CTME: Center for Transportation And Materials Engineering. Transportation: Mobility, Longevity, And Sustainability

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1 CTME: Center for Transportation And Materials Engineering Transportation: Mobility, Longevity, And Sustainability Newsletter Vol. 3, Issue #1, November 2010 Website Address YSU Center for Transportation and Materials Engineering Moser Hall 2055 Youngstown State University Youngstown, OH Telephone Message from the Director, Joann Esenwein Since our last newsletter was published there has been a change in the CTME Dr. Cynthia S. Hirtzel is no longer with YSU and her shoes will be difficult to fill. All of Dr. Hirtzel s hard work is greatly appreciated and she set a good foundation for the CTME to build on. I would like to thank Dr. Martin Abraham, Dean of STEM College and the Advisory Board for the privilege of selecting me for the CTME Director position. I began work at YSU on November 1, I am a 1980 YSU graduate with a Bachelor of Engineering, Civil and I received my MBA from YSU in After graduation from YSU in 1980 I began work with the Ohio Department of Transportation where I worked for 30 years, until I retired August 1, I want to thank everyone for all their kindness, patience and help. Especially Sherry Massaro. News and features in this issue of our newsletter include: an update from the Annual Summer Meeting of the Council of Transportation Centers (CUTC); items on the updates on educational activities through the Center; news on other CTME activities and people associated with the Center; presentations; among other items CUTC Summer Meeting at College Station, Texas The CUTC Summer Meeting was held June 7-9, 2010 on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Carol Lamb, Associate Professor in the School of Engineering Technology, represented YSU at the conference. This year s event, which was hosted by the Southwest Region University Transportation Center, the University Transportation Center for MobilityTM and the Texas Transportation Institute, was one of CUTC s most successful meetings to date. Over 130 1

2 representatives from university transportation centers around the county were in attendance. The three day meeting included interactive discussion on the following topics: communicating the value of and strategic research planning for research, transportation workforce development, education and technology transfer; FHWA's Exploratory Advanced Research Program; reauthorization; UTC best practices, and more. Educational Activities 6th Annual ASM Summer Camp for Pre-college Teachers This summer [July 12-16, 2010] the CTME co-sponsored a Materials Camp for Pre-college teachers together with the ASM Materials Education Foundation. Dr. Hazel Marie, Assistant Professor in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Youngstown State University, served as the Materials Camp Coordinator for the first time. Also participating were YSU students, James Davner, Janet Gbur, and Alberto Miranda, as assistants to the master teachers. Twenty-nine pre-college educators participated in this year s camp. The master teachers this year were Thomas Glasgow, and Roger Crider. These teachers have done several ASM camps across our nation. They did workshops, where they explore different properties of material and the reactions when they are mixed with other substances. The teachers experimented with all of these workshops and learned new safe experiments to practice in their classes with their students. This camp goes on for a week, and challenges teachers to perform their knowledge on science. As the master teachers expose these high school teachers to new ways of teaching, that are entertaining and fun. By making activities like these in their classrooms, teachers can get students more involved in science. The experiments performed in the camp will get the attention of students helping them to appreciate and consider science. When these teachers come to the camp they learn the basics of materials science technology as taught at the high school level with hands on metal, ceramic, polymer and composite projects. Workshop participant with Dr. Hazel Marie during the ASM Summer Camp Awards Banquet On Saturday, January 9th, preceding the Annual Winter CUTC meeting, CUTC held its 19th Annual Awards Banquet. One important component of that Banquet is the recognition of the 2

3 UTC s Outstanding Student of the Year Award recipients. This was the second time that the CTME nominated and selected a student for this prestigious award, which includes a scholarship for $1,000. The student s expenses to attend the Banquet are also included in the award. The CTME s Outstanding Student of the Year for 2009 was James J. Davner. James is currently a senior in the Mechanical Engineering Program at Youngstown State University and is working toward a minor in mathematics for his undergraduate degree. Since joining the Center for Transportation and Materials Engineering in 2006, James has worked on several innovative research projects including metal etching, polishing, and elemental configurations on the EDAX detector in the Scanning Electron Microscopy Lab on materials related to transportation field applications, such as light-weight breaking systems in vehicles. In addition, he has worked on a 3-D Rapid Prototyping Unit for transportation-related research projects. In James own words, of all the experience I ve gained while at YSU, nothing can compare to the experience with performing research for the Center. His association with the Center is not limited to research. Jim has also been part of the Center s outreach program, such as the outreach summer camps for pre-college teachers. In recognition for his outstanding performance as an undergraduate researcher, his academic performance, his leadership and team abilities, the Center for Transportation and Materials Engineering is proud to select James J. Davner as its 2009 Outstanding Student of the Year. James Davner receiving his award Scholarships Fireline, Inc. has established a scholarship to benefit a junior or senior student in YSU s College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The company entered into a long-term agreement with the YSU Foundation to award this renewable scholarship to a qualified STEM student. The scholarship is for $2,000 per semester. The Fall 2010 scholarship recipient is Solita Wilson, a YSU Chemistry major. Ohio UTC Student Research Conference Two Youngstown State University students presented their research project at the first Ohio UTC Student Research Conference at the University of Akron held on November 12,

4 University Students from across Ohio participated. Universities represented were: Youngstown State University, Kent State University, The University of Akron, The University of Cincinnati, The University of Dayton, Ohio University, Case Western Reserve University, The University of Toledo and Central State University Amar Skukla giving his presentation Dr. Anwarul Islam s, Associate Professor, Civil, graduate student Amar Skukla presented his research on Causes of Bumps at Pavement-Bridge Interfaces. Amar was complimented on his extensive research and calculations he performed for the research. Amar received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering at Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology, AMU in India. He is currently a Civil and Environmental Engineering Graduate student here at YSU. Amar said, I am highly impressed by the education system in the United States and it surely has improved my Engineering skills. Jay Prakash Devkot giving his presentation Dr. Hans Tritico s, Associate Professor, Civil, graduate student Jay Prakash Devkot s presented his research on Laboratory Experiments on the Variations of Hydraulic Roughness in Partially Filled Culverts for Fish Passage Design. There was a lot of interest in Jay s work to date and what will come next. Jay received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering at Kantipur Engineering College, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. He is currently pursuing his Master of Science in Engineering, Civil and Environmental here at YSU. Jay is looking to graduate with his Masters Degree August All involved are hoping this will become an annual event. This gives each student and teams of students a chance to get feedback on their research projects. A lot of tough questions were asked that gave each researcher plenty to think about. Ideas on what direction to take their project was also offered. Time ran out before everyone could ask questions and the discussion was cut short. We are looking to change the format and give the students time to talk and discuss their research and exchange ideas in a less formal atmosphere. 4

5 Fish passage through Culverts: Reducing Uncertainty through an Analysis of Pipe Roughness and Velocity Distributions Dr. Hans Tritico s research on fish passage through culverts has sparked interest. He is in contact with an Environmental Specialist with the Ohio Department of Transportation to take his research to the next step. He is looking at cross referencing culverts under State routes, US routes, and interstate routes with streams that carry endangered species of fish. This will be cross referenced with scheduled projects with culverts and use Dr. Tritico s culvert design. This will potentially lessen the environmental impact the project will have and potentially save money because stream mitigation may not be required. While transportation systems have always connected people, they are now also being asked to connect ecosystems. In Ohio, upstream fish passage is not only necessary for sustainable fish populations but it also plays an important role in endangered mussel species reproduction. Because engineers have only recently been designing culverts to account for fish passage, many previous assumptions are no longer valid. One of these assumptions is that water flowing through culverts always fills the pipe. Previously, culverts were designed for large floods which do result in full pipes. Ecologically relevant flows, however, are more moderate and result in partially filled culverts. One of the major results associated with variable flow depths inside the culvert is that the culvert roughness (and hence the calculated velocity) changes with depth. In spite of the fact that we know that culvert roughness changes with depth, no systematic studies have been performed at ecologically relevant flow depths. Therefore engineers and scientists continue to use published roughness coefficients which are based on full pipe conditions. A second assumption that is no longer valid is that the average velocity passing through a culvert is sufficient for design. Now, rather than average velocity, the important design variable is the velocity that fish experience when migrating through the culvert. This velocity is highly unsteady and most likely less than the cross-sectionally averaged velocity. Because equipment has only recently been developed to investigate instantaneous velocities in field culverts, the dynamics of these reduced velocity zones have not been investigated. This research will fill both of these gaps by publishing roughness coefficients for ecologically relevant flow and elucidating the instantaneous flow dynamics of the reduced velocity zones in culverts. This research will also result in the first instantaneous velocity maps of flow in culverts, data that will allow us to understand the flow fields that fish experience. This research will be presented at national and international conferences, shared with the ODOT state hydraulic engineer, and published as conference and peer reviewed journal publications. This research will provide for technology transfer opportunities with ODOT and local businesses while positioning Ohio, CTME, and YSU as leaders in fish passage engineering. 5

6 Upcoming Events Research Summit Hosted by ODOT and RITA November 22, 2010 ODOT Central Office Annual CUTC and UTC program recipients meeting Washington DC January 23, DHS Science Conference -Fifth Annual University Network Summit Catastrophes and Complex Systems: Transportation Renaissance Washington D.C. Hotel March 30 April 1, 2011 CTME Advisory Board CTME Executive Committee Advisory Board Chair Dr. Martin Abraham, P.E. Dean College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics [STEM], YSU CTME Staff Director Joann Esenwein CTME Moser Hall 2055 Youngtown State University Youngstown, Ohio

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