Dear SoE Faculty and Staff,

I’m writing to share the great news that the Board of Trustees voted today to approve the tenure and promotion of 10 colleagues from the School of Engineering.

• Dr. Amvrossios Bagtzoglou will be promoted to Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
• Dr. Quing Zhu will be promoted to Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
• Dr. Guiling Wang will be promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
• Dr. Jun-Hong Cui will be promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in the Computer Science and Engineering Department
• Dr. Swapna Gokhale will be promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in the Computer Science and Engineering Department
• Dr. Ion Mandoiu will be promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in the Computer Science and Engineering Department
• Dr. Laurent Michel will be promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in the Computer Science and Engineering Department
• Dr. John Chandy will be promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
• Dr. Jiong Tang will be promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in the Mechanical Engineering Department
• Dr. Michael Renfro will be promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in the Mechanical Engineering Department

On behalf of the faculty, staff and students, I want to congratulate them for their tremendous contributions to our research, education and service enterprise. We look forward to their continued success in these endeavors to elevate the School of Engineering to become one of the finest institutions in the country.

Best regards,

Mun

Dear Colleagues,

Please join me in welcoming Dr. George A. Rossetti, Jr. as an Associate Professor in the CMBE department. Dr. Rossetti will begin his academic career at UConn in August, 2008. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and M.S. in Materials Engineering, both from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a Ph.D. in Solid State Science from The Pennsylvania State University, and post-doctoral work in solid state chemistry and crystal physics at Princeton University. Dr. Rossetti also spent more than ten years in industry where he led numerous research programs to develop advanced ceramic materials in both targeted basic research and product driven environments.

His current work embodies both theoretical and experimental activities focused on high-temperature chemistry and processing of complex perovskite-structured oxides with applications as electrodes in solid oxide fuel cell systems, thermodielectric power converters and cooling devices, electromechanical transducers for energy harvesting, high energy density capacitors for electrical energy storage, and sensors and actuators for energy conversion systems.

We wish him great success in his new research and teaching endeavors at UConn!

Best regards,

Mun Young Choi

Dear SoE Faculty, Staff and Students:

The University of Connecticut has been selected as the Research Lead Institution for the National Transportation Security Center of Excellence, one of five new university-based research centers established by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As the Research Lead Institution, we will coordinate the efforts of our partner institutions (Rutgers, Arkansas, San Jose State University, Texas Southern University, Long Island University, and Tougaloo College) to develop state-of-the-art techniques and advanced methods to defend, protect, and increase the resilience of the nation’s transportation infrastructure. We look forward to the opportunity to involve our faculty, students, industries, transportation officials and the public in building a new transportation paradigm to meet current and future needs.

I especially want to thank Dr. Erling Smith, Dr. Mehdi Anwar, and Mr. James Mahoney for their efforts in developing the proposal for the Center of Excellence for Transportation Security.

Best regards,

Mun Choi

Dear Colleagues,

As you may know, Dept of Energy Basic Energy Sciences (DoE-BES) expects to receive a 24% increase in funding in 2009. DoE-BES plans to fund innovative programs through the Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) with $100M in funding. Potential EFRC Research Areas include:

• Conversion of Plants to Biofuels
• Solar Energy Utilization
• Solid State Lighting
• Electrical Energy Storage
• Superconductivity
• Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems
• Combustion of 21st Century Transportation Fuels
• Hydrogen Production, Storage, and Use
• Catalysis for Energy
• Materials Under Extreme Environments
• Geosciences for Nuclear Waste and CO2 Storage

The RFP for the EFRC will be announced shortly. You can also view DoE-BES Grand Challenges and other reports related to the above topics in http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/reports/list.html. We will have a call for your interests and expertise that can be developed into proposed efforts for the ERFC and other inter-disciplinary projects.

Thank you

Mun

Dear SoE Students,

Please visit this very interesting site that describes the grand challenges for engineering in the 21st Century. These challenges include:

• Make solar energy affordable
• Provide energy from fusion
• Develop carbon sequestration methods
• Manage the nitrogen cycle
• Provide access to clean water
• Restore and improve urban infrastructure
• Advance health informatics
• Engineer better medicines
• Reverse-engineer the brain
• Prevent nuclear terror
• Secure cyberspace
• Enhance virtual reality
• Advance personalized learning
• Engineer the tools for scientific discovery

In reviewing this list, you will recognize the importance of the broad and inter-disciplinary nature of these challenges and the recurring theme of sustainability. As you continue your studies at UConn, please explore the many educational, research and outreach opportunities that enable a dynamic, adaptive, and inter-disciplinary training. These are the qualities that successful engineering practitioners will need to compete and thrive. I’ve also attached two documents that you may find of interest - one is on engineering education (Engineer of 2020, the entire document can be viewed at www.nap.edu) and the other is on the role of science and engineering in the global economy (Rising Above the Gathering Storm).

Best regards,

Mun Young Choi

Dear Colleagues,

Please visit this very interesting site that describes the grand challenges for engineering in the 21st Century. These challenges include:

• Make solar energy affordable
• Provide energy from fusion
• Develop carbon sequestration methods
• Manage the nitrogen cycle
• Provide access to clean water
• Restore and improve urban infrastructure
• Advance health informatics
• Engineer better medicines
• Reverse-engineer the brain
• Prevent nuclear terror
• Secure cyberspace
• Enhance virtual reality
• Advance personalized learning
• Engineer the tools for scientific discovery

Our strong activities in research and training in many of these areas present tremendous opportunities for SoE faculty to develop and enhance leadership roles. I look forward to the interactions with you and the Dean’s Research Advisory Committee to focus our efforts to meet these challenges.

Best regards,

Mun Young Choi

Dear Students,

It was a pleasure meeting some of you during our first Fireside Chat.  We enjoyed a lively discussion on a variety of topics ranging from the curriculum, internships, professional development, and social opportunities for students and faculty.

In response to your comments and suggestions, we will closely evaluate our curriculum to provide an exciting and effective learning experience, determine the appropriate courses for ethics, public speaking, and communication, and career advice and services through workshops and seminars.

I look forward to meeting you at our next Fireside Chat to discuss some of these developments and topics that are of interest to you.

Best regards,

Mun Choi

Dear SoE UG and Graduate Students,

We have a new section on our website that provides fellowship information from federal agencies and private foundations. We will be updating this site with new fellowship opportunities. During the Spring term we will be hosting a fellowship workshop for students – stay tuned.

Best regards,

Mun Choi

Dear SoE Students:

I am honored and excited to join the School of Engineering this month as Dean. It is a privilege to lead this historic institution into a new era of innovative, strategic research and dynamic teaching and outreach to train a new generation of engineering leaders. As one of the leading engineering programs in the country, UConn Engineering continues to produce highly-trained graduates for the evolving technical workforce, contributes to research and scholarship in critical areas of national need, and provides service to the profession and the community.

Undergraduate education remains a strong part of our mission to Connecticut and the region. I am committed to expanding upon the successful outreach and undergraduate programs that have served the School so well. By continuing to provide small class sizes, ready access to talented faculty, extensive scholarships, and a nurturing undergraduate “community,” we will maintain our success in recruiting and retaining top students. We are also updating our curriculum to reflect the characteristics of creativity, innovation, and lifelong learning that embody the “Engineer of 2020″ so our students can thrive in the new global workplace.

One of my important priorities is to create an environment that embraces the diverse perspectives of our students. We value your comments and suggestions to help improve the School of Engineering. With this in mind, I would like to invite you to the first (of many) Fireside Chat with the Dean. It will be held on Monday, Feb. 11 in Castleman 212 at 4 PM. I will be joined by members of the Deanery, department heads, and program directors. I hope to see you there.

Dean’s Fireside Chat
Monday (February 11)
Castleman 212
4:00 to 4:15 Refreshments
4:15 Dean’s Remarks
4:35 Q & A

Hope to see you there!

Mun

Dear Students,

Please explore these post-doctoral fellowship opportunities:

WHITAKER POSTDOCS FOR BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERS

The Whitaker International Fellows and Scholars Program is still accepting grant applications from U.S. biomedical engineers for overseas endeavors relevant to careers in the field. The deadline is February 11, 2008. Whitaker Fellows are post doctorates, eligible for tuition reimbursement and funding for living expenses, international travel, health and accident insurance. For further information, including the online application, go to: http://www.whitaker.org/.

EPA POSTDOCTORAL POSITION

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a post doctoral position available for a research project in the area of sustainable urban systems at the Agency’s National Risk Management Research Laboratory. Sustainable urban systems buildings, traffic, energy use, and environmental releases and effects are aspects of maintaining and improving the sustainability of urban systems. A specific system of interest for this research is the Ohio State University’s Medical Center, which is undergoing a large scale expansion of its health sciences campus. Aspects of this research include adapting established indicators and developing new indicators for urban system sustainability as well as measuring the quantitative metrics that allow comparisons to other systems. Go to: http://orise.orau.gov/sep/needs/files/NRMRL-STD-2007-03.pdf.