Annualreport2013final by UNT Engineering

ANNUAL REPORT 2013

A DECADE OF GROWTH

A Decade of Growth 2004

3000

2500

2000

2007

2010

YEARLY ENROLLMENT Growing our College starts with attracting the best students: since its opening, the College of Engineering has more than doubled its total enrollment in ten years.

2013 3008

2637

166% 1996

1932

1844

1730

total students

1593

1500 1402 1278

1000

1135

HIGH PERFORMING FACULTY Competitive Research Awards & Expenditures

(per tenure/tenure track)

2013 ENROLLMENT BREAKDOWN 3008 STUDENTS

$120k

148

$90k

469

$60k

321

2539

$30k

2008

2009

2010

2011

awards

2012

2013

expenditures

Publications (per faculty member)

graduate

doctorate

undergraduate

masters

Faculty Count

7.6 76

6. 1 59

4. 8 4. 3

2007

2009

2011

2013

2004

UNT College of Engineering | Annual Report 2013

2007

2010

2013

Message from the Dean These past 10 years has seen tremendous growth not only in enrollments and faculty, but also in our research areas in our ability to reach the community at large. This annual report takes a closer look at some of the outreach activities by the College of Engineering and its departments, as we work to increase our engagement with the community and to improve UNT’s visibility. You can find stories about our CSE faculty organizing together with Collin College a workshop on cloud security issues; hosting once again the regional National American Computational Linguistics competition where 40 high school students participated; and continuing to organize a number of summer camps. Speaking of camps, MTSE organized its third summer materials camp, which was again very well attended. You will also read how EE faculty, though a grant by the National Science Foundation, are instructing high school science teachers on how to include engineering concepts, projects, and experiments in their classrooms. When reading about our ETEC department you will learn about the International Competition on Cold-Formed Steel Design, which was first organized by Dr. Cheng Yu. UNT Engineering also led “A Night at the Museum” in June, where Engineering faculty and students, as well as faculty from Psychology, Biology, and a number of other disciplines, exhibited their work at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in downtown Dallas for around 1,500 visitors. These and other outreach events raise the visibility of UNT and the Engineering College across the North Texas region as well as nationally, and add value to our degrees. We will continue to pursue more of these types of engagement opportunities, and we plan to strengthen our summer camp offerings to help young minds start thinking like engineers, technologists, and computer scientists, and hopefully choose an academic career in STEM. In closing, your UNT Engineering College hopes you come along for the ride for the next 10 exciting years.

THE COLLEGE

Dr. Costas Tsatsoulis, Dean College of Engineering

DEPARTMENTS

a decade of growth

computer science

message from the dean

electrical engineering

students

engineering technology

new faculty

materials science and engineering

research

mechanical & energy engineering

alumni

sponsors

Contributors design

WILLIAM SNYDER

text

ANGELA NELSON

photos

ANGELA NELSON WILLIAM SNYDER

engineering.unt.edu/annual-report

Students

College of Engineering students culminate their undergraduate engineering education with a two-semester capstone, senior design project. The capstone projects not only provide invaluable practical technical experience, but the course also enables students to hone their communication skills by requiring them to make poster presentations and oral presentations during Design Day, an event attended by an audience of their peers, industry representatives and faculty. More than 35 teams of students participated in the 2013 Design Day, and the Discovery Park commons was filled with posters and projects of various sizes including a filtration system and solar power system. One project, which focused on Dentonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new animal shelter, received media coverage in a local paper. The senior design course sequence also gives the students hands-on experience in working with industry. For example, one of the 2013 teams under the guidance of Dr. Tae-Youl Choi, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, and with financial support by Frito-Lay built a prototype biodiesel processor. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The biodiesel team has worked so hard to deliver the final product. I am sure they learned a lot from designing, manufacturing, and planning,â&#x20AC;? Choi said.

UNT College of Engineering | Annual Report 2013

“Design Day is a big occasion for us – a celebration of our students’ engineering skills and ingenuity.”

- Vijay Vaidyanathan

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies

OPPORTUNITES FOR CURRENT, FUTURE STUDENTS

GROUP RECOGNITION The university Chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE UNT), was named “Outstanding Small Chapter of the Year” for the growing chapter’s goals and activities. SHPE UNT is a group of Latino engineering students who want to empower the Hispanic community through STEM awareness, support and development. Since becoming an officially recognized chapter on Jan. 18, 2011, SHPE UNT has grown to 28 members and counting. BUG WARS Bug Wars is a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site that is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and run by Dr. Renee Bryce, associate professor of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. This program provides undergraduate students with a research experience and prepares them for graduate programs. No prior research experience is required. The 2013 group of students spent the summer working on projects that exposed them to research on software testing and AI planning through both competition and collaboration.

INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES The College is building on several initiatives to attract high quality students to the campus. The College offers research opportunities to students from Thailand through a spring program that includes an internship in labs of UNT engineering faculty. In Spring 2013, seven students from Chulalongkorn University and Mahidol University visited, working with UNT faculty members and research groups. Another initiative resulted after representatives from a Thailand university visited the College. In June 2013, an engineering-focused delegation from Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand, took a tour of the university and discussed the possibility of a dual undergraduate degree in Engineering. An agreement was reached to pursue 2+2 undergraduate programs in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, starting with Thammasat’s freshman class of 2014. The model will be a transfer program agreement. Upon successful completion of two years at Thammasat, the first group of Thammasat students will join UNT in the Fall of 2016.

engineering.unt.edu/annual-report

new faculty

Samir Aouadi Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering Ph.D.: Physics, University of British Columbia (Canada), 1995

various projects for the U.S. military, government agencies and defense contractors, mainly for the cooling of high power lasers and electronics onboard military tactical platforms and hybrid electric vehicles.

social network analysis, probabilistic graphical models, recommender systems, and bioinformatics. Her research applies machine learning techniques to text classification in large library databases, sequence analysis in bioinformatics, and emergency response management in disasters.

Expertise: adaptive coatings for high temperature tribology, surface Renee Bryce modification for coronary-stents Associate Professor, Computer Science and other biomedical applications, and Engineering 1-D and 2-D nanostructures for next College of Engineering students culminate their undergraduate engineering education with a two-semester capstone, Wonbong Choi Ph.D.: Computer Science, Arizona generation photocatalytic, solar cell, Professor, Materials Science and State University, 2006 invaluable practical technical experience, but the course and electronic devices, and senior design project. The synthesis capstone projects not only provide Engineering Expertise: software engineering, techniques such as sputtering, e-beam Ph.D.: Material Science & software testing, of to make poster presentations and oral evaporation, layer to deposition. also enablesatomic students hone their communication skills byapplications requiring them Engineering, North Carolina State combinatorial designs to software He has been a principal investigator University, 1997 software suite prioritization, presentations during Design Day, an eventtesting, attended by antest audience of their peers, industry representatives and faculty. or co-principal investigator on grants Expertise: synthesis of nano and web applications testing. totaling more than $1.8 million from materials, development of filled high More agencies than 35 teams students participated the 2013 Day, and commons was Herinresearch hasDesign been funded by the Discovery Park such as theofDepartment efficiency energy conversion and the National Science Foundation, the of Defense, the National Institutes storages on nanomaterials, with posters and projects of various sizes National from a filtration biodiesel and based solar power system. One Institute system, of Standards andfuel system, of Health and the National Science nano-bio sensors, nanoelectronics, Technology, USDA (Forest Service), and Foundation. project, which focused on Dentonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new animal shelter, received coverage inand a local paper.fabrication process. He nanoscale the Computing Research media Association invented the carbon nanotube field (CRA-W) Collaborative Research Huseyin The seniorBostanci design course sequence also gives the students hands-on experience in working with industry. emission display, whichFor wasexample, featured Experience for Undergraduates (CREU). Assistant Professor, Engineering in Science magazine. He also helped this year a seniors underTechnology the guidance of Dr. Tae-Youl Choi and with financial support by Frito-Lay built a prototype develop the single molecular DNACornelia Caragea Ph.D.: Mechanical Engineering, sensor, high efficiency lithium-ion Assistant Professor, Computer Science University Central Florida, 2010 biodieselofprocessor. battery based on carbon nanotubes, and Engineering Expertise: Thermal Management of graphene based flexible emission Computer Science, Iowa State high devices,team energyhas efficient â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thepower biodiesel worked so hard toPh.D.: deliver the final product. I am sure they learned a lot fromfield designing, display, vertical CNT-field effect University, 2009 building technologies, and spray cooling. transistor and CNT-based non-volatile machine learning, His efforts overand theplanning,â&#x20AC;? past 10 years manufacturing, Choi said. Expertise: knowledge discovery and data mining, included leading and participating in memory devices.

UNT College of Engineering | Annual Report 2013

“Design Day is a big occasion for us - a celebration of our students’ engineering skills and ingenuity. Senior design projects present a great opportunity for industry to interact with Dr. Nie has served as reviewer for Rambod Rayegan ouroverbright students and a dozen international journals, and faculty.” Visiting Assistant Professor

Sundeep Mukherjee Associate Professor, he has organized/co-organized several Materials Science and Engineering Mechanical andVaidyanathan Energy Engineering - Vijay conference sessions/symposiums under Ph.D.: Materials Science, California Ph.D.: Mechanical Engineering, the American Society of Mechanical Institute of Technology, 2005 Florida International University, 2011 Engineers, Society of Experimental Expertise: advanced materials Expertise: Solar Organic Rankine Mechanics and Society of Engineering development, energy conversion and Cycles, Ground Source Heat Pumps, Science. storage, corrosion and electrochemistry, Net Zero Energy Building, and Exergythin films and semiconductor devices, economic Optimization of Energy nano-materials, bio-materials, and Rodney D. Nielsen Systems. He is a researcher with UNT’s metallic Associate Professor, Computer Science is building on several initiatives to attract The College UNT glasses. has a wide variety of engineering organizations Technology Institute the and Engineering Prior to UNT, he wasprofessional a postdoctoral high quality students PACCAR to the campus. The Collegeand offers that offer students development and the Zero Energy Laboratory. Computer Science & Cognitive research Mechanical research opportunities to students from Thailand through opportunity associate, to develop their leadership skills. Ph.D.: One of the Science, University of Colorado at Engineering, Yalethe University, and senior a spring program that includes an internship in labs of UNT organizations, university Chapter of the Society of Boulder, 2008 Young process Logic Technology engineering faculty. InMarcus Spring 2013, seven students from Hispanic engineer, Professional Engineers (SHPE UNT), was named Expertise: language University and Development, Corporation. Assistant Professor, Materials visited, Science “OutstandingIntel Small Chapter of the Year” for the growing naturalChulalongkorn Mahidol University processing, machine learning, and chapter’s goals and activities. working with UNT faculty members and research groups. In and Engineering emphasis on XuSHPE Nie UNT is a group of Latino engineeringcognitive 2014, the number of students increase to more than 15. studentsscience, who with an Ph.D.:will Materials Science Engineering, spoken-dialogue health Assistant Professor, and Another initiative resulted after representatives from want to empower the Mechanical Hispanic community through STEM educational Northwestern University, 2006 Engineering Sinceand wellbeing robots, a Thailand university visited the College. In June 2013, awareness, supportEnergy and development. becoming an companion Expertise: development, processing, Ph.D.: Materials Engineering, technology, and officially recognized chapter onPurdue Jan. 18, 2011, educational SHPE UNT has an health engineering-focused delegation from Thammasat and characterization of structural alloys, University, clinical informatics, and end-user University in Bangkok, specifically, Thailand, took a tour of the grown to 2010 28 members and counting. The chapter’s most shape memory, university refractory Expertise: dynamic of engineering. and discussed the possibility of a dual undergraduate recent activities include response the conference, withsoftware 12 members and reactive metal, lightweight, and advanced materials and structures, novel He is director AI and in Human Engineering. An agreement was reached to pursue attending the conference and 16 members participating in of the degree amorphous metal alloys, and subsequent high-rate mechanics and Language Technologies (HiLT) lab, which the careerexperimental fair. 2+2 undergraduate programs in Electrical and Mechanical foams and composites. techniques, fracture failure behaviorby SHPE focuses machine learning theorystarting metal The chapter alsoand was recognized Region 5onwith Engineering, with Thammasat’s freshman class He graduate student Matthew of underAward. impact application. of 2014.research The model will be aand transfer program agreement. the brittle Regionalmaterials Involvement Region 5 and includes more The primary Carl developed a novel technique using loading conditions, and mechanics of of the labfrom is computational Uponsemantics successful completion of two years at Thammasat, the than 40 student chapters and 10 professional chapters a focused ion beam system, which biological and bio-inspired materials, Mississippi, models intended to facilitate machine first group of Thammasat students will join UNT in the Fall Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, allows them to analyze Dallas Museum quantification of dynamic injury of brain understanding of textof and 2016. spoken dialogue. tissue. of Art artifacts.

BUILDING COMMUNITIES AT HOME AND ABROAD

engineering.unt.edu/annual-report

Research

The College of Engineering and its faculty are active in fostering relationships with international partners, efforts which are expanding research opportunities for faculty and students. One initiative of note is the Global Discovery Workshop. In 2013, the focus of the workshop was Energy Efficient Buildings and Communities, which helped build on the university’s reputation as a leader in sustainability. The 2013 event, held in Tartu, Estonia, was also co-organized by the University of Tartu in Estonia, the State University of Ponta Grossa in Brazil, and the City of Denton, Texas. Government officials, researchers and industry representatives from countries around the world including the United States, China, Mexico, Germany, Brazil, Romania, the United Kingdom and Estonia attended the event. Discussions included how to incorporate the next generation of green energy and sustainable technology into communities, current research focusing on sustainability, and green energy practices already in place in the world’s top cities. In the photo are Mark Burroughs, mayor of the city of Denton, Texas, Gerhard Kier, city planner of the city of Hannover, Germany, Raimond Tamm, deputy mayor of the city of Tartu, Estonia, Giovana Wiecheteck, a professor of Civil Engineering at the State University of Ponta Grossa in Brazil, Dr. Yong Tao, chair of the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, and Tõnu Mauring, head of the Energy Efficient Building Core Laboratory, University of Tartu, Estonia.

UNT College of Engineering | Annual Report 2013

“UNT students have the unique opportunity of getting hands-on experience with green technologies that will power our future.”

- Dr. Yong Tao,

Chair, Department of Mechanical & Energy Engineering

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS

The University of North Texas has become a leader in sustainability through collaborations, education, research and its daily operations, and the College is glad to be a part of that effort. UNT offers about 300 sustainability-related courses from 39 departments. More than 250 researchers conduct sustainability-related research, and UNT’s Renewable Bioproducts Research Cluster is dedicated to creating green solutions for consumer and industry products using plant, bacteria and other bio-materials. The Zero Energy Lab , located at UNT’s Discovery Park campus, gives students and researchers the tools to study the next generation of sustainable and renewable energy technologies for residential and commercial buildings. The lab is a state-of-the-art facility – the only one of its kind in Texas – designed to test energy technologies and systems in order to achieve net-zero energy consumption.

Also in 2013, a UNT delegation visited Japan to celebrate longstanding relationships and chart a new course with top research institutions in the areas of sustainability, materials science and engineering, and mechanical and energy engineering. The delegation also visited top universities in Taiwan to promote student and faculty exchange. The visit’s objectives included maintaining and building new research relationships between UNT and top institutions in Japan, as well as recruiting international students interested in sustainability and STEM (science, technology engineering, and mathematics) fields. International researchers are also visiting UNT. A delegation from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, representing Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca visited UNT in November 2012 to discuss opportunities for research and academic collaboration, student exchange.

engineering.unt.edu/annual-report

Research

Phil Foster (pictured above), associate professor of the Department of Engineering Technology and coordinator of mechanical engineering technology, earned a patent in 2013 for his liquid-cooled Stirling engine with an energysaving segmented rotary displacer. He continues to test the environmentally friendly engine. Stirling engines convert heat energy into mechanical power, rather than drawing power from the combustion of fossil fuels or from the power grid, which is itself heavily reliant on fossil fuels. Dr. Foster’s invention is unique among Stirling engines in that it has only three moving parts, including the rotary displacer. This displacer consumes less energy than the reciprocating displacers found in traditional Stirling designs, Dr. Foster said. Additionally, the engine is designed so that multiple units can be teamed together using a single timing belt. comparable to the serpentine belt which drives various accessories under the hood of an automobile. As such, it would be both easy and cost efficient to customize the number of “cylinders” available for a given application.

Dr. Saraju Mohanty, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, was awarded a U.S. Patent for his “Apparatus and Method for Transmitting Secure and/or Copyrighted Digital Video Broadcasting Data over Internet Protocol Network.” His invention provides comprehensive solutions for securing digital video, and it offers advantages for content providers like Netflix, digital television companies, Hollywood movie studios, their distributors and end-users, and private parties posting to YouTube or sending video files over the internet. “This method offers the option of real-time copyrighting built into the camera and applied while the video is created—a very unique capability,” Mohanty said. Dr. Mohanty’s system has applications for all levels of video creation, transmission, and receipt including determination of origin, creator, and ownership rights, ensuring authorized access, preventing illegal replication, facilitating content authentication, tamper proofing and detection, and the necessary apparatuses.

UNT College of Engineering | Annual Report 2013

Alumni

Along with the achievements in their own careers, alumni also find ways to continue making a contribution to the college through representing their employers at campus career fairs and speaking events. Due to the quality of Engineering alumni, an increasing number of national and multinational businesses regularly recruit on campus. These companies also help current students through sponsoring senior design projects and funding scholarships. PepsiCo, for example, has offered scholarships to juniors and seniors who are majoring in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or Information Technology. These scholarships have been presented to the students by Etta Clark (above right in photo), a Computer Science and Engineering alumna, Director of Information Technology at PepsiCo and Chair of the UNT College of Engineering Advisory Board. Scholarship recipients include Tawfiq Shah, a former Engineering Ambassador, and Lisa Reynolds (above left in photo), who is a part of the RoboCamp program and has worked with UNT Professors on projects for the STARS Alliance.

engineering.unt.edu/annual-report

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), has marked 40 years of providing outstanding undergraduate and graduate educational experience. Founded as the Department of Computer Sciences, CSE has grown into a department that is home to noteworthy research centers, including the Net-Centric Software and Systems Center, a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. To celebrate the department’s 40th anniversary, alumni, faculty and staff were invited to a banquet on Oct. 26, 2012, at the new UNT Apogee Stadium. CSE Chair Dr. Barrett Bryant welcomed guests and then introduced Dr. Warren Burggren, UNT Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Dr. Burggren spoke about CSE’s importance to the University of North Texas. The 40th celebration brought together several decades of graduates and faculty from the 1970s all the way up to the present, and it offered a chance for families and students and faculty to reconnect with people they had not seen for years. Also speaking at the event was Nelson Cicchitto, B.S. 1989, who noted how his experience as a student helped him to found his own company, Avatier Corp. Nelson’s gift to CSE helped make the celebration possible.

UNT College of Engineering | Annual Report 2013

“It was my pleasure as Chair to see so many alumni and former faculty at our department’s 40th anniversary celebration.”

- Dr. Barrett Bryant,

Chair, Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Reaching students as early as middle school CAMPS AND COMPETITION Along with its popular RoboCamp and Xbox Game Camp, the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) introduced a new camp in 2013. Dozens of students ages 1317 got a chance to learn app programming basics during the inaugural Android AppCamp. Robocamp is a week-long day camp that features numerous hands-on activities and experiments in robotics and computer programming. The regional competition for the North American Computational Linguistics (NACLO) was hosted on Jan. 31, 2013, by CSE. More than 40 high school students from North Texas participated in this competition. NACLO is an educational competition in Computational Linguistics, the science of designing computer algorithms to solve linguistic problems. CYBER SECURITY A nearly $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation will provide scholarships for doctoral students to study cyber security and information assurance in UNT’s

College of Engineering, College of Business and College of Information. The new program builds on UNT’s leadership as one of only seven institutions in the United States to be designated by the National Security Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research in 2012. UNT also has been designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education. Institutions with these designations are recognized as leaders in cyber security education and research, and UNT is one of only about 32 institutions nationally with both designations. SECURITY WORKSHOP CSE, in collaboration with the Convergence Technology Center at Collin College, hosted a one-day workshop on Security issues related to mobile device platforms and applications, Social Media and the Cloud. The conference was set up for community college and university faculty members and students as well as industry professionals interested in discussing new trends in security.

engineering.unt.edu/annual-report

Electrical Engineering

The Department of Electrical Engineering provides students with a hands-on, design- and project-based education that empowers them to embark on a challenging career in high-tech industry when they graduate. The department takes this approach beyond the classroom to help influence the next generation of engineers. During the Summer of 2013, 17 North Texas middle and high school teachers participated in the University of North Texasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Research Experiences for Teachers in Sensor Networks program. The program, supported by a National Science Foundation grant, offered the teachers the opportunity to conduct engineering-based research projects while also learning how to translate their experiences into innovative classroom lessons. The participants teach subjects from math, physics, engineering, chemistry, and aquatic science. The teachers who participated in the previous yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; summer programs have integrated lessons related to the research projects they completed into their courses. For example, one teacher used aquatic wireless network sensors to develop a sustainable aquarium system for growing plants.

UNT College of Engineering | Annual Report 2013

“This program is crucial to promote STEM disciplines among high school students in the north texas area. We need youth to consider engineering”

- Dr. Miguel Acevedo,

Regents Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering

PROMOTING A COMMUNITY OF ACHIEVMENT The Department of Electrical Engineering strives to promote academic achievement and a spirit of pride in students’ chosen profession. To this end, UNT hosted its first Order of the Engineer ring ceremony on Dec. 8, 2012, joining a growing number of institutions. The ceremony is the public induction of candidates into the Order of the Engineer, during which inductees take a solemn oath called the “Obligation of an Engineer” to “uphold devotion to the standards and dignity of the engineering profession.” Each inductee who accepts the obligation receives a stainless steel ring and signs a certificate of obligation. “Over time, my ring will become dented, scratched and dulled, displaying to all the work that I have done as an engineer. As an engineer, ethical considerations are not to be taken lightly, and membership in Order of the Engineer will show future employers and clients that I am serious about keeping the good of the public in mind through everything that I do,” Jordan Simleness, Electrical Enginnering Alumna of 2012, said.

In an effort to determine how to wire a more efficient computer chip to be employed in future electronic devices, Dr. Gayatri Mehta of Department of Electrical Engineering turned to crowdsourcing. The result was UNTANGLED, an online computer game to discover algorithms by making use of human intuition and the ability to recognize patterns and opportunities even in complex problems. “Humans are very good at observing patterns. Algorithms pick nodes and randomly swap them, but humans can see clusters that can be moved together,” Mehta said. “What we are learning is how humans observe patterns and what strategies they use, and then, we plan to use that information to develop new, smarter and faster algorithms based on these strategies.” Not only has Mehta and her student researchers found that the mapping problem can be crowdsourced very effectively, but their efforts also received recognition in an international competition. UNTANGLED received the People’s Choice award in the Games & Apps category of the 10th annual International Science & Technology Visualization Challenge.

engineering.unt.edu/annual-report

Engineering Technology

For several months, a group of UNT students devoted long hours in the machine shop at Discovery Park to build a fast and efficient race car from the ground up. The students, members of the UNT chapter of the Society for Automotive Engineers and Mean Green Racing, had a goal in mind: to represent UNT for the first time in a national Society for Automotive Engineers Formula SAE race. Starting from learning the basics of building a race car, the students not only were able to finish their project to compete in a national Society for Automotive Engineers Formula SAE race held June 19-22, 2013, in Lincoln, Neb., but they also were among the 27 teams out of 80 who managed to complete every single event. They placed 31st overall, were invited to a dinner joining a few of the top teams, and received many congratulatory remarks by judges, companies, sponsors, and other teams. During the project, the students not only were able to make use of their technical knowledge but they also developed their business skills through marketing and raising the funds to help them complete the project. The studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; work also resulted in three capstone design projects that were presented during the 2013 Design Day. Additionally, Matt Ellis, a senior Mechanical Engineering Technology student, was awarded the 2012-13 Outstanding President Eagle Award for his leadership as president of the UNT SAE student organization.

UNT College of Engineering | Annual Report 2013

“Experts warned us that it would be nearly impossible to build the car to the given specs in one year. Our team not only beat the odds but were among 27 out of 80 teams who managed to complete every event.”

– Enrique Barbieri,

Chair, Department of Engineering Technology

ENGINEERS OF A CHANGING FUTURE The Department of Engineering Technology’s early beginnings in technology education can be traced back to the turn of the 20th century in programs leading to degrees in Industrial Arts through the 1970s. While its name has changed over the years, the department has been committed to education, research, and service to the community. The department’s mission is to provide its students with the technical skills and the fundamental engineering technology background to be successful in today’s rapidly changing workplace. Its ABET accredited undergraduate programs lead to BSET degrees in Construction, Electrical, and Mechanical engineering technology, and the department’s MSET degree offers concentrations in Construction Management, Engineering Management, Electrical Systems, and Mechanical Systems. The department also offers a MSET/MBA track in collaboration with the College of Business.

Engineering Technology also was the organizer of an international student competition in September 2012, and winners were announced in the 2nd Student Competition on Cold-Formed Steel Design. The competition received a total of 56 entries from four institutions: University of North Texas, Virginia Tech, Texas Academy of Math and Science, and Chongqing University, China. The winners were selected by a panel of judges nationally recognized in the area of cold-formed steel design, including Dr. Cheng Yu, associate professor of UNT’s Department of Engineering Technology and organizer of the competition. All of the top 10 students (including UNT’s Kyle Durham, who was a senior undergraduate in the CNET program at the time of the competition) received a one-year Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute student membership.

engineering.unt.edu/annual-report

Materials Science And

This past summer, the UNT College of Engineering’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MTSE) held its thirdannual Materials Summer Camp. The camp is held every summer for high school students at the College of Engineering’s Discovery Park facility. Students are given the opportunity to tour the MTSE facilities and gain hands-on experience with the high-tech tools used by UNT’s researchers. The camp schedule is packed with interactive presentations and experiments focusing on various aspects of materials science and engineering. Some of the subjects students learned about included laser processing and polymer materials. The two-day event was held July 11 and 12, 2013. It was sponsored by the MTSE department and the American Society of Materials (ASM), with help from the UNT chapter of Material Advantage, an organization that makes its mission to educate about and improve awareness of materials science as a field. “Material Science is a field that has a lot to offer students,” said Douglas Kinkenon, president of the Chapter. “We are glad they got to learn about all the different fields it encompasses.”

UNT College of Engineering | Annual Report 2013

nd Engineering

“I was especially glad to see our campers enjoy the [hands-on] experiences and ask many questions.” – Dr. Jincheng Du,

Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering; Faculty Organizer of Materials Camp

THE NEXT GENERATION OF TECHNOLOGY Dr. Narendra Dahotre, professor of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, was featured in the Dallas Business Journal for a patent he filed on technology that could replace surgical saws, hammers and drills with lasers to cut bones. When surgeons need to cut or shape bone during surgery, they use a number of conventional tools that often cause undue damage to surrounding tissues or other bones, slow down surgeries and leave patients with lengthy recovery times. Dahotre filed a patent on a new laser technology he and his research associate developed for cutting and shaping bone that causes minimal damage to the surrounding tissue and bones, could speed up surgery and recovery times, and even lessen the amount of blood lost during operations. The laser can be controlled by a robot, reducing the possibility of surgeon error. Dahotre has been studying laser technologies for nearly two and a half decades.

Organic light emitting diodes (OLED) can potentially revolutionize lighting technology by providing solidstate light sources that are considerably more efficient than traditional incandescent or fluorescent lighting. UNT researchers have been at the forefront of OLED technology development with help from the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Nigel Shepherd, an associate professor of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, was awarded an NSF grant for his project, “Workfunction Modification of ZnO Anodes for Second Generation OLEDs.” This research builds on work begun in 2010 with an NSF EAGER grant. In the current project, Shepherd looks to new materials to improve efficiency while significantly reducing the cost of OLEDs. He is assisted by his team at the Optoelectronics and Thin Films Laboratory (OTFL) and also by co-investigator Dr. Jincheng Du, associate professor of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, who will use computational modeling to assist the experimental work.

engineering.unt.edu/annual-report

Mechanical and energy

Presenters from China, Ghana, Slovenia, and Turkey discussed research topics related to wood-based products and natural fiber composites during a June 13, 2013, workshop held at UNT. The International Workshop: Wood and Natural Fiber Materials for Energy Efficient Building Construction offered attendees the opportunity to explore international research collaboration possibilities as well as take a tour of UNT College of Engineering laboratories. After the workshop, Mr. Peter Dadzie, a Ph.D. student from Ghana, stayed with UNT for a few days working on a collaborative project on the microstructure study of a few Ghana wood species. Another workshop attendee, Mr. Haitao Cheng, a Ph.D. student from International Center for Bamboo and Rattan (ICBR), Beijing, China, also stayed with UNT for three months for a collaborative research project on the nanophase treatment of natural fibers supported by the China Natural Science Foundation. Dr. Shi and the workshop presenters attended the annual international convention of Forest Products Society (FPS) and Society of Wood Science and Technology (SWST) in Austin, Texas, held June 9-11, 2013.

UNT College of Engineering | Annual Report 2013

engineering

“UNT students have the unique opportunity of getting hands-on experience with green technologies that will power our future.”

- Dr. Yong Tao,

Chair, Department of Mechanical & Energy Engineering

A PARTNER TO OUR HOME COMMUNITY In 2012, UNT hosted the BioEnvironmental Polymer Society’s 20th annual meeting, a four-day conference including presentations from top government, academic and industry experts. Presenters discussed the role of synthetic, renewable and natural degradable materials in construction, healthcare, manufacturing and energy production. The BioEnvironmental Polymer Society has held its annual conference in metropolitan areas such as Vienna and Toronto in previous years. The society selected Denton for its 20th anniversary event because of UNT’s commitment to sustainability and the work of the university’s Renewable Bioproducts research cluster. Speakers included Dr. Richard Dixon, an expert on agriculture and biorenewable products, who recently accepted a position with UNT’s Signaling Mechanisms in Plants research cluster. Dr. Nandika D’Souza, professor in the Mechanical and Energy Engineering Department, was elected to organize the conference.

The Verizon Foundation awarded the College of Engineering a grant to support engineering student Capstone projects in sustainability areas. Verizon’s gift to support the Mechanical and Energy Engineering (MEE) Senior Design Project Fund will provide the supplies needed and any necessary travel to national competitions. The funds were announced during a Nov. 16, 2012, check presentation ceremony attended by Barbara Walker, Verizon-Director of External Affairs, Don Burgio, Verizon-Executive Director and College of Engineering Advisory Board member, and Lori Kline, Verizon-Government Account Manager, as well as UNT’s Costas Tsatsoulis, Dean of the College of Engineering, Dr. Yong Tao, Chair of the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, and Eileen Moran, Associate Vice President, Development. “We selected this grant because we want to support UNT Engineering Capstone projects, and sustainability is an important area for all of us,” Walker said. “We are cognizant of the great work coming out of UNT Engineering, so this grant is a partnership for that.”

engineering.unt.edu/annual-report