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Michigan E-News - January 2002

Happy New Year! Welcome to Michigan E-News, a periodic update of happenings at the University of Michigan College of Engineering. It is published by the Office of College Relations' Media and Marketing unit.

If you wish not to receive future newsletters or if you would like to update your e-mail address, please scroll to the bottom of this issue. Feel free to send the newsletter to other Michigan Engineering alumni who are not receiving it.

In this issue:

1. College Launches Master's Program in Integrated Microsystems

Taking advantage of its strengths in wireless integrated microsystems (WIMS) and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), the College has established a new Master of Engineering in Integrated Microsystems degree program. It is the College's sixth interdisciplinary professional graduate program. (http://interpro-academics.engin.umich.edu/intermicros)

2. Dean Forms Advisory Committee on Female Faculty

Despite recent successes in hiring, women remain an unacceptably low fraction of the College's overall faculty. To address this situation, the Dean has formed an advisory committee to assess the current status of female faculty in the College and to work directly with department chairs and search committees to improve recruiting and retention. The committee will be chaired by Tresa Pollock of MSE. Other members are Linda Abriola (Horace Williams King Collegiate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering), Ellen Arruda (ME), Joyce Penner (AOSS), Jennifer Linderman (ChE) and Martha Pollack (EECS).

3. Alumni Weekend Dates Set

Save these dates! Michigan Engineering Alumni Weekend will be October 24-26, 2002. See http://www.engin.umich.edu/alumni for highlights from the 2001 Weekend.

4. College Hosts Teach-In About September 11

Over 150 College faculty, staff and students gathered for a "teach-in" this fall about September 11, during which Engineering and other U-M faculty offered insights into the tragedy. Topics included reasons for the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, improving airplane security through design, bioterrorism, environmental implications of the disaster, engineering ethics and leading classroom discussions on traumatic events.

5. New Engineering Internship Fair Provides New Opportunity

Next month, engineering students will have a new opportunity to learn about industrial internships at the Engineering Internship Fair. This new event, sponsored jointly by the College's Engineering Career Resource Center and the University's Career Planning & Placement Office, will take place Thursday, February 7, 2002, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Pierpont Commons and the Media Union on North Campus. Interested employers can find more information at http://career.engin.umich.edu/internshipfair.html.

6. IMPACT Successful in Recruiting Minority Graduate Students

Last Spring, the College of Engineering, the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, and LS&A jointly sponsored a new program to recruit underrepresented minority students into graduate studies in science, engineering, and mathematics. This program, known as IMPACT, has resulted in a 26% year-over-year increase in underrepresented minority graduate students enrolling in the College in Fall 2001. Of the 54 students invited to campus to learn about opportunities at Michigan, 16 enrolled in the College this fall. Another 14 of the group are expected to enroll in Fall 2002, which would represent a total yield of 56%. This year, IMPACT will be held on February 14-17, 2002, with a goal to double attendance. For more information, contact Lenea Howe at 734-647-7077 or lhowe@umich.edu.

7. Tech Day Brings Hundreds of High-School Prospectives to Campus

Tech Day, the College's annual open house for high school juniors and seniors, had one of its largest turnouts in the fall as 435 students and 395 parents registered. This year's program also included special sessions for educators.

8. U-M Team Places Third in World Solar Challenge

The U-M solar car team, winners of this summer's American Solar Challenge, placed third out of 37 entries in the World Solar Challenge held Thanksgiving week in Australia. M-Pulse was the first American entry to cross the finish line. The team set an American university speed record (34 hours, 15 minutes) and a U-M solar car record for distance traveled in one day (473.2 miles). (http://www.wsc.org.au/Past.Events/)

9. Media Respond to Research

Following are recent media stories mentioning work at the College. (Links are provided when available.)

· Hidden electronic messages

10/22 Newsweek

10/30 The New York Times

11/18 The Toronto Star

· Nov. 12 airline crash

12/4 The Village Voice (http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0148/davey.php)

· Tiny cell phones

11/5 Business Week (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_45/c3756097.htm)

· Linux

11/29 The New York Times

· Tissue engineering

11/13 Daily Mail (London)

· Artificial intelligence

12/6 Los Angeles Times (http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/)

10.Assanis Appointed Chair of Mechanical Engineering

Dennis Assanis, Jon R. and Beverly S. Holt Professor of Engineering, has been appointed chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Assanis also is the director of the Automotive Research Center and the Automotive Engineering program. He succeeds A. Galip Ulsoy.

11.Soloway Receives U-M's Golden Apple Award

Elliot Soloway (EECS) received the University's Golden Apple Award for outstanding teaching. He is the first Engineering faculty member to do so. (http://www.umich.edu/%7Eumshout/)

12.Bredt, O'Connor and Auhll Professors Named

Pending Regental approval:

• Trevor N. Mudge (EECS) has been named the first Bredt Family Professor of Engineering.
• Kang G. Shin (EECS) has been named the first Kevin and Nancy O'Connor Professor of Computer Science.
• Charles A. Cain (BiomedE) has been named the first Richard A. Auhll Professor of Engineering .

Generous donors have established these and other endowed chairs to support the teaching and scholarship of distinguished faculty members of the College. For information on endowing a professorship, contact the Office of College Relations at 734-647-7032.

13.Gibala Appointed Director of the Electron Beam Microanalysis Laboratory

Ron Gibala, L. H. and F. E. Van Vlack Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, has been appointed director of the Electron Beam Microanalysis Laboratory. Gibala was the chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering from 1984-1994.

14.Student-Alumni Network Volunteers Needed

The Michigan Engineering Student/Alumni Network has a new home on the Engineering Career Resource Center Engin/Trak website. You are invited to participate in this student-alumni connection. Alumni participants will enter information about themselves into a database searchable by College major, industry or region. Students will seek out these experienced Michigan Engineers for educational and career advice. E-mail ecrc- info@umich.edu or call (734) 647-7160 to request your registration password today.

15.Online Giving Option Available

The Michigan Engineering Fund is a critical resource for the College. Each year, gifts are used strategically: to purchase new equipment for laboratories, launch new programs, equip classrooms with new technology, or provide scholarships--to name a few of the Fund's recent uses. Gifts to the Fund now can be made online at www.giving.umich.edu .

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