THE HOGAN YEARS: - University of Massachusetts Lowell

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CampusNews UML Student Takes Top Honors at EPA Green tea makes a potent brew for graduate student Subha Nagarajan, who won a $75,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With the funding, she will further develop her research into promising anti-cancer compounds that are synthesized from a component of green tea using environmentally benign, green chemistry methods. Subha Nagarajan More than 350 university students, comprising 42 teams, gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to compete for the EPA’s second annual P3 (People, Prosperity, Planet) Award. The P3 program encourages the development of sustainable technologies that lead to commercialization. The students showcased their research entries to the public at the National Sustainable Design Expo, set up in a tent on the Mall for two days before the awards ceremony. The exchange of ideas with other teams was terrific, but the competition was fierce, as just six projects were chosen for awards. “I was so sure I wouldn’t win that I told my father not to attend the awards ceremony,” says Nagarajan, whose father was covering the event as a journalist from India. “The judges asked very tough questions, but Dr. Kumar had asked me at least 50 percent of those same questions before! He is everything you could hope for as an advisor.” Physics Prof. Jayant Kumar, director of the Center for Advanced Materials, heads the research project in collaboration with Prof. Susan Braunhut of the Biological Sciences Department. In emphasizing the collaborative nature of research, Nagarajan gives credit to members of the team and suggestions from other groups. Among them are U. S. Army scientists Dr. Lynne Samuelson and Dr. Ferdinando F. Bruno; Prof. Braunhut’s group; Dr. Ram Nagarajan and Sandhya Nagarajan; retired Chancellor William T. Hogan, for support through the Chancellor’s seed grant; Prof. Kenneth Geiser; Pamela Civie of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute and Prof. John Warner and his group. Green Chemistry Student Wins NSF Fellowship Laura Ingalls, first-year doctoral student in the Green Chemistry Program, has her work cut out for her—and the funding to do the job. Ingalls has won a three-year, $131,500 research fellowship grant from the National Science Foundation, under the program for promoting science in the community. Ingalls joins a research group in green chemistry that is investigating environmentally benign photoresist materials to be used in electronics and other industries, using thymine copolymers. The new copolymers would replace the coating material used in making printed circuit boards. Most importantly, an enzyme from e-coli can be used to make the polymers biodegradable and recyclable. “Think about what happens to all the components in a printed circuit board at the end of its usable life,” says Ingalls. “What we’re developing is a Laura Ingalls material that can change condition. First we use ultraviolet light to make the polymer crosslink—it becomes water insoluble and is usable in electronics. At the end of its life, we break the bond—it becomes water soluble and degradable—using an enzyme.” Ingalls is working on isolating an enzyme and inhibitor combination— a sort of trigger mechanism—for controlled release to undo the crosslinking. She is also investigating other enzymes that are more robust and less temperature-sensitive. Luo’s Research Advances Process Technology Asst. Prof. Yan Luo of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department is conducting research in the area of computer architecture, particularly the processors that are specialized for network or packet processing. Packets are bunches of information and, as they travel through the Internet, they reach different processing locations. “With all the new applications, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), these new requirements make the processing more complicated,” Luo says. “We’re working on speeding up the processing by using multiple programmable units on a single chip.” Intel has awarded Luo a $25,000 grant for a project using a network processor to build a scalable deep packet inspection system—that is, to closely 8 UMASS LOWELL MAGAZINE WINTER 2007
CampusNews Yan Luo with a network processor and carefully inspect packets for viruses or malicious code as they are processed. Intel also has made an equipment grant for his second major research area —wireless mesh network routers. Practical applications for this research could include disaster relief situations in which first responders could deploy wireless nodes that would transmit information to a command center. Outlook UML Listed as One of America’s Best Value Colleges UMass Lowell is one of 150 public and private colleges included in the 2007 edition of “America’s Best Value Colleges,” produced annually by The Princeton Review (PR). Based on data PR obtained from administrators at 646 colleges and surveys it conducted of students attending them, the 2007 edition recommends 103 public and 47 private colleges in 40 states. According to Robert Franek, vice president of publishing at PR, “We use more than 30 factors to rate the colleges in five categories: academics, tuition, price minus average amount students receive in gift aid scholarships and grants, financial aid (how well colleges meet students’ financial need) and student borrowing.” UML Attracts More and Better Students For many years, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions was charged with maintaining the size of the incoming fall freshman and transfer population. This year was different. For fall 2006, the Chancellor asked the office to increase the number of incoming students without sacrificing quality. That’s exactly what happened. The incoming freshman class numbered 1,240 students and transfers totaled nearly 750—a combined increase of about 10 percent. At the same time, SAT scores of incoming students averaged 1,088 while their Grade Point Averages were at the 3.21 mark, both slightly higher than the previous year. Kerri Mead, acting director of Admissions, and Michael Belcher, acting director of Outreach and Recruitment, say they believe the increases can be attributed, in part, to the University’s reputation and a growing awareness of students of the scope of education they may need to prepare for today’s careers. “We’ve seen an increase among highly qualified students,” Mead says. “They realize they’ll need more than a bachelor’s degree and are willing to look at an affordable undergrad experience at a public school—as long as it’s good quality. Then they can go on to graduate school without being swamped by debt.” Belcher points to the increase in the individual Deans’ Scholarship awards from $2,000 to $4,000 each year. “This is more in line with the offers from other schools these students are getting,” he says. “This makes us more competitive.” Longtime Chancellor’s Assistant, Joyce Sullivan, Retires Joyce Sullivan, seated in center, retired this summer after serving many years as administrative assistant to Chancellor William Hogan, now also retired. The farewell reception gathered many longtime friends and colleagues, retired and current, many of whom held administrative positions across campus. Sitting to Sullivan’s left and right are Val Leahey and Pat Gallagher. Standing, from left, are Marie Sherman, Bernie Galvin, Patricia Masterson, Vera Preston, Donna Gryzb, Joy Ennis and Kay Merrill. UMASS LOWELL MAGAZINE WINTER 2007 9
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Page 3 and 4: TableofContents WINTER 2007 VOLUME
Page 5 and 6: CampusNews companies in the state.
Page 7 and 8: Louise Griffin People Griffin Honor
Page 9: CampusNews amputees of previous con
Page 13 and 14: CampusNews Can Masks Prevent a Pand
Page 15 and 16: CampusNews students found tremendou
Page 17 and 18: CampusNews nursing homes,” says P
Page 19 and 20: CoverStory 5. 6. It was the fall of
Page 21 and 22: CoverStory 7. 8.. 7. Chancellor Hog
Page 23 and 24: CoverStory 10. 11. 12. 10. Sen. Ted
Page 25 and 26: Chancellor MacKenzie Sets Goals for
Page 27 and 28: says Joe Dorsey, “was the only pl
Page 29 and 30: FeatureStory Doug Prime, left, and
Page 31 and 32: Creativity Loves Company FeatureSto
Page 33 and 34: Joe, second from right, with his so
Page 35 and 36: AlumniEvents 8. 9. 8. Class of 1956
Page 37 and 38: Lowell City Manager, a ’78 Politi
Page 39 and 40: CampusNews “You’re married; you
Page 41 and 42: CampusAthletics The Field Hockey Te
Page 43 and 44: ClassNotes 1976 Jim McDonough was r
Page 45 and 46: ClassNotes Terri L. Pastori has bee
Page 47 and 48: Two Tournaments and a Road Race Com
Page 49 and 50: For additional merchandise, visit u
Page 51 and 52: Calendar of Events WINTER ’07 Feb

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