The 3rd Annual EHKS Retreat
April 2007
The University of Illinois' Allerton Park was the site of the 3rd Annual EHKS Retreat the weekend of March 10 & 11, 2007. Students and faculty of Professors Amr Elnashai, Jerome Hajjar, Dan Kuchma and Bill Spencer (EHKS) gathered early Saturday morning with their special guest, Professor Emeritus Bill Hall, to begin a weekend focused on sharing research. Professor Emeritus Hall opened the event with remarks on the history of Allerton Park, its affiliation with the university, and the Allerton family. He also asked students to consider how their individual research might contribute to bettering the world around them and what practical uses their work might serve.
Three sessions of student presentation ensued, filling the morning, afternoon and early evening. Each session had a different focus, the first concentrating on building, bridges and their components. The second session consisted of work stemming from computational analysis of engineering risk assessment. Presentation concluded with a third session on testing, analysis and experimental results. While the information shared by all 16 student presented was quite varied and extremely high-quality, each provided all attendees with an appreciation of their fellow researchers work.
Some student attendees participated in the First EHKS Poster Session. These students showed posters illustrating their recent work and accomplishments in addition to highlighting future work. This poster session provided a casual environment for students, faculty and special guests to discuss those research topics not covered in formal presentations. Awards were given out to the best presenters and poster submissions based on student and guest evaluations at a banquet held Saturday evening. Jennifer Rice, student of Bill Spencer, won the 'Best Poster' contest for her work entitled, "Structural Health Monitoring Intel's Imote2 Wireless Sensor Platform." Juan Carrion, also a student of Bill Spencer, was voted 'Best Presentation' for his work entitled, "Real-Time Hybrid Testing." Additional prizes were awarded to second and third places in both poster and presentation categories.
The night concluded with a group trivia contest for all attendees. Teams represented by each faculty advisor competed for bragging rights, leading to heated debates, numerous collisions of bodies and egos between players and a series of three-legged races. While fun was had by all, Team Hajjar emerged victorious. Additional late-night activities included poker and Wii games. Students climbed from their beds Sunday morning, very tired, to join the faculty and their families for a concluding breakfast. The 3rd Annual EHKS Retreat proved to be not only informative, but also fun, for all those involved.
Three sessions of student presentation ensued, filling the morning, afternoon and early evening. Each session had a different focus, the first concentrating on building, bridges and their components. The second session consisted of work stemming from computational analysis of engineering risk assessment. Presentation concluded with a third session on testing, analysis and experimental results. While the information shared by all 16 student presented was quite varied and extremely high-quality, each provided all attendees with an appreciation of their fellow researchers work.
Some student attendees participated in the First EHKS Poster Session. These students showed posters illustrating their recent work and accomplishments in addition to highlighting future work. This poster session provided a casual environment for students, faculty and special guests to discuss those research topics not covered in formal presentations. Awards were given out to the best presenters and poster submissions based on student and guest evaluations at a banquet held Saturday evening. Jennifer Rice, student of Bill Spencer, won the 'Best Poster' contest for her work entitled, "Structural Health Monitoring Intel's Imote2 Wireless Sensor Platform." Juan Carrion, also a student of Bill Spencer, was voted 'Best Presentation' for his work entitled, "Real-Time Hybrid Testing." Additional prizes were awarded to second and third places in both poster and presentation categories.
The night concluded with a group trivia contest for all attendees. Teams represented by each faculty advisor competed for bragging rights, leading to heated debates, numerous collisions of bodies and egos between players and a series of three-legged races. While fun was had by all, Team Hajjar emerged victorious. Additional late-night activities included poker and Wii games. Students climbed from their beds Sunday morning, very tired, to join the faculty and their families for a concluding breakfast. The 3rd Annual EHKS Retreat proved to be not only informative, but also fun, for all those involved.
