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June 16, 1995
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Contents of this News Tip:
Computer scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
working with the New Jersey Institute of Technology's Emission Reduction
Research Center (ERRC), have developed new software which, when used by
companies that mix large batches of chemicals, will improve product quality,
shorten product lead time to market, and reduce waste and pollution, all
of which may help manufacturers save millions of dollars, say its developers.
The software, named "Batch Design Kit," combines advanced methods of designing
chemical processes with a new approach to pollution prevention. The ERRC
is one of NSF's Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers. Additional
funding for the research was provided by several pharmaceutical companies,
including Bristol Myers Squibb and SmithKline Beecham. The ERRC conducts
research to improve manufacturing technology that reduces source emissions.
The research center operates under pollution-reduction concepts endorsed
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which also funded the research.
In addition to NJIT and MIT, ERRC consortium members include Ohio State
University and Pennsylvania State University. [Brian Lombard]
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An astronomer who searches the skies for dim stars confronts a challenge
similar to that facing a doctor who scans a mammogram for microcalcifications,
the faint points that can indicate breast cancer: Both must distinguish
certain critical spots against a blurry background. Over the past few
decades, astronomical image processing has become greatly sophisticated,
encompassing technologies for reconstructing and filtering images, as
well as for detecting and clarifying objects. Recently, the National Science
Foundation's Astronomy Division granted $50,000 to advance collaboration
between researchers at the Space Telescope Science Institute, Georgetown
University's Lombardi Cancer Research Center, and Johns Hopkins University;
the object is to apply imageprocessing software, developed for the Hubble
Space Telescope, to detecting cancer signs in digitized mammograms. Initial
results show promise; the team will now work on refining and testing the
detection methods, hoping to improve their reliability. [Lynn
Simarski]
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Education and research in academia often seem difficult to balance.
But don't tell that to Jennifer Lewis. Lewis, assistant professor of materials
science and engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,
is using her research to open doors for the infusion of materials science
and technology concepts into high school physics and chemistry curricula.
She directs the National Science Foundation-supported Materials Technology
Workshop for High School Science Teachers which trains science teachers,
developes and disseminates several materials-based instructional modules
to high schools nationwide. "These modules have been designed to supplement
existing high school courses by providing hands-on learning activities
on technologically- relevant areas like composites, polymeric materials
and recycling and energy," she said. In addition, Lewis is active at the
university level as a research advisor to several graduate and undergraduate
students in her group, as a faculty advisor to an undergraduate student
organization in her department, and as a teacher/role model. In 1994,
Lewis was selected as a Presidential Faculty Fellow. Through the Presidential
Faculty Fellows (PFF) awards, the President annually recognizes young
faculty members who demonstrate excellence and promise both in scientific
or engineering research and in teaching at some of America's universities
and colleges. [Njuguna Kabugi]
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