Purdue works on greener production
of biofuels and electricity
West Lafayette, IN – Researchers at Purdue University are proposing a new approach
to producing alternative fuels, hydrogen and electricity from municipal solid wastes, agricultural wastes, forest residues, sewage sludge and the like. They predict that the
new method could supply as much as twenty percent of transportation fuels in the U.S. every year.
The method offers a potential solution to problems created by increased production of ethanol using corn grain as a feedstock. Boosting ethanol production by conventional methods requires additional crops, and heavy fertilizer use which increases runoff into waterways and threatens ecosystems.
 The new concept would require no additional crops, as it primarily
uses wastes as the feedstock, says Fu Zhao, a Purdue assistant professor of ME.
The system uses carbon-containing wastes like paper, wood, plastic and rubber. The wastes are ground up and fed into a gasifier, which turns them into a gas rich in hydrogen,
CO, CO2, methane and other hydrocarbons.
Cleaned up, the product becomes synthesis gas: syngas. It can power a turbine to generate electricity, or be converted into gasoline and diesel fuel.
The new process could also create ethanol, jet fuel and other biofuels, researchers believe. They estimate the method can be economically competitive with petroleum-based fuels, and plan to develop a simulation model to test the technique with a variety of feedstocks, including waste plastics. An experimental gasifier is currently being built at Purdue.
NASA selects science teams for astrobiology institute
Pasadena, CA – Last fall NASA awarded five-year grants to ten research teams to study the origins, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. The grants average $7 million each, and the interdisciplinary teams will become new members of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, located at the agency’s Ames Research Center (Moffett Field, CA).
A team from the University of Hawaii, lead by principal investigator Karen Meech, will consider the origin, history and distribution of water and its relation to life in the universe. A team from Ames, guided by principal investigator David Des Marais, will investigate the creation and distribution of habitable environments in emerging planetary systems. A group at JPL, headed by Isik Kanik, will investigate the habitability of icy worlds like Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus and Jupiter’s moon Europa.
Scientific teams at Arizona State University, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY), Pennsylvania State University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Goddard will also contribute original research.
To learn more about the NASA Astrobiology Institute and its new teams, visit astrobiology.nasa.gov.
NSBE Region 6 conference hosted by Microsoft
 Redmond, WA – In 2008 Microsoft was selected as most preferred employer for the second consecutive year by Region 6 of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE, www.nsbe.org).
Last fall the company hosted the Region 6 annual conference. Mario Pipkin, GM of the enterprise experience division of Microsoft’s IT engineering organization, spoke about the need to increase the number of black engineers in the U.S., highlighted increased opportunities for African Americans in IT, and discussed efforts to increase the number of black engineers at Microsoft.
The conference also featured an academic tech bowl, a career fair, and workshops,
some geared toward NSBE’S goal of increasing the number of culturally responsible
black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact
the community.
U.S. STEM talent pool:
deep but not fully tapped
Washington, DC – The Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology (CPST, www.cpst.org), a nonprofit research organization, has released the seventeenth edition
of Professional Women and Minorities: a Total Human Resources Data Compendium.
 The report shows that despite some minor gains, the potential for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers in the U.S. is not being fully realized. While women have made impressive gains in many professional fields, their progress in the STEM fields has been uneven. Members of key U.S. minority groups: African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, have barely gained any ground at all in scientific and professional fields, either in education or in the workplace.
Lisa Frehill, exec director of CPST and an author of the report, notes that “Maintaining the U.S. technological edge depends on our ability to recruit and retain engineers from our
deep talent pool. While we’ve seen incredible progress in women’s participation in some
key areas, their low level of representation in CS and engineering needs to be a matter of national concern.
“The dismal representation of Hispanics in the STEM workforce will also a big problem for the U.S. in the future because of the projected growth for this group.”
The report finds that a downward trend in women among first-time engineering college enrollees continued in 2006, the most recent year for which final data are available. Women accounted for less than one in five engineering college grads at the BS level.
For both women and underrepresented minorities, representation declines as the degree level increases. Just 26 percent of STEM doctoral degrees were awarded to women and 6 percent to underrepresented minorities in 2006.
U.S. faculty in STEM is predominantly white (78 percent) and Asian (14 percent).
Women constitute 46 percent of the U.S. labor force but only 37 percent of the 10.1 million STEM workers.
The U.S. confers more bachelor-level degrees than any other nation in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, but the relative proportion of STEM degrees is lower than for other nations. Japan confers far fewer first degrees but nearly equals the U.S. in number of STEM degrees.
On a slightly more encouraging note, the percentage of U.S. female high school grads who went on to college increased from 45 percent in 1965 to 70 percent in 2005.
Co-author Nicole Di Fabio says, “It’s heartening to see an increase in women and minorities in STEM higher education and the workforce, but women still face disparities.”
Professional Women and Minorities: a Total Human Resources Data Compendium is available at www.cpst.org.
Grace Hopper Celebration calls for participants
 Palo Alto, CA – The Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology (www.anitaborg.org) supports women in computing through networking and professional conferences. Its premier event is the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (www.gracehopper.org), designed to encourage women’s research, educational and career interests.
Grace Hopper is the world’s largest gathering of technical women in computing. This year’s celebration, “Creating technology for social good,” is slated for Tucson, AZ, September 30 though October 3. The call for participants is open now.
Presenters, panels and poster presentations are all needed; presentation applications are due by March 16. Submissions that emphasize diversity and international participation are especially encouraged.
New this year is a category highlighting work by women who are new investigators in the computing field. Panels, workshops and presentations will provide in-depth discussion of technical and career-related topics.
Check www.gracehopper.org/2009 for more details on this stimulating get-together.
Merrimack College CE team does earthquake work at Cornell
 North Andover, MA – For a month last summer CE professor Dr Aaron Bradshaw
and students Gail da Silva and Michael McCue from Merrimack College visited Cornell University (Ithaca, NY). Working with Cornell’s Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) program, they were researching damage detection and health monitoring of buried pipelines after earthquake-induced ground movement. The work was part of a $1.6 million NSF grant focusing on utility pipelines and systems.
With the help of Cornell grad students and technicians, the Merrimack students and
prof spent nearly three weeks working to set up the test inside a pipeline test bed about
the size of an eighteen-wheeler truck. After three weeks of prep work the test went off:
a four-minute one-shot deal which revealed both bent and cracked joints and telescoping
pipe segments.
Armed with their new experimental results, prof and students returned to their home campus for lab work measuring soil properties. From that, they hope to suggest better pipeline installation methods for the future.
Doe Run and Northstar Battery partner to
support science ed
St. Louis, MO – The Doe Run Co, an integrated lead producer, sources much of its lead in its home state of Missouri. The company runs a minerals education program for K-12 students in Missouri, and through a partnership with its client Northstar Battery (Springfield, MO) a new component has been added
to the program. Northstar has customized one of its storage batteries, giving it a see-through plastic case so students
can peek in to observe how power is stored for emergency backup.
“We are always looking for new ways to bring science to life for students,” says Angie Nations, community relations specialist and a ten-year minerals
ed team member at Doe Run.
When Nations visited Northstar Battery she saw a display model of a storage battery encased in clear plastic. “It was immediately apparent how valuable it would be to have one to share with middle and high school science students,” she says. The battery is now the focal point of a new minerals education program.
Doe Run bases many of its minerals education activities on material provided by Women in Mining and the Minerals Information Institute. To learn more about the program email mineralseducation@doerun.com.
Industry/community college partnerships build the tech workforce
 Ann Arbor, MI – Building Tomorrow’s Workforce, a report sponsored by Lumina Foundation for Education, indicates that many future workers will be younger, documented Hispanic immigrants without higher education credentials. But strategic relationships between industry and community colleges, the report suggests, can boost the economy over the long term by training tomorrow’s workers.
Jeannine La Prad, president and CEO of the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, which led the study, notes that researchers “found examples of successful partnerships between manufacturers and community colleges that are committed to helping today’s workforce gain needed skills.”
One successful partnership is between Miami Dade Community College and Florida Power and Light (FPL). The company collaborated with the college to develop a two-year associates program in electrical power technology.
The report finds that the workforce in 2014 will be strongly defined by two factors: the retirement of large numbers of baby boomers and the rapid growth of the Hispanic workforce. These legal immigrants need greater post-secondary education opportunities to fill expected gaps in industry sectors related to infrastructure and green manufacturing.
Hispanics are the fastest growing segment of the population, but one of the least educated. If the nation is to fill the projected workforce gaps, there will have to be a concerted effort to better educate documented Hispanic immigrants.
Building Tomorrow’s Workforce highlights six innovative partnerships between community colleges and manufacturers. Each program focuses on enrolling Hispanic immigrants in college-level coursework, getting buy-in from employers, and strong commitment from a local community college.
For a full copy of Building Tomorrow’s Workforce contact Alisa Kesten, akesten@douglasgould.com.
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