| ISPE Outstanding Juniors | Undergraduate Research Conference | Peanut Butter Cracker Operators Needed | Discover Engineering Day Results | New Planning Cohort Starting | NASA Opportunity | EPSCoR Fellowships | Visiting Faculty Opportunity | COEN Faculty Update | Funding Opportunities |
Congratulations to the ISPE Outstanding Juniors
Congratulations to the eight Outstanding Juniors in Engineering at Boise State! They were nominated by their departments and will be recognized at the annual Idaho Society of Professional Engineers (ISPE) e-Week luncheon on February 23rd.
CE – Tawna Groom and Beda Luitel
ME – Courtney Hollar and Brendan Healy
ECE – Alfredo Bravoiniguez and Ngoc (Nick) Luong
MSE – Wylie Foss and Nick Schmidt
Deadline to Apply for Undergraduate Research Conference is 2/17
Faculty should remind COEN students that the deadline to apply for the 9th annual Boise State Undergraduate Research & Scholarship Conference will be Feb. 17th. The conference will be held on April 16th. Application forms are available online at: http://academics.boisestate.edu/undergraduate/research/ For more information contact Erin Muggli (erinmuggli@boisestate.edu) or by calling 426-4062.
PB Cracker Operators Needed
Schedule – Spring 2012 (Feb 16 & 17) ENGR 215
Session 1 – Thurs, Feb 16, 10:20 am to 10:50 am
Session 2 – Thurs, Feb 16, 10:50 am to 11:20 am
Session 3 – Thurs, Feb 16, 1:45 pm to 2:15 pm
Session 4 – Thurs, Feb 16, 2:15 pm to 2:45pm
Session 5 – Thurs, Feb 16, 3:20 pm to 3:50 pm
Session 6 – Thurs, Feb 16, 3:50 pm to 4:20 pm
Session 7 – Thurs, Feb 16, 4:45 pm to 5:15pm
Session 8 – Thurs, Feb 16, 5:15 pm to 5:45 pm
Session 9 – Fri, Feb 17, 9:45 am to 10:15 am
Session 10 – Fri, Feb 17, 10:15 am to 10:45 am
Session 11 – Fri, Feb 17, 1:45 pm to 2:15 pm
Session 12 – Fri, Feb 17, 2:15 pm to 2:45 pm
Thanks for your help!
Contact Carol Sevier for more information. carolsevier@boisestate.edu
A Few Results from Discover Engineering Day Held on 1/28
- 1000 bags, pencils and pins were given away at the entrance
- 200+ attended Barbara Morgan’s presentation
- 200 attended Dr. Pickelstein’s 2 presentations
- 200 attended Airplane to the Moon 2 presentations
- 300+ attended Caleb Chung’s 2 presentations
- 200 attended Force and Motion
- 100 attended Waste Water: We Treat it Right!
- 150 attended Weather Jeopardy
- 258 attended Tie Dye Chromatography
- 650 went through Avalanches, Fires, and Floods Oh My!
- 700 went through the Bullbots (FIRST Robotics) table
- 600 rode TVMSC hovercraft
- 200 visited the Mannequins in Robotics in Healthcare, and 350 trinkets were given away
- 600 played with Uberstix and Keva Planks
- 250 Edible Aquifers were made
- 575 Bristle Bots created
- 400+ Heat Shield experimenters.
- 350: Straw Airplanes flown
The Discover Engineering Day website got 2,002 hits in one week from Jan. 24-30.
Check out the site at: http://coen.boisestate.edu/
New Planning Cohort Starting for Electronic Teaching & Research Methods
The Arts and Humanities Institute at Boise State University is developing a digital humanities program to promote electronic methods of scholarship and teaching . With that in mind, we invite interested faculty and staff from across the university to participate in a planning cohort, beginning immediately. We envision a group of no more than a dozen individuals who will join ongoing discussions on the nature and scope of the initiative while working to acquire resources to fund it. Interested faculty and staff should consult with other interested members of their departments or units to designate candidates for participation in the cohort. Those individuals should then contact the institute at ahi@boisestate.edu. For more information on the institute: www.boisestate.edu/research/ahi.
NASA Opportunity for COEN Graduate Students
The NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium (ISGC) is now accepting Research Fellowship Applications. Students pursuing a master or doctoral degree at one of the ISGC member universities are encouraged to apply. Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or have permanent residency, must collaborate with a faculty member or research group conducting NASA related research and have an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher or a graduate GPA of 3.5 or higher.
Deadline for applications is Monday, March 5, 2012 at 5:00PM PST.
Awards are up to $15,000 for the academic year. The fellowships are renewable annually upon completion of program requirements and are granted for a maximum of two academic years.
Please see attached guidelines and use the following link to apply.
http://id.spacegrant.org/index.php?page=fellowships
If you have any questions, please call Angela or Becky at (208) 885-6438.
EPSCoR Fellowships Available for COEN Graduate Students
The NASA Idaho Space Grant is now accepting EPSCoR Fellowship Applications. Students pursuing a master or doctoral degree at Boise State University, Idaho State University or the University of Idaho are encouraged to apply. Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or have permanent residency, must collaborate with a faculty member or research group conducting NASA related research and have an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher or a graduate GPA of 3.5 or higher.
Deadline for applications is Monday, March 5, 2012 at 5:00PM PST.
Awards are up to $17,500 for the academic year. $2,500 of the $17,500 is to be used for travel to a NASA center. The fellowships are granted for one academic year.
Please see attached guidelines and use the following link to apply.
http://id.spacegrant.org/index.php?page=fellowships
If you have any questions, please call Angela or Becky at (208) 885-6438.
Visiting Faculty Opportunity at INL
COEN is looking for an individual who might be interested in participating in the visiting faculty program at the Idaho National Lab this summer. The position comes with a generous stipend and support for a student. There is also an extra bit of funding to support someone who has an interest in working in the microscopy facility at CAES. It would be an excellent opportunity to develop collaborations. The deadline is 1/10 for applications, so not much time to apply.
Below is the link to the program requirements, faculty application and related intern application.
http://science.energy.gov/wdts/vfp/
This faculty person would work on the Office of Science funded project and must meet all applicable criteria for US Citizenship or PR status.
COEN Faculty Updates
Bernie Yurke, MSE, has been named a Distinguished Research Fellow at Boise State for his unprecedented work in nanoscale science and technology research. Yurke has made a wide range of contributions to science in multiple disciplines over the years, including the development of new technologies for fabricating devices using DNA as a nanoscale building material.
The rank of Distinguished Research Fellow is the most prestigious academic appointment Boise State can bestow upon its research faculty.
Lonny Ashworth, MEd, RRT from the Department of Respiratory Care was awarded $5,000 to support development and testing of a Mass Casualty Ventilator prototype in collaboration with Dr. Michelle Sabick, MBE chair, and Seth Kuhlman, MBE. None of the ventilators currently included in medical stockpiles set aside for emergency circumstances (e.g. pandemic, natural disaster, terrorist attacks) meet all of the pre-defined design specifications to be able to work effectively in environments that are typically found during mass-casualty events. If this works, it would be the only ventilator on the market to meet all of the criteria established in the “Guidelines for Acquisition of Ventilators to Meet Demands for Pandemic Flu and Mass Casualty Incidents,” developed by the American Association for Respiratory Care. This OEF grant is being leveraged with other sources of in-kind and monetary support provided by the College of Engineering and the COHS.
Funding Opportunities
NSF: Computing Education for the 21st Century (CE21)
The Computing Education for the 21st Century (CE21) program aims to build a robust computing research community, a computationally competent 21st century workforce, and a computationally empowered citizenry. In this undertaking, there are three interrelated challenges: the significant underproduction of degrees needed for the computing and computing-related workforce, the longstanding underrepresentation of many segments of our population, and the lack of a presence of computing in K-12.
Innovation in information technology (IT) has driven economic growth, underlies many of our recent scientific advances, and ensures our national security; it is not surprising then that predicted IT job growth is very strong. Yet students are not majoring in computing in sufficient numbers. This shortfall is exacerbated by the longstanding underrepresentation of women, persons with disabilities, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and indigenous peoples in computing. We cannot meet workforce demands without their participation and we cannot, in an increasingly competitive world economy, afford to cede the talents and creativity of so many. To ensure their participation, and the full participation of all students, we must provide better opportunities to study computing in K-12. We must start with a better understanding of how students learn computing. Unlike many of the other STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines, computing has not developed a robust research base on the teaching and learning of its fundamental concepts and skills. That research base must be built and it must be used in providing all students with rigorous academic curricula that cover computational concepts and skills, and the breadth of application and potential of computing. Providing access to rigorous, academic computing in K-12 will require an unprecedented effort to develop curriculum and materials and to prepare teachers.
For more information: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12527/nsf12527.htm?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click
EPA: Centers for Material Life Cycle Safety
URL: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/2012/2012_star_lifecycle.html
Open Date: 12/27/2011 - Close Date: 04/25/2012
Summary: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is seeking applications for an interdisciplinary center focused on the application of a life cycle perspective towards the development of materials. The aim of the center will be to develop methodologies and practices for materials design which applies a holistic perspective. This holistic approach to design, which considers all the stages of a material’s life cycle, provides an opportunity to produce materials which minimize, and preferably eliminate, any associated potential environmental and human health impacts that may occur during the life cycle.
Applicable Category(s): Grant/Fellowship Announcements
EPA: Centers for Sustainable Molecular Design
URL: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/2012/2012_star_molecular_design.html
Open Date: 12/27/2011 - Close Date: 04/25/2012
Summary: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is seeking applications for an interdisciplinary center focusing on the sustainable molecular design of chemicals. The aim of the center will be to develop a set of parameters and strategies that will establish design criteria regarding the properties of chemicals that will lead to the development of intrinsically less hazardous substances when compared to those currently used in society. These newly acquired criteria and design principles will direct researchers towards the generation of novel chemicals that will minimize, and preferably eliminate, associated potential environmental and human health impacts that may occur during the life cycle of that chemical. The advent of these novel chemicals and their respective discovery of correlations between a chemical’s inherent properties and their adverse impacts require the development of improved methods for the design of next generation chemicals.
Applicable Category(s): Grant/Fellowship Announcements
More info on the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program
Yesterday, NASA released a new solicitation for the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. The program supports early concept studies (Technology Readiness Level 1-2 or early 3) of visionary concepts for new technologies.
Researchers affiliated with institutions of higher education, unaffiliated researchers, commercial or not-for-profit organizations, research laboratories, agencies, and NASA Centers are eligible to apply.
NASA is calling for brief (two page) white papers outlining proposals by February 9th. Successful proposers will be invited to submit full applications for funding. Additionally, certain recipients of awards will be eligible to compete for Phase II awards at a future date to further develop promising Phase I awards.
Full Solicitation:
A list of awardees from the first round of funding can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/early_stage_innovation/niac/2011_phase1_selections.html
SUMMARY:
Goal / Intent: Early studies of visionary aerospace architecture, mission, and system concepts
Key Dates:
Phase I, Step A Due: FEBRUARY 9, 2012
Phase I, Step B Due: APRIL 16, 2012
Selection Date: SUMMER 2012 (TARGET)
Award Date: SUMMER 2012 (TARGET)
Award Details:
Approximate Award Duration: 1 year
Expected Typical Award Amount: $100K
In the spirit of the original NIAC, this call invites innovative, technically credible advanced concepts that could one day change the possible in aeronautics and space.
NIAC focuses on early studies of visionary aerospace concepts. These will be architecture, mission, or system concepts, roughly Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 1- 2 in maturity (see Appendix A), aiming ten or more years in the future.
The concept must be:
- An aerospace architecture, mission, or system.
- Exciting — offering a potential breakthrough, or great leap in capabilities relevant to NASA goals or aerospace endeavors.
- Unexplored — with basic feasibility and properties not previously understood nor readily determined. The concept may be based on new technology, or a novel approach with existing technology, as long as it is different enough to require basic investigation. Some technology required for a NIAC concept may not yet exist, provided the bounding assumptions about it are reasonable.
- Far-term — very early in development, requiring at least 10 years of further analysis, design, testing, and refinement for practical implementation. (Farther out is acceptable; some concepts likely require more than 30 years but may still be very worthy of initial study.)
- Technically credible — have a sound scientific and engineering basis, and a reasonable implementation path.
The proposed Phase I study must:
- Develop the concept — the constituent technology/systems and operations should be identified, defined, or refined. Key properties should be investigated. Potential applications and paths for further advancement (overall and key elements) should be considered.
- Assess the concept in a mission context — determining feasibility and comparing properties/performance with those of current missions/concepts should be the main focus. (This is more important than detailed analysis of the underlying phenomena or technology.) Concepts that may support multiple missions should discuss the range, but must feature detailed analysis for at least one candidate mission.
In line with the NIAC goal to foster truly revolutionary concepts, this effort is explicitly NOT soliciting proposals that:
- Are unclear about the concept being proposed. A NIAC proposal must identify the aerospace concept and overall research plan up front. It is not sufficient to identify only a relevant problem and/or a tool, process, or approach to find a solution or determine further steps.
- Are incremental. There are many other programs that foster continuing research,evolutionary technology development, or “next-generation” systems with modest improvements. NIAC seeks breakthrough concepts that could redefine the future possibilities for NASA.
- Are not credible. NIAC deliberately seeks unorthodox, high risk, and revolutionary concepts, but proposals that appear to be in conflict with the known laws of physics or basic engineering principles, or appear to have no practical implementation path, must offer a sufficiently credible defense or will be dismissed as unworthy of serious consideration.
- Are narrowly focused on technology, subsystems, or investigations of smaller scope (e.g., components, instruments, materials).
- Primarily perform experiments, analysis, or theoretical derivations; lacks a mission context.
- Primarily develop tools or processes to improve design, development, decisions, etc. These might one day lead to great concepts, but the focus of NIAC is development and assessment of the concepts themselves.
For additional information please contact your OSP senior research administrator. (http://www.boisestate.edu/research/osp/quick-guide.shtml)