Dr. Mark P. Cal Named Distinguished Teacher, 2002

SOCORRO, N.M., May 14, 2002 - New Mexico Tech presented its Distinguished Teaching Award for 2002 to Dr. Mark P. Cal, assistant professor of environmental engineering, during commencement ceremonies on May 11.

Cal earned his bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He came to New Mexico Tech in 1998, and he is currently an assistant professor of environmental engineering and an adjunct assistant professor of chemical engineering. In 2001, he was the recipient of UIUC's "Young Civil Engineer Achievement Award."

Cal was with the University of Nevada Desert Research Institute during 1995-96. Between 1996-97, he was adjunct assistant professor of environmental engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

At New Mexico Tech, Cal has been an effective teacher of complex material. Three of the many students who nominated him for the award wrote, "One of his teaching strengths is the ability to explain potentially complex subjects through the use of easily understood real-life examples. Dr. Cal lets you know what are the most important concepts in a particular subject area, and whenever possible, he also tells you what practicing engineers are likely to do."

The students added, "He also does not seem to mind if you corner him to ask him questions in the Student Union Building, or even if you see him around town."

Cal has been active as advisor to Environmental Engineering Club. He has encouraged field trips and aided the club to develop professionally by encouraging national memberships and conference attendance.

He has also been an effective mentor of graduate students conducting research under his supervision, and of undergraduates applying to graduate school.

In explaining his approach to teaching, Cal said, "I think about what would make it easy for me to learn the material, and I try to provide some real-world examples that students can apply when they are practicing engineering. I avoid abstract homework problems and try to emphasize why they need to know these things. I also try to bring out what the more important points are - what they will really need to know, and what they are going to be using over and over again."

Cal's research is centered around air pollution engineering.

"The first project," he says, "which I am doing in conjunction with Los Alamos National Laboratory, is on using non-thermal plasmas to destroy air pollutants. This involves using high voltages to break down air and produce ions and radicals that can be used to oxidize organic pollutants.

"The second project," he continues, "which is done in conjunction with Sandia National Laboratories, is studying the fate and transport of explosives compounds related to land mine detection. We are developing chemical sensor technology to 'sniff' land mines. The resulting technology could be put on an unmanned vehicle, eliminating the need to use dogs and human handlers to sniff landmines."