Faculty News and Notes

Dave Zumbrunnen, Warren H. Owen - Duke Energy Professor of Mechanical Engineering, was one of 60 engineering researchers from Japan and the United States to be invited by the National Academy of Engineering to attend the 5th Japan-America Frontiers of Engineering Symposium. The Symposium challenges participants to think about developments and problems at the frontiers of areas different from their own disciplines. Zumbrunnen was also a participant of the 2001 NAE Frontiers of Engineering Symposium. He supervises the laboratory for advanced plastic materials & technology, and is a founding research thrust leader for new processes of the NSF Center for Advanced Engineering Fibers and Films.

Clemson professor part of IAEA team recognized with Nobel prize
When the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the International Atomic Energy Agency and its director, Mohamed ElBaradei, one Clemson professor felt a keen sense of ownership and pride. For two years, Jim Navratil, a professor in environmental engineering and science has spent his summers working with the IAEA in improving their separation methods for safeguard analysis. Both he and his graduate student assistant, Amanda Padgett, will be recognized as part of the IAEA team honored with the Nobel Peace Prize “for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclei energy for peaceful purposes is used the safest possible way.”

ME Professors update text
Donald Beasley (left), professor of mechanical engineering, and Richard Figliola, professor of mechanical engineering and bioengineering, have just published the fourth edition of their textbook, Theory and Design for Mechanical Measurements. Now revised to reflect the latest standards and advances, the new text provides a timely and in-depth reference to the theory of engineering measurements, measurement system performance, and instrumentation. The authors show how to develop, operate, and analyze measurement systems and report results. More than 90 universities in the U.S. use the book, and the text enjoys international audiences in Europe and Asia.

Ballato tapped for prestigious group
John Ballato, an associate professor of materials science and engineering, is one of only 20 emerging leaders chosen from more than 100 South Carolina nominees to participate in the Liberty Fellowship Class of 2007. The prestigious leadership effort, sponsored by Liberty Corporation, Wofford College and the Aspen Institute, annually brings together a select group of young leaders from business, government and the non-profit sector who meet periodically throughout the year to discuss critical issues.
Ballato directs Clemson’s Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET), a South Carolina Research Center of Economic Excellence. He co-founded Tetramer Technologies, LLC, a Clemson University faculty spin-off company in Pendleton.
He has published more than 80 archival scientific papers, holds six U.S. patents, and is a recipient of the National Institute of Ceramic Engineers’ Schwartzwalder-PACE Award, given in recognition of achievements significant to the profession and the general welfare of the American people. He earned a B.S. in ceramic science and engineering and a Ph.D. in ceramic and materials engineering from Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Luo receives double recognition
Assistant professor of materials science and engineering, Jian Luo, has been recognized with an NSF CAREER award and a Ralph Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities.
The CAREER Award is the most prestigious award given by the NSF to new faculty. It is granted to promising young researchers “who are most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century.” The Powe awards also recognize early career development.
After earning his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from MIT, Luo worked in the optical fiber and telecommunication industry for more than two years. In August 2003, he joined the Clemson faculty as an assistant professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering. He is also affiliated with COMSET, the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies.

Elham Makram named IEEE Fellow
Elham Makram, ECE’s S.C. Electric and Gas Co. Distinguished Professor of Power Engineering, was the first woman to graduate with a Ph.D. from the Electrical Engineering Department at Iowa State University. Now she has become the first woman in power engineering to be named an IEEE Fellow.

After graduating from Iowa State, Makram worked in industry for about eleven years before joining Clemson in 1985. She teaches power courses such as power system analysis, electric power distribution, power system harmonics, and computer applications in power systems. Makram is a member of Sigma Xi, a senior member of the Women’s Engineering Society, a member of CIGRE, and a member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). She is the recipient of the 1991 Alumni Research Award, the 1993 SWE Distinguished Engineering Educator Award, the 1994 Outstanding Woman Faculty Award at Clemson, and the 1996 Provost’s Award for Scholarly Achievement.
Makram’s research includes computer simulation of power systems, power system harmonics, and optimal operation and design of power systems. She has received sponsorship from utilities, the Department of Energy (DOE), National Science Foundation (NSF) and the California Energy Commission.

Earnest is published by the College of Engineering and Science at Clemson University for the alumni and friends of the College. Subscriptions are free upon request.

Send any comments/questions to: Ron Grant (email: Rong@clemson.edu)
College Relations/Marketing Director, Clemson University.