| November, 2005 | Volume 1, Issue 1 |
CoE Graduate Programs Architectural Engineering Materials Science and Engineering Telecommunications Engineering For more information about Drexel’s College of Engineering visit www.drexel.edu/coe |
Research of Membranes to Develop Protective Clothing Dr. Joe Elabd (Ph.D. Johns Hopkins) is an assistant professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Elabd conducts research in the area of membrane-based separations and proton conducting polymer membranes for fuel cell applications. His funding is from DuPont and the Army Research Office Young Investigator award. Dr. Elabd works on a jointly funded project with Dr. Giuseppe Palmese in developing membranes for chemical and biological protective clothing. Dr. Elabd is an active member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the American Chemical Society (ACS), and the North American Membrane Society (NAMS). _______________________________________________ Wartman Aids in Assessment of Levee Damage Dr. Joseph Wartman (Ph.D. UC-Berkeley), assistant professor of Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering, joined the Geotechnical Group at Drexel in 2000. Recently Dr. Wartman was part of the American Society of Civil Engineers team that traveled to New Orleans to assess the levee damage from Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Wartman’s recent grants include NSF CAREER for his work in “Physical Modeling for Geotechnical Engineering Research and Education,” and the U.S. Geological Survey award for "Evaluation of Analytical Procedures for Estimating Seismically Induced Deformations in Slopes.” He is also the 2005 recipient of the John J. Gallen Memorial Award. _______________________________________________ How can Computers Think & Act like Humans? Dr. Dario Salvucci (Ph.D. Carnegie Mellon), assistant professor of Computer Science, is working with cognitive models to answer this question. Unlike traditional artificial intelligence work, his models represent human abilities and constraints by embedding psychological theories into human-like computer programs. His current research is sponsored by Nissan, Ford, the Office of Naval Research and NSF. Salvucci has authored over 40 papers in the fields of cognitive science, and human-computer interaction. Salvucci is also the recipient of the prestigious NSF CAREER Award and ONR Young Investigator Award.
Next up, Next Generation Internet Dr. Jaudelice de Oliveira (Ph.D., GA Tech) is asst professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her research interests include Next Generation Internet, Ad-Hoc and Sensor Networks, and Wireless Networks. In September 2004, Dr. de Oliveira (PI) and Dr. Steven Weber received a grant from NSF for the project entitled "NeTS-NR: Preemption and Adaptation for Next Generation Multiservice Networks." Cisco Systems is also funding a one-year project entitled “Design and Analysis of Efficient AutoBandwidth Algorithms for MPLS Traffic Engineering.” The aim of her research is develop an algorithm that will better forecast the average bandwidth necessary for Label Switched Paths.
Shaping the Future of Nanomaterials Dr. Jonathan Spanier (Ph.D. Columbia) is an assistant professor in Materials Science and Engineering. He is working with his research group on how a nanostructure’s shape affects its properties and figuring out how controlling these properties can help us in developing new ways of storing and processing data, or in detecting and identifying pathogens. Dr. Spanier is a co-director of the A. J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute. In two years, he has helped bring in $1.3 million in research funding. Significant awards include an Army Research Office Young Investigator Award, an Innovation Grant Award from NSF Nano-Bio Interface Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and a four-year $800,000 Focused Research Group grant from the NSF with Dr. Michel Barsoum. _________________________________________________ Research to Reduce Injury Recovery Time Dr. Bradley Layton (Ph.D., Michigan) is an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering, received his PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Michigan in 2003. Currently, he is working to help develop a molecular-mechanics based model for aggregation limits in collagen and to develop a nanoscale single protein testing system to examine the deformation characteristics of proteins at both the quaternary and supraquatenary scales. Other research includes probing membrane and cell responses to mechanical stimuli for the purpose of quantifying and potentially reducing wound and injury recovery times and for developing cell-based sensors. _________________________________________________
_________________________________________________ Snapshot of Some of our New Ph.D. Students and the Reasons for Choosing Drexel.
Ed Steager joined Drexel this Fall as a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering. Steager received his BS from Duke University. Before coming to Drexel he taught math and science at a Philadelphia charter school. He received the prestigious DoEd GAANN Fellowship to pursue his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. He is one of 8 new American Ph.D. students who hail from top programs such as UPenn and Delaware. Steager is working with Professor Jaydev P. Desai on cell manipulation to ease the process of transgenesis and controlled cell-injection. Steager’s main career goal is to become a professor of engineering.
Holly Schaeffer, graduate of University of Delaware, completed her BS in Chemical Engineering in Spring 2005. After Delaware, Schaeffer decided to pursue her graduate studies in Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE). She is one of a group of outstanding new students who hail from such places as Columbia, Penn State, and IIT. Schaeffer is optimistic about her future at Drexel because the “faculty is full of young, bright professors that work within the College of Engineering.” |
Dr. Robert M. Koerner Class of 1956 & ‘63
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| Prepared by Katie Gibson kgibson@drexel.edu | This page was last edited on Monday, November 28, 2005 3:04 PM |