Dr. Steven Click. Dr. Click and 5 CEE students organized an Introduction to Engineering Day on May 11, for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders from Wilson Middle School in Hanging Limb, TN. This was an excellent opportunity for young students to see engineering theory and practices. Mechanical and Chemical Engineering participated as well.
Caitlin Balthrop and Bethany Smith. CEE graduating seniors, Caitlin and Bethany were chosen for the department's Senior Student Service Award. The department faculty presents this award to students in recognition of numerous extra-curricular activities that have been of service and benefit to the department. Congratulations!
Faisal Hossain. Dr. Hossain was awarded the Outstanding New Faculty Research Award by the Southeast Section of the American Society of Engineering Education. The award ceremony took place at the annual ASEE SE Conference in Marietta, Georgia where Dr. Hossain was given a medal and a cash award.
Elizabeth Boden. CEE student Beth Boden has been selected as a finalist for the 2009 Derryberry Award.
ASCE Student Chapter. Tech's student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) participated in the 2009 Southeast Student Conference hosted by Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 27 and 28. Our chapter participated in all 14 events and placed 1st in Balsa Wood Design, and 3rd in Visual Display, Steel Bridge Display, and Professional Paper. Overall, Tech placed 4th (out of 25 participating universities).
The goal of ranking in the top 5 in the conference was exceeded and made possible by the efforts of the students, faculty and staff. The student chapter is anticipating another successful year in 2010.
Mr. Chris Berry. Chris Berry, B.S. 2008, has been selected as TTU's representative at the Graduate Education Week in Nashville. Chris will display a poster of his research, meet with legislators, and sit-in on a meeting with one of the legislative committees. This event will give Tech an opportunity to highlight its research and stress the importance of graduate education. Chris is working towards a M.S. under the direction of Dr. Steven Click.
Mr. Gerald Ross. Mr. Gerald Ross, B.S. 1982, has been named Interim Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation by the State Transportation Board. Mr. Ross has spent his entire career at the Georgia DOT. Mr. Ross held positions in the Office of Traffic Operations and the Office of Urban Design before accepting the position of Assistant to the Chief Engineer in 1999. In 2002 he was selected for the position of State Road and Airport Design Engineer. In 2005 he was appointed Division Director of Planning, Data and Intermodal Development and in 2007 he was appointed to the position of Chief Engineer.
Dr. L. K. Crouch. Mr. Bob Melton, Executive Director of the Masonry Institute of Tennessee presented Dr. Crouch with a check for $1,500 for a research project entitled "Greener" Grout for Masonry. Dr. Crouch's CEE 5600 Construction Materials II class will conduct the research.
FE Results. The results for the October 2008 FE Exam are excellent. The December 2008 graduates are to be congratulated on achieving a 100% pass rate.
Joshua Paz. Joshua, a CEE junior, has been selected as the Scholar-Athlete of the Game and will be given the award January 17, 2009 at the women's basketgall game. Joshua played tight end his first year on the Tech football team and moved to wide reciever for the 2008 season. Congratulations, Joshua.
Ms. Ling Tang. Ling Tang, a Ph.D. student has been awarded the prestigious NASA Earth System Science Fellowship. Her research involves solving the paradox of rainfall error estimation over remote regions. Her advisor is Dr. Faisal Hossain.
Dr. Faisal Hossain. Dr. Hossain has been awarded the prestigious NASA New Investigator Program Award for his three-year proposal titled, "Advancing the Hydrologic Potential of NASA's TRMM-based Rainfall Estimation System for Global Flood Monitoring in Anticipation of GPM." He was one of the 18 selected nationally.
Dr. R. Noel Tolbert. Dr. Noel Tolbert retired at the end of the Fall 2007 semester after 28 years of service to the department. Our best wishes to Dr. Tolbert.
Dr. Faisal Hossain. Dr. Hossain has been awarded two one-year NASA grants titled "GPM Data Integration in HEC-HMS for Flood Mapping" ($64,655) and "Validating GPM for SERVIR in South America" ($30,000). Both projects are in collaboration with the University of Mississippi's Department of Geological Engineering during 2007-2008.
Dr. David Huddleston. Dr. Huddleston will be serving as Interim Dean of the College of Engineering while a national search for a Dean is conducted.
Dr. Sharon Huo. Dr. Sharon Huo will be serving as the Interim Chairperson of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department while Dr. David Huddleston is serving as Interim Dean of the College of Engineering.
Steven Click. Dr. Steven Click has been awarded a 1-year, $100,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the project "Application of Non-Traditional Interchange Treatments to Improve Interchange Quality of Service and Preserve the Service Life of Narrow Over-and Underpass Roadways."
Caitlin Balthrop. Caitlin Balthrop, a CEE junior, has been selected to participate in a NSF-sponsored field trip to Ethiopia in the summer of 2007. The 5 week-long trip involves taking hydrologic measurements and interacting with other students from the US and Ethiopia in understanding semi-arid hydrology of the Nile River Basin. Caitlin is currently engaged in conducting undergraduate research on understanding the hydro-politics of flood forecasting in international river basins under the guidance of Dr. Faisal Hossain.
Dr. Vincent Neary. Dr. Neary has been selected to receive a non-instructional faculty assignment for the Spring 2008 semester. Dr. Neary will be collaborating with Dr. George Constantinescu at the University of Iowa. Their research project is Investigation of Coherent Structures and Spatial Inhomogeneities in Vegetated Channel Flows.
Dr. Benjamin Mohr. Dr. Mohr is the receipient of the 2007 TTU Sigma Xi Research Award. This award was granted for his paper "Microstructural and Chemical Effects of Wet/Dry Cycling on Pulp Fiber-Cement Composites" published in Cement and Concrete Research.
He is also one of the ORAU Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards.
He was also honored as the 2nd place recipient of the ASEE Southeastern Section New Faculty Research Award. Congratulations, Dr. Mohr.
Dr. Steven Click. Dr. Click is the recipient of the 2007 TTU Exemplary Course Award recognizing his work with CEE 4640/5640, Highway Engineering. This award recognizes the effective use of technology to enhance student learning. Congratulations, Dr. Click.
Dr. K. Larry Roberts. Dr. Roberts is retiring at the end of Fall Semester 2006 after 27 years at Tennessee Tech. Our best wishes to Dr. Roberts.
Dr. L.K. Crouch has been selected as the 2006-2007 recipient of the Caplenor Award for excellence in research. Dr. Crouch has consistently excelled throughout his TTU career and this is a recognition that is well-deserved. http://www.tntech.edu/techtimes/2006/06_11/11_17/CrouchCaplenor.html
Dr. Faisal Hossain has been awarded a 3-year, $522,000 NASA grant for a proposal titled "Defining Optimality Criteria for the Effective Use of Satellite Precipitation Datasets in Land Surface Hydrology and Water Cycle Studies." This proposal was submitted in collaboration with the University of Connecticut, with the funding divided between the two universities.
Dr. Faisal Hossain is also co-PI on the project "Application of St. Louis Bay Water Quality Model to Develop TMDLs for Tributaries" funded by CDM to support the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
Jonathan Schwenk, a senior CEE student, has taken part in a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at Clarkson University in summer 2006 on Environmental Chemistry. Congratulations, Jon!
Dr. Benjamin Mohr has been awarded a 3-year, $220,767 NSF research grant for "Transport Kinetics of internal Curing Water in High Performance Concretes."
Dr. L. K. Crouch has been awarded a 2-year, $192,508 FHWA grant for "Rapid Repair of Highway and airfield Pavements."
Dr. Steven Click has been awarded a 1-year, $23,819 grant funded by USDOT through the Mack-Blackwell Rural Transportation Center at the University of Arkansas for "Improved Traffic Signal Efficiency in Rural Areas Through the Use of Variable Maximum Green Time."
Dr. Faisal Hossain has been selected as an Associate Editor for the Journal American Water Resources Association. He will be handling manuscript submissions on Artifical intelligence and Advanced Computing in Water Resources Management for the journal.
Nitin Katiyar. Nitin, a CEE graduate student working for Dr. Faisal Hossain, has been awarded an Ivanhoe Fellowship. Mr. Ivanhoe spent the majority of his working years in developing countries and experienced the plight of water-deprived localities. The Ivanhoe Foundation is set up to assist foreign students working toward water-related degrees at the Master's level in U.S. universities. Congratulations, Nitin.
ASCE. Six members of ASCE, accompanied by Jeff Holmes, technician, traveled to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City to participate in the ASCE/AISC Student Steel Bridge Competition May 25-27, 2006. Bridges were judged on construction speed, lightness, aesthetics, stiffness, economy, and efficiency. Tech placed 32nd in stiffness and aesthetics; and 38th in the other categories. This was the first time Tech had been invited to participate in this event. http://www.steelbridge2006.com/
Amanda Harris. Amanda, graduate student of Dr. Faisal Hossain, was selected to participate in the 2005 Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute (NHRI) International Water Science Camp to be held in Nanjing, China in June of this year. This is an excellent professional and cultural opportunity for her. Congratulations for being selected.
Chi Epsilon. Ten members of Chi Epsilon (Civil Engineering honor society) spent Saturday, April 22, 2006, helping to build a Habitat for Humanity home in Cookeville. They worked primarily on building the deck for the house. All agreed that it was a worthwhile project - it gave them valuable construction experience and it helped the community effort to make affordable housing available to deserving people.
ASCE. The student chapter of ASCE has placed THIRD in the Southeastern Conference held March 30 - April 1, 2006. In individual competitions, Tech placed first in transportation, second in concrete strength, and third in visual display and steel bridge. The steel bridge qualified to participate in the ASCE National Student Steel Bridge Competition to be held in May.
Dr. Faisal Hossain. The School of Engineering graduate committee at the University of Connecticut has chosen Dr. Hossain as the recipient of the 2005 Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis Award.
