CEE News

  • January 28, 2008

    Focus on Engineering – Problems engineers solved

    For the second year in a row, Professor Ana Barros led a freshman year experience Focus course cluster called Engineering Frontiers. Open to both engineering and arts and sciences students, this year’s cluster examines the planet earth as the life support system that sustains us. Taught by engineering professor David Needham, one course in the cluster, Engineering 32F is Mapping Engineering onto Biology. Focus students had the opportunity to join into Needham’s ME/BME 265, Introduction to ...
  • January 23, 2008

    President Addresses Duke Community on Death of Graduate Student

    Open forum to be held Jan. 23 in CIEMAS Monday, January 21, 2008 Dear Member of the Duke University Community, I write to share my great sadness over the sudden and senseless death of Abhijit Mahato, a graduate student in the Pratt School of Engineering, who was murdered in his off-campus apartment this weekend. Having spoken with Professor Tod Laursen, in whose lab Abhijit was making important contributions, I have a sense of his great promise and endearing ...
  • January 19, 2008

    Shooting Victim Identified As Duke Grad Student

    Saturday, January 19, 2008 (Updated 3 p.m. Jan. 19) Durham, NC -- A man identified as a Duke University graduate student was found shot to death at an apartment complex in the 1600 block of Anderson Street, several blocks south of the Duke campus, at about 11:30 p.m. Friday. Friends and colleagues have identified the victim as Abhijit Mahato, 29, a Ph.D. engineering candidate from India, university officials said Saturday afternoon. Durham Police said they do not yet ...
  • December 21, 2007

    Water Conservation Paying Off at Duke

    by Missy Baxter During recent tours of Duke’s Home Depot Smart Home, visitors marveled at two 1,000-gallon rain barrels that collect water to flush toilets, wash clothes and irrigate landscaping at the home. “It’s a smart way to save water and help the environment, especially since we’re in a drought,” said Alessandro Mangiafico, 9, as he toured the home with his parents Paula Mangiafico, a Duke University Libraries archivist, and Paolo Mangiafico, Duke IT-Web Services ...
  • November 21, 2007

    Our World of Water -- Crisis and Confusion

    DURHAM, NC -- Taken for granted by some, stolen by others, water is one of the world's most valuable commodities. In some places, a gallon of water is worth more than a gallon of petroleum, according to Miguel Medina, a specialist in hydrology and water resources at Duke's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. "More than 2.4 billion people in the world do not have access to sanitation, more than 1.2 billion don't have access to ...
  • November 12, 2007

    The Home Depot Smart Home at Duke is a Showcase of Green Design

    The Home Depot Smart Home at Duke University is a showcase of green design and a living laboratory. Designed by Duke students through a strategic partnership with The Home Depot, the 6,000-square-foot home features a variety of eco-friendly and high-tech elements and will house 10 students. The public can tour the Smart Home Nov. 12 and 13 to glean ideas and inspiration for green living. Open house tours are being offered from 2 ...
  • November 10, 2007

    Duke's Home Depot Smart Home Officially Opened

    Duke University’s new Home Depot Smart Home, a high-tech dorm and research laboratory, was officially opened Nov. 9 by the university president, the current and former deans of the Pratt School of Engineering, and some of the 10 students who will live there. The $2.5 million, two-story building located on Duke’s Central Campus is the centerpiece of the Duke Smart Home Program, a research-based approach to smart living sponsored by the Pratt School. Primarily focused on ...
  • November 9, 2007

    Duke to Establish New Center for Engineering, Energy and the Environment

    A gift of $7.85 million by a Duke alumnus and his wife will create a center to educate students to meet the world’s energy needs while also improving its environment, university President Richard H. Brodhead announced Nov. 9. The Gendell Center for Engineering, Energy and the Environment is being established by Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering in collaboration with the university’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. The center is being named for Jeffrey and ...
  • November 5, 2007

    Why Engineers Make Good Business People

    Note: The following represents a speech presented by Sy Sternberg, chairman and CEO of New York Life Insurance Co., at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering on Saturday, Nov. 3, during Parents Weekend. Sternberg is an engineer by education, with bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering. Download his power point slides. It’s great to be here this week with so many other Duke parents. My son, Matthew, has just entered his senior year at ...
  • November 1, 2007

    Raising Awareness about Contaminated Water in Ghana

    Professor Fred Boadu and undergraduate Natalia Rossiter-Thornton with villagers in Ghana. Two years ago, Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Fred Boadu made an unexpected discovery while mapping the geology in his home country of Ghana. The fractured bedrock beneath villages there allow nitrates from fertilizers to seep down into the groundwater, which is then pumped through boreholes for domestic use. Local farmers depend on the fertilizers to boost their yields of pineapples, which provide the locals' ...
  • October 3, 2007

    Why Women Succeed

    Note: The following article, written by Sally Hicks, first appeared in the Fall '07 issue of Gist from the Mill, a publication of the Social Science Research Institute at Duke University. When Nan Jokerst studied engineering in the 1980s, being a woman meant being surrounded by men. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, says Jokerst, the J.A. Jones Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke. “I had more dates than anybody. If you want ...
  • October 1, 2007

    Duke’s Smart Home – Finally A Reality

    An illustration of the Home Depot Smart Home. After almost five years of plans, the dorm has finally become a reality. After almost five years of plans, dreams, fundraising and ultimately construction, Duke’s new smart home will be finished in November. Ten Pratt engineers and Trinity students anticipate moving into the Home Depot Smart Home in January—prepared to become Duke’s newest ambassadors of E-Living. Their goal is to seamlessly integrate technology into the home and champion ...
  • September 19, 2007

    A Summer of Engagement

    Student members of the Duke Engineers Without Borders (EWB) chapter took part in three projects over the past summer—all designed to improve the quality of life for people living in Uganda and Peru. Meanwhile, Engineering World Health (EWH), an organization founded by the Pratt School of Engineering's Robert Malkin, took more than 40 students to Tanzania and Central America to install or repair medical equipment in local clinics and hospitals. "It gives me great pride that ...
  • September 1, 2007

    Back to School and Time to Think about Next Summer

    Kirsten Shaw In the midst of settling back into campus life and a new course schedule, it's already time to start thinking about next summer's internship or full-time job, says Kirsten Shaw, assistant director of Corporate and Industry Relations at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. The good news is that there are plenty of resources available on campus to get undergraduates prepared. The first stop should be an appointment with the Career Center, where students can get ...
  • August 15, 2007

    Air Quality

    Aerosol particles in the air originating from a number of sources, including motor vehicles, industrial processes and forest fires, reduce air quality and can lead to asthma and cardiovascular problems, among other illnesses. The standard method for keeping tabs on the air-polluting particles relies on pumping air through filters, which are then submitted for costly and time-consuming chemical extraction and analysis. Did you know? As the No.1 source of air pollution in the U.S., transportation yields ...
  • August 15, 2007

    More Runoff - But Why?

    Even though humans are using more water than ever, continental water runoff steadily increased in the 20th Century. Competing scientific explanations abound. Some argue that global warming is causing more rainfall than the soil can absorb. Others contend runoff is a result of less overall transpiration by plants due to global change. Environmental engineering Associate Professor Amilcare Porporato, a specialist in ecohydrology, wants to determine whether evapotranspiration has decreased and why. Using the Southeastern region of ...
  • August 15, 2007

    Nothing but Sand

    Human encroachment, agriculture, livestock grazing and climate changes have dramatically increased the conversion of fragile grasslands to deserts worldwide. A major impact of desertification is loss of biodiversity and decreased capacity to produce crops. Ironically, droughts are common in these arid and semi arid lands and well-managed lands can recover if damage during droughts can be minimized. Did you know? Desertification has its greatest impact in Africa where two thirds of the continent is desert or ...
  • August 15, 2007

    Rainfall to Faucet

    Almost 25 percent of the world’s population lives in mountainous regions, and over 60 percent relies on mountains for freshwater needs ranging from drinking water to food production, ecosystem services, and industrial use. Most of the world’s fertile agricultural lands lie at the foothills and in the interior valleys of mountain ranges. Did you know? The watersheds of the Southern Appalachian Mountains provide drinking water for 10 million people. The highest precipitation amounts registered anywhere in ...
  • August 15, 2007

    Understanding Climate

    The amount and type of vegetation found at the Earth's surface--be it forests or agricultural fields--has a significant impact on the interaction between the land and atmosphere, including the absorption of solar energy and the evaporation of water. That interaction influences cloud cover and the exchange of carbon dioxide, among other factors, ultimately driving the climate system. Yet, climate models used to forecast global climate and local weather patterns contain little detail about land cover. ...
  • June 1, 2007

    Duke and Pratt Award Degrees to 382 Undergraduate and Graduate Students

    A webcast of Pratt's graduation is available for download here. Duke University and its Pratt School of Engineering awarded degrees to 382 undergraduate and graduate students May 13 and Dean Kristina M. Johnson told Pratt’s Class of 2007 and their families and friends at a Chapel celebration that “It’s a perfect time to be an engineer.” Johnson awarded Bachelor of Science in Engineering degrees to 212 students, including eight who completed their work in December and six ...
  • June 1, 2007

    Commencement Speech: Benjamin Schaefer Abram

    Sunday, May 13, 2007 Inspired by Hurricane Katrina, Ben Abram looked for lessons in historical records related to past floods as a Pratt Undergraduate Research Fellow. For the last four years, every graduate in this room has been solving engineering problems. None of us here escaped circuit diagramming—whether in physics alone, for us Civils and Environmentals, or in Dr. (Rhett) George’s EE 148 for Mechanicals, or by way of the Hotchkin-Hucksley for the Biomedicals, or twice a ...
  • June 1, 2007

    Duke Engineers Without Borders Co-Founder Has Career in Concrete Design

    As an undergrad, Deirdre McShane (second from left) traveled to Indonesia with the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) chapter she co-founded. Now, she works as a structural engineer at Thornton Tomasetti and is a professional member of New York City's EWB chapter. Photo credit: Matthew Edmundson Just two years after graduation, CEE alumna Deirdre McShane spends her days designing concrete and steel elements for major academic and commercial buildings around the country as a structural engineer for ...
  • May 29, 2007

    Making 'Smarter' Use of 'Smart' Gels

    Once considered something of a laboratory novelty, ‘smart’ gels—synthesized from polymers that can undergo dramatic transformations in response to changes in their surroundings—are now poised to become integral mechanical components and sensors in the increasingly tiny devices of the future. Through a combination of computational and experimental efforts, a team of researchers at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering aims to make the process of smart gel engineering even smarter. “These materials exhibit dramatic volume changes in ...
  • May 10, 2007

    Cutting Tropical Deforestation to Avert Global Warming Cheaply

    Slowing tropical deforestation is an essential and cost-effective way to avert severe climate change, according to a new study published in the May 10 Science Express, an advanced online publication of the journal Science. An international team of 11 top forest and climate researchers, including civil and environmental engineer Roni Avissar of Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, found that cutting deforestation rates in half by mid-century would amount to 12 percent of the emissions reductions needed ...
  • May 9, 2007

    Atmosphere-Sensing Helicopter Missions Bridge the Climate Forecasting Gap

    Before the missions began, Pratt writer Kendall Morgan sat down with civil and environmental engineer Roni Avissar to find out what operating the Duke Helicopter Observation Platform is really like. Helicopters are strictly limited in the amount and balance of weight they can carry. In order to help pack more in, Avissar says he's on a diet. Listen.Although incredibly demanding, Avissar says he enjoys the helicopter missions so much he considers them almost like a vacation. ...
  • May 1, 2007

    Atmosphere-Sensing Helicopter Missions Bridge the Climate Forecasting Gap

    Roni Avissar with the Duke research helicopter The Duke University research helicopter bedecked with an atmosphere-sensing nose will participate in two missions this spring and summer designed to fill in the blanks in understanding of the dynamic lower atmosphere and its intimate connection to seasonal changes in land cover, according to environmental scientists at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering. By providing a vast amount of climate observation data, the researchers say that the missions will ...
  • April 6, 2007

    Antioxidant Chemicals Could Alter Mercury's Environmental Fate

    Antioxidant chemicals, including one produced by aquatic life during times of stress, may have a hand in the fate of mercury in watersheds, potentially influencing the toxic metal's entry into the food chain, according to a report by a researcher at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering. The researcher reports in the April 1 Environmental Science & Technology that mercury and other trace metals react with a common antioxidant defense molecule to form stable complexes that ...
  • April 1, 2007

    From Aquifers to Goo, Event Encourages Girls’ Interest in Science and Engineering

    Students build a model aquifer in an activity led by Pratt Professor Helen Hsu-Kim and Nicholas Professor Heather Stapleton. At the end of February, 160 local fourth through sixth grade girls spent their Saturdays at Duke exploring science with a creative twist, including topics ranging from the pollution of groundwater in underground aquifers to the chemistry of goo. The event marked the second annual Females Excelling More in Math, Engineering and Science (FEMMES) organized by Duke junior ...
  • April 1, 2007

    Duke's First Engineers Week Draws a Crowd

    Duke's first campus-wide Engineers Week celebration, offering a week-long series of events for both Pratt and Trinity students, proved a big success. The week's grand finale, an E-social loaded with contests and competitions that pitted "Team Pratt" against "Team Trinity," drew more than 500 students to the engineering campus. Watch the video on YouTube. The festivities were kicked off with a week-long clothing drive competition between departments for the Durham Rescue Mission. Tuesday featured guest speaker ...
  • April 1, 2007

    Nanomaterials’ Fate: A Conversation with Mark Wiesner

    Mark Wiesner, professor of civil and environmental engineering Mark Wiesner, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering and an expert on the transport and fate of nanomaterials in the environment, was an invited speaker at BioVision 2007: The World Life Sciences Forum taking place in Lyon, France, from March 11-14. According to the BioVision web site, the forum addresses global issues in the life sciences in an effort to “mobilize foremost specialists ...
  • April 1, 2007

    Pratt Dean: The U.S. Needs More Women and Minorities in Engineering

    Dean Kristina M. Johnson of Duke's Pratt School of Engineering told an International Women’s Day audience March 8 that the nation needs more women and minorities in engineering so they will be able to help solve some of the increasingly complex challenges she said the world will face in years ahead. “Simply put, unless we bring more women and minorities into science and engineering fields, we will not have the intellectual capital to address the global ...
  • March 27, 2007

    Off-Road Wheelchair Pioneer and Designer to Speak April 2

    John Davis, off-road wheelchair racing champion and pioneer, and John Castelano, his wheelchair designer, will speak at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering on Monday, April 2. The talk begins at 4:00 p.m. in the Nello L. Teer Building, room 203, and is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the parking garage next to the Bryan Center. Davis is expected to discuss his experience as an outdoors enthusiast—an avid surfer and mountain biker—who ...
  • March 27, 2007

    Off-Road Wheelchair Pioneer and Designer to Speak April 2

    John Davis, off-road wheelchair racing champion and pioneer, and John Castelano, his wheelchair designer, will speak at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering on Monday, April 2. The talk begins at 4:00 p.m. in the Nello L. Teer Building, room 203, and is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the parking garage next to the Bryan Center. Davis is expected to discuss his experience as an outdoors enthusiast—an avid surfer and mountain biker—who ...
  • March 1, 2007

    Civic Engagement to Become Integral to a Duke Undergraduate Education

    A destroyed house in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans remained virtually untouched months after Katrina's devastation. A DukeEngage pilot program will send 20 students to the New Orleans area this summer to help in the ongoing rebuilding effort (see sidebar). In one of the most ambitious efforts of its kind in U.S. higher education, Duke University will make civic engagement an integral part of its undergraduate experience beginning in 2008, university president Richard H. Brodhead ...
  • December 1, 2006

    Industry Internship Survey Results

    More than 330 Duke engineering students took part in a survey on summer internships earlier this fall. According to the survey results, more than 61% of students who completed an internship reported their experience as 'excellent' or 'good' and 82% received compensation for their time. At right are charts that provide detailed information on student majors, gender and types of internships. Internships give students a chance to network with role models and potential employers and see ...
  • December 1, 2006

    Upper-Class E-Team Members Advise Freshmen Engineers on Course Loads

    First-year engineering students get advice about course registration from senior E-Teamer Toby Kraus. First-year engineering majors got some valuable advice on their spring semester course loads from upper-class members of the student mentoring group known as E-Team on Nov. 7. Freshmen gathered over slices of pizza to hash out their schedules with student representatives of each of the four engineering departments in the Fitzpatrick Center atrium. “Biomedical engineering is a difficult major,” said senior Toby Kraus, a ...
  • December 1, 2006

    Reassurance, Advice and Laughs at 2006 Engineering Parents’ Weekend

    Brook Byers Brook Byers, a venture capitalist and Pratt parent, kicked off the 2006 Parents' Weekend seminar and barbeque by soothing parents’ fears that their child wouldn't get a good job. He described five hot technology areas, and gave seniors advice on how to choose their first position. His presentation to the crowd of 600 parents and students Oct. 27 was followed by an interactive panel of four Duke engineering seniors who provided their own take on ...
  • November 1, 2006

    Pratt In Focus - Recruitment Event

    More than 185 prospective high school students and family members hailing from Durham to California gathered on Saturday, Oct. 21, at the first "Pratt in Focus" to meet engineering professors and undergraduates and learn more about engineering at Duke. More than 60 Pratt students volunteered their time at the day-long engineering recruiting event by leading tours, staffing tables at the student activities fair, explaining their Pratt Fellows research projects and talking one on one with prospective ...
  • November 1, 2006

    The Home Depot Sponsors Duke Smart Home

    Imagine a college dormitory that touts more audiovisual equipment than most theaters, runs on electricity generated by solar panels and is protected with biometric security. This unique living experience will become a reality for 10 students of Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering. The university and The Home Depot are partnering to create “The Home Depot smarthome,” a residential laboratory where students will research and develop innovative solutions for the home in areas such as security and ...
  • October 26, 2006

    Mark Wiesner: Making Nanotechnology Safe - Engineer studies the consequences of going small

    By Rachel Adelson Durham, NC -- Mark Wiesner wants to save the planet, one molecule at a time. A nanotechnology expert who joined Duke this semester as a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Pratt School of Engineering, Wiesner is committed to managing the environmental risks of a growing industrial revolution before any damage is done. Wiesner was among the first people to call attention to the way that production and use of new nanomaterials ...
  • October 24, 2006

    Duke Announces Construction of “The Home Depot Smart Home,” A Live-in Laboratory Where Students Test Residential Technology

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Imagine a college dormitory that touts more audiovisual equipment than most theaters, runs on electricity generated by solar panels and is protected with biometric security. This unique living experience will become a reality for 10 students of Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering.The university and The Home Depot are partnering to create “The Home Depot Smart Home,” a residential laboratory where students will research and develop innovative solutions for the home in ...
  • September 25, 2006

    Six Pratt Faculty To Be Honored At Founder's Day Convocation

    Duke University will honor outstanding students, faculty, employees and alumni at its annual Founders’ Day Convocation in Duke Chapel at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28. Among the winners are six members of the Pratt School of Engineering faculty. Honorees at the service, which is open to the public, include philanthropists Russell Robinson II and his wife, Sally Dalton Robinson; Ruby Leila Wilson, dean emerita of Duke School of Nursing; and longtime university photographer William “Jimmy” Wallace ...
  • September 1, 2006

    Engineering Students to Customize Playground for All

    The new handicap-accessible playground at Morreene Road Park will allow kids of all abilities to play together. Children of all abilities will soon have a place to play together in Durham. With the help of volunteers, including several Duke students, the Durham Parks and Recreation Department began construction in mid-August of a fully handicap-accessible playground at Morreene Road Park. Slated to open on Oct. 1, the playground will be further customized in the coming months with ...
  • August 17, 2006

    Engineering Students to Customize Playground for All

    Children of all abilities will soon have a place to play together in Durham. With the help of volunteers, including several Duke students, the Durham Parks and Recreation Department began construction in mid-August of a fully handicap-accessible playground at Morreene Road Park. Slated to open on Oct. 1, the playground will be further customized in the coming months with the addition of designs developed and built by members of Duke’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders ...
  • August 1, 2006

    Duke Engineering Alum Heads Purdue’s Civil Engineering School

    WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —M. Katherine Banks, who received her Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from Duke University in 1989, has been named head of Purdue University’s School of Civil Engineering. Banks, a Purdue civil engineering professor, assumed her new post on Aug. 1. "Kathy's vision, creativity and energy, combined with a stellar research record, set her apart from the rest of the candidates," said Leah Jamieson, interim dean for the Purdue College of Engineering and Ransburg ...
  • July 25, 2006

    EPA to Support Pratt Students in Design of Sustainable Technologies following Natural Disasters

    Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering has received two “People, Prosperity, and the Planet” (P3) grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aimed at sustainable technologies for use in regions crippled by natural disaster. One of the $10,000 awards will support students in the identification and development of technologies relevant to the construction of sustainable homes in a part of Louisiana that was devastated by floodwaters after Hurricane Katrina. The second will focus on development of ...
  • July 19, 2006

    'Big Dig' Tunnel Failure Offers Clues for Design Success

    Last week’s tunnel ceiling collapse in Boston that killed a motorist has taught us more about the “Big Dig” ceiling system than all the years of apparently successful operation, says a Duke University civil engineer and author of “Success through Failure: The Paradox of Design.” “For years the ceiling design appeared to be successful, in that cars and trucks drove through the tunnels without incident,” said Henry Petroski, Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil and Environmental ...
  • July 6, 2006

    Nanomaterials Scientist Mark Wiesner Joins Duke Civil and Environmental Faculty

    Durham, N.C. – Mark R. Wiesner, former director of the Environmental and Energy Systems Institute at Rice University, has joined Duke’s faculty as a professor of civil and environmental engineering. Wiesner's research focuses on membrane processes, nanostructured materials, transport and fate of nanomaterials in the environment, colloidal and interfacial processes, environmental systems analysis and energy technologies. He joined Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering on July 1. "I'm interested in the environmental implications of the manufacturing, use and ...
  • June 1, 2006

    Students Aim for Smarter Fuel, Smarter Homes

    MEMP student finalists in the Graduate Student Licensing Competition With gasoline prices on the rise, graduate students in the Master of Engineering Management Program are working toward a solution. A business plan they wrote for a novel fuel additive meant to boost gasoline efficiency and reduce tailpipe emissions won them a spot in the final round of a national licensing competition. The glycerin-derived chemical “GTBE” could replace one recently phased out due to problems with water contamination. “We ...
  • June 1, 2006

    Extreme Lab Makeover for Civil and Environmental Engineers

    Professor Heileen Hsu-Kim in her new lab space. Research and teaching labs in the department of civil and environmental engineering (CEE) are getting a makeover. A portion of the basement of Hudson Hall is currently in the second of three phases of renovation designed to meet the growing needs of the group’s researchers and students. “The new facilities provided by the renovation will help to make us more competitive with other institutions,” said professor David Schaad, assistant ...
  • June 1, 2006

    Pratt School Celebrates Graduation of Class of 2006

    Ian Kazi Shakil receives the Pratt School of Engineering Student Service Award from Associate Dean Linda Franzoni Duke University awarded degrees to 346 undergraduate and graduate engineering students on May 14 in ceremonies beginning with a university-wide commencement celebration in Wallace Wade Stadium and ending with a Pratt School of Engineering ceremony in Duke Chapel. Pratt Dean Kristina M. Johnson presented Bachelor of Science in Engineering diplomas to 244 students, including 12 who completed their work in ...
  • June 1, 2006

    Presenting Energy Tech to Nicholas Students

    A new course taught by three mechanical engineers from Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering offers graduate students at the Nicholas School of the Environment the chance to bone up on the realities of energy technologies and their environmental implications. The ENVIRON 298.23 course, Energy Technology: Impact on the Environment, covers topics ranging from thermodynamics to the fundamentals of nuclear reactors, solar energy, and hybrid cars. “We are aiming to inform our students—people who are likely to ...
  • May 1, 2006

    Distinguished Alums and Faculty Honored at Awards Ceremony

    Three distinguished alumni and six faculty members were honored for their career accomplishments, service to Pratt and excellence in teaching, mentoring and research at the 2006 annual Engineering Alumni Council Banquet held at the Searle Center on April 28. William A. Hawkins III E'76, was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award. James G. Whayne E'90, was awarded the Distinguished Young Alumnus Award. And Pratt Senior Associate Dean of Development and Alumni Affairss Judge Carr was awarded the ...
  • May 1, 2006

    Duke Group Tackles 'Nanoethics' Education

    An interdisciplinary group of Duke experts has set out to advance ethics education for researchers working on problems at the nano-scale—on the order of billionths of a meter, or 80,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Scientific breakthroughs in nanotechnology are expected to increase the speed and efficiency of computers, advance medicine through tissue engineering and lead to the emergence of materials with entirely new physical and chemical properties. However, such advances may ...
  • May 1, 2006

    Civil and Environmental Engineers Test Skill in Annual Design Contests

    Two groups of civil and environmental engineering (CEE) students competed in design contests in April. One group tested a system they designed to remove arsenic from drinking water at a contest in Las Cruces, N. M. on April 2-6. The event is organized each year by an environmental education and technology development consortium called WERC. A second group competed in a variety of events—including a steel bridge building contest and a concrete canoe race--at the ...
  • April 29, 2006

    Petroski Elected to American Philosophical Society

    Henry Petroski, Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and professor of history, was elected April 29 to the American Philosophical Society, the oldest learned society in the United States. The society was founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin for the purpose of “promoting useful knowledge.” It supports research, discovery and education through grants and fellowships, lectures, publications, prizes and exhibitions. Early members included George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, James Madison, and John ...
  • April 1, 2006

    Pineapple Farming Practice Threatens Human Health in Ghana

    Fred Boadu (far right) collects water from a borehole in Nsawam, Ghana. In the tropical West African nation of Ghana, intense farming practices combined with characteristics of the local geology are making for a dangerous mix, reports Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Fred Boadu. Fertilizers and pesticides used to boost the yield of pineapples grown in the country’s thin soils are trickling down through fractured bedrock directly into the water supply below. The new findings ...
  • April 1, 2006

    Learning through Service in Flood-Ravaged Louisiana

    Diary by Kendall Morgan Photos by Kendall Morgan and Daoxun Lin Saturday, March 11, 2006 On Saturday night March 11 – while many of their friends were heading off for spring break vacations in Miami, New York or Mexico – about 130 Duke students boarded three charter buses bound for St. Bernard’s Parish, La. A 15 minute drive from New Orleans, the parish was one of the places hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina seven months ago. For the majority ...
  • March 1, 2006

    Petroski Honored for Making Engineering Understandable

    Henry Petroski Professor and prolific author Henry Petroski of Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering has won the 2006 Washington Award, one of the oldest and most prestigious engineering awards in the country, for his accomplishments in making engineering theory and practice understandable to the general public. Petroski is Aleksandar S. Vesic professor of civil and environmental engineering and a professor of history at Duke. He was presented with the award at a banquet in Chicago on ...
  • February 24, 2006

    Petroski Honored for Making Engineering Understandable to Public

    Professor and prolific author Henry Petroski of Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering has won the 2006 Washington Award, one of the oldest and most prestigious engineering awards in the country, for his accomplishments in making engineering theory and practice understandable to the general public. Petroski is Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a professor of history at Duke. He will be presented with the award at a banquet in Chicago on ...
  • December 22, 2005

    Planting Trees to Combat Global Warming May Cause Other Environmental Problems, Study Suggests

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Growing tree plantations to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to mitigate global warming -- so called "carbon sequestration" -- could trigger environmental changes that outweigh some of the benefits, a multi-institutional team led by Duke University suggested in a new report. Those effects include water and nutrient depletion and increased soil salinity and acidity, said the researchers. The findings demonstrate the utility of regional climate models for forecasting the broader environmental implications ...
  • November 2, 2005

    UV Measurement Tool To Aid Defense Against Infection Spread By Tap Water

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Researchers at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering have developed a new way to measure microbes' exposure to ultraviolet light. The tool could bolster efforts to use UV light to improve the quality and safety of tap water in the U.S. The novel "microsphere dosimeter" technique is the first direct test of how much UV light microorganisms in fluids have been exposed to, said the researchers -- a critical step in validating the use ...
  • September 14, 2005

    Tropical Deforestation Affects Rainfall in the U.S. and Around the Globe

    by Mike Bettwy, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Today, scientists estimate that between one-third and one-half of our planet's land surfaces have been transformed by human development. Now, a new study is offering insight into the long-term impacts of these changes, particularly the effects of large-scale deforestation in tropical regions on the global climate. Researchers from Duke University, Durham, N.C., analyzed multiple years of data using the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies General Circulation Computer Model ...
  • September 13, 2005

    News Tip: Pumping New Orleans Floodwater Into Lake Is Only A "Lesser Evil," Duke ...

    The pumping of New Orleans floodwaters into Lake Pontchartrain will create "long-term, harmful implications for the lake ecosystem and future human use of the area," warns Duke University environmental engineer Karl Linden. The possibility of even more serious harm may be avoided by extensive testing of waters in the industrial zone for toxic chemicals and developing a plan to treat those waters before disposal, he added. So far, there has been no sampling performed in any ...
  • September 10, 2005

    Faculty Explore the Complexities of Katrina's Devastation

    Durham, N.C. -- Duke environmental experts and civil engineers have responded to Hurricane Katrina devastation with a broad range of insights. They are criticizing the failure to heed computer models that warned of disaster; pondering how to rebuild the city to avoid future catastrophe and examining the potential for ecological damage in the storm's aftermath. Pratt School of Engineering urban hydrologist Miguel Medina Jr. criticized the failure to heed the long history of engineering predictions and ...
  • September 7, 2005

    News Tip: After Waters Recede, Next Step May Be To Raise Level of New Orleans

    Note to editors: Henry Petroski can be reached for additional comment at (919) 660-5203 or petroski@duke.edu. When civil engineers start planning for rebuilding New Orleans, there are few historical examples to guide them. Duke University engineering professor Henry Petroski says the closest example he can think of is the 1900 Galveston, Texas, hurricane which, like Katrina, left a city partially underwater. To protect Galveston from a recurrence, engineers found a bold and challenging solution that Petroski said ...
  • September 1, 2005

    Environmental Engineering Gets Helicopter

    The Pratt School of Engineering has purchased a new Bell JetRanger helicopter to give the university and nation a new platform of research sensors to bridge a gap in airborne studies of natural and man-made environmental processes. The turbine-powered Bell 206B-3, painted in Duke blue with black stripes, arrived June 18 at the Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport, where it is housed with Duke Hospital’s two Life Flight helicopters. Its first mission in July was to gather important ...
  • August 5, 2005

    Duke Engineering Students Tackle Tsunami Recovery Projects in Indonesia

    Note to editors: High-resolution images will be available on request at the end of the trip. David Schaad and Jean Foster will have intermittent email access during the trip and can be reached at david.schaad@duke.edu and jean.foster@duke.edu. DURHAM, N.C. -- Five engineering students from Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering later this month will repair shrimp hatcheries in Indonesia damaged by the 2004 tsunami and help villagers stabilize an airstrip to prevent erosion. The team will travel ...
  • June 24, 2005

    Duke's Engineering School Buys Research Helicopter

    DURHAM, N.C. – Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering has purchased a new Bell JetRanger helicopter to give the university and nation a new platform of research sensors to bridge a gap in airborne studies of natural and man-made environmental processes. The turbine-powered Bell 206B-3, painted in Duke blue with black stripes, arrived June 18, 2005, at the Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport, where it is hangared with Duke Hospital’s two Life Flight helicopters. The engineering school aircraft ...
  • June 1, 2005

    Duke Launches Engineers Without Borders Chapter

    Duke University has established a student chapter of Engineers Without Borders with the help of two determined senior civil engineering students, Jean Foster of Boulder, Colo. and Deidre McShane of Longwood, Fla. Engineers Without Borders (EWB) is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to pairing disadvantaged communities with engineering students and professionals to improve quality of life through environmentally and economically sustainable engineering projects. One of the program’s goals is to develop internationally responsible engineering students. “Engineers Without ...
  • June 1, 2005

    Duke Awards 300 Engineering Degrees

    Duke University and its Pratt School of Engineering awarded degrees to 300 undergraduate and graduate engineering students May 15 in a series of ceremonies starting with a university-wide commencement celebration in Wallace Wade Stadium and winding up with an inspiring ceremony in Duke Chapel. Dean Kristina Johnson Pratt Dean Kristina M. Johnson presented Bachelor of Science in Engineering diplomas to 237 students, including eight who completed their work in December and six last September, before a standing-room-only ...
  • May 1, 2005

    Pratt ASCE Team Does Well at Carolinas Conference

    Pratt’s student American Society of Civil Engineers teams competed in six of eight events in the ASCE’s Carolinas Conference April 7-10 and placed in five. The Duke team won the “Water Fountain Fun” event, placed second in the Quiz Bowl and the Environmental Design Competition, and third in the Balsawood Building Design and the T-Shirt Design. The one disappointment was in the concrete canoe competition. A small piece of the Duke canoe broke off during the trip ...
  • May 1, 2005

    Alumni, Faculty Honored at Engineering Banquet

    Duke’s Engineering Alumni Association Saturday night honored 1974 graduate Capers McDonald of Potomac, Md., with its Distinguished Alumnus Award and 1990 graduate Edward L. Trimble of Atlanta with the Distinguished Young Alumnus Award. Professor F. Hadley Cocks of the Pratt School of Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science (MEMS), received the Distinguished Service Award for 33 years of service to the School of Engineering, joining the school in 1972 as assistant professor after six ...
  • April 1, 2005

    High School Students Thrive in Duke Environmental Engineering Laboratory

    Ying Liu, Karl Linden and Jeff Hu Initiative, creative thinking and a high school chemistry project on antioxidants took two North Carolina School for Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) students out of their classroom and into a Duke University environmental engineering laboratory. With the encouragement of their NCSSM adviser Myra Halpin, Ying Liu, from Wilmington, N.C., and Haonan Jeff Hu, from Cary, N.C., developed an idea for a research project and contacted Duke environmental engineering Professor Karl Linden ...
  • February 1, 2005

    Tool To Aid Defense Against Infected Tap Water

    Karl Linden Researchers at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering have developed a new way to measure microbes' exposure to ultraviolet light. The tool could bolster efforts to use UV light to improve the quality and safety of tap water in the U.S. The novel "microsphere dosimeter" technique is the first direct test of how much UV light microorganisms in fluids have been exposed to, said the researchers -- a critical step in validating the use of UV ...
  • January 1, 2005

    Pratt Opinion: Urban Planning Is Like a Game Show

    By Duke University Civil and Environmental Engineering Professors Ana Barros, Miguel Medina, Henri Gavin and Karl Linden, and Duke Lecturer Leta Huntsinger, Program Manager, Institute for Transportation Research and Education, North Carolina State University. This opinion piece was compiled from a panel discussion held Oct. 4 titled "Engineering Paradigms for Natural Hazards." View the panel discussion online. Panelists, from l to r: Dean Kristina Johnson, Josh Sommer, Ana Barros, Leta Huntsinger, Roni Avissar (at podium), Miguel Medina, ...
  • January 1, 2005

    Henry Petroski's Latest Book: Pushing the Limits, New Adventures in Engineering

    Engineers pushed the limits of technology in the past century to accomplish things that were not even dreamed of in the 19th century. "And so it will be in the 21st century, with the contents of any list of engineering achievements that will be compiled in the late 2090s being virtually unpredictable today," says Duke University civil engineering professor Henry Petroski in his latest book, Pushing the Limits, New Adventures in Engineering (Alfred A. Knopf). Petroski says ...
  • December 18, 2004

    In Big Structures, the Title of 'Greatest' Doesn't Last Long

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Engineers pushed the limits of technology in the past century to accomplish things that were not even dreamed of in the 19th century. "And so it will be in the 21st century, with the contents of any list of engineering achievements that will be compiled in the late 2090s being virtually unpredictable today," says Duke University civil engineering professor Henry Petroski in his latest book, Pushing the Limits, New Adventures in Engineering (Alfred ...
  • December 1, 2004

    Pratt Civil Engineers Respond to Hurricane Katrina

    Duke civil engineers responded to Hurricane Katrina devastation with a broad range of insights. They criticized the failure to heed computer models that warned of disaster; pondered how to rebuild the city to avoid future catastrophe; and examined the potential for ecological damage in the storm's aftermath. Pratt School of Engineering urban hydrologist Miguel Medina Jr. criticized the failure to heed the long history of engineering predictions and computer modeling that foretold what would happen in ...
  • December 1, 2004

    Study: Tropical Deforestation Affects Global Rainfall

    Roni Avissar Scientists estimate that between one-third and one-half of our planet's land surfaces have been transformed by human development. Now, a new study ifrom Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering is offering insight into the long-term impacts of these changes, particularly the effects of large-scale deforestation in tropical regions on the global climate. The Duke researchers, led by Professor Roni Avissar, chair of civil and environmental engineering at Pratt, analyzed years of data using the NASA ...
  • September 1, 2004

    Nine New Faculty Join Pratt

    The Pratt School of Engineering has hired nine new professors, bringing the total number of tenure track faculty for this academic year to 91. The new professors bring expertise in a wide range of fields, including neural prosthesis and neuroengineering, cancer imaging, materials, nanoscience, photonics, sensing, microbial engineering, environmental science and power and propulsion system development. The Department of Biomedical Engineering has three new tenure track faculty starting the semester. Jean-Marc Fellous Jean-Marc Fellous, previously a post-doctoral fellow ...
  • May 1, 2004

    Professor Karl Linden Wins Stansell Family Distinguished Research Award

    Karl Linden, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, has received the new Stansell Family Distinguished Research Award for his work on using ultraviolet light to disinfect drinking water and destroy chemical pollutants. Linden, who joined the Pratt faculty in 1999, was selected by a committee of senior associate deans headed by Pratt Dean Kristina M. Johnson. The award, consisting of a plaque and $2,000, was presented at the ...
  • May 1, 2004

    2004 Alumni Banquet

    On April 24, the Pratt School of Engineering honored three exceptional individuals at the annual Engineering Alumni Banquet, held at the Washington Duke Inn. Alan L. Kaganov BSME'60, received the Distinguished Alumnus Award; Gregory R. Maletic BSE'90, received the Distinguished Young Alumnus Award; and William H. Younger Jr. received the Distinguished Service Award. Kaganov was awarded the 2004 Distinguished Alumnus by the Engineering Alumni Association for his achievement in the health care and medical device industries, ...
  • April 28, 2004

    Professor Karl Linden Wins Stansell Family Distinguished Research Award

    Karl Linden receives his research award from Stacy Klein Karl Linden, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, has received the new Stansell Family Distinguished Research Award for his work on using ultraviolet light to disinfect drinking water and destroy chemical pollutants. Linden, who joined the Pratt faculty in 1999, was selected by a committee of senior associate deans headed by Pratt Dean Kristina M. Johnson. The award, consisting of ...
  • March 1, 2004

    Schuler, Wax Receive NSF Career Awards

    Assistant professors Andrew Schuler and Adam P. Wax at Dukey’s Pratt School of Engineering have received Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) awards from the National Science Foundation. Each award is expected to total $400,000 over five years. “The CAREER award is NSF’s most prestigious honor for junior faculty members,” the federal research agency said. “The CAREER program recognizes and supports the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who are most likely to become the academic leaders ...
  • March 1, 2004

    CEE Launches New Web Site

    Pratt's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department launched a new, updated Web site March 1 featuring more information for students, potential collaborators, and an employment section. View the site at www.cee.duke.edu. The new site includes profiles of several civil engineering students, and rotating photos on the homepage to keep it looking fresh. "We recognize the Web as one of the primary tools undergraduate and graduate students use to help them determine what school to attend," said Roni Avissar, chair ...
  • February 25, 2004

    Two Duke Engineering Professors Win Career Awards

    Assistant professors Andrew Schuler and Adam P. Wax at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering have received Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) awards from the National Science Foundation. Each award is expected to total $400,000 over five years. “The CAREER award is NSF’s most prestigious honor for junior faculty members,” the federal research agency said. “The CAREER program recognizes and supports the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who are most likely to become the academic ...
  • February 1, 2004

    Pratt Acquires New Research Helicopter

    Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering has acquired a new turbine-powered helicopter that will give the university and nation a new platform of research sensors to bridge a gap in airborne studies of natural and man-made atmospheric processes. Visit URL: hop.pratt.duke.edu Professor Roni Avissar, chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, accepted the Bell 206 Jet Ranger at the Bell Helicopter plant in Fort Worth, Texas, Nov. 24, and flew it to Heli-Dyne Systems Inc., ...
  • January 1, 2004

    Gift to Fund Joint Professorship at Pratt and Nicholas School of the Environment

    A $2.3 million gift by Randy K. Repass, chairman of West Marine Inc., and his wife, Sally-Christine Rodgers, will fund a joint professorship in marine conservation technology at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences and in the Pratt School of Engineering. The gift also will enable the construction of Duke’s first totally “green” building at the Duke Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, President Nannerl O. Keohane announced in December. A total of $1.3 million of ...
  • December 17, 2003

    Wright Brothers' Success Built on Failure, Duke Professors Say

    The Wright brothers owed the success of their Dec. 17, 1903 first flight, at least in part, to the many failures of aviation pioneers before them, according to Duke University professors. Otto Lilienthal, for example, had died in an 1896 glider accident. The Wright brothers deduced from the failure that Lilienthal's attempt to control his craft by shifting his body weight was not the best way to attack the problem. “Their use of elevators and rudders and ...
  • December 16, 2003

    Gift to Endow Joint Professorship; Help Fund New Marine Lab Building

    A $2.3 million gift by Randy K. Repass, chairman of West Marine Inc., and his wife, Sally-Christine Rodgers, will fund a joint professorship in marine conservation technology in the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences and in the Pratt School of Engineering. The gift also will enable the construction of Duke University’s first totally “green” building at the Duke Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, President Nannerl O. Keohane announced Monday. A total of $1.3 million of ...
  • September 23, 2003

    Duke Engineer's Latest Book Focuses on Design of Everyday Things

    DURHAM, N.C. -- What do paper cups, toothbrushes, supermarket layouts, grocery bags, kitchen faucets, door knobs and automobile cup holders have in common? They all are the imperfect products of designers seeking to come up with something better for consumers. Henry Petroski, Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, looks at the design of things we take for granted and concludes there can never be an end to the ...
  • June 1, 2003

    Annie Adams -- Building Bridges

    Sometime last spring, Annie Adams and two other student members of the Society of Civil Engineers taught area middle school students about structural engineering. Together, they talked about how to build a bridge out of balsa wood, looking at the stresses and forces involved and where the bridge could potentially come apart. The kids reacted. They laughed and asked questions. They came away with the idea that engineering is fun and an important part of our ...
  • May 7, 2003

    American Academy of Arts and Sciences Elects Petroski, Five Others from Duke

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Six Duke University scholars and researchers have been elected to join the 2003 class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an international learned society composed of the world's leading scientists, scholars, artists, business people and public leaders. The academy announced Monday its newly elected Fellows and Foreign Honorary Members. The six scholars from Duke are Henry Petroski, Aleksandar S. Vesic professor of civil and environmental engineering; theological ethics professor Stanley M. ...
  • May 1, 2003

    Pratt Honors Faculty and Alumni

    Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering recognized two alumni for their achievements and two faculty members for excellence in teaching and research at the annual alumni banquet April 26 that concluded the spring meeting of the school’s Board of Visitors. Mechanical Engineering and Materials Sciences Professor Charles Harman received the distinguished faculty teaching award, consisting of a plaque and $2,000. The award, selected by a faculty committee with student input, recognizes “superior dedication to undergraduate teaching.” Harman joined the faculty in 1961 and ...
  • March 1, 2003

    Laursen Named Senior Associate Dean

    Tod Laursen, an associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in civil and environmental engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, has been appointed the school's senior associate dean for education, Pratt Dean Kristina M. Johnson announced Feb. 26. "In this new position, Tod will help take the school to the next level of high-impact engineering education as outlined in our Strategic Plan," Johnson said. She said Laursen will develop a school-wide strategy for recruiting graduate and undergraduate students. He also will work ...
  • February 27, 2003

    Laursen Named Senior Associate Dean at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Tod Laursen, an associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in civil and environmental engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, has been appointed the school's senior associate dean for education, Pratt Dean Kristina M. Johnson announced Wednesday. "In this new position, Tod will help take the school to the next level of high-impact engineering education as outlined in our Strategic Plan," Johnson said. She said Laursen will develop a school-wide strategy for recruiting ...
  • December 7, 2002

    Researchers Wiring Together PCs for Supercomputer-Like Performance

    Besides saving money, users of these collectives of high end but off-the-shelf PCs -- often called "Beowulf clusters - can avoid the negative side of relying on supercomputing centers from Research Triangle Park to San Diego. "In the past we used a supercomputer," said Roni Avissar, the chairman of the Pratt School of Engineering's civil and environmental engineering department. "The problem is you had to share the supercomputer with a lot of other people." He now uses ...
  • December 1, 2002

    Duke Engineer's Latest Book Focuses on Design of Everyday Things

    What do paper cups, toothbrushes, supermarket layouts, grocery bags, kitchen faucets, door knobs and automobile cup holders have in common? They all are the imperfect products of designers seeking to come up with something better for consumers. Henry Petroski, Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, looks at the design of things we take for granted and concludes there can never be an end to the quest for the ...
  • October 25, 2002

    Study Suggests Amazon Deforestation Could Affect Climate in U.S.

    DURHAM, N.C. -- New mathematical simulations of climate behavior by Duke University researchers indicate that deforestation in the Amazon can cause a reduction of rainfall in the Midwestern United States and the Dakotas in the summer, when precipitation is most needed for agriculture. "What this suggests is that if you mess up the planet at one point, the impact could have far-reaching effects," said Roni Avissar, chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at ...
  • September 18, 2002

    Duke Engineers Creating 'More Refined' Global Climate Model

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Frustrated by the limitations of present numerical models that simulate how Earth's climate will be altered by factors such as pollution and landscape modification, Duke University engineers are creating a new model incorporating previously-missing regional and local processes. "The model we are developing is much more refined," said the project's leader, Roni Avissar, chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. Unlike previous designs now used ...
  • April 4, 2002

    Student Engineers to Test Designs With Concrete Canoe Races

    Duke University's student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) on April 4-6 will host this year's regional Carolinas Conference and nine student engineering design competitions, including concrete canoe races. The conference, an annual event for 10 engineering schools in the Carolinas and Georgia, is expected to attract nearly 350 students. In addition to the concrete canoe races, competitions will include projects involving the mentoring of middle school students, earthquake testing of reinforced concrete ...
  • March 29, 2002

    Duke Engineer Turns His Intellectual Curiosity to His Days Delivering Newspapers

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Henry Petroski, Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering, has written about bridges, pencils, paperclips, books and bookshelves, engineering errors and more. In his latest book, he turns his intellectual curiosity inward, to his teenage days when he delivered newspapers. In Paperboy: Confessions of a Future Engineer (Alfred A. Knopf, March 2002), Petroski describes in detail how one folds a newspaper perfectly and flips it onto ...
  • January 1, 2002

    Study Suggests Amazon Deforestation Could Affect Climate in U.S.

    New mathematical simulations of climate behavior by Duke University researchers indicate that deforestation in the Amazon can cause a reduction of rainfall in the Midwestern United States and the Dakotas in the summer, when precipitation is most needed for agriculture. "What this suggests is that if you mess up the planet at one point, the impact could have far-reaching effects," said Roni Avissar, chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. "You have to be ...
  • December 1, 2001

    Duke Engineers Creating 'More Refined' Global Climate Model

    Frustrated by the limitations of present numerical models that simulate how Earth's climate will be altered by factors such as pollution and landscape modification, Duke University engineers are creating a new model incorporating previously-missing regional and local processes. "The model we are developing is much more refined," said the project's leader, Roni Avissar, chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Pratt School of Engineering. Unlike previous designs now used by the world's climatologists, ...
  • December 1, 2001

    A Q&A with Professor Henry Petroski

    Henry Petroski, Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and professor of history, is an expert in the implications of failure for engineering. In his book, To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design (1985), Petroski explored how engineers learned from engineering failures. In a recent interview with Dialogue, Petroski discusses how the collapse of the World Trade Center towers has changed engineering thinking. Q. In the immediate aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks, you said you expected this ...
  • October 27, 2001

    New Faculty Profile: Roni Avissar

    Roni Avissar, the Pratt School's new chair of civil and environmental engineering, wants to teach astronauts. And not just any astronauts, but true space pioneers - men and women who will someday lead missions to Mars, live on the Moon, spend years in the international space station. Given the pace of technological development and the rising average age of mission commanders, Avissar figures these future explorers are in high school right now. This means it's about time ...
  • September 13, 2001

    Duke Engineer: World Trade Center Disaster May Halt Construction of Supertall Buildings

    DURHAM, N.C. -- With the tragic coordinated jetliner destructions of both World Trade Center towers in New York City Sept. 11, a Duke University engineering professor says "we very well may see the end of tall buildings of that magnitude for the foreseeable future." "I think its going to be very difficult to make a proposal that financiers, the people that supply the money to invest in these buildings, are going to embrace," said Petroski, Aleksandar ...
  • September 16, 1999

    Latest Henry Petroski Book Assesses Evolution and Engineering of Bookshelves

    DURHAM, N.C. - After writing six previous books for general audiences on engineering triumphs and disasters, famous bridges, and the histories of the pencil and other interesting objects, the latest volume by Duke University's Henry Petroski focuses on the storing, packaging, displaying and care of books themselves. Petroski, the chairman of Duke's department of civil and environmental engineering, traces the inspiration for his newest work, "The Book On The Bookshelf" (September 1999, Alfred A. Knopf Inc., ...
  • May 6, 1999

    Duke Speaker Will Discuss Challenges of Designing Japanese Bridge as a Work of Art

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Leslie E. Robertson, the designer of the new Miho Museum Bridge, a ceremonial processional bridge linked to a new museum complex in a rugged, mountainous setting near Kyoto, Japan, will speak on the unusual project at 4 p.m Tuesday, March 9 in the Bryan Research Building Auditorium (Room 103) on Duke's West campus. Built to handle heavy pedestrian traffic as well as normal bridge loadings, the project was built with aesthetics in mind ...

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