News

›› Partnership to Boost Education, Research Overseas
The Qatar National Research Fund recently awarded UH engineering researchers two separate grants totaling $2.4 million to collaborate with researchers in that country not only to advance science research, but also education. The first grant will fund research to explore ways of eliminating harmful pollutants from vehicle exhaust without sacrificing fuel efficiency. The second grant will fund research into structural health monitoring, whereas researchers will measure the vibration response of objects to not only detect potential damage, but also the extent.

›› UH Alumnus to Lead Spacewalks on 128th Space Shuttle Flight
UH Cullen College of Engineering alumnus Danny Olivas (1993 MSME) will be aboard NASA shuttle Discovery when it launches from Kennedy Space Center in Florida this month. Bound for the International Space Station, the crew of the STS-128 mission will be spending 13 days in outer space to replace an ammonia tank used to move excess heat from inside the space station to radiators outside as well as retrieve a large pallet of science experiments from outside the station's Columbus Laboratory to bring back to Earth.

›› Youngster's Engineering Aspirations Realized at UH
Logan Craft, a 10-year-old from Baytown, toured the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering recently after penning a handwritten letter directly to the UH system president expressing interest in the mechanical engineering program. Craft wrote the letter during college week at his elementary school just prior to the summer break. He said he hoped to learn more about UH, which he has pegged as his first choice university.

›› Study Could Help Diabetics Better Monitor Glucose Levels
A device being developed by a team of researchers from the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering could make it unnecessary for more than 23 million diabetics to submit to daily finger pricks to test glucose levels in their blood. The researchers received a three-year, nearly $400,000 National Science Foundation grant this month to explore the development of the implantable device, designed to use optical sensing to continuously monitor glucose levels

›› Study by UH, Texas A&M Professors to Explore Bone Loss in Astronauts
Daniel Martinez, associate professor in the department of health and human performance and the Cullen College’s biomedical engineering program, is working with lead investigator Harry Hogan and co-investigator Susan Bloomfield, both faculty at Texas A&M University, to study measures to counteract bone loss during space missions. All three are named on a roughly $1.1 million grant from NASA’s Human Research Program—nearly $265,000 of the total funding will support Martinez’s efforts.

›› UH Professor Elected to Board of Directors for Texas Academy
Fazle Hussain, Hugh Roy & Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been elected to the The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas board of directors. The organization provides recognition to the state’s top achievers in science, engineering and medicine and facilitates collaboration among engineers, academia and the corporate world to promote Texas as a national research leader while helping to foster the next generation of scientists. He will serve a three-year term beginning in January.

›› NFL Grant Suports Gene Therapy Study to Benefit Athletes
UH Cullen College of Engineering researchers Daniel Martinez and David Zimmerman have received an 18-month, $118,693 grant from the National Football League Charities to investigate the use of gene therapy to heal damaged ligaments. The treatment being developed could allow athletes playing in the National Football League a faster return to the field after injury.

›› Researchers at UH Explore use of Fat Cells as Heart Attack Therapy
Stanley Kleis, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and his research team are utilizing a tiny, state-of-the-art bioreactor to study the introduction of adipose-derived stromal cells, which are found in fatty tissue, to the heart muscles. The bioreactor will be used to determine how the heart reacts to the stromal cells in an effort to help improve its recovery after a heart attack. Kleis originally developed the bioreactor as a long-term cell culture system for NASA's unmanned space flights, for which he won the agency's Patent Application Award last spring.

›› UH Engineering Professor Receives High Honor from Caltech
Fazle Hussain, Roy & Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering, was named a Gordon Moore Distinguished Scholar by the California Institute of Technology. The Moore Distinguished Scholars Program was established to invite researchers of exceptional quality, who are distinguished at both the national and international level, to visit Caltech for three to six months. Hussain is the sole recipient of the award for the 2008-09 year in the division of engineering and applied sciences.

›› Engineering Researchers Part of Study on New Artificial Heart Technology
(July 7, 2008) Mechanical Engineering Professors Matthew Franchek and Ralph Metcalfe are working with area experts to create a continuous flow ventricular assist device that’s smaller and less costly than the pulsatile pumps used to date. Named on a $2.8 million National Institutes of Health grant, Franchek and Metcalfe will work alongside the lead investigator, Dr. O.H. “Bud” Frazier, chief of the Center for Cardiac Support and director of Surgical Research at the Texas Heart Institute, professors from Rice University, Texas Heart Institute physicians and MicroMed Technology, Inc.

›› Engineering Professor to Head NIH Study Section
(May 29, 2008) Ralph W. Metcalfe, professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering and mathematics, was appointed chair of the National Institutes of Health Cardiovascular Devices Study Section. At the study section’s upcoming meeting in Bethesda, Md. June 23, Metcalfe will head a group comprising 18 other experts—12 of whom are physicians and the remaining six consisting of engineers and scientists—from across the United States. The group will review more than 150 grant proposals related to cardiovascular devices submitted by small companies and universities.

›› Engineering Organizations Present Professor with High Honors
(May 21, 2008) Kirill Larin, assistant professor of biomedical and mechanical engineering, has received two awards for achievements in his biomedical optics and imaging research. He received the 2008 Outstanding Young Scientist Award from the Houston Society for Engineering in Medicine and Biology in February and the Herbert Allen Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in April. In 2007, he received the U.S. Navy's Young Investigator Award.

›› Area High School Students Get a Look at UH Engineering
(April 28, 2008) Houston-area high school seniors toured UH Cullen College of Engineering April 25 as part of a Shadow Day organized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The event, the first of its kind on the engineering campus, brought 16 students and three teachers from Sam Rayburn and J. Frank Dobie high schools to the college for an in-depth look into the field.

›› College Offering Scholarships for Accelerated B.S. to Graduate Program
(October 23, 2007) The University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering has won a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to provide scholarships for students in the college’s accelerated B.S. to graduate degree program. The program combines coursework for the bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and/or Ph.D., thereby reducing the number of credit hours needed to earn multiple degrees. Under the program, students can apply a total of six credit hours toward both a bachelor’s degree and a graduate degree.

›› Imaging Device to Benefit Patients of In Vitro Fertilization
(October 2, 2007) Kirill Larin, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering with the UH Cullen College of Engineering, is developing an imaging device that could increase the success of in vitro fertilization. The research is in partnership with Michael Allon, a Houston-based doctor specializing in fertility issues. Their work is supported by a two-year, $250,000 grant from the Wallace Coulter Foundation, which specializes in funding translational research, i.e. research designed to move a technology from the lab to its use in real-world situations.

›› Navy Taps UH Researcher to Develop Diagnostic Tool
(August 1, 2007) The U.S. Office of Naval Research has awarded a $400,000 grant to Kirill Larin, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, to develop a non-invasive tool that can diagnose decompression sickness for scuba divers, submarines and airplane pilots. Larin, along with Dr. Bruce Butler from UT Health Science Center in Houston, is developing a novel optical device that can locate the presence of microbubbles in blood and tissues. These bubbles can restrict the flow of blood throughout the body, leading to decompression sickness

›› Decorated Professor Adds Farfel Award to Long List of Honors
(May 7, 2007) Fazle Hussain, Hugh Roy & Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is the 2007 recipient of University of Houston's highest faculty honor, the Esther Farfel Award. Hussain leads the Aerodynamics and Turbulence Laboratory at UH and is regarded as one of the top five experimental turbulence researchers in the world. Hussain has published more than 250 scientific papers and received more than $10 million in competitive research funding from federal and state organizations. In addition to his impact on research and scholarship, Hussain’s dedication to teaching and commitment to service also are important elements that earned him the Farfel honor.

Senator Hutchison Commends UH-Led Effort to Bring Wind Facility to Texas
(April 5, 2007) Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison visited the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering on Tuesday, April 3, to hold a press conference for the purpose of announcing new renewable energy legislation and to commend a UH-led effort to bring the Department of Energy's Large Wind Turbine Testing Facility to Texas. Hutchison's new piece of legislation is called the Creating Renewable Energy through Science and Technology (CREST) Act, which provides funding for renewable energy research and development through the Council on Renewable Energies (CORE).

UH-Led Alliance Finalist for DOE's New Wind Turbine Research Center
(March 14, 2007) The University of Houston-led Lone Star Wind Alliance has been named one of two finalists for the Department of Energy’s new large-scale wind turbine research and development facility. Cullen College of Engineering Dean Raymond Flumerfelt and Distinguished University Professor of Mechanical Engineering Su Su Wang submitted the proposal to DOE on behalf of the alliance—made up of universities, government agencies and corporate partners—in an effort to attract the project to the Texas Coast.

UH Engineering Students Take Second in Regional Design Competition
(March 6, 2007) A team of four freshman engineering students won second place in the Texas A&M Regional Engineering Conference (TREC) design competition in February. The design team from the PROMES section of ENGI 1100—Sheresa Burkey (CE), Crystal Ibarra (CE), Marie Politte (ME) and Mauricio Salto (CE)—beat out 25 teams from four other universities, including Kansas State University, Texas A&M University and Louisiana State University.

Cullen College Grads, Students Honored During EWeek
(February 27, 2007) The University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering was well represented in Houston-area events that recognized National Engineers Week. Four college alumni or current students were honored as 2007 Young Engineers of the Year by various professional associations. Civil engineering graduate student Courtney Bird was honored by the Houston-Galveston Post of the Society of American Military Engineers; Kenneth Flakes (2002 BSME) was honored by the National Society of Black Engineers - Houston Alumni Extension; Yaramy Treviño (1995 BSEE) was honored by the Society of Mexican-American Engineers and Scientists; and Xiuli Wang (2000 Ph.D. ChE) was honored by the Chinese Institute of Engineers, USA.

Bechtel Provides Continued Support for Cullen College Programs
(February 23, 2007) Cullen College distinguished alum John Duty (1969 BSME), executive vice president of Bechtel Oil Gas & Chemicals, Inc., presented a gift to the college on behalf of the Bechtel Group Foundation, a long-time supporter of the college and university, to provide scholarship support for several of the college’s diversified programs and organizations, including University of Houston student chapter of The Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists (MAES).

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