Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology

Dr. Hussain Al-Rizzo, associate professor of systems engineering in the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT), won the $5,000 University Faculty Excellence Award for Research on May 1 at the University’s 21st Annual Faculty Excellence Award ceremony in the Donaghey Student Center’s Ledbetter Hall. The research award was sponsored by PepsiAmericas.

As one of the world’s leading experts in the areas of applied computational electromagnetic antennas and propagation, wireless communication systems, adaptive and statistical signal processing, and global positioning systems, Dr. Al-Rizzo could focus solely on his research and have a vibrant career.

However, the associate professor in systems engineering serves as an active mentor to both graduate and undergraduate researchers, guiding them to success in their own projects. Dr. Al-Rizzo ensures their work is as productive as his has been for more than two decades. He has earned several patents, written more than 30 peer-reviewed publications, and made countless presentations for international meetings and conferences.

Dr. Al-Rizzo earned a bachelor of science degree in electronics and communications and a postgraduate diploma from the University of Mosul in Iraq. In addition, he received a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Mosul and a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Dr. Al-Rizzo is a member of the International Council for Systems Engineering and the Materials Research Society.

Haiyan Xie, assistant professor of construction management, won the EIT college-level award for faculty excellence in teaching, while James K. Carr, associate professor of construction management, College of Engineering and Information Technology, was the EIT winner for public service.

A seven-member panel of judges selected the university-level winners from among the college-level winners. They are Jo Allen, senior vice president and provost at Widener University in Chester, Pa.; Harry J. Berman, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Illinois at Springfield; Dr. Jerilyn S. McIntyre, the first female president of Central Washington University (CWU) in Ellensburn; Suzanne Ozment, vice chancellor of academic affairs at the University of South Carolina and former dean of undergraduate studies at the Citadel; William M. Plater, director of International Community Development at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and Chancellor’s Professor of Public Affairs, Philanthropic Studies, English, and Informatics; Fred J. Taylor, chancellor and professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas at Monticello and a consultant for the Arkansas Aging Initiative of the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging; and Gail W. Wells, vice president for academic affairs and provost at Northern Kentucky University.

Nitin Agarwal of Arizona State University will join UALR’s Department of Information Science in the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology this fall, lending his extensive research experience in social computing, knowledge extraction in social media, and Web 2.0.

“He is bringing these research interests directly to teaching. He has played a major role in developing a course on Social Computing and Web Analytics,” said Daniel Berleant, search committee chair.

Agarwal will receive a Ph.D. from Arizona State prior to beginning his career at UALR in the fall. He is one of the authors of the soon-to-be-released book on web science, “Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery in Blogs.”

“He plans to bring his experience at the leading edge of Web research to a wider audience,” Berleant said.

Agarwal has published four journal papers, nine conference papers,and four book chapters and submitted four other papers. These have appeared in such prestigious forums as ACM Transactions on Knowledge Discovery from Data and the International Conference on Web Search and Data Mining.

He recently was recognized as an Outstanding Ph.D. student finalist by the School of Computing and Informatics at Arizona State.

“UALR’s Department of Information Science expects its students to benefit directly from Agarwal’s teaching and research expertise in the form of new courses and projects at both the undergraduate and graduate levels,” said department chair Elizabeth Pierce. “Agarwal will complement the department’s curriculum, teaching and research interests in web science, information quality, technology foresight, virtual reality, e-commerce, bioinformatics, and information applications.”

Four students in the Master of Science in Information Quality program have been inducted into the Zeta Chapter of Alpha Epsilon Lambda (AEL), the National Honor Society of Graduate and Professional School Students.

Kenneth Benson, Neal Gibson, Uklit Osatis, and Olukayode Issac Osesina were honored for their ethics, intellectual achievement, and leadership in their graduate work. The induction ceremony was held May 6.

Alpha Epsilon Lambda was formed in 1990 to promote ethics, intellectual achievement, and leadership among graduate students. Before AEL, no honor society was devoted exclusively to recognizing graduate students.