CSE in the News — January 2024 archive

January 2024

University of Minnesota Charting a Sustainable Future with Up to $160M NSF Grant for Great Lakes Water Innovation
 "This work allows us to collectively address water problems and advance collaboration between U of M researchers, governmental agencies, and industry partners from Minnesota and across the region," stated Tianhong Cui, the University of Minnesota team co-lead and a professor of mechanical engineering, while addressing the University's news service.  Jan. 31: Hoodline

Waterways see less road salt with mild winter but it's not all good news
"The flow is really important. Normally this time of year, much of the river is frozen over and really only moving water over the spillway of St. Anthony Falls," said Andy Erickson, a research manager at the University of Minnesota's St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL).  Jan. 31: Kare11

Agnitron’s New Showerhead: Advancing MOCVD Technology
Agnitron would like to acknowledge Greg Haugstad of the University of Minnesota Characterization Facility (UMN CharFac) for conducting RBS measurements. Jan. 31: Compound Semiconductor

How new magnets could accelerate climate action
Though iron nitride (specifically, a phase called alpha double prime) was discovered in the 1950s, it wasn’t until the 1970s that researchers discovered its strong magnetic properties, says Jian-Ping Wang, a professor at the University of Minnesota and the technical founder and chief scientist at Niron Magnetics. Jan. 31: MIT Technology Review; Feb. 2: Tech Telegraph; (2 as of Feb. 2 at 8:48 a.m.)

Moving at the Speed of Snow
“The same snowflake may fall at different speeds, depending on the wind or the turbulence,” said Michele Guala, a fluid mechanics expert at the University of Minnesota who was not involved in the new study. Jan. 30: Eos 

Satellite-Based Method Measures Carbon In Peat Bogs
The research team included Paul Glaser at the University of Minnesota. The work was supported by the National Research Foundation Singapore through the SMART program, by the U.S. National Science Foundation, and Singapore’s Office for Space Technology and Industry. Jan. 27: India Education Diary

Wooster native won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1927
Compton got his undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Science, at Wooster. He went on to be a physics professor at the University of Minnesota before spending time as a research engineer. Jan. 27: The Bargain Hunter

Revolutionary ‘Stretching Metals’ Can be Used for Next-Generation Applications
“This breakthrough represents a significant advancement with far-reaching implications in a broad range of fields,” said Bharat Jalan, senior author on the paper and a professor in the College of Science and Engineering. Jan. 22: Lab Worldwide

Mysterious booms, shaking: Were they frost quakes?
"Effectively, what's happening is you have frozen ground, because there's some water in the soil that freezes and the whole ground is frozen, and all of a sudden a crack forms really rapidly. When that happens, that releases energy that sometimes you can hear, and that's the boom. And sometimes it causes shaking," explained Lars Hansen, associate professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department at the University of Minnesota. Jan. 21: Kare11

Scientists may have the key to treating tinnitus: Retrain the brain
Nerves in the tongue are also thought to be associated with increased neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to change — and believed to activate parts of the brain associated with attention, said Hubert Lim, the chief scientific officer of Neuromod Devices, the Dublin-based company that created Lenire, and a biomedical engineering professor at the University of Minnesota. Jan. 19: The Washington Post; Pedfire; ExBulletin (3 as of January 22 at 8:55 a.m.)

Breaking Physics: The Radical Search for the Universe’s Missing Pieces
Nadja Strobbe at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities is one of those researchers. She works on experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator of its kind.  Jan. 15: SciTechDaily; Jan. 16: FocusTechnica; List23; ScienceNet; (4 as of January 17 at 8:30 a.m.)

Mishicot seniors Logan Marquardt and Katelyn Callahan are this week's Stellar Students
Logan Marquardt plans to major in aerospace engineering; one of his teachers stated that " His innate curiosity and analytical mind make him a natural scientist. He was one of the best physics students I have ever had, being equally outstanding in lecture and lab." Jan. 14: Yahoo! News

James W. Cortada, "Inside IBM: Lessons of a Corporate Culture in Action" (Columbia Business School, 2023)
James W. Cortada is a senior research fellow at the Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. He spent nearly forty years at IBM in various sales, consulting, management, and executive positions. Jan. 14: Ivoox;  PlayerFM; (2 as of January 16 at 8:50 a.m.)

International Experiences Aid New Division of Agriculture Food Scientist, Engineer
Originally from Brazil, Ferreira recently joined the U of A System Division of Agriculture as an assistant professor in the Food Science Department. He previously conducted post-doctoral research training in food and protein chemistry at the University of Minnesota. Jan. 12: University of Arkansas News

Why Humans Are Putting a Bunch of ‘Coal’ and ‘Oil’ Back in the Ground
“If you’re just burying carbohydrates, you always have this risk that you don’t have it in the right conditions,” says Paul Dauenhauer, senior adviser and cofounder of Carba and a chemical engineer at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Jan. 10: Wired; Jan. 12: TechMag, My Droll; Jan. 16: Mother Jones; Jan. 20: Grist; (5 as of January 22 at 8:45 a.m.)

From COVID-19 to TB, mucosal vaccines stop infections before they start
“For COVID, it's transmitted through the upper respiratory tract, so it's really important to establish immunity in the lungs and the nose,” said Brittany Hartwell, an immuno-engineer at the University of Minnesota. Jan. 9: Drug Discovery News

Mike Hess Joins IEEE Pulse as Editor-in-Chief
Mr. Hess is currently an adjunct professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Earlier in 2023, he retired from his position as vice president of Corporate Technology and Innovation at Medtronic. Jan. 3: City Biz; Boston Herald; Yahoo! Finance (120 as of January 4 at 9:53 p.m.)