More than 500 people volunteered or were nominated to serve as chairs and
members of the 34 teams and task forces that were created to develop strategic
recommendations for the University. Their work will be part of a wide-ranging,
consultative process designed to help the University become
one of the world's top three public research institutions within
a decade.
The task forces met September 16 at an all-day retreat/work session
to begin their work. University president Robert H. Bruininks has created
several teams that will coordinate the work of the task forces.
On September 9, Bruininks
gave the board of regents an overview of the next steps in the University’s
strategic positioning plan. More...
IMA awarded $19.5M NSF grant
The Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA)
has received the largest single math research grant ever made by the National
Science Foundation (NSF): $19.5 million over five years. The IMA, a research
center within IT, is now the nation's top math institute in terms of funding.
Founded in 1982, the IMA brings together mathematicians and experts in a
wide range of disciplines to solve important scientific, technological, and
social problems. With no permanent faculty, the IMA involves more than 1,000
people each year who focus on a thematic program selected by a national board.
In 2005–06 the IMA will study imaging. According to mathematics professor
Douglas Arnold, IMA director, the grant money will be used partly to bring
in leading researchers for longer periods of time. More..
Shekhar appointed AHPCRC director
IT
dean Steven Crouch announced the appointment of Distinguished McKnight
University Professor Shashi
Shekhar (computer science and engineering) as director of the Army High
Performance Computing Research Center (AHPCRC),
effective September 1. He succeeds Professor Vipin Kumar, who became head
of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering July 1. Shekhar is a
world leader in the area of spatial databases, an interdisciplinary field
at the intersection of computer science and geographic information science.
Mahesh, Porté-Agel named McKnight Presidential Fellows
Associate professors Krishnan
Mahesh (aerospace engineering and mechanics) and Fernando
Porté-Agel (civil engineering) and have been named 2005 McKnight
Presidential Fellows. The University-wide honor recognizes the most promising
faculty who have been granted tenure and promotion to associate professor.
Mahesh's research involves the computation, analysis, and modeling of turbulent
flows. He is working with researchers at Stanford University and Pratt & Whitney
to simulate the process by which liquid fuel in a commercial gas-turbine combustor
breaks into droplets, evaporates, and burns. His work is part
of the U.S. Department of Energy's Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative.
Porté-Agel
studies land-atmosphere exchange processes, turbulence, and computational
fluid dynamics. Other areas of research are hydrology and water resources
engineering. Other areas of research are hydrology and water resources engineering.
He works closely with the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute, NSF National
Center for Earth-surface Dynamics, and St. Anthony Falls Laboratory.
IT welcomes new faculty
Twenty-two new faculty will join IT during the 2005–06 academic year.
The new faculty members are:
Professor: Fotis Sotiropoulos (civil
engineering) Associate Professor: Euisik Yoon (ECE) Assistant Professor:
Bernard Mettler (AEM); Taner Akkin (biomedical engineering);
Kevin Dorman (CEMS); Christy Haynes (chemistry); Kimberly Hill,
Taichiro Okazaka, Henry Liu, Steven Wojkiewicz (civil engineering);
Arindam Banerjee, Tian He, Mohamed Mokbel (CSE); Marc Riedel, Sang-Hyun
Oh (ECE); Katsumi Matsumoto (geology and geophysics); Adrian Dianconu,
Marta Lewicka (mathematics); Alptekin Aksan, Bharath Rangarajan (mechanical
engineering); Jeremiah Mans, Vincent Noireaux (physics)
In memoriam
George Freier
George
Freier, 90, a retired University of Minnesota physics professor who was as
well known for his avuncular demeanor as his studies of lightning, rain, snowflakes,
and other weather-related phenomena, died Friday, May 13, in St. Joseph’s
Hospital, St. Paul, after a brief illness. He had been living in
the St. Anthony Park area of St. Paul.
Freier grew up on a farm near Ellsworth, Wisconsin, and graduated from River
Falls State Teachers College in Wisconsin in 1938. After receiving his degree
he taught science and mathematics in White Lake, Wisconsin, for three
years. He received a master of arts degree from the University of Minnesota
in 1941 and worked in the Naval Ordnance Laboratory from 1942 to 1944. Freier
received a doctorate in nuclear physics from the University in 1949 but switched
to atmospheric physics 10 years later. He joined the University’s physics
faculty as an assistant professor in 1949 and became a full professor in 1958,
retiring in 1985.
Freier studied the meteorology and physics of large thunderstorms, especially
the electrical aspects. He developed a theory of rain formation in which radioactive
atoms played a role in nucleation of water to form droplets. He took an interest
in weather lore and frequently answered reporters’ questions about the
validity of weather proverbs; he also wrote a book about weather proverbs. More...
Miles Kersten
Miles Kersten, retired professor of civil engineering and a University alumnus,
died August 28 in Minneapolis. He was 92.
A member of the civil engineering faculty for 33 years, Kersten was instrumental
in developing programs in soil mechanics and highway engineering related to
soils and pavement design. In his research Kersten concentrated on frost action
in the design of highways. He also studied the thermal conductivity of soils,
work that still finds application in a variety of problems.
Kersten was born in St. Paul in 1913 and graduated from Minneapolis South
High School. He received bachelor's (1934), master's (1936), and doctoral
degrees in civil engineering from the University. In 1935 he took a job as
a soils engineer for the Minnesota Department of Highways. He joined the University
faculty in 1945 and retired in 1978. After retiring he served as an advisor
to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
He was an honorary member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and
a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers. In 1990 the Department
of Civil Engineering created the Miles Kersten Land Grant Chair with gifts
from the highway industry and friends in Minnesota. In 1995 he received the
first Richard P. Braun Distinguished Service Award from the University's Center
for Transportation Studies. More...
Anatoly Larkin
Anatoly
Larkin, University professor and world-renowned physicist, died unexpectedly
Thursday, August 4, in Aspen, Colorado, where he was attending a workshop.
He was 72.
Larkin was a major contributor to the fundamental understanding of superconductivity
and the theory of phase transitions. His research was also instrumental to
the study of the physics of one-dimensional systems and clusters used in the
fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
He was born October 14, 1932, in the Moscow region of the former Soviet Union.
He received his master’s of science degree from the Moscow Physical
Engineering Institute in 1956, where he worked as a researcher for nine years.
During this time he received his doctorate degree from the Kurchatov Institute
of Atomic Energy. From 1966 to 1995, Larkin was a department head at the Landau
Institute for Theoretical Physics. He concurrently worked as a Moscow State
University professor for 21 of these years. Larkin joined the University of
Minnesota physics faculty in 1995 as the William I. and Bianca M. Fine Professor
at the William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute.
Larkin was one of the founding fathers of the famous Russian school of theoretical
physics. Many of his former students hold leading academic positions at universities
and institutes in Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, the U.S., and Israel,
and continued to work with Larkin up to his death. More...
IT Mentor Program needs you
Share your knowledge and expertise with IT students who are looking for mentors.
The IT Mentor Program matches students
with professionals in science, math, and engineering fields.
You and your company will gain a closer connection to the University as well
as the opportunity to network with other professionals. Best of all, you'll
have the reward of helping a student launch his or her professional career.
Students meet with their mentors to prepare for the transition from the academic
environment to the professional world. Activities include networking, sharing
ideas, touring a company, attending professional meetings, discussing career
strategies, and reviewing resumes. Time commitment is two hours per month
from October through April. Training and guidance is provided.
Registration is open now through the end of September. For more information
contact Sara Beyer at 612-626-8282 or sbeyer@umn.edu.
Zurn appointed new communications director
Rhonda Zurn will join IT as the college’s new communications
director September 26. Zurn, currently a communications professional with
the St. Paul Public Schools, has extensive experience in public relations,
marketing, and communications management for educational institutions, including
six years in higher education. She succeeds Paul Sorenson, who left IT for
a post in the University of Minnesota Foundation's communications department.
OVPR launches new information resource on funding opportunities
Sponsors of external funding can restrict the number of applications
they will accept from a single institution. The Office of the Vice President
for Research has created a Web
site that gives the University community a single
point of access to information on these funding opportunities. This site lists
current funding opportunities, deadline information, and links to sponsor
announcements and guidelines for internal peer review.
Faculty and staff can use this site to register interest in a particular
opportunity and to access information about internal application procedures.
Registrants must submit an internal application to be considered for peer
review and selection as the official applicant to the sponsor. Faculty and
staff can also use the site to identify potential collaborators who could
work together to submit a stronger application.
Newly announced funding opportunities that restrict the number of applications
will be publicized in Research
News Online, with a link to the new site. Suggestions
to improve the site are welcome and can be sent to Peggy
Sundermeyer.
CES sponsors faculty research discussion group
IT faculty are invited to join a new campus-wide faculty research discussion
group sponsored by the Center
for Entrepreneurial Studies (CES) in the Carlson
School of Management.
The discussion group will carry out and support cross-disciplinary research
for faculty who have
an interest in entrepreneurship and technology innovation. For more information
contact Sharon Hansen at shansen@csom.umn.edu or
612-624-0226.
Honors
Distinguished McKnight University Professor George
Barany (chemistry) received the Ralph F. Hirschmann Award in Peptide
Chemistry from the American Chemical Society for creating pioneering
methods of synthesizing, or constructing, peptides.
Professor Edward
Cussler (chemical engineering and materials science) received
the 2005 Fred Merryfield Design Award from the American Society for Engineering
Education (ASEE), which recognizes excellence in teaching engineering
design.
Shimuzu Professor Andrew
Drescher (civil engineering) was awarded the 2005
Distinguished Engineer of the Year Award from the Minnesota Federation of
Engineering, Science, and Technology Societies (MFESTS). This honor was given
in recognition of his outstanding lifetime contributions to research, teaching,
and international service in the field of geomechanics engineering. Paul Eickenburg,
adjunct professor of civil engineering, received the 2005 Young Engineer
of the Year Award from MFESTS for his excellent work in civil engineering
and community service.
Professor Georgios
Giannakis (electrical and computer engineering)
received the 2005 Technical Achievement Award from the European Association
for Signal, Speech and Image Processing (EURASIP), the association's highest
award given to an individual. The award honors an individual's
fundamental contributions to the advancement of science.
Professor Steven
Girshick (mechanical engineering) received the 2005 Plasma
Chemistry Award from the International Plasma Chemistry Society. The award
is given every two years to an individual who has made significant, longtime
research contributions to plasma chemistry and plasma processing science and
who has given exemplary service to the scientific community.
Assistant Professor Christy
Haynes (chemistry) received the 2005 American
Chemical Society (ACS) Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education
in Chemistry for her doctoral thesis, which was completed in 2003.
Professor Joachim
Heberlein received the American Society for Metals-Thermal Spray Society
Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service as chairman of the TSS Journal
of Thermal Spray Technology.
The IT Alumni
Society (ITAS) received the University of Minnesota Alumni Association's
Alumni Society of the Year award. ITAS was honored for the
excellence of its programs in 2004–05. ITAS and other UMAA
award winners will be recognized at the volunteer awards ceremony
on Friday, October 7, at the Campus Club. The event is part of the Alumni
Leadership Summit.
Professor Frank
Kulacki (mechanical engineering) received the Distinguished
Service Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in June.
Professor Alan
Shapiro (history of science and technology) has been elected
vice president of the International Academy of the History of Science.
Professor Donald
Truhlar (chemistry) received
the Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry from the American Chemical Society
for his work in developing methods for computing the rates at which chemical
reactions occur.
Professor Michael
Tsapatsis (chemical engineering and materials science)
is the recipient of the 2005 Stratis V. Sotirchos Lectureship from the Institute
of Chemical Engineering and High Temperature Chemical Processes (ICE-HT).
The
lectureship is awarded every other year to an individual
who has produced important results in a chemical engineering research
and development field.
Professor Arkady
Vainshtein (physics) has received the 2005 Pomeranchuk
Prize from the A.I. Alikhanov Institute for Theoretical and Experimental
Physics, in Moscow, Russia. Vainshtein shares the prize with his collaborator,
Iosif Khriplovich of the Budker Institute for Nuclear Physics in Novosibirsk,
Russia. They were honored for outstanding contributions to the understanding
of the properties of the standard model, especially for illuminating work
on weak and strong interaction of quarks.
Liuqing Yang (Electrical M.S. ’02, Ph.D. ’04) received the University
of Minnesota Graduate School's Best Dissertation Award in the Physical Sciences
and Engineering in 2005. Her thesis advisor was Professor Georgios Giannakis
(electrical and computer engineering). Yang is now an assistant professor
in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida-Gainsville.
Borealis III, the University's entry in the 2005 North American Solar Challenge
(NASC), finished second by about 11 minutes to the University of Michigan's
car in the 2,500-mile "rayce" for solar-powered vehicles. The 11-day
event began in Austin, Texas, on July 17 and concluded in Calgary, Alberta,
on July 27. A team of 46 University undergraduates—members of the Solar
Vehicle Project—created Borealis III using a wide array of interdisciplinary
technologies, including digital electronics, high-efficiency solar cells,
composite materials, and efficient suspension systems unique to solar cars.
More...
Events
2005 Homecoming
September 23–24: Homecoming
Week 2005 offers something for everyone. Join us for weekend
festivities that
include a community lunch, pepfest, homecoming breakfast and parade, a Parents
Weekend Package, Alumni Wall of Honor dedication, and the football game
against Purdue.
September 23: A highlight of this year's homecoming is the
dedication of the Alumni
Wall of Honor, a landmark work of art. Designed by architect Antoine
Predock in collaboration with sculptor Constance DeJong, the Alumni Wall
of Honor will stretch more than 200 feet along Oak Street from the corner
of Oak and Washington Avenue. The structure honors the winners of the Outstanding
Achievement Award (OAA), the University’s highest alumni honor.
The names of all OAA recipients will be listed on the wall. University community
members and the public are invited to a complimentary lunch and pepfest
at noon and the dedication ceremony at 9 p.m. Free. Gateway
Plaza, McNamara
Alumni Center.
Second International Symposium on Nanotechnology and Occupational Health
October 3–6: The Second International Symposium on Nanotechnology
and Occupational Health will be the premier global meeting of 2005 addressing
the potential implications and applications of nanotechnologies in the workplace.
The symposium will
provide a multi-stakeholder forum for presenting, assimilating, and discussing
the latest breakthroughs and activities in addressing nanotechnology and worker
safety and health. For further information
contact Katie Kjeseth at 612-624-3708 or conferences5@cce.umn.edu.
October 6–7: Municipal wireless networks are being
planned and implemented across the nation and the world. This conference will
address the use of wireless networks to improve existing community services
and innovate new collaborative content for local communities. It will act
as a catalyst to engage government, industry and community organizations on
how such content would impact public collaboration in the arts, humanities,
journalism, education, social networks and other value-added community programming.
Fee. Register
online. For more information contact Alison Baerwald
at wccc@dtc.umn.edu or 612-624-0811.
Digital Technology
Center.
Alumni Leadership Summit
October 7-8: The University
of Minnesota Alumni Association (UMAA) honors its top volunteers for their
outstanding achievements and provides a forum for them to share ideas, learn
from each other and celebrate their support for the U of M. All UMAA national,
society and chapter volunteers are invited to participate. The IT Alumni Society
will be honored during the UMAA's alumni volunteer awards ceremony on October
7. Register
online. For more information call 612-624-2323 or 800-862-5867. Campus
Club and McNamara
Alumni Center.
Unisys Lecture Series
October 10: Wendy
Kellogg, manager of social computing at
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, will present the first of this year's Unisys
Lectures. Her talk is entitled "Research and Emerging Trends in Social
Computing."
Free and open to the public. 11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m., 3-180 EE/CSci.
IEEE 5th Symposium on Bioinformatics and Bioengineering (BIBE05)
October 19–21: BIBE05 bridges
bioinformatics and bioengineering, complementary disciplines that hold great
promise for advancing research and development in complex medical and biological
systems, agriculture, environment, public health, drug design, and other areas.
Fee. Cosponsored by the Digital Technology Center, IEEE Computer Society,
and the Biological and Artificial Intelligence Society. Digital
Technology Center .
2005 Civil Engineering Open House and Alumni Reunion
October 28: This year's open
house includes
a professional development seminar on the changing role of civil engineers
in the era of design-build projects. The seminar, "A Changing
Culture: Civil Engineers and Design-Build," will bring together consultants,
managers, and contractors to talk about the challenges of managing projects
under design-build rules and how design-build has changed the industry's way
of doing business. Seminar fee includes 2PDHs, parking, and program materials. Register
online or download pdf
registration form. Open house is free. For more information
call 612-625-5522 or email cive@umn.edu. 2:30-4:30
p.m., seminar; 4:30-5:30 p.m., reception and open house. Civil
Engineering Building.
IT
dean Steven Crouch announced the appointment of Distinguished McKnight
University Professor 
Mahesh's research involves the computation, analysis, and modeling of turbulent
flows. He is working with researchers at Stanford University and Pratt & Whitney
to simulate the process by which liquid fuel in a commercial gas-turbine combustor
breaks into droplets, evaporates, and burns. His work is part
of the U.S. Department of Energy's Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative. 
Porté-Agel
studies land-atmosphere exchange processes, turbulence, and computational
fluid dynamics. Other areas of research are hydrology and water resources
engineering. Other areas of research are hydrology and water resources engineering.
He works closely with the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute, NSF National
Center for Earth-surface Dynamics, and St. Anthony Falls Laboratory. 
George
Freier, 90, a retired University of Minnesota physics professor who was as
well known for his avuncular demeanor as his studies of lightning, rain, snowflakes,
and other weather-related phenomena, died Friday, May 13, in St. Joseph’s
Hospital, St. Paul, after a brief illness. He had been living in
the St. Anthony Park area of St. Paul.
Anatoly
Larkin, University professor and world-renowned physicist, died unexpectedly
Thursday, August 4, in Aspen, Colorado, where he was attending a workshop.
He was 72.