EngineeringAdvances

at theUniversity ofNotre Dame

Volume 6, Number 2Spring 2005

technology transferat notre dame

water supply monitoringand remediation

hroughout the 20th century the United Statesplayed a central role in the advancement ofscience and technology and in meeting theneeds of the global marketplace for goods andservices. In fact, its role could be viewed asdominant, particularly in the post WWII years. With such sustained success, it’s easy

to become complacent. But, we all read and listen to thenews. Change is in the air, and a perfect storm of disruptiveconditions may be brewing.

Let’s begin with globalization. To ardent practitioners it means an international presence that leverages workersworldwide in meeting the needs and wants of the market-place. To others it means out-sourcing, off-shoring, loss ofjob security, and concern for the future of their children and the nation. It is readily justified in business terms butfraught with unintended, if not unknown, consequences.

Then there’s the sharply ascendant trajectory of othernations, particularly in Asia. These nations have learnedmuch from the 20th century success of the U.S. and aredetermined to transition from suppliers of low-wage laborto high technology. If you have any doubts, consider the phenomenal success of South Korea and Singapore,comparatively small nations, and then scale the results to estimate the potential impact of India and China. Notsurprisingly, these nations have aggressively invested in science and technology education, with China now graduat-ing five times the number of engineers produced in the U.S.In the words of Thomas Friedman, the global playing field isbeing leveled.

That brings us to education, about which much has alsobeen written. We hear of low academic standards for stu-dents in K-12, with a homework norm of less than threehours per week sufficient to achieve grades of B or better.We hear of declining interest in addressing the rigors ofmathematics and science and the lagging performance ofU.S. students vis-à-vis other nations. We are then left towonder about the fate of the pipeline of engineers and scientists needed to sustain a vibrant economy. But flowthrough the pipeline is being reduced by more than adecline in domestic sources of talent. It’s also being affectedby a decrease in the number of international students opt-ing to study in the U.S. Throughout the second half of the20th century, many of these students remained in the U.S.,contributing greatly to innovation and attendant wealthcreation.

So, how should those of us in engineering educationrespond to these trends? We are told by our friends fromindustry that our graduates must be deep technically, butthey must also be able to address business issues and towork globally across cultural differences. They must be creative, collaborative, and innovative, with a can-do approachto problems. And, they must have good relational skills.That’s a lot to ask. However, I happen to agree with theimportance of those attributes and the need to strive fortheir realization.

At Notre Dame, as at many other institutions, our cur-riculum is being tailored to achieve the foregoing objectives.Our students are well grounded technically and have a goodappreciation for the broader dimensions of technology,including an international perspective. Seventy-five percentof this year’s graduating seniors leave us with a good under-standing of corporate financials (balance sheets and incomestatements), as well as basic principles of project and supplychain management. More then 40 percent of them have hadan in-depth international study experience. They are alsoextremely bright young men and women with a good workethic. But while I’m confident they will do well, I still harbor some concerns for their future.

With my concerns and with all of the mixed messagescoming from the media and the futurists of the world, whatdo I tell prospective students and their parents when askedabout the future of engineering and why one with an apti-tude for math and science, as well as an innate desire tosolve problems, should become an engineer? It’s a questionthat I’ve pondered a great deal but one that I am now pre-pared to answer with confidence. Yes, the future is uncer-tain. But, I firmly believe that engineers who are deeply and broadly educated will be among the best equipped tocope with this uncertainty. This view may well be shared byEdward O. Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize winning biologist andauthor of The Future of Life. He states that,

“The world will henceforth be run by synthesizers, peopleable to put together the right information at the righttime, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely.”

That’s what engineers do, and that’s the essence of a goodengineering education.

Frank P. IncroperaMatthew H. McCloskey Dean of EngineeringH. Clifford and Evelyn A. Brosey Professor of Mechanical Engineering

T

the dean’sview

Breaking Out ofthe Ivory Tower

Making the leap from research tocommercially available product

A Source ofLife and DeathSolving the combined sewer overflow problem

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20 Four Horsemen Ventures

25 College News

27 Department News

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Editor

Nina Welding

Production

Joanne Birdsell

Marty Schalm

Photography

Matt Cashore

S I G N A T U R E S is published biannually by the

College of Engineering at the University of Notre

Dame. Subscriptions are free; requests should be

submitted to the address indicated below. Material

may not be reproduced without permission. For

further information, contact:

Frank P. Incropera

Matthew H. McCloskey Dean of Engineering

257 Fitzpatrick Hall

Notre Dame, IN 46556-5637

Phone: (574) 631-5530

Fax: (574) 631-8007

URL: http://www.nd.edu/~engineer

For more information about research, student, faculty, and alumni activities in the College ofEngineering, subscribe to the Engineering NewsGateway, the on-line news portal to engineering at Notre Dame.

URL:http://www.nd.edu/~engineer/publications/pubs.htm

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ne of the criticisms

most often levelled at

academic institutions is that

the spires, arches, columns,

and other impressive archi-

tecture of a university shield

faculty and students from the “real world.”

While there may be few places on Earth as

sheltered from the cares of everyday life as

a college campus, there are also few places

as attuned to the way in which teams of

researchers can change the world.

The search, discovery, and application

of knowledge is what Vannevar Bush, director

of the Office of Scientific Research and

Development and former dean of engineering

at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

highlighted in a 1945 report to President

Franklin D. Roosevelt.

More than a simple quest for knowledge,research also leads to the development of

new products, technologies, and applicationsfor a better world.

Written in response to a request from the

President to discuss the lessons learned from

World War II and suggest areas that could

be nurtured, as Roosevelt put it, “for the

improvement of health, the creation of

new enterprises bringing new jobs, and the

betterment of the national standard of living,”

Bush titled his treatise Science: The Endless

Frontier. In it he wrote, “There must be a stream

of new scientific knowledge to turn the wheels

of private and public enterprise. There must be

plenty of men and women trained in science

and technology for upon them depend both

the creation of new knowledge and its applica-

tions to practical purposes.” This is the same

vision held by the College of Engineering and

the University of Notre Dame, particularly in

reference to the Center for Microfluidics and

Medical Diagnostics (CMMD).

breakingout of the

ivory tower

O

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Postdoctoral fellow Zilin Chen, left, and Bayer Professor ofChemical and Biomolecular Engineering Hsueh Chia Chang,director of the Center for Microfluidics and MedicalDiagnostics are working to develop high-pressure pumps fortransdermal drug delivery.

Established in 2003 the CMMD builds upon

considerable faculty expertise in microfluidics,

separations, electrochemistry, biomolecular

engineering, and nanoscience. Although one

of the goals of the center is to facilitate technol-

ogy transfer at Notre Dame — the transfer of

research from the academic process to a viable

commercial product, the CMMD was created to

explore microfluidic and medical diagnostic

concepts and devices.

Microfluidics refers to the flow of minute

amounts of liquids or gases through miniature

channels. These channels may feature pumps,

valves, filters, or mixers, but the microscale

of the components and of the channel means

that the physics of the flow in the device,

specifically because of the unique attributes

of small fluid volumes, are different and

require more sophisticated handling

techniques. However, they also produce much

quicker reactions, eliminating expensive labora-

tory tests and the lengthy wait for results.

Microfluidic devices were first developed in

the 1990s. Since that time they have enjoyed

success

in niche

applications, such

as ink-jet printers and

diabetic test kits. Fluids

currently used in similar lab-

on-a-chip tests include whole

blood, bacterial cell suspensions,

protein solutions, and antibody sus-

pensions. What researchers are discov-

ering is that microfluidics may be of use

in a variety of other applications, such as

DNA analysis, drug screening, cell separa-

tion, gene mapping, and biotoxin analysis.

According to Bayer Professor of Chemical

and Biomolecular Engineering Hsueh Chia

Chang, director of the CMMD, “We have

assembled a highly talented team to help us

bridge the gap between academia and indus-

try.” In addition to Chia Chang, whose expert-

ise is in electrokinetics, center administration

includes David T. Leighton Jr., associate direc-

tor and professor of chemical and biomolecu-

lar engineering, who specializes in separations,

and Andrew J. Downard (B.S., CBE, ’04;

M.B.A., ’04), product development manager.

Members of the CMMD advisory board

include Gary H. Bernstein, professor of electri-

cal engineering; Mark J. McCready, chair and

professor of chemical and biomolecular engi-

neering; Albert E. Miller, professor of chemical

and biomolecular engineering; and Agnes E.

Ostafin, assistant professor of chemical and

biomolecular engineering. Bernstein specializes

in microfabrication, McCready in mass/heat

transfer, Miller in electrochemistry and

nanotechnology, and Ostafin in biomedical

engineering.

“One disadvantage in academia,” says

Downard, “is that often faculty or graduate

students develop great ideas, but they might

not realize the potential applications nor have

an adequate understanding of markets.” Since

one of the goals of the center is to transfer the

ideas behind the microfluidic projects into

commercial products, this type of business

savvy becomes vital.

The University of Florida owns the patent for TRUSOPT®, a

medicinal eye drop containing dorzolamide that is used to treat

glaucoma. Stanford University and the University of California at

San Francisco hold the patent for recombinant DNA technology

— joining the DNA from different species and fusing them

together, which is an important technique in biotechnology.

These universities, and others like them, license their inventions

to businesses who manufacture the “products.” It’s called

“technology transfer.”

Some universities were making the leap from success in

laboratories to successful commercial products as early as the

1920s. However, a report written in 1945 by Vannevar Bush,

director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development,

for President Franklin D. Roosevelt is

believed to have been the origin for the

formal concept of technology transfer.

The report, Science: The Endless Frontier,

highlighted the potential of academic

research for enhancing the economy. Many

believe it stimulated the formation of the

National Science Foundation, the National

Institutes of Health, and the Office of Naval

Research.

Although the federal funding of

research is now considered to be vital to

national security, when these agencies

were first established there was not a

standard policy for ownership of the

inventions. The government owned most of

whose patent is it anyway?

The University of Notre Dame owns 57patents for inventions closely linked toits research activities. Some of the mostrecently issued patents resulting fromresearch in the College of Engineeringinclude:

U.S. Patent No. 6,869,671Enabling Nanostructured Materials viaMultilayer Thin Film Precursor andApplications to BiosensorsAlbert E. Miller, Subhash C. Basu, JuanJiang, Michael Crouse, and David CrouseIssued on March 22, 2005

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the patents, and few of those were licensed to industry for

commercial development. According to a September 1999 report

by the Council on Governmental Relations on The Patent and

Trademark Law Amendments Act, also known as the Bayh-Dole

Act of 1980, the government typically retained the title to an

invention and offered non-exclusive licenses. Many corporations

were reluctant to purchase such a license in order to develop the

same product a competitor could also manufacture. The promise

of the technology remained unfulfilled and in the laboratory.

The Bayh-Dole Act, and subsequent acts such as Stevenson-

Wydler and Federal Technology Transfer, established a more

uniform policy on the treatment of inventions, especially those

resulting from federally funded research. Bayh-Dole has been

amended since its passage; other acts

have also been added and amended. Since

technology is driving the economy at an

ever increasing pace, it is likely that

Congress will continue to address

concerns related to technology transfer.

The issues at stake include better quality

of life for mankind, the rights of inventors,

the rights of the public and federal

agencies supporting the research with

public funds, and the quality of the

research, as some academics are

worried that the current act encourages

universities to focus on commercial profit

rather than developing fundamental

knowledge.

U.S. Patent No. 6,842,692Computer-controlled Power WheelchairNavigation SystemSteven B. Skaar, Guillermo DelCastillo,and Linda FehrIssued on January 11, 2005

U.S. Patent No. 6,768,782Iterative Method for Region-of-InterestReconstructionKen D. Sauer, Jiang Hsieh, CharlesBouman, and Jean-Baptiste ThibaultIssued on July 27, 2004

U.S. Patent No. 6,579,343Purification of Gas with Liquid IonicCompoundsJoan F. Brennecke and Edward J. MaginnIssued on June 17, 2003

Thirteen of the 24 Notre Dame patentspending are also the result of researchled by engineering faculty. Four of thoseemanate from the Center for Microfluidicsand Medical Diagnostics. Others include:

Application No. 11/085,510Segmentation Algorithmic Approach toStep-and-Shoot Intensity ModulatedRadiation TherapyDanny Z. Chen, Xiaobo S. Hu, Chao Wang,Shuang Luan, Xiaodong Wu, and Cedric YuFiled on March 22, 2005

Application No. 10/980,425Bone and Tissue Scaffolding andMethod for Producing SameSteven R. Schmid, Glen L. Niebur,and Ryan K. RoederFiled on November 4, 2004

Application No. 10/933,417System for Inter-Chip CommunicationGary H. Bernstein, Patrick J. Fay,Wolfgang Porod, and Qing LiuFiled on September 3, 2004

Application No. 10/251,934Method for Making Mesoporous SilicateNanoparticle Coatings and HollowMesoporous Silica Nano-ShellsAgnes E. Ostafin, Edward J. Maginn,and Robert NooneyFiled on September 20, 2002

Note: Current University of Notre Dameresearchers are highlighted in italics.

notre dame patents

The power wheelchair navigation systemdeveloped by Steven B. Skaar, professorof aerospace and mechanical engineer-ing, and Linda Fehr, an electrical engineerin rehabilitation research at the EdwardHines Jr. Veterans AdministrationHospital, follows pre-programmed pathswith very little physical direction fromthe user.

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Graduate student Diana Hou checks the connections betweenthe micron-sized gold electrodes of a bacterial bioparticletrap. The trap amplifies the concentration, and thus the signal,of the bacteria so it can be detected electronically.

“Focusing

on microfluidics

and medical diagnos-

tics,” says Leighton, “is

ideal because the research

we’ve been accomplishing in

the center and the products we are

developing have a real potential to

help people, solving problems through

research. We are serving the University’s

mission of trying to make the world a

better place, which is evidenced in the

selection of projects currently under devel-

opment, but we are also building relation-

ships with companies that understand the

‘business’ of business better than we academ-

ics do.”

For example, researchers in the CMMD are

working on a test kit to quickly and accurately

determine how well blood is coagulating. This

process will be extremely useful to individuals

who are recuperating from major surgery or

those on blood thinners, who have their blood

tested on a daily basis to determine how readi-

ly it is coagulating. The test kit will also aid in

establishing the next correct dosage of antico-

agulant. Currently, these blood samples take

three to four hours to process, at which time

the sampling laboratory releases the individual

with the correct dosage for the next day. The

cycle then repeats itself: A patient goes to the

lab, sits for half a day, and then returns home

so he or she can do the same thing the next

day. CMMD researchers are developing a lab-

on-a-chip that would more quickly identify

how blood was coagulating and then issue

the correct dosage information to a patient

at home.

University researchers, in conjunction with

industry partner Scientific Methods Inc., of

Granger, Ind., are developing environmental

sensors to detect E coli in local water supplies

and public areas such as beaches. The decision

to close public beaches is typically driven by

laboratory tests, which take up to two days to

process. By incorporating a bacteria trap into a

hand-held sensor, the CMMD is able to force

the bacteria to flow into highly concentrated

lines that can be detected electronically, which

will give municipal officials real-time informa-

tion about water quality so they may better

safeguard public health. According to Chia

Chang, the bacteria trap, which uses electroki-

netic flow, is orders of magnitude faster than

other detection processes on the market today.

Faculty in the CMMD have also teamed

with researchers from Altea Therapeutics

Corporation in Tucker, Ga., on the

development of a high-pressure pump for

transdermal drug delivery. Altea has made

key breakthroughs in the delivery of small

molecules, such as proteins and peptides,

via skin patches similar to a nicotine patch.

A high-pressure pump would allow large

molecule medications, such as insulin, to

be injected through the skin without the

use of needles.

Electrophoretic protein separation, or

zetafiltration, is another process the CMMD is

developing. “Our zetafiltration system is very

close to being able to make the leap from

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Graduate student Philip Schonewill, left, and Professor David T. Leighton Jr., associate director of the Center for Microfluidicsand Medical Diagnostics, are investigating the effects of oscillations on mass transport through membranes. This work is part of an Army grant for the development of micro fuel cells for soldiers. Their findings to date promise an increase in the power output of fuel cells of up to 20 percent.

research

lab to com-

mercial use,

which in this case

would be preparatory

scale separations for

additional research and indus-

trial scale separations,” says

Leighton. ”What’s exciting about it is

that we’ve been able to demonstrate

that we can separate or ‘catch’ individual

species of biological molecules on the

order of 100 nanometers based on mobili-

ty. This is fundamental research, but the

implications for further study of human pro-

teins or even subcellular organelles are also

very exciting.” For instance, by applying

zetafiltration to proteomics, researchers could

identify the proteins contained in individual

organelles to determine the location and func-

tion of each part of the cell in a detail that is

not cur-

rently avail-

able. Researchers

using the zetafiltra-

tion system would also be

able to collect information

in much less time ... half an

hour as opposed to overnight.

Although CMMD researchers

have yet to ”take a product to market,”

they have four patents pending for sever-

al of the projects within the center. They

have built mutually beneficial partnerships

with several organizations, and they are

successfully maintaining the unique balance

of the education and training of graduate stu-

dents with the development of commercially

viable products. As the first University center

to pursue technology transfer, the CMMD is

a successful model, but its purpose, like

Roosevelt’s request, is not yet fulfilled.

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n 1863 Abraham Lincoln approved the

Congressional charter of the National Academy

of Sciences. Since that time the Academy

complex — the National Academy of Sciences,

the National Academy of Engineering, the

Institute of Medicine, and the National

Research Council — has been advising the federal

government about the impact of technology on society, as

well as the development and implementation of related

public policies. The most recent report issued by the

Academy complex, Preparing for the 21st Century: Science

and Engineering Research in a Changing World, stresses

the importance of engineering and science research in

meeting national goals and maintaining America’s position

as a technological leader.

The greatest concerns in achieving those goals were

maintaining the quality and integrity of research and

developing human resources, future engineers and

scientists. Scientists and engineers play a key role in the

economic and cultural make-up of the nation. America and

the more than 600 public and private institutions that offer

graduate degrees in engineering and science have a vested

interest in encouraging young people to pursue graduate

degrees in engineering and science.

Bayer Professor Hsueh Chia Chang, director of the

Center for Microfluidics and Medical Diagnostics (CMMD),

agrees and believes that the fundamental nature of

graduate research within the CMMD is one of the most

carefully designed aspects of the center. “When dealing

with technology transfer in an academic setting,” says

Chang, “there’s always a concern about whether efforts to

develop commercially viable products will detract from the

main mission of an institution — educating its students.

The graduate students in the center are involved in

fundamental research, but their work is purposefully

separate from the development process.”

This is a formula that worked well for the Department

of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering before the

creation of the center, and it works well for the CMMD. Not

only has the University continued to attract high-quality

graduate students, but it has been extremely successful in

placing students, particularly in academia. Over the last

several years a number of graduate students studying

microfluidics have gone on to teach at the university level.

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In 1945

Roosevelt wanted

immediate answers.

He wanted to identify a

means “for the improvement

of health, the creation of new

enterprises bringing new jobs, and

the betterment of the national stan-

dard of living.” Bush’s response was

not a pat answer. He suggested the path

to improving the nation was commitment:

the commitment to pursue new knowledge,

the commitment to educate future genera-

tions so that the quest for scientific and eco-

nomic growth did not end with any single

generation; and a commitment to reaching

beyond boundaries, such as an ivory tower,

to apply that new knowledge for practical

purposes and the betterment of mankind.

For more information about the CMMD,

its faculty, and current projects, visit

http://microfluidics.nd.edu/.

Michael T. Edwards, assistant vice president and director ofthe University’s Office of Research, left, and Jeffrey C. Kantor,vice president and dean of the Graduate School and professorof chemical and biomolecular engineering, center, work closelywith Andrew J. Downard (B.S., CBE, ’04; M.B.A., ’04), productdevelopment manager of the Center for Microfluidics andMedical Diagnostics, to develop research opportunities, industry partnerships, and patent and licensing agreementsfor the center.

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For example, Pavlo Takhistov (M.S., CHEG, ’99) is

currently an associate professor of food engineering at

Rutgers University. His research interests include nano-

structured materials as a substrate for biosensors and

active food packaging. He also examines blood flow

anomalies in microchannels, in order to help design

microdevices for blood diagnostics.

An assistant professor in the Department of

Biomedical Engineering at the University of Rochester,

Michael R. King (Ph.D., CHEG, ’99) studies biofluid

mechanics. The ultimate goal of the laboratory he directs

at Rochester is to simulate blood flow and relevant cellular

interactions. The information gained from this research has

the potential to impact public health, especially in relation

to cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Jason M. Keith (Ph.D., CHEG, ’00) is an assistant

professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and

faculty adviser of the Alternative Fuels Group Enterprise

at Michigan Technological University. Although he has

focused primarily on heat and mass transfer fundamentals,

one of his most recent projects involves transdermal drug

delivery.

One month after successfully defending her doctoral

thesis, Assistant Professor Adrienne R. Minerick (M.S.,

CHEG, ’03; Ph.D., CHEG, ’03) was teaching Advanced

Process Computations and Introduction to Chemical

Engineering at Mississippi State University (MSU). Since

that time she has also developed MSU’s Medical Micro-

Device Engineering Research Laboratory (M.D.-ERL).

Like Notre Dame’s CMMD, the M.D.-ERL is dedicated to

researching the development of medical microdevices

in order to improve diagnostic techniques and

practices. Working with graduate and undergraduate

students, Minerick is exploring dielectrophoretic micro-

devices, which could detect a variety of blood diseases

using a single drop of blood. “During my time at Notre

Dame,” says Minerick, “I had the privilege of working with

outstanding faculty and postdoctoral researchers, like

Hsueh Chia Chang and Pavlo Takhistov. It was also during

this time that I developed a passion for medical diagnostic

devices and learned to understand both the theoretical and

experimental approaches in a collaborative environment.”

In addition to her teaching duties, Assistant Professor

Jayne Wu (M.S., EE, ’01; Ph.D., CBE, ’04) directs the

Adrienne R. Minerick, assistant professor of chemical engineering at Mississippi State University, standing, and graduatestudent Kellie Smith are using a Zeiss Axiovert 200M microscope

with a pseudo confocal attachment to fluorescently image erythro-cytes in the individual chambers of a dielectrophoretic microdevice.

Micro-Sensor and Actuator Laboratory at the University

of Tennessee at Knoxville. One of the projects in her lab

deals with the electrokinetic focusing of bioparticles for

real-time detection of toxins.

What each of these graduates and many of their

projects have in common is that they are generating

fundamental research with direct applications for service

to society. They are also sharing their excitement and

commitment for the betterment of society with the

next generation of students.

staying the coursein graduate education

Photo courtesy of Mississippi State University

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hrough its endeavors in the

realm of technology transfer,

the University of Notre Dame

is one of the many national

universities contributing to

America’s economic develop-

ment. Like those other institutions, Notre

Dame is addressing patenting and licensing

activity for the commercialization of on-

campus research activities.

“Because we have so much wonderful

research occurring on campus,” says Michael T.

Edwards, assistant vice president and director

of the University’s Office of Research, “it is

tempting to let technology transfer drive our

research portfolio. That is not, however, in the

best interest of the University, our faculty, or

our students.”

According to Jeffrey C. Kantor, vice presi-

dent and dean of the Graduate School and

professor of chemical and biomolecular engi-

neering, the key has been to focus technology

transfer efforts on the centers and institutes

which offer the greatest opportunity to develop

commercial applications that will have a posi-

tive effect on people’s lives. “We’re a little late

to the technology transfer game,” says Kantor.

the business side

“Other schools have had technology transfer

programs for as long as 20 years.” Although

some schools generate a great deal of revenue

— millions of dollars in some cases, others lose

money chasing after commercially viable

research projects. “The goals of our program,”

he says, “are to add intellectual vitality to the

University, expose faculty and students to new

opportunities for cutting-edge research, and

provide a pathway for our research to make a

difference in the way people live.”

The schools that have developed successful

programs, and have met goals similar to those

enumerated by Notre Dame, have especially

targeted two areas: pharmaceuticals and med-

ical devices. “These are very hot industries right

now,” says Edwards. “Most universities pursu-

ing research in these areas also boast medical

schools. Fortunately, that’s not a requirement.

We have been able to develop close relation-

ships with other institutions, foundations,

and corporate partners that allow us to actively

participate in healthcare research.”

The Center for Microfluidics and Medical

Diagnostics (CMMD), one of 130 institutes

and centers across the University, was the first

to engage in the technology transfer program.

James Larkin, president of Scientific Methods, Inc., (SMI) stands in front of the old Harris Township Consolidated School in Granger, Ind. The 75-year-old building also serves as an incubator for technological start-up companies, such as Microfluidics Applications, a business stemming from NotreDame's Center for Microfluidics and Medical Diagnostics; EmNet, a company that specializes in embedded network systems (see story on page 16); and Velpro, founded by Saul Tzipori, the Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and the Agnes Varis Professor of Science and Society at Tufts University, and Udi Zuckermann. Prior to founding SMI, Larkin worked for the Syva Corporation and Stanford University. He alsoco-founded Environmental Health Laboratories, one of the nation’s most widely recognized drinking water laboratories.

of research

T

Like many other states, Indiana is committed to bolstering

its economy with technology. Annually the state is home to

approximately $3 billion of research and development by

industry and funds more than $25 million at the university

level.

On May 6, 2005, the University of Notre Dame hosted

the inaugural symposium of the Indiana Innovation Network

(IIN). A relatively new organization, the IIN is a non-profit

group whose goal is to promote the growth and success of

research and technology within Indiana.

Notre Dame hosted the symposium at the invitation of

Jeffrey C. Kantor, vice president and dean of the Graduate

School and professor of chemical and biomolecular

engineering. Kantor is also a member of the board of the

Indiana 21st Century Fund, a state initiative to stimulate and

diversify the economy by developing and commercializing

advanced technologies within Indiana. Created in 1999, the

fund encourages excellence in technology and successful

commercialization through academic-industry partnerships.

Other universities participating in IIN include Ball State

University, Indiana State University, Indiana University,

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Purdue

University, and the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

The Notre Dame symposium focused on advanced

materials and featured university and industry experts in

orthopedics, nanotechnology, fuel cells, and carbon-carbon

composites. Speakers from the College of Engineering

included Steven R. Schmid, associate professor of aerospace

and mechanical engineering; Wolfgang Porod, the Frank M.

Freimann Professor of Electrical Engineering; and Paul J.

McGinn, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering

and director of the Center for Molecularly Engineered

Materials.

IIN will sponsor up to five more symposia at partner

universities during 2005. Topics for the upcoming events

include: systems engineering, technology parks/incubators,

and alternative energy sources. In addition to the symposia,

the IIN plans to develop an on-line database that will

function as a directory of Indiana’s technology experts.

Researchers and facilities in Indiana will be searchable by

name, university, or research area.

For more information on the IIN, visit

http://www.indianainnovation.com.

statewide initiative launched at notre dame

“Every center at Notre Dame contributes to

the intellectual value of the University,” says

Kantor. “The Center for Microfluidics and

Medical Diagnostics offers an additional set of

opportunities in the medical devices arena that

will elevate the research in which graduate stu-

dents and undergraduates can participate. It

also offers solutions to real-world problems

with commercial applications and relationships

with industry.”

One of the center’s local partners is

Scientific Methods, Inc., (SMI) in Granger, Ind.

With more than 60 years of collective profes-

sional experience in environmental sciences

and public health, SMI uses innovative

technologies to provide microbiological

research, laboratory analyses, and product

development services. The firm’s 22,500-sq.-ft.

facility houses laboratories for bacteriological,

virological, and parasitological research. SMI

also leases space to start-up companies pursu-

ing research in biotechnology.

“As a small business,” says James Larkin,

president of SMI, “we recognized that to be

successful, we needed to develop strategic

partnerships, such as our relationship with

the Center for Microfluidics and Medical

Diagnostics at Notre Dame.” The partnership

between SMI and CMMD is a win-win situa-

tion: SMI offers expertise in microbiological

evaluation, with an emphasis on environmen-

tal microbiology, while CMMD offers consider-

able experience in microfluidics.

Because of their business perspective, SMI

researchers have also helped CMMD define

new applications for their microfluidic activi-

ties, particularly in the healthcare and pharma-

ceutical industries. Most recently, they shared

exhibit space at the 2005 Indiana Biosensor

Symposium. “Both organizations have the

desire to innovate and solve problems,” says

Larkin. “By looking beyond what is familiar to

each group, we were able to find new — and

practical — applications that will potentially

benefit everyone.”

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itness the desert after

a shower or a garden after

a much needed rain. Water

gives and sustains life, but it

can also be a source of

unseen pollution and deadly

bacteria. Even in the United

States, the danger can be very close to home ...

as close as the nearest river or local beach.

Municipal sewer systems have been a valu-

able part of the nation’s infrastructure since the

late 1800s. Prior to the advent of these systems,

wastewater festered in privy vaults or cesspools,

and storm water cascaded through city streets.

As the country’s population swelled, particular-

ly in urban areas, so did its need for sanitary

systems. Thriving cities and towns were

frequently faced with flooding concerns and,

more important, public health problems,

because they could not handle the influx.

In the sewer system of early Chicago, for

example, gutters served as drains. As the city

grew, engineers used underground pipes

to route the wastewater directly into Lake

Michigan, but its inhabitants continued to

be plagued by disease. The cholera epidemic of

1854 decimated more than five percent of the

city’s population, and deaths from typhoid and

dysentery continued to rise. The situation was

urgent.

In 1887 Rudolph Hering, chief engineer of

the city’s drainage and water supply commis-

sion, proposed digging a canal at the south

branch of the Chicago River that would carry

wastewater away from Lake Michigan and

down the Mississippi River, via the Des Plaines

and Illinois rivers. The Metropolitan Sanitary

District of Greater Chicago was formed as a

result of this plan. By 1900 the 28-mile canal

Hering envisioned was complete. It became

known as the Sanitary and Ship Canal, and by

1908, it had resulted in a 91 percent drop in

the rate of typhoid deaths in the city.

When it was created Chicago’s sanitary

district covered 185 square miles of the city

and some of the western suburbs. In 1955

the American Society of Civil Engineers recog-

nized the city’s efforts by selecting the sanitary

district as one of the seven engineering won-

ders in the U.S. Today, the district is comprised

of 858 square miles, including nearly all of

Cook County. It serves Chicago, 114 smaller

cities and villages, and 20 local sanitary

districts. But portions of the district, like much

of the nation’s wastewater infrastructure, are

at risk.

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Of the more than 16,200 wastewater treat-

ment facilities and 21,200 sewer systems serv-

ing the U.S. — approximately 725,000 miles of

publicly-owned pipes and 500,000 miles of pri-

vately-owned pipes — the average age of sewer

system components ranges from new to 117

years old. But age is not the only consideration

when discussing water treatment issues.

According to the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA), cities typically employ one of

two types of sewer systems: a combined sewer

system (CSS) or sanitary sewer system (SSS).

A CSS is a system that carries wastewater and

storm runoff through a single pipe to a treat-

ment facility. However, when the flow in the

pipes exceeds the capacity of the system, water

— wastewater, groundwater, and storm water

— is discharged directly into rivers or other

local bodies of water. This event is called a

combined sewer overflow (CSO).

An SSS collects and conveys wastewater

along with limited amounts of groundwater

and storm water to a treatment plant. A sepa-

rate pipeline in the system handles storm

runoff. SSSs can have overflows (SSOs) like a

CSO event, but these are typically due to block-

ages, structural or mechanical failure, collapsed

pipes, or vandalism.

Both types of systems exist, in part, because

CSSs were less expensive for cities that needed

both sanitary and storm sewers. CSS pipes were

constructed to be able to handle the wastewater

of a community, as well as a specified amount

of runoff from heavy storms — typically three

to five times the average dry weather flow.

SSSs were more practical and less expensive

for cities that only needed a wastewater collec-

tion system; these systems were not constructed

to hold runoff from storms. Because of this,

large cities tended to construct CSSs.

During the latter part of the 19th century,

construction of CSSs improved local sanitary

conditions. But the rate of disease-related

deaths in downstream cities remained constant,

highlighting the need for more advanced waste-

water treatment and the major design

difference between the CSSs and SSSs.

Although state and local governments have

not constructed new CSSs since the first half

of the 20th century, there are 772 cities that

employ a CSS for wastewater treatment. These

cities serve more 40 million people in the

northeast and Great Lakes regions of the

country, particularly the District of Columbia,

Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, New York,

Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

Combined sewer systems (CSSs)are typically found in the north-east, Great Lakes, and PacificNorthwest regions of the country.A total of 772 communities areserved by CSSs and subject tocombined sewer overflows(CSOs) when wastewater andstorm surges exceed a system’scapacity. Other factors contribut-ing to a CSO include the age anddesign of a CSS. For example,some CSSs discharge only duringstorms, while others dischargeevery time it rains. CSOs areamong the mitigating factors inbeach closings, fishing restric-tions, and municipal orders toboil water before consumption.

15

The EPA has estimated that CSOs release

approximately 850 billion gallons of untreated

wastewater and storm water annually. SSOs

account for the release of between three and 10

billion gallons of untreated wastewater each

year. Since all cities with a CSO problem are

under a federal mandate from the EPA — the

National CSO Control Policy of 1994, they

must take corrective action to minimize the

adverse effects of CSO events on water quality,

aquatic life, and human health or face heavy

fines.

Unfortunately, correcting the problem is

neither a quick nor an inexpensive fix. In its

August 2004 Report to Congress on the Impact

and Control of CSOs and SSOs, the EPA discuss-

es technologies that may be suited to address

the issue. However, many of the “remedies”

come with a price tag that most cities simply

cannot afford. “Typical solutions to the CSO

problem involve large and expensive civil engi-

neering projects that would enhance the sewer

infrastructure of metropolitan areas,” says

Jeffrey W. Talley, assistant professor of civil

engineering and geological sciences.

Citing South Bend, the fourth largest city in

Indiana, with a population of 107,789, Talley

explains that if South Bend employed current

technology, the city would have to spend $200

million dollars over the next 20 years to fix its

All 22 students in

Assistant Professor

Jeffrey W. Talley’s

Introduction to Environmental Engineering course

participated in the LakeNet assignment, an on-campus

test of embedded network technology. The purpose of the

assignment was to involve undergraduates in hands-on

research, providing additional insight into the design

challenges faced by the research team working on the

University’s Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) project.

Each group of

students was required

to design and build one

node that would interact

with the other groups’

nodes and function as a

small network of sensors,

which would then be

deployed into one of the

on-campus lakes. In

addition to waterproofing

their device, students had

to make sure the device

would float and that the

off-the-shelf sensors

embedded in the device could detect and transmit data —

environmental variables such as pH, temperature, and

dissolved oxygen — to an onshore base station.

Michael D. Lemmon, professor of electrical

engineering, and graduate student Xiaojuan Xie developed

the software that was placed on the nodes. “The software

needed to

accomplish specific

tasks, just as

it would in a real system,” says Lemmon. “It had to be

able to ‘wake up’ all of the nodes simultaneously so they

could sample the lake water, but it also needed to ‘put

the nodes back to sleep’ periodically to minimize energy

consumption.” Because battery life is a vital issue in

deployed networks, the system also needed to provide a

mechanism by which the students could recover the data

retrieved by the sensors, which is why each of the nodes

was also outfitted with a small RF radio to transmit data to

the base station.

Students faced a long list of other design challenges,

including differences in electrical current; most sensors

work off 10V, while the motes housing the sensors employ

5V. They also found that significant

decreases in temperature drained the

batteries more quickly, something they

had not considered. In spite of such

issues, the students learned a great

deal about the mechanics of embedded

networks and the challenges in

deploying this type of technology in the

environment ... information that is now

being used by the CSO team as they

continue to develop the sensors that will

be deployed in the Clyde Creek Basin of the St. Joseph

River, the first full test of CSO/embedded network

technology at Notre Dame.

Juniors Daniel Surrett, left, andRyan O’Larey position theirnode in St. Mary’s Lake. It is oneof six nodes creating a wirelesssensor network.

Undergraduates in the Introduction toEnvironmental Engineering course — left toright, senior Kane Pithey, senior Mona LisaDellaVolpe, junior Matt Carney, and juniorHunter Young — pose with their nodebefore it is deployed into one of the on-campus lakes. Teaching assistants TimothyP. Ruggaber and Anna R. Salamonedirected the students in the LakeNet project.

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North against South ... red state against blue state ...

significant differences can drive people apart. They can

also bring people together in ways that profoundly affect

the quality of life, such as the teaming of the engineering

expertise of Luis A. Montestruque and the business savvy

of Dr. Naunihal S. Virdi. Their individual experiences have

helped them form a joint vision and put a plan for success

into action.

Montestruque, who received a Ph.D. in electrical

engineering from Notre Dame in 2004, is the founder and

president of EmNet LLC. Virdi, his partner and a physician

with a B.S. in microbiology, received an M.B.A. from the

Mendoza College of Business in May 2005. Their company

is part of the team of academic and industry partners

working on the University’s Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO)

project.

Led by Jeffrey W. Talley, assistant professor of civil

engineering and geological sciences, and funded by the

Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, the

CSO project is using novel technology to address sewer

system overflow, which is often directed into open streams

or rivers, affecting water quality and posing a threat to

public health. EmNet LLC designs and manufactures the

radio-enabled sensor nodes that will monitor the flow of

water and sewage in the sewer systems of metropolitan

areas with CSO problems,

measuring and transmitting data

regarding the status of waste

in a system to city engineers

in real time.

Montestruque specializes

in theoretical issues related to

real-time control of networks.

“My involvement in the CSO

project began as a graduate

student,” says Montestruque,

“when Professor Lemmon was

discussing the CSO project with

Professor Talley. The CSO team

needed a company that could design and implement the

sensor hardware and software. My experience in designing

embedded electronics for industry paired with the CSO

team’s need to find a supplier seemed like the perfect fit

and a good basis on which to start a company.”

Luis A. Montestruque, left, and Dr. Naunihal S. Virdi show the sensorboards and other components of EmNet. Montestruque and Virdi startedtheir company, EmNet LLC, with a novel idea and support from JamesLarkin, president of Scientific Methods Inc. in Granger, Ind., and the Irish Angels, a group of Notre Dame alumni and other entrepreneurs who support new venture development.

Components of the EmNet sys-tem, shown here, must be sturdyand cost-effective, able to survivein a sewer system, and compati-ble with exisiting infrastructures.

Virdi is the director of finance and strategy for the

fledgling corporation. “I met Luis as part of a business plan

competition at the University. The concept of the company

was feasible and technically sound. The research promised

to improve the health and well-being of entire communities

across the country, while also creating jobs in our local

economy,” says Virdi. “These were important aspects of

the 21st century program and a good foundation for a start-

up company. My experience in finance and entrepreneurship

dovetailed with what Luis and the University were trying to

accomplish.”

Notre Dame is one of the many institutions working

to promote small businesses using new technologies

developed in the academic setting. When successful, these

types of efforts benefit local economies, as well as the

graduates who start the companies. “We’re excited to be

part of the CSO team at Notre Dame,” says Montestruque,

“because solving this problem will help millions of people.”

“As important,” adds Virdi, “is the way in which the

company continues to develop this new technology ... so

that it can be applied across a variety of fields.”

When the CSO project is successfully completed,

Montestruque and Virdi are looking forward to expanding

the market for their wireless sensor networks, targeting

HVAC systems — regulating factors such as temperature or

humidity — and other environmental applications involving

pollution or toxin monitoring in public water supplies.”

17

CSO problem. Indianapolis, another city

with a CSS, would need to spend $1

billion. According to Talley, the monetary

measurements are just the tip of the iceberg.

“Consider the amount of disruption to local

businesses and traffic patterns in a major engi-

neering project of this type,” he says. “In study-

ing the many facets of this problem, we felt

there had to be a better way to improve water

quality without busting a city’s budget or

inconveniencing its citizens, and we may

have found it.”

Talley is leading a team of academic, indus-

try, and municipal researchers in a project that

may help solve the CSO problem. The team,

which includes Notre Dame colleagues

Michael D. Lemmon, professor of electrical

engineering; Patricia A. Maurice, professor of

civil engineering and geological sciences and

director of the Center for Environmental

Science and Technology; Lloyd H. Ketchum Jr.,

associate professor of civil engineering and geo-

logical sciences; and Agnes E. Ostafin, assistant

professor of chemical and biomolecular engi-

neering, partners with the cities of South Bend,

Mishawaka, and Elkhart and with 20 other

researchers from Purdue University, the

Environmental Health Laboratories of South

Bend, Greeley and Hansen LLC, EmNet LLC,

and the CSO Partnership of Richmond, Va.

Their work is being funded via a $1 million

grant from the Indiana 21st Century Research

and Technology

Fund. Created in

1999, the 21st

Century Fund sup-

ports research that

pairs academia and

industry as they

explore, develop,

and commercialize

advanced technolo-

gies within Indiana.

Notre Dame has received several grants from

the fund for a variety of projects having the

potential to diversify the state’s economy. This

most recent grant is tied to the fact that more

than 20 billion gallons of sewage are released

into Indiana streams each year as a result of

CSO events within the state. The development

of technology to prevent the overflow, while

stimulating the creation of new business

opportunities in the state, supports the

purpose for which the fund was created.

Initially addressing issues specific to the

South Bend area, Talley’s team is defining inno-

vative technologies that could impact all CSO

plagued cities. “Like

most CSO cities,” says

Talley, “South Bend

has a ‘passive’ sewer

system. Diversion

structures, or weir

walls, physically divert

wastewater and storm

runoff when water

levels exceed set

parameters.” This

Timothy P. Ruggaber, a graduate student working on the Combined SewerOverflow project, prepares bottles of sewage for a biochemical oxygen demandtest. He will examine the effect of the enzymes he is adding for five days to determine how quickly the sewage degrades as a result of the enzyme action.

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means that during wetter than normal condi-

tions, wastewater can flow over the weir walls

directly into local waterways. Currently, munic-

ipalities have no way of tracking wastewater

levels within sewer systems. Talley and the

research team are proposing the use of an

embedded wireless sensor network (EmNet)

to accomplish this task.

EmNet, as envisioned by the team, would

consist of a series of small sensors controlled

by microprocessors and run by solar energy

or battery power. The individual sensors and

nodes in the network would communicate with

one another, routing information between

themselves to an information base station

and eventually to “smart” valves which could

re-route the wastewater.

Since the network acts with distributed

memory and a distributed database, all infor-

mation occurs in real-time, meaning that city

engineers monitoring the system could make

informed decisions concerning the control of

the system and alert citizens as an event was

occurring. An additional benefit is that munici-

palities would be able to identify the specific

location in the system at which a CSO event

was developing.

The first step in the project is to convert a

portion of South Bend’s CSS from a passive sys-

tem to a “smart” active system. To accomplish

this, the team will develop, deploy and test an

EmNet system in a tributary of the local St.

Joseph River, known as the Clyde Creek Basin.

The initial network will feature 45 sensors and

approximately 150 communication nodes. The

nodes will route information between the sen-

sors and “smart valves” using existing CSS

infrastructure. “The CSO project and the stu-

dents’ LakeNet experiment,” says Lemmon, “are

examples of pervasive computing. That means

you want to embed computation into your

environment in a way that it’s everywhere but

you don’t really notice it.” Lemmon stresses

that the idea is to give the network the flexibili-

ty to interact with the environment but still

control it in a way that was not possible before.

“Our challenge,” he says, “is to be able to

accomplish this in energy-efficient and

cost-effective ways.”

According to Talley, the key element to

achieving pervasiveness is getting the off-the-

shelf sensors, chosen by the team because of

their cost, to talk to one another and to the

novel sensors currently under development at

Notre Dame. “Communication is vital,” he

says. “In addition to talking to one another, the

nodes will also need to relay the information

to a base station above ground, which is why it

makes sense to capitalize on the existing infra-

structure, such as fiberoptic or telephone cables

and in-line storage. In fact, the South Bend sys-

tem has miles of pipes below the ground that

would accommodate an overflow event, if the

CSO team is successful in tracking CSO events

and triggering smart valves.

“We are definitely exploring in-line

treatment,” says Talley. “Using enzymes, we

could conceivably destroy the pathogens and

reduce the organic waste while it’s in storage

Graduate student Caitlyn Shea’s focus in the Combined SewerOverflow project is in creating the new and novel sensors which willalert city officials to the status of wastewater levels in local systems.

sensor hardware and write

software to implement the

strategies developed by their fellow students during the

program. They will work with professional engineers from

the city of South Bend, Ind., to identify a suitable test

location and develop a working model of control strategies

for the city.

Working with city engineers in Elkhart, Ind., biological

sciences students will study the in-line treatment option.

Elkhart has constructed a wetlands area where CSO

discharges are treated. Students will monitor the

performance of the wetlands under a variety of CSO flow

conditions to better understand the design of the wetlands

basin and how it affects treatment mechanisms.

All of the students will study the

ethical issues associated with CSO

events, specifically the disproportionate

number of overflows that affect

minority communities and low-income

populations. All students will also be

required to submit a paper and prepare

a presentation on their summer

experience at an undergraduate

forum at the end of the program.

19

and before it’s routed to a treatment plant.”

Again, this process involves sensors embedded

in the system that would determine the type

and location of the bacteria, routing the infor-

mation back to the base station. “We believe

this type of active control for the reduction of

CSO events,” says Talley, “would require minor

modification to existing sewer infrastructures,

making it a cost-effective means of meeting

EPA mandates.”

Notre Dame’s approach to CSO control

offers other benefits. A recent market analysis

estimates that using embedded networks to

address the CSO problem could bring 300 new

jobs and more than $14 million annually to

As with much of the

research conducted within

the College of Engineering, the Combined Sewer Overflow

(CSO) project provides a wide range of hands-on

experiences for undergraduates during the academic year.

Similar programs also offer summer experiences funded by

the National Science Foundation. In summer 2005 juniors

from across the country majoring in engineering or

biological sciences will participate in the first summer

Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) utilizing

embedded wireless sensor network technologies. As

they address the CSO issue, students will focus on two

approaches: using an existing sewer system to provide

storage for overflow and for in-line treatment of waste.

During the eight-week session

civil, environmental, and chemical

engineering students will work to

identify control strategies that

maximize the use of existing

infrastructures for waste storage,

including identifying areas in existing

systems that can be used to avoid

flooding. Electrical and computer

engineering students will focus on theProfessor Michael D. Lemmon holds a node similar to the nodes that will be used by students participating in the Research Experiences forUndergraduates program in engineer-ing and geological sciences at theUniversity of Notre Dame this summer.

Indiana. The state would, in effect, become the

national CSO service and products solution

center. A host of spin-off projects could also

evolve, such as the monitoring of biochemical

agents for national security.

It’s interesting to note that some of the same

health concerns that led to the creation of the

Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater

Chicago in the late 1800s are still driving engi-

neers and researchers. The emerging technology

behind the CSO project has served to link aca-

demic institutions, corporations, and individu-

als in a quest to solve a national problem, one

that will impact the quality of water and the

quality of life.

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The first time the Four Horsemen “rode” was

during the October 18, 1924, Army-Notre

Dame game, when the Fighting Irish routed

Army. Immortalizing specific players as the

“Four Horsemen,” Grantland Rice of the

New York Herald Tribune also called the Irish the

“South Bend cyclone,” because of their speed

and the way their offense would shift before

the defense could adjust. The team’s agility,

determination, and focus amazed everyone.

It was the beginning of a legend.

So taking the name Four Horsemen

Ventures was a bit of a challenge for the

students, faculty, and alumni participating in

the development of a high-tech entrepreneurial

program within the College of Engineering, but

it was one they welcomed.

Entrepreneurial studies have been a topic in

business schools for the last 20 years. In fact,

more than 1,500 universities provide some

form of entrepreneurial education. They offer

business plan programs, leadership seminars,

and student competitions primarily for busi-

ness students and rarely for engineers. Only a

handful of engineering schools offer entrepre-

neurial programs to their students.

“There is a real need here ... and a real

opportunity,” says Robert M. Dunn, director

of the Integrated Engineering and Business

Practices program. ”Engineers are problem

solvers by nature; they create the technologies

of tomorrow. Yet, what many young engineers

lack as they enter the workplace is an under-

standing of the entrepreneurial process as it

relates to technology. We’re developing a high-

tech entrepreneurial program at Notre Dame,

because we believe that it will prove an impor-

tant tool for our students, faculty, and alumni

and that it has the potential to benefit society.”

The establishment of an entrepreneurial pro-

gram and venture fund stemmed from a sugges-

tion made by two alumni. Brothers Kevin G.

and Timothy J. Connors, both graduates of the

Department of Electrical Engineering and both

venture capitalists, brought the idea of develop-

ing a entrepreneurial program for students to

the college. They also provided the initial fund-

ing to make the program possible.

Although the Connors brothers were already

active with the University’s Gigot Center for

Entrepreneurial Studies through the Mendoza

College of Business (MCOB), their suggestion

hinged on the belief that engineering entrepre-

neurship is a different animal and requires a

different approach than business entrepreneur-

ship. The typical business approach is to identi-

fy a market need before developing a product.

High-tech entrepreneurs start with a new idea

Some legends are based in truth, but the most important element of a legend is its longevity. The original Four Horsemen of Notre Dame were (left to right, opposite page) Don Miller, right halfback; Elmer Layden, fullback; Jim Crowley, left halfback; and Harry Stuhldreher, quarterback. Long after leaving the University, they “rode again” in 1998 when the U.S.Postal Service issued a series of stamps commemorating the Roaring Twenties, part of its “Celebrate theCentury” program.

Crowley, the last surviving Horseman, died in 1986. But true to form, the legend of the Horsemencontinued, as did one family’s presence on the Notre Dame campus. Thomas M. Stuhldreher graduatedfrom the mechanical engineering program in 1998 with one of the highest grade-point averages in theCollege of Engineering’s history. His brother, Timothy J. Stuhldreher, who graduated in 2001, was also amechanical engineering major. Their father received a master’s degree from the University in 1971. Theirgrandfather, Eugene Stuhldreher, was a first cousin to Harry Stuhldreher.

The Horsemen commemorative was the third University-related stamp ever issued. The postal service introduced a Knute Rocknestamp in 1988, and a postcard featuring the Main Building was introduced in 1991.

Undergraduates CeceliaHilliard and Perry Smithdiscuss the patent processwith Robert M. Dunn,director of the IntegratedEngineering and BusinessPractices Program, who used examples from his 33-year tenure at IBM — a patent for impingementcooling.

and then search for markets in need of the

product or process.

Intrigued by the concept and wishing to

explore the benefits offered via an entrepre-

neurial program, Dean Frank P. Incropera

asked Dunn to form a committee to study

other universities involved in similar programs

and to make recommendations about the for-

mation of a program. Committee members

were: John M. Brauer, associate director of the

Integrated Engineering and Business Practices

program; Michael T. Edwards, assistant vice

president and director of the University’s Office

of Research; Curt Freeland, associate profes-

sional specialist in computer science and

engineering; Peter M. Kogge, the Ted H.

McCourtney Professor of Computer Science

and Engineering; David T. Leighton Jr., profes-

sor of chemical and biomolecular engineering;

Steven R. Schmid, associate professor of aero-

space and mechanical engineering; Robert L.

Stevenson, professor of electrical engineering;

22

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An engineering degree, paired with an understanding ofbusiness processes, is not only very marketable but alsovery profitable ... for the individual and for society. SeveralNotre Dame alumni are using their technical and problem-solving skills to develop new businesses while addressingsocietal needs:

For example, Medsphere Systems Corporation is theprovider of OpenVista, a groundbreaking software solutionfor electronic health records. It offers an always-currentsource of information to all patient care and administra-

tive departments across a healthcare system. Its impact uponreducing potential and preventablemedical errors will likely provesignificant, since according to theInstitute of Medicine, “preventablemedical errors result in the deathsof approximately 98,000 peopleannually and cost hospitals up to$29 billion annually.” In January

2005, Larry Augustin, a 1984 graduate of the electricalengineering department, was named chief executive offi-cer of Medsphere. Prior to joining the company, he was aventure partner at Azure Capital Partners, specialists insoftware, systems, and related infrastructure technologies.Augustin also founded VA Linux, now VA Software, in 1993.

Kevin G. Connors is a general partner in Spray VenturePartners, a firm that provides capital as well as technicaland business expertise to emerging health care compa-

nies. In a 2000 lecture at theUniversity, Connors described several projects in which SprayVenture put engineers and medicalinnovators together with investorsand marketers to address specificmedical needs. A 1983 graduate of the Department of ElectricalEngineering, Connors was one ofthe two alumni who suggested

that Notre Dame establish a high-tech entrepreneurialprogram.

Brother of Kevin and 1989 electrical engineering gradu-ate, Timothy J. Connors is a venture capitalist with U.S.Venture Partners. With operating experience in engineer-ing, marketing, manufacturing, and sales, Connors specializes in seed and early-stage development of

Kevin G. Connors

Larry Augustin

enterprise software and semicon-ductor companies. He also serves onthe Board of Advisors of the GigotCenter for Entrepreneurial Studies inthe Mendoza College of Business atthe University of Notre Dame.

The founder and chief executiveofficer of Stellar Solutions, Inc., is Celeste Volz Ford. VolzFord graduated from the University in 1978 with a degreein aerospace engineering. After working for several yearswith the Communications SatelliteCorporation, the AerospaceCorporation, and Scitor, she formedher own company. Under her guid-ance, Stellar Solutions became aleader in the aerospace field. In1998 she established the StellarSolutions Foundation, which supportscommunity-based organizations and charities. She founded StellarVentures in 2000; Stellar Ventures is an investing and incubating program focused on early-stage technologydevelopment and market applications.

Another alum who has had success nurturing start-upcompanies is Joseph F. Trustey, a managing partner withSummit Partners. Trustey graduated from the Departmentof Chemical Engineering in 1984 and received an M.B.A.from Harvard Business School in 1990. He has helped theprivate equity firm raise in excess of$5 billion in capital and invest inmore than 255 businesses, many ofwhich are technology related. Priorto joining Summit, Trustey served asa captain in the U.S. Army andworked at Bain & Company, Inc., aglobal business consulting firm. Hisboard directorships include FreedomScientific, Paragon Vision Sciences,and B & W Loudspeakers. Trustey and Volz Ford are mem-bers of the College of Engineering Advisory Council.

These alumni, and many like them, understand thatwhile engineers contribute to the betterment of society inthe field or in a laboratory, they serve mankind equally aswell in a board room, as the owner of a business, or as aventure capitalist.

Timothy J. Connors

Celeste Volz Ford

Joseph F. Trustey

Development of the Four Horsemen

Venture Fund, was a third action outlined by

the committee. Although there is a significant

amount of work to be accomplished regarding

the legal structure of the fund before

operations can begin — such as equity

obligations, oversight rights and responsibili-

ties, and technology ownership — the commit-

tee is confident that an appropriate structure

can be established and a venture fund operated

to the benefit of participating students, faculty,

and alumni.

Few universities have profitable intellectual

property portfolios because of the expenses

associated with filing, marketing, and

maintaining the patents. Nevertheless, commit-

tee members described the development and

protection of intellectual property as one of the

most important considerations in establishing

a viable program. Provisional and filed

patents, which would be owned by the

University, would protect the new businesses

and entrepreneurial activity in the fund.

An area that the committee envisioned as

immediately attainable was the development

of summer internships. In order to stimulate

interest in the college’s entrepreneurial enter-

prise and increase the educational experience

of students, the college has been seeking

internships for its students with start-up com-

panies. Working with the University’s Career

Center, as well as with representatives from the

Kauffman Fund and the Lilly Foundation, the

college expects to offer several such opportuni-

ties this summer.

and Wilasa Vichit-Vadakan, the Clare Booth

Luce Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering

and Geological Sciences.

The committee identified 12 major activities

common to the most successful programs and

submitted a series of objectives and actions for

implementation. According to the committee,

the first and most important initiative would

be the establishment of a student-run organi-

zation whose members — undergraduate and

graduate students, faculty, and alumni —

would meet a minimum of once a month to

learn more about the process of vetting and

capitalizing innovations. Members would also

participate in the assessment of specific projects

and commitments to venture funding.

A total of 30 people attended the first

meeting, which was held in December 2004.

Among the attendees was Christopher Tilton,

a senior majoring in mechanical engineering.

Tilton, who has high hopes for the program,

believes that the Four Horsemen will give

students valuable information about what it

means to be an entrepreneur. “Having attended

all the meetings so far, I think it’s going to be a

great way to learn how to start a technology

oriented business,” he says.

Entrepreneurial education was identified

as another important aspect of a successful

program. Although the college already offers a

two-course sequence as part of its Integrated

Engineering and Business Practices program,

the committee recommended that the first

course in the sequence, Fundamentals of

Integrated Engineering and Business, be changed

to include a segment on business plans, which

had previously been offered in the second

course, Advanced Integrated Engineering and

Business. Originally open only to upperclass-

men and graduate students, the initial course

would be opened to sophomores, allowing

them to become acquainted with the principles

of venture funding earlier in their tenure at

Notre Dame.

Students recognize that interaction with industry leaders anddistinguished speakers, as well as understanding businessprocesses, can be as vital to them as their engineering course-work. One of the most recent speakers to the Four Horsemengroup was H. David Hayes, the William Alexander NolanDirector in Family Business Enterprise and program director of the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.

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A senior in the Department of Computer

Science and Engineering, Nicholas Petrella

knows the benefit of an internship with a

start-up company. Before joining the Four

Horsemen program, he interned with Medtuity,

Inc., a healthcare company located in

Westerville, Ohio, that is developing electronic

medical records. “Not many engineering pro-

grams provide a good overview of the business

world,” says Petrella, “let alone a sense of the

legal, financial, and operational issues involved

with running your own company. From my

internship experience and through the Four

Horsemen program, I feel I’m gaining a

better understanding of the nuances and

requirements of running my own business,

which is a goal of mine.”

Other initiatives identified by the committee

include the formation of an advisory

network, the recruitment of program

participants, development of business plan

competitions, creation of new business

incubators, establishment of a distinguished

leaders lecture series, creation of

scholarships, and involvement in entrepre-

neurial conferences on and off-campus.

Because the Four Horsemen is a new

program, it is unlikely that all 12 activities will

be implemented in the 2004-05 academic year,

but the committee has targeted eight of them,

setting specific goals for the year. “We’re work-

ing to establish the program,” says Dunn.

Key needs in the coming year include the

continued development of ideas for projects,

establishment of a technical advisory board,

and creation of a capital fund as a resource for

the program and seed money for start-ups who

meet the venture fund requirements.

“This development stage is an exciting time

in the program,” says Timothy Connors.

“Students have already started working with

venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs

to write software for a commercial application.

They are also working with MBA students from

MCOB to develop business and marketing

plans. But what is most exciting is that, as the

students currently participating in the program

become alumni, they can return to help the

next generation of students, creating a cycle of

learning and doing.”

If one subscribes to the adage, “Nothing

ventured, nothing gained,” it’s easy to see

the benefits of the Four Horsemen program:

It exposes students and faculty to real-world

problems and the entrepreneurial process, while

introducing them to alumni with relevant expe-

rience and internship opportunities. Students

benefit as they realize that they — like the origi-

nal horsemen — must remain agile,

determined, and focused on their goals.

The college benefits from patent ownership

and the leveraging of its strong alumni network.

Alumni become more invested in the college,

but they also benefit if their proposal or

product is funded by the program. And, when

Four Horsemen Ventures identifies and helps

to fully develop products that raise the quality

of life, society benefits. Although it is still too

soon to tell, Four Horsemen Ventures may be

another legend in the making.

A member of Four Horsemen Ventures and a senior in the Department ofComputer Science and Engineering, Nicholas Petrella interned with healthcare start-up Medtuity, Inc., in Westerville, Ohio. Petrella believes that theinternship, his experience through Four Horsemen Ventures, and his course-work through the Integrated Engineering and Business Practices program provide a solid overview of the business world and issues related to startinghis own company, which is one of his goals.

For information about Four Horsemen Ventures or to participate, contact Robert M. Dunn at Dunn.47@nd.edu.

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College Welcomes New MEP DirectorIn December 2004 the College ofEngineering named Ivan Favila the directorof the Minority Engineering Program (MEP).Prior to joining the University, he served as the assistant director of the MinorityEngineering Recruitment and RetentionProgram at the University of Illinois atChicago (UIC) and director of theCooperative Engineering EducationProgram.

In addition to advising UIC students on academic, technical, interpersonal, andprofessional issues, Favila coordinated the Minority Engineering Orientation course and recruitment programs for pre-college students,supervised graduate andundergraduate studentsin peer mentor programs,and served as an adviserto student chapters of theNational Society of BlackEngineers and Society ofHispanic ProfessionalEngineers, as well as the

social conditions bring diverse ideas andsolutions, which is quite valuable for problem-solving professions, such as engineering.”

The Notre Dame MEP program wasestablished in 1987 in order to encourage minority students in their pursuit of undergraduate degrees in engineering.

For more information about MEP activi-ties, visit http://www.nd.edu/~mepnd.

Since its inception in 1987, the Minority Engineering Program (MEP)has played a vital role in the educational experience of minorityengineering students, offering workshops in academic excellence,scholarship programs, lecture series, service opportunities, and amiddle school outreach program. Students also benefit from a strongMEP alumni network. Participants of the 2004-05 MEP, left to right,include Dana Marsh, program coordinator; Ivan Favila, programdirector; senior Rebecca Dunn; senior Gabriela Anchondo; juniorSheena Bowman; senior Diego Fernandez; and senior Nicole Rogers.

college news

student-run Minority Engineering DesignTeam.

Favila received a bachelor’s degree in general engineering from the Universityof Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree in mechanical engineeringfrom UIC.

“Minority engineering at Notre Dame is not a new program,” says Favila, “but weare renewing our commitment to encouragestudents with diverse backgrounds tobecome more fully engaged in what the college offers.” According to Favila, over the next few months the MEP will focus ondeveloping leadership skills in students,

building a community of engi-neering students, developingengineering-related extra-curricular activities, and pro-moting academic excellenceamong all students. “Creativesolutions,” he says, “arisefrom people who think differ-ently. Students from variedethnicities, ancestries, and

Ivan Favila

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New Faculty in CollegeFaculty joining the University in fall 2004 were:

Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringWilliam F. Schneider, associate professorElaine Zhu, assistant professor

Civil Engineering and Environmental SciencesSusan E. Sakimoto, assistant professor

Computer Science and EngineeringAmitabh Chaudhary, assistant professorChristian Poellabauer, assistant professorDouglas L. Thain, assistant professor

Electrical EngineeringChristine M. Maziar, professor and associate

provost and vice president of the UniversityHuili Xing, assistant professor

Amitabh Chaudhary Christine M. Maziar Christian Poellabauer

Susan E. Sakimoto William F. Schneider Douglas L. Thain

Huili Xing Elaine Zhu

Three Faculty Receive NSF CAREER AwardsThree faculty in the College of Engineeringhave received Early Career Development(CAREER) awards from the National ScienceFoundation: Surendar Chandra, an assistantprofessor in the Department of ComputerScience and Engineering and, from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Assistant Professor Martin Haenggi and Assistant Professor PauloTabuada. Established in 1995, the CAREER program recognizes junior faculty for their efforts in technology-related research and education. It is thehighest honor given by the U.S. government to young faculty members in engineering and science.

Chandra, who joined the University in 2002, was cited for his proposal titled “Scalable Self-managing Multimedia Storage.” The goal of the projectis to design and demonstrate a self-managing storage system for high-fidelity audio/video streaming data from sensor deployments, extending therobustness of the signal and managing data storage more efficiently and economically. One application involves home health care systems, wherehospitals and physicians use the data collected from multimedia sensors to review the progress of home-bound patients.

Haenggi’s project, “Modeling and Managing Uncertainty in Wireless Ad Hoc and Sensor Networks,” combines methodologies from informationand communication theory, random graph theory, and stochastic geometry. This research will contribute to the current understanding of mobile adhoc and sensor networks, including multi-hop cellular networks. As with all CAREER projects, Haenggi’s includes an educational outreach componentfor undergraduate and graduate students. Haenggi joined the University in 2001.

A faculty member since 2003, Tabuada’s project, “Automated Synthesis of Embedded Control Software,” fosters a paradigm shift in the develop-ment of embedded software design. His project explores the integration of control into software design, which would trigger a reduction in softwaredevelopment time and costs. The goal of the project is to increase functionality, robustness, and dependability of the large networks of embeddedsystems that are becoming more prevalent in society.

Surendar Chandra Martin Haenggi Paulo Tabuada

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Graduate students Joshua Cameron, left, and MatthewBennington assemble the transonic axial flowcompressor in the new Turbomachinery PropulsionLaboratory. Once completed the facility will investigateflow control techniques, particularly for rotor tip lossreduction and surge-stall control.

Center for Flow Physics and Control Expands

The Center for Flow Physics and Controlhas added a Turbomachinery andPropulsion Laboratory (TPL). According to Scott C. Morris, assistant professor ofaerospace and mechanical engineering and director of the TPL, the facility will simulate the operating conditions of gasturbine engines most widely used inadvanced commercial and military aircraft.“Although exact engine conditions cannotbe recreated in a laboratory environment,”says Morris, “the compressor in the TPL hasbeen designed to function using the samerelevant parameters. Our objective in themany experiments we will perform is to useflow control to obtain increased perform-ance and efficiency in modern jet engineswhile also identifying current design limita-tions.” The TPL will study the fluid flowthrough the rotating blade rows of the

ASME Honors DunnPatrick F. Dunn, professor of theDepartment of Aerospace andMechanical Engineering, has beennamed a fellow of the AmericanSociety of Mechanical Engineers(ASME). Conferred upon a memberwith a minimum of 10 years ofactive engineering service who hasalso made significant contributionsto the field, the rank of fellow is the

highest level of membership in the ASME. Dunn is the seventh mem-ber of the department to receive such a designation. Other membersof the department named fellows of the ASME are Viola D. HankProfessor Hafiz M. Atassi, McCloskey Dean of Engineering and H.C.and E.A. Brosey Professor Frank P. Incropera, Roth-Gibson ProfessorThomas J. Mueller, Professor John E. Renaud, Professor EmeritusAlbin A. Szewczyk, and Professor Emeritus Kwang-Tzu Yang.

Dunn’s research focuses on the dynamics of aerosol formation,transportation, and deposition. He has been a faculty member since 1985.

Atassi Named Rayleigh LecturerHafiz M. Atassi, the Viola D. HankProfessor of Aerospace andMechanical Engineering, wasnamed the 2004 Rayleigh Lecturerby the Noise Control and AcousticsDivision of the American Society ofMechanical Engineers (ASME). Theaward is presented annually inrecognition of “pioneering contribu-tions to the science and applica-

tions of acoustics.” Atassi presented his lecture on November 18,2004, at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress inAnaheim, Calif.

A faculty member since 1987, Atassi is a fellow of the AmericanInstitute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the ASME. His interestsare in fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, aeroacoustics, aeroelasticity,and applied and computational mathematics.

Founded in 1880, ASME is a 120,000-member professional organ-ization focused on technical, educational, and research issues of theengineering and technology community.

The Rayleigh lectureship is named for John William Strutt, thethird Baron Rayleigh, whose Theory of Sound is considered the firstcomprehensive treatise on modern acoustics. Rayleigh won theNobel Prize for his contributions to physics in 1904.

compressor. Studies in the TPL will usetechnology developed at Notre Dame, suchas plasma anemometers and actuators, tosense and control the flow in a closed loopsystem. Information gathered from thisresearch will assist in the design of enginesthat are lighter, feature fewer parts, cost lessto manufacture, offer greater fuel efficiency,and produce fewer emissions.

A E R O S P A C E A N D M E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G

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Learning Program Receives Silver Award

Children from South Bend’s Robinson Community Center explored the world of dinosaurs during the first“Learn with Us” series program at the University ofNotre Dame.

Brennecke Named Chair of the Council for Chemical ResearchJoan F. Brennecke, the Keating-Crawford Professor ofChemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has been electedthe chair of the Council for Chemical Research (CCR). Herterm will begin in 2007, after serving two years as vice chair.As chair she will be responsible for supervising all businessof the CCR, including presiding at all meetings of the organi-zation’s general membership and board.

Brennecke has been a member of the CCR board since2003, serving on the executive committee as well as chair ofthe program and initiatives committee. A pioneer in the

development of environmentally friendly solvents, particularly supercritical fluids and ionicliquids, Brennecke has been a member of the Notre Dame faculty since 1989.

The CCR promotes cooperation in basic research and encourages high-quality educationin chemical sciences and engineering. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization representsmost of the country’s chemical research enterprises, with membership consisting of leadersfrom industry, government, and academia.

The Council for the Advancement andSupport of Education (CASE) District V hon-ored the “Learn with Us” initiative at theUniversity of Notre Dame with a 2004 SilverAward in the collaborative programs cate-gory. Associate Professor J. Keith Rigby Jr.,Jacquelyn Rucker, and Jaime Cripe devel-oped the program as an outreach effort tolocal under-represented youth. The firstproject in the series — which will featureactivies in archaeology, fine arts, music, andhistory and be led by University scholars —showcased dinosaurs.

Approximately 25 students from theRobinson Community Center were able toview casts of the head and teeth of “Peck’sT-Rex,” one of the largest specimens oftyrannosaurus ever found. Rigby unearthedthe skeleton in northeast Montana near theFort Peck Reservoir in 1997.

University guides led the children, whoranged in age from kindergarten to sixthgrade, in a pseudo dinosaur dig. Other

activities incorporated into the programincluded reviewing dinosaurs in art, dis-cussing books on paleontology, visitingdinosaur Web sites, and viewing theDiscovery Kids Channel program“Bonehead Detectives of the Paleo World,”as well as a news report on Rigby’s initial discovery of the skeleton.

A faculty member since 1982, Rigby has discovered several dinosaur fossils inMontana. He teaches historical geology,sedimentation and stratigraph, and surficialprocesses.

Rucker is director of the Office of Community Relations, and Cripe is theassistant director of the Eck Visitors’ Center.

CASE is the largest international associ-ation of educational institutions in theworld, serving more than 3,200 universitiesand related organizations in 45 countries.District V encompasses Illinois, Indiana,Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsinand serves 462 institutions.

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Defense Agency Funds Surveillance ResearchFunded by the DefenseIntelligence Agency andNational Science Foundation,Assistant Professor SurendarChandra and Professor PatrickJ. Flynn are developing the“Hydra,” a self-managing videosensing system for surveillanceapplications. The ultimate goalof their research, which uses awireless high-fidelity video sen-sor network, is to develop tech-nologies that will connect anumber of previously uncoordi-

nated views from a particular setting, limiting security threats through the increased surveil-lance. Applications include retrospective surveillance, where individual scenes would bechecked and validated from other angles in order to increase recognition, and adaptive bat-tlefield sensing, where sensors would scan the horizon for a variety of parameters to assesspotential threats or enemy movement. Chandra and Flynn will be testing the sensor platformand innovative software in a test bed located in the Department of Computer Science andEngineering. They are currently monitoring Chandra’s office and the Experimental SystemsLaboratory with the Hydra system.

Flynn Among Most Frequently CitedIn the August 2004 issue ofCommunications of the ACM,the Association for ComputingMachinery lists a paperauthored by Patrick J. Flynn,professor of computer science and engineering; AnilK. Jain, professor of computerscience and engineering atMichigan State University; andM. Narasimha Murty, professor of computerscience and automation at the IndianInstitute of Science, as the fourth mostdownloaded article from computing sur-veys and the second most downloaded article during its original publication year,which was 1999.

The article, titled “Data Clustering: A Review,” was also cited by CiteSeer as the 23rd most frequently referenced articlein its publication year with 154 citations. The ISI Web of Science lists 130 citations for the paper.

Flynn joined the University in 2001.

Teaching and Learning: Outreach Activities in Nanotechnology

Undergraduates in the summer program experiencemany of the same research opportunities innanotechnology as students during the academic year.

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C O M P U T E R S C I E N C E A N D E N G I N E E R I N G

The Department of Electrical Engineering, in conjunction with the Kaneb Center forTeaching and Learning, is one of severaldepartments across the University offeringsummer research experiences for highschool teachers in northwest Indiana. The program, Research Experiences forTeachers at Notre Dame (RET-ND), runs foreight weeks and includes stipends up to$5,000 for participating teachers.

Electrical engineering faculty will leadseven projects based in nanotechnology:materials for nanoscale devices; scanningelectron microscopy; topics in nanotechnol-ogy; fabrication and testing of semiconduc-tor chemical sensors; exploring the nanoworld with scanning tunneling microscopy;software simulation tools for Quantum-dotCellular Automata; and nanoelectronicdevices operating with single electrons.

In addition to the research experiences,high school teachers will participate inweekly presentations on scientific andteaching related topics. They will also meetwith other instructors in the program to

discuss their research, curricular and pedagogical matters, and student issuesthey face at the high school level.

The department is also collaboratingwith faculty from the College of Science inthe Nano-bio Research Experiences forUndergraduates summer program. Fundedby the National Science Foundation, theprogram is open to undergraduates majoring in biology, chemical engineering,chemistry, geosciences, electrical engineer-ing, environmental engineering, or physics.After 10 weeks of hands-on research, semi-nars, and coursework, students will travel toBudapest, Hungary, as part of a cooperativeexchange program. They will spend sevendays in classes and workshops on bioinfor-matics, neural networks, and visual sensors.

To promote their professional develop-ment, students will be required to manage asmall research budget and will also beresponsible for writing a report and pre-senting their research at the end of thesummer during an undergraduate researchsymposium. The summer research experi-

ence involves several faculty in the collegesof engineering and science. It is directed byMayra Lieberman, associate professor ofchemistry and biochemistry, and WolfgangPorod, the Frank M. Freimann Professor ofElectrical Engineering.

For more information on these outreachprograms, visit the Center for Nano Scienceand Technology at http://nano.nd.edu.

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University of Notre DameCollege of Engineering257 Fitzpatrick HallNotre Dame, IN 46556-5637

Volume 6, Number 2

Nonprofit OrganizationU.S. Postage Paid

Notre Dame, IndianaPermit No. 10

Community service is an integral aspect of life at NotreDame. Approximately 80 percent of University students areactive in volunteer service. Some participate in the HolyCross Associates program. Some spend their fall andspring breaks in Appalachia or other impoverished areas.Some serve as teachers to understaffed Catholic schoolsthrough the University’s Alliance for Catholic Education.They serve in any number of ways. Earlier this year,accountancy students prepared more than 2,500 tax forms for area residents as part of the University’s 30-year-old Tax Assistance Program.

The ways in which engineering students volunteer areas diverse as the disciplines they study. For example, TheLogan Center is a local agency that a group of engineeringstudents is currently assisting. The center is a not-for-profit organization serving handicappedadults, children, and their families.Since 2002 engineering students havebeen adapting battery-operated toys fortoddlers with disabilities.

Playtime is more than “fun time;” itis a vital part of childhood development.Because of their disabilities, some chil-dren lack the fine motor skills that allowthem to flip the small switches on toys.Others do not have the intellectual abili-ty to understand the switches. Studentsin the College of Engineering have been altering toys for these children, so that they can be turned on and off

Engineering students, left to right, Megan Schroeder, SarahBrown, James McNamara, and Katie Murphy display someof the toys they adapted for The Logan Center during the fallsemester.

by pressing a large plate instead of a tiny switch. After performing experiments to determine the best

way to accomplish this type of retrofit, the students workwith the electrical wiring in the toys and solder the pressplates. They also document the process in clear, step-by-step instructions for parents to follow if they wish to adapttoys for their own children.

“Adapting toys so children with disabilities can usethem may not seem very technical in nature,” says Paul R.

Brenner, the graduate student who leadsthe team, “but it’s been very worthwhile. Itcertainly fits with the unique Catholic char-acter of the University. Because as studentsand teachers at Notre Dame, we recognizethe call to serve our community. As engi-neers, we do that through the application of our knowledge and technical expertise,whether that means modifying toys forhandicapped children or developingInternet based Web resources for familieswith autistic children.”

For more information on engineering service activities, visithttp://epics.cse.nd.edu.

This cassette tape player is oneof the children’s toys for whichengineering students havedeveloped adaptation instruc-tions, which serve as a step-by-step guide for parents, so theycan easily retrofit this toy fortheir own disabled child.