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THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

VOL. 11 | FALL 2011

ADVISORY COUNCIL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS

ith appreciation and gratitude to our annual and endowed scholarship donors the College of Engineering was able to award $141,967 in undergraduate scholarship money for the current academic year from thirty named scholarships. There were a total of 83 awards to 58 undergraduate students in the College of Engineering. Of the 30 named scholarships awarded this fall, five are new and awarded a total of $13,700: The College of Engineering Advisory Council Scholarship in Biomedical Engineering, The Cryptologic Systems Division Annual Scholarship, the Michael and Carol Burke B.M.E.. Annual Scholarship, the TEAM Integrated Engineering Annual Scholarship, and the Texas Public Power Association (TPPA) Scholarship.

Our graduate students have benefitted from the generosity of our friends and donors as well. The new General Motors Diversity Fellowship was awarded to seven graduate students for this academic year. Additionally there have been 43 awards this year associated with the Valero Energy Foundation Graduate Fellowship gift. The awards were for five Valero Research Fellows, seven Valero Research Scholars, five Valero Excellence Awards and twenty-six Valero Research Scholarships. Support to the college in the form of scholarship and fellowship gifts help ease the financial burden off our students and provide the college with necessary resources to continue to grow in enrollment and prestige.

2011 ADVISORY COUNCIL ROSTER ON THE COVER

Dr. H. Norman Abramson Southwest Research Institute, Retired

Mr. Stephen T. Graham San Antonio River Authority

Mr. Craig Robinson GlobalSCAPE

Mr. Wayne S. Alexander AT&T, Retired

Mr. Scott Gray J.M. Waller Associates, Inc.

Mr. Louis E. Rowe Goetting & Associates, Inc.

Mr. Eddie Baron Zachry Holdings, Inc.

Mr. Roger R. Hemminghaus Ultramar Diamond Shamrock, Retired

Mr. Joe H. Sanchez Air Intelligence Agency

Mr. Bruce B. Barshop Barshop Ventures, L.L.C.

Mr. James R. Henry Standard Aero San Antiono, Inc.

Mr. Chris L. Schultz Raba-Kistner Consultants, Inc.

Mr. Steve Bartley Bartley Energy Consulting

Mr. Philip A. Howlett Texas Department of Transportation

Dr. G.P. Singh Karta Technologies Inc., Retired

Mr. Michael D. Burke San Antonio Clean Technology Forum

Mr. Brad K. Hunt WHY Group, L.L.C.

Mr. Michael J. Burke KCI, Retired

Mr. Mir Imran InCube Ventures

Dr. Ben G. Streetman University of Texas, Cockrell School of Engineering

Ms. Stephanie L. Chandler Jackson Walker, L.L.P.

Ms. Lissa A. Martinez Martinez & Hughes

Contributors

Mr. Jeff W. Clarke Dell, Inc.

Mr. Victor Mieres National Instruments Corporation

Associate Director of Media Relations

Mr. Sam G. Dawson Pape-Dawson Engineers, Inc.

Mr. Mike Milam NuStar

Mailing Address

Mr. Tony Diamond Bradford Lawton

Mr. John Monday AT&T Services

Mr. Walter Downing Southwest Research Institute

Mrs. Kelley S. Neumann San Antonio Water System

Mr. Antonio Gonzalez, Jr. Boeing Aerospace

Dr. Gabriele Niederauer Entrigue Surgical, Inc.

Solar panel and light bulb with various sources of green energy. Green energy is on the frontline of engineering and science, both as a way to improve the world and as a means of enabling economic development.

Dean

C. Mauli Agrawal Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Policies

Mehdi Shadaram

Associate Dean for Research

Amar Bhalla

Associate Dean for Graduate Studies

Wei-Ming Lin Assistant Dean

Rosanne Gorny Director of Development

Jana Kennelly

Graphic Designer and Writer

Tim Luukkonen

Sheila Slife, Matthew Pompa, Jeff Huehn, Steve Moakley Christi Fish

The University of Texas at San Antonio College of Engineering One UTSA Circle San Antonio, TX 78249 Visit us on the web

engineering.utsa.edu

2 INNOVATIONS

Mr. David A. Spencer Speer Medical Devices, Inc Mr. Klaus Weiswurm Instruments Technology Machinery Mr. Thomas Wendorf HNTB Mr. Danny Zimmermann Clearly Zimmermann, Inc.

The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

A message from the Dean of the College of Engineering

C. Mauli Agrawal, Ph.D., P.E. Peter T. Flawn Professor David and Jennifer Spencer Distinguished Dean’s Chair in Engineering

It is important for an institution of higher education to look forward at the emerging needs of society and lead the way in finding practical solutions that result in a better quality of life for people. When these solutions involve technology, and in this century they often do, no one is better positioned to lead than the College of Engineering (COE).

A few years ago, UTSA identified several areas of educational and research excellence in its strategic plan. One of these areas is Energy and Environment. Our College took the lead in establishing the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute (Texas SERI) at UTSA and in finding a world-class leader for it in Professor Les Shephard who joined us from Sandia National Labs. As you will read in this issue of Innovations, Texas SERI is already changing the landscape for energy-related research at UTSA. Working in teams, our faculty has successfully won funding to install renewable energy generation units on various buildings throughout our campuses. These units will be used for research on smart grids but will also save UTSA money by generating usable power. The College intends to lead by example. Additionally, we have established an incubator on campus to assist companies in the clean energy space and are already working with a very fast growing local company in the area of LED lights.

expected. Home games are played in the air conditioned Alamodome and are loud and fun with more than 30,000 fans attending each game (the first game drew more than 56,000 breaking a national record)! As you have read in prior issues of Innovations, COE students work hard for their degree but are not averse to also playing hard. The nose tackle for the UTSA football team’s defensive unit is Richard Burge—a civil engineering student. Our students have also started the fun tradition of an annual pumpkin smash competition where they design and build giant catapults to launch pumpkins hundreds of feet. In this issue we also introduce our newest faculty and present updates on our various centers and institutes. The struggling economy and budgets cuts may have slowed us down a bit, but because of our excellent students, faculty and staff, we continue to make significant progress on all fronts.

This year is the inaugural year for football at UTSA. Our young team, which consists of mostly freshmen, has already done better than

The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

NEWS BYTES

INFORMATION CENTER

College of Engineering receives NASA grant . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

CAMLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

M.E. Department in joint PhD program with SwRI . . . . . . . . 6

CEEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Job fair helps engineering students plan for the future . . . . .

UTSA engineers offer business-boosting expertise . . . . . . . . 8

Biomedical Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B.M.E. welcomes new faculty members Professor Finol and Professor Reilly

Mechanical Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.E. welcomes new faculty members Professor Foster and Professor Zeng

iTEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 SiViRT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

NEW FACULTY

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CITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Texas SERI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

FEATURES UTSA Becomes Solar Powered . . . . . . . . . . 10

Monster Mash Pumpkin Smash . . . . . . . . . 14

Professor Brian Kelley along with other key faculty members and Professor Les Shephard from the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute received grants totaling more than $2.4 million to deploy state-of-the-art solar test beds on two of UTSA’s Campuses. These solar test beds will save UTSA thousands of dollars on its energy bill.

UTSA’s College of Engineering and the College of Engineering Student Council host their 3rd annual pumpkin-launching catapult competition.

Green Entrepreneurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Biomedical Undergraduate Program . . . . . . 12

The San Antonio Clean Energy Incubator partners with its first client GreenStar to shine a light on the city’s energy use.

The College of Engineering’s Department of Biomedical Engineering offers a Bachelor of Science degree for the first time.

Brains and Brawn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Football player Richard Burge isn’t just a star on the field; he is also an aspiring engineer.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE Spring and Summer 2011 Dean’s List . . . . . . . . . . .

Advisory Council Chair’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

College of Engineering receives NASA grant

half million-dollar grant from NASA will enable UTSA and San Antonio College (SAC) students to participate in NASA-related research and educational events. The grant, entitled Climate Change Communication; Engineering Environmental Science and Education (C3E3), is being administered by a team of College of Engineering faculty members and Professor Hatim Sharif. It will fund student research as part of the NASA Science Plan for climate and Earth system science. An integral part of the learning process includes training in modern media technology resulting in the production of webcasts investigating aspects of climate change. Content, which will address climate change issues specific to Texas, will be developed using NASA Earth System models and tools and NASA Earth Observational data. UTSA and SAC are collaborating with the University of North Dakota (UND) to help shape the way Texans view climate conditions such as droughts. Approximately 100 undergraduate and graduate students, from both UTSA and the Alamo Community Colleges, will participate in grantrelated projects. Professor Sharif has an additional NASA grant plus grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Weather Service, the U.S. Department of Education and the Texas Department of Transportation. The

second NASA grant enables College of Engineering faculty members and students to collaborate with NASA scientists at one of the 10 NASA centers across the country throughout the summer months.

M.E. Department in joint PhD program with SwRI

TSA’s Mechanical Engineering (M.E.) department has partnered with the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) to offer a unique PhD degree program in which students have access to SwRI’s world-class engineers and experimental facilities. Two PhD-level courses are taught in a dedicated classroom at SwRI, providing ready access to the experts and equipment available at the facility. SwRI staff will also teach a required Experimental Mechanics class. “We have shared many joint projects in a number of research areas and many SwRI engineers have taught classes at UTSA as adjunct professors and served on MS thesis committees,” explains Professor Harry Millwater, interim chair of Mechanical Engineering. “Our intent to offer a one-of-a-kind degree at UTSA, combined with the interest and background of SwRI personnel to participate in such an endeavor, provided the necessary ingredients to create this unique program.” While the content and execution of the program are exceptional, entrance is traditional. All qualified students apply for admittance through the graduate school. Fellowships are also available for top incoming students. SwRI is one of

6 INNOVATIONS

the largest nonprofit engineering companies in the United States. It spends more $500 million on research annually and employs in excess of 1,000 engineers. SwRI has technical expertise in areas such as chemistry, space science, nondestructive evaluation, automation, engine design, mechanical engineering, electronics and more. Research projects between UTSA and SwRI include: •

•

Probabilistic Damage • Enhanced Probabilistic Tolerance-Based Maintenance Methods for Risk Assessment Planning for Small Airplanes of Gas Turbine Rotors Advanced Structural System • Innovative Methods for Reliability Methods for Engine Health Monitoring Aircraft Structures Probabilistic Methods for Risk Assessment of Gas Turbine Rotors

“Students entering this program have access to unmatched engineers and experimental facilities such as gas metering and full-scale structural testing labs,” adds Professor Millwater. “The total expertise available is significantly greater than any one individual could provide.” For more information about the PhD program contact Professor Millwater at Harry.Millwater@utsa.edu.

Job fair helps engineering students plan for the future

ore than 221 students and 33 employers attended the halfday College of Engineering annual job fair on September 22, 2011 on UTSA’s 1604 campus. The job fair enables students to meet with potential employers to learn what opportunities await them after graduation. The success of the event is causing organizers to consider increasing the job fair’s frequency from once a year to both spring and fall semesters. “Job fairs are very important,” says Electrical Engineering senior student Tiffany Williams. “They allow us face-to-face time with recruiters and give us the chance to talk about potential careers. There are times when you can’t find a lot of job postings online.” While some of the students were meeting company representatives for the first times, others have interned at research centers such as the Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurships, Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute and the San Antonio Clean Energy Incubator. “Companies recruit at UTSA because they want the diversity the university offers. They can pull from a large Hispanic population here,” adds Williams, who was an intern with the Department of Defense. “As an African-American woman I’m part of the university’s diverse culture.” Sponsors of the Engineering Job Fair included:

The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

UTSA engineers offer business-boosting expertise Local manufacturers W W Wood and Harland Clarke make great strides supported by UTSA engineers by Christi Fish, Associate Director of Media Relations Each year, Pleasanton-based W W Wood With CAMLS’ help, W W Wood deWhen Harland Clarke first partnered manufactures and ships nearly 40 million veloped a significantly larger and more efficient with UTSA, it sought to automate some of its pounds of all-natural, aromatic cooking wood processing line for the manufacturer’s mini-log manufacturing processes with robotics. CAMLS products to retailers internationally. products. helped it build models for the improvements. Despite the challenging economy, its busiWith CAMLS just a phone call away, W W Harland Clarke is now working with CAMLS’ ness has grown. And that growth has brought Wood also tapped UTSA’s researchers to help vast network of partners to bring the concepts forth new challenges. it estimate its greenhouse gases inventory and to fruition. In 2009, W W Wood contacted the UTSA subsequently reduce its carbon footprint. For “UTSA’s Center for Advanced ManufacturCenter for Advanced Manufacturing and Lean instance, when Lawson learned local manufac- ing and Lean Systems has worked with a broad Systems (CAMLS) for its technical expertise. turers were putting more than 450 truckloads array of integrators and suppliers that can take The center, housed in the its concepts and develop UTSA College of Engineering, “With the help of the technical experts from them,” says Sanchez. “And partners with manufacturers UTSA’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and those partners are vetted. As a around the world to improve CAMLS member, we have acproduction and solve other Lean Systems, we are better able to look at a cess to those partners and to unique challenges brought on project before we go out and build something.” their partners and so on. It’s by changing market demands. an ongoing network of vetted W W Wood President Jerry Lawson be- of scrap sawdust into local landfills each year, expertise.” lieves his company and CAMLS are a great fit. he worked to convert his company’s drying sysThe UTSA Center for Advanced ManufacThe pair has been working together for almost tem, which now uses sawdust instead of propane turing was established in 2007 to serve manufactwo years. and has the advantage of not contributing to turers in the United States and abroad. The cen “Our industry is unique,” said Lawson. the company’s carbon footprint. Likewise, W W ter offers a variety of membership levels to meet “We can’t buy a lot of equipment off the shelf, so Wood used to dispose of 500 truckloads of waste manufacturers’ unique needs and specializes in we have to design and build it ourselves. We used each year. It now converts that waste into mulch research and development, expertise and trainto go through a lot of trial and error in the design products that are produced and sold locally. ing in lean manufacturing and six-sigma, supply of new processing lines and equipment. With the CAMLS has also become a trusted advisor chain and logistics engineering, warehouse syshelp of the technical experts from UTSA’s Center for San Antonio-based Harland Clarke, an inte- tems, automatic technologies, advanced sensors for Advanced Manufacturing and Lean Systems, grated payment solutions company. and robotics. we are better able to look at a project before we “Our membership in the Center has given To learn more about the UTSA Center for go out and build something. With the center’s us the opportunity to work on company-specific Advanced Manufacturing and Lean Systems, help, we have significantly less trial and error, initiatives which are very important to us,” said visit http://camls.utsa.edu or contact Frank and we get to the end product faster and at much Luis Sanchez, vice president of engineering at Chen, center director, at (210) 458-5382 or less expense.” Harland Clarke. ff.chen@utsa.edu.

HARLAND CLARKE CORP.

arland Clarke Corp. (www.harlandclarke.com) is a leading provider of best-in-class integrated payment solutions, marketing services and security solutions. It serves clients in multiple industries including financial services, retail, healthcare, insurance, and telecommunications; and ranging in size from major corporate brands and trade groups to micro-businesses and individual consumers. Within its payment solutions business, Harland Clarke provides needed products and services to nearly 11,000 banks, credit unions and major investment firms. Harland Clarke Marketing Services’ portfolio is expansive, with a dozen solutions designed to address the needs of banks and credit unions and their account holders through life cycle management. Harland Clarke delivers integrated marketing campaigns focused on acquisition, onboarding, engagement, retention, and cross-selling, utilizing extensive print, phone and email channels for campaign execution. Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, Harland Clarke employs more than 4,500 people nationwide and operates manufacturing and contact center facilities in multiple states and communities. Harland Clarke is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Harland Clarke Holdings Corp., which also owns Harland Financial Solutions and Scantron.

8 INNOVATIONS

W W WOOOD, INC.

W Wood, Inc. is a company based in Pleasanton, Texas and was founded in 1986. The company is the leading producer of all natural cooking wood products used for all types of BBQ grilling and smoking. The company produces and markets a complete range of products including Smoking Chips, Cooking Chunks, Mini-Logs and Fire Starters. The company is the exclusive world-wide distributor of Jack Daniels Barrel Chips, Jack Daniels BBQ Aprons and the new Jack Daniels BBQ Tool Set. W W Wood products are sold worldwide and in over 30,000 retail stores in the U.S.

New Faculty Department of Biomedical Engineering Professor Ender Finol worked at Carnegie Mellon University and the Ford Motor Company before coming to UTSA’s Department of Biomedical Engineering in August as an Associate Professor. He is currently working on geometric modeling and biomechanics of aneurysms, as well as hemodynamics of pulmonary circulation. Professor Finol became interested in engineering because his father was an engineer and he always had a natural ability for the sciences. He developed his love for teaching when he was a teaching assistant as an undergraduate student and realized he could mentor and influence students who were 1-2 years his junior in their engineering major. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Biomedical Engineering Society. Professor Finol is the Associate Editor for the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering and Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Endovascular Therapy. He is also co-founder of NeuroInterventions, Inc., a Pittsburgh-based startup company developing catheter-based solutions for interventional treatment of stroke patients. In his research projects he collaborates closely with vascular surgeons and interventional radiologists. He’s lived in the Northeast for 16 years before moving to San Antonio in July of this year. Professor Finol is also a serious baseball fanatic. Professor Matthew Reilly came to UTSA as an Assistant Professor and joined the Biomedical Engineering department in August. He primarily worked on the biomechanics of the ocular lens to develop new treatments for cataracts and presbyopia. Professor Reilly completed a BS/MS in chemical engineering at the University of Dayton, including undergraduate research at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and graduate research at the City of Dayton Wastewater Treatment Plant. He then got his PhD in chemical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis based on his study of lens biomechanics. Professor Reilly’s post-doctoral work continued to focus on lens biomechanics at Washington University School of Medicine, including collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs, University of Oxford, and University of Rostock. He also served as an adjunct professor in Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering at Washington University during that time. “I was drawn to engineering because I love to solve problems and an education in engineering gave me the toolset I needed to solve many different problems. I was inspired by some excellent teachers at the undergraduate and graduate level, and that really taught me the value of quality teaching,” Professor Reilly says. He has memberships in the Society of Rheology, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Biomedical Engineering Society, Society for the Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering, American Chemical Society and the International Society for Eye Research. Originally from Muncie, Indiana, he enjoys soccer, running, tennis, traveling, reading and anything to do with computers.

Department of Mechanical Engineering Professor John Foster arrived at UTSA in August 2011 as an Assistant Professor. His research interests are in dynamic behavior of materials, impact dynamics, and the peridynamic theory of solid mechanics. He is currently funded by Sandia National Laboratories to develop new large-strain plasticity models utilizing the peridynamic theory. Prior to coming to UTSA’s College of Engineering, Professor Foster worked for Sandia National Laboratories for 7 years. “I’ve always been interested in all things mechanical and electrical. As a teenager my father and I worked on cars together and “engineered” some suspension components for a racecar. I suppose that was my first design project and have been interested in engineering ever since,” Professor Foster says. He enjoys interacting with the students. Feeding off their intellectual curiosity encourages him to continue to learn new things himself. Professor Foster is involved in the Society for Experimental Mechanics and the US Association for Computational Mechanics, as well as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He is also a private pilot. Professor Xiaowei Zeng, an Assistant Professor, came to UTSA in August and currently works in the Mechanical Engineering Department. His current project involves working with soft matter modeling of stem cells. Prior to UTSA, Professor Zeng worked in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California at Berkley. He was exposed to mechanical engineering growing up, while his father worked as a mechanical engineer and built his own mechanics workshop. “In the past decade, there have been numerous advancements in the engineering applications of new technologies. Engineering is a rapidly evolving field that adapts to new knowledge, new technology and the needs of society. Looking at recent emerging advances in engineering, we can imagine the challenges and opportunities engineering will have in the future,” explains Professor Zeng. He has been attracted to teaching since working as a teaching assistant for more than two years at The George Washington University. He believes teaching and mentoring students is the most influential, rewarding and challenging occupation. He is also a member of the Society of Engineering Science and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

UTSA BECOMES

SOLAR POWERED

10 INNOVATIONS

Feature

Professor Brian Kelley, along with key UTSA faculty members, and Professor Les Shephard from the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute received grants totaling more than $2.4 million to deploy state-of-the-art solar test beds on both UTSA Campuses. These solar test beds will save UTSA thousands of dollars on its annual energy bill. Professor Kelley, what research projects are you working on? I am an Assistant Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UTSA. In addition to teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in communications within the College of Engineering, I conduct advanced research in several areas. A major thrust of my currently funded research includes smart grid information systems.

How long have you been with UTSA? I joined UTSA in the fall of 2007. I received my BSEE from Cornell University and my MSEE/ PHDEE from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining UTSA, I was a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff in Motorola’s research and development organization and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin.

Who was involved with the grant given to UTSA for solar panels and energy research? I am the Principle Investigator on two grants from the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) of Texas. SECO partners with Texas educational institutions to reduce energy costs and maximize efficiency. SECO receives much of its funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and works

closely with the DOE. We received the grants as a result of a competitive, peer-reviewed grant application process. This joint effort was pursued with many other research faculty members at UTSA and as part of the smart energy research effort sponsored by UTSA’s Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute (Texas SERI) lead by Professor Les Shephard. The lead power electronics research faculty member has been Professor Hariharan Krishnaswami, and Professor Mo Jamshidi is a world renowned expert in systems and controls. Both have been invaluable collaborators in these grants. Other key faculty members have been Professor Shuo Wang in power electronics and Professor Chunjiang Qian in controls. The lead UTSA graduate student researcher for these grants has been Mr. Gerardo Trevino. These grants, which total more than $2.4 million, are enabling UTSA to deploy three state-of-theart solar test beds that will generate 0.31 megawatts of rated power. The locations for the solar test beds are UC III, the Engineering Building and the Durango Building downtown. The test bed systems are networked together via servers, and are being augmented with very advanced wireless sensors that measure solar irradiance, temperature, currents and voltages. The wireless sensor network, remote server monitoring, control systems, data loggers, and server

applications will allow us to dynamically measure and data-log hundreds of key power parameters at an unprecedented one second resolution continuously. This data trove will be publicly displayable on the UTSA Texas SERI website. By integrating real sensor measurements with the real time data collection, we can remotely locate dynamic faults, conduct future research in solar energy power prediction, modeling, and develop advanced research programs in solar-based microgrids and smart grid power systems. In addition, we are deploying high technology inverter systems for DC-to-AC power conversion and installing Level-3 EV charging stations at our Durango site.

How do the solar panels affect energy consumption here at UTSA? Solar power generations are intermittent. The panels will generate more power in the summer and at midday than during the winter and at night, respectively. When running at peak rating, the panels can generate 0.31 megawatts of rated power at the three UTSA site locations. However, UTSA is such large campus, it is best to put the energy savings in a context more meaningful to the typical person. If we presume a typical home consumes 5000kW of power, our peak rated capacity could power 62 U.S. homes. In addition to giving UTSA state-of-the-art solar test beds with which to conduct smart grid research, the University will benefit by saving thousands of dollars on its energy bill.

Professor Brian Kelley The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING For the first time ever, UTSAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s College of Engineering is offering students a Bachelor of Science degree in the field of biomedical engineering (B.M.E). Although the Department of Biomedical Engineering was established in 2004, it was strictly reserved for graduate programs. UTSA sought to change that in response to a large demand from prospective undergraduate students. Earlier this year, the state of Texas granted UTSA permission to start offering a B.S. degree in B.M.E effective Fall 2011. The College successfully recruited its inaugural class for the new program, which is off to a great start. The curriculum of this new program is designed to ensure the students can successfully apply their biomedical engineering knowledge and training skills to address and solve biomedical problems. Students will be able to develop the critical thinking, problem solving and innovative design skills needed to be successful biomedical engineers. They will also be trained to possess the communication skills needed for their biomedical engineering careers.

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Program Overview A Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Biomedical Engineering (B.M.E.) at UTSA is an interdisciplinary program that combines engineering principles, approaches and methodologies with biological, chemical and physical sciences in order to define and solve problems in medicine. Students will be trained in the fundamentals of science and engineering and are expected to be able to apply this knowledge in investigating fundamental biomedical engineering questions associated with complex living systems as well as with the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases. A broad understanding of sciences and engineering principles is provided in the first two years of the program, with students hav-

ing the option to choose two concentrations as in-depth focus areas of study for their last two years of the program. Critical thinking and innovative design skills are integrated throughout the program to aid students in developing solutions for solving biomedical engineering-related problems. Design projects throughout the program and senior B.M.E. design courses provide students the opportunity to integrate their designs, critical thinking and communication skills with the scientific and engineering knowledge they acquired throughout the Biomedical Engineering program.

Program Admission A first-time, full-time freshman admitted as a biomedical engineering major must meet the minimum admission criteria of the College of Engineering. These criteria are: • Students must meet all UTSA admission requirements; • Students must have credit for MAT 1214 Calculus I or have completed all necessary prerequisites to enroll in MAT 1214 Calculus I (through a mathematics placement test or credit for MAT 1093 Precalculus or an equivalent). Students must have: • graduated in the top 25 percent of their high school graduation class, • or graduated in the top 50 percent of their high school class and have a SAT score of at least 1050 (Reading and Math) or a ACT composite score of at least 22, • or be granted admission into a College of Engineering major by holistic review by the College of Engineering if students have not met the above criteria All students applying for admission to the Biomedical Engineering program must submit the following supplemental documents to the Department of Biomedical Engineering:

Michael j.

and

• • •

Two letters of recommendation A copy of their transcript A statement of their interests, professional career goals and how the Biomedical Engineering program will help achieve those goals.

All transfer students must meet the aforementioned minimum admission requirements for the College of Engineering and the Biomedical Engineering program. Transfer students must also meet the minimum Good Academic Standing Requirements for a Biomedical Engineering Major in order to be considered for admission to the Biomedical Engineering program. Additionally, transfer students should also have completed at least 15 semester credit hours of mathematics, science or engineering courses, and have an overall GPA of 3.0 or better. “B.M.E. programs nationwide have always been very competitive. The program at UTSA is no different from the other B.M.E. programs, in that it is selective in its admissions. Our students will receive a rigorous education both in the scientific principles and engineering applications related to a wide variety of engineering solutions to medical problems,” Professor Anson Ong, biomedical engineering department chair says.

Carol A. Burke Annual Scholarship

The College of Engineering strives to achieve the highest academic standards at The University of Texas at San Antonio. In order to maintain these standards, the College of Engineering offers a variety of scholarships to reward students who show outstanding academic achievements. Even though the Department of Biomedical Engineering’s Bachelor of Science program is just beginning, it has already awarded its first scholarship.

Biomedical Engineering

Melisa Alanis is the first recipient of the Michael J. and Carol A. Burke annual scholarship. Alanis was selected by the Scholarship Committee in the department of Biomedical Engineering, based on her achievements and ranking at approximately 1 percent of her graduating high school class. This scholarship will give Alanis $5,000 annually for the next four years, provided that the she maintains a 3.0 GPA.

The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Feature

Monster Mash Pumpkin Smash

Photo courtesy of Matthew Pompa

14 INNOVATIONS

On October 22nd, UTSA’s College of Engineering and the College of Engineering Student Council (COESC) hosted their 3rd annual Monster Mash Pumpkin Smash. At the height of the competition 186 spectators watched as trebuchets and ballista hurled pumpkins through the sky. This year, eight teams competed to see who could launch a pumpkin the farthest with a single shot and who had the longest distance after three shots. With unprecedented power, the American Society of Civil Engineers won both of the distance contests. Although their furthest shot was 703 ft., rules set down prior to the competition credited them for only 550 ft. per single round fired and a total of 1650 ft. for all three shots. The regulations stated that competitors who fired outside the field of play would max out at 550 ft. The competition wasn’t just for engineers at UTSA. A team from San Antonio College and two independent teams, the Pirates and Trebuneers, also sought glory through pumpkin destruction. COESC organized the Pumpkin Smash to promote engineering within the community, and to show other students that engineering goes beyond just math and science. It also let the engineering students apply what they learned in the classroom to a “real world” situation. “One team told me how they went back through their statics and dynamics books to find and manipulate equations so they may code them into MatLab to better optimize their catapult,” student council president Joshua Lademora says. “Another told me how they did a finite element analysis (FEA) of theirs to figure out what materials they needed to have their machine sustain the forces it would undergo. In light of all of this, I believe we will be adding more constraints to the competition and inviting other universities to compete. This should challenge the competitors to produce intricate designs that would be a blast to watch. Looking back at the previous competitions and the calculated longest shots of 235 ft. (2009), 301 ft. (2010) and 703 ft. (2011); the event is following an exponential trend.” In addition to the pumpkin carnage, visitors enjoyed food, face painting, music and a costume contest. Several engineering societies helped make the event a success. Whether they provided the food, music or entertainment, they all came out to show their support for the College of Engineering. In attendance were the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Mexican American Engineers and Scientist (MAES), Engineers Without Borders (EWB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE), Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), Student Association for Volunteering Efforts (SAVE, non engineering), College of Engineering Student Council (COESC), Materials Research Society (MRS), Student Government Association (SGA) and Outdoor Pursuits. “The event was amazing, we had plenty of support from our engineering organizations and their families and friends. I’m glad that we could make the news again this year to display our engineers and how they are able to take what they learn from the classroom and apply it to designing and building a medieval war machine. I am excited to see what happens next year, I’m sure it will be promising,” Lademora says.

The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

S hining the light on

Green Entrepreneurs

he San Antonio Clean Energy Incubator (SACEI), working with the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute (Texas SERI) and UTSA, will strive to give San Antonio a cleaner environment, boost the economy and give students real life experiences. SACEIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission is to promote socioeconomic prosperity by developing new companies and fostering new business activity related to clean technology in San Antonio in ways that can be expanded to Texas, the nation and the world in order to promote socio-economic prosperity. UTSA provides the Incubator not only access to advanced research facilities but also with interns, from the College of Engineering and the College of Business, who want to garner experiences working for companies in the clean energy space.

16 INNOVATIONS

The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Feature With the help of UTSA, Texas SERI and other government organizations, the SACEI came onto the scene in San Antonio six months ago. In that short time the organization has narrowed down its list of clients and begun work with its first local company. Although the SACEI hopes to change the landscape of the San Antonio cleantech environment, not every company that wants to work with the SACEI fits the mold. “Companies that will work with the SACEI must meet certain criteria. One of them being, they must be in the clean energy world,” Andrew Trickett, executive director of the SACEI says.

Furthermore, the companies looking for support from the SACEI must also have some plan and organizational structure already in place. The SACEI isn’t an organization that creates companies but rather, it is one that aids with business plans, team formation,

technology to provide more energy efficient methods of lighting our streets while reducing UV emissions and light pollution. Although GreenStar is an already fairly established company, the assistance and opportunities provided by the SACEI will help push it from a minor global presence to a world-recognized leader in lighting technology. GreenStar was founded in 2009 by Paul Duran and Dr. Chuck Chakravarty. It is devoted to designing, developing and manufacturing high-quality, advanced LED lighting systems. It is currently focusing on two initial market niches—public lighting (street lamps) and warehouse canopy lights. GreenStar works through an extensive network in the US, as well as established distributors in 15 countries throughout Latin America, Europe and Asia. Currently, GreenStar is working with San Antonio on a contract to replace thousands of the city’s streetlights. GreenStar’s LED technology makes its lights use 70 to 75 percent less energy than traditional light sources. They do not emit UV rays or contain poisonous materials such as mercury or sodium, nor do they contribute to light pollution since they are dark-sky compliant. When you think of a standard light bulb or flourescent light, electricity is run through a metal or a gas, heating it to extreme temperatures. Once the substance is sufficiently hot, it begins to glow, creating light. From a bulb or florescent tube, light is emitted in all directions. Some light is lost by being projected upwards, away from the intended recipient. Because the light is not directional, and there is a loss, more energy is required to light up a given area. LEDs, on the other hand, emit light when a current is driven through a chemical substrate, as opposed to heating up a filament or gas. This makes the lighting process more efficient in terms of creating light. They also have the advantage of being small which allows them to be placed behind a refractive

LED technology employed by GreenStar allows it to use 70%-75% less energy than traditional light sources.

18 INNOVATIONS

progress development of products and sales assistance. To keep SACEI running requires funding. Most of which is provided through the State Energy Conservation Office or through grants and donations. Very little financial compensation comes from the clients who use the SACEI’s services. Aside from financial resources, the SACEI also requires a staff. UTSA provides the Incubator with interns from the College of Engineering and the College of Business who want to be a part of the cleantech environment. Not only do the interns provide valuable assistance to the SACEI, they also garner experiences working for emerging companies in the clean energy fields. “Interns research incoming companies and see if they are a viable venture. They then have the chance to work with some of these companies. We are always looking for more interns from the Colleges of Engineering and Business to help us,” Trickett says. Once a company has been chosen and begins working with the SACEI, the interns then have the opportunity to engage the new company and offer their engineering and business assistance. In the case of GreenStar, engineering students researched methods to test the lifetime performance of the LEDs. The first company to join SACEI is GreenStar, a company that uses innovative LED

continued on page 20

Feature

How did you get started with SACEI? After wrapping up my involvement in Virtual Alert, I was a mentor to two CITE (Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship) teams and had also done a lot Andrew Trickett Executive Director of SACEI of networking within the entrepreneurial community in S.A. Meanwhile, I developed an interest in sustainable energy. One of the Board members contacted me about the position [at SACEI], it sounded interesting, fulfilling and fun, so here I am. What are your goals for SACEI? We are going to help nurture existing cleantech startups and try to attract some promising startups to S.A. But the ultimate win is for a great idea to come from UTSA faculty or students, build a great team around it, get it funded with local investors and then for it to have a successful IPO. Greenstar CFO & VP of Business Development Gabriel Senior

San Antonio Clean Energy Incubator (SACEI)

n May 2011, the San Antonio Clean Energy Incubator (SACEI) was created as a collaborative partnership between multiple entities including the Texas State Energy Conservation Office, the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute (Texas SERI), UTSA’s Institute for Economic Development, the San Antonio Clean Tech Forum, the Mission Verde Alliance and the University of Texas’ Austin Technology Incubator. In August 2011, experienced entrepreneur Andrew Trickett became the Executive Director of SACEI. SACEI’s mission is to develop new companies and foster new business activity related to clean technology in San Antonio in ways that can be expanded to Texas, the nation and the world in order to promote socioeconomic prosperity. SACEI will profoundly impact the energy future of San Antonio, Texas and the nation. The Incubator will help create and foster a business ecosystem where San Antonio becomes one of the foremost clusters for cleantech business, especially for emerging companies. The Incubator will serve as a primary resource for all companies to develop solutions for cleantech that benefit San Antonio by helping the San Antonio region achieve energy independence through economically and environmentally sustainable energy efficiency; as well as create attractive new jobs for the region.

How will SACEI impact UTSA? I think it could be tremendous in many ways. UTSA is on the path to becoming a Tier 1 research university, and having faculty- and student-based startups using breakthrough technology is one of the best ways to build the UTSA brand. We want to inspire and assist faculty and students to commercialize promising cleantech technologies. We think that this will also help attract top faculty and students to UTSA. How will interns work with SACEI? First, they will help us evaluate the companies that approach SACEI for membership. We intend to be selective, because we want to concentrate our efforts on the most promising companies, the kind that can become global champions one day. So the interns will help me screen both the technology and business aspects of the applicants. Second, they will work on real projects for real SACEI member companies. These are going to be high-impact projects, addressing very important business and technical challenges and opportunities for our member companies. The projects are going to be very valuable for the interns in several ways—as career experiences, as great differentiators on their resumes, as potential job opportunities and as inspiration for some of them to become entrepreneurs one day.

The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Feature lens. This lens can then be used to point the light in the direction it needs to go, thereby using the emitted light more efficiently. GreenStar also has an advantage over traditional LEDs because of its breakthrough heat dissipation technology. This technology allows GreenStar to drive LEDs at a higher current than the industry standard and gain even more energy and cost efficiency.  “How do I test my whole light as a system?” was a question CFO & VP of Business Development Gabriel Senior faced. “Being inside a university, interns have access to great engineers, great professors and even some databases. So this is a punctual project we are assigning.” Moreover, the business intern inves-

tigated ways to branch out into foreign markets, such as those in Mexico, by relying on his knowledge gained at UTSA and his own experiences The SACEI is a great place for GreenStar to get assistance from outside professionals with a fresh and unbiased point of view on their business model and processes. The SACEI also provides them with assistance on who to contact for research and development, along with how to seek government assistance. In the SACEI, GreenStar now has an organization to turn to for help in establishing a business model for one of its new value-added lighting control solutions. It can also contact the SACEI for help with performing benchmark exercises with competitors.

“There is always the need for more time; there is always the need for more resources; there is always the need for more minds to take a look at your problems. [With the SACEI] We can always count on more people giving a thought to our business model and the way we plan the business model for new products. And they have engineering minds to take a look at and design for us a way of better testing the reliability of our products,” Senior says. The San Antonio Clean Energy Incubator, partnering with UTSA, will help GreenStar illuminate the path to energy efficiency. Through networking, the use of interns and business model review, SACEI will guide an up-and-coming company through some of the pitfalls in the San Antonio energy market.

Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute (Texas SERI) Mission The Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute was created to develop citizen leaders for the global community committed to transform the energy future of San Antonio, Texas and the nation. The Institute integrates scientific discovery, engineering innovation and policy deliberations with pragmatic implementation and a commitment to our multicultural traditions to realize the promise of tomorrow’s America as a global energy leader. It also serves as a center of intellectual creativity that promotes socioeconomic development regionally, nationally and globally. We provide systems solutions that pursue novel opportunities for technology insertion to reduce costs, improve reliability and assure responsible environmental stewardship that contributes to our energy future. Our impact will drive San Antonio’s economic future, coalesce our intellectual capital, serve as a magnet for thought leaders from around the nation and the globe and secure a foundation for enhanced prosperity for south Texas and the Alamo region for decades to come. Texas SERI strives to become an integrating force that connects our faculty, staff and students from

20 INNOVATIONS

across the University and each of its colleges, institutes and centers to address the most pressing energy challenges of our time. The Institute is involved in a broad set of research activities that span the breadth of the energy, water and sustainability domain and that remains active in emerging issues of national and global importance. We emphasize a holistic systems approach that strives to inform policy with sound, credible science and engineering and an ability to project plausible outcomes of policy decisions based on current understanding and an assessment of future scenarios. These outcomes are used to enhance communication, inform interested constituencies, and identify areas where additional information is required. Areas of Emphasis • Carbon Capture, Management and Reutilization • Electrification of the Transportation Sector • Energy Efficiency and Conservation • Energy/Water Nexus • Renewable Energy Technology and Storage SMART Secure Distributed Grid

Feature Annualenergy energycost costinin millions dollars Annual millions of of dollars for for 240240 wattwatt lightlight vs. 96light wattiflight is $0.07/KWH hour) 96vs. watt price if is price $0.07/KWH (kilowatt(Kilowatt hour) 8

$7,726,320 7

Dollars

6 5 4 3

Replacing 80,000 of San Antonio’s High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lights with LED lights is expected to result in an energy usage savings of more than $5.2 million. Annual maintenance savings could bring that figure to $8.9 million. With an initial investment of approximately $37 million, the more energy-efficient lighting system would pay for itself in just over four years. Additional savings could be realized when fixtures are either sold or recycled.

$2,472,422 2 1

High-Intensity High-Intensity Discharge Lights Lights Discharge (CommonStreet Street Light) (Common Light)

LED LEDLights Lights (Green Star Lights) (GreenStar Lights)

Annual energy and maintanance in millions of dollars for 240 Annual energy consumed incost millions of kilowat hours watt light vs. watt light if price is $0.07/KWH (kilowatt hour) for96240 watt light vs. 96 watt light hour

Energy savings could reach as much as 75 megawatt hours annually. That’s the equivalent of planting a 14,330-acre forest, approximately the same size asCamp Bullis. CO2 reduction will equal 115 million pounds, the same as removing more than 10,000 midsized cars from San Antonio’s streets.

$11,405,520

Dollars

10 8 6 4

$2,472,422

High-Intensity High-Intensity Discharge Lights Discharge Lights (Common Street Street Light) (Common Light)

140

LED LEDLights Lights (Green Star Lights) (GreenStar Lights)

Annual energy consumed in millions of kilowatt hourshours for Annual energy consumed in millions of kilowat for 240 watt light 240 watt light vs. 96 watt lightvs. 96 watt light hour

120

110,376,00

Wattage

100 80 60 40

35,320,320 20

High-Intensity LED Lights High-Intensity LED Lights Discharge Lights (Green Star Lights) Discharge Lights (GreenStar Lights) (Common Street (Common StreetLight) Light)

The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

22 INNOVATIONS

Student Spotlight

RICHARD BURGE TACKLING STEREOTYPES: How one student balances football and engineering.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Huehn, UTSA Athletics

When he walks into class, where does Richard Burge sit? Anywhere he wants to. At 6’3’ and 270 pounds, saying Burge is a big guy would be an understatement. He’s the type of guy you’d hate to work out next to in the gym. While you are feeling good about benching 200 pounds, you’d look over and see Burge pressing 350. Burge puts all of his mass to good use though, as a redshirt freshman, Burge plays defensive and nose tackle for the UTSA football team. But there’s more to him than just his size, this giant is also majoring in one of the most challenging programs at UTSA—Engineering. Burge’s story isn’t one of brawn vs. brains but rather of brawn and brains working together. At 19, he is unlike a lot of college students who are thinking about where they’re going to party on Friday night. Instead, Burge spends his time studying for exams or getting ready to crush some poor running back trying to break through his line. A graduate and former football player from Stratford High School in Houston, Burge knew that one day he wanted to be an engineer. “In high school I took an engineering class and we did a whole semester on bridges. That’s what first got me started in engineering.” Burge says. “And although I was a mechanical engineer at first, I switched to civil engineering be-

The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Feature cause it’s closer to what I want to do.” Studying to be an engineer is hard enough without outside distractions, but Burge has to balance his life in academia with his time spent practicing 10 hours a week on the field. “One day a week I get to do what I want,” Burge said, “It gets tough when you have three tests and a big game all coming up in the same week. But there’s no other place I’d rather be. Between all the help and individual

attention I get from the coaches, there’s no where else I could have gone to school and still gotten this kind of support.” Coaches often encourage their players to

along my homework to help pass the time.” Although he has a G.P.A. above 3.0, not all of his classes came easily to him. Physics proved to be challenging and taking a summer course in calculus wasn’t his favorite way to spend his vacation time. It isn’t all bad though. He enjoys working with computer software, so Introduction to Civil Engineering with Auto Cad was one of his favorite classes. Burge finished his first year of college and is now well into his second. Like most athletes, he would love to play for the NFL someday, but his goals seem to be more grounded. “I want to build bridges. It interests me and there’s a market for it. Sure, it would be great to be picked by the NFL when I am all done but I don’t worry about that. I am looking at what I am doing this year vs. looking 10 steps ahead at what may happen.”

“I am looking at what I am doing this year vs. looking 10 steps ahead at what may happen.” bring along books and study materials to away games. Burge takes their advice and is often seen with his books whenever he travels with the team. “There’s not a lot of room on the buses for large people. It’s hard sleeping in those seats, so I bring

Photo courtesy of Steve Moakley, UTSA Athletics

24 INNOVATIONS

Photo courtesy of Jeff Huehn, UTSA Athletics

Feature

The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

INFORMATION CENTER CAMLS advancing industries by eliminating waste

he Center for Advanced Manufacturing & Lean Systems (CAMLS) helps industries explore the most effective (advanced technologies) and efficient ways to systematically eliminate waste across the enterprise using various lean and six-sigma tools and methodologies to continuously improve the value creating processes in manufacturing and service sectors. Its partners include both large corporations (Boeing, ABB, Harlan Clarke, etc.) and many smaller companies. For example, the Center helped the Chism Company, a small local manufacturer of awnings, shorten its product delivery lead time from 6-8 weeks to just one week, with increased flexibility and reduced operating costs. The Center held its annual event and advisory council meeting on November 18, 2011 at UTSA campus. Keynote speakers of the annual event included representatives from Toyota-Texas Manufacturing, Boeing, Omnitrol and Harland Clarke. To find out more information visit http://camls.utsa.edu.

Center for Excellence in Engineering Education helping students Succeed

he Center for Excellence in Engineering Education (CEEE) promotes and advances the learning in many engineering fields, enhances academic performance, promotes life-long learning and prepares students to be highly competent engineers. The center also implements successful strategies that improve retention and graduation in the College of Engineering. Additionally, it offers resources that enables faculty to perform educational research and subsequently disseminate their results to their peers. 1. Just in Time Math (a joint project with the Wright State University, supported by the National Science Foundation). Through this project, the CEEE has developed and offers a rigorous mathematics course with engineering applications for freshmen who aspire to become engineers, but are math deficient. 2. Lift-Off: Curriculum Improvement for Engineering Minority Engineering Education (supported by NASA). The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and San Antonio College (SAC) are partnering to infuse/enrich their engineering and earth science curricula with NASA-related technology and research, to give students from both institutions research and education experiences at NASA and to improve the 2+2 pipeline for engineering students between the community college and the university. 3. Transforming Engineering Programs (supported by the University of Texas System). This is a collaborative project between the Colleges of Engineering, Sciences, Business and Education and Human Development at UTSA. This project uses proven pedagogical techniques in teaching mathematics and science to the engineering students, which results in highly effective student learning. 4. Female Minority Students in Science and Engineering (supported by the US Department of Education). This project focuses on recruiting (and mentoring) female minority students into the College of Engineering. The student cohorts are provided opportunities to interact with peers and professors. They are assigned special projects along with paired mentors. Students also participate in workshops to improve their study and research skills, etc. 5. CPS Energy Fellows Program (sponsored by CPS Energy, San Antonio Independent School District and UTSA). As a result of an agreement between CPS Energy, UTSA and several San Antonio school districts, the Center has created two introductory courses in mathematics and physics with engineering applications. These courses are taught to area high school students who wish to continue their study in the field of engineering in a CPS facility located in Southeast San Antonio. Students are given the title of CPS Energy Fellows. 6. MATH Tutoring for Engineering Students. This program provides tutoring and exhibitions for freshman engineering students who are enrolled in pre-calculus and calculus classes. For more information visit http://engineering.utsa.edu/ceee/index.php

26 INNOVATIONS

New graduate certificate in Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (TEM) offered

long with the College of Business, CITE (Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship) is offering a new graduate certificate to qualified candidates. Students currently enrolled in a graduate degree program at UTSA are eligible for admission. Professionals in their field are also encouraged to apply and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The certificate coursework will include 12 credit hours of graduate courses. The courses required are as follows: • Building Enterprise Equity • Essentials of Project and Program Management • Entrepreneurial Financial Management for students whose degrees require FIN 5023 or FIN 5013 • Foundations of Finance for Entrepreneurs for students whose degrees do not require FIN 5023 • Starting the High Tech Firm CITE, an interdisciplinary center in the Colleges of Engineering and Business, was established in 2006 to create a pipeline for UTSA faculty, students and surrounding business community to develop new technology ventures. Each year it also hosts the $100K Student Technology Venture Competition. Focusing on student entrepreneurial activities, CITE hosts a biannual $100K Student Technology Venture Competition to give students hands-on experience as early stage entrepreneurs. Teams of senior business and engineering students work throughout the semester to develop a technology demonstrator and accompanying business plan to successfully develop a new company. The engineering students create a new technology product, and the business students create the business plan for commercialization of the product. The Harvard Business Club of San Antonio provides a mentor for each of the new venture teams. The competition is the culmination of their undergraduate work and will be judged by a panel of academic, business and entrepreneurial experts. The winning team has access to a prize pool of over $100,000 in funding and services to launch its new company. Some winning teams will execute MicroExits © and sell their companies and technologies immediately upon completion of the competition. For more information visit http://entrepreneur.utsa.edu

iTEC launches its mobile program, iTEC On Wheels

he objective of iTEC (Interactive Technology Experience Center) is to provide innovative, high-quality programs for children that excite, inspire and educate. iTEC’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activities challenge children to look at the world from a new perspective by discovering the sciences in their everyday lives. This Fall, iTEC launched its new mobile STEM education program: iTEC On Wheels. iTEC On Wheels is intended for children K to 8th grade. The session activities are all TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) aligned and designed to enhance the teachers’ existing curriculum materials. October 18th began the first iTEC On Wheels session with Medio Creek Elementary School located within SWISD. Tina Wells and Roberta Bauer lead 151 fourth and fifth graders through activities in the fields of geology and renewable energy. The fourth graders partook in a sweet, sticky lesson on plate tectonics while the fifth graders constructed hydro-powered mills from bottles. iTEC also introduced its new Fall Break Camps beginning October 29th. This year’s Saturday camps included: Creepy Chemistry (chemistry), Saturn-day (space science), Our Flying World (aviation) and Texas Gold (geology). These camps were available to children ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade. Spring Break Day camps will be offered beginning March 12th – March 16th. The STEM themes and registration information will be announced in January 2012. To find out more about iTEC at UTSA visit http://itec.utsa.edu. Interactive Technology Experience Center

The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

INFORMATION CENTER SiViRT educates through visualization

eginning its third year in operation, the Center for Simulation Visualization and Real-Time Prediction (SiViRT) has 18 faculty members and 35 graduate and undergraduate students from both colleges of engineering and science as well as faculty from other universities. There are three research teams in the areas of imaging, uncertainty quantification, and real-time computing. The application areas range from structural reliability, UAV and nanotechnology, to computational neuroscience and cancer treatment simulation. The latest addition to the center

is the Advanced Visualization Lab equipped with a large-scale Vis Wall, 3D display and haptics-enabled visualization devices. Professor Yusheng Feng is currently the center director. The mission of the center is to create a collaborative and interdisciplinary research infrastructure in computational sciences and engineering; promote the first class simulation-based applied research; and educate undergraduate and graduate students through the first-hand research and design experience.

Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute’s goals

t was slightly more than a year ago that the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute (Texas SERI) was created by UTSA to partner with others from across the Alamo region to position San Antonio as a technology and innovation leader in the 21st century global energy economy. The CPS Energy-UTSA Energy Research Alliance was founded on the principle that innovation sits at the heart of long-term economic prosperity, serves as a magnet to attract the “best and brightest” from across the nation and around the globe to our community and will enable a diverse, cost-competitive, reliable energy portfolio to fuel our economy for decades to come. It is widely recognized that science, technology, engineering and innovation must play a critical role in accelerating our journey to connect San Antonio with the emerging global energy economy. Today, Mission Verde lays out a bold vision and a plan for San Antonio that recognizes sustainability as an economic driver with significant collateral environmental benefits. We are working together with the business, investment and incubation community to create a clean energy incubator, based on the framework of Mission Verde, that is expected to contribute to the clean energy global marketplace. The initial agreement between CPS Energy and UTSA identified five strategic focus areas that provide a framework for project definition. As the result of advances in technology, evolving policy deliberations and insights gained from ongoing research elsewhere, the focus areas evolved into multiple active projects. • Energy Efficiency and Conservation • Smart, Secure, and Distributed Grid Network • Carbon Capture, Storage, Sequestration and Reutilization • Sustainability Education and Outreach Program • Electrification of Transportation • Large Scale Photovoltaic Penetration into the Electric Grid (A collaborative effort with NREL) • Energy Efficiency (A collaborative effort with NREL) For more information about Texas SERI and ongoing projects visit http://texasenergy.utsa.edu/

28 INNOVATIONS

Spring & Summer 2011 The Dean and faculty of the College of Engineering congratulate the following undergraduates for making the Deanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s List. To attain this honor, these students achieved a 3.75 or higher grade point average while registered for the SPRING or SUMMER 2011 semesters. CIVIL ENGINEERING

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Azouggagh, Karim SR

Agudelo, Ryan

Alvarez, Emmanuel SR

Berry, John

Brenner, David

Constantino, Justin JR

Bryant, Jennifer

Caswell, Dylan

DeLaGarza, Raquel S O

Dziuk, Kevin

Cruz, Frankie

Doemel, Jonathan JR

Foote, Nathan

Hudson, Matthew SR

Geffken, Keith

Garza, Oscar

Johnson, Clark

Haumann, Karin

Gutierrez, Phillip

Karimov, Jahongir SR

Hudson, Benjamin SO

Le, Vinh

Luna, Zachary

Leal, Thomas

Lopez, Jose

Molina, Jose

Lek, Devanda

Mathis, Aaron

Nasreddine, Raidan FR

Mancuso, Peter

Patel, Ankilkumar SR

Mulligan, Kelly

Raibon, Michael SO

Nagi, Mahmoud

Reed, Taylor

Sanchez, Steve

Naville, Christopher SO

Russell, David

Vernor, Dusten

Oliver, Bryan

Spengler, Bruna

Wilson, Dustin

Rayani, Nikil

Summer

Saenz, Jorge

Orozco, Magbis Patrick, Robert

Taylor, Nicholas

Cruz, Frankie

Whitehouse, Joseph SO

Winegardner, Ian SR Zvonek, Steven

COMPUTER ENGINEERING Quirem, Saddam JR

PRE ENGINEERING

Schwirtlich, Kelsey SR Silvester, Conrad

Speer, Nicholas

Thompson, James SR Wechsler, Marissa SO

UNDECLARED ENGINEERING

Alnaser, Abdullah FR

Hernandez, Ricardo FR

Busbee, Austin

Andrews, Dustin

Mohammad, Ali

Gonzales, Kaelie SO

Bazar, Adam

Navarro, Josue

Lodge, Rehana

Berry, Matthew

Park, Jong Bo

Pinnell, Michael

Cain, Adam

Pavlich, Zachary

Schaefer, Samuel FR

Delahay, Douglas JR

Ressmann, Zachary FR

Garza, Michelle

Tate, James

Guevara, Jorge

Watson, William

Sirizzotti, Kyle

Summer Carter, Angel

The University of Texas at San Antonio COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

ADVISORY COUNCIL

a message from the

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Samuel G. Dawson, P.E. CEO, Pape-Dawson Engineers, Inc.

ADVISORY COUNCIL CHAIRMAN How about those Roadunners? Yes, football has arrived at UTSA, and the city has really come together to support the team with great attendance at each game. Advisory Council member David Spencer has distinguished himself as a formidable tailgater, including hosting College of Engineering students at his “Brute Squad” bus. But not all the excitement is taking place in the Alamodome—the College of Engineering and its many strong programs are continuing to make the university proud, too. It is exciting to note that the College’s enrollment grew by seven percent, to a total enrollment of 2,762 students this fall. 402 of those are graduate and doctoral students. This growth continues the remarkable trajectory of the College as enrollment has expanded by more than 170 percent and external research funding has increased 17-fold during the last decade. The College also received news that all its programs have been accredited by ABET for the next six years, the final report revealed no concerns from the accrediting agency. The accreditation is affirmation that tremendous growth within the College is leading us down the right path. Aiding this growth is the addition of two new academic programs this fall: a Ph.D. program in Mechanical Engineering, a collaboration with the Southwest Research Institute; and a bachelor’s in Biomedical Engi-

30 INNOVATIONS

neering. The bachelor’s program, was kicked off with great support for scholarships, including a new College of Engineering Advisory Council scholarship and the new Michael and Carol Burke B.M.E.. Annual Scholarship, both awarded to students this fall. And the Ph.D. in M.E. program will benefit from the addition of the Zachry Chair in Mechanical Engineering that is being made possible by generous support from the Zachry Foundation. The College continues to evolve as the leader in engineering education in our region, ensuring that UTSA best serves the needs of our community. Being involved is one way all of us can ensure the College’s continued progress. Not everyone can keep up with David Spencer in tailgating, but we can all play a role in the progress of the college as a donor, a mentor or an advocate. Thank you for investing in engineering at UTSA!

ADVISORY COUNCIL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS

2011 ADVISORY COUNCIL ROSTER ON THE COVER

Dr. H. Norman Abramson Southwest Research Institute, Retired

Mr. Stephen T. Graham San Antonio River Authority

Mr. Craig Robinson GlobalSCAPE

Mr. Wayne S. Alexander AT&T, Retired

Mr. Scott Gray J.M. Waller Associates, Inc.

Mr. Louis E. Rowe Goetting & Associates, Inc.

Mr. Eddie Baron Zachry Holdings, Inc.

Mr. Roger R. Hemminghaus Ultramar Diamond Shamrock, Retired

Mr. Joe H. Sanchez Air Intelligence Agency

Mr. Bruce B. Barshop Barshop Ventures, L.L.C.

Mr. James R. Henry Standard Aero San Antiono, Inc.

Mr. Chris L. Schultz Raba-Kistner Consultants, Inc.

Mr. Steve Bartley Bartley Energy Consulting

Mr. Philip A. Howlett Texas Department of Transportation

Dr. G.P. Singh Karta Technologies Inc., Retired

Mr. Michael D. Burke San Antonio Clean Technology Forum

Mr. Brad K. Hunt WHY Group, L.L.C.

Mr. Michael J. Burke KCI, Retired

Mr. Mir Imran InCube Ventures

Dr. Ben G. Streetman University of Texas, Cockrell School of Engineering

Ms. Stephanie L. Chandler Jackson Walker, L.L.P.

Ms. Lissa A. Martinez Martinez & Hughes

Contributors

Mr. Jeff W. Clarke Dell, Inc.

Mr. Victor Mieres National Instruments Corporation

Associate Director of Media Relations

Mr. Sam G. Dawson Pape-Dawson Engineers, Inc.

Mr. Mike Milam NuStar

Mailing Address

Mr. Tony Diamond Bradford Lawton

Mr. John Monday AT&T Services

Mr. Walter Downing Southwest Research Institute

Mrs. Kelley S. Neumann San Antonio Water System

Mr. Antonio Gonzalez, Jr. Boeing Aerospace

Dr. Gabriele Niederauer Entrigue Surgical, Inc.

Dean

C. Mauli Agrawal Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Policies

Mehdi Shadaram

Associate Dean for Research

Amar Bhalla

Associate Dean for Graduate Studies

Wei-Ming Lin Assistant Dean

Rosanne Gorny Director of Development

Jana Kennelly

Graphic Designer and Writer

Tim Luukkonen

Sheila Slife, Matthew Pompa, Jeff Huehn, Steve Moakley Christi Fish

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VOL. 11 | FALL 2011