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Department News
UNT Signs Texas ME Transfer Compact
On October 22 and 23, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board sponsored a reception and breakfast in Arlington, TX to "kickoff" the Mechanical Engineering Transfer Compact. This voluntary Compact among signatory institutions within the State of Texas is intended to increase the number and preparedness of students matriculating from two-year community colleges into baccalaureate programs in mechanical engineering at four-year universities. Dr. Reza Mirshams, who attended the kickoff, served on the Mechanical Engineering Articulated Transfer Curriculum Committee, which developed the language of the Compact. At the kickoff, Dean Costas Tsatsoulis represented the UNT College of Engineering while Dr. Matthew J. Traum represented the Mechanical and Energy Engineering Department. Dr. Kuruvilla John, CENG new Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, joins MEE Dr. Kuruvilla John joined UNT’s College of Engineering as the new Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies. Prior to coming to UNT, Dr. John served as the Interim Dean of the Frank H. Dotterweich College of Engineering at Texas A&M University – Kingsville. He is joining the college’s leadership team under the guidance of Dean Costas Tsatsoulis and he will primarily be responsible for strategic growth in externally sponsored research and graduate student enrollment within each of the departments. In this capacity, he will work closely with faculty, as well as with the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies and the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, to develop new graduate programs and secure additional external research funding streams. Dr. John will hold an academic appointment as a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering. He obtained his B. Tech degree in Chemical engineering from Anna University in India in 1986. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees also in chemical engineering from the University of Iowa in 1989 and 1996, respectively. He worked as a visiting scientist at IBM’s Bergen Scientific Centre in Norway and as a research associate with the State University of New York at Albany prior to moving to Texas in 1995. Dr. John started his academic career at Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK). Recently, as the interim dean of the college of engineering, he was responsible for significant growth in both undergraduate and graduate student enrollment as well as in research. He was involved in the development of a doctoral program in environmental engineering. Under his leadership, the department of environmental engineering recruited highly accomplished faculty and students and very recently the graduate program was ranked in the top 50 as per US News and World Report. He mentored several junior faculty while at TAMUK and three faculty members in his department received the prestigious NSF-CAREER award. Dr. John was responsible in securing over 30 externally sponsored research contracts, grants and projects worth over $18 million since 1996. He served as the principal investigator and project director of a National Science Foundation funded center for research excellence in science and technology. The multi-disciplinary collaborative center was focused on coastal environmental sustainability and it was funded at $ 1 million per year. His research interests are in the area of air pollution and air quality modeling and monitoring. He has supervised over 40 MS students and 3 PhD students at TAMUK. He has published quite extensively and very recently co-edited a book titled “The Changing Climate of South Texas 1900-2100: Problems and Prospects, Impacts and Implications”. For more information on Dr. John, please visit his website. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Mexico (UAEM) visits MEE On August 27 the MEE department received a visiting delegation from Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Mexico (UAEM) with which UNT has had a sustained academic agreement during several years. UAEM has a fully staffed liaison office in the UNT Denton campus (http://www.uaemex-unt.org/). The delegation was composed of Dr Sergio Franco-Maass, Vice President for Research and Advanced Studies, and Dr. Maria Esther Morales-Fajardo, Director for International Cooperation. They were escorted by Fernando Guzman, of the liaison office. Two UAEM students (Angel Bravo-Salgado and Iris Gomez-Lopez) currently conducting PhD studies in the UNT’s computer science program also attended and contributed to the meeting. MEE students Davis, Fallwell, Farris, and Day explained the research posters they had previously presented at University Scholars Day. All MEE faculty presented a brief overview of their research. An interesting exchange of ideas between the UAEM visitors and MEE and faculty followed. Major results of the visit are: 1) MEE is interested in potential Masters students from UAEM and the department has available teaching assistantships to support these students, assuming approval of TOEFL and GRE. 2) Dr. Franco-Maass informed about interests in joint research projects, and will send information on potential peers to MEE faculty. He also informed about summer internships for UAEM students at UNT, and the forthcoming visit of Dean C. Tsatsoulis to UAEM. Dr. Franco-Maas will be glad to receive the visit of a representative of MEE as part of the UNT CENG’s delegation. Hongbing Lu appointed PACCAR Professor Dr. Hongbing Lu has been appointed PACCAR Professor in the MEE department as of August 1. Dr. Lu was previously at the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Oklahoma State University, where he received several awards including NSF Career Award, and Regents Distinguished Research Award. He obtained his Ph.D. in Aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology. He brings to UNT considerable expertise in fracture and fatigue, thermo-mechanical behavior of polymers, mechanics of polymer crosslinked aerogels, and nanomechanics. He brings a substantial amount of grants. One research scientist and four graduate students are joining him to develop the PACCAR Technology Institute research. He will be establishing collaborations with Materials Science and Engineering as well as Engineering Technology programs. Miguel F. Acevedo appointed interim chair of MEE Miguel Acevedo, Regents Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, has been named interim chair of the MEE department as of August 1. Acevedo looks forward to guide the department while a national search is conducted for a permanent chair. Acevedo said that he is honored by this appointment "I am willing to work hard to help develop the department in this stage of phenomenal growth. MEE has great potential and deserves all the energy we can all invest to make it a success." He replaces Dr. Nourredine Boubekri, chair of the ETEC department, who led the MEE department for two years as interim chair. Dr. Boubekri provided this service to the College while serving as permanent chair of ETEC. UNT is indebted to Dr. Boubekri for his dedication. Acevedo has been at UNT since 1992 and has extensive experience of the institution. Until 2007, when he came to the College of Engineering, he was a faculty member in the Department of Geography and worked in the graduate program in environmental sciences. His area of research is environmental modeling and monitoring. Together with colleagues in electrical engineering, computer sciences, and environmental science he has been developing the Texas Environmental Observatory (http://www.teo.unt.edu). "The College and I are deeply indebted to Dr. Acevedo for his dedication to the faculty of MEE, and for his willingness to undertake this important task," announced Dean Costas Tsatsoulis. Ali Mohiti Asli Becomes the First MEE Student to Complete all M.S. Requirements
Murielle Dugay Successfully Defends the First MEE Master's Thesis Murielle Dugay successfully defended her thesis. She will officially graduate at UNT's December 2008 commencement. Egyptian Scholar Visits MEE Department to Participate in Research
Dr. Traum has been elected to Sigma Gamma Tau
Dr. Traum received the SASI Fellowship
Dr. Traum Elevated to Full Member Status in Sigma Xi
Mechanical and Energy Engineering Department Welcomes New Faculty Member from MIT
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University of North Texas | College of Engineering | Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering
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