Faculty and Staff Notes

Chancellor Job Description Posted

Search committee members have posted a job description for the university's next chancellor, incorporating suggestions from online submissions and open forum comments. You may still submit comments for the committee using the online feedback form, and input is welcome, said Bob Jordan, search committee chair.

Jordan said that nominations for chancellor may be submitted to:

Jerry H. Baker
Baker and Associates LLC
10 Glenlake Parkway, South Tower, Suite 140
Atlanta, GA 30328
E-mail: jbaker@baasearch.com
Phone: 770-395-2761

NC State Mobile Web Available

Here's good news if you rely on a Blackberry or other mobile device: NC State's Mobile Web site is up and running. The site brings the best of ncsu.edu straight to your mobile device, from the most basic cell phone to the iPhone, Android and Blackberry. Read news headlines, search our campus directory and find the nearest Wolfline bus in a concise, stylish site. Coming soon: features like maps, dining hall menu information and sports scores. Check it out from any mobile device at m.ncsu.edu .

Site Offers the Collected Tweets of NC State

Find all the NC State Twitter feeds in one handy location. The NC State on Twitter site provides access to the latest tweets from official NC State accounts. From the sidebar, you can click to get more information about the various organizations tweeting on campus. Check out this collaborative project between Web Communications and the Office of Information Technology at http://twitter.ncsu.edu. If you have an official Twitter feed you'd like included in the listings or want to share feedback on the new site, send an e-mail to twitter@ncsu.edu.

Check out the Wellness Expo booths for faculty and staff deals and discounts.

Save Money at Wellness Expo

Attention, NC State shoppers: Here's your chance to find deals galore during the Wellness Expo from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29 in the McKimmon Center. Want to save up to 20 percent on your cell phone bill? Check out the Wolfperks deals for faculty and staff. Plus, you'll find faculty and staff discounts on a wide array of items, including sub sandwiches, shoes and sports memorabilia.

To help you save on your biggest purchase – a home – attend the seminar for first-time homebuyers at 12:15 p.m. To reserve a spot, register online. You can even catch a free shuttle from Centennial Campus or the College of Veterinary Medicine.

And, as the name implies, the expo will feature wellness screenings, a blood drive, free seasonal flu shots for State Health Plan members and benefits seminars on flex spending accounts. For a preview, visit http://www.ncsu.edu/hr/benefits/wellnessexpo.

NC State Receives Latino Student Success Grant

NC State received one of 20 national SEMILLAS grants to increase retention and graduation rates among Latino students. The $50,000 grant, supported by the Walmart Foundation, is part of nonprofit organization Excelencia in Education’s “Growing What Works” initiative, designed to accelerate student success with model educational programs proven to advance Latino achievement in college. SEMILLAS, the Spanish word for seeds, also stands for Seeding Educational Models that Impact and Leverage Latino Academic Success.

“North Carolina State University is honored to be a recipient of the Walmart SEMILLAS grant,” said Chancellor Jim Woodward. “This is an excellent indication of our shared goal of advancing Latino students through higher education. We welcome the opportunity to partner with Excelencia in Education as it continues to pursue a goal of importance to North Carolina and, indeed, all of this country.”

The grants support work with the fast-growing Latino college age population in four areas: helping first-generation, low-income Latino students gain college entrance, improving retention rates for students enrolled in college, helping Latino students transfer from two-year to four-year colleges and increasing college graduation rates for Latinos.

Mitchell Awarded Nuclear Research Grant

Dr. Gary Mitchell, professor of physics, received an $800,000 grant from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to explore ways to reuse or otherwise safely dispose of waste from nuclear power plants. He will serve as lead investigator for the project, “Cross Sections, Level Densities and Strength Functions.”

The award is part of more than $20 million in NNSA grants awarded to 28 researchers from 18 states. This award was made possible through the NNSA’s Stewardship Science Academic Alliances program.

Preview New Hunt Library

Get an online preview of the Hunt Library, scheduled to be completed in 2012 on Centennial Campus. Renderings, plans, timelines and more are online at http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/huntlibrary. The Board of Trustees reviewed and released the design plans last week. 

Artificial Retina Research Honored

Dr. Gianluca Lazzi, professor of electrical and computer engineering, is part of an elite group of researchers recently honored with an R&D 100 Award for their work on an artificial retina that could one day restore sight to the blind. The awards, sponsored by R&D Magazine, recognize significant new technologies that exemplify the most innovative ideas of the year. Five national laboratories, four universities, and a private company have contributed to the research.

Lazzi, an internationally recognized authority on bioelectromagnetics and retinal prosthetics, serves as principal investigator of NC State’s work on the project, which involves electromagnetic and thermal modeling to help determine how much energy can be used to stimulate remaining nondiseased cells.

The Artificial Retina Project, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, is a collaborative, multi-institutional effort to develop an implantable microelectronic retinal prosthesis, or artificial retina, that restores useful vision to people blinded by retinal diseases. The ultimate goal of the project is to restore reading ability, facial recognition, and unaided mobility in people with retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.

Bikers Make 100-Mile Charity Trek

Two faculty members in Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences will make a 100-mile bike trek this Saturday to raise money for United Cerebral Palsy. Professor David Genereux  and Assistant Professor Karl Wegmann will take part in Ride Without Limits. To find out more or support their rides, visit Genereux’s and Wegmann’s Web pages

Book Examines Location-Based Reality Games

Dr. Adriana de Souza e Silva, assistant professor of communication and director of the Mobile Gaming Research Lab, has a new book of essays titled Digital Cityscapes: Merging Digital and Urban Playspaces. Her book examines how the convergence of smartphones, GPS, the Internet and social networks has given rise to playful, educational and social media known as location-based and hybrid reality games. The essays investigate this phenomenon and provide a broad overview of the emerging field of location-aware mobile games, including design approaches and social implications.

Miller Named McPherson Professor

Dr. Thomas K. Miller III has been named the McPherson Family Distinguished Professor in Engineering Entrepreneurship. Miller also serves as professor of electrical and computer engineering, vice provost for Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA), director of the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program and associate dean of engineering. As vice provost for DELTA, Miller is responsible for the university's learning technologies and distance education programs.

Miller is a member of the university’s Academy of Outstanding Teachers and recipient of the 1995 Joseph M. Biedenbach Outstanding Engineering Educator award from IEEE, formerly the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The U.S. Distance Learning Association recently honored Miller for outstanding individual leadership in distance learning.

Alumnus Thomas R. McPherson established the endowed professorship. McPherson, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering at NC State, founded and led several successful high-tech companies, resulting in one IPO and two mergers. The companies that he helped establish include Picture Element Limited, Network Equipment Technologies, Rapid City Communications, Hatteras Networks Inc., and recently Cognio Inc., which was sold to Cisco Systems. McPherson serves on the university advisory board for the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program and the Engineering Foundation Board of Directors.