Khandaker Receives Fulbright Award

Morshed Khandaker, Ph.D., professor of engineering and physics in the UCO College of Mathematics and Science, received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to travel to Turkey for the 2019-20 academic year. While there, Khandaker will conduct research at Bursa Uludag University, in Bursa, Turkey, as part of a project titled “Effect of Laser Induced Microgrooving on Total Knee Replacement Implant.”

Khandaker joined Central’s faculty in 2008 and has since led research exploring potential uses of nanotechnology in the field of biomedicine. In 2016, Khandaker received a grant to pursue a project that focused on improving the design of biomedical implants. Through the development of an engineering manufacturing process, Khandaker, and researchers on the project, focused on using this process to more efficiently restore and maintain long-term functionality of damaged tissue in the human body.

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the U.S. Department of State and awards grants to further its mission of increasing mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and the 160 other participating countries.

Eitrheim Earns Fellowship for National Study

The Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists (IONiC) recently named Eric Eitrheim, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry in the UCO College of Mathematics and Science, one of its Virtual, Inorganic, Pedagogical, Electronic Resource (VIPEr) Fellows for a national chemistry study.

The study, titled “Improving Inorganic Chemistry Education,” is a collaboration between IONiC and the National Science Foundation’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program. It will use classroom observations, analysis of student work, surveys and interviews to observe how changes in the classroom environment affect students’ learning, interest and motivation. The project aims to eventually create a flexible, foundation-level inorganic chemistry course that maximizes student learning.

Eitrheim joined UCO in August 2017 and has taught inorganic, environmental and general chemistry courses, while also being active in several research projects. He is one of 20 faculty selected as the first cohort of fellows for the project.

School of Music Becomes All-Steinway

In August, the UCO School of Music earned the designation of an “AllSteinway School.” The designation signifies that all performance spaces, teaching studios and practice rooms for piano majors are equipped with Steinway pianos. In addition, these pianos must be kept in performance-quality condition.

This designation endcaps a 20-year effort to entirely equip the School of Music with Steinway pianos. In 1999, UCO purchased its first Steinway grand piano for Mitchell Hall Theatre. However, nearly a decade later, the AllSteinway Initiative gained traction, with the majority of funds raised during that time. This success would not have been possible without the help of donors and School of Music faculty. More than half of the school’s 52 Steinway pianos were purchased within the last five years –a testament to the momentum of the initiative in recent years.

Feinberg Named to New Role

UCO President Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar named Diane Feinberg as the university’s first vice president for People and Culture. In this role, she will oversee the newly developed Division of People and Culture, which includes Employee Relations, Talent Acquisition, Talent Development, Benefits Administration, Payroll, Inclusive Community, Workers’ Compensation, Risk Management, and Environmental Health and Safety.

As an alumna, graduating from Central with a master’s degree in adult and higher education with an emphasis on training, Feinberg previously served the university as assistant vice president for Human Resources. She has senior-level certifications from the Society of Human Resources Management and the Human Resources Certification Institute, as well as more than two decades of experience in human resources, financial planning and budgeting, safety and risk management, operations, and training and leadership development.