University of Texas Arlington

New president's plans

The Dallas Business Journal featured an interview with Vistasp Karbhari, who will take over as president of UT Arlington June 1. Karbhari, currently provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at The University of Alabama in Huntsville, said it’s important that no matter how big enrollment gets, students come out of UT Arlington “with the best education that they can get, and that they’re highly qualified to meet the workforce needs of the area.”

The website for WFAA/ABC 8 featured a story on Vistasp Karbhari and his vision for the university after he becomes its leader. "The university has a tremendous reputation for looking at innovation in terms of delivering education," Karbhari said. "It really serves as a model for a 21st century urban university." The interview originally appeared on The Texas Tribune website.

A better optical tool

The March issue of Biophotonics magazine featured an article on UT Arlington physicist Samarendra Mohanty’s fiber optic spanner, or wrench. Conventional optical tools gently push and pull microscopic particles using light, but the new fiber-based system also gives microbiologists the ability to twist and turn samples.

Improving rehab software

UT Arlington researchers are creating individualized, patient-centered rehabilitation software systems that will promote and support physical therapy for people with rheumatoid arthritis, the website NewsRx reported. Fillia Makedon, Jenkins Garrett distinguished professor and chair of the Computer Science and Engineering Department, is leading a cross-disciplinary team that will use remote monitoring of people with rheumatoid arthritis to increase compliance and proper physical therapy.

Geologist named COO

Rex Crick, a professor emeritus in the College of Science at UT Arlington, has been hired as chief operating officer of Los Angeles-based Sionix Corp., the website Refrigerated & Frozen Foods reported. Crick's areas of technical expertise include petroleum geology, hydrology, recycling, manufacturing process design and the interpretation of reservoirs and source shales.