$500K to study cloud computing goes to the College of Engineering’s Ram Krishnan

Ram Krishnan, assistant professor in the UTSA College of Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (left), and Ravi Sandhu, professor in the College of Science and director of the UTSA Institute for Cyber Security, have been awarded $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to improve the security of cloud-based infrastructures.

“Our research really complements what is already going on here at UTSA,” said Krishnan. “Receiving this NSF grant allows us to share the ground-breaking research taking place at UTSA with the nation and the globe.”

Huang and Zhang awarded $1.08 million from NIH

The National Institutes of Health recently awarded a $1.08M grant to Yufei Huang, professor in the College of Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Jianqiu (Michelle) Zhang, associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, to develop new bioinformatics tools to study mRNA methylation and breast cancer.

“Basically, we are looking at the inner workings of mRNA and methylation and by using deep genome sequencing technology and computer models, we are trying to uncover a new mechanism of cancer,” said Huang. “Such mechanisms can help us predict which cells in a human’s body may become cancerous and stop cancer in its tracks before it even forms.”

Hai-Chao Han elected a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Hai-Chao Han, professor in the College of Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been elected a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers by his peers for his exemplary record of engineering achievements in education and research.

“I am honored to be elected as a fellow of ASME,” said Han. “I am grateful to my nominator and colleagues who have been very supportive over the years.”

UTSA part of consortium receiving $1.2 million from Navy

The Department of the Navy has awarded a threeyear $1.2 million grant to a four university consortium, including The University of Texas at San Antonio, entitled “Unified Approach to Increase STEM Undergraduate Students Employment in the Department of the Navy.”

The consortium includes Huston–Tillotson University (Austin), Texas Southern University (Houston) and The University of Texas at San Antonio. UTSA College of Engineering’s Drs. Ruyan Guo, Robert E. Clarke professor, and Amar Bhalla, distinguished research professor, will lead the effort at UTSA to develop a vibrant and high quality education and research program that attracts, educates, and trains participating engineering students.

Biomedical undergrads score three first places in College of Science competition

The UTSA College of Sciences held the 2014 Research Conference “Excellence in Basic and Translational Science Research” this October. College of Engineering Biomedical Engineering undergraduate students Marissa Wechsler, Rita Thornton, and Krysta Amezcua all placed first in their respective categories, based on the work they presented during the judged poster presentations.

“We in the department are very proud of these student achievements,” said Joo L. Ong, chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. “The fact that three of our students won 1st place awards at the 2014 College of Science Research Conference reflects the quality and competitiveness of our biomedical engineering students.”

TRIO and MAES host rocket launch and competition

The University of Texas at San Antonio TRIO’s Educational Talent Search Program collaborated with the university’s Mexican American Engineers and Scientists (MAES) student organization to host the 1st Annual Solid Fuel Rocket Launch and Competition this summer. High school students participating in the summer program designed, built, and launched solid fuel rockets with the assistance of UTSA Engineering students from MAES.

Feng and team receive $300K from SALSI

Yusheng Feng, director of UTSA’s SiViRT Center and professor in the College of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, and his team received a $300,000 San Antonio Life Sciences Institute (SALSI) grant to establish a Medical Data Analytics and Visualization Cluster.

“I was very excited to hear that our team won the SALSI award,” said Feng. “The goal of our team is to develop software and hardware tools to enable data-driven predictive medicine. With available big data, we use bioinformatics and novel machine-learning algorithms for early cancer diagnosis, image-based computer models for better prognosis and treatment planning, and optimized fast track methods for efficient medical emergency decision-making. We also use cutting-edge technology to develop immersive virtual reality training system for surgical training.”

The 3rd Annual Texas Energy Expo

The 3rd Annual Texas Energy Expo took place this fall on UTSA Main Campus. The job fair and luncheon allowed recruiters and students to meet in an efficient format with an opportunity for more in-depth engagement during the luncheon, where Institute for Economic Development research director Thomas Tunstall presented the findings from the institute’s 2014 study, Economic Impact of the Eagle Ford Shale. During the luncheon, ten students received $1,000 – $2,000 each in scholarships from the American Petroleum Institute San Antonio Chapter. The $11,000 in scholarships are part of a $100,000 gift that the San Antonio Chapter of the API has made to COE over the last two years.

WEN luncheon provides networking opportunities for females students

This fall, the Women’s Energy Network South Texas Chapter hosted the WEN Mentoring Luncheon at UTSA. The event allowed female professionals in the energy sector to talk to female students about their experiences in the field. Keynote speaker Misty Rowe (above) from Halliburton spoke about her company and why she loves her career leading a team of engineering professionals. This is the second year in a row that the networking luncheon has been sponsored by Halliburton.

Guda named assistant director of CITE

The UTSA Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship (CITE) has received $300,000 from the 80/20 Foundation to continue its growth as San Antonio’s pipeline for young tech entrepreneurs. On the heels of becoming the fi rst Texas university to receive distinction as a National Science Foundation Innovation Corps Site, UTSA’s focus on technology entrepreneurship is about to expand even further. UTSA has appointed College of Engineering’s biomedical engineering assistant professor of research Teja Guda as assistant director of CITE. Guda specializes in the area of developing regenerative strategies for bone and skeletal muscle tissue engineering and works closely with the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research to translate these therapies to treat wounded warriors. He understands the important role engineers play in developing innovative products and technologies that could change the world and has developed an engineering course at UTSA on product development.

VizLab teams up with UTSA Anthropology

Yusheng Feng, professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and director of SiViRT Computation Center, and his students in the Advanced Visualization Lab (VizLab) teamed up with the UTSA Anthropology Department to scan and print six 1,500-year-old copper bells that UTSA faculty member and archaeologist Sonia Alconini and her students excavated during an archaeological dig in the Andes of South America.

“Our engineering students not only helped Alconini digitize the bell, but they also helped restore the bell geometry by smooth wireframe representation for further vibration and sound effect analysis,” said Feng. “The technologies we have in the lab can be utilized in many crossdisciplinary fi elds across campus. The VizLab is not only a great resource for the College of Engineering, but the whole university community.”

Michael Lasch, graduate research assistant who works with Feng in the VizLab, had the chance to handle and scan the bells with the VizLab’s advanced laser scanner.

“I never had any idea that I would be working with objects that are this old,” said Lasch. “I always expected that we would be working with all the newest technologies; it never crossed my mind that we could leverage these new technologies to learn so much about our past.”

Six UTSA faculty win $20,000 in seed funding to support new areas of research

The Grants for Research Advancement and Transformation (GREAT) program, sponsored by the UTSA Office of the Vice President for Research, has awarded six seed grants of $20,000 each to support new areas of research for faculty. The primary goal of the awards is to assemble preliminary data that can be used to seek extramural funding and advance UTSA’s goal of reaching Tier One status. Two of the awards were given to engineering faculty members Adel Alaeddini, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, to study “Integrative Statistical and Operational Methods for Effective Chronic Disease Management” and Krystel Castillo, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, to study “Integrated Modeling and Optimization of Supply Chain Design for Sustainable Bioenergy Systems.”