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August 20, 2008 8:57 AM |
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H9N2 Avian Flu Strain Has Pandemic Potential Back To School Experts - 2008 Edition UM Wins International Robot Competition UM's Fall Semester to Focus on All Aspects Of War |
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Highlighted News Items, August 15
College Presidents Seek Debate on Drinking Age
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Maryland Moments, June, 2003
University Initiatives
(New Programs, Rankings)
C.D. Mote Jr. leads a region-wide task force appointed by the Potomac Conference of the Greater Washington Board of Trade to encourage federal and university researchers to license their work in the private sector. Mote is co-chairman of the Potomac Conference, which held a June meeting to address the issue. Used as a rare example of university research successfully making it to the commerical market was Chesapeaker PERL, a former tenant of the University of Maryland Technology Advancement Program and successful defense contractor.
The University of Maryland was awarded $5 million by the Legislative Policy Committee of the state General Assembly to purchase land for a 130-acre technology research center near the College Park Metro station. At 2.8 million square feet, the center will be the largest of its kind in the state.
The academic journal published its annual undergraduate ranking of colleges and universities, based on the number of African American, Asian American, Hispanic American and American Indian students enrolled. UM continued its high ranking in the number of African American degree recipients, up from No. 18 a year ago to No. 14. At traditionally white institutions, Maryland ranks No. 5 in African American degree recipients. Top Ten programs: African American Biological and Life Sciences, No. 6; African American English Language and Letters, No. 2; African American Social Sciences and History, No. 1; Asian American Education, No. 7; Asian American English Language and Letters, No. 7. In all, 14 programs ranked in the Top 25.
The new $106 million National Laboratory Center for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' was dedicated in Beltsville, just up Route 1 from campus. U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer: "We wanted it near the University of Maryland because we believed the synergy between the institutions would be great."
Society & Culture
A poll regarding what Americans feel about U.S. claims regarding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction was released to great fanfare because 52% of the respondents felt the government was not truthful in its pre-war appraisal of WMDs. The Program on International Policy Attitudes poll also found doubts about claims of a direct link between the Saddam Huessein government and Al-Qaida. The poll concluded that for most people the pluses of going to war still outweighed the minuses.
The Maryland Small Business Development Center Network was awarded a $300,000 grant by the Defense Logistics Agency to operate a statewide Procurement Technical Assistance Program that provides small businesses with specialized assistance in pursuing federal, state and local government contract awards. PTAP, based at UM, received matching grants from the Maryland Department of Economic Development, the University of Maryland and the HubZone Technology Network.
BSOS researchers found that structured programs providing social skills training and behavior management arev the most effective at preventing delinquency. Programs that emphasized recreation were least effective with middle school-age teenagers. The Maryland Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Justice commissioned the study.
The Smith School of Business opened the Netcentric Behavioral Laboratory, which enables researchers to work in a dedicated workspace that boasts 18 networked computer workstations, behavioral research software applications and video and audio taping capabilities. The new lab is the third major component of the business school's Netcentricity Laboratory, which also includes the Supply Chain Management Center and the Netcentric Financial Markets Laboratory.
Jacques Gansler, director of the Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise, authored an IBM Endowment for the Business of Government report that refutes six common arguments against putting government work up for competition with the private sector. Privatization of governmental duties is a hotly debated top in Washington.
The Smith School of Business is teaming with Maryland Public Television< to produce a regular segment focusing on today�s best business practices and other business management issues. Smith Business Close-up will air at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays as part of the Business Connection program.
Science & Technology
UM Faculty Help DOD Pick a Language, Any Language
A group of computer scientists and natural language experts were given a �mission�: within a month, build a program that translates between English and a randomly chosen language. The project, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, challenges resea rchers to quickly build translation tools when unforeseen needs arise. The University of Maryland (College of Information Studies), University of Southern California and Johns Hopkins University, among others, spent the month pooling data from dictionaries, religious texts, news sources and native speakers.
Market Biosciences, a graduate of the university's Technology Advancement Program incubator program, agreed to sell its nutritional oils to the world's largest infant formula manufacturer in a deal that could dramatically expand the company's sales reach outside of the United States.
MIPS Helps Firm Fix Its Product to Set Stage for National Sales
Pioneer Conveyor re-engineered its manufacturing processes and developed new, state-of-the-art rollers through UM's Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program. Although its conveyor products were selling, they were breaking down because of structural, environmental or manufacturing reasons.
The customer is happy: "The difference in problems we're having is night and day," said company president Courtland Helbig. "We just don't have them anymore."
More Maryland Moments in June
Irv Goldstein, dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, is the new University System of Maryland Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Goldstein served as dean at UM under system chancellor William Kirwan.
Marina Harrison, a senior communication major in the College of Arts and Humanities, was crowned Miss Maryland in Hagerstown. She plans to promote public education as she represents the state at the Miss America pageant later this summer. Marina has a tough act to follow: Last year's Miss Maryland, School of Music graduate Camille Lewis, finished fourth runner-up at the Miss America Pageant, and she won the talent and evening gown competitions.
Jennie Levine, assistant curator for historical manuscripts, was in the news as co-editor of Sugarquill.net, which allows authors to write about the land inhabited by the best-selling Harry Potter characters and to be published on the Internet. Levine's �fan fiction' site is popular, setting the bar high for the quality of works to be posted.
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