FACULTY NEWS

•      Two CEE professors play major roles in Wisconsin's new $16.8 million environmental health laboratory. William C. Sonzogni serves as director of the recently dedicated facility which houses about 120 staff. Newly hired Assistant Professor James Schauer, is in charge of air quality testing and research at the new building.

The CEE department has a long tradition of working with the state's laboratory of hygiene. The lab serves as the state's public health laboratory, and as such conducts testing and research in environmental and clinical areas. The new 78,000 gross square foot laboratory contains facilities for graduate students to conduct research, including top-notch equipment and the most recent innovations in laboratory safety. In addition the lab's experienced scientists and technicians are available to help train students.

The state-of-the-art facility is located on Madison's east side. Its uniquely designed, nearly metal-free clean room, allows analysis of metals and other substances in a contaminant free environment. The low detection levels required for many health-related substances make this room particularly valuable.

In addition to traditional environmental testing capabilities, the laboratory is equipped to do biomonitoring, molecular biotechnology (including environmental virology), radiochemistry and some types of toxicological testing. The laboratory's occupational health testing facility serves states throughout the nation. Among the specialty instruments in use is a one-of-a-kind robotics unit that weighs filters used to collect particles from the air. Current uses notwithstanding, the building was designed to be as modular as possible, given that tomorrow's laboratory needs will likely be different than today's.

All alumni are invited to visit the laboratory. A map and tour information can be found on the laboratory of hygiene's website www.slh.wisc.edu/about/location.html.

•      The Campus Map Project completed its primary deliverables last year and is currently moving into an enhancement, maintenance, system extension, and programmatic implementation mode. Databases include a three-dimensional spatial representation (accurate to 15cm) of the campus and its surrounding area (e.g., buildings, streets, sidewalks, parking lots and stalls, retaining walls, natural areas, etc.); a one-meter spacing digital elevation model, containing approximately 10,000,000 elevations and supporting 2-foot contours; and a seamless color digital orthophoto with 10cm ground-resolution pixels. The three-dimensional representation allows development of perspective scenes and "fly-throughs." The highly-accurate datasets are being used as reference databases in research that tests the quality of other mapping and positioning methods. For example, a current research project, under the direction of Professor Alan Vonderohe and Associate Professors Teresa Adams and David Mezera, is testing the accuracy of automated vehicle location systems by tracking the vehicles across campus and comparing their reported locations to those known to be true according to the streets as represented in the three-dimensional campus map. The datasets, and the technology used to develop them, are also being used in a number of courses. The Facilities Planning and Management Office is implementing the campus map for a host of planning and project management activities.

•      Professors Vonderohe, Adams and Mezera and graduate students Rama Mulukutla and Joon Heo are working on a new two-year project funded by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program entitled "Quality and Accuracy of Positional Data in Transportation." The objectives include: development of models for error and its propagation through GIS operations, determination of sensitivity to error in mission-critical transportation applications, development of methods for visualization of error in transportation data, and development of a software learning tool to assist transportation professionals in implementing research results. Ultimately, the research will address the fundamental question: "How accurate must my transportation data be in order to effectively and efficiently support decision making?"

•      The MS program within geospatial information engineering was overhauled last summer to include tracks in civil infrastructure information, geographic information systems for transportation, and digital photogrammetry and remote sensing. As part of these new areas, Professors Adams, Mezera and Vonderohe will teach a new course in transportation location referencing systems this spring. The revised program also includes a new course in spatial measurement systems design and a revised course in analytical and digital photogrammetry.

•      Professor Robert Smith, Jr. will spend the Spring 2000 semester on sabbatical in Madrid, Spain. Smith will be a visiting faculty member at the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid. He plans to work with Professor Manuel Romana in the civil engineering department on road financing, environmental impacts and truck safety issues. In addition, Smith will travel to major European cities to learn about intelligent transportation systems initiatives.