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University research endeavors
Energy guru
Chemistry Professor Krishnan Rajeshwar has received the Electrochemical Society’s Energy Technology Division Research Award. The honor goes to individuals in academia, national laboratories and industry who have made significant contributions to energy research and development. Dr. Rajeshwar’s research ranges from oil sands, oil shales and coals to solar energy conversion. He co-wrote Solar Hydrogen Generation: Toward a Renewable Energy Future (Springer, 2008), which examines strategies for generating hydrogen from water using energy from sunlight. A UT Arlington faculty member since 1983, Rajeshwar is associate dean of the College of Science and co-director of the Center for Renewable Energy Science and Technology. He is also the editor of Interface, the journal of the Electrochemical Society.Good neighbor policy
The School of Urban and Public Affairs is lending its planning and public administration expertise to a section of north central Arlington. Graduate students of Associate Professor Jianling Li and Assistant Professor Colleen Casey recently surveyed residents of the Town North community to assess the neighborhood’s assets and challenges. The area is bounded by Randol Mill Road, Sanford Street and Cooper and Collins streets. The survey identified crime, employment and training, traffic, parking and public disturbances as top neighborhood concerns. Assets included social cohesion, area attachment and willingness to participate in neighborhood improvement efforts. The survey indicated that 45 percent of the residents know a neighbor by name, 35 percent had been invited into a neighbor’s home, and 21 percent knew someone in the neighborhood before moving there. The findings will be used to develop a neighborhood plan.Second skin
Mechanical engineering Assistant Professor Haiying Huang has received a five-year, $430,000 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. The grant will enable Dr. Huang to further her development of a revolutionary sensor concept using engineered skins to monitor the condition of structures as varied as airplanes and bridges. The research eventually could lead to “smart” sensor skins that can match or outperform the sensory capabilities of human skin. The prestigious CAREER award supports early-career activities by scholars most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century. Criteria include creative proposals that effectively integrate research and education. Part of the grant will help Huang develop course materials that shift the traditional lecture-based, single-discipline teaching format to student-centric, multidisciplinary learning.
