MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR: Moving
forward
 he summer passed by quickly. We finished our 10-year
department review and received helpful feedback to assist us in moving
forward. Ninety-nine students formally participated in practical internships
and co-ops this summer and our Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge teams
participated in national competitions.
Our Concrete
Canoe team (pictured below) won its
fourth consecutive national title and the Steel
Bridge team placed third in its national competition. These competitions
have significantly improved our department by attracting and engaging
students in meaningful teamwork, leadership development, and practical
problem solving; connecting us to our alumni and industry partners;
and raising department visibility. The students have worked very hard
during their leadership transition, planning to perpetuate their legacy.
We owe a great thanks to Professor Steven
Cramer, who has faithfully advised both student groups. As you may
know, Professor Cramer has been appointed College of Engineering associate
dean for academic affairs. He will remain involved in CEE but is assuming
increased responsibilities within the college.
The fall semester is off to a great start. We have
held receptions in San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, Madison and Milwaukee.
We have receptions planned in Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., right
after the first of the year. If you are interested in helping us organize
a CEE alumni reception, please let us know. We are doing all we can
to connect our alumni and industry partners to the department.
Our 10th annual golf outing was a HUGE success! Despite
the terrible, rainy weather, we had a record turnout of about 250 participants.
Everyone had a great time and we want to thank all who participated.
Julie Zogg and the CEE golf committee did
a marvelous job organizing and leading the event. Learn more about the
golf outing on the following page of the newsletter. The event has come
a long way since Ted Richards, Strand Associates,
and Keith Garnett conceived the idea while
on the CEE visiting committee more than 11 years ago.
We have just finished our ABET visit. ABET is the
accrediting body for engineering programs. Our civil engineering undergraduate
program was accredited for another six years and was found to have no
weaknesses, concerns or deficiencies. This was a major milestone for
us. Professors John
Hoopes and Hussain
Bahia led our team with help from Marsha Landretti,
Abby Dawes and Dixie Lang.
We are grateful to all the alumni who responded to the surveys used
in our assessment process as well as for the CEE visiting committee
input and feedback. We are now determining what our next steps will
be in more formally implementing our assessment and feedback process.
In mid-October, Assistant Professor Steven
Loheide from Stanford University joined our faculty. We’re
excited to have him as a colleague.
Our enrollments continue to be strong. We currently
have 257 students in the department, including 32 students planning
to graduate in December, and about 40 or so students planning to graduate
next May. There also are about 110 freshman and sophomores who are pre-CEE
(i.e., interested in, but not yet admitted to, the department).
From the development perspective, we would like to
thank Strand Associates and Kenneth and Ruth Wright for their investment
in the department. Strand Associates provided a leadership gift of $100,000
and Kenneth and Ruth Wright, from Wright Water Engineers, provided a
gift of $25,000 that established the Professor Peter L. Monkmeyer Fund
for Water Resources Engineering. We’ll continue to accept contributions
to the Monkmeyer fund and look to grow the fund to $500,000. Oscar Boldt
also contributed $100,000 to the department.
Please stay in touch—write us or stop to see
us. We appreciate connecting with you.
On Wisconsin!
Respectfully Yours,
Jeffrey
S. Russell, PhD, P.E., F., ASCE
2205 Engineering Hall
1415 Engineering Dr.
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 608/262-7244
Fax: 608/262-5199
E-mail:
russell@engr.wisc.edu
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