OXFORD, Miss. – Two University of Mississippi electrical engineering professors were named the first winners of the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society’s new annual awards to recognize technical and service achievements.

The award winners were announced at the 29th annual ACES Conference in Monterey, Calif.

Atef Z. Elsherbeni received the ACES Technical Achievement Award, which recognizes one or more demonstrated, original technical contributions in the field of applied computational electromagnetics, supported by publications, patents and other products such as developed computer codes.

“This is a great honor and recognition,” Elsherbeni said. “I am very pleased to be the first to receive this award. At the same time, I felt the pressure and responsibility to do better and be more productive. It is not easy in today’s challenging environment, but we all have to try our best.”

Elsherbeni was also elected president of the society for a two-year term starting April 2013.

Allen W. Glisson was presented the ACES Meritorious Service Award to honor outstanding and dedicated service to the society over a long time.

Glisson, chair and professor emeritus of electrical engineering, said he is most appreciative of the honor. He is a three-time recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Member Award and received the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Memphis Section Outstanding Engineering Educator Award in 1998, Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award in 1989 and IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Microwave Prize in 2004.

For his progress in the development and application of numerical techniques for electromagnetic problems and in the modeling of antennas – having published more than 300 scholarly works in these areas – Glisson was named a fellow of the IEEE and earned the title of fellow of the ACES.

During his 26-year tenure at Ole Miss, Elsherbeni has spent a fair share of time in the classroom, teaching electrical engineering principles and mentoring students. He also has carved out a legacy of research that has led to significant improvements in the telecommunications industry.

The associate dean of research and graduate programs in the UM School of Engineering became the fifth recipient of UM’s Distinguished Research and Creative Achievement Award in 2012. He is also the recipient of the 2003 Outstanding Contributions to Science Award from the Mississippi Academy of Science, the 2002 School of Engineering Outstanding Faculty Member Award and the 1996 IEEE Memphis Section Outstanding Engineering Educator Award. Elsherbeni is a fellow of the IEEE and a fellow of the ACES.

ACES originated from a computer modeling/electromagnetics workshop, announced in a memo circulated in January and February 1985. The primary goal of the workshop was to initiate a forum for exchange of information about computer-modeling tools such as the numerical electromagnetics code.

For more information on the awards and the deadline for nominations, please go to http://www.aces-society.org/.

OXFORD, Miss. – Chas Smithers (BSCE 04) credits the School of Engineering with preparing him to earn his master’s degree from Georgia Tech and setting him on the fast track to owning and operating his own consulting firm.

“I enjoyed Georgia Tech, but Ole Miss is always where my heart will be,” said Smithers, a Grenada native who last August started Laird Smithers Inc., an engineering consulting firm in Jackson. He and partner Jeff Laird specialize in structural design consulting.

“We have worked on a wide variety of project types, including schools, offices, courthouses, water and wastewater treatment plants,” Smithers said. “Although we enjoy the variety of projects we are able to work on, our firm is especially known for historic renovations and repairs.”

Smithers said he is especially fond of two projects.

“While working in Atlanta, I was fortunate enough to work on Target Field, the new Minnesota Twins baseball stadium. That was always a dream of mine to work on a sports stadium since I am such a sports fanatic,” Smithers said.

“Secondly, I was the structural engineer of record for the first building of Insight Park at Ole Miss. It was an incredible feeling to design a building on a campus that is so special to me.”

Because of his Ole Miss educational experience, Smithers said he was as ready as he could have been when entering Georgia Tech, recognized as one of the country’s top civil engineering programs.

“I was as prepared, if not more so, than the students who attended Georgia Tech for their undergraduate degree. That is a credit to the great engineering school that we have at Ole Miss,” he said.

After graduation from Georgia Tech in 2005, Smithers worked for a large, nationally recognized structural engineering firm in Atlanta for three years. He and his wife, Amanda, upon the birth of their first child, decided they wanted to be closer to home and moved to Jackson, where he worked for a regional, multidiscipline engineering firm for four years.

“I have yet to come across one person that I felt inferior to because of my education at Ole Miss,” Smithers said. “In fact, quite the opposite. It is as good as any engineering education that you can receive, second to none. It is definitely something that I am extremely proud of.”

While at Ole Miss, Smithers received the Mississippi Engineering Society Outstanding Senior Award.

“This was not just an award for me, but in my mind it was an award for the entire civil engineering department,” he said. “I was able to represent the entire School of Engineering at a banquet that recognized an engineering student from each school in the state. I was also extremely honored to receive the Taylor Medal, which is the highest academic award one can receive at Ole Miss. Both awards are a credit to the great faculty that we have in the civil engineering department.”

Marni Kendricks, a former classmate of Smithers and assistant dean of undergraduate studies in the School of Engineering, fondly recalled Smithers’ personality and activities as a student.

“Chas stands out in my memory from my CE undergraduate days as a scholar, a gentleman and a leader,” she said. “Calm, confident, capable, committed to excellence from the word go. Really enjoyed my classes with him.”

Smithers returned to campus recently to talk to the Senior Design and Introduction to Civil Engineering classes twice.

“It is an honor that the professors think enough of me to allow me to come share with their students,” he said.

Remembering back to when he was a young student himself, Smithers said that he was unsure what he wanted to major in when he graduated from high school.

“I always enjoyed math and science, as well as solving problems, so engineering was a logical choice,” he said. ”I visited several schools while deciding where to attend college. After visiting Ole Miss, my decision was easy. Being on campus, it just felt like home; everyone was extremely nice. The fact that it was a smaller ratio of students to teachers was another plus. This ended up playing a big part in my education. I knew each of the teachers by name, and they knew mine. They were always willing to help me if I had a question.”

These days, when not working, Smithers enjoys playing golf, duck hunting and spending time with his family.

“I have been married to my beautiful wife for almost nine years, and we have two wonderful children: Savannah, 5, and Wyatt, 2,” he said. “My family means the world to me. Without their love and support, there is no way I would be where I am today.”

OXFORD, Miss. – William Walker Wroe was happy when he learned he’d been nominated for the University of Mississippi School of Engineering’s annual Senior Leadership Award and the Mississippi Engineering Society’s Outstanding Senior Award. When the Austin, Texas, native learned he’d won both honors, he was elated.

“Receiving the Mississippi Engineering Society’s award for senior leadership would have to be the award I am most proud of,” said the 22-year-old mechanical engineering major. “It’s something I never had planned on or thought I would win, but it makes me very proud to know that others had appreciated my hard work and academic success.”

A member of the National Honor Society, Wroe has been on both the chancellor’s and dean’s honor rolls at the university. While managing to maintain a stellar grade-point average, he performed double duty for Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, working as house manager and as vice president of finance.

His summers have been divided among employment as a research assistant in the University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, a sterile processing technician at Seton Family of Hospitals and an intern at Page Southerland Page LLP, all in his hometown.

“I chose to visit Ole Miss my senior year in high school because I had always had an affinity for SEC schools and the type of college experience their students can have,” Wroe said. “On my visit to Oxford, I met Mrs. (Marni) Kendricks and Mr. (Scott) Kilpatrick, and they explained to me not only what UM engineering could do for me but [also] what I could do for it. That got me real jazzed up about starting my higher education and strongly helped to sway my decision to Ole Miss.”

As part of his community service for the past three years, Wroe has tutored local high school students in calculus, algebra and statistics.

Wroe is deserving of his accolades, one UM faculty member said.

“I have a lot of great students every year, and this year Walker seems to be the best,” said Arunachalam Rajendran, chair and professor of mechanical engineering. “He’s an excellent student who is capable of learning any subject. He is very ambitious, and I believe he is destined to do great things in higher level learning and research.”

Wroe said his postgraduation plans include earning a master’s degree in engineering at University of Texas at Austin, starting in the fall.

“I hope this degree will aid me in getting a job working in the product-design field,” he said. “This is something I think I could be very passionate about and could hopefully turn into a long career. I would like to eventually earn my Ph.D. and teach, but I think having a successful career in industry would only help me to be a better teacher.”

Wroe’s desire to teach stems from his enjoyment of two engineering courses in particular, he said.

“Dr. (Jeff) Roux’s heat transfer course and Dr. (James) Vaughan’s materials class were my two favorite classes,” he said. “I enjoyed my materials class because it is something applicable in every field of engineering and in every engineering problem. In addition, it taught me a lot of things that I could see in my everyday life. Every time I see rust, I know what caused it, why I can bend copper with my hand but not steel, why metals conduct but not plastics. These are things that can be seen every day, and I enjoy knowing the underlying causes.

“The reason I enjoyed my heat transfer class is because it is knowledge I wish I had this past summer when I interned at an architecture and engineering firm back in Austin. There, we dealt a lot with heat transfer through ducts and walls and the best ways to insulate rooms. Now the information that I learn in class, I can immediately think about it in a real-world setting and how it would affect decisions I would have made with what materials to use or performance expectations to have of certain HVAC situations.”

Engineering has taught Wroe more than academics, he said.

“Here at Ole Miss, I spent a lot of time learning the fundamentals of science and engineering, and that is a very important base to have,” Wroe said. “But what I have learned here that is harder to teach is how to solve problems. This doesn’t exclusively mean math or physics equations, but broader problems where I must talk to teachers and experts, research things online or in the library. This ability to gather and learn new information is key in any career, not just engineering.

“I got everything I expected out of an SEC experience: football, fraternity and the Square,” Wroe said. “What I also got, though, was an excellent opportunity to excel in the classroom. Something I really enjoyed taking advantage of.”

Wroe is the son of Dr. William and Marietta Wroe of Austin.

OXFORD, Miss. – After more than 40 years, Sam S.Y. Wang retired from the University of Mississippi as F.A.P. Barnard Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and director of the National Center for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering. Yacoub “Jacob” Najjar and Ramanarayanan “Vish” Viswanathan started at UM as the chairs and professors of civil and electrical engineering, respectively, last fall.

Though Sam Wang’s, Yacoub Najjar’s and Ramanarayanan Viswanathan’s expertise and years of leadership experience differ, the common denominator among them is their status as inaugural members of the Woods Society, a new initiative to increase donations to the School of Engineering.

“I joined the Woods Order in the 1980s, honoring my parents because of their wish to promote the educational institution and progress at Ole Miss,” said Wang. “At the time of my retirement in 2010, I fully understood how the extra financial support can strengthen the success of the School of Engineering and decided without hesitation to join the newly reactivated Woods Society when Dean Alex Cheng proposed it.”

Students spend countless number of hours preparing for their activities, and Najjar said his support represents a thank-you note for all their efforts.

“I believe my support represents an investment in our school to support the activities of our students,” he said. “I would like my donations to support the civil engineering students’ activities, such as concrete canoe and steel bridge competitions. My first priority is to support my department’s student activities.”

Viswanathan found the Woods Society to be a good way to provide support to students’ educational activities.

“Friends and alumni of the Woods Society have a say in how their contributions are to be spent,” he said. “I would like the money raised be spent on laboratory upgrades, support for student organizations for their travel to professional meetings and competitions, and for on-campus student activities.”

Begun in fall 2012, the Woods Society helps fund annual student activities in the School of Engineering. Gifts help provide career fairs, field experiences, professional conventions and leadership/service opportunities such as Engineers Without Borders. Membership begins with a donation of at least $1,000.

“We remain excited about the new membership for this unique society,” said Kevin Gardner, development officer for the School of Engineering. “With each freshman class getting larger than the last, resources are necessary to equip our present students for the bright future ahead. Anyone with an interest or passion for a particular department or student activity can have [his or her] financial support directed for that cause.”

Wang was one of the university’s first four Frederick A.P. Barnard Distinguished Professors in 1988, the highest faculty accolade on the Oxford campus. He was renominated and selected for a second term in 1993 and was awarded the Barnard Distinguished Professor title for life in 1998. Wang was chosen for the inaugural Distinguished Research and Creative Achievement Award and Outstanding Engineering Faculty Awards, as well as many other UM honors.

A pioneer in applying computational modeling methodology to hydroscience research, Wang has gained worldwide recognition. Among numerous accolades, he has received the Hans Albert Einstein Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Qian Ning Prize from the World Association for Sedimentation and Erosion Research, the two highest international honors presented to a researcher selected for his or her lifetime distinguished achievements in hydrodynamics, soil erosion and sediment transport research.

A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Najjar served as interim chair and professor of civil engineering at Kansas State University before coming to UM. His teaching awards and honors include the 2006 Midwest Section Outstanding Teaching Award from the American Society of Engineering Education and the 2012 Kansas State Commerce Bank Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award.

Najjar’s research focuses on the application of artificial neural networks and computational mechanics to advance the civil infrastructure. His research on the interaction of soil and civil structures, transportation, geomechanics, geosynthetics and geoenvironmental systems has yielded more than 90 peer-refereed articles.

A graduate of Southern Methodist University, Viswanathan was professor of electrical and computer engineering at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He also served as interim dean of the SIU College of Engineering.

A fellow in the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, his research areas include signal detection, wireless sensor networks and wireless communication. Viswanathan received an Outstanding Teacher Award from the ECE department in 2007 and the Outstanding College of Engineering Faculty Award in 2008, both at SIU.

Wang encourages everyone with an interest in engineering to join the Woods Society.

“I hope that all retired faculty, alumni and present faculty and friends of the School of Engineering actively support Dean Cheng’s initiative to strengthen this worthy fund, to expand its ability to support not only the students’ professional developments, but also the academic programs and faculty development to raise the School of Engineering’s reputation to higher and higher levels,” he said.

For more information about the Woods Society, call Gardner at 662-915-7601, Kevin@olemiss.edu or visit http://www.engineering.olemiss.edu/woods/.