Research

Research reinforces classroom knowledge and gives students the opportunity to apply what they have learned. A better understanding and deeper appreciation of the studied material is developed through research, whether in research partnerships with professors, hands-on research in the field, or the required capstone project.

Faculty Research Highlights

Professor Ashland Brown received an NSF grant as part of a multi-university project to continue the integration of Finite Element Analysis into the undergraduate curriculum
Professor Scott Larwood has initiated his research on wind energy and was recently designated as an expert on wind turbine light effects for the European Wind Energy Association's Environmental Impact Information Tool
Professor Chi-Wook Lee continues to collaborate with colleagues in Korea on research projects
Professor Said Shakerin worked with independent study student Robyn Nariyoshi last year to develop scientific fluid-flow demonstrations. They authored "Fluid Dynamics Art Exploration: An Undergraduate Research Course" which was included in the proceedings of the 2011 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition
Dr. Jinzhu Gao is a member of a group that received an NSF award of over $600 thousand. The grant will help fund her research involving the development of computational algorithms and analysis tools for molecular-level understanding of complex atmospheric nucleation processes

The faculty at the School is committed to research pertaining to both their field of study and of education. Dr. Elizabeth Basha presented a paper titled "Engineering Internships in Social Entrepreneurship: Developing Partnerships and Student Perspectives" at the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference in July 2011 in Vancouver, Canada. A partnership between the School of Engineering and Computer Science and the Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship, the paper was an illustration of how academic and experiential learning complement the other.

Out of over 100 abstracts submitted to the Civil Engineering Division, the paper is among five nominated for the Best Paper.

Student Research Highlights.

Computer science student Huaguang Song was awarded a summer research fellowship to work with Dr. Jinzhu Gao in China last summer. One of their papers was accepted by the First International Conference on Networking and Distributed Computing. Following that summer, in October 2010, Song gave a conference presentation in Hangzhou, China.
Additionally graduate student Shawn Kerns co-authored a paper with Dr. Dan Cliburn and delivered the paper at a conference in Adelaide, Australia.

Capstone Senior Project.
The required senior design project is a capstone experience for engineering students as they work with industry to begin, plan, and execute a design project over the course of a semester. Senior design projects are not only required for ABET accreditation, but they also enhance industry connectivity with the School as many projects require an industry mentor. Completed projects include the following: