UTA In The News — Monday, February 1, 2021
Building a better microchip
UTA’s Chenyun Pan, assistant professor in electrical engineering, received a four-year, $230,000 grant from the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre to investigate how to improve intermediate interconnects on increasingly complex microchips to produce better performance of very large-scale integration circuits and systems, Mirage News and 7th Space reported. Pan hopes that his research will help determine how different materials and geometric structures used in intermediate-length interconnects can lead to greater efficiency as the semiconductor manufacturing process becomes smaller and smaller.
Master's degrees earned by African Americans
According to an annual report from Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine, more African American students earn bachelor’s or master’s degrees from UTA than any other four-year institution in the state, Patch.com reported. “Institutions like The University of Texas at Arlington that are truly inclusive and that embrace and advance diversity and equity in every area of operation will support their students in their educational journeys to success,” said Teik C. Lim, UTA’s interim president.
Robotics research
University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center published a story featuring UTA’s William Beksi, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Beksi is the founder of UTA’s Robotic Vision Laboratory, and his research focuses on robotics, computer vision, and cyber-physical systems. “In particular, I’m interested in developing algorithms that enable machines to learn from their interactions with the physical world and autonomously acquire skills necessary to execute high-level tasks,” Beski said. The profile was also published by Education Daily Report and Science Daily.
UTA partnership
The Gulf Coast Safety Institute will continue its partnership with UTA to provide courses and training to the Greater Houston area through a diverse mix of offerings, The Galveston County Post reported. Courses are intended to provide all employees and professionals with key information about safety in their corresponding fields. Participants will also discuss methods and/or best practices to identify, prevent and reduce risk of injury from job-related hazards. Training will continue to be offered throughout 2021.
Remembering Kalpana Chawla
On Feb. 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia exploded over Texas, killing all seven crewmembers, including UTA graduate Kalpana Chawla, KTVT CBS 11 reported. In 2018, Chawla was honored at UTA with a permanent memorial.