CETA's King Selected for International Advisory Panel

Associate Professor Dr. Eoin King was recently invited to join the The International WELL Building Institute’s Global Network of Concept Advisories. King joins the WELL Sound Concept Advisory - the Sound concept in WELL aims to bolster health and well-being through the identification and mitigation of acoustical comfort parameters that shape human experiences in the built environment.

Each WELL concept advisory includes a collection of professionals, practitioners and experts, each serving a one-year term. WELL concept advisors will number more than 100 individuals, span 20 countries and represent WELL advocates from not just global market centers like New York, London, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, Addis Ababa and Sydney, but a number of smaller municipalities in between.  They cover a broad array of technical, scientific and medical fields.

UNOTEs 7/25/18

Professor of Architecture Michael j. Crosbie of CETA's Department of Architecture recently delivered a plenary address at the University of Ghana in Accra, Ghana, at the conference, "Religion and the 21st Century City: Openings and Closures."

The lecture, "God the City Dweller," explored the way that religious architecture is expressed in urban settings. Crosbie is shown here with Dr. Ben-Willie Golo, one of the conveners of the international conference. Crosbie's presentation was offered in a plenary session. He was one of only a few North Americans attending the conference.

Milanovic Publishes Two Research Papers at the AIAA AVIATION Forum

Ivana Milanovic, professor of mechanical engineering, CETA, published two research papers with NASA GRC colleagues at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) AVIATION Forum last month in Atlanta, Georgia. AIAA AVIATION is a premier, forward-looking forum designed to showcase recent innovations and achievements in aviation, highlight new initiatives and plans, and address key issues that need to be resolved in order to define clear roadmaps for future progress.

The paper ‘Resonance and Tones in Dual-Stream Nozzles’ reports on a numerical investigation whose objective was predicting the appearance of tones and studying their sources. It was found that some of the tones traced to a coupling between Strouhal shedding from the struts, which held different pieces of the nozzle together, and various duct acoustic modes. A focus of the work was on exploring the nature of the duct modes. First, elements of the numerical procedure were studied for a 4-strut nozzle, validating the results with existing experimental data. The approach was then applied to a 3-strut geometry and four different excitation methods. The predicted tones and associated duct modes are analyzed in detail.

The paper ‘Experimental and Computational Study of Tones Occuring with a Coaxial Nozzle’ explored the source of audible tones occurring in a coaxial nozzle in a range of low Mach numbers experimentally and computationally. The hardware was comprised of an inner and an outer nozzle, without a center-body, and held together by a set of four struts.

Supported by the Transformational Tools Technology (TTT) and the Commercial Supersonic Technology (CST) Projects under NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program, this has been a joint effort among members of the Inlets and Nozzles (LTN) and the Acoustic (LTV) Branches together with Professor Milanovic. Dr. Milanovic is grateful for the support of the University of Hartford Harrison Faculty Development Grant.

Fig. 1 4-strut nozzle configuration. Monitored plane at the trailing edge of the driven strut.

 Fig. 2 Mode shape pressure distribution (4-strut configuration)

Fig. 3 Mode shape pressure distribution (3-strut configuration)

UNOTEs - 7/5/18

Hisham Alnajjar Named Interim Dean of the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture

Hisham Alnajjar

Hisham Alnajjar, who has served as Associate Dean of the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture since 2007, became Interim Dean of the College effective July 1, 2018.

One of the University of Hartford’s seven schools and colleges, the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture offers accredited programs at the bachelor's level in engineering, technology, and architecture, and graduate programs in engineering and architecture.

“I have worked with Hisham in a variety of settings over the years and know him to be a thoughtful and caring person who brings integrity, energy, passion, and commitment to everything he does,” Provost Sweitzer stated. “I look forward to working with him in his new role as we navigate this important transition in the College.”

Alnajjar joined the University as an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering in 1995. He was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor in 2001 and promoted to Professor in 2009. He has taught a variety of courses in the department, with a specialization in Signal Processing. His publication record includes journal articles, book chapters, and conference presentations. He has held a variety of leadership positions in the College including Department Chair, and Assistant Dean. Hisham also serves as the Director of the NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium. He has served the College and University in many capacities over the years including service on the Faculty Senate, the Faculty Compensation Committee, and the Provost’s Committee on Promotion and Tenure. He was recognized for his outstanding services in 2014 with the Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Award for service to the University.

Alnajjar received his Bachelor of Science from Aleppo University in Syria, an Advanced Diploma from Damascus University, a Master of Science in Engineering from Ohio University, and a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Vanderbilt University.

Provost Sweitzer invites, “Please join me in thanking Hisham for his willingness to undertake these new responsibilities and wishing him well.”