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Hollot named interim dean of College of Engineering

Christopher Hollot, head of the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been named interim dean of the College of Engineering by Provost James V. Staros.
 
Hollot’s appointment was effective Dec. 1 and he will serve until the arrival of a new dean, which is expected in spring 2013, said Staros.
 
A faculty member since 1984, Hollot has served as department head since 2007. Hollot is an authority on the theory and application of feedback control and was recognized for his work by election as an IEEE Fellow in 2004.
 
Hollot succeeds Ted Djaferis, who was named interim dean in

Graduate program focused on offshore wind energy training its first class of students

An interdisciplinary graduate program  in offshore wind energy engineering, environmental science and policy is now up and running with 25 faculty members from nine departments working with 13 full-time graduate students. The goal of the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Offshore Wind Energy Program is to train researchers who understand the technological challenges, environmental implications and socioeconomic and regulatory hurdles faced by offshore wind farms.
 
The program was started with a $3.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation in August

Platt wins prestigious Cundill Prize for history of Taiping Rebellion

“Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War,” a history of the Taiping rebellion by Stephen R. Platt, associate professor of History, has won McGill University’s 2012 Cundill Prize, called the world’s richest and most prestigious award for historical literature.
 
Published earlier this year by Alfred A. Knopf, Platt’s book was chosen from among 143 works submitted by publishers from all over the globe. The competition, now in its fifth year, features a $75,000 U.S. grand prize. The award was announced at a gala award dinner in Montreal on Nov.

Campus to hire consultant to review residence hall security

The campus plans to hire an outside consultant to undertake a comprehensive review of its residence hall security program, according to Police Chief John Horvath.
 
Horvath said, “UMass Amherst has a longstanding commitment to student safety, and this review will identify the strengths and any shortcomings of our current system while making recommendations based on best practices in the field. An independent set of eyes will serve us well.”
 
The move is part of a coordinated review and response to campus security following the alleged rape in October of a UMass Amherst student in a

Research develops ‘second skin’ military fabric to repel chemical and biological agents

Military uniforms of the future may offer a new layer of critical protection to wearers thanks to research by polymer scientists and colleagues at several other institutions who are developing a nanotube-based fabric that repels chemical and biological agents.

Polymer Science professors Kenneth Carter and James Watkins, collaborating with team leader Francesco Fornasiero of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), recently received a five-year $1.8 million grant to design ways to manufacture the new material as part of a $13 million project funded by the U.S.

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