Science and Technology

Snow that blows and drifts across roadways has long troubled road maintenance crews and commuters alike, creating treacherous driving conditions and requiring additional maintenance resources to mitigate the problem. Now, a University at Buffalo engineer has led the development of "SnowMan," a user-friendly, desktop software package that puts cost-effective solutions to the snow drift problem at the fingertips of highway designers and road maintenance personnel.

During normal growth and development, cells in the body communicate with each other through protein receptors on the cell surface. Among the proteins used for this communication are receptor tyrosine kinases, or RTKs, which have been shown to play a critical role in the development and progression of many cancers by transmitting too much signal. A biochemist at the University at Buffalo has received $720,000 from the American Cancer Society to study how the RTK signaling pathway functions.

To tackle an increasing global infectious disease burden and rising rates of drug-resistant infections, University at Buffalo philosophers are working with medical researchers to develop the first-ever infectious disease ontology.

Laura Garofalo, assistant professor in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University at Buffalo, has received a 2008-09 Architectural Education Award from the American Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA).

In the world of supercomputers, practical considerations like energy consumption have traditionally been overshadowed by the emphasis on high performance. But as energy costs have increased, computational scientists at the University at Buffalo's Center for Computational Research (CCR) have found a way to do more cutting-edge science while consuming less power.

This month, the city of Anchorage, Alaska, will celebrate life in the Arctic with "Freeze," a bold series of outdoor installations by artists, architects and designers committed to perpetuating the Northern spirit, along with a wide variety of other events. Brian Carter, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at the University at Buffalo, has written a book about the projects being presented.

Ulrich Baur, Ph.D., and Surajit Sen, Ph.D., both University at Buffalo professors of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences, have been named Fellows by the American Physical Society.

Using the bells and whistles of a state-of-the-art entertainment arcade, a University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education project aims to improve the driving habits of teenagers at the very top of the risk pool, and at the same time bring child and parent together for a happier, better functioning family.

Graduate students in the University at Buffalo's Department of Urban and Regional Planning will present a report on the need and opportunity for hotel development in Niagara Falls, N.Y., at a presentation to be held at 6:30 p.m. today (Dec. 10, 2008) in the first floor Council Chambers of Niagara Falls City Hall, 745 Main St.

Researchers in the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning will partner with colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University on a $4.7 million, five-year effort to advance public transportation for people with disabilities.