Entries in "Engineering" ( for this category only)

Knovel University Challenge is Back - Win a Kindle, Wii, iPod, or iTunes gift card

Last year, Case was one of only 8 universities world-wide that had at least 100 student entries. Lets keep our streak alive.

KSL subscribes to 1800+ fulltext books in science & engineering just for you.

ASM International's Geodesic Dome

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer (August 30, 2009) the ASM International's geodesic dome has been nominated to be listed with the National Register of Historic Places.

See a picture of the structure and get more details at the ASM website about Materials Park.

Major Chemistry Publisher Apparently Phasing Out Print Journals

It appears from an article in Nature (Published online 17 June 2009) that the American Chemical Society has announces steps to phase out their print journals in favor of all electronic access.

I wondered what major publisher would be first to take this action.

Ohio Collaborative Conference on Bioinformatics (OCCBIO)

The fourth annual Ohio Collaborative Conference on Bioinformatics will be hosted by Case Western Reserve University on June 15-17, 2009.

The conference provides an interdisciplinary forum for the discussion of methods, research findings, and experiences.

An important goal for the conference is to foster long-term collaborative relationships and networking opportunities within the domain of computational approaches to biology that benefit Ohio.

See: http://www.occbio.org/2009/index.shtml

Virtual Career Fair in Second Life

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is holding a Virtual Career Fair in Second Life from June 8-12, 2009.

USA Leads Engineering Publishing

The USA is a publishing machines when it comes to engineering. Sciencewatch.com released the "Top 20 Countries in Engineering" which includes publications and citations from 1998 to end of 2008. USA has three times more publications than the next country.

Career in Science Librarianship

I was very honored recently to be interviewed by Lucas Laursen for an article he was preparing for Science Careers (from the journal Science).

The article, called Looking Up Your Career at the Library, was collection of thoughts by several science librarians that made the transition from the traditional science career path to libraries.

IEEE Xplore Reaches Two Million Documents

The Case community has a wonderful resource available to them through IEEE Xplore. IEEE reports that it now contains TWO million documents.

New Energy Alerting Service

Stay on top of energy and environment news & policies with a daily alerting service brought to you by the Kelvin Smith Library.

Track national and global environment & energy policy from E&E Publishing. Read the publications on the website (http://eenews.net), or sign up for an email alert or an RSS feed and get automatic daily or weekly news from their 5 publications:

ClimateWire tracks politics and policy on climate change, daily; E&EDaily focuses on energy and environment legislation in Congress, when Congress is in session; GreenWire covers the weekday issues in the courts, states, and federal agencies. The weekly LandLetter brings you an in-depth look at natural resources and conservation issues. E&ENews PM brings you all the daily late-breaking developments from Capitol Hill and everywhere else, so you're ahead of tomorrow's headlines.

In addition to daily news and analysis, E&E Publishing offers access to special reports, key documents, and valuable research tools on the website. Be sure to look at the searchable story and video archive. E&E is a Case-only resource, and requires an activated VPN connection when using wireless or remote access. More details are available on the KSL NewsBLog.

Library Greeter - Armored Video Action Figure

Here is a door greeter you do not see everyday. The Library Journal, 1/16/2009, reports that the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Science & Engineering Library entrance is now guarded by a "six-foot tall Chameleon JumpSuit comes from the popular Journeyman Project's “Legacy of Time” computer video game". It was donated by alumni.

NanoTube Contest - What is "Nano" ?

From the ACS Nanotation NanoTube webpage:

The concept of "nano" has captured the interest and excitement of researchers and science-enthusiasts alike, but the question remains - what is "nano"? How is "nano" best visualized? Where is "nano" headed? Send us your ideas in the form of an original creative video and you could win $500 in cash!

Video submissions will be accepted from January 5 - March 15, 2009. Videos are limited to 3 minutes or less, and will be judged on creativity, scientific clarity of explanation, originality and quality of the video. Entrants are encouraged to submit their videos early, since early submissions will have the best chance to accumulate a greater number of votes.

Visit the website to submit a video, vote for your favorite, or see the rules.

Case Student Article

As I notice new publications from Case Western Reserve University faculty, staff, and students, I like to highlight them. Here is a new one I came across.

Discovering Neglected Conditions in Software by Mining Dependence Graphs
Chang, Ray-Yaung Podgurski, Andy Yang, Jiong
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland;

This paper appears in: Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on
Publication Date: Sept.-Oct. 2008
Volume: 34, Issue: 5
On page(s): 579-596

Knovel University Challenge

Knovel is running a contest for students and Case has entered.

If you want to try, go to the contest page and answer 3 simple questions.

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This contest is open to current students in all schools with active trials and subscriptions to Knovel. The contest starts 9/29/08. You have until (midnight) November 7th to submit your answers and contact information (full name, school name, email address) via the contest widget available at www.info.knovel.com/challenge. All entries with a total of at least 3 correct answers will be placed into a random drawing for one of (2) Nintendo Wiis, (3) iPod Nanos and (6) iTunes Gift Cards. The drawing will take place on December 1st, 2008. The Prizes will be awarded to entrants in the US, Canada, Asia,Eastern Europe, Western Europe and all other regions. All winners must present correct answers to 3 quiz questions. All universities, domestic and international, are eligible to participate and win. For entries to be valid, and to qualify for prizes, students must use Knovel to answer the questions.

To reward schools with outstanding participation, all universities with 100 entries or more are guaranteed entry into a contest-within-the-contest ensuring that 1 student participant with 3 correct answers will be the winner of an iPod Nano.

The winners will be contacted by Knovel Corporation via email.

The correct answers and winners of the contest will also be announced and featured in K-News and on www.knovel.com. All entries and photos become Knovel Corporation’s property and will not be returned. Each participant consents to the use of his or her name and picture on the Knovel Web site for informational and/or promotional purposes, without compensation.

The Quiz Prizes are sponsored by Knovel Corporation (www.knovel.com).

IEEE Computer Society Introduces Computing Now

From What's New @ IEEE for Students (June 4, 2008):

The IEEE Computer Society has created an aggregation portal to let visitors access multimedia, engage in community building and consolidate the resources of its 14 magazines. Computing Now brings together new print and online content from the IEEE Computer Society’s peer-reviewed magazines, highlighting coverage of hot topics, such as computer games, social networking, green computing, robotics and agile computing. Spanning all computing-related technologies and more than 50 identified subjects, Computing Now provides free access to select peer-reviewed articles and departments from each magazine. The site’s multimedia center features podcasts, video blogs, webinars and online-only interviews with authors and guest editors. Focusing on serving the community, Computing Now encourages registered users to comment on blog entries, provide feedback and contribute content. Led by an advisory board of subject-matter experts from academia and industry, Computing Now represents the Computer Society’s latest efforts to bridge the print and online worlds. For more information, visit Computing Now.

How Facebook Works

Ever wonder what it took to keep a large social network like FaceBook running? Technology Review in their July/August 2008 issue highlighted How Facebook Works.

IEEE Xplore Down Time

On Wednesday, 28 May, IEEE will perform planned maintenance to the IEEE Xplore digital library.

During this maintenance, the system will be unavailable for up to one (1) hour beginning at approximately 2:00 pm EDT. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. A message will be also posted on the IEEE Xplore home page to alert users.

We appreciate your patience and thank you for being a user of IEEE Xplore Digital Library.

Case Polymer Research Published in Science

Can you imagine polymer nanocomposites that transform from hard to soft and back again by exposure to liquid? Researchers from the Case School of Engineering and the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center have published results of such a polymer in Science. Case researchers were from the departments of macromolecular science and engineering and biomedical engineering.

More information available in the Case press release.

Science 7 March 2008:
Vol. 319. no. 5868, pp. 1370 - 1374
Stimuli-Responsive Polymer Nanocomposites Inspired by the Sea Cucumber Dermis
Jeffrey R. Capadona,Kadhiravan Shanmuganathan, Dustin J. Tyler, Stuart J. Rowan, Christoph Weder

If you are affiliated with Case, please use the eJournal Portal to discover what access for this article is available.

IEEE Xplore Downtime

An IEEE Xplore upgrade is scheduled for Saturday, 15 March, 2008. During this upgrade, the system will be unavailable for up to four (4) hours beginning at approximately 10:00 am EDT (UTC/GMT - 4 hours).

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

C&EN Online

The Case community now has online access to Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) from 1998 to present. Access was arranged by OhioLINK.

[About C&EN]

Chemical & Engineering News is a weekly magazine published by the American Chemical Society. C&EN editors and reporters based in Europe, the U.S., and Asia cover science and technology, business and industry, government and policy, education, and employment aspects of the chemistry field.

C&EN Online offers Latest News, supplementary material to C&EN print articles, back issues of the magazine since 1998, and special features such as Reel Science, NanoFocus, RSS feeds, and blogs.

Amelia Earhart Internship for Women Students in the Sciences and Engineering

For the Case community:
The Flora Stone Mather Center for Women and the Career Center will be co-sponsoring a new internship program this summer. Students interested in completing a summer internship in Cleveland in a science or engineering field are eligible to participate.

Develop your network and learn about what it's like to work with a variety of different science and engineering employers; work with your supervisor to make progress on the individual learning goals you identify as essential to your future career; and give and receive ongoing support with students placed in similar internships.

Deadline to sign-up: Friday, February 29, 2008

Contact:
WISER Coordinator Liz Lierman, Elizabeth.lierman@case.edu, 216.368.6858

Wii Preparation for Surgeons

Years ago we had reports that our Desert Storm pilots were better than their former colleagues, due to being raised as children with video games. Now, we a have a study that shows surgeons that warm up or train on Wii perform better in surgeries.

Game players scored nearly 50% higher on tool control and overall performance than other trainees.

Source: 'Wii warm-up' good for surgeons from BBC News (January 17, 2008)

From the File of Where Else Did They Look

I found this video about Gmail discussed in a Walking Paper blog entry. In general the video is Gmail engineers reading emails they receive from happy users. The last one in the video was a freshman chemical engineering student who was working on a group project and the answer the group needed appeared in the targeted Gmail ads. The Google engineer said "this person was able to use gmail ads to find something she couldn’t find anywhere else".

Really? I did a similar project on photoremediation during my undergraduate degree in chemical engineering and I found all the necessary information from the library.

I have two concerns with this video and the suggestions made. First, I question where else did these students look. Second, Google is doing some wonderful things but they are not the only source. It leads me to challenge are libraries doing enough to be in front of the users eyes.

Google 2008 Anita Borg Scholarship

The Google 2008 Anita Borg Scholarship is open for application until Friday, February 1, 2008.

As part of Google's ongoing commitment to furthering Anita's vision, we are pleased to announce the 2008 Google Anita Borg Scholarship, through which we hope to encourage women to excel in computing and technology and become active role models and leaders.

Reminder: Older Versions of SciFinder Retired

Please note that on January 2nd, 2008 CAS retired the following versions
of SciFinder/SciFinder Scholar, as communicated to customers in mid June
2007:

• SciFinder and SciFinder Scholar 2004.2 (MAC OS 9 and Windows)
• SciFinder and SciFinder Scholar MAC OS X 1.0
• SciFinder 2007.0 for Windows

Biomedical Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship Awards (BMEidea)

The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) has launched the fourth annual Biomedical Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship Awards (BMEidea). Student teams must submit by April 4, 2008. The top prize is $10,000. Winners are announced in June.

Case students can contact Ed Caner, director, Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program (STEP) at 368-3710.

Visit the NCIIA Web site for more details.

[VIA: Case Daily, December 14, 2007]

Knovel Unit Converter

Knovel has added a unit converter to its collection of resources. It can be freely accessed by anyone, even nonsubscribers.

Unit Converter: www.knovel.com/unitconverter

Other free content is available for those that sign up.

Reminder:
For the Case community, the Kelvin Smith Library subscribes to Knovel content for your convenience.

What can nano do for you?

Come to Science Café Cleveland: a lively, informal scientific discussion in an inviting atmosphere of food and drink.

This month’s topic: What can nano do for you?

Featuring:
Dr. Steven Eppell (CWRU Biomedical Engineering) & Dr. Alexis Abramson (Case Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering)

WHERE: The brewpub downstairs at Great Lakes Brewing Company (2516 Market Ave, Cleveland)

WHEN: Monday, December 10th; drinks at 6 pm, discussion starts around 6:30 pm

WHO: Sponsored by the CWRU chapter of Sigma Xi, WGBH Boston, and Great Lakes Brewing Company

Science Café Cleveland takes place on the second Monday of each month at GLBC. A few free appetizers are provided, and participants are welcome to purchase additional food and drinks.

Case Senior Completes NASA Internship

Mason Conrad, senior center on the Case basketball team and mechanical engineering major, conducted research for NASA Glenn Research Center on its Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). The CEV an be used for the future trips to the moon.

Read the full announcement.

ACS Nanotation

On Monday, Oct. 22nd, ACS Publications launched ACS Nanotation, a new website created to bring together the worldwide nano community. This free online resource enables nanoscientists to save time by reading reviews that identify the most significant, new research. It includes:

• Nano Picks
• Ask the Scientist: Nano Letters
• ACS Journals in Focus
• Image gallery, podcasts, and NanoTube
• Wiki of terminology

ACS Nanotation—it's new, it's free, and you could win an iPod® nano. One iPod® nano will be awarded each month through December 2007. Register at ACS Nanotation.

Inaugural Coulter-Case Lectureship in Biomedical Engineering

For the Case community...

The Case School of Engineering cordially invites you to the Inaugural Coulter-Case Lectureship in Biomedical Engineering
Thursday, October 11, 2007
5:00 – 6:00 pm
Wolstein Auditorium
(Cornell Road near University Hospitals)

From Professor To Inventor To Entrepreneur - The Excitement of High Tech Innovation

Presented by
James Wyant, CIT ‘65
Dean, College of Optical Sciences, The University of Arizona
http://www.optics.arizona.edu/Faculty/Resumes/Wyant.htm

Reception following in Wolstein Atrium

Event is free but registration is respectfully requested: JGriech@case.edu or 216-368-6804

Made possible by a grant from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University.

Women in Science and Engineering Roundtable (WISER)

Case women interested in science and engineering are invited to participate in the Women in Science and Engineering Roundtable (WISER). To get involved, come to a WISER gathering and discussion; contact Liz Lierman, leadership program coordinator, at 368-6858 or stop by the WISER lounge, Sears 545, during office hours from 1-3 p.m. on Mondays or from 3:30-5:30 p.m. on Thursdays for information. Additional details are online.

[VIA: Case Daily - September 12, 2007]

FREE ASM Trial Membership through October 1

Become an ASM Member or Trial Member to be eligible to WIN up to $10,000 in ASM products and services in the $35,000 ASM's Everything Material Sweepstakes.

FREE Trial Membership through October 1, 2007, no purchase necessary.

Wind Farms

With the increased talk about alternative energy around campus, I thought this short bibliography that The Scout Report organized was worth sharing.

[VIA: The Scout Report, July 13, 2007, Volume 13, Number 27]

Web 3.0 on the Horizon

Have you learned everything about how to use web 2.0 effectively? If not, get ready to fall further behind. Articles are already starting to circulate about web 3.0 and what that will mean for Internet users.

CNNMoney.com in an article by Michael V. Copeland shared how researchers are looking into the efficient use of the semantic web. In other words how can computers help to organize all the data, including that within documents, for the benefit of Internet searchers.

If you are looking for future employment opportunities consider this data from the article:

One estimate pegs the market for products and services stemming from semantic Web technologies at $50 billion by 2010, up from about $7 billion today.

IEEE Spectrum Announcement

IEEE Spectrum and Make magazine are joining forces to call attention to the coolest and cleverest do-it-yourself electronics projects. If your university students have designed and built something that they'd like to share with the combined readerships of Spectrum and Make - more than 1 million people - please enter it into the contest.

If you are a finalist, you'll get:

• An archive of back issues of Make
• An official IEEE Spectrum Baseball hat
• Your name in a future issue of IEEE Spectrum identifying you and your project as a finalist

If you win, you'll receive:

• Coverage of your project in the print and/or online editions of both Spectrum and Make
• Transportation and accommodations to attend the next "Maker Faire" Make magazine's jamboree for do-it-yourselfers. 20-21 October at the Travis County Fairgrounds in Austin, Texas where they will describe and demonstrate their project

Entry deadline is 1 September 2007.

To enter, send a brief description of your project and include an estimate of how much it cost. Include a photo, a parts list, and a schematic if possible. E-mail them to: spectrum-diy-contest@ieee.org, or send them to: Spectrum/Make DIY contest, 3 Park Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10016-5997 USA.

Case's Dexter Advances to Semifinals

The Cleveland Plain Dealer on August 10, 2007, reported that Case's driverless vehicle called Dexter has advanced to the semifinals on October 26-31 at a Victorville, California military base.

See the official press release (PDF).

Resources, Data, or Tools

Are libraries offering resources, data, or tools to support instruction? Is the difference in the actual terms used just word play? Do libraries not market tools for instruction and only focus on research? Are library tools not good enough?

The Wired Campus (Chronicle of Higher Education, August 8, 2007) highlights a project asking educators their top ten lists of learning TOOLS. It has caused a ripple in the library profession communication channels as NOT one library tool once mentioned by the first 88 learning professional to respond.

Some have proposed that there is a difference between information resources and learning tools. Libraries do advertise and promote many of the learning tools mentioned but none of the subscription-based or library-design resources made the list.

I think all might be true.

First, surveys should define the meanings of words. But another view is that libraries have a reputation of developing our own terminology. Does that terminology make sense to users? Maybe library patrons do not fully grasp the words "database" or "resource". Maybe the simpler word "tool" is easier to grasp.

Second, libraries have always been good at marketing to people in the physical buildings, but marketing to more and more online patrons can be tough. Online competition is severe.

Finally, maybe we are not focused enough on instruction as a reason to use the library resources. I openly promote a database called Knovel as an instruction tool. I would not take credit for that stance though. One of my professors shared with me how he uses it for in the classroom activities. He feels it is a strong method to demonstrate chemical engineering calculations and develop real understanding. It is closer to how graduates would conduct such calculations in the real world.

Interface to the Virtual World

Benjamin Chodroff, a Case Western Reserve University student, recently participated in an IBM internship called "Extreme Blue" in India. He proposed an interface to connect real and virtual worlds, such as Second Life.

Wind Power Research

Case Western Reserve University has joined the research and development of alternative energy. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Case Western Reserve seeks to lead wind-power research, August 1, 2007), the university has committed $200k towards a study to research the ability to locate 5-10 wind turbines on Lake Erie off Cleveland's shoreline. Enough electricity could be developed to support 60000 households.

Social Networks for Employment Recruiting

On my blog highlighting engineering news and resources, I just highlighted a newspaper article that discusses using social networks to accomplish employment recruiting.

Why mention it here? I have heard comments from those in the library profession say libraries "do not belong in the social networks" and "people do not want us there". Engineering companies and recruiters are highlighting their industry, educating potential future employers, and maintaining communication channels with future employees or customers. Lets learn from others!

Aerospace Industry is Graying & Recruits Virtually

According to the Akron Beacon Journal (Aerospace industry beckons, 5/28/07), 1 out of 4 in the aerospace industry will be eligible for retirement next year. Aerospace companies and recruiters are now using "virtual" tools to recruit, such as Facebook groups and chat rooms. These social tools are being used to educate potential future employers, peak interest in the industry, and maintain content with past interns.

Dexter Advances

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer (May 12, 2007), Case Western Reserve University's robotic car, Dexter, has made it to the next round of playoffs with 52 other cars. The next round is site visits in June with 30 cars advancing to the semifinals in October. At stake is a $2 million prize.

Case School of Engineering Receives Electronic Design Grant

According to the Chip Design Magazine (May 9, 2007), the Case School of Engineering at Case Western Reserve University is the recipient of a Charles Babbage Grant sponsored by both Synopsys and HP.

Through the grant, Case's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science will receive licenses of Synopsys' comprehensive electronic design automation (EDA) software and intellectual property, along with curricula, support and professor training, and sixteen dual core HP xw4400 Workstations to outfit the new Synopsys/HP EDA Laboratory.

Girls Ask Alice for Programming Skills

Alice is an open source program to create 3D computer animations. Due to its ease of use, it is being used to target future programmers, especially minorities and woman that make up the smaller percentages of the field.

[VIA: What's New @ IEEE for Students, April 2007 Volume 8, Number 4]

Research ShowCase

I would like to thank Mohan Sankaran, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, for co-submitting a poster with me. We hope it gave other educators ideas on how to use library resources as a teaching tool, rather than only a research tool. Look for the poster in Digital Case in the future.

Knovel as a Tool for Engineering Research and Education
Knovel is a virtual technical library that includes over 800 full-text engineering and scientific reference works, handbooks, and datasets. Originally purchased by the Kelvin Smith Library to supplement the traditional print reference collection, it has become an important tool in engineering classroom instruction. Knovel data can be sorted, filtered, and exported from "live tables". Equations can be solved and graphs plotted, thus allowing students to capture values from existing graphs and perform "what if" experiments on the data.

The Case Western Reserve University Research ShowCase poster winners have been listed.

The Kelvin Smith Library also announced the winner of the geohunt contest.

Nanotechnology Podcast

The Bourne Report provides timely insight into the emerging technology marketplace, with a focus on MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems), Nanotechnology and the convergence of both. The podcast highlights trends relating to the commercial use of Nano/MEMS across all major market segments and industries.

You can download or listen to each episode directly from the website or subscribe via iTunes (just search for “Bourne Report”); in both instances, it’s free. New episodes are posted each Sunday.

For more information about Bourne Research and The Bourne Report, please visit www.bourneresearch.com.

Update: ICIS Creates a Students Portal - Includes Chemical Prices

ICIS has fixed the format of the chemical price list that is contained within their student portal. It formally did not view correctly in the Firefox browser, but it should work for all major browsers now.

Electron Devices Society PhD Student Fellowship Program

The IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS) established the PhD Student Fellowship Program to promote, recognize, and support graduate level study and research within the Electron Devices Societies. Deadline is May 15, 2006, and nominations must be made by a EDS member. Students would receive $7,000 and a travel subsidy of up to $3,000 to attend the IEDM for presentation of award plaque. The EDS Newsletter will feature articles about the EDS Graduate Fellows and their work over the course of the next year.Make sure you see the PhD Student Fellowship Program for full details.

IEEE Xplore Demonstration

The Kelvin Smith Library is sponsoring two sessions for Case faculty, staff, and students to learn more about the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Xplore Database. The campus community is invited to participate from 11:30 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. on April 18 in White Hall, Room 411. The session will include pizza and a chance to win prizes. RSVP to Brian Gray.

An alternative session will occur from 2-3 p.m. the same day in Nord Hall, Room 310.

Kelvin Smith Library at Research ShowCASE

Make sure to stop into the Research ShowCASE on April 11th and 12th. Kelvin Smith Library has several opportunities for you on April 12th, including:

• The Freedman Center: From Inspiration to Presentation - Booth 469
• Kelvin Smith Library - What You Don't Know Can Hurt You! - Booth 467
• Online Historical Archives: Kelvin Smith Library, Digital Case, and the Future of Open Source Electronic Research Repositories (Mark Eddy, Social Sciences Librarian) - Poster 207
• Knovel as a Tool for Engineering Research and Education (Brian Gray, Engineering Librarian, and Mohan Sankaran, Professor in Chemical Engineering) - Poster 216

The Kelvin Smith Library would like to point out a couple more points of interest:

• Designing a Portable High Definition Stereoscopic Camera System for Capturing Cultural Content (Jared Bendis, Creative Director of New Media, Freedman Center) - Booth 468
• WPA Prints in Special Collections, Kelvin Smith Library (Ellen Landau, Professor Art History) - Poster 208)

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RESEARCH SHOWCASE 2007
THE FUTURE IS NOW

April 11th and 12th, 2007

RESEARCH SHOWCASE is a free public event held in the Veale Convocation Center on the campus of Case Western Reserve University. Hundreds of scientists and scholars will come together on April 11th and 12th, 2007 at Case Western Reserve University Veale Convocation Center to celebrate the broad range of research being conducted at Case and its affiliates.

With over 500 poster presentations and live demonstrations, Research ShowCASE is the perfect opportunity for business, government and civic leaders, researchers and investors to meet. Provocative forums throughout the day highlight research in the context of current local and global issues and the commercial aspects of research and discovery.

This year’s panels include The Information Revolution with guest speaker Ambassador Joseph Wilson, author of The Politics of Truth, Race and the Nation – Snapshot of America in Change, with guest speaker Anna Deavere Smith, actress, playwright and MacArthur Foundation Fellow, Fast Forward – the Future of Funding, including guest speaker John Osher, Entrepreneur and Spin Brush Developer and Magic Technology – Advances in Bio-Imaging, including speakers from the academic and corporate research areas of the newest bio-imaging technology.

Breakout sessions throughout the day on April 12th include Speed Mentoring, Bio-Imaging and Women of Excellence – Honoring Women Researchers and Scholars.

For more information about Research ShowCASE, including a complete program schedule, registration, parking, directions, maps and lodging, visit http://showcase.case.edu or contact us at 216-368-5963.

Backyard Fuel Cell

Wired reports that Stephen Friend built the first fuel cell-powered house. He lives on Stuart Island in the Pacific Northwest and the island has no electric system.

[VIA: MAKE: Blog, March 20, 2007]

Will your face be your next password?

Check out this CNET News.com video that demonstrates a desktop 3D face recognition camera that could be the future of computer and data security.

Continue reading "Will your face be your next password?"

NEW - Society of Nanoscience & Nanotechnology

The Society of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (SNN) is a worldwide organisation set up to serve the needs of the “nano” community. SNN was officially launched to the international community during the recent and very successful “International Meeting on Developments in Materials, Processes and Applications of Nanotechnology”, MPA-2007, organised by SNN, which was held at the University of Ulster, UK on 15 January 2007.

From About Us:

• Promote all aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology
• Educate and bring awareness to people about nanotechnology and its impact on society
• Raise, discuss and debate nano-related issues, including government policies on nanotechnology
• Offer different levels of memberships, with benefits, to people working in nanoscience and nanotechnology
• Organise and manage international nano-related conferences
• Provide an effective advertising platform for companies to promote their business
• Promote education and training through organising workshops, short educational courses, seminars, etc.
• Bringing to the front, current and most recent up-to-date scientific and technical information to the public
• Provide consultancy services to both people from academia and industry
• Alert people about new job opportunities
• Publish journals, reports, books and newsletters
• National, European and international research projects: identify, link partners and coordinate projects

MM&M Celebrates 40 Years of Interdisciplinary Discovery

The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Department of Orthopaedics are hosting a two-day symposium April 3-4 to celebrate 40 years of interdisciplinary research in orthopaedic biomechanics through the Musculoskeletal Mechanics and Materials (MMM) Laboratories. The keynote speaker is Albert Burstein, one of the founders of the laboratory and internationally recognized for his seminal contributions to the understanding of bone biomechanics and total joint replacement design. The symposium will also include lectures by current faculty as well as engineers and clinicians in the field. Register online or call 368-5403.

[VIA: CASE DAILY, March 28, 2007]

ACES Speaker Series at the Case School of Engineering

The ACES Speaker Series at the Case School of Engineering, "Looking Ahead to Professional Life in STEM fields: Leadership, Gender & Diversity," will feature the first of three events at 5 p.m., Wednesday, March 28 in Nord Hall, Room 310 B. "Lessons in Leadership: A Female Engineer's Story," will feature triple alumna Ka-Pi Hoh, department manager at the Lubrizol Corp. Free. Pizza and beverages will be served. Details are online.

[VIA: Case Daily, March 26, 2007]

Medical Dictionary

MedicineNet.com has published an online medical dictionary that contains over 16,000 medical terms.

From About Us:

MedicineNet, Inc. is owned and operated by WebMD and part of the WebMD Network.

MedicineNet.com is an online, healthcare media publishing company. It provides easy-to-read, in-depth, authoritative medical information for consumers via its robust, user-friendly, interactive web site.

[VIA: The Scout Report -- Volume 13, Number 7]

New Lie Group

What do you get when you mix 18 mathematicians, 4 years of research, and 77 hours of supercomputer computation - mapping of the Lie group E8.

It describes the symmetries of a 57-dimensional object that can in essence be rotated in 248 ways without changing its appearance.

[VIA: 025.431: The Dewey blog: Fearful symmetry]

Sign Up for IEEE Standards Alerts via Email or RSS

IEEE Xplore now features opt-in standards alerts to keep you up-to-date on standards revisions available through email or RSS. This free service has recently been expanded to enable any IEEE Xplore user to be notified whenever a new standard or draft is published or a standard is revised. Users have the option to sign up for standards alerts based on industry or version number. To sign up, visit: ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/tocalerts_signup.jsp

[VIA: What's New @ IEEE for Libraries, March 2007, Volume 8, Number 3]

Continue reading "Sign Up for IEEE Standards Alerts via Email or RSS"

Ohio Nanotechnology Summit

Case Western Reserve University is a cosponsor of the Ohio Nanotechnology Summit that will take place April 23-25 at the University of Akron. Faculty and students can submit research posters for consideration. The deadline to submit titles and abstracts is March 22 and should be sent by e-mail to janas@uakron.edu.

The Ohio Nanotechnology Summit is the premier nanotechnology event in Ohio drawing both national and local leaders in nanotechnology. Including all sectors and disciplines, the summit delivers a concentrated program spanning key issues ranging from nanotechnology research to development to commercialization. The Ohio Nanotechnology Summit will offer a unique opportunity to get a first-hand perspective on the boundless potential that this exciting technical field holds. The 2007 Program will feature 4 areas:

• Nano Materials
• Nano Processing
• Nano Bio
• Nano Photonics and Electronics

[VIA: CASE DAILY, March 15, 2007]

ICIS Creates Student Portal

ICIS is working on a new student portal, or "knowledge zone". Right now it links to some resources available to students. In the future, they "hope it will turn into a space in which students and academics worldwide can communicate and discuss issues with each other, and showcase their best work to the wider world, not least potential employers."

Several librarians have contacted and discussed the lack of chemical prices for student projects with ICIS. In the past, I documented and shared my concerns directly with ICIS. Randy Reichardt has taken similar steps. He has personally been involved in the recent developments.

ICIS with the announcement of this new student portal has helped to fill this need for chemical prices. ICIS now provides "you with historical chemical prices. Note that these prices are a guide only, and must not be used to guide real-time business."

I understand chemical prices are hard to locate and maintain, even for a major chemical publisher, so this historical resource fills a major need for chemical engineering students.

Thank you ICIS and Randy Reichardt!

Continue reading "ICIS Creates Student Portal"

$400,000 to Case School of Engineering

From the Case Daily (March 05, 2007):

Case School of Engineering Dean Norman Tien announced two new gifts to the school totaling nearly $400,000. The gifts are $270,000 from Medtronic to support fellowships in the Department of Biomedical Engineering; and $125,000 from Don Richards (CIT '79, MGT '81), managing director for applications outsourcing at Accenture, to support students in the Master of Engineering and Management (MEM), a joint program with the Weatherhead School of Management.

The Minneapolis-based Medtronic is a longtime School of Engineering partner. The company sponsored the school's Engineering Festival and was a primary sponsor of the 2007 Midwest Biomedical Engineering Conference, both of which the university hosted in conjunction with Engineering Week activities.

Case Professor Authors Award Winning Combustion Paper

Chih-Jen Sung, an associate professor in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department, and his coauthors received the Distinguished Paper Award in Colloquium Laminar Flames from the 31st International Symposium on Combustion.

[VIA: Case Daily - March 02, 2007]

Case's Robotic Car - Dexter

The Cleveland Plain Dealer recently highlighted Case's robotic car.

Later this year, Dexter's creators -- a brash, overachieving young team of more than 50 engineering and computer-science students and professors from Case Western Reserve University -- aim to win an international contest. To do so, their car must navigate a 60-mile mock urban course filled with unfamiliar roads, oncoming traffic and unexpected obstacles.

[VIA: The Plain Dealer, Sunday, February 25, 2007]

CSA Trust - Winter Newsletter

The Chemical Structure Association (CSA) Trust has published its winter Newsletter, which is freely available to all at http://csa-trust.org.

The Chemical Structure Association Trust (CSA Trust) is an internationally recognized, registered charity which promotes education, research and development in the field of storage, processing and retrieval of information about chemical structures, reactions and compounds. Many students and researchers world-wide, who work in this area, have benefited from the Trust Awards and Grants programmes to further their research work.

UK PubMed Central Launched

The British Library Press Release
UK PubMed Central Launched
9 January, 2007

From today scientists will be able to access a vast collection of biomedical research and to submit their own published results for inclusion in a new online resource. Based on a model currently used by the US National Institute of Health, UK PubMed Central (UKPMC) will provide free access to a permanent online archive of peer-reviewed research papers in the medical and life sciences. See: www.ukpmc.ac.uk.

See also PubMed Central (PMC), the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature.

RefWorks Training for Engineering

If you are a Case faculty member, researcher, or a student in engineering or other sciences and want to learn how to organize your research better, the Kelvin Smith Library offers just the tool for you! RefWorks is a web-based tool used to store and manage citations, create bibliographies, and create in-text references. The RefWorks trainer will be presenting in Nord Hall 516 from 2pm-3:30pm on February 27th, and she will specifically be focusing on using RefWorks with the various engineering resources the library has made available. Please RSVP to Brian Gray (bcg8@case.edu).

Rexa - Computer Science Literature

Rexa is a digital library and search engine covering the computer science research literature and the people who create it. Rexa aims to facilitate research progress and collaboration by providing efficient browsing, search, associations and analysis among papers, people, organizations, venues and research communities.

• Keyword search on over 7 million papers (mostly in computer science)
• Cross-linked pages for papers, authors, topics and NSF grants
• Browsing by citations, authors, topics, co-authors, cited authors, citing authors; (find who cites you most by clicking "Citing authors" on your home page)
• Web-2.0-style "tagging" to bookmark papers
• Automatically-gathered contact info and photos of author's faces
• Analysis of research topics, their impact, and how they relate

Check out the FAQ for more information.

Descriptions pulled from About Rexa and Rexa FAQ.

Rexa blog also provides more information and highlights additional resources.

IEEE Spectrum - The Firefox Kid

In November of 2006, IEEE Spectrum interviewed Blake Ross, founder of Firefox. The article explores the early years of Ross (if a 20 year old has early years) and looks at his next project: Parakey - a "web operating system that can do everything an OS can do".

Cell Broadband Engine (Cell/B.E.) Challenge

IBM is pleased to announce an excellent opportunity for you to put your skills to the test and allow innovation to take the lead!

You can participate in this contest whether you have little or no Cell/B.E. Processor experience, some understanding of the techology, or have mastered this subject for some time now.

What you really need is the drive and competitive spirit to expand your mind, learn about this cutting edge technology, and show off your coding prowess. With some hard work and dedication, you could win some great cash prizes!

Learn more about the contest.

[VIA: Case Daily - February 20, 2007]

Lets go Case Students - Win the Knovel University Challenge

Knovel University Challenge kicks off its spring 2007 season on February 5th and will run through April 5th. The University Challenge provides students the opportunity to master their research and analysis skills while competing for 9 prizes. This year's winners will receive a $1500 scholarship or 1 of 8 iPod Shuffles. The University Challenge, now in its third season, is open to students of hard sciences, mathematics and technology-related courses of study at universities with access to Knovel Library or Knovel K-Essentials.

To participate in the Spring University Challenge, go to http://www.info.knovel.com/challenge/.

Ohio Note:
In Fall of 2006, a University of Cincinnati student won a 30G Video iPod.

Case Professor to Run a National Science Foundation Research Center

Anne Hiltner, a macromolecular science professor at Case, will lead a National Science Foundation (NSF) research center, called the Center for Layered Polymeric Systems. Read more about Hiltner and the center from the Plain Dealer article and the Case press release.

[VIA: The Plain Dealer, Sunday, February 11, 2007]

National Engineers Week @ Case

Case School of Engineering is observing the 56th annual National Engineers Week, a celebration of engineering's impact on society, February 18-23. This year's theme, "Imagine," will focus on innovation and design using engineering principles.

Various events, including:

• Case Engineering Festival
• Guided tours for visitors
• High School Lego Robot Competition
• Model Bridge Building Contest
• Battery-Powered Car Contest

In addition, the Midwest Biomedical Conference, an all-day conference designed to bring together students and practitioners of biomedical engineering and the life sciences for panel discussions, technical sessions and informed extended exchange of ideas important to the future of biomedical engineering in the Midwest, will be held on Friday, February 23, at 8 a.m. in Thwing Center.

For more details, see the E-Week schedule.

[VIA: Case News Center, February 15, 2007]

Student Travel Grants Available for Industrial Electronics Symposium

The 2007 IEEE Symposium on Industrial Electronics (ISIE) will be granting nine scholarships of $500 each for students who wish to attend ISIE between 4-7 June 2007. The purpose of ISIE is to provide a forum for presentation and discussion of state-of-the-art industrial electronics and related areas. Students seeking travel grants must be active student members of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, should reside outside of Vigo, Spain, where the conference is taking place. Applicants must also have a paper that has been accepted at ISIE and will be presenting it. Applications are due on 9 March 2007. For more information, visit: http://www.dte.uvigo.es/isie2007/studentstravelgrant.php

The Raymond F. Boyer Lecture Series - Department of Macromolecular Science & Engineering

Case faculty, staff, and students checkout the Spring Semester 2007 schedule for The Raymond F. Boyer Lecture Series - Department of Macromolecular Science & Engineering.

Download the PDF file

Engineering Student Town Hall Meeting

Student Town Hall Meeting

All engineering students are invited to join newly appointed CSE Dean Norman Tien.

Thursday, February 15
Noon-1 p.m.
Nord 310
Lunch will be provided

Sponsored by the Case Alumni Association.

Who Said Scientists are No Longer Using Books?

You often hear discussions that book usage is decreasing. Or more specifically in science and engineering, that no one uses books anymore. These stats for my library were recently shared with me that show science and technology (Q and T) book usage is NOT dead, and actually represents a large piece of the usage pie.

Midwest Biomedical Engineering Conference

The Case School of Engineering is hosting the Midwest Biomedical Engineering Conference on February 23. Online registration, abstract submission, and resume submission are now open. All abstracts and resumes must be submitted by February 9. For more information, go to http://www.mbecconference.org/.

From website:

MBEC 2007: "Showcasing the future of biomedical engineering"

The Midwest Biomedical Engineering Conference (MBEC) 2007 is designed to bring together students & practitioners of Biomedical Engineering and the Life Sciences for panel discussions, technical sessions, and informal extended exchange of ideas important to the future of Biomedical Engineering in the Midwest. Some conference highlights include:

• Assisting participants in planning their academic and industrial careers
• Introducing companies to the wealth of intellectual prowess rooted in the Midwest
• Exposing participants to innovative research in biomedical engineering and allied areas

MBEC 2007 is hosted by Case Western Reserve University. All universities are welcome to attend.

[VIA: Case Daily - February 02, 2007]

Continue reading "Midwest Biomedical Engineering Conference"

Engineering Reality TV Program

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) recognizes the importance of developing interest in engineering among today's youth. IEEE has invested in a reality TV program being developed by WGBH Boston (PBS). Design Squad will take the reality TV approach by following high school students through various design competitions.

Other major funding for Design Squad is provided by the National Science Foundation and the Intel Foundation. Additional funding is provided by Tyco Electronics, National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, The Harold and Esther Edgerton Family Foundation, Noyce Foundation, Intel Corporation, American Society of Civil Engineers, and the IEEE.

[VIA: Engineering Education Gets Its Own Reality TV Show]

Continue reading "Engineering Reality TV Program"

In Memoriam - Paul Claspy

This is not my traditional postings, but it has great connection to the Kelvin Smith Library, physics, and electrical engineering here at Case. William Claspy works in KSL as the librarian for astronomy, chemistry, and library instruction.

From Case Daily - January 26, 2007:
Paul Claspy, alumnus and associate professor emeritus of electrical engineering and applied physics at Case Western Reserve University, died of complications from multiple myeloma on January 19 at the Renaissance Retirement Center in Olmsted Township. Prof. Claspy, who earned a Ph.D. (1970) in electrical engineering and applied physics from the School of Graduate Studies, was hired as a faculty member in 1973, retiring July 1, 1993. He received emeritus status in 1997. In addition to teaching, he was education director for Ohio Aerospace Institute. He married the former Lois Hoffman, who earned her master's in library science in 1958 from the former Western Reserve University School of Information and Library Science. She died in December, 2006. Survivors include daughters Jane Nesmith of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Ellen Vesey of Atlanta, Ga.; and son William Claspy (CWR '88, GRS '93, English) of Middleburg Heights, Ohio. To read more about Prof. Claspy, refer to Cleveland Plain Dealer article on January 23, 2007.

Conference - PolyImpact Northeast Ohio (PINO) 2007

The Macro Student Organization (MSO) of the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering is organizing a one-day symposium on March 31 titled "PolyImpact Northeast Ohio" or PINO 2007. The symposium aims to provide a platform for senior undergraduates and graduate students in polymer-related research fields to present and communicate their research to peers and experts as well as experience a unique exposure to future career paths and opportunities in the polymer industry. The symposium will contain selected talks and poster presentations/competition from graduate researchers, expert talks from industry, a job fair, and a panel discussion on career opportunities for polymer students. Cash prizes awarded. The deadline for registration is January 31. To submit abstract and register or for other details, refer to http://polymers.case.edu/mso/PINO.

[VIA: Case Daily - January 29, 2007]

Norman Tien Named New Dean of Case School of Engineering

Norman Tien, the Ohio Eminent Scholar in Condensed Matter Physics at Case Western Reserve University, Nord Professor of Engineering and chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at the Case School of Engineering, has been appointed the school's dean by Interim President Gregory L. Eastwood, M.D., effective February 1. See full announcement for more information.

Online Encyclopedia of Medical Images

Effective January 1st, the entire OhioLINK community has access to Images.MD.

Images.MD, the online encyclopedia of medical images, compiles more than 55,000 images from more than 90 collections ranging from allergy to urology, each accompanied by detailed and informative text contributed by more than 2,000 medical experts.

Members of OhioLink have free access to full-sized, high quality images in step with the latest developments in medicine. By filling out a simple registration form, you can also start your own image library, create PowerPoint® presentations of images in your library, and order customized CD-ROMs of your favorite slides.

Moon Base in the Future?

According to the National Geographic (December 4, 2006), a moon base has been announced by NASA. I hope Cleveland and institutions like NASA Glenn or Case benefit from these future research and Development opportunities.

National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science

The University of Buffalo's National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science exists to promote and distribute materials to support using case studies in science education. It is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The website contains links to:

• Science education journals provided by category, such as mathematics or engineering
• Related websites
• Case ideas
• Directory of instructors
• Assessment materials
• Case study collection
• Instructional materials
• Conference highlights

In addition, one of the co-directors is the Associate Librarian of the Science and Engineering Library of the University of Buffalo.

[VIA: The Scout Report -- Volume 12, Number 28]

AZoM.com (The A to Z of Materials)

AZoM.com (the A to Z of Materials) provides various information sources for engineers that use advanced materials. First, they provide free access to AZojomo - The "AZo Journal of Materials Online". From the front page, users have access to a search engine, material property search, and recent news stories (including RSS feeds). Many other links to books, events, and other resources also exist.

[About Us]

AZoM.com (the A to Z of Materials) was formed with the primary aim of increasing the use of Advanced Materials by the engineering and design community worldwide. Over 21 million engineers now use the Internet as part of their daily lives, yet the vast majority of them are still unaware what can be achieved by the use of advanced ceramics, novel metallic alloys or state of the art composites.

The aim of AZoM is to become the primary materials information source for the engineering and design community worldwide. It also aims to be the primary publicist of news, views and developments within the materials science community. However, unlike many other materials related organizations AZoM is totally focused on the needs of the end users of materials. To achieve this aim, all of the educational, informative and news content on AZoM is easy to access and search and is provided on a free of charge, no subscription, no charge per article, totally free basis.

[VIA: Journal of Jay, LISNews, August 15, 2006]

Case BME Professor Wins World Technology Award

P. Hunter Peckham, professor of biomedical engineering, recently received the 2006 World Technology Award for Health and Medicine. His research focuses on functional restoration of paralyzed arms in individuals with spinal cord injury.

The World Technology Network (WTN) is a global meeting ground, a virtual think tank, and an elite club whose members are all focused on the business and science of bringing important emerging technologies of all types (from biotech to new materials, from IT to new energy sources) into reality. The WTN's membership is comprised of approximately 1000 members from more than 60 countries, judged by their peers to be the most innovative in the technology world.

[VIA: Case Daily, December 1, 2006]

Case Student to Present at International Conference on Applications of Lasers and Electro-Optics

David Poerschke, junior materials science major, received SOURCE travel funding to present his poster at the 25th International Congress on Applications of Lasers and Electro-Optics (ICALEO) held October 30 to November 2 in Scottsdale, Ariz. His research mentor is David Schwam, research associate professor of materials science and engineering.

ICALEO is for anyone interested in laser materials processing from the basic understanding of the interaction between a laser beam and a material, to those interested in how a process can be integrated and optimized for an application. Laser Institute of America's goal for ICALEO is to bring both academic and industrial people together who may benefit from laser technology. This includes end-users and scientists as well as engineers and technicians engaged in developing laser technology.

[VIA: Case Daily, November 29, 2006]

Money for Portable Fuel Cells

The Plain Dealer (November 15, 2006) reports that NorTech has distributed $1 million in grant money, includings funds to Case.

The Wright Fuel Cell Group will receive $150,000 to build portable fuel cells created with Ohio-made products. Case Western Reserve University, Graf-Tech, HydroGen, Contained Energy, Northeast Hydrogen and Chemsultants are part of the fuel cell group.

[VIA: Case Daily, November 15, 2006]

Do you Think of Ohio for Fuel Cells?

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer (November 12, 2006), millions of research money has been focused into Ohio's fuel cell research programs.

• The Wright Fuel Cell Group built by Case on the old Mt. Sinai property
• Rolls-Royce PLC is creating a fuel cell subsidiary in North Canton
• UltraCell Corp. is building a factory near Dayton
• HydroGen Corp. will run a 400-kilowatt prototype fuel cell power plant at an Ashta Chemicals factory in Ashtabula
• Painesville-based Pemery Corp. has successfully tested tiny fuel cells for the Army
• GrafTech International Ltd. in Parma wins $2.3 million federal grant

[VIA: Case Daily, November 13, 2006]

SOURCE Funds Case Students to Present Research

Several undergraduate students recently received SOURCE (Support of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors) travel funding to present their research at national conferences, including:

• Bradley Gill, senior biomedical engineering major, presented "Fluid volume conductance for determination of bladder volume" at the International Summer School and Symposium on Medical Devices and Biosensors. His faculty mentor is Margot Damaser;
• Nikki Kong, a senior chemistry major, presented a paper and poster at the 20th Annual Symposium of the Protein Society. Her faculty mentor is Mary Barkley; and
• Charles Sing, a junior polymer science and engineering major, presented a poster, "Effect of glass transition temperature on the kinetics of the phase separation of excimer-forming dyes in amorphous polymers," at the American Chemical Society's National Meeting and Exposition. Christoph Weder is his faculty mentor.

[VIA: Case Daily, November 9, 2006]

Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Website Downtime

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) website (http://www.rsc.org) will be unavailable on Saturday 2 December 2006 from 09.00 to 17.00 GMT for essential maintenance.

The RSC apologises for any inconvenience that this downtime may cause.

Customer Services
Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, UK

Fourth Joint Sheffield Conference on Chemoinformatics: Call for Papers

The Chemical Structure Association Trust and the Molecular Graphics and Modelling Society announce their Fourth Joint Sheffield Conference on Chemoinformatics. The conference will be held in The Octagon Centre and the Stephenson and Tapton Halls of Residence, University of Sheffield, UK, from 18th-20th June 2007.

Offers of papers are welcomed in all aspects of chemoinformatics.
Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

• High-Throughput Screening, including: assay quality control; design of screening collections; systems based design
• Virtual Screening including, including: docking and pharmacophore analysis, similarity and clustering methods; machine learning
• Computational Methods for Lead Identification and Optimisation including: modelling and structure-activity methods; structure-based design; ADMET prediction
• New Algorithms and Technologies including: data mining; searching methods; distributed processing; data handling and visualisation;
• Case Histories, incorporating practical experience of any of the above

The programme will have space for ca. two dozen oral presentations, and there will also be extensive opportunities for poster presentations. Authors wishing to submit a paper should send a title and abstract (minimum 500 words) by 31st January 2007 to cheminf2007@sheffield.ac.uk, stating whether they wish to be considered for an oral or for a poster presentation.

Submissions will be selected as either oral contributions or posters by the Organising Committee, with notification of acceptance by 28th February 2007. In selecting papers for oral presentation, the Committee will seek to achieve a balance between the various areas of the subject and between new methodologies and successful applications of existing techniques.

Further details of the conference, including registration information and opportunities for sponsorship and participation in the conference exhibition will follow later in the year, and will be posted at the conference website.

[VIA: CHMINF-L listserv]

NSF-INSPIRE Undergraduate Polymer Research Awards

For the third consecutive year, a Case Western Reserve University Polymer summer REU student was the winner of the NSF-INSPIRE undergraduate polymer research competition held at the University of Southern Mississippi. All of the students worked with faculty in the macromolecular science and engineering department.

• Christine Ander (State University of New York Fredonia) - 2006 winner of best research talk
  • Christoph Weder's (associate professor) group
• 2005 winner, Matt Gawryla, is now a Ph.D. student in macromolecular science and engineering at Case
  • David Schiraldi's (associate professor) group
• 2005 third place finisher is Sarah Rasmussen
  • Patrick Mather's (associate professor) group
• 2004 winner, Eric Giles, is a senior at Case
  • Stuart Rowan's (associate professor) group
• 2004 second place finisher, James Mendez, is now a Ph.D. student at Case
  • Christoph Weder's (associate professor) group

[VIA: CASE DAILY, October 11, 2006]

Plastics Historical Society

Plastiquarian.com is the official website of the Plastics Historical Society (PHS). There are sections on plastics, people, manufacturing, virtual museum, and caring for plastics.

[What is the PHS?]

The Plastics Historical Society was formed in 1986 and was first to draw attention to the heritage of the plastics industry and to celebrate all things plastic.

It is an independent society affiliated to the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (London).

Continue reading "Plastics Historical Society"

Case Spinoff Gets $400k

FLX Micro Gets Investment
By Brandon Glenn
September 6, 2006
Crain's Cleveland Business on the Web

A Case Western Reserve University spinoff company that manufactures sensors has received a $400,000 investment commitment from nonprofit venture development group JumpStart Inc.

Cleveland-based FLX Micro Inc. plans to use the funding to aid in commercializing its microsensors, which are designed to be used in harsh environments such as automotive engines, according to a statement from JumpStart.

[VIA: CASE DAILY, September 07, 2006]

New Monthly Engineering Newsletter

The Engineering Education Advocate is a free monthly newsletter with a focus on engineering education and how to market your program more effectively. It is produced by the Engineering Education Service Center.

The newsletter is an invaluable reference for engineering organizations, programs, colleges of engineering and engineering technology, summer camps, events, competitions, contests, and guidance offices. Get the inside scoop on how to reach students, decrease attrition and ultimately increase enrollment.

[VIA: Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog, September 15, 2006]

Continue reading "New Monthly Engineering Newsletter"

Search Committee Appointed to Search for Case School of Engineering Dean

Case Western Reserve University recently announced the formation of an internal search advisory committee for the dean of the Case School of Engineering (CSE).

The committee is primarily comprised of CSE faculty, along with representation from other schools and departments within the university, students and CSE alumni.

See announcement for full details.

Knovel: Take the University Challenge! - For Case Students

If you have not already entered the Knovel University Challenge, please give it a try.

For Case Students Only - I will offer an added bonus. Stop by the Engineering Reading Room in Nord Hall 508 and pick up a paper entry for a chance to win one of two Knovel gift packages. It will have the same exact questions that Knovel is collecting for their giveway. Fill out the paper form and bring the entry to Nord Hall 510. Nord 510 is the office where faculty, staff, and students can stop by for assistance from me, the Engineering, Mathematics, and Statistics Librarian. It is located on the 5th floor of Nord Hall in the hallway attached to Sears. If I am not present, please slide the entry under the door.

I will only accept one entry per student, and the 2 winners will be selected from everyone that submits the correct answers. The Case-Only Contest will end at midnight on Monday, November 13, 2006.

Continue reading "Knovel: Take the University Challenge! - For Case Students"

Craigslist Not For Sale

CNN.com reports that Craigslist is not for sale, even though another social networking website MySpace was just valued at over $15 million.

The founder of Craigslist, Craig Newmark, is a Case alumnus.

New Case Publication: Staggered Passive Micromixers with Fractal Surface Patterning

Staggered Passive Micromixers with Fractal Surface Patterning
Marco Camesasca, Miron Kaufman, and Ica Manas-Zloczower
Department of Macromolecular Science, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106
Physics Department, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio 44115

Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering
Vol: 16, Issue: 11, November 2006, pp. 2298-2311

Abstract

We present a procedure for inducing chaotic mixing based on a non-periodic patterning of the walls making use of the Weierstrass fractal function to generate the locations for the grooves. We show the numerical analysis of flow in three different geometries generated with the Weierstrass function and compare the results with a fourth geometry, quite similar to the staggered herringbone mixer (SHM) of Stroock et al (2002 Science 295 647), for which the patterning is periodic. We evaluate the Lyapunov exponents for massless and non-interacting particles advected by the flow and traced along the channels. We also compute the entropy of mixing for binary mixtures. Finally, we compute generalized (fractal) dimensions associated with the interface of the two fluids. The results show consistently substantial enhancement in mixing efficiency for two of the Weierstrass channels compared to the SHM.

Availability for Case Faculty, Staff, & Students:

• Directly from Publisher
• OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center

CALL FOR PAPERS - Advanced Mining & Use of Life Science Information

CALL FOR PAPERS - Advanced mining and use of life science information, ACS Chicago, March 2007

You are invited to submit abstracts for a session entitled "Advanced mining and use of life science information" in the division of Chemical Information (CINF), co-sponsored with the CSA Trust, at the 233rd American Chemical Society meeting in Chicago, March 25-29, 2007

We are particularly interested in papers that address the mining of large volumes and diverse sources of chemical and life science information to aid in decision making in the drug discovery process. Potential topics include (but are not limited to):

• Development or application of data mining techniques
• Knowledge discovery on large chemical databases such as PubChem
• Integrating textual and structural information
• Design of interfaces and interaction tools for complex, diverse kinds of information
• Database querying tools and interfaces

The presentation should last about 30 minutes, including time for questions. To submit an abstract, go to http://oasys.acs.org/acs/233nm/cinf/papers/index.cgi and select the "Advanced mining and use of life science information" session. Abstracts should be submitted no later than November 17th, 2006.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact David Wild at djwild @ indiana.edu. You can find out more information about the CSA Trust at http://www.csa-trust.org/.

David Wild
Session organizer

___________________________________________

Dr. David J. Wild, djwild @ indiana.edu
Assistant Professor

Indiana University School of Informatics

ph (812) 856-1848 - fax (812) 856-1995

1900 E. 10th St. Rm. 1128, Bloomington, IN 47406

web http://www.informatics.indiana.edu/djwild

ICIS Chemical Business Americas - Update

I am glad to see Randy Reichardt at the University of Alberta got a little further with a response towards why the publication (Chemical Market Reporter) was drastically changed with no feedback or warning to academia. I only received a standard response from several people at ICIS that basically already told me the obvious - "we are only covering about 100 prices and focusing more on news". I made it clear to ICIS that the strength, and what made them unique to academic libraries, was that they covered such a large amount of chemical prices. The current price coverage was much weaker than they were promoting and probably of minimal value for engineering students. Chemical industry news had many publications and organizations that focused in this realm and they were leaving a niche market (chemical prices) that academia relied heavily on CMR for.

Randy Reichardt received another response from Penny Wilson, ICIS Global Editorial Director, that reaffirmed a commitment to students. I hope this statement is not just an attempt to keep current subscribers. Their past efforts have not shown that students were considered much in their decisions, or they did not truely understand their subscibers or future subscriber needs. I am hoping it is the later, and they just did not understand how much academia needed chemical prices before they dropped the prices from the print CMR, rigged together a clunky online access with no IP recognition, and finally slashed hundreds of prices from their inventory.

The Art of Engineering

National Science Foundation (NSF) Press Release 06-127
The Art of Engineering
September 11, 2006

On a college campus, it would be difficult to find two subjects more different from each other than art and engineering.Yet on the campus of the University of South Florida, one engineering professor responsible for teaching classes about differential equations and electromagnetism has created a popular course that merges his research world with the world of fine art.

New Executive Director for Education - Macromolecular Science & Engineering

LaRuth McAfee has joined the university community as the executive director for education in the macromolecular science and engineering department.

[VIA: Case Daily, September 22, 2006]

Case in the Top 100 in Biotechnology Research

A study released Wednesday by the Milken Institute, a nonprofit, independent economic think tank in Santa Monica, Calif., places Case in the top 100 of U.S. universities in biotechnology research and turning that research into commercial applications. As for Ohio universities specifically, Ohio State University ranked the highest, at 50th, followed by University of Cincinnati, 60th; University of Akron, 65th; and Case, 68th.

[VIA: Case Daily, September 21, 2006]

Knovel: Take the University Challenge! - Win an iPod

Case students are eligible for this opportunity!

This contest is open to current students in all schools with trials and subscriptions to the Knovel Service. One entry per person. The contest starts 9/13/06. You have until (midnight) Monday, November 13 to submit your answers and contact information (full name, school, mailing address, email address, and time to complete) via the link at www.info.knovel.com/ipod.

All entries with a total of 5 correct answers will be placed into a random drawing for one of (6) 30G Video iPods and (8) iPod Shuffles and (1) $500 Visa Cash Card. The drawing will take place on November 10, 2006. The Prizes will be awarded to entrants in the US, Canada, Asia, Eastern Europe,Western Europe and all other regions. All winners must present correct answers to all 5 quiz questions. The winners will be contacted by Knovel Corporation.

The correct answers and winners of the contest will also be announced and featured in K-News on www.knovel.com. All entries become Knovel Corporation’s property and will not be returned. Each participant consents to the use of his or her name and picture on the Knovel Web site for informational and/or promotional purposes, without compensation.

ICIS Chemical Business Americas - More News

Seems like ICIS Chemical Business Americas (Chemical Market Reporter) may be writing its own ending in academic libraries. Randy Reichardt has discovered that up to 75-80% of the prices that were historically tracked have been removed from the online price index.

I looked today (September 12, 2006) at the price index. Only 86 prices were listed for 51 unique compounds. Last year when we spent the EXTRA money over 500 entries were included. In addition, many of the items that are included rarely come up in a chemical engineering design project at my institution. For example, I have never helped a student look up the following items nor did I need them a couple of years ago when I worked on my own chemical engineering design projects: coconut oil (2 entries), clover leaf oil, cotton oil (2 entries), canola meal, fish oil (4 entries), etc.

I will be updating my chemical engineering research guide to include other alternative resources and tricks for students to find chemical prices, as the value of this resource may no longer be a luxury academic libraries can afford.

Timeline of events:

• Chemical prices are removed from print edition
  
• Case spends the money to add online prices with an initial price of $415 for over 500 chemicals
  
• Announced name change
  
• Entry about poorly timed updated
  
• Today less than 100 entries exist

CMR Now Called ICIS Chemical Business Americas

UPDATE to my earlier posting and formal annoucement from publisher:

CMR is now ICIS Chemical Business Americas. As of the 4th September CMR has been reborn as ICIS Chemical Business Americas. As part of ICIS, we aim to leverage our strengths and reflect this in our branding. With our global and extensive resources from around the world we can present our readers with the most comprehensive publication in the sector.

ICIS Chemical Business Americas will continue to provide our readers with all the content that they have grown to rely upon at CMR, from news of the week to expert coverage of key markets. And we are sure our readers we love our new fresh design and our regular new sections.

The Case Community can continue to gain access from the Library Catalog under "Chemical Market Reporter", until the name and links have all been changed.

Chemical Market Reporter Publisher Again Shows No Respect for Academia

As you may recall previously, I worked with the publisher of Chemical Market Reporter to establish electronic access for the Case community. This came after many librarians expressed great concern to the publisher for not considering the needs of their users.

CMR was one of the few resources available for students to establish chemical prices for their many projects. The publisher switched to online-only without asking academic users what they needed the most. They tried to make things better by offering an online subscription, but many libraries were still left in the dark as they required a single password login and wanted more money. This publisher forgot that the future purchasers of CMR would be the very students they were ignoring now.

ICIS has again decided to ignore academic subscribers. They are changing CMR to another publication, but shut down operations right when many academic librarians were directing students to this resource. A "coming soon" message does not help students complete their assignments.

Technology and Engineering Career Fair in Cleveland

Meet with local, regional and national hi-tech companies that are looking for candidates with hi-tech and engineering backgrounds.

Mark your calendars for the upcoming Technology & Engineering Career Fair sponsored by the Cleveland Engineering Society, DICE.com job board, and NEOSA!

October 31, 2006
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Holiday Inn Cleveland-Independence
6001 Rockside Rd.
Independence, OH 44131
More information and registration online.

Nanopolymers 2007 - First International Conference

Nanopolymers 2007 - First International Conference
12th–13th June 2007, Germany

Rapra Technology is pleased to announce the first international Nanopolymers Conference, to be held in Germany, from 12th–13th June 2007. Nanotechnology is already making a major impact on new product introductions throughout the world, in many industry sectors. Many of these new products are based on the material property changes that may be achieved by incorporation of ingredients, at the nanoscale, into polymeric systems.

Although nanoparticulate carbon black has been used in car tyres for decades, it is only recently that other nanoparticulate ingredients have been dispersed in plastics to provide exciting new materials that are lighter weight and as strong as metals. The automotive industry has championed the use of nanocomposites, exploiting other properties, such as smoother surfaces, easier processing and even cheaper materials, which can be gained as well as providing lighter weight products. In addition, nanoscale ingredients are being added to polymeric thin films, thereby providing properties such as anti-scratch, anti-microbial and anti-reflective surfaces. It is also possible to obtain special visual effects through nano-coatings. The textiles industry and the sporting goods industry are also introducing nanotechnology based products, and it is estimated that there are now over 700 nano-based products on the market.

The main ‘nano’ ingredients being dispersed in polymeric systems are especially organoclays, nanoparticulate inorganics, and carbon nanotubes.

This conference provides an opportunity and a platform to present your research, product or process developments in this area to an influential and informed audience.

Presenting authors at Nanopolymers 2007 will be entitled to free registration on both days of the conference including meals, refreshments and a copy of the proceedings.

Papers are now being invited for submission on any of the following areas:

• Aspects and impact of nanopolymers on specific industry sectors (automotive, aerospace, marine, energy, healthcare, packaging, leisure, etc.)
• Production challenges to incorporation and use of nanoclays, nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, or fullerenes in composites and thin film coatings
• Property improvements achievable with nano-scale ingredients such as lighter weight, improved barrier properties, scratch resistance, anti-microbial, anti-reflective, conducting properties
• Characterisation aspects of incorporating nano-scale ingredients into nanopolymers
• Market data on growth of nanopolymers
• New research and development in the field of nanopolymers

If you are interested in presenting a paper at this event, please send a title, short summary, speaker name(s) and company name(s) to Alix Yates email ayates@rapra.net or Fax +44(0)1939-252416 by the deadline of 22nd December 2006.

Register before 12 April 2007 to take advantage of the special Early Bird Discount registration fee.

Materials, Medicine, and Nanotechnology Summit in Cleveland

Innovators in medical devices, clinical practice, and biomedical research will gather at Cleveland Clinic Oct. 2-5 to discuss the latest materials advances and nanotechnology discoveries and how they are resulting in new medical applications.

The Materials, Medicine, and Nanotechnology Summit will be hosted by Cleveland Clinic, ASM International, and the Nano-Network as the anchor event of Nano-Week™ 2006, a five-day exploration of how nanotechnology is changing our world. The Summit is comprised of the biennial Cleveland Clinic NanoMedicine Summit and ASM's Materials & Processes for Medical Devices (MPMD) Conference and Exposition.

Advance registration closes September 24.

CASE's Abramson Joins NorTech Fellows Program

CLEVELAND, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- NorTech, Northeast Ohio's technology- based economic development leader, announced today that Alexis R. Abramson, Ph.D., an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Case Western Reserve University and a nationally-known leader in nanotechnology research, will join the NorTech Fellows Program effective September 1. Read full press release.

Read NorTech's original press release.

ICIS Jobs - Coming Soon

UPDATE:
ICIS jobs is now available.

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ICIS jobs will be available soon, with searchable chemicals jobs and careers information.

ICIS is an information provider for the chemical and oil industry.

Chemistry World News by RSS Feed

Chemistry World's daily news service is now available as a RSS feed, joining the existing feeds for RSC Journals.

Chemistry World is packed with articles on all aspects of the chemical sciences, regular company and individual profiles, job vacancies, commercial technology reports and many fascinating features.

(VIA: SD Librarian, July 28, 2006)

Typical Engineering Day

Working Hard for Their Money by Elizabeth M. Taurasi (Design News, July 17, 2006) summarizes the results of the annual Design News salary survey. Some highlights include:

• Engineers earned an average of $73,000 last year
• Majority received a 3% increase over last year
• 83% of those surveyed stayed in the same job
• Engineers are working 46 hours per week
• More than 40% have a bachelor's degree in engineering

See the full article for more highlights and discussion, including what skills are needed to get ahead.

(VIA: Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog, July 24, 2006)

Cleveland Engineering Society

The Cleveland Engineering Society (CES) is a professional organization that strives to be the leading society promoting and serving the needs of the region's technical community.

CES sponsors a wide variety of programs, seminars and tours to stimulate professional development. Professionals from varied disciplines explore the technologies and business management strategies of many different industries. Read more about CES...

Cleveland Engineering Society is committed to helping college students increase their access and contacts to professionals in the Northeast Ohio technical community. Among the benefits students receive:

• Internship/co-op, job search contacts free resume posting on our web site and assistance in your job search
• Networking with professional engineers at CES programs so you can talk with them in a neutral, comfortable environment and learn about companies, new developments and job opportunities in your field. See the Divisions/Committees and Upcoming Events pages to see what meetings and programs are of interest
• Access to annual members-only CES corporate/student career mixer
• E=mc (Engineering a More Connected Community) Committee. Once a monthy this committee gets together to plan volunteer opportunities and meet for social and business networking. A number of CES student members are involved in E=mc² and build their credentials by volunteering for projects in area schools such as tutoring and tech support
• Free/discounted rates to CES events and programs
• Mentors in your field
• All Society mailings including newsletter
• Listing in the CES membership directory
• Post resumes on Web site for free and get email notification of position and internship openings

Nanomedicine Lab Registry & Portal

The Nanomedicine Lab Registry was compiled from Medline abstracts containing specific nanomedicine keyphrases. It only includes laboratories with 5 or more publications. It uses a database of citation histories compiled from open source journal article reference lists and a major OCR (optical character recognition) campaign on their entire reference library. Labs are ranked according to the citation rate of each individual article. For articles where they do not have sufficient data or were too new to have citation data, they used historical citation data from the journal and the principal investigator. The registry currently ranks the top 382 laboratories, with Chad Mirkin's lab garnering the highest score. Pat Couvreur, Royce Murray, Dave Reinhoudt and Ralph Weissleder rounded out the top 5. Their intention with the registry is to help new graduate students and postdocs to find high impact laboratories. This information is probably interesting to the general public as well if they are interested in the most productive labs.

Related is the Nanomedicine and Nanobiology Research portal that includes recent high impact publications, recent nanomedicine jobs, recent nanomedicine news, top ranked nanomedicine scientists, nanomedicine links, featured nanomedicine books, and nanomedicine conferences.

The Lab Registry is maintained by Ion Channel Media Group, and it operates a number of life science portals. It is founded by J. Christian Hesketh, who is trained in classical biophysics in Canada.

Northern Ohio Energy Management Conference in Akron, Ohio

The Northern Ohio Energy Management Conference will be held at the John S. Knight Convention Center (Akron, Ohio) on October 3 and 4, 2006. It will include a tradeshow and workshops for professional development credit hours.

Examples of sessions include:

• National Energy Policy and the Role of Manufacturing Plays in Promoting Effective Use of Our Energy Resources with John Egler, President & CEO of the National Associationof Manufacturers and former Governor of Michigan
• Fuel Cells: Making Ohio Number One with Ken Alfred, Executive Director of the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition
• True Benefits of Hybrids and Alternative Fuel Vehicles

See the conference brochure (PDF) for more details.

This conference is sponsored by the Cleveland Engineering Society and MAGNET - Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network.

Polymer Researcher Wins Award

The Case Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering announces that John Bobiak, a research associate with the department, has won the 2006 Jack Koenig Spectroscopy Award for his outstanding performance in the development of laser Raman Imaging.

(VIA: Case Daily, May 22, 2006)

Fuel Cells in 2007

CNET News.com in Big Tests For Fuel Cells Coming in 2007 looks at the future of fuel cells.

Next year fuel cells could take a significant step forward, according to a CEO of one of the leading manufacturers of the technology.

Predicted 2007 milestones:

• U.S. military will conduct field tests of hybrid power systems, which combine lithium ion batteries and methanol fuel cells
• Prototypes of fuel cell to power Samsung cell phones

Polymer Professors Win Awards

David Schiraldi, associate professor of macromolecular science and engineering, received the Case School of Engineering Research Award for senior faculty for his pioneering work in the area of clay-based aerogel composite materials. Schiraldi also was awarded startup funds for commercializing these materials when he won the North Coast Nanotechnology Business Idea competition last semester. A team of two Ph.D. students and three undergraduate researchers are currently developing new light weight composites based on the clay aerogels. Schiraldi received a citation for dedication in undergraduate teaching from the Case School of Engineering this year, along with associate professor Stuart Rowan.

(VIA: Case Daily, May 18, 2006)

How Much Education is Needed for Engineers?

Inside Higher Ed (July 28, 2006) explores the debate surrounding if engineering graduates should need a Masters degree like doctors or lawyers.

Do you think the engineering bachelor degree should be more like the pre-med or pre-law degrees? Are engineering graduates able to get into other fields with only a bachelor degree?

It does appear that evidence suggests a Masters degree does open more doors. But, do these Master's graduates also have professional work experience which we warp the results?

(VIA: Case Daily, July 28, 2006)

Fuel Cells and the Hydrogen Economy

From ScienceBase:

Hydrogen fuel cells have been relatively neglected through insufficient support from industry and government, according to a study published today funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Read the full commentary at ScienceBase looking at fuel cells as disruptive technology or browse the documents related to the research at ESRC.

Award Name: The Development and Diffusion of Fuel Cell Technology as a Disruptive Innovation
Award Holder: Prof Chris Hendry
Programme Name: Sustainable Technologies
Co-applicant(s): Dr P Harborne, Prof C Arcoumanis

Recruiting Engineers at Case

Caterpillar Inc., the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines, has selected Case as one of its "portfolio" schools for recruiting engineering graduates. This means that Caterpillar will now be actively recruiting Case graduates via the Case Career Center. For more information on Caterpillar Inc., visit http://www.cat.com. To find out more about the programs and services at the Case Career Center, visit http://studentaffairs.case.edu/careers/.

(VIA: Case Daily, July 28, 2006)

Google & ACS Trademark Case

According to CNET News.com, the Google Scholar trademark case ends with the American Chemical Society.

ACS, which was founded in 1876 and claims to be the world's largest scientific society, sued Google in 2004. The suit claimed that the free "Google Scholar" journal-search service unfairly competes with ACS' "SciFinder Scholar," which appears to be more comprehensive but charges a fee.

50 Top Science Blogs

Nature.com explored the top 5 science blogs, according to Technorati ranking, and asked the writers about their success.

Related items:

• Top 50 Popular Science Blogs - Written by Scientists
• Top 5 Popular Science Blogs - Written by Writers
• Nature Newsblog with discussion of story, including corrections and additions

(VIA: The Curious Cat Science & Engineering Blog, July 6, 2006)

New Nanotechnology Blog

Nano Test Blog has been created by the Nanotech Briefs magazine and sponsored by Keithley Instruments, Inc. It will focus on electrical testing issues in the field of nanotechnology and micro electromechanical systems (MEMS). It includes links to white papers, articles, and announcements of upcoming events and conferences.

[About Nanotech Briefs]

Nanotech Briefs , launched in January 2004, is a digital (PDF format) magazine from the publishers of NASA Tech Briefs – the country’s largest-circulation design engineering magazine - that provides the best of government, industry, and university nanotech innovations with real-world applications in areas such as electronics, materials, sensors, manufacturing, biomedical, optics/photonics, and aerospace/defense.

Open Access Books from Caltech

Caltech has started a depository of open access books by Caltech authors. Subjects include chemistry, economics, geological & planetary sciences, mathematics, and mechanical engineering. The books range from 1959 to 2005.

As of July 23, 2006, some of the books included:

Mathematics:
Abraham, Ralph and Marsden, Jerrold E. (1987) Foundations of Mechanics, Second Edition. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., Redwood City, CA. ISBN 080530102X

Mechanical Engineering:
Brennen, Christopher Earls (2005) Fundamentals of Multiphase Flow. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 13 978-0-521-84804-6

Brennen, Christopher Earls (1995) Cavitation and Bubble Dynamics. Oxford University Press, New York. ISBN 0195094093

Brennen, Christopher Earls (1994) Hydrodynamics of Pumps. Concepts NREC and Oxford University Press.

Housner, George W. and Hudson, Donald E. (1980) Applied Mechanics Dynamics. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA.

Housner, George W. and Vreeland, Thad, Jr. (1965) The Analysis of Stress and Deformation. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA.

Chemistry:
Goddard, William A., III (1986) Nature of the Chemical Bond. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA.

Langford, Cooper H. and Gray, Harry B. (1966) Ligand Substitution Processes. W. A. Benjamin, Inc., New York.

Roberts, John D. (1961) Notes on Molecular Orbital Calculations. W. A. Benjamin.

Roberts, John D. (1961) An Introduction to the Analysis of Spin-Spin Splitting in High-Resolution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectra. W. A. Benjamin.

Roberts, John D. (1959) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance: applications to organic chemistry. McGraw-Hill Series in Advanced Chemistry. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.

(VIA: Science Resources, May, 8, 2006)

Nationwide Chemical Security Plan

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on June 30 released the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP), which includes the first nationwide plan to protect U.S. chemical plants and related infrastructures.

According to Chemical & Engineering News (July 3, 2006), sector-specific security plans that complement NIPP and detail the risk management framework will be released within six months.

Chemistry Magazine

Chemistry is a tabloid published for American Chemical Society Members, Student Affiliates, and those interested in learning more about the chemical sciences and the American Chemical Society.

UT-Austin Nanoelectronics Research Institute in the Works

SiliconValley.com (July 14, 2006) reports that the University of Texas at Austin is looking for funding to start a nanotechnology research institute. See the full article for details.

Snapshot Of The Chemical Industry

Chemical & Engineering News (July 10, 2006) provided a snapshot of employment, finanaces, production, and trade in Facts & Figures Of The Chemical Industry.

(VIA: Quick Picks, July 11, 2006)

IEEE Downtime - Saturday, July 29th

On Saturday 29 July, IEEE will release a major system upgrade to the IEEE Xplore digital library.

As a result of this upgrade, users may experience up to 8 hours of downtime beginning at approximately 8:00 EDT.

IEEE Xplore 2.1.4 will be OpenURL compatible, which provides a standardized syntax for organizing bibliographic metadata and identifiers in a URL and transferring data between information services. Links are enabled between unsubscribed content in IEEE Xplore to a library resolver, leading users to appropriate resources within their institution. With this enhancement, librarians can work with commercially available link resolver software to fully enable their publication catalog. OpenURL will be provided in these areas:

• Search results,li>References
• Brief abstracts
• IEEE Book abstracts

Other features of the IEEE Xplore 2.1.4 upgrade include:

• RefWorks and Bibtex format downloadable citations from IEEE AbstractPlus records, search results, and tables of contents
• Monthly lists of each periodical's most-downloaded articles
• Watermarked PDF documents, illustrating the value of your library subscription

This release continues our successful launch of IEEE Xplore 2.0, and incorporates many of the requests we have heard from our customers.

An additional update is planned for release before the end of 2006.

If you have any questions regarding this upgrade, please let us know.

Thank you,
IEEE Online Support
onlinesupport@ieee.org

Big Money for "Little" Research

C.C. Liu, a chemical engineering professor at Case Western Reserve University, will lead a team studying novel microscopic machines powered by ultra light-sensitive molecules as part of a four-year, $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

See full article from Crain's Cleveland Business on the web (July 19, 2006).

(VIA: Case Daily, July 20, 2006)

Carbon-based Fuel Cell

The Cleveland Plain Dealer (July 18, 2006) shared information on a direct carbon fuel cell that will be tested at the Wright Fuel Cell Group on the Case Western Reserve University campus. The New twist on fuel cells article describes a fuel cell that uses carbon dioxide from the air.

(VIA: Case Daily, July 18, 2006)

FREE ONLINE - Building a National Science Digital Library

UPDATE: If you did not participate in the live presentation, the PowerPoint and related materials are available.

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EDUCAUSE Live! May 8, 2006 1:00 p.m. EDT (12:00 p.m. CDT, 11:00 a.m. MDT, 10:00 a.m. PDT); runs one hour

Your host, Steve Worona, will be joined by Dean Krafft, and the topic will be "Building a National Science Digital Library."

Since 2000, the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) Core Integration team has been creating the infrastructure for a digital library of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics resources. That library now contains more than a million resources from approximately 100 collections. In this talk, Dean Krafft will give a short historical overview of the NSDL and describe the current NSDL community and participants. He will then review the technical underpinnings of NSDL 1.0, a library built on metadata harvesting, and describe some of the challenges encountered. For the past year, the project has been working on NSDL 2.0, a new version of the library built on the Fedora repository architecture. For the last part of the talk, Krafft will describe this new library architecture and explain how it supports creating context for science resources, how it enhances the selection and use of library materials, and what these capabilities mean for the users of the NSDL.

Dean Krafft is currently a senior research associate in computer science at Cornell University, serving primarily as a researcher but also as an IT administrator. On the research side, he is the principal investigator for the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) Project (http://nsdl.org/) at Cornell. Krafft leads the effort to develop key components of the Core Integration Technology for the library and manages the team that maintains the production library services. He works with the other institutions involved in the Core Integration effort to specify, develop, and provide new digital library technologies to the more than a hundred NSF-funded projects involved in the NSDL program.

As an administrator, he serves as director of information technology for computing and information science. He helps provide oversight for the Computer Facilities Support group, represents CIS to the campus-wide IT Managers Council, and focuses on a number of issues including IT policy, software acquisition, and computer security. He received his PhD in computer science from Cornell in 1981.

Grads to Rewrite Engineering Theses

Here is an update to one of my earlier posts. It appears that the students accused of plagiarism will be given a chance to correct their mistakes. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer (July 21, 2006), a majority of the 37 students have agreed to the terms as established by Ohio University.

Mapping Wireless Networks

MIT's iSPOTS project aims at describing changes in living and working at MIT by mapping the dynamics of the wireless network in real-time. Check out the various graphic representations of wireless usage at MIT. They are hoping this project would lead to analysis tools that other organizations and cities could use.

Cleveland PD Highlights Case Chemical Engineering Professor

John Funk on December 28, 2005, wrote an article called Inventing Our Destiny - Work is no Small Feat in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The article highlights Professor Chung-Chiun Liu's team approach to research and invention.

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The Case community and other OhioLINK users can read Liu's profile and the full article through NewsBank America's Newspaper.

(Updated with new links on July 20, 2006)

Case Doctoral Students Wins AIAA Best Paper Award

Amy Mielke, a doctoral student in the Case Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, was the winner in the Young Professionals category of this year's Northern Ohio American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Best Paper Competition. Her paper, entitled "Rayleigh Scattering Diagnostic for Measurement of Temperature, Velocity, and Density Fluctuation Spectra," was coauthored by Chih-Jen Sung, an associate professor in the department.

(VIA: Case Daily, July 18, 2006)

Call for Nominations for the 2008 ACS National Awards

Nominations for 53 national awards administered by the ACS to be presented in 2008 are being solicited. See the full announcement for more details.

More IEEE Content

CASE subscribes to IEEE Xplore and thus has access to this new content as described in the following IEEE announcement.

The IEEE this week made available to its online subscribers the earliest issues of its first technology journal, dating back to 1913.

Currently known as "Proceedings of the IEEE," the journal was titled "The Proceedings of the IRE" when it premiered in January of 1913.

The IRE (Institute of Radio Engineers) was one of two predecessor organizations which merged to form the IEEE in 1963.

This week's update brings the first seven years of the title online (1913 - 1919). "Proceedings of the IEEE" issues from 1963 forward were previously available online through the IEEE Xplore digital library. Issues from later years will follow in the coming months.

Papers in the first issue included "A Discussion on Experimental Tests of the Radiation Law for Radio Oscillators," "High Tension Insulators for Radio-Communication," and "Recent Developments in the Work of the Federal Telegraph Company."

"IEEE has made a commitment to digitizing our entire journal backfile, along with past editions of many of our conference publications," said Barbara H. Lange, Director, IEEE Publications Product Line Management and Business Development. "This is a small part of a two-year plan to bring our historic, scholarly content to new generations of researchers and practitioners."

IEEE will continue to digitize the historic backfile of its journals over the coming months.

Electrical & Computer Engineering Honor for Mergler

From the Case Daily (July, 6, 2006):

Eta Kappa Nu, an honor society for electrical and computer engineering students and professionals, recently honored Harry Winston Mergler as an eminent member, the highest level of membership in the organization. In 1957, he joined the faculty of Case Institute of Technology, and in 1973 was appointed to the Leonard Case Chair in Electrical Engineering, where he served until 1989. Professor Mergler's teaching and research specialty is the digital logic design as applied to embedded control networks in machine-tool controls, aeronautical instrumentation, and industrial control processes. He is the author of the book Methods in Digital Logic Design.

Virtual Skies Tutorials

The Virtual Skies website was developed by NASA Ames Education Division and is funded in part by Aviation Operations Systems and the Aerospace Education Coordinating Committee (AECC). It is designed for use by high school teachers and their classes, homeschool teachers and students in grades 9 - 12 as well as aviation enthusiasts (pilots and passengers alike). Within this Web site you will be able to explore the world of air traffic management and learn more about NASA research in aviation operations systems and aviation safety.

It offers the following sections:

• Aviation Weather
• Aviation Research
• Airport Design
• Air Traffic Management
• Navigation
• Communications
• Aeronautics

(VIA: The Scout Report, June 23, 2006)

Is the Air Force Reading Your Blog?

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research recently began funding a new research area that includes a study of blogs. Blog research may provide information analysts and warfighters with invaluable help in fighting the war on terrorism. Read full announcement from the U.S. Department of Defense.

(VIA: Blogcritics.org, July 8, 2006)

New Chair - Case Department of Macromolecular Science & Engineering

The Case School of Engineering has appointed Gary E. Wnek as chair of the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, effective July 1, 2006. Professor Wnek also serves as Case's Joseph F. Toot Jr. Professor of Engineering and faculty director of The Institute for Management and Engineering (TiME). Wnek replaces Alex Jamieson, who returns to the faculty after serving 11 years as chair.

See full story for more details.

(VIA: Case Daily, July 13, 2006)

ICITM 2006 - Call For Papers

CALL FOR PAPERS - International Conference of Information Technology and Management (ICITM2006)
Hong Kong, 11-13 Dec, 2006

Contact: icitm2006@comp.polyu.edu.hk
Paper Submission: csnkliu@comp.polyu.edu.hk or csronnie@comp.polyu.edu.hk
All papers should be submitted online through our conference web site.

IT and management has grown mounting influence in business, industry and education, the conference would like to consolidate most recent research results in information system, knowledge management, commercial intelligence, electronic commerce, E-education application. The area covers the concepts and theories of Information Systems, Industrial applications E-Education and Business Management. The topics varies from software, e-learning, office automation, textile and garment, automobile electronic, logistics, retails, supply chain, financial, accounting banking, lawyer, government, education to media sector. As part of the mission of the Institute of Systems Management is to facilitate the application of the information technology to industrial enterprises, we promote cross-fertilization over interdisciplinary areas of business application and information systems. Our industrial case presentation and tutorial sessions will bridge the gap between academics and practitioners.

Continue reading "ICITM 2006 - Call For Papers"

New Eminent Scholar at Case

Crain's Cleveland Business (July 11, 2006) announced that Dr. Norman Tien, chair of Case’s department of electrical engineering and computer science and Nord Professor of Engineering, was named the Ohio Eminent Scholar in condensed matter physics. See full story for more details.

(VIA: Case Daily, July 12, 2006)

Case Engineering Dean Stepping Down

After leading the Case Western Reserve University Case School of Engineering to record highs in fundraising, research expenditures and improved relations with its alumni, Robert F. Savinell will step down as dean effective December 31, 2006, in order to focus on his research in fuel cells and electrochemistry.

See the full announcement for transition details and the accomplishments during Savinell's leadership.

Informing the General Public about Nanotechnology

On October 6, 2005, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced a series of initiatives that will greatly expand efforts to inform the general public about nanotechnology, and to explore the implications of that fast-moving field for society as a whole.

The Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network
NSF has selected the Museum of Science, Boston, along with the Science Museum of Minnesota and the Exploratorium in San Francisco, to create and lead this network, which will also include many other science museums and research institutions (partial list below). The $20 million, five-year effort represents the largest single award NSF has given to the science-museum community, and will be a cornerstone of the foundation's multidisciplinary Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education program.

Nanotechnology in Society
NSF has selected the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., to create two new Centers for Nanotechnology in Society. These centers will support research and education on nanotechnology and social change, as well as educational and public outreach activities, and international collaborations.

In addition, building on previously supported efforts, the foundation has funded nanotechnology-in-society projects at the University of South Carolina and at Harvard University.

TryEngineering.org

TryEngineering.org is a resource for students (ages 8-18), their parents, their teachers and their school counselors. This is a portal about engineering and engineering careers, and we hope it will help young people understand better what engineering means, and how an engineering career can be made part of their future.

[About TryEngineering.org]

Students will find here descriptions of the lifestyles and experiences of engineers, and on the different disciplines within engineering. We provide hands-on experiments and activities, referrals to summer programs and internship opportunities, and search tools for schools that offer engineering programs. Useful tips on course selection, applying to university programs and financial aid are included.

Students can also use this portal to send questions to engineering students in universities and to practicing engineers.

Parents and educators will find here, in addition, teaching resources, information about school accreditation, and description of plans, organizations and programs that can be of help in planning and preparing students to develop a future career in engineering.

This portal is brought to you by engineers and educators, and is a collaboration of engineering associations, industry, and teacher/counselor organizations. We all believe that engineering is an exciting and rewarding profession, and invite you to share in our enthusiasm about this rich and influential discipline.

Sponsors include:

• IBM
• IEEE
• TryScience
• Sloan Career Cornerstone Center
• SAE International
• JETS

Japanese Science Directory

Science Links Japan is a topically arranged directory of online information resources for science and technology in Japan. Japan's scientific and technical information (STI) scattered across or isolated on the Internet have been collected and categorized under major topics. The Website aims to provide ease of access to Japan's STI for non-Japanese researchers, policy makers and many others who need Japan's STI.

Most of the contents come from information generated/compiled in the public sector, such as the government, universities, R&D institutes and STI institutes.

Science Links Japan has been compiled with a sharp focus on URL resources available in the English language. URL resources available only in the Japanese language also have been selected from the viewpoint of comprehensiveness and importance.

Tangled Bank #56

Now for a Tangled Bank hosted by an Engineering Librarian...

General science, biology, and medicine are not my typical subject areas as I usually highlight resources in engineering and electronic resources available from my library. I occasionally branch off into medicine and biology as I support faculty and students conducting research in biomedical engineering.

Good science is important for everyone, and I hope this Tangled Bank promotes further discussion and thoughts, as we explore the science in spacecraft, illness, global warming, butterflies, locust, Star Wars, sex, love, and many other topics.

Outfit a spacecraft with a huge but incredibly lightweight mirror, and it can travel indefinitely, without fuel, at speeds that eventually exceed those of conventional rocket-powered craft. Joe Kissell presents Solar Sails - The next big thing in space travel posted at Interesting Thing of the Day.

Explore some of the research findings that suggest that there is an epigenetic basis to the development of lupus, an autoimmune disease that affects nearly 200 million Americans. Trevor Covert at Epigenetics News shares The Epigenetics of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).

Jeremy Bruno at The Voltage Gate took a closer look at a recent Oprah show that discussed global warming by looking at a few inaccuracies and the shows reliance on propaganda rather than facts.

GrrlScientist presents Another Origin of Species posted at Living the Scientific Life. This essay describes an elegant Nature paper that investigates the role of homoploid hybridization in creating a new species of butterfly. (Homoploid hybridization is when the parent species and their hybrid offspring all have the same number of chromosomes).

The Different River presents WouldIntroducti

Fragile Digital Data

According to a recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (June 7, 2006), humanity in the next 3 years will produce more data than in did in the past 1,000 years. Concerns of future data format and degradation are of great concern to many institutions, such as the Council on Library and Information Resources, the National Archives, IBM, and the Library of Congress. See full article for further discussion.

(Full Article VIA: George Mason University's History News Network)

NASA - Prepares for Trip to Moon

NASA's Constellation Program is getting to work on the new spacecraft that will return humans to the moon and blaze a trail to Mars and beyond. Using various Flash animations, Quicktime movies, images, and PDF Fact Sheets learn about this exciting undertaking. View work by assignment, such as the role of Glenn Research Center.

Glenn will manage the work on the CEV's service module, which will provide maneuvering with its propulsion system, generate power using solar arrays, and keep the vehicle cool with heat rejection radiators. Glenn is also the lead for the upper stage of the Crew Launch Vehicle.

(VIA: The Scout Report, June 23, 2006)

Nanotechnology - Unknown Risks and Future Prospects

Charles Piller (Los Angeles Times, June 1, 2006) explores nanotechnology from safety to future prospects. The related graphic contains quite interesting information. For example, U.S. patents in nanotechnology increased from 1000 in 1990 to over 5000 in 2003. The U.S. also granted approximately 5 times as many patents in nanotechnology than any other country in 2003. The U.S., Europe, and Japan have all contributed over a billion dollars each to nanotechnology research. Make sure to check out the related PDF that describes terminology of various nanostructures.

(VIA: Quick Picks, June 2, 2006)

NASA Rocket Science 101

Do you want to know more about the Delta II, Atlas V, or Pegasus rockets? Check out Rocket Science 101 produced by NASA. This Flash tutorial explains the parts of a launch vehicle and how its constructed.

(VIA: The Scout Report, June 02, 2006)

Chemistry Between Women & Science

The Chronicle of Higher Education (Volume 52, Issue 38, Page A10, May 26, 2006), in an article called The Chemistry Between Women & Science, interviewed three women about their career paths and why so few women are in academic science careers.

(VIA: Quick Picks, May 29, 2006)

PROGRESS - Women Chemists and Chemical Engineers

PROGRESS is a three-year pilot project launched in 2002 by the American Chemical Society to develop, test, and evaluate 7 new programs aimed at facilitating the full participation and advancement of women chemists and chemical engineers. Its goals are to assist entry-level professionals find employment and guide and support early and mid-career professionals seeking advancement.

(VIA: Quick Picks, May 29, 2006)

25 Worst Tech Products

PCWorld.com (May 26, 2006) released its list of 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time. I will not give you the entire list, you can read the article for that, but number one is American Online.

Number 13 was the IBM PCjr, which I had as a kid. As a kid it was great, and I am now having flashbacks of the hours of playing Zork.

(VIA: Stephen's Lighthouse, May 29, 2006)

2007 Multi-conference in Computer Science, Engineering, & Information Technology

The 2007 Multi-conference in computer science, engineering, and information technology will be held in Orlando, FL, USA during July 9-12 2007. The multi-conference is a major professional gathering in the world and it consists of the following 4 important events:

• International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Pattern Recognition
• International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems and Web Technologies
• International Conference on High Performance Computing, Networking and Communication Systems
• International Conference on Software Engineering Theory and Practice

(VIA: Beyond the Job, June 01, 2006)

First Open Access Nanotechnology Journal from Major Publisher

Springer and the Nano Research Society have announced a new partnership to publish Nanoscale Research Letters (NRL), which will be the first nanotechnology journal from a major commercial publisher to publish articles with open access. The new journal provides an interdisciplinary forum for the open communication of scientific and technological advances in the creation and use of objects at the nanometer scale. The first open access articles are scheduled to appear on Springer's online platform, SpringerLink, in July 2006.

Read the full announcement for more information.

(VIA: LISNews, June 12, 2006)

Stupid Engineering Mistakes

Wired Magazine (Issue 14.06, June 2006) listed the The Worst: Stupid Engineering Mistakes. It includes various failures such as a dam collapse, transportation disasters, and poorly designed tires.

Beilstein database exceeds ten million reactions

MDL Information Systems GmbH is pleased to announce that the Beilstein database now provides more than ten million structure-searchable reactions. Passing this important milestone emphasizes the enduring value of the Beilstein database as the essential first step in chemical discovery. See the full press release for more information.

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Beilstein Crossfire is one of the several hundred databases available to the Case community.

Top 100 Technology Products

PC World (July 2006 issue of PC World magazine; Online: May 31, 2006) released its annual 100 Best Products of the Year. The top two were the Intel Core Duo and the AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core. Others highlights in the top ten included Craigslist.org, iPod Nano, Google Earth, and YouTube.com.

(VIA: TVC Alert Research News, June 1, 2006)

$1.5 Million Endowment Gift for CSE

From the June 15, 2006, Case Daily:

The Case School of Engineering recently received a $1.5 million endowment gift from brothers Charles and John Phipps. Both are 1949 graduates of the Case Institute of Technology. The donation is named in honor of their late father, Myron Phipps. Dean Robert Savinell said the money will allow the school to devise and sustain new initiatives.

International Conference on Chemoinformatics - August 2006

National Chemical Laboratory Pune, India is planning a two-day International Conference on Chemoinformatics during 7-8 August 2006 which would be participated by eminent scientist and professors in this specialized area from both academia and industries.

Several distinguished scientists from Germany, UK, USA etc. along with Indian scientists are participating in this important meeting. The conference will bring together more than 100 participants for this scholarly event focusing on the futuristic application of cheminformatics in medicinal chemistry, material science, structure elucidation and structure activity/property/toxicity relationship studies, high performance computing, chemical data mining etc., Other participants would present oral and poster presentations of their work.

Biointerphases - New Open Access Journal

The Biointerphases journal, an open access journal for the biomaterials interface community, provides an interdisciplinary platform for scientific exchange among the biology, chemistry, physics, and materials sciences communities. It offers a discussion forum for rapid dissemination of scientific theories, results, and interpretations. Biointerphases serves as a global vehicle for the biomaterials interface community as well as a platform that encourages dialog between scientists and the public with respect to cogent policy issues.

[About Biointerphases]

Biointerphases is devoted to Articles of original research, Reviews, a "Myth and Reality" section addressing controversial models and experiments, Editorial Commentary/Letters to the Editor, Perspectives on Evolving Research, Reports on Interdisciplinary Research Programs and Opinionated Essays.

Biointerphases will include all topics relevant to the study and understanding of interfaces and confined phases in biomaterial science and biophysics, e. g. such as interface spectroscopy, in vivo mechanisms, in vitro mechanisms, interface modeling, adhesion phenomena, protein-surface interactions, cell-surface interactions, biomembranes on a chip, biosensors / biodiagnostics, bio-surface modification, the nano-bio interface, biotribology / biorheology, molecular recognition, cell patterning for function, polyelectrolyte surfaces, and ambient diagnostic methods. Biointerphases is freely available online, and will be available in an annual bound volume for a nominal fee.

Student in Materials Science Receives Scholarship

David Poerschke, a third-year student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, was recently awarded the Charles W. Finkl Scholarship by the Forging Industry Educational and Research Foundation.

(VIA: Case Daily, June 6, 2006)

Improving Science Education in the U.S.

Nudging the NSF on Education
Inside Higher Ed
May 4, 2006

American science and math competitiveness couldn’t be a hotter topic in Congress right now if it were made in a fusion reactor.

Proposed legislation would have the National Science Foundation get to work on cultivating science and engineering majors at the college level, and providing extensive professional development for pre-college science teachers.

The legislation includes funding for science and engineering departments at universities to create training programs for school teachers, improvements in undergraduate instruction in sciences, and scholarships.

OU Engineering Plagiarism

UPDATE:
Plagiarism panel recommends firing two OU professors
Associated Press, June 1, 2006

Two Ohio University faculty members should be fired for allowing cheating in an engineering graduate program, a university committee said.

The committee, formed to investigate plagiarism in master's degree theses, recommended dismissal Wednesday for the chairman of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and another unidentified faculty member.

Read the full story (Akron Beacon Journal) for more details.

Engineering School at Ohio U. Investigates 44 Cases of Alleged Plagiarism by Graduate Students
By THOMAS BARTLETT
The Chronicle of Higher Education, Volume 52, Issue 27, Page A9 (March 10, 2006)

Ohio University is investigating 44 possible cases of plagiarism by current and former engineering graduate students, all of which were discovered by a former graduate student who believes professors there have fostered a culture of cheating...

The Case community can access the full article from the E-Journal Portal. Several of the sources have a one month embargo before the article is available.

National Academy of Engineering

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) mission is to promote the technological welfare of the nation by marshaling the knowledge and insights of eminent members of the engineering profession.

Engineering Projects and Programs
The National Academy of Engineering is tasked with identifying and illuminating issues at the intersections of engineering, technology, and society that impact our quality of life. Studies, symposia, and public information activities are carried out both independently by the NAE Program Office and jointly with other units of the National Academies.

[About NAE]

Founded in 1964, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) provides engineering leadership in service to the nation. The NAE operates under the same congressional act of incorporation that established the National Academy of Sciences, signed in 1863 by President Lincoln. Under this charter the NAE is directed "whenever called upon by any department or agency of the government, to investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art."

(VIA: The Scout Report, Volume 12, Number 20, May 19, 2006)

Periodic Table of Data

The Periodic Table of Data is a visual database of physical and thermochemical properties of the chemical elements. It includes an interactive periodic table, visualization of properties, graphs, tables of data, energy level diagrams, and games. The data in this resource has been taken from The Royal Society of Chemistry Electronic Data Book CD, London: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2002, with some minor corrections for consistency.

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[About RSC]

The RSC is the largest organisation in Europe for advancing the chemical sciences. Supported by a worldwide network of members and an international publishing business, our activities span education, conferences, science policy and the promotion of chemistry to the public.

Inventor of Firefox to Speak in Cleveland

Blake Ross, the inventor of Firefox, will be speaking at the Cleveland City Club on June 14th. See the City Club website for more information.

The City Club posts podcasts of their speaker's addresses shortly after their presentation.

Chmoggle - Chemical Information Search Engine

UPDATE:
Under pressure from Google, Chmoogle is now called eMolecules.

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On November 18, 2005, eMolecules, Inc. announced the launch of Chmoogle.

Chmoogle wants to be the world's leading free open-access chemistry search engine. Chmoogle's mission is to discover, curate and index all of the public chemical information in the world, and make it available to the public. Chmoogle distinguishes itself by extremely fast searches, an appealing presentation of results, and high-quality chemical drawings. Chmoogle discovers sources of chemical data by searching the internet, and receives submissions from data providers such as chemical suppliers and academic researchers.

Chmoogle searches chemical information by drawn chemical structures, IUPAC name, or by entering SMILES nomenclature (Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry Specification).

The Chmoogle web site also includes Cheminformatics 101 - An introduction to the Computer Science and Chemistry of Chemical Information Systems.

Virtual Visit of the Canadian Space Agency

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) was established in 1989 by the Canadian Space Agency Act. The agency operates like a government department. The president is the equivalent of a deputy minister and reports to the Minister of Industry. The president oversees five core functions: Space Programs, Space Technologies, Space Science, Canadian Astronaut Office, Space Operations. He also looks after six executive functions (Audit, Evaluation and Review; Corporate Management; Communications; Strategic Development; External Relations; Government Liaison) and three Corporate functions (Legal Services, Administration, and Human Resources). The President is supported by the Senior Vice-President and the Vice-President, Science, Technology and Programs.

Take a virtual tour of the John H. Chapman Space Centre. It is really well done and informative. It also makes a nice example if someone were creating a virtual tour of a library or laboratory within their organization.

(Via: The Scout Report, Volume 12, Number 20, May 19, 2006)

EEVL - Changes

From the middle of 2006 there will be some major changes to the current service. As you may know, EEVL is one of a number of Internet subject gateways that together form the Resource Discovery Network (RDN).

As a result of a detailed planning and consultation process, the RDN service is currently undergoing extensive re-structuring and re-branding. The purpose of this exercise is to create a new more consolidated service with closer integration of subject areas, and to provide a single interface for our users.

The current eight subject gateways will be re-organised to create four major subject groups:

• Arts and Humanities (bringing together Artifact and Humbul)
• Science, Engineering, Technology (bringing together EEVL, GEsource and PSIgate)
• Health and Life Sciences (BIOME)
• Social Sciences (Bringing together Altis and SOSIG)

(Via: STLQ, May 9, 2006, TechXtra - A New Resource for Searching in Engineering, Mathematics, and Computing)

Science & Engineering State Profiles: 2003-04

The Division of Science Resources Statistics (SRS) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) publishes Science and Engineering State Profiles annually. The 2003–04 report, published only on the Web, includes a data source page and a set of 52 one-page science and engineering (S&E) profiles (in Excel) that summarize state-specific data on personnel and finances. Rankings and totals are for the 50 states; Washington, DC; and Puerto Rico.

I have included a portion of Ohio's statistics.

(VIA: ResourceShelf, May 9, 2006)

Fuel Cell Mixes with Porn Company for Pseudo IPO

Here is an interesting way to quickly get to an initial public offering. A company that creates a membrane for methanol fuel cells used the old shell of a porn company to quickly go public.

From: CNET News.com Future Tech Blog, March 17, 2006

TechXtra (Formerly EEVL Xtra)

In October of 2005, I shared information on EEVL Xtra. It appears the new name is TechXtra.

From the press release:

TechXtra suite of free services simplifies access to technology information

TechXtra is a suite of ten freely available services which simplify access to a multitude of different types of technology information from a host of different sources.

TechXtra facilitates immediate access to the freely available full-text content of hundreds of thousands of eprints, technical reports, theses, articles, news items, job announcements and more. In cases where the full-text is not freely available, TechXtra provides links to vendors for pay-per-view options. TechXtra searches a combination of digital repositories, journal databases, technical reports servers, web information, news sources and more, all with a focus on technology information.

Anyone looking for information in technology will find TechXtra useful, especially researchers, academics, students and practitioners.

The suite of services includes:
Database Cross-Search - This searches over 4 million items from 25 different databases. Use this to find articles, key websites, theses and dissertations, books, industry news, new job announcements, technical reports, eprints, learning & teaching resources and the latest research in engineering, mathematics and computing. Sources include: Australian Research Repositories Online to the World, arXive (eprint archive in computer science, maths and related subjects), CiteSeer (research articles in computer science), Directory of Open Access Journals, ePrints UK (selected open archives in the UK), Copac (union catalogue from the Consortium of University Research Libraries), National Engineering Education Delivery System (digital library of learning resources), NASA Technical Reports (12 different NASA technical report series)... plus 18 other databases. More will be added in the near future.

The Very Latest Job Announcements - OneStep Jobs brings together the very latest job announcements from more than 35 top sources, and presents them in an easily accessible and searchable format in one place. The content is updated many times each day. Sources include: Jobs.ac.uk, ICErecruit, The Engineer, Redgoldfish, Jobsite, Engineeringjobs.co.uk, 4engineers.co.uk, Matchtech, TipTopJobs and more.

The Very Latest Industry News - OneStep Industry News brings together news feeds from over 80 top sources, and presents them in an easily accessible and searchable format. The content is updated many times each day. Sources include: The Engineer Online, Engineeringtalk, New Scientist, scenta, Moreover, Yenra, Control Engineering News, Design News, EurekAlert, Slashdot, PC Magazine, BBC Tech News and more.

Free Trade Magazine Subscriptions & Technical Document Downloads - Hundreds of trade publications and their advertisers want to give qualifying individuals their publications. It's worth it to them to give you the magazine free because you need the information and products described, and their advertisers need a vehicle to deliver their message which justifies the cost of giving you subscriptions for free. In addition, this service now includes free Webcasts, live Webinars, informative eBooks, interactive CD-ROMs, and numerous whitepapers.

On-Line Bookstore - TechXtra users save up to 35% on any title from this bookstore from Pearson Education - books on everything from Computer Graphics & Design, to Programming, Software, Careers and Personal Development titles. Postage is free within the UK and Europe.

Offshore Engineering Information Service - This service gives information about publications and meetings dealing with: oil and gas exploration and production; offshore health, safety and environmental protection; resources of the seabed and renewable energy; and marine technology.

Discovery Guides - Free indepth reports on topical engineering, mathematical and technology issues.

Information about Validated Engineering Design Data - This subset of ESDU contains over 1,300 abstracts of data item design guides. Access to the full text is via subscription only.

Recent Advances in Manufacturing - A database of bibliographic information for manufacturing and related areas, covering items in over 500 niche and mainstream journals and magazines, plus details of books, videos and conference proceedings.

Selected links to top sources of technology information - Internet tutorials, newsletters and gateways.

TechXtra harvests data from external sources using standard protocols such as Z39.50 and OAI-PMH.

TechXtra is an initiative of the ICBL and the Library, at Heriot-Watt University. The ICBL is also the base of the PerX Project, which has produced a Pilot to help scope future developments in cross-searching. Feedback on the Pilot would be much appreciated. A 60 second survey is available, and those providing feedback will be entered into a draw to win £100 of Amazon vouchers.

For more information about TechXtra, contact:
Roddy MacLeod
Senior Subject Librarian
Heriot-Watt University Library
Edinburgh
0131 451 3576
r.a.macleod@hw.ac.uk

(VIA: STLQ, May 9, 2006, TechXtra - A New Resource for Searching in Engineering, Mathematics, and Computing)

Emerald Engineering - Free Access until September 2006

Emerald Engineering showcases practical and theoretical insightful articles, interviews, case studies, viewpoints and more. Whether you are an academic, researcher or industry practitioner, Emerald Engineering can help you find solutions to problems and keep up to date with current research, industry news, trends and debates by providing access to quality engineering information.

Free Access!!!
Emerald Engineering will be available on three levels: level one will be unrestricted access for all; level two will feature additional content and will be available to registered members; and level three will have even more content for Emerald Engineering journal and database subscribers. However, in order to celebrate the launch of this essential resource, we are delighted to give access to the whole of Emerald Engineering completely free of any restrictions until September 2006. Follow the link on this page, then on the Insight login page simply click the "login" button to return to Emerald Engineering with FREE full site access.

It appears four subject categories currently exist: Advanced Automation, Computational Mathematics, Electronics Manufacture & Packaging, and Materials Science & Engineering.

Decrease in Computer Science Students?

From The Chronicle: Wired Campus Blog (April 3, 2006) comes information on the potential closing of the computer science department at Seattle Pacific University.

From The Seattle Times (SPU might shut down computer curriculum, April 3, 2006):

Enrollment in computer-science programs has dropped around the country since the dot-com bubble burst. But the U.S. Department of Labor predicts information technology will be among the biggest employment drivers over the next decade, and many colleges are anticipating an enrollment rebound.

NIH Research

The NIH Budget and the Future of Biomedical Research
Joseph Loscalzo, M.D., Ph.D.
The New England Journal of Medicine
Volume 354, Number 16, Pages 1665-1667, April 20, 2006

The "first true budgeted reduction in NIH support since 1970" is predicted for 2007. See the full article for what this may mean for biomedical research.