College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Category
05.01.2012
The Alumni Association will honor 21 NC State professors on May 3 for their outstanding work in the classroom, in the laboratory and in the field. We talked (via email) with some of the recipients about their work and the keys to being a successful professor.
Today we’re visiting with Maria Oliver-Hoyo, an associate professor of chemical education in the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. Oliver-Hoyo is one of six professors being recognized as Distinguished Undergraduate Professors.
What is the key to being a successful teacher? Listening to students and to yourself … The moment an educator thinks he/she has all the answers, effectiveness is lost. Listening to what students have to say should trigger reflection about our own practices. The teaching process is the ultimate learning experience and learning is an endless process.
What gives you the greatest satisfaction as a professor? There is nothing like witnessing a student’s “Aha” moment or receiving communication from a former student letting you know how they are doing.
04.24.2012
The Alumni Association is honoring 21 NC State professors for their excellent work in the classroom, the laboratory and the field. The professors will be recognized at a reception at the Dorothy and Roy Park Alumni Center on May 3.
The winners of the 2012 Faculty Awards are:
Alumni Association Distinguished Undergraduate Professors
- D. Barry Croom | Department of Agricultural and Extension Education | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Jeffrey A. Joines | Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science | College of Textiles
- John R. Meyer | Department of Entomology | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Craig M. Newmark | Department of Economics | College of Management
- Maria Oliver-Hoyo | Department of Chemistry | College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
- John K. Townsend | Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering | College of Engineering
Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Professors
- Y. Richard Kim | Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering | College of Engineering
- Hiller A. Spires | Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Counselor Education | College of Education
Alumni Association Outstanding Research Awards
- Edward Bealmear Breitschwerdt | Department of Clinical Sciences | College of Veterinary Medicine
- Jon-Paul Maria| Department of Material Science Engineering | College of Engineering
- Ann Helen Ross| Department of Sociology and Anthropology | College Humanities and Social Sciences
Alumni Association Outstanding Extension and Outreach Awards
- Jay F. Levine | Department of Population Health and Pathobiology | College of Veterinary Medicine
- Donald E. Thrall | Department of Molecular Biomedical Science| College of Veterinary Medicine
- Grady L. Miller |Department of Crop Science | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Alumni Association Outstanding Teacher Awards
- Jennifer L. Campbell | Department of Biology | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Martha L. Crowley | Department of Sociology and Anthropology | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
- Jessica T. DeCuir-Gunby | Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Counselor Education | College of Education
- Michael D. Dickey | Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering | College of Engineering
- Scott M. Ferguson | Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | College of Engineering
- David W.W. Jones | Department of Agricultural and Extension Education | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Shevaun Neupert | Department of Psychology | College of Humanities and Social Sciences
04.03.2012
Photo by Roger Winstead '87
Meg Lowman, a research professor of natural sciences at NC State, is the director of the new Nature Research Center at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences that is opening later this month.
Lowman, or “Canopy Meg,” as she is known for her work researching the canopies of rain forests, is also the subject of the cover story in the spring issue of NC State magazine.
The story looks at Lowman’s journey from the rain forests of Australia to the gleaming new interactive science center in downtown Raleigh. The story notes that Lowman doesn’t just study different sorts of critters in the rain forest. Sometimes she eats them, as well.
And here are a few of her favorite bug recipes, from The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook by David George Gordon:
Chocolate Cricket Torte
1 cup butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 ounces semisweet chocolate
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup strong liquid coffee
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup Crispy Crickets, coarsely chopped
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Butter the inside of an 8-inch springform pan and dust it lightly with flour. In the top of a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter and allow to cool to room temperature.
3. Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and coffee. Then add the chocolate mixture, chopped walnuts and Crispy Crickets.
4. Whip the egg whites until they stand in soft peaks and fold them into the chocolate mixture.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes (the torte’s center should be moist). Allow the torte to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.
Bugs in a Rug
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar or other quality white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint or dill
2 cloves garlic, minced
24 frozen house crickets, thawed
12 chunks canned pineapple
6 slices very lean bacon
12 toothpicks
1. Combine the oil, vinegar, mint and garlic in a bowl. Marinate the crickets and pineapple in this mixture for 8-12 hours.
2. Preheat broiler.
3. Cut each slice of bacon in half, lengthwise, then into thirds.
4. Place one cricket on top of a pineapple chunk, in a lifelike pose. Wrap a strip of bacon around both. Impale another cricket with a toothpick, gently pushing the cricket to the wide end of the pick. Pierce the bacon, cricket and pineapple chunk with this toothpick to hold these items in place. Place the toothpick on a baking sheet and repeat with rest of toothpicks.
5. Broil for several minutes on each side, or until the bacon is brown.
6. Serve hot.
Ants in Pants
1/2 cup western thatching ants or other large-bodied ants, oven baked
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into chips
1/2 teaspoon Grain Marnier, or orange extract to taste
4 ounces unsalted butter
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1. Combine the chocolate, butter and corn syrup in the top of a double boiler set over hot (but not boiling) water. When the ingredients are evenly blended, stir in the Grand Marnier. Remove from heat and allow the chocolate to cool to 90 degrees. The chocolate will be shiny and will coat the finger well.
2. Drip small amounts of the melted chocolate on a sheet of foil or parchment paper, forming 10 or 12 1-inch-diameter discs. Quickly pile up a spoonful of the baked ants in the center of each circle, then cover with the remaining chocolate. Refrigerate.
3. After the chocolate has set, use a spatula to transfer each chocolate bundle of Ants in Pants to a plate.
03.29.2012
Everyone, it seems, has a Facebook page and we know that when someone says they Tweet they don’t mean that they chirp like a bird.
But as familiar as we are with social media, there’s a great opportunity on Monday to hear from one of the pioneers of social media.
Chris Hughes, one of the co-founders of Facebook, is delivering the 2012 Harrelson Lecture at 3 p.m. Monday at Stewart Theatre. His topic is “The Changing Media Landscape: How Social Media is Transforming News and Information.” The talk is free and open to the public.
Hughes has also worked in politics (director of online organizing for Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign), investments (General Catalyst Partners) and the nonprofit world (he founded Jumo, a tool to help people find high-quality nonprofits).
In the fall of 2011, Jumo merged with GOOD, an online community of young adults interested in social activism. Hughes is currently a senior adviser at GOOD. In March, it was announced the Hughes had purchased and will be the publisher and editor-in-chief of The New Republic magazine. Hughes, a native of Hickory, N.C., is a Harvard University graduate.
The Harrelson Lecture is made possible with support from the Harrelson Fund, the College of Education, the College of Engineering, the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, the Entrepreneurship Institute, the Institute for Emerging Issues, the University Scholars Program, the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the Department of Athletics and the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science.
01.30.2012
The Alumni Association recognized some of NC State’s greatest stars this weekend, honoring 18 alumni and friends of the university for their professional and personal accomplishments and their continuing support of NC State, the Alumni Association and the Wolfpack Club.
“Their light, ignited by their NC State education and fueled by their own successes, reflects upon their alma mater, enhancing NC State’s reputation around the world,” Chancellor Randy Woodson said during the “Evening of Stars” at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary. “They unequivocally add value to an NC State degree.
“These are alumni who have made impacts around the globe; through television broadcasts and comprehensive websites, on Main Street and Wall Street; through rhyme and reason; in factories, laboratories, classrooms and boardrooms.”
The honorees at the 8th Annual NC State Evening of Stars were:
COLLEGE DISTINGUISHED AWARD RECIPIENTS
S. Elizabeth George ‘81 MS, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: As director of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Directorate for the U.S. Department of Defense, George is recognized as one of the nation’s leading authorities on chemical and biological warfare.
H. Connor Kennett Jr. ‘54, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Kennett was the longtime director of the poultry division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture before he retired in 1988. He was the first North Carolinian inducted into the National Poultry Hall of Fame.
David W. Evans ‘84, College of Design: Evans is an award-winning creative director, photographer and filmmaker who has worked for clients such as the National Geographic Society, Discovery Channel, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Nations Foundation.
Carl E. Harris ‘98 EDD, College of Education: A former superintendent of Durham (N.C.) Public Schools, Harris was named in 2010 as deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. He also served as superintendent of the Franklin County (N.C.) Public School System.
Marshall D. Brain ‘89 MS, College of Engineering: Brain founded HowStuffWorks.com, an award-winning website that offers easy-to-understand explanations of how the world around us functions. Discovery Communications purchased the site for $250 million in 2007.
William H. “Bill” Dean ‘88, College of Engineering: Dean is president and CEO of M.C. Dean Inc., a company founded in 1949 by his grandfather. The company is the nation’s premier electrical design-build and systems integration firm, with 3,300 employees and clients that include Fortune I000 corporations, universities, high-tech companies and government agencies.
Robert R. Womack ‘59, College of Engineering: After working as a partner at McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, Womack went on to serve as chairman, chief executive officer or president of four New York Stock Exchange companies.
Nora H. Shepard ‘05 MFA, College of Humanities and Social Sciences: Shepard is an award-winning poet who teaches creative writing and poetry at NC State. A longtime advocate of the arts, Shepard was the founding president of Arts Together, Raleigh’s only nonprofit multi-arts school.
Jon W. Bartley ‘69, Poole College of Management: Bartley is a professor of accounting at NC State who served as associate dean of the college from the time it was founded in 1993 until 1998, when he became dean. He served as dean until 2004, when he returned to the faculty.
Ed Leigh McMillan II ‘62, College of Natural Resources: McMillan is the managing trustee of the D.W. McMillan Trust and the D.W. McMillan Foundation, managing 40,000 acres of timber in Alabama and Florida, as well as the mineral rights and drilling sites for newly discovered oil reserves associated with the property.
David B. Montgomery, ‘68, ‘81 PhD, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences: Montgomery worked for 30 years as a plasma physicist at Becton, Dickinson and Company (now known as BD), developing new technology that resulted in 15 U.S. and five European patents.
F. Dale Hayes ‘78, College of Textiles: Hayes is vice president of global public relations for UPS, and was responsible for developing the company’s award-winning, memorable slogan about what “brown can do for you,” and redesigned its iconic brand mark to give UPS one of the most recognizable brands in the world.
Dr. David E. Anderson ‘88 BS, ‘90 DVM, College of Veterinary Medicine: Anderson is a professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University, where he is head of agriculture practices in the Department of Clinical Sciences. He is the founding director of the International Camelid Institute at The Ohio State University and the International Academy of Farm Animal Surgeons.
WOLFPACK CLUB AWARD
E.J. Poindexter ‘58, Ronnie Shavlick Award: Poindexter worked for more than 40 years for Barnhill Contracting Co., where he eventually became the company’s first vice president. Poindexter has been devoted to NC State athletics for more than 55 years, never taking a vacation that didn’t revolve around an NC State sporting event.
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AWARDS
Dennis G. Howard ‘67, Meritorious Service Award: Howard served for 14 years on the Alumni Association Board of Directors, serving on every board committee and providing leadership as the board’s president during a critical year of transition for the Alumni Association and its Caldwell Fellows program.
David S. Jolley ‘70 and Celia G. Jolley ‘83 MS, Meritorious Service Award: David, vice president of commercial lending at C&F Bank in Williamsburg, Va., was a founding member of the NC State Board of Visitors and has served on the NC State University Foundation and its endowment board. David and Celia, a retired educator, are members of the C.W. Dabney Lifetime Giving Society and the R.S. Pullen Society.
Ada B. Dalla Pozza, Award of Merit: As a NC State extension agent, faculty member, mentor and volunteer for more than 70 years, Ms. Ada (as she is known) provided leadership to improve the quality of life for families and helped create leadership institutes for rural women, many of whom became elected officials.
Daniel C. Gunter III ‘00, Outstanding Young Alumnus: Gunter, an associate attorney with DLA Piper, serves on the Alumni Association’s Young Alumni Council and is a member of the association’s board of directors as a representative of the Council on Athletics.
10.11.2011
Chris Gould made musical history at the Memorial Belltower this week.
Gould, the associate dean for administration in the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, sat at a keyboard in small room in the basement of Holladay Hall on Monday afternoon and played NC State’s “Alma Mater.”
And the music poured out of the Belltower, for the first time since 1989.
“It was amazing,” says Thomas H. Stafford Jr., vice chancellor for student affairs, who was on hand for what he described as a historic occasion.
“It’s been over 20 years. Just to hear it again almost gave me goose bumps. It really did sound good.”
What had Stafford and Gould so excited (”Dr. Gould was beside himself,” Stafford says.) is that the Belltower’s 246-bell grand symphony carillon worked for the first time in more than two decades.
No, that doesn’t mean there are now actual bells in the Belltower. But the university’s carillon, which has been broken since 1989, can now transmit songs played on a keyboard to create the sounds of bells that are then amplified through speakers inside the Belltower.
“It’s amazing that it works this well,” says Gould. “If you look inside, it’s a mechanical marvel. That was my happy moment, to play the ‘Alma Mater’ on the carillon.”
The magical moment was set in motion recently when Gould, an accomplished pianist, was talking with Stafford about tours that Stafford periodically gives of the Belltower. Stafford mentioned that the carillon in the basement of Holladay Hall was a popular stop on the tour, but that the carillon had not worked for years.
Stafford says students and others used to play the carillon every day at 5 p.m. They would typically play four to six songs, often ending with the “Alma Mater.” Handwritten logbooks from 1970-1989 show that religous songs such as “Amazing Grace” were played regularly, but that students also played songs that were popular at the time.
Stafford says it’s a bit of mystery about what happened to cause the practice to stop in 1989. But he says the carillon had not worked for years until Gould started poking around.
Gould and others in the physics department took a look at the carillon, but could not figure out how to make it work. “It’s a very beautiful piece of equipment,” Gould says. “It’s really a work of art.”
Workers at the university’s Physical Plant got involved, and consulted with representatives of the carillon’s manufacturer and a company consultant. When Stafford, Gould and others checked in on Monday afternoon, the carillon was working again. Stafford says university officials once thought it might cost $10,000 or more to fix the carillon, but that it was apparently done at no cost.
When Gould first played the keyboard, he couldn’t tell if the sound was coming out of the Belltower. It was, although the momentous occasion may have been lost on some people who have been accustomed to hearing the chimes that ring from the Belltower.
“It seems people weren’t aware that this was an unusual event,” Gould says.
The sound system for the Belltower is actually three separate systems, Gould says. The automated chimes, which have worked for years, constitute one system. The carillon, played from a keyboard, is the second system. The third system allows the carillon to be played from a cassette tape and is either broken or obsolete, he says.
But Gould is excited to think that the carillon could be played for this December’s graduation. Stafford says his next challenge is to figure out a system for when and how to play the carillon.
“Are we going to find someone to come in every day and play it and are we going to have special occasions where we play music?” Stafford says. “The next step is to figure out how we move forward.”
——
The College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences has posted a Flickr page of photos showing the carillon and the Belltower.
09.27.2011
Photo courtesy of NC State Department of Physics
Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor in Physics Robert Beichner is in New York to receive the McGraw Prize in Education, an annual award that recognizes individuals who exhibit commitment to innovating education.
Beichner and Mitchel Resnick of MIT Media Lab and Julie Young of Florida Virtual School are being honored for pioneering digital education approaches. The three recipients collaborated on a paper that articulates their pedagogical philosophies in elementary, secondary and post-secondary education.
Beichner’s section of the paper focuses on his belief in technology “freeing up teachers’ time to allow them to establish relationships with and motivate learners,” according to the McGraw-Hill Research Foundation.
At NC State, Beichner’s research has focused on studying how students learn and improving physics education. He created a “video-based lab” approach for introductory physics labs.
NC State magazine featured some of Beichner’s work in the spring issue earlier this year. He developed SCALE-UP (Student-Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs), a customized classroom model based on group learning and collaboration. SCALE-UP has been adopted by more than 50 schools nationwide.
Extolling the virtues of social learning over the traditional model, Beichner said in the article that the numbers suggest the new collaborative models work.
“There is data from a lot of schools, but especially MIT, showing that the best students learn more than anyone else when put into a situation with their peers,” he said. “As you explain things to somebody, you have to rethink it, and as you rethink it, you’re improving your own understanding.”
07.19.2011
Rob Dunn, an assistant professor of biology at NC State, will be speaking on campus next month about his new book, The Wild Life of Our Bodies: Predators, Parasites and Partners That Shape Who We Are Today.
The latest issue of NC State magazine includes an excerpt of Dunn’s book. The excerpt focuses on how the nature of our tastes has changed - for better and for worse.
If you would like to hear more from Dunn about his book, he will be speaking at D.H. Hill Library at 4 p.m. on Aug. 30. Dunn’s talk is part of the library’s Fabulous Faculty Series. It is free and open to the public.
07.06.2011
A company founded by R. Lawrence Ives ‘73, ‘76 MS, ‘84 PHD, has been recognized by R&D Magazine for producing one of the most technologically significant products introduced in the marketplace over the past year.
Calabazas Creek Research Inc. was one of the winners of the 49th Annual R&D Awards for its development, with Ron Witherspoon Inc., of what are known as Controlled Porosity Reservoir Cathodes. Ives, who received his doctorate in plasma physics at NC State, is president of Calabazas Creek.
The cathodes developed by Calabazas Creek offer a significant increase in current density and have four times the lifetime of previous cathodes, according to a release by the company. The company said the new cathodes also provide electron sources with extremely uniform current emission.
Other products that have received R&D Awards in past years include the automated teller machine (1973), the fax machine (1975), the Nicoderm anti-smoking patch (1992) and HDTV (1998).
06.23.2011
Raymond Murray, professor emeritus and a pioneer of the atomic age, died Wednesday at Springmoor Retirement Community in Raleigh.
The Bulletin reports that Murray played a role in many milestones of nuclear engineering and atomic power, from the Manhattan Project to the Three Mile Island recovery.
Murray joined a new nuclear engineering program at NC State as a physics professor in 1950. He contributed to the design, construction and operation of the first university reactor.
Murray was named Burlington Professor of Physics in 1957, and headed the physics department from 1960-63 and the nuclear engineering department from 1963-74.
Murray received many honors, including the O. Max Gardner Award from the University of North Carolina system, the Arthur Holly Compton Award and the Eugene Wigner Reactor Physicist Award of the American Nuclear Society.
Check out the Bulletin for more on Murray, his life and career at NC State.
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