• Catalytic Converters Contaminate Roadsides • REU Program Focuses on Three Themes • Faculty Member Called to Active Duty Catalytic Converters Contaminate Roadsides Although catalytic converters reduce the carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons produced from the combustion of a gasoline engine, they are also distributing platinum group elements (PGEs) -- such as platinum, palladium, and rhodium -- along roadways. Platinum is an allergen. The effects of exposure to palladium and rhodium are unknown. As part of a two-year project, a University team is investigating whether or not PGEs dispersed along roadways are entering groundwater supplies or the food chain. A team of University researchers led by Clive R. Neal, associate professor of civil engineering and geological sciences, has presented data indicating that automotive catalytic converters distribute platinum-group elements (PGEs) -- such as platinum, palladium, and rhodium -- as far as 50 meters from the roadsides on which the vehicles travel. They are now in the process of examining whether the PGEs dispersed by the devices could enter groundwater supplies or the food chain. The team -- Neal; Charles F. Kulpa, professor and chair of the Department of Biological Sciences; and James C. Ely, research associate in the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences -- has received a two-year grant from the American Chemical Society to study the environmental impact of the PGEs. They will be testing food crops for the uptake of the elements to determine the extent of penetration. They will also be assessing the economic benefit of “mining” the PGEs. For more information on the roadside contamination project, visit http://www.nd.edu/~cneal/petrol.html. [back to top] REU Program Focuses on Three Themes Funded in part by the National Science Foundation and sponsored by the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, the eight-week Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program focused on three areas for 2002 -- the development of water resources in Third World countries such as Benin, Chile, Haiti, and Honduras; structural engineering and analysis; and the development and operation of small community mentoring centers. At the end of the program students participated in a forum in which they shared their experiences through 15-minute presentations. The keynote speakers were Scott Tyler, director of the Hydrological Sciences Program at the University of Nevada-Reno, and Michael Campana, director of the Water Resources Program at the University of New Mexico. Tyler discussed his work in the mountains of northern Chile, while Campana described his efforts in Honduras. The REU program provides undergraduates from across the United States the opportunity to work with professional engineers, faculty, and other students on collaborative, multidisciplinary teams. While many of the students come from Notre Dame, a significant number are from other institutions. Among the schools represented in the 2002 program were Princeton University, the University of California-Los Angeles, Michigan Technological University, the University of New Mexico, Taylor University, the University of Virginia, and the University of Nevada-Reno. For more information on the department’s REU program, visit http://www.nd.edu/~reuwater/ and http://www.nd.edu/~emsi/app03.htm. [back to top] Faculty Member Called to Active Duty Jeffrey W. Talley, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering, was deployed to the Middle East in February 2003. “Although he was unable to give us details while he was gone,” says Peter C. Burns, Massman Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, “he checked in with us periodically, so we knew he was okay. And, members of our staff sent care packages to him to show our support of his efforts and concern for his safety.” Talley, who returned home in July, is a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). He is chief of operations for the 416th Engineer Command, which means he is responsible for all engineering missions within the southwest Asia theater. His job during the Iraqi conflict was to organize and control all of the theater Army engineering missions throughout Kuwait and Iraq. Typical design-and-build assignments for his troops included roads, airfields, base camps, buildings, bridges, enemy prisoner of war camps, water and wastewater treatment plants, and environmental baseline surveys of areas impacted by the war. In addition, he and his troops were instrumental in supporting humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi citizens by returning water and electrical service to numerous Iraqi cities. Because he specializes in the treatment of contaminated groundwater, soils, and sediments, Talley was called on to assist in various environmental assessment and remediation efforts of different environmental sites in Kuwait and Iraq. Talley also provided environmental assistance to Task Force Restore Iraqi Oil (RIO) at those oil fields destroyed by the former regime. A faculty member since 2001, he has been been in the Army, serving in active and reserve capacities, for 21 years. The USACE is made up of approximately 35,000 civilians and 700 military men and women. They are biologists, engineers, geologists, hydrologists, natural resource managers, and scientists. The mission of the corps is to provide “quality, responsive engineering services to the nation including: planning, designing, building, and operating water resources and other civil works projects; designing and managing the construction of military facilities for the Army and Air Force; and providing design and construction management support for other defense and federal agencies.” The corps began in 1775 when the Continental Congress authorized the first chief engineer to build fortifications at Bunker Hill. In 1802 the corps was stationed at West Point and constituted the nation’s first military academy. With the founding of West Point in 1866, the corps began a tradition of military and civil works that has continued to the present. Today, the corps is organized into eight national divisions and 41 districts throughout Asia and Europe. It provides a wide variety of services ... from disaster relief and electrical power generation and distribution to national water resource planning and ship building management. [back to top]