OU Engineering

Big 12 javelin champion is Oklahoma's first ever three-time Academic All-American. June 24, 2010 http://www.soonersports.com NORMAN, Okla. — Amy Backel placed her name on a distinctive list in Oklahoma athletics history Thursday. So distinctive, Backel is the only name on the list as she became Oklahoma’s first ever, male or female, three-time ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-American as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The announcement comes just under two weeks after Backel, a civil engineering major, earned her second All-America honor in the javelin, an event she captured the 2010 Big 12 Championship in. The Academic All-America honor is the latest in a long line of accomplishments for Backel, both on and off the competitive field. The senior from Dillsburg, Pa., was named the 2010 OU College of Engineering Outstanding Senior in Civil Engineering and has been named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team all four years of her athletic care...

OU civil engineering students weather delays to build a 270-foot pedestrian bridge and pier at Norman's Morgan Park, OU's largest student-led project of its kind. By James S. Tyree | Newsok.com | Published: June 1, 2010 NORMAN — The University of Oklahoma's school year ended two weeks ago, but several civil engineering students continued working on a project this week that will enhance a Norman neighborhood. University of Oklahoma civil engineering students build a 270-foot pedestrian bridge and fishing pier at Morgan Park on Thursday. The students completed a 270-foot pedestrian bridge and fishing pier over a large pond at William Morgan Park on Thursday, just in time for the Memorial Day weekend. The park is in a neighborhood just east of 36th Avenue NW and north of Robinson Street. Chris Ramseyer, an OU assistant professor of civil engineering, said the project's planning and construction was unprecedented for the students involved. "This is the largest project...

View video of Dr. David Sabatini, University of Oklahoma 2010 Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in College/University Teaching. OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence announced today the winners of its Oklahoma Medal for Excellence awards honoring five outstanding educators in Oklahoma’s public schools. The prestigious awards were presented at the foundation’s 24th annual Academic Awards Banquet on May 22 at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center. Each of the five winners received a $5,000 cash prize and a glass “Roots and Wings” sculpture, designed by the late Oklahoma artist Ron Roberts and produced by Jim Triffo of Oklahoma City. Medals are awarded annually to outstanding Oklahoma teachers, one each at the elementary, secondary, community college/regional university and research university levels. In addition, the foundation will present a Medal for Excellence to an exceptional administrator from the elementary or secondary level. This year’s recipients of the...

Published March 11, 2010 Dionne Buxton/The Daily Give a Bolivian family a pack of water — $5. Clean their entire irrigation system from 800 years of silver contamination — priceless. The OU Engineers Without Borders chapter is planning a trip to Potosi, Bolivia, to help improve the region’s water system, said Robert Knox, adviser to the organization. “Engineers Without Borders is a nationwide organization,” Knox said. “Our purpose is to take knowledge to these under-developed counties, and help with problems of water and sanitation.” Engineers Without Borders is an organization that partners with disadvantaged communities to improve quality of life, while at the same time developing internationally responsible engineering students. “We apply engineering skills first hand to innovative projects,” said Diana Lucero, architectural engineering junior and organization president. The group will travel to Bolivia to install open limestone channels, which will remove iron ...

Published February 16, 2010 Casey Wilson/The Daily Representatives from OU and ExxonMobil dedicated the ExxonMobil Lawrence G. Rawl Engineering Practice Facility on Monday. OU President David Boren said the new facility will only reach its full potential with students’ innovation and inventions. “As great as the physical faculties may be, it will not greatly add to the benefit of our society; it’s what goes on inside it,” Boren said. “It’s the vitality of what goes on inside it.” Donald Humphreys, senior vice president and treasurer of ExxonMobil Corporation, said the company has a long history of a great partnership with OU, and it relies on engineers for almost every part of its business. “Today, I think it’s clear that our highly technological society depends enormously on good engineering and good engineers for prosperity and progress,” Humphreys said. With a facility that is the first of its kind, OU is serious about prepari...

On April 18th, the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering will be watching as one of their own attempts to capture the crown in this year’s Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bethany Gerber, an undergraduate industrial engineering student at OU, will represent her hometown of Winfield, Kansas in the Miss USA pageant. After being named Miss Kansas USA 2010, she decided to take a semester off in preparation for the April pageant and to spend some time in giving back to her community and state. “I was Sooner born and Sooner bred,” said Bethany Gerber when asked why she chose the University of Oklahoma. Another reason for attending OU is her strong connection to family, which just so happens to consist of many OU alums. She is very close to her brother, Beau, who is also a student at OU. In fact, she cites him as one of the main reasons she came to Norman. Although her brother lives in Norman and attends OU, most of her classmates from high school went to colleges in Kansa...

Written by Audrey Harris The Oklahoma Daily Wednesday, January 27, 2010 A Norman computer company’s expansion will create about 75 new jobs, possibly opening doors for OU students in the future. Hitachi Computer Products will expand its facility by more than 200,000 square feet, according to a Hitachi press release. Gary Riggs, Hitachi spokesman, said the expansion will cost around $15 million. According to the release, Hitachi cited the Norman Economic Development Coalition and the State of Oklahoma as major factors in the expansion. Hitachi stated its support through the Oklahoma Economic Development Pooled Finance Program made the project possible. “[Hitachi] told us the potential the program had and we were able to help them figure out how to do it using the programs that were available in the state,” said Don Wood, Norman Economic Development Coalition executive director. Wood said the majority of jobs created by the expansion will be in warehouse distribution. “There are college ...