UMR's minerals collection dates back to the turn of the century (the one where it turned from the 1800s to the 1900s), when, following the close of the World's Fair in St. Louis, many of the minerals that had been exhibited were shipped to Rolla. UMR now has the largest university minerals collection in Missouri. Housed in McNutt Hall, the minerals museum has approximately 3,500 specimens from all over the world. The collection includes gold, diamonds and meteorites.
September 2006 Archives
It's like mixing ESP with science. Or like having a sixth sense that something is about to break. Well, sort of.
The National Science Foundation recently helped UMR researchers establish a Center Site on Intelligent Maintenance Systems, which will focus on enabling products and systems to achieve and sustain near-zero breakdown performance. Their goal: to transform the traditional maintenance practices of "fail and fix" to a "predict and prevent."
Continue reading If it's not broke, it might be?.
This isn't the floor of the New York Stock Exchange -- it was the scene today at Gale Bulman Multi-Purpose Building, where UMR was hosting its largest career fair ever.
While some people enjoyed a little downtime this summer, there was no rest for the TechnoFiles crew. Soaring gas prices, coupled with concerns about foreign oil, provided an interesting backdrop for a three-part series that focused on how UMR researchers have joined the worldwide rush to develop the next generation of alternative sources of fuel. Their efforts to diversify the nation's fuel supply may help save everything from the environment to our pocketbooks.
The series began in July, as David Summers, Curators' Professor of mining engineering at UMR, and Dev Niyogi, assistant professor of biological sciences at UMR, discussed their attempts to create crude oil easily and inexpensively in just a few hours by extracting the oil from algae grown in an underground mine. Typical algae are about 25 percent oil, which makes their capacity to yield transportation fuel greater than corn or soybeans. Now all the pair has to do is figure out the most efficient method to extract the oil.
In August, TechnoFiles explored the future of making an ethanol, an alternate fuel derived from corn. Current ethanol production methods yield just a little more fuel than it takes to produce it. To meet the increased demand, ethanol plants must increase those yields. UMR civil engineers Joel Burken and Mark Fitch and biologist Melanie Mormile discussed their plans to improve the efficiency of ethanol production by using the left-over biomass that now goes to waste.
The three-part series wrapped up this month, as Yangchuan Xing, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering, talked about how polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells could one day power cars and trucks. The only byproduct of these fuel cells is clean water, which goes a long way twoward reducing air pollution.
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As a kid, Jay Switzer made everything from fireworks to tear gas in his parents' Ohio basement. Today, he is just as intriqued by experimentation and discovery. In October, the American Chemical Society will honor his work with it's Midwest Award.
Switzer, the Donald L. Castleman Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of Missouri-Rolla and a senior investigator in the UMR Materials Research Center, is known for his research into the chirality, or "handedness," of drugs. Most important drugs on the market today are chiral -- they exist as either right-handed or left-handed molecules. While one "hand" is useful as a drug, the other can be toxic.
Last summer, Switzer began a project to determine if a chemical used by water districts to disinfect the water supply (monochloramine) actually raised lead levels in the water -- it does.
Gerald Cohen, a man that has spent more than one-third of his life doing research on the hot dog, has added "frogged up Murphies" (aka French fried potatoes) and other eatery slang to his menu of expertise.
His findings, along with co-author Barry Popik's material, are the subject of a new book, "Studies in Slang VII." The 194-page book consists of 24 articles that reat a range of U.S. slang, covering everything from "hashhouse" lingo to the origin of Chicago's nickname as "The Windy City."
"British and U.S. slang etymology is a huge and highly interesting area, and it doesn't get nearly the attention from scholars that it deserves," Cohen says.
BTW -- A Cincinnati newspaper is credited with bestowing Chicago with its nickname after a tornado had passed through the Illinois city.
And, following in fellow blogger Lance Feyh's footsteps, I'm offering this Friday challenge. The first person who gets all five questions correct will win a cool Visions prize. Just submit your answers by clicking on "comments" below.
What are you ordering when a waiter tells the cook to make:
1. A motorman's glove?
2. A bag of mystery?
3. One indigestion in a snowstorm?
4. Noah on a raft?
5. Brass band with leader?
OK, don't eighty-six this quiz. Send us your answers!
UMR engineering students are benefiting this fall from a donation by Texas Instruments. The donation, valued at roughly $7,500, is giving undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct hands-on experiments using real-time digital signal processing platforms (DSP). (DSP is a flexible technique of processing analog signals in digital form, which is fundamental to the technology industries two fastest growing markets - wireless and multimedia).
Sounds good to me.
At about the same time the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education released its "Measuring Up" report card noting that the United States is slipping from its status as a world leader in higher education, UMR Chancellor John F. Carney III was addressing the same issue before the board of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority.
Speaking before the MOHELA board on Sept. 8, Carney spoke about the challenges globalization presents to higher education, especially in the fields of math, engineering, technology and science. (This topic was also covered in the summer issue of UMR magazine.)
Continue reading By the numbers: 'measuring up' in engineering and science education.
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| Magnus (second from left) on Sept. 16. |
"We continue to press the limits of our imaginations as we test operational concepts that may be used when we return to the moon," said NEEMO 11 Mission Director Marc Reagan. "Building on the NEEMO 9 and 10 missions, we will explore new challenges and learn to overcome the inherent difficulties of living and working on the moon. These results will allow our designers and engineers to improve designs of habitats, robots and spacesuits."
Magnus flew to the International Space Station in October 2002 and used the station's robotic arm to help attach a new segment to the station's truss structure.
Click here for more information about NEEMO, including mission imagery, crew journals, and links to webcams and the Digital Learning Network.
A team of four graduate students from UMR recently learned that they have finished second in the report category of a national big beam contest. The big beam in question is a 16-foot section of concrete that was designed by the students and fabricated under their watch by a pre-cast manufacturer in Missouri. Loading tests were later conducted in a UMR laboratory, and all of the predictions and measurements were evaluated by contest judges. Pre-cast concrete beams are used in the construction of structures like parking garages and stadiums.
Here's a quick quiz to test our ability to receive comments. Just submit your answers by clicking on "comments" below. The first person who gets all five questions correct will win a prize. We don't have any official visions gear yet, but Mindy Limback will knit the winner a sweater while she's on maternity leave. I'm sure she doesn't have her hands full with anything else. The contest is open to anyone -- so you better start googling before Andy Careaga sees this. Any weekenders should have a good head start.
1. In what song will you find both Lenny Bruce and Leonard Bernstein?
2. What scientist quoted the Hindu god Vishnu when he said, "Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds."?
3. What is responsible for ending the world in the novel Cat's Cradle?
4. "Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them." For this redundant character, it had been all three.
5. What is the largest volcano in the solar system?
OK. Knock yourselves out......................
As the air starts to cool down, we are reminded that St. Pat's is only a winter away. And, assuming you know what three snakes might have in common with one shamrock, you still have time to enter the St. Pat's Sweatshirt Design Contest. All artwork must contain the following phrases, words or images: Best Ever, St. Pat's, 99th Annual, University of Missouri-Rolla, 2007, at least three snakes and at least one shamrock. Submit designs by Sept. 16 to Daniel Ryan (dlrkbd at umr dot edu) or to Pi Kappa Alpha at 613 West Ninth St., Rolla, MO, 65401. The winner will receive instant fame and a $100 cash prize. All entries become property of the St. Pat’s Celebration Committee.
Dr. Jason Baird's business, Loki Inc., recently won an award for innovative research. The research has to do with explosive-driven, pulsed power sources for anti-IED technology. The IED stands of course for improvised explosive devices. Through another research/business venture, Baird and others have already started to test blast-resistant barricades for military applications.
For about $29,000, you can buy a wheelchair capable of going up and down stairs. This summer, a UMR student helped design and build a wheelchair that can autonomously traverse stairs (pictured at left) for a lot less money. “A mechanical system allows the wheelchair to safely climb and descend stairs without tipping over,” says Lindsay Waters, a senior in computer engineering.
The U.S. has a new oil field to exploit! It's huge! And it's located just off the coast of Louisiana! Not far from New Orleans! Deep below the floor of the Gulf of Mexico!
This on the heels of another gulf discovery off the shores of the country of Mexico. Maybe all the widespread panic about North America's dependence on foreign oil was premature. Maybe now we can stop talking about hydrogen and oil sands and switch grass. Or maybe not.
Incidentally, among all UMR graduates, petroleum engineers enjoy the highest starting salaries. The average is $75,750 per year and going up.
One year after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, UMR civil engineer Jianmin Wang will present findings from research he conducted in the Big Easy to the American Chemical Society's National Meeting and Exposition Sept. 10-14 in San Francisco.
Wang and colleagues collected 238 soil and sediment samples one month after Katrina hit and analyzed them for pesticides and heavy metals. The pesticide levels were "generally not of great concern," but as many as 50 percent of the samples contained arsenic and 30 percent in their leachaets had lead equal to or above maximum level of those metals allowed in drinking water.
