Engineering Spotlight Spotlight

"It's what made me want to come to Lehigh, because I could develop in the sciences and in the humanities. I could see the importance of science in expanding my abilities to help people."

-U.S. Army Lt. Col. Theodore J. Choma, M.D., '85

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May 2007

“Faculty”
  • James Hwang, professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, along with colleagues, has overcome two important roadblocks in the use of MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) in military applications. As part of a project funded through DARPA’s so-called HERMIT (Harsh Environment, Robust, Micromechanical Technology) program, Hwang’s group has become the first to operate a radio-frequency MEMS switch for more than 100 billion cycles, and has created innovative packaging that contributes to the device’s overall functionality.
  • The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has named Dan Frangopol, professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and holder of the Fazlur Rahman Khan Endowed Chair, as the 2007 recipient of organization’s Ernest A. Howard Award. In the award citation, Frangopol was noted for “outstanding contributions to the advancement of structural engineering, particularly in the risk assessment and maintenance planning of deteriorating civil infrastructures, and notable recommendations for implementation of research results in design practice. Frangopol is the latest in a series of Lehigh engineers to receive the Howard Award, including alumni George Tamaro and Theodore Galambos, and faculty members Bruce G. Johnston, John Fisher and Lynn Beedle.
“Programs”
  • The P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, working with the College of Arts & Sciences, has unveiled a new undergraduate honors program called IDEAS – the Integrated Degree in Engineering, Arts, and Sciences. IDEAS is a four-year honors program, resulting in a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Engineering, Arts, and Sciences (IDEAS). Students will benefit from the integrated, strategic leveraging of strengths across colleges. See www.lehigh.edu/ideas for more on this exciting new program.
  • ResolveTM magazine, the research publication of Lehigh Engineering, is now also an online magazine. The online version of Resolve, available at www.lehigh.edu/resolve, broadens the reach of the magazine through Web and email distribution to a much larger set of industry partners, academic colleagues, and alumni than feasible via print distribution. It also enables the use of media-rich Web communication technologies in the context of a high-quality publication that explores and promotes engineering research and educational innovation at Lehigh. Resolve will be a biannual publication from the College of Engineering; the next issue is scheduled for Fall 2007.
“Students”
  • At the Annual Spring Symposium of the Catalysis Society of Metropolitan New York, held March 21 in Annandale, N.J., Lehigh graduate students placed first, second and fourth in a presentation of 30 posters by students from Rutgers University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Delaware and Lehigh. All of the Lehigh students are advised by Israel E. Wachs, the G. Whitney Snyder Professor of Chemical Engineering.
  • Li Zhang, a Ph.D. candidate in polymer science and engineering, recently received the 2007 Kenneth A. Earhart Award for excellence in research from Lehigh’s Emulsion Polymers Institute at EPI’s annual review meeting. Zhang won first place in EPI’s poster-presentation contest and received a $1,000 cash prize for travel to conferences to present her research. Two other Ph.D. candidates -- Lisa M. Spagnola and Megan B. Casey of Chemical Engineering -- also received poster-presentation awards and cash prizes.