Governor Presents UH With Grant to Advance Superconductivity in Texas
(February 3, 2010) The University of Houston has received a five-year, $3.6 million grant from the state’s Emerging Technology Fund to aid in the development and commercialization of products based on high-temperature superconductors. Using the state funding UH’s Texas Center for Superconductivity (TcSUH) and the university’s department of mechanical engineering will partner to establish the Texas Center for Superconductivity Applied Research Hub. Under the direction of Venkat “Selva” Selvamanickam, M.D. Anderson Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering, the hub will work to bring industrial leaders in the field to Texas to accelerate development of this emerging technology.

College Adds National Academy Member
(January 26, 2010) Surendra P. Shah, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University, this spring joined faculty at the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering as a visiting professor. During his yearlong appointment, Shah will travel back and forth between UH and Northwestern. While in Houston, he will be focused on engaging researchers across engineering disciplines and colleges in collaborations furthering the development of more durable, greener materials that help address the country’s aging infrastructure.

New Biomedical Chair Earns Esteemed Engineering Honors
(January 22, 2010) Metin Akay, the John S. Dunn Distinguished Professor and founding chair of the University of Houston Department of Biomedical Engineering, will be inducted next month into the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering as well as the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Akay is an internationally-known researcher in the areas neural engineering, biomedical informatics and biomedical imaging.

Technology Being Developed in UH Lab Could Put an End to Icy Commutes
(January 20, 2010) Mechanical engineering graduate student Christiana Chang is using carbon nanofiber paper in an experiment dedicated to raising the surface temperature of the road to combat the icy conditions that make driving dangerous in the winter. This self-heating road experiment is being tested through the application of small amounts of power to the material, which rests three inches below the surface of a four by 10 inch slab of concrete. In tests where she applied just six watts of power to the paper in the model, the temperature on the surface of the concrete slab rose nearly 20 degrees in two hours.

Engineering Professor Part of International Center
(January 6, 2010) Pradeep Sharma, UH’s Bill D. Cook Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, will join a handful of scientists around the world as part of the new International Institute for Multifunctional Materials for Energy Conversion. With $4 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, the researchers will explore ways to help meet the nation's future energy needs. Specifically, Sharma will utilize $380,0000 to study how materials can be used in energy transmission, storage and conversion.

Building Good Will
(January 5, 2010) UH Cullen College of Engineering students are working to improve the quality of life in one Central American village in Nicaragua. Members of the UH student chapter of Engineers Without Borders will be working to erect a preschool on an upcoming trip to the country this spring. In addition, the group will work to establish a waste management plan to improve the water quality for the village.

Unraveling a Piece of History
(December 23, 2009) Ali Kamrani, associate professor of industrial engineering, is part of a group of anthropologists, pathologists, museum curators and a forensic sculptor that are voluntarily offering up their expertise to unravel the history behind the mummified remains of three Fort Craig buffalo soldiers. He is using computer aided design software to remove bone fragments, dust and old tissue from CT scans of the skulls in order to transform them into solid models using his rapid prototyping machine.

Cullen College Participates in 75th University Commencement
(December 21, 2009) Cullen College of Engineering students were among more than two thousand—who dedicated years to realizing the dream of higher education—that participated in a newly structured commencement ceremony in the Hofheinz Pavilion Dec. 18. General Commencement featured three consecutive ceremonies that were held in honor of graduates from 7 of the twelve University of Houston colleges. During the second, roughly 230 from the Cullen College turned their tassels alongside those from the C.T. Bauer College of Business.

BP Annual Gift to Support Wind Lab, Students
(December 14, 2009) As part of an annual contribution to the University of Houston, BP representatives presented a $85,500 check to Dean Joseph Tedesco last week in support of Cullen College of Engineering educational initiatives. The largest portion of the gift will support the college's Wind Energy Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment. BP has committed $50,000 to the UH Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering to construct a wind tunnel for students to learn the fundamentals of converting wind energy to electrical power.

UH Researcher Documents Early Cardiovascular Development
(December 4, 2009) Kirill Larin, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is collaborating with scientists at Baylor College of Medicine to document the formation of the mammalian heart through a high-resolution, non-invasive imaging device, providing perhaps the best live imagery taken of the vital organ. With a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Larin plans to modify his laser-based spectroscopic imaging device to further the study of developmental processes in animals with known heart abnormalities.

UH SHPE Members Take Home Wins at National Conference
(December 4, 2009) Forty-one students from the UH chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers flew to the Washington, D.C. to the SHPE National Conference, which attracted more than 3,700 students nationwide for workshops, lectures, presentations, academic competitions and award presentations. At the five-day event—the largest technical conference for Hispanics—Cullen College of Engineering students represented their school well, placing in three of its competitions.

Researchers Awarded Funding to Expand Nano Work Being Done at UH Center
(December 2, 2009) Engineering researchers at the University of Houston Center for Integrated Nanosystems will utitlize more than $1.2 million in grant funding from the National Science Foundation to better understand the science behind how magnetic materials behave on the nanoscale. The four different projects, led by Dmitri Litvinov, professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of the center, could influence everything from the storage capacity of magnetic disk drives to how doctors detect cancer.

Grant Earns Engineering Researcher State-of-the-Art Tool
(November 19, 2009) An equipment grant from Semitool Inc. has afforded a University of Houston researcher a sophisticated machine that could make it possible to apply what has been learned in his lab to control stress levels in the thin films used in everyday sensors and magnetic recording devices. A leading manufacturer of advanced single wafer electroplating and wafer cleaning equipment, Semitool added a brand new version of their Raider M system to Stanko Brankovic’s laboratory in the Cullen College of Engineering this fall. An assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, Brankovic said the tool is valued at close to $1 million and stands to greatly expand his lab’s capabilities.

Alumnus to Fill Chair Post in Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
(November 18, 2009) Abdeldjelil “DJ” Belarbi will return to his roots in December when he takes over as chair of the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Belarbi—currently a distinguished professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology—earned both his master’s and doctoral degrees in civil and structural engineering from UH. He will succeed Dennis Clifford who has served as interim chair since August.

Cullen College Student Enrollment Increases For Fall Semester
(November 17, 2009) Student enrollment at the University of Houston Cullen College Engineering rose 8 percent from last year’s fall semester, according to a final enrollment report. Close to 216 more student’s filled seats at the college for an overall head count of 2,781. This growth was consistent across the college’s six departments.

Accomplishments of CE Professor Honored With International Symposium
(November 17, 2009) The American Concrete Institute and the American Association of Civil Engineers jointly honored the structural engineering research contributions of Thomas T.C. Hsu, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Civil Engineering, with a symposium in New Orleans, La. Nov. 8-10. The four-part symposium titled, “Thomas T.C. Hsu Symposium on Shear and Torsion in Concrete Structures” included 32 presentations from researchers around the world. Houston Mayor Bill White also recognized Hsu's accomplishments by naming Nov. 8 Dr. Thomas T.C. Hsu Day in the city.

UH Researcher Recognized for Technical Achievements
(November 11, 2009) For contributions to the development and commercialization of second-generation high temperature superconducting wire, Venkat Selvamanickam, M.D. Anderson Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Houston, has been honored with a 2009 Wire & Cable Technology International Technical Achievement Award. Before joining UH in 2008, Selvamanickam led a 40 member research team at SuperPower Inc. to scale up second-generation high temperature superconducting wire from inch-long segments utilized in research equipment to mile-long lengths commercially available around the world today.

A Bright Green Future: Researchers Work to Turn Algae Into Crude Oil
(November 4, 2009) Researchers from the Texas Diesel Testing and Research Center have taken on a new project intended to expand the center’s clean air focus. They are examining glass beakers filled with samples of a slimy green substance most find growing in ponds, swamps and even dirty swimming pools. It’s a mixture of algae and other aquatic biomasses, and these researchers think it has the potential to be the next conventional oil alternative.

UH Engineers Part of New DOE Center Focused on Plasma Science
(November 2, 2009) Two engineers at the University of Houston have been awarded grant funding to conduct research as part of a new U.S. Department of Energy supported Center on Plasma Science. The center, led by researchers at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, will join Demetre Economou and Vincent Donnelly, both professors of chemical and biomolecular engineering at UH, with close to 20 scientists from universities and national laboratories across the country. Together, these researchers plan to pick apart the science behind plasmas in an effort to make them more efficient.

Professor Travels to UK to Celebrate Civil Engineering Achievements
(October 26, 2009) Jerry Rogers, associate professor of civil engineering, was among a select few to be present at a wreath laying ceremony this month for a famed London train and bridge engineer. The ceremony, marking the 150th anniversary of Robert Stephenson’s death, was held at Westminster Abbey. A distinguished member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Rogers made the trip to the United Kingdom to research several famous civil engineers from the area for a book being produced by ASCE members detailing the lives and careers of those well known to the field.

Professor to Develop Novel Networking Technology to Speed Data Transfers
(October 22, 2009) With two National Science Foundation grants totaling more than $890,000, Yuhua Chen, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is developing a multimode switching platform to make possible the transfer of all types of data over the Internet using one piece of technology. Currently, three separate network switching modes exist, each of which are optimized to route either small data files such as text or voice, or larger files such as high-definition (HD) video. Chen is working to integrate all three existing switching modes into a single, cost-effective platform, which should ultimately speed the transfer of data.

UH Granted $2.5 Million to Test Retrofit Devices That Clean Diesel Exhaust
(October 21, 2009) The Texas Diesel Testing and Research Center at the University of Houston has been awarded two grants totaling more than $2.5 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to test two separate exhaust retrofit systems designed to reduce harmful emissions from diesel vehicles. Created by Midwest-based companies Truck Emission Control Technologies Inc.’s (TECT) and Tinnerman/Shadowood, diesel researchers will test their two retrofit systems’ ability to reduce smog-causing Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emissions on 35 vehicles. Each will be monitored throughout the 15-month study in order to provide real-world performance data to the EPA.

UH Diesel Center Finishes Expansion Doubling Size, Capabilities
(October 13, 2009) The Texas Diesel Testing and Research Center at the University of Houston recently finished an expansion doubling its size and increasing its means to research and test retrofit devices that reduce the amount of harmful pollutants emitted from heavy-duty diesel engine exhaust. The expansion, funded with a grant from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, cost more than $9 million and took roughly a year to complete. Located in what is now the University of Houston Energy Research Park, the diesel center occupies 12,000 square feet housing more office and functional laboratory space as well as advanced emission testing equipment.

UH Researchers Nab New NIH Grant to Construct, Test Cancer Tool
(October 12, 2009) A team of University of Houston researchers is among a select few to be awarded a competitive grant from the National Institutes of Health to create a technology that more efficiently identifies the presence of cancer in even the smallest of body fluid samples. The researchers will use the $1 million grant not only to construct, but also to test their biosensor’s ability to spot cancer protein biomarkers for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia—a blood and bone marrow cancer. The device will use magnetic nanotechnology to locate these biomarkers, which are elevated in patients with the disease, on a single molecule level.

University Opens State-of-the-Art Clean Room
(September 28, 2009) A new research facility, packed with state-of-the-art equipment, has been created at the University of Houston to enable scientists to manipulate materials at the nanoscale in an environment virtually free from dust and other contaminants that can interfere with their results. Dubbed the University of Houston Nanofabrication Facility, the laboratory is located on the first floor of the Science and Engineering Research Center and is now open for business.

Former ECE Professor, Department Chair Passes Away
(September 28, 2009) Wallace “Wally” Anderson, former chair of the UH Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, died September 22 at the age of 87. During his 39 years with UH, Anderson was instrumental in growing the deparment not only by helping increase the number of faculty, but also the amount of research being conducted. He joined UH in 1969 as a full professor and served as chair of the department from 1972-1977 and again from 1996-1998. Up until his 2008 retirement, he taught classes on solid-state physics, electromagnetics, statistical estimation theory, communication theory, applied mathematics, quantum mechanics and stochastic processes—a course he developed that is still being taught today.

Partnership to Boost Education, Research Overseas
(September 22, 2009) 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.

Lucrative Lessons: Engineering Pegged as Degree With Highest Starting Salary
(September 22, 2009) Based on recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 12 of the top 15 degrees garnering high starting salaries for college graduates are in engineering. In fact, four of the five top spots are held by an engineering discipline and include petroleum, chemical, mining and computer engineering.

Founding Chair Named to Department of Biomedical Engineering
(September 15, 2009) Metin Akay, professor and former interim chair at Arizona State University’s Harrington Department of Bioengineering, has been appointed to lead the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering’s new Department of Biomedical Engineering. He plans to develop new academic and research fields that include biomedical imaging, neural and cognitive engineering and genomics and proteomics science and engineering. Plans are also underway to enhance the program’s offerings with a Ph.D. option in addition to existing bachelor’s and master’s degree tracks.

College Research Expenditures See Increase, Set Record
(September 15, 2009) Research grant and contract expenditures by University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering faculty reached more than $21 million in fiscal year 2009, the largest ever on record. Up some 50 percent from the previous fiscal year’s total, primarily the federal government—the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy—supported the research. The increase represents a three-year rise in expenditures at the college—going from a consistent $11.5 million during 2005 to 2007 to $14.4 million in 2008 and now $21,889,978 million.

   ... of Faculty
   ... of Students
   ... of Staff
   ... of Alumni

- National Academy of Engineering members from UH
- Engineering Leadership & Entrepreneurism Program
- Summer Camps for High School Students
- UH Diesel Vehicle Research and Testing Facility