PRATT cee News

  • November 18, 2009

    Diver, Chemist Joins Pratt Faculty

    For centuries, the forces of weather and winds have sent more than 500 ships to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina's coast. Some were also brought down by another terrifying force -- German U-boat torpedoes during the Second World War. Forty miles off the coast from Morehead City and in more that 120 feet of water lie two particular victims of U-boat attacks that are of interest to environmental chemist and scuba diver ...
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  • September 24, 2009

    Room's Ambience Fingerprinted By Cell Phone

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Your smart phone may soon be able to know not only that you're at the mall, but whether you're in the jewelry store or the shoe store. Duke University computer engineers have made use of standard cell phone features accelerometers, cameras and microphones to turn the unique properties of a particular space into a distinct fingerprint. While standard global positioning systems (GPS) are only accurate to 10 meters (32 ...
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  • September 14, 2009

    When Nano May Not Be Nano

    DURHAM, N.C. The same properties of nanoparticles that make them so appealing to manufacturers may also have negative effects on the environment and human health. However, little is known which particles may be harmful. Part of the problem is determining exactly what a nanoparticle is. A new analysis by an international team of researchers from the Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT), based at Duke University, argues for a new look at the ...
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  • August 18, 2009

    How Mercury Becomes Toxic in the Environment

    DURHAM, N.C. Naturally occurring organic matter in water and sediment appears to play a key role in helping microbes convert tiny particles of mercury in the environment into a form that is dangerous to most living creatures. This finding is important, say Duke University environmental engineers, because it could change the way mercury in the environment is measured and therefore regulated. This particularly harmful form of the element, known as methylmercury, is a potent ...
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  • July 13, 2009

    Pratt Board of Visitor Chair J. Steve Simon Dies

    Durham, NC -- J. Stephen Simon, chair of the Board of Visitors for the Pratt School of Engineering and a former director and senior vice president of Exxon Mobil Corporation, passed away unexpectedly at his home in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday, July 8, at age 66. Simon had a distinguished career of more than 40 years with the corporation. During this time he held a series of increasingly senior roles, culminating in his election to the ...
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  • July 8, 2009

    Alum Combines Biology, Environmental Engineering

    Kathy Banks has a tough time come college basketball season. She grew up in Kentucky, did her undergraduate work at the University of Florida and earned graduate degrees in environmental engineering from two schools separated by eight miles and different shades of blue University of North Carolina (M.S.E.E.) and Duke (Ph.D. '89). "It's always difficult to choose, so I usually root for whoever is the underdog. But I am pretty much guaranteed getting a ...
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  • July 8, 2009

    CEE Alum Specializes in Natech

    Natural disasters are devastating events, especially in densely populated areas. What Hurricane Katrina did to the people of New Orleans has been well documented. Laura J. Steinberg (M.S. '89, Ph.D. '93) would know. She was on the faculty of Tulane University when the storm struck. Maybe it's a coincidence that she is also one of the leaders of a new field within civil and environmental engineering known as Natech disaster research. Natech is the combination of ...
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  • July 6, 2009

    Romanian Alum Into Aerospace

    Just like her mother, Ilinca Stanciulescu (Ph.D. '05) has always excelled at math and science, and also like her mother, she became a civil engineer. A native of Romania, Stanciulescu earned a B.S. and an M.A.Sc. in civil engineering from the Technical University of Civil Engineering in Bucharest, where her mother also taught. When it came time to do her advanced studies, she came to the Pratt School of Engineering, where she earned a Ph.D. in ...
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  • July 2, 2009

    Alum Tackles Large Problems

    Omar Ghattas thinks big. And that's not just because he's in Texas. His specialty is modeling the dynamics of the earth from the propagation of seismic waves through the crust, to the flow of heated rock deep in the mantle, to the dynamics of polar ice sheets. To carry out these mammoth tasks, he needs as much computational power as he can get, which is why he's in Austin, Texas, home of the world's largest academic ...
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  • June 24, 2009

    Monserrate Among Four Named Duke Trustees

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Four new members and three new observers will join the Duke University Board of Trustees, the university announced Wednesday. Martha Monserrate E'81, G'82, of Rye, N.Y., Dr. Paul Farmer T'82, of Cambridge, Mass., Peter J. Kahn L'76 of Bethesda, Md., and Ralph Eads III T'81, of Houston, assume their six-year terms on the governing body July 1. Monserrate, 49, is a licensed professional engineer and president and founder of the consulting firm Environmental Excellence ...
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  • May 20, 2009

    Novel Approach Estimates Nanoparticles in Environment

    DURHAM, N.C. Without knowing how much of an industrial chemical is being produced, it is almost impossible for scientists to determine if it poses any threat to the environment or human health. Civil engineers at Duke University believe they have come up with a novel way of estimating how much of one such material titanium dioxide is being generated, laying the groundwork for future studies to assess any possible risks. This ...
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  • May 10, 2009

    Duke graduates 523 engineers in May 2009

    Duke University awarded degrees to 523 undergraduate and graduate engineering students on May 10 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 Tom Katsouleas Bachelor of Science in Engineering diplomas to 279 students, including 12 who completed their work in December and one last September, before a crowd of parents, relatives and friends in the Chapel. Pratt also awarded ...
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  • May 5, 2009

    For the First Time, Pratt Wins at WERC Contest

    After years of heading to New Mexico to compete in a prestigious design competition and coming home empty-handed, this spring Pratt finally has not one, but three prizes, with one team taking first place honors in their division. One winning team designed an inexpensive and reliable wind-powered water treatment system for use in the developing world, while the other devised a system to monitor the efficiency of solar panels. The competition, held annually for the past 18 ...
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  • March 24, 2009

    Half of Americans See Other Country as Technological Leader

    DURHAM, N.C. - Half of all Americans expect another country to emerge this century as the world's leader in addressing technological challenges that range from the economy to global warming, according to a survey of U.S. public opinion released March 3 by Duke University. Although only 34 percent of Americans gave themselves a grade of A or B for understanding "the world of engineers and what they do," 72 percent nonetheless expect the technological advancements ...
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  • March 5, 2009

    Buckyballs Could Keep Water Systems Flowing

    DURHAM, N.C. Microscopic particles of carbon known as buckyballs may be able to keep the nation's water pipes clear in the same way clot-busting drugs prevent arteries from clogging up. Engineers at Duke University have found that buckyballs hinder the ability of bacteria and other microorganisms to accumulate on the membranes used to filter water in treatment plants. This attribute leads the researchers to believe that coating pipes and membranes with these nanoparticles may ...
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  • November 10, 2008

    Duke Engineering Contest Connects U.S. Students with National Problems

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering challenges college students in the U.S. to create a video and an essay in response to this question: Which of the 14 grand challenges identified by the National Academy of Engineering would you choose to address, and how would you do it? The National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges (http://www.engineeringchallenges.org) has identified 14 critical barriers to a sustainable way of life. They represent problems that will require ...
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  • October 23, 2008

    Duke's Smart Home Wins Green Award

    Note to editors: Jim Gaston can be reached at (919) 660-5501 or at jim.gaston@duke.edu. DURHAM, N.C. --- The Duke Smart Home Program, a high-tech, 10-student residence for green living and learning, has been selected as the Green Nonprofit Program of the Year by the Triangle Business Journal. The 6,000-square-foot live-in laboratory, designed by students and advisers, opened in November 2007. From its roof of plants and solar cells to the rainwater cisterns and sophisticated electronics in the ...
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  • October 14, 2008

    Engineering Change – Uganda

    A knee injury kept Will Patrick from going to Uganda the summer of 2007. After all the work he put into preparing for it, nothing could have held him back this summer. That ill-fated summer he was supposed to join a small team of students from Smart Home and the Duke chapter of Engineers Without Borders in a trip to Uganda to help a community-based non-governmental organization in Nkokonjeru and assess the some of most pressing ...
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  • September 17, 2008

    Duke to Lead New NSF, EPA Funded Center to Study the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology

    DURHAM, NC--The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have awarded $14.4 million to create the Center for Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT) to explore the potential ecological hazards of nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are as much as a million times smaller than the head of a pin, and have unusual properties compared with larger objects made from the same material. These unusual properties make nanomaterials attractive for use in everything from computer hard-drives to ...
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  • September 9, 2008

    Scientists form alliance to develop nanotoxicology protocols

    ZURICH, Switzerland A team of materials scientists and toxicologists announced the formation of a new international research alliance to establish protocols for reproducible toxicological testing of nanomaterials in both cultured cells and animals. Pratt's Mark Wiesner, James L. Meriam Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering is part of this research effort. The International Alliance for NanoEHS Harmonization (IANH) was unveiled Sept. 9 at Nanotox 2008, one of the world's largest biennial nanotoxicological research meetings. "When this ...
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  • July 31, 2008

    Microbe Diet Key To Carbon Dioxide Release

    DURHAM, N.C. - As microbes in the soil break down fallen plant matter, a diet "balanced" in nutrients appears to help control soil fertility and the normal release of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. When plants drop their leaves, stems and twigs, this organic matter slowly becomes part of the soil as a result of decomposition, which is facilitated by bacteria and other microbes. This process adds plant nutrients to the soil ...
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  • July 1, 2008

    Glass Named Senior Associate Dean for Education at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering

    Professor Jeffrey T. Glass has been appointed Senior Associate Dean for Education, Dean Tom Katsouleas announced on July 1, 2008. He succeeds Tod Laursen, who served in that capacity since 2003 and will now become chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. "Jeff has the ideal background to help the faculty and the departments to develop innovative and exciting new educational programs that respond to the nation's need for engineers that will be ...
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  • June 26, 2008

    Laursen Named Chair of Mechanical Engineering Department

    Professor Tod Laursen has been named chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Dean Robert Clark and Dean designee Tom Katsouleas announced on June 26. He succeeds professor Franklin H. Cocks, who served as interim chair during the 2007/2008 academic year. "Tod is well known and respected for his scholarship, leadership, judgment and academic values. He has ambitious goals for MEMS and we expect him to be a transformative Chair," said Katsouleas. Laursen received ...
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  • June 19, 2008

    Smart Home Gets Top Environmental Building Score

    Residence hall/laboratory receives state's first platinum LEED rating DURHAM, NC -- The Home Depot Smart Home at Duke University, a 10-person student residence hall for green living and learning, has achieved a top-level platinum standard for its design from the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system. The building becomes the first in North Carolina to achieve that standard. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The 6,000-square foot-residence, designed by students and advisers, earned 59 ...
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  • June 3, 2008

    Possible New Approach To Purifying Drinking Water

    DURHAM, N.C. A genetic tool used by medical researchers may also be used in a novel approach to remove harmful microbes and viruses from drinking water.In a series of proof-of-concept experiments, Duke University engineers demonstrated that short strands of genetic material could successfully target a matching portion of a gene in a common fungus found in water and make it stop working. If this new approach can be perfected, the researchers believe that ...
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  • May 22, 2008

    Gavin Awarded for Undergraduate Teaching

    By Richard Merritt Humor is often one of the telling characteristics of an effective and respected teacher, and from all accounts, Henri Gavin, associate professor of civil engineering, can be a pretty funny guy. "He always tries to crack jokes about things, especially when it seems the class isn't paying attention well enough," said Ian Cassidy, who took two Gavin classes and graduated this spring with a degree in civil engineering. "I remember in one class, most ...
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  • May 22, 2008

    Gavin Awarded for Undergraduate Teaching

    By Richard Merritt Humor is often one of the telling characteristics of an effective and respected teacher, and from all accounts, Henri Gavin, associate professor of civil engineering, can be a pretty funny guy. "He always tries to crack jokes about things, especially when it seems the class isn't paying attention well enough," said Ian Cassidy, who took two Gavin classes and graduated this spring with a degree in civil engineering. "I remember in one class, most ...
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  • May 19, 2008

    Lee Pearson Commencement Speech 2008

    Welcome mothers and happy Mother's Day, thank you for all that you do. Welcome fathers thanks for your part in making Mother's Day possible. Welcome Pratt Class of 2008. It has been a long road and we have reached the end of this journey in what seems like much less time than anticipated. Although our parents were certainly focused on getting to the destination on time and on budget, we were more focused on what interesting ...
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  • May 11, 2008

    Duke University Awards Degrees to 404 Engineers

    Duke University and its Pratt School of Engineering awarded degrees to 230 undergraduate and 174 graduate students May 11 and engineering Dean Robert L. Clark said Pratt's graduating seniors are ready to help tackle some of the many challenges facing the nation and the global society. "You are about to accept a much greater responsibility for yourselves, and as engineers, for all of humanity," Clark told a standing-only-crowd of graduates, and their friends and families gathered ...
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  • May 8, 2008

    Gift to Drive Better Understanding of Uncertainty Analysis

    DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering has received a gift of $5 million from an anonymous donor to establish a new undergraduate curriculum that will encourage students to think critically about problems that lack obvious solutions, like those they will encounter after graduation, President Richard H. Brodhead announced Wednesday. The planned curriculum will be open to undergraduates from all majors. "Duke's strategic plan, 'Making a Difference,' calls for investments in programs that help students ...
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  • April 21, 2008

    Clare Boothe Luce Fellows Two Years Later

    Two years after receiving prestigious fellowships designed to support women scientists, three Pratt graduate students are well into their research with such diverse projects as brain-computer interfaces, nanoparticle exposures and a new method for breast cancer screening. In 2006, Katie Hedlund, Christine Robichaud and Christina Shafer were named Clare Boothe Luce Fellows. The fellowship program is the largest such private program for women studying science, mathematics or engineering. More than 1,500 women scientists have received support ...
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  • April 18, 2008

    Dolbow Young Investigator Award

    Critics are always looking for flaws and defects. Like critics, John Dolbow is also interested in defects, but not for their ability to detract from a finished product, but for the vast potential in better understanding and harnessing their potential. More specifically, he meticulously follows the process of materials as they change in response to mechanical loads, looking for that precise instant when they transform from one state into another. As an example of these stress-response ...
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  • April 18, 2008

    Dolbow Young Investigator Award

    Critics are always looking for flaws and defects. Like critics, John Dolbow is also interested in defects, but not for their ability to detract from a finished product, but for the vast potential in better understanding and harnessing their potential. More specifically, he meticulously follows the process of materials as they change in response to mechanical loads, looking for that precise instant when they transform from one state into another. As an example of these stress-response ...
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  • April 5, 2008

    Duke Establishes Fellowship in Memory of Slain Graduate Student Abhijit Mahato

    DURHAM, N.C. -- In a meeting in Cary Saturday with leaders of the local Indian community, Duke University President Richard H. Brodhead announced the school has established a fellowship in memory of slain Duke graduate student Abhijit Mahato. The Abhijit Mahato Memorial Fellowship will provide financial support to a Duke international graduate student who is studying engineering, with preference given to a student from Mahato's native country of India. In a letter to Mahato's parents, Brodhead noted ...
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  • March 19, 2008

    Findings Could Improve Fuel Cell Efficiency

    DURHAM, N.C. - A new type of membrane based on tiny iron particles appears to address one of the major limitations exhibited by current power-generating fuel cell technology. While there are many types of fuel cells, in general they generate electricity as the result of chemical reactions between an external fuel -- most commonly hydrogen -- and an agent that reacts with it. The membrane that separates the two parts of the cell and facilitates ...
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  • March 17, 2008

    Five Questions About Rainfall and Drought for Ana Barros

    by Ana P. Barros is a professor of environmental engineering in the Pratt School of Engineering who studies the water cycle and how land, air and water interact. It's complicated: Rainfall is affected by global patterns, and landforms. Does being east of the mountains make the drought worse in North Carolina? Would we get more rain if they weren't in the way? Locations downslope and downwind of mountains with regard to regionally predominant storm tracks tend to ...
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  • March 12, 2008

    Harrington - Leading Duke's ASCE Chapter

    Student Highlight: Josclyn Harrington Hometown: Charlotte, N.C. Josclyn Harrington got involved with the Duke chapter of the American Society for Civil Engineering (ASCE) in her sophomore year. Now a senior and ASCE president, she will lead the student club in its annual concrete canoe race and steel bridge competition at the Carolinas Conference. The annual conference gives students fun opportunities to test out both their technical and communications skills. Last year, Duke's canoe, dubbed the "Hazzards of Duke," was ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • January 22, 2008

    Pratt Fellow Crabtree Seeks Understanding of Flaws in 'Smart Gels'

    Liza Crabtree, a Pratt Undergraduate Research Fellow and civil and environmental engineering major, is working to understand the flaws that can develop in so-called stimulus-responsive hydrogels. These 'smart gels,' which look essentially like Jello, can be made to undergo dramatic transformation in response to changes in their surroundings, including pH and temperature. Thanks to those unique abilities, hydrogels are now poised to become integral mechanical components and sensors in the increasingly tiny devices of the ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • December 5, 2007

    Catching Rain in Uganda

    This article is part of Summer Stories, a special, online issue of Dukengineer Magazine, in which students wrote about their experiences in the Summer of 2007 during their time away from Duke. by Patrick Ye, BME '10 This past summer, I was one of six students on a Duke Engineers Without Borders team that traveled to Uganda. Our goal was to build a rainwater harvesting system to supply a community with a clean and reliable source of ...
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  • December 5, 2007

    Moldy Human Cells, Water Pipes, 2-Watt Computers, and Concrete Machines: One Pratt Senior's Summer Extravaganza

    This article is part of Summer Stories, a special, online issue of Dukengineer Magazine, in which students wrote about their experiences in the Summer of 2007 during their time away from Duke. by Lee Pearson, BME/CEE '08 "Viva Peeeruuu!" the perfect stranger yelled to me with Pisco on his breath as he threw his arm around my back and we proceeded to walk towards the concert stage. It was July 27th, the night before the Independence Day ...
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  • December 5, 2007

    Aaron Lee on Environmental Research in Germany

    by Aaron Lee, CE/German/German Studies '09 Before this summer, I had figured that lab research would be very similar anywhere in the world. Like Gertrude Stein said, "a rose is a rose is a rose," and although there may be some slight differences from lab to lab, I thought that in the end, a test tube is still a test tube. However, this summer allowed to me see that while some things will be the same, ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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' ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • September 12, 2007

    Students Take Part in Climate-Decoding Mission

    Summer 2007 -- After taking CEE Professor Ana Barros' Focus program course in his freshman year, William Patrick took the initiative to ask if Barros might have anything he could do for the summer. He soon found himself as one of the only undergraduates participating in a massive, multi-aircraft mission aimed at decoding the climate. "It was interesting to see research actually taking place and to be a part of a team," Patrick said. "It helped ...
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  • September 1, 2007

    Eischeid wins NWRI Fellowship

    Graduate student Anne Eischeid has been selected to receive a National Water Research Institute (NWRI) fellowship worth $10,000 a year for her doctoral research. Eischeid is using molecular biology to investigate the effectiveness of traditional and new ultraviolet technologies on adenoviruses, which cause respiratory and gastrointestinal illness in humans.
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  • September 1, 2007

    Bolch wins NASA ESS Fellowship

    CEE graduate student Michael Adam Bolch was awarded a NASA Earth System Science (ESS) fellowship. The fellowship is worth $24,000 annually and may be renewed for an additional two years. His research is entitled, "Evaluating the Effects of Land-Surface Heterogeneity at Various Scales on Atmospheric Boundary Layer Processes." The purpose of the space agency's program is to ensure continued training of interdisciplinary scientists to support the study of the Earth as a system. NASA says ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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. ...
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  • June 1, 2007

    Shrestha wins NASA ESS Fellowship

    Graduate student Prabhakar Shrestha in CEE Professor Ana Barros' laboratory has won a NASA Earth System Science Fellowship for his work on "Characterization of Aerosol-Cloud-Rainfall Interactions and Water Cycle Impacts in the Himalayas."
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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. ...
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  • May 1, 2007

    Kahler, Saaem Elected to Graduate Student Government

    David Kahler, CEE graduate student, was elected to a second term as treasurer of the Graduate and Professional Student Council, and Ali Saaem, BME graduate student, was elected as 2007-2008 Community Affairs Coordinator. Kahler is the only member of the 2006-2007 executive board to remain on the executive board for the coming year. Other engineers who served on the executive board this year were Lara Oliver (ECE, attorney general), Elizabeth Irish (MEMS, student groups liaison), ...
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  • May 1, 2007

    Deonarine Compete Well At NCWRRI

    CEE graduate student Amrika Deonarine was awarded 3rd place in the student poster competition at the annual conference of the North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute on March 27-28 in Raleigh. The title of her poster presentation was: "Assessment of Surface Water Mercury Concentrations in the Restored Upper Sandy Creek Riparian Ecosystem" and was authored by Deonarine and her adviser Helen Hsu-Kim, assistant CEE professor.
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • April 1, 2007

    2007 Senol Utku Award Winners

    CEE graduate students Stefano Manzoni, Darren Drewry and Gil Bohrer and their faculty advisers, professors Amilcare Porporato, Roni Avissar and John Albertson, won the Senol Utku Award for best pre-Ph.D. peer reviewed papers. This award is dedicated to Professor Senol Utku, now retired, for his exemplary academic achievements and service to the CEE department from 1970 2002.
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • February 1, 2007

    Axelrod Explores Isolator Device that Protects against Earthquake Damage

    Civil and environmental engineering major Nicole Axelrod's research as a Pratt Undergraduate Research Fellow could lead to improvements in the design of devices meant to limit damage to sensitive equipment during an earthquake. In the laboratory of CEE Professor Henri Gavin, Axelrod works on simulated versions of the ISO-Base™ Seismic Isolation Platform, a commercially available product made by the southern California-based company WorkSafe Technologies. The platform consists of a steel ball sandwiched between two load-bearing plates ...
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  • December 6, 2006

    Deonarine, a Native of Trinidad, Sets out to Study Environmental Mercury

    In civil and environmental engineering graduate student Amrika Deonarine's home country of Trinidad and Tobago, a sunny two-island nation off the coast of Venezuela, education is a top priority. "Education is stressed a lot," Deonarine said. "Education and family." Deonarine was encouraged early in the sciences by her physicist father and her mother, who is a nurse. She quickly gained an interest in two science-related fields: astronomy and environmentalism. But it was her love for math and ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • November 6, 2006

    Bohrer Relies on Virtual Forests to Elucidate Real Ones

    With the aid of time spent among simulated trees, Gil Bohrer, a graduate student in civil and environmental engineering from Israel, is getting a better handle on how wind flows through the forest. Inside his virtual world, trees can be moved around or made transparent and air currents of differing temperatures appear as brightly colored, undulating masses. A member of professor Roni Avissar's lab, Bohrer is one of the first at the Pratt School to capitalize ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • October 6, 2006

    Engineering Education Arms Wren with Problem-Solving Skills

    A recent graduate in civil and environmental engineering, Emily Wren's activities at Duke were many: the American Society of Civil Engineers concrete canoe design contest at the Carolinas Conference, engineering honor societies Tau Beta Pi and Chi Epsilon, and the E-Team, a group that mentors freshman engineers. But it is her involvement with Duke's Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) that she most relishes. "EWB is what I believe in the most," Wren said. "It offers ...
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  • September 26, 2006

    Fischmann Internship at The Pidcock Company - Summer 2006

    Claudia Fischmann Hometown: Allentown, PA Year: senior Major: civil engineering This summer I worked as an intern at The Pidcock Company (TPC) in ALlentown, PA, a civil engineering firm that does architectural work, surveying, civil engineering, and land planning. I worked in both the environmental and the traffic branches of the company. Coming from a focus in structural engineering, both branches were completely different than anything I have done in college so far. Each day I divided my time between ...
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  • September 26, 2006

    Lattanzio Internship at William V Walsh Constuction Company - Summer 2006

    Steve Lattanzio Hometown: Vero Beach, FL Year: junior Major: civil engineering This past summer 2006 I completed an internship with the William V. Walsh Construction Company located in Rockville, MD. The company is currently involved with many projects in the Washington, DC area. I was assigned to projects at the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. The Jefferson Memorial was having some of the stonework fixed among other things, and there was a lot going on at the ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • May 24, 2006

    Senner Well on Way to Construction Management Career

    In an autobiography written by Will Senner in one of his elementary school yearbooks, he made a prediction: He was going to go to Duke. Although it wasn't a comment the Connecticut native initially remembered when applying to colleges, it turned out he had been right. He enrolled at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering in 2002. Now a senior civil engineering major and economics minor, Senner is already looking forward to kicking off a career in ...
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  • May 24, 2006

    Hunter Halten, Nearly Fluent in Spanish, Aimed for International Development Career

    Before enrolling at Duke as a freshman four years ago, Hunter Halten--a graduating senior in civil and environmental engineering--had never been outside of the country. But, after a semester spent studying in Spain and a summer spent working in London, the native of California's wine country is setting out for a career in international development. He is debating between entering the Peace Corps, ideally in a Latin American country, and jumping right into a job with ...
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  • May 1, 2006

    Sanders wins NDSEG Fellowship

    Jessica Sanders, a CEE graduate student in the Duke Computational Mechanics Laboratory, received a 2006 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship. Sanders was selected by the DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Program Office from nearly 3,600 applications. The fellowship also covers tuition and fees for three years and provides a stipend totaling $93,000 for three years.
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  • May 1, 2006

    Rigby Wins NSF Fellowship

    CEE graduate student James Robert Rigby won a three-year National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship covering tuition and providing a stipend. Rigby is working with CEE Associate Professor Amilcare Porporato studying the dynamic link between climate and vegetation and what effects changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events will have on the productivity and stability of these ecosystems.
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • April 1, 2006

    BoHu Studies in Switzerland

    Liang BoHu, a graduate student of Tomasz Hueckel's, is currently spending a month at the Swiss Institute of Technology at Lausanne (EPFL) to jointly perform tests on damage to desiccating geomaterials. Hueckel and EPFL's Dr. Lyesse Laloui are engaged in collaborative research on that subject within coordinated projects funded by their respective National Science Foundations.
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • May 15, 2005

    Newly Minted Ph.D. Launches Computational Career

    Written May 2005 A first impression of the soft-spoken Huidi Ji might not immediately reveal the intellectual tenacity of this professional problem solver. Ji is drawn to complicated problems that can only be solved through patient application of complex calculations. Given Ji's heritage as a native of Shanghai, China, it seems fitting that after completing her doctorate in computational mechanics at Duke University, she chose a career as a developer at a company named ABAQUS where she ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • April 15, 2005

    Environmental Engineer Einmo Takes Global Perspective

    By Gabriel Chen, written in 2005 Exotic landscapes are not always distant and unapproachable. In 2002, just before the beginning of his sophomore year, Chris Einmo spent a summer in Montenegro, the heart of the Mediterranean, divided from Italy by the Adriatic Sea. Part of the former Yugoslavia, this republic is only an hour flight from Rome or Budapest, and one hour and a half from Zurich. Einmo, a senior majoring in civil and environmental engineering, ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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, ...
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  • 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, ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • November 15, 2004

    Rosenfeldt Tackles Water Quality

    By Gabriel Chen Something fishy is happening in the headwaters of one of the nation's most conspicuous rivers the South Branch of the Potomac River. Scientists have discovered that some male bass are producing eggs, which is a decidedly female reproductive function. 'Male fishes producing eggs in the Potomac River' may read like the Nebula prize-winning plot for a science fiction novel, but this phenomenon is becoming a growing cause of worry for environmentalists worldwide. Last year, ...
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  • October 15, 2004

    For Bohrer, Climate Modeling Like Forecasting Grocery Use

    By Claire Cusick Gil Bohrer is pursuing a doctorate in environmental engineering, and working on a climate modeling project in the Panamanian rainforest, but his job has as much to do with atmosphere physics as with ecology. He works on a research team that is studying wind dispersal of seeds in the Panamanian rainforest. He is creating a computer program that will enable a regional meteorological model one that covers hundreds of square kilometers -- ...
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  • October 15, 2004

    Conservation Opportunities Inspire Amodeo to Pursue Architecture

    by Gabriel Chen, 2004 It was a cold, wintry afternoon, and students were gathered at the Trinity café on East Campus at Duke for a warm cup of coffee. I sat opposite Michael Amodeo and dared him to juggle in front of the growing crowd. Without so much as a word of protest, Amodeo bought several oranges, and juggled them with consummate ease his gaze transfixed on the fruits even as he performed cascades ...
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  • September 15, 2004

    Solar Sail for Material Transport in Space

    By Claire Cusick, September 2004 "Imagine a huge kite." That's how Ilinca Stanciulescu starts the conversation about her doctoral research. Her research "focuses on the development and implementation of algorithms for nonlinear analyses in structural and solid mechanics". But let's hear more about that kite. It's actually called a solar sail, and one day it will be used to transport material in space, using for propulsion the photon energy from the sun. Building and testing a solar sail in the ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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, ...
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  • 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, ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • March 15, 2004

    Liken Progresses from Gingerbread Houses to Model Zoos

    By Gabriel Chen Many psychologists agree that play is an essential ingredient in a child's growth and development play stimulates the human spirit, encourages imagination, conceptual thinking and creation. Cathryn Liken remembers playing Legos for hours, constructing anything out of them: a boat, a plane, or a train. As a wide-eyed inquisitive girl growing up in Pittsburgh, Cathryn avoided Barbie dolls like the plague, choosing to amuse herself with cardboard blocks instead. Catie, as she ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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., ...
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  • 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., ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • August 15, 2003

    Lure of the Orient beckons environmental engineering student

    Written in 2003 Jean Foster's childhood spent with her family in exotic Malaysia, where primal forests create a continuous skyline of green from shore side mangrove to mountaintop oak, gave her an enduring fascination for the Orient. Malaysia's population is surprisingly diverse, influenced by centuries of trade with China, India and Arab nations, and later with the Portuguese. While there are myriad indigenous Malay tribes, nearly 35 percent of the country's population is immigrant Chinese. And it ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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. ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • March 15, 2003

    Construction management career perfect for the innately organized

    By Gabriel Chen, written in 2003 Loaded with caffeine and eyelids heavy as bricks, it is 2 a.m. already and your head is beginning to shake. You have just completed page three of your 20-page paper that is due tomorrow before noon. That is a procrastinator, a character easily understood by college students, even as many of them try to cram the night before assignments are due. For sophomore Ashleigh Thames, each morning, however, presents her ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • October 15, 2002

    A Walk Down the Champs Elysees

    All of my high expectations were met and even surpassed as I finally arrived at the world-renowned Avenue de Champs Elysees in Paris, France as a study-abroad student through Duke's ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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, ...
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  • 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, ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • 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., ...
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  • 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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  • October 16, 1998

    Jeffrey Vinik

    BS in Civil Engineering 1981 Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Vinik Asset Management, which has grown in less than five years into one of the largest hedge ...
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  • October 16, 1997

    Edward Reefe

    Architecture and engineering, although often considered separate disciplines, result in a unique and powerful course when Combined. This is the very path that Mr. Edward Reefe has chosen, and ...
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  • October 16, 1994

    Kenneth Chestnut

    The average Duke Engineering graduate either goes on to graduate school or uses the degree to buy a bigger salary in the job ...
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  • October 16, 1990

    William A. Stokes

    When some people hear the word "engineer," they immediately picture smart people with thick glasses clutching a calculator in one hand and a computer disk in the other. ...
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  • October 16, 1988

    Fitzgerald S. Hudson

    Minutes after calling his secretary to say he is on his way, an impressive Jerry Hudson arrives and extends a firm hand ...
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  • October 16, 1987

    Edwin Jones

    This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Duke University School of Engineering, making it appropriate to recognize a man whose family has helped to nurture and lead the school ...
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    Questions about this page? Contact:

    Deborah Hill, Director of Communications, 415 Teer Engineering Building, 919-660-8403, dahill@duke.edu