Student Accomplishments

 

The Engineering Ambassadors were named 2007 Student Organization of the Year in the academic classification by the TTU Student Activities office. Members of the group are:

Simeon Eburi Losoha (PE)	Jeremy Miller (MET)
Jamie Armstrong (ME/IE)	Michael Oskierko (IE)
Richard Greyson Geer (CE/Arch)	Crystal Mahon (IE)
Sanjana Datta (ME)	Caleb Francis (ME)
Jeff Beeler (ME)	Alisha Bloodworth (ChemE)
Davis Chanjaplammootil (EE)	Alex Pearson (ME)
Amanda Gordon (ME)	Cody Edwards (CTEC)
Maaroof Shahriar (ME/PE)	Erika Nordstrom (CE)
Bryce Bradford (EE)	Eric Nixon (ME)

 

Teams of sophomore electrical and computer engineering students put their autonomous robot designs to the test the last Saturday in April to determine how they would navigate in an outdoor area following a designated path, reading symbols to determine the correct path. The exercise teaches students how to solve real-world engineering problems, as well as teaching direct industrial applications. Colby Sites and his teammates placed first; their prototype is on display in the ECE department. ECE instructors John Carroll and Mark Storrs were coaches.

 

David Dooley, Nick Zeig, Cody Edwards, Mark Williams, and Rene Flores, construction engineering technology students, attended the Texas Legislative Day (sponsored by the Texas Building Branch (TBB) of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC)) in Austin on March 6 and 7. The students had the opportunity to attend and observe meetings between representatives of the AGC-TBB and Texas lawmakers as they discussed current issues and bills that affect the construction industry. These future leaders of the construction industry were able to learn about and see firsthand the legislative process in action.

Top l-r: an unidentified student from another university; David Dooley; Robert Fretz of Fretz Construction, Houston; top right: Tom Craddick, Speaker of the Texas House; bottom row l-r: Mike Chatron, AGC, TBB chapter; Nick Zeig; Cody Edwards; Mark Willliams; Tom Kader of Sedalco, LP construction company, Fort Worth and Engineering Technology IAB member; and Rene Flores.

 

Brian Ayres, senior mechanical engineering technology student, was named Outstanding Student of the Engineering Technology department for spring 2007 at an award presentation during the Industrial Advisory Board meeting in March.

 

Senior Bryant Heath took first place at the 2007 Region 5 Technical, Professional, and Student Conference (TPSC) Student Paper Contest sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. and held at the University of Arkansas in April. The title of his paper is "Target Identification for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Competition." The TPSC provides a forum for interdisciplinary interaction between computer scientists, electrical, and computer engineering professionals, faculty, and students, and for the exchange of information on new technologies, paradigms, and ideas. Senior Amanda Brown also presented her paper, "Autonomous Solar System Cargo Transport Vehicle." The Bryce Bradford and Elliot Briggs team placed third in the circuit design competition. They were given a design challenge at 8:00 a.m. and had until 4:00 p.m. to develop a solution, build it, debug it, and create a presentation for the judges. ECE Professor Richard Gale is advisor to the students.

 

Jeff Hanson, an industrial engineering PhD student, has been awarded a Helen DeVitt Jones Part-time Graduate Scholarship, to facilitate his graduate studies.

 

LaQuinti "Q" Huntsberry, a civil engineering major, raised in excess of $50,000 for student scholarships through the Institutional Advancement Alumni Fund. He was honored at a luncheon for student fundraisers, and Dr. Chris Letchford, senior associate dean, also treated him to lunch in recognition of his outstanding efforts.

 

Fourteen petroleum engineering students were inducted into Pi Epsilon Tau, Gamma chapter, the honor society for petroleum engineers, on April 16.  They are (left to right) Kevin Phelan, Viktor Kalitsun, Blake Morphew, Kale Jackson, Aboubakar Y. Coulibaly, Beau Chambers, David Meixell, Rod Ceja, Conrad Puls, Inger-Lise Haland, Lonnie Grohman II, Katy Sperry, Ryan Warmke, and Marshall Watson.  The honor society was founded in 1947; TTU’s chapter was the third chapter to be formed.

 

Faculty and staff from the Electrical and Computer Engineering department and the Center for Engineering Outreach held a Lego Robotics competition on April 14 at the Science Spectrum in Lubbock. More than 150 students from 14 elementary schools in the region designed and programmed Lego robots to run autonomously through a space station game field. The goals of the competition are not only to involve TTU students in the community but also to interest elementary students in engineering at an early age.

 

The industrial engineering course, "Professional Communications for Engineers," is a service learning class taught by Dean Fontenot, director of the College of Engineering Center for Engineering Outreach. Students worked in teams to develop lesson plans on transportation issues for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). This will allow TxDOT to offer professional development teacher training to public school teachers on the value of transportation, the various types of transportation, and the engineering concepts involved in transportation. The students gave a public presentation on May 8.

 

Maanisaad Shahriar, petroleum engineering senior, was named a Tau Beta Pi scholar by the engineering honor society. He received the award based on the competitive criteria of high scholarship, campus leadership and service, and the promise of future contributions to the engineering profession. Only two petroleum engineering students nationwide received this scholarship. Shahriar received a Dodson Scholarship, sponsored by Charles R. Dodson.

 

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Pulsed Power Conference Outstanding Graduate Student Awards for 2006 and 2007 went to TTU students. The 2006 award went to David Wetz, student of Assistant Professor John Mankowski, and the 2007 award went to Greg Edmiston, student of Associate Professor Andreas Neuber.

 

Senior Dana Rosenbladt is this year’s recipient of the McAuley Distinguished Engineering Student Award.  The award, provided by members of the College of Engineering Dean’s Council, is named in memory of James A. McAuley, an active member of the Dean’s Council a Distinguished Engineer, an educator, and a strong influence in the lives of those who knew him.  Rosenbladt earned her bachelor’s of science degree in mechanical engineering, and will graduate in May 2007.  She worked as a student assistant in the TTU’s Nano Tech Center, supported under a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates grant. Her objective is to work toward a graduate degree in mechanical engineering at TTU.
 

The Texas Tech student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers hosted the 2007 Southwest Regional Student Conference in late March.  Over 100 students from the region attended along with 50 alumni and corporate participants.  The TTU team won the Chem-E-Car competition; seniors Alisha Bloodworth won the paper competition with Christopher Seman placing second.  They will compete at the national level this fall.

 

As part of our effort to attract excellent doctoral students to the College of Engineering, the Dean's Fellowship Awards have been established.  Recipients of the first annual awards for the 2007/2008 academic year are as follows: 

Department	Name	Home Country
Chemical	Diva Brandyopadhyay	India
Civil and  Environmental	Fabio Oliveria	Brazil
Computer Science	Sheng Bao	China
Electrical and Computer	Asif Anwar	Bangladesh
Industrial	Hao Peng	China
Mechanical	Luthfi Luthfi	Indonesia
Petroleum	Rakibul Sarkar	Bangladesh

Congratulations to these deserving students, and thank you to those who participated in the nomination process.  Nominations for the 2008/2009 academic year will be next spring.

 

Amy Cannon, a graduating senior in Civil and Environmental Engineering, is the recipient of the first annual American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Outstanding Civil Engineering Student Award, sponsored by Freese and Nichols, Inc.  She was nominated by Drs. Audra Morse and Sanjaya Senadheera.  Amy was recognized at the ASCE Texas Section spring meeting on April 13 in Tyler, TX.  Freese and Nichols, Inc., a full-service professional consulting firm in Fort Worth, TX, has been in operation for over one hundred years.

 

Simeon Eburi Losoha, president of the Engineering Ambassadors, has been selected to receive a Student Academic Citizenship Award by the Texas Tech Association of Parents.   He will also represent the College of Engineering at the Society of Petroleum Engineers Regional Student Paper Contest, where he was second place winner in the master division of the TTU paper contest.

 

A Goldwater scholarship has been awarded to Kevin McBride, a third-year chemical engineering student.  The two-year scholarship based on academic merit is from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering.  It is the premier undergraduate award of its type in these fields.  Kevin plans to pursue a doctorate in chemical engineering/physics and to conduct research in an academic setting in the areas of chemical/nuclear interactions for detection of manufactured nanoparticles and their subsequent destruction.  Julie Rice, a computer science major, was one of four TTU students nominated for the scholarship after a very competitive process.

 

The TTU student chapter of the Society of Plastics Engineers has been named “Outstanding Student Chapter for 2007.”  Congratulations to the students and faculty advisor, Dr. Raj Khare, assistant professor of chemical engineering, for their dedication in attaining this national recognition for their two-year old chapter.
http://www.4spe.org/awards/index.php

 

Senior industrial engineering students Chase Bubenik, Sarah Chowdhury, Philip Hunter, Michael Lewis, Gemma Smith, and Garrett Vick are recipients of a summer internship from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF).  They were chosen for their strong academic performance, class standing, personal qualities, extra-curricular participation, and potential career interests, with final selection by BNSF staff after a personal interview.  The internship can lead to a full-time position following graduation.  BNSF's confidence in TTU's engineering curricula and students is of great value to the college.

 

Meet Shah, a freshman mechanical engineering student, was nominated for one of the TTU President's Excellence in Diversity and Equity Awards.

 

Texas Tech’s College of Engineering graduate program is ranked in the top 100 of America’s Best Undergraduate and Graduate Schools of Engineering for 2007 by U.S. News & World Report, with a rank of 93. The undergraduate program tied for the 86th spot, up from 87nd last year.

 

In late September, 50 petroleum engineering students attended the annual technical conference and exhibition of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) in San Antonio.  At that meeting, the TTU chapter once again won the Outstanding International SPE Student Chapter designation.  Congratulations to students and faculty!

 

Fourteen Engineering Outreach mentors have been named for the 2006/2007 academic year. Chosen from the best-of-the-best engineering students, these scholars will bring engineering expertise to local schools by working with K-12 students and teachers to bring about more understanding regarding the field of engineering. The Engineering Outreach mentors are: Michael Bird (electrical engineering/computer science); Samuel Chanjaplammootil (electrical engineering); Tasha Franklin (electrical engineering); Richard Geer (civil engineering/architecture); Tyler Hays (civil engineering technology); Larry Holloway (mechanical engineering); Garrett Johnson (mechanical engineering); Jacob McFarland (mechanical engineering); Amanda Mitchell (industrial engineering); Benjamin Reading (mechanical engineering); Kayla Sisk (civil engineering); Scott Smith (industrial engineering); Cyril Wafo (electrical engineering); and Keith Wyly (industrial engineering). Read more about these students and their goals at:
http://www.engineeringoutreach.ttu.edu/mentors/2006/

 

The West Texas Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology (WT BEST) competition was held at Texas Tech on December 1 and 2. Regional junior high and high school students braved the year's first snow to participate in an engineering-based experience in a sports-like environment, tour the College of Engineering, and have lunch.

 

Thomas Holt, a PhD student in the Center for Pulsed Power and Power Electronics, received a travel grant from The Megagauss Institute to attend the 2006 International Conference on Megagauss Magnetic Field Generation and Related Topics, and present a paper on his work. The conference was held in Santa Fe, NM in November. Also, Holt and Horn Professor Kris Kristiansen recently attended a classified conference at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL where they presented papers related to the conference topic of “Multifunctional Warheads.” http://www.megagauss.org/

 

Two engineering students have been nominated for the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program: senior Kevin McBride (chemical engineering) and sophomore Julie Rice (computer science). The program was established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry M. Goldwater, who served our country as a U.S. senator for 30 years. Its purpose is to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in these fields. Awards are announced the end of March. http://www.act.org/goldwater/

 

Computer science students in the Association for Computing Machinery student chapter raised funds to provide a Nintendo Wii game system for the use of patients in Covenant Children’s Hospital Pediatric Oncology Clinic. Stephanie Thompson, Child Life Coordinator at Covenant, recounted the positive feedback from parents and patients when they have a distraction to pass the time during treatments. Timothy Smith is president of the chapter, and Joshua Gentry is vice president.

 

Master of Environmental Engineering student Rebecca Thomason teaches the “Design, Engineer, and Build” Super Saturday course for second and third graders, in conjunction with TTU’s Institute for the Development and Enrichment of Advanced Learners. For four Saturdays, Rebecca presents a lesson that introduces various engineering disciplines by making soda geysers, static electricity generators, or edible cars. Sometimes the budding engineers take a field trip to see the mechanical engineering wind tunnel or the NASA water recovery lab. Rebecca sees these seven- and eight-year-old kids make a connection with engineering that may chart their future as adults.
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ode/pdf/Super.Sat.Fall.07.pdf

 

Continuing their four-year commitment to TTU students, the AT&T Foundation recently awarded each of eleven engineering students a scholarship.  Recipients are:  Antonio Acevedo, Ross Brown, Cameron Busby, Matt Case, William Hilliard, Jesus Martinez, Phebe Moralez, Nestor Natareno, Ernesto Navarrete, Christina Sosebee, and Cody Vasquez.  Congratulations!