EE News & Events

Academic Calendar

January 2008

Graduate Student Receives Student Paper Award

Electrical engineering graduate student Yaoxuan Han received second place in the 2007 International Congress on Applications of Lasers and Electro-Optics (ICALEO) Student Paper Award Contest. Yaoxuan Han presented "Laser-Assisted Diamond Deposition on Copper Substrated using Combustion-Flame Method (M801)."

The conference is the largest annual event of the Laser Institute of America and included 566 participants. The first and third place awards were won by German and Russian teams.

His paper will now enter the peer review process for the Journal of Laser Applications for publishing.

August 2006

Dr. Gursoy has recently received the NSF CAREER Award for his project "CAREER: Energy-Efficient Wireless Communications Under Channel Uncertainty: Fundamental Limits and Tradeoffs." The CAREER award is the National Science Foundation's most prestigious award given in support of the early career-development activities of new faculty members who most effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization. The goal of his project is to establish the fundamental performance limits of wireless communications when channel conditions are imperfectly known, and developenergy-efficient communication techniques.

Dr. Gursoy also received the Layman's Award for his project "Efficient Communication Designs for Energy-Constrained Wireless Ad-hoc and Sensor Networks". The Layman Award is a UNL award aimed at providing seed money for projects that will enhance faculty members' ability to obtain external funding or produce prominent scholarly work.

August 2006

Dr. Alexander has been chosen to be featured in the July 24, 2006 issue of Virtual Journal of Nanoscale Science and Technology. The Virtual Journal is publish by American Institute of Physics and the American Physical Society and contains articles that have appeared in participating source journal on specific topics. Dr. Alexander's article "Demonstration of a nanoparticle-based optical diode" co-written with J. Bruce III, C. Zuhlke, B. Koch, R. Rudebusch, J. Deogun, and H. Hamza and which was originally published in Optics Letters.

August 2006

Dr. Woollam, a George Holmes Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering was named a fellow of the American Vacuum Society (AVS). The AVS is a non-profit society that promotes communication on research between different organizations. The society was founded in 1953 and promotes communication though annual symposium and numerous topical conferences throughout the year.

Dr. Woollam is also a fellow in the American Physical Society. John Woollam started at the University in 1979 with an education in both Physics and Electrical Engineering. Woollam's group at UNL automated a spectroscopic ellipsometer in the late 80s to use for studying new semiconductor materials. The merits of this automated instrument developed interest from visiting scientists who wanted a system for themselves. In a daring step, Woollam formed his own company to produce automated ellipsometers. With continued growth, the company is now a world-leader in spectroscopic ellipsometry.

August 2006

Mathias M. Schubert, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, received the 2006 Ludwig-Genzel-Prize for his contributions to generalized infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry and application to numerous problems in solid state science. The Ludwig-Genzel-Prize is awarded to a young scientist for exceptional contributions to the field of condensed-matter spectroscopy. The prize is awarded every two years during the International Conference on Low Energy Electrodynamics in Solids (LEES), which was held this year in Tallinn. Read more

August 2006

Dr. Lu has received several grants recently. Lu was the PI on an NSF grant for "Self-Aligned Nanomanufacturing of Carbon Nanotubes for Nanoelectronics." He was also a PI on an NSF grant for "SGER: Near-Field-Controlled Nanoscale Coating of Functional Thin Films for Nanodevices." Dr Lu also received a grant for Rotational Raman Spectroscopy for Analyzing Semiconductor Crystal Orientation from the Panasonic Boston Lab.

August 2006

Dr. Soukup and Dr. Ianno have received a grant from the Nebraska Research Initiative for "A New Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Material for High Efficiency Solar Cells." They have also received a grant from the Department of Energy for "CIBS Solar Cell Development." Both of these grants are both in collaboration with colleagues at UNK. These projects are related and are the study of a new material which has the potential of being used to fabricate highly efficient solar cells. Dr. Soukup and Dr. Ianno are also working on a grant from the Army Research Laboratory on "Thin Films of Ba 1-xSr xTiO 3 on Cost Effective Substrates: A Modeling, Simulation and Experimental Program." This grant deals with a dielectric material, barium-strontium titanate for use in small electronically steerable antennas and varactor capacitors.

2005 William M. Portnoy Award

Jerry Hudgins, chair of electrical engineering and colleagues from UNL, the University of South Carolina and Cambridge University in Great Britain, received the 2005 William M. Portnoy Award for their presentation, "Modeling of IGBT Resistive and Inductive Turn-On Behavior." This is the top award presented for a technical paper and presentation among papers given in sessions sponsored by Power Electronic Devices and Components Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society. The conference is one of three top-tier international meetings for Power Electronics, Devises, and Electric Machine Drives.

Award Winners of the Graduate Student Paper Competition for 2005/06 in Electrical Engineering

Pictured are Dr. Sina Balkir, Graduate Chair of Electrical Engineering, First Place, Jing Shi, Ph.D. student, advisor Dr. Yongfeng Lu, Second Place, Gulin Tulunay, Ph.D. student, advisor Dr. Sina Balkir, and Third Place, James Hughenin-Love, M.S. student, advisor Dr. Rodney Soukup and Dr. Jerry Hudgins, Chair of Electrical Engineering. The winners received a certificate and a monetary award for their endeavors.

Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation Award

April, 2006 - James D. McFarland a junior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln received the Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation award. This scholarship is awarded on academic merit in the fields of mathematics, science and engineering. Over a thousand nominations were received and 323 were awarded. James is majoring in Electrical Engineering and plans to receive a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and conduct research focused on solid state semiconductors at a major university.

Dr. R. J. Soukup, Henson Professor of Electrical Engineering

Dr. R. J. Soukup, Henson Professor of Electrical Engineering, was awarded the prestigious 2005 Meritorious Service Award from the Education Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers at the Frontiers in Education Conference in Indianapolis, IN on Friday, October 24, 2005. His plaque reads "For meritorious service to the Education Society, for service as Treasurer, and for mentoring many members of the society." Click here for more information.

Available- "One Hundred Years of Excellence: The Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Nebraska 1895-1995" a book by A. John Boye. Click here to learn more information and how to order a copy.

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