URI held its Second Annual Recognition Luncheon for Outstanding
Research, Outreach and Intellectual Property on May 2, 2001. Candidates were nominated by the
URI community. Recipients were selected by the Council for Research,
Council for Outreach and Intellectual Property Committee.
President Robert L. Carothers, Provost and Vice President for
Academic Affairs M. Beverly Swan and Vice Provost for
Graduate Studies Research and Outreach Janett Trubatch honored those being recognized for all
of their hard work and dedication.
RECOGNITION
FOR OUTSTANDING RESEARCH 2001
Professor
Guo-Ming Chen top
Communication Studies
Dr.
Chen’s research area is Intercultural Communication and Globalization, and her
special research interests are: (1) Intercultural Communication Competence and
(2) Chinese Communication Behaviors.
Professor
Steven L. D'Hondt top
Oceanography
Dr.
D’Hondt’s research focuses on the interplay between life and its
environment. His primary projects are studies of (1) the microbial life buried
in deep-sea sediments, and (2) the effects on Earth's life and environment of
the largest biological extinctions in Earth history.
Professor
William B. Euler top
Chemistry
Dr. Euler and his group study the use of polymeric materials in uses ranging
from basic science, such as the transport of electrons, to applications, such as
physical or chemical sensors.
Professor
David M. Gitlitz
top
Languages
Dr. Gitlitz has been researching in three broad areas: Golden Age Spanish
literature (theater, Cervantes, poetry, picaresque novel); Spanish-Jewish
history (especially Inquisition, and the underground religious groups); and
pilgrimage (especially the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela).
Professor
Otto J. Gregory top
Chemical Engineering; SST Partnership Co-Director;
Director Thin Film Analyzer Cost Center
Dr.
Gregory’s research is mainly in the area of physical sensors and thin film
materials science.
Specifically, high temperature sensors for aerospace applications including
propulsion systems such as jet engines. He has been developing a thin film
strain gage capable of operating at temperatures in excess of 1400C, for
propulsion health monitoring. This
work received "Best Paper" Award at the 19th Annual DASC (Digital
Avionics Conference) and was highlighted in the May 2000 issue of NASA TECH
BRIEFS. Other work includes the
characterization of wide bandgap semiconductors such as aluminum nitride,
gallium nitride and oxide semiconductors such as indium tin oxide.
Professor
Hesook Suzie Kim
top
Nursing
Dr. Kim’s work has been focusing on developing a metaparadigmatic framework
for systematizing nursing knowledge, which has culminated in several articles
and two books recently published. In
relation to this, she has also been engaged in research studies to develop
theories of nursing practice by examining nurses' pain assessment and
decision-making in nursing practice.
Professor
Thomas G. Manfredi top
Physical Education
Dr. Manfredi's major area of research focuses on the effects of aging, exercise,
diet and disease on human muscle. He collaborates with investigators at Tufts
University, UCONN, and URI professors. Dr. Manfredi employs electron and light microscopy and image
analysis to observe the changes in human muscle of young and older healthy
adults and adults with heart and vascular diseases following exercise and
dietary interventions. URI graduate students play an important role in his
research efforts and all publish their findings in refereed journals and present
papers at sports medicine, biology, and nutrition meetings.
Professor
Arun Shukla top
Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Shukla's research focuses on the dynamic behavior of materials, including
fracture mechanics, impact mechanics and wave propagation. Under the sponsorship
of the National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research,
Army Research Office, Department of Transportation, US Navy, and US Army, he has
developed an internationally recognized research laboratory and research program
in experimental solid mechanics. Along with his seventeen Ph.D. and thirty-three
M.S. students, he has published and presented more than two hundred papers in
journals and proceedings.
Professor
Linda M. Welters top
Textiles
Linda Welters investigates textiles as material culture.
She has lectured and published on ethnic textiles and costume, Rhode
Island quilts, archaeological textiles, and cloth made from the fibers of the
pineapple plant. Recent books
include Down by the Old Mill Stream: Quilts in Rhode Island (co-edited with
Margaret Ordonez), published by Kent State University Press (2000) and Folk
Dress in Europe and Anatolia (ed.), published by Berg (1999).
RECOGNITION
FOR OUTSTANDING OUTREACH 2001
Mr.
David L. Beutel top
FAVS
Mr. Beutel’s outreach program concerns fishing and people: people harvesting
fish for their livelihood, people harvesting fish for fun, and people growing
fish. The program seeks to connect
the fishing industry, recreational fishing, and aquaculture, with science,
management, and society through programs of education, research, and experience.
Professor
Everett E. Crisman top
Chemical Engineering, Co-Director Forensic Science Partnership
The Forensic Science Partnership has promoted the scientific aspects of law
enforcement though out Rhode Island, New England and the nation.
Through the FSP seminar series, not only the URI student and faculty, but
also regional criminalist, businesses and interested public have participated in
understanding the role of scientific inquiry in the law enforcement/legal
process. He has developed programs
and national contacts that connect our graduating students to post baccalaureate
study in the field of forensics. As
a consequence of the FSP programs, the RI State Crime Laboratory has been able
to expand its base of scientists available for evidence analysis.
Professor
Robert D. Felner top
Education
The National Center on Public Education and Social Policy works with schools,
communities, and policy makers across Rhode Island and the nation on educational
reform and prevention initiatives to improve the lives of children and families
- particularly those who are economically or socially disadvantaged. Currently
the Center has a major partnership with the Rhode Island Department of
Education, the Children's Cabinet and a number of school districts and community
agencies both in Rhode Island and more than 15 states. The Center, with Dr.
Felner as the founding Director of the Board of Directors, is also a major
partner in Martin Luther King Services of Illinois. MLKCS develops and provides
after school and wraparound programming for economically disadvantaged children
throughout the State of Illinois.
Ms.
Gayla J. Gazerro top
Urban Field Center
Ms. Gazerro is the embodiment of the University of RI's outreach mission.
She has spent seventeen years working professionally, on behalf of the
University of RI's Urban Field Center, in all of RI's urban communities to
foster linkages between community needs and University resources. She has been a
consistent and visible representative and promotes a positive reputation of URI.
Her recent work, as Director of the Woodlawn/URI Community Outreach
Partnership Center, a community revitalization initiative in Pawtucket, is a
prime example of moving the University's Outreach Mission into practice.
She has also assisted the community in the formation of a Community
Development Corporation.
Professor
Arthur J. Gold top
Natural Resource Science, Director URI's Cooperative Extension Water Quality
Program
The University of Rhode Island's Cooperative Extension Water Quality Program
transmits the results of recent research to solve water quality problems facing
Rhode Islanders. We develop educational training programs, publications, and
events to enable the public and their decision makers to protect and improve the
State's water quality - from its drinking water reservoirs, lakes and streams,
to its swimming beaches and shellfishing areas in and around Narragansett Bay
and Block Island Sound.
Professor
Diane C. Martins top
Nursing
The outreach that Professor Martins and her students provide is focused on high
risk vulnerable populations in Providence. She has served on the Board of Directors for the RI Coalition
for the Homeless (RICH) for the past 6 years. Presently Dr. Martins is on RICH's
Government Affairs Committee. She has been a nurse volunteer for over 12 years
for Travelers Aid Society of RI in the Free Medical Clinic for the Homeless
population and with the Medical Van Project that provides free outreach for the
homeless in various shelters throughout the state. She has worked with the
Providence Housing Authority and the nurse practitioner program in providing
health care for the residents in 3 high risk high rises in the city.
She and her students provide health related classes and services in the
Providence School System. They have also worked with refugees and immigrants at Genesis
Center, Homeless populations utilizing Soup kitchens and homeless shelters,
Preschoolers at Providence Headstart.
Ms.
Deborah L. Mathews top
Department of Education
The Institute of Human Science and Services provides training and associated
activities for the staff of the Rhode Island Department of Human Services and
the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families to encourage
personal and professional development.
Professor
Joseph M. Parillo top
Music, Fine Arts Center
Professor Parillo, in conjunction with Honors Program and the URI music
department has hosted workshops on the Music of India, World Drumming, the Rhode
Island Music Educators High School Jazz Festival, the North Attleboro High
School Jazz Band and the Narragansett High School Jazz Band.
He has done workshops and performances at Worcester PolyTechnical
Institute, North Attleboro High School, Cross Mills Public Library, Coventry
High School, and the East Side Music Collaborative as well as performing at a
variety of local and regional venues.
Professor Parillo has won the Providence Phoenix/ WFNX Music Poll, Jazz Artist
of the year 2000, and has been nominated for 2001; he is president of the Rhode
Island Chapter of the International Association of Jazz Educators and is a
Steinway Artist.
Mr.
Michael J. Platek top
Electrical Engineering
Mr. Platek is laboratory manager and facilitator of the Sensors and Surface
Technology Partnership at URI, which has a major outreach component. He works
between 15-20 forensic cases for the state crime lab per year.
In addition, he also manages and maintains a $1M facility, which operates
under the Thin Film Analyzer cost center. In
this activity, he analyzes materials, devices, surfaces, etc. for more than 30
companies, universities and government labs each year in Rhode Island and nearby
Connecticut and Massachusetts. In
so doing he provides a state of the art facility for the students and faculty at
the university as well as the community beyond URI. He is instrumental in
organizing and running the SST Annual Student Poster Session, which attracts
more than 150 visitors from around the state and includes local businesses,
industries and government agencies. Mr. Platek is the critical link in these
outreach activities that forms a strong relationship between SST students and
faculty and the manufacturing/business community and government labs in the
area.
Ms.
Gail A. Scowcroft top
Office
of Marine Programs
Ms. Scowcroft’s Outreach Programs include the Marine Science Academy for
Grades K-5 in Providence and professional development programs for young
scientists and educators. They also reach out beyond the state with our award
winning website Discovery of Coastal Environments and distance learning
programs. Her Outreach Programs
through URI's Office of Marine Programs have raised over $2 million in the last
three years to bring marine and environmental science to a wide variety of
audiences.
Ms.
Judith Tolnick top
Art Gallery, Fine Arts Center
The Fine Arts Center Galleries at URI annually present a changing program of
contemporary art to stimulate the understanding and interpretation of art in its
evolving visual expressions. Comprised of three public exhibition areas (Main,
Corridor and Photography spaces) the Galleries have as their purpose enriching
the creative, curricular, and cultural life of the URI community and the general
public of southern New England. The Galleries are an educational resource
through display, publication, and programming as they strive to promote the
understanding of art as an integral component of the humanities.
RECOGNITION
FOR OUTSTANDING PRESENTATION of
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 2001
(Due
to confidentiality of the disclosures descriptions for Intellectual Property are
limited.)
Cost-Effective
Approach for Realtime, Online, and Remote Data Back-up
top
Ken Q. Yang
Jian Li
Department of Electrical Engineering
A Cost-Effective Approach for Realtime, Online, and Remote Data Back-up.
Currently under review by University patent attorney.
Distributed
Web Server top
Ken Q.
Yang
Xubin He
Department of Electrical Engineering
DRALIC, Distributed RAID and location independence caching--provides a direct
and immediate solution to boost web server performance by making use of
commodity computers that are available to day.
Currently under review by University patent attorney.
A
Non-Chromate Primer for Paint
top
Richard
Brown
Maria G. Medeiros
Wayne C. Tucker
Department of Chemical Engineering
A Non-Chromate Primer for Paint.
Rhode
Island Canopy Trap top
Kristen Bartlett
Steven Alm
Roger A. LeBrun
Department of Plant Science
A canopy trap for capturing horse flies and deer flies. Currently under review by University patent attorney.
Two-Speed
Ratchet
top
Ryan J. Grandidge
Michael J. Timmons
Kevin E. Thurston
Phillip Diffley
Stephen Coelho
Musa Jouaneh
Department of Mechanical Engineering
A Two-Speed Ratchet.
Voice
Activated Nurse Call Bell top
Rachel P. Starr
George Dibb
Ying Sun
Department of Electrical Engineering
A voice activated system for patients to contact nurses in institutions.
RECOGNITION
FOR OUTSTANDING
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INVENTIONS 2001
Application
of Antibiotics to Polyurethane Biomaterials Using Textile Dyeing Technology top
Martin Bide
Textiles Department
The application of antibiotics to polyurethane biomaterials using textile dyeing
technology, a technology which has application to several medical materials such
as wound dressings, sutures, vascular grafts, catheters, and artificial heart
values. U.S. patent application.
Digital
System Performance via Error Toleration
top
Augustus Uht
Electrical Engineering Department
A novel device and new process which increases the performance of any
synchronous digital system (in cell phones, microwave ovens, and most other
digital computer hardware) by typically a factor of two or more.
The basic idea of the invention is performance of a digital computation
with a lower than worse-case-required clock period (faster).
Functionalized
and Processable Conducting Polymers top
Sze C. Yang
Wenguang Li
Department of Chemistry
This invention concerns a new family of double-strand conducting polymers and a
new method for producing processable polyaniline.
U.S. provisional patent application.
A
Monopole-Driven Underwater Sound Source (SOSO)
top
H. Thomas Rossby
James Miller
Graduate School of Oceanography
An efficient monopole-driven underwater Sound Source. Currently under review by
University patent attorney.
Noncontact
Heart Monitor top
William J. Ohley
John Labomba
Lynn Antonelli
Electrical Engineering
A device that uses a laser interferometer coupled to a feedback control system
to focus the laser on the carotid artery region of a human neck.
The movement of this region can be used to provide heart rate and
systolic time intervals. These real-time data can be used to provide instantaneous
estimation of the myocardial state of the person without the need to make any
physical contact.
Pathways
to Healthier Diet; Pathways to Healthier Sun Exposure; Pathways to Healthier Sex
top
James O. Prochaska
Wayne F. Velicer
Joseph S. Rossi
Colleen Redding
Guy Natelli
Geoffrey W. Greene
Kathryn Meier
CPRC
Part of the Pathways to Change program at CPRC. URI Copyright.
Pyroelectric
Polymers for IR Sensors top
William Euler
Otto Gregory
Arthur Mengel
Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
An IR imaging detector which operates by modulating an externally generated
interrogation electron beam source. U.S.
provisional patent application.
Sensor
Cleaning System top
Benjamin T. Allen
Graduate School of Oceanography
The Sensor Cleaning System is a device developed to clean the surfaces of
underwater light sensors that are deployed for long periods of time for the
purpose of measuring changes in light at depth over time.
Thermochromic
Polymers for Rapid Visual Assessment of Temperature top
William Euler
Otto Gregory
Brett Lucht
Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
A temperature detector. A
temperature sensitive polymer that visually and reversibly changes color at a
prescribed temperature in the region of 40-120 degrees C.
Further, the material is thermally stable to high temperatures
(200-300C). Changes color at
temperature above or below the desired. Safe for contact with food.
Standard U.S. patent application.
"Tick
Attack . . . Don't Get Bitten"
top
Thomas
Mather
Melissa Weiss
Kimberly Kowal
Department of Plant Science
A novel CD-ROM intended for elementary school-aged children, which is an
interactive multimedia learning tool about ticks and Lyme disease prevention.
URI Copyright.
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