Going Global

For the first time students at The University of Alabama will travel to Cuba, China or England to spend a UA semester abroad at a major university in those countries. UA’s College of Arts and Sciences has launched the University’s first UA-supervised semester-abroad programs at the University of Havana in Havana, Cuba; Central University of Nationalities in Beijing, China; and the University of Birmingham, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

 “International study is vital for students who are entering today’s global economy,” said Dr. Bob Olin, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “We want to provide students with opportunities to experience different cultures, which will enhance what they are taught in the classroom.”

The programs will be administered and directed by UA faculty and staff. Classes will be taught both by UA faculty members and faculty from the partnering foreign universities. UA faculty members serving as program directors say there is an intense sense of adventure with the new programs.

“We are starting this program from scratch and are charting new territory,” said Michael Schnepf, professor of Spanish in the College’s Department of Modern Languages, who is directing the program in Cuba. “As I’ve told some students, life in Cuba isn’t going to be like a study abroad program in Europe. There are going to be times when water service may be limited or there is going to be a power blackout. But, the students I’ve talked with like the idea of it being an adventure and being different.”

Fifteen students will be admitted to the program in Cuba which will begin in Jan. 2009.  They will live in an apartment complex in Havana — the country’s capital city with 2.1 million inhabitants —and attend classes at the University of Havana as well as take educational excursions to locations around the island.

The UA program in China has already filled with 22 students who will have a month-long immersion program before formal classes begin. This will include two weeks of classes followed by a two-week trip to a remote rural Chinese village where the students will be living in village conditions.

The students’ course schedule will include two courses on Chinese history taught by a UA professor and four hours of Chinese language lessons five days a week.  Central University of Nationalities, in addition to being one of China’s top five universities, is located in the heart of Beijing, a highly-coveted location for international study abroad students.

 “In their history courses, they will learn about a site in China and then go and visit the site. They will be learning about the history of Beijing—from a Mongolian City to a 21st century Olympic city—as they are living in the city,” said Tony Clark, assistant professor in the College’s Department of History and director of the China program. “And it’s going to be an intense language experience. Many students will start the program not knowing any Chinese; at first they won’t be able to tell a cab driver where they would like to go. By the end of the semester, they will be having arguments with cab drivers about politics.”

The UA program in England, which will begin in the spring 2009 semester, will provide about 20 UA students the opportunity to study Shakespeare at the University of Birmingham's Shakespeare Institute in the town where William Shakespeare was born.

Students who enroll in the Cuba and China programs will experience, first-hand, countries at historical turning points. Students will be in Cuba during the first significant political change its citizens have seen in nearly 50 years.

“They are going to get an experience you can’t get anywhere else in terms of a country that has been closed off to the United States for so long,” Schnepf said. “Historically, politically and socially, it is a key moment in time for Cuba; and I think the students who are interested in the program realize how special it will be for them to experience that.”

Likewise, China is in the midst of an industrial and cultural revolution, Clark said.

 “It will be an amazing opportunity for students to live in Beijing and to live in a remote Chinese village where they will really get a sense of traditional Chinese culture,” Clark said. “This trip may be the last time UA students will be able to see ‘old Beijing’ because the Chinese government is tearing down all the traditional neighborhoods in Beijing.”

The College hopes to eventually grow the programs to be year-long and include more faculty and students.

“Many of the students who are enrolled in these programs have never traveled outside of the southern United States. Their whole universe is going to be completely shifted,” Clark said. “These students have an adventure ahead of them.”

The College will be accepting applications for the Cuban study abroad program beginning in the fall 2008 semester. Students must have completed three or four semesters of college-level Spanish to be considered for the program. For more information, contact Michael Schnepf at (205) 348-5059 or at mschnepf@bama.ua.edu.

The fall 2008 study-abroad program in China is filled. For more information about the program, contact Tony Clark at 348-1858 or aclark1@bama.ua.edu.

For more information on the UA study abroad program in England, contact the program’s director John Beeler at jbeeler@tenhoor.as.ua.edu.

College Professor Knighted

Dr. Metka Zupancic, associate professor of French in the College’s Department of Modern Languages, has been inducted as a knight, or chevalier, in France’s Ordre des Palmes Académiques (Order of Academic Palms).

The Ordre des Palmes Académiques is an international honor society reserved for those who have made substantial contributions to French culture.

Zupancic was nominated by the French Consulate in Atlanta, and UA French and linguistics professor Dr. Michael Picone provided a letter of support and other material.

Zupancic recently published a collection of her essays, in French, titled “Helene Cixous: texture mythique et alchimique.”

Zupancic has edited several volumes including Death, Language, Thought: On Gérard Bucher's L'imagination de l'origine and Hermes and Aphrodite Encounters, the latter containing international contributions from scholars in the field of myth studies. She has authored a book on the novels of the late French Nobel Prize winner Claude Simon and  also has edited or co-edited a number of collective publications on myth in contemporary French and Francophone fiction. In her essays, she explores myth and spirituality in the contemporary novel, in particular in the writing of Claude Simon, Hélène Cixous, Chantal Chawaf, and Jeanne Hyvrard. Her interest in French Canadian literature resulted in a number of articles on Quebec feminist writers, such as Madeleine Monette, Francine D'Amour, France Théoret, and Monique LaRue.

Originally from Slovenia, Zupancic holds a doctorate in romance philology from the University of Zagreb in Croatia and a doctorat de 3e cycle from the University of Strasbourg in France.

Zupancic teaches undergraduate courses in French studies, French phonetics and English-French translation, commercial French and French civilization, as well as courses in contemporary French and Francophone literature.

Her graduate courses include the 20th and 21st century French and Francophone novel, critical theory, feminism, myth and literature and film and literature. She also teaches a seminar titled “Yoga: East and West” for the Blount Undergraduate Initiative.

Three Students in College
Receive Goldwater Scholarships

For the second year running, three students in the College of Arts and Sciences have received one of the country’s most elite academic scholarships.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation selected two sophomore biology majors, Kalen Berry of Hartselle and Susan M. DeLeon of San Antonio, Texas, and junior Eric R.J. Edwards, a physics and mathematics major from Memphis, Tenn., as 2008 Goldwater Scholars.

“This is the most Goldwater Scholars we have had,” said Dr. Gary Sloan, coordinator of prestige scholarships at the University of Alabama. “Last year we had a record high number of three Goldwater Scholars and this year we have three again.”

The accomplished students are studying and researching magnetic data storage, genetic components of epilepsy, and a novel gene implicated in Parkinson’s disease in labs on the UA campus.

The three College students were among 321 mathematics, science and engineering students selected nationwide to receive the scholarships, which will cover the costs of tuition, books, fees and room and board up to $7,500 per year.

Goldwater Scholar—Eric R.J. Edwards

Edwards is a double major and a double minor in Blount Undergraduate Initiative and Computer Based Honors who has worked with UA’s MINT program for two years.

Under the guidance of Dr. Tim Mewes, assistant professor in the College's Department of Physics and Astronomy, who nominated him for the award, Edwards worked on a project studying magnetization dynamics. He investigated the physics of nanostructures relevant for magnetic random access memory (MRAM). Many believe that MRAM may be the future of magnetic data storage.

Edwards presented his work at the 2008 meeting of the American Physical Society in New Orleans. The work earned him the commendation of the Goldwater Scholarship.

The Capstone is not the only place Edwards has made a scientific impact. Edwards worked last summer at Columbia University in a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates program.

In addition to his work in the lab, Edwards has been active in the Society for Physics Students and the Blount Undergraduate Initiative Student Organization. He also has been involved with the Tuscaloosa community as an academic mentor for two years through a program in the Honors College. Since 2006, Edwards has taught math to local students in Tuscaloosa area public schools.

After graduation Edwards plans on earning his doctorate in physics and becoming a faculty member at a university.

Goldwater Scholar—Kalen Berry

Berry works in UA’s Caldwell Lab for Molecular and Developmental Biology where he focuses his research toward the identification of new gene products that may be implicated in epilepsy, using the worm C. elegans as a model system for studying genetic components of this disease.

He was nominated for the Goldwater Scholarship by Dr. Guy Caldwell, associate professor of biological science, and Dr. Kim Caldwell, assistant professor of biological science. Some of their laboratory’s research focuses on Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and dystonia by utilizing C.elegans, which is a nematode with a simple nervous system of 302 neurons that use many of the same neurotransmitters, receptors and connections as human neurons. Their study of nematodes has led to the Caldwell Lab’s nickname of “The Worm Shack.”

Berry is a member of Phi Eta Sigma National Freshman Honor Society, Lamda Sigma National Sophomore Honor Society and Computer Based Honors Programs, where he is involved in both academic and extracurricular activities, and aids in program recruitment. He will continue his research in the Caldwell Lab with the Howard Hughes Undergraduate Summer Research Program.

His plans for the future include graduate school and a career in education and research.

Goldwater Scholar—Susan M. DeLeon

DeLeon has worked in the Caldwell Lab for Molecular and Developmental Biology since the fall of her freshman year. Her research focuses on a novel gene implicated in Parkinson’s disease, which involves performing studies that will lead toward a better understanding of the gene by determining what cellular pathways and networks it might be involved in.

DeLeon’s organizations include Tri-Beta National Biological Society and the National Society for Collegiate Scholars. In addition, she also is in the McNair Scholars program, an organization that helps to promote interest in graduate school among minority and first-generation college students.

Like Berry, DeLeon was nominated for the Goldwater Scholarship by Drs. Guy and Kim Caldwell. In their nomination of DeLeon, they stated that DeLeon had very little experience in a laboratory setting upon first arriving in their lab, but that she proved herself as a researcher early on.

DeLeon plans to stay in the Caldwell Lab until graduation and from there will attend graduate school to obtain a doctorate.

College Sweeps Annual Alabama Launchpad Business Plan Competition

Technologies developed by students and faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences took all the top awards of the 2008 Annual Alabama Launchpad Business Plan Competition, a state-wide competition recognizing venture capital and technology start-up business ideas.

Sam Mroczynski, senior chemistry major with the College, was part of the first-place winning team; Richard Swatloski, an alumnus of the College’s Department of Chemistry, lead the second-place winning team; and, Mike Wofsey, a doctoral student in the College’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, won third place in the competition.

First Place: $100,000 prize

Mroczynski is part of the Lambert Technologies, LLC team that developed a patented luminescent epoxy coating used for testing material stress levels called Strain Sensitive Skin, or S3.

When the coating is placed on an object and is then tested under different load conditions, the coating emits a light. This light allows for the formation of a strain map across the object’s surface. The strain map can then be used to predict the object’s failure mode location and more accurately determine its service life. Lambert Technologies plans to incubate in the Alabama Institute for Manufacturing Excellence (AIME) at UA.

The team’s competition leader was UA MBA student Chris Cater. Dr. Scott Spear, research engineer with UA’s Alabama Innovation and Mentoring of Entrepreneurs Center, and Todd Gross, chief executive officer of Lambert Technologies, also were part of the first-place winning team.

Second Place: $50,000 prize

Swatloski, who received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry at UA and is a licensing agent in UA’s Office of Technology Transfer, was part of the team, called Cellulosix, that won second place for their development of a catalog of cellulose-based chemical reagents for use in drug delivery.

The technology for the new drug delivery system was developed by Dr. Robin Rogers, the Robert Ramsay Chair in the College’s Department of Chemistry and director of the College’s Center for Green Manufacturing. Through the UA Office of Technology Transfer and Alabama Institute for Manufacturing Excellence (AIME) the system has been further developed into a marketable product around which the team plans to develop a company.

The product’s advantage is its ability to dissolve raw cellulose in milder conditions than current technology permits, allowing the team to modify it chemically and physically in ways that were previously not possible. Cellulosix will offer a wide range of cellulose materials from conductive cellulose fibers to cellulose-based drug delivery systems. For example, the team hopes to develop a cellulose based way for people to take insulin orally, rather than through injection.

“Winning an award like this gives you some credibility with the investment world,” said Swatloski. “The competition started with 40 applications and we made it to the top three; so it gives some credibility that is needed in order to get some investors, further develop the product and get it out on the market.” 

Third Place: $25,000

The third place winners are a current doctoral student in the College’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, Mike Wofsey, and two UA alumni, Ranjan Dhamapalan and Jeff Street. The team won the $25,000 prize for their solar-powered desalination technology called SEA Desalination.

Under the guidance of College faculty member Richard Tipping, Wofsey developed the desalination technology, which removes salt from seawater or high mineral concentrations from ground water, in hopes of finding a more economical desalination process so the technology could be used in third-world countries. By replacing mechanical components with basic physic principals such as gravity and water surface tension, Wofsey found a way to reduce the cost of producing the technology by more than 400 percent.

Additionally, SEA Desalination has a low-environmental impact. It does not eject brine water, like the majority of current desalination technologies, but rather turns the brine into salt crystals that can be collected and later used or sold. Also, the products components can be made from remanufactured plastic water and soda bottles.

Although Wofsey developed the technology for countries such as India, it could be useful in the southern United States which has been impacted by drought during the past few years.

Since the competition, Wofsey and his team have been in contact from investors from Israel who are interested in his technology.

“This technology could be used in hurricane recovery areas, in war zones, or other areas where you don’t have a source of electricity. You set it out and it just starts working,” Wofsey said. “And using solar technology just makes sense because often the places that need the most water are where you have the most sun.”

About Alabama Launchpad

Alabama Launchpad was formed in 2006 by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama and six universities: Alabama A&M University, Alabama State University, Auburn University, The University of Alabama, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, and The University of Alabama at Huntsville.

The competition is a vetting process to evaluate high growth start-ups and provide seed funding in the form of cash prizes to the top three. The 2008 Alabama Launchpad Finale took place April 14 at the Bryant Conference Center on the UA campus. Eight finalist teams presented their business ideas to a panel of judges with experience in venture capital and technology start-ups.

“At its heart, this competition is an economic development catalyst,” said James P. Hayes, president of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, founding sponsor, at the April 14 event.

“We know that the talent and expertise for innovative technologies can be found in our educational institutions. This competition is a driver to pull these technologies into the spotlight and to jump-start their funding, so we can support job creation in emerging technologies in this state at the base level.”

Caldwells Receive Hudson Alpha Prize for Innovation in Life Sciences

For their groundbreaking research on diseases of the nervous system, especially in relation to Parkinson’s disease, the husband and wife team of Drs. Guy and Kim Caldwell, of the College’s Department of Biological Sciences, has been awarded the first HudsonAlpha Prize for Outstanding Innovation in Life Sciences.

The $20,000 prize recognizes exceptional talent and research of superior merit and aims to raise awareness of biotechnology’s burgeoning impact on Alabama’s economic vitality.

Jim Hudson, president of HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology of Huntsville made the announcement during the institute’s grand opening and dedication ceremonies held April 24.

“Competition for the prize was intense,” noted Hudson, “and the high quality of submissions reflects an overall high quality of work occurring on the campuses of Alabama’s public research universities.”

“To us, HudsonAlpha embodies what Jim Hudson’s entire career has represented; a rare combination of innovation, entrepreneurship, generosity toward the community and outstanding science,” said Dr. Guy Caldwell, associate professor of biological sciences. “To be the very first honorees of the institute prize in the context of this vision is a great honor and deeply satisfying since we strive to embrace these same values in our own careers.”

Speaking for the evaluation team, Dr. Sam McManus, chairman of the HudsonAlpha Innovation Prize committee, stated that the Caldwell team has successfully applied genomic screening by RNAi in conjunction with biological assays for protein misfolding and neurodegeneration, to uncover the largest reported, functionally defined set of genes that protects dopamine neurons from dying during aging.

“These studies directly apply to Parkinson’s disease,” he said. Two products are in development as a result of the Caldwell’s work.

Dr. Kim Caldwell, assistant professor of biological sciences. added that the HudsonAlpha Institute model to speed innovation through collaborations between academia and industry is on-target with the vision held by her and her husband.

“We are truly honored to be considered ambassadors of that mission in this state,” she said.

McManus noted the committee received its recommendations from a distinguished and impartial group of scientists who reside outside the state and who have no connections to participating universities.

“I am pleased to congratulate Guy and Kim Caldwell on winning the first HudsonAlpha Prize,” said UA President Robert E. Witt. “The Caldwells’ exceptional work on neurological disorders serves the HudsonAlpha Prize’s goal of raising awareness of the significance of biotechnology research in Alabama and provides a fine example of how innovative research can translate into practical application, mitigation of human suffering and marketplace opportunities.”

Presidents of Alabama’s six public research universities could nominate up to two teams or individual candidates from their respective institutions. All six research universities – Alabama A & M University, Auburn University, The University of Alabama, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, The University of Alabama in Huntsville and the University of South Alabama – provided nominations.

Funding for the annual HudsonAlpha Prize for Outstanding Innovation in Life Sciences is provided through a grant by the Alpha Foundation.

College Winners from First UA Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Competition

The College of Arts and Sciences would like to congratulate College students who won awards during the University's Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Competition on April 21.   This was the first year for the university-wide competition, which was initiated based on the College's highly successful divisional competition that had been held for the previous four years.

First Place: Brian Hubble, New College, Digital Dreams: Rez and Interactive Synaesthetic Abstraction. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Janeann Dill, New College

Second Place: Andrew Bishop and Anna Sledge, School of Music, and the Computer-Based Honors Program, Web-Enabled Saxophone Database. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Noffsinger, School of Music

Third Place: Roberta Melissa Hirschbuehler, Department of English, Hip Hop as Art. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Tony Bolden. Department of English

Call for Alumni Notes

Let your former classmates and friend know about updates to your family and career. Please send us your news for our upcoming issues of the Collegian newsletter.

Please e-mail your alumni updates to Sarah Colwell at sccolwell@as.ua.edu, call them in to (205) 348-8539, fax them into (205) 348-0272, or mail them to Box 870268, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.

This will be your last issue of Desktop News until September.  We wish you a great summer and look forward to bringing you more news of discovery and distinction from the College next fall.

Please send comments and news suggestions to:

Rebecca Florence
Director of College Relations
College of Arts and Sciences
The University of Alabama
(205) 348-8663

rflorenc@as.ua.edu

News from the College is edited by Sarah Colwell, College of Arts and Sciences communications specialist with web management by John Hawkins, Web site specialist.