Dr. Jorge Leon

Dr. Jorge Leon, professor in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M University, has been selected a member of the Technology Accreditation Commission (TAC) of ABET.

Leon directs the department’s Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology Program.

During his five-year appointment as a TAC commissioner, Leon will team-chair TAC visits to sister institutions around the country. There are about 40 TAC commissioners, and the group meets every year at the ABET Summer Meeting to vote on accreditation for programs around the country.

Leon said, “It is a great honor to be selected to be a TAC commissioner and reflects well on our department, the Dwight Look College of Engineering, and Texas A&M University.”

Submitted by Silvia Martinez, sylviam@entc.tamu.edu

Popularity: unranked [?]

A new full-scale pump facility dedicated Friday (Sept. 25) at Texas A&M University positions its engineering technology and industrial distribution department as a national leader in fluid systems education.

“Thanks to DXP Enterprises Inc., our students can study in a controlled, safe and realistic environment. The DXP Pump Laboratory consists of industry-furnished pumps, speed controllers and data acquisition system similar to those in commercial and industrial applications around the world. These capabilities position us as a leading educator in this important area, both for our undergraduate and continuing education students,” said Walter W. Buchanan, head of the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution and holder of the J.R. Thompson Chair.

David R. Little (center), chairman, president and CEO of DXP Enterprises officially opens the DXP Pump Laboratory assisted by company executives and college representatives. From left, Jorge Leon, Michael Golla, Todd Hamlin, Barry Lawrence, Little, Walter Buchanan, John Jeffery, N.K. Anand, Jorge Alvarado.

The three-part gift to the Texas A&M Foundation from DXP Enterprises Inc. includes a $500,000 laboratory endowment, $75,000 in startup funds and laboratory equipment valued at $75,000.

“DXP’s vision is to provide a state-of-the-art learning center that combines classroom and ‘hands-on’ practical learning opportunities for students at Texas A&M as well as our own employees, customers and suppliers. With the help of several of our key manufacturers, I believe the laboratory is equipped with an appropriate combination of pumping equipment, instrumentation and controls which will allow students to test and confirm basic and advanced principles of fluid technology learned in the classroom,” said David R. Little, chairman, president and CEO of Houston-based DXP Enterprises.

“There are curriculums developed for various levels of knowledge and experience, with instruction provided by the professional staff at Texas A&M. We partnered with the university not only because of their long association with the renowned International Pump Users Symposium and Turbomachinery Laboratory, but also because of the excellent reputation and tradition of their Engineering and Industrial Distribution programs. I am pleased with the progress we have made so far and look forward to working with Texas A&M to continuously improve the learning environment and the capabilities of this facility,” Little said.

“This endowment by DXP Enterprises provides a setting where undergraduate students can gain hands-on/minds-on skills and where practicing engineers, distributors and managerial professionals can continue their education and be trained on real-world equipment,” said Jorge Leon, program director of Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology (MMET).

The endowment is the first for MMET, one of four programs in the department.

“Engineering technology and industrial distribution students conduct consultative and managerial processes for the providers or users of these technologies. A world-class lab like this gives our students the hands-on education necessary to develop such skills, and the education programs continually sharpen our faculty’s skills in delivering an applied education,” said Barry Lawrence, program director of Industrial Distribution (ID). MMET and ID undergraduates will be primary student users of the facility.

Also present at the ceremony were representatives from five of the six corporate partners contributing a combined estimated value of $330,000 in equipment and technical support to the lab: ITT-Goulds Pump; R&CW-Goulds Pump, centrifugal pumps and controls; Viking Pump, an IDEX company, gear and vane pumps; Wilden Pump and Engineering, a Dover company, air-operated double diaphragm pumps; SKF USA Inc., bearings and condition-monitoring rotating equipment; and EagleBurgmann, mechanical and cartridge seals.

In addition to a lecture area with multimedia capability, the laboratory is equipped with four modular-style fluid system trainers and a separate pump room dedicated to real-world simulation of a complete pumping system. Each mobile trainer provides unique training opportunities for inspection, processing or troubleshooting of commercially available pumps in a real-world fluid transfer application. Six pumps in the pump room connect in parallel to two 500-gallon tanks.

The pumps can be monitored remotely in real-time using an ITT-Goulds Web-based system. The combination of real-scale pumping system with Web-based condition monitoring equipment puts Texas A&M at the forefront of fluid systems undergraduate and continuing education for years to come, said lab co-directors Jorge L. Alvarado and Michael Golla.

“The pursuit and maintenance of our program’s excellence would not be possible without such great corporate partners as DXP Industries. We appreciate DXP’s generosity in establishing this endowment, which provides the margin of excellence that allows our students to get the experience needed in order to be successful in industry,” said Jay Roberts, director of development for engineering with the Texas A&M Foundation.

DXP operates nationwide as a leading provider to the industrial sector of maintenance, repair, operating and production (MROP) products and services; innovative pumping solutions; and precision supply chain services. The publicly traded company has over 90 service centers and more than 70 supply chain service locations as well as three regional distribution centers and five fabrication centers.

Written by Exa York

Popularity: unranked [?]

The United States is in an energy crisis, prompting power companies to look for young engineers to help solve this crisis.

To fulfill this need for a new engineering and technology workforce, the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University has created a Power Engineering Technology (PET) emphasis within the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution (ETID).

Students are already enrolling in PET coursework, which gives them a solid grounding in electronics and mechanical engineering technology. Although the emphasis is on nuclear energy, the curriculum is broad enough to ensure that graduates will be equipped to work in any branch of the power industry.

“Graduates will have many opportunities. They will be able to work not only in nuclear power plants but also in companies involved in transmitting and distributing power,” said Dr. Jay Porter, program director and associate professor in ETID.

The power industry—the nuclear power sector in particular—is set for rapid growth. In Texas, South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC), Luminant and Exelon have announced their intentions to license and build six new nuclear power plants. These plants will require approximately 2,000 qualified personnel to operate and maintain them.

“The majority of the power industry workforce is older than 45 years, and many of these employees will retire within 7-10 years. It’s an aging workforce, and the power sector needs new young engineers,” Porter said.

To fulfill its immediate, short-term and long-term workforce needs, STPNOC approached ETID and the nuclear engineering department in 2007 with a proposal to create a four-year degree that focused on power engineering technology. The departments responded quickly. A faculty member, Dr. Wei Zhan, spent the summer of 2007 onsite at STPNOC learning about its workforce needs. Using this knowledge, a new curriculum was designed by modifying existing courses.

This curriculum includes a strong emphasis in three technical areas:

• Electronic engineering technology, with a focus in the areas of power, instrumentation and control.
• Mechanical engineering technology, with a focus in the areas of materials, thermal systems and mechanics.
• Nuclear engineering, with a focus in nuclear reactor physics and operation and radiological safety.

To date, the college has received $200,000 from the Texas Workforce Commission towards this project. Students will be taught by faculty from the departments of ETID and nuclear engineering and participate in internships in companies such as STPNOC.

The Power Engineering Technology emphasis is multidisciplinary. It is a joint venture between the Dwight Look College of Engineering and the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), which is the engineering research agency the State of Texas and a member of The Texas A&M University System.

For more information, contact Dr. Jay Porter

Written by Marissa Doshi

Popularity: 64% [?]

The Texas A&M University System has recognized 10 Texas A&M Engineering faculty members with the 2009 Teaching Excellence Award.

Dr. Daniel F. Jennings, the I. Andrew Rader Professor in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution, was among the Top 5 percent of faculty honorees.

Other recipients include:

• Luciana Barroso, associate professor, Zachry Department of Civil Engineering
• Jaime Grunlan, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Kalyana Nakshatrala, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Arunachalam Narayanan, assistant professor, Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution
• Devesh Ranjan, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Bryan Rasmussen, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Lin Shao, assistant professor, Department of Nuclear Engineering
• Byung-Jun Yoon, assistant professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Salih Yurttas, senior lecturer, Department of Computer Science and Engineering

These faculty were among the 54 Texas A&M University honorees and the 144 system-wide faculty members recognized by the A&M System, which awarded more than $500,000 in the second presentation of the Teaching Excellence Awards, a voluntary, student-selected honors program launched in Fall 2008. Awards are based on rankings from uations created and administered by students, with weighting for factors such as class size.

The program was initiated by Chancellor Michael D. McKinney in 2008 to honor and financially reward the system’s top teachers as selected by students. For the spring 2009 semester, the program expanded to all the campuses in the A&M System. All faculty who teach at least a 3-hour course are eligible.

Lesley V. Kriewald, lesleyk@tamu.edu

Popularity: 37% [?]

Dr. Daniel F. Jennings, the I. Andrew Rader Professor in Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M University, was elected to the Board of Directors for the Texas Labor Management Conference (TXLMC) at its June 4 annual meeting in San Antonio.

Dr. Daniel F. Jennings

Jennings is the director of the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution’s Master of Industrial Distribution Program and joined the Dwight Look College of Engineering faculty in 1997 as a professor. He was previously the Mays Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management at Baylor University.

TXLMC is a partnership between labor organizations and employers from the public, private, and government sectors that promotes “working together in Texas” through a variety of work shops. The board consists of 40 members: 17 from labor, 17 from management, four from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) and two from academia. Jennings was appointed as an academic member.

A registered professional engineer in Texas, Jennings holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering with honors from the University of Tennessee, an MBA from Northeast Louisiana University and a PhD from Texas A&M.

Jennings is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators and has been involved in labor arbitration since 1988. His research interests are in the area of strategic alliances, executive scanning, managerial perceptions and the alignment between strategy and structure. His industry experience includes engineering and managerial positions in forest products and chemical firms located in the United States, Canada and South America.

Contact: Dr. Daniel F. Jennings, djennings@tamu.edu

Popularity: 24% [?]

Texas A&M Engineering students have won multiple third-place awards in the 2009 Ideas Challenge.

Students at Texas A&M University focus on innovation through the annual Ideas Challenge event, hosted by the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship (CNVE) at Mays Business School.

Patrick Duffy and Ryan Becker from the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution placed third with their Bottle-Net WANulator, a WAN (wide area network) simulator that will allow for a company’s remote users to have the bandwidth necessary to run applications.

Alfredo Ramirez, Paul Nester, Matt Achimon and Brent Dyer also from the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution placed third with their invention, Temperature Guard, an autonomous child entrapment identification and alarm system.

Other engineering students who were part of several third-place teams include Gordon Burgett, Richelle Kila and Colin Bryson from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Kyle Logsdon from the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering and Seong Kang from the Department of Nuclear Engineering; and Michael Massicotte from the Department of Aerospace Engineering, John Tyler from the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering’s Ocean Engineering Program and Klark Kurz of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Teams presented their ideas during the May 6 competition, which gave students the chance to pitch their ideas for new products and services to successful members of the business and academic world.

The competition, open to all Aggie students ranging from freshman to doctoral level, began with an essay requiring participants to describe their “big idea.” Out of more than 400 student entries, 40 finalist individuals and teams were chosen to present their ideas to a panel of judges that included lawyers, consultants and executives from across the state.

After a five-minute presentation by the would-be entrepreneurs, the judges challenged participants to think on their feet through a tough question-and-answer session. Judges quizzed the students on the marketability and feasibility of each proposal, providing friendly, constructive feedback to the students.

The top 10 teams split a total of $13,000.

About Mays Business School and the CNVE

Mays Business School currently enrolls more than 4,000 undergraduate students and 875 graduate students. Mays is nationally ranked among public business schools for the quality of its undergraduate program, MBA program and the faculty scholarship of its 110 professors in five departments.

The Texas A&M Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship provides encouragement, education, networking and assistance to entrepreneurially-minded students, faculty and Texas businesses. Founded in 1999, the center is part of Mays Business School’s Department of Management. The center enhances student education through campus speakers, competitions, work experiences and financial support.

For more information, visit http://mays.tamu.edu or http://www.cnve.org.

Lesley Kriewald, lesleyk@tamu.edu

Popularity: 31% [?]

Texas A&M Engineering's hybrid car won first place in a competition May 4-6 in New Hampshire.

A team of engineering students from Texas A&M University has won the 2009 international Formula Hybrid race car competition on their first try.

The team scored 981 out of a possible 1,000 points to win four of five events in competition against 29 other teams from colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, India, Taiwan and Russia with a hybrid gasoline-electric powered formula-style race car. The competition was held May 4-6 in Loudon, N.H.

Colorado State University and Drexel University finished second and third, respectively.

The team won events in which they presented their design and a business case to a panel of judges. They also won the autocross event — a test of the car’s agility — and the 24-lap endurance event. In a test of acceleration, the car finished third in electric motor-only acceleration and second in electric plus engine acceleration.

The students designed and built the formula-style vehicle in a two-semester senior design course. They designed the car during the 2008 fall semester and presented the design concept and final design to a review panel of engineers and racing and automotive experts. In spring 2009, the students built and tested the car. This is the first year Texas A&M has participated in the Formula Hybrid competition. Texas A&M teams have taken part in the international Formula SAE competition since 1999 and won that competition in 2000, 2006 and 2006.

Team advisor Make McDermott, associate professor of mechanical engineering, estimated that the students spent about 15,000 man-hours designing, building and testing the vehicle.

The 29 students from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and and the Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology program in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution took part in the 2009 Formula Hybrid competition.

Gene Charleton, e-charleton@tamu.edu

Popularity: 16% [?]

Texas A&M Engineering honored more than 40 faculty members for teaching, research and service at an awards banquet April 23.

Honored for contributions to Texas A&M Engineering were

E.D. Brockett Professorship Award
• Dr. Karen L. Butler Purry, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Dr. Yu Ding, Industrial and Systems Engineering
• Dr. Juergen Hahn, Chemical Engineering

Halliburton Foundation Professorship
• Dr. Eyad Masad, Civil Engineering
• Dr. Lawrence Rauchwerger, Computer Science and Engineering

Dr. G. Kemble Bennet, vice chancellor and dean of engineering, presents Dr. Joseph A. Morgan (right) with an award.

Texas A&M Engineering Faculty Fellows
Barbara and Ralph Cox ‘53 Faculty Fellow
• Dr. Ricardo Gutierrez-Osuna, Computer Science and Engineering
Dwight Look College of Engineering Faculty Fellow
• Dr. Swaroop Darbha, Mechanical Engineering
• Dr. Joseph A. Morgan, Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution
Eugene E. Webb ‘42 Faculty Fellow
• Dr. Ohannes Eknoyan, Electrical and Computer Engineering
George Armistead, Jr. ‘23 Faculty Fellow
• Dr. Alvin Yeh, Biomedical Engineering
• Dr. Ding Zhu, Petroleum Engineering
Herbert H. Richardson Faculty Fellow
• Dr. Paul G.A. Cizmas, Aerospace Engineering
William Keeler Faculty Fellows
• Dr. Ahmad Ghassemi, Petroleum Engineering
• Dr. Juergen Hahn, Chemical Engineering
William O. and Montine P. Head Faculty Fellows
• Dr. Amarnath Banerjee, Industrial and Systems Engineering
• Dr. Jean C. Ragusa, Nuclear Engineering
Williams brothers Construction Co. Faculty Fellow
• Dr. David N. Ford, Civil Engineering

Charles W. Crawford Service Award
• Dr. Amarnath Banerjee, Industrial and Systems Engineering
• Dr. Richard Furuta, Computer Science and Engineering
• Dr. Kenneth R. Hall, Chemical Engineering
• Dr. Ray W. James, Civil Engineering
• Dr. W. Dan Turner, Mechanical Engineering
• Dr. Matthew M. Whitacre, Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution

For teaching excellence
Association of Former Students College-level Distinguished Teaching Awards
• Dr. Norm Clark, Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution
• Dr. Kenith E. Meissner, Biomedical Engineering
• Dr. Swaroop Darbha, Mechanical Engineering
• Dr. Jennifer L. Welch, Computer Science and Engineering

Caterpillar Teaching Excellence Award
• Dr. Leland A. Carlson, Aerospace Engineering
• Dr. Stefan Hurlebaus, Civil Engineering
• Dr. Kenith E. Meissner, Biomedical Engineering
• Dr. Pavel V. Tsvetkov, Nuclear Engineering

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company Excellence in Engineering Teaching Award
• Dr. Mahmoud M. El-Halwagi, Chemical Engineering

Tenneco Meritorious Teaching Award
• Dr. Swaroop Darbha, Mechanical Engineering
• Dr. Ricardo Gutierrez-Osuna, Computer Science and Engineering

For research excellence
TEES Senior Fellow
• Dr. Meinhard T. Schobeiri, Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Meinhard T. Schobeiri (right) is honored as TEES Senior Fellow by Dr. G. Kemble Bennett, vice chancellor and dean of engineering.

TEES Fellow
• Dr. Rodney D.W. Bowersox, Aerospace Engineering
• Dr. Moo-Hyun Kim, Civil Engineering
• Dr. Dmitri Loguinov, Computer Science and Engineering
• Dr. Christi K. Madsen, Electrical and Computer Engineering

TEES Select Young Faculty
• Dr. Jorge L. Alvarado, Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution
• Dr. Debjyoti Banerjee, Mechanical Engineering
• Dr. A. Amine Benzerga, Aerospace Engineering
• Dr. Jean-Francois Chamberland, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Dr. Mariah S. Hahn, Chemical Engineering

View more photos here.

Popularity: 34% [?]

Texas A&M Engineering’s graduate program ranked 14th overall (8th among public institutions) in the latest U.S. News & World Report survey, “America’s Best Graduate Schools 2010.”

Individual programs ranked were: Aerospace Engineering, 13 (8 public); Biomedical Engineering, 30 (14); Chemical Engineering, 27 (18); Civil Engineering, 13 (8); Computer Engineering, 20 (13); Electrical Engineering, 20 (12); Industrial Engineering, 8 (6); Mechanical Engineering, 17 (10); Nuclear Engineering, 3 (2); Agricultural Engineering 3 (2) and Petroleum Engineering, last ranked in 2008, was second nationally and second among public institutions.

The Look College was contacted earlier this week by Robert Morse, director of data research for U.S. News & World Report, indicating that the Biological and Agricultural Engineering rankings category erroneously listed “Texas Tech University” instead of “Texas A&M University” as the third highest-ranked program.

The error was not detected until after the publication had been printed, so the May 2009 issue of U.S.News & World Report and newsstand guidebook will incorrectly report the third-ranked program as Texas Tech, not Texas A&M. The online version of rankings correctly identify Texas A&M in the Biological and Agricultral Engineering category on the US News & World Report Web site.

Popularity: 35% [?]

Approximately 130 former students of the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution attended the first ETID Engineering Technology Tailgate on Saturday (April 18).  Those who attended  were some of the department’s most avid supporters and they were anxious to tour laboratories and see the exciting things going on in the department.  Walter Buchanan, J.R. Thompson Chair and Department Head, Jorge Leon, Allen-Bradley Professor and Program Director for Manufacturing and Mechanical ET, and Jay Porter, Eppright Professor and Program Director of Electronics and Telecommunications ET, hosted the former students.

Department tours were conducted by Mike Golla, lecturer, of the Bosch-Rexroth/Womack Fluid Power Lab and the DXP Pump Laboratory, new endowed labs in J.R. Thompson Hall, as well as other new labs and renovations that have occurred in the past five years in the department. Porter and students were available to show off the electronics and telecom labs.

The alums were then invited to revisit their favorite areas of the campus and join the department for barbecue at the Olsen Field Pavilion.  Buchanan gave a brief update on the happenings of the department and introduced the faculty in attendance.  A drawing was held for a Mike Sherman autographed football and it was won by Joe Phillips, Class of 1972.  An A&M door prize was given to the oldest graduate, James Boone, Class of 1944, who informed those present that Earl Rudder was a graduate of the department.  A door prize was also given to the person traveling the longest distance and it was awarded to one of two couples who traveled from North Dallas.   After the dinner was over the alums attended the Texas A&M baseball game against Nebraska.

Popularity: 6% [?]