College of Engineering News

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  Dr. Elizabeth Vargis to Present at TEDxUSU | College of Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  Aug. 12, 2016 – Assistant Professor of Biological Engineering Dr. Elizabeth Vargis will present at this year's TEDxUSU. Now in its fifth year, TEDxUSU will be held Oct. 28 in the Manon Caine Russell Kathryn Caine Wanlass Performance Hall on USU’s Logan campus.

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  Engineering Professor Receives Prestigious Dam Safety Award | College of Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  Aug 1, 2016 – Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Dr. Blake Tullis will be awarded the 2016 ASDSO Terry L. Hampton Medal from the Association of State Dam Safety Officials.

  The award will be presented Sept. 12 as part of the Dam Safety 2016 conference in Philadelphia, Penn. The Terry L.Hampton Medal was established in 2007 by ASDSO’s Advisory Committee (ADCOM) to recognize Terry L. Hampton’s lifetime achievements in the field of hydrology and hydraulics and his contribution to the ADCOM. Dr. Tullis will be the fifth to receive the award.

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  Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD Student Wins Major Award | College of Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  July 26, 2016 – Civil & Environmental Engineering PhD student Caleb Buahin has won a major award at the 8^th International Congress on Environmental Modeling & Software. He received one of the best student paper awards at the event held in Toulouse, France July 10-14.

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  UWRL Director Mac McKee Named Friend of UCOWR | College of Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  July 20, 2016 — Mac McKee, Utah Water Research Lab Director, was recently named a Friend of UCOWR at the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) Annual Conference awards ceremony held this year in PensacolaBeach, Florida. UCOWR recognizes no more than three individuals each year who have “made substantial contributions in time and effort toward the goals of UCOWR.” Mac held the office of UCOWR President twice and served on the board of directors for nearly a decade.

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  Student Spotlight | Biological Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  July 2016 - Q&A with Biological Engineering student Harsh Singh

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  Dr. Wade Goodridge Elected as CUR National Engineering Councilor | Engineering Education

  USU College of Engineering

  Dr. Wade Goodridge has just been elected as a national engineering councilor for the Council of Undergraduate Research (CUR). CUR is the administering organization for the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). NCUR is a national conference showcasing undergraduate student research. Dr. Goodridge has a team of 6 undergraduate researchers currently working on various areas of his research and has mentored 2 students to develop and present research over the previous years at NCUR, UCUR, and Posters on the Hill. Dr. Goodridge will serve in this elected position for 3 years.

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  Farewell to a Mentor | College of Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  June 24, 2016 – After 22 years of service to Utah State University, College of Engineering Dean Dr. Christine Hailey will step down to begin a new leadership role in Texas and to be closer to family.

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  USU Engineering Faculty Receive $5.8M in Nuclear Energy Research Grants | College of Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  NEWS RELEASE – June 16, 2016 – Two professors of mechanical engineering at Utah State University will receive grants from the U.S. Department of Energy totaling $5.8 million for nuclear energy research. The news came in a Tuesday announcement from DOE officials who awarded more than $35 million to 48 university-led nuclear research and development projects around the country through the Nuclear Energy University Program, or NEUP.

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  USU Offers Nearly $1M in Scholarships to Engineering Summer Campers | College of Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  June 10, 2016 – Utah State University offered nearly $1 million in scholarship funding on Thursday to a group of high school students attending their last day of a weeklong engineering summer camp.

  The juniors and seniors were participating in the annual Engineering State, or ‘E-State’ event designed to introduce young people to engineering and computer science. On Thursday the group attended a closing awards banquet where 80 out of240 students were offered scholarships ranging from $2,000 to $41,000.

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  This Desert Moss Has Developed the Ultimate Water Collection Toolkit | College of Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  LOGAN, UTAH – June 6, 2016 – Finding water in the desert is a relatively easy task for a species of moss that seems to flourish in even the most arid regions. That’s according to a new study by a team of scientists and engineers who wanted to understand how Syntrichia caninervis succeeds despite its limited and inconsistent water supplies.

  The findings show for the first time how the highly evolved bryophyte survives in extremely arid environments thanks in part to its specialized water collection and transportation toolkit.

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  CEE Team Won WEAU Competition | Civil and Environmental Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  A team from USU competed against local university in Utah and won the annual Water and Environment Federation of Utah (WEAU) Student Design Competition on Friday April 29 in St. George.

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  Award from American Water Resources Association | Civil and Environmental Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  April 13, 2016 Ayman Alfifi won first place in the American Water Resources Association Utah Chapter student paper competition. His paper is titled "Systems Modeling to Improve River and Riparian Habitat Quality." The presentation occurred at the Utah Division of Water Resources offices in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ayman Alfifi is a CEE and Water Lab Phd student.

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  ITE Intermountain Section Best Student Paper Award | Civil and Environmental Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  At the annual student paper competition hosted by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, Holly Llyod was recognized as the Best Student Paper. Her paper is titled "Safety Analysis of the Diverging Diamond Interchanges in Utah." Her effort and preparation for the competition has earned her an award of $400. She is invited to present her paper at the 56th Annual Intermountain Section Meeting May 19-21 in Jackson, Wyoming.

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  Utah State Gets a Charge Out of Roads with Help from Strongwell | Utah State University Power Electronics Lab

  USU College of Engineering

  To support the electric vehicles tested at UPEL, a Duragrid HD-4000 composite grating from Strongwell is used. This grating is of a much higher quality than other composite gratings you would find and was chosen because it doesn't interfere with magnetic waves. This gives both maximum efficiency and strength to make an ideal roadway.

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  USU CEE Graduate Wins Award | Civil and Environmental Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  Justin Maughan is a graduate of our department, with BS and MS in 2009. He now works at Nibley City, Utah as Public Works Director. He recently received a reward from Utah Rural Water Association.

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  Annual Meeting and Technology Showcase 2016 | Utah State University Power Electronics Lab

  USU College of Engineering

  The first annual technology showcase brought attendees from around the country to collaborate, network and ideate the future of electrified transportation. The conference was held at the Utah State University Electric Vehicle and Roadway (EVR) testing center. Future conferences will be held at SELECT Faculty locations (Purdue, University of Colorado - Colorado Springs, University of Colorado - Boulder, and Olin College of Engineering).

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  Electric Vehicle and Roadway Conference to Showcase Wireless Charging | College of Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  NEWS RELEASE – May 8, 2016 – The fourth annual Conference on Electric Roads & Vehicles (CERV) will showcase several exciting technologies including a first-ever demonstration of wireless charging of an electric bus in motion.

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  Congratulations Class of 2016 | College of Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  May 7, 2016 — The College of Engineering congratulates its graduating class of 2016 along with the master's and PhD students who graduated yesterday. Here's the breakdown of our graduates.

  • Biological Engineering: 37
  • Computer Science: 69
  • Computer Engineering: 11
  • Civil & Environmental Engineering: 69
  • Electrical Engineering: 47
  • Environmental Engineering: 9
  • Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering: 145

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  Doctoral Proposal Defense by Anna Doloman | Biological Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  Research hypothesis:

  Production of biogas can be enhanced through manual introduction and constant stimulation of key microbial consortia that are responsible for degradation of an organic waste of interest. Bacteria in sediments fromLogan Lagoons have a hidden potential to degrade a wide variety of wastewater contaminants and can serve as a universal inoculum for anaerobic digestion and substrate-adaptation studies. To test the hypothesis, microbial consortia isolated from Logan Lagoons sediments will be analyzed for the specific hydrolytic or methane producing activity and tested for the capabilities to withstand preservation at varying conditions. Increase in production of biogas with addition of adapted or preserved defined microbial consortia will be statistically analyzed via comparison to the initial biogas production, when no altered microbial consortia is added.

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  Dr. Hadi Soroosh Research Presentation | Biological Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  Rise of human population causes an increase of freshwater use and wastewater production worldwide. Wastewater contains various pathogens injurious to health and nutrients (mainly N and P) which would support photosynthesis of chlorophytes and terrestrial plants but can be also an ecological threat to the environment. The conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) require a large amount of energy (for mechanical aeration) and causes emission of CO2 and secondary contamination (by use of flocculants). Microalgae-Bacteria (MaB) biocoenosis can improve the capacity of the treatment system by simultaneous removal of the nutrients and carbon from wastewater with minimum carbon footprint and energy demands. In our research, the microalgae from a WWTP in Hamburg, Germany were collected, isolated, identified and used to inoculate municipal wastewater to assess the nutrients removal and biomass productivity of each strain.

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  2016 Student Professional Awareness Conference (SPAC) | Electrical and Computer Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  This program exists in many forms across the nation as the scope and goals of the event are at the discretion of the host Branch. In 2013, the USU Student Branch had a vision for a conference never before seen at USU, and since 2014, this branch has hosted the largest S-PACs in the Utah section. The event has been attended by up to 170 people and featured workshops and speakers in an all-day professional conference setting. Today, the IEEE Student branch is building on the success of the past IEEE Councils to make this the best year for the organization yet.

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  USU Engineering Students Take Top 3 in Human-Powered Vehicle Race | College of Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  April 28, 2016 – Mechanical engineering undergraduates from Utah State University landed several top-three awards earlier this week at a human-powered vehicle competition in California.

  Two USU teams entered the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC) with their custom designed three-wheeled cycles, going up against long-running champions including Cal-State, Northridge and University of California-Berkley. The race was April 22-24 in San Jose.

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  Engineering PhD Student Wins AWRA Competition | College of Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  April 27, 2016 — Civil and environmental engineering and Water Lab PhD student Ayman Alafifi won first place in theAmerican Water Resources Association Utah Chapter student paper competition on April 13.

  He received the award for his research work, "Systems Modeling to Improve River and Riparian Habitat Quality." The presentation was given at the Utah Division of Water Resources offices in Salt Lake City.

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  BE Makes High Impact on 2016 Annual IBE Conference | Biological Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  The BE Department made a high positive impact at the 2016 International Annual Conference of theInstitute of Biological Engineering, which was held in Greenville, South Carolina, from April 7 through 9. BE was represented by ten students and six faculty members. PhD student Anna Doloman received an award (3rd place) for her research poster “Microbial Dynamics During Anaerobic Digestion of Algae Biomass and Sodium Acetate in an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor.”

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  Rethinking Stormwater: USU Researchers Receive Major Grant to Study Aquifer Recharge | College of Engineering

  USU College of Engineering

  April 20, 2016 – Researchers at Utah State University are taking a fresh look at stormwater management as part of a federally-funded study to improve water reuse in the western U.S.

  The team of engineers, scientists and sociologists are among a growing group of water quality experts who say it’s time for new ideas in stormwater management. Their research proposal was chosen among five nationwide to receive part of an Environmental Protection Agency grant totaling $3.3 million. USU will receive $774,283.