March 2008 Featured News

Letter from Dean Allewell

As always, the midpoint of the Spring semester finds the College in a high energy state, with important initiatives on many fronts, including enhancing the quality of our graduate programs, editing and redesigning the College website, encouraging admitted undergraduates to enroll, and conducting new faculty searches. Other sections of the newsletter highlight many accomplishments by faculty, staff, and students.  These include major new grants to recently recruited faculty, who are to be congratulated on their success in this period of unprecedented competition for shrinking federal appropriations for research. 
Read Dean Allewell's highlights >>

Fuel from Trash, Not From Food:
Professors' Invention Promises Major Advance in Biofuel Production

Accompanied by Governor Martin O’Malley and UM President Mote, Steve Hutcheson, Professor of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, announced in a press conference on Monday that he has developed a process that may be able to convert large volumes of plant waste, from leftover brewer's mash to paper trash, into ethanol and other biofuel alternatives to gasoline. He and his research partner Ron Weiner, Professor Emeritus, are licensing their patent-pending system, Ethazyme™, through their spin off company Zymetis Inc. Their system could become a viable and inexpensive gasoline substitute.
Read more about the biofuel breakthrough >>

Sergei Sukharev Recognized for Discovery of Membrane Sensor Involved in Complex Cellular Tasks

Sergei Sukharev, Associate Professor of Biology, solved the puzzle of how bacteria adapt to pressure changes by opening permeability pathways in their normally tightly sealed cell membrane. This process is what enables bacteria and bugs to adjust their internal pressure. This discovery will enable scientists to better understand the mechanisms involved in human hearing and the regulation of our cardiovascular systems, which also depend on similar "mechanoreceptors." The Biophysical Society honored Dr. Sukharev with the 2008 Michael & Kate Barany Award for Young Investigators for this groundbreaking research.
Read more about Dr. Sukharev's breakthrough >>
Read more faculty accomplishments >>

Large Gift from Chemistry Alumnus Creates Nathan Drake Endowment

A chemistry alumnus, who asked to remain anonymous, recently pledged a significant portion of his estate to create the Nathan Drake Endowment in Organic Chemistry. The Nathan Drake Endowment in Organic Chemistry will realize the dream of honoring a beloved faculty member in exactly the way this donor intended. Dr. Nathan L. Drake (pictured) was head of the university's chemistry department from 1940 until his death in 1959. He founded the Institute for Molecular Physics at Maryland in 1950.
Read more about this estate gift to the college >>

TLC in the Classroom:
Faculty Initiatives Elevate Importance of Teaching & Learning

As the university of Maryland strives to enter the top echelon of U.S. research universities, there is simultaneously a renewed emphasis on the importance of teaching excellence, student engagement, and “learning outcomes.” The College’s Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) , led by Dr. Gili Marbach-Ad, has been ahead of the curve in encouraging strategies to improve classroom learning. Several faculty-led initiatives, including the Host Pathogen Interaction Teaching Group and the "MathBench" modules, are attracting notice, both on campus and off.
Read more about Teaching & Learning Center initiatives >>