December 2011
Dr. Michael Webber is promoted to Associate Professor with tenure at University of Texas at Austin.
October 2011
Dr. Michael E. Webber is the recipient of the Cockrell School of Engineering Award for Outstanding Teaching by an Assistant Professor.
Dr. Webber has impacted and inspired students by creating five new courses on energy and sustainability and by teaching nearly a thousand students in four years. Dr. Webber has mentored many students who have written well-received papers, and some have even gone on to serve in internships at the White House and the Department of Energy.
September 2011
Sheril Kirshenbaum has been selected as an American Marshall Memorial Fellow. The Marshall Memorial Fellowship was created by the German Marshall Fund of the United States to expose future U.S. leaders to a changing and expanding Europe. Website.
Roger Duncan is GridWeek's 2011 Award Recipient. The Award goes to an individual or organization who has presented a rational view of the potential future of world energy systems. Website.
August 2011
Pecan Street Project Inc., Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) and the Webber Energy Group will host a weeklong course on entrepreneurship and business development in the clean energy and smart grid sectors August 15-19, 2011 at the AT&T Conference Center at the University of Texas at Austin. For more information or to register, CLICK HERE.
July 2011
"Pressurized Air Tops batteries In Intermittent Energy Storage", S. Fox, Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, July 25, 2011. Read Article.
June 2011
Dr. Webber selected as UT 2011 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award recipient
The Board of Regents just announced the 2011 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards for UT’s nine academic institutions and Dr. Webber is a recipient. Believed to be among the highest in the nation for rewarding outstanding undergraduate faculty performance and innovation, the awards range from $15,000 to $30,000 and are offered in recognition of those who serve our students in an exemplary manner. Website.
May 2011
James Newman has been selected to participate in AMD's Grand Challenge Scholars Program summer workshop in July at AMD.
Dr. Webber's “Energy at the Movies” was under the YouTube spotlight. Watch now.
March 2011
Melissa C Lott was selected for the prestigious Presidential Management Fellows Program class of 2011. One of only four engineers selected, she is the first PMF fellow to be nominated and selected from UT's Cockrell School of Engineering.
February 2011
Jared Garrison received one of the two UT Cockrell School of Engineering Graduate Student Leadership awards, February 21, 2011.
Christopher Mayer received the Spring 2011 Undergraduate Research Fellowship .
Ashlynn Stillwell's master's thesis receives 2nd place AWWA Academic Achievement Award for 2011.
Melissa Lott’s article on Texas’s electric grid published in Scientific American’s Guest Blog.
December 2010
Ben Gully wins the Texas Exes Teaching Award for 2010.
Melissa Lott’s article on Texas’s electric grid published in Scientific American’s Guest Blog.
November 2010
David Wogan’s article on algal biofuels published in Scientific American’s Guest Blog
Ben Gully won a student award to attend the ASME-IMECE conference in Canada.
John Fyffe received The Marathon Oil Scholarship which is given to UT sophomores, juniors, and seniors who are interested in working in the energy industry. The students must also exhibit strong academic, leadership, and teamwork skills. The Scholarship awards $4500 split between two semesters for the recipient.
October 2010
Aaron Townsend received the top honor from the Foundation of the Association of Energy Engineers: The 2010 Albert Thumann Scholarship Award.
August 2010
Webber Energy Group student Jared Garrison was named Secretary for the Central Texas Chapter of ASME.
June 2010
Webber Energy Group member Charles Upshaw received the Outstanding Scholar-Leader Award for the May 2010 graduating class. The award is presented to only one graduating senior, and is in recognition of sustained superior academic performance and exceptional leadership. Charles will be staying at the University of Texas for a Masters and PhD in Mechanical Engineering, where he plans to focus on research related to renewable energy and sustainability.
May 2010
The Green American Road Trip: Austin to Boston on Natural Gas
University of Texas student, Castlen Kennedy, is putting natural gas vehicles (NGVs) to the test for her graduate thesis. This May, she will travel from Austin to Boston in a compressed natural gas (CNG) powered vehicle to explore the fuel cost savings and environmental benefits of CNG vehicles, as well as provide personal insight into the possible challenges and NGV driver may face. Her full research report will analyze CNG benchmarked against other fuels and will conclude with policy recommendations to encourage expanded use of natural gas as a transportation fuel.
Join the Trip!
Visit the Green American Road Trip's companion website to learn more about natural gas, and follow Castlen's adventures along the way. You can also follow Castlen on FaceBook and Twitter (@castlen).
Read more: Story
April 2010
Webber Group students honored by National Science Foundation
Chioke Harris was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research fellowship and Emily Grubert received an honorable mention. The National Science Foundation aims to ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the United States and to reinforce its diversity by offering 2,000 graduate fellowships in this competition. The Graduate Research Fellowship provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based master's or doctoral degrees and is intended for students who are in the early stages of their graduate study. The Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) invests in graduate education for a cadre of diverse individuals who demonstrate their potential to successfully complete graduate degree programs in disciplines relevant to the mission of the National Science Foundation.
April 2010
Stuart Cohen to Intern with the White House Council on Environmental Quality
Stuart Cohen, EPA STAR Fellow and Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering, has accepted a position as a summer intern with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the principal advisory council to President Obama on environmental policy. He will be working in Washington, D.C. and looks forward to the opportunity to gain insight into policy making at the federal level and contribute to well-informed environmental policy.
April 2010
Jared Garrison Wins a 2010 Graduate Recruitment Service Award
This semester, the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Office at The University of Texas at Austin is inaugurating several service awards in order to officially recognize select students for their above-and-beyond contributions to the graduate program in general as well as recruitment planning & execution. The Department heavily relies on the outstanding participation of a large number of students with regard to recruiting in addition to Graduate Student Board (MEGSB) sponsored events. Without a doubt, we wouldn't be able to accomplish what we do without everyone's assistance. In an effort to acknowledge and reward those who set new standards, small fellowships will be awarded to select students for their commitment in these areas this academic year.
July 14-15, 2009
Professor Webber will be offering his popular 2-day industrial course “Energy Technology and Policy” again on July 14-15, 2009. This course is designed for professional engineers, business leaders, attorneys, policymakers, and representatives from government agencies who would like to learn a lot about energy in a short amount of time. The course will include several prominent guest lecturers and will cover topics such as alternative energy, energy & the economy, energy & the environment, and much more. Please find more information here.
December 16-17, 2008
Professor Webber will be offering his popular 2-day industrial course “Energy Technology and Policy” again on December 16-17, 2008. This course is designed for professional engineers, business leaders, attorneys, policymakers, and representatives from government agencies who would like to learn a lot about energy in a short amount of time. The course will include several prominent guest lecturers and will cover topics such as alternative energy, energy & the economy, energy & the environment, and much more. Please find more information here.
July 15-16, 2008
Professor Webber will be offering his popular 2-day industrial course “Energy Technology and Policy” again on July 15-16, 2008. This course is designed for professional engineers, business leaders, attorneys, policymakers, and representatives from government agencies who would like to learn a lot about energy in a short amount of time. The course will include several prominent guest lecturers and will cover topics such as alternative energy, energy & the economy, energy & the environment, and much more. Please find more information here.
3.2.08
Benjamin Eisterhold and Michael Webber published the op-ed “Oil: Is Now the Time to Fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?” in the March 2008 issue of Geotimes. Ben is a member of the Webber group and an Energy and Earth Resources graduate student in the Jackson School of Geosciences.
2.21.08
Carey King, post-doctoral fellow in the Bureau of Economic Geology, and Michael Webber recently published "The Water Intensity of the Plugged-In Automotive Economy" which was also the topic of a news story "Plugging in to more water use" both published in the Environmental Science & Technology.
2.18.08
The paper, "Computational Modeling of Fuel Reforming with Ethanol-Water Fuel Mixtures," by C.H. Smith, D.M. Leahey and J.L. Ellzey won the Innovation Grand Prize at the GAIN 2008 conference. The GAIN (Graduate and Industry Networking) Conference was held on the 13th of February, 2008 at UT's Alumni Center. The conference was co-sponsored by the Graduate Engineering Council (GEC), UT's Cockrell School of Engineering, and Engineering Career Assistance Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Their award was given for the most innovative research as determined by UT's Chair of Free Enterprise. Their research described a novel method of converting ethanol and ethanol-water mixtures into valuable hydrogen fuel. The paper described computational modeling of the novel technique showing efficient hydrogen production and hydrogen production increases with the addition of water. The vision for the technology is for distributed hydrogen production from varied feedstock.
2.8.08
Stuart Cohen, Webber Group Member and Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student, was recently accepted as a mentor for UT’s Student Engineers Educating Kids (SEEK) after-school mentoring program, which is affiliated with the Austin area Communities in Schools volunteer organization. The SEEK program provides high risk middle school students with college engineering student mentors who serve as positive role models that offer the opportunity to explore engineering as an attainable career path.
1.27.08
The Webber Group and friends get together at the Waterloo Ice House for a Fall Social Gathering.
1.27.08 Melissa Lott, Webber Group Member and Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student, recently returned from a trip to La Ceiba, Honduras with Habitat for Humanity. Melissa was gone from January 4-13, 2008. While in Honduras Habitat for Humanity volunteers worked on various aspects including both structural (walls, roofs, etc) and detail (interior, plumbing, etc) work. Pictures of Melissa are here:Picture 1, Picture 2, Picture 3
1.8.08
Cassandra Telenko, a graduate student and member of the Webber Research Group, was accepted to be a mentor for the Spring 2008 Graduates Linked with Undergraduates in Engineering facilitated by the Women in Engineering Program. Cassandra was matched with Nazira Amotova, a Junior Mechanical Engineer. Nazira will be in the lab 3-5 hours a week helping with reverse engineering of consumer products, applying and discovering green design principles, and performing Life Cycle Assessments. Nazira's already learning to use Eco-it, SimaPro, and GaBi. Cassandra and Nazira are very excited to work together, and Cassandra looks forward to seeing Nazira’s creativity and contributions.
12.9.07
On December 9th, 2007 Round Rock High School hosted the Central Texas First LEGO League Championship Tournament. The competition included over 600 participants, ages 9 to 12. Judges included numerous local industry representatives, faculty from the University of Texas at Austin, and 3 graduate students from UT. Melissa Lott from the Webber Energy Group was a judge for the Project section of this competition.
Sponsors for the event included Silicon Labs, National Instruments, SpawGlass, KVUE Austin, and the University of Texas Cockrell School of Engineering.
12.16.07
Congratulations to Nick Padon and Ben Branstetter, alumni of UT and the Webber Group as of December 2007. Nick will be going on to ConocoPhillips to work as a Project Engineer and Ben will be going to UBS to work as a Financial Associate.
December 11-12, 2007
Dr. Webber is teaching a 2-day course on Energy Technology & Policy, December 11-12, 2007 for members of private industry, the public sector, and the legal community. For more information and to register, please go here.
8.23.07
Colin Smith and Melissa Lott upgrade the common area of ETC 6.106 to get it ready for Webber Group Meetings.
9.3.07
The Webber Group and friends get together at the Waterloo Ice House for a Fall Social Gathering.
