Plus: Other Faculty Award Announcements

Zhu Han, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston, is having a good year.

Robots Could be Used in Medicine, Rescue and Defense

If Star Wars’ R2-D2 is your idea of a robot, think again. Researchers led by a University of Houston engineer have reported a new class of soft robot, composed of ultrathin sensing, actuating electronics and temperature-sensitive artificial muscle that can adapt to the environment and crawl, similar to the movement of an inchworm or caterpillar.

New Monitoring Tool Would Be Able To Detect Imperfections Almost Instantaneously

Researchers from the University of Houston are developing a new quality control tool for continuous nanomanufacturing, a key step in moving nanodevices from the lab to the real world.

“Nanomanufacturing sounds great, but it really has to be scalable,” said Venkat Selvamanickam, MD Anderson Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering. “You have to be able to control the quality.”

The 8th Wonder Brewery was buzzing with activity last Thursday as UH mechanical engineering alumni, faculty and students gathered to mingle, catch up and hear the latest updates on the Cullen College at the inaugural Mechanical Engineering Alumni Mixer.

Cunjiang Yu wins 2018 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award

Students at the UH Cullen College of Engineering aren't just expected to do well in their labs and classes -- engineering students are expected to work in their respective fields of study while pursuing their degrees in order to land their dream jobs after college. That's why the Cullen College's Career Center offers two Engineering Career Fairs each year, one in the spring and one in the fall, to connect students to the top employers around the country early on in their academic careers.

The UH Cullen College of Engineering held its fall convocation ceremony on Thursday, December 14, recognizing nearly 450 graduating students at the Bayou City Events Center. The ceremony featured a keynote address from UH alumna Cynthia Oliver Coleman (BSChE `71), who spent her 33-year career at Exxon Mobil holding various positions in gas engineering, reservoir engineering, engineering applications, engineering recruiting and engineering information systems.

In the United States, more than 6.5 million people live with varying stages of heart failure. About 4,000 of those suffer with hearts so compromised that a transplant is the only treatment current medicine can offer. Yet only about half that many transplant-suitable hearts become available each year.

Sana Krichen thinks often like a bat – and a shark, and a sea turtle, and several types of birds. For Krichen, who is a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering, understanding how certain animals can detect magnetic fields is a key part in determining how those species navigate their way as they fly through the world (or swim, crawl, run, or hop).