Author: Leah Lamunyon

A team of faculty members from the College of Engineering, in collaboration with researchers from Iowa State University and Northwestern University, has been awarded a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The four-year project aims to develop sustainable, electrified processes for manufacturing key industrial chemicals, including ethylene and ammonia, using renewable electricity and waste materials.

WSU’s involvement is led by Dr. Shuang Gu, the co-principal investigator (co-PI) on the overall project and the PI for WSU’s portion of the work. The WSU team also includes Dr. Bayram Yildirim, who is a co-PI, and Dr. Eylem Asmatulu, who serving as a senior researcher. WSU has been awarded $900,000 of the total funding. Dr. Wenzhen Li of Iowa State University (ISU) is serving as the project’s PI. Dr. Mark Mba-Wright from ISU and Dr. Ted Sargent from Northwestern University are additional co-PIs on the project.

The project focuses on advancing electro-manufacturing technologies that reduce reliance on energy-intensive chemical processes. By targeting green ammonia production from waste nitrogen and green ethylene production from waste carbon dioxide, the research seeks to significantly cut industrial carbon emissions and energy use. In addition to groundbreaking scientific work, the project will also support education and workforce training in STEM fields, aiming to build a future-ready manufacturing workforce.

Join the College of Engineering for a farewell reception honoring Dean Anthony Muscat from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, May 30 in the John Bardo Center lobby. Light appetizers and beverages will be served, and formal remarks will be made at 3:30 p.m.

Dean Muscat began his appointment in July 2021, and his last day with WSU will be June 30. He has accepted a new role as provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, East Bay.

Mark your calendar to join the College of Engineering for a farewell reception honoring Dean Anthony Muscat from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, May 30 in the John Bardo Center lobby. Light refreshments and beverages will be served, and a specific time for formal remarks will be announced closer to the event.

Dean Muscat began his appointment in July 2021, and his last day with WSU will be June 30. He has accepted a new role as provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, East Bay.

The College of Engineering invites all to attend its 70th annual Engineering Open House from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, May 9 at Charles Koch Arena.

Between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., senior engineering and computing students will present prototype solutions throughout the concourse and the Aetna Multi-Purpose Center (practice gymnasium). From the end of student presentations until 7 p.m., there will be light appetizers and refreshments served, as well as an awards ceremony.

The College of Engineering has named Dr. Shuang Gu, associate professor and forthcoming professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, as the Sam Bloomfield Chair in Engineering for the next five years, effective May 11. The endowed position, funded by the Sam and Rie Bloomfield Foundation, is designed to support engineering education and research initiatives.

“Dr. Gu has demonstrated exceptional accomplishments in securing extramural funding from competitive federal agencies, as well as mentoring and graduating both master’s degree and doctoral students,” said Dr. Anthony Muscat, dean of the college. “His research has been published in high-impact journals, significantly enhancing the visibility of his laboratory, the college and the university, earning both national and international recognition.”

Within the role, Gu will continue to pursue externally funded research that supports doctoral students, publish research findings with co-authorship from doctoral students, provide ongoing mentorship to these students and travel to conferences with doctoral students to present the results of their work.

Gu joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering as an assistant professor in 2015 and became an associate professor with tenure in 2020. In Fall 2025, he will be promoted to professor. Prior to WSU, he was a research assistant professor at the University of Delaware.

According to Muscat, Gu’s expertise in polymer electrolytes, fuel cells and energy process assessment for sustainability has positioned him as a leading authority in these areas of research. Additionally, he established a state-of-the-art laboratory for energy engineering, which is fully equipped to train students, advance knowledge and foster academic growth while mentoring the next generation of scholars and professionals.

In the past five years, Gu has been awarded six research grants with more than $3.2 Million in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy. During the same period, he has published nine peer-reviewed journal articles and delivered nine awardee/conference presentations. As of January 10, 2025, his Google Scholar profile reflects 10,152 total citations, an H-index of 40 and an average of more than 800 citations annually.

On Wednesday, April 30, the College of Engineering will host about 200 high school students for the Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (IGED) event, commonly known as Girl Day.

The event will be from 9:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the majority of the event will be in 305/306 Rhatigan Student Center, Beggs Ballroom. The second floor of the RSC will also be utilized from about 11 a.m. to noon.

Although a private event, WSU students, staff and faculty are encouraged to have positive interactions with high school students, educators and event volunteers when in common areas.

The College of Engineering has awarded the Boeing Global Engineering Leadership Professorship to Dr. Ramazan Asmatulu, professor in mechanical engineering.

The professorship, funded by the Boeing Company, is designed to support global education and research initiatives. It is retroactive from Oct. 8, 2023 and is a five-year term. Asmatulu held the same professorship for the previous five years, starting in 2018.

According to Dr. Anthony Muscat, dean of the college, Asmatulu was selected for his contributions to the globalization of the engineering profession, as well as his excellence in education and research within the college and beyond.

“Dr. Asmatulu will continue to pursue externally funded research that supports doctoral students, publish research findings with co-authorship from doctoral students, provide ongoing mentorship to these students and travel to conferences with doctoral students to present the results of their work,” Muscat said.

Asmatulu joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering as an assistant professor in 2006, became an associate professor in 2012 and became a full professor in 2017. Prior to WSU, he had post-doctoral and research and development (R&D) experiences at Virginia Tech, the University of Connecticut and Yale University.

Asmatulu is currently working with six doctoral, nine master’s degree and three bachelor’s degree students. He has graduated more than 150 master’s degree and doctoral students, received more than $6.3 Million in internal and external grants and published more than 500 technical articles with his students and collaborators. To date, Asmatulu’s scholarly activities have been cited more than 7,800 times (with an H-index of 48 and an i10-index of 160) according to Google Scholar.

The College of Engineering has announced the honorees for the 2025 Dwane and Velma Wallace Excellence Faculty Awards. The honorees will be recognized during an upcoming college awards ceremony in May, the details of which are pending.

The Wallace Excellence Faculty Awards honor excellent faculty members and doctoral students who excel in service, research, teaching and experience-based learning.

2025 Wallace Excellence Faculty Awards honorees:

• Faculty Lifetime Service: Dr. John Watkins
• Faculty Excellence in Research: Dr. Shuang Gu and Dr. Bayram Yildirim
• Faculty Excellence in Teaching: Dr. Ehsan Salari
• Faculty Experience-Based Learning: Dr. Vijay Matheswaran and Manira Rani

The WSU community and public are invited to explore the unseen world of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) professionals through powerful photography and innovative research, featured through “The Hidden Side of EMS” photo exhibition at the Ulrich Museum. There will be a free panel session from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 16 in the Dr. Sam and Jacque Kouri Collection Study Center of the museum and a free closing reception from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, April 25 in the museum lobby.

The photo exhibition is a collaboration between the Sedgwick County EMS and WSU, including the School of Art, Design and Creative Industries within the College of Fine Arts and Dr. Laila Cure, an associate professor in the Department of Industrial, Systems and Manufacturing Engineering within the College of Engineering. Dr. Cure’s related research, “ERI: Workload-Informed Operations for Emergency Medical Services and other First-Responder Systems,” and the photo exhibition are funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Save the date for the seminar, “Hidden Science in Engineering Materials,” hosted by the National Institute of Aviation Research (NIAR) and the College of Engineering. The seminar will be at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 24 in 110A Woolsey Hall, Frank A. Boettger Auditorium. Students, staff, faculty and industry partners are invited to attend.

The speakers include Dr. James C. Ho, researcher and retired professor; Dr. Ramazan Asmatulu, professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering; and Rachael Andrulonis, director of advanced materials research at NIAR. Dr. Ho will present, “What does low-temperature calorimetry tell us about high-strength Al-Li, Ti-(V, Mo)-Al, and magnetic element-containing materials?,” while Dr. Asmatulu will present, “Failure Mechanism of Fiber Reinforced Composites for Aviation” and Andrulonis will present, “Qualification of Additively Manufactured Metals.”