Engineering Faculty Members offer Expertise, Analysis of Storm Preparedness
Following the recent outbreaks of severe weather across the United States, Texas Tech engineering faculty members' research expertise has been in high demand in devastated areas. Featured frequently in nationwide media reports in the last month, their knowledge and experience has also been useful for municipal planning authorities and U.S. Congressional leaders.
The following is a sampling of recent media reports and coverage that features Texas Tech engineering faculty members and researchers.
Texas Tech Expert | Source | Title/Topic |
Dr. Ernst Kiesling |
House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Research C-SPAN |
Storm Shelter Expert Shares Concerns with Congress Windstorm Damage Mitigation Efforts |
Larry Tanner |
KFOR-TV Oklahoma City |
Which is safer? Underground shelter or safe room? |
Dr. Ernst Kiesling |
Popular Mechanics |
Hardening Your Home Against Tornadoes |
Larry Tanner |
MSNBC: Rachel Maddow Show |
Moore, Oklahoma Reporting |
Dr. Ernst Kiesling |
USA Today |
Storm shelters in demand after tornado |
Dr. Ernst Kiesling |
Reuters |
Oklahoma TV weatherman vilified for tornado advice |
Dr. Ernst Kiesling |
ABC News |
Safe Storm Shelters Saved Lives During Oklahoma Tornado |
Dr. Darryl James Dr. Ernst Kiesling |
LiveScience |
Can We Protect Against the Next Moore Tornado? |
Dr. Darryl James Larry Tanner |
USA Today |
Tornado simulator takes you inside the storm |
Larry Tanner |
Tulsa World |
EF5 rating of El Reno tornado under review, NWS official says |
Dr. Ernst Kiesling |
CNN |
Basements scarce in tornado-prone Oklahoma City area; here's why |
|
Neuber |
Faculty, Engineering Alumnus Advance Global Food Safety and Security
Dr. Andreas Neuber, co-director of the Center for Pulsed Power and Power Electronics and AT&T Professor in the Whitacre College of Engineering; along with Dr. Mindy Brashears, professor in food microbiology and food safety; Dr. Chance Brooks, associate professor of meat science in the Department of Animal and Food Science; and Dr. Todd Brashears, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communications, have worked for many years to develop advanced microwave technology to purify food and water. This research is being commercialized for broader use by technology company MicroZap.
Don Stull, the CEO of MicroZap and a licensed professional engineer, earned a bachelor of science in civil engineering and a M.B.A. from Texas Tech.
“We started MicroZap in 2008 when we licensed the original technology from Texas Tech for treatment of eggs and bread,” Stull said. “Since then we have worked with Texas Tech in a very close collaboration to advance and commercialize the technology.”
Neuber said the MicroZap technology will heat, but not directly damage the DNA of a biological substance.
“We use electro-magnetic radiation (microwaves) which interacts with the molecules in the product or sample and will affect pathogens, bacteria and mold in the different products we treat,” Neuber said. “The unit has levels on the outside similar to those produced when people use their microwave oven in the home. MicroZap technology is very similar, except that we work with much higher fields on the inside. We have been extremely successful treating mold in bread products and have extended the shelf-life of bread to 60 days.”
The company received $1.5 million in March 2010 from the state’s Emerging Technology Fund to get the project off the ground.
|
Design-Build Team (L-R) Caleb Lightfoot, Jake Maxton, Phillip Hamilton, Stephanie Bunt, Zach Sienkiel, Dr. Tewodros Ghebrab (Coach), and Marshall Clark |
Design-Build Team Presents Solution at DBIA Conference
The Texas Tech Design-Build Team, which won second place in their division at the 2013 Associated Schools of Construction Region 5 (ASCR5) Student Competition held in Dallas in February 2013, presented their ASCR5 competition solution at the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) Southwest Region's 9th Annual Conference held in New Orleans, La. in May 2013.
The Texas Tech team initially competed against six other teams from college construction programs located in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Ireland, and Australia. Following their outstanding performance at the ASCR5 competition, the Design-Build Team was invited to participate and present their outstanding solution at the DBIA Conference.
|
|
Bayne |
Farris |
Bayne and Farris Inducted into the Texas Tech Teaching Academy
Dr. Stephen Bayne, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Dr. Jennifer Farris, assistant professor of industrial engineering, have been inducted into the Texas Tech Teaching Academy. The mission of the Teaching Academy is to advocate for teaching excellence, promote service related to the university's teaching mission, advise and mentor colleagues and others, and share knowledge about teaching strategies and their implementation as appropriate.
Texas Tech Teaching Academy Members in the Whitacre College of Engineering
Name | Department |
Ed Anderson |
Mechanical Engineering |
Stephen Bayne |
Electrical and Computer Engineering |
Mario Beruvides |
Industrial Engineering |
Stephen Ekwaro-Osire |
Mechanical Engineering |
Atila Ertas |
Mechanical Engineering |
Jennifer Farris |
Industrial Engineering |
Michael Giesselmann |
Electrical and Computer Engineering |
Tanja Karp |
Electrical and Computer Engineering |
William Lawson |
Civil and Environmental Engineering |
|
Name | Department |
Audra Morse |
Civil and Environmental Engineering |
Scott Norville |
Civil and Environmental Engineering |
Brian Nutter |
Electrical and Computer Engineering |
Ken Rainwater |
Civil and Environmental Engineering |
Mohammad Saed |
Electrical and Computer Engineering |
Sanjaya Senadheera |
Civil and Environmental Engineering |
Douglas Smith |
Civil and Environmental Engineering |
James L. Smith |
Industrial Engineering |
Milton Smith |
Industrial Engineering |
|
|
Endsley |
Endsley Appointed Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force
Dr. Mica Endsley, a 1982 graduate with a bachelor of science in industrial engineering, has been appointed as the U.S. Air Force's first female chief scientist.
"Having served on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board for many years, I've had the pleasure of working closely with the current and several former Air Force chief scientists," Endsley said. "I know this is a tremendous opportunity to help the Air Force excel in its goal of maintaining the critical technological edge that gives our airmen a strategic advantage."
From 1990 to 1997, Endsley joined the industrial engineering faculty at Texas Tech, first as an assistant professor and then as an associate professor, teaching in the area of human factors and expanding her work on situation awareness to other areas including air traffic control, driving, and military command and control.
Endsley received the Distinguished Engineer Award from the Texas Tech Whitacre College of Engineering in 2010.
May 14, 2013 – June 13, 2013
Investigator(s) | Agency | Title | Amount |
Chemical Engineering |
Dr. Harvinder S. Gill |
National Institutes of Health |
Nanoengineered Virus-mimics as Templates for Design of a Universal Influenza A Vaccine |
$132,587 |
Dr. Siva A. Vanapalli |
National Science Foundation |
REU Supplement to CAREER: Collective Hydrodynamics of Confined Drops in Microfluidic Parking Networks |
$6,000 |
Civil and Environmental Engineering |
Dr. Delong Zuo |
DOE/Alstom |
(NWI) Development of Innovative Control Systems for Offshore Wind Turbine Performance and Reliability |
$37,499 |
Computer Science |
Dr. Yong Chen |
DOE/Argonne National Lab |
Active Object Storage for Big Data Applications in High Performance Computing |
$95,522 |
Dr. Yong Chen |
National Science Foundation |
CSR: Medium: Collaborative Research: Decoupled Execution Paradigm for Data-intensive High-end Computing |
$92,433 |
Center for Pulsed Power and Power Electronics |
Dr. James C. Dickens Dr. John J. Mankowski Dr. Andreas A. Neuber |
U.S. Army/Lockheed Martin Corporation |
Compact Hard Tube Vircator System |
$141,488 |
Dr. James C. Dickens Dr. Andreas A. Neuber * |
U.S. Army/ARC Technology |
Electrically Generated Haptic Feedback to Simulate Virtual Explosions |
$16,500 |
Dr. Andreas A. Neuber |
National Physical Science Consortium |
NPSC Fellowships for Jacob Stephens and Andrew Fierro |
$12,500 |
Dr. Stephen B. Bayne |
U.S. Army Research Office/AAS |
Research and Engineering Apprenticeship Program |
$2,600 |
Industrial Engineering |
Dr. Jennifer A Farris Dr. Timothy I. Matis |
Medical Center Hospital (Odessa, Tx) |
Assessment of ED Lab Workflow |
$9,946 |
Mechanical Engineering |
Dr. Jian Sheng |
National Science Foundation |
CAREER: Simultaneous Measurement of Wall Deformation and 3-D Flow Structures for Flow-Structure Interaction Investigations |
$60,918 |
Dr. Yanzhang Ma |
U.S. Army RDECOM/Iowa State |
Strain-induced Phase Transformations in Ceramics under High Pressure |
$75,000 |
Petroleum Engineering |
Dr. James J. Sheng |
Petroleum Development Oman LLC |
Chemical EOR Knowledge Database |
$100,000 |
Whitacre College of Engineering Dean's Office |
Dr. John R. Chandler Dr. Andrea D. Fontenot * Dr. William M. Marcy |
TX Education Agency |
GRI: Texas Tech University T-STEM Center |
$1,940 |
* Primary Investigator
See a full listing of the college's events on the Engineering Master Calendar.
Follow the College on Facebook and Twitter
Keep up with news and events within the Whitacre College of Engineering by following the college on Facebook or Twitter. Updates are posted regularly.
|