Raphael Kampmann, a civil engineering teaching faculty member in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, knows his class has a reputation among students for being rigorous and thorough.

So maybe, he wondered, the fact that he is the recipient of Florida State University’s 2021 Distinguished Teacher Award is a sign of encouragement from his students, a way to tell him to keep it up?

Engineering Senior Design Day 2021 was a virtual showcase of the engineering skills and talent in FAMU-FSU Engineering’s senior class. Two teams received top honors as Best Overall and Best Abstract awardees, out of the 86 engineering design teams made up of Florida A&M and Florida State university students.

This year’s winners are:

Five female students win Nestlé Waters prize

The FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and local community partners recently recognized five young female alumnae for their work in designing a more sustainable Cypress Spring. On March 4th—during the first week of Women’s History Month—the students were acknowledged by Nestlé Waters and the NW Florida Water Management District on the College of Engineering campus.

Florida is the third most populated state in the nation, and it’s still growing. As the population increases, the state must balance a growing population with protecting the natural environment. 

The strained link between land development and the state’s water resources is the focus of a new study by FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Assistant Professor Nasrin Alamdari. 

Scott Collins, Principal of Orlando Project Controls, LLC, returned to his alma mater, the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, to give an inspiring talk to a group of civil and environmental engineering (CEE) senior design students. After sharing interesting anecdotes from his life and professional experiences, Collins had one more surprise for the students:  a generous donation to the department’s new CEE Senior Design lab. 

J. Murray Gibson, dean of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, today announced his plans to step down in December to spend the last years of his career as a faculty member in the college carrying out research, teaching and service. 

Gibson joined the college as dean on July 1, 2016. He led during a period of remarkable growth in the college and its external reputation. The college jumped up 51 points in rankings last year and is now the second-highest ranked engineering school in Florida, according to US News and World Report. 

Florida State University College of Communication and Information (CCI) Associate Dean for Research and School of Information Professor Marcia A.

The Florida State University Department of Urban and Regional Planning (DURP) has received an award of $348,898 through the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity’s Rebuild Florida General Planning Support Program. Two FAMU-FSU College of Engineering civil engineering professors were part of the DURP team.

The funds are allocated through a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development mitigation program formed in response to the 2016-2017 presidentially declared disasters and are used to bolster state, regional and local planning to withstand future disasters.

Researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering have discovered a new technique that uses microwave technology to synthesize fertilizer for agriculture production. The process makes the fertilizer more efficient and better for the environment. 

Their work was recently published in Polymer Testing, an open-access scientific journal. 

Qian Zhang, an assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, wants to improve those numbers and is developing a new system to test material that supports how roads perform. 

Zhang is working on a lab-scale testing apparatus and method that evaluates products used to reinforce pavement during rehabilitation. The products specifically treat reflective cracking problems that are a leading cause of pavement failure.