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Sustainability, International Initiatives Drive Expansion
Dear Alumni and Friends of the College of Engineering at the University of North Texas, welcome to our 2010-11 annual report. Our publication illustrates how the College continues to achieve the goals of its strategic plan to “capitalize on the opportunity of innovation and excellence in teaching, research, and service.� At the heart of the 2011 annual report is the growth of the College’s sustainability research and education, as well as our increasing international reach. Additionally, the report highlights the programs and people that make our College an innovator in teaching, research, and industry partnerships. UNT and Engineering are exploring initiatives that will increase our international recognition. We have launched a workshop to help foster international research collaborations and joint research funding initiatives. The inaugural workshop has resulted and continues to result in projects beneficial to UNT and other participating universities. The university also saw the launch of an international student competition that seeks to increase awareness of the applications of cold-formed steel. We have outstanding students who also are seeking out international opportunities. One of our students has received a U.S. Student Fulbright Research Grant to work on concentrated solar power systems in Chile, which includes designing a photovoltaic system for a field station of Omora Ethnobotanical Park. Along with international programs, Engineering students are seeking out projects such as Texas Aerospace Scholars internship program that will help them gain valuable experience outside of the classroom. Our faculty is committed to pursuing partnerships and other programs to drive innovation. Their impact includes helping to coordinate an international conference, helping to influence the next generation through a summer research program for teachers, and working through multidisciplinary collaboration to help address environmental problems. These efforts have resulted in growth in research funding and the number of students choosing an engineering education at UNT. To help sustain this growth, the College is expanding its laboratories including the construction of the Zero Energy Research Laboratory and expanding its faculty through a diverse group of new hires. We thank all who have been involved in helping the College in its continued expansion and welcome anyone who wants to join us as a partner or donor in further developing our international, sustainable or other research and education initiatives. Sincerely,
Dr. Costas Tsatsoulis
Message from the Dean
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Table of Contents:
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Message From the Dean
2
Table of Contents
3-4 International 5-6 Sustainability
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Computer Science and Engineering
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Electrical Engineering
9
Engineering Technology
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Materials Science and Engineering
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Mechanical and Energy Engineering
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New Faculty
13 Sponsors
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Texas BEST
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The College of Engineering is committed to providing high
quality education and fostering innovative research. Along with creating new facilities and expanding existing programs, the College actively supports faculty and students as they make their mark beyond the classroom. As the college gains recognition beyond the North Texas region, the College is cultivating international partnerships and collaborations, which will help the College expand opportunities for student and faculty.
The College of Engineering hosted its first
Discovery Workshop in 2011, which brought together renowned
nanotechnologists, material scientists, and engineers from Colombia, Greece, Mexico, and the United States for discussions about nanotechnology and networking opportunities. The purpose of the workshop, held June 27-28, was to foster international research collaborations and joint research funding initiatives, promote faculty and student research exchanges, and facilitate opportunities for doctoral student training and postdoctoral research. Participants represented universities such as Universidad del Valle en Cali (Colombia), National Center for Scientific Research (NCSR) – Demokritos (Greece), and Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico (UAEM). Dr. Christos Tsamis, with NCSR, stated: “I think this was a very important experience. We had the ability to communicate with researchers from Mexico, Colombia and the U.S. This is the first step in order to establishing long-lasting collaborations, which we need to pursue.” This workshop resulted in specific collaborations between faculty and students from CINVESTAV and UNT. In November 2011, UNT’s Drs. Rick Reidy and Narendra Dahotre visited CINVESTAV at the invitation and sponsorship by the Director of CINVESTAV. During the visit both Drs. Reidy and Dahotre made technical presentations, took a tour of the research facility and conducted several discussions on mutual research interests and possible collaborations, which are ongoing.
4 Jared Fiorentine, a 2011 Mechanical and Energy Engineering alumnus, received a U.S. Student Fulbright Research Grant while an undergraduate at UNT to allow him to travel to Chile and participate in a project involving concentrated solar power systems (CSP). Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright is the largest U.S. international exchange program allowing students to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, or teaching in a country of their choice. The Fulbright Program is one of the most prestigious awards programs worldwide, operating in more than 155 countries. Fiorentine said he chose Chile because it has the Atacama Desert in the north, an ideal place to test concentrated solar systems. “Plus, my wife and I have always wanted to live in a Spanish speaking country,� he added. He decided to work with Dr. Humberto Vidal, professor of civil and mechanical engineering at the Universidad de Magallanes (UMAG). The project will allow him to gain practical familiarity with designing and installing CSP systems, which he has chosen as his master’s thesis topic and intended profession upon returning to the United States. His participation in the project began in March 2012.
Undergraduate and graduate students who are
interested in cold-formed steel design were invited to test their problem-solving skills in the International Student Competition on Cold-Formed Steel Design. Cold-formed steel is a thin type of steel structure that is less expensive and more environmentally friendly than other materials. The 2011 competition resulted in a total of 78 entries from 9 universities in the United States, Canada, China, Turkey, and Australia. Dr. Cheng Yu, associate professor in the UNT Department of Engineering Technology, is coordinator of the Construction Engineering Technology Program and organizer of the competition. The students were challenged with designing an optimal cold-formed steel cross-section shape. Student entrants were required to work on the challenge individually, and no team solutions were accepted. The competition, launched in 2011, is co-sponsored by American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), along with the National Science Foundation (NSF), ColdFormed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI), and the University of North Texas.
Three College of Engineering faculty members attended the 2010
International Symposium on Electronic System Design (ISED) in Bhubaneswar, India. The event was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Indian Department of Science and Technology, and co-sponsored by the University of North Texas (UNT). The conference was attended by science and technology leaders from the United States, India, United Kingdom, Singapore, Germany and Taiwan. The event provided major visibility to UNT and also provided a student recruitment ground for the university.
International
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At the University of North Texas, sustainability research
is aimed at solving complex problems through interdisciplinary collaboration, creativity, and innovation. UNT’s strategic research plan focuses on advancing cutting edge sciences, and sustainability science is one of these areas. The College of Engineering is capitalizing on its existing strengths in sustainability research while launching new initiatives to support innovative research and education. Researchers at the University of North Texas are on the verge of revolutionizing the construction industry by developing natural alternatives to fiberglass and other popular, non-biodegradable building materials.
Construction began in July 2011 on the Zero Energy
Research Lab, which is a state-of-the-art facility – the only one of its kind in Texas – designed specifically to test various energy technologies and systems in order to achieve a net-zero consumption of energy. Dr. Yong Tao, chair of the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering and the PACCAR Professor of Engineering, spearheaded the design and creation of the lab. Previously, Tao oversaw a similar project at Florida International University. The structure has a number of advanced energy technologies integrated into its 1,200 square-foot space, including a geothermal heat pump, a radiant heated floor slab, solar panels, a building energy monitoring and control system and a rainwater collection system, to name a few. Outside, the facility has a residential-scale wind turbine and an electric vehicle charging station.
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$22 Million Pledge On Aug. 15, 2011, the University of North Texas announced the largest gift in the history of UNT with a pledge of $22 million from entrepreneur and alumnus Charn Uswachoke (pictured here).
“I wanted to help the next generation have a better education so that we all can have a better world,” Uswachoke said. “UNT is a top-quality school and continues to grow and strengthen as it expands into new areas.” The pledge will be divided among UNT’s Colleges of Music, Engineering and Business. The College of Engineering will receive $6.5 million, $5 million to create the Charn Uswachoke Center for Energy Efficient Materials, a center that will help UNT become a leader in energy related materials research and $1.5 million to create endowed professorships in energy-related materials to attract top researchers to the center.
Nine North Texas teachers had
the opportunity to develop novel lesson plans based on research they conducted at the University of North Texas during the summer. These teachers participated in the University of North Texas’ Research Experiences for Teachers in Sensor Networks program, which is designed to enhance the teaching of mathematics and science by exposing high school teachers to leading-edge research. The inaugural group of teachers represented many area ISDs, and worked with faculty mentors from UNT’s College of Engineering on a variety of projects including aquatic wireless network sensors, developing computer programs that allow robots to “see,” and working with sensors that can detect soil moisture and trigger irrigation systems. “It is really great to provide this opportunity to the teachers,” said Dr. Ruthanne “Rudi” Thompson, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. “This program doesn’t just reach the nine teachers that we have, it reaches all the students that they will have year after year.”
Sustainability
7 Dr. Barrett Bryant joined the UNT Department of Computer Science and Engineering as Professor and Chair on Aug. 1, 2011. Dr. Bryant comes to UNT from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he served as the associate chair of Computer and Information Sciences since 1996 and as the undergraduate program director since 1998. Bryant said that he wanted to work at UNT because he “really liked the growth that is planned for UNT particularly in the College of Engineering and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.” Bryant received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Computer Science from Northwestern University in 1983 and 1980, respectively. He received his B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1979. His research interests are programming languages and compiler design, component-based software engineering, and formal methods in software engineering.
UNT faculty members Robert Akl and David Keathly, along Department Celebrates
40th Anniversay The Department of Computer Science and Engineering was founded as the Department of Computing Sciences in 1971. When the department moved to the newly formed College of Engineering in 2002, the name was changed to what it is today. Celebrations included a welcome picnic held for faculty, staff and students.
with their camp staff, hosted four Robocamps and three Xbox Game Development camps during the summer of 2011. Funding was provided by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Workforce Commission. A total of 125 students attended the camps, which celebrated their seventh year of operation.
Dr. Yan Huang,
associate professor, received the ACM SIGSpatial Distinguished service award at the ACM SIGSPATIAL International Conference on Advances in Geographic Information Systems, Nov. 5, 2010. At the same conference, a paper titled “T-Drive: Driving Directions Based on Taxi Trajectories” won Best Paper Runnerup. It was co-authored by Dr. Huang and Ph.D. student Chengyang Zhang, in addition to J. Yuan, Y. Zheng, W. Xie, X. Xie and G. Sun.
On Feb. 11, 2011, 28 high school students from the North Texas area came to the University of North Texas to participate in the regional competition for the 2011 North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad (NACLO), hosted by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Dr. Rada Mihalcea, CSE associate professor, and Genene Murphy, student assistant, supervised the event.
CSE
8 Emma Zemler, who is enrolled in both UNT
and Texas Woman’s University dual degree program in engineering and math, spent the spring 2011 semester working at the NASA – Johnson Space Center in Houston under the Texas Aerospace Scholars internship program. The Texas Aerospace Scholars internship program is administered by NASA’s Universities Space Research Association in partnership with the Aerospace Academy under the Strategic Education Alliance. The program seeks to recruit talented students in academic disciplines relevant to NASA’s mission. Interested students must be alumni of NASA’s High School Aerospace Scholars and Community College Aerospace Scholars. Zemler also was a High School Aerospace Scholar for NASA (January 2007 – June 2007) and an INSPIRE intern (June 2008 – August 2008), working with the Safety and Mission Assurance at Johnson Space Center.
David Crouse,
Program receives ABET accreditation
(right) who was named a The College of Engineering is proud to U.S. Presidential Scholar for announce that the Bachelor of Science his excellence in academic Program in Electrical Engineering at performance, worked for more UNT is accredited by the Engineering than a year in the laboratory of Accreditation Commission of ABET, Dr. Shengli Fu (left), Assistant 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, Professor in the Electrical MD 21202-4012. Engineering Department, successfully completing two projects: remote laboratory and real-time ECG monitoring. “This is a big project,” Fu said. “The long-term goal is (for the monitoring system) to detect abnormal heart signals in real time and send warning information to the doctor.” Crouse said he was motivated to work on a ECG monitoring project due to his grandfather’s two heart attacks. He stated that he would like such a system to gather a holistic view of a person’s health – “not only heart rhythm, we also thinking of setting it up for blood sugar monitoring for diabetics and measuring the oxygen content in blood for asthmatics.” Crouse said that he enjoyed the good collaboration between the researchers at UNT and hopes to stay in touch while at Michigan State.
LiDAR (light detection and ranging) is a laser-based instrument currently used to produce elevation maps for flood plains. LiDAR has the potential to be effective in disaster disaster management and other areas that require the quick collection of topographic data.
Two UNT researchers recently received funds from the Norman Hackerman Advanced Research Program, a competitive peer-reviewed grant program created by the Texas Legislature to provide support to faculty members and students in Texas higher education institutions for basic research. In “Adding Value to Sparse LiDAR Elevation Data,” Bill Buckles, a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and Kamesh Namuduri, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, are working to fuse LiDAR data with visual images to build large-scale 3-D maps for potential use with construction projects related to roadways, railways, oil and gas pipelines, electric transmission lines, communication networks, ports and harbors.
EE
9 UNT’s Texas Governor’s School
(TGS) was chosen as a finalist for the Tech Titan of the FutureUniversity Level award, which recognizes higher education institutions that encourage students to choose engineering and technology-related disciplines. According to Dr. Richard F. Reidy, interim chair of the College of Engineering’s Department of Engineering Technology and TGS director, surveys (by phone and web) of the first two classes found that 97 percent of the students attended college. Additionally, 80 percent of TGS students state a preference for a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) major as they enter college. TGS is a free, three-week intensive summer educational program, open to all qualified resident Texas students who have completed 10th grade, regardless of race, ethnicity, income or background. This program focuses on enriching and developing a student’s abilities in science and technology. Reidy said that TGS also incorporates classes that examine how science and technology have and will impact our history, music, ethics, and art. In addition, students take courses in writing, college preparation, and life directions. “I am aware of no other STEM summer program that takes such broad view on science and technology,” he said.
The College of Engineering offers to qualified undergraduates from throughout the country the
opportunity to conduct research projects for eight weeks during the summer under the banner of SUPER (Summer Undergraduate Program in Engineering Research). Students selected for SUPER are assigned a faculty mentor and can choose to perform research under one of the College’s research areas or propose a research project of their own.
The American Iron and Steel Institute announced recently that its Seismic Code Team
will partner with the University of North Texas and Johns Hopkins University on two research projects that will advance the seismic design of cold-formed steel for light-frame construction. The projects have received grants from the National Science Foundation. The research results will advance the use of cold-formed steel in high seismic areas. Cheng Yu, Ph.D., associate professor and coordinator of the Construction Engineering Technology Program at the University of North Texas, will lead a research team in the development of advanced designs of high-performance shear wall systems with enhanced ductility and strength for low-cost building constructions in high seismic and high wind areas.
ETEC
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The National Science Foundation will fund an Industrial/University Cooperative Research
Center (I/UCRC) between the Colorado School of Mines and the University of North Texas on the subject of “Advanced Non-Ferrous Structural Alloys.” This center will combine faculty expertise at both universities, along with expertise from the industrial participants to address the physical metallurgy of non-ferrous alloys. The Center will engage many faculty and students in UNT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, including Dr. Peter Collins (site director of the center, pictured). A primary goal of the center is to educate students in areas that have become increasingly rare in materials science and engineering departments around the country, namely, traditional physical metallurgy combined with computational modeling approaches.
Area high school students had fun while exploring the
world of materials engineering and nanotechnology during the ASM Materials Camp. The summer camp provided students an activity filled three days in which they were introduced to the various academic opportunities in materials science. Students learned more about ceramics, tribology, laser processing, polymers and other aspects of materials science, as well as conducted hands-on projects that helped their learning experience and piqued their curiosity in materials.
Dr. Narendra Dahotre, (pictured below) professor and chair
of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, recently co-authored a book titled Laser Machining of Advanced Materials. The book was published in March, 2011 by CRC Press of Taylor & Francis Group. It is a hardcover book covering several advantages of laser machining such as capabilities for machining the materials that are difficult to machine otherwise. The book is intended as a useful resource for senior undergraduate and graduate students in materials science and manufacturing and research source for scientists and engineers. The book’s co-author is Dr. Anoop Samant of the University of Arkansas.
Every year the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication
Engineers (STLE) organize a student poster contest in an attempt to provide the opportunity for students to present their research activities. For the second year in a row, Hamidreza Mohseni was awarded the first place prize amongst 36 national and international students at the STLE 2011 annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga. Hamidreza’s award winning poster was titled ‘Friction Mitigation in Nanocrystalline ZnO via SubsurfaceInduced Plastic Shear’.
MTSE
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The College of Engineering held its first Design Day on April 29, 2011. The
program was open to anyone interested in learning more about what the Engineering students are doing, and the event allowed the students to present their work to their peers and professors, along with invited industry guests. The program began with a welcome address, followed by poster presentations in the Discovery Park foyer.
Triumph Aerostructures, formerly known as Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc., selected UNT to conduct principal tests on its composite aircraft panels to gage durability and performance. Dr. Nandika D’Souza (pictured) is the recipient of a grant award from the corporation and will lead the research experiments with the support of graduate students from her lab. D’Souza’s research team will use state-of-the-art UNT facilities to conduct the range of tests, including the Polymer Mechanical and Rheology Laboratory and the Center for Advanced Research and Technology.
The Renewable Energy and Conservation (REAC)
Research Cluster, announced in December 2010 by the University of North Texas, is part of the university’s long-term plan to bolster transformational, integrative and high impact research. It will address complex scientific, technological, environmental and societal problems through multidisciplinary collaboration and innovation. The new cluster areas add to the previous seven clusters that already are advancing with high profile hires. REAC combines expertise in materials science, mechanical and energy engineering, electrical engineering, engineering technology and other physical and social science fields to conduct research in three thrust areas: distributed renewable power generation, smart grid transmission and building energy conservation.
MEE
12 Peter Collins, Ph.D. Assistant Professor
Research interests include development of direct threedimensional characterization techniques across length scales, coupled experimental/modeling approaches. effect of highly refined microstructures on properties of materials, 3D TEM diffraction tomography for crystal structure determination, and powder metallurgy. Dr. Peter Collins received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Ohio State University (2004 and 2001 respectively), and his B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Missouri - Rolla in 1999.
Song Fu, Ph.D.
Aleksandra Fortier, Ph.D. Assistant Professor
Her research interests are mainly in the area of electronics reliability and efficiency of electronics. Research work includes experimental and computational analysis. Dr. Aleksandra Fortier earned her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and M.S. in Engineering Management in 2009, and B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2005 and 2006, all from Southern Methodist University.
Hyoung Soo Kim, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research interests include highly dependable computer systems, autonomic and reconfigurable systems, Power management and energy-efficient systems, and cloud computing. Dr. Song Fu comes from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. He is the director of the Dependable Computing Systems Lab. He received his M.S. and B.S. degrees in Computer Science from Nanjing University and Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2002 and 1999, respectively. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Computer Engineering from Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich., in 2008.
Yuankun Lin, Ph.D. Associate Professor
Research interests include photonic bandgap materials and condensed matter physics.Yuankun Lin comes from the University of Texas Pan American. Dr. Yuankun Lin is a member of UNT’s Bio/Nano Photonics Cluster, a multidisciplinary collaboration of professors who explore how light can be used in extremely small dimensions to develop new materials and devices with applications in medicine, telecommunications, energy and numerous other fields. Dr. Lin has a joint appointment in physics and electrical engineering. Dr. Lin received his Ph.D. in hysics from the University of British Columbia in 2000, and M.S. and B.S. in Physics, both from Nankai University.
Assistant Professor
Research interests include mixed signal circuit design, RF circuit/system design, and signal integrity of the high speed system. Dr. Hyoung Soo Kim comes from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (2010 and 2003 respectively), and his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.
Yong Tao, Ph.D.
PACCAR Professor of Engineering and Department Chair Research interests include fundamentals of thermal sciences, refrigeration system performance, and renewable energy applications in buildings. Dr. Yong Tao received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, and a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tongji University in Shanghai, China
New Faculty
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Thanking Our Sponsors for Their Generous Support
The College of Engineering would like to formally thank the following Foundations, Corporations, and Individuals who have chosen to contribute funding to us throughout fiscal year 2011. Their contributions make it possible for us to establish new programs in addition to advancing others, improving the stature of the College and the University in general.
Corporations
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AT&T Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation CBS ArcSafe, Inc. Encana Oil & Gas Freese and Nichols, Inc. James F. McDonald Insurance Agency L-3 Communications Integrated Systems Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company Microsoft Matching Gifts Program NUCONSTEEL Corporation Peerless Manufacturing Co PepsiCo Raytheon Raytheon Matching Gifts Educ Program Research in Motion Siemens Product Lifecycle Stryker Communications TDIndustries Texas Instruments Inc. Trucking Industry Defense Association Weber Aircraft/Zodiac Aerospace
Foundations
II-VI Foundation Texas Instruments Foundation
Individuals
Anonymous Austin Jr., L. Don Barnhill, Sharon Elaine Barthold, Evelyn M Batbold, Ariunsanaa Brown, Patricia K Buckles, Bill Bunce, Nancy A Canada, Cecilia Ann Cavin, David Justin Chandrasekaran, Vikram Cheatham, Charles Brent
Chowdhury, Shahnaz Zerine Corkern, Susan Marie Cromwell, Bradley Ray Culp, Donald Wilson Doan, Donald Scott Drouillard, Richard Thomas Eaton, Stephen Fielder, Cassandra Leigh Foskett, Peter Joseph Gallegos, David R Ghai, Dhruva Vinay Gleaton, Joshua Teal Grant, Reginald Gray, Stephen Paul Hatch, Diana Marie Hebert, Joseph Martin Hickman, John T Hillard, Karen Lynn Hipp, Billy J. Ho, Chalong Hodge, Karen Sue Iyengar Prasanna, Venkatesan Jackson, Jason Taron Jolly, Joan Elizabeth Kaippallimalil, Mathew Kazmi, Mustafa Anwar Kennedy, Gini Joyce Kilaru, Siva Phanindra Legband, Scott H Li, Li Liguori, Vincent John Lott, Mark Shelby Malesovas, Russell Wayne Martin, Vanessa Ciev Mawazeb, Sayed Jal J May, Aaron W Meier, Brian A Moore, Freeman L Moorehead, Edward Nall, Brack T Parker, Melville G Patchen, Brett Dean Pearce, Christopher E Pujari, Jeetendra Rama Quackenbush, David Allan
Sponsors
Rodriquez, E Jackelyne Sakr, Mohamad A Samuels, Todd Scheinberg, Joseph Franklin Soylemez, Nergis Stastny, Cesar Manuel Stein, Scott Wayne Stotzer, Eric James Sullivan Jr, Lawrence Brozak Tsatsoulis, Costas VanHamersveld, Craig Varanasi, Murali Weger, Tom Wilkins, Carla Jane Wilson, Alan Wolf, Troy J Wright, Tyler Elliot
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Bringing their robots, construction supplies, supporters and teamwork, more than 1,200 students from across Texas and New Mexico converged upon the University of North Texas on Nov. 19-20, 2010, to test their robotics skills at Texas BEST – which stands for Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology – the BEST Robotics, Inc. regional robotics championship for high schools and middle schools. Students were given six weeks to design and build robots that compete against other robots and solve a set of tasks. In preparing for the event, the students develop a better understanding of mathematical concepts and applied science. In addition, the students develop teamwork, project management, problem-solving, and leadership skills. The competition is one of the many ways in which the College helps a diversity of students find the passion and the confidence to pursue a career in engineering.
Texas BEST
New Laboratory to Boost Sustainable Energy Research
Students and faculty will have the opportunity to gain first-hand research experience with sustainable energy technologies once the new Zero Energy Research Laboratory opens in fall 2012.
Construction for the facility was heralded with a groundbreaking ceremony (photo). Once completed, researchers will use the facility to test emerging technologies that allow building systems to have a net-zero consumption of energy. Find out more about the laboratory and other sustainable initiatives on page 5.