School of STEAM

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering (PNGE) program at Saint Francis University was founded in fall 2014. On May 13th, the first two students in the four-year undergraduate program, Zachary Rohland and John Sheesley, graduated. Now that the first students have graduated, Saint Francis University will be seeking accreditation by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET . Future graduation classes expect to be comprised of roughly 15 students per year. Both PNGE graduates have secured positions in the field of Engineering. Zachary Rohland has accepted a summer internship position as

The hoop house closed its first semester with a successful harvest, producing over 100 pounds of cold-season crops. The greens were used by Torvian Dining Hall, providing farm-to-table food options for the university. The greenhouse-like structure was built in January to be used by students in the Environmental Studies program . Students in the Sustainability in Food Production course , taught by Professor Marie Olson , grew crops from seedling through harvest, and were responsible for maintaining all aspects of the hoop house. This process allowed them to put their classroom coursework into

Jim Donovan is an Instructor and the Chair of the Fine Arts Department at Saint Francis University. He was also the drummer and founding member of the multi-platinum band Rusted Root from 1990-2005. Currently, Mr. Donovan is the founder and lead singer of Jim Donovan & Sun King Warriors , where their first self-titled album hit the Billboard Americana Charts. Here, he discusses their latest album, We See Through It . This is Sun King Warriors second album. What was the mindset going into the second record? This time around, I aimed at writing music that considered each of the musicians in the

Ashley Rovder, an Environmental Engineering major, took part in a unique full-immersion study abroad experience in Bolivia. The experience was made possible through a collaboration between Saint Francis University and the University of Dayton’s Engineers in Technical Humanitarian Opportunities in Service Learning (ETHOS) project. Below, Ashley discusses her experience abroad. What service project did you work on while in Bolivia? I volunteered for SODIS (short for Solar Water Disinfection), a nonprofit organization in Cochabamba, Bolivia, that focuses on providing clean water for the community

Four students in the Environmental Petroleum Engineering course presented their final class project on the explosion and oil spill that occurred from the massive, mobile oil rig, Deepwater Horizon. Nicholas King, Connor Witman, Jan Vit Suntar, and Jonathan Bruno presented a petroleum engineer's perspective explaining what happened during the catastrophic BP oil spill in 2010. They examined what went wrong, what the environmental impacts were, and what lessons can be learned from this disaster. The students reported eight things that went wrong causing the oil well to leak for 87 days spilling

Formed five years ago by a small group of friends in the Computer Science Program , the Gaming Club brought together students who shared a love of video games. The gaming club doesn’t just play games, they also do a lot for the campus and community. Currently, there’s about twenty active members that meet weekly to plan activities. When many think of gaming, they think of video games. But the club also plays tabletop games such as Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, as well as livestreaming party games such as Super Smash Bros., Mario Party, and Mario Kart. Most gaming sessions will

Mr. David Bolt, Vice President of Cormorant Engineering, visited Saint Francis University to do mock interviews with students during the week of March 12th. Bolt has over 30 years of experience in hiring both prospective and veteran engineers. The one-on-one interviews were also filmed for further learning feedback. The purpose of filming the interviews is not for students to manage their behavior, but instead to see how they appear and to notice any nervous habits of which they might not have been aware. Mr. Bolt encourages the students to review the videos, but not have too narrow of a focus

There are many “ifs” to Brandon Fiume’s approach to photography. If he picked the right location, if the weather cooperates, if his camera settings are correct, and if the train is running on time, he may get another award-winning photo of freight or passenger train. Brandon's desire to learn something new helped him discover his creative side and “think outside the box…car.” A knack for experimenting The Junior Computer Science major always enjoyed problem solving. “When I was young I would open up a spreadsheet, enter values and try to make the numbers achieve a desired result,” remembers

Ryan Alu is an ambitious student. In high school, Ryan maintained a 4.2 grade point average and took thirteen Advanced Placement tests earning him enough credits to take on a triple major at SFU and still graduate within four years. The Center for Academic Success works with incoming Freshmen to make sure they are getting the most out of their college education. Dr. Renee Bernard, Associate Dean of Instruction at the Center, recalled her first meeting with Ryan to discuss his course load. "Ryan came to me during orientation on his own initiative. Some freshmen coming in with credits will

In the town of Sabana Grande, a small agricultural based community in Nicaragua, the most common method for sanitation is pit latrines. Basically, it’s an outhouse over a hole dug in the ground. When full, the hole is simply covered and a new hole is dug. When the pits are dug in the ground and not lined by concrete or bricks, they risk groundwater contamination into the community wells used by residents. Staci Shoemaker, a Junior Environmental Engineering major at Saint Francis University, along with two students from the University of Dayton, were a part of the Engineers in Technical