Summer 2008 — Vol. 61, No. 3
CU-ICAR partners with Mazda
Mazda North American Operations, headquartered in Irvine, Calif., will be the first Asian Original Equipment Manufacturer to partner with the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR).
The Mazda Foundation will provide an initial pledge of $30,000 to CU-ICAR for the Mazda Annual Graduate Fellowships program. The fellowships are performance-based and renewable for up to three years for a potential total of $90,000. In addition, the company will donate a CX-7 crossover SUV, drive trains, subassemblies and other components to be used as learning tools by Clemson students and faculty.
Pictured is Robert Davis ’85, senior vice president of product development and quality for Mazda North American Operations.
Nation’s top student director
Performing arts graduating senior Jeff McLaren has won the 2008 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival’s national student directing award.
As a part of the competition at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., he directed an award-winning original student play and was interviewed by a panel of distinguished theater directors. McLaren has received an all-expense-paid summer internship at the O’Neill Playwrights Theatre Center in Waterford, Conn.
CU-ICAR’s ‘Green Building’ strikes gold
CU-ICAR’s Collaboration 3 (The Timken Co.) building has earned LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Core and Shell Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
This is the first project in the state to earn the Gold-level certification for core and shell construction. The Furman Co., Development LLC, Pazdan-Smith Group Architects and The Harper Corp. share the honor.
Green building designation LEED Gold is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. Core-and-shell encompasses base building elements such as structure, envelope and the HVAC system.
Clemson, Michelin advance tire technology
A Clemson research team affiliated with CU-ICAR will receive $1.9 million to develop new technology with Michelin North America, one of CU-ICAR’s founding partners.
The project will focus on reducing automotive tire-rolling resistance, improving vehicle fuel economy. Michelin chose Clemson to conduct a significant portion of the research after a competitive bid process for universities. The project will engage the talents of more than 20 professors and graduate and undergraduate students.
New Earnhardt scholar
Clemson’s first Motorsports Innovation Partner, Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) has announced its annual undergraduate scholarship winner — Casey Appleman.
The mechanical engineering major received the Dale Earnhardt Motorsports Scholarship at a presentation at DEI headquarters in Mooresville, N.C.
The Dale Earnhardt Foundation funds the annual undergraduate scholarship honoring the memory of Dale Earnhardt Sr. for students interested in motorsports and automotive engineering. The foundation provides $13,000 annually for a total minimum pledge of $39,000 for a three-year scholarship in the College of Engineering and Science. Scholarship winners are eligible for internships. Appleman began a summer internship in May.
Teresa Earnhardt, founder and chairwoman of the Dale Earnhardt Foundation; Casey Appleman, scholarship recipient; Imtiaz Haque, mechanical engineering department chairman; Dick Baker, executive director of the Earnhardt Foundation are pictured above. (Photo courtesy of DEI.)
National Champs — five in a row!
Clemson’s Pershing Rifles team wins its fifth straight National Championship, its seventh in nine years.
The Pershing Rifles competed against 18 other teams from all over the country. For more on Clemson’s famed precision drill team, go to business.clemson.edu/Armyrotc/Activities/prs.htm.
Outstanding S.C. Legislator
S.C. Rep. Daniel T. Cooper ’84 received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters during Clemson Commencement in May.
He has served in the S.C. House of Representatives since 1991, where he has been a member of the Medical, Military and Municipal Affairs Committee; the Education and Public Works Committee; and the Ways and Means Committee, which he has chaired since 2005. He serves on the Joint Bond Review Committee and is the only Upstate member of the Budget and Control Board.
Cooper’s support has enabled the state’s research universities to increase their research capability and advance South Carolina’s knowledge-based economy. He also has been a champion of Clemson’s Public Service Activities mission and the University’s support of the state agriculture industry.
That’s heavy!
Clemson’s very first heavy construction competition team places third in the nation.
The team won the Third Place Granite Award in the 2008 Associated Schools of Construction/Associated General Contractors Heavy Civil National Student Competition. The Clemson team qualified earlier by winning the Southeast Regional Competition.
Pictured from left are construction science and management students Dominic Giannini, Murray Davis, Stewart Lee, Eddie Beard, David Babb and Chris McKee. They were coached by professor Gregg Corley.
Field of Flags
As part of Clemson’s 2008 One World Project, nearly 10,000 colored flags loop into the form of an “awareness ribbon” on Bowman Field, representing statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation on hate crimes.
Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas Gandhi, spoke on using peaceful means to interact with one another.
One World Project works to raise awareness of hate, ignorance and exclusion in order to increase compassion and inclusiveness. For more information, go to www.clemson.edu/oneworld.
National Extension Educator
Horticulture professor Desmond Layne scored a first for Clemson this summer when he received the American Society of Horticultural Science Outstanding Extension Educator Career Award.
Layne is known worldwide as the authority on the fruits pawpaw and peach. His peach Web site is a comprehensive and popular source of information on all topics related to peach production (www.clemson.edu/hort/Peach). His work emphasizing the culture and use of pawpaw has been featured on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” and on ABC’s “World News Tonight.”
He provides statewide leadership for horticulture Extension programming and is a member of the steering committee of the Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium. Layne is editor of a new, comprehensive textbook — The Peach: Botany, Production and Uses. For more information, email dlayne@clemson.edu or go to his Web site.
Robotics rule!
One thousand students and 36 robots invade Littlejohn Coliseum as Clemson welcomes the fifth annual FIRST Robotics Competition Palmetto Regional.
Last spring, teams designed robots to race around a track knocking down 40-inch inflated trackballs and moving them around the track, passing them either over or under a 6-foot 6-inch overpass. Teams were judged not only on point accumulation, but also on design, team spirit, professionalism and perseverance.
To see a video recap of this year’s competition, go to www.clemson.edu/newsroom/multimedia/video and click on “FIRST Robotics Competition.”
Engineering and science stars
Clemson has inducted three new members into its prestigious engineering and science academy while honoring the contributions of two young alumni.
The Thomas Green Clemson Academy of Engineers and Scientists inducted Thomas H. Keinath, dean emeritus of Clemson’s College of Engineering and Science; John D. Petersen, president of the University of Tennessee and former associate dean of research at Clemson; and Michael L. Watt ’84, president and CEO of Scientific Research Corp. and advisory board member for Clemson’s electrical and computer engineering department.
In addition, Robert B. Ross ’94, PhD ’00 and Andrew G. Sowder PhD ’98 received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award for 2008. Ross’s work with MPICH2, a high-performance software application, enables developers to run the same code on a wide variety of platforms, from laptops to the largest and fastest parallel computers in the world. Sowder is a physical scientist whose service as a foreign affairs officer has helped negotiate agreements to keep nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists.
TGC Academy of Engineers and Scientists inductees (from left) John Petersen, Michael Watt and Tom Keinath with Dean Esin Gulari and Outstanding Young Alumni Andrew Sowder and Robert Ross.
Architecture earns two top national prizes
Clemson’s School of Architecture has won two of the six national 2008 NCARB (National Council of Architectural Registration Boards) prizes for creative integration of practice and education.
One of Clemson’s winning entries explored how innovative architecture improves health care environments (illustration right). 
The other localized global climate change by illustrating how Charleston’s historic peninsula might be defended against the twin threats of rising sea level and increased storm severity (left).
Each of the prizes earned $7,500.
Newest Clemson Trustee
The S.C. General Assembly has elected John N. “Nicky” McCarter Jr. ’80 of Columbia to the Clemson University Board of Trustees. McCarter will fill the unexpired term of Thomas C. “Tom” Lynch Jr., who retired in February. This term will expire in 2010.
McCarter is president of Defender Services, a Columbia-based company providing outsource solutions, including facility maintenance, security and landscaping, to commercial, industrial and retail clients.
A 1980 alumnus, McCarter previously served on Clemson’s Board of Visitors.
‘Clemson Days 2009’
Clemson students have created another beautiful calendar for a great cause — to fund a memorial for Clemson students who have passed away before graduation.
The Student Alumni Association and Student Government have published their second “Clemson Days of Tradition” calendar.
The 2009 calendar — available in August 2008 — is only $5 (only $6 to be mailed)! It can be purchased online at www.clemson.edu/traditions-calendar or at the Hendrix Student Center. For more information, contact August Darnell at augustd@clemson.edu or Jonathan Trammell at jtramme@clemson.edu.
Lady Tigers — way to go!
The NCAA presented the Clemson Athletic Department with a Diversity in Athletics Award in Gender Equity Compliance, based on the proportion of female student athletes relative to the proportion of female undergraduates.
At Clemson, 45.7 percent of the undergraduate student population is female, and 45.5 percent of student athletes on varsity sports teams are female. Clemson is one of only seven Division I schools to receive the honor.
So how are they doing? This was an excellent year for women’s sports at Clemson. The volleyball team reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament and won the ACC Championship. Women’s tennis reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament and ranked 13th in the nation in the final poll.
The rowing team’s varsity 8 boat was selected for the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever, and the team finished 13th at the NCAA Championships. The women’s soccer team reached the second round of the NCAA tournament and was selected for the tournament for the 15th straight year.
Traffic bowl winners
Clemson students competing in the Southern District of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Traffic Bowl — 2008 William H. Temple Scholarship Challenge — again took home the championship.
Civil engineering master’s degree students Sukumar Anekar and Swathi Korpu and Ph.D. student Priyank Alluri represented the state of South Carolina in the “Jeopardy” style competition.
In addition, the Clemson ITE chapter, advised by professor Wayne Sarasua, was named best student chapter for the fifth straight year! For more on Clemson’s chapter, go to www.clemson.edu/ce/about/ite.php.