Seminars

This year's fall seminar lineup has been an impressive one bringing many distinguished speakers to campus, as well as showcasing the work of our own faculty.

Randy Jackson, director of human resources and administration at Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc., discussed Kia's newest manufacturing plant, which is under construction in West Point, Ga., as well as its economic impact.

Scott F. Midkiff, National Science Foundation (NSF) program director, provided an overview of NSF programs that seek to advance the innovative application of cyber capabilities for advancing science and engineering. He also discussed programs that seek fundamental advances in cyber systems, such as the new Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) initiative, the Cyber-enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI) program and the Integrative, Hybrid and Complex Systems (IHCS) core program.

Fazel Hussain

Fazle Hussain

National Academy of Engineering member Fazle Hussain, Cullen Distinguished Professor and director of the Institute of Fluid Dynamics and Turbulence at the University of Houston, discussed the looming crisis in air traffic capacity, and presented a potential solution to the overcrowding of airways and runways.

His second lecture will be held on Friday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. in the Hartley Auditorium (1103 Shelby Center). Following remarks by President Jay Gogue, Hussain will discuss the Institute for Advanced Studies, a plan to develop a world-class think tank to solve real world problems in an interdisciplinary environment. The talk is open to the university community.

Hussain will meet with faculty across campus, including agriculture and engineering. His visit reflects one of the core components of Auburn's strategic plan, approved by its Board of Trustees in June, which calls for increasing interaction with members of the national academies. Auburn's faculty currently boasts one member of the National Academy of Engineering, Oliver Kingsley, as well as an associate of the National Research Council, engineering faculty member Juan Gilbert.

Hussain received his doctorate in 1969 from Stanford University. After working as a visiting assistant professor at John Hopkins University, he took a position with the University of Houston's Department of Mechanical Engineering. Hussain has been a faculty member at UH since 1971 and has published hundreds of papers and conference proceedings. His current research interests include fluid mechanics, turbulence, vortex dynamics, aerodynamics, aeroacoustics, measurement techniques, cardiovascular flows, cell mechanics, nanomechanics and energy studies.

Ian Hausding of Technische Universität in Dresden, Germany, discussed the Auburn-Dresden partnership beginning in 2009 that will offer students the opportunity to visit Dresden for one or two semesters. Hausding provided first-hand information on Dresden University, the city of Dresden and how Auburn students will be integrated into current research projects and courses.

Kavit Antani, quality manager for Black and Decker/DeWalt in Mexico, presented an overview of methodologies to combine Lean and Six Sigma processes to provide a methodology that maximizes business performance by achieving the fastest rate of improvement in customer satisfaction, cost, quality, process speed and invested capital.

Virginia Davis, faculty member in Auburn University's Department of Chemical Engineering, discussed nanotechnology and the synthesis of new materials with nanoscale properties, such as single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), inorganic nanorods and nanowires, as they have individual electrical, mechanical and thermal properties that exceed current materials. She shared the challenges associated with developing useful macroscale products based on nanoscale materials, as well as the microstructure and behavior of fluid-dispersed nanomaterials.

Maj. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly

Maj. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly

Maj. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, who will soon be assuming directorship of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), discussed research and career opportunities in the area of missile defense. Representatives from the City of Huntsville are also scheduled to be on hand to discuss the partnership between the city and the research community.

James Stewart, operations manager and site continuous improvement leader for GKN Aerospace Alabama, discussed the use of composites on aircrafts, as the issues posed by their recycling and disposal as volumes increase. He also shared information about GKN, their products, growth, history, materials, process and major programs. 

Eric Berson, assistant professor at the University of Louisville, discussed the development and improvement of bioprocesses for applications that include conversion of biomass to biochemicals, the characterization of fluid forces in complex flows and the production of useful proteins from mammalian cell cultures.

Greg Ojard, principal engineer with Pratt and Whitney in East Hartford, Conn., discussed advanced materials such as ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) and their targeting durability improvement in gas turbine engines.

Vijaya Rangari, assistant research professor with the Center for Advanced Materials at Tuskegee University (T-CAM), discussed the challenge facing composite materials researchers for structural applications, including the fabrication of nanocomposite materials with monodispersion of highly reactive nano-sized particles in thermoset or thermoplastic polymers.

Xiaoping Hu

Xiaoping Hu

Xiaoping Hu, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, and director for the Emory's Center for Systems Imaging, provided an overview of the advances in the methodology and biomedical applications of MRI technology over the past 35 years.

Michael Trick, professor of operations research at Carnegie Mellon University, discussed his experiences in scheduling college basketball, major league baseball and other sports, as well as major trends in optimization that lead to practical scheduling approaches. He revealed the quality of scheduling as it relates to the multi-billion dollar per year industry of major league baseball, its teams, fans, television networks and effects on profits and entertainment value.

Joe Qin, Fluor Professor at the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering, discussed how automatic control is realized through real-time feedback of information to adjust a set of manipulated variables continuously. He focused on the use of multivariate statistical methods for efficient data-driven control and process monitoring.

Meisha Shofner, assistant professor of polymer, textile and fiber engineering and materials science and engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, discussed the use of nanocomposite materials as novel alternatives to traditional composites and bulk materials due to the properties, unique structure and large surface area of nanoscale fillers.