Since the publication of the magazine’s inaugural issue in the fall of 2006, we have received overwhelming feedback from our readers: professional colleagues, faculty, students, alumni and friends. After reviewing these encouraging messages and the lengthy backlog of exciting stories we have yet to tell, we have decided to expand Resolve into a biannual publication. The magazine will be released in early fall and in spring; the print version will be accompanied by an expanded online magazine at www.lehigh.edu/resolve, where you can find additional photos, follow-up stories and videos.
The content of Resolve is organized loosely around three clusters of engineering research activities at Lehigh:
Bio: Bio, Environmental and Molecular Engineering
Nano: Nanotechnology and Applications
Systems: Complex Engineering and Information Systems
These clusters reflect core research competence across diverse disciplines while representing technology and methodology areas from which a variety of relevant applications stem. In each cluster, faculty-led advisory councils have organized exploratory workshops to stimulate research collaboration. A recent workshop in bioimaging and engineered biosystems was a great success, and additional workshops are being planned in energy and environmental systems and in sensor networking. The advisory councils are also examining future needs for research facilities and major instrumentation, and making recommendations for new research infrastructure.
In this issue of Resolve, we feature several activities in the Nanotechnology area. As NASA prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding, we explore the agency’s new strategic partnership with Lehigh. The story offers a glimpse at a crossdisciplinary team of Lehigh engineers who are helping NASA make advances in materials and devices at the nanoscale. The partnership is contributing to the James Webb Space Telescope project, which will succeed the Hubble as humanity’s “eye” into the cosmos and the universe’s past.
We also look at the work of Professor Samir Ghadiali – a great example of bioengineering research, with engineering models, visualization and technology brought to bear on a critical health issue. A profile of Lehigh alumnus Mark Sarkisian, structural engineering partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, delves into the marriage of architectural vision and engineering design that supports the current global boom in superstructure development.
Every issue of Resolve includes an example of true innovation in undergraduate engineering education. You will find this in the story of EcoTech Marine, a company formed by Lehigh students through Lehigh’s Integrated Product Development (IPD) program.
I hope you enjoy this issue of Resolve magazine, and I extend our sincerest appreciation for the positive response it has enjoyed since its inception. Please drop me a note to share your thoughts and comments.
S. David Wu, Dean and Iacocca Professor
P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science
