24 Awards Presented to Engineering Faculty and Staff

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering held its annual faculty and staff recognition dinner Thursday night at Eugene T. Mahoney State Park near Ashland. The following awards were announced:

Henry Y. Kleinkauf Family Distinguished New Faculty Teaching Award: Erick Jones, industrial and management systems engineering; George Morcous, construction systems

Holling Family Master Teacher Award: Jeffrey Shield, mechanical engineering

Holling Family Distinguished Teaching Award for Innovative Use of Instructional Technology: Erick Jones, industrial and management systems engineering

Holling Family Distinguished Teaching/Advising/Mentoring Award: Greg Bashford, biological systems engineering

Multi-disciplinary Research Award: Shane Farritor, mechanical engineering; Dmitry Oleynikov, University of Nebraska Medical Center; and Stephen Platt, mechanical engineering

Faculty Research and Creative Activity Award: Yong-Rak Kim, assistant professor, civil engineering; Won Mee Jang, associate professor, computer and electronics engineering; and Laurence Rilett, professor, civil engineering.

Faculty Service Award: Florin Bobaru, engineering mechanics

J.E. Lagerstrom Outstanding Department, presented by the Engineering Student Advisory Board: Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

College Staff Award for Outstanding Service: Marilena Carvalho, managerial/professional; Kaylea Dunn, managerial/professional; Joyce Hawthorne, office/service; Christine Warren, office/service; Jeffrey Wiese, managerial/professional; Allison Wilson-Adams, office/service

Four faculty were honored at the UNL All University Honors Convocation April 22. Willa Cather Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering: Hendrik Viljoen

Willa Cather Professor of Textiles, Clothing and Design and Professor of Biological Systems Engineering: Yiqi Yang

College Awards for Distinguished Teaching: David Admiraal, civil engineering; Wayne Jensen, construction management and civil engineering

Student Foundation/Builders Award for Outstanding Academic Advising: Dennis Schulte, biological systems engineering

Gary Krause, civil engineering, received the University of Nebraska at Omaha Alumni Association College of Engineering Faculty Teaching Award at the UNO Honors Faculty Convocation April 12.

Rebuilding New Orleans

Story by Ashley Washburn
Photos by Amy Hensley

Photo by Amy Hensley
Right to Left: Professor George Morcous, Student Mike Wiesniewski, Student Jesse Wilke, Professor James Goedert, Professor Yong K. Cho, Professor Avery Schwer, Student Brandon Krelling, Professor Bill Holmes

Brandon Kreiling admits that as a Midwesterner, he initially found it hard to comprehend why the city of New Orleans wanted to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Now that he's visited The Big Easy three times and witnessed the devastation Katrina left behind, he understands.

Kreiling, a graduate assistant, and 11 other faculty and students in the Department of Construction Systems have spent the past year designing floor plans and writing construction manuals that builders will use to build or renovate homes in New Orleans' Esplanade Ridge neighborhood.

In early 2006 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the University of Nebraska-Lincoln a $293,660 grant to participate in the Universities Rebuilding America Partnership. The program is a partnership between the Charles W. Durham School of Architectural Engineering & Construction, HUD and the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. Fifteen other schools also are participating.

Kreiling, a 2000 graduate, was working for HearthStone Homes in Omaha when Professor James Goedert recruited him for the project. Kreiling said his first trip to New Orleans confirmed that returning to school was the right decision. Hearing New Orleanians' stories also convinced him it was necessary to rebuild the once-majestic city.

Click here to read the full article in the lastest edition of Engineering at Nebraska.