New Multi-State Institute Focuses on Reducing Damage from Severe Storms

A new multi-institution research center will focus on helping the Gulf coast do better at preparing for and mitigating the damage and loss of lives from hurricanes and other severe storms.

In the days after Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas Gulf Coast, thousands of evacuated families returned to their homes to survey the flood damage and begin the long road to repairs.

But the dream to rebuild isn’t a realistic one for many families in riverfront neighborhoods east of Houston, where industrial waste from the notorious San Jacinto Waste pits, a Superfund site, may possibly have contaminated the land.

Each spring, the University of Houston recognizes exceptional faculty member across the university at the annual UH Faculty Excellence Awards Ceremony. This year, nine Cullen College of Engineering faculty members were honored for their great strides in teaching and research excellence.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Hanadi Rifai has been named the Environmental Professional of the Year by the Texas Association of Environmental Professionals (TAEP).

Continuing its commitment to education at the University of Houston, ConocoPhillips is donating $1 million to UH’s growing Energy Research Park (ERP) and $125,000 to various engineering, science and business programs.

Research grant and contract expenditures by University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering faculty totaled more than $21.8 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.

Hanadi Rifai hopes to leave behind some of the discomforts area residents experienced last year after Hurricane Ike should another big storm pass through Houston.

To help facilitate a transition into the era of nanoscale-integrated systems, professors at the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering are developing a nanoengineering (NEMO) minor option.

The minor is slated to be a choice at the college as early as fall 2009, upon approval by the university's provost office.

Receipt of a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation last month is expected to fund the cost associated with the start of the program.

Five UH Cullen College of Engineering students were recently each awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the National Association of Energy Engineers Foundation to be used for courses directly related to energy engineering or energy management.