Winter 2004

Washington Taps UT Engineers

 When George W. Bush took up the reins of the U.S. presidency in 2000, a UT Austin engineering ex was named to his Cabinet. Following the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001, a leading College faculty member was called to bring his nuclear expertise to Washington D.C. in the anti-terrorist cause. In 2003, an engineering ex was tapped for a top post at the newly-established Department of Homeland Security. 

 Don Evans, Secretary of Commerce; Dale Klein, assistant to the Secretary of Defense for nuclear, biological and chemical defense programs; and Charles McQueary, homeland security’s Under-secretary for Science and Technology, were all nominated to their posts by President Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

 The three high-profile engineers are sterling examples of the kind of widely-visible national participation UT President Larry Faulkner encourages in his faculty and alumni. 

 Though the trio are far from alone in representing the College in our nation’s capital, they are the most visible.

Charles McQueary (B.S.M.E. ’62; M.S.M.E. ’64; Ph.D.E.M. ’66)

Undersecretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

 Charles McQueary has been a very busy man since his confirmation last March. McQueary, who will identify and develop promising technologies to strengthen our domestic security, has immersed himself in building his staff while simultaneously dealing with a torrent of anti-terror-related proposals.

 He’s superbly qualified for the job, with 35 years as a top executive at Bell Labs/AT&T, Lucent, and General Dynamics. In 1997, his colleagues recognized him as a College of Engineering Distinguished Graduate. Throughout his industrial career, he pioneered the development of military applications for emergent fiber-optical communications technology under contract with the U.S. Department of Defense.

 At Homeland Security, he has established a Science and Technology Directorate of 70 specialists; he expects to hire at least 110 more during the next fiscal year. The team—which encompasses a broad spectrum of technical expertise from biology and medicine to data mining—has been scrambling both to learn what research is already being done in our nation’s laboratories, to identify projects still needed, and to evaluate the more than 4,300 proposals that have already poured in. In a three-stage selection process, some 40 finalists representing DHS-identified areas of interest will be announced in early fiscal year 2004.

 McQueary gives border security top priority, followed by bioterrorism. His office will ultimately oversee the disbursement of tens of billions of federal research and development dollars to giant, established contractors and creative small entrepreneurs alike. He urges all vendors wanting a piece of the action to keep their eye on the big picture and their product’s place in it. And he aggressively promotes close collaboration among private industry, academia and governmental agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the search for near-term cutting-edge results because, “you can’t find all the talent you need in any one place.”

   He’s vigilant to avoid any intra-governmental duplication of efforts, preferring to share information with his peers in other branches. It’s a frequent topic of lunchtime conversation with Dale Klein.

 “Although we work for different departments with different missions, there is some potential for technological overlap,” he says. “It behooves us to have a close relationship, and ongoing dialogue.”

Dale Klein (MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROFESSOR)

Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Defense

 “These days, you’re constantly running from one hot spot to the next,” says Dale Klein, Bob R. Dorsey Professor of Engineering, who left a UT System vice chancellor’s post to join the U.S. Department of Defense just two months after 9/11 occurred. 

 As a mechanical engineering faculty member Klein became a worldwide authority on radioactive waste disposal and nuclear weapons dismantlement. He arrived in Washington to encounter an impressive climate of dedication among Pentagon employees, both military and civilian. “They’re of the highest caliber,” he says.

 He also encountered old Texas friends Evans and McQueary, whom he sees often: “I admire Chuck for his ability to build an operation from scratch,” he says. Nor has he lost sight of his peers back home, with their wealth of much-needed technical expertise.

 Always vigilant to potential conflict of interest issues, Klein never directly negotiates with service providers. He does facilitate. “I play matchmaker,” he explains. “When I see a technical information gap, I find someone to plug it. I might give somebody a name to call. Whatever they arrange, however, is strictly between them.”

 That process has led to consultations with UT engineers such as professor and associate dean for research Randy Charbeneau, whose expertise in environmental/water resources engineering was recently sought on a question about the groundwater impact of a proposed facility installation.

 Klein lists three top priority areas for the coming year:  bioterrorism-related issues—from medical responses to decontamination; chemical demilitarization; and a nuclear deterrent strategy relevant to today and into the 2030s.

 His future with The University remains open. “Right now, I serve at the pleasure of the President,” he says. “I expect one day to come back to Texas. I like teaching and working with students, and I like the administrative role.  When I return to UT, I’ll have to see where I fit in.”

Don Evans (B.S.M.E., ’69)

U.S. Secretary of Commerce

 Though he hasn’t been a student at UT Austin for three decades, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Don Evans (B.S.M.E. ‘69) still maintains close ties with the university.

 In 1995, he was appointed by then-governor George W. Bush to the Board of Regents of the UT System, became chairman in 1997 and served two terms. In 1997 he was also named a Distinguished Graduate of the College of Engineering. In 2002, he was awarded a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the university.

 Evans also maintains contact with Ben Streetman, a good friend and dean of the college.

 He’s come a long way since his days as a college student who worked at a Texas steel mill during school breaks. Evans oversees an expansive department of 40,000 employees and a $5 billion budget “focused on promoting and advocating for American business, both at home and abroad.”

His department’s duties also include diverse activities ranging from issuing patents and trademarks to forecasting the weather.

 His main focus as Secretary is to “create a climate in which the U.S. and global economies can grow.” During his three years on the job he worked with Congress to secure trade promotion authority for the President, and has visited 16 countries and led trade missions overseas to promote American exports and to open markets.

UT engineering faculty members serving in federal advisory positions

 Along with Dr. Dale Klein, the following faculty also serve in federal government advisory roles.  Click on their name to visit their bio page.

Professor David Allen, chemical engineering:

Environmental Protection Agency Advisory Board;

National Research Council Board on Environmental

Studies and Toxicology

Professor Ross Baldick, electrical engineering:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

(contractual consultant)

Professor Suzanne Barber, computer engineering:

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency,

Defense Science Study Group

Professor Chandra Bhat, civil engineering:

National Transportation Research Board Committee on Passenger Travel Demand Forecasting (chair); National Transportation Task Force

Professor Melba Crawford, mechanical engineering:

NASA Earth System Science and Applications

Advisory Committee

Professor Peter Green, chemical engineering:

National Research Council Solid State Sciences

Committee (vice chair); Committee on Opportunities

in High Magnetic Field Science

Professor John Howell, mechanical engineering:

 National Science Foundation Engineering Directorate Committee of Visitors to Evaluate the Chemical and Transport Systems Division

Professor Stelios Kyriakides, engineering mechanics:

National Research Council, U.S. National Committee of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (member at large)

Professor Raymond Loehr, civil engineering:

Department of Energy Environmental Management Advisory Board

Professor Nicholas Peppas, chemical engineering,

biomedical engineering and pharmaceutics:

President Bush’s Nanotechnology Technical Advisory Group

Professor Ted Rappaport, computer engineering:

Federal Communications Commission Technological Advisory Council 

Professor Sharon Wood, civil engineering:

Department of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Structural Safety; Department of the Interior/U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory Committee

Professor Zhamin Zhang, civil engineering:

 National Research Council Committee on the

Department of Energy Infrastructure Renewal