Robert van Woesik, professor of biological sciences, published his reef research from Palau, Micronesia, which showed that bleached coral reefs are more resilient than once thought. They can bounce back if subjected to good management practices and 10 years or so of pristine conditions. His research, first published in the journal, Coral Reefs, was also noted by Science News last May.
The Economist (England) and the MIT Technology Review ran a feature story on Ronaldo Menezes, associate professor of computer sciences, about his research into swarm theory (flocking, schooling or copycat behavior) and smart shopping carts. Canada’s CBC Radio also picked up the story, broadcasting a six-minute piece all over the country.
Professor of Biological Sciences Mark Bush continues to investigate prehistoric climate change and its effect on life. His studies on pollen in Andean mountain sediment cores were published most recently by National Wildlife magazine.
When Florida Tech alumni Joan Higginbotham and Sunita Williams went to space aboard Space Shuttle Discovery last December the news made the papers all over the world. The Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Houston Chronicle, International Herald Tribune and FOX News were a few of the many media outlets covering their stories
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Florida Tech President Anthony J. Catanese was named president of the Sunshine State Conference (SSC), an NCAA Division II multisport organization. His two-year term began last spring.
President of Florida Tech since 2002, Catanese is credited with augmenting the university’s participation in the SSC with five more competitive sports. They are men’s and women’s golf and tennis, and women’s soccer. His goal is “to continue the work to make the SSC the best Division II Conference in America.”
The Sunshine State Conference, formed in 1975 to offer basketball, today also includes baseball, men’s and women’s golf, women’s rowing, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis and women’s volleyball. Member institutions are Florida Tech, Barry University, Eckerd College, Florida Southern College, Lynn University, Nova Southeastern University, Rollins College, Saint Leo University and the University of Tampa.
Catanese continues his lifelong interest in sports by competing in road races locally and statewide as a Master’s Runner. He recently completed his 30th marathon.
A student project, Florida Tech’s Racing Electric Vehicle (REV), won the Florida Electric Auto Association’s “Best Design” at the organization’s international conference at Florida Atlantic University in Jupiter. In May, the student team built on that success at the 2007 Formula Hybrid Competition at the raceway in Louden, N.H.
In Jupiter, the Florida Tech REV vied against 10 other cars. Teams came to compete from as far away as Oregon and Canada.
“Our team made an excellent impression on the electric car enthusiasts, especially because, after they worked on the design for months, they built the car to the display level in only three weeks,” said Frank Leslie, environmental science faculty member.
By May, the team had readied the car to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in about five seconds and it was able to reach a top speed of 85 mph. At the competition in New Hampshire, the car took top records in acceleration and autocross. They also won the Best Designed Hybrid in Progress award.
Key REV team members and College of Engineering students were Elizabeth Diaz, team leader; Jason Miner, mechanical lead; and Matt Reedy, electrical lead. Advisers included Pierre LaRochelle, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; Barry Grossman, professor of electrical and computer engineering; and Stephanie Hopper, director of College of Engineering laboratories.
Diaz, for her academic, engineering and extracurricular success, was singled out by Florida Trend magazine in May as one of the state’s top graduating seniors.
Ten select students from universities nationwide, including Virginia Tech and the University of Puerto Rico, participated in a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) experience. The REU was held at Florida Tech and the University of Central Florida (UCF) during summer 2007.
The program, in machine learning, is funded by NSF REU grants totaling $299,451 to the universities. The principal investigator is Georgios Anagnostopoulos, assistant professor in Florida Tech’s department of electrical and computer engineering, pictured above at right.
The students conducted research in machine learning and displayed their work in a symposium at the end of the program. They are expected to
present their results at interdisciplinary conferences
and, potentially, will publish the results in technical
journals.
Machine learning is traditionally considered a broad subfield of artificial intelligence. The discipline draws concepts from a variety of other fields, including cognitive sciences, information theory, statistics, mathematics, physics, philosophy and biology. Its cutting-edge applications include automatic target recognition, earthquake prediction, gene expression discovery and intelligent credit fraud protection.
At Florida Tech, faculty member Veton Kepuska, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, was also involved.
Less than 10 percent of the annual applications for the prestigious NSF REU programs are funded.
Theodore R. Richardson III, Ed.D., has been named associate dean of University College. In his role as associate dean, Richardson will oversee all University College master’s degree and graduate certificate programs under both the Extended Studies and Distance Learning Divisions.
“Dr. Richardson brings a wealth of experience to Florida Tech’s University College,” said University College Dean Clifford R. Bragdon. “He will serve as my right hand as we transition the college into a 21st century learning environment.”
Previously associate dean for external affairs at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y., Richardson was active in strategic initiatives and programs. These include enrollment management, marketing strategies and new graduate program development for the M.B.A. and E.M.B.A. programs; involvement in the business school capital campaign including endowed chairs and a Center for Non-Profit Management; collaborations with the city of Rochester; AACSB and regional accreditation committees; and faculty recruitment. |
It’s a nightmare. A post 9-11 scenario of concealed nuclear material surreptitiously making its way to U.S. ports is enough to scare anyone into wakefulness. The possibility spurred the Department of Homeland Security to establish the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) in 2005.
The office’s mission is to reinforce the nation’s ability to detect and thwart such attempts.
Associate Professor Marcus Hohlmann earned DNDO funding for his project. Under a one-year initial grant of $230,000, Hohlmann is adapting an existing technology developed for high-energy particle physics experiments. With good progress, the financial support should grow to $1.3 million over a projected three years.
The effort involves muon radiography. Muons are naturally produced by cosmic rays. They arrive from deep space and constantly bombard the Earth’s atmosphere. High-energy elementary particles, they are much heavier versions of electrons and are difficult to block by concrete or lead. Although muons are deeply penetrating,
heavy nuclei that would be present in smuggled nuclear material could deflect them. The heavier the nuclei, the more the muons scatter.
Hohlmann will apply a novel type of micro-pattern particle detector, a gas electron multiplier (GEM). The GEM was initially developed at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics near Geneva, Switzerland.
“Our ultimate plan is to use the GEM micro-pattern detector for particle tracking to measure the deflection of muons and apply it to the overseas shipping arena,” said Hohlmann. “The detectors could be physically installed at the nation’s ports or integrated into the actual cargo containers. Or, the detectors might be placed on the ships themselves.”
Here is how the project would work: Following computer modeling, Hohlmann and his team will develop detectors, electronics and software for a data acquisition system and online data analysis. They’ll design, build and test the GEM prototype detector in a simulated cargo container.
Associated signal readout electronics will provide information about the scattering angle of the muons as they pass in and out of the material. The wider the angle is, the bigger the nuclei inside and the greater the likelihood that the material is dangerous nuclear contraband.
“The Department of Homeland Security believes there is a great need to train young people in this kind of protection,” said Hohlmann. “I agree that
we must use our knowledge to check the evil consequences of nuclear technology. That’s what motivates me.”
Ke-Gang Wang, professor of physics and space sciences and principal investigator, will undertake a project with the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the three-dimensional (3D) microstructural evolution of alloys.
The NSF Materials World Network Program is funding the project with $265,000 over three years to Wang and the same amount to the principal investigator at Pennsylvania State University. Two additional universities in Germany are each receiving the same funding from the German National Science Foundation, bringing the project’s financial support to $1.06 million. Florida Tech is the leading institution in the international collaborative research. Students and junior researchers participating in this project will travel to counterpart institutions across the Atlantic for one month every summer.
“We will use scientific instruments to capture images of the 3D microstructures of alloys and use computer simulation to create digital microstructures of materials,” said Wang. A goal of the project is to see, by theoretical, computational and experimental means, how the microstructures form and evolve in materials.
It’s hoped the work will advance the state of the art of simulation and experimental tools for 3D microstructural evolution. In addition, the results may help engineers to make improvements in armor protection, and the theoretical and computational tools will save money and time for alloy modification.
Florida Tech’s new 32-inch research telescope, which will be installed this fall, was named a partner facility for the award-winning Global Hands-On Universe (HOU) project. Just two other universities are program partners. They are the University of California at Berkeley and the University
of Chicago.
Hakeem Oluseyi, an astrophysicist and professor in the Florida Tech department of physics and space sciences, has been instrumental in introducing astronomy education and research into Kenyan schools through HOU. This international educational program is funded by the National Science Foundation and based at the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, Calif. Oluseyi is HOU’s Africa regional coordinator.
The HOU teaches astronomy, math and science to primary- and secondary-level school students by bringing them professional-grade telescopic images of the universe. Last May, HOU held an Internet teleconference workshop for nearly a dozen teachers at Kenya High School, a national residency school for girls. This was the first HOU workshop to be held on the African continent.
The project was initiated by Carl Pennypacker at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who runs HOU; Susan Murabana, who has volunteered for several years on improving science education in Africa; and Oluseyi.
According to Murabana, “I became interested when Hakeem described HOU to me as an opportunity to introduce cutting-edge research education into Kenyan schools. The fact that it was Hakeem who recommended it gave me confidence that it was worthwhile.”
Oluseyi said that completion of the HOU teachers’ workshop is a crucial first step to bringing Kenya High and other African schools in the future into the global network of research-based science educational programs.
University College offers cutting-edge course instruction in its Professional Development Program in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), available through the Professional Development Division. This comprehensive program provides online and traditional instruction.
Florida Tech is one of the few universities in the United States to offer an online professional development program in ABA for those seeking certification.
The course developer is Jose A. Martinez-Diaz, Ph.D., BCBA, (above) associate professor and chair of Behavior Analysis Programs, Florida Tech College of Psychology and Liberal Arts. He provides instruction for all courses.
Courses meet the instructional requirements for certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst™ (BCBA®) from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc.® (BACB®) and the Board Certified Associate Behavior Analyst™ (BCABA®) examinations.
Certification in behavior analysis means marketability and the key to job growth and security. There is a growing need for well-trained board certified behavior analysis professionals.
Josh Pritchard, ’02 B.S. psychology, ’05 M.S. applied behavioral analysis, said, “To summarize from the FABA (Florida Association for Behavior Analysis) Web site, career opportunities for board-certified behavior analysts are abundant. There are about four openings for each job applicant. Salaries in the field are comparable to other professionals in the human services, with reported ranges for new master’s degree graduates between $40,000–$60,000.”
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Richardson Named to Associate Dean Post