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First INMM Student Chapter Formed at Texas A&M | The first student chapter in the history of INMM (Institute for Nuclear Materials Management) has been formed at Texas A&M Univeristy. This is a story of individual leadership and initiative and reflects a growing culture of support for nonproliferation. ... The idea for a student chapter originated with William Charlton and Paul Nelson, professors is the Department of Nuclear Engineering. Charlton is passionate about nuclear nonproliferation, and collaborated with NA-20 in starting a nonproliferation masters degree program.
Texas A&M researchers receive $1.5 million grant from DOE | Texas A&M University Engineering researchers have received a $1.5 million, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science to continue their work on SmartApps –– improved applications, operating systems, compilers, software and hardware used for long-running computer programs, such as those used to simulate airplanes and weapons. The research is being led by computer science associate professor Dr. Lawrence Rauchwerger. Rauchwerger is working with Texas A&M computer science professors Dr. Nancy Amato and Dr. Bjarne Stroustrup, and nuclear engineering professor Dr. Marvin Adams. The team also includes Orran Krieger, Jose Moreira and Vivek Sarkar from the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center and Dan Quinlan from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
NSF Graduate Fellowships awarded to 10 Texas A&M students | The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded nine Texas A&M Engineering students three-year graduate fellowships starting in the fall of 2005. Students annually receive up to $10,500 for tuition and fees to the school of their choice, plus a $30,000 stipend for living expenses. The NSF Graduate Fellowships are very competitive, with only 1,000 given from a pool of more than 3,000 applications. Texas A&M Engineering also had six students given prestigious honorable mentions. Of the nine engineering students receiving the awards, seven will continue their education at Texas A&M. Students include Stefanie Beaver, who will be studying aeronautical and aerospace engineering; Julie Jones, aeronautical and aerospace engineering; Erin Kueht, civil engineering; Amanda Lampton, aeronautical and aerospace engineering; Alexis Lazarine, nuclear engineering; Olga Tkachyshun, computer engineering; and Hope Thomas, biomedical and bioengineering. Katherine Davis will study aeronautical and aerospace engineering at Stanford University, and Allen Parish will study computer engineering with Texas A&M and the University of California, Berkeley.
Engineering faculty honored at Spring Meeting
DOE nuclear official gives seminar, accompanied by Congressman Edwards | Kenneth Baker, an official with the U.S. Department of Energy, gave a lecture today at Texas A&M accompanied by Congressman Chet Edwards. Baker is the principal assistant deputy administrator with the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation in the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Baker gave a lecture on the United States’ efforts in nuclear nonproliferation. He also met with Dr. Arnold Vedlitz, professor and holder of the Bob Bullock Chair, and director the Institute for Science and Technology Public Policy, in the Bush School of Government and Public Policy; Texas A&M president Dr. Robert M. Gates; vice chancellor and dean of Engineering Dr. G. Kemble Bennett; and Texas A&M nuclear engineering faculty. Edwards introduced Baker in the seminar, which was co-sponsored by Texas A&M Engineering and the Bush School.
Nuclear engineering presents Stinson Scholarship to Fall 2005 freshman | Maria A. Catanach, an incoming nuclear engineering freshman, was presented with the first Stinson Scholarship award for the 2005 fall semester. Dr. John W. Poston, Sr., professor and scholarship coordinator, and Dr. William E. Burchill, department head and holder of the Heat Transfer Research Incorporated Professorship, presented Catanach with the $10,000 scholarship offer. Catanach, a National Hispanic Scholar from Allen, Texas and a senior at Bishop Lynch High School, was visiting the department through participation in the National Scholars Day event. The Ronald C. Stinson '53 Scholars Program enables the department to attract and retain outstanding young people through the $10,000 scholarship, payable over the course of eight semesters. Stinson Scholars are selected on the basis of their academic ability, demonstrated academic performance and leadership potential.
Marvin Adams named associate vice president for research | Marvin Adams, professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, has been named a quarter-time associate vice president for research in the Office of the Vice President for Research. Adams received his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan in 1986. He was a computational physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory until January 1992, when he joined the faculty in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M. Adams was named a Montague Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar in 1995, received the Tenneco Award for Meritorious Teaching of Engineering in 1997, was selected a University Faculty Fellow in 2000, and was chosen a TEES Fellow in 2003. He served as associate head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering in 1998 and 1999. He is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society. Since he arrived at Texas A&M, Adams has maintained close contact with several national laboratories in multiple roles, including consultant, PI on research contracts, and member of external review panels. In the Office of the Vice President for Research, he will strengthen the collaborative ties between Texas A&M faculty and national laboratories.
"U.S. News & World Report" Rankings Recently Released | The 2005 rankings from "U.S. News & World Report" were just released and Texas A&M is America's 4th ranked graduate Nuclear Engineering department. The 2005 rankings for undergraduate programs, which were released earlier this year, placed Texas A&M 3rd in the nation.
Texas A&M SEC celebrate National Engineers Week | The Texas A&M University Student Engineers’ Council (SEC)
will host National Engineers Week Feb. 21-26. Events will include a carnival
Monday (Feb. 21); Engineering Projects Day, a pizza lunch and a presentation,
“The U.S. Energy Picture and Its Global Impact,” by nuclear
engineering professor Dr. John Poston Tuesday (Feb. 22); a Student Interest
Gallery and sno-cones Wednesday (Feb. 23); the Texas A&M American
Nuclear Society/Health Physics Society barbecue and LIFE Pool/42 Tournament
Thursday (Feb. 24); and the Society of Women in Engineering Fun Run Saturday
(Feb. 26). In addition, SEC will host its annual Engineering Day (E-Day)
at the mall Feb. 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to conclude E-Week. Children
of all ages are invited to come to College Station’s Post Oak Mall
near Sears and Dillard’s to participate and compete in several activities
to explore science and engineering while interacting with Texas A&M
students. For more information and a schedule of events, please see the SEC Web site.
Texas A&M Engineering honors staff at holiday reception | Vice Chancellor and Dean of Engineering G. Kemble Bennett honored faculty and staff Dec. 2 at the annual Texas A&M Engineering Holiday Reception. Frank Cervantez, technical laboratory coordinator in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution, received the 2004 Safety Excellence Award, which is presented each year for safety in the classroom, workplace and engineering labs. Cervantez received a plaque and monetary award of $1,000. Recipients of the 2004 Engineering Classified Staff Achievement Awards were Anni Brunker, business associate I in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution, and Nellie Dickens, technical secretary in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Recipients of the 2004 Engineering Non-classified Staff Achievement Awards were Beth Earl, outreach coordinator in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, and Marsha Lee, manager of engineering academic program services in the Engineering Academic Programs Office.
Texas A&M Engineering honors outstanding seniors | Seven Texas A&M University engineering students will be honored today (Oct. 1) with the Craig C. Brown Outstanding Senior Engineer Award, the most prestigious honor bestowed on a graduating senior in the university’s Dwight Look College of Engineering. Kimberly N. Babcock, Julie Marie Jones, Rebecca L. Raabe, Kathryn Sy, Hope Thomas, Ashley Lyn Weaver and Adam David Williams will receive their awards as part of the fall meeting of the Engineering Advisory Council. The award is given annually based on students’ outstanding scholastic achievement, leadership and character. "The students being honored with this award are truly remarkable and most worthy of recognition," said Dr. G. Kemble Bennett, vice chancellor and dean of engineering. "Not only has each achieved outstanding academic success, but they have also contributed much to Texas A&M Engineering as student leaders. They are outstanding representatives of this institution, and I am very proud that they are engineering students. They are role models for all students at this great university."
Ten Aggies Selected To “Teach For America” |
Ten Texas A&M University graduates have been selected from among 13,378
applicants nationwide to participate in the “Teach For America”
program.
“Teach For America” is an education program that brings newly
graduated students from all majors and disciplines into low-income rural
and urban communities across the country in an effort to eliminate educational
inequality.
Joint Electron-Beam Research Grant Aims at Mars - and the Stars | Texas A&M University research will contribute to future Mars missions thanks to a partnership between the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Dwight Look College of Engineering and NASA. Dr. Suresh Pillai, director of the National Center for Electron Beam Food Research, and Dr. Lee Braby, a research professor in the department of nuclear engineering, received a $900,000 grant from NASA.
Nuclear revival -- Reactor rejoins the nuclear family | After being out of commission for five years, a pint-sized nuclear reactor at Texas A&M University is ready to go back on line. Built in the 1950s, the AGN-201 reactor was used to teach generations of students in the university’s Department of Nuclear Engineering the basics of reactor kinetics –– how and why nuclear reactors work. It was shut down about five years ago when 40-year-old analog instruments in the reactor’s control console wore out. Now, it’s ready to go back to class. A new digital control station and controllers, built over the past two years at the Texas Engineering Experiment Station’s Nuclear Science Center (NSC) by instrumentation specialists Tom Fisher, Tomas Pinones and Tim Hinkle, have given the reactor renewed usefulness. The reconstruction was partially funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The refurbished reactor will be used again by undergraduate students in the department for reactor laboratory courses. “It’s ready to teach several more generations of students,” says William Burchill, head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering. W. Dan Reece, director of the NSC and a professor of nuclear engineering says, “It’s very ‘quiet,’ compared to larger reactors. Its operation follows theory almost exactly, without the extraneous noise, or feedback, that comes with a power reactor.” The reactor, which produces 5 watts of power from a core about the size of a can of paint, is a reminder of a time when many Americans looked at nuclear energy more positively than they do now. “It’s intrinsically safe,” Reece says. “At the time this reactor was built, science educators planned to put one in every high school in the country.”
President of Sandia National Laboratories to give presentation Monday | The president of Sandia Corporation will discuss national security from his vantage point as leader of some of the most advanced research facilities in the world at a presentation at 4 p.m., Monday (Jan. 28, 2001) at the Bush Presidential Conference Center in College Station. In his talk, "Serving National Interests in the Nuclear Age: A Sandia Perspective," Dr. C. Paul Robinson, who is also director of Sandia National Laboratories, will explore areas being addressed by Sandia National Laboratories that have a significant impact on the future security of the United States: energy and critical infrastructure, nuclear weapons, nuclear nonproliferation and materials control, and emerging threats.
Texas A&M to host nuclear energy conference | U.S. Rep. Joe Barton and other government and utility officials will discuss the challenges faced by the nuclear industry at "America's Energy Challenge: The Nuclear Answer" Nov. 19, 2001, at the George Bush Presidential Conference Center at Texas A&M University.