SPSU teams with Kiwanis Club to bring technology home for high-school students
The Kiwanis Club of Marietta, in conjunction with Marietta High School (MHS) and SPSU, has recently established the Kiwanis Technology Center at Marietta High School. This is a community-wide initiative designed to raise the academic performance of MHS students by closing the gap between those who have technology in their homes and those who do not.

MHS staffers have selected students with a documented lack of technology at home to receive laptop computers to aid them in their studies. The laptops will be serviced and monitored by SPSU and MHS.

To be eligible for the program, MHS staffers determine if the student has spent at least two years at MHS, has maintained a GPA of 2.5 or better, is on track for graduation, has a documented technology need and has no significant disciplinary actions against him/her.

Once a student has been selected to participate, a laptop is loaned to them for the duration of their education at MHS. As long as they graduate in a timely fashion, the school will turn over ownership of the computer to the student at that point.

Currently, 25 students have received laptops through the initiative. The Kiwanis Club of Marietta is committed financially to the program for at least another year, with plans to include up to 100 students.

ASEE elects Dean Jeffrey Ray as interim VP
The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Board of Directors recently elected Dr. Jeffrey Ray, dean of the School of Engineering Technology and Management, as its interim first vice president of external relations.

This appointment also places him on the executive and finance committees of the ASEE board. Dr. Ray is also chair of ASEE’s Engineering Technology Council, which promotes quality education and creative endeavors to engineering schools nationwide.

Dr. Ray joined the SPSU faculty in August 2007 and holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. He received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville.

ASEE exists to encourage excellence in instruction, research and public service among engineering educators and has representation in several accrediting and certification bodies including ABET and the National Society of Professional Engineers.

Student competition teams receive funding through Alumni Association
The SPSU Alumni Association Board has awarded $56,500 to 18 different competition teams and projects on campus this year. These funds come from the SPSU Foundation as well as the Lawrence and Cecelia Johnson Endowment.

All funding for the Alumni Association and the SPSU Foundation is provided by private contributions from friends, supporters and university alumni, faculty and staff members.

The following teams and student chapters of national organizations received financial support this year:

• American Society of Civil Engineering
• Associated Builders and Contractors
• Aerial Robotics Team
• Associated Schools of Construction
• American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers
• Autonomous Underwater VehicleTeam
• Concrete Canoe Team
• Design-Build Institute of America
• Electric Vehicle: Go-Kart Team and SPSU Advanced Racing Cycle
• SPSU Motorsports Formula SAE Team
• Geomatics Competition Team
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Southeast CON Competition Team
• Mechanical Contractors Association of America
• National Association of Home Builders
• National Electrical Contractors Association & Association of Energy Engineers
• Southern Poly Information Security Association
• Steel Bridge Team

Two Fulbright scholars visiting SPSU next week
SPSU will host visiting Fulbright scholars from Mexico and Japan early next week.

Dr. Shiro Matsushima, a professor in the Architecture and Civil Engineering department at Toyohashi University of Technology in Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan, a visiting scholar in the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, will be on campus Mon., Feb. 25, and Tues., Feb. 26.

During his visit – coordinated by Dr. Raj Sashti, director of international program development, and Elizabeth Martin, assistant professor of architecture – Dr. Matsushima will participate in several meetings and conferences with architecture students and faculty. He teaches planning and design, design technology and project management and will give a presentation on design at 5 p.m. on Feb. 25 in the Design II auditorium.

Faculty members interested in meeting Dr. Matsushima should contact Dr. Sashti at ext. 3266 or rsashti@spsu.edu.

Eric Huerta of Queretaro University in Mexico will be on campus to give presentations to engineering students as well as faculty seminars on Tues., Feb. 26. The Office of Academic Affairs and International Programs, the School of Engineering and the Department of Systems and Mechanical Engineering are sponsoring his visit.

Huerta is a visiting Fulbright professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. His research interests include quantitative methods for engineering education and research.

Dr. Sashti and Dr. Adeel Khalid, assistant professor of systems engineering, will coordinate Huerta’s visit. Faculty members interested in meeting him should contact Dr. Khalid at ext. 7241 or akhalid2@spsu.edu.

SPSU welcomes new staffers in UITS, IT department
SPSU extends a warm welcome to Leah Coppola and Jasmine Watkins, who recently joined the staff.

University Information Technology Services (UITS) hired Coppola as its purchasing and logistics coordinator. Her primary role is to oversee the purchasing life cycle of all campus technology from initial purchase to surplus/retirement. Coppola also will work to ensure that all products purchased fall under UITS, procurement and University System of Georgia guidelines.

Coppola previously worked for five years as a genius administrator for Apple retail, overseeing inventory control and managing repairs. She can be reached at lcoppola@spsu.edu or via the UITS Help Desk, ext. 4537.

Watkins is the new administrative assistant in the Information Technology (IT) department in the School of Computing and Software Engineering (CSE). She previously worked as a student assistant in the Computer Science and Software Engineering department.

Watkins is finishing up her degree in business administration from SPSU. She can be reached at jwatkin2@spsu.edu or ext. 4292.

Recent faculty publications
• Dr. Dan Ferreira, an assistant professor of chemistry, had an article, “An electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy investigation on the retention mechanisms of divalent cations in zeolite nanopores,” published in The Clay Minerals Society journal Clays and Clay Minerals in December 2012. One of his data figures was also selected for the cover of the journal. In addition, his article, “Calorimetric evidence in support of the nanopore inner-sphere enhancement (NISE) theory on cation adsorption,” was published in The Soil Science Society of America Journal and can be found in the January issue.

• Dr. Peter Sakaris, associate professor of biology, has an article to be published in the book “Current perspectives in contaminant hydrology and water resources sustainability.” His article is entitled “A review of the effects of hydrologic alteration on fisheries and biodiversity and the management and conservation of natural resources in regulated river systems.” The book will be published by InTech, the world’s largest open-access publisher of books in science, technology and medicine.

Honors program raffling off reserved parking spots
Every year, the Honors program and Campus Services offer faculty and staff members the chance to win a reserved parking spot anywhere on campus, other than handicapped spaces, President Lisa A. Rossbacher’s space, and spaces reserved for facilities and maintenance. They also offer students the chance to win a faculty/staff parking decal.

The winners of both prizes will be determined in a raffle at 1 p.m. on Feb. 28. Honors students will be selling the raffle tickets ($3 for one or $5 for two) until then. Winners will be contacted shortly afterward.

If you don’t encounter an Honors student selling tickets or if you have questions about the raffle, call the Honors program office at ext. 3931, or e-mail awood@spsu.edu.

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 6, Issue 7
Feb. 20, 2013