Student Achievements
Lihua Lou - Heart researcher earns recognition for work on promising cardiac “patch”
Heart researcher earns recognition for work on promising cardiac “patch”
Lihua Lou in the College of Engineering and Computing is investigating bioengineered heart tissue
Spring Banquet Awards
Bianca Rendon
Advanced textiles sector needs to engage with the end-user community
Dr Seshadri RamkumarApril 13, 2023 5:31 am
Nonwovens and industrial textiles industry develops many products which are life savers, contribute to environmental protection and provide jobs, informs Dr Seshadri Ramkumar.
Farzana Hossain and Shuangmei Tian
Congratulations Farzana Hossain and Shuangmei Tian
for being award fellowships from the Graduate School for the 2023-24 academic year!!
Farzana Hossain and Shuangmei Tian received Dissertation Completion Fellowships.
Amanda Emert
Department of Environmental Toxicology doctoral candidate Amanda Emert's first first-author paper has been accepted for publication in Environmental Pollution (Elsevier, I.F. 9.988).
Coauthors include Frank Green, Dr. Seeni Subbiah, and Amanda's co-advisors Dr. Kerry Griffis-Kyle (Department of Natural Resources Management, TTU) and Dr. Phil Smith.
Amanda's work, which examines aerial transport of feedyard-derived pesticides, deposition into wetlands, and associated risk, is also featured in a story originally published by The New Lede.
Bianca Rendon
Emilynn Banks
Shisbeth Tabora
Kirchner Fellows for 2022-23
Shisbeth Tabora, a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Toxicology at Texas Tech University’s Institute of Environmental and Human Health, was selected for the Kirchner Fellows for 2022-23
Bianca Rendon
TTU Today highlights Bianca Rendon in 7-20-22 article: COVID-19 Testing Changes Trajectory for Doctoral Student
...Spring 2020 was supposed to be business as usual for Texas Tech University doctoral student Bianca Rendon. However, spring 2020 was easily the least “usual” semester in recent history as the novel coronavirus swept the planet. What used to be a clear path to a doctorate, was now anything but for Rendon.
She became a key part of The Institute for Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH) efforts to assist the Centers for Disease Control in testing for COVID-19 and the variants soon to follow as part of the Laboratory Response Network.
>> READ FULL ARTICLE
Kruuttika Satbhai
Amanda Emert and Terrell Hilliard
Congratulations Amanda Emert and Terrell Hilliard for being award fellowships from the Graduate School for the 2022-23 academic year!!
Amanda was awarded COVID Dissertation Funding!
Terrell was awarded a Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship!
Bianca Rendon
Congratulations to PH.D. student Bianca Rendon
Bianca Rendon was selected to participate in a 21-day research project to study the establishment and spread of avian malaria on Navarino Island, Chile. Navarino Island is located off the southernmost coast of Chile and is extremely remote and rugged. The research project that Bianca will be working on is a University of North Texas grant that is a component of the Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program, and is supported by the National Science Foundation International Research Experience for Students (NSF-IRES).
ENTX Faculty Awards
Nicole Dennis
Nicole Dennis' Dissertation Research is highlighted in the September Issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Collaborative research on the effects of PFAS in Bobwhite quail by graduate student Nicole Dennis was selected as the basis for the September 2021 cover of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Nicole recently completed her Ph.D. and is now a postdoc in Dr. Jay Gan’s lab at UC-Riverside.
Haripriya Ramesh
Haripriya Ramesh Receives Kanti and Hansa Jasani Family Textile Scholarship
Haripriya Ramesh, Ph.D. student working under the supervision of Professor Seshadri Ramkumar is one of the two recipients of Kanti Hansa Jasani Family Textile Scholarship administered by American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC). Haripriya’s research is looking at materials for personnel protection such as masks and wipes. A brief has appeared about this recognition in the flagship magazine AATCC Review, Sep/Oct issue of 2021, pp. 17. Congratulations are in order.
Dr. Armando Elizalde-Velazquez
Dr. Armando Elizalde-Velazquez placed 2nd in the Biological and Life Science category of the 2021 Texas Tech University Outstanding Thesis and Dissertation Awards.
Dissertation: Sorption, Uptake, Trophic Transfer and Immunotoxicity of Microplastics and Nanoplastics in the Aquatic Environment.
Major Advisor: Dr. Jaclyn Cañas-Carrell
Samuel Seay and Kirsten Nettles
2 Forensic Lab students presented and Won at the 2021 Virtual Poster Competition hosted by the Graduate School.
The students won first and third place under the category of SCIENCES as follows:
1st place – Samuel Seay
Title of poster: “Flatland Forensics: Analyzing Insect Succession on Decomposing Remains in a High Plains Agricultural Environment”
3rd place- Kirsten Nettles
Title of poster: “Development of Odor Profiling Methods for the Detection of Contraband Firearms”
Lihua Lou and Weijie Yu
Tensile testing and fracture mechanism analysis of polyvinyl alcohol nanofibrous webs
Lihua Lou Weijie Yu Ronald J. Kendall Ernest Smith Seshadri S. Ramkumar
First published: 11 March 2020 https://doi.org/10.1002/app.49213
Funding information: Texas Tech University; Office of International Affairs
Abstract
A tensile properties testing study was conducted to understand the influence of thickness, cross‐head speed (speed of testing), gauge length (GL; specimen test length), and sample shape on important tensile properties of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofiber webs. The effects of each testing parameter on load at break, extension at break, Young's modulus, and tensile stress–strain curve of PVA nanofiber webs are analyzed. The Welch two sample t‐tests show the significant difference among tested data. Using interaction plots, two‐way analysis of variance, and margin mean plots, the interaction effects among testing parameters have been analyzed. Of all the factors, cross‐head speed, the interaction among GL, and sample thickness (GL: Thickness) and the interaction among GL, testing speed and sample thickness (GL: Speed: Thickness) have significant influence on the tensile properties of PVA nanofiber webs. Moreover, the hypothesized model of mechanism of tensile strain–stress curve of PVA nanofiber webs has been proposed. Based on the model, the tensile strain–stress curve can be split into three stages: linear elastic, partial break up, and complete breakage. This study will provide a better understanding of tensile testing parameters' effects and their interaction effects on the tensile properties of nanowebs.
The cover image created by Lihua Lou et al., shows poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofiber prepared by electrospinning method. The inserted drawings represent changes in units (sub sections) within nanofiber webs under external load based on the actual tensile stress‐strain curves of nanofiber webs, as hypothesized by the authors. This study also analyzes the effect of various testing parameters, as well as the interactions on the tensile properties on nanofiber webs. Results from this study, enable a comprehensive understanding of each testing parameter and their interaction effects and help with the standardization of tenacity evaluation of nanofibers.