B.S., Istanbul Technical University, 1999
M.S., The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2002
Ph.D., The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007

Research areas of interest:

• Software Engineering
• Component-based development
• Software Metrics
• Information Theory

Oversea School Certificate, University of Cambridge (U.K.), 1951
B.Sc., St. Xavier's College, 1957
M.S., University of Wisconsin at Madison, 1966
Ph.D., University of North Dakota School of Medicine, 1972

Frederick Alvares, Ph.D., joined St. Mary's University in 1988 after an already accomplished career. After earning his doctorate degree he served as a research fellow at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the Institute of Enzyme Research. He later served on the faculty of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine as a Research Associate, and was a NIH/NRSA Research Fellowship Awardee at Stanford University, School of Medicine. Alvares also served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Wyoming, Laramie (1985-1986) and was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Delaware, Newark (1986-1987).

Alvares developed the undergraduate major in Biochemistry at St. Mary's University, and instituted the Advanced Biochemistry course series in 1991. He continues to teach all five courses on a four-semester rotational basis.

Alvares is also an Adjunct Full Professor in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He has also published extensively, including three full length papers in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. His research pioneered the elucidation of the biochemical and physiological significance of the phosphotransferase activities of the multifunctional membrane-bound enzyme, glucose-6-phosphatase. He has presented his research in poster presentations and symposia at national meetings of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the American Institute of Nutrition. Other research, in collaboration with and hosted by Russel J. Reiter, Ph.D., focuses on the relationship between the pineal hormone melatonin and the activities of the enzymes of gluconeogenesis: phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and the multifunctional enzyme, glucose-6-phosphatase.

B.S., Sari College (Iran), 1978
M.S., University of Oklahoma, 1982
Ph.D., University of Oklahoma, 1989

Mehran Aminian, Ph.D. joined St. Mary's University in 1988 after graduating from University of Oklahoma with a doctorate in Electrical Engineering. His areas of interest include Computational Intelligence, Optical Communication, Quantum Electronics, Quantum Computing, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Collision Theory and Semiconductor Devices. He teaches a variety of electrical engineering courses such as Electronics, Semiconductor Devices, Communication Theory, Neural Networks, Optical Communication, Senior Design Project, Electromagnetic Wave Theory, Circuit Theory, Signals and Systems, etc.

He has published numerous papers in Journals such as Physical Review A, Journal of Physics B, IEEE Transactions, Journal of Electronic Testing Theory and Application. He has served in numerous committees such as Campus Technology Committee, Campus Safety Committee, Tenure and Promotion Committees, etc.

B.A., University of California at Berkeley
M.S., Columbia University in New York City
Ph.D., Texas Tech University, 2001

Richard Cardenas, Ph.D., joined the physics faculty of St. Mary's University in the fall of 2000. He received his bachelor's in physics and applied mathematics and his master's in applied physics. After receiving his masters degree, he worked in industry for Lockheed Technical Operations Company (now called Lockheed Martin Technical Operations) and Incyte Genomics. Cardenas has research interests in biophysics, medical physics and physics pedagogy. His main research area involves the study of the effects of radiation on aqueous polymer gel systems and their uses in radiation dosimetry. These aqueous polymer gels are tissue-like, hence are useful tools for modeling radiation response of various types of tissue. In addition to the polymer gel studies, he has done research in physics pedagogy in collaboration with Texas Tech University and Harvard University using the force concept inventory.

He has published papers in journals including the American Journal of Physics, MRI and Neuroradiology. He has also presented his findings at conferences in Texas and Pennsylvania, among others. Cardenas' grants and contracts include the following:

• National Science Foundation S-STEM Grant ($600,000). Title: St. Mary's University STEM Scholars Program
• Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) awarded in 2011
• DoD Instrumentation Program for Hispanic Institutions ($200,000). Title: Creating an Biophysical Characterizations Laboratory for Education and Research
• Physics on the Road, the World Year of Physics Grant for Outreach ($10,000). Title: The Fiesta of Physics (With Olga Lobban)
• San Antonio Area Foundation, Grant for Education and Outreach ($5,600). Title: The Fiesta of Physics (With Olga Lobban)
• DoD Instrumentation Program for Hispanic Institutions ($192,738). Title: Acquisition of advanced scientific instrumentation for multi-disciplinary research training and education.

B.S., University of Texas at Austin

B.A., University of California at Santa Cruz, 1995
Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 2003

Veronica Contreras-Shannon, Ph.D., earned her bachelor's in Biology after which she participated in research at Los Alamos National Lab in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Later, she earned her doctorate from the Department of Biochemistry in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. After completing her doctoral work in 2003, she completed two postdoctoral fellowships.

While a graduate student at UTHSCSA, her research elucidated the role of three differentially compartmentalized isozymes of NADP+-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase in yeast. These studies led to an understanding that these multiple isozymes participate in the shuttle of NADPH reducing equivalents among various cellular compartments and provided strong evidence for isozyme involvement at the intersection of both carbon and nitrogen metabolism.

Her postdoctoral training addressed the molecular mechanisms associated with disease states. During Contreras-Shannon's first fellowship, she examined how the regeneration of damaged muscle was influenced by inflammatory cells following injury. During her second fellowship, she studied the functional role of proteins encoded by genes that were found to be amplified in prostate cancer. She is trained in the Pathobiology of Occlusive Vascular Disease, Immunology, Muscle Regeneration, Genetics and Cancer Biology.

Contreras-Shannon teaches General Biology for Majors, Mechanisms of Disease, Molecular Biology and Endocrinology.

B.S., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Ph.D., University of Michigan

S. Colette Daubner, Ph.D., received her B.S. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she worked in the Chemistry Department and a genetics lab in the Zoology Department. She received her Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from the University of Michigan purifying and studying the enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), an important enzyme in one-carbon transfers. MTHFR was later found to play a role in cardiovascular disease, strokes, and neural tube defects. Her post-doctoral work at the Pennsylvania State University centered on the enzymes of purine de novo biosynthesis, which also utilize derivatives of folate, and are also important in fast-growing cells such as cancers and embryonic tissues.

As a research scientist in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Texas A&M in College Station Daubner worked on the enzymes tyrosine hydroxylase (TyrH), phenylalanine hydroxylase, and tryptophan hydroxylase. This family of rate-limiting enzymes uses the cofactor biopterin and bound iron to hydroxylate aromatic amino acids. Her work brings together enzymological techniques, protein modification, cloning and mutagenesis of the proteins, fluorimetry and other biophysical techniques.

B.S., Texas Christian University, 2004
M.A., Rice University, 2007
Ph.D, Rice University, 2009

Ryan Dunning, Ph.D., joined St. Mary's University in 2009. His research interests include Knot Energy, Mechanics of Fish-Like Swimming, and Geometric Measure Theory.

B.E., PSG Tech, Bharathiar University (Coimbatore, India), 2000
M.S., Texas A&M University, 2003
Ph.D., Texas A&M University, 2008

Gopalakrishnan Easwaran, Ph.D., has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering (sandwich program) from PSG College of Technology. He earned a master's degree and his doctorate in industrial and systems engineering. His research interests include supply chain management, applied optimization, ERP & business intelligence systems, scheduling and sequencing.

Easwaran has industry experience from consultancy research projects for a variety of firms including PSG Industrial Institute (India), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (India), Defence Research and Development Lab (India), Master Halco, Frito-Lay, and PepsiCo. He has published papers in journals such as Interfaces, Naval Research Logistics, and Transportation Science.

B.S., Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, 1995
M.S., Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, 1997
Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 2003

Vahid Emamian received his bachelor's and master's in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran in 1995 and 1997, respectively, and his Ph.D from University of Minnesota in Electrical and Computer Engineering, in 2003. The focus of his Ph.D. thesis was “collaborative communications for cellular wireless systems.” He then joined St. Mary's University in 2003 as an Assistant Professor of Engineering, and was elevated to Associate Professor position in 2008.

Emamian teaches an undergraduate course, Circuit Analysis I, in addition to many graduate level courses: Wireless Communications, Automatic Control Systems, Digital Control, Data Acquisition, Presentation, and Analysis, and Engineering Problem Solving Using Matlab. He established a Control and Data Acquisition lab using a grant from Education Department, and a Wireless Communications lab using a grant from the Department of Defense. He is a Senior Member of IEEE reviews papers for IEEE journals. Emamian has published more than 10 journal and conference papers. He has been an associated editor of the International Journal of Computers and Electrical Engineering since 2007.

B.S., Bangalore University, 1985
M.S., The University of Missouri - Rolla, 1990
Ph.D., The University of Missouri - Rolla, 1992

Winston Erevelles, Ph.D., dean of the School of Science, Engineering and Technology, joined St. Mary's University in 2009. At Robert Morris since 1999, Erevelles held several positions before being named dean of the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science in 2005.

Some of the accomplishments during his tenure there include developing new programs with biomedical, industrial and mechanical engineering concentrations; designing an integrated bachelor/master degree engineering program; creating 2+2 engineering and science programs with institutions in China, India and Nepal; as well as establishing articulation agreements with several community colleges. Another major focus for Erevelles is outreach to middle and high school students; he has worked to develop workshops, camps, competitions and conferences to introduce young students to the world of science and technology.

Erevelles’ research and expertise is in computer integrated manufacturing, robotics, manufacturing automation, rapid prototyping, reverse engineering and manufacturing processes. He serves as a program evaluator for manufacturing engineering programs for the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET); he’s also a member of the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.

Erevelles has held teaching positions at Kettering University (formerly GMI Engineering and Management Institute), and the University of Missouri-Rolla. Prior to that, he was a plant manager for Mykron Engineers in Bombay, India. He received his bachelor’s degree from Bangalore University in India, and both a master’s degree and doctorate in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri-Rolla.

B.S., Eckerd College, 1979
A.M., Duke University, 1982
Ph.D., Duke University, 1983

Pamela Fink, Ph.D., joined St. Mary's in 2002 after having been in industry for more than 17 years. From 1984-1994 at Southwest Research Institute, Fink started and managed a group in applied R&D in artificial intelligence. During that time she acquired and lead programs ranging from basic research in knowledge acquisition and representation to highly applied software development efforts in support of the U.S. Department of Defense and other large customers. Fink left the Institute to take a position in a small, start-up biotechnology company, Medical Science Systems (later renamed Interleukin Genetics), in which she built computer models of biological processes to support drug development and was an inventor/author on three patents. She and two colleagues founded Kenna Technologies, a start-up focused entirely on biological modeling to support drug development.

Her research interests include artificial intelligence, intelligent systems, knowledge acquisition and representation, intelligent tutoring systems, modeling and simulation, and applications of computers to improve healthcare and biological research.

B.S., University of Alexandria-Egypt, 1992
M.S., Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK), 2001
Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA), 2009

Ahmad Galaleldeen, Ph.D., earned his bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. in Biochemistry. During his Ph.D. and postdoctoral tenure at UTHSCSA, he was trained as a biochemist and a structural biologist. Following his bachelor's, he held a chemistry and biology teaching position in Egypt for 6 years before moving to the US. While pursuing his master's, he also held an algebra and chemistry teaching position at the Presbyterian Pan American School in Kingsville. Galaleldeen teaches General Biology BL 1401, BL 1402 and Cell and Molecular Methods (BL 2233) at St. Mary's.

Galaleldeen joined the laboratory of Dr. John Hart at UTHSCSA in 2003 and focused his research on the familial form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS is the most common adult motor neuron disease, characterized by the progressive destruction of both upper and lower motor neurons. The disorder typically manifests as muscle weakness in the extremities that progresses throughout the body, resulting in paralysis and death generally within five years post-diagnosis. Approximately 20% of the familial cases are linked to mutations in the copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene. Galaleldeen determined the crystal structure of several pathogenic SOD1 mutants including A4V, the most common ALS mutation in North America, in its metal free form.

During his postdoctoral training in the Hart lab, Galaleldeen collaborated with Dr. Guangming Zhong on a project to understand Chlamydial pathogenesis. Chlamydia trachomatis is an intracellular gram negative bacterial pathogen with many different strains that infect and cause disease in humans and animals. C. trachomatis infection of the urinogenital tract is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the world. C. trachomatis can also infect the eye, causing trachoma that can lead to blindness. Galaleldeen characterized and determined the structure of pgp3, an immuno-dominant antigen that is heavily secreted by C. trachomatis into the cytoplasm of the host cells in the first 24 hours post-infection.

B.S., Drexel University, 1963
M.S., Lehigh University, 1965
Ph.D., Lehigh University, 1970

Irwin Goldberg has a bachelor's in Electrical Engineering and master's and doctoral degrees in Physics . His Ph.D. thesis involved mathematical physics as related to problems in elastic wave propagation. He had further training as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago and as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Biophysics at the University of Chicago.

He was the Director of the Analog Computing and Simulation Laboratory for the Division of Biological Sciences and Medicine at the University of Chicago, within the Department of Radiology. There he developed mathematical models involving blood flow in arteries, air flow in lungs, deposition of aerosol particles in the lungs, anesthetic drug uptake and biochemical kinetics.

He came to St. Mary’s University in 1980 as an Associate Professor with joint appointments in the Departments of Physics and Engineering. Goldberg worked with other members of the Engineering Department to get ABET accreditation for the Electrical Engineering Program. He has taught 24 courses in the Physics, Mathematics, and Engineering Departments at St. Mary's University. He is currently a Full Professor of Engineering.

He spent summers as a participant in Navy-ASEE Summer Faculty Research Program the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, Rhode Island, a participant in Air Force O.S.R. Grant, a researcher participant in the Department of Anesthesiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and as a researcher at US Army Research Center, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. In the 2006-2007 academic year, he was awarded a grant to conduct research with the U.S. Air Force Laser Radiation Laboratory in San Antonio.

His areas of research include mathematical modeling of wave propagation, aerosol particle mechanics, fluid dynamics, elasticity theory, biomathematics, and engineering education. He published 16 research papers in refereed journals, ten of these since coming to St. Mary's. He has served as a referee/reviewer for Mathematical Biosciences, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, IEEE Transactions on Education, and ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.

B.S., DePaul University, 1986
Ph.D., Texas A&M University, 2005

Christine E. Gray, Ph.D., earned her bachelor's with majors in Biological Sciences and Secondary Education, and then taught high school courses in Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, and Topics in Laboratory Science for eleven years at two Chicago area high schools. Gray completed a Ph.D. in the Interdisciplinary Genetics program at Texas A&M University. Gray now teaches General Biology for Majors I and II, Developmental Biology, Evolutionary Biology and Genetic Principles at St. Mary's.

Much of her research involved the identification and initial characterization of a CTCF-like protein in both Aedes aegypti (the primary vector of both yellow fever and dengue fever) and Anopheles gambiae (the principal vector of falciparum malaria). CTCF is a well-known insulator binding protein in vertebrates and its mosquito homologue may provide a useful means to increase the efficiency of the process used to make transgenic mosquitoes. Transgenic mosquitoes are made for two key reasons: to learn more about key mosquito genes involved in the natural transmission of pathogens and to potentially create mosquito strains that are unable to transmit pathogens such as viruses, filarial worms and protozoans.

Gray is also working with several undergraduates on a project to investigate the mechanism for a phenomenon known as cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) in fruit flies (Drosophila). CI results when specific bacteria (Wolbachia) infect the tissues of insects. These bacteria are then passed very efficiently from mother to offspring, while uninfected females who mate with infected males are essentially sterile. It is hoped that greater understanding of this natural phenomenon might enable others to utilize Wolbachia as part of a strategy to reduce the ability of insect vectors of disease to transmit pathogens.

B.S., St. Mary's University, 1975
B.A., St. Mary's University, 1975
M.S., University of Texas-Dallas, 1976
Ph.D., University of Texas-Austin, 1996

Arthur Hanna, Ph.D., has more than 30 years of experience as a consulting software engineer in systems, scientific and business applications. He has managed software development and hardware maintenance operations for several computer-based systems. He has a broad data-processing background encompassing a variety of computer systems, programming languages and application packages.

Hanna served as an officer in the U.S. Army for six years prior to returning to St. Mary's University as a full-time faculty member in August 1982. He also was honored as the Distinguished Faculty member of the School of Science, Engineering and Technology in 1994.

His research interests include computer science education, critical thinking and learning, programming and programming languages, algorithm design and analysis, software engineering, compilers and operating systems.

Holly earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Spanish and a Master of Education degree in Counselor Education at Texas Tech University. She has passed the National Counselor Exam.

At an internship at Texas Tech University, Holly focused on interpreting career assessments such as the Strong Interest Inventory, FOCUS, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and StrengthsQuest for students of any major at all stages of career development.

As the Pre-Health Professions advisor she works primarily with freshmen biology majors-keeping students informed of the many career opportunities available within biological sciences; keeping students on track as they pursue their career goals; working together with Career Services and the Service Learning Center to support and coordinate activities related to the Pre-Health Profession programs; and communicating with medical and other health professions schools regarding our students’ application and acceptance to professional programs.

B.S., University of Bridgeport, 1981
M.S., State University of New York at Buffalo, 1985
Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo, 1991

Djaffer Ibaroudene, Ph.D., specializes is in computer engineering. He has taught a variety of courses, including Programming for Engineers, Fundamentals of Logic Design, Digital Systems using VHDL, Microprocessors, Computer Architecture, Parallel Processing, Computer Networking, and Software Engineering. His early research work focused on developing parallel algorithms for 3-D image representation, manipulation and display. His current research interest is in the broad field of computer architecture, parallel processing and computer networking.

Ibaroudene is a Co-PI on a $149,966.00 grant entitled “Building a High Performance Linux Cluster Laboratory for Advanced Computing” from the Army High Performance Computing Research Center. The goal of the grant is to create a Linux cluster laboratory that would provide the infrastructure for innovative teaching and collaborative research in high performance and advanced computing at the undergraduate and graduate levels at St. Mary’ University. The grant covers the time from June 1, 2010 to May 31, 2011.

He also received multiple hardware and software grants totaling in excess of $162,000 from Altera Corporation from 1998 to 2010. In addition, he received 10 Intel IXP 1200 Network Processor Development Systems from Intel Corporation, valued at $27,500.

In the summers of 1997 and 1998, Ibaroudene worked as a consultant with GRC International Inc., Montgomery, Alabama. He participated in the data modeling task orders to build a shared data store for the Civil Engineering, Logistics Module (LOGMOD), and the Cargo Movement Operation System (CMOS) prototype as part of a larger effort to modernize various computer applications and create a shared data environment for the Air Force Global Command and Support System (GCSS).

He also worked as a consultant with the Engine and Vehicle Research Division at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio during the summer of 1996, during which he helped develop the firmware for an M68HC11 micro-controller-based system that controls the ignition of a diesel engine.

In spring 1994, he served as a consultant on an NIH-funded P20 grant entitled "Probabilistic Reference System for the Human Brain" at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA). His worked focused on the study and evaluation of a possible implementation of the Octree data structure for efficient storage and fast retrieval of the 3-D images of the human brain along with corresponding probabilistic reference system.

Ibaroudene has been a member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) since 1986. He is also a member of the IEEE Computer Society.

He is member Eta Kappa Nu, engineering honor society. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award from the Graduate School at St. Mary's University for the academic year 2007-2008. He has also received the Distinguished Faculty Award from the St. Mary’s University School of Science and Engineering for the academic year 1996-1997.

B.A., Honors College of FAU, 2002
M.S., Florida Atlantic University, 2005
Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2011

Melissa Karlin, Ph.D., earned her doctorate from the Infrastructure and Environmental Systems program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Prior to pursuing her Ph.D., she worked as an aviation environmental science compliance specialist for the county government in south Florida and an environmental scientist for a private firm. She also has worked as a grant writer and as an adjunct faculty, teaching introductory environmental science courses.

Dr. Karlin studied the spatial ecology of the endangered red wolf (Canis rufus) in her dissertation research, incorporating both Geographical Information System (GIS) and remote sensing science to study dispersal, interspecific interactions, and habitat use by the red wolf in North Carolina. She has also studied disease transmission in the threatened gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) in southeastern Florida as well as home range patterns and burrow distribution of this species.

Her current research involves modeling red wolf habitat preferences; studying wildlife diversity in the local region using camera trap technology; and using remote sensing technology to study land use and land cover change.

Publications

Karlin, M. and J. Chadwick. 2011. Red wolf natal dispersal characteristics: comparing periods of population increase and stability. Journal of Zoology 286 (4): 266-276

Karlin, M. and J. Chadwick. 2011. Measures of space use and association of two unrelated red wolves in a shared area. Mammal Study 36(3): 147-153

Chadwick, J., B. Fazio and M. Karlin. 2010. Effectiveness of GPS-based telemetry to determine temporal changes in habitat use and home-range sizes of red wolves. Southeastern Naturalist 9(2): 303-316

Karlin, M. 2008. Distribution of Mycoplasma agassizii in a gopher tortoise population in south Florida. Southeastern Naturalist 7(1): 145-158

Engeman, R., J. Duquesnel, E. Cowan, H. Smith, S. Shwiff and M. Karlin. 2008. Assessing boat damage to seagrass bed habitat in a Florida park from a bioeconomics perspective. Journal of Coastal Research 24(2): 527-532

B.A., University of California at Berkeley, 1971
Ph.D., University of Oregon, 1984

Gary Karshner, Ph.D., acquired his bachelor's degree in astronomy and his doctorate in astrophysics. Karshner has taught at California State College, Stanislaus (1984-1985), the University of Oregon (1976-1981), and Humboldt State University (1973-1975 and 1981-1983). He came to St. Mary's from Gettysburg College, where he was an Assistant Professor from 1985 to 1990.

He has taught a broad range of physics courses: freshman introductory courses, mechanics, modern physics, advanced optics, thermodynamics, atomic and nuclear physics. His teaching specialties lie with electronics, micro-processors and astronomy. He has a special interest in the applications of computers to the physics laboratory and has supervised physics departments' senior projects, including assembly of an image processing system, construction of a photon counting system, automating a telescope drive, computerizing a Michelson Interferometer, and making high temperature superconductor material.

Karshner's own research field in stellar astronomy involves stars that lie on or just off the main sequence. His Ph.D. dissertation was titled: "The Kinematic and Radial Properties of Normal Luminous Sc Galaxies."

B.S., National University of Uzbekistan, 2005
Ph.D., Bowling Green State University, 2011

During the last semester of his graduate studies Dmitriy Khon, Ph.D., taught as an adjunct instructor at Bowling Green State University Firelands Campus. After earning his doctorate, Khon was an adjunct instructor at Owens Community College in Toledo, Ohio during summer 2011. He then served as a visiting assistant professor at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota from 2011-2012. Khon joined the faculty at St. Mary's in 2012 and is responsible for teaching Organic chemistry.

Khon's research interests are in the fields of nanochemistry and organic synthesis. His graduate studies involved synthesis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and plasmon-exciton interaction in metal-semiconductor nanocomposites. He designed and synthesized nanocomposites of different morphologies to study the interaction of exciton of semiconductor and metal plasmon and its dependence on spatial separation.

His current research projects involve design and synthesis of semiconductor nanocrystal films for flexible Light Emitting Diodes (LED's) and Photovoltaics.

B.S., St. Mary's University, 1999
M.A., Rice University, 2004
Ph.D., Rice University, 2005

Mike LeCocke, Ph.D., has focused primarily on statistics, mathematics and electrical engineering.

B.A., Rhode Island College, 1984
Ph.D., University of Massachusetts-Lowell, 1992

After earning his doctorate, Michael D. Losiewicz, Ph.D., was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the National Cancer Institute, in the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Md., from 1992 to 1998. In this position his research focused on cyclin dependant kinases and signal regulated kinases of the MAP family as potential targets for anti-cancer drugs. He routinely presented this research at the annual meetings of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Losiewicz also authored several papers on these studies. His research interests remain in the area of cancer drug targeting.

After serving as a guest professor for a year at a small college outside of New York City, Losiewicz joined St. Mary's in August 1999. He teaches several different lecture and laboratory courses in the Department of Chemistry/Biochemistry. Besides his teaching, he is also the faculty advisor to the American Chemical Society of Students (ACSS), the student chemistry organization which welcomes students of all majors.

B.S., Fudan University (Shanghai, P.R. China), 1996
M.S., Fudan University, 1999
M.S., University of New Mexico, 2002
Ph.D., University of New Mexico, 2003

Wenbin Luo, Ph.D., received his bachelor's in electrical engineering, his master's in electrical engineering and statistics, and his doctorate in computer engineering. In addition, he received the Stanford University Advanced Computer Security Certificate and Software Security Foundations Certificate.

Some of Luo's accolades include the Outstanding Graduate Student Award in the School of Engineering at the University of New Mexico and St. Mary's University Distinguished Faculty Award in 2008. A St Mary's engineering department faculty member since 2003, Luo is an active researcher in the areas of computer security, digital image processing and hashing algorithms.

He has published more than forty peer-reviewed technical papers in leading research journals and professional conferences. In 2009, he received the best paper award at 24th International Conference on Computers and Their Applications.

Since 2006, Luo has been an Associate Editor of International Journal on Computers and Electrical Engineering. He is also an active paper reviewer for twenty-six leading research journals and many conferences. Luo was the publication chair for the 2008 and 2009 IEEE International Conference on System of Systems Engineering and was the local arrangements Co-Chair of IEEE SoSE2007. Luo is an IEEE senior member and a member of Eta Kappa Nu honorary society of engineering and Kappa Mu Epsilon honorary society of mathematics. He is a Senior Level Linux Professional (LPIC-3), Novell Certified Linux Administrator (Novell CLA), and a Ubuntu Certified Professional (UCP).

M.S., Kharkov State University (Ukraine), 1994
Ph.D., University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1998

Anna Lurie, Ph.D., completed her studies first in the Ukraine, where she focused on mathetmatical physics, and then in Maryland where she concentrated on time series. Her dissertation covered change-point problems in autocorrelated data.
She has coauthored multiple research papers, including "Conditional Standard Errors of Measurement for Composite Scores," "Response Adaptive designs for Continuous Outcomes," and "Bayes-type tests for Constancy of Autoregressive Parameters."

A member of the American Statistical Association, Lurie has taught courses at St. Mary's University such as probability and statistics and business calculus since 2002. Her teaching experience also includes positions at University of Maryland Baltimore County and Ivanov Middle School, Kharkov, Ukraine.

Lurie brings her industry to the classroom, as well. In 2002 she worked as a quantitative analyst for T. Rowe Price Associates Inc and as a statistical consultant for the Psychological Corporation.

B.A., Washington University in St. Louis, 1997
M.S., The University of Texas at Austin, 2000
Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin, 2006

Thomas E. Macrini, Ph.D., received his bachelor's in biology, and his master's and doctorate in geological sciences with an emphasis in vertebrate paleontology. He completed two postdoctoral fellowships at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, NY. Macrini teaches General Biology I and II, Forensic Osteology, Comparative Anatomy, and Foundations of Reflections: Nature.

Macrini's research focuses on the comparative cranial anatomy of fossil and extant mammals, particularly the internal cranial cavities and associated structures. His studies involve the endocranial and nasal cavities and the bony labyrinth of the ear. Macrini utilizes high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (HRXCT) to non-destructively study the internal cranial osteology of fossil and extant mammalian skulls to document the anatomy of internal cranial cavities, search for new phylogenetic characters, and trace the evolution of sensory structures in the fossil record.

He also is collaborating with Dr. Lorena M. Havill of the Department of Genetics at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute on projects aimed at developing baboons (Papio hamadryas ssp.) as a non-human primate model for studying the genetics, etiology, and prevention of osteoarthritis (OA) in humans. Macrini is currently looking for undergraduate students interested in vertebrate anatomy and systematics for research collaborations.

Selected Publications

Macrini, T. E. 2009. Description of a digital cranial endocast of Bathygenys reevesi (Merycoidodontidae; Oreodonta) and implications for apomorphy-based diagnosis of isolated, natural endocasts. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29:1199-1211.

Macrini, T. E., J. J. Flynn, D. A. Croft, and A. R. Wyss. 2010. Inner ear of a notoungulate placental mammal: anatomical description and examination of potentially phylogenetically informative characters. Journal of Anatomy 216:600-610.

Rowe, T., T. E. Macrini, and Z.-X. Luo. 2011. Fossil evidence on origin of the mammalian brain. Science 332:955-957.

Macrini, T. E. 2012. Comparative morphology of the internal nasal skeleton of adult marsupials based on X-ray computed tomography. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 365:1-91.

B.A., University of the Virgin Islands
M.A., University of Nebraska (Omaha)
Ph.D., University of Nebraska Medical School, 1983

Born on the Island of St. Kitts in the Caribbean, Lucien C. Manchester, Ph.D. attended the University of the Virgin Islands and received an associate degree and B.A. with honors in biology. He received a pre-doctoral scholarship from the U.S. Department of Public Health to study "Ciguatoxicity and Its Relationship to Colon Carcinogenesis" at the Eppley Cancer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, working under the mentorship of Drs. Phillipe, Shubik, and Melvin Greenblatt. Manchester received post-doctoral training at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas and The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas in the Department of Cellular and Structural biology.

One of his primary research focuses is to define the cellular mechanism by which pinealocytes and other melatonin producing cells synthesize and release melatonin. Other research is aimed at investigating biologic importance in photoperiodicity, antioxidantine stress and anti-aging; mechanisms of action of melatonin on the hypothalamo-hypophysical axis particularly in relationship to its anti-gonadal function; and the physical parameters by which light and magnetic fields affect pineal physiology. Awards and recognitions include:

• Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1991
• Marie Hall Research Fellowship U.T.M.B. Galveston, Texas, June-August, 1991
• Trio Achievement Award, Upward Bound, 1992
• Faculty Development Award, Fall, 1994
• Certificate of Appreciation from The University of Texas School of Medicine at Houston: Nomination by entering students to the Doctor of Medicine degree program
• Who's Who in Teaching, 1994 and 1995

B.S., Texas State University, 2000
M.S., Texas Tech University, 2004
Ph.D., The University of Texas-Arlington, 2008

Ian P. Martines, Ph.D., joined St. Mary's University in 2009. His research interests include Mathematical Biology and Numerical Analysis, and he has experience in High Performance Computing and Inverse Problems.

B.S., Oklahoma State University, 2003
M.S., Wright State University, 2005
Ph.D., Air Force Institute of Technology, 2008

Research areas of interest:

• Experimental mechanics of advanced materials and structures
• Computational mechanics of time-dependent material behavior and viscoplasticity of advanced materials and structures
• High-temperature composite materials
• Rate-dependent behaviors of high-temperature polymers and shape memory materials
• Effects of environmental exposure and isothermal aging on materials
• Unique expertise on combining synergistic experimentation and modeling

Amber McClung joins St. Mary's after serving as a National Research Council Associate at the Air Force Research Laboratory. Her Air Force research in the Composites and Hybrids Branch of the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate was focused on adaptive, active, and multifunctional materials. This research led to four peer reviewed journal articles and ten conference presentations/papers. In this associateship Dr. McClung benefited from the unique opportunity to work in a dynamic environment collaborating with research professionals whom hold an amazing variety of backgrounds and areas of expertise.

Amber's Ph.D. research included the experimental investigation and constitutive modeling of the effects of high-temperature degradation on the deformation behavior of polymers used in aircraft structures and engines. This research led to four peer reviewed journal articles. In addition she presented the results of this research at the 2008 ASME Pressure Vessel and Piping Conference, and won the 16th International Annual ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Division Student Paper Competition. Building on this positive experience, she highly encourages students to participate in research conferences with their own work as well.

With Dr. McClung's background and skills she is striving to make a strong contribution to the Engineering Department at St. Mary's University. In addition, she looks forward to the challenge of establishing the new mechanical engineering program within the department.

B.S., University of Florida, 2001
M.S., University of California Irvine, 2003
Ph.D., University of Arkansas, 2008

McCue is comparative physiologist who seeks to understand how animals have become adapted to cope with the unique challenges presented by their respective environments.

As a graduate student McCue was granted a 3 year fellowship by the National Science Foundation to cover bioenergetic costs and benefits associated with venom production by pit-vipers. As a doctoral student he was granted a four-year fellowship allowing him to research the physiological and biochemical strategies that allow some vertebrates to survive years of starvation. After earning his doctorate, McCue spent two years in Israel supported by the Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research and the Ministry of Education where he mentored undergraduate and graduate students and conducted research to develop novel approaches for using stable isotopes to investigate how animals store and/or breakdown the nutrients in the foods they ingest.

McCue is an active member of the American Physiological Society and the Society for Comparative and Integrative Biology. He teaches general physiology, comparative physiology, and general biology, and is developing a program that will allow St. Mary's students to participate in supervised research in comparative physiology.

Selected Recent Publications

McCue, M.D. 2011. Tracking the oxidative and nonoxidative fates of isotopically labeled nutrients in animals. BioScience. 61(3): 217-230.

McCue, M.D., A. Smith, R. McKinney, B. Rewald, B. Pinshow, S.R. McWilliams. 2011. A mass balance approach to identify and compare differential rounting of 13C-labeled carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins in vivo. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. In press.

McCue, M.D., S.R. McWilliams, B. Pinshow. 2011. Ontogeny and nutritional status influence oxidative kinetics of exogenous nutrients and whole-animal bioenergetics in zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. 84(1): 32-42.

McCue, M.D. 2010. Starvation physiology: reviewing the different strategies animals use to survive a common challenge. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, 156A: 1-18.

McCue, M.D. 2010. Hyperoxia reduces the costs of digestion in snakes: Investigating the energetic consequences of the paleoatmosphere. Open Access Animal Physiology. 2: 69-79.

McCue, M.D., O. Sivan, S.R. McWilliams, B. Pinshow. 2010. Breath testing reveals the oxidative kinetics of 13C-labeled dietary carbohydrates, amino acids, and fatty acids in house sparrows, Passer domesticus. Journal of Experimental Biology. 213: 782-789.

B.S., Mount Union College, 1996
M.S., Texas State University, 2000
Ph.D., University of Texas at San Antonio, 2007

Evelynn Mitchell, Ph.D., earned her doctorate from the Environmental Science & Engineering program at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Mitchell taught physics at the University of the Incarnate Word prior to pursuing her Ph.D. She also gained experience in engineering and applied physics working as a manufacturing engineer at Sony Semiconductor from 2000 to 2003.

Mitchell focused on studying the Edwards aquifer in her dissertation research in which she used a combination of hydrogeology and geophysical skills to determine specific storage values using the compression of earthquake waves. She has also performed geophysics research using seismic and resistivity applications to look at the underlying geology and water table in the Texas Hill Country and in Jalisco, Mexico.

Her current research interests involve studying the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere within caves; studying the correlations between the composition of the geological formation and the CO2 levels; and understanding how much of the carbon dioxide produced in the cave environment adds to the CO2 levels in the outside atmosphere.

Publications

Mitchell, J. N. AND E. J. Mitchell. July 2009. Airflow and CO2 in Robber Baron Cave, Proceedings of the International Congress on Speleology, Kerrville, Texas.

Mitchell, E.J.R. and A. Dutton. 2007. Calculation of Specific Storage in the Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone) Aquifer, Central Texas, Using Seismic Efficiencies. Report for the Edwards Aquifer Authority, San Antonio, Texas, pp. 34.

Presentations

Mitchell, E. J. R. and A. R. Dutton. 2007. Specific Storage Results for the Edwards Aquifer Using the Seismic Efficiency Method, National Ground Water Association 2007 Groundwater Summit, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Mitchell, Evelynn J. 2008. Storativity from Seismic Waves: Using Rayliegh Waves for Seismic Efficiency Calculations. 2008 Joint Meeting of The Geological Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies with the Gulf Coast Section of SEPM, Houston, Texas.

B.S.I.E., Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey (Mexico), 1980
M.S., University of Texas at Austin, 1983
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin,1986

Rafael Moras, Ph.D., P.E., joined St. Mary's University in 1990. He earned his bachelor's in Industrial and Systems Engineering and his master's and doctoral degrees in the areas of operations research and industrial engineering. His research interests are sequencing and scheduling and professional ethics.

Moras has published papers in journals such as Production and Inventory Management and the International Journal of Industrial Engineering. He has more than 40 participations in national and international professional meetings. He offers consulting services and workshops in the areas of lean, quality, ergonomics, and professional ethics.

Moras received the St. Mary´s Distinguished Faculty Award in 1994 and 2006. He was named Educator of the Year by the San Antonio Chapter of MAES in 1995. He serves as director for the Engineering Systems Management and the Industrial Engineering graduate programs. Moras served as director of the Pre-Freshman Engineering Program at St. Mary´s (1992-1999) and (2005-present) and at the University of Texas San Antonio (2002-2004).

Ph.D., University of Kansas, 1983

Gary B. Ogden earned his doctorate for his studies on the composition of Simian Virus 40 chromatin. His subsequent postdoctoral work at Tufts Medical School uncovered possible roles for DNA-adenine methylation in the segregation of the E. coli chromosome and the timing of new rounds of DNA replication. In 1987, after joining the research staff in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), he began to study molecular aspects of microbial pathogenesis, using the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi as a model. In 1989 he left the NIH to join the research faculty at Yale University's School of Medicine, where he cloned T. cruzi virulence molecules. Since joining St. Mary's in 1991, he has been able to fulfill his long-standing goal of teaching and mentoring undergraduate students, and has continued to study molecular aspects of microbial pathogenesis. Moreover, as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, he has established collaborative research efforts concerning the development of a genetic vaccine against the protozoan parasite Leishmania.

Ogden's research concerns the study of gene regulation and cell differentiation in Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania. He believes that the classical MAP kinase pathway (see figure), which links extracellular differentiation and growth signals to gene expression, is conserved across the evolutionary gap separating mammalian cells from these protozoa. His interests include the identification of parasite genes used in cell signaling and transcriptional activation. He also has ongoing collaborative studies, funded by the Veterans Administration, developing a genetic vaccine against leishmaniasis, and he is also developing molecular methods to detect and identify Leishmania sp. and trypanosomes.

B.S., Davidson College, 1998
Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2003

After earning her doctorate, Susan P. Oxley, Ph.D., was a postdoctoral research associate and visiting faculty member at Trinity University in San Antonio from 2004-2007. Oxley joined the faculty at St. Mary's in 2007, and is responsible for teaching general chemistry, analytical chemistry and instrumental analysis.

Oxley's research interests are in the general field of surface chemistry. Her graduate studies involved generating and characterizing surface composition gradients by the electrochemical control of self-assembled monolayers on gold. She characterized the gradients using surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. She also modified thiol gradients with the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin for studies of cell motility.

At Trinity University, Oxley studied thin films ( ~1 µm thick) of low-temperature molecular solids using infrared spectroscopy. She studied the isotopic exchange of H2O and D2O on the surface of ice and hydrogen-bonding in mixtures of H2S and D2S at 70 K. At St. Mary's, Oxley has an ongoing project studying the affect of surface confinement on the acid/base properties of thiol molecules.

B.S., Texas State University (formerly Southwest Texas University), 1989
M.S., Texas State University, 1991
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 1995

Timothy Raabe, Ph.D., joined the laboratory of Dr. George H. DeVries at Loyola and began work on multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a disease of unknown origin which attacks the myelin (insulation) surrounding the axons of neurons in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). The loss of myelin (or demyelination) in the CNS can produce a number of symptoms such as disturbed vision or loss of coordination. The cells responsible for producing myelin in the CNS are termed oligodendrocytes. The oligodendrocytes are not mitotically active in adults so once they are destroyed in MS remyelination is not successful.

His research at Loyola involved using growth factors (molecules that influence oligodendrocyte development) to determine the feasibility of using certain growth factors as possible therapeutic agents. Raabe's work focused on a family of growth factors termed neuregulins. The neuregulins are very important for the development of not only oligodendrocytes, but also Schwann cells which are responsible for myelination in the peripheral nervous system. His research focuses on the ability of both oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells to produce their own neuregulins which may enable these cells to regulate their own survival, differentiation, or proliferation.

Dr. Raabe is also the first Benjamin F. Biaggini Endowed Chair of Biological Sciences at St. Mary’s University.

B.S., University of Michigan, 1980
M.S., in Mathematics, University of Michigan, 1982
M.S., in Computer, Information and Control Engineering, University of Michigan, 1982
Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1989

Carol Luckhardt Redfield joined St. Mary’s in 1998 after having been in industry for more than a dozen years. Including summer jobs at Bell Labs, LLNL, and IBM, she worked in artificial intelligence as a Senior Research Engineer at Southwest Research Institute and as a Senior Scientist at Mei Technology Corporation. She has taught mathematics and computer science since 1980 at various universities, including the University of Michigan, UTSA, and St. Phillips College.

She has volunteered for the San Antonio Space Society and Friends Meeting of San Antonio; brought Landmark Education courses to San Antonio, founded a charter school in the city; and chaired conferences, including the 10th International Space Development Conference in 1991, Intelligent Tutoring Systems in 1998, and Artificial Intelligence in Education in 2001. Redfield was inducted into the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame for the 1992 Science category, given the Alice Wright Franzke Feminist Award in 2007, and received the Distinguished Faculty Award for 2008-2009 from St. Mary’s Graduate School. She is married to an engineer and has two children.

Her research interests include artificial intelligence, expert systems/knowledge engineering, educational software, and game/computer-based training/intelligent tutoring, eLearning, game development, and search engine optimization.

B.S., Pars College (Iran), 1971
B.S.E.E., Southern Methodist, 1978
M.S.E.E., Southern Methodist, 1980
Ph.D., Southern Methodist, 1984

Bahman Rezaie, Ph.D., earned his doctorate in Electrical Engineering from SMU in 1984. The results of his thesis (on image registration and pattern recognition) were published as a paper in IEEE transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems in November 1984.

After teaching for three years at Southern Methodist University, Rezaie joined St. Mary’s University where he is currently Professor and Chair of the Engineering Department. In 1980, Rezaie was awarded a $300,000 research grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The research was titled "Rotation Invariant Image Registration" and was geared to investigate rotation invariance of certain features on different images to develop a class of fast algorithms to detect and register rotated objects within the image scene.

He was also co-investigator on a $137,000 research grant awarded to the Department of Engineering by the U.S. Department of Education titled "Development of Academic Program and Acquisition of Equipment for Manufacturing Engineering Degree" in 1980. Recently, he co-authored a $2.1 Million Title V grant awarded to St. Mary’s University by the U.S. Department of Education titled “St. Mary’s University’s Plan to Improve Academic Programs through Instructional Technology."

At St. Mary’s University, he served as the Acting Dean of the School of Science, Engineering, and Technology in 2000. He has taught a variety of electrical engineering courses both at the graduate and undergraduate levels, including Digital Signal Processing, Digital Image Processing, Computer-Aided Circuit Design, Microprocessors, Signals and Systems and Microelectronics. His areas of specialization are signal processing, pattern recognition, robotic vision, medical imaging, adaptive filtering, microcontrollers and embedded systems.

Rezaie is a member of Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi honorary societies of engineering. He is the recipient of the 1987-1988 Distinguished Faculty Award, (School of Science, Engineering and Technology), at St. Mary's University; recipient of the Sears-Roebuck Foundation Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award at St. Mary's University during 1991-1992; and recipient of the 1993-1994 Distinguished Faculty Award, (Graduate School), at St. Mary's University. In 2001, Rezaie was selected as a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor in the State of Texas.

B.S., University of California Davis, 1981
Ph.D., Arizona State University, 1988

After earning his doctorate, Jeff R. Schoonover, Ph.D., held a research and teaching post-doctoral fellowship at Arizona State University. He later held the position of Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Moorehead State University, Ky., for two years. Schoonover joined the faculty at St. Mary's University in 1992.

Schoonover's primary teaching duties are General Chemistry and Physical Chemistry. However, he is also available on demand to teach special topics (Physical Biochemistry, Quantum Chemistry and Spectroscopy, Computational Chemistry and Solid State Chemistry), CH 4330 (Statistical Thermodynamics) and CH 4340 (Advanced Inorganic Chemistry). He is always interested in working with students on projects or undergraduate research.

Schoonover’s primary area of research is Chemical Education. However, his research background and interests (as time allows) include theoretical chemistry, non-linear kinetics, solid state reaction kinetics and mechanisms, solid-solid phase transformations, ceramic materials preparation and processing, thermodynamics of solid solutions, and spectroscopy of rare earth compounds.

B.A., Arizona State University, 1995
B.S., University of Arizona, 2001
Ph.D., University of Colorado, 2008

Jason Shaw, Ph.D., joins the St. Mary's University Mathematics faculty this 2010 fall semester from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. His area of research is algebra, with an emphasis in group theory - specifically, classifying the clones of finite groups.

B.S., St. Mary's University, 2005
Ph.D., The University of Texas at San Antonio, (Current)

After five years of teaching high school AP physics, Ivan Silva has returned to his alma mater as a Visiting Lecturer. Silva is currently completing his doctoral work in biophysics at UTSA.

Areas of Interest:
Simulations of the binding of small ligands to globular proteins
Photoinduced effects of porphyrins on proteins
Computational Biophysics

B.A., National Taipei University of Technology, 1989
M.A., University of Cincinnati, 1994
Ph.D., University of Cincinnati, 1999

Albert Y.T. Sun, Ph.D., joined St. Mary's University in 1999 from industry where he worked as applications engineer. He served as a research advisor for Hawthorne & York International, Ltd. (HYI), a bioengineering product manufacturing company, and St. Mary's University on-site principal investigator on bioengineered hip stem implant research commissioned by Department of Defense (DOD) U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command via HYI (1999-2007).

Sun developed the state-of-the-art automated manufacturing and robotics laboratory at St. Mary's, and still teaches hands-on labs on one-academic year rotational basis. He is an active member of the SolidWorks Users Group and holds a Certified SolidWorks Associate (CSWA) Certification.

Since 2000, Sun has been an editorial board member of International Journal of Industrial Engineering. Since 2006, he has been faculty advisor for the student chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) at St. Mary's. Sun is a member of Alpha Pi Mu honorary society of industrial engineering and Omega Rho international honor society for operational research and management science.

Awarded a grant from National Science Foundation (in September 2009), Sun is currently working on a collaborative research as principle investigator: Collaborative Learning Environment for Automated Manufacturing System Integration with Texas Engineering Experiment Station.

Area of interest:
Interdisciplinary engineering research and engineering management
System integration using collaborative automation and mobile device control
Manufacturing information technology
Engineering education in automation & control technology and robotics
Medical device engineering and technology

B.S., University of Sacred Heart, 2002
M.S., University of Iowa, 2004
Ph.D., University of Iowa, 2008

Jose Tormos Melendez, Ph.D., received his bachelor's in Chemistry from the University of Sacred Heart in San Juan, Puerto Rico. During his years as an undergraduate he worked as a REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) student in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras isolating and analyzing soil samples that contain novel fatty acids with potential medicinal applications. After graduation he worked in the Chemical Technology Division at Argonne National Laboratories in Chicago, IL.

Tormos Melendez obtained his master's and doctorate from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Iowa. His research involved using enzyme kinetics and isotope effects with UV-Vis spectrophotometry to demonstrate the accumulation of a tetrahedral intermediate in the active site of the enzymes acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme found in the neuromuscular junction; and butyrylcholinesterase, an enzyme that has been the target of several nerve agents.

As a post-doctoral research fellow, Tormos Melendez worked in the research laboratory of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio where he was able to establish that an enzyme from P. anserina is a nitroalkane oxidase, upgrading the protein from its original classification as hypothetical. He has also used site-directed mutagenesis and enzyme kinetics to determine the structure and the role of specific residues in substrate binding and specificity for the mammalian enzyme polyamine oxidase.

Tormos Melendez's current research involves the use of X-ray crystallography to obtain the first mammalian crystal structure of the enzyme polyamine oxidase and further study of the structural and binding differences among the different polyamine oxidase enzymes.

Selected Publications

Tormos, J. R., Henderson Pozzi, M. and Fitzpatrick, P. F. Arch. of Biochem. and Biophys.; 2012; (In press). "Mechanistic Studies of Mammalian Polyamine Oxidase: Role of Histidine 64".

Tormos, J. R. Taylor, A. B., Colette, S. B., Hart, P. J. and Fitzptrick, P. F. Biochemistry; 2010; 49 (24), 5035 - 5041. "Identification of a Hypothetical Protein from Podospora anserina as a Nitroalkane Oxidase".

Tormos, J. R., Wiley, K. L., Wang, Y., Fournier, D., Masson, P., Nachon, P. and Quinn, D. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2010; 132 (50), 17751 - 17759. "Accumulation of Tetrahedral Intermediates in Cholinesterase Catalysis: A Secondary Isotope Effect Study".

Wiley, K. L, Tormos, J. R. and Quinn, D. M. Chem-Biol Interact; 2010; 187 (1 - 3), 124 - 127. "A secondary isotope effect study of equine serum butyrylcholinesterase-catalyzed hydrolysis of acetylthiocholine".

Tormos, J. R., Wiley, K. L., Seravalli, J., Nachon, F., Masson, P., Nicolet, Y., Quinn, D. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc.; (Communication); 2005; 127, 14538 -14539. "The Reactant State for Substrate-Activated Turnover of Acetylthiocholine by Butyrylcholinesterase is a Tetrahedral Intermediate".

B.A., College of William and Mary, 1981
M.S., University of Utah, 1985
Ph.D., University of Utah, 1990

David Turner received his Ph.D. in geology from the University of Utah, with a concentration in geochemistry. Prior to joining the St. Mary’s faculty full-time, Dr. Turner was a Staff Scientist at Southwest Research Institute, with more than 20 years of experience in addressing a wide variety of environmental issues. Beginning in 1998, he also served as adjunct faculty at the University of the Incarnate Word, Trinity University, and St. Mary’s University, teaching introductory courses in geology and environmental science.

During graduate school, Dr. Turner’s research focused on reconstructing the geochemistry of hydrothermal zinc ore deposits near Silver City, New Mexico. With summer experience in the western United States that included gold exploration, evaluation of geothermal potential, and exploring for oil and gas resources, Dr. Turner completed his studies at the University of Utah with a well-rounded understanding of how the geosciences can be applied to solving real-world problems. After graduation, he accepted a position at Southwest Research Institute, where he studied the geochemistry of radionuclide transport. He also led and contributed to a successful program to evaluate potential environmental impacts associated with nuclear fuel cycle facilities. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 journal papers, book chapters, and reports on a wide range of geochemistry and environmental topics. He serves as a peer reviewer for many academic and professional journals, and has presented research results at national and international meetings to a wide variety of audiences, including professional societies, industrial and government clients, elementary school and university students, teachers, and members of the general public.

His current research interests involve evaluating the effects of urbanization on water quality; environmental justice issues associated with environmental impact assessment; use of environmental indicators to evaluate potential cumulative environmental impacts; and addressing global climate change in the context of environmental impact assessment.

Selected Peer-reviewed Publications

• Turner, D.R. and J.R. Bowman. 1993. Origin and evolution of skarn fluids, Empire zinc skarns, Central Mining District, New Mexico, U.S.A. Applied Geochemistry 8: 9-36.
• Turner, D.R. and S.A. Sassman. 1996. Approaches to sorption modeling for high-level waste performance assessment. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 21: 311-332.
• Pabalan, R.T. and D.R. Turner. 1997. Uranium(6+) sorption on montmorillonite: Experimental and surface complexation modeling study. Aqueous Geochemistry 2: 203-226.
• Turner, D.R., R.T. Pabalan, and F.P. Bertetti. 1998. Neptunium(V) sorption on montmorillonite: An experimental and surface complexation modeling study. Clays and Clay Minerals 46: 256-269.
• Turner, D.R. and R.T. Pabalan. 1999. Abstraction of mechanistic sorption model results for performance assessment calculations at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Waste Management 19: 375-388.
• Contardi, J.S., D.R. Turner, and T.M. Ahn. 2001. Modeling colloid transport for performance assessment. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 47: 323-333.
• Wang, P., A. Anderko, and D.R. Turner. 2001. Thermodynamic modeling of radionuclide adsorption on selected minerals. I: Cations. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research 40: 4,428-4,443.
• Wang, P., A. Anderko, and D.R. Turner. 2001. Thermodynamic modeling of radionuclide adsorption on selected minerals. II: Anions. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research 40: 4,444-4,453.
• Goldberg, S., L.J. Criscenti, D.R. Turner, J.A. Davis, and K.J. Cantrell. 2007. Adsorption-Desorption Processes in Subsurface Reactive Transport Modeling. Vadose Zone Journal 6: 407-435.
• Werling, B., and D.R. Turner. 2010. A Method for Preparing for and Executing Conflict of Interest Assessments. Environmental Practice 12: 168-174.

Selected Book and Proceedings Chapters

• Turner, D.R., T. Griffin, and T.B. Dietrich. 1993. Radionuclide sorption modeling using the MINTEQA2 speciation code. C. Interrante and R. Pabalan, eds. Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings: Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management - XVI. Pittsburgh, PA: MRS: 783-789.
• Turner, D.R. and S.A. Sassman. 1994. Approaches to sorption modeling for high-level waste performance assessment. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on the Chemistry and Migration Behavior of Actinides and Fission Products in the Geosphere - Migration '93. Munich, Germany: R. Oldenbourg Verlag: 745-756.
• Turner, D.R., A.C. Bagtzoglou, and J. Foegelle. 1995. Characterization of the potential for perched water development at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Proceedings of 6th International Conference on High-Level Radioactive Waste Management. La Grange Park, IL: American Nuclear Society: 72-74.
• Turner, D.R., R.T. Pabalan, P. Muller, and F.P. Bertetti. 1995. Uniform surface complexation approaches to radionuclide sorption modeling. Proceedings of 6th International Conference on High-Level Radioactive Waste Management. La Grange Park, IL: American Nuclear Society: 234-236.
• Pabalan, R.T., D.R. Turner, F.P. Bertetti, and J.D. Prikryl. 1998. UraniumVI sorption onto selected mineral surfaces. E.A. Jenne, ed. Adsorption of Metals by Geomedia. New York, NY: Academic Press, Inc.: 99-130.
• Turner, D.R., R.T. Pabalan, J.D. Prikryl, and F.P. Bertetti. 1999. Radionuclide sorption at Yucca Mountain, Nevada - Demonstration of an alternative approach for performance assessment. J. Lee and D. Wronkiewicz, eds. Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings: Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management - XXII. Pittsburgh, PA: MRS: 583-590.
• Pabalan, R.T., D.R. Turner, and M.P. Miklas, Jr. 2000. Technetium-99 chemistry in reduced groundwaters: Implications for the performance of a proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. D. Shoesmith and R. Smith, eds. Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings: Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management - XXIII. Pittsburgh, PA: MRS: 231-236.
• Turner, D.R., F.P. Bertetti, and R.T. Pabalan. 2002. The role of radionuclide sorption in high-level waste performance assessment: Approaches for the abstraction of detailed models. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings Volume: Soil Geochemical Processes of Radionuclides. pp. 211-252.
• Turner, D.R., R.T. Pabalan, and F.P. Bertetti. 2006. Applying surface complexation modeling to radionuclide sorption. F. Lützenkirchen, ed. Surface Complexation Modeling. Amsterdam: Elsevier, Ltd.: pp. 553-604.
• Turner, D.R. 2012. Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities. Encyclopedia of Sustainability. Springer Verlag. (in press).

Selected Presentations

• Turner, D.R. 2001. Radionuclide Sorption: Abstracting information from detailed models for High-Level Nuclear Waste Performance Assessment. Invited Presentation. Nationale Genossenschaft fur die Lagerung Radioaktiver Abfalle (NAGRA) Geochemistry Workshop, October 28-30, 2001. Wettingen, Switzerland.
• Turner, D.R. 2002. The role of geosciences in nuclear waste management. Invited Presentation. Trinity University Department of Geosciences, February 11, 2002. San Antonio, TX.
• Turner, D.R., and L. Canter. 2004. A Short Course on National Environmental Policy Act Document Review. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, May 25-27, 2004. Frankfort, KY.
• Turner, D.R., and P. Mackin. 2004. A Short Course on National Environmental Policy Act Document Review. U.S. Navy Engineering Field Activities Northwest, September 21-23, 2004. Poulsbo, WA.
• Pabalan, R.T., D.R. Turner, and F.P. Bertetti. 2004. Radionuclide Sorption in High-Level Waste Performance Assessment: Abstraction of Results from Experiments and Surface-Complexation Models. Workshop on Conceptual Model Development for Subsurface Reactive Transport Modeling of Inorganic Contaminants, Radionuclides, and Nutrients, April 20-22, 2004. Albuquerque, NM.
• Turner, D.R., F.P. Bertetti, and R.T. Pabalan. 2005. Developing Thermodynamic Radionuclide Sorption Models: Experimental and Modeling Results. Invited Presentation. Nuclear Energy Agency Radionuclide Sorption Workshop, October 10-11, 2005. Paris, France.
• Turner, D.R., F.P. Bertetti, and R.T. Pabalan. 2005. Applying Radionuclide Sorption Models in Performance Assessment. Invited Presentation. Nuclear Energy Agency Radionuclide Sorption Workshop, October 10-11, 2005. Paris, France.
• Turner, D.R. 2006. Making a Living in Science and Engineering. Invited Presentation. University of the Incarnate Word, College of Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, September 29, 2006. San Antonio, TX.
• Turner, D.R., and D.A. Pickett. 2008. Overview of the United States Regulatory Framework for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Meeting, April 20-23, 2008. San Antonio, TX.
• Turner, D.R. 2008. Environmental Impact Assessment: Disciplined Analysis in a Multi-Disciplinary Context. Invited Presentation. Sigma Xi, Alamo Chapter, May 20, 2008. San Antonio, TX.
• Turner, D.R. 2011. Uranium Mining and the Nuclear Fuel Cycle. Invited Presentation. Southwest Gem and Mineral Society. February 10, 2011. San Antonio, TX.
• Mitchell, E., D. Fitzgerald, and D.R. Turner. 2011. Silicate Minerals: Nature’s Building Blocks. Poster Presentation. Southwest Gem and Mineral Society, Fiesta of Gems. March 19-20, 2011. San Antonio, TX.

B.S., St. Mary's University, 1990
M.A., Rice University, 1995
Ph.D., Rice University, 1997

Paul Uhlig, Ph.D., is a professor and Marianist Educational Associate at St. Mary's. His research and teaching interests include radiotherapy optimal design, cake cutting, sphere kissing, numerical analysis, modeling, algorithms, and flow-shop problems.

Uhlig also has coached mathematics competitions, including the William Lowell Putnam Mathematics Competition. He currently is the faculty sponsor for St. Mary’s Chess Club and co-sponsor of the Math Club’s Poker Challenge.

B.S.Ed., Ohio University, 1979
M.Ed., Ohio University, 1981
Ph.D., University of Texas, 1990

Mary Wagner-Krankel, Ph.D. has the distinction of being the first woman to teach full-time at St. Mary’s University (1992). She had taught previously at Hardin-Simmons University, University of Texas at Austin, and Ohio State University. Dr. Wagner-Krankel became chair of St. Mary’s Mathematics Department in 2000. Her research interests include mathematics education, assessment, and using technology in the classroom.

B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.S., University of Chicago
Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1967

Dr. Rosemarie Wahl was born in Chicago and graduated from the Girls Latin School of Chicago. She earned the B.S, degree in Quantitative Biology from MIT, the M.S. in Biochemistry and Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Chicago. She has been on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, Texas Christian University, the University of Texas at Austin, and St. Mary’s University.

Dr. Wahl served as Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, St. Mary’s University, for 25 years (1979-2004), as well as Chief Advisor for the Health Professions and Chair of the Premedical/Predental Advisory Committee. During her tenure, seven full-time faculty members were recruited and retained, 13 new courses were added to the biology curriculum, external funds totaling $8 million were brought to the university through faculty grant proposals, the application process to medical and dental school was redesigned, the departmental curriculum was tailored to three career goals: teaching and research, the health professions and industry, and approximately 500 St. Mary’s University students were accepted to medical school and 150 to dental school.

Dr. Wahl pioneered in research on DNA. Her research contributions are in the molecular structure of bacterial viruses, the chemical basis of genetic mutation and the mechanism of DNA replication.

Dr. Wahl’s memberships include the American Society of Microbiology, Texas Genetics Society, Sigma Xi Honor Society, and the Texas Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (serving on the executive committee). She is presently a Vice-President of her class of MIT Alumni/ae.

Dr. Wahl has received the Distinguished Faculty Award from St. Mary’s University School of Science, Engineering and Technology. Her biography is included in the Marquis publications: Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who among American Women, Who’s Who in Education and Who’s Who in Medicine and Health Care.

Dr. Wahl currently teaches Genetics and Molecular Biology lecture/laboratory courses for science majors and Food and Nutrition I and II for non-science majors.

Sherry Wood served twenty years in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps where she was stationed in Missouri, Europe, Arizona, Korea, Colorado and San Antonio. After she retired, she worked full-time at the Bill Greehey School of Business from 1998-2001 and part-time in the Psychology Department from 2001-2002. She has been working full time for the School of Science, Engineering and Technology in the Biology, Chemistry, Geology, and Physics Departments since 2002.