Fall Issue 2021

Roger Bonnecaze took the helm as Interim Dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering in July 2021 following Sharon L. Wood’s appointment to UT Austin’s Executive Vice President and Provost. Born into a family of chemical engineers – his dad worked…

The story of John W. Hargis — The University of Texas at Austin’s first Black undergraduate student, first Black student at UT to receive an engineering degree, founder of the Epsilon Iota Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, first chairman of the Texas…

The energy industry is at an inflection point. With a finite supply of fossil fuels and growing demand for increased climate and environmental protection, the search is on for the next big thing in energy. To many experts, hydrogen is it. Hydrogen…

Melissa Evers (B.S. Civil Engineering 1998) has always been building. In her childhood, that meant building with LEGOs, dreaming of architectural plans, conceptualizing structures and spaces, and designing homes. Now, as the VP of Software and…

The buzz of machines in project labs and the steady hum of conversation in study spaces returned along with our Texas Engineering community, as Longhorns came back to campus for the first time in a year and a half. Check out the sights and sounds of…

6G is coming, and The University of Texas at Austin is on the forefront of this telecommunications evolution. Earlier this year, a new 6G research center formed at UT Austin. And the effort has some big names in the technology scene behind it.…

Some engineers and clinicians freely use the term; others say it's not a thing yet. But it's clear that collaborations between surgeons and engineers are on the rise. These alliances will result in a more robust technical toolkit in the operating…

Metcalfe is preparing to wind down his fifth — yes, fifth — career, and he is already starting to think about number six. You may remember Metcalfe from such achievements as co-inventing Ethernet, co-founding pioneering technology company 3Com and…

Both are deep-rooted institutions of The University of Texas at Austin, storied entities that have been around almost as long as the university itself. Both require extraordinary dedication and commitment and the use of both the creative and…

Carlos Torres-Verdín forged a bond with nature at an early age. As an avid hiker and climber, he grew up traversing the trails and scaling the mountain peaks near Mexico City, developing a fascination with rocks along the way. Years later, this…

The Cockrell School of Engineering has yet again had an incredible year, pushing forward in the midst of the continued COVID-19 pandemic. From breakthrough research, awards and honors, student innovations and much more, 2021 is another one for the…

When the Washington State Legislature banned affirmative action in 1997, I saw first-hand a shared outrage among students and faculty at the University of Washington, where I was a graduate student at the time. I was angry too, but I wanted to…

From aircraft trajectory prediction and optimization, to finite element analysis of concrete structures, to molecular engineering and biotechnology, the Cockrell School’s newest faculty members span a wide range engineering expertise. Get to know…

In early 2020, the world’s spotlight shined on The University of Texas at Austin. Researchers at UT Austin became the first to decode and map the structure of the spike protein of the novel coronavirus, the part that allows SARS-CoV-2 to enter human…

Growing up, alumnus Charlie Sander (B.S. ECE 1978) was fascinated with electronic devices. After spending much of his adolescence taking apart radios and televisions, it seemed only fitting he would go on to pursue a degree in electrical engineering…