ASEE: ET programs at SPSU still rank high
SPSU ranks second in the United States for conferring bachelor’s degrees in engineering technology (ET), according to a newly released report issued by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).

The 2011 ASEE Profiles of Engineering and Engineering Technology Colleges report also ranks the university:

• first in the number of ET degrees awarded to African-Americans, both male and female;

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

• third in the number of ET degrees awarded to Asian-American males;

• first in the total number of ET degrees awarded by programs accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology (ABET); and

• fourth in the total enrollment of ET students.

According to SPSU School of Engineering Technology and Management Dean and current ASEE Board of Directors member Dr. Jeff Ray, the ASEE “Profiles” rankings recognize the high-quality project-based curricula taken by SPSU ET graduates.

“Our ET students, graduates and faculty are world-class in their disciplines,” he added. “It is a great distinction to be compared year after year with universities such as Purdue, Rochester Institute of Technology, Penn State and other notable institutions.”

CSWE chair leaving SPSU for Bowling Green State
Dr. Venu Dasigi, chair of the department of Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSWE), is leaving SPSU this month to take a position as chair of the department of Computer Science at Ohio’s Bowling Green State University.

Dr. Han Reichgelt, dean of the School of Computing and Software Engineering (CSE), will host a celebration in Dasigi’s honor today – Wed., July 11 – from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the eXecutive Dining Room.

“I want to thank Dr. Dasigi for his tremendous service to SPSU in general and CSE in particular,” Dr. Reichgelt said in announcing his departure.

“Among his many accomplishments are leading the way in the design and implementation of the assessment and continuous improvement process that CSE uses to ensure the quality of its degree programs, establishing a highly successful tutoring program for our introductory computing courses, significantly revising the Master of Science in Software Engineering program, and, of course, establishing the new Computer Game Design and Development program.”

Under the leadership of Dr. Dasigi, the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science program also received accreditation for the first time from the Computing Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), the dean added.

Dr. Hassan Pournaghshband, professor of software engineering, will serve as interim department chair. The search for a permanent chair of CSWE will be launched this fall.

Student lands summer internship with Dept. of Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Marian Alicea, a student in the Civil Engineering Technology (CET) department, an appointment in its Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The CET senior is helping to conduct cutting-edge research using state-of-the-art equipment and instruments and interacting with senior-level researchers at the laboratory. While there, she is required to attend weekly seminars, write a research report, prepare a poster presentation and participate in a poster session. The program began June 4 and will conclude in mid-August.

Alicea is the president of the SPSU Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers. She received scholarships for the coming year from Women in Electronics and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

New head coach for Hornets basketball
Athletic Director Matt Griffin has named Jeffrey Pourchier, former Reinhardt University (Waleska, Ga.) basketball coach, the new head coach of the SPSU Runnin’ Hornets men’s basketball team.

Serving as head coach of the Reinhardt Eagles from 2007-12, Pourchier led the team to three consecutive winning seasons and back-to-back appearances in the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament championship. He also spent two seasons at Valdosta State University (VSU) as assistant men’s coach helping the team earn a 37-19 record. He capped his final season at VSU with an appearance in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II National Tournament in 2007.

Pourchier also has experience with the SPSU basketball program. He served as an assistant coach for two seasons from 2003-05. During the 2004-05 season the team clinched both the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) regular season and tournament championships, went 32-4 and advanced to the third round of the NAIA tournament. At one point in the season, the team was ranked No. 1 in the country – a first for any sport in SPSU’s history.

“We are very happy to have Jeff back in our athletic program. He has a great work ethic and knowledge of the game,” said Griffin. “We are excited to have him lead our men’s basketball program after a great season last year that saw the team go undefeated at home and finish in the top 16 of the NAIA national tournament.”

The Lawrenceville native attended LaGrange College and was a stand-out on its basketball team, accumulating more than 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in his career.

After earning a business management degree from LaGrange, he earned his MBA from SPSU. He currently resides in Canton, Ga.

Hornets get new baseball head coach
Athletic Director Matt Griffin has named Marty Lovrich as SPSU’s new head baseball coach.

Lovrich spent the last 20 years as the associate head coach at Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM), where he helped lead the Warhawks to a winning season each of those years. He also led the team to five conference championship wins, 18 NAIA Regional appearances and three trips to the NAIA World Series with a runner-up finish in 1990.

In 2008, Lovrich was selected as the Assistant Coach of the Year by the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association. During his tenure, he recruited 33 All-American, 66 All-Conference, 40 All-Region and 18 players that have advanced to professional baseball.

“Marty’s 20 years of experience of success, as well as his knowledge of the game and recruiting are ideal for the baseball program here at SPSU,” said Griffin. “The search committee felt he was a great fit for our university and its goals.”

Lovrich takes over the Hornet program that Griffin led to six consecutive NAIA Regionals and a fifth place NAIA World Series finish in 2009.

Lovrich received both his MBA and undergraduate degree from AUM.

Martin Named Athletic Trainer of the Year by SSAC
The Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) named Josh Martin, SPSU interim head athletic trainer, the 2012 Athletic Trainer of the Year. The award – voted on by each institution in the SSAC – was presented at the SSAC’s annual awards banquet in May.

Martin received his degree in athletic training at State University of New York College at Cortland, N.Y., and recently earned his Master of Sports Science and Pedagogy degree from Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C. There, he served as an approved clinical instructor for the athletic training education program.

Martin has enjoyed his first year as a certified athletic trainer for the SPSU athletics program and looks forward to watching the program grow over the coming years. “Being able to become a part of SPSU and its award-winning athletics programs has been a privilege,” he said.

SPSU alums highly active in AGC Georgia
Members of the Associated General Contractors of Georgia (AGC Georgia) installed SPSU alumnus Ken Swofford (architectural engineering technology, ’76) as 2012-13 chapter president during the organization’s 2012 convention in June in Hilton Head, S.C. AGC Georgia is one of 95 chapters affiliated with the AGC.

Swofford is president of Austell-based Swofford Construction Inc. He joined AGC Georgia shortly after founding his company in the late 1970s. Swofford has held many positions within AGC Georgia, including several terms on the board of directors, vice president, treasurer and now president.

Swofford takes the reins as president of AGC Georgia from Tony Pellicano, also an SPSU alum. Pellicano (architectural engineering technology, ’72) is president of Albany-based Pellicano Construction.

During the conference, the organization’s Skill, Integrity and Responsibility (SIR) Award was presented to another SPSU alum Gerald Driver (building construction technology, ’65) for a lifetime of exemplary service and substantial contributions to the construction industry, the AGC and the community.

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 5, Issue 25
July 11, 2012