College of Engineering

PhD Candidate�s Inspired Muscle Research

Peter Wawrow entered the PhD program in biomedical engineering in 2004 with Professor John Cavanaugh as his advisor. As a graduate research assistant, Wawrow began studying muscle physiology in order to understand the physiological processes behind muscle injury and how to prevent and/or rehabilitate the injury.

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

While his professor and advisor, Professor John Cavanaugh, researches low back pains, bones, joints and whiplash injuries, biomedical engineering PhD candidate Peter Wawrow (MSBME ‘07) is studying muscle injury.

“It’s something that I’ve been interested in for quite a while,” the 39-year-old student says. “I approached Dr. Cavanaugh to see if I would be able to use some of his ideas. It’s related to the things they do in the lab, except I’m applying it to muscle.”

Testing is conducted on rats. “I take a rat and I surgically implant electrodes,” Wawrow says. “I stimulate over a period of time, and the electrodes are recording muscle activity…After stimulating, we begin recording muscle response from that.”

Wawrow then studies the compound action potential (or the electrical impulse that occurs in a muscle cell during activity) while searching for decreases in amplitude. If active frequency declines, it is a sign of fatigue, he says.

Wawrow is the primary investigator in these experiments while other students may analyze as well. His testing was inspired by Cavanaugh’s research, which brings to light the real-life impact and implications caused by low back pain. “If people are actually at work on an assembly line, particularly repetitive work, then they have this pain,” Wawrow says.

Much like his mentor’s research on the body’s spinal facet joint, Wawrow hopes to identify the threshold of stress and strain on the body’s muscles, including the point at which stressful activity leads to pain or injury. “I want to find the optimal work-to-rest ratio that causes or avoids injury,” he says.

Wawrow acknowledges that Cavanaugh has historically focused on low back injury’s neurological aspects, and he wanted to go a different route. “One of the things that drew me is the history and recognition that it has in relation to the auto industry,” he says. “Specifically, I wanted to learn the techniques that he used for neurology and apply that to muscle.”

Wawrow adds that the other reason for his involvement under Cavanaugh is due to his background in human kinetics. “I’ve worked as an ergonomist,” he says. “I worked a lot in preventing injuries. People still get injured even though the job looks safe. So I wanted to look at if they continue to do this job, and it’s repetitive, what is the threshold for pain? This is more of an extension of that; the sources of pain.”

One intangible source certainly seems to be connected to the total amount of weight a worker lifts during the course of a workday regardless of the hours worked, says Wawrow, a Thomas C. Rumble University Graduate Fellowship 2009 recipient. Companies were headed in the right direction (with less lifting being required by workers) until the recession came and those not laid off had more than their fair share to handle, he adds.

“I think that’s one of the problems, one of the big issues right now,” he says. “People taking on more tasks and not getting the rest that they need. Something else I’ve noticed is that the amount of weight that’s being lifted is less as people have realized its effects. But, the more repetition means that more weight is being lifted cumulatively.”

Wawrow’s research may provide a better understanding of what causes injury that can be taught in university classrooms, he says. Furthermore, what he learns may prevent future problems. “Hopefully, I will be able to come up with ways to combat work injury and maybe develop tools or design workstations where you don’t get fatigue in the muscle and cause injury due to the repetitive nature of the job,” says Wawrow.

His research should be completed by the end of 2009. “I’m at the point now I’m just about to analyze the data,” Wawrow says. “The main thing I’m seeing, the longer the muscles are worked, the more fatigue and the more risk. The muscle is less able to recover with a short rest.”

After completing his research, Wawrow says he wants to finish up with his PhD and find a job, noting that he is looking at “something academic-related.” He adds that he has stepped in to teach or share his findings in a couple of Cavanaugh’s classes.

Wawrow says he experienced the muscle injuries first-hand when he used to work as an ergonomic consultant for Humantech, Inc. (a workplace ergonomics consulting firm) in Ann Arbor.

Order of Engineer and Professional Order of Engineering Technology Ceremonies

To our graduating students …

Congratulations on your impending graduation.

The College is pleased to announce our special commencement event -- the Order of the Engineer and the Professional Order of Engineering Technology ceremony. We will continue the tradition of this event for graduating engineering students, both undergraduate and graduate, this December.

Engineering’s program will be held Sunday evening, Dec. 13 at the General Lectures Building immediately after the General Commencement. It will start with a special dinner at approximately 5 or 5:30 p.m., with assembly of graduates at 6:30 p.m., and the ceremonies at 7. The ceremonies usually last about an hour.

Newly degreed undergraduates and graduate students (including PhDs) are invited to participate. Friends, relatives and classmates are invited to join the celebration.

Dress is business casual – there is no need for students to dress in regalia.
The cost to undergraduates, graduate students and PhDs is $15, which includes the cost of the engineer ring or pin (in the case of ET students) and a digital photo. Guests are $25 each.

We are encouraging all engineering faculty and alumni to become ringed if they have not already done so.

All graduates will need to register by filling out a reservation form that is posted at www.eng.wayne.edu/oe/ , printing out and completing the form, and mailing it along with your check or money order to Public Affairs Office, Rm. 1153, College of Engineering, Detroit, MI, 48202.

Engineering Technology graduates will be receiving separate invitations and instructions. For more info, email Marsherry Jarrett at: jarrett@eng.wayne.edu

Registration deadline is Friday, December 4. Reservations must be received by this date or they will not be accepted.

We are asking that all graduating students check in at 6:30 p.m. inside the General Lectures 150 auditorium for pre-processional preparations.
Watch the College homepage for updates on this event.

All the best to you. And congratulations on your well-deserved achievement.

For registration form, click here.

See gallery of photos from May 2009 Commencement here.

From the College of Engineering Public Affairs Office

Professor Promotes College in YouTube Video

Harpreet Singh, professor, College of Engineering

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

Harpreet Singh, an electrical and computer engineering professor, professes his love for the college of engineering by way of a promotional video he produced last summer.

The 7-minute video shows the engineering building inside and out while detailing various departments and labs. Indian music plays in the background. The video was shot in one session on a warm day in late June. It was directed by Singh and edited by two friends, Kevin Griffin (images) and S.K. Bitta (sound). “I only told them what I wanted to be seen,” says Singh of his associates. “They followed friendly advice.”

Singh made the video to show to potential students in India. He has single handedly-recruited scores of students on regularly trips to his native India where he conducts symposiums, visiting technical universities to promote the college. He says students in India are often unaware that they can transfer to Wayne State University. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million,” he says.

“I think the college needs more advertisement to attract students, and more advertisement internationally because we have a good (student) market. They will get better education (in America). They will get more job opportunities. That’s why students come here.”

Singh wanted to make a higher quality, professionally produced video, but was told the college had no budget to support him. So, he made the current homegrown video on no budget.

The clip was initially intended for a video conference Singh was to have with the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (an engineering university located in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India).

The video, which has received at least 345 “views,” has mostly been received well on the YouTube Web site. Some former students showed their appreciation in the comments section. One commenter with the username, “wsugradalum,” called it “nostalgic.”

Another commenter by the username of “MidnightBlue105” was not as pleased, but gave positive suggestions. “I think it would be good to have more students in the shots,” he writes. “The college looks desolate in this video.”

The clip was Singh’s first time putting together a video of Wayne State with no help from the university. “I think with zero money, it’s fine,” says Singh. “The video doesn’t have many students in it, which is true. That video was made on a Saturday.”

Singh insists that he is just getting started. “This is not the end of it,” he says. “This is just the beginning. I plan to make more with more students and people working in the labs, and also, some students speaking.”

Singh says it would be a good idea if students were able to follow his lead. “We want to have good multimedia labs in the college of engineering where students can make their own videos,” says Singh. “They don’t have money for such labs.”

Professor Singh's video showcasing the College of Engineering (YouTube screenshot; video can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40ASWKIiZbE)

Whiplash Injury Research 2009

John Cavanaugh, professor of Biomedical Engineering, studies the biomechanics of trauma and spinal pain in hopes of understanding and preventing injury.

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

Have you ever been rear-ended by another car? If so, you may be familiar with whiplash.

Professor John Cavanaugh, MD ’84, hopes his studies will one day make people and their cars safer. Cavanaugh has been studying the biomechanics of trauma and spinal pain at Wayne State since 1985. He is driven by a desire to understand and prevent injuries.

“I was originally a structural engineer,” Cavanaugh says. “I later went to medical school. I decided to combine my engineering background with medical research, and I went into biomedical engineering.”

An important area of biomedical engineering is biomechanics, which looks at stresses and strains on the human body, including those caused by injury. “Injury is a major public health problem. Any improvement we can make in safety standards will improve the overall health of the general public,” says Cavanaugh. “When it comes to injury, it is much more effective to prevent injury than to treat it after the fact.”

In the United States, it is estimated that more than four million injuries occur each year from motor vehicle accidents. The World Health Organization says the number of deaths per year from road traffic accidents exceeds 1 million worldwide. Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death for young people.

“The better we understand injury mechanisms, the safer we can design cars and reduce the number of injuries, deaths and human suffering,” says Cavanaugh.

Cavanaugh began his whiplash research in 2001 thanks to $1.6 million in funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. He and his lab intend to discover specifically where whiplash pain occurs, why it persists, and how to prevent it. Chaoyang Chen, associate research professor, and Srinivasu Kallakuri, research assistant, have been involved with Cavanaugh in this work since it began.

Cavanaugh says chronic neck pain and low back pain have an effect on just about everything you do. “Neck sprains are the most common type of injury from motor vehicle accidents and result in an estimated 900,000 emergency room visits per year,” he says. “Doctors, for years, have been trying to figure out where the low back pain and neck pain come from. Sources include the discs, the facets and the surrounding muscles. However, discs are often degenerated in people who are pain free.”

In the CDC study, Cavanaugh and his lab have focused more on the facet joint, which may be the most important source of whiplash pain. ”Most people know how painful a jammed or dislocated finger can be. The facet joints are very similar.” His lab has found that these joints have a rich nerve supply that fire abnormal discharges when the joint is stretched beyond the normal range as in a whiplash event, and the surrounding muscles react with signals that indicate spasm.

Computer models of the human body are being developed that measure how much strain is likely to cause a whiplash injury or a traumatic brain injury,” Cavanaugh says. He explains that strain in soft tissue is similar to stretching a rubber band. When you strain the axons in the brain more than 20% of their original length, the result can be serious brain injury. When you stretch the joints in the neck more than 40% of their original length, the result can be serious neck pain.

“The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) performs crash tests with different manufacturers’ seats to determine how well they protect against whiplash injury at 10 miles per hour,” Cavanaugh says. “The IIHS uses a BioRID (Biofidelic Rear Impact Dummy) that has a more human-like neck in rear impact than previous car crash dummies.”

The next step, Cavanaugh says, is to develop a car crash dummy and a computer model that can measure the stretch of the facet joints to prevent these injuries in the future.

Not only is the research of Cavanaugh and his lab of potential benefit to public health, but also to Wayne State and its students. “Our research provides Wayne State national exposure because much of the funding for this comes from the federal government. And it is presented at conferences nationwide and in other parts of the world,” he says.

Research on whiplash and spinal trauma by Cavanaugh’s lab received the John Paul Stapp Best Paper Award at the 2005 Stapp Car Crash Conference and the Best Student Paper awards at the 2005 and 2006 conferences. Cavanaugh adds that a number of PhD students who worked on these projects have gone on to begin their own successful careers. Current students in biomedical engineering continue to get hands-on experience in these research projects as well.

Cavanaugh wants to continue in future projects to combine biomechanics with neuroscience, hoping that this combination will lead to further reduction of chronic pain and injury.

Career Fair 2009

Sophomore Miroslav Dimovski (right) speaks with a representative from BAE Systems at the 2009 Engineering and Computer Science Job Fair. (Photo by Alonso del Arte)

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

Engineering senior Karmell Wisdom, sophomore Miroslav Dimovski and freshman Gwendolyn Morgan were among hundreds of optimistic job candidates trying to find a job in a tough economy at the 2009 Engineering and Computer Science Job Fair.

Each student had a different experience, but they all remain hopeful despite the hard-hit economy.

There were 26 companies in attendance (29 if you count the Office of the Director for National Intelligence, the Center for Academic Excellence and Army ROTC) recruiting students for part-time, full-time, seasonal, co-op and internship positions. For students hoping to land a paying job, 22 employers have full-time jobs in the near future. The number of open positions varied within each company.

Among the big names were Ford Motor Co., DTE Energy, and the CIA. The former was the last to close up shop.

The Engineering and Computer Science Job Fair used to be separate events, but Diane Grimord, university counselor at the College of Education, says employers didn’t want to go to both because the two fields often overlap as far as positions within any given company that attends.

Wisdom is a senior with a major in engineering technology and a focus in product design. She spent the last nine months working with BAE Systems (who was represented at the event) before being laid off from her part-time position. Prior to that, Wisdom interned three summers at Procter & Gamble and another summer at Whirlpool.

Morgan, a first-year mechanical engineering major, hasn't decided yet what kind of job she wants, but is also interested in doing “something in design,” she says. “I am very interested in how they design things. I’ve always been interested in how things work. As a kid, I always took things apart and put them together.”

She hopes to get an internship. "I just want to get a feel of what I want to go into."

Dimovski, a sophomore civil engineering major, says he attended the Job Fair so he could plant all his seeds. “I’m pretty much just trying to hit all the civil engineering people,” he says while waiting in line at the Urban Science booth.

Urban Science Project Manager Monica Roberts says the company is looking for everything from entry-level, associate positions to senior consultant. “I think Urban Science is a great company, and it’s really exciting to be recruiting with this job market,” says Roberts.

Dimovski says he has no job preference. “I’m just open to whoever wants to pick me up.” However, he does hope to land a job that requires some physical activity. “I like the hands-on aspect. I don’t like sitting behind a desk every day.”

NTH Consultants was the most impressive company at the fair, Dimovski says. “The people I talked to were really knowledgeable and showed a lot of interest in me.”

Zach Carr is a professional engineer for NTH Consultants located in downtown Detroit. He says this year’s Job Fair was his third or fourth and that this year’s candidates consisted of the “most qualified people, for sure.” There were many high-quality, well-rounded resumes, he says.

Dimovski is looking for an internship in order to gain “good experience and help me open some doors when I graduate.” He says only a couple higher-level companies told him he needed more experience, but that he didn’t mind. “It’s understandable. Of course, you’re going to want someone with more experience.”

Morgan was given the cold shoulder by a couple of companies as well. “I was expecting that because I’m only a freshman,” says a still-confident Morgan after being turned away for a lack of experience. “I’m just trying to be on top of my game.”

Carr says NTH is looking for interns and co-op students, including several part-time and 12 full-time interns. “I look for sincere interest in the field,” he says. “Their attitude…having a zest for what they’re going into. Even a freshman can go far with a can-do attitude.”

Gerald Thompkins, associate dean for student affairs and the job fair’s organizer, says students need to be prepared to do whatever it takes to make it in the real world. “My advice to graduating seniors is to be flexible in their career pursuits, and also be prepared to relocate to perhaps a different city and even a different state.”

Thompkins also suggests students be diverse in their job search targets. “Graduating engineers must realize that (even) with their engineering degrees, they need to look beyond the automotive industry for career opportunities.”

Wisdom says she was disappointed some recruiters weren't recruiting on the spot, but asking her to go online and apply. It wasn’t all bad. though. Gentex Corporation was “pretty impressive,” says Wisdom, after seeing their attractive display and learning about the company she had never heard of.

Wisdom could tell something was different this year when she saw there was only one floor full of company representatives as opposed to the two floors of companies who showed up last year.

Thompkins says the sluggish market is the reason why there were fewer vendors this year. “The economy has played a major role in companies and their recruiting objectives,” he says of those corporations that chose to stay away. “Instead of doing career fairs, this is a way for them to save revenue and other associated costs.”

Thompkins says there have been between 45 and 50 companies on average (with a high of nearly 60) at previous job fairs. That number has been cut in half, with only one major automobile manufacturer represented this year.

Ford representatives were happy to be in a position where they can still recruit, especially from Wayne State. “One of the things about Wayne State is the quality of students we see each year,” says Benny Wong, lead engineering recruiter at Ford at his seventh job fair. “There’s no drop-off. The quality is equal – fine students each year.”

Wong was proud to represent the auto industry at the Job Fair. “We are hiring,” he says. “If you notice, GM is not here…Chrysler is not here. That says a lot about how we’re doing in this economy. We didn’t have to take the stimulus checks. We did it on our own.”

Wong says the number of engineering jobs Ford is offering is “significantly better than last year.”

Jason Jackson, an information technology professional at Ford, says his company came out to promote their Ford College Program. Student interns rotate through three different jobs each year for three years. At the end of the program, a permanent, full-time position may be a offered, says Jackson.

Wisdom acknowledges the weak job market here in Michigan and the difficulties she faces when she graduates. “I feel that it’s tougher for new graduates because the applicant pool may have a bunch of people with more experience…so many qualified people who’ve maybe been in management, (and) instead of going into upper positions, they settle for entry-level position,” says Wisdom who hopes to get a master’s degree in product development.

Gary Madej, vice president of Soil and Materials Engineering, agrees that Wayne State is the place to be (or to graduate from, for that matter). “We’ve been here (recruiting) a number of years, and I graduated from here,” says Madej, who holds a bachelor's (1973) and master's (1978) in civil engineering from WSU. “We’re looking for a diverse workforce. You certainly have a lot of diversity here.”

Madej adds his company is looking for focused individuals to fill coop and full-time positions. “Someone who’s all right working in the field because it’s hard work. Someone who is willing to learn…willing to work. They have to be in civil engineering because it fits in with their education. We need them to be strong. Basically, it takes a special person.”

Marching Band 2009

Civil engineering student Martin Brosnan plays trumpet in the WSU marching band. (Photo by Alonso del Arte)

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

Engineering freshman Nigil Valikodath (undecided; leaning toward biomedical engineering) and sophomore Martin Brosnan (civil engineering) are breathing life back into Wayne State University’s resurrected marching band.

It has been about 20 years since the last time a Wayne State marching band made the Tom Adams Field their stomping ground. But things are changing and it all started during the homecoming game on Oct. 3 when the band rose from the dead.

“I am so glad that there is a band,” says 18-year-old bass drum player, Valikodath. “Of course, it’s my freshman year, so the fact that it is resurrected does not mean much to me. But I appreciate that people made the effort to bring the band back.”

Brosnan, 19, says the marching band will give a boost to school spirit. “It helps with bringing people down to the football games and everything,” he says. “It helps out with school spirit. It almost seems wrong if you go to a football game and there’s no marching band. The halftime show isn’t the same with music being played over the P.A. system.”

Music lecturer and band director Janet Wright-McCaskill is leading the way. “Bringing back the Warrior Band revisits a lost venue for school spirit and pride,” says Wright-McCaskill, the adamant and determined ring leader who was hired this past summer to revive the former world-renowned band. “It also provides a great outlet for students who want to continue to play their instruments, but don't want to become a music major or music minor. I want students to have opportunities to become involved in their collegiate community and the Warrior Band provides those situations.”

But the band isn’t back to its normal self just yet. In a short time, about 50 would-be band members had to put in long hours behind the scenes to make rehearsals a reality.

Brosnan says students only needed to show interest and have some skill with a musical instrument. “Because it was the first year, we didn’t have any cuts or tryouts or anything because we needed people,” he says. “You have to know how to play the instruments and actually show up to every rehearsal.”

Experience certainly helps, though. Valikodath and Brosnan, a trumpeter, have been involved in playing instruments most of their lives. “I’ve done some type of band since fourth grade,” says Valikodath. “I love playing instruments.”

Brosnan played in his high school pep band, but has been playing music since a child. He says there’s a link between playing music and studying. “I’ve been a musician since I was 4 years old, and I do think there’s a connection between playing in a band and doing well in school,” Brosnan says of the discipline needed to succeed in each path. “Learning to play an instrument does really help with being able to do well in class.”

Valikodath says his studies allow him to think outside the box because “engineering brings my creative side to the marching band.” For instance, he says, “We had to think of a way to harness the bass drums, and we had to figure out how to assemble the other harnesses that were sent in. Also, when we have to modify or make up our own cadences -the drumline’s own parading music played in between the normal band songs- I think of it as making something from the limited resources. I think of it as engineering a song.”

Wright-McCaskill says some students brought their own instruments while they wait for new ones purchased by the university to arrive.. “Some instruments should arrive by the end of the semester, and some will arrive throughout the next several months,” she says.

The road to the football field was tough. “I didn't have an instrument for the pre-game, but I did for the stands,” says Valikodath. “The bass drum did not have a harness to hold it up, and so I could only play in the stands. I think bringing it to the stands was the difficulty I had to overcome.”

Brosnan used his own trumpet he has had since high school. Considering all the challenges that arose leading up to the big game, he says he is proud of the marching band’s performance, and that the hard work paid off. “One of the biggest difficulties is most marching bands start in the summer with a camp, work with techniques, pass out music, get to know stuff,” says Brosnan. “We had so many conflicts with people working and classes that we had to learn all the music on our own or outside of rehearsal. We basically had to do everything on an accelerated timescale. That’s why we haven’t done anything complex yet. But that’s pretty impressive.”

At the game, the band played the WSU alma mater, a version of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” and the national anthem. “They sound great,” a proud Wright-McCaskill says.

Fortunately, everything ended on a good note – including the game. “It was awesome,” says Brosnan. “I never played football. I love watching football games. Being a fan watching the football games is great. But being a part of the game (whether you’re a cheerleader or in the band, a commentator or a player on the field) is just another level. Knowing that you’re a part of what people are going to watch is just amazing. The game was just amazing – probably one of the best days I’ve had since I started college.”

“A marching band makes the fans and maybe even the players get more into the game,” Valikodath says. “I think we are one of the many reasons we won at homecoming.”

There are a couple of immediate goals Wright-McCaskill is planning to achieve. “We hope to push 100 members within the next year,” she says. “We will also continue to expand our pregame show, add more stands selections and add several half-time shows next season. We will have a band camp before next school year where everyone will audition for part-assignments. Additionally, throughout the summer, I hope to have several mini-camps for percussion, auxiliary and leadership. It will be a very busy time.”

In the meantime, Wright-McCaskill says the Warrior Band will keep playing. “Come check us out at a basketball game,” she says.

Interview with a Digg.com Software Engineer Kurt Wilms

Liying Zhang mTBI research award

Alternative Energy Research

2009 International Conference on Energy and Environment

Global Human Body Model Consortium

Battery and Electric Vehicle Grant

Advanced Battery Systems for Hybrid Electric Vehicles Course

Sustainable Engineering Certificate Program

Helios Trail: Still a Trailblazer 20 Years Later

The "Helios Trail" in its new position in front of the Engineering Development Center and artist Bruce White.

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

In 1989, sculptor Bruce White, then a professor at Northern Illinois University School of Art, created what has become the symbol of the College of Engineering with a sculpture named the “Helios Trail.”

White, 76, says the sculpture and its title were inspired by Greek mythology. “I was trying to do something that expressed the mission of the college…something going for the future. And, you know, the myth of the Helios leaving a trail – the sun god left a trail of light across the sky. I wanted something shooting into space, which seemed perfect space age.”

The sculpture was installed on Sept. 22, 1989. It was intended to express the spirit of the college, and it looks livelier than ever in its new location. The 40-foot tall stainless steel monument was removed from its base in the engineering building’s secluded courtyard in 2007 in preparation for construction of the Marvin I. Danto Engineering Development Center. It has since found a new home, as well as a new life, in front of the new Danto Center.

“I think it’s wonderful that they moved it,” says White. “That one wall with the curvature; it fits in very well. I’m very pleased with where it’s located now. It has a nice, symbolic feeling to it.”

Speaking from his studio in Dekalb, Ill., the same industrial warehouse where the figure was sculpted two decades ago, White recalls how he won the College of Engineering’s national contest. After submitting his idea, White’s small metal sculpture model made it to the final four where it won over the judges.

With planning included, the Helios took six months to craft, he says. It was constructed, laid out and welded on the floor of his warehouse. Upon completion, it was lifted onto a flatbed truck, carried to Detroit, lifted across the building and planted by a large crane onto its base in the engineering courtyard.

White likens the process behind his creation to that of an engineering student bringing a new design to life. “Much like any engineering project, it started with an idea and a sketch. But, of course, you have to make changes to make sure that it’s feasible to build and within the budget,” White says without revealing his commission for the project as he wants the costs to remain private.

His intentions are to make people connect with his sculptures. “A lot of my art is emotion,” says White. “You feel the idea through the form. The sculpture expresses shooting into space, reaching for the sky.”

The courtyard is gone, but the sculpture is back with all of its symbolism intact. It has inspired the logo atop every official document or material relating to the College of Engineering for much of the past 20 years.

“It’s very exciting when an idea takes form – a visual signature rather than a written signature,” says White. “It becomes a symbol of an idea...a unique expression.”

During his 20-year tenure as a professor at Northern Illinois University, White was more than happy to share his experiences. “If students were interested, I would hire them to work for me," he says. “Many of them have gone on to make a name for themselves, and now they’re my colleagues – my competition.”

About eight years ago, White traded in his teaching responsibilities for more time to concentrate on his sculpture.

White says retirement is not on his radar: “I just keep working. Right now, I’m working on a piece for Miami, Florida. I’m in very good health. I’m going to keep going until I can’t anymore physically. Many great artists worked until they couldn’t do it any longer physically.”

Several years ago while on vacation, Brian Geraghty, MSME’72, noticed that a 2002 White sculpture named “Fire Monument” in Jacksonville, Fla. bore a striking resemblance to the Helios Trail. Both sculptures are metal, spear-like in form with three sides, leaning toward the sky, and gradually taper to a point at its apex.

When asked about the two similar looking pieces, White says he wouldn’t re-create any piece. In both of these cases he chose to put the sculptures on an angle as opposed to a typical straight-up-and-down piece, he says. “I like the upward lean idea which gives them both a kind of energy,” he adds. “I just like that effect instead of a static vertical look – like a body in action."

In “Helios” the jagged edge continues the full length, diminishing upward like the trail a modern jet leaves in the sky. In the Jacksonville “Monument” the jagged edges surround the lower portion of the primary form which then appears to break through and shoot upward, indicating the emergence of the new city rising from the ashes of the old.”

White’s body of work is quite extensive and varied. He says he does not have a favorite among his many sculptures (nearly 60 of which are featured on his website: www.brucewhitesculpture.com). “I don't really rank them. I never think in those terms. I never think that one is my favorite. I just look forward to the next challenge and hope to surprise myself.”

Top row: White's 2002 "Fire Monument" (Jacksonville, Fla.); bottom row: White's 2003 "Canopy" (Wilmette, Illinois) and 1994 "Gridlock" (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Stevens Point, Wis.)

College of Engineering Video Contest

DiverseAbility - Career Workshop

Learn about diversibilty, work opportunities, how to address disclosure, accommodations, and related disability issues. Educational Accessibility Serivces and Career Services are co-hosting this program on Thursday March 27, 2008 from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm in room 1339 FAB. Register by contacting Jane DePriester-Morandini by email at aa7740@wayne.edu or phone at (313) 577-1851. Light refreshments will be served.

Click for more info