December Faculty Features

Christopher L. Coleman, Ph.D., Integrative Systems, School of Nursing
Coleman, assistant professor of integrative systems, was named to the National Register's Who's Who in Executives and Professionals 2004-2005 edition. Coleman was selected because of his post-doctoral education at UCLA and his numerous research presentations, most notably, his National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded grant-- a three year K01 award that focused on understanding the determinants of high-risk behaviors among HIV-infected African American men over age 40. National Register's Who's Who in Executives and Professionals is a publication that highlights thousands of new members each year and acknowledges them for their individual achievements.

Mohamed Gad-el-Hak, Ph.D., chair, Mechanical Engineering
Gad-el-Hak recently delivered two lectures and chaired a session at the annual American Physical Society meeting in East Rutherford, N.J. His talks were titled "A Physically Based Correction for Hot Wires in Wall Proximity," and "Extending the Generalized Log Law to the Wall." Gad-el-Hak also has been appointed editor-in-chief for eMicroNano.com, a web portal for all of micro nanofluidics science and technology.

Anthony Guiseppi-Elie, Sc.D., Chemical Engineering
Guiseppi-Elie, professor of chemical engineering, recently delivered a series of invited national lectures. These included:

• "Electroconductive Hydrogels: "Bio-smart" Polymers in Biosensors and Biochips," presented at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as part of MIT's Program in Polymer Science and Technology Seminar Series and the Department of Chemical Engineering. Guiseppi-Elie also presented this lecture at Purdue University as part of Purdue's inaugural Pioneering Research in Biomedical Engineering Lecture Series and the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
• "Nanobiosensors and Molecular Bioelectronics Using Carbon Nanotubes," presented at the University of Texas at Dallas, Department of Chemistry and Nanotech Institute.

Ronald C. Merrell, M.D., Department of Surgery
Merrell, professor of surgery, recently was named an adjunct professor of the faculty of medicine during a formal ceremony at the University of Azuay, Ecuador. He is the first adjunct professor named to the faculty of this new medical school. During the ceremony, Merrell also delivered his inaugural address "Los Desafios Eticos de la Nueva Technologica Medica-Ethical Challenges of Medical Technology." The University of Azuay, Ecuador is modeled on the concept of an academic health center integrated with a private medical school and university. Merrell will return to Ecuador in April 2004 to continue seminars with the medical students and research in telemedicine.

Jennifer Wayne, Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering
Wayne, associate professor of biomedical engineering, has been accepted to a National Science Foundation career panel. The panel will evaluate and determine the funding of research proposals submitted by principal investigators across the country for NSF's Biomedical Engineering and Research to Aid Persons with Disabilities. Wayne previously has served on NSF review panels, including two in 2001 for NSF's Career Award.

Gary Wnek, Ph.D., chair, Chemical Engineering
Wnek served as host for a group of researchers from Spain, Yale University and Kraft Foods. During the visit, Wnek discussed Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), the process of obtaining numerical solutions to fluid flow problems by using computers. Wnek also was an invited lecturer this month at the University of Lowell's Tripathy Symposium in Lowell, Mass.