University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Dr. Tansel Karabacak’s group was awarded a $300,000 grant with the National Science Foundation (NSF) on the development of advanced nanostructured catalyst materials for next generation polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell electrodes. The grant will support the project over a 3 year period. PEM fuel cell technology stands unprecedented as one of the most promising alternative energy systems for an environmentally friendly, sustainable energy economy. PEM fuel cells can operate with various types of energy carriers including hydrogen, ethanol, and methanol. However, conventional PEM fuel cell electrodes, which are comprised of carbon supported platinum catalyst nanoparticles, suffer from several key limitations that include sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and high Pt loadings at the cathode, agglomeration of Pt nanoparticles, oxidation of carbon support, separation of carbon over time from the membrane, and poor catalyst-carbon support stability. To overcome these limitations of the traditional cathode catalyst, Dr. Karabacak proposes to employ a new nanostructured PEM fuel cell electrode design comprised of single layer carbon-free catalyst nanorod arrays with extremely low Pt loadings, controlled porosity, ideal alloy compositions, and with preferred crystal orientations for enhanced ORR electrochemical activity. Karabacak will use a combination of recently developed small angle deposition (SAD) and glancing angle deposition (GLAD) techniques for the fabrication of the nanorod PEM fuel cell electrodes. The electro-catalysis characterization and fuel cell performance tests will be done in conjunction with Dr. Myer’s research group at Argonne National Labs. More information on the award can be found at http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=1159830

Saturday, September 22nd was the 3rd annual International Observe the Moon Night and this year the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society, UALR Physics and Astronomy Department, Museum of Discovery, Central Arkansas Library System and the River Market District all teamed together to bring you this year’s event. Our special guest this year (courtesy of UALR Physics and Astronomy Dept.) was Mr. Steve Arnold of the Science Channel’s hit TV show “Meteorite Men”. Steve is an Arkansan who has been hunting, collecting, and selling these rare rocks from space for many years. His quests have taken him to some of the most exotic and remote places upon the planet.

All events are free!

Schedule of Events:

9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Museum of Discovery) Construct a Lunar Base
Activity for kids, Tinker Shop, Museum of Discovery

1:00 PM to 2:00 PM “Meteorite Man” Steve Arnold lecture in the Museum
of Discovery Great Hall

2:30 PM to 5:00 PM Meteorite Sales with Steve Arnold in the Museum of
Discovery Great Hall

2:30 PM to 4:00 PM “For All Mankind” a documentary film of the Apollo
Moon Missions at Arkansas Studies Institute Room 124

3:00 PM to 5:00 PM Making Moon Craters with Dr. Tony Hall at the CALS
Main Library Branch Children’s Room

3:00 PM to 6:00 PM Walking the Solar System. Starts outside the front
of the Museum of Discovery

7:00 PM to 10:30 PM Lunar Telescope Viewings with members of the
Central Arkansas Astronomical Society and the UALR Physics and
Astronomy Department. Guest appearance by Mr. Steve Arnold

Telescopes will be set up at the location noted on the map below in the evening for viewing. Parking will be available in the Clinton Library parking lot after 6:00 p.m.

For more info please visit:

www.caasastro.org or www.museumofdiscovery.org

Also check out Arkansas Matters video with Darrell Heath from UALR’s Biology Department.

Museum of Discovery
500 President Clinton Ave
Suite 150 Little Rock, AR 72201

Central Arkansas Library System
Main Library
100 Rock Street
Little Rock, AR 72201

Arkansas Studies Institute
401 President Clinton Avenue
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201

Pictures from this years event

Click here for more MoonFest pics….

Dr. Robert E. Belford, associate professor of chemistry at UALR, has received a $200,000 National Science Foundation grant to develop an intercollegiate course in cheminformatics – the modeling of chemical and related biological information on computers.

Belford, chair of the American Chemical Society’s Division of Chemical Education Committee on Computers in Chemical Education, will work in collaboration with Dr. David J. Wild, director of the Indiana University Cheminformatics Program, to pioneer the use of the Semantic Web and Distance Education.

The goal will be to bring high-impact education on practical informatics and cheminformatics techniques to chemistry undergraduates in a wide range of universities and smaller colleges. Their team will include a variety of experts in cheminformatics, chemical education, and information sciences. The intercollegiate course will be hosted by ACS CCCE.

UALR is the lead institution for the collaborative project.

“Advances in cheminformatics over the past couple decades have been so rapid that the traditional undergraduate curriculum has not kept up,” Belford said. “It will be a significant competitive asset for our students to be cognizant of these new technologies when they graduate.”

The goal of the grant is two-fold – to bring faculty up to par with recent advances and to provide students with these skills.

“For students to graduate with the skills they need to excel as chemists they not only need to know the foundations and lab skills central to the science, but they also need to know how to communicate the results of their work, how to acquire and review the results of others’ work, and increasingly how to use computational and informatics techniques as part of their scientific discovery process,” Belford said.

According to Belford, this is more than just moving scientific communications beyond the traditional Gutenberg-era printed document.

“Sure social and semantic technologies are impacting the scientific discovery process by changing how scientists share and communicate information, but there is another aspect of cheminformatics which could be changing the very nature of how we solve problems,” he said. “That is, cheminformatic advances are changing the nature of the cognitive artifacts we use to represent and manipulate information, which in turn has the potential to enable the development of new schema for problem solving that could have a profound impact on the practice of science.”

Belford joined the UALR faculty in 2002 from the University of West Virginia where he was a visiting assistant professor of chemistry. He earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Arizona State University.

The new freshmen class was officially welcomed to the university during the Freshman Convocation held by UALR’s Division of Educational, Student Services, and Student Life at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 22, at the University Theatre in the Center for Performing Arts.

The ceremony marks the beginning of students’ academic journey, providing them an opportunity to assemble as a class and – with the drama and regalia of the academic processional and recessional – foreshadow their graduation celebration.

“Freshman Convocation is the university’s opportunity to welcome new students and share our enthusiasm and expectations of them in their new role as college freshmen,” said Dr. Jan Austin, assistant vice chancellor for Student Life and Leadership Development.

Dr. Jamie Byrne, interim dean for the College of Professional Studies, presented the keynote charge to the entering freshmen.

Chancellor Joel E. Anderson offered the university’s official welcome and invited the freshman class to lunch in the Donaghey Student Center’s Diamond Café where students could sit and visit with faculty from their college of interest.

New CSAM Freshmen with Dean Gealt (far left) and Dr. Lynch (far right)

Freshmen Convocation

Faculty in their regalia

The College Flags

New Freshmen Ready To Start Classes

Existing CSAM CLC Students

Dean Gealt, Kelsey Reed-2012 CLC President, Dr. Tom Lynch (from left)

Freshmen ready to go to class

CSAM Freshmen Lunch in the DSC

UALRTeach Assistant Director Michelle Buchanan recruits CSAM Freshmen to UALRTeach

Janet Lanza, a professor in the UALR Department of Biology, has received the Distinguished Service Citation from the Ecological Society of America. She has served the society for two decades as Book Review Editor of its flagship journal, Ecology.

As book editor, Lanza selects the books to review from those sent by publishers, finds appropriate reviewers, and edits the reviews – two to five per issue – for clarity, accuracy, and content.

“Through a good eye for books worth reviewing, a familiarity with the discipline, and a keen and discriminating awareness of the pool of book reviewers, Lanza has produced a regular stream of high-quality reviews that span and transcend ecology,” said Nadine Lymn, a spokesperson for the society.

The Ecological Society of America – the largest professional society of ecologists in the world with more than 10,000 members – publishes five well-respected journals, convenes an annual conference of more than 4,500 ecologists, and provides ecological and conservation advice to policy makers and media.

Lanza’s service as book editor allows her to hire a biology student to work on the project. The books submitted for reviews – valued at $25,000 – are donated annually to UALR’s Ottenheimer Library.

Congratulations to Nita Copeland (Health Sciences) for being awarded the 2012 Blackboard Catalyst Award for Exemplary Course Design for the significant achievements in outstanding course design accomplished using Blackboard. See article below.

Nita Copeland.pdf

Little Rock Central High School Team 1 won first place in the senior high division of the Arkansas Science Olympiad hosted by UALR Saturday, April 14. LISA Academy placed first among middle school teams. The Arkansas state competition is sponsored by UALR’s College of Science and Mathematics, the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT), and College of the Ouachitas.

Both winners can compete in the upcoming National Science Olympiad in Orlando, Fla., May 18 and 19, at the University of Southern Florida.

Nettleton High School won second place, and LISA Academy West Campus won third in the Arkansas senior high division. LISA Academy North Campus won second and Horace Mann Arts and Science Magnet Middle School won third in the junior high division.

Unlike science fairs, the Science Olympiad consists of two or three students working together to solve various problems at the time of the competition. Each team consists of up to 15 students who spend months preparing for various events that cover life sciences, physical sciences, engineering, and technical problem solving.

“The Arkansas Science Olympiad is dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 science education, increasing male, female, and minority interest in science, creating a technology-literate workforce, and providing recognition for outstanding achievement by both students and teachers,” said Dr. Eric Kaufmann, professor of mathematics and statistics in the UALR College of Science and Mathematics.

The students from Central High who were on the winning high school team were Abrar Matin, Farhan Kawsar, Aaron Yin, Brendon Song, Claire Schmidt, Annie Meek, Joseph Berleant, Arhita Dasgupta, Ayush Saraswat, Nimit Gandhi, Shruti Shah, Anusheh Ali, Dana Abulez, and Sana Khan.

The students from the LISA Academy winning middle school team were Anna Wolff, Chloe Beall, Evalyn Berleant, Jesse Morrison, Christopher Heredia, Mingjia Wu, Nivetha Svinivasan, Pranav Kolluru, Ryan Kaufmann, Izabelle Harville, Abhigna Penthala, and Leslie Gray.

Photos from the event

The T-Shirts

The Bottle Rockets

The Towers

Mouse Trap Vehicle

The Helicopters

The Director and The Guest of Honor

The Winners

UALR will host the Arkansas Science Olympiad Saturday, April 14, offering middle and high school students and their schools a chance to participate in the National Science Olympiad in Orlando, Fla.

The state competition is sponsored by UALR’s College of Science and Mathematics, the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT), and College of the Ouachitas.

Unlike science fairs, the Science Olympiad consists of two or three students working together to solve various problems at the time of the competition. Each team consists of up to 15 students who spend months preparing for various events that cover life sciences, physical sciences, engineering, and technical problem solving.

Until last year, middle school – Division B, and high school – Division C, students in Arkansas who wanted to participate in the Science Olympiad could enter contests in nearby states but were ineligible to compete at the national level.

“The Arkansas Science Olympiad is dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 science education, increasing male, female, and minority interest in science, creating a technology-literate workforce, and providing recognition for outstanding achievement by both students and teachers,” said Dr. Eric Kaufmann, professor of mathematics and statistics in the UALR College of Science and Mathematics.

The state competition begins at 8:30 a.m. with an opening ceremony and the parade of schools and ends at 4:45 p.m.

The events will occur in four 60-minute periods with a 15-minute break in between. Check out some YouTube demonstrations from a variety of the Science Olympiad categories.

The closing ceremony, which begins at 3:45 p.m., will include a keynote speaker, presentation of medals to the winning teams in each event, and the presentation of trophies for the top three teams in each division. The top team in each division will go on to Orlando for the national Olympiad at the University of Central Florida.

Kaufmann said 137 students from 11 different schools are expected to compete at the state event:

Division C (High School):

Haas Hall Academy
Lavaca High School
LISA Academy North Campus
LISA Academy West Campus
Little Rock Central High School (2 Teams)
Nettleton High School

Division B (Middle School):

Haas Hall Academy
Horace Mann
LISA Academy North Campus
LISA Academy West Campus (2 Teams)

The College of Science & Mathematics (CSAM) congratulates the following Award Winners:

Tracy L. Thompson Scholardship Award = Corey Graham

Steven L. Mourning Scholarship Award = John Hutchison

Overall College Winners of Academic Excellence

Associate Degree = Tera Easter

Bachelor’s Degree = Ryne Ramaker

Master’s Degree = Vanessa K. Hilliard Young

Ph.D = Robin Verble

The 33rd Annual CSAM Award Ceremony will be held on April 27th, 2012 in the Donaghey Student Center from 4pm-6pm.

2012 Fribourgh Award Photos

H. Watt Gregory III, a partner in Kutak Rock LLP’s Little Rock office, was honored at the UALR College of Science and Mathematics third annual Fribourgh Award Reception on Tuesday, March 27, in The Great Hall at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library.

The evening began with a cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by an awards ceremony to recognize Gregory as the 2012 Fribourgh Award recipient. The award is given to an individual in recognition of contributions to Arkansas through the disciplines of health, mathematics, and science found within the UALR College of Science and Mathematics (CSAM).

Contact Laura Beck, llbeck@ualr.edu or 501-569-3151, to make a donation. Proceeds from the event go to the CSAM Leadership Endowed Scholarship Fund that supports scholarships for undergraduate science and mathematics students at UALR.

Since 1969, Gregory’s practice has been concentrated in business development and finance, including handling initial public offerings and issuance of other equity and debt securities in the public markets, as well as providing lead counsel services in mergers and acquisitions of public and private companies and in handling private equity and venture capital-related financings involved in technology business development. He also provides corporate and securities guidance in the financial services and information technology industries. In the health care industry, he has been lead counsel in acquisitions and dispositions of publicly owned health care companies and private transactions involving nursing facilities, transitional hospitals, hospice and home health care agencies, institutional pharmacies and outpatient and rehabilitation therapy centers. In the biotechnology and life sciences industries, Gregory has represented emerging technology companies as well as venture capital and private equity funding sources in fields such as cancer, osteoporosis and other disease diagnostics and therapeutics, as well as in the food safety and animal husbandry industries. Additionally, he has represented issuers and broker-dealers in numerous private placements and initial public and secondary offerings of securities in many other industries.

Gregory is a member of the executive committee and immediate past chair of Accelerate Arkansas, a nonprofit initiative of business, professional, and educational leaders in Arkansas seeking to accelerate the growth of knowledge-based industries and infrastructure support in the state. Accelerate Arkansas has been responsible for the creation of several state-funded programs authorized by the Arkansas General Assembly to advance job creating research (Arkansas Research Alliance), support entrepreneurial mentorship (Innovate Arkansas) and provide early stage Arkansas technology companies with risk capital to validate and grow their businesses (Arkansas Risk Capital Matching Fund). He is a member of the executive committee of the Arkansas Venture Forum and served as co-chair of the 2004 Arkansas Venture Conference. In 2005 he was the recipient of the organization’s first Forum Award for Leadership and Support for Entrepreneurship in Arkansas.

He received an L.L.B. from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1966 and a B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University in 1963. Gregory is a member of the American, Arkansas, and Pulaski County Bar Associations. He served on the Arkansas Arts Center board from 1990 to 1998 and chaired the Intellectual Property Law Section of the Arkansas Bar Association in 2002. He lives in Little Rock with his wife Nancy and their family of rescue dogs.

Photos2012 Fribourgh Award Photos

Dr. Jim Fribourgh

Dr. Jim Fribourgh & Watt Gregory III

Chancellor Joel Anderson, Chad Fitz, and Dean Gealt

Chancellor Joel Anderson, Watt Gregory III, and Lunsford Bridges

Watt Gregory III (2012 Recipient) & Jerry Adams (2011 Recipient)

Watt Gregory III - 2012 Recipient

Watt Gregory III & Family

Clinton Presidential Center Audience

2012 Fribourgh Award Volunteers (Thanks)

2012 Fribourgh Award