Senior Basketball Star Germain Mopa Njila to Graduate in May

By Josie B. Herrera

Burlington, VT, May 10, 2005.

Germain Mopa Njila, the UVM Catamounts star point guard, will graduate on May 22, 2005. Germain is a native of Cameroon and a major in Computer Science and Information Systems in the College of Engineering and Mathematics.

It seems that everything Germain touches turns to gold. He not only performed at the top of his game in basketball , but he also was a star in his chosen major. He recently received the ALANA Achievement Award presented to him by Josie Herrera, Director of the Diversity and Special Programs in Engineering Office, at the ALANA Banquet in April.

Upon graduation Germain will work at IDX in South Burlington, VT.

New Engineering Dean to Bring Innovative Teaching Model

By Jeff Wakefield
Article published Jul 20, 2004

The university has named Domenico Grasso dean of the College of Engineering and Mathematics after a yearlong national search. The search was led by Frances Carr, UVM’s vice president for research and graduate studies. The appointment was announced July 6.

Grasso is currently the Rosemary Bradford Hewlett Professor and founding director of the pioneering Picker Engineering Program at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. Prior to that he was head of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at the University of Connecticut.

Grasso will formally begin his duties at UVM in January 2005 but will be working closely with the university in the intervening period.

“We’re very pleased to have attracted a scholar and innovator of Dr. Grasso’s stature to lead the College of Engineering and Mathematics,” said President Daniel Mark Fogel. “A thriving engineering program is critical to UVM’s and Vermont’s future. Dr. Grasso’s wide ranging accomplishments make us confident we have the right person for the crucial period ahead.”

"Dr. Grasso is a valuable addition to the University of Vermont," said Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas. "As we move forward, it is my hope that the College of Engineering and Mathematics will play an increasingly important role in Vermont's efforts to inspire growth in the technology sector. I am optimistic that, together, President Fogel's vision and Dr. Grasso's leadership will offer Vermont many of the tools that we need to recruit and retain national high-tech firms for the future."

“I’m very excited by the opportunity to lead a first-rate program with a rich history to even greater heights of excellence,” said Grasso. “The College of Engineering and Mathematics is not only in a growth mode, but the university’s faculty and leadership are also interested in thinking creatively about what it means to be an engineer in the 21st century. I’m excited to be part of a university that is building such strong forward momentum over a range of fronts.”

A new era
According to Provost and Senior Vice President John Bramley, the appointment of Grasso marks the beginning of a new era of growth and investment in the College of Engineering and Mathematics.

The university has agreed to invest over $1.5 million in base resources for the College of Engineering and Mathematics between fiscal years 2005 and 2007, Bramley said, and to add 15 tenure track faculty to the college by fiscal year 2009.

“Building the engineering program at UVM is critical to two important areas,” he said. “We need robust research growth in the college to meet our institutional research goals. An active, strong program is also vital to creating new businesses and good jobs for Vermonters.”

Bramley said he is particularly excited by Grasso’s vision for creating engineering leaders, a competitive advantage the university could offer its students.

At the heart of Grasso’s pioneering approach is the idea of combining the quantitative rigor associated with the engineering curriculum with study of the social sciences and humanities.

Placing students at the “vibrant intellectual crossroads of the sciences and humanities,” Grasso said, “will not only produce skilled engineers but also give graduates the perspective, critical thinking ability, and vision to assume leadership roles in the profession and in society in general.”

“That’s a very exciting notion,” said Bramley, “and a very good fit for UVM.”

Bramley said one of the first tasks for Grasso will be in working with the college to identify its future emphases and to develop a staffing plan consistent with the university’s vision and strategic plan.

“These positions represent key institutional investments,” Bramley said. “We need to identify the college’s areas of strengths — critical areas we want to strengthen — as well as activities that need change.”

Bramley gave credit to current dean Robert Jenkins, who has led the college over the last five years. “During Bob Jenkins’s tenure as dean, nearly all the performance metrics of the college improved. For instance, enrollments went up and research productivity increased. I thank him and the faculty for their leadership over a challenging period. Much of the growth and success that we will be seeing is based upon the solid foundation Dean Jenkins built.”

A highly acclaimed model
Established in 1999, Smith’s Picker Engineering Program has gained wide notice — with stories in the New York Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, and many other national publications — for being the first engineering program at an American women’s college, for its rigor, and for the importance it places on study of the humanities and social sciences. Grasso, who came to Smith in 2000, played the major role in shaping the program.

Grasso’s model for the Smith program also caught the attention of business and engineering leaders nationwide. “What a great vision … Dr. Domenico Grasso had in 2000 when the first students entered the program,” said Vance Coffman, chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin. William Wulf, president of the National Academy of Engineers, said that Grasso had “debunked the stereotype [of engineers]” and that the new Smith engineering graduates would “make the lives of everyone on the planet better.”

Grasso is expected to bring the same creativity and sense of social purpose that marked the Smith program to the College of Engineering and Mathematics at UVM.

Grasso received a bachelor of science degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a master of science degree from Purdue, and a Ph.D in environmental engineering from the University of Michigan. He has published extensively and has obtained federal, state, and industrial funding to support his research, which focuses primarily on the ways contaminants are transported through the environment, what happens to them, and how they may impact human health.

Grasso is vice chair of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board and past president of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors. He also served as chair of a briefing to the U.S. Congress titled, “Genomes and Nanotechnology: The Future of Environmental Research.”

Norma Zania Spence, First African American woman to graduate with a Computer Science Degree at The University of Vermont

Burlington, May 2004.

Norma Spence has been at UVM for four years. This year, she will graduate with a degree in Computer Science, making her the first African American to accomplish this in our university.

Norma is a native of Jamaica, who emigrated to the United States when she was just a little girl. She lives with her mother and brother in East Orange, N.J. and will return there upon graduation.

This past March, she attended the 30th National Conference of the National Society of Black Engineers in Dallas, TX with me and she was a hit. Company representatives who met her at the career fair were extremely impressed with her academic performance and professional demeanor. Not only has she maintained a high grade point average, she also has, each summer, held an internship at Time Warner in New York City.

For the third year in a row, I have had the singular pleasure of recognizing Norma as an outstanding student at the ALANA Student Center Awards Banquet in April 2004. Norma Spence embodies the epitome of a dedicated, intelligent, and academically superior student.

But, not only is she a great student, she is also aware and sensitive to the issues of her fellow students, and takes pride in contributing her skills to help improve the chances for success of other ALANA students at UVM. This year, she worked at the Learning Co-op as a peer tutor and worked at CIT as a lab assistant. She is always concerned when other students are not doing as well as they should be, and comes to my office to alert me that someone may need a little extra help. To her, the success of all ALANA students is her success as well.

This semester, she was a panelist in my Race and Culture course, where she helped the Majority students in the class process some of the issues they were learning. Norma is also very committed to her future career, and to the careers of future engineering and computer science students.

Norma has been offered a position at Commonwealth Business Media in Newark, NJ, where she will serve as a customer support programmer.

Thank you Norma for being you!

Josie Herrera

ExxonMobil and SECME Award Scholarships to Minority High School Students for Academic Excellence and Leadership in Math and Science

2004 ExxonMobil SECME Scholars Announced at the 28th Annual SECME Summer Institute

IRVING, Texas (July 9, 2004) - ExxonMobil and SECME, a pre-college alliance, honored 21 senior high school students as 2004 ExxonMobil SECME Scholars at a recent ceremony at the 28th annual SECME Summer Institute. The ExxonMobil SECME Scholar Program, designed to increase the number of minority students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, encourages an early interest in these academic subjects. Programs include teacher training and annual scholarships to exemplary math and science students.

SECME was established in 1975 by engineering deans at seven southeastern universities to increase the pool of historically under-represented and under-served students who will be prepared to enter and complete post-secondary studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, thus creating a diverse and globally competitive workforce. Today that alliance extends to schools, universities, science- and technology-based businesses, and government agencies in 17 states, Washington, D.C. and Grand Bahamas.

Students attending SECME schools benefit from hands-on teaching strategies and a curriculum that enables them to learn first-hand about career opportunities in engineering and secondary-level prerequisites for collegiate study. The 2004 Scholars, selected from nominees across the SECME network, were recognized as the most outstanding SECME senior high school students demonstrating academic excellence, leadership skills, a commitment to engineering as a career, and plans to attend a four-year accredited college.

“SECME strives to directly influence student success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Dr. Yvonne Freeman, executive director of SECME. “By introducing students to numerous disciplines within these areas, students learn about the range of fields and career options that are available. The ExxonMobil SECME scholarships are an important way to recognize these students for their hard work in these subjects and encourage them to pursue careers in these fields.”

ExxonMobil supports education programs throughout the world and funds initiatives that improve student learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics at all levels of education. In 2003, ExxonMobil dedicated more than $37 million to education initiatives.

“ExxonMobil supports educational programs that foster the development of the next generation of science-savvy citizens,” said Truman Bell, education program officer at ExxonMobil Foundation. “Partnering with SECME is one of the ways we strongly encourage students to succeed in math and science.”

The SECME Summer Institute, which took place June 20 - July 1 at the University of Houston, is held every year at participating engineering universities. SECME Scholars receive an all expense paid trip to participate in the four-day National Student Program at the Summer Institute and a cash award. For more information about the 2004 SECME Summer Institute, visit www.secme.org.

Largest Ever Class of Multicultural Students Will Arrive in the Fall of 2004

Burlington, May 2004

This year, after much work to increase the pool of multicultural students in engineering, mathematics and computer science, the College of Engineering and Mathematics will see its largest ever class of ALANA students arrive this fall. The class of 2008 will now be comprised of approximately 10 percent minority students. The students are primarily of Hispanic backgrounds (41%) with a sprinkling of Asian, African American and other mixed race students.

The Women and Minorities in Math and Engineering Program (WAMMIE) plays an important role not only in recruiting from this pool, but also in supporting the students academically, emotionally and culturally, once they are here.

WAMMIE has been in existence since January 2001 and this class is the culmination of many recruitment trips by its director, and her Admissions partners, to different parts of the country, including Puerto Rico. Two of the incoming students are from that beautiful island.

© 2002 Women and Minorities in Math and Engineering
College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences
The University of Vermont