Institute of Technology
launches new nanotechnology initiative
A new Center for Nanostructured Applications in the University’s
Institute of Technology will bring together researchers from across
the University to focus on the emerging applications of nanotechnology
to create devices and systems for energy, biomedicine, and information
processing. Researchers will use existing facilities and develop
new relationships with industry. The center was initiated by Institute
of Technology Dean Steven Crouch who secured funding from the University
as part of the University’s strategic positioning efforts
to boost research.
Steve
Campbell, a professor of electrical and computer engineering
who also serves as director of the University’s Nanofabrication
Center, has been selected by Dean Crouch as the director of
the new center. Campbell has agreed to a two-year term as the center’s
first director.
In addition to research, the new Center for Nanostructured Applications
will sponsor workshops, seminars,
and conferences that will provide networking opportunities and
bring top nano applications researchers to Minnesota. More...
Related content
ITems
An e-newsletter for faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of
the Institute of
Technology
Medical devices, nanotechnology
key budget priorities for 2007-08
The proposed 2007-08 University of Minnesota legislative budget
request presented to the Board of Regents in October includes $11.5
million to expand programs in medical devices, nanotechnology, neuroscience,
and engineering as well as to create a new Institute for the Advancement
of Science and Technology.
The request aims to enhance the university's mission and competitiveness
by making strategic investments in a number of areas designed to
address the economic needs of the state and help the university
become one of the top public research universities in the world.
University President Robert Bruininks unveiled a $192.3 million
investment plan that asks for $123.4 million in state support, provides
$23 million through internal reallocations and generates the remaining
$45.9 million through a 4.5 percent tuition increase for each of
the next two years—one of the most modest tuition increases
in recent history.
The request also includes $18.7 million for merit-based compensation
increases and retention of world-class researchers and teachers
and $8.4 million to expand programs in environmental, agricultural,
and renewable energy research. More...
Institute of Technology incoming
students are diverse, prepared
A recently released profile of the 825 new first-year students
in the Institute of Technology’s 2006 freshman class shows
that the incoming students are more diverse and better prepared
academically than their predecessors.
The college’s specific efforts to recruit diversity have resulted
in much success. The percentage of female freshmen is 19.6 percent,
up from 16.9 percent last year. The number of underrepresented minorities
has nearly doubled from two years ago from 18 students in 2004 to
35 students in 2006.
The average high school rank of the college’s freshmen also
has improved, rising to the 88.3 percentile from last year’s
average of the 85.6 percentile. The entire Twin Cities campus also
saw an increase in diversity and larger numbers of incoming freshmen
students in the top 25 percent of their high school class. More…
Physics team to help NASA's STEREO
An Institute of Technology space physics team designed and built
instruments that are traveling aboard the twin spacecraft of NASA's
STEREO mission,which launched Oct. 25 from
Cape Canaveral, Fla. The instruments will detect waves of energy
and charged particles emitted by the sun via processes that may
help cause solar outbursts called coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
CMEs can wreak havoc with satellites, whole nations' power grids,
and the well-being of astronauts. The team's instruments will be
able to track the shock wave that precedes a CME as it moves through
space, with the goal of allowing scientists to see when one is coming
to Earth. More...
New findings by chemical engineering
researchers could improve renewable energy production
Regents Professor Lanny
Schmidt (chemical engineering and materials science) and his
university colleagues–graduate students James Salge, Brady
Dreyer and Paul Dauenhauer–invented a new process that could
significantly improve the efficiency of fuel production from renewable
energy sources. The “reactive flash volatilization process”
heats oil and sugar about a million times faster than you can in
your kitchen and produces hydrogen and carbon monoxide, a mixture
called synthesis gas or syngas, because it is used to make chemicals
and fuels, including gasoline. The new process works 10 to 100 times
faster than current technology, with no input of fossil fuels and
in reactors at least 10 times smaller than current models. The research
is published in the Nov. 3 issue of Science. More…
Professor Lanny Schmidt presents
Institute of Technology Public Lecture on renewable energy in Minnesota
Renewable energy has recently received a great deal of attention
from the media and politicians. Lanny
Schmidt, Regents Professor of chemical engineering and materials
science will speak at the Institute of Technology Public Lecture,
"Renewable
Energy for Minnesota: Does Renewable Energy Make Sense?"
at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28, at Coffman
Memorial Union Theater. Professor Schmidt will discuss how Minnesota
has the resources and the science and engineering base to make it
the nation’s leader in discovering and developing new energy
sources. The event is sponsored by the Institute of Technology Alumni
Society. More...
Institute of Technology research
receives funding from defense bill
Institute of Technology research on tiny “Scout” robots
used to save lives on the battlefield and testing of high-speed
aircraft designs are slated to receive funding as part of the 2007
Department of Defense Appropriations Act recently approved by the
U.S. House and Senate and signed into law by President Bush.
The Institute of Technology’s robotics research program, led
by Professor Nikolaos
Papanikolopoulous (computer science and engineering) received
$1.95 million. The bill also allocates $2 million to the Department
of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics’ National
Hypersonics Research Center led by Distinguished McKnight University
Professor Graham
Candler. More…
Institute of Technology faculty to help
shape new world-class institute
Five Institute of Technology faculty members are among the members
of a new advisory committee that will form a world-class interdisciplinary
Institute
for the Advancement of Science and Technology. University of
Minnesota Provost E. Thomas Sullivan announced the committee’s
appointment last month.
The idea for the new institute stems from a strategic positioning
recommendation made by the Science and Engineering Task Force in
May 2006. The committee will develop ideas on what the institute
must do to enhance academic synergies and to substantially increase
communication and research collaboration across scientific, medical,
and engineering disciplines. The committee has been asked to submit
a report with an implementation plan by spring 2007. More...
Gehrz appointed chair of Astronomy
Institute of Technology Dean Steven L. Crouch has appointed Professor
Robert Gehrz
as chair of the Department of Astronomy, effective October 30, 2006,
through June 30, 2010. Gehrz has been interim chair of the department
since July 1, 2005.
A member of the Science Working Group for NASA’s Spitzer
Space Telescope, Gehrz has facility scientist responsibilities for
the Croygenic Telescope Assembly. Gehrz has conducted extensive
research efforts in ground-based infrared astronomical observations
and instrumentation development. Gehrz is the author or co-author
of more than 200 research publications including research published
in the October 2006 issue of the Astrophysical Journal
outlining research that could give scientists clues about the origins
of the sun.
Gehrz has served as a professor at the University of Minnesota
since 1985 and as director of the University of Minnesota Observatories
since 1989. More...
Digital Technology Center
hosts Jon Gordon of 'Future Tense' for Digital Technology Workshop
Jon Gordon, host and producer of American Public Media’s
"Future Tense," will be the keynote speaker at the Digital
Technology Workshop from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21,
at the McNamara Alumni Center. The workshop is presented by the
Academic & Corporate
Relations Center and the Digital
Technology Center. Gordon’s insights on the rapidly changing
technology world will serve as a backdrop as industry researchers,
executives, investors, and government officials gather to learn
more about digital technology research and development projects
at the University. The event will feature University faculty presentations,
displays, tables, and posters about University research and business
development opportunities in a variety of areas such as digital
design, virtual reality, surveillance, and wireless communications.
More...
Honors
Associate Department Head Maria
Gini (computer science and engineering) was elected Councilor
on the American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) Executive
Council.
Professor Joseph
Konstan (computer science and engineering) was elected Chair
of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) SIG Governing Board
and to serve as a member of the ACM Council and ACM Executive Committee.
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has named Associate
Department Head Maria
Gini (computer science and engineering) and Professor Joseph
Konstan (computer science and engineering) members of the initial
class of ACM Distinguished Scientists.
Professor Georgios
Giannakis (electrical and computer engineering) has been selected
to serve as an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE) Signal Processing Society Distinguished Lecturer for the
term running from January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2008. Distinguished
Lecturers are selected from nominations of individuals who are well-known
educators in the field of signal processing. They are invited by
local chapters to lecture at chapter meetings.
Media watch
Wall of Discovery celebrates U's best
The University of Minnesota unveiled the new Wall of Discovery,
a 253-foot display featuring the work of 99 distinguished alumni
and professors from the Institute of Technology and throughout the
University. Sept. 28: Star Tribune (Minneapolis); Sept.
19: MN
Daily.
Floating research in cyberspace
Andrew M. Odlyzko, who heads the University's Digital Technology
Center, appeared in more than 200 newspapers commenting on peer-to-peer
online journal reviews.
Minnesota getting millions from Defense bill
A new defense bill that was signed by President Bush will mean
millions of new research dollars for the University of Minnesota
and area companies. Oct. 2: KARE-TV
News(Minneapolis-St. Paul). Oct. 13: Star Tribune
(Minneapolis).
Katherine Kersten: Teachers group takes lint-remover to 'fuzzy
math'
A new National Council of Teachers of Mathematics report announced
a reversal in mathematics emphasis, and Larry Gray, head of the
University's Department of Mathematics, said he welcomes the new
focus on math content rather than teaching methods. Oct. 4: Star
Tribune(Minneapolis).
Drawing a new line against I-94 crashes
John Hourdos (civil engineering) and a team of University researchers
are attempting to reduce the number of vehicle accidents and driver
conflicts on a stretch of Interstate Hwy. 94 by painting new markings
on the pavement. Oct. 16: Star
Tribune (Minneapolis).
Follow the sun ... in STEREO
A team of physics researchers have built instruments to travel
aboard the twin spacecraft of NASA's STEREO mission that will detect
waves of energy emitted by the sun. Oct. 18: Space
Daily; Oct. 19: Malaysia
Sun; Oct. 20: Playfuls.com.
Enhanced math instruction proposed
University scientists, led by Professor James Stone II, director
of the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education,
say their study results could have a profound impact on school and
the curriculum for vocational education classes. Oct. 20: PhysOrg.com.
Children learn about nanotechnology
Middle school students participating in the 2006 FIRST LEGO League
"Nano Quest" competition visited the University of Minnesota
and had the opportunity to see the Nanofabrication Center and Characterization
Facility and learn from experts and researchers in the University's
Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. Oct. 21: Star
Tribune (Minneapolis); Oct. 23: Minnesota
Daily, Oct. 30: Minnesota
Moment.
Good Questions: Why is there daylight saving time?
Dr. Terry Jones (astronomy) gives a brief history of daylight
saving time. Oct. 26: WCCO-TV
(Minneapolis-St. Paul).
NASA's Spitzer peels back layers of star's explosion
University astronomers discovered new bits of the 'onion' layers
of a star named Cassiopeia A that blew up in such a tidy manner
that it retained much of its original onion-like layering. Using
NASA's infrared Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers got a never-seen-before
look at the missing pieces from the star's explosion. Oct. 26: Space;
Oct. 26: Jet
Propulsion Laboratory.
Humanity's Social Web
There have been precious few innovations in history that have
changed the way humans, as a society, behave. John
Riedl, a U of M professor of computer science and engineering,
says nothing changed our societal DNA like the Internet with its
instant access to a global community and expansive vault of knowledge.
Nov. 2: Minnesota
Moment.
Events
Digital Technology Center Seminar: William Hoffman
Nov. 7: William Hoffman will present a lecture
entitled, "New
Bioscience Frontier in a Flat World." Hoffman is the founding
executive director of the Minnesota Biomedical and Bioscience Network
(MBBNet) based at the University of Minnesota. MBBNet is an Internet
gateway to the state's life sciences and health care indutries and
research centers. 11 a.m., 402 Walter
Library.
CCSE Faculty and Staff Open House
Nov. 8: Institute of Technology and College of
Biological Sciences faculty and staff are invited to celebrate the
partnership between the colleges, and to visit the newly renovated
Career Center for Science and Engineering office in Lind Hall. Refreshments
will be served. 3–5 p.m., 50 Lind
Hall.
L.M. Fingerson/TSI, Inc. Distinguished Lecture and Nanoparticle
Science & Engineering Seminar Series: Wolfgang Kreyling
Nov. 8: Wolfgang Kreyling, biophysicist, GSF
Research Center for Environment and Health Institute for Inhalation
Biology + Focus Network: Aerosols and Health
Neuherberg/Munich, Germany, will deliver a lecture entitled "Fate
of Inhaled Nanoparticles in the Body—A Cause
of Health Effects?" The Nanoparticle Science & Engineering
Seminar Series is hosted by the NSF Integrative Graduate Education
& Research Traineeship (IGERT) Program for Nanoparticle Science
& Engineering. 4–5 p.m., 2-650 Moos
Tower.
21st Annual Katherine & Arthur Sehlin Lecture: Richard N.
Wright
NNIN & Canadian Government: Northern Nano Workshop
Nov. 9: Presentations and discussions on issues
relating to active nanostructures including nano-energy, sensors,
nano-bio and more are part of this workshop. Keynote address is
by Jie Zhang, Motorola Labs. Free. To register contact Becky Von
Dissen at vondi001@umn.edu,
612-625-3069 or Tricia Conway at conwa012@umn.edu,
612-624-0653. 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Radisson
University Hotel.
CDTL Futures Forum: Putting Nanotechnology to Work
Nov. 9: The 6th Annual Technology Futures Forum
will feature medical and engineering/electronic aspects of nanotechnology.
The program includes the keynote address by Professor Dennis Polla
(electrical and computer engineering), panel presentations, and
plenary sessions. Register online.
Fee charged. 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m., West
Bank Office Building.
Nanoparticle Science & Engineering Seminar Series: Tianquan
Tim Lian
University of MN & Mayo Clinic: Minnesota Biomedical Nanotechnology
Workshop
Nov. 10: Connecting physical and life scientists
to developing nanotechnology is the focus of this workshop. Free.
To register e-mail Tricia Conway at conwa012@umn.edu
or Denise Lecy at lecy.denise@mayo.edu.
8:30 a.m.–5 p.m., Radisson
University Hotel.
Symposium on Supply Chain Management and Standards for Medical
Devices
Nov. 16: The symposium will bring together representatives
from leading medical device companies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
the National Institute of Standards and Technology, health care
providers, and leading national and international universities.
It will highlight supply chain challenges and opportunities unique
to the medical device industry. The program
includes plenary speakers and panel discussions. Early registration
is advised. Free. For more information contact saif@umn.edu,
agerdman@umn.edu or shaw.feg@nist.gov.Radisson
University Hotel.
Cray Lecture Series: Holly Rushmeier
Nov. 20: Holly Rushmeier, professor of computer
science, Yale University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Digital
Modeling of the Appearance of Materials.” Free. 11:15
a.m.–12:15 p.m., 3-180 EE/CSci
Building.
Digital Technology Workshop
Nov. 21: The Academic and Corporate Relations
Center and the Digital Technology
Center are hosting the Digital Technology Workshop. Jon Gordon,
host and producer of American Public Media’s "Future
Tense," will be the keynote speaker. The event will feature
University faculty presentations, displays, and posters about University
research and business development opportunities in a variety of
areas such as digital design, virtual reality, surveillance, and
wireless communications. To register, e-mail Devan Futterer at futte002@umn.edu.
For more information call 612-625-9510 or e-mail info@dtc.umn.edu.
7 a.m.–12:30 p.m., McNamara
Alumni Center.
Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment: Third Annual
Research Symposium
Nov. 28: University faculty and researchers will
showcase groundbreaking new work in renewable energy and the environment.
Program includes keynote addresses by WCCO-TV news anchor Don Shelby
and Doug Cameron from Khosla Ventures. Free. Register
online. McNamara
Alumni Center.
Institute of Technology Public Lecture: Lanny Schmidt
Dec. 1: This year's symposium, "Greening
the Supply Chain: Environmental Innovations in Freight Transportation,"
will focus on environmental innovations in freight transportation.
Larry Lair, general manager of 3M’s Traffic Safety Systems
Division, will make the keynote presentation, focusing on how 3M’s
small changes in packaging methods and freight transport have had
major impact on the environment. Fee charged. Registration
online. 8 a.m.–12:30 p.m., Four Points Sheraton,
Minneapolis.
Fifth Annual LifeScience Alley Conference and Expo
Dec. 6: Leaders from the Midwest and beyond will
share best practices and expertise across the diverse life sciences
industry. Attendees represent the agricultural and industrial biotechnology
and renewable energy, medical device, health care, pharmaceutical,
and biopharma sectors. Agenda
includes juried poster session showcasing University of Minnesota
Biomedical Engineering Institute and BioTechnology Institute graduate
students and faculty research projects. Fee Charged. Registration
options. RiverCentre,
St. Paul.
56th Annual Concrete Conference
Dec. 7: Performance, durability, restoration,
repair, innovation, and research continue to be important topics
for those involved in concrete construction. Conference
presenters include practicing engineers, engineering faculty, and
consultants who will offer information on current technology and
practice. Fee charged. Registration
online. 7:45 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Continuing Education
and Conference Center.
Cafe Scientifique: Comet Dust and Wind from the Sun
Dec. 12: U of M physics and astronomy professor
Bob
Pepin tells how he examines comet dust and particles from the
sun that have been collected by NASA's Stardust and Genesis missions.
Donation suggested. 6
p.m.–8 p.m., Varsity Theater.
