Summer Academics
Tuscaloosa News – June 24
…Take these programs at the University of Alabama for example: The Rural Health Scholars Program for high school juniors and the Minority Rural Health Pipeline Program for high school graduates, which lets students visit small community hospitals as well as a large medical facility…In the Rural Health Scholars Program program, students take Introduction to Chemistry and Creative Writing while Pipeline students take General Chemistry…At the College of Engineering, the Student Introduction to Engineering (SITE) program gives rising juniors and seniors a chance to learn the ins and outs of the profession…The Capstone Business Academy program at the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration lets upcoming high school seniors visit the Hyundai plant and Regions Bank, and meet with executives to gain more knowledge about the field…
Ethanol hurting mowers, helping local repair shops
Tuscaloosa News – June 24
…Kenneth Midkiff, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Alabama, said the introduction of ethanol has been a mixed blessing for utility engines. ‘Ethanol is good in a lot of ways,’ Midkiff said. It is better for the environment because engine exhaust contains fewer unburned hydrocarbons — a factor in ground-level ozone. That’s particularly important for lawn mower engines because they don’t have the pollution controls found on automobiles. However, ‘ethanol has a somewhat corrosive effect on some plastics. It is possible that some parts of a lawn mower could be damaged,’ Midkiff said…
Education briefs
Birmingham News – June 24
Cellulosix, a company co-led from the University of Alabama, received a $50,000 prize at the Alabama Launchpad Business Plan Competition. The company is hoping to develop a method in which insulin and other pharmaceuticals could be encapsulated within cellulose and swallowed, which would eliminate the need for injections. — Cody Moore of Northport, a University of Alabama senior majoring in civil engineering, was the only student from the state selected to attend the Associated Builders and Contractors Legislative Conference held recently in Washington, D.C.