Engineering Professional Practice Announcement

Fall Engineering Fair Sets Record Student Attendance

The Engineering Professional Practice office held its Fall 2010 Engineering Fair on Sept. 27 in the University Center Volunteer Ballroom. Thirty-eight employers were present, looking for engineering students who are seeking co-op and internship positions.

A new student attendance record was set at 515 students, marking the first time in the event’s history that more than 500 students attended the fair.

Employers consistently commented that this group of students was the most-prepared group they had ever seen at UT, in that the students’ appearance and level of preparation was the highest they had experienced.

The interview day followed on Sept. 28 in the Neyland Stadium East Skyboxes. Some students have already received offers for co-op and internship positions, and most students should know the final results of their interviews by the end of October.

A few Fall Engineering Fair photos are shown below, but if you'd like to see a complete slideshow of fair and interview day photos, please follow the link on this page of the Engineering Professional Practice Web site: http://www.coop.utk.edu/Fair-Fall2010photos.html.

Fall Engineering Photos

                          Adtran                                                               Altec

         Eastman Chemical Company                                  Kimberly-Clark   

                              Shaw                                                         Garmin

         Memphis Light, Gas and Water                             Southern Company

 

Students, please note: If you receive a co-op or internship offer, please contact Engineering Professional Practice for help with paperwork and any preparations you may need – [log in to unmask], 865-974-5323 or 310 Perkins Hall.

Engineering Professional Practice Student Feature

Featured student: Aaron Phillippe

Aaron Phillippe is a senior in nuclear engineering. He spent his summer on an internship with B&W Technical Services Group in Lynchburg, Va., and had the following to say about his experience:

“I worked with the MIPS team in the development of a Medical Isotope Production System, which uses Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) in an Aqueous Homogeneous Reactor (AHR). Specifically, this system is designed for the production of Molybdenum-99 for use in Technetium-99m generators.

“I assisted the lead reactor design engineer in the review of the conceptual system design documentation, preparation of presentations to parties outside the company working in conjunction on the project, and the creation of a book for public consumption describing the MIPS reactor and facility as it will be built. I also worked for the lead engineer of extraction and purification in the development of input files for SCALE and ORIGEN-ARP. These files were then used to predict isotope concentrations in the reactor over its operating lifetime, for the purposes of licensing the final product with the FDA.”

Training consisted of personal development in “diffusing emotionally charged situations, proper workplace etiquette, and efficiently obtaining the required information to perform your job properly ... My supervisors allowed for a large amount of free will. I was allowed to decide what assignments to work on and when, as long as everything was completed on time...I really have no complaints. It was quite enjoyable, and I learned a lot.”

New technical skills Phillippe said he learned included: SCALE 6, ORIGEN-ARP, DOS, UNIX, ORIGEN 2, and debugging without a code editor.

“The biggest challenge, by far, this summer, was in generating usable data with SCALE to be used with the ORIGEN-ARP program. My supervisor knew the end product that he wanted, but did not know the particulars of how to get there, or that it would be more complicated than he had assumed. I spent five weeks learning to program scale input files from the thousands of pages of user manual. Through persistence, a willingness to experiment outside of how the manual said to do it, and over 30 iterations of one program, I was able to generate the desired data. The important take away, ‘It’s easier said than done,’ definitely applies to work assignments, but it doesn’t mean that the assignment is unworkable.

“I think the most valuable thing I learned was how computer modeling plays an integral role in designing, evaluating, and licensing a nuclear reactor.”

Phillippe has this advice to offer other students considering this employer: “A background check for all applicants is required to work at the facility, so apply early. Depending on the job in the facility, it would probably be a good idea to apply before December.

Students may read more about their peers’ co-op/internship experiences by logging into their Engineering Professional Practice profile via www.coop.utk.edu, clicking “Resource Library” (on the left margin) and selecting “Students at Work – In Their Own Words.” For information on engineering co-op and internships, contact Engineering Professional Practice at [log in to unmask] or 865-974-5323.

Faculty Awards and Mentions

Student News and Awards

Scholarship Opportunity for Sophomores and Juniors

The Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships is seeking applications from sophomores and juniors interested in pursuing careers related to the environment for the 2011 Morris K. and Stewart L. Udall Scholarship. The office needs your help in identifying top sophomores and juniors at UT who fit this description.

The Udall Foundation seeks future leaders across a wide spectrum of environmental fields, including policy, engineering, science, education, urban planning and renewal, business, health, justice, and economics. Applicants must be in their sophomore or junior year and should be committed to a career related to the environment. For the purposes of the Udall, “sophomore” and “junior” mean students with two years or one year remaining before graduation; it has nothing to do with credit hours earned.

Applicants who perform well at the national level are committed to environmentalism; they have distinguished themselves as leaders on campus and/or in the community with respect to environmental issues; they typically have high GPAs and a well-rounded vitae. We are allowed to nominate up to six students each year. For the purposes of the campus screening process, our deadline is Dec. 6, 2010. If you have taught or advised any students recently who have the potential to be the next Udall Scholar from UTK, please let the Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships know.

Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Germany

Do you have an outstanding graduate student? Then send him or her to the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Germany this summer to meet Nobel Laureates and rub shoulders with some of the brightest graduate students from around the globe.

The meeting will be held from June 26 until July 1, 2011, and will focus on physiology or medicine. The timeline is short, so nominations are due by Nov. 1, 2011.

You can learn more about the Lindau Nobel Meetings at the following Web sites:

· General information from the official Web site.
· U.S.- specific information on how to nominate students, etc. is here.
· Videos on Nature’s Web site, which will give you an excellent idea of what the   Lindau meeting is all about.
· Video diary from an American student who attended last year.

Career Opportunities for Students

Career Services is taking applications for “Peer Career Advisors," who will help fellow students with resume critiques, HIRE-A-VOL system, interview skills and job seeking strategies. To apply, contact Elizabeth Pallardy at [log in to unmask] or 974-5435. Don’t delay- applications are due Nov. 1. There is an information session on Oct. 28 at 4 p.m. in Dunford Hall.

The Student Success Center is taking applications for Peer Mentors for First Year Studies. The Peer Mentor interest session is on Nov. 15 between 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. in the University Center Room 220. The Student Success Center information is online at studentsuccess.tennessee.edu.

NSBE and Theta Tau Combined Event

A U.S. Air Force representative will be on campus Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. in HSS Room 71 to educate engineering students about a broad range of job opportunities. This event is open to all students but will be more specifically geared toward engineering majors. Food will be provided, and dress code is business casual.

 

Group of UT Researchers Wins Award

Back row, L to R: R. Matthew Wham, Xiaopeng Zhao, Joseph McBride Front row, L to R: Henian Xia, Erica Hawkins, Adam Sullivan

A group of UT researchers won award in the Physionet/Computing in Cardiology Challenge 2010: Mind the Gap. The goal of this challenge was to develop robust techniques, which can adapt at noises and make use of context to fill in gaps in multiparameter physiological data. These techniques have many potential applications, ranging from sleep studies to surgery to sports medicine to intensive care.
Fifty-three teams around the world attended this competition. A UT team from the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering designed a robust and efficient technique that combines neuron network models with a nonlinear feedback mechanism, which can achieve up to 89 percent of accuracy in data reconstruction. The team won 2nd place in the challenge with a $500 cash award. The team, led by Dr. Xiaopeng Zhao, includes three graduate students: Adam Sullivan, Henian Xia, and Joseph McBride, as well as 2 undergraduate students: Robert Wham and Erica Hawkins. The team also received assistance by Dr. J. Wesley Hines, Dr. Kivanc Ekici and Gerald Ragghianti.

Engineering Advising Office Updates

Friday, Oct. 15, is the last day to add, change grading options or drop without a W for second session courses. Tuesday, Oct. 19, is the last day to drop with a W for full-term courses. Remember to visit the Registrar’s Office Web page to learn all about the new registration system called MyUTK.

 

Juniors (60-89 hours)	Oct. 25 at 7 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Sophomores (30-59 hours)	Nov. 5 at 7 a.m., 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Freshmen (Less than 30 hours)	Nov. 19 at 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.