2007: the year in research
2007 was a productive research year for UMR faculty. Here are a few highlights:
January 2007: Jagannathan Sarangapani, a researcher in electrical and computer engineering, receives NSF funding to develop a communications system that can be used during natural disasters such as floods or hurricanes. Also, we publicized computer engineering Ph.D. candidate Rana Basheer's creation of GuruLib, a virtual bookshelf designed to help people keep track of their book, CD, DVD or video game collections.
February 2007: Military historian John McManus discusses his latest book about U.S. involvement in World War II, Alamo in the Ardennes: The Untold Story of the American Soldiers Who Made the Defense of Bastogne Possible.
March 2007: Students show their research to legislators during the annual Undergraduate Research Day at the state capitol. Their work included research on how glass is being used to strengthen bone tissue, how breakthroughs in chemistry might lead to a new method of removing lead from the bloodstream, how nutrients in streams can be monitored more efficiently and why flood plains need to be checked for high levels of salt. Also: two young researchers (Chang-Soo Kim and Mehdi Ferdowsi) receive NSF CAREER grants, and historian and campus archivist Diana Ahmad's book about the opium trade in the 19th century is published.
April 2007: Ganesh Kumar Venayagamoorthy receives an Office of Naval Research grant for his work in developing an intelligent power system for sea vessels. Also in April: Jennifer Leopold, assistant professor of computer science who works on a massive research project to describe the anatomy of thousands of amphibian species, receives the campus' Woman of the Year honors, and a team of students finishes third in a satellite design competition.
May 2007: The Lunar Miners debut in a national competition to develop autonomous robots that could one day excavate on the Moon, the campus wins a national designation for cyber-security, and researchers in the Center of Excellence for Aerospace Particulate Research earn a share of the 2007 Climate Protection Award from the EPA. On the final day of May, Jay Switzer, the Castleman/FCR Professor of Discovery, received the University of Missouri's Presidential Award for Research and Creativity.
June 2007: Chemistry Professor Nicholas Leventis received the Nano 50 Award for his research on aerogels.
July 2007: Civil engineering's Genda Chen discusses how bridges may be retrofitted to better resist explosions, a student's idea for a glass balloon wins international acclaim; and environmental researchers publish their findings of lead and arsenic in sediment in post-Katrina New Orleans.
August 2007: Researcher Rosa Zheng discusses how underwater WiFi can be improved, while the campus and several partners announce that they are bringing hydrogen fuel to Missouri.
September 2007: Geologist Mohamed Abdelsalam uses remote sensing to study the Ethiopian plateau and a team of researchers receives an Oscar of Invention from R&D magazine.
October 2007: Curt Elmore, an associate professor of geology, discusses how ultraviolet rays may be used to treat tainted water in emergencies, while Elmore's colleague, David Rogers, addresses the question, Why are we losing Louisiana?, at the Geological Society of America’s annual meeting.
November 2007: Students develop a genetically engineered machine for breathalyzer tests.
December 2007: David Wright, a new member of the English and technical communication faculty, describes his research into how cattle ranchers react to the idea of RFID tags for their herds, while Ganesh Kumar Venayagamoorthy and his students experiment with Roombas as somewhat smart machines.