INVENTING
Tomorrow Summer 2003
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CONTENTS
Vol. 27, No. 3
Publisher University of Minnesota Institute of Technology Administration H. Ted Davis Regents Professor and Dean Editorial Staff Paul Sorenson Director of Communications Managing Editor and Designer
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Through example and advocacy, Associate Dean Roberta Humphreys inspires a new generation of female scientists and engineers. by judy woodward
U.S. Mail Editor Inventing Tomorrow Institute of Technology 105 Walter Library 117 Pleasant Street SE Minneapolis, MN 55455 Email inventingtomorrow@it.umn.edu Facsimile 612-624-2841
by margaret kaeter
Investing in IT The risks and rewards of entrepreneurship attract IT alumni with a generous spirit / page 44
by nichol nelson
Editorial Advisory Board
Inventing Tomorrow welcomes letters from readers. Share your memories of campus life, tell us about your activities, react to a story, or let us know what you think about a particular issue. Submissions may be edited for clarity and length. Send your letters to:
Three new telescopes, two new leaders, and a roundup of research results and other news from IT / page 3
Gratitude for a life-changing education inspires alumnus Darrell Rinerson’s record-setting bequest to IT.
Susan Wagner Proofreader
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
Tech Digest
First of a Kind
Sathya Yesuraja Gina Hunziker Editorial Assistants
E Printed on recycled paper. © 2003 University of Minnesota.
Two major NSF grants fund bold new collaborations in earthquake engineering and surface process science.
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Skeeter Burroughs Webmaster
Inventing Tomorrow is published two times a year for alumni and friends of the Institute of Technology. This publication is available in alternate formats for those with visual impairments; call 612-626-7959. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
Weathering the state’s bleak fiscal forecast / page 2
Visionary Ventures
Reaching for the Stars
Carolyn Wavrin Senior Editor
Steven Crouch Michelle Hopewell Jim Kakalios David Hoffman Kristine Kosek Vaughan Voller
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From the Dean
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Changing the Faces of Engineering
The Society of Women Engineers works to dispel the notion that engineering is a guy thing.
Alumni Report Charting a course for the future and paying tribute to mentors and volunteers / page 46
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Fame and Fortitude
‘M’ Club Hall of Fame inductee Paul Mitchell beat the odds to achieve extraordinary success on the gridiron and in the corporate world.
Retrospect Designed by alumnus Marcus Mattison, the Washington Avenue pedestrian bridges were campus landmarks for generations of students / page 48
by tracey wilson
by judy woodward
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Slapstick Science Showbiz meets science when the Physics Force takes the stage. by judy woodward
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Calculating Risks
ON THE COVER: Civil engineering professor Catherine French directs the Multi-Axial Subassemblage Testing laboratory, one of two new research efforts funded by major grants from the National Science Foundation.
An IMA workshop explores the role of mathematical modeling in our nation’s biodefense strategy.
by barry cipra
Web www.it.umn.edu
PHOTO BY JONATHAN CHAPMAN
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www.it.umn.edu
www.it.umn.edu
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