Posted on Apr 26, 2010
Assistant Professor Samuel Amanuel and Associate Professor Chad Orzel of the Physics Department traveled to the 2010 March Meeting of the American Physical Society in Portland, Ore., the largest physics conference in the world, featuring more than 7,500 papers over the course of the week. Amanuel presented his research on phase transitions in confined materials in a talk on “Melting and Freezing of Decanol Inside Nanoporous Silica” and a poster, “First Order Phase Transition of Primary and Secondary Decanol Inside Nanoporous Silica.” Both covered research conducted in his lab with students Amer Khraisat ’13 and Jargalsaikhan Dulmaa ’13. Orzel gave an invited talk on “Lasers in the Undergraduate Laboratory: Precision Measurement for the Masses” as part of a special session organized for LaserFest, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first working laser in 1960. The concept of the laser had been developed by several scientists, including Union physics alumnus Gordon Gould ’41. Orzel discussed a number of laser experiments conducted in Union physics classes and how they illustrate techniques used in ultra-precise measurements.
“Small Wonders: The Perspective Boxes of Charles Steckler,” was exhibited at the Butzel Gallery of the John Sayles School of the Arts in Schenectady recently. Charles Steckler is professor of theater and resident scenic designer.
Daniel Mosquera, associate professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies, spent a week at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, where he visited several classes and delivered a talk, titled “Re-telling Saint Francis of Assisi in the African Diaspora: The Case of Quibdó (Chocó), Colombia.” In addition, Mosquera’s documentary, "San Pacho es pa´l que lo goce" (“Sanpachando”), was screened in January at Bates as part of his visit and part of the college’s MLK Workshops Day program.
John Garver, chair of the Geology Department, has a paper titled “Pliocene onset of rapid exhumation in Taiwan during arc-continent collision: New insights from detrital thermochronometry” in the June 2010 issue of the international journal, Basin Research. Co-authors are L.A. Kirstein, M.G. Fellin, S.D. Willett, A. Carter, Y.-G. Chen and D.C. Lee. The paper shows that the Coastal Range in eastern Taiwan is made up a basin that captures sediment from the ongoing collision in Taiwan. Using multiple dating techniques on detrital mineral, the authors are able to pinpoint when and how the collisional orogenic belt initiated. The zircon fission track dating for the paper was done in the Union fission tracking lab. Basin Research publishes original, high impact research papers on sedimentary basin systems.
Cheikh Ndiaye, associate professor of French, presented a paper at a conference at Columbia University on Intellectualism in Francophone Africa, celebration of Abdoulaye Sadji’s centennial. His paper features La randonnée de Samba Diouf, co-written by Jérôme and Jean Tharaud, two French brothers thought to be among the precursors of the Negritude movement in the 1920s. In addition, at a conference on the Francophone Caribbean and North America at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Ndiaye presented a paper titled “Rapports Amérique du Nord-Caraïbe Francophone: Problématique de l’Espace ou du Statut?”
Andrew Rapoff, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering and co-director of Bioengineering, and Ron Bucinell, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering, along with anthropologist colleagues Scott McGraw of Ohio State University and David Daegling of the University of Florida, recently published a paper in The Anatomical Record titled "Full-Field Characterization of Wishboning Strain in the Colobine Mandibular Symphysis." They investigated how the lower jaw is deformed by action of the chewing muscles that causes "wishboning," the tendency of the jaw halves to pull apart from one another. Mechanical tests were performed that simulated this loading, and deformations of the lingual and labial (inside and outside) surfaces of the symphysis (chin region) were determined using a stereo photogrammetry technique. The results indicate that these deformations are much more complex than is traditionally supposed in comparative studies of functional anatomy. The results further support related work by these authors that inclination of and bone density in the symphysis are synergistic in reducing stresses in this region of the mandible. This work was supported by a National Science Foundation grant awarded to Rapoff.
The Alpha of New York Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at Union, established in 1817, has admitted 33 new members. Twenty-seven members of the Class of 2010 were elected this year. They are: Ian Clemente, Elizabeth Culp, Katharine Davis, Maria Dzialo, Allison Frederick, Ashley Gilman, Natalie Grome, Alex Handin, Megan Hyndman, Hyma Kavuris, Kathryn Krakowka, Cristina Liquori, John Mahlstedt, Katharine Meyer, Benjamin Miles, Kathleen O'Connor, Reuben Oswald, Stacy Paull, John Peters, Leah Robison, Michelle Russo, Matthew Santa Barbara, Casey Sheridan, Genevieve St. Hilaire, Sarah Tardiff, Kimberly Tureck and Matthew Zawodniak. They join classmates Brandon Bartell, Emily Feld, Rivka Fidel, Paul Hebert, Ann Keller and Jamie Luguri, who were elected last year. Six members were inducted from the Class of 2011: Elizabeth Ackley, Peter Bonventre, Kristina Csaplar, Michelle Richter, Caroline Tulp and Kseniya Zhuzha.
Martin Benjamin, professor of photography, recently had an opening reception at IKONA Gallery in Venice for his new monograph, “Atomic Age” (Atomic Age/Digital Press, 2009). Benjamin is currently in Italy directing the term abroad in Florence. The show was curated by IKONA’s noted owner, Ziva Krauss, whose gallery is located in Campo del Ghetto Nuovo, a historical piazza in the Cannaregio district that is known as Venice’s Jewish ghetto. The exhibition runs through May. In conjunction with the exhibit, which runs through May, Benjamin will present a three-day workshop titled “The World Around: Photography Through Love/Hate.”
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