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Worldwide Efforts
Engineers Without Borders (EWB), a nonprofit
humanitarian organization created to partner
engineers with developing communities
worldwide to help improve their quality
of life, now has a home at UH. The student
chapter, EWB-UH, was formed by chemical
engineering major Christina Dang. First on
the agenda? A trip to Mexico to explore water
distribution and sanitation projects in three
cities including the development of an economy
specifically for the people of Apasco.
There She Is...
Congratulations to senior consumer science and
merchandising student Crystle Stewart named
2007 Miss Texas USA. She will represent Texas
at the 2008 Miss USA pageant.
The Finish Line
Freshman Jason Perez finished second with
a time of 51.22 in the 400-meter hurdles at
the 2007 Pan America Junior Athletics
Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
They Did It Again
The College of Pharmacy garnered another student national
honor. Elaine DePrang is the second pharmacy student
selected for the Paul A. Ambrose Scholars Program. The
program, named in memory of physician and public health
advocate Paul A. Ambrose, who perished in the 9/11
attacks, encourage multidisciplinary public health initiatives.
The program sponsors an annual two-day symposium in
Washington, D.C., for students—in a variety of medical
and healthcare professions—to learn tools and strategies for
mounting collaborative community health projects. Last
year, pharmacy graduate Bridget Martinez (Pharm.D. ’07)
created a diabetes management program for the Hispanic
community in Southwest Houston.
Row Your Boat
Six months of research, designing, testing, AND 325 hours
of manual labor—all in the name of good ol’ fashioned
competition. The UH Chapter of the American Society
of Civil Engineers faced twenty-one universities in the
three-day, 20th Annual ASCE National Concrete Canoe
Competition in Seattle. UH was the only Texas school
participating in the competition. With a 264-pound concrete
canoe, UH competed in five races, including two 600-meter
sprints, two 200-meter sprints, and one co-ed 200-meter
sprint. This was the first time in thirteen years that the
chapter made it to a national competition. The final results?
UH placed eighteenth. Congrats!
Stripping Away Strep
Strep bacteria can cause more than just a sore throat—
severe infections can lead to multiorgan failure, flesh-eating
disease, and other fatal conditions. That’s why graduate
student Chen Feng is using cutting-edge technology
to study the complex DNA sequencing of more than
300 strains of strep bacteria, which could lead to early
detection and better treatment of strep infections. Feng,
a Ph.D. candidate in computer science, was awarded a
prestigious research fellowship from the W.M. Keck
Center for Interdisciplinary Bioscience Training, a
consortium of six Texas medical schools and universities
including UH. Working with The Methodist Hospital
Research Institute, Feng’s potentially groundbreaking
research will give doctors new insights into why some
strep infections are deadlier than others. |
