Minutes of the School of Engineering Faculty Meeting
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Held at Student Union Ballroom
Present: See attached attendance sheet.
The meeting was called to order at 11:25 a.m., by Dean Kazem Kazerounian.
The Dean welcomed attendees. A motion to approve the minutes of the December 10, 2015 faculty meeting was made and seconded. The motion passed with one abstention (Z. Bzymek).
1. Announcements and Introduction of New Faculty & Staff - Dean Kazem Kazerounian
Dean Kazerounian announced the launch of the $9M Eversource Energy Center for Storm Modeling & Management, Prof. Manos Anagnostou, Director, and the UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS) Partnership, a $1.3M partnership focusing on advanced materials research.
New appointments:
- George Bollas, CBE – Director, UTC Institute for Advanced System Engineering
- Marten van Dijk, ECE – Charles H. Knapp Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering
- Jeff McCutcheon, CBE – Al Geib Professor of Environmental Engineering Research & Education
- Baikun Li, CEE – Al Geib Professor of Environmental Engineering Research & Education
New faculty & staff:
- Thanh Nguyen, ME – Assistant Professor
- Ebad Jahangir, ECE & UTC-IASE – Visiting Professor
- Amy Holland, ME – Academic Advisor
- Dana Ziter, CSE – Academic Advisor
- David Wanik, Eversource Energy Center – Assistant Research Professor
- Paul Wortman, ECE – Computer Programmer/Analyst II
- Nicholas Eshelman, ECE – Manager, Technical Projects
- Mark Bouley, Machine Shop – Mechanical Design Technician II
- Kylene Perras, Dean’s Office – Program Director, Strategic Initiatives
- Joshua Garvey, Dean’s Office – Writer/Editor III
2. Research Growth & Major Grants – Michael Accorsi, Senior Associate Dean
- Data for expenditures and new awards for the first two quarters of FY’16 were presented, showing growth in both areas compared to prior years.
- Two new CAREER awards were announced: Dr. Mukul Bansal, CSE and Dr. Michael Pettes, ME.
- Major grants awarded in Q1 and Q2 were announced:
o Eric Jackson, CTI – DOT/FHA/CT DOT - $10M
o Manos Anagnostou, CEE – Eversource - $2.4M
o Krishna Pattipati, ECE – DOD/Navy/ONR - $1.1M
o Jinbo Bi, CSE – NSF/CISE/Directorate for Computer & Information Sciences & Engr - $750K
o Luyi Sun, CBE – ED/Dept of Education - $738K
o Timothy Vadas, CEE – ED/Dept of Education - $738K
o Wendy Vanden Berg-Foels, BME – PHS/ NIH - $736K
o Mohammad Khan, CSE – DOD/AFOSR - $692K
o Ki Chon, BME – NSF/CISE/Directorate for Computer & Information Sciences & Engr - $690K
o Laurent Michel, CSE – Comcast Cable Communications Management - $620K
o Richard Christenson, CEE – DOD/Navy/ONR $620K
o Peter Luh, ECE – NSF/NEG/Directorate for Engineering - $619K
o Sheida Nabavi, CSE – PHS/NIH - $596K
o Bin Feng, CSE – PHS/NIH - $591K
o Tianfeng Lu, ME – NASA - $500K
o Quing Zhu, ECE – Connecticut Innovations, Inc - $498K
o Horea Ilies, ME – NSF/CISE/Directorate for Computer & Information Sciences & Engr - $498K
o Leslie Shor, CBE – DOE - $488K
o Richard Christenson, CEE – DOD/Navy/ONR - $473K
o Tianfeng Lu, ME – DOD/AFOSR - $467K
o Horea Ilies, ME – NSF/ENG/Directorate for Engineering - $440K
o Yufeng Wu, CSE – NSF/CISE/ Directorate for Computer & Information Sciences & Engr - $426K
o Yu Lei, CBE – DOE/National Energy Technology Laboratory - $400K
o Ranjan Srivastava, CBE – NSF/BIO/directorate for Biological Sciences - $371k
o Peter Luh, ECE – NSF/ENG/Directorate for Engineering - $360K
o Donald Sheehy, CSE – NSF/CISE/ Directorate for Computer & Information Sciences & Engr -$341K
o Hadi Bozorgmanesh – Connecticut Innovations, Inc - $314K
o Brian Willis, CBE – NSF/ENG/Directorate for Engineering - $300K
- Data for new proposals for the first two quarters of FY’16 was presented, showing a decline over the past few years.
- A major initiative in flexible electronics was announced. UConn is a member of a national network called NextFlex. UConn activities are led by Anson Ma (CBE), and will be part of the UConn Tech Park. There is a need to engage companies in Connecticut.
3. Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education Report – Associate Dean Mei Wei
Associate Dean Wei discussed the recent announcement from the university regarding the reopened negotiations with the Graduate Student Union on the subject of summer pay. While emphasizing that this is early in the negotiation process and the effect on budgets of sponsored projects is not known, it is advisable to be cautious when making offers to graduate students for summer work.
Reminders of upcoming graduate student activities include professional development workshops, poster competition and a recruitment event for domestic graduate students.
4. Guest Speaker – Provost Mun Choi
Provost Choi gave an update on the state of the university. Freshman applications continue to increase yearly. The quality of the freshman class is high, and UConn’s freshman retention and 4- and 6- year graduate trends are well above the national averages, while UConn’s affordability is maintained. Research proposals, awards and expenditures continue to increase across all disciplines. Major infrastructure initiatives are underway, including a new Hartford campus, new residence hall on the Storrs campus, and the new Engineering & Science and Innovation Partnership Buildings. New partnerships with industry total over $81M. Proposed reductions in the State funding will be challenging to manage. In summary, the Provost reminded everyone that UConn is a great university and will continue to make investments and decisions to grow the programs of excellence for our students, faculty and staff.
5. Undergraduate Programs Update – Brian Schwarz for Associate Dean Dan Burkey
Brian Schwarz presented a breakdown of the current numbers of undergraduate students by major. Freshman application data, comparing Fall 2015 and Fall 2016 to date, was presented. Most majors showed increased interest based on applications, with Environmental Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering Physics showing the greatest increases.
6. Faculty Research Presentation: Prof. Manos Anagnostou – Eversource Energy Center
Prof. Anagnostou highlighted the vision for the center and the activities already underway. A faculty forum will take place on May 19th, and a call for demo project proposals will be announced on July 31. If faculty are interested in participating in the Center activities, contact Prof. Anagnostou.
7. Open Forum –
a. Quiet Corner Innovation Cluster (QCIC) – EDA Award
Led by the project team of Hadi Bozorgmanesh (PI), Larry Silbart (Co-PI: Proof of Concept Center) and Kathy Rocha (Program Manager), the QCIC will partner with small to medium sized technology and manufacturing enterprises in rural eastern CT to promote business growth through innovation, enhanced R&D, and updated business capabilities. More information can be obtained by contacting Dr. Bozorgmanesh.
b. Employee Assistance Program – Gary Alger, LADC, CEAP – provided an overview of the EAP.
The meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna Thibault, Administrative Services Assistant
Acting Secretary