Edmon Low Library honors faculty and staff for publications at Celebrating Books by OSU Authors

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Each spring, the OSU Library honors OSU employees and students who have authored, co-authored or edited a book or published a major creative work in the past two years.  This year 25 faculty and staff from the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology (CEAT) were honored at Celebrating Books by OSU Authors on Wednesday, March 4th, 2020. 

The purpose of Celebrating Books by OSU Authors is to recognize and honor these individuals' achievements, encourage academic dialogue and ensure that works by OSU authors are available to the University community by adding their pieces to the OSU Library's collection.

CEAT honorees are listed below.

Beckie Bigler

Editor of "Marine Fire Fighting for Land-Based Firefighters" (Third Edition)
Beckie Bigler began her work as a senior editor at Fire Protection Publications in 2017 after many years as an educator. Beckie earned her doctorate in Spanish from the University of Kansas and has taught Spanish and English to students of all ages, adults to preschoolers, in Spain, New York City and Edmond, Oklahoma. She also worked as senior editor of Spanish for Saxon Publishers in Norman. Beckie and her husband, Ben, have lived in Edmond for over 20 years. They have two children ten years apart: Eli, who will graduate from high school in May, and Hallie, who works in film production and lives in Brooklyn, Ney York. In addition to time with her family, friends and pets, Beckie enjoys reading, travel, writing stories for children and running 5Ks.
Marine Fire Fighting for Land-Based Firefighters (Third Edition) is Beckie’s second collaborative project at FPP. She helped with the final stages of "Occupational Safety, Health, and Wellness" (Fourth Edition) and is currently the Lead Senior Editor for "Fire Inspection and Code Enforcement" (Ninth Edition).

Errick Braggs

 

Graphic Designer of "Facility Fire Brigades" (Second Edition), "Chief Officer" (Fourth Edition) and "Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer" (Sixth Edition)
Errick Braggs started his career in 1995 after graduating from OSU-Institute of Technology with an associate degree in graphic design. He worked in the advertising agency industry for several years until after the birth of his first child when he transitioned his career path to corporate, in-house design jobs. In 2008, Errick began working as a senior graphic designer, with OSU’s Fire Protection Publications. Not only does he work for Oklahoma’s greatest university, but he also earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from OSU in 2014. Putting his education and experience to good use, he helps produce training manuals and educational materials for professional firefighters. Errick said, “Fire Protection Publications' books are widely used within the United States but are also translated into nine other languages and used worldwide. The impact of my work here saves lives and changes the world, and I love that.”

Cindy Brakhage

Co-Author of "Marine Fire Fighting for Land-Based Firefighters" (Third Edition) and Editor of "Fire Service Hydraulics and Water Supply" (Third Edition) and "Rapid Intervention Teams" (Second Edition)
Cindy Brakhage is a senior editor at Fire Protection Publications (FPP). She is a graduate of Oklahoma State University. Cindy has a Bachelor of Arts in English, with an emphasis in technical writing. Cindy feels that working for IFSTA/FPP is an honor and a privilege. She has had the opportunity to work with IFSTA/FPP for 37 years. She has worked with many IFSTA validating committees as well as served as project manager/senior editor on many of the IFSTA and FPP books. Cindy believes that the IFSTA books truly make a difference in the life of a firefighter. Cindy and her husband Rod make their home in Stillwater. She enjoys her two adorable shih tzus, Maggie and Annie, and loves to take them for long walks. Cindy likes yoga and walk/runs, enjoys spending time with her sisters and friends and loves attending her church.

Ben Brock

 

Graphic Designer of "Marine Fire Fighting for Land-Based Firefighters" (Third Edition)
Ben Brock is a senior graphic designer with Fire Protection Publications at Oklahoma State University. He has been with Fire Protection Publications for 24 years, three of which as an intern while a student at Oklahoma State. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1999. He has collaborated on numerous educational publications, research journals and marketing productions while at FPP. Ben met his wife 16 years ago, and they welcomed their child in 2012.

Clint Clausing 

 

 Author of "Essentials of Firefighting" (Seventh Edition)
Clint Clausing has worked in the editorial department at Fire Protection Publications for 12 years. He graduated from OSU with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature in 1998. Clint has previously authored and/or edited FPP’s "Fire Investigator" (Second Edition), "Fire and Emergency Services Instructor" (Eighth Edition) and "Fire and Emergency Safety Officer" (Second Edition) textbooks. Six years ago, Clint took over as supervisor of the department and completed "Essentials of Fire Fighting" (Seventh Edition) concurrently with his supervisory duties. Clint is also a singer, guitarist and ukulele player with local bands Cover 2, Functional Polly and the Misspent Ukes.

Lindsey Dugan

Curriculum Developer for "Facility Fire Brigades" (Second Edition)
Lindsey Dugan started as a student worker at Fire Protection Publications in 2014. She became a full-time instructional developer in 2016. She has a bachelor's degree in English from East Central University and a master's degree in professional writing from OSU. Because of these choices in universities, she is very used to the color orange. Lindsey currently lives in Stillwater with her energetic yorkie, Ellie. In her spare time, she enjoys writing, fencing and other various hobbies.

Kimberly Edwards

Editor of "Chief Officer" (Fourth Edition)
Born and raised in Oklahoma, Kimberly Edwards made quite a few stops before returning to work in Stillwater as a senior editor for Fire Protection Publications. Ms. Edwards spent 15 years in Washington, D.C. developing and implementing military and government policies, acquisition requirements and emergency response plans. Throughout the past 20 years, she has received numerous awards and letters of commendation for work at both career and volunteer emergency response organizations. When she is not traveling the world or playing with her retried military working dog, she applies her degrees in fire protection and safety engineering technology, fire and explosion investigations and loss prevention and safety to developing IFSTA manuals. Most recently, she has served as the lead senior editor of the IFSTA validated, “Chief Officer" (Fourth Edition).

Jeff Fortney

Author and Editor of "Facility Fire Brigades" (Second Edition) and Editor of "Essentials of Firefighting" (Seventh Edition)
Jeff Fortney is a senior editor at Fire Protection Publications (FPP). He has served as project manager on International Fire Service Training Association’s (IFSTA) "Plans Examiner" (First Edition), "Industrial Exterior and Structural Fire Brigades" (First Edition), "Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting" (Fifth Edition), "Vehicle Extrication" (Third Edition), "Orientation and Terminology" (Fifth Edition), "Company Officer" (Fifth Edition), "Chief Officer" (Third Edition), "Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting" (Sixth Edition) and "Facility Fire Brigades" (Second Edition) manuals. He was the co-writer of "Essentials of Fire Fighting" (Seventh Edition) and served as a photographer on numerous FPP and IFSTA projects over the last 17.5 years. He is currently lead senior editor on "Essentials of Fire Fighting" (Eigth Edition). Mr. Fortney served in the U.S. Air Force as a fire protection specialist, rescue crew chief, ARFF driver/operator and crew chief at Davis-Monthan AFB, Kunsan AB, and Williams AFB. He served as a master instructor at the USAF Fire School at Chanute AFB and as a master instructor and training specialist at the DOD Fire Training Academy at Goodfellow AFB. Mr. Fortney also served as the deputy director of the Arkansas Fire Academy and program manager for Southern Arkansas University-Tech’s Fire Science program.
Mr. Fortney has written and published eight science fiction and military action/adventure novels. He is currently writing his ninth novel.

Janice French

Co-Author, Editor and Lead Developer of "Essentials of Firefighting" (Seventh Edition)
Janice French has been part of Fire Protection Publication's Electronic Products Department since its beginning. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Davis, and a Master of Science and doctorate from Indiana University. All are in physics. She is passionate about the value of education and has only worked in academic settings. In her various past lives, she has taught physics, math, chemistry and biology. Janice has been married to her husband, Don, for 33 years. They have two great sons, one wonderful daughter-in-law and one amazing grandson. She's a transplant from northern California, which explains her love of the San Francisco 49ers and the mountains. Her hobbies include playing the piano, singing alto, solving puzzles and needlework of various sorts.

Beth Ann Fulgenzi

Curriculum Developer of "Fire and Emergency Services Orientation and Terminology" (Sixth Edition)
Beth Ann Fulgenzi is an instructional developer for Fire Protection Publications. Beth Ann has over 25 years of professional experience in technical writing and editing, curriculum design and development, proposal development and publications management. She has worked on numerous IFSTA curriculum packages over the years. Her experience also includes business development, proposal writing and creating training for government and industry. She has a Bachelor of Science in business administration and a master's degree in mass communications from Oklahoma State University. When not working, Beth Ann enjoys spending time with her family. She also enjoys her pets and is often a foster for a dog rescue. She loves the outdoors and enjoys hiking. Beth Ann greatly enjoys curriculum development, writing and editing and is blessed to be in a profession she finds rewarding.

Afshin Ghajar

Co-Author and Editor of "Heat and Mass Transfer - Fundamentals and Applications"
Dr. Afshin J. Ghajar is Regents and John Brammer Endowed Professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Oklahoma State University and an Honorary Professor of Xi'an Jiaotong University in Xi'an, China. He received his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and doctorate all in mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University. His expertise is in experimental heat transfer/fluid mechanics and development of practical engineering correlations.  He has received several outstanding teaching, research, advising and service awards from the College of Engineering at Oklahoma State University. His latest significant awards are the 75th Anniversary Medal of the ASME Heat Transfer Division, awarded in 2013; the ASME ICNMM 2016 Outstanding Leadership Award; and the 2017 Donald Q. Kern Award. Dr. Ghajar is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Heat Transfer Series editor for CRC Press/Taylor & Francis for which he has edited ten books to date and editor-in-chief of Heat Transfer Engineering, an international journal published 22 times per year by Taylor and Francis. Dr. Ghajar is also the co-author of "Cengel and Ghajar, Heat and Mass Transfer – Fundamentals and Applications" (Sixth Edition) McGraw-Hill, 2020. The Six Edition was published in April 2019.

Sunderesh Heragu

Co-Author and Editor of "Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Definitions and Objectives"
Sunderesh S. Heragu is a Regents Professor and is the head of the School of Industrial Engineering and Management at Oklahoma State University where he holds the Donald and Cathey Humphreys Chair. Previously, he was the Duthie Chair in Engineering Logistics and Director of the Logistics and Distribution Institute (LoDI) at the University of Louisville. He has also served as a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, assistant professor in State University of New York, Plattsburgh and held visiting appointments at State University of New York, Buffalo; Technical University of Eindhoven, the Netherlands; University of Twente, the Netherlands; and IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y.  He is the author of the 4th edition of Facilities Design and has authored or co-authored over 250 articles. He has served as principal investigator or co-investigator on research projects totaling over $20 million funded by the Department of Homeland Security, National Science Foundation, Defense Logistics Agency and private companies. Dr. Heragu is a fellow of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). He has received IISE’s David F. Baker Distinguished Research Award and the Award for Technical Innovation in Industrial Engineering, both considered Prestigious Awards by the National Academies of Engineering, Medicine and Science.

Rushikesh Kamalapurkar

Co-Author of "Reinforcement Learning for Optimal Feedback Control - A Lyapunov-Based Approach"
Rushikesh Kamalapurkar received his master's and doctoral degrees in 2011 and 2014, respectively, from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida. After working for a year as a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. Warren E. Dixon, he was appointed as the 2015-16 MAE postdoctoral teaching fellow. In 2016, he joined the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Oklahoma State University as an assistant professor. His primary research interest is intelligent, learning-based optimal control of uncertain nonlinear dynamical systems. He has published a book, multiple book chapters, over 25 peer-reviewed journal papers and over 25 peer-reviewed conference papers. His work has been recognized by the 2015 University of Florida Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Best Dissertation Award and the 2014 University of Florida Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Outstanding Graduate Research Award.

Matthew Keith

Curriculum Developer for "Fire Service Hydraulics and Water Supply" (Third Edition)
Matthew Keith is a curriculum developer at Fire Protection Publications. As a native of Stillwater, Matthew attended Oklahoma State University and graduated in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and professional writing. Matthew enjoys working for a company that makes a difference in the lives of firefighters around the world. In his off time, Matthew enjoys reading, attending OSU sporting events and spending time with his cat, Mario. He enjoys living in Stillwater because all of his family, including a niece that is just a few months old, live close.

Kyle Lomenick

Videographer for "Essentials of Firefighting" (Seventh Edition)
Kyle Lomenick joined Fire Protection Publications in September 2018 as the multimedia producer for the E-Products team. Born and raised in Oklahoma, he has been doing professional photography for more than a decade and professional videography for five years. His previous experience includes sports photojournalist for the "Perkins Journal," NBA G-League camera operator for the OKC Blue, camera operator for ESPN and Fox Sports. Working with cameras has opened many opportunities to fuel his passion for storytelling through a wide variety of digital mediums. During the span of his career, he has had the privilege of capturing photos and video of sports icons, The President of the United States and hundreds of events, not just in the Stillwater and Perkins area, but around the State of Oklahoma. Invested in his growth as a multimedia producer for Fire Protection Publications, Lomenick strives to learn new techniques and new ways of editing video every day. During his free time he likes to be with his wife Jackie and to little girls Payton and Hayden. You can also find him shooting photos at OSU Football and Basketball games as well as Perkins Tryon High School Athletic events.

Sundararajan Madihally

Author of "Principles of Biomedical Engineering" (Second Edition)
Sundararajan Madihally received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering (first rank) from Bangalore University in India. He worked as a consultant to pharmaceutical companies and as a process engineer at a design consulting company. Then he pursued his master's and doctorate from Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich. while working on the development of bioreactors for the expansion of umbilical cord stem cells. He moved to Boston as a research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School/Shriners Hospital for Children and worked on evaluating molecular mechanisms leading to muscle wasting and immune dysfunction after severe burn injury. He is a program evaluator for ABET Accreditation and volunteers for three professional societies. He has organized more than 40 sessions for international conferences, including a symposium on stem cells and summer school for faculty training. He was on the international editorial board of Biomaterials Journal from 2008 to 2011 and some open access journals. He also serves on review panels for various funding agencies. He has received numerous teaching awards, including the best teacher award, the young teacher award and numerous advising awards including the outstanding advisor award from the OSU President, OSU Faculty Phoenix Award and AIChE Outstanding Advisor of the Year award.

Leslie Miller

Author and Editor of "Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer" (Sixth Edition)
Leslie A. Miller is a native of Stillwater, Oklahoma, and she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English with honors from OSU. As an editor with Fire Protection Publications since 2002, she has been a technical writer and editor for many fire service training manuals. She serves on the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA's) Hazardous Materials Response Personnel committee, and she also is a member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC). She writes short fiction for a hobby and is a member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). An avid gardener, she blogs about gardening for wildlife at Planters Place, a website sponsored by Osmocote Plant Foods.

Angel Muzik

Lead Instructional Developer of "Chief Officer" (Fourth Edition) and "Essentials of Firefighting" (Seventh Edition)
Angel Muzik has been an instructional developer at Fire Protection Publications since 2014. Before that, she worked as an educator for Stillwater Public Schools and the OSU College of Education. She earned both her bachelor's in elementary education and a master’s in educational technology from OSU; so she’s orange and black, through and through.

Kelly Naas

Co-Author of "Essentials of Firefighting" (Seventh Edition)
Kelly Naas graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She joined Fire Protection Publications in 2015 as an electronic products specialist. Before joining the eProducts team at FPP, she was a public school teacher, and a softball and golf coach. She currently manages the IFSTA ResourceOne learning management system with more than 140,000 users and 12,000 courses. Outside of work she enjoys going to the movies on $5 ticket Tuesday, playing golf, shopping for shoes and visiting the white sand beaches in Florida.

Christy Olson

 

Editor and Lead Developer of "Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer" (Sixth Edition)
Christy Olson is a lead instructional developer at Fire Protection Publications. She is an honors undergraduate of Oklahoma State University’s English-creative writing program and has worked as a freelance English as a Second Language (ESL) copyeditor and as a caregiver to adults with intellectual disabilities. Christy lives in the woods of Coyle, Okla. with her husband, Murray, their books and trinkets and artwork either waiting to be hung or waiting to be finished.

Clint Parker

Graphic Designer of "Essentials of Firefighting" (Seventh Edition) and "Fire Service Hydraulics and Water Supply" (Third Edition)
Clint joined Fire Protection Publications in 2003 as a senior graphic designer. In 1999, he graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Arts. He has been the designer for more than 50 fire service training manuals, including “Essentials of Fire Fighting” and “Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting.” In addition to graphic design, Clint has been the photographer for International Fire Service Training Association conferences since 2011. In his free time, Clint enjoys photography, traveling, attending concerts and spending time at home with his wife Becky and their three dogs.

Anuruddha Jayasekara Pathiranage

Co-Author, Editor and Mobile App Developer for "Essentials of Firefighting" (Seventh Edition)
Anuruddha Jayasekara Pathiranage is the mobile application developer for Fire Protection Publications at Oklahoma State University. He graduated from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka with a bachelor’s degree in engineering in 2011. After working as an engineer in industry for three years, he migrated to the United States and then he received a master’s degree in software engineering at Regis University, Colorado with honors in 2017. He has about six years of experience in software development and is passionately engaged in programming, utilizing the latest in developments from the software world to ensure his applications are up-to-date and user-friendly. He began his career at Fire Protection Publications in 2019, and he is currently developing native Android and iOS mobile applications for "Hazmat" (Fifth Edition) and "Essentials of Fire Fighting" (Seventh Edition) including audiobook application. He and his wife Leshani have been married for five years and have two beautiful daughters. In his spare time, Anuruddha enjoys happy hours with his family, the sounds of great music playlist and seeking adventure in the outdoors.

Simone Rowe

Lead Instructional Developer of "Marine Fire Fighting for Land-Based Firefighters" (Third Edition) and Curriculum Developer for "Rapid Intervention Teams" (Second Edition)
Simone Rowe joined Fire Protection Publications as a lead instructional developer in 2014.  She has been a technical writer and editor for more than 15 years and has had previous careers in nursing and archaeology.  For fun, she enjoys digging in the dirt, seeking out obscure museums and traveling with her husband.

Justin Smola

Co-Author a Lead Developer of "Essentials of Firefighting" (Seventh Edition)
Justin Smola is the electronic products manager for Fire Protection Publications at Oklahoma State University. He began his career at Fire Protection Publications in 2007 after graduating Oklahoma State University with a degree in management information systems. He was part of the team who created ResourceOne, a popular learning management system for the fire service, which now has over 140,000 users. He has collaborated on the development of several apps, some of which have peaked in the top 20 educational apps on the App Store. He and his beautiful wife, Krystal, have been married for 12 years and have two wonderful boys. Justin is a lifelong fan of the Seattle Seahawks, OSU and US Soccer.

Libby Snyder

Editor of "Marine Fire Fighting for Land-Based Firefighters" (Third Edition)
Libby Snyder has been an editor at FPP since October 2009. In the office, Libby's favorite parts of a project are the puzzle-like tasks of coordinating all the pieces including formatting, language continuity and committee feedback. Outside of work, Libby likes to alternate between travel adventures and sitting quietly at home with warm things such as knitted goods, baked goods and friendly cats.

Ryan Souders

Graphic Designer of "Essentials of Firefighting" (Seventh Edition)
Ryan Souders hails from an entire family of OSU alumni, moving his own to Stillwater in 2011 when he accepted a graphic design position at his alma mater. An avid mountain biker, photographer, fly-fisherman and barely passable guitarist, Ryan enjoys pursuing a range of hobbies regardless of skill or lack thereof. He can be found most weekends enjoying and maintaining endless miles of heavily wooded trails surrounding nearby Lake McMurtry. “It’s the hidden gem of Stillwater,” he says to anyone and everyone. At home, Ryan juggles three children with his wife and cat. He’d like to retire and sail the fjords of Chile, ski the Alps, traverse the Andes on bike and tour central Europe. But until then, feel free to drop by his office to discuss Ron Swanson quotes, music concerts, places not Oklahoma and screenprinting posters.

Michael Wieder

Author and Editor of "Fire Service Hydraulics and Water Supply" (Third Edition)
Michael A. Wieder currently serves as associate director of Fire Protection Publications (FPP) at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Mike also serves as executive director of the International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA). Mike has an Associate of Applied Science in fire technology from Northampton Community College, an Associate Degree in fire protection technology, Bachelor of Science in fire protection and safety engineering technology and Master of Science in occupational and adult education from Oklahoma State University. Mike is a fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE).  During his time at IFSTA/FPP, he has written or managed more than 50 fire service training manuals and research reports and has published over 140 articles in various fire service trade publications. He has written and published three textbooks outside of his job responsibilities at IFSTA/FPP. His latest release is the 3rd Edition of his "Fire Service Hydraulics and Water Supply" manual, which was released in 2019. He has also written numerous research reports and training programs for the United States Fire Administration and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). Mike was the 2003 recipient of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors' (ISFSI) George D. Post National Fire Instructor of the Year award. He was also awarded the Everett E. Hudiburg Award for Excellence in Fire Service Training by IFSTA in 2008. Mike is a former firefighter with the Stillwater, Oklahoma Fire Department and is a lifetime member of the Pennsburg, Pennsylvania Fire Company #1.

 

RELEASE CONTACT: Kristi Wheeler | CEAT Marketing and Communications | 405-744-5831 | kristi.wheeler@okstate.edu