OU Engineering

The Department of Transportation has selected the University of Oklahoma to lead a regional University Transportation Center that focuses on improving the durability and extending the life of the country’s transportation infrastructure.   OU is one of 34 universities nationwide selected in the 2022 University Transportation Center competition. Located on the OU-Norman campus, Southern Plains Transportation Center scholars will receive $3 million per year, matched by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, for research leading to climate change mitigation in the transportation sector. According to the Department of Transportation's strategic plan, the U.S. infrastructure must meet growing transportation needs to maintain economic strength and compete in a global market. At the same time, climate change presents a significant and growing risk to the safety, effectiveness, equity and sustainability of the transportation infrastructure and its communities. Center director Musha...

The Gallogly College of Engineering at the University of Oklahoma and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology at Oklahoma State University hosted the inaugural OU + OSU Engineering and Science Night at the Hamm Institute for American Energy in Oklahoma City on March 20.  The event gave high school students a chance to learn more about different s cience, technology, engineering and math  educational pathways available after high school graduation  “This event is a great example of OU and OSU coming together to shape the next generation of engineers and scientists for the state of Oklahoma,” said Dalton Brasington, OU Engineering's director of engineering outreach and recruitment. “Students, and their supporters, visited with representatives from both intuitions to see where they might feel the most comfortable during their college academic journey.” Current OU Engineering students connected with high school students and shared their passion for engineering...

OU Engineering faculty members Jay W. McDaniel and Justin Metcalf have been selected as the 2023 Office of the Vice President for Research faculty fellows in aerospace and defense. OU’s aerospace and defense strategic research vertical, and its affiliated Oklahoma Aerospace and Defense Innovation Institute (OADII), serve to develop and strengthen convergent research to address current and future national and global security challenges. McDaniel and Metcalf are assistant professors in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and affiliate faculty with the Advanced Radar Research Center. McDaniel will primarily support research commercialization priorities and innovative defense-focused research efforts coordinated by the OVPRP director of strategic initiatives Drew Allen. Metcalf will primarily work with OADII’s leadership team to advance the university’s defense and security research enterprise and strengthen industry collaborations. Additional duties include working with the ...

Over 800 high school students and educators from across the state attended the 111th Engineering Open House hosted by the Gallogly College of Engineering on Feb. 22 at the University of Oklahoma.  “The OU Engineering Open House is a chance for high school students to explore engineering programs and what the field of engineering offers,” said Randa Shehab, Ph.D., OU Engineering senior associate dean of academic affairs. “We hope these students learn how they can use engineering to drive forward advancements in the future and how they can make society a better place.” OG&E served as the primary sponsor for the annual event. “We are happy to sponsor and participate in an open house that allows students to explore a potential career in engineering,” said Nicole Rhodes, director of transmission and distribution operation, Resource Planning and Coordination at OG&E. “At OG&E, we value serving our communities and this worthwhile event will hopefully serve and inspire the next...

In 2020, University of Oklahoma engineer Amy McGovern, Ph.D., applied for a $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish the AI Institute for Research on Trustworthy AI in Weather, Climate, and Coastal Oceanography. In May of that same year, she was notified that the University of Oklahoma was awarded the grant and that she would be named its director. Two and a half years later, the institute, AI2ES , has not only formed convergent teams of interdisciplinary researchers but is already making headway in five use-inspired applications: convective weather, winter weather, tropical cyclones, sub-seasonal to seasonal extreme weather, and coastal oceanography. OU is a national leader in atmospheric research. Much of the early focus at OU for AI2ES has been on the convergence of artificial intelligence, risk communication and convective weather, which refers to thunderstorms, wind, hail, tornadoes and lightning. “The artificial intelligence team is working hand-in-hand...

Muchu Zhou, a doctoral student in the School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering, presented her research findings at the American Physical Society's March meeting in Las Vegas. Zhou's research also was shared with journalists before the meeting.  Zhou's study explains why some PFAS pollutants are resistant to foaming separation. The abstract reads: Health-threatening chemical pollutants that last forever and accumulate in the body called per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) can still be found in various items and resources like non-stick cookware and drinking water. Foam separation has emerged as a promising strategy to remove PFAS from water because it doesn’t create additional waste products as these carcinogenic compounds migrate to the air-water interface. Yet, much is not understood about how foam fractionation works on the molecular level when it removes PFAS. More specifically, it is unclear why foam fractionation is less effective on short-chain P...

By Dalton Brasington, M.A. Director, GCoE Outreach and Recruitment  Engineers Week 2023 was a Jurassic adventure through engineering evolution! With a jam-packed schedule full of classic events we know and love, some new events and service opportunities, and our entire engineering community behind us, we had an amazing E-Week. Monday: We started the week with our Keynote Kickoff. From Jurassic Extinction to Space Exploration, University of Oklahoma alums Hunter Pemberton and Marcos Stocco talked about engineering evolutions in space and their experiences at OU and beyond. Hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Sigma Gamma Tau, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, and OU Artificial Intelligence and sponsored by the Student Government Association and Speakers Bureau, we had a blast welcoming alums back to share their insight and launch E-Week. The Keynote Kickoff featured alums Hunter Pemberton and Marcos Stocco. Tuesday: We treated our ...

Editor's Note: OU Engineering faculty are bringing unprecedented success to the Gallogly College of Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. In 2023, the National Science Foundation announced that six engineering faculty received an Early Career Development Award (CAREER) that recognizes junior faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and to learn research advances.  More than 500,000 people in the United States undergo yearly rehabilitation following a stroke or brain injury. Movement impairments following a stroke are a major cause of adult disability in the U.S. Currently, routine treatments are not optimized for individual patient needs. University of Oklahoma biomedical engineer Yuan Yang , Ph.D., has received a Faculty Early Career Development Award, known as a CAREER award, from the National Science Foundation to advance the scientific study of brain functional changes after a stroke and pioneer a tailored rehabilitation strategy that fit...