Last fall, the Travel Channel
caught up with Dr. Lee Harris
in Thailand
as he traveled the world overseeing
Reef Ball© and other beach protection
projects. The associate professor
of ocean engineering joined a post-tsunami
artificial reef project, using Reef
Balls to restore coral reefs on Racha
Island, south of Phuket. Before winging
to the wave-ravaged area, Harris
flew to Grand Cayman to aid environmental
recovery from a direct hit by 2004’s
Category 5 Hurricane Ivan. He taught
coral propagation and helped rescue
a variety of target species of imperiled
corals on the Western Caribbean island.
Covering that work was a film crew
shooting for BBC TV’s “Jewel
of the Caribbean” special.
Dr. John Windsor was among the
experts quoted in an Orlando Sentinel
story
about the health of the Indian
River Lagoon. The professor of
oceanography
and environmental science was also
one of 10 in Brevard County named
as “People to watch in 2006” by
Florida Today. Windsor, who for
25 years has been in the forefront
of
work to save the lagoon from the
toxic substances that affect it,
was appointed to a newly formed
multiagency task force spearheaded
by the EPA’s
National Estuary Program. Its mission
is to investigate aquatic animal
health issues in the estuary. He
led a symposium on the future of
the Indian River Lagoon in March
2006 at Florida Tech.
AOPA Flight Training referred
to Florida Tech as a “mega school … with
outstanding resources.” … Florida
Trend examined Florida Tech’s
impact on what the magazine called “the
Research Coast.” … Dr.
Michael Slotkin, of the College of
Business, was quoted in the Orlando
Sentinel about Florida’s growing
workforce ... Dr. Robert Taylor,
of the College of Psychology and
Liberal Arts, was quoted in the Palm
Beach Post about Civil War veterans
who migrated to Florida because of
its balmy climate and reputation
as a southernmost frontier.
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The university received reaffirmation
of its accreditation for the next
10 years from the Southern Association
of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The
university undergoes the exhaustive
review process every decade.
“Our hard
work and dedication to our mission
drew just seven recommendations
from the SACS review committee
this time, compared to 62 recommendations
in 1995. We should all be proud
that
we’ve come such a long way,” said
President Anthony J. Catanese.
Dr.
Robert Fronk, vice provost for
academic affairs, led the Florida
Tech SACS accreditation team.
The team has worked since 2002 to
supply
SACS evaluators with relevant
information.
“We are
grateful for the efforts of Dr. Fronk
and his team in this essential
process,” said Catanese.
“Of special
note is the Quality Enhancement Plan,
which is the new SACS requirement.
I was a member of the SACS
Steering
Committee on Accreditation
that created this innovative approach.
It is an
effort to go beyond the gatekeeper
function and develop goals
for enhancing academic quality. Our
QEP states
that all Florida Tech students—graduate
and undergraduate—will engage
in research and discovery, and we
will become the first university
to achieve that.
“Ours
is a task of continuous improvement.
We will always seek to
better ourselves in our teaching,
research and service
to the community. We will
always strive to make a difference.”
The Commission on Colleges
of SACS is the recognized
regional accrediting
body in the 11 U.S. southern
states (Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Mississippi,
North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas
and Virginia). The body
also
accredits schools in Latin
America,
which
award bachelor’s,
master’s
or doctoral degrees.
The
written report we receive
from SACS helps the institution
improve
its programs and refine
its quality enhancement
plan.
The report
also provides the basis
on which the
commission decides to
grant, continue, reaffirm
or withdraw accreditation.
“A positive
accreditation is critical to receiving
federal financial aid
for our students,” said Provost
T. Dwayne McCay. “The SACS
team reaffirmed what we already knew:
that Florida Tech is an excellent
academic institution with a real
plan for furthering its success.”
Dr. Jose A. Martinez-Diaz, associate
professor and program chair of the
Florida Tech School of Psychology
Applied Behavior Analysis Master’s
Degree Program, has earned a Florida
Association of Behavior Analysis
Charles H. Cox Award. The award is
for outstanding service and for the
advancement of behavior analysis
in Florida in 2005.
 The award is
named after Charles H. Cox, director
of the Florida Department
of Health and Human Services Developmental
Services Program Office in the
1970s and
early 1980s.
Martinez-Diaz, a board
certified behavior analyst, founded
the graduate
program in applied behavior analysis
at Florida Tech and replicated
it at University College’s
Orlando site. He is treasurer
of the Behavior
Analyst Certification Board and
one of its three executive committee
members.
Martinez-Diaz is a past
president of the Florida Association
for
Behavior Analysis and was a
member of its
executive committee for eight
years. In addition, he is director
of
A.B.A. Technologies, a company
providing
agency consultation, staff
training and continuing education.
He currently is developing a series
of online courses
for
Florida Tech
that will meet certification
requirements.
We were unable to include a photo gallery
from Homecoming in this issue because
of printing deadlines, however, you
can view photos online at www.fit.edu/alumni/events/photogallery/index.html
From left: Dr. Burkhard Rahut, President
of RWTH Aachen University (Germany),
and his wife Judith with Sara Catanese
and President Catanese during homecoming
festivities.
In February, the university wove together
two cultural arts experiences in “Uncommon
Threads: Connoisseurship and Antique
Textiles.” Titi Halle, commentator
on PBS television’s “Antiques
Roadshow” and director of Cora
Ginsburg LLC, was at the heart of both
events.
In the lecture, “Cora
Ginsburg: The Influence of a Pioneer
Dealer in
Historic Costumes and Textiles,” Halle
discussed the life of collector and
gallery founder Cora Ginsburg. The
celebrated art collector made a profound
impact on textile collections in
American museums, such as The Colonial
Williamsburg
Foundation.
A luncheon featured displays
of antique and embroidered textiles
and a presentation
by Halle on their care and conservation.
Halle also conducted an appraisal
of rare textiles, including antique
textiles
from Florida Tech’s Ruth
Funk Collection.
The “Uncommon
Threads” special
event is part of Florida Tech’s
new “Textile Art and Industry” program.
The program began in 2004 with
help from Ruth Funk, artist, lifelong
art
educator and local patron of the
arts. She donated her textile collection
to the university along with a
financial
gift for planning a textiles program.
Yet another indicator of quality highlights
the impact of Florida Tech. The Washington
Monthly‘s College Guide ranks
Florida Tech 106th in the nation and
second in the state of Florida. The
rankings are meant to showcase what
universities and colleges are doing
for their communities, states and country.
Washington Monthly’s philosophy
outlines three basic principles: “Universities
should be engines of social mobility.
They should produce the academic
minds and scientific research that
advance
knowledge and drive economic growth,
and, third, they should inculcate
and encourage an ethic of service.”
Scoring
well in all three areas, Florida
Tech excels in the area of
public service.
The magazine ranks the university’s
ROTC program eighth in the nation
and ranks the university’s
efforts to send graduates into the
Peace Corps
68th.
“Because service is unique to
the American model of higher education,
we’re
extremely proud of our ranking
in the Washington Monthly guide,” said
President Anthony J. Catanese. “We
believe that our graduates go
out into the world with a better
understanding
of the global environment and
the need to act on a local level.”
In
total, the magazine ranked
245 national universities, including
eight from
the state of Florida.
Two researchers were appointed Distinguished
Visiting Research Professors in University
College. Keith Berkowitz, M.D., and
Peter V. Radatti, Ph.D., join the faculty
to pursue research in sustainable food
products related to the State of Florida.
Berkowitz
is medical director of the Center
for Balanced Health in New York
City, which he founded in 2003. The
center specializes in the prevention
and treatment of obesity, diabetes,
heart disease and other metabolic
conditions.
Radatti, whose background
is in chemistry, electronics and
astrophysics, worked
for 13 years at General Electric
Space, Military Programs Department.
While
there, he designed and developed
very early fiber-optic computer
networks.
Radatti is CEO and, with
Berkowitz, co-founder of R&B Foods.
They began the company in 2004 to create
healthy
food products to benefit Berkowitz’s
patients, many of whom have diabetes,
unstable blood sugar or heart disease.
At Florida Tech they will continue
work they have begun on orange-based
fiber flour and other food products.
Almost 300 scientists from over 50
countries debated, discussed and presented
at the Conference on Differential and
Difference Equations and Applications
at Florida Tech in August.
The conference
was designed to promote cooperation
among the various disciplines
in the field of mathematics encompassing
differential and difference equations.
Participants, from some of the world’s
major universities and institutes,
were invited
to attend.
The Department of Mathematical
Sciences hosted the conference,
led by Dr.
Ravi P. Agarwal, professor of mathematical
sciences. Other organizers were
faculty members, Drs. Tariel Kiguradze,
Kanishka
Perera and Gnana Bhaskar Tenali.
Peace Corps volunteers, returning from
stints in exotic locales, face the
question of how to supplement their
unique service experiences. Often that
step is a graduate program.
Since 1998,
many volunteers have chosen Florida
Tech to continue their education
in a Graduate Environmental and Teacher
Education Fellows Program. Dr. Thomas
Marcinkowski, program coordinator,
currently directs seven returned
Peace Corps volunteers.
A Peace Corps
Fellow at the university since 2003,
Carole McCauley is currently
completing a master’s degree
in environmental education before
she moves on to oversee development
of
the master plan for the first national
park on the Caribbean island of
Montserrat. The new park, representing
approximately
20 percent of Montserrat’s
total area, will protect endangered
species,
some of which are found only on
the teardrop-shaped island. Located
in the Centre Hills Forest Reserve,
the projected date for the
park to
be legally
established is Spring 2007.
McCauley
was a Peace Corps volunteer
in Antigua, West Indies, for
almost three years, then
served as interim
executive director of the
Environmental Awareness Group. She
currently
works for the St. Johns
River Water Management
District as an educator
and volunteer coordinator.
Four have
graduated from the fellows program.
Katrina
(Babulski) Morrell
works at the Environmental
Learning Center in Wabasso,
Fla. Michelle
(Reznicek) Machalka is
a forensic scientist, working
for the FBI in Quantico,
Va. Other graduates are Matt
Culver
and Steven
MacLeod.
Members of the Florida Tech Army ROTC
Ranger Challenge Team consistently
prove their excellence, and 2005 was
no exception. Just as in the past three
years, the team defeated 10 other teams
including Embry Riddle, University
of Florida and University of Tampa,
to bring home the regional first place
trophy. Of the five events in the Ranger
Challenge, the Florida Tech team placed
first in the Rope Bridge, Six-Mile
Full-Equipment Run and Weapons Assembly.
At the regional, National Intercollegiate
Flying Association (NIFA) Safety and
Flight Evaluation Conference, Florida
Tech’s Falcons flight team was
awarded the first Robert Schuster Memorial
Safety Award for NIFA Region 9. At
the event, held in Jacksonville, Fla.,
the Falcons came in second place.
An
ad hoc organization, “Friends
of Bob Schuster,” sponsored the
new award in honor of Schuster. A College
of Aeronautics professor for four years,
who died in March 2004, Schuster was
devoted to aviation safety and very
active in the NIFA flight competitions.
“We hope this will become an
annual award in Bob’s memory, to recognize
his love of flying and devotion to
flight safety,” said Dr. Donna
Wilt, associate professor of aeronautics.
To make a financial contribution to
future awards, contact Wilt at dwilt@fit.edu.
Gifts to Florida Tech’s Evans
Library are digitizing and making available
online the contents of the library’s
Edwin A. Link Special Collection. Funding
comes from Florida Tech trustees Marilyn
C. Link and Dr. Andrew Clark, with
matching funds donated by the Link
Foundation. Nicole Hoier, Florida Tech
instructional technologist and lab
operations manager, gave a drum scanner
to the effort.
The collection contains
many personal papers, maps, charts,
correspondence
and blueprints of Edwin A. Link (1904–1981),
an inventor, aviator and industrialist.
He invented the first successful flight
simulator, the Link Trainer, and designed
the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution’s
Johnson-Sea-Link class submersibles. “This
gift will further Ed Link’s legacy
worldwide and for all time,” said
Florida Tech Dean of Libraries Dr.
Celine Lang.
The maintenance department of F.I.T.
Aviation LLC has received the Certificate
of Excellence Diamond Award from the
Federal Aviation Administration. The
award, made by the FAA Orlando Flight
Standards District Office, recognizes
organizations that participate in voluntary
maintenance training.
The highest of
five possible awards, the Diamond
Certificate of Excellence
Award for employers, goes to organizations
with at least 25 percent of eligible
employees participating in the award
program. Four out of six eligible
mechanics at F.I.T. Aviation took part
by receiving
the Bronze Certificate of Excellence
for aviation maintenance technicians.
F.I.T. Aviation technicians Roger
Sladek, Rodney Kern, Hampton Lide
and Manager
Dave Fuchs received the Bronze
Award.
Established in 1965, F.I.T. Aviation
LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary
of Florida Institute of Technology
and
an integral part of the College
of Aeronautics. F.I.T. Aviation
LLC
supports the aviation program
through flight
training activities.
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