Faculty Excellence Awards

Two engineering faculty members were recognized with UDM’s prestigious faculty awards this year. Professor of Mechanical Engineering Jonathan Weaver received the 2011 Distinguished Faculty Award and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Nihad Dukhan received the 2011 Faculty Achievement Award.

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Nihad Dukhan, left, and Professor of Mechanical Engineering Jonathan Weaver at the Faculty Excellence Award ceremony, Nov. 11.

Acknowledged as an exceptional teacher, Weaver has taught more than 20 different courses during his tenure at UDM. Many of those courses he designed himself, especially in the areas of Product Development and Innovation. He was designated a KEEN Fellow with a grant from the Kern Family Foundation, creating curriculum in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. As a result, he has developed case studies of innovators who have used technical ideas to solve problems. Fourteen of the case studies are now online and have been used by other schools in the KEEN network. He has also presented at a number of universities on innovation, product development and technical entrepreneurship.  For his contributions to the KEEN network, Weaver was awarded the KEEN Faculty Excellence Award in 2010. He has also provided training seminars to industry partners. In 2009, he was one of only 49 of the nation’s brightest young engineering faculty to participate in the National Academy of Engineering’s first Frontiers of Engineering Education symposium. He has helped to procure research funds, been an advisor for more than 75 master’s theses, co-authored a book on mechanism design using CATIA, written more than 30 publications and presentations, and developed or revised a variety of course work and training materials. His commitment to excellence has benefited his students and the engineering profession.

Dukhan was acknowledged for his student-centered teaching, internationally recognized research, and service to the University, profession and community. Described as knowledgeable, approachable, creative and solution-oriented, Dukhan has advised many students working on projects, theses and dissertations. He is recognized for his critical research on metal foam work and has written 20 journal articles and more than 55 conference papers as well as participated on panels or advisory boards for international engineering conferences. Consistent with UDM’s mission, Dukhan has offered his heat transfer course as a service-learning course in collaboration with the WARM Training Center of Detroit. He also has served as an advisory board member for Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation Inc. Dukhan has embodied the teacher-scholar model in higher education with strong student evaluations and highly regarded metal foam research.

Faculty Highlights                                                    

James Lynch, assistant professor of Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering, was granted tenure.

Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering Sandra Yost, CSJ, took office on the American Society for Engineering Education Board of Directors as vice president of External Relations, at the society's annual conference in Vancouver, BC in June. Yost also presented the paper, titled, "We're all in the same boat: Promoting an institutional culture of assessment," co-authored by Elizabeth Roberts-Kirchhoff, associate professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry, and Pamela Zarkowski, UDM vice president for Academic Affairs.

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Nihad Dukhan presented the lecture, "What is in the Line: History, Development, and Styles of Arabic/Islamic Calligraphy," Oct. 23 at the Detroit Institute of Art. A master calligrapher, Dukhan discussed the intricate geometry, rhythm and visual impact of Islamic calligraphy, as well as its philosophical aspects and intimate relationship to the Qur'an.

In July, Associate Professor of Biology James Graves, with the Engineering Society of Detroit, visited the Anaerobic Digestion Research Center at Michigan State University, where methane bio-gas alternative fuel is being investigated.