ME Student Claims National NASA Fellowship
(May 31, 2005) UH engineering student Sandy Geffert has been named one of 20 national recipients of the Harriett G. Jenkins Pre-doctoral Fellowship Program from NASA. Geffert is a doctoral student in the mechanical engineering department, and has been working on NASA projects for several years with associate professor Stanley Kleis.

First Graduate Research Conference Deemed a Success for ECE
(May 26, 2005) Approximately 40 graduate students in the UH Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) presented their work at the department’s first Graduate Research Conference held recently at TLC2. Seventy-eight people attended the internal conference, including 51 graduate students and 27 faculty members.

UH Sweeps IEEE Region V Conference For Second Consecutive Year
(May 20, 2005) The UH student branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) received high honors at the IEEE Region Five Conference. The organization won all four awards for which it was eligible—for the second consecutive year. Professor and advisor Ovidiu Crisan received the honor for the Outstanding Student Branch Counselor of the Year, professor David Jackson for the Outstanding Educator of the Year, Wahad Mehmood for Outstanding Student Member of the Year, and the student branch took home the award for Outstanding Large Student Branch of the Year.

Homeland Security Grant to Further Research Against Bioterrorism
(May 20, 2005) UH researchers have been awarded a homeland security grant to develop a method for identifying bacteria and viruses that could be used in bioterrorism. The Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency recently awarded the grant to a group of bioinformatics researchers at UH to study DNA probes for detecting emerging or engineered pathogens. The project, titled “Tools for Ultraspecific Probe/Primer Design,” started in April as part of the Bioinformatics and Assays Development Program. Co-investigators from chemical engineering include Professor Richard C. Willson and adjunct professor George Fox.

Informational Workshop on New Executive Engineering Development Program: May 12
(May 10, 2005) The UH Cullen College of Engineering announces the launch this Fall of an elite program designed to give experienced technical professionals (engineers, scientists) the tools and techniques they need to deliver globally competitive innovation to small, mid & large cap technical enterprises. Attend an Informational Workshop this Thursday, May 12 at 4pm in 102 Engineering Building 1 and interact with industry executive faculty. Also learn more about the objectives, philosophy, components and design of the program, and first module offering scheduled for fall 2005. This executive program is delivered in independent Masters Track Certificate-bearing modules of three graduate level courses each. Participants earn Masters of Enterprise Engineering with the successful completion of four modules.

Engineering Alumni Announces 2005 Recipients of the Distinguished Engineering Awards
(May 10, 2005) Benton Baugh (1967 BSME) and Steven Simmons (1981 BSCE) will receive the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award at the 2005 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Awards Dinner on Friday, June 3 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Downtown Houston. Eray Aydil (1991 PhD ChE) will receive the Distinguished Young Engineering Alumna Award and Cheryl Thompson-Draper will receive the Roger Eichhorn Leadership Service Award. Electrical and computer engineering professor Betty Barr will receive the Abraham E. Dukler Distinguished Engineering Faculty Award.

UH Engineering Alumna Develops Hand Mimetic Device For Premature Babies, Mothers
(May 10, 2005) When Yamile Cendales Jackson (2000 PhD IE) gave birth to her son Zachary, he was 12 weeks premature and weighed only one pound, 15 ounces. Now Zachary is a thriving four year old, and Jackson used her experience to develop a hand mimetic device, the Zaky, which is named after her son, to help premature babies and their mothers feel closer to each other.

UH Volunteers Help Install Computer Equipment at Third Ward Community Center
(May 9, 2005) John Young and Bobby DeWeers from the UH Cullen College of Engineering, along with other UH staff volunteers from the UH Information Technology department and College of Technology helped install an array of computer equipment at the East Side University Village Community Learning Center last Saturday. The equipment – which included 42 desktop computers, laser printers, digital projectors and a server – were purchased with a major portion of the $100,000 SBC grant that UH awarded to the Third Ward center in 2004.

Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Develops Protein-Based Technology for Constructing Biosensors
(May 5, 2005) The government’s task of safeguarding the nation hinges in part on its ability to quickly and accurately detect toxic biological agents. Graduate student Mrinal Shah’s recent breakthrough in liquid-liquid phase separation may be the first integral step along the road to developing a protein-based biosensor that would do just that. Mrinal Shah, who is pursuing a doctorate degree in chemical engineering at UH, presented his research recently at the Keck Annual Research Conference and received the second place award.