Raymond Moore has been appointed Interim Associate Dean of the Omaha campus effective July 1. Moore is co-chair of civil engineering in Omaha and is continuing in that capacity.

   Moore replaces Suzanne Rohde, who is returning to Sweden to complete her activities as a TFR Distinguished Visiting Professor in Linköping.

   James Goedert has been appointed chair of the Construction Systems Technology Dept. Goedert has a Ph.D. in business and joined the faculty in 1989. He received the University Distinguished Teaching Award in 1995 and is a registered engineer.

Kudos

• Aemal Khattak, civil engineering, received the 2001 Young Researcher Award from the Transportation Research Board Committee on Safety Data, Analysis and Evaluation.
• Maher Tadros and Nebraska Department of Roads’ engineers were finalists for the CERF Charles Pankow Award for Innovation given in conjunction with the ASCE Opal awards in Los Angeles. They were recognized for work on the NUDECK system.
• Hamid Sharif, computer and electronics engineering, received the UNO Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award.
• Gary Krause, civil engineering, and Dennis Schulte, biological systems engineering, received College Distinguished Teaching Awards from UNL.
• Sebastian Elbaum, computer science and engineering, is the recipient of the Harold and Esther Edgerton Junior Faculty Award from UNL.
• Karen Schurr, civil engineering, received the Olsson Associates Civil Engineering Faculty Teaching Excellence Award from Chi Epsilon.
• Associate Dean John Ballard is chair-elect for Zone III of the American Society of Engineering Education.

Students Honors and Awards

• Amy Davis, computer engineering, was awarded a scholarship to participate in the doctoral program of the International Conference on Principles and Practices of Constraint Programming held in Cyprus.
• Kudos to the interdisciplinary team that worked on the Owen Industries sign design project: Jeff Hahn, Greg Laakso and Brett Magnusen, architectural engineering, Steve Hansen and Emil Tadros, construction systems technology, and Ben O’Brien, industrial systems technology.
• Construction management students placed second in the national MCAA Student Design Competition in Boca Raton, Fla.
• Audra Hansen and Jennifer Queen, civil engineering, were awarded graduate fellowships from the American Concrete Institute.

• Tenure and promotion to associate professor: Sina Balkir (EE), Charles Berryman (CM), Bill Kranz (BSE), Julia Morse (IST), Lim Nguyen (CEEN), Lance Perez (EE), and Joseph Turner (EM).
• Promotion to full professor: E. Terence Foster (CST), Robert Palmer (EE), Steve Reichenbach (CSE), Suzanne Rohde (ME), Hamid Sharif (CEEN), Hendrik Viljoen (ChemE) and Tim Wentz (CM).

Comings & Goings

• New Staff: Coral Eberly, Nina Huffman (CivE); Sharon Lieske (ME); Elizabeth Carpenter, Bin Zheng (ArchE); Michelle Murphy (CST).
• Departures: Rhonda Brand (BSE); Eric Hasselbalch (IMSE); Lorraine Olson (ME); Robert Throne (EE); Mostafa Khattab (CM).
• Retirements: Florence “Brownie” Fladby (CST), Bob Fladby (CEEN).

Grant Awards Over $250,000

• G. Henze, “Predictive Optimal Control of Active and Passive Building Thermal,” U.S. Energy Dept., $552,719.
• D. Sicking, J. Rohde, J. Reid, “Midwest States Pooled Fund,” Nebraska Dept. of Roads, $630,527.
• A. Azizinamini, “Steel Bridge,” Nebraska Dept. of Roads, $297,204.
• D. Sicking, “Identification of Vehicular Impact Conditions Associated with Serious Ran-Off-Road Crashes,” National Academy of Sciences, $499,999.
• G. Gogos, “Validated Numerical Models for the Convective Extinction of Fuel,” NASA EPSCoR/UNO Aviation Institute, $706,857.
• P. McCoy, “Facilitation and Coor-dination of Nebraska Intelligent Transportation Systems Project,” Nebraska Department of Roads, $369,753.
• Y. Dzenis, “Fatigue Fracture Analysis and Day of Fundamentals,” AFOSR, $330,000.
• M. Meagher, “Fermentation and Purification Development for the Manufacturing of Recombinant Monocyte Neutrophil Elastase Inhibitor from Pichia Pastoris,” Center for Blood Research, $338,790.
• M. Meagher, “Process Research and Development of Antibodies as Countermeasures for C. botulinum,” Army Medical Research, $5,593,000.
• M. Meagher, “Molecular Biology and Downstream Processing,” Pepgen, $338,599.
• D. Alexander, “Improved Optical Communications,” EPSCoR-ONR, $471,481.
• L. Wang, “CAREER: Integrating Time-Variant Source Directivity into Architectural Acoustic Auralizations,” National Science Foundation, $377,376.

   When Robert Williams received his first patent in February, it was somewhat anticlimactic.

   “I knew there had been a notice of allowance in September (2001), but until I knew that there was actually a number, I didn’t get too excited,” the associate professor in industrial and management systems engineering said. He did, however, send out emails to friends and family and admits “I felt like taking it with me when I went out with friends.” While he did not take it out on social outings, he did take the patent to one of his classes to show the students—several of them had been involved in design projects that were related to what he was working on.

   “It was kind of to show them that what we were doing had seen the light and been approved.”

   Williams received the patent for developing a new acoustic emission monitoring technique for abrasive flow machining (officially titled Method and Apparatus for Controlling Abrasive Flow Machining). The technique was created in a joint venture with Extrude Hone, a machine tool company in Irwin, Pa., that develops and manufactures advanced manufacturing processes and equipment, and is used on automotive engine parts.

   One of the processes Extrude Hone has developed is abrasive flow machining. The process involves forcing a polymer-based media, which is embedded with abrasives and a lubricant, either through a part for polishing an internal surface or passage, or around the part to polish the outside of a passage. The process removes the rough surfaces left after a metal automotive part has been cast. According to a company brochure, abrasive flow machining “provides a cleaner burning, more powerful and more fuel-efficient engine.”

   But the process must be monitored in order to create the right smoothness. That’s where Williams’ invention comes in. As the media flows through the work piece, sensors placed on the outside of each machine part pick up the stress waves that are generated in the piece by the contact on the outside, Williams said. “By analyzing that signal, we can determine the amount of air flow improvement we’ve done to those passages. And we can selectively open or block flow as needed.”

   Extrude Hone has been working with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln for nearly 18 years and has provided funding and equipment over that time. “We went to UNL because it has the Center for Nontraditional Manufacturing Research,” said Ralph Resnick, Director of Research & Special Projects.

   Williams’ technique currently is being used to develop new applications, Resnick said, primarily when a customer brings in a new part. “We use this (acoustic emission monitoring technique) to help us optimize the abrasive flow process. It allows us to monitor progress of the actual finishing.

   Williams said his ultimate goal is “to improve abrasive flow machining for all applications, not just engine parts.” He will be taking a sabbatical this fall to work more closely with Extrude Hone on the process.

—Constance Walter