Chair’s Welcome
Departmental Newsletter
Sindee Simon, Ph.D.
Office:
Phone: 806.742.1759
Fax: 806.742.3552
Email: sindee.simon@ttu.edu
Mailing Address:
Texas Tech University
Department of Chemical Engineering
Box 43121
Lubbock, TX 79409−3121
Dr. Sindee Simon's Biography
The advent of a new semester and a new year is a time for both reflection and planning. The past year, 2012, was a good year for the department, with a number of noteworthy achievements:
- The hire of Dr. Carla Lacerda, which brings us to 15 faculty members
- Dr. Gill's receipt of a five-year $ 2.2 million New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health
- Dr. Green's receipt of a five-year $ 400,000 CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, which brings us to five current faculty (Green, Hoo, Vanapalli, Vaughn, and Weeks) who have received this prestigious award
- A success rate of 92 % for graduating seniors taking the FE exam
- A six-year accreditation from ABET
The coming year holds promise for continuing our quest for excellence in both teaching and research arenas. At the undergraduate level, Dr. Weeks will teach our first course on chemical process safety that will become a required part of the curriculum. The student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineering, advised by Dr. Green, will host the 2013 Regional meeting in March. April will bring the Texas Tech Distinguished Engineer Awards Luncheon in Lubbock and the departmental golf outing, as well as the University Research Days undergraduate and graduate poster competitions. The department's annual Senior Design Expo will be held in May.
An important task in the coming year is the development of a plan for realizing our vision — that of becoming the undergraduate chemical engineering department of choice in Texas and one of the top research and graduate chemical engineering departments in the nation. We have a very productive faculty, but we need to ensure our ability to retain this talent with excellent students, state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities, and more endowed professorships. With decreasing state support, gifts from individuals, companies, and foundations are becoming more essential for maintaining and creating centers of excellence such as those found in our department. We rely on such support to provide, for example, scholarships and resources for updating facilities. The Whitacre College of Engineering is in the midst of a fund-raising campaign for teaching laboratory renovation, including those in our department. In the coming year, we hope to not only increase gifts to the department, but to also explore innovative partnerships with alumni and industry that will benefit our mission.
Feel free to stop by and chat with me concerning how you can contribute to our efforts when you are in Lubbock.
With the very best of wishes for a happy, healthy, and productive 2013,
Dr. Sindee Simon
P. W. Horn Professor
Whitacre Department Chair in Chemical Engineering
January 2013