Prof. Kenneth D. Langley Memorial Award Presented to UMass Dartmouth Senior Sadeq Taha

On May 1, 2018, at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, family and colleagues of the late Professor Kenneth Langley gathered to announce an annual award for excellent commitment and service to the department and the university in memory of Professor Langley. Langley was an alumnus of UMass Dartmouth and a faculty member of UMass Dartmouth for more than 43 years. He was committed to teaching textiles, materials and statistics. He worked as the graduate program director for more than 18 years, served as an active academic advisor at the Academic Advising Center. He also served as the Technical Director of ATMC (now CIE) for two years.

Outside University, Prof. Langley was a Fellow of the Textile Institute and a Charted Textile Technologist. He was a well-known fiber identification expert, especially for animal hairs such as cashmere and camel hair. He was the secretary of committee RA 24 Fiber Analysis Test Methods, American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists. He was also a life member of International Textile Education Consortium, a member of USA Technical Advisory Group for ISO/TC38 - Textiles. Prof. Langley published more than 25 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers, 22 technical reports and professional manuscripts including one book chapter.

While his technical work is impressive, it is Prof. Langley's committed service to the university was celebrated. At the University level he was an active member of the Academic Advising Center, and the President of the Faculty Senate. At the College of Engineering level, he was a member and chair of the College Academic Council, and more importantly he was the founding department chair of Bioengineering for the academic year 2011 to 2012. Prof. Langley was instrumental in the development of the new Bioengineering program as the department transitioned from materials and textiles. His colleagues have established an award for a Bioengineering student who demonstrates the same passion for the department, and shows a strong commitment to promoting the bioengineering program.

This year's inaugural Prof. Kenneth D. Langley Memorial award was presented to Sadeq Taha. Sadeq is a Bioengineering senior who has conducted admissions tours daily including many weekends and holidays for the Bioengineering Department and the College of Engineering. He has promoted the department at open houses, and has reached out to the community and introduced engineering to youth. His excitement and passion for Bioengineering is evident as he speaks with his guests, similar to the passion Prof. Langley had for Bioengineering. Maryann Langley and Philip Langley presented the award.