Thursday, October 27, 2011

Resumé Boot Camp Nov. 3

Students – Have your resumé critiqued by Career Services professionals and/or local employers on Thursday, Nov. 3, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Suisman Lounge, Gengras Student Union.

Questions regarding this exciting event – please contact Sue Landolina at 860.768.4168 or landolina@hartford.edu.

CETA Alum wins Anchor Award


Anchor Award
Marici Zuvic-Grajewski ’86, received the Anchor Award on behalf of the College of Engineering, Technology and Architecture. 
Since 1962, the University of Hartford Alumni Association has presented annual awards to honor alumni of the University. These awards, presented during Fall Weekend, are the highest tribute conferred by the Alumni Association. The Anchor Award is the most prestigious award presented by the University of Hartford Alumni Association. The awards were established to recognize alumni who have distinguished themselves by achieving the highest level of professional accomplishments and who possess absolute standards of integrity and character to positively reflect and enhance the prestige of The University of Hartford.
Assoc. Dean Alnajjar's citation:
Marici began her engineering career in her native country of Chile, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering Technology from the Technical State University of Santiago, Chile.  She came to Connecticut 27 years ago and immediately began to apply her energy and scholarly talents to learn English, study civil engineering at the University of Hartford and financially support herself.  Imagine her adventure, arriving in a new country, studying engineering and learning the language.
 After graduating from CETA in 1986, Marici worked on major highway inspection projects and later continued her career of more than twenty years with the Connecticut Department of Transportation on various assignments in the Bridge Safety section, ranging from highway design to bridge safety evaluation.  Marici also worked on projects that encompassed the I-84 and I-384 Interchanges. 
In 1988, with her husband Tomek Grajewski, Marici pursued her dream of starting her own company, Zuvic Associates.  In 2009, she returned as President.  Under her stewardship, Zuvic, Carr and Associates has grown 30% in each of the last three years.  Some of the recent larger projects that the firm has undertaken since her return include the environmental and civil engineering work, permitting, and site planning for the new Goodwin College campus along the Connecticut River in East Hartford, the civil engineering design of two regional magnet schools, and planning and design work related to upgrades at the MDC Hartford water pollution control facility.  I would like to add that that the ”Carr” of Zuvic, Carr and Associates is Robert Carr, also a graduate of CETA.
In spite of her demanding schedule, this past March, Marici and the engineers of the firm agreed to mentor a University of Hartford student, who was completing her degree in architecture.  This young woman was conflicted about her professional path, trying to decide if she should pursue a career in civil engineering.  After shadowing the staff during her spring break, her decision was confirmed – she is now studying civil engineering.
In addition to engineering, Marici is passionate about music and art.  She is an accomplished violinist and has been involved with the Hartt Community Division for the past nineteen years.

Eppes, Milanovic, and Quarshie Present Paper at COMSOL Conference

Surface temperatures (C) in a transistor/heat sink assembly

Tom Eppes, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, CETA; Ivana Milanovic, associate professor of mechanical engineering, CETA; and George Quarshie, electrical engineering student, presented a research paper at the annual COMSOL Users conference, which took place earlier this month in Newton, Mass. COMSOL performs finite-element modeling for various physics and engineering applications, in particular those that involve coupled interdisciplinary phenomena.

The paper, "Power Transistor Heat Sink Design Trade-offs,” discusses the heat transfer process in a TO-220 transistor package and the benefits of certain design features. Power transistors require heat sinks to dissipate thermal energy and keep junction temperatures below the recommended limit. A significant increase in useful life can be achieved by a small reduction in operating temperature. Parametric studies of heat sink size, emissivity and convective cooling coefficient estimate their impact on the steady-state temperature of the assembly. This work was initiated and done in part during the new course ES 591 Multiphysics Modeling.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Harrison to be on “Stan Simpson Show,” Crosbie and Coleman both in Hartford Courant, Goldstein on Huffington Post and More

University President Walter Harrison will be a guest on “The Stan Simpson Show” on Fox CT this weekend. He will be discussing the issue of colleges and universities jumping to more prominent athletic conferences. To view the interview, watch the show on Sunday, Oct. 9, at 10 a.m. on Fox CT or go to the Stan Simpson Show web site and select the video, "Staying with the Big East, Part 1."

Sheba Williams, a junior at the University, was quoted in a story in the Monday, Oct. 3, issue of the Hartford Courant about the need to give foster children more encouragement to go to college. She spoke at a forum that gave legislators and regulators a chance to hear directly from those in the system. Click here to read the story.

Claire Howard, a first-year student at the University, who received a scholarship from the Latin Network for the Visual Arts, was featured in an article in the Saturday, Oct. 1, edition of The Day newspaper of New London. Howard, who was adopted as an infant from Bolivia by a Waterford family, is pursuing her passion for photography and painting, along with other subjects, at the University. To read her story, click here.

Warren Goldstein, chair of the history department in the College of Arts and Sciences, posted an item on The Huffington Post on Wednesday, Oct. 5, about the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. Click here to read his comments.

Michael Crosbie, chair of the department of architecture in the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture and a member of the Hartford Courant’s Place board of contributors, had an article published in the “Opinion” section of the Sunday, Oct. 2, edition of the Courant. Crosbie was commenting on an exhibition of the work of architect Stanley Tigerman. Click here to read his piece.

Susan Coleman, a professor of finance in the Barney School of Business, was quoted in a Hartford Courant editorial on Sunday, Oct. 2, about the need to create jobs. Coleman talked about the value of supporting small and mid-sized manufacturing companies that are involved in exporting. Click here to read the editorial.

The Sept. 28 edition of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger featured a photograph of students from the University’s Hillel chapter along with Avi Patt, assistant professor and associate director of the Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies, after a day of apple-picking. The students collected 100 apples that they donated to the Jewish Family Services Kosher Food Pantry. Click here to see the photo.

Presentation on the History of Wire and Cable

Join the IEEE and AES for a presentation on the History of Wire and Cable.

The lecture by Steve Lampen of Belden, Inc. will guide listeners through a humorous story of successes, failures, and discoveries.

When: Friday, October 14, at 4 p.m.

Where: Mali 1 Lecture Hall (Room 201), Dana Hall

Refreshments will be served. All are welcome!

Download a flyer for the lecture.

Please RSVP at http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/ieee.

Visit our co-sponsor at http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/aes.

Learn more about Belden at http://www.belden.com

Monday, October 10, 2011

Free Lunch and Learn: “Note Taking and Study Hints”

Dear Students,

Are you a smart person but your grades don’t reflect your potential? Does the class material you absorb disappear on test day?

Join us in this "Power Hour" session and find out how to take great notes and learn how to study more effectively to get the grade you deserve. Pat Morelli, the Director of the Center for Reading and Writing, will share her strategies to help you become a more productive and successful student.

The session will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 11, at 12:30 p.m., in Hawk Hall 115. The first 20 students will receive free lunch!
Throughout the fall semester, the Student Success Center will be hosting “POWER HOUR - A Free Lunch 'n Learn Series” aimed at promoting student success and personal growth by providing purposeful, educational, and fun programming that tackles the expectations and challenges that students face in college. All sessions will be held in Hawk Hall 115 on Tuesdays at 12:30 p.m. and will provide free lunch to the first 20 students.

See you there,

Irwin Nussbaum, Andrea Miller, and Christina Nielsen
Student Success Center Staff

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Crosbie Article in Yale Architecture Publication

Michael J. Crosbie, associate professor and chair of the Department of Architecture, CETA, has authored an article on the ties between the architecture of contemporary mosques and modern nation states in the current issue of Constructs, a publication of the Yale School of Architecture.

Crosbie's new book, New York Dozen, is reviewed in the same issue of Constructs.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Graduate Architecture Program Moves to Bloomfield

                           The graduate architecture program has moved to 701 Cottage Grove Road in Bloomfield. Photo by Caitlin Terry '10, '12.
The Department of Architecture in the University’s College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (CETA) has moved its graduate program to new quarters at 701 Cottage Grove Road in Bloomfield. This marks the first time the University has had any of its academic programs based in Bloomfield.

The 3,000 square feet leased by the University in Building E at 701 Cottage Grove Road features two conference rooms and two studio rooms, which is critical to a program that requires a significant amount of display space for architectural drawings. The facility offers plenty of parking, has restaurants and other amenities nearby, and is less than 10 minutes from the Bloomfield Avenue campus, noted Michael Crosbie, chair of the Department of Architecture.

“We are really, really happy with the new space,” said Crosbie. “It’s a great space for our students.”

The Department of Architecture’s graduate program had been housed at Butterworth Hall on the University’s Asylum Avenue campus for the past few years. However, the potential sale of the Asylum Avenue campus to the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) caused the department and University officials to begin looking for a new home for the program. There are currently 14 students in the first year of this master’s program and nine in the second year.

Crosbie thanked the work of Chris Dupuis, senior project manager, and the Facilities Department for helping to get the space ready, and the staff of Finance and Administration, which negotiated the lease for the space.