Aerodynamic: Aerospace Engineering Grad Student Researches at NASA

This summer marks the beginning of a new chapter for Priyanka Cholleti, a graduate student in the University of Houston aerospace engineering program. She will soon receive a master of science in aerospace engineering, but before that happens, she must complete her internship at NASA Johnson Space Center. She is in no hurry to leave. Working at NASA is, for Cholleti, more than just an internship. It’s the realization of a lifelong goal. “Ever since I was young, I wanted to be an astronaut,” Cholleti said. Read More

News

Professor Wins NIH Award for Incontinence Research
One of the newest faculty members with the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering has won a major grant to help develop new diagnostic tools for female incontinence by using his patient-specific modeling and non-invasive electrical source imaging techniques. Yingchun Zhang, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering who joined the college last fall, received a three-year grant worth nearly $690,000 from the National Institutes of Health to study the condition. He won the funding through the Pathway to Independence program, which is designed to help young investigators launch long-term successful research careers and is considered one of the most prestigious funding vehicles at the NIH. Read More

Professors’ NSF Grant To Develop Advanced Adhesives for Composites
Typically, objects made of polymer composites contain multiple components that are held together with polymer-based adhesives. But often the properties of these adhesives fall short, leading to failure at the connection between the components. While it's obvious that better polymer-based adhesives are needed, creating them is a challenge. Often steps taken to increase the strength and stiffness of the polymer also result in decreased ductility and toughness (essentially the ability to absorb energy without breaking). Megan Robertson and Mina Dawood, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and civil and environmental engineering, respectively, have recently received a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop new polymers for adhesives that do not make such a tradeoff. Read More

'There are no textbooks': Cullen College's Subsea Engineering Program Featured in DecomWorld
As the director of the nation's first-ever subsea engineering graduate program at the UH Cullen College of Engineering, Matthew Franchek is a key figure behind the new Global Subsea University Alliance. Franchek, a professor of mechanical engineering at the Cullen College, spoke with DecomWorld about the efforts underway at the Cullen College to establish standardized curricula for the subsea engineering field so that both students and employers know what they’re getting from a subsea engineering degree, and how this new field of knowledge is racing to meet the challenges presented by deep water hydrocarbon production. Read More

New UH STEM Center for Professional Learning Takes Aim at State, National Crisis
That U.S. students are falling behind their international counterparts in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is not new. A University of Houston center that takes aim at improving STEM teacher content knowledge and teaching strategies is. The UH Center for STEM Teacher Professional Learning provides faculty-led professional development to STEM teachers from kindergarten through 12th grade. UH was one of three universities selected by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to establish such a center with a two-year, $400,000 grant. Read More

Inaugural UH-TMHRI Graduate Scholar Selected
The first recipient of the joint University of Houston/The Methodist Hospital Research Institute (TMHRI) Graduate Fellowship in Clinical Translation has been selected. Kevin Nathan (MSEE), a researcher in the UH department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will work with professor Jose Contreras-Vidal of UH and Robert Grossman, M.D. of TMHRI on a project titled A Noninvasive Brain-Machine Interface to a Lower-Body Robotic Exoskeleton for Restoration of Gait. Read More

Meet Cullen College Alumna Tracy Ngu, Process Engineer at Technip USA
Tracy Ngu graduated with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the UH Cullen College of Engineering in May 2012. She now works as a process engineer at Technip USA here in Houston. While at the Cullen College, Tracy was an active member of the PROMES (Program for Mastery in Engineering Studies) Program, which offers specialized curricula that emphasizes academic success strategies and personal and professional skills development. Read More