Sabit Adanur, faculty member in polymer and fiber engineering, recently gave the commencement speech at Marmara University’s College of Engineering graduation ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey. He was invited to speak by M. Zafer Gul, the university’s president. With a student population of 60,000 and 3,000 faculty members, Marmara is one of the largest universities in Turkey.
Maria Auad, assistant professor in polymer and fiber engineering, has been awarded a five-year, $350,000 National Science Foundation grant to develop a center for biorenewable nanobiomaterials research, exploring the synthesis and performance of nanobiocomposites, an alternative to non-biodegradable synthetics. The collaborative center includes researchers from Auburn, Tuskegee University, Cornell University and the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
Sushil Bhavnani, faculty member in mechanical engineering, doctoral candidate Naveenan Thiagarajan and undergraduate student Travis Wheeler were chosen to fly on NASA’s Zero-G reduced gravity aircraft, affectionately known as the “Vomit Comet.” The team’s project, “Fluid Lateral Motion using Surface Microstructures-Channel Flow from a Large Array,” was selected for the flight to study the effects of microgravity on boiling. The flight took off from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in May.
J T. Black, professor emeritus in Auburn University’s Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, has edited the 11th edition of DeGarmo’s Materials and Processes in Manufacturing, the leading textbook on manufacturing processes. The book was originally published in 1957 by E. Paul DeGarmo.
Prabhakar Clement, Arthur H. Feagin professor in civil engineering, has been invited to serve as associate editor of Water Resource Research, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. Clement’s research includes analysis of flow and reactive transport in groundwater systems, laboratory-scale visualization of porous media flow and metal transport in groundwater. He is also a principal investigator for a study on Alabama beaches that have been impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in June 2010.
Virginia Davis, Mary and John H. Sanders associate professor in chemcial engineering, has received the Women of Distinction Leadership Award from the Auburn Women’s Resource Center, a division of the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, for demonstrating exemplary leadership abilities. Davis was recognized at the Women’s Leadership Conference on Feb. 24 at the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center.
Bill Goodwin has been named director of the college’s Nuclear Power Generation Systems program. He joined the college in January to help promote the program’s career opportunities and 17-hour minor, as well as co-ops, internships and scholarships. He also teaches the minor’s introductory course in nuclear power operations. Goodwin retired from the U.S. Navy after 35 years of service.
Ram Gupta, Walt and Virginia Woltosz professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, has been named program director for the National Science Foundation’s Energy for Sustainability program, which supports research and education for the sustainable production of electricity and sustainable transportation fuels, such as biomass conversion, biofuels and bioenergy.
Pradeep Lall, Thomas Walter Professor in mechanical engineering, has been named a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for his contributions to reliability prediction for electronic packaging. Lall’s research includes failure mechanism models and prognostication health management techniques. He has identified leading indicators of failure for electronic equipment that have enabled safe repair and replacement of damaged modules.
Drew Hamilton, Kai Chang and Eric Imsand, faculty members in computer science and software engineering, have been awarded a four-year National Science Foundation grant of more than $1.3 million for their Scholarship for Service program (SFS), which offers students the opportunity to conduct research in information assurance. Auburn is a National Security Agency Center of Academic Excellence in information assurance education and research. The university’s outreach activities in Huntsville and Montgomery allow SFS scholarship recipients opportunities to work with federal agencies and complete federally recognized certificate programs.
Daniela Marghitu, faculty member in computer science and software engineering, has received Auburn’s Campus Community Enhancing Student Success award for providing outstanding service and accommodations to students with disabilities. Marghitu directs the college’s K-12 Robo Camp, Computer Literacy Academy and robotics and game development outreach programs. In addition to encouraging girls to participate in engineering, Marghitu also strives to make all programs accessible to children with disabilities.
Victor Nelson, faculty member in electrical and computer engineering, was selected as a commission member of the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET). He will serve as team chair during the 2012-13 ABET visit cycle. Nelson has served as an ABET program evaluator since 2002. An Auburn faculty member since 1978, he serves as assistant department head in electrical and computer engineering, as well as director of the department’s wireless engineering undergraduate program and committee chair of the department’s executive committee.
P.K. Raju, Thomas Walter professor in mechanical engineering, and Chetan Sankar, Advisory Council professor in the College of Business, have led Auburn’s Laboratory for Innovative Technology and Engineering Education (LITEE) to be selected by the National Academy of Engineering to appear in its Real World Engineering Education publication. LITEE was one of 29 programs selected from more than 95 nominations for being an exemplary program that infuses real-world experiences into engineering undergraduate education. The program brings real-world issues into engineering classrooms through multimedia case studies and hands-on projects in order to provide students opportunities to solve practical problems.
Chris Roberts, department chair and Uthlaut professor in chemical engineering, has been awarded the Southeastern Conference faculty achievement award. The award honors professors from SEC universities with outstanding records in teaching and scholarship who serve as role models for other faculty and students. In presenting the awards, the SEC becomes the only Division I conference within the National Collegiate Athletic Association currently recognizing university faculty for their achievements unrelated to athletics or student-athletes.
Alice Smith, faculty member in industrial and systems engineering, has received the Albert G. Holzman Distinguished Educator Award from the Institute of Industrial Engineers, Smith is the first woman and first Auburn faculty member to receive the award. Smith was also recently selected by the J. William Fulbright scholarship board as a candidate for the organization’s specialist roster, which sends U.S. faculty overseas for two to six weeks to serve as expert consultants on curriculum, faculty development and institutional planning.
Brian Thurow, W. Allen and Martha Reed associate professor in aerospace engineering, has been featured by Vision Systems Design, which highlighted his work with next generation nonintrusive laser diagnostics for 2-D and 3-D flow measurements and pulse-burst laser systems capable of repetition rates greater than 1 megahurtz.
Xinyu Zhang, assistant professor in polymer and fiber engineering, has published a paper in Chemical Communications discussing a one-pot solution reduction synthesis approach to produce advanced metal-polymer core-shell structures, such as polypyrrole coated copper nanowire, which is used to fabricate next generation, high-performance electronics, nano devices and chemical sensors.
