BEE Professors Lars Angenent and Norm Scott have co-authored a chapter, Practical aspects of methane production from agricultural wastes, for the recently published book, BIOFUELS from Agricultural Wastes and Byproducts, by Blaschek, Ezeji and Scheffran (Wiley-Blackwell, Ames, IA).  From the book description: "Traditional agriculture and emerging biofuels technology produce a number of wastes and by-products, ranging from corn fiber and glycerin to animal manure, that have the potential to serve as the basis for additional sources of bioenergy that includes both liquid biofuels and biogas."


A paper co-authored by BEE faculty member John C. March and BEE Research Associate Faping Duan titled "Engineered bacterial communication prevents Vibrio cholerae virulence in an infant mouse model", appearing in  the Jun issue of Natl Acad Sci U S A 2010 Jun 22 107(25):11260-4, has been selected for the Faculty of 1000 Biology site.  Faculty of 1000 Biology is an award-winning online service that highlights and evaluates the most interesting papers published in the biological sciences, based on the recommendations of over 2000 of the world's top researchers. It was launched in January 2002 and already over 90% of the world's top institutions subscribe.  Papers are highlighted on the basis of their scientific merit rather than the journal in which they appear.  Duan and March's paper was evaluated by Roy Kishony of the Microbiology Department of Harvard University and given an exceptional ranking with F1000 factor of 9.0.  The evaluation states: [read entire review here]
This important work demonstrates that cross-species chemical communication between bacteria can be harnessed to prevent disease by engineering a "medicinal strain" that manipulates the transcription of virulence genes in a pathogen, leading to a much increased survival of cholera-infected mice.

Professor John March and Research Associate Faping Duan's article, Engineered bacterial communication prevents Vibrio cholerae virulence in an infant mouse model, Duan F, March JC Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2010 Jun 22 107(25):11260-4, has been selected for the Faculty of 1000 Biology, an online service that highlights and evaluates the most interesting papers published in the biological sciences.  The review, by Harvard Professor Roy Kishony: Faculty of 1000 Biology, 10 Aug 2010 http://f1000biology.com/article/id/4598956/evaluation states "In this simple but elegant study, Duan and March demonstrate that an engineered strain of E. coli can dramatically improve the survival of infant mice infected with Vibrio cholerae by using chemical communication to make the pathogen play nice".  The review goes on to state "this work is an important proof-of-principle ... and should serve as timely inspiration for pursuing similar ideas of cross-species communication in other contexts".

Todd Anderson, a PhD student with Professor Todd Walter in the Soil and Water Lab, has won 2^nd place in the Poster Presentation at the NABEC 2010 meeting in Geneva, NY.  Congratulations, Todd! [Summer 2010]

Emeritus Professor J. Robert Cooke has published a booklet he wrote for his major advisor at North Carolina State University, Dr. Henry Bowen, on his retirement in 1991, titled "The Theses, Papers and Publications of Henry D. Bowen and His Students - 1952-1991".  As posted on eCommons @Cornell: This compilation was prepared as a tribute to Henry D. Bowen when he was conferred emeritus status ... Bowen's creative influence deeply affected the topics that his graduate students deemed worthy of pursuit in their own careers ... He had an instinct for sensing the heart of an unsolved problem and then determining a path that would lead to a deeper understanding that led to an engineering solution.

Cornell Local Roads Program Recognized for its outstanding research by the National Research Council, National Conference at Virginia Tech and Jiangsu Transportation Research Institute in China.   Professor Lynne Irwin and Senior Extension Associate David Orr each have been invited to chair one of eight panels that review national pavement research policy and accomplishments by the National Research Council's Transportation Research Board.  About once every twenty years the NRC impanels a small group of researchers to review national pavement research policy and accomplishments.  It is extraordinary for both Lynne and David to be asked chair panels, as it is highly unusual to have more than one individual from an institution to be asked.  Congratulations, Lynne and David.   Professor Lynne Irwin has also been asked to make the keynote presentation related to Structural Analysis Methods at the National Conference on Pavement Evaluation to be held at Virginia Tech in October, 2010.  Lynne's presentation will be titled, "Pavement Structural Evaluation: Where We Are and Where We Are Going".  This conference is attended by over 400 practitioners and researchers.  Professor Lynne Irwin has been asked to conduct a seminar on "How we calibrate falling weight deflectometers" at the Jiangsu Transportation Research Institute in China.

Shane Rothermel and Scott Tucker, BE'10, have won second place in the 2010 NABEC-ASABE Student Design Competition for their design project, "Farm-Based Two-Phase Thermophilic Anaerobic Codigestion Process for Dairy Manure".  Their research was accomplished in the Angenent Lab.  Congratulations! [Summer 2010]

Instant Testing for Sore Throats wins the CIMIT Primary Healthcare Prize. Mark Hartman, a PhD Candidate in the Luo Lab, "will lead the team chosen to receive the $150,000 top honor in the 2010 CIMIT Prize in Primary Healthcare competition. His team's project seeks to apply novel DNA-based 'fluorescence nanobarcodes' as a platform technology for multiplexed rapid clinical diagnoses in primary care."  Congratulations, Mark! [Summer 2010]

Mike Campolongo, a BME PhD Candidate who works in the Luo Lab, has won a "Best Scientific Achievement" award from the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) for his poster presented at a users meeting. His poster was selected as the best out of the 53 entries presented.  Congratulations, Mike! [Image shown is from winning poster] [Summer 2010]

Mike Walsh: Creating the new, transformed information exchange. This article in the Summer 2010 EZRA Magazine  discusses the online class BEE 3299, Sustainable Development, created by Professor Norm Scott and now also taught by Professor Mike Walter.  Mike Walsh, a Ph.D. candidate in Professor Beth Ahner's lab, has been the course TA for two semester.  Per Mike Walsh, "the key to using technology to enhance the educational and student experience is online collaborative software". [July 2010]

BEE is pleased to announce that Professor Todd Walter has been promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure.  Congratulations, Todd! [July 2010]


Professor Yves Parlange, after 25 years of service to the BEE department, has retired and been appointed to Professor Emeritus status. [July 2010]

CT binding to mouse intestines PNAS, June 21, 2010

Engineered bacterial communication prevents Vibrio cholerae virulence in an infant mouse model.  Professor John March and BEE Research Associate Faping Duan's article is featured in "PNAS Early Edition" (PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA).  From the article abstract: "This finding points to an easily administered and inexpensive approach where commensal bacteria are engineered to communicate with invasive species and potentially prevent human disease". [June 21, 2010]







Reunion 2010:  BEE welcomed alumni and current and former faculty on Saturday, June 12th, from noon to 1:30.  Emeritus Professor Gerry Rehkugler arranged a display of our Rau model plow collection, we also had demonstrated talks held in the highway lab (http://www.clrp.cornell.edu/ ), the Soil & Water Lab by the colloid group ( http://soilandwater.bee.cornell.edu/ ), in the Bioanalytical Microsystems & Biosensors Lab (http://biosensors.bee.cornell.edu/ ) and in the Metabolic and Signal Engineering Lab (http://www.metasig.bee.cornell.edu/ ).  On Friday, June 11th, Professor Lars Angenent participated as a panelist for the Liberty Hyde Bailey Lecture " Renewable Energy Research and Development at Cornell University" from 1:00 - 2:30pm in the Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall.

Emeritus Professor Gerry Rehkugler has been refurbishing and cataloguing BEE's Rau Plow collection.  The plows, made in Germany, were displayed at the 1867 Paris World Fair where they caught the eye of A.D. White, who wrote to Ezra Cornell that he had "rarely seen anything of late more interesting."  The collection was exhibited at county fairs all across New York State.




Engineering faculty establish MIB program at Cornell  Assoc. Prof. Matt DeLisa, CBE, Prof. Larry Walker, BEE, and Asst Prof. Jeff Varner, CBE, received a $700,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to establish the Medical and Industrial Biotechnology Program. The MIB program will cultivate the next generation of highly trained US graduate students to meet the growing needs of biotechnology employers, introducing students to the broad, interdisciplinary nature of biotechnology by integrating a curriculum of modern biology, bioengineering, and business courses with in-depth, hands-on biotechnology research training. With assistance from a 15-member industrial advisory board and over 40 faculty from 19 academic departments, every effort will be made to recruit the most talented US citizens from diverse disciplines.  [from ENGINEERING INFORMATION UPDATE, 16 JUN 2010]

The Cornell Local Roads Program, Director: Professor Lynne Irwin, held their 65th Annual Highway School on June 7-9, 2010 in Phillips Hall (Emerson Suites) at Ithaca College.  There were over 700 attendees. 


Professor Kifle Gebremedhin and Professor Dan Luo were honored by 2010 Merrill Scholars Steven Linderman, BE'10 and Ricky Park, BE'10, respectively, as the "teachers most influential in their development".  Teachers and students were recognized at the 22nd Annual Merrill Presidential Scholars convocation on May 26th in Willard Straight Hall.

The Northeast SunGrant Initiative, Director: Professor Larry Walker, held their 3rd Annual Regional Conference, Championing the Northeast's Participation in the National Bioenergy Agenda, on May 24-26, 2010 at the Renaissance Syracuse Hotel and Conference Center.  Program.  Speaker Bios.

The U.S. News & World Report 2010 rankings for graduate schools have been released, with BEE's program coming in at #4. Best Engineering Schools Specialty Rankings: Biological / Agricultural

Professor Antje Baeumner is part of the Cornell Institute of Food Science's Food Safety Group that has received the International Association for Food Protection's 2010 GMA Food Safety Award.







Professor Dan Luo's letter of intent proposal, "Self amplifying DNA polymers for POC diagnosis through a portable CMOS sensor" has been accepted as a finalist for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Grand Challenges Point-of-Car Diagnostics Grant Initiative. A full proposal will be sent in to the final round of the competition. 

CCSF Academic Venture Fund.  Professors Lars Angenent and Tammo Steenhuis have received Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future (CCSF) Academic Venture Fund (AVF) Awards 2010.  Professor Angenent, with co-investigators David Erickson and David Sinton (MAE) will be working on "Thousandfold Improvement in Solar Photobioreactors Using Advanced Photonics" (first picture).  Professor Steenhuis, with co-investigator Gail Holst-Warhaft (A&S), will be working on "Water Governance in the Mediterranean Basin and Middle East" (second picture).  The AVF is "designed to stimulate new, original, multidisciplinary research at Cornell in sustainability science".

Sun Grant conference to explore biofuels, biopower [Cornell Chronicle].  The Northeast Sun Grant Initiative, directed by Professor Larry Walker, is hosting the 2010 Northeast Conference, "Championing the Northeast's participation in the National Bioenergy Agenda" at the Renaissance Syracuse Hotel on May 24-26th.  The event includes panel discussions, working groups, various speakers and a poster session.  Registration.

Professor Michael Timmons received the 2010 Meritorious Service Award from the Aquacultural Engineering Society.  The aim of the Aquacultural Engineering Society (AES) is to provide a means by which its members can come together to discuss engineering problems related to aquaculture. AES works closely with other professional societies which also address aquaculture needs and issues in a more general sense.  AES serves as a united voice for aquacultural engineering in the general aquacultural community and provides an engineering perspective to the problems and proposed solutions to these problems. AES serves as an authoritative source of information on aquacultural engineering and provides engineering support to initiatives from or for the aquaculture industry.  Congratulations, Mike!

Professor Tammo Steenhuis has co-authored a book with Professor Gail Holst-Warhaft, Director, Mediterranean Studies Initiative entitled, "Losing Paradise: The Water Crisis in the Mediterranean".  From the preface, " The current problems of water will not be solved by technology, law or politics, and yet all these must play a role if we are to overcome the crisis."  The authors held a book signing at the Cornell Store on May 11th.





Professor Ashim Datta has been awarded the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching.  Here are some of his student's comments:  "Professor Datta is quick to work with students and assess their progress in order to improve his teaching methods", "I enjoyed having Prof. Datta as a teacher, found his course very informative, and was very impressed with the care he showed towards us learning the material ... 3500 was a fantastic course", "I will never have another professor quite like Professor Datta.  This man pours his heart and soul into everything he does".  Congratulations, Ashim!



Professor Dan Luo is the Theme Editor for the April 2010 issue of Advanced DRUG DELIVERY Reviews.  Included in the issue is the paper, DNA nanomedicine: Engineering DNA as a polymer for therapeutic and diagnostic applications, by M. Campolongo (Luo Lab), S. Tan (Luo Lab), J. Xu (Arkansas Biosciences Institute) and Professor Luo.  The cover image is courtesy of M. Campolongo.



Cow Power: Manure Revolutionizing Electricity. Kristen Vitro, a SNES major, under the mentorship of Professor Norm Scott, is researching what she believes might be the key to solving the worldwide problem of animal waste. This story is in The Research Paper Magazine and is written by Tony Lin, CALS'13. [Spring 2010]


Thank you to IBE and AE for hosting an ice cream social and 4-square in the Riley Robb Courtyard! [April 2010]


The Riley Robb Hall Biofuels Research Lab (BRL), under the direction of Professor Larry Walker, has been certified LEED Gold.  Congratulations to everyone whose hard work made this possible.

LIVING MACHINES: Genetically engineering solutions to win. Ben Cammarata, BE'11, Matt Hall, BE'10, Alyssa Henning (pictured), BE'11, and their fellow iGEM teammates are featured in the cover article for the Spring 10 College of Engineering Magazine. The team won a bronze medal at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition at MIT in 2009.






 
 A letter from Haiti: Two sons of the founder of Project Double Harvest developed a tilapia project in Haiti with the purpose of establishing an agricultural project that would reap an increase in the harvest from the land as well as provide spiritual well-being. They started the project after taking Professor Mike Timmons' short course, Recirculating Aquaculture Systems. The course gives a thorough coverage of the design, operation and management of water reuse systems for finfish. One of the sons, Joe Van Wingerden, wrote the following to Dr. Timmons after the earthquake:
Just a quick update on the tilapia project in Haiti. The tanks and fish survived the devastating earthquake even though 70% of the structures surrounding our project were destroyed. During the quake, the gates opened and all of the fish  sizes intermingled [easily remedied] After the quake, we fed 20 thousand pounds of tilapia to the local villages. The fish provided much needed protein until supplies from other nations arrived.  We are now in the process of building our next set of tanks to increase production. The Haitians love our fish. [picture shows the tilapia tanks which can hold up to 100,000 fish].[April 2010]

Alfred Wegener Medal & Honorary Membership 2010.  The Alfred Wegener Medal has been awarded by the European Geosciences Union to Professor Yves Parlange for "his fundamental contributions to improved understanding and description of the geophysical aspects of transport in soils, aquifers and other porous materials".  Congratulations, Yves!




Professor Yves Parlange has been appointed by Provost Kent Fuchs to the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on Leasing of Land for Exploration and Drilling for Natural Gas in the Marcellus Shale.  The committee was formed at the behest of the Faculty Senate and will develop proposed guidelines for the University administration on leasing Cornell lands for horizontal drilling combined with hydraulic fracturing.  A public meeting, with comments encouraged, will be held in the David L. Call Alumni Auditorium on Thursday, April 22nd, from 4:30-6:30 PM.

Mark Levatich, BE'10 has developed an invention for a skull base sealer to help surgeons repair holes in the base of the skull after surgery.  He is featured in the Spring 2010 EZRA magazine article, Nurturing big ideas at Cornell University: Planting seeds of innovation in the classroom. He was also awarded finalist status in the US Patent Office 2009 Collegiate Inventors Competition; see the Cornell Chronicle October 2009 article, Student inventions -- artificial tissue networks and a skull base sealer -- honored in competition.



Professor Dan Luo has received the Journal of Materials Chemistry Editorial Board Award 2010.  The award honors younger scientists (within 15 years of attaining their doctorate) who have made significant contributions to the materials chemistry field.  Professor Luo will be presenting three award lectures, and will be given a lead article in the journal.  His work will be showcased on the back cover of the issue in which his article is published.  Congratulations, Dan! [April 2010]

Jason Kahn, a PhD student in the Luo Lab, has been offered two prestigious fellowships, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and the US Department of Energy New Graduate Fellowship in Science, Mathematics and Engineering.  This is a great honor, and now he will have the difficult decision regarding which fellowship to accept.  Congratulations, Jason!


 Jessica Ye, BE/ChemE'12, an undergraduate researcher in the Luo Lab, has been awarded a Barry Goldwater Scholarship, one of the most prestigious and competitive scholarships in the US.  Congratulations, Jessica!

Christian Guzman, a PhD student in the Soil and Water Lab, has received an NSF Graduate Fellowship Award, an EPA STAR grant, and was also awarded a Fellowship with Cornell's CIIFAD IGERT, Food Systems and Poverty Reduction.  Congratulations, Christian!



Alisa Royem, an MS student in Natural Resources who works with Professor Todd Walter, has received a Tinker Grant to travel to Chile to obtain preliminary data to assess the impact of salmon farms on water quality.  Congratulations, Alisa!

Josephine Archibald, a PhD student in the Soil and Water Lab, has been awarded a fellowship from the Council of Women World Leaders and will spend at least 10 weeks abroad working with the Ministry of the Environment in Helsinki, Finland.  Her PhD program is with Professor Todd Walter doing research with phosphorus biogeochemistry and environmental microbial ecology.  Josephine is also BEE's Outstanding Teaching Assistant for AY 2009/2010, awarded for "distinguished performance ... competence, responsibility and dedication".  Congratulations, Jo!



Professor Mike Walter has won a 2010 Kendall S. Carpenter Memorial Advising Award.  The award recognizes " sustained and distinguished contributions of professorial faculty and senior lecturers to undergraduate advising".  Julie Leviter, who named Professor Walter as the faculty member who "most significantly impacted her Cornell experience" as part of her Merrill award, wrote in her Carpenter support letter, "Prof. Walter was working by my side to assist in any problems that I encountered or questions that I had from the moment I stepped onto the Cornell campus ... I don't know how many times I have barged into his office with an urgent problem and completely stressed out, and then left with a smile on my face and assured that it will all work out.  He's Great!".  Many other students, and the awards committee, agreed. Congratulations, Mike!

March and his team patterned PDMS in an acrylic mold to give it tiny protrusions that closely resemble villi. CHEMICAL & ENGINEERING NEWS	Human carcinoma cells grow atop a PDMS polymer scaffold that is textured to resemble the inner surface of a small intestine.

Professor John March, BEE PhD Student Jiajie Yu and the March lab were featured in "Science and Technology CONCENTRATES",Chemical & Engineering News, March, 2010.  The article, Intestine replicas could breed smart gut bacteria discusses their research on an imitation intestine that  "could be used by biochemists who want to study the interplay between digestive tissue and gut bacteria".


The Cornell Chapter of Alpha Epsilon, the honor society for Agricultural and Biological Engineers, sent 12 member to participate in a service project with Lansing's Community Building Works. Organized by Ben Heavner, PhD student, and Allison Truhlar, BE'11, the work group participated in cutting wood, installing tile, fitting windows and other activities at a local house building project as part of the Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Service program to provide a first-time homebuyer with safe, affordable, green and financially stable home ownership.  The group advisor is Professor Jim Bartsch. [March 2010]

Aparna Ashok discusses her research with Professor Mike Walter at BioExpo 2010

The 8th Annual IBE BioExpo: Integrating Innovation and Industry, was held on March 18th in the Duffield atrium.  The BioExpo is held annually to promote current research in biological, biomedical and environmental science.  Along with poster presentations, BioExpo also features speakers from industry and academia, and a company showcase with networking opportunities.  The winner of the $500 Zuckerman Prize for Excellence in Student Biological Engineering Research was Sunjoo Park, BE '11, The effect of IGF-1 on meniscal fibrochondocytes seeded in alginate scaffold.  Second place ($250.00) went to Jimmy Wang, BIO '12, Breast tumor secreted factors cause human adipose derived stem cells to have altered differentiation. Third place ($100.00) went to Christine Yoon, BE '12, Effects of mechanical cues from the breast cancer microenvironment on host tissue progenitor cells.  Congratulations to the award winners and thank you to everyone involved with this event.

Professor Antje Baeumner is chairing the 2010 Gordon Research Conference on Bioanalytical Sensors and is the discussion leader for the Keynote Session.  The conference will be held in June 2010 at Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH.




The Cornell Chapter of Alpha Epsilon, a national honor society for outstanding biological and agricultural engineers, held a spaghetti lunch fundraiser in Room 400 Riley Robb.  It was a fun and successful event.  The funds will be used for developing informational and social events for Alpha Epsilon members and the Cornell community. See the AE blog for more pictures. [March 2010]


BEE Senior Extension Associate Larry Geohring gave a presentation entitled, "Hydrology Concerns and Applications" for the Agricultural Environmental Management Planner Certification Course held at the Water Quality Symposium in March, 2010.  This effort is part of a partnership with the NYS Soil and Water Conservation Committee intending to educate on comprehensive nutrient management planning (CNMP).

Roxanne Li, with her poster "Performance of shewanella oneidensis in a microbial fuel cell as a function of the dissolved oxygen concentration

Members of the Angenent Lab attended the IBE Annual Meeting in Cambridge, MA held March 4-6, 2010.  Matt Agler, PhD Student, Arvind Venkataraman, PhD Student, Hanno Richter, Research Associate, Jeff Werner, Research Associate, and Miriam Rosenbaum, Research Associate, made oral presentations in the Biofuels, Engineering Ecology and Biological Engineering Design sessions of the conference.  Roxanne Li, BE'12, (pictured) entered the student poster presentation.





Governor Paterson signs executive order to reduce New York's greenhouse gas pollution. Professor Larry Walker is working on the New York State Climate Action Plan at the request of Allan Belensz, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, a part of Executive Order No. 24.  Professor Walker is participating in both the "Integration Panel" and the "Biofuels Technical Work Group". A draft plan to meet the goals established by Governor David Paterson is expected in August. [January 2010]

Aparna Ashok, BE'12, has been selected as an award recipient for the 2010-11 Merck Engineering and Technology Fellowship Program.  The award includes a summer internship and a grant towards tuition. Aparna is on the Executive Board of Cornell's Student Chapter of the Institute of Biological Engineers and was a member of the 2009 Solar Decathlon Team. Congratulations, Aparna!


Studying Biofuels at the Molecular Level for an Improved Energy Source (see Page 3). "Any Person ... Any Study" and the Lure of Research is an article on Undergraduate Research in the publication, "Connecting with Cornell: NEWS from the Office of the Vice Provost for Research", Vol 22, No. 1-2 (2009) featuring Nitin Malik, an undergraduate student in Applied and Engineering Physics (AEM). Nitin is doing undergraduate research under the direction of Harold Craighead, AEM, and Larry Walker of BEE. Awarded a Hunter R. Rawlings III Presidential Research Scholars position, Malik found his research match in the combination of physics and biology, studying the molecular-level interactions of cellulase through a technique called Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FSC). [December 2009]

Professor Lars Angenent has coauthored a book Bioelectrochemical Systems: from extracellular electron transfer to biotechnological application. This book is part of the Integrated Environmental Technology Series.  From the Foreword, "Energy and water supply are two of the biggest challenges facing humanity in the coming decades. The present efforts to develop strategies for the recovery of efficient usage of resources are, therefore, highly justified. Groundbreaking technology is needed to allow novel means of converting and conserving resources. Bioelectrochemical Systems fit within this endeavour." Professor Angenent held a book talk in Mann Library on February 25th. See the Cornell Daily Sun Article [December 2009]



Nanotechnology Thought Leaders. Professor Dan Luo and his group were featured as one of the "Nanotechnology Thought Leaders" on the website "azonano.com". AZoNano.com is the number one Nanotechnology knowledgebase on the internet for translating and transferring Nanotechnology into the science, engineering and design community worldwide. AZoNano.com is proven to be highly effective in connecting Buyers and Sellers of Nanotechnology, Nanotechnology related services and associated products and can provide a rich source of new customers to all our advertisers.

Team considers how globalization will affect air quality.  Professor Peter Hess is leading the effort for a suite of computer models to forecast regional air quality levels with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant. "The project is unique not only because of its interdisciplinary nature, but also because it will attempt to represent the effects of planning interventions at local and regional levels". The work will utilize Cornell's Institute for Computational Sustainability. [Cornell Chronicle Online, December 2009]

Water: the new liquid gold - local to global impacts for agriculture.  Professor Todd Walter has accepted an invitation to be a panelist at the New York State Agricultural Society's 178th Annual Meeting & Agricultural Forum, January 2010.  His presentation will focus on social science research - examining how and why stakeholders make decisions that impact water quality. [NYS Agricultural Society Website]

Both of BEE's undergraduate programs are in the top 10 rankings of engineering programs in U.S. News & World Reports; Biological Engineering is #5 under "Biological and Agricultural Engineering Programs", and Environmental Engineering is #10, under "Environmental / Environmental Health".







Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources. Professor Norm Scott has been appointed Chair of The National Academies' Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources (BANR). The BANR is "the major program unit of the National Research Council responsible for organizing and overseeing studies on issues of agricultural production and related matters of natural resource development, including forestry, fisheries, wildlife, and land and water use". [The National Academies Website, December 2009]
. 
Sustainable Tompkins gives awards on Earth's behalf.  BEE's Biofuels Research Lab was one of 140 individuals and organizations recognized for efforts to advance community sustainability. [The Ithaca Journal, December 2009]





Toxin sensor made from a 'biobrick' takes bronze in international contest.  Alyssa Henning, BE'11, Matt Hall, BE'10, Ben Cammarata, BE'11, and other teammates won a bronze medal at a recent Genetically Engineered Machines (GEM) competition with a biosensor made from a common bacterium that can detect toxic metals in water. [Cornell Chronicle Online, November 2009]



Professor Ashim Datta and Vineet Rakesh, Ph.D., BE'09, have coauthored a book An Introduction to Modeling of Transport Processes: Applications to Biomedical Systems. "Organized around problem solving, this book gently introduces the reader to computational simulation of biomedical transport processes, bridging fundamental theory with real-world applications." [November 2010]






BEE is pleased to announce that Dr. Beth Ahner has been promoted to Full Professor. Congratulations, Beth!






CALS Outstanding Alumni/Faculty/Staff Awards 2009.  Professor Larry Walker has received a 2009 Outstanding Faculty/Staff Award.  The award recognizes "significant contributions in teaching, research, extension or administration".  Awardees were honored at a reception and dinner November 6, 2009.  Congratulations, Larry! [CALS Website]

Senator Gillibrand invites Profs. Baeumner and Luo to her high-tech/innovation showcase.  U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand invited Profs. Antje Baeumner and Dan Luo to a high-tech/innovation showcase she hosted at the nation's capitol Wednesday, October 28, 2009.  Senator Gillibrand spoke on the contributions of outstanding New York State scientists and entrepreneurs such as Baeumner and Luo as well as the contribution of many of the high-tech research institutions and companies in New York State.  The showcase demonstrated ways BEE, Cornell University and other NY high-tech institutions and companies can and are driving economic growth and advancing technologies in New York State. important national issues such as health care, energy and education are being addressed by New York State.  Congratulations to Antje and Dan.

Professor Dan Luo was invited to speak at the 10th Annual Nanobiotechnology Symposium held in G10 Biotech, Cornell University.  His talk was entitled "Memories of DNA Nanomaterials". [October 2009]




Going, going, gone.  The Quonset Huts have been demolished due to age.  The nearby Surge buildings, the 1912 "Farm Mechanics" buildings, had been condemned, and the decision was made to raze the entire NW corner at Campus and Judd Falls Road.  The Quonset Huts were built in 1948, and were used for BEE (Ag Engineering) classrooms and lab equipment storage. [October 2009]

BEE is happy to welcome Adjunct Associate Professor Mingming Wu. Her research interests are in the broad area of micro-scale biological and environmental engineering. Her lab currently focuses on microfluidics, cellular engineering, physical oncology and dynamic imaging. She comes to us from the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell. her research group is currently recruiting PhD students/postdocs on the subject of Microfluidics and Cancer Cell Migration. See more of what she does on her website. [September 2009]

Cornell Researchers examine sources of pollution. The Ithaca Times reports on a recent study by Professor Doug Haith, Sara Morey, BE-Bioenv'07, the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, and other collaborators that models the input of phosphorus and nitrogen compounds into Cayuga Lake from the Cayuga Lake Watershed.  Professor Haith and Professor Todd Walter were also contributors to "Phosphorus Inputs into Cayuga Lake", a 1/2 day conference sponsored by the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network on October 24th.  See the Ithaca Journal article. [Sept-Oct 2009]

Professor John March presented his preliminary research at the American Chemical Society conference in Washington, D.C. "If [the epithelial cells and the healthy bacteria] are already signaling to one another, why not signal something we want?" asks March. [August 2009]









GREEN WITH ENVY.  See the Cornell Engineering Magazine's article on BEE and CEE's newly accredited environmental engineering program.  Cover picture is of Allison Danner, CE/EnvE '09, advised by Professor Todd Walter.




Environmental engineering degree program is accredited.  BEE and CEE's jointly administered environmental engineering degree program has been accredited by ABET, Inc.  The accreditation is retroactive to May 2007. [August 2009]



Portable lab could improve disaster response, personalized care.  Professor Antje Baeumner has been collaborating with Rheonix, Inc. "to develop a unique system called the Chemistry and Reagent Device (CARD^TM) that can automatically perform virtually any manual bench-top laboratory function in an area about one-half the size of a standard business card".





Professor Dan Luo has been invited to participate in the University of Illinois Distinguished Speaker Series. He will address the Nanotechnology Community of Scholars on December 10, 2009.

Professor Todd Walter has won a Fall 2009 Faculty Innovation in Teaching Program award for his project, "Putting Interdisciplinary Watershed Education on the Map". 

Four NYS small businesses awarded Cornell JumpStart projects for fall 2009.  Professor Antje Baeumner's project "Optimize composition of cellulose-based medical diagnostic strip" is in collaboration with Oratel Diagnostics, Hammondsport, NY.  The test strip is used to detect the presence of endometriosis in women.  See also CALS "Honors and Awards" writeup. [October 2009]

BEE Emeritus Professor J. Robert Cooke has produced a book and CD entitled "The Legacy of Dale R. Corson". See Links

BEE Emeritus Professor Bill Jewell was a consultant on an College of Architecture Seminar Project, "COMPONENT SYSTEMS: From Prefabrication to Operative Sustainability".  The seminar has received a Faculty Innovation in Teaching award which will give sponsorship for the Fall 2009 semester.  This work "is motivated by the belief that advances in technology and building systems can positively underpin a creative generative process of architectural design and consequently affect the quality of the built environment on multiple scales". Read More [Sept 2009]

Nokyoung Park and Ed Rice, members of Professor Dan Luo's MOLBEL lab, are pictured on the front page of the Sunday, July 26, 2009 Syracuse Post-Standard for an article on stimulus package money being used for research.  Post-Standard article.





Cornell University President David Skorton visited Bahir Dar University, Uganda, Africa to speak at the graduation of the first class of Cornell's Master of Professional Studies degree program.  The program was developed by Professors Tammo Steenhuis and Alice Pell, and concentrates on international agriculture and rural development, with a specialization in watershed management. Cornell Chronicle Story [July 2009]

BIOFUELS RESEARCH LAB OFFICIALLY OPENS
Cornell Chronicle Story
The ribbon cutting for the Riley Robb Hall Biofuels Research Lab was held on June 23, 2009.  Pictured is Kevin McCabe, Kevin McGlaughlin, Professor Larry Walker, Dean Susan Henry, Patrick Hooker (Commissioner of the NYS Dept of Agriculture and Markets), and President David Skorton.

 

Erin King, BE'04, is pictured here on her clinical rotations at Weill Medical School, NYC.

  

Cornell Reunion 2009 was the weekend of June 4-7.  Professor Larry Walker gave a talk entitled "Managing Diversity and Complexity in the Evolving Biofuels Industry" as the guest speaker for the Liberty Hyde Bailey Lecture in the Call Alumni Auditorium. A large group of BEE alumni (one of the tour groups is pictured above) met in Riley Robb Hall for lunch and a tour of the Biofuels Research Lab (renovation 2008), the Soil and Water Lab (renovation 2008) and the Biological Engineering Labs (renovation 2005). We will make the tour an annual event, so be sure to let us know if you will be here for the next reunion weekend!

Julie Leviter, BE'09, received a 2009 Merrill Presidential Scholars Program Award.  She selected Professor Mike Walter as the Cornell faculty member who most significantly contributed to her college experience.  Here are Julie, Mike and President Skorton at the convocation dinner.



The May 3, 2009 on-line Nature Nanotechnology includes the article "Multifunctional nanoarchitectures from DNA-based ABC monomers" from Professor Dan Luo's Molecular Bioengineering Lab.  BEE colleagues JB Lee (PhD Candidate), Young Hoon Roh (PhD Candidate), Hisakage Funabashi (Research Associate), Wenlong Cheng (Research Associate) and Pichamon Kiatwuthinon (PhD Candidate) also contributed to the article.  See the additional write up in the Cornell Chronicle.




The May 3, 2009 on-line Nature Materials includes the article "Free-standing nanoparticle superlattice sheets controlled by DNA" from Professor Dan Luo's Molecular Bioengineering Lab.  BEE colleagues Wenlong Cheng (Research Associate), Michael Campolongo (PhD Candidate), and Shawn Tan (PhD Candidate) also contributed to the article.  See the additional write up in the Cornell Chronicle.


From Bales to Barrels.  See a Biofuels Research Lab tour.

See the Spring 2009 edition of CALSNews for the following articles:
"The Complex World of Water" Discussing CALS water experts and their work, including Professor Todd Walter's work with saturated sites near the NYC watershed.
"End Note" Featuring Professor Larry Walker and Vice Provost Steve Kresovich, discussing the new Biofuels Research Laboratory.

From the Spring 2009 edition of the Cornell Engineering Magazine:
"Ramya Tadipatri, BE'10, helped Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Claudia Fischbach-Teschl investigate how the microenvironment of bone affects breast cancer cells that metastasize to it."
"The spread of cancer causes degradation to the bone, much like osteoporosis does", RT, BE10


The Riley-Robb Biofuels Research Lab was above the fold in the April 3, 2009 edition of the Cornell Chronicle.  The story, "New Cornell biofuel lab focuses on process of turning bales into barrels" includes a quote from Professor Larry Walker, "Other schools have bits and pieces of the process or specialize in pretreatment, chemical conversion or cell wall analysis. In this lab, we can do it all". Cornell Chronicle Story.

Congressman Eric Massa speaks with Professor Larry Walker and Dean Susan Henry during a tour of the Biofuels Research Lab. Cornell Chronicle Story. [April 2009]






Congratulations to Peter Asiello, a graduate student in the Baeumner Lab, for winning an Outstanding Teaching Assistant award for the 2008/09 academic year.  Peter TA'd for Professor Antje Baeumner's BEE 2600 class.



Congratulations to Stephen Linderman, BE'10, for being named a Goldwater Scholar for 2009. Cornell Chronicle Story. [April 2009]






BEE Adjunct Professor Richard Durst has been selected for inclusion in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) gallery of Distinguished Scientists, Engineers and Administrators.  See the Cornell Chronicle Story. Professor Durst has also been nominated by the US National Academy of Sciences to serve on the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry's Chemical Research Applied to World Needs Committee, and is currently serving as president of the Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry (SEAC). Cornell Chronicle Story [April 2009]

Congratulations to Tracy Cheung, BE'09, for her 1st place win in the IBE poster contest at the annual meeting in Santa Clara, CA. Tracy, Kamil Bojanczyk, BE'09, and Naweed Paya, BE'09, represented the Cornell Chapter of IBE at the meeting.  All three students received John W. Layer Memorial Fund awards for help with their travel expenses.

 

 

Alyssa Henning, BE'11, is part of the Phoenix Society engineering group that had a Phoenix ready to challenge the Dragon for Dragon Day 2009.  See the Cornell Chronicle story.

 

  

 
Professor Larry Walker was featured in the March 2009 BLACK ENTERPRISE article, "Masters of Innovation - from nanotech to advanced robotics, these digeratis are reshaping the world". article.

BEE would like to extend a huge Thank you to the 2009 IBE BioExpo planners: Henry Zeng, Ramya Tadipatri, Amy Munson, Robin Zhou, and Naweed Paya. And Congratulations to this year's poster winners:  First Place-Christine Kowalczewski and Caroline Yoo; Second Place-Tracy Cheung; Third Place-Jui Pandya. [March 2009]

 

 

 
The March 29, 2009 on-line Nature Materials  includes the article, "A cell-free protein-producing gel" from Professor Dan Luo's Molecular Bioengineering Lab. BEE colleagues Nokyoung Park (Research Associate), Soong Ho Um (PhD Candidate), Hisakage Funabashi (Research Associate) and Jianfeng Xu (Research Associate) also contributed to the article. See the additional write up in the Cornell Chronicle.

 
Congratulations to Monica Jackman, BE'10, For receiving a Cornell Engineering Alumni Association Undergraduate Researcher award.  She won for her research project with the Baeumner Lab on biosensors for rotavirus detection in feces. [March 2009]



The Sun Grant Initiative Energy Conference was held in March, 2009.  Hosted by BEE Professor Larry Walker, the event featured "a bevy of speakers and showcased the latest innovations in bioenergy research".  Cornell Chronicle Story.

Naweed Paya, BE'09, and Alyssa Henning, BE'10, are among the founders of the project team Genetically Engineered Machines. The team will be completing a synthetic biology project by the end of summer 2009 and will participate in the annual worldwide iGEM competition held at MIT. The competition requires designing and building useful biological devices using a library of existing standardized parts (called BioBrick standard biological parts). Cornell Chronicle Story. [Feb 2009]

 

We are tied for #1!  BEE shared the top spot in the U.S. News and World Report rankings for the Best Engineering Schools Specialty Rankings: Biological/Agricultural.  See USNews report.  Cornell Chronicle Story.

BEE Graduate Student Marie Donnelly and Professor Larry Walker are part of a research group who have improved a method to screen hundreds of fungal species rapidly to find ones that can most efficiently produce biofuels. (Pictured: Marie Donnelly and Brian King) Cornell Chronicle Story [Feb 2009]








The USAirways Magazine, February 2009, highlighted Ithaca in an article "Business Outlook: ITHACA Economic Development".  Featured in the article was Professor Larry Walker's Biofuels Research Lab, on page 100.  Full article







Professor Larry Walker was elected a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering "In recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of Medical and Biological Engineering". [Feb 2009]

BEE is pleased to announce that Associate Professor Peter Hess has been awarded tenure.  Congratulations, Peter! [February 2009]




BEE Emeritus Professor Gilbert E. Levine has been appointed interim director of the university's Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.  Cornell Chronicle story.

 Outstanding Alumni Awardee: Richard F. Vincent.  Richard Vincent, ABEN'58, currently a member of the BEE Advisory Council, was awarded a 2008 Outstanding Alumni award from CALS.  From his award bio, "Vincent always makes it a priority to serve as a leader nationally for his profession, locally for his community, and wherever he is for Cornell.  He is known for his sense of humor, vast knowledge in many fields, generosity, deep and sincere passion and friendship".  Dick was a wrestler during his years at Cornell, and is in the Big Red Hall of Fame.  He was also inducted into the 2007 National Wrestling Hall of Fame as the Outstanding American from New York.

BEE 'got press' in the New Faculty Orientation Brochure done by CALS, November 2008. The front shows Professor Todd Walter's BEE3710 class and Todd is quoted on page 4; Professor Antje Baeumner is quoted on page 7.  Also, BEE3710 was again highlighted, and BEE Professors Larry Walker, Lars Angenent, Antje Baeumner and Dan Luo were featured in CALS "Far Above... The Campaign for Cornell".  (Pictures follow)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

CALS Core Priorities, finalized Fall 2008, highlight the Walker Biofuels Research Lab in "Biofuels show promise for Renewable Energy Systems" and the Baeumner Bioanalytical Microsystems and Biosensors Lab in "Antje Baeumner teaches students to design biosensors". 

The December 2008 Issue of Biotechnology and Bioengineering features on its cover this image from Professor Larry Walker's Biofuels Research Laboratory.  The accompanying article is entitled “Immobilization of Cellulose Fibrils on Solid Substrates for Cellulase-Binding Studies through quantitative fluorescence microscopy”. BEE and CoE colleagues Jose Moran-Mirabal (Postdoc), Navaneetha Santhanam (Grad Student), Stephane Corgie (Research Assoc) and Harold Craighead (CoE Professor) also contributed to the article.

 

 



Floris Van Breugel, BE'08, working with fellow student William Regan and Professor Hid Lipson, MAE, has come up with a simple, inexpensive flapping-wing vehicle that hovers as well as a hummingbird or a bumble bee.  See the Cornell Chronicle story [December 2008]

Congratulations to Professor Antje Baeumner on her well-deserved promotion to full professor! [Nov 2008]

Professor Norm Scott has been awarded a 2008 College of Engineering Teaching Award.  Congratulations, Norm! 

Professor Lou Albright was a Guest Speaker at the Defining Sustainable Development: Land Use, Climate Change, and Water Resources workshop held by Cornell's Environmental Law Society and the Development-Related Outreach Program for Sustainability, November 7&8, 2008.

Professor Jean Hunter's research on a trash dryer for NASA is highlighted in the November 21, 2008 Chronicle article "What to do with space waste 100 million miles away". Watch a video about the project.

BEE and CEE's jointly offered undergraduate Environmental Engineering major went through the ABET accreditation process with an on-site evaluation in November 2008. We will receive formal notification of the evaluation results in July, 2009.

The November 2008 Issue of Nature Nanotechnology features on its cover this image from Professor Dan Luo's Molecular Bioengineering Lab. The accompanying article is entitled "Nanopatterning self-assembled nanoparticle superlattices by moulding microdroplets". BEE colleagues Wenlong Cheng (Postdoc), Nokyoung Park (Postdoc), Todd Walter (Professor), and Mark Hartman (Grad Student) also contributed to the article. See the additional write up in the Cornell Chronicle.

 

 

 
 

BEE's Soil and Water Lab has received The CSREES Partnership Award for Mission Integration. This award annually recognizes exemplary work from a team at a land-grant university or other cooperating institution or organization supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES). The Soil and Water Lab award is a recognition for outstanding achievements in mission integration. This involves implementation of a program or project which incorporates, in a meaningful way, full integration of research, education , and extension and exhibits an understanding of the complementary nature of these three functions. This is a significant honor and recognizes a program that has been extremely successful for a long period of time and in many different ways, including mission integration. Congratulations! [Fall 2008]

Professor Lou Albright was an invited speaker at the Cornell Law School's Defining Sustainable Development: Land Use, Climate Change, and Water Resources Conference November 7 & 8, 2008. The conference brought professors, practitioners, students, and community leaders together to consider what sustainability really means and what role law may have in accomplishing sustainable development. 

Thank you to the Cornell Student Chapter of IBE (Institute of Biological Engineers) for hosting the Fall 2008 IBE Regional Conference! 

WE ARE #2! BEE has been ranked #2 in the field rankings in the US News and World Report's "Specialty Rankings: Undergraduate Engineering Specialties: Agricultural", (Ag Engineering and Bio Engineering are a combined field). See rankings here.  Cornell's Engineering College is #8 overall, with Cornell University as a whole coming in as #14. [Fall 2008]

Professors Tammo Steenhuis and Gail Holst-Warhaft spent time this summer in Greece, discussing necessary cultural changes for solving water problems that have plagued the region for decades, including illegal well drilling.  The trip is a spinoff from the class they co-teach, BEE 7540, Water and Culture in the Mediterranean: A Crisis?  See the Cornell Chronicle Story. [Fall 2008]  Related Cornell Chronicle Stories: May 2008   March 2007

Professors Antje Baeumner and Dan Luo were invited speakers at the 9th Annual Nanobiotechnology Symposium, October 27th, 2008 at G10 Biotech, Cornell University, http://www.nbtc.cornell.edu/symposium2008/.

 

 


BEE is happy to announce that Professor Dan Aneshansley has been selected as our new department Chair.  He will be assisted by Professor Beth Ahner, who has been named Associate Chair. Thank you to Professor Mike Walter, who is stepping down after 14 years as department Chair.  Other administrative changes in the department: Professor Beth Ahner was selected as Associate Chair, Professor Antje Baeumner was selected as Director of Graduate Studies, Professor Mike Walter was selected as Director of Undergraduate Programs, and Professor Lynne Irwin was selected as Department Extension Leader. [July 2008]

Professor Lou Albright and Dr. Francis Vanek, CEE/MAE, have published a book, Energy Systems Engineering: Evaluation and Implementation. Their book "presents a systems approach to future energy needs. This unique guide explores the latest technology within each energy systems area, the negative impacts from energy consumption, and the ways in which a portfolio of new technologies can address these problems". [Summer 2008]

Congratulations to Jeff Rudnik, BE'08, and Morghan Transue, BE'08, for first place awards in the NABEC student poster competition.  Their posters, entitled "A sustainable building of the Town of Caroline" and "Energy independent Caroline: Wind power feasibility study for preliminary development" have been invited to be presented at the Aberdeen MD, NABEC-ASABE conference. [July 2008]

Professors Dan Luo and Todd Walter are featured in Episode 21 of the USDA CSREES The Science of Small: Exploring the new frontiers of nanotechnology "The nano world offers exponential surface area upon which to work. Land-grant university researchers are learning how to manipulate matter like never before": [Pictures and videos by Patrick Holian, USDA CSREES] [Summer 2008]

<<<Disease Detectors: Nano barcodes that expose harmful bacteria offer a cost-effective early-warning system to ensure a safer food supply USDA CSREES VIDEO.  >>>Following the Flow: Tracking underground water flow paths with breakthrough micro-technology can reveal elusive, non-point source pollution USDA CSREES VIDEO.

The May 2008 Issue of Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry features on its cover an image from the Baeumner Lab: "six Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts imaged using Differential Interference Contrast microscopy to view their contents". Professor Antje Baeumner contributed to the issue as a guest editor, and lab members Sam Nugen (Research Associate) and John Connelly (Grad Student) contributed a review article and paper, respectively. [May 2008]

 

Construction has begun! Professor Larry Walker's state-of-the-art Biofuels Research Lab (BRL) will be housed in the Riley Robb Hall East Wing. The BRL is highlighted in the "Climate Health" article in the Spring 2008 CALS News.  See also the Cornell Chronicle Story. [Spring 2008]

See also the excellent article in the Cornell Daily Sun, "Cornell to Launch New Biofuels Lab". [March 2008]

Jason Belsky, BE'08, has been selected as a Class of 2008 Banner Bearer. He is also on the CALS Academic Excellence listing along with Katie Hansen, EnvE'08. Floris Vanbreugel, BE'08, has been recognized with a SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence and is a Merrill Scholar. Floris has also been awarded Hertz and NSF Fellowships, a major accomplishment. Jason Kahn, BE'08, is also a Merrill Scholar. Congratulations Jason, Katie, Floris and Jason!

BEE grad student Mike Walsh has been elected to serve as student trustee on the Cornell Board of Trustees. Cornell Chronicle Story. Mike is also a student representative on the President's Climate Commitment Implementation Committee (PCICC), a group working towards CU carbon neutrality. Congratulations, Mike!

BEE grad student Timothy Vadas is part of a Cornell team creating a blueprint for Tompkins County to identify and reduce its carbon footprint. Cornell Chronicle Story.

Professor Dan Luo has been selected for the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities. He was recognized at the CALS Dean's Awards Reception in April 2008. Congratulations, Dan! [April 2008]

BEE grad student Ashish Dhall received, from Associate Dean Viands, a "golden apple" for being chosen BEE's Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant for the 2007/08 academic year. Congratulations to Ashish and to all of our Graduate and Undergraduate Teaching Assistants for jobs well done.

Professor Kifle Gebremedhin was recognized by the University of Wisconsin-Platteville with a 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award. Congratulations, Kifle! [Spring 2008]

Professor Jean-Yves Parlange was selected to receive a Brown University Engineering Alumni Medal. Congratulations, Yves! [Spring 2008]

Professor Dan Luo was recognized by the Center for Life Science Enterprise with a 2nd Place Award ($1000 for travel) in the Public Engagement and Science Communication Symposium. The awards were given to faculty, in a poster contest, on the basis of who best communicated their research to a general audience. There were over 100 participants. Congratulations, Dan! [Spring 2008]

BEE Emeritus Professor Robert Lorenzen's wife, Margaret, presented her book "A Life to Remember" to the department at a lunch event in May, 2008. A copy of the book is also in the Cornell Library, story. Thank you, Margaret! [May 2008]

 

 

 

 

Professor John March was one of 3 Cornell Faculty and 1 Postdoc who received a Hartwell Foundation biomedical research grant aimed at helping children.  Professor March's proposal is for an innovative way to treat chronic and debilitating juvenile (type 1) diabetes. Cornell Chronicle Story.

Professor Ashim Datta presented at the Cornell Center for Learning and Teaching Faculty Seminar Series on "Enhancing the Learning Experience in a Technical Course through Increased Interaction".

BEE is pleased to announce the successful conclusion of the Renewable Energy Systems search with the hire of Professor Lars Angenent. Professor Angenent’s main research interests are Bioenergy and Biofuels. He is internationally known for his research on optimizing anaerobic fermentation processes to grow microorganisms that convert waste to energy. His research ranges from basic to very applied. Improving the performance of digesters and microbial fuel cells is an area of his work that has potential for immediate applications. See the Angenent Lab website for more detail of who Professor Angenent is and why we are so excited to have him at Cornell. He will be starting his position in BEE in Fall 2008. He and his wife Ruth (who will be an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology) are moving here from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Welcome, Lars!

Thank you to everyone involved in the 2008 BioEngineering Expo!  See the follow up articles in the Cornell Daily Sun and the Chronicle. [March 2008]

 

 

Congratulations to Katie Alexander, EnvE '09, for her pick as one of the top ten participants at the ATHGO International UCLA 2008 Global Forum, "Global Warming: Change Your Attitude, Not the Weather".  http://www.athgo.org/programs/forums/scholarship_winners.html. Katie recently attended the ATHGO International Global Forum entitled Global Warming: Change Your Attitude, Not the Weather, held at UCLA. The forum brought over 100 students from around the world together to discuss some of the most pressing environmental issues in light of climate change. Presenters included Dr. Christian Stocks, Consulate General of Germany, Mr. Lionel Schutz representing the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Dr. Timothy Foresman, president of the Earth Party, and several members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In addition to panel discussions and presentations, all students were divided into smaller groups and asked to develop a policy proposal and business model which would be combined into an Integrated Solution document to be sent to international organizations, businesses, and policy leaders. Katie’s group focused on the elimination of non-biodegradable plastics in the food industry, urging the United States to follow other countries in reducing the amount of plastic waste generated by our food supply system.

Congratulations to Nansen Yu, BEE '08, for his second place finish in IBE's Bioethics essay contest.  Nansen traveled to Chapel Hill, NC, to present his paper at the IBE annual meeting

 

 
Professor Tammo Steenhuis has been elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, http://www.agu.org/.  To be elected a Fellow is "a special tribute for those who have made exceptional scientific contributions ... the candidate must have attained acknowledged eminence in the Earth and space sciences".  Congratulations, Tammo!  [May 2008]

Professors Tammo Steenhuis and Gail Holst-Warhaft traveled to Greece to share insights on how to end a growing water crisis in that region. They co-teach the course BEE 7540, Water and Culture in the Mediterranean: A Crisis?.  Cornell Chronicle Story. [May 2008]

Professor Larry Walker was selected by Michigan State University for their College of Agricultural and Natural Resources Distinguished Alumnus Award.  Congratulations, Larry! [April 2008]

Professor Lou Albright was inducted into the Rural Builder Hall of Fame at their annual Frame Building Expo in Columbus, Ohio.  Rural Builder is a business magazine for rural contractors.  The magazine gives this award annually to professionals in recognition of leadership, foresight, and outstanding contributions to the rural construction industry.  This year Professor Albright was selected for this honor for his work with rural buildings, particularly his pioneering work in the 1970s related to environmental controls for animal facilities and greenhouses.  Congratulations, Lou! [February 2008]

Professor Lou Albright was highlighted in a January 24, 2008 Ithaca Journal Article "USDA Provides Seed Money".  Picture caption: "Professor Louis Albright stands behind 11-day-old Butter head lettuce at Cornell University.  Albright has developed systems to grow plants in predictable ways using measured amounts of light and nutrient inputs.  Albright will use his systems to assist CEA Systems, an East Hill-based company, in their research under a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture".

BEE Grad student Rachel Dunn has won a Fulbright Fellowship to support her work on integrated water management in Thailand.  See the Chronicle article for additional information.  Congratulations, Rachel!

Congratulations to BEE undergrads Katie Cumnock and Jason Kahn for being initiated into the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, Fall semester 2008!

Professor Todd Walter has been awarded a 2007 College of Engineering Teaching Award.  Congratulations, Todd!  Read more at  http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/faculty/excellence-in-teaching.cfm.

Cornell was mentioned in Reader's Digest's November 2007 edition, "Why didn't I think of That? 33 Great Ideas from around the world" for Professor Antje Baeumner's, and others, work on "Germ-Detecting Wipes". [November 2007]

Professors Tammo Steenhuis and Alice Pell have developed a Cornell degree program in Ethiopia.  See the article in the Cornell Chronicle, September 14, 2007. 

See the Summer 2007 edition of the Cornell Engineering Magazine for the following articles:
"Twice Honored" Discussing Professor Antje Baeumner's two recent awards, a prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellowship and a Mercator Guest professorship.
"Advance'ing Women" Discussing Professor Beth Ahner's recent receipt of a Research Initiative Award from the National Science Foundation.
"BEE History" Discussing Professor Emeriti Ron Furry's new book "A Pioneering Department - Evolution from Rural Engineering to Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, 1907-2007".

Professor Larry Walker has accepted an invitation to be a member of the Advisory Board for the Presidential Forum on Renewable Energy.  The Forum was created to ensure that renewable energy, sustainability, and conservation are top issues in the 2008 Presidential elections.  The nonpartisan forum - to be hosted by Google at their corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California - will bring together the 2008 Presidential Candidates to generate discussion and foster innovation.  Further details can be found at the Forum website, www.2008energyforum.org.

Professor Antje Baeumner was featured in the CU homepage "Spotlight" discussing her universal biosensors: "better tools for ensuring safe water and food".  Listen to her informal talk here. [Spring 2008]

Congratulations to Professor Dan Luo for winning a NYSTAR faculty development award!  See Cornell Chronicle article for details. [Spring 2008]

Professor Tammo Steenhuis' graduate students are pictured in the Cornell Chronicle article, "Nor any drop to drink: Cornell faculty and students to meet in Cairo on water shortages in Mediterranean region". [March 2007]

Professor Antje Baeumner has been named a finalist in the New York Academy of Sciences Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists competition.  The Blavatnik Awards "recognize the achievements of young scientists and engineers who have contributed significantly to interdisciplinary research". Finalist status includes a $5,000 research award, the winner will receive an additional $25,000.  The winner will be selected at the Academy's Science & the City Gala on November 12, 2007.

Professor Kifle Gebremedhin has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE).  Professor Gebremedhin is being honored for his "outstanding contributions in teaching and research in the area of agricultural structures and environment. He is nationally recognized for diaphragm design research,including testing a full-scale post-frame building, and development of interactive computer software called METCLAD, which enables engineers to take advantage of the available stiffness of a building through diaphragm action in their designs". Professor Gebremedhin was inducted at a ceremony on June 19, 2007, during the ASABE Annual International Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Congratulations, Kifle!

Professor Antje Baeumner's CD4 Initiative with the Gate's Foundation is showpieced in the June 27th, 2007 Ithaca Journal.  Professor Baeumner is working to develop a quick, simple, and cheap immune-system test for people in the developing world. "When patients are infected with HIV/AIDS, the number of circulating CD4 T-cells drops significantly," explains Professor Baeumner. "If they get the appropriate retroviral treatment, their life span can be increased by many years. CD4 counts assist in the decisions on when to initiate and when to stop the treatment, which makes this test so important. Currently, most people ... have no access to detection technology".  The CD4 Initiative is a consortium of researchers and industry led by the Imperial College in London.

See the May/June 2007 Edition of the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation to read "Colloidal transport" by Brian Richards, John McCarthy, Professor Tammo Steenhuis, Anthony Hay, Yuniati Zevi, and Annette Dathe.  Also, in the same edition, is an article "Managing variable source pollution in agricultural watersheds" by Z. Qiu, Professor Todd Walter, and Christine Hall.

Professor Beth Ahner has been granted a Research Initiative Award from the Cornell ADVANCE Center.  The Center seeks to promote leadership positions for women scientists and engineers and to institutionalize best practices, policies and programs across colleges as they pertain to women faculty.  Read the Page 3 article in the Cornell Chronicle, May 17, 2007.

See the Spring 2007 edition of the Cornell Engineering Magazine for the following articles:
"In Their Back Yards" Discussing Professor Steenhuis' Soil and Water group's environmental consulting work with TCE and Ithaca's South Hill.
"A Simple Test" Discussing Professor Baeumner's CD4 Initiative with the Gate's Foundation.
"Imaging Science" Wenlong Cheng, from Professor Luo's MOLBEL Lab, is a first-place winner in the NSF-funded Cornell Center for Materials Research fourth microscopy imaging contest.
"Maintaining Mobility" Suneth Attygalle, BEE '07, was a member of the assisted walker team whose design project is showcased in this article.

See the Spring 2007 edition of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences NEWS for the following articles:
"Dan Luo: The X,Y,T's of Nucleic Acid Engineering" Discussing Professor Luo's "way with DNA, transforming it into building materials to construct biocompatible hydrogels and nanobarcodes".
"Harvesting Heavy Metals" Discussing Professor Ahner and other's "exploring the potential of plants to clean up polluted soils".

Professor Dan Luo has been granted a Cornell 2007 Provost's Award for Distinguished Research from Provost Biddy Martin.  This award is intended to recognize distinguished research by outstanding tenured faculty early in their careers, and allows the university to recognize its own talent.  The award includes $30,000 in research funding.  Congratulations, Dan!

Professor Norm Scott has been awarded the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Faculty Service.  He was recognized at the Dean's Awards Reception in the Carrier Ballroom on April 24th, 2007.  Professor Scott's accolades from Dean Susan Henry: 

"Norm was a pioneer of biological engineering in the 1960s when as an agricultural engineer he obtained an NIH grant to conduct research on thermoregulation in animals. In 15 years of college and university administrative positions, he remained a national leader in biological engineering. He was the first faculty member of his department to be honored by election to the National Academy of Engineers.
As chair of the BEE department, Norm transformed what was once called “Agricultural Engineering” into a major emphasis on biological engineering, which has become a model for the profession. The biology-based undergraduate engineering curriculum that is taught at Cornell today had its genesis with several of Norm’s courses in the 1960s and 70s. As Associate Dean and Director of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, he helped expand research funding from a heavy reliance on Federal Formula Funds to support by major external funding. He made major contributions towards establishing the National Research Initiative. As Cornell’s Vice President of Research and Advanced Studies, he had responsibilities for management of seven major national NSF Centers. Along with the Dean of Engineering, Norm has also provided the leadership in establishing three fundamental research areas – genomics, advanced materials, and information technology.
When he was president of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, Norm and others transformed this society into one with a more contemporary vision. He was instrumental in establishing the Institute for Biological Engineering and served as one of its first presidents. Since he returned to active faculty status in 1998, Norm quickly become a leader in research on integrated energy systems for rural communities, focusing on using dairy waste as a source of energy by generating electricity from biogas. His research and educational collaborations also have involved universities in China. In teaching, Norm developed a distance learning course, BEE 299 – Sustainable Development, which attracts more than 200 students per year. Mike Walter, BEE department chair, states “There are very few faculty members who have served full time in college and university administration in positions near the top who could, or even would, return to undergraduate teaching with such enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity.”

Professor Antje Baeumner was recognized by the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society as Professor of the Year at the College of Engineering's CEAA Engineering Conference Awards Banquet, April 20, 2007. The award was announced by Tam Trinh, '07 President, and Cindy Chong '07, Vice President, TBP.  Tau Beta Pi is the only engineering honor society representing the entire engineering profession.  It is the nation's second-oldest honor society, founded at Lehigh University in 1885 to recognize students of distinguished scholarship and exemplary character.  This is a student-nominated award.  Congratulations, Antje!

Professor Larry Walker was recognized by the Department of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and College of Engineering at Michigan State University with a Distinguished Alumni Award on April 19, 2007. This award is for "outstanding achievement in professional and civic endeavors".  Congratulations, Larry!

Wenlong Cheng, a grad student in Professor Dan Luo's MOLBEL lab, received a first-place win in the Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) fourth microscopy imaging contest. Wenlong's image shows gold nanoparticles assembled using DNA. Cornell Chronicle Story. [March 2007]

Professor Antje Baeumner's Lab recognized
in Provost's March 7, 2007  Academic State of the University Address.

BEE receives New York State grant money for Biofuels and Industrial Biotechnology
articles in January 22, 2007 Ithaca Journal and Cornell's Chronicle.

Professor Antje Baeumner awarded both the Humboldt Foundation Research Fellowship, March 2007, and the Mercator Fellowship from the German National Science Foundation, May 2007  Professor Baeumner will use these fellowships for her research project "in vivo imaging of cancer cells using nanovesicles" during her 2007/08 sabbatical at University of Dortmund, Germany.

Professor Douglas Haith and Rebecca (Walden) Murphy, BEE'01/MEng'02, explore "Another Kind of Fairway Hazard" January, 2007
See summary of Professor Haith's and Becky Murphy's Journal of Environmental Science and Technology paper in NY Times Science Section from January 9, 2007 (Click on link and scroll down to article)  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/science/09observ.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Professor Larry Walker receives New York State grant money for Biofuels and Industrial Biotechnology    December 14, 2006

Governor George Pataki approved funding for New York State Biofuels/Industrial Biotechnology Sector Development and Life Sciences Research Investment.  Funding will be used to assist Cornell University with costs associated with:  Research aimed at the development of economically viable methods for producing biofuels through "industrial biotechnology", or the exploitation of enzymes, microorganisms, and plants to produce energy, industrial chemicals and consumer goods.  It will allow the construction of a pilot-scale facility to produce ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks such as perennial gasses and willow.  In this effort, Cornell is an academic partner with the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems.

Soil and Water Lab acquires Digital Microscope  December, 2006  

Members of BEE's Soil and Water Group showed off the department's new digital Hirox KH-7700 microscope. Brian Richards and Tammo Steenhuis along with Anthony Hay demonstrated the cutting edge technology of this amazing device. In addition to conventional 2D imaging, the microscope can scan a specimen, store the data digitally and then render the image in 3D onto an LCD. The researcher can then zoom and rotate the 3D model so it can be viewed from any angle.

The advantage of this type of microscopy is a better assessment of the actual structure of soils and other specimens. Presently the microscope is helping the group study colloidal transport to ground water. With a maximum magnification of 7000x (based on a 15" LCD image), it is easy to view and record the 5 micron diameter particles as they move through porous media.

Funding for the microscope was provided by a USDA project grant as well as CALS and the Cornell Biocomplexity & Biogeochemistry Initiative.

     

Professor Dan Luo wins federal research agency Early Career award
October 12, 2006

Cornell researcher Dan Luo, whose work in nucleic acid engineering is changing the way scientists look at DNA, has garnered a prestigious 2006 Faculty Early Career Development Program award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), recognizing his research. Luo, assistant professor of biological and environmental engineering, will use the award to fund education.

Read more from the article published in Cornell's Chronicle

See the Winter 04 edition of CALS News for the following article, "Larry Walker's Vision for a Sustainable World Focuses on Nano and Biotechnology"