June 2009 Archives

The Queen's honors were announced on 13 June, 2009.

Mohamed Abdou, Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Applied Science at UCLA, has been elected the first President of the newly formed Council of Energy Research and Education Leaders (CEREL), based in Washington, DC. The Council was formed by the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE). The NCSE says the CEREL is "the first multidisciplinary membership organaization made up of heads of academic energy research and education centers. Abdou is Director of the Center for Energy Science and Technology Advanced Research (CESTAR) at UCLA and is also a member of Fusion Power Associates Board of Directors. Thirty universtiy energy centers have joined CEREL to date.

Upon his appointment, Abdou said, "A key objective of CEREL is to enhance the role and visibility of universities as premier institutions for carrying out cutting-edge fundamental and applied research on all aspects of energy production, transmission, storage, and utilization that can lead to innovative and practical solutions for a sustainable energy future. CEREL also provides an important forum for sharing experience among universities in regards to educating and training the workforce and future leaders of the energy field in the many diverse scientific and social science disciplines involved. CEREL helps enable energy research and education at universities to become larger than the sum of their parts."

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (16 June 2009) - Harold L. Flescher, a dedicated volunteer with degrees in nuclear physics and a good understanding of business and financial issues who has served in IEEE Technical Societies, boards and committees for over 40 years, is being honored by IEEE with the 2009 IEEE Richard M. Emberson Award. IEEE is the world's leading technical professional association.

LOS ANGELES —June 12, 2009— The Northrop Grumman Foundation is accepting teacher applications for the 2009 Weightless Flights of Discovery. This annual professional development program allows teachers to prepare for and participate in micro- and zero-gravity flights to test Newton's Laws of Motion with the purpose of taking the experience back into their classrooms to energize their students in science and math subjects during the formative middle-school years.

Middle-school math and science teachers are welcome to seek additional information and apply for the program by visiting www.northropgrumman.com/teachers.

During Fiscal Year 2008, ten events that occurred at facilities licensed or otherwise regulated by the NRC and/or Agreement States were determined to be AOs. Section 208 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-438) defines an abnormal occurrence (AO) as an unscheduled incident or event which the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) determines to be significant from the standpoint of public health or safety. The Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-68) requires that AOs be reported to Congress annually.

The report describes five events at NRC-licensed facilities. The first NRC-licensee event involved radiation exposure to an embryo/fetus. The other four NRC-licensee events were medical events, as defined in Title 10, Part 35, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 35). All five NRC-licensee events occurred at medical institutions. The report also describes five events at Agreement State-licensed facilities. The first Agreement State-licensee event involved radiation exposure to an embryo/fetus. The other four Agreement State-licensee events were medical events, as defined in 10 CFR Part 35, and occurred at medical institutions. As required by Section 208, the discussion for each event includes the date and place, nature and probable consequences, the cause or causes, and the actions taken to prevent recurrence. Each event is also being described in NUREG-0090, Vol. 31, "Report to Congress on Abnormal Occurrences: Fiscal Year 2008.'' This report is available electronically at the NRC Web site.

The American Physical Society (APS) Forum on Physics and Society (FPS), in partnership with the Society of Physics Students and the APS Forum on Graduate Student Affairs (FGSA), proudly announce the 2009 recipients of the Student Fellowships in Physics and Society. They are Kevin Thomas, University of Central Florida and Zhenyuan Zhao, University of Miami. The primary goal of the Fellowships is to provide research and project opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students interested in physics and society, and to raise the awareness of applying physics to problems in society as a career and as an important undertaking by members of the physics community.

Joshua Fuchs, Rhodes College, and Gabriel Caceres, Augustana College, are recipients of the 2009 SPS Outstanding Students Awards for Undergraduate Research. They will represent the United States and SPS and present their research at the 2009 International Conference of Physics Students (ICPS), August 10-18, 2009, in Split, Croatia. Expenses for transportation, room, board, and meeting registration will be paid by SPS. They will also receive a $500 honorarium and a $500 award for their SPS Chapter. In addition, they will be invited to give their research presentation at a SPS Research Session at a national meeting in 2009-10.

Tucson, AZ - June 1, 2009 - Research Corporation for Science Advancement, America's first foundation dedicated solely to science, announced today the 10 recipients of its 2009 Cottrell Scholar Awards. These awards, which provide a grant of $100,000 to each recipient, represent the foundation's largest individual grant for scientific research and teaching.

WASHINGTON, June 2, 2009—The American Chemical Society (ACS) will rename its Washington, D.C., headquarters building in honor of Clifford and Kathryn Hach, whose Colorado‑based scientific foundation donated $33 million to ACS in support of high school chemistry teaching. Society officials said the donation is the largest ever for ACS.

Work has demonstrated how modeling biological processes in the brain can be used to solve complex computational problems

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (3 June 2009) — John J. Hopfield, a researcher whose focus on combining neurobiology, physics and electrical engineering bridged the gap between biological processes and computer technology, is being honored by IEEE with the 2009 Frank Rosenblatt Award. IEEE is the world's leading professional association for the advancement of technology.