UAH

Registration for SAIC’s 2014 Case Competition closes Friday

Team registration for the 2014 SAIC Case Competition closes at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28. Undergraduates in any major who have a graduation date after May 2014 are eligible to participate in this annual event, and each team must comprise a minimum of three students with at least one from the College of Engineering or Science. Entry forms can be found here.

This year's theme, entitled "The Shifting Paradigm of Education in the 21st Century," challenges teams to consider what systemic changes can be made to education in America to produce the best-trained workforce possible and what role technology will play. Details of the case can be found here.

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UAH offering free, massive open online course in chemical engineering

Registration is now openfor "Chemical Engineering: Review of Enabling Sciences Through Problem Solving," a free, 9-week, online course offered by the College of Engineering at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). Those familiar with chemical engineering and those interested in learning more about the topic are encouraged to enroll.

UAH professor Dr. Krishnan Chittur, who will teach the course, says that the objective of "Chemical Engineering" is to review essential concepts from the four key enabling sciences that impact chemical engineering education: chemistry, mathematics, physics, and biology.

"By introducing problems that chemical engineers are asked to solve and exploring the reasons why the enabling sciences are required to solve them," he says, "participants will gain a better understanding of the underlying disciplines supporting the work in chemical engineering."

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UAH one of 15 public universities to join rally at Higher Education Day

Over 150 students from UAH will join thousands of their peers in the annual Higher Education Day rally, which will kick off at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 27, in front of the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Ala.

"Each year funding from the federal government for higher education is cut, and those costs are then passed on to students in the form of tuition increases," says Nandish Dayal, a student in the College of Nursing and the president of UAH's Student Government Association. "So the rally allows students from Alabama's 15 public universities to gather together and present a united front in asking for increased federal funding from our elected leaders."

To facilitate the effort, the SGA provides free breakfast and transportation to and from the event, and each student receives a class excusal from the Provost's Office. "They will also get a free t-shirt and are eligible to win an iPad," says Dayal. "And the student organization with the most participants wins a trophy!"

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UAH launches new tool to simplify accrediting and reporting

The Office of Academic Affairs at UAH is excited to announce the implementation of "Digital Measures Activity Insight," a new online tool designed to organize and report on teaching, research, and service activities.

According to Academic Affairs, curating information for accreditation and reporting purposes in the past has been a more manual, labor-intensive process. But given that Activity Insight is a fully customizable product, the process will now be simpler for everyone.

The software, which is compatible with Banner, was already tested in a small-scale rollout that allowed Academic Affairs to make changes based on feedback about problems encountered. It is now being implemented campus-wide.

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UAH’s ICE Lab to co-host informational workshop for new food entrepreneurs

The Innovation, Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship (ICE) Lab of the College of Business Administration at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and Rosita's Farm are pleased to announce a workshop targeting new food entrepreneurs on Tuesday, March 4, in downtown Huntsville. "Starting Up a Food Business" will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the second floor of Amendment XXI, 123 Northside Square. Admission is $20 for adults; children are free.

Two food startup professionals from the Shoals Culinary Center, Executive Director Giles McDaniel and chef Kevin Kilburn, will give the feature presentation, including tips to help new food businesses get off the ground, understand regulations for production and packaging, and market themselves.

Karen Wynne, the workshop's organizer, says she was inspired by her own need for information as a food business entrepreneur. "My husband makes a mean chimichurri and we sell it at the farmers market," she explains, "but I'd like to know what's involved in processing and packaging it for a larger market."

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UAH’s College of Liberal Arts teams with Downtown Huntsville Inc. for LIT

Attention, Rocket City residents! The College of Liberal Arts at UAH and Downtown Huntsville Inc. is pleased to present LIGHT + INNOVATION + TECHNOLOGY (LIT), a mesmerizing projection art demonstration that will take place on Saturday, March 8, from 7 – 11 p.m. on the Courthouse Square.

"LIT is the integration of art and modern technology, blending music with timed visuals," says Aaron Sexton, Director of Video Productions for the College of Liberal Arts and a UAH alumnus. "In this case, we'll be using two 10,000-lumen projectors to project animated visuals from the top of the Courthouse onto the eight-story AL.com building."

The evening, which is free and open to the public, will also include an LED light display on the old State Bank of Alabama building, music courtesy of UAH student DJ Papa Rooster, LED hula-hoop entertainers, and complimentary glowsticks to the first 200 guests. And beginning at 7 p.m., the city's Arts & Entertainment District will be in full swing, with attendees able to purchase adult beverages from local venders and mingle throughout the festivities.

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2014 Hope Campaign kicks off with "Capturing Hope"

This year's Hope Campaign at UAH has officially kicked off! Sponsored by the Counseling Center, the campaign seeks to educate students on suicide prevention measures and provide messages of hope, health, and wellness to the campus community.

"This is actually year two that we have received the Garrett Lee Smith Foundation Suicide Prevention Grant, which is funded by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association," says Kelly Cothran, a counselor at the center. "And our first event of this year was Capturing Hope, which was held on campus last week."

Capturing Hope invited students, staff, and faculty to stop by the Charger Union lobby to have their photograph taken while holding a blank sign. Participants were then asked to select or write their own positive messages of hope, which were added to the signs in postproduction.

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UAH's College of Business Administration presents forum on climate change featuring noted scientists Kerry Emanuel and John Christy

"A Conversation on Climate Change," will be presented on  Monday, March 3, by UAH College of Business Administration's Distinguished Lecture Series.

Well-known economist Russ Roberts of Stanford University's Hoover Institute, and host of EconTalk will moderate a conversation between climate scientists Dr. Kerry Emanuel of The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Dr. John Christy, of UAH. The lecture will be presented at 5:30 p.m., in the Chan Auditorium of the College of Business Administration Building. A reception will immediately follow the forum. This event is free and open to the public. To confirm your attendance, please RSVP at: Gabriele.Cromartie@uah.edu.

Where do scientists agree and disagree on climate change? What evidence might bridge the gaps of disagreement? How can the average citizen navigate complex issues of science, economic impact, and public policy? Professors Emanuel and Christy will examine and discuss these and other climate change questions during the forum.

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UAH’s ICE Lab to co-host workshop on building the city’s electric-vehicle-charging infrastructure

The Innovation, Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship (ICE) Lab of the College of Business Administration of UAH and Nexus Energy Center are pleased to announce a workshop open to the public to launch a dialogue on how to engage the community in building the electric-vehicle-charging infrastructure in Huntsville. This public forum will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21, at Nexus Energy Center, 6767 Old Madison Pike NW. Admission is free to all Nexus Energy Center members; otherwise, admission is $10 for adults (includes one friend) and free for children.

UAH's Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship and Leadership, Dr. John R. Whitman, will open the discussion by presenting a successful case study of how sustainable products and services can enter the market both through supply- and demand-side innovations.

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UAH alumnus Thomas Spain to give Honors College lecture on improving healthcare

The opportunity to "learn under" nationally recognized faculty and participate in leading edge research at UAH spiked Thomas K. Spain's ('06 BS Physics) curiosity and his drive to think outside the box.
 The UAH alumnus returns to the university on Thursday, Feb. 13, as a guest lecturer for Honors College. Spain's lecture "All Hands on Deck: The Healthcare Ship is Sinking and We Need You on the Team," will be presented at 11:10 a.m., in the Shelby Center for Science and Technology room 107. The talk is free and open to the public.

He earned his doctor of medicine degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, where he is completing combined residency training in internal medicine and pediatrics.

Spain grew up in Huntsville and has been familiar with UAH since he was young boy. Both of his parents attended the university, and his dad, Dr. Thomas "Kenny" Spain worked here for 25 years, as a senior research associate. During his tenure at UAH, Kenny Spain conducted research on various energy programs at the Alabama Solar Energy Center, Johnson Research Center, and the Earth System Science Center.

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