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News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Shiley School of Engineering

Remembering Donald P. Shiley: Happy 101st Birthday!

Despite being inundated with quote requests by numerous local, national, and international news agencies regarding the remarkable amount of palindrome dates in 2021 (including Inauguration Day on 1-20-21), Shiley School of Engineering professor Aziz Inan constructed the following birthday curiosities to celebrate Donald Pearce Shiley’s 101st birthday, which occurred on January 19:

  1. Shiley turned 101 this month on 01/19. Interestingly, if 01/19 is split into 01 and 19, the sum of the reverses of these two numbers equals 101.
  2. Further, 101 is the 26th prime number and twice the sum of 26 and its reverse (62) equals 176, the sum of the letter numbers of Donald Pearce Shiley.
  3. If 2021 is split as 20 and 21, the reverse of the sum of these two numbers equals 14 and 14=1+7+6.
  4. Every year, the sum of the digits of Shiley’s birthday and the sum of the digits of the anniversary day of his death are equal since 1+1+9=7+3+1.
  5. If Shiley’s 101st birthday, 01/19/2021, is split as 01, 19, and 2021, the prime factors of 2021 are 43 and 47, and interestingly, the difference of the squares of 43 and 47 and the difference of the squares of 01 and 19 are equal.
  6. Lastly, 43+47=90, the age Shiley was when he passed on 7/31/2010.

Happy 101st birthday, with great respect, admiration, and affection, to Donald Pearce Shiley!

Farewell Birthday Brain Teaser for Provost Emeritus Tom Greene

University of Portland provost emeritus Tom Greene officially retired on June 30, and as a token of his esteem, Aziz Inan, Shiley School of Engineering, put together the following farewell birthday trivia brain teaser to thank him for his leadership and friendship:

  1. Multiply the left and right halves of Tom’s birth year Y1Y2Y3Y4 to obtain the number X. Then, look up the Xth prime number. Next, subtract the Xth prime number from the reverse of Tom’s birth year, namely Y4Y3Y2Y1 and read the result backwards. Surprise!
  2. Further, if Tom’s full birthday M1M2/D1D2/ Y1Y2Y3Y4 is split into M1M2, D1D2, Y1Y2, and Y3Y4, interestingly, half of the sum of M1M2 and D1D2 yields Y1Y2, and twice the difference of M1M2 and D1D2 results in Y3Y4.
  3. Tom’s birthday this year (2020) is numerically special: double the sum of the squares of the month and day numbers of his birthday. What comes out?
  4. The reverse of the difference of the squares of the digits of Tom’s new age this year equals the sum of the letter numbers of his last name, Greene.
  5. Tom’s 75th birthday will be special since the reverse of 75, namely 57, equals the sum of the letter numbers of his middle name, George.
  6. Tom’s 76th birthday will also be special since 76 equals the sum of the letter numbers of Thomas. Additionally, the rightmost two digits of that year equals the difference of the month and day numbers of his birthday.
  7. Tom’s 83rd birthday will be special too since 83 equals the sum of the reverses of the month and day numbers of his birthday, namely (M2M1 + D2D1).
  8. Tom’s 89th birthday will be a five-digit palindrome date. Also, 89 is the 24th prime number (see item # 6).
  9. His 90th birthday will be special too since Y3Y4 = M1M2 + D1D2.
  10. Tom’s 100th birthday expressed as M1M2/D1D2/ Y1Y2Y3Y4 has a special property: Y1Y2Y3Y4 = 2(M1+M2+D1+D2).
  11. Tom’s 153rd birthday in the year Y1Y2Y3Y4 will also be special: Y1Y2Y3Y4 = M1M2D1D2 + D2D1M2M1. Moreover, count the number of days left in the year after Tom’s birthday.
  12. Tom’s 189th birthday will be a seven-digit palindrome date.
  13. Lastly, Tom’s 508th birthday contains every whole number from 0 to 7, each appearing once.

For more information or to commission your own brain teaser, contact Inan at ainan@up.edu.

 

 

 

New Shiley School of Engineering Dean: Brian Fabien

Following a comprehensive search, the University of Portland has named Dr. Brian Fabien as the new dean of the Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering, effective July 1. Fabien joins UP from the University of Washington in Seattle, where he was most recently associate dean of academic affairs for the College of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering.
“I am thrilled that Brian will be joining the University of Portland,” said Fr. Poorman.  “His sharp intellect, extraordinary leadership acumen, and steadfast commitment to UP’s Catholic and Holy Cross missions will not only benefit the Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering, but indeed our entire University community.”

Fabien is now the permanent successor to former engineering dean Sharon Jones, who left UP in June 2019 for the University of Washington’s Bothell campus. Matthew Kuhn has served as interim dean at the Shiley School for the past nine months.

“I am delighted and honored to be a member of the University of Portland community,” said Dr. Fabien. “It’s clear to me that everyone at UP is committed to educating the whole student, not just the mind and the hands, but also the heart.”

Fabien holds a Ph.D., master of philosophy, and master of science degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University in New York; and a bachelor of engineering with honors degree from the City College of New York. Prior to his arrival in the University of Washington system in 1993, Fabien held prior professorships at the University of the West Indies and Ohio University. A corporate career in engineering preceded academia, highlighted by his role as the lead mechanical engineer overseeing the guidance sensors for the famed Hubble Space Telescope. Other industry posts include Xerox Corporation, PerkinElmer, and Textron, Inc. (Lycoming Engines Division).

For more information contact the provost’s office at x7105 or staten@up.edu.

 

Happy 100th Birthday, Donald Shiley!

January 19, 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Donald Pearce Shiley (pictured at left with his wife, regent Darlene Shiley), namesake and benefactor of the Shiley School of Engineering. Donald Shiley was a 1951 University of Portland alumnus who studied mechanical engineering. He went on to great success as the inventor of the Bjork-Shiley tilting-disk artificial heart valve. In his honor, Aziz Inan, Shiley School of Egineering, has prepared the following mathematical curiosities to celebrate Shiley’s life and to express appreciation for his genius and generosity:

  1. If Donald Shiley’s 100th birthday expressed as 1/19/20 is split as 1, 19, and 20, 1 plus 19 equals 20.
  2. Half of 100 equals the sum of the letter numbers of Donald.
  3. The prime factors of the reverse of Mr. Shiley’s birth year, namely 0291, add up to 3+97=100.
  4. The sum of the letter numbers of Donald Pearce Shiley equals 174. The number of days in any leap year (e.g., 2020) from Mr. Shiley’s birthday onwards equals twice 174.
  5. Additionally, Mr. Shiley’s 100th birthday expressed as 01/19/2020 is split as 01, 19, and 2020, the sum of 01 and 19 multiplied by the sum of the reverses of 01 and 19, namely 10 and 91, equals 2020.
  6. Moreover, if Mr. Shiley’s 100th birthday expressed as 01/19/2020 is split as 0119 and 2020, one third of their sum yields 713 and the reverse of 713 is 317. Note that 317 interpreted in the day/month format as 31 July is the day Mr. Shiley died in 2010.
  7. The sum of the prime factors of July 31 expressed as 731 equals 17+43=60 and 60 equals the sum of the letter numbers of Donald Shiley’s wife Darlene Shiley’s maiden name, Loran.
  8. Lastly, if 01/19/2020 is split as 01, 19, 20, and 20, the sum of these numbers yields 60 too.

IEEE Meeting, Sept. 24

The Oregon and SW WashingtonEMC and PSES joint chapter of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, September 24, at 6:30 p.m., in Shiley Hall room 232. UP alumnus Gregory Larson ’06 of Intel will speak on “Wavelength Cutoff Effect of Vehicular Tunnels Demonstrated with Zero Span Spectrum Analysis” and “Circular Aperture Effect on Radiated Emissions of Electrostatic Discharge Events.”

Gregory Larson received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering in 2006 from UP and his M.S. in engineering management in 2014 from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. He spent 11 years as an engineer for the U.S. Navy in satellite communications system electromagnetic interference testing before joining Intel Corporation two years ago.

Please RSVP to David Britton at dlbritt@comcast.net  by Monday, September 23 to allow time to order enough food for the dinner. For more information contact  Aziz Inan, Shiley School of Engineering, at ainan@up.edu.

 

New NSF Grant for Lulay, Shiley School

The Shiley School of Engineering is pleased to announce that Kenneth Lulay, Margaret and Vincent Aquino Endowed Associate Professor in Engineering, has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant of $55,358. “Collaborative Research: Bridging the Writing Transfer Gap in Early Engineering Laboratory Courses,” was awarded under NSF’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) initiative and represents a team of three universities: UP, Washington State University Vancouver, and Oregon Institute of Technology.

The collaborative will study how engineering students apply their existing knowledge of writing when they write technical engineering reports. Each of the three universities has different requirements in their core curriculum, ranging from literature classes to technical writing courses, allowing the research team to study students with diverse writing knowledge and experiences. Modules will be developed to help students transfer their existing knowledge to help them write professional quality technical reports regardless of their previous writing background.

For more information contact the Shiley School of Engineering at x7292 or engineering@up.edu.

Fulbright Canada Appoints Heather Dillon Research Chair in STEM Education

Shiley School of Engineering mechanical engineering professor Heather Dillon has been named Fulbright Canada Research Chair in STEM Education by Fulbright Canada. Dillon will test a STEM faculty peer observation protocol at the University of Calgary from August to December 2019.

The goal of the Fulbright project is to significantly increase the use of highly effective, evidence-based STEM teaching methods at the University of Calgary using faculty peer observation. The peer observation framework has been developed by a research team at the University of Portland to help STEM faculty adopt new evidence-based instructional practices. The research development team includes University faculty Stephanie Salomone, Carolyn James, Tara Prestholdt, Valerie Peterson, and Eric Anctil.

At the University of Portland, Dillon teaches thermodynamics, numerical methods, and heat transfer courses. Her research team is currently working on renewable energy systems, solid-state lighting, energy efficiency in buildings, fundamental heat transfer studies and engineering education.

This program is supported by Fulbright Canada, a joint, bi-national, treaty-based organization created to encourage mutual understanding between Canada and the United States of America through academic and cultural exchange.

New Innovation Minor Director Announced: Salvador Orara

The University’s new campus-wide minor in innovation will be led by Salvador Orara, who will be hired as a Franz Center professor of practice and housed in the Shiley School of Engineering, according Shiley School dean Sharon Jones. Orara has a BFA in graphic design and a MFA in media design. His experience includes numerous UX (user experience design) roles including Jaguar Land Rover. He also has considerable teaching experience, most recently with Pacific Northwest College of Art. He is currently the AIGA Portland Chapter president (the professional association for design). Orara will begin in his new position on Thursday, August 15.

Orara’s new position is part of UP’s push to increase cross-disciplinary learning. Matthew Kuhn, incoming interim dean, says “Sal will add a new aspect to our students’ learning, by building upon their expertise and developing an interdisciplinary innovation mindset to solving complex problems that involve the human and societal dimensions.”

The new innovation minor will be offered campus wide and will be housed in the Shiley School of Engineering. Classes offered through the innovation minor include “Introduction to Design and Innovation,” “Sketching and Prototyping,” and “Empathy, Observational Research and Human-Centered Design.”

For more information contact the Shiley School at x7292 or engineering@up.edu.

Matthew Kuhn Appointed Interim Dean, Shiley School of Engineering

Matthew Kuhn, Brother Godfrey Vassallo, C.S.C. Professor of Civil Engineering, has accepted an invitation by University president Rev. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C., to serve as interim dean of the Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering. His appointment will begin upon the departure of outgoing dean Sharon Jones and will continue until her permanent successor has been named.
For more information contact the president’s office at x7101 or simek@up.edu.

A New Chapter for Shiley School Dean Sharon Jones

University president Rev. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C., has announced that Sharon A. Jones, dean of the Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering, accepted the position of vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Washington Bothell. Her final day at the University of Portland will be June 30.

Jones has provided exceptional leadership in service to the students, faculty, and staff of the Shiley School of Engineering. She spearheaded numerous enhancements to the school’s curriculum, forged deep and sustainable relationships with significant philanthropic and industry partners, provided support for faculty scholarly and curricular development, and increased diversity among students and faculty. Today, 39 percent of undergraduate students in the Shiley School of Engineering identify as a minority, and 33 percent of its faculty are women. Among many other accomplishments, she launched Oregon’s only biomedical engineering master’s program, supported the construction of the University’s first maker space (known as “Pilot Space”), and led UP to become the only private institution to join Oregon’s Multiple Engineering Cooperative Program (MECOP).

As vice chancellor at University of Washington Bothell, Jones will oversee the university’s academic units, drive the development and implementation of academic policies, and lead efforts to enhance the campus culture for faculty and staff starting July 15.

An interim dean of the Shiley School of Engineering will be appointed shortly. A national search for Jones’s successor will be launched soon.