{"id":4818,"date":"2017-11-16T14:31:13","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T14:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=4818"},"modified":"2017-11-24T13:49:29","modified_gmt":"2017-11-24T13:49:29","slug":"strength-in-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=4818","title":{"rendered":"Strength in numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/Marta-Militec-Magazine-1-of-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-4891\" src=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/Marta-Militec-Magazine-1-of-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"590\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/Marta-Militec-Magazine-1-of-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/Marta-Militec-Magazine-1-of-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/Marta-Militec-Magazine-1-of-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/Marta-Militec-Magazine-1-of-1.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><\/a>Growing up in Zagreb, Croatia, Marta Mileti\u0107 had an affinity for numbers at an early age.<\/p>\n<p>Matter of fact, it runs in the family.<\/p>\n<p>Mileti\u0107, assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, is the daughter of a math teacher, and the sister of an engineer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have been surrounded with numbers all of my life. My mom, Jadranka, and sister, Mladena, both excelled at math, so I have grown up with crazy mathematician ladies,\u201d she said with a laugh.<\/p>\n<p>Mileti\u0107, naturally, was interested in math in growing up, and knew she wanted to do something where she put her skills and passion in both math and science to work. Toward the end of her high school years, a teacher gave her a piece of sage advice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told me there\u2019s no money in studying math, so I tried to look into something where I could apply my knowledge in math and physics, so I ultimately decided engineering was the perfect fit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\" style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kNKlfXqVyjU\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/Marta-Militec-Photos-2-of-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4890\" src=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/Marta-Militec-Photos-2-of-2-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/Marta-Militec-Photos-2-of-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/Marta-Militec-Photos-2-of-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/Marta-Militec-Photos-2-of-2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/Marta-Militec-Photos-2-of-2.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>She began her engineering education at her home university in Zagreb, earning her bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees in civil engineering. From there, she earned her doctorate, also in civil engineering, through a dual program between Kansas State University and the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.<br \/>\n\u201cI have been fortunate to study on three continents,\u201d Mileti\u0107 said. \u201cEach has its pros and cons, but they also have their similarities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the main culture shock to Mileti\u0107 of the American university experience was the popularity of collegiate sports, especially football, and the Greek culture that she had only seen in movies, she was most impressed by the unique student-centered approach to engineering education, especially at Auburn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHere, the student experience is everything. Students are valued more, the professors interact with students one-on-one much, much more. There are more hands-on activities, there\u2019s more emphasis on practical work and internships,\u201d Mileti\u0107 said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PAVING THE WAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While Mileti\u0107 grew up emulating strong women in STEM within her own household, she gained several others during her time in graduate school. During her time in Zagreb and Manhattan, Kansas, Mileti\u0107\u2019s advisors were both women. Vlasta Szavits-Nossan at the University of Zagreb and Dunja Peric at KSU both provided an inspirational example for Mileti\u0107 to follow.<br \/>\n\u201cAfter seeing them and how successful they were, I was encouraged to pursue the same path they did,\u201d Mileti\u0107 said.<\/p>\n<p>Now the professor, Mileti\u0107 is dedicated to mentoring young women in engineering. She is active with the college\u2019s 100+ Women Strong program and worked with the Kansas State mentoring program through the Office for the Advancement of Women in Science and Engineering. She, along with other members in the department, are currently working to establish a campus Women in Civil Engineering group.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is vitally important to support other women in engineering, to let them know they\u2019re not alone and to help prepare them to succeed in whatever career they choose,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>While she knows prospective future women engineers are coming to Auburn in record numbers, Mileti\u0107 is focused on retaining those students in the discipline and making sure they have the resources and access necessary to succeed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRecruiting women in engineering is easy, but retention is crucial,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4889\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4889\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/3-Women-New-Hires-1-of-1-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4889\" src=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/3-Women-New-Hires-1-of-1-2-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/3-Women-New-Hires-1-of-1-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/3-Women-New-Hires-1-of-1-2-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/3-Women-New-Hires-1-of-1-2-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2017\/11\/3-Women-New-Hires-1-of-1-2.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4889\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>From left, Lauren Beckingham, Frances O&#8217;Donnell and Marta Mileti\u0107 all joined the Department of Civil Engineering faculty within the past year.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mileti\u0107 joined the Department of Civil Engineering in January 2017, just after Lauren Beckingham and Frances O\u2019Donnell came aboard in 2016. With the addition of the professors, the department now has the third most female faculty members in the college.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the addition of Dr. Mileti\u0107 this year and two other outstanding new assistant professors in Dr. Beckingham and Dr. O\u2019Donnell last year, Auburn Civil Engineering is well prepared for major contributions in timely and important areas,\u201d said Andy Nowak, Department of Civil Engineering chair.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to their instruction inside the classroom, Mileti\u0107, Beckingham and O\u2019Donnell are providing valuable research to further enhance the department\u2019s mission to equip its students, the region, state and country with the knowledge to plan, design, construct, operate and maintain facilities and systems that serve the basic needs of society.<\/p>\n<p>Beckingham, assistant professor in civil engineering who earned her bachelor\u2019s from Michigan Technological University and master\u2019s and doctorate from Princeton, focuses on subsurface environmental geochemistry and engineering for energy technologies. Her research interests also include multiscale imaging and analysis of porous media, subsurface hydrology, water-rock interactions and reactive transport and geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Donnell, assistant professor in civil engineering who earned her bachelor\u2019s from Harvard, doctorate from Princeton and served a postdoctoral appointment at Northern Arizona, is considered an expert on the world\u2019s most abundant natural resource \u2013 water. Her research centers on ecohydrology, or the relationships between vegetation and the water cycle, and examines the sustainability of water resources, particularly in water-scarce environments. She also studies how vegetation can affect the ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>Milecti\u0107\u2019s work builds on mathematical theories to improve performance of real-world systems. In particular, her teaching and research interests are mainly focused on experimental and computational modeling of the onset and growth of strain localization in pressure-sensitive materials such as soils, rocks and man-made geomaterials such as cementitious composites. Her research aims to investigate mechanisms that suppress and delay the inception of strain localization in pressure sensitive materials.<\/p>\n<p>As the country\u2019s aging infrastructure is updated, her research will aim to effectively and efficiently address the materials needed in specified conditions to withstand the tests of time and heavy use.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur infrastructure is in terrible shape,\u201d Mileti\u0107 said. \u201cEnvironmental conditions aren\u2019t the same as they were 50 years ago when much of the current infrastructure was built. Through some of our research initiatives on infrastructure resilience and sustainability, we are tackling these problems head on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Road, bridge and rail improvements are inevitable as current conditions on aging surfaces decline, and Mileti\u0107 hopes her research can assist in speeding up this process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor good research, it takes time,\u201d she said. \u201cI know we need something much, much quicker, but I think we are on a good path of solving some of these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Just as it has taken time to begin to solve the issue of an aging infrastructure, it has also taken time to close the gap in faculty gender representation, but that is changing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously there is an issue with female engineering faculty representation across the nation, but we are moving in the right direction. Female faculty members can bring in a new perspective and contribute in many new ways. The more diversity, the better,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Mileti\u0107 sees the same need to support female faculty members as she does the students she mentors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust like with students, recruiting female faculty in engineering is easy, but retention is crucial,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but I like where we\u2019re headed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Growing up in Zagreb, Croatia, Marta Mileti\u0107 had an affinity for numbers at an early age. Matter of fact, it runs in the family. Mileti\u0107, assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, is the daughter of a math teacher, and the sister of an engineer. \u201cI have been surrounded [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[36,984],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Strength in numbers &raquo; Auburn Engineer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=4818\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Strength in numbers &raquo; Auburn Engineer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Growing up in Zagreb, Croatia, Marta Mileti\u0107 had an affinity for numbers at an early age. 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