Welcome to the May edition of the Monthly Bell!
This e-newsletter will help College of Engineering faculty and staff keep in touch with news from each department.
Awards and honors:
Faculty Awards and Honors:
Findlay Gordon Edwards, associate professor in Civil Engineering, has been selected to be an American Society of Engineering Educators and Office of Naval Research Senior Faculty Fellow. He will participate in the ASEE-ONR Summer Faculty Research Program. Only five of these fellowships were awarded nationwide this year. As part of this program, Edwards will work at the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center at Port Hueneme, Calif. with Navy researchers on Pollutant Removal from Runoff from Military Ports, Industrial Areas and Firing Ranges. He will also be working on Determining Effects of Climate Change on Port Facilities. There are a wide range of other areas that he may be able to pursue as opportunities open up.
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Tamara Ellenbecker, secretary II in industrial engineering, was recognized as the Secretarial/Clerical University of Arkansas Employees of the Third Quarter.
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Mahendra Kavdia, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, has been selected to receive the 2008 Imhoff Outstanding Researcher Award. The award winners were chosen by the College’s Honors and Awards Committee and are the highest awards given by the college in their respective categories. The awards were presented at the College of Engineering Alumni Awards Banquet on April 10th.
Jerry King, chemical engineering professor and Ansel and Virginia Condray Endowed Professorship in Biochemical and Chemical Separations, has been appointed as a scientific advisor to provide consultation to FDA scientists and engineers on projects involving food analysis, safety and processing. Consulting duties will consist of advising on research goals and strategies, assisting in documentation of research and formulating research objectives, co-author and assist writing up collaborative research for journal publication, as well as represent the Arkansas Regional Laboratory annually at the FDA’s Scientific Advisory panels in Washington, DC.
Otto Loewer, Director of the University of Arkansas Economic Development Institute — Biological and Agricultural Engineering, was inducted into the Louisiana State University College of Engineering Hall of Distinction. This is the highest honor that the LSU College of Engineering can bestow. Loewer holds two degrees from LSU. This honor is the equivalent of being named to our College of Engineering’s Hall of Fame.
Ajay Malshe, professor in mechanical engineering, co-organized the "2008 Bio-Nano Manufacturing Grand Challenges for 2020 Workshop." This was an invited workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation and was conducted at the NSF in Arlington, Virginia. Other co-organizers were from NIH, NIST, University of Nebraska and Drexel University. More than 50 international experts in the area of nanomanufacturing, biomanufacturing and tissue engineering participated in the 2.5 days long event. Doug Spearot, assistant professor from mechanical engineering and Ines Pinto, associate professor from biological sciences were other university faculty members in attendance. Recommendations for the areas for scientific and engineering progress at the interface of bio-nano manufacturing addressing global challenges through year 2020 are being assembled in the form of a report for public dissemination.
Ajay Malshe, professor in mechanical engineering, was invited to visit higher education institutions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, United Arab Emirates as a member of a 5 person delegation. Malshe, along with the lead faculty experts from the College of Education and Health Professions and the State of Arkansas, visited various men’s and women’s colleges of higher education, and had multiple discussions with key academic leaders to learn about teaching, research progress and investigate opportunities for collaborative partnerships.
Roy McCann, associate professor in electrical engineering, has been selected to receive the 2008 John Imhoff Outstanding Teacher Award. The award winners were chosen by the College’s Honors and Awards Committee and are the highest awards given by the college in their respective categories. The awards were presented at the College of Engineering Alumni Awards Banquet on April 10th.
Brajendra Panda, professor in computer science and computer engineering, has been awarded a grant from US Department of Defense to conduct research in Insider Threat problem in Database Systems. This was officially announced in a recent news release made by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11785. Panda's research is one of the 33 projects selected to be awarded to 24 academic institutions in 18 states, according to the news release. The approximate cost of the project is $600,000. The project is scheduled to begin on June 1, 2008.
Joseph J. Rencis, department head, professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been named as a 2008-2009 Fellow in the inaugural class of the Southeastern Conference Academic Consortium’s Academic Leadership Development Program.
Min Zou, of Mechanical Engineering, has been promoted to the rank of associate professor. She has also been granted tenure. These changes will take effect on July 1, 2008.
Student Awards and Honors:
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics recently named the College of Engineering’s AIAA student section as the outstanding section for 2006-07. Student members include Jordan Baumberger, Drew Fleming, Randall Long and Blake Baldwin. The faculty advisor is Adam Huang, assistant professor in mechanical engineering.
Parash Kalita, master’s student in mechanical engineering, won second place in the Graduate Research Symposium Poster competition. His project is in the area of nanoparticles aided minimum quantity lubricant (MQL) grinding for sustainable machining. The project is advised by Ajay Malshe, professor in mechanical engineering. The research is in collaboration with a team at the University of Michigan.
Lauren Kuenzel, senior mechanical engineering student, received a DAAD grant (German Acedemic Exchange Program) that will fund her travel to Karlsruhe, Germany for 8 weeks this summer. While in Germany, she will assist a Ph.D. student with research at the Institute for Microstructure Technology.
Yang Liu, an electrical engineering doctoral student, received the Best Student Paper award at the 2008 International Microelectronics and Packaging Society (IMAPS) Device Packaging Conference. Liu works with Leonard Schaper, professor in electrical engineering at the University of Arkansas. In honor of his achievement, Liu received $1,000 from Nordson Corp., the parent company of Asymtek, which is a well-known microelectronic equipment supplier.
Senior Design Projects of (#1) Corey Thompson and (#2) Thomas Bailey / Travis Florquist won first and second place in Creative Project (CP-I) Poster competitions in the mechanical engineering department. Their projects are in the area of synthesis and application of lubricant nanoparticles for energy efficient engines. Their projects are advised by Dmytro Demydov, research associate and Ajay Malshe, professor of mechanical engineering. Part of their project is supported by the DOE and NSF.
Letitia (Tish) Pohl, an industrial engineering doctoral student, and Russell D. Meller, Hefley Professor of Logistics and Distribution and director of the Center of Engineering Logistics and Distribution, co-authored a paper for the 2008 Industrial Engineering Research Conference that won best paper for the Facility Logistics track. The paper, Travel Models for Warehouses with Task Interleaving, considers how to design warehouses that take advantage of information technology to efficiently interleave storage and retrieval operations.
Vijith Varghese, an industrial engineering doctoral student, and Manuel Rossetti, associate professor in industrial engineering, won the Best Paper Award for the Modeling and Simulation Track at the 2008 Industrial Engineering Conference (IERC). The IERC is the premier international research conference in the field of industrial engineering. Rossetti and Varghese will be recognized at the upcoming 2008 conference on May 18th in Vancouver, Canada. The paper, “A Parametric Bootstrapping Approach to Forecasting Intermittent Demand”, was chosen by a panel of reviewers in the area of modeling and simulation. The paper is part of Varghese’s doctoral dissertation and presents a new method for forecasting the demand of slow moving inventory items. The research has application in military spare parts forecasting and in forecasting end item (stock keeping unit level) demand in the retail industry. Rossetti and Varghese will present their results at the upcoming conference.
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Douglas Woten, doctoral student in the microEP program, advised by Magda El-Shenawee, associate professor in the electrical engineering department, has won the best student award in the conference "Applied Computational Electromagnetic Symposium 2008". The 24th International Review of Progress in Applied Computational Electromagnetics conference was held in Niagara Falls from March 30 until April 4. A first cut narrowed the applicants from 19 papers to ten papers for oral presentations in the conference. Douglas has been awarded the first place for the best student paper competition. Douglas’s paper was on the subject of breast skin effect on breast cancer detection using the microwave method.
The following students will be recognized during the College of Engineering Faculty/Staff and Awards Ceremony on May 2 at 10 a.m. in Engineering Hall, room 209: Heath Himstedt, Jacob Irwin, Kyle White, Suzanne Owenbey, Royce Floyd, Bret Whitaker, Laura Jordan, Christopher Deal, Melissa Buckmaster, Thomas Lewis, Caleb Sieck, Brittany Bogle, Bryson Byrd, Marisabel Guevara, Jay Carman, Bin Tran, Summer Scott, Aaron Russell, John Brothers and Robert Boyd.
News
Brain Awareness Day
The College of Engineering hosted 200 gifted and talented middle school students from Fayetteville’s McNair Middle School for Brain Awareness Day on April 22 and 23. Bryan Hill, assistant director of recruitment, retention and diversity, went above and beyond the call of duty to provide an outstanding experience for the students on short notice. As part of the day’s events, Vijay Varadan, distinguished professor of electrical engineering, included an interactive brain awareness session for the students.
Free Counseling Available to University Employees and Family Members
The Arkansas Employee Assistance Program would like to remind all university employees and their family members that they are eligible for free and confidential counseling. AEAP offers both male and female counselors, as well as a variety of office hours. They are located at 2875 E. Joyce Blvd. in Fayetteville. If you would like to learn more about their many services, call 1-800-542-6021 or 479-973-9072. You may also visit them on the web at www.uams.edu/eap.
WERC 2008 Environmental Design Contest Winners
Two teams from the College of Engineering placed first and second in their categories at the WERC competition.
The first place team members are Matthew Scott Clay, Christopher A. Cox, Jessica Elizabeth Nichols, Aaron G. Russell, Summer Nicole Scott and Sirikam Surawanvijit. Their task title was Separation of Water from Emulsified Oil. This team received an award of $2,500.
The second place team members are Nestor Augusto Camargo, Jesse Haney III, Christina L. Satterfield, Samuel Patrick Selig, Danier Robinson Smith and Anh Tuan Vu. Their task title was Inland Desalination Operation and Disposal in Rural, Isolated Communities. In addition to their second place win, they were also given the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Environmental Improvement Realization Award for Achievement and Communication. This team received an award of $1,000.
These teams were mentored by W. Roy Penney, professor in chemical engineering, and Gregory J. Thoma, professor in chemical engineering.
University of Arkansas Sweeps First, Second and Third at the Arkansas Governor’s Cup Business Plan Competition.
Teams from the University of Arkansas swept first, second and third place at the Arkansas Governor’s Cup Business Plan Competition in Little Rock on April 4-5. The third place team, comprised of Jennifer Liguori, Rahul Rajgarhia and Chris Boschette, presented a business plan related to an idea first developed by the College of Engineering’s dean, Ashok Saxena. CSCE graduate student, Linh Bao Ngo developed an associated softwarer prototype. The third place prize was $6,000.
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The proposed company is described as follows: TrackLife Systems is developing a first-of-its kind, comprehensive component life prediction software program for fossil fuel power plants. Utilizing artificial neural networks technology and customer-supplied current and historical plant inspection data, our software, TrackLife, will provide power plant engineers information regarding accurate inspection intervals, energy-efficient operating parameters, materials properties data, remaining service life predictions, and the failure risks associated with operating the equipment. TrackLife will allow the plants to operate more efficiently, reducing harmful environmental emissions.
Meller’s Work Featured at Occupational Hazards Website
Russell Meller, Hefley Professor of Logistics and Distribution in industrial engineering and the Director of the Center of Engineering Logistics and Distribution, was featured on the Occupational Hazards website. The article discusses aisle and rack system changes that were implemented at a Wisconsin-based power generator manufacturer to increase productivity, reduce travel distances and maintain a safe work environment.
Meller’s radically different design allows up to a 20% reduction in the time it takes to reach all the locations in the warehouse, without compromising safety.
Here is a link to the complete article: http://www.occupationalhazards.com/News/Article/79513/New_Warehouse_Design_Boosts_Productivity.aspx
Civil Engineering’s Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge Teams Have Best Showing Ever
The Civil Engineering department hosted the 2008 Mid-Continent
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Our Civil Engineering Teams had their best showing ever in these events. The Steel Bridge team placed 4th overall. The Concrete Canoe team placed 6th overall.
Results in the Steel Bridge Competition:
1.University of Missouri- Kansas City
2.Kansas State University
4.University of Arkansas
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Results in the Concrete Canoe Competetion
1. University of Oklahoma
2. Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville
3. Kansas State University
4. University of Nebraska- Lincoln
5. University of Kansas
6. University of Arkansas
Conference Coordinators for the Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge competitions were Adam White, Andrew Moore, Meagan Berlau, Trent Ellis and Hayley Moore.
UA Society of Women Engineers Alumni Panel Results
On April 16, 2008 the U of A chapter of Society of Women Engineers hosted an Alumni Panel which was co-sponsored by the Civil Engineering Department. The panel consisted of recent graduates Erica Asfahl and Jessica Keahey. Erica is a mechanical engineering graduate and is now employed with Marshalltown. Jessica has graduated from the civil engineering department and is a staff engineer at McGoodwin Williams & Yates, while continuing her education here at the university. Lea Delorenzis, the treasurer of SWE, was the event coordinator and moderator of the panel. Forty-three were in attendance, which included faculty members Carol Gattis, director of recruitment, retention, honors and diversity and associate professor in industrial engineering; Rod Williams, adjunct assistant professor in civil engineering; and Kevin Hall, professor and head of the civil engineering department. This event was very successful and SWE looks forward to hosting it again in the future.
Calendar
Thursday, May 1Freshman Engineering Carnival 11:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. on the south side of Engineering Hall Stop by for free food and fun. Have some wings, cotton candy, snow cones and good ol’ carnival fun! There will be a huge inflatable slide and you can get a balloon animal made. You can also win great prizes by participating in a variety of carnival games—fun pictures, paper airplane contest and guessing games. Come de-stress before finals! Guest Speaker: Dr. Narsingh Singh, Northrop Grumman Biological Engineering Senior Design Project Presentations For more information, contact Linda Pate at 575-2351 or lpate@uark.edu. ASME Spring Picnic Friday, May 2College of Engineering Faculty and Staff Meeting Saturday, May 3Qdoba Burrito Eating Contest Finals—starring Bo Counts, of Bio-Ag Saturday, May 10General Commencement Ceremony 8:00 a.m. Degree candidates and faculty assemble at Bud Walton Arena as follows: College of Engineering Commencement CeremonyArrive by 2:45 at Barnhill Arena. Enter through the lower level south entrance. Email Jane Cromhout or call 575-3053 for more information. |
Please take the time to share your news with us. You can send news and calendar items for the next Monthly Bell to llannutt@uark.edu
