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In This Section:

Volume 13, Issue 9
December 1, 2010


In this issue:


Tomorrow's WEPAN webinar offers tips for undergrad retention

The Women in Engineering ProActive Network invites participation in the second of a three-part series of NSF-funded webinars on ENGAGE Research-based Strategies to Retain Undergraduates in Engineering to be presented on Thursday, December 2, at 2 p.m.

The topic for part two is "Using Everyday Engineering Examples in the Classroom," featuring Professor Eann Patterson, a member of the faculty in mechanical engineering and in chemical engineering and materials science and director of the Composite Vehicle Research Center at Michigan State University, along with Patricia Campbell, ENGAGE co-PI and president of Campbell-Kibler Associates, and Diane Matt, ENGAGE co-PI and executive director of WEPAN.

Find more information and the webinar registration form online.


Harris moves to university HR position

Dear Colleagues,

We are sad to report that Hayley Harris, assistant director of HR, will be leaving us on December 15. She has been instrumental in the creation of our HR Service Center (HRSC) for the college of engineering and computing and information science and we are so fortunate to have her with us as the HRSC is implemented this month. Hayley has accepted a wonderful advancement opportunity to join the university central HR group and will be working with central university administrative units. Hayley will continue her role in communications and training related to the WorkDay implementation, so we will still have the chance to work closely with her. Please join us in wishing her well in her new position.
 
Julie Delay
Director, Human Resources


Updates posted on administrative support changes

The College of Engineering is beginning to implement several of the administrative changes that we have been planning for so long. Human Resources and Finance are about to launch their service centers. Don’t forget the Human Resources Service Center open house on December 6 from 2 to 4 p.m. Located in suite B1 in the lower level of Carpenter Hall, the HRSC invites everyone to stop by, enjoy refreshments, see the offices, and meet the staff. See more updates on the Administrative Support Web site.


Faculty meeting scheduled for December 20

The next College of Engineering faculty meeting will be held on Monday, December 20, 3:30–5:00 p.m., in the Memorial Room in Willard Straight Hall. The agenda will include an update on the state of the college. A reception will follow the formal meeting. All Engineering faculty members are encouraged to attend.


AV upgrades to be installed over winter break

Classroom AV upgrades will be installed over winter break in 101 Phillips, B17 Upson, and B11 Kimball. All three rooms will have clicker receivers, dual wireless mics, new projectors, and new switching and control systems. B11 Kimball will have a second projector on a side screen. 101 Phillips will have the option for a split screen image, a SMART tablet, and a new document camera. A SMART tablet is available for B17 Upson or B11 Kimball on request.

An “AV open house” to demonstrate the equipment will be held in these classrooms on January 20 on the following schedule:

  • 11:00–1:00, 101 Phillips
  • 1:30–2:30, B17 Upson
  • 3:00–4:00, B11 Kimball

Faculty may also schedule an appointment for an equipment demonstration. Contact Teaching Excellence Institute Director Kathryn Dimiduk for more information.


TEI teaching workshop features Michael Prince

Learn to re-engage students throughout your lecture, even 75 minute lectures. Cornell Engineering’s Teaching Excellence Institute 2011 January Teaching Workshop will include presentations by Prof. Michael Prince, co-director of the National Effective Teaching Institute with Richard Felder and Rebecca Brent and professor of chemical engineering at Bucknell University. The January 17 workshop will include the following presentations:

  • Forum: Uncovering and Repairing Student Misconceptions
    9:00–10:00, 245 Olin

  • Seminar: Does Student Engagement Really Work?
    11:00–12:00, 255 Olin

  • Lunch discussion with Michael Prince
    12:15–1:15,128 Olin

  • Workshop: Making the Transition to Active Learning
    1:30–4:00, 245 Olin
More information is available online. Please RSVP for to Kathryn Dimiduk for the sessions you would like to attend.

Prince's visit and presentations are co-sponsored by the Cornell Center for Teaching Excellence.


Meet the new faculty members on video

Engineering Communications and Media Relations has added videos to its new faculty profiles online. Hear Christopher Batten, ECE, and Christopher Hernandez, MAE, explain their research. Videos were recorded and edited by ECMR Assistant Director Robert Emro.


Awards and honors in the Engineering community

Prof. Larry Cathles, EAS, has been appointed the 2011 Society of Economic Geologists Distinguished Lecturer.

Assoc. Prof. Michal Lipson has received a 2010 New York Academy of Sciences Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists. Winners and finalists were honored at the New York Academy of Sciences 7th annual Science & the City Gala on November 15.

ECE M.Eng. student Darbin Reyes was awarded the SHPE/GEM Fellowship at the annual Society of Hispanic Engineers conference in Cincinnati in October. The competitive graduate fellowship, established by the Advancing Hispanic Excellence in Technology, Engineering, Math, and Science Foundation and the National GEM Consortium, recognizes outstanding, active SHPE members, who are current full-time graduate students pursuing a technical and advanced degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics at a GEM member university.

In November, Prof. Paul Steen, CBE, delivered an invited lecture titled "Wetting, Spreading and Capillary Adhesion: Putting Shape-Instability to Purpose" at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Division of Fluid Dynamics of the American Physical Society in Long Beach, Calif. In October, Steen’s Switchable Electronically-controlled Capillary Adhesion Device was chosen by Business Week as number 14 of the top-20 most exciting "super-power super-hero technologies."

Prof. Chris Xu, AEP, has been elected a fellow of the Optical Society of America. (The November 17 Info Update incorrectly named Prof. Alex Gaeta as fellow.)

The National Society of Black Engineers at Cornell won second place in the Engineers Tomorrow Competition, which took place during the NSBE Region 1 Conference in Rochester, N.Y.,  on November 13.

The Cornell Section of the Society of Women Engineers received a bronze level award for Outstanding Collegiate Section at the Annual SWE Conference in Orlando, Fla., on November 6.


Recent engineering news releases


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.