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Three members of the �ձ�av��Ƶ School of Design have completed a collaborative project with the Brookings School District. Instructor of landscape architecture Jeremiah Bergstrom and landscape architecture students Isabelle Plagge and Cerington Jones worked together to assist the Brookings schools.

Yucheng Liu, head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering, has become a Distinguished Member of the American Society for Engineering Education. He is in the first cohort to receive the title as this is a new designation for the organization, which seeks to advance engineering education at all levels of the profession. Liu has been a member since 2011 and has held offices in the organization since 2019.

In the tough and gritty world of construction, paper dolls would seem to be as out of place as steel-toed boots at a ballet performance. However, when four construction management students attended a recent skills competition, paper doll construction was among the activities. Of course, the �ձ�av��Ƶ students weren’t putting dresses or bonnets on their dolls. In fact, their dolls weren’t even what Pinterest would call paper dolls. Their paper dolls were cut-out, scaled pieces of paper that represented tilt-up concrete panels on cast-on-site projects. The students and 16 others from other Midwest universities were taking part in the Region 4 Skills Summit sponsored by the Associated Schools of Construction.

PItch Day at �ձ�av��Ƶ, an opportunity for faculty members to share their entrepreneurial ideas, was revived Nov. 1 after being inactive for a number of years. The current effort is the vision of the �ձ�av��Ƶ Division of Research and Economic Development and the Research Office in the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering. It featured six presenters — four from engineering, one from the College of Natural Sciences and one from the School of Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies. Rajesh Kavasseri, associate dean for research in the Lohr College of Engineering, served as moderator. He said the presentations at the Research Park at �ձ�av��Ƶ are expected to continue on a quarterly basis.

Statistics doctoral student Andrew Simpson has found great success in the complicated field of large-scale number crunching and data analysis. He already holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and statistics (2021) and a master’s degrees in statistics (2022). In 2026, he should complete his third degree from �ձ�av��Ƶ with a doctorate in computational science and statistics with a statistics specialization. He has presented at a national conference and had a paper printed in an academic journal.

Seniors in Michael Twedt’s Renewable Energy Systems class got a close look at what it takes to bring renewable natural gas to a viable market during a tour of NorthWestern Energy’s renewable natural gas receipt facility at the north edge of Brookings Nov. 19. The 24 mechanical engineering majors got an opportunity to “see the working systems that we discuss in class,” Twedt said. That included monitoring equipment to ensure the methane that originates at area diaries has been processed to pipeline quality and odorizing equipment to give odorless gas its rotten egg smell.

National STEM Day on Nov. 8 saw three executive members of the �ձ�av��Ƶ Robotics Club at Renberg Elementary School in Sioux Falls for demonstrations. Presentations were made to about 125 students in three age groupings. The fourth and fifth graders took on the egg drop challenge with each team receiving an equal amount of supplies. They had to design creative solutions to protect their eggs during the drop.

A senior nursing major, Olivia Tagart serves as the president for the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, an organization representing student-athletes from the 19 NCAA Division 1 athletic programs at �ձ�av��Ƶ. Tagart, a Denver native, is a member of �ձ�av��Ƶ women’s swimming and diving team and is in her fourth year of involvement with the Student-Athlete Advisory Council.

Fall is such a wonderful time of year. On campus, we experience the excitement of the students returning to school to continue their studies. The trees prepare for their winter slumber. Amid all of these changes, I ponder all of the ways I am grateful to serve as the Roberta K. Olson Endowed Dean for Nursing.

The College of Nursing at �ձ�av��Ƶ has added some new faces to its ranks since July. These dedicated new faculty and staff span �ձ�av��Ƶ’s main campus, as well as the Sioux Falls and Rapid City sites.