Friday, December 16, 2016

Inaugural Dolese Teaching Fellows Named



The Gallogly College of Engineering is very grateful to Dolese for the opportunity to pilot a new program for the academic year 2017 that supports teaching excellence by providing $250,000 to support graduate teaching fellowships.  The GCoE has granted ten Dolese Teaching Fellows awards at $25,000 each to support the teaching mission of the college.  Two of the fellowships were granted to CEES and were awarded to doctoral students Tommy Bounds and Trevor Looney.

A native of Oklahoma, Tommy Bounds attended the University of Oklahoma where he completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering.  His master’s thesis research, with advisor CEES professor Gerald Miller, investigated soil stabilization with non-lime based stabilizers on clayey soils with and without sulfates.

After completing his master’s degree, Bounds worked for Red Rock Consulting in Edmond, Oklahoma as a project specialist and then a project engineer after completing his professional engineering licensing exam.  While at Red Rock Consulting, he worked on numerous foundation investigations for projects ranging from bridges and embankments to multilevel building and parking garages.  After three and a half years in practice, Bounds will return to CEES to begin work on a doctoral degree in civil engineering under the guidance of CEES professors Miller and K.K. “Muralee” Muraleetharan.  Bounds will co-teach CEES 4903/4993, Civil Engineering and Architectural Engineering Capstone classes with CEES associate professor Jeffery Volz in spring 2017.

Trevor Looney received his bachelor’s of science degree with Summa Cum Laude honors and his master’s degree both in civil engineering and from the Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2010 and 2012 respectively. The Delaware native is currently working towards his doctoral degree in civil engineering from OU under the guidance of CEES associate professor Jeffery Volz.  Looney’s master’s research was also guided by Volz and focused on the effects on bond strength of high-volume fly ash and self-consolidating concrete for infrastructure applications.

Upon completion of his master’s degree, Looney worked for ENERCON Services in Kansas City, Kansas until moving to Wallace Engineering in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  He has worked on projects related to modifications to nuclear facilities, the design of steel, reinforced concrete, and wood structural systems for buildings, and conducted special inspections on steel, reinforced concrete, and masonry structures.  Looney will co-teach CEES 3403, Materials, with Volz in spring 2017.