The Wood Mechanics Lab is an interdisciplinary teaching and research lab that serves the Building Materials and Wood Technology program, students from more than 30 different programs, and industry partners both nationally and internationally. Established in the early 1960’s by Dr. Alan Marra and Dr. Bruce Hoadley, the lab originally focused on wood adhesives and wood chemistry. Over the past 5-10 years, however, the lab has slowly changed focus to structural materials and forest products testing. Read more.

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First Annual CVIP Patent Recognition Awards

Many members of our faculty have impressive records in patenting their inventions. In order to recognize these achievements and to increase awareness of this work, Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property (CVIP) and the Vice Provost for Research will recognize those who received patents in 2005 at this year's Annual Research Recognition Dinner. In addition, the award program will honor faculty who have reached their 5th issued patent with a Milestone Award, their 10th issued patent with a Landmark Award, and their 20th issued patent with a Lifetime Award. This year, the Landmark Award winners are Richard Farris and Robert Lenz from Polymer Science and Engineering. Louis Carpino (Chemistry) will be recognized with both a Landmark Award and a Lifetime Award for his patents in amino acid and peptide chemistry. Visit the CVIP Website for a full list of winners.

Research Recognition Dinner

On May 17 over sixty faculty from more then twenty departments will be recognized for their achievements. Three faculty will receive Samuel F. Conti Faculty Fellowships. Salvatore E. Macchia (Music and Dance), Peter A. Monson (Chemical Engineering), and Margaret K. Speas (Linguistics) will receive a $3,000 honorarium and one year of release time from teaching to pursue research and scholarly activities. Other awards presented that evening include Outstanding Accomplishments in Research and Creative Activity, CVIP Technology Development Grant, Distinguished Faculty Lecturers, Distinguished Faculty, Faculty Research/Healey Endowment Grants, Public Service Endowment Grants, Research Leadership in Action Grants, and Science and Technology Initiative Fund. Click here for a description of each award and a complete list of winners.

Family Research Scholars Announced

The UMass Amherst Center for Research on Families (CRF) announced six Family Research Scholars for 2006-2007. Michele Budig (Sociology), Jennifer Hicks Lundquist (Sociology), Brenda Bushouse (Political Science), Nilanjana Dasgupta (Psycholgy), Jennifer Foster (Nursing), and Maureen Perry-Jenkins (Psychology) were selected for their promising work in family related research. They will participate in a year long interdisciplinary seminar to support securing grant funding and to build a multidisciplinary community of researchers studying issues related to family. Read more about each scholar's research at the CRF Website.

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Center for Hierarchical Manufacturing: Setting an Example

The recent establishment of the Center for Hierarchical Manufacturing (CHM) at UMass Amherst with a five-year $16 million grant from the NSF and $7 million in university and state funding is an excellent prototype for the building of interdisciplinary initiatives and the evolving services the Research Area can provide to support similar programs. Although the RFP for the center came out in June 2004, work began many months earlier analyzing the campus strengths, shaping the vision, and ultimately building the team and the proposals. As CHM director, Mark Tuominen, puts it, "It was a team effort," and all units within the Research Area-OGCA, CVIP, and RL&D were part of the team. The process of developing CHM is now a model for future strategic conception, implementation, and utilization of campus resources to build large scale interdisciplinary centers and initiatives. Read more about CHM and nanotechnology research at UMass Amherst--now an established leader in this space. Contact Marla Michel (413-577-0092) in RL&D to discuss support for other interdisciplinary initiatives.

Rexa Digital Library Open to the Public

Rexa is a digital library and search engine covering computer science research literature and the people who create it. The tool was created by the Information Extraction and Synthesis Laboratory at the UMass Amherst Department of Computer Science. The creation of Rexa was funded by the NSF Information Technology Grant.

Rexa is different from other research paper search engines such as Google Scholar and CiteSeer in that it creates cross referenced objects not only of research papers, but also people, universities, conferences, journals, grants, and research groups. Visit http://rexa.info to register and learn more.

Networking Dinners Foster Collaboration for New STEM Faculty

On May 13th, the campus will complete its first year of a special mentoring program designed to help new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) faculty get established on the Amherst campus. The brainchild of the Biology Mentoring Committee, the STEM Dinner Series was created as a “near-peer” mentoring program to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and networking among these faculty and across campus departments. One Friday per month, new STEM faculty gather for an informal dinner and mini research presentations as a way to introduce themselves to their campus colleagues.

The STEM Dinner Series is supported by the Center for Teaching and the Deans of the Colleges of Natural Science and Mathematics, Natural Resources and the Environment, and Engineering. The events have attracted more than forty new faculty since the series began last fall. The next event will be held on May 13. Family and friends are invited. For more information contact Barbara Pearson (413-545-5023), Research Liaison and Development.

RTC Names New President

Ellen Bemben was elected president by the board of The Regional Technology Corporation (RTC). Bemben will be instrumental in expanding the region's technology-based business attraction, retention, and development. Visit the RTC Website to read more about Ms. Bemben and the position.

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Spring Edition of In Brief Available

In Brief, the semiannual newsletter of the UMass System’s Office of Economic Development, is now available online. The newsletter highlights achievements and new activities of members of the UMass community in the areas of research, technology transfer, education and workforce development and regional economic analysis. The most recent issue and an archive of previous issues can be found online here. Contact Marla Michel (413-577-0092) regarding submissions.

Getting the Most out of JOL

Jordan On Line (JOL) can save you time and help you get the specific information you need from OGCA. JOL is a real-time web based connection to the OGCA database with an improved interface to allow users to run custom reports, check the status of all OGCA business and get detailed information for each proposal/award. OGCA has prepared a new How-to guide to help users get acquainted with this powerful tool.

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May 17: Annual Research Recognition Dinner. 6:30 P.M. Campus Center Auditorium. R.S.V.P. to Martha Martin (413-545-5270).

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Welcome new faculty in the Humanities & Fine Arts (HFA) and Natural Resources & the Environment (NRE).

Juan Anguita, NRE, Veterinary and Animal Sciences. Research Interests: Vector- Host Interactions and Inflammation during Lyme disease.

F. Frederic Deng, NRE, Regional Planning. Research Interests: Urban institutions and property rights, urban land use, real estate market, and Chinese cities.

Stephen Rich, NRE, Plant, Soil & Insect Sciences. Research Interests: Parasite evolution, host-parasite interactions, importance of mutation factors.

Christian Appy, HFA, History. Professional Interests: Modern US History, Vietnam War.

Bruce Baird, HFA, Languages, Literatures & Cultures - Japanese. Professional Interests: Contemporary Japanese Theater and Dance (butô), and Japanese modern intellectual history.

Maria Soledad Barbon, HFA, Languages, Literatures & Cultures - Spanish. Professional Interests: Latin American colonial literature & culture with emphasis on 18th century Peru; Satire; Colonial Celebrations; Anthropophagi.

Yemisi Jimoh, HFA, Afro-American Studies. Professional Interests: 20th Century African American women's narrative and culture along with critical race studies.

Young Min Moon, HFA, Art & Art History. Teaching Focus: Foundations.

Bradford Skow, HFA, Philosophy. Research Interests: Machian theories of time, substantivalism and de re modality, anti- Humean theories of laws of nature.

Paul Walsh, HFA, Theater. Teaching Focus: Dramaturgy.

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OGCA Proposal Histograms

OGCA processed 153 proposals for a total of $21,780,977 in March. How does that stack up against last year and previous months? Have a look at the histograms to find out.

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Erin Baker
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Sponsor: US Dept of Energy
Title: Climate Change Technology R&D Portfolio Decision Making Under Uncertainty
Total Award: $200,551

James D. Capistran
Polymer Science and Engineering
Sponsor: Kuraray America Inc
Title: CUMIRP Part I M-A-L: Kuraray
Total Award: $60,000

Jeffrey M. Davis
Chemical Engineering
Sponsor: 3M
Title: Modeling Interfacial Hydrodynamics on Selectively Patterned Surfaces
Total Award: $15,000

Catherine Dimmitt
Student Development & Pupil Personnel Services
Sponsor: MA Dept of Education
Title: Implementation Guide Development for the Massachusetts Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs
Total Award: $143,741

Sarah M. Dorner
Water Resources & Research Center
Sponsor: Geological Survey
Title: Water Resources Research Institute Annual Base Program
Total Award: $92,335

Elisabeth M. Hamin
Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning
Sponsor: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
Title: Evaluating Conservation Subdivision Design
Total Award: $10,000

David Kulp
Computer Science
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Title: Improved Design and Analysis of Diploid Resequencing Microarrays
Total Award: $226,669

Eric Learned-Miller
Computer Science
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Title: CAREER: Towards a Self-Taught Vision System
Total Award: $71,233

Csaba Andras Moritz
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Title: Exploring Design Approaches and Fault Tolerance in Nano Streaming Processors
Total Award: $200,000

James J. Murphy
Resource Economics
Sponsor: Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation
Title: Economic Incentives to Achieve Environmental Goals in Australia: Bringing the "Real-World" into the Classroom
Total Award: $4,966

Margaret J. Speas
Linguistics
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Title: Epistemology and Indexicality in English, Tibetan and Navajo
Total Award: $668,716

Pablo E. Visconti
Veterinary and Animal Sciences
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Title: Characterization of a Testis Kinase Family (Tssk)
Total Award: $78,500

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