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DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING Alumni News

Thanks to the generosity of alumnus Don Hamer, MatSE will be able to offer fellowships to incoming graduate students, entice faculty candidates with a new professorship and use the earnings on $1 million in unrestricted funds on the many expenses the department incurs in its educational mission. Don is no stranger to giving. In 1994, he pledged $250,000 toward the renovation of the Kiln House. When asked about his latest donation, he stated that he views his gifts as "payback." He feels that it is important for him to keep the chain of generosity going. Don also hopes that his gifts will encourage others from the next generation to give as their careers move along in the next 30-40 years.

Don is a strong advocate of education. He was the first in his family to earn a college education, entering the University of Illinois at the age of 16. He earned his B.S. in Ceramic Engineering in 1945. After graduation, Don served in the Navy at the end of World War II and again during the Korean Conflict. He worked as an engineer in the ceramics industry in Chicago in the late 1950's. During this time, his interest grew in the area of financial management, sales and customer service, and he earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1958.

Don used his knowledge of materials science gained at Illinois throughout his career. In 1963, he was employed as chief engineer and corporate research director at Erie Technological Products, now Murata Electronics. While working for Erie Technological Products, he moved to State College, Pennsylvania, and he studied electrical engineering, leading to another B.S. in 1968. In 1969, he started his own company, State of the Art, Inc. The company was originally intended to provide educational seminars and consulting on thick-film technology, a technique used in the manufacture of resistors and capacitors. However, State of the Art evolved into a major manufacturing operation with sales of over $14 million and over 125 employees.

Don's success has not gone unnoticed. His honors include the IMAPS Daniel C. Hughes Award, the Buesseum Award from Penn State for lifetime achievement in electronic materials, the Renaissance Man of the Year Award from Penn State, and distinguished alumni awards from the MatSE alumni association at Illinois and from the engineering colleges at both Illinois and Penn State. He is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and of IMAPS.

Don has been generous with his time, and he has a long history of community involvement and volunteer service. Some of his board involvements include the Penn State Palmer Museum of Art, Centre County Historical Society, and Centre County Community Foundation. He is past president of the ClearWater Conservancy, a local land conservancy organization. Don helped establish a 640-acre prairie-restoration project adjacent to his hometown of Byron, Illinois. The Byron Forest Preserve District honored Don by naming a recreation path after him. His conservation work earned him the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Award, which President Bush presented in 1992.

Don and his wife, Marie Bednar, live in Buffalo Run Valley, Pennsylvania. They also maintain homes in the British Virgin Islands and Prague, Czech Republic. Don visits campus regularly for MatSE Senior Advisory Committee meetings. During his next trip, he will meet the twelve graduate students who hold fellowships in his name. A faculty search is underway, and MatSE looks forward to the investiture of the first Donald W. Hamer Professor.

Donald W. Hamer Fellows 2001 Back row: Robert Barry, Ranjeet Rao, Folusho Oyerokun, Daniel Harris, Scott Slimmer, Jonathan Bell, Robert Shimmin Front row: Sarah Mongeau, Abby Morgan, Erica Saltzman, Blythe Gore Not pictured: Shawn Putnam

From the Head

MatSE is embarking on an ambitious 5 year plan for faculty hiring. Our alignment within the priorities of the College and University has allowed us to target five new hires in the areas of biomaterials, nanomaterials, and theory/simulation/modeling. This, plus projections of retirements and attrition, means that we will hire about 15 faculty between now and 2006. Given that we currently have 28 faculty, it is clear that we have the responsibility to define our destiny in the key areas of materials science and engineering in the new century.

Hiring at this magnitude is truly exciting, and we are confident that we can attract the best and the brightest faculty to MatSE. We have only to look at our hires in 2000 to gauge our success (Paul Braun and Gerard Wong received Beckman Young Investigator awards, of which there were only 16 nationwide; Gerard is the campus nominee for a Packard Fellowship; Paul has been selected for the 2002 TMS Robert Lansing Hardy Award; Jim Zuo received the prestigious Burton Award from the Microscopy Society of America). They and senior faculty were instrumental in landing an NSF Nanoscience and Engineering Center, an NSF/IBM Materials Computation Center, and site visits for two NSF Science and Technology Centers. Four major grants were awarded to new department faculty under a DOE initiative in nanoscience and technology.

We are particularly grateful to Don Hamer for a generous endowment that created the Hamer Professorship in MatSE this year. A faculty search is currently underway. Last year, Ron and Peg Morris established the G. Ronald and Margaret H. Morris Professorship, and we are pleased to announce Ken Schweizer will be the first Morris Professor. Professorships help us recruit and retain the leaders in MatSE. Hiring brings with it the challenge to find suitable laboratories where cutting edge research can be accomplished. As has been written previously, Materials Science and Engineering and Ceramics are both venerable buildings. For MSEB, we have just completed a full-building renovation concept, and the estimated cost approaches $15 million. We have taken the case to all levels of the campus, and we are seeking ways to secure commitments for phased renovation that occurs on the timeline of hiring.

Following the retirement of Dean William Schowalter from the College of Engineering, the campus searched broadly and chose David E. Daniel of our Civil and Environmental Engineering Department to lead the College. Dean Daniel has a clear vision for where he wants the College to go, and we in MatSE are very optimistic that he will accomplish great things.

With the beginning of the fall term, we can point to the completion of the undergraduate computing laboratory in MatSE. Thanks to the generosity of Intel, and the hard work by Kim Wilson, Ken Cadien, and Mark Bohr, we have 20 new Pentium IV machines. By moving the computer lab to a newly renovated room in the Ceramics building, we have effectively doubled the space and facilities for undergraduates in MatSE.

The incoming class of undergraduates is particularly strong with 58 freshman. Their academic backgrounds are excellent, and most came with advanced placement credits. I will teach the freshman intro course that they will take in the spring, and plan to have all participate in Engineering Open House presentations. It should be fun. Over half of our incoming freshmen receive financial support from the department, and we gave $113,000 in undergraduate scholarships this year.

Our 36 first year Ph.D. students come from very diverse backgrounds, with more than half being domestic but good representation from top universities in Korea and China. The students have been interviewing faculty as they select research advisors. Of the students, 12 matriculated as Hamer Fellows, and again we thank Don for his generosity.

Pierre Wiltzius has joined the university as the Director of the Beckman Institute, and we are pleased that his tenure home will be in MatSE. The group that he builds in soft materials and photonics will complement those of other MatSE faculty.

Why I chose MatSE...

Recruiting students into the MatSE Department is not a simple proposition. Name recognition is a major hurdle. Students, both in high school and at the undergraduate level, are familiar with Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Science. Materials Science and Engineering doesn't easily come to mind, yet it is critical to those other disciplines. MatSE at Illinois is consistently ranked in the top three programs in the nation. With outstanding faculty, students and research facilities, the goal is to get the message across.

On September 29, 2001, over 120 visitors attended MatSE High School Visit Day. This annual event introduces students and parents to the field of Materials Science and Engineering. Visitors met undergraduates and professors, toured student labs, and viewed materials demonstrations.

On October 13, MatSE held its second annual Grad Open House, attracting juniors and seniors from a various colleges and fields of study. Visitors listened to research presentations, toured labs and met graduate students. Alumni board members participated in a panel discussion that centered on careers in MatSE.

There are many reasons why the graduate students listed below chose the University of Illinois for graduate study. Several were swayed by the rankings. Others were attracted by the financial aid package MatSE was able to offer. And of course students decided upon Illinois because they found a professor whose research interests matched their own.

Students who apply to the U of I apply to other top graduate schools as well. The spring grad visits, hosted by current MatSE students, are very effective; they show applicants what MatSE has to offer. One prospective student said of the visits, "The Department had such a great atmosphere that I knew this is where I wanted to study."

 

New Graduate Students Fall 2001 Robert Barry — Carnegie Mellon Jonathan Bell — Carnegie Mellon Sarah Brehmer — University of Wisconsin, Madison John Butler — Illinois State University Hao Chen — University of Science & Technology, Beijing Yi Cui — Nanjing University Anshu Gaur — Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur,Regional Engineering Colllege Rourkela Blythe Gore — Northwestern University Lei Guo — Peking University Daniel Harris — Carleton College Seung Jae Hone — Seoul National University Jeffrey Ince — New Mexico Institute of Technology Yeonwoong Jung — Seoul National University Taekyung Kim — Seoul National University Yong Kwan Kim — Seoul National University Kwan-Wook Kwon — Seoul National University Hee Kyung — Hanyang University Keon Jae Lee — Yonsei University Sarah Mongeau — Clemson University Abby Morgan — Auburn University Folusho Oyerokun — Massachusetts Institute of Technology Shawn Putnam — University of Minnesota, Duluth Ranjeet Rao — University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Erica Saltzman — Pennsylvania State University Kumara Sastry — University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Ulas Sevim — University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Robert Shimmin — University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Ravindra Singh — Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Scott Slimmer — University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Cynthia Smith — University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Jing Tao — Arizona State University Yu Yang — Peking University Jia Ye — Tsinghua University Wei Ye — Fudan University Junhan Yuh — Seoul National University Zishu Zhang — Tsinghua University

Incoming grad students stand beside the new building sign following orientation, August 2001.

MatSE recognizes academic achievement at annual banquet

The 2001 MatSE awards banquet was held on April 27 at the Park Inn International in Urbana. Scholarships for the 2001-2001 academic year and cash awards were presented to 29 students. For the first time, alumni awards were included in the awards ceremony. The MatSE Alumni Board presented awards to three alumni for contributions to the field of Materials Science and Engineering and their service to the department

2001 Student Award Winners

Bob Bohl Scholars: Nick Orf, Michael Tabo
Paul A. Beck Scholar: Matthew Read
Louis R. Berner Scholar: Mark Veliz
Earl J. Eckel Scholar: Karen Turek
Henry E. Grein Jr. Scholar: Todd Martin
Norman L. Peterson Scholar: Justin Pachuta
Lucille and Charles Wert Scholars: Carl Dohrman, Katherine Pripusich-Sienkiewicz
Harry J. Beckemeyer Jr. Scholar: Brian Becker
M. Laird & Charisann Froberg Scholar: Yau-Ru Chen
James A. Nelson Scholar: Kent Coughlin
Kevin Moore Memorial Scholar: Mark Veliz
Otto Sr. and Mildred Capek Scholar: Rachel Williams
Laird Froberg Award: Kristen Holverson
Arthur L. Friedberg Award: Kristen Holverson
Alfred W. Allen Award: Yau-Ru Chen, Kent Coughlin, Abigail Ebbing, Kristen Holverson, Rachel Williams
Cullen W. Parmelee Scholars: Tyler Bold, Matthew Coughlin, Kathryn Petersen, Laura Copp, Charles Holzwarth, Justin Pachuta
3M Polymer Materials Scholars: Nathaniel Catron, Brian Heidel, Kristi Holtz, Dana Levene, Timothy Patz
Caterpillar Scholars: Peter Hawkins, Tim Pachla, Anthony Reische
Conexant Systems Scholar: Matthew Meitl
Kimberly Clark Scholar: Derek Brubaker

Professor emeritus Charlie Wert with his scholarship recipients, Kate Pripusich-Sienkiewicz and Carl Dohrman. Carl is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama. Kate is a junior from Wilmette, Illinois.

Professor emeritus Bob Bohl with his award recipients, Michael Tabo (left) and Nick Orf (right). Michael is a senior from Chicago. Nick is a junior from Lake St. Louis, Missouri. He has a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

Caterpillar gave $5,000 in scholarships to three students. Alumni Board member Sheryl Tipton (center) was instrumental in establishing these scholarships. Both juniors, Peter Hawkins (left) is from Boca Raton, Florida, and Tim Pachla (right) is from Chatham, Illinois.

Did you know?

Tuition and fees for a 2001-2002 engineering undergraduate: $4,986 (in-state) $13,806 (out-of-state)
Estimated undergraduate expenses for an academic year (textbooks, school supplies, meals, housing, travel allowance, and personal expenses): $9,124

Looking ahead: April 19, 2002
MatSE Awards Banquet

Congratulations Alumni Award winners

Young Alumnus Award Lenore L. Dai (PhD MatSE '97) Senior Research Chemist - PPG Industries Lenore Dai is the first recipient of the Young Alumnus Award. This award recognizes young alumni who have made outstanding contributions to the field of materials science and engineering. Upon graduation from the University of Illinois, Lenore joined PPG Industries in Pennsylvania. She is currently Acting Group Leader and Key Team Member of Industrial and Automotive Physical Chemistry Groups. In the short time she has been with the company, Lenore has significantly expanded PPG's capability in the area of materials science and engineering. She has been the innovator and validator of various instrumentations and methodologies such as rheology, surface, thermal and mechanical analyses of coatings and resins. Lenore introduced into PPG resin research the computational modeling of coating processes. Her successful formulation of a new type of construction coating led to a new account for the company. She has represented PPG in technical consortia and trained company associates from all business units worldwide.

Loyalty Award Douglas C. Ruhmann (BS Met '64) Manager, Harpoon/SLAM Proprietary Programs - The Boeing Corp. The Loyalty Award recognizes alumni who have made exceptional contributions to the department. Following graduation from the University of Illinois, Doug obtained his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Bradley University, 1968, and his D. Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering from Washington University, 1974. Since then, Doug has been with the McDonnell Douglas Company, now part of Boeing. He is currently the Manager of the Harpoon/SLAM Proprietary Programs. Doug was recognized for his continued involvement and support of the department since graduation. He has been a member of the Alumni Board since 1992. Doug has led many committees and special projects, including the successful launch of the entrepreneur seminar in 1999. Doug is Vice President of the Board and will assume the Presidency next fall. While cited for loyalty, Doug has had an admirable career. He has progressed through a series of increasingly responsible positions with McDonnell/Boeing. In this time, he has earned two patents and has been invited to speak at the Gordon Conference in 1988 and the International Conference on Advances in Fiber Reinforced Composites Technology in Capri, Italy in 1992.

Distinguished Merit Award Harold G. Sowman (BS Cer '48, MS Cer '49, PhD Cer '51) Corporate Scientist - 3M Corp. The Distinguished Merit Award recognizes alumni who have distinguished themselves in their professional career. Hal's career was launched right after graduation at the National Lead Company in Niagara Falls, New York. From there, he went to General Electric before joining the 3M Company in 1957. He retired from 3M in 1987 but stayed on to consult through 1991. During his time at 3M, Hal held a number of technical and managerial assignments. His work led to a number of successful commercial products, including NEXTEL ceramic fibers, a line of high temperature reinforcement grade fibers used extensively on the space shuttle, CUBITRON abrasive products and STAMARK, a high durability reflective bead used for highway marking. Hal has been recognized many times for his accomplishments. He was elected to the 3M Carlton Society in 1974 and made a Carlton Hero in 1999. He received the IR-100 Award in 1974 from Industrial Research magazine. The College of Engineering recognized him in 1983 for distinguished service. In 1984 he was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering. The American Ceramic Society awarded him the John Jeppson Medal, 1985; the Technical Achievement Award, 1988; and the Samuel Geijsbeek Award for Innovation, 1989. Hal was elected to the Academy of Ceramics in 1991.

MatSE collaborates with SNU in Korea MatSE has just launched a cooperative program in research and graduate student education with Seoul National University. The Korean Ministry of Education will fund the program under the BK-21 (Brain Korea 21st century) initiative. The intent is to upgrade educational quality in Korea through exchanges with top schools in the U.S. Six Ph.D. students in Materials Science and Engineering joined us this fall to study for a year in Illinois. The SNU students are enrolled at the university as non-degree exchange students. In addition, the program encourages research collaborations between the two universities. Professors Byungwoo Park, Euijoon Yoon, Ji Young Chang, and Jong-Kyu Yoon visited Illinois in February, and Professors John Abelson and John Weaver will travel to Korea next year.

John Weaver (Dept. Head MatSE-UI), Byungwoo Park, Euijoon Yoon, Ji Young Chang, Jong-Kyu Yoon (Dept. Head MatSE-SNU), and John Abelson, February 2001.

Faculty Notes

Assistant professor Erik Luijten joined MatSE in August. Prof. Luijten is from the Netherlands, where he studied physics at Utrecht University and Delft University of Technology. After he received his Ph.D., he was a research associate in Mainz, Germany, and at the University of Maryland at College Park. His research concentrates on computer simulations of liquids and polymers, with special interest in charged systems. Until now, he has mainly worked on the thermodynamics and phase behavior but he is very excited about the opportunity to work with experimentalists in MatSE and shift his focus towards biologically relevant systems. Look for a feature article on Erik Luijten in the Spring 2002 Alumni News.

Paul Braun will receive the 2002 Robert Lansing Hardy Award from TMS. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society's Robert Lansing Hardy recognizes outstanding promise for a successful career by a materials scientist under the age of 30. The winner receives a $500 stipend from the Ford Motor Company.

Jennifer Lewis has been named a University Scholar for the 2001-2002 academic year. The University Scholars program recognizes excellence while helping to identify and retain the university's most talented teachers, scholars and researchers. Now in its 16th year, the program provides $10,000 to each scholar to use to enhance his or her academic career.

Les Allen gave an invited talk at the 57th Calorimetry Conference on a new MEMS based technique "Nanocalorimetry." His research group was cited in several news media articles regarding new calorimeter devices. He also filed a patent disclosure on "Nanoliter-scale liquid calorimeter."

Duane Johnson and others in the Materials Computation Center organized a highly successful Summer School on Computational Materials Science, "Spanning Length and Time Scales." The summer school was part of an NSF-CRCD (Current-Research-Curriculum-Development) Grant. He also co-organized an international workshop on "Thermodynamic and Structural Properties of Materials" (Avignon, France) with 45 worldwide participants.

John Weaver spent a week in Pakistan teaching at the 26th Annual Nathiagali Summer College on Physics and Contemporary Issues. While in Pakistan, he gave three lectures on surface- and nano-science-related topics. He has been invited to return to teach a condensed course on materials science. He gave an invited talk on nanostructures, formation and integration, at the European Conference on Surface Science in Krakow, Poland.

John Abelson has been selected as the lead organizer for the "Amorphous and Microcrystalline Silicon" Symposium to be held at the Materials Research Society meeting in San Francisco, April 2003. (This is the longest-running symposium in the history of the MRS; it was first held in 1984.) He gave an invited talk at the International Conference on Amorphous and Microcrystalline Semiconductors in France, August 2001.

Jim Economy is the director of the Advanced Materials for Water Purification proposal at the University of Illinois. The proposal is one of 11 that the NSF is considering for Science and Technology Centers. Over 160 schools submitted proposals to the NSF and about six will be funded at a level of $4 million a year for 10 years.

MatSE faculty John Weaver, Jennifer Lewis, Ken Schweizer, Jim Zuo, David Cahill, Paul Braun and Ivan Petrov were successful in the competition for support from the DOE for nanometer science and technology.

Haydn Chen left the University of Illinois to be head of the Department of Physics and Materials Science at the City University of Hong Kong. We wish him well.

John Kieffer accepted a position as associate professor at the University of Michigan. We wish him well.

Pierre Wiltzius is the new director of the Beckman Institute. He holds appointments in MatSE and Physics at the University of Illinois and his lab will be in the Materials Science and Engineering Building.

Student Notes

Carla Heitzman, Ph.D. student in Paul Braun's group, received a Beckman Institute Graduate Fellowship. The title of her proposal is "Self-Assembled Pathways for Molecular Transport." The fellowship is designed to encourage interdisciplinary research.

Ming Zhang, Ph.D. student in Les Allen's group, was awarded a 2001 MRS Graduate Student Award at the MRS meeting in April.

Jim Smay, Ph.D. student in Jennifer Lewis' group, received the prize for best paper/poster at the American Ceramic Society's annual meeting. His poster was titled "Solid Freeform Fabrication of Photonic Band Gap Structures in the 100 GHz Regime".

UIAA Online Alumni Directory The first phase of a new, searchable online alumni directory, accessible to Alumni Association members only (an important new membership benefit!) was launched in mid-September. Alumni Association members can now access available contact information about fellow UI alumni on a per-name basis (regardless of membership status). Future, on-going development of the directory will allow for members to update their own contact information and search on multiple criteria. Special care has been taken to provide security to users and to discourage any commercial usage of the directory. To access the online directory, visit https://www.uiaadirectory.org If you have questions about the new online directory, please contact Susan McKenna at 217-333-7322 or mckenna1@uillinois.edu.

Class Notes

'40s

Howard R. Swift (BS Cer '40, MS Cer '42, PhD Cer '45) retired from Libby-Owens-Ford Company in 1982. He served as director of research and assistant to the president. He and his wife Betty have 5 children and 8 grandchildren. Since retiring, Howard has had a second career in designing and manufacturing mechanical puzzles that he sells for charity. He enjoys gardening and keeping in touch with his puzzle friends throughout the world.

Ed Buchholz (BS Cer '41) visited campus on September 14-15 for Reunion Weekend. He is retired from PPG Industries and drove to Illinois from his home in Glenshaw, Pennsylvania.

Marvin Pesses (MS Cer '46) retired in 1971 and again in 1983. He still does some forensic consulting as well as in powdered metals and ceramics, but he spends more time monitoring the sale of his most recent invention, LABELOFF.

'50s

Jorge Luis Quiros (BS Mining '52) visited campus on September 13 for the Varsity "I" Weekend sponsored by the Division of Athletics. He was a letter winner in fencing in 1949-1951. Jorge retired in 1998 as director emeritus of The Florida State University-Panama Canal Branch. He and his wife reside in Panama City, Panama.

Jorge Quiros visited Dept. Head John Weaver while on the U of I campus in September.

Ron Morris (BS Met '59) has been named to the Board of Directors of Hines Horticulture. Hines is a leading operator of commercial nurseries in North America.

'60s

John C. Hebeisen (BS Met '66) was elected president of the Advanced Particulate Materials Association (APMA) by the Metal Powder Industries Federation. APMA represents companies that produce products from metal powders and particulate materials using manufacturing processes such as gas atomization, cold and hot isostatic pressing, hot consolidation, mechanical alloying, plasma spraying, rapid solidification, roll compaction, and spray forming. John is president of Bodycote IMT, Incorporated.

William H. Robinson (PhD Met '66) resides in Wellington, New Zealand, where he heads Robinson Seismic Limited.

David Thornburg (MS Met '68, PhD Met '71) joined Xerox Corp.'s research center in the early 1970s and began focusing on how personal computers might play a role in education. He launched his own company in 1981 and now consults for school systems, private companies and government agencies.

'70s

Hiroaki Okamoto (PhD Met '71) visited campus on August 31 to present his latest handbook, Phase Diagrams for Binary Alloys, to the university library and to the MatSE Department. He is a professor in the Department of Information Management at Asahi University, Hozumi-cho, Gifu, Japan.

Hiroaki Okamoto (PhD Metallurgy '71) presents his latest handbook to Dept. Head John Weaver on August 31, 2001. Pictured behind them from left to right: Noriko Okamoto, Yoshiko Hinata, Satoshi Hinata (PhD Physics '73), Kazutoshi Asano (PhD Electrical Engineering '70), and Kikuko Asano.

Stephen M. Bruemmer (BS Met '75, MS Met '77) was named a Fellow of ASM International. He was cited for "outstanding contributions to the understanding of interfacial phenomena in materials processing and stress corrosion cracking." Stephen is a technical group leader at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington.

Dave (PhD Met '78) and Marisa (MS Met '78) Lohse reside in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Marisa recently joined the Intellectual Asset Management group of The Dow Chemical Company, which purchased Union Carbide. Marisa has worked for them for the past 19 years at the Bound Brook, NJ, site. Dave is an advanced research associate in the Corporate Strategic Research labs of ExxonMobil Research and Engineering in Clinton, NJ, where he has worked for 20 years. He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2000 for "important contributions to the fundamental science underlying phase behavior and compatibility in polymeric mixtures."

Elliot A. Clark (MS Met '79, PhD Met '86) is president of the International Metallographic Society. The society is an independent, nonprofit technical organization whose aim is to stimulate interest and raise professional standards in the characterization of materials, their structures, and properties. He is a materials engineer for Westinghouse Savannah River Company in Aiken, South Carolina.

'80s

Sheryl Tipton (BS Met '80) was promoted to technology dean for Caterpillar University. In this new capacity, Sheryl is responsible for meeting the global learning needs related to engineering and manufacturing. She was formerly manager of product and process design and development in Caterpillar's Track Type Tractors Materials Technology Division.

Robert Chasnov (PhD Met '83) was promoted to professor of engineering at Cedarville University. Cedarville University is an accredited Baptist university of arts, sciences, professional, and graduate programs in Cedarville, Ohio.

Michael Jones (BS Met '84) has served as the Carroll County coroner since he was appointed to the position in 1989. He served as a deputy coroner with his father and has been a partner in the Law-Jones Funeral Home since 1987. He resides in Savanna, Illinois, with his wife, Janis, and their 3 children.

Kaitlin Duck Sherwood (BS Met '84) published two books, Overcome Email Overload with Eudora 5 and Overcome Email Overload with Microsoft Outlook 2000 and Outlook 2002. Her interest in the subject started when she was webmaster for the U of I and got a lot email, much of it poorly written. To help people, she wrote a Web-based guide to writing more effective email. Due to the guide's popularity, she decided to write a book on how to write better email. However, when people said that their real problem was with email overload, she made that the topic of her books.

Karen Paulson (BS Cer '85, MS Met '91) was appointed to the Associates Program of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The program is a select group of thirteen professionals who advise and consult with the National Center on major trends in higher education policy. Karen is a research associate at the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.

Ari Reubin (MS Met '87) serves as vice president of business development for Sensatex Inc. He previously worked for Texas Instruments and served as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Dallas Business School. A few years ago he co-founded a venture consulting firm.

Kelli Van Doren (BS Met '87) and her husband, Steven, have three girls, ages 10, 7, and 5. A stay-at-home mom, Kelli is home-schooling their children. Steven is a professor of biochemistry at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

'90s

Norihito Yamao (MS MatSE '95) and his wife, Tomoe, are the proud parents of a daughter, Rie, born on March 24, 2001. Norihito is a senior engineer at Sumitomo Electronic Industries, LTD, in Itami, Japan.

Ken A. Walker (MS MatSE '95) visited campus on February 22. He is a senior test engineer in the Chemical Products Business Unit at Caterpillar's Mossville, Illinois, location.

Ryan O'Connell (BS Cer '97) married Denise VanDerGinst on March 17 in Bloomington, Illinois. Ryan is a field application engineer for Superior Graphite, Chicago.

Michael Horton (BS Cer '98) married Amanda Strickland in Rome, Georgia, on March 24, 2001. Michael is vice president of Horton Trucking Incorporated in Morton, Illinois.

Michael Massing (MS MatSE '98) is an associate at the law firm of Brinks, Hofer, Gilson & Lione in Chicago, which is a law firm that specializes in intellectual property work.

From the Metallurgy Class of 1981... The Metallurgical Engineering Class of '81 held their 20th class reunion on August 25 at the home of Steve and Laurie Gorbatkin in Atlanta, Georgia. The class members and their families shared dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy Restaurant on Saturday night and Sunday toured downtown Atlanta including the Underground and the Coca-Cola Museum. Sampling Coca-Cola flavors from Around the World were Steve Gorbatkin, Howard Jones, and Celia Gray. We missed those that couldn't make it and hope to see them at the next reunion. If anyone is interested in attending an upcoming reunion for the Met E class of 1981, contact Steve Gorbatkin at 108 Kirk Crossing Decatur, GA 30030 ph: 404-378-3894 STEVE_GORBATKIN@learnlink.emory.edu

Everitt Heiser retires Everett began his employment as a junior laboratory mechanic with the then-Metallurgy and Mining Department in 1965. He was promoted to the position of research lab shop supervisor in 1981. Everitt retired from the University on March 31, 2001, with more than 35 years of service to the faculty, students and staff of Materials Science and Engineering. We wish him well in his retirement.

Graduate students in MatSE presented Everitt with a plaque in appreciation of his service over the years.

In Memorium

Charles R. Filippi (BS Cer '37)

Charles R. Filippi died June 11, 2001, in Hazel Crest, Illinois. He was a registered professional engineer and manager of the brick division of the Illinois Brick Company, retiring in 1977 after 35 years. He was a World War II veteran and served on the destroyer USS Monssen in the South Pacific. He was past president of the Homewood-Flossmoor Kiwanis Club. He enjoyed working in stained glass. Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Arlyne; a daughter, Charlyne; and two grandsons.

John Alden Snyder (BS Met '37)

John Alden Snyder died on August 8, 2000, in Wilmington, Delaware. He worked for Inland Steel Company in Indiana for several years and later was on the faculty of the University of Illinois. He was employed by the DuPont Company in Wilmington for 40 years, doing research on the atom bomb and on titanium. His wife, Ethel, preceded him in death. He is survived by three sons and five grandchildren.

Charles Evans Brookhart (BS Mining '41)

Charles Evans Brookhart died on October 27, 2000. Charles worked for the Chicago Ordinance Department of the United States Army from 1941 to 1945. He then worked over 30 years for Lamson-Diebold Company as a sales engineer, retiring in 1978. He was a member of Manchester United Methodist Church, Manchester, Missouri. Surviving are his wife of 56 years, Lois; one son, William; and 4 grandchildren.

John H. Gillan (BS Met '42)

John H. "Jack" Gillan died on June 29, 2001. He served in the Air Force during World War II and was an executive for 34 years in the steel industry with Ryerson and Inland Steel. He lived in the San Francisco Bay area from 1948 to 1969, returning to Chicago as vice president of Inryco until his retirement in 1981. He served as president of the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute from 1973 to 1976. Since 1981, he was a resident of Scottsdale, Arizona. He was active in his community as a chairman of an operations committee for the Phoenix LPGA tournament and as a member of the Turquoise Circle, the tournament's year-round fundraising committee. An active member of Valley Presbyterian Church, he served as treasurer there for the last 10 years and was treasurer of the Santa Fe I Home Owners Association for 19 years. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Mary Fran; one daughter, Judi; sons Scot and Steve; eleven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Harry L. Ward (BS Mining '50)

Harry L. Ward died on August 16, 2000, in Michigan City, Indiana. At the time of his death, he was a full-time product manager for Diedrich Drilling Company in LaPorte, Indiana. Previously he worked for Joy Manufacturing Company in the same capacity for 30 years. He is survived by his wife, Faun, and son, Marc Andrew.

Hugh E. Boettner (BS Cer '50)

Hugh E. Boettner died on March 11, 2001, after a long struggle with cancer. He was a math teacher for 43 years at Steinmetz, Amundsen and Taft high schools in Chicago before retiring in 1995. He was known as "Mr. B" by his students. After leaving his teaching posts, he pursued his passion for bicycling including putting together bikes from spare parts. When he wasn't biking, he was gardening, woodworking, fishing or reading medical books. He was active in the Edison Park Lutheran Church in Chicago, serving as usher and chairman of the board of trustees. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Marion; his four children; and 10 grandchildren.

Oscar D. McDaniel (BS Met '54)

Oscar D. McDaniel, of Marion, Illinois, died on November 17, 2000. He was retired from Old Ben, a subsidiary of British Petroleum. He spent his entire career in coal and uranium mining operations and planning. He was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church. He enjoyed golf, was active in the University of Illinois Alumni Association, and the Southern Illinois University Sports Boosters. He helped to establish and maintain the Bluebird Trail at Crab Orchard Refuge. He was a veteran of World War II and served as an Army Corps of Engineers Captain before receiving an honorable discharge. He married Alice Mercier who preceded him in death in 1992. He then married Shirley McDaniel. His wife, Shirley, and her children and seven grandchildren survive him. He is also survived by his four children from his marriage to Alice, nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

G. R. Srinivasan (PhD Met '66)

G. R. Srinivasan died on February 27, 2001. He was a professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He is survived by his wife, Alisan, who resides in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Braun and Wong receive awards for research
Only 16 faculty nationwide received Beckman Young Investigator Awards.

Professors Paul Braun and Gerard Wong have both received Beckman Young Investigator Awards worth $240,000 for 3 years. The Young Investigator competition is open to persons with tenure-track appointments in academic and non-profit institutions that conduct fundamental research in the chemical and life sciences. Only 16 awards were given nationwide.

Paul Braun received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1998. Following a one-year postdoctoral appointment at Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies, he joined the MatSE faculty in 1999 as an assistant professor. Paul is also a member of the Beckman Institute and the F. Seitz Materials Research Laboratory. Paul's research program covers a wide range of materials science disciplines, with a general focus on the formation and study of nano and microstructures. One important nanostructured system under examination is liquid crystals, which can be designed to contain periodic structure ranging from one nanometer to greater than 100 nanometers. His research group is exploring multiple methodologies to use the periodic structure of these and other self-organized matrices to create new materials. The liquid-crystal-mediated synthesis of materials could provide many yet unseen properties. One objective is to use liquid crystals to create chemically-functionalized hollow nanospheres. Hollow nanospheres would serve as site-specific drug delivery agents or be used to form low dielectric constant materials for high-speed microelectronics. Paul is also studying the liquid crystal templating of such materials as conducting polymers and metals. Yet another component of his research is the formation and characterization of photonic bandgap structures. Structures exhibiting photonic bandgaps have very interesting and potentially important optical properties. For example, waveguides formed from photonic bandgap materials can execute a 90-degree turn over a few microns, which is necessary for the on-chip integration of optical devices.

Paul Braun

Gerard Wong

Gerard Wong received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1994. He has since worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics in the Netherlands and at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Gerard joined the MatSE faculty in 2000. He also holds appointments in Physics and Bioengineering and has an affiliation with the Microelectronics Laboratory. Gerard is interested in the materials science and condensed matter physics of biology, with an emphasis on self-assembled biological and biomimetic systems. His current research program is centered on the phase behavior, structure, and governing interactions in a novel class of high-order biomolecular self-assemblies, where new condensed phases of polyelectrolyte biopolymers are formed through their interactions with oppositely charged ions of varying complexity. Gerard and his colleagues have published a series of papers correlating how DNA self-assembles with charged membranes to make a series of intricate structures. These findings are important for understanding how DNA sets express in a cell line. One potential application is for development of synthetic molecules that mimic viruses in their ability to move through the body to particular cells and deliver therapeutic genes. Another area of Gerard's research is focused on developing a better understanding of intricate electrostatic interactions between DNA and cytoskeltal proteins. The results could lead to treatments to alleviate suffering from cystic fibrosis.

Former student not held back by disability: MatSE alumnus Bryan Pratt
-by Milton D. Carrero Galarza. From The Daily Illini, May 4, 2001 (vol. 130, Issue 148). Used with permission.

It has been more than three years since the last time Bryan Pratt tried to breathe. Yet he still lives. It has been more than three years since the last time he ate. Yet he is still well fed. It has also been years since the last time he had a full night of sleep. Yet he still dreams.

A rhythmic beep and a flashing red light alerts Bryan's nurse to refill the fruit punch bag from a machine that feeds liquids to him through a thin plastic tube going directly into Bryan's stomach. He stares at a computer monitor held by a stand of two parallel tubes that sit on top of his bed, where Bryan has laid since April 1999. The sound of the ventilator filling his lungs reverberates in the air. He barely notices when the nurse lifts up his shirt. He is too busy looking for a file where he has the design of the cover of his autobiography.

In his book titled Look Beyond This Cover: The Bryan Pratt Autobiography, Bryan shares his struggles to confront a life with severe disabilities. Bryan, 26, suffers from muscular dystrophy, a disease that continually weakens his muscles. His kind of dystrophy, called facioscapulohumeral, is peculiar because it does not allow him to smile.

As difficult as it has been for Bryan not to be able to smile, particularly during the time when his high school homecoming queen asked him for a smile, he has had to face greater challenges. In the prologue of his book he likens himself to Achilles, from Homer's Iliad, who chose a short and meaningful life over a life with no glory. "I feel that I am destined not to live a short life, but a shorter than average life like Achilles. Let it be known that I want to make a difference by writing this book and helping people long after my time in this world."

Bryan was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at the age of 5. While the life expectancy of people with muscular dystrophy varies depending on the type of dystrophy, neurologists agree that few patients live past their thirties. At the age of 9 he underwent surgery to facilitate walking, which left him bound to a wheelchair. He accepted the results of the surgery and, after struggling with his parents' health insurance, Bryan managed to get a motorized wheelchair that allowed him to live a fuller life. He graduated from Palatine High School in Arlington Heights. He came to Champaign, where he became the first wheelchair user to graduate from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He was also active as a statistician for the football team, and he became a leader during the five and a half years he lived in Beckwith Hall, a residence hall for students with disabilities. Again, his success did not come easily. "Bryan perseveres probably more than anyone I know," says Dave Mattson, one of Bryan's friends and former personal assistant.

A difficult day. On a cold Thursday morning in December during his last semester at the University, and just one final exam away from graduation, Bryan woke up confused. He had been having trouble concentrating, and this morning it was worse. His exam was scheduled for 8 a.m. and he had forgotten that the personal assistant who was supposed to wake him up had canceled a week earlier. Afraid of being late for his exam, Bryan asked one of the Beckwith floaters - who help various students with their basic morning needs - to get him ready. His mind was so fixed on his test that he forgot to put his jacket on. He went outside in 20-degree weather and ventured to his test site instead of waiting for the bus driver, who had parked in front of the residence hall.

He made it to the Rehab Center, where he was supposed to take his last test, only to be sent to the hospital. Emergency personnel diagnosed him with hypothermia. Before he had time to realize what was happening, he found himself amid the hospital psychiatrists who asked questions such as: "Have you ever tried to kill yourself?" — all of which he considered irrelevant and inappropriate at the time.

Mattson remembers seeing Bryan confused during that difficult day in December. "He would talk about very random things," Mattson said, adding that he was worried at the time."He was not very cohesive about what he was saying. He had a confused picture of reality." This was the beginning of a series of complications that eventually caused Bryan to lose his ability to breathe and eat by himself. He developed pneumonia, which forced him to depend on a respirator, as he will for the rest of his life.

Battling against time. Suddenly, the questions that seemed irrelevant and inappropriate that December morning became significant issues in his life. "At times, admittedly," Bryan says, "I was depressed. I felt like I wanted to die. My nurse, Dianne Kiro, said, 'You are just in a depression. You are going to get over this and feel better. It will take time and you need help.'" Bryan started taking antidepressants, which caused him to go into panic attacks. "You feel like you are going to die and it's awful, I guess," his mother Carol said about the panic attacks. "He is not really dying, but try to tell a person who is having a panic attack that he is not dying when he thinks he is dying."

He was also having problems getting used to the idea that he would not be able to eat again. "I would not be able to eat what I used to enjoy," he says. "This was very hard for me to accept. No more seafood, no more Mexican food, no more Chinese food, no more chicken, no more steak, no more apples... Many months later, I realized that eating was just one less thing to worry about, and I would eventually stop being depressed about it."

These were times during which Bryan was inevitably concerned about his own mortality. "You don't realize the implications until it actually happens," Bryan said, referring to the health complications associated with his disease. "I really didn't think about it. I didn't do much reading about my own disability." Bryan's attitude toward his disability is not unusual, said Judy Thorpe, resource facilitator at the University's Rehab Center. She says that it is common for students with progressive fatal diseases to avoid thinking about their conditions.

But Mattson remembers having conversations in which Bryan talked about the possibility that he might not live past the age of 30. "One thing I remember, talking to him about six years ago, and he had an understanding of the typical life expectancy," Mattson said. "He used the age of 30. And that's coming up and I just can't imagine all my life thinking that 30 is the age that I might get to and no more than that."

Continuing to leave his mark. His doctor eventually chose to discontinue the antidepressants, and Bryan began to realize that he was important to many people and he could still leave his mark among those who were close to him. "Although for many years I thought that I would write an autobiography, I felt a keen sense of urgency and motivation to start writing it then." It became a battle against time, one that he would win and that his parents say gave structure to his life. He was dictating the chapters to his parents and nurses so fast that Thorpe could not keep up with the manuscripts. He was truly determined. "I did not write this book to generate sympathy," he wrote in the introduction to his autobiography. "Sympathy is the last thing we need."

He wants to develop awareness among able-bodied people to focus on his abilities and not on his limitations. He also wants to serve as an example for other people with severe disabilities to inspire them to "excel using their abilities and not using their disabilities as an excuse for underachievement." Thorpe saw again the persistent Bryan that she had met when he was at the University. It was the beginning of a transformation. "This book is his way of leaving his legacy of doing something that is going to make a difference. It's a legacy that he is always going to leave, no matter how long he is with us," Thorpe says.

But the book was just the beginning of Bryan's plans. He created the Disability Outreach Foundation. Its purpose is to improve the well being of people with disabilities by encouraging the development of programs in related fields. The profits from the book will go to the foundation. Among its main goals is to support wheelchair sports programs in high schools. The foundation would like to work with the University to create academic scholarships for those pursuing a career in nursing. It also promotes the creation of a wheelchair basketball varsity team. Bryan is determined to write more books as well and is optimistic about his future. "In the last year and a half my health has been very stable. There are people who live many years when they are on a ventilator. It's not like it is a death sentence.

"I have done something," he said. "I wrote a book. No one can take that away from me. I don't know long I will live, but I did something."

About the MatSE Alumni Newsletter Published twice annually by the University of Illinois Department of Materials Science and Engineering for its alumni, faculty and friends. All ideas expressed in Materials Science & Engineering Alumni News are those of the authors or editor and do not necessarily reflect the official position of either the alumni or the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Correspondence concerning the Materials Science and Engineering Alumni News should be sent to: The Editor MatSE Alumni News 201B MSEB 1304 West Green Street Urbana, IL 61801 mse@uiuc.edu www.mse.uiuc.edu Editor Cindy Brya Department Head John H. Weaver Associate Head Phil Geil Assistant to the Head Jay Menacher MatSE Alumni Board President Ken Kuna MatSE Alumni Board Vice President Doug Ruhmann MatSE Alumni Board Members Rick Anderson-Decina, James Burk, Rick Capp, Earl Carlson, Betty Coulman, Lenore Dai, Kurt Greissinger, Stephen Hales, Holly Hutchason, Marge Kaunas, Hilde Schneider, Vic Tennery, Sheryl Tipton, Michael Uchic, David Wilcox. Ex-Officio Members: Bob Bohl, Ray Capek, Charles Connors, Russell Duttweiler, Howard Friedman, Martin Kopchak, Keith Meyer, Richard Van Pelt, Glen Wensch.

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