OU Engineering

From News9.com NORMAN, Oklahoma - Thanksgiving break for most students means spending time with family and food. But a group of OU students is sacrificing their break for service. They're headed more than 2,100 miles away to Central America. It's not your average trip these Sooners are packing for. They are carrying with them tools, a GPS unit, hefty bags and a bunch of tape; all for a trip to El Salvador for about a dozen OU students, who will fly out with five faculty members. View the video.

NORMAN – Big data – two small words that will have a major impact on how companies make key decisions about everything from improving productivity to predicting consumer behavior and, in some cases, the future strategy of the company. But the copious numbers only tell part of the picture – how the organization interprets and applies the data determines its business impact. The University of Oklahoma College of Engineering is helping shape the application of big data in its new interdisciplinary master’s degree of engineering with a concentration in data science and analytics. While many companies take advantage of big data to monitor and track everything from retail purchasing to product performance, being able to predict future operations and behaviors is the key that will revolutionize the way companies compete, produce and innovate. The new program’s curriculum teaches algorithm development from a systems perspective. OU graduates will have the skills to design and ...

Jim Sluss , the Morris R. Pitman Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, became the senior associate dean as of July 1. Previously, he served as the director of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His current research and teaching interests are in the areas of optical communications, photonics, and intelligent transportation systems. He has been awarded seven U.S. patents, has authored/co-authored numerous journal and conference publications, and has been principal/co-principal investigator on over $11 million in sponsored research grants and contracts. In his new role as senior associate dean, he will focus on career development of faculty including the full scope of teaching, research and service, as prescribed by our newly adopted PP03 policies and procedures. He will lead the research administration in the College of Engineering and will direct the Engineering graduate program. Learn more. John Antonio , became the associate d...

Senior Associate Dean and Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Simin Pulat, has moved to Evans Hall to serve OU as the Vice Provost for Faculty Development. Over the past eight years, Dr. Pulat has served our OU engineering community as Associate Dean and most recently Senior Associate Dean. While continuing to be highly productive as an ISE faculty member, she has had a transformative influence on the entire CoE. She has been a most effective agent for positive change in engineering education. She has given extraordinary leadership in the engineering accreditation process and led our initiatives in experiential learning, including first and second year courses that are attracting substantial private support and national recognition. We are grateful for all she has done and for the opportunity to continue working with her in advancing the University and the College, through STEM initiatives and faculty professional development.

President David L. Boren and Dean Tom Landers enjoy listening to the student presentations at the Software Studio's project report out. Sridhar Radhakrishnan, director of the School of Computer Science, had an idea to develop a Software Studio, a working environment designed to help students explore high-level computer programming, develop computer programs, collaborate with non-computer disciplines and connect to business professionals. “The Software Studio gives students from all areas of study the access and support to bring their big ideas to digital life,” Radhakrishnan said. “This is not organized by a professor, but rather by groups of students who have the desire to learn and apply computer science.” In the program’s first year, three student teams developed apps for mobile devices and one team is developing an interactive video game to address bullying. One team will begin beta testing their app, a road condition monitoring system called Siren, with more than 1,...

David Gavia, holding the Regents' Alumni Award, stands with President David L. Boren and members of the OU Board of Regents. Nine exceptional University of Oklahoma alumni and friends received Regents’ Alumni Awards for their dedication and service to OU in a ceremony on May 9, on the Norman campus. Gavia, who earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2000, is the sole holder of two U.S. patents and the co-inventor on three patents, all related to drill bit technology. He has been published twice by the Society of Petroleum Engineers. A walk-on member of the Sooner cross country team for two years, Gavia studied abroad at Polytechnic University in Valencia, Spain,  was a member of the Multicultural Engineering Program and an officer of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Professionally, Gavia was instrumental in encouraging Baker Hughes, where he serves as product manager of drill bits in the North America region, to sponsor mechanical...

From left, Alan Armstrong, Dean Thomas L. Landers, Anil Gollahalli and Charles Richard "Dick" Sivalls. Alan Armstrong Alan Armstrong graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He is the president and chief executive officer of Williams, as well as chairman of the board and chief executive officer for Williams Partners L.P. Since joining Williams in 1986, his notable career has included previous appointments as president of Williams’ midstream and olefins businesses in North America, vice president of gathering and processing, vice president of commercial development, vice president of retail energy services, and director of commercial operations for Williams’ midstream business in the Gulf Coast region. Armstrong served as a board member and past chairman of the OU College of Engineering’s Board of Visitors. He is committed to education and community service, and serves on the boards of directors of several educ...