Posted on Apr 15, 2005

The College's mechanical engineers continued their winning ways at the regional student conference of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers at the University of Maryland.

Bob Dunton '05, also majoring in computer science, took first in the design competition of a bulk transporter. He will represent Union at the national ASME conference competition in November. He was advised by Prof. Bill Keat. Dunton also took second in the poster competition for “A Computational Study of Axisymmetric Droplet Breakup in Time Varying Flows Using Parallel Processing” (Profs. Brad Bruno and David Hemmendinger).

Shira Mandel '05, who also majors in chemistry, placed first in the poster competition for her poster on “Aerogels: Effects of Chemical Precursors on Physical Properties.” (Profs. Ann Anderson and Mary Carroll).

Dan Archibald '05 won best technical presentation in the oral competition for “The Aerodynamics of a Modern Sports Car.” (Prof. Anderson)            

Nathan Stodola '05 placed fourth in the oral competition with “An Organ of Fire and Ice.” (Prof. Bruno)

David Korim '06 won a student award for “outstanding efforts and accomplishments on behalf of the ASME student section at Union College.”

These students continue the trend of Union successes at ASME. Last year, Tim Smith '04 won the oral competition, Marissa Post '04 placed second, and  Katie Arthur '04 won the poster competition. Smith went on to compete in the National ASME speaking contest.                                

In 2003, Smitesh Bakrania '03 placed first in the oral competition, Mark Hoffman '03 third, Scott Clark '03 second in the poster competition, and Ben Tillotson '03 placed third. Bakrania went on to place second at the national ASME speaking contest.                     

In 2002 David Chapin '02 placed first in the oral competition, Ben Gauthier '02 second, and Jeremy Losaw '02 won the poster competition. Chapin took fourth at the national event.

The ASME Region III Student Conference included 44 schools from New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.

This year's design competition involved the design of a Bulk Material Transporter. For more, visit: http://www.asme.org/students/Competitions/designcontest/2005/Design_Problem_Description.html)

Posted on Apr 15, 2005

When art historian Louisa Matthew finished the only economics class she ever took in college, she thought she was done with things like supply and demand. “If you had told me I'd be studying economics after that,” she said, “I would have fainted.”

But Matthew finds herself immersed in economics – the business of art – for her research on paints used by Venetian Renaissance artists.

Her research is chronicled in a recent issue of Science News.

Renaissance paintings from 15th- and 16th-century Venice have long been known for their vivid and glowing colors. But what makes them so?

Matthew had been trying to answer that question in the dusty state archives of Venice, where she pores over nearly-illegible documents handwritten in archaic Italian. One piece of paper, a store inventory from 1534, confirmed her long-held suspicion that the color vendors of the day sold painting supplies to a wide variety of craftspeople who used colorants and related supplies – not just to easel painters but to anonymous painters of furniture, masks, textiles and even the inside and outside walls of houses.

The discovered document spurred Matthew's colleague Barbara Berrie, a conservation scientist at the National Gallery in Washington, to take another look at some paint samples from works by Venetian artists. She discovered glass particles mixed with the paint, which seem to have been used for a variety of purposes: as paint extender, dryer and perhaps to add luster to paint colors.

 “I hypothesized from the beginning that shops were patronized by all sorts of craftspeople – glassmakers, dyers, masons and gondola painters,” Matthew said. “Now we can talk about Venice as a nexus for sharing ideas and teaching across professions.”

Teaching across professions is nothing new to Matthew. She has long called on colleagues from across campus to help in her work. “I understand how exciting these connections are,” she said. “That's what's great about teaching here.”

Matthew has team taught a course — and hike — on the Camino de Santiago, a 1,000-year-old pilgrimage route in Spain, with Prof. Victoria Martinez of modern languages; and a course on Renaissance Florence with Prof. Steve Sargent of history. She is planning a new GenEd course on the science of art conservation with colleagues in the chemistry department.

The Science News article on Matthew's research is online at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050312/bob8.asp.

Posted on Apr 14, 2005

Schenectady, NY (April 14, 2005)– Union women's hockey assistant Jackie MacMillan (Buffalo, MN) was inducted into the Buffalo Hockey Hall of Fame between periods of the Buffalo High School versus St. Francis varsity hockey game back on December 18, 2004. She was one of six people to be honored as part of the second class of Hall inductees. Consideration for induction was given on the basis of individual contribution to the development of hockey in the Buffalo, Minnesota area.

During the ceremony MacMillan was recognized as a goalie who set the bar for Buffalo hockey players to reach their fullest potential. She originally started as a player in New Ulm before her family moved to Buffalo at the age of 14. MacMillan was chosen as a goalie for the Bantam A team in just her first year, playing two years on the team. She then played three years for Buffalo varsity, serving as a captain in her senior year before playing at the University of Wisconsin for four years.

At Wisconsin MacMillan played in 121 games, earning 75 career wins and 15 career shutouts. She logged close to 7,000 minutes in goal, had a .912 save percentage and a 2.08 goals against average. In 2002 she led the Nation with a 1.30 goals against average. She was a two-time WCHA All-Academic Team honoree with the Badgers and was named to the WCHA first and second teams. MacMillan was also a four-time WCHA Defensive Player of the Week and named a USCHO National Defensive Player of the Week.

She credits her mom (Tracy), dad (Mike), and brother (Michael) for her success saying — “without them I would not be where I am today”.  She also thanks Buffalo hockey, her teammates and coaches for seeing her as 'just another kid who wanted to play hockey' and is “thankful for every opportunity the Buffalo Youth Hockey Association gave me”.

Posted on Apr 14, 2005

Union engineers uphold 'winning' reputation at regional competition

For the fourth year in a row, Union students took top honors in competitions at the American Society of Mechanical Engineer's Regional Student Conference at the University of Maryland, College Park.

The ASME Region III Regional Student Conference was held at the University of Maryland, College Park, on April 8-9. Region III includes 44 schools from New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.

Senior Bob Dunton, who is majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, took first place in the design competition and will go on to represent Union College at the National ASME conference in November.  The project involved constructing a bulk transporter which could carry a minimum weight from one location to another. Dunton said “My machine carried 22 times more rice than anyone else!”  He was advised on this project by Professor Bill Keat. 

Dunton also took second prize in the poster competition for his poster on “A Computational Study of Axisymmetric Droplet Breakup in Time varying Flows using Parallel Processing”; for which was co-advised by Brad Bruno in Mechanical Engineering and David Hemmendinger in Computer Science.

Shira Mandel, senior majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Chemistry, placed first in the poster competition for her poster on “AEROGELS…. Effects of Chemical Precursors on Physical Properties.”  Shira was co-advised by Professor Ann Anderson in ME and Professor Mary Carroll in Chemistry.

Dan Archibald (ME '05) won Best Technical Presentation in the oral competition for his presentation on “The Aerodynamics of a Modern Sports Car.” Dan was advised by Professor Ann Anderson.

Nathan Stodola (ME '05) placed 4th in the oral competition for his presentation on “An Organ of Fire and Ice.” Nathan was advised by Professor Brad Bruno.

David Korim (ME '06) won an Outstanding Student award from ASME for “outstanding efforts and accomplishments on behalf of the ASME Student section at Union College.”

These students continue the trend of successes exhibited by Union College at the ASME conference in previous years. In 2004 Tim Smith ('04) placed first in the oral competition, Marissa Post ('04) placed second in the oral competition and  Katie Arthur ('04)  placed first in the poster competition). Tim went on to compete in the National ASME speaking contest.                                

In 2003 Smitesh Bakrania ('03) placed first in the oral competition, Mark Hoffman ('03) placed third in the oral competition, Scott Clark ('03) placed second in the poster competition and Ben Tillotson ('03) placed third. Smitesh went on to place 2nd overall at the National ASME speaking contest.                                

In 2002 David Chapin  ('02) placed first in the oral competition, Ben Gauthier ('02) placed second in the oral competition and Jeremy Losaw  ('02) placed first in the poster competition. Dave went on to place 4th overall at the National ASME Speaking Competition.

This year's design competition involved the design of a Bulk Material Transporter (more information can be found at: http://www.asme.org/students/Competitions/designcontest/2005/Design_Problem_Description.html)

Posted on Apr 13, 2005

Michael Ondaatje, best known for his landmark novel, The English Patient, will speak and read from his work on Tuesday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.

The talk, part of Union's Perspectives at the Nott lecture series, is free and open to the public.

The English Patient won the 1992 Booker Prize and then became an Academy Award-winning movie. The author of five novels, Ondaajte also writes memoirs, film scripts and poetry.

Born in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), he lives in Toronto and teaches at York University. Along with top Canadian writers Leonard Cohen and Margaret Atwood, he is hailed as one of the most interesting and important living contemporary writers.

He began publishing lyric poems in the late 1960's. His work quickly morphed into a unique and complex mesh of poetry and prose, historical fact, photos, interviews, and (often avant- garde, even hallucinatory) images and fiction. He has written books set in places as diverse as the 19th-century Australian Outback, Billy the Kid's American West, the turn-of-the-20th-century jazz world of New Orleans, immigrant workers' communities in Toronto ca. 1930s, World War II Europe and North Africa, contemporary rural Ontario, and contemporary Sri Lanka.

Using his own mesh of genre and approach, he has imagined the 20th century, its roots and trajectories, in a unique, multi-cultural way. He has made three films of his own and recently published a book-length interview with famed Hollywood film editor Edward Murch.

Ondaatje also will visit Prof. Ed Pavlic's seminar, “Pictures Fly Without Target”: the Prose-Poetics of Michael Ondaatje's Writing. His visit marks the third consecutive year an internationally-acclaimed author has visited with English / Africana Studies classes. Previous visitors have included Yusef Komunyakaa and Adrienne Rich.