Four University of Wyoming graduates will be honored for their professional achievements and support of the university during Homecoming Oct. 17-22.

Joseph Leimkuhler, Carissa Moffat Miller and Douglas Stark are the recipients of the 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award. Jim Neiman is the 2022 Medallion Service Award recipient. The UW Alumni Association (UWAA) and the UW Office of the President present the awards.

The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes alumni who have achieved excellence in their profession; appreciate the impact of their UW education; and are people of integrity, stature and demonstrated ability.

“The University of Wyoming Alumni Association and the Office of the President are excited to host this UW cornerstone event during Homecoming this fall,” says Jack Tennant, UWAA executive director. “The honorees represent UW, our students and alumni in the best regard, and we look forward to welcoming them to campus.”

Read more about CEPS Distinguished Alumnus Joseph Leimkuhler here.

Department of Energy and Petroleum Engineering Research Scientist Vahideh Mirchi, Associate Professor Morteza Dejam, and Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Vladimir Alvarado have experimentally measured the interfacial tension and contact angle for hydrogen-methane mixtures/brine/oil-wet rocks at realistic reservoir conditions with application to subsurface hydrogen storage.

Their results have described the mechanisms accountable for the observed rock-fluid interaction behaviors at different in-situ conditions.

This study, which has been funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), provides actual and accurate input for reservoir-scale simulation, optimization, and economic analyses of hydrogen geostorage.

The recently published journal article in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (Mirchi et al., 2022) explains this work in detail.

The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees has approved the appointment of Vamegh Rasouli as the new LeNorman Endowed Leadership Chair of Petroleum Engineering in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences.

Rasouli becomes the first-ever LeNorman Chair of the department.

“The competitive pool of applicants for this position speaks very well of our petroleum engineering program,” says Cameron Wright, UW College of Engineering and Physical Sciences Carrell Family Dean. “Vamegh Rasouli brings an innovative, industry-driven approach to student development and a strong belief in academics. We are thrilled with the direction he will take petroleum engineering at UW.”

Read more about Rasouli here.

Whether it relates to measuring vibrations in the architectural design of a skyscraper or the frequency and amplitude of a piano string, most inverse problems become mathematical puzzles to solve.

To provide a better understanding of inverse mathematical problems, Bryan Shader co-wrote “Inverse Problems and Zero Forcing for Graphs,” a research monograph that describes and develops new mathematical techniques in this area.

Discover more here.

Three University of Wyoming College of Engineering and Physical Sciences students recently received the WWC Engineering 2022 Paul Rechard Memorial Scholarship for their “outstanding pursuit of civil and architectural engineering or construction management degree programs.”

WWC Engineering recognizes select students annually by presenting awards and a scholarship to each recipient. The student awards are selected from a pool of applicants.

This year’s award recipients, listed by hometown, are:

Jackson -- Benjamin Brown, civil engineering, senior.

Riverton -- William Mumme, civil engineering, senior.

Sundance -- Christian Velder, civil engineering, junior.

Learn more about the scholarship here.

Nga Nguyen, an assistant professor in UW’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, recently was awarded a $503,459 U.S. Department of Energy grant to study how to optimize the operation of energy storage systems to improve reliability of the electric grid while handling the rapid move to renewable energy resources and electric vehicles by the United States and the world.

Despite providing environmental benefits, the rapid integration of renewable energy resources and EVs is expected to increase operational challenges for the grid. Nguyen hopes her research will be able to meet these operational challenges.

Her project is one of 29 energy-relevant research projects for which DOE recently granted $21 million in total Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) funding.

Discover more here.

Congratulations to Wyoming House Majority Floor Leader Albert Sommers on being recognized with the 2022 National Private Lands Fish and Wildlife Stewardship Award.

Rep. Sommers, a UW College of Engineering and Physical Sciences Department of Electrical Engineering graduate, owns and operates a third-generation ranch in the Upper Green River Valley near Pinedale, Game and Fish said. The working ranch is 1,876 acres in size and is part of the largest conservation and public access easement in Wyoming, according to Game and Fish.

To read more about Rep. Sommers and this exciting award, visit here. 

This past September saw eight departments from the UW College of Engineering and Physical Sciences set up interactive demonstrations for the 2^nd annual Wyoming Air National Guard Discovery Day in Cheyenne, WY.

Department representatives from Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management, Energy and Petroleum Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Mechanical and Energy Systems Engineering (WyoMoto Club), Land Surveying, the CEPS Center for Stucent Success, the Innovation Wyrkshop, and the Engineering Shop engaged 818 K-12 students from Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado.

Interactive activities included augmented reality goggles, drones, designing and building structures to test on a shake table, building boat hulls to hold as much weight as possible, earthquake engineering response spectra, the new mobile makerspace, and so much more. 

Check out a just a few of the event's photos featured on the right.

To learn more about being involved in events like Wyoming Air National Guard Discovery Day, contact UW CEPS K-12 Engineering Outreach Program Manager Cindy Jones.

The CEPS Center for Student Success K-12 Outreach office hosted two engineering design challenge tables at the first UW STEM Carnival on September 16. 

The UW CEPS Student Ambassadors engaged approximately 300 K-12 students in two engineering design challenges. 

Here are just a couple of photos of the student ambassadors at work.

For more photos from the UW STEM Carnival visit the UW Photo Database.

To learn more about the UW CEPS Student Ambassadors or the UW CEPS K-12 Outreach, please contact UW CEPS K-12 Engineering Outreach Program Manager Cindy Jones.

Russell Callahan, a former University of Wyoming Ph.D. student, led research in California that found differences in underlying bedrock composition are a key factor in how tree stands in forests respond to drought after wildfires.

Callahan, who became a postdoctoral researcher in the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department at the University of California-Santa Cruz in July, is corresponding author of a paper titled “Forest Vulnerability to Drought Controlled by Bedrock Composition,” which was published Sept. 6 in Nature Geoscience. The journal covers all aspects of the earth sciences, including theoretical research, modeling and fieldwork.

Cliff Riebe, a professor of geology and geophysics; Nicholas Taylor, a former master’s degree student; and Dario Grana, a professor and Wyoming Excellence Chair in geology and geophysics, were other UW researchers who contributed to the paper.

Learn more about their research here.