Welcome back faculty, staff, and students! Hopefully you are getting into the swing of things as the fall semester gets underway.

Chandra and Wang among faculty attracting $7.7 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants
Iowa State University researchers have so far won 19 grants worth a total of $7.7 million from federal agencies awarding money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The grants range from $2 million for a study of a bio-engineering technology that could produce biological hydrocarbons for biofuels to $600,000 for a study of cell membranes to $51,710 for a study of how the Ebola virus can inhibit a body’s antiviral response. Fifteen of the grants are from the National Science Foundation and four are from the National Institutes of Health. (News Release)

• Ted Heindel stepped in as interim chair beginning July 1, and his appointment will continue until the next permanent chair is in place. He was also recently appointed the Art and Priscilla Bergles Professor of Thermal Science.
• Jim Oliver was named the Larry and Pam Pithan Professor of Mechanical Engineering.
• Song-Charng Kong was announced as the William and Virginia Binger Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering.
• Adin Mann was appointed as an assistant dean in the Graduate College.

Solar car team has a busy summer
Team PrISUm members were on the move this summer competing in Texas, working on a new car design, and promoting solar energy during the Sun Run. Be sure to check out the College of Engineering’s video that commemorates Team PrISUm’s 20th anniversary.

Research Excellence Award winners
During summer 2009, Yuanhong Li and Rahul Garg received Research Excellence Awards from the Graduate College. Garg’s major professor was Shankar Subramaniam and Li’s major professor was Song-Charng Kong. The award honors the top 10 percent of graduate students at the time of their graduation for outstanding research accomplishments as documented by their theses and dissertations. These students were nominated by their major professors.

New MEGSO cabinet
The results of the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student Organization (MEGSO) elections are in, and the new cabinet members are:

• President: Joe Holub
• Vice President: Matthias Veltman
• Treasurer: Brett Nekolny
  
  
  

Women in Mechanical Engineering at the Science Center of Iowa
Six Women in Mechanical Engineering representatives went down to the Science Center of Iowa this summer to promote engineering to K-12 students. With a hands-on activity center, children had four activities from which to choose: making Gak, seeing Gears in Motion, constructing paper airplanes, and building gumdrop/spaghetti towers.

The activity center was sponsored through an ASME Diversity Action grant that Eliot Winer received last year with help from Shankar Subramanian, Janelle Miranda, and Leah Smith.

Children visiting the Science Center of Iowa got a chance to make Gak with the Women in Mechanical Engineering program.

ME advisers make important connections through SEEC workshop
The STEM Student Enrollment and Engagement through Connections (SEEC) project team hosted SEECing Connections, a professional development workshop for Iowa State and Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) recruitment, academic advising, admissions, and counseling staff, plus other interested parties. Nearly 60 attendees gathered at Iowa State to build relationships and learn more about engineering. (News release)

Olsen publishes in Lab on a Chip
A recently published study on microscale turbulent flows is making waves in the chemical science world, and ME Associate Professor Michael Olsen is behind it. (News release)

Fall 2009 seminar series
The schedule for the Department of Mechanical Engineering Seminar Series is available at www.me.iastate.edu/events-and-seminars.html.