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Information Update

Volume 15, Issue 19
May 15, 2013


In this issue:


Two promoted to professor

Cornell Provost Kent Fuchs has approved the promotion of two faculty members from the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Edwin A. (Todd) Cowen and Christopher J. Earls will enjoy the rank of professor, effective July 1, 2013.


Staffing updates

Nadia Dovi has joined the staff of Engineering Co-op & Career Services as assistant director (replacing Claire Benton). Dovi comes from Union College (Schenectady) Career Services where she was assistant director for Internship Programs, and has also served in student counseling, admissions, and registrar roles at Union College, College of St. Rose, and Fisher College. Tyi Lindsey McCray joined Diversity Programs in Engineering May 1 as associate director. McCray will provide leadership with the Robert L. Ryan Scholars Program, CU EMPower (peer mentoring program), Engineering Summer Scholars Program (engineering component of the Pre-Freshmen Summer Program), SAFE (Strategic Actions for Excellence) Seminar Series, and in partnership with Engineering Advising, Counseling and Academic Advising. She will also provide support to several of DPE's other initiatives and will share in the responsibility of advising student organizations affiliated with DPE.


New competition for ultra efficient appliances

The Max Tech and Beyond Appliance Design Competition for Ultra-Low-Energy-Use Appliances and Equipment supports faculty-led student design teams at universities and colleges across the United States as they compete to create the most cost-effective ultra-efficient prototypes. The competition is in its second year, and is managed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Energy Efficiency Standards Group with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Emerging Technology Program. Chosen teams receive up to $20,000 to implement their proposals over the course of the 2012-2013 academic year. Request for proposals opened through the LBNL Procurement Office May 10. Send pre-RFP questions, requests, or letters of interest to maxtech@eapx02.lbl.gov.


Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry Now Available

Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry is now available online through the Cornell Engineering Library. This encyclopedia includes approximately 1,000 articles detailing the science and technology in all areas of industrial chemistry. It can be accessed through the library catalog, in addition to the link above.Once connected, click on "Search in this book" on the ride side (otherwise you wind up searching all of Wiley publications). Passkey, which requires your Cornell credentials, can be used if you experience any trouble connecting from off-campus. Please send any questions to engrref@cornell.edu or jhp1@cornell.edu.


Awards and honors

Lance Collins, the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering, will be a keynote speaker at the Second Annual Deshpande Symposium on Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Higher Education scheduled for June 12-13 at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, in Lowell, Massachusetts. He will speak on the public-private partnership leading to the new Cornell Tech NYC campus.

A U.S. Robotics Roadmap, written by experts in robotics, including computer science assistant professor Ashutosh Saxena, was presented to the Congressional Caucus on Robotics March 21, 2013.

Eva Tardos, professor of computer science, has been elected as an external member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.


Engineering news

Hod Lipson briefs Congress on 3-D printing
Hod Lipson, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, briefed Congress on the impact of 3-D printing on manufacturing April 24.

NSF, Intel and GE help retain Cornell engineers
Cornell's College of Engineering has received a five-year, $908,000 grant from a joint National Science Foundation, Intel and GE program that aims to increase retention of undergraduates in engineering and computer science majors.


Submitting announcements to Information Update

Please send your news notes to engr_info_update@cornell.edu. Announcements will be published no more than twice and should be limited to about a hundred words or less. The next issue of Information Update, published biweekly during the academic year and monthly in the summer, will be May 29, 2013. The deadline for submissions to this next issue is Friday, May 24, 2013, at 5 p.m. Information received after the deadline will be published in a future issue if appropriate.