Assanis and Bhattacharya Honored

Dennis Assanis, Jon R. and Beverly S. Holt Professor of Engineering, ME, and Pallab Bhattacharya, Charles M. Vest Distinguished University Professor and James R. Mellor Professor of Engineering, EECS, have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. This achievement is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.

Assanis was recognized for "scientific contributions to improving fuel economy and reducing emissions of internal combustion engines, and for promoting automotive engineering education." Bhattacharya was recognized "for contributions to quantum-dot optoelectronic devices and integrated optoelectronics."

Seven Endowed Professorships

The oldest endowed professorship is the Lucasian Chair at Cambridge University, awarded to Sir Isaac Newton in 1669. This recognition of scholarly achievement continues at the College of Engineering with the awarding of seven endowed professorships:

• Robert Beck - Richard B. Couch Professor of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
• Tamas I. Gombosi - Rollin M. Gerstacker Professor of Engineering
• Jessy W. Grizzle - Jerry W. and Carol L. Levin Professor of Engineering
• Douglas C. Noll - Ann and Robert H. Lurie Professor of Biomedical Engineering
• Jianjun (Jan) Shi - G. Lawton and Louise G. Johnson Professor of Engineering
• Bram van Leer - Arthur B. Modine Professor of Engineering (not pictured)
• Gary S. Was - Walter J. Weber, Jr. Professor of Sustainable Energy, Environmental and Earth Systems

Three Appointed Directors of Educational Programs

• Amy Conger, adjunct assistant professor of education, has been named director of Michigan Engineering's International Programs.
• Pete Washabaugh, associate professor, AERO, has been named director of the Wilson Student Team Project Center.
• Thomas Zurbuchen, associate professor, AOSS, has been named director of Michigan Engineering's Center for Entrepreneurship.

Washabaugh also has received an Arthur F. Thurnau Professorship.

Two New Department Chairs

Nancy Love, professor, has been appointed chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Love came to the College from Virginia Tech's civil and environmental engineering department, where she received numerous awards for teaching and research.

Kon-Well Wang, William E. Diefenderfer Chaired Professor in Mechanical Engineering, director, Structural Dynamics and Controls Laboratory at Penn State University, has been appointed chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Faculty News

Joyce Penner, AOSS, Ralph J. Cicerone Distinguished University Professor of Atmospheric Science, was a coordinating lead author of a chapter in the 2007 report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Steve Skerlos, associate professor, ME, has received the Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers, and a Society of Manufacturing Engineers Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award.

Scott Fogler, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Vennema Professor of Chemical Engineering, has been elected the national president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Ryan Eustice, assistant professor, EECS, NAME, and David Singer, assistant research scientist, adjunct assistant professor, NAME, have each received an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award.

Tony Grbic, assistant professor, EECS, has received a Young Investigator Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Katsuyo Thornton, assistant professor, MSE, has received The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society Early Career Faculty Fellow Award.

Galip Ulsoy, William Clay Ford Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has received the 2007 Albert M. Sargent Progress Award from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Deba Dutta, professor, ME, has been selected as a scholar-in-residence at the National Academy of Engineering.

Wallace Hopp, professor, IOE, has been named president-elect of the Production and Operations Management Society.

Noel Perkins, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, ME, Don Malen, adjunct assistant professor, ME, and Noboru Kikuchi, Roger L. McCarthy Professor of Mechanical Engineering, have been named GM TEP (GM Technical Education Program) 2007 Outstanding Distance Learning Award winners.

Subhash Goel, professor emeritus, CE, has received the American Institute of Steel Construction Lifetime Achievement Award.

Guy Meadows, professor, AOSS, NAME, and Natalia Andronova, research scientist, AOSS, have contributed to the History Channel series "Mega Disasters." The episode, which aired in early October, was entitled "Methane Explosion."

Christopher Ruf, SPRL director, professor, AOSS, EECS, was the keynote speaker at the Twelfth Annual Michigan Space Grant Consortium Conference, held October 12.

Glenn Knoll, professor emeritus, NERS, has received the 2007 Radiation Instrumentation Outstanding Achievement Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Ricky Rood, professor, AOSS, short story author, has been published again in the Bay Weekly. Read the story "The Cape Anne Pig and Me: An Early Autumn Lesson in Barbeque," is online at: http://www.engin.umich.edu/goto/roodstory

Walter J. Weber, Jr., Gordon M. Fair and Earnest Boyce Distinguished University Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering, professor, CEE, ChE, has been honored with the 2007 Lawrence K. Cecil Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

James Ashton-Miller, professor, ME, BME, has received the Albert Schultz Collegiate Research Professorship.

Sushil Atreya, professor, AOSS, Jessy Grizzle, professor, EECS, and Ralph Yang, Dwight F. Benton Professor of Chemical Engineering, have received Distinguished Faculty Achievement Awards.

Jeffrey Fessler, professor, EECS, BME, and Sharon Glotzer, professor, ChE, MSE, have received Faculty Recognition Awards.

Fellows

Peter Chen, professor, EECS, has been named a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Karl Krushelnick, professor, NERS, has been named a fellow of the American Physical Society.

Pinaki Mazumder, professor, EECS, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Volker Sick, professor, ME, has been named a fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers. Sick also has been named faculty adviser to and chair of Michigan Engineering's International Programs Committee, which will administer the new International Minor for Engineers.

The following professors have been named fellows of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers: Jyoti Mazumder, Robert H Lurie Professor of Engineering (also MSE); Jan Shi (also IOE); Albert Shih; Jeffrey Stein; Anna Stefanopoulou; Michael Thouless (also MSE); and Margaret Wooldridge.