ENGINEERING TEAMS READY FOR NASA CONTESTS – Two teams of students from across the UA College of Engineering will compete later this week and next in NASA-sponsored competitions. One team, Alabama Yellowhammer Rocketry, built a rocket, and will compete against other universities later this week in Utah. The other, Alabama Astrobotics, has built a robot that can dig and collect simulated Martian soil and will compete early next week in Florida. For more information, contact Adam Jones, engineering media relations, 205/348-6444 or acjones12@eng.ua.edu.
GERONTOLOGY RESEARCHERS TO SPEAK ON CAMPUS – Twenty-two percent of Americans care for aging adults. Often, both the caregiver and elder are unprepared for the transition. Friday, UA’s Center for Mental Health and Aging and the College of Continuing Studies will host “Successful Aging Across the Lifespan,” a day-long conference of workshops for professionals, community providers and caregivers at the Bryant Conference Center. Special emphasis will be given to aging successfully from birth, Alzheimer’s/dementia care and healthy lifestyles. For more information, contact David Miller, UA Media Relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
PROFESSORS HOLD CYBERSECURITY WORKSHOP AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE – Drs. Diana Dolliver and Kathryn Seigfried-Spellar, UA assistant professors of criminal justice, hope their research of cyber-related criminal investigations will help encourage more cooperation between law enforcement and researchers. They are hosting a workshop at the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts annual training convention May 14-15 in Atlanta, Ga. The convention, of which the workshops are a part, begins today. Seigfried-Spellar, whose research interests include computer deviance and cyber forensics, said researchers and practitioners can achieve greater results by working together. Seigfried-Spellar has worked with law enforcement to investigate sex crimes against children committed via the Internet. Dolliver is a former analyst for the Drug Enforcement Agency. For more information, contact David Miller, UA Media Relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
INTERIM CLASSES EXPLORE DETECTION, WEAVING – UA professors are offering a number of thought-provoking, unusual and challenging classes during UA’s May Interim session from Monday, May 5 to Friday, May 23. Classes range from the “Science and Anthropology of Detection” to “Introduction to Weaving.” For more information, visit http://uanews.ua.edu/2014/04/uas-interim-classes-explore-detection-games-forests-weaving/ or contact Richard LeComte, UA Media Relations, at rllecomte@ur.ua.edu or 205/348-3782
ENGINEERING PROFESSOR AWARDED NSF CAREER AWARD FOR ROBOTIC PROSTHESIS – The National Science Foundation selected a U A mechanical engineering professor for a CAREER Award for his research into a robotic prosthesis that could help amputees walk better. The CAREER Award is NSF’s most prestigious recognition of top-performing young scientists beginning their careers. Dr. Xiangrong Shen, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the UA College of Engineering, was awarded nearly $424,000 to assist his innovative work into biologically-inspired, powered prosthesis that mimic natural joints. For more information, contact Adam Jones, engineering media relations, 205/348-6444 or acjones12@eng.ua.edu.
SMALL CHANGES COULD SAVE STRUCTURES, LIVES DURING TORNADOES – Surviving a tornado in a wood-frame residential home is enhanced by an intact roof and standing walls, but light-weight garage doors can be the weak link to allowing high winds and pressure changes into a home that can lead to the removal of the roof and collapsed walls, according to a study of damage left behind by a powerful tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, in 2013 by researchers from UA and other institutions. For more information, visit http://uanews.ua.edu/2014/04/small-changes-could-save-structures-lives-during-tornadoes-reports-ua-involved-study, or contact Adam Jones, engineering media relations, 205/348-6444, or acjones12@eng.ua.edu.
UA EXPERT TIPS
HEALTH CORNER PROVIDES PRACTICAL HEALTH TIPS – Dr. Jared Ellis discusses why erectile dysfunction happens and what can be done about it in the latest video in UA’s Health Corner, http://vimeo.com/94447791/. The video series addresses health topics and provides practical advice and guidance from UA’s expert sources and physicians in the College of Community Health Sciences. A new video topic posts every Wednesday morning. Contact: UA Media Relations, 205/348-5320.
UA MATTERS: PREPARING FOR A NEW SCHOOL YEAR – In August, millions of children will start a new school year. New classes, new routines, new friends and new teachers are part of the excitement of the new school year, but they can also be a source of worry and stress. UA’s Dr. Jason Scofield, associate professor of human development and family studies in the College of Human Environmental Sciences, says parents and children can do several things over the summer to help better prepare for a worry-free, stress-free new year, http://uanews.ua.edu/2014/05/ua-matters-preparing-for-a-new-school-year/. Contact: UA Media Relations, 205/348-5320