"Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT"
is published quarterly by the
Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Bldg. 1-383, 77 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139

Editor: Debbie Levey
(617)253-7101
levey@mit.edu

Readers’ notes

In 2002, Zhang Qinnan (Chin-nan Chang) '51 took short trips to Shanghai and Xian to attend the 50th anniversary of two design institutes which he has worked with. In recognition of his continuing efforts to find uniform international standards for engineers, he won a fellowship from the Institution of Structural Engineers in London for being an examiner in the supplementary tests for mutual recognition between that group and China's registered structural engineers.

Turning down a position as junior engineer with the NY Dept. of Transportation Bridge Design Group, Armand deBardelaben '01 married Louisa Vasquez on June 22, 2001, and both promptly embarked on careers as full-time Jehovah's Witnesses ministers. In addition to preaching, Armand is a member of the Architectural Crew which designs and fabricates meeting halls. "These modest places of worship usually take only three days to construct once the foundation is in place. Here I can use my CEE knowledge of AutoCAD to modify architectural plans and drawings."

Frank R. Heselton '33 (old Course 4A, Architectural Engineering) spent much of August "in preparation to again serve as a delegate at the biennial convention of the National Federation of Federal Employees, something I first did in 1948 and have done many times since. In fact, I once described myself in some MIT alumni survey as probably the only MIT grad to ever serve as a national officer of an employee union (I was a national vice president for a few terms many years ago)."

Col. Al Bleakley '85 is now in Kuwait, "where I'm the US Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Regional Engineer. I'm responsible for US and host nation construction projects in support of US troops in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman. As you can probably surmise from the news, we're pretty busy."

"When I saw the Benchmark cartoon in the Summer 2002 newsletter, I thought the drawing style looked familiar," writes Laura Gooch '82 (CE and Humanities). "I asked my father, Robert (Bob) Gooch '51 & '55 (SM), and sure enough, he had drawn the cartoon for the Benchmark cover. Dad gave up cartooning many years ago, but he had drawn quite a few for VooDoo and for Benchmark. He and my mother, Rachel, also spent time at surveying camp while he was completing his Master's degree, so I'm sure he had plenty of experience with the rain in Maine.

"Dad retired in February 2002 after 47 years at Freese and Nichols, Inc., of Fort Worth, Texas, where he was a board member and head of the Water Resources Planning Dept. for many years. Careful planning and consulting by him and by others at Freese and Nichols is the reason that many Texas cities still have an adequate water supply. He and my mother are travelling and looking after the family.

"My older brother, Tom Gooch '77 (CE and Humanities), continues as a vice president and water resources planner at Freese and Nichols, where he has worked since 1979. He and his wife, Sally, have three children and two grandchildren.

"I live in Cleveland with my husband, David Kazdan '81 (Electrical Engineering and Humanities). After almost 15 years of full-time practice of water resources planning and hazardous and solid waste work, I took a break from full-time engineering about four years ago. Since then I've pursued bird photography, written the Doan Brook Handbook (a Cleveland area stream and its watershed), and done some engineering consulting when time permitted."

David Dzombak '86 (PhD), professor of CEE at Carnegie Mellon Univ., picked up the 2002 Professional Research Award from the Pennsylvania Water Environment Association for his work on municipal and industrial wastewater treatment. In Sept. 2002 he was appointed to a two-year term on the Science Advisory Board of the US Environmental Protection Agency by EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman.

In yet another honor, Dzombak was elected as one of the four new fellows of the American Society of Civil Engineers for having made significant technical or professional achievements and demonstrating notable achievements for at least 10 years. Among other accomplishments, the citation mentions that he has been instrumental in developing tools and methodologies for the practical application of surface complexation modeling to describe and predict the adsorption of inorganic ions on iron oxide particles in surface and groundwater systems and in water treatment processes.

As of July, Isam Kaysi '88 has joined the Univ. of Toronto as a tenure-track associate professor, after having spent 10 years as a faculty member at the American Univ. of Beirut.

Keeping in touch with his former students, Prof. Joe Sussman sends word that Prof. Pat Little '91 (PhD, transportation) has gained tenure at the Dept. of Engineering of Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA.

"I am due to retire at the end of March 2003 from the Dept. of Water Affairs and Forestry in South Africa, after serving for some 42 years" and rising to the rank of Deputy Director-General: Water Resources, writes Paul Roberts '64 & '67 (SM & ScD in Hydraulics and Water Resources). "I have had a most interesting career in this national department responsible for the water resources of the country. (Details are on www.dwaf.gov.za.) I have been involved in various design aspects of large dams, resident engineer in charge of the construction of a large dam near the Kruger National Park, and worked in water resource planning and information systems."

Roberts has worked on several large international water projects such as the multi-billion dollar Lesotho Highlands Water Project which includes the highest dam in Africa at 185 m (607 ft), plus 115 km (71 mi) of tunnel and two large dams. "Negotiations on water sharing such as the recently signed agreement at the World Summit on Sustainable Development between South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique was a particular highlight.

"Internationally, I have been involved in the International Commission on Large Dams as chairman of a committee on shared rivers, and I have recently been elected as a vice president. I have also served on the technical committee of the Global Water Partnership, where I met up with former classmate and roommate Khalid Mohtadullah '64 of Pakistan."

After retiring, Roberts will be engaged in a large water project to supply water to Cape Town, and he hopes to do other consulting work.

Enrique López-Calva '96 (MEng in Environmental Engineering) & '97 (SM, Technology Policy) received a substantial award from CDM for the best paper published in a non-peer-reviewed journal, beating out over 200 candidate articles. Published in WEFTEC 2001 Conference Proceedings, October 2001, his report on "Systems Modeling for Integrated Planning in the City of Los Angeles: Using Simulation as a Tool for Decision Making," describes the successful application of an integrated systems model to manage stakeholder involvement in developing a wastewater facilities plan.

In April 2002, "Betsy and I once again led a MIT Alumni Travel ProgramTrip, this time by ship throughthe Netherlands and northern Belgium," writes the peripatetic Prof. Robert Whitman. "I lectured on the Delta Works that protect southwestern Netherlands from North Sea storm surges, and about the role of rivers and canals in the life of the countries. In October 2003 we are scheduled to lead another trip with three days in Paris, the TGV (high speed train) to Lyon, and then by ship down the Rhone into its delta. It would be great to see some alumni from Course 1 or 17 on the trip."

During the Seventh National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, held in Boston in July 2002, Whitman was recognized by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute for leadership in earthquake engineering and outstanding contributions to the theory and practice of geotechnical engineering and soil dynamics.