Newsworthy Notes
2007:
LOVE OF PHYSICS
UMaine Today - Student Focus
November/December 2007
Katie McCann was 5 when she fell in love with science. Inspired by each edition of Your Big Backyard, then Ranger Rick, she headed outdoors and "checked stuff out."
That thrill of discovery stayed with her through middle school, when astrophysics became her passion. But in high school, McCann hit a self-described rough patch. Classes in chemistry and physics were uninteresting, mostly because they didn't seem to have real-world applications.
To read more about Katie, click here.
A BETTER VIEW OF THE MOLECULE: New method of microscopy using fluorescence photoactivation could help address biological questions
UMaine Today
July/August 2007
Science has limits. Defined by theories, laws and formulaic equations, these limits define the boundaries within which scientific discoveries are made.
In most cases, having boundaries that are clearly defined by justifiable rules is a good thing. In science, however, the existing limits often interfere with the overall quest: the search for a cure, the advancement of technology, the depth of our understanding of ourselves and our universe. For scientists, the goal is often to break through those limits to reveal the discoveries on the other side.
For University of Maine Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Sam Hess, a breakthrough idea that would redefine the limits of scientific microscopy arrived late at night, accompanied by a heavy backbeat and a lot of yelling.
To read more about microscopy, click here.
Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Sam Hess, left, and Assistant Professor of
Chemical and Biological Engineering Mike Mason
UMaine physics and astronomy professor finds niche as author.
Click here to go to the Authors' Guild site for Professor Comins, which includes more information about his books, his work and his life.
S. David Dvorak (Ph.D. in Physics '98, UMaine) Receives Fulbright Scholar Grant
Steven M. Girvin (MS in Physics '73, UMaine), 2007 Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize Recipient
2006:
UMAINE HONORS STUDENTS CONTINUE TO WIN AWARDS
UMAINE NEWS RELEASE
May 5, 2006
ORONO -- Students in the University of Maine Honors College have successfully competed in prestigious undergraduate scholarship competitions at the national level every year since 2003. In 2003, 2004, and 2006 Honors students were honored with Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, and in 2005, another Honors student was awarded a Morris K. Udall Scholarship.
Erik Perkins, UMaine Class of 2007, is a 2006 recipient of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Award.
To read more about the honors students, click here.
LASTING IMPRESSION
UMaine Today
January/February 2006
A quarter-century ago, the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology (LASST) at the University of Maine was established to investigate the surface and interface properties of materials, from the atomic to macroscopic scales. Today, this interdisciplinary research center is integral infrastructure supporting some of UMaine's most sophisticated, high-tech research.
To read more about LASST, click here.
NEW NANO CAPABILITIES
UMaine TODAY
January/February 2006
Five small, high-tech Maine companies that produce miniature smart sensors and detectors already have emerged from LASST research. New products are being commercialized to monitor contaminants in our environment, assess food quality and diagnose health problems. With passage of a jobs bond last November, the University of Maine Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology (LASST) will receive $2 million to enhance its nano-technology research and development capabilities. The monies will be invested in state-of-the-art microfabrication and nanotechnology equipment for LASST's "clean room," advancing capabilities in such areas as semiconductors, sensors, precision manufacturing and biomedical technology.
For example, the equipment will facilitate research on biomedical microinstruments that one day could provide automated drug delivery, disease diagnostics and implantable bio-sensors.
Like the 2003 bond that allowed UMaine's Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center to expand and subsequently land a $6.2 million U.S. Army research program, the latest LASST funding is expected to allow UMaine to continue to attract multimillion-dollar R&D grants from federal agencies, hire and train a skilled workforce in Maine, and provide resources for businesses.
ORION NEBULA PHOTOGRAPH UNVEILED AT THE JORDAN PLANETARIUM
1/11/2006
The UMaine Maynard Jordan Planetarium on Wednesday was one of only 20 institutions in the United States to unveil the most comprehensive photograph ever of the closest star-forming region to Earth, the Great Orion Nebula.
Click here to read the article
about the planetarium.
COOPERATING PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS ELECTED TO APS FELLOWSHIP
UMaine News Release - January 2006
Jayendran Rasaiah has been honored with an election to Fellowship in the American Physical Society upon the recommendation of his peers in the Division of Chemical Physics of the American Physical Society. Election to Fellowship in the American Physical Society is limited to no more than one half of one percent of the membership. Election to APS Fellowship is recognition by APS peers for outstanding contributions to physics.
Click here to read news release about the
fellowship.
Citation: For pioneering contributions to fundamental electrolyte theory, the thermodynamics of polarfluids, the transport of ions in polar solvents and water through carbon nanotubes, and studies ofwater in nonpolar cavities.
UMAINE PROFESSOR HONORED BY AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY
UMaine News Release - January 10, 2006
ORONO -- University of Maine Professor of Chemistry Jayendran C. Rasaiah has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). Rasaiah, who also is a cooperating professor of physics at UMaine, specializes in physical, theoretical and computational chemistry and chemical physics. He was cited by APS for his "pioneering contributions to fundamental electrolyte theory, the thermodynamics of polar fluids, the transport of ions in polar solvents and water through carbon nanotubes, and studies of water in nonpolar cavities."
To read more about the award, click here.
2005:
RESEARCHER LOOKING AT VIRUSES AND CELLS
UMaine News Release - November 2005
A University of Maine researcher recently has been approved for a five-year $615,155 grant from the National Institutes of Health to try to find a way human cells might reject invasions by influenza, HIV and Ebola, among other viruses. Assistant professor of Physics and Astronomy Sam Hess, whose work prior to joining the faculty at UMaine included biomedical research at the NIH, has received a "career award" to study how viruses penetrate cellular membranes and what might be done to block infection. Hess is doing the research under the guidance of UMaine Physics professor R. Dean Astumian and former colleague Joshua Zimmerberg at the NIH. Using laser-scanning fluorescence microscopes in Bennett Hall, Hess is studying how cholesterol and lipids play a role in assisting viral proteins to bond to the surface of cells, penetrate and infect them.
A news release with more is here.
UMaine Physicist Describes New Model for Molecular Motor
UMaine News Release
Writing in the Jan. 26 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, R. Dean Astumian of the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy proposes a model for a molecular motor that can generate controlled force. To read a copy of the article, click here (PDF format).
He and colleagues are hosting a Nobel Symposium, "Controlled Nanoscale Motion in Biological and Artificial Systems," June 13-17 in Sweden.
More information can be found at here.
Starry, starry nights
UMaine Today, March/April 2005
Maynard Jordan believed that the sky's the limit when it comes to education. The native of Little Cranberry Island started his collegiate teaching career at the University of Maine, his alma mater, in 1917. It lasted nearly four decades. Jordan taught mathematics, which was his area of study, and astronomy, which was his passion.
To read more about the planetarium, click here.
UMaine Public Presentation: How Galaxies are Born
UMaine News Release April 22, 2005
ORONO– While telescopes provide new images of far away galaxies, scientists are learning what those galaxies have to tell us about how the universe evolved. On April 28, the public got the chance to hear from an astronomer who studies galaxies that sometimes bear little resemblance to spiral shaped patterns like our Milky Way.
Debra Elmegreen, Maria Mitchell Professor of Astronomy and chair of the Physics and Astronomy Dept. at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, gave a free public lecture at 7 p.m. in room 101 Neville Hall. Her talk, A Glimpse of Galaxies at the Dawn of the Universe, was sponsored by the University of Maine Dept. of Physics and Astronomy and the UMaine Distinguished Lecture Series for the World Year of Physics, 2005.
For more information
about the presentation, click here.
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Recognizes Outstanding Faculty, Students
excerpt from UMaine News Release 4/19/05
Physics major Stefan Meister received the Outstanding International Student Award at the award ceremony for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences on April 22 at the Buchanan Alumni House on the University of Maine campus. Meister will graduate with a major in physics and a minor in mathematics. He has done sophisticated experimental and theoretical studies in the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology and earned high praise for his work on a project at National Semiconductor in South Portland. A peer tutor for calculus and mentor for new international students, he led the department's Society of Physics Students, organizing help sessions for undergraduates and coordinating outreach to high schools.
UMaine Concert April 14 Highlights Music and Physics of Horns
UMaine News Release, April 11, 2005
ORONO – Music and science melded April 14, as California musician, composer and physicist Brian Holmes was scheduled to deliver an inspiring combination performance-lecture at Minsky Recital Hall in the Class of 1944 Hall. His appearance was arranged through Nancy Ogle, a UMaine music professor and vocalist who has recorded some of Holmes' compositions, and the UMaine Department of Physics and Astronomy faculty who periodically look for interesting ways to demonstrate the wide range of every-day applications of physics beyond the classroom.
For more information about the concert, click here.
Inside Job
UMaine Today 3/8/05
It's no secret that water is critical to the way cells function, but a UMaine research team has now added a new view on water in proteins, the workhorses of cellular processes. Interactions with water molecules affect protein stability and function, but how and where those interactions occur is just now beginning to be understood. In a report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in December, 2004, UMaine researchers describe the conditions in which clusters of water molecules can penetrate the cavities of folded proteins. Such spaces have been regarded as hydrophobic, or water repellent. To read more
about the research, click here.
Engineering Week Expo
On Saturday, February 26, over 50 of Maine's top engineering firms, engineering schools, government agencies, and industries set up exhibits throughout the Fieldhouse and shared their ideas and knowledge of engineering and technology. In addition to the demonstrations and exhibits, there were activity tables set up by engineers and educators for kids, parents, and the general public to challenge the designer and problem solver in everyone.
Some of our Physics undergraduates who belong to the SPS club went to Gorham to help with an activity table. You can find more information about that event
here.
New on Campus - Engineering and Science Research Building
- UMaine Today - January/February 2005
A new $16 million Engineering and Science Research Building on campus is now the home of the University of Maine Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology. A highlight of the facility is a 3,500-square-foot clean room for research and development in the areas of nanotechnology, microfabrication, sensors and biotechnology. It is the only such facility in northern New England and one of approximately 25 university-based clean rooms of its kind in the U.S.
Physics Professor leads workshop
Michael C. Wittmann led a workshop on using Activity-Based Tutorials (introductory and modern physics) at the 130th meeting of the American Association of Physics, Albuquerque, NM, January 8-12. Wittmann also hosted a session on physics education research that has been carried out on the topic of Einstein's "annus mirabilis" in 1905.
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