From the Dean

Happy New Year!  I hope that you all had an enjoyable holiday season. As we welcome our students back to campus for the new semester, we are starting the 2008 year with some new activities and initiatives.

This month the College of Science officially launches its next five-year strategic planning effort. This crucial initiative is overseen by a steering committee and four Pillar group committees (on Discovery, Learning, Engagement, and Diversity).  The committees include faculty members, staff, students, and alumni from the College of Science, as well as key representatives from the President’s office, Discovery Park, the College of Engineering, and Purdue Research Park.  The steering committee’s task is to set the mission and vision of the College and charge the four Pillar committees to formulate specific goals and strategies.

The planning process begins with the input from the College Hiring Priorities Committee on multidisciplinary opportunities, as well as four extensive surveys—of faculty, graduate students, undergraduate students, and staff.  In April we will hold two open town hall meetings to get mid-course feedback.  The final outcome will be a college-defined plan that will guide us on our path to excellence.

We would very much appreciate your feedback and opinions about how best to plan for the College’s future.  For more information and to provide your input, please visit the strategic planning website.

College of Science Centennial celebrations continue full steam into the New Year!  Mildred Dresselhaus, Institute Professor at M.I.T., will be on campus on February 7 as part of the Centennial Distinguished Lecture Series.  You will find a list of upcoming speakers and dates on the Centennial website.  The Centennial celebrations culminate with the March 29 Elliott Hall appearance of internationally-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE . We anticipate a sell out crowd and will send out a special announcement when tickets go on sale.  Please visit the Centennial website for more information.

Later this month I go on a whistle stop tour to California to meet with alumni and friends.  This “Meet the Dean” series is made possible by alumni who graciously open their homes to provide very enjoyable listen and learn opportunities for me to find out what’s important to our alumni.  If you would like to attend or host a “Meet the Dean” event or if you have ideas for new ways to reach out to friends of the College, our director of advancement Bente Fein bfein@purdue.edu would welcome your input.

All the best for 2008!

Jeff Vitter

 

SCIENCE PEOPLE

Chemistry professor receives funding for continued cancer research

Professor Dan Raftery's company, MatrixBio LLC, in Purdue Research Park, has received seed round funding from the Main Street Venture Fund, located in Fort Wayne. Full story.

 

Programming teams "in the prizes"

Two Purdue computer science programming teams competing in the recent Association for Computing Machinery Regional Programming Contest fared well and took home prizes from the event. Full story.

 

Computer science undergraduate garners honorable mention

Erik Ackermann, a senior in the computer science honors program and mathematics, has been selected for an honorable mention in the Computing Research Association's Outstanding Undergraduate Award for 2008. Full story.

Physics professor receives appointment to national advisory committee

Ian Shipsey, Julian Schwinger Distinguished Professor of Physics, has been appointed to the Program Advisory Committee at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Full story.

Chemistry professor will meet with academic leaders in India

R. Graham Cooks, Henry Bohn Haas Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, and Discovery Park administrator, Pankaj Sharma, are traveling to India to meet with government, industry, and university officials to discuss potential research collaborations in analytical instrumentation, climate change, energy, health care, and pharmacy. Full story.

 

SCIENCE NEWS

Earth and Atmospherics Sciences professor discovers how cyclones and hurricanes influence climate

Matt Huber, professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, led the research team that found evidence that tropical cyclones and hurricanes play an important role in the ocean circulation patterns that transport heat and maintain the climate of North America and Europe. Full story.

 

Physics professor helps prove Newton's Second Law of Motion

Ephraim Fishbach, professor of physics, was part of a research team which tested and proved that Newton's second law of motion is still valid. Full story.

Indiana teacher education coup

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation has selected Indiana as the first site for its new national fellowship for high school teachers. Full story.

Structural biologist uses fungus to find missing link

By studying the three-dimensional version of the fungus protein bound to an RNA molecule, Pew Scholar and Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Barbara Golden, and her research team, together with researchers from the University of Texas at Austin, have been able to visualize how life progressed from an early self-replicating molecule that also performed chemical reactions to one in which proteins assumed some of the work. Full story.

New computer science course brings computational thinking into science education

The Department of Computer Science brought together scientists and educators to discuss how to integrate computational thinking into undergraduate science education and effectively use computation to teach scientific principles with a new computer science course CS 190C. Full story.

Earth and Atmospheric Sciences professor helps develop new measure of "socioclimatic" risk

Noah Diffenbaugh, professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, is part of a research team that has taken a step toward quantifying the "socioclimatic" exposure of different countries to future climate change. Full story.

 

 

PURDUE NEWS

University strategic planning committee to hold open forums

Purdue center takes on battle against tuberculosis

Former Purdue researcher research shows how climate impacts forestry

Are your team members effective?

Supercomputing 101

Course designed to help prep for MCAT

 

SCIENCE EVENTS AND CALENDAR

Jan. 9: CERIAS Security Seminar. Eric Cole, Lockheed Martin, will be the guest speaker. For more information, contact Joel Rasmus, corporate relations manager: jrasmus@purdue.edu, 765-494-7806.

Jan. 10, 7:00 p.m.: Women's basketball vs. Michigan, Mackey Arena. More information.

Jan. 10, 11:00 a.m.: Purdue Climate Change Research Center seminar, PFEN Auditorium. "Ecological Impacts of Climate Change," Professor Shannon LaDeau. For more information call 765-496-3209.

Jan. 10, 4:00–5:00 p.m.: Department of Physics General Colloquium, PHYS 223. "Thermodynamic Systems in Equilibrium at High Temperature," Professor David Koltic, Purdue University. More information.

Jan. 11, 10:30–11:30 a.m.: Department of Computer Science Colloquium, LWSN 3102 A/B. "Expandable Grids Prototypes for Visualizing and Authoring Policies in Security, Privacy, and Other Domains," Professor Rob Reeder, Carnegie Mellon University. More information.

Jan. 12, 4:00 p.m.: Men's basketball vs. Ohio State, Mackey Arena. More information.

Jan. 14, 7:00 p.m.: Women's basketball vs. Indiana, Mackey Arena. More information.

Jan. 15, 9:00 a.m.: Purdue Climate Change Research Center seminar, MTHW 304. "Climate Policy/Science," Professor Amy Below. For more information call 765-496-3209.

Jan. 15, 6:30–8:00 p.m.: University strategic plan open forum, LWSN 1142. Working groups: economic development, and large-scale research and infrastructure. More information.

Jan. 15, 4:30 p.m.: Department of Mathematics Colloquium, MATH 175. "Heegaard Floer Theory and Contact Geometry," Professor Andras Stipsicz, Columbia University. More information.

Jan. 15, 7:00–8:30 p.m.: Center for the Environment, CL50. "What should be the future of biofuels? An open discussion and debate," Moderator, Professor Bernie Tao, Purdue University. More information.

Jan. 16, 1:30–3:30 p.m.: Department of Biological Sciences, LILY 1-117. "A High(er) Resolution Structure of the OmpF Porin," Professor William Cramer, Purdue University. More information.

Jan. 17, 4:00–5:00 p.m.: Department of Physics General Colloquium, PHYS 223. "Physical Chemistry," Professor Tim Zwier, Purdue University. More information.

Jan. 17, 4:30 p.m.: Department of Chemistry Colloquium, Pflender Auditorium 241. "Advances in Drug Delivery & Tissue Engineering," National Medal of Science winner, Professor Robert Langer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Reception immediately following. More information.

Jan. 18, 8:00 p.m.: The Chicago Jazz Ensemble, Loeb Playhouse. More information.

Jan. 19, 2:00 p.m.: Symposium Proposal Deadline. The deadline to submit to the Annual Graduate Student Educational Research Symposium (AGSERS) has been extended. For more information, contact Eric Riggs, CRESME co-director: emriggs@purdue.edu, 765-496-1974.

Jan. 19, 2:00 p.m.: Men's basketball vs. Illinois, Mackey Arena. More information.

Jan. 20, 2:00 p.m.: Women's basketball vs. Northwestern, Mackey Arena. More information.

Jan. 20, 5:00 p.m.: Meet the Dean, Oakland, CA. For more information, contact John Fisher, director of alumni relations and special events: jrfisher@purdue.edu, 765-494-0586.

Jan. 22, 9:00 a.m.: Purdue Climate Change Research Center seminar, MTHW 304. "Climate Policy/Science," Professor Myanna Lahsen. For more information call 765-496-3209.

Jan. 24, 10:00–11:30 a.m.: University strategic plan open forum, LWSN 1142. Working groups: General forum for discussion on all topics. More information.

Jan. 24, 1:00–4:00 p.m.: Department of Chemistry Special Seminar, BRWN LB124. Open House for Bruker AV-800 NMR Spectrometer. More information.

Jan. 24, 4:00–5:00 p.m.: Department of Physics General Colloquium, PHYS 223. "Nanoscience," Professor Tim Sands, Purdue University. More information.

Jan. 25, 11:00 a.m.: Candidate for Director of Energy Center to give presentation, MRGN 121. Mahdi Abu-Omar, associate professor of chemistry, College of Science. More information.

Jan. 25, 8:00 p.m.: Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel, Loeb Playhouse. More information.

Jan. 26, 4:00 p.m.: Men's basketball vs. Wisconsin, Mackey Arena. More information.

Jan. 27, 2:00 p.m.: Women's basketball vs. Illinois, Mackey Arena. More information.

Jan. 27, 8:00 p.m.: Evita, Elliott Hall of Music. More information.

Jan. 28: NSF Limited Submission Competition. Visit the Office of the Vice President of Research Web site for more information on Purdue policy and deadlines. More competition information.

Jan. 28, 3:30–4:30 p.m.: Department of Computer Science Special Seminar. "Sensitive Information in a Networked World," Professor Joan Feigenbaum, Yale University, Conte Distinguished Lecture. More information.

Jan. 28, 6:00 p.m.: Meet the Dean, San Diego, CA. For more information, contact John Fisher, director of alumni relations and special events: jrfisher@purdue.edu, 765-494-0586.

Jan. 29, 4:30–5:30 p.m.: Department of Mathematics Colloquium, MATH 175. "Mathematical Challenges Arising in Modeling of Tumor Growth," Professor Avner Friedman, The Ohio State University. More information.

Jan. 31, 4:00–5:00 p.m.: Department of Physics General Colloquium, PHYS 223. "Nanophysics," Professor Mansour Shayegan, Princeton University. More information.

Jan. 31, 9:00 a.m.: Purdue Climate Change Research Center seminar, MTHW 304. "Climate Policy/Science," Professor Elizabeth McNie. For more information call 765-496-3209.

Jan. 31, 7:00 p.m.: Meet the Dean, Los Angeles, CA. For more information, contact John Fisher, director of alumni relations and special events: jrfisher@purdue.edu, 765-494-0586.

Jan. 31, TBA: Department of Chemistry Special Seminar, WTHR 104. "The Catalytic Cycle of Discovery in Total Synthesis," Professor Phil S. Baran, The Scripps Research Institute. More information.

Jan. 31, 3:30 p.m.: Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Seminar, CIVL 1252. "Analogical Thinking and Model-Based
Reasoning in Geosciences," Professor Duncan Sibley, Michigan State University. More information.

Feb. 4, 6:30 p.m.: Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Internships - Pizza Party, LWSN 1142. Blue Cross Blue Sheild Association will conduct an information sesson on their 2008 Internship Program. For more information, contact Mary Franklin, 765-494-5917.

Feb. 6, 4:00 p.m.: Ethel S. Tessman Memorial Lectureship in Biology, MJIS 1001. “Subsystems Biology Approach to Microbial Metabolism," Andrei Osternam, the Burnham Institute. For more information, contact Laslo Csonka, professor of biological sciences: lcsonka@purdue.edu, 765-494-4969.

Feb. 7, 4:30 p.m.: Centennial Distinguished Science Series, PHYS 114. Mildred Dresselhaus, Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. More information.

March 19–20: 9th Annual CERIAS Symposium. For more information, contact Joel Rasmus, corporate relations manager: jrasmus@purdue.edu, 765-494-7806.

Mar. 29, 1:00 p.m.: “A Reason for Hope” with Jane Goodall, Elliott Hall of Music. More information.

Apr. 7, 5:00 p.m.: Centennial Distinguished Lecture Series, Fowler Hall. Margaret Wright, Chair and Silver Professor of Computer Science, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University. More information.

Are you interested in leaving a lasting legacy for future students or faculty at Purdue? If so, please visit our planned giving home page.

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