Four of the academic members of the UAH Propulsion Research Center received special recognition from the UAH College of Engineering at the EWeek Banquet on February 23, 2012. Because we are committed to performing research in the academic environment, the Propulsion Research Center is especially proud to have our associate faculty and students recognized for their achievements.
Matthew Hitt, Dr. Robert Frederick, Dr. Hugh Coleman, Dr. Jeff Evans, with Dr. Keith Hollingsworth - MAE Department Chair
Professor Robert Frederick was recognized as the UAH College of Engineering Outstanding Senior Faculty member in recognition of his consistent record of achievement in research, teaching and service.
Professor Jeff Evans was recognized as the UAH College of Engineering Outstanding Junior Faculty member in recognition of his outstanding contributions in both research and teaching.
Professor Hugh Coleman is being recognized with the UAH College of Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award.
Matthew Hitt was recognized as the UAH College of Engineering Outstanding Graduate Student member in recognition of his outstanding scholarship and research achievements.
Individual Citations
Professor Robert Frederick was recognized as the UAH College of Engineering Outstanding Senior Faculty Member in recognition of his consistent record of achievement in research, teaching, and service.
He joined UAH in 1991 and is currently a Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Interim Director of the Propulsion Research Center (PRC). His research investigates combustion phenomena in solid, liquid and hybrid rocket propellants and has identified important technologies for next‐generation missile propulsion. Dr Frederick has served as a Principal Investigator on sixty research projects and has supervised the completion of 70 masters and PhD degrees. For the past two years the PRC has been recognized by Popular Science as the “3rd most awesome university laboratory in the nation.”
Dr. Frederick’s contributions to education have been recognized by the UAH Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching. He pioneered the UAH Integrated Product Teams Senior Design Laboratory and led the effort for 15 years. This course integrates students and industry mentors from engineering, liberal arts, and business into design teams and provided outreach to K‐12 students. Dr. Frederick also developed an undergraduate aerospace propulsion laboratory that provides hands‐on experience in air breathing and rocket propulsion and a graduate course in advanced solid rocket propulsion that incorporates archived lectures by 14 world‐class experts.
Dr. Frederick served as Interim Chair of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department in 2011. He is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA and a member of the American Society of Engineering Educators. He has been the national chairman of the AIAA Hybrid Rocket Technical Committee, and the U.S. representative to a NATO Advisory Group on solid rocket propellants. He currently serves on NASA’s National Institute of Rocket Propulsion Systems.
Professor Jeff Evans was recognized as the UAH College of Engineering Outstanding Junior Faculty Member in recognition of his outstanding contributions in both research and teaching.
Dr. Evans joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering as an assistant professor in 2008. His experience and interest is in understanding the failure of materials through investigating the mechanisms of fatigue, fracture, and corrosion. Dr. Evans was recently selected to further these studies through a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award. Dr. Evans has also received the Keith J. Miller Young Investigator Award from the ASTM Committee on Fatigue and Fracture in 2010. He currently supervises nine graduate students and teaches undergraduate courses in the materials engineering area and graduate courses that include Engineering Failure Analysis and Fracture Mechanics. Dr. Evans has published 16 scientific papers in journals such as Engineering Failure Analysis and in national and international conferences. Dr. Evans is an active member of the High Temperature Alloys Committee of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society and the ASTM Committee on Fatigue and Fracture. He is also a member of the ASM International and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and is a licensed professional engineer.
Professor Hugh Coleman is being recognized with the UAH College of Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award.
He is an internationally known authority in the field of uncertainty analysis of experimental data and validation techniques for computational modeling. Dr. Coleman joined UAH in 1991, held the Eminent Scholar Chair in Propulsion for two terms, and received both the UAH Foundation Research Award and the Student Government Association Most Outstanding Teacher Award. Prior to coming to UAH, he was a technical staff member at Sandia National Laboratory, and later held the Giles Distinguished Professorship as a faculty member at College of Engineering E‐Week Recognition 2012 Mississippi State University. During his career, Dr. Coleman has mentored 9 Ph.D. graduates, numerous Masters students, and published 60 articles in refereed archival journals in the areas of rocket propulsion, turbulent boundary layer fluid mechanics and heat transfer.
He is a Fellow of ASME and served as an Associate Technical Editor for the Journal of Fluids Engineering, chairman of the ASME Fluid Mechanics Technical Committee, chairman of the ASME Fluids Engineering Division, and chairman of the ASME Standards Committee which developed and published the standard Verification and Validation in Computational Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer in 2009. He and his co‐author, Glenn Steele, received the 2004 AIAA Ground Testing Award in recognition of their contributions including their textbook, Experimentation, Validation, and Uncertainty Analysis for Engineers, and the associated short course of the same name which they have presented over 90 times in the U.S., Canada, Europe and South America.
Matthew Hitt was recognized as the UAH College of Engineering Outstanding Graduate Student member in recognition of his outstanding scholarship and research achievements.
Matthew has demonstrated success in his graduate research studies. He has completed an extensive literature review, formulated and completed a study on a liquid oxygen system for propulsion applications. He showed excellent diligence and thoroughness in his approach to research. He made oral presentations and participated in telecoms with industry research partners who were always very complimentary of his work and insights. He also demonstrated that he can perform complex experimental research in a methodical and safe manner.
He has translated his knowledge into a critical assessment of the literature that provided a foundation for his research activities. He also took the initiative to use these skills in reading related literature independently as he encountered new phenomena in his research. His academic coursework encompasses very substantial topics that will serve as a solid foundation for his future career.
Finally, Matthew has an excellent work ethic. He has interacted well with his fellow students, researchers, and the faculty in our department. He has represented the university in national expositions with great distinction. He will be among the best and the brightest leaders in his future career.
