Department of Chemistry and Life Science
Microbiology Lecture Series:
On Thursday, 6 November, Cadets, staff, and faculty at West Point welcomed four distinguished visitors to the Haig Room of Jefferson Hall to hear about cutting-edge topics in Microbiology as part of the 15th Annual Microbiology Lecture series. The speakers, known as the foremost experts in their fields of bioscience and bioengineering, included:
COL Jennifer Caci, Commander, 47th Combat Support Hospital, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA, Title: Vectors and Disease: Why the Vector Matters. Dr. Wade Winkler, PhD, Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, Title: New Mechanisms and Applications of Regulatory RNAs in Bacteria. Dr. Mark D. Tucker, PhD, PE, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, Title: Challenges in the Decontamination of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents. Dr. Ben Beard, PhD, Chief, Bacterial Diseases Branch, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases CDC, Fort Collins, CO, Title: Emerging and Novel Tickborne Diseases in the U.S. - Trends and Drivers.
Chemical Engineering cadets compete at AIChE Nationals, Take Action in an Emergency in Atlanta, Georgia. Cadet members of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) competed against more than 200 undergraduate students from across the globe in the 2014 Annual AIChE National Research Poster Competition in Atlanta, Georgia from 14-17 November. Nationals are a chance for cadets to win national recognition for their research, network with chemical engineering professionals, attend presentations on topics ranging from chemical engineering applications in nuclear energy to 
particle processing and characterization (a demonstration of how particle properties can be tuned at the nano-scale and affect performance on the macro-scale). Events began with the CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises, John Brock, who spoke to AIChE members about ethics and leadership in chemical engineering.
Cadets then met on the AIChE National Executive Student Committee and learned about opportunities to improve community outreach and also how to become more globally connected. As part of this initiative, the West Point Student Chapter of AIChE has officially requested an international sister chapter to foster cultural understanding and help spread best practices for running an effective and fun student organization. A major event for the cadets was attending the National ChemE Car Competition. Cadets have never participated in this in the past, and this time learned from other schools about best practices and tips to get started. Cadets from the Class of 2016 will spearhead the competition so that West Point can enter a car into competition next year. In addition to the event itself, three cadets (David Brown, Sean Crain, and Lauren Ng – all Class of 2015) were walking to get dinner when they heard a scream from a woman on the street. She had been hit by a taxi. CDT Brown called 911, while CDT Crain and Ng moved her personal belongings out of the street and assisted a nurse who administered first aid. The three cadets have been recommended for the Army Achievement Medal for their quick-thinking and response in a medical emergency.
Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering
MC486 Lab 3 – Vibrations as Sound (Acoustics) Hosted by the USMA Band. On 12 and 20 November 2014, the USMA Band hosted 53 students and 7 faculty members from the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering’s MC486 Vibration Engineering course for an interactive lesson on acoustics. Students discussed the characteristics of rooms which affect the propagation of sound and vibration, as well as ways to control the response. They were treated to a live demonstration by the Band’s Audio Engineer, SSG Branden Lane illustrating how audio software uses the characteristics of sound as vibration to change pitch, phase, and even the physical location of a recording!
Department of English and Philosophy
DEP and SOSH co-host visit by Culinary Institute of America Chefs. Ten student chefs from the Poughkeepsie-based Culinary Institute of America visited West Point this week for the second half of a USMA-CIA Exchange hosted by DEP and SOSH. After the chefs were greeted at a lengthy reception hosted by a “Cadet in the Red Sash,” in which they learned about West Point lore and daily life, they fired weapons in the EST, toured the massive kitchen under the Mess Hall (with CIA-trained Head Chef Michael Guererro), watched cadets demonstrate the IOCT, and enjoyed a honorary assignment in an Army branch (in honor of Branch Week). The program is designed to reinforce the foundational idea of being in a profession and is dedicated to facilitating discussions about civilian-military relationships.
EP367 Drama travels to New York University to see “Mummenschanz”. Cadets enrolled in EP367 Drama journeyed to the New York University’s Skirball Center to watch a performance by Mummenschanz. Mummenschanz is a Switzerland-based theatre company famous for producing unique theatrical sketches utilizing nontraditional props and costumes; notably, the troupe’s performances contain neither spoken dialogue nor music. Their distinctive performance style has earned them the nickname “ the minstrels of silence.” The troupe, now in its 42nd year, greatly impressed the cadets with its inimitable approach to storytelling and characterization.
Vassar Initiative visits West Point for “A Day in the Life”. As part of the DEP-sponsored West Point-Vassar Initiative, seventeen Vassar students traveled to West Point to experience a “day in the life” of a cadet. Vassar guests went to afternoon classes, watched cadets take the Indoor Obstacle Course Test “for record,” and participated in an exercise on the Engagement Skills Trainer (EST). This popular event familiarized them with Army marksmanship, communication skills, and small unit leadership training.
Following dinner in the Cadet Mess and evening social activities, the Vassar students remained overnight in the barracks in the company of their cadet hosts; the next morning they watched a pre-game parade on the Plain and cheered West Point’s football team to victory over Fordham. Finally, the group assembled for a post-game reception hosted by DEP Head COL Scott Krawczyk. This weekend visit reciprocates other visits made by West Point cadets to the Vassar campus this fall, and it follows upon numerous other events designed to bridge the civil-military divide.
CFAF’s African American Arts and Jazz Forums travel to NYC. On 21 November, the African American Arts Forum and the Jazz Forum conducted a trip section to NYC to visit some of the culturally and historically important sites that the city has to offer. The night began at the world-famous soul food restaurant Sylvia’s. The cadets then moved to the site of the 1958 photo “A Great Day in Harlem” to recreate that significant moment in Jazz history. Finally, the cadets attended a Jazz performance at Small’s Jazz Café in Greenwich Village.
Department of Systems Engineering
Systems Engineering participate in the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) annual conference. Cadets Sergio Jimenez, Matthew Loza, and Domingo Hilario, and MAJ Paul Santamaria, from the Department of Systems Engineering traveled to Detroit, MI to attend the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Annual Conference from 5-7 NOV 2014. The Cadets participated in a series of forums hosted by various SHPE sponsors to include, Honeywell, Raytheon, US Army Marketing Group, and others. The Cadets are forming a SHPE chapter at West Point and the conference provided these Cadets with additional guidance on the process of formulating the chapter. The Cadets also got to dialogue with engineering students from different SHPE chapters across the U.S. MAJ Santamaria participated as a team mentor in the Extreme Engineering program. The Army Marketing Group sponsored a group of engineering students on a 24 hour engineering challenge where students received system level requirements and designed, developed, tested and formulated a business plan to sell the product. The Army Marketing Group team developed a superior product that placed well amongst other team participating in the competition. The Cadets witnessed the assessment and are enthusiastic about participating in this challenge the following year at SHPE's Annual conference.
Department of Systems Engineering (DSE) upgrades their desktop computing systems and donates their old systems. This semester, DSE is upgrading 80 desktop computers in four labs. On 24 NOV the Department donated 19 of their older systems and other IT equipment to the Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District proving them a significant upgrade in technology for their computer labs. Later this semester, DSE will donate 19 of the legacy machines to the Port Richmond High School JROTC program on Staten Island.
The Department of Systems Engineering’s SE485 Combat Modeling course recently attended a virtual training lesson at the West Point Simulation Center. During the virtual training lesson, which involved over 30 cadets in two sections, LTC Bill Schustrom taught the cadets about how virtual simulation is used to support unit training in the US Army. LTC Schustrom’s extensive experience and knowledge as an Army Simulation Operations officer helped articulate where virtual simulation fits within the Army’s broader simulation community. The class also helped integrate and reinforce concepts from the cadet’s military and academic domains.
CDTs Cody Stamm, Coree Aten, Andrew Michalowski, and Maurice Williams receive training on small unit power equipment from PEO Soldier representative Mr. Joe Martinez. The cadets are working as a Department of Systems Engineering capstone team. Their project focuses on providing analysis that illustrates the operational impact of small unit power equipment and developing a decision support tool that helps commanders employ effective dismounted tactical power management strategies.
Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering
Geography 2050. On November 19th six G&EnE faculty and three geography honors cadets participated in the American Geographical Society’s (AGS) Geography2050 conference at Columbia University. Geography 2050 was a unique conference that brought together top geographers from academia, government, and business to discuss emerging trends and complex challenges in key geographic issues including population, urbanization, health, climate change, and energy, as well as emerging technology and tools related to remote sensing and geospatial information science. A conference of this magnitude and importance takes place only every few years. Attendance at this conference enabled participants to join in critical thinking with other top-level geographers. The cadets gained valuable insight into these geographic trends and issues and gathered information and ideas for their honors theses.
Team RWB participates in JFK 50 Miler. On Saturday, November 22nd, Cadet Matt Leach (2015), Cadet Aaron Kilner (2015), CPT Brandon Drobenak (TAC, C1), MAJ Jim Nemec (TAC, H4), & LTC Chris Oxendine (GEnE) completed the JFK 50 Miler in Boonsboro, Maryland. Cadet Leach completed the course in 7:44:53, placing 59 out of 808 finishers. This was the second time Cadet Kilner & MAJ Nemec completed the JFK50. The JFK 50 Miler originated in 1963 when President Kennedy challenged his military officers to meet the requirement President Teddy Roosevelt put forth to his officers that they cover 50 miles in 20 hours or lose their commissions. President Kennedy had great concerns for America’s decline in physical fitness and in 1960 wrote a piece for Sports Illustrated called “The Soft American”: http://www.ihpra.org/soft_american.htm.
Mr. Michael Rodrigue spoke with Geospatial Information Science cadets on November 21st. Mr. Rodrigue is the Deputy Director, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). He is an USMA 72 grad, and taught Computer Science and Topographic Research at USMA. He talked with Cadets about the “Future of GeoINT: Where it is today and Where is it going?” His words further inspired Cadets about the applications of their discipline within the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community.
Mr. Rodrigue met with BG Timothy Trainor to discuss collaborative research opportunities. They also discussed the future of GeoINT. Most importantly, that geographic boundaries will become less important than human geography and that there is increased need for transparency of data in order to get information to the lowest level.
Finally, Mr. Rodrigue attended two courses. The first course, EV398 (Introduction to GIS), taught by LTC Curtis Edson, focused on the challenges of Terrain Analysis. The second course, EV498 (Advanced GIS), taught by LTC Chris Oxendine, focused on Legal and Security Aspects of Geospatial Data. Mr. Rodrigue contributed to the discussion with strategic, operational, and tactical considerations for both lessons.
Surveying Demonstration– EV380 Surveying. Keystone Precision Instruments provided the EV380 Surveying class a hands-on demonstration of Trimble Surveying instruments. Keystone Precision annually provides Cadets the opportunity to discuss and see current surveying methods used by the military and professional surveyors. The state of the art instruments in this year’s demonstration included the MX2 mobile laser scanner, TX5 terrestrial laser scanner, Geo Explorer 7 series mapping grade GPS, and a Trimble Robot total station for survey grade GPS collection. The demonstration took place near the Firstie Club on 25 November 2014.
D/GENE Chili Fest. Faculty gathered after the Army-Fordham football game for the Department’s annual Chili Fest. There were 9 chili entrees that pitted the culinary talents of the faculty, both past and present. Representing alumni faculty member COL Michael Baumeister (currently deployed to Afghanistan with JSOC) were his sons Jacob (Class of 2016) and Matthew (Class of 2018). Team Baumeister’s “#Bacon Lovers” entry was crowned this year’s champion with MAJ Jamie and Audrey Sturm placing second.
Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
The Eisenhower Leader Development Program officers visited the Orthodox Hasidic Jewish community of Kiryas Joel in Orange County. the Kiryas Joel special-needs students a wonderful opportunity to share projects created for our visit. This community truly opened its arms to West Point and provided an incredible educational experience for the ELDP cohort. ELDP officers wore the ACU uniform at the request of the school leadership. The Eisenhower Leader Development Program officers visited the Orthodox Hasidic Jewish community of Kiryas Joel in Orange County on 19 November 2014 as part of their LD730 Cross-Cultural Leadership course. These officer/students visited the community’s school for special-needs children where the officers were greeted with banners welcoming West Point and thanking them for their service. The ELDP officers met with the school and community leadership to discuss their unique history, values, and practices and apply cross-cultural leadership concepts, theory, and evidence to understand their world-view and culture. This event served as an incredible West Point outreach opportunity, while providing
Cadets from the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership met with current and recent Army officers attending the Columbia Business School. On 13 November 2014, 55 students from the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership met with current and recent Army officers attending the Columbia Business School. These officers offered their views on how their Army skills and leadership benefit them in business school and how the skills they are learning in business school will enhance their Army careers. The students then received a tour and business operations brief at the New York Stock Exchange. There, the students learned the history of the Stock Exchange and how it is intertwined with the history of the US government, how the Stock Exchange creates value for the US economy, and potential future risks to both the US economy and the Nation's financial markets.
Cadets from the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership were hosted by senior executives at McGraw-Hill Financial, parent company of the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Dow Jones Market Index. On 14 November 2014, 20 cadets from the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership were hosted by senior executives at McGraw-Hill Financial, parent company of the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Dow Jones Market Index. The cadets received detailed briefs from McGraw-Hill executives on how the company creates value for the US financial markets and governments around the world through credit ratings and energy markets. In the afternoon, cadets and McGraw-Hill managers conducted Leader Challenge-style roundtable discussions on various leader development topics within the contexts of both the West Point Leader Development Model and the McGraw-Hill leader development goals.
Department of Foreign Languages
French: On Thursday, November 13, 2014, Dr. Julia Praud led LF 475 students, Emma Dugas, Nicholas Divito, Pierce English, Nicole Carter, Julian Mok, Zachary Vosburgh, Trevor Woods, Liam Comidy, Nathan Townsend, and André Michell, on a service-learning experience at the Monroe-Woodbury Middle School in Central Valley, New York. Cadets spent the day interacting with 7th and 8th grade students in their first and second year of French study. For the 7th graders, our cadets gave a presentation about the Francophone world. After their presentation, they each guided a small group of the middle school students as they prepared their own project on a Francophone country. For the 8th grade students, our cadets served as conversation partners in a small group setting. These cadets represented themselves and the Academy well. They were warmly and enthusiastically received by students, faculty, staff, and administrators alike.
Spanish: LS 203 Students watched a first screening of “The Book of Life,” a Guillermo de Toro animated movie portraying the Mexican celebration of el dia de los muertos (day of the dead). The film concluded the course discussion of Hispanic cultural celebrations. The course work on celebrations included vocabulary in context as well as the required grammar principles to begin discussing past events using the Spanish language. The movie was shown in Arnold Auditorium.
Arabic: Eleven Arabic students continue their studies in Morocco, Jordan, and Oman. All firsties report having received their first branch choice. Cadets in Jordan report another successful “Thawb Thursday,” named for the traditional Arab dress (rhymes with ‘robe’) they and some other students wear in honor of Jordanian culture. Cadets in Oman also wore traditional Omani attire for Oman National Day celebrations, which included traditional dancing, Omani games, a staged wedding, a speech by His Majesty the Sultan. The Cadets in both Jordan and Oman report the local people were thrilled to see American students donning traditional garb as a gesture of respect for their traditions, and it was an exceptional education experience.
German: USMA Cadets (Class of ’16) on semester exchange at the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt, Austria talk (in English and in German) about educational differences between the academies in Wiener Neustadt and West Point, how they got to West Point and their experiences with learning German.
Chinese: Cadets Studying in Taiwan spent the weekend hunting and camping in the mountains. The group also had the opportunity to visit a jade producing workshop and try their hands at making something of their own.
Department of Law
Cadets in LW310, Introduction to Legal Method, visited courts in New York City on 18 November. In the morning the class observed oral arguments in two appellate court cases in the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Afterwards, the presiding judge spoke to the cadets about the cases and the duties of a circuit court judge. In the afternoon the class visited the New York County District Attorney's Office and the state courts. The Deputy Chief of the Trial Division gave the cadets a briefing on the work done by the office. After that, cadets watched arraignments and actual trials that were ongoing in the courthouse and involved everything from fraud to murder.
Federal prosecutors from the District of Connecticut gave a presentation to cadets in LW475 Advanced Constitutional Law on 20 October 2014. Assistant US Attorneys Krishna Patel, Deputy Chief--National Security & Major Crimes, and Richard Schechter, Senior Litigation Counsel, addressed pre-trial aspects of federal criminal proceedings, including grand jury proceedings, search warrants, arraignments and bail and pre-trial detention matters.