“It is so wonderful that our students here will have access to such state of the art technology, that is one of a kind in the U.S. Universities nation wide.”
Dr. Magda El-Shenawee
UPCOMING EVENTS
Electrical Engineering
Volume 7, Issue 1 Spring 2013
Dr. Magda El-Shenawee has many
accomplishments of which to be proud.
Her latest accomplishment began back
in 2012 when Dr. El-Shenawee was
awarded an NSF grant of $400,000 for
support for the project “MRI:
Acquisition of a Terahertz System for
Medical and Biological Imaging and
Nanomaterial Characterization Research
at the University of Arkansas”. This
spring, a new Terahertz Imaging and
Spectroscopy System has been delivered
complete with testing and training.
This new system, actually costing more
than half a million dollars, will be used
to conduct cutting edge research at the
University of Arkansas. “The objective
of this research is to support non-
destructive, non-hazardous and non-
invasive imaging applications in
engineering, medical, and biological
sciences.
This approach is based on pulsed
terahertz spectroscopy and imaging that
has a spectra range from 0.06 to 3
terahertz with high resolution up to 80
micrometer”.
This acquired terahertz equipment is
the only system in US capable of
imaging and characterizing materials at
both low and high
temperatures with
imaging areas from few
centimeters to much
more. This state-of-the
-art equipment means
that Dr. El-Shenawee
and her collaborators
and students will have
the facilities to utilize
terahertz imaging and
s p e c t r o s c o p y
technology in a wide
v a r i e t y o f
applications. In particular, El-
Shenawee’s research involves imaging
breast tumor margins to help reduce
cancer recurrence; understanding and
monitoring thermal ablation for cancer
therapy, non-destructive evaluation of
semiconductor materials for developing
terahertz devices and antennas and
arrays for radar systems.
Dr. Magda El-Shenawee’s Terahertz Imaging and
Spectroscopy System first one in United States
April 11th Dr. Wu welcomes Dr. David Matolak from USC to deliver a seminar.
April 12th, AAEE Annual Banquet
April 24th, ELEG Student Society Banquet
May 11th, College of Engineering Graduation Luncheon
May 11th, College of Engineering Commencement
July 8th—11th, Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems Symposium
July 14th—17th, Workshop on Bismuth Containing Semiconductors
Dr. Magda El-Shenawee and the Terahertz
Imaging Spectroscopy System.
Dear ELEG Members,
Alumni and Friends,
It is my privilege and honor to share some news about your department with
you. The support for the department from alumni and friends continues to be strong. In December 2012, Mr. Jeff and Mrs. Kathy Sanders gave a one million dollar ($1M) gift to the department. Mr. and Mrs. Sanders are exploring the best options to use their generous gift to support the educational activities in the department. Long-term investments in the department are among their options. Examples include establishing an endowed chair, faculty and student fellowships and research endowment. The Department wishes to express its gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Sanders for
their generous gift.
One more piece of good news, Mr. Jack Jacobs, President of L.A. King Corporation in Tulsa, established a $1M planned gift in late December to benefit the Depar tment o f E lec t r i ca l Engineering. This future gift will be used to establish a memorial scholarship for his son, Dana Jacobs, who was heavily engaged in the electrical supply industry
and died at the young age of 50.
Jack has chosen to support students working towards a degree in electrical engineering as he worries that there are not enough students selecting and continuing in this challenging field. During his long and successful career, Jack hired a lot of engineers in his company and knows that more electrical engineers are needed. The department thanks Jack for his generous gift and vision to support educating electrical engineers to meet
the 21st century challenges.
Mr. Kirk and Mrs. Nancy Pond have made another gift commitment to establish the Pond Family Access Arkansas Scholarship. Their gift of $50K will provide financial assistance to a student majoring in electrical engineering, who could not otherwise
attend the University.
These gifts mean a lot to us, much more than the financial impact. Our alumni and friends believing in the excellent work our department is doing in educating and training the next generation of engineers and future leaders is the vote of confidence we very much appreciate. In the above mentioned examples, the magnitude of the gift conveyed this message loud and clear which strongly motivates our team of faculty and
staff to seek new levels of excellence.
The added financial resources certainly inspire them to explore new approaches to educate and train the best electrical
engineers possible.
On the faculty side, Distinguished Professor Vasundara Varadan has expressed her intention to retire effective April 3, 2013. Immediately prior to her retirement, Dr. Varadan had been active in teaching, had served as a membe r and cha i r ed se ve ra l committees, and had directed an active research program with external funding. Dr. Varadan was also an active and productive faculty member before joining the University of Arkansas. She has about 35 years of service in
academe.
I hope that you enjoy reading the spARKs. In the future, please consider sharing your success story with us. You may send your contribution to Mrs. Kelli Nixon, [email protected], and we will
publish it in future spARKs.
Samir El-Ghazaly
Distinguished Professor, and
Department Head
spARKs from Arkansas
College of Engineering
Chooses New Dean
John English has
been named the
ninth dean of the
Univers i ty of
Arkansas College
of Engineering.
English, currently
dean of the
C o l l e g e o f
Engineering at Kansas State
University, will also hold the Irma F.
and Raymond F. Giffels Endowed
Chair in Engineering. His term will
begin July 1, 2013.
English received his bachelor’s degree
in electrical engineering and a
master’s degree in operations
research from the University of
Arkansas. He holds a doctorate in
industrial engineering and management
from Oklahoma State University. English
was a U of A faculty member in the
Industrial Engineering Department from
1991 to 2007 as well as head of the
department from 2000-2007, increasing
the reputation of the department. From
2000 to 2005, English was the founding
director for the Center for Excellence in
Logistics and Distribution, a NSF
Industry and University Cooperative
research Center and much more.
English said “ It is exciting to return to
my alma mater as the dean of
engineering.”
Alumni Association Partnership
The Electrical Engineering Department
will be partnering with the Alumni Asso-
ciation on future mailing of spARKs. If
the association has an email address on
file for you, future newsletter will be
sent by email. If you do not wish to re-
ceive the newsletter electronically,
please let us know. We encourage you
to connect with the Alumni Association
and keep them up to date on events in
your life. www.arkansasalumni.org
In the News
Chris Farnell is the new NCREPT Test
Engineer. Chris accepted this position
at the Arkansas Research and
Technology Park in February. Mr.
Farnell has his BS in Electrical
Engineering and is currently finishing
work on his PhD in Electrical
Engineering.
This summer, several of the Electrical
Engineering faculty members will be
hosting not one but two International
events. Dr. Alan Mantooth, Dr. Juan
Balda, Dr. Simon Ang and Dr. Roy
McCann are working together to bring
the IEEE 4th International Symposium on
Power Electronics for Distributed
Generation Systems. This summer marks
the first year that the symposium will
take place in the United States. The
event is scheduled to take place July 8-
11, 2013 in the John Q Hammons Center
in Rogers, Arkansas. The symposium
offers tutorials and “three days of
technical sessions highlighting the work
of some of the leading talent in the area
of distributed generation technology.”
Sponsored by the GRid-connected
a c t i v i t i e s e p i t a x i a l g r o w t h ,
characterization (optical, electrical and
structural) and device performance of
interest to both academic and industrial
researchers.”
This year’s events are to be held in the
Chancellor Hotel with a welcome
reception for registered guest in the
hotel on July 14th. Technical programs,
University of Arkansas research facility
tours and a closing banquet at Bordino’s
will keep participants busy during their
stay. Registration deadline is June 15,
2013. For more information go the
eleg.uark.edu home page and click on
the conference link in the bottom right
hand corner.
Decision Day 2013 Every year this day comes in the
Spring. The day we ask the Freshman,
“What kind of engineer do you want
to be when you grow up?”
This year’s Decision Day proved to be
the largest in the College of
Engineering’s history. With over 775
students registered in the hugely
successful Freshman Engineering
Program (FEP), the choices of the
engineering programs to choose a
major from are numerous. The
College of Engineering boasts
programs in 8 fields of study
including; Biological and Agricultural,
B iomedica l , Chemica l , C iv i l ,
Computer Science and Computer
Engineering, Electrical, Industrial and
Mechanical. This year’s students are
an academically impressive group
with a total of 48 students choosing
Electrical Engineering as their field of
study. Dr. Roy McCann, Dr. Juan Balda
and Mrs. Kelli Nixon welcomed the
students and spent some time getting
to know the freshman class of 2013.
Decision Day activities began with the
official announcement of the
student’s choice of program and a
short but highly competitive
construction challenge for the
students to complete in a timed
competition. With some quick
thinking and some ingenuity, the
electrical engineering students won
their fair share of the contest and
some bragging rights among their
peers.
Congratulations to the newest group
of incoming Electrical Engineering
students. We wish you luck in your
upcoming endeavors.
Advanced Power Electronics Systems
(GRAPES), will be hosting the
conference and providing tours of their
facilities. In addition to the tours at the
Arkansas Research and Technology Park
and industry leading keynote speakers,
the conference attendees will also be
treated to a private reception at Crystal
Bridges Museum. Discounted registration
is open until May 1st. Late registration
begins after May 1, 2013. For more
information go to www.PEDG 2013.org
The 4th International Workshop on
Bismuth Containing Semiconductors is
scheduled for July 14th – 17th 2013.
Dr. Shui-Qing (Fisher) Yu and Dr. Greg
Salamo are organizing this conference
with topics focusing on a “theoretical
Preparations are Underway for Two International Events:
IEEE PEDG 2013 & Workshop on Bismuth Containing Semiconductors
RECENT VISITORS
Dr. Radek Roucka Germanium-Tin alloys – journey from visions to the light
at the end of the tunnel
Dr. Stephen Sweeney Pushing the boundaries of III-Vs: Exploiting Bismide alloys for near- and mid-infrared
photonics
Dr. Greg Kittilson “Solid State Drives” &
“Your First Engineering Job”
Dr. Mohamed Henini "III-V semiconductor Nanostructures:
Fabrications and Applications"
(Dr. Yu, Dr. Henini & Dr. Naseem) Graduate Education Week
University of Arkansas Graduate students were honored
this spring during Graduate Education Week. The students
were recognized for their dedication to research and
continuing education with a week of programs and
seminars. The Electrical Engineering department
celebrated their contributions with a catered lunch from
Noodles Italian Restaurant. The students enjoyed
visiting with fellow graduate students as well as faculty
members.
University of Arkansas
Electrical Engineering Department
1 University of Arkansas
3217 Bell Engineering Center
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Phone: 479-575-3008
Fax: 479-575-7967
www.eleg.uark.edu
http://www.facebook.com/pages/
University-of-Arkansas-Electrical-Engineering-
Department/118495124839713
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
Permit # 278
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Top Related