2010: Moments that Shaped the Cockrell School
RESPONDING TO GLOBAL NEEDS
Haiti
On Jan. 12. 2010 at 4:53 p.m. local time, a magnitude 7 earthquake shuddered Haiti, killing, injuring and displacing more than 1 million people and ripping away the very underpinning of the Caribbean nation’s infrastructure, government and way of life. Among the outpour of help and support that came from around the world were professors and graduate students from the Cockrell School of Engineering who used their expertise to help assess the safety of essential infrastructure — hospitals, government buildings, telecommunication centers — as well as document the location and extent of the quake’s damage in its immediate aftermath. Led by civil engineering professors Ellen Rathje and Wassim Ghannoum, their contributions are helping to guide reconstruction, educate Haitians on construction improvements and, ultimately, build a stronger, more resilient Haiti.
In Chile
Just one month after Haiti, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Chile. Electrical Engineering Assistant Professor Alexis Kwasinski made two trips to the South American country to take inventory of the damage on power and telecommunications infrastructure, as well as other factors that are essential to everyday normal operations. Kwasinski said that what was learned from the Chile earthquake can be used to make improvements along the West Coast in the event of a subduction zone quake. His experience in Chile is documented in an audio slideshow.
Close to home
The long-term effects of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill on April 20, 2010 are still unclear, but the Cockrell School of Engineering was called upon in multiple ways to assess the impact, find best strategies for cleanup, understand what went wrong and make federal policy suggestions on ways to prevent another oil spill disaster.Among those leading the response from the Cockrell School were Tad Patzek, chair of the Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Department, and faculty member Paul Bommer. Bommer was selected by the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council to serve on a national committee analyzing the cause of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. And, in addition to answering a barrage of media requests about the spill from around the world, Patzek briefed Congress on what he called a tragedy “at least 20 years in the making.”During the same period, aerospace engineering Professor Clint Dawson from the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences used the Ranger supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center to produce 3-D simulations of the impact of the spill on Gulf of Mexico coastal areas. The simulations were used to help scientists determine how the oil may spread in environmentally sensitive areas.
FINDING ENERGY SOLUTIONS AND SHAPING POLICY
The Cockrell School has long been at the forefront when it comes to finding energy solutions and helping shape responsible public policy; its role in 2010 was no different. Faculty like chemical engineering Professor Gary Rochelle developed improved methods for carbon sequestration — a key factor in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions — thanks to funding support from private power generation company, Luminant.
Another private-public partnership in 2010, this time between the Cockrell School and Chevron, will allow for the continuation of an exciting three-year research alliance that partners students and faculty with technology leaders of enhanced oil recovery. The partnership pays for students and faculty to explore engineering and technology solutions that advance the field.And just miles from The University of Texas at Austin campus, Cockrell School faculty are lending their expertise to develop a renewable energy-based smart grid system known as the Pecan Street Project that could reinvent the way communities across the U.S. generate, distribute, store and consume energy. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and National Science Foundation, the research initiative partners the Cockrell School with the City of Austin, the Austin Energy utility company and high-tech companies — all of which are looking to our faculty to help solve the most complex obstacles around building an integrated smart grid system.Of course, not all of our energy solutions are so complex. As mechanical engineering Assistant Professor Michael Webber found in his July 2010 study, the U.S. could save roughly 2 percent of its total energy consumption in one year if it stopped wasting food.”That’s about twice as much energy as Switzerland consumes in a year for all purposes, so we could power them up and then some,” Webber said.Simply put, Webber said, eat your leftovers. He spoke about these findings, along with other energy solutions, when he was invited to speak at the World Energy Forum Sept. 17, 2010.
Even as NASA’s future reached a crossroads in 2010, the Cockrell School’s contribution to space exploration remained strong.On April 5, 2010, astronaut and 1992 aerospace alum Stephanie Wilson was part of the STS-131 crew that launched aboard Discovery. The 15-day mission featured three spacewalks and a delivery to the International Space Station. Wilson is one of nine Cockrell School alumni to fly in space.And even down below, our students are making an impact. On Nov. 19, a project that spanned seven years and required the help of more than 150 students finally came to fruition when their hand-built satellites were launched into space from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska — making it the first student-developed mission in which satellites orbit and communicate with each other in real-time.
LEADING RESEARCH WITH IMPACT
The two 60-plus pound satellites, named Emma and Sara Lily, were built entirely by Cockrell School students under the guidance of aerospace engineering Professor Glenn Lightsey.”To give students the opportunity to learn by practicing what it is like to build something that will go into space, to go through all the processes to design the satellite, to build it, to physically integrate all the parts, to test it and meet certain specifications given by Air Force or NASA, and finally to operate the satellite in space – there is no way to fully teach that in a classroom setting,” Lightsey said in December 2010.
Research advancements by our faculty touched every facet of the science and engineering spectrum in 2010, from the development of a pen-size non-invasive device that can test for skin cancer in a matter of seconds to building a synthetic nerve that could help everyone from cancer patients, car accident victims, injured soldiers and people with spinal cord injuries.
Flood maps Thanks to the help of environmental engineering Professor David Maidment and his graduate students, the west Texas town of Sanderson received much-needed updated flood maps in 2010. Maidment and his students used their spring break to travel to the town and complete most of the technical and complex analysis required in flood zone mapping. Maidment and the students’ contribution earned them a Congressional “thank you,” which the former U.S. House Representative for Sanderson’s district, Ciro D. Rodriguez, made in July.”This will leave a lasting effect on this community and we are grateful for your work,” Rodriguez said.
INSPIRED BY ONE ANOTHER
Just as faculty inspire their students, students inspire the campus community.Cockrell School graduate, Edgar Jimenez, served as a living example to others on overcoming challenges. Diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when he was just one years old, Edgar went on to be valedictorian of his high school class, to graduate in December with highest honors, and to find a home and acceptance at The University of Texas at Austin campus where his love of football led him to the Longhorn Texas football team, which he supported by attending practices and tutoring players.
“I hope that I can be a living example that life will never give you more than you can handle,” Edgar said in December 2010. “I’ve faced adversity every day of my life, but it’s not brought me down.”Janeth Rodriguez of Laredo, Texas, a May graduate in chemical engineering was an example of a student who maximized her education. She interned at Procter & Gamble and Dow Chemical, she mentored underclassmen and inspired fifth graders through the UTeach Outreach program and she served as community service director and secretary of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.And, finally, inspiration in 2010 also came from impactful advice from guest speakers, like Milton Lee, CPS Energy CEO and alumnus, during the May commencement, and Dan Crowley, vice president of Raytheon Corporation and president of Raytheon Network Centric Systems as well as an alumnus, during the December 2010 commencement.Some students even had the unique opportunity to hear from President Barack Obama at a presentation he made at Gregory Gym in August 2010.”We’re the United States of America, and like the Texas Longhorns,” he said. “We play for first.”