Huang team research is Advanced Optical Materials' April 2013 cover story
Research on "Photodetectors: Fullerene Photodetectors with a Linear Dynamic Range of 90 dB Enabled by a Cross-Linkable Buffer Layer" was the cover feature for Advanced Optical Materials' April 2013 edition. UNL MME Assistant Professor Jinsong Huang and colleagues report a low-noise, high-sensitivity, fullerene-based organic photo detector with a wide dynamic range. The enhanced dynamic range is achieved via an inserted cross-linkable buffer layer. The advance in light responsiveness is among the highest reported for any organic photodetector, and larger than those of inorganic photodetectors such as GaN and InGaAs.
Durham School alumni led lauded lighting overhaul in Roskens Hall renovation
UNL Durham School Master's of Archtectural Engineering graduates Toby Samuelson '04 and Rebecca Prendergast Cherney '09 were recognized in LD+A, the magazine of the Illuminating Engineering Society, for their work on interior and exterior lighting with the recent total remodel of the 85,000-square-foot, 1973 building that houses the University of Nebraska at Omaha's College of Education. In the four-page story, Samuelson is quoted as the principal lighting designer with Omaha's Farris Engineering, and Cherney was a lighting designer with Farris at the time of the project.
Steve Parkison is a junior electrical engineering major at UNL who was chosen to receive a Goldwater Scholarship. Each year, about 300 college sophomores and juniors--aspiring scientists, mathematicians and engineers--receive this honor nationwide, with awards up to $7,500 a year for educational expenses. Parkison has worked with UNL's Lance Perez, professor of electrical engineering and associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, for two years in the Mobile Communication and Coding Lab. Parkison is also the vice-president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers student chapter. In addition he participated in an engineering study abroad trip to Italy led by Ece Erdogmus, associate professor of architectural engineering, and had an internship at Johnson Space Center working on systems for crewed space crafts. Parkison hopes to earn a doctorate and conduct research in robotic perception and computer vision in either academia or private industry.
When most tough fibres are stretched to make them thinner, they become brittle. But a group led by Yuris Dzenis at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering has shown that this is not always the case. The March 21, 2013 issue of Nature reported that Dzenis' team made polyacrylonitrile fibres using a technique called electrospinning. As their diameters narrowed to below 250 nanometres, the fibres became tougher and so were less prone to fracture, but did not lose their strength. Nanofibres were up to 10-fold tougher and stronger than the best commercial fibres. Dzenis suggests that the toughening is possible because the nanofibres are less crystalline than larger fibres. He thinks that the fibres could be used in load-bearing aerospace structures and bulletproof materials.
EE's Qiao earns best paper honor from IEEE IAS committee
A team including Wei Qiao, assistant professor with UNL’s Department of Electrical Engineering, earned First Prize - Best Paper Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) Industrial Applications Society, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Conversion Systems Committee. Qiao co-wrote the paper titled “Current-Based Diagnosis for Gear Tooth Breaks in Wind Turbine Gearboxes” for the organization’s 2012 Energy Conversion Congress & Expo. This honor will be celebrated at the IAS committee’s annual meeting during ECCE 2013: September in Denver.
Each year, UNL's Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction invites 10 to 12 Ph.D. candidates from some of the top research universities with academic programs offered through The Durham School. Attending candidates spend time familiarizing themselves with facilities, laboratories and instructional resources of The Durham School. The on-campus symposium culminates with the candidates presenting their research projects in conjunction with the school’s own Ph.D. students. These individual research presentations provide collective interactivity with both faculty and students. The 2013 symposium will be March 13-15 at The Durham School's Omaha location at The Peter Kiewit Institute and in Lincoln on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus.
"This initiative allows the school to preview talented individuals while providing visiting Ph.D. candidates an overview of our programs, facilities, faculty and students," said Durham School Director Eddy Rojas.The 2013 Durham Ph.D. Symposium is an initiative supported by The Durham School endowment: applying strategic efforts to engage the academic community, while providing an opportunity to enhance our reputation as a top School in both teaching and research.
Engineering faculty gain UNL Parents Association honorsSeveral Nebraska Engineering faculty were awarded Parents Association honors February 15 based on nominations from UNL students and parents. The honorees included Tim Wentz (Durham School) Wieslaw Szydlowski (MME), Michael Hoffman and Dave Russell (EE), and Roger Hoy and Deepak Keshwani (BSE).
Electrical Engineering's Woollam earns APS 2013 Prize for Industrial Applications of PhysicsJohn Woollam, George Holmes Distinguished Professor at UNL, was honored with the APS 2013 Prize for Industrial Applications of Physics. Woollam also leads the J.A. Woollam Company of Lincoln, which specializes in producing spectroscopic ellipsometers for research and industry. In addition, Woollam has funded a series of graduate fellowships at UNL.
Durham School's Ahn receives Best Paper Award at ICCEPMAssistant Professor Changbum Ahn with UNL's Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction received the Best Paper Award at the 2013 International Conference on Construction Engineering and Project Management (ICCEPM) in Anaheim, Calif. His paper's topic was “Construction Equipment Activity Recognition from Accelerometer Data for Monitoring Operational Efficiency and Environmental Performance.”
UNL EE's Lu is Laser Institute of America 2013 president-electYongfeng Lu, Ph.D., Lott Distinguished Professor with UNL Electrical Engineering, has served in leadership roles with LIA, the international society for laser applications and safety, advancing its mission to foster lasers, laser applications, and laser safety worldwide. LIA announced Lu's elevated position, effective January 2013.
Schubert featured in International Innovation
UNL Electrical Engineering Professor Mathias Schubert studies indium gallium nitride semiconductor systems used in light-emitting diode (LED) products and potentially in other innovations. His work was featured in "Lightbulb Moment," an article in the journal International Innovation (excerpt).
Recent Nebraska Engineering graduates earn Critical Language Scholarships
Two Nebraska Engineering alumni won highly competitive Critical Language Scholarships for Intensive Summer Institutes. The program, through the U.S. Department of State, selected 575 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students, including recent UNL engineering students Skylar Falter and Christopher Reznicek; UNL's Michael Schuster and Zachary Smith also won CL scholarships, the UNL Honors Program announceed in November 2012.
The program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering "critical" foreign languages. The scholarships are particularly important because of their highly competitive nature and because they give students intensive, in-country language immersion experience that is so useful for their continuing study. They can also sometimes serve as a gateway to encourage students to other international scholarship programs, like the Fulbright U.S. student program, said Laura Damuth, UNL's director of national and international fellowships.
Falter, of Lincoln, studied Mandarin for four years before traveling to Xi'an, China. After graduating from UNL with a degree in bioengineering with a focus in environmental engineering, Faltar hopes to become a global leader between the United States and China to solve critical issues in energy sustainability and food security.
Reznicek, from Bentonville, Ark., is a recent graduate of Computer Science & Engineering and studied Korean in Jeonju, South Korea. He chose the Critical Language Scholarships program because he accepted a job at LG U+ in Daejeon, South Korea, and wanted to be as prepared as possible. He will continue to work in South Korea and has hopes to work in the future as a high-level manager in Asia at a global technology or engineering firm.
EE advisor Wemhoff earns UNOPA honor
Cheryl Wemhoff received a Floyd S. Oldt Silver Pen Award at a University of Nebraska Office Professionals Association event. She was cited for her leadership, student service and positive relationship within and beyond the Department of Electrical Engineering, and the College of Engineering. UNOPA offers networking and professional development opportunities to UNL staff.
Durham School's Steinbach chosen for Institute of Noise Control Engineering awardAdam Steinbach, a third year student in UNL's Architectural Engineering program, was selected as the recipient of the 2012 Undergraduate Project Award from the Institute of Noise Control Engineering. He is using the $500 award to supplement his UCARE research project this year.
Research for NASA by Durham School's Wang finds better level of boom
Research by Lily Wang, associate professor of architectural engineering with UNL’s Durham School, was featured Oct. 18 on ScienceDaily. Funded by NASA, Wang’s work with graduate student Christopher Ainley explored how noise bursts affect the performance and perceptions of test subjects: people studied while concentrating on math problems. The UNL team worked to “find a threshold value under which the noise would not significantly affect” their research subjects.
NASA seeks to advance its low-boom supersonic aircraft program, and mitigate “sonic booms”: cones of compressed air in the wake of aircraft traveling faster than the speed of sound, generating noise deemed loud and potentially unnerving. The Durham School researchers tested bursts of approximately 50-80 dBA (decibel units measured with a filter used to approximate the human ear's response to sound), with sounds at the lower level comparable to street noise and, at higher numbers, near the level of an operating vacuum cleaner. While the test subjects solved a lower percentage of problems correctly when interrupted with a noise at the louder end of the spectrum, the difference was not enough to be statistically significant, Science Daily reported. However, there was a significant difference in the levels of annoyance that the participants reported when quizzed afterwards about their perceptions of the noise environment.
"The test subjects sort of adjusted to the quieter booms, but the louder ones remained jolting," said Wang. "This suggests that the acceptable noise from sonic booms should not be higher than 70 dBA once it gets inside the house." Her research as an architectural acoustician was among topics scheduled for the 164th meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), Oct. 22-26 in Kansas City, Mo.
Trauma Mechanics research featured in September issue of Popular Science
"Labs That Go Boom:" the September issue of Popular Science magazine features MME trauma mechanics research by Professor Namas Chandra and team, focusing on the impact of shock waves from improvised explosive devices on the body and brain. READ MORE (PDF)...
To named Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineers
UNL Mechanical & Materials Engineering Professor Cho Wing "Solomon" To was named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2012. Distinction as an ASME Fellow is the highest elected grade of ASME membership, recognizing exceptional engineering achievements and contributions to the engineering profession.
MME's Lim earns Scientist Development Grant from American Heart Association
MME Assistant Professor Jung Yul Lim received a Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association (AHA). Lim’s lab focuses on engineering stem cell fate using extracellular cues, and in this AHA-funded project Lim’s research will be applied to an obesity study toward preventing heart diseases and stroke. With this three-year, $214,500 grant, his team aims to inhibit stem cell adipogenesis (creation of fat) by applying mechanical signal (cell stretch) and soluble factor (retinoic acid). Exploring the mechanical-biochemical interaction, the research also looks to reveal the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in how fat is generated.
MME's Huang a co-writer of research paper selected as journal cover story
Durham School student team wins ASHRAE Student Design Competion category
The research paper, "Understanding the effect of ferroelectric polarization on power conversion efficiency of organic photovoltaic devices," is the September cover story in the journal Energy & Environmental Science (Issue 9, 2012). The paper was co-written by UNL Mechanical & Materials Engineering Assistant Professor Jinsong Huang and included colleagues from UNL and beyond. MORE...
Architectural Engineering students Adam Buck, John May, Jami Harper, Patrick MacBride, and Alaina Williams won first place in the national 2012 ASHRAE Student Design Competition, in the area of HVAC System Selection. ASHRAE is the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers. The Nebraska team was coached by Farris Engineering's Joe Hazel. Lily Wang, associate professor of Architectural Engineering, said this is the second year in a row that DSAEC students won a top award in this annual competition.
Electrical engineers gain Best Paper honor at ITEC 2012
American Road & Transportation Builders Association honors CIVE's Schurr, Mohlman
Durham School's Wang earns two ASHRAE awards
Alumnus Burton earns OPPD Engineer of the Year honor
UNL Electrical Engineering graduate student Yue Zhao (right) was recognized with a Best Paper award at IEEE’s Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo (ITEC 2012). He co-wrote the paper with Harold and Esther Edgerton Assistant Professor Wei Qiao, and Long Wu, a researcher from the John Deere Co. Their work focused on “Oscillation mitigation for sliding-mode observers in sensorless control of IPMSMs,” with relevance in the development of hybrid electric vehicles—an area of study that’s of interest to many companies.
ARTBA's “Women Leaders in Transportation Design & Construction” event awarded two UNL civil engineers with recognition. The Ethel S. Birchland Lifetime Achievement Award--named after ARTBA’s executive director from the mid-1920s--is given to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, long-term service in the industry’s public or private sectors and dedication to the advancement of innovation and other women leaders. Nebraska Engineering faculty member Karen Schurr, P.E., was applauded for her leadership and work with students: in teaching at UNL and in her prior service with the Nebraska Department of Roads. The Future Industry Spotlight Award celebrates students who have achieved an outstanding academic record and demonstrated extraordinary leadership skills within and outside of the academic environment. Carrie Mohlman is pursuing a master’s of science in civil engineering at UNL with a focus on transportation. As a graduate research assistant maintaining a 4.0 grade average, she conducts research on commercial driver fatigue and compiles commodity flow surveys for counties in Nebraska. She also volunteers with the “Road, Rails and Racecars” afterschool mentoring program for middle school students, which encourages young adults to explore careers in the transportation field.
At the 2012 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) conference in San Antonio, UNL's Lily Wang, Ph.D., received two honors: the ASHRAE Distinguished Service Award and the ASHRAE Ralph G. Nevins Physiology and Human Environment Award. The Distinguished Service Award recognizes society members who add their time and talent in support of the organization. The Ralph G. Nevins Award is given to a researcher under the age of 40 for significant accomplishments in the study of bioenvironmental engineering and its effect on human comfort and health. Wang is an associate professor and coordinator with DSAEC's Architectural Engineering program.
Omaha Public Power District´s Society of Engineers (OSE) has honored Tom Burton, OPPD's manager of Design Engineering, as its 2012 Engineer of the Year. This annual award, announced June 22, recognizes an OPPD engineer for his or her significant contributions to the engineering profession.
Burton, who earned his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering at UNL, has worked 32 years for OPPD and currently leads its Mechanical/Civil and Electrical Engineering areas. He has demonstrated “technical ability and attentiveness to the needs and development of fellow engineers,” according to an OPPD release. Burton was project manager on the $10 million North Omaha Coal-Handling Upgrade Project in 2000 that modernized the system and allows the plant to move coal faster. Burton also mentors young engineers, volunteers at the Stephen Center homeless shelter and is a deacon with Holy Cross Catholic Church in Omaha.
OPPD, which began operating in 1946, is one of the largest customer-owned electric utilities in the United States, serving more than 352,000 customers in 13 counties in southeast Nebraska. OPPD relies heavily on engineers, a group that comprises about 19 percent of OPPD’s workforce; its OSE group was formed in 2010 to further attract, retain, engage and develop engineers.
Nebraska’s Baja team climbs to top five at Oregon
CIVE students earn fellowships, scholarships
- Amy Jewell, a senior from Omaha, has been selected as a NASA Nebraska Space Fellow for a summer 2012 internship at Boeing in Seattle, Wash. The award, presented by NASA Nebraska Space Grant, includes a $9,000 stipend. Jewell will also submit an abstract for presentation at the Aeronautics and Space Science section of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences in April 2013.
- Johnny Chacon, a junior, was selected in May 2012 as a scholarship recipient from the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA). He received the PB Rail Engineering Scholarship from the association. Chacon served as president of SHPE in 2008 and 2009, and was president of the SSS Student Board in 2008. He is currently participating in a 15-month full-time co-op at Union Pacific.
- Carrie Mohlman, who is pursuing a master's degree in civil engineering with an emphasis on transportation engineering, was awarded a 2012 Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Award from the U.S. Department of Transportation. This award may include tuition, a stipend, and a one-time expenditure to attend the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting.
UNL’s Baja SAE team finished fourth among 79 collegiate teams at the 2012 Baja SAE Oregon competition in May—the highest finish yet achieved by the Nebraska Engineering team at this major competition.
“We were extremely close to getting third,” said senior Corey Kruse, team captain. “We ended up getting sixth place in the rock crawl, sixth place in the hill climb, 14th in maneuverability and ninth place in acceleration. We finished fifth overall in the dynamic events (those four individual events pooled together) and ninth place in the endurance race. We also got 16th in design and 15th in cost.” Kruse said these results combined to give Nebraska the fourth place finish overall. He added, “We are heading to Wisconsin in (early June) and plan on placing in the ‘Top Ten’ again out there.”
Recently, several Civil Engineering students received special recognition and fellowships:
Schroeder wins Nebraska Alumni Association's Yaley Leadership Award
eSAB announces 2012 Outstanding Student, Staff and Faculty
BSE's Ostdiek is a 2012 Goldwater Scholar
Jared Ostdiek, a junior majoring in Biological Systems Engineering, is a 2012 Goldwater Scholar. This year, UNL is one of four schools that won for all four Goldwater Scholars it nominated—a record number.
UNL Chancellor's Scholars include BSE's Borcyk and MME's Otten
Associate Dean Jones is fellow in CIC Academic Leadership Program
UNL faculty, including David Jones, associate dean of the College of Engineering, were fellows in the 2011-12 CIC Academic Leadership Program.
Sarah Schroeder, a senior majoring in Biological Systems Engineering, won the Yaley Award for Leadership from the Nebraska Alumni Association. Schroeder was president of its Scarlet Guard student group, which grew from 316 members in 2010 to 780 members in 2012. She has been active in the Cather Circle, the ASUN Environmental Sustainability Committee and the National Society of Professional Engineers’ student chapter at UNL. She was an algebra and calculus tutor and has volunteered at the Lighthouse afterschool program.
The Engineering Student Advisory Board (eSAB) in Lincoln awarded Outstanding Student, Staff, and Faculty honors to Victoria Fry, a junior chemical engineering major; Mike Hoffmann, professor and adviser with the Department of Electrical Engineering; and Lark Bear, career development and academic advising coordinator in the Dean’s Office. The nominations sought individuals who made a positive difference in the Nebraska Engineering student community.
Seniors Tyler Borcyk (Biological Systems Engineering) and Nate Otten (Mechanical & Materials Engineering) were named UNL Chancellor’s Scholars for maintaining a 4.0 grade point average in all their collegiate work.
SWE's UNL student chapter grows; Nebraska to host regional gathering
Prestigious academic societies induct engineering students
Engineeering students Tara Asgarpoor, Victoria Fry, Travis Jackson, Monica Krause, Michael Mumaugh and Brandon Nieveen achieved membership in UNL’s prestigious Mortar Board & Innocents Society. The selection is based on leadership, scholarship and service to the university and greater community.
Nano art contest awards Nebraska Engineering students
The Nebraska student and professional chapters of the Society of Women Engineers will host SWE’s 2013 Region I Meeting in Omaha for members from Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Wyoming . The UNL Student Chapter earned recognition for its growth rate: at 182 percent, it was the highest increase among SWE student chapters nationwide.
Engineering students combined art and science in winning ways for their entries in the UNL Nano Art Contest, sponsored by the Nebraska Center for Materials & Nanoscience:
1st Place—Nickel Monosilicide Jungle by Yang Gao, Electrical Engineering
2nd Place—Nano Garden by Matt Mitchell, Electrical Engineering
3rd Place—Carbon fiber surrounded by copper oxide by Thomas Guillemet, Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Honorable Mention— A Blue Earth with NSF by Wei Xiong, Electrical Engineering
View the Nano Art Contest winners at http://go.unl.edu/3ki.
Durham School alumna wins NSF CAREER Award
Michelle Vigeant, who earned her Ph.D. from UNL's Durham School in 2008, has received a $422,218 award to study “Importance of Late-Sound-Field Properties and Listener Envelopment to Room Acoustic Quality and Design.” One of the nine concert halls that she plans to survey across the US and Europe is Omaha's Holland Performing Arts Center. Vigeant is the second graduate from DSEAC's Architectural Engineering program to receive an NSF CAREER award (the first was David Bradley at Vassar College in 2011) .
Parents Association honors include Nebraska Engineering
The UNL Parents Association solicits nominations through an annual mailing, asking parents to nominate a faculty or staff employee who has made a significant difference in their student’s life. All who were nominated by at least one parent and/or student and who are still with the university receive a certificate. The 2011-2012 College of Engineering recipients are listed below. Numbers in parentheses indicate the years a recipient has received the award; if no number is listed, the award is a first-time honor. The university-wide list can be viewed here.
Construction Management — Bruce Fischer (4)
Electrical Engineering — Michael Hoffman
Mechanical and Materials Engineering — M. Susan Hallbeck (5); Jung Yul Lim; Mehrdad Negahban (5); Wieslaw Szydlowski (5)
Durham School's Ronsse, Buck win architectural engineering honors
Since earning her Ph.D. from UNL's Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, Lauren Ronsse, received the Best Paper Award in Architectural Acoustics at the Acoustical Society of America conference in San Diego. Adam Buck, a Durham School senior studying architectural engineering, was selected for the 2011-12 Robert W. Young Award for Undergraduate Student Research from the Acoustical Society of America.
Joy's engineering outreach covered by Journal Star
Stacey Joy, who graduated from UNL with a bachelor of science degree in biological systems engineering in December, was featured in a story by the Lincoln Journal Star about her work to bring safe drinking water to communities in need, especially with the Engineers Without Borders' University of Nebraska student chapter.
Civil engineering student attends national MAES event
Electrical engineers earn AVS awards
NSBE Community Leadership Banquet includes award winners
At the University of Nebraska's National Society of Black Engineers' annual gathering in October 2011, several NSBE members earned honors:
Academic Excellence Award (active undergraduate members having a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or greater) -
Vanessa Ndonhong (Chemical Engineering) and Ilias Gibigaye (Civil Engineering);
- Professional Success Award (active member or local alumni having a successful professional career record) -
Alan Flagg (UNL NSBE alumni); and
- Community Impact Award (active member or local alumni involved in community outreach) -
Catherine K. Armwood (Architectural Eng) and Anthony Williams (UNL NSBE alumni)
Andrew Martinez, a UNL civil engineering student and class of 2015 Scott Scholar at The Peter Kiewit Institute in Omaha, attended the 36th Annual MAES Symposium in Oakland, Calif.: Oct. 5-8, 2011. Martinez is currently president of the UNL chapter of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists and the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers. Martinez said he appreciated grants from MAES and PKI for his participation at the event, which included multiple workshops on the importance of networking, the power of internships, and the rewards of maintaining a student chapter. Martinez added that he was especially excited to meet students with similar backgrounds who are pursuing degrees in engineering; he also met leaders from prominent companies around the nation.
UNL electrical engineering graduate student Brian Rodenhausen and postdoctoral research associate Daniel Schmidt received one of three Applied Surface Science Division Awards at the AVS fall 2011 meeting in Nashville. Grad student Stefan Schoeche won the 2011 Applied Surface Science Division Student Award, and grad student Juan A. Cólon Santana received the Leo M. Falicov Student Award, which recognizes outstanding research performed by a graduate student in areas of interest to the Magnetic Interfaces and Nanostructures Division of AVS. AVS is a membership organization that connects professionals in the materials, interfaces and processing communities.
MME's Shield on team pursuing rare earth magnets' development with ARPA-E grant from DOE
Jeff Shield, MME department chair and professor, is part of a research team that was awarded an Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy grant from the Department of Energy. The grant is for $3.4 million overall for three years, seeking Multiscale Development of L10 Materials for Rare-Earth-Free Permanent Magnets. The team, led by Laura Lewis of Northeastern University, is developing a process to create bulk quantities of iron and nickel in a unique crystal structure with powerful magnetic properties. This iron-nickel crystal structure is found naturally in meteorites and the team will apply advanced synthesis to artificially create this magnetic material structure. The work will stabilize this desired structure by adding other elements, to achieve properties which previously developed over millions of years with meteorites formed in space. Based on this structure, powerful new magnets could be developed with properties exceeding those of scarce and costly rare earth magnets. The goal of this project is to demonstrate bulk magnetic properties with subsequently scalable fabrication processes.
elec engrs Brian Rodenhausen & Daniel Schmidt to recv 1 of 3 Applied Surface Science Division Awards at AVS mtg in Nashville next month
UNL engineering graduate students gain prestigious Othmer Fellowships
Durham School's Rojas wins ASCE's Rowland Prize
BSE's Edel Victor earns ASABE honor
Othmer Fellowships assist in recruiting exceptional scholars who seek a terminal degree. Recipients are awarded an assistantship at the highest level offered by their department, plus an additional $8,000 for three years, given continued excellent progress toward the degree. Honored at a September event were 22 UNL recipients for 2011-12, including five Nebraska Engineering graduate students: David Anthony, Computer Science & Engineering; Veronika Burobina, Electrical Engineering; Christina Davis, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering; John Killingsworth, Construction Engineering; and Bethany Lowndes, Industrial & Management Systems Engineering.
Eddy Rojas, director of UNL's Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, has won the prestigious Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize awarded by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for 2011. He received this honor for the paper “Research Validation: Challenges and Opportunities in the Construction Domain,” which he wrote with Dr. Gunnar Lucko from the Catholic University of America. Their paper was published in the January 2010 issue of ASCE’s Journal of Construction Engineering and Management.
Edel Victor was a UNL senior majoring in Biological Systems Engineering when she entered her paper, “Radio Frequency Assisted Heat Treatment of Egg White Powder,” in the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers' 2011 student competition. She was awarded first place in ASABE's 2011 K.K. Barnes Student Paper Competition, which annually encourages undergraduates to pursue and convey research on subjects of interest to ASABE members and industries they serve. Entries came from across the U.S. and Canada with focus on originality and initiative in technical expression, and Victor's work excelled in the competition's written and oral components. Now a BSE graduate student at UNL, she was invited to this year's ASABE International Annual Meeting in Louisville, Ky.
Hallbeck, Rousek gain honorable mention in Human Factors PrizeWith more than 40 health care ergonomics entries in its 2011 Human Factors Prize, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society announced five winners whose papers will be published in the December 2011 issue of its journal, Human Factors. “Improving Medication Management through the Redesign of the Hospital Code Cart Medication Drawer,” by UNL graduate student Justin B. Rousek and Professor M. Susan Hallbeck, was one of four runners-up in the competition.
Durham School team wins ASHRAE 2011 Student Design Competition
Students in UNL’s Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction won first place in the HVAC System Design category of the 2011 Student Design Project Competition conducted by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
The UNL team’s submission, a 25-page technical report, surpassed seven other teams competing at the national level in this ASHRAE event. The 2011 project involved designing an HVAC system focusing on energy efficiency for The Drake Well Museum: a 20,000-square-foot facility in Titusville, Pa., where Edwin L. Drake drilled the world's first oil well in 1859 and launched the modern petroleum industry. Entries were required to determine heating and cooling loads, and demonstrate compliance with relevant ASHRAE Standards.
UNL's team—architectural engineering students Holly Brink, Gina Halbom, Michael Crabb, Andrew Gilliam, James Dougherty—was advised by Nebraska Engineering professor emeritus Gren Yuill and mentored by Nebraska Engineering alumnus Joe Hazel with Farris Engineering and Daniel Karnes with HDR Inc. The award includes a $2,000 prize for the team and a trip for one team member to be recognized at ASHRAE’s winter meeting in Chicago in January 2012.
Morcous earns bridge grants for Durham School research
Durham School’s Wentz installed as ASHRAE vice president
Vakilzadian honored by SCS
He's team paper earns ACM acclaim
George Morcous, associate professor with UNL’s Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, will lead a team working with a nearly $450,000 grant over three years from the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. The project pursues "Self-Consolidating Concrete for Cast-in-Place Bridge Components." Morcous’ team includes faculty from Northwestern University and Iowa State University.
Morcous will also be working with a $216,000 grant from the Innovative Bridge Research and Development program of the Federal Highway Administration for a new design of Lincoln’s 14th Street Bridge over Interstate 80. With I-80 widening to six lanes, this four-lane 1959 bridge will be replaced with a new bridge featuring innovative construction materials researched and developed by UNL for the Nebraska Department of Roads. These materials include the use of large 0.7 in. diameter prestressing strands in bridge girders at 2 in. x 2 in. spacing, and high performance self-consolidating concrete (HPSCC) rated to bear 15,000 pounds per square inch (15,000 psi).
Timothy G. Wentz, P.E., UNL associate professor, was installed as a vice president of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers at its 2011 Annual Conference, June 25-29 in Montreal. In this role, Wentz is a member of ASHRAE’s Board of Directors and executive committee, and serves as vice chair of its Publishing and Education Council. Founded in 1894, ASHRAE now has 50,000 participants worldwide; through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education ASHRAE works to advance the arts and sciences of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world.
Hamid Vakilzadian, associate professor with UNL's Department of Electrical Engineering, earned the 2011 Distinguished Service Award from the Society for Modeling & Simulation International. The award was announced at the Summer Simulation Multi-Conference (SummerSim) in The Hague, Netherlands in July. He has been active for many years with SCS and has been a dynamic leader for their modeling and simulation activities, including this conference.
A paper by Wenbo He, UNL assistant professor of electrical engineering, and her team (including Fan Zhang, Xue Liu and Patrick Bridges) received first place in the Best Paper Award of the Fourth ACM Conference on Wireless Network Security (ACM WiSec '11). The paper was titled "Inferring Users' Online Activities Through Traffic Analysis"; the event's acceptance rate for long papers is roughly 11.5 percent. Vakilzadian honored by SCS Hamid Vakilzadian, associate professor with UNL's Department of Electrical Engineering, earned the 2011 Distinguished Service Award from the Society for Modeling & Simulation International. The award was announced at the Summer Simulation Multi-Conference (SummerSim) in The Hague, Netherlands in July. He has been active for many years with SCS and has been a dynamic leader for their modeling and simulation activities, including this conference.
Weller named Jefferson Science Fellow with the State Department
Curt Weller, UNL professor of Biological Systems Engineering, was chosen to be a Jefferson Science Fellow. The program places several experienced and tenured research-active scientists and engineers with the U.S. Department of State, in roles to advise and educate leaders regarding aspects of policy issues. Weller has a background to address food and water security issues, while he lives and works in Washington, D.C. for one year.
Engineering students among Scott Scholars at The Peter Kiewit Institute
Twenty-seven high-achieving students were named Scott Scholars - Class of 2015; they will join freshmen arriving for the Fall 2011 term to study at the prestigious Peter Kiewit Institute in Omaha. Students at PKI pursue degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Engineering or the University of Nebraska at Omaha's College of Information Science and Technology.
BSE senior Dudley named UNL Chancellor's Scholar
Biological Systems Engineering senior Quentin Dudley of Worthington, Minn., was among the students recognized at a April 10 honors convocation as Chancellor's Scholars, the university's highest undergraduate academic honor.
IMSE's Rajurkar honored with NAMRI Outstanding Service Award
The North American Manufacturing Research Institute announced Kamlakar Rajurkar, College of Engineering Distinguished Professor of Industrial & Management Systems Engineering, will receive the 2011 NAMRI/SME Outstanding Service Award for long-term dedication and contributions to NAMRI/SME. Rajurkar is a past president of NAMRI.
MECH freshman Bircher to study in Turkey on State Dept scholarship
Walter Bircher of Omaha, a freshman mechanical engineering major at UNL, will spend the summer studying in Bursa, Turkey, on a Critical Language Scholarship. The Critical Language Scholarship Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, funds seven to 10 weeks of intensive study in 13 critical-need foreign languages. Bircher, an honors student, will spend 10 weeks studying Turkish at TOMER Language Institute. "My interest (in Turkey) is fueled by the thought of an exciting career in the intelligence community," he said.
CSE's NIMBUS Lab earns award from Ascending Technologies
UNL Computer Science and Engineering faculty Carrick Detweiler and Sebastian Elbaum received approximately $10,000 from Ascending Technologies, a German firm that develops and sells Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAVs). The sponsorship gift to the Nebraska Intelligent MoBile Unmanned Systems (NIMBUS) Laboratory honors their project idea: "AscTec UAVs in the Wild." Their proposal surpassed 20 top robotics groups submissions from around the world. Learn more from the Ascending Technologies announcement.
CIVE's Bartelt-Hunt honored for Excellence in Graduate Education
Shannon Bartelt-Hunt was one of two winners of the UNL 2011 Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Education, announced by the Office of Graduate Education. Bartelt-Hunt, an assistant professor in civil engineering, has supported and advised four students who received their master's degrees in either civil or environmental engineering. She currently supports and advises five doctoral students and one master's degree student in the department. In addition to her own students, she has served as a committee member for nine other master's degree students and one Ph.D. student in discipline areas including civil and environmental engineering, toxicology and natural resources.
EE's Schmidt receives Drude medal at European ellipsometry eventPostdoctoral researcher Daniel Schmidt, with UNL's Department of Electrical Engineering, received the 2011 Paul Drude Medal at a European ellipsometry conference in Berlin, Germany. The highly competitive award, designated for the best young researcher, was chosen by an international committee. Associate Professor Mathias Schubert said the honor places continued international focus onto current and future research activities of the ellipsometry group at UNL. Schmidt is a recent UNL Ph.D. graduate and his work has been supported by NSF CAREER, NSF MRSEC, NSF-EPSCoR Rii, J.A. Woollam Foundation, Army Research Office and UNL startup funds.
Engineering faculty and staff earn Parents Association honorsThe UNL Parents Association solicits nominations through an annual mailing, asking parents to nominate a faculty or staff employee who has made a significant difference in their student's life.
This year, award recipients of note included 15-time winner Jack Schinstock, professor of biological systems engineering. Other College of Engineering honorees for 2010-2011 are listed below, with numbers in parentheses indicating the years a recipient has received the award (if no number is listed, the award is a first-time honor):
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering - Michael Meagher (2)
Construction Management - Wayne Jensen; Timothy Wentz (9)
Dean's Office - Rena Becker (2)
Industrial and Management Systems Engineering - Jeonghan Ko; Jeffrey Woldstad Mechanical Engineering - Kevin Cole (3); Linxia Gu (2)
Electrical Engineering student gets WISE in D.C.Electrical engineering senior David Freese was one of three engineering students nationwide selected for a nine-week Washington Internship for Students of Engineering experience awarded by IEEE, the leading professional group for electrical engineers.
Each summer the WISE program connects outstanding upper-level students with leaders in Congress, the administration, industry and non-government organizations. WISE participants work with a prominent faculty-in-residence to better understand and potentially shape the intersection of science, technology, and public policy.
Freese, the son of Mark and Marlys Freese of Lincoln, plans to graduate from UNL in May 2011. After his WISE experience this summer, he will pursue his Ph.D. in applied electromagnetic and optics, focusing on medical imaging.
NCESR awards grants to engineering facultyThe Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research announced Energy Research Grants for 2011:
Joseph Turner, professor and chair of the Department of Engineering Mechanics, was awarded $70,000 for “Development of Combinaorial Approaches to Enhance Ethanol Production Efficience from Switchgrass Using Micro/Nanoscale Quantification Methods.”
Li Tan, assistant professor of Engineering Mechanics, was awarded $70,000 for “Creation of Hydroelectricity Based Upon the Edge Flow Phenomenon Identified in a Micrometer System.”
Dale Tiller, assistant professor with the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, was awarded $50,000 for “Residential electricity Management and Control Mediated by Occupancy Sensor Networks.”
Song Ci, associate professor with the Computer and Electronics Engineering Department, was awarded $15,000 for “Self-X: An Intelligent Large Scale Battery System for Renewable Energy Storage.”
Siu Kit Lau, assistant professor with the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, was awarded $15,000 for “A Two-Phase System for Solar Domestic Water Heating.”
Woldstad appointed to US Health and Human Services' Study SectionJeffrey Woldstad, professor and chair of the Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, was appointed to serve on the Safety and Occupational Health Study Section for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by the US Secretary of Health and Human Services in December, 2010.
EPA awards AlahmadMahmoud “Moe” Alahmad, professor of architectural engineering, received $10,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for his project titled “Real Time Monitor for Energy Conservation.”
Tiller and Schwer's proposal selected for funding by NCESRDale Tiller and Avery Schwer, associate professors of architectural engineering and construction systems engineering, were notified that their proposal—“Residential Electricity Management and Control Mediated by Occupancy Sensor Networks”—submitted to the 2010 Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research Competitive Grant Program, was selected for funding in the amount of $135,044.
Turner, Dzenis, Lim add distinctions for Engineering MechanicsJoe Turner, professor and department chair with UNL Engineering Mechanics, received a $64,073 grant from the University of Nebraska Medical Center for a project on Sonolysis in Acute Coronary Syndromes.
Yuris Dzenis, R. Vernon McBroom Professor of Engineering Mechanics at UNL, received funding of $189,547 via Northwestern University for his project on Multiscale Design and Manufacturing of Hybrid DWCNT-Polymer Fibers. Dzenis continues to work on projects through Northwestern for the Department of Defense's Multi-University Research Initiative, in which he pursues development of tougher fibers for the U.S. military's flexible armor needs.
Dzenis was also awarded $149,950 from the National Science Foundation for a project titled MRI RAPID: Acquisition of High-Rate Nanomanufacturing System for Accelerated Development of Novel Materials and Processes for Oil Spill Remediation.
Jung Yul Lim, assistant professor with Engineering Mechanics, gained a $120,000 grant from the AO Foundation for his project: Controlling Nanotopography-ECM Environment for Enhanced Bone Formation with hMSCs.
Waters and Eble-Hankins honored with IES awardClarence Waters, a research assistant professor with UNL's electrical engineering department, and Michelle Eble-Hankins, Ph.D. (a Durham School alumna who works with Alvine & Associates and currently serves as a DSAEC instructor) won the Illuminating Engineering Society's 2010 Taylor Technical Award for their paper, “Subjective Impression of Discomfort Glare from Sources of Non-uniform Luminance.”
Riley gains Distance Education Pioneer honorMichael Riley, P.E., professor of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, was honored during National Distance Learning Week as a 2010 Distance Education Pioneer by UNL Extended Education & Outreach.
Lu earns APPA's DEED grant for research on wind turbine monitoring and fault diagnosisDingguo Lu, a research assistant with UNL's Department of Electrical Engineering, has received a DEED student research grant from the American Public Power Association, the national service organization for community-owned, not-for-profit electric utilities. The purpose of the Demonstration of Energy-Efficient Developments (DEED) program is to sponsor and conduct activities related to energy innovation, efficiency improvement, and cost reduction in providing energy services to customers of publicly owned electric utilities.
The goal of Lu’s project is to develop a novel technology for online wind turbine condition monitoring and fault diagnosis using no extra mechanical sensors or data acquisition equipment. The proposed technology is based on advanced signal processing and statistical process control techniques. This technology represents a significant advancement in the state of the art of wind turbine condition monitoring and fault diagnosis and will dramatically increase system reliability and reduce operation and maintenance costs. Lu’s research is being conducted under the direction of Drs. Jerry Hudgins and Wei Qiao.
Hoffman to serve on Review of Scientific Instruments' editorial boardTino Hoffman, a research assistant professor with UNL's electrical engineering department, will serve on the editorial board of the Review of Scientific Instruments. Hoffman's selection followed his recent paper on THz ellipsometry instrumentation which appeared in RSI.
Nebraska EnginEEring gains multiple awards at ICALEO 2010
Zhiqiang Xie, a UNL graduate student in electrical engineering, earned second place in the the Best Poster Paper Award at the 28th International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics (ICALEO 2010). This largest annual conference of Laser Institute of America was attended by 500 participants, including 50 to 60 students. Xie's paper was titled “Open-air synthesis of diamond through laser energy coupling using a wavelength-tunable CO2 laser.” UNL's Yang Gao received third place in the Student Paper Awards at the conference. Yongfeng Lu, Lott Professor of Electrical Engineering, noted: “It is record-breaking in the history of the ICALEO conference that the same group received two awards out of six.” Lu, Xie and Gao are part of UNL’s Laser Assisted Nano Engineering Lab.
Bircher awarded National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) Scholarship
Walter Bircher, a UNL freshman from Omaha who majors in mechanical engineering, was awarded one of 650 NSLI-Y Scholarships for 2010-11. The merit-based scholarship covers all program costs that enabled Bircher to study the Turkish language in Turkey for a summer. Funded by the U.S. State Department and administered by non-profit organizations, NSLI-Y seeks to increase Americans' capacity to engage with native speakers of critical languages and promote mutual understanding through educational and cultural activities. (Applications for future NSLI-Y opportunities are available at http://www.nsliforyouth.org.)
Ronsse announced as NU 2010-11 Presidential Graduate FellowArchitectural engineering Ph.D. candidate Lauren Ronsse is one of eight recipients of 2010-2011 Presidential Graduate Fellowships announced by University of Nebraska President James B. Milliken. These prestigious fellowships honor NU graduate students on the basis of high scholastic performance, personal accomplishment and innovative research projects. “Presidential Graduate Fellowships honor students who are conducting extraordinary research and scholarly activity,” Milliken said. “We are fortunate to have a level of private support that allows us to give students an opportunity to devote full time to their academic efforts.” Fellows each receive an annual stipend provided through the University of Nebraska Foundation.
Ronsse has studied the perceptual impacts of noise on humans, speech intelligibility in rooms, and archeological acoustics. In her current research, she is relating acoustical measurements in classrooms to standardized student achievement scores to determine the impact of acoustical conditions on student learning. The outcomes of her research could be used to specify acoustical conditions in building standards that will maximize student achievement. Ronsse also serves as president of the National Acoustical Society of America Student Council.
Riley receives Fulbright opportunityIndustrial and Management Systems Engineering professor Michael Riley, P.E. will travel to National Tsing Hua University in Hsin Chu, Taiwan as a Fulbright Scholar, January-June 2011. He will teach an ergonomics course during the spring semester and work on a research project, "Job Task Repetition and Psychosocial Risk Factor Interactions."
Sayood, Soukup named Heins professors of electrical engineeringKhalid Sayood and Rodney Soukup, professors of electrical engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, have been named to new professorships thanks to the generosity of the late UNL alumnus Omar Heins ’36 B.S. ELEC.
CSE's Ramamurthy collaborates on NSF-funded projectByrav Ramamurthy, associate professor of computer science and engineering, received a $300,000 award from the National Science Foundation. He is UNL's principal investigator in a large collaborative project, “FIA: Collaborative Research: MobilityFirst: A Robust and Trustworthy Mobility-Centric Architecture for the Future Internet,” with a performance period through August 2013. This designation is part of a multi-institutional award of $7,545,000; the other university partners include Rutgers, MIT, UNC, Duke and more.
MECH's Huang accepts DOD honorMechanical engineering assistant professor Jinsong Huang gained a 2010 Young Investor Program award with a $200,000 grant from the Department of Defense's Threat Reduction Agency for his project: “A Novel High Quantum Efficiency Mechanism in Organic Photodetector for Sensing the Radiation from Weapons of Mass Destruction.”
CSE's Variyam named Susan J. Rosowski Associate Professor
CONM's Shen awarded NSF grant
CEEN's Steiner receives SMART scholarship
Qiao gains Outstanding Young Member Award from IEEE IAS
Tuan named Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers
Christopher Y. Tuan, Ph.D., P.E., S.E., now adds F.ASCE to his credentials. Tuan is a professor of civil and structural engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and is director of The Peter Kiewit Institute’s Structures Laboratory. Tuan specializes in electrically conductive concrete for bridge deck de-icing, a technology featured in news reports including a broadcast on the Discovery Channel. He also researches blast resistance for structures, and developed a computer program (BIRM3D) for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that provides three-dimensional simulations for modeling the impact response of security barriers.
Vinod Variyam, associate professor with the department of Computer Science and Engineering, has a new title. The Susan J. Rosowski Professorship recognizes faculty at the associate professor level who have achieved distinguished records of scholarship or creative activity and who show exceptional promise for future excellence.
Zhigang Shen, assistant professor in The Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, was awarded a grant of $100,000 from the National Science Foundation for Collaborative Research (to) Foster Complex Systems Thinking in Construction Engineering Education Using a Case-Based Multidimensional Virtual Environment (CMVE) .
Austin Steiner, a UNL Ph.D. student in computer engineering, accepted a prestigious scholarship through the Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship for Service Program, part of the American Society of Engineering Education. The SMART program was established by the U.S. Department of Defense to support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. SMART Scholars receive full tuition and education-related benefits, a cash award (from $25,000 to $41,000), paid summer internships, health insurance and book allowances, mentoring and employment placement after they complete the program. Steiner, who studies at The Peter Kiewit Institute in Omaha, expects to complete his degree in spring of 2013 and will then head to the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Ind., for internships and a permanent job working with electronic warfare.
Wei Qiao, assistant professor of electrical engineering, is the 2010 recipient of the internationally prestigious IEEE Industry Applications Society Andrew Smith Outstanding Young Member Award. This award recognizes outstanding achievement and contributions to the profession by an IAS member younger than 35 years of age. IEEE's Industry Applications Society has 10,000 members worldwide who focus on power electronics, drives, and electric machines technology (and their applications).
Dwyer wins ICSE's Most Influential Paper Award
Each year at the ICSE, ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering®, a paper is chosen from the ICSE conference of 10 years ago that is judged to have had the most influence on the theory or practice of software engineering during the 10 years since its original publication.
This year's award was presented to: James C. Corbett, Matthew B. Dwyer, John Hatcliff, Shawn Laubach, Corina S. Pasareanu, Robby, Hongjun Zheng for Bandera: extracting finite-state models from Java source code (ICSE 2000: 439-448). Dwyer is a professor with the UNL Department of Computer Science & Engineering.
ICSE, the International Conference on Software Engineering®, is "the premier software engineering conference, providing a forum for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, experiences and concerns in the field of software engineering."
IMSE's Rajurkar gains Hideo Hanafusa Outstanding Investigator Award
At the 2010 International Symposium on Flexible Automation, Kamlakar Rajurkar was honored for his distinguished contributions to Flexible Automation, specifically his “seminal contributions in the areas of non-traditional machining processes and equipment in particular process modeling, surface integrity and monitoring and control of macro and micro Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM), Electro Chemical Machining (ECM) and Ultra-Sonic Machining (USM).”
Rajurkar is a Distinguished Professor of Engineering at the UNL College of Engineering, with the Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Michigan Technological University in 1978 and 1982, respectively. Rajurkar is the founder and director of UNL's Center for Nontraditional Manufacturing Research.
This award consists of a plaque and an honorarium in the amount of $2,000.
AE's Waters on lighting curriculum team earning Nuckolls grant
A $50,000 award from the Nuckolls Foundation will power a multi-discipline, multi-university approach to teach students about lighting. The UNL development team for "Lighting Across the Design Curriculum" includes Katherine Ankerson, associate dean of UNL's College of Architecture; Betsy Gabb, professor of interior design; Timothy Hemsath, assistant professor of architecture; Lindsey Ellsworth-Bahe, assistant professor of interior design; Nathan Krug, associate professor of architecture; and Clarence Waters, professor of architectural engineering. When completed, the interactive teaching modules will be used by an estimated 1,600 students at four universities: UNL, Kansas State University, Miami University of Ohio and the University of Texas at Austin.
NSF Graduate Research Fellowships awarded to Garvin, Stolee
UNL Ph.D. students Brady Garvin and Kathryn Stolee can now boast the same status as Google co-founder Sergey Grin and Secretary of Energy and 1997 Nobel Prize winning physicist, Steven Chu. They have all been awarded prestigious fellowships in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). The program “recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in the U.S. and abroad.”
Of the 2010 fellowships, only two were awarded in software engineering nationwide, and three overall for students in the State of Nebraska. Fellowship winners receive: three years of support including a $30,000 annual stipend; $10,500 cost-of-education allowance; $1,000 one-time international travel allowance; and TeraGrid Supercomputer access.
Garvin and Stolee are members of UNL's ESQuaReD Lab. Garvin, from Wayne, Nebraska, works with Professor Myra Cohen to explore combinatorial software verification. Stolee, from Lenexa, Kan., works with Professor Sebastian Elbaum to study end users and the benefits of software engineering. Both Garvin and Stolee earned their undergraduate degrees at UNL.
BSEN's Irmak honored with 2010 ASABE Young Extension Worker Award
The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) Young Extension Worker Award recognizes outstanding success in motivating people to acquire knowledge, skills and understanding to improve agricultural operations. Associate professor Suat Irmak earned the award for his exemplary leadership and outstanding contributions and impact to soil and water resources engineering through research, extension education, and outreach programs. The award was announced at ASABE's 2010 Annual International Conference, June 23 in Pittsburgh, Penn.
AE students Kuchta, Wiese receive IES' Howard Brandston Award
In a repeat honor for UNL's Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, Heidi Kuchta and Andrew Wiese won the Illuminating Engineering Society's Howard Brandston Student Lighting Design Education Grant. The prestigious IES award was established “to encourage and recognize students who have demonstrated exceptional professional promise through the presentation of an original and ingenious solution to a supplied design problem.” The international competition has past winners from Italy and the U.K., but Durham School AE students Stephen Gollehon and Scott Lindgren won the award in 2009. Kuchta and Wiese worked with lighting design instructor Rodrigo Manriquez in their classes with UNL's engineering programs at Omaha's Peter Kiewit Institute.
Rojas earns Best Paper Award at Construction Research Congress
Durham School Director Eddy M. Rojas was honored at the 2010 CRC for this work with colleageus JeongWook Son, Seung Heon Han and Heedae Park on “Embeddedness and Collaborative Venture Networks for Overseas Construction Projects.”
Rosenow named to BSE Hall of Fame
John Rosenow '71 AGEN, CEO of Arbor Day Foundation, was inducted into the UNL Biological Systems Engineering Hall of Fame.
SMART Scholar Killion to apply engineering skills for Army research
Shannon Killion, a graduate student with the UNL College of Engineering, accepted a prestigious scholarship through the Science, Mathematics, And Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship for Service Program, part of the American Society of Engineering Education.
The SMART program was established by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. It aims to increase the number of civilian scientists and engineers working at DoD laboratories.
SMART Scholars receive full tuition and education-related benefits, a cash award (from $25,000 to $41,000), paid summer internships, health insurance and book allowances, mentoring and employment placement after they complete the program.
This summer Killion will attend a SMART Program orientation in Monterey, Calif. Currently a master’s degree student in Environmental Engineering at UNL, she works with Omaha-based civil engineering professor John Stansbury on an EPA grant for sustainable water infrastructure. Killion will use her SMART funding this summer and fall for a Nebraska Engineering Study Abroad experience at Lulea, Sweden’s University of Technology. She plans to return to UNL for the Spring 2011 term and work the following summer with the U.S. Army Tradoc Analysis Center (TRAC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. According to its Web site, TRAC conducts operations research (OR) on a wide range of military topics, some contemporary but most often set five to 15 years in the future. TRAC directly supports the mission of the Army's major command, the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), to develop future concepts and requirements while also serving the decision needs of many military clients.
Killion, from Kearney, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Systems Engineering from UNL. Another UNL BSEN graduate, Michaela McBride, earned a SMART Scholarship in 2009 and is now working with Army labs in Maryland to help improve soldiers’ equipment.
Engineering students honored at Graduate Research Symposium & Poster Fair
The UNL College of Engineering conducted its fourth annual Graduate Research Symposium and Poster Fair as part of E-Week 2010. Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs Namas Chandra was joined by UNL Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development Prem Paul and Engineering Dean David Allen in congratulating this year's winners at the conclusion of the E-Week events. View the list of winners and their photos.
CHME’s Jacobberger named Goldwater Scholar
Robert Jacobberger, a UNL Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering student from Omaha, earned a 2010 Goldwater Scholarship. The prestigious program—named for the late Senator Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona—awards approximately 300 scholarships per year throughout the nation to help develop highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers.
Jacobberger’s plans include gaining a Ph.D. and teaching at the university level. He already conducts research through UNL’s Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experiences (UCARE) program with Dr. Chin Li Cheung (Department of Chemistry) and Dr. Fereydoon Namavar (University of Nebraska Medical Center). They explore nanomaterials synthesis for incorporation into biomedical devices; one focus is surfaces for implants, specifically: how to increase cell growth and decrease formation of harmful biofilms. He also pursues research on cold-field emission devices and solar cells, using electrical engineering lab facilities.Jacobberger praised his engineering studies which offer problem-solving skills and allow him to apply his broad interests in chemistry, physics and math. Honored by the Goldwater selection, he said, “I hope it will increase my opportunities and help me to attain my goals.”
- Bruening receives NU's prestigious Peter Kiewit Award for entrepreneurial student accomplishments Mechanical Engineering's Chris Bruening, a Ph.D. student, won the 2010 Peter Kiewit Award for University of Nebraska student entrepreneurs. Bruening is part of the founding team of Agricultural Flaming Innovations, LLC, which focuses on safe, energy-efficient flaming equipment and techniques for weed control. Bruening works with ME professor George Gogos and Stevan Knezevic, an associate professor of integrated weed management at UNL.
- Engineering faculty gain promotions, tenure UNL regents voted approval at their April 16 meeting for a group of 75 UNL faculty proposed to gain tenure or promotion, including several from the College of Engineering.
Engineering faculty recommended for promotion to professor include:
• Sebastian Elbaum, Computer Science and Engineering
• Shane Farritor, Mechanical Engineering
• Ruqiang Feng, Mechanical Engineering
• Mehrdad Negahban, Engineering Mechanics
• Hossein Noureddini, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
• Anuradha Subramanian, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
• Clarence Waters, Architectural Engineering
Engineering faculty recommend for tenure and promotion to associate professor include:
• Myra Cohen, Computer Science and Engineering
• Ece Erdogmus, Architectural Engineering
• Mustafa Gursoy, Electrical Engineering
• Yong-Rak Kim, Civil Engineering
• Haorong Li, Architectural Engineering
• George Morcous, Construction Systems Engineering
• Carl Nelson, Mechanical Engineering
• Jeyamkondan Subbiah, Biological Systems Engineering
• Li Tan, Engineering Mechanics
• Lisong Xu, Computer Science and Engineering
Engineering faculty recommended for promotion (new rank follows name) include:
• Francis John Hay, Associate Extension Educator, Biological Systems Engineering
Manríquez earns AE teaching award
Rodrigo Manriquez, senior lighting designer and a co-leader with SmithGroup's Lighting Design Studio, received the 2010 Architectural Engineering Teaching Award in the UNL College of Engineering’s Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction. The honor was announced at the annual Architectural Engineering program recognition dinner attended by DSAEC students, faculty, alumni and industry representatives.
Candidates for this award are nominated by The Durham School’s upper-level AE students, who also determine the winner. The award can recognize not only faculty members but any teacher of AE classes at the undergraduate or graduate level. Its criteria focus on an individual’s teaching abilities, including in-class communication, availability outside of class, respect for and interest in students, and quality of information. Manriquez, based in Harper Woods, Mich., taught the advanced lighting design course via online and video methods, supplemented by periodic visits to meet with AE students at The Peter Kiewit Institute in Omaha.
AE student Scott Lindgren’s nomination of Manriquez described how students benefited from his real-world expertise: “We learned to develop aesthetically pleasing designs and not just be satisfied with our first solutions.” Lindgren said the course expectations were challenging but “we learned to think of problems abstractly” and “everyone thrived and grew significantly as lighting designers.”
Manríquez grew up in Santiago, Chile, and joined SmithGroup in 1997 after receiving his bachelor of science degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Kansas. In 2006, Manríquez received a prestigious IALD Award of Excellence for his work on the Detroit Athletic Club exterior facade lighting. His work has also earned multiple IIDA awards, including the 2003 IIDA Award of Distinction for the Northwest Airlines Passenger Tunnel at Detroit’s Metropolitan Airport. He was honored in 2008 as a “40 under 40” nominee and recipient by Consulting Specifying Engineer magazine, and his work has been featured in national and international publications. His experience on projects of varied size and type includes Tae-Joon Park Digital Library in Pohang, Korea; Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions football team; Discovery Communications, Inc., corporate headquarters; New York Law School; the Smithsonian Institution and The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.; and the Design Dome at the General Motors Tech Center in Warren, Mich.