| A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR |
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 This
month we have focused on strengthening and expanding private
and public partnerships as we move forward into the fiscal
year 2007 and fiscal year 2008 funding cycles. In
addition to continuing to support our major government sponsors,
we have hosted a number of influential
academic and business leaders.
The following people are just a few of ARC’s visitors
during the past month:
- U.S. Southern Command - Major
Gregory Howe, Academic Outreach Officer, Strategy, Policy
and Plans & Mr. Mark Coy, U.S. Army Science Advisor,
Science, Technology and Experimentation–– To
explore the technical capabilities of FIU. Tours included:
the AMERI Nanotechnology Center, four of the Biomedical
Engineering labs and four of the labs at ARC. After familiarizing
themselves with the knowledge and experience of FIU they
expressed interest in sharing their findings with major
decision makers at SOUTHCOM and bringing the awareness
to said individuals that there are experts they can do
business with just down the street.
- U.S. Southern Command - Brigadier
General Mark Stearns, Director & Steven Wetzel, Deputy
Director, Strategy, Policy and Plans– the
purpose of this visit was to discuss a Memorandum of
Understanding between SOUTHCOM and ARC. As Director for
Strategy, Policy and Plans, Brigadier General Stearns
is responsible for advising the promulgation of United
States political and military policy for 30 nations and
11 dependencies. This agreement strongly supports the
initiative to develop the Western Hemisphere Security
Analysis Center (WHSAC) in Miami, which will be jointly
operated by FIU and SOUTHCOM.
- Electronic Data Systems Corp.
- Rick Sutton, DISA Client Delivery Executive & Jeff
Henderson, Technical Delivery Manager– Discussed FIU’s
participation in a major federal procurement entitled “Encore
II” which is funded by DISA. This program is handled
by ARC for the University.
- The Office of Carlos Alvarez, Mayor,
Miami-Dade County –Dennis Morales, Chief
of Staff for Mayor Carlos Alvarez met with Richard Burton
and I to discuss potential business with ARC’s Water
Division in order to assist the County in finding solutions
for water use and disposal. The meeting also included Assistant
County Manager Pete Hernandez.
- Nextream Broadband Philippines - General Pedro
Dumos, Chairman of the Board– Through
the Comprehensive Rural Development Foundation, Nextream
has brought light and power to areas of the Philippines
that had no electricity whatsoever. Dr. Norman Munroe,
Associate Director for Energy at ARC guided a tour of our
Fuel Cell Lab and ARC’s Center for Energy and Technology
of the Americas (CETA.) This tour group also included Loreto
A. Marcelino, General Manager for the Cebu Electric Cooperatives
I, II and III, as well as Rosario Teresita R. Diamante,
Assistant to General Pedro G. Dumol.
| IN THE SPOTLIGHT - Gloria Angulo |
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FIU Applied Research Center Recognized in Three Department of Defense Awards
 At
an award ceremony in Atlanta, Georgia, FIU’s Applied
Research Center was recognized, together with an elite
group of companies, by the Department of Defense (DoD)
with their esteemed DoD Nunn-Perry Award for 2006 for
their assistance in facilitating the partnerships between
three award-winning teams. This prestigious award is
named for former Senator Sam Nunn and former Secretary
of Defense William Perry, the founding sponsors of the
Department of Defense Mentor-Protégé Program
(MPP), for which this award is presented. The three award-winning
partnerships, for which FIU was recognized, were: AMEC
Earth and Environmental, Inc. in collaboration with ECHOTA
Technologies Corp.; the Boeing Company and its protégé Precision
Manufacturing Services; as well as Earth Tech Inc. and
its protégé ETI Professionals Inc. For
these partnerships FIU’s Applied Research Center
(ARC) provided mentoring assistance and the expert services
of the University.
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| AS SEEN ON TV |
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Applied Research
Center is often called upon by the media for their
input on issues affecting the South Florida community,
a duty we take very seriously and are happy to oblige.
Most recently our very own Jorge Gomez, PhD Research
Assistant under the WHIX project at ARC, appeared as
a special guest on the popular Spanish-language series “Opiniones”.
The show airs on WRLN-PBS (Channel 17) as part of the
PBS Sunday Spanish segment. The format of the show is
a 30-minute interview with host Pedro Corzo.
The topic of this particular episode was: the end of
abundant petroleum supplies and how renewable energies
will play an important part in the future of the U.S.
/ World economy. Mr. Gomez spoke on decreasing oil reserves,
the proposed shift towards natural gas, hopes for a viable
hydrogen economy, bio-fuels, and the importance of additional
research on alternative sources of energy.
Mr. Gomez is currently working on a project focusing
on bio-diesel. He used this opportunity to explain to
the public, in an easily understandable way, what bio-diesel
is, how it is made, the beneficial effects it has for
U.S. Agriculture, and the move towards more diesel cars
in the U.S. A comparison was also made between the development
of bio-mass, bio-fuels, wind and solar programs in the
U.S., Europe and Japan.
“Throughout the show I tried to emphasize that
there is no ‘silver bullet’ approach to the
energy predicament,” Gomez commented, “but
rather a portfolio of energy conversion strategies that
need to be adapted to local geographic and economic conditions
and definitely an increased requirement for more conservation,
recycling and cogeneration initiatives.”
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| SAME PLACES, NEW FACES: |
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ARC would like to welcome two new members to its
staff;
Dr. Dwayne McDaniel, Research Engineer for the
Defense Technology division and Kim Cole, Assistant Director
of Budgeting.
 Dr.
McDaniel comes to ARC from Exponent, Inc. where
he was employed as a mechanical engineer. There he
handled failure analysis projects which included accident
reconstruction, safety assessments and structure analysis.
Here he will be responsible for ARC’s F.A.A.
projects, soil erosion, wind tunnel testing, project
development, and proposal generation.
McDaniel holds a Bachelors Degree in Aerospace Engineering
and a Masters and PhD in Engineering Mechanics from
the University of Florida. He is a registered Professional
Engineer in the State of Florida and an active member
in the Society of Automotive Engineering, the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Institute
of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
He has been happily married to his wife, Pam, for
the past 6 years and has two children, three-year old
Connor and one-year old Alec. McDaniel also currently
teaches mechanical Engineering at the University of
Miami.
 Kim
Cole has joined FIU’s Applied Research Center
from a long history in Florida’s Educational
system. At Florida Atlantic University she worked as
the Assistant Controller in charge for University-wide
payables, accounts payable and pro-cards. Prior to
this she handled the accounting for over $30M in contracts
and grants for the College of Public Health at the
University of Southern Florida.
Here at ARC she will be responsible for payroll clearing,
budget transfers and the handling of other financial
matters for the center.
Cole holds an MBA from Tennessee Tech University,
a B.A. in Industrial Technology from Kean University
in New Jersey and is currently working on her dissertation
to complete her PhD coursework in Curriculum Instruction
and Higher Education Administration from USF. She is
a licensed CPA in the State of Florida and is experienced
in Graphics Technology (typesetting, layout and design.)
She is happily married to her husband, Gene and has
three sons; Tiernan 21, Austin 19 and Farrell 17. |
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| EVENTS |
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Hydrologic Fluctuations and Vegetation Dynamics
You are cordially invited to attend a seminar featuring
Dr. Ignacio Rodriguez-Iturbe, Professor from Princeton
University’s Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering Department. The topic for discussion will
be “Hydrologic Fluctuations and Vegetation Dynamics” and
will take place in FIU’s Engineering Center on
Friday, March 31st at 11 a.m.
The seminar will present a study of regional scale
vegetation patterns and controls in tree/grass composition.
Special emphasis will be placed in the role of soil
moisture as the controlling factor of the space-time
dynamics. The patterns of vegetation in savannas will
then be contrasted
with the spatial organization in river basins where
the landforms are a determining factor in the soil
moisture dynamics operating in the hillslope-drainage
network system. A feasible optimal vegetation arrangement
is suggested to operate around the structure of the
drainage network.
For additional information, contact
Dr. Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm
at Florida International
University
305-3483653
miralles@fiu.edu
Click here for invitation |
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| NEW ADDITIONS |
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This month ARC gained a new member
of its ever growing family. Weihua Zhang, ARC Analytical
Lab Manager, and his wife Mei Han, welcomed the birth
of their second son, Kevin Haonan Zhang. Kevin was born
on March 23rd at 12:46 PM. He was a healthy 8 pounds
8 ounces and 21.5 inches long.
9-year old Yinan Zhang is excited to have a new baby
brother to befriend, protect and nurture. Welcome to
the world Baby Zhang!
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