By Arthur J. Snider
Daily News Science Writer
When the first space ship lands on the moon, will it come to a jarring halt on a solid foundation – or will it sink into a sea of dust?
Until recent years, it was generally accepted that the large flat areas of the moon were covered with hardened lava spewed up by volcanoes or transferred by the great heat of meteorite bombardments.
This is no longer agreed upon. There are some scientists who warn that moon dust may run many feet deep.
Two engineering students led the UMass men's swimming team to its fourth-straight Atlantic-10 Championship on February 20 at the Flickinger Aquatics Center in Buffalo, N.Y.
On Saturday, February 27, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., more than 30 Girl Scouts from Western and Central Massachusetts gathered at the Engineering Student Center in Marcus Hall on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus to investigate engineering as a possible career move. The event is known as "Girl Scouts Exploration Day: Engaging, Educating, and Embracing the Creative Engineer.”
Chemical Engineering graduate student Tejinder Singh has been selected as one of 22 finalists out of hundreds of nominees for a Materials Research Society (MRS) Graduate Student Award, to be presented during the spring MRS meeting this April in San Francisco. Being a finalist means he will win either a Silver or Gold Award. Singh works in the research group of Chemical Engineering Professor Dimitrios Maroudas.
Professor Joseph Goldstein, the distinguished professor in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department and former dean of the College of Engineering, has been named a Fellow in the Microscopy Society of America (MSA).
The Civil and Environmental Engineering Department Career Fair can alter the whole trajectory of one's life. Just ask CEE senior Patricia Fox and UMass Amherst alumna Kate Biedron. That’s what happened to them. The CEE Career Fair took place on Thursday, February 25, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Gunness Student Center in Marcus Hall. All CEE students were encouraged to attend. Companies participating in the fair are filling positions for summer internships, co-op opportunities, and full-time permanent positions.
A scholarship created by the Conservation Services Group (CSG) of Westborough, Massachusetts, and the SunPower Foundation of San Jose, California, supports students whose education is directly related to energy efficiency, clean energy, and environmental protection. A total of three students, one each from the College of Engineering, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and the Isenberg School of Management, are currently receiving $7,666 apiece from the fund.
Ramgopal Mettu of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department is co-editor of the new Journal of Serendipitous and Unexpected Results (JSUR), devoted to the surprises, unforeseen discoveries, and strange twists of fate that often accompany successful research. As the web site for the new publication explains, “The Journal of Serendipitous and Unexpected Results is an open-access forum for researchers seeking to further scientific discovery by sharing surprising or unexpected results.
Hari Balasubramanian, assistant professor in our Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, is working with emergency department directors and faculty at UMass Memorial Medical Center to identify bottlenecks, improve efficiency, and reduce patient waiting time in the emergency room.
Last spring, undergraduate junior Aimee O’Brien of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department was the co-captain of the UMass Amherst Steel Bridge Team that managed a strong fourth-place finish out of 12 teams at the regional Student Steel Bridge Competition, run by the American Institute of Steel Construction. With O’Brien doing much of the day-to-day management and organization of the team, while also putting in many hours of hands-on cutting, welding, and grinding, the double-girder bridge took first place in the key stiffness category, boasting an aggregate deflection of only five-eighths of an inch.
