Civil engineering faculty J. Brian Anderson, associate professor of geotechnical engineering, and Jack Montgomery, assistant professor of geotechnical engineering, received a $180,240 grant from the Alabama Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration for their research on geosynthetic reinforced soil-integrated bridge systems.
Sanjeev Baskiyar and Alvin Lim, professors of computer science and software engineering, received a $291,590 grant from the NSF for their research on parallel and distributed computing.
Lauren Beckingham, assistant professor of environmental engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering, received a $125,000 grant from the Southern States Energy Board and the Department of Energy for her project to establish an early carbon dioxide storage complex in Kemper County, Mississippi.
Majid Beidaghi, assistant professor of materials engineering, was honored with a Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award, given annually by the Oak Ridge Associated Universities consortium.
David Bevly, the Bill and Lana McNair Professor of mechanical engineering, received a $162,500 grant from the National Advanced Mobility Consortium and the Army, a $275,000 grant from Parsons Government Services and the Missile Defense Agency and a $150,000 grant from Autonomous Solutions Inc. and the Army.
Sushil Bhavnani, the Henry M. Burt Professor of mechanical engineering and associate department chair, received a $159,993 NSF grant for his research on mobility of vapor bubbles in microgravity.
Pengyu Chen, assistant professor of materials engineering, received a $170,890 grant from the NSF for his research on plasmofluidic nanoattena-superlens biosensors.
James Cross, professor of computer science and software engineering, was named a 2017 distinguished member by the Association for Computing Machinery for his educational contributions to computing.
Gerry Dozier, the McCrary endowed chair in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, gave an invited talk at the 2017 Mid-South Cyber Security Summit.
Toshi Hirabayashi, assistant professor of aerospace engineering, was recognized by the International Astronomical Union with an asteroid named in his honor, 11471 Toshihirabayashi (19821 EH48).
Jeffrey LaMondia, associate professor of transportation engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering, received a $146,176 grant from the Alabama Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration for his research on pavement quality assurance.
Shiwen Mao, the Samuel Ginn professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of the Wireless Engineering Research and Education Center, received a $299,994 grant from the NSF for his research on RF sensing in the Internet of Things.
Carolina Rodezno, assistant research professor at the National Center for Asphalt Technology, received a $250,000 grant from NAS/DOT for her research on ignition furnace correction factors.
Nima Shamsaei and Scott Thompson, associate professors of mechanical engineering, received $105,682 from NASA to research fatigue behavior of additively manufactured components.
Tao Shu, assistant professor of computer science and software engineering, received a $120,000 NSF grant for his research on visible light communications.
Jakita Thomas, Philpott-WestPoint Stevens associate professor of computer science and software engineering, received $188,179 as part of her National Science Foundation CAREER Award to support algorithmic thinking capabilities in African-American middle school girls.
Nam Tran, associate research professor at the National Center for Asphalt Technology, received a $139,000 grant from the National Asphalt Pavement Association and the Federal Highway Administration for his research on enhanced durability of asphalt pavements.
Rod Turochy, the James M. Hunnicutt Associate Professor of traffic engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering, received the 2017 James M. Robbins National Excellence in Teaching Award from Chi Epsilon, the civil engineering honor society.
Randy West, director of the National Center for Asphalt Technology, received a $100,000 grant from NAS/DOT for his research on balanced asphalt mixed design.
PROMOTIONS
Sushil Adhikari, Alumni Associate Professor of biosystems engineering, has been promoted to full professor.
Maria Auad, associate professor of chemical engineering, has been promoted to full professor.
Sanjeev Baskiyar, associate professor of computer science and software engineering, has been promoted to full professor.
Roy Knight, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has been promoted to associate professor.
Brian Thurow, the W. Allen and Martha Reed Associate Professor of aerospace engineering and department chair, has been promoted to full professor.
Rod Turochy, the James M. Hunnicutt Associate Professor of Traffic Engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering, has been promoted to full professor.
