wooden statue about five feet high while getting refreshments, which they requested to borrow. The next day, Gill presented the statue as their patron saint and traced his ancestry back to ancient times between classes. The presentation successfully broke up classes, and led to his christening as Alexander Frederick Claire, patron saint of UT engineers, exactly one year later. Alec was at the center of a friendly rivalry between law and engineering students for many years, and was subject to numerous escapades such as kidnappings and amputations. Today, what is left of the original wooden statue is safely preserved in the engineering library. Every year, engineering groups on campus build new Alecs which are then voted on by the students. The winner is announced on April 1 during Alec's birthday party. Notable faculty John B. Goodenough, recipient of 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for research leading to creation of lithium-ion battery Hans Mark, former Secretary of the Air Force and Deputy Administrator of NASA Yale Patt, inventor of the WOS module, the first complex logic gate implemented on a single piece of silicon Alan Bovik, Primetime Emmy Award-winning engineer whose video quality tools pervade television, social media and home cinema Ilya Prigogine, recipient of 1977 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to non-equilibrium thermodynamics Robert Metcalfe, co-inventor of Ethernet Willis Adcock, worked on the first atomic bomb and assisted with the invention of the silicon transistor, as well as the integrated circuit Edith Clarke, first woman faculty member of electrical engineering in the US and inventor of Clarke Calculator and method of symmetrical components Research centers The Cockrell School of Engineering has formal organized research units that coordinate and promote faculty and student research. These units provide and maintain specialized research facilities for faculty within a designated field. Advanced Manufacturing Center Center for Aeromechanics Research Center for Energy & Environmental Resources Energy Institute Advanced Research in Software Engineering Center for Mechanics of Solids, Structures & Materials Center for Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering Center for Research in Water Resources Center for Space Research Center for Transportation Research UT Austin Computer Engineering Research Center Construction Industry Institute Phil M. Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory Microelectronics Research Center Offshore Technology Research Center Texas Materials Institute Wireless Networking & Communications Group Applied Research Laboratories Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences Center for Subsurface Energy and the Environment Center for Nanomanufacturing Systems for Mobile Computing