New in Town: UA Biomedical Engineering Society

The recently formed local chapter of the Biomedical Engineering Society met Wednesday to develop group events and plans based on what students are looking for. Leading the chapter this year are Abby Washispack as President; Jimmy Vo as Vice President; Katelin Cherry as Secretary and Saumil Shah as Treasurer.

Let’s get started!
“We’re here to build community between biological engineering students, faculty, and professionals,” said BMES President Abby Washispack. “This is an opportunity for students to get involved in activities that will further their biomedical engineering careers.

Benefits of becoming a national BMES member are BME internship opportunities, annual meeting discounts, career services and an online job board. To join, sign up at BMES.org, annual dues are $30. Once you’ve done so, please email Abby (awashispack@gmail.com) your username. The UA chapter needs this information, so they can be recognized as an official chapter.

Events
BMES will be represented at the RSO Fair in the Arkansas Union from 12-3p.m., Friday, September 30.

A BMES Faculty Seminar will take place at 1:30 p.m. on October 7, location to be announced.

A few of the speakers the group plans to host are Vance Clement, BSIE ’92 Director of Upstream Marketing for MAKO Surgical Corp.; the BME faculty and a contact from Cardinal Health, which is number 17 on the Forbes 500 list.

Walks, stream restoration and the Springdale High School Lego (semi-national) Competition are other event possibilities.

Officers plan for meetings to be less academic and more centered on career-building.

Dr. Zarahoff explains…
This is an easy way to enable your budding biomedical engineering career. The fees are minimal and well worth it, especially for being a national organization.
There are two reasons you should join BMES: for yourself and for the University of Arkansas.

In terms of personal benefits, it is great for your career. The national website, accessible to members only, has a very extensive list of internship opportunities, and during the screening process for full-time positions, BMES is something that could catch an employer’s eye.

If you’re a freshman and haven’t had a chance to distinguish the difference between biological engineering and biomedical engineering, the Biomedical Engineering FEP lecture is November 7.

Contact us
UofA Biomedical Engineering Society has a group on LinkedIn. The website and Facebook group are in the works, but once they are running, members can keep in touch with BE alumni easily. You can email BMES officers at bmes@uark.edu.

Razorback Engineers Find Employment

Engineering EXPO brought more than 60 employers representing both large, international corporations, and small, local businesses to the University of Arkansas September 15 and 22, to conduct interviews and network with Razorback engineers.

Walmart, Sam's Club, the United States Navy, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Pepsico, and Georgia-Pacific are just a few of the larger businesses that arrived.

During the week, the corporations teamed up with registered student organizations, such as ASCE and AiCHE, to give students context for company goals and positions open.

Students often attend the EXPO as freshmen and sophomores, landing co-op and internship opportunities that put them on a track for success.

By senior year, a number of engineering upperclassmen have completed two or more internships, and typically have multiple offers for full-time employment.

Students can prepare for the professional event by attending the Annual Mock Interview Event, hosted in the Industrial Engineering Department. The Career Development Center offers a variety of interview and professional dress preparation opportunities, as well.

SWE Creates Tall Agenda for School Year

The University of Arkansas Society of Women Engineers, a group designed for professional development and social activity for women engineers, met last week to discuss the new school year agenda. In the past, SWE hosted events in conjunction with the Girl Scouts, Make a Difference Day, The Boys & Girls Club, and Race for the Cure. The group doesn’t require national membership, but highly encourages it, so that members can add the society to their professional resume. Fees are $20 for the entire year, which ends in July.

2011-12 Events
Members discussed the good experiences of the previous year, and encouraged new members to participate, emphasizing the minimal time and activity commitment. “During the Race for the Cure, you don’t have to run,” said President Jana Hindman. “You can volunteer to hand out t-shirts and other materials, or you can walk the race.”

This year, the group will focus more on Professional Development, including a possible repeat of the previous Alumni Panel, an informal networking dinner between industry specialists and UA engineering students.

The girls expressed an interest in another “What Not To Wear” event, focusing on styles, trends and traditions of professional/business dress for women.

SWE plans to work with the campus Volunteer Action Center, especially during the Make a Difference Day on October 29. “It’s a morning of work, which is not a big commitment, and they give you food,” Hindman said. “This year, we’re going to make water filters.”

Currently…
The first fundraiser of the year is a T-shirt selling campaign. The shirts display the word “engineer” spelled wrong twice and crossed out each time, with “I’m good at math,” as the final line of text. They are sold in green and purple. Contact Jana Hindman (jhindman@uark.edu) or other SWE members if you’re interested in buying one.

A Scull Creek Stream Cleanup will take place at noon on October 9.

The SWE National Conference will take place October 13-15 in Chicago. Only officers attend without cost, but members are encouraged to attend, with a fee of $100 (or $125 if registering on site, not online). Among the biggest attraction to the conference is the career fair, which typically attracts more than 200 valuable, well-known employers.

The Women in Engineering group will team up with SWE for a free networking event on October 25. The groups will meet at Gator Golf event at 6 p.m., and have Jimmy Johns for dinner. Those attending can meet in the Bell Engineering parking lot to carpool.

Resources
SWE President, Jana Hindman emphasized the benefits of using the National SWE website. “It’s a great place for professional development, where you can network with other ladies- people you will work with,” she said. “You can also apply for scholarships there, which are due February 15 this year.” Other SWE members warned that the scholarship application forms take a lot of time to fill out, so members should not wait until the last minute if they’re interested in it.

Keep in Mind
SWE officers are looking for more fundraiser ideas, so stay in touch, voice your opinions and attend meetings when you can. Members are hoping to begin math tutoring for the boys club, and take various field trips to engineering job-related corporations.

EWB Gears Up for a Busy Year

The University of Arkansas chapter of Engineers Without Borders has a lot on their proverbial plate this year! Members met last week to discuss the following year of fundraising, international projects, conferences, and local service opportunities.

About EWB
Engineers Without Borders is a non-profit organization that uses engineering skills to improve quality of life in communities around the world. Their projects range from building water towers in other countries to cleaning creek areas in Washington county. Where they see a need, they step up to help.

“EWB is the touchy, feely side of engineering, if there is one,” said EWB President Jenny Doyle.

2011-2012 Events
This year, UA EWB hopes to establish the student chapter as a long-lasting, effective group in Northwest Arkansas. Members attend two conferences each school year. The national conference will take place in November, and officers strongly encourage students to attend. There, they can take advantage of networking and engineering workshops that help the group projects to go more smoothly.

“At the international conference you get a broader perspective and a chance to see what other universities doing,” Doyle said. “Some are working with women’s organizations and other non-profit organizations."

The group has successfully completed international trips and projects in the past, but this year they plan to adopt an official EWB-USA approved international project.

“We’ll also continue work on our local projects, such as Make a Difference Day (October 29); Regional Conference is November 11-13 and the International Conference will take place in Las Vegas during Spring Break, March 22-25,” Doyle said. “We’re also looking for members to man the booth at the RSO information fair on September 30.”

Join us!
The group is looking for fundraisers, resources and contacts. Members are not required to be engineers because they are looking for all skill sets.

To become an official, national member, visit the national website to pay membership dues (discounted for students). The chapter will meet every other Wednesday at 6 p.m., locations will vary, so they will be posted on Facebook.

Next EWB trip Dec 17-23
Goals for the next international project in Belize are to build a water tower for the community, dig a well, dig trenches and run pipes, continue water quality testing and conduct health surveys. For this reason, members are encouraged to recruit nursing students and other health majors.

Residents “still have to pump their water by hand,” said International Project Chair, Ben Marts. “We eventually want to get running water into homes.”

How Safe it is to Feel Safe

Inspired by City & Colour's Day Old Hate and Thought Catalog's "Things You Need When You're Sad," I've formed a short list of my favorite, most comforting things.

The drawer
One of the most important rules of comfort I learned from my sister. Have an entire drawer stuffed full of pajamas and other worn-down materials. This way, the need for comfort is resolved quickly. No more searching for that lavender shirt you bought while sixteen, washed extensively like the smooth rocks at the bottom of river basins, material worn so thin that it tears each time you put it on. Guys seem to point out that women are always touching fabric while shopping. That’s right, we are. At the end of the day, we want something that makes us feel good all over, especially if our job/friends/etc hasn’t.

Latest James Bond movie
Is in my DVD player at all times, reserved for my worst days. It’s a cheap trick, watching an on-screen crush. And no, I don’t happen to know in which chapter Daniel Craig steps slowly out of the ocean.

“Same time, same place”
There’s something inherently comforting about meeting a reliable friend so frequently that you don’t bother with changing your environment. This works for you both, and it will always be a priority.

Pumpkin Spice Chai
If your idea of a good weekend night is crashing through the new John Grisham at Arsaga’s instead of wearing a glitter top and slamming shots with rowdy friends, then spice chai is the way to go. For trifecta, add the chilled air of the first day of autumn and an old, well-worn beige cardigan.

Weathered Books
Love the ancient musty smell of old books, and the feel of well-read books…the ones with the broken spine, the dog-earred pages, which have are covered in coffee stains. I once knew someone who would read books so carefully, not even opening it up all the way. Once finished with it, you'd never knew anyone had read it—which is great if they borrowed your paperback. But as for my books, I like to remember that week that I got to know Zee, Elspeth, Martin or whoever. I like returning to my favorite pages, feeling as if I’ve been welcomed back, not approaching the unfamiliar.

Reruns and/or Watching the Same Movies Over & Over
Somewhere along the way, I developed this habit of watching a movie (typically an okaaay movie, nothing that I’d be able to justify to anyone) many, many times. Somedays, home means wearing fuzzy slippers and knowing that George will screw something up and Kramer will profit from it. Other days, it's knowing that there is someone (Monica) who has worse OCD than me and that Chandler always has worse days than me.

What are some of your most comforting things?

Meet the Professor: Dr. Ed Clausen

Dr. Ed Clausen, professor of chemical engineering and associate department head, began teaching at the University of Arkansas in 1981, following his time as an assistant professor at Tennessee Tech University.

Inroduction to engineering
A number of people, family, teachers and advisors, influenced his decision to become an engineer. As a sophomore in high school, he knew what career he wanted to pursue.

“By that time, I was pretty sure I would be an engineer,” he said. “My uncle was a mechanical engineer and my brother-in-law was an electrical engineer.” His dad also expressed an interest and approval in the profession.

“I didn’t sit down and talk with them about it…it just seemed like something I would want to do.”

Clausen’s high school math and physics teacher attended the University of Missouri-Rolla, where Clausen would later earn his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctorate. “He had studied electrical engineering and that was all he talked about,” he said. “So I put this together,” all the positive experiences of engineering that surrounded him, to which he added a growing interest in chemistry.

Influential Engineer
Although many people impacted Clausen’s career, “my influential mentor was probably my grad advisor, Jim Gaddy,” he said.

“He was the professor that I conducted research with…the one that convinced me to get my Ph.D., and the one that convinced me, after four years (of teaching at Tennessee Tech,) to come to the U of A,” Clausen said.

University of Arkansas Experience
Clausen has taught at the University of Arkansas for thirty years, which gives him a unique vantage point as a professor.

“The thing about teaching in the same place for a long time is that it never bothered me to teach students so much younger than me,” he said. “It never bothered me to teach second generation students. What bothered me was when some of my students began retiring.”

Clausen enjoys the freedom and connectivity that the University of Arkansas offers as a research institution.

“My teaching experience at Tennessee Tech was vastly different from teaching at the University of Arkansas,” he said. “I taught at Tennessee Tech for four years, which has a huge emphasis on turning out undergraduates, but little focus on research.”

During the summer, Clausen participates in outreach projects that expose younger students to science, engineering and math through hands-on activities. In one of these programs, he works directly with middle school, junior high and high school students. “These programs are a lot of fun and are different from university classroom instruction,” he said.

“When the students are interested too, it’s neat.”

Off the Clock
“I watch a lot of sports,” he said. “Everything Razorbacks, of course; I cheer for anyone playing the University of Texas; in baseball, the Cardinals and in football, anyone playing the Dallas Cowboys.”

Meet the Professor: Dr. Sreekala Bajwa

Dr. Sreekala Gopalapillai Bajwa, professor of biological engineering, has taught at the University of Arkansas since 2001. She earned a doctorate in agricultural engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Influence
Bajwa grew up in India, where education was a cultural priority. In some way, she always expected to become a doctor or an engineer, which began with her love for math and science. Among the most influential people in her career was a middle school math teacher. “I don’t know how he did it, but he made it look simple,” she said. The teacher helped her make the connection between mere interest and a career, showing her that she demonstrated talent for it, and pushing her to do her best.

Both of Bajwa’s sisters are in math and science, and they both influenced and inspired her. “One of my sisters says that math may be the king of science, but without physics, math would have no application,” she said. “That really stuck with me.”

University of Arkansas experience
Bajwa chose the University of Arkansas because she wanted to raise her family in a smaller town. “My husband was working in Chicago when I started here, but I didn’t want to raise a family in Chicago,” she said. They also came here because they saw an opportunity for growth, with several new faculty members and a strong vision.

Upon her arrival to the University of Arkansas, Bajwa sensed a need for research in biocomposite materials, and made it a focus of hers. “I use waste stream from agricultural processing operations such as cotton ginning as fillers in thermoplastic composites. These composites typically contain 50 percent or more plant fibers,” she said.

The resulting composite materials can be used as replacement for wood in non-structural building applications where the materials will be exposed to extreme conditions, such as decking, landscaping products, window and door components, and flooring. This takes the waste out of the environment and embeds it into a completely recyclable product.

She also conducts research on mitigation of air pollutants emitted from chicken houses. “The research in this area has big consequences because the state has a big poultry industry,” she said.

Bajwa says she is happy in her current line of work. “The thing I’m especially proud of here is how many undergraduates are involved in the lab,” she said. “I have 5-10 working in my lab, and some have published their work. These students are very focused, and know what they want to do with their education.”

Off the Clock
Bajwa spends her non-working hours with her family, who like to bike and walk the trails together, and spend time at the local library. “The time outside of the office, my time with my family is number one.”