At Georgia Tech, researchers are pursuing many different directions toward improving existing cancer treatment methods and developing new therapeutic techniques, including:
This is the third in a series of three reports focusing on cancer research at Georgia Tech. The first highlighted efforts to understand how cancer arises, and the second featured cancer detection and diagnostic techniques.
Recent evidence suggests that certain cancers may persist or recur after treatment because a few cells – called cancer stem cells – survive existing therapy and then seed new tumors. These stem cells can be particularly resistant to chemotherapy and radiation.
“In the future, effective cancer therapy may require the detection and elimination of cancer stem cells in tumors,” said Gang Bao, the Robert A. Milton Chair in Biomedical Engineering in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. “Developing a method to detect cancer stem cells is challenging because evidence suggests there is only one cancer stem cell for every 100,000 to 1 million cancer cells in tumor tissue, so the method must be very sensitive.”
Bao and postdoctoral fellow Won Jong Rhee recently developed a new method that effectively discriminates cancer stem cells from other cancer cells by locating protein markers on the surface of stem cells and stem cell-specific genes inside cancer stem cells. The work was published on April 2, 2009, in the journal BMC Biotechnology.
The researchers located live stem cells by simultaneously detecting the presence of the stem cell surface protein marker SSEA-1 with dye-labeled antibodies and stem cell-specific mRNA – called Oct-4 – inside the stem cells using molecular beacons.
“By fluorescently imaging the level of Oct-4 mRNA in the cytoplasm of live stem cells with molecular beacons, we were able to increase the detection sensitivity and specificity,” explained Bao, who is also a Georgia Tech College of Engineering Distinguished Professor.
Since initially developing this method for detecting and isolating stem cells, the research team has been improving the method’s efficiency and specificity by targeting multiple mRNAs and cell surface markers using molecular beacons and antibodies.
According to Bao, the next stage for this research is to isolate cancer stem cells from human tumor tissue samples.
“After we isolate the cancer stem cells, we still need to learn more about them, including the pathways or genes responsible for their development and whether they behave the same when isolated from different patients. Then we need to identify drug molecules that can kill them,” he added.
Funding for this research is provided by the Emory-Georgia Tech National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE). This work was funded by grant number U54CA119338 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigator and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NIH.
One critical challenge in radiation therapy has always been how best to minimize damage to normal tissue while delivering therapeutic doses to cancer cells. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is an advanced type of radiation treatment that utilizes computer-controlled linear accelerators to deliver precise radiation doses to tumors while avoiding critical organs. Clinicians can use IMRT to treat difficult-to-reach tumors – such as tumors in the brain, head, neck, prostate, lung and liver – with new levels of accuracy.
“Constructing an IMRT treatment plan that radiates the cancerous tumor without impacting adjacent normal structures is challenging,” explained Shabbir Ahmed, an associate professor in the Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech. “Because of the many possible beam geometries and the range of intensities, there are an infinite number of treatment plans and many metrics to assess their quality.”
To develop better treatment plans faster, Ahmed began working with School of Industrial and Systems Engineering professor Martin Savelsbergh and graduate student Halil Ozan Gozbasi, as well as collaborators Ian Crocker, Timothy Fox and Eduard Schreibmann from the Emory University School of Medicine’s Department of Radiation Oncology. Funding for this research was provided by Emory University.
The Georgia Tech researchers built on an existing model and developed a fully automated program that simultaneously generates several high-quality treatment plans satisfying the clinician-provided requirements. The optimization program uses three-dimensional computed tomography images of the patient and information about (1) the type, location and size of the tumor; (2) maximum allowable doses to non-cancerous organs; and (3) the patient’s health.
“Previous models would produce one treatment plan in an hour and then if it was not exactly what the clinician wanted, someone would have to change the requirements and rerun the program to create a new treatment plan,” explained Ahmed. “Our program produces several optimized solutions in a fraction of the time.”
The technology, which has been tested successfully on real brain, head/neck and prostate cancer cases, produces clinically acceptable treatment plans in less than 15 minutes.
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment planning is challenging because some organs, such as the prostate, move due to normal daily volume changes in the bladder and rectum. In addition, a tumor can change shape during radiation treatment, which typically lasts five days a week for five to 10 weeks.
Eva Lee, an associate professor in the Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech, and Joseph Deasy, a professor and director of the Division of Bioinformatics and Outcomes Research in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Washington University in St. Louis,are addressing motion issues with liver and lung cancer patients.
By collecting computed tomography images over time, the researchers can track every spatial point of interest in the tumor and surrounding area during each phase of the breathing cycle. This allows them to develop treatment plans that account for breathing, motion and shape changes throughout the treatment regimen.
“Accounting for motion in the image-guided treatment planning dramatically improves under-dosing the tumor tissue and even reduces the dose to normal tissue and critical organs,” noted Eva Lee, who is also director of the Center for Operations Research in Medicine and HealthCare at Georgia Tech.
In lung cancer cases, that means reducing the average dose of radiation to the normal lung tissue, heart and esophagus. For liver cancer, the researchers have reduced the radiation delivered to normal liver and non-liver tissues.
In another project, Lee and Marco Zaider, an attending physicist and head of brachytherapy physics in medical physics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, are incorporating biological information into treatment planning for prostate cancer IMRT and brachytherapy – the placement of radioactive “seeds” inside a tumor.
Using magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the researchers identified regions of the prostate that had denser populations of tumor cells. These areas could then be targeted with an escalated radiation dose, while maintaining a minimal dose to critical and normal tissues.
“One of our main concerns is avoiding normal tissue toxicity, so by targeting only the ‘bad’ pockets of tumor cells, we hope to improve the outcome,” said Zaider. “Biological optimization attempts to target tissue that is potentially responsible for metastatic spread.”
Lee’s research has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Whitaker Foundation.
This project was partially supported by Award No. 0800057 from the NSF and Award No. 5UL1RR025008-02 from the NIH. The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigator and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF or NIH.
Cancer manifests itself in different ways – some cancers proceed slowly, while others spread aggressively. These differences have led clinicians to believe that personalized cancer therapies might be the best solution for treating the disease.
Now, new research, published in the June 2009 issue of the journal PLoS ONE, is providing insight into the aggressiveness of tumors. This information could facilitate development of a personalized treatment regimen.
Because aggressive tumors create more new blood vessels to sustain their growth, researchers designed long-circulating nanoprobes that were 100 nanometers in diameter and contained a contrast agent that could only seep into tumors from blood vessels that were growing and therefore leaky.
“We exploited the fact that the nanoprobes are too big to leak out of normal blood vessels, but they can leak out of newly forming tumor vessels because these immature vessels have bigger holes in them,” explained lead author Ravi Bellamkonda, a professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.
The study showed that the degree of “leakiness” of tumor blood vessels to the nanoprobe correlates to its expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a protein that stimulates the growth of new blood vessels in tumors.
“Clinical studies have shown that VEGF expression varies among tumors, with higher levels of VEGF expression correlating with unfavorable prognosis, but scientists haven’t been able to non-invasively determine VEGF expression levels in individual tumors until now,” said Bellamkonda, who is also a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar.
After injecting the contrast-containing nanoprobes into rats with six-day-old breast cancer tumors, the research team visualized the levels of nanoprobe accumulation in the tumor using digital mammography. The results showed increased “leakiness,” nanoprobe accumulation and tumor growth rates in tumors with higher levels of VEGF. Similar-size tumors showed various degrees of angiogenesis and blood vessel permeability, which caused them to behave differently, emphasizing the inherent variability in tumors and the need for a personalized approach to each tumor.
“In the future, instead of just measuring the size of a tumor, clinicians can quantify the leakiness of tumor blood vessels to determine the extent of angiogenesis in each tumor and decide which patients should undergo anti-angiogenic therapy or other aggressive treatment regimens,” added Bellamkonda.
Collaborators on this research include Efstathios Karathanasis, formerly a Coulter Department postdoctoral fellow and currently an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University; Carl D’Orsi and Ioannis Sechopoulos of the Department of Radiology and Winship Cancer Institute at the Emory University School of Medicine; and Ananth Annapragada, an associate professor of health information sciences at the University of Texas, Houston.
This project is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award Nos. 0401627 and ERC-EEC-9731643), the Nora Reed Foundation, the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation and the Georgia Cancer Coalition. The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigator and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NSF.
A new therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment is to inhibit enzymes called histone deacetylases, which play an important role in the regulation of gene expression. Vorinostat (SAHA) – a histone deacetylase inhibitor – was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006 to treat an immune system cancer called cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
While these inhibitors are clinically valuable, they typically inhibit many of the 18 different histone deacetylase subtypes, a process that can be harmful to essential cell functions throughout the body.
“Our goal is to create inhibitors for these enzymes that target specific cancerous organs so that we can exploit their anti-cancer activity in the cancerous tissue areas only and not negatively
affect other areas of the body,” said Adegboyega “Yomi” K. Oyelere, who holds the Blanchard Assistant Professorship in the Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
In the January 22, 2009, issue of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Oyelere and Georgia Tech biology assistant professor Yuhong Fan described a new class of potent non-peptide histone deacetylase inhibitors that can be selectively accumulated in the lungs.
To create them, the researchers modified the amine sugar portion of common antibiotics such as azithromycin and clarithromycin with a histone deacetylase inhibiting structure. Experiments have shown that the new compounds are more potent than SAHA and are lung-specific. As a result of these preliminary findings, Oyelere was recently awarded a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue this lung cancer research.
Oyelere is also designing histone deacetylase inhibitors that can be taken up by the hormones expressed on the surface of hormone-positive breast cancer cells to stop the cells from dividing.
For this project, he is working with Donald Doyle, an associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
“A majority of hormone-positive breast cancers develop resistance to anti-cancer hormone drugs, so if we can exploit the ability of our compounds to be accepted by hormone-positive breast cancers, whether they’re resistant or not, this could lead to the identification of new, broad anti-cancer agents for targeted cancer therapy,” explained Oyelere.
Next up on Oyelere’s list of cancers to tackle with this approach is prostate cancer.
This work is funded by grant number R01CA131217 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigator and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NIH.
Lakeshia Taite is investigating ways to smuggle powerful chemotherapeutic drugs and chemical compounds into tumor cells, thus increasing the drugs’ cancer-killing activities and reducing their toxic side effects on healthy cells.
As an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Taite is developing cancer drug delivery vehicles composed of a gold nanoshell core with dendrimers attached to the surface. Dendrimers are polymers that exhibit a tree-like structure with many branches and cavities where chemotherapy drugs can be encapsulated.
The dendrimers are synthesized with targeting molecules on their surfaces that can seek out and bind to cancer cells. Introduced into the body, they bind to cancer cells, and when near-infrared light shines on the body, the gold nanoshell heats up. That heat leads the dendrimers to shrink, the drug to be released, and the tumor cells are exposed to both the heat and drug therapies.
“In some cases, ablation takes place at temperatures that can be uncomfortable to the patient, so we are trying to develop dendrimers that require lower transition temperatures to release the drug,” said Taite. “We believe that even if the lower temperature does not kill all of the cancer cells, it will still damage them enough that they will become extremely vulnerable to the drug, ultimately still leading to cell death.”
Amanda Lowery, a research fellow in radiation oncology at Vanderbilt University, is collaborating with Taite on this research.
Taite is also designing another delivery vehicle to carry and release nitric oxide for the treatment of aggressive brain tumors. She is focusing on nitric oxide because it has the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and help other molecules cross both the blood-brain barrier and the blood-tumor barrier.
“Nitric oxide has been shown to increase the sensitivity of certain tumors to chemotherapeutics and radiation, so we are working to form materials that can be attached to imaging particles and a chemotherapeutic that can be targeted to specific tumors. That would significantly enhance current tumor treatment approaches,” explained Taite.
The targeted nitric oxide delivery system will be used to study the efficacy of using nitric oxide to sensitize brain tumors to treatment and improve patient prognosis.
“My ultimate goal in designing all of these drug delivery systems is to improve patient quality of life and reduce cancer recurrence,” added Taite.
The search is on for drug delivery systems that allow treatment to be tailored to an individual patient and a particular tumor. Researchers at Georgia Tech are contributing to the pursuit by developing ways to program the assembly and disassembly of multi-particle drug delivery vehicles.
“Cancer is a complicated disease, and we wanted to find a way that we could simultaneously deliver many different particles to the tumor site as a package and, upon arrival, break open the packages so that the individual particles could then carry out their particular functions,” said Valeria Milam, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering.
Individuals benefit from this type of personalized treatment through the increase in the drug’s cancer-killing power and the reduction of its toxic side effects. Milam and her students are using short nucleic acid polymers called oligonucleotides to connect the particle surfaces for simultaneous delivery of different therapeutic and diagnostic agents to the tumor site.
“To assemble the pieces, we are using short oligonucleotides as the glue because they have a weak, yet sufficient affinity for their partner strand,” explained Milam, who is also a Georgia Cancer CoalitionDistinguished Cancer Scholar. “This allows us to direct particles A and B to attach to particle C through oligonucleotide linkages, while keeping particles A and B unconnected to one another.”
Then, to disassemble the particle package, a competitive oligonucleotide – one with a stronger affinity as a partner strand – is introduced into the system. These competitive strands displace the original partner strands, allowing the package to break open. Milam and her team are further improving the drug delivery vehicle so that it can be initially camouflaged to avoid any host response that would clear it out of the body before arriving at the tumor site.
“Our ongoing work involves initially masking the presence of the therapeutic carriers by applying a stealth coating to the vehicle surface,” noted Milam. “Then, after the desired circulation time, the coating will be shed to reveal cancer-targeting ligands.”
While Milam’s experiments are still at the laboratory stage, her ultimate goal is to develop materials that can be used in the clinical setting to treat cancer. Former Georgia Tech students Christopher Tison and Sonya Parpart, and current graduate students James Hardin and Bryan Baker, also worked on this research. This work is currently supported by the Georgia Cancer Coalition, a National Science Foundation CAREER award, and the U.S. Army. It was previously supported by the Emory-Georgia Tech National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE).
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Army (Award No. W911NF-09-1-0479), National Institutes of Health (NIH) (Award No. U54CA119338) and National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award No. DMR-0847436). Any opinions, finding, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the principal investigator and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Army, NIH or NSF.
The major clinical goals in applying gene expression profiling to cancer are to develop predictors of drug response that will guide more individualized therapies.
Ming Yuan, an associate professor in the Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech, is using computational and mathematical approaches to analyze how gene expression evolves over time in individuals with breast cancer and whether these patterns can predict treatment outcome. Specifically, Yuan is studying how gene expression evolves during the menstrual cycle and whether there is any association between these patterns and cancer relapse.
“Our goal is to weed out the genes that just change expression level due to a woman’s menstrual cycle and not because of tumor progression or treatment,” explained Yuan, who is also a Georgia Cancer CoalitionDistinguished Cancer Scholar. “We want to know which genes are abnormally expressed over time and behave differently than the majority of genes because that would make them likely drug targets.”
Better predictors of relapse risk could help cancer patients make better treatment decisions in consultation with their physicians. Yuan is working with William Hrushesky of the University of South Carolina and the Dorn Veterans Affairs Medical Center on this research.
In another project, Yuan is collaborating with two University of Wisconsin professors, Alan Attie and Christina Kendziorski, to conduct expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) studies. This analysis allows the researchers to identify genomic hot spots that regulate gene transcription and expression on a genome-wide scale.
“We want to determine which regions of the genome are most predictive of expression variations, but it’s challenging because there are a vast range of possible regulatory loci and many of them are correlated, making it hard to differentiate which is actually responsible for a given effect,” said Yuan.
Yuan’s analysis will determine the hot spots as well as how those genes are connected to each other, but ultimately, the proposed genes will need to be studied further by biologists.
Yuan’s research is supported by the National Science Foundation and the Georgia Cancer Coalition.
This work was partly funded by grant number DMS-0846234 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigator and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NSF.
Georgia Institute of Technology
177 North Avenue
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0181
Media Relations Contacts:
John Toon
404-894-6986
Brett Israel
404-385-1933
]]>
In fiscal year 2009, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) – the modern name for the EES – listed research awards of more than $200 million, nearly 1,500 full-time employees including about 700 research faculty, and 350 co-op student researchers.
The progress of the Georgia Tech Research Institute over the past 75 years didn’t happen in a vacuum, said GTRI Director Stephen E. Cross.
“Our history is tied to major changes in how government and industry regard university-based research and development,” he said. “It also reflects steadfast support from Georgia government and industry – and the hard work of a lot of smart people.”
GTRI, the applied research arm of Georgia Tech, might be celebrating its 90th anniversary if things had gone a bit differently. When W. Harry Vaughan, a Georgia Tech associate professor of ceramics, was preparing a plan in 1929 for the development of an engineering experiment station, he discovered that the General Assembly had authorized – but not funded – just such an organization in 1919.
By 1934, however, funding priorities had changed. With the Great Depression wilting the state’s economy, the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents appropriated $5,000 to establish a State Engineering Experiment Station. Georgia Tech was to furnish personnel and other support to the new unit, which was envisioned as an industry-oriented version of the federally funded agricultural experiment stations that were already operating in many states.
What soon became known as simply “the research station” opened for business on July 1, 1934, with Vaughan as its first director. The state even came up with an additional budget allocation, with the understanding that it would be augmented by sponsored research funds – actual contracts – as new projects came on board.
Legislation authorized the new Engineering Experiment Station to conduct specific research in areas that included “transportation, road building, drainage, irrigation, flood protection, aeronautics, aerodynamics, fuels, power, lighting, heating, refrigeration, ventilation, sanitation and architecture.”
The research organization went on to do just about all of that – and a great deal more.
The first years at EES were modest. The research effort was housed in the basement of Georgia Tech’s Old Shop Building, with much of its equipment rented from the School of Mechanical Engineering. Much of its first work focused on textiles and ceramics – including a facility where researchers developed the first rayon made from Georgia pine pulp.
EES contracts in the 1930s included work on the autogyro, a short-winged aircraft that foreshadowed the helicopter. It’s not known what contributions the EES may actually have made to the true helicopter, which emerged by 1940.
Value of the EES research-project portfolio in 1940: $260,000.
EES’s workload jumped sharply just before and during World War II, thanks to new funding from the federal government. The research station’s sponsored work expanded to include wind-tunnel testing of airfoil designs and additional helicopter research. The EES also focused on sensitive communications research including a high-selectivity, high-gain audio amplifier; a rugged portable “mini-band” amplifier; and lock-in amplifier circuits used to separate pulse signals from thermal noise.
Perhaps most important – for the organization’s future – was an EES study of electromagnetic-wave propagation. That work was followed by a large Navy contract for radar research and development, which set the stage for Georgia Tech’s longtime status as a leading U.S. innovator in radar and defense electronics.
Gerald Rosselot, a Georgia Tech physics professor, took over as EES director in 1941. He’s often credited with facilitating the research station’s entry into electronics during and after the war.
One wartime EES story indicates just how comfortable researchers were becoming with electromagnetic-wave technology. Several sources agree that one electrical-engineering professor had discovered that certain radio frequencies, transmitted inside a box, would heat food.
“The only things the EES would give him to cook were sweet potatoes and peanuts,” said George M. Jeffares, who worked at the station part-time as a Georgia Tech senior. Jeffares was recruited along with other EES personnel to periodically “taste the sweet potatoes to see if they were done.”
Wartime research priorities scotched further investigation of the phenomenon. Possible EES claims to discovery of the microwave oven became the stuff of Georgia Tech lore.
By the 1943-44 fiscal year, more than 30 projects were under way at EES, which now employed 17 full-time and nearly 100 part-time researchers. Just over half of the operating budget came from government and industry contracts, as opposed to state support. By the last year of the war, the government-industry figure had climbed to 61 percent.
World War II’s intensity gave way to Cold War tensions, and it soon became clear that federal government support for university-based research would continue. Georgia Tech President Blake Van Leer and Dean of Engineering Cherry Emerson spearheaded a 1946 move to create an independent, nonprofit corporation to handle contract and patent issues for EES.
The name for the new entity was the Georgia Tech Research Institute. Nearly four decades later, the EES would take that name for itself, and the contracting unit would become the Georgia Tech Research Corporation.
Under the new structure, growth continued nicely. By 1947, 56 full-time and 95 part-time EES researchers were performing work worth $441,000 – 87 percent from outside contracts.
On the home front, EES was collaborating with the University of Georgia’s College of Agriculture to make Georgia peanut farming more profitable, including production of better harvesting and processing machinery. Experiments with an electric eye, to aid peanut-picking machinery, were a precursor to sophisticated machine-vision work for the poultry industry decades later.
In 1948, the Research Building, built in 1939 as EES’s home base, was enlarged and named after a major contributor, Atlanta dentist Thomas Hinman. Soon after, EES’s annual research income passed the $1 million mark.
The Korean conflict (1950-53) increased the flow of federal research dollars to universities across the country. EES’s share included many sensitive projects in the areas of radar, microwave propagation, communications, missile-tracking frequency control, antenna design, underwater acoustics and microwave optics.
The research station’s role in national security research had become permanent.
EES’s wartime work had brought Georgia Tech growing recognition as a top player in radar research and development. Research-station investigators were soon delving into millimeter waves, an area of the electromagnetic spectrum that seemed to offer great opportunities. Millimeter waves – the band between 30 and 300 gigahertz – can provide effective image identification even through fog, rain and smoke.
Researchers were soon determining which millimeter-wave frequencies worked best for a given task – and in doing so they pioneered the basic science of the millimeter-wave environment. The research that began at EES has continued at today’s GTRI, bringing with it international recognition for millimeter-wave expertise.
Scientific Atlanta, one of Atlanta's oldest technology companies, was purchased recently by Cisco. Engineering Experiment Station personnel helped found the company in 1952.
EES engineers also developed broad expertise in the hardware – antennas, receivers and transmitters – needed for millimeter-wave applications.
Today, millimeter-wave technology is used for everything from identifying tanks and warplanes to tracking raindrops and wind patterns as part of severe-weather research and climate modeling.
Georgia Tech’s important role in helping to create new Georgia companies began during this period as well. It was an auspicious start.
In 1952, several EES personnel – including Director Rosselot, Associate Director James E. Boyd and former EES researcher Glen P. Robinson, Jr. – formed Scientific Atlanta. The venture’s basic business model was to commercialize some of the technology developed at Georgia Tech, especially for antennas.
Scientific Atlanta eventually became a large company, renowned for developing satellite Earth stations and cable television equipment. In 2006, it was acquired by Cisco Systems Inc., a major network-technology corporation.
Dawn of the Computer Age
In 1947, EES installed an “electro-mechanical brain” – an analog computer – the first in the Southeast. It was so large that the Research Building needed an annex to house it.
Then, in 1955, Georgia Tech opened the Rich Electronic Computer Center, with a mission of “education, service to industry and research.” The Rich Center, too, was the first facility of its kind in the Southeast. Its first resident was a UNIVAC 1101, built by Remington Rand, an analog computer that measured 38 feet by 20 feet and featured rotating-drum memory equal to 48 kilobytes.
“We had to program it by counting drum revolutions and putting ones and zeros on it,” recalls Fred Dyer, who joined EES as a Georgia Tech student in 1957 (and stayed on some 40 years). “There wasn’t even a compiler. I said that computers would never be practical.”
Yet the computer center had opened at a critical time. Analog-computer experience during the 1950s prepared Tech’s engineers and scientists for the revolutionary transition from analog to digital computing that took place in the 1960s.
In and out of the computer center, the research station’s work during this period was nearly as diverse as GTRI’s work is today. In addition to the core defense work, EES engineers of the 1960s tackled an electro-mechanical system for organizing and aligning plastic bottles, spectrographic analysis of diesel truck components, a study of butane lighters, improvements to peanut-brittle manufacturing – even a project involving bra design for the Loveable Brassiere Co.
During the 1960s, Georgia Tech became well-known for its innovative experimental systems in atomic collisions, initiated by Earl W. McDaniel of EES. Among notable EES projects in atomic collisions was development of the first drift-tube mass spectrometer to study certain low-energy chemical reactions. Another highlight was the first experiments in the U.S. to study collisions between beams of electrons and ions.
The station kept up its Georgia connections as well. During the five-year period from 1966 to 1970, EES’s industrial extension division performed 16 major feasibility studies of manufacturing opportunities in Georgia, 24 studies of industrial sites and 14 special reports on manufacturing, plant financing and other issues.
And thanks to an EES study begun in 1969 on how to shield heart-regulating pacemakers from microwave interference, the once-familiar “WARNING: Microwave Oven in Use” sign is rarely seen today. Analogous safety work continues today at GTRI’s Medical Device Test Center.
After several relatively short-term directors – including Paul Calaway, James E. Boyd, Robert Stiemke and Wyatt E. Whitley – EES veteran radar researcher Maurice Long became EES director in 1968. He was one of the first directors chosen from within the EES ranks.
By fiscal year 1970-1971, new contracts and grants at EES totaled a record $5.2 million.
Scientific interest in nuclear technology was peaking in the 1960s. At the EES, a Radioisotopes and Bioengineering Laboratory had opened in 1959; it was utilized for both academic and research activities. Elsewhere on campus, a low-power nuclear reactor was also built. (It has since been dismantled.)
The oil embargo of 1973 made energy a national priority. EES started work on an array of alternative fuel technologies, particularly solar – an important research focus to this day. EES staff conducted a detailed proof-of-concept study of a large solar-energy power-generation plant, while a 325 kilowatt, 500-mirror Solar Thermal Test Facility – second largest of its type in the U.S. – was constructed on campus in 1977 where the Manufacturing Research Center now stands.
One National Science Foundation project examined power-system options for the Southeast. It identified potential opportunities for increasing efficiency and lowering the cost of electrical power and transmission. And EES staff created energy monitoring and conversion proposals for such energy-intensive industries as petroleum refining, meat packing, steel production, papermaking and others.
EES defense activity remained strong during the 1960s. The compact range was invented by Richard C. Johnson in 1966 to measure antenna performance. Today, building-size compact ranges are used to simulate radiation patterns of antennas as they would occur naturally over much longer distances in real-world applications.
EES's high-temperature ceramic expertise led to a fused-silica technique for forming complex shapes such as missile radomes. (Click image for high-resolution version)
In 1970, researchers discovered that by manipulating the temperature and the rate and duration of heating, they could strengthen certain ceramics via a phenomenon called sintering. These improved ceramics were used to produce radomes – structures that shield a missile’s sensors – for such missile systems as the Patriot.
Among his accomplishments, Director Long successfully resisted an attempt by the university’s administration to drastically change EES’s status by absorbing it into Georgia Tech’s academic programs. Long believed that Georgia Tech needed a separate applied research arm; his viewpoint prevailed when Georgia Tech President Arthur G. Hansen resigned in 1971 and was replaced by Joseph M. Pettit, dean of engineering at Stanford and a strong advocate of applied research.
Director Long stepped down in 1976, and the choice of his replacement came straight from the top. President Pettit had worked at Stanford with a man named Donald J. Grace, whose positions there had included director of the Systems Techniques Laboratory and associate dean of engineering.
Grace’s arrival at Georgia Tech was greeted with much anticipation, according to Hugh Denny, a retired principal research engineer and former director of the Electromagnetic and Environmental Division.
“There was a feeling that we were out in the woodpile someplace and nobody paid much attention to us,” Denny recalled. “Because he had worked with Joe Pettit earlier out at Stanford, the sense we had with Don was that now we had somebody who at least had the ear of the president.”
Under Grace, EES acquired the Cobb County research complex in 1978, and much of its most sensitive research is still done there. The Cobb facility was expanded in the 1980s with a multi million-dollar electromagnetic radiation measurement range.
Another early Grace-era accomplishment was establishment of the Huntsville Research Laboratory. The idea for a permanent Georgia Tech presence in Huntsville was first proposed by William McCorkle, executive director of the U.S. Army’s Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center. McCorkle and his staff worked with EES’s Electro-Magnetics Laboratory to make the proposal a reality, and by early 1979, six Georgia Tech research faculty and co-op students had settled into government offices at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala.
The move “gave Tech instant accessibility to the government sponsors who were in need of expertise,” said Richard Stanley, who began a 14-year career as Huntsville’s director in 1984.
Inquiring minds at the EES were always delving into the latest technology. Fred Dyer recently recalled reading about something called Ethernet in 1974 and then teaming with other research-station personnel to run test cable between buildings – long before most people had even heard of the technology. By 1976, serious networking had begun at Georgia Tech on a building-by-building basis, he said, although it wasn’t until the 1980s that the campus became fully networked.
In October 1984, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the Engineering Experiment Station officially became the Georgia Tech Research Institute.
EES/GTRI research on millimeter wave radar culminated in the development of what was at the time the world's highest frequency radar operating at 225 GHz. (Click image for high-resolution version)
“I had nothing against engineering experiment stations – they’re all over the country – but that wasn’t what we were,” Grace said.
From the GTRI perspective, the 1980s were especially productive. Its core competencies fit in well with the dramatic upswing in military spending under the Reagan administration. The Strategic Defense Initiative missile-defense system, known as “Star Wars,” brought Georgia Tech its largest research contract to date – $21.3 million divided between the School of Electrical Engineering and GTRI.
GTRI landed a 1986 solo contract – its largest ever at the time – with a $14.7 million job to design and build technology that would simulate a Soviet surface-to-air missile system. The huge simulator was housed in a 40-foot trailer and three 20-foot transportable shelters.
The same year, coinciding with Georgia Tech’s 100th birthday, GTRI’s new home, the Centennial Research Building, was dedicated at 10th and Dalney streets. The $12.5 million, six-story structure provided desperately needed lab and office space for GTRI’s growing research activities.
Between 1980 and 1985, electronics – including defense electronics, electronic systems, electronic techniques and components, antennas, electromagnetics and optics – comprised two-thirds of the organization’s research volume. Energy accounted for 15 percent; domestic and international economic development projects 9 percent; computer technology 7 percent, and the balance involved the physical, chemical and material sciences.
Research accomplishments at Georgia Tech and GTRI were becoming noticed at a national level. The volume of Georgia Tech’s engineering research placed it third among all U.S. universities, and GTRI contributed substantially to that success.
Growth was extensive throughout GTRI. The Research Institute expanded its defense work, developing new expertise in such areas as computer software technology, electronic warfare technology, multispectral sensors, electro-optic materials and applications, space power and strategic materials.
It also expanded into newer areas, including autonomous aerial vehicles, artificial intelligence and robotics, and lead paint and asbestos abatement, among many others. Sponsored programs ranged from basic neutrino experiments to the development of economically viable solar-heated chicken houses.
“What I remember most is how much it grew and how fast it grew,” recalled Janice Rogers, a GTRI veteran who retired in 2006 after a 30-year career that included assisting four directors and rising to senior management. “When I worked for the Systems Engineering Lab, it was not unusual for us to hire two or three researchers a week. I think we probably doubled in size during the 10 or so years I worked in that lab.”
GTRI became involved in antenna-design work for the International Space Station. GTRI also tackled other projects for the space station, such as design of an Earth-controllable robot to perform experiments onboard the station.
In 1987, GTRI unveiled its first LIght Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) system – a technology that is similar to radar but uses light waves instead of radio waves. To encourage more women to consider a science career, GTRI established a LIDAR observatory at private Agnes Scott College in Atlanta.
Also in the 1980s, GTRI and Georgia Tech founded the Materials Handling Research Center for improving the movement of products through factories and distribution systems. It quickly became a successful National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center, with more than 20 major companies and federal agencies supporting its research.
By the late 1980s, GTRI was becoming noted for its expertise in a highly important area: retrofitting existing military aircraft with new technology. The work, which continues today, keeps existing systems operating and saves the cost of building new ones. Among GTRI’s successful early projects was an upgrade of the Air Force’s H-53 helicopter.
During the same period, researcher Nile Hartman developed an integrated optic interferometric sensor that would quickly detect even small amounts of contaminants in air, soil, groundwater and food.
GTRI was also becoming involved in electronic warfare (EW) research and development, which protects U.S. aircraft from enemy radar and missile systems. EW continues to be a major area of expertise for the Research Institute.
Integrated Defensive Avionics Software (IDAS) is a component of GTRI-developed EW technology that rapidly displays and responds to threats and gives accurate, useful information to the aircrew. IDAS incorporates the Virtual Electronic Combat Training System function, which allows aircrews to train in-flight using simulated threats.
One of GTRI’s most embarrassing moments was, arguably, also one of its finest.
In the spring of 1989, a University of Utah research team announced that it had achieved cold fusion in the laboratory. A GTRI team led by James Mahaffey sought to confirm the astonishing report.
Mahaffey and team soon believed they had succeeded. Reporters flocked to hear the news, and the name of Georgia Tech echoed round the world.
It turned out that the original Utah experiment was fatally skewed due to unsuspected instrumentation errors. The Georgia Tech team, following the Utah team’s flawed procedure to try to duplicate the results, had arrived at the same flawed positive conclusion.
“It turned out that what we had was a problem with the neutron detectors,” which had not been designed to count very low numbers of neutrons accurately, Mahaffey recalled recently. “And I said, well, we made a big splash with a press conference to announce it, so we’ve got to de-announce it. At Georgia Tech, data integrity and the integrity of research were so ground into us – if we were wrong, we were going to say that we were wrong and why we were wrong.”
A few days after the first announcement, GTRI called the press back in. Standing side by side with Don Grace in front of dozens of cameras, Mahaffey reported the error.
“It was the right thing to do,” Grace later recalled.
Any lingering Georgia Tech chagrin gave away to euphoria when, in September 1990, the International Olympic Committee announced that Atlanta would be the site of the 1996 Summer Olympics.
That win was the work of thousands of people. Yet it was widely acknowledged that a computer-generated virtual tour – developed by a GTRI-led team – of Atlanta’s proposed Olympic venues was a key to Georgia’s underdog win.
After a record 16 years as director of GTRI, Grace retired in late 1992 and was replaced by Richard H. Truly, a former NASA administrator, retired vice admiral, space-shuttle astronaut and Georgia Tech alumnus. Truly took over at a sensitive time.
“When I arrived in 1992, the Soviet Union had recently collapsed,” Truly recalled. “And frankly, there was fear on the campus that GTRI would become a lot smaller because there would be much less defense work.”
Changes were soon made. Truly helped GTRI put together a new plan – “a very simple strategic plan,” he calls it. Management also adjusted the makeup of the GTRI national advisory committee, a move that Truly remembers as being very helpful.
Among other things, the new plan stressed becoming involved in a number of non-defense areas, as well as a growing emphasis on industry customers in general. It also sought to sharpen the focus of GTRI’s defense-related research.
Janice Rogers, assistant to the director at the time, recalled some of the non-defense transitions. These included, for example, utilizing GTRI’s extensive radar expertise to improve breast-cancer imaging and other medical applications, and the use of imaging and geographical information systems for such applications as weather mapping, cloud mapping and predictability analysis.
Truly’s shakeup included a transition for Rogers. He asked her to fill a new position: director of administration.
“I got to branch out, which I really enjoyed,” Rogers remembered recently. “One of the first things I had to do was revamp the GTRI policies and procedures manual. Up until then everything was kind of unspoken – this person does this and that person does that. But under Richard Truly we codified a lot.”
It was an important move for an organization dependent on contract research, she added.
Growth wasn’t meteoric during the early to mid-1990s, Truly recalled, but the feared contraction never took place. “GTRI did grow, and we got into some new areas. But I think fundamentally it was pretty much the same core organization when I left as when I got there.”
GTRI’s efforts to decrease reliance on military contracts and diversify its customers began to show results quickly. By 1994, while defense support remained the heart of the budget, it decreased from about 76 percent to just over 70 percent. Other categories increased – industry to 16.6 percent; state and local to 1.5 percent, and federal non-defense, 9.6 percent.
Management renewed emphasis on industry partnerships, including a project between GTRI and Shaw Industries to reduce carpet waste. Additional research initiatives were successfully begun in transportation, education and medical technology, as well as modeling, simulation and testing.
As costs and community opposition shut down urban-road expansion across the country during the ’90s, a number of GTRI transportation projects addressed ways to manage traffic flow. Meanwhile, Foundations for the Future, funded by a major AT&T grant, utilized GTRI expertise to integrate technology into Georgia’s K-12 classrooms. The University of Georgia and Morris Brown Research Institute also participated in that program.
In 1997, Edward K. Reedy, a Georgia Tech research engineer since 1970, took over as director when Truly resigned to head the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. Though Reedy came from the research side, he was no stranger to leadership – he had been director of a large GTRI lab for 10 years.
“I felt we had to get back into a stronger growth mode,” Reedy said recently. “It was obvious our DoD funding profile was not going to increase significantly at that time. So, without de-emphasizing our defense-related work, we re-emphasized working for the state of Georgia, as well as with industry.”
GTRI re-emphasized a number of state initiatives, including research conducted for Georgia’s large and economically important poultry industry.
“I think probably the thing I was most pleased about during my directorship was construction of the Food Processing Technology Building, which gave GTRI’s poultry-related research effort a permanent home,” Reedy said.
He added that he’s also proud of helping create the Glen P. Robinson Jr. endowed research chair in electro-optics at GTRI – the Research Institute’s first such research chair. Robinson also endowed a chair in non-linear science at Georgia Tech’s School of Physics.
In April 1997, GTRI began a $17 million contract with mPhase Technologies Inc. to develop a system that incorporated Digital Subscriber Line communications with digital signal processing and filtering. The research focused on Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) precursor technologies that enabled telephone companies to deliver TV to subscribers over existing copper lines.
The GTRI of the 1990s continued to be active and creative in its core areas of expertise. One particular success was FalconView™, a software package that lets military planners use laptops to analyze and display geographical data crucial to planning aircraft missions. Developed through GTRI’s Air National Guard Electronic Warfare Program, FalconView has been improved many times and now has more than 45,000 users.
In recent years, GTRI and Georgia Tech’s Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory produced an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) powered by fuel cells running on compressed hydrogen. Fuel cells don’t presently produce enough power to propel passenger aircraft, but they can power smaller vehicles such as UAVs.
GTRI researchers also provided engineering and technical guidance for the Global Justice XML Data Model initiative, which is used by the AMBER Alert system. This voluntary partnership among law enforcement agencies and the news media quickly provides information to the public when a child is declared missing or abducted.
And, as baby boomers reach retirement age, GTRI has been following the marketplace potential for a range of medical and health-related technologies, including assistive technologies.
“GTRI has always been an organization that’s flexible and quick on its feet and able to adapt to a changing market,” Reedy said. “We took advantage of that to get GTRI back in a strong growth direction.”
It worked, assisted by growth in GTRI’s core areas as well. Research awards in the millennial year of 2000 topped $100 million.
When Stephen E. Cross took over as GTRI director in September 2003, he was also was named a professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. He soon set a course that emphasized growth in both traditional and new areas, as well as a closer relationship with Georgia Tech’s academic side.
Stephen E. Cross became director of GTRI in 2003, beginning another period of rapid growth and new collaboration with Georgia Tech's academic units. (Click image for high-resolution version)
The results of that decision were soon obvious – GTRI’s research awards for fiscal 2009 topped $200 million, up 63 percent over a three-year period. GTRI now has nearly 1,500 employees, including some 700 research faculty. It has added 120 research faculty members over the past year, and expects to add at least 100 more in the near term.
Just as important, both GTRI and Georgia Tech management are on the same page about the role of the Research Institute within the university. GTRI is the applied research arm of Georgia Tech. It works closely and collaboratively with the academic colleges, but it is a business embedded in a university.
“I believe new ideas occur at the boundaries of technical and scientific fields,” Cross said. “That is one reason why the university’s interdisciplinary focus is so right for our future.”
GTRI’s future promises to be as accomplished as its past. Few at Georgia Tech doubt that GTRI scientists and engineers will be enjoying the opportunity, as well as the challenge, of solving real-world problems for a long time to come.
“I can’t imagine having a more ideal place to work,” said Fred Dyer, the 40-year GTRI veteran. “I could recommend it to anybody, because of the great people and the great opportunity to do a variety of things that serve a very useful purpose.”
(Atlanta writer Gary Goettling also contributed to this article.)
]]>Georgia Institute of Technology
177 North Avenue
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0181
Media Relations Contacts:
John Toon
404-894-6986
Brett Israel
404-385-1933
]]>This cover section of Research Horizons focuses on GTRI’s present and future, and includes an interview with its director, Stephen E. Cross. A longer section on GTRI’s history is available: (http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/gtri-history/).
GTRI researchers Lora Weiss and Rusty Roberts pose with examples of unmanned systems. Shown are a Dragon Eye unmanned aerial vehicle and an iRobot ATRV unmanned ground vehicle. Both have been modified by Georgia Tech. (Click for high-resolution image. Credit: Gary Meek)
Applied research. The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) doesn’t mince words in describing its job – it’s the applied research unit of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Its purpose is to use science and engineering to solve real-world problems.
In the 75 years since it opened its doors, GTRI has become the largest research unit at Georgia Tech, and one of the largest university-based research organizations in the nation.
“We’re extremely proud to be Georgia Tech’s applied-research arm,” said Stephen E. Cross, vice president of Georgia Tech and director of GTRI. “I’d like to think that if the great innovator Thomas Edison were alive today, he would have created GTRI.”
Yet the Georgia Tech Research Institute, Cross acknowledges, differs from the Edison approach in some critical ways. Unlike Edison’s isolated invention factory, GTRI makes a point of working closely with others – especially Georgia Tech’s academic colleges. It’s a collaboration that fosters a research depth capable of dealing with the most challenging problems.
While numerous U.S. research universities have spun off their applied-research functions into separate organizations, Cross said, GTRI has become ever more tightly integrated with Georgia Tech’s academic units. Collaboration between the academic and the applied sides has been a conscious direction for Georgia Tech since it was founded; its 1885 charter mandated an approach to technological education that would directly support the state’s economic growth.
Speaking at the GTRI 75th Anniversary Technology Symposium, Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson remarked that as Georgia Tech looks ahead, “clearly it’s important that we continue to expand the collaboration between GTRI and the academic units. As universities are increasingly called upon to become drivers of innovation and high-end economic development, the importance of the role of GTRI and organizations like it will continue to grow.”
The Research Institute that began in 1934 as the State Engineering Experiment Station (EES) employs nearly 1,500 people today, including some 700 researchers. Of those, more than 40 GTRI faculty members also have appointments in the academic colleges and perform teaching roles along with their research.
Today’s GTRI has seven laboratories and 13 field offices located throughout the United States and in Ireland. It also has numerous facilities on the Georgia Tech campus and a secure 55-acre research facility in Cobb County north of Atlanta.
After several years of particularly strong growth, GTRI’s research awards for fiscal 2009 topped $200 million, a total that is up 63 percent in the past three years. GTRI is the largest single contributor to Georgia Tech’s total research budget of about $500 million.
The Research Institute has hired 120 new research staff in the past year, and plans to hire an additional 100 research staff in the near term. The number of Georgia Tech graduate and undergraduate students currently working as co-op students at GTRI now stands at more than 350; it’s a workforce that’s an important plus for research flexibility and creativity.
GTRI’s customers include a who’s who of U.S. federal agencies, U.S. and overseas corporations, U.S. allies, and state and local governments. Among GTRI’s major sponsors are the Department of Defense agencies, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the state of Georgia, major U.S. defense contractors, and many other governmental and commercial entities.
“We’ve shown pretty good progress for an organization that was authorized by the state legislature in 1919 but couldn’t get funded until 1934 – and which started out in the basement of Georgia Tech’s Old Shop Building,” Cross said.
GTRI performs research and development in dozens of areas, from radar to robotics, from electronic defense to energy, from product testing to food processing. It also provides a wide range of services, from analyzing indoor environments to teaching workplace safety.
The vast majority of the Institute’s work relies on four underlying competencies developed over many decades, said Tom McDermott, GTRI’s director of research. They are sensor technologies, systems engineering, information and communications technologies, and test and evaluation.
“You could argue that sensor technology is our core strength,” he said. “GTRI probably has the broadest capability in terms of different sensing technologies of any research body in the world.”
GTRI, he explained, provides research and development in a vast array of sensor technologies. It has broad sensing capabilities that began with World War II radar research. That work led to pioneering, internationally recognized work in millimeter-wave radar technology.
Today GTRI’s sensor capabilities cover every bandwidth of the electromagnetic spectrum used for defense and communication, as well as chemical sensors vital to numerous defense and industry applications.
But, McDermott added, even the most advanced sensors have little utility without the other collaborating capabilities – systems engineering, information and communications technology, and test and evaluation.
For example, GTRI today tackles challenging multi-sensor problems. Yet the task of fusing data from a variety of sensor sources would be next to impossible without sophisticated computing and networking. Just as important, successful design of a complex sensor-based system would be hard to achieve without systems engineering expertise. Equally useful are the advanced modeling capabilities of the test and evaluation disciplines that help guide the system-design process.
“Part of why GTRI is strong in systems engineering is because we’re non-profit and independent – we can choose the best solution from a variety of options,” McDermott said. “And part of it is that we have long-time subject-matter experts who are able to grow a very broad view of problems within their technical areas over time.”
Another key is the collaboration that takes place at GTRI across the disciplines, said Terry Tibbitts, director of the Electronic Systems Laboratory (ELSYS), GTRI’s largest lab with roots going back to the Engineering Experiment Station’s work in radar and signal processing. Tibbitts pointed to a recent high priority project that added vitally needed missile protection to the A-10 attack aircraft, an Air Force workhorse. To deal with the vulnerability, GTRI mounted an urgent effort, the A-10 Infrared Countermeasures Program. The work mobilized researchers and technicians from across the Research Institute, including ELSYS and several other GTRI labs.
In 200 days – a brief period by most defense-project standards – the team went from program-concept meetings to a successful flight test. Today, the entire U.S. A-10 fleet is protected by the countermeasure technology GTRI developed.
“Programs like this one show GTRI’s greatest strengths – we’re small enough to move very quickly, but big enough to have the deep capabilities needed to handle an entire program for a sponsor,” Tibbitts said. “We’re also good at collaborating across disciplines – we know each other’s strengths, and we work well together.”
Gisele Bennett is director of the Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL), a major contributor to GTRI’s sensor capability. She noted that GTRI’s identity as a multi-disciplinary organization has been the product of many decades of effort.
“GTRI has evolved slowly and deliberately from a research institute with a narrow range of technical expertise to one that has a very broad and deep range of technical expertise,” she said. “I’m personally confident we can maintain our technical pre-eminence in our core areas, while also branching out by applying core expertise gained over the decades to other disciplines.”
Like Georgia Tech, GTRI was founded with a mandate to contribute to the economy of the state of Georgia and the surrounding region. The Research Institute pursues that critical assignment on several levels.
One effort involves direct support of the economy through research on tough challenges facing Georgia industry. To that end, GTRI has performed important research and problem-solving for many important industries, including food processing, carpet manufacturing, paper and others.
The Georgia Tech Research Institute maintains an extensive on-campus facility, the Food Processing Technology Building, to support Georgia’s vast poultry processing industry, among others. GTRI’s support for the food industry has included many innovations, including one of the first computer-vision systems for improving quality in poultry processing.
“Food processing is a very good example of where GTRI is able to take the sensor, robotics, computer-vision and manufacturing technologies that we’ve developed – largely with defense funding – and apply them to an industry that’s important to the economy,” said GTRI director Cross.
The Research Institute also provides services that directly support the state’s employers and their workforce. The Occupational Safety and Health Program, located in GTRI’s Human Systems Integration Division, helps businesses keep workplaces safe by complying with the requirements of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The program offers free on-site safety consultations to smaller Georgia companies. It also teaches a large number of OSHA safety and health courses, mainly through Georgia Tech Distance Learning and Professional Education.
GTRI plays an important role in advancing the technical knowledge of U.S. defense professionals, both in the military and in industry. Through Georgia Tech’s Defense Technology Professional Education Program, engineers, scientists and faculty from GTRI and Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering teach nine certificate programs and some 80 courses at eight U.S. sites, as well as via video-conferencing and online video.
Scientific Atlanta, one of Atlanta's oldest technology companies, was purchased recently by Cisco. Engineering Experiment Station personnel helped found the company in 1952.
An important GTRI role involves assisting the development of new high technology companies in Georgia. Its first startup was Scientific Atlanta, founded in 1952 by several EES personnel. The venture prospered, becoming internationally known for satellite Earth stations and cable TV equipment, and was acquired by Cisco Systems, Inc. in 2006.
GTRI works with Georgia Tech’s business assistance and economic development unit, the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI²), to offer technical support for new technology companies.
EI² is widely known as home to Georgia Tech’s successful startup-company accelerator, the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), which has graduated more than 120 startups since 1980. GTRI works directly with the Strategic Partners Office within EI² to connect companies to Georgia Tech resources and promote broadly based development initiatives in Georgia.
One result of that collaboration is the FutureMediasm initiative, directed by Renu Kulkarni, which is aimed at helping to make Georgia a global leader in the burgeoning fields of digital, social and multi media.
“There’s a great deal of interaction between GTRI and EI² now,” said research director McDermott. “We’ve been able to work with some of the startup companies that are incubating there, and we believe there will be plenty of collaboration in the future.”
The Georgia Tech Research Institute also works with EI²’s Industry Services division, an outreach program that provides support to Georgia manufacturers, including direct technical, engineering and other assistance. Industry Services personnel can connect companies that have specific manufacturing challenges to GTRI engineers, scientists and technicians.
Not the least of GTRI’s contributions is the economic impact of the salaries of its nearly 1,500 employees, a number that includes some 700 degreed research engineers and scientists, said Tom Horton, GTRI’s chief of staff and director of government relations.
By the most conservative of economic multipliers, GTRI’s contribution to Georgia’s economy last year was about $450 million, Horton said. That number includes the impact of salaries, as well as direct and indirect GTRI expenditures among Georgia businesses for everything from pencils and paper to computers and sophisticated research equipment.
“Of course, we are a non-profit organization,” Horton said. “But if it were a business, GTRI’s revenues and number of employees would place us within the top 15 corporations in Georgia.”
Horton noted that GTRI and Georgia Tech contribute to Georgia’s attractiveness as a home for national and international corporations. He cited the NCR Corporation’s recent decision to move its worldwide headquarters to Duluth, Ga., and CEO Bill Nuti’s comment that “working in partnership with the world-class academic institutions in Georgia” was part of the attraction.
Cross argues that GTRI’s unique blend of capability, commitment and organizational agility developed naturally over the decades. The Institute has dealt successfully with many challenges, and a positive mentality developed as a result.
“Interdisciplinary collaboration and the willingness to accept a tough challenge are among our greatest assets,” he said. “I’m proud of the people of GTRI. They can take great Georgia Tech research – some of it done here, much of it done in the colleges – bring it together and apply it to solve real world problems.”
The GTRI of the future will likely look much like the GTRI of today, but with broadly expanded capabilities in cutting-edge technologies and more collaboration with Georgia Tech’s academic colleges.
During its 75-year journey, Georgia Tech’s applied-research institute has chosen its growth areas carefully. GTRI has never tried to be all things to all sponsors; it extends its research into areas that appear to offer promise – as well as the expected tough challenges.
“There are phrases we should outlaw as researchers, such as ‘it can’t be done’ or ‘it’s never been done that way before,’ “ said Stephen E. Cross, GTRI’s director. “We should never be overly concerned about risk. We want to take calculated risks, but we should never use risk as a reason for not tackling something.”
GTRI has used its four core competencies – sensor technologies, systems engineering, information and communications technologies, and test and evaluation – to develop internationally known specialties in radar, electronic warfare, antennas and communications technologies, among numerous others.
Today the Research Institute is bringing those core skills to bear on new areas of expertise. An active recruitment effort has brought to GTRI a cadre of new researchers who are accomplished in several critical focus areas.
The concepts of open and disruptive innovation have been useful in directing development paths, GTRI leaders explain. In open innovation, an organization uses both internal and external ideas to advance technology. Disruptive innovations are those that create unexpected change; they’re often problematic because they compete with time-honored approaches, yet they present unique opportunities to a research organization.
“At GTRI, we’ve found that open- and disruptive-innovation concepts are very helpful in guiding our understanding of how to recognize future opportunities – and how to pursue them,” said Tom McDermott, GTRI’s director of research.
The object, of course, is to expand GTRI’s problem-solving capacity in a number of crucial 21st century technology arenas – which will in turn support and facilitate research throughout the Research Institute.
GTRI leadership believes that Georgia, already quite active in several media areas, can become a global leader in the exploding fields of digital, social and multi media. The FutureMediasm Initiative, directed by former Motorola executive Renu Kulkarni, is a broad-based Georgia Tech program aimed at leveraging the efforts of Georgia universities, corporations, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and government to make the state a digital-media powerhouse.
Georgia Tech initiated an October 2009 FutureMediasm conference in Atlanta that brought together 260 academics, officials and executives from as far away as Singapore and South Korea to discuss Georgia’s media future. GTRI, the Georgia Tech Research Network Operations Center, Georgia Tech’s GVU Center and the Georgia Electronic Design Center were among many Georgia Tech groups that presented scores of technology demonstrations to conference participants.
“We want to create an open-innovation ecosystem that will make Georgia a global pioneer in this field,” Kulkarni said, “and provide a model not only for what we do in future digital media, but also in how we do it.”
GTRI is pursuing a number of high stakes programs in an arena that will clearly play an extensive role in humanity’s future. This work includes the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) program, a multi-year initiative sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. GTRI is working with Georgia Tech’s College of Computing and the College of Engineering, as well more than a dozen universities and companies, to develop small, intelligent mobile robots capable of collaboration as well as advanced locomotion.
In related work, a GTRI team is developing unmanned underwater vehicles that can function both autonomously and collaboratively to carry out a range of undersea missions. In another program, GTRI researchers are supporting development of a road map to improve the testing and evaluation of unmanned and autonomous systems, and are also investigating common control technology for unmanned systems.
GTRI investigators, collaborating with Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering and the College of Sciences, are extensively involved in the fields of fuel cells, solar energy, batteries, wind turbines, supercapacitors and biofuels. The Research Institute is an active participant in Georgia
Tech’s Center for Innovative Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies and its mission to help turn the fuel-cell promise into reality.
At the fuel-cell center – directed by GTRI’s Tom Fuller, who also has an appointment in the Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering – GTRI researchers are addressing the systems engineering issues surrounding compact fuel cells for soldiers, as well as the larger systems needed for transportation and distributed power generation.
GTRI is also conducting a broad range of research in energy modeling, utilizing its established expertise in information technology, communications and networking. Research includes development of modeling and simulation tools that enable the evaluation of different energy strategies. Other GTRI projects are developing technologies to reduce the environmental impact of energy and water usage, and investigating the health and environmental benefits of green technologies.
At GTRI, information operations (IO) is an area of particular focus. Researchers are pursuing a broad range of projects related to the role of intelligence technologies in national defense. This work involves close collaboration with the Georgia Tech Internet Security Center (GTISC).
The cyber battlefield is of special importance. This high-priority area, involving defensive and offensive use of computers and the Internet, is a rapidly growing research area. GTRI’s Center of Excellence for Emerging Information Technologies is investigating security issues involving both current and emerging digital technologies. The aim is to better protect U.S. military, government and other information systems, ensuring that the element of technology surprise remains a U.S. asset.
GTRI is active in more than a dozen IO/cyber-related projects sponsored by a variety of government agencies. Researchers are conducting several new initiatives to build cyber-intelligence capabilities in emerging technologies, including techniques that simulate hostile intrusion attempts into networks and other critical areas. They are also pursuing the development of enhanced security for novel architectures, and construction of a $200,000-plus IO laboratory that will support research ranging from cloud computing to converged infrastructures.
Supporting U.S. systems engineering capabilities, in both government agencies and in industry, is a growing focus at GTRI. In fall 2009, the Research Institute helped launch a new Professional Master’s Degree in Applied Systems Engineering (PMASE). This College of Engineering degree is aimed at mid-career engineers in government and corporations who manage complex systems and want to expand their systems-engineering knowledge.
The program combines traditional teaching with group learning, distance education and face-to-face interactions, and is aimed at filling a significant gap in higher education offerings for working engineers. Graduates are expected to be proficient in methods and practices of systems engineering, and to develop awareness of cutting-edge research shaping the future of the discipline. A unique aspect of the degree is an experiential component based on pioneering work in systems analysis tools and methods developed by the Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory in the Georgia Tech School of Aerospace Engineering.
GTRI is also emphasizing expanded international research partnerships and collaboration. GTRI continues to ramp up its GT-Ireland initiative, which is focused on collaboration in radio-frequency identification technology. Georgia Tech, supported by GTRI, is also involved in educational and research collaborations in France, Singapore and China.
“The international strategy for Georgia Tech and GTRI involves a rapidly growing number of nations around the globe,” said director Cross, who is also a Georgia Tech vice president. “We have to consider the uniqueness of each country and its goals, and we also want to consider the benefit of these affiliations to the Atlanta campus and to Georgia.”
The GTRI of the future will focus its research and development efforts wherever the U.S. needs advanced investigation and innovation.
In one homeland-security field, GTRI is helping protect shipping containers, which have been long identified as an area of vulnerability that terrorists could exploit. GTRI has developed a container security device that monitors whether container doors have been opened in route by an unauthorized user, explained Gisele Bennett, director of GTRI’s Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL).
“We’ve used GTRI’s sensor expertise, built up over many decades, to develop a device that works well and has been successfully tested. This technology will move into a pilot phase very soon,” she said. GTRI sensor experts are also designing a wall intrusion detection system for composite containers. This research, performed in collaboration with Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, could detect any breaching of a shipping container’s walls.
GTRI researchers Kevin Massey, Vince Camp and Burt Jennings (left to right) pose with the ULTRA II test article as it was set up for evaluation at the Aberdeen Test Center in Maryland. (Click image for high-resolution version. Credit Aberdeen Test Center)
Cross noted that in one especially high priority area, GTRI is tackling the deadly problem of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in war zones around the world. For example, the ULTRA II design concept is aimed at producing military vehicles with a new type of protected personnel compartment. The concept uses a sacrificial “blast wedge” to absorb energy from IEDs and improve occupant safety in future light armored patrol vehicles.
In years to come as in the past, Cross added, GTRI’s core research and applications will help support innovations that can aid U.S. business and economic growth.
“A large part of our future strategy,” Cross said, “is to take the defense technology that we create – and the problem-solving expertise we develop – and move it into other market areas to benefit commercial industry and result in more jobs here in Georgia.”
]]>The GeorgiaInstitute of Technology teamed up with Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) topresent the live debut of InVenture Prize competition on March 17, 2010.
Winners ofthe 2010 InVenture Prize, an innovation competition where undergraduatestudents develop and present inventions, included the following entries:
Both winners receiveda free U.S. patent filing from the Georgia Tech Office of Technology Licensing,each valued at approximately $20,000.
Thenext competition is planned for March 9, 2011.
]]>Engineers ages 30 to 45 who are performing exceptional engineering research and technical work in a variety of disciplines will come together for the event. The participants – from industry, academia and government – were nominated by fellow engineers or organizations and chosen from approximately 265 applicants. "As we face the challenges the next century brings, we will rely more than ever on innovative engineers," said NAE President Charles M. Vest. "The U.S. Frontiers of Engineering program is an opportunity for a diverse group of this country's most promising young engineers to gather together and discuss multidisciplinary ways of leading us into the economy of tomorrow."
The symposium will be held Sept. 23-25 at the IBM Learning Center in Armonk, N.Y., and will examine cloud computing, autonomous aerospace systems, engineering and music and engineering inspired by biology.Sponsors for the 2010 U.S. Frontiers of Engineering are IBM, The Grainger Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Department of Defense (DDR&E), National Science Foundation, Microsoft Research and Cummins Inc.
The National Academy of Engineering is an independent, nonprofit institution that serves as an adviser to government and the public on issues in engineering and technology. Its members consist of the nation's premier engineers, who are elected by their peers for their distinguished achievements. Established in 1964, NAE operates under the congressional charter granted to the National Academy of Sciences in 1863.
]]>
404-894-6016
]]>Dr. Hertel andhis committee will produce a report that will generally form the basis for howthings are done by radiation professionals, particularly in radiationprotection of individuals. During the next three years, the committee will review the currentoperational quantities, their use, and relationship to recent changes inproduction quantities. The endresult will be a new ICRU report that addresses needed changes in operationalquantity concepts and definition.
The committee will look at the two types of quantitiesspecifically defined for use in radiological protection: protection quantitiesand operational quantities. Protection quantities, which are defined by theInternational Commission on Radiological Protection, also referred to asprimary limiting quantities, are quantities that relate the “risk” of exposureto ionizing radiation taking into account humans as receptors, the differentradiation sensitivities of various organs and tissues, and the differences inradiation qualities.
Operational quantities, which are defined by the UCRU, aredose quantities defined for use in radiation protection measurements forexternal exposure. These quantities provide an upper limit for protectionquantities and are often used in place of protection quantities in practicalapplications and for regulatory purposes. Operational quantities are needed for monitoring external exposurebecause protection quantities generally are not measurement.
The mission of the ICRU is to “develop and promulgateinternally accepted recommendations on radiation related quantities and units,terminology, measurement procedures, and reference data for the safe andefficient application of ionizing radiation to medical diagnosis and therapy,radiation science and technology, and radiation protection of individuals andpopulations.”
Dr. Hertel is also a member of the International Commissionon Radiological Protection’s (ICRP) Task Group on Dose Calculations, where heis helps produce publications recommending various dose computations.
]]>
404-894-6016
]]>But a new laboratory study of microscopic organisms subjected to varying degrees of acoustic disturbance now challenges that assumption -- and could lead ecologists to reconsider how organisms compete during challenging times.
"The consistent role of competition at all levels of disturbance found in our study underscores the need for ecologists to examine competitive interactions and their consequences even in highly disturbed habitats," said Lin Jiang, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Biology.
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the research was reported June 28, 2010, in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study is believed to be the first to show experimentally that competition could be a factor in regulating ecological communities regardless of the intensity or frequency of disturbance.
Jiang and his team -- Cyrille Violle, formerly a postdoctoral fellow at Georgia Tech currently at the University of Arizona, and Georgia Tech biology graduate student Zhichao Pu -- conducted experiments with freshwater bacterivorous protists in artificial, simplified ecosystems called microcosms.
"A key advantage of this microcosm system is that the rapid reproduction of the microorganisms allowed us to examine multigenerational community dynamics, including competitive exclusion and stable coexistence, in a period of a few weeks," said Jiang.
The researchers assessed the ability of different species of single-celled eukaryotes called protozoa to cope with disturbance in the absence of competition, the competitive ability of species in the absence of disturbance, and the role of competition between species under disturbance. Disturbance was imposed by the application of sound energy to the small ecosystems at 11 different levels, ranging from weak disturbances that had little effect on most species to strong disturbances that caused the direct extinction of most species.
First, the researchers placed all of the protist species in separate microcosms for one month and measured each species' change in population density to assess the ability of each to cope with disturbance. Next, the researchers assessed the competitive ability of species by compelling pairs of species to battle for resources for 10 weeks in the absence of disturbance.
The final set of experiments subjected groups of protist species to both disturbance and competition. The population densities of 11 species -- including three Paramecium species -- in each of 55 microcosms were recorded for five months. The results of the multi-species experiment showed that the number of species decreased with increased disturbance and that most species were no longer present across most levels of disturbance.
"One might think that the observed decline of species diversity with disturbance was because high levels of disturbances directly eliminated most or all species. But this idea was not supported by our first set of experiments, which showed that several species were able to sustain viable populations even at the highest disturbance intensities -- when they were not with other species," explained Jiang.
Instead, the species extinctions that occurred through different levels of disturbance could be partly attributed to competition between species. And the rate of extinctions attributable to competition was greater at higher levels of disturbance.
The findings contradict the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, which suggests that at high levels of disturbance, the species that survive will be those that are hardy under disturbed conditions. At low disturbance, the hypothesis suggests that the ecosystem will be dominated by species that are good competitors. At some intermediate disturbance level, the good competitors will have an opportunity to gain a foothold without being destroyed by disturbance, but will not be able to out-compete the hardier species or exclude less-fit species.
In this study, the 11 species differed markedly in their competitive ability and in their ability to tolerate disturbance. When considered together, there was a strong tradeoff between the two traits, according to Jiang.
"Each species was most vulnerable to inter-species competition at its upper disturbance limit, which is when its population density was the most severely reduced," noted Jiang.
While this study provided unique experimental evidence that competition can consistently regulate species extinction and community richness over broad disturbance gradients, three characteristics of this experiment may influence the applicability of these results to other systems, according to Jiang.
First, since the protist species in these experiments competed for shared food resources and affected each other by reducing the availability of those resources, these findings may not apply to communities competing in other ways, such as those physically or chemically fighting with each other. Second, there was no outside immigration into the experimental microcosms, unlike natural communities in which other organisms can join the competition.
Finally, given the size of the microcosms, disturbance in the experiments could be considered "global," which contrasts with the more common situation in nature where disturbance is heterogeneous over an area.
In the future, more attention should be focused on examining other mechanisms that may potentially contribute to intermediate disturbance hypothesis patterns, says Jiang.
"Our results challenge conventional thinking and have important implications for understanding relevant ecological issues, such as those related to biodiversity, community assembly and conservation," he added.
This project was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award No. DEB-0640416). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigator and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NSF.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986)
Writer: Abby Vogel Robinson
]]>
You can stay informed about specific severe weather conditions impacting campus by subscribing to severe weather alerts. Go to http://www.police.gatech.edu/weather.htm for details on how to sign up.
Georgia Tech's Office of Success Programs’ Peer-Led Undergraduate Study (PLUS) program recevied two awards for excellence in academic support at the International Conference on Supplemental Instruction held June 2-4 in New Orleans Louisiana. PLUS, coordinated by Eric Moschella, Assistant Director of Success Programs at Georgia Tech, is based on the Supplemental Instruction (SI) model of academic support and utilizes peer-assisted study sessions. Dr. Joyce Weinsheimer, Associate Director of Tech’s Center for the Enhancement of Learning (CETL), was selected as the winner of the 2010 Outstanding SI Support by a Campus Administrator award, and Sam Coogan, a graduating senior in Electrical and Computer Engineering, received the 2010 Outstanding SI student leader award.
Weinsheimer’s award recognizes the special supporting role she and CETL play in the success of the PLUS program at Georgia Tech. PLUS began in the Fall of 2009 in select Biology and Calculus classes. The program has grown, logging over 4600 student contact hours among 2100 undergraduates in the 2009-2010 academic year. Weinsheimer's support of collaborative learning and innovative teaching practices played a large role in getting the program piloted and generating faculty interest in PLUS.
Coogan was nominated by students who attended his PLUS sessions and the faculty who taught the Calculus course he supported. Sam was one of only two students internationally to receive the honor. Exceptional facilitation skills, thorough understanding of the course material, and his creative study sessions are a few of the reasons he received the award. More than 500 student visited to his Calculus PLUS sessions in the Spring 2010 semester. He is also credited with being the first to pilot "Calculus Jeopardy" in his sessions.
In addition to PLUS, the Office of Success programs oversees FASET Orientation, New Student Convocation, GT1000 Freshman Seminar, Sophomore Programs, 1-to-1 Tutoring, and a variety of transition and academic support programs. The office strives to support the orientation, transition, and academic success of Georgia Tech undergraduates throught their various offerings. For more information, visit www.successprograms.gatech.edu.
]]>Director, Office of Success Programs
]]>In addition to her work with the WRC, Riggle is actively involved in advocacy for women in higher education. She is the newly elected co-chair of National Women’s Studies Association Women’s Center Committee as well as a member of the Women in Student Affairs Knowledge Community within the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA).
GT: How did you become interested in working with female students?
CR: During my time in graduate school, I had the opportunity to work with the Women’s Resource Center in its infancy. I felt passionately about the programs and services the Center was creating. During my tenure at the University of Tampa, I had the opportunity to create and develop a new Women’s Resource Center, so when the WRC Coordinator position was created at Georgia Tech in June 2006, it was a natural career path for me. Being the Director of a Women’s Center is an honor I’ve always wanted to achieve.
GT: Why did you decide to work at Georgia Tech?
CR: I came to Georgia Tech specifically to work at the WRC. It was a perfect fit with my experience and passion for working on sexual violence initiatives. Yvette Upton [founder and the first director of the WRC] was—and still is—a wonderful mentor and friend who supported me during my four years as the WRC’s coordinator.
GT: Why are you interested in issues surrounding sexual violence?
CR: I realized early in grad school how prevalent sexual violence is on a college campus and there is a lot that people can do just to educate themselves and be aware. My interest grew from there. I learned more about it, and found that I knew people who had experienced it. That sort of draws you in.
GT: What are you most looking forward to in your new role?
CR: I am truly excited about leading the Women’s Resource Center into the future and serving on the management team for the Office of the Dean of Students. I am thrilled to support other members of the team.
GT: What is your vision for the Women’s Resource Center?
CR: The WRC celebrated its tenth anniversary 2008, and we’re proud to be viewed as a ‘best practice’ that offers superior programming to female students. Utilizing the WRC Advisory Board and student input, I am interested in continuing the high level of programming and exploring additional services and program that might be of interest to staff and faculty. In addition, I would like to explore development opportunities for the center, while assisting with the recruitment and retention of women students. I also hope to bring more technology into the center to help people stay connected and be more aware.
GT: Can the campus community anticipate any changes to the WRC?
CR: With any new leadership position, it’s best to assess first before making any changes. I anticipate that there will be changes over the next few years in order to move the Center to the next level.
GT: How would you describe the “next level” for the WRC?
CR: A lot of people are aware that the WRC is at Tech. We are at a point where we are doing good programs and services for students. We want to think about how the future of WRC ties in to the Georgia Tech Strategic Plan over the next five, ten and 15 years. Are there ways that we could be supporting women faculty and staff on campus? I am not sure exactly what that looks like, but I think I will spend the next year exploring and conducting assessments to get a clearer picture. We are mainly here to serve students, but if faculty and staff have any issues they want us to look at, let us know. It is something we want to explore.
GT: What kind of programming does the WRC currently sponsor?
CR: We offer programming year-round, such as sexual violence prevention, field trips to the Fox Theatre, or camping. In the fall may have a documentary series. A lot of people just walk in to the WRC to chat or talk through a situation. We always try to provide support or resources if a student needs help. We often act as mediator to help them work through issues with other individuals.
GT: Are there any new or existing initiatives or programs that the WRC will be rolling out this year?
CR: This will be a year of transition as I move into my new role and hire a new Women’s Resource Center Coordinator. I anticipate using this year to look forward to reflect on the next ten years of the WRC at Georgia Tech, as well as gather feedback from students and faculty to determine the strategic vision for the WRC.
GT: How are students, faculty, and staff currently involved in the center?
CR: Students are involved in Women’s Awareness Month and the Women’s Leadership Conference. We also have several students that work in the front area of the center, welcoming and helping support students that visit the WLC. Faculty and staff are involved in an advisory capacity and in tasks forces [such as the sexual violence task force]. We have a lot of people that want to volunteer their time at events such as Take Back the Night. We also work closely with Health Promotions and Housing. We try to collaborate with other departments on all of our programs.
GT: How can individual or groups get involved with the WRC?
CR: We are always looking for volunteers. If a person is interested they should set up a meeting with me so we can discuss how to use his or her talents. People can follow us via our website, twitter, or facebook.
]]>By adding ultraviolet light to a model prebiotic reaction, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Roma, “La Sapienza”, have discovered a route by which the missing guanine could have been formed. They also found that the RNA bases may have been easier to form than previously thought -- suggesting that starting life on Earth might not have been so difficult after all.
The findings are reported June 14, 2010 in the journal ChemBioChem. This collaborative work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the European Space Agency. The NSF funding is provided through the Center for Chemical Evolution at Georgia Tech.
Understanding how life emerged is one of the greatest scientific challenges. There is considerable evidence that the evolution of life passed through an early stage in which RNA played a more central role, before DNA and protein enzymes appeared.
Recent efforts to understand the prebiotic formation of the building blocks of RNA have focused on the chemical formamide (H2NCOH) as a potential starting material to create the RNA bases because it contains the four required elements -- carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen -- and because of its stability, reactivity and low volatility compared to water. Previous reports have shown that these nucleic acid components -- with the exception of guanine -- can be synthesized by heating formamide to 160 degrees Celsius in the presence of mineral catalysts.
In their ChemBioChem paper, the researchers show for the first time that guanine can be produced by subjecting a solution of formamide to ultraviolet radiation during heating. The trace gaunine yield was greatly enhanced when minerals and photons were used together. In addition, production of adenine and a related molecule called hypoxanthine increased when ultraviolet light was added to the heating process -- a 15-fold increase was seen in adenine yield.
“These results potentially relax some of the requirements and reactions necessary to get life started, because formamide molecules would not have had to be in contact with a particular type of rock when heated on the prebiotic Earth, if the formamide was exposed to direct sunlight during heating,” said Nicholas Hud, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
The study demonstrated that guanine, adenine and hypoxanthine can be produced at lower temperatures than previously reported, even in the absence of minerals, as long as photons are added.
“For these experiments we built a very simple reaction chamber with an inexpensive 254-nanometer photon source to simulate conditions that could have been present on early Earth,” explained Thomas Orlando, also a professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “We didn’t need extremely sophisticated experimental systems or expensive lasers; however, we did use sophisticated mass spectrometers to analyze the resulting complex chemical mixtures.”
The Hud and Orlando laboratories conducted experiments by heating formamide to 130 degrees Celsius -- 30 degrees cooler than previous experiments -- and shining ultraviolet light onto it.
“Our work has allowed us to consider a different type of ‘primordial soup’ than what has previously been considered possible starting conditions for life,” said Orlando. “Our model prebiotic reaction is attractive because most aspects of the process were likely to occur on the early Earth and it reduces chemical constraints.”
The authors suggest that aqueous pools containing small amounts of formamide may have existed on the early Earth. During hot and dry periods, water evaporation could have given rise to concentrated solutions of formamide and exposed mineral surfaces coated with formamide.
By conducting additional experiments at 100 degrees Celsius with solutions of formamide and water, the researchers confirmed that this “drying pool” model could give rise to solutions of formamide capable of producing the compounds found in their earlier experiments.
“While there is still a lot of chemistry required for us to better understand the formation of biological molecules needed for life, these one-pot reactions that occur due to the synergy of thermal and photochemical processes tell us that the chemical and environmental requirements to produce life are probably less restrictive than we once thought,” added Hud.
Sapienza University professor of molecular biology Ernesto Di Mauro, and Georgia Tech chemistry graduate students Hannah Barks and Ragan Buckley and research scientist Gregory Grieves also contributed to this work.
This project is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award No. CHE-0739189) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (Award Nos. NNG05GP20G and NNX08AO14G). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigator and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NSF or NASA.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel Robinson (404-385-3364; abby@innovate.gatech.edu) or John Toon (404-894-6986; jtoon@gatech.edu).
Writer: Abby Vogel Robinson
]]>Barely visible without a microscope, rotifers eat algae and serve primarily as food for baby fish. But the females of certain rotifer species can do something quite unusual: they can reproduce asexually by creating clones of themselves, or they can initiate a process that allows sexual reproduction by producing male rotifers.
The chemical mediator for this change from asexual to sexual reproduction turns out to be progesterone – a simple molecule that also plays a vital role in regulating reproduction and sexual development in humans and many other species. Finding this sex steroid and its receptor in simple rotifers suggests that the progesterone signaling technique dates back hundreds of millions of years.
“This has really important evolutionary implications,” said Julia Kubanek, an associate professor in the School of Biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology and one of the study’s principal authors. “Our study shows that the identical steroid molecule found in humans and rotifers is used for two very different aspects of reproduction.”
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the research was published June 14, 2010, in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study is believed to be the first to document the use of progesterone in the lineage of simple animals that includes rotifers – and has been largely unchanged for millions of years.
Most animals reproduce sexually, a method that makes a species more adaptable by facilitating the elimination of bad genes and creating potentially beneficial new gene combinations. Very simple organisms, such as bacteria, reproduce through cell division and obtain new genetic material from the environment.
The rotifer species Brachionus manjavacas is somewhere in between. During most of the year, the rotifer population consists only of females, which reproduce by creating clones of themselves. But when unfavorable environmental conditions threaten – such as the loss of algae food – about a third of the rotifer population switches to sexual reproduction, which is the only way the creatures can produce eggs able to survive through a long winter.
Kubanek and her collaborators wanted to understand what was triggering that change, which begins with the production of male rotifers. The switching appears to depend on a pheromone protein that the rotifers release into the water to indicate that other rotifers are nearby. When the rotifer population grows large enough to create a significant concentration of that protein, females start laying eggs that can develop as males. A population large enough to do that usually doesn’t build up until fall in North America – when winter and the end of the algae food supply are near.
“The rotifers are pretty good at figuring out when conditions are getting bad and when it’s time to produce males, have sex, make these overwintering eggs and call it a day,” Kubanek said. “They are really making some fairly sophisticated decisions about when to have sex, and when to go it alone.”
To understand the complex process, the researchers combined several different research techniques to piece the puzzle together.
Professor Terry Snell in Georgia Tech’s School of Biology, along with his students and collaborators at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, studied the partially-sequenced genome of the rotifer and located a receptor for a progesterone-like molecule. Then, using a fluorescent probe developed by James La Clair of the Xenobe Research Institute in San Diego, Paige Stout, a Ph.D. student in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry showed that progesterone binds to a receptor in the reproductive systems of female rotifers.
The researchers gained further evidence of progesterone receptor’s presence through the use of affinity chromatography, which used the same probe system to extract the receptor from a mixture of proteins contained in the rotifers. Further, mass spectrometry indicated the presence of progesterone at parts-per-billion levels in rotifer mass.
Finally, Snell and School of Biology research scientist Tonya Shearer demonstrated a direct connection between the hormone and the switch to sexual reproduction in the rotifers. They used RNA interference (RNAi) technology to silence the gene controlling the progesterone receptor, which reduced by nearly two-thirds the number of animals switching over to sexual reproduction in response to the progesterone signal.
“This suggests that progesterone is important in this switch from asexual to sexual reproduction,” Stout said. “Progesterone is certainly involved in the process, though there may be more going on in a cascade process that we haven’t yet seen.”
Beyond explaining how chemical signaling mechanisms crucial to both rotifers and humans evolved over time, the research can also help researchers understand the interplay between the environment, metabolism, hormones and behaviors.
“We can learn things from working with rotifers that touch upon human biology, including – in this case – the universality of steroids in reproduction and how steroids are used differently in different animals,” Kubanek said. “When we experiment with rotifers in the lab, we can manipulate their behavior, physiology and metabolic pathways to determine how these steroids are made and used.”
Though the researchers were looking for progesterone in the rotifers, finding the same molecule that is essential to humans still came as a surprise.
“It’s a very complex system for such a simple organism,” said Stout, whose primary research focuses on complex potential pharmaceutical compounds produced by marine organisms such as seaweeds. “Though we were certainly looking for it, I was surprised to see progesterone and not some derivative of it.”
This research was supported by National Science Foundation grant BE/GenEn MCB-0412674. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu) or Abby Vogel Robinson (404-385-3364)(abby@innovate.gatech.edu).
Writer: John Toon
]]>Schwan, who joined the Georgia Tech computer science faculty in 1988, directs the Center for Experimental Research in Computer Systems (CERCS) in the College of Computing. Now the College's sixth Regents' Professor, he is a member of the School of Computer Science's systems research group, working in high performance, real-time and ubiquitous applications.
"Regents' Professorships are granted by the Board of Regents to outstanding tenured, full professors, based on excellence in research and contributions to their profession and to Georgia Tech," Institute President Bud Peterson wrote to Schwan in announcing the appointment. "This honor is evidence of the outstanding reputation you have developed among your peers not only at Georgia Tech but throughout the research community. Your innovative scholarship and noteworthy achievements have helped Georgia Tech to become one of the premier research universities in the world."
Schwan earned both his master's and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University. He deferred much of the credit for his appointment to his fellow CERCS researchers.
"A big part of receiving this honor," Schwan said, "is due to my excellent colleagues and collaborators who, by helping to create CERCS and thereby pooling their talents and activities, have been able to attain a degree of national prominence and impact that would otherwise not have been possible."
CERCS has established itself in three major research areas: cloud computing, high performance computing and multicore systems. The center works in collaboration with major industry partners such as Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel and NVidia.
]]>“Georgia Tech’s Fulbright recipients are not just going to learn in another country, they are also contributing their own knowledge. There is mutual benefit in the ambassadorial spirit of the Fulbright program,” said Karen Adams, interim director of Georgia Tech’s Fellowship Communication Program. “Through the Fulbright program, our students and alumni are finding their places in the world.”
Over the previous two decades, two dozen Tech students have earned Fulbright Scholarships, representing the Institute across the globe. “In the past three years, 12 Georgia Tech Fulbright winners have served in Japan, two in Germany and Indonesia, and others in Poland, Tunisia, Switzerland, and Mexico,” Adams said. “This coming year, students will travel to the European Union, Cyprus, and Mongolia.”
Climate Change in Mongolia
Causey, currently earning his master’s degree in civil engineering will spend 10 months in Mongolia studying the effects of climate change on the Tuul River and its people. An avid fly fisherman and world traveler, Causey has “a special appreciation for contributing to protecting one of the world’s most pristine river systems.” Causey also has a special appreciation for Georgia Tech. His grandfather, who graduated from Tech in 1935, instilled in him a sense of the Institute’s “academic excellence.”
Causey’s interest in the Fulbright Scholarship was the result of both an international and academic experience. “The combination of a semester abroad to Denmark and undergraduate research with [Professor] Donald Webster sparked an interest in international research,” said Causey. “The Fulbright program interested me because in addition to being an academic research program, its primary aim is to foster mutual understanding."
Causey devotes much of his spare time to addressing global humanitarian issues. He is involved in the Georgia Tech Initiative for Development and Education in Africa (GTIDEA) and is a tutor at the International Community School in Atlanta through the Georgia Tech Office of International Education.
Computers and Conflict in Cyprus
Wang, a recent graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Economics and Law, Science, and Technology, plans to use her Fulbright in Cyprus implementing computer-assisted conflict resolution. “I look forward to applying the technical engineering knowledge I have learned at Georgia Tech to a real-world international affairs situation,” said Wang.
“I have always been interested in computer applications in international affairs and policy,” said Wang. “I was looking for a fellowship opportunity to go abroad for a year, and the Fulbright seemed a perfect match.” She credits School of Public Policy Professor Hans Klein for encouraging her interest in the Fulbright. “Dr. Klein convinced me to apply to the Fulbright and helped me through the application process. He has been a source of invaluable guidance throughout my time at Georgia Tech with career advice and networking help.”
Originally from Zhengzhou, China, Wang now calls Marietta, Georgia, home. After graduating from Walton High School, she chose to come to Georgia Tech “because of a great offer from the President's Scholarship Program here. The scholarship offered an impressive network of support as well as financial support, which convinced me to choose Georgia Tech over MIT and Caltech,” she said.
Transportation Infrastructure and Climate Change in Europe
Second-year civil engineering doctoral student Thomas Wall will study the relationship between climate change and transportation infrastructure at two universities in Europe. “I applied for a Fulbright because of the opportunity it afforded to conduct research at ground zero — that is, at two of the leading universities, The University of Oxford and the University of Amsterdam — in my chosen field of study: potential impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure,” said Wall. “I am looking forward to the opportunity to exchange thoughts and research ideas with researchers to further our collective understanding of the potential impacts that climate change will have on transportation infrastructure and to develop methodologies to best adapt our current management practices given this context of changing climate.”
Originally deterred from applying for the Fulbright because he thought it would not fund engineering studies, Wall quickly learned that many of his fellow Georgia Tech engineering students had participated in the program. “After speaking with my current adviser, Professor Michael Meyer, we decided that the Fulbright would be a good experience, applicable to my research interests and an opportunity to gain an international perspective on climate change in relation to transportation,” he said.
Wall came to Georgia Tech from Seattle because of the Institute’s “strong, nationally competitive transportation engineering program,” and the amicability of the faculty, staff and students. He also is carrying on a family tradition. “My grandfather was a civil engineer in California, who worked for an international design and construction firm,” Wall said. “He worked on projects all around the Pacific Rim. His career is a very personal illustration of the responsibility that we have as civil engineers to the public. It also illustrates the global nature of that responsibility — the responsibility to positively affect communities outside of the U.S. and foster international exchange.” In addition to his studies, Wall actively seeks out ways to help the global community through his involvement in the Georgia Tech chapter of Engineers Without Borders.
About the Fulbright
Named after Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Scholarship was established in 1946 as a vehicle for promoting “mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and the people of other countries of the world.” Grants are made to United States citizens and nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools. Approximately 280,000 students — chosen for academic merit and leadership potential — have participated in the program, enjoying the opportunity to exchange ideas and to contribute to finding solutions to shared issues.
]]>"This assay is important because researchers and pharmaceutical companies need a dependable method for sensitively detecting a small amount of cathepsin K and quantifying its activity to develop inhibitors to the enzyme that can fight the diseases while minimizing side effects," said Manu Platt, an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.
Cathepsin K is required to maintain adequate calcium levels in the body, but it can be highly destructive because it has the ability to break down bone by degrading collagen and elastin.
Platt described the cathepsin K detection protocol in the June issue of the journal Analytical Biochemistry. This research was funded by new faculty support from Georgia Tech, and the Facilitating Academic Careers in Engineering and Science Scholars (FACES) and Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering (SURE) programs at Georgia Tech.
The benefits of this assay over existing techniques are numerous, according to Platt. The major advantage of this protocol, he said, is the definitive knowledge that mature cathepsin K is being detected in cells and tissues -- and not its immature form or one of the other 10 cathepsin varieties: B, H, L, S, C, O, F, V, X or W.
Another advantage of this technique is that it is more sensitive and less expensive than current, less reliable techniques. The new assay allows cathepsin K to be detected in quantities as small as a few femtomoles and does not require antibodies, which can be expensive and cannot be used across different species.
"In our experiments we were able to detect mature cathepsin K activity in quantities as small as 3.45 femtomoles with zymography, which was 10 to 50 times more sensitive at detecting the enzyme than conventional Western blotting," noted Platt, who is also a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar.
In addition, zymography allowed the researchers to measure the activity of the enzyme, whereas Western blotting just measured its presence.
To detect mature cathepsin K with gelatin zymography, Platt and Georgia Tech undergraduate student Weiwei Li first separated the enzymes present in cells by their molecular weights. This allowed them to distinguish the mature form of cathepsin K from the immature form and other cathepsin varieties.
Then, to verify the identity and presence of mature cathepsin K, the team activated the enzymes in the gel. They created the perfect acidic environment for cathepsin K to thrive and added inhibitors to block the activity of all enzymes except mature cathepsin K.
To validate the cathepsin K activity detected in the laboratory experiments, Platt and Georgia Tech undergraduate student Zachary Barry developed a computational kinetic model of the enzyme's activity. By solving a system of differential equations, they were able to calculate the concentrations of immature, mature and inactive cathepsin K present at all times during the experimental procedure.
"It is more challenging to work with enzymes than proteins because enzymes have to be functional, which means they have to be folded correctly to be active," explained Platt. "The model suggested that even after the slight denaturation and refolding required by our assay, the cathepsin K activity determined by zymography reflected what happens in nature and was not an artifact of the experimental procedure."
The model also predicted something unexpected -- the inactive form of cathepsin K commonly purchased from supply houses contained 20 percent mature enzyme.
"Cathepsins are implicated in many different diseases and the value of this assay is that it enables the measurement of previously undeterminable cathepsin activity in normal and diseased cells and tissues," noted Platt.
With this assay, Platt’s team is currently investigating whether cathepsin K activity is different in the cells of individuals with metastatic and non-metastatic breast and prostate cancers, and the role of cathepsin K in cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke, in children with sickle cell anemia. They are also examining whether cathepsin K plays a role in the inflammation associated with HIV.
"This research should provide new information on a number of existing pathophysiological conditions where cathepsin K activity had been previously undetectable," added Platt.
Additional contributors to this work included Georgia Tech research technologists Catera Wilder and Philip Keegan; former graduate student Rebecca Deeds; and Joshua Cohen, a summer researcher at Georgia Tech and currently an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (avogel@gatech.edu)(404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu)(404-894-6986)
Writer: Abby Vogel
]]>As a member of the council, Ries will work with Gov. Perdue, fourappointed Georgia lawmakers, the chairpersons of the Georgia Chamber ofCommerce and the National Federation of Independent Business, andrepresentatives from Georgia State University, the University of Georgia, andMercer University. The council will study the state’s revenue structureand develop tax code recommendations that will be submitted to thelegislature’s Special Joint Committee on Georgia Revenue Structure. Thecouncil’s report will support formulation of new tax code legislationthat will be presented to Georgia lawmakers for a vote in January.
]]>Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
404-894-1720
]]>In his position, Giddens plans to emphasize innovations in education in today’s rapidly changing world; stress the vital importance of diversity in engineering and engineering technology programs; work closely with the board, membership and national office to assist in engaging ASEE more closely with other critical organizations, such as the National Academy of Engineering and National Science Foundation; and serve as a spokesperson for engineering and engineering technology education nationally and internationally. ASEE has more than 12,000 members in the United States.
]]>]]>
404-894-6016
]]>Georgia Tech President G.P. "Bud" Peterson was the main speaker, reviewing the ATDC's history and congratulating members of the Committee of Twenty -- Georgia Tech alumni whose interest in technology startups during the late 1970s led to formation of the incubator.
"It's really a pleasure to be here to celebrate this 30-year anniversary and to be able to reflect back on some of the great successes of the ATDC," Peterson told a crowd of entrepreneurs assembled in the ballroom of the Georgia Tech Hotel. "There are many, many positive things that have resulted from this organization and its interaction with people in this community, the greater Atlanta area, the state of Georgia -- and all across the country."
Stephen Fleming, Georgia Tech vice president and executive director of the Enterprise Innovation Institute, reviewed progress made by the ATDC in expanding membership and increasing program offerings over the past year.
"If you are a Georgia technology entrepreneur, we will help you no matter where you are located in the state or what your background is," he said. "In addition to our brick-and-mortar facilities in Atlanta and Savannah, we are spreading across the rest of the state, which is part of our mandate."
Nearly a year ago, ATDC opened its membership to all technology companies in Georgia. On the day of the Showcase, ATDC had 321 members. "That makes us the largest technology incubator, as far as I know, in the world," Fleming added.
The startup accelerator still focuses on companies that are developing new technologies, but no longer emphasizes raising venture capital. That's because many entrepreneurs are now bootstrapping their operations or have independent sources of funding, Fleming said.
Even with the incubator's reduced fund-raising focus and the down economy, ATDC companies still raised a total of at least $150 million in venture capital during the past year, Fleming said.
ATDC is also expanding the geographic breadth of its operations beyond its physical incubators in Atlanta and Savannah. At the Showcase, Fleming announced that ATDC would begin offering educational programs in Gwinnett County, along with regular office hours to meet entrepreneurs -- though there are no current plans to provide incubator space there.
He also noted that ATDC has resumed its focus on biosciences companies with the hiring of two staff members -- Nina Sawczuk and Harold Shlevin -- both with long experience in the life sciences industry.
Fleming congratulated representatives from four companies that had met requirements for graduating from the incubator. The four -- CommerceV3, Endgame Systems, Izenda Reports and Purewire -- joined 120 other companies on a list of ATDC graduates that goes back to 1986.
President Peterson took note of ATDC's best known graduate: Suniva, which became the Southeast's first manufacturer of photovoltaic cells in 2009. The firm grew out of research in Georgia Tech's University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaics Research and Education, which is part of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
"Suniva has created more than 150 clean-energy jobs manufacturing high-efficiency solar cells," Peterson noted. The company was recently recognized by U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, who called it "the poster child for the new energy economy."
About the ATDC: The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) is a startup accelerator that helps Georgia technology entrepreneurs launch and build successful companies. For 30 years, ATDC has helped create millions of dollars in tax revenues by graduating more than 120 companies, which together have raised more than a billion dollars in outside financing. ATDC has provided business incubation and acceleration services to thousands of Georgia entrepreneurs.
Recently, ATDC expanded its mission by merging with Georgia Tech's VentureLab and with the Georgia SBIR Assistance Program, which are also part of Georgia Tech's Enterprise Innovation Institute. This change has enabled ATDC to greatly extend its reach to serve more technology companies along multiple growth paths and at all stages of development. ATDC has opened its membership to all technology entrepreneurs in Georgia, from those at the earliest conception stage to the well-established, venture-fundable companies.
Enterprise Innovation Institute
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu) or Nancy Fullbright (912-963-2509)(nancy.fullbright@innovate.gatech.edu).
Writer: John Toon
]]>Volunteers will exercise 30 minutes per day, 3 times per week for 5 weeks. In addition, Volunteers will also need to attend a pre evaluation, post evaluation and information session. Each of these sessions will last approximately 1 to 2 hours. Participants must be 18 years or older, and already exercise at least twice a week.
Volunteers will not be compensated. Contact Linda Harley with questions if you are interested in participating.
]]>770.561.1825
]]>Michelle LaPlaca, assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on Wednesday examining Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in veterans and progress being made in treating this wound.
LaPlaca shared her research experience in diagnosing and treating TBI along with her collaborations with the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Video and a textual transcript of her testimony can be found at the proceeding link.
]]>
]]>
404-894-6016
]]>By registering your internship, you will gain the following benefits:
A free audit-credit internshipcourse, which does not affect financial aid or scholarships, includingHope,
Inclusion of your internship will appear on your Georgia Tech transcript,
Maintain full-time student status while working,
Documents to help you set goals and obtain performance feedback from your internship supervisor.
To register your internship, schedule a meeting on P2D2 before Wednesday,May 12, or drop by DoPP's offices during in during walk-in hours. Walk-in hours will be heldthroughout Phase II Registration (May 12 - 21) from 10 a.m. - Noon and1:30 - 3:30PM. Please be sure to bring a paper copy of your offer letteror offer email.
]]>While competition between seaweed and coral is just one of many factors affecting the decline of coral reefs worldwide, this chemical threat may provide a serious setback to efforts aimed at repopulating damaged reefs. Seaweeds are normally kept in check by herbivorous fish, but in many areas overfishing has reduced the populations of these plant-consumers, allowing seaweeds to overpopulate coral reefs.
A study documenting the chemical effects of seaweeds on corals was published May 10, 2010, in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Teasely Endowments at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
"Between 40 and 70 percent of the seaweeds we studied killed corals," said Mark Hay, a professor in the School of Biology at Georgia Tech. "We don't know how significant this is compared to other problems affecting coral, but we know this is a growing problem. For reefs that have been battered by human use or overfishing, the presence of seaweeds may prevent natural recovery from happening at all."
Coral reefs are declining worldwide, and scientists studying the problem had suspected that proliferation of seaweed was part of the cause -- perhaps by crowding out the coral or by damaging it physically.
Using racks of coral being transplanted as part of repopulation efforts, Hay and graduate student Douglas Rasher compared the fate of corals from two different species when they were placed next to different types of seaweed common around Fijian reefs in the Pacific -- and Panamanian reefs in Caribbean. They planted the seaweeds next to coral being transplanted -- and also placed plastic plants next to some of the coral to simulate the effects of shading and mechanical damage. Other coral in the racks had neither seaweeds nor plastic plants near them.
The researchers revisited the coral two days, 10 days and 20 days later. In as little as two days, corals in contact with some seaweed species bleached and died in areas of direct contact. In other cases, the effects took a full 20 days to appear -- or for some seaweed species, no damaging effects were noted during the 20-day period. Ultimately, as much as 70 percent of the seaweed species studied turned out to have harmful effects -- but only when they were in direct contact with the coral.
To confirm that chemical factors were responsible, Hay and Rasher extracted chemicals from the seaweeds -- and from only the surfaces of the seaweeds. They then applied both types of chemicals to corals by placing the chemicals into gel matrix bound to a strip of window screen, forming something similar to a gauze bandage and applying that directly to the corals. To a control group of corals, they applied the gel and screen without the seaweed chemicals.
The effects confirmed that chemicals from both the surface of certain seaweeds and extracts from those entire plants killed corals.
"In all cases where the coral had been harmed, the chemistry appeared to be responsible for it," said Hay. "The evolutionary reasons why the seaweeds have these compounds are not known. It may be that these compounds protect the seaweeds against microbial infection, or that they help compete with other seaweeds. But it's clear now that they also harm the corals, either by killing them or suppressing their growth."
The researchers studied coral of different species in the Pacific and Caribbean, matching them up against different species of seaweed common to their geographic areas. The coral species chosen – Porites porites in Panama and Porites cylindrica in Fiji -- are among the hardiest of coral, suggesting that other species may be even more dramatically affected by the seaweed compounds.
In the Caribbean, five of the seven seaweeds studied caused bleaching of the coral, while in the Pacific, three of eight species studied caused the effect.
The harmful chemicals affect only coral in direct contact with the seaweed, suggesting the compounds are not soluble in water, Hay noted. The effects -- which were measured through photographic image analysis and Pulse-Amplitude-Modulated fluorometry -- also varied considerably, with certain seaweeds showing stronger impacts than others.
Conducted during 2008 and 2009, the study adds new information about the decline of reefs worldwide, and reinforces the importance of maintaining a healthy ecosystem that includes enough herbivorous fish to keep seaweed under control.
"Removing the herbivorous fishes really sets up a cascade of effects," said Hay, who holds the Harry and Linda Teasely Chair in the Georgia Tech School of Biology. "The more you fish, the more seaweeds there are. The more seaweeds there are, the more damage is done to the coral. The less coral there is, the fewer fish will be recruited to an area. If there are fewer fish, the seaweeds outgrow the coral. It's a downward death spiral that may be difficult to recover from."
In earlier research, Hay and other researchers demonstrated that keeping fish away from coral reefs fuels the growth of seaweeds, and that certain fish are responsible for eating specific seaweed species. That information could help guide fisheries management by encouraging protection of fish that control the most harmful seaweeds.
"The most damaging seaweed in our study is eaten voraciously by one species of fish, and no other species will touch it," Hay said. "Now that we know that seaweeds can kill coral through these chemical means, it is even more important to understand which herbivores control which seaweeds so we can consider additional protections for these critical fish species, even outside of normal marine protected areas."
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grants DGE 0114400 and OCE 0929119 and by the National Institutes of Health under grant U01 TW007401-01. The comments and conclusions in this news release are those of the principal investigator and do not necessarily reflect the official view of the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308
Media Relations Assistance: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364)(avogel@gatech.edu).
Technical Contact: Mark Hay (404-894-8429)(mark.hay@biology.gatech.edu).
Writer: John Toon
]]>“We are proud of this group of startup companies and the level of success they have achieved; they are representative of the types of companies that have been successful during the first 30 years of our existence,” said Stephen Fleming, vice president and director of the ATDC. “As we open our doors to a larger number of quality entrepreneurs and startup companies, we believe that the number of companies that we can assist will grow.”
Each year ATDC member companies that have attained rigorous growth milestones are selected to graduate from the startup incubator. The 2010 graduating companies are:
* CommerceV3, a provider of an order-management system that allows users to create, launch and grow customized web storefronts;
* Endgame Systems, an organization of highly-skilled information security veterans providing advanced vulnerability research programs and next-generation security solutions;
* Izenda, a company that delivers a fully-integrable add-on to software developers that gives end users the ability to create and customize reports; and
* PureWire, a web security software-as-a-service vendor that secures business and social interactions on the web.
For more information about the Showcase or to RSVP, please contact Melissa Zbeeb at melissa.zbeeb@atdc.org or visit www.atdc.org/services/showcase. The cost to attend the event is $10 per person.
About the ATDC:
The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) is a startup accelerator that helps Georgia technology entrepreneurs launch and build successful companies. Founded in 1980, ATDC has helped create millions of dollars in tax revenues by graduating more than 120 companies, which together have raised more than a billion dollars in outside financing. ATDC has provided business incubation and acceleration services to hundreds of Georgia startups – most of which are not based on Georgia Tech research, but which benefit from the close proximity to the university.
Recently ATDC expanded its mission by merging with Georgia Tech’s VentureLab and with the Georgia Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Assistance Program. This change has enabled ATDC to greatly extend its reach to serve more technology companies along multiple growth paths and at all stages of development. ATDC has opened its membership to all technology entrepreneurs in Georgia, from those at the earliest conception stage to the well-established, venture-fundable companies.
ATDC is part of the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2) at Georgia Tech, which helps Georgia enterprises improve their competitiveness through the application of science, technology and innovation. ATDC currently has three facilities; two at Georgia Tech’s main campus in Atlanta, and one at Georgia Tech’s satellite campus in Savannah.
Research News & Publications Office
Enterprise Innovation Institute
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: Nancy Fullbright (912-963-2509); E-mail: (nancy.fullbright@innovate.gatech.edu) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail (john.toon@innovate.gatech.edu).
Writer: Nancy Fullbright
]]>As part of its mission "to identify, assess, and determine campus needs in e-mail and collaboration services," OIT created a 5-minute survey and is inviting members of the campus community to join a pilot team that will test new features and functionality.
On Monday, May 17, OIT will host a community meeting in the Student Center Theater, where they will share results from the survey, as well as some of the future enhancements to Zimbra, including a major upgrade that will add social networking capabilities to my.gatech.edu.
]]>Two years ago the Office of Emergency Preparedness collaborated with the Office of Organizational Development (OOD) to implement the Emergency Preparedness Certificate Program. Classes cover topics such as fire safety, first aid, crime prevention and emergency planning. The program offers a mix of classroom and online instruction — all free of charge — most of which are 90 minutes long. Participants must complete five required courses and two electives to earn the certificate.
According to Andy Altizer, director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness, they are taking the show on the road. Departments interested in individualized Emergency Preparedness classes can schedule an instructor conduct the class in your building. It's a great way to have staff refresh their knowledge on some personal skills as well as the emergency resources available on campus.
]]>Fibrin forms when an enzyme removes parts of a blood protein called fibrinogen, exposing “knobs” that fit into “holes” located on both ends of fibrinogen molecules. Uncovering these knobs allows the fibrinogen molecules to attach to one another, forming a fibrin network. To inhibit unwanted fibrin formation, researchers have developed synthetic knobs to fill the holes, but the best amino acid sequence and structure for these knobs have not been well investigated.
A new study published online in the journal Blood reveals factors that could improve the binding of synthetic fibrin knobs to holes and the structures of these knobs in solution. The study also identifies a novel synthetic knob that displays a 10-fold higher affinity for fibrinogen holes than current synthetic knobs. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation.
“Understanding the fundamentals of this knob-hole interaction will lead to a more thorough knowledge of fibrin assembly mechanisms and allow us to establish criteria for designing superior anticoagulants with high hole affinity that can inhibit fibrin assembly,” said Thomas Barker, an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.
Barker, postdoctoral fellow Sarah Stabenfeldt and School of Computational Science and Engineering graduate student Jared Gossett investigated the interactions between holes and short synthetic peptides modeled after real fibrin knob sequences. They focused specifically on modeling the binding interaction and characterizing the structure of the peptides in solution.
Using a technique called surface plasmon resonance, the research team explored the role of structural and electrostatic properties in regulating the binding of knobs to holes. The structural properties of knob peptides in an aqueous environment had not been examined previously because the small peptides could not be crystallized for structural X-ray studies.
“Researchers previously measured how knob molecules bound to holes in a saturated solution,” explained Barker, “but we wanted to know how fast the knobs were binding to the holes and the length of time the knob and hole interacted to determine if we could optimize these parameters to inhibit fibrin formation.”
The researchers measured the hole binding characteristics of six different knob sequences -- each seven or eight amino acids in length -- to evaluate the impact of additional backbone stabilization and/or different charge distributions. They found that the binding rates improved significantly by adding two amino acids, called proline and phenylalanine, for stabilization and having charged configurations in the sixth and seventh positions in the sequences.
“Investigating these binding events under dynamic conditions provided critical information, but the results didn’t really surprise us,” noted Barker. “Small peptides in aqueous solutions ‘wiggle’ a lot, so the more stable the molecules are in their active structural state, the better chance they have of establishing a good knob-hole interaction because they’re not changing their shape as much.”
Analyzing the structural dynamics of the peptides through simulation indicated that the orientation of the arginine amino acid side chain and backbone stability contributed significantly to functional binding of the knobs and holes.
During their investigation, the researchers also identified a novel knob peptide mimic (GPRPFPAC) that exhibited a binding rate to holes one order of magnitude higher than previously published knob sequences -- even surpassing the binding activity of the gold standard mimic (GPRPAAC). Future studies will involve modifying this novel peptide further to enhance its ability to inhibit fibrin formation for applications when blood clotting is undesirable.
The surface plasmon resonance and modeling techniques used in this study enable peptide sequences to be modified and optimized to control the typical wound healing matrix.
“An additional goal for this technology is to develop a viable delivery strategy for synthetically engineered fibrin glue so that we can guide and control the body’s response to an injury,” added Barker.
Shuming Nie, the Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished Faculty Chair in Biomedical Engineering, and Steve Harvey, a professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Biology, also contributed to this research.
This project is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (Award Nos. 1R21EB008463 and K12GM0007680). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigator and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NIH.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (avogel@gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986)
Writer: Abby Vogel
]]>“It may, however, surprise you to learn that during the worst quarter of the last recession small businesses added 82 percent of all new jobs and those jobs were concentrated in firms with 50 or fewer workers,” Boston told the representatives. “As of the last business census in 2002, minority-owned firms comprised 18 percent of all U.S. small businesses and their number is increasing at a rate that greatly exceeds that of non-minority-owned firms.”
Boston went on to say that he supported the creation of an "Office of Minority and Women Inclusion" as it was defined in The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (H. R. 4173), because he thought it could be an effective and creative way to help level the playing field among American businesses. The office would go beyond an attempt to achieve social equity, he said.
“Much like the unemployment compensation act initiated during the Great Depression, this bill can be viewed solely on its merits as an effective approach to economic stimulus, poverty reduction, community revitalization and job creation among minority workers in distressed central cities,” said Boston.
The meeting was chaired by representatives Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Dennis Moore (D-KS). To view a full list of the witnesses and their testimony, click on the link below.
]]>F-π-9 will follow the success of previous F-π conferences organized in Japan (Osaka in 1989, 1999, and 2006 and Kobe in 1992), the United States (Santa Cruz in 1995 and Ithaca in 2004), Germany (Ulm in 2002) and Austria (Graz in 2008). The conference started as the "International Symposium on Functional Dyes"; however, to broaden the scope of the conference and to adjust to developments in academic and industrial research, the name was changed to the "International Symposium on Functional π-Electron Systems" in 2002.
“Bringing the Ninth International Conference on Functional Pi-Electron Systems to Georgia Tech is a tribute to the strength and breadth of the faculty, students and staff in this area. It is a recognition of the impact that the Center for Organic Electronics and Photonics has had locally, nationally and internationally,” said Marder.
F-π-9 will attract around 500 participants from all over the world to discuss their new results in the context of conjugated polymer/oligomer synthesis, organic semiconductor materials, photovoltaic and electroactive materials and devices, graphene, functional π-systems for therapeutic applications and more. Six plenary speakers, including the 2008 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Roger Tsien, will present their latest research along with 35 invited speakers. The program also includes some 80 invited short talks and three poster sessions, which will allow students and others to highlight their recent work.
]]>Tech is one of 23 U.S. universities that will serve as lead researchers in 17 states. Industry, laboratories and other universities are set to collaborate on many of these projects.
The research is broken down into four categories. Georgia Tech will receive funding of $1,046,277 in the area of "Generation IV Reactor Research and Development." The goal: to develop the next generation of nuclear reactors that produce more energy with less waste.
Prof. Farzad Rahnema, associate chair of the Woodruff School and chair of the Nuclear and Radiological Engineering/Medical Physics program, will spearhead the project.
This grant is in addition to a $1 million award Tech received from the Department of Energy last month for membrane research and carbon capture, one of 37 projects selected to help develop clean energy potential in the U.S. Georgia Tech will also partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory on a second approved project – budgeted at $987,547 – involving membranes and carbon capture. Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholars David Sholl and Bill Koros, both from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, will be taking the lead on these research projects.
]]>404-894-6016
]]>“Though a practical quantum computer may still be decades away, research being conducted today is laying the groundwork for such a device by bridging the vast gap between the theory and practice of quantum information processing,” said Dick Slusher, a principal research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and director of the Georgia Tech Quantum Institute.
One path toward creating quantum computers is to use trapped ions as the qubits. However, it is currently difficult to scale up conventional ion traps into an array large enough to create a useful quantum computer.
At GTRI, researchers are designing, fabricating and testing planar ion traps that can be more readily combined into large, interconnected trap arrays. Details of the research effort, led by Slusher and GTRI senior research scientist Alexa Harter, were scheduled to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division of Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics on May 26 and 27.
The presentations were to be made by GTRI postdoctoral fellow Charlie Doret, GTRI research scientist Arkadas Ozakin and Georgia Tech electrical and computer engineering graduate student Fayaz Shaikh. This research is funded by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through contracts with the Army Research Office.
GTRI’s microfabricated planar ion traps employ a combination of radio-frequency signals and static voltages applied to aluminum electrodes that are layered on silicon wafers.
“These planar trap geometries are advantageous because they are scalable to large systems of ions and also offer improved laser access compared to currently available traps,” said Doret.
Lasers are applied to the ions to induce “entanglement” – a quantum mechanical property whereby the states involved cannot be completely described independently. Using systems of trapped ions, researchers have measured entanglement clearly and can preserve it for extended periods of time. To date, however, the largest number of entangled particles ever achieved in a quantum computer is eight calcium ions. At least thirty ions are required to perform calculations that cannot be realized on a classical computer, so a major challenge for the future is to increase the number of trapped ions that can interact.
The GTRI team has used state-of-the-art computer simulations of the electromagnetic trapping fields and the trapped ion motion to design versatile traps capable of holding many ions. Trap designs were improved using genetic algorithms that fed back to the shapes and spacing of trap electrodes to optimize trap depth and minimize heating when ions were transported between trapping zones.
Prototypes of the designs were fabricated with the help of Kevin Martin, a principal research scientist in the Georgia Tech Nanotechnology Research Center. The research team then tested the prototypes in GTRI’s ion trapping laboratory, where calcium ions were first trapped in October 2009 using devices designed and fabricated at Georgia Tech.
Experimental data on trap loading efficiency, ion lifetime and ion shuttling efficiency were used to validate the designs and provide feedback for additional improvements.
The GTRI team is working with researchers at Duke University to integrate optics directly into the ion traps, while researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are testing the devices in a cryogenic environment.
In collaboration with the University of Maryland, GTRI researchers are also investigating the use of an array of trapped ions and/or ultra-cold atoms trapped in optical lattices for applications in quantum simulation.
“We still have much to learn about individual quantum systems, how to connect them, how to control them, how to measure them and how to fix the inevitable errors,” added Slusher.
Future work at GTRI will include testing new trap designs, such as linear traps optimized for holding long ion chains.
“This field requires a multidisciplinary effort and Georgia Tech has the synergy and strengths in the technology and science areas and the fabrication facilities to make real progress,” added Slusher.
This material is based upon work supported by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) Scaled Multiplexed Ion Trap project under U.S. Army Award No. W911NF-08-1-0315, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Optical Lattice Emulator program under U.S. Army Award No. W911NF-07-1-0576. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Army.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (avogel@gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986) or Kirk Englehardt (kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu; 404-407-7280).
Writer: Abby Vogel
]]>Thr highly competitive program provides a three-year research grant up to $510,000. Recipients were selected based on a comprehensive evaluation including the applicant's past performance, a creative research proposal and a long-term commitment from the recipient's university.
Zhang’s research proposal, “Generic Environmental Models for Agile Marine Autonomy,” identifies the capabilities of unmanned robots and mobile sensor networks to meet the challenge of monitoring large areas in the ocean and atmosphere with limited sensing resources and limited power. Zhang has developed motion planning algorithms and motion control laws for underwater robots to explore and sample ocean fields. His current goal is to establish a lab and a research program for designing underwater robots and sensor networks at the Georgia Tech Savannah campus.
“Dr. Zhang is truly committed to advancing the science and engineering profession,” said Georgia Tech Vice Provost and Director of Georgia Tech Savannah J. David Frost. “His research endeavors are pursuing creative approaches to developing scientific applications that can make a difference in society.”
“I am honored to be recognized among other talented young investigators who received this prestigious award,” said Zhang. “This award allows me to further my research and academic career in maritime robotics, ocean sensing and the science of autonomy. I look forward to pursuing influential intellectual contributions with my colleagues and students.”
Zhang, who did post-doctoral studies at Princeton University, obtained his Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. His B.S. and M.S. degrees, both in electrical engineering, are from Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Robotics research lab Willow Garage, which develops open-source software and hardware for robotics applications, awarded the lab one of 11 of its PR2 robots as part of its PR2 Beta Program.
Willow Garage received 78 proposals for the 11 robots, which are valued at $4.4 million. Other recipients include MIT CSAIL, Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Tokyo, Jouhou System Kougaku (JSK) Laboratory.
The Healthcare Robotics Lab will be placing the PR2 robot into Georgia Tech's Aware Home to study how robots interact with older adults with assistive requirements and aid in developing software that reflects the read world needs of these individuals.
]]>]]>
404-894-6016
]]>The guide was established, "to recognize the impressive environmental and sustainability programs at universities and colleges across the country," said Princeton Review's Leah Pennino and USGBC's Ashley Katz. In addition, the Green Honor Roll, first established in 2008, "salutes the institutions receiving the highest possible Green Rating score (99) in the year’s tallies,” said Pennino.
According to Princeton Review, Georgia Tech’s inclusion on the Honor Roll and in the guide is an indication that the Institute excels in providing students a healthy and sustainable quality of life, preparing students for green jobs and responsible green citizenship and using environmentally responsible school policies.
Environmental sustainability is a vital component of the Georgia Tech academic experience. With classes, research, and majors addressing various aspects of the topic stretching across all of the Institute’s colleges and majors, students learn to think green. In addition, Georgia Tech’s strategic plan recommends that all students should take at least one class focused on sustainability before they graduate.
The Institute also integrates sustainable practices in all aspects of campus operations, maintaining a fleet of natural gas powered buses, using local and organic food in the dining halls, recycling various items including batteries, paper, plastic, and glass, and using non-toxic cleaner in buildings. The institute also maintains a rigorous building code for all renovations and new buildings, ensuring that they meet LEED standards.
]]>In its brief description of ATDC, Forbes noted that the program has graduated more than 120 companies since 1980 and that companies associated with ATDC have collectively raised more than $1 billion in outside financing. "The companies are heavy with Georgia Tech alumni," the magazine noted, "but that's not a requirement."
According to Forbes, the United States has more than 300 incubators that host approximately 6,000 companies. Many of them associated with universities, the incubators provide a broad range of support, from shared laboratory equipment to accounting and secretarial support, the magazine said.
Incubators like the ATDC, Forbes added, "are increasingly drawing intellectual capital from around the world." The magazine said it worked with CB Insights, a New York firm that tracks private-company funding trends -- including venture capital private equity and government-backed deals -- to select 10 "especially crackling innovation hubs."
Forbes is the third leading U.S business publication to cite ATDC's record of success in helping Georgia entrepreneurs. Inc. Magazine and BusinessWeek had earlier included ATDC on their lists of leading incubators.
Part of Georgia Tech's Enterprise Innovation Institute, the ATDC now has more than 300 companies in its program. ATDC helps Georgia technology entrepreneurs launch and build successful companies. As part of its incubation and acceleration services, ATDC helps Georgia Tech faculty members and researchers form new companies based on intellectual property developed in the Institute's $500 million-per-year research program. ATDC also helps companies compete for and win federal grants through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
"Startups play an essential role in creating new jobs and growing the economy," noted Stephen Fleming, Georgia Tech vice provost and executive director of the Enterprise Innovation Institute. "We are proud of the many companies that have emerged from ATDC -- and those currently in our program that are Georgia's technology leaders of the future."
On May 24th, ATDC will celebrate its 30th anniversary at its annual startup showcase and celebration. That makes the Forbes honor especially timely, Fleming noted.
"As ATDC prepares to celebrate its 30th anniversary, this recognition demonstrates that it remains relevant and important to the entrepreneur community in Georgia," he said. "As we enjoy this attention, we thank those who have supported ATDC over many years: the Georgia General Assembly, the Georgia Research Alliance, the Georgia Tech administration and all of the volunteers who have shared their time and expertise with companies. Becoming one of the top programs in the world required long-term investment by many people and organizations."
Other incubator programs cited in the Forbes list were:
• The Environmental Business Cluster (San Jose, CA)
• Houston Technology Center (Houston, TX)
• The IceHouse (Auckland, New Zealand)
• Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (Worcester, MA)
• Palo Alto Research Center (Palo Alto, CA)
• The Research Park at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (Champaign, IL)
• The Technology Innovation Center (Evanston, IL)
• University Research Park & MGE Innovation Center at the University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI)
• Y Combinator (Mountain View, CA)
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Assistance: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu).
Writer: John Toon
]]>At last count, more than 500 machines that are centrally managed by the Georgia Tech McAfee servers were affected and repaired. However, a large segment of the population, including students, is running stand-alone versions of McAfee that are also affected. The Technology Support Center and Residential Housing Technical Support staff are working with students to recover from this issue.
This incident was not isolated to Georgia Tech. The bad DAT file was pushed out from McAfee to all McAfee customers worldwide, resulting in a large-scale remediation effort for all McAfee customers, not just Georgia Tech.
OIT would like to thank the campus IT technology community for their quick work and help to get the issue resolved and assist users with affected computers. Without their help, the incident would have been much worse.
OIT will continue to work with McAfee and the campus IT community to resolve any lingering problems arising from this issue and will be taking steps to help reduce the chances of such an incident occurring at Georgia Tech in the future. In the meantime, if your computer is exhibiting any of the symptoms described above, please contact your unit’s technical staff or the campus Technology Support Center at 404-894-7173.
To read McAfee’s response, visit:
http://siblog.mcafee.com/support/mcafee-response-on-current-false-positive-issue/
The new Bayesian LRMC method – an updated version of the previoussystem – correctly predicted the winner of more games during this year'stournament than all other ranking systems tracked on BCS computer rankerKen Massey's website, masseyratings.com, which analyzes predictions forvarious sporting events.
Bayesian LRMC finished three full games ahead of the field, which includedwell-known rankings such as the Associated Press andUSA Today polls, the NCAA's Ratings Percentage Index, Pomeroy,Sagarin and Massey's own computer ranking methods. Bayesian LRMC wasthe only ranking to correctly predict the winner of more than 50 games.
In addition to Bayesian LRMC's first place finish, the original LRMC methodfinished in a three-way tie for second place with 48 correct predictions. A correct prediction was defined as the winner of a game being rankedhigher than the game's loser.
This is the second recent success for the system. In 2008, the LRMC correctlypredicted the winner of every game in the final three rounds of the NCAAtournament before the tournament started.
The LRMC method was first developed by Professors Paul Kvam and Joel Sokol atGeorgia Tech's H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and SystemsEngineering (ISyE). The LRMC team has since expanded to include ISyEprofessor George Nemhauser and City College of New York mathematicsprofessor Mark Brown.
A mathematical description of Bayesian LRMC is forthcoming in the Journalof Quantitative Analysis in Sports.
404-894-6016
]]>For those who are not part of the campus e-mail system, crime alerts will continue to be posted online at http://www.police.gatech.edu/crimeinfo/crimealerts/. In addition to Clery Act alerts, the following notification tools will be utilized as needed:
Georgia Tech Emergency Notification System (GTENS) – GTENS messages are limited to 160 characters and this system will only be used to distribute information regarding emergencies that dictate immediate action. Examples of alerts include severe weather, evacuations and other threatening situations or emergencies. The message will direct you where to go for further information or what action to take. Less urgent messages will be sent using the campus advisory e-mail system. Following a warning, the alert system may be used to provide additional messages or an "all clear" announcement. Everyone in the Georgia Tech mail system will receive an e-mail message.You are urged to sign up to receive phone and text notification by logging into PASSPORT at https://passport.gatech.edu/.
Siren Warning System - The Siren Warning System is comprised of seven speaker stations located across campus that are tested on the first Thursday of each month. Designed to notify people who are outdoors, the system complements GTENS.
System to Create and Relay Emergency Action Messages (SCREAM) - This system is designed to enhance the Institute’s emergency message delivery capabilities by sending emergency alert messages to classroom projectors as well as to electronic signage and computer clusters on campus. Created and operated by Georgia Tech, the SCREAM software allows messages to be delivered to approximately 450 campus locations in less than two minutes.
Cable TV Alert System – Emergency messages can be relayed via the Georgia Tech Cable Network.
The Georgia Tech Police Department Web site features a map that indicates crime occurrences in the area at the following link: http://www.police.gatech.edu/crimeinfo/crimemap/. The campus community is urged to report any safety concerns or suspected criminal activity by calling 404-894-2500.
Established inthe early 1990s, the program seeks to be less of a mentoring outreach, insteadfocusing on creating partnerships with colleges and institutions that alreadyhave strong research infrastructures in place. According to GTRI OutreachManager Margie Brown, the Army Environmental Policy Institute contracted withGTRI in the early ’90s to help develop its HBCU/MI and minority-ownedsmall-business outreach partnership policies to ensure continued relationshipswith a diverse group of vendors and institutions. “This initiative wasformalized by Dr. Jean-Lou Chameau, who at the time was the Vice Provost forResearch,” Brown said.
Working intandem with the U.S. Department of Defense and industry partners, Brown helps engage researchersfrom Tech’s academic units and GTRI with complementary researchers and programs inminority-serving institutions. “The objectives of this initiative are toincrease interactions with HBCUs, sustain relationships for long-term impactand growth by all participants, and monitor efforts to ensure that they aremeasurable and meaningful,” she said.
The outreachinitiative seeks interested faculty members and researchers with an interest incollaborative proposals. Support is provided to researchers in the way ofassistance with proposals, access to a research database of HBCU/MI expertiseand capabilities, travel costs to contract development meetings or conferences,and a calendar of events involving minority institutions and professionalorganizations. Funding for the program is a partnership between the Instituteand GTRI, through the Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Research andInnovation, and the GTRI director’s office.
Programcollaborators include Alabama A&M University, Florida InternationalUniversity, Hampton University, Tennessee State University, University of TexasSan Antonio, Morehouse College, Savannah State and Florida A&M University.The initiative has more than 15 institutions as past or present partners.
“This effort is in keeping with the Institute’s mission of being thepremier international technological university in a global society, and inkeeping with its institutional commitment to the local and larger communitiesserved by Georgia Tech,” Brown said. “The vision for current outreach effortsincludes building upon previous experiences with these institutions,establishing new partnerships and collectively enriching the talent pool ofscientists, technologists and engineers.”
]]>Sponsored by Georgia Tech’s Office of Organizational Development, Mentor Tech matches faculty and staff who volunteer to assist junior employees with a desire to learn. The program taps into the wealth of experience and talent possessed by other successful Georgia Tech employees.
Mentoring is not only a viable method for growing career skills, but also widely viewed as an important tool in the process of life long learning. As an informal advisor, mentors also receive support from the Mentor Tech staff in the form of training and reference materials.
“We are recruiting mentors and protégés at all levels of the Institute,” said Deborah Covin Wilson, director of the Mentor Tech program. “Mentors do not have to be a supervisor, but must have a successful track record, possess several years of experience at Georgia Tech and be willing to commit two hours a month to a protégé. Prospective protégés should be serious about their professional development.”
Applications for this year’s program are available at www.mentortech.gatech.edu; the deadline to apply is May 14. Applicants will be notified of their status in early June.
]]>To date, only one individual has met all of these qualifications: George C. Griffin.
Many on campus may know him by the contemplative statue of his likeness that sits outside the Ferst Center for the Arts. The former dean of students was exceptionally influential in shaping the Georgia Tech we know today, earning him many superlatives including “The Original Mr. Georgia Tech” and “A Friend to Every Student.” His impact was so widely felt that former Governor Carl Sanders declared May 16, 1964, Dean Griffin Day.
Though Griffin died in 1990, his spirit still imbues many on campuswith a sense of passion and pride. His contributions are honored eachyear at the Dean Griffin Day Luncheon—held this year on Friday, April 23—through recognition of facultywho, through their actions, best emulate him.
“Although the date has varied in years since, [Dean Griffin Day] has been celebrated annually with the purpose of remembering his awesome legacy and impact on Georgia Tech,” said Dean Griffin Day Luncheon Chair, Georgia Tech Ambassador, and industrial systems engineering student Zack Higbie.
Arriving at the Georgia School of Technology in 1914, Griffin began a lifelong commitment to the Institute that spanned more than seven decades. Among his many notable contributions, he served as the executive secretary of the Alumni Association, founded the Georgia Tech Placement Center and the Alumni Career Services Program, and started an emergency loan program that he called the “Hip Pocket Fund” that enabled many students to remain at Tech when their money ran out. In his many roles at Georgia Tech, Griffin’s preoccupation with helping students always emerged as a priority. In his final role at Tech, he served as dean of students from 1946 to 1964.
“The addition of a luncheon [to the day’s festivities] did not come until many years later, but it has been used as a method of recognizing the faculty, staff and teaching assistants who still embody this legacy today,” said Higbie. Sponsored by the Georgia Tech Ambassadors and the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), the luncheon brings together more than 300 students from across campus to thank professors that have been influential in shaping their Georgia Tech experience.
Throughout the school year, CETL collects letters written by students to their professors through their Thank A Teacher program. “All of the notes written to these outstanding members of the Tech community [are] presented at the luncheon or sent via campus mail to let them know how much the students value their contributions,” said Higbie.
“[Griffin] was a team player, willing to do just about anything Georgia Tech asked him to do," said President Bud Peterson at the luncheon. "But he was best known for his passion for students, and would do anything he could to help them succeed. If he had just invested in programs, we probably wouldn’t be celebrating him today. His real legacy is about the people he touched, and specifically, students.”
This year’s letters consistently expressed gratitude for teaching assistants’, instructors’, and professors’ prompt responses to e-mails, a knack for making material interesting, and accessible and inspiring success. In true Georgia Tech style, today’s professors and instructors innovated on the lessonsof the Original Mr. Georgia Tech to inspire future generations ofprogress and service.
The 2009-2010 academic year saw the largest student enrollment in Georgia Tech’s history—20,000. “Those of you who we are celebrating today are here because you don’t see 20,000. You see individuals,” said Peterson. “You have been nominated by students because you care, you’re willing to go the extra mile, and you have a passion for teaching and helping students get everything they need to succeed.”
]]>Stamps Health Services has a plentiful supply of the H1N1 vaccine on hand. Students, faculty and staff who have not been vaccinated can get the H1N1 immunization free-of-charge simply by scheduling an appointment at the link below. For additional information, you may contact Stamps Health Services at 404-894-1420.
]]>One theme of the hearing was the need for a comprehensive federal strategy to create an environment that is conducive to innovation in the U.S. According to the witnesses, a comprehensive innovation strategy would include components such as a tax policy amenable to attracting capital, a more efficient process to transition research to commercialization and immigration policies that attract the best and the brightest and keep them in the U.S.
Breznitz discussed three roles that the government has to play in innovation policy: public financing of private innovation, public production of innovation (i.e. financing of industrial research at non-profit institutions), and facilitation of professional, inter-institutional networks. He also suggested that federal-state partnerships could encourage states to compete in the development of different, experimental and creative policies for innovation and encourage regional collaboration.
]]>Gulick will continue in her current position as Director of the DoPP Work Abroad Program while serving as DoPP interim executive director. Gulick, who joined Georgia Tech in 2005, earned her bachelor’s degree in communications from Appalachian State University (NC), and holds a master’s degree in international communications from American University School of International Services.
According to Vito, a national search for Akins’ replacement is underway and the search committee will soon begin reviewing the resumes submitted in application for the position.
The Division of Professional Practice offers Georgia Tech students the opportunity to earn income to help cover education expenses while gaining valuable work experience related to the student’s major field in a professional work environment. The division’s programs include co-op, an internship program, work abroad, and graduate co-op.
]]>Internationally recognized as anauthority on structural load modeling and load combination analysis, structuralreliability and risk analysis of engineered facilities, Ellingwood also isconsidered a leader in the technical development and implementation ofprobability based codified design standards for building structures. He servedas administrator of the Secretariat of American National Standard Committee A58on Minimum Design Loads from 1977 to 1984, directing the development of thegeneral probability-based load criteria for limit states design that haveappeared for nearly three decades in successive editions of “Minimum DesignLoads for Buildings and Other Structures,” most recently ASCE Standard 7-05.These standards are found in all strength design standards—structural steel,concrete and wood construction—in the United States.
According to ASCE, Ellingwood isrecognized primarily for his contributions of the last 30 years in implementingnovel research concepts into engineering practice. In recent years, Ellingwood’sexpertise in dealing with low-probability, high-consequence events instructural design and condition assessment has made him an authoritative andsought-after individual for the treatment of abnormal loads and progressive(disproportionate) collapse, structural engineering for fire conditions, andfor probabilistic risk assessment of special structures.
According to Ellingwood, in the158-year history of the ASCE, only 586 other engineers have been similarlynamed. “I was truly honored to be elected as a Distinguished Member of ASCE,”he said. “I have been a member of ASCE for over 35 years, and treasure mynumerous professional associations and friendships with Society colleagues. Myfellow Distinguished Members are at the top of the profession, and it is aprivilege to be considered as worthy to be included in that group.”
Ellingwood’s career hasspanned both academe and federal service. He joined the Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty in 2000, andwas Chair of the School from 2000 to 2002. In 2001, he was elected to theNational Academy of Engineering for his leadership in the use of probabilityand statistics in the design of structures and in the development of new designcriteria.
]]>404-894-6016
]]>Bellamkonda will receive a one-year, $50,000 grant to study how to mark brain tumor margins using a dye visible to the naked eye, so as to provide accurate visual cues to the surgeon during surgery.
This is the first year that Cancer Research Awards were made available to study all types of cancer. Legislation passed in 2009 removed prior restrictions to research in the areas of breast, prostate, or ovarian cancer.
Since the 2000 inception ofthe State Income Tax Checkoff program, $2.75 million has been raised for cancerresearch, which is matched by each researcher’s organization. Sixty-one awards have been madepossible by these contributions of Georgia’s citizens.
]]>The fellowships, valued at more than $100,000 each, include $30,000 per year for three years for graduate study and $10,500 annually for three years for tuition. This year’s recipients, 23 men and 15 women, are comprised of 28 graduate students and 10 undergraduates (seniors). Areas of study range from artificial intelligence to science policy. In addition, 37 current Georgia Tech students received an honorable mention designation from NSF.
As a result of increased financial support from Stimulus Funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, NSF made 2,000 awards in 2010 compared to 1,244 awards last year. The purpose of the GRF initiative, the oldest of NSF’s programs, is to foster experts who will contribute significantly to research, teaching and innovations in science and engineering.
]]>Admission and popcorn are free and open to the public. All films begin at 9 p.m. at the Centergy Plaza at 75 Fifth St. at Technology Square.
Patrons are welcome to bring chairs and blankets, but please leave umbrellas, pets or grills at home.
2010 Film Schedule:
This event is produced by the Georgia Tech Student Center and sponsored by the Georgia Tech Student Government Association, Barnes and Noble at Georgia Tech, Coca-Cola, Creative Loafing, and DaveFM. For more information call 404-894-2805.
]]>Established in 1969 by student Richard Sawyer, Erato is “dedicated solely to the artistic endeavors of Georgia Tech students, another way to set Tech students apart,” said Erato Editor Amaris Gutierrez-Ray. The journal displays the creativity of Georgia Tech students, publishing an annual volume comprised of student poetry, prose, and art.
The history of Erato authenticates the existence of interdisciplinary thought and creativity at Georgia Tech. “Forty years is an especially long run for any journal, so Erato is quite distinguished for this reason,” said Karen Head, an instructor in the School of Literature, Communication and Culture as well as the journal’s faculty advisor. “One of the biggest misconceptions people have is that students at an engineering school are not interested in — or capable of producing — fine art. Erato is an excellent demonstration that this is not the case.”
Since its inception, thousands of students from all colleges and majors have contributed work to Erato. However, access to creative expression afforded to Tech students through the journal has not always been so readily accessible. “In 1979, Erato lost funding from the Student Government Association, but still managed to self-publish an issue, demonstrating the need for a creative outlet on this campus,” said Gutierrez-Ray. The Student Government Association restored funding in 1985 and remains a loyal supporter of the journal.
As Erato continues to write its destiny, plans for expansion may be a future footnote. “Erato hopes to take this history into the future to reach an even broader readership consisting of cross-college communication and collaborations with the other print publications on campus,” said Gutierrez-Ray.
The journal’s aspirations for expansion offer a unique promise to the greater community of artists outside of Georgia Tech. “Many prestigious artists were first published in small literary journals,” noted Head. “Who knows, maybe a future Nobel Prize in Literature winner is among those people being published for the first time in the 40th anniversary issue of Erato.”
Copies of the 40th anniversary issue can be found in the publication's distribution racks, which are located in the Library Rotunda, the D.M. Smith Building entrance, the Instructional Center entrance, the Student Center, and the Publications Office in the Flag Building.
]]>Student participation in the event is crucial, and a show of unity following the largest Earth Hour on record. “This year's Earth Hour was the largest mass action in human history, with over 4000 cities participating,” said Charbonnet. Georgia Tech has participated previous international Earth Hour celebrations.
Beginning at 7 p.m., live music, free food, and other earth hour give-aways will be at the campanile, commemorating occasion. From 8 – 9 p.m., all lights in the area will be turned off as a symbol of Georgia Tech’s commitment to reducing energy use. Members of the Georgia Tech community that are unable to join the festivities at the campanile can participate in their dorm rooms and offices by turning off lights and other electronic devices from 8 – 9 p.m.
]]>While the survey takes approximately one minute to complete, the data has a lasting impact. “The data that students provide is the primary criterion used for evaluating the quality of teaching when faculty members apply for promotion or tenure,” said Boone. The data also helps faculty members evaluate their relationships with students.
“Taking this survey is not only important in ensuring that the students’ voice is heard, but it is important because it benefits future students,” said Boone. Students can review survey results for all classes on line via a link on the SGA Web site, helping them make decisions about their course schedule.
CIOS surveys are open through May 9.
]]>Thisyear, School of Physics Professor Uzi Landman hosted a team of Israeli-Arabicstudents from several villages, each with about 2,000 people in eastern Israel. This isthe team’s first year to compete in the FIRST competition.
Theteam, which consists of 25 Arab high school students and five teachers, hailsfrom the Achva Gilboa Comprehensive High School, which serves nine Arabicvillages near Nazareth. This school is part of the Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network.
“Youdon’t have to be from Jerusalem or a big city to win the competition, you canbe from Gilboa, too,” said Israeli native Landman during a meet-and-greet somemembers of the team held with him and Provost Gary Schuster before thecompetition started.
Thisyear’s competition boasts more than 10,000 student participants from 30countries competing with 533 homemade robots. Each team has won atregional competition to make it to the championships.
Thestudents worked seven hours per day after school to build and test their robotwith their parents bringing dinner from their home villages every night. “Whenwe won the [regional] competition, all of our village came out to help uscelebrate,” said Hanan Zoubi, a student on the team. “It was like a weddingwith the caravan of cars that we usually have.” Hanan wants to be involved inrobotics when she graduates.
Thename of the team is the Eastern Stars. They have such a love of Star Trek thatthey named their robot “Enterprise NX-1” after the starship in the televisionseries, “Star Trek: Enterprise.”
TheEastern Star’s motto is “Technology for Tolerance.” Although they’re in Atlantato compete at FIRST, using their knowledge to help create a better world isfirst in their thoughts. “This project taught us to work together to usetechnology to help other people,” said Hosni Zoubi, a student on the team whoeventually wants to study and work in medicine.
Morethan 500 teams competed in three levels of FIRST: FIRST LEGO League, FIRST TechChallenge and FIRST Robotics Competition. According to a FIRST release, theEastern Stars were not included among the winning teams.
“Ihope you win the competition,” Schuster said as their meeting came to a close, priorto the event. “In my view, you already are winners.”
]]>On this trip, President Petersonmet with three Members of the Georgia delegation to Congress:Congressman Sanford Bishop (representing GA’s 2nd district which includes Albany,Columbus and Thomasville), Congressman Hank Johnson (representing GA’s 4th district which includes Lithoniaand Tucker), and Congressman David Scott (representing GA’s 13th district which includesJonesboro and Smyrna).
At federal agencies, he met with Department ofEnergy Under Secretary Steven Koonin, with whom he discussed GeorgiaTech's research activities and industry partnerships in a variety ofenergy areas. He also met with Esther Lee, the Director of the newOffice of Innovation and Entrepreneurship within the Office ofSecretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce, to discuss Georgia Tech'srole as an economic driver for the state of Georgia and theSoutheastern U.S. and the Institute's experience and expertise ininnovation and technology transfer.
Since 1994, the Atlanta Business League has published its annual list of "Atlanta's Top 100 Black Women of Influence." The list include black women in the metro Atlanta community who have reached senior level positions within their professions, are leading entrepreneurs in their industries or have attained the ability to influence large public bodies politically. In addition to professional accomplishments, the "100 Black Women of Influence" have demonstrated their commitment to the citizenry of Metro Atlanta by maintaining significant involvement and participation in community and civic activities.
"Donna Ennis was selected as one of Atlanta's Top 100 Black Women of Influence because of her commitment and dedication to growing minority businesses," said Leona Barr-Davenport, Atlanta Business League president and CEO. "Very simply put, she cares and is results oriented. Her work speaks for itself!"
Ennis is responsible for the strategic direction, marketing and outreach, and operations of the GMBEC and assists clients with strategic, business and market planning; marketing research and communications; public and private procurement, finance and operations; and business process improvement. She has more than 25 years of experience in marketing, communications, public relations and business development, with emphasis on identifying company needs and matching them to the appropriate resources.
"The Georgia Minority Business Enterprise Center plays a vital role in facilitating the growth of both emerging and established minority businesses in Georgia," noted Stephen Fleming, vice provost in the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute. "Donna Ennis has been the driving force behind the Center's success, and I am pleased to see her hard work and dedication recognized in this way."
Ennis is also a member of the board of directors of the Georgia Resource Capital and the National Center for the Prevention of Home Improvement Fraud and on the board of trustees of Atlanta Unity Church. She has a bachelor's degree in communications from Boston University and a master’s degree in public administration from Georgia State University.
]]>Recognition requires direct physical contact between the receptor and the antigen. Researchers attempting to understand this critical mechanism, therefore, have been studying such factors as the affinity for interaction between antigens and T cell receptors, how long those interactions last and how rapidly they occur. Information about these interactions has come mostly from studying receptor molecules removed from the outer membranes of T cells – the location where they normally operate.
Now, a paper published March 31 in the journal Nature questions much of what had been believed about the kinetics of T cell receptors. Based on two techniques that mechanically study receptors as they operate on T cell membranes, the findings could lead to a reevaluation of earlier conclusions.
“We compared parameters that had been measured by using purified T cell receptor molecules to the parameters we measured from T cell receptors on the surfaces of cells, and we found dramatic differences,” said Cheng Zhu, a Regents professor in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. “We don’t yet fully understand why the T cell receptor behaves differently when it is located on the surface of a cell compared to when it is purified in solution, but this may be a warning to reconsider earlier conclusions.”
The research, done in collaboration between Georgia Tech and Emory University, was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
In their studies of two-dimensional receptor-antigen interactions, the researchers found as much as 8,300 times more rapid off-rates than earlier studies. More importantly, they found that the strongest interactions with antigens turned on and off the most quickly – a finding exactly opposite what had been observed in purified T cell receptors.
“The earlier conclusions state that the interaction with the most potent antigens remained stable for a long time to allow many steps of the resulting cascade to occur before dissociation,” said Veronika Zarnitsyna, a research scientist in Zhu’s laboratory. “But we found that the most potent antigen actually dissociated the fastest. Since mathematical models of T cell discrimination of antigens are based on these earlier conclusions, our findings may cause people to rethink what has been done.”
When measured on the cell surfaces, the molecular interactions show an affinity range about 100 times greater and an on-rate range about 1,000 times greater than what had been reported in studies with purified T cell receptors. That is potentially important, Zhu says, because the much broader dynamic ranges found in the new research can now match the range over which the T cells respond to antigens – whereas the narrower ranges of the previous measurements could not.
Zhu’s research team has been studying two-dimensional molecular interactions for more than a decade, and developed a simple mechanical technique – known as the adhesion frequency assay – for assessing interactions on cell surfaces. On one micropipette, they place a T cell that they want to study. On another micropipette, they put a red blood cell on which an antigen – technically known as a peptide-major histocompatibility complex – has been placed. They then carefully move the two cells together, allowing the antigen and receptor to make contact.
“When the molecules interact, they actually link the two cells together,” Zhu explained. “We can see the interaction through the microscope if the two cells remain stuck together when we try to pull them apart.”
By measuring the elongation of the cells and the time required to create the binding, the researchers can learn about the interaction. Under computer control, the assays are repeated as many as 100 times to estimate the frequency, or the likelihood, of the interactions.
“We can measure the frequency versus the contact time,” said Zhu. “From that information, we can determine the kinetics of the interaction.”
The second technique, known as thermal fluctuation assay, detects the interactions from changes in the fluctuations due to a physical anchorage between the two surfaces.
The researchers studied the responses of just one T cell receptor to seven different antigens. Since there are millions of different T cell receptors in the body, the researchers would like to study responses of additional receptors to see if what they found is a general principle.
“Next, we plan to study a single peptide against a panel of T cell receptors to see whether the same principles apply,” said Zhu. “We need to see whether or not this is a general principle governing the interaction of T cell receptors.”
For the study reported in Nature, the team used T cells provided by Lindsay Edwards, who also measured the functional T cell responses. Edwards is a student of Brian Evavold, a professor in the department of microbiology and immunology at Emory University. In addition to Zhu, Zarnitsyna, Edwards and Evavold, the paper’s authors include postdoctoral scholar Baoyu Liu and two former graduate students in Zhu’s lab, Jun Huang and Ning Jiang.
The new findings could be important not only for scientists who study the immune system, but also for researchers fighting the war on cancer and companies producing vaccines.
“Everything starts with the T cell receptor, and the interaction has to be a direct physical contact between the T cell and another cell in the body,” Zhu noted. “This work provides a new framework for understanding how the T cell receptor function works.”
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364)(avogel@gatech.edu).
Writer: John Toon
]]>In addition to having one of the nation's top graduate engineering programs, 9 of Georgia Tech's 11 programs have again ranked in the top 10, including industrial (No.1), biomedical (No. 2), civil (No. 3), aerospace (No. 4), environmental (No. 5), electrical (No. 6), mechanical (No. 6), nuclear (No. 8) and materials (No. 8). Of particular note, the civil engineering program moved up to No. 3 from last year’s No. 6 ranking.
"These rankings highlight Georgia Tech’s ongoing preeminence in the engineering arena and our growing prominence in the field of business. The results are a direct reflection of the caliber of our students and faculty," said Georgia Tech President G.P.”Bud” Peterson. “As we move forward, the quality of the people of Georgia Tech will play a key role in defining our future.”
Georgia Tech’s graduate computer science program ranked No. 10 with several of its specialty programs also ranking in the top 10 including artificial intelligence (No. 7), theory (No. 7) and systems (No. 9). In addition, discrete mathematics and combinations ranked No. 8.
Georgia Tech’s College of Management full-time MBA program was ranked No. 26, while the Institute’s part time MBA program tied with Georgia State University, ranking No. 24.
]]>The 1-credit GT 1000 seminar helps new freshmen adjust to college life, learn about their major and related careers, and introduces them to campus resources. Sections are small with 25-30 students and are assisted by upper-class Team Leaders (peer mentors).
]]>“Right now we are looking for students interested in designing and building a safe, stable, recyclable structure to go in our garden,” said student Chris Olsen, Georgia Tech Earth Day Gardner organizer. “Build a leaning tower of tires or a Frankenstein-fusion of cabinet parts and computer cases. Get creative.” Art students from Georgia State University will be available to help with the creative process.
Each sculpture must stand approximately four feet in height or less and be structurally stable. Chemical adhesives cannot be used in the construction of the sculptures. The Office of Solid Waste Management and Recycling, the event’s sponsor, will provide all materials.
Students will construct their sculptures from April 10 – 18. The garden display will then appear in the grassy area next to Skiles Walkway from April 19 – 23 as a part of Think Green Week and the Georgia Tech Earth Day celebration. More than 3,000 visitors will view the garden as part of the Institute’s annual celebration on April 23 from 10 – 2 p.m.
For additional information about the Earth Day Garden or to join the build, contact Chris Olsen.
]]>Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson will join MITProvost Rafael Reif in opening the workshop. Georgia Tech Willie Pearson Jr., Professorof History, Technology and Society will serve as Monday’s luncheon keynotespeaker.
The NSF Minority Faculty Development Workshop is a primaryactivity of the Minority Faculty Development Forum founded by Georgia Tech ProfessorGilda Barabino. The purpose of the forum is to provide an ongoing mechanism tosupport the career development and retention of faculty from underrepresentedgroups. Barabino serves as the principal investigator on the grant thatsupports the workshop.
History of the MinorityFaculty Development Workshop (MFDW)
Evolving from the efforts ofa group of chemical engineering faculty to provide and sustain a network to supporttheir career advancement, the 2010 workshop is the fifth of a series ofworkshops that were held in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2009. What began as informal get‐togethersat the primary professional meeting for chemical engineers led to a successfulNSF workshop proposal and establishment of a model program for engineering andscience faculty development. The MFDW is sponsored by the EngineeringDirectorate of the NSF.
Minority Faculty DevelopmentForum
The Minority FacultyDevelopment Forum is an online portal used to support the continuedprofessional development, networking and research collaborations, mentoring anddissemination of resources, ideas and best practices of the growing cohort of MFDWparticipants. Its mission is to provide an ongoing mechanism to support thecareer advancement of junior and mid‐career faculty from underrepresentedgroups and to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in science andengineering.
Junior's Grill is located in the Bradley Building, next to the Tech Tower and behind the Carnegie Building.
]]>404-894-1297
]]>Managers and employees should complete evaluations by Thursday, March 31, and submit to their unit's HR Representative.
Visit HR's Performance Management Web site for additional information and resources.
]]>404-894-9410
]]>Liaquat Ahamed, author of the best-selling book Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World,will discuss parallels between the Great Depression and the currenteconomic crisis on Wednesday April 7 in the second annual Thomas R.Williams Distinguished Lecture.
Ahamed, whose talk is titled "Lessons from the Great Depression,"will speak from 4:30 to 5:30 PM in LeCraw Auditorium of the Managementbuilding (800 West Peachtree Street NW). A reception with lightrefreshments will follow in the Thornton Atrium.
Ahamed, who has been a professional investment manager for 25 years,won the 2009 Financial Times-Goldman Sachs Best Business Book of theYear for Lords of Finance, which discusses the lead up to the Great Depression. According to a review in The New York Times,the book "easily connects the dots between the economic crises thatrocked the world during the years his book covers and the emergenciesthat beset us today."
While conventional wisdom holds that the Great Depression that beganin 1929 resulted from a confluence of events beyond any one person's orgovernment's control, Ahamed writes that the decisions taken by a smallnumber of central bankers were the primary cause of the economicmeltdown— the effects of which set the stage for World War II andreverberated for decades.
Through the years, Ahamed has worked at the World Bank in Washingtonand the New York-based partnership of Fischer Francis Trees and Watts,where he served as chief executive. He is currently an adviser toseveral hedge fund groups, including the Rock Creek Group and theRohatyn Group. He also is a director of Aspen Insurance Co. and serveson the board of trustees of the Brookings Institution and the NewAmerica Foundation.
About the Williams Lecture
The Williams lecture is named in honor of Thomas R. Williams, a 1950 graduate of Georgia Tech who died in 2002.
After graduation, Williams worked as an industrial engineer and thena management consultant before joining National City Bank of Clevelandin 1965. He became chairman of that bank in 1969, three years beforebeing named president of First National Bank of Atlanta.
He guided First National from third place to first in metro Atlantadeposits, eventually helping arrange that bank's merger with Wachoviain 1985. He became chairman of the board of Wachovia, and then retiredin 1987.
More than a talented executive, Williams was an important civicleader, volunteering for many cultural and educational organizations.He served as president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and chairmanof the United Negro College Fund, among many other activities.
The Williams Lecture is a special event of the IMPACT SpeakerSeries, organized by Georgia Tech's Institute for Leadership andEntrepreneurship.
]]>
]]>
"Most sports bras available on the market do justone thing," says Harlow, who will earn her MBA from Georgia Tech thisspring. "To put it bluntly, they squash."
Her solution, the curve-enhancing BeBuxom Bra,won the Most Commercializable Award in the March 12 finals of the 2010Georgia Tech Business Plan Competition. Worth $35,000 in legal,financial, and other services, this honor goes to the team deemed byjudges to be most ready to enter the marketplace.
Shannon developed the technology and plan for thecompany Belle Curves with fellow students in the Evening MBA Program:Robert Halley, Grace Powers, Richard Powers (MBA 2008), and Fran Ruskin.
Organized by Georgia Tech's Institute forLeadership and Entrepreneurship, the Business Plan Competition is opento students in all of Georgia Tech's academic programs (graduate andundergraduate) as well as recent alumni. It includes multiple awardcategories.
The Belle Curves team also won the Best ElevatorPitch prize ($500), which recognizes the company that does the best jobexplaining its concept in a one-minute oral presentation – representingthe limited amount of time entrepreneurs might have to sell a conceptto potential investors they encounter.
Belle Curves team members say they are seriousabout taking their product to market, and they hope to raise $200,000to help get it there by 2011. All the team members, four of whom arestill earning their MBA at night, plan on keeping their day jobs asthey develop the company, which they eventually hope to sell to a majorcorporation.
Harlow's idea for a more flattering sports brafor women with smaller cup sizes (AAA-B) took shape after realizingthat Robert Halley, her seatmate in the Evening MBA New ProductDevelopment class, is vice president of research and development atAmerican Breast Care, a manufacturer of bras and other products forwomen who've had mastectomies.
What separates BeBuxom from other sports bras isits design, Harlow says. Its silicone inserts are held in specialpockets instead of being worn directly against a wearer's skin wherethey might shift or feel irritating. "We use a lightweight siliconewith thin edges so that it shapes well to the body with no unsightlylines," explains team member Grace Powers.
Harlow adds: "We knew we were onto something whenmany of the members of the focus group who tested the product didn'twant to return the bras back to us. They begged us to keep them."
First Place
In addition to the MostCommercializable Award for the team most ready for market, the BusinessPlan Competition also awarded First, Second and Third Place winners inthe overall competition.
The First Place honor ($10,000) went to AlpZhi,which has developed an innovative manufacturing process formicro-lenses. This process facilitates an improvement in the designflexibility of micro-lenses and the devices that incorporate them,including digital cameras, cell phones, LCD computer screens, andfiber-optic equipment.
In addition to the first prize, AlpZhi also wonthe $10,000 Innovators Award, which recognizes a potentiallydisruptive technology. AlpZhi'stechnology will enable creation of such advanced products as 3D TVs,flexible displays, compact bio-sensors, and high-efficiency solarpanels.
The team includesAmit S. Jariwala, a PhD student in mechanical engineering; Brian Baum,an Emory law student; Greg Sheridan, an MBA student, and Fei Ding, apost-doctoral fellow in mechanical engineering. Jariwala, Baum, andSheridan are part of the the TI:GER® program, acollaboration between Georgia Tech and Emory Law School that bringstogether science and engineering PhD, MBA, and law students to work oncommercializing technologies.
Jariwala, who is working on the AlpZhi micro-fabrication technologyfor his PhD, explained that it "allows for manufacturing eight timesfaster and one-sixth the current cost of competing technologies, eventually leading to faster market entry of next generation imaging devices."
AlpZhi employs a computer-controlled systeminvolving the addition of photosensitive resins to create lenses ofprecise dimensions. However, instead of adding material like AlpZhi,current competing technologies employ more expensive subtractiveprocesses involving etching and the use of hard tools to achieve the desired lens structure. "This additive fabrication approach leads to a better quality lens," says Jariwala, who hopes to the have the company's first generation micro-lens products on the market by 2011.
Ideas to SERVE
Running parallel to the BusinessPlan Competition was Georgia Tech's Ideas to SERVE (Socially andEnvironmentally Responsible Value Enhancement) Competition, forearly-stage business concepts that could help solve social issues orsustain the environment.
In finals held March 10, the Ideas to SERVESocial Solution track winner ($1,250) was One Motion Syringe. Improvingupon the current syringe design, its technology provides a shortertraining period for healthcare workers learning to use syringes and abetter ergonomic experience. The ease-of-use of these syringes couldhelp facilitate the dissemination of vaccines in Third World countries.
The Ideas to SERVE Environmental Solutions track winner ($1,250) was SecondWind. It proposes leveraging high-speed roadways to generate wind-drivenelectric power. Small wind turbines, embedded in roadside barriers,would harness the current from passing traffic in industrializednations.
Judges for the multiple awards in the Business PlanCompetition and its sister Ideas to SERVE Competition included numerousleaders in the corporate, venture capital, technology transfer, legal,and academic communities.
Sponsors of the Business Plan Competition wereILE, Georgia Tech College of Management, GREENGUARD EnvironmentalInstitute, Advanced Technology Development Center, ExecutiveEntrepreneurs Society, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP,InterfaceFLOR, Hi Tech Partners, Fish & Richardson, Gray GhostVentures, HLB Gross Collins PC, and Bondurant Mixon & Elmore LLP.
Ideas to SERVE sponsors included ILE, GeorgiaTech College of Management, MaRC Sustainable Design &Manufacturing, Tedd Munchak Chair in Entrepreneurship at Georgia Tech,Tech's Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems, and the Arthur M.Blank Family Foundation Speaker Series.
]]>Individuals who take the perspective of a "career game"—afascinating, complex, nuanced, real-life, multiplayer maze that unfoldsin real time—can develop into better players, explain Bennett, aprofessor of organizational behavior at Tech and principal of Red BuoyConsulting; and Miles, vice chairman of leadership advisory withinHeidrick & Struggles' Leadership Consulting Practice.
Savvy players, by definition, have a better shot at successfullycompeting for the highly sought-after positions that will enable themto realize their goals, they write.
Your Career Game includes conversations with a wide range ofsuccessful professionals, such as Ursula Burns (Xerox), Stephen Elop(Microsoft), Marius Kloppers (BHP Billiton), Ken Frazier (Merck), andLiz McCartney (The St. Bernard Project), and discusses how their careermoves demonstrate elements of a game theory approach to careermanagement.
According to the authors, anyone who can impact your game is aplayer. What distinguishes savvy players is that they routinely developplans to influence other players to participate in ways that createadvantage for them. Savvy players are keenly aware that their strengthswhen combined with the moves of another player can allow both playersto win a bit, Bennett and Miles explain.
As a reminder that the game is ultimately self-interested, theauthors write, "Of course, recognizing potential gains from the traderequires that you understand the commitments other players can keep. Ifyou partner with players who cannot deliver their ends of the deal, youwill end up having been played as a sucker."
Bennett and Miles delineate three fundamental moves that any player would need to be aware of—"career refining—incremental efforts that sharpen your qualifications and focus your résumé. Other moves may have been career defining—theseare the successful big swings that create positive disruptions andsharply accelerate your career progress. Still other moves may beblunders that produced terrible results and threaten to set back orstall your career. We call these moves career ending or career limiting—moves that could require you to leave the game or simply send you back to square one."
The book also shows how you can strategically manage your keyworking relationships as your career needs change over time—with yourboss, the "weak ties" in your network, and the all-importantrelationships with your mentors and sponsors.
As Bennett and Miles point out, "Mentors and sponsors can be amongthe most impactful players in your career game. The ability to draw ontheir insight and experience can be an incredible resource for players.In fact, this is precisely how good game players should view theseallies in the career game—as a resource that should be proactively andstrategically managed."
Bennett and Miles are also authors of the 2006 book Riding Shotgun: The Role of the COO (Stanford University Press).
]]>Based on arrays containing as many as 20,000 zinc oxide nanowires in each nanogenerator, the devices can produce up to 1.2 volts of output voltage, and are fabricated with a chemical process designed to facilitate low-cost manufacture on flexible substrates. Tests done with nearly one thousand nanogenerators – which have no mechanical moving parts – showed that they can be operated over time without loss of generating capacity.
Details of the improved nanogenerator and self-powered nanosensors were reported March 28 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
“We have demonstrated a robust way to harvest energy and use it for powering nanometer-scale sensors,” said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regents professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “We now have a technology roadmap for scaling these nanogenerators up to make truly practical applications.”
For the past five years, Wang’s research team has been developing nanoscale generators that use the piezoelectric effect – which produces electrical charges when wires made from zinc oxide are subjected to strain. The strain can be produced by simply flexing the wires, and current from many wires can be constructively combined to power small devices. The research effort has recently focused on increasing the amount of current and voltage generated and on making the devices more robust.
In the paper, Wang and collaborators report on a new configuration for the nanowires that embeds both ends of the tiny structures in a polymer substrate. The wires can then generate current as they are compressed in a flexible nanogenerator enclosure, eliminating the contact with a metallic electrode that was required in earlier devices. Because the generators are completely enclosed, they can be used in a variety of environments.
“We can now grow the wires chemically on substrates that are foldable and flexible and the processing can now be done at substrate temperatures of less than 100 degrees Celsius – about the temperature of coffee,” explained Wang. “That will allow lower cost fabrication and growth on just about any substrate.”
The nanogenerators are produced using a multi-step process that includes fabrication of electrodes that provide both Ohmic and Shottky contacts for the nanowires. The arrays can be grown both vertically and laterally. To maximize current and voltage, the growth and assembly requires alignment of crystalline growth, as well as the synchronization of charging and discharging cycles.
Production of vertical nanogenerators begins with growing zinc oxide nanowires on a gold-coated surface using a wet chemical method. A layer of polymethyl-methacrylate is then spun-coated onto the nanowires, covering them from top to bottom. Oxygen plasma etching is then performed, leaving clean tips on which a piece of silicon wafer coated with platinum is placed. The coated silicon provides a Shottky barrier, which is essential for maintaining electrical current flow.
The alternating current output of the nanogenerators depends on the amount of strain applied. “At a strain rate of less than two percent per second, we can produce output voltage of 1.2 volts,” said Wang. “The power output is matched with the external load.”
Lateral nanogenerators integrating 700 rows of zinc oxide nanowires produced a peak voltage of 1.26 volts at a strain of 0.19 percent. In a separate nanogenerator, vertical integration of three layers of zinc oxide nanowire arrays produced a peak power density of 2.7 milliwatts per cubic centimeter.
Wang’s team has so far produced two tiny sensors that are based on zinc oxide nanowires and powered by the nanogenerators. By measuring the amplitude of voltage changes across the device when exposed to different liquids, the pH sensor can measure the acidity of liquids. An ultraviolet nanosensor depends on similar voltage changes to detect when it is struck by ultraviolet light.
In addition to Wang, the team authoring the paper included Sheng Xu, Yong Qin, Chen Xu, Yaguang Wei, and Rusen Wang, all from Georgia Tech’s School of Materials Science and Engineering.
The new generator and nanoscale sensors open new possibilities for very small sensing devices that can operate without batteries, powered by mechanical energy harvested from the environment. Energy sources could include the motion of tides, sonic waves, mechanical vibration, the flapping of a flag in the wind, pressure from shoes of a hiker or the movement of clothing.
“Building devices that are small isn’t sufficient,” Wang noted. “We must also be able to power them in a sustainable way that allows them to be mobile. Using our new nanogenerator, we can put these devices into the environment where they can work independently and sustainably without requiring a battery.”
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364).
Writer: John Toon
]]>The purpose of this process is to ensure the dependents covered under health plans are eligible dependents as defined by the plan. The Board of Regents has retained the services of an independent auditor, Chapman Kelly, to assist in completing this dependent verification.
During the week of March 29, any faculty or staff who have dependents enrolled in a health plan offered through the University System of Georgia will receive a letter, mailed to a home address, from Chapman Kelly. The letter will detail the steps and documentation required to complete this verification process.
Employees will receive specific information on what documentation is required, but may include copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates and copies of other documents that validate financial interdependence. If verification is not received in the time period communicated, the dependent will be removed from the health plan.
Because this is a Board of Regents directive, the Georgia Tech Benefits Team is not permitted to accept any documentation and have been advised to refer all questions to Chapman Kelly. Upon receiving correspondence from Chapman Kelly, read it carefully and follow the dates when certain information needs to be returned. Failure to comply could result in loss of coverage for your dependent(s).
]]>Additional details and live webcast at www.coa.gatech.edu/imagining.
]]>College of Architecture
404-385-2156
]]>More than 700 lives were lost in the 8.8 magnitude Chilean Earthquake. Georgia Tech student Melissa McCoy, currently co-oping in Santiago, saw some effects of the disaster first-hand. “I've been trying to find ways to help the victims of the earthquake here as many of my friends and colleagues have been greatly affected by it,” she said. “While volunteers are welcomed in some areas, it appears that money and supplies are what is really needed in the destroyed areas.”
McCoy reached out the Georgia Tech community and pitched an idea to raise funds by selling bowls of chili. Sponsored by AIESEC, and in collaboration with Georgia Tech's department of Auxiliary Services, Engineers Without Borders, American Red Cross, and Hispanic Recruitment Team, the fundraiser will support relief efforts in the many villages surrounding Santiago.
]]> Yearbooks strive to accurately represent they year they record. The Blueprint has been a shining example of this tradition for more than 100 years at Georgia Tech. This image represents a few of Georgia Tech's top memorable moments as capture by the Blueprint.
Far left: 1996 (Blueprint volume 89)
Atlanta hosted the Summer Olympics in 1996 and Georgia Tech was at the heart of the event. Many of the dorms on campus today served as housing for the athletes, with the Australian delegation taking over all of Area II housing, the Hungarian teams staying in today's North Avenue Apartments, and some smaller delegations living in Greek houses.
Upper middle: 1987 (Blueprint volume 80)
The majority of Blueprints published until 1988 contained a "Beauties" section. The section always provided an insightful snapshot of fashion at the time.
Lower right: 1977 (Blueprint volume 70)
The 1977 Blueprint is a shining example of the 70's with its groovy graphics and focus on the personality of the Institute. Perhaps most interesting are this edition's photos of campus (with relatively little change on East Campus) juxtaposed with Atlanta (with few landmarks remaining the same).
Contributed by Grace Stephens, Blueprint Editor
]]>Yearbooks strive to accurately represent they year they record. The Blueprint has been a shining example of this tradition for more than 100 years at Georgia Tech. This image represents a few of Georgia Tech's most memorable moments as capture by the Blueprint.
Left: 1956 (Blueprint, volume 49):
Blake Ragsdale Van Leer, the Institute's 5thPresident, had a significant role in shaping Georgia Tech. His 12 year Presidency was marked by the name change from the Georgia School of Technology to the Georgia Institute of Technologyin 1948, the completion of several buildings still on campus today: Price Gilbert Memorial Library (pictured), East Architecture and the West Stands of Bobby Dodd Stadium. He also initiated the admittance of women to the Institute.
Upper right: 1969 (Blueprint, volume 62):
Perhaps the one of the most controversialyearbooks ever printed, the 1969 Blueprint instigated a rally of thousands in Peter's Park that resulted in national media coverage of the event. Students were upset with the publication because they believed it had a political agenda, something deemed inappropriate for a student yearbook. Alumnus Robert Stephens (M.S. IM '74) attended the rally, where many students "tore all the pages out, burned theannuals, hung an effigy of the Editor-in-Chief, and tried to throw the business manager into the pyre." The discontent over the yearbook's focus on the surrounding community rather than Georgia Tech lasted from the initial distribution in mid-May of 1969 to the end of the quarter. The 1970 staff took the rally to heart and hung the charred remains of a book on the office wall under a sign reading "Lest We Not Forget."
Lower right: 1977 (Blueprint, volume 70)
Yearbooks strive to accurately reflect the year they record. Pictured is a homecoming banner that references a popular song from that era, "In the Year 2525 (Exordium and Terminus)."
Contributed by Grace Stephens, Blueprint Editor
]]>A study published online this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that a gene called Hu antigen R (HuR) plays a critical role in inducing and mediating an inflammatory response in cells experiencing mechanical and chemical stresses. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
The findings may open up new possibilities for developing treatments of metabolic diseases associated with inflammation, such as atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis typically occurs in branched or curved regions of arteries where plaques form because of cholesterol build-up. Inflammation can alter the structure of plaques so that they become more likely to rupture, causing a blood vessel blockage and leading to heart attack or stroke.
“This is the first systematic study showing that HuR not only responds to external stimuli as a stress-sensitive gene, but it also regulates other stress-sensitive genes,” said senior author Gang Bao, the Robert A. Milton Chair in Biomedical Engineering in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.
The study results show that HuR promotes the expression of genes that support atherosclerosis and inhibits the expression of genes that combat atherosclerosis.
“We found that suppressing expression of HuR inhibited the inflammatory response of cells, which shows that designing drugs that block HuR function may reduce the risk of plaques rupturing,” explained Bao.
Bao guided Won Jong Rhee, a former postdoctoral fellow in his laboratory, to conduct a series of experiments investigating the biology, behavior and pathways of HuR.
The researchers first studied how the HuR gene responds to different flow environments and chemical treatments. They exposed human umbilical vein endothelial cells to disturbed flow -- which occurs in artery regions where plaques form -- and found that the cells expressed higher levels of HuR than when they experienced a static or laminar flow environment. This finding was validated in tissue experiments with results showing increased amounts of HuR in regions of a mouse aorta that were exposed to disturbed flow.
Then the researchers treated endothelial cells with statins, medications used to treat atherosclerosis by reducing the number of cholesterol-containing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) molecules in the blood and inhibiting inflammation. The results indicated a decreased level of HuR with statin treatment.
After establishing HuR as a stress-sensitive gene regulated by external stimuli, including flow and statin treatment, the researchers conducted experiments to determine whether HuR regulates the expression of other stress-sensitive genes. They found that reducing the level of HuR in cells increased the levels of two genes that combat atherosclerosis -- Kruppel-like factor 2 (Klf2) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). The reduction in HuR also decreased the expression of bone morphogenic protein-4 (BMP-4), a gene that supports atherosclerosis.
Reducing the level of HuR in cells also significantly inhibited many inflammatory responses of the endothelial cells, including the expression of two potential atherosclerosis drug targets: inter-cellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1).
Though this study showed that HuR plays a critical role in inducing and mediating an inflammatory response in cells subjected to a stressful environment, the underlying mechanism for this regulation is still not known.
“HuR protein often binds to messenger RNAs to increase their stability and translation, but we found that regulation of other stress-sensitive genes by HuR was not due to changes in mRNA stability by direct protein binding,” explained Bao.
To uncover the pathways that lead to HuR’s stress sensitivity, the researchers conducted a series of studies to reveal that HuR functions by adding a phosphate group to the transcriptional factor nuclear factor kappa B (NFkB) and its inhibitor IkBa. Additional research is underway to reveal what mRNAs HuR binds to and the mechanisms used to respond to mechanical and chemical stresses. Identifying the triggers for inflammation and unraveling the details of inflammatory pathways may eventually furnish new therapeutic targets.
Hanjoong Jo, the Coulter Department’s Ada Lee and Pete Correll Professor in Biomedical Engineering, Kyunghwa Chang, graduate student Chih-Wen Ni and research scientist Zhilan Zheng also contributed to this research.
This project is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (Award Nos. HL80711, CA119338 and HL70531). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigator and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NIH.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (avogel@gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986)
Writer: Abby Vogel
]]>DesRoches spent several days in Port-au-Prince following at the end of January and beginning of February assessing the infrastructure damage sustained in the country.
Beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday, DesRoches will discuss his initial findings with several Congressional committees, beginning with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, followed by meetings with the House Foreign Relations Committee and the House Science and Technology Committee. The staff of Georgia Rep. John Lewis will join DesRoches during his meeting with the House Foreign Relations Committee.
These briefings will be followed by a brown bag lunch at the World Bank, where he will present his findings alongside other national and international researchers.
DesRoches will be traveling back to Haiti at the beginning of March for further evaluation of the country's condition.
]]>404-894-6016
]]>The week provides several opportunities to raise awareness of this physical and mental health issues that surround one's body image. As a show of support, members of the Georgia Tech community are also invited to sign the GT Body Peace Treaty, which outlines healthy thoughts and behaviors that encourage a positive body image.
While many colleges and universities have eating disorder awareness weeks, the Georgia Tech Campaign for EveryBody takes an ambitious approach to education about body image. "We decided to broaden awareness to include education about some of the larger issues that are contributing factors to positive and negative body image,” said Colleen Riggle, interim director of the Women’s Resource Center and co-chair of the committee. Also unique to Georgia Tech is the inclusion of men in the committee’s mission and events.
Events include an open mic night, a reading of Eve Ensler’s "The Good Body," multiple photo exhibits sponsored by the GT Photo Club on the subjects of beauty and body image, and the launch of the new Body Mod Blog, for members of the Georgia Tech community to share their experiences with body modification such as tattooing, cosmetic surgery, and piercing.
The Campaign for EveryBody Committee is comprised of individuals from the campus community, including representatives from the Women’s Resource Center, Stamps Health Services, Counseling Center, Athletic Association, Campus Recreation Center, Housing, GT Library, Student Center, Student Involvement, Communications and Marketing, Dining Services, and the Office of International Education. The committee's effort is not limited to one week of events; they also work with the freshman seminar GT1000 and Go T.E.C.H. throughout the year to promote body image awareness.
A full calendar of events, the Body Mod Blog, and the GT Body Peace treaty are available at www.womenscenter.gatech.edu/bodyimage/.
]]>Information on the ways in which attaching metal contacts affects electron transport in graphene will be important to scientists studying the material -- and to designers who may one day fabricate electronic devices from the carbon-lattice material.
"Graphene devices will have to communicate with the external world, and that means we will have to fabricate contacts to transport current and data," said Mei-Yin Chou, a professor and department chair in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "When they put metal contacts onto graphene to measure transport properties, researchers and device designers need to know that they may not be measuring the instrinsic properties of pristine graphene. Coupling between the contacts and the material must be taken into account."
Information on the effects of metal contacts on graphene was reported in the journal Physical Review Letters on February 19th. The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, and involved interactions with researchers at the National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Georgia Tech.
Using large-scale, first-principles calculations done at two different NSF-supported supercomputer centers, the Georgia Tech research team -- which included postdoctoral fellows Salvador Barraza-Lopez and Mihajlo Vanevic, and assistant professor Markus Kindermann -- conducted detailed atomic-level calculations of aluminum contacts grown on graphene.
The calculations studied two contacts up to 14 nanometers apart, with graphene suspended between them. In their calculations, the researchers allowed the aluminum to grow as it would in the real world, then studied how electron transfer was induced in the area surrounding the contacts.
"People have been able to come up with phenomenological models that they use to find out what the effects are with metallic contacts," Chou explained. "Our calculations went a few steps farther because we built contacts atom-by-atom. We built atomistically-resolved contacts, and by doing that, we solved this problem at the atomic level and tried to do everything consistent with quantum mechanics."
Because metals typically have excess electrons, physically attaching the contacts to graphene causes a charge transfer from the metal. Charge begins to be transferred as soon as the contracts are constructed, but ultimately the two materials reach equilibrium, Chou said.
The study showed that charge transfer at the leads and into the freestanding section of the material creates an electron-hole asymmetry in the conductance. For leads that are sufficiently long, the effect creates two conductance minima at the energies of the Dirac points for the suspended and clamped regions of the graphene, according to Barraza-Lopez.
"These results could be important to the design of future graphene devices," he said. "Edge effects and the impact of nanoribbon width have been studied in significant detail, but the effects of charge transfer at the contacts may potentially be just as important."
The researchers modeled aluminum, but believe their results will apply to other metals such as copper and gold that do not form chemical bonds with graphene. However, other metals such as chromium and titanium do chemically alter the material, so the effects they have on electron transport may be different.
Beyond the new information provided by the calculations, the research further proposes quantitative models that can be used under certain circumstances to describe the impact of the contacts.
"Earlier models had been based on physical insights, but nobody really knew how faithfully they described the material," Kindermann said. "This is the first calculation to show that these earlier models apply under certain circumstances for the systems that we studied."
Data from the study may one day help device designers engineer graphene circuits by helping them understand the effects they are seeing.
"When we modify graphene, we need to understand what changes occur as a result of adding materials," added Chou. "This is really fundamental research to understand these effects and to have a numerical prediction for what is going on. We are helping to understand the basic physics of graphene."
This research was supported by Department of Energy grant DE-FG02-97ER45632. Comments and conclusions in this article are those of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Energy.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364)(avogel@gatech.edu).
Writer: John Toon
]]>
The team departs on February 28, 2010 and will spend six days collecting data and documenting observations, paying particular attention to the disaster’s impacts on people, the performance of structures and lifelines, and the enormous societal challenges of relief, recovery and rebuilding. Team members will meet with local Haitian engineers, architects and planners, as well as Haitian government officials and business leaders that will lead the nation’s reconstruction.
The enormity of the earthquake presents serious challenges for Haiti's infrastructure, economy, and society. Estimates suggest more than 212,000 people died, 250,000 were critically injured and more than one million Haitians were made homeless. The EERI and the U.S. Geological Society organized an advance reconnaissance team that visited Haiti in late January. Their trip report, including findings, is available on EERI's Haiti Virtual Clearinghouse Web site.
For more than thirty years, EERI has managed a National Science Foundation sponsored project called Learning from Earthquakes. EERI has sent researchers to investigate all damaging across the world. The research teams have brought back valuable observations that hold lessons for U.S. and international engineering practitioners and researchers as they strive to reduce earthquake hazards. After the Haiti team returns, their findings will be published and briefings will be made to researchers, practitioners and decision makers.
The scale of this disaster is so large that many organizations will be working together in conducting reconnaissance. The Learning from Earthquakes team will be joined by representatives from partnering organizations who are all traveling under Professor DesRoches’ leadership.
]]>404-894-6016
]]>"Post-consumer recycled content has come a long way," said Bill Georgia, production planner for PCS, adding that the new supply very nearly approximates virgin pulp in that it has a smooth, consistent look and feel.
Georgia said the impetus for the change came about through conversations with several campus clients. So when it came time to restock the PCS paper supply, Georgia shopped around. As it turned out, 100 percent post-consumer waste content was less expensive than his previous purchase of 30 percent recycled content.
Though the savings are modest, they do represent an extension of Georgia Tech’s commitment to sustainable practices, particularly in an area that represents the highest percentage of institutional recycling. In 2009, for example, office paper represented 31 percent — or 281.6 tons — of Tech’s recycled materials. In 2008, the Institute received national recognition from the American Forest and Paper Association for the quality of its paper recycling program.
"This is a great step for Georgia Tech," said Cindy Jackson, manager of Recycling Services. "It also sends a strong message to those who still contend that recycled paper is of inferior quality and won’t work in a copier or printer. Frankly, that is a myth."
With environmental concerns on everyone's mind, PCS also intends to offer clients the option of noting the paper is 100 percent recycled content in agate type.
"We'll have a prepared statement for those departments who want to include it," Georgia said.
]]>"This is a great opportunity for a student to have his or her work used in a professional context and wouldcertainly make a nice addition to someone’s portfolio," said Steven Girardot, Director of the Office of Success Programs. John Zelek, currently a sophomore industrial design student, created the previous year's book cover.
]]>
For this reason, Georgia Tech is actively engaged with theUniversity System of Georgia to devise a strategy that will enable usto maintain the value and quality of the degrees expected by ourstudents and alumni. The Institute will continue to work with the Boardof Regents to identify additional reduction amounts and opportunitiesfor cost-savings during the coming weeks.
]]>404-894-8835
]]>Georgia Tech Will Not Delay Opening on Wednesday
The Georgia Tech Police Department monitored road conditions overnight. This morning they report that the campus is clear. Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to actively monitor weather reports and road conditions in their areas to determine whether it is safe to travel and to work with their supervisors and instructors if there are any concerns. As always, exercise your best judgment regarding when it is safe for you to drive to work or classes.
UPDATED: Tuesday, March 2 at 1:45 PM
A Winter StormWarning remains in effect for much of North Georgia, including FultonCounty and the Georgia Tech campus, until midnight tonight. Totalaccumulation is still predicted between 1 and 2 inches for the area,although most road surfaces have proven to be too warm to support muchaccumulation. The heaviest snow should end by mid-afternoon with lightsnow showers possible throughout the remainder of the evening.Temperatures tonight will drop into the upper 20s and may cause someicy patches on roadways. Winds between 10 and 20 MPH should help to dryexcess water on the roadways, but icing cannot be ruled out.
Primary Hazards
The primary hazard will be from possible icy conditions Wednesday morning.
Next Steps
Georgia Tech Earth Day 2010. Celebrate Our World.
]]>404-385-0088
]]>The research will create a technological first -- a small, lightweight, low-cost phased-array radar that uses silicon-germanium (SiGe) chips in tandem with radio-frequency micro-electromechanical systems (RF MEMS). The system being developed could be mounted on aircraft or satellites to enable high-quality mapping of ice and snow formations.
Traditionally, research on frozen areas has required bulky radar equipment that must be operated on the surface, said John Papapolymerou, a professor in Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering who is principal investigator on the project. The lightweight radar approach could allow unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to gather information by flying over a large area such as Greenland, using the radar system to map ice sheets in three dimensions.
"This aerial approach would greatly facilitate environmental remote sensing of ice, allowing us to map larger areas of interest to better understand location, quantity and composition," said Papapolymerou, who is teamed with another Georgia Tech professor, John Cressler, and Ted Heath, a Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) senior research scientist. "This mapping ability is very important because we need to know about ice accumulation, consistency and stability."
Phased-array radar technology uses fixed, interconnected antenna elements to send and receive multiple radar signals almost simultaneously. This approach employs a technique called phase-shifting to electronically steer the radar-signal beam.
By contrast, a conventional radar antenna changes the direction of the signal beam mechanically; the antenna moves physically among set positions, sending and receiving signals at each position. The serial approach used by conventional radar generally offers slower and less-effective performance than the more parallel technique of phased-array radar.
The basic sub-array unit under development consists of a flat grid with eight antenna elements on a side -- 64 elements in all. These sub-arrays, measuring about 8.5 by 7 inches, can be combined to create a far larger radar array capable of high-quality 3-D mapping.
The sub-arrays are constructed using polymers as the substrate, which is the board-like structure in which the electronics are embedded. Polymers have numerous advantages; robust and flexible, they are also low in cost and offer good electrical performance.
To date, the researchers have produced and successfully tested an eight-by-two-element sub-array mounted on a multi-layer substrate. This substrate consists of a layer of liquid crystal polymer (LCP), which is a robust organic polymer, and a layer of a composite material called Duroid.
The LCP/Duroid substrate houses integrated circuits made from silicon-germanium (SiGe). The SiGe chips transmit and receive the radar signals via the sub-array's multiple interconnected antenna elements.
The researchers chose silicon-germanium because it offers high-performance signal amplification that is also low in noise and in power consumption, said Cressler, who is a Ken Byers Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. SiGe chips are also robust, low in cost and highly resistant to weather and to radiation encountered in space.
"Using silicon-germanium allows much higher levels of integration, which older radar systems don’t give you," Cressler said. "It enables you to go from a system which is much larger and more expensive, and less robust, to a chip that is only a few millimeters on a side and costs far less."
Silicon-germanium circuits also interface well with RF-MEMS systems, which are tiny micro-electromechanical devices capable of movement on a very small scale. The team is using RF-MEMS devices, embedded in the substrate, to perform two functions -- switching between the transmit and receive circuits, and activating phase-shifters that electronically guide the radar signals sent by the sub-array's 64 antenna elements.
Using MEMS devices for electro-mechanical switching results in less signal loss than integrating the transmit-receive switching function within a SiGe chip electronically, Cressler said. And while MEMS switching is a bit slower than a purely electronic approach, it offers both better signal performance and the ability to handle higher signal-output power.
The system under development uses the X band -- microwave frequencies between 8 and 12 gigahertz (GHz). This band is especially effective for scanning within ice and snow deposits and remotely mapping them in three dimensions.
GTRI's Heath and his team are developing the hardware that controls the electronic components, such as the field-programmable gate arrays used by the phase-shifters to electronically steer the signal beam. The GTRI team is also designing the power supplies required by the system.
In addition, the Georgia Tech team is using the radar range at GTRI's Cobb Country Research Facility for testing.
"GTRI is tasked with taking the silicon-germanium / MEMS transmit-receive elements and putting them into a functioning radar system," Heath said. "These back-end electronics supply the power to those chips, as well as provide the signal processing and conditioning that steer the signals, and the processing of the raw data coming back."
Papapolymerou added that this approach to phased-array technology is expected to have uses in a variety of defense and commercial applications.
This research was conducted under contract number NNX-08AN22G. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the researchers, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Assistance: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364)(avogel@gatech.edu).
Technical Contact: John Papapolymerou (404-385-6004)(ioannis.papapolymerou@ece.gatech.edu).
Writer: Rick Robinson
]]>While application deadlines for these nationally competitive scholarship programs occur during the fall 2010 semester, advance preparation is required for students that are interested in submitting applying.
Scholarships for Undergraduate Study
Scholarships for Graduate Study
Karen.adams@provost.gatech.edu
Paul Hurst,
]]>Treatment of pressure ulcers costs an estimated $8 billion each year in the United States alone, but the painful skin injury can be prevented if detected early. The device, a hand-held multispectral imaging system that provides data in real-time, could be used by health care professionals to detect signs of pressure ulcers before they can be seen with conventional visual screening techniques -- especially in patients with darker skin.
“We have developed a novel multispectral imager that can be integrated onto a chip,” said Fengtao Wang, a Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate student who explained the company’s plan to a judging panel. “We can deliver a compact, real-time and low-cost multispectral imager to detect erythema at an early stage.”
The device would be marketed to clinics, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, hospitals and other facilities that treat patients whose mobility problems can result in development of pressure ulcers. In addition to the medical applications, Wang said the device may also have military, agricultural, manufacturing and environmental uses.
In addition to Wang, the company team includes Ali Adibi and Fuhan Liu in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Linghua Kong and Stephen Sprigle of the Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA) in the Georgia Tech College of Architecture. Adibi and Sprigle are both professors; Kong is a senior faculty engineer and Liu is research engineer.
The Georgia Tech Edison Prize was established to encourage formation of startup companies based on technology developed at Georgia Tech, and was made possible by a multi-year grant from the Charles A. Edison Fund, named for the inventor’s son. Awarding of the first Georgia Tech Edison Prize was part of the Georgia Tech Graduate Research and Innovation Conference held February 8.
“Thomas Edison often receives credit for inventing the electric light bulb, but his real accomplishment was in making that device -- along with the phonograph and motion picture camera -- commercially successful to create new companies and new industries,” said Stephen Fleming, Georgia Tech’s vice provost for economic development and technology ventures. “Through the Edison Prize, we want to advance this kind of company-producing technology commercialization at Georgia Tech.”
The Georgia Tech Edison Fund, which is managed by Fleming, also provides seed funding to startup companies that have a close association with Georgia Tech.
“The judges for the first Georgia Tech Edison Prize heard a number of excellent presentations,” Fleming explained. “The judges selected Fengtao Wang because he had successfully identified an un-served market for the product and had begun approaching potential partners to commercialize the technology. Innovation is ultimately about turning knowledge into money.”
Approximately 100 entries were received for the prize competition from among the 300 graduate students who submitted posters to the Graduate Research and Innovation Conference. Those entries were evaluated by a committee of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and Georgia Tech faculty to create a list of 11 finalists. Those finalists were each invited to make presentations to a judging committee, which selected the winner announced at a reception on the evening of February 8.
The judging committee included:
• Jamie Bardin, former CEO of EZ-Prints
• Nelson Chu, general partner of Kinetic Ventures
• Merrick Furst, distinguished professor in the Georgia Tech College of Computing
• Gary Lee, former CEO of Flexlight Systems
• Keith McGreggor, manager of technology evaluation in the ATDC
• Nina Sawczuk, assistant director for biosciences in the ATDC
• Jim Stratigos, president of Broadband Strategies
About the Enterprise Innovation Institute:
The Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute helps companies, entrepreneurs, economic developers and communities improve their competitiveness through the application of science, technology and innovation. It is one of the most comprehensive university-based programs of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization and economic development in the nation.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contact: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu).
Writer: John Toon
]]>
- Contributed by Brad Dixon
]]>TI:GER Program Director
Brad Dixon
Assistant Communications Director
Georgia Tech College of Management
404-894-3943
]]>By applying a commercially-available spin-on-glass (SOG) material to graphene and then exposing it to electron-beam radiation, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology created both types of doping by simply varying the exposure time. Higher levels of e-beam energy produced p-type areas, while lower levels produced n-type areas.
The technique was used to fabricate high-resolution p-n junctions. When properly passivated, the doping created by the SOG is expected to remain indefinitely in the graphene sheets studied by the researchers.
"This is an enabling step toward making possible complementary metal oxide graphene transistors," said Raghunath Murali, a senior research engineer in Georgia Tech's Nanotechnology Research Center.
A paper describing the technique appeared February 10, 2010 in the journal Applied Physics Letters. The research was supported by the Semiconductor Research Corporation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through the Interconnect Focus Center.
In the new doping process, Murali and graduate student Kevin Brenner begin by removing flakes of graphene one to four layers thick from a block of graphite. They place the material onto a surface of oxidized silicon, then fabricate a four-point contact device.
Next, they spin on films of hydrogen silsesquoxane (HSQ), then cure certain portions of the resulting thin film using electron beam radiation. The technique provides precise control over the amount of radiation and where it is applied to the graphene, with higher levels of energy corresponding to more cross-linking of the HSQ.
"We gave varying doses of electron-beam radiation and then studied how it influenced the properties of carriers in the graphene lattice," Murali said. "The e-beam gave us a fine range of control that could be valuable for fabricating nanoscale devices. We can use an electron beam with a diameter of four or five nanometers that allows very precise doping patterns."
Electronic measurements showed that a graphene p-n junction created by the new technique had large energy separations, indicating strong doping effects, he added.
Researchers elsewhere have demonstrated graphene doping using a variety of processes including soaking the material in various solutions and exposing it to a variety of gases. The Georgia Tech process is believed to be the first to provide both electron and hole doping from a single dopant material.
Doping processes used for graphene are likely to be significantly different from those established for silicon use, Murali said. In silicon, the doping step substitutes atoms of a different material for silicon atoms in the material’s lattice.
In the new single-step process for graphene, the doping is believed to introduce atoms of hydrogen and oxygen in the vicinity of the carbon lattice. The oxygen and hydrogen don't replace carbon atoms, but instead occupy locations atop the lattice structure.
"Energy applied to the SOG breaks chemical bonds and releases hydrogen and oxygen which bond with the carbon lattice," Murali said. "A high e-beam energy converts the whole SOG structure to more of a network, and then you have more oxygen than hydrogen, resulting in a p-type doping."
In volume manufacturing, the electron beam radiation would likely be replaced by a conventional lithography process, Murali said. Varying the reflectance or transmission of the mask set would control the amount of radiation reaching the SOG, and that would determine whether n-type or p-type areas are created.
"Making everything in a single step would avoid some of the expensive lithography steps," he said. "Gray-scale lithography would allow fine control of doping across the entire surface of the wafer."
For doping bulk areas such as interconnects that do not require patterning, the researchers simply coat the area with HSQ and expose it to a plasma source. The technique can make the nanoribbons up to 10 times more conductive than untreated graphene.
Because HSQ is already familiar to the microelectronics industry, the one-step approach to doping could help integrate graphene into existing processes, avoiding a disruption of the massive semiconductor design and fabrication system, Murali noted.
Over the past two years, researchers in the Nanotechnology Research Center had observed changes caused by application of HSQ during electrical testing. Only recently did they take a closer look at what was happening to understand how to take advantage of the phenomenon.
For the future, they'd like to better understand how the process works and whether other polymers might provide better results.
"We need to have a better understanding of how to control this process because variability is one of the issues that must be controlled to make manufacturing feasible," Murali explained. "We are trying to identify other polymers that may provide better control or stronger doping levels."
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364)(avogel@gatech.edu).
Writer: John Toon
]]>MOF membranes offer an alternative to more energy intensive processes for separating gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen and hydrogen. The technology has generated significant interest because of the broad range of crystalline structures that can be synthesized, but development of new MOF membranes is still at an early stage.
“Metal-organic framework membranes will be useful for doing large-scale energy-related separations in an efficient way. We are trying to accelerate their development to help move the world’s energy economy toward a more sustainable path,” said David Sholl, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. “A lot of chemists are interested in developing these metal-organic frameworks, and we hope to provide a new approach to designing the membranes.”
A publication on the use of atomically detailed calculations for designing metal-organic framework membranes was recently cited by ScienceWatch as its “fast-breaking paper in engineering” for February 2010. Details of the work were published in the journal Industrial Engineering Chemical Research in January 2009. The research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Metal-organic framework materials are nanoporous crystals that combine metal-organic complexes with organic linkers to create highly porous frameworks. They offer advantages such as high surface area, porosity, low density and both thermal and mechanical stability – all important for separation membranes.
There are many possible material combinations that could be used in the membranes. By comparing such properties as binding strength and flow rates, the computational modeling could give researchers a way to rapidly identify the materials that will work best in high-volume industrial applications.
“The extra challenge with using metal-organic frameworks is that there are literally thousands of different materials that could be considered for use,” said Sholl, who is a Georgia Research Alliance eminent scholar in energy sustainability. “This is where computational modeling really helps. We are doing the materials screening problem computationally to guide us in attacking the actual fabrication problem experimentally.”
Sholl hopes the technique will narrow the list of candidate materials from thousands down to as few as 10. Researchers would then fabricate the membranes and test them in real-world conditions.
“If we were testing all of these in the lab without the computational guidance, it’s unlikely that we would ever choose the right material,” he said. “The biggest challenge for making a new membrane is that it really requires a lot of work to make a functioning device. Even if we know exactly what material to use, there is a very long development path.”
At Georgia Tech, Sholl’s modeling group is working with experimentalists such as Sankar Nair and Christopher Jones – both professors in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering – to produce prototype membranes for evaluation.
“The big push right now is to make some devices and get test data,” Sholl said. “In particular, we want to do this within a technology framework that we know can scale up to real-world industrial levels quickly.”
In addition to colleagues at Georgia Tech, the group is also working with industrial partners to help ensure that the membranes work in industrial conditions.
“If we can go from the idea in the academic lab to a serious field test within five years, that would be a real success,” said Sholl, who holds the Michael Tennenbaum Family Chair in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. “We can’t afford for this to take 25 years because there is a need for this technology now.”
The new membrane technology could be used to address environmental issues such as removal of carbon dioxide from stack gases of coal-burning facilities in a cost-effective way. The technology could also make it economically attractive to use natural gas supplies that are contaminated with carbon dioxide, potentially expanding supplies of that fuel.
The researchers, including graduate student Seda Keskin, have modeled how the membrane technology would operate in separating methane from carbon dioxide, hydrogen from carbon dioxide, nitrogen from carbon dioxide, hydrogen from methane, nitrogen from hydrogen and methane from nitrogen.
“The common thread of this work is that we are interested in very large scale, large volume applications that can only be economical with very low energy input,” Sholl added.
This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grants CTS-0413027 and CTS-0556831. The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the principal investigator and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NSF.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364)(avogel@gatech.edu).
Technical Contact: David Sholl (404-894-2822)(david.sholl@chbe.gatech.edu).
Writer: John Toon
]]>
Formally established during the previous academic year, ThinkBig brings together students and faculty in a residence hall setting to discuss intriguing ideas and issues. No additional homework or coursework is required as a part of the community experience. Students can sign up to be a part of any community without prior knowledge or experience in the topic. The majority of the communities will be housed in the North Avenue Apartments, providing greater flexibility for students that want to meet new people while still living close to friends.
Students involved in ThinkBig will pay an additional $150 each semester that they live in a community. While the increased cost may be a concern for some students, participants will never pay for any other expenses associated with the community’s activities, such as coffee nights or field trips. According to ThinkBig Program Coordinator, Craig Rawe, “students are expanding their horizons like study abroad but without all the expenses.” Scholarships are available to students interested in ThinkBig but unable to pay the additional cost.
While the living-learning model is not new to Tech, ThinkBig has increased the number of community options. Both the International House (I-House) and the Women in Science and Technology (WST) communities have a history of strong student participation. Each community has been in existence for nearly a decade (nine and seven years, respectively). The success of these communities paved the way for additional living-learning communities.
After listening to student feedback expressing a desire to builder a deeper sense of community throughout various aspects of Georgia Tech life, the Office of Undergraduate Studies and the Department of Housing’s Residence Life program partnered to develop a series of communities that bring like-minded students together to explore intellectual side streets apart from their coursework. “Students were experiencing a negative transition between their freshmen and upperclassman years,” said Rawe. “The administration sought out to create living-learning communities to complement and expand upon what the Freshman Experience program provides freshmen students. ThinkBig can be a catalyst and contribution to the evolution of the Georgia Tech student experience, both academically and non-academically.”
In addition to extending community-building efforts from one year to the next, ThinkBig also extends learning opportunities from the classroom into the dorm room. “ThinkBig benefits student life as a whole in the way it provides a new source of intellectual stimulation and opportunity,” Rawe said. “Students are able to dive into a topic of interest and really explore something they would not have had the chance to study inside the classroom. Participants bond and connect with their peers in this unique housing environment while developing themselves professionally, academically, and socially.”
Community topics were selected from proposals submitted by Georgia Tech faculty and reviewed by the Office of the Provost. “Because more proposals are submitted than room allows, the best fits are selected for the students,” said Rawe. “Staff in Undergraduate Studies and Housing then turn these ideas into a reality.” Each community has a student leader that works with the professor and housing staff to develop topical programming and events. A diverse range of topics, including humor and innovation and sustainability and the science of real food, ensure that many students will find a ThinkBig community that fits their interests.
Students may sign-up for ThinkBig when they register for their housing assignment. For more information on the communities, the professors, and the program, visit www.thinkbig.gatech.edu or attend one of the remaining ThinkBig information sessions on February 18 and February 25. Housing registration ends March 1.
]]>The survey is a collaborative project of the Governor’s Office of Customer Service, State Personnel Administration, and the University System of Georgia (USG). Members of the faculty, staff and administration will be randomly selected from each institution and the system office.
The goal of the Customer Focus program is to promote a customer-focus culture throughout the University System of Georgia. Each institution has a Customer Service Champion, appointed by the president, on their campus. One of the objectives for the Customer Service Champions is to guide and manage customer service improvement throughout their institutions.
The USG Customer Service Employee Satisfaction Survey represents the first assessment of its kind. With the results, the Customer Focus program will review workplace satisfaction trends, gain knowledge of employee customer service expectations and opportunities to make a difference in employee satisfaction at Georgia Tech and the University System of Georgia.
Participation is voluntary, and your name and your answers will be kept confidential. The survey link will be sent from customerfocus@usg.edu and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete.
]]>The new service also comes with an OIT policy change that is designed to improve service. Beginning Friday, February 26, any voicemail messages older than 30 days will be purged from the system. Going forward, messages will be held as voicemail for a maximum of 30 days before being deleted from the system. Any voice messages a faculty or staff member wants to keep long term will need to be managed as e-mail.
Faculty and staff are currently able to set up and access GT Visual Voicemail though Buzzport (www.buzzport.gatech.edu). Once enabled, users can download messages directly to their computer as e-mail, forward voicemail files to any e-mail address, or listen to voice messages through their Web browser. For security purposes, however, the user must either be on the campus network or connected via a virtual private network (VPN) to access the visual voicemail Web page.
According to OIT, the change was prompted by a desire to add additional capability for campus customers while also addressing concerns that the performance of the voicemail system was sagging under the weight of messages that have been saved for months or years.
“The impact on our voicemail system from storing large numbers of messages long term is that it can create delays — sometimes several hours — in delivering new messages to faculty and staff,” said John Mullin, associate vice provost of OIT. “Setting a time limit on voicemail message retention will improve those service issues. Because of this policy change, we wanted to provide a new service to allow users to keep permanent copies of their voicemails prior to instituting a mandatory delete process.
A complete user guide for GT Visual Voicemail service is available at:www.oit.gatech.edu/sites/default/files/GTvisvmv1.pdf.
If you have any questions or need any additional information, call OIT Telecommunications at 404-894-7173, option 3.
]]>If you have any questions or need any additional information, call OIT Telecommunications at 404-894-7173, option 3.
]]>GTRI’s latest product is a pair of arthritis simulation gloves, which reproduce the reduction in functional capacity experienced by persons with arthritis. The gloves help those responsible for consumer products better understand how arthritis affects a person’s ability to grasp, pinch, turn, lift and twist objects.
“A product manager or designer can put these gloves on and attempt to open their company’s products or packaging,” explained GTRI principal research scientist Brad Fain. “If they are unable to open a product or package, then chances are high that people with moderate to severe symptoms of arthritis will also have difficulty opening it.”
The gloves can be used with a variety of consumer products, including medicine bottles, beverage containers, office supplies, medical devices, vehicles, cell phones and many other consumer products. They can also be used with many different types of packaging, including clamshell packages, cardboard boxes, cereal containers and foil packages.
Three companies, including Kraft Foods, are currently using the gloves in-house.
“Maxwell House always keeps our consumers’ needs in mind when designing packaging,” said Linda Roman, senior group leader for packaging strategic research at Kraft Foods. “For example, we used the gloves created by the Georgia Tech Research Institute to verify that the lid on our new instant coffee jar is accessible for those who have difficulty opening jars with regular caps. The gloves helped us evaluate the EZ Grip lid to be sure that our lid is, in fact, easy for our consumers to use.”
The gloves were designed to reduce a wearer’s functional ability to grasp something and either pull or rotate it by 33-50 percent. They also stiffen an individual’s finger joints and restrict the range of motion of his or her fingers. To create the finger stiffness and reduced finger strength experienced by individuals with arthritis, the gloves were designed with metal wires between layers of neoprene and other fabrics.
In addition to identifying ease of use issues with products, the gloves are also intended to raise awareness about issues faced by people with disabilities and to support programs focused on ease of use in design. Currently, the Arthritis Foundation in the United States and Arthritis Australia are using the gloves for such educational purposes.
The gloves can be purchased alone, or as part of GTRI’s disability awareness kit, which also includes a low-vision simulation kit, a finger strength simulation kit and a CD training program. The finger strength simulation kit consists of finger exercises that are calibrated to certain amounts of force recommended for packaging and the training program teaches individuals how to use the gloves.
The low-vision simulation kit contains a pair of glasses that simulate common visual disabilities, including various degrees of cataracts, visual acuity problems, contrast sensitivity issues and age-related macular degeneration.
“A product manager can put the glasses on and observe products to see if he or she can read important things written in small print, like instructions or an expiration date,” added Fain.
In the future, many baby boomers will likely demand the same access to products that they currently have -- even as their functional abilities decline.
“These older individuals will attribute any inability to open or use a product with deficiencies in the product itself,” added Fain. “That message or perception can be detrimental to companies because they want to avoid being associated with a product that’s difficult to use. The arthritis simulation gloves and the rest of the items in the disability awareness kit can help companies avoid these design mistakes.”
The gloves were created through funding by GTRI’s independent research and development program. To purchase the arthritis simulation gloves or the disability awareness kit, please visit: http://www.gtri.gatech.edu/facilities/aef.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (avogel@gatech.edu; 404-385-3364); Kirk Englehardt (kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu; 404-407-7280); or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986).
Writer: Abby Vogel
]]>Volunteers will receive and unpack materials, count and re-pack into individual kits, and load kits into containers. The kits will be assembled at the Whirlpool Regional Distribution Center in McDonough, GA. No experience is necessary; work may include heavy lifting and repetitive tasks. Volunteers must be 18 years-of-age or older.
Water and snacks will be provided, and lunch will be provided for volunteers that work a full day shift. The kits will be assembled in a warehouse, please wear work clothes and layers in case the warehouse is cold. Driving directions will be e-mailed to you with your registration confirmation.
Volunteers able to work all day are preferred, but two shifts are offered. Volunteer shifts are available during the following dates and times:
Friday, February 5 - 8:30AM to 5PM
Saturday February 6 - 8:30AM to 5PM – Extra volunteers needed for setup
Monday, February 8 - 7:30AM to 12PM and 12:30PM to 5PM
Tuesday, February 9 - 7:30AM to 12PM and 12:30PM to 5PM
Wednesday, February 10 - 7:30AM to 12PM and 12:30PM to 5PM
Thursday, February 11 - 7:30AM to 12PM and 12:30PM to 5PM
]]>
800-422-4828, Ext. 7656
]]>Zimring’s research focuses on understanding the relationships betweenthe physical environment and human satisfaction, health, performanceand behavior. Recent successes include his lead role in developing the New York City Active Living Design Guidelines anda significant research grant from the United States Department ofDefense Military Health System to evaluate and upgrade its hospitalsand clinics.
The list is administered by the editorial board of Healthcare Design Magazine andresulted from an internal nomination process, public voting online andvotes from the magazine’s publishing partners at The Center for HealthDesign.
]]>"We initiated the search process in December," Salbu said. "President Peterson met with the committee then to discuss the search and provide guidance. Since that time, we have finalized and posted the position ad and have been meeting with the search firm to discuss the process and the characteristics of the ideal candidate. We have also been gathering nominations of prospective candidates."
To maximize the pool of qualified candidates, the committee retained the services of a respected executive search firm, R. William Funk & Associates, that has particular expertise in higher education recruitment. As a proactive agent, the firm will aid in identifying and referring potential candidates to the committee. In addition to many leadership position searches at leading universities and peer institution, Funk and Associates has worked with Georgia Tech on the presidential search and other recent dean searches.
The Georgia Tech community is invited and encouraged to submit nominations of candidates and can do so by contacting Mr. William Funk at krisha.creal@rwilliamfunk.com. More information about the search can be found at www.provost.gatech.edu/search.
]]>Because parking and congestion has been such a big issue, Home Park representatives intend to ask the city's new parking enforcement office to include the neighborhood on its regular runs, resulting in tickets for those parked illegally.
Kathy Boehmer, who chairs the public safety committee for the Home Park Community Improvement Association (HPCIA), wanted the Georgia Tech community to be aware that the neighborhood intends to crack down on this issue.
"Before the city closed down its parking enforcement office a few years ago, we used to have them come through the neighborhood," she said. "But since they've been gone, the problem has come back. Now we're going to tackle it again."
]]>Following a national search, the vice president for institute diversity (VPID) will have oversight for all diversity-related matters at Georgia Tech, report directly to the president, and serve as a member of the president’s cabinet. Catherine Murray-Rust, dean and director of libraries at Georgia Tech, will serve as chair of the committee. Other members include:
"The rich history of Georgia Tech and the city of Atlanta make this an attractive opportunity for the right individual," Murray-Rust said. "The faculty, staff and students who comprise this committee welcome our role in advancing Tech’s reputation as a leader in diversity."
A national search firm will be hired to assist in the recruiting of potential candidates. The committee will hold its first meeting in the coming weeks, receive a formal charge from the president, and finalize the position description. Nominations, recommendations, and comments may be directed to Dean Murray-Rust.
]]>Graduate Student Body President
]]>Thismarks the fourth time in the last seven years that a Georgia Tech faculty memberhas received the SFB Young Investigator award. Niren Murthy (BME) received the award in 2008, Julia Babensee (BME)in 2005 and Andrés García (ME) in 2004.
The McDevitt Laboratory for the Engineering of Stem Cell Technologies isfocused on the development and application of engineering principles totranslate the potential of stem cells into viable regenerative therapies and invitro diagnostics. Biomaterials-based approaches are used to engineer themicroenvironment of stem cells in order to improve the efficiency andhomogeneity of directed stem cell differentiation strategies.
Inaddition, the McDevitt laboratory’s research focuses on development of novelregenerative molecular therapies from natural biomaterials produced by stemcells. The combination of directed stem cell differentiation and development ofstem cell-derived biomaterials is expected to yield fresh insights into stemcell biology, facilitate new regenerative therapies and create novel celldiagnostic platforms. The McDevitt laboratory research is supported by fundingfrom the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, AmericanHeart Association and the Georgia Research Alliance, among others.
In addition to the being named the 2010 Society for Biomaterials YoungInvestigator, McDevitt was appointed as a Petit Faculty Fellow in the Institutefor Bioengineering and Bioscience in September 2009 and named the Director ofthe new Stem Cell Engineering Center at Georgia Tech, which is scheduled toofficially launch in 2010. The establishment of the first center of itskind in the United States will bring together expertise from differentengineering disciplines to address key technical challenges that currentlylimit the translation of stem cells and to innovate new technologies that willenhance basic stem cell research. The center will include Georgia Techfaculty from the College of Engineering, College of Sciences, and Ivan AllenCollege, in addition to collaborative partnerships with stem cell researchers atthe University of Georgia, Emory University and other partnering institutionsthroughout the state of Georgia.
404-894-6016
]]>Tsukruk, who was recently named co-directorof Georgia Tech’s Bio-nano-enabled Inorganic/OrganicNanostructures and Improved Cognition (BIONIC) center, will begin his researchat the University ofBayreuth inGermanythis month. Since 1987, his research has focused on the field of fabricationand structural characterization of molecular films.
Wick received theaward in recognition of his research in complex function theory. His 18-month fellowship,based at the University of Paderborn, will beginthis spring and continue through 2012. Wick’s research interests focus onproblems in analysis of several complex variables, harmonic analysis andoperator theory, and specifically the interaction between these subjects.
The Humboldt Foundation grants up to 100 research awardsannually in recognition of a researcher's entire achievements to date toacademics whose fundamental discoveries, new theories or insights have had asignificant impact on their own discipline and who are expected to continueproducing cutting-edge achievements in future. Award winners are invited tospend a period of up to one year cooperating on a long-term research projectwith specialist colleagues at a research institution in Germany.
]]>This “circulation control” aerodynamic technology could allow the wind turbines to produce significantly more power than current devices at the same wind speed.
Research aimed at adapting circulation control technology to wind turbine blades will be conducted by a California company, PAX Streamline, in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology. The two-year project, which will lead to construction of a demonstration pneumatic wind turbine, will be supported by a $3 million grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy -- the federal energy research and development organization also known as ARPA-E.
“Our goal will be to make generation of electricity from wind turbines less expensive by eliminating the need for the complex blade shapes and mechanical control systems used in current turbines,” said Robert J. Englar, principal research engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). “Because these new blades would operate effectively at lower wind speeds, we could potentially open up new geographic areas to wind turbine use. Together, these advances could significantly expand the generation of electricity from wind power in the United States.”
Circulation control techniques use compressed air blown from slots on the trailing edges of wings or hollow blades to change the aerodynamic properties of those wings or blades. In aircraft, circulation control wings improve lift, allowing aircraft to fly at much lower speeds – and take off and land in much shorter distances. In helicopter rotor blades, the technique -- also known as the “circulation control rotor” -- both simplifies the rotor and its control system and produces more lift.
The ARPA-E project will apply the technique to controlling the aerodynamic properties of wind turbine blades, which now must be made in complicated shapes and controlled by complex control mechanisms to extract optimal power from the wind.
“The speed at which these turbines would begin to operate will be much lower than with existing blades,” said Englar. “Places that wind maps have previously indicated would not be suitable locations for wind turbines may now be useful. The blown technology should also allow safe operation at higher wind speeds and in wind gusts that would cause existing turbines to be shut down to prevent damage.”
Because they would produce more aerodynamic force, torque and power than comparable blades, these blown structures being developed by Georgia Tech and PAX could also allow a reduction in the size of the wind turbines.
“If you need a specific amount of wind force and torque generated by the wind turbine to generate electricity, we could get that force and torque from a smaller blade area because we’d have more powerful lifting surfaces,” Englar explained.
A major question awaiting study is how much energy will be required to produce the compressed air the blown blades need to operate. Preliminary studies done by Professor Lakshmi Sankar in Georgia Tech’s School of Aerospace Engineering suggest that wind turbines with the blown blades could produce 30 to 40 percent more power than conventional turbines at the same wind speed -- even when the energy required to produce the compressed air is subtracted from the total energy production.
The new turbine blades will be developed at GTRI’s low-speed wind tunnel research facility located in Cobb County, north of Atlanta.
Officials of PAX Streamline see the circulation control technology as key to the development of a new generation of turbines that could significantly lower the cost of producing electricity from the wind.
“This is a significant validation of our established turbine R&D,” said PAX CEO John Webley. “With this grant, we can rapidly accelerate our research program and, within the next two years, deploy a prototype wind turbine which demonstrates our game-changing technology.”
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Assistance: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu) or Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280) (kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu).
Writer: John Toon
]]>
Member Reginald Liger chartered an Atlanta division of Foundation for the World, calling it Angels For Haiti. Foundation for the World seeks to improve the condition of mankind. With support from CaribSa, Angels for Haiti is working to collect water, food, clothing, medical supplies, and money. Food for the Poor and the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund will receive all of the donations and transport them to Haiti.
Relying on CaribSa members as well as other student organizations such as M.O.V.E, Angels for Haiti is already collecting donations in the Student Center, on Skiles Walkway, and during men's and women's basketball games. Students, faculty, staff or organizations with clothing, food, or cash to spare can make donations to the organization. For those who want to donate their time, Angels for Haiti also offers several volunteer opportunities.
Tapping into the Georgia Tech community's full range of resources is another key part of Angel's for Haiti's efforts. The group is soliciting volunteers on behalf of Engineering World Health Georgia Tech (EWH-GT). EWH-GT regularly partners with MedShare International to assess and repair donated medical equipment which is then sent to countries in need. EWH-GT’s January 23rd meeting will focus on repairing supplies and equipment that will be sent to Haiti. MedShare has pledged to send at least one 40-foot container of medical equipment and other supplies to the relief effort. No prior experience is necessary to participate in EWH-GT's meeting. Interested students should meet on the second floor of the Student Center in the commons area outside the computer lab at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday, January 23. Future meetings will take place February 2 and 20, as well as March 6 and April 3.
For those that are short on time and money, Angels for Haiti offers another solution: Facebook. For additional information about Angels for Haiti or all of Georgia Tech's efforts to help the people of Haiti, visit the Institute’s Focus on Haiti Web site.
]]>The hearing is open to press and public and will be webcast at cop.senate.gov.
The Panel is currently scheduled to hear from the following witnesses:
The full witness list will be announced in advance of the hearing.
Congress created the Congressional Oversight Panel to oversee the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. In carrying out its responsibilities under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, the Panel has published 14 monthly reports, two special reports, and held 15 hearings on a wide range of TARP and related financial stabilization initiatives.
This hearing will provide a better understanding of the Administration’s financial stabilization efforts and the impact of TARP on commercial real estate, and it will inform the Panel’s February oversight report.
WHO: Members of the TARP Congressional Oversight Panel
WHAT: Commercial Real Estate Field Hearing
WHEN: Wednesday, January 27, 2010; 10:00 a.m.
WHERE: Technology Square Research Building, Room 132
The three compounds are potentially important because they absorb infrared energy in the so-called “atmospheric window” region – at wavelengths where other major greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide allow radiation to pass freely out into space. Though these long-lived compounds now exist in relatively low concentrations, their ability to absorb energy at these wavelengths means their contributions to global warming could increase if their levels continue to rise.
Because the compounds are relatively inert chemically, information on how they react with electronically excited atomic oxygen – known as O(1D) – will help improve the accuracy of global climate models by providing a better estimate of how long these absorbers remain in the atmosphere. The information could also inform public policy debate about whether the chemicals, now used in industrial applications, should be replaced with compounds that have less climate change impact.
“This study will contribute to an understanding of the long-term effect of these compounds on climate,” said Paul Wine, a professor in the Schools of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “There is significant interest in trying to establish the role of these heavy absorbers of infrared radiation, especially the compounds that absorb in the window region where other greenhouses gases are not factors.”
Information on the reaction rates of sulfuryl fluoride (SO2F2), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and trifluoromethyl sulfur pentafluoride (SF5CF3) was published Jan. 25, 2010, in the early edition of the PNAS, and will be part of a special issue on atmospheric chemistry. The research was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Sulfuryl fluoride is a fumigant widely used as a replacement for the ozone-depleting compound methyl bromide (CH3Br). Nitrogen trifluoride is used in the electronics industry for plasma etching and equipment cleaning. Trifluoromethyl sulfur pentafluoride – the most powerful known greenhouse gas on a per-molecule basis – is believed to be a breakdown product of an insulating compound used in high-voltage equipment.
The three compounds have some of the highest global warming potentials (GWP) of any compounds in the atmosphere. Trifluoromethyl sulfur pentafluoride has a global warming potential approximately 18,000 times greater – on a per unit mass basis – than carbon dioxide when evaluated over a 100-year time period. Nitrogen trifluoride has a GWP of approximately 17,000, while sulfuryl fluoride is approximately 4,000 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping infrared radiation.
The presence of these compounds in the atmosphere and their potential contributions to climate change were only recently recognized. Reaction with electronically-excited oxygen atoms is the only known pathway by which these compounds are destroyed at atmospheric altitudes below the ionosphere. Though present at relatively low levels today, studies show that their concentrations are increasing – with atmospheric levels of NF3 growing at more than 10 percent per year.
“These chemicals are relatively inert, which makes them useful for specific applications,” Wine said. “But because of their chemical inertness, they tend to have long lifetimes in the atmosphere and are available to trap radiation for a long time. That contributes to their high global warming potential.”
To study the rate at which the compounds react with and deactivate the atomic oxygen species, Wine and Georgia Tech collaborators Zhijun Zhao, Patrick Laine and J. Michael Nicovich used laser flash photolysis in the laboratory to create O(1D) and expose it to the three compounds in controlled environments at temperatures ranging from about 200 to 350 degrees Kelvin.
O(1D) is produced in the atmosphere by the interaction of ozone (O3) and molecular oxygen (O2) with ultraviolet light. This electronically-excited oxygen interacts quickly with other molecules around it – such as N2 and O2 – to form ground-state atomic oxygen. Hence, its levels are higher in the upper atmosphere than in the lower atmosphere.
The researchers found that O(1D) interaction with trifluoromethyl sulfur pentafluoride destroys this compound in – at most – one out of a thousand interactions. That means amounts of that compound released into the atmosphere will remain there for long periods of time, probably around a thousand years.
For NF3, the researchers found a reaction rate more than double one that had been reported in a previous study, meaning the material may have less warming impact than previously thought. For SO2F2, which also may be taken up by the ocean, the Georgia Tech findings agreed with one earlier study.
Wine said the new data on these compounds will be factored into the next major report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Knowing how long the compounds will likely remain in the atmosphere permits more accurate accounting for what could be a significant infrared trapping effect.
“If you put new molecules into the atmosphere that absorb infrared radiation where carbon dioxide and methane already absorb, they would have to be present in very large quantities to have any effect at all,” Wine noted. “But because these molecules absorb in the window region at wavelengths between 8 and 12 microns, they don’t have to be present at high levels to have an effect.”
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364) (avogel@gatech.edu).
Writer: John Toon
]]>
Sulchek's project is one of 78 grants announced by the Gates Foundation in the fourth funding round of Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative to help scientists around the world explore bold and largely unproven ways to improve health in developing countries. The grants were provided to scientists in 18 countries on six continents.
To receive funding, Sulchek and David White, a microbiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), showed in a two-page application how their idea falls outside current scientific paradigms and might lead to significant advances in global health.
For their project, Sulchek and White plan to design multi-functional microparticles that can fight infectious diseases.
"If we are successful, this technique may eventually be useful for battling many hard-to-treat diseases, like malaria and tuberculosis, which evade the immune system," said Sulchek.
The microparticles will be engineered to simultaneously accomplish two goals: target and bind infectious disease microorganisms, and activate the localized immune system.
"The ultimate goal is to activate the immune system so that it can fight the microbe itself," said White.
Georgia Tech graduate student Patricia Pacheco and several undergraduate students will also be involved in this project.
The initiative is highly competitive, receiving almost 2,700 proposals in this round.
"The winners of these grants show the bold thinking we need to tackle some of the world's greatest health challenges," said Dr. Tachi Yamada, president of the Gates Foundation's Global Health Program. "I'm excited about their ideas and look forward to seeing some of these exploratory projects turn into life-saving breakthroughs."
Grand Challenges Explorations is a five-year, $100 million initiative of the Gates Foundation to promote innovation in global health. The program uses an agile, streamlined grant process – applications are limited to two pages, and preliminary data are not required. Proposals are reviewed and selected by a committee of foundation staff and external experts, and grant decisions are made within approximately three months of the close of the funding round. Successful projects have the opportunity to receive a follow-on grant of up to $1 million.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (avogel@gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986)
Writer: Abby Vogel
]]>Angels for Haiti is collecting a wide variety of items. The most needed items are:
Additional suggestions include:
Donation Bins have been placed at the CRC and Woodruff and Brittain Dining Hall.
If you would like to make monetary donations, please contact Angels for Haiti representative Reginald Liger or Maxie Palmer.
Maxie Palmer, 404-444-6346
]]>Produced with a "bottom-up" self-assembly technique, the new structure takes advantage of nanotechnology to fine-tune its materials properties, addressing the shortcomings of earlier silicon-based battery anodes. The simple, low-cost fabrication technique was designed to be easily scaled up and compatible with existing battery manufacturing.
Details of the new self-assembly approach were published online in the journal Nature Materials on March 14.
"Development of a novel approach to producing hierarchical anode or cathode particles with controlled properties opens the door to many new directions for lithium-ion battery technology," said Gleb Yushin, an assistant professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "This is a significant step toward commercial production of silicon-based anode materials for lithium-ion batteries."
The popular and lightweight batteries work by transferring lithium ions between two electrodes -- a cathode and an anode -- through a liquid electrolyte. The more efficiently the lithium ions can enter the two electrodes during charge and discharge cycles, the larger the battery's capacity will be.
Existing lithium-ion batteries rely on anodes made from graphite, a form of carbon. Silicon-based anodes theoretically offer as much as a ten-fold capacity improvement over graphite, but silicon-based anodes have so far not been stable enough for practical use.
Graphite anodes use particles ranging in size from 15 to 20 microns. If silicon particles of that size are simply substituted for the graphite, expansion and contraction as the lithium ions enter and leave the silicon creates cracks that quickly cause the anode to fail.
The new nanocomposite material solves that degradation problem, potentially allowing battery designers to tap the capacity advantages of silicon. That could facilitate higher power output from a given battery size -- or allow a smaller battery to produce a required amount of power.
"At the nanoscale, we can tune materials properties with much better precision than we can at traditional size scales," said Yushin. "This is an example of where having nanoscale fabrication techniques leads to better materials."
Electrical measurements of the new composite anodes in small coin cells showed they had a capacity more than five times greater than the theoretical capacity of graphite.
Fabrication of the composite anode begins with formation of highly conductive branching structures -- similar to the branches of a tree -- made from carbon black nanoparticles annealed in a high-temperature tube furnace. Silicon nanospheres with diameters of less than 30 nanometers are then formed within the carbon structures using a chemical vapor deposition process. The silicon-carbon composite structures resemble "apples hanging on a tree."
Using graphitic carbon as an electrically-conductive binder, the silicon-carbon composites are then self-assembled into rigid spheres that have open, interconnected internal pore channels. The spheres, formed in sizes ranging from 10 to 30 microns, are used to form battery anodes. The relatively large composite powder size -- a thousand times larger than individual silicon nanoparticles -- allows easy powder processing for anode fabrication.
The internal channels in the silicon-carbon spheres serve two purposes. They admit liquid electrolyte to allow rapid entry of lithium ions for quick battery charging, and they provide space to accommodate expansion and contraction of the silicon without cracking the anode. The internal channels and nanometer-scale particles also provide short lithium diffusion paths into the anode, boosting battery power characteristics.
The size of the silicon particles is controlled by the duration of the chemical vapor deposition process and the pressure applied to the deposition system. The size of the carbon nanostructure branches and the size of the silicon spheres determine the pore size in the composite.
Production of the silicon-carbon composites could be scaled up as a continuous process amenable to ultra high-volume powder manufacturing, Yushin said. Because the final composite spheres are relatively large when they are fabricated into anodes, the self-assembly technique avoids the potential health risks of handling nanoscale powders, he added.
Once fabricated, the nanocomposite anodes would be used in batteries just like conventional graphite structures. That would allow battery manufacturers to adopt the new anode material without making dramatic changes in production processes.
So far, the researchers have tested the new anode through more than a hundred charge-discharge cycles. Yushin believes the material would remain stable for thousands of cycles because no degradation mechanisms have become apparent.
"If this technology can offer a lower cost on a capacity basis, or lighter weight compared to current techniques, this will help advance the market for lithium batteries," he said. "If we are able to produce less expensive batteries that last for a long time, this could also facilitate the adoption of many 'green' technologies, such as electric vehicles or solar cells."
In addition to Yushin, the paper's authors included Alexandre Magasinki, Patrick Dixon and Benjamin Hertzberg -- all from Georgia Tech -- and Alexander Kvit from the Materials Science Center and Materials Science Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Jorge Ayala from Superior Graphite. The paper also acknowledges the contributions of Alexander Alexeev at Georgia Tech and Igor Luzinov from Clemson University.
The research was partially supported by a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to Chicago-based Superior Graphite and Atlanta-based Streamline Nanotechnologies, Inc.
This research was partially supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through SBIR grant NNX09CD29P 2008-1. The statements and opinions expressed in the article are those of the researcher and do not necessarily represent the official position of NASA.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364)(avogel@gatech.edu).
Writer: John Toon
]]>
http://www.coe.gatech.edu/feature/10_green.php
]]>Phone: 404.894.3350
Fax: 404.894.0168
The study shows that delivering stem cells on a polymer scaffold to treat large areas of missing bone leads to improved bone formation and better mechanical properties compared to treatment with the scaffold alone. This type of therapeutic treatment could be a potential alternative to bone grafting operations.
"Massive bone injuries are among the most challenging problems that orthopedic surgeons face, and they are commonly seen as a result of accidents as well as in soldiers returning from war," said the study's lead author Robert Guldberg, a professor in Georgia Tech's Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. "This study shows that there is promise in treating these injuries by delivering stem cells to the injury site. These are injuries that would not heal without significant medical intervention."
Details of the research were published in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on January 11, 2010. This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
The study was conducted in rats in which two bone gaps eight millimeters in length were created to simulate massive injuries. One gap was treated with a polymer scaffold seeded with stem cells and the other with scaffold only. The results showed that injuries treated with the stem cell scaffolds showed significantly more bone growth than injuries treated with scaffolds only.
Guldberg and mechanical engineering graduate student Kenneth Dupont experimented with scaffolds containing two different types of human stem cells -- bone marrow-derived mesenchymal adult stem cells and amniotic fluid fetal stem cells.
"We were able to directly evaluate the therapeutic potential of human stem cells to repair large bone defects by implanting them into rats with a reduced immune system," explained Guldberg, who is also the director of the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Georgia Tech.
Micro-CT measurements showed no significant differences in bone regeneration between the two stem cell groups. However, combining the two types of stem cells produced significantly higher bone volume and strength compared to scaffolds without cellular augmentation.
Although stem cell delivery significantly enhanced bone growth and biomechanical properties, it was not able to consistently repair the injury. Eight weeks after the treatment, new bone bridged the gaps in four of nine defects treated with scaffolds seeded with adult stem cells, one of nine defects treated with scaffolds seeded with fetal stem cells, and none of the defects treated with the scaffold alone.
"We thought that the functional regeneration of the bone defects may have been limited by stem cells migrating away from the injury site, so we decided to investigate the fate and distribution of the delivered cells," said Guldberg.
To do this, Guldberg labeled stem cells with fluorescent quantum dots -- nanometer-scale particles that emit light when excited by near-infrared radiation -- to track the distribution of stem cells after delivery on the scaffolds and completed the same experiments as previously described.
Throughout the entire study, the researchers observed significant fluorescence at the stem cell scaffold sites. However, beginning seven to 10 days after treatment, signals appeared at the scaffold-only sites. Additional analysis with immunostaining revealed that the quantum dots present at the scaffold-only sites were contained in inflammatory cells called macrophages that had taken up quantum dots released from dead stem cells.
"While our overall study shows that stem cell therapy has a lot of promise for treating massive bone defects, this experiment shows that we still need to develop an improved way of delivering the stem cells so that they stay alive longer and thus remain at the injury site longer," explained Guldberg.
The researchers also found that the quantum dots diminished the function of the transplanted stem cells and thus their therapeutic effect. When the stem cells were labeled with quantum dots, the results showed a failure to enhance bone formation or bridge defects. However, the same low concentration of quantum dots did not affect cell viability or the ability of the stem cells to become bone cells in laboratory studies.
"Although in vitro laboratory studies remain important, this work provides further evidence that well-characterized in vivo models are necessary to test the ability of regenerative tissue strategies to effectively integrate and restore function in complex living organisms," added Guldberg. "Improved methods of non-invasive cell tracking that do not alter cell function in vivo are needed to optimize stem cell delivery strategies and compare the effectiveness of different stem cell sources for tissue regeneration."
Guldberg is currently exploring alternative cell tracking methods, such as genetically modifying the stem cells to express green fluorescent protein and/or other luminescent enzymes such as luciferase. He is also investigating the addition of programming cues to the scaffold that will direct the stem cells to differentiate into bone cells. These signals may be particularly effective for fetal stem cells, which are believed to be more primitive than adult stem cells, according to Guldberg.
Lessons learned from the current work are also being applied to develop effective stem cell therapies for severe composite injuries to multiple tissues including bone, nerve, vasculature and muscle. This follow-on work is being conducted in the Georgia Tech Center for Advanced Bioengineering for Soldier Survivability in collaboration with Ravi Bellamkonda and Barbara Boyan, professors in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.
Other authors on the paper include Andres Garcia, professor and Woodruff Faculty Fellow in Georgia Tech's Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience; Georgia Tech research scientist Hazel Stevens, Georgia Tech graduate student Joel Boerckel; and National University of Ireland medical student Kapil Sharma.
This work was funded by grant number R01-AR051336 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and by grant number EEC-9731643 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigator and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or NSF.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (avogel@gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986).
Writer: Abby Vogel
]]>All-optical switching could allow dramatic speed increases in telecommunications by eliminating the need to convert photonic signals to electronic signals – and back – for switching. All-optical processing could also facilitate photonic computers with similar speed advances.
Details of these materials – and the design approach behind them – were reported February 18th in Science Express, the rapid online publication of the journal Science. Conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
“This work provides proof that at least from a molecular point of view, we can identify and produce materials that have the right properties for all-optical processing,” said Seth Marder, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and co-author of the paper. “This opens the door for looking at this issue in an entirely different way.”
The polymethine organic dye materials developed by the Georgia Tech team combine large nonlinear properties, low nonlinear optical losses, and low linear losses. Materials with these properties are essential if optical engineers are to develop a new generation of devices for low-power and high-contrast optical switching of signals at telecommunications wavelengths. Keeping data all-optical would greatly facilitate the rapid transmission of detailed medical images, development of new telepresence applications, high-speed image recognition – and even the fast download of high-definition movies.
But favorable optical properties these new materials developed at Georgia Tech have only been demonstrated in solution. For their materials to have practical value, the researchers will have to incorporate them in a solid phase for use in optical waveguides – and address a long list of other challenges.
“We have developed high-performing materials by starting with optimized molecules and getting the molecular properties right,” said co-author Joseph Perry, also a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “Now we have to figure out how to pack them together so they have a high density and useful physical forms that would be stable under operation.”
Marder, Perry and collaborators in Georgia Tech’s Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE) have been working on the molecules for several years, refining their properties and adding atoms to maximize their length without inducing symmetry breaking, a phenomenon in which unequal charges build up within molecules. This molecular design effort, which builds on earlier research with smaller molecules, included both experimental work – and theoretical studies done in collaboration with Jean-Luc Bredas, a also a professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
The design strategies identified by the research team – which also included Joel Hales, Jonathan Matichak, Stephen Barlow, Shino Ohira, and Kada Yesudas – could be applied to development of even more active molecules, though Marder believes the existing materials could be modified to meet the needs of all-optical processing
“For this class of molecules, we can with a high-degree of reliability predict where the molecules will have both large optical nonlinearities and low two-photon absorption,” said Marder. “Not only can we predict that, but using well-established chemical principles, we can tune where that will occur such that if people want to work at telecommunications wavelengths, we can move to where the molecules absorb to optimize its properties.”
Switching of optical signals carried in telecommunications networks currently requires conversion to electrical signals, which must be switched and then converted back to optical format. Existing electro-optical technology may ultimately be able to provide transmission speeds of up to 100 gigabits-per-second. However, all-optical processing could theoretically transmit data at speeds as high as 2,000 gigabits-per-second, allowing download of high-definition movies in minutes rather than hours.
“Even if the frequency of signals coming and going is high, there is a latency that causes a bottleneck for the signals until the modulation and switching are done,” Perry explained. “If we can do that all optically, then that delay can be reduced. We need to get electronics out of the system.”
Perry and Marder emphasize that many years of research remain ahead before their new materials will be practical. But they believe the approach they’ve developed charts a path toward all-optical systems.
“While we have not made all-optical switches, what we have done is provide a fundamental understanding of what the systems are that could have the combined set of properties that would make this possible,” Marder said. “Conceptually, we have probably made it over the hump with this class of molecules. The next part of this work will be difficult, but it will not require a fundamental new understanding of the molecular structure.”
This article is based on work supported in part by the STC program of the National Science Foundation under agreement DMR-0120967, the DARPA MORPH Program and ONR (N00014-04-0095 and N00014-06-1-0897) and the DARPA ZOE Program (W31P4Q-09-1-0012). The comments and opinions expressed are those of the researchers and do not necessarily represent the views of the NSF, DARPA or ONR.
Research News & Publications Office
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA
Media Relations Contacts: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364)(avogel@gatech.edu).
Writer: John Toon
]]>
Office of Student Diversity Programs
http://www.diversityprograms.gatech.edu
Led by the associate dean of students, the office helps to meet the co-curricular needs of students by coordinating and planning educational opportunities that enhance interaction and learning across groups.
Office of Institute Diversity
http://www.diversity.gatech.edu
Led by the vice president for Institute Diversity, the office provides leadership to formulate goals and execute inclusive strategies in support of the Institute’s strategic plan.