UA Engineering’s Karr Wins T. Morris Hackney Faculty Leadership Award

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.–The University of Alabama College of Engineering recently announced Dr. Charles Karr, associate dean for research and graduate studies, as the 2005 T. Morris Hackney Endowed Faculty Leadership award recipient.

The T. Morris Hackney Endowed Faculty Leadership Award honors a faculty member who exemplifies the leadership qualities that advance and add to the stature of the College of Engineering.

Karr is a graduate of UA, completing his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1984, and his master’s and doctorate in engineering mechanics in 1987 and 1989, respectively.

He joined the College of Engineering full time in 1995 as an assistant professor in the engineering science and mechanics department. He was an instrumental leader in the process of joining the aerospace engineering and the engineering science and mechanics departments. In 2001, he was named department head of aerospace engineering and mechanics.

Appointed associate dean for research and graduate studies in 2004, Karr is responsible for working with research funding agencies, assisting engineering faculty with research proposals and budgets, and coordinating the engineering graduate programs.

He has become widely known for his pioneering work in combining genetic algorithms and fuzzy logic, and he has successfully applied these techniques in the aerospace, mineral processing, manufacturing and steel industries. Considered a leading expert in the area of intelligent systems, Karr holds two international patents in intelligent systems for locating the source of radio signals.

This award was created as a tribute to T. Morris Hackney and was made possible by contributions from John H. Josey and his son, Howard Josey.

In 1837, UA became the first university in the state to offer engineering classes and was one of the first five in the nation to do so. Today, the College of Engineering, with about 1,900 students and more than 90 faculty, is one of the three oldest continuously operating engineering programs in the country and has been fully accredited since accreditation standards were implemented in the 1930s.

Note to the Editor: Photos to accompany this release are available from Mary Wymer at mwymer@coe.eng.ua.edu.