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 Graduate
Student Helps Design the Ship of the Future
Jeff Billo, a masters candidate and one of Dr.
Mack Grady's research assistants, spends his time simulating
battle damage. The project he is working on was funded by
the U.S. Navy and is informally called the Electric Ship.
One of the problems researchers are trying to solve is how
to keep a ship operational despite damage to power systems.
"We are using a program called LINGO to find optimal
solutions to supplying vital loads within current constraints.
If the ship gets hit, our methodology will reroute electricity
to vital functions. Basically, we are inventing the science
that the Navy will use later." More...
 TI
Senior Fellow Explains
"Managing Cutting Edge Product Development"
Duy-Loan
Le—ECE graduate, first woman to be elected as a Texas
Instruments Senior Fellow, 2002 Outstanding Young Texas
Ex, and member of the National
Instruments board of directors—held a seminar for
faculty and students describing engineering in the real world.
She tackled the crucial question for project management—what's
more important: people skills or technical acumen? She addressed
the product development cycle, applying technical knowledge
to set technical strategies, applying the people know how
to motivate people, and combining the two to succeed. More...
 Fifth
Edition of Dr. Roth's Classic Design Textbook
Now in Print
Dr.
Charles Roth's Fundamentals of Logic Design has
been called "excellent" and "THE book for digital
design: clear, concise, and to the point." The latest
version of the book is now available.
Updated with modern coverage, a streamlined presentation,
and an excellent CD-ROM, this fifth edition achieves a balance
between theory and application. Author Charles H. Roth, Jr.
carefully presents the theory that is necessary for understanding
the fundamental concepts of logic design while not overwhelming
students with the mathematics of switching theory. Divided
into 20 easy-to-grasp study units, the book covers such fundamental
concepts as Boolean algebra, logic gates design, flip-flops,
and state machines. More...
 ECE
Students Compete for $30,000 Prize
The UT
IEEE Robot Team, mentored by Howard
Neal, will compete on July 24 in the 2003
International Aerial Robotics Competition held in Fort Benning,
Georgia. Nicholas Holifield, Garrett Underwood, Michael Zuffdetti,
Ali Saidi, Adam Pridgen, and others have been working on the
entry for almost 2 years now. The frame is a modified "hobby
helicopter" with a sub-vehicle capable of wireless communication
with a base station. The mission is for an autonomous vehicle
to begin within a structure, sense 1 meter openings, and fly
at least 3 kilometers without a human operator. More...
 The
College of Engineering is opening its doors this summer for
groups in grades 6-12! A variety of activities are planned
that will enable young persons to explore engineering in a
fun and relaxed setting and experience a world of discovery!
The next Splash into Engineering! will be held on Friday,
July 18, 2003 from 10:00am to 2:30pm. More
info...
The Story of the ENS Third Floor Mural
Karen Meinstein, BSEE, was drafted to design and paint
the mural in 1987 to give some color to a bland hall. It took
a while. Meinstein, now a business manager for Maxim
Integrated Products, didn't finish the painting until
after she graduated. She included references to each of the
seven EE blocks at the time and to major EE innovations. Can
you identify them? (Incidentally, that's a mouse, not a rat.)
Make
the mural your wallpaper...
 Does
your high schooler want to major in electrical or computer
engineering?
On Oct. 17th from 10:00 - 11:00 AM, ECE will offer
a tour and information session for the children of ECE alumni.
We can't give your child an advantage in the admissions process,
but if s/he gets in, the tour can help them prepare for a
successful career in the ECE department at UT-Austin. Reservations
are required. Please email speco@mail.utexas.edu
for more information.
INTERESTING FACT: In 2002, Austin's graduating high school
seniors received around 800 scholarships amounting to $22.6
million in free college money, a record amount! One of the
ways the seniors learned of scholarship opportunities was
in viewing Channel 22 (Austin area only) on TV where regular
announcements and updates are provided.
 Dr.
Gonzalez named a Fellow of the
American Society for Engineering Education
ECE's Dr.
Mario Gonzalez will be recognized at a ceremony on June
25 for "outstanding and extraordinary qualifications
and experience in engineering or engineering technology education.”
Dr. Gonzalez has spent his career working to encourage underrepresented
groups to enter the engineering profession, both as a role
model and through direct service.
He was born and raised in Laredo, Texas and has been at The
University since 1986, serving as a faculty member, Associate
Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Engineering, and
chairman of ECE. From 1993 to 1996, he served as associate
vice chancellor for south Texas/border area development for
The University of Texas System. He has served on many review
panels and advisory committees and is a Fellow of IEEE.
 Prof.
Rappaport to Help Formulate
U.S. Telecommunications Policy
ECE professor, Dr. Ted Rappaport, has been named
to a National Academy of Sciences committee that will conduct
a comprehensive study on the role and current scope of research
and development of telecommunications in the United States.
The committee, comprised of 18 members from academia and industry,
will assess the current state and future direction of telecommunications
research and will prepare a report recommending ways to improve
the U.S. status as a leader in telecommunications.
 UT-ECE
Hosts New Teaching Initiative:
The Genesis Project
As part of its mandate to increase the number of electrical
engineering graduates, the Texas
Engineering and Technical Consortium (TETC) and National
Instruments have partnered to provide hands-on and relevant
engineering design projects from the freshman year on. The
system is called ELVIS. It is a design and prototyping environment
consisting of virtual instruments, a multifunction data acquisition
device, and a custom-designed benchtop workstation and prototyping
board. This combination provides a ready-to-use suite of instruments
that can be used throughout a student's education—from
introductory classes to senior design work.
The Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at
UT-Austin has agreed to act as the sponsor school for this
project. The first meeting of the
Genesis Project was held on Wednesday, June 4.
 Hewlett
Packard Helps Profs Pace Lectures
ECE professors, Bill
Bard and Archie
Holmes, will be piloting an innovative teaching method in
EE courses in the Fall 2003 semester. Students will be issued
HP Compac Evo Notebooks for the duration of a class period.
During class, students' work can be displayed to the entire
class through the TASK system, developed as part of a 464H project.
The TASK system will allow for complex problems to be done out
of the classroom and be used in an interactive classroom discussion.
Other features to be incorporated include demonstrating course
concepts such that students will be able to manipulate the
important variables and see the effects. In addition, feedback
from the notebooks will allow professors to measure student
understanding in real-time and focus class time on the topics
which are giving the students the most trouble.
This pilot was funded by Hewlett Packard's "Initiative
in Mobile Technology Solutions" program. Read more
about ECE's
participation...
Congratulations 2003 Staff Service Award
Winners!
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