Chair's Welcome
M. Nazmul Karim, Ph.D.
Whitacre Department Chair
806.742.3553
Welcome
Greetings from sunny Lubbock! It is almost eight years since I joined Texas Tech University coming from Colorado State University. Looking back, I can say that the Department has made significant progress in all facets of the academic endeavor. Few facts first, the undergraduate enrollment grew by ~130%, from 142 to ~ 330; the PhD student enrollment grew by ~120%, from 27 to ~ 60. The number of Departmental faculty members increased by 16.7%, from 12 (fall of 2004) to 14 (fall of 2011). However, the most dramatic change has taken place in the research productivity of the faculty. The new yearly research awards increased by 291%, from $831,700 (FY 2004) to $3,254,270 (FY 2011). The number of refereed publications per year increased from a total of 23 papers to over 54, reflecting a 135% change. This corresponds to a change from 1.91 papers (2004) per faculty to over 4 papers per faculty (2008-2011). The quality of research publications is measured by the number of citations of the publications; according to the Web of Science the number of citations of the faculty research publications increased from 312 (2004) to 1300 (2011). This corresponds to an increase of 317%. All these are indicators and performance measures, which are comparable to top thirty to fifty chemical engineering departments in the country. For the first time in its history the Department has been ranked in 2010 and 2011 by the US News and World Report; our ranking is 68th. The Department received a six-year ABET accreditation in the fall of 2011.
Faculty News
Dr. Vanapalli who joined the Department in 2008 has become very successful in research activities. He received the prestigious NSF CAREER award in 2012. His research deals with microfluidics and its application in various biological systems, including cancer cells. Three professors joined the Department in the fall of 2009. Dr. Micah Green (PhD: MIT; BS: TTU Chemical Engr) joined us from the Rice University after completing a two-year postdoctoral training; his expertise is in Computational Chemical Engineering and Nanotechnology. He has become a very productive faculty member; in 2011, he received the prestigious Young Investigator Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. His research is funded by agencies such as NSF. He is the current AIChE Student Chapter Advisor. Dr. Harvinder Gill (PhD: Georgia Tech) joined us in September 2009; he completed a two-year postdoctoral training at the Emory University. He is an expert in Bioengineering. Dr. Gill has been involved in research dealing with drug delivery and has received NIH funding to pursue his research activities. Dr. Ron Hedden (PhD: Cornell University) has joined us from the Penn State University, where he was an assistant professor. He is interested in polymer and materials research. His research is funded by agencies such as NSF and ACS-PRF. During the last three years, we have had 14 regular tenured and tenure-track faculty members. Dr. Rengasamy has taken a leave of absence for two years for family reasons; he will return in the fall of 2013. He continues to be productive with his 7 PhD students whom he advises via Skype! Dr. Hoo has taken one year "rotator" appointment with NSF in Arlington, Virginia; she is expected back in the fall of 2012. The Department is searching to fill two Whitacre Chair positions in the fall of 2012.
Staff News
Chandon Ahmad is our new business analyst. He has been in the position for more than one year. Kristina Thomson joined the Department as an undergraduate student advisor three years ago; she has really made a significant difference in the advising activities of the undergraduate students. Marybeth Abernathy holds the fort in the front office. As usual she is very active and helps with faculty and student needs. The technician position has been filled by Jonathan Powell, who is one of our own graduates; he has made a tremendous difference with all the undergraduate teaching laboratories. He also serves as the Departmental Safety Coordinator. Eduardo Colmenares, a PhD student in Computer Science, works half time in the Department as an IT specialist. Our student assistant is Jayton Buxkemper, who helps with smooth running of the Department.
Undergraduate Program
Our undergraduates are some of the most sought after students in the state. The number of students graduating in the calendar year 2011 was 39. Though many students had multiple job offer and some at a very high salary (over $95K/yr), not all the students were employed by the time of graduation in the spring of 2011. However, with the upturn in the economy, we are seeing more and more students finding jobs early in 2012. To increase the quality and quantity of incoming freshman, the Department awards multiple $1000 scholarships to the top freshman applicants to Chemical Engineering. The Department attracts the very best applicants who apply to TTU; the average SAT for 2011 freshman class was one of the highest in the whole university. The small student to faculty ratio makes the Chemical Engineering Department at Texas Tech as one of the programs of choice among many applicants. The undergraduates have the potential to gain research experiences in cutting edge technologies developed by the faculty in Chemical Engineering. The AIChE Student Chapter has excelled regionally and nationally. The TTU students received the best paper award (Abel Cortinas) in the Regional and the Annual AIChE meetings. The Student Chapter was second in the regional AIChE ChemE Car competition, and competed in the Annual meeting. The TTU ChemE Car Team received "gold" award for "Safety" in the ChemE Car competition. The undergraduate Chemical Engineering program went through the ABET reviews in the fall of 2011; we received the six-year accreditation, the best result possible.
Graduate Program
The Graduate Program is enjoying significant growth; we admit 10-12 PhD students each year. The admitted students have excellent academic records and very high GRE scores. The graduate enrollment is now 61 (spring 2012), with approximately 60 PhDs in the program. In 2011, the Department graduated 10 PhDs, making it approximately 0.71 PhD per faculty per year, which is one of the highest at Texas Tech University, and is a very comparable statistics with top fifty Chemical Engineering Departments in the country. Our PhD graduates have found jobs in industry and in academia (mostly as post-docs).
Faculty Awards
The faculty performance and productivity have been stellar. Dr. Weeks received the Chancellor's Council Distinguished Research Award in 2011. Dr. Vanapalli received the Halliburton Teaching Award in 2011 and the Whitacre Research Award in 2012. Dr. Gill received the Dr. Charles L. Burford Faculty Award (College of Engineering) for excellence in class room teaching and mentorship of undergraduates. Drs. Wiesner and Simon were honored as most influential professors by students. Dr. Simon also received the Outstanding Teacher Award from the AIChE Student Chapter in 2011.
Alumni News and Donations
Our alumni have been generous in creating endowed scholarships and providing other funds for scholarships to undergraduates. Noteworthy in 2011, Mr. Jack McCavit (also Advisory Board Member) and his family donated $100,000 for undergraduate scholarship. Jack was honored by the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center Merit Award for 2011. Mr. Andy Spangler and his wife have also endowed new scholarships in 2010 and 2011. Mr. Bill Sanderson and his wife are continuing to fund 3-4 students with $8,000/student/year scholarships. Importantly, we salute our alumni for their continued support of the Chemical Engineering Department. The Chemical Engineering received a ~ $1.5 M gift from the Michael Laird Estate. This gift is available to the Department. Mr. Laird had directed his multi-million dollar gift to the Chemical Engineering Department for student support ($1.5M) and to the Texas Tech Tau Beta Pi student chapter ($1.5M). Mr. Michael Laird graduated from Texas Tech University with a Chemical Engineering degree in 1962 and then went on to George Washington University for his Law degree in 1968. Mr. Laird resided in Orange County California and was a patent attorney and worked for Uno-Cal. Major chemical and oil companies keep providing the Department and the Student Chapter yearly funds for various educational activities. These donations are essential for activities such as research seminars. The Department has a seminar series, New Frontiers in Chemical Engineering, which is highly regarded in the country.
Space
The Department now occupies research laboratories, faculty offices, and graduate student offices in the newly renovated Livermore Center. This has given the Department a significant boost with respect to assignable research spaces. With the expected addition of at least two new faculty members in the fall of 2012, the Department will need further research lab space.
Overall, I want to thank all the faculty, staff, and students for their contributions to the Chemical Engineering program at Texas Tech University. Go Raiders!