Posted on Mar 12, 2009

A group of mechanical engineering students, led by professor Ron Bucinell, will spend their spring break in Boru, Ethiopia, hoping to tap a clean water source for the village’s 5,000 residents.

This will be the first official trip for the College’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders, a non-profit international humanitarian organization that partners with developing communities to improve their quality of life, primarily through the work of engineers and engineering students.

Rebecca Damberg-Mauser ’08 was instrumental in starting Union’s chapter in 2007-08. The group, which spent most of the year getting up and running, now numbers about 19 students.

The idea for the water project sprung from Tehtena Tenaw ’09, who was born in Ethiopia. When Tenaw, the president of Union’s EWB chapter, returned home for a wedding last summer to the town of Dese, about an hour from Boru, she met with the Ethiopian Water Authority and the elders of Boru.

Until about two years ago, the village, which consists primarily of farmers and institution workers earning a maximum of $50 a month, had been getting its water from the Momay Spring. But a construction project accidentally caused the spring, which is located under a school, to close.

To assist with the project, Union enlisted the expertise of CDM, a national engineering firm with an office in Latham, N.Y. Two engineers there, Paul Cabral and Roy Richardson, met regularly with students to discuss technical issues and provide training.

In Boru, Union’s team will dig test wells, examine water distribution possibilities and perform a health survey of the area. The group leaves Saturday, March 14, and returns two weeks later. Another trip is planned for December.

“Restoring the well will mean that children will no longer have to carry five gallon containers filled with water back to their village on a daily basis,” Bucinell said.

Joining Bucinell and Tenaw in Boru will be Julie Fehlmann ’12, Philip Lambert ’ll and Max Becton ’ll. Cabral, from CDM, also will accompany the group.

Students held a series of fundraisers to help pay for the cost of the trip, which is approximately $8,000; the College also contributed funds.

“This trip exposes students to the human side of engineering,” Bucinell said. “It helps college students see that they can make a difference globally.”

Posted on Mar 12, 2009

The Mandeville Gallery’s newest exhibit, “Dynamic Equilibrium,” explores the intersection of art and science. It seeks to stimulate interdisciplinary dialogue by presenting contemporary artists who explore science and contemporary scientists who explore art.

Two Union scientists are among those whose work is featured. Electrical Engineering Professor Palma Catravas and Associate Professor of Biology Kathleen LoGiudice have teamed up to supply the show with captivating images from the College’s scanning electron microscope (SEM).

“Palma and I got together because she was looking for interesting biological materials to image using the SEM,” LoGiudice said. “I provided her with ticks, which we discovered under the microscope were dead and covered with a fungus. We got some really striking images, not only from the biologic point of view, but from the aesthetic point of view.”

Some of these images, complete with fungus and tick body parts, will be on display during “Dynamic Equilibrium.”

“I love being part of the intersection between art and science,” Catravas said.

“It’s a great way to showcase how important tools like the SEM are,” LoGiudice added. “I tried to include materials in the show, for instance, that explain that this fungus is under investigation as an environmentally friendly, biologic tick control. There’s a potential social benefit to carefully imaging these things.”

“Dynamic Equilibrium” also features work by the League of Imaginary Scientists, Stefano Coluccini, Daro Montag, Laura Splan, and Amy Youngs and Ken Rinaldo. Early scientific apparatus from the Union’s College Permanent Collection will be displayed as well.

The show, which runs through Sunday, May 10, is co-sponsored by the departments of Biology, Geology, Computer Science, and Physics and Astronomy, and the offices of the Dean of Engineering and the Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies.  

Related events include:

·   Friday, March 20, 5-9 p.m., Art Night Schenectady reception, Nott Memorial

·   Thursday, April 9, 4:30 p.m., “Physics and Art” lecture, Reamer Campus Center Auditorium, by Thomas B. Greenslade Jr., professor emeritus of physics at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio. Greenslade is an expert on early physics apparatus and has worked to select and indentify Union’s early scientific apparatus.

·   Thursday, April 9, 5:30-7 p.m., artists’ reception and Gallery Talk, Nott Memorial

·   Monday, April 20, 6 p.m., lecture by Ken Rinaldo and Amy Youngs, “Parasite to Symbiont, Olin Center Auditorium; reception to follow.

Posted on Mar 12, 2009

Professor of Engineering Ashaf Ghaly has had several pieces published in recent issues of “Concrete Today.” “The State of the Union’s Infrastructure: Challenges and Opportunities,” was published in the January 2009 issue. “Canada’s Confederation Bridge Surpasses Concrete Records” was the cover story in the magazine’s December 2008 issue. And “Vote for American Infrastructure” appeared in the October 2008 issue. In addition, Ghaly recently spoke on “A Hybrid Course to Introduce American Students to Engineering and Humanistic Aspects of Ancient and Modern Egypt,” at the 35^th Annual International Conference of the Association of Egyptian Scholars. The conference theme was "Cooperation Among Scholars in Egypt and Abroad: Strategies and a Vision for Modern Education. 

Tarik Wareh, assistant professor of classics, has received two awards to support work on his book, “The Lost Years: Literary Competition, Philosophy and Politics in the Generation after Plato and Isocrates,” a study of the interconnected ideas and careers of intellectuals connected to Athenian philosophical and rhetorical schools of the fourth century B.C. A stipend from the National Endowment for the Humanities will support research this summer. In addition, from September 2009 through May 2010, Wareh and his family will take up residence at Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C., a premier research library where he will work in the company of other fellows elected for the year. Wareh also was named an alternate for the American Academy in Rome’s prestigious Rome Prize for 2009-2010.

Stephen Berk, the Henry and Sally Schaffer Professor of Holocaust & Jewish Studies, will speak on the history of modern Israel as the Scholar-in-Residence at Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks, Calif., March 20-22.  He will focus on “Three Who Made It Happen: Herzl, Ben Gurion and Begin and the Creation of Israel” and also discuss "Israel at a Crossroads."

Posted on Mar 11, 2009

Here’s a reminder that the Wikoff Student Gallery staff and the LGBTQ Allies, along with their sponsors, are issuing a call for entries to a second annual art exhibition, “LGBTQ: A Union Perspective.” Submission are being accepted until 4 p.m. Friday, March 13. Please click here for details. Entries from all members of the Union community are invited. For more information, contact Courtney Seymour, head of Collection Development, Schaffer Library; ext. 6632.

Posted on Mar 11, 2009

Friday, March 13-Monday, March 16, 7 and 10 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Auditorium / Film: “Frost/Nixon”

Friday, March 20, 5-9 p.m. / Mandeville Gallery / Art Night Schenectady reception for “Dynamic Equilibrium”  art and science exhibit 

Friday, March 27, 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. / F.W. Olin Center / Union College Mohawk Watershed Research Group hosts a symposium on the physical aspects of the Mohawk River Watershed;  30 organizations and institutes will be represented; all day poster and oral presentations on recent research, followed by a banquet with a keynote address by R.H. Boyle.

Tuesday, March 31, 4 p.m. / Buck Ewing Field, Central Park, Schenectady / Men's baseball vs. William Patterson