Engineering Kudos
ASCE Student Chapter Wins National Award
UNL's student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers has been awarded the 2024 Most Improved Award from the national organization. The chapter, which is led by Civil and Environmental Engineering students Noah Netzel, Nicole Fiebiger, and Mia Toigo under the advisement of Professor Joshua Steelman, was recommended for this award by the Committee on Student Members based on activities recorded in their 2023 annual report. The award notice indicates considerable advancement in its activities from the previous year reflecting the hard work and enthusiasm of the officers and members.
Durham School MAE team chosen as finalists for AEI Student Design Competition
March 29, 2024 - A team of Durham School Master of Architectural Engineering students - Nick Abbott, Anna Diederich, Jillian Dlouhy, Blaine Kaup, Peyton Leute (team lead), Trevor Mensch, Jace Pauli, Drue Pecquet and Taytum Vance - have been selected as a team finalist in this year's AEI Student Design Competition.
The team, with mentorship from Clarence Waters, Aaron Douglas Professor of Architectural Engineering, and industry fellows Todd Feldman, Ericka Nienhueser and Pete Uhing, will travel to the AEI Forum 2024, held April 8-10 in San Jose, California, where it will compete.
Alsaleem co-authors paper on solar-powered air conditioner that is published in Solar Energy journal
March 29, 2024 - Fadi Alsaleem, associate professor in the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, is co-author of a paper - "Experimental Evaluation of a Solar-Powered Air Conditioner" - that was published in the April 2024 edition of the journal Solar Energy.
Ho, Ren receive Best Oral Presentation at International Conference on Big Data Analytics
March 29, 2024 - Chun-Hsing (Jun) Ho and graduate student Kewei Ren received the Best Oral Presentation Award at the 9th International Conference on Big Data Analytics, held March 14-16 in Tokyo, Japan. The paper Ho and Ren presented was titled, "Vibration Data Minking and Machine Learning for Anomaly Detection of Cycling Trails Using Instrumented Bike."
Three engineering faculty earn College Distinguished Teaching Awards
March 29, 2024 - Three Nebraska Engineering faculty are among the 15 University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty who have been chosen to receive the 2024 College Distinguished Teaching Awards. These awards honor faculty and staff who advance the missions of the university in teaching, research and service. Recipients will be recognized at The Laurels award reception in the fall.
The honored Nebraska Engineering faculty are:
- Deepak Keshwani, associate professor, Biological Systems Engineering
- Seunghee Kim, associate professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Jae Sung Park, associate professor, Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Asay honored by UNO as Academic Advisor of the Month for March
March 26, 2024 - Mallory Asay, academic advisor in the College of Engineering with emphasis on programs in the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, was recently named Advisor of the Month by the University of Nebraska Omaha Academic Advising Council (AAC) for the month of March. The award will be presented to Asay at the March Academic Advising Council meeting.
Khattak and CEE Team Awarded 2024 Best TRB Freeway Operations Committee Paper Award
Professor Aemal Khattak, alongside Dr. MM Shakiul Haque and Jon Camenzind, received the 2024 Best TRB Freeway Operations Committee Paper Award. Their paper, "Safety and Operational Analysis of Free Right-Turn Ramps at Rural Intersections," was selected from more than 50 submissions that are annually considered by this committee.
This paper studies the topic of traffic safety and operational efficiency at rural intersections, particularly focusing on the impact of free right-turn (FRT) ramps. Prior to this research, there were concerns about the safety and operational performance of such ramps in Nebraska. The research, funded by the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT), aimed to assess the safety and operational performance of free right-turn ramps in Nebraska and to develop guidelines that assist NDOT staff with decisions on maintaining, removing, or reconstructing rural free right-turn ramps.
Statistical analysis did not show any significant difference in the safety of free right-turn ramp intersections compared to intersections with no free right-turn ramps. However, microsimulation of traffic operations showed varying benefit levels of free right-turn ramps. Based on simulation of 324 scenarios and benefit-cost analysis, guidelines were developed for NDOT staff to make more informed decisions on the construction, reconstruction, or removal of rural free right-turn ramps on the Nebraska state highway system. The methods and guidance from this research are applicable to states beyond Nebraska, as well.
The study's findings, synthesized in the paper soon to be published in the Transportation Research Record, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, are expected to influence future designs and decisions regarding FRT ramp construction, reconstruction, or removal.
The award letter from the TRB Standing Committee on Freeway Operations lauds the team for their "outstanding research efforts that help promote, implement, operate, and maintain traffic management systems and strategies to enhance the efficiency, safety, and environmental conditions on freeways and freeway corridors." The team will be honored at both the 2024 Mid-Year Meeting and the 2025 TRB Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.
Waters named 2024 Nebraska Engineering Champion
Jan. 26, 2024 - Clarence Waters, Aaron Douglas Professor in the Durham School, was named the 2024 Nebraska Engineering Champion by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Nebraska. The award recognizes outstanding individuals and teams who have collaborated with the council to contribute significantly to the engineering profession.
Five engineering among UNL December graduates completing University Honors Program
December 19, 2023 - At the December 2023 undergraduate commencement ceremony, five Nebraska Engineering students were among the 18 University of Nebraska-Lincoln students recognized for having completed the requirements for the University Honors Program.
These are the Nebraska Engineering students who were recognized, with their respective majors and hometowns:
- Gabriel Clark, software engineering, Lincoln, Nebraska
- Creighton Hughes, mechanical engineering, Omaha, Nebraska
- Allison Metschke, environmental engineering, Omaha, Nebraska
- Abigail Seibel, computer engineering, Omaha, Nebraska
- Samuel Wilkins, agricultural engineering, Ainsworth, Nebraska
To graduate from the Honors Program, students must maintain at least a 3.5 grade-point average, complete a culminating senior project or research thesis, and fulfill other curricular requirements. The 18 students join 271 classmates who graduated from the Honors Program in May and August, the most Honors graduates in a calendar year in the program's 37-year history. This is the sixth consecutive year the number of Honors graduates has increased.
Sanderson selected to receive ASHRAE David C.J. Peters Scholarship
Sept. 1, 2023 - Geoffrey Sanderson, a sophomore majoring in architectural engineering, was chosen to receive the David C.J. Peters Scholarship, given annually by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).
The one-year, $5,000 scholarship is awarded annually to a qualified undergraduate mechanical or architectural engineering student enrolled full-time in a four- or five-year bachelor degree program at a qualifying institution. The scholarship was created by Southland Industries in honor of David Peters, a tireless advocate of recruiting quality and an ASHRAE member.
Sanderson, a sophomore from McKinney, Texas, said the scholarship was both a surprise and a relief.
"Two or three months after I applied, I was playing in a tennis tournament. I had just lost a match, and I was feeling embarrassed as I had played far from my best. When I walked over to check my phone, I saw that I had an email from ASHRAE. I had won the scholarship," Sanderson said.
"Being in the 4+1 program (the accelerated Master of Architectural Engineering program in the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction), my goal is to enter the master's year without student loans. This award gets me closer to that personal financial goal and helps me focus more of my attention on my studies and everything else the University of Nebraska has to offer."