Faculty Briefs BMES FELLOW David Jamison, PhD, associate dean of Undergraduate Affairs for the College of Engineering and a teaching professor of Mechanical Engineering, was inducted in the fall as a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). The professional organization’s Fellow grade honors members who have made significant contributions to the field of biomedical engineering (BME). Dr. Jamison was recognized for “his record of research and teaching excellence in biomedical engineering, and development of a BME minor program at his institution,” according to BMES. “I am honored to have been named a BMES Fellow,” says Dr. Jamison, who also serves on the BMES board of directors. “It’s a distinction I now share with some of the great pioneers and luminaries of our field. I look forward to continuing the important work of advancing BME education.”
CLASSROOM EXPEDITION
NECZA PRESIDENT Michael A. Smith, PhD, ’99 MSChE, associate professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, was elected president of the Northeast Corridor Zeolite Association; he will serve a three-year term. The professional organization unites experts from academia and industry who specialize in the use of zeolites, or minerals composed of silicon and aluminum atoms linked by oxygen bridges in a relatively open, 3D framework. An expert in nanostructured materials, Dr. Smith is director of the Catalytic Reaction and Catalyst Characterization Laboratory at Villanova.
Deeksha Seth, PhD, assistant teaching professor of Mechanical Engineering, received a $268,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop an immersive Virtual Field Trip (VFT). The project aims to increase students’ exposure to geosciences by providing educators with freely available resources to incorporate into their classes. Tapping into the broad appeal of dinosaurs, the VFT will take students on a virtual paleontology expedition, covering core principles of geography, math, biology and physics in the process. The VFT will be hosted on the American Geosciences Institute’s platform and assessed for its impact on student engagement, academic progress and attitudes toward STEM.
SPARSE ARRAYS Moeness Amin, PhD, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is the editor of a new book, Sparse Arrays for Radar, Sonar, and Communications (Wiley-IEEE Press, 2024). Covering an emerging area of research and technology, the text was developed for graduate students and engineers pursuing research and applications in the broad areas of active/passive sensing and communications. Dr. Amin is an internationally recognized expert on signal and array processing and is director of Villanova’s Center for Advanced Communications.