February 2004 - College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

FOCUSCollege of Engineering and Physical Sciences February 2004, VOL. 24, NO. 2Kingsbury projectstarting soonDouglas PrinceThe first steps toward the long awaited expansionand renovation of Kingsbury Hall areunder way!The movement of McDaniel Drive, the accessroad behind Kingsbury, is nearly complete,making room for a new wing to be built as part ofthe $50.6 million project. The entire 55-year-oldbuilding will be renovated and 20,000 assignablesquare feet will be added to give the new Kingsbury105,000 square feet of modern, usable space. Thestate legislature provided $44.6 million for theproject two years ago and UNH has so far raisednearly a third of the remaining $6 million fromprivate donations.Rerouting approximately 1,000 feet of the roadrequired a month of blasting to remove more than5,000 cubic yards of ledge. The blasting at timesshook adjacent buildings, causing challenges forthose operating sensitive equipment in nearbyParsons, and Dean Arthur Greenberg jokinglylikened the thunderous roar to the opening salvospreceding an invasion.SUPPORT THE KINGSBURY RENOVATION PROJECTSee page 12.Two excavators sit in what is now the newportion of McDaniel Drive. A 1,000-footsection of the road was rerouted to makeroom for the $50.6-million Kingsburyrenovation and expansion project.In preparation for the project, the Departmentof Computer Science moved into the third floorof Nesmith Hall in August. “This was a tumultuousevent,” writes Computer Science Chair PhilHatcher in this issue’s Department Notes, “whichincluded moving furniture, file cabinets, books,and all departmental computing equipment.”The entire Engineering Library —approximately45,000 volumes including 150 periodicals—has been temporarily moved to four separatelocations all in less than two weeks during theholiday break. The most used parts of the library’scollection now occupy a basketball court in therear of New Hampshire Hall. Other volumes are inDimond Library, the Chemistry Library in ParsonsHall and the library storage space on Leavitt Lane,but everything that was available before the moveis still available, according to Librarian Emily Poworoznek;it just may take a bit longer to get it.Continued on page 2UNH PHYSICISTEXPANDS VISION OFMRI WITH GASResearcher polarizing xenon toproduce better lung imagesLisa NugentIn the last 20 years, magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) has opened a window on the humanbody, showing our inner workings in elegant detail,but there is one important area MRI cannotsee—the lungs.UNH physicist Bill Hersman is beginning tocorrect MRI’s blind spot, however. Funded by $3.7million in grants from the National Institutes ofHealth, he is altering a gas found in air to expandMRI’s vision to the lungs.With a $2.7 million, four-year grant from theNational Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI),Hersman, a professor of physics, will work with imagingexperts from Brigham and Women’s Hospital inBoston to perfect new technology for polarizing xenon.Used in MRI, polarized xenon promises to benefit millionswith chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, thefourth leading cause of death in the United States.“Using xenon gas with magnetic resonanceimaging could result in earlier detection of lungproblems,” says Hersman. “There’s a significantpotential for medical cost savings by extending thefrontiers of noninvasive diagnostics.”Routine MRI can’t see into the lungs becauseit relies on the magnetic properties of hydrogen,found in most human tissue as the “H” in H 2O.Air-filled lung tissues appear hazy in conventionalMR images. By filling the lungs with a polarizedgas, scientists hope to offer an unprecedented viewof the human lung.Continued on page 4

2MessageAs I write this column for you today, thewind whistles outside my Kingsbury Hallwindow and the wind chill is about -30° F. Andwhile those of you who live in Berlin or ski inthe White Mountains may scoff at these mildconditions, they are a far cry from winter inmy previous home, Charlotte, North Carolina.Nonetheless, the Kingsbury Hall project movesforward. The rerouting of McDaniel Drive iswell underway. The Computer Science Departmentmoved to temporary quarters in NesmithHall at the end of the spring, 2003 semester.The Engineering, Mathematics, and ComputerScience Library moved into temporaryquarters in New Hampshire Hall. We arein the process of obtaining a high-resolutiondigital image of the wonderfulArt-Deco John Hatch mural in theKingsbury Library, which depicts thedouble-edged sword of technologicalprogress, both as “insurance” thatthis mural will always exist and as asource of images for the building andthe College. The University has alsoengaged a conservator so that the actualmural (and wall) will be preserved anddisplayed in the renovated building andwe are hoping to raise some funds for thisspecific project.There have been to date some very significantcontributions to the Kingsbury Hall project. Asyou may recall, the state provided $44.6 million,but this left the renovation/expansion project $6million short. The UNH Foundation has madeKingsbury fund-raising its primary goal this yearand has raised almost one-third of the neededtotal. BAE Systems donated $1 million towardthis project—a wonderful vote of confidence inUNH and, in the long run, a catalyst for advancedcollaboration with BAE, including location of theBAE Systems Advanced Technology Center on thesecond floor of Kingsbury Hall.In addition to the $6-million fund drive forthe building led by the UNH Foundation, there issimultaneously a $2.3 million effort to raise fundsFOCUS is published twice a year bythe Uni ver si ty of New Hamp shire’s Col legeof En gi neer ing and Phys i cal Sciences. Yourcomments and suggestions are welcome.Please write to us at:FOCUS, CEPS Dean’s Of fice, Kingsbury Hall,33 Col lege Rd., Durham, NH 03824.Or e-mail us at focus.newsletter@unh.eduEditor: Robert EmroDesigner: Bridget FinneganContributor: Dave Todaroessage from the Deanfor instructional laboratory equipment and buildingfurniture. Dr. Joe Paterno, chair of the CEPSIndustrial Advisory Council, and council memberEd Bergeron took the lead in starting a plaquesfund-raising campaign (see back page). A preliminarymailing was sent in November, 2003 and todate we have received nearly $73,000 in checks andpledges in response. Obviously, we still have a longway to go in this effort. I thank you in advance foryour contributions to this fund.The newly established Joan and James LeitzelMathematics, Science, and Engineering EducationCenter, a partnership among CEPS, the Collegeof Life Sciences and Agriculture and theCollege of Liberal Arts, with ProfessorKaren Graham, Departmentof Mathematics, as director, wasjust awarded a $1.9 million grantfrom NSF. The Center for Coastaland Ocean Mapping (CCOM),directed by Professor Larry Mayer,received front page coverage in theSunday Boston Globe for its vitalwork in mapping the continentalshelf of the United States. Membersof the Mechanical Engineering, Physics,and Chemistry departments have formeda nanomanufacturing center that is part of a largerconsortium with Northeastern University and theUniversity of Massachusetts at Lowell. The consortiumcame within a “hair’s breadth” of becoming anNSF Center of Excellence but is back in the runningthis year and survived the first round.Approaching its fi rst anniversary, the CEPSAlumni Society has about 100 members. The societysponsored several talks and a dinner duringReunion Weekend in June, was at Homecomingin October and had a Spaghetti Dinner/Hockeynight in January. Plans are under way for the nextReunion Weekend, where the society will present itsfirst CEPS Distinguished Alumni Award. The boardis looking for event organizers. Those interestedshould contact Associate Dean Robert M. Henry,at robert.henry@unh.edu or 603-862-1781.Check outthe CEPSvideo on the Web!—Art Greenbergwww.ceps.unh.eduKingsbury–continued from frontThe library’s temporary quarters are about1,200 square feet smaller than its space in Kingsbury,but when the renovations are complete, thenew College of Engineering and Physical Scienceslibrary will more than double in size to more than11,000 square feet.“We’re going to be squinched for a few years,but it’s really going to be wonderful when we havethe opportunity to give people what they reallywant and need,” says Poworoznek. “We will havea more pleasant space for people to work in thanpeople have had for a long time.”Furnishing the new Kingsbury and equippingits labs will cost an additional $2.3 million anda plaque campaign was launched in the fall of2003 to meet that need. Contributions to datetotal nearly $73,000, including two large pledgestotaling $40,000.Lee, N.H. businessman Jim Banks, an electricalengineering instructor at UNH in the early1970s before leaving to start a manufacturingbusiness, is giving $25,000 spread over five yearsto help purchase components for Electrical andComputer Engineering (ECE) student projects,something Banks has been doing for several years.“I’m really in it for the students to have a betterexperience,” he says. “Learning is all about havingthe opportunity to fail as well as succeed and thenmaking things work.”Banks has also pledged $125,000 to the $6-million “bricks and mortar” campaign. An alumnusof a well-known engineering school, Bankssays he chose to give to UNH because he felt themoney would be better spent. “(My alma mater)tends to put money into things that I don’t thinkeducate students,” he explains. “I have a feelingthat a dollar spent at UNH buys a lot more forstudents, and a lot more for New Hampshire, thana dollar spent somewhere else.”Plus, Banks has personal experience of the constraintsfaculty and students deal with on a dailybasis in Kingsbury. “It was incredibly difficult todo things right in there because the infrastructurewasn’t right and they’ve been putting up with thatfor the last 30 years,” says Banks. “I think its timethe students got the benefit of something better.”A 1977 graduate of civil engineering, RobTillotson (who is also an architiect) is intimatelyfamiliar with Kingsbury, which motivated him tocontribute $50,000 toward the building project.As president of Oak Point Associates, an engineering,architectural, and planning firm, Tillotson isfrequently on campus and often stops by Kingsburyto visit professors. “I thought it was about timeKingsbury was getting renovated and wanted tohelp the process,” he says. “There’s always been agreat engineering program taught out of Kingsburyand I can just imagine how much better it couldbe in updated facilities.”

UNH Celebrates BAESYSTEMS Partnershipwith CEPS Open HouseBusiness and government leaders seelatest engineering, science researchThe University of New Hampshire celebratedits new partnership with BAE SystemsNovember 13 with an open house in KingsburyHall showcasing the work of students andfaculty from the College of Engineering andPhysical Sciences.The theme for the evening was “The Power ofPartnerships” between business, government, andthe University. “BAE Systems didn’t get to be asgood as it is by making bad decisions, and we areproud to be one of their latest excellent decisions,”said UNH Foundation President Young DawkinsIII at a dinner following the open house.BAE Systems Information and ElectronicWarfare Systems (IEWS) unit, located in Nashua,had just pledged $1 million for renovating andexpanding Kingsbury, CEPS’ home. The statelegislature provided $44.6 million for the $50.6million project two years ago through the KnowledgeEconomy Education Plan for New Hampshire(KEEP NH) bill. UNH is raising the remainderfrom private donations.Executives from BAE Systems and other businesses,including Fisher Scientific International,Fidelity Investments, and Beswick Engineering,talked with students who built the UNH minibajavehicle, an annual entry in the Society ofAutomotive Engineers’ collegiate design competition,and a beach wheelchair created as a seniordesign project.“BAE Systems didn’t get to beas good as it is by making baddecisions, and we are proud tobe one of their latest excellentdecisions.”—Young Dawkins IIIPollution Prevention interns were also on handto discuss how they had cut waste and saved moneyfor regional businesses, as were members of thegroup Students Without Borders (formerly EngineersWithout Borders), who designed and builtdrinking water and wastewater systems for a smallvillage in Thailand in 2003 (see page 8).After viewing the student displays, guests,including angel investor George McQuilken, NHBusiness and Industry Association President JohnCrosier and NH Rep. John Thomas, chairman ofthe Science, Technology, and Energy committee,heard a presentation about the “Atomic Age” muralin the Engineering Library.Dan Murray, ME ‘80, director ofengineering for information dominancesystems at BAE Systems in Nashua, talkswith mechanical engineering studentsDana Klein (left) and Dan Howley (right)about the UNH mini-baja vehicle.Doug PrinceCreated by longtime UNH art professor JohnHatch, the mural depicts—literally—the doubleedgedsword of modern technology, with violentimages of war on the left side of the sword andpeaceful images on the right. Painted in the 1950s,the mural has become an important symbol of theCollege and will be preserved at considerable expenseduring renovations, which will more thandouble space in the library.Two short presentations by CEPS facultyresearchers followed. One was by math professorKevin Short, whose encryption research led to thespin out of Chaoticom. The company has developeda better way to compress audio and videofiles, allowing them to be sent more rapidly over theInternet and to cellular phones (see page 9).The second faculty presentation featured Project54, the high-tech police cruiser that integratesa car’s electronics with a single keyboard and voicecommands. There are currently about 90 Project54 cruisers on patrol in New Hampshire. CEPSElectrical and Computer Engineering researchersdemonstrated a biometric system they are developingfor use with Project 54. It verifies a person’sidentity by matching a fingerprint, taken by aPollution preventionintern April Duhaimetells BAE SystemsPresident Galen Hoand Mary Huntley,manager,Communityand State Relations, howshe saved money forVelcro USA by increasingrecycling at the company.portable scanner, with a copy stored on a driver’slicense magnetic strip.Following the dinner, IEWS President GalenHo, who is also president of BAE System’s Informationand Electronic Systems Integration unit,remarked that the mural in the library remindedhim of the play Copenhagen, which asks the fundamentalquestion—should science and technologybe used for war or for peace?“The answer is both,” said Ho. “Science andtechnology must be used for the betterment ofmankind, but it must also be used to protect whatwe have accomplished from those who seek todestroy it.”And that message, said Ho, dovetails nicely withthe IEWS motto “We Protect Those Who ProtectUs.” And, he said, UNH students trained at the BAESystems Center for Advanced Technology in the newKingsbury will help fulfill that mission.“That’s an awesome charge,” said Ho. “We can’tdo it alone. We need—and expect—an invigoratingpartnership with UNH to help us meet thatobjective. It’s a great goal, and we invite you toshare our vision.”Douglas Princewww.ceps.unh.edu 3

NNHNN N Nn+NHN MMNH HNNHNHtachpyrUNH GrantedPatent for CancerTreatmentNew kind of chemotherapy kills cancer cellsThe University of New Hampshire has beengranted a U.S. patent for a new way to killcancer cells.Roy Planalp, associate professor of chemistryin the UNH College of Engineering and PhysicalSciences, invented the novel chemotherapyin collaboration with researchers at the NationalInstitutes of Health (NIH) and Wake Forest UniversityHealth Sciences in Winston-Salem, N.C.,which share the patent with UNH.“What the chelators do is comein and rob the iron bank just asthe cell is making a withdrawal,so the cell makes anotherwithdrawal.”“This invention is exciting because it hassignificant potential for cancer therapy,” saysRobert Dalton, director of the UNH Office ofIntellectual Property Management. “It also haspotential for other therapeutic areas as well.”Planalp and his collaborators, funded bya grant from NIH's National Cancer Institute,found that they could kill cancer cells bystarving them of the essential nutrient iron.The treatment employs molecules calledchelators (KEE-late-ors), which bind tightlywith metal. The chelators that best bind ironare in the tachpyr family of substances andare shaped like an open, six-fingered claw.They suck iron in and then snap closed, like aspring-loaded trap.“Iron is like money. It’s an essential nutrientthat’s not always bioavailable, so cells storeiron and release it as needed,” explains Planalp.4—Roy Planalp[M(tachpyr)]n+Besides developing cures forcancer, Roy Planalp, associateprofessor of chemistry, hosts theworld music show heard Sundayson WUNH, 91.3 FM.n+”What the chelators do is come in and rob theiron bank just as the cell is making a withdrawal,so the cell makes another withdrawal, and ifthere are more chelators, that gets robbed too.This continues until the bank is empty and thecell can’t function anymore.”Encased by the chelator, the iron is nolonger available to perform its role in vitaljobs like transporting oxygen, and the cancercell dies. The chelator, still holding tightly tothe iron, is quickly removed from the bloodby the liver and expelled from the body. Sideeffects are expected to be negligible as ironchelators are already used to treat people withtoo much iron in their blood.Planalp and his colleagues stumbled onthe cancer-fighting potential of chelators whileexperimenting with using them as diagnosticagents. While testing a chelator bound to gallium,a metal that shows up well in CAT scans,he found it discarded the gallium in favor ofthe iron needed by cells, causing them to die.“We didn’t expect this,” said Planalp, “so wedecided to pursue it.”Animal testing at NIH showed that ironchelators are effective at killing several kindsof cancer cells and they are quickly removedby the liver—too quickly, in fact. Planalp andhis collaborators are currently investigatingways to either keep iron chelators in the bodylonger or speed them up so they can finish thejob before they are removed.Awarded in July, the patent is now beingmarketed by Wake Forest to companies thatcan turn the idea into a marketable product.Like existing chemotherapy drugs, ironchelators will most likely be used in achemical “cocktail” containing other chemotherapyagents.Hersman–continued from frontResearch initially focused on polarized helium,but the kind of helium needed is not naturally occurringand is very expensive. Xenon, a gas withanesthetic properties similar to nitrous oxide, ismuch cheaper. It also diffuses more slowly anddissolves into lung tissue, both of which make itbetter at revealing damaged areas. But scientistshave lacked the means of producing large quantitiesof highly polarized xenon.Hersman was familiar with gas polarizing techniquesthrough his studies of the internal structureof atomic nuclei, so he decided to tackle the problem.Well-funded researchers were already workingon it, but Hersman’s team, starting with a 2-yeargrant of just $150,000, leads the pack. “We haveexceeded the capability of multimillion dollar effortselsewhere,” says Hersman, “mainly because we had aspectacularly good idea that really worked.”Helium is polarized by mixing it with vaporizedatoms of rubidium in a glass cylinder and exposingthe mixture to a polarized laser. Like a clutchtransferring power from a car’s engine to its wheels,the rubidium transfers polarization from the laserto the helium before cooling and returning to itssolid state. To increase the chances that the laserwill transfer its polarization to the rubidium atomsthrough random collisions, the gaseous mixture iskept at high pressure so its atoms will be denselypacked into the cylinder. Other researchers havebeen trying to adapt this process for xenon, but,faced with a shoestring budget, Hersman broughta little Yankee ingenuity to bear.Hersman knew that rubidium would transfer itspolarization more efficiently at low pressure by combiningwith xenon to form short-lived molecules. Butfirst he would have to come up with a better way topolarize the rubidium. His solution was amazinglysimple. Instead of pointing the laser in the same directionas the gas flow, he pointed it against the gas flow.He also made the glass cylinder much longer to give therubidium more time to be exposed to the laser.“We just approached it with a new sheet ofpaper and started with flowing things in oppositedirections,” explains Hersman.Hersman’s technique produces more highlypolarized xenon than those of his competitors inGermany, Japan, and the United States. NIH’sNational Institute for Biomedical Imaging andBioengineering has awarded Hersman a separate,$1-million grant to study the fundamental physicsbehind his approach.At first, Hersman’s team will polarize xenon inhis UNH lab and transport it to Boston for usein trials at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Keptbelow its freezing point and in the presence of astrong magnetic field, the xenon can remain polarizedfor nearly a day. In the last year of the project,the researchers will build a xenon polarizer for thehospital. Hersman envisions a day when regionalcenters will polarize xenon for use in area hospitals,while a few larger hospitals may have theirown polarizers. He estimates that the apparatusfor polarizing and storing the xenon will cost afraction of one MRI unit.

Civil Engineer wins NSF Career AwardUnderstanding asphaltWhat do asphalt, rocket fuel, and SillyPutty have in common? All are “viscoelastic,”meaning they behave a little likea rubber band and a little like honey. Like arubber band, these materials return to theiroriginal shape after being stretched, but likehoney, they move slowly.Understanding how Silly Putty reacts tostress and strain is not of great concern, butunderstanding how asphalt behaves is veryimportant for engineering, economic, andsafety reasons. Jo Daniel, alumna (BS ‘94) andassistant professor of civil engineering, wasrecently awarded a $400,000 National ScienceFoundation Career Award to do just that.During the next five years, Daniel and severalgraduate students will investigate how theresults of different tests for asphalt strengthrelate to one another. Researchers use a numberof tests to determine the strength of viscoelasticmaterials. Each test uses a differentsample shape, from cylindrical to rectangular,and a different method of applying load, fromsimple crushing tests to complicated triaxialloading to simulate real-world conditions. Allproduce useful results, but there is currentlyno way to tie them all together.“We’ll get a more fundamental understandingof the behavior of asphalt, as well,”says Daniel. “That could help design longerlasting roads and give a better idea of howlong materials last, so maintenance can betimed to avoid major reconstruction.”Daniel joins five other CEPS facultycurrently working on NSF Career grants,including Carmela Amato-Wierda, associateprofessor of material science; Karsten Pohl,assistant professor of physics; Elizabeth Varki,associate professor of computer science; LimingGe, professor of math; and Robert Griffin,assistant professor of earth sciences.Douglas PrincePerry SmithIgor Tsukrov, an associate professor ofmechanical engineering, mixes humor andchalk dust to grab the attention ofhis students.ME Professor wins Teaching Excellence awardIt’s no jokeThe silence in Igor Tsukrov’s classroom ispunctuated only by the staccato sound ofchalk on blackboard as he quickly jots downthe solutions for simultaneous linear equations.It is just after 8 a.m.—early for collegestudents, and early for Tsukrov, too. Still, hekeeps the class of more than 40 engineeringseniors and graduate students engaged in thedifficult task of learning complex algebra, andthe chalk is one of his tricks.Tsukrov doesn’t need to get his handscovered with chalk dust. He could easily preparePowerPoint slides instead, but he saysnothing beats the old-fashioned blackboard.Students have to copy the lesson quicklybefore he erases to make room for yet morecomplex equations. It’s early, but the adrenalineis flowing as the students race to keep up.And, because they have to write the materialdown, they will remember it later.“I did try PowerPoint, because it would beso much easier,” said Tsukrov, a 39-year-oldengineer originally from Dnepropetrovsk,Ukraine, a military-industrial center consideredso top-secret by the Soviets that it did not appearon published maps. But, he continues inan Eastern European accent, “I found that whenI have it on the PowerPoint, they fall asleep andthey don’t get the material. Everything is nice,until they have to do the homework. This way,they work with me and see me sweating andit’s kind of an interaction.”While these sleepy looking students mightnot yet realize it, in the coming years they willcome to appreciate Tsukrov’s style. “Igor is certainlyan outstanding professor. His enthusiasmis inspiring and contagious,” says formerstudent Aaron Sakash, now a mechanical designengineer at Heidelberg Web Systems inDurham. “He has this ability to maintain theattention of the class. He doesn’t just lecture.He gets the class involved and ensures thateveryone understands the material.”Tsukrov’s research is in three areas: themicromechanics of composite materials, suchas those found in airplane wings and satellites,and how they behave under stress; fish cagesused in the open ocean, which must be strongenough to withstand nine-meter waves, butnot too rigid, or the fish will be smashedagainst the netting; and the phenomena involvedin the manufacture of the tiny copperelectrical connectors used in microchips.“He is very prolific in his publications,which span several areas,” says mechanicalengineering chair Barbaros Celikkol, “andhe’s able to bring this research home to thestudents.”There are some basic rules to teaching,says Tsukrov. “If the lecture is an hour and20 minutes, after 20 minutes, you have to tella joke, or they will fall asleep.” Telling jokescomes easy for Tsukrov. While at the Instituteof Geotechnical Mechanics in Dnepropetrovsk,he competed on a comedy team. At the time,competitions akin to Whose Line is It Anyway?were hugely popular and Tsukrov’s team madeit to the nationally televised finals twice.Tsukrov stresses, however, that followingthe rules does not guarantee successful teaching.“The rules are not enough,” he says. “Youhave to like it.”www.ceps.unh.edu 5

(Front row) Jennifer Jacobs, Erin Santini Bell and Tom Attard. (Rear) Silas Beane, JimmyRaeder and Eric Grinberg.CEPS FACULTY WELCOME NEW ADDITIONSCivE, Physics and Math get new profsTOM ATTARD, assistant professor of civil engineering,comes from Arizona State University, where he taughtreinforced concrete design and statics. Attard receiveda Ph.D. in structural dynamics and mechanics fromArizona State in 2003. His current research interestsare in structural dynamics, random vibrations andperformance-based seismic engineering using optimizationalgorithms in the prediction of structuralresponses to earthquakes.SILAS BEANE, assistant professor of physics, comesfrom the University of Washington where he was aresearch assistant professor and a fellow at the Instituteof Nuclear Theory. Beane received a Ph.D. in physicsfrom the University of Texas at Austin in 1994. Hisresearch is aimed at linking nuclear and hadronicphysics and Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD)—the gauge field theory of quarks and gluons thatunderlies all hadronic and nuclear phenomena. He isespecially interested in making contact between thesimplest nuclear systems, which involve two nucleons,and QCD using lattice methods.ERIN SANTINI BELL, assistant professor of civilengineering, comes from The Thornton-TomasettiGroup, where she was a structural engineer, and TuftsUniversity, where she was a research assistant. Bellreceived a Ph.D. in structural engineering from Tuftsin 2003. Her research interests are on the use of nondestructivetesting for structural condition assessmentof in-service highway bridges. She is also interested incontinuing to enhance engineering education at boththe elementary and secondary education level.AMITAVA BHATTACHARJEE, Peter T. Paul Chair ofSpace Science within the Institute for the Study ofEarth, Oceans, and Space and the Department ofPhysics, comes from the University of Iowa. He isalso director of the Center for Magnetic ReconnectionStudies, a multi-institutional consortium involvingthe University of New Hampshire, the Universityof Chicago, and the University of Texas at Austin.Bhattacharjee received a Ph.D. in theoretical plasmaDouglas Princephysics from Princeton University in 1981, andtaught applied physics at Columbia University fornine years. His research interests include magnetohydrodynamics,magnetic reconnection, turbulencetheory and singularity formation, free-electron lasertheory, and dusty plasma theory.ERIC GRINBERG, professor and chair of Mathematicsand Statistics, comes from Temple University, wherehe was associate dean of the College of Science andTechnology and graduate chair in the Departmentof Mathematics. Grinberg received a Ph.D. fromHarvard University in 1983. His research interestsinclude integral geometry and Radon transforms,including the mathematics behind imaging devicessuch as Computed Tomography scanners and MRI;as well as geometric inequalities for convex bodies,several complex variables, and geometric analysis.JENNIFER JACOBS, assistant professor of civil engineering,comes from the University of Florida whereshe was an assistant professor in the Departmentof Civil Engineering and Coastal Engineering.Jacobs received a Ph.D. in civil and environmentalengineering from Cornell University in 1997. Awater resources engineer, her research interests arein the area of ecohydrology, watershed hydrologyand the use of remote-sensing data to characterizesoil moisture dynamics and to enhance the predictionof rainfall-runoff relationships and land-surfaceexchange of water.JOACHIM “JIMMY” RAEDER, associate professor ofphysics, comes from the University of California,Los Angeles, where he was an associate research geophysicistat the Institute of Geophysics and PlanetaryPhysics. Raeder received a Ph.D. in geophyicsand applied mathematics from the University ofCologne in Germany in 1989. His research interestsinclude solar-terrestrial relationships, plasmas andmagnetic fields in space, solar wind-magnetosphereionosphere-thermospherecoupling, geomagneticactivity, and geomagnetic storms.UNH ProfessorDiscoversSeamount onArctic CruiseTrip shows ocean-mapping sonar works infrozen watersUsing state-of-the-art ocean-mapping technologies,a team of scientists from theUniversity of New Hampshire has discoveredan undersea mountain in arctic waters north ofBarrow, Alaska, where current charts show onlya small knoll.The team, led by Larry Mayer, director of theCenter for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at UNH,detected the seamount last summer, while cruisingaboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy, a420-ft ice breaker. Mayer has submitted an applicationto the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to namethe mountain for the Healy.This seamount abruptly rises more than 3,000meters from the ocean floor to about 925 metersof depth. While mapping the seamount, the cruiseteam also discovered depths over 4,000 meters,depths that have not previously been measuredanywhere in that area of the Arctic Ocean.The team of scientists from UNH, the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA), the Naval Research Lab, theNavy’s Arctic Submarine Lab, andguest scientists from Denmarkand Sweden, were testing thefeasibility of multi-beam sonarmapping of ice-covered watersfrom a single ship. The cruiseteam mapped 1,530 nauticalmiles, significantly exceeding precruiseexpectations.The cruise was the United States’first Law of the Sea ocean-mapping surveyin the Arctic Ocean. Compared to the oldermaps, the new data from this cruise depict muchmore complex, detailed and—from a Law of theSea perspective—advantageous bathymetry, orseafloor topography.6

The U.S. mapping program for the Law ofthe Sea began 18 months ago, with fundingchampioned by Senator Judd Gregg of NewHampshire. The initial effort provided for astudy to determine the availability of existingdata for Law of the Sea purposes, and to identifywhere additional mapping would be required.This summer, ocean mapping surveys werebegun on areas, including the Arctic, identifiedin the study.Article 76 of the United Nations Conventionon the Law of the Sea provides a mechanismfor nations to claim rights to their continentalshelf and slope beyond the limits of their currentExclusive Economic Zones. To support suchclaims, nations must present, among otherthings, bathymetric data establishing thelocation of the 2,500-meter curve andthe foot of the continental slope.These features are best located withmodern multi-beam sonar surveys.Although the United States has notacceded to the convention, goodplanning dictates that the nationbe prepared to present and supporta claim.Based on the success of this year’scruise, the NOAA-UNH team will seekadditional underway time on the Healy. Additionalcruises would complete the mappingof the 2,500-meter contour and the foot of thecontinental slope. As was the case with thisyear’s cruise, guest scientists will be a featureof future cruises.CEPS Faculty Helping El Salvador Fight PollutionEngineers advise officials on hazardous materials, water qualityThe University of New Hampshire has formallyagreed to collaborate with El Salvador’sMinistry of the Environment (MARN) andthe University of El Salvador (UES).UNH President Ann Weaver Hart signed twomemoranda of agreement with the institutionsJanuary 20. CEPS Dean Arthur Greenberg andchemical engineering professor Ihab Farag tookthe agreements to El Salvador, where they weresigned by MARN Minister Walter Ernesto JokischRestrepo and UES Rector Maria-Isabel Rodriguezon January 26.The agreements continue collaborations with thetwo institutions on research and training in pollutionprevention and open opportunities for further collaborationsin volcanology, seismology, marine research,biodiversity, and natural products research.“Our College has a nice model for workingtogether collaboratively in the Pollution Preventionprogram, which includes the New HampshireDepartment of Environmental Services (DES),private industry, and the New Hampshire NationalGuard,” says Dean Arthur Greenberg.“Hopefully we can foster the same kind ofcooperation between El Salvador’s government,industry, military, and university.”From November 2-8, Greenberg, Tom Ballestero,associate professor of civil engineering, andFarag, Hamel Professor of Innovation & Technologyand director of the Pollution Prevention programat UNH, were in El Salvador with the NewHampshire Army National Guard and DES, wherethey met with MARN scientists, industry leaders,and UES faculty. They presented workshops onhow to properly handle hazardous materials andmaintain water quality.MARN’s Saúl Canjura shows UNH Professor IhabFarag sensors at the Climatologic MonitoringCenter in San Andres. MARN uses the equipmentto examine volcanic air emissions and would likehelp adapting it to also watch for air pollution.The trip was part of the National Guard’sState Partnership Program, which matches stateswith countries to foster democratic, open market,and humanitarian ideals around the world. CEPSbecame involved in 2002, when officials from ElSalvador visited UNH. Now a MARN scientist isat UNH studying for a Master’s degree in environmentalengineering.“Our college has a nicemodel for working togethercollaboratively.”—Arthur GreenbergEnvironmental regulations in El Salvador aresimilar to those in the United States 30 years ago.Once commonplace—but now prohibited—practicesin the United States, such as allowing untreatedwaste to flow directly into rivers, are still a challengefor El Salvador’s environmental ministry.New Hampshire officials can also help bygiving businesses in El Salvador the technical assistancethey need to comply with existing laws,says Farag. “They already have some nice laws onthe books prohibiting the discharge of hazardousmaterials. Where we can help is in educating industryand academia about what should be consideredhazardous and the safest ways to handle those substances—chemicalslike chlorine and sulfuric acid.”Farag says. “Better yet, what we would really liketo do is to share our successes at UNH in avoidingcompliance problems altogether by applying pollutionprevention and source reduction.”www.ceps.unh.edu 7

FOCUSFOCUSPer spec tivesEngineers Without Borders in ThailandMeeting for the first time in February 2003, the UNH chapter ofEngineers Without Borders (now Students Without Borders) sent eightcivil engineering students to Santisuk, Thailand, in May. Working withthe local Lahu people, they provided the small, mountain village withclean drinking water and wastewater treatment. The images below comefrom the group's journal.“When it was time to leave, the villagers allreached into the bus to thank us and shake ourhands. That was really cool and sad and happy. Itwas amazing to have worked with them to do thisproject. It made me feel so close with them all.I have never felt so fulfilled. What an incrediblefeeling—to help people with such a necessary,simple thing, water.”—Deana AulisioOver the course of five days, one teamof students and villagers excavated,lined, and covered the hillside spring thatsupplied the villagers’ water to preventcontamination. They also installed filtersto eliminate bacteria and viruses, as wellas a storage tank sufficient to supply thevillage of 150.A second team tackled the village’s septicsystem (above). They installed two leachfields (left) made from slotted PVC pipe.As a result of their work, the villagers,40 percent of whom had sufferedfrequent intestinal problems caused bycontaminated drinking water, now haveclean water.8

BuildingSoftwareBefore It’s BuiltIsat at my desk with my head in my hands.“How could I have been so stupid?” Ithought to myself.It was 7:30 a.m. and I had just received aphone call from our largest client, two days aftershipping version 1.0 of our first Windows product.“Um...our software just shut off. How do weturn it back on?”Not knowing what the problem was, I managedto get the client off the phone and did somedigging. As it turns out, I had left a hard-codedshutoff date in the software, used during our earlytesting process. Thedate just happened tobe two days after weshipped our productto approximately 50companies throughoutNew England.I now sat there, staring down at my desk, feelingthe sense of dread sweep over me. I realizedin a flash that all our clients would soon be callingme. I put my head down on the desk and grittedmy teeth. I wanted to go hide under a rock.That was almost ten years ago, when I was afresh graduate from UNH. I had joined a localsoftware company, at that time run out of mybusiness partner’s den in Stratham, as employeenumber two.What I didn’t realize then, but I know now, isdeveloping commercial software is really hard. Ihad fallen into the classic trap of building softwarewith little or no forethought or planning. The result?A small mistake, completely undocumented,turned into a major issue. Only some quick phonecalls made by my business partner saved our clients,and our fledgling company.Why is it that software engineering seems to bethe only scientific “discipline” that, by and large,has little or none?When we build a skyscraper, we don’t start bydigging a hole, pouring a foundation, and erectingsome steel. Years of careful thought, planning,and computer-assisted engineering and simulationcome before the first load of dirt is excavated. Everypossible worst-case scenario, from earthquakesto gale-force winds, is considered and planned for.It isn’t until the building is constructed “on paper”that actual construction begins.There are similar parallels in other industries.The motion picture industry goes to extensivelengths to ensure that each scene comprising amovie is carefully scripted and the risks thoroughlyexplored before a single frame of film—or thesedays, a single pixel of digital imagery—is shot.Complex, technically challenging films, such asthe second and third installments of the Matrixtrilogy, were completely “pre-visualized” usingcomputer simulation technology long beforefilming began. They made the film in a computerbasedformat before they made the film.Creating nontrivial software applications is asdifficult, if not more so, than building skyscrapersand creating motion pictures. Why, then,do software development firms and consultantsfrequently treat the planning stages of a softwareproject as unimportant? Why do relatively newsoftware development methodologies such as“Extreme Programming,” which advocates littleor no up-front design andplanning, seem to be attractiveto software teams?Because programmers,by and large, just want tostart writing code. Noneof us decided to becomeprogrammers because we wanted to write designdocuments. We were attracted to programmingbecause of the process of writing the software itself,then sitting back and relaxing while we watch thecomputer run our creation.I sat back and relaxed after shipping that firstcommercial software product years ago, not realizingthe grave error I had made. I learned thehard way that successful commercial software applicationsare created only with careful thought,planning, and design. Only by building softwareon paper first, before the code is written, can weensure a successful result.—Dave TodaroVice PresidentBID2WIN Software, Inc.Dave Todaro, ECE ‘94, is vice president ofBID2WIN Software, Inc., located in Portsmouth,NH. BID2WIN, with over 5,000 users worldwide,develops cost estimating software for theinfrastructure construction industry. NewHampshire clients include R.S. Audley, Inc.,Continental Paving, and Pike Industries.UNH Spinout WinsTwo Industry AwardsMath professor's compressiontechnology speeds file sendingUNH’s first spinout company receivedtwo awards at a recent mobile musicindustry conference.Chaoticom’s patented Chaotic CompressionTechnology (CCT) was selected as thebest mobile music technology and best mobilemusic downloading solution at Mobile MusicCon 2003, held November 14 in Miami.“Attendees of the Mobile Music Conferencewere extremely impressed withChaoticom’s technology and solutions,” saysMark Frieser of Consect, the conference organizer.“Many thought that Chaoticom wasone of the most impressive companies atthe event.”Douglas PrinceMaster of Chaos: Kevin Short standsbefore a trajectory used in chaoticcompression, the new technology behindUNH’s first spinout company.CCT compresses and encrypts audio,speech, video, and image data, making itmore quickly transferred, stored, and accessed.It was developed by ChaoticomChief Technical Officer Kevin Short, professorof mathematics in the UNH College ofEngineering and Physical Sciences. Chaoticom’sbusiness plan was developed by JeffSohl and students in the UNH WhittemoreSchool of Business and Economics.The UNH Office of Intellectual PropertyManagement (OIPM) sees UNH inventorsthrough the patent application processand pays the cost of the patent process.For more information about UNH’s Officeof Intellectual Property Management, visitwww.unh.edu/oipm.For more information about Chaoticom,visit www.chaoticom.com.www.ceps.unh.edu 9

Chemical EngineeringDBased on the elective courses the department offers inbiochemical engineering and biomedical engineering, aproposal was submitted to the College for the establishmentof a departmental option in bioengineering, tobe added to the two existing departmental options inenvironmental engineering and energy beginning withthe fall semester of 2004. The proposal was reviewedand approved by the CEPS Curriculum and AcademicPlanning Committee and passed by the College facultyon January 29.Professor Ihab Farag organized a workshop for membersof the N.H. Environment and Agriculture Committeeand other N.H. legislators June 2, 2003. As the directorof the UNH Biodiesel Group, he was invited to testify atN.H. legislative committees about the roles of biodieseland bio-oil in New Hampshire. In November 2003,Dr. Farag (together with Dean Greenberg and ProfessorBallestero, Civil Engineering) traveled to El Salvadorwith the New Hampshire Army National Guard andNHDES to help El Salvador address environmental andhazardous material challenges (see story page 7).Professor P. T. Vasudevan is the author of the chapteron “Purification of Lipases” in the book Lipases andPhospholipases in Drug Development to be published byWiley-VCH in February 2004.ChemistryThe Iddles Lecture Series continues to attract top-notchchemists to the UNH campus. This year, Peter Wipf (Universityof Pittsburgh) and Nobelist Sherry Rowland (Universityof California, Irvine) were our Iddles speakers.Professor Chris Bauer was awarded the 2004 Howard I.Wagner Award for outstanding contributions to scienceeducation by the New Hampshire Science Teachers Association.He was cited for his “tireless dedication andintellectual commitment to the improvement of sciencefor students and colleagues alike.” Chris has coordinatedthe General Chemistry program at UNH for the lastdecade, and has been extremely active in educationaloutreach throughout the state.UNH was awarded a patent for a potential cancer treatmentthis year. Professor Roy Planalp and his collaboratorshave developed tachpyr-based chelating agents,which have the potential to bind the iron atoms, whichare essential nutrients to some cancer cells.Many from the UNH Community gathered in Septemberto remember John K. Grady (BA ’83, MS ’98) whodied of leukemia last year at age 42. John worked in theChasteen research group for more than 16 years. At thetime of his death, he was a member of UNH’s Center toAdvance Molecular Interaction Science. John’s name willlive on through the John K. Grady Electron ResonanceLaboratory, which was dedicated at the event.Civil EngineeringThe Civil Engineering Department is pleased to welcomethree new full-time faculty members: Jennifer Jacobs,Erin Santini Bell and Tom Attard (see story and photos,p. 6). We are excited and feel rejuvenated by the arrivalof our new colleagues in Civil Engineering.In September, Professor Bell was invited to attend theWEE’03 National Science Foundation workshop, whichhad as its main objective the retention of underrepresentedand women engineering educators with researchinterests in civil and mechanical systems.epartmentNotesCongratulations to Professor Jo Daniel on her NationalScience Foundation Faculty Early Career Development(CAREER) award (see story page 5). This very competitiveprogram is NSF’s most prestigious award for newfaculty members.In recognition of his accomplishments as a scholar andresearcher, Taylor Eighmy has been appointed to theEnvironmental Protection Agency Science AdvisoryBoard. This board is comprised of eminent scholars inthe environmental field and we are proud that one ofour distinguished colleagues has been selected to serveon this very influential committee.In September, Professor Jean Benoît participated in theribbon-cutting dedication ceremony of the Farmer’sLoop Road test site in Fairbanks, Alaska. This facilityowned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers adds anew and exciting dimension to the existing network ofNational Geotechnical Experimentation Sites. James R.Houston, director of the US Army Engineer Researchand Development Center presented Professor Benoîtwith an Award of Excellence.The department is getting ready for the ABET 2000accreditation visit in 2005. A newly established AdvisoryBoard comprised of practitioners from consulting firms,private practice, construction companies, governmentagencies, and educational institutions met for the firsttime September 26, 2003. The 12-member board electedMarya Gorczyca, a VP with Haley & Aldrich, as chair.Future meetings will focus on accreditation issues.Finally, our undergraduate enrollment is now reachingthe 200 mark thanks to a valiant effort by our facultyto recruit and retain students.We take this opportunity to wish all of our alumni,friends and supporters a very successful, rewarding andhealthy 2004.Computer SciencePlease join me in congratulating Professor Liz Varki andProfessor Radim Bartos on their promotions to associateprofessor with tenure. Many thanks to the current studentsand alumni who wrote letters of evaluation to aidthe University in reaching these two tenure decisions.Congratulations are also in order for Joel Daniels, whograduated with a B.S. in computer science in May 2003.Joel was awarded the UNH Hood Achievement Prize,which recognizes the “senior man who shows the greatestpromise through character, scholarship, leadership, andusefulness to humanity.” Joel is now a graduate studentin computer science at the University of Utah.In August, the department successfully moved fromKingsbury Hall to the third floor of Nesmith Hall.This was a tumultuous event, which included movingfurniture, file cabinets, books, and all departmentalcomputing equipment. Special thanks are due to ourdedicated staff—Linda Andrews, Gerry Pregent, andGina Ross—who put in many long hours to preparefor, perform, and recover from the move. The move wasnecessitated by the Kingsbury Hall renovation project.We are scheduled to move back to the new Kingsburyin 2007. Please stop by to see us in our “temporary” digsin Nesmith Hall!Earth SciencesOur faculty remain busy both in research and professionalservice. Wally Bothner has been elected Vice-Chairof the Geological Society of America–Northeast Section.Karen Von Damm has been appointed to the NationalScience Foundation Geosciences Advisory Committee.Larry Dingman presented an invited lecture at a recentresearch conference focusing on water resources in thenortheast. Will Clyde spent a month in China this fallon a National Geographic grant, mapping and collectingmammal fossils. Jamie Pringle received a grant fromthe National Science Foundation to study the zooplanktonpopulation dynamics on Georges Bank in the Gulfof Maine.We are very pleased to have several new faculty developingnew courses and setting up their research programshere at UNH. This past summer, Joe Licciardi spentmuch of his time in the field collecting samples inWyoming and Iceland and is now beginning to preparethe samples for cosmogenic isotope analysis. Julie Brycehas also been busy overseeing renovations and preparingher laboratory for a wide range of analyses. Rob Griffinhas completed his “smog chamber” and is working withseveral undergraduates to run experiments that identifyphotochemical processes in the atmosphere.From all accounts, Franz Anderson and Henri Gaudette,our most recent additions to the faculty emeriti, areenjoying retirement.Electrical and ComputerEngineeringThe Department of Electrical and Computer Engineeringis embarking into the arena of homeland security,albeit strategically unplanned, with the professoriateworking in three areas of research.T h e f i r s t a r e a i n v o l v e s P r o j e c t 5 4(www.project54.unh.edu). Professors Tom Miller, WilliamLenharth, Andrew Kun, and a host of other faculty,graduate and undergraduate students, are involved in acollaborative research and development effort betweenUNH and the New Hampshire Department of Safetywith support from the U.S. Department of Justice tointegrate embedded mobile computing equipment andwireless networking into state and local police cruisersin New Hampshire. The system uses voice technology,as well as integration with car-based electronics systems,offering advanced support for N.H. state troopers.Secondly, Professor Richard Messner and several graduatestudents are working on a project entitled, “Impactof Biometrically Encoded Driver’s Licenses on LawEnforcement.” This project, an effort between UNHand the Mitretek Center for Criminal Justice Technology(CCJT), involves developing and pilot testing aninteroperability test bed to explore aspects of implementingthe reading and validation of biometrically-encodeddriver’s licenses. The goal of this project is to develop aproof-of-concept test bed capable of exploring methodsof implementation for a targeted handheld or fix-mountdevice suitable for law enforcement officer field use, eitherin a standalone fashion or in conjunction with anofficer’s existing mobile data terminal.Lastly, Professors Barbara Rucinska and Andrzej Rucinskihave a multi-pronged effort in homeland security.Recently, Professor Rucinska taught a graduate studentseminar entitled “Security Engineering” and an experimentalreading course whereby the students developed aDES cracker encryption system as part of a course project.Professor Rucinski received joint funding from the10

Industrial Research Center and SIGARMS to developa biometrics system for handguns.In sum, a good portion of the ECE professors areinvolved in aspects of homeland security in research,development, and teaching.Mathematics and StatisticsKaren Graham, professor and immediate past departmentchair, was appointed by the Board of Trustees ofthe National Council of Teachers of Mathematics to theirNominations and Elections Committee.Professor Emeritus Kenneth Appel and doctoral studentGeorge Fairbanks have been working with David Bennett,chair of the Mathematics & Statistics Departmentat Dover High School, and recent UNH graduate PhillipLoud to introduce the WebWorK Web-based homeworksystem to Dover High. All of the homework in trigonometrycourses at Dover High School this fall has beenassigned over WebWorK. Appel, who introduced thesystem developed at University of Rochester to UNH in2000, has been acting as programmer and Fairbanks hasbeen developing evaluation strategies. Appel and Fairbanksplan to apply for funding to extend the system toother New Hampshire high schools.Lars Kadison, in collaboration with Kelly Black fromthe Department of Mathematics & Statistics, andAndy Rosenberg, Dean of COLSA, developed a specialmathematics modeling course for graduate students inthe biological sciences. Kadison delivered the lecturesduring the fall semester. We look forward to furtherdevelopments linking mathematics and biology.The department’s recently launched five-year teachercertification program is now in its fifth year. Threeinterns in the program have been awarded the Excellencein Teaching Scholarship. Morgan Abrahms, JamieBrewster, and Karolyn Noyes will each receive a $2,000prize. We hope that these successes will encourage newteachers to join the program.Mechanical EngineeringWe are proud to announce that many of our studentsreceived university-wide awards last year for academicability, good citizenship, and outreach activities, as wellas community and humanitarian service. Several CEPSsocieties are now involved in helping local schools withtheir FIRST LEGO League and Robotics teams andthe ME Department and the student section of ASMEhosted a week-long challenge program for teams fromthe Oyster River Middle School last year. It was a greatsuccess. ASME student-section members are continuingthe tradition again this academic year.We are pleased to announce that one of last year’s seniorprojects, the beach wheelchair, won second place at theannual ASME Regional Conference Old Guard OralCompetition in April last year. This is the first timeUNH has won an award at this competition.We have a variety of senior projects again this yearincluding the mini-baja vehicle, a fire-fighting robot,a “clean” snowmobile, a glider (to collect high-altitudeatmospheric data), a power plant study (to reduce electricalpower costs), a production-line measuring device,an SAE formulae vehicle project (first time we haveattempted this expensive project), and several oceanengineering projects. This year’s mini-baja project isso popular with ME students that we have two projectteams and we hope to enter two vehicles in the annualMini Baja East competition to be held next May inMontreal. This project is supported almost entirely bycontributions from outside of UNH.The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department,the Civil Engineering Department, and the CEPS AlumniSociety joined ME at last year’s Homecoming eventon Saturday, October 11th, and it was a great success.We plan to carry on this tradition next year and hopeto see you there.We are very pleased to announce that with the help ofour alumni and friends, the department has establishedits first Endowment Fund. The funds generated fromthis endowment will benefit future generations of MEstudents supporting senior projects and state-of-the-artequipment in the department. Thank you for your helpand support!Congratulations to Professor May-Win Thein, whowas awarded one of two Greek Outstanding Faculty ofthe Year Awards for 2002-03 this year, and to ProfessorIgor Tsukrov, who was awarded the CEPS Excellence inTeaching Award.My tenure as chair is ending in May and I will be onsabbatical leave during the academic year of 2004-05.I have enjoyed my tenure as chair, and I wish to thankall of the alumni who have supported me during thesepast few years. The new chair will be decided upon inearly spring.PhysicsThis fall we welcomed three new faculty members: SilasBeane, Amitava Bhattacharjee and Jimmy Raeder (seepage 6). We also welcome two new research faculty:Chuck Smith and Chung-Sang Ng, both of whom studyspace plasma physics.Our undergraduates’ involvement in research continuesto be strong. Seniors Matt Orr (working with ProfessorMark McConnell and Professor Jim Ryan on designinga gamma-ray polarimeter) and Chris Bingham (workingwith Professor Karsten Pohl on STM images of thinfilms) will present their work at the March APS meeting,in the session for Society of Physics Students. JuniorProcheta Mallik will carry out an International ResearchOpportunity (IROP) project in Scotland entitled “ModelingData Inversion Techniques for Solar Neutron Detector;”his adviser is Professor Jim Ryan.As a department we are making efforts to improve thequality of the large Physics 406 and 407/408 lectures.We now can use technology to poll the students duringclass: each student has a “clicker” (similar to a remotecontrol device) that allows them to send their responseto a multiple-choice question to a computer via an infraredsignal. The computer then tallies and records theresponses and shows a histogram of the answers. Whilethe new system is not without some technical difficulties,the professors who have used it have seen some realbenefits in keeping the students engaged.Our faculty continue to be involved in many importantresearch projects. Professor Bill Hersman was awardedfunding from NIH to expand his work using hyperpolarizedxenon for imaging lung disease from the laboratoryto the clinic (see story page 1). Professor MarkMcConnell continues his NASA-funded research ongamma-ray polarimeter development and is an integralpart of the international effort in this area. ProfessorVania Jordanova was awarded a grant from the NSF“Space Weather” program. The main objectives of thisproposal are to address the physical mechanisms at workduring geomagnetic storms and how they depend oninterplanetary parameters. Professor Eberhard Moebiusis part of the team designing instruments for InterstellarBoundary Explorer Mission (IBEX), which was selectedfor Phase A study by NASA. IBEX features a pair ofneutral atom cameras to image the boundary betweenthe solar system and interstellar space and to explore theincoming interstellar gas flow.UNH ComputerScience earns ABETaccreditationCEPS has N.H.'s only accreditedprogramThe Accreditation Board for Engineeringand Technology (ABET) recently announcedthat the Computer Science programat the University of New Hampshire College ofEngineering and Physical Sciences has passedits standards of accreditation.The UNH Computer Science program hasbeen continuously accredited by the ComputerScience Accreditation Board (CSAB) since1987—the second year it offered accreditation,but this is the first time it has been accreditedunder ABET, which merged with CSAB in 2001.The resulting new accreditation guidelines placemore emphasis on assessing student preparedness,rather than on curriculum details.“This renewal of our ABET accreditationconfirms that we are not only providingstudents with a good computer scienceeducation, but also with the skills they needto become successful computer science professionals,”said Phil Hatcher, UNH professorand chair of Computer Science. “The accreditationprocess itself is also very useful to usas an opportunity to focus in a structured wayon our strengths and weaknesses and determinewhere we are doing well and where wecan improve.”The UNH Department of ComputerScience offers bachelor‘s, master‘s and doctoraldegrees. The faculty members have awide range of interests and research projects,including concentrations in artificial intelligence,computer graphics and scientificvisualization, database and knowledge basesystems, operating systems and computernetworks, parallel computing and compilerdesign, human-computer interaction andtheoretical computer science. The departmentcurrently has approximately 179 undergraduatestudents, 56 graduate students, and 24doctoral students.ABET is a professional accrediting organization,which serves the public through thepromotion and advancement of education inapplied science, computing, engineering, andtechnology. ABET accreditation tells parentsand prospective students that a program hasmet minimum standards. Accreditation alsoassures employers that graduates are preparedto begin professional practice.www.ceps.unh.edu 11

FOCUSCollege of Engineering and Physical SciencesKingsbury Hall33 College RoadDurham, NH 03824Non-Profit Org.U.S. PostagePAIDPermit No.2Durham, N.H.Give today — MAKE A DIFFERENCE FORGENERATIONS TO COME.THE PASTKingsbury Hall was constructed in 1949, during theera of slide rules and drafting tables. The computer wasstill just a concept. Interactive learning and studentprojects were rare. Over the years, of course, things havechanged—dramatically.THE PRESENTThe College of Engineering and Physical Scienceshas developed a reputation for hands-on research andinnovative approaches to teaching and learning. The$50 million Kingsbury “bricks and mortar” renovationproject ($44 million in state funds and another $6 millionbeing sought from alumni, friends, and corporatepartners) will produce a facility worthy of housing thehigh-quality education underway at the College andwell-suited to the 21st century. But the college mustraise another $2.3 million by 2005 to cover instructionalequipment and furniture for the building.THE CHALLENGEThe New Kingsbury Hall Equipment Fund is beinglaunched to help make this $2.3 million fundraisingeffort a success. Major categories of needs include:Laboratory equipment ..............................$800,000Laboratory furniture .................................$400,000Interactive computer-based classrooms .....$300,000Classroom furniture .................................$400,000Office furniture .......................................$400,000A PIECE OF THE FUTUREThe College of Engineering and Physical Sciences hasa proud past—and a promising future. With the helpof loyal alums and friends, we can reach a new level ofexcellence. Support the New Kingsbury Hall EquipmentFund by donating at one of three levels: gold($1000), silver ($500), or bronze ($250).LASTING TESTIMONYGifts will be recognized with a name—your own orsomeone else’s—engraved on a nameplate (1 inch by3.25 inches) and mounted on finished walnut plaques.Plaques will be displayed through out the new building,lasting testimony of your support for the future ofeducation.INCREASED GIVINGYou may choose to begin your giving at the bronzelevel. Should you decide to make a further donationat another time, you can be moved up to the silver orgold level. You may also increase your giving level witha company matching gift.FOCUSED GIVINGGifts can be earmarked for equipment for specificdepartments. Otherwise, they will be distributed forequipment as needed (at the discretion of the dean inconsultation with the departments).YES! I WANT TO SUPPORT THE NEW KINGSBURY HALL EQUIPMENT FUND.NAMEADDRESSCITY STATE ZIPGOLD LEVEL ($1,000) ______________SILVER LEVEL ($500) _______________BRONZE LEVEL ($250) _____________PHONEE-MAILDonations at the $5,000, $10,000, and higher levels would be especially welcome and will receive special recognition. Please contact the Dean’s office at the College ofEngineering and Physical Sciences for details: (603) 862-1781.NAME AS YOU WISH IT TO APPEAR ON YOUR 1 X 3.25 INCH GOLD, SILVER, OR BRONZE NAMEPLATE.(PLEASE PRINT OR TYPE)NAME _________________________________________________________________________________UNH DEGREE, MAJOR, CLASS YEAR _________________________________________________________ADDITIONAL UNH DEGREE, MAJOR, CLASS YEAR ______________________________________________Please send this form (including company matching gift form if applicable) with your tax deductible check or credit card information to: The Equip ment Fund, Dean’s Office,Kingsbury Hall, Uni ver si ty of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824. Make checks payable to the New Kingsbury Hall Equipment Fund.Please check here if a companymatching form is enclosed.CREDIT CARD NUMBEREXPIRATION DATEVISAMCSIGNATURE