News

UMass Amherst Graduate Program Aimed at Offshore Wind Energy is Training Its First Class of Students

AMHERST, Mass. – An interdisciplinary graduate program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst 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

New Book by UMass Amherst’s Schreyer Expands Understanding of Architectural Computer-Aided Design Software

AMHERST, Mass. – Alexander C. Schreyer, assistant director and lecturer of the building and construction technology (BCT) program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and faculty member in the architecture + design program, has released a book on SketchUp, a popular three dimensional computer-aided design (CAD) software, titled “Architectural Design with SketchUp.”
 
Published and released as paperback and e-book editions, the book is now available through online and local bookstores.

Christopher Hollot Appointed Interim Dean of College of Engineering at UMass Amherst

AMHERST, Mass. – Christopher Hollot, head of the department of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been named interim dean of the College of Engineering by UMass Amherst 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 UMass Amherst 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

UMass Amherst Historian Stephen Platt Captures Prestigious Cundill Prize for 'Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom'

AMHERST, Mass. – “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 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, 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.

UMass Amherst Prepares for Innovation Challenge on Dec. 4

 
***MEDIA ADVISORY***
 
DATE:        Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012
TIME:         3:30 pm
PLACE:     Cape Cod Lounge, Student Union
 
A dozen teams of young entrepreneurs seeking $10,000 in prize money will be pitching their innovative business concepts to a panel of judges at the UMass Innovation Challenge Executive Summary and Elevator Pitch competition.
 
Competitors are interdisciplinary student/alumni teams working with faculty members and external advisors. For example:
  • Team Green Latrineoffers a solution for sustainable global sanitation, a latrine that purifies waste water at the same time

UMass Amherst to Hire Consultant to Review Residence Hall Security

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst plans to hire an outside consultant to undertake a comprehensive review of its residence hall security program, Police Chief John Horvath said today.
 
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

UMass Amherst Alumnus Christopher Larkin to talk on Health Care and Advanced Technology on Dec. 6

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts Amherst alumnus Christopher Larkin will give a talk titled, “Keeping Patients Safe and Healthy with Advanced Technology,” at a special alumni seminar Thursday, Dec. 6 from 10-11 a.m. in the Gunness Student Center conference room in Marcus Hall on the Amherst campus. Larkin will discuss how technological advancements in modeling software and artificial intelligence can better foster healthcare optimization. The event is free and open to the public.

Larkin is chief technology officer for General Electric Healthcare, a company with more than 10,000

State Fire Marshal to Visit UMass Amherst as it Completes Installation of Fire Sprinklers in All Residence Halls

 
***MEDIA ADVISORY***
 
DATE:        Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012
TIME:        1:30 p.m.
PLACE:     Southwest Residential Complex, Thoreau Hall
 
UMass Amherst will welcome State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan as it completes a
massive, voluntary retrofit to install fire sprinkler systems in all 45 residence halls, a $27 million commitment to student safety. More than 12,100 students in 7,163 rooms are now protected by the sprinkler systems.
 
A news conference will include a tour of a residence hall and a student room.

Institute for Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies Offers Docent Training for High School, College Students

The Institute for Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is offering a training session on Wednesday, Dec. 5 from 3-4:30 p.m. for high school and college students interested in learning how to lead their student peers through the institute’s permanent Holocaust teaching exhibition, “A Reason to Remember: Roth, Germany, 1933-1942.”
 
Led by an experienced docent of the exhibit, this workshop will introduce students to the exhibition and its origins and will encourage further study and training in order to become student tour facilitators under the

Clingman’s Distinguished Faculty Lecture Looks from South Africa to the World in Tracking Challenges of Identity

AMHERST, Mass. – Stephen Clingman, director of the Interdisciplinary Studies Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will discuss “Looking from South Africa to the World: A Story of Identity for Our Times” in the second of the campus’s 2012-13 Distinguished Faculty Lectures on Monday, Dec. 3.
 
All lectures in the series are free and open to the public and begin at 4 p.m. in the Massachusetts Room at the Mullins Center. A reception immediately follows each lecture. 
 
Clingman, who is a professor of English and a former chair of the department, will examine how South African

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