PULLMAN, Wash. — Ali Saberi, professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, recently was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Saberi received a doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University in 1984. He joined WSU in 1984 and currently teaches graduate education and conducts research in nonlinear, adaptive and robust control, decentralized control, large scale and hybrid systems, and aircraft flight control systems. He is author/coauthor of 85 journal papers, more than 100 refereed conference papers and two books. He served as associated editor of IEEE Transaction on Automatic Control and is currently the Editor of International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control and associate editor of Automatica.
Contact: Saberi, 509/335-5222, saberi@eecs.wsu.edu
Don Bender, director of the College of Engineering and Architecture Wood Materials and Engineering Laboratories, received the National Frame Builders Association’s Bernon G. Perkins Award, recognizing outstanding contributions to the post-frame construction industry. (Perkins pioneered modern pole building design.) Bender’s research on nail connections was published in Frame Building News, and he has taught post-frame design to professionals at seminars for years. His research and teaching specialties are mechanical properties of wood, non-destructive evaluation techniques, and reliability and design of structural components and systems.
Contact: 509/335-2829, bender@wsu.edu
John Hirth, professor emeritus of materials science and engineering, was again honored in September by the ASM International Materials Information Society as its Albert Sauveur Achievement Awardee for 1997. “For major achievements in the application of dislocation theory, and for improved understanding and control of the mechanical behavior of materials,” Hirth’s work marked a basic advance in materials science and engineering, according to the association. ASM is a worldwide network of 43,000 members.
Contact: 509/335-4971, hirth@mme.wsu.edu
Roy Rada, WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, won an honorable mention in Microsoft’s recent “1997 Challenge” to provide practical solutions to complex higher educational issues. Rada uses Microsoft technology to create virtual classrooms, books and exercises. Check them out on the Web: radamain.eecs.wsu.edu/Virt/ The Boeing Distinguished Professor of Software Engineering joined WSU in 1995 from the University of Liverpool. He is the College’s resident expert in virtual learning environments.
Contact: 509/335-4254, rada@eecs.wsu.edu
Bashir Kazimee, associate professor of architecture, presented an invited paper about how vital the “Places In-Between Dwellings” are to high-density housing to the 3rd International Convention on Urban Planning Housing and Design, sponsored by the Singapore Institute of Planners and the National University of Singapore School of Architecture in September. The “Cities for the 21st Century” audience wondered how, with higher-density dictates and functional essentials, such semi-private spaces can be achieved. Kazimee suggests that territoriality and privacy are possible through design mechanisms of interior courtyards and other such boundary landscaping, and “perceived extensions” of residents’ spaces can be achieved via access zones, pathways, nearby children’s playgrounds, balconies, atriums, and such. Control over one’s space and stock in communal care increase the sense of ownership, and individuality, he adds. Participants asked why American metropoli rarely incorporate housing to interject neighborly life and safety? Kazimee referred to Vancouver, BC and Portland, Ore. as models for more mixed use in the central areas, but agrees that American cities often become “ghost shells” when commerce vacates.
Contact: 509/335-1994, bkazimee@arch.wsu.edu
Uma Jayaram, assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering, received the Sloan Faculty Fellow Award at the Frontiers in Education Conference held at Pittsburgh Nov. 5-8. This award is sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and recognizes commitment to and enthusiasm for engineering education. This year the award was made to 13 individuals in a nationwide competition open to starting faculty in all fields of engineering and engineering education. Jayaram has taught at WSU since 1994 in the School of Mechanical & Materials Engineering and the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. In 1996, she became a full-time tenure-track faculty member in MME. Her research is in the areas of CAD/CAM, integration frameworks for engineering tools, and virtual reality for design and manufacturing evaluations.
Contact: 509/335-8571, uma@mme.wsu.edu
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