houck2040/tees huggingface dataset:
college station - firefighters take them so do astronauts and construction workers its what draws gamblers to casinos people encounter risks every day and it doesnt matter whether theyre fighting fires or rolling the dice "risk" is the theme of a texas a&m program that has brought together texas schoolteachers and the fort worth museum of science and history to assemble a museum exhibit that will teach schoolchildren and museum visitors all about risk texas a&m environmental engineer robin autenrieth said the exhibit which is called "risk!" and opens in march in fort worth will explain to people what "risk" is and what risks can be found in peoples lives autenrieth and texas a&m agricultural engineer patti haan lead the a&m side of the project "one of the nice things about the display on risk is that it takes topics like statistics and probability and provides kids with real-life examples that touch them " she said "it gives them a context and makes 'risk real for them" the project is part of the information technology in science (its) - center for teaching and learning which is administered by the texas engineering experiment station and funded by the national science foundation its held several workshops over the summer in which schoolteachers worked with museum officials to decide exhibit topics and how to present the information in a way easily understood by a 7th-grade audience which is the average education level of people visiting museums autenrieth said the teachers had some great ideas because they are in the business of conveying information to people in that age group she said they came up with ideas that museum officials were able to take back and use the teachers also drafted lesson plans based on the exhibit these lesson plans can be used by other schoolteachers to reinforce what their students see while visiting the museum "bringing in the teachers to help design the displays expanded the impact of the display well beyond the doors of the museum which is what the museum was interested in accomplishing " autenrieth said "all of us were able to learn something new from the experience" charlie walter senior vice president of the fort worth museum of science and history said working with autenrieth and its provided the exhibit with some amazing glimpses into scientific risk assessment work being conducted by texas a&m in azerbaijan "this work will help us translate the exhibit experience into classrooms across the country as the exhibit tours " he said "teachers and parents will be able to visit the exhibit then take home additional resources or download them from our website that will extend the exhibit and provide for a deeper learning experience" the exhibit will not only be used in fort worth but will also travel to museums in boston; columbus ohio; los angeles; philadelphia penn; st paul minn; and portland ore nr 937 11/27/01
corpus christi texas - the traditional notion of college students sitting in a classroom taking notes and listening to a professor give a lecture is gradually going the way of slate tablets the south texas advanced technology education project (state) is changing the traditional notion of community college classes by developing web-based modules or portions of classes enabling students to master specific parts of courses without having to travel to campus instead these modules are designed to fit into students schedules "were trying to build our curriculum so students can access it on their time instead of ours " said dr lee sloan the projects principal investigator and dean of occupational education and technology at corpus christis del mar community college "our program is designed to develop web-based modules within process technology to train people to operate petrochemical facilities" this $15-million national science foundation (nsf) project which is administered by the texas engineering experiment station (tees) will take portions of a course in petroleum facility operation and adapt them for the web building in computer simulations so people can see what a petrochemical facility looks like even if they are hundreds of miles away from one in the past petrochemical companies trained their own technicians in-house but in the interest of saving time and money they are now asking colleges to offer this training sloan said researchers hope to meet this increasing nationwide need for petrochemical industry technicians by making it easier for people to receive training via the web the turnover among such technicians is expected to exceed 30 percent during the next 10 years the need is so great that other states are coming to texas because the state has already worked with industry to develop a curriculum to train technicians he said in addition to providing training over the web the project also follows the example used by other nsf advanced technological education (ate) programs by infusing material from core curriculum courses -- such as english math or science -- into process safety courses instead of attending classes dedicated exclusively to english or math for example students attend courses in process safety and study english or math as they encounter these areas in their process safety coursework these same concepts -- web-based technician training and content-driven coursework -- can be applied to other degree programs sloan said they can be applied across the spectrum to any technician training programs the state program also will help the petrochemical industry better reflect the changing population of south texas by providing training to previously underrepresented groups he said the south texas advanced technology education project is a partnership of five community colleges -- del mar victoria south texas coastal bend and texas state technical college -- as well as texas a&m university-corpus christi tees and 15 major industry partners 2/12/02 nr 972
college station -- dr dan coxs coastal engineering students at texas a&m university get more than theory from him --- they get sand between their toes and with the university about 100 miles from the coast - even further from beaches - that means a road trip but even that fits the course "a beach is like a highway " said cox an associate professor in texas a&ms department of civil engineering "beaches need regular maintenance steady repair so that people can keep using them" beach use is important in texas state beaches bring in more than $7 billion in annual tourism income but texas has one of the highest rates of beach erosion of any coastal state in the nation the core of coxs coastal engineering course is its design project in 2001 students teamed up to design a system of structures to slow sand loss - estimated at 4 feet per year -- for a beach in corpus christi texas students conduct field and wading surveys collect soil samples and work with the same real-time data and other professional tools as engineering firms hired to deal with erosion problems working out coastal problems is more than just the engineering cox said and thats why he likes to bring real-life elements into his mix of classroom lecture web technology and beach visits "students learn an awareness of the impact of solving engineering problems " cox said the students learn about state agencies that govern beaches how fisheries fit in the role of tourists the recreational sporting groups that have concerns and the part played by environmental groups texas a&m senior jacqueline gutierrez said engineers typically think just about physical problems yet faced with a real problem such as the corpus christi beach students learn they have to think about the community as well the fort worth resident said "this is just a more realistic approach to learning about coastal engineering " she said for aaron horine getting a first-hand look at the beach and meeting with coastal engineering firms convinced the alvin texas senior he was on the right career track "you get a real feel for what coastal engineering projects involve " horine said "the biggest surprise was all the politics and public relations involved in actually doing a project" coxs class spent two days in corpus christi researching the beach and meeting members of coastal engineering firms shiner moseley and associates inc and goldston engineering inc "i want students to come away with a real feel for how their engineering decisions can impact a beach and how many views they have to consider when making those decisions " cox said 02/13/02 nr 976
college station - san antonios brooks air force base pumps $480 million into the local economy each year - money that could be lost if not for a new project that may provide an alternative to permanently closing military bases by helping the us military cut the costs of operating its bases and find new ways to use existing infrastructure the partnership project between the texas engineering experiment station (tees) the city of san antonio and the us air force preserves a vital part of the san antonio economy and lures new businesses into the area as part of the brooks city-base project the air force will turn brooks air force base over to the city this summer the air force will still remain active at the site but the city of san antonio will take over responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the former military base "the city of san antonio will own the property and the air force will rent it back " said skip mills director of san antonio operations for tees texas center for applied technology (tcat) "the air force gets out of the day-to-day property management business so it can do what it does best - support the warfighter" tcat will assist in attracting new technology-based businesses aid in technology transfer and in developing research activities at the site tcat will also assist the city with program administration activities "with the air force staying here we can leverage their presence and bring in technology-based businesses " mills said "this is a great opportunity for the state and for tees" the project is receiving a lot of attention in the nations capital mills said the bush administration wants to pursue alternatives to closing military bases the model used for brooks city-base may provide legislators with a workable solution that can be used as other military bases around the country are decommissioned "im sure some form of what were doing here will be part of any package coming out of congress " he said "the brooks city-base concept brings unique opportunities for a city that is willing to work with a military base or facility to reduce costs by privatizing or putting municipal services to work"writer: 3/5/02 nr 983
college station - a soldier wounded in combat gets medical help from a doctor in a field hospital miles away a hiker severely injured from a 60 feet fall down a nearly vertical cliff in west texas gets treated by a doctor in lubbock these situations may seem unrealistic but they are possible as a result of dreams disaster relief and emergency medical services (dreams) uses computer and telecommunications technology and research in basic and clinical sciences to improve trauma victims survival particularly in isolated areas and combat zones beyond the physical reach of trauma specialists in well-equipped medical centers the dreams team will attend the american telemedicine association (ata) 7th annual meeting and exposition in los angeles june 2-5 there they will showcase their projects -- the deployable telemedicine system the digital ems ambulance the military hmmwv (high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle) and the physicians workstation -- to the healthcare industry the deployable telemedicine system ems ambulance and hmmwv all stream data into the physicians workstation at a hospital with the same goal to get medical attention to people in remote areas the primary difference is whether its stationary or not the ems ambulance and hmmwv are mobile platforms that move to trauma victims in isolated areas the deployable telemedicine system is a stationary system designed for use in remote rural areas where a hospital is far away "the primary rationale for these systems is to provide a means to offset the negative impact of time and distance when dealing with serious trauma occurring in rural areas where the appropriate level of medical care is not immediately available " said dr james wall co-principal investigator of dreams and director of computing and information technology at texas center for applied technology (tcat) "ata provides dreams researchers with an opportunity to demonstrate to the telemedicine community the level of maturity of the prototype systems being built " wall said "i must add that the maturity level is at a point that we are currently working out the specific details both technical and regulatory for our first fielding in liberty county texas later in the year" physicians and army medics will be attending the meeting to help the dreams team demonstrate their projects dreams is a consortium between the texas engineering experiment station the texas a&m university system and the university of texas health science center at houston for more information on dreams see http://wwwdreams-projectorg as the states engineering research agency and as a member of the texas a&m university system the texas engineering experiment station (tees) provides practical solutions to critical needs from its headquarters in college station and its 15 regional divisions tees identifies and studies areas critical to the states economic development and quality of life researches and promotes new technologies helps communities strengthen science and technology education investigates problems that affect health and the environment and fosters partnerships between academia and industry
college station -- an assistant professor in the ergonomics center of the texas engineering experiment station (tees) gordon vos studied pressures on the posterior while people sit in chairs vos 2001 doctoral analysis of buttock/thigh pressure and a dozen top ergonomic chairs also looked at the importance of armrests and posture "chair construction was the most significant factor in lowering peak pressure armrests and posture didnt make much difference when compared to the chair design " said vos who noted nearly 75 percent of all work in industrial countries is done while seated vos also found that men experience more pressure on their bottoms when sitting in chairs than females he added that while more research was needed to determine why he thought it was probably due to weight contoured chair pans with 3-d knitted fabric were found to be the best for reducing peak pressures on test subjects vos said he suspects the knitted fabric allows the seats foam padding to cushion better the contour likely distributes weight more evenly the research also found the memory foam chairs didnt perform any better than regular foam in chairs memory foam is a pressure and temperature sensitive material thats supposed to automatically adjust to a persons unique dimensions vos came up with the idea of doing research on sitting in chairs while working on his masters degree at texas a&m university he was writing a paper while seated in an old wooden school chair "i remember thinking this has got to be one of the most uncomfortable chairs ive ever sat in " vos said for his study he took 12 top office chairs 12 men and 12 women and set up nearly 300 different configurations with them vos also built a synthetic model to test on the chairs the contoured seat pan finding suggests more research is needed on the depth width and curve of seat pans vos said not surprisingly some of the most expensive chairs were found to be the best in reducing pressure in the end however the top-selling chair did not have the best performance meaning it likely sells because of aesthetic and advertising appeal rather than ergonomic design vos said vos added that other chair construction factors contribute to the overall ergonomic quality of a chair the ability for height and back adjustments are critical while armrests and backrests serve other ergonomic goals he noted noting that not everyone can afford a premier chair vos had some bottom-line advice for chair shoppers "the big three items in any chair are height adjustment lumbar support and adjustable back rest " vos said "plus find one that fits your size and look for a contoured seat if it has 3-d knitted fabric itll be advertised" the ergonomics center is funded in part by the national science foundation tees is the engineering research agency of texas and member of the texas a&m university system
college station - with the help of the center of community support the huntsville arts commission is turning a 19th century mansion into an arts center for the community to enjoy huntsville a town of 35 000 people is the home of texas hero sam houston once known as the athens of texas the town has long enjoyed a strong culture with much of the arts stimulus being provided within sam houston state university and augmented by a countywide array of folk artists the huntsville arts commission recently led an effort in their community to transform a 19th century mansion known as the wynne home into a community cultural arts center for the benefit of the residents of huntsville and visitors the texas engineering experiment stations (tees) center for community support (ccs) assisted the huntsville arts commission when they were seeking funds for renovation of the wynne home ccss erin logan and linda pease cultural service coordinator for the city of huntsville prepared a grant proposal for the powell foundation which resulted in a $30 000 grant to help fund the wynne home project huntsville has long been in need of an ongoing program that is focused on bringing families especially youth together for creative and enriching experiences pease said these positive experiences will be possible because of the new wynne home arts center through a broad offering of arts exhibitions arts classes and cultural events one of the primary programs within the center will be a year-round art museum and gallery the wynne home arts center will stimulate an active cultural life a significant factor in attracting new industry to a community she said cultural organizations and civic centers are important to the well-rounded community: this center will help to make huntsville more attractive to prospective residents the center for community support helps nonprofit and public organizations in texas with various aspects of grant proposal preparation writer/contact: erin logan center for community support (979) 458-3239 elogan@ppri-nwtamuedu http://ppritamuedu/ccs/homehtm 7/10/02 nr 1046
college station - in most classes a grade of c is just making it but to world-renowned computer scientist dr bjarne stroustrup and the rest of the computer science world it is the most widely used language supporting object-oriented programming stroustrup the designer and original implementer of c has accepted the college of engineering chair in computer science in the department of computer science at texas a&m university and will move his research to texas a&m using c as his tool stroustrup pioneered the use of object-oriented and generic programming techniques in application areas where efficiency is a premium stroustrups book the c programming language is the most widely read book of its kind and has been translated into 14 languages a later book the design and evolution of c broke new ground in the description of the way a programming language is shaped by ideas ideals problems and practical constraints "dr stroustrup will bring great visibility to the department of computer science and to a&m " said jennifer welch head of the computer science department "in addition to continuing his research in programming languages and tools and finding new collaborators here he is looking forward to teaching" stroustrup was named one of "the 20 most influential people in the computer industry in the last 20 years" by byte magazine in 1995 he also has been named an at&t bell laboratories fellow and an at&t fellow he received the 1993 association for computing machinery (acm) grace murray hopper award for his early work on c and is an acm fellow nr 1058 7/26/02
college station - dr ls "skip" fletcher regents professor and holder of the thomas a dietz memorial professorship in mechanical engineering at texas a&m university will receive the 2002 american society of mechanical engineers (asme) medal the societys highest form of recognition fletcher is also director for aerospace at nasa ames research center in moffett field calif the medal is given annually for "eminently distinguished engineering achievement" fletcher the first texas a&m faculty member to win the award will receive his medal at the 2002 asme international mechanical engineering congress in new orleans in november fletcher came to texas a&m in 1980 and has held a variety of positions at the university including associate dean of the dwight look college of engineering and the halliburton professor of mechanical engineering from 1985-88 fletcher also was associate director of the texas engineering experiment station (tees) the engineering research agency of texas and a member of the texas a&m university system for more than 10 years beginning in 1988 fletcher was the education coordinator in the tees offshore technology research center before coming to texas a&m fletcher was professor and chairman of the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the university of virginia and previously was professor of aerospace engineering and associate dean at rutgers university a registered professional engineer in arizona new jersey texas virginia england and australia fletcher has written more than 200 journal and conference papers and six books and holds five patents fletcher is a fellow of asme; the american institute of aeronautics and astronautics (aiaa); the accreditation board for engineering and technology; the american association for the advancement of science (aaas); the american astronautical society (aas); and the american society for engineering education (asee) he has been honored numerous times by asme asee and aiaa fletcher received a bachelors degree from texas a&m a masters degree from stanford university and a phd from arizona state university 8/23/02 nr 1081
college station - testing products in space for use on earth isnt a dream of future space travel it is a reality at the center for space power (csp) one of two nasa-supported space centers in the texas engineering experiment station (tees) the csp is one of only 15 centers nationwide that is funded by nasa to do research and provide a vehicle for companies to develop their commercial products in space among the projects currently being researched at the csp are ones on photovoltaic materials that convert sunlight into electrical power for spacecraft temperature controls for spacecraft and encapsulating drugs in space -- with the products being studied in order to try and re-create the results on earth for future use in space "the shuttles have historically carried experiments with them that were actually done while in orbit " said fred best director of the csp and associate professor in the department of nuclear engineering at texas a&m university "now the experiments are being created for the international space station and the shuttles will be mainly transporting them" a research experiment on heat pipes -- which passively move thermal energy from one location to the other -- previously flew on one of the shuttle missions products from this experiment have been sold to companies who now are using them on telecommunications satellites another space-related research project conducted in zero gravity is one in which gas is separated from liquid by the creation of a spinning vortex inside a stationary cylinder "the best example of needing to separate liquid from gas is simply human breath " best said "you have air and water together and they need to be separated for reprocessing" as a way to resolve this problem best created the vortex phase separator that will fly as part of an experiment on the space shuttle "the main advantage of this device is that there are no moving parts and therefore no maintenance is necessary which is very important on space vehicles " best said industry partners of the commercial space centers develop their product ideas in space to see what works then they study the findings of the research and work toward duplicating them on earth for future use in space best says that there are many non-traditional industry partners working on projects that will benefit from using the space station as a laboratory "we are at a point in space research that is comparable to when the railroad was just going across the country first connecting the east coast with the west coast " best said "there is no limit to where we can go from here" nr 1084 10/02/02
college station- for one texas a&m university professor beach erosion is a line in the sand dr billy edge head of the dwight look college of engineering coastal and ocean engineering division of the department of civil engineering is assisting jefferson county as officials attempt to reopen an area of highway 87 the road has been closed for 13 years since tropical storm chantal and hurricane jerry hit the coast in 1989 leaving the road eroded and impassable because of the closure the residents currently have only one route out of the area jefferson county residents have said the highway needs to be repaired to increase safety mobility recreational access tourism and business in a texas engineering experiment station (tees) project edge is examining the effects of erosion along the 17-mile stretch of road northeast of highway 124 "if we can help identify the causes of the erosion and potential solutions it could help preserve the lifeline represented by the roadway " edge said edge and other scientists used a global positioning system (gps) to survey the ground from the coast to 550 yards offshore to create a three-dimensional survey of the land they used this information to predict erosion and the rise in water level from storm surges during hurricanes and other extreme weather events the researchers determined there is not enough sand on the beach to absorb wave energy and prevent erosion the sand shortage is the result of natural settling of the sediment manmade jetties that disrupt sand transport dams upriver that reduce the supply of sediment to the coast and construction that uses sand to elevate low-lying sites edge and other researchers recommend replacing lost sand along the beach though the method used will depend on cost and availability of replacement sand according to edge without a long-term solution the beach will continue receding into the marsh 400 meters every 100 years edge said he would like to study the area following a significant storm to gather more information the team working with edge included robert g dean from the university of florida; bill curtiss from the usace coastal & hydraulics laboratory in vicksburg miss; karyn erickson from applied technology and management; and gregory stone from louisiana state university nr 1082 9/3/02
college station -- a little fatty acid with your french fries how about some soap on your onion rings its not what people usually think about at the drive-through window but the vegetable oil used to cook some of our favorite foods doesnt start out that tasty unless purified vegetable oils contain fatty acids and other impurities that give them an "off" flavor and undesirable color to make the oil edible it is refined through a complex process requiring chemical treatment and expensive equipment the texas engineering experiment stations (tees) dr ernesto hernandez and steve rathbone have developed a new simplified method that improves the efficiency and the end product of vegetable oil refining in refining vegetable oils fatty acids are neutralized by adding a chemical that will bind them into a thick substance resembling soap or soapstock that can then be more easily removed current methods use sodium hydroxide and centrifuges - machines that can separate the components of a substance by spinning it at high speeds - to remove the soap but using centrifuges is expensive and less efficient the new process uses sodium silicate instead of sodium hydroxide as the binding agent sodium silicate also acts as an absorbent for the "soapstock " allowing it to be removed by filtration a much more efficient and less costly option to centrifugation "basically it simplifies the process by making it more efficient and by decreasing losses of oil " said hernandez head of the fats and oils research program at the tees food protein research and development center that adds up to savings in manufacturing and overhead while producing oil that is purer and of higher quality health benefits may also result from the use of sodium silicate because it is less harsh than sodium hydroxide which can damage the oil during processing hernandez is working on further refining the process and exploring additional uses originally developed for processing edible vegetable oils the innovation has been found to have applications for refining a variety of oils from soybean oil to petroleum products hernandez said the new filtration process can replace conventional centrifuge process for new companies "i see it as having excellent potential for new companies as a standard procedure " said hernandez the a&m system technology licensing office is currently seeking an industrial partner to facilitate commercial application of this innovation "we are very excited about the patent " said hernandez "a couple of companies have tried the process with good success i think any licensee would have excellent success" for more information: tees food protein research and development center -- http://wwwtamuedu/food-protein us patent 6 448 423 hernandez et al "refining of glyceride oils by treatment with silicate solutions and filtration " was issued to the texas a&m university system on sept 10 2002 by: amy brundeen technology licensing office 10/28/02 nr 1106
college station - research being done in texas a&m universitys petroleum engineering department is offering alternatives to the worlds oil and gas industry as it struggles to implement the kyoto agreement and reduce the release of greenhouse gases typically oil deposits are found associated with natural gas to produce the oil companies have to also handle the natural gas in many areas of the world - but not the united states the natural gas is burned off or simply released into the air the kyoto agreement would ban this practice "regulations are changing in response to the kyoto agreement and even countries that have not signed the agreement are trying to implement its recommendations " said dr stuart scott associate professor of petroleum engineering "practices such as flaring and venting of natural gas are starting to disappear" scott is working on ways to reduce emissions by moving the oil and natural gas mixture - or multiphase flow - from the well through pipelines to facilities where they can be separated refined and metered separating the oil and gas at an off-site facility instead of at the well is cheaper more environmentally friendly and allows companies to drill for oil in areas lacking easy access such as the sea floor of the gulf of mexico he said multiphase pumps provide the boost needed to send the oil and gas down the pipeline to waiting processing facilities - all without the need for storage tanks these facilities may be miles away from the well the pumps are expected to play a key role in subsea/deepwater development by increasing the amount of oil harvested "these pumps allow you to get the same sort of recoveries as onshore and still push the fluids 10 to 20 miles down the pipeline " scott said in the past five years more and more oil companies have installed multiphase pumps texas a&m is unique in that it is the only university in the nation to have two of the popular twin-screw multiphase pumps to use for research and for teaching students these pumps were donated by bornemann pumps inc and the flowserve corp abb has donated a variable frequency drive (vfd) that will be used to power and control all the multiphase pumps at texas a&ms riverside test facility "weve been building this facility as industry has moved out of the large-scale research and testing areas " scott said this equipment and the experience it provides to students are especially beneficial he said students have the opportunity to do projects using the same equipment used across the oil and gas industry "our students are doing more realistic experiments and their results are more meaningful to industry " he said "a lot of undergraduates are getting to work as roustabouts on this facility so theyre learning what it takes to put a whole project together" 12/11/02 nr 1119
college station - texas a&m university javelin thrower luke marrs sometimes pictures woolly mammoths before he lets fly "im a big believer in visualization " marrs said "i visualize everything why i throw the track surface guys im throwing against the sky so seeing myself throw is a big help" mental images are key to the complex sport that dates back to the 708 bc olympics now biomechanical expert jerry congleton of the texas engineering experiment station (tees) is using 21st century imaging technology to help athletes like marrs congleton director of the tees ergonomics center uses twin digital video cameras customized software and an onsite high-tech hooded viewing center to capture every nuance of marrs javelin throws the v1 digital coaching system is an integrated computer and video system originally designed to analyze golf swings said congleton co-director of the tees ergonomics center "being able to give them the visual feedback allows the coach and athlete to be on the same page about what to correct " congleton said the system has been used for archery shotput discus baseball soccer and football kickers and punters congleton and center personnel are modifying the system for use with other university sports including softball volleyball and basketball he is also a part-time coach with the texas a&m athletics departments strength and conditioning team "my goal is to eventually use the system in all 17 (university) sports " congleton said "the really great thing about the system is the athlete can have a record of when he is doing well and when he isnt and he can compare the two to see what he is doing differently " congleton said ergonomics center -- http://ergo-centertamuedu
dr jo howze professor of electrical engineering at texas a&m university has been named associate dean of engineering for the dwight look college of engineering at texas a&m and assistant director of the texas engineering experiment station "dr howze has extensive leadership and administrative experience making him an ideal individual for this post " said dr g kemble bennett texas a&m vice chancellor and dean of engineering and tees director "i am excited about the enthusiasm and dedication he will bring to the position and for the important role he will play as we begin working towards our academic goal of enriching the educational experience of our students" howze came to texas a&m in 1972 as an assistant professor of electrical engineering he headed the department from 1986 to 1992 and has been coordinator for the departments graduate and undergraduate programs he is holder of a ford motor company professorship and leads the associated "design across the curriculum" initiative in the engineering program his research interests are in the areas of automatic controls and energy systems including dynamical systems modeling and engineering systems design and design methodologies applications include hybrid vehicles fuel cell energy systems power electronics semiconductor processing controls and automotive control systems howze is a member of the american society for engineering education the american society of mechanical engineers and sigma xi the national scientific research society and a senior member of the institute for electrical and electronics engineering he is currently program chairman for the international future energy challenge howze holds two bachelors degrees in mechanical engineering and a phd in electrical engineering all from rice university
college station - the texas a&m university system board of regents established a new institute thursday (march 26) to help boost the number of students pursuing careers in the space industry officials of the space engineering institute (sei) which will be part of the texas engineering experiment station hope to get students excited about working in space systems engineering by involving them directly in doing what individuals working in the field actually do the institute will give students on-the-job training in the design testing and construction of spacecraft systems dr david boyle who will head the institute said studies have shown the united states is falling behind in motivating its best and brightest students to enter engineering and related fields "we went to the moon because kids came out of high school wanting careers in science and engineering " he said "now 40 years later people are coming out of college and showing little interest in spacecraft engineering fields wed like to get the best and brightest students choosing to go into engineering and especially into space systems engineering" in texas the problem also extends to students from underrepresented groups as smaller proportions of them choose to study engineering for example boyle said texas has a huge pool of untapped talent in the hispanic community hispanics and others from underrepresented groups tend to not see themselves in an engineering field especially space systems engineering "if we could get the fraction of minority students going into space systems engineering up to the same level as that of non-minorities then wed be taking a huge step towards solving the national problem " he said starting their freshman year sei students will learn hands-on technician skills required by industry and government for fabricating space hardware as they become juniors and seniors and have taken more advanced engineering classes they will move into putting these analytical skills to work using the same spacecraft design computer codes as boeing and nasa sei students will be required to work 10 to 20 hours a week at the institute where they will be assigned to teams working on space hardware projects for nasa and the space industry "they become members of the team here " boyle said students will also take part in outreach activities designed to get more high school students interested in studying math and science sei is a collaboration between the texas engineering experiment station and texas a&m universitys dwight look college of engineering and is supported by nasa
piscataway nj -- the ieee has named mehrdad (mark) ehsani professor of electrical engineering at texas a&m university in college station as recipient of the 2003 ieee undergraduate teaching award sponsored by the ieee foundation the ieee undergraduate teaching award recognizes inspirational teaching of undergraduate students in the fields of interest of ieee this years award recognizes ehsani for his contributions to advanced curriculum development and his teaching of power electronics and drives and will be presented in october at the 2003 ieee industry applications society annual meeting in salt lake city utah ehsani established one of the countrys first motor drive and power electronics programs at texas a&m in the early 1980s creating his own teaching materials he built a program that has hosted roughly 1 200 undergraduates many of whom have successful careers in the field ehsani also has directed the texas applied power electronics center and currently directs the advanced vehicle systems research program a fellow of the ieee ehsani has served on many of its committees including chair of education for the ieee power electronics society his honors also include a halliburton professorship dresser industries professorship and ruth and william neely/dow chemical fellowship at texas a&m a registered professional engineer in texas ehsani earned his bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering from the university of texas at austin he earned his doctorate in electrical engineering from the university of wisconsin-madison the ieee (institute of electrical and electronics engineers) is the worlds largest technical professional society with more than 380 000 members in approximately 150 countries through its members the ieee is a leading authority on areas ranging from aerospace computers and telecommunications to biomedicine electric power and consumer electronics additional information is available at http://wwwieeeorg contact: mark ehsani 979-845-7582 ehsani@eetamuedu
college station - that pc sitting on the desk at home will one day improve access to health care and reduce doctors office visits by making an individuals medical history available 24 hours a day seven days a week say computer science researchers at texas a&m university their project in telemedicine - providing health care over distance through telecommunications technology - uses pcs to connect medical instruments image software portable ultrasound and other equipment into a streamlined medical information system steve liu associate professor of computer science at texas a&m said the goal is to make medical records available any time any place to health care workers and patients liu heads the computer science departments research group for real-time distributed systems such systems allow information to be shared among many computers at the same time for nearly instant answers "lets say youre injured away from home you could have a watch device with your medical information " liu said "an out-of-town doctor could hook up the watch face to a computer and access your medical data from your primary providers database so you could get proper timely treatment" although that scenario is years into the future liu and his research group are taking steps toward making it reality in a demonstration project with san antonios brooke army medical center administered through the texas engineering experiment station theyre developing software to analyze weakened blood vessels in the retina caused by diabetes damage may already exist before patients notice a change in vision examining the retina to find damage is labor-intensive and error-prone liu said "were aiming to improve the identification of problem areas " he said "the software can help pick out the danger signs and store them in a database for future reference the next time the patient has an appointment the doctor can take another look at the problem areas to see if theyve changed" liu said information from different patients also could be cross-referenced to help others "the difficulty now is that information is scattered in separate medical facilities " he said "its time-consuming when a doctor needs to ask for your records from someone else when we travel or relocate we can lose track of health data crucial to future care and in emergencies" under a streamlined system liu said information could be shared with other doctors to help more patients privacy and legal issues however would need to be worked out first "the challenge is to create an information network where patient records can be shared securely " he said ultimately having such a system will help patients take a bigger role in monitoring their health and reduce unnecessary doctor visits - something that will become more important as baby boomers age and health care costs continue to rise he said "its also something that can help people in rural areas here and in other countries " liu added "we have a chance to do things we know will enrich others lives using technology to help solve social problems its a rewarding experience"
college station - as the war continues in iraq helicopter and fighter pilots face dangers of experiencing disorientation during landings in areas prone to sandstorms dr charles lessard associate professor in the department of biomedical engineering at texas a&m university has studied pilots and the spatial disorientation they might experience operating in environments with poor visibility the air force defines spatial disorientation as an incorrect perception of ones position and motion relative to the earths surface in iraq where the terrain is mostly sand pilots are likely to experience a brownout a lack of distinct horizon due to blowing sand or dust when the sand blows across the terrain the illusion of the horizon is tilted and the pilot if not watching his instruments may react by lining his planes wings with the false horizon this can result in hard landings or a crash because the plane isnt flying level as it approaches the landing strip "helicopter pilots suffer most from brownouts because they fly at very low altitudes " lessard said in the landing phase helicopters cause sand to blow upward and in a circular pattern which not only obscures the ground but can lead to vection vection is the perception of moving (forward up-down or in rotation) when in fact the helicopter is hovering but not moving "most of us experience the illusion of vection when stopped at a light and the car beside us moves " lessard said "the peripheral vision causes us to perceive that it is our car that is moving so we step harder on the brake peddle" lessard studied experienced instructor fighter pilots and the various types of spatial disorientation they experienced during flight and in flight simulators pilots can overcome disorientation by relying on their cockpit instruments however in worst-case scenarios the reaction time may not allow enough time for the pilot to overcome the illusion
college station - texas a&m university electrical engineering professor b don russell has been elected vice president of the united states national committee of cigre an international organization of 80 countries dealing with large high-voltage electric power systems russell who holds the jw runyon jr professorship in engineering becomes the first person from texas a&m to serve in the organizations leadership cigre (conseil internationale des grandes reseaux electriques a haute tension) brings together thousands of researchers and industry technical leaders from almost every country in the world to promote research and technology in high-voltage electric power systems besides serving as vice president of the united states branch of the organization russell also will serve as chairman of the branchs technical committee in this role he will supervise the selection of the research and technical topics presented at the organizations biannual symposium in paris "its extremely important that engineers collaborate so that the best practices in electric power are shared by the international engineering and research community " he said "this organization is the foremost organization for international interaction in electric power systems it is a distinct honor to be asked to be an officer" cigre or the international council on large high voltage electric systems has been a major force in the improvement of electric power infrastructure in developing countries and has helped develop international standards and practices for the industry worldwide russell said russell is a member of the national academy of engineering and past president of the institute of electrical and electronics engineers power engineering society
college station -- dr stuart scott associate professor of petroleum engineering at texas a&m university was awarded the asme international henry r worthington medal at the asme (the american society of mechanical engineers) petroleum division annual industry leadership luncheon earlier this month in houston the medal was given to scott for "eminent achievement in the evolving field of multiphase pumping including his contributions to education technology transfer and the development of the flagship usa research program on multiphase pumping" scotts research interests include multiphase production systems multiphase equipment well performance well completions and reservoir engineering he also oversees the multiphase field laboratory (riverside campus) the tommie e lohman fluid measurement laboratory the chevrontexaco drilling fluids laboratory and a production lab he holds a bachelors degree in petroleum engineering a masters in computer science and a doctorate in petroleum engineering - all from the university of tulsa