{"344581":{"#nid":"344581","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech takes interdisciplinary approach to developing biofuels from forestry products","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022BigFirst\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWe feel it at the pump.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EFuel prices are at record highs and so is the demand for alternative fuels. But major scientific and technological advances are still required before economically viable alternative fuels become a significant part of the U.S. energy supply.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022BigFirst\u0022\u003EResearchers across the Georgia Institute of Technology campus are focusing their attention on biofuels. And while most experts agree that biofuels are not the silver bullet to solve the world\u2019s long-term fuel needs, they see biofuels as a necessary complement to conventional oil and gas.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBiofuel research at Georgia Tech intensified in 2004 with the launch of the\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.energy.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EStrategic Energy Institute\u003C\/a\u003E(SEI), created to enable, facilitate and coordinate programs related to energy research and education.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMany energy issues are truly multi-disciplinary and can\u2019t be addressed by one faculty member,\u201d says Roger Webb, interim director of the SEI. \u201cThe Strategic Energy Institute has been broadly engaging companies to define projects that many faculty members at Georgia Tech can pursue in a collaborative effort.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis interdisciplinary approach was a major reason why Chevron Corporation chose Georgia Tech as its first strategic research alliance partner, according to Rick Zalesky, vice president of the biofuels and hydrogen unit of Chevron Technology Ventures.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech has the infrastructure so that researchers from various departments work together in the same building to solve complex problems, and we think that\u2019s terrific,\u201d says Zalesky.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith funding from Chevron, Atlanta startup C2 Biofuels, the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gra.org\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Research Alliance\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and one of the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s new\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ornl.gov\/%7E5os\/bioEnergy\/index.html\u0022\u003EBioEnergy Science Centers\u003C\/a\u003E, Georgia Tech researchers are exploring advanced technologies aimed at making transportation fuels from forestry products.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers are examining and optimizing the five major steps required to produce bioethanol, or ethanol obtained from the carbohydrates in many agricultural crops. These steps include selecting the best plant material, preparing the plants for conversion, breaking down the carbohydrates into simple sugars, fermenting the sugars into alcohol and separating the ethanol from water.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EChoosing a Plant Source and Preparing It for Conversion\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBioethanol produced from corn is being manufactured at a rate of more than 5 billion gallons per year in the United States, but concerns exist about the future price and availability of corn as a food crop if it\u2019s being used to help meet energy needs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause forest products are a more efficient source of ethanol and more than 5 million tons of trees are available for harvest each year in Georgia beyond what is needed for pulp mill and sawmill production, Georgia Tech researchers are turning to Southern pine trees.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESwitchgrass, a fast-growing tallgrass, is another attractive source of plant material because of its ability to grow in poor soil and adverse climate conditions, its rapid growth and its low fertilization and herbicide requirements.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/faculty\/Ragauskas\/\u0022\u003EArt Ragauskas\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E, studies the chemistry and structure of the starting plant material, known as biomass, to determine which varieties and characteristics of switchgrass and pine trees improve conversion to ethanol.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe also examines how different acids react with the wood chips to make accessible the complex interior mixture of carbohydrate polymers, including cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPre-treatment is performed under severe chemical conditions and very high temperatures. Understanding the chemistry should allow us to make pre-treatments more efficient, less costly and more effective,\u201d says Ragauskas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter the acid pre-treatment, the wood is placed in a reactor and exposed to high-pressure steam.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/muzzy.php\u0022\u003EJohn Muzzy\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, and Kristina Knutson, a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, are working with Ragauskas to develop a continuous reactor that will employ mechanical energy and\/or boiling water instead of acid and high temperatures to break up the wood. That would greatly reduce processing and chemical costs while increasing the life expectancy of the reactors, Ragauskas notes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBreaking Down the Sugars and Converting Them to Ethanol\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter the pre-treatment, the cellulose and hemicellulose are further broken down to free the sugar for fermentation to alcohol. Commercially available enzymes can do this, but they are too expensive to use in biofuel production, according to\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/bommarius.php\u0022\u003EAndreas (Andy) Bommarius\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. As an alternative, he is identifying novel enzymes and engineering them to be longer-lasting and more effective at breaking down cellulose polymers to sugars than those commercially available.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want to produce enzymes more efficiently and make them more active and stable, at the same time improving bioethanol production at a lower cost,\u201d explains Bommarius.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn conventional ethanol production, the sugars obtained are then fermented with yeast to produce alcohol.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/chen.php\u0022\u003ERachel Ruizhen Chen\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is working to increase the ethanol production rate by using the bacteria Zymomonas mobilis instead of yeast in the fermentation process because it has a three- to five-fold higher productivity than yeast when making bioethanol. Chen plans to manipulate the enzymatic, transport and regulatory functions of the bacterial cell to improve the bioethanol fermentation process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe lignin portion of the biomass must be extracted from the mixture prior to fermentation. Unfortunately, current pre-treatments break down some of the lignin, which enables it to be carried over to the fermentation process where it acts as a fermentation inhibitor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/koros.php\u0022\u003EWilliam Koros\u003C\/a\u003E, the Roberto C. Goizueta Chair in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is investigating efficient ways to separate the lignin from the cellulose and hemicellulose portions of the biomass. Koros, a Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) eminent scholar in membranes, plans to extract the lignin byproducts by pulling the hydrolyzed biomass mixture through a selective membrane with a vacuum using a process called pervaporation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELignin is an important by-product of the enzymatic process and has many potential uses. Ragauskas is examining the possibility of converting lignin to a biofuel precursor or using lignin as a building block chemical to make new polymers or chemicals. Professors\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/jones.php\u0022\u003EChristopher Jones\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/agrawal.php\u0022\u003EPradeep Agrawal\u003C\/a\u003E, both of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, are exploring ways to chemically fractionate pine and convert suitable portions to true gasoline fuels.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo produce a biofuel with a similar energy density to gasoline from renewable feedstocks, they plan to convert pre-treated pine to fuel using chemical catalysts traditionally used by the petroleum industry, rather than enzymes. These biofuels could yield higher miles-per-gallon than traditional ethanol-rich fuels such as E-85, according to Jones.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESeparating Ethanol from Water\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor bioethanol, once the sugars are fermented into alcohol, a significant amount of water must be separated out. This separation primarily occurs in a distillation column, which involves heating the mixture and separating the components by the differences in their boiling points.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cDistillation is very energy intensive and expensive, and it might defeat the purpose when you\u2019re trying to produce biofuel economically,\u201d says\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/nair.php\u0022\u003ESankar Nair\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, who is collaborating with Koros on two separation projects aimed at improving the energy efficiency of the biofuel process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA membrane-based approach would avoid the need to supply heat energy, and instead rely on differences in the transport rates of the components through a membrane to achieve separation. The challenge is in producing selective membrane systems that can produce pure ethanol. Polymer materials have been widely investigated and have the advantage of high throughput, but such membranes can\u2019t yet produce pure ethanol from a dilute ethanol-water mixture, notes Nair.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstead, Koros and Nair are exploring membranes that contain nanoparticles of porous inorganic materials called zeolites that are so small they can be dispersed efficiently into a polymer matrix. The very specific porosity of the zeolite should allow separation of ethanol from water. By using two membranes in series \u2013 the first hydrophobic to remove ethanol from a large mass of water and the second hydrophilic to remove any trace water in the ethanol product from the first membrane \u2013 it may be possible to design an economical membrane process for biofuel separation from water.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETaking a Systems Approach\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProducing ethanol from biomass involves more than these process steps. Researchers must also decide how to ship the biomass to the processing plant, how large the processing plant should be, where it should be located, and how to ship the ethanol to fueling stations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBill Bulpitt, an SEI senior research engineer who returned to Georgia Tech in 2004 after working 17 years for Southern Company, is working with students who are running computer simulation models that represent what a full-scale production plant might look like. The models analyze the costs for the various components of the system, which helps to determine the optimal biorefinery size.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen building a biorefinery, there is a certain size that\u2019s economically viable. That\u2019s what we are trying to determine,\u201d Bulpitt explains.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo evaluate a biofuel system, the project team must consider the energy balance \u2013 that is, how much energy goes in versus how much comes out. A biofuel system must take into account positive or negative energy balances, positive or negative net greenhouse gas emissions, and positive or negative environmental and ecosystem impacts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEthanol biorefineries could get a significant economic boost from the sale of high-value chemicals that could be generated from the same feedstock.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/eckert.php\u0022\u003ECharles Eckert\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and collaborators\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/liotta.php\u0022\u003ECharles Liotta\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and Art Ragauskas are exploring the use of environmentally friendly solvent and separation systems to produce specialty chemicals, pharmaceutical precursors and flavorings from a small portion of the ethanol feedstock.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/realff.php\u0022\u003EMatthew Realff\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;, an associate professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is developing optimization models to determine the best structure for a biofuel processing system. Realff \u2019s model integrates information from crop production through processing to fuel distribution. It includes information on the location and number of crop acres available, the current economic value of the crop, distances and ability to ship the crop, the economic scaling of the cost of the processing equipment with size and the location of the distribution terminals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese optimization models are valuable to companies like C2 Biofuels that plan to build biorefineries. And they complete the comprehensive research approach Georgia Tech has taken toward optimizing bioethanol production process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cResearchers at Georgia Tech have different strengths and take different approaches toward solving the problem of developing biofuels,\u201d says Christopher Jones. \u201cIf you assemble all of the pieces together, you will come up with the best solution.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Fuel prices are at record highs and so is the demand for alternative fuels. But major scientific and technological advances are still required before economically viable alternative fuels become a significant part of the U.S. energy supply."}],"uid":"28152","created_gmt":"2014-11-11 16:41:36","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:30","author":"Claire Labanz","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028Atlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBrett Israel\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-1933\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"344591":{"#nid":"344591","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Companies and Georgia Research Alliance Support Biofuel Research at Georgia Tech","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022BigFirst\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWith support from a broad range of organizations, Georgia Tech researchers are exploring advanced technologies aimed at making transportation fuels from forestry products.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3 class=\u0022BigFirst\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EChevron Corporation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn June 2006, Chevron Corporation and Georgia Tech formed a five-year, $12 million strategic research alliance to pursue advanced technology aimed at making cellulosic biofuels and hydrogen viable transportation fuels.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe alliance focuses its research on four areas:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EProducing cellulosic biofuels\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EUnderstanding the characteristics of biofuel feedstocks\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDeveloping regenerative sorbents (porous materials used to remove gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen)\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EImproving sorbents used to produce high-purity hydrogen\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA portion of the money will be used to set up a bioethanol laboratory on the Georgia Tech campus to support ongoing and future biofuel research. The laboratory will contain new equipment, including analytical equipment to study how much ethanol is being produced, how long it takes to ferment and the quality of the ethanol being produced.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EC2 Biofuels\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EC2 Biofuels is a Georgia Tech VentureLab startup that seeks to develop fuel-ethanol production from biomass material available in large quantities in the Southeast, including Southern yellow pine. Led by Roger Reisert, a Georgia Tech alumnus, C2 Biofuels obtained two $100,000 grants from The Agriculture Innovation Center in Tifton to match the initial investment from Georgia Tech alumnus Glen Robinson Jr.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EReisert has provided grants to Georgia Tech and University of Georgia researchers to evaluate and develop processes and technologies. Since the target ethanol yield has been met by the researchers, Reisert\u2019s efforts are now focused on building a pilot bioethanol plant in Georgia.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Research Alliance (GRA)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFounded in 1990, the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gra.org\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Research Alliance\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(GRA) helps build Georgia\u2019s technology-rich economy by bringing business and state government together to invest in the innovative research at six affiliated Georgia research universities, including Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith the support of Governor Sonny Perdue and the Georgia Legislature, the GRA added an energy initiative last year, the Energy Research Seed Grant Program (ERSGP), to spark university-based research into the development of new approaches to producing and conserving energy resources.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith Georgia\u2019s abundant resources and potential of cellulosic biomass, this program sought contributions to the growth and efficient harvest of improved cellulosic crops (including forest resources) and the conversion of cellulosic crops to higher value energy and\/or chemical co-products. Four Georgia Tech researchers were awarded seed grants under the ERSGP for funding from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026nbsp;","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"With support from a broad range of organizations, Georgia Tech researchers are exploring advanced technologies aimed at making transportation fuels from forestry products."}],"uid":"28152","created_gmt":"2014-11-11 16:43:34","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:30","author":"Claire Labanz","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028Atlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBrett Israel\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-1933\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"344051":{"#nid":"344051","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Research into Better Fuel Cell Materials and Designs Starts with Studying Failures","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022BigFirst\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EWritten by Abby Vogel\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022BigFirst\u0022\u003EFuel cells can be expensive, and they typically dont last as long as their internal combustion counterparts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers in the Georgia Tech Research Institutes (GTRI) Center for Innovative Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies believe that understanding how and why fuel cells fail is the key to both reducing cost and improving durability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECenter Director Tom Fuller has been trying to solve what he deems the top three durability problems since he joined GTRI from United Technologies three years ago.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMy philosophy is if we can really understand the fundamentals of these failure mechanisms, then we can use that information to guide the development of new materials or we can develop system approaches to mitigate these failures, says Fuller, who is also a professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe problems Fuller is addressing include chemical attack of the membrane, carbon corrosion and platinum instability. Fuller described progress toward solving these problems at the 212th Electrochemical Society Meeting in October 2007.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a typical fuel cell, hydrogen is delivered to the anode side of the cell that contains a catalyst, such as platinum. The platinum splits the hydrogen molecules (H2) into hydrogen ions and electrons. On the cathode side of the fuel cell, an oxidant such as a stream of oxygen or air is delivered.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith a proton exchange membrane in the middle, only hydrogen ions can travel through the membrane to the cathode. Electrons travel on a different path through the electrical circuit to the cathode, creating an electrical current. At the cathode, the hydrogen ions combine with oxygen and the electrons that took the longer path to form water, which flows out of the cell.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFullers research shows that the membrane, commonly made of a synthetic polymer, is prone to attack by free radicals that create holes in the barrier. The free radicals are formed by the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a strong oxidizing chemical that can form near the membrane.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a paper published in March 2007 in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EJournal of Power Sources\u003C\/em\u003E, Fuller and professor Dennis Hess, research scientist Galit Levitin and graduate student Cheng Chen, all from ChBE, used X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to study the membrane degradation. This work was funded by GTRI, ChBE and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers chose XPS because it is a quantitative technique that uses X-rays to measure the presence and quantity of chemical elements and the formation and breakage of chemical bonds within a material.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe were able to see chemical differences in the membrane with XPS when it went through the degradation process, explains Fuller. Now were trying to figure out what really limits or controls the rate of degradation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother challenge with low-temperature fuel cells is that a blockage can occur on the anode side of the fuel cell, possibly from a water drop formed in the fuel channel. The blockage causes carbon (used to support the platinum) to corrode, turn into carbon dioxide and leave the fuel cell as a gas. Frequently starting and stopping the fuel cell also causes this mode of failure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis can be catastrophic for the fuel cell because without carbon, the platinum catalyst layer collapses and disappears.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers know this problem exists, but were trying to build physics-based detailed models to evaluate different fuel cell designs that will reduce the susceptibility to this type of corrosion, says Fuller, whos working on this project with Norimitsu Takeuchi from Toyotas material research department and students Kevin Gallagher and David Wong with funding from Toyota.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother problem with fuel cells cycling on and off is that platinum has a small but finite solubility in the acidic membrane given the high electrical potential and oxidizing environment at the cathode.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPlatinum is one of the most expensive parts of the fuel cells, so researchers study how to decrease the amount necessary to run a fuel cell, explains Fuller. But if there is less platinum in the fuel cell to begin with, you cant afford to lose any by it dissolving.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen the platinum layer dissolves, a band of platinum typically forms inside the membrane. Fuller, GTRI senior research engineer Gary Gray and graduate student Wu Bi, developed a model to predict where the platinum band would form to help to understand why it was happening. This work was published in March 2007 in\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EElectrochemical and Solid-State Letters\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe found that the platinum can also be deposited throughout the membrane and it can move around to different places, but whenever it leaves where its supposed to be, its no longer effective, says Fuller.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory funding came from the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in the Office of Hydrogen, Fuel Cell and Infrastructure Technologies of the U.S. Department of Energy under contract number DE-AC02-05CH11231 through subcontract 6804755.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers in the Georgia Tech Research Institutes (GTRI) Center for Innovative Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies believe that understanding how and why fuel cells fail is the key to both reducing cost and improving durability."}],"uid":"28152","created_gmt":"2014-11-10 15:36:30","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:30","author":"Claire Labanz","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"109221","name":"Fall 2007 Issue"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBrett Israel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-385-1933\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"344541":{"#nid":"344541","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Techs CoVE Takes a Collaborative Approach to Design Analysis and Decision-making.","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFROM FUEL-CELL POWERED\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;aircraft and multi-mission cruise missiles to supersonic business jets, engineers at Georgia Techs Aerospace Systems Design Lab (ASDL) are helping develop the next-generation of land, sea, air and space vehicles. These complex designs involve highly integrated, interoperable systems and enormous amounts of data which can be cumbersome when presenting a solution to stakeholders.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHow do you visualize hundreds of design parameters, especially in a collaborative environment so decision-makers can discuss the data and come to some kind of consensus? asks Neil Weston, a research engineer at ASDL.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEnter CoVE, formally known as the Collaborative Visualization Environment. Development of this unique facility was spearheaded by ASDLs director Dimitri Mavris and funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research. CoVEs focal point is an 18- by 10-foot, high-resolution multimedia wall (about 9.4 megapixels) that can simultaneously display and manage more than 60 variables. A plug-and-play interface at 12 computer workstations allows outside visitors to display information on the wall without having to copy or share files, and IP-based video conferencing technology enables off-site participants to join sessions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECoVE represents a dramatic change in design reviews. Previously, participants had to huddle around a single computer or use PowerPoint presentations. This meant only 15 percent of information associated with a design could be viewed at a time, requiring researchers to switch from screen to screen and constantly open and close programs. In contrast, CoVE enables decision-makers to see ASDLs solutions in their entirety.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhats more, CoVE manipulates data on the spot. Decision-makers can ask what-if questions and see in real time how altering parameters will affect various aspects of a design. CoVE isnt just a static environment where people go to view information, Weston observes. Its a dynamic arena where the audience can interact with the data.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPrior to CoVE, decision-makers attended design reviews to be informed rather than to participate, Mavris explains: If someone asked a question, you would have to get back to them, which could take days or weeks. Even if you had an answer the next day, it was too late; decisions had already been made.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYet CoVE brings design analysis and decision-making together, says Mavris: This is the beginning of a new era the era of visual analytics.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile analytics is about discovering and understanding patterns, visual analytics is the science of analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces, he explains. This approach provides a mechanism for a user to see and understand large volumes of information at once. Based on the premise that the brain can best process information received through visual channels, this process facilitates the discovery of unexpected trends and highlights transparency of underlying physical phenomena.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMosaic of Information\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring a design review, ASDL researchers divide CoVEs multimedia wall into sections and allocate them to different disciplines. Suppose researchers are working on a new military jet design: One section of the wall might show a mission-planning tool, another would reflect engine-performance, with other areas devoted to aerodynamics, economics and life-cycle management issues. Data is interconnected so various tradeoffs such as safety, environmental impact or costs can be assessed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf you change something in the left-hand corner, all the other charts update, which is very powerful to see, explains Kristin Kelly, an ASDL research engineer. Decision-makers may have been looking at a design simply from one or two perspectives at a time, such as an engine-performance perspective. Yet when they see the effect on a multitude of perspectives, such as environmental issues, they may have to re-consider to meet regulation constraints.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMaking what-if games possible is ASDLs Collaborative Design Environment (CoDE). A sister facility to CoVE, CoDE simulates a war-room setting where ASDL researchers from different disciplines work as a team to introduce physics-based analyses, probabilistic methods, simulation and modeling into the design process at an early stage. Supplying the necessary computational muscle is a cluster with 256 processors, a 7-terabyte storage subsystem and an inifiband (extremely high-speed) network.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the techniques ASDL uses to come up with real-time answers is surrogate modeling (also known as meta-modeling). Rather than using actual codes, you can determine which variables are the most important ones and create a model to manipulate those codes, explains Mavris. Surrogate models have tremendous accuracy (95 to 99 percent) and also enable you to calculate things instantaneously.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother benefit, because surrogate models cant be reverse-engineered, they provide a safe way to collaborate without participants having to share proprietary information, Mavris adds.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith CoVE, ASDL engineers have been able to develop new tools and techniques to increase the accuracy of systems design and increase comprehension for decision-makers. For example:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EA dynamic house-of-quality tool translates customer requirements into engineering characteristics.\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EA method for ranking multiple attributes that reveals the best design option based on customer-importance weightings.\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESlide bars on importance weightings so customers can change parameters and see what tradeoffs might occur.\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EA man-in-the-loop genetic algorithm combines physics-based computing with an experienced engineer to eliminate options a computer might not reject, but which arent feasible in the real world.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBoon for Business\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECoVE has been a great showcase for ASDL, says Mavris. Prior to having this facility, it was difficult to communicate to sponsors what we were doing.Since the facility launched in January 2004, hundreds of engineers, technologists and decision-makers have conducted high-level projects at CoVE including Boeing, General Electric,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPratt \u0026amp; Whitney, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Rolls-Royce, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe latter has used CoVE for technology assessments in three key areas: next-generation unmanned vehicles, long-range strike and directed energy applications.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese assessments are done in a collaborative environment with industry, academia and other government agencies, so you end up with a very large trade space of ideas, says David Brown, Technology Assessment Office lead at the AFRLs Air Vehicles Directorate. CoVE provides an environment to break down those complicated problems so we can make smarter investments in allocating resources.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBesides benefiting Georgia Techs government and industry partners, CoVE plays a vital educational role. Students have full access to CoVE and can use the facility to participate in design competitions and gain experience in design reviews.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDesign is a multidisciplinary activity, so its important for students to work closely in teams, says Mavris. At ASDL, students come in as fluids or propulsion specialists, but they leave as more valuable systems integrators.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBenjamin Poole, a graduate student at Georgia Techs School of Aerospace Engineering and ASDL research assistant, agrees that CoVE has made a big difference in his education. As an undergraduate, everything is compartmentalized and discipline-specific, so it was initially difficult to get sense of how a complete design came together, he explains. In CoVE, you can see how data is integrated and make educated decisions based on the manipulations of that data in real time.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EASDL researchers continue to upgrade CoVEs capabilities and explore new visualization tools and processes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECoVE has given us a real edge on the competition, says Mavris. Granted, there are other big walls where people are working on visualization, but this is a blend of modeling, simulation, parametrics and decision-making. CoVE isnt just a place, its a process where engineers can work together to fuse their data and eventually roll that data up to the appropriate level where risks can be assessed and a business case can close.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESCoVE: A Secure CoVE Plus Extras\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo support the complex-systems work it conducts for the federal government and industry, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) launched a secure version of ASDLs CoVE in June 2007 .\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the SCoVE, researchers can apply techniques developed by ASDL and other Georgia Tech departments along with GTRIs extensive portfolio of network-centric and visualization solutions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe primary impetus for the Secure CoVE was to create an environment that enables GTRI to develop robust system solutions for government customers at an unprecedented rate, says Allan Williams, associate director at GTRIs Aerospace, Transportation and Advanced Systems Lab. The SCoVE allows us to integrate the expertise of the academic departments of Georgia Tech with the decades of experience of GTRIs systems engineers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe SCoVE features a 24- by 7-foot high-resolution display wall and seats up to 30 individuals. Its state-of-the-art computer network and audio-visual system supports:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003Ealmost unlimited video feeds\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003Etwo-dimensional graphics\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003Eremote video inputs and cameras\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDVD, VHS, satellite and CATV\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ETCP\/IP and UDP encoded video feeds.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe SCoVE has been designed from the ground up to link users at the Georgia Tech campus with GTRI field offices and government facilities across the country in real time. Instead of going from lab to lab, customers and researchers now can assemble in one room and access all of GTRIs tools, says Williams.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to providing collaborative visualization for systems design, modeling and optimization, SCoVE can also be configured to provide a command-and-control center environment. This allows us to provide real-world testing of solutions before theyre delivered to customers, explains Williams. For example, GTRIs FalconView (a mapping system for flight-planning software) and GTVC (which allows law enforcement, emergency services and other agencies to collaborate online and respond to events) are available at the SCoVE.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA number of organizations are building CoVE-like facilities, but few offer the visualization and computational capabilities of the SCoVE, and none offers the extensive system-optimization tools and techniques developed at Georgia Tech, concludes Williams.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022right\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ET.J. Becker\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Collaborative Visualization Environment allows decisionmakers to see solutions in their entirety and see the answers to what-if questions in real-time."}],"uid":"28152","created_gmt":"2014-11-11 16:27:36","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:30","author":"Claire Labanz","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028Atlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBrett Israel\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-1933\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"344551":{"#nid":"344551","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Far from Obsolete, Analog Electronics and Expertise Are in High Demand Today","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022BigFirst\u0022\u003EA woman in Phoenix uses a computer and webcam to visit nightly with her young grandson in New York. A pediatrician hiking in the Smoky Mountains consults by cell phone on a critical case in Atlanta. Enemy radar sets off warnings in a U.S. military aircraft, which immediately turns away from the danger.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022BigFirst\u0022\u003EEveryone recognizes such events, and millions like them, as benefits of digital technology of microprocessors and software, of bits and bytes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFewer know that these and most other electronic miracles would be impossible without another technology that is also thriving analog electronics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDesigning these ubiquitous circuits which feed information and power to digital components is sometimes called an art form. Thats because analog engineers must choose among a multitude of materials and techniques to best perform a given function. Analog expertise is in high demand globally, and analog microelectronics provide strong revenue for technology companies large and small.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe world is analog, says Joy Laskar, director of the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC), a 250-person center at Georgia Tech that specializes in analog and mixed-signal (analog-digital) research. Analog circuits model the world and capture real-world information so it can be digitally processed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnalog electronics are especially important in mobile devices, adds Laskar, who is the Schlumberger Chair in Microelectronics in Georgia Techs School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). Anything thats untethered, from cell phones to hearing aids, will have heavy analog content.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGenerally speaking, analog technology plays a crucial role in three major electronic areas:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EInput\/Output (IO):\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Analog microelectronics are essential to radio frequency (RF) and microwave devices, including cell phones and MP3 players; military radar systems and satellites; miniaturized antennas; microphones and temperature sensors; image sensors for cameras and scanners; hard drives and other data-storage devices; biomedical applications, and more.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPower:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Analog technology supports delivery, management and conditioning of power, which is essential in wireless devices where power issues are critical; its especially important for power conservation because analog chips use less power than digital designs.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENew applications:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Todays analog research is expanding into novel areas, including analog circuits that can be reprogrammed like digital chips; tiny devices called micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) that actually move at the microscale; and new analog techniques that combine with digital technology to facilitate extremely high data rates and frequencies in both the wireless and wired domains.\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Indispensable Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnalog technology, once the cornerstone of both electronics and computing, was supposed to be on the endangered-circuits list by now. During the digital revolution of the 1980s, when inexpensive microprocessors brought programmable computing to an eager world, experts proclaimed that the flexible new technology would eclipse older, fixed-function analog approaches.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThose predictions didnt pan out. Not only has analog technology remained essential to microelectronic communications and computing, but todays engineers are extending analogs usefulness in many ways. Through continuing miniaturization and sophisticated new techniques, investigators are utilizing both pure or core analog technology as well as mixed-signal approaches that combine analog and digital functions cooperatively in a single integrated circuit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is among a handful of universities that has continued to emphasize analog research and education, even during the 1980s and early 1990s when many were downgrading their analog programs. Today, the number of Georgia Tech faculty who focus on analog and mixed-signal engineering stands at 14, and that total continues to grow. This faculty group combined with numerous research faculty, post-doctoral researchers and hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students pursuing analog degrees mark Georgia Techs analog technology program as probably the largest in the United States.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech professors and researchers are pursuing new analog-based approaches in a variety of areas, including biotechnology and neuromorphic design, reprogrammable analog circuits, power approaches such as microscale fuel cells and power harvesting, and manufacturing reliability and quality. They are designing improved analog and mixed-signal electronics for a host of uses, from optimizing todays civilian and military communications to exploiting underutilized frequencies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETraditional workhorse analog design is important, too. At the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), some engineers are using their expertise to replace obsolete analog circuits, typically in military aircraft and communications. By using available parts to develop cheaper and more reliable designs, they help keep U.S. aircraft in the air.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Georgia Electronic Design Center\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENowhere at Georgia Tech is the analog focus more intense than at the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC). Established in 2003, the center occupies 42,000 square feet in the Technology Square Research Building. GEDCs assets include 13 professors who serve as research-team leaders, some 200 graduate and undergraduate researchers and more than $20 million in test and other equipment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Electronic Design Centers work is supported by about $13 million in annual research funding. That money comes from federal government agencies, the state of Georgia and more than 40 industry partners, making the center a leader in industry involvement at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGEDCs research is varied, but much of its work focuses on analog and mixed-signal approaches aimed at improving wireless\/RF and wired\/fiber-optic performance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe centers principal research includes four main focus areas:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGigabit wireless\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Led by GEDC Director Laskar and head researcher Stephane Pinel, this effort utilizes analog-digital designs to propel vast amounts of data over short distances using extremely high frequencies in the unlicensed 60 Gigahertz (GHz) range. The record data-transfer rates achieved to date 15 gigabits per second (Gbps) over a distance of 1 meter, 10 Gbps at 2 meters and 5 Gbps at 5 meters could result in desktop computer setups that need no connecting wires, handheld devices able to download entire movies in a few seconds, and wireless in-room transmission from DVD players to screens. This technology represents the first all-digital-controlled analog CMOS radios operating at such frequencies. GEDCs gigabit wireless work is expected to lay a foundation for future digital-controlled applications in the millimeter-wave spectrum frequencies above 20 GHz including digital radar. The work is supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and industry.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECognitive radio\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;This research, developed in concert with Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. and led by Laskar and researcher Kyutae Lim, is aimed at forging new international IEEE standards governing more efficient use of wireless frequencies. Cognitive radio (CR) technologies enable wireless transmissions to find low-traffic frequencies and thus bypass bottlenecks or avoid enemy jamming. GEDC recently fabricated a new chip design that could help demonstrate CRs effectiveness.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAgile Optical\/Photonic\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EIn partnership with Italian telecommunications giant Pirelli, GEDC is using a testbed equipped with 320 kilometers of special optical fiber to research wired high-speed telecommunications networks. The aim is to use nanotechnology and low-cost mixed-signal chips to design flexible fiber-optic networks with tunable components. The new design would replace outmoded fixed networks based on bulky optical components and help providers meet consumer demand for increased bandwidth. Research faculty working on this project include head researcher Chris Scholz, Stephane Pinel and Edward Gebara.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERFID\/Wireless Sensor\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003ERadio-frequency identification technology (RFID) holds great promise in numerous areas including shipping, industry and retail. By enabling inconspicuous circuits that can be placed in cargo containers, automobiles or elsewhere, RFID allows wireless tracking of myriad items. RFID research at GEDC is led by Manos Tentzeris, an associate professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). Tentzeris team focuses on using cutting-edge analog techniques to produce low-power devices with high-quality signal performance including low-cost antennas and sensors that can be printed on paper.\u003Cstrong\u003ETeaching Analog New Tricks\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EAt the Georgia Tech Analog Consortium (GTAC), a long-established analog-design group that is now part of GEDC, Director John Papapolymerou oversees several groups that are pushing analog-technology boundaries. Papapolymerou, an associate professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), is himself involved in several analog-related projects, including research that is helping to develop CAD software for the design of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS).\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPaul Hasler, an associate professor in ECE and a GTAC team leader, has discovered techniques to program analog circuits in ways reminiscent of digital processors. Traditionally, analog circuits have been fixed-function hard-wired to perform a specific task. Working frequently with David Anderson, an ECE associate professor and GEDC researcher who focuses on mixed-signal design, Hasler has been researching core analog capabilities for many years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJust saying that the world went digital doesnt address the crucial point, Hasler says. Whats key is that a programmable technology overtook a fixed-function technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn their research, Hasler and his team have developed programmable analog circuits made with conventional materials and techniques but capable of taking over many functions from digital ICs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDigital may be a little better for communication, but in terms of computation thats not necessarily the case at all, Hasler says. Programmable analog could be part of the entire-signal processing engine used by mobile devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnalog is important, he explains, because analog chips use up to a thousand times less power than their digital counterparts. That makes them far better for mobile uses.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen youre looking at an hour versus a month in terms of your battery life, thats pretty impressive, Hasler says. It just changes the entire game.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHaslers research has led to GTronix, a startup company developing novel technology to extract real-world sensory information for portable consumer electronic products. The company, supported by Menlo Ventures, a major venture capital group, is poised to announce its first product soon.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFarrokh Ayazi, an ECE associate professor and GEDC team leader, is using micro-electromechanical analog technology to develop a frequency-spectrum analyzer and processor on a chip that can offer both the performance and power efficiency needed for mobile use. This technology, known as analog spectral processing, guides an RF signal to lesser-used frequencies and has similarities to GEDCs cognitive-radio work. The research is supported by DARPA.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAyazi is also researching the integration of microscale MEMS devices with analog, RF and mixed-signal circuits. These micro-mechanical structures could have various applications including minute, highly sophisticated motion sensors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy converting mechanical signals into electrical signals and processing them using low-power electronics, this motion-sensing technology holds promise in handheld wireless applications such as gaming equipment and for mobile devices that navigate without GPS signals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EQualtr, a semiconductor-design company based on work at the Integrated MEMS Lab that Ayazi leads, offers six-degree-of-freedom motion sensing devices (three-axis gyroscopes and accelerometers) with low-power integrated read-out and control circuits for consumer products. Qualtr is a member of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a startup-company incubator at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAyazi and his team are also investigating silicon arrays of low-power gravimetric gas and bio sensors that are capable of detecting even a single molecule of a target substance. By coating a MEMS device with a molecular-recognition layer, the researchers are bringing the advantages of low-power analog technology to these tiny devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn work supported by the National Science Foundation and industry, Ayazi is also studying whether tiny MEMS-based resonators, micromachined into silicon, could replace frequency-producing quartz in mobile devices such as cell phones. The MEMS technology handles higher frequencies than quartz can, while maintaining high performance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Silicon-Germanium Connection\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJohn Cressler, Ken Byers Professor in ECE and a GEDC team leader, develops analog, RF and mixed-signal circuits that exploit the special properties of silicon-germanium (SiGe) alloys. Combining silicon a common microchip material with germanium at nano-scale dimensions, Cressler is helping to develop next-generation microelectronic technologies that promise important gains in speed, flexibility and toughness.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECressler recently made news when IBM and Georgia Tech research teams collaborated to produce a silicon-germanium transistor able to operate at frequencies above 500 GHz far higher than plain silicon has ever reached. The record was attained at very cold temperatures, but the results suggested that SiGe chips could also attain record speeds at room temperature.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECressler and his team are also leading a four-year, $14 million NASA program aimed at developing analog\/mixed-signal systems for use in exploration of the moon. The work is challenging because of the lunar environments extremely wide, 300-degrees Celsius temperature swings and its exposure to space radiation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe aim: to use silicon-germaniums robust qualities to replace the bulky, power-hungry, shielded warm boxes currently used in space electronics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWere taking legacy parts that are the size of a shoebox and putting a single piece of unprotected silicon-germanium in their place, he says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the core analog realm, Cressler and his team are investigating the application of silicon-germanium to BiCMOS (SiGe transistors plus CMOS) technology used in very high-performance analog ICs. His team is helping industry researchers understand how to improve the design of these high-end analog circuits and find new applications areas for state-of-the-art analog technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, Cressler is studying the use of SiGe technology to improve data conversion in the very high-speed multi-gigabit range. For years, the problem of converting analog signals into digital code has created a bottleneck because analog-to-digital converters that are extremely fast yet affordable havent existed. New, faster data converters using SiGe could help redefine communications and radar capabilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn terms of complexity and challenge in the analog design world, very high-speed data converters are at the top, Cressler says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEnergy and Power Better, Smaller\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGabriel Rincn-Mora, an ECE associate professor, is focusing analog expertise on powering integrated circuits and other microscale devices, and on using energy and power management to maximize a devices operational life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEnergy\/power generation and management for mobile devices will become ever more important in coming years, he says, as new, more capable chips nullify the gains made by advances in power conservation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWere putting a lot more functionality into a single IC, he says. So we are ultimately increasing power density while maintaining similar power-source levels.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERincn-Mora is investigating how to provide power to chip-based mobile sensors using a system composed of a proton exchange-membrane fuel cell and a thin-film lithium ion battery. Working with Paul Kohl, a Regents professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rincn-Mora and his team are studying how to manage power throughout the whole system fuel cell, battery and chip in ways that maximize lifetime and minimize footprint.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERincn-Mora is also investigating microscale techniques to harvest energy from the surrounding environment. In one project, he is working with Texas Instruments to develop an electrostatic harvesting chip that draws power from the kinetic energy in vibrations. He is also working with Sakis Meliopoulos, another ECE professor, to power wireless microsensors in a power grid by using the field that surrounds an electric cable.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn another project, Rincn-Mora is studying how to scavenge energy from the human body. The aim is to power a biomedical implant called a vestibular prosthesis, a device being co-developed by ECE Assistant Professor Pamela Bhatti to help patients regain their sense of balance. Rincn-Mora plans to power the tiny device through piezoelectric harvesting generating power from the motion of tiny materials that bend as bodily fluids in the inner ear flow around the implant.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBhatti is also collaborating with Shreyes Melkote, a professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, to develop an electrode array that would provide better results to patients with a cochlear prosthesis, used to treat total deafness.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECutting Costs with Analog\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnalog expertise is an important asset at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), Georgia Techs nonprofit applied-research arm. Several GTRI laboratories focus on the analog-heavy field of radar and RF technology for military and civilian applications. And GTRI researchers are often tasked with finding ways to replace older analog circuits, in aircraft and elsewhere, that are no longer manufactured.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWere developing applications as opposed to developing new technologies in analog, says Richard Levin, a GTRI senior research engineer. We find new ways to apply existing technology so that we can meet the customers needs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELevin has been performing analog design thats helping to re-engineer an older circuit board in an Air Force radar-warning receiver. Key components in the all-analog board are no longer made, and obtaining custom replicas promised to be very expensive. Levin is part of a team that has crafted a plug-in replacement board, using mixed-signal technology that combines analog and digital functions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBasically, its a more modern, work-alike circuit made from available parts, says Levin.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMark Mitchell, a GTRI principal research engineer, reports that his group is working on numerous projects that employ analog-intensive technology to design and develop low-cost phased-array antennas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPhased-array antennas have historically been extremely expensive, he says. Thats limited the number of applications where they can be used.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn one program, Mitchell and his colleagues are collaborating with ECEs Cressler to create a single-chip, phased-array module using cutting-edge silicon-germanium technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurrent phased-array antennas, which use many multi-chip modules, are bulky. Mitchell and Cressler want to pack that functionality into a single silicon-germanium chip.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYou cant get the kind of high-frequency performance we want out of these analog circuits with conventional silicon, Mitchell says. Only silicon germanium can give us that performance and also cut the cost per element down by a couple of orders of magnitude.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommunicating with the Body\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the Laboratory for Neuroengineering (NeuroLab), the team of Steve DeWeerth, a professor in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, is designing custom analog circuits. The twofold aim: to use analog systems to mimic biological performance and to interface with biological systems for medical applications development.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI think Georgia Techs analog design strengths will provide some real opportunities to develop new areas in the biomedical field with real potential biomedical devices, prosthetics and implants, says DeWeerth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong other things, the NeuroLab team has developed circuitry for stimulation of neural tissue in vitro. They are using novel analog designs to minimize data loss caused by applying electric-stimulus power, and also to enable accurate feedback.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThanks to the proliferation of foundries that serve circuit designers, the team now pursues its research using analog circuits made to its own specifications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the advantages of designing our own ICs is that were not confined to what exists out there, says Edgar Brown, a research engineer on DeWeerths team. It would be very difficult to do the kinds of things that were doing with off-the-shelf circuitry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMaysam Ghovanloo, an assistant professor with ECE and GEDC, focuses on design of integrated circuits and microsystems for implantable biomedical applications. His research involves state-of-the-art neuroprosthesis technology that could communicate with the human nervous system to address serious impairments ranging from from blindness to paralysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn his recently established lab, GT-Bionics, Ghovanloo is developing a multi-channel neural recording system to wirelessly monitor freely moving animal brain activities. He is also trying to establish a bidirectional telemetry link with the central nervous system at the cellular level for brain-computer interfacing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt GEDC, Ghovanloo is initiating collaborations on wireless\/RF and MEMS technologies to develop electrodes, antennas and packaging needed for implantable microelectronic devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClearly, analog technology is here to stay. Analog engineers are likely to remain in short supply worldwide for years, says GEDC Director Laskar, as demand for both analog research and applications continues to grow.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnalog and mixed-signal technologies are going to become more important, not less, he says. For the entire microelectronic revolution to proceed robustly, analog research has to keep pace and here at Georgia Tech its an ongoing mission to supply the research and the people to help make that happen.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Analog expertise is in high demand globally, and analog microelectronics provide strong revenue for technology companies large and small."}],"uid":"28152","created_gmt":"2014-11-11 16:33:22","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:30","author":"Claire Labanz","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"109221","name":"Fall 2007 Issue"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028Atlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBrett Israel\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-1933\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"344561":{"#nid":"344561","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Continues to Stress both Analog and Digital Education","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022BigFirst\u0022\u003EAnalog expertise is in strong demand just about everywhere.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022BigFirst\u0022\u003EAnd thats probably an understatement.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheres a huge worldwide shortage of analog engineers, says Paul Hasler, an associate professor in Georgia Techs School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and a researcher with the Georgia Tech Analog Consortium (GTAC). Its rather remarkable.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince the late 1960s, the Georgia Institute of Technology has been a major source of analog graduates. At the dawn of transistor technology and the subsequent integrated-circuit (IC) revolution, Tech emphasized analog electronics right alongside digital, says J. Alvin Connelly, professor emeritus in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EConnelly recalls arriving at Tech in 1968 in time to take on the nascent analog program. He was soon spending his summers working in industry to glean new course material, and in 1974 he published an early analog integrated-circuit textbook. He went on to develop courses in analog bipolar and CMOS integrated-circuit design, operational amplifiers and low-noise circuit design, among other areas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn coming to Tech, Connelly joined other electronics faculty such as John Peatman, who was becoming well-known in digital design.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJohn covered the digital and I covered the analog, and that gave us kind of a one-two punch in the whole broad field of electronics, Connelly recalls. Meanwhile, he says, numerous other faculty joined Georgia Tech during those years and added tremendously to the program, including Robert Feeney, Marshall Leach, William Sayle and David Hertling.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFrom the beginning, he says, the analog electronics program became very popular.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EStaying the Course\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the 1980s, inexpensive digital microprocessors extended programmable computing to everyone, and many predicted the end of fixed-function analog approaches.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech was among a handful of universities that continued to emphasize analog research and education even when many downgraded their analog programs and stopped hiring analog faculty, says Linda Milor, an associate professor in ECE and a GTAC researcher.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen I was in school in the 1980s, the thinking was that the analog piece would go away, she says. Georgia Tech was different, but very few universities were hiring anyone in circuit design. There was an interesting situation where schools had lots of analog courses on their curriculums and nobody to teach them.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThen the 1990s mobile revolution began, and industry demand soared for communication ICs and other analog chip designs. Analog chips whose virtues include low power consumption that extends battery life became once again a hot area as consumers increasingly snapped up cell phones, PDAs, digital cameras, voice recorders, portable video and many other handheld devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 1989, three Georgia Tech professors Connelly, Phillip Allen and Martin Brooke founded GTAC as a way to forge closer ties with the analog electronics industry. In retrospect, Connelly says, that move was probably even smarter than it looked at the time. It allowed Georgia Tech to strengthen its analog commitment just in time for the analog resurgence.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecent media coverage in Silicon Valley and elsewhere places Georgia Tech among the elite analog education programs, in such company as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the University of California-Berkeley. So does program size: by most counts, Georgia Tech has a larger analog faculty and graduates more analog engineers than any other U.S. institution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Well-Rounded Student\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday, demand for analog engineers is intense enough that big companies often keep close tabs on graduate programs and offer fellowships and internships to many students. Awaiting those students are very good jobs the highest-paying in the electronics industry, many say.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGregg Lowe, senior vice president for analog at Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI), recently commented on that analog-heavy corporations close relationship with Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETIs contact with the faculty and students at the Georgia Electronic Design Center has given us access to highly trained talent and serves TI customers well, he said. These students expertise has provided strong support for our research and development efforts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJ. Stevenson Kenney, an ECE associate professor and a GTAC faculty member, stresses that analog and digital technology are interdependent. Overall systems design is the prime consideration, he says, with both technologies working together for best results.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMany of these traditional compartments that we put things into are blurring together, he says. Where do digital circuits and algorithms stop and RF circuits begin? They overlap.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a result, Kenney says, electrical engineers graduating from Georgia Tech need to be knowledgeable about both analog and digital technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf theyre not utilizing the best approaches to both, he says, its not going to be an optimum solution.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Since the late 1960s, the Georgia Institute of Technology has been a major source of analog graduates. At the dawn of transistor technology and the subsequent integrated-circuit (IC) revolution, Tech emphasized analog electronics right alongside digi"}],"uid":"28152","created_gmt":"2014-11-11 16:36:19","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:30","author":"Claire Labanz","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"109221","name":"Fall 2007 Issue"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028Atlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBrett Israel\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-1933\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"344571":{"#nid":"344571","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Academe and Industry Are Building Close Connections in Analog Technology","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022BigFirst\u0022\u003ESince it was chartered in 1885, Georgia Tech has stressed economic development and industry collaboration alongside technological education. Nowhere are industry ties stronger than in the field of analog electronics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022BigFirst\u0022\u003ETo promote closer contacts with the analog-chip industry, in 1989 three Georgia Tech faculty started the Georgia Tech Analog Consortium (GTAC). Today, GTAC is part of the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC), a 250-person center at Georgia Tech that works with nearly 50 industry and government members on analog and mixed-signal technologies for both wireless and wired applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe have very tight synergies with the major players in the field such as Texas Instruments, National Semiconductor, IBM, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and others, says John Cressler, Ken Byers Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and a GEDC faculty researcher. That gives us not only access to state-of-the-art technology, but were also able to interface with industry very directly.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd its a two-way street, with both industry and Tech deriving important benefits.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIndustry has an obviously high opinion of the analog engineers coming out of Georgia Tech, says Hal Calhoun, managing director with Menlo Ventures, a large venture-capital firm in Californias Silicon Valley. You dont have to travel far to learn that industry is filled with Tech analog engineers, many in important management positions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDennis Monticelli, chief technologist at analog-industry giant National Semiconductor Corp., reflects that industry interest. Georgia Tech is a school thats maintained its excellence in analog education, he says. Working with GEDC and Techs ECE school, National is able to choose the professors we would like to work with, and we get to work with some top students, both graduates and undergraduates.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow to Succeed in Business\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBesides collaboration with established companies, Georgia Techs applications-oriented viewpoint has led to numerous startup companies based on the analog\/mixed-signal research of GEDC\/GTAC, the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and other Georgia Tech groups.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGEDC identifies 11 companies, in varying stages of development, as having emerged from its research. All told, they have raised some $100 million in venture-capital funding.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe list includes two established companies with roots in the work of GEDC Director Joy Laskar RF Solutions, a wireless-LAN company now part of Anadigics, Inc., and Quellan, a collaborative signal-processing company.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESeveral other analog-heavy companies are now members of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) or VentureLab Georgia Tech units that help fledgling companies get going by locating startup money, offering business guidance and leasing office space.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese companies include:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EGTronix, an ATDC member that develops analog-integrated circuits (ICs) for ultra-low power portable consumer electronics, is based on the research of Paul Hasler, an ECE associate professor and GTAC team leader.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EQualtr, an ATDC company that is developing low-cost, all-axis motion sensors for consumer electronics, is based on the work of Farrokh Ayazi, an ECE associate professor and GEDC team leader.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAxion Biosystems, a VentureLab company developing products that involve analog neural-interfacing technology, is based on the work of the labs of Steve DeWeerth, a professor in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, and Mark Allen, senior vice provost for research and innovation at Georgia Tech and Joseph M. Pettit Professor in ECE.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe world analog market, now topping $32 billion a year and growing, can open corporate doors for young engineers, asserts Laskar, who holds the Schlumberger Chair in Microelectronics in ECE.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe points to an industry publication listing a number of young analog engineers including several recent Georgia Tech Ph.D.s who are now working for top technology corporations. All of them are being sent by their employers to study in top M.B.A. programs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese are people who are being groomed to play important management roles in their companies, Laskar says. As analog engineers, theyre so valuable that theyre worth the extra training.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMoreover, Laskar says, young analog graduates frequently do well in startup companies as well. He cites the Korean company Future Communications IC, Inc., a designer of chips for mobile television and wireless communications that was acquired recently by Silicon Motion Technology Corp. for $90 million. Two Georgia Tech analog Ph.D.s, Sangwoo Han and Seungyup Yoo, played major roles in Future Communications success.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnalog training can provide a valuable entre into industry, business and academia, Laskar says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBetter Testing, Better Chips\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers frequently work on problems that affect how industry produces its microelectronic products issues with direct consequences for the corporate bottom line.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnalog circuits, especially very-high-frequency, small-scale designs, are susceptible to manufacturing flaws. ECE professors Linda Milor and Abhijit Chatterjee work closely with analog chip makers such as National Semiconductor and Texas Instruments to improve circuit testing during manufacture.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EManufacturing yields of useable chips is very important, Chatterjee says. A small percentage of change in yield even 1 percent is a big number can mean the loss of millions of dollars.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EExamining freshly minted circuits can be very expensive, and most analog circuits receive only a cursory automated test during manufacture, says Milor. To enhance robustness and yield, new design approaches with added circuitry could allow chips to examine themselves.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong other things, Milor has been working on testing of chips input and output signals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThats become a problem because of todays high-speed interfaces between chips, she explains. Once the delays have gotten down to tens of picoseconds generating these very precise timing intervals is hard to do off-chip with external testing equipment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne approach to more reliable and capable chips, Chatterjee explains, involves adaptive electronics circuits that not only test themselves but can also self-recalibrate. Chatterjee and his team are currently researching adaptive electronics technology with support from the Gigascale Systems Research Center (GSRC), a multi-university collaboration sponsored by MARCO, a unit of the Semiconductor Research Corp., and by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf theres a problem in the manufacturing, the circuit can reconfigure itself to compensate for these variations, he says. In a sense, the chip becomes self-healing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdaptive electronics could also allow a circuit to adjust to changes in its surroundings, Chatterjee says. For example, cell phones could cut back on circuit performance in a strong signal environment more efficiently than they do now, thereby conserving power.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurrent RF front-end design is relatively static, and most components consume about the same power irrespective of the quality of the signal, Chatterjee says. Our design dynamically adapts supply voltages and circuits performance to channel conditions, so that the system consumes less power when signal strength is good and then can increase power for a weak signal.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Since it was chartered in 1885, Georgia Tech has stressed economic development and industry collaboration alongside technological education. Nowhere are industry ties stronger than in the field of analog electronics."}],"uid":"28152","created_gmt":"2014-11-11 16:38:45","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:30","author":"Claire Labanz","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"109221","name":"Fall 2007 Issue"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028Atlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBrett Israel\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-1933\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2028\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71919":{"#nid":"71919","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Embryonic Stem Cells Thrive When Shaken","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEmbryos spend much of their time in the womb bobbing along with a mother\u0027s movement, and, surprisingly enough, new research from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University suggests that embryonic stem cells may develop much better under similarly shaky conditions.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech and Emory researchers discovered that moderate and controlled physical movement of embryonic stem cells in fluid environments, similar to shaking that occurs in the womb, improves their development and suggests that different types of movement could some day be used to control what type of cell they become. The research was published in the September issue of the journal Stem Cells.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Embryonic stem cells develop under unique conditions in the womb, and no one has ever been able to study the effect that movement has on that development process,\u0022 said Todd McDevitt, assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University and head of the project. \u0022While labs typically add all sorts of things to their cultures to influence cell direction, we were able to control the levels of differentiation and size of cell clusters by simply providing some fluid motion.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt all started with a fortunate accident. Rich Carpenedo, a graduate student and first author of the paper, discovered by chance that a dish of embryonic stem cells left on a common lab shaker (typically used to slowly mix samples) had developed in greater numbers and more uniformly than cells grown in a static environment (i.e. unshaken). \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrent popular methods of developing embryonic stem cells in the lab involve single droplets of cells separated by a great deal of space in the dish. This time - and space-consuming technique allows the cells to develop without excessive clumping (a frequent problem for stem cells developed in the lab) and for a greater number to survive in a small space.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers experimented with the shaking plate and determined that they could consistently produce samples with healthier, more uniform cells just by gently sloshing the dishes of stem cells on a shaker plate. The method proved to be much simpler and more space efficient than the current standard for producing embryonic stem cells, McDevitt said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We can throw many cells in a dish and not have to worry about clumping and cell survival,\u0022 McDevitt said. \u0022We call it the \u0027set it and forget it\u0027 method for growing stem cells.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the secret to the shaken stem cells\u0027 success is still unclear, it\u0027s suspected that the movement of the fluid likely increases nutrient distribution to cells, creating healthier cells, McDevitt said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech and Emory research team then began experiments to determine if the motion could be used to control the size of the cell aggregates and type of cells the embryonic cells would eventually become and found that there was a correlation between different types and speeds of movement and the phenotype and size of the stem cells.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMuch work remains to be done before the movement control concept could be used to influence what types of cells embryonic stem cells eventually become. The team\u0027s next goal is to pinpoint more precisely exactly what speeds and manners of shaking can influence stem cell phenotype.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Researchers from Georgia Tech and Emory University have discovered that gently shaking embryonic stem cells, similar to how an embryo is shaken in the mother\u0027s womb, improves their development and could some day even be used to control what type of cell they eventually become.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Womb-like movements improve stem cell development"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-09-10 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:34","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-10T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-10T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71920":{"id":"71920","type":"image","title":"Static stem cells","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71921":{"id":"71921","type":"image","title":"Rotary stem cells","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71920","71921"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/facultystaff\/faculty_record.php?id=78","title":"Todd McDevitt"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/","title":"Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"249","name":"Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"2276","name":"embryonic stem cells"},{"id":"167130","name":"Stem Cells"},{"id":"760","name":"Todd McDevitt"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71867":{"#nid":"71867","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Lean Techniques Boost Efficiency at Rural Hospital","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe emergency department at Meadows Regional Medical Center in rural Vidalia, Ga., has achieved what would make most hospitals across the nation envious: a 44 percent reduction in average length of stay per patient, a 10 percent boost in patients served and a 92 percent patient satisfaction rate. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe secret? With assistance from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the hospital implemented lean manufacturing principles, a process management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System and known for reducing wasted time and effort in manufacturing.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt one point, the average length of stay for Meadows\u0027 emergency department patients exceeded 200 minutes, which was unacceptable to the hospital\u0027s management.  \u0022We had issues with bottlenecking, turnaround times, decreased satisfaction and overworked nurses,\u0022 recalled Peggy Fountain, director of the emergency department at Meadows.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith funding from the Georgia Rural Economic Development Center (GREDC), lean specialists with Georgia Tech\u0027s Enterprise Innovation Institute began the hospital\u0027s transformation in June 2005.  They conducted a three-day lean overview workshop and value-stream mapping event with Meadows\u0027 emergency department. In addition to Fountain and CEO Alan Kent, workshop participants included the emergency room nursing staff, an emergency room physician, the radiology director, laboratory manager and business office staff.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe lean team at Meadows developed 44 action items for reducing the time needed to admit, treat and discharge non-critical ER patients. Forty-one percent of the items were determined to be low-cost and high-impact. The ideas fell into one of seven categories: 5S and visual controls, cross-training, equipment, hospital procedures, patient information, general procedures and staffing. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E5S - which stands for sort, straighten, shine, systemize and sustain - is a way of organizing and managing the workspace to improve morale and efficiency.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EChanges made by the hospital included standardizing mobile supply stations; labeling racks, trays and drawers; installing a color-coded flag system outside patient rooms; issuing patients red allergy armbands to alert medical staff; and adding a holding area for patients who need to see a doctor but who don\u0027t need a room. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe hospital also implemented the T System, a software program that shows staff who is in the waiting room, who needs an X-ray and who can be put into a room or a wheelchair. The T System also documents length of stay, lab tests ordered, physician and nurse assigned to the patient and discharge disposition, as well as patient name, room number and prior ER visits, if applicable. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond the more visible improvements, Fountain says emergency room employees are now more empowered to take initiative and make changes that could positively impact their work process - a hallmark of the lean system.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Staff members realize that it\u0027s not just the ER\u0027s problem - it\u0027s everyone\u0027s problem. Whatever we can do to improve the process makes everyone\u0027s job easier,\u0022 Fountain said.\t\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMeadows\u0027 management plans on utilizing lean health care principles when it builds a new, state-of-the-art hospital. The original facility, built in 1963, employs 600 people and operates 87 beds, as well as a 35-bed nursing home, an eight-bed outpatient facility, and one part-time and two full-time operating rooms.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We want to design the new facility using lean processes before architects draw up the building,\u0022 said Kent, who also plans to incorporate online patient registration, self check-in kiosks and bar-coding into the new hospital. \u0022We want to optimize the process before we draw the first line. We want form to follow function.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKent says that Meadows\u0027 approach could be successful in other hospitals, but notes that change is often difficult, especially in health care.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If you don\u0027t change and innovate, it will kill you,\u0022 he added.  \u0022One of the goals of lean health care is to awaken a new level of thinking and introduce manufacturing approaches that have been proven to produce excellent efficiency and profitability.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Nancy Fullbright (404-894-2214); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:nancy.fullbright@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Enancy.fullbright@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Frank Mewborn (706-542-8903); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:frank.mewborn@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Efrank.mewborn@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Karen Fite (706-542-8901); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:karen.fite@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekaren.fite@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Nancy Fullbright\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Average length of stay in emergency department reduced\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd44 percent"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A process that has long been used to boost productivity in manufacturing operations is being applied to the health care industry - with dramatic results. With assistance from Georgia Tech, a rural Georgia hospital has dramatically improved efficiency by using lean techniques.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Lean techniques are paying off in health care"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-09-25 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:34","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71868":{"id":"71868","type":"image","title":"CEO Alan Kent","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71869":{"id":"71869","type":"image","title":"Peggy Fountain","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71870":{"id":"71870","type":"image","title":"Flag system","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71868","71869","71870"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/innovate.gatech.edu\/","title":"Enterprise Innovation Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1362","name":"efficiency"},{"id":"1129","name":"healthcare"},{"id":"1675","name":"hospital"},{"id":"1676","name":"lean"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71853":{"#nid":"71853","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Solar Decathlon House Leaves for D.C.","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s Solar Decathlon Team is celebrating another milestone as their solar powered house heads to D.C.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"The Georgia Tech Solar Decathlon House is on its way to the Mall in D.C."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u0027s Solar Decathlon Team is celebrating another milestone as their solar powered house heads to D.C.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Tech\u0027s Solar Decathlon hopes ride the highway."}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-09-28 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:34","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"137","name":"Architecture"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"14891","name":"Georgia Tech\u0027s Solar Decathlon Team"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72008":{"#nid":"72008","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Research Boosts Wireless Data Transfer","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew research at the Georgia Institute of Technology could soon make that tangle of wires under desks and in data centers a thing of the past.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EScientists at the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) at Georgia Tech are investigating the use of extremely high radio frequencies (RF) to achieve broad bandwidth and high data transmission rates over short distances.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWithin three years, this \u0027multi-gigabit wireless\u0027 approach could result in a bevy of personal area network (PAN) applications, including next generation home multimedia and wireless data connections able to transfer an entire DVD in seconds. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research focuses on RF frequencies around 60 gigahertz (GHz), which are currently unlicensed -- free for anyone to use -- in the United States.  GEDC researchers have already achieved wireless data-transfer rates of 15 gigabits per second (Gbps) at a distance of 1 meter, 10 Gbps at 2 meters and 5 Gbps at 5 meters. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The goal here is to maximize data throughput to make possible a host of new wireless applications for home and office connectivity,\u0022 said Prof. Joy Laskar, GEDC director and lead researcher on the project along with Stephane Pinel.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGEDC\u0027s multi-gigabit wireless research is expected to lend itself to two major types of applications, data and video, said Pinel, a GEDC research scientist. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EVery high speed, peer-to-peer data connections could be just around the corner, he believes - available potentially in less than two years. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDevices such as external hard drives, laptop computers, MP-3 players, cell phones, commercial kiosks and others could transfer huge amounts of data in seconds. And data centers could install racks of servers without the customary jumble of wires.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our work represents a huge leap in available throughput,\u0022 Pinel said.  \u0022At 10 Gbps, you could download a DVD from a kiosk to your cell phone in five seconds, or you could quickly synchronize two laptops or two iPods.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe input-output (I\/O) system of current devices cannot approach such speeds.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMoreover, Pinel said, users of multi-gigabit technology could wirelessly connect to any device that currently uses Firewire or USB.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWireless high-definition video could also be a major application of this technology. Users could keep a DVD player by their side while transmitting wirelessly to a screen 5 or 10 meters away.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, Pinel said, the biggest challenge is to further increase data rates and decrease the already-low power consumption, with a goal to double current transmission rates by next year. The Georgia Tech team is seeking to preserve backward compatibility with the WiFi standard used in most wireless LANs today.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGEDC researchers are pursuing this goal by modifying the system architecture to increase intelligence and effectiveness in the CMOS RF integrated circuits that transmit the data. The researchers are using advanced computer-aided design tools and testbed equipment to recalibrate system models and achieve the desired improvements in speed and functionality.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EInvestigators are placing special emphasis on implementing an RF concept called single-input-single-output (SISO) \/ multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO), which enables ultra-high data throughput.  At the same time, they seek to preserve backward compatibility with WLAN 802.11, the WiFi standard used in most wireless LANs today.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are pursuing a combination of system design and circuit design, employing both analog and digital techniques,\u0022 Pinel said. \u0022It\u0027s definitely a very exciting mixed-signal problem that you have to solve.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEven when sitting on a user\u0027s desk, Pinel stresses, a multi-gigabit wireless system would present no health concerns.  For one thing, the transmitted power is extremely low, in the vicinity of 10 milliwatts or less.  For another, the 60 GHz frequency is stopped by human skin and cannot penetrate the body.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe fact that multi-gigabit transmission is easily stopped enhances its practicality in an office or apartment setting, he adds.  The signals will be blocked by any wall, preventing interference with neighbors\u0027 wireless networks. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrently there are no world standards in this bandwidth, explains GEDC Director Laskar. To address the situation, representatives of the ECMA International computer-standards organization met at GEDC in February to discuss a new international 60 GHz standard. The three-day gathering  included representatives from the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute of Korea, GEDC, Intel Corp., IBM Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Panasonic), Newlans, Philips Semiconductors, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd and Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. Ltd. The ECMA International organization will meet again at GEDC in October to finalize the technical decisions.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe IEEE, the top international association of electrical engineers, is also weighing a 60 GHz standard, to be called 802.15.3C.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELaskar believes that additional applications will emerge as multi-gigabit technology becomes standardized and gains maturity.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The promise of multi-gigabit wireless is tremendous,\u0022 he said. \u0022The combination of short-range functionality and enormous bandwidth makes possible a whole range of consumer and business applications that promise great utility.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson (404-694-2284); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:rick.robinson@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Erick.robinson@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Work could make wired computers and peripherals obsolete"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"New research at the Georgia Institute of Technology could soon make that tangle of wires under desks and in data centers a thing of the past.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Scientists replace tangle of wires for electronics"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-07-19 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:29","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-07-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-07-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72009":{"id":"72009","type":"image","title":"Research on high-speed wireless","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"},"72010":{"id":"72010","type":"image","title":"Research on high-speed wireless","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"}},"media_ids":["72009","72010"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gedcenter.org\/","title":"Georgia Electronic Design Center"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7556","name":"data-transfer"},{"id":"7557","name":"throughput"},{"id":"1146","name":"transmission"},{"id":"1526","name":"wireless"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72011":{"#nid":"72011","#data":{"type":"news","title":"High School Students Learn Workplace Safety","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs part of an effort to increase job-safety training and awareness among younger Americans, scientists from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have joined with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other groups to introduce health and safety training to Georgia high schools. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe aim: to try to ensure that young workers grasp job-safety basics before they ever reach the workplace.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI instructors and others have already taught OSHA job-safety classes to three Georgia high schools, and more schools are scheduled to receive instruction.  The effort stems from a 2006 agreement between OSHA, GTRI, Georgia schools and other groups to make safety and health training more available to the state\u0027s students.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Today, it\u0027s an effort for many people in the workforce to remember safety basics - for example, to put their safety glasses on when working with chemicals,\u0022 said Michelle L. Dunham, a research scientist in the Occupational Safety and Health Division of GTRI\u0027s Electronic Systems Laboratory (ELSYS). \u0022We want to make it automatic for kids joining the workforce to take those kinds of precautions - the same way they always put on a seatbelt in a car because that\u0027s what they\u0027ve grown up doing.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EStudents attend a10-hour course that\u0027s team-taught by OSHA and Georgia Tech instructors as well as industry representatives.  The modular course covers general safety and health information as well as instruction pertaining to students\u0027 areas of work specialization. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There are lots of different modules, and depending on the school, they\u0027ll vary,\u0022 Dunham said. \u0022We\u0027ve started out teaching students going into the construction trades, but the course could be helpful to students in other study areas such as automotive and medical services.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo date, GTRI instructors and others have taught the 10-hour course at three Atlanta area high schools - Maxwell High School of Technology in Lawrenceville, McEachern High School in Powder Springs and Dekalb High School of Technology-North in Dunwoody.  Well over 100 students have completed the classes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThose graduating receive the OSHA 10-hour card, which can give them an advantage with employers wanting to comply with OSHA regulations.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe course is rigorous, Dunham notes. Missing even a single class means a student does not receive a 10-hour card.   \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We decided that this was an adult learning process,\u0022 she said.  \u0022Students had to learn that this was like being on a job.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDunham, an industrial hygienist, explains that the Georgia Tech Safety and Health Program also works directly with industry.  Georgia Tech staff members perform on-campus training and consultation at the OSHA Training Institute Education Center, and also at job sites throughout Georgia and the Southeast.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDunham believes the high-school training effort is an important new direction.  It not only helps prepare students for the workplace, but it also can expand availability of the OSHA course by training high school faculty to teach it. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBringing the OSHA 10-hour course to high schools is one of the first results of the Georgia Youth Alliance, a 2006 outreach agreement between OSHA, GTRI, the Georgia Department of Education, the American Industrial Hygiene Association, the American Society of Safety Engineers and the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDunham -- a second-generation industrial hygienist (her father is also involved in the profession) -- was an initiator of the youth-outreach effort.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The push to involve youth in health-safety training is big nationally, and since we wanted to make it work locally, I suggested the idea of an alliance,\u0022 Dunham recalled. \u0022Though we\u0027ve started out small, there\u0027s opportunity for this to really grow through a variety of efforts. For example, we go to career fairs to get the message out, too.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe outreach effort is primarily funded by OSHA.  It\u0027s also enjoyed volunteer support from industry groups that have participated in the teaching effort.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAn additional benefit to youth outreach, she says, is that it informs students about the industrial-hygiene profession itself. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027re trying to show young people that this is a really interesting career,\u0022 said Dunham. \u0022It\u0027s kind of like [the television program] \u0022CSI,\u0022 but it\u0027s in the workplace.  You go in and you\u0027re the detective - somebody\u0027s complaining that they\u0027re having a hard time breathing, and you try to figure out what\u0027s causing that.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Michelle Dunham (404-407-8284); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:michelle.dunham@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emichelle.dunham@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"New initiative helps instill job-safety awareness early"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"To increase job-safety training and awareness among younger Americans, scientists from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have joined with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other groups to introduce health and safety training to Georgia high schools.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Program starts safety training and awareness early"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-07-19 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:29","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-07-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-07-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72012":{"id":"72012","type":"image","title":"Students learn ladder safety","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"},"72013":{"id":"72013","type":"image","title":"Students learn power saw safety","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"}},"media_ids":["72012","72013"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.oshainfo.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Occupational Safety \u0026 Health Program"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7554","name":"OSHA"},{"id":"167060","name":"safety"},{"id":"166847","name":"students"},{"id":"2661","name":"training"},{"id":"7555","name":"workers"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71930":{"#nid":"71930","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tiny Tropical Crab Invades Georgia Oyster Reefs","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA dime-sized tropical crab that has invaded coastal waters in the Southeast United States is having both positive and negative effects on oyster reefs, leaving researchers unable to predict what the creature\u0027s long-term impact will be.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUnlike native crabs that eat baby oysters, mussels and fish, the green porcelain crab \u003Cem\u003EPetrolisthes armatus \u003C\/em\u003Eis a filter feeder, extracting its food from the water much as oysters do.  The fast-reproducing invader therefore isn\u0027t directly attacking oyster populations, though it may be competing with them for food - and may impact the predators that normally attack the oysters.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have spent more than three years studying the effects of the crab, and are reporting their findings in the journal \u003Cem\u003EBiological Invasions\u003C\/em\u003E.  The research, believed to be the first to document effects of the crab on oyster and mussel populations off the Southeast coast, was supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Harry and Linda Teasley Endowment to Georgia Tech.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027re seeing opposing effects from these crabs,\u0022 said Mark Hay, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Biology.  \u0022They are probably having more impact on the ecosystem by being prey than by being predators.  Other members of the ecosystem are feeding on them, and that is changing the rate at which fish and other crabs are feeding on the native species.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe impact of the crabs is important because oysters are a \u0027foundation species\u0027 essential to the health of coastal ecosystems because their reefs provide homes to dozens of other creatures.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022These non-native crabs slow the rate of growth for organisms like oysters that they compete with, but they enhance the ability of those same organisms to survive when young,\u0022 Hay noted.  \u0022They are probably competing with the oysters for food, but the native crabs have switched to eating these green porcelain crabs rather than eating the baby oysters.  Even though their growth is suppressed, the baby oysters are not being attacked as much now by the native consumers.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThough the crabs aren\u0027t killing existing populations of oysters, their long-term impact could still be significant.  For instance, Hay noted, their availability as food could potentially increase the population of native crabs, disrupting the delicate balance between those predators and the oysters.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut assessing the long-term impact of the crabs has been difficult because the creatures reproduce and grow rapidly, flooding the shallow coastal waters with their young.  In research conducted off Skidaway Island and Sapelo Island on the Georgia coast, the researchers found \u0027extraordinarily high\u0027 populations of the crab - as many as 11,000 individuals per square meter.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo assess the impacts of the non-native crab population, graduate student Amanda Hollebone placed oysters and mussels into large baskets and located them on mud flats away from existing oyster reefs.  Some of the baskets contained only oysters and mussels and were intended to serve as controls, some had a community of oysters, mussels, oyster drills and native mud crabs, while others had the same community spiked with non-native crabs.  The distance from the existing oyster reefs was expected to prevent adult green porcelain crabs from reaching the baskets.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, the researchers found that within a month, the control baskets also had large populations of the green porcelain crabs that had reached the containers as juveniles settling from the water column.  Entry of the crabs to the control baskets interfered with the researchers\u0027 ability to compare the traits of communities with and without the non-native crabs.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022You get a true understanding of the sheer densities of these crabs only when you actually pick up or dig through clumps of oysters and oyster shell hash,\u0022 said Hollebone, who is now a temporary assistant professor at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro.  \u0022Particularly in the summer months, I was never able to find a patch of oysters in the Savannah area that did not have the green porcelain crab.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause the green porcelain crabs quickly took over the control baskets, the researchers only had valid comparison data for 4-6 weeks.  However, information from their baskets supported the observations made under more controlled - but less natural - conditions at Georgia Tech\u0027s laboratory at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography near Savannah.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs in the lab experiments, the researchers found that the crabs slowed the growth of small oysters, but not small mussels -- another common filter-feeder.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe long-term effects of the massive crab population are difficult to predict.  Their large numbers could lead to population growth among the native crabs and fish that now prefer eating them instead of their normal diet.  But if the predator population should grow large enough to control the non-native crabs, that could lead to a decline in their numbers - and force the predators back to their traditional prey of oysters and mussels.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027re not sure what\u0027s going to happen,\u0022 Hay said.  \u0022We can\u0027t really raise the alarm because we don\u0027t have the data to say these crabs are doing something bad.  It\u0027s possible that they will not have a huge effect at all.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELong-term observation of the oyster reefs may ultimately provide answers.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We have observed both positive and negative impacts on oysters and oyster-related biota at small scales, but we cannot definitively answer our concerns about oyster reefs at larger scales,\u0022 Hollebone added.  \u0022With continued monitoring of large expanses of reefs, we may begin to understand the long-term, large-scale effects.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe green porcelain crabs were observed in Florida during 1990s, but have since appeared in large numbers in coastal waters of Georgia and South Carolina.  Researchers don\u0027t know if they hitched a ride northward in the ballast of ships, whether warming water temperatures encouraged a northerly migration - or both.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThough not much is known about them in their native habitat, Hay said the crabs appear to be thriving in their new home.  Population densities observed in the South Atlantic Bight are as much as 37 times higher than the greatest densities reported in their native habitat.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Mark Hay (404-894-8429); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:mark.hay@biology.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emark.hay@biology.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Long-term impact of non-native species can\u0027t be predicted"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A dime-sized tropical crab that has invaded coastal waters in the Southeast United States is having both positive and negative effects on oyster reefs, leaving researchers unable to predict what the creature\u0027s long-term impact will be.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia oyster reefs threatened by tropical crab"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-09-05 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71931":{"id":"71931","type":"image","title":"Green porcelain crab","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71932":{"id":"71932","type":"image","title":"Gathering non-native crabs","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71931","71932"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.biology.gatech.edu\/faculty\/mark-hay\/","title":"Mark Hay"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.biology.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Biology"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7549","name":"crab"},{"id":"2987","name":"invasive"},{"id":"6758","name":"marine"},{"id":"6366","name":"oyster"},{"id":"7167","name":"reef"},{"id":"170856","name":"species"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71908":{"#nid":"71908","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Simulation-based Training\/Education Center Opens","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWho\u0027ll keep the lights on?  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs utility company executives make plans to meet the growing electricity needs of the Southeast, they\u0027re also watching their most experienced personnel approach retirement age.  Finding enough skilled personnel to operate complex power-generation facilities poses one of the most critical challenges facing the industry today.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECollaboration between Baltimore-based GSE Systems and the Georgia Institute of Technology offers one solution: a new way of learning that combines traditional classroom training with hands-on experience using advanced computer simulations of complex industrial facilities.  Simulations have long been used to train pilots, but are relatively new to other types of industrial training.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis \u0027learning by seeing and doing\u0027 offers utility companies a way to more rapidly meet their most critical human resources needs.   \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022People learn by seeing, experiencing and actually doing something,\u0022 explained Eric Johnson, senior operations training specialist for GSE Systems.  \u0022We can reinforce what students have learned in class by allowing them to interact with a simulation of a facility.  The simulation allows them to gain experience without actually having to be in a real plant, and that helps new employees become productive faster.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo provide that innovative learning environment, GSE has built a multi-million-dollar simulation and education center at Georgia Tech\u0027s Global Learning Center in Technology Square.  The company officially opened the facility - the first of its kind in the United States - with a ceremony September 13.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe center includes more than a dozen LCD panels driven by a powerful computer to simulate the many key systems operated from the control room of an electric generating plant.  Student operators can adjust controls and immediately see the effects of their actions not only on the system they are controlling, but also on the rest of the plant.  Realistic warnings indicate potentially dangerous conditions to which the students must respond.  Three-dimensional models show the systems and exact components being controlled.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The simulation allows plant systems to be integrated so the student operators really see the issue and understand the problems,\u0022 added Johnson.  \u0022We can show them how to operate everything from the simplest system to the whole interrelationship of the systems.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new facility currently offers simulations for gas turbine and combined-cycle gas turbine generating plants.  GSE sees a major market for its \u0027education through simulation\u0027 training, and plans to add simulations for nuclear power generating stations, petroleum refineries, desalinization plants, oil and gas platforms, distribution facilities - and perhaps more.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0027Every complex entity - airports, seaports, and large production facilities - is going need simulation training to improve the work force,\u0022 said Michal Krause, director of university programs for GSE.  \u0022I believe that with this collaboration, we are headed toward a new dimension in training and education.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nTo keep its facilities running - and to staff the new ones required by growing demand for power - utility companies will have to heavily recruit and train new staff.  An estimated 40 percent of the industry\u0027s current work force will retire in the next five years, while as many as 1,200 employees will be needed for each new nuclear power plant built.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThose employees will range from recent high school graduates who need basic industrial instruction to skilled engineers who need to learn more about the power-generation environment.  The industry also wants to diversity its work force, bringing in more women and under-represented minorities.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Nothing in this economy runs without power, so if we are looking for continued economic growth, we\u0027ll have to include growth in electric power generation,\u0022 Krause added. \u0022In the Southeast alone, the electric power industry will have a work force of 100,000 over the next decade.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is contributing expertise in complex simulations as well as systems designed for augmented reality - and for wireless networking that will allow close monitoring of student operators in the facility.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Georgia Tech is pleased to be involved with GSE Systems in the opening of the new simulation training center,\u0022 said Roger Webb, interim director of Georgia Tech\u0027s Strategic Energy Institute.  \u0022We view this state-of-the-art facility as potentially a great tool for teaching our Georgia Tech students about the \u0027real-world\u0027 issues involved with the generation of electricity.  In addition, we see the center as a means of increasing Georgia Tech\u0027s involvement with the many electrical utilities that are expanding and developing in the Southeast.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond improvements for the power generation industry, the collaboration is also providing long-term economic development benefits to the state.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Georgia Tech is helping GSE Systems improve the technological knowledge base and the quality of the power generation work force - an area of critical importance to the state, nation and world,\u0022 said Wayne Hodges, vice provost in Georgia Tech\u0027s Enterprise Innovation Institute.  \u0022As a result, GSE established a research and development operation in Technology Square, brought new high-technology jobs to the state, and will offer co-op, intern and full-time employment opportunities to our students.\u0022  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGSE operates a similar simulation training facility at Strathclyde University in Scotland.  It serves companies all around the world, including the Middle East, where it is building another center in the United Arab Emirates.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Lisa Grovenstein (404-894-8835); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lisa.grovenstein@icpa.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elisa.grovenstein@icpa.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Facility focuses on human resource needs of power generation industry"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Collaboration between Baltimore-based GSE Systems and the Georgia Institute of Technology offers a new tool for industrial training that combines traditional classroom teaching with hands-on experience using advanced computer simulations of complex industrial facilities.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New education facility focuses on power industry"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-09-13 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71909":{"id":"71909","type":"image","title":"Simulation and education center","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71910":{"id":"71910","type":"image","title":"Teaching with simulation","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71911":{"id":"71911","type":"image","title":"3-D Simulation","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71909","71910","71911"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.innovate.gatech.edu\/","title":"Enterprise Innovation Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.energy.gatech.edu\/","title":"Strategic Energy Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7548","name":"generation"},{"id":"1670","name":"personnel"},{"id":"167045","name":"simulation"},{"id":"2661","name":"training"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71894":{"#nid":"71894","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Takes Comprehensive Biofuels Approach","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWe feel it at the pump.  Fuel prices are at record highs and so is the demand for alternative fuels. But major scientific and technological advances are still required before economically viable alternative fuels become a significant part of the U.S. energy supply.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers across the Georgia Institute of Technology campus are focusing their attention on biofuels. And while most experts agree that biofuels are not the silver bullet to solve the world\u0027s long-term fuel needs, they see biofuels as a necessary complement to conventional oil and gas.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBiofuel research at Georgia Tech intensified in 2004 with the launch of the Strategic Energy Institute (SEI), created to enable, facilitate and coordinate programs related to energy research and education.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Many energy issues are truly multi-disciplinary and can\u0027t be addressed by one faculty member,\u0022 says Roger Webb, interim director of the SEI. \u0022The Strategic Energy Institute has been broadly engaging companies to define projects that many faculty members at Georgia Tech can pursue in a collaborative effort.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis interdisciplinary approach was a major reason why Chevron Corporation chose Georgia Tech as its first strategic research alliance partner, according to Rick Zalesky, vice president of the biofuels and hydrogen unit of Chevron Technology Ventures.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Georgia Tech has the infrastructure so that researchers from various departments work together in the same building to solve complex problems, and we think that\u0027s terrific,\u0022 says Zalesky.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith funding from Chevron, Atlanta startup C2 Biofuels, the Georgia Research Alliance and one of the U.S. Department of Energy\u0027s new BioEnergy Research Centers, Georgia Tech researchers are exploring advanced technologies aimed at making transportation fuels from forestry products.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers are examining and optimizing the five major steps required to produce bioethanol, or ethanol obtained from the carbohydrates in many agricultural crops. These steps include selecting the best plant material, preparing the plants for conversion, breaking down the carbohydrates into simple sugars, fermenting the sugars into alcohol and separating the ethanol from water.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EChoosing a Plant Source and Preparing It for Conversion\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBioethanol produced from corn is being manufactured at a rate of more than five billion gallons per year in the United States, but concerns exist about the future price and availability of corn as a food crop if it\u0027s being used to help meet energy needs.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause forest products are a more efficient source of ethanol and more than five million tons of trees are available for harvest each year in Georgia beyond what is needed for pulp mill and sawmill production, Georgia Tech researchers are turning to Southern pine trees.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESwitchgrass, a fast-growing tallgrass, is another attractive source of plant material because of its ability to grow in poor soil and adverse climate conditions, its rapid growth and its low fertilization and herbicide requirements.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EArt Ragauskas, a professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, studies the chemistry and structure of the starting plant material, known as biomass, to determine which varieties and characteristics of switchgrass and pine trees improve conversion to ethanol.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHe also examines how different acids react with the wood chips to make accessible the complex interior mixture of carbohydrate polymers, including cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Pre-treatment is performed under severe chemical conditions and very high temperatures. Understanding the chemistry should allow us to make pre-treatments more efficient, less costly and more effective,\u0022 says Ragauskas.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter the acid pre-treatment, the wood is placed in a reactor and exposed to high-pressure steam.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJohn Muzzy, a professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Kristina Knutson, a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, are working with Ragauskas to develop a continuous reactor that will employ mechanical energy and\/or boiling water instead of acid and high temperatures to break up the wood. That would greatly reduce processing and chemical costs while increasing the life expectancy of the reactors, Ragauskas notes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBreaking Down the Sugars and Converting Them to Ethanol\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter the pre-treatment, the cellulose and hemicellulose are further broken down to free the sugar for fermentation to alcohol. Commercially available enzymes can do this, but they are too expensive to use in biofuel production, according to Andreas (Andy) Bommarius, a professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. As an alternative, he is identifying novel enzymes and engineering them to be longer-lasting and more effective at breaking down cellulose polymers to sugars than those commercially available.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We want to produce enzymes more efficiently and make them more active and stable, at the same time improving bioethanol production at a lower cost,\u0022 explains Bommarius.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn conventional ethanol production, the sugars obtained are then fermented with yeast to produce alcohol. Rachel Ruizhen Chen, an associate professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is working to increase the ethanol production rate by using the bacteria \u003Cem\u003EZymomonas mobilis \u003C\/em\u003Einstead of yeast in the fermentation process because it has a three- to five-fold higher productivity than yeast when making bioethanol. Chen plans to manipulate the enzymatic, transport and regulatory functions of the bacterial cell to improve the bioethanol fermentation process.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe lignin portion of the biomass must be extracted from the mixture prior to fermentation. Unfortunately, current pre-treatments break down some of the lignin, which enables it to be carried over to the fermentation process where it acts as a fermentation inhibitor.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWilliam Koros, the Roberto C. Goizueta Chair in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is investigating efficient ways to separate the lignin from the cellulose and hemicellulose portions of the biomass. Koros, a Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) eminent scholar in membranes, plans to extract the lignin byproducts by pulling the hydrolyzed biomass mixture through a selective membrane with a vacuum using a process called pervaporation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELignin is an important by-product of the enzymatic process and has many potential uses.  Ragauskas is examining the possibility of converting lignin to a biofuel precursor or using lignin as a building block chemical to make new polymers or chemicals. Professors Christopher Jones and Pradeep Agrawal, both of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, are exploring ways to chemically fractionate pine and convert suitable portions to true gasoline fuels.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo produce a biofuel with a similar energy density to gasoline from renewable feedstocks, they plan to convert pre-treated pine to fuel using chemical catalysts traditionally used by the petroleum industry, rather than enzymes. These biofuels could yield higher miles-per-gallon than traditional ethanol-rich fuels such as E-85, according to Jones.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESeparating Ethanol from Water\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor bioethanol, once the sugars are fermented into alcohol, a significant amount of water must be separated out. This separation primarily occurs in a distillation column, which involves heating the mixture and separating the components by the differences in their boiling points.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Distillation is very energy intensive and expensive, and it might defeat the purpose when you\u0027re trying to produce biofuel economically,\u0022 says Sankar Nair, an assistant professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, who is collaborating with Koros on two separation projects aimed at improving the energy efficiency of the biofuel process.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA membrane-based approach would avoid the need to supply heat energy, and instead rely on differences in the transport rates of the components through a membrane to achieve separation. The challenge is in producing selective membrane systems that can produce pure ethanol. Polymer materials have been widely investigated and have the advantage of high throughput, but such membranes can\u0027t yet produce pure ethanol from a dilute ethanol-water mixture, notes Nair.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EInstead, Koros and Nair are exploring membranes that contain nanoparticles of porous inorganic materials called zeolites that are so small they can be dispersed efficiently into a polymer matrix. The very specific porosity of the zeolite should allow separation of ethanol from water. By using two membranes in series - the first hydrophobic to remove ethanol from a large mass of water and the second hydrophilic to remove any trace water in the ethanol product from the first membrane - it may be possible to design an economical membrane process for biofuel separation from water.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETaking a Systems Approach\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EProducing ethanol from biomass involves more than these process steps. Researchers must also decide how to ship the biomass to the processing plant, how large the processing plant should be, where it should be located, and how to ship the ethanol to fueling stations.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBill Bulpitt, an SEI senior research engineer who returned to Georgia Tech in 2004 after working 17 years for Southern Company, is working with students who are running computer simulation models that represent what a full-scale production plant might look like. The models analyze the costs for the various components of the system, which helps to determine the optimal biorefinery size.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When building a biorefinery, there is a certain size that\u0027s economically viable. That\u0027s what we are trying to determine,\u0022 Bulpitt explains.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo evaluate a biofuel system, the project team must consider the energy balance - that is, how much energy goes in versus how much comes out. A biofuel system must take into account positive or negative energy balances, positive or negative net greenhouse gas emissions, and positive or negative environmental and ecosystem impacts.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEthanol biorefineries could get a significant economic boost from the sale of high-value chemicals that could be generated from the same feedstock. Charles Eckert, a professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and collaborators Charles Liotta and Art Ragauskas are exploring the use of environmentally friendly solvent and separation systems to produce specialty chemicals, pharmaceutical precursors and flavorings from a small portion of the ethanol feedstock.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMatthew Realff, an associate professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is developing optimization models to determine the best structure for a biofuel processing system. Realff\u0027s model integrates information from crop production through processing to fuel distribution. It includes information on the location and number of crop acres available, the current economic value of the crop, distances and ability to ship the crop, the economic scaling of the cost of the processing equipment with size and the location of the distribution terminals.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThese optimization models are valuable to companies like C2 Biofuels that plan to build biorefineries. And they complete the comprehensive research approach Georgia Tech has taken toward optimizing bioethanol production process.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Researchers at Georgia Tech have different strengths and take different approaches toward solving the problem of developing biofuels,\u0022 says Christopher Jones. \u0022If you assemble all of the pieces together, you will come up with the best solution.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis article originally appeared in the Summer 2007 issue of Research Horizons, Georgia Tech\u0027s research magazine.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Interdisciplinary research initiative focuses on converting forest products"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers are taking a comprehensive approach to producing bioethanol: selecting the best plant material, preparing the plants for conversion, breaking down the carbohydrates into simple sugars, fermenting the sugars into alcohol and separating the ethanol from water.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers focus on forest products for fuel"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-09-15 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71895":{"id":"71895","type":"image","title":"Separation membranes","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71896":{"id":"71896","type":"image","title":"Studying biomass samples","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71897":{"id":"71897","type":"image","title":"Preparing ethanol samples","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71895","71896","71897"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemical \u0026 Biomolecular Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.energy.gatech.edu\/","title":"Strategic Energy Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7545","name":"bioethanol"},{"id":"7547","name":"cellulose"},{"id":"213","name":"energy"},{"id":"7546","name":"forest"},{"id":"1521","name":"fuel"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71901":{"#nid":"71901","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Research Complex Encourages Collaboration","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen materials scientist Ken Sandhage needs to consult with a chemist, biologist or even an electrical engineer, he need only step up or down a few flights of stairs in Georgia Tech\u0027s new Molecular Science \u0026amp; Engineering Building (MS\u0026amp;E).  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s much easier to have productive conversations in the hallways if you are clustered in a building with people who have similar research interests, even if they aren\u0027t in the same department,\u0022 he says.  \u0022I don\u0027t have to walk across campus to find someone to talk with about an issue outside of my own discipline.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEasy collaboration across disciplines and departments provided the design goal for the five-story, 275,000-square-foot structure that opened in August 2006.  Everything about it - including the location of faculty offices, design of interior open spaces and orientation to other buildings in the complex - encourages faculty from a broad cross-section of Georgia Tech to work together.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEven Sandhage\u0027s lab is interdisciplinary, a necessity to support his interest: creating tiny electronic devices from the unique 3-D micro-shells of diatoms.  His lab includes a cell culture room for growing the brownish-red phytoplankton, traditional ceramic engineering furnaces, an electronic test station - and a biochemistry lab for studying peptides that induce the formation of functional inorganic materials.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMS\u0026amp;E can house 41 principal investigators, 50 support staff and more than 400 research staff and graduate students.  Research done in the building includes materials and polymer characterization, bio-nanotechnology, chemistry and biomolecular engineering, bio-manufacturing, membrane fabrication, nanochemistry, molecular biophysics and computational chemistry.  Five schools from Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Sciences and College of Engineering are represented.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThat suits Joe Perry\u0027s work well.  A faculty member in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, he\u0027s part of the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics - which already includes researchers from different schools.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Just the fact that we run into one another in hallways creates exchanges that can lead to great new ideas,\u0022 he says.  \u0022If these collaborators weren\u0027t in the building, I\u0027d have to pick up the phone and potentially interrupt somebody\u0027s work.  It\u0027s a different dynamic when you can talk with somebody face-to-face.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGary Schuster likes to hear words like those.  As dean of Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Sciences, he was heavily involved in the design of the building.  Now, as Georgia Tech\u0027s provost, he\u0027s seeing the rewards of that strategy.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We have built our new buildings so they are interactive and flexible, with a lot of open meeting space,\u0022 he says.  \u0022We have tried to provide a social, interactive environment that allows easy collaboration and cooperation.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut there\u0027s much more to it than that.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBuilding \u0027Research Neighborhoods\u0027\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUniversities traditionally organize themselves around disciplines, part of a \u0027reductionist\u0027 approach that solves difficult problems by breaking them down into pieces small enough to understand.  That approach has worked well, and is necessary to gain the depth needed to make progress within disciplines, Schuster says.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut that approach won\u0027t work against complex and interrelated problems, such as understanding the social aspects of biological systems.  Take ant colonies, for example.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If your objective is to understand ant colonies, you can\u0027t study just one ant,\u0022 Schuster explains.  \u0022All of the interactions of ant colonies, which are very complex structures, emerge from interactions among ants.  A lot of the problems that the world now faces are of the character of ant colonies.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor instance, he notes, solutions to the world\u0027s energy problems must consider not only such issues as British thermal units (Btu) and electrical efficiency, but also environmental impact and sustainability.  Those are \u0027emergent\u0027 problems, and they must be solved holistically - and at the intersection of different disciplines.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHence the organization of the Molecular Science \u0026amp; Engineering building into \u0027research neighborhoods\u0027 housing faculty members from different disciplines who are working on similar issues - but from different perspectives.  The concept was also applied in the Ford Environmental Science \u0026amp; Technology Building (ES\u0026amp;T), which is also part of Georgia Tech\u0027s four-building Biotechnology Complex.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022What we have done is try to build a physical infrastructure that supports the reductionist approach, but has an emergent overarching view,\u0022 Schuster explains.  \u0022We didn\u0027t build a chemistry building or chemical engineering building.  We built the Environmental Science \u0026amp; Technology Building, and we built the Molecular Science \u0026amp; Engineering Building.  We still have departments that have the disciplinary expertise, but we\u0027ve put people together to solve the emergent problems.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWithin the new building, which completes the four-building complex, faculty offices are clustered in a \u0027wedge\u0027 to encourage casual conversations.  The traditional approach would have put faculty together with their laboratories and space for graduate students.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022That puts the faculty into interaction with people, regardless of what their degrees happen to be, who are thinking about similar things, but from different perspectives,\u0022 Schuster explains.  \u0022An electrical engineering faculty member is likely to have his or her office next to a chemistry faculty member.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe faculty members still interact with their graduate students, of course, and the students also benefit from neighbors who may approach issues from a different perspective. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Impact of Life Sciences\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Environmental Science \u0026amp; Technology Building is the largest research facility on the Georgia Tech campus.  The new Molecular Science \u0026amp; Engineering Building is the second-largest.  That both are part of the new Biotechnology Complex demonstrates the importance of the life sciences to Georgia Tech, which emerged on the national scene through its strengths in industrial, mechanical, civil, aerospace and other traditional engineering areas.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut that traditional focus is changing rapidly.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Georgia Tech is defining its own path through the biosciences,\u0022 Schuster continues.  \u0022The path we are defining comes from our tradition of being quantitative and analytical, and this results in a style of approaching life sciences that allows us to step back and apply our strengths.  We are able to combine the quantitative engineering and scientific challenges of Georgia Tech with a strong medical school in Emory University.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThat collaboration, for example, led to formation of a jointly operated department of biomedical engineering, the first of its kind in the country involving a public and a private university.  The Wallace Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering now grants both undergraduate and graduate degrees and is housed in the third building of the Biotechnology Complex, the U.A. Whitaker Biomedical Engineering Building.  The fourth building is the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EReconsidering the Physical Environment\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s growth created an opportunity to reconsider how the physical environment affects research, teaching and service.  Over the past decade, it has invested nearly $1 billion in new and remodeled facilities, including the Biotechnology Complex.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This allowed us to think about what a major research university of the 21st century should look like, and it gave us enough flexibility in the construction projects to think seriously about what we wanted to be,\u0022 Schuster explains.  \u0022We were able to think strategically.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut in encouraging collaboration, administrators can do only so much.  They can create a supportive environment, but the organization of projects will be done by faculty members who form natural alliances based on mutual benefit.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I\u0027m a big fan of self-organizing systems,\u0022 Schuster adds.  \u0022It\u0027s the responsibility of the administration to be strategic in its thinking and to set the boundary conditions and goals.  We have to provide the facilities to allow the faculty members and students to operate.  That encourages a spirit of entrepreneurship among our faculty, and leads to collaborations not only within Georgia Tech, but also with government and industry.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Biotechnology Complex carries entrepreneurship to an unusual level with the ATDC Biosciences Center.  Located in the ES\u0026amp;T Building, the Center is a satellite facility of Georgia Tech\u0027s science and technology incubator, the Advanced Technology Development Center.  The ATDC facility allows researchers with offices and labs in the Complex to tend their companies while maintaining their regular Georgia Tech duties.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA recent graduate of the facility is CardioMEMS, a maker of implantable medical sensing devices that has raised more than $50 million in venture funding since 2001.  The incubator currently houses three companies focused on life-science markets.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond entrepreneurship, the self-assembly of chemists, biochemists, materials engineers, biomedical engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers and other specialists has already begun to pay off, says Thomas Orlando, chair of Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry - Joe Perry\u0027s home department.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We have had new faculty join us due to our ability to work together, and this has helped in recruiting some of the best talent in the world,\u0022 he reports.  \u0022We have also noticed that the interdisciplinary nature of our school has been attractive to graduate students and has helped increase the number and quality of students.\u0022\t\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EConnecting to Green Space\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELocated in booming midtown Atlanta, Georgia Tech could easily become a concrete wasteland. But creating an attractive environment was important to the school\u0027s administration.  So the new MS\u0026amp;E Building connects the Biotechnology Complex to an attractive bit of forest in the city - the President\u0027s Glade, located behind the campus home of President Wayne Clough.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe facility will also be part of the planned Eco-Commons, which will restore creeks and green space destroyed by development during the last century.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIssues of sustainability also drove the building\u0027s design, which was done by the architectural firm CUH2A, Inc.  To reduce storm water runoff from the building, for instance, the architects incorporated cisterns that store rainwater and use it for landscape irrigation.  Condensation from the building\u0027s HVAC system is also used for irrigation - instead of being dumped into the city\u0027s sewerage system.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We also got rid of a lot of concrete that had been in the area and restored permeable soil that allows water to percolate into the ground,\u0022 notes Fred Dolder, senior capital projects manager in the Georgia Tech Facilities Department.  \u0022Terracing of a new quad within the four-building complex provides a great space for the community to sit and enjoy the sun.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe $77 million facility also features an energy recovery system designed to reduce utility costs and cut the building\u0027s impact on the environment.  A dramatic glass wall faces north - away from the sun - while south-facing windows were designed to admit light while keeping out direct sunlight during the hot Georgia summers.  More than three-quarters of the building\u0027s space has access to natural light.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELaboratory spaces were designed to be modular, easily reconfigurable to meet changing needs - and hold down construction and renovation costs.  Service hallways ensure that supply deliveries are kept separate from pedestrian traffic.  Beyond the research laboratories, the MS\u0026amp;E building provides four 40-seat classrooms and a 150-seat lecture hall.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe building replaced facilities that had been the headquarters for Georgia Tech\u0027s Facilities Department.  Many of the maintenance activities associated with that unit were integrated into the MS\u0026amp;E Building - but few students and faculty will ever seen them because they were separated from public spaces by an access tunnel.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to classroom, office and laboratory spaces, the building also features a two-level 8,000 square-foot \u0027Quad Cafe\u0027 - a restaurant and coffee shop that Dolder describes as the \u0027little jewel\u0027 of the project.  To be operated by Georgia Tech\u0027s Auxiliary Services, the cafe will also support the goals of interdisciplinary collaboration.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project\u0027s construction manager was Turner Construction Company, and project management was handled by the Staubach Company.  Though portions of the building remain to be built out, Dolder considers the project an overwhelming success.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It was an excellent project not only from the design perspective, but also for the quality of the construction and the teamwork in pulling it off,\u0022 he adds.  \u0022We wanted to create a pleasant environment that would encourage collaboration and interdisciplinary research.  When you take these four buildings together with the type of work that is done here, it\u0027s a very powerful site by any measure.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERobert Snyder, chair of Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Materials Science and Engineering - Ken Sandhage\u0027s home department - has his own measure for judging the project a success.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The Molecular Science \u0026amp; Engineering Building has many of our bio- and bio-enabled faculty working next to nanomaterials faculty who have an interest in cancer, who are next to biomedical engineering faculty and students,\u0022 he points out.  \u0022We have succeeded in knocking down the old traditional walls between engineering and science disciplines.  The synergy can be felt in the air.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis article originally appeared in the Summer 2007 issue of Research Horizons, Georgia Tech\u0027s research magazine.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u0027s Biotechnology Complex was designed to facilitate interdisciplinary work"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Buildings in Georgia Tech\u0027s new Biotechnology Complex were designed to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration by bringing together faculty members from different departments into \u0022research neighborhoods\u0022 that focus research strengths on specific areas.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Biotechnology Complex brings researchers together"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-09-15 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71902":{"id":"71902","type":"image","title":"Biotechnology complex","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71903":{"id":"71903","type":"image","title":"Molecular Science \u0026 Engineering Building","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71904":{"id":"71904","type":"image","title":"Interior of MS\u0026E Building","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71902","71903","71904"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.provost.gatech.edu\/","title":"Office of the Provost"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Sciences"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"340","name":"collaboration"},{"id":"3157","name":"Facilities"},{"id":"1098","name":"interdisciplinary"},{"id":"7544","name":"neighborhood"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71815":{"#nid":"71815","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Evidence of \u0027Memory\u0027 Seen in Cells \u0026 Molecules","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearch reported October 29 in the online version of the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences \u003C\/em\u003E(PNAS) provides evidence that some molecular interactions on cell surfaces may have a \u0027memory\u0027 that affects their future interactions.  The report could lead to a re-examination of results from certain single-molecule research.  \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers who use sequentially repeated tests to obtain statistical samples of molecular properties usually assume that each test is identical to - and independent of - any other tests in the sequence.  In their article, however, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology provide examples of test sequences that may not be composed of independent and identically-distributed (i.i.d.) random variables.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If you are probing a cell to get a bit of information, how do you know that the cell is not going to respond by changing the information it reveals the next time you probe it?\u0022 asked Cheng Zhu, a Regents\u0027 Professor in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.  \u0022If you are probing a molecule, can you assume that the molecule will return to its original configuration before you test it the next time?  We didn\u0027t think about this until we had been doing these kinds of experiments for more than ten years.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESupported by the National Institutes of Health, the research demonstrates that certain cells can \u0027remember\u0027 their earlier encounters through specific receptor-ligand interactions. That would mean that some sequential measurements may not have been truly independent, and could therefore prompt re-examination of some research that obtained data under the i.i.d. assumption.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022People doing research in this area ought to look at what we have found to see if their systems also have memories that may have affected their conclusions,\u0022 Zhu said.  \u0022They may discover new aspects that may have been overlooked.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing a micropipette adhesion frequency assay, Zhu\u0027s research team studied a number of receptor-ligand interactions.  The sequence data analysis conducted by Veronika Zarnitsyna, a research scientist in the Coulter Department, revealed examples in which an interaction observed in one test affected the outcome of a future test.  Depending on the biological system, the effect could either increase or decrease the likelihood of a future interaction.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor instance, interaction between T cell receptors and an antigen bound to major histocompatibility molecules showed positive correlation, with one interaction increasing the likelihood of a future interaction.  Interaction between C-adherins exhibited the opposite behavior, with one interaction reducing the likelihood of a future interaction.  In a third system the researchers studied, the events appeared to be truly independent, with one interaction not affecting a future one.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The i.i.d. assumption in single-molecule experiments was something that people usually took for granted,\u0022 Zarnitsyna said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research reported in PNAS began when Jun Huang, a graduate student in the Zhu lab, examined T cell test data and noted a distinct difference: interactions appeared consecutively in long strings and then disappeared for a long while.  Huang asked Zhu about the pattern.  Zhu then shared his concerns about the independence of the tests with Zarnitsyna, a biophysicist.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EZarnitsyna analyzed data generated by Huang and Fang Zhang - another graduate student in the Zhu lab - and additional data obtained in the lab by Yuan-Hung Chien, a student from the laboratory of Deborah Leckband at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Positive memory increases the likelihood of having two interactions in a row, which generates long strings of interactions,\u0022 said Zarnitsyna.  \u0022The negative memory, conversely, decreases the likelihood of having consecutive interactions, which results in more solitary interactions in the sequence.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EZhu compares the negative correlation to the effects of strong light on the eyes.  \u0022If you go from the dark to the bright, time is required before you can see well again,\u0022 he noted.  \u0022Exposure to strong light temporarily inhibits the eyes\u0027 response to the next input.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EZhu\u0027s research team studies single-molecule mechanics using sensitive force techniques, such as atomic force microscopes and biomembrane force probes, to put cells and molecules together and then measure the forces or times required to pull them apart.  Ideas developed for the adhesion frequency assay may also be applicable to this research because the i.i.d. assumption is violated if the force or time depends on where in a test sequence it was measured.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a next step, Zhu would like to further characterize the memory effect to determine how long it lasts.  \u0022It seems reasonable that if you prolong the cycle time - the period between trials - the cell or molecule would gradually forget\u0022 said.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHe would also like to study the biological mechanisms of the memory effects. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We believe this phenomenon may be biologically important, though we don\u0027t yet know the implications for it,\u0022 Zhu said.  \u0022This may represent a way for cells to regulate their adhesion and signaling.  For T cells, the ability to \u0027remember\u0027 even a brief interaction with a pathogen may be related to their ability to tell an intruder from \u0027self\u0027 molecules, which is crucial to the body\u0027s defense in the immune system.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Researchers study assumption of independence in test sequences"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Research reported October 29 in the online version of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) provides evidence that some molecular interactions on cell surfaces may have a \u0027memory\u0027 that affects their future interactions.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers examine single-molecule tests"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-10-29 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71816":{"id":"71816","type":"image","title":"biomembrane force probe","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71817":{"id":"71817","type":"image","title":"Cheng Zhu","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71816","71817"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/","title":"Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/facultystaff\/faculty_record.php?id=4","title":"Cheng Zhu"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7437","name":"adhesion"},{"id":"532","name":"cell"},{"id":"7536","name":"independence"},{"id":"2071","name":"molecule"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71883":{"#nid":"71883","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Microsensor Measures Water and Air Pollutants","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a miniature sensor that uses polymer membranes deposited on a tiny silicon disk to measure pollutants present in aqueous or gaseous environments. An array of these sensors with different surface coatings could be used during field-testing to rapidly detect many different chemicals.   \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince this new sensor allows water and air samples to be analyzed in the field, it is an improvement over classical techniques that require samples be carried back to the laboratory for analysis. This research, funded by the National Science Foundation, was presented on August 20 at the American Chemical Society\u0027s 234th National Meeting.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe heart of the disk-shaped sensor is a microbalance that measures the mass of pollutant molecules. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When pollutant chemicals get adsorbed to the surface of the sensor, a frequency change of the vibrating microbalance provides a measure of the associated mass change,\u0022 said Oliver Brand, associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECantilever-type balances, which move up and down like a diving board, are common when measuring the amount of a chemical in the gas phase. However, the mechanical vibrations of the balance used to detect the mass changes are damped in liquids, causing the sensitivity of the balance to decrease. Thus, Brand and graduate students Jae Hyeong Seo, Stuart Truax and Kemal Safak Demirci searched for structures whose vibrations were less affected by the surrounding medium.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers chose a silicon disk platform for the sensor. The disk shears back and forth around its center with a characteristic resonance frequency between 300 and 1,000 kHz, depending on its geometry. With proper actuation and sensing elements integrated onto the microstructures, Brand can electrically excite the resonator and sense these rotational oscillations.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince each sensor has a diameter of approximately 200-300 microns, or the average diameter of a human hair, an array of a dozen sensors is only a few millimeters in size. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo determine how to selectively detect multiple pollutants in the same sample, Brand began collaborating with Boris Mizaikoff, an associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and director of its Applied Sensors Laboratory. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMizaikoff and graduate students Gary Dobbs and Yuliya Luzinova selected commercially available hydrophobic polymers and deposited them as thin film membranes on the sensor surface. They continue to investigate innovative ways to consistently deposit the polymers at the disk surface, while ensuring sufficient adhesion for long-term field applications. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022By modifying the silicon transducer surface with different polymer membranes, each sensor becomes selective for groups of chemicals,\u0022 explained Mizaikoff. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAn array of these sensors, each sensor with a different chemically modified transducer surface, can sense different pollutants in a variety of environments ranging from industrial to environmental and biomedical monitoring applications. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBrand and Mizaikoff aim to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in aqueous and gaseous environments. VOCs are pollutants of high prevalence in the air and surface and ground waters. They are emitted from products such as paints, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment and craft materials. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA common VOC is benzene, with a maximum contaminant level set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at five micrograms per liter in drinking water. Many VOCs are present at similar very low concentrations, so effective sensors must accurately measure and discriminate very small mass changes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027ve been able to measure concentrations among the lowest levels that have been achieved using this type of resonant microsensor,\u0022 noted Brand. \u0022While we have not achieved the required sensitivity yet, we are constantly making improvements.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBrand and Mizaikoff have tested their sensor device in the laboratory by pumping water with specific pollutant concentrations through a simple flow cell device attached to the sensor. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA typical test begins by flowing a water sample containing a known amount of pollutant over a sensor coated with a polymer membrane. When the sample flows through the cell, the mass of the microstructure increases, causing its characteristic vibration frequency, or resonance frequency, to decrease. By monitoring this resonance frequency over time, Brand and Mizaikoff can detect the amount of aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene present in water.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers plan to run field trials to investigate the use of this new microsensor in aqueous and gaseous environments for rapid on-site screening of multiple pollutants.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022With benzene and other VOCs high on the EPA priority pollutant list, it would be a major advantage to get a rapid reading of VOC concentrations directly in the field,\u0022 said Mizaikoff.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News and Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA \u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Array of microsensors can detect multiple pollutants on-site"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a miniature sensor that uses polymer membranes deposited on a tiny silicon disk to measure pollutants present in aqueous or gaseous environments. An array of these sensors with different surface coatings could be used during field-testing to rapidly detect many different chemicals.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Microsensor measures volatile organic compounds"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2007-09-18 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71884":{"id":"71884","type":"image","title":"pollutant sensor","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71885":{"id":"71885","type":"image","title":"pollutant sensor","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71886":{"id":"71886","type":"image","title":"pollutant sensor","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71884","71885","71886"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/asl.chemistry.gatech.edu\/","title":"Applied Sensors Laboratory"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/faculty\/Mizaikoff\/","title":"Boris Mizaikoff faculty page"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=118","title":"Oliver Brand Web site"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/index.html","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7542","name":"microsensor"},{"id":"7543","name":"pollutant"},{"id":"1492","name":"Polymer"},{"id":"7106","name":"resonance"},{"id":"167318","name":"sensor"},{"id":"167355","name":"silicon"},{"id":"7535","name":"VOCs"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71617":{"#nid":"71617","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Urban Challenge Run Ends at Qualifying Event","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe blue Porsche Cayenne pulls up to a four-way intersection and stops. After it continues through the junction, it approaches a vehicle stopped in its lane. The Cayenne checks to make sure there are no cars approaching in the opposing lane, passes the stopped car and returns to its original lane. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis scene may sound normal, but this is no ordinary Porsche Cayenne-it thinks for itself and requires no driver. This autonomous vehicle was designed by the Georgia Institute of Technology in collaboration with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency\u0027s (DARPA) Urban Challenge.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s vehicle, named Sting 1, did not qualify for the final challenge during the National Qualifying Event (NQE) held from October 26-31 at the urban military training facility located on the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, California. Sting 1 finished as one of 35 teams that made it to the NQE.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As a first-time entrant, the team has done an outstanding job making it to the semifinal round of the world\u0027s most challenging robotics competition,\u0022 said Tucker Balch, team lead and associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Interactive Computing in the College of Computing.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith six cameras, eight computers, Doppler radar and infrared laser radar on board, Sting 1 was designed to operate without any human intervention and obey California traffic laws while performing maneuvers such as merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles and avoiding moving obstacles.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe road to California began in the summer of 2006, when Georgia Tech and 88 other teams signed up to participate in this year\u0027s Urban Challenge.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Georgia Tech didn\u0027t compete in the two previous Grand Challenges, but SAIC did,\u0022 added Balch. \u0022Their experience helped us develop software that could have enabled a robot to place well in the previous challenges and then we took it further with additional capabilities necessary for the Urban Challenge.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech team, consisting of researchers in Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Computing and College of Engineering and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), chose the Porsche Cayenne as their vehicle and in August 2006 began to install computers that would drive the car automatically. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEight computers networked together through two high speed networks were programmed to know the rules of the road. This included knowing how to stay in a lane, how to overtake another car, how to make turns in city traffic, how to maneuver the waiting patterns at an intersection, how to merge into traffic and how to behave in a parking lot. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the racing team, the car really had to think for itself. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When moving forward, the car usually ignored obstacles that were in its planned path,\u0022 said Tom Collins, electronics lead and GTRI principal research engineer. \u0022But when obstacles were detected, the car would plan and execute a different route.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESAIC engineers developed methods for visual lane detection and tracking. On unpaved dirt roads, the colors of the road and non-road areas were modeled to identify a path, adapting over time as lighting or surface colors changed. On marked paved roads, a camera kept the car in its lane by detecting the typical white and yellow lines that mark a driving lane. If the vision system was unable to find a lane, the car used lasers to follow the curb. Ten laser range finders sent out infrared laser beams that constantly scanned to provide Sting 1 with an accurate measurement of the distance to any objects, such as curbs and other cars.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt intersections, the team used laser and radar sensors to see other waiting or approaching vehicles. Six off-the-shelf Doppler radar systems used to detect moving objects allowed the car to see as far as two football fields away in all directions. Cameras helped guide the car through the intersections and onto new roadways.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We had to guarantee that there was at least a 10 second window that would allow us to pull out onto a road, accelerate and get up to a reasonable speed without cutting someone off,\u0022 noted Henrik Christensen, principal investigator for the team and director of Georgia Tech\u0027s Robotics and Intelligent Machines Center.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers tested their car for months in the parking lot behind the Centergy One building in Technology Square on the Georgia Tech campus. They also utilized the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth, Ga. on weekends to test the ability of the car to maneuver in an urban environment. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Urban Challenge is the third in a series of DARPA-sponsored competitions to foster the development of robotic ground vehicle technology without a human operator, designed for use on the battlefield. Safe operation in traffic is essential to U.S. military plans to use autonomous ground vehicles to conduct important missions and keep American personnel out of harm\u0027s way.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers are already thinking about life after the Urban Challenge.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027ve already talked about expanding this work to other areas,\u0022 said Vince Camp, hardware lead and GTRI senior research engineer. \u0022We\u0027re looking forward to using the technologies in applications such as autonomous lane striping for the Department of Transportation.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EChallenges like this also aim to improve safety in vehicles consumers purchase. Some high-end vehicles sold today have backup sensors that alert the driver to obstacles and can parallel park without driver assistance. There are also systems that will alert a driver that is approaching a car in the same lane too quickly or if a driver is leaving the appropriate lane.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022These types of systems will help us become better drivers, but it\u0027s probably going to be a decade or so before we see fully autonomous vehicles,\u0022 said Christensen. \u0022At some point, though, drivers will realize that their cars are probably much more aware of what\u0027s going on around the car and are better equipped to deal with a situation than human drivers.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDARPA awarded a first-place prize of $2 million to Carnegie Mellon\u0027s Tartan Racing Team.  Second and third places went to teams from Stanford Univesity and Virginia Tech.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Stefany Wilson, College of Computing (404-894-7253); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:stefany@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Estefany@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel, Research News \u0026amp; Publications Office (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt, Georgia Tech Research Institute (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\/SAIC Sting 1 vehicle reaches semifinals"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"The Sting Racing Team sponsored by Georgia Tech and SAIC reached the semifinals of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency\u0027s Urban Challenge, but did not quality for the final challenge.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Sting Racing Team reaches competition semifinals"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-11-06 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-11-06T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-11-06T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71618":{"id":"71618","type":"image","title":"Sting1 vehicle","body":null,"created":"1449177396","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:36","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71619":{"id":"71619","type":"image","title":"Sting Racing Team","body":null,"created":"1449177396","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:36","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71620":{"id":"71620","type":"image","title":"Sting 1 Vehicle","body":null,"created":"1449177396","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:36","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71618","71619","71620"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Computing"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.sting-racing.org\/","title":"Sting Racing Web site"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"690","name":"darpa"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"170760","name":"Sting"},{"id":"1249","name":"vehicle"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EStefany Wilson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECollege of Computing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=sw187\u0022\u003EContact Stefany Wilson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-7253\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["stefany@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71613":{"#nid":"71613","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Standard for Sustainable Carpet Announced","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDon\u0027t call it \u0027green\u0027 carpet, call it sustainable carpet. A new standard for assessing the environmental-friendliness of carpet was announced at the 2007 Greenbuild International Conference in Chicago.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new sustainability standard, approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), addresses chemicals and materials used in manufacturing carpet, the energy used in production, the use of recycled or bio-based content, methods of disposal and\/or reuse and the overall environmental performance of manufacturers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The LEED standards for buildings suggested that standards were an effective strategy for encouraging competition and providing an objective way of evaluating sustainability claims made in the marketplace,\u0022 said Matthew Realff, an associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering who served as chair of the committee that developed the standard.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis new standard aims to help consumers sort out the complex sustainable attributes and encourage manufacturers and their suppliers to seek out or develop environmentally preferable processes, practices, power sources and materials. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENSF International, an ANSI-accredited standards development body, created the standard and a committee consisting of carpet and rug manufacturers, end users such as interior design professionals, state agencies responsible for environmentally preferable product procurement practices, academics and non-governmental organizations approved it. The effort was spearheaded by Robert Peoples, director for sustainability for the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), a nonprofit trade association based in Dalton, Georgia.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This new standard provides tremendous benefit to those decision makers who specify and purchase billions of yards of carpet annually in the US. The new unified standard assures those purchasers that they are selecting environmentally preferable carpets,\u0022 said Werner Braun, president of CRI.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe sustainability standard builds on earlier efforts by the carpet industry to address environmental issues. The Green Label certification program developed by CRI that required carpets to meet emissions criteria for volatile organic compounds and other chemicals is part of the new standard. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESilver, gold and platinum certification levels will be awarded to manufacturers based on the number of points earned, with a total of 114 points possible. In addition, some categories mandate that specific requirements be met to achieve the higher certification levels.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECalifornia has worked closely to align the platinum level of the new standard with its current California Gold Sustainable Carpet Standard. The state plans to transition all of its carpet purchases to this level over the next 12-18 months, eventually completely transitioning to the new standard.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe standard aims to measure the environmental footprint of carpet products by looking at the whole supply chain and considering five major performance categories: public health and environment; energy and energy efficiency; bio-based or recycled materials; manufacturing; and reclamation and end of life management.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E: Public health and environment\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nA manufacturer can achieve points by taking steps to minimize its use of pollutants and energy use that adversely affects public health and the environment. This section awards points for minimizing the use of known harmful pollutants and additional points for reducing the number of pollutants even further.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E: Energy and energy efficiency\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe energy and energy efficiency category recognizes the use of renewable energy and implementation of energy conservation and energy efficiency measures.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We want companies to focus on measuring their environmental impact so that they will continue to strive to reduce it,\u0022 explained Realff. \u0022Companies can get points for tracking their greenhouse gas emissions and the balance of renewable and fossil-based energy used to produce the carpet.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E: Bio-based or recycled materials\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nCompanies can also achieve points by using bio-based materials. This can include biological products, renewable agricultural materials (including plant, animal, and marine animals) or forestry materials.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERecycled materials also count and are measured by calculating the amount of recycled content compared to the total product weight, creating a percentage value. Platinum certification requires 10 percent post consumer recycled content. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022You can gain points for reusing old carpet to produce new carpet,\u0022 noted Realff. \u0022One example is that old carpet can be used to produce the backing that provides the mechanical integrity of carpet tiles.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EManufacturers can also reclaim carpet to make other products. \u0022There are several successful building products that use old carpet, such as the padding that goes underneath new carpet,\u0022 added Realff.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E: Manufacturing\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe manufacturing category encourages corporate environmental responsibility and achievements. A company can gain three points for completing the life cycle assessment of their carpet.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERealff and Michael Overcash, a professor at North Carolina State University, have been building the database to enable companies to assess the life cycle of their products through a project sponsored by Georgia\u0027s Traditional Industries Program. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The life cycle inventory assesses all of the energy and emissions from the various parts of the carpet supply chain - from obtaining the raw materials to its final disposal or reuse,\u0022 said Realff.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis category also includes points for minimizing the generation of waste materials during production. Inefficient materials selection, supplier delivery, production processes and warehousing operations can lead to high levels of waste generation and corresponding losses in production yields.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E: Reclamation and end of life management\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe reclamation and end of life management category builds upon the Memorandum of Understanding for Carpet Stewardship signed in 2002 by members of the carpet industry, representatives of government agencies at the federal, state and local levels and non-governmental organizations. Signatures promised to keep at least 40 percent of the total amount of carpet produced out of landfills by 2012. As of 2005, 7 percent was being recycled and 10 percent was diverted from landfills, according to CRI.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIf companies can retrieve more than two percent of their carpet, they can gain points. Up to 17 points can be gained for reclamation of 80 percent or more.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Old carpet shouldn\u0027t just be thrown away when it can be used to build new automobile parts or drainage chambers for storm water systems,\u0022 added Realff. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe first carpet products certified to the new standard are expected to be available in the marketplace by April, according to Realff.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Companies must gather production data for a year to be able to demonstrate the various performance requirements and some manufacturers might not have even been producing certain carpet styles that would meet certification standards for that length of time,\u0022 he explained.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E Matthew Realff (404-894-1834); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:matthew.realff@chbe.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ematthew.realff@chbe.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Move encourages environmentally-friendly materials \u0026 processes"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A new standard for assessing the environmental-friendliness of carpet will help consumers sort out the complex sustainable attributes and encourage manufacturers and their suppliers to utilize environmentally preferable materials and practices.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Standard could have a major impact on Georgia"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2007-11-07 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-11-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-11-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71614":{"id":"71614","type":"image","title":"Matthew Realff","body":null,"created":"1449177396","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:36","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71615":{"id":"71615","type":"image","title":"Matthew Realff","body":null,"created":"1449177396","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:36","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71614","71615"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.carpet-rug.org\/","title":"Carpet and Rug Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemical \u0026 Biomolecular Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/realff.php","title":"Matthew Realff"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.nsf.org\/info\/carpet","title":"Carpet Sustainability Standard"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"137","name":"Architecture"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"3551","name":"carpet"},{"id":"215","name":"manufacturing"},{"id":"423","name":"recycle"},{"id":"169415","name":"Standard"},{"id":"166890","name":"sustainability"},{"id":"7535","name":"VOCs"},{"id":"4092","name":"waste"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71878":{"#nid":"71878","#data":{"type":"news","title":"A Better Definition for the Kilogram?","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHow much is a kilogram?  It turns out that nobody can say for sure, at least not in a way that won\u0027t change ever so slightly over time.  The official kilogram - a cylinder cast 118 years ago from platinum and iridium and known as the International Prototype Kilogram or \u0022Le Gran K\u0022 - has been losing mass, about 50 micrograms at last check.  The change is occurring despite careful storage at a facility near Paris.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0027s not so good for a standard the world depends on to define mass.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENow, two U.S. professors \u0027 a physicist and mathematician \u0027 say it\u0027s time to define the kilogram in a new and more elegant way that will be the same today, tomorrow and 118 years from now.  They\u0027ve launched a campaign aimed at redefining the kilogram as the mass of a very large - but precisely-specified - number of carbon-12 atoms.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our standard would eliminate the need for a physical artifact to define what a kilogram is,\u0022 said Ronald F. Fox, a Regents\u0027 Professor Emeritus in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  \u0022We want something that is logically very simple to understand.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETheir proposal is that the gram - 1\/1000th of a kilogram - would henceforth be defined as the mass of exactly 18 x 14074481\u003Csup\u003E3\u003C\/sup\u003E carbon-12 atoms.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe proposal, made by Fox and Theodore P. Hill - a Professor Emeritus in the Georgia Tech School of Mathematics - first assigns a specific value to Avogadro\u0027s constant.  Proposed in the 1800s by Italian scientist Amedeo Avogadro, the constant represents the number of atoms or molecules in one mole of a pure material - for instance, the number of carbon-12 atoms in 12 grams of the element.  However, Avogadro\u0027s constant isn\u0027t a specific number; it\u0027s a range of values that can be determined experimentally, but not with enough precision to be a single number.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESpurred by Hill\u0027s half-serious question about whether Avogadro\u0027s constant was an even or odd number, in the fall of 2006 Fox and Hill submitted a paper to \u003Cem\u003EPhysics Archives \u003C\/em\u003Ein which they proposed assigning a specific number to the constant - one of about 10 possible values within the experimental range.  The authors pointed out that a precise Avogadro\u0027s constant could also precisely redefine the measure of mass, the kilogram.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETheir proposal drew attention from the editors of \u003Cem\u003EAmerican Scientist\u003C\/em\u003E, who asked for a longer article that was published in March 2007.  The proposal has so far drawn five letters, including one from Paul J. Karol, chair of the Committee on Nomenclature, Terminology and Symbols of the American Chemical Society.  Karol added his endorsement to the proposal and suggested making the number divisible by 12 - which Fox and Hill did in an addendum by changing their number\u0027s final digit from 8 to 6.  So the new proposal for Avogadro\u0027s constant became 84446886\u003Csup\u003E3\u003C\/sup\u003E, still within the range of accepted values.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFast-forward to September 2007, when Fox read an Associated Press article on the CNN.com Web site about the mass disappearing from the International Prototype Kilogram.  While the AP said the missing mass amounted to no more than \u0027the weight of a fingerprint,\u0027 Fox argues that the amount could be significant in a world that is measuring time in ultra-sub-nanoseconds and length in ultra-sub-nanometers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESo Fox and Hill fired off another article to \u003Cem\u003EPhysics Archive\u003C\/em\u003E, this one proposing to redefine the gram as 1\/12th the mass of a mole of carbon 12 - a mole long being defined as Avogrado\u0027s number of atoms.  They now hope to generate more interest in their idea for what may turn out to be a competition of standards proposals leading up to a 2011 meeting of the International Committee for Weights and Measures.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt least two other proposals for redefining the kilogram are under discussion.  They include replacing the platinum-iridium cylinder with a sphere of pure silicon atoms, and using a device known as the \u0027watt balance\u0027 to define the kilogram using electromagnetic energy.  Both would offer an improvement over the existing standard - but not be as simple as what Fox and Hill have proposed, nor be exact, they say.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Using a perfect numerical cube to define these constants yields the same level of significance - eight or nine digits - as in those integers that define the second and the speed of light,\u0022 Hill said.  \u0022A purely mathematical definition of the kilogram is experimentally neutral - researchers may then use any laboratory method they want to approximate exact masses.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe kilogram is the last major standard defined by a physical artifact rather than a fundamental physical property.  In 1983, for instance, the distance represented by a meter was redefined by how far light travels in 1\/299,792,458 seconds - replacing a metal stick with two marks on it.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We suspect that there will be some public debate about this issue,\u0022 Fox said.  \u0022We want scientists and science teachers and others to think about this problem because we think they can have an impact.  Public discussion may play an important role in determining how one of the world\u0027s basic physical constants is defined.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHow important is this issue to the world\u0027s future technological development?  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When you make physical and chemical measurements, it\u0027s important to have as high a precision as possible, and these standards really define the limits of precision,\u0022 Fox said.  \u0022The lack of an accurate standard leaves some inconsistency in how you state results.  Having a unique standard could eliminate that.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the new definition would do away with the need for a physical representation of mass, Fox says people who want a physical artifact could still have one - though carbon can\u0027t actually form a perfect cube with the right number of atoms.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd building one might take some time.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022You could imagine having a lump of matter that actually had exactly the right number of atoms in it,\u0022 Fox noted.  \u0022If you could build it by some kind of self-assembly process - as opposed to building it atom-by-atom, which would take a few billion years - you could have new kilogram artifact made of carbon.  But there\u0027s really no need for that. Even if you built a perfect kilogram, it would immediately be inaccurate as soon as a single atom was sloughed off or absorbed.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ron Fox (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ron.fox@physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eron.fox@physics.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Ted Hill (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:hill@math.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ehill@math.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Scientists propose a precise integer number of carbon atoms"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Two Georgia Tech emeritus professors - a physicist and mathematician - say it\u0027s time to define the kilogram in a new and more elegant way. They\u0027ve made a proposal to redefine the kilogram as the mass of a very large - but precisely-specified - number of carbon-12 atoms.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech profs offer new kilogram definition"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-09-21 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71879":{"id":"71879","type":"image","title":"Ronald F. Fox","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71880":{"id":"71880","type":"image","title":"Theodore P. Hill","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71881":{"id":"71881","type":"image","title":"Computer-generated International Prototype Kilogra","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71879","71880","71881"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.americanscientist.org\/template\/AssetDetail\/assetid\/54773","title":"American Scientist article"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.math.gatech.edu\/~hill\/","title":"Theodore P. Hill"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/rfox.html","title":"Ronald F. Fox"},{"url":"http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/0709.2576v1","title":"Physics Archive article"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2007\/TECH\/science\/09\/12\/shrinking.kilogram.ap\/index.html","title":"CNN.com article on kilogram"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7541","name":"kilogram"},{"id":"5340","name":"mass"},{"id":"169415","name":"Standard"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71610":{"#nid":"71610","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Edison Fund Supports Startup Firms","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThomas Edison often receives credit for inventing the electric light bulb, though his real accomplishment was in making the device - as well as the phonograph and motion picture camera - commercially successful.  That focus on commercializing innovation is now providing the foundation for a new venture bearing Edison\u0027s name at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELaunched by a multi-year grant from the Charles A. Edison Fund - which is named for the inventor\u0027s son, a successful businessman and former governor of New Jersey - the Georgia Tech Edison Fund will provide seed funding for early-stage technology companies that have a close association with Georgia Tech.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We will focus on startups at the very early stage, because that\u0027s the hardest money for an entrepreneur to find,\u0022 explained Stephen Fleming, Georgia Tech\u0027s chief commercialization officer and manager of the new fund.  \u0022Once companies have customers, a product and some traction in the marketplace, they can interest larger investors.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn his role as Georgia Tech\u0027s chief commercialization officer and director of Commercialization Services within the Enterprise Innovation Institute, Fleming helps faculty members, graduate students and others launch new companies through Georgia Tech\u0027s VentureLab.  He sees first-hand how difficult locating early funding can be.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There is certainly a perception that there\u0027s not enough early-stage capital in Atlanta,\u0022 he said.  \u0022The Georgia Tech Edison Fund will not by itself be a silver bullet that solves this problem, but I think it will help by putting new energy into and a new focus on early-stage financing.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFleming plans to make the requirement for a Georgia Tech connection as broad as possible.  For example, the Fund will invest in companies that may be founded by Georgia Tech faculty, students and graduates; licensing technology from Georgia Tech; sponsoring research at Georgia Tech; or even hiring a large number of Georgia Tech alumni.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The Georgia Tech Edison Fund is for the whole community,\u0022 Fleming added.  \u0022There are a lot of Georgia Tech threads running through the entrepreneur community in Atlanta and Georgia.  This really won\u0027t limit our capability very much because a lot of deals we are going to want to make are well connected to Georgia Tech.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Fund will be \u0027evergreen,\u0027 meaning it will reinvest the proceeds from any liquidity events back into other opportunities.  Fleming is establishing an investment committee to help guide decisions.  The investments will generally be less than $250,000.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Edison Fund has already made its first investment in Pramana, a member company of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) that is commercializing Internet technology developed in Institute\u0027s College of Computing.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFleming says the Charles Edison Fund and Georgia Tech are natural collaborators.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are excited to be working with them because Edison is one of the instantly recognizable brand names around the world,\u0022 he explained.  \u0022Edison means innovation, invention and creativity - all of which are things we are trying to do.  This helps us get our message across very quickly.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor potential donors, the Fund offers a unique opportunity.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is a very different charitable giving opportunity for people who are interested in entrepreneurship and in helping the next generation of entrepreneurs,\u0022 Fleming said.  \u0022These potential donors may remember how difficult it was to get their businesses started, and would like to give something forward to the next generation.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDonations to the Georgia Tech Edison Fund will be completely targeted to entrepreneurs.  The Fund is not charging a management fee, nor is it paying carried interest to the managers, Fleming noted.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGifts to the Fund will be received by Georgia Advanced Technology Ventures, a 501(c)3 non-profit affiliated with Georgia Tech, and so will be tax-deductible.  Donors will receive no financial benefit from investments made by the Fund, he added.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond seed-level investments, the Fund will also offer entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn from donors who may wish to provide mentoring or service on corporate advisory boards.  \u0022The level of energy and enthusiasm in the entrepreneur community is really infectious,\u0022 Fleming said.  \u0022The chance to work with entrepreneurs like these even in small ways will be good for donors who are interested in it.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the Charles Edison Fund, the new Georgia Tech initiative represents an opportunity to continue the tradition of innovation and entrepreneurship established by the famed inventor.  The collaboration with Georgia Tech is the first university partnership for the Edison organization, which supports a broad range of educational activities aimed at keeping the Edison tradition alive.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is a novel idea that I don\u0027t think has been tried before,\u0022 said John Keegan, chairman and president of the Charles Edison Fund.  \u0022What makes it novel is that it provides support to faculty members whose ideas are literally in the pre-natal stage, before the concept is developed enough to take to a venture capitalist to seek funding.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech alumnus Edward Allman, a long-time member of the Charles Edison Fund board of directors, played a key role in advocating the funding to establish the Georgia Tech Edison Fund.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I firmly believe that the Georgia Tech Edison Fund will be the starting point for some of our nation\u0027s most promising new technologies,\u0022 Allman said.  \u0022Georgia Tech was founded on a tradition of taking theory and applying it to the real world in ways that make people\u0027s lives better.  Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, which reminds me of what life was all about at Tech.  I am thrilled to be a part of the joining of these organizations and look forward to great progress.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor more information about the Georgia Tech Edison Fund: (404-385-2360) or (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:cs@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ecs@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E-- Dan Treadaway in Georgia Tech\u0027s Institute Communications and Public Affairs contributed to this article.  \u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nEnterprise Innovation Institute\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:john.toon@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejohn.toon@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)  or Nancy Fullbright (404-894-2214); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:nancy.fullbright@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Enancy.fullbright@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"New fund targets technology companies associated with Georgia Tech"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Famed inventor Thomas Edison made the light bulb, phonograph and motion picture camera commercially successful.  That focus on commercializing innovation is now providing the foundation for a new venture bearing Edison\u0027s name at the Georgia Institute of Technology.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New fund encourages commercialization, innovation"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-11-09 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-11-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-11-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71611":{"id":"71611","type":"image","title":"Stephen Fleming","body":null,"created":"1449177396","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:36","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71612":{"id":"71612","type":"image","title":"Stephen Fleming","body":null,"created":"1449177396","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:36","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71611","71612"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.charlesedisonfund.org\/","title":"Charles Edison Fund"},{"url":"http:\/\/innovate.gatech.edu\/","title":"Enterprise Innovation Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/innovate.gatech.edu\/commercial","title":"Georgia Tech Commercialization Services"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2579","name":"commercialization"},{"id":"7534","name":"Edison"},{"id":"341","name":"innovation"},{"id":"166973","name":"startup"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71875":{"#nid":"71875","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Ahuja Appointed Director of Georgia Tech-Ireland","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDr. Krishan Ahuja, Regents Professor in the School of Aerospace Engineering, has been appointed director and general manager of Georgia Tech-Ireland (GTI). In this role, he will oversee GTI\u0027s work with Irish corporations and universities, the Georgia Tech research community and U.S. companies to provide companies on both sides of the Atlantic with industry-focused research and development that bridge the gap between academic discovery and commercial success. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Georgia Tech is very well-respected here because of the intellectual brainpower that we can access across the pond in Atlanta,\u0022 said Ahuja. \u0022The goal is to make Georgia Tech-Ireland a raving success.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPrior to his appointment as GTI director Ahuja, who is a Regents Professor in the School of Aerospace Engineering, headed the Aerospace and Acoustics Technologies Division of Georgia Tech Research Institute\u0027s (GTRI) Aerospace, Transportation and Advanced Systems Laboratory. He was trained at Rolls Royce in Derby, England, and worked at Lockheed in Marietta, Ga., where he eventually became head of the aeroacoustics research program and acting manager of the Advanced Flight Sciences Department. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Krish is a proven leader with outstanding technical abilities and sharp business sense.  He has years of experience directing large research efforts for major government and corporate sponsors,\u0022 said Dr. Stephen Cross, Georgia Tech vice president, GTRI director and GTI executive director. \u0022Having worked in both industry and education, he brings a unique perspective to\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Tech Ireland which will further our efforts to build strong bonds between academic discovery and commercial success. I am proud to have him leading this very important international effort.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Ireland, located in Athlone, Ireland, focuses on industry research and development needs. Over the next five years, the Irish operation plans to build up a portfolio of research programs and collaborations with industry valued in excess of $24 million, and at full operation, it will employ 50 highly qualified researchers. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI, which conducts more than $130 million in research and development each year for industry, government and academic institutions across the world, receives support from IDA Ireland, the Irish Government\u0027s economic development agency. The new institute focuses on four technology areas that mirror Ireland\u0027s research strengths digital media, radio frequency identification (RFID), biotechnology and energy. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are dealing with the scholarship of application as well as the scholarship of integration, and there will be a lot of exchange and collaborative work between Georgia Tech in Atlanta and Ireland,\u0022 observed Ahuja. \u0022This effort helps Georgia Tech   further its mission of defining the technological university of the 21st century, and when  Georgia Tech Ireland is successful, we will be able to replicate  the model in other countries.\u0022  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the Georgia Tech Research Institute \u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), established in 1934, is the nonprofit \u0027real-world\u0027 research unit of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. Approximately 1,300 highly-skilled employees, including many of the world\u0027s top scientists and engineers, spend each day creatively solving highly-technical problems for hundreds of government and industry customers. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI is committed to solving tough problems, on time and on budget. We assist clients in federal, state, local and international government agencies, industrial firms, academic institutions and private organizations. Conducting more than $130 million in contract research each year, GTRI is committed to its independent, unbiased approach to solving problems. Additional value is provided through close affiliations with academic colleagues within the Georgia Institute of Technology often contribute additional talent and knowledge for meeting specific technological and engineering challenges. \n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Goal is to bridge the gap between academic discovery and commercial success"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Dr. Krishan Ahuja, Regents Professor in the School of Aerospace Engineering, has been appointed director and general manager of Georgia Tech-Ireland (GTI).","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"GTI to work with Irish universities and industry"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-09-24 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71876":{"id":"71876","type":"image","title":"Dr. Krishan Ahuja","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71876"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1325","name":"aerospace"},{"id":"504","name":"Ireland"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EKirk Englehardt\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGTRI Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EContact Kirk Englehardt\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-407-7280\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71597":{"#nid":"71597","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Equipment Purchased in 1957 Still Going Strong","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA 1957 classic sits in the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) clean room. It\u0027s not a Chevy, but a Veeco vacuum evaporator more than six feet tall and five feet wide.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe evaporator, still in use today, deposits thin films necessary for microfabrication processes.  Applications include creating the reflective or anti-reflective coatings on optics and building up layers of insulators, semiconductors and conductors to form integrated electronic circuits.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s a very rugged machine and it\u0027s gotten better with age,\u0022 said Mike Harris, a principal research engineer in GTRI\u0027s Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory.  Harris first used the Model 775 evaporator in 1972 as a student.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe system operates by evaporating a source material, such as a metal, in a high vacuum, allowing vapor particles to travel directly to a target object, such as a semiconductor, where they condense back to a solid state and form a thin film of the source material.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHarris attributes the machine\u0027s longevity to its design and documentation - and to the skills of GTRI technicians and engineers. \u0022The operator and maintenance manuals are excellent, with exploded views of the various piece parts, making it very easy for our technicians and engineers to repair it when we have problems,\u0022 he explained.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to repairing the system, GTRI engineers have upgraded and modified the evaporator several times since it was purchased.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFirst, they changed the high vacuum pump from a diffusion pump to a more modern cryogenic pump in 2002. The diffusion pump generated a high speed jet of vapor by boiling fluid and directing the vapor in the pump throat down into the bottom of the pump and out the exhaust. The newer cryogenic pump traps gases and vapors by condensing them on a cold surface.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo increase the uniformity of results, GTRI researchers added a planetary substrate fixture that rotates inside the evaporation chamber.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, the original system was designed with a tungsten filament that was heated to a high enough temperature so that the source material placed in a crucible on the filament evaporated. GTRI engineers changed this to an electron beam evaporator that fires a high-energy beam from an electron gun to boil a small spot of material, allowing lower vapor pressure materials to be deposited.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince the 1957 system still runs and remains optimal for numerous applications, Harris sees no reason to buy a new one. \u0022New systems like this probably cost between $700,000 and $1 million,\u0022 he added. \u0022And the new systems are designed primarily for throughput and that\u0027s not necessarily best for a research environment.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Mike Harris (404-407-6015); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:mike.harris@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emike.harris@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"50-year-old vacuum evaporator is a \u0022clean room classic\u0022"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A 1957 classic sits in the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) clean room. It\u0027s not a Chevy, but a Veeco vacuum evaporator more than six feet tall and five feet wide.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Clean room equipment still in use after 50 years"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-11-20 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-11-20T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-11-20T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71598":{"id":"71598","type":"image","title":"1957 vacuum evaporator","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71599":{"id":"71599","type":"image","title":"1957 Vacuum evaporator","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71598","71599"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7533","name":"clean-room"},{"id":"7532","name":"evaporator"},{"id":"167609","name":"semiconductor"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71856":{"#nid":"71856","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Biosensor Detects Avian Influenza Virus","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EQuick identification of avian influenza infection in poultry is critical to controlling outbreaks, but current detection methods can require several days to produce results.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA new biosensor developed at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) can detect avian influenza in just minutes. In addition to being a rapid test, the biosensor is economical, field-deployable, sensitive to different viral strains and requires no labels or reagents.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We can do real-time monitoring of avian influenza infections on the farm, in live-bird markets or in poultry processing facilities,\u0022 said Jie Xu, a research scientist in GTRI\u0027s Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWorldwide, there are many strains of avian influenza virus that cause varying degrees of clinical symptoms and illness. In the United States, outbreaks of the disease - primarily spread by migratory aquatic birds - have plagued the poultry industry for decades with millions of dollars in losses. The only way to stop the spread of the disease is to destroy all poultry that may have been exposed to the virus. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA virulent strain of avian influenza (H5N1) has begun to threaten not only birds but humans,  with more than 300 infections and 200 deaths reported to the World Health Organization since 2003. Looming is the threat of a pandemic, such as the 1918 Spanish flu that killed about 40 million people, health officials say. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022With so many different virus subtypes, our biosensor\u0027s ability to detect multiple strains of avian influenza at the same time is critical,\u0022 noted Xu.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo test the biosensor, the researchers assessed its ability to detect two avian influenza strains (H7N2 and H7N3) that previously infected poultry. The results showed that a solution containing very few virus particles could be detected by the sensor. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EXu tested a third strain of the virus as a control. When the sensor coating was modified to collect only the other two strains, the control strain was not detected even at high concentrations. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResults of this study were published online in August in the journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry and will be included in journal\u0027s print edition on October 16. The work was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u0027s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Georgia Research Alliance.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The technology that Georgia Tech developed with our help has many advantages over commercially available tests -- improved sensitivity, rapid testing and the ability to identify different strains of the influenza virus simultaneously,\u0022 said David Suarez, a collaborator on the project and research leader of exotic and emerging avian viral diseases in ARS\u0027 Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory in Athens, Ga. Suarez is providing antibodies and test samples for GTRI\u0027s research.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe biosensor is coated with antibodies specifically designed to capture a protein located on the surface of the viral particle. For this study, the researchers evaluated the sensitivity of three unique antibodies to detect avian influenza virus.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe sensor utilizes the interference of light waves, a concept called interferometry, to precisely determine how many virus particles attach to the sensor\u0027s surface. More specifically, light from a laser diode is coupled into an optical waveguide through a grating and travels under one sensing channel and one reference channel. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers coat the sensing channel with the specific antibodies and coat the reference channel with non-specific antibodies. Having the reference channel minimizes the impact of non-specific interactions, as well as changes in temperature, pH and mechanical motion. Non-specific binding should occur equally to both the test and reference channels and thus not affect the test results. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAn electromagnetic field associated with the light beams extends above the waveguides and is very sensitive to the changes caused by antibody-antigen interactions on the waveguide surface. When a liquid sample passes over the waveguides, any binding that occurs on the top of a waveguide because of viral particle attachment causes water molecules to be displaced. This causes a change in the velocity of the light traveling through the waveguide. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the end of the waveguide, the light beams from the sensing and reference channels are combined to create an interference pattern. The pattern of alternating dark and light vertical stripes, or fringes, is imaged on a simple detector. By doing a mathematical Fourier transform, the researchers determine the degree to which the fringe patterns are in or out of step with each other, known as phase shift. This phase shift tells the amount of virus bound to the surface.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The fringe pattern doesn\u0027t look like it changes in the image, but with math we find out the speed of the light in the test channel changed creating this phase change,\u0022 explained Xu.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrent methods of identifying infected birds include virus isolation, real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RRT-PCR) and antigen capture immunoassays. Virus isolation is a sensitive technique, but typically requires five to seven days for testing. RRT-PCR is commonly available in veterinary diagnostic laboratories, but requires expensive equipment and appropriate laboratory facilities. RRT-PCR can take as little as three hours to get test results, but routine surveillance samples are more often processed in 24 hours. The antigen capture immunoassays can provide rapid test results, but suffer from low sensitivity and high cost. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond the waveguide sensor, the only additional external components required for field-testing with GTRI\u0027s biosensor include a sample-delivery device (peristaltic pump), a data collection laptop computer and a swab taken from a potentially infected bird. Power is supplied by a nine volt battery and USB connection. The waveguides can be cleaned and reused dozens of times, decreasing the per-test cost of the chip fabrication. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EXu and Suarez are currently working together to test new unique antibodies with the biosensor and to test different strains. In addition, Xu is reducing the size of the prototype device to be about the size of a lunchbox and making the computer analysis software more user-friendly so that it can be field-tested in two years.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are continuing our collaboration and have provided additional money to Georgia Tech to move the project along faster,\u0022 added Suarez. \u0022Since this technology is already set up so that you can use multiple antibodies to detect different influenza subtypes, we are going to extend the work to include the H5 subtype.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Xu and Suarez, the research team included David Gottfried, who is now a senior research scientist in Georgia Tech\u0027s Microelectronics Research Center. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News and Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter: \u003C\/strong\u003EAbby Vogel\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Field-deployable unit detects virus in minutes, not days"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A new biosensor developed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) can detect avian influenza in minutes. The biosensor is economical, field-deployable, sensitive to different viral strains and requires no labels or reagents.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Biosensor detects avian influenza virus"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2007-09-27 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71857":{"id":"71857","type":"image","title":"avian flu biosensor 1","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71858":{"id":"71858","type":"image","title":"avian flu biosensor2","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71859":{"id":"71859","type":"image","title":"avian flu biosensor3","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71857","71858","71859"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/eosl.gtri.gatech.edu\/index.jsp","title":"GTRI Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL)"},{"url":"http:\/\/gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.springerlink.com\/content\/l279683412n16017\/fulltext.pdf","title":"Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry article"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7538","name":"antibody"},{"id":"4619","name":"avian"},{"id":"2770","name":"biosensor"},{"id":"296","name":"Flu"},{"id":"7540","name":"Fourier"},{"id":"7539","name":"fringe"},{"id":"765","name":"influenza"},{"id":"1143","name":"optical"},{"id":"668","name":"poultry"},{"id":"4292","name":"virus"},{"id":"5113","name":"waveguides"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71990":{"#nid":"71990","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Grant Boosts Work on Small-scale Systems","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have received a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) award to participate in a multi-university research center that will develop a computer-aided design (CAD) environment for micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS). \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new research center - to be called the Investigate Multi-physics Modeling and Performance Assessment-driven Characterization and Computation Technology (IMPACT) Center for Advancement of MEMS\/NEMS VLSI -- will be led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and will include teams from Purdue University and Lehigh University as well as Georgia Tech.  A consortium of companies - including BAE Systems, Inc., Innovative Design \u0026amp; Technology, MEMtronics Corp., Raytheon Co., Rockwell Collins Inc. and the Rogers Corp. - will also participate financially with DARPA in the center.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s share of the research will be conducted by a team associated with the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research will seek to develop CAD systems that are based on physical models and therefore can conclusively predict the behavior of MEMS devices.  Eventually engineers developing systems with MEMS devices could use a simple drag-and-drop interface to simulate not only the electrical effects of MEMS usage, but also thermal, mechanical and reliability aspects as well.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This kind of predictive capability could greatly increase the speed with which MEMS-enabled microsystems can be developed,\u0022 said John Papapolymerou, an associate professor in ECE.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EInitially, Papapolymerou said, Georgia Tech will receive about $1.25 million for a six-year effort.  However, as more companies join the center, that amount is likely to increase, he added.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the first year Georgia Tech\u0027s efforts will focus on the fundamental physics of MEMS devices - particularly with respect to dielectric charging of MEMS switches, Papapolymerou said. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough MEMS-enabled microsystems have the potential to revolutionize communications, sensors and signal-processing, he said, their capabilities have been limited by a lack of understanding of how physical phenomena govern MEMS-device functionality.  It\u0027s particularly unclear how much performance is degraded when MEMS devices are exposed to the operating conditions of a integrated circuit. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When we have a better understanding of the fundamental physics of MEMS devices, we can then proceed to the higher-order models and levels that are required to develop a CAD program,\u0022 Papapolymerou said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe ultimate goal of the IMPACT center, he said, will be to promote the availability of MEMS\/NEMS-based micro- and nanosystems in military and commercial applications. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is meant to be a dynamic center,\u0022 Papapolymerou said. \u0022The idea is going to be to expand this in the future, so we can also expand the number of research problems that we undertake.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research is sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).  The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the U.S. Government, and no official endorsement should be inferred.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson (404-694-2284); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:rick.robinson@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Erick.robinson@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Jackie Nemeth (404-894-2906); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech part of multi-university center developing computer-aided design environment"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers have received a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) award to participate in a multi-university center that will develop a computer-aided design environment for micro-electromechanical systems and nano-electromechanical systems.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"DARPA funds research on CAD for small systems"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-08-12 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71991":{"id":"71991","type":"image","title":"Research team","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71992":{"id":"71992","type":"image","title":"Prof. Papapolymerou","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71993":{"id":"71993","type":"image","title":"MEMS on wafer","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71991","71992","71993"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=78","title":"John Papapolymerou"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7553","name":"CAD"},{"id":"690","name":"darpa"},{"id":"2557","name":"mems"},{"id":"7425","name":"nanometer"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ERick Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=rr190\u0022\u003EContact Rick Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-694-2284\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["rick.robinson@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71594":{"#nid":"71594","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Climate Change Triggers Wars and Population Decline","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EClimate change may be one of the most significant threats facing humankind. A new study shows that long-term climate change may ultimately lead to wars and population decline.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study, published November 19 in the early edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E (\u003Cem\u003EPNAS\u003C\/em\u003E), revealed that as temperatures decreased centuries ago during a period called the Little Ice Age, the number of wars increased, famine occurred and the population declined. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EData on past climates may help accurately predict and design strategies for future large and persistent climate changes, but acknowledging the historic social impact of these severe events is an important step toward that goal, according to the study\u0027s authors.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Even though temperatures are increasing now, the same resulting conflicts may occur since we still greatly depend on the land as our food source,\u0022 said Peter Brecke, associate professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and co-author of the study. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis new study expands previous work by David Zhang of the University of Hong Kong and lead author of the study. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022My previous research just focused on Eastern China. This current study covers a much larger spatial area and the conclusions from the current research could be considered general principles,\u0022 said Zhang.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBrecke, Zhang and colleagues in Hong Kong, China and the United Kingdom perceived a possible connection between temperature change and wars because changes in climate affect water supplies, growing seasons and land fertility, prompting food shortages. These shortages could lead to conflict - local uprisings, government destabilization and invasions from neighboring regions - and population decline due to bloodshed during the wars and starvation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo study whether changes in temperature affected the number of wars, the researchers examined the time period between 1400 and 1900. This period recorded the lowest average global temperatures around 1450, 1650 and 1820, each separated by slight warming intervals.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers collected war data from multiple sources, including a database of 4,500 wars worldwide that Brecke began developing in 1995 with funding from the U.S. Institute of Peace. They also used climate change records that paleoclimatologists reconstructed by consulting historical documents and examining indicators of temperature change like tree rings, as well as oxygen isotopes in ice cores and coral skeletons.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResults showed a cyclic pattern of turbulent periods when temperatures were low followed by tranquil ones when temperatures were higher. The number of wars per year worldwide during cold centuries was almost twice that of the mild 18th century.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study also showed population declines following each high war peak, according to population data Brecke assembled. The population growth rate of the Northern Hemisphere was elevated from 1400-1600, despite a short cooling period beginning in the middle of the 15th century. However, during the colder 17th century, Europe and Asia experienced more wars of great magnitude and population declines. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn China, the population plummeted 43 percent between 1620 and 1650. Then, a dramatic increase in population occurred from 1650 until a cooling period beginning in 1800 caused a worldwide demographic shock.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers examined whether these average temperature differences of less than one degree Celsius were enough to cause food shortages. By assuming that agricultural production decreases triggered price increases, they showed that when grain prices reached a certain level, wars erupted.  The ecological stress on agricultural production triggered by climate change did in fact induce population shrinkages, according to Brecke.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGlobal temperatures are expected to rise in the future and the world\u0027s growing population may be unable to adequately adapt to the ecological changes, according to Brecke.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E \u0022The warmer temperatures are probably good for a while, but beyond some level plants will be stressed,\u0022 explained Brecke. \u0022With more droughts and a rapidly growing population, it is going to get harder and harder to provide food for everyone and thus we should not be surprised to see more instances of starvation and probably more cases of hungry people clashing over scarce food and water.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Reduced agricultural productivity seems to initiate conflict"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A new study reveals that as temperatures decreased centuries ago during a period called the Little Ice Age, the number of wars increased, famine occurred and the population declined.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Conflict is related to reduced crop production"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2007-11-21 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-11-21T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-11-21T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71595":{"id":"71595","type":"image","title":"Peter Brecke","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71596":{"id":"71596","type":"image","title":"rice production","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71595","71596"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.inta.gatech.edu\/","title":"Sam Nunn School of International Affairs"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.inta.gatech.edu\/~peter_brecke","title":"Peter Brecke"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"861","name":"Africa"},{"id":"669","name":"agriculture"},{"id":"802","name":"China"},{"id":"2262","name":"climate"},{"id":"1651","name":"Conflict"},{"id":"174","name":"Europe"},{"id":"179","name":"population"},{"id":"7510","name":"temperature"},{"id":"4061","name":"War"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71591":{"#nid":"71591","#data":{"type":"news","title":"High Performance Transistors Created with Carbon 60","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing room-temperature processing, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have fabricated high-performance field effect transistors with thin films of Carbon 60, also known as fullerene.  The ability to produce devices with such performance with an organic semiconductor represents another milestone toward practical applications for large area, low-cost electronic circuits on flexible organic substrates.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new devices - which have electron-mobility values higher than amorphous silicon, low threshold voltages, large on-off ratios and high operational stability - could encourage more designers to begin working on such circuitry for displays, active electronic billboards, RFID tags and other applications that use flexible substrates.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If you open a textbook and look at what a thin-film transistor should do, we are pretty close now,\u0022 said Bernard Kippelen, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics.  \u0022Now that we have shown very nice single transistors, we want to demonstrate functional devices that are combinations of multiple components.  We have everything ready to do that.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFabrication of the C60 transistors was reported August 27 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EApplied Physics Letters\u003C\/em\u003E.  The research was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation through the STC program MDITR, and the U.S. Office of Naval Research.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have been interested in making field-effect transistors and other devices from organic semiconductors that can be processed onto various substrates, including flexible plastic materials.  As an organic semiconductor material, C60 is attractive because it can provide high electron mobility - a measure of how fast current can flow.  Previous reports have shown that C60 can yield mobility values as high as six square centimeters per volt-second (6 cm2\/V\/s).  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, that record was achieved using a hot-wall epitaxy process requiring processing temperatures of 250 degrees Celsius - too hot for most flexible plastic substrates.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThough the transistors produced by Kippelen\u0027s research team display slightly lower electron mobility - 2.7 to 5 cm2\/V\/s - they can be produced at room temperature.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If you want to deposit transistors on a plastic substrate, you really can\u0027t have any process at a temperature of more than 150 degrees Celsius,\u0022 Kippelen said.  \u0022With room temperature deposition, you can be compatible with many different substrates.  For low-cost, large area electronics, that is an essential component.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause they are sensitive to contact with oxygen, the C60 transistors must operate under a nitrogen atmosphere.  Kippelen expects to address that limitation by using other fullerene molecules - and properly packaging the devices.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new transistors were fabricated on silicon for convenience.  While Kippelen isn\u0027t underestimating the potential difficulty of moving to an organic substrate, he says that challenge can be overcome. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThough their performance is impressive, the C60 transistors won\u0027t threaten conventional CMOS chips based on silicon.  That\u0027s because the applications Kippelen has in mind don\u0027t require high performance.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There are a lot of applications where you don\u0027t necessarily need millions of fast transistors,\u0022 he said.  \u0022The performance we need is by far much lower than what you can get in a CMOS chip.  But whereas CMOS is extremely powerful and can be relatively low in cost because you can make a lot of circuits on a wafer, for large area applications CMOS is not economical.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA different set of goals drives electronic components for use with low-cost organic displays, active billboards and similar applications.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If you look at a video display, which has a refresh rate of 60 Hz, than means you have to refresh the screen every 16 milliseconds,\u0022 he noted.  \u0022That is a fairly low speed compared to a Pentium processor in your computer. There is no point in trying to use organic materials for high-speed processing because silicon is already very advanced and has much higher carrier mobility.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENow that they have demonstrated attractive field-effect C60 transistors, Kippelen and collaborators Xiao-Hong Zhang and Benoit Domercq plan to produce other electronic components such as inverters, ring oscillators, logic gates, and drivers for active matrix displays and imaging devices.  Assembling these more complex systems will showcase the advantages of the C60 devices.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The goal is to increase the complexity of the circuits to see how that high mobility can be used to make more complex structures with unprecedented performance,\u0022 Kippelen said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers fabricated the transistors by depositing C60 molecules from the vapor phase into a thin film atop a silicon substrate onto which a gate electrode and gate dielectric had already been fabricated.  The source and drain electrodes were then deposited on top of the C60 films through a shadow mask.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKippelen\u0027s team has been working with C60 for nearly ten years, and is also using the material in photovoltaic cells.  Beyond the technical advance, Kippelen believes this new work demonstrates the growing maturity of organic electronics.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This progress may trigger interest among more conventional electronic engineers,\u0022 he said.  \u0022Most engineers would like to work with the latest technology platform, but they would like to see a level of performance showing they could actually implement these circuits.  If you can demonstrate - as we have - that you can get transistors with good reproducibility, good stability, near-zero threshold voltages, large on-off current ratios and performance levels higher than amorphous silicon, that may convince designers to consider this technology.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Bernard Kippelen (404-385-5163); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:bernard.kippelen@ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebernard.kippelen@ece.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Devices mark another milestone toward producing low-cost circuits on flexible substrates"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Using room-temperature processing, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have fabricated high-performance field effect transistors with thin films of Carbon 60, also known as fullerene.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers build transistors with Carbon 60"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-11-25 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-11-25T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-11-25T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71592":{"id":"71592","type":"image","title":"Kippelen research group","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71593":{"id":"71593","type":"image","title":"C60 transistors","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71592","71593"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cope.gatech.edu\/","title":"COPE"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=127","title":"Bernard Kippelen"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7417","name":"c60"},{"id":"7529","name":"flexible"},{"id":"7418","name":"fullerene"},{"id":"2289","name":"organic"},{"id":"7528","name":"transistors"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"69321":{"#nid":"69321","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Improving Fuel Cell Durability Starts With Failures","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFuel cells can be expensive and they typically don\u0027t last as long as their internal combustion counterparts.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers in the Georgia Tech Research Institute\u0027s (GTRI) Center for Innovative Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies believe that understanding how and why fuel cells fail is the key to both reducing cost and improving durability.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECenter director Tom Fuller has been trying to solve what he deems the top three durability problems since he joined GTRI from United Technologies three years ago. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022My philosophy is if we can really understand the fundamentals of these failure mechanisms, then we can use that information to guide the development of new materials or we can develop system approaches to mitigate these failures,\u0022 said Fuller, who is also a professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe problems Fuller is addressing include chemical attack of the membrane, carbon corrosion and platinum instability. Fuller described progress toward solving these problems last month at the 212th Electrochemical Society Meeting.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a typical fuel cell, hydrogen is delivered to the anode side of the cell that contains a catalyst, such as platinum. The platinum splits the hydrogen molecules (H2) into hydrogen ions and electrons. On the cathode side of the fuel cell, an oxidant such as a stream of oxygen or air is delivered. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith a proton exchange membrane in the middle, only hydrogen ions can travel through the membrane to the cathode. Electrons travel on a different path through the electrical circuit to the cathode, creating an electrical current. At the cathode, the hydrogen ions combine with oxygen and the electrons that took the longer path to form water, which flows out of the cell.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFuller\u0027s research shows that the membrane, commonly made of a synthetic polymer, is prone to attack by free radicals that create holes in the barrier. The free radicals are formed by the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a strong oxidizing chemical that can form near the membrane.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince a typical membrane is approximately 25-50 micrometers thick, or about the thickness of a human hair, it\u0027s impossible to see the degradation peroxide causes with the naked eye. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a paper published in March in the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Power Sources\u003C\/em\u003E, Fuller and professor Dennis Hess, research scientist Galit Levitin and graduate student Cheng Chen, all from ChBE, used X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to study the membrane degradation. This work was funded by GTRI, ChBE and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers chose XPS because it is a quantitative technique that uses X-rays to measure the presence and quantity of chemical elements and the formation and breakage of chemical bonds within a material.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We were able to see chemical differences in the membrane with XPS when it went through the degradation process,\u0022 explained Fuller. \u0022Now we\u0027re trying to figure out what really limits or controls the rate of degradation.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe solution will be difficult because the formation of hydrogen peroxide requires only hydrogen and oxygen to be present. Since these chemicals are readily available in fuel cells, hydrogen peroxide can be produced many ways. The problem is further complicated because free radicals are short lived and difficult to detect.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFuller will leave the actual engineering of new non-degrading membranes to the materials scientists, but what he has learned can guide what properties new membranes should have and how they can be tested for degradation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother challenge with low temperature fuel cells is that a blockage can occur on the anode side of the fuel cell, possibly from a water drop formed in the fuel channel. The blockage causes carbon (used to support the platinum) to corrode, turn into carbon dioxide and leave the fuel cell as a gas. Frequently starting and stopping the fuel cell also causes this mode of failure.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis can be catastrophic for the fuel cell because without carbon, the platinum catalyst layer collapses and disappears.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If this happens, the fuel cell can be destroyed in days rather than years,\u0022 noted Fuller.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis problem is more common in non-stationary fuel cell applications, such as cars that require the fuel cell to start and stop when the vehicle is turned on and off. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Researchers know this problem exists, but we\u0027re trying to build physics-based detailed models to evaluate different fuel cell designs that will reduce the susceptibility to this type of corrosion,\u0022 said Fuller, who\u0027s working on this project with Norimitsu Takeuchi from Toyota\u0027s material research department and students Kevin Gallagher and David Wong with funding from Toyota. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe models can also be used to determine options for controlling and mitigating this problem to find a more effective alternative material that is more resistant to corrosion.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother problem with fuel cells cycling on and off is that platinum has a small but finite solubility in the acidic membrane given the high electrical potential and oxidizing environment at the cathode.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Platinum is one of the most expensive parts of the fuel cells, so researchers study how to decrease the amount necessary to run a fuel cell,\u0022 explained Fuller. \u0022But if there is less platinum in the fuel cell to begin with, you can\u0027t afford to lose any by it dissolving.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen the platinum layer dissolves, a band of platinum typically forms inside the membrane. Fuller, GTRI senior research engineer Gary Gray and graduate student Wu Bi, developed a model to predict where the platinum band would form to help to understand why it was happening. This work was published in March in \u003Cem\u003EElectrochemical and Solid-State Letters\u003C\/em\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We found that the platinum can also be deposited throughout the membrane and it can move around to different places, but whenever it leaves where it\u0027s supposed to be, it\u0027s no longer effective,\u0022 said Fuller.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFuller aims to understand these very small platinum particles by modeling the transport and thermodynamics of the particles in fuel cell systems. This work was funded by Hyundai Motors Corporation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA recent gift of $200,000 from the Hartley Foundation will allow Fuller to purchase new research equipment and continue studying the degradation of fuel cells and how to improve\/extend the life cycle and technology of these energy devices.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Fuel cell failure can occur through many different mechanisms,\u0022 added Fuller. \u0022Results from these three projects show that new materials, new manufacturing processes and new designs are required to improve the durability of fuel cells and in turn lower costs.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory funding came from the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in the Office of Hydrogen, Fuel Cell and Infrastructure Technologies of the U.S. Department of Energy under contract number DE-AC02-05CH11231 through subcontract 6804755.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E Tom Fuller (404-407-6075 or 404-894-2898); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:tom.fuller@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Etom.fuller@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Research will lead to better fuel cell materials and designs"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Understanding how and why fuel cells fail is the key to both reducing cost and improving durability, according to researchers in the Georgia Tech Research Institute\u0027s (GTRI) Center for Innovative Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers improve fuel cells by studying failures"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2007-11-22 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-11-28T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-11-28T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"69322":{"id":"69322","type":"image","title":"Tom Fuller","body":null,"created":"1449177252","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:14:12","changed":"1475894606","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:26"},"69323":{"id":"69323","type":"image","title":"Tom Fuller fuel cell membrane","body":null,"created":"1449177252","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:14:12","changed":"1475894606","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:26"},"69324":{"id":"69324","type":"image","title":"Tom Fuller fuel cell","body":null,"created":"1449177252","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:14:12","changed":"1475894606","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:26"}},"media_ids":["69322","69323","69324"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1149\/1.2712796","title":"Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters Article"},{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jpowsour.2007.03.037","title":"Journal of Power Sources Article"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemical \u0026 Biomolecular Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.fcbt.gatech.edu\/","title":"Center for Innovative Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/fuller.php","title":"Tom Fuller"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"610","name":"carbon"},{"id":"7530","name":"durability"},{"id":"7245","name":"failure"},{"id":"2044","name":"Fuel Cell"},{"id":"7440","name":"membrane"},{"id":"7531","name":"platinum"},{"id":"3517","name":"power"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71583":{"#nid":"71583","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Polymer with Neurotransmitter Promotes Nerve Growth","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearch reported December 11 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EAdvanced Materials\u003C\/em\u003E describes a potentially promising strategy for encouraging the regeneration of damaged central nervous system cells known as neurons.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe technique would use a biodegradable polymer containing a chemical group that mimics the neurotransmitter acetylcholine to spur the growth of neurites, which are projections that form the connections among neurons and between neurons and other cells. The biomimetic polymers would then guide the growth of the regenerating nerve.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThere is currently no treatment for recovering human nerve function after injury to the brain or spinal cord because central nervous system neurons have a very limited capability of self-repair and regeneration. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Regeneration in the central nervous system requires neural activity, not just neuronal growth factors alone, so we thought a neurotransmitter might send the necessary signals,\u0022 said Yadong Wang, assistant professor in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, and principal investigator of the study. The research was supported by Georgia Tech, the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EChemical neurotransmitters relay, amplify and modulate signals between a neuron and another cell. This new study shows that integrating neurotransmitters into biodegradable polymers results in a biomaterial that successfully promotes neurite growth, which is necessary for victims of central nervous system injury, stroke or certain neurodegenerative diseases to recover sensory, motor, cognitive or autonomic functions. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWang and graduate student Christiane Gumera developed novel biodegradable polymers with a flexible backbone that allowed neurotransmitters to be easily added as a side chain. In its current form, the polymer would be implanted via surgery to repair damaged central nerves.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022One of our ultimate goals is to create a conduit for nerve regeneration that guides the neurons to regenerate, but gradually degrades as the neurons regenerate so that it won\u0027t constrict the nerves permanently,\u0022 explained Wang. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the experiments, the researchers tested polymers with different concentrations of the acetylcholine-mimicking groups. Acetylcholine was chosen because it is known to induce neurite outgrowth and promote the formation and strengthening of synapses, or connections between neurons. They isolated ganglia nervous tissue samples, placed them on the polymers and observed new neurites extend from the ganglia.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince these neuron extensions must traverse a growth inhibiting material in the body, Wang and Gumera tested the ability of the biomaterial to enhance the extension of sprouted neurites. More specifically, they assessed whether the ganglia sprouted at least 20 neurites and then measured neurite length and neurite length distribution with an inverted phase contrast microscope. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We found that adding 70 percent acetylcholine to the polymer induced regenerative responses similar to laminin, a benchmark material for nerve culture,\u0022 said Wang. Seventy percent acetylcholine also led to a neurite growth rate of up to 0.7 millimeters per day, or approximately half the thickness of a compact disc.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELaminin is a natural protein present in the nervous tissues, but it dissolves in water, making it difficult to incorporate into a conduit that needs to support nerves for months. A synthetic polymer with acetylcholine functional groups, on the other hand, can be designed to be insoluble in water, according to Wang.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince functional restoration after nerve injury requires synapse formation, the researchers also searched for the presence of synaptic vesicle proteins on the newly formed neurites. With fluorescence imaging, they found that neurons cultured on these acetylcholine polymers expressed an established neuronal marker called synaptophysin.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo provide insights to new approaches in functional nerve regeneration, the researchers are currently investigating the mechanisms by which the neurons interact with these polymers. Since neurons that remain intact after severe injury have only a limited capacity to penetrate the scar tissue, these new findings in nerve regeneration could help compensate for the lost connections.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This polymer and approach aren\u0027t limited to nerve regeneration though, they can probably be used for other neurodegenerative disorders as well,\u0022 added Wang.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis work was funded by grant number R21EB008565 from the NIBIB of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NIBIB or the NIH.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E Yadong Wang (404-385-5027); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ywang@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eywang@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003Cstrong\u003E Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Strategy encourages regeneration of damaged central nervous system cells"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Research reported December 11 in the journal Advanced Materials describes a potentially promising strategy for encouraging the regeneration of damaged central nervous system cells known as neurons.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New strategy for encouraging neuron regeneration"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2007-12-11 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-12-11T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-12-11T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71584":{"id":"71584","type":"image","title":"Gumera and Wang","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71585":{"id":"71585","type":"image","title":"Neurite growth micrograph","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71586":{"id":"71586","type":"image","title":"Fluorescence image","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71584","71585","71586"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1002\/adma.200701747","title":"Advanced Materials Article"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/","title":"Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/facultystaff\/faculty_record.php?id=57","title":"Yadong Wang"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7527","name":"acetylcholine"},{"id":"1912","name":"brain"},{"id":"521","name":"injury"},{"id":"7266","name":"nerve"},{"id":"7526","name":"nerve generation"},{"id":"7274","name":"nervous"},{"id":"7276","name":"neuron"},{"id":"2608","name":"neurotransmitter"},{"id":"1492","name":"Polymer"},{"id":"170887","name":"spine"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71575":{"#nid":"71575","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Explosives on a Chip Improve Military Detonators","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETiny copper structures with pores at both the nanometer and micron size scales could play a key role in the next generation of detonators used to improve the reliability, reduce the size and lower the cost of certain military munitions.  \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDeveloped by a team of scientists from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and the Indian Head Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, the highly-uniform copper structures will be incorporated into integrated circuits - then chemically converted to millimeter-diameter explosives.   \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause they can be integrated into standard microelectronics fabrication processes, the copper materials will enable micro-electromechanical (MEMS) fuzes for military munitions to be mass-produced like computer chips.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022An ability to tailor the porosity and structural integrity of the explosive precursor material is a combination we\u0027ve never had before,\u0022 said Jason Nadler, a GTRI research engineer. \u0022We can start with the Navy\u0027s requirements for the material and design structures that are able to meet those requirements.  We can have an integrated design tool able to develop a whole range of explosive precursors on different size scales.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENadler uses a variety of templates, including microspheres and woven fabrics, to create regular patterns in copper oxide paste whose viscosity is controlled by the addition of polymers.  He then thermochemically removes the template and converts the resulting copper oxide structures to pure metal, retaining the patterns imparted by the template.  The size of the pores can be controlled by using different templates and by varying the processing conditions.  So far, he\u0027s made copper structures with channel sizes as small as a few microns - with structural components that have nanoscale pores.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBased on feedback from the Navy scientists, Nadler can tweak the structures to help optimize the overall device - known as a fuze - which controls when and where a munition will explode.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are now able to link structural characteristics to performance,\u0022 Nadler noted.  \u0022We can produce a technically advanced material that can be tailored to the thermodynamics and kinetics that are needed using modeling techniques.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond the fabrication techniques, Nadler developed characterization and modeling techniques to help understand and control the fabrication process for the unique copper structures, which may also have commercial applications.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe copper precursor developed in GTRI is a significant improvement over the copper foam material that Indian Head had previously been evaluating.  Produced with a sintered powder process, the foam was fragile and non-uniform, meaning Navy scientists couldn\u0027t precisely predict reliability or how much explosive would be created in each micro-detonator.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022GTRI has been able to provide us with material that has well-controlled and well-known characteristics,\u0022 said Michael Beggans, a scientist in the Energetics Technology Department of the Indian Head Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center.  \u0022Having this material allows us to determine the amount of explosive that can be formed in the MEMS fuze.  The size of that charge also determines the size and operation of the other components.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research will lead to a detonator with enhanced capabilities.   \u0022The long-term goal of the MEMS Fuze program is to produce a low-cost, highly-reliable detonator with built-in safe and arm capabilities in an extremely small package that would allow the smallest weapons in the Navy to be as safe and reliable as the largest,\u0022 Beggans explained.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EReducing the size of the fuze is part of a long-term strategy toward smarter weapons intended to reduce the risk of collateral damage.  That will be possible, in part, because hundreds of fuzes, each about a centimeter square, can be fabricated simultaneously using techniques developed by the microelectronics industry.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Today, everything is becoming smaller, consuming less power and offering more functionality,\u0022 Beggans added.  \u0022When you hear that a weapon is \u0027smart,\u0027 it\u0027s really all about the fuze.  The fuze is \u0027smart\u0027 in that it knows the exact environment that the weapon needs to be in, and detonates it at the right time.  The MEMS fuze would provide \u0027smart\u0027 functionality in medium-caliber and sub-munitions, improving results and reducing collateral damage.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDevelopment and implementation of the new fuze will also have environmental and safety benefits.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Practical implementation of this technology will enable the military to reduce the quantity of sensitive primary explosives in each weapon by at least two orders of magnitude,\u0022 said Gerald R. Laib, senior explosives applications scientist at Indian Head and inventor of the MEMS Fuze concept.  \u0022This development will also vastly reduce the use of toxic heavy metals and waste products, and increase the safety of weapon production by removing the need for handling bulk quantities of sensitive primary explosives.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe next step will be for Indian Head to integrate all the components of the fuze into the smallest possible package - and then begin producing the device in large quantities.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA specialist in metallic and ceramic cellular materials, Nadler said the challenge of the project was creating structures porous enough to be chemically converted in a consistent way - while retaining sufficient mechanical strength to withstand processing and remain stable in finished devices.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The ability to design things on multiple size scales at the same time is very important,\u0022 he added.  \u0022Designing materials on the nano-scale, micron-scale and even the millimeter-scale simultaneously as a system is very powerful and challenging.  When these different length scales are available, a whole new world of capabilities opens up.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Jason Nadler (404-407-6104); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jason.nadler@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejason.nadler@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Tiny copper structures could play key role in next generation of munitions"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Tiny copper structures with pores at both the nanometer and micron size scales could play a key role in the next generation of detonators used to improve the reliability, reduce the size and lower the cost of certain military munitions.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Copper precursor key to future military munitions"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-12-18 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-12-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-12-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71576":{"id":"71576","type":"image","title":"Microscope image of material","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71577":{"id":"71577","type":"image","title":"Materials to make copper structures","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71578":{"id":"71578","type":"image","title":"Copper material","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71576","71577","71578"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7493","name":"copper"},{"id":"7523","name":"detonator"},{"id":"7524","name":"micro-detonator"},{"id":"7525","name":"munition"},{"id":"7425","name":"nanometer"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71569":{"#nid":"71569","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Helps South Georgia Firm Boost Sales","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen Paul Hoppes, president of Seminole Marine, relocated his business from Florida to Cairo, Ga., in the mid-1990s, he employed 16 people to manufacture saltwater fishing boats in a 32,000-square-foot building. In his words, the company \u0027muddled along\u0027 until several small successes came their way. And then the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks happened.  \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In my opinion, that event unleashed the spending power of the baby boomer. A lot of people decided it was time to do it - they felt their own mortality,\u0022 observed Hoppes. \u0022In the 12 months following 9\/11, we had a 62 percent increase in sales.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the years following 2001, Hoppes said the company experienced a string of \u0027wide open\u0027 46 percent average annual growth. After breaking down the company\u0027s structure and rebuilding it several times, he realized that sort of growth simply could not continue forever and he needed help in developing a strategy to become more profitable.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022During that time, we were operating on tribal knowledge, simply surviving that incredible thrust of growth. We realized we had a lot of wasted motion, we didn\u0027t have good documentation, we didn\u0027t know exactly how things moved and we didn\u0027t know how many hundreds of miles a day our forklift was moving,\u0022 he said. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHoppes, who was already familiar with the environmental management services of Georgia Tech\u0027s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EII), called on the organization again for assistance in lean manufacturing, a process management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System and known for reducing wasted time and effort. John Stephens and Paul Todd, EII project managers, conducted a lean manufacturing seminar for Seminole Marine with 40 key players, including everyone from supervisors to shop floor associates.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the workshop, participants learned the principles of lean manufacturing and how to apply them. During a series of simulations as a member of a production team, they applied lean concepts such as standardized work, visual signals, batch-size reduction and pull systems, among others. They also experienced how lean improves quality, reduces cycle time, improves delivery performance and reduces work-in-process. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The seminar was absolutely fantastic; you could see the light bulb coming on as you watched them,\u0022 recalled Hoppes. \u0022Within an hour, you could see teamwork and cooperation that you had never seen before. That has been the single most dramatic thing that we\u0027ve ever done as a company.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince participating in the lean overview in 2005, Hoppes has added on to his facility, for a total of 150,000 square feet of manufacturing space. With more than a half mile from one end of the plant to the other, he conducted an analysis to determine how workers can be more efficient. While he notes that there is always room for improvement, he says that his workflow is efficient, work-in-process has been reduced and the company has better standards based on the new efficiencies. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHoppes partially credits the lessons learned in the lean manufacturing seminar with helping Seminole Marine gain market share in a market that is currently down by 30 percent. The company primarily makes two platforms - center console boats and cabin boats ranging from 19 to 31 feet - priced at the upper mid-market level. In 2007, Seminole Marine produced 850 boats.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When there are fewer buyers out there, you need to deliver a better product more efficiently and more timely. We continued a strong marketing campaign and got the best advice we could get from places like Georgia Tech,\u0022 Hoppes said. \u0022Companies that maintain that attitude will recover at five times the rate of companies that sit back and played it safe.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENot only has Seminole Marine not participated in a declining market, but it has thrived. Since implementing lean principles, the company has increased sales and productivity by 50 percent, increased profit by double digits, expanded the facility by 50 percent and has reduced setup and changeover times by 25 percent. Hoppes estimates that increased sales totaled $6 million and cost savings equated to $3 million. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDespite these impressive numbers, however, Hoppes said he is most proud of the advances the company has made with its employees. Seminole Marine, which offers medical benefits and 401Ks, is the third largest private employer in Grady County with 200 employees. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When we moved to south Georgia, one of the intangibles we didn\u0027t anticipate was the quality of people available to us. They are what you make them. Before the lean seminar, I hadn\u0027t really thought about how important it is to have teamwork, good morale and people all pulling in the same direction,\u0022 he said. \u0022You have two assets in business - your customers and your employees. The rest of it is scrap metal, and the auctioneers can prove it to you if you doubt it.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHoppes, who serves on the Industry Services Board for the Enterprise Innovation Institute, also stresses the correlation between a company\u0027s business associates and its success.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Unless you\u0027re born with expertise in all areas, you need people like those at Georgia Tech on your team. They have seen the very best of manufacturers and stay on the cutting edge of the most advanced techniques,\u0022 he said. \u0022It\u0027s been a great benefit to us and it\u0027s integral to our success.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Enterprise Innovation Institute\u003C\/strong\u003E:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe 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.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nEnterprise Innovation Institute\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:john.toon@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejohn.toon@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Nancy Fullbright (404-894-2214); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:nancy.fullbright@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Enancy.fullbright@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Nancy Fullbright\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Assistance with lean training cuts cost and boosts sales"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Asssistance from Georgia Tech\u0027s Enterprise Innovation Institute helped a south Georgia boat manufacturer dramatically boost sales while cutting costs.  The company is the third-largest employer in rural Grady County.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Lean principles helped boost sales for boat maker"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-12-21 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-12-21T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-12-21T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71570":{"id":"71570","type":"image","title":"boat building","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71570"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/innovate.gatech.edu\/","title":"Enterprise Innovation Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"}],"keywords":[{"id":"454","name":"growth"},{"id":"1676","name":"lean"},{"id":"215","name":"manufacturing"},{"id":"169561","name":"Sales"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71971":{"#nid":"71971","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Learn to Control Nanotube Dimensions","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMoving beyond carbon nanotubes, researchers are developing insights into a remarkable class of tubular nanomaterials that can be produced in water with a high degree of control over their diameter and length.  Based on metal oxides in combination with silicon and germanium, such single-walled inorganic nanotubes could be useful in a range of nanotechnology applications that require precise control over nanotube dimensions.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the Georgia Institute of Technology, researchers are studying the formation of these metal oxide nanotubes to understand the key factors that drive the emergence of nanotubes with specific diameters and lengths from a \u0027soup\u0027 of precursor chemicals dissolved in water.  Their goal is to develop general guidelines for controlling nanotube diameter with sub-nanometer precision and nanotube length with precision of a few nanometers.   \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESo far, the researchers have obtained encouraging results with a model system that produces aluminosilicogermanate (AlSiGeO) nanotubes.  The research, which was presented August 23rd at the 234th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, could open the door for developing a more general set of chemical \u0027rules\u0027 for dimensional control of nanotubes that could lead to a range of new applications for inorganic nanotubes and other nanometer-scale materials.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research has been sponsored by the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We have shown that there is a clearly quantifiable molecular-level structural and thermodynamic basis for tuning the diameter of these nanotubes,\u0022 said Sankar Nair, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.  \u0022We\u0027re interested in developing the science of these materials to the point that we can manipulate their curvature, length and internal structure in a sophisticated way through inexpensive water-based chemistry under mild conditions.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing chemical reactions carried out in water at less than 100 degrees Celsius, Nair\u0027s research team - which included graduate students Suchitra Konduri and Sanjoy Mukherjee - varied the germanium and silicon content during the nanotube synthesis and then quantitatively characterized the resulting nanotubes with a variety of analytical techniques to show a clear link between the nanotube composition and diameter.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESimultaneously, the group\u0027s molecular dynamics calculations showed a strong correlation between the composition, diameter and internal energy of the material.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There appear to be energy minima that favor or stabilize certain nanotube diameters because they have the lowest energy, and those stable diameters change with the composition of the material,\u0022 said Nair.  \u0022This shows that the nanotube dimensions are not just a fortuitous coincidence of the many synthesis parameters, but that there is an underlying thermodynamic basis arising from the subtle balance of interatomic forces within the material.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESpecifically, the molecular dynamics simulations - which are corroborated by the experiments - show that the variation of germanium and silicon content causes sheets of aluminum hydroxide to form nanotubes with diameters ranging from 1.5 to 4.8 nanometers and lengths of less than 100 nanometers.  If that turns out to be a general principle applicable to other metal oxides, it could be used to dramatically expand the catalog of nanotube structures available. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce the researchers fully understand the factors affecting the formation of nanotubes from aluminosilicogermanate materials, they hope to apply similar principles to other metal oxides.  The ultimate goal will be an ability to predictably vary the dimensions of nanotubes - and potentially other useful nanostructures - employing different chemical process conditions across a broader range of metal oxide materials.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022One can get a large range of useful properties with metal oxide materials,\u0022 Nair noted.  \u0022Almost all metals form oxides and many of them form layered sheet-like oxides, so if one can coax them into nanotube form with dimensions comparable to single-walled carbon nanotubes, the range of useful properties would be great.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EControlling the dimensions of nanostructures is critical because properties such as electronic band-gap depend strongly upon the dimensions.  Dimension control has proven to be difficult in carbon nanotube fabrication processes, leading to an entire area of research focused on purifying nanotubes of specific dimensions from an initial mixture of different sizes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If we are able to produce single-walled nanotubes of specific and controllable diameter with inexpensive water-based chemistry, devices based on them would perform in a consistent and predictable manner,\u0022 Nair explained.  \u0022If we could synthesize the same nanotube structure with predictably different diameters and lengths, we could tune the properties like the band-gap across a wide range.  We could even get a limited toolbox of materials to do many different things.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThough the chemical reactions that produce the metal oxide nanotubes are complicated, they occur over a period of days at low temperatures and can be carried out with simple laboratory apparatus.  That facilitates control over processing conditions and allows the researchers to track many different aspects of the reaction with a variety of characterization tools.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There is a lot of complex chemistry that can be done in the aqueous phase, which motivated us to understand the processes by which metal ions dissolved in water organize themselves together with oxygen into specific nanotubular arrangements, perhaps aided by water and other species present in the solution,\u0022 Nair added.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe metal oxide nanotubes have properties very different from those of carbon nanotubes, which have been studied heavily since they were discovered in the 1990s.  \u0022For example, the materials that we are working with are much more hydrophilic than carbon and can load nearly 50 percent of their weight with water,\u0022 Nair explained.  \u0022There is a whole range of behavior in oxide nanotubes that we cannot explore with carbon-based materials.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOther recent results of the group\u0027s research were published May 5 in the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of the American Chemical Society\u003C\/em\u003E, and have also been reported in the journals \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review B\u003C\/em\u003E and \u003Cem\u003EChemistry of Materials\u003C\/em\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Sankar Nair (404-894-4826); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:sankar.nair@chbe.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Esankar.nair@chbe.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Inorganic metal oxide nanostructures form in water-based solution"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Moving beyond carbon nanotubes, researchers are developing insights into a remarkable class of tubular metal-oxide nanomaterials that can be produced in water with a high degree of control over their diameter and length.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Metal oxide nanotubes offer new materials catalog"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-08-23 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71972":{"id":"71972","type":"image","title":"Molecular model of nanotubes","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71973":{"id":"71973","type":"image","title":"Researchers with model of nanotubes","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71974":{"id":"71974","type":"image","title":"Researchers with model of nanotubes","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71972","71973","71974"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemical \u0026 Biomolecular Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/nair.php","title":"Sankar Nair"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7552","name":"dimension"},{"id":"4249","name":"inorganic"},{"id":"7551","name":"metal-oxide"},{"id":"3246","name":"nanotubes"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71840":{"#nid":"71840","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Win $11.5 Million for Vaccine Delivery","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFlu vaccine delivered through painless microneedles in patches applied to the skin could soon be an alternative to delivery through hypodermic needles, according to researchers at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Using new grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) totaling approximately $11.5 million over five years, researchers from the two institutions plan to develop a new vaccine product using the microscopic needles.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A vaccine administered through a skin patch would have a number of advantages, including less discomfort to the recipients, lower cost and reduced production time,\u0022 said Richard Compans, professor of microbiology and immunology in the Emory School of Medicine.  \u0022Potentially, individuals could administer the vaccine to themselves, perhaps after receiving it in the mail.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech and Emory team plans to develop and assess the effectiveness of transdermal patches that include arrays of microscopic needles containing or coated with vaccine.  They hope to design patches that could be stored for long periods of time at room temperature and that will increase the breadth and duration of immunity to influenza - perhaps with smaller amounts of vaccine. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We expect that this research will lead to a better way of delivering the flu vaccine, which will allow more people who need it to receive the immunization in a convenient and effective way,\u0022 said Mark Prausnitz, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.  \u0022Beyond that, the possibility of replacing a hypodermic needle with a microneedle patch should significantly impact the way that other vaccines are delivered.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project team has extensive experience in microneedle development, influenza vaccines, vaccine delivery systems, product development and interdisciplinary collaboration.  Beyond influenza, the research could have implications for immunization programs in developing countries, where eliminating the use of hypodermic needles could make vaccines more widely available and address the problem of disease transmission caused by the re-use of conventional hypodermic needles.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn April the NIH awarded a $32.8 million, seven-year contract to Emory, along with the University of Georgia, to establish the Emory\/UGA Influenza Pathogenesis and Immunology Research Center, for which Compans is principal investigator. The center is working to improve the effectiveness of flu vaccines through a number of different projects studying how influenza viruses attack their hosts, how they are transmitted, and what new immune targets might be identified for antiviral medicines.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPrausnitz and his colleagues have been working since the mid 1990s to develop microneedle technology for painless drug and vaccine delivery through the skin. Much smaller than conventional hypodermic needles, the microneedles in the arrays are made of titanium, stainless steel or various polymers - including some that could dissolve into the skin, carrying vaccine with them.  The Georgia Tech team has also developed manufacturing processes for microneedle patches and tested the ability of the needles to deliver proteins, vaccines, nanoparticles, and small and large molecules through the skin.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We expect microneedles to be less painful than conventional hypodermic needles because they are too small to significantly stimulate nerve endings,\u0022 Prausnitz explained.  \u0022The NIH grants will allow us to move forward with perfecting the manufacturing process, refining the techniques for optimally inserting the microneedles into the skin and ensuring that vaccine delivered this way produces the necessary immune response.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECompans and Prausnitz are the principal investigators on these grants. Other members of the microneedle research teams include Emory microbiologists Joshy Jacob, David Steinhauer, Chinglai Yang, and Ioanna Skountzou, Georgia Tech bioengineers Mark Allen, Harvinder Gill and Vladimir Zarnitsyn, and pharmaceutical scientist James Birchall at Cardiff University.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon, Georgia Tech (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Holly Korschun, Emory (404-727-3990); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:hkorsch@emory.edu\u0022\u003Ehkorsch@emory.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech \u0026 Emory University to use microneedle patches for painless flu vaccinations"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Flu vaccine delivered through painless microneedles in patches applied to the skin could soon be an alternative to delivery through hypodermic needles, according to researchers at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Microneedle patches offer painless vaccination"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-10-03 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71841":{"id":"71841","type":"image","title":"Researchers Compans \u0026 Prausnitz","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71842":{"id":"71842","type":"image","title":"Microneedle array","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71843":{"id":"71843","type":"image","title":"Microneedle array","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71841","71842","71843"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/prausnitz.php","title":"Mark Prausnitz"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.med.emory.edu\/","title":"Emory University School of Medicine"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemical \u0026 Biomolecular Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.microbiology.emory.edu\/","title":"Emory University Microbiology and Immunology"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.microbiology.emory.edu\/compans_r.html","title":"Richard Compans"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"296","name":"Flu"},{"id":"765","name":"influenza"},{"id":"494","name":"Microneedle"},{"id":"7537","name":"patch"},{"id":"763","name":"vaccine"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71836":{"#nid":"71836","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Receives $13 Million from Agilent","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has announced an agreement with Agilent Technologies Inc. to supply its electronic design automation (EDA) software, support, and training to a new center at the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) in Atlanta. This donation, valued at just over $13 million, is one of the largest that Agilent has made to a single university.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new, dedicated Agilent EDA Simulation Center will provide radio frequency (RF) and microwave system and circuit design instruction and additional software design capabilities to Georgia Tech students, and will provide licenses at no cost or at greatly discounted rates to start-ups in wireless communications design at GEDC.   \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe venture, located at Georgia Tech\u0027s Technology Square, is expected to be fully operational by year\u0027s end. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are excited about Agilent\u0027s participation with us.  The company\u0027s EDA tools help us continue to advance the technology and support our students, as well as to encourage and support commercial innovation,\u0022 said Joy Laskar, director of the GEDC and Schlumberger Chair in Microelectronics in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). \u0022We also want to contribute to the success of other academic and non-profit institutions through sharing our experience in this partnership with Agilent, and we are making plans to release large portions of work using the Agilent EEsof EDA platforms for academic use.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe deal marks a significant expansion of the long-standing relationship between Georgia Tech and Agilent and is a key part of Agilent\u0027s strategy to develop extensive relationships with key universities worldwide through the newly created Agilent EEsof EDA University Alliance program.  It includes a tailored, three-year custom license program to provide access to the complete line of Agilent EEsof EDA tools to start-up companies during their critical formative periods.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is one of the largest academic donations of Agilent EEsof products to a single institution to date,\u0022 said Jim McGillivary, vice president and general manager with Agilent\u0027s EEsof EDA division. \u0022We realize that universities and startup incubator programs play a crucial role in pushing the limits of EDA tools. They consistently ask for and expect Agilent to offer integrated and leading simulation technology in all areas, and we are pleased to support their efforts.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAcademic uses of the Agilent EEsof Simulation Center at GEDC will focus on Agilent EEsof\u0027s Advanced Design System (ADS), the 3D Electromagnetic Design System (EMDS) 3D EM simulator and the AMDS simulator that incorporates antenna EM simulation technology recently acquired by Agilent. The center will also be the world\u0027s largest academic installation of Agilent\u0027s Golden Gate simulator in a parallel processor environment. Golden Gate offers the ability to simulate complex CMOS RFIC designs, including complete network parasitic elements, in production scale SOC implementations. Initial plans include a 60 parallel core configuration. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are grateful for Agilent\u0027s continued support of GEDC and ECE. By using these specialized tools on a regular basis, students will have important technical concepts enhanced and reinforced that they are learning in our electronics and electromagnetics courses. Upon graduation, our students will be ready to actively contribute to their employers in academia and industry,\u0022 said Gary S. May, Steve W. Chaddick School Chair of Georgia Tech\u0027s ECE.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Georgia Tech is uniquely positioned within our Agilent EEsof University Alliance program to expand research and development activities in tandem with Agilent EEsof products,\u0022 said Todd Cutler, product marketing manager with Agilent\u0027s EEsof EDA division. \u0022The energy, enthusiasm and drive of academics and small companies spark development of new RF and microwave design innovations that our enterprise customers can adopt and run with. It\u0027s really exciting for all of us.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAgilent also plans to offer customer training at the GEDC\u0027s Agilent EDA Simulation Center.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA ribbon-cutting ceremony for the EDA Simulation Center at the GEDC in Atlanta is planned for October 30, 2007 at 4:30 p.m. ET. The event will take place at the Technology Square Research Building, located at 85 5th Street, on the Georgia Tech campus. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAdditional information about Agilent\u0027s EDA software offerings is available at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.agilent.com\/find\/eesof\u0022 title=\u0022www.agilent.com\/find\/eesof\u0022\u003Ewww.agilent.com\/find\/eesof\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Agilent Technologies\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAgilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is the world\u0027s premier measurement company and a technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The company\u0027s 19,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenue of $5.0 billion in fiscal year 2006. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.agilent.com\u0022 title=\u0022www.agilent.com\u0022\u003Ewww.agilent.com\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the nation\u0027s premiere research universities. Ranked seventh among U.S. News \u0026amp; World Report\u0027s top public universities, Georgia Tech\u0027s 17,000 students are enrolled in its Colleges of Architecture, Computing, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Management and Sciences. Tech is among the nation\u0027s top producers of women and African-American engineers. The Institute offers research opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students and is home to more than 100 interdisciplinary units plus the Georgia Tech Research Institute. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) is the largest of nine schools and departments in the College of Engineering and the largest individual school at the Georgia Institute of Technology. All ECE undergraduate and graduate programs are in the top 10 of the most recent college rankings by U.S. News \u0026amp; World Report. More than 2,300 students are enrolled in the School\u0027s graduate and undergraduate programs, and in the last academic year, 712 degrees were awarded. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMore than 110 ECE faculty members are involved in 10 areas of research and education - bioengineering, computer engineering, digital signal processing, electric power, electromagnetics, electronic design and applications, microsystems, optics and photonics, systems and controls, and telecommunications. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the Georgia Electronic Design Center \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) supports world-class research, active and solution-oriented industry collaboration, intellectual property generation and revenue generating commercialization efforts. GEDC attracts funding support from federal laboratories and industry partners. GEDC\u0027s research is broadly focused on fostering technology at the intersection of today\u0027s communications applications: wireless\/RF, wired\/copper and fiber channels. The activities of GEDC provide the state of Georgia the opportunity to grow and expand its technology leadership in the design of broadband (high-speed) communications systems, devices and integrated circuits. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Center is specifically focused on enabling the mobile Internet with innovative research on mixed-signal systems that are at the boundary between telecommunications, microelectronics, analog\/RF and sensing technologies. These efforts produce partnerships with industry that attract new jobs to the state and support smaller, start-up companies that create new jobs for Georgians. Additional information about Georgia Tech and GEDC is available at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\u0022 title=\u0022www.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ewww.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gedcenter.org\u0022 title=\u0022www.gedcenter.org\u0022\u003Ewww.gedcenter.org\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Co\u003C\/strong\u003Entacts: John Toon, Research News and Publications Office (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Jackie Nemeth, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (404-894-2906); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Gift will establish new electronic design automation simulation center"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech has announced an agreement with Agilent Technologies Inc. to supply its electronic design automation (EDA) software, support, and training to a new center at the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) in Atlanta.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"$13 million gift creates design automation center"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-10-04 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-04T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-04T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71837":{"id":"71837","type":"image","title":"GEDC chips","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71838":{"id":"71838","type":"image","title":"High-frequency lab","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71837","71838"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gedcenter.org\/","title":"Georgia Electronic Design Center"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"6503","name":"automation"},{"id":"823","name":"design"},{"id":"4186","name":"electronic"},{"id":"3192","name":"GEDC"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJackie Nemeth\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EContact Jackie Nemeth\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-2906\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71962":{"#nid":"71962","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Simpler Radium Test Cuts Analysis Time","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA simpler technique for testing public drinking water samples for the presence of the radioactive element radium can dramatically reduce the amount of time required to conduct the sampling required by federal regulations.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved use of the new testing method.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe technique - developed by Bernd Kahn, director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute\u0027s (GTRI) Environmental Radiation Center (ERC), and GTRI senior research scientist Robert Rosson - became advantageous when the EPA established new radionuclide drinking water standards in 2000.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile radium is found at low concentrations in soil, water, plants and food, the greatest potential for human exposure to radium is through drinking water. Research shows that inhalation, injection, ingestion or body exposure to relatively large amounts of radium can cause cancer and other disorders. Since radium is chemically similar to calcium, it has the potential to cause harm by replacing calcium in bones. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a result, drinking water systems are now required to sample and report on the amounts of two isotopes, radium-226 and radium-228, that are sometimes found in drinking water supplies.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The Georgia Department of Natural Resources recognized the applicability and benefits of our method because of the new rules and proposed it to the EPA in 2002,\u0022 said Kahn.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new method developed at GTRI requires only two steps. First, hydrochloric acid and barium chloride are added to a sample of water and heated to boiling. Then concentrated sulfuric acid is added and the radium precipitate is collected, dried and weighed. The samples are then counted with a gamma-ray spectrometry system to determine the content of radium-226 and radium-228. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA gamma-ray spectrometer determines the energy and the count rate of gamma rays emitted by radioactive substances. When these emissions are collected and analyzed, an energy spectrum can be produced. A detailed analysis of this spectrum is used to determine the identity and quantity of radioisotopes present in the source.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The old method took four hours for each type of radium you needed to test-totaling eight hours for radium-226 and radium-228,\u0022 said Rosson. \u0022Our method does the two tests simultaneously and it takes about half an hour of actual technician time.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPreviously approved EPA methods for measuring radium required several isolation and purification steps involving sequential precipitations from large sample volumes and sometimes liquid-liquid extractions. They all ended with a complicated final preparation step before measurement with an alpha scintillation detection system. The scintillation detector detects and counts the flashes of light that are produced when a radioactive substance interacts with a special coating on the inside of the detection container.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe EPA\u0027s December 2007 deadline requiring every water supply be tested for radium-228 and gross alpha radioactivity greatly increased the number of radium-228 measurements required, as well as the likelihood both radium-226 and radium-228 must be measured in the same sample, also increasing the number of measurements required.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIf the total radium concentration measured is above five picocuries per liter, then the water supply is out of compliance and radium-226 and radium-228 must be measured quarterly. This may require the water source to be replaced or treated to reduce the radium concentration. If the amount of radioactivity measured is less than five picocuries per liter, samples may be collected at three-, six- or nine-year intervals. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince the EPA approved this new testing procedure in July 2006, GTRI\u0027s ERC has been able to use the testing method they developed to analyze water samples from Georgia\u0027s Department of Natural Resources.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We analyze about 1,200 samples per year for them. With 3,000 to 6,000 water supply entry points in Georgia, we\u0027re not done yet,\u0022 noted Rosson.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince the new rules were published on March 12 in the \u003Cem\u003EFederal Register\u003C\/em\u003E, the official publication of rules from U.S. government agencies, Rosson and Kahn have received dozens of requests for the testing procedure. Departments of natural resources around the country are interested in saving time and money by using GTRI\u0027s procedure that tests for radium-226 and radium-228, according to Rosson.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Robert Rosson (404-407-6339); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:robert.rosson@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Erobert.rosson@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Technique helps ensure safe drinking water"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A simpler technique for testing public drinking water samples for the presence of the radioactive element radium can dramatically reduce the amount of time required to conduct the sampling required by federal regulations.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New technique makes testing for radium simpler"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-08-28 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71963":{"id":"71963","type":"image","title":"Radium testing","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71964":{"id":"71964","type":"image","title":"Radium testing","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71965":{"id":"71965","type":"image","title":"Test sample","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71963","71964","71965"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"472","name":"epa"},{"id":"7550","name":"radium"},{"id":"156","name":"testing"},{"id":"788","name":"Water"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71832":{"#nid":"71832","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Boosts Video Gaming Industry","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe first video game debuted in 1958, but it wasn\u0027t until the early 1970s that this new diversion began to catch on, emerging first in bowling-alley and bar arcades and then spreading to consumers\u0027 homes via personal computers.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFast-forward to today: Video gaming has become one of the fastest-growing forms of entertainment. According to a recent study sponsored by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA):\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E- Sales of video-game software in the United States totaled $8.2 billion in 2004 - not far behind the music industry, which generated $11.4 billion the same year.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E- By 2010, U.S. sales of video games are expected to grow to $15 billion.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E- Video gaming is expected to generate more than 250,000 jobs by 2009, a 75 percent increase over the industry\u0027s 144,000 full-time positions in 2004.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe New Golf\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat\u0027s caused video games to evolve from a boutique market to a bona fide industry? Experts point to a myriad of reasons, including more powerful central processing units (CPUs) and advanced technology for sound, video, 3-D art and motion in game play.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Digital media lets you describe the world in ways that older media couldn\u0027t,\u0022 observes Janet Murray, a professor and director of graduate studies at Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Literature, Communication and Culture (LCC). \u0022Technology allows us to create imaginary worlds that people can act in. We can set up games that are more challenging and have more variety because they are procedurally created by making up rules in the computer. In contrast to a traditional board game, like Monopoly, which can only do one thing, the computer is tireless.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMichael Nitsche, an assistant professor at LCC, points out that Hollywood films and related video games are often released at the same time. \u0022This blurring of boundaries between media is putting video games more into the limelight,\u0022 says Nitsche. \u0022Plus, we have a longer history of video gaming now, which means a bigger, older and sometimes more mature fan base.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EStereotypes suggest that video gaming is primarily for adolescents, but ESA statistics show the market is much broader. According to the organization, 69 percent of American heads of household played video games in 2005. The average age of gamers was 33 years, and 25 percent of players were older than 50.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECelia Pearce, an LCC assistant professor who heads up the Experimental Game Lab, studies both female and older players. \u0022There\u0027s a popular misconception that older gamers, especially women, are only playing casual games,\u0022 she says. \u0022It turns out that Baby Boomer gamers are hard core players, though they have very different practices and preferences than the groups for which the industry typically develops and markets games. Plus, they are spending a lot more money.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPearce sees a demographic shift as gamers get older, and older people get into gaming. The Nintendo Wii machine is leading this shift with aggressive marketing to Baby Boomers and women. \u0022They even had a booth at the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) National Event and Expo, which is an all-time first for a game company,\u0022 Pearce notes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EVideo games, it seems, have gone beyond mainstream and captured audiences early developers never imagined.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In many ways, video gaming is becoming the new golf,\u0022 says Christopher Klaus, founder and CEO of Kaneva, an Atlanta startup focused on building a 3-D virtual entertainment world. (Klaus also founded Internet Security Systems, which IBM purchased recently for $1.3 billion.)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022While players are on a game quest, they\u0027re also building friendships and bonds with other people - similar to golf,\u0022 explains Klaus. In addition to developing an innovative virtual entertainment world, Kaneva also plans to let subscribers use its platform to engineer their own virtual world or video games.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe term \u0027video games\u0027 comes with a lot of baggage, Klaus continues: \u0022Most people think video games are just for kids. Yet this technology is becoming part of our social fabric and culture. It goes beyond being just a game; it becomes part of your identity.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBeyond Entertainment\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat\u0027s more, gaming technology has transferred to other industries, ranging from health care to defense, where it is used for educational and training simulations.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETake Persuasive Games, an Atlanta startup launched by Ian Bogost, an assistant professor at Georgia Tech\u0027s LCC. Among its products, Persuasive Games has developed a game for Cold Stone Creamery that teaches employees about portion sizes and how they affect profitability.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother game helps grade-school students learn about the science behind telecommunications technologies.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBogost, who is interested in how games can argue position and attempt to convince people of a particular belief, has also created a number of public-policy games, such as \u0027Take Back Illinois.\u0027 Sponsored by the Illinois Republican Party, this game challenges players to explore four issues tied to the 2004 state elections.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESparking innovation in hardware, SimCraft - a member company of Georgia Tech\u0027s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) - is introducing a low-cost, military-grade, full-motion simulator that provides a simulated G-force for SimRacing and FlightSim at home.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESimCraft\u0027s system features a patent-pending chassis that rotates around three degrees of freedom. At its most advanced setup, the system allows the cockpit\u0027s occupant to yaw up to 50 degrees to the left and right, pitch up to 30 degrees fore and aft, and roll up to 50 degrees port and starboard.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Some experts believe that the physical, tactile element is the most significant factor affecting the realism of any vehicle simulation, \u0022 says Sean MacDonald, SimCraft\u0027s CEO. \u0022A sense of realism is particularly important if you\u0027re using a simulator for training, because it makes learning more intuitive and fun - and consequently more efficient.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EInitially, the company is focusing on simulations for amateur race car drivers and general aviation pilots because they receive dual benefits in both training and entertainment at home.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Since racing and flying are so expensive, a simulator allows enthusiasts in these hobbies to subsidize actual racing or fl ying with realistic simulation,\u0022 says MacDonald. \u0022It is a safe, convenient and cost-eff ective way for them to enjoy their hobby and get better at it in the comfort of their home.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESimCraft\u0027s technology also has broad applications that include more generalized video gaming entertainment and military defense training.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOn the Upswing\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia\u0027s video-gaming industry is relatively small but poised for growth, say observers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The overall gaming industry is experiencing tremendous growth and we believe that Georgia has the ingredients to be a hub of activity,\u0022 says Tony Antoniades, general manager of the ATDC. \u0022From the design industry in Savannah to the computing and visualization expertise in Atlanta, we expect to see more great gaming technologies over the next few years.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKaneva\u0027s Klaus is also upbeat. \u0022If there\u0027s one industry that Atlanta could jump into, it\u0027s video games. We can leverage the high-tech foundation that already exists here,\u0022 he says, noting that ISS alone employs some 300 engineers in the metro area. \u0022If you look at where entertainment is going, it\u0027s all about high tech. Today, entertainment is being driven by how good the technology is.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the Atlanta region, video gaming is a comeback story of sorts. For in the early 1990s, there were a number of game studios here, including divisions at IBM and Turner Broadcasting. \u0022But then the market shifted from PCs to console gaming, and both IBM and Turner shut down their gaming groups,\u0022 says Marcus Matthews, CEO and co-founder of Blue Heat Games, an up-and- coming developer of wireless video games.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMatthews, a graduate of Georgia Tech\u0027s Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, was working for Turner at the time of the downturn. He relocated to San Francisco where he joined Sega of America and eventually ran its sports group, which generated about $100 million in revenue.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EYet Matthews had an entrepreneurial itch that led him back to Georgia to launch Blue Heat in 2001. \u0022I felt there was a lot of untapped talent in Atlanta - plus the cost of living was lower here,\u0022 he explains. Blue Heat, which counts 16 employees, has shipped more than 30 mobile games during the past four years including one on Jimmy Neutron, a movie and TV character that Nickelodeon is distributing.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBlue Heat is one of some 60 companies working in Georgia\u0027s video-game arena, says Clinton Lowe, founder of the Georgia Game Developers Association, Inc. (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ggda.org\u0022 title=\u0022www.ggda.org\u0022\u003Ewww.ggda.org\u003C\/a\u003E), a nonprofi t trade organization focused on growing the state\u0027s gaming industry.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I see video games as a new market for Georgia - one that, if we make some fundamental investments, will explode,\u0022 says Lowe. Among positive signs, the Georgia General Assembly recently passed tax credits aimed at game developers and film companies that base production activities, such as editing, animation and coding, in the state.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhy care about video gaming? For one thing, the industry provides high-paying jobs that could help ease the economic sting of Georgia\u0027s eroding manufacturing base. According to ESA statistics, entry-level game developers earn $67,000 per year.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EVideo-game development is high science, providing white-collar, intellectual jobs, Lowe notes. Today\u0027s game development teams must have expertise in a wide range of skill sets, including 3-D graphics, architectural engineering, artificial intelligence, computer networking, databases, mathematics, physics, digital sound and more.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEducating the Next Generation\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEducation is one advantage that the state already has in its favor, for Georgia Tech is a magnet school for video gaming.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When game companies hire employees, Georgia Tech is one of three schools that they turn to,\u0022 says LCC\u0027s Murray, noting the other two schools are Carnegie Mellon and the University of Southern California. \u0022We\u0027re supplying the next generation of game designers and we\u0027re training them in a way that employers can\u0027t get elsewhere.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has offered a master\u0027s degree in digital media since 1993. In 2004, the school expanded its offerings by launching both a Ph.D. program in digital media and an undergraduate degree in computational media, the latter being a joint program between the College of Computing and LCC. Currently there are about 40 graduate students and 200 undergraduate students in the three degree programs.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022More than half of the undergraduate students in computational media are interested in the video-game industry, which is difficult to get into,\u0022 says Blair MacIntyre, an associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Interactive Computing, which is part of the College of Computing. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our program sets students apart from other people,\u0022 he adds. \u0022The degree puts them in a position to bridge the gap between art and technology and get them into production management as opposed to being down in the trenches.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EStrengthening Georgia\u0027s video-gaming industry would not only improve the state\u0027s economy, but also prevent brain drain. \u0022If graduates are getting into video games, they\u0027re more than likely relocating to the West Coast,\u0022 says GGDA\u0027s Lowe. \u0022That\u0027s a tremendous loss of human capital for the state of Georgia. We\u0027re spending tax dollars to educate students and then letting them go.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo bolster gaming, Lowe would like to see more venture capital flowing toward video-game startups. That\u0027s because the average cost of developing a video game today has soared from about $40,000 to $10 million during the last decade. \u0022One of the things GGDA is doing is to help companies learn to speak the language of capital sources and learn how to approach venture capitalists,\u0022 says Lowe.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAttracting a major video publishing company would also be a plus, Lowe adds. Publishers have muscle in managing intellectual property - an area where small design studios typically are weak.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOn Matthews\u0027 wish list: recruiting more senior-level talent to Georgia. \u0022We have a good pipeline school, but we also need seasoned people who can avoid making mistakes - and that\u0027s something that only comes from years of experience in an industry,- he explains.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EStill, Matthews remains optimistic. \u0022We\u0027re starting to get a nucleus of companies and talent that are doing things,\u0022 he says. \u0022Georgia has the right pieces in place - state incentives, business and technical talent, the right cost structure - it\u0027s just a matter of time.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis article originally appeared in the Summer 2007 issue of Research Horizons Magazine.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: T.J. Becker\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Games are a pervasive form of entertainment and an industry Georgia wants to grow"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"The video gaming industry is growing, with U.S. sales expected to hit $15 billion in 2010.  Georgia Tech is playing an important role in supporting the new industry.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The video gaming industry is growing in Georgia"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-10-06 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71833":{"id":"71833","type":"image","title":"Janet Murray","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71834":{"id":"71834","type":"image","title":"Ian Bogost","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71835":{"id":"71835","type":"image","title":"Simcraft","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71833","71834","71835"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Computing"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.lcc.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Literature, Communication, and Culture"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bogost.com\/","title":"Ian Bogost"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.lcc.gatech.edu\/~murray\/","title":"Janet Murray"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cpandfriends.com\/","title":"Celia Pearce"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4709","name":"entertainment"},{"id":"198","name":"game"},{"id":"3161","name":"industry"},{"id":"197","name":"video"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71915":{"#nid":"71915","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Ga. Tech TV Spot Showcases Innovation and Tradition","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen thinking of the Georgia Institute of Technology, two key attributes consistently come to mind - innovation and tradition. A recent challenge for Georgia Tech\u0027s communications team was developing a television spot that would demonstrate, in just 30 seconds, the Institute\u0027s long tradition of being a technological leader, while also capturing more than 100 years of school spirit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs with most public universities, resources are limited and tackling such a project in-house creates additional challenges. However, Georgia Tech\u0027s communications and marketing team approached the project like most Tech students and faculty - by applying a creative approach with the latest technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFrom the start, the team was determined to avoid typical images found in university promotional spots often featuring idyllic campus scenes, students studying and labs brimming with test tubes. Instead, the team selected imagery that exemplifies one of the Institute\u0027s many flagship technologies - robotics. Georgia Tech\u0027s Center for Robotics and Intelligent Machines, for example, is helping to position the university as a global leader within these promising, revolutionary new technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe next challenge was figuring out how to use robotics to capture the spirit and legacy of Georgia Tech. With one of the country\u0027s most recognized fight songs, the communications team knew that including, \u0027The Ramblin\u0027 Wreck from Georgia Tech,\u0027 would do just that. The idea was to introduce the fight song by showing a robotic arm and hand tapping out ringtones on a phone which eventually transitioned to a traditional recording of the fight song sung by the Georgia Tech Glee Club.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We designed this spot to capture the viewers by opening with dramatic music and imagery, then hold them with the \u0027Ramblin\u0027 Wreck\u0027 song for the message,\u0022 said James Fetig, associate vice president for Georgia Tech\u0027s Institute Communications and Public Affairs.\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u0022While there are several robotic arms in research labs on campus, none have the dexterity to play the song on the phone like we were envisioning,\u0022 Fetig explained. \u0022To improvise, one of our Web developers created a computer-generated version of a robotic arm. Though the final version of the spot may make the robotic arm seem simplistic, development took more than 90 hours to render.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E The spot does not feature people and immediately captures attention with compelling music and close-up imagery of the robotic arm - so close that the viewer might not initially know what the object is. With such a captivating opening, viewers are easily drawn into a futuristic environment. There are no voiceovers, just concise text at the end of the spot displaying the message, \u0027Legendary Heritage, Limitless Future,\u0027 along with the Georgia Institute of Technology logo.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo add a hint of humor, the spot cleverly ends with the robotic arm gesturing the \u0027No. 1\u0027 with its index finger and \u0027dancing\u0027 to the tune of the fight song. \u0022The humorous ending helps illustrate how much fun students can have at Tech,\u0022 said Fetig.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe spot, which debuted during the Georgia Tech-Notre Dame game, will be used to promote Georgia Tech during the football and basketball seasons.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Robotic Arm Unexpected Component of New Tech Spot"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen thinking of the Georgia Institute of Technology, two key attributes consistently come to mind - innovation and tradition. A recent challenge for Georgia Tech\u0027s communications team was developing a television spot that would demonstrate, in just 30 seconds, the Institute\u0027s long tradition of being a technological leader, while also capturing more than 100 years of school spirit.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Robotic Arm Unexpected Component of New Tech Spot"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-09-12 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:18","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2016","name":"PSA"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"2275","name":"TV spot"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72014":{"#nid":"72014","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Top Producer of African-American Engineers","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology is the top overall producer of African-American engineers in the United States, according to \u003Cem\u003EDiverse: Issues in Higher Education\u003C\/em\u003E magazine\u0027s annual college rankings report.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the 2005-2006 academic year, Georgia Tech was ranked No. 1 in undergraduate degrees in engineering awarded to African-American students with 120 degrees, up from 117 during the 2004-2005 academic year.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOther top five degree producers at the undergraduate level include North Carolina A\u0026amp;T State University, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, Southern University and A\u0026amp;M College and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022These rankings represent Georgia Tech\u0027s continued efforts to attract and graduate top minority students in engineering,\u0022 said President G. Wayne Clough. \u0022Given the growing need in our state and around the nation for talented citizens, we are proud of Tech\u0027s role as a national leader in creating and maintaining a supportive educational environment for minority students.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech was also the No. 1 producer of African-American doctoral graduates in engineering with 11 graduates, up from 4 the previous academic year.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOther top five producers of African-American doctoral engineering graduates include Morgan State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Florida and North Carolina A\u0026amp;T State University.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech was No. 2 in engineering master\u0027s degrees awarded to African-American students with 28 degrees, down slightly from 29 during the previous academic year when Tech held the top spot.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe top spot for master\u0027s degrees awarded to African-American engineering students is now held by North Carolina A\u0026amp;T State University, a historically black university. Other top five producers include Southern Methodist University, University of Florida and University of Michigan.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EConsidered by Georgia Tech to be an important tool to measure the success of campus diversity initiatives, the rankings underscore Tech\u0027s efforts to create a diverse campus through strong recruitment and retention practices. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022These rankings are a truly meaningful measurement of Georgia Tech\u0027s continued efforts to create an educational environment where minority students can thrive,\u0022 said Dr. Gary May, chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founder and director of Facilitating Academic Careers in Engineering and Science (FACES), a program designed to encourage minority engagement in engineering and science careers. \u0022Georgia Tech\u0027s performance over the past decade in producing African-American engineers at all degree levels has been phenomenal.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of Tech\u0027s most successful minority recruitment projects is FOCUS, an annual event designed to attract the country\u0027s finest minority undergraduates to its graduate programs. Each year, African-American students from more than 80 colleges and universities across the nation attend the three-day series of lectures, tours, panel discussions and social events. The event, which is held annually during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, is now in its 16th year. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, Georgia Tech has a solid relationship with the historically black institutions in the Atlanta area that make up the Atlanta University Center, which include Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morris Brown College, Spelman College, Morehouse School of Medicine and the Interdenominational Theological Center. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDiverse: Issues in Higher Education\u003C\/em\u003E, a publication that covers minorities in American higher education, used statistics collected by the U.S. Department of Education to compile the rankings edition. The special report identifies the top 100 minority degree producers among institutions of higher education and is the only national report of U.S. colleges and universities awarding degrees to African-American, Latino, Asian-American and Native-American students. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe report was released as a two-part series spotlighting undergraduate and graduate statistics. Graduate and professional degree statistics appear in the July 12 edition of \u003Cem\u003EDiverse\u003C\/em\u003E. Undergraduate statistics were released in the magazine\u0027s June 1 edition.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech is the top producer of African-American engineering graduates in the United States, according to recently released rankings from \u003Cem\u003EDiverse: Issues In Higher Education\u003C\/em\u003E.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Tech ranked No. 1 by Diverse: Issues in Higher Ed"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-07-16 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:18","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-07-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-07-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72015":{"id":"72015","type":"image","title":"African-American graduate","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"}},"media_ids":["72015"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.diverseeducation.com\/","title":"Diverse: Issues in Higher Education"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.focus.gatech.edu\/","title":"FOCUS program at Georgia Tech"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.faces.gatech.edu\/2007\/","title":"FACES program at Georgia Tech"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2335","name":"African-American engineers"},{"id":"2338","name":"Diverse: Issues in Higher Education"},{"id":"2337","name":"FACES"},{"id":"2336","name":"FOCUS"},{"id":"834","name":"Rankings"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71887":{"#nid":"71887","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech\/Emory Center to Study Origin of Life","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology and Emory University have received a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish \u0022The Origins Project,\u0022 a center for integrated research, education and public outreach focused on the chemistry that may have led to the origin of life. The center also includes the participation of Spelman College in Atlanta and Jackson State University in Mississippi.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe NSF is supporting The Origins Project as part of an effort to address \u0022big picture\u0022 questions in chemistry through the formation of Chemical Bonding Centers (CBC).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our ultimate goal is to understand which molecules and which chemical reactions started life on Earth around 3 billion years ago, and to engage the public in this scientific quest,\u0022 said Nicholas Hud, associate professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Georgia Tech and principal investigator of The Origins Project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We now know the molecular coding sequence for the human genome, a scientific achievement that seemed very remote two decades ago. We believe it is also only a matter of time and effort before we will know what is required to get life started,\u0022 said Emory\u0027s David Lynn, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Chemistry and Biology. Lynn will co-lead the center.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe CBC program is designed to support the formation of centers that can address major, long-term basic chemical research problems that have the potential to produce both transformative research and innovation in the field. The Georgia Tech-Emory grant is Phase I funding; at the end of Phase I in three years, the NSF may choose to approve The Origins Project for Phase II funding, which will provide up to $15 million over five years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe center\u0027s research will seek to understand what molecules were present on the prebiotic earth, and to understand how molecular building blocks that are either identical or similar to ones found in life today can spontaneously form larger molecules, similar to proteins and DNA, that are essential for life to exist.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are particularly excited about the outreach projects of the center that involve college and high school students,\u0022 said Hud. \u0022The origin of life is one of the most intriguing questions of all time and one that can certainly attract young people to the field of chemistry, an area of national need.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The creation of this center in Atlanta also provides us outreach opportunities for dialogue and discussion around some of the more divisive issues between science and religion and the origin of life,\u0022said Lynn.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s a big puzzle,\u0022 said Hud. \u0022We will be looking at several chemical hypotheses regarding the origin of life. We want to understand the formation of the first lifelike polymers, and from that point understand the evolution of these polymers into something that could have given rise to life as we know it.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology and Emory University have received a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish \u0022The Origins Project,\u0022 a center for integrated research, education and public outreach focused on the chemistry that may have led to the origin of life.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"NSF creates Tech\/Emory Chemical Bonding Center"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-09-17 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:18","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71888":{"id":"71888","type":"image","title":"Earth","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71888"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.chemistry.emory.edu\/faculty\/lynn.html","title":"David Lynn"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/faculty\/Hud\/","title":"Nicholas Hud"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2274","name":"cbc"},{"id":"247","name":"Emory"},{"id":"190","name":"HUD"},{"id":"2273","name":"life"},{"id":"363","name":"NSF"},{"id":"2272","name":"origin"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71987":{"#nid":"71987","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Innovator Heads to United Technologies Corp.","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute Deputy Director Dr. David E. Parekh will be leaving Georgia Tech to take a high-level position with United Technologies Corp. in East Hartford, Conn.  Effective September 10, Parekh will become director of the United Technologies Research Center and the company\u0027s vice president for research. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EParekh, 46, has been deputy director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) since 2003.  At GTRI, Parekh has had primary responsibility for research operations, business development, commercialization, and the institute\u0027s internal research portfolio.  He has also served concurrently as associate vice provost for research for the Georgia Institute of Technology and as president of Georgia Tech Ireland (GT Ireland), the university\u0027s nonprofit corporation.  He led the team that created GT Ireland, which was founded in 2006 to conduct basic and applied research programs with multinational corporations and universities in Europe.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHis tenure at GTRI included increasing levels of executive leadership within the institute\u0027s Aerospace, Transportation and Advanced Systems laboratory, where he directed the pursuit of innovative research and advanced technical support for the aerospace, transportation and energy markets. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022David epitomizes creativity and innovation and he is very deserving of this wonderful opportunity, but we are sad to see him go,\u0022 said GTRI Director and Georgia Tech Vice President Dr. Stephen E. Cross.  \u0022His years at Georgia Tech have been filled with many firsts.  He routinely made the impossible possible and motivated the rest of us to do the same.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EParekh founded the first major Georgia Tech research center focused on fuel cells, supervised Ph.D. students who built one of the world\u0027s first fuel cell-powered unmanned aerial vehicles to fly using compressed hydrogen, and launched GT Ireland, the university\u0027s first international research institute, Cross added.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELeadership of the GT Ireland initiative will be assumed by Cross.  The initiative was announced in June 2006 and now includes five employees based in Ireland, projected to grow to 50 full-time employees and researchers.  The international research operation has also gained widespread support from influential Irish government and corporate leaders including Ireland President Mary McAleese, who visited Georgia Tech last April.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Over the past year a tremendous amount of work has been done to establish Georgia Tech Ireland as a vibrant and unique research institute,\u0022 said Parekh.  \u0022I am proud of the strong leadership and research team we have assembled and I have no doubt that the best is yet to come.  The right people and partnerships are in place to ensure a very bright future for GT Ireland.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEarlier in his career, Parekh held several prominent program leadership and principal investigator roles at Boeing Phantom Works and in the McDonnell Douglas Research Laboratories.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs UTRC director, Parekh will be responsible for advancing the corporation\u0027s commitment to growth through technology and innovation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022David is an outstanding scientist with proven expertise in identifying and guiding research and innovation across a broad range of aerospace and commercial technologies,\u0022 said Dr. J. Michael McQuade, UTC senior vice president, science and technology. \u0022He is well-suited to the unique leadership role at UTRC, which pursues fundamental technologies to enable the growth of UTC\u0027s current and future businesses.  We look forward to the successes David will inspire and direct in filling this vital role for UTC.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EParekh holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering and master\u0027s degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering from Stanford University, as well as a bachelor\u0027s degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFounded in 1929, United Technologies Research Center provides advanced technologies, innovative thinking and disciplined research in aerospace propulsion, building infrastructure and services, heating and air conditioning, fire and security systems and power generation.  UTRC is located in East Hartford, Conn.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Georgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/strong\u003E \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Approximately 1,300 employees perform or support more than $130 million in research yearly for hundreds of clients in industry and government.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor nearly 75 years, GTRI has solved some of the toughest technical problems confronting federal, state, local and international government agencies, industrial firms, academic institutions and private organizations. More than 70 percent of GTRI\u0027s research personnel hold advanced degrees, and all are committed to an independent, unbiased approach to solving problems. GTRI\u0027s close ties to Georgia Tech\u0027s academic faculty provide additional talent and knowledge for meeting today\u0027s most difficult technological and engineering challenges.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI research is conducted in seven laboratories, in field locations around the country and at its international location in Ireland.  Much of GTRI\u0027s research benefits the defense\/security market; however the organization is uniquely positioned to translate those innovations into solutions for other markets such as healthcare, energy and environment and food processing.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"David Parekh Leaves Solid Legacy at Georgia Tech"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech Research Center Deputy Director Dr. David E. Parekh will be leaving Georgia Tech to take a high-level position with United Technologies Corp. in East Hartford, Conn.  Effective September 10, Parekh will become director of the United Technologies Research Center and the company\u0027s vice president for research.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"GTRI Deputy Director heads to United Technologies."}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-08-16 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:18","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71988":{"id":"71988","type":"image","title":"Dr. David Parekh","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71988"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"502","name":"GT Ireland"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"2316","name":"Parekh"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71982":{"#nid":"71982","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Names New Senior Vice Provost","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs has named Mark Allen the new senior vice provost for Research and Innovation.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I am extremely pleased that Mark will be leading our research, commercialization, and economic development activities here at Georgia Tech,\u0022 said Gary Schuster, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs.  \u0022He brings a wealth of experience and expertise in both research and technology transfer to our leadership team, and he will be an excellent advocate for Tech.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAllen, 44, was selected from four finalists and comes to the provost\u0027s office after serving as Regent\u0027s Professor and J.M. Pettit Professor in Microelectronics in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He is also co-founder of CardioMEMS, a successful biotechnology start-up company that produces innovative cardiovascular sensors based on micro-electro-mechanical systems technology he developed.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a member of the provost\u0027s senior leadership team, Allen will be instrumental in setting the Institute\u0027s research and economic development agenda and strategic direction. He will not only manage Tech\u0027s $458 million research portfolio, but also oversee the commercialization of innovation, ensuring that the Institute takes maximum advantage of the intellectual property developed in its research labs.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I\u0027m excited about the opportunity to serve Georgia Tech in this new capacity and hope to continue the success we have experienced in research and technology transfer,\u0022 said Allen.  \u0022Georgia Tech is already a recognized leader in these areas, and I look forward to helping us realize the significant potential for further growth that is vitally important to Tech\u0027s future.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe finalists were selected by a committee comprised of faculty members and campus leaders and chaired by College of Engineering Dean Don Giddens.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAllen replaces Charlie Liotta, who has returned to the faculty following a long and successful tenure in this position.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Mark Allen named New Senior Vice Provost for Research and Innovation"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u0027s Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs has named Mark Allen the new senior vice provost for Research and Innovation.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech Names Mark Allen Senior Vice Provost"}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-08-17 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:18","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71983":{"id":"71983","type":"image","title":"Mark Allen","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71983"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.provost.gatech.edu\/","title":"Office of the Provost"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"341","name":"innovation"},{"id":"2313","name":"Mark Allen"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"170803","name":"Senior Vice Provost"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71984":{"#nid":"71984","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Takes Further Action on PCard Review","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology announced today that it has requested assistance from the Attorney General of Georgia to collect evidence related to its continuing review of state procurement card (PCard) usage. This request comes after ongoing analysis identified additional deceptive activity.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In May, Georgia Tech announced a comprehensive review of all PCard usage across the campus,\u0022 said James Fetig, associate vice president for communications and public affairs. \u0022We are extremely disappointed that a very small number of employees have violated the trust placed in them.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech initiated an intensive review of PCard purchases after the Georgia Department of Audits identified concerns at a number of units within the University System. One Georgia Tech employee was terminated on May 4, 2007, as a result of initial findings. The exact amount of PCard malfeasance can be determined only after the full review is complete.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs part of its effort to further strengthen its internal controls, the Institute has formed a team to develop additional management procedures for those who oversee PCard usage.  Additional electronic measures designed to flag suspect purchases are also under evaluation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is insured against this type of malfeasance and will seek repayment of the stolen funds from those employees involved.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech employees are encouraged to report PCard waste, fraud or abuse at the Internal Audit anonymous hotline: 1-866-294-5565 or on the Internal Audit web site:  \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.audit.gatech.edu\u0022 title=\u0022www.audit.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ewww.audit.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPCards are widely used in business, government and higher education to provide significant cost savings over other purchasing tools.  A Visa purchasing card is the Institute\u0027s primary tool for purchases of non-equipment, business related items.  Cardholders must follow State and Georgia Tech purchasing guidelines.  The PCard provides significant cost savings to Georgia Tech while providing electronic control and accountability.  PCards may not be used for personal purchases.  The Georgia Tech PCard policy is located at:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.admin-fin.gatech.edu\/business\/purchasing\/0500218.html\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/www.admin-fin.gatech.edu\/business\/purchasing\/0500218.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.admin-fin.gatech.edu\/business\/purchasing\/0500218.html\u003C\/a\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Institute requests assistance from State Attorney General."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"The Georgia Institute of Technology announced today that it has requested assistance from the Attorney General of Georgia to collect evidence related to its continuing review of state procurement card (PCard) usage. This request comes after ongoing analysis identified additional deceptive activity.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Attorney General to assist with investigation."}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-08-17 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:18","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2310","name":"Fraud"},{"id":"2311","name":"Incident"},{"id":"2300","name":"investigation"},{"id":"2309","name":"PCard"},{"id":"1037","name":"tech"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71980":{"#nid":"71980","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Nanoparticle Could Help Detect Many Diseases Early","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMost people think of hydrogen peroxide as a topical germ killer, but the medicine cabinet staple is gaining steam in the medical community as an early indicator of disease in the body.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology and Emory University researchers are the first to create a nanoparticle capable of detecting and imaging trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide in animals. The nanoparticles, thought to be completely nontoxic, could some day be used as a simple, all-purpose diagnostic tool to detect the earliest stages of any disease that involves chronic inflammation - everything from cancer and Alzheimer\u0027s to heart disease and arthritis.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research, lead by the laboratories of Niren Murthy at the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University and Dr. Robert Taylor in the Division of Cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine, will appear in the October issue of Nature Materials and was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHydrogen peroxide is thought to be over-produced by cells at the early stages of most diseases. Because there were previously no imaging techniques available to capture this process in the body, the details of how the hydrogen peroxide is produced and its role in a developing disease must still be determined.   \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech and Emory nanoparticles may be the key to better understanding the role of hydrogen peroxide in the progression of many diseases and later play an important diagnostic role, Murthy said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022These nanoparticles are incredibly sensitive so you can detect nanomolar concentrations of hydrogen peroxide. That\u0027s important because researchers aren\u0027t yet certain what amounts of hydrogen peroxide are present in various diseases,\u0022 Murthy said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe ultimate goal, however, is that the nanoparticles could some day be used as a simple, all-purpose diagnostic tool for most diseases. In the future, the nanoparticle would be injected by needle into a certain area of the body (for instance, the heart). If the nanoparticles encountered hydrogen peroxide, they would emit light. Should a doctor see a significant amount of light activity in the area, the doctor would know that the patient may be presenting early signs of a disease in that area of the body.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech and Emory nanoparticles penetrate deep tissue and operate at a high wave length, making them sensitive indicators of the presence of hydrogen peroxide produced by any sort of inflammation. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe nanoparticle polymer is made of peroxalate esters. A fluorescent dye (pentacene) is then encapsulated into the polymer. When the nano particles bump into hydrogen peroxide, they excite the dye, which then emits photons (or light) that can be detected in a simple, photon-counting scan.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s using this nanoparticle made of peroxalate esters that allows you to do this three component reaction in vivo. If you were to inject a peroxalate ester and a dye, they would go their own ways once in the body. With the nanoparticles, we can sequester both of these reagents within nanometers of each other, in vivo,\u0022 Murthy said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe goal was to maximize the wavelength of the particles. Wavelength determines the sensitivity in vivo. And if the particle\u0027s wavelength is high enough, it can penetrate the skin and display clearly on a scan.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research team started with a nanoparticle that was made of dye and filled with peroxide esthers. They later realized that the reverse (a particle made of peroxalate esters and filled with dye) was more effective at imaging hydrogen peroxide, Murthy said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe group will conduct further tests with the nanoparticles to confirm their safety and effectiveness.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech and Emory University researchers first to image hydrogen peroxide in animals"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech and Emory University researchers are the first to create a nanoparticle capable of detecting and imaging trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide (thought to be an early indicator of many diseases) in animals. The nanoparticles could some day be used as a simple, all-purpose diagnostic tool to detect the earliest stages of any disease that involves chronic inflammation - everything from cancer and Alzheimer\u0027s to heart disease and arthritis.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Particle first to image hydrogen peroxide in vivo"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-08-20 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:18","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71981":{"id":"71981","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech. Emory nanoparticle","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71981"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.nature.com\/nmat\/index.html","title":"Nature Materials"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/","title":"Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"140","name":"Cancer Research"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"14757","name":"Alzheimer\u0027s"},{"id":"385","name":"cancer"},{"id":"2307","name":"disease detection"},{"id":"2305","name":"Emory University"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"2306","name":"hydrogen peroxide"},{"id":"2194","name":"nanomedicine"},{"id":"2054","name":"nanoparticle"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"},{"id":"245","name":"Niren Murthy"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71579":{"#nid":"71579","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Lt. Gov. Cagle to Address Undergraduate Ceremony","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle will deliver the address to the undergraduates at the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s 229th commencement ceremony at 9 a.m. on Saturday, December 15 at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThree ceremonies will feature approximately 1,600 graduates.  More than 850 bachelor\u0027s degrees, approximately 580 master\u0027s degrees and more than 150 Ph.D.s degrees will be awarded.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECagle was first elected to the state Senate in 1994, where he served 12 years representing the 49th District. On November 7, 2006, Cagle made history by becoming the first Republican ever elected to the state\u0027s second highest office.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring his time in the Senate, Cagle served as chairman of the Finance Committee and on several other key committees, including the influential Appropriations, Banking and Financial Institutions, Higher Education and Natural Resources Committees.   He has been a staunch supporter of lowering taxes and protecting private property rights, as well as a passionate advocate for protecting Georgia\u0027s families. In 1999, Senator Cagle was instrumental in the passage of \u0027Heidi\u0027s Law,\u0027 which toughened penalties for repeat drunk drivers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 2005 Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Robert H. Grubbs, will address the Ph.D. and master\u0027s ceremony during a 7 p.m. ceremony on Friday December 14.  Grubbs won the Nobel Prize for his work in chemistry and is currently the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, where he has been a faculty member since 1978. Before moving to Caltech, he was at Michigan State University from 1969 to 1978. Grubbs will also be receiving an honorary degree from Georgia Tech during the ceremony.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFormer Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Norman Augustine will address the afternoon undergraduate engineering degree ceremony at 2 p.m. on Saturday December 15.  After retiring from Lockheed Martin in 1997, Augustine became a lecturer with the rank of professor on the faculty of Princeton University, where he served until 1999.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAugustine was chairman and principal officer of the American Red Cross for nine years, chairman of the National Academy of Engineering, president and chairman of the Association of the United States Army, chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association, and chairman of the Defense Science Board.  He is a former president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Boy Scouts of America.   \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHe is a current or former member of the Board of Directors of ConocoPhillips, Black \u0026amp; Decker, Procter \u0026amp; Gamble (of which he is presiding director) and Lockheed Martin and was a member of the Board of Trustees of Colonial Williamsburg.  He is a trustee emeritus of Johns Hopkins and a former member of the Board of Trustees of Princeton and MIT.  He is a member of the Advisory Board to the Department of Homeland Security, was a member of the Hart\/Rudman Commission on National Security, and has served for 16 years on the President\u0027s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.  He is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the Council on Foreign Affairs, and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Explorers Club.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Nobel Prize winner Robert Grubbs to address Ph.D. and Master\u0027s Ceremony"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle will deliver the address to the undergraduates at the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s 229th commencement ceremony at 9 a.m. on Saturday, December 15 at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Norman Augustine to address afternoon ceremony"}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-12-12 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:18","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-12-12T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-12-12T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71580":{"id":"71580","type":"image","title":"Georgia Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71581":{"id":"71581","type":"image","title":"Dr. Robert  H. Grubbs","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71582":{"id":"71582","type":"image","title":"Norman Augustine","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71580","71581","71582"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/president\/","title":"Georgia Tech President G.P. (Bud) Peterson"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/commencement\/","title":"Commencement Information"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"627","name":"commencement"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"629","name":"graduation"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71600":{"#nid":"71600","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Profs Recognized by Cancer Coalition","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFour Georgia Tech research scientists - Yuhong Fan, Ph.D., Melissa Kemp, Ph.D., Francesca Storici, Ph.D, and Ming Yuan, Ph.D. - are among the 29 across the state to be selected as Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholars for 2008. As assistant professors, each scientist is funded at $50,000 annually for five years; Coalition support for their research efforts totals $1 million. The Coalition selects scientists engaged in the most promising areas of cancer research.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are very proud of the four Georgia Tech researchers who were selected as Georgia Cancer Coalition scholars,\u0022 says Wayne Clough, president of Georgia Tech.  \u0022We\u0027re grateful to the Georgia Cancer Coalition for their generous support of Georgia\u0027s efforts to attract the world\u0027s top scientists and researchers not only to Georgia Tech, but also to other Georgia universities and organizations.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFan earned her Ph.D. in cell biology from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, where she earned the Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar Award of the Belfer Institute. She was recruited to Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Biology in January 2007, where she joined the ovarian cancer epigenetics initiative. Her research is expected to provide crucial analysis and study in search of markers that can improve diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in women.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKemp was recruited to the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Technology and Emory University in August 2006. She earned her Ph.D. in bioengineering at the University of Washington in Seattle, and conducted a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research takes a cross-disciplinary approach, combining systems biology, cancer biology, computer science and engineering to provide insights into appropriate drug targets for cancerous cells, uncover novel indicators of drug-resistant cancer cells and look at the appropriateness of pharmaceuticals alone or in optimal combinations. The ultimate goal is to develop individualized therapy strategies, especially for drug-resistant cancer patients. Kemp has played an active role in the development of Georgia Tech\u0027s Integrated Biosystems Institute. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EStorici was named an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Biology in August 2007. She attended the University of Trieste in Italy, where she qualified as a biologist and earned a Ph.D. in molecular genetics from the International School for Advanced Studies. She was recruited from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina, where she was a research fellow. Her research involves new approaches that have implications for defining the impact of DNA repair in the origin of cancer, for developing novel gene targeting technologies as research tools to understand cancer mechanisms, and for the development of cancer-free strategies of gene therapy. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EYuan is an assistant professor in the Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Information Science; an M.S. in Probability and Statistics and Computer Science, and earned his Ph.D. in Statistics at University of Wisconsin. In the study of breast cancer, Yuan is developing novel computation and mathematical approaches using a wide variety of data sources in order to stratify breast cancer into biologically distinct types and correlate them with outcome and therapy response. Yuan has developed revolutionary bioinformatics techniques to successfully address questions related to aging and diabetes; it is hoped that bioinformatics techniques can similarly address questions in various cancer studies.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Coalition cooperates with Georgia\u0027s research universities, medical schools, hospitals and nursing programs to recruit research scientists, with the goal of strengthening the state\u0027s research talent, capacity and infrastructure.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince its inception in 2001, the Georgia Cancer Coalition has named 113 Distinguished Scholars; 12 have been from Georgia Tech.  Scholar funding is an investment not only in Georgia\u0027s future as a national leader in cancer control, but also is valuable in attracting increased funding to Georgia for cancer research. The sponsoring institutions must provide at least a dollar-for-dollar match. The review committee examines the scholars\u0027 history of grants, publications and patents and considers the researcher\u0027s potential for attracting future funding. In fiscal year 2007, Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholars were responsible for securing $47 million in privately and federally funded research grants to the state of Georgia.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Scholar Selection is based on how the applicant\u0027s research relates to the goals of the Coalition, the research priorities of the National Cancer Institute and the strategic plan of the sponsoring institution. Each application is reviewed by both an external scientific review committee and an advisory review committee, appointed by the Coalition in cooperation with Georgia\u0027s research universities. Kate Canterbury, director of Research Programs, staffs the Coalition committees. Members rank scholars according to predetermined scientific and technical criteria.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The National Cancer Institute has identified areas of discovery that hold promise for making significant progress against all cancers. The Distinguished Cancer Clinicians and Scientists program is the cornerstone of the Georgia Cancer Coalition\u0027s efforts to advance scientific discovery into the prevention, treatment, causes and cures of cancer. These scientists play an important role in positioning Georgia as a national leader in cancer research,\u0022 says Bill Todd, president and chief operating officer of the Georgia Cancer Coalition. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Cancer Coalition is an independent, not-for-profit organization that unites government agencies, academic institutions, civic groups, corporations and health care organizations in a concerted effort to strengthen cancer prevention, research and treatment in Georgia, with the ultimate goal of making Georgia one of the nation\u0027s premier states for cancer care. The mission is to reduce the number of cancer-related deaths in Georgia. The Coalition is the first of its kind in the nation and is fast becoming a national model.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Four Georgia Tech research scientists - Yuhong Fan, Ph.D., Melissa Kemp, Ph.D., Francesca Storici, Ph.D, and Ming Yuan, Ph.D. - are among the 29 across the state to be selected as Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholars for 2008.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Four profs named Distinguished Cancer Scholars"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-11-19 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:10","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-11-19T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-11-19T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.biology.gatech.edu\/faculty\/yuhong-fan\/","title":"Yuhong Fan"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/facultystaff\/faculty_record.php?id=97","title":"Melissa Kemp"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.biology.gatech.edu\/faculty\/francesca-storici\/","title":"Francesca Storici"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.isye.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/profile.php?entry=my46","title":"Ming Yuan"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.georgiacancer.org\/","title":"Georgia Cancer Coalition"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"277","name":"Biology"},{"id":"249","name":"Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"385","name":"cancer"},{"id":"2003","name":"Georgia Cancer Coalition"},{"id":"1431","name":"industrial and systems engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71587":{"#nid":"71587","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Enrollment Reaches All-Time High","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s fall enrollment was more than 18,000 for the first time in its history.  The increased number of students can be attributed to several factors, including higher retention and an increase in the number of new graduate students\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are retaining more students in larger classes at the undergraduate level while we are more successfully recruiting graduate students, particularly at the master\u0027s level,\u0022 said Sandi Bramblett, director of institutional research and planning.  \u0022For example, we enrolled a larger-than-usual freshman class last fall (2,839 students) and according to preliminary studies, we\u0027ve retained 92 percent of them.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy retaining more undergraduates each year, the enrollment naturally increases, but attracting more graduate students has increased enrollment as well.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E \u0022In addition to continuously improving retention of current students, much of the total enrollment increase can be attributed to the growth of the graduate population,\u0022 said Ingrid Hayes, director of undergraduate admission.  \u0022Undergraduate enrollment has only increased about 2 percent since last year, but graduate enrollment has jumped 10 percent since last year and 22 percent over the last five years.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s director of graduate studies, Gail Potts, suggests that the increase in graduate admissions can be attributed to several factors including the favorable economy, new automated systems that make the application process accessible worldwide, a concerted effort to remain in contact with potential graduate students throughout the admissions process, and a national resurgence in master\u0027s programs.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are very pleased and proud of our accomplishments in attracting more and better graduate students,\u0022 said Potts.  \u0022It appears that early application numbers for fall 2008 would indicate that this trend likely will continue since we are already seeing application numbers in excess of this same time last year.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETech has also increased its housing capacity as the growing student population has heightened the demand for more housing. The university added more than 1,400 beds this year, most of those coming from North Avenue Apartments.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We increased our capacity and increased it where we needed it most,\u0022 said Dan Morrison, associate director of residence life.  \u0022North Avenue Apartments are made up mostly of sophomore students who want to extend their on campus living experience.  You won\u0027t see this type of capacity at other universities with our size and urban location.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENearly 9,500 students currently live on campus - 8,100 students live in campus housing (that number of people living on campus increases to 8,300 when you factor spouses and children that live in family housing), and about 1,300 additional students live in Greek housing on campus.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Fall 2007 enrollment and housing capacity set records"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u0027s fall enrollment was more than 18,000 for the first time in its history.  The increased number of students can be attributed to several factors, including higher retention and an increase in the number of new graduate students","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Enrollment passes the 18,000 mark"}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-12-07 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:10","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71588":{"id":"71588","type":"image","title":"Students interacting","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71589":{"id":"71589","type":"image","title":"North Avenue Apartments","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71588","71589"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.housing.gatech.edu\/","title":"Housing"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gradadmiss.gatech.edu\/","title":"Graduate Admissions"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.admission.gatech.edu\/","title":"Admissions"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"91","name":"enrollment"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"790","name":"Housing"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71590":{"#nid":"71590","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Welcomes Paul Johnson","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn Friday, Dec. 7, Tech Athletic Director Dan Radakovich announced that U.S. Naval Academy football coach Paul Johnson had accepted the position of the Yellow Jackets\u0027 new head football coach. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJohnson, who becomes the 12th head coach at the Institute, coached six successful years at Navy (45-29) and coached five seasons at Georgia Southern (62-10), winning back-to-back 1-AA National Championships in 1999 and 2000.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERadakovich described Johnson as the \u0027best fit, the best choice and the best man\u0027 for the position, after saying he had met with many qualified individuals during the last 10 days. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022President (Wayne) Clough and I are convinced that Johnson will be the steady leader, the principled teacher to our student-athletes and the point-producing conductor that will energize our fans and fill our game days with excitement,\u0022 Radakovich said. He compared Tech\u0027s rigorous academic discipline to the Naval Academy\u0027s, and touted Johnson\u0027s achievement as one of four Division 1 coaches who won 50 games in four seasons. \u0022He looks at his talent and maximizes it, using what it takes to win games.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJohnson, who was named the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year in 2004, thanked President Wayne Clough, Radakovich and his wife and daughter along with \u0027the entire Georgia Tech family\u0027 as he stood before the podium. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s truly humbling to be here,\u0022 Johnson said. \u0022When I met with the committee, it seemed like a match made in heaven. There\u0027s not another program I would have left the Academy for. From an academic standpoint, the two institutions are very similar. We\u0027re looking for the total package [in student athletes].\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJohnson faced the Atlanta press for roughly 20 minutes, answering questions on what offense will be used, how will he tackle recruiting and what members of Navy\u0027s coaching staff will come with him, as well as will he do what it takes to \u0027sell the program\u0027 and energize the fan base. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I think that\u0027s all part of being a football coach at any major program,\u0022 Johnson said. \u0022The way to achieve [excitement for the program] is to win games. If you have a good program, people will come. If you win, people will leave excited.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJohnson said he will not be involved with Tech\u0027s appearance in the Humanitarian Bowl, nor will he be involved in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl where Navy will face Utah, citing that he was now Tech\u0027s coach and eager to \u0027hit the ground running\u0027 on Monday morning, where he listed his top priorities as [putting] together a top-flight staff, a top recruiting class, and meet with every player one-on-one. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I want to get in touch with the committed recruits, and sit with the recruiting coordinator and look at the board.\u0022 While he touted Tech as an institution with the ability to recruit on the national level, he said the state of Georgia would be the team\u0027s primary recruiting concern.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJohnson was an assistant coach at Navy prior to landing the head coaching position at Georgia Southern, and he was an offensive coordinator at the University of Hawaii from 1987 to 1994. At Navy, his team defeated rival Army six years in a row-the record number of consecutive wins from either team in their meetings.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech Athletic Director Dan Radakovich announced that U.S. Naval Academy football coach Paul Johnson had accepted the position of the Yellow Jackets\u0027 new head football coach.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Named new head football coach"}],"uid":"27299","created_gmt":"2007-12-07 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:10","author":"Michael Hagearty","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ramblinwreck.com\/","title":"Georgia Tech Athletic Association"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1843","name":"football"},{"id":"2224","name":"Paul Johnson"},{"id":"2223","name":"yellow jackets"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71829":{"#nid":"71829","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Taming Tiny, Unruly Waves for Nano Optics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENanoscale devices present a unique challenge to any optical technology - there\u0027s just not enough room for light to travel in a straight line.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOn the nanoscale, energy may be produced by radiating photons of light between two surfaces very close together (sometimes as close as 10 nanometers), smaller than the wavelength of the light. Light behaves much differently on the nanoscale as its wavelength is interrupted, producing unstable waves called evanescent waves. The direction of these unpredictable waves can\u0027t be calculated, so researchers face the daunting task of designing nanotechnologies to work with the tiny, yet potentially useful waves of light.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at Georgia Tech have discovered a way to predict the behavior of these unruly waves of light during nanoscale radiation heat transfer, opening the door to the design of a spectrum of new nanodevices (or NEMS) and nanotechnologies, including solar thermal energy technologies. Their findings were featured on the cover of the Oct. 8 issue of Applied Physics Letters.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This discovery gives us the fundamental information to determine things like how far apart plates should be and what size they should be when designing a technology that uses nanoscale radiation heat transfer,\u0022 said Zhuomin Zhang, a lead researcher on the project and a professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. \u0022Understanding the behavior of light at this scale is the key to designing technologies to take advantage of the unique capabilities of this phenomenon.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech research team set out to study evanescent waves in nanoscale radiation energy transfer (between two very close surfaces at different temperatures by means of thermal radiation). Because the direction of evanescent waves is seemingly unknowable (an imaginary value) in physics terms, Zhang\u0027s group instead decided to follow the direction of the electromagnetic energy flow (also known as a Poynting vector) to predict behavior rather than the direction of the photons.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027re using classic electrodynamics to explain the behavior of the waves, not quantum mechanics,\u0022 Zhang said. \u0022We\u0027re predicting the energy propagation - and not the actual movement - of the photons.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe challenge is that electrodynamics work differently on the nanoscale and the Georgia Tech team would need to pinpoint those differences. Planck\u0027s law, a more than 100-year-old theory about how electromagnetic waves radiate, does not apply on the nanoscale due to fact that the space between surfaces is smaller than a wavelength. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech team observed that instead of normal straight line radiation, the light was bending as protons tunneled through the vacuum in between the two surfaces just nanometers apart. The team also noticed that the evanescent waves were separating during this thermal process, allowing them to visualize and predict the energy path of the waves.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUnderstanding the behavior of such waves is critical to the design of many devices that use nanotechnology, including near-field thermophotovoltaic systems, nanoscale imaging based on thermal radiation scanning tunneling microscopy and scanning photon-tunneling microscopy, said Zhang.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers have discovered a method of predicting the behavior of light on the nanoscale during radiation heat transfer, opening the door to the design of a spectrum of new nanodevices and nanotechnologies, including solar thermal energy technologies.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Discovery opens path to new nanodevices"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-10-08 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-08T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-08T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71830":{"id":"71830","type":"image","title":"Nanowaves","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71830"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/~zzhang\/","title":"Dr. Zhuomin Zhang\\\u0027s Nanoscale Thermal Radiation Lab"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/","title":"George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2253","name":"evanescent waves"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71959":{"#nid":"71959","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Band Prepares for Centennial Celebration","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECelebrating 100 years of musical tradition, Georgia Tech\u0027s band will march in the 2008 Macy\u0027s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.  Band members will be raising money to support their trip throughout the next year.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The Macy\u0027s Parade will be the most fitting way for the band to celebrate our centennial anniversary in front of 50 million viewers, as well as an opportunity for the students to shine as ambassadors for the Institute,\u0022 said Associate Director of Bands, Chris Moore. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Anyone who has been a part of the band or who has experienced the energy, entertainment and enthusiasm the band brings to the Tech community and the city of Atlanta understands what a treasure we have,\u0022 said Assistant Director, Donny Allen.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe full marching band, concert band and symphonic band will all participate in the New York trip. \u0022We are planning a large-scale concert and gala for our alumni, fans, locals and tourists in one of the major concert halls in New York City,\u0022 said Dr. Andrea Strauss, Director of Bands.  \u0022We hope students get a strong sense of pride in representing the Institute and a feeling of satisfaction knowing they reach so many people through their talents and hard work.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMore than 1,100 Tech students sing, play or study music each semester. They come from every major on campus, and from many nations around the world. Music ensembles provide a challenging academic and aesthetic experience for the Georgia Tech student. Directors believe that band members will have a unique opportunity while at Tech for the 2008 academic year in celebration of the band\u0027s anniversary.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe band hopes to raise $500,000 to cover the cost of the trip.  The funds will cover the cost of the traveling party\u0027s air, hotel and food expenses, as well as concert hall rental. Band Directors hope this is the first of many high-profile opportunities to share their music programs with the Tech community\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Tech\u0027s band will mark 100 years in 2008"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Celebrating 100 years of musical tradition, Georgia Tech\u0027s band will march in the 2008 Macy\u0027s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.  Band members will be raising money to support their trip throughout the next year.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Band hopes to travel for 2008 Macy\u0027s T-day parade."}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-08-29 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71960":{"id":"71960","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech Band Member","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71961":{"id":"71961","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech Marching Band","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71960","71961"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.coa.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech College of Architecture"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.coa.gatech.edu\/music\/","title":"Georgia Tech Music Department"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.georgiatechband.com\/","title":"Georgia Tech Band"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"137","name":"Architecture"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"148","name":"Music and Music Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2283","name":"2008"},{"id":"1905","name":"Band"},{"id":"2277","name":"Georgia Tech Band"},{"id":"2284","name":"Giving"},{"id":"14897","name":"Macy\u0027s"},{"id":"14896","name":"Macy\u0027s Parade"},{"id":"2278","name":"Marching Band"},{"id":"2280","name":"Parade"},{"id":"2282","name":"Thanksgiving"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"40072":{"#nid":"40072","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Undefined","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-10-09 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"40073":{"id":"40073","type":"image","title":"Uzi Landman","body":null,"created":"1449174146","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:22:26","changed":"1475894231","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:37:11","alt":"Uzi Landman","file":{"fid":"189593","name":"tsm23821.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tsm23821.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tsm23821.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1903110,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tsm23821.jpg?itok=IcU_zvYC"}}},"media_ids":["40073"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1631","name":"landman"},{"id":"2252","name":"Nobel"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"2251","name":"uzi"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71828":{"#nid":"71828","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Scientists ID Brain Circuits Used in Touch","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe ability to tactually recognize fine spatial details, such as the raised dots used in braille, is especially important to those who are blind. With that in mind, a team of researchers has identified the neural circuitry that facilitates spatial discrimination through touch. Understanding this circuitry may lead to the creation of sensory-substitution devices, such as tactile maps for the visually impaired.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe findings appeared in the Oct. 10 edition of The Journal of Neuroscience.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research team, led by Krish Sathian, MD, PhD, professor of neurology in Emory University School of Medicine, included first author Randall Stilla, research MRI technologist at Emory, and Gopikrishna Deshpande, Stephen Laconte and Xiaoping Hu of the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory. Dr. Hu is a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers found heightened neural activity in a network of frontoparietal regions of the brain when people engaged in fine tactile spatial discrimination. Within this network, the levels of activity in two subregions of the right posteromedial parietal cortex--the right posterior intraparietal sulcus (pIPS) and the right precuneus--were predictive of individual participants\u0027 tactile sensitivities. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo determine which areas of the brain were involved in identifying fine spatial details, the researchers asked 22 volunteers to determine only by touch whether the central dot of three vertically arranged dots was offset to the left or to the right of the other two.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Using their right index fingers, the subjects got to feel the dots for one second to determine in which direction the central dot was offset,\u0022 says Dr. Sathian. \u0022We also varied the amount the dot was offset from the other two, which allowed us to quantify people\u0027s sensitivity. In other words, we asked what is the minimal offset required to discriminate.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a separate control task, the subjects were asked to determine how long they were touched by three perfectly aligned dots. Brain activity during that temporal task was contrasted with brain activity during the spatial task.  The researchers found that different brain regions showed more activity during either spatial or temporal processing.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022What is interesting is that we found the most relevant areas of the brain for spatial processing are on the right side, the same side of the body that was used to feel the stimuli. This is the opposite side to the one that might be expected,\u0022 says Randall Stilla.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We usually think of the left side of the brain as controlling the right side of the body, which is generally true.  But more and more we are finding that the right side of the brain is particularly important in many types of sensory processing,\u0022 adds Dr. Sathian.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDr. Sathian\u0027s and Dr. Hu\u0027s laboratories also collaborated to determine the strength and direction of the connections between the areas of the brain that govern tactile spatial acuity (perception). Such collaboration, explains Dr. Hu, allows the application of cutting-edge image analysis methods to fundamental questions in neuroscience.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We found that there are two pathways into the right posteromedial cortex that not only predict individuals\u0027 acuity but also predict the magnitude of neural activation,\u0022 says Dr. Deshpande, who performed the connectivity analyses. \u0022In better performers, the paths predicting acuity converge from the left somatosensory cortex and right frontal eye field (an attentional control center), onto the right pIPS. What\u0027s more, these paths are stronger during spatial discrimination than temporal discrimination.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers are not yet sure why this particular neural pathway exists. Dr. Sathian suggests the signal patterns may be a combination of attentional, tactile, and visual processing reflecting the visualization of the spatial configurations. Future research, he says, will attempt to unravel the mechanisms underlying these different component processes. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"The ability to tactually recognize fine spatial details, such as the raised dots used in braille, is especially important to those who are blind. With that in mind, a team of researchers has identified the neural circuitry that facilitates spatial discrimination through touch. Understanding this circuitry may lead to the creation of sensory-substitution devices, such as tactile maps for the visually impaired.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Finding may lead to sesnory substitute devices"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-10-12 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.emory.edu\/","title":"Emory University"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/","title":"Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"249","name":"Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"247","name":"Emory"},{"id":"2250","name":"neural"},{"id":"1304","name":"neuroscience"},{"id":"168013","name":"spatial"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71827":{"#nid":"71827","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Show Support for Georgia Tech at Upcoming Events","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech devotees have the opportunity to browse for Georgia Tech merchandise and show their spirit at a number of upcoming events.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELeading up to Georgia Tech\u0027s homecoming, Yellow Jacket fans will want to drop by the Avenue East Cobb location of Mori Luggage and Gifts. On October 17, from 6 - 8 p.m., refreshments and balloons will be available along with a 20 percent discount on Georgia Tech merchandise. Buzz will be on hand and there will be a chance to enter a drawing for two tickets to the Georgia Tech homecoming football game against Army on October 20.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETech fans will also have the opportunity to join thousands of their fellow Georgia Tech supporters to take part in a unique moment in history when a panoramic portrait of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field is made during the homecoming game. Everyone is encouraged to wear their gold and white to the game to enhance the impact of the shot.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We targeted the Tech\/Army game since our opponent\u0027s colors are gold and black and we have a higher probability to blanket the stadium in gold,\u0022 said Georgia Tech Licensing Manager Aimee Anderson. \u0022We encourage all Georgia Tech fans attending the game that day to wear gold and white so that we\u0027ll have an image blazing with our official colors.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERob Arra and his associates, who specialize in panoramic sports stadium images, will be capturing this memorable photograph. The print should be available on the photographer\u0027s Web site at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.e-stadium.com\u0022 title=\u0022www.e-stadium.com\u0022\u003Ewww.e-stadium.com\u003C\/a\u003E a week following the game and eventually will be sold at the Barnes \u0026amp; Noble @ Georgia Tech Bookstore.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022With skyscrapers surrounding the area, Georgia Tech\u0027s football stadium is certainly located in one of the nation\u0027s most unique settings,\u0022 said Arra. \u0022We are so excited to have the opportunity to capture this treasure and the spirit of Georgia Tech\u0027s dedicated fans.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are making a concerted effort to grow our licensing program this year,\u0022 said Katherine Bows, Georgia Tech\u0027s director of marketing communications. \u0022We encourage our fans to have fun participating in these activities while also supporting the many student programs funded by our licensing program.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Panoramic Photo Scheduled for Stadium"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech devotees have the opportunity to browse for Georgia Tech merchandise and show their spirit at a number of upcoming events.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Show Your GT Colors for Panoramic Stadium Photo"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-10-17 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1908","name":"Licensing"},{"id":"2246","name":"panoramic photo"},{"id":"168896","name":"Stadium"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71924":{"#nid":"71924","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Drawing Nanoscale Features the Fast and Easy Way","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new technique for nanolithography that is extremely fast and capable of being used in a range of environments including air (outside a vacuum) and liquids. Researchers have demonstrated the technique, known as thermochemical nanolithography, as a proof of concept. The technique may allow industry to produce a variety of nanopatterned structures, including nanocircuits, at a speed and scale that could make their manufacture commercially viable. The research, which has potential applications for fields ranging from the electronics industry to nanofluidics to medicine, appeared earlier this year in the journal Nano Letters.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technique is surprisingly simple. Using an atomic force microscope (AFM), researchers heat a silicon tip and run it over a thin polymer film. The heat from the tip induces a chemical reaction at the surface of the film. This reaction changes the film\u0027s chemical reactivity and transforms it from a hydrophobic substance to a hydrophilic one that can stick to other molecules. The technique is extremely fast and can write at speeds faster than millimeters per second. That\u0027s orders of magnitude faster than the widely used dip-pen nanolithography (DPN), which routinely clocks at a speed of 0.0001 millimeters per second.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing the new technique, researchers were able to pattern with dimensions down to 12 nanometers in width in a variety of environments. Other techniques typically require the addition of other chemicals to be transferred to the surface or the presence of strong electric fields. TCNL doesn\u0027t have these requirements and can be used in humid environments outside a vacuum. By using an array of AFM tips developed by IBM, TCNL also has the potential to be massively scalable, allowing users to independently draw features with thousands of tips at a time rather than just one.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Thermochemical nanolithography is a rapid and versatile technique that puts us much closer to achieving the speeds required for commercial applications,\u0022 said Elisa Riedo, assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Physics. \u0022Because we\u0027re not transferring any materials from the AFM tip to the polymer surface (we are only heating it to change its chemical structure) this method can be intrinsically faster than other techniques.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0027s the heated AFM tips that are one key to the new technique. Designed and fabricated by a group led by William King at the University of Illinois, the tips can reach temperatures hotter than 1,000 degrees Celsius. They can also be repeatedly heated and cooled 1 million times per second.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The heated tip is the world\u0027s smallest controllable heat source,\u0022 said King.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETCNL is also tunable. By varying the amount of heat, the speed and the distance of the tip to the polymer, researchers can introduce topographical changes or modulate the range of chemical changes produced in the material.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022By changing the chemistry of the polymer, we\u0027ve shown that we can selectively attach new substances, like metal ions or dyes to the patterned regions of the film in order to greatly increase the technique\u0027s functionality,\u0022 said Seth Marder, professor in Tech\u0027s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and director of the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics. Marder\u0027s group developed the thermally switchable polymers used in this study.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We expect thermochemical nanolithography to be widely adopted because it\u0027s conceptually simple and can be broadly applied,\u0022 said Marder. \u0022The scope is limited only by one\u0027s imagination to develop new chemistries and applications.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor nanolithography to be commercially viable, it must be able to write at high speeds, be used in a variety of environments and write on a variety of materials. While the technique demonstrated here doesn\u0027t yet allow writing at the centimeters per second rate that would be ideal, it does put researchers much closer to the goal than previous techniques. Once perfected, nanolithography could be used to draw nanocircuits for the electronics industry, create nanochannels for nanofluidics devices or be adapted for drug delivery or biosensing technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was supported by the National Science Foundation\u0027s Center for Materials and Devices for Information Technology Research, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the Georgia Institute of Technology Research Foundation, the GT College of Sciences Cutting Edge Research Award and ONR Nanoelectronics. In addition to Riedo, Marder and King, the interdisciplinary research team consisted of Robert Szoszkiewicz, Takashi Okada, Simon Jones and Tai-De Li from Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientists at Georgia Tech have developed a new technique for nanolithography that is extremely fast and can be used in liquids and outside of a vacuum. The technique could help make the manufacturing of nanocircuits commercially viable.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Technique may make nanocircuit production easier"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-08-28 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-10T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-10T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71925":{"id":"71925","type":"image","title":"GIT Figure","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71925"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2286","name":"nano"},{"id":"2287","name":"nanocircuits"},{"id":"2285","name":"nanolithography"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71823":{"#nid":"71823","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Clough Participates in Climate Change Discussion","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech President Wayne Clough participated in a high-level working session on climate change policy in Washington, D.C., that was sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Presidency.  The non-partisan session, co-chaired by Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute, and Professor David Victor, director of Stanford University\u0027s Program on Energy and Sustainable Development, discussed effective policy options and best practices in the complex juncture where energy, environment and economics intersect.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe discussion focused on three areas: defining domestic policy, accelerating research and innovation, and identifying an effective model for international cooperation.  Insights from the discussion will be shared with presidential candidates, congressional leaders, the White House, federal agencies, the research community and thought leaders.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Center plans on offering to work with the presidential transition team next year and encourage the new administration to make this issue a priority of the new president.  If asked, the Center will also help refine a strategy for effective domestic and international action on greenhouse gas emissions and periodically report on implementation efforts by the administration, Congress, the research community and other nations.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough participated in a working session on climate change in Washington, D.C."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough participated in a high-level working session on climate change policy in Washington, D.C., that was sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Presidency","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Suggestions will be shared with next president."}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-10-18 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71824":{"id":"71824","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71824"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.thepresidency.org\/","title":"Center for the Study of the Presidency"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/president\/","title":"Georgia Tech President G.P. (Bud) Peterson"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"831","name":"climate change"},{"id":"2244","name":"DC"},{"id":"767","name":"Policy"},{"id":"2243","name":"President Wayne Clough"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71820":{"#nid":"71820","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Mad Money Comes to College of Management","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECries of \u0027booyah\u0027 echoed through Technology Square October 18 as CNBC\u0027s Mad Money with Jim Cramer filmed in the courtyard of the Georgia Tech College of Management building.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe hit stock-picking show came to Georgia Tech as part of the program\u0027s \u0027Back to School\u0027 college tour. Mad Money, which airs Monday through Friday at 6 PM and 11 PM EST, has now filmed at 10 business schools since early 2006.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EShow host Jim Cramer is known for his manic hosting style involving sound effects, props, and frequent use of the catchword \u0027booyah!\u0027\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESeveral hours before filming began, Cramer engaged management students in a question-and-answer session in which he explained the origins of \u0027booyah.\u0027 He said that prior to Mad Money\u0027s debut in March 2005, he once took a caller on his radio show who expressed gratitude for Cramer\u0027s recommendation of Kmart stock by using the New Orleans colloquialism \u0027boo-yah,\u0027 which refers to making money.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter Cramer transferred into TV, callers remembered the expression and would use it. Exclamatory use of the word has since become synonymous with Cramer\u0027s show.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring taping of the show, Cramer said he frequently hears criticism of his larger-than-life hosting style. \u0022I do some entertaining, and I do some educating,\u0022 he said. \u0022Some people say it\u0027s wrong to do stocks and entertain. I say I\u0027m a showman in the tradition of Jack Benny and Bob Hope.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EManagement students enthusiastically supported Cramer\u0027s performance in pep-rally style by wearing Georgia Tech t-shirts and chanting school cheers from the bleachers set up in the courtyard. Georgia Tech mascot Buzz and cheerleaders were on stage to get the crowd pumped.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMad Money also taped a segment of the show at the World of Coca-Cola museum, where Cramer praised The Coca-Cola Company\u0027s recent performance. \u0022Coke is not only back, it\u0027s also better than ever,\u0022 said Cramer, who interviewed Coca-Cola CFO Gary Fayard.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECramer had harsher things to say about other companies students asked about in the \u0027Lightning Round,\u0027 a showcase for the host\u0027s knowledge of stocks. \u0022This show is not making friends,\u0022 Cramer says. It\u0027s all about making money, he stressed.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECramer defines \u0027mad money\u0027 as funds available to invest in stocks - not money people would invest in retirement vehicles like 401Ks or IRAs.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn another segment of the show, he fielded questions from members of the Georgia Tech Student Foundation Investment Committee. He praised their performance investing endowment funds in recent years. The student-run group has consistently outperformed the S\u0026amp;P 500 Index Fund, distributing earnings to student organizations.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJonathan Clarke, associate finance professor at Georgia Tech, said he\u0027s a fan of Mad Money because it \u0022gets students interested in finance and investing and that helps bring some excitement to the classroom. Cramer\u0027s very passionate about what he does.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERandy Lambert, a master\u0027s student in quantitative and computational finance (QCF), said he appreciates Cramer\u0027s attitude toward trading. \u0022I don\u0027t think his stock picks are necessarily what\u0027s important,\u0022 says Lambert, whose studies focus on trading. \u0022It\u0027s how he picks them. He\u0027s got a very specific understanding of how the market works and how business works, and that\u0027s what\u0027s really important\u0022.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I\u0027m not trading very much yet, but I really enjoy watching his show,\u0022 Lambert adds. \u0022There are all these boring shows on all day, and then Cramer comes on, and he\u0027s so exciting.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Management played host to Mad Money"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Cries of \u0027booyah\u0027 echoed through Technology Square October 18 as CNBC\u0027s Mad Money with Jim Cramer filmed in the courtyard of the Georgia Tech College of Management building.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech highlighted on Mad Money"}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-10-19 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71821":{"id":"71821","type":"image","title":"Mad Money at Georgia Tech","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71822":{"id":"71822","type":"image","title":"Mad Money at Georgia Tech College of Management","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71821","71822"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/id\/15838459\/site\/14081545\/","title":"Mad Money"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/gallery\/v\/events\/madmoney\/","title":"Photo Gallery of Mad Money Visit"},{"url":"http:\/\/mgt.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech College of Management"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2242","name":"CNBC"},{"id":"2008","name":"College of Management"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"2241","name":"Mad Money"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71818":{"#nid":"71818","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Clough Honored by Council on Competitiveness","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech President Wayne Clough and Samuel Palmisano, the CEO of IBM, will be honored at the Council on Competitiveness annual dinner tonight for their leadership on the Council\u0027s National Innovation Initiative (NII).  \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EClough and Palmisano\u0027s involvement in the National Innovation Initiative - a call to action to bolster U.S. competitiveness and innovation - paved the way for the American COMPETES Act, which President George W. Bush recently signed into law.  This statute was called for in the Council\u0027s NII report, \u0022Innovate America,\u0022 and authorizes increased funding for math and science education, supports increased research budgets and implements a national innovation agenda.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe dinner is held in conjunction with the Council on Competitiveness annual meeting, which takes place Friday, October 26, 2007.  The meeting will explore five policy goals that will be critical to sustained U.S. competitiveness: challenging frontiers in science and technology; renewing access to competitive, secure and sustainable energy; achieving creative and cutting-edge talent; transforming risk intelligence into resilience; and engaging in the global economy.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Council on Competitiveness honors original co-chairs of National Innovation Initiative."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough and Samuel Palmisano, the CEO of IBM, will be honored at the Council on Competitiveness annual dinner tonight for their leadership on the Council\u0027s National Innovation Initiative (NII).","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Clough and Palmisano honored for their work on NII."}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-10-25 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71819":{"id":"71819","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough.","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71819"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/innovateamerica.org\/index.asp","title":"Innovate America"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.compete.org\/","title":"Council on Competitiveness"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/president\/index.php","title":"Office of the President"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1970","name":"Clough"},{"id":"2239","name":"Council on Competitiveness"},{"id":"2240","name":"National Innovation Initiatitive"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71813":{"#nid":"71813","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Vice Provost for International Initiatives Named","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs the Institute continues on its ambitious plan for a \u0022global Tech,\u0022 the Office of the Provost has named School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Steve McLaughlin as its first vice provost for International Initiatives.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWithin the Office of the Provost, McLaughlin will work closely with all units on campus to ensure that the Institute\u0027s global efforts in education and research meet the highest standard of excellence.  His office provides leadership and strategic direction to the Office of International Education which includes education abroad programs and its international student and faculty exchange programs.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn announcing the appointment, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Anderson Smith cited McLaughlin\u0027s intimate understanding of Tech\u0027s overseas operations and how those partnerships are fostered.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Steve McLaughlin has served as deputy director of Georgia Tech Lorraine since 2004 and is aware of how important research and economic development are in our international plans,\u0022 he said. \u0022We have outstanding opportunities for our students to be involved in international study and work, and we need to expand those opportunities. However, we also have to support our international initiatives that involve research and graduate education at international sites.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Steve will be Georgia Tech\u0027s point person on all our international activities. I look forward to working with him as we shape the global Georgia Tech.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring a public presentation in August, McLaughlin outlined his perspective on and vision for Tech\u0027s global initiatives. First and foremost, he said, these programs are essential ingredients in making both its students and faculty more competitive in the so-called \u0027flat world\u0027 of globalization.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If we accept the flattened world proposition, then it comes down to preparing individuals - not only to compete against others but also to work together - and I think that\u0027s what Tech\u0027s international programs are all about.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022At Georgia Tech Lorraine we have interaction with dozens of companies, and all of them want students with experience in multicultural, multilingual environments,\u0022 that mesh with their own multinational business operations, he said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMcLaughlin also sees Tech\u0027s international initiatives as a key differentiator of its brand over the next several decades.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027re already being recognized as a leader in some aspects of international education and research. I\u0027m absolutely convinced that this should be a major piece of our brand for the next generation or two.\u0022 Moreover, this is an area \u0022where we can be the clear leader, in a way that sets our nation\u0027s vision and defines policies and priorities for others.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMindful of its responsibility to the state, McLaughlin said Tech also has an obligation to foster the kind of international partnerships that in can have an impact on Georgia\u0027s economic development.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0022As a state institution, we need to do things that are in line with what the state needs,\u0022 he said. \u0022The competition is primarily going to be in the technology space, and I think we\u0027re in a position to be the leading university in this area.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMost of all, McLaughlin is enthusiastic about international opportunities for the kinds of life-altering experiences they produce. Having spent three years in Metz, France, he noted the impact that experience has had on both his career and family.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I\u0027m convinced that these international programs change people, sometimes in profound ways but also in ordinary ways. It also changes our international partners, the way they view us and the way we view them.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Steve McLaughlin Named Vice Provost for International Intiatives"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"As the Institute continues on its ambitious plan for a \u0022global Tech,\u0022 the Office of the Provost has named School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Steve McLaughlin as its first vice provost for International Initiatives.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Professor Steve McLaughlin named Vice Provost"}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-10-31 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-31T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-31T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71814":{"id":"71814","type":"image","title":"Vice Provost Steve McLaughlin","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71814"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.provost.gatech.edu\/","title":"Office of the Provost"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2237","name":"International Initiatives"},{"id":"2235","name":"McLaughlin"},{"id":"2236","name":"Vice Provost"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71621":{"#nid":"71621","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Prof Receives Presidential Award","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EElliot Moore, an assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s Savannah, Ga. campus, has been recognized as one of the nation\u0027s top young scientists with a Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) Award.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe PECASE program recognizes outstanding scientists and engineers who, early in their careers, show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of knowledge. This Presidential Award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMoore\u0027s primary research interests are in finding objective markers in speech that can be used to characterize the human condition. His current research centers around the analysis of vocal affect as it relates to the overall mental state of the speaker. He has done work on analyzing the effectiveness of objective speech features as indicators of clinical depression and is continuing to explore other types of emotional disorders and types of affective expression. His research will be helpful in analyzing speech for emotion and stress, detecting deception, improving human-computer interaction in dialogue applications and clinical applications related to emotional and vocal disorders.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMoore was a recipient of the NSF\u0027s Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award in 2005. He is a member of IEEE\u0027s Signal Processing Society and Engineering in Medicine and Biology society. He is also a member of the Acoustical Society of America.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Elliot Moore, an assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s Savannah, Ga. campus, has been recognized as one of the nation\u0027s top young scientists with a Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) Award.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Elliot Moore recognized as a top young scientist"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-11-02 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-11-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-11-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71622":{"id":"71622","type":"image","title":"Elliot Moore II","body":null,"created":"1449177396","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:36","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71622"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=132","title":"Elliot Moore II"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtsav.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Savannah"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"276","name":"Awards"},{"id":"1925","name":"Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"2233","name":"Elliot Moore"},{"id":"1633","name":"PECASE"},{"id":"2234","name":"voice recognition"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71890":{"#nid":"71890","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Clough to Participate in National Summit","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech President Wayne Clough is participating in a panel discussion on \u0027Education and the Workforce: Skill Sets for the 21st Century\u0027 at a national summit on American competitiveness hosted by U. S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe summit will convene the nation\u0027s premiere leaders of business, government, academia and the research community to address the core components and lessons of the role of the private sector; education and workforce issues, energy independence and partnerships in innovation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPresident Clough\u0027s panel will focus on the \u0027human\u0027 challenges of the current marketplace including keeping America economically competitive with a highly skilled workforce, attracting the best and brightest students from across the globe and evaluating the academic, government and private sector\u0027s role in ensuring America\u0027s education system is world class.  The panel is set to begin Tuesday, September 18 at 10:30 a.m. in the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The National Summit on American Competitiveness provides an opportunity to highlight the progress we\u0027ve made and the need for America to continually advance strategies that keep our country on the competitive edge,\u0022 said Gutierrez.  \u0022It will be a time to learn from America\u0027s most prominent and successful leaders and innovators.  I am excited about the potential for the National Summit to make a significant contribution toward shaping the national debate and developing policies that will help foster innovation and competitiveness.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo view a full listing of speakers and the summit agenda, please visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.americancompetitiveness.com\u0022 title=\u0022www.americancompetitiveness.com\u0022\u003Ewww.americancompetitiveness.com\u003C\/a\u003E or \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.commerce.gov\u0022 title=\u0022www.commerce.gov\u0022\u003Ewww.commerce.gov\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough will participate in a national summit on American competitiveness"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough is participating in a panel discussion on \u0027Education and the Workforce: Skill Sets for the 21st Century\u0027 at a national summit on American competitiveness hosted by U. S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Summit will address American competitiveness."}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-09-18 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71891":{"id":"71891","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71891"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.commerce.gov\/","title":"U.S. Department of Commerce"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.americancompetitiveness.com\/","title":"National Summit on American Compeitiveness"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2271","name":"American Competitivenss"},{"id":"1970","name":"Clough"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"1877","name":"Higher Education"},{"id":"767","name":"Policy"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71892":{"#nid":"71892","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Part of $31 M Translational Partnership","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded more than $31 million over five years--one of the largest NIH grants in Georgia history--to a partnership of Atlanta academic, research and healthcare institutions focused on accelerating the translation of laboratory discoveries into healthcare innovations for patients. The partnership, named the Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI), is led by Emory University, along with Morehouse School of Medicine, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Children\u0027s Healthcare of Atlanta. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe primary partner institutions, along with major collaborators, will match the NIH award in additional financial commitments, space, personnel and other support. Georgia collaborators include the Georgia Research Alliance, Kaiser Permanente of Georgia, the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Georgia Bio (formerly the Georgia Biomedical Partnership), and Grady Memorial Hospital and Health System.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe award is part of a new national clinical research consortium launched last year by the NIH and supported through Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs). Part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, the consortium is designed to spur the transformation of clinical and translational research in the U.S. so that new treatments can be developed more efficiently and delivered more quickly to patients. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs one of the early CTSA partners, the Atlanta CTSI is among the 12 recipients announced today who will join 12 announced in 2006 in a national network that will include 60 CTSAs when fully implemented in 2012. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI) will harness the tremendous and diverse scientific, technological and clinical strengths of these partner institutions,\u0022 says David S. Stephens, MD, executive associate dean for research in Emory University School of Medicine and principal investigator of the grant. \u0022The institute will function as a citywide magnet for clinical and translational research using discovery, training and community engagement to improve the healthcare of the Atlanta community.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We have a unique opportunity to transform healthcare and eliminate health disparities by actively engaging the broader physician community, and sharing best practices,\u0022 says Elizabeth Ofili, MD, MPH, associate dean for clinical research, Morehouse School of Medicine and co-principal investigator. \u0022Such academic community partnerships are critical to the success of the Atlanta CTSI as we work to effectively translate scientific discoveries to improve the health of all Atlantans.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe goals of the Atlanta CTSI mirror those of the national CTSA consortium - to create new and innovative programs that accelerate discovery, engage communities in clinical research and the development of new scientific knowledge; train and develop interdisciplinary investigative teams; and create new research tools and information technologies that improve human health.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This grant will bolster our research efforts and produce real solutions to improve the health of Georgia\u0027s citizens,\u0022 said Governor Sonny Perdue.  \u0022This announcement is another step along Georgia\u0027s path to becoming a leader in healthcare research.  Georgia is a center for innovation and collaboration, and we will continue to seek out opportunities to capitalize on Georgia\u0027s resources and talent.\u0022        \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Emory, Morehouse School of Medicine, Georgia Tech and Children\u0027s all are distinguished national leaders in educational excellence, innovative multidisciplinary research and ethical and effective engagement with the community,\u0022 says Michael M.E. Johns, MD, CEO of Emory\u0027s Woodruff Health Sciences Center. \u0022The existing solid partnerships and the commitment of these Atlanta institutions to contribute their intellectual strengths, resources, technologies and clinical facilities to this joint effort provide an extraordinary opportunity to create a national model for translating research discoveries into the most advanced patient care.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEach institution will contribute strengths to the partnership that will help create unique and valuable synergies. Emory is a national leader in healthcare and biomedical research and Georgia Tech is a national leader in biomedical engineering and the application of innovative systems engineering to health care solutions. Morehouse School of Medicine is a leading historically black institution that brings ethnic diversity to the biomedical research community, addresses health disparities through successful community engagement and serves as a pipeline for training minority investigators.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy partnering with Children\u0027s, the ACTSI also will create a new and innovative pediatric clinical and translational research center that builds on the established relationships of Emory, Morehouse School of Medicine and Children\u0027s and the shared healthcare they provide and adds new research relationships with Georgia Tech in bioinformatics.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This grant is a clear indication of the quality of the researchers at Emory, Morehouse School of Medicine, Georgia Tech and Children\u0027s Healthcare of Atlanta and the strong partnerships they have formed,\u0022 says Thomas J. Lawley, MD, dean of Emory University School of Medicine. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECollaborations with and strong support from the Georgia Research Alliance will create opportunities to foster and accelerate the development and application of new and emerging technologies, an effort also facilitated through Georgia Bio.  Collaborations with Kaiser Permanente of Georgia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the VA Medical Center will enable dynamic community, public health, informatics and population studies programs. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Atlanta CTSI will bring together laboratory scientists with clinical investigators, community clinicians, professional societies, and industry collaborators in a wide variety of dynamic programs and research projects. The institute will apply new research methods in genomics, imaging, nanotechnology, proteomics, metabolomics, glycomics and informatics to develop the most advanced and innovative therapies. It also will create and sustain partnerships with Atlanta\u0027s diverse communities to support community-based clinical research. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy using new research approaches in drug discovery and design, predictive health, regenerative biology, health disparities, computational and life sciences, translational animal models, imaging, and vaccines, the institute\u0027s scientists will accelerate the transfer of new technology, therapeutics and applications into routine use and focus their collective scientific expertise on the most critical health problems facing our country today.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor more information about the ACTSI, specific programs and primary investigators, see \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.AtlantaCTSI.org\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/www.AtlantaCTSI.org\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.AtlantaCTSI.org\u003C\/a\u003E \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor information about the NIH national CTSA consortium, see \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ctsaweb.org\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/www.ctsaweb.org\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.ctsaweb.org\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded more than $31 million over five years -- one of the largest NIH grants in Georgia history -- to a partnership of Atlanta academic, research and healthcare institutions, including Georgia Tech, focused on accelerating the translation of laboratory discoveries into healthcare innovations for patients.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Partnership to move innovation from lab to clinic"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-09-18 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71893":{"id":"71893","type":"image","title":"Tech tower","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71893"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2270","name":"National Institutes of Health"},{"id":"2076","name":"NIH"},{"id":"2269","name":"translational research"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72002":{"#nid":"72002","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Freq. of Atl. Hurricanes Doubled Over Last Century","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAbout twice as many Atlantic hurricanes form each year on average than a century ago, according to a new statistical analysis of hurricanes and tropical storms in the north Atlantic. The study concludes that warmer sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and altered wind patterns associated with global climate change are fueling much of the increase.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study, by Greg Holland of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and Peter Webster of Georgia Institute of Technology, will be published online July 30 in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022These numbers are a strong indication that climate change is a major factor in the increasing number of Atlantic hurricanes,\u0022 said Holland.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe analysis identifies three periods since 1900, separated by sharp transitions, during which the average number of hurricanes and tropical storms increased dramatically and then remained elevated and relatively steady. The first period, between 1900 and 1930, saw an average of six Atlantic tropical cyclones (or major storms), of which four were hurricanes and two were tropical storms. From 1930 to 1940, the annual average increased to 10, consisting of five hurricanes and five tropical storms. In the final study period, from 1995 to 2005, the average reached 15, of which eight were hurricanes and seven were tropical storms.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis latter period has not yet stabilized, which means that the average hurricane season may be more active in the future. Holland and Webster caution, however, that it is not possible at this time to predict the level at which the frequency and intensity of storms will stabilize.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe increases over the last century correlate closely with SSTs, which have risen by about 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 100 years. The changes in SSTs took place in the years prior to the sharp increases in storm frequency, with an SST rise of approximately 0.7 degrees Fahrenheit leading up to 1930 and a similar rise leading up to 1995 and continuing even after. The authors note that other studies indicate that most of the rise in Atlantic SSTs can be attributed to global warming.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENatural cycles and global warming\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe unusually active hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 have spurred considerable research into the question of whether more intense tropical cyclones are correlated with natural cycles, global warming, or some other cause. The new study indicates that natural cycles are probably not the entire cause because the increase has happened across the last century rather than oscillating in tandem with a natural cycle.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study also finds that enhanced observations in recent decades cannot account for all of the increase. To observe storms in the Atlantic more systematically, meteorologists began relying on data from aircraft flights in 1944 and satellites about 1970. The distinct transitions in hurricane activity noted by Holland and Webster occurred around both 1930 and 1995.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are of the strong and considered opinion that data errors alone cannot explain the sharp, high-amplitude transitions between the climatic regimes, each with an increase of around 50 percent in cyclone and hurricane numbers, and their close relationship with SSTs,\u0022 the authors stated.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the number of storms has steadily increased, the proportion of hurricanes to all Atlantic tropical cyclones has remained steady. Hurricanes have generally accounted for roughly 55 percent of all tropical cyclones. However, the proportion of major hurricanes (those with maximum sustained winds of at least 110 miles per hour) to less intense hurricanes and tropical storms has oscillated irregularly, and has increased significantly in recent years.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELast year\u0027s storms\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 2006 hurricane season was far less active than the two preceding years, in part because of the emergence of an El Nino event in the Pacific Ocean. However, that year, which was not included in the study, would have ranked above average a century ago, with five hurricanes and four other named storms.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Even a quiet year by today\u0027s standards would be considered normal or slightly active compared to an average year in the early part of the 20th century,\u0022 Holland said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe University Corporation for Atmospheric Research manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research under primary sponsorship by the National Science Foundation. Opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this release are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFull caption for image:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nA new climate study indicates that hurricanes and tropical storms became more frequent in the Atlantic Ocean during three distinct periods over the last century, as shown in this graphic. The first part of the 20th century (in white) was relatively quiet, with an annual average of 6 observed hurricanes and tropical storms. The annual average increased to 10 after 1930, and then reached 15 from 1995 to 2005 (in darkest shading). This graphic shows both the total number each year (blue line) and the nine-year running average, calculated from four years back through four years ahead of a given year. Called a running mean, this method smoothes out year-to-year variability to reveal the long-term trend. The new research associates the increasing storms with rising sea-surface temperatures. (Image courtesy: Steve Deyo, UCAR)\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Climate Change Suspected"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"About twice as many Atlantic hurricanes form each year on average than a century ago, according to a new statistical analysis of hurricanes and tropical storms in the north Atlantic. The study concludes that warmer sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and altered wind patterns associated with global climate change are fueling much of the increase.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Climate change suspected"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-07-30 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-07-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-07-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72003":{"id":"72003","type":"image","title":"Hurricane Graph","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"}},"media_ids":["72003"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2262","name":"climate"},{"id":"289","name":"Global"},{"id":"1860","name":"hurricane"},{"id":"2327","name":"warming"},{"id":"84","name":"webster"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72000":{"#nid":"72000","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Names New Director of Government Relations","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology has appointed Dene H. Sheheane, 38, as the Institute\u0027s director of Government Relations\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027re extremely fortunate to have Dene Sheheane represent Georgia Tech in our Government Relations office,\u0022 said Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough.  \u0022Dene has experience supporting educational issues at the chancellor\u0027s office, Board of Regents and state capitol, and has developed strong relationships with our state and federal elected officials.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESheheane has extensive state and local government experience.  Most recently he was associate vice president for external affairs at Georgia State University.  Prior to that, he worked in the governor\u0027s office during the early 1990s prior to moving to Georgia State in 1994.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As a graduate of Georgia Tech, I am eager to return to campus and serve the Institute that played such a major role in shaping my life,\u0022 said Sheheane.  \u0022Representing Georgia Tech in the State Capitol will be both an honor and a privilege.  I look forward to meeting the talented faculty and staff at Georgia Tech as we work together to communicate the value of a strong investment in the Institute.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESheheane continued, \u0022Georgia Tech has earned many friends in state government, and I am committed to strengthening those relationships to ensure the Institute\u0027s strategic goals and priorities receive outstanding support and recognition.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESheheane is a native Georgian and a graduate of Norcross High School.  He graduated from Georgia Tech in 1991 with a degree in management.  He received a Master of Business Administration from Georgia State University.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHis professional affiliations include serving as chairman of the National State Relations Task Force, an organization comprised of higher education government relations professionals from across the country. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA resident of the historic downtown district of Acworth, Georgia, Sheheane serves on the Acworth Downtown Development Authority.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESheheane replaces Andrew Harris, who retired earlier this year.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Dene Sheheane will fill pivotal position."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"The Georgia Institute of Technology has appointed Dene H. Sheheane, 38, as the Institute\u0027s director of Government Relations","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New director of government relations is a Tech alum"}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-07-31 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-07-31T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-07-31T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72001":{"id":"72001","type":"image","title":"Dene Sheheane","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"}},"media_ids":["72001"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2326","name":"Dene Sheheane"},{"id":"2325","name":"Government Relations"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71608":{"#nid":"71608","#data":{"type":"news","title":"First Book On Petascale Computing Lauched At SC07","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe College of Computing at Georgia Tech and Chapman \u0026amp; Hall\/CRC Press today announced the launch of \u0027Petascale Computing: Algorithms and Applications\u0027, the first published collection on petascale techniques for computational science and engineering, at the SC07 conference. Edited by David A. Bader, associate professor of computing and executive director of high-performance computing at Georgia Tech, this collection represents an academic milestone in the high-performance computing industry and is the first work to be released through Chapman \u0026amp; Hall\/CRC Press\u0027 new Computational Science series.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022High-performance computing will enable breakthrough science and engineering in the 21st century,\u0022 said Bader. \u0022My goal in developing this book was to inspire members of the high-performance computing community to solve computational grand challenges that will help our society, protect our environment, and improve our understanding in fundamental ways, all through the efficient use of petascale computing.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFeaturing contributions from the world\u0027s leading experts in computational science, \u0027Petascale Computing: Algorithms and Applications\u0027 discusses expected breakthroughs in the computational science and engineering field and covers a breadth of topics in petascale computing, including architectures, software, programming methodologies, tools, scalable algorithms, performance evaluation and application development. Covering a wide range of issues critical to the advancement of the high-performance computing\/supercomputing industry, this edited collection illustrates the application of petascale computing to space and Earth science missions, biological systems and climate science, among others, and details the simulation of multiphysics, cosmological evolution, molecular dynamics and biomolecules.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In the same way as petascale computing will open up new and unprecedented opportunities for research in computational science, I expect this current book to lead to a deeper understanding and appreciation of research in computational science and engineering,\u0022 said Horst Simon, associate laboratory director for computing sciences, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and editor of Chapman \u0026amp; Hall\/CRC Press\u0027 new Computational Science book series. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe College of Computing at Georgia Tech is a young and rising leader in high-performance computing, computational science and engineering (CSE), and real-world computing. Focusing on research and education that impacts and influence social and scientific progress, the College of Computing Georgia Tech is unlocking 21st century grand challenges through fundamental and real world research, and educating tomorrow\u0027s computational science innovators with advanced degrees in CSE. In November 2006, the College of Computing was recognized for its innovation and leadership role in this industry through its selection as the first Sony-Toshiba-IBM Center of Competence focused on the Cell Broadband Engine (Cell BE) microprocessor.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Chapman \u0026amp; Hall\/CRC Press\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAs part of the Taylor and Francis Group, an Informa business, Chapman \u0026amp; Hall\/CRC Press is a preeminent publisher in computer science, mathematics, statistics, and physics, and the publisher of the new Chapman \u0026amp; Hall\/CRC Computational Science book series, edited by Horst Simon, Associate Laboratory Director, Computing Sciences, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. With the publication of this series, Chapman \u0026amp; Hall\/CRC is committed to disseminating the latest research and applications in computational science and engineering, through the publication of a broad range of textbooks, reference works, and handbooks. For further information, please visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.crcpress.com\u0022 title=\u0022www.crcpress.com\u0022\u003Ewww.crcpress.com\u003C\/a\u003E. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the College of Computing at Georgia Tech\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe College of Computing at Georgia Tech is a national leader in the creation of real-world computing breakthroughs that drive social and scientific progress. With its graduate program ranked 11th nationally by U.S. News and World Report, the College\u0027s unconventional approach to education is defining the new face of computing by expanding the horizons of traditional computer science students through interdisciplinary collaboration and a focus on human centered solutions. For more information about the College of Computing at Georgia Tech, its academic divisions and research centers, please visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\u0022 title=\u0022www.cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ewww.cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"The College of Computing at Georgia Tech and Chapman \u0026amp; Hall\/CRC Press announced the launch of \u0027Petascale Computing: Algorithms and Applications\u0027, the first published collection on petascale techniques for computational science and engineering, at the SC07 conference.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"David A. Bader Delivers Milestone Work"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-11-12 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-11-13T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-11-13T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71609":{"id":"71609","type":"image","title":"Petascale Computing: Algorithms and Applications","body":null,"created":"1449177396","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:36","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71609"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Computing"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.crcpress.com\/","title":"Chapman \u0026 Hall\/CRC Press"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"694","name":"bader"},{"id":"1302","name":"book"},{"id":"208","name":"computing"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EStefany Wilson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECollege of Computing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=sw187\u0022\u003EContact Stefany Wilson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-7253\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["stefany@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71604":{"#nid":"71604","#data":{"type":"news","title":"AAAS Names Four to Fellows List","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFour Georgia Tech faculty members were named American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellows for 2007. Honored for their outstanding social or scientific efforts were Judith Curry, Randall Engle, Cheryl Leggon and Rick Trebino.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s always nice to be honored by your peers,\u0022 said Curry, chair of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. \u0022Overall, it adds to the prestige of the Institute when you have a number of fellows named.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECurry was recognized for her work in both the relationships between global climate change and hurricane intensity and for her contributions that led to understanding feedbacks in the Arctic system. She was named a fellow in the American Geophysical Union in 2004 and in the American Meteorological Society in 1995.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I am always a little surprised by such things,\u0022 said Engle, School of Psychology Chair and associate dean for the College of Sciences. \u0022For me, [this distinction] helps us to convey that there is a science of psychology that plays a crucial role in the community of scientists.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEngle was recognized for his work in understanding the nature of working memory and individual differences. \u0022I look at our amazing young faculty and the incredible senior people we have hired in the Institute in recent years and I am struck by how good we have become and how much talent there is here [at Georgia Tech].\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I deeply appreciate this recognition of my work,\u0022 she said. \u0022My orientation to research has always been policy and practice in terms of making a difference in individual lives as well as transforming institutions. This is not only important nationally, but globally, as who is not \u0027at the table\u0027 is as significant as who is.\u0022 In 2006, Leggon was elected to membership in Sigma Xi, an honorary scholarly society.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPhysics Professor Trebino credited the work of many in receiving this honor. \u0022It means that many grad students, post-docs, and others who have worked with my group over the years have done a very nice job making my ideas-as well as their own-happen,\u0022 he said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHe was honored for the development of techniques and devices for measuring ultrashort laser pulses.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0022My group\u0027s work impacts the wide range of fields that use these pulses, from biology to physics to manufacturing, and [the] AAAS Fellowship acknowledges this wide impact.\u0022 Trebino is a 2006 Fellow of the American Physical Society and a 1999 Optical Society of America Fellow. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAAAS is the world\u0027s largest general scientific society. The 471 AAAS Fellows for 2007 were named in the News \u0026amp; Notes section of the Oct. 26 edition of the journal Science and will be honored at the Fellows Forum Feb. 16, 2008. In 2006, four members of Tech\u0027s community were named AAAS Fellows; six were named in 2005.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Four Georgia Tech faculty members were named American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellows for 2007. Honored for their outstanding social or scientific efforts were Judith Curry, Randall Engle, Cheryl Leggon and Rick Trebino.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Curry, Engle, Leggon and Trebino honored"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-11-15 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-11-15T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-11-15T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71605":{"id":"71605","type":"image","title":"Judy Curry and Randolph Engle","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"},"71606":{"id":"71606","type":"image","title":"Cheryl Leggon and Rick Trebino","body":null,"created":"1449177396","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:36","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71605","71606"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/rtrebino.html","title":"Rick Trebino"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.spp.gatech.edu\/faculty\/faculty\/cleggon.php","title":"Cheryl Leggon"},{"url":"http:\/\/psychology.gatech.edu\/departmentinfo\/faculty\/bio-REngle.html","title":"Randall Engle"},{"url":"http:\/\/curry.eas.gatech.edu\/","title":"Judy Curry"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1629","name":"AAAS"},{"id":"85","name":"curry"},{"id":"2230","name":"engle"},{"id":"2231","name":"leggon"},{"id":"2232","name":"trebino"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ERobert Nesmith\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EICPA\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:robert.nesmith@icpa.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EContact Robert Nesmith\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-4142\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["robert.nesmith@icpa.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71872":{"#nid":"71872","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Simulation Reveals How Body Repairs Balance","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EYour body goes to a lot of trouble to make sure you stay upright. But when the brain\u0027s neural pathways are impaired through injury, age or illness, muscles are deprived of the detailed sensory information they need to perform the constant yet delicate balancing act required for normal movement and standing.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith an eye towards building robots that can balance like humans, researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University have created a computer simulation that sheds new light on how the nervous system reinvents its communication with muscles after sensory loss. The findings could someday be used to better diagnose and rehabilitate patients with balance problems (through normal aging or diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis or Parkinson\u0027s) by retraining their muscles and improving overall balance. The research will be published in the October issue of Nature Neuroscience. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The ultimate goal of rehabilitation is for patients to find the best way to adapt to their particular deficit. This system may help predict what the optimum combination of muscle and nerve activity looks like for each patient, helping patients and doctors set realistic goals and speeding recovery,\u0022 said Lena Ting, lead researcher on the project and an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a body without balance impairment, the nervous system collects sensory information from all over the body (skin, ears, feet, arms, eyes, etc.) and transmits this information to the muscles that control balance. When that information changes through the introduction of something like a strong wind, a raised crack in the pavement or an accidental bump from a nearby stranger, the nervous system sends the new information to the muscles and they adjust accordingly to maintain the body\u0027s balance.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EImpairments and injuries to the nervous system or the senses that report to the nervous system (experienced with a loss of vision or touch and problems in the inner ear) lead to balance problems. Experts traditionally have had little understanding of how the nervous system\u0027s communication with the muscles associated with balance changes when one or several pieces of necessary sensory information are missing.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech and Emory researchers set out to create an effective way to interpret how commands from the nervous system to muscles (measured through electrical signals in the muscles) are changed by sensory impairment - similar to the numbing of feet experienced by diabetes patients - and how these changes affect balance control. The team started with data sets from animals. They were able to determine that, after a period of rehabilitation, subjects with some sensory damage were able to regain their balance despite the loss of some sensory information. So how do the nervous system and muscles fill in the information gaps?\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech and Emory team hypothesized that the nervous system relies on the relationship between the body\u0027s center of gravity and its environment to control balance. They reasoned that the best predictor of how muscles would be activated when the subject experienced a balance threat was not the motion of the individual body parts, but the horizontal motion of the body\u0027s center of gravity.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo test their theory, the researchers created a computer simulation that could accurately simulate standing balance and muscle reactions to balance disturbances by focusing on the relation of the subject\u0027s center of gravity to the ground. Rather than predicting neural control patterns for the multitude of sensory information processed by the body to maintain balance, the team instead tracked a small set of signals related to the body\u0027s control of its center of gravity.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech and Emory team determined that subjects who had impaired sensory information were slowly using new sensory pathways to track the motion of the body\u0027s center of gravity, compensating for the loss of information from the damaged sensory pathways. In effect, the subjects\u0027 muscles were using different neural information to perform the same balance tasks, resulting in muscle activity patterns that looked \u0027abnormal,\u0027 but that were actually similar to the predicted optimum.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research team is now testing its center of gravity simulation with human subjects and a small robot with simulated muscles. They predict that the simulation could recognize impairment and pinpoint the optimum recovery points for each sensory-impaired subject - all based on the body\u0027s reliance on center of gravity information. When applied to a robot, these neural communication patterns allowed the robot to successfully move fluidly like an animal, in contrast to what its gears and motors might suggest. The robot demonstrates all of the different strategies that could be used by normal and sensory-loss patients.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This finding will change the way we approach rehabilitation,\u0022 Ting said. \u0022We can\u0027t expect patients to mimic normal balance performance when they\u0027re using a different set of sensory information. Instead, our work can help identify the best performance possible given a patient\u0027s level and type of sensory impairment.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Researchers design simulation that could be used to better rehabilitate patients with balance problems, build robots with better balance"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech and Emory researchers have created a computer simulation that sheds new light on how the nervous system reinvents its communication with muscles after sensory loss. The findings could someday be used to better diagnose and rehabilitate patients with balance problems by retraining their muscles and improving overall balance.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Could lead to better rehabilitation, robot balance"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-09-25 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71873":{"id":"71873","type":"image","title":"balance","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71874":{"id":"71874","type":"image","title":"Ting and Chvatl","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71873","71874"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.neuro.gatech.edu\/groups\/ting\/index.html","title":"Lena Ting\\\u0027s Neuromechanics Lab"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/","title":"Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2265","name":"balance"},{"id":"2266","name":"Lena Ting"},{"id":"2267","name":"multiple sclerosis"},{"id":"2268","name":"nervous system"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71997":{"#nid":"71997","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Bangladesh Flood Forecasts Distributed to Residents","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs catastrophic floods worsen in Bangladesh, a pilot forecasting program is being used to warn thousands of vulnerable residents in selected flood-prone regions. The forecasting system was designed by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBangladesh is one of the most vulnerable regions on Earth to floods. Rising waters in recent days have left dozens of people dead and several million marooned or displaced, with the toll likely to mount.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 1- to 10-day forecasts are delivered directly, when possible, to more than 100,000 people living in floodplains of the Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers. They will be distributed more widely in coming years.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our goal is that long-range flood forecasts, for the first time, will consistently reach many rural individuals in Bangladesh who are in jeopardy of losing their homes, businesses, and possibly their lives,\u0022 said NCAR scientist Thomas Hopson, who helped develop the forecasting system.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe forecasting system predicted the current floods several days in advance, but volunteers on the ground cannot yet confirm the extent to which it helped people prepare for these floods.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe system uses a combination of weather forecast models, satellite observations, river gauges, and new hydrologic modeling techniques. It is part of a larger initiative, known as Climate Forecast Applications in Bangladesh, to improve flood and precipitation warnings in the low-lying nation. Peter Webster, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, is the principal investigator of the overall initiative.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHopson and Webster have provided forecasts to Bangladeshi agencies since 2003, but the forecasts often have not reached rural regions, where many residents lack radios and even electricity. This year, the Thailand-based nonprofit Asia Disaster Preparedness Center has established a network of governmental and nongovernmental organizations, as well as volunteers, to distribute the forecasts directly to people in five districts along the Brahmaputra and Ganges, including impoverished families living on islands known as river chars. The center\u0027s Ramasamy Selvaraju and A.R. Subbiah are overseeing the distribution efforts.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAdditional areas of Bangladesh will receive forecasts in coming years.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project, which has received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the relief agency CARE.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EProtecting lives and income\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlmost every other year in recent decades, the Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers have flooded for periods ranging from a few days to a month or more, often with devastating results for local residents. Farmers and fishers can easily lose a year\u0027s worth of income in a single flood.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResidents of the largely impoverished districts in the forecast area have said that advance notice of floods could help them ward off some of the worst impacts of rising waters. If they had sufficient warning, they could harvest at least a portion of their ripening crops, move some livestock to safety, encircle fish ponds with nets to prevent fish from escaping, and stock food and other supplies.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The goal here is to help very local, grassroots economies,\u0022 Hopson explained. \u0022The forecasts also alert relief agencies to prepare to bring in drinking water, cholera tablets, and other essentials in case of a major flood.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts provides data and weather forecasts, which are fed into hydrological models of the Ganges and Brahmaputra river basins. The system also incorporates estimates of precipitation from two satellite-based systems developed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and NOAA Climate Prediction Center, along with discharge measurements of rivers in Bangladesh.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe forecasting system emphasizes modeling and satellite data to compensate for a lack of river gauge data upstream of Bangladesh, as well as for a lack of radar data. It is updated daily with new model runs and measurements.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELonger-range forecasts\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHopson, Webster, and Georgia Tech scientists Carlos Hoyos and Hai-Ru Chang have worked to create forecasts that go out more than 10 days, thereby giving residents additional time to prepare for floods. Over the next year or two, increasing numbers of Bangladeshis will begin to receive 20-day forecasts, followed by one- to six-month seasonal forecasts.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team will also study the feasibility of applying its forecasting technology and methods to other vulnerable countries, such as Cambodia and Vietnam.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We feel that the prediction modules we have developed for Bangladesh are templates for flood forecasting in developing nations with limited infrastructure and resources,\u0022 Webster said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe University Corporation for Atmospheric Research manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research under primary sponsorship by the National Science Foundation. Opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this release are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFigure caption:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIn the summer of 2004, the forecasting system developed by NCAR and Georgia Tech scientists generated these 10-day forecasts showing that the Brahmaputra River in Bangladesh would likely exceed critical flood level (the horizontal dotted line) on two occasions in July. At the time, the forecasts were not fully integrated into Bangladeshi warning systems, and approximately 500 people in Bangladesh and India died in the floods. This summer, for the first time, the forecasts are being distributed directly to more than 100,000 people living in flood-prone areas along the Brahmaputra and  Ganges rivers. (Illustration by Thomas Hopson, NCAR.)\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"As catastrophic floods worsen in Bangladesh, a pilot forecasting program is being used to warn thousands of vulnerable residents in selected flood-prone regions. The forecasting system was designed by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the Georgia Institute of Technology.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Pilot forecasting system warning residents"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-08-02 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71998":{"id":"71998","type":"image","title":"Bangladesh map","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"},"71999":{"id":"71999","type":"image","title":"Figure","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"}},"media_ids":["71998","71999"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2324","name":"bagladesh"},{"id":"2323","name":"flood"},{"id":"84","name":"webster"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71601":{"#nid":"71601","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Bee Strategy Helps Servers Run More Sweetly","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHoneybees somehow manage to efficiently collect a lot of nectar with limited resources and no central command  - after all, the queen bee is too busy laying eggs to oversee something as mundane as where the best nectar can be found on any given morning. According to new research from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the swarm intelligence of these amazingly organized bees can also be used to improve the efficiency of Internet servers faced with similar challenges.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA bee dance-inspired communications system developed by Georgia Tech helps Internet servers that would normally be devoted solely to one task move between tasks as needed, reducing the chances that a Web site could be overwhelmed with requests and lock out potential users and customers. Compared with the way server banks are commonly run, the honeybee method typically improves service by 4 percent to 25 percent in tests based on real Internet traffic. The research was published in the journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter studying the efficiency of honeybees, Craig Tovey, a professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech, realized through conversations with Sunil Nakrani, a computer science colleague visiting from the University of Oxford, that bees and servers had strikingly similar barriers to efficiency.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I studied bees for years, waiting for the right application,\u0022 Tovey said. \u0022When you work with biomimetics (the study of how biological principles can be applied to design and engineering), you have to look for a close analogy between two systems - never a superficial one. And this definitely fit the bill.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe more Tovey and Nakrani discussed bees and servers, the surer they became that somehow the bees\u0027 strategies for allocating limited resources in an unpredictable and constantly changing environment could be applied to Internet servers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHoneybees have a limited number of workers at any given time to fly out to flowers, collect nectar, return to the hive and repeat until the nectar source is depleted. Sometimes, there\u0027s an abundance of nectar to be collected; at other times nectar is scarce. The bees\u0027 environment is constantly changing - some flower patches occasionally yield much better nectar than others, the seasons shift and rainy days make nectar collection difficult. So how do the bees manage to keep a steady flow of nectar coming into the hive?\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EInternet servers, which provide the computing power necessary to run Web sites, typically have a set number of servers devoted to a certain Web site or client. When users access a Web site, the servers provide computing power until all the requests to access and use the site have been fulfilled. Sometimes there are a lot of requests to access a site (for instance, a clothing company\u0027s retail site after a particularly effective television ad during a popular sporting event) and sometimes there are very few. Predicting demand for Web sites, including whether a user will access a video clip or initiate a purchase, is extremely difficult in a fickle Internet landscape, and servers are frequently overloaded and later become completely inactive at random.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBees tackle their resource allocation problem (i.e. a limited number of bees and unpredictable demand on their time and desired location) with a seamless system driven by \u0027dances.\u0027 Here\u0027s how it works: The scout bees leave the hive in search of nectar. Once they\u0027ve found a promising spot, they return to the hive \u0027dance floor\u0027 and perform a dance. The direction of the dance tells the waiting forager bees which direction to fly, the number of waggle turns conveys the distance to the flower patch; and the length conveys the sweetness of the nectar.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe forager bees then dance behind the scouts until they learn the right steps (and the particulars about the nectar), forming a bobbing conga line of sorts. Then they fly out to collect the nectar detailed in the dance. As long as there\u0027s still nectar to be found, the bees that return continue the dance. Other forager bees continue to fly toward the source until the dancing slowly tapers off or a new bee returns with a more appealing dance routine (Hey, the nectar over here is even better!).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile all that dancing may not sound like a model of efficiency, it\u0027s actually optimal for the unpredictable nectar world the bees inhabit, Tovey said. The system allows the bees to seamlessly shift from one nectar source to a more promising nectar source based on up-to-the-minute conditions. All this without a clear leader or central command to slow the decision making process.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022But the bees aren\u0027t performing a computation or strategy, they ARE the computation,\u0022 Tovey added.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EInternet servers, on the other hand, are theoretically optimized for \u0027normal\u0027 conditions, which are frequently challenged by fickle human nature. By assigning certain servers to a certain Web site, Internet hosts are establishing a system that works well under normal conditions and poorly under conditions that strain demand. When demand for one site swells, many servers sit idly by as the assigned servers reach capacity and begin shifting potential users to a lengthening queue that tries their patience and turns away potential customers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETovey, a co-director of the Center for Biologically Inspired Design at Georgia Tech, and Nakrani set to work translating the bee strategy for these idle Internet servers. They developed a virtual \u0027dance floor\u0027 for a network of servers. When one server receives a user request for a certain Web site, an internal advertisement (standing in a little less colorfully for the dance) is placed on the dance floor to attract any available servers. The ad\u0027s duration depends on the demand on the site and how much revenue its users may generate. The longer an ad remains on the dance floor, the more power available servers devote to serving the Web site requests advertised.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Computer version of bee dance directs server power"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"According to new research from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the swarm intelligence of honeybees can be adapted to improve the efficiency of Internet servers faced with similar challenges. A bee dance-inspired communications system developed by Georgia Tech helps Internet servers that would normally be devoted solely to one task move between tasks as needed, reducing the chances that a Web site could be overwhelmed with requests and lock out potential users and customers.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Computer version of bee dance directs server power"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-11-16 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-11-16T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-11-16T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71602":{"id":"71602","type":"image","title":"Honeybee efficiency","body":null,"created":"1449177386","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:26","changed":"1475894639","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:59"}},"media_ids":["71602"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.isye.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/profile.php?entry=ct3","title":"Craig Tovey"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cbid.gatech.edu\/","title":"Center for Biologically Inspired Design at Georgia Tech"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.isye.gatech.edu\/","title":"Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2226","name":"bioinspiration"},{"id":"2225","name":"biomimetics"},{"id":"1051","name":"Computer Science"},{"id":"2227","name":"Craig Tovey"},{"id":"2228","name":"honeybees"},{"id":"1431","name":"industrial and systems engineering"},{"id":"2229","name":"Internet"},{"id":"167642","name":"systems engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71860":{"#nid":"71860","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Cave Records Provide Clues to Climate Change","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen Georgia Tech Assistant Professor Kim Cobb and graduate student Jud Partin wanted to understand the mechanisms that drove the abrupt climate change events that occurred thousands of years ago, they didn\u0027t drill for ice cores from the glaciers of Greenland or the icy plains of Antarctica, as is customary for paleoclimatolgists. Instead, they went underground.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGrowing inside the caves of the tropical Pacific island of Borneo are some of the keys to understanding how the Earth\u0027s climate suddenly changed - several times - over the last 25,000 years. By analyzing stalagmites, the pilar-like rock formations that stem from the ground in caves, they were able to produce a high-resolution and continuous record of the climate over this equatorial rainforest.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022These stalagmites are, in essence, tropical ice cores forming over thousands of years,\u0022 said Partin. \u0022Each layer of the rock contains important chemical traces that help us determine what was going on in the climate thousands of years ago, much like the ice cores drilled from Greenland or Antarctica.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe tropical Pacific currently plays a powerful role in shaping year-to-year climate variations around the globe (as evidenced by the number of weather patterns influenced by the Pacific\u0027s El Nino), but its role in past climate change is less understood. Partin and Cobb\u0027s results suggest that the tropical Pacific played a much more active role in some of the abrupt climate change events of Earth\u0027s past than was once thought and may even have played a leading role in some of these changes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPolar ice cores reveal that the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere each have their own distinct patterns of abrupt climate change; the tropical Pacific may provide the mechanistic link between the two systems. Understanding how the climate changes occurred and what they looked like is important to helping scientists put into context the current trends in today\u0027s climate. They published their findings in the Sept 27, 2007, issue of the journal Nature.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research team collected stalagmites from the Gunung Buda cave system in Borneo in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Analyzing three stalagmites from two separate caves allowed the pair to create a near-continuous record of the climate from 25,000 years ago to the present. While this study is not the first to use stalagmites to examine climate over this time period, it is the first to do so in the tropical Pacific. Typically, in these types of studies, only one stalagmite is analyzed, but Partin and Cobb compared their three stalagmite records to isolate shared climate-related signals.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EStalagmites are formed as rain water, mixed with calcium carbonate and other elements, makes its way through the ground and onto the cave floor. As this solution drips over time, it hardens in layers, creating a column of rock.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPartin and Cobb cut open each stalagmite and took 1,300 measurements of their chemical content to determine the relative moisture of the climate at various periods in history starting from the oldest layers at the bottom to the present at the top. They dated the rocks by analyzing the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium, and determined the amount of precipitation at given times by measuring the ratio of oxygen isotopes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our records contain signatures of both Northern and Southern Hemisphere climate influences as the Earth emerged from the last ice age, which makes sense given its equatorial location,\u0022 said Cobb. \u0022However, tropical Pacific climate was not a simple linear combination of high-latitude climate events. It reflects the complexity of mechanisms linking high and low latitude climate.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor example,  Partin and Cobb\u0027s records suggest that the tropical Pacific began drying about 20,000 years ago and that this trend may have pre-conditioned the North Atlantic for an abrupt climate change event that occurred about 16,500 years ago, known as the Heinrich 1 event.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0022In addition, the Borneo records indicate that the tropical Pacific began to get wetter before the North Atlantic recovered from the Heinrich 1 event 14,000 years ago. Perhaps the tropical Pacific is again driving that trend,\u0022 said Partin.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Currently our knowledge of how these dramatic climate changes occurred comes from just a few sites,\u0022 said Cobb. \u0022As more studies are done from caves around the world, hopefully we\u0027ll be able to piece together a more complete picture of these changes. Understanding how the dominoes fell is very important to our understanding of our current warming trend.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Using stalagmites found in two different caves in Borneo, Georgia Tech researchers found that the tropical Pacific  may play a much more active role in historic climate change events than was previously thought.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Tropical \u0027ice cores\u0027 show active role for Pacific"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-09-25 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71861":{"id":"71861","type":"image","title":"Stalagmite close-up","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71862":{"id":"71862","type":"image","title":"Jud Partin drilling","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71861","71862"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/gallery\/v\/climate","title":"Photo gallery"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2263","name":"borneo"},{"id":"2262","name":"climate"},{"id":"1329","name":"cobb"},{"id":"2261","name":"earth"},{"id":"2120","name":"pacific"},{"id":"2264","name":"partin"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71995":{"#nid":"71995","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech\u0027s CATEA Improving Access","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA) is giving the disability community and aging population a new tool that helps identify new products, research and services available to them.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECATEA\u0027s Consumer Network (CCN) is an on-line community that shares information about new developments in disability and aging related-products and services.  By joining CCN, members are among the first to preview new advances in disability and aging-related products and provide input to make them more usable and accessible.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022CNN is unique because it is the only consumer network of its kind to include all facets of disability and aging issues,\u0022 said CATEA researcher Robert Todd.  \u0022No one will be left out because they don\u0027t fit a \u0027profile.\u0027\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECATEA researchers also benefit greatly from the network since they are able to identify CCN members willing to test new prototypes, products and services in order to improve them through focus groups, field-testing, and surveys.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0027CCN is a young initiative as it was launched in October of 2006,\u0022 said Todd.  \u0022The network has already been responsible for the successful completion of numerous research projects, private and federally funded.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECollege of Architecture Ph. D student Young Mi Choi used CCN to find subjects for her research on portable wheelchair ramps.  The network helped identify potential users from a pool of members and also allowed Choi to be more precise in sending out invitations targeting only those who would qualify to participate in the study.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022CCN allows users to learn more about research that would be helpful to their lives,\u0022 said Choi.  \u0022Most importantly though, by showing interest in becoming a CCN member, it allows them an opportunity to actually take part in developing innovations that may be able to impact them directly.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EParticipation in CCN is growing rapidly among consumers, nearly doubling between March and June of 2007.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Although CCN was developed at Georgia Tech\u0027s CATEA, the network is intended for use by all researchers who will abide by its rules and regulations,\u0022 said Todd.   \u0022It is thus a more universal source for disability and aging research than any other in the nation.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Todd, CCN accomplishes this broad mission while still maintaining 100% privacy and anonymity for its members.  Additionally, membership is free of charge, and members are often compensated for their participation in studies.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECATEA plans to open the network to researchers across the nation during the second half of 2007.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"CATEA\u0027s new online network helps inform the disability community and aging population of the latest research, products and services available to them."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u0027s Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA) is giving the disability community and aging population a new tool that helps identify new products, research and services available to them.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"CATEA Consumer Network assisting online communities"}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-08-07 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71996":{"id":"71996","type":"image","title":"CATEA Consumer Network","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"}},"media_ids":["71996"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.coa.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech College of Architecture"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.catea.org\/","title":"CATEA"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.catea.org\/ccn\/ccn.php","title":"CATEA Consumer Network"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"137","name":"Architecture"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2321","name":"Assitive Technology"},{"id":"358","name":"CATEA"},{"id":"2322","name":"Consumer Network"},{"id":"242","name":"disabilities"},{"id":"398","name":"health"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71864":{"#nid":"71864","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Astronaut Jim Lovell to Present Scholarship Check","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EApollo 13 Astronaut, Captain James Lovell, will present Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) senior, Nicole Larsen with a $10,000 scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) during a public presentation and ceremony, Wednesday, September 26 at 3pm in the Ferst Center for the Arts, Georgia Tech campus. The award presentation will coincide with a free lecture by Captain Lovell that is open to the public.  \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis prestigious award is one of 19 made available each year through the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. The scholarships are awarded to college students who have exhibited exceptional performance, initiative and creativity in the science or engineering field of their major. While scholarship recipients must display intellectual daring, the committee also looks for well-rounded students who are involved in campus and community activities.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0022These scholarships are a way for me and my fellow astronauts to give back to a country that provided us with an extraordinary opportunity,\u0022 said Captain Lovell. \u0022Nicole will be one of the many leaders who will keep the United States at the edge of breakthrough technology and I consider it an honor to be presenting her with this check.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe award will be applied toward Larsen\u0027s ongoing education at Georgia Tech, where she currently holds a 3.88 academic average. As a double major in Mathematics and Physics, Larsen is one of only a few women majors in the mostly male dominated world of Mathematics. Last summer, she participated in the Cornell Laboratory of Elementary Particle Physics REU, where she performed in a group working on the CMS particle detector for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC is scheduled to begin operation in November to probe energy scales that have never before been seen. When not working in the laboratory, you can find Larsen tutoring fellow Georgia Tech students in math and physics.  Larsen believes, \u0022The best part of my job, as a tutor, is when I have managed to impart some enthusiasm for the material!\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It is a pleasure to see an exceptional student like Nicole recognized of her accomplishments,\u0022 said Georgia Tech Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Gary Schuster.  \u0022Nicole is a great example of a Georgia Tech student who has set herself apart from her peers by excelling both academically in the classroom and also in the research lab.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESelected as a NASA astronaut in 1962, Captain Lovell has logged over 715 hours in space on four space missions. He piloted a then-record 14-day space trip in Gemini 7. Next he commanded Gemini 12, and then orbited the moon on man\u0027s maiden voyage on Apollo 8. Captain Lovell is most known for his commanded and then aborted Apollo 13 moon mission. He retired from NASA in 1973, and was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1993. Captain Lovell served as the ASF Chairman and President from 1997 thru 2005 and is still an active member of the organization.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Astronaut Scholarship Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 1984 by the six surviving members of America\u0027s original Mercury astronauts. Its goal is to aid the United States in retaining its world leadership in science and technology by providing scholarships for college students who exhibit motivation, imagination, and exceptional performance in the science or engineering field of their major. ASF funds 19 $10,000 scholarships annually and has awarded nearly $2.5 million to 226 students nationwide. \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Apollo 13 astronaut, James Lovell, presents Georgia Tech student with $10,000 scholarship from Astronaut Scholarship Foundation."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Apollo 13 Astronaut, Captain James Lovell, will present Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) senior, Nicole Larsen with a $10,000 scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) during a public presentation and ceremony, Wednesday, September 26 at 3pm in the Ferst Center for the Arts, Georgia Tech campus.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Tech student Nicole Larsen awarded ASF scholarship"}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-09-26 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71865":{"id":"71865","type":"image","title":"Apollo Astronaut James Lovell","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71865"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.AstronautScholarship.org\/","title":"Astronaut Scholarship"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2258","name":"Astronaut James Lovell"},{"id":"2260","name":"Guest"},{"id":"2259","name":"Lectures"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71994":{"#nid":"71994","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Ga. Tech Sting Racing Team Selected as Finalist","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s College of Computing today announced that the Sting Racing team competing in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency\u0027s (DARPA) Urban Challenge has passed its site visit and is one of 36 teams judged technologically capable of competing in the final round. The team\u0027s autonomous vehicle, Sting 1, successfully completed all four tests during its capabilities evaluation on June 18, taking it into the next stage in this two-year competition among leading research and technology universities in the United States.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As a first year competitor in the Urban Challenge, qualifying for the semi-final round is a major accomplishment and testament to the passion and dedication of our team,\u0022 said Dr. Henrik Christensen, KUKA Chair of Robotics for the College of Computing at Georgia Tech and Principal Investigator for Sting Racing. \u0022Our robotics program at Georgia Tech is relatively new, but the progress we have shown over a short period of time has positioned us among the best in the nation.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring the visit, DARPA personnel assessed the ability of the autonomous vehicle to perform tasks and operate safely. Sting was evaluated on its ability to navigate a test course that included a four-way intersection, and moving traffic. This evaluation cover a subset of the challenges that the robotic vehicles will face on the final Urban Challenge course, including merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy intersections and avoiding obstacles.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESting Racing, a joint collaboration between Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Computing, College of Engineering, the Georgia Tech Research Institute and SAIC, selected a Porsche Cayenne, designated Sting 1, as the base vehicle for its entry in the Urban Design Challenge. For nearly a year the members of the Sting Racing team have been working to program the robot to drive autonomously by staying on course and recognizing obstacles in its way, such as other cars.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0022We have put in a lot of long hours over the past year preparing Sting 1 for this site visit - the first major trial in the Urban Grand Challenge,\u0022 noted Matt Powers, a student at Georgia Tech and member of the Sting Racing team. \u0022So passing all four tests during the site visit was extremely rewarding. We look forward now to making it all the way to the finals.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDARPA uses the site visit evaluation to select the competition\u0027s semi-finalists - the top 36 teams that will participate in the National Qualification Event (NQE), an exercise to demonstrate the safety of the vehicles on October 21-31. Earlier this afternoon, DARPA announced the other semi-finalists as well as the location of the NQE and Urban Challenge - the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, California. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Urban Challenge is the third in a series of DARPA-sponsored competitions to foster the development of robotic ground vehicle technology without a human operator, designed for use on the battlefield. The Urban Challenge, set for November 3, 2007, will feature autonomous ground vehicles executing simulated military supply missions safely and effectively in a mock urban area. Safe operation in traffic is essential to U.S. military plans to use autonomous ground vehicles to conduct important missions and keep American personnel out of harm\u0027s way. DARPA will award $2 million, $1 million and $500,000 awards to the top three finishers that complete the course within the six-hour time limit.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Sting 1 Porsche Cayenne is available for media demonstrations. For more information, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.sting-racing.org\u0022 title=\u0022www.sting-racing.org\u0022\u003Ewww.sting-racing.org\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"The Sting Racing team will be one of 36 teams competing in the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency\u0027s (DARPA) Urban Challenge this fall.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Team Passes Site Visit and Heads to Finals in Fall"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-08-09 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.darpa.mil\/grandchallenge\/index.asp","title":"DARPA"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.coc.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Computing"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"690","name":"darpa"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"170760","name":"Sting"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EBecky Biggs\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGCI Atlanta\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=0\u0022\u003EContact Becky Biggs\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-260-3510\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["rbiggs@gcigroup.com"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71989":{"#nid":"71989","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Ga. Tech Implements Emergency Notification System","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a continuing effort to safeguard students, faculty and staff, the Georgia Institute of Technology has implemented a new emergency communications system.  Known as the GT Emergency Notification System (GTENS), the system allows urgent messages to be distributed in the form of e-mail, voice mail, and text messages in a matter of minutes.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Efficient and effective communication is critical during an emergency and ultimately saves lives,\u0022 said Andy Altizer, Georgia Tech emergency preparedness director.  \u0022This system will work in tandem with existing notification protocols and preparedness activities.\u0022  Currently, emergency campus messages can be distributed via e-mail, the Institute\u0027s Web site and campus media including the cable network and radio station, WREK.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs part of GTENS, the Institute will be utilizing a number of communication methods to distribute critical information including a campus siren warning system designed to notify those located in outdoor areas around campus, a weather tracking system that will provide information regarding severe weather impacting the campus, campus radio and cable networks, e-mail notifications and the Georgia Tech Web site.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, this fall, Georgia Tech is launching an \u0027Emergency Preparedness\u0027 certificate program making the Institute the first within the University System to provide structured training for building\/facility managers and for other Georgia Tech employees and campus organizations. This training requires five mandatory and two elective courses ranging from Advanced Topics in Emergency Preparedness to Adult CPR.  The new certificate program is part of the Institute\u0027s aggressive training and exercise program conducted throughout the year to prepare the campus for a wide range of emergency scenarios.  For example, the Georgia Tech Police Department recently completed a \u0027response to a shooter\u0027 training class that included realistic and stressful scenarios with role players.  Georgia Tech has approximately 70 sworn police officers on campus.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech also has an Emergency Preparedness Advisory Group that convenes monthly to assure that ongoing concerns are addressed.  The group not only includes representatives from across campus, but also members from the Atlanta Police and Fire Departments and the Atlanta Fulton County Emergency Management Agency.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"A Component of a Comprehensive Preparedenss Plan"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"In a continuing effort to safeguard students, faculty and staff, the Georgia Institute of Technology has implemented a new emergency communications system.  Known as the GT Emergency Notification System (GTENS), the system allows urgent messages to be distributed in the form of e-mail, voice mail, and text messages in a matter of minutes.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Effective communication can save lives"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-08-14 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.police.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Police Department"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/emergency\/","title":"Georgia Tech Safety Procedures"},{"url":"https:\/\/passport.gatech.edu\/","title":"GT Emergency Notification System (GTENS) Sign Up"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2317","name":"crisis communications"},{"id":"1234","name":"emergency"},{"id":"2319","name":"police department"},{"id":"2318","name":"preparedness"},{"id":"167060","name":"safety"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71854":{"#nid":"71854","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Bonnie Heck Ferri Wins IEEE Education Award","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBonnie Heck Ferri has been named the recipient of the IEEE Education Society\u0027s 2007 Hewlett-Packard\/Harriet B. Rigas Award. Ferri is a professor and the associate chair for graduate affairs in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). The award recognizes outstanding faculty women who have made significant contributions to electrical and computer engineering education. Ferri will receive the award at the 2007 Frontiers in Education Conference, which will take place Oct. 10-13 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Hewlett-Packard\/Harriet B. Rigas Award specifically honors female faculty members who have significantly benefited electrical and computer engineering education through excellence in teaching, encouraging and supporting increased participation of women in both fields, demonstrated scholarship and research, development of educational technology that enhances student learning and\/or service to the engineering profession. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn her role as associate chair for graduate affairs, Ferri is responsible for one of the largest graduate ECE programs in the country. She oversees graduate curricula and student recruitment, admissions and advising for a program comprising approximately 1,000 students. As part of her ongoing efforts to improve the education and experience of ECE graduate students, Ferri has instituted training policies for graduate teaching assistants. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA talented and valued teacher, Ferri has maintained superior student ratings on teaching effectiveness throughout her 19-year career, and she has won two teaching awards. Ferri also has been very active in curriculum development and in applying technology to innovative teaching. She has played an integral role in developing several undergraduate and graduate courses in controls, as well as in the introduction of computer-enhanced and Web-based instruction in courses on signals, systems and controls. She has created a broad range of supplemental electronic materials to support the courses she teaches, and she was a pioneer in the use of WebCT at Tech. Her book Fundamentals of Signals and Systems, co-authored with Professor Emeritus Edward W. Kamen, has been adopted by more than 50 universities around the world. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFerri joined Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) in 1988 as the School\u0027s first full-time, tenure-track female faculty member. She became the first woman faculty member named to an ECE administrative leadership role when she was named as associate chair for graduate affairs in 2006. Ferri has been an outstanding role model and leader for the women faculty hired subsequently, as well as for ECE\u0027s female undergraduate and graduate students.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs part of her longstanding commitment to promoting the engineering profession to women, Ferri has worked closely with the Women in ECE (WECE). Ferri is a faculty advisor and founding member of this student organization, which raises awareness among young women about opportunities in electrical and computer engineering and provides community and resources for those pursuing this career path. WECE has undertaken an ambitious outreach program targeting undergraduate and graduate students, as well as female K-12 students. With help from WECE students, Ferri has developed and conducted numerous sessions on ECE material at various camps for middle school and high school students. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to her many contributions to education at Tech, Ferri has also taken a leadership role on educational issues within the IEEE Control Systems Society. For example, she was appointed to a two-year term as chair of this society\u0027s Technical Committee on Education, she organized several sessions on control education at conferences, and she guest-edited a special issue of the IEEE Control Systems Magazine called \u0027Future Directions in Controls Education.\u0027\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFerri earned her B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Notre Dame, her M.S. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech. Her research area is in control systems, and she is particularly interested in control theory, industrial controls, embedded controls, and software architecture for control systems.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Bonnie Heck Ferri has been named the recipient of the IEEE Education Society\u0027s 2007 Hewlett-Packard\/Harriet B. Rigas Award. Ferri is a professor and the associate chair for graduate affairs in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Professor recognized for ECE education"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-09-28 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71855":{"id":"71855","type":"image","title":"Ferri","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71855"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=47","title":"Dr. Bonnie Heck Ferri"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"276","name":"Awards"},{"id":"2256","name":"Ferri"},{"id":"1187","name":"IEEE"},{"id":"2257","name":"IEEE Education"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71846":{"#nid":"71846","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Ga. Tech Solar Decathlon House Leaves for D.C.","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s Solar Decathlon Team is celebrating another milestone as their solar powered house heads to D.C.  Students, faculty and staff from every college on campus have been working on the house for more than a year and the competition is finally around the corner.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Right now, I think we\u0027re all feeling a little bit of stress and a little panic, but mostly we\u0027re really excited about getting to D.C.,\u0022 said Amelia Mendez, a senior in the College of Architecture.  \u0022I can\u0027t wait to see all of the components of the house assembled and working together.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Solar Decathlon is a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and it has 20 universities from around the world competing to build the most energy efficient house.  This is the third Solar Decathlon and the first time Georgia Tech has entered the competition.  As the team sets their eyes on the nation\u0027s capital, the students aren\u0027t the only ones excited about getting to the National Mall.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It has been a long process, but I\u0027m just incredibly happy and proud of the way this project has come together and the incredible effort that students have put into it,\u0022 said project manager and College of Architecture professor Franca Trubiano.  \u0022The sponsors have also been tremendous and we\u0027re still receiving materials from them.  Many of the sponsors have even offered their support in D.C. if we need it.  Without their support, this project would not have been possible.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0022The key to this project has been the students,\u0022 said Ruchi Choudhary, Solar Decathlon project manager and College of Architecture professor.  \u0022The students are so dedicated.  They have worked around the clock and without much sleep.  They truly have been remarkable.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe plan is for the house to arrive on the Mall in D.C. on Wednesday, October 3, and that is when students will begin the final construction phase. According to Mendez, the focus of the team will be shifting when they get to the Mall.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Right now, we\u0027ve been working on putting the big pieces put together, but when we get to Washington, we\u0027ll be focusing on the detail work,\u0022 said Mendez. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMany of the participants say this has been the experience of a lifetime and they can\u0027t wait to see what other teams have done with their houses.     \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I\u0027m looking forward to seeing what other schools have done,\u0022 said Jonathon Schwartz, a senior in the College of Architecture.  \u0022I\u0027ve seen so much of what we\u0027ve done and I\u0027ve been very impressed with my teammates work.  I can\u0027t wait to see all the houses set up on the Mall and becoming a solar neighborhood.\u0022  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I\u0027m really excited to see the other teams,\u0022 said Mendez.  \u0022I know they put just as much time into this project and I want to see what comes out of the minds of other schools.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Solar Decathlon opening ceremonies are October 12 and the competition will end with the closing ceremonies on October 19.  The houses on the Mall will be open for public tours October 12-20.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Tech Represents Southeast at Solar Competition"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u0027s Solar Decathlon Team is celebrating another milestone as their solar powered house heads to D.C.  Students, faculty and staff from every college on campus have been working on the house for more than a year and the competition is finally around the corner.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Tech Represents Southeast at Solar Competition"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-09-29 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71847":{"id":"71847","type":"image","title":"media:image:62147358-5b6d-4446-a5de-be492ff6083d","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71848":{"id":"71848","type":"image","title":"Students get","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71847","71848"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"926","name":"College of Architecture"},{"id":"167182","name":"solar"},{"id":"170758","name":"solar decathlon"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71849":{"#nid":"71849","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Solar Decathlon House Leaves for D.C.","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s Solar Decathlon Team is celebrating another milestone as their solar powered house heads to D.C.  Students, faculty and staff from every college on campus have been working on the house for more than a year and the competition is finally around the corner.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Right now, I think we\u0027re all feeling a little bit of stress and a little panic, but mostly we\u0027re really excited about getting to D.C.,\u0022 said Amelia Mendez, a senior in the College of Architecture.  \u0022I can\u0027t wait to see all of the components of the house assembled and working together.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Solar Decathlon is a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and it has 20 universities from around the world competing to build the most energy efficient house.  This is the third Solar Decathlon and the first time Georgia Tech has entered the competition.  As the team sets their eyes on the nation\u0027s capital, the students aren\u0027t the only ones excited about getting to the National Mall.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It has been a long process, but I\u0027m just incredibly happy and proud of the way this project has come together and the incredible effort that students have put into it,\u0022 said project manager and College of Architecture professor Franca Trubiano.  \u0022The sponsors have also been tremendous and we\u0027re still receiving materials from them.  Many of the sponsors have even offered their support in D.C. if we need it.  Without their support, this project would not have been possible.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The key to this project has been the students,\u0022 said Ruchi Choudhary, Solar Decathlon project manager and College of Architecture professor.  \u0022The students are so dedicated.  They have worked around the clock and without much sleep.  They truly have been remarkable.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe plan is for the house to arrive on the Mall in D.C. on Wednesday, October 3, and that is when students will begin the final construction phase. According to Mendez, the focus of the team will be shifting when they get to the Mall.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Right now, we\u0027ve been working on putting the big pieces put together, but when we get to Washington, we\u0027ll be focusing on the detail work,\u0022 said Mendez. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMany of the participants say this has been the experience of a lifetime and they can\u0027t wait to see what other teams have done with their houses.     \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I\u0027m looking forward to seeing what other schools have done,\u0022 said Jonathon Schwartz, a senior in the College of Architecture.  \u0022I\u0027ve seen so much of what we\u0027ve done and I\u0027ve been very impressed with my teammates work.  I can\u0027t wait to see all the houses set up on the Mall and becoming a solar neighborhood.\u0022  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I\u0027m really excited to see the other teams,\u0022 said Mendez.  \u0022I know they put just as much time into this project and I want to see what comes out of the minds of other schools.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Solar Decathlon opening ceremonies are October 12 and the competition will end with the closing ceremonies on October 19.  The houses on the Mall will be open for public tours October 12-20.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Tech Represents Southeast at Solar Competition"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u0027s Solar Decathlon Team is celebrating another milestone as their solar powered house heads to D.C.  Students, faculty and staff from every college on campus have been working on the house for more than a year and the competition is finally around the corner.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Tech\u0027s Solar Decathlon House D.C. Bound"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-09-29 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71850":{"id":"71850","type":"image","title":"media:image:83ebf778-8dea-4a76-8794-5e9f3dacd3ad","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71851":{"id":"71851","type":"image","title":"Solar Decathlon house construction winds down.","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71850","71851"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.solardecathlon.org\/","title":"Solar Decathlon Site"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.solar.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Solar Decathlon"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/gallery\/v\/media\/solarhouse\/","title":"Photo Gallery"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"926","name":"College of Architecture"},{"id":"167182","name":"solar"},{"id":"170758","name":"solar decathlon"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71985":{"#nid":"71985","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Receives Highest \u003Cem\u003EU.S. News\u003C\/em\u003E Ranking Ever","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech ranks seventh among the nation\u0027s public universities for undergraduates - the highest ranking in the Institute\u0027s history - and is among the top ten public universities for the ninth consecutive year.  According to \u003Cem\u003EU.S. News and World Report\u003C\/em\u003E, Tech moved up to the seventh spot from eighth last year (among public universities) and moved up two spots to 35th among all national universities.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Georgia Tech continues to distinguish itself as one of the top national universities over the last decade,\u0022 said President Wayne Clough. \u0022This recognition reflects the high quality of our programs, faculty and students, and our growing momentum.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s nationally prominent College of Engineering, which is the nation\u0027s largest, moved up in the rankings to fifth compared to sixth last year. The College of Engineering had four of its programs ranked in the top five among specialty areas. Industrial Engineering ranked first, Aerospace ranked second, Biomedical placed third (up from fourth last year), and Civil Engineering ranked fifth. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s internship and cooperative education programs were ranked among the 14 \u0022Academic Programs to Look For\u0022 under internships for the second consecutive year.  Tech was also selected as one of 35 outstanding examples of undergraduate research opportunities among undergraduate research\/creative projects for the second consecutive year.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I am especially pleased to see Georgia Tech among the leaders in internship and co-op opportunities as well as undergraduate research,\u0022 said Clough.  \u0022Georgia Tech consistently seeks to offer our students the best academic experience possible, and that includes real-world and research opportunities.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech alumni continue to be among of the most generous. The percentage of Tech graduates contributing to the Institute is the highest for any public university ranked in the top 50.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech ranks 35th among all universities for undergraduates"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech ranks seventh among the nation\u0027s public universities for undergraduates - the highest ranking in the Institute\u0027s history - and is among the top ten public universities for the ninth consecutive year.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Tech ranked seventh among public universities."}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-08-17 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71986":{"id":"71986","type":"image","title":"Tech Tower","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71986"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.usnews.com\/","title":"U.S. News \u0026 World Report"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/president\/","title":"Georgia Tech President G.P. (Bud) Peterson"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"834","name":"Rankings"},{"id":"2314","name":"Undergraduate Rankings"},{"id":"2315","name":"US News and World Report"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"40113":{"#nid":"40113","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Deceased Body Found on Campus","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMany have expressed concerns regarding a recent incident on the Georgia Tech campus. In the interest of keeping the Tech community fully informed, I would like to provide the details\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nwe have to date.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn response to a call at around 7 PM on August 21, Georgia Tech Police found a truck with a deceased male in a parking lot at 353 Ferst Drive.  According to the Fulton County Medical \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EExaminer\u0027s report, the victim did not suffer external trauma. Toxicology reports are pending.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe victim was identified as Johnathan M. Grams.  The Georgia Tech Registrar\u0027s Office has confirmed that Grams was a former student at the Institute, last enrolled in the fall of 2003 as a\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nmechanical engineering major.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech continues to cooperate with the Atlanta Police Department, the law enforcement agency in charge of the investigation. \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Atlanta Police Department Leading Investigation"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Many have expressed concerns regarding a recent incident on the Georgia Tech campus. In the interest of keeping the Tech community fully informed, I would like to provide the details \nwe have to date.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Atlanta Police Department Leading Investigation"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-08-21 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2299","name":"deceased"},{"id":"2300","name":"investigation"},{"id":"1773","name":"police"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71979":{"#nid":"71979","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Business School Performs Well in Recent Rankings","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech College of Management recently rose in rankings of Forbes (for top MBA programs) and U.S. News \u0026amp; World Report (for undergraduate business programs) while winning recognition in Fortune Small Business as one of \u0022America\u0027s Best Colleges for Entrepreneurs.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E Georgia Tech\u0027s business school jumped 11 spots in Forbes magazine\u0027s MBA rankings, rising to 34th (15th among public universities). Forbes bases its rankings, which are issued every two years, on graduates\u0027 return on investment, meaning compensation five years after graduation minus tuition and forgone salary during school.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E \u0022We\u0027re pleased that our considerable jump in the rankings reflects the overall trajectory of our business school,\u0022 says Georgia Tech College of Management Dean Steve Salbu. \u0022We\u0027re working hard on many fronts to take our College to the next level of prestige and educational achievement, becoming the world\u0027s preeminent business school for management and technology.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E In its first-time rankings of \u0022America\u0027s Best Colleges for Entrepreneurs,\u0022 Fortune Small Business listed Georgia Tech College of Management among the 26 top schools for MBAs and among the 24 best for double major\/cross disciplinary students (i.e. business and engineering). The magazine, which is including the rankings in its September issue, didn\u0027t assign a specific order (1st, 2nd, etc.) to schools listed.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E U.S. News \u0026amp; World Report ranked Georgia Tech\u0027s undergraduate business program 33rd in the nation, up two spots from last year. In specialty areas, the magazine ranked the business school eighth in Quantitative Analysis, 10th for Production and Operations Management, and 15th for Management Information Systems.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E Earlier this year, Georgia Tech College of Management jumped nine spots in U.S. News \u0026amp; World Report\u0027s annual rankings of the nation\u0027s top full-time MBA programs, rising from 34th to 25th (10th among public universities). \n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Management Ranks 15th Among Public Universities"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech College of Management recently rose in rankings of Forbes (for top MBA programs) and U.S. News \u0026amp; World Report (for undergraduate business programs) while winning recognition in Fortune Small Business as one of \u0022America\u0027s Best Colleges for Entrepreneurs.\u0022","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Recognition Given by Three National Publications"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-08-21 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1072","name":"Business"},{"id":"2301","name":"entrepreneur"},{"id":"1052","name":"Management"},{"id":"2304","name":"management information systems"},{"id":"1209","name":"MBA"},{"id":"2303","name":"production and operations management"},{"id":"2302","name":"quantitative analysis"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EBrad Dixon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECollege of Management\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brad.dixon@mgt.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EContact Brad Dixon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-3943\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["brad.dixon@mgt.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71975":{"#nid":"71975","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Researchers Recognized as Top Young Innovators","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETechnology Review magazine has recognized two Georgia Tech researchers, Karen Liu and Xudong Wang, among the world\u0027s top innovators under the age of 35. Selected from more than 300 nominees by a panel of expert judges and the editorial staff of Technology Review, the TR35 is an elite group of accomplished young innovators who exemplify the spirit of innovation in business, technology and the arts.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELiu\u0027s research is in simulating the complex phenomenon of natural human movement by applying optimization and machine learning algorithms. Her work aims to expand computer-generated character animation from a visualization tool to an interdisciplinary research area focused on autonomous control and realistic human motion.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Dr. Liu\u0027s highly regarded work simulating human movement will be key to Georgia Tech\u0027s contributions to the field of digital entertainment,\u0022 said Aaron Bobick, chair of the School of Interactive Computing at Tech. \u0022She has just started her career here after moving from the University of Southern California, and we couldn\u0027t be more pleased that she is already making such an impact.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWang is a research scientist working in Zhong Lin Wang\u0027s group at the School of Materials Science and Engineering. His research focuses on self-assembling aligned piezoelectric nanowires and developing their novel applications. He received his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech in 2005.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2004, Wang developed an effective and low-cost method for growing large-area patterned, and vertically aligned ZnO nanowires, which can be directly applied for nanodevices integration. Recently, based on these vertical aligned ZnO nanowires, Wang and his co-workers developed a piezoelectric nanogenerator that converts ambient wave\/vibration energy into electricity. This is a new concept for scavenging mechanical energy from the ambient environment, such as vibration, air\/liquid flow and pressure fluctuation. Development of such nanogenerators sets the foundation for eliminating batteries to realize self-powered electronic devices from integrated nanosystems to implantable biomedical devices to portable electronic devices.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is a major step toward a portable, adaptable and cost-effective technology for powering in-vivo nanosensors, MEMS and wireless nanosensors,\u0022 said Professor Zhong Lin (Z.L.) Wang. \u0022Xudong has been very creative in developing this prototype and demonstrating its potential applications, which is the most remarkable advance in my group\u0027s research in the last few years. He is very deserving of this honor.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELiu, Wang and the other TR35 winners for 2007 will be featured in the September issue of Technology Review magazine and honored at the Emerging Technologies Conference, to be held at MIT September 25-27.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The TR35 honors young innovators for accomplishments that are poised to have a dramatic impact on the world as we know it,\u0022 said Jason Pontin, editor-in-chief and publisher of Technology Review magazine. \u0022We celebrate their success and look forward to their continued advancement of technology in their respective fields.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Technology Review magazine has recognized two Georgia Tech researchers, Karen Liu and Xudong Wang, among the world\u0027s top innovators under the age of 35.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Technology Review names two Tech researchers to TR3"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-08-22 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71976":{"id":"71976","type":"image","title":"Tech Tower","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71976"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.coc.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Computing"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"208","name":"computing"},{"id":"2296","name":"Karen Liu"},{"id":"2294","name":"materials science"},{"id":"2295","name":"Technology Review"},{"id":"2298","name":"TR35"},{"id":"2297","name":"Xudong Wang"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71844":{"#nid":"71844","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GTISC Releases Emerging Cyber Threats Forecast","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC), a national leader in information security research and education, today announced the release of the GTISC Emerging Cyber Threats Report for 2008. As the inaugural edition of this annual forecasting report, the GTISC Emerging Cyber Threats Report for 2008 outlines the top five areas of security concern and risk for consumer and enterprise Internet users for the coming year. The report was released at the annual GTISC Security Summit on Emerging Cyber Security Threats and Countermeasures - a gathering of industry and academic leaders from organizations with a stake in protecting the online user community including Google, the College of Computing at Georgia Tech, the National Security Agency (NSA), IBM Internet Security Systems (ISS), McAfee, Secure Computing, S.P.I. Dynamics, Inc. and Symantec. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor 2008, GTISC is forecasting five key areas in which cyber security threats are expected to increase and evolve:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n-\tWeb 2.0 and Client-Side Attacks - including social networking attacks and new attacks that will exploit Web 2.0 vulnerabilities\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n-\tTargeted Messaging Attacks - including Instant Messaging attacks and malware propagation via online video-sharing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n-\tBotnets - specifically the spread of botnet attacks to wireless and peer-to-peer networks\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n-\tThreats Targeting Mobile Convergence - including voice spam, vishing and smishing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n-\tThreats to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems - evolving and varied threats in this emerging technology sector\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFinancial gain will continue to be the primary motivator behind all five emerging threat categories. As the rapid rate of application development for cyber mediums continues to outpace information security technologies and countermeasures, GTISC advocates closer coordination between the security industry, carriers, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), application developers and the user community to begin closing the security gap in 2008. Representatives from the organizations that participated in the GTISC Security Summit contributed to the development of this report.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As newer and more powerful applications enabled by technologies like Web 2.0 continue to grow, and converged communications applications increasingly rely on IP-based platforms, new challenges will arise in safegaurding these applications and the services they rely on,\u0022 said Mustaque Ahamad, director of GTISC. \u0022The GTISC Emerging Cyber Threats Report for 2008 highlights those areas of greatest risk and concern, particularly as continued convergence of enterprise and consumer technologies is expected over the coming year. We wish to thank the esteemed members of the GTISC Security Summit panel who assisted us with the creation of this report.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMore than 200 corporate executives, industry leaders and technologists from across the country attended the GTISC Security Summit on Emerging Cyber Security Threats and Countermeasures Summit, keynoted by Dr. Vint Cerf, vice president and chief Internet evangelist at Google. Following Cert\u0027s address on the continued research and development needs to secure the multi-layered systems of the Internet, Summit panelists engaged in a lively discussion moderated by Chris Rouland, chief technology officer of IBM Internet Security Systems and IBM distinguished engineer. The panel discussion helped educate the audience on the proliferation of cyber threats, including those listed in the report, and highlighted possible countermeasures to safeguard the user and business communities. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo view the entire GTISC Emerging Cyber Threats for 2008 report and for more information on GTISC, please visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtisc.gatech.edu\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtisc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.gtisc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E. To watch a pre-recorded Web cast of the event, please visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www-static.cc.gatech.edu\/streaming\/gtisc\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/www-static.cc.gatech.edu\/streaming\/gtisc\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www-static.cc.gatech.edu\/streaming\/gtisc\u003C\/a\u003E. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAbout Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe Georgia Tech Information Security Center, a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education, is an interdisciplinary center involving faculty from the College of Computing, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Public Policy.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"The Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC), a national leader in information security research and education, today announced the release of the GTISC Emerging Cyber Threats Report for 2008.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Social and mobile networking, Web 2.0 vulnerable"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-10-02 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-10-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-10-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71845":{"id":"71845","type":"image","title":"Tech Tower","body":null,"created":"1449177405","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:45","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71845"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtisc.gatech.edu\/","title":"GTISC"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"208","name":"computing"},{"id":"2254","name":"gtisc"},{"id":"1620","name":"Information"},{"id":"2229","name":"Internet"},{"id":"167055","name":"security"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ERebecca Biggs\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGCI Group\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:press@robocup-us.org\u0022\u003EContact Rebecca Biggs\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-260-3510\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["press@robocup-us.org"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71968":{"#nid":"71968","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Students Create Award-Winning Furniture","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech students working in the Advanced Wood Products Lab are learning lifelong skills and creating award-winning furniture.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EStudents in Alan Harp\u0027s furniture design studio in the Advanced Wood Products Lab (AWPL) are producing world-class wood furniture; seven were selected as finalists in a national student furniture competition held this year in Las Vegas.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMore than 220 students nationwide enter this competition, known as Fresh Wood, sponsored by AWFS machinery show. Furniture creations, ranging from modern coffe tables to antique reproductions, were judged by a diverse group of furniture industry professionals. Fifty-eight finalists were invited to bring their pieces to the show in Las Vegas for display and to attend an awards ceremony. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I was able to have 90 percent control over what I wanted to do,\u0022 said Nicholas Komor, whose oak coffee table finished in second place. \u0022I wanted to design a coffee table, and I designed it. Professor Harp was essential in guiding the engineering of my table and I learned so much from him, but I didn\u0027t feel pressured to change what I wanted. Instead, he encouraged me to work harder and be more of a perfectionist.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech students who participated in the competition were all students of Harp, who teaches furniture design at the AWPL, a research center within the College of Architecture.  Of the seven Georgia Tech finalists, four were in the senior Industrial Design furniture design studio course, while the other three were taking independent study courses in furniture design. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The most significant lesson I learned about furniture design and fabrication is the importance of planning before building,\u0022 said Jessica Wood, an Industrial Design major.  \u0022It took several difficult experiences for me to learn the value of the \u0027measure twice, cut once\u0027 process.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Prior to taking this course, I worked as an intern (and now work full-time) for a NASA subcontractor building full-scale mock-ups out of wood,\u0022 Wood continued.  \u0022My experience as an intern really made me comfortable working around power tools, and I learned a lot about project planning.\u0022    \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring the awards ceremony, hosted by Richard Karn, TV\u0027s Al Borland from Tool Time, four of the Georgia Tech students received awards and cash prizes for their work.  Georgia Tech not only accrued more awards than any other school, but the Institute also had more finalists than any other school in the competition.  This is the third time that students from Georgia Tech have participated in this competition, and the second time that Georgia Tech students have placed.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe winners from Georgia Tech were:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nKate Schindel: Intimates Armoire: Honorable Mention: Case Goods\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nJessica Wood: Walnut Miter Table and Stools: 2nd Place: Production\/Contract Furniture\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nKatina Zachas: Aerri Dresser: Honorable Mention: Contract Furniture\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nNick Komor: Unraveling Oak Coffee Table: 2nd Place: Tables\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe other three students who were finalists, but who did not place, were:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n Jake Tompkins: Chicken Coop Farm Table: Reproduction Furniture\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nMarisa Topping: Communal Dining Table: Tables\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nStephanie Radbill: Regalo Ribbon Chest: Case Goods\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Professor helps students learn intricacies of furniture design."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech students working in the Advanced Wood Products Lab are learning lifelong skills and creating award-winning furniture .","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Students created furniture in the AWPL lab."}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-08-27 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71969":{"id":"71969","type":"image","title":"Nick Komor","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"},"71970":{"id":"71970","type":"image","title":"Jessica Wood","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71969","71970"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.coa.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech College of Architecture"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.coa.gatech.edu\/awpl\/","title":"Advanced Wood Products Lab"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"137","name":"Architecture"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2293","name":"AWFS Competition"},{"id":"2291","name":"AWPL"},{"id":"926","name":"College of Architecture"},{"id":"2292","name":"Furniture"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"813","name":"las vegas"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71966":{"#nid":"71966","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Jean-Luc Bredas Third Most Cited for OTFTs","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJean-Luc Bredas is the third most cited author for scientific papers on organic thin-film transistors over the past decade, according to Essential Science Indicators (ESI) Web site, published by Thomson Scientific.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBredas, professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and chair of Molecular Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology, had 23 papers on organic thin-film transistors cited a total of 2,583 times with an average of 112.3 cites per paper, according to ESI. Bredas\u0027 total record includes 331 papers cited a total of 9,658 times.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EESI\u0027s interview with Bredas is at the link below.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Jean-Luc Bredas is the third most cited author for scientific papers on organic thin-film transistors over the past decade, according to Essential Science Indicators (ESI) Web site, published by Thomson Scientific.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"ESI ranks organic thin-film transistor papers"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-08-28 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:05","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-08-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-08-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71967":{"id":"71967","type":"image","title":"Jean-Luc Bredas","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894647","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:07"}},"media_ids":["71967"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.esi-topics.com\/otft\/interviews\/Jean-LucBredas.html","title":"ESI Special Topics Interview"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2288","name":"Bredas"},{"id":"609","name":"electronics"},{"id":"2289","name":"organic"},{"id":"2290","name":"photonics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72019":{"#nid":"72019","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Solar Decathlon Competition Heating Up","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhile the pace may slow during the summer months on some college campuses, the competition is heating up for the members of Georgia Tech\u0027s Solar Decathlon team as they build an energy efficient house for this fall\u0027s national competition.  Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the third Solar Decathlon competition will be held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.  The Georgia Tech team is up against challengers including two-time champion University of Colorado as well as M.I.T., Carnegie Mellon and Cornell University.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETech\u0027s team is in the construction phase of its house, and the competition has brought out the best from around campus.  The College of Architecture is leading the effort, but it is the collaboration between all of the colleges involved (College of Engineering, College of Management, and the College of Sciences) as well as numerous research centers that has this project pulling Georgia Tech resources together.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022No matter how many cross-listed courses, joint appointments, dual-degree programs, minors and certificates we have, nothing creates true interdisciplinary collaboration better than a project like this,\u0022 said College of Architecture Interim Dean Doug Allen.  \u0022No single discipline carries all the knowledge necessary to undertake and successfully complete such a project. The diverse backgrounds of the students have to work together in ways that cannot be duplicated by any other means.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe process of constructing the house and learning to work together is laying the foundation for future projects. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAllen is fond of using an analogy that he tells his students.  \u0022The Renaissance did not build the Duomo in Florence, Italy. The Duomo built the Renaissance. Once you have organized yourselves to undertake such a project, the question is what you do for a second act.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E \u0022I hope and I believe that this will be true here as well,\u0022 said Allen.  \u0022For the first time in my 30 years at Tech, I have seen Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Architecture, and Building Construction students working together in a sustained relationship. The lasting impact, however, will come from the collaborations developed among the many faculty members across all these disciplines.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe competition grades each house on a variety of elements in construction, marketing and planning.  However, one of Georgia Tech\u0027s biggest challenges has been the competition for dollars.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are still looking for partners to help underwrite the project,\u0022 said Solar Decathlon Project Manager Chris Jarrett.  \u0022Our partners are truly investing in Georgia Tech when they invest in this project.  By doing so, it strengthens the bond between the four colleges toward future collaboration and potentially new creative research and innovation.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. Department of Energy provided each Solar Decathlon team with $100,000 to get started. The actual project cost, including research, design, building materials, construction and transportation of the house to and from Washington, DC. rent, equipment, faculty support and overhead, typically exceeds $600,000 per school.  Each school must raise the remaining funds, with either cash or in-kind gifts.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Team sponsorship means everything,\u0022 said Jarrett.  \u0022It enables Georgia Tech\u0027s team to get the job done, to be creative and competitive; it enables them to pursue state-of-the art sustainable design and technology integration.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team\u0027s construction phase will take on a new life in July as the house walls are erected and the shape of the house begins to become visually apparent.  However, it\u0027s the shape of the team that organizers hope will continue to heat up throughout the summer in the form of new sponsors joining the team.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIf you are interested in learning more about becoming a Georgia Tech Solar Decathlon Team Sponsor, please contact the College of Architecture at 404-894-1096.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u0027s Solar Decathlon team is building more than just a house"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"While the pace may slow during the summer months on some college campuses, the competition is heating up for the members of Georgia Tech\u0027s Solar Decathlon team as they build an energy efficient house for this fall\u0027s national competition.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Tech\u0027s Solar Decathlon home is under construction"}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2007-07-09 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:00:50","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-07-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-07-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72020":{"id":"72020","type":"image","title":"Solar Decathlon House and Team members Felipe Escu","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"},"72021":{"id":"72021","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech Solar Decathlon Team prepares for fut","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"}},"media_ids":["72020","72021"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.coa.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech College of Architecture"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.doe.gov\/","title":"Department of Energy"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.solar.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Solar Decathlon"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"137","name":"Architecture"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2029","name":"Competition"},{"id":"663","name":"Department of Energy"},{"id":"213","name":"energy"},{"id":"492","name":"green"},{"id":"170758","name":"solar decathlon"},{"id":"166890","name":"sustainability"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72016":{"#nid":"72016","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Professor Named President of Korean University","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESouth Korea\u0027s Woosong University has named John E. Endicott, professor of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and director of the Center for International Strategy, Technology and Policy for the past 18 years at Georgia Tech, as its next president and vice chancellor. Endicott will also serve as the vice chancellor of Solbridge International.  Endicott will assume his new posts at the schools in Daejeon, South Korea on August 20.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s a great challenge and a wonderful way to have an impact directly on east Asia,\u0022 said Endicott. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEndicott will be the first American president of a four-year private university in South Korea, and the second overall. Woosong University has approximately 7,000 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses. It has the only college of railroad technology in South Korea, and features other college-level programs in information technology, health and welfare, hotel management and culinary arts. Its newest college, Solbridge International, will specialize in international affairs and business management.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EApproximately 85 percent of the university courses are offered in English, and the school offers intensive training in Korean, Japanese and Chinese languages.  It has more than six hundred international students from the United States, China, India, Vietnam and Japan. The university is in the process of expanding by establishing satellite campuses in other Asian countries.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027re building an innovative school of business and international studies in Daejeon that will give students a real international experience not only in Korea but other parts of Asia,\u0022 Endicott said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Another thing I look forward to is continuing my research and writing on the sentiment of the Korean youth toward America,\u0022 he said. \u0022This gives me an opportunity to dialog and understand their criticisms and objections of the U.S. first-hand.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEndicott has an important history in Asian affairs. In 1991, he founded the Limited Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone for Northeast Asia, which seeks to permanently remove nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula, Japan, Taiwan and Mongolia. It is also moving to remove tactical nuclear weapons from eastern Siberian Russia, northeast China and parts of Alaska. Both Endicott and the program were nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. He hopes that the future success of this project will serve as a model for creating nuclear-free zones elsewhere.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There\u0027s no place in northeast Asia that\u0027s more critical for international security than the Korean peninsula,\u0022 he said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to his non-proliferation work, Endicott also began the Korean Initiative while at Georgia Tech. The initiative works to offer courses at Tech in Korean affairs, security issues, language, political economies as well as guest lectures. The Korea Foundation has been instrumental in the success of this initiative. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s very difficult to leave Tech, but this is one of those opportunities that has to be taken in order to complete what I hope to do in my career,\u0022 Endicott said.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBiographical Information:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nEndicott received his Ph.D. in international affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, run jointly by Tufts and Harvard Universities in 1974. His areas of specialization include all aspects of Asian security studies, with special emphasis on the Korean Peninsula and Japan, American defense policy, professional military education, and nuclear proliferation. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHis published books include, \u003Cem\u003EJapan\u0027s Nuclear Option, The Politics of East Asia, American Defense Policy, Regional Security Issues,\u003C\/em\u003E  and \u003Cem\u003EU.S. Foreign Policy: History, Process, and Policy\u003C\/em\u003E,published in December 2004.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEndicott had a 31-year career in government, with 28 of those years as an officer in the United States Air Force and three as a member of the Senior Executive Service of the Department of Defense. He held posts that include: Director, International Affairs, Planning Directorate of Air Force Headquarters; Deputy Air Force Representative to the Military Staff Committee of the Security Council, the United Nations; Associate Dean of the National War College;  and Director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies, serving both the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. His operational experience included assignments with Strategic Air Command Headquarters during the Cuban Missile Crisis; service with the 522nd Fighter Squadron, Vietnamese Air Force; and Chief of Target Plans, 5th Air Force during the Blue House Raid and Pueblo Crisis. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHe currently serves as the Chairman of the Interim Secretariat of the Limited Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone for Northeast Asia (LNWFZ-NEA). Both Endicott and the Limited Nuclear Weapons Free Zone for Northeast Asia Program were nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. From April 2004 he served for two years as President of the Korea-Southeast U.S. Chamber of Commerce and in 2005 was appointed a visiting professor at Montesquieu University IV of Bordeaux, France. He was designated Honorary Consul for the State of Georgia by the Mongolian government in 2005. He is married to the former Mitsuyo Kobayashi of Tokyo, and they have two children, Charlene Noble and John, and four grandchildren.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"John Endicott Takes Top Post at Woosong University"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"South Korea\u0027s Woosong University has named John E. Endicott, professor of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and director of the Center for International Strategy, Technology and Policy for the past 18 years at Georgia Tech, as its next president and vice chancellor.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"John Endicott takes top post at Woosong University"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-07-12 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:00:50","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-07-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-07-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72017":{"id":"72017","type":"image","title":"John E. Endicott","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"}},"media_ids":["72017"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.cistp.gatech.edu\/cistp\/programs\/nwfz_nea.htm","title":"Limited Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.inta.gatech.edu\/index.php","title":"Sam Nunn School of International Affairs"},{"url":"http:\/\/english.wsu.ac.kr\/","title":"Woosong University"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2339","name":"endicott"},{"id":"2340","name":"korea"},{"id":"1271","name":"President"},{"id":"2341","name":"woosong"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72006":{"#nid":"72006","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Scientists Discover New Way to Study Nanostructures","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered a phenomenon which allows measurement of the mechanical motion of nanostructures by using the AC Josephson effect. The findings, which may be used to identify and characterize structural and mechanical properties of nanoparticles, including materials of biological interest, appear online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe AC Josephson effect refers to work that Brian Josephson published in 1962 regarding the flow of an electrical current between superconductors. In this work, for which he shared a 1973 Nobel Prize, Josephson predicted that when a constant voltage difference is maintained across two weakly linked superconductors separated by a thin insulating barrier (an arrangement now known as a Josephson junction), an alternating electrical current would flow through the junction (imagine turning on a water faucet and having the water start flowing up as well as down once it leaves the spigot). The frequency of the current oscillations is directly related to the applied voltage. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThese predictions were fully confirmed by an immense number of experiments, and the standard volt is now defined in terms of the frequency of the Josephson AC current. The Josephson effect has numerous applications in physics, computing and sensing technologies. It can be used for ultra high sensitive detection of electromagnetic radiation, extremely weak magnetic fields and in superconducting quantum computing bits.      \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENow, experimental physicist Alexei Marchenkov and theoretician Uzi Landman at Georgia Tech have discovered that the AC Josephson effect can be used to detect mechanical motion of atoms placed in the Josephson junction. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We show here that in addition to being able to detect the effects of electromagnetic radiation on the AC Josephson current, one can also use it to probe mechanical motions of atoms or molecules placed in the junction,\u0022 said Landman, director of the Center for Computational Materials Science, Regents and Institute professor, and Callaway\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nChair of Physics at Georgia Tech. \u0022The prospect of being able to explore, and perhaps utilize, atomic-scale phenomena using this effect is very exciting.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn January 2007, Marchenkov and Landman published a paper in Physical Review Letters detailing their discovery that fluctuations in the conductance of ultra-thin niobium nanowires are caused by a pair of atoms, known as a dimer, shuttling back and forth between the bulk electrical leads. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn this latest research, Marchenkov and Landman, along with their collaborators Zhenting Dai, Brandon Donehoo and Robert  Barnett, report that when a microfabricated junction assembly is held below its superconducting transition temperature, unusual features are found in traces of the electrical conductance measured as a function of the applied voltage.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In our experiments, only nanowires - which we know now to contain a single dimer have consistently shown a series of additional peaks in the conductance versus voltage curves. Since a peak in such measurements signifies a resonance and knowing that we have intrinsic high-frequency Josephson current oscillations, we started looking into the possible physical mechanisms,\u0022 said Marchenkov, assistant professor in the School of Physics.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team hypothesized that the new measured peaks likely originate from mechanical motions of the dimer, which causes enhancement of the electrical current at particular values of the applied voltage. At each of the peak voltages, the frequency of the AC Josephson current would resonate with the vibrational frequency of the nanostructure in the junction.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESubsequent first principles calculations by Landman\u0027s team predicted that such peaks would occur at three different frequencies, or voltages, and their integer multiples. One corresponds to a back and forth vibration of the dimer suspended between the two niobium electrode tips, a second corresponds to motion in the direction perpendicular to the axis connecting the two tips, and the remaining corresponds to a wagging, or rocking, vibration of the dimer about the inter-tip axis. Ensuing targeted experiments demonstrated that the resonance peaks disappear gradually as one approaches the superconducting transition temperature from below, while their positions do not change. These observations, exhaustive qualitative and quantitative agreement between experimental measurements and theoretical predictions confirm that vibrational motions of the nanowire atoms are indeed the cause for the newly observed conductance peaks. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMarchenkov and Landman plan to further explore vibrational effects in weak link junctions, using the information obtained through these studies for determining vibrational characteristics, atomic arrangements, and transport mechanisms in metallic,\u003Cbr \/\u003E\norganic and biomolecular  nanostructures. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022One of our aims is the development of devices and sensing methodologies that utilize the insights gained from our research,\u0022 said Landman.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFull caption:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtomic-scale mechanical motions in nanowires can be excited by high-frequency alternating superconducting Josephson currents. In niobium dimer nanowires three vibrational modes were experimentally observed and identified through first-principles theoretical calculations.  At top is a curve of the measured conductance plotted versus applied voltage showing a sequence of peaks corresponding to vibrational modes of the dimer of niobium atoms suspended between the left and right tip-electrodes, as depicted in the atomic configuration shown in the middle. (Image: Georgia Tech\/Alexei Marchenkov and Uzi Landman)\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Physicists at Georgia Tech have discovered a phenomenon which allows measurement of the mechanical motion of nanostructures by using the AC Josephson effect. The findings may be used to identify and characterize structural and mechanical properties of nanoparticles, including materials of biological interest.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Uses include biological and sensing technologies"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-07-23 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:00:50","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-07-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-07-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72007":{"id":"72007","type":"image","title":"Niobium nanowire dimer","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"}},"media_ids":["72007"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/amarchenkov.html","title":"Alexei Marchenkov"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/ulandman.html","title":"Uzi Landman"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2332","name":"ac"},{"id":"2333","name":"josephson"},{"id":"1631","name":"landman"},{"id":"2334","name":"marchenkov"},{"id":"382","name":"nanoscience"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"},{"id":"2251","name":"uzi"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72004":{"#nid":"72004","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Study Finds Wind Power Feasible Off Ga Coast","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESouthern Company said today that a thorough two-year study, conducted with the Georgia Institute of Technology, has identified conditions potentially favorable for wind power generation off the coast of Georgia, but costs and regulatory concerns remain to be resolved. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELaunched in 2005, the joint study examined in detail a variety of factors - including wind resources, technology, siting, environmental, climate, permitting and economics - associated with sites off the coast of Georgia.  In conclusion, the study recommended that Southern Company continue to pursue the potential development of wind energy resources off the Georgia coast. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We continue to believe that renewable energy resources, possibly including wind, need to be a part of our energy supply portfolio. We will continue to pursue this and other renewable energy options that allow us to provide reliable and affordable electricity to our customers,\u0022 said Leonard Haynes, Southern Company executive vice president for supply technologies, renewables and demand-side planning. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We believe that given the available wind resources and the extent of the shallow water continental shelf, there is considerable ultimate potential for wind power generation off the coast of Georgia. While the 20-year levelized cost of wind power is higher than current production from existing power plants, offshore wind power may become a viable option for green power generation. We, therefore, support the conclusion that development of offshore wind power should be pursued,\u0022 said Sam Shelton, Strategic Energy Institute research program director.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, the Department of Interior Minerals Management Service (MMS) has jurisdiction over alternative energy-related projects on the outer continental shelf, including wind power developments. MMS is currently outlining the permitting requirements for such projects, a process that should be completed in late 2008. Until these regulations are finalized, only limited activities to develop an offshore wind farm in federal waters may be conducted.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThough the Southeast in general does not have sufficient wind speeds on land to effectively support wind power generation, the conditions are better off the Georgia coast, the study said. The average wind speeds there are about 16-17 mph. Wind technologies currently available typically require sustained winds of 14 mph or greater.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the other key findings, the water in the area is relatively shallow, which makes it easier to construct the foundations of a wind farm. Also, the study said, Jekyll Island and Tybee Island are the two locations with the best potential for connecting power from an offshore wind farm to the transmission grid. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOf the two locations determined to be feasible for development, the study noted that Tybee Island was better suited because the turbines would be less visible from the beach, the wind resource is slightly better and it is closer to industrial and maintenance resources. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, the study found that based on today\u0027s prices for wind turbines, the 20-year levelized cost of electricity produced from an offshore wind farm would be above the current production costs from existing power generation facilities. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAdditional costs for offshore wind power generation include the relatively high cost of purchasing and installing undersea cable and the costs of construction and maintenance of a facility in the ocean. While specific installation and maintenance infrastructure is in place in Europe, the offshore wind industry is in its infancy in the United States. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESouthern Company is currently involved in a variety of renewable energy projects, including extensive research into the use of biomass, which has yielded promising results for the use of materials such as switchgrass and wood chips to produce energy. Through its subsidiaries, Southern Company also offers customers the opportunity to purchase \u0027green\u0027 energy from renewable sources such as a generating plant in DeKalb County, Ga., that provides electricity produced from landfill gas to Georgia Power.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith 4.3 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company is the premier energy company serving the Southeast, one of America\u0027s fastest-growing regions. A leading U.S. producer of electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are significantly below the national average. Southern Company has been listed the top ranking U.S. electric service provider in customer satisfaction for seven consecutive years by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s Strategic Energy Institute (SEI) serves as a conduit for integrating, facilitating and enabling Institute-wide programs in energy research and development. Engaging the best and brightest from industry, government and academia, SEI creates innovative solutions to current and future energy challenges.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Economic and regulatory issues still need resolution"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Southern Company said today that a thorough two-year study, conducted with the Georgia Institute of Technology, has identified conditions potentially favorable for wind power generation off the coast of Georgia, but costs and regulatory concerns remain to be resolved.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Tech study says wind power feasible off Ga coast"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-07-26 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:00:50","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-07-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-07-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72005":{"id":"72005","type":"image","title":"Tech tower","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"}},"media_ids":["72005"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.energy.gatech.edu\/","title":"Strategic Energy Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"167220","name":"Southern Company"},{"id":"167358","name":"Strategic Energy Institute"},{"id":"2329","name":"wind"},{"id":"2328","name":"wind power"},{"id":"2330","name":"wind turbines"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}