ASEE: ET programs at SPSU still tops in graduating black males
For the sixth consecutive year, SPSU was ranked No. 1 in the country for conferring bachelor’s degrees in engineering technology (ET) to African-American males, according to a newly released report issued by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).

The 2010 ASEE Profiles of Engineering and Engineering Technology Colleges report also ranks the university:

• second in the number of ET degrees awarded to African-American females;

• third in the number of ET degrees awarded to females of all ethnicities;

• third in the total number of ET degrees awarded; and

• fourth in the total enrollment of ET students.

New studio building earns gold from Brick Industry Association
Building I-2, also known as Design II or the Architectural Studio Addition, has earned national recognition for brick design excellence from one of the country’s most prestigious architectural award programs.

The Brick Industry Association (BIA), a national trade association representing distributors and manufacturers of clay brick, recognized SPSU’s Design II with a 2011 Gold Brick in Architecture Award in July.

SPSU received one of four gold BIA awards bestowed on educational institutions around the country. The only higher honor was a Best in Class Award, given to one entrant per category.

Design II features a unique brick wall that functions as a rain screen, which not only appeals to the eye but also serves to minimize building maintenance and is a creative use of brick as a construction material. The bricks are made entirely of clay making them stronger than most bricks, which today are commonly made of composite materials.

Another important feature of architect Cooper Carry’s use of brick and overall design is that the building may be utilized as a teaching device for students. Serving as the base of operations for second-year architecture students, Design II is where students learn the fundamentals of construction and material use.

In keeping with other campus buildings that have opened within the past year, SPSU is pursuing LEED Gold certification for Design II.

Professors reach out to local schools with robotics
Dr. Chih-Cheng Hung and Dr. Patrick Bobbie, two professors from the School of Computing and Software Engineering (CSE), are showing the community what SPSU has to offer by coordinating and directing outreach events in the field of robotics.

In early May, Dr. Hung led the SPSU Honors Independent Study Intelligent Robotics class on a visit to local Wheeler High School. The group showed the high school students the type of exciting work that is being done at SPSU. Undergraduate students from various departments who helped with the presentation included Luke Isler, Lei Wang and Sarah Pace.

On the other side of Cobb County in Austell, Dr. Bobbie worked with Sanders Elementary School on the National Robotics Summer School (NAROSS) program. His goal was to increase the students’ awareness of science, technology, engineering and computing by replicating work he had done for a National Science Foundation CORE project involving schools in Ghana.

For the NAROSS project, Dr. Bobbie and the SPSU Robotics Team made a series of visits to Sanders Elementary School to work closely with the children on various projects.

SPSU Staff Council election results
The Staff Council welcomed a number of new members following a campus-wide election this summer. The council also subsequently announced a new Executive Board:

Chair: Bobby Burk, coordinator, Student Activities

Vice chair: Alberta Cook, administrative assistant, Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology Department

Secretary: Stephanie McCartney, laboratory supervisor, Department of Biology, Chemistry and Physics

The 2011-2012 Staff Council membership is as follows:

IPEDS Group I (executive/managerial)
• Nikki Palamiotis, director, Office of Graduate Studies (completing a two-year term)
• Arthur Vaughn, controller, Office of Fiscal Affairs (new)

IPEDS Group IV (other professional)
• Jeffrey Bernard, environmental health and safety coordinator, Facilities (returning for another term)
• Jenny Brown, coordinator, Residence Life (new)
• Bobby Burk (returning for another term)
• Erika Kegler, program coordinator, Continuing Education Center (completing a two-year term)
• Stephanie McCartney (new)

IPEDS Group V (technical/para-professional)
To be announced

IPEDS Group VI (clerical)
• Alberta Cook (new)
• Sharon Hodge, secretary to the dean, School of Architecture, Civil Engineering Technology and Construction (new)
• Bennie Sue Houck, student records specialist, Office of the Registrar (completing a two-year term)
• Ann Lay, secretary to the dean, School of Engineering Technology and Management (new)

IPEDS Group VII (skilled craft)
To be announced

IPEDS Group VIII (service/maintenance)
• Sheri Adebayo, custodian, Facilities (new)
• Rashaad Graham, groundskeeper, Facilities (new)

Soccer season preview
The SPSU men’s soccer team is back and ready for another great season. The team is working hard and already off to a good start in preparing for the year ahead.

Last year marked the second consecutive season in which SPSU went undefeated in its Southern States Athletics Conference (SSAC) regular season. It was also the second consecutive season that the team won the SSAC East Regular Season Championship and made it to the Sweet 16 of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Men’s Soccer Tournament. The team finished the season with a 12-5-3 record.

Now, the team is getting ready for a new season with 18 returning members and 22 new recruits.

“This year’s goal is to advance the program forward in our style of play and progress to the higher rounds of the NAIA National Tournament,” says Coach Kom Momeni. “We are very excited to have a strong core of returning players coupled with a very talented recruiting class.”

The first home game of this season will be held on Mon., Aug. 22, against Talladega College (Ala.) at 5 p.m.

Staff additions, promotions announced
• Melanie Beck is SPSU’s new full-time nurse. Beck received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of South Alabama. She has been a registered nurse for 18 years. From working on the development of gastrointestinal protocols and in-services to staffing an urgent care facility, Beck brings plenty of experience to her new position.

• Daneir Pitts has joined the Procurement Office as a buyer. She previously served as an administrative assistant in the Social and International Studies (SIS) Department, and before that she worked in the Business Office. She will work with Robert Forbes, director of Procurement and Mail Services, and Denise Sanderson, buyer II and P-card administrator.

Systems Engineering to offer nuclear engineering courses
Beginning with the upcoming fall semester, the Systems Engineering Program will offer a series of courses in nuclear engineering as part of a Nuclear Power Generation Option.

The plan is to offer six nuclear courses on a rolling basis, according to Dr. Mahmoud Ghavi, director of SPSU’s Center for Nuclear Studies. All of the new offerings will emphasize the fundamental and applied aspects of nuclear engineering and could be of potential interest to all science and engineering students.

This fall, students will have the option to take the three-credit course Fundamentals of Nuclear Engineering.

In addition to the new courses under the auspices of systems engineering, the Center for Nuclear Studies also offers several applied nuclear power training programs through the Continuing Education Center.

Dr. Ghavi said that thanks to SPSU’s participation in a Nuclear Regulatory Commission grant program, the university will be able to offer a number of full tuition scholarships to qualified students for both the academic courses and the continuing education workshops.

Have news to share?
If your department has an upcoming event or other news to share with the campus community, please send an e-mail with all the pertinent information to Diane Payne (dpayne@spsu.edu). To be considered for use in a specific issue of the SPSU Hornet’s Nest, a news item must be submitted no less than four weeks before the date of the issue.

Volume 4, Issue 30
August 10, 2011