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</v:shape><![endif]--><![if !vml]><img width=120 height=150 src="cid:image003.jpg@01CCDB53.D74F03B0" align=right hspace=9 alt="http://egr.uh.edu/newsletter/deansmemo/images/tedesco.jpg" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_2"><![endif]><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Dear Cullen College Faculty and Staff,</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Welcome back to the start of the Spring semester! Though most of you have been back for several weeks, the start of a new semester is undoubtedly very busy. I hope that you enjoyed your holiday break.</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Here are a few announcements and updates that I'd like to share with you:</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><div align=center><table class=MsoNormalTable border=1 cellspacing=10 cellpadding=0 width=540 style='width:405.0pt;border:none;border-bottom:dotted #333333 1.0pt'><tr style='height:555.75pt'><td valign=top style='border:none;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;height:555.75pt'><p><strong><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>CAREER Awards:</span></strong><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'> </span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>I am thrilled to announce that three of our junior faculty have received 2012 NSF CAREER Awards. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Debora Rodrigues from civil and environmental engineering, Dr. Jiming Bao from electrical and computer engineering, and Dr. Gila Stein from chemical and biomolecular engineering, for these very prestigious honors!<br><br>Dr. Rodrigues’ award, worth up to $450,000 over five years, will allow her to study the environmental impact of nanoscale materials that utilize graphene. She will explore how the toxicity of graphene-based nanomaterials impacts bacteria that are essential to the treatment of wastewater. Dr. Rodrigues plans to work with samples taken from local wastewater treatment plants in order to learn how changes in real world factors, such as water chemistry and temperature, affect graphene’s interactions with these microorganisms. <br><br>Dr. Bao received $400,000 to explore the optical and electronic properties of graphene and graphene nanostructures. His particular focus will be on using these materials as optical waveguides for surface plasmon, which would allow them to serve as optical interconnects between electronic components for large-volume data transmission. </span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Dr. Stein received a grant worth up to $500,000 to characterize and improve polymer-based solar cells. She will use nanolithography to build model devices and then develop a system to study the effects of active layer structure on electronic function. These findings could lead to the creation of commercially viable products.</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span class=style11><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>New Faculty: </span></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>This spring, the Cullen College welcomes two new faculty members. Please join me in welcoming Professors Philippe Masson and Saurabh Prasad to UH!<br><br><strong><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a href="mailto:pjmasson@uh.edu">Assistant Professor Philippe Masson</a></span></strong> joined our Department of Mechanical Engineering from the Advanced Magnet Lab in Palm Bay, Florida, where he worked as a senior scientist developing high-power electric motors and superconducting generators. He holds a Ph.D., a D.E.A.-P.R.O.T.E.E. (advanced research degree), an M.S. and B.S. in electrical engineering from the University Henri Poincaré in France. His research interests include design and optimization of superconducting systems, characterization and modeling of superconducting material, multiphysics FEA simulations, and systems dynamics analysis and optimization.<br><a href="http://bme.uh.edu/faculty/gifford/main"><br></a><strong><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a href="mailto:sprasad2@uh.edu">Research Professor Saurabh Prasad</a></span></strong> joined our Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from Mississippi State University, where he served as an assistant research professor. He received a Ph.D. from Mississippi State in 2008 and an M.S. from Old Dominion University in 2005, both in electrical and computer engineering. He also earned a bachelor's of technology degree in electrical engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, India in 2003. His research interests include statistical learning, pattern classification, adaptive signal processing, hyperspectral image analysis and remote sensing. He will be working with the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) and will begin a tenured-track appointment as an assistant professor in the department this fall.</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Upcoming Events:</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><div align=center><table class=MsoNormalTable border=1 cellspacing=10 cellpadding=0 width=540 style='width:405.0pt;border:none;border-bottom:dotted #333333 1.0pt'><tr><td width="50%" valign=top style='width:50.0%;border:none;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>EAA EWeek Reception & Program</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'><br>February 21, 2012 <br>Hilton University of Houston <br><a href="http://egr.uh.edu/alumni/events/eweek">More information</a></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Amundson Lecture</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'><br>February 24, 2012, 3 p.m.<br>Hilton University of Houston </span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>UH Engineering Golf Tournament</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'><br>April 9, 2012<br>Sienna Plantation Golf Club<br><a href="http://www.egr.uh.edu/alumni/events/?e=golf">More information</a></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>ASME/UH Cajun Crawfish Boil</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'><br>April 29, 2012<br>Lynn Eusan Park<br><a href="http://egr.uh.edu/alumni/events/?e=crawfishboil">More information</a></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p></td><td width="50%" valign=top style='width:50.0%;border:none;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>UH ChE 60th Anniversary Gala</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'><br>May 5, 2012<br>Hofheinz Pavilion<br><a href="http://chbe.egr.uh.edu/calendar/0512/60th-anniversary-chemical-engineering-gala">More information</a></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Engineering Commencement</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'><br>May 11, 2012<br>Hofheinz Pavilion<br><a href="http://egr.uh.edu/students/current/?e=commencement">More information</a></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Engineering Awards Gala</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'><br>June 1, 2012<br>Four Seasons, Houston <br><a href="http://egr.uh.edu/eaa/activities/?e=gala">More information</a></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><p><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Thank you, as always, for your continued dedication and support.</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><img border=0 width=251 height=71 id="_x0000_i1026" src="cid:image004.png@01CCDB53.D74F03B0" alt="http://egr.uh.edu/newsletter/deansmemo/images/Tedesco_Signature.gif"></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-line-height-alt:0pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Joe Tedesco</span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'> </span><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=30 valign=top style='width:22.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-line-height-alt:0pt'> <o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><hr size=1 width="98%" noshade style='color:gray' align=center></div></td></tr><tr><td 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