July 15, 2008.

The University of North Texas (UNT) College of Engineering announces a nationwide search to recruit a Department Chair for its Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering (MEE).

For more information, check the announcement posted on MEE website or Academickeys.com .

July 1, 2008.
Dr. Walid Aissa, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Power at the High Institute of Energy in Aswan, Egypt, will be visiting the MEE Department for several months to work with Drs. Boetcher and Traum and their students on joint thermal fluid science and energy research efforts. Dr. Aissa won a prestigious Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Missions Department of the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education, which will support his visit to UNT

May 13, 2008.
Dr. Matthew J. Traum has been elected to Sigma Gamma Tau, the honor society for aerospace engineering. He will initiate in June. According to the society¢s constitution, Sigma Gamma Tau¢s purpose is to "recognize and honor those individuals in the field of aeronautics and astronautics who have, through scholarship, integrity, and outstanding achievement, been a credit to their profession." Dr. Traum was elected to membership by the Sigma Gamma Tau chapter at UC Irvine, where he completed his B.S. in aerospace engineering.

April 23, 2008.
Dr. Matthew J. Traum has been named a Transformative Instruction Fellow within UNT's multi-part Student Academic Success Initiative (SASI) for transforming undergraduate education. One of only 20 faculty to receive the SASI Fellowship, Dr. Traum will develop a hands-on design-and-build project to serve as the core component of his Department's MEEN 1110 "Mechanical and Energy Engineering Practice I" course.

Dean Garcia has appointed Dr. Nourredine Boubekri to be the new interim chair for the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering.
Dr. Boubekri, who joined UNT in 2006, is also the chairman of the Engineering Technology Department.

In November, Dr. Matthew J. Traum was elevated from Associate Member to Full Member within Sigma Xi, the National Scientific Research Society. Sigma Xi was founded to honor excellence in scientific investigation and encourage cooperation among researchers in all fields of science and engineering. Membership in Sigma Xi is by invitation only, and full membership is conferred only upon those who have demonstrated noteworthy achievements in research.

The College of Engineering School has appointed Dr. Ruthanne Thomas, an experienced outgoing Chair of Chemistry, to assist us working as Interim Chair. The Interim appointment is effective August 13 and will last until we recruit a permanent Chair.

Dr. Matthew J. Traum, formerly of the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), arrived in Denton, TX on June 29, 2007 to begin his duties as a new UNT professor. Drawing upon his background in thermal fluid sciences, energy, aerospace, and nanotechnology, Dr. Traum has established his research laboratory, the Thermal Fluid Sciences (TFS) Group @ UNT, within the Mechanical and Energy Engineering Department. Initial research within the TFS Group @ UNT will include studies of evaporative cooling using nano-pores.