News, News, News

News from the Graduate School

The Graduate School's new electronic forms submission and review process—GRADFORMS—launched on August 11. A number of graduate programs have been helping us test the new system, and I’m eager to open it up to all of you.

GRADFORMS will help you in many ways. It will reduce the time spent obtaining signatures on forms, and the time spent tracking where the form is in the approval process. We integrated student and graduate faculty data into the system, which will reduce the chance of errors being introduced.

This change will help graduate students, faculty, and staff alike carry out their responsibilities. Information sessions are still available for graduate program coordinators or graduate studies committee chairs (see below). Please try to attend.

This new process is the result of over a year of dedicated work by Doug Brownfield, our director of information technology, and Tim Watson, our director of graduation services, and collaboration with the Office of the CIO.

OSU Student wins ASABE Boyd Scott Graduate PhD Research Award

Congratulations to Fuqing Xu on receiving the first place award for her research on the modeling of solid state anaerobic digestion.  She received the Boyd-Scott Graduate Research Award (Ph.D. category) at the 2014 ASABE* Annual International Meeting held in Montreal, Canada. Dr. Xu recently completed her Ph.D. in the Environmental Science Graduate Program under the supervision of Dr. Yebo Li, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering department.

The Boyd-Scott Graduate Research Award “recognizes excellence in the conduct and presentation of research to build the knowledge base needed by engineers who design equipment, facilities, and processes for the sustainable operation of a biological system.”  Graduate students submit written papers and the top three finalists in the M.S. and Ph.D. categories are invited to present their papers at an oral competition held during the ASABE Annual International Meeting.

*The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) is a member-driven technical and education organization focused on finding sustainable solutions for an ever-growing population. Members seek to put science to work to meet humanity's most fundamental needs: safe and abundant food; .clean water; fiber, timber, and renewable sources of fuel; and life-enhancing and life-saving products from bio-based materials. And they do this with a constant eye toward the improved protection of the people, livestock, wildlife, and natural resources involved.

Jobs and Internships

Solar Panel Installer

About the Job:

Solar installation can involve the following tasks

• trenching and foundation work
• concrete work
• erection skills
• roof work
• electrical work
• plumbing skills
• The work is varied depending on the type of installation.  

Requirements:

• The ideal candidate would come with past experience in various types of construction.
• A great solar solutions installer is a quick learner, hardworking, unafraid of heights and great with their hands.
• With our projects scattered over a large geographic area, some travel will be required.

Pay:

• $14-17 p/h DOE
• 401k
• Health Insurance Allowance

About Us:

Paradise Energy Solutions has been installing solar solutions for hundreds of customers throughout Pennsylvania and 8 surrounding state for over 5 years.  We strive to deliver excellent service, create raving fans and go above and beyond expectations.  If you would like to join our growing team, please visit our website to check out our company and our values.   We offer competitive wages and benefits.

Field Service Technician - Cleveland, OH

About Us:

Vivint, Inc. is the largest home automation company in North America. Operating from our field tech offices throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and New Zealand, Vivint services 800,000+ customers.Vivint is dedicated to enhance each customer’s home and family life through simple, intelligent products and services, delivered by people who care. We are currently looking for field service technicians who live in or around Lakewood, Fairview park and Middleburg Heights.

Our Field Service Technicians are responsible for the installation and service of our home automation and security equipment. You will be working inside of our customers’ homes and are responsible for the care of our customers and training them on the proper use of equipment.

Job Expectations for Field Techs in Cleveland, OH:

• Exhibit both professional appearance and conduct while providing our customers with a world-class customer experience.
• Work from home, as a field tech, by self-dispatching for on time arrival at daily service calls.
• Service customers in Cleveland, Lakewood, Fairview park, Middleburg Heights and surrounding areas.
• Install and service all Vivint authorized equipment in customers’ homes.
• Work safely and responsibly to avoid injuries, prevent damage to property, prevent loss of unused materials, and clean up installation debris.
• Educate customers on system capabilities and technical operations.
• Complete all necessary paperwork.
• Engage our customers through promotion of Vivint’s equipment and services.
• Successfully complete 2-9 weeks of training in the field.
• Be able to demonstrate exceptional organizational skills.

Job Requirements of Field Technician in Cleveland, OH:

• Must have current, valid driver’s license and very clean driving record.
• Must have reliable, state registered, state inspected and state insured transportation is a necessity for the first 90 days of employment.
• Must participate in of our Vivint Fleet Vehicle Program. With the option of using the Vivint fleet vehicle at the incurrence of a $0.40 per mile ($0.25 per km) personal use fee.
• Submit to a criminal history check and obtain clearance from the state based on the state requirements.
• Must pass a drug test.
• Must remain smoke-free while on site with customers and while operating either Vivint fleet vehicles or property.
• Must be available to work the required shift that will be presented to you prior to being hired.
• Stay standing for extended periods of time.
• Be able to safely maneuver through shallow attics and crawl underneath homes.
• Must have basic knowledge of and ability to operate hand and power tools.
• Previous experience as a construction worker, electrician, or other technician may be helpful.

Minimum Requirements:

• No alarm, tech, construction, or electrician experience necessary, as we offer world-class, in-house training.
• Live within 20 miles of Cleveland, OH.
• High School diploma or equivalent.

Vivint, an equal opportunity employer, does not consider any protected traits (e.g. race, creed, color, religion, gender, national origin, non-job-related disability, age, or any other protected trait) when hiring—under federal, state and local laws.

Job Location

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Position Type

Full-Time/Regular

Electrical Engineer - Solar Inverter Systems

About the Job

Nextronex, Inc. is a solar component manufacturing company that develops and sells utility-scale grid-tie inverter systems for photovoltaic installations located in Toledo, OH.

Nextronex is dedicated to becoming the premier provider in utility scale solar inverters, supplying energy maximization systems for photovoltaic array systems across the country and around the world.

We have an exciting opportunity for an Electrical Engineer to assist in the design and development of our next generation products.  See below for full job description.     

Job Description:  Electrical Engineer – Solar Inverter Systems

Job Purpose:  Design, develop, and continually improve all components of the solar inverter system from the combiner box through to the utility interconnection.

Job Duties:

• Develop product specifications to meet performance and regulatory requirements (NEC, UL, IEEE, etc.).
  • Size and select electrical components and conductors.
  • Work with vendors to design optimal enclosures and magnetic components (reactors, transformers).
  • Layout electrical and mechanical components for optimized thermal performance and reduced assembly cost.
  • Design for manufacturing.
  • Build prototypes.
  • Test to validate design decisions and compliance with performance specifications and regulatory requirements.
  • Design and develop new products.
  • Continually improve and reduce cost of existing products.
  • Design for high reliability and long life in extreme outdoor environments.
  • Design for safety, and work safely.

Qualifications and Skills:

• Electrical and electronic systems design, testing, and troubleshooting
  • Thorough understanding of thermal aspects of electrical power system design
  • Basic understanding of mechanical design
  • Understanding of photovoltaic (PV) systems
  • Good focus and attention to detail
  • Ability to meet (or the beat) deadlines
  • AutoCAD / Visio or other 2D drawing package
  • SolidWorks
  • Extensive use of Excel as a design tool, and PowerPoint and Word as communication tools

Education:  Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering

Experience:  5 years of electrical engineering experience, more is preferable

COSE Energy Auditor Contractor

Cleveland, Ohio

Scope of Work:

The COSE Energy Auditor Contractor will work with small businesses to conduct nonresidential energy assessments and identify energy conservation measures for lighting, HVAC/mechanical, building envelope, and building controls in small commercial buildings.  In addition, this person will prepare comprehensive audit reports that outline recommended improvements, and include detailed analyses of current energy performance, potential energy savings opportunities, cost estimates, and utility incentive estimates.  This position will be located in our Cleveland, OH office, and will require travel throughout the Dominion East Ohio service territory.

Key Responsibilities:

• Identify energy conservation measures for lighting, building envelope, HVAC, controls and other energy systems in commercial buildings
• Develop energy savings analyses and project cost estimates
• Ability to analyze utility bills

Preferred Qualifications:                 

• Technical knowledge of building systems and/or energy solutions
• Bachelor's degree, with a focus in commercial energy efficiency
• Minimum of 1 year of experience in facility management, lighting, HVAC, or energy-related field or an energy-related undergraduate concentration
• Interest in pursuing Certified Energy Auditor (CEA), Certified Energy Manager (CEM), or Certified Lighting Efficiency Professional (CLEP) certifications if not already achieved
• Demonstrated ability to effectively manage multiple projects
• Strong organizational, mathematical, and verbal skills
• Strong Microsoft Office skills
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Strong sales skills
• Experience with Retroficiency software a plus and/or ability to quickly learn new software
• Ability to speak Spanish (optional)

BFI is Now Accepting Applications for a Policy Coordinator Position

Applications are now being accepted for the position of Policy Coordinator with the Berkeley Food Institute. 

The Policy Coordinator at the Berkeley Food Institute will be responsible for implementing BFI’s policy program activities that are aimed to increase the usefulness, application, and impact of research (and education) at UC Berkeley that can inform or support policies for sustainable food and agriculture systems. The Policy Coordinator will serve as a liaison between BFI and relevant policy organizations, government agencies, and legislators who deal with food systems. She/he will help facilitate effective multi-directional exchange of information on key policy issues, by communicating research needs that are identified by policy-makers, and summarizing and disseminating findings of BFI/UC Berkeley studies that can inform policy making or effect change in this field.

For job details and to apply visit the Berkeley University website and search for job #18300. Please submit a cover letter and resume as a single attachment when applying.

Seminars and Courses

Michal Wojno's Graduate Defense Seminar

Friday, August 15, 2014 - 8:30am to 9:30am

A Graduate Defense Seminar will be presented by Michal Wojno, a PhD candidate in the Environmental Science Graduate Program (ESGP), on Friday, August 15, at 8:30 a.m. in 333 Kottman Hall. He will present Improved Diet Utilization of Intensively Cultured Fish to Address Environmental Sustainability -- Amino Acid Requirement in Carp (Cyprinuscarpio).

The world production of freshwater fish is dominated by Cyprinids with annual production around 24 million metric tons in 2010.  This number includes common carp production of 3.4 million tons compared to salmonids production of 1.9 million tons. However, only 2-3% of cyprinids are cultivated intensively, while the vast portion of the production is still being carried out in a traditional semi-intensive pond culture with use of low cost feeds. Therefore, the intensification of carp culture requires optimization of nutritional requirements for that species to improve growth rate. This includes an optimal balance of macro- and micronutrients in the diet as well as their enhanced bioavailability.  This will allow for better feed utilization and ultimately reducing nutrient discharge and the impact of carp farms on the environment. In addition, feeding strategies should be modified to avoid waste (reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus discharge) and to maximize protein accretion. The challenge is particularly great when diet formulation needs to limit fish meal use and be replaced by plant proteins. Therefore, the main goal of the present work was to improve diet utilization of intensively cultured carp and address environmental sustainability by examining amino acid requirement.

Dissertation Committee:

Dr. Konrad Dabrowski, Advisor, School of Environment and Natural Resources

Dr. Nicholas Basta, School of Environment and Natural Resources

Dr. Roman Lanno, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology

Dr. Michael Lilburn, Department of Animal Science

Workshops and Conferences

15th National Conference and Global Forum on Science, Policy and the Environment: Energy and Climate Change

January 27-29, 2015

Washington, DC

For climate change, this is time of urgency, big ideas, and hope. 2015 will be a year of decisions – in Paris at the 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and elsewhere – decisions that set the agenda for action, agreement, and accountability for years to come.

Human energy use accounts for three quarters of greenhouse gas emissions globally and an even higher share in the United States.  Transitioning to a new “low carbon” and “climate resilient” energy system lies at the core of any response to climate change.  This new system will need to sustain prosperity in many countries and lift many out of poverty around the world by supporting sustainable development.

Many of the most innovative minds in science and engineering, policy and governance, businesses and civil society, and education are advancing technologies, policies, and practices to bring about the needed transition to a low carbon future. 

The 15th National Conference and Global Forum on Science, Policy and the Environment: Energy and Climate Change will engage over 1,200 of these leaders to expand and accelerate their efforts and work across the traditional boundaries. Through partnering organizations, the conference will advance solutions with specific initiatives and engage participants over the long term.

Miscellaneous

The ESL Composition Program offers two advanced writing courses for International Graduate Students in Autumn Semester 2014

For general information about the ESL Composition Program, visit our website.

EDUTL 6912 (Writing up Research – 2 Credit hours, Autumn Semester 2014, class #35207)

This course is designed to help international graduate students in the performance of two important academic writing tasks:  preparing a conference paper and preparing a manuscript for publication.  Topics include the nature of publishing, the choice of journals, and the process of publishing. We discuss related topics such as grant writing, abstract writing, grant writing, and resume/CV and cover letter writing.  Class sessions and course materials concentrate on both the rhetorical and grammatical dimensions of academic writing.  Each week the class will meet as a whole for a lecture/discussion covering one of the topics of the course and individually for a tutorial to discuss the paper the student is working on. To be admitted to the class, the student needs to have an idea for a conference presentation, for a proposal, or for a paper suitable for publication that can be developed throughout the semester. For more information, visit go.osu.edu/edutl6912.  Contact Dr. Joel Bloch (bloch.10@osu.edu) or Dr. Ivan Stefano (stefano.4@osu.edu) for more information or to register.

EDUTL 6913 (Thesis, Dissertation, and Proposal Writing – 2 Credit hours, Autumn Semester 2014, class #35752)

This course is designed for international masters and doctoral students who need assistance with the composing and writing stages of their thesis, proposal, or dissertation. It consists of modules on the organization, discourse and grammatical features of the various chapters and sections of theses and dissertations. Also included are lessons on effective writing strategies and use of sources. Students enrolled in the course must be either writing a thesis dissertation proposal (or prepared to do so) or chapters for a thesis or dissertation. The class meets several times during the term, and students arrange regular one-on-one tutorials with the instructor to consult on work already in progress and/or drafting new chapters. Contact Dr. Edwina Carreon (carreon.1@osu.edu) or Dr. Ivan Stefano (stefano.4@osu.edu) to register for this course.  For more information about the course, visit go.osu.edu/edutl6913.

Don't Let Mining Trash Bear Habitat

Alaska’s brown bears are facing the threat of an enormous mine spewing toxic waste into crystal clear waterways where the bears fish for wild salmon. The worst part is: if deadly mining waste pollutes Alaska’s aquatic environments, its damage to wildlife habitat is long-lasting, and once released, impossible to clean up. 

Because of its extreme toxicity, chemical mining waste must be stored and monitored forever. If the proposed Pebble Mine is built in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, the estimated 10 billion tons of mining waste from the operation will be stored behind multiple 700 ft. tall earthen dams. When these dams fail and the harmful “tailings” waste leak—as just happened a few weeks ago at a mine in Alberta, Canada—it would cause irreversible damage to Alaska’s vital wildlife habitat.

The untouched streams and waterways of Bristol Bay, where brown bears and the wild salmon they depend on thrive, are considered exceptionally pure by biologists. Even the deepest parts of these waters are so pristine that you can see clearly to the bottom. 

Right now is our best chance to make sure Bristol Bay’s watershed is protected from toxic, polluting mining. With your help, we’ll work to ensure the Environmental Protection Agency follows through on recent steps taken that will effectively block construction of the Pebble Mine, and protect wildlife habitat in Bristol Bay. 

Support from wildlife advocates like you will enable us to fight the mining lobby and its political protectors in Washington, DC who advocate for corporate profits at all costs. We’ll mobilize public support for the Obama Administration’s efforts to ban this massive proposed mine. And we’ll back up our partner in Alaska, the Renewable Resources Coalition and Foundation, who is standing strong with the people of Bristol Bay and working to strengthen state protections of this magnificent watershed habitat.

This is it!

This is it! Our big chance to save the brown bear’s breathtaking habitat in Bristol Bay, Alaska, where millions of wild sockeye salmon spawn, is right now. 

The Environmental Protection Agency will soon make a single decision that could stop a proposed open pit copper mine—the size of Manhattan and as deep as the Grand Canyon—from ever being built in this untouched watershed. 

Momentum is growing to stop the massive Pebble Mine and protect one of our nation’s last remaining wildernesses. People are alarmed that the proposed location in Bristol Bay is also a known earthquake zone. Should even a small portion of the billions of tons of toxic waste from the mine seep into the delicate surrounding landscape, an entire ecosystem of wildlife would be devastated. 

And just last year Anglo American, one of the original Pebble Mine partners, dropped out of the project over growing public concern about the proposed mine’s impact on wildlife. 

Friends of wildlife like you have helped keep up the fight over the past three years and with your support this could be the final battle. 

With Pebble Mine front page news in Alaska, we can put this serious environmental issue at center-stage for the rest of the nation. With your support, we’ll pressure the Environmental Protection Agency, through its authority over the Clean Water Act, to stop Pebble Mine and protect Bristol Bay. And we can lend our muscle to our partners at Alaska’s Renewal Resources Coalition and Foundation, to help raise awareness and win this fight to protect this irreplaceable habitat brown bears and wild salmon depend on.