May 2023

LEARN • BUILD • INNOVATE

SOLVING TOMORROW'S CHALLENGES TODAY

Our Vision: Premier Engineering College in the Nation, Recognized for Academic Excellence, Accessibility, Industrial Partnerships and Community Engagement

ORDER OF THE ENGINEER

by: Dave Graves

Engineering students at South Dakota State University pedaled their way to a third-place finish in the national e-Human Powered Vehicle Challenge at Liberty University, Forest, Virginia. The contest is sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and attracted 15 teams. Scoring is in two parts—design and endurance racing. SDSU finished first in design and ninth in racing. The design was based on one used by past SDSU teams and then tweaked for this year’s vehicle, which was dubbed Thunder Jack, according to Jack Koester, team captain and a first-year student in the mechanical engineering graduate program.

GRADUATION

by: Dave Graves

Sanjeev Kumar, dean of the Jerome J. Lohr College of Education, joins the procession for the college's 10 a.m. May 6 graduation ceremony at the Swiftel Center. At left, is Bridget Henne, an ecology and environmental science graduate who was one of the student speakers. There were 198 candidates for graduation from the college.

Congressman on Campus

by: Dave Graves

Mostafa Tazarv (back to camera), an associate professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, gives a tour of the Lohr Structures Lab to U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson and SDSU President Barry Dunn (right) when the Republican congressman was in Brookings for the county Lincoln Day Dinner April 21. In addition to touring engineering facilities, he also toured health care facilities on campus.

Advanced Unsat Triaxial Device

by: Dave Graves

Infrastructure—like roads, bridges, dams and airports—form the backbone of society and are essential to economic development. In 2021, the United States earned a "C-" grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers for its infrastructure. One of America's most critical sectors—roadways—earned a "D." It was a troubling sign that the country's key lifeline is crumbling.

One of Banerjee's ongoing projects is from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s University Transportation Centers program. He’s searching for ways to enhance the resiliency of pavement infrastructure in regions with sulfate-rich soils—like South Dakota.

College Pursuing Student Recruitment in India

by: Dave Graves

While 3+1+1 is an awfully simple equation for an engineering student, Dean Sanjeev Kumar hopes the answer brings SDSU’s enhanced global footprint and increased enrollment to the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering and SDSU.

Kumar and Jon Stauff, assistant vice president, and Eric Leise, director of international admissions, both in the SDSU International Affairs office, recently visited India to promote a 3+1+1 plan to five Indian universities with large engineering colleges. The plan calls for students to complete three years at their school in India, take their final undergraduate year at SDSU and then complete an accelerated master’s degree program at SDSU.

The plan already has internal SDSU support and will be offered to schools that enter into a memorandum of understanding with SDSU, Kumar said. Kumar hopes to get final Board of Regents approval soon and that a handful of students from India can be enrolled in the fall.

Fall follow-up visits to one school in northern India and two in Bengaluru are expected after the agreements are in place, he said. Agreements with other universities are also being pursued, he added.

Interest in India follows adoption of National Education Policy 2020 in the country, which, among its many provisions, makes credit transfer easy, Kumar said.
SDSU is represented in-country by Samantha D’Souza, an India native based in Mumbai, who will work with university officials and prospective students in India to promote SDSU and ensure smooth transition of students to SDSU.

While in India, the SDSU delegation also attended the SanamS4’s Global Gateway Summit, an international organization that helps with student exchange and partnerships.

University wide, SDSU already has more than 100 students from India.

Upcoming Events

• Summer Camps                                                          see dates below
• Classes Begin                                                             August 21st
• One Day for State                                                       Sept 7th

Jerome J Lohr College of Engineering

Summer Camps

• Data Science                                                                   June 12 -15
• Youth Engineering and Technology Adventure           July 10 - 14
• National Transportation - Camp 1                                 July 09 - 15   
• National Transportation - Camp 2                                 July 23 - 29 
• Engineering Bridge Camp                                                 August 13 - 18