Georgia Tech’s Faculty/Staff Newspaper • Vol. 34, No 17 • April 27, 2009 WTHE histle PEOPLE Senior Nick Science in Action Wellkamp, Robert Nerem, [Parker H. with Rhodes Building on excellence Petit Distinguished Chair for and Truman Engineering in Medicine and Scholarship Tech’s business school jumps; Institute Professor] at Georgia Advisor Paul Institute of Technology, is inter- Hurst and engineering continues to shine viewed on stem cell research. Provost Gary COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING (BBC, Quicktime audio) Schuster, was named a 2009 http://tinyurl.com/c5a5zr Harry S. Truman While most of Tech’s programs held steady in Scholar. the U.S. News & World Report “Best Graduate RESEARCH Schools” rankings, some surprises emerged. Nanotech’s big booster Tech students recognized The College of Engineering was ranked No. 4 nation- Bernard Marcus, co-founder of wide for the fifth consecutive year in the news magazine’s Home Depot, free-market abso- with national scholarships annual list of the best American graduate school pro- lutist, aquarium builder and phi- grams. lanthropist is way into nanotech- COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING than 600 candidates nominated The most notable change in the 2010 graduate rankings nology these days ... as a major by more than 285 colleges and comes from the College of Management, which jumped to donor to Tech’s Nanotechnology National scholarship recip- universities. Scholars were No. 22 from 29 last year in the highly competitive busi- Research Center. (Fortune) ients at the Institute this selected on the basis of leader- ness schools rankings. http://tinyurl.com/cae8gn year include the Student ship potential, intellectual abil- “These rankings underscore the national and global Government Association ity and likelihood of “making a excellence of our graduate programs,“ said President G.P. NEWS undergraduate president, a difference.” The 2009 Truman “Bud” Peterson. “Our students and faculty, and the state Scholars will assemble May 26 of Georgia, will continue to be beneficiaries of the many Tech joins Mission Zero effort two-time winner and one for a leadership development high-caliber programs and outstanding graduates that we Five months after launching mis- graduate recipient of an program at William Jewell provide.” sionzero.org, InterfaceFlor is award in its second year. College in Liberty, Mo., and In addition to having one of the nation’s top graduate focused on Mission Zero for Earth Nick Wellkamp, a senior receive their awards in a spe- engineering programs, 10 of Georgia Tech’s 11 programs Day with efforts aimed at welcom- Industrial and Systems cial ceremony at the Truman ing new partners ... and elevating ranked in the top 10 including industrial (No. 1), bio- Engineering and Public Policy Library in Independence, Mo., the sustainability conversation. medical (No. 2), aerospace (No. 4), civil (No. 6), electrical major, was one of 60 students (Floor Daily.net) on May 31. (No. 6), computer (No. 7), and materials (No. 8). http://tinyurl.com/cm5363 nationally named a 2009 Harry “It is just an unbelievable S. Truman Scholar. RANKINGS, continued on page 4 He was selected from more STUDENTS, continued on page 3 EVENTS COMMENCEMENT Global collaboration May 1 and 2 Doctorate and master’s degrees will be presented May 1, from 7 to 9 p.m. at GT–Lorraine brokers international lab agreement the Georgia Dome. The undergraduate ROBERT NESMITH In 2006, Georgia spring commencement ceremony will COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING Tech entered into be held May 2 from 9 a.m. to noon at an agreement with the Georgia Dome. Nearly 20 years after its establish- the Centre National ment, Georgia Tech-Lorraine (GTL) de la Recherche ARTS & CULTURE Scientifique (CNRS) in Metz, France, has enabled a major to create a col- April 23–May 29 international collaboration between laboration between Students from the History, Technology the Centre National de la Recherche the research body and Society “Introduction to Museum and Georgia Tech- Studies” class and the Robert C. Scientifique (CNRS), one of the pre- Lorraine. In May, the Williams American Museum of eminent European research agencies, collaboration will be Papermaking present “The Art of the extended to include Book,” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Neely and Georgia Tech. Room of the Georgia Tech Library. In 2006, CNRS and Georgia Tech cre- the Atlanta campus. www.iac.gatech.edu ated the International Mixed Unit (UMI) 2958, the first of its kind in France, May 1-3 allowing a mutually enriching collabora- technological and societal domains in as the MicroElectronic Research Center The Music Department will hold its annu- tion between Tech and CNRS researchers France. It is not only the largest govern- and the Marcus Nanotechnology Building. al piano sale May 3 in the Couch build- in optics and secure communications, mental research organization in France, The UMI also enables Tech researchers to ing. New Yamaha pianos, Disklaviers and advanced materials and nanotechnology, but is also the largest fundamental science develop strategic opportunities, through Clavinovas, loaned to the department, agency in Europe. CNRS and GTL, with major French and will be available for reduced prices and multifunctional materials. to faculty, staff and alumni. Preview “Within one year, state-of-the-art labo- “At the end of May, CNRS Director European Union institutions. The UMI has appointments for May 1 and 2 can be set ratories were built on the Metz campus, General Arnold Migus and Scientific already attracted five major grants from up by calling 678-985-2612. and today the UMI is the research engine Director Pierre Guillon will lead a delega- the Agence Nationale de la Recherche in www.coa.gatech.edu/music of Georgia Tech-Lorraine,” said GTL Vice tion to Atlanta and sign an amendment to France, one European contract and several Provost and President Yves Berthelot, a the 2006 agreement, opening an arm of industrial contracts. Through May 22 professor in the School of Mechanical UMI 2958 on this campus and extending “The UMI has made significant progress The Robert C. Williams Paper Museum Engineering. “This fosters the exchange of the research collaboration to Computer in most of its research activities, in building presents “Jiha Moon/Nate Moore: Science,” said UMI Director Abdallah state-of-the-art facilities, in contributing to Recent Works.” Museum hours are 9 students, faculty and ideas that benefit the a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. global Tech enterprise.” Ougazzaden, also a School of Electrical and the local, national and international pro- www.ipst.gatech.edu/amp A public research organization, CNRS is Computer Engineering professor at GTL. grams and in establishing various alliances present in more than 1,200 research and CNRS visiting scholars from the UMI Calendar continues on page 2 service units, extending into all scientific, will now have access to resources such CNRS, continued on page 2 www.whistle.gatech.edu EVENTS Research CONFERENCES/ Looking sharp LECTURES Researchers develop new way to see single RNA molecules in living cells April 28 ABBY VOGEL RESEARCH NEWS University of Michigan Professor Barry Dunietz presents “Exploring Conductance Switching Properties Biomedical engineers have developed a of Molecular Scale Devices—A new type of probe that allows them to Computational Approach,” at 3 p.m. in room 3201A of the Molecular Science visualize single ribonucleic acid (RNA) and Engineering building. molecules within live cells more easily www.chemistry.gatech.edu than existing methods. The tool will April 29 help scientists learn more about how University of Michigan Professor RNA operates within living cells. Stephen Forrest presents “Electronics Techniques scientists currently use to image on Plastic: A Solution to the Energy these transporters of genetic information Challenge, or Just a Pipe Dream?” within cells have several drawbacks, including from 1 to 2 p.m. in room G011 of the Molecular Science and Engineering the need for synthetic RNA or a large num- ber of fluorescent molecules. The fluorescent building. Image courtesy Philip Santangelo www.cope.gatech.edu/seminar/ probes developed at the Georgia Institute of Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Philip Santangelo has helped develop a new Technology circumvent these issues. technique for visualizing ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules in a living cell. Image of an epithe- April 30 “The probes we designed shine bright, lial cell showing 1,400 native mRNA granules (red) taken at several heights above and below Matteo Valleriani, Historian of Science are small and easy to assemble, bind rap- the nucleus (blue). from the Max Planck Institute (Berlin), idly to their targets, and can be imaged for sequence and combining the sequences with membrane that allowed the probes to enter presents “Practitioners, Galileo and the hours. These characteristics make them a a protein—exhibited single-molecule sensitiv- the cell’s cytoplasm. Emergence of Pre-Modern Mechanics,” from noon to 1 p.m. in room 104 of the great choice for studying the movement ity and allowed the researchers to target and The researchers tested the sensitivity Old Civil Engineering building. and location of RNA inside a single cell and follow native RNA and non-engineered viral of conventional fluorescence microscopy www.hts.gatech.edu the interaction between RNA and binding RNA in living cells. to image individual probes inside a cell. proteins,” said Philip Santangelo, an assis- “The great thing about these probes is that Previous studies showed that these tech- May 6–7 tant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter they recognize RNA sequences and bind niques were able to image an accumulation The Institute hosts the Computing Department of Biomedical Engineering at to them using the same base pairing most of probes inside a cell, but the current study at the Margins symposium, aimed at Georgia Tech and Emory University. people are familiar with in regards to DNA,” demonstrated that individual probes without understanding the technology needs Details of the probe production process and Santangelo said.