SCE’s Alumni Association sponsored the annual SCE Alumni Golf Tournament on May 14, 2010. SCE Alums/Students/Faculty and friends of SCE played 18 holes at Hillcrest Country Club, raising over $4,000 in funds for scholarships to deserving undergraduate students. Sponsors included Black & Veatch, Burns & McDonnell, Gibbens Drake and Scott, Inc., ATK Lake City, Trekk Design Group, KCI Inc., Merrill Watt, HNTB, Mike Varadey, UMKC EE and the Golf Doctor. See more pictures.
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Congratulations to the UMKC Human Powered Vehicle Team. The HPV team finished 7th overall for the East Coast Competition in the Speed Class. The 2010 Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC) East Coast competition was hosted by Central Connecticut State University on May 7-9. All races were held at the Stafford Motor Speedway (www.staffordmotorspeedway.com). The competition included a Design Event, a Drag Race, and a 40 mile speed endurance race. The Drag Race included a single-elimination qualifying race and a double-elimination tournament drag race. Next year’s competition will be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The faculty advisor is Dr. Trent Guess.
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One relatively modest grant might not seem like enough to change the world. But in the hands of researchers at the UMKC School of Computing and Engineering (SCE), it can help build a better knee, a better bicycle, better concrete, help prevent osteoarthritis, help the elderly recover from falls and even identify who’s telling the truth and who’s hiding something. Thanks to a $263,685 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), SCE’s Human Motion Lab is being put to work finding those solutions. The grant, titled “Major Research Instrumentation: Acquisition of an Experimental Platform to Support Research and Educational Activities in Human Motion,” was authored by SCE assistant professors of mechanical engineering Greg King and Trent Guess, and assistant professors of electrical engineering Reza Derakhshani and Walter Leon-Salas. It is one of about 11,500 awarded from a pool of approximately 44,000 requests. Click to read story >
Society of American Military Engineers’ Bliss Medal recognizes excellence in educating, mentoring and motivating students. In the middle of Teacher Appreciation Week, the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) recognized UMKC’s School of Computing and Engineering Dean Kevin Truman for excellence in educating, mentoring and motivating students. Truman accepted SAME’s 2009 Bliss Medal on May 5 at SAME’s 2010 Joint Engineer Education and Training Conference and Expo. More UMKC Press Release . . . and at http://www.flickr.com/photos/militaryengineers/page12/
Five SCE students enjoyed a great presentation and visited with several professional engineers from various KC engineering firms at the April 22, 2010 dinner/presentation hosted by the Western Chapter of the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers (WC MSPE). The UMKC SCE student chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) is one of only 7 nationwide. The UMKC SCE student chapter is supported and provided mentoring by both the state chapter, MSPE, and our Kansas City local chapter, WC MSPE.
Membership in the UMKC SCE student chapter of MSPE provides SCE engineering students opportunities to 1) learn about how to obtain professional engineering (P.E.) licensure; 2) the many career pathways available to a P.E. and 3) meet professionals from several KC companies and learn more about their companies and their careers. The faculty advisor of the UMKC student chapter of MSPE is Khosrow Sohraby, Ph.D., P.E. Pictured standing in the background is the President Elect of WC MPSE, Barbara Friedman, and UMKC SCE Alumni Board President, Scott Saxton.
SCE mechanical engineering undergraduate student, Chase Scheibler, was a member of one of six winning teams, TransformaLEDs Technologies. Winning teams received a Launch Package valued at $15,0000. Chase is also the President of SCE’s Engineers without Borders student organization. This story was originally run by the Henry W. Block School.
On Friday, April 30th, The Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UMKC’s Bloch School announced the winning teams of the 2010 Regnier Family Foundations Venture Creation Challenge. The first phase of the competition took place April 23 at the Kauffman Foundation, where eight finalists were named. The winning teams each earned a Launch Package valued at $15,000 that includes a combination of cash and in-kind services to help them start or continue their venture through the Student Ventures Program (incubator).
The winning teams are: The winning teams were carefully analyzed from the eight finalists and chosen by a select group of judges, including Tom Bloch, co-founder, University Academy; David Brain, CEO, Entertainment Properties Trust; Joe Freeman, COO, Pioneer Services; Pat Macdonald, Port Authority/Ameristar-Isle of Capri Economic Advancement Fund; Stephen Meade, entrepreneur, Big Bamboo LLC; Joe Roetheli, CEO, Lil’ Red Foundation; Judy Roetheli; President, Lil’ Red Foundation; and Brooks Sherman, Executive Vice President and CFO, Inergy.
“I was enormously inspired by the students’ creative ideas, plans, and business knowledge,” notes Tom Bloch, former CEO of H&R Bloch and co-founder of University Academy. “Each of the teams demonstrated an incredibly broad depth of technical skills and leadership in the creation of their ventures.
The Venture Creation Challenge exists to encourage student venture creation through a forum in which students from all disciplines across campus can present new venture concepts to local investors, entrepreneurs and venture professionals.
Throughout the semester UMKC students develop business plans supporting commercialization of high-growth potential technologies as well as for their own original ventures.
This year, more than 70 investors, entrepreneurs and business leaders from across the Kansas City area volunteered, viewing more than 40 UMKC student business venture creations and helping select the eight finalist presentation teams, marking the largest event to date.
The Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (IEI) is part of the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Bloch School of Business and Public Administration. The Institute’s mission is to inspire and nurture entrepreneurs and innovators through transformational education and research. The Institute’s vision to be a global leader in creating and disseminating knowledge to advance entrepreneurship and innovation.
The School of Computing and Engineering signed its first dual degree agreement with Blackburn College (Carlinville, IL) on April 9, 2010. Representatives from UMKC and Blackburn, including Dr. Kevin Truman, Dean of SCE, and Dr. Jeff Aper, Provost of Blackburn College, were present for the signing. Also present was Kingsley Kantanka, a student at Blackburn College and the first student to enter SCE under the dual degree program.
The School of Computing and Engineering initiated the dual degree program in fall 2009. This program leads students to undergraduate degrees in both a liberal arts major and a professional engineering, computer science or information technology degree. Students enter UMKC SCE following three (or four) years at their first institution. Students who follow the guidelines and meet the admission requirements will earn a degree from their first institution and a degree from UMKC following two years of study at SCE.
Students who complete the dual degree program experience the benefits of a liberal arts education, allowing them to become better communicators, develop strong study skills and explore additional academic interests, while also finishing a professional degree program. In addition to the program with Blackburn College, SCE also has established a dual degree program with Fontbonne University (St. Louis, MO) and is working on several other partnerships. For more information on the dual degree program, please contact Whitney Molloy at molloyw@umkc.edu.
Reid Vilbig, a civil engineering senior, has been awarded the 2010-2011 American Concrete Institute Luke and Billie Snell Undergraduate Scholarship. SCE maintains a list of external scholarships at /outreach/externalscholarships.aspx and encourages students to review the list and apply, if eligible. Congratulations Reid!
Anirudha Kadambi Vasudevan, a student in our SCE Civil Engineering Master’s program has been awarded the 2010-2011 American Concrete Institute Honorary Abdeldjelil “DJ” Belarbi Graduate Scholarship. SCE maintains a list of external scholarships at /outreach/externalscholarships.aspx and encourages students to review the list and apply, if eligible. Congratulations Anirudha!
The School of Computing and Engineering signed its first dual degree agreement with Blackburn College (Carlinville, IL) on April 9, 2010. Representatives from UMKC and Blackburn, including Dr. Kevin Truman, Dean of SCE, and Dr. Jeff Aper, Provost of Blackburn College, were present for the signing. Also present was Kingsley Kantanka, a student at Blackburn College and the first student to enter SCE under the dual degree program.
ing two years of study at SCE. 
