Engineering Newsletter

SPRING Issue 2008

Departmental News:

Chemical and Biological
- Koffas: Training Microorganisms
  
  A UB research team led by Mattheos A. G. Koffas, assistant professor (CBE), is collaborating with First Wave Technologies Inc in an attempt to “train” microbial systems to produce high yields of chemicals.
- CE Discovery Controls Particle Motion
  
  Dr. Jeffrey Errington, associate professor (CBE), and Director of Undergraduate Studies, contributed to a research discovery in controlling fluid particle motion through tiny channels, potentially aiding the development of micro- and nano-scale technologies.

Civil, Structural, and Environmental
- Hospital Room Shook Up in First Seismic Experiment of Its Kind
  
  The NSF-funded Nonstructural Components Simulator (NCS) had an initial public demonstration at UB’s Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simulation Laboratory (SEESL), providing engineers with a first realistic, experimental method of simulating and evaluating how earthquakes damage buildings.
- Engineers Without Borders Aiding Kigoma
  
  The UB student club Engineers Without Borders (EWB), advised by CSEE Professor Cemalettin Basaran and mentored by Michael Weyand, P.E., has teamed with the non-governmental organization (NGO) MIBOS to build a primary school for war orphans in the Kigoma region of Tanzania, and provide them with a stable source of clean water.

Computer Science and Engineering
- Distinguished Professor Srihari, CSE, on Research Projects
  
  A UB research team led by Sargur N. Srihari, SUNY Distinguished Professor, (CSE), director, UB’s Center of Excellence in Document Analysis and Recognition (CEDAR), received an NSF award to develop new algorithms that may allow computers to grade children’s handwritten essays.
- Science Fiction Becoming Science Fact
  
  Venu Govindaraju, professor, CSE, is founding director of the Center of Excellence for Unified Biometrics and Sensors (CUBS), and associate director of the Center of Excellence for Document Analysis and Recognition (CEDAR). Much of Govindaraju’s research relates to biometrics, which he describes as “the science of identifying people.” Govindaraju says CUBS looks at different aspects of biometrics: facial, voice, fingerprint, iris, and gait recognition; and odor detection and hand geometry.

Electrical
- UB Engineers Can Detect An Electron’s Single Spin
  
  UB engineers have developed a device that traps, detects, and manipulates the single spin of an electron, overcoming major obstacles in spintronics and spin-based quantum computing.
- Faculty Achievements: Cartwright, Takeuchi
  
  Alexander Cartwright, professor (EE) has been appointed UB Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives. Professor Esther Takeuchi, who holds a joint appointment in CBE and EE, has been selected as an inaugural winner of the Astellas USA Foundation Award, administered by the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Industrial and Systems
- UB Engineers Find Airport Security Speeds Up For Laptops
  
  An interdisciplinary group of UB ISE researchers have demonstrated that long lines cause airport security screeners to speed up inspection, but only for laptops.
- Redesigning Tracking Tools May Have Unintended Consequences
  
  UB researchers presented findings at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society revealing that proper design of computational tools is critical if they will be used successfully in patient-care settings.

Mechanical and Aerospace
- UB’s Mechanical Engineering in Vietnam
  
  A top Vietnamese university, Nguyen University of Technology (TNUT), near Hanoi, has partnered with UB to teach the Engineering School’s undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum.
- Virtual Frog Dissection
  
  A spin-off of UB’s Virtual Reality Laboratory (VRL), Tactus Technologies, has developed and marketed V-Frog, the world’s first virtual-reality-based frog-dissection software.

New Faculty, By Department

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