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News

Petroleum Engineering The Texas Tech University College of Engineering has accepted a $15 million donation from alumnus Bob L. Herd to the Department of Petroleum Engineering. The funds will be used to endow the department. Herd's donation will result in the first naming of an academic department on campus, the Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering.

Herd, a 1957 petroleum engineering graduate, is the founder and operator of Herd Producing Company in Tyler. He was named a Distinguished Engineer in the College of Engineering in 1995 and was recognized as a Texas Tech Distinguished Alumnus in 1994. Herd credits Texas Tech for his success.



USNews In U.S. News and World Report’s yearly assessment of America’s best schools, Texas Tech’s undergraduate engineering program is now tied for 78, up from an 85 ranking for 2008 and from rankings in the 90s prior to that. The undergraduate program rankings are based on peer assessments only.

"We appreciate that the U.S. News ranking verifies what we have known all along: Texas Tech’s College of Engineering provides one of the best engineering educations in the nation," said Pamela Eibeck. "Our dedicated faculty, outstanding laboratories and supportive environment provide a superior engineering education, allowing our graduates to become technology leaders throughout the world."



Wind Science and Engineering Research Center The West Texas Municipal Power Agency (WTMPA) - a Texas joint power agency and municipal corporation comprised of the cities of Brownfield, Floydada, Lubbock and Tulia - has agreed to enter into a development agreement with Republic Power Partners, LP to conduct a final feasibility study for extensive, prime alternative energy sources in the High Plains region.

The project includes generation of power through wind, biomass, clean coal and other thermal energy sources and the transmission to provide a balanced, consistent source of electricity for local use, as well as selling surplus power by 2015 into the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). The Texas Tech Wind Science and Engineering Research Center will supply valuable expertise and guidance for this project. Feasibility studies are expected to be completed no later than 2011.


Rocket Camp On Friday, August 1, high school and middle school students showcased and launched rockets at Urbanovsky Park that were built during a T-STEM Center Rocket Camp. The center received a $123,000 grant to fund the camp under a joint initiative by the Texas Workforce Commission and the Higher Education Coordinating Board, aimed at motivating students in STEM education. 

Faculty Recognition

Iris Rivero Dr. Iris Rivero has been named a recipient of the 2009 Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) John G. Bollinger Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award. The award is given in recognition of significant achievements and leadership in the field of manufacturing engineering as a young engineer. Rivero is one of six recipients who will receive the award in 2009. The 2009 award is named in honor of John Bollinger for his lifelong contributions to manufacturing and long-time support of SME.


Former professor of civil and environmental engineering Dr. W. Pennington (Penny) Vann will receive the John A. Focht, Jr. Award at the American Society of Civil Engineers Texas Section Meeting in Dallas the first Friday in October. Vann was a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 1972 until 2006.


Dr. Hamed Sari-Sarraf, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, will be on faculty development leave during the Fall 2009 semester. He will spend this period as an Erasmus Mundus Scholar at the Laboratoire Electronique, Informatique et Image of Universite de Bourgogne, Le Creusot, France.


Dr. Kwong Chao retired from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering on August 31.

Theodore Cleveland was hired as an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering on September 1.

E. Annette Hernandez was hired as an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering on September 1.

Qing Hui was hired as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering on September 1.

Dr. Sangwook Lee was hired as an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Technology on July 16.

Dr. Michael Parten retired from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering on August 31.

Moon Won was hired as an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering on September 1.

Jingzhou Yang was hired as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering on September 1.

Staff Recognition

Glenna Andrews was promoted to senior advisor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering on September 1.

Denise Hinojosa was hired as a senior business assistant in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering effective August 8.

Vanessa Hocutt-Jehangiri was hired as a senior business assistant in the Department of Mechanical Engineering effective August 13.

Jeremy Obermeier was hired as a technician III in the Department of Chemical Engineering effective August 1.

Lori Walraven was promoted to supervisor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering on July 1.

Grants and Contracts

Chemical Engineering

  • Dr. Karlene A. Hoo was awarded $58,620.42 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "ADVANCE-PAID: Partnership of Women in Engineering, Research, and Science - PoWERS."
  • Dr. Brandon L. Weeks was awarded $27,500 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "MRI: Acquisition of a Nanocoating System for Engineering Surfaces."
  • Drs. Rajesh S. Khare and Sindee L. Simon were awarded $250,000 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "Matrix Confinement Effects in Composites and Nanocomposites: Experiments and Molecular Modeling."
  • Dr. Gregory B. McKenna was awarded $50,000 by the American Chemical Society - Petroleum Research Fund. The title of the proposal was "Solid Rheology of Glassy Substances: Polymer and Colloidal Systems."

Civil and Environmental Engineering

  • Dr. Kenneth Rainwater was awarded $8,503 by the Texas Department of Transportation. The title of the proposal was "0-5521/Develop Statewide Regression Equations for Improved Flood Peak Estimation."
  • Dr. Xinzhong Chen was awarded $74,967 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "Assessing Bridge Performance to Extreme Winds with Consideration of Non-Gaussian Features and System Uncertainties."
  • Dr. Clifford B. Fedler was awarded $112,243 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."
  • Dr. Hongchao Liu was awarded $20,758 by the City of Lubbock, Texas. The title of the proposal was "Operation of City of Lubbock's Traffic Management Center."
  • Dr. Clifford B. Fedler was awarded $55,030 by the TX On-Site Wastewater Treatment Research Council. The title of the proposal was "Refining the Application Rates for On-Site Surface Application Systems."
  • Dr. Phillip T. Nash was awarded $10,000 by the Texas Department of Transportation. The title of the proposal was "Travel for TAP Nominees."
  • Dr. Clifford B. Fedler was awarded $8,000 by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The title of the proposal was "Wichita Falls Monitoring."

College of Engineering Dean's Office

  • Drs. John R. Chandler and Dean A. Fontenot were awarded $18,454 by the Texas Education Agency/Lubbock Cooper ISD. The title of the proposal was "21st Century Community Learning Center Cycle 4 Year 3 Center for Engineering Outreach."

Computer Science

  • Dr. Per H. Andersen was awarded $10,844 by the Community Foundation of Abilene. The title of the proposal was "A Distribution and Retrieval Protocol for a Large-Scale Distributed Image Database."
  • Dr. Joe Urban was awarded $99,986 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "NSF CISE Pathways to Revitalized Undergraduate Computing Education (CPATH) PI Workshop."
  • Dr. Yu Zhuang was awarded $200,000 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "PIRE-Simulation of Electronic Non-Adaibatic Dynamics for Reactions with Organic Macromolecules, Liquids, and Surfaces."
  • Dr. Susan D. Urban was awarded $11,250 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "REU SUPPLEMENT: SRS: A Decentralized and Rule-Based Approach to Data Dependency Analysis and Failure Recovery in a Service-Oriented Environment."

Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Transportation

  • Dr. Hongchao Liu was awarded $11,797 by the Texas Department of Transportation. The title of the proposal was "0-5548: Development of Field Performance Evaluation Tools and Program for Pavement Parking Materials."
  • Drs. Theodore Cleveland, Kenneth A. Rainwater, and Sergey A. Smirnov were awarded $138,320 by the Texas Department of Transportation. The title of the proposal was "0-5823 Hydraulic Performance Evaluation of Horizontal Inlet Type H."
  • Dr. Moon Won was awarded $96,013 by the Texas Department of Transportation. The title of the proposal was "0-5832: Develop Mechanistic/Empirical Design for CRCP."
  • Drs. Andrew M. Budek, William R. Burkett, and Charles D. Newhouse were awarded $105,719 by the Texas Department of Transportation. The title of the proposal was "0-5834 Study of Elastomeric Bearings for Superelevated U-Beam Bridges." Charles Newhouse is the PI.
  • Drs. Priyantha W. Jayawickrama, William D. Lawson, and Charles D. Newhouse were awarded $102,981 by the Texas Department of Transportation. The title of the proposal was "0-5849 Evaluating Existing Culverts for Load Capacity Allowing for Soil Structure Interaction." William Lawson is the PI.
  • Dr. Moon Won was awarded $8,940 by the Texas Department of Transportation. The title of the proposal was "0-6037: Alternatives to Asphalt Concrete Pavement Subbase for Concrete Pavement."
  • Drs. Mario Beruvides and James L. Simonton were awarded $38,298 by the Texas Department of Transportation/Texas A&M University. The title of the proposal was "RMC-6194: Quantifying the Purchasing Power of Public Transportation in Texas."
  • Dr. Audra N. Morse was awarded $91,324 by the Texas Department of Transportation. The title of the proposal was "Transport Spill Containment for Texas Highways."

Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Dr. Andreas A. Neuber was awarded $15,000 by Triton, Inc. The title of the proposal was "Arc Erosion Testing."
  • Drs. Sunanda Mitra and Brian S. Nutter were awarded $62,500 by NIH-National Library of Medicine. The title of the proposal was "Integrated Advanced Compression and Noise Floor Estimation for Biomedical Images."
  • Dr. Hamed Sari-Sarraf was awarded $62,500 by the National Library of Medicine. The title of the proposal was "Interactive Segmentation System with Consumer-Level GPU."
  • Drs. Timothy J. Dallas, Richard O. Gale, and Hamed Sari-Sarraf were awarded $165,000 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "MRI: Acquisition of a Nanocoating System for Engineering Surfaces." Tim Dallas is the PI.

Industrial Engineering

  • Drs. Timothy I. Matis and James L. Simonton were awarded $37,500 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "Center for Engineering Logistics and Distribution: Human Interactions in Logistics Systems." Timothy Matis is the PI.
  • Dr. Mario Beruvides was awarded $6,000 by the Texas Dept of Agriculture/Food & Fiber Research. The title of the proposal was "Evaluation of Nep Formation from Mechanical Processing of Cotton."
  • Dr. Jennifer Farris was awarded $11,952 by Simple Health Systems. The title of the proposal was "Investigating the Effectiveness of Lean Manufacturing Techniques in a Healthcare Organization."

Mechanical Engineering

  • Dr. Edward E. Anderson was awarded $49,503 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "Application of Statistical Classification Analysis to Engineering Student Recruitment."

Nano Tech Center

  • Drs. Hongxing Jiang and Jingyu Lin were awarded $390,653 by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The title of the proposal was "AlInGaN Bandgap and Doping Engineering for Visible Laser Diodes."
  • Dr. Henryk Temkin was awarded $251,300 by the Department of Defense. The title of the proposal was "Henryk Temkin IPA Assignment - DARPA."
  • Drs. Hongxing Jiang and Jingyu Lin were awarded $165,000 by the U.S. Army Research Office. The title of the proposal was "High Al-Content AlGaN Alloys for Deep UV Laser Applications."
  • Drs. Jordan M. Berg, Ayrton Bernussi, Luis Grave de Peralta, Mark W. Holtz, and Sergey A. Nikishin were awarded $1.42 million by the U.S. Army. The title of the proposal was "Nano-Photonics Devices Research."
  • Dr. Ayrton Bernussi was awarded $15,000 by the Science Research Laboratory. The title of the proposal was "Research in Electrical Engineering - SRL-T. Knapczyk."

National Institute for Engineering Ethics

  • Dr. William D. Lawson was awarded $28,250.00 by the Texas Department of Transportation. The title of the proposal was "TxDOT Training by Video-Teleconference: Fundamentals of Ethics."

Publications

In April 2005, Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar, associate professor in The Institute of Environmental and Human Health, and collaborators published a peer-reviewed paper entitled "Electrospinning of Nanofibers" in the Journal of Applied Polymer Science. This paper was classified as a "Highly Cited Paper" by ISI's Web of Knowledge Database. As of August 21, 2008, this paper has had more than 100 citations.

The collaborators for this paper include Dr. Siva Parameswaran, professor of mechanical engineering, Dr. Richard Tock professor of chemical engineering, Dr. Gajanan Bhat, a professor in the University of Tennessee at Knoxville Department of Material Science and Engineering, and T. Subbiah, a former student of Dr. Ramkumar.

Student Accomplishments

The Society of Environmental Professionals (SEP) won first place in the Water Environment Association of Texas Student Design Competition hosted in San Antonio, TX on March 26, 2008. The student's proposed and designed a cost effective wet weather flow treatment upgrade for the Trinity River Authority's largest wastewater treatment plant. They will proceed to the national competition in October which is hosted in Chicago, IL at the WEFTEC conference.

Events of Interest

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Submit your news through your department's contributor:

Chemical Jan Hudson
Civil and Environmental Glenna Andrews
Computer Science Mysti Digby
Electrical and Computer Sandi Willingham
Engineering Technology Mary Reigner
Industrial Terry Wilson
Mechanical Lori Walraven
Petroleum Joan Blackmon

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