March 10, 2005

Around Campus

Men's Basketball Heads for Sweet Sixteen

The men's basketball team capped a record-setting 2004-05 season with down-to-the-wire games on consecutive Saturdays before huge crowds in Harrington Auditorium. On Feb. 26, the team beat Wheaton College, 64-60, to win the NEWMAC (New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference) tournament. The tournament victory (WPI also won the regular NEWMAC season) earned the team a first-round bye in the Division III tournament. This is the first time in two decades that the men's basketball team has reached the NCAAs. On March 5, WPI won its second-round game against Western Connecticut State, a heart-stopping 79-77 victory clinched by a pair of free-throws by Ryan Cain with 8.9 seconds to go. With that win, which extended WPI's home record to 15-0 for the season (it's 24-3 overall), the team advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. Coincidentally, the team's last loss at home was to Western Connecticut during last season's ECAC Division III tournament.

The next stop for the team is the NCAA sectionals. The first game will pit WPI against York College (Pennsylvania) in the Bradley Athletic and Recreation Center at Ramapo College in Mahwah, N.J., tomorrow (Friday, March 11) at 6 p.m. If WPI wins that game, it will play either host Ramapo or King's College (Pennsylvania) the next evening at 7 p.m. at the same site. Sectionals winners advance to the Final Four in Salem, Va., on March 18-19.

Eppinger to Address Annual S.I.M. Banquet

Frederick H. Eppinger Jr., president and CEO of Allmerica Financial Corporation, will be the key note speaker at the 56th annual School of Industrial Management Alumni Banquet starting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15, in the Campus Center, Odeum. The title of Eppinger's talk is "Leadership During a Turnaround." The annual S.I.M. banquet celebrates the enduring collegial relationships between the program's many alumni. Members and friends of the WPI community are welcome to join the celebration. The cost is $35. Contact Joan Deal, x5208 or jdeal@wpi.edu, for more information.

WIN Program to Receive AAUW Award

WPI's Women's Industry Network program (WIN) will receive the Massachusetts AAUW (American Association of University Women) Progress in Equity Award at a dinner at the Holiday Inn in Falmouth, Mass., on April 9. The award is given each year to programs that demonstrate significant progress toward equity for women faculty, staff, or students; have innovative and exemplary missions; address the needs of diverse groups of women in terms of race, creed, age, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or class; and are replicable by other institutions. Babson College will also receive the award this year.

Diner History the Focus of BWE Luncheon

Bill Battelle, director of WPI's catering services, will talk about the history of diners in Worcester at the WPI Women's Exchange luncheon at noon on Tuesday, March 15, in the Higgins House Great Hall. The American Diner Cookbook will be given as an attendance prize. The menu is the blue plate special: chicken noodle soup, Pullman loaf bread and butter, meat loaf with gravy, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, Boston cream pie, coffee and tea. Payment ($8.50) should be sent to Judy Shute in Diversity and Women's Programs. Make checks payable to WPI.

People

WPI Women of Consequence Honored

Worcester City Manager Michael V. O'Brien recently recognized two members of the WPI community with the 10th Annual "Women of Consequence" Award. Receiving the award at a special ceremony in the Worcester Public Library on March 2 were Stephanie L. Blaisdell, director of Diversity and Women's Programs, and Denise W. Nicoletti, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering (honored posthumously). Nicoletti's husband, Richard accepted the award on her behalf. The purpose of the award is to recognize and inspire women in Worcester to work for change and to believe that service to and on behalf of others is a noble pursuit. Read more about the recipients at www.wpi.edu/news/20045/women.html.

DiBiasio Named Interim Department Head

David DiBiasio, associate professor of chemical engineering, has been appointed interim head of the Chemical Engineering Department for the remainder of the current academic year and for the 2005-06 academic year, according to Carol Simpson, provost and senior vice president. DiBiasio, who earned B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees at Purdue University and joined the WPI faculty in 1980, has served previously as interim department head and has been active in campus governance and with ABET committees.

Demetriou Receives IEEE Appointments

Michael A. Demetriou, associate professor of mechanical engineering, has been appointed to the following positions by the IEEE Control System Society's Board of Governors: chair, Technical Committee on Distributed Parameter Systems; associate editor, Transactions on Automatic Control; and associate editor, Conference Editorial Board.

Apelian Receives Technical Service Award

Diran Apelian, Howmet Professor of Engineering and director of the Metal Processing Institute, has been awarded the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society Light Metals Division's Light Metals Technical Service Award. The awarded, established in 1995, recognizes an individual who has demonstrated outstanding long-term service to the light metals industry by consistently providing technical or operating knowledge that has enhanced the industry's competitiveness.

Norbury Receives Award From NASA

John Norbury, professor and head of the Physics Department, and professor of mechanical engineering, has been awarded a NASA Certificate of Recognition. The citation reads: "For the creative development of technically significant software that has been accepted and approved by NASA, entitled 'A Deterministic Meson-Muon Transport Code for Space Radiation.'"

Aravind Elected Physics Fellow

P.K. Aravind, professor of physics, has been elected a fellow of the London-based Institute of Physics. This senior class of membership in the institute is reserved for individuals with a high level of achievement in physics and an outstanding contribution to the profession. Aravind received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University, an M.Sc, from Delhi University in India, and a B.Sc in physics from St. Stephen's College in Delhi. His research is in the areas of quantum mechanics and quantum information theory. He joins physics professor L.R. Ram-Mohan as a fellow of IOP.

Professors Cited for Prize-Winning Paper

Michael Elmes, professor of management, and Steven Taylor, assistant professor of management, will receive the 2005 Prize Paper Award from the Organization and Management Theory (OMT) Division of the Academy of Management for their paper, "Resisting Artfully." The award will be presented at the OMT business meeting in August. The paper will be published in the Best Papers Proceedings.

Making Connections

Healthy Alternatives is sponsoring the following employee wellness programs:

For more information about either program, call 508-831-5800 or visit www.wpi.edu/+HAO.

Publications and Presentations

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Fleys, Matthew, Robert W. Thompson, and John C. MacDonald, "Comparison of the Behavior of Water in Silicalite and Dealuminated Zeolite Y at Different Temperatures by Molecular Dynamics Simulations," in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2004, 108, 2197-12203.

MacDonald, John C., Mark T.-J. Luo, and G. Tayhas R. Palmore, "Supramolecular Behavior of an Isomorphous Series of Five Bis(2-imidazolium 2,6-dicarboxypyridine) M(II) Complexes," in the Journal of Crystal Growth & Design, 2004, 4, 1203-1209.

Luo, Mark, T.-J., John C. MacDonald, and G. Tayhas R. Palmore, "Fabrication of Complex Crystals Using Kinetic Control, Chemical Additives, and Epitaxial Growth," in the Journal of Chemistry of Materials, 2004, 16, 4916-4927.

MacDonald, John C., "A Noncovalent Strategy to Assemble Supramolecular Multilayer Films that Generate Photocurrent and that Exhibit Photoswitchable Wettability," presented at the 227th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Anaheim, Calif.; April 2004.

MacDonald, John C., "Fabrication of Complex Crystals Using Kinetic Control, Chemical Additives and Epitaxial Growth," presented at the National Meeting of the American Crystallographic Association, Chicago, Ill., July 2004.

MacDonald, John C., "Molecular Self-Assembly in Crystals and on Surfaces," presented at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass., Oct. 2004.

MacDonald, John C., "Molecular Self-Assembly in Crystals and on Surfaces," presented at Olin College of Engineering, Waltham, Mass., Oct. 2004.

MacDonald, John C., "Noncovalent synthesis of multilayer films that generate photocurrent and that exhibit photoswitchable wettability," presented at the 2004 Materials Research Society Meeting, Boston, Mass., November 2004.

Music Notes

Community Notes

Town Meeting Set for March 17

President Berkey has invited members of the WPI administrative and support staff, including union employees, to a "town meeting" on Thursday, March 17, at 3 p.m. in the Campus Center, Odeum. Dr. Berkey will provide a comprehensive update on the state of the university and will introduce WPI's new provost, Carol Simpson. Supervisors are urged to make time available so all staff members can attend this important session.

Police Create Parking E-Mail System

The WPI Police Department has implemented a new e-mail system. Members of the community may e-mail the police at parking@wpi.edu with questions, problems, or comments about parking.

Computer Tip

Locking your PC

Here is a quick tip to help you keep your computer accounts and data secure. When you will be away from your PC for some time, you can "lock" it by pressing the Windows key + L on your keyboard. Computers logged into the ADMIN domain will automatically lock after 20 minutes of inactivity. When you are ready to resume working on the computer, unlock it by pressing CTRL+ALT+DELETE on the keyboard, and then entering your ADMIN password.

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Last modified: July 19, 2010 10:51:39