UMaine Economist Says Technology Key to Creative Economy Success | > Tuesday, January 29 2008 10:34:25
January 29, 2008
Contact: Todd Gabe, (207) 581-3307; George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
ORONO, Maine – Policymakers hoping to lift wages in Maine through the "creative economy" should consider focusing their efforts on computer specialists, engineers and scientists, according to new research by University of Maine economists.
Economist Todd Gabe and colleagues Kristen Colby and Kathleen P. Bell of the School of Economics recently coauthored two studies on the "creative workers" profiled in Richard Florida’s popular book "The Rise of the Creative Class." The research provides strong evidence that the economic development benefits from the creative economy are driven largely by the use of technology.
"People have taken Richard Florida’s work to heart and are starting to think about ways to bolster the creative economy," Gabe says. "But it is rare that I see creative economy initiatives with a strong emphasis on technology-based workers and industries."
The researchers examined the effects of the creative economy on regional earnings, and also looked at differences in the creative economy between urban and rural U.S. counties.
"The question we grappled with is the extent to which creative workers affect earnings in a region," Gabe says. "Both studies show that creativity enhances earnings, but when you remove technology from the equation the effect disappears."
The research also shows that U.S. rural areas lag way behind cities in these important segments of the creative economy. Controlling for other factors, the study finds that almost 12 percent of the U.S. rural-urban wage gap is explained by differences in the creative economy.
These findings provide challenges for rural states such as Maine.
"There’s no easy answer. We need more workers trained in these areas, as well as more technology-based companies to provide employment opportunities. Current creative economy initiatives supporting the arts should not be an end, but a means to grow technology in the state," Gabe concludes.
The study on rural-urban differences in the creative economy will be published in an academic journal later this year.
UMaine ‘Girls’ Night Out’ to Show Middle-Schoolers that Science, Engineering Isn’t ‘Nerdy’ | >Thu, January 24 2008 12:31:25
January 22, 2008
Contact: Joe Arsenault, 581-3048, John Vetelino, 581-2264, George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO – UMaine’s College of Engineering is bringing some 30 Bangor middle school girls to campus on Wednesday, Jan. 23, for a pilot project – "Girl’s Night Out" – to let them see that science and engineering aren’t necessarily "nerdy."
"Right now, some of the real exciting and new stuff that is being done crosses so many disciplines," says electrical and computer engineering professor John Vetelino, who brought the college’s GK-12 Sensors! program to UMaine in a partnership with the National Science Foundation in 2002-2003. Young people should realize that science and engineering careers are the front line of invention, and can be fun.
"Math, science and engineering is relevant," Vetelino says, "and not such a nerdy field."
Sensors, in particular, he says, play major roles in every day life. Sensors come large, small and microscopic and are in smoke, sound and motion detectors. They also are used to detect disease, e coli or even a toxic gas or the ripeness of fruit.
"They can be oriented toward health or they could be oriented toward national defense," Vetelino says.
The after-school event Jan. 23 will bring a select group of about 30 seventh- and eighth-grade girls from Bangor’s Cohen and Doughty middle schools to UMaine to participate in a variety of activities to stimulate interest and aspirations in science, technology, engineering and math career paths, according to Vetelino and Joe Arsenault, who manages the GK-12 Sensors! program on campus.
The students will meet at 3:30 p.m. in Hill Auditorium, ESRB-Barrows Hall, to begin a tour of UMaine’s research facilities and then will be greeted by college Dean Dana Humphries and UMaine Women’s Basketball Coach Cindy Blodgett, before meeting for panel discussions with women scientists and faculty engineers, in addition to graduate students and undergraduates. After a pizza dinner and social hour with the panelists, the girls will head to the Alfond to watch the women’s basketball team take on Boston University.
The emphasis of the "Girls Night Out" project is on girls, Vetelino says, since women are significantly underrepresented in math, science and engineering fields. The National Science Foundation and the United States Congress are among the entities concerned that the United States has fallen behind other nations in science and engineering, and they created programs like the UMaine GK-12 Sensors! to bolster the nation’s ranks of young scientists and engineers. Vetelino says boys will be invited to campus for a similar event in the future, as will youngsters from cultural groups.
Vetelino says experience has shown that youngsters at the middle-school level are particularly susceptible to learning about math, science and engineering, especially before they get to high school, when they may have decided upon an academic direction.
"The message, loud and clear, is we need to get to these students when they are young," he says. "We also have found that students are influenced by a mentor, a parent or a peer."
So, in addition to seeing the university engineering and research labs, the visiting girls will interact with role models like women scientists and Blodgett, who is expected to encourage her audience to aim high with respect to goals for their futures.
"We wanted to spice up the program," he says, explaining why the pizza social and basketball game, and Blodgett, are part of "Girl’s Night Out."
"Girl’s Night Out" is sponsored by National Science Foundation-University of Maine GK-12 Sensors! program, the University of Maine College of Engineering, the University of Maine Department of Athletics and the Bangor School Department.
Since 2004, more than 550 Maine school students have visited the university’s high-technology laboratories. Additional information about GK-12 Sensors! is available on the Web site www.ece.umaine.edu/research/gk12/hme.htm.
National Science Foundation to Showcase UMaine Sensor Research
| >Tuesday, January 29 2008 15:31:25
January 29, 2008
Contact: John Vetelino (207) 581-2264; Tom Weber (207) 581-3777
ORONO -- A sensor developed by a University of Maine professor to detect the presence of dangerous chemical and biological agents has been chosen as one of the National Science Foundation’s notable achievements for 2008.
John Vetelino, a professor of electrical and computer engineering who joined the UMaine faculty in 1969, is regarded as one of the world’s leading researchers in the dynamic field of sensor technology. An expert in microsensors, microacoustics and solid state electronics, Vetelino is one of the founding members of UMaine’s Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology.
About four years ago, NSF funding allowed him and his research team to focus on the development of a sensing element for certain chemical and biological agents that pose a serious health threat in high concentrations.
The UMaine-patented sensor can detect an organo-phosphate pesticide known as phosmet, that is similar to other chemical-warfare agents. It also senses a particularly virulent strain of E. coli as well as saxitoxin, the worst of the several toxins released during the seasonal algae blooms known as red tide.
Vetelino says it was saxitoxin that seriously sickened a Harrington lobsterman and his family last August after they ate red tide-infected mussels that were stuck to the outside of a barrel found floating in the ocean.
The lateral-field excited (LFE) sensor is equipped with only one electrode on the bottom, which makes it different from other acoustic wave devices that use conductors on both their upper and lower surfaces. The new sensor’s bare top surface allows it to sense changes in both electrical and mechanical properties.
David Frankel, LASST senior research scientist, was part of the sensor research team, along with Carl Tripp, professor of chemistry and Paul Millard, associate professor of chemical engineering.
Vetelino’s sensor project led to two more NSF grants, totaling $250,000, to continue his work with E.coli detection. He also received $400,000 in September from the NSF to develop a sensing element to detect peroxide-based explosives that can be made with common ingredients found in any hardware store.
The NSF will use Vetelino’s sensor work, along with other noteworthy research efforts in the country, to demonstrate to the public and Congress the important scientific activity supported through its federal-funding program.
Maine Engineers Week 2008 Exposition on Saturday March 1, 2008
The Expo will be held at the University of Maine Field House in Orono on Saturday March 1, 2008 from 9 AM to 2 PM. This year's expo will be bigger than ever with over 1,000 children and adults expected to experience first hand the many contributions that Maine Engineers make to our communities and way of life. Thanks to our sponsors, the first 500 kids through the door receive a free T-shirt celebrating Maine Engineers Week.
NASCAR Director to Speak at Maine Engineers Week Banquet on Friday February 29th
The Maine Engineering Promotion Council and its sponsors will host the Maine Engineers Week Banquet at the Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono at 6:45 PM (social beginning at 5:30 PM). This years banquet speaker will be Mike Fisher, NASCAR's Managing Director, Research and Development.
Mike spent 16 years in Detroit before joining NASCAR in North Carolina. He will give an inside view on how engineers have become an integral part of every NASCAR team, specializing in data collection and analysis, research and development in this highly competitive industry. This is an opportunity for engineers and their spouses, friends and family to gather, renew friendships and meet others in their profession. For more information or to register for the banquet, visit [ file://www.engineeringme.com ]www.engineeringme.com or contact Be Schonewald, P.E. (be.schonewald@gza.com).
Maine Society of Professional Engineers Continuing Education Seminar on Friday February 29th - The banquet is preceded by the Maine Society of Professional Engineers and the University of Maine's full-day continuing education symposium at The Buchanan House at the University of Maine in Orono. The seminar will offer 6 PDH's; a buffet lunch; and refreshments throughout the day.
Visit www.mespe.org for more information.
NEW SENSOR TECHNOLOGY PROMISES BENEFITS FROM MAINE TO THE MOON NASA | >Thu, January 24 2008 12:14:55
January 18, 2008
Contact: Ali Abedi (207) 581-2231; Tom Weber (207) 581-3777
ORONO – NASA is on a mission to fly wireless in space one day, and a University of Maine researcher is developing the technology that he believes can help make that happen.
Ali Abedi, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is working on a new kind of battery-free wireless sensor communication system that he says can perform in harsh environments where the battery-powered sensors now used in NASA’s space shuttle cannot function.
The new sensors can be used as monitors inside the shuttle engine and on the spacecraft’s exterior when reentering Earth’s atmosphere, Abedi says. The system will also allow NASA to reduce the miles of bundled sensor wires and connectors that now add so much unwanted weight, expense and potential for failure to every space flight.
"The weight of all the wiring is a major issue for the space shuttle," says Abedi, whose research is being funded by a three-year, $360,483 grant from NASA. "There are wired sensors everywhere in the space shuttle. All of them need batteries for power, but batteries explode in extremely hot temperatures and don’t work in very cold temperatures."
Instead of batteries, he says, power for the new system comes from a radio frequency signal that is transmitted to the sensors, which then beam it back with pertinent monitoring data. Abedi likened the process to that of the radar guns police use to check for speeders.
"But we can transmit the beam to hundreds of sensors at once to get all the combined data," says Abedi, who runs the UMaine wireless sensor network lab known as WiSe-Net. And because the system is wireless, a sensor can be moved out the way when astronauts need room to make repairs on the shuttle. The sensor can then be easily reinstalled, like a standard plug-and-play computer device.
The system uses patented high-temperature sensors designed and produced by Mauricio Pereira da Cunha, a UMaine associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and Abedi’s co-investigator on the project. NASA has asked both researchers to serve as consultants for the agency’s wireless sensor tag group.
Abedi says the battery-free sensors, which require no maintenance, could also be embedded as temperature and gas monitors in the habitation domes being studied for a future moon colony. Embedded sensors could also be effective, he says, in monitoring the health of bridges, buildings, dams, tunnels or other structures here on Earth.
The Maine Department of Transportation is interested in the new wireless communication design for use not only in bridges of the future but in very old existing ones, Abedi says, where expensive wired, battery-powered sensor systems may not be economically feasible.
The three-year project will create an opportunity for an educational and research collaborative involving several fields of study, he says, including mechanical and civil engineering for the bridge concept. A couple of Ph.D students will work on the system at UMaine, along with six qualified undergraduates who will receive training at Mainely-Wired LLC, a state broadband provider. Three summer student internships will also be available at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
"I want the students to go through their program here with excitement, and let them see for themselves how the real thing works in the field," Abedi says.
Fosters Donate $1.5 Million to UMaine; Student Innovation Center to Bear their Name | >Thursday, January 24 2008 11:40:12
January 10, 2008
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
The University of Maine announced on Thursday a $1.5 million gift from Bion and Dorain Foster of Hampden. The donation will provide support for programs at UMaine's Student Innovation Center and Student Recreation and Fitness Center, along with scholarship funds through an endowment at the University of Maine Foundation. They made the gift in honor of their four daughters and their families.
The Student Innovation Center, which will now be known as "The Bion and Dorain Foster Student Innovation Center," opened in 2006. UMaine faculty and Student Innovation Center staff members work with UMaine students to develop the knowledge and skills to transform their ideas into real products and services.
It is the home of UMaine's Innovation Engineering curriculum, an academic minor that provides education, support and inspiration to student innovators and entrepreneurs.
"It is fitting that this facility will bear the name of Bion and Dorain Foster," says UMaine President Robert Kennedy, noting that Bion Foster was named Maine's Entrepreneur of the Year in 2001. "They are true innovators and entrepreneurs who have succeeded in business and become community leaders because they exemplify the skill, intelligence, work ethic and creativity that we strive to develop in our students." A news release with more is at http://www.umaine.edu/news/article.asp?id_no=1971.
SUNDAY TELEGRAM REPORTS ON PETERSON'S WORK | >Tue, 29 May 2007 10:30:50
The May 27 Maine Sunday Telegram featured a story (http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=108408&ac=PHnws) about UMaine mechanical engineering professor Mick Peterson, who is gaining widespread notice for his work related to the biomechanics of thoroughbred horse racing. Peterson uses high-tech methods to examine track surfaces, determining where there are potential safety hazards for the horses.
UMaine and Bowdoin Join Forces for Engineering Program > May 22, 2007
Bowdoin College and the University of Maine have announced an innovative new engineering education partnership. The arrangement, announced in Augusta by Maine Gov. John Baldacci, creates a five-year program of study, with the first three years at Bowdoin.
Students who complete the program will receive degrees from both Bowdoin and UMaine, and they will be prepared for engineering careers or graduate school. The goal of this exciting new program is to help address Maine's need for engineers by educating well-rounded graduates with an excellent broad-based education and outstanding engineering training.
"Bowdoin is a storied institution, with a long history of providing outstanding undergraduate education," UMaine President Robert Kennedy said at the Augusta announcement. "We are pleased to have identified an area of complementary strengths, and we look forward to bringing Bowdoin students into UMaine's highly regarded engineering programs."
At Bowdoin, the students will acquire the math and science skills necessary to succeed in engineering, and they will complete the coursework necessary to complete UMaine's general education requirements.
"This exciting collaboration between Bowdoin and the University of Maine taps strengths at both institutions while providing an important opportunity for aspiring engineers in our state," said Bowdoin College President Barry Mills. "Students enrolled in this program will have the best of both worlds — a Bowdoin education grounded in the liberal arts combined with superb training at Maine in engineering programs well-known for their excellence and rigor. For talented students seeking a top-notch engineering program and a liberal arts education, there will now be every reason to stay right here in Maine."
Initially, students will be able to specialize in one of three engineering disciplines: biological engineering, mechanical engineering or engineering physics. Eventually, the program will be expanded into UMaine's other four engineering disciplines.
The program's structure is in place, and officials from both institutions hope that the first Bowdoin students will be ready to enroll at UMaine as soon as Fall 2008.
Dvorak Receives Fulbright Scholar Grant | >Fri, 11 May 2007 10:56:08
May 7, 2007
Contacts: David Dvorak, 581-2341; George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO -- David Dvorak, director of the UMaine School of Engineering Technology and professor of mechanical engineering technology, has received a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture and conduct alternative energy research at the University of Akureyri in Iceland during the upcoming academic year.
An expert in alternative energy, specifically fuel cell technology, Dvorak intends to continue his work with researchers in Iceland and help develop a new graduate program in the recently opened School of Renewable Energy Resources, which focuses on developing new energy sources, including geothermal, hydro, wind, tides, solar, biomass, fuel cells and hydrogen.
"They're really developing this school for more than just the students of Iceland," he says. "This new graduate program will attract students from partnering universities throughout Europe."
Iceland is among the leaders in the world in the development of alternative fuel sources and renewable energy. For the past 20 years, Iceland has been working on replacing imported fossil fuels with domestically produced hydrogen or hydrogen-based fuels like methanol, according to Dvorak.
His work in Iceland will be "a tremendous opportunity to participate in an educational program that's just starting up, with many possibilities for future work and continuing collaboration," he says. "An important aspect of this project is that the University of Maine is participating in renewable energy research and education at the international level, and it is my intent to development partnerships that will benefit the people in the state of Maine."
Dvorak serves as a member of two statewide organizations: the Maine Hydrogen Energy Fuel Cell Partnership created by Gov. John Baldacci, and also the Hydrogen Energy Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the viability of businesses and communities in Maine and New England through the development and adoption of renewable hydrogen technologies.
He has been on the faculty at UMaine for 19 years. Dvorak earned bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1981 and 1982, and a Ph.D. in physics at the University of Maine in 1998. He began teaching at UMaine in 1988, after spending six years in research and development at GE Aircraft Engines in Cincinnati, Ohio.
A licensed professional engineer, Dvorak began working on alternative energy applications more than 20 years ago, investigating the use of biomass-derived fuels for industrial gas turbines. He has also worked with several Maine manufacturing companies to reduce their energy costs.
The Fulbright Program, America's flagship international educational exchange activity, is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Over its 60 years of existence, thousands of American faculty and professionals have studied, taught or done research abroad, and thousands of their counterparts from other countries have engaged in similar activities in the United States.
The Fulbright Scholar Program Web site (www.cies.org) has additional information about its programs and scholarships.
UMaine group unveils canoe seat for Brewer High student | >Thu, 03 May 2007 14:05:51
See full story at http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/t/outdoors.aspx?articleid=
149405&zoneid=28
CONCRETE CANOE TEAM WINS REGIONAL | >Thu, 03 May 2007 07:40:08
The UMaine concrete canoe team earned top honors for the second year in a row at the American Society of Civil Engineers New England Regional Concrete Canoe Contest. Facing 12 teams from colleges and universities across New England, the UMaine team and their latest canoe ranked first overall after placing second in all categories. "This year's team was definitely the most dedicated team I have ever seen. Everyone really pulled out all the stops for this one," said ASCE Student Chapter President and team captain A. Riley Adams. "We faced some outstanding competition this year, but with a combination of incredible dedication, incredible preparation and a little luck, we were able to pull off our second regional win." A news release with more is at
http://www.umaine.edu/news/article.asp?id_no=1747.
Engineering Alumni Induction Ceremony and Reception | >Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:28:55
After a very successful fall reception, the College of Engineering is coming back to Portland Thursday, May 24, 2007. Like the fall reception, the spring ceremony will be held at the Portland Regency Hotel, starting at 5:30 pm. The College will host a special induction ceremony in its Francis Crowe Society for engineering alumni who graduated before 2001. If you would like to join the Crowe Society, please contact John McDonough (207.581.2225 or via email: johnm@maine.edu) to learn more. This will be a great chance to catch up with your classmates. We will provide the refreshments and hors d'oeuvres and Interim Dean Dana Humphrey will give brief welcoming remarks. There is no charge for the reception, but we would appreciate registrations by calling the Dean's office (207.581.2217) or sending an email to Laurie Fullerton (laurie@eece.maine.edu) so that we will have plenty of food. DIRECTIONS: Follow Route I-295 to Exit 7, Franklin Street, Route 1A. Travel Franklin Street to the sixth light, turn right onto Fore Street. At the third intersection turn right onto Market Street. Travel approximately 1/2 block and turn right onto Milk Street.
GRAY COMPANY DONATION FUNDS LAB UPGRADE | >Thu, 15 Mar 2007 09:49:21
University of Maine civil engineering students will have better access to state-of-the art laboratory equipment thanks to a $75,000 pledge from a Gray company co-founded by the son of a professor who taught at the Orono university for close to 40 years. The gift from Gorrill-Palmer Consulting Engineers will be put towards an endowment to maintain and upgrade the Soil Mechanics Lab in Boardman Hall where each year approximately 100 students in civil engineering and construction management technology receive training on how to investigate subsurface conditions and materials. "This is one way to give back to the university. It will help establish a predictable funding stream that's independent of the legislative process," says Thomas Gorrill, son of UMaine civil engineering professor William Gorrill who retired in 1986. Thomas Gorrill and his partner, Al Palmer, founded the engineering company in 1998. A news release with more is at http://www.umaine.edu/news/article.asp?id_no=1684.
CREATIVE DESIGN AT CAD CAMP THIS SUMMER | >Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:25:45
For more information go to http://www.umaine.edu/set/CADCamp/
DUNN RECEIVES NATIONAL ENGINEERING SERVICE AWARD | >Thu, 15 Feb 2007 07:17:09
Philip Dunn Jr., professor of construction management in the UMaine School of Engineering Technology, has received the American Society of Civil Engineers' 2006 Citizen Engineer Award for Region 1, which includes New England.
Read full story at http://www.umaine.edu/news/article.asp?id_no=1664
Yohei Kurata named 2006 College of Engineering Graduate Research Assistant | >Sat, 04 Nov 2006 17:04:49
Yohei Kurata, Ph.D. candidate in Spatial Information Science and Engineering and Graduate Research Assistant with the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, is the recipient of the College of Engineering Graduate Research Assistant of the Year Award. Over the last two years Yohei has excelled through exceptional progress in his research on capturing the semantics of arrow diagrams. He has been consistently successful with lead-authored papers published in the highly competitive proceedings of such conferences as the AAAI Spring Symposium, the Conference on Spatial Information Theory (COSIT), and the International Conference on Geographic Information Science (GIScience). He has given memorable presentations, highlighting an intriguing combination of intellectually challenging content with outstanding visual communication, for which he has received ample praise by conference participants. At the College of Engineering's annual Edward T. Bryand Recognition Banquet, held November 3 at the Penobscot Country Club, Yohei was cited in front of over 150 attendees for his remarkable accomplishments. Congratulations, Yohei!
