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Welcome to @WPI Online

May 15, 2008

Around Campus | People | Publications & Presentations | Calendar

Around Campus

Commencement Weekend

WPI’s 2008 Commencement weekend starts at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, May 16, with the annual Baccalaureate ceremony in Alden Memorial. It will conclude with the university’s 140th Commencement exercises, which start at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 17, on the Quadrangle (rain location Harrington Auditorium).

Here are the details:

Baccalaureate: Jennifer Shiel Wyse ‘94, quality manager for GE Aviation’s Product Development to Delivery Center for Excellence, will deliver the inspirational message at this ceremony, which will also include musical performances and reflections by members of the Class of 2008.

Commencement: Nearly 1,100 graduates and their families and friends will hear an address by Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE. Immelt will also receive an honorary doctorate, along with Richard Lyman, president emeritus of Stanford University, Jing Lyman, social entrepreneur and founder of the National Coalition for Women’s Enterprise, and Woodie Flowers, Pappalardo Professor Emeritus at MIT and national advisor to the FIRST robotics program.

Red Sox' Curt Schilling Gives Kudos to WPI IMGD Majors

Three WPI first year students won high recognition for their video game creation Super Munch 2 Turbo, which was entered into Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's 38 Studios' Massachusetts Game Challenge earlier this year. An awards ceremony was held on April 29 at the company's Maynard, Mass. headquarters. The students – Morgan Quirk, 18, of Acton, Mass.; Andrew Tremblay, 19, of Hingham, Mass.; and Adrian Mejia, 18, of Quito, Ecuador, all Interactive Media and Game Development (IMGD) majors – each won $1,000 for their game. At left, Schilling congratulates Quirk and Tremblay. At right, Brett Close, president and CEO of 38 Studios, Professor Rob Lindeman, and Schilling discuss WPI's IMGD program.

People

Dollenmayer to Receive Wolff Prize

Professor David B. Dollenmayer will be honored next month by the German cultural organization Goethe-Institut with the prestigious annual Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize for his German-to-English translation of the poet Moses Rosenkranz' Childhood: An Autobiographical Fragment (Kindheit. Fragment einer Autobiographie). The honor will be presented to Dollenmayer by the consul general of Germany in Chicago, Wolfgang Drautz, on Monday, June 9 at the Chicago Cultural Center.

The Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize, one of the foremost prizes in the nation for works translated from German into English, honors an outstanding literary translation published the previous year in the United States. Dollenmayer, who teaches German in WPI's Department of Humanities and Arts, will receive $10,000 and a three-month stay at the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin in Germany. The prize, funded by the German government, was established in 1996 and is administered by the Goethe-Institut Chicago, an organization that promotes German culture and language study around the world.

"David Dollenmayer's translation of this memoir by a poet unknown in the English-speaking world conveys a vivid picture of life among Jews in the last days of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy," said Rüdiger van den Boom, director of the Goethe-Institut Chicago. "He captures with great sensitivity and skill the lively, often poetic, sometimes ironic, always unexpected style of the original."

In other news, Dollenmayer gave a joint reading with German novelist Michael Kleeberg at the Goethe Institutes in Boston (May 1) and New York (May 6). They read in German and English from Kleeberg's Der Koenig von Korsikaand Dollenmayer's translation The King of Corsica.

Puerto Rico Project Center Receives Award

Susan Vernon-Gerstenfeld, adjunct professor and director of academic programs and planning for the Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division and director of the Puerto Rico Project Center, accepted an award on April 30 from the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board on behalf of WPI for the work that the university and its students have done at the project center in the area of noise assessment and abatement.

Lindeman Receives Fellowship

Robert Lindeman, assistant professor of computer science, has received a fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science to conduct research for two months this summer at Osaka University in Japan. The topic of Lindeman's research is "Fit Gaming" (also known as "exergaming" or "non-sedentary gaming), and involves designing game experiences that encourage physical movement.

Lindeman's work combines the motivation of video games with the benefits of physical activity. Target applications of the research include reducing childhood obesity and helping adults get in and stay in shape through games such as Wii Bowling.

Corliss Wins Poetry Competition

WPI junior David Corliss won the top prize in the Worcester County Poetry Association’s College Poetry Competition on Sunday, April 27. Corliss received the Poetry Manuscript Prize for a collection of three poems.

Corliss, 22, a native of Clifton Park, N.Y., majors in Interactive Media and Game Development at WPI. His interest in electronic and interactive media extends to his poetry; he has studied digital approaches to literature, and often integrates images and hypertext in his writing. The judges singled out for special praise his poem, “The Nightmare of Michael DerGurahian,” a richly nuanced, multi-layered work that included hypertext links to further parts of the poem.

“I’m proud and excited to have won the contest,” said Corliss, who intends to enter future poetry competitions. “While it’s nice to receive recognition for my hard work, this is only a starting point for me.”

Svetlana Nikitilna, adjunct assistant professor of Humanities and Arts, recommended that Corliss enter the competition. “David’s particular strength is his ability to integrate the visual sensibility with verbal and technological sophistication,” she said. “His use of new digital media is not mechanical, but driven by artistic goals. Hypertext allows him to achieve psychological layering of different lines of thought. Electronic literature and hypertext writing often fail to go beyond formal experiments in code, but David's work shows that digital could also be deep and richly expressive.”

Publications and Presentations

Chemical Engineering

• Strauss, J., and T. A. Camesano, “Binding of E. coli to Antimicrobial Peptides with Applications for Water and Food Safety,” International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering, Northeast Regional Meeting, Northeastern University, Boston, Mass., April 2, 2008.
• Pinzon-Arango, P. A., Y. Liu, and T. A. Camesano, “Changes in Surface Charge and Adhesion Forces of Escherichia coli HB101 and HB101pDC1 Induced by Cranberry Juice,” International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering, Northeast Regional Meeting, Boston, Mass., April 2, 2008.
• Liu, Y., P. A. Pinzon-Arango, J. Strauss, and T. A. Camesano, “Interaction Time Between Ligand-Receptor Binding Investigated via Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation Monitoring (QCM-D),” the 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, La., April 6-10, 2008.
• Pinzon-Arango, P. A., Y. Liu, K. Holguin, and T. A. Camesano, “Effects of Cranberry Constituents on Biofilm Formation and Bacterial Adhesion of Escherichia coli: Preventing Urinary Tract Infections,” the 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, La., April 6-10, 2008.
• Strauss, J., and T. A. Camesano, “Selective Binding of Pathogenic E. coli with Antimicrobial Peptides,” 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, La., April, 6-10, 2008.
• Kadilak, A., J. Strauss, and T. A. Camesano, “Characterizing Pathogenic Strains of Escherichia coli and Their Interactions with Antimicrobial Peptides,” 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, La., April 6-10, 2008.
• Abu-Lail, L., and T.A. Camesano, “Quantifying Molecular-level Interactions Between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Natural Organic Matter,” 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, La., April 6-10, 2008.
• Holguin, K., P. A. Pinzon-Arango, and T. A. Camesano, “Cranberry Juice Cocktail and Proanthocyanidin Effects on Escherichia Coli Biofilm Formation: Inhibition of Urinary Tract Infections,” 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, La., April 6-10, 2008. (Received certificate of merit from Division of Chemical Education).

Computer Science

• Brown, D. C., “Guiding Computational Design Creativity Research,” Proc. NSF International Workshop on Studying Design Creativity '08, University of Provence, France, March 2008.

Humanities and Arts

• Brattin, J. J., extensive contributions to authoritative discographical work Jimi Hendrix From the Benjamin Franklin Studios Part 1: The Complete Guide to the Available Recordings (3rd edition), by Gary Geldeart and Steve Rodham, (Warrington, Cheshire: Jimpress, ISBN 978-0-9527686-5-4), 2008.
• Clark, C. A., God or Gorilla: Images of Evolution in the Jazz Age, Johns Hopkins University Press, publication date June 2008.

Interdisciplinary & Global Studies Division

• Jiusto, S., “An Indicator Framework for Assessing U.S. State Carbon Emissions Reduction Efforts (with baseline trends from 1990-2001),” Energy Policy, in press and available on-line.
• Jiusto, S., “The Hard Path to Sustainability? Socio-technical and Geographical Considerations in Electrical Power Systems Evolution,” invited research presentation, University of Connecticut, Geography Colloquia Series, March 28, 2008.
• Vaz, R., “Building and Sustaining International Experiences,” keynote address, Massachusetts Council for International Education Spring Conference, Brockton, Mass., March 28, 2008.
• Vaz, R., “Putting Team Projects at the Core of the Curriculum,” invited presentation, Best Practices of Interdisciplinary Team Project Programs, IIT, Chicago, Ill., May 1, 2008.
• Vaz, R., “Sustaining Project Programs: Project Development and Sponsor Relations,” invited presentation, Best Practices of Interdisciplinary Team Project Programs, IIT, Chicago, Ill., May 1, 2008.
• Weisler, S., C. Trosset, and R. Vaz, “Liberal Arts Education: Preparing for a Life of Work,” AAC&U Workshop on Discovering, Integrating, and Applying Knowledge, Austin, Texas, April 11, 2008.

Social Science and Policy Studies

• Bountress, K., J. L. Skorinko, and B. Spellman, “Effect of Perspective-taking on Decision-making in the Courtroom,” poster presented at the American Psychology Association Conference (APA), San Francisco, Calif., August 2007.
• Lyneis, J. M., and D. Lyneis, “Two Loops, Three Loops, or Four Loops: Pedagogic Issues in Explaining Basic Epidemic Dynamics,” proceedings of the International System Dynamics Conference, July 2007.
• Lyneis, J. M., T. Taylor and D. A. Ford, “Project Controls to Minimize Cost and Schedule Overruns: A Model, Research Agenda, and Initial Results,” proceedings of the International System Dynamics Conference, September 2007.
• Pavlov, O.V., R. K. Plice, and N. Melville, “A Communication Model with Limited Information – Processing Capacity of Recipients,” 25th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society, Boston, Mass., July 2007.
• Saeed, K., “Forecasting as Derivative Control,” 25th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society, Boston, Mass., July 2007.
• Wilkes, J., “Toward a Psycho-Sociology of Science and Education,” roundtable session, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, New York, N.Y., August 2007.
• Wilkes, J., P. Klinkman, “Harvesting Lox in LEO: Toward a Hunter-Gatherer Economy in Space,” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Meeting, Long Beach, Calif., September 2007.
• Wilkes, J., and T. Corsetti (’09), “The Pakistan Connection: An Educational Game in STS,” International Association of Science, Technology, and Society Studies, Baltimore, Md., February 2008.

Calendar

Note: Information for the calendar comes from the Web-based WPI Events Calendar, which is powered by the Social Web. To have your events listed in @WPI, please enter them in Social Web and request that they be added to the appropriate WPI calendar. Visit Social Web to learn how.

Ongoing

• Exhibit: “George Gladwin and His Students,” watercolors by George Gladwin, WPI’s first professor of drawing - Gordon Library, 3rd Floor Gallery, through June 30
• Exhibit: “Woodstock Views: Photographs of Edward R. Rollins” - Gordon Library, 3rd Floor Gallery, through June 30
• Exhibit: “Artists and Scientists Collaborate” - EcoTarium, Worcester, through May 30

Saturday, May 17

• Commencement: Spring Commencement, with keynote speaker Jeffrey R. Immelt of GE Corp. - Quad (if rain, Harrington), 11am

Monday, June 9

• Conference: Fifth Annual U.S.-Africa Business Conference - Campus Center Odeum, 8am

Tuesday, June 10

• Conference: Fifth Annual U.S.-Africa Business Conference - Campus Center Odeum, 8am
• Venture Forum: WPI Venture Forum features “The Five Minute Pitch Contest” • Campus Center Odeum, 5:30pm

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Only home sports contests are included.

Computer Tip

Customize Your Quick Access Toolbar

This tip from Microsoft helps you place the Office 2007 items you frequently reach for right where you can find them. In each 2007 Microsoft Office system program where you see the Ribbon (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and parts of Outlook), you also see a Quick Access Toolbar, which appears by default above the Ribbon, beside the Office button. To add the commands you mostly use to the Quick Access Toolbar in each program, right-click a command on the Ribbon, and then click “Add to Quick Access Toolbar.” You can also click the arrow that appears at the right edge of the Quick Access Toolbar, and then click “More Commands” to open the Customize tab of the Options dialog box for the program you are using. In this box you can add commands that don’t appear on the Ribbon, or create a custom Quick Access Toolbar for an individual document or template.

For assistance with this or other functions in Office 2007, contact the Helpdesk at x5888 or helpdesk@wpi.edu.

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Last modified: May 15, 2008 11:11:36