Today’s News from the University of Kansas
From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu
Headlines
University Press of Kansas to continue its work under leadership of KU Libraries dean
LAWRENCE — The University Press of Kansas Board of Trustees, which is composed of the provosts from each of the six Kansas Regents institutions, has confirmed University of Kansas Dean of Libraries Kevin L. Smith to serve as director of the University Press of Kansas.
Architecture department faculty members win AIA Kansas award
LAWRENCE — Professors Joe Colistra, Nilou Vakil, Gregory Crichlow and Casey Franklin were awarded the 2020 AIA Kansas Honor Award for Unbuilt Design for their Sydney Alternative Housing Ideas project.
KU civil engineering graduate student lands prestigious fellowship
LAWRENCE — Jordan Nutter, a second-year master’s student in civil engineering from Prosper, Texas, has been granted a prestigious federal fellowship to help make bridges on the nation’s highways safer for travelers.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Derek Helms, 785-864-9170, [email protected]
University Press of Kansas to continue its work under leadership of KU Libraries dean
LAWRENCE — The University Press of Kansas Board of Trustees, which is composed of the provosts from each of the six Kansas Regents institutions, has confirmed University of Kansas Dean of Libraries Kevin L. Smith to serve as director of the University Press of Kansas (UPK).
Smith, a well-known authority in the field of scholarly communications, will continue his role as dean in addition to serving as director of the press. This change will allow UPK to take advantage of publishing and scholarly alignment opportunities as well as operate in a more cost-efficient manner.
“Founded in 1946, and established as a consortium by the Kansas Board of Regents, UPK has been a part of our scholarly and academic communities throughout its history,” said Shirley Lefever, chair of the Board of Trustees and Wichita State University interim executive vice president and provost. “We are appreciative of the resources provided by KU Libraries to allow the board to continue its conversations about how to preserve this history while exploring options for the press’ fiscally responsible future. The board is confident in Kevin’s ability to serve in this leadership role.”
As part of this move, UPK will also begin a number of exciting initiatives, including the development of a new open access digital publishing program. This multidisciplinary platform will initially be targeted at faculty at the six Regents institutions, with a goal to expand as capacity and demand permits. UPK will continue to publish books in a traditional manner but intends to reduce its annual production to about 45 books, maintaining high standards of peer review and editorial production. It will continue with a 60/40 mix of scholarly monographs and trade books.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of UPK, which specializes in publishing works on American politics, military history and intelligence studies, American history, environmental policy and history, American studies, film studies, law and legal history, Native American studies, and books about Kansas and the Midwest.
Please visit their websites to learn more about the University Press of Kansas and KU Libraries.
University Press of Kansas Board of Trustees
1. Jill Arensdorf, provost and vice president for academic affairs, Fort Hays State University
2. Barbara Bichelmeyer, provost and executive vice chancellor, KU
3. David Cordle, provost and vice president for academic affairs, Emporia State University
4. Shirley Lefever, board chair, interim executive vice president and provost, Wichita State University
5. Howard Smith, provost and vice president for academic affairs, Pittsburg State University
6. Charles Taber, provost and executive vice president, Kansas State University
7. Kevin L. Smith, Dean of Libraries, University of Kansas
Smith earned a juris doctor from Capital University Law School, a master’s degree in library science from Kent State University and a master of arts in religion from Yale University Divinity School.
Smith joined KU Libraries as dean in May 2016. He previously served as the director of copyright and scholarly communication at Duke University and as the director of Library and Instructional Resources at Defiance College. Smith has also worked as an instructor, reference librarian and assistant librarian.
As the dean of KU Libraries, Smith advocates on behalf of the libraries, positioning the organization as an integral partner with the university’s academic and administrative units and ensuring its continued leadership in advancing research, teaching, inclusivity and global initiatives. Smith also facilitates external relations through outreach development and engaging in donor relations to solidify fundraising efforts.
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Contact: Dan Rolf, 785-864-3027, [email protected]
Architecture department faculty members win AIA Kansas award
LAWRENCE — The American Institute of Architects in Kansas (AIA Kansas) awarded a team of University of Kansas Department of Architecture faculty members the 2020 AIA Kansas Honor Award for Unbuilt Design for their Sydney Alternative Housing Ideas project. The team consisted of professors Joe Colistra, Nilou Vakil, Gregory Crichlow and Casey Franklin.
The project used research from the KU School of Architecture & Design’s Institute for Smart Cities to develop a housing unit that could also serve as a medical device. The house would use a variety of technologies such as floor sensors to monitor residents and deliver that data to caretakers.
“The main idea was… to try to densify the main thoroughfare. We brought smart, dense housing and mass transit to the central business district (in Sydney),” Colistra said.
According to their website, “AIA Kansas Architectural Design Awards recognize outstanding architecture from the state of Kansas. The focus of these awards is to encourage and recognize excellence in architecture; elevate public awareness for architecture; and to recognize the architects, consultants, contractors and owners whose work brings excellence to the built environment.”
“We are honored to be recognized by AIA Kansas for our team’s work on the Alternative Housing Ideas Challenge for the city of Sydney, Australia,” said Vakil, the project spokesperson. “Sydney, similar to many metropolitan cities, is seeking solutions to affordable housing, growth, transportation and connectivity challenges. The KU team… offered innovative ideas to tackle these challenges from the angle of urban design, architecture, transportation, human behavior and data collection. Alternative Housing Ideas Challenge selected our team to collaborate with the city of Sydney and its citizens to refine these solutions for their 2030 Strategic Plan.”
For more information, contact [email protected].
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Contact: Cody Howard, 785-864-2936, [email protected]
KU civil engineering graduate student lands prestigious fellowship
LAWRENCE — A graduate student in the University of Kansas School of Engineering has been granted a prestigious federal fellowship to help make bridges on the nation’s highways safer for travelers.Jordan Nutter
Jordan Nutter, a second-year master’s student in civil engineering from Prosper, Texas, was awarded the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship by the Federal Highway Administration. The fellowship includes a $35,000 research grant.
“The Eisenhower Fellowship is probably the most prestigious fellowship opportunity out there for students who are studying in transportation-related fields,” said Caroline Bennett, professor of civil, environmental & architectural engineering. “It’s super competitive and a really high honor.”
“It’s really exciting,” Nutter said.
Under the fellowship, Nutter will research how to make the nation’s highway bridges safer by making it easier for engineers to assess when structures are in danger of damage or outright failure from “constraint-induced fractures” — cracks that can form in a structure when materials are not able to freely deform.
“Steel bridges can experience failed connections due to the inability of a portion of a girder to yield, which basically means it cannot bend or move under loading, causing that portion to become constrained,” Nutter said.
“This constraint can then cause a sudden fracture — and it means you can’t reliably predict the failure. I’m going to research a way to design a connection in which you can accurately predict (and prevent) its failure mode, to help reduce the potential of sudden cracking. This will help engineers design bridges to avoid constraint-induced fracture.”
Nutter will be recognized at the annual Transportation Research Board conference in January 2022.
The fellowship “enables Jordan to work on a project that she might not otherwise have the opportunity to do,” Bennett said. “It puts her in contact with folks at the Federal Highway Administration. So she’ll have a really good professional network formation there. And it will set her up to be a leader in transportation structures as she moves forward.”
The project is in addition to the research Nutter is undertaking for her master’s degree, and it will be part of her doctoral studies. Her master’s research involves developing methods to reduce vibration concerns and extend the usable lifespan of cantilevered highway signs — structures that overhang highways, often swaying under wind loading. Cantilever sign structure failures have been reported by several state departments of transportations, which is the motivation for Nutter’s research.
Nutter plans to pursue her doctorate after finishing her master’s degree and said she has benefited from the connections and education she has received at KU.
“I’ve learned a lot since being here,” Nutter said. “I think the instructors at KU have a lot of knowledge to share with us, which helped me determine what sector of structural engineering I want to go in. My research has then helped me delve into my interests even further.”
The fellowship suggests Nutter has a bright future, Bennett said.
“I think it’s a fabulous opportunity. It’s a really prestigious honor for her and for the KU School of Engineering,” Bennett said. “The research that she’s going to be doing on constraint-induced fracture is going to be highly visible, and the industry will have a lot of interest in it. So it’s a great opportunity all around.”
The Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program awards fellowships to students pursuing degrees in transportation-related disciplines. Awards are merit-based and generally result in 150-200 grants annually.
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