Leang Shieh has had a busy 40 years. Just look at the numbers. A professor in the Cullen College’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, over that period he has advised more than 100 graduate students and published 301 papers and counting — an average of roughly one every six weeks for four decades.
With that track record, it’s no surprise that Shieh’s colleagues wanted to do something special in honor his of retirement at the end of last month.
“Dr. Shieh has been extremely active in research and had a huge number of graduate students,” said Stuart Long, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and colleague of Shieh’s for the past 37 years. “For a retirement party instead of just having the usual farewell luncheon we thought it would be more fitting to have a mini symposium.”
So on Friday, August 26, dozens of Shieh’s colleagues, graduate students, friends and family members gathered at the University of Houston to celebrate his career.
The event kicked off with research presentations by six of Shieh’s current and former graduate students, all focusing on his field of controls.
Following the presentations and lunch, nearly a dozen people spoke on Shieh’s life and career highlights, such as his design of the controls for the International Space Station’s navigation system and weapons systems for the Apache helicopter. Among the speakers were Shieh’s son; Badrinath Roysam, chair of the electrical and computer engineering department; and Joseph W. Tedesco, Elizabeth D. Rockwell Dean and Professor of the Cullen College.
Noting that Shieh received both his master’s and Ph.D. from the Cullen College before joining its faculty in 1970, Tedesco highlighted Shieh’s many honors and achievements.
“A recipient of every major college award for teaching and research, Dr. Shieh has been outwardly recognized by this university and universities abroad for his academic achievements, for his outstanding teaching and for his prolific body of research in controls, documented by more than 300 peer-reviewed journal articles,” said Tedesco. “He represents what UH is all about. He is a product of this great program and his longstanding contributions have undoubtedly helped UH Electrical and Computer Engineering stay strong throughout the years.”
After such a productive career, no one would fault Shieh if he decided to take it easy in retirement. That’s just not in his nature, though. Working is. So even after he officially retires, Shieh will carry on his research — he’s currently collaborating with colleagues on a new grant proposal — and will continue serving as advisor to two master’s students and one Ph.D. student . “When you’re retired you still have to find something to do,” he said. “I still can do it, so why not?”