Symposium award seeds $150,000 each into up-and-coming Mizzou research

For the first time, Applied Optoelectronics Inc., and the University of Missouri College of Engineering teamed up in an attempt to uncover novel methods of chemical sensing. AOI and Mizzou paired to provide two winning proposals from MU College of Engineering research teams with $150,000 each in seed money as part of the first-ever AOI Sensing Symposium Award. The competition was held at the AOI Sensing Symposium on Feb. 10 at the Bond Life Sciences Center at the University of Missouri.

“This is a win for our students and faculty, recipients of a fantastic opportunity to produce state-of-the-art applications with a company on the cutting edge,” MU College of Engineering Dean Elizabeth Loboa said.

The victorious teams were:

Yangyang Chen, Jian Lin, Hussein Nassar and Guoliang Huang pose with Dean Elizabeth Loboa; AOI Founder, CEO and President Thompson Lin and AOI CFO Stephan Murry. Their winning project was titled “Bimodal Waveguide Interferometric Sensors by Periodic Power-Wavelength Modulations of Laser Diodes.” Photos courtesy of Jennifer Hollis/MU Engineering.

Edward Kinzel and Mahmoud Almasri pose with Dean Elizabeth Loboa; AOI Founder, CEO and President Thompson Lin and AOI CFO Stephan Murry. Their winning project was titled “Manufacturing Low Cost Plasmonic Sensors for Chemical and Biological Sensing.”

• Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Associate Professor Guoliang Huang, Assistant Professor Jian Lin and postdoctoral researcher Hussein Nassar: “Bimodal Waveguide Interferometric Sensors by Periodic Power-Wavelength Modulations of Laser Diodes”
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• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Associate Professor Mahmoud Almasri and Missouri S&T Assistant Professor Edward Kinzel: “Manufacturing Low Cost Plasmonic Sensors for Chemical and Biological Sensing”

For this first-of-its-kind event, College of Engineering researchers submitted proposals, and the four finalists gave 20-minute oral presentations judged by MU Engineering alumnus and AOI Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer Thompson Lin; AOI Chief Financial Officer Stefan Murry; MU Interim Vice Chancellor for Research, Graduate Studies and Economic Development Mark McIntosh and Missouri Innovation Center President and CEO Bill Turpin. Potential research areas included biosensors for homeland security, lasers for remote area scanning, chemical detection for environmental purposes, in-situ sensing, medical bio-sensing, process control, agriculture and more.

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#TBT - Late MU Engineering alum Naka's life a rich tapestry

F. Robert Naka went from a Japanese internment camp in World War II to a pioneer in the field of stealth technology. Photo courtesy of Mizzou Engineering. 

Back in February of 2014, I had the distinct privilege of writing an obituary of the extraordinary F. Robert Naka for MU Engineering's website and magazine.

Naka, who earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri in 1945, died Dec. 21, 2013, in Concord, Mass. Between his birth July 18, 1923 in San Francisco and his last days in Massachusetts, he lived a highly eventful and interesting life, most notably known for his pioneering work on stealth technology, part of his longtime career developing high-altitude, minimally-observable aircraft for defense-related reconnaissance.

Naka came to MU by virtue of a handful of twists and turns in his younger years. He enrolled at UCLA at age 16 and studied there until 1942, when he was interred at Manzanar Relocation Center in California as part of the relocation and incarceration of Japanese Americans by the U.S. government during World War II. He remained there for nine months before the efforts of the Quakers helped secure his release and the chance to continue his studies — provided they were at a university away from the west coast.

That’s where MU came in, and Naka graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 1945 before moving on to earn his master’s from the University of Minnesota two years later and a doctorate in electron optics from Harvard in 1951.

Read more about his incredible journey here. 

Cutting-edge lab could shape asphalt engineering's future

Investments from the Missouri Asphalt Pavement Association, the university, the Barton family and the state will allow Mizzou Engineering to provide a world-class asphalt materials education while performing research into the next generation of flexible, sustainable materials to solve critical transportation problems.

The first step in building a quality educational program in asphalt and pavement technology for the MU College of Engineering was to get a renowned expert in the field. The College, thanks to support from the late alumnus Glen Barton and the Missouri Asphalt Pavement Association, did just that when Bill Buttlar was hired as the Barton Chair of Flexible Pavement Technology. Step two for the partnership between the College and MAPA was to provide the infrastructure needed for students to get a world-class experiential education.

Check.

The MAPA-sponsored lab is now up and running and was installed as part of the recent Lafferre Hall renovation project. The lab, along with an existing on-campus lab and two additional labs at Discovery Park in Columbia, is the centerpiece of the Missouri Asphalt Pavement and Innovation Laboratory, or MAPIL.

The investment of MAPA, the Barton family, the university and the state in asphalt research resources has allowed MAPIL to become one of the most comprehensive asphalt programs in the world and will allow Mizzou Engineering to provide a world-class asphalt materials education while performing research into the next generation of flexible, sustainable materials to solve critical transportation problems.

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#TBT - The Coffee Mug Heard 'Round the World

ThermAvant’s 16-ounce traveling coffee mug keeps liquids at an optimal drinking temperature for up to eight hours.

Back in November, I put together a story about a University of Missouri College of Engineering professor named Bill Ma, who had patented a 16-ounce traveling coffee mug that keeps liquids at an optimal drinking temperature for up to eight hours thanks to the unique heat absorbing and releasing material lining the inside. Myself and a colleague from the MU News Bureau, Jeff Sossamon, interviewed Ma, and after I put this story together, he pushed out a press release about the mug, which is now available for purchase under the name LEXO. 

Lo and behold, that story has blown up not only within Missouri, but nationwide, with even more interview requests coming in daily. And the mug itself has been selling at an incredible rate after receiving all this attention. Here's a list of just some of the many places that have published pieces about Ma's new mug. Check them out!

Associated Press 

The Washington Times, Washington, D.C. 

The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, VA

Tulsa World, Tulsa, OK

The Fresno Bee, Fresno, CA 

The News and Observer, Raleigh, NC

The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC 

San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio, TX

SFGate.com (San Francisco Chronicle) 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, Mo. 

Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Mo. 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, Mo.