News

Hewett Named Chair of the Department of Computer Science

Hewett

Dr. Rattikorn Hewett, professor of computer science, has been named the new chair of the Department of Computer Science. Hewett will assume the role of department chair on January 1, 2012.

Dr. Bill Marcy, who has been serving as the interim chair, will continue to serve as the director of the Murdough Center for Engineering Professionalism and the National Institute for Engineering Ethics.

Hewett's research includes intelligent data understanding, model-based reasoning, agent control mechanisms, and blackboard systems.

SWE Hosts "Catch the Engineering Bug"

Catch the Engineering Bug

On November 19, the Texas Tech student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers hosted "Catch the Engineering Bug" at the Whitacre College of Engineering.

During this event, approximately 80 girls from middle schools in the Lubbock are were taken on tours through various college laboratories during the morning. In the afternoon, the girls participated in hands-on engineering design projects. In one project, the students attempted to design and create parachutes to see whose parachute would stay in the air the longest.

Faculty Recognitions

Neuber Elected IEEE Fellow

Neuber

Dr. Andreas Neuber, AT&T professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been elected as a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for "contributions to the physics of dielectric surface flashover in high electric fields."

Fellowship is the highest level of IEEE membership.  Only one-tenth of one percent of IEEE members are elevated to the grade of Fellow each year. 

Weeks Receives Chancellor's Council Distinguished Research Award

Weeks

Dr. Brandon Weeks, associate professor of chemical engineering, has been named the recipient of the Texas Tech University Chancellor's Council Distinguished Research Award for 2011.

The award recognizes outstanding research, scholarship, and creative activity of faculty members in the developmental stages of their careers.

Zhang Elected CIRP Fellow

Zhang

Dr. Hong-Chao Zhang, professor of industrial engineering, has been elected as a fellow of The International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP).

CIRP is the world's leading organization in production engineering research and is at the forefront of design, optimization, control and management of processes, machines and systems. The academy has restricted membership based on demonstrated excellence in research and has approximately 550 academic and industrial members from 40 industrialized countries.

CIRP has approximately 170 Fellows and Honorary Fellows who are internationally recognized scientists elected to be CIRP members for life.

Alumni News

Calloni Named an Associate Fellow of AIAA

Calloni

Ben Calloni, a 1997 graduate with a Doctor of Philosophy in computer science, has been selected as an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) for 2012. To be selected for the grade of associate fellow, an individual must be an AIAA Senior Member with at least 12 years professional experience and be recommended by a minimum of three current associate fellows.

Calloni works for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Fort Worth, Texas.

Grants and Contracts

11-16-2011 – 12-13-2011

Chemical Engineering

• Drs. Gregory B. McKenna and Brandon Weeks were awarded $52,500 by the Office of Naval Research. The title of the proposal was "Resolving the Complexity of Hot Spots Caused by Weak Energy Concentration and Coupling in Composite Energetic Materials."

Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Transportation

• Phillip T. Nash was awarded $12,000 by the TX Department of Transportation. The title of the proposal was "0-9911-12: Coordination of Services in Support of TxDOT's Research Program."

Electrical and Computer Engineering

• Dr. Changzhi Li was awarded $97,984 by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of TX. The title of the proposal was "Beam-scanning Radar for Tumor Tracking in Lung Cancer Radiotherapy."

Industrial Engineering

• Dr. Shiren Wang was awarded $203,200 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "CAREER: Exploring Novel Organic Thermoelectric Composites with Hierarchical Architecture and High Figure of Merit."

Mechanical Engineering

• Drs. Juan G. Araya and Luciano Castillo were awarded $24,568 by General Electric Global Research. The title of the proposal was "Numerical Analysis of Film Cooling on Turbulent Spatially-developing Boundary Layers."
• Dr. Michelle L. Pantoya was awarded $26,250 by the Office of Naval Research. The title of the proposal was "Resolving the Complexity of Hot Spots Caused by Weak Energy Concentration and Coupling in Composite Energetic Materials."

Events of Interest

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

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