Archived News 2006

October 2006

Professors Saif Benjaafar and William L.Cooper have been named Senior Editors for the journal Production and Operations Management, the flagship publication of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS).September 2006

Department Head, Peter H. McMurry received the Fuchs Award from the International Aerosol Research Assembly at the 7th International Conference held in downtown St. Paul Sept. 10 --15. The Fuchs Award is the highest recognition given for lifetime achievements in aerosol research and technology. McMurry's research interests include theoretical and experimental studies of aerosol systems and aerosol instrumentation. His current work focuses on atmospheric aerosols and synthesis of novel materials formed from depositednanoparticlesproduced in thermal plasma reactors.August 2006

Professor Saif Benjaafar will be the Plenary Speaker at the Annual Conference of the Belgian Society for Integrated Logistics (PICS-Belgium) that will be held on November 30, 2006 in Brussels. PICS Belgium is the largest industry grouping of logistics professionals in Belgium.

A Paper authored by Professor Saif Benjaafar and his former student Maher Lahmar (now an Assistant Professor at the University of Houston) won the Outstanding Material Handling & Logistics Research Paper Award. The award is given out bi-annually by the Material Handling Institute, the leading national industry group on material handling. The paper is titled "Design of Distributed Layouts" and describes a novel configuration for factory design. The paper was also recently featured by IIE Magazine, the monthly magazine of the Institute of Industrial Engineers.

July 2006

Professor Art Erdman, Professor of ophthalmology Timothy Olsen, and mechanical engineering Ph.D. candidate Paul Loftness have developed a surgical procedure and corresponding technology for treating macular degeneration, a serious disease of the human eye that affects 10 million Americans.

Macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss in adults over age 55. The progressive disease causes a deterioration of the macula, the central area of the retina whose light-sensitive cells control the ability to see fine detail and color. Although peripheral vision remains intact, the severe loss of central vision is devastating to quality of life, making it impossible to read, watch television, recognize faces and colors, drive a car, and do detail work.

The University technology uses a novel method and device to address the underlying problems that are believed to cause the loss of central vision. The three researchers began working on the project in 2001 and a significant amount of animal and human cadaver eye work led them to the current invention. Details of the technology, product, and method have not been released because the University is still in the process of securing a patent.

Holder of more than 30 patents himself, Erdman has applied his expertise to areas as varied as the mechanics of high-performance sports, the design of dental crowns, and the development of software for mechanical design and analysis.

Professor Arthur Erdman, Co-Chair of the Design of Medical Devices Conferences, held in April since 2001, is now the editor of a new journal from ASME. The Journal of Medical Devices will be published this October.

The new Borealis III will be heading to Taiwan in September to participate in the World Solar Rally, September 15 through 21. Teams from Australia, Japan, Iran and Taiwan also are confirmed competitors. Twelve of the 35 team members will be going to Taiwan. For continuedcoverage of all solar vehicle news, visit their new web site:www.spv.umn.edu.

June 2006

Professor Richard Goldstein was named an honorary member of the Italian Thermotechnical Association (ATI) in recognition of his continuous and generous efforts toward the cooperation and friendship between ASME and ATI.

Professor Goldstein has also been named an ASME Medalist for his pioneering and distinguished accomplishments in the field of heat transfer with applications to air-breathing engines, and his many contributions to the broad field of mechanical engineering. The award will be bestowed at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, November 5-10, 2006.

May 2006

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently announced a $15 million, five-year grant that will support the new Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power. More than 50 industry partners will augment NSF funding with $3 million, and seven universities involved in the center will contribute an additional $3 million.

Professor Kim Stelson and Associate Professor Perry Li will serve as director and deputy director of the center. Professor Will Durfee will serve as the center's director of education and outreach.

Prof. Tianhong Cui with his students Wei Xue, Jing Wang, and collaborators made the cover of the February, 2006, "IEEE Sensors Journal" Vol. 6, No. 1, with their paper, "A Micromachined Wide-Bandwidth Magnetic Field Sensor Based on All-PMMA Electron Tunneling Transducer."

Post Doc Rachana Visaria with Professors John Bischof, Robert Griffin, Therapeutic Radiology, and Emad Ebbini in Electrical Engineering made the cover of the April, 2006, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics with their article, "Enhancement of tumor thermal therapy using gold nanoparticle- assisted tumor necrosis factor-delivery."

A paper entitled, "Hypersonic Plasma Particle Deposition - a hybrid between plasma spraying and vapor deposition of nanophase materials," by S. L. Girshick, J. Hafiz, R. Mukherjee, X.Wang, W. Mook, J. Heberlein, P. McMurry, W. W. Gerberich, has been selected for the Best Paper Award at the International Thermal Spray Conference, Seattle, May 15-18, 2006April 2006

Post Doc Rachana Visaria has received the "New Investigator Award" for the second time by the Society for Thermal Medicine for significant contributions to the field of hyperthermia.

March 2006

Professor John Bishof has been named a 2006 Distinguished McKnight University Professor for his leadership in the areas of cryobiology and thermal therapies. Awards are made to mid- career faculty members, who receive a grant of $100,000 over five years and the title for as long as they remain at the University.

Professor Allison Hubel received seed money from the Digital Technology Center to develop new imaging processes for the detection of breast cancer. Read more...pdfFebruary 2006

Professor John Bischof has been elected a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). He was elected by the AIMBE College of Fellows for outstanding achievements in medical and biological engineering. A formal induction ceremony will be held March 2 in Washington, D.C.

An article by Professor Allison Hubel (with co-author Marilyn Waxberg) appears in the February issue of Regulatory Affairs Focus magazine. The article is titled, "Preservation of Cell-based Products for Human Therapeutic Applications" and makes a case for academic institutions, rather than industry, "to further move technology toward clinical application. Read the article: pdf .January 2006

Best Paper Award went to S. Mubassar Ali (current PhD student), Professor Susan Mantell, and Ellen Longmire (aero) for their paper "Reliability of MEMS in Liquid Environments" at the SPIE Conference on Reliability, Packaging, Testing and Characterization of MEMS/MOEMS.