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Shelly Peyton, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at UMass Amherst, is one of 22 researchers who have been named Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences by The Pew Charitable Trusts. The scholarships provide flexible funding to early career scientists researching the basis of perplexing health problems—including diabetes, autism, Parkinson’s disease, and cancer. Pew scholars receive $240,000 over four years to pursue their projects without direction or restriction. Peyton says her research under the Pew program involves investigating how stem cells contribute to the metastatic spread of breast cancer. She says other scientists are also investigating this same problem, but primarily from the standpoint that stem cells might hijack the immune system, helping to protect cancer cells from being detected by the body.

UMass Storm Chasers Interviewed on Channel 40

Graduate student Krzysztof A. Orzel of the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department and the Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory (MIRSL) was interviewed on WGGB-TV 40 about the dangers faced by those who study tornadoes and other severe weather. Orzel was on teams from MIRSL in 2009 and 2010 that tracked tornadoes throughout the Great Plains. “I wouldn’t call it scary,” Orzel told Channel 40, “but you really have to stay on the safe side, and it’s easy to follow the excitement and cross the line.” He also said scientists in the field always have to weigh the danger of being close to tornadoes and the chance to gather invaluable information. “Everybody is cognitive of the risk, and we make an extra effort to be safe,” said ECE Professor Stephen Frasier, the director of MIRSL. See TV clip: WGGB-TV 40.

Editorial Cites Fisher’s Research on Texting While Driving

Research by Donald Fisher, head of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department and director of the Arbella Human Performance Laboratory, is cited by editorials in the Salem News and Newburyport Daily News calling for stricter monitoring and ticketing of drivers who text while behind the wheel. As one editorial is headlined, “Tough Enforcement is needed against texters and other erratic drivers.” The editorial notes that “Research using driving simulators by Donald Fisher of the University of Massachusetts Amherst backs up police observations about the threat posed by texting behind the wheel. He found drivers are 23 times more likely to get into an accident while texting — compared to only three or four times more likely for drivers who are legally drunk.”

Polizzi’s Article Included in Top 20 Most Read

The Journal of Chemical Physics has identified an article written by Eric Polizzi and his graduate student Brendan Gavin of our Electrical and Computer Engineering Department on the list of its “Top 20 Most Read in May 2013.” Gavin is the first author of the manuscript, entitled "Non-linear eigensolver-based alternative to traditional SCF methods." As Marsha I. Lester, the editor of The Journal of Chemical Physics, wrote to Polizzi, “This is an impressive accomplishment with which you must be very pleased. The Journal of Chemical Physics ranks number one in total citations by the ISI with an impact factor of 3.33 in the category of Atomic, Molecular and Chemical Physics.” A link to Polizzi’s manuscript is featured on The Journal of Chemical Physics website at: http://jcp.aip.org/features/most downloaded

ChE Researchers Get 90 Percent Yield with New Process

Chemical engineering researchers Wei Fan, Paul Dauenhauer, and colleagues have discovered a new chemical process to make p-xylene, an important ingredient of common plastics, including recyclable plastic bottles, from biomass. The 90 percent yield from lignocellulosic biomass is the highest yield achieved to date. Details are in the current issue of Green Chemistry: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2013/gc/c3gc40740c. As Dauenhauer explains, the chemical industry currently produces p-xylene from more expensive petroleum, while the new process will make the same chemical from lower-cost, renewable biomass. So far, the new process has been covered in R&D Magazine, Azonano.com, Azom.com, Biomass Magazine, Science Daily, Nanowerk, Environmental Leader, Biofuels Digest, Lab Manager, Plastics News, SpecialChem 4 Polymers, and PhysOrg.

Northeast Transportation Engineers Hold Annual Meeting

The Northeastern District of the Institute of Transportation Engineers held its annual meeting at the Hotel Northampton, May 22-24, and the College of Engineering was well represented. This year’s event was organized by meeting Co-Chairs Michael A. Knodler, Jr, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Joe C. Balskus, P.E., PTOE, of Tighe & Bond, Inc. There were several noteworthy events that took place at this year’s annual meeting. Dr. Eleni Christofa, Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, presented the results of a study examining the impact of bus stops on intersection capacity.

IGERT Grad Student Does Wind Research in Norway

Wystan Carswell, a doctoral student in the UMass IGERT Offshore Wind Energy Program, has been in Norway for the past five months serving on a research post at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute in Oslo. Carswell was the subject of a feature story on the website of her alma mater, Lafayette College. “The ultimate goal of my research is to reduce the cost of generating offshore wind energy, making it more economically appealing,” says Carswell. “Renewable energy is only going to gain importance in the global paradigm. I am passionate about contributing to the body of research that supports a better environment.” Read entire article: Carswell at Norwegian Geotechnical Institute.

Dauenhauer Receives DuPont Young Professor Award

Paul Dauenhauer of the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is one of 14 researchers selected from around the world by DuPont to receive prestigious DuPont Young Professor Awards in 2013. The DuPont Young Professor Award will provide $75,000 for three years to support Dauenhauer’s research into “Production of Biomass-Derived Feedstocks for Renewable Chemicals.” The aim of Dauenhauer’s research is to develop an economical green process for the production of aromatic chemicals – key building blocks required in the production of numerous polymers, including polystyrene, polyurethane, nylon, and PET – from various forms of sugar common in sustainable biomass.

Portable Army Tower Wins Senior Capstone Competition

A collapsible, portable, multi-purpose tower made for U.S. Army base camps in the field won first prize in the competition for the best senior capstone design project in the Mechanical and Engineering (MIE) Department this year. The competition was held on May 1, when 15 teams of seniors demonstrated the prototypes of their useful, inventive, and brilliant designs. The winning team of Joseph Boisvert, Michael Covino, Christopher Dinan, Brandon Hicks, and Kyle Pereira conceived, designed, and built the scale model of a mobile tower for the U.S. Army Soldier Research Development & Engineering Center in Natick, Mass. The competition is the peak experience of a course called “MIE 415 Senior Design Project,” taught by MIE Professors Sundar Krishnamurty (spring semester) and Frank Sup (fall semester).

Many Votes Generated for UMass IGERT Offshore Wind Energy Program

On May 23, the last day to vote on the national IGERT Online Video and Poster Competition, Principal Investigator Erin Baker of the UMass IGERT Offshore Wind Energy Program issued an urgent message for the entire College of Engineering Community: “We are in the top five vote-getters [out of over 200] in the NSF video poster contest. Please watch the video, hit the public choice button, and vote for us. If you have already voted, share this with other people to show the great work happening at UMass!” This year’s IGERT Online Video and Poster Competition allowed anyone to vote on over 200 presenters and co-presenters from 124 NSF funded IGERT projects as they demonstrated their innovative, interdisciplinary, graduate work. The URL for the competition is: http://posterhall.org/igert2013.

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