[CCoE Notice] September Update

Tue Sep 6 14:23:57 CDT 2011

To view online, visit http://egr.uh.edu/newsletter/deansmemo/0911.html

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http://egr.uh.edu/newsletter/deansmemo/images/tedesco.jpgDear Cullen College
Faculty and Staff,

As we kickoff a new academic year, I am excited to share with you the
unprecedented growth that our college has experienced over the last four
years. Our enrollment has grown 38 percent, with our incoming freshman class
at more than 600 students this semester; our research expenditures have
doubled; our faculty has grown in size from 87 to 105 and we've added four
members of the National Academy of Engineering; and financial support from
our alumni and from industry has nearly quadrupled. 

With the addition of several new academic programs, including our Honors
Engineering Program and our new Pre-Engineering Program, we are most
certainly experiencing Tier One growth-I expect these trends to continue in
this direction as we move our engineering program into national prominence.
Thank you for your hard work and dedication in helping UH become Tier One!

Here are a few announcements and updates that I'd like to share with you:

ABET: Preparations have been underway for next week's ABET visit for the
re-accreditation of our undergraduate programs in chemical, civil, computer,
electrical, industrial and mechanical engineering. Thanks to all the faculty
and staff who have worked to ensure the re-accreditation of our programs.

Pre-Engineering Program: As I mentioned above, the college has just launched
a Pre-Engineering Program, which is expected to be in full swing in fall
2012. The program offers a temporary major for UH engineering student
prospects, giving students a chance to meet our rising entrance
requirements. It also allows the college to better predict the success and
retention of these students.

New Faculty: This semester, nine tenured-track faculty joined the Cullen
College. Join me in welcoming all new Cullen College faculty and staff,
along with these professors:

Ashutosh Agrawal, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Ravi Birla, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
William Epling, Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Bora Gencturk, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Lars Grabow, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Hyongki Lee, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
John Lee, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished University Chair;
Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Professor of
Petroleum Engineering
Mo Li, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Kalyana Nakshatrala, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental
Engineering

Retirements: Just over a week ago, the ECE department held a symposium in
honor of Dr. Leang Shieh, longtime professor of the department who is
retiring. A winner of every major college award, Leang has most certainly
helped strengthen our electrical and computer engineering academic programs
as well as our research programs through his work in controls over the last
forty years. He is an alumnus of the college and we couldn't be more proud
of his achievements here at the University of Houston. Please join me in
congratulating him for a job well done.

Recent Media Coverage: Our Department of Chemical and Biomolecular
Engineering was recently highlighted as one of the top engineering R&D
spenders in the nation in the Houston Business Journal
<http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2011/08/uh-rice-among-top-e
ngineering-rd.html?s=print> . ChBE was ranked 17th for research expenditures
in 2009. In addition, Drs. Ramanan Krishnamoorti and Mike Harold documented
the department's history in an article
<http://www.chee.uh.edu/sites/chbe.egr.uh.edu/files/files/ChE.pdf>
published in Chemical Engineering Education. Our new petroleum engineering
professor, Dr. John Lee, was featured by the Bauer Business Focus
<http://app1.kuhf.org/articles/1313716078-Bauer-Business-Focus-John-Lee.html
> , while Drs. Tom Holley
<http://www.bisnow.com/energy_news_story.php?p=16866>  and Matt Franchek
<http://www.bisnow.com/energy_news_story.php?p=17336>  were featured by
Houston's Energy Bisnow about their respective programs in petroleum and
subsea engineering.

Subsea Engineering Support: We recently received a $50,000 gift from KBR in
support of our new Subsea Engineering Program. We are incredibly excited to
see the widespread interest and support that exists for this program.

ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Grant: Efforts are ongoing for a
university-wide effort, led by the Cullen College, to obtain a National
Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Grant. The purpose
of the funding is to increase participation and advancement of women in
academic science and engineering careers.

Y Building: The first phase of the Y Building demolition is expected to
start late this fall. The facility is closed and the abatement process will
begin this November.

NSF Engineering Research Center: The Cullen College is leading a
multi-institutional effort to establish a National Science Foundation
Engineering Research Center. The proposed center, NESTOR, will conduct
transformative research to enhance the fundamental advances in nanosciences
to design systems for large scale energy storage. Drs. Venkat Selvamanickam
and Pradeep Sharma are leading the effort for UH; partnering institutions
include UT Pan-American, Texas A&M University, UT-Austin, Rice, KTH in
Sweden, Tsinghua University in China and the Indian Institute of Science in
India.

Thank you, as always, for your continued dedication and support!

Warm regards,

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Joe Tedesco 

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