2010 Engineering Achievements
* A team of K-State computer science students put their knowledge of computer systems and programming to the test to take third place in the Supercomputing 10 Student Programming Competition. The event, in New Orleans, gave five-member teams a day -- from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. -- to find solutions to a set a problems. Some of the problems required programming knowledge, some required systems knowledge and some required knowledge outside of computer science, according to Dan Andresen, associate professor of computing and information sciences and team coach. Dec. 2010
* The K-State student chapter of Associated General Contractors has been selected as the third best collegiate chapter in the nation by the Associated General Contractors of America. The chapter is being recognized for its work in revitalizing the Lower 9th Ward In New Orleans. It's the second consecutive year K-State has finished among the top three chapters in the nation. The K-State chapter was selected as the second best in 2009. Nov. 2010
* John Hatcliff, professor of computer and information science, and Robby, associate professor of computing and information science, were part of a seven-member research team that received the Most Influential Paper Award from the International Conference on Software Engineering. The award honors the publication that has the biggest influence on the theory and practice of software engineering in the 10 years since it was published. The team published "Bandera: Extracting Finite-State Models from Java Source code" in 2000. The publication is the most-cited paper published in the 30-year conference history and the second most-cited of more than 10,000 papers published by the Association of Computing Machinery's SIGSOFT -- the leading professional software engineering association. Sept. 2010
* Sunanda Dissanayake, associate professor of civil engineering, is spending seven months in Sri Lanka as a Fulbright Scholar. She will teach and assist with curriculum enhancement at the University of Peradeniya. She also will conduct research on reducing highway fatalities and injuries in Sri Lanka. She has conducted similar research on United States roadways for a number of years. Sept. 2010
* For the second year in a row and the third time in the last four years, a K-State student architectural engineering team took first place in the Student Design Competition sponsored by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. The K-State team took first place in the systems selection category. Team advisers are Julie Keen and Fred Hasler of the department of architectural engineering and construction science. Aug. 2010
* K-State's Xinming "Simon" Ou, assistant professor of computing and information sciences, is among a select group of professors chosen worldwide to participate in Hewlett-Packard Co. Labs Innovation Research Program. Ou received $73,000 to help fund his project, "A New Approach to Rigorous Risk Analytics using Attack Graphs," which will pair him with researchers at HP labs. The project involves developing quantitative security metrics for enterprise networks. K-State is one of only 52 universities in the world to receive a 2010 Innovation Research Award. The annual program provides colleges, universities and research institutes around the world with opportunities to conduct breakthrough collaborative research with HP. July 2010
* K-State's architectural engineering program is the 2010 recipient of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Walter LeFevre Award, which recognizes the program's outstanding actions in the promotion of licensure, ethics and professionalism in the profession. It's the first time the society has selected an architectural engineering program to receive the award, according to David Fritchen, professor and head of the department of architectural engineering and construction science. More than 2,000 engineering programs at more than 500 colleges and universities nationwide could compete for the award. Fritchen said receiving the honor is a very positive reflection on the quality of engineering education, high ethical standards and professionalism that K-State architectural engineering graduates are known for. July 2010
* K-State's Viet Nguyen, graduate student in mechanical engineering, Phillipsburg, received a $500 monetary award and an internship opportunity in the industry's energy sector for his third-place finish in the graduate student poster session of an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers competition. The event was a part of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' Power and Energy Society's Transmission and Distribution Conference in New Orleans. Nguyen's entry examined the effects of turbulence caused by trees and buildings on wind turbines. To better understand these effects, Nguyen performed a variety of wind simulations on a computer-generated model of trees and buildings and analyzed the resulting data. June 2010
* K-State's Center for Information and Systems Assurance has been named a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research. The designation is made by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and National Security Agency and is effective through 2015. Research at K-State's Center for Information and Systems Assurance falls into two categories: cybersecurity and secure software system construction. K-State researchers have procured millions in funding for research at the center. June 2010
* K-State chemical engineer Peter Pfromm has developed and patented a new structure that can be used to make all-natural personal care products and purer pharmaceuticals in the laboratory. The mechanism – scientifically referred to as a lyophilizate of an enzyme and fumed silica– is essentially an enzyme-covered nanoparticle of fumed silica. June 2010
* Stephen Dyer, professor of electrical and computer engineering, has received the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Instrumentation and Measurement Society Career Excellence Award. The award is the highest of four awards given annually by the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society. It includes a $5,000 stipend and a $1,000 travel grant to cover expenses incurred in traveling to the awards ceremony. May 2010
* Lisa Beck, master's student in civil engineering, Leavenworth, received a $10,000 Selected Professions Fellowship from the American Association of University Women for the 2010-2011 school year. Beck was one of 21 students in the nation to receive the fellowship, which provides women with opportunities to pursue graduate degrees in fields where they are typically underrepresented, including law, medicine, science, technology, architecture, mathematics and engineering. Beck will use the fellowship to conduct research at K-State investigating how the incorporation of industrial by-products affects concrete's durability and resistance to freezing and thawing. May 2010
* The graduate programs in K-State's College of Engineering have been ranked among the nation's top 100 by U.S. News and World Report. K-State's graduate engineering program was ranked 99th. When compared to schools in the Big 12, the programs were ranked eighth. The report also looked at graduate programs offered by the nation's colleges of engineering. Among K-State's graduate programs, biological and agricultural engineering was the highest ranked at 18th, with the college's programs in chemical, computer, electrical, industrial and mechanical engineering also making the U.S. News and World Report rankings. May 2010
* K-State teams placed in the top three in multiple categories of the Architectural Engineering Institute's annual Charles Pankow Foundation Architectural Engineering Student Design Competition. K-State took first in both the integrated systems design category and the electrical and lighting systems design category, and second and third places in the mechanical systems design category. The competition required student teams to address the design aspects of a medical clinic that would be constructed to support an underserved community. Each student team had to submit a 50-page report for their specified design category, summarizing each component to their solution. Teams also had to present their projects to a panel of judges. April 2010
* K-State's Women in Engineering and Science Program received the Women in Engineering Program Award as the nation's outstanding Women in Engineering program from the Women in Engineering Pro-Active Network. The K-State program cultivates the science and technology interests of women from grade school through postgraduate levels and is a collaborative effort between K-State's colleges of Engineering and Arts and Sciences. "WESP designs and implements programs that make K-State a better place for women to pursue their interests in science and engineering," said Kimberly Douglas-Mankin, program director. April 2010
* Three Kansas State University engineering students received prestigious scholarships from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. The K-State recipients included Jacob Wagner, sophomore in mechanical engineering, Manhattan, $10,000 Reuben Trane Scholarship for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years; Sean Kolich, senior in architectural engineering, Olathe, $10,000 Reuben Trane Scholarship for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years; and Andrea Gregg, senior in architectural engineering, Overland Park, and president of K-State's student chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, $5,000 Willis H. Carrier Scholarship for the fall 2010 semester. April 2010
* Kimberly Jones, a K-State architectural engineering student, took second place in the American Concrete Institute's international pervious concrete competition. Jones received a plaque and a $300 award for her second-place finish. The competition consisted of two parts: creating a pervious concrete specimen and writing a sustainability report. Jones worked with a K-State team of civil engineers in further developing her specimen design that was permeable to water and stress resistant. She individually wrote the sustainability report outlining the benefits of using pervious concrete in everyday structures. April 2010
* A K-State team of construction science and management students took first place in the American Concrete Institute's international concrete construction competition. Students presented their winning entry and received a $300 award at the American Concrete Institute's convention in Chicago. Team members also received $500 as travel support to the convention, and their work was to be published in Concrete International magazine. The competition involved determining the most environmentally conscientious concrete formula for a pre-designed parking structure in Chicago. After determining the formula, students also had to decide if any changes needed to be made to the pre-designed structure and describe any impacts of the new concrete formula. According to the team's faculty adviser Kimberly Kramer, associate professor of architectural engineering and construction science, K-State has finished first or second in the competition since 2005. March 2010
* K-State's Wenqiao "Wayne" Yuan, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering, has received a five-year, $400,000 grant through the National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development program for his project, Multi-scale Structured Solid Careers Enabling Algae Biofuels Manufacturing in the Ocean. The CAREER program supports the early career-development activities of junior teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their institution. Yuan's grant was awarded through the foundation's Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation. The long-term goal of Yuan's project is to make energy manufacturing from algae economically viable. His vision is to identify the best large solid carriers -- thin sheets of metals or polymers -- that oil-rich algae can be grown on for biofuels manufacturing in the ocean. The project also includes determining what surface textures -- such as smooth or dimpled -- are best for algae growth through both experimental and theoretical investigations. March 2010
* K-State's Naiqian Zhang, professor of biological and agricultural engineering, will spend four months this year at the University of the Philippines Los Banos as a Fulbright Scholar. Zhang will teach and continue his research in sensors for precision agriculture. It's Zhang's first time as a Fulbright Scholar, and he is the third faculty member from K-State's department of biological and agricultural engineering to be named a Fulbright Scholar in the last 10 years. March 2010
* The National Science Foundation gave Simon Ou, K-State assistant professor of computing and information sciences, a CAREER Award. It supports the early career-development activities of junior teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their institution. March 2010
* K-State's Advanced Manufacturing Institute is the Great Lakes WIND Network's first-in-the-nation Center of Excellence to expand the network's supply chain development efforts across the state of Kansas. The Great Lakes WIND Network has established a worldwide reputation in working with wind industry original equipment manufacturers to assess readiness and capabilities of prospective component suppliers who wish to enter the wind industry's manufacturing supply chain. The organization also serves as a valuable resource to industry original equipment manufacturers by connecting them with competitive component suppliers across the United States. The Advanced Manufacturing Institute's engineering staff will work directly with Great Lakes WIND Network staff to provide site assessments for manufacturers wishing to enter the wind industry supply chain; make recommendations on possible components to be supplied; and assess the organizations overall production system. Jan. 2010
