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For the week of 17 April 2008

Name Dr. Leon M. Tolbert was recently named the Min H. Kao Professor in the Min H. Kao Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science based on his research and teaching contributions. He was appointed as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 1999 and promoted to associate professor in 2005. He has been an associate department head in the Min Kao Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science since 2007.

Dr. Tolbert's research includes electric power conversion, application of silicon carbide power electronics devices, multilevel converters, hybrid electric vehicles and utility interface with distributed energy sources such as fuel cells and solar cells. Dr. Tolbert is an adjunct participant at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and conducts joint research at the National Transportation Research Center (NTRC). He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Tennessee, a Senior Member of the IEEE, and a member of the IEEE Industry Applications Society, IEEE Power Electronics Society, and IEEE Power Engineering Society. He is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics. He was the chairman of the Education Activities Committee of the IEEE Power Electronics Society from 2003-2007. He is the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the 2001 IEEE Industry Applications Society Outstanding Young Member Award. He has had two prize papers (second prize in 1992 and first prize in 2006) from the IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting. He has received the following awards at The University of Tennessee: Engineering Research Fellow Award in 2003 and 2007, Chancellor's Citation for Professional Promise in Research and Creative Achievement in 2003, Gonzalez Family Faculty Excellence Award in Research in 2004, and the Weston Fulton Award for Excellence in Research and Teaching in 2001.

Dr. Tolbert received a bachelors of science in electrical engineering with highest honors in 1989, M.S. in electrical engineering in 1991, and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1991 and worked on several electrical distribution and power quality projects at the three U.S. Department of Energy plants in Oak Ridge, Tenn. In 1997, he became a Research Engineer in the Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center (PEEMRC) in the Engineering Science and Technology Division at ORNL.

Name Dr. Jack Dongarra, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, was selected as the recipient of the first IEEE Medal of Excellence in Scalable Computing for significant contributions to the scalable computing community through Technical Committee on Scalable Computing (TCSC) and/or its activities, coupled with an outstanding record of high quality and high impact research.

Focus on Female Engineers

Name Dr. Tse-Wei Wang, associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, received a College of Engineering Teaching Fellow at the 2008 Honors Banquet. Dr. Wang is the first female recipient of this award. In 1972, Dr. Wang received her B.A. in physics from William Marsh Rice University in Houston, Texas. She received her M.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1986, and went on to receive her Ph.D. in biophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977.

Among her accomplishments, Dr. Wang received the Leon and Nancy Cole Superior Teaching Award from the College of Engineering in 1997. That same year, the Department of Chemical Engineering recognized Dr. Wang’s superior teaching skills by awarding her with the Outstanding Teacher Award. In 1995, Dr. Wang received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Dr. Wang’s research interests include bioinformatics; database organization and search; process modeling and control; process data analysis; multivariate statistical process monitoring, fault detection and control; modeling and control study of waste biotreatment plant. She currently holds three patents, with 8 more pending, and has a list of over 60 publications and presentations. She has served on numerous thesis and dissertations committees and is a member of Sigma Xi.

The History and Philosophy of Science and Technology research group at the University of Tennessee cordially invites you to a talk by Professor Carolyn Merchant: "Reinventing Eden: The Fate of Nature in Western Culture," Monday, April 21 at 4:00 p.m. in McClung Museum Auditorium.

Abstract: "The mainstream narrative of Western culture is a story of the recovery of the garden of Eden. Since the seventeenth century, using science, technology, and capitalism, the New World wilderness has been transformed into a cultivated garden, reversing the precipitous fall from Eden and redeeming both nature and human beings. Fallen nature (Eve) was reinvented as a garden by male agency (fallen Adam). This modern, progressive story, however, is recast as a postmodern narrative by ecofeminists and environmentalists and as a chaotic narrative by postmodern science. Both challenges have implications for a new ethic of partnership between humanity and nature."

Professor Merchant teaches environmental history, philosophy and ethics at the University of California, Berkeley. She has been a Guggenheim fellow; a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies; a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford; the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow in the Ecological Humanities at the National Humanities Center: a Fulbright senior scholar in Sweden: and the 1991 ecofeminist scholar at Murdoch University in Western Australia. Her talk is sponsored in part by the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

University of Tennessee Space Institute News

Name Dr. Edward Larson, a prolific author and respected voice of authority on American history will give this year’s 12th Annual Thomas Jefferson Lecture at the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI) April 28, 2008, at 3:00 p.m. The lecture series, hosted by UTSI, honors Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and one of our country’s most influential Founding Fathers. This year’s lecture is titled “1800 and the Emergence of Modern American Politics,” and should be a lively event as Professor Larson will offer insight into the ongoing election by examining the election of 1800.

Dr. Larson won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1998 for his book, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. Larson has authored seven books and is the co-author of seven more. Larson earned his B.A. from Williams College, a law degree from Harvard and a Ph.D. in the History of Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition to being a professor of History at Pepperdine University, he is currently the Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair of Law at Pepperdine and the Russell Professor of History at the University of Georgia. He has made appearances on “The Today Show,” “Booknotes,” “Nova,” “PBS News Hour,” Fox Network, Odyssey Network, Showtime Network and Court-TV and makes regular appearances on NPR, BBC, CBC, The History Channel and C-Span. His articles have appeared in such varied journals as Nature, Scientific American, Atlantic Monthly, The Nation, Wall Street Journal, Virginia Law Review, Christianity Today, Christian Century, Journal of the History of Medicine and British Journal for the History of Science.

In coordination with this year’s lecture, students from area high schools, including Coffee County, Franklin County, Huntland and Tullahoma High Schools, have been writing essays about “The Election of 1800” for the 2008 Thomas Jefferson Essay Contest. The student with the winning essay at each school will receive a $150 prize and will read their essay aloud at UTSI on April 16 before a panel of judges. The overall winner will be announced as part of the lecture program and will receive a $300 prize. In addition, $500 will be awarded to the school of the overall winner for academic program development within the school.

The 12th Annual Thomas Jefferson Lecture will begin at 3 p.m. on Monday, April 28, 2008, in the UTSI Auditorium with a reception to follow in the lobby. This event is free and open to the public and all are encouraged to come and hear one of the world’s greatest American historians.

Name Saturday, April 5, 2008, a group of undergraduate students in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering attended the Southeastern Regional Student AIChE meeting in Auburn, Ala. Rebecca Empting and Ian Morris were co-presenters on a poster presentation and Nickyla Alliowe and Bryan Smith were presenters at the oral presentation session. In addition, a team of five students, Nickyla Alliowe, Kristen Dobrodziej, Brad Harris, Jared Johnson, Lauren Johnson, competed in the "ChemE Car Competition" with their fuel cell powered car, named "Spellbound." The requirements for the competitin were to design a car that was: 1) powered by chemical reaction, 2) whose stopping was timed by a chemical reaction and did not use a mechanical brake, 3) would go specified distance (between 50-100 ft.) carrying specified weight (0-500 grams) in under 2 minutes, and 4) would fit in 30 cm x 40 cm x 18 cm box when disassembled. The car they designed used a hydrogen fuel cell to charge a bank of supercapacitors on the car. A reaction on the car was timed to break a timing fuse to stop the car. They bested 11 other chemical engineering programs in the southeast region by finishing within 3 inches of the stopping distance of 60 feet carrying 162 grams. The next closest finish was 7 inches. This group worked hard throughout the semester beginning last semester to field the best entry from UT yet. This is the highest finish for a UT team ever and qualifies a UT team to enter the national competition at the annual AIChE meeting in Philadelphia in the fall.

Office of Professional Practice Spotlight

Name Angela Mason is a senior double majoring in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Materials Science and Engineering. She will be graduating in December 2009. Her Co-op experience is best explained in her own words, “I began my co-op term with Altec Industries, Inc. in January 2008 and will continue until August 2008. The plant is located outside Ashville, NC in Burnsville, NC. I am currently the manufacturing engineer over two assembly lines in the plant. I started working on projects with one other manufacturing engineer but my responsibilities soon shifted to larger projects. I would describe my job as problem solving at its best by working on projects that directly increase production of a product to satisfy a customer. I am truly enjoying the work I am doing here and I feel that I have contributed a great deal to the company since my arrival in January. Altec Industries has given me the opportunity to do some work in both the manufacturing and design aspects of its operation. I find this to be very beneficial in capturing an all encompassing learning and working experience. I strongly recommend the company to students who are looking to gain valuable experience either through a co-op position or a full-time position.” Angela is hoping to achieve her career goal in Mechanical Engineering with emphasis in Manufacturing. Congratulations, Angela, on your successful co-op experience!

Advising Reminder:

Friday, April 18: Transfer Orientation Day for Fall 2008 undergraduate admitted students. Contact the Orientation Office 974-2435 to register to participate.

Career Services Announcements

Name Congratulations Seniors! The Office of Career Services requests each year that all recent (or soon to be) UT graduates complete a placement survey. This survey collects anonymous data on the number of graduates who are still seeking employment after graduation or have left the job market, those who plan to go on to Graduate School (at UT or elsewhere), and those who have accepted employment after graduation. Please log in to the Hire-A-Vol website to fill out the Graduate Placement Survey. Your participation is very important to the University as we try to collect accurate statistics to report to the general community. We ask all graduates to fill out this survey regardless of your current employment status.

To complete the survey log in to your Hire-A-Vol student or alumni account: https://utk-csm.symplicity.com/students. Find the Quick Link on your homepage for the Graduate Placement Survey. On the survey page, please click on Add New and fill out your placement information.** Your submitted information will be anonymously included in our Annual Report. All University of Tennessee Alumni are encouraged to continue using the Hire-A-Vol database to job search. Alumni are given lifetime access to the Hire-A-Vol system as well as services at the Office of Career Services. Your participation in this survey will indicate your desire to continue receiving access to the Hire-A-Vol system. **If you have any difficulties accessing our survey, you may also email your placement data to Leslie Fox at lfox6@utk.edu. Please include your name, email address, employment status (Still seeking, Graduate School, Out of Job Market, Employed), Name of Company or Grad School, Title of new position, Salary/Wage, Location of new job or Grad School. Remember that all December 2008 and May/August 2009 graduates need to have a resume on the HIRE-A-VOL system and be “job-fair” ready by September 1st! Expect to start searching for jobs, submitting your resume for interview consideration, talking to recruiters and begin making decisions about your future as soon as you return to campus for the Fall semester. Over half of the job offers for May graduates are usually made and accepted by January 1st!

Dates for Fall 2008:
There’s still time to apply and interview before graduation and land that great new job! Automation Engineering Corporation (AEC) is looking for BS, MBA/MS, MS and PhD majors in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering and graduating by January 2009. Their on campus interview date is April 17, 2008. Resumes must be submitted through the HIRE-A-VOL system by end of day April 11th to be considered for an interview (US Citizens only). There are over 225 other job postings for Full-Time Engineer positions currently showing on the HIRE-A-VOL system and employers are calling and adding more jobs daily. Don’t miss out on these great opportunities!

SAVE THESE FALL CAREER SERVICES IMPORTANT DATES!
Fall Semester Classes Begin August 20, 2008
Part-Time Job Fair – All Majors - August 27, 2008
Career Kick Off Picnic – Everyone come and eat! - September 3, 2008
Kick Off to Engineering Career Success Day - September 4, 2008
Logistics (Industrial Engineers also) Fair - September 15, 2008
Fall Job Fair – All Majors (350+ companies/750+ Engineering jobs) - September 16, 2008 Graduate School for Engineers – Don Asher - September 30, 2008

If you have submissions for @COE, the college's electronic newsletter, please send them to Amanda Womac at awomac1@utk.edu by 12:00 noon Thursdays.