Pratt e-Press@Duke University

Duke and Pratt Award Degrees to 382 Undergraduate and Graduate Students

Duke University and its Pratt School of Engineering awarded degrees to 382 undergraduate and graduate students May 13 and Dean Kristina M. Johnson told Pratt’s Class of 2007 and their families and friends at a Chapel celebration that “It’s a perfect time to be an engineer.”

Commencement Speech: Benjamin Schaefer Abram

In his commencement speech delivered on Sunday, May 13, Benjamin Schaefer Abram, a double major in civil and environmental engineering and public policy, told this year's graduating class that "we the engineers of the twenty-first century will require wisdom and sophistication to solve the problem sets we’ll face after today." Abram was a Pratt Undergraduate Research Fellow, senior class president and a member of the team that won $5,000 in the Duke Startup Competition's Social Enterprise category for a nut sheller aimed for Ugandan farmers. Abram will also serve a three-year term as Young Trustee on the university's Board of Trustees.

Duke Motorsports Team Breaks School Record Again

The Duke Motorsports team has outdone itself yet again. The formula-style racecar the student team designed and built over the last two school years came in 23rd out of the 130 teams entered in the Formula SAE competition, beating previous winners Cornell University and the University of Texas. The team had set its previous record at its last competition in 2005, when it finished in 31st place.

Duke Engineers Without Borders Co-Founder Has Career in Concrete Design

Just two years after graduation, CEE alumna Deirdre McShane spends her days designing concrete and steel elements for major academic and commercial buildings around the country as a structural engineer for Thornton Tomasetti in New York City. The major engineering firm is perhaps best known for its work on the world's two tallest buildings, Taipei 101 in Taiwan and the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, as well as the new Yankee Stadium, she said.

Futuristic Technology Reproduces Ancient Structure

With a grant of about $3,300 from Duke University’s Center for Instructional Technology, Duke divinity professor Anathea Portier-Young led a project in which students in computer science and engineering adapted 3-D models to build a full-surround virtual reality experience of the reconstructed Temple of Solomon. Divinity students viewed the model in the Duke Immersive Virtual Environment (DiVE) tank at the Fitzpatrick Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Sciences.

David J. Brady Elected SPIE Fellow
David J. Brady, the Addy Family Professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been elected a Fellow of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE). Brady is one of 56 new Fellows chosen world wide this year.

Pratt Research
A roundup of the month's Pratt research news and features, including shock therapy for kidney stones, lessons for averting global warming, early clinical trial results of a breast cancer therapy, "smart" engineering of "smart gels" and the workings of brain pacemakers.

Pratt People
Rebecca Willett, Tomasz Hueckel, Piotr Marszalek, Warren Grill, Henry Petroski, Nan Jokerst, Andrew Schuler, David Schaad, Tyler Brown, Charles Parker, Jeffrey Glass, Earl Dowell, Turan Kayagil, Matan Setton, Jenny Yuan, Claudia Fischmann, Nicole Axelrod, Rachel Lavon, Greg Heller, Tom Vogt, Lee Pearson, Steve Worrell, Cleland Robertson, Ian Cassidy, Josclyn Harrington, Lauren Lewis, Jessica Barlow, Dana Nicholson, Stephanie Everett, Adrian Bejan, Prabhakar Shrestha, Ana Barros, Carmella Parrott, Morton Friedman, Heather Himburg