Graduate Student Receives Fellowship for Work in Water Purification
(July 27, 2006) Archana Venkataramanan, an environmental engineering graduate student with the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering, received a $5,000 fellowship from the Ivanhoe Foundation for her research on drinking water purification. The fellowship will fund her research with Environmental Engineering Professor Dennis Clifford on a new, innovative method of removing viruses from drinking water called electrocoagulation microfiltration.

UH Forms Partnership with Chinese University, District Government
(July 25, 2006) The University of Houston has signed an agreement with East China State University of Science and Technology and the Shanghai Jinshan District People’s Government that may lead to cooperative research and educational efforts. The memorandum of understanding, signed July 17 in Shanghai, China, could lead to joint research endeavors that enable professors to work with their research counterparts overseas and it could eventually provide the framework for a student exchange program.

Engineering Graduate Student Attends Discovery Shuttle Launch
(July 21, 2006) Mechanical engineering graduate student Sandra Geffert attended the July 4 launch of the space shuttle Discovery as an invited guest of NASA Assistant Administrator for Education John M. Hairston, Jr. Geffert is a recipient of a NASA Harriet G. Jenkins fellowship, which provides funding to members of underrepresented groups attending graduate school. Recipients’ graduate studies must focus on NASA-related projects in science, technology or education. As part of her graduate research, Geffert is creating a space bioreactor with a capacity of about one milliliter. The reactor will be used to culture cells, enabling NASA scientists to study the effects of microgravity, radiation and other stressors on these cells.

Civil Engineering Professor Named Lifetime Member of ASCE
(July 20, 2006) Jerry Rogers, associate professor of civil engineering with the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering, has been named a Life Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Over the past 40 years, Rogers has served the organization in various capacities including as president of the group’s Houston chapter and its Texas section. He also sat on the ASCE’s National Board of Directors from 1992 to 1995 and served as its national vice president from 2001 to 2003. Rogers first joined the University of Houston in 1970. His research focus has included storm water management, drainage engineering, water resource systems and water distribution, and urban growth planning.

College Hosts Teacher-Education Camp
(July 14, 2006) For the third consecutive year, the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering hosted a teacher-education camp organized by the American Society for Materials. Sixteen teachers attended this year’s Materials Camp—Teachers, which was held at the college from June 26 through June 30. The ultimate goal of the one-week camp is to increase the number of college students who study science and engineering, particularly materials science, by showing teachers new scientific experiments and techniques in hopes of generating interest in the classroom.

Professor's Rare Books on Display at The Museum of Printing History
(July 10, 2006) John Lienhard, M.D. Anderson Professor of Technology and Culture, Emeritus with the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering, has provided rare textbooks from his private collection for a public exhibition entitled “Ghosts in the Books: Echoes of Old Voices from the Books that Made America.” The exhibit is being held at Houston’s Museum of Printing History, and will run from June 22 to October 19. It narrates Lienhard’s encounters with a selection of 19th century textbooks and the lives of their former owners through the owner’s notes in the books.

Winning Poster Showcases NOx Emissions Research
(June 26, 2006) Vinay Medhekar, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Chemical Engineering, recently captured first place at the Southwest Catalysis Society Spring Symposium poster competition. Medhekar's winning poster and presentation chronicled his research efforts to reduce NOx emissions of lean-burning engines. Once emissions are reduced, lean-burning engines will eventually replace their rich-burning counterparts, therefore increasing overall fuel efficiency.