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News
Strauss Named Interim Dean of Engineering
Texas Tech University announced May 5 that Dr. Jon C. Strauss will be the interim dean of the Whitacre College of Engineering, effective June 15.
Strauss is president emeritus of Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif. Now retired, he is a member of the Registry for College and University Presidents, a nonprofit organization which engages former university presidents interested in service in interim leadership roles.
Texas Tech Partners in $28 Million Department of Energy Project
Texas Tech University has been named as a research partner on the Pantex Renewable Energy Project in President Obama’s $9.9 billion Energy Department budget that was released by the White House yesterday (May 7).
The budget includes funding for the Pantex Renewable Energy Project, with initial funding proposed at $28 million. The project will create a wind farm for the Pantex plant, located 17 miles northeast of Amarillo. The energy produced from this wind farm will support the energy needs at the Pantex plant and, at the same time, create the nation’s largest collaborative research wind farm for Texas Tech and the Department of Energy’s ongoing research on wind power generation.
Texas Tech Wins Robot Soccer Competition
Texas Tech and The University of Texas at Austin have a joint robot soccer team that recently won first place in the standard platform league of the US-Open Robot Soccer competitions for 2009. The soccer is played by humanoid Nao robots.
The team is led by Dr. Mohan Sridharan, who was hired last fall as an assistant professor of computer science.
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Nicole Davis Receives McAuley Distinguished Engineering Student Award
The Whitacre College of Engineering has named Nicole Davis the recipient of the McAuley Distinguished Engineering Student Award for 2009.
This award, provided by members of the Whitacre College of Engineering Dean’s Council, is named in memory of James A. McAuley, an active member of the Dean’s Council, and a Texas Tech Distinguished Engineer.
Davis competed for this honor and was selected because of her outstanding academic achievements, honors, activities, interests and aspirations. Academically, she has been on the Texas Tech President’s List with a 4.0 GPA each semester that she has been at the university. She graduated this May with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering with Summa Cum Laude honors.
Faculty Recognitions
Joint Workshop Held in India
The Departments of Mechanical Engineering at Texas Tech University and Coimbatore Institute of Technology (CIT), India jointly conducted a technical workshop on future trends in Sustainable Surface Transportation in March 2009 at CIT. More than 50 professionals from various industries and government agencies attended the workshop. Several graduate students and faculty that work in the areas of aerodynamics, fuel-cells and engine cooling, attended the workshop.
The lectures were conducted for three days by Dr. Siva Parameswaran, professor of mechanical engineering, Dr. Timothy Maxwell, professor of mechanical engineering, and Dr. Sridhar Thyageswaran, a professor at CIT. Aerodynamics, cooling systems, alternative fuels, fuel-cells and Hybrid vehicles were covered during the lectures.
This workshop is a small step towards building a larger collaborative program between Texas Tech, Coimbatore Institute of Technology and the Asian Automotive and Aerospace industries.
New Faculty Members
Donald Farris was hired as an instructor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as of May 27.
David Mehrl was hired as an instructor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as of May 27.
Staff Recognitions
New Staff Members
Karen Durband was hired as an Administrative Assistant in the Dean's Office on May 15.
Zuzanna Knypinski was hired in the Department of Chemical Engineering on May 16.
Kathryn Flanagan was hired as an Administrative Business Assistant on May 7.
Rita Schumacher was hired in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering on May 11.
Heather Smith was hired in the Dean's Office as a Unit Coordinator on May 26.
Linda Whitebread was hired in the Department of Mechanical Engineering on April 22.
Grants and Contracts
04-28-2009 - 05-19-2009
Chemical Engineering
- Dr. Brandon Weeks was awarded $51,000 by the Department of Homeland Security/Northeastern University. The title of the proposal was "ALERT: Awareness and Localization of Explosives-Related Threats."
- Dr. Rajesh S. Khare was awarded $25,000 by the American Chemical Society - Petroleum Research Fund. The title of the proposal was "Solvent-Temperature Superposition Rules for Predicting the Rheology of Wormlike Micellar Fluids."
Computer Science
- Dr. Eonsuk Shin was awarded $64,516 by ETRI, Korea. The title of the proposal was "Study on Self-Healing Methods for the OPRoS Component Execution Engine."
Center for Pulsed Power and Power Electronics
- Drs. James C. Dickens, Magne Kristiansen, and Andreas A. Neuber were awarded $2,746,764 by the US Army Space & Missile Defense Command. The title of the proposal was "Compact Pulsed Power for Defense Applications."
Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Dr. Tim Dallas was awarded $50,000 by the Robert A. Welch Foundation. The title of the proposal was "AFM on a Chip."
- Dr. Tim Dallas was awarded $20,000 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "REU Site: Micro and Nano Device Engineering (Mande)."
- Dr. Donald Lie was awarded $15,000 by III-N Technology. The title of the proposal was "The CMOS Driver Integrated Circuit (IC) Design for Microdisplays Based on InGaN/AlGaInP Semicondutor Micro-emitter Arrays."
Industrial Engineering
- Drs. Jennifer Farris, Timothy I. Matis, Iris V. Rivero, and Ismael R. deFarias were awarded $16,139 by Medical Center Hospital (Odessa, TX). The title of the proposal was "Patient Discharge Process Improvement Project: Phase One (March 2009-June 2009)."
Mechanical Engineering
- Dr. Michelle L. Pantoya was awarded $148,189 by the U.S. Army Research Office. The title of the proposal was "Diagnostics for Analyses of Gas Phase Chemistry from Novel Propellant Super Igniters."
- Dr. Michelle L. Pantoya was awarded $100,000 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "Melt-Dispersion Mechanism for Energetic Reactions of Aluminum Nanoparticles."
- Dr. Yanzhang Ma was awarded $75,000 by DOD/DTRA/Iowa State University. The title of the proposal was "Search for New Highly Energetic Phases under High Pressure and Shear."
Nano Tech Center
- Dr. Hongxing Jiang and Jingyu Lin were awarded $105,463 by the National Science Foundation. The title of the proposal was "1.54 Micron Optical Amplifiers and Emitters Based Upon Erbium Doped III-Nitrides Grown on Silicon."
Whitacre College of Engineering Dean's Office
- Dr. John Chandler and A. Dean Fontenot were awarded $7,555.48 by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The title of the proposal was "Run on the Wind Summer Program."
Student Accomplishments
Students Team with Army
After four long days of testing highs and lows, a Texas Tech University team of students, research associates, and professors met their objective of demonstrating high-power microwave generation with an explosive-driven compact system outside the laboratory.
The April 16 success was a result of the combined efforts of Texas Tech University, the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command supported by the Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center at Redstone Arsenal Test Area 10 engineers and staff.
Submission Information
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