News Archive
Saturday, October 14 2006
News
Homecoming Week Oct. 15-21
ISU Homecoming week is Oct. 15-21, culminating with the Cyclone football game vs. Texas Tech at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium.
ISU will co-host National Summit on Video Games, Youth and Public Policy Oct. 20-21
The ISU Department of Psychology and the Institute for Social and Behavioral Research will join with the Minneapolis-based National Institute on Media and the Family to host the National Summit on Video Games, Youth and Public Policy next Friday and Saturday, Oct. 20-21, at The University of Minnesota Continuing Education and Conference Center in Falcon Heights, Minn.
Delaware Senator Biden to present Manatt-Phelps Lecture in Political Science Oct. 31
U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., will present the fifth annual Manatt-Phelps Lecture in Political Science at Iowa State University at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 31, in the Sun Room, Memorial Union.
Ravenscroft to become Roger P. Murphy Professor of Accounting
Susan P. Ravenscroft has been named the first Roger P. Murphy Professor of Accounting at Iowa State University.
MSNBC's "Hardball" to broadcast live from Iowa State
As part of its nationwide College Hardball Tour, MSNBC's show "Hardball with Chris Matthews" will broadcast live from Stephens Auditorium Wednesday, Oct. 18, at 4 p.m. Matthews' guest for the one-hour show will be U.S. Sen. John McCain. The event is free and open to the public.
Webcast, mini-conference on ethanol Nov. 13
Experts will offer a variety of perspectives on the corn-based ethanol industry in Iowa in a statewide webcast and mini-conference Nov. 13. The conference is sponsored by the ISU economics department.
Harris
Hank Harris has a winning plan
Sirrah LLC, a startup biotech company originating from the research laboratories of animal scientist Hank Harris and colleagues in veterinary medicine, was awarded $15,000 as runner-up in the first John Pappajohn Iowa Business Plan Competition. Sirrah develops vaccines for swine diseases. More than 80 business plans were submitted to the competition, which fosters entrepreneurial activity in the state. The award was announced at the recent Iowa Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship Conference in Des Moines.
Metallurgist named Iowa Inventor of the Year
Iver Anderson, senior metallurgist at Ames Laboratory and ISU adjunct professor of materials science and engineering, has been named Iowa Inventor of the Year for developing a patented, lead-free solder that's used worldwide and has generated more than $10 million in royalties to date.
Iowa State researchers recognized for work to inhibit meth production
George Kraus and John Verkade, University Professors of chemistry at Iowa State, discovered a way to make anhydrous ammonia fertilizer useless as an ingredient for methamphetamine.
Engler will explore critical landscapes in Presidential Lecture Nov. 6
There's more to landscape architecture than moving dirt and planting flowers, says Mira Engler. The Iowa State University landscape architecture professor will discuss her ideas on critical design and present examples of her work during the fall Presidential University Lecture. "Critical Landscapes: From Pork Barrels to Otherworldly Dumps and Gardens," will be at 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 6, in the Sun Room, Memorial Union.
See and learn at Iowa State's planetarium
Iowa State graduate students will present planetarium shows at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 and 21, Nov. 10 and 11 and Dec. 8 and 9 in Room B57 of Physics Hall. The presentations will be followed by star-gazing sessions from Iowa State's astronomy observation deck. The presentations and sessions are free and open to the public.
Munkvold named to seed science chair
Internationally recognized seed pathologist Gary Munkvold has been named to a new endowed seed science chair at Iowa State.
Long-term study continues with $2.5 million grant
ISU researchers received a $2.5 million grant to continue a long-term study of 500 Iowans. In the latest study, researchers will focus on links between relationships and health.
Iowa State awards $3.69 million for technology and commercialization research
Iowa State University will use $3.69 million in state funding to establish a pilot facility to make flammable synthesis gas from Iowa crops, determine how flaxseed lignans can reduce cholesterol, establish an Information Science Technology Institute and advance many other research projects in the biosciences, information technology and advanced manufacturing.
Alumnus pledges $5 million toward new facility
Virgil Elings, a 1961 graduate of Iowa State, has committed $5 million toward a new building to house the department of agricultural and biosystems engineering.
New tool for nano vision
Ames Laboratory researchers have a new $1.8 million scanning transmission electron microscope to give them an unprecedented view of materials at the nanoscale.
Tight gubernatorial race reflects divided nation
Iowa's split polling in the gubernatorial race is a reflection of the nation's great political divide according to two ISU political scientists.
Visualization Challenge
This graphic explaining the chemistry of a potential catalyst took honorable mention honors in the 2006 Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the journal Science. Matt Heying, Changwon Suh, Krishna Rajan and James Oliver of Iowa State University and Simone Seig and Wilhelm Maier of the Universitat des Saarlandes created the graphic.
In the news
Yield of dreams
Successful Farming
Pat Schnable and the Plant Sciences Institute are featured in Successful Farming magazine's October cover story, "Yield of dreams," about groundbreaking crop technology in the works. Research by Schnable and others to sequence the corn genome is key. It will enable scientists to speed development of varieties with desired traits, like drought resistence and cold tolerance, so that agricultural productivity can keep pace with increasing demand for food and fuel.
Time appears right for Dr. Fehr's beans
The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 2
In his cramped lab at Iowa State University here, Walt Fehr developed a soybean whose oil could help eliminate one of the biggest problems facing the food industry today: trans fats blamed for everything from heart disease to hypertension to memory loss.
In search of the next big thing in biomass
Sioux City Journal
ISU graduate student Andy Heggenstaller is searching for the next cash crop in the ethanol boom with an eye on the environment. The agronomy student is not only trying to help Iowa farmers with their bottom lines, but is looking for crops and practices that are beneficial for Iowa's fertile topsoil and its waterways.