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August 29, 2002
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Engineers who created SAFER wall win awardThe 36th annual Louis Schwitzer Award has been awarded to the team of UNL engineers who developed the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction barrier. The first track installation of the SAFER barrier was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for this year's Indianapolis 500 practice, qualifications and race. The award recipients receive $5,000 from BorgWarner, and their names will be added to the permanent trophy in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. Dean Sicking, director of the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility and professor of civil engineering, and Ronald Faller, research assistant professor, headed the team of engineers at UNL. John Rohde, associate professor of civil engineering, handled the detailed design work. John Reid, associate professor of mechanical engineering, was the team's modeling expert, and James Holloway, facility operations manager, managed testing for the program. Sicking credits Tony George of the Indianapolis Racing League with initiating the program. According to Sicking, "Tony George's vision and commitment of resources really made this project happen." NASCAR's Bill France has also been supportive of the SAFER barrier development. As Sicking explained, "The total emphasis is on driver safety. We put in thousands of hours with computer models and on the test track to develop a barrier that would decrease peak forces applied to the car by elongating the impact event, which allows the occupant restraint systems more time to operate optimally and reduce driver injury." The Midwest Roadside Safety Facility at UNL has a worldwide reputation for developing energy management systems for "ran off road" situations and high-speed test tracks. The Louis Schwitzer Award, named after the automotive pioneer, has been presented annually in conjunction with the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race since 1967. It recognizes those individuals exploring and developing new concepts in auto racing technology. Schniederjans Named Battey Distinguished Professor of BusinessMarc J. Schniederjans, UNL professor of management, has been named C. Wheaton Battey distinguished professor of business by Cynthia H. Milligan, dean of the College of Business Administration. The professorship was created through a gift from the children of C. Wheaton Battey, commemorating Battey's life and his accomplishments associated with the University of Nebraska. Schniederjans teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in managerial decision-making and management information systems. He has received the College of Business Administration's Distinguished Teaching Award three times and the UNL Recognition Award for Contributions to Students two times. He is an honorary member of the Golden Key National Honor Society. He developed the first graduate-level Web course for the College of Business Administration in 1999. Since then, he has developed four undergraduate-level management courses to serve department and continuing education programs. Schniederjans co-authored the book "E-Commerce Operations Management," published in 2002. In the past 12 years, he has published seven other books and prepared numerous chapters for many other books and dozens of articles for journals and conferences. He also serves as referee or reviewer for many journals and publishers. McNulty receives honorary doctorateJoe McNulty, a lecturer in UNL's Teachers College, was awarded an honorary doctoral degree June 5 from the International Independent University for Environment and Political Science in Moscow. He is the first American to receive an honorary doctorate from the Russian university. The Moscow institution has a partnership with American International University Network Ltd., including a program coordinated by McNulty that assists undergraduate and graduate students in transferring to American institutions. McNulty is leading planning at Teachers College for a joint training project in which about 100 environmental auditors from Russia would receive training in the United States. Scholarship honors two Woods Bros. EmployeesWhen Woods Bros. Realty informed Gilbert and Mary Eley it wanted to help create a scholarship in their honor as a retirement gift, the Eleys supported the fund in a big way. The Eleys, both employees at Woods Bros. Realty for more than 20 years, joined efforts to create the Gilbert B. and Mary L. Eley Scholarship Fund. Woods Bros. provided a $3,000 lead gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation, and the Eleys contributed an additional $7,000 to create a $10,000 permanent scholarship endowment. Interest from the endowment will provide an annual scholarship for a UNL student in Teachers College or the College of Business Administration. The Eleys said they were surprised when Woods Bros. President Pace Woods suggested creating the named scholarship. "We thought it was fitting to set up a scholarship that would outlast us," Gilbert Eley said. "Mary and I were thinking of creating a scholarship before Woods Bros. told us of their plans." The Eleys have future educators in mind as further motivation for their scholarship. "The state is in dire need of good teachers, and it is difficult to keep students interested since it doesn't pay like corporations do," Mary Eley said. "Education is our salvation," said Gilbert Eley, who spent several years as an educator before entering real estate. At Woods Bros. Realty, Gilbert was a senior vice president and managing broker, and Mary was a realtor and fair housing officer. Both remain active in real estate through state and national associations. Nebraska Press books win awardsUniversity of Nebraska Press has received several awards for its books recently.
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