L.C. Smith Faculty Excellence Awards Announced Will Fund Green Infrastructure and Design a Hands-On Fuel Cell Lab
7/17/2012
The recipients of the 2012 Faculty Excellence Awards are Professors David Chandler (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) and Jeongmin Ahn (Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering). Their ideas were selected as projects that would contribute significantly to the SU student experience at L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science.
Chandler has been awarded $29,000 to create a web-based resource to map and catalogue to explain green infrastructure elements in Syracuse, NY. Chandler will develop a model wireless, real-time monitoring system of the hydrologic and hydraulic performance of existing green infrastructure on SU’s campus. This project will also support future plans to use the Center of Excellence and intermodal transportation center as a working laboratory and demonstration facility.
The material will be integrated in the environmental engineering curriculum with the help of the civil and environmental engineering faculty. Chandler’s goal is to advance education and training in the area of green infrastructure for sustainable storm water management.
Ahn has been awarded $11,000 to design and fund a hands-on laboratory experience for students in his new fuel cell course in the Combustion and Energy Research (COMER) Laboratory.
The objective of Ahn’s course is to broaden participation in engineering education through an integrated program of scientific research and education. This will improve student retention in engineering by engaging students in meaningful, hands-on experiments that are not traditionally offered at the undergraduate level. This course was influenced by students expressed interest in the field of energy and the environment. It will be offered in the fall 2012.
Exposing undergraduate engineering students to research particularly related to energy and a cleaner environment is essential to empowering them to improve society. They will benefit from practice, using their new skills to address real-world problems.
The L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science received seven applications for the Faculty Excellence Award this year.
The Faculty Excellence Award was established in 2008 to recognize and reward the college’s talented faculty who go above and beyond in their respective fields. It is made possible by a $25,000 annual gift to the L.C. Smith College from chemical engineering alumnus, Brian Beals ’64 and his wife, Emily. Beals is a member of the chemical engineering department advisory board. His generous gift is matched each year by LCS and provides deserving faculty members with the financial resources needed to participate in meaningful teaching and research activities.
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