Spring semester has been an active one on the seminar front with lectures varying from the technical to the general.
Uday Viadya, materials engneering faculty member from the University of Alabama-Birmingham
discussed thermoplastic composites for use in defense and transportation - Haluk Yapicioglu, industrial and systems engineering postdoctoral research fellow
from AU discussed a novel model and solution for designing the block layout of
a retail store.
- John Calvert of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office discussed how to get a patent
and work with the patent and trademark office.
- Michael Henson, chemical engineering professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst,
discussed a dynamic flux balance model which show promise as a way to identify
novel metabolic engineering strategies with improved ethanol productivity capabilities.
- Erin Murphy, a UCLA doctoral student at the University of California-Santa Barbara,
discussed the problem of microcrack formation, the recent development of remendable
and self-healing polymer systems, and a novel system that achieves multiple cycles
of mending.
- Michael Jaffe, biomedical engineering professor at the New Jersey Institute of
Technology and Medical Device Concept Laboratory, discussed the impact of biomaterials
processing, sterilization or morphology on the performance of various polymer
chemistries.
- Burcu Balcik, postdoctoral fellow in industrial engineering and management sciences
at Northwestern University, discussed a model designed to address equity as well
as effectiveness and efficiency in the distribution of humanitarian relief.
- Gary Mirka, professor and chair in Iowa State University's Department of Industrial
and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, discussed the use of stochastic modeling
of biomechanical systems for evaluating lower back injury risk.
- B.Y. Huang, president of Central South University of China, provided an overview
of the University as well as opportunities for international education.
