University of Alabama, Shelton State team wins NASA Robotic Mining contest
Al.com – May 30
A University of Alabama student-constructed robot navigated chaotic Martian terrain last weekend, excavating and depositing a layer of rocky material in a short, 10-minute window. But the Martian terrain was located in Cape Canaveral, not millions of kilometers away, as the Alabama Astrobiotics team took home the Joe Kosmo Award for Excellence, the top prize at NASA’s annual Robotic Mining Competition. The team, made up of UA and Shelton State Community College students, were tasked with building a robot capable of “navigating and excavating simulated Martian soil,” according to a UA release. According to the release, the team’s primary goal this year was creating a fully autonomous robot — one that could make its own decisions in real-time according to the conditions and obstacles it faced. While some teams program a path for their robot to take in the on-site competition, the Astrobiotics team equipped their machine with lasers and senors, allowing it to calculate its position and maneuver around obstacles. The Alabama Astrobiotics team completed the first fully-autonomous run in the competition’s history.
Engineering Professor Comes Up With Second Patent for Carbon-Capture Technology
World Industrial Reporter – June 2
Here’s the story of one patent following another: Engineering Professor Dr. Jason E. Bara from University of Alabama, who has already patented a process that could improve stripping greenhouse gasses from industrial emissions, has now come up with a new liquid salt patent that can be swapped with chemicals currently used to scrub harmful emissions. In his previous patent, Bara proposed switching currently used chemicals with a class of low volatility organic molecules. It is all part of his research focus of showing different, and possibly better, ways to capture harmful emissions. “We pursue this work with novel solvents to hopefully achieve the greatest energy efficiency for CO2 capture,” Bara said. “It’s the magnitude of the problem and the impact on the global economy that makes it extremely important that capture processes be highly optimized when they are rolled out at full scale.”
Engineering News Today – June 1
Boys convene at UA to hone leadership skills
Tuscaloosa News – June 1
About 550 boys from across the state filled Morgan Auditorium on the University of Alabama campus Sunday for the first day of the annual American Legion Alabama Boys State Convention. As part of the convention, the upcoming high school seniors will learn about politics and community service this week. The students will participate in mock party conventions and elections while learning about local, state and federal government with some community service projects mixed in. “You are in for something that will change the rest of your life, and I want you to take advantage of it,” Wayne Stacey, senior vice commissioner of Alabama for the American Legion told the young men at the opening address Sunday. “You are the future leadership of the state of Alabama and the United States of America.” Alabama Boys State is a leadership and government training program that is among the highest honors granted to high school senior boys. Students from around the state are chosen based on their demonstration of leadership, hard work, morals and motivation in school and community activities. Delegates have the opportunity to join groups that focus on their individual areas of interest, including law and law enforcement, aerospace, local government and the environment.
Daily Mountain Eagle – June 1
Alabama candidates focus campaigns on Obama
Tuscaloosa News – June 1
President Barack Obama isn’t on Alabama’s primary election ballot Tuesday, but the campaigns in both political parties make it seem like he is. Republicans have built their campaigns around who would fight Obama the hardest, while Democrats have talked about their support of Obama and have called for Alabama to expand its Medicaid program under the president’s federal health care law. “The candidates have brought President Obama into Alabama’s primary election by Republicans continuing to display their opposition to his programs and Democrats lining up with their national party,” said William Stewart, retired chairman of the political science department at the University of Alabama.
CBS 12 (Chattanooga, Tenn.) – June 1
Gadsden Times – June 1
Decatur Daily – June 1
Work with, not against, the state’s landowners
Montgomery Advertiser – May 31
Alabama got some good news when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced five crawfish species found in Alabama would not need to be listed as endangered species. The agency did recommend putting the slenderclaw crawfish, found in north Alabama, on the endangered list. The crawfish episode is part of a federal government process that could put more than 300 species on the endangered list by 2018, including over 130 species in Alabama — more than in any other state. Since nearly all these species are aquatic, entire watersheds across the state, not just limited land parcels, may be affected by costly and burdensome regulations that could damage the economy and actually hurt conservation efforts. The Endangered Species Act is a powerful law allowing the federal government to regulate otherwise normal and lawful forms of land and resource use, including farming, home building, mining, logging and dredging. Its draconian penalties — up to a $100,000 fine and/or one year in jail for harming a species or its habitat — often hurt conservation efforts by turning wildlife into economic liabilities that cause landowners to destroy habitats and remove species from their properties. (Andrew P. Morriss is D. Paul Jones Jr. and Charlene A. Jones Chairholder in Law at the University of Alabama. Brian Seasholes is director of the Endangered Species Project at Reason Foundation.)
Facebook, Twitter frequency lands UA, Auburn at top of social media study
Birmingham Business Journal – May 30
The University of Alabama and Auburn University ranked high in something other than football prowess. A study found the universities are among the best in the nation for their social engagement on Facebook and Twitter. A new report by College Atlas Encyclopedia of Higher Education ranked Alabama 17 th for social engagement and Auburn 26 th. The report measures the university’s Facebook likes and frequency of twitter mentions within pages and posts, a story on AL.com reported. The study looked at social media efforts and impact of 400 major U.S. colleges and universities.
Malaysia Sun – May 30
Graduateprograms.com Announces The 2014 Top Law Schools For Social Life
Digital Journal – June 1
Law school is a time of great learning, growth… and socializing. The class time is most important, of course, but the connections made will greatly impact job offers after graduation. To that end, Graduate Programs is pleased to announce the Top 25 Law Schools for Social Life. With votes from more than 60,000 students, Graduate Programs ranked the most social law schools in the nation–and the University of Florida came out on top.The top law schools for social life are: 1.) University of Florida (9.65 stars) 2.) University of Colorado at Boulder (9.49 stars) 3.) The University of Texas at Austin (9.46 stars) 4.) University of Georgia (9.33 stars) 5.) University of Alabama (9.24 stars).
LEND A HAND: June 1
Tuscaloosa News – May 31
Saturday’s Handmade June Jam at the Northport Civic Center will be a sequel of sorts to a popular holiday event. The Handmade June Jam is an indoor handcrafted arts and crafts exhibition where people can buy and sell a variety of items. Everything at the event will be handmade or originally designed. The event will benefit the Tuscaloosa chapter of the Books to Prisons Project, which holds a similar fundraiser, Handmade Holiday, in the fall. The project provides inmates with donated reading material in response to their letters. “We’ve (already) had a huge response for this event, even more than the holiday event,” said Mary Ann Robbins, a University of Alabama librarian who is the founder of the Tuscaloosa chapter of the Books to Prisons Project. “Our venue is really nice, so we’re hoping to draw a lot of traffic this time,” she said. “We insist that whatever is sold at our event is handmade and not commercial. Some items can even be personalized for you at the event.” The Books to Prison Project will also have letters and hand-sketched art from the inmates on display for the public to view so they can get a sense of the inmates’ personalities.
School news: UA graduates
Commercial Dispatch (Columbus, Miss.) – June 1
The University of Alabama announces the spring graduating class of 2014. Area graduates include: Caledonia: Katrina Marie Lawrence, master’s degree; Columbus: Matthew Bryson Bogue, master’s degree; Jennifer Ann Leonard Box, doctoral degree; Dana Delk, Juris Doctor degree; Justin T. Long, bachelor’s degree; Sarah C. Mutch, bachelor’s degree; Michelle Pilate, master’s degree; Caitlyn T. Smith, Juris Doctor degree; Nettleton: Shakieta Williams-Morris, master’s degree; Starkville: Edea Anne Baldwin, master’s degree; Sumaya Unique Boyd, master’s degree; West Point: Anna Claire J. Spradling, bachelor’s degree.