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Table of contentsEngineering students get front row seats at Tech Museum awards Engineering students get front row seats at Tech Museum awards |
News for the Campus Community
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| Michael Hackworth '63 with engineering students at the Tech Awards |
| “The Tech Awards challenge and transform our perspective on the world we share. The laureates exemplify the justice of solidarity that demands not only research and analysis, but also action.” |
| —Paul Locatelli, S.J., SCU President |
The Tech Awards honor individuals and organizations from around the world who are applying technology to profoundly improve the human condition in the areas of environment, economic development, education, equality, and health. Each winner, picked by a panel of judges assembled by SCU’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society, received a $50,000 cash honorarium to recognize contributions in applying technology to solve global challenges and improve the lives of people around the world.
The attendance of engineering students at the Tech Awards was made possible by the sponsorship of alumnus Michael Hackworth ’63, a longtime University supporter and donor who is also a member of the Tech Museum’s board of trustees.
“Seeing that the laureates took tiny steps to achieve their goals gives us hope that someday we can do the same,” said Shyamala Balasubramanian, a graduate engineering student at SCU and secretary for Engineers Without Borders. “It’s a real honor to be among the laureates.”
SCU President Paul Locatelli, S.J., stressed the significance of the Tech Awards as he welcomed more than 1,100 people to the black-tie gala. “Santa Clara faculty-led panels considered applications from 560 nominations, representing 80 countries. The unique partnership with The Tech Museum and corporate sponsors enables Santa Clara University to deliver on our mission - to educate students to fashion a more humane and just world,” he said. “Each one of these innovators has put their commitment and know-how to work, and as a result they are making the world a better place for all of us.”
The 2005 Tech Museum Awards cash prize recipients are:
- Enviro Options (Pty) Ltd. received the Intel Environment Award for its Enviro Loo, a waterless dehydration/evaporation toilet for the developing world. Kya Sands, South Africa - www.eloo.co.za.
- SELCO Solar Light Pvt. Ltd. received the Accenture Economic Development Award for supplying power to rural India and for application of micro-financing opportunities for its customers to pay for the service. Bangalore, India - www.selco-india.com.
- MIT OpenCourseWare received the Microsoft Education Award for making course materials for all of its undergraduate and graduate classes available free of charge on the Web. Cambridge, Mass., USA - ocw.mit.edu.
- The Hib Vaccine Team received the Agilent Technologies Foundation Health Award for creating an affordable, synthetic vaccine against the bacteria that can cause meningitis and pneumonia. Havana, Cuba - www.uh.cu/.
- The Center for the Improvement of Working Conditions & Environment received the Knight Ridder Equality Award for its efforts to improve working conditions for adults in the carpet weaving industry, thereby encouraging child workers to return to school. Lahore, Pakistan - www.ciwce.org.pk.
Edward Schaefer awarded Fulbright Scholar grant, SCU students benefit
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| Edward Schaefer |
Schaefer is using the Fulbright grant not only to help Mzuzu University create a master’s of science program, but also to help subsidize the visits of two SCU seniors who are studying at Mzuzu University. The students will return to Santa Clara at the end of the fall quarter. In an e-mail from Malawi, Schaefer shared yet another way in which he is putting his grant to work: “I am also using the award to support a few hundred villagers I know during the oncoming famine,” he wrote.
Malawi is located in southeastern Africa; many tour companies bill it as “the warm heart of Africa.” Robert Bekes, chair of SCU’s math and computer science department, said, “Ed is an adventurer as well as an innovative thinker, so it came as no surprise that he wanted to do a project in a remote part of Africa. The Fulbright Scholar award exemplifies Ed's commitment to sharing his knowledge and skills not only with students here at SCU but with communities throughout the world. We are very proud of his work."
Schaefer is one of approximately 850 U.S. faculty and professionals who are traveling abroad through the Fulbright Scholar Program to some 150 countries. Recipients of Fulbright Scholar awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and because they have demonstrated extraordinary leadership potential in their fields. Among the thousands of prominent U.S. Fulbright Scholar alumni are Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate in Economics; James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA and Nobel Laureate in Medicine; and Craig Barrett, CEO of Intel Corporation.
Richard Osberg heads new Office of Student Fellowships
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| Richard Osberg |
Advising Santa Clara University’s brightest students about fellowships and grant
| “Our students are certainly capable and qualified to compete for these scholarships. It is a matter of making students aware of the opportunities and giving them the tools they need to be strong candidates.” |
| —Richard Osberg, Professor, SCU Department of English |
Osberg describes the new office as having two primary roles: to disseminate information about the fellowships, and to mentor and support students during the intense application process. “We know for almost all of these grants, independent undergraduate research is very important,” Osberg said, so the Office of Student Fellowships has secured funding for a new series of junior fellowships for students interested in pursuing undergraduate research.
Osberg works closely with the Fellowships Committee, comprised of faculty members from across campus. He commends the committee for their work advising students and taking on the very involved task of reviewing grant applications.
The committee includes Gerald Alexanderson (math), Simone Billings (English), Catherine Sandoval (law), Jane Curry (political science), Kathleen Maxwell (art), and Timothy O’Keefe (history). Periodically, faculty from other departments are asked to sit in to review candidates, as Craig Stevens (biology) recently did to review a Fulbright candidate.
The Office of Student Fellowships will also work to identify students early on who might be strong fellowship candidates and advise them on shaping their academic career to achieve their goals. Advising includes keeping the student’s best interest in mind and stressing the idea that the fellowship is not the final goal, but rather a means to a larger goal.
Web site offers tour of sustainable features of Commons on Kennedy Mall
Straw bales and pallets of succulent plants may not be the first things that come to mind when thinking about the construction of a new building on campus, but they are two of the sustainable features of the Commons on Kennedy Mall and their functions are explained in an interactive display on the Sustainability at SCU Web site.
Once completed, the Commons will be a flexible, multipurpose space that will include meeting rooms, a kitchen, classrooms, and lecture space for faculty and students. It is designed as a demonstration building and will be used to evaluate sustainable building techniques that may be used in upcoming campus projects. The Commons is scheduled to open in January 2006.
Sun Microsystems grant allows students to work with cutting-edge technology
Engineering students at Santa Clara now have access to the highest end desktop workstations produced by Sun Microsystems, thanks to a grant from Sun totaling $318,232. The funds enabled the University to buy 53 Sun Blade 2500 workstations at a substantial discount.
The workstations put Santa Clara University’s school of engineering in a category of its own. According to Lantz Johnson, manager of the University’s Engineering Design Center, Santa Clara is the only school in California to have such advanced Unix computer equipment. “For the Unix-based engineering student interested in working on Sun Unix, this is the best school to be enrolled at,” Johnson said.
SCU in the News |
Geoffrey Bowker (Center for Science, Technology, and Society) was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle about the Tech Museum Awards. Read the story.
Judy Nadler (Markkula Center for Applied Ethics) wrote an opinion piece for the San Jose Mercury News on the White House’s mandate for all staff members to attend an ethics “refresher course.” Read the op-ed.
June Carbone (law) was quoted in a New York Times article about the legal issues around some of the technological advances in human reproduction. Read the story.
Gerald Uelmen (law) wrote an opinion piece for the San Jose Mercury News on the possibility of the Supreme Court gaining a majority of Roman Catholic justices if Samuel Alito is confirmed. Read the op-ed.
Margalynne Armstrong (law) was a guest on KQED's "Forum" on Nov. 4. The show focused on the role of a Supreme Court justice and how certain characteristics -- such as race, gender, and social and economic experiences -- affect that role. More SCU in the News.
SCU People |
Manoochehr Ghiassi (operations & management information systems), Dale Larson (counseling psychology), Robert Peterson (law), and Joe Sugg (operations) are all new members of the Adobe Lodge Board of Governors.
SCU Events |
Music at Noon -- Frank Jackson - Jazzman, Nov. 16, noon, Recital Hall: Octogenarian Frank Jackson is one of the “Bay Area Giants of Jazz.” Jackson will be performing with bassist Paul Smith and guitarist Brian Kane.
Reminder -- Multicultural Advancement Grant due dates:
- Friday, Nov. 18 (additional Fall date)
- Friday, Jan. 27 (Spring)
- Friday, April 28 (Winter)
For more information go to the Center for Multicultural Learning Web site or contact Mary Ho, associate director, at 554-7171 or mdho@scu.edu.
Video Gaming -- Playing with Ethics, Nov. 29, 6-8 p.m. at the Tech Museum, San Jose: In partnership with the Tech Museum of Innovation, Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society and Markkula Center for Applied Ethics will present a panel discussion on the societal impacts of video game play. The panel will feature California Assemblyman Leland Yee, Mike Antonucci (San Jose Mercury News), Kristin Asleson McDonnell (CEO, LimeLife), and Caroline Ratajski (SCU student). The Tech Museum is located at 201 S. Market Street in San Jose. For more information contact Sherrill Dale at sdale@scu.edu or 551-6027.
Upcoming professional development workshops:
- Creativity in the Workplace, Nov. 17, 10 a.m.-noon, Human Resources Learning Center
- Skillbuilder, Nov. 17, 2-3 p.m., Human Resources Learning Center
RSVP: www.scu.edu/hr/calendar/hrworkshops.cfm.
Grants, awards, and publications |
Susan De La Paz (education) received third-year funding from the East Side Union High School District (ESUHSD) that provides $83,852 to support "Fostering Expertise in the Teaching of American History: A Collaboration Between Educational Agencies in San Jose, CA and Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA." This is the final year of the three-year award to ESUHSD funded by the U.S. Department of Education. SCU's sub-award total for the three years is $288,315.
Barbara Molony (history) was the co-editor of “Gendering Modern Japanese History,” Harvard University Asia Center, 2005. Molony also published “Civilization Past and Present,” Longman, 2005.
Christopher Kitts (mechanical engineering) and Neil Quinn (computer engineering) published a journal article discussing SCU's robotics education program, “An Interdisciplinary Field Robotics Program for Undergraduate Computer Engineering Education,” Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) Journal of Educational Resources in Computing, (2005).
Sunwolf (communication) received a national award from the National Communication Association. Her article, “Being left out: Rejecting outsiders and communicating group boundaries in childhood and adolescent peer groups,” which appeared in the Journal of Applied Communication Research, was recognized as an Outstanding Scholarly Article in the Applied Communication Division. Sunwolf also published a book this month, “Jury Thinking,” LexisNexis Publishing.
Shauna Shapiro (counseling psychology) received a Contemplative Practice Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies for a project on "The Development of an Academic Course on the Use of Meditation in Psychotherapy, Focusing on Theory, Research, and Practice."
Catherine Montfort (French) recently had two pieces published: “Alexandrine Claude Guérin de Tencin (1682-1749).” The French Enlightenment. Ed. Samia Spencer. Bruccoli Clark Layman Publishers, Summer 2005; and “Self-Portraits, Portraits of Self: Adélaïde Labille-Guiard and Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun, Women Artists of the Eighteenth Century,” Pacific Coast Philology, vol. 40 (2005).
Susan Leigh Star (Center for Science, Technology, and Society) was elected the incoming president for the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S). 4S is the oldest and largest scholarly association devoted to understanding science and technology.
To submit grants, awards, and publication information, click here.
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