Introduction

Background

Professional

Personal

New Highlight! See Dave "dot the i" at Ohio State famous Script Ohio with the Best Damn Band in the Land. The only time in history that the dotter did his traditional bow in a full split!!!
 

Introduction
Being a rookie at this developing web pages, don't expect too much.

Background
I earned my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University in 1972.  I was very active in a number of student activities, including the International Students Association, Triangle Fraternity, the Engineering Speaking Society, the Army ROTC Honor Guard, and the Ohio State University Marching Band.  I was initiated into several honor societies, including Romophos (Freshman Leadership Honorary), Bucket & Dipper (Junior Men's Honorary), Pi Tau Sigma (Mechanical Engineering Honorary) and Tau Beta Pi (Engineering Scholastic Honorary.)

Following graduation, I spent five weeks touring environmental control facilities in Europe.  We visited sewage treatment plants in seven nations and five languages, but they all smelled the same.  When I returned to the States, I started working for Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio.  (As an intern there during the summer of 1971, I had designed a fuel oil transfer system for the Manila, Phillipines, facility.  I must have impressed somebody, because they invited me back.)  My initial assignment was with the Thermal Systems Engineering support group, and I spent most of my time upgrading the safety, controls and efficiency of the process furnaces that made granulated detergents such as Tide, Cheer, Bold, Oxydol, etc.  (Literally, I was in charge of making the hot air to dry these products!)

It was great fun travelling on someone else's nickel, but things were changing quickly.  The Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Clean Water Act of 1970, along with the newly established OSHA made life as a technical engineer very exciting.  The OPEC oil embargo of 1974 convinced me that I wanted to learn more about the environment as well as future energy sources.

In 1974 I transferred to the Environmental Services group, which was responsible for controlling all emissions from all processes at all facilities around the world.  I quickly learned about dust control, noise control, air pollutants, water pollutants, and even worked on problems involving solid waste.  While I was responsible for the startup of the Pringles potato chip fat trap, my big professional claim to fame was as the noise control engineer for Rely tampons.

In 1976, I decided to return to graduate school with a focus on Solar Thermal Energy Systems.  I attended Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Colorado on an Eastman Kodak fellowship until 1979, and worked closely with the Solar Energy Applications Laboratory.  I earned an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Energy Systems.  I had the opportunity to work with some great faculty such as George Lof, Byron Winn and Paul Wilbur.  I also work with some great graduate students such as Jim Leflar, Cecile LeBouff and Rob Pratt.  We designed the first operational solar system for McDonalds restaurant in Fayetteville, AR, and played a very minor role in the solar water heating system that Jimmy Carter had installed into the White House.
 

Professional
Presently I am a tenured Associate Professor of Engineering at the Fayette Campus of the Pennsylvania State University.  I teach a two-year associate degree called the Building Environmental Systems Techology option under Architectural Engineering Technology.  I also teach thermodynamics to BS Engineering students and a related frosh design course.

I am very active professionally in the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), presently serving as the Region III Vice Chair for Student Activities, and a member of their national Education Committee.  I am the faculty advisor to the PennState-Fayette ASHRAE Student Branch at the campus, and our student members have attended every national winter meeting (or the Canadian equivalent) since 1990.  We also attend the monthly meetings of the Pittsburgh Chapter of ASHRAE.  I also represented ASHRAE on the Technology Accreditation Comission for the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (TAC of ABET) from 1993 to 1998.

I also serve on the Board for the North Central Section of the American Society for Engineering Education (NCS/ASEE), and am have been a member of the American Solar Energy Society for over 20 years.

I run the MathCounts competition each year for 7th and 8th grade students from Fayette and Greene counties, and serve as a judge at their state competition.  I also host the regional JETS/TEAMS competition (sol.asee.org/jets/teams) for high school students annually.
 

Each summer we run two week-long space camps for grade school students. The original camp was a Space Shuttle Simulation started in 1990. The following year the Mission to Mars program was developed. In 1996, the Pennsylvania NASA Space Grant Consortium funded two sessions to encourage females and minorities to consider careers in science related areas.

Personal
As an Eagle Scout, the Boy Scouts of America has always been an important part of my life.  I am currently the Cubmaster for Cub Scout Pack 623, Assistant Scoutmaster in Boy Scout Troop 623, and also an advisor to the Engineering Explorer Post sponsored by McMillen Engineering, Hopwood, PA.
 

With all of the above activities, my wife, Linda, puts up with a lot of crazy schedules and stuff, and yet somehow always remains cool.  We work together in training adult cub leaders each month as District Round Table Commissioners.  She is also involved with Pack 623 and Troop 623, works as a substitute teacher, and has taught CCD for the church for many years.

Our oldest son, Mark, graduated from Laurel Highlands High School in 1996 and is currently a senior at PennState with a dual major in Engineering Science and Physics.  He is an Eagle Scout, an accomplished pianist, played trumpet in the high school marching band, and was a member of the 1996 U.S. Physics Olympiad Team (top 20 in the U.S.)

Our youngest son, Scott, graduated first in his class this year at Laurel Highlands High School.  He played saxaphone in the marching band and was a member of the high school JV quiz team and earned a scholarship from the American Legion.  This fall he will start at Happy Valley as an Shroyer Honor's Scholar majoring in Chemical Engineering. He is also an Eagle Scout, and also enjoys sports, computers and PennState football.

Last modified: Wednesday, 22-Dec-1999 20:56:05 EST