College of Engineering News Room
Latest News
New USF Provost is a Noted Computer Science and Engineering Educator and Researcher The University of South Florida’s standing as a leading research university was boosted by appointing a prominent computer science and engineering researcher and educator, Prasant Mohapatra, as its new provost and executive vice president of academic affairs.
Dean Robert Bishop Receives USF's Top Faculty Honor
Each year, faculty undergo intensive reviews for the Distinguished University Professor
honors. Dr. Bishop's world-renowned work on state-of-the-art satellite control systems,
leadership accomplishments and impact on student success made him a worthy candidate
for the honor.
Persistence Brings Achievement to USF Mechanical Engineering Student
The experience of University of South Florida mechanical engineering student Daniela
Zamora Alviarez is one that exemplifies the goals of a scholarship recognizing how
academic achievement often comes with a lot of sacrifice.
Getting Big Results From Tiny Devices with Dr. Albert Kim
Working at the intersection of biology and engineering, Dr. Albert Kim focuses on
the small end of things to find solutions that improve peoples’ lives.
Dean Bishop Receives Prestigious Aerospace Award
Recognizing the technical expertise required to create systems that keep space traveling
vehicles and explorers on the right trajectory is the purpose behind the Mechanics
and Control of Flight Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Tempestt Neal of Computer Science Receives NSF Career Award
Her project titled, "Inclusive Cybersecurity Through the Lens of Accessible Identity
and Access Management (I-CLAIM)." was recognized in the CAREER award, which includes
a five-year grant of $607,272 to increase the cybersecurity awareness of individuals
identifying as members of racial and ethnic groups historically excluded in Science
and Engineering (S&E).
USF engineers awarded $2.5 million federal grant to expand harmful algal bloom research
USF engineers are leading a team of scientists across the state in the development
of a new, state-of-the-art system that allows water districts to better predict and
manage harmful algal blooms.
USF Doctoral Graduate Edikan Ogunnaike Awarded NIH MOSAIC K99/R00 grant
As an NIH MOSAIC scholar, Ogunnaike aims to advance therapies that will improve clinical
outcomes and participate in initiatives to increase diversity in biomedical science.
Sriram Chellappan creates digital alibi patent
Researchers at the University of South Florida are in the process of licensing a new,
patented technology that can more accurately confirm an individual’s identity and
location using their voice. The technology, dubbed “Here I am,” creates an unforgeable,
encrypted digital certificate on a user’s cellular device.
Mauricio Arias has paper published in Nature Sustainability
Scientists in Florida, Maryland and Singapore show that restoring natural water availability
to the Mekong’s floodplains is possible.
Engineering Faculty Present at ASEE 2022
Nearly a dozen USF College of Engineering faculty members presented research at the
129th American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) annual conference in Minneapolis,
Minnesota.
Maya Trotz PI Received $1.5M NSF Grant to Build Equitable Communities
Students will master how to work with community stakeholders to co-design equitable
and inclusive solutions to infrastructure problems, such as highways dividing disadvantaged
neighborhoods.
Innovative cybersecurity programs poised for major expansion
USF prepares cybersecurity graduates with classroom simulations and experiential learning
opportunities and builds feedback from industry partners into its programs
EE Faculty Receive Patent and NSF Grant for Wearable Technology
Two electrical engineering professors are advancing wearable electronics.
Can Brain Painting Help with ADHD?
CSE assistant professor, Marvin Andujar, is studying the futuristic technology that
allows people to make abstract art with just their minds.
Using Systematic Assessments for Sustainable Development
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD student received both a Fulbright
grant and a Boren Award for his proposed research in Ghana that would benefit local
communities with sustainable engineering.
USF engineering undergraduates visit Munich, Berlin in first official college study
abroad program
As the first official study abroad trip offered by the College of Engineering, 21
USF engineering students visited Munich and Berlin from March 12 to March 19 2022
as part of a debut study abroad program focused on global approaches to sustainability
in engineering, city planning, and architecture.
Sayde King Selected for GEM PhD Fellowship by MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Sayde King, a third-year doctoral student in the USF Department of Computer Science
and Engineering, has been awarded a 2022-2023 National GEM Consortium PhD fellowship.
Ossie Douglas Awarded NASA Space Technology Research Graduate Fellowship
Ossie Douglas, a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering,
has been awarded a prestigious NASA Space Technology Research Graduate Opportunities
(NSTRGO) fellowship. The award, valued at up to $80,000 annually, will allow Douglas
to study “Spin manipulation in phase-engineered monolayer Janus TMDCs for low power
device operation in extreme environments.”
Mentoring the next generation of diverse engineers and fostering inclusion in STEM
One USF engineering senior and two alums were awarded competitive National Science
Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. Read about their academic careers and their
futures in research and academia.
Alexandria Brady-Miné Wants to Build a Better World
USF mechanical engineering senior Alexandria Brady-Miné is a 2022 Goldwater Scholar
and has been selected for the 2022 MIT Summer Research Program where she will spend
the summer researching in the Harvard-MIT Biomedical Engineering Center.
Linda and Jerry Griffin Change the Face of Engineering
With the goal of helping to increase the participation of women in engineering, Linda
and Jerry Griffin have created their scholarship in order to make such a career accessible
to more women by providing sustained support throughout their pursuit of an undergraduate
engineering degree, regardless of the specific major.
USF mechanical engineering students design capstone course project for ZooTampa and
local middle school
Students' capstone projects are helping enhance primate and guest interactions at
ZooTampa and helping Buchanan Middle School students build an interest in STEM.
Sharing opportunities in engineering
Two USF alums established a scholarship fund to help the next generation of USF engineering
students overcome obstacles in their education and make the most of their time in
their programs.
The AI+X Institute: a university-wide asset for USF researchers working with artificial
intelligence
See the research supported by the Institute for Artificial Intelligence+X, how the
institute has grown since its founding in July 2019, and current plans for its expansion.
SUM Lab navigates the future of transportation
Learn how Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor and SUM Lab
Director Yu Zhang is working to change the way we approach issues in transportation.
Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering completes first semester
Learn how the new program will help grow the engineering field in Tampa Bay and beyond.
Planned Center of Excellence in Environmental and Oceanographic Sciences at USF St.
Petersburg to support environmental engineering research
Part of the proposed $80 million project is a new building, the Environmental & Oceanographic
Sciences Research & Teaching Facility, which would provide state-of-the-art research
and instructional space for graduate and undergraduate students from the colleges
of Marine Science, Arts and Sciences, and Engineering.
USF alums are advancing their fields in U.S. Department of Energy-operated labs
USF alums Trishelle Copeland-Johnson and Christopher Allemang are advancing nuclear
science and microelectronics, respectively, through their work at two U.S. Department
of Energy-operated labs.
Engineering Student Council Builds Professional Skills
Read how the E-Council has grown from its inception in 2014 to hosting the 2021 National
Association of Engineering Student Councils regional conference.
Team of current and former USF faculty and students create home health monitoring
device to increase users’ independence
Over the course of 15 weeks, USF researchers developed a wireless sensor system which
continuously and passively monitors presence and weight of a person in bed, on a couch,
chair or similar furniture that could have great potential impact on users’ quality
of life comparable to current sensor systems on the market.
USF biomedical engineering Ph.D. Student named to Tampa Bay Business Journal 25 Under
25 list
USF engineering alum Mitchell Harrah shares his experiences co-founding a company
and competing for startup funding while working to achieve his Ph.D. at USF.
Paper co-authored by assistant professor in Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering questions current clean drinking water policies
Assistant Professor Katherine Alfredo co-authored a paper published by AWWA Water
Science that examines the usefulness of regulating two substances found in drinking
water to improve public health.
USF-led team awarded NSF Convergence Accelerator Grant to 'Link the Green Economy
to the Blue Economy at the Coast'
The phase I grant will support a USF-led team headed by Maya Trotz, environmental
engineering professor and principal investigator, to help stakeholders better manage
food, energy, and water systems in coastal locations.
Bulls-EYE Mentoring goes online
Created to connect local middle schoolers with engineering student mentees to promote
engineering and STEM skills, the Bulls-EYE Mentoring program is navigating the challenges
of the pandemic to continue teaching and inspiring the next generation of engineers.
USF civil and environmental engineering student team wins Florida Water Environment
Association Student Design Competition
Learn how five USF civil and environmental engineering students won first place in
the environmental design division of the 2021 Florida Water Environment Association
Student Design Competition through their project to help restore St. Petersburg's
Lassing Park.
Team of three USF Department of Medical Engineering students wins first prize in 2021
DEBUT Challenge
The team's device, the Eucovent, doubles the patient capacity of ventilators from
one to two and could be used to one day address global ventilator shortages in a variety
of medical settings.
Mauricio Arias has paper published in Science titled “Algorithm optimizes trade-offs
in Amazonian hydropower expansion”
A new computational approach reveals opportunities for more sustainable hydropower
development in the Amazon – the Earth’s largest and most biodiverse river basin, researchers
report. Hydropower expansion is rapidly growing in many parts of the world and will
likely play an important role in global efforts to achieve net-zero emissions.
Mauricio Arias has paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Freshwaters inextricably link flows of carbon between the land, oceans, and atmosphere.
Resulting carbon dioxide supersaturation relative to the atmosphere in most of the
world’s lakes and rivers has long been assumed to come from aerobic respiration.
Giovanni Luca Ciampaglia has article published in Nature Human Behaviour
Researchers find new way to amplify trustworthy news content on social media without
shielding bias
Engineering Student Council gives students professional skills and much more
In addition to winning the National Association of Engineering Student Councils (NAESC)
Best Professional Development award, USF's E-Council also won a bid to host the Southeast
NAESC 2021 Regional Conference
USF faculty and students create home health monitoring device
The wireless sensor system could revolutionize home health monitoring devices and
priortizes users’ independence and quality of life.
USF alums advance their fields at national labs
USF engineering alums Dr. Trishelle Copeland-Johnson and Christopher Allemang are
respectively advancing the fields of nuclear science and microelectronics through
their positions at Department of Energy-contracted national labs.
Swerving prevention method prompts new patent for USF engineers
Researchers with the USF Center for Urban Transportation Research have been awarded
a U.S. patent for their algorithm that detects one of the greatest roadway hazards
– swerving.
USF professor part of multi-institutional grant to University of Florida center for
studying harmful algae blooms
Engineers from UF, the University of South Florida, North Carolina State University
and the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation have received $2.3 million from the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study how water and nutrients flowing from Lake Okeechobee
and the Caloosahatchee River watershed interact with tides, currents, and waves at
the coast to affect coastal water quality.
A USF-led Team Awarded NSF Convergence Accelerator Grant CEE Professor Maya Trotz
is the lead researcher on the project "Linking the Green Economy to the Blue Economy
at the Coast"
The grant is part of a new NSF Convergence Accelerator program, uniquely designed
to instill multidisciplinary team science skills among research teams while addressing
national-scale societal challenges.
CEE Assistant Professor Katherine Alfredo Published Article on the PFAS Drinking Water
Regulations
With governments at all levels setting new policy for clean drinking water, a recently
released peer-reviewed analysis provides a method for policymakers to evaluate regulatory
levels and assess and compare meaningfulness in terms of protecting public health.
USF invention addresses worldwide mask shortage and pollution concerns
Researchers have figured out a way to rapidly disinfect and electrostatically recharge
N95 respirators, recovering their original filtration efficiency and protection capability
against COVID-19 and other airborne diseases.
USF Medical Technology Startup SPKL Wins Coveted Cade Prize
A team led by a USF Engineering professor and alum is awarded one of Florida’s top
awards for innovation.
Mitchell Harrah named to TBBJ 25 under 25, discusses professional and academic goals
See what USF biomedical engineering Ph.D. student Mitchell Harrah accomplished before
the age of 25 and what he hopes to accomplish before 30 in both industry and academia.
Department of Electrical Engineering lab becomes new robotics hub
See how the need for more modern robotics equipment to help prepare students for working
in today’s industry turned an electrical engineering lab into a robotics hub.
Team of three USF Department of Medical Engineering students wins first prize in 2021
DEBUT Challenge
The team's award-winning device, the Eucovent, could one day have a significant impact
on hospitals and healthcare providers in need of doubling their ventilation capacity.
USF civil and environmental engineering student team wins Florida Water Environment
Association Student Design Competition
Five USF civil and environmental engineering students created a roadmap for the City
of St. Petersburg to help restore Lassing Park's water quality and coastline.
Mauricio Arias Receives Gulf Research Program Award from National Academies of Science
Mauricio Arias, assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering, is one
of eight scientists selected for the Gulf Research Program's Environmental Production
and Stewardship track of the 2021 Early-Career Research Fellowship (ECRF).
Two Doctoral Students Awarded 2021 Computing Innovation Fellowships
Two doctoral students in Computer Science and Engineering have received the 2021 Computing
Innovation CI Fellowships sponsored by the Computing Research Association (CRA) and
the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) with the support from the National Science
Foundation (NSF).
Engineering Alum Balaji Ramadoss is Creating Opportunities for Engineering Students
Edgility, launched in 2016 and founded by USF alum Balaji Ramadoss, is creating opportunities
for the College of Engineering.
Nature study featuring USF engineeing professor seeks to reshape plastics and hybrid
materials used in consumer products
A breakthrough by researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) and collaborating
institutions around the world could pave the way for better products, such as improved
batteries, automobile paint and cellphone screens.
USF gets cut of $5M national grant to make cyber powerhouse
USF, the University of Central Florida and Florida International University received
a $5 million cumulative grant from the National Science Foundation this week.
Chemical Engineering PhD Candidate Molly Skinner Receives SWE Award
The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) has recognized Molly Skinner, Graduate Research
Assistant for the department of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering at
the University of South Florida (USF), for her impact on the Society as well as the
engineering community with the Outstanding Collegiate Member Award.
Biomedical Engineering Grad Student, Mitchell Harrah, Named a TBBJ 25 Under 25
While working on his PhD in BME, Mitchell created Baldr Medical in August 2020, during
the height of the pandemic, dedicated to developing point of care devices at an affordable
price point.
A Blossoming Partnership
USF Coverdell Fellows work with Greco Middle School technology teacher to build a
rain
garden on campus.
José Zayas-Castro to lead the NSF Division of Engineering Education and Centers
José Zayas-Castro begins his term as National Science Foundation division director
for NSF's Engineering Education and Centers on August 2, 2021.
USF Team Publishes Research Establishing the Ability of the Electronic “Bull Nose”
to Detect COVID-19
The research team includes USF engineering Ph.D. alum Tiffany Miller, professor Sal
Morgera, professor Stephen Saddow, associate professor Arash Takshi, Muma College
of Business professor Matthew Mullarkey, and Matthew Palm of Valhall K-9 International.
Department of Electrical Engineering Professor Salvatore Morgera invited to be Asia-Pacific
Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA) fellow
This June, Department of Electrical Engineering Professor Salvatore Morgera was invited
to be a fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA).
Florida High Tech Corridor Program Matches Emerging USF Talent, Startups & Industry
Students, postdocs and Ph.D. researchers who recently have been part of the program
share their stories and reflect on their experience in the Florida High Tech Corridor
Council's Matching Grants Research Program.
USF inventors post record patent numbers, ranking in the nation’s top 10 university
producers
For the ninth consecutive year, University of South Florida inventors are among the
most prolific producers of U.S. patents at universities worldwide, securing an institutional
record 123 patents in 2020.
USF Engineering and the Peace Corps – An Unprecedented Year
Two Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering students share their experiences
serving in the Peace Corps and being evacuated from their posts near the start of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
IEEE Students Lab Kit Sales Create a New Scholarship
A recent IEEE initiative led to the creation of the IEEE USF Student Branch Leadership
Scholarship, providing much-needed classroom kits to undergrads.
USF College of Engineering to Offer an Undergraduate Degree in Environmental Engineering
The College of Engineering at the University of South Florida will initiate a new
undergraduate program in environmental engineering for fall semester 2022. The Florida
Board of Governors approved the new degree during the recent spring session.
New method to improve durability of nano-electronic components developed by USF mechanical
engineering team
USF Mechanical Engineering assistant professor Michael Cai Wang’s group recently developed
a novel approach to effectively mitigate electromigration, a phenomenon that has long
posed challenges for the semiconductor and integrated circuits industry.
Norma Alcantar to be Inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame
She is one of seven Florida Inventors whose discoveries are saving lives, transforming
the environment, and creating new technologies will be inducted as the 2021 Class
of the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame.
NAE Grand Challenges Scholars Program
To properly prepare students to address global challenges, the GCSP identified five
pillars that each student must achieve before graduation. These five competencies
include the following: research, interdisciplinary studies, entrepreneurship, global
outreach, and service learning.
USF AIChE Chapter Wins 2021 AIChE Southern Student Regional Conference Chem-E-Car
Poster Competition
During the virtual 2021 Southern Student Regional Conference hosted by the University
of Louisville in March, this year’s USF American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
student team placed 6th in the conference’s Chem-E-Car Competition and placed 1st
in the competition’s poster presentation section.
Engineering for public health: COPH, COE partnership brings safer drinking water to
Madagascar
Faculty members from the College of Engineering and the College of Public Health collaborate
to replace lead water pump components with locally-manufactured iron parts for coastal
communities in Madagascar.
CUTR is Part of Team Receiving $571M to Establish Transportation Technology Center
The Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of South Florida
(USF) is part of a team of surface transportation research organizations led by ENSCO,
Inc. (ENSCO) that was recently awarded a $571 million USD contract by the Federal
Railroad Administration (FRA) to provide research, testing, engineering, and training
services at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC).
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering undergraduate programs certified
as Global Pathways
This April, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s undergraduate
programs were certified as Global Pathways by the university-wide initiative The Global
Citizens Project.
Passing the Torch
Past student presidents of USF’s National Society for Black Engineers chapter reflect
on the organization’s professional, academic and personal impact on themselves and
their former classmates.
USF Department of Electrical Engineering Professor Wins NSF CAREER Award to Improve
Wireless Networking and Security
Department of Electrical Engineering Professor Zhuo Lu won a CAREER award this March
and said it will support his current research in improving the performance and security
of wireless networks.
Tenex Software Establishes the Matthew Moreno Scholarship to Honor his Memory
When USF computer science alum Matt Moreno (’14) passed away in January, his co-workers
at Tenex Software Solutions in Tampa decided to create a scholarship to honor their
friend and colleague so that his legacy can live on through future students.
USF's Sloan University Center of Exemplary Mentoring
At its core, the heart and soul of this graduate inclusive excellence initiative (Sloan
UCEM and FGLSAMP BD) has been the success in recognizing and nurturing unrealized
potential in students and changing the trajectory of their lives. Read the stories
of seven current and former Sloan UCEM students.
Local Civil Engineering Firm Gifts Endowed Scholarship to USF Students
Patel, Greene and Associates, a civil engineering company founded by USF alumni, provided
a generous gift of $30,000 to establish one such endowed scholarship that will be
highly sought after by engineering students.
Engineering Faculty Members, PhD Candidate Discuss Technology-focused Research at
2021 USF Institute on Black Life Conference
All three research projects presented are part of the 23 that make up the USF Research
Task Force on Understanding and Addressing Blackness and Anti-Black Racism in our
Local, National and International Communities.
USF Engineering Expo Goes Virtual for its 49th Year
Amid an unprecedented pandemic, the students of this year’s Expo planning committee
pivoted Expo’s experiments and experiences online to continue the tradition of College
of Engineering’s longest running event.
Satellites Engineered by IAE Students, Faculty Launch on World Record Mission
Three of the 143 satellites aboard spaceflight company SpaceX’s first dedicated rideshare
mission — named Transporter-1 — were engineered by students and faculty at the USF
Institute of Applied Engineering (IAE).
USF E-Council Awarded Best Professional Development at NAESC Southeast Regional Conference
The award is presented to a participating student engineering council that has experienced
considerable organizational growth or made strides to redevelop how it serves its
institution’s engineering students.
Relationship Between USF and UVI Expands Access to Engineering Education for Diverse
Students and Develops Inclusive STEM Workforce
This articulation agreement between UVI, a Historically Black College and University
(HBCU), and USF enables UVI students in the Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics
program to pursue their engineering dreams at USF’s College of Engineering.
USF Environmental Engineering PhD Candidate Awarded Roy W. Likins Scholarship
This scholarship is awarded annually by the Florida section of the American Water
Works Association (FLAWWA) to students pursuing a degree relating to the drinking
water industry, and students are evaluated on a variety of criteria.
Flit-Path Improves Pathways to Student Success for Computing Majors at USF, UCF, and
FIU
The S-STEM Flit-Path program continues to support academically successful IT students
across colleges in the Florida Consortium of Metropolitan Universities despite distance
learning challenges posed by the Spring 2020 semester.
USF Computer Science and Engineering Receives Grant to Attract and Retain More Women
Computer Scientist
The Department of Computer Science and Engineering received a three-year, $579,737
grant from the Center for Inclusive Computing at Northeastern University for funding
evidence-based approaches to attract and retain more women computer science, information
technology, and cybersecurity students.
Yogi Goswami and Molekule Awarded BioFlorida’s Inaugural COVID-19 Innovation Award
The COVID-19 Innovation Award recognizes a Florida company that has made significant
advances in the fight against COVID-19, and its first winner is Distinguished University
Professor Yogi Goswami and air purifier company Molekule.
USF Engineering Graduates at Two-Year Colleges are Leading Efforts to Address National
Workforce Need
USF engineering doctoral graduates Brian Bell and Gulnur Sanden are leading biomedical
engineering technology and biomanufacturing education at St. Petersburg College and
Solano Community College, respectively.
Online Learning Ventures into a Lab Setting
The College of Engineering’s Foundations of Engineering Lab, which students must pass
to be admitted to one of the college’s programs, is making a transition online.
Mauricio Arias Awarded McKnight Junior Faculty Fellowship
The fellowship is designed to encourage excellence in teaching and research by freeing
junior faculty from their regular duties so they can pursue research in special areas
of interest.
Department of Medical Engineering Professor Receives National Institute of General
Medical Sciences Grant to Investigate Optic Nerve Restoration
The project — Systems Pharmacology for Overcoming Cell Variability — has the goal
of restoring functional connectivity between the eye and brain after optic nerve injury.
Sriram Chellappan is Using AI and Drone Mapping Technology to Pinpoint Mosquito Breeding
Habitats
To combat the spread of malaria in developing regions such as sub-Saharan Africa,
Sriram Chellappan, a USF professor of computer science and engineering, played an
important part in developing drone mapping technology to locate habitats of malaria
spreading mosquitoes.
Helping Community College Students Take the Road to a Four-Year Degree
A five-year project beginning in Spring 2021 — Transfer Undergraduate Rural/Nontraditional
Student Pathways through Identity, Knowledge & Engagement (TURNPIKE) — will provide
50 students with scholarships to fully cover the cost of their undergraduate education.
The Balter Family is Bullish on Supporting Engineering Student Success
Working with the College’s development staff, Balter and other family members established
an endowment to fund the Balter Family Scholarship that financially supports full-time
junior and senior undergraduates who are majoring in Civil and Environmental Engineering,
in perpetuity.
A Collaborative Approach to Harmful Algal Blooms in Florida’s Largest Freshwater Lake
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded a team of engineers and
geoscientists at USF a $1 million grant to research new methods for preventing and
controlling harmful algal blooms (HABs) in Lake Okeechobee.
Collaborating at the crossroads of COVID-19 for a healthy, just and equitable society
35 professors and experts, mainly from environmental engineering and science fields
presented on six different topics related to COVID-19 from October 16 to November
20 as part of a virtual, intercollegiate conference “Converging COVID-19, environment,
health, and equity.”
Engineering students collaborate on COVID-19 dashboard
What started as a small project between two engineering friends to gain experience
within their field became a source for the USF community to stay informed about the
latest COVID-19 cases across the campuses.
A Patent for Humanity
Created by a team of USF engineers led by Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Professor Daniel Yeh, human wastewater converter NEWgenerator was recognized as a
winner of the 2020 Patents for Humanity award by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
2019-20 College of Engineering Outstanding Teaching Awardees Announced
The award recognizes faculty who demonstrate significant scholarly contributions to
teaching and learning within the College of Engineering.
Air Purifier Technology Created by Distinguished University Professor Yogi Goswami
Gets FDA Approval
The Molekule Air Pro RX was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration as a Class
II Medical Device, and this commercial-sized version of the consumer Molekule air
purification system was created to filter air in areas at high risk of COVID-19 spread.
Engineering Faculty Leading USF’s COVID-19 Response Efforts
Nine projects led by engineering faculty make up almost a third of the 28 projects
funded so far in the first two rounds of the USF COVID-19 Rapid Response Grants program
created by the USF Pandemic Response Research Network.
Spring 2020 Outstanding Graduates
USF computer science and engineering students Willie McClinton and Zima Patel won
the King O'Neal Scholar Award, while computer science and engineering student Meera
Patel won the USF Global Citizen Award.
Improving Instruction with Coevolutionary Algorithms
Led by USF computer science and engineering Associate Professor Alessio Gaspar, this
three-year, $377,012 National Science Foundation project aims to create evolutionary
algorithms capable of developing software that will generate improved multiple choice
questions.
NIH Grant Funds New Optical Biosensor Technology
The interdisciplinary, two-year National Institutes of Health project researches how
near-infrared light propagation and optical analysis can be used to measure blood
flow in the brain.
New Grant Uses AI to Enhance Remote Instruction
USF mechanical engineering Professor Autar Kaw received a $599,770 National Science
Foundation grant to examine the effect of adaptive learning on flipped classrooms,
where there is a mix of in-person and online instruction.
USF Awarded $7.5 Million to Establish New National University Transportation Research
Initiative
Selected from more than 50 applicants worldwide, the U.S. Department of Transportation
selected USF to establish the National Institute for Congestion Reduction (NICR) within
the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR).
Sudeep Sarkar Receives William R. Jones Outstanding Mentor Award
Department of Computer Science and Engineering Chair and Professor Sudeep Sarkar was
honored with a 2017 William R. Jones Outstanding Mentor Award by the Florida Education
Fund's McKnight Doctoral Fellowship Program.
Two USF Engineering Professors Named 2020 NAI Senior Members
Five University of South Florida faculty members whose innovative work spans neurosciences
to clean energy to engineering and pharmaceutical chemistry have been named by the
National Academy of Inventors to its new class of Senior Members.
Engineers Defy a Stereotype with Music
The connection between engineering and music may surprise a lot of people, but it
is a valuable piece of insight to those who perceive it.
Five Women in Engineering Win 2020 USF Golden Bull Awards
USF Golden Bull Awards is the highest honors and is given to 20 undergraduate and
graduate students who exemplify exceptional leadership and service to USF. Five of
this year's awardees are women of all degree levels in the College of Engineering.
Computer Science and Engineering New Faculty: John Murray-Bruce
Imperial College London grad and Boston University postdoc researcher John Murray-Bruce,
Ph.D., is bringing his expertise in computational imaging to a faculty position, a
new course and a new lab in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at
USF.
Jeffrey Cunningham awarded AEESP Award for Outstanding Contribution to Environmental
Engineering and Science Education
USF Civil and Environmental Engineering professor Jeffrey Cunningham, Ph.D., has been
awarded the 2020 AEESP. This award is given annually to recognize excellence in teaching
scholarship and/or professional society educational initiatives.
Fashioning Wearable Technology by Spinning Nanofibers
USF Electical Engineering professors Sylvia Thomas and Arash Takshi were recently
awarded an NSF Advanced Materials program award to advance their research in improving
wearable technology.
Research of USF Civil and Environmental Engineering professor in Sustainability Nature
Mauricio Arias, Ph.D., has spent the last decade conducting research into the effects
of dams built on some of the most biodiverse rivers in the world, and his latest paper
could help guide hydropower development in the Amazon.
Bullish Impacts at the Sub-Nanoscale
USF Mechanical Engineering assistant professor Michael Cai Wang was recently awarded
an NSF CAREER Award and plans to use it to support his work in advancing nanoscale
manufacturing.
Environmental Engineering Award for On-Site Wastewater Project
USF Civil and Environmental Engineering students and faculty are part of an EPA-funded,
$2.5 million pilot wastewater treatment project that recently won an award from the
American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES).
Electrical Engineering Professor Receives BEYA Educational Leadership Award
Sylvia Thomas, Ph.D., was presented the award during February's Black Engineer of
the Year Awards conference for her work in forging new paths for students underrepresented
in STEM.
Astronaut Gives Tips for Living on Earth or in Space
Retired astronaut Franklin "Story" Musgrave, Ph.D., visited USF after day one of the
2020 Engineering Expo to give a talk on his life and career, including becoming the
only astronaut to fly aboard all five NASA space shuttles.
Scholarship Honors a Mother's Legacy
USF computer engineering alumna Lakecia Gunter recently created the Barbara Griffin
Memorial Family Scholarship to increase students' access to STEM education opportunities,
which she founded in her mother's name.
Lancor Donation Supports Medical Engineering Students
One of the first USF College of Engineering alumni to support the recently established
USF Medical Engineering Department, Barbara Lancor (ME, '79) donated $25,000 in support
of the success of today's medical engineering students at USF.
Doing Research in the Harshest Place on Earth: Antarctica
When it comes to learning how tiny sea creatures move through water, there is no place
on Earth that USF mechanical engineering professor David Murphy won’t travel to, including
the National Science Foundation's Palmer Station on Antarctica's Anvers Island.
USF Receives $1 Million NSF Grant to Support Underrepresented STEM Students
Through a five-year scholarship and research cohort program, an interdisciplinary
team of USF faculty aims to improve the retention and academic experiences of STEM
master’s students at USF and across the U.S.
USF Hosts International Internet of Things Conference
The two-day International Federation of Information Processing conference at USF gave
IoT researchers an opportuntity to meet and share their work with fellow experts in
the field from around the world.
Connecting the Future of Driverless Vehicles
Funded by a recent three-year NSF grant, USF Civil and Environmental Engineering professor
Xiaopeng (Shaw) Li and his CATS lab research team are helping engineer the future
of driverless cars for the masses and roadways that can support the tech.
Alum Uses Engineering to Create Public Art
Whether on display as a flaming spire constructed of rescue ladders in Clearwater
or a wave made of used canoes in Lewiston, Idaho, Christopher Fennell’s creativity
combines engineering skills and artistic talent to create assembled sculptures that
are on public display in communities across the country.
Celebrating Women in Tech at the 2019 Grace Hopper Celebration
USF Computer Science and Engineering students and faculty share their experiences
from this year's Grace Hopper Celebration and what makes the event so important to
women in tech around the world.
Saving Lives by Floating with Hydrogen
Led by USF Biomedical Engineering professors Aydin Sunol and Chris Passaglia, USF
engineering students in a senior capstone class recently patented a new personal flotation
technology that deploys automatically and doesn't encumber the user.
USF and Jabil Announce $1 Partnership to Establish Jabil Innovation Institute
Located at USF Research Park, the institute will provide USF students and researchers
with opportunities to work with Jabil engineers to solve current industry problems.
Seizing Engineering Opportunities
Having completed a summer internship with Intel, USF Mechanical Engineering Ph.D.
student Ossie Douglas talks about his path to doctoral research and what it takes
to succeed in engineering.
USF Joins National Effort to Develop a More Inclusive and Diverse STEM Faculty
College of Engineering Associate Dean José Zayas-Castro plays a leading role in several
university-wide facets of the initiative that focus on recruiting and retaining diverse
faculty, as well as helping recent USF Ph.D. graduates obtain academic positions.
Turning Trash into Cash and Landfill Waste to Renewable Energy
A bioenergy startup founded by USF Chemical Engineering professors Babu Joseph and
John Kuhn was awarded a $2.3 million Department of Energy grant to continue research
into creating synthetic diesel from agricultural waste and trash at landfills.
Using Visualization to Gauge Uncertainty
Computer Science and Engineering Department professor Paul Rosen, Ph.D., was recently
awarded an NSF CAREER Award and works with data visualization to help improve decision-making
processes.
New Institute of Applied Engineering Signs RDAs Worth $1.18M
USF's new Institute of Applied Engineering secured two research and development agreements
with U.S. defense research organization DefenseWERX.
CARRT Community Partnership Gives Local Students Tech Career Experience
An internship program between the USF Center for Assistive, Rehabilitation and Robotics
Technologies and Hands On Education provides students with a foray into engineering.
Hydrogels Research Featured in NANOscientific
Responsive hydrogel coatings are extracted from pectin polysaccharides extracted from
orange peels and cacti have many uses.
Bulls-EYE Mentoring Puts Tampa Middle Schoolers on Path to Engineering
Bulls-EYE Mentoring continues to help local students explore engineering fields and
is positioned to expand as a long-term pipeline for future USF engineers.
Turning Coastal Communities Into Clean Water Converters
A team of USF Civil and Envrionmental Engineering researchers received a U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation grant to carry out a project that could change how coastal communities
source clean water.
USF Engineering Students Spend Summer at Intel, Twitter, Cummins
Three engineering students from different majors discuss how their summer internships
with industry leaders have improved their experience in their fields.
Norma Alcantar's Cactus Research Could be Used for Oil Spill Clean up
According to chemical engineer Norma Alcantar from the University of South Florida,
the gluey centre of prickly pear cacti might be the answer. She told MJ that it was
just an offbeat idea at first but when the extract was shaken in a test tube with
a sample of crude oil, “within 15 to 20 seconds, the oil had disappeared entirely.”
Medical Engineering Researchers Receive New Drug Patent
Robert Frisina, PhD, chair of the USF Medical Engineering Department and director
of the USF Global Center for Hearing and Speech Research, and his team were awarded
a U.S. patent for his theory that you can slow hearing loss by combining supplements
for the hormone aldosterone with anti-inflammatory medications, such as aspirin or
ibuprofen.
Making Microbes that Transform Greenhouse Gases
Researchers at the University of South Florida are harnessing the power of human physiology
to transform greenhouse gases into usable chemical compounds – a method that could
help lessen industrial dependence on petroleum and reduce our carbon footprint.
NEWGenerator Will Have Global Impact
Professor Daniel Yeh's poop-powered generator converts human waste into power.
Professors Thomas and Frisina Named Senior Members by the National Academy of Inventors
Five University of South Florida faculty members whose innovative work spans neurosciences
to clean energy to engineering and pharmaceutical chemistry have been named by the
National Academy of Inventors to its new class of Senior Members.
Preserving Biodiversity Through Mathematical Optimization with NSF Award
Industrial engineering professor Hadi Charkhgard received a National Science Foundation Computer
Research Initiation Initiative award to help the U.S. Geological Survey preserve biodiversity
around the country through versatile algorithms.
Kyle Reed Receives Fulbright to Lead "East Meets West in Rehabilitation Sciences"
Research
Mechanical engineering professor Kyle Reed will spend the next academic year as a
Fulbright scholar helping students at Hong Kong Polytechnic University position their
capstone rehabilitation sciences projects for commercialization.
USF Receives its 8th NSF Bridge to Doctorate Award
Led by the College of Engineering and the Office of Graduate Studies, the University
of South Florida was awarded a two-year National Science Foundation (NSF) Florida-Georgia
Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (FGLSAMP) Bridge to the Doctorate
grant to support underrepresented students in pursuit of science, engineering and
mathematics Ph.D. degrees.
USF College of Engineering Receives ASEE Bronze Award for Inclusivity
The award recognizes the college as a national leader in supporting diversity and
inclusion in its programs, community outreach efforts and initiatives, and the award
is the highest given this review cycle.
Ysela Llort is 2019 Florida Transportation Hall of Fame Inductee
Center for Urban Transportation Research Chair Ysela Llort has more than three decades
of transportation leadership experience in Florida and Washington D.C. and will be
the first woman to be a Florida Transportation Hall of Fame inductee.