Architecture Department hosts The Mystery of Clarity

By Shannon DePaul in Entertainment, February 21 2013

Karla Britton, a lecturer at the Yale School of Architecture, spoke to a crowd of young architecture students this Monday, Feb. 18.

Architecture students, who spend many nights in the Architecture lab, were eager to listen and learn from by Britton’s story very seriously. Brian Izzo | The Informerbruary 21 2012

The University of Hartford Department of Architecture invited Britton to speak to their students for the second lecture in their spring semester lecture series. The lecture was held in Wilde Auditorium.
Britton received her doctorate from Harvard University. Her studies focus mostly on the relationship between religion and modern architecture, and contemporary works.
As she began her lecture Britton said, “Put your history caps on and stick with me for a bit.”
The title of Britton’s lecture was called The Mystery of Clarity: Classicism and Modernity. The point of the lecture was to disprove that classicism and modernity are two different systems of work, and that the works are actually quite intertwined.
Britton mentioned how the acropolis was influential for architects in the 20th Century. She said, “Classicism is not a style… but also very much a frame of mind.”
Students seemed very engaged, and some even took notes while she continued the lecture and spoke about Le Corbusier.
The lecture included his idea of how proportional systems were connected with the experience of ancient forms, and that tradition was looked at as extremely important.
She went on to talk about his idea that transmission is tradition’s real meaning, and said Le Corbusier had a fascination with the “past’s recurrent present.”
Britton went on to lecture about the architect, Perret, who she said, “Set out a professional model for working that a lot of young architects turned to.”
His idea of the window was important, and he believed that the French window was a frame for the human body.
Three buildings Britton discussed were very innovative for the time they were built in the early 1900’s. The first Domino House was built with columns and horizontal slabs.
The Champs-Elysees Theater was known to be a philharmonic palace that used the idea of a concrete frame for construction.
Britton shared an interesting fact about the theater; Stravinsky’s Right of Spring premiered in the building in 1913.
The third building, a recital hall in Paris, was known as an acoustical success.
This building also was able to accomplish such great architecture with concrete cantilevers, even though it was built in a steep space.
To get back to the lecture title, what exactly is the mystery of clarity? Britton quoted Paul Valery, who said, “What is there more mysterious than clarity?”
This architect believed that architecture could teach us something true of the world, and was philosophical about his work. Valery thought that architecture should be mathematical and cerebral.

Source: http://hartfordinformer.com/2013/02/entertainment/architecture-department-hosts-the-mystery-of-clarity/

Come to the CETA Job Fair on March 12

Join Career Services for the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture Job Fair on Tuesday, March 12, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Konover Campus Center.
The job fair is open to undergraduate and graduate students and alumni who are interested in exploring career or internship opportunities within technologically sophisticated environments. Representatives from area engineering firms, state agencies and corporations will be in attendance.

Dress for success and bring copies of your resume.
For more information, contact Sue Landolina in Career Services at 860.768.4168 or landolina@hartford.edu.

Pines and Robinson Both on WNPR Radio

David Pines, associate professor and chair of civil, environmental, and biomedical engineering in the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture was one of three guests on WNPR Radio’s “Where We Live” show on Wednesday, Feb. 20. All three were talking about aid projects in Africa, and Pines spoke about the University’s agricultural and microbusiness development projects in Kenya. Click here to listen to the show.

CETA Unveils 'See-Thru Nuclear Power Plant'

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a model that you can put your hands on is worth at least a thousand pictures. At least that’s true for the students who will get to learn about nuclear engineering by using the Sub-Scale See-Thru Nuclear Power Plant, which was unveiled by the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (CETA) on Friday, Feb. 15.
CETA’s newest teaching tool, which was designed and built by undergraduate and graduate students at CETA under the direction of Tom Filburn, professor of mechanical engineering, will provide students with a hands-on feel for the routine and off-normal operation of a Pressurized Water Reactor power plant.

Professor of Mechanical Engineering Tom Filburn discusses the Sub-Scale See-Thru Nuclear Power Plant, which is behind him.

CETA graduate student Jason Smith provided a demonstration of the model power plant.

Also on hand for the unveiling of the See-Thru Plant were Peter Lyons, assistant secretary for nuclear energy with the U.S. Department of Energy; and Tanya Parwani-Jaimes from the nuclear education grant program of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), along with a number of representatives of the nuclear power industry. University President Walter Harrison, CETA Dean Louis Manzione, and College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions Dean Ralph Mueller also attended the event.

Lyons said the ability to see and experience the mechanical operations of a modern nuclear power plant will be invaluable to the students who train on it. He added that there will be a growing demand for engineers to work in nuclear power plants in the years ahead, and that such a training tool will give CETA students a tremendous advantage, particularly since he knew of no other educational institution in the Northeast that has such a tool.

This model nuclear power plant will also be available to provide training courses for those newly hired into the region’s nuclear power industry.

This power plant model features glass tubes so that students can see how the plant generates steam and then converts that steam into power to turn a turbine, as a Pressurized Water Reactor power plant does, noted CETA graduate student Jason Smith, who provided a demonstration of the model power plant. The model also features computer display screens that are replicas of the control panels in working nuclear power plants, added Smith, who was one of the leaders of the student team of designers and builders.

The Sub-Scale See-Thru Nuclear Power Plant was made possible through a $121,000 grant from the NRC, a $10,000 grant from Dominion Energy (owner of the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant), and $5,000 from Westinghouse Corp. The University is currently working on getting a grant to purchase the supplies to build a turbine that could be connected to the current model.

Source: http://www.hartford.edu/daily/Article/View/14411

Faculty promoted to full, associate and tenure

By Colleen McLoughlin in News, February 7 2013

President Walter Harrison and Provost Sharon L. Vasquez have recently announced promotions and tenure for several faculty members at the University of Hartford.
The Board of Regents Executive Committee voted on Jan. 24 to approve the following professors for promotion.
From the Barney School of Business, Jeffrey P. Cohen was promoted to full professor.  Cohen teaches in the Department of Economics, Finance, and Insurance.
Irina Naoumova, Associate Professor or Entrepreneurship, was given tenure this year, which gives her a permanent position.
Six faculty members from the College of Arts and Sciences were rewarded for their hard work.
After 17 years at the University, computer science expert Carolyn Pe Rosiene was promoted to full professor, which is the highest rank that any given professor can achieve.
Five others from the Arts and Sciences received tenure and have been promoted to associate professor.
Those of which include: Modern Language Professor Nicholas Ealy, Biology Professor Aime A. Levesque, Mathematics Professor Fei Xue, and Psychology Professors Anne E. Pidano and Peter A. Weiss.
Diana Veneri was promoted to Associate Physical Therapy Professor within the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions.
This promotional ranking is just below a full professor, but still very worthy of recognition.
Three professors from the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture have been promoted.
Thomas Eppes and Ladimer Nagurney were promoted to full professor and Patricia Mellodge to an associate professor.  All three of these professors teach electrical and computer engineering.
These professors focus mainly on the study of electronics and electromagnetics.
Nagurney also teaches biomedical engineering.Through her teachings she helps students to learn the basic knowledge of the field of medicine.
The Hartt School has seen five promotions this year as Robert Black is now full professor of the double bass.  He  aids students in their ability to play the largest stringed instrument in the modern symphony orchestra.
Associate professors now include Warren Haston of Music Education and Akane Mori of Music Theory. Both majors are popular in the Hartt School.
Robert Barefield  Professor of Voice and Mihai Tetel, Professor of Cello have been awarded tenure in 2013.
Hillyer College history professor Mari Firkatian has been promoted to full professor.
English professor Joyce Ashuntantang is now an associate professor with tenure.
The University of Hartford congratulated all faculty members for their accomplishments. There is much appreciation for all of their work and enthusiasm in passing on their expertise to the students at the University of Hartford.

Source: http://hartfordinformer.com/2013/02/news/faculty-promoted-to-full-associate-and-tenure/

Filburn on New England Cable News, UHSSE Teacher on NBC Connecticut, Crosbie in Hartford Courant, and More

The unveiling of a sub-scale See-Thru Nuclear Power Plant, a major new teaching tool in the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture, was highlighted on Friday, Feb. 15, in news stories on NBC Connecticut and on New England Cable News. The story included interviews with Tom Filburn, professor of mechanical engineering; Peter Lyons, assistant secretary for nuclear energy with the U.S. Department of Energy; and Tanya Parwani-Jaime from the nuclear education grant program of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The story also included an interview with graduate student Jason Smith, who was part of the team of students, both undergraduate and graduate, who designed and built this See-Thru Nuclear Power Plant under Filburn’s guidance and direction.

Theresa Vara-Dannen, history teacher at the University High School of Science and Engineering, and her students were featured in an NBC Connecticut “Making the Grade” feature that was broadcast on the Wednesday, Feb. 6, 6 p.m. newscast and on the Thursday, Feb. 7, morning news show. Vara-Dannen, who was named the 2012 Connecticut State History Teacher of the Year, has had students in her college-level American Studies class researching the lives of relatively unknown, but historically significant African-American figures from Connecticut's past. So far, about 30 students who participated in the project have had their work accepted for publication in the African-American National Biography, with is edited by Dr. Henry Louis Gates of Harvard University and published by Oxford University. Click here to watch the story.

Michael Crosbie, chairman of the architecture department in the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture, wrote an opinion article for the Hartford Courant about the impact of the new Hartford Public Safety Complex on the city’s Clay-Arsenal neighborhood. Read the article, which was published on Thursday, Feb. 14.

The sudden passing Kevin Gray, associate professor of theatre at The Hartt School and a noted Broadway actor, was noted in a number of publications on Tuesday, Feb 12, including Broadway World.

There also were a number of news stories regarding the death of Jackie Kastrinelis, a 2010 graduate of The Hartt School, who was working as a singer on a cruise ship out of Australia. There were stories on Tuesday, Feb. 5, locally on FOX CT News, WTIC Radio, and the Hartford Courant and nationally, including this article in the Daily Mail.

Matt Dwonszyk, a student in the jazz performance program at The Hartt School, was featured in a “Cool Justice Report” that was published in the New Haven Register on Tuesday, Feb. 12, and in the Middletown Press and Torrington Register Citizen on Monday, Feb. 11.

Professor Nagurney's Book Published

Networks Against Time: Supply Chain Analytics for Perishable Products was published this week by Springer Science+Business as part of its book series Springer Briefs in Optimization.
Supply chains provide the backbones for the production, transportation, and consumption of goods and services in our global economy. Paradoxically, many products and, hence, their supply chains, are increasingly time-sensitive -- from medicines that must be consumed on schedule and in good condition in order that healing and recovery take place, to fresh produce, fish, meat, milk, whose quality deteriorates over time, to healthcare products that require special storage conditions and may even decay over time. Time manifests itself in various forms in supply chain networks. Such activities as manufacturing, transportation, storage, and distribution to retailers and consumers have time directly associated with them. Time is also associated with the dynamics of adjustment processes. Firms must learn about their competitors' behavior as well as the consumers' preferences. Clearly, consumers are also time-sensitive when it comes to their purchases. Healthcare professionals require that medicines, vaccines, and radioisotopes be available when needed for treatments and diagnostics. Firms that delay production and delivery of products may lose not only sales but their reputation. Hence, the inclusion of time elements into supply chain analytics is critical, especially in today's global scenario in which not only are decision-makers personally pressed for time but the same holds for their organizational and business processes and products. We are now in an era of Networks Against Time, in which decision-makers, be they individuals, firms, or other organizations, who optimize and compete with and against time, will not only have the full advantages of the best allocation of their constrained resources, but will also achieve their desired objectives. This book provides a unified supply chain network analytics framework through generalized network models that capture perishability of products, the associated qualitative analysis, and algorithms for the computation of product flows, costs, prices, etc. The constructed models are further illustrated in case studies that reflect industrial sectors in which perishable products are prominent, from healthcare to food to fast fashion apparel to high technology. With this volume, we hope to have made a contribution that is also conducive to further advances in both research and practice.

The book was co-authored with Anna Nagurney and Amir Masoumi of UMass AMherst and Min Yu of University of Portland.

CETA in the news for our see through nuclear reactor project!

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Milanovic Gives Invited Presentation on Assessment at NEASC Conference

Posted  1/16/2013

Ivana Milanovic, professor of mechanical engineering, CETA, was a presenter and panelist at the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) 127th Annual Meeting and Conference, which took place in Boston in December.
The theme of the meeting was "The Future Face of Learning," and the presentation was a part of the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE) Assessment Forum session: Advances in the Assessment of Essential Learning Outcomes.
The presentation, "Towards Liberal Education Assessment In Engineering And Technology Programs," was based on an article published in the Journal of College Teaching and Learning (TLC) by Tom Eppes, Ivana Milanovic and H. Frederick Sweitzer. The presentation described the planning and actions taken to meet new accreditation requirements in University of Hartford engineering and technology programs. A framework targeting the best opportunities to measure student achievement within core courses was discussed as well as recent pilot results.

Fang Publishes Journal Article on Traffic Modeling of Various Types of Interchanges

Clara Fang, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, CETA, as the leading author, has recently published a research paper on the validation and modeling of interchange traffic operations in the Journal of Transportation Research Record published by the National Academies.
Co-authors of the paper are Lily Elefteriadou at University of Florida and Aaron Elias at Kittelson & Associates.  The paper was based on a two-year project effort funded by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). The study has examined and collected data on eight interchange locations nationwide; one Parclo interchange is located at Route 10 and Interstate 84 in the Hartford area and seven others were chosen from Arizona, Florida and Massachusetts (see Figure).
Data were collected at each site for several hours using up to eight video cameras mounted on existing utility poles and nearby buildings.  The geometric characteristics of each site were collected using a combination of aerial photographs and field measurements. The research team also solicited the assistance of various transportation agencies such as the Department of Transportation for identifying data sources.  Finally a comprehensive database representing various types of interchanges with different geometric and traffic characteristics were utilized to develop new lane utilization, queue length and capacity estimation models.

Eppes, Milanovic and DePanfilo Publish in the Academic Journal of Science

Tom Eppes, professor of electrical and computer engineering; Ivana Milanovic, professor of mechanical engineering; and Mike DePanfilo, graduate student in the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (CETA), have published an article in the Academic Journal of Science (AJS) Vol. 1, No. 2. AJS publishes original contributions on all aspects of science from the academic perspective. It includes papers in physical and life sciences, engineering, technology, mathematics, health and medicine.
The paper, "Resonance Modes in an Acoustic Guitar," presents the results of a finite element analysis of the eigen-modes of a Collings guitar, a well-known design developed and custom manufactured by Jim Collings. A method to predict resonance patterns based on its physical shape and wood composition is described. Discreet modes, known as eigen-frequencies, denote where the amplitude responses of the acoustic chamber are the largest. Each mode represents a solution to an equation classically described as Helmholtz resonance. A three-dimensional model using COMSOL Multiphysics for the geometry size/shape, a spruce soundboard and mahogany side/back walls is the basis for the research. The analysis focuses on the lower end of the dynamic range from 200Hz to 1,000Hz in which surface deformation, both total and normal to the surface, are examined. In addition, node and anti-node structures in the area where the bridge attaches to the top plate are explored.