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Maryland Moments, May, 2005 University Initiatives (New Programs, Honors) UM opens the Maryland Center for Integrated Nano Science and Engineering in the recently completed Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building. Small Times magazine names the spanking new center one of the leaders in nano science and engineering. The magazine, which details technological advances, applications and investment opportunities in micro and nanotechnology, ranks UM No. 1 in both nano research and nano education. Maryland was ranked number two in micro research (tied with Michigan). "Nanotechnology's potential for creating mind-stretching new products in medicine, electronics, defense and other fields is well known," said President C.D. Mote Jr. "Our new center has just the right balance of scientific, engineering and business expertise to realize that potential, a strong commitment to environmentally benign outcomes and a collegial, service-oriented approach that welcomes collaborators and clients." The A. James Clark School of Engineering, the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences and the College of Life Sciences partner in managing the center. The emerging center welcomes its director Steven Salzberg, senior director of bioinformatics at The Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, on July 1. Faculty will come from a variety of backgrounds to advance research and education in computational biology through the establishment of nationally visible research programs. Disciplines include computer science, mathematics and statistics, molecular biology and biochemistry. The center will be administered by the College of Life Sciences and College of Computer, Mathematical & Physical Sciences. UM is selected to establish the Sloan Biotechnology Industry Center, a home for high-impact research on the forces driving the competitiveness in the nation's biotechnology industry. A start-up grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation will help fund this work. The center will join an elite group of Sloan university-based research facilities, each focusing on a critical U.S. industrial sector. It is believed to be the first research center to focus solely on competitiveness in the biotechnology industry. Jacques Gansler, the center's director is also vice president for research at UM and director of the Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise in the School of Public Policy. A common theme at graduation ceremonies from featured speaker Andrea Mitchell and others was the web of influence wielded by 9/11 over the Class of '05. "You were bound together forever by the horror of 9/11," she said. "On that day, we realized none of us is immune to forces of evil entirely outside of our control." Mitchell was critical of the media leading up to Sept. 11, 2001 and its coverage of sensationalistic but historically unimportant scandals. She encouraged graduates to become familiar with world events. "We ignore the world at our peril." President C.D. Mote Jr. speaks at the National Academies of Science during a hearing with Commerce Department officials regarding restricting foreign scholars to research equipment. The aftermath of 9/11 has motivated Mote to take a leadership role in addressing issues which the academic community feels impedes research, like immigration restrictions on scientists. In this case, Mote offered the suggestion to grant international students and postdoctoral scholars a deemed export license when they receive their visas. National Public Radio attends a reception for UM's Baltimore Incentive Awards Program at President Mote's campus residence. It's a celebration of what is and what will be for BIAP students: those graduating from UM attend as do the latest selections to come to campus from Baltimore City. It's a celebration of a growing university family. NPR: ""President Dan Mote modeled the program after one he helped start at the University of California at Berkeley, before he came to Maryland. In their way, Berkeley's and Maryland's programs are tackling trends that are making it much harder for students like Dominic Smith to go to college. Before this year, the university had awarded 36 Baltimore students Incentive Awards; so far, 34 are still enrolled. Among the first class, six of the nine will graduate by December; two others are on schedule for next May." The National Academy of Sciences announces it had elected 72 new members, of whom 19 are women, the largest group of women ever elected in one year. Included in this class is Ellen Williams, distinguished university professor of physics. Williams is the 16th active faculty member to be honored by the National Academy of Science. The Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute is given funding to develop a system that will allow fire commanders to monitor the vital signs of firefighters at the scene of an incident and obtain biofeedback including blood pressure and respiration rate. U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer announced the awarding of the $750,000 grant. Participating disciplines come from experts at MFRI, the A. James Clark School of Engineering's Fire Protection Engineering Department; the Small Smart System Center and the Maryland Information Network Dynamics Laboratory (MIND) Lab.
The new Riggs Alumni Center hosted the state's biotech leaders at a "Building on the Foundation" conference sponsored by UM, the Tech Council of Maryland, the state Department of Business and Economic Development and Johns Hopkins University. Among the guests is MedImmune CEO David Mott, who says there is no strategy for the state of Maryland to move up in the rankings of state biotech industries. His company benefitted from participation in the Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program in the Clark School of Engineering. The Robert H. Smith School of Business expands its relationship with the business communications tech company Avaya Inc. to provide both a richer experience for students and products for the marketplace. The New Jersey-based company is working with the school to develop a "virtual community" to make it easier for students, faculty and staff members to communicate. And Smith research contributes to Avaya's ability to offer products such as system that can instanty track down contractors, suppliers and other experts by all manner of communications, including the phone. Society & Culture
The Center for International Development and Conflict Management releases its prestigious assessment of the status of war and conflict around the globe. Among the findings: About 20 percent of all nations face a serious risk of civil war or governmental collapse, including a half dozen at high risk of future genocides. Among the areas of greatest risk, the report highlights large portions of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Muslim world. The report documents a mixture of promise and threat: it ranks nearly half of the 161 nations studied as facing serious threats that may require international action, but finds that separatist civil wars have dropped in both number and intensity to the lowest levels since 1960 -- down in the past two years by one-third. CIDCM issues the report every two years. Laura Perna, assistant professor of higher education, co-authors a report which receives saturation coverage in the media. "College dropouts who took out loans to pay for post-secondary education are likely to face significant, detrimental, and long-term financial problems, warns a new study released by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. Borrowers Who Drop Out: A Neglected Aspect of the College Student Loan Trend is the first report to examine these students who leave the higher education system saddled with a debt that must be repaid, but are without the financial benefits that a college degree provides." The Center on Aging releases the first-ever directory of resources for people over 50 in the Greater Washington D.C. area, including Maryland, Virginia and the District. The 200-page Next Chapters Resource Directory for the Greater Washington, D.C. Area is aimed at Baby Boomers, who are facing retirement, care of adult parents and other life changes. It lists local resources for meaningful volunteerism, employment opportunities, lifelong learning and retirement planning. It also includes information on aging agencies, retirement, care and adult communities, and nutrition and senior centers. Organizations can use the directory to recruit volunteers, clients and staff. Science & Technology
Rachel Pinker, professor of meteorology, is the lead author of a paper reporting more sunshine is getting through to Earth. Her work appears as other studies, one from Switzerland and one from the U.S., make the same point through different research methods. The BBC interviewed Pinker: "We have satellite observations that are global, which can look at the global picture starting from 1983 until 2001.... We have found in many places that indeed we do agree with observations that have been made at the ground, that there was a decrease up to the '90s and then there was an increase. When we analyse the entire record for the 20 years, we don't see a dimming; we see a slight increase in the amount of radiation when averaged over global scales." The journal Nature: "A second study, led by Rachel Pinker from the University of Maryland, College Park, found a similar trend by looking at satellite data, although their research suggests the extent of the brightening is smaller. Unlike ground stations, satellites can sample the whole planet, including the oceans. However, satellite data are difficult to calibrate, and so are considered less accurate than measurements from the ground." Astronomy magazine: "The ultimate goal of planet-hunting astronomers is the discovery of a world like our own orbiting in the so-called habitable zone of a normal Sun-like star. At the field's current pace, such a discovery may not lie far in the future. In 2014, NASA plans to launch Terrestrial Planet Finder C (TPF-C), a spacecraft dedicated to the task of detecting earthlike planets. But without the ability to see Earth through TPF-C's telescopic eyes, astronomers will lack a direct way to compare a newfound exo-Earth with our own world. Now, Tilak Hewagama of the University of Maryland and Drake Deming of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center are using earthshine — light from Earth reflected from the Moon's night side — to view our world as it would be seen through a distant telescope. 'It's a poor man's way of looking back at Earth,' Hewagama (assistant research scientist in astronomy) told Astronomy." Eleven university teams researching digital preservation received $2.8 million in federal grants, with the expectation that their research will generate tangible benefits a year from now. In announcing the awards, Library of Congress and National Science Foundation officials said that the money would fund challenging research topics, such as describing and automatically archiving digital objects, preserving digital video at the point of its creation, and archiving 3-D digital content. Maryland's grant goes to "exploring automated collection and verification methods for distributed digital collections." Joseph JaJa, professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, is the lead researcher. A tale of successful technology transfer. Corinna Latham, Allison Druin and Catherine Plaisant are among five researchers granted a U.S. patent for "a robotic apparatus and system adapted to communicate with a wireless sensor." The patent is issued to Anthrotronix, Inc. of Silver Spring and UM. (Anthrotronix is a graduate of the Technology Advancement Program at the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute, Clark School of Engineering.) Latham is company CEO and adjunct associate professor of aerospace engineering, Druin is assistant professor of education and information studies as well as being affiliated with the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory, and Plaisant is associate research scientist and associate director of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory.  Fall '04 :
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