SCIENCE@PURDUE                      VOL III ISSUE 1  January 2004

 

A monthly E-newsletter from the Dean's office in the School of Science at Purdue University, Mathematical Sciences Building, 150 North University Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2067.  To contact us send email to news@science.purdue.edu.

 

ALUMNI—SEND NEWS ABOUT YOUR SELF TO SHARE WITH THE LARGER SCIENCE FAMILY! SEND ITEMS TO NEWS@SCIENCE.PURDUE.EDU.  THESE ITEMS WILL APPEAR IN A FUTURE ISSUE OF THE SCHOOL OF SCIENCE SEQUEL.

 

IN THIS ISSUE

 

1. NANORINGS COULD BOOST COMPUTER MEMORY

2. THE INNER WORKINGS OF THE VIRAL MACHINE

3. PURDUE’S INCUBATOR MODEL NOTED

4. NEW INITIATIVE TO ADDRESS ‘BRAIN DRAIN’

5. ACCLAIMED BLACK JOURNALIST TO GIVE TALK

6. NEW FACULTY ANNOUNCEMENTS

7. WOMEN FACULTY HONORED

8. COMPUTER SCIENCE STUDENTS HONORED

9. BIOLOGY STUDENT RECEIVES AWARD TO PRESENT PAPER

10. CALENDAR OF EVENTS

11. DECEMBER RESEARCH FUNDING

 

SCIENCE NEWS

 

1. SELF-ASSEMBLED 'NANORINGS' COULD BOOST COMPUTER MEMORY: Recent nanotechnology research at Purdue could pave the way toward faster computer memories and higher density magnetic data storage, all with an affordable price tag. Just like the electronics industry, the data storage industry is on the move toward nanoscale. However, the technology for making devices in that size range is still being developed, and the smaller the components get, the more expensive they are to produce. http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/031210.Wei.nanorings.html

 

2. BIOLOGISTS EXPOSE THE INNER WORKINGS OF VIRAL MACHINE: Purdue scientists have peered inside a virus and visualized for the first time how it produces and exports genetic materials into a host cell, an advance in fundamental research that also could have implications for the development of antiviral agents. http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/031215.Baker.reovirus.html

 

PURDUE NEWS

 

3.RECOGNITION FOR FOUNDING TOP INCUBATOR MODEL IN U.S.: Purdue University, creator of the largest university affiliated, high-tech business incubation program in the United States, is cited in the December issue of University Business magazine for establishing the nation's top incubator model. http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/031219.Florance.incubate.html

 

4. GRANT MONEY TARGETED TO KEEP GRADS IN INDIANA: Purdue will use a $3.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help Indiana retain more university graduates and foster high-tech startup companies throughout the state. http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/031209.Jischke.Lilly.html

 

5. ACCLAIMED BLACK JOURNALIST VISITS PURDUE FOR MLK DAY: George E. Curry, editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service and Black Press USA.com, will speak at Purdue at on Jan. 19 in Fowler Hall about civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Voted the 2003 Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists, he is on the organization's list of Most Influential Black Journalists of the 20th Century. Curry's speech is one of four events scheduled in January on the Purdue campus to honor Martin Luther King Jr. http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html3month/2004/040106.Rollock.Curry.html

 

PEOPLE NEWS

 

6. NEW SCIENCE FACULTY ANNOUNCEMENTS: Three senior researchers are joining Purdue’s School of Science, adding to the pool of expertise in computer science, chemistry and statistics. The new faculty members are Mahdi Abu-Omar, associate professor of chemistry; Elisa Bertino, professor of computer science and director of research for CERIAS; and William Cleveland, professor of statistics.  http://www.science.purdue.edu/ENews/newfaculty0104.html

 

7. WOMEN FACULTY HONORED AT MORTAR BOARD RECEPTION: Five Purdue University women faculty members were honored at the second annual Women of Purdue Mortar Board Welcome Reception on December. 4. Among this year's honorees are Joann Otto and Christie Sahley, both associate deans in the School of Science, and faculty members in the department of biological sciences.

 

8. Elian Haliman, computer science, received the Ice Miller Undergraduate Scholarship at the Women in High Tech Leading Lights Award program.  http://www.cs.purdue.edu/research/ugrad/  Nina Tang and Erika Shehan, computer science, have been chosen Honorable Mention in the Computing Research Association's Outstanding Undergraduate Award for 2004.  http://www.cra.org/Activities/awards/undergrad/

 

9. BIOLOGY STUDENT CLIFTON RECEIVES TRAVEL AWARD TO PRESENT PAPER: Matthew C. Clifton has received a travel award from the Biophysical Society to present his work at the group's 48th annual meeting Feb. 14-18, in Baltimore, Md. Clifton, a doctoral candidate in biology with emphasis in biochemistry and molecular biology, will present "Ultracentrifuge Analysis of Proteins Involved in Ribose Transport in Escherichia coli." http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html3month/2004/040109.Student.honors.html

 

10. CALENDAR

 

SCHOOL OF SCIENCE DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI BANQUET: April 16, 2004 at 6:00 P.M., University Inn, West Lafayette, IN.  For more information contact Dinah McClure, Director of Special Events, (765) 494-1764 or mcclure@science.purdue.edu

 

SCHOOL OF SCIENCE ALUMNI BOARD MEETING: April 16, 2004.  Contact David Lageveen, Director of Alumni Relations, (765) 494-4344 or lageveen@purdue.edu

 

PURDUE IS COMING TO AN EVENT IN YOUR PART OF THE COUNTRY: We’re taking the “It’s Happening Here” theme to a number of cities beginning in January and going through May.  http://www.purdue.edu/oop/events/purdue_on_the_road/purdue_otr_index.html

 

CERIAS SPRING SYMPOSIUM: FEBRUARY 20, 2OO4

 

HUBERT M. JAMES LECTURE: MARCH 31, 2004 FEATURING JOHN D. BARROW http://www.counterbalance.net/cqbio/jbar-frame.html

 

SCHOOL OF SCIENCE ALUMNI BOARD MEETING: APRIL 16, 2004

 

GALA WEEKEND AND SPRING FEST: APRIL 17-18, 2004

 

PURDUE DAY AT THE INDIANA STATE FAIR: AUGUST 18, 2004

 

HOMECOMING: OCTOBER 16, 2004

 

PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL ANNUAL WEEKEND: OCTOBER 22-23, 2004

 

11. DECEMBER RESEARCH FUNDING REPORT

 

D. Bortoletto, A. F. Garfinkel and V. E. Barnes, Physics, from U.S. Department of Energy, $540,000, November 1, 2003 through October 31, 2004, "An Experimental and Theoretical High Energy Physics Program - Task G."

 

R. G. Cooks, Chemistry, from Phillips Petroleum Foundation, $12,000, September 1, 1999 through August 31, 2004, "Phillips Petroleum Foundation Fellowship."

 

R. G. Cooks, Chemistry, from National Aeronautics and Space Administration, $24,000, September 1, 2003 through August 31, 2004, "Instrumentation Development/Miniaturization and Gas-Phase Kinetic Isotope Effects."

 

J. P. Finley and W. K. Cui, Physics, from U.S. Department of Energy, $355,000, November 1, 2003 through October 31, 2004, "An Experimental and Theoretical High Energy Physics Program - Task C."

 

E. Fischbach, Physics, from U.S. Department of Energy, $50,000, November 1, 2003 through October 31, 2004, "An Experimental and Theoretical High Energy Physics Program - Task F."

 

L. J. Gutay, Physics, from U.S. Department of Energy, $250,000, November 1, 2003 through October 31, 2004, "An Experimental and Theoretical High Energy Physics Program - Task D."

 

N. Li, Computer Science, from Brigham Young University, $20,000, September 1, 2003 through August 31, 2004, "ITR: Automated Trust Negotiation in Open Systems."

 

S. T. Love, S. Khlebnikov, T. E. Clark and T. Kuo, Physics, from U.S. Department of Energy, $225,000, November 1, 2003 through October 31, 2004, "An Experimental and Theoretical High Energy Physics Program - Task B."

 

B. J. Lucier, Mathematics, from Office of Naval Research, $73,351, January 15, 2003 through December 31, 2005, "Multiscale Methods in Image Processing."

 

V. S. Popescu and E. P. Sacks, Computer Science, from Trask Trust Fund, $66,280, January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004, "The Modelcamera: A System for Interactive Modeling."

 

F. E. Regnier, Chemistry, from University of Texas at San Antonio, $75,000, September 15, 2003 through August 31, 2004, "Role of Oxidative Damage to Specific Molecules in Aging."

 

M. G. Rossmann and M. C. Morais, Biological Sciences, from National Institutes of Health, $48,148, November 1, 2003 through October 31, 2004, "Structural Studies of Virus Assembly and DNA Packaging."

 

I. P. Shipsey, D. H. Miller and E. I. Shibata, Physics, from U.S. Department of Energy, $490,000, November 1, 2003 through October 31, 2004, "An Experimental and Theoretical High Energy Physics Program - Task A."