David McLean Receives 2008 Scalzi Research Award

CEE's Department Chairman, David McLean was awarded the John B. Scalzi Research Award at The Masonry Society's annual meeting on October 18, 2008. McLean, a registered Professional Engineer, has been involved in masonry education, research and consulting for over 20 years.

Brian Lamb

Hal Westberg

Atmospheric Research Leads to Prestigious Award

Brian Lamb, Regents Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and colleagues Alex Guenther, David Gay, and Hal Westberg, are the recipients of the prestigious Haagen-Smit Prize. The prize is given to the authors of two papers each year that have been published in the journal, Atmospheric Environment. It is named for Professor Arie Jan Haagen-Smit, who was a pioneer in the field of pollution control and one of the early editors of the journal.
The award was given for a paper Lamb and his colleagues wrote in 1987 entitled “A National Inventory of Biogenic Hydrocarbon Emissions.’’
In the paper, the researchers calculated the amount of hydrocarbon emissions put off by vegetation, including trees and agricultural sources, by county throughout the U.S. on a monthly basis. Trees naturally emit organic compounds, such as isoprene and monoterpenes. When these chemicals are mixed with sunlight and the nitrogen oxide emitted by automobiles and other combustion processes, the result is ozone, which causes health problems. The work helped researchers to better understand the role of emissions from vegetation in contributing to pollution and led to the development of the Biogenic Emission Inventory System, which the Environmental Protection Agency adopted as a tool to address ozone problems. The system allows regulators to take into account how trees and natural organics might impact pollution problems. Dr. Alex Guenther is now a Senior Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and Dr. David Gay is now associate director of the National Atmospheric Deposition Network. Both were graduate students at WSU when the paper was published.
The paper has been cited approximately 255 times

Qiao Receives Outstanding Technical Contribution Award

Pizhong Qiao has received the Outstanding Technical Contribution Award from the Aerospace Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE.) More at: http://www.cea.wsu.edu/default.asp?PageTextID=428

Shane Brown - ASCE ExCEEd National New Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award

Shane Brown received the American Society of Civil Engineers' ExCEEd (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) National New Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award at the ASEE Annual Conference in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania on June 24, 2008. He was selected from a large group of highly talented candidates for his outstanding teaching record, contributions to the academic and surrounding community, and his proven commitment to education.

WSU Steel Bridge Team Won First Place at the Regional ASCE 2009 Competition!
WSU won first place in the Pacific Northwest Regional Conference Student Steel Bridge Competition held in Helena, Montana in early April. As a result, they will be continuing on to the national competition in Las Vegas, Nevada the end of May 2009. Read and see more in the ASCE April 2009 Newsletter.

WSU ASCE Steel Bridge Team Places 6th at Nationals
WSU “earned the right” to be at the 2009 National Steel Bridge Competition in Las Vegas, Nevada May 22-23 by placing 1st at the Regional ASCE Steel Bridge Competition in April. As a result, the WSU team (Brian Walkenhauer, Marcus Miller, Zach Adams, Alex Osborne, Ryan Edwards, Chad Drake, and Daniel Shin) placed 6th overall with 47 teams competing in the national competition this year. See full report and the official National Student Steel Bridge Competition construction video with the WSU team shown in the second half of the video.

WSU Students Win Awards at Northwest Forest Products Academic Forum May 16, 2008
Sponsored by: The Willamette Valley Chapter, Pacific Northwest and Inland Empire Sections of the Forest Products Society.
This is an academic forum to highlight forest products research by undergraduate and graduate students in the Northwest. It was designed to promote forest products research and to build relationships between the participating universities. It also helped students develop presentation skills in a friendly, competitive environment.
Three universities accepted invitations to participate: Oregon State University, University of Idaho, and Washington State University. Industry representatives and faculty participated as judges.
The forum was held at the headquarters of the APA Engineered Wood Association in Tacoma, WA. Each student gave a technical presentation followed by a question and answer period from the judging panel and audience. Cash prizes were awarded for the top graduate and undergraduate presentations.
Students from WSU were awarded the following:
1st Place Graduate Student Presentation: Nels Peterson - Wood-Thermoplastic Composites Manufactured Using Beetle-Killed Spruce from Alaska's Kenai Peninsula (Dr. Vikram Yadama – Advisor)
2nd Place tie for Graduate Student Presentation: Zack Rininger - Pultrusion of Wood Strand Composites (Dr. Karl Englund – Advisor)