NC State In the News

Here's a sampling of media reports featuring NC State experts this week:

Brighten up! Paint study could save states millions

Science Mode, PhysOrg.com, Individual.com, Science Daily, 680 WPTF

March 11 – A new study from North Carolina State University shows that painted road markings, such as the lines separating traffic lanes, are significantly better at reflecting headlights in the direction that the paint was applied. This finding will help determine how states comply with new federal safety regulations and save money on painting their roadways. The NC State researchers found that "retroreflectivity values" are higher in the direction of paint striping. "In other words," study co-author Dr. Joe Hummer says, "the paint reflects more light if you are following the painting truck than if you are driving from the other direction." This is a big deal, in part, because approximately 60 percent of the nation's roads are marked with paint, rather than thermoplastics or other materials. Hummer notes that paint "is expensive - two to three thousand dollars per mile of road." Hummer is a professor of civil engineering at NC State. His co-authors are fellow professor Dr. William Rasdorf and Ph.D. student Guanghua Zhang....

Green Grid Tech Sought with Stimulus Money

Goblueridge.net, My Beach Online, North Texas e-News, The-Dispatch.com, Dailyadvance.com, McClathchy, WRAL.com, The News & Observer

March 8 – Several North Carolina companies want federal stimulus money to help them continue to develop smarter technology for creating and distributing electricity. The companies are looking for a share of the $4.5 billion set aside in the federal stimulus plan to improve the nation's power-distribution network and create "smart grids."...Area universities are working on projects too, said Terri Lomax, a vice chancellor at NC State University. Lomax met with federal legislators a few days ago, looking for stimulus money for her school. "This is a big chance to do more things than we thought we could do, a chance to really broaden our research," she said....

N.C. recovery may take two years

The News & Observer, IStock Analyst

March 7 – There's good news and bad news about the state economy. First the bad: It's likely to stay in a rut through 2010. And the good: Many businesses are still considering moving to North Carolina, sparking optimism that the state will emerge stronger from this severe recession. Those were the key messages from a conference in Pinehurst on Friday of the N.C. Economic Developers Association. Almost 300 business recruiters gathered in the golf mecca to discuss the state's outlook. Speakers included Gov. Beverly Perdue, Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco and Michael Walden, an economist from N.C. State University...

Soldier's memoir pinpoints Alamo flag's origin

Herald Banner, Live 5 News, FayObserver.com, My Fox WGHP, Amarillo.com, Eyewitness News 9, KBMT ABC 12 - News, DentonRC.com

March 5 – A soldier's memoir has helped two professors trace the origin of the famed Alamo flag captured by Mexican troops in the 1836 siege and battle. North Carolina State University history professor James Crisp and Texas State University German language professor Louis Brister found the tale in the memoir of Herman Ehrenberg....