WVU Tech’s faculty members are dedicated to the advancement of the fields they teach. Outside of the classroom, they’re researchers, writers, presenters, go-to experts and road warriors who share their passion for learning with the world.
Here’s what our faculty members were up to this month and what they’ll be getting into over the summer:
Dr. John Neary (Biology) collaborated on an article in Infection and Immunity entitled “Role of the Carboxy Terminus of SecA in Iron Acquisition, Protein Translocation, and Virulence of the Bacterial Pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii.”
Dr. Horng-Jyh “Tigra’ Yang’s (Civil Engineering) paper “Online Resources Utilization in Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory for Undergraduate Civil Engineering Students” was accepted in the 2015 American Society for Engineering Education North Central Section Conference. Dr. Yang was also invited for a section presentation on April 18.
Dr. Z. Torbica, Dean of Leonard C. Nelson College of Engineering & Sciences, has been invited to be one of the Keynote Speakers at the 8th International Conference on Construction in the 21st Century (CITC-8), to be held in Thessaloniki, Greece from May 27-30, 2015.
Dr. Mark Wilson (Economics) has been chosen as a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Scholar for 2015. He will participate in a month-long Institute at Michigan State University entitled “Development Ethics and Global Justice: Gender, Environment and Economics.”
Dr. Wilson also had his review of Benn Steil’s “The Battle of Bretton Woods” published in the Journal of Economic Issues.
Dr. Deb Beutler (Biology) gave a presentation, “The Effects on Macroinvertebrates of using Limestone Fines to treat AMD in Morris Creek, WV,” at the West Virginia Academy of Sciences at West Liberty University. She also served as the moderator for a session of presentations on stream ecology and as a judge for undergraduate presentations.
Dr. Yogendra Panta (Mechanical Engineering) is now serving as a campus representative for the National Fluid Power Association (NFPA), of which Dr. Panta helped WVU Tech become an official member. WVU Tech’s membership will open opportunities for faculty and students to do collaborative work with NFPA, NFPA members and industrial partners in industry-driven fluid power-related research projects.
Dr. Panta, along with Dr. Ganesh Kudav of Youngstown State University in Ohio, was issued a U.S. patent for “Solar Panel Wind Deflector,” a unique finned aerodynamic wind deflector designed to reduce wind uplift and drag forces on pitched and horizontally mounted solar panels.
Dr. Melissa Sartore (History) will present her lecture “Outlaws in West Virginia: War, Whiskey and Wonder – and not a Robin Hood in Sight” at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5 at the West Virginia Culture Center.
Dr. Rachel Bragg (English) presented her paper “Invention Just Got Inked: Tattooing a New Understanding of Rhetorical Theory” at the Southwest Pop Culture Association Conference on February 13 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Dr. Houbing Song (Electrical and Computer Engineering) participated in the 2015 National Science Foundation Early-Career Investigators’ Workshop on Cyber-Physical Systems in Smart Cities during CPS Week, which was held in Seattle, WA, April 13-17, 2015.
Dr. Song’s recent research on cyber-physical systems was published in the May 2015 issue of IEEE Communications Magazine.
Dr. Andrea Kent (Political Science) was selected to attend FACDIS Scholar-Diplomat program in Washington, D.C. April 8-10 at an event entitled The Pacific Pivot: Overdue Recalibration or Utter Illusion? Dr. Kent also presented a paper on her research at the annual meeting of Midwest Political Science Association in Chicago, Illinois April 16. Read more here.
Dr. Farshid Zabihian (Mechanical Engineering) and three students from the Mechanical Engineering department presented three papers at the 2015 ASEE North Central Section Conference, April 17-18, 2015, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Read more here.
Dr. Kenan Hatipoglu (Electrical and Computer Engineering) attended the NSF/NAE – sponsored workshop on Reforming Electric Energy Systems Curriculum at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C.
In mid-April, Dr. Hatipoglu presented two papers and chaired one technical presentation section at the 2015 American Society for Engineering Education North Central Section Conference at Cincinnati, Ohio.