News Briefs

 « Aug 2009 September 2009 Oct 2009 »

• Boston Participates in Senate Small Business Committee Roundtable

  September 29, 2009

  Economics professor Thomas “Danny” Boston has been tapped by U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu’s chief of staff to help the Small Business Administration (SBA) re-fashion federal guidelines for purchasing from minority businesses. Boston was asked to join a roundtable discussion convened September 24th by Landrieu who chairs the Senate Small Business Committee.

  

  The roundtable hearing enabled senators and their staff to explore small business policy and seek recommendations for changes from Dr. Boston and other participants. Discussion centered on “Minority Entrepreneurship: Evaluating Small Business Resources and Programs.”
  
  

Boston’s work with the committee centers on the SBA’s Small Disadvantaged Businesses. Program modifications in 1998 established a Personal Net Worth (PNW) ceiling or cap. The $750,000 ceiling was designed to restrict access to federal preferential procurement contracts to disadvantaged business owners. Boston’s research shows that, in practice, the ceiling has severely constrained the capacity of participating firms. “Increasing the PNW ceiling is a necessary condition,” says Boston, “but it is a very short‐run solution to a major regulatory impediment.


  
  This was Boston’s third briefing during the past year at the behest of a congressional body relevant to his research on minority entrepreneurship.
  
  For his written statement, see the Business Development Index summary below.

  For more information Contact David Terraso (Phone: 404-385-2966)

• Convergence Innovation Competition Announced

  September 29, 2009

  Georgia Tech’s Research Network Operations Center (GT-RNOC) is kicking off its annual research competition for students who are interested in developing new technology ranging from new iPhone or Android applications to projects focusing on interactive TV, Web2.0, smart grids and more. Known as the Convergence Innovation Competition (CIC), the fourth annual challenge gives students the opportunity to connect classroom and research lab work to the business world with the creation of innovative and commercially relevant applications and services for mobile devices, set top boxes and other electronic devices. Competition winners will be announced in April 2010.

  

  Winners of the annual competition will be announced in April 2010.
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  Categories for the 2010 CIC include:
  - SIP+Web2.0 converged applications
  - Wireless Solutions for the Utility Industry
  - Interactive Television
  - Campus Community Widgets
  
  Competition category sponsors include AT&T and Verizon Wireless along with other industry contributors such as Motorola and Alcatel-Lucent. GT-RNOC also partners with a number of Georgia Tech entities including the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EII), the GVU Center, the Georgia Electronic Design Center as well as the College of Computing, the College of Management and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
  
  "This innovative approach to industry partnerships in our research and academic programs adds value to everyone involved, which is why we’re always looking at ways to expand these partnerships,” said Dr. Ron Hutchins, GT-RNOC’s executive director and Georgia Tech’s chief technology officer. “In fact, like our industry partners, the Office of Information Technology is sponsoring a category to capitalize on the benefits of student innovation of our campus enterprise technologies and services.”

  The competition kicks off in September giving students the chance to acquire skills through a diversity of mobility and convergence related courses, industry presentations, and resources provided by the industry-supported GT-RNOC Convergence Innovation Platform (CIP), an end-to-end development environment. During the fall semester, students work together to build interdisciplinary teams, conduct market research and create prototype concepts in preparation for the spring competition.
  
  Industry representatives review project proposals early in the spring, allowing the teams to revamp and refine their entries. Competition submissions include video presentations, functional end-to-end prototypes, and a detailed business case. Entries are evaluated based on market and technical viability, creativity and completeness of the working prototype. Throughout the competition, students are shepherded by GT-RNOC staff who maintain the CIP resources and operate the CIC. Competition winners receive assistance with commercialization through Georgia Tech’s VentureLab (a part of EII) or through a sponsor’s product development process.
  
  "The CIC offers students a unique opportunity to cultivate their entrepreneurial skills by directly applying their research and academic experiences,” said Stephen Fleming, vice provost of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. “In doing so, the competition fills an important role in accelerating innovation and commercialization at Georgia Tech.”
  
  The competition is generating exciting new technology. Last year’s winners included MoVue, a mobile search and social networking application with location-based advertising and Ubi-Q-tweet, an application that personalizes voice mail greetings for each caller according to the user’s location, calendar, Twitter status and other information.
  
  "This competition allowed me to further my career in ways that are not typically possible in academia. The opportunity to build prototypes in an industry-sponsored environment is fantastic,” said Christian Menkens, first place winner in the inaugural IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) research competition, who is now with the Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) in Munich. In this capacity, he is currently responsible for the CDTM research field of Converged Applications in Telecommunications and Internet as well as CDTM’s student and researcher exchange programs. “Because of my own experiences with GT-RNOC, I am excited to send three of our highly gifted students to Georgia Tech as visiting scholars in a newly established program allowing our universities to work together on projects in the area of converged application research and development.”
  
  
  

  For more information Contact Lisa Grovenstein (Phone: 404-894-8835)

• Two Tech Professors Win NIH New Innovator Award

  September 24, 2009

  Two Georgia Tech professors have been honored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for work that celebrates creativity and innovation among young and promising researchers.
  
  Dr. Melissa Kemp of the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering and Dr. Christine Payne of the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry are the first Georgia Tech faculty members �“ and first in Georgia - to receive the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award.
  

  

  The award provides $1.5 million in research funding - $300,000 a year for five years �“ to each early career investigator honored. Now in its third year, the 2009 NIH New Innovator Award will be presented to 50 individuals to recognize their potential to produce major impact on broad, important problems in biomedical and behavioral research.
  
  Kemp is being recognized for research that utilizes engineering methods to analyze complex biochemical networks. Specifically, she is studying how oxidative environments influence immune cell function. One of her goals is to develop computational models that can predict responses to drug interventions for inflammatory disease and cancer.
  
  "I am thrilled and honored to receive this award at an early stage of my career,” Kemp said. “Young researchers often feel pressure to conduct ‘incremental science’ in order to acquire funding. The grant provides my lab the financial freedom to explore unconventional ideas as part of our research efforts.”
  
  Payne’s honor is in recognition for her research targeting and delivering nanoparticles to living cells and the development of microscopy methods to image dynamic events inside cells. Her research has promising applications in the arena of drug and gene delivery along with displaying potential to further understand the fundamental functions of the cell.
  
  “This award provides a great opportunity to focus on the science of nanoparticle-cell interactions and the development of new fluorescence microscopy methods,” Payne said.
  

  

  While both Kemp and Payne have received the award for their individual achievements, the two are also involved in a joint collaboration that combines microscopy, modeling and biochemical analysis in an effort to understand the intracellular environment.
  
  The NIH Director’s New Innovator Awards were announced today. Kemp and Payne are both in Bethesda, Maryland, to accept the honor.
  
  More information on the New Innovator Award is at http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/newinnovator. For descriptions of the 2009 recipients’ research plans, see http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/newinnovator/Recipients09.asp.
  

  For more information Contact Don Fernandez (Phone: )

• Nancy Nersessian Elected Fellow of Cognitive Science Society

  September 23, 2009

  Nancy J. Nersessian, Regents’ Professor with a joint appointment in the College of Computing and the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Tech, was elected as a Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society this summer.

  

  The society is an international organization that promotes interdisciplinary research in the field of cognitive science, which is comprised of disciplines as diverse as artificial intelligence, linguistics, anthropology, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy and education.
  
  “I’m honored to be elected a Fellow,” said Nersessian. “I see it as recognizing the fact that for over 25 years I’ve been engaged in research on the cognitive practices of scientists and engineers and have contributed to establishing a sub-field within cognitive science that focuses on scientific and technological thinking. Although much of the research aims to understand basic cognitive processes, one major application area has been to learning in science and engineering.”
  
  Nersessian is known as one of the founders of the field of cognitive studies of science and has a study appearing in the October 2009 issue of the journal Topics in Cognitive Science.
  
  Her study of the working methods of scientists helps in understanding how class and instructional laboratory settings can be improved to foster creativity, and how new teaching methods can be developed based on this understanding. These methods will allow science students to master model-based reasoning approaches to problem solving and open the field to many more who do not think of themselves as scientists as traditionally viewed.
  
  “Cognitive studies of scientific and technological thinking reveal that scientific reasoning and problem solving, even if at times extraordinarily creative, extend ordinary cognition,” said Nersessian. “This implies that many more people could become scientists, given well-designed training. Teaching methods developed from investigations of model-based reasoning are already improving student mastery of science.”
  
  Before her election as a Fellow, Nersessian served as president of the Cognitive Science Society during 2003 to 2004 and was on the governing board from 2001 to 2006.
  
  She is currently associate editor of the journal, Cognitive Science.
  

  For more information Contact David Terraso (Phone: 404-385-2966)

• "Outcasts United” Author Visits Georgia Tech

  September 22, 2009

  New York Times reporter and bestselling author, Warren St. John, will visit the Georgia Institute of Technology September 24-25.
  
  St. John’s latest book, Outcasts United, is assigned reading for GT1000 students this semester. The book features a Clarkston, Ga., soccer team comprised of refugees from various war-torn countries and highlights their resilience in the face of extraordinary hardship.
  
  St. John will present a lecture for GT1000 students and a seminar for faculty/staff. He will also serve as the keynote speaker for Georgia Tech’s Family Weekend and sign copies of his book at the Barnes & Nobles Bookstore at Georgia Tech.
  

  For more information Contact Lisa Grovenstein (Phone: 404-894-8835)

• Provost Highlights Tech’s Role in Sustainability

  September 20, 2009

  The Georgia Institute of Technology, a leader in sustainability and green technology development, will continue to be on the cutting edge of discovery and innovation while preparing students to meet the challenges of the future, according to the Institute’s Provost Dr. Gary Schuster.

  

  Georgia Tech Provost Gary Schuster
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  Schuster is one of four keynote speakers at the second International Presidential Forum on Global Research Universities organized by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Seoul. He is also serving as the American representative for a press conference focusing on green technology development preceding the symposium.
  
  “Georgia Tech is working to position itself as a global leader in education, research and service in the area of sustainable development,” said Schuster. “We continue to take an interdisciplinary approach to learning, providing international experiences for our faculty and students and creating a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship - all while framing our values and principles around concepts of sustainability.”

  Schuster believes that, looking forward, innovation and technology will play a vital role in helping to address global challenges acknowledging that external costs will be necessary.
  
  “Strong domestic and international government funding for basic and applied research is certainly one tried and true collaboration model that has produced solid results,” Schuster said. “This innovation and prosperity engine has certainly proved viable for the United States over the last 60 years, and I believe that globally this will remain the key tactic for a successful green technology revolution.”
  
  When it comes to innovation, Schuster noted that no single country had a lock on all the good ideas. “No sole private organization or public agency has the capacity to fully understand and provide all the holistic green technologies that we urgently need now and in the future. Collaboration between government, academia and business will continue to be vital.”
  
  Researchers at Georgia Tech continue working toward sustainable solutions in a variety of disciplines and focus areas. For example, Georgia Tech’s University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaics is developing better ways to use solar power. The Institute is also addressing the growing concern over carbon cycle issues and climate trends through the development and deployment of new technologies in carbon management. Focus areas include carbon capture and sequestration related to power generation. Researchers in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Science are studying hurricanes and working with farmers in Bangladesh to better understand the monsoon and drought cycles, while city and regional planning experts are looking for better ways to build the metropolitan areas of the future with a focus on sustainability.
  
  “Georgia Tech’s goal is to be a global university,” concluded Schuster. “We see globalization as a pathway to more efficient innovation, improved knowledge and technology transfer and better and faster product and service development, all leading to a better quality of life, improved environmental outcomes and more robust and stable economies worldwide.”
  
  

  For more information Contact Lisa Grovenstein (Phone: 404-894-8835)

• Bioengineering student named Kauffman Fellow

  September 17, 2009

  Georgia Tech bioengineering Ph.D. student Yash Kolambkar is one of 13 postdoctoral researchers to be named among the first Kauffman Postdoctoral Fellows.
  

  

  In addition to providing a salary and benefits to support the fellows’ research over the course of the yearlong fellowship, the Kauffman Foundation has matched each fellow with an academic advisor to mentor him/her on matters beyond research, and an experienced investor or corporate leader to serve as a business mentor. During the fellowship year, each fellow also will undertake an industry internship suited to his or her research interests and objectives.
  
  Kolambkar is a researcher in the biomedical field with a strong focus on translation of research ideas into commercially viable products.
  
  Yash has earned a technology commercialization certificate from the nationally recognized TI:GER (Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results) program, based at Georgia Tech and Emory Law School. In the program, he developed a commercialization plan for his PhD technology, which would restore cartilage in osteoarthritic patients. He has been a consultant to VentureLab, where he identified and evaluated Georgia Tech technologies with strong commercial potential.
  
  He is currently preparing to successfully defend his PhD thesis.

  For more information Contact Don Fernandez (Phone: )

• ECE Receives $2 Million Commitment from Harris Corporation

  September 17, 2009

  The Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) has received a $2 million commitment from the Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company headquartered in Melbourne, Florida.

  

  The $2 million gift, made through the Harris Foundation, will help support a capital campaign for construction of a new ECE headquarters facility and the renovation of the school’s 47-year-old Van Leer Building.
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  The gift, made through the Harris Foundation, will help support a capital campaign for construction of a new ECE headquarters facility and the renovation of the school’s 47-year-old Van Leer Building, where some 7,000 students receive instruction each year.
  
  Harris will donate $500,000 each year for four years beginning in 2010 �“ the anticipated completion date of the Georgia Tech Foundation’s private fund drive for the new facilities. Specifically, the Harris gift is intended for construction of an auditorium or other similar space.
  
  Dr. G.P. “Bud” Peterson, president of Georgia Tech and Howard L. Lance, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Harris, today signed an agreement for the donation during a special ceremony at the Harris Customer Briefing Center in Melbourne, Florida. The event also included a reception attended by Harris employees who are Georgia Tech graduates and by other representatives from the university.

  “Our faculty and students are currently scattered across 10 buildings around the campus, the Van Leer classrooms are outdated, and the building lacks adequate laboratory facilities,” said Dr. Gary S. May, professor and Steve W. Chaddick School Chair of ECE, who also attended the check presentation.
  
  “Clearly, this generous lead gift from Harris Corporation provides significant momentum for the school’s long-term capital needs and helps to create a new presence that will serve us well in the 21st Century.”
  
  Harris has a decades-long partnership with Georgia Tech and its School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, which is the largest producer of electrical and computer engineers by degree in the nation. The company employs nearly 200 of the school’s graduates.
  
  In addition to the $2 million gift announced today, Harris has donated some $280,000 to the university since 2006. This includes a five-year, $250,000 pledge for a research lab in the Nanotechnology Research Center, and another $30,000 to support various programs within the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
  

  For more information Contact Lisa Grovenstein (Phone: 404-894-8835)