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News

New Radar Better Treats Mobile Tumors

Radar
Radar

Changzhan Gu, a Texas Tech doctoral student from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has set out to level the playing field. His new radar will help make cancer treatment safer, more effective and more comfortable for the patients with floating tumors. And his work, under the supervision of assistant professor Dr. Changzhi Li, already has won awards at two premier conferences.

“The project utilizes radar sensor technology for biomedical applications of respiratory gating and tumor tracking,” Gu said. “It is a brand-new technology to deal with mobile tumors.”

The research is possible through a grant from The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).



Student Organizations Mentor Students in BEST Robotics Competition

BEST Robotics
BEST Robotics

The West Texas BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology) Robotics Competition was held on Nov. 5, 2011 at Estacado High School in Lubbock.

Student organizations AWEE (Association of Women in Electrical Engineering) and NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers) helped to train and mentor middle and high school students in the 16 teams that competed from schools across West Texas. The teams worked for six weeks to build the robots.

The winners of the competition, Hutchinson Middle School and Frenship High School, will go on to compete in the Texas BEST Regional Robotics Championship in Dallas on Nov. 18-19, 2011.

AWEE and NSBE had many student mentors present. Members of the organizations hope to get students excited about engineering and recruit more women and minorities to engineering programs at Texas Tech.

 
 

Student Accomplishments

Kresse Receives Houston Materials Handling Society Scholarship

Frank Kresse, a senior mechanical engineering major and president of the Texas Tech American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) chapter, is the recipient of the Houston Material Handling Society (HMHS) scholarship.

HMHS is the South Texas Material Handling Technical Chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). It is an organization that focuses on engineering, operating, manufacturing and supply professionals that are involved in solids processing. The scholarship award was established to promote education at the undergraduate level and it is given to students who have shown success and are enrolled in a mechanical engineering program.

 

Faculty Recognitions

Rivero Named President of IIE Division

Rivero
Rivero

Iris V. Rivero, an associate professor of industrial engineering, has been named president of the Manufacturing and Design Division for the Institute of Industrial Engineers.

Rivero said she wants her presidency to keep fostering a common professional environment for discussing contemporary and emerging issues in manufacturing. At the same time, the division will engage with the manufacturing community to set an agenda for future developments.

 


Urban and Group Receive Best Paper Award

Urban
Urban

Dr. Susan Urban, a professor of industrial engineering, and her group received the best paper award at The 5th International Symposium on Rules: Research Based and Industry Focused that was held Nov. 3-5, 2011 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The title of the paper was "Supporting Data Consistency in Concurrent Process Execution with Assurance Points and Invariant Rules."

 


Vanapalli and Group's Work Featured

Vanapalli
Vanapalli

Dr. Siva A. Vanapalli, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, and his group's work is featured on the cover of Lab on a Chip.

Lab on a Chip coverage is highly relevant to a variety of industrial and academic sectors, including: pharmaceuticals; medicine; analytical science; synthetic chemistry; biotechnology; physics; materials science; (bio)engineering; and electronics.

 

 

Alumni News

Verhines Named State Engineer

Verhines
Verhines

Scott Verhines, 1979 Texas Tech graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, has been named the state engineer of New Mexico.

As state engineer, Verhines will be the state's top water manager. His responsibilities will include supervising the state's water resources through the measurement, appropriation, and distribution of all of New Mexico's ground and surface water, including streams and rivers that cross state boundaries. He will also assume his new duties as the secretary of the Interstate Stream Commission and as a member of the New Mexico Water Trust Board.

"I am truly honored to have been appointed by the governor to serve the citizens of the state in this manner," said State Engineer Scott Verhines. "Managing the state's water resources is critically important work. I have a great deal of respect for and look forward to working with the staff at the Office of the State Engineer, the Interstate Stream Commission, and Director Estevan López."

Verhines is a registered professional engineer in New Mexico, and has more than 34 years experience focusing on water resources, transportation, and drainage and flood control projects.



Wetzel Named a U.S. Professor of the Year

Wetzel
Wetzel

Dr. Kathy Wetzel, a 1995 Texas Tech graduate with a Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Engineering, has been named a "U.S. Professor of the Year" by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

The U.S. Professors of the Year program salutes the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country-those who excel in teaching and positively influence the lives and careers of students.

Wetzel is department chair of mathematics, sciences, and engineering at Amarillo College, and has taught there for 25 years. She has received several large NSF grants at Amarillo College for developmental math and science.

At Texas Tech, her subject matter areas were computer science, industrial engineering and electrical engineering. She also holds a master's degree in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M.

All undergraduate teachers in the United States, of any academic rank at any type of undergraduate institution, are eligible for the U.S. Professor of the Year award. Entries are judged by top U.S. educators and other active participants in education.

 
 

Grants and Contracts

10-26-2011 – 11-15-2011

Chemical Engineering

  • Dr. Brandon Weeks was awarded $4,428 by Anonymous Sponsor - Industrial. The title of the proposal was "Project for Industry."

Center for Pulsed Power and Power Electronics

  • Dr. James C Dickens was awarded $62,000 by the Office of Naval Research. The title of the proposal was "Enabling Technology for Compact Directed Energy Systems Addressing Asymmetric Explosive Threats."
  • Dr. Michael G. Giesselmann was awarded $49,792 by the U.S. Dept of Energy/National Renewable Energy Lab. The title of the proposal was "Gearbox Design for U.S.-Sourced, Next Generation Drivetrain for Land-based and Offshore Wind Turbines."

Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Dr. Yu-Chun D Lie was awarded $240,000 by DARPA/OMD-MMIC Design. The title of the proposal was "Microscale Power Conversion (MPC)-High-efficiency Broadband RF/MM Transmitter System, Circuits and Envelope/Supply Modulator IC Design using the Envelope Tracking (ET) Technique."
 

Obituaries

Captain Tushar Tembe

Tembe
Tembe

Tushar Tembe, a 1983 Texas Tech graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering and the commanding officer of the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, died suddenly on Nov. 8 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

Born on November 15, 1961 in Bombay, India, he immigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in New York City. He attended high school in Brooklyn, and he had degrees from Texas Tech University and the Naval War College.

During his successful naval career, he completed sea tours with VFA-132, VFA-83, commanded VFA-87 and USS Nashville, and served as executive officer in USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Tembe fulfilled his dream of being a strike fighter pilot and the commanding officer of a nuclear powered aircraft carrier, USS Harry S. Truman.

 

Events of Interest

See a full listing of the college's events on the Engineering Master Calendar.

 

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Social Media
Social Media

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