Campus News: Week of October 9, 2000

Fall Fest to Feature Free Blues Concert

Fall Fest, a free community event sponsored by Rensselaer, will be held Saturday, Oct. 14 at the Approach from noon to 5 p.m., and will continue at 7 p.m., with a free blues concert at the Houston Field House.

The free blues concert will feature internationally known guitarist Bernard Allison, son of the late blues legend Luther Allison; guitarist Albert Cummings playing with Double Trouble, Stevie Ray Vaughan's original rhythm section; and the Chris Duarte Group. Duarte has been compared to Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

The afternoon Fall Fest program will feature performances by the Rensselyrics, the Rusty Pipes, the Rensselaer Chorale, and Russell Sage's a cappella group, The Sagettes. In addition, there will be booths selling food and fall items. Children will be entertained by the Poppy Doodle Puppets, an open house at the Junior Museum, and much more.

Fall Fest celebrates what President Jackson has dubbed "communiversity."

"When I speak of communiversity, I refer to that inextricable bond that links the university and the surrounding community — a bond that is so real that it can only be characterized by a single word," said President Jackson.

"We demonstrate communiversity through cooperative work that strengthens economic development, K-12 education, and the quality of life. And we celebrate communiversity through events such as Fall Fest that allow us to deepen and enjoy the partnership we share."

Parking for Fall Fest will be at the Houston Field House. CDTA will provide shuttle service every 15 minutes from the Houston Field House to 8th Street, stopping at the Rensselaer Union.

For more information, see the Fall Fest web page at http://www.rpi.edu/dept/NewsComm/Calendar/fallfest.html or contact the Union Administration Office at 276-6505.

10/10/00

Mourad Zeghal Receives NSF CAREER Award

Mourad Zeghal, assistant professor of civil engineering, was awarded a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation. The grant, aimed at young faculty members actively engaged in research and education, is one of the NSF's most competitive and prestigious awards.

Zeghal has been a Rensselaer faculty member since fall 1998. He received a $210,000 four-year grant to develop models for prediction and analysis of the performance of soil systems, such as sites, earth dams, and embankments, during earthquakes. Zeghal will use real data, from both the Rensselaer centrifuge and from earthquake recordings, for his modeling and simulation.

Rensselaer's geotechnical centrifuge is the third largest in the country and a leader in the earthquake engineering area. The data Zeghal receives from physical models shaken on the centrifuge will help ensure that his computer models mirror observed soil system response, making his predictions more accurate.

Practical applications abound. "Developers can use the results of soil modeling to determine the suitability of an area for building," Zeghal explained. "They will then know whether it is safe to build or if they need to remediate the site or find another location."

To address the educational requirement of the CAREER Award, Zeghal plans to incorporate modeling and simulation into both undergraduate and graduate curricula — in earthquake engineering and other civil engineering applications — to provide experience handling complex problems.

10/9/00

Dates Set for Free TB Screening
Funding Provided by Centers for Disease Control

Four days of free TB screening have been made possible for Rensselaer students, faculty, and staff through a special grant from the Centers for Disease Control.

The CDC grant provides funding for regional screening programs throughout the state. The Institute is taking a national leadership position in offering universal screening, said Rensselaer Medical Director Dr. Robert Athanasiou.

The screening program is part of a national drive to eliminate tuberculosis in the United States. TB is the world's leading killer among infectious diseases. Despite an overall decline in the United States, TB remains widespread in many parts of the world. "Rensselaer's commitment to preventive medicine and the fact that large numbers of our faculty and students travel to and from foreign countries make it wise for us to lead the way in offering this free screening," said Athanasiou.

The two-step screening process is both painless and accurate in detecting latent TB infection. First, a small amount of test material is placed on the skin of the arm. Two or three days later, participants return to the screening location to have the test results read by a medical professional.

A positive reaction indicates an exposure to TB, most often a so-called latent infection that does not make the person sick and is not infectious. People who test positive receive a chest-X-ray and a physical exam to determine treatment. A person with a latent infection will most often be prescribed a course of medication that prevents the disease from becoming active.

"The good news is that TB, although dangerous, is very treatable. In this increasingly global world, we all owe it to ourselves, our families, and our friends to take advantage of this free screening," Athanasiou said.

10/9/00

Michael Abbott Named Trustees' Outstanding Teacher for 2000

Michael Abbott, professor of chemical engineering, received the Trustees' Outstanding Teacher Award for 2000 at a meeting of the board Sept. 23.

Established in 1994, the award, which carries a $5,000 honorarium, annually recognizes outstanding accomplishments in classroom instruction. The committee's selection is made on the basis of sustained outstanding teaching as reflected by student evaluations.

Abbott, who received both his B.S. and his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Rensselaer and returned as a research associate in 1969, was recognized for his consistent ranking "as a distinguished teacher in chemical engineering, the School of Engineering, and the Institute as a whole."

Abbott has received numerous teaching awards, including a Tau Beta Pi Outstanding Engineering Instructor Award in 1976 and a Western Electric Fund Award for excellence in instruction of engineering students from the ASEE in 1979. He was a Rensselaer Distinguished Teaching Fellow from 1986-1988, received the Faculty Alumni Admissions Award for excellence in recruiting undergraduate students in 1992, and was awarded the Rensselaer Alumni Association Teaching Award in 1994. Abbott was also a mentor for the Lilly Endowment Teaching Fellow Program from 1989-1990 and 1991-1992. In 1996 he received the David M. Darrin Counseling Award.

10/9/00

Tahira Reid '00, a recent Rensselaer graduate and inventor of the automatic double Dutch jump rope turner, was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday, Sept. 24, with host Liane Hansen.

Reid is in the process of forming a company with direction from Bela Musits, who oversees Rensselaer's high tech business incubator. She is working to improve the machine and garner funding for bringing it to market.

You can hear Reid's NPR interview at http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/wesun/20000924.wesun.15.rmm

The free RealPlayer 8 Basic plug-in is required to listen to the interview. It is available free of charge at: http://www.real.com/player/index.html?src=downloadr

10/9/00

Hockey Standout Tapper Joins the Pros

Rensselaer All-American hockey player Brad Tapper, who signed a free agent contract with the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers in April, has been named to the official roster of the team. Tapper, who relinquished his final year of college eligibility and joined the club in September for training camp, was scheduled to play his first pro game on Saturday in Atlanta.

A junior from Scarborough, Ont., Tapper led the nation in goal scoring last season, averaging 0.84 goals per game. He also ranked first in the U.S. in game-winning goals with seven and was among the leaders in the nation in points per game (14th with 1.38), power play goals (11th with 10) and shorthanded goals (12th with 3). His 51 points (31 goals, 20 assists) in 37 games led the Engineers, who he helped to an overall record of 22-13-2, a third-place finish in the league standings (11-9-1) and into the championship game of the ECAC Tournament. Also the team leader in penalty minutes with 81, Tapper was named an All-ECAC First Team All-Star and a JOFA/American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) East Second Team All-American.