A new U.S. patent issued to Florida
Tech, Dr. Kunal Mitra, associate
professor of mechanical engineering,
and cardiologist Dr. Charles Lambert,
former director of the Health First
Heart Institute in Melbourne, may
be just the calling card they need.
With the patent in their portfolio,
the researchers are in a good position
to attract support in solving a
problem that plagues many heart
surgery patients
and their doctors—the frequent
re-formation of plaque after angioplasty
and stent
implantation.
The patent is for
an x-ray delivery device, which
can be used for arterial
irradiation following balloon
angioplasty.
Mitra began development
of his process in a Food and
Drug Administration
laboratory in Rockville, Md.
in 2002.
During the development he became
associated with Lambert, who
is now a professor of medicine
in
Gainesville,
Fla.
Angioplasty and stents
are typically used to open up
blocked arteries
and keep them open. Arteries,
however, can become re-clogged
by plaque
build-up, causing health
risk and necessitating
further surgery.
The patented
process delivers x-ray irradiation
using externally
placed
hollow waveguides to an
artery to mitigate plaque reoccurrence.
The
energy can be precisely
delivered,
reducing potential damage
to nearby normal tissue
during exposure. Moreover,
x-rays have higher penetrating
power than optical waves,
such as those
used in laser therapy.
Similarly, Mitra’s methodology
can deliver precise radiation
as a medical therapy to shrink
tumors |
Ambika Ravindran and Ravindran Palaniyandi,
M.D., established a $100,000 endowment
for a named scholarship.
The
Palaniyandis were introduced to Dr.
Thomas Fox, senior vice president
of advancement, by Dr. Kunal Mitra,
associate professor of mechanical
and aerospace engineering.
“We are thrilled to know this
generous couple and grateful that a
new scholarship
fund will be available to help
worthy students,” said Fox.
James Brinkley, chairman of Baltimore-based
Legg Mason Wood Walker, the securities
brokerage subsidiary of Legg Mason
Inc. offered an optimistic outlook
on the stock market to students and
others assembled to hear him last
winter on campus. He was the spring
Distinguished Lecture Series speaker,
sponsored by the College of Business
Board of Overseers.
Brinkley offered
three keys for success in business
and life. They were:
understanding probabilities; understanding
resource and asset allocation;
and understanding yourself and human
nature.
He quoted celebrity investor
Warren Buffet to tell those gathered
to
think independently and take
risks: “I
try to be fearful when others are
greedy and greedy when others are
fearful.”
Florida Tech was the only Brevard County
school to sponsor the American Cancer
Society’s Relay for Life annual
fund-raiser. Ten university teams
participated in relays in the Charles
and Ruth Clemente Center—the
only indoor site in the country—and
a variety of other activities designed
to raise contributions.
Relay for
Life is an overnight event designed
to celebrate survivorship
and raise funds for research and
programs of the American Cancer Society.
During
the event, team members each take
turns walking or running laps all night
long.
Florida Tech organizers received
an American Cancer Society Pacesetter
Award early in the campaign for
early success in raising money and
putting
together teams.
Led by Chair Erin
Pelletier, a senior majoring in marine
biology,
the campus
volunteers sold artificial flowers, “hope” bracelets
and luminaria. They also “teeter-tottered” and
held a billiards tournament.
The campus Tri Beta, the biology
honor
society,
organized “Penny Wars” a
Department of Biological Sciences
competition to collect coins
in jars.
Over 30 volunteers helped
to
raise $23,000 for the American
Cancer
Society.
President Anthony J. Catanese holds
an oscilloscope. It’s among the
hundreds of items of sophisticated
electronics test equipment and tools
donated by Harris Corporation’s
Government Communication Systems Division
during the past year and valued at
approximately $2.4 million. Much of
the equipment—which includes
frequency counters and network analyzers—already
is in use across campus.
With the president
and the Harris-donated equipment
are (L to R) Dr. Samuel Kozaitis
and Dan Simpson, College of Engineering
(COE); William H. (Hank) Eyster III,
the Harris division’s vice president
of engineering; and Dr. Fredric Ham,
interim dean of COE.
Former astronaut and adjunct professor
Capt. Winston Scott (U.S. Navy, ret.),
thrilled some students in the Careers
in Aviation program by taking them
up in a Czech-made L39 Albatross at
Melbourne International Airport.
Careers
in Aviation, an Atlanta-based nonprofit
group, offers the exciting
flights to advanced aviation students
as a way to introduce them to turbine-powered
aircraft. Student pilots usually
don’t
encounter jets until very late in
their training.
Scott, who also is executive
director
of the Florida Space Authority,
said that more needs to be done because “Not
enough young people are entering
the technical fields.”
Careers in Aviation is an effort
to help reverse the trend.
Scientists and officials from East
Central Florida and researchers from
Eastern Europe converged on campus
in February for “Sustainability’s
New Age: Preservation and Planning,” an
International Sustainability Forum.
Dr. Gordon Nelson, dean of the College
of Science, led the event and will
create a document from the proceedings.
Keynote speakers, pictured below, were
Dr. Duane DeFreese, vice president
of Florida Research, Hubbs Sea World
Research Institute; Dr. William F.
Koch, deputy director of the Chemical
Science and Technology Laboratory,
National Institute for Standards and
Technology; and Dr. William F. Carroll,
president of the American Chemical
Society.
The event was an outgrowth
of the university’s
collaboration with Budapest University
of Technology and Economics (BME),
an academic exchange that has been
ongoing since 2001.
To provide funding for Florida Tech’s
Peace Corps Fellows Program, started
on campus in 1999, returned volunteers
now enrolled in Florida Tech graduate
programs are pitching in to research
funding sources. At least seven Fellows
in science and environmental education,
and other teacher education programs,
are committing time to foundation and
other funding-source research in the
development office.
Currently, returned
volunteers enrolled in graduate education
degree programs
are eligible for the same tuition
benefits as full-time teachers, that
is, a one-third
tuition reduction. Attracting other
funding should further reduce the
financial burden on these volunteers
who have
served their country.
Dr. Thomas Marcinkowski,
associate professor of science and
mathematics
education, coordinates the Peace
Corps Fellows Program.
A one-day symposium brought together
more than 85 practicing engineers and
contractors to hear from experts in
the fields of disaster reconstruction,
planning, contracting and mitigation. “Disaster
Recovery Construction: Hurricane Preparedness
and Recovery Construction Operations” was
sponsored by Florida Tech’s Construction
Industry Advisory Board (CIAB).
The
symposium, thought to be the first
such public forum in Florida, was
designed to prepare professionals in
the construction industry for whatever
the 2005 hurricane
season may bring. Brig. Gen. (ret.) Ralph V. Locurcio, professor of civil engineering,
coordinated the symposium.
Among the presenters were Brig. Gen.
Michael Walsh, director of the South
Atlantic Division
of the Army Corps of Engineers; Shabbar
Saifee, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency’s (FEMA) director of Mitigation; and Bob Lay, Brevard
County Emergency Manager. Florida Tech President Anthony J. Catanese discussed
a university/industry partnership for construction education, such as disaster
recovery.
• Alumni Endorsement
Grant—Students enrolling
in a full-time undergraduate
program at Florida Tech are
eligible for a $1000 grant,
renewable for up to four
years, when referred by alumni
of Florida Tech.
• Florida Tech Legacy Grant—Sons and daughters of Florida Tech alumni,
enrolling in a full-time undergraduate program at Florida Tech, are eligible
for a ten percent reduction in tuition. For further details visit this link: www.fit.edu/ugrad/financial_aid/scholarships.htm
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