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Taking on Austin
No lunch orders or paper filing for these interns. On-the-job training takes on new meaning as students from the Graduate College of Social Work take on Austin. The political social work interns are working in various legislative offices during the 80th Texas Legislature. Among their roles: researching issues, meeting constituents, and writing proposals.
She Takes Home the ‘A’
Second graders who like math and science? Believe it! Maria Carandas’ students at Kolter Elementary School cheer multiplication tables and eagerly discuss science. Carandas (’06) was named the National Student Teacher of the Year by the Association of Teacher Educators—the first time a student from the College of Education has received the honor. Carandas encourages real-life applications, so that her students not only learn the lessons, but also understand them. In May, she addressed a different group of students as the college’s commencement speaker.
Renewable by Design
Renewing and reusing polluted water from a New York City sore spot has earned honors for a fourth-year architecture student. Fizza Hasan received a 2007 Design Award (student category) from the Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Her “Hydroponics Lab” design created a system that would renew and reuse polluted waters of Newton Creek in Queens, which retains industrial pollution. Hasan focused on developing a natural ground field that would clean contaminated soil while creating public green spaces to beautify and treat the area—an artificial, but edible hydroponics field that would produce fruits and vegetables using the treated water.
Suited for Space
It’s hard to boldly go where no one’s gone before if you can’t keep from falling down. Melissa Scott-Pandorf, a doctoral student in the Department of Health and Human Performance, is researching ways to give those bulky space suits a sleek, new design for easier strolls across Mars.
While watching hours of video of the Apollo lunar missions, Scott-Pandorf saw hundreds of astronauts lose their balance, fall, and struggle to get up during their space walks. Her solution? Lower the astronaut’s center of gravity to provide more stability. It’s the same idea as if you were balancing
on a surfboard bending your knees and staying low. Her study also may impact how backpackers outfit themselves for optimal hiking experiences. .
Pollution-Free Energy
Chemistry graduate student Cherry Santos has spent countless hours constructing and dissecting tiny molecules that may hold the key to a clean energy breakthrough—powering cars and homes with pollution-free electricity. These newly discovered molecules could resolve some practical issues that have kept hydrogen-powered fuel cells from widespread use. These ionic liquids would be used as electricity conductors in batteries and in solar and fuel cells. Unlike electrical conduction methods currently in use, the new compounds are noncorrosive and would not evaporate. Santos, whose research is uncovering the compound’s surface properties, will present her findings this summer
in The Journal of Physical Chemistry.
On Top of the World
What’s the view like from the top of the world? Ask science teacher and education Ph.D. candidate Ute Kaden. Her involvement with the research and education group PolarTREC (Teachers & Researchers Exploring & Collaborating) has taken her aboard icebreakers to the Arctic where she assisted in research and taught online science courses to her students in Brownsville, Texas. PolarTREC, funded by the National Science Foundation, allows K-12 teachers to participate in polar research in the Arctic and Antarctic as well as work closely with scientists as a way to improve science education. |
