity to work with several professional
cyclists and many product manufacturers.
Ivan Basso, one of the top contenders for
this year’s Tour de France spent a day with
us at the wind tunnel in 2004. As a result
of that day’s testing, Barjne Riis, Ivan’s
team director at the time, was quoted by
the Danish press stating that the results
of the test will enable Basso to improve
his time trial by up to 3 minutes in a 40-50
kilometer race. In a race often decided by
seconds, the potential in gaining minutes
in a time trial stage can provide a rider an
enormous advantage in a multi-day stage
race such as the Tour.
In addition to riders, our wind tunnel testing has been very influential on a number
of bicycle products that have been used in
races, including bike frames, wheels and
helmets by Specialized, bike frames by
Cervélo and handlebars by Oval Concepts.
July 2011
(CONTINUED)
Screen shots of the bicycle testing software (a) the operator screen and (b) the rider
feedback screen.
Epilogue
Wind tunnel testing of cyclists and bicycle
equipment continues today at MIT with
new students getting involved every year,
developing new test systems for specific
equipment, as well as continuing to test
riders for aerodynamic positioning. I am
certainly pleased that the efforts of our
work has had an influence in the design
of products and the position of riders that
have appeared at the top levels of triathlon
and cycling, and has resulted in the publication of student theses and conference
proceedings. However, I would say what
pleases me the most is to have had the
opportunity to work with many students
over the years. Many keep in touch on a
regular basis. I find this contact invaluable, as it helps to shape the educational
aspects of the program. While some of my
students have gone on to pursue careers
in sports engineering, others have gone
on to other careers in science, engineering and business. For those who have
pursued science or engineering careers, in
both sports and other concentrations, their
experience in applying their fundamentals
of engineering in developing test apparatus and performing experiments was
surely a valuable experience. For all of the
students, the soft-skills of teamwork, innovation process, project management, and
interfacing with stakeholders with a variety
of viewpoints and objectives have proven
invaluable in their professional lives.
Former MIT Student Mark
Cote (kneeling left), the author
(kneeling right), team members,
staff equipment suppliers and
consultants for the CSC cycling
team after a wind tunnel testing
session in 2004.
20
July 2011
One More Time: How Do You Motivate Engineers?
By Major A.J. Ramthun, PhD Student in Human Sciences & Leadership Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
A renowned management researcher and
consultant, Frederick Herzberg spent 50
years producing theories and practical
methods aimed at providing leaders and
managers with actionable approaches to
understand the nature of and induce work
motivation within employees. Herzberg’s
Harvard Business Review article, “One
More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees,” represented one of the publication’s
most reprinted works, exceeding 1.2 million copies through 1987 at the height of
its popularity. Upon his death in 2000, several leading publications, such as the New
York Times, characterized Herzberg as the
most influential management theorist and
consultant of his time.
In the 1950s, Herzberg studied the nature
of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction of
Pittsburgh, PA area engineers. Conducting
one-on-one interviews with engineering
professionals, he found they were motivated to work by intrinsic factors contributing
to their personal psychological growth,
such as opportunities for advancement,
prospects for achievement, receiving recognition, obtaining increased responsibility, and the overall quality of their work. He
also discovered engineers were dissatisfied (not motivated) by extrinsic factors
related to their work environment, such
as salary levels, availability of bonuses,
company policies and administration
measures, interpersonal relations (management, peers, etc.), and poor overall
working conditions.
Herzberg used these findings to form a
model of work motivation describing a
dual nature of man, in which two sets of
needs govern humans at work: needs for
pain and unpleasantness avoidance (job
dissatisfaction) and human psychological
needs focusing on personal growth (job
satisfaction). In this dual nature design, the
factors creating job satisfaction are separate and distinct from those producing
dissatisfaction; Herzberg characterized job
dissatisfaction factors as hygiene factors
and job satisfaction factors as motivators.
He analogized the work-related environmental factors creating job dissatisfaction,
such as company policies and administration, supervision, salary, interpersonal
relations, and working conditions, to the
principles of medical hygiene: proper
hygiene attention reduced the chances of
contracting an illness, however, the same
hygiene practices did not cure diseases.
As a result, he contended leaders attending to hygiene factors of employees, those
extrinsic to work and unable to produce
job satisfaction, did not result in the motivation outcomes. Rather, he maintained
managers attending to employee’s factors
providing growth achieve motivation
outcomes.
Herzberg’s initial research and theories
were used by leaders in the engineering
field from the 1960s-1990s to design work
programs meeting employee needs. Fifty
years following Herzberg’s initial research,
some have argued that the factors contributing to motivation at work have changed.
Do interpersonal relations now contribute
to the growth of engineers? Are their new
factors stemming from the information
age causing your dissatisfaction at work?
Modern workplace technologies, objectives, and demographics greatly contrast
the engineering field of the 1950s. As a
result, a reexamination of the Herzberg’s
concepts is required to better guide leaders and managers in the engineering field
on the nature of your motivation at work.
To this end, management and leadership
researchers at the University of NebraskaLincoln want to help members of the Nebraska Society of Professional Engineers
find a modern answer to the timeless
question: What motivates you at work?
Dr. Jay Barbuto (management field leading researcher) and Major Ale Ramthun
(United States Marine Corps officer &
AV-8B Harrier jet pilot – PhD student) are
attempting to collect job satisfaction data
from members of the Nebraska Society of
Professional Engineers in order to discover
the factors motivating engineers today.
They have developed a 5-minute online
survey to measure individuals’ present
motivation and dissatisfaction at work. They are attempting to have 1,000+ working engineering professionals to complete
the survey in order to truly understand the
factors driving work motivation in the field
of engineering. The results of this study
shall be published this fall in The Nebraska
Engineer in order to provide you with a
true profile on your industry’s work motivation. The feedback shall enable you to better understand what motivates and fails to
motivate those working in the engineering
field. If you are interested in contributing
to their research, please read the brief
consent form below and click the weblink to begin the survey. • The purpose of this study is to measure
job attitudes at work. We respectfully
request your participation in this study
in order to provide information relating
to your current job attitudes within your
profession. The results from your participation will help describe what factors
predict job satisfaction and dissatisfaction in the modern era across a variety of
work professions.
• There are no known risks or discomforts
associated with this research. Participation in this study will require only a
minimal amount of your time and effort
through the completion of a 14 question,
5-minute electronic questionnaire. Your
participation in this study is completely
voluntary. All participants must be 19
years of age or older and must not presently be students of the authors.
• All the data gathered during this study
will be kept strictly confidential. Personal
data (names, address, etc.) will not be
asked or collected. Only the answers to
each question will be stored on a secure
21
July 2011
One More Time: How Do You Motivate Engineers?
survey website. The results of this study
may be published in management
journals or presented at professional
meetings; if this happens, the identity
of participants shall be kept strictly
confidential.
• You are free to decide not to participate
in this study or to exit the survey at any
time. Your decision shall not result in any
loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.
•Y
ou may ask any questions concerning
this research either before agreeing to
participate or during the research study. If you have any questions that have
not been answered by the investigators about your rights as a part of this
research or wish to report any concerns
about the study, you may contact the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Institutional Review Board (IRB) at telephone
(402) 472-6965.
(CONTINUED)
• Visiting the internet link below
serves as your consent to the terms
of this research and takes you to the
online questionnaire form. Thank you
very much for your consideration of
this matter.
Survey Link:
http://www.surveymonkey.
com/s/GLJ2CJX UNL selects Rensselaer’s Timothy Wei as Engineering dean
Reproduced with permission from the Office of University Communications, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Timothy Wei, professor and head of the
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and
Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., has been
selected as the new dean of the College of
Engineering at the University of NebraskaLincoln.
Ellen Weissinger, senior vice chancellor for
academic affairs, announced the selection.
Wei took over his duties at UNL on June 1,
pending approval of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. Wei succeeds
David Allen, who stepped down June 30,
2010, after nearly eight years in the post.
James O’Hanlon is the interim dean of the
College of Engineering.
Wei (pronouced “way”) has been head
of Rensselaer’s mechanical aerospace
and nuclear engineering department
since 2006, and was interim dean from
June 2008 to August 2009. His research
interests are in coupling fundamental
fluid dynamics experiments with critical
technologies of socio-technological importance. He earned his bachelor’s degree
from Cornell, his master’s from Lehigh
University, both in mechanical engineering;
and his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering
from the University of Michigan.
“Dr. Wei is an ideal match for UNL’s collaborative leadership culture and for the
college’s high aspirations,” Weissinger
said. “He is a student-focused academic
22
administrator, an accomplished researcher
who understands the needs of industry
and a person of deep integrity. He’s also
a Michigan graduate with a keen understanding of what it will mean for us to
build a Big Ten engineering school. The
campus community, and all Nebraskans,
will be proud to have Tim as our engineering dean.”
Wei was one of five finalists chosen by a
search committee.
Before joining Rensselaer in 2006, Wei
worked at Rutgers University as professor
of mechanical and aerospace engineering.
There, he oversaw the formation of multidisciplinary, university-industry research
teams that focus on the fundamental
issues behind key technological problems.
The teams have developed joint proposals
on such wide-ranging topics as advanced
materials manufacturing research, cleanburning coal, and arterial disease.
Wei has pursued experimental fluid
dynamics in a vast range of applications,
from the effect of flow on endothelial cells
to the use of polymer additives to reduce
drag. His research has attracted millions in
grant funding from such agencies as the
Office of Naval Research, NASA, the National Institutes of Health and the National
Science Foundation.
He has advised a number of student
airplane
and car
teams participating
in national
competitions, and
with USA
Swimming, he
employed
state-ofDr. Timothy Wei
the-art flow
measurement techniques to improve the
performance of swimmers in the 2008
Olympic Games.
“I am thrilled to be joining the students,
staff and faculty of UNL,” Wei said. “This
really is a great opportunity to work with
some gifted and committed people in
building a community around a vision we
create that is greater than the sum of the
individual parts. As we move into the Big
Ten, we will collectively design and build
transcendent paradigms for engineering
education and research focused toward
the 22nd century. I can think of no greater
opportunity and am so grateful and
humbled to be selected for this position.”
Wei is a fellow of both the American
Society of Mechanical Engineering, the
American Physical Society and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
July 2011
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Summer 2011 The Nebraska Engineer

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