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White House to Honor Dr. Lesia Crumpton-Young, IEMS Professor for Mentoring Success posted 7/13/09

The White House and National Science Foundation will recognize University of Central Florida professor Lesia Crumpton-Young for her success with mentoring women and minorities who are studying engineering and with increasing diversity in her field.

Crumpton-Young, a professor of Industrial Engineering & Management Systems, will receive her award during a fall ceremony at the White House. She also will receive $10,000 from the National Science Foundation to help further her mentoring efforts. She is the only award recipient currently employed at a Florida university.

The Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, is awarded annually to individuals or organizations, and recognizes the crucial role that mentoring plays in the academic and personal development of minority students studying science or engineering.

“There is no higher calling than furthering the educational advancement of our nation’s young people and encouraging and inspiring our next generation of leaders,” President Barack Obama said. “These awards represent a heartfelt salute of appreciation to a remarkable group of individuals who have devoted their lives and careers to helping others and in doing so have helped us all.”

Crumpton-Young mentors many students in her research laboratory, and she advises students in her leadership roles with the Society for Women Engineers and National Society of Black Engineers. She has mentored more than 280 undergraduates and graduate students and 35 faculty members throughout the country during her career. She also participates in outreach efforts that introduce engineering to minority students in K-12 schools.

“I love mentoring students and faculty to help them achieve their dreams, goals and aspirations,” Crumpton-Young said.

Crumpton-Young, who has taught at UCF since 2002, is a former chair of UCF’s Department of Industrial Engineering & Management Systems in the College of Engineering & Computer Science. She is the first African-American woman to graduate with a Ph.D. from the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University, where she also received her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Industrial Engineering.

Dr. Christopher D. Geiger Receives National IIE Recognition for Service

 posted 6/3/09

Dr. Christopher D. Geiger, the UCF IIE Student Chapter Faculty Advisor, received the IIE Outstanding Faculty Advisor Recognition Award for the Southeast Region (Region 3). The Southeast Region is composed of 16 universities in the southeastern United States that includes the states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and also Puerto Rico.

The Outstanding Faculty Advisor Recognition Award recognizes "...advisors that have demonstrated substantial contributions to the chapter by supporting officers and student activities through excellence as a teacher, advisor, and mentor" (source: http://www.iienet2.org/Details.aspx?id=1420).

Dr. Geiger was recognized during the 2009 IIE Annual Conference and Expo, held May 30-June 3, 2009 in Miami, FL at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa.

Omar Nassereddin, a May 2009 BSIE Graduate, Receives National IIE Honor

 posted 6/3/09

Omar Nassereddin, the 2008-2009 UCF IIE Student Chapter Conference Director and May 2009 IEMS B.S. graduate, was selected to receive the national IIE Student Award for Excellence 2009 Award, 3rd Place.

The Student Award for Excellence honors "...undergraduate students who, since the beginning of their junior year (last six quarters or four semesters), have distinguished themselves through excellence of scholarship and campus leadership" (source: http://www.iienet2.org/Details.aspx?id=615).

Omar received the award and was recognized during the 2009 IIE Annual Conference and Expo, held May 30-June 3, 2009 in Miami, FL at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa.

Dr. Christopher D. Geiger Receives 2009 UCF Teaching Incentive Program Award

 posted 6/3/09

The UCF Teaching Incentive Program (UCF TIP) Award is given to UCF faculty members that demonstrate outstanding teaching productivity and excellence over the last four academic years (not including summer terms) prior to the award year.

  

Congratulations to Narasimha Raju Nagaiah

 posted 10/31/08

Raju has been selected as a recipient of a 2008 IEEE Reliability Society Scholarship. This award was recently launched by the IEEE Reliability Society, and up to five US$2000 scholarships are awarded each year to students who have demonstrated achievement in their studies and who have taken at least one course with reliability content. The competition for this scholarship this year was very strong, and the fact that Raju was chosen to receive a scholarship is a testimony to his outstanding scholastic achievements and his demonstrated interest in reliability-related research and professional activities.

Raju joined the UCF IEMS Department as a doctoral student in 2007. His dissertation research falls within the areas of reliability and design optimization, specifically for gas turbines. In his research, Raju plans to develop high fidelity reliability models that estimate the life expectancy of a turbine system based on input variables believed to have an impact on the lives of the turbine components. In particular, he will examine the dependence among the critical component-life variables. Currently, a holistic framework does not exist that enables practitioners to estimate turbine component life distributions and component reliability considering the dependence among critical component-life variables. The reliability models developed in his work could ultimately be used to develop degradation models that link low-level condition monitoring information with high-level reliability characteristics in order to compute and periodically update remaining life distributions for partially-degraded turbine components in real-time. Raju's research should contribute quite significantly to the body of knowledge of and advance the state-of-art in reliability modeling and design optimization. His major professor is Dr. Christopher D. Geiger in the IEMS Department.
 

Dr. Christopher D. Geiger Receives the 2008 Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching

 posted 9/25/08
Congratulations to Dr. Christopher D. Geiger of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems. Dr. Geiger is the recipient of the 2008 Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching for the College of Engineering and Computer Science. This award recognizes a faculty member within the College who has contributed significantly to graduate education. Dr. Geiger has not only established a track record of outstanding graduate-level teaching but he has also developed innovative teaching strategies and materials used to challenge students to achieve excellence and expand their intellectual horizons.
 

IIE UCF Student Chapter Receives Award

 posted 9/25/08

Congratulations to the UCF IIE Student Chapter for winning a Silver Award in the 2007-08 IIE International Student Chapter Recognition Program.

The Institute of Industrial Engineers University Chapter International Recognition Program recognizes student chapters that make significant improvements and progress in supporting the industrial engineering profession and individuals interested in and involved with improving quality and productivity. This program, which gives Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, also provides the chapter with national and international visibility.

Recognized student chapters must have shown evidence of creating opportunities for establishing contacts with other students, and often with professional members from the local professional chapter. In addition, these recognized chapters regularly hold chapter meetings, invite guest speakers, organize facility tours, conduct hands-on instructions and workshops, host social events and participate in the annual university regional conference, thereby helping to establish meaningful and invaluable relationships between industrial engineering students and professionals.
 

Amar Thiraviam receives 2008 America Society for Quality Scholarship

 posted 8/27/08

The ASQ Freund International Scholarship is funded through a gift of $100,000 that was made to ASQ by the widow of Richard A. Freund, who was a past president of the American Society for Quality (1972-73) and was recognized internationally for his contributions to quality, international goodwill and tireless scholarship.

The approximate amount of this annual award is US$5000, and the scholarship supports a candidate’s graduate study of the theory and application of quality control, quality assurance, quality improvement, and total quality management. The scholarship covers the engineering, statistical, managerial, and behavioral foundations of those fields, and it is offered to members and nonmembers worldwide. The scholarship is given to a student who is planning to enroll, or already is enrolled, in a master’s degree or higher-level program that focuses on quality engineering, total quality management, quality control, quality assurance, quality improvement, or a similar quality emphasis at any university or college. Amar plans to focus his doctoral research on the development of new reliability testing tools.read more
 

Our Engineering Management Program graduate goes to space

 posted 7/22/08
Nicole P. Stott has been assigned to the Expedition 19 crew of the International Space Station. She will have a four month stint at the space station from May 2009 to September 2009. She earned her M.S. in Engineering Management at UCF in 1992.