Faculty Recognition & Honors
Margaret Cheung (Physics) and graduate student Andrei Gasic will receive the Robert S. Hyer Graduate Student and Mentor Award from the Texas Section of the American Physical Society. The award recognizes their development of a computational model to study the effects of molecular crowding, hydrodynamic pressure, and temperature on folding and functionality of phosphoglycerate kinase.
William Dupre (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) will be honored with the American Association of Petroleum Geologists’ Public Service Award for his work on educating government officials and the public on the causes of flooding hazards during Harvey and other major storms in the Houston area. The award will be presented at the AAPG 2020 Annual Convention and Exhibition in June.
Paul Mann (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) will receive the American Association of Petroleum Geologists’ Grover E. Murray Memorial Distinguished Educator Award for his contributions to the teaching and advising of EAS students at the graduate and undergraduate level. The award will be presented at the AAPG 2020 Annual Convention and Exhibition.
Key Publications
Yunsoo Choi (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) published research findings in Neural Networks. In the study, the research group used a deep convolutional neural network to develop a model that predicts ozone concentrations 24 hours in advance. They evaluated the model for 21 continuous ambient monitoring stations across Texas. With the capability to predict ozone concentrations in advance, this type of model could serve as an early warning system for individuals susceptible to ozone who engage in outdoor activities.
Judy Wu (Chemistry) is the corresponding author for work published in the journal Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences. In the paper, Wu’s lab unfolds fundamental principles that underlie light-driven proton transfer in organic molecules. “We recognized that when light strikes an organic compound, there is a pattern that determines whether or not a proton transfer reaction will likely happen,” Wu said. Wu, along with her research group, looked at the effects of aromaticity and antiaromaticity, a common molecular feature of cyclic organic compounds, on light-driven reactions.