SCIENCE@PURDUE         VOL. II Issue 10 October 2003

 

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. Inquiries can be addressed to news@science.purdue.edu. Do you have news you would like to share with the Science community? Send email to news@science.purdue.edu and let us know what you're doing.

IN THIS ISSUE

 

 

SCIENCE NEWS

 

JOIN PRESIDENT JISCHKE FOR A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE NEW COMPUTER SCIENCES BUILDING: This event is to celebrate the completion of private fundraising for the building. Administration, faculty and staff from the university, School of Science and the Computer Sciences department will gather at 3:30 p.m. on October 1 at the site of the new building, the corner of Third and University Streets. The $20 million facility will allow the Department of Computer Science to concentrate its classrooms, faculty offices and laboratories into two buildings rather than the five currently used. Construction on the 100,000-square-foot building is tentatively scheduled to begin next year, with completion in time for classes in the fall 2005. http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html3month/031001.Hambrusch.compsci.html

 

PURDUE BIOLOGISTS RECEIVE NEARLY $18 MILLION TO STUDY INFECTIOUS

DISEASES: As part of a major U.S. presidential initiative to combat bioterrorism, the National Institutes of Health has awarded a pair of grants to Purdue researchers to help the group study viruses thought to have potential as biological weapons. While the two grants are to support research projects that are independent of one another, together they will allow Purdue biologists to pursue both basic research on viruses and also speed the development of antiviral agents that could stem from this basic research. http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/030909.Kuhn.grants.html

 

LECTURE SERIES DETAILS BENEFITS OF FLUORINE CHEMISTRY: Skiers who stay warm and dry, as well as cooks that use non-stick pans, have fluorine molecules to thank, and a joint lecture series by Purdue and Great Lakes Chemical Corp. provided an opportunity to learn more about this useful element. Professor Manfred Schlosser of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, delivered the second in a series of annual lectures on fluorine chemistry. Each year Great Lakes Chemical Corp. brings one of world's leading fluorine chemists to Purdue for a day of discussions and seminars.

http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/030908.Ramachandran.lect.html

 

COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT REWARDS INCOMING FRESHMAN SCHOLARS: The Purdue Department of Computer Science has awarded 17 scholarships to incoming freshmen based on academic merit and personal interviews. The scholarship awards ranged from $1,000 to $14,000.

http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/030912.H.Neel.csschols.html

 

CHICKEN EMBRYO RESEARCH TUNES INTO INNER EAR: Purdue biologists have learned how to control the development of stem cells in the inner ears of embryonic chickens, a discovery which could potentially improve the ability to treat human diseases that cause deafness and vertigo. By introducing new genes into the cell nuclei, researchers instructed the embryonic cells to develop into different adult cells than they would have ordinarily. http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/030902.Fekete.ear.html

 

PURDUE UNIVERSITY: WHERE THE SCIENCES COALESCE: As part of a university-wide initiative to target compelling national research priorities that require insights and contributions from multiple disciplines, the School of Science has embarked on adding 60 additional new multidisciplinary faculty positions during this decade for each of the seven areas of research coalescence identified in the School's strategic plan.

http://www.science.purdue.edu/COALESCE/

 

PURDUE COMPUTER SECURITY EXPERT EUGENE SPAFFORD FEATURED IN THE INSTITUTE, ONLINE MAGAZINE OF THE IEEE:

http://www.theinstitute.ieee.org/inst_art.jsp?isno=09031&arnumber=09031_9wmemprofile§ion=15

 

PURDUE NEWS

 

SCIENCE BOUND CELEBRATES SECOND YEAR WITH 150 STUDENTS: Students, teachers, mentors, community and corporate partners gathered September 3 at the Indianapolis Colts training facility to celebrate the start of a new school year and the more-than-doubled enrollment in the Science Bound program. Science Bound, a partnership among Purdue, the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) and the Indianapolis business community, was initiated two years ago by Purdue President Martin C. Jischke. The program gives underrepresented IPS students an opportunity to earn a full scholarship to Purdue to study for a science-related career. Science Bound, which started with 60 middle and high school students, has grown to 150 students.

http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/030903.Campbell.scibound.html

 

PURDUE OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP NAMED FOR O'BANNON, TO GO TO STUDENT

IN HIS HOME AREA: Purdue President Martin C. Jischke announced that the university will honor the late Gov. Frank O'Bannon by naming the first of its major new scholarships in his honor for a student from O'Bannon's home area, Harrison County. The scholarship is part of the Purdue Opportunity Program to help students who face unusual personal challenges and financial hardship. Purdue plans to create one for each of Indiana's 92 counties, at a cost of $5.5 million. http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/030919.BOT.O'Bannon.html

 

PURDUE CELEBRATES GIFTS FOR STRATEGIC PLAN, $141 MILLION IN

CONSTRUCTION TO HELP INDIANA: Purdue will continue to turn its strategic plan into reality this month during Homecoming Week as it breaks ground, dedicates or celebrates the results of fund raising for new buildings totaling more than $141 million. The university also will celebrate donations for professorships and student scholarships, as well as industry-grade software.

http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/030918.Blackwelder.happen.html

http://www.purdue.edu/oop/events/its_happening_here/index.html

 

PROFESSORS LEAD CONVERSATIONS ON TEACHING, LEARNING: The Office of the Provost announced the 2003-04 Conversations on Teaching schedule, a Focus on Teaching series, which celebrates Purdue's commitment to teaching and the learning experience. http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/030919.Houze.focus.html

 

PURDUE ENROLLMENT PLAN ON TARGET AS GRADUATE SCHOOL GROWS: Purdue has met this year's strategic enrollment management goals: The number of graduate students continues to climb while the undergraduate community includes more top-performing Indiana high school graduates. Enrollment at the West Lafayette campus this fall is 38,847 students. http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/030903.Christiansen.enroll.html

 

INDIANA, PURDUE UNIVERSITIES TO JOIN NSF 'TERAGRID': Purdue and Indiana universities have been chosen by the National Science Foundation to join the world's most ambitious grid-computing project by linking to a powerful high-speed network and making available their supercomputers and huge storehouses of information to the nation's scientific research community. The universities have received a $3 million NSF grant to create their portion of the network linkages that will extend NSF's "TeraGrid" to IU Bloomington, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and Purdue's West Lafayette campus. The TeraGrid is a prototype of the NSF's plan for a national research "cyberinfrastructure," a system of supercomputers, massive data storage systems and instruments linked by advanced networking and integrated to enable scientists to solve the largest and most important scientific problems.

http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/030929.Bottum.teragrid.html

 

CALENDAR

 

MARCHING BAND, FLOATS AND HOMECOMING COURT TO PROCESS IN HOMECOMING PARADE: The Purdue "All-American" Marching Band and the Boilermaker Special will lead Purdue's Boilermaker Night Train parade at 7 p.m. Friday October 3. The parade, sponsored by the Purdue Student Union Board, also will feature the Homecoming King and Queen, their court and floats designed by student organizations. A pep rally on Slayter Hill will follow at approximately 8 p.m.

http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/030924.Owen.parade.html

 

PURDUE HOMECOMING EVENTS SET FOR OCT. 3-4: The Purdue Mall will be transformed into a tent-filled alumni gathering place for the university's Homecoming celebration, which will take place Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3-4, before the Boilermakers take on the University of Illinois. Kick off is set for 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4. Prior to the game, entertainment will take place from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at a stage near the Purdue Bell Tower, after which the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band and Alumni Band will lead a march to the stadium. Schools and organizations, including the Purdue Alumni Association, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary, also will present interactive, informational displays. The displays will highlight their programs and serve as meeting places for alumni and Boilermaker fans.

http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/030919.Headdy.homecoming.html

 

AUGUST RESEARCH FUNDING

 

C. W. Bingham and M. J. Atallah, computer science, ctr:ed and rsrch:info assurance and security, from National Science Foundation, $276,274, August 15, 2003 through July 31, 2006, “Collaborative Research: Itr Distributed Data Mining to Protect Information Privacy."

D. Bortoletto, I. P. Shipsey, L. J. Gutay and V. E. Barnes, physics, from U.S. Department of Energy, $12,000, November 1, 2002 through October 31, 2003, “An Experimental High Energy Physics Program - Supplemental CMS Travel."

D. Bortoletto, I. P. Shipsey, L. J. Gutay and V. E. Barnes, physics, from U.S. Department of Energy, $500, November 1, 2002 through October 31, 2003, “An Experimental High Energy Physics Program - Supplemental CMS Travel."

R. G. Cooks, chemistry, from Trask Trust Fund, $50,000, September 1, 2003 through August 31, 2004, “Rectilinear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer."

D. Drasin, mathematics, from National Science Foundation, $170,561, September 3, 2003 through September 2, 2004, “National Science Foundation Visiting Scientist Engineer, and Educator Program."

S. M. Durbin and E. W. Prohofsky, physics, from National Science Foundation, $15,178, July 1, 2003 through December 31, 2004, “Functional Control via Here-Backbone Interactions in Respitory and Photosynthetic Heme Proteins Bose Rved with X-Ray Nuclear Absorption Spectroscopy."

S. A. Fahmy, computer science, from National Science Foundation, $437,085, September 1, 2003 through August 31, 2008, “CAREER: Expliting Tomography in Network-Aware Protocols: Theory and Practice."

Z. J. Feng, R. K. Swihart and Y. D. Dewoody, mathematics, forestry and natural resources, from Mcdonnell, James S. Foundation, $449,508, August 1, 2003 through August 1, 2006, “An Integrated, Hierarchical Framework for Modeling Biocomplexity."

T. R. Filley, dept of earth and atmospheric sciences earth and atmospheric sciences, from National Science Foundation, $100,009, September 1, 2003 through July 31, 2006, “Collaborative Research: Orchid-Fungal Interactions - A System for Testing Hypotheses About the Ecological Role and Distribution of Mycorrhizal Fungi in Affecting Plant Distribution."

M. Forman and K. Kokini, school of science - administration, schools of engineering admin and engineering exp sta, from Luce, the Henry Foundation, Inc, $50,000, August 1, 2002 through July 31, 2004, “Clare Booth Luce Graduate Fellowship."

L. J. Gutay, physics, from U.S. Department of Energy, $9,000, November 1, 2002 through October 31, 2003, “An Experimental High Energy Physics Program - Supplemental CMS Travel."

J. S. Hovis, chemistry, from Burroughs Wellcome Fund, $124,000, September 1, 2002 through August 31, 2005, “Career Awards in the Biomedical Sciences - Id #1002336-01."

L. Lempert, mathematics, from National Science Foundation, $99,999, July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2005, “Research in Several Complex Variables and Applications."

L. M. Lipshitz and M. E. Bock, mathematics, statistics, from National Science Foundation, $537,384, August 15, 2000 through July 31, 2004, “A Proposal for Vertical Integration of Research and Education in Mathematics and Statistics at Purdue University."

P. S. Low, chemistry, from Endocyte, Inc., $75,000, November 1, 2002 through December 31, 2003, “Characterization of Folate Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis."

C. Mao, chemistry, from National Science Foundation, $448,991, August 15, 2003 through July 31, 2006, “Qubic: Application of Engineered DNA Nanostructures in Nanofabrication."

A. M. McGough, biological sciences, from National Institutes of Health, $201,218, August 1, 2003 through July 31, 2004, “Regulation of Actin Filament Assemblies by Cofilin/Adf."

D. J. Minchella, biological sciences, from Public Health Service, $304,000, August 15, 2003 through July 31, 2004, “Population Structure of Schistosomes and Host Snails."

S. K. Prabhakar, computer science, from National Science Foundation, $65,000, October 1, 2000 through September 30, 2004, “CAREER: Efficient I/O for Modern Database Applications."

L. J. Pyrak-Nolte, physics, from U.S. Department of Energy, $105,258, September 1, 2003 through August 31, 2004, “Scaling of Seismic Wave Propagation Across Fractures Subjected to Time-Dependent Processes."

D. F. Ready, biological sciences, from Public Health Service, $290,316, August 1, 2003 through July 31, 2004, “Cytoskeletal Mechanisms of Retinal Development."

F. E. Regnier, chemistry, from University of Texas Hlth Sci Center at San Antoni, $75,000, July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2004, “The Role of Insulin/Igf-I Signaling in Aging Subcontract of University of Texas at San Antonio."

M. F. Rose, ctr:ed and rsrch:info assurance and security, from Indiana Higher Ed. Telecom. System, $20,000, August 7, 2003 through July 30, 2004, “Keeping Information Safe: Practices for K-12 Schools."

E. P. Sacks, computer science, from National Science Foundation, $80,000, August 15, 2003 through July 31, 2004, “Collaborative Research: a Formal Theory of Robust Numberical Computational Geometry and Its Validation on Configuration Space Construction."

I. P. Shipsey, physics, from U.S. Department of Energy, $4,500, November 1, 2002 through October 31, 2003, “An Experimental High Energy Physics Program - Supplemental CMS Travel."

I. Szleifer, chemistry, from U.S. Israel Binational Science Found, $11,500, September 1, 2001 through August 31, 2004, “Entropic Effects in Surface-Induced Polymer Crystallization."

G. C. Weaver, chemistry, from National Science Foundation, $122,826, January 15, 2002 through December 31, 2005, “Physical Chemistry in Practice-An Interactive Multimedia DVD Companion for the Physical Chemistry Courses."

 

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