News

Heiland Lecture: Dr. Tissa Illangasekare

The October 7 Heiland Lecture focused on the importance of scale of modeling in a variety of different situations. Dr. Tissa Illangasekare, Professor of Civil Engineering at Mines, spoke at great length and in hurried detail about a variety of different topics that highlighted the relevance of modeling and attention to scale. Illangasekare is a world known specialist in the area of water and chemical flow through porous media, and after an insightful lecture, it is clear why such a field is of interest not only to geophysicists, but the entire Mines community. “We have to look at groundwater as a sustainable resource,” said Illangasekare, “46% of drinking water is subsurface water.” It is because of this that focusing on how liquids flow through the subsurface is important.

Lt. Gov. Candidate Joe Garcia to speak with Mines students

Lieutenant Governor Candidate Joe Garcia will visit Colorado School of Mines on Friday, October 15 for an exclusive question-answer session with students. Mr. Garcia will focus on the important challenges ahead for Colorado’s higher education system.

Headlines from around the world: 10-11-10

In fear of causing more problems in the mortgage foreclosure market, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are calling for Bank of America to put a stop on all foreclosure proceedings and thoroughly review the entire foreclosure process. The move was taken because of Bank of America’s employment of “robo-signers,” employees whose only job is to sign thousands of foreclosure papers. The system allows for incorrect paperwork to be filed and possibly unjust foreclosures to take place. Bank of America has since stopped foreclosures.

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Pattern formation research has vast potential

Ever wanted to manipulate a certain material to exhibit some unique property that just makes people go, “That’s cool!”? Dr. Ning Wu, a new assistant professor in the Chemical Engineering department here at Mines sure does, and some of the things he’s researching will definitely make you go, “That’s cool!” Wu’s research, ‘Pattern Formation of Soft Materials,’ is essentially manipulating natural processes on a very small scale to make certain materials conform to a specific shape or structure. “Patterns are everywhere, in many scales,” he said. Using one example of a butterfly, whose wings are blue in color, Wu pointed out that the wings had no pigment; the visible blue color comes from tiny spires on the wings that are closely spaced together in such a way that the light passing through them produces a soft, iridescent blue color.

Geophysics of Mars is a hot topic at Mines

Professor Jeffrey Andrew-Hanna spoke on Thursday August 23 about the landscape of the Tharsis region of Mars where many different land masses have formed. There is a crevice that is larger than any canyon on the planet Earth and a large active volcano known as Olympus Mons in the same Tharsis region. Andrew-Hanna opens, “It is interesting to study the geophysics of a planet different from ours.” Mars, unlike Earth, is a single plate planet which is vastly different from Earth’s system of tectonic plates.

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Club Spotlight: Art Club

How often do you hear the words “art” and “engineering” in the same sentence? Well at Mines, these two could be a part of a student’s weekly schedule. President of the Creative Arts Club at Mines, graduating senior Kraig Weaver has learned to incorporate his daily art fix into a Petroleum Engineering degree.

Scientific discoveries this week: 10-4-10

Hawaii, US – Researchers at the V.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii discovered what looks to be the first habitable planet outside our solar system. The planet Gliesee 581g, which is about 20 light-years away, orbits the red dwarf star Gliese 581 once every 37 days. The planet is remarkably similar to Earth. One major difference is that Gliese 581g does not rotate about its axis, leaving one side perpetually in the light and one side perpetually in the dark. Scientists speculate that if the planet had any life-forms, they would live near the line between light and dark, known as the ‘terminator.’ This area is the temperate region, most hospitable toward life.

Thrombosis threatens prosthetic rotary pumps

When a heart fails and there are no donors for a new heart, what options are there to explore? The best option is to receive a rotary pump or prosthetic tubes. These are great options except for one major caveat, a little effect known as thrombosis. Thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel. Vincent Turitto gave his “Around the World Talk” to describe this effect in detail. He opened with, “The reason why I call this my ‘Around the World Talk’ is because whenever I give this talk, people always ask me to talk in another country.”

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CSM Republicans host bipartisan debate

The air is beginning to become cool and crisp, and the aspens are turning yellow. As far as the eye can see, people are arguing passionately over the economy, immigration, health care, and a plethora of other issues. In preparation for the November elections, the CSM Republicans Club hosted a “General Election Candidate’s Forum” October 1. Candidates and their representatives in the gubernatorial, senatorial, and congressional races shared their positions in speeches and in answer to questions.

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Physics colloquium goes nuclear

Last week’s physics colloquium was a study in the “Unthinkable” of nuclear technology, what is being done to prevent it, and what to do if it happens. Dr. Jolie Cizewski of Rutgers University arrived to speak about applying nuclear physics in addressing the concerns of national security. Cizewski explained that in order to stem the spread of nuclear weapons, there must be a worldwide commitment to address the challenge. She outlined the four key points to addressing the issue, including the safeguarding of materials, detection of radioactive materials, proper response, and the assessment and attribution of the technology.