Dear Alumni and Friends of Ole Miss Civil Engineering,

Happy New Year!

With the start of a new year, I would like to continue the tradition of
reporting to you some of the exciting things happening in Ole Miss Civil
Engineering Department.

First of all, you should have received the Ole Miss Engineer newsletter in
the last two week or so. It contains many good news about School of
Engineering, so I won't repeat them. (If you have not received this printed
newsletter, and would like to receive one, please contact Tom Black
tblack@alumni.olemiss.edu.)
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As you know, Senior Design is a one-year course in which we train our
students to put together everything they learned in class into realworld
practice. This year Dr. Mullen selected a daunting project: The planning and
design of Interstate 69 from Robinsonville to Benoit Mississippi. You may
have heard that in the National Transportation Bill passed through US
Congress last year, money was provided for this Interstate that will connect
the CEFTA countries, from Canada, through US and Mexico, to connect to
Central American countries. A segment of this Interstate passes through
Mississippi Delta!!! According to the Mayor of Cleveland, MS, to the Delta
residents, the significance of the project is matched only by the
construction of Mississippi River Levee. It will bring economic prosperity
to the Delta.

Since we decided to tackle this project, we have received quite a lot of
help and support. Let me mention a few:

1. Jimmy Dickerson (BSCE74), MDOT District 2 District Engineer, coordinated
our contact with MDOT.

2. MDOT staff visited class to give lectures include: Claiborne Barnwell (on
environmental assessment), Ray Valentine (on planning), Kevin McGee (on
Greenville Bridge). (Other MDOT visitor to the department include Bob Mabry
on MDOT Katrina related coastal construction.)

3. Other lectures were given by Bob Reed (BSCE81) on steel structure design,
Mike Falkner (BSCE88) on HEC-RAS (River Analysis) software.

4. The junior and senior class went on a whole day field trip, led by three
faculty members, to visit two sites: Cives Steel factory, and the I-69
Mississippi River crossing site at Benoit, MS. The field trip was hosted and
coordinated by Bob Reed, President, Cives Steel. In Cives Steel students
observed the design and manufacturing of steel structure, as well as the
business operation including bidding and contracting. Students were treated
a catfish lunch at Great River Park, courtesy of Cives Steel. After the
lunch students met with the Mayor of Cleveland, representatives of chamber
of commerce, and MDOT engineers for a briefing of the I-69 project. Some
photos are posted here: http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/civil_eng/field/cives/

Students are put into several teams for design competition. By the end
spring semester, students will make a public presentation and be judged by
practicing engineers. We look forward to this great learning experience not
only for students, but also for the faculty.
===================
You have read about the ENGR100 class to high school seniors in the Ole Miss
Engineer. Let me just mention the civil engineering part. Dr. Mullen
designed a "earthquake resistant building" competition. Students build model
buildings with reinforcement. Buildings were place on a "shaking table" made
in-house by Graduate student Tej. One student designed building survived the
violent shaking!

Please visit this site for photos:
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/civil_eng/photo/engr100/

Also, I gave a lecture on introduction to civil engineering, which is a
mixture of history and modern wonders. If you are interested, and are
interesting in contributing ideas, you can have a look here:
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/civil_eng/intro-CE.pdf
===================
Last semester Dean Lee asked me to teach his class on Leadership and
Professionalism. I had a very good semester with 46 students. More than 30
of them were civil engineers. CE alums Al Crawley (BSCE 74), Lucy Philips
(BSCE02), Bill Rigby (BSCE71) came in to give lecture, as well as Provost
Staton, Vice Chancellor Kellum and Vice Chancellor Clark. The highlight
might be the lecture by Bill Parson, the NASA Shuttle Program Director, to
speak about the return of flight of Discovery, and his career experience.
===================
One announcement here: By the request of alums, the department has obtained
the authorization to host the National Highway Institute Bridge Inspection
courses. If you need such course in order to conduct business of inspecting
bridges (new FHWA regulation) , you need to download the registration form
here:

http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/civil_eng/nhi.pdf

Only 30 seats are available.
=========================
One last item before I close: The School of Engineering is soliciting news
articles for the spring issue of newsletter. I would like to invite your
story. If you feel that you have a good and inspiring story for students,
please send me a note so I can recommend. (You don't need to write the
story. You will be interviewed.)
===================

Best wishes for the New Year!

Alex
===============================
Alexander H.-D. Cheng
Professor and Chair
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Mississippi
P.O. Box 1848
University, MS 38677-1848
Tel: 662-915-5362
Fax: 662-915-5523
Email: acheng@olemiss.edu
URL: http://www.olemiss.edu/~acheng/
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/civil_eng/