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News

Castillo Named Cash Chair

Castillo
Castillo

Dr. Luciano Castillo is joining Texas Tech University as the Don-Kay-Clay Cash Foundation Distinguished Engineering Chair in Wind Energy, the executive director and president of the NWRC, and professor of mechanical engineering.

Castillo was most recently an associate professor at the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace & Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, and at the Universidad del Turabo in Puerto Rico.

His research in turbulence using experimental techniques, direct numerical simulations and multiscale asymptotic analysis has injected new ideas in turbulent boundary layers and our understanding of initial conditions on large scale turbulence, particularly on wind energy. Some of his awards include: the NASA Faculty Fellowship, the Martin Luther King Faculty Award, the Robert T. Knapp Award on complex flows, and many others. He has published more than100 articles, including a seminal paper on turbulent boundary layers and scaling laws. He is currently leading various initiatives on wind energy in the U.S. and Europe.

 

Faculty Recognitions

Hanson Receives ASME IPTI PD Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award

Hanson
Hanson

Dr. Jeff Hanson has been named the recipient of the 2011 American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Petroleum Technology Institute Petroleum Division Outstanding Faculty Advisor award.

Hanson was awarded because of his efforts to provide "future mechanical engineers the much needed continued growth of engineering education and promotion of mechanical engineering as a career choice."

 

Student Accomplishments

Computer Science Students Win Second at IPCP

A team of graduate students under the supervision of Dr. Akbar Siami Namin, an assistant professor of computer science, won second place in the industrial challenging question competition at the International Conference in Program Comprehension (ICPC) held in Kingston, Canada.

The team members were Omar Rosas, Pankaj Sharma, and Vinitha Subburaj.

 

Alumni News

Young Named 2011 State Young Engineer of the Year

Young
Young

The Texas Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE) has selected Jack Young, EIT, CFM as the 2011 State Young Engineer of the Year.

He received a bachelor of science in civil engineering in 2008 from Texas Tech University with a minor in mathematics.

Young joined Halff Associates, Inc. in 2008, as a civil engineer focused on water resources engineering projects in the firm's Richardson office.

He is currently the TSPE Dallas Chapter’s 2011 Young Engineer of the Year.

 

Grants and Contracts

7-20-2011 – 8-28-2011

Chemical Engineering

  • Dr. Micah J. Green was awarded $120,000 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "Carbon Nanotube Detection in Plants Through Microwave-induced Heating."
  • Dr. Gregory B. McKenna was awarded $237,053 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "Jamming and Glass-like Behavior of Thermosensitive and Barosensitive Particulate Dispersions."
  • Drs. Gregory B. McKenna and Sindee L. Simon were awarded $300,000 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "Relaxation Dynamics in Selenide-based Chalcogenide Glasses: Characterization of the Intermediate Phase."
  • Dr. Micah J. Green was awarded $6,000 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "SUPPLEMENT: BRIGE: Liquid-phase Nanotechnology: Dispersion, Rheology, and Applications of Pristine Graphene."
  • Dr. Rajesh S. Khare was awarded $62,530 by the U.S. Army Research Office. The title of the proposal was "Simulation Tools for Calculating Local Mechanical Properties of Polymer Nanocomposites using Nanorheology."

Civil and Environmental Engineering

  • Dr. Clifford B. Fedler was awarded $34,000 by the TX On-Site Wastewater Treatment Research Council. The title of the proposal was "Effectiveness and Utility of Surface Application and Soil Percolation for Removal of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Product Microcontaminants (Part II)."
  • Dr. Kishor C. Mehta was awarded $158,839 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "IPA Hazard Mitigation and Structural Engineering."

Construction Engineering and Engineering Technology

  • Dr. Daan Liang was awarded $105,119 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "HI2: A New Measure of Hurricane Impact for Innovation in Enterprise Risk Management."

Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Transportation

  • Drs. Moon-Cheol Won and Timothy A. Wood were awarded $19,918 by the Texas Department of Transportation. The title of the proposal was "5-9045-05 TxDOT Just in Time Technology Transfer." Won is the PI.
  • Dr. Theodore G. Cleveland was awarded $12,771 by the Texas Department of Transportation. The title of the proposal was "TxDOT DES 606 Watershed Modeling/HEC-HMS."

Center for Pulsed Power and Power Electronics

  • Drs. James C. Dickens and John J. Mankowski were awarded $253,190 by the Office of Naval Research. The title of the proposal was "DURIP: A High Resolution GPS Timing and Positioning System for the Enhancement of Basic Counter-IED Research Technology."
  • Dr. Andreas A. Neuber was awarded $12,500 by the National Physical Science Consortium. The title of the proposal was "NPSC Fellowships for Jacob Stephens and Andrew Fierro."

Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Dr. Michael G. Giesselmann was awarded $8,333 by DOE/Univ of Minnesota. The title of the proposal was "ARRA: Revitalize Electric Power Engineering Education by State-of-the-Art Laboratories."
  • Dr. Mohammad A. Saed was awarded $75,000 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "Carbon Nanotube Detection in Plants Through Microwave-induced Heating."
  • Dr. Changzhi Li was awarded $49,000 by the Semiconductor Research Corporation/UT Dallas. The title of the proposal was "High Accuracy All-CMOS Temperature Sensor with Low-voltage Low-power Subthreshold MOSFETs Front-end and Performance-enhancement Techniques."
  • Dr. Yu-Chun D. Lie was awarded $60,000 by the Semiconductor Research Corporation/UT Dallas. The title of the proposal was "P12079 Ultra-lowpower Analog Front-end IC Design for Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) Devices."
  • Dr. Vittal S Rao was awarded $12,500 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "SUPPLEMENT: MRI-Development of Real Time Simulator for Smart Grid Systems Integrated with Distributed Renewable Energy Sources."
  • Dr. Changzhi Li was awarded $377,819 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "Software-defined MIMO Radar Fusion for Structural Health Monitoring Sensor Network."
  • Dr. Yu-Chun D. Lie was awarded $20,000 by the Industrial Technology Research Institute. The title of the proposal was "Sub-1mW Analog Front-end CMOS IC Design for Non-Invasive ExG Diagnosis and Monitoring."

Industrial Engineering

  • Dr. Hong-Chao Zhang was awarded $48,967 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "Collaborative Research: Understanding and Optimizing a Supercritical Fluid Process for Recycling of Printed Circuit Boards."
  • Dr. Shiren Wang was awarded $270,000 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "Scalable Synthesis and Assembly of Novel Ordered Hybrid Nanostructures."

Nano Tech Center

  • Drs. Ayrton Bernussi, Zhaoyang Fan, and Mark W. Holtz were awarded $390,001 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "Electrically Controlled Metal-insulator Transition and its Terahertz Applications."
  • Dr. Sergey A. Nikishin was awarded $3,000 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "REU Supplement: Collaborative Research: Vertical GaN Nanostructures on Silicon Fins for Power Electronics and Future Integration with Silicon Technology."

Water Resources Center

  • Drs. Todd A. Anderson, William A. Jackson, and Kenneth A. Rainwater were awarded $27,023 by the USAF/AFMC. The title of the proposal was "Research Needs Related to Natural Perchlorate: Production, Occurrence and Stable Isotopic Signatures."
 

Publications and Presentations

Dr. Mohamed Soliman

Dr. Mohamed Soliman, chair of the Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering, George Livermore Chair, and professor of petroleum engineering, published a paper titled "Methods for Enhancing Far-Field Complexity in Fracturing Operations" in the August 2011 issue of SPE Productions & Operations

 

Obituaries

Levern "Tony" Reis

Reis
Reis

Levern A. "Tony" Reis, 88, of Lubbock passed away on Aug. 24, 2011. He was born on July 27, 1923, in Electra, Texas, to parents Margaret (Mengwasser) and Henry Michael Reis.

Reis was employed at Texas Tech as a faculty member from1957-1990. He was named an emeritus associate professor of mechanical engineering after his retirement.

 

 

Events of Interest

September 1 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Houston Area Petroleum Engineering Alumni Reception
Come out and connect with other petroleum engineers, re-connect to the college and the university, and meet Dean Al Sacco Jr. and PE Chair Dr. Mohamed Soliman.
September 5   Labor Day (No classes - Offices Closed)
September 9 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Engineering Kick-off Event
Engineering Key
This event will showcase the exciting world of engineering and bring students, faculty, staff and industry partners together for fun.
September 9 3 - 4:20 p.m. CHE Seminar Series - Dr. Ed Kramer
Livermore 101
"Designing "Hairy" Nanoparticle "Surfactants" to Control Block Copolymer Morphology"
September 12 2 - 3 p.m. ME Speaker Series - Dr. Derrick Tate
Livermore 101
"Innovative and Sustainable Design"
September 19 2 - 3 p.m. ME Speaker Series - Dr. Mohan Sridharan
Livermore 101
"Bootstrap Learning on Mobile Robots and Autonomous Agents"
September 21 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Engineering Job Fair
Lubbock Civic Center
September 26 2 - 3 p.m. ME Speaker Series - Dr. Jianghai Hu
Livermore 101
"Rigidity of Graphs: Its Quantification and Practical Applications"
September 28 3 - 5 p.m. Fall Faculty and Staff Meeting
Petroleum Engineering 121
September 30 3 - 4:20 p.m. CHE Seminar Series - Dr. Arul Jayaraman
Livermore 101
"Inter-kingdom Signaling in the GI Tract: There's a Lot of Talking Going On..."

 

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Nov 20, 2014Apr 30, 2020