Science and Technology

Studio for Architecture, the award-winning Buffalo architectural firm of Mehrdad Hadighi, associate professor of architecture, and Shadi Nazarian, clinical associate professor of architecture, both in the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, was named one of the "25 most intriguing, innovative and intrepid architecture firms, from all over the world" by Wallpaper* magazine in its July, 2004 Annual Design Directory issue.

A research institute to examine ways to improve security systems at airports and other transportation hubs is being established at the University at Buffalo under a $538,000 grant from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to a UB engineering professor who is an expert in human factors that affect aviation inspection.

The University at Buffalo and the Global Bio Pharma Conference Group is sponsoring "Global Bio Pharma Conference -- 2004," a gathering of biopharmaceutical industry leaders, academicians, scientists, entrepreneurs and representatives from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to discuss "emerging issues, challenges and opportunities in the new millennium for biologicals, pharmaceuticals, clinical trials and diagnostics."

Secure knowledge management, the growing dilemma of how to gather, organize and share information among employees in organizations while ensuring security, will be the subject of a workshop to be held Sept. 23 and 24 in the Buffalo/Niagara Marriott, 1340 Millersport Highway, Amherst.

John Cerne, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics in the College of Arts, has received a $75,000 Cottrell Scholar Award from the Research Corporation to study the fundamental physics of materials that are revolutionizing the understanding of metals.

Graduate students in the University at Buffalo School of Informatics will work to make library Web sites in remote communities accessible to users with disabilities under a federal grant to a statewide consortium that includes the school's Department of Library and Information Studies.

A University at Buffalo biological sciences professor will be among the scientists on hand in early September to study the once-a-year spawning of massive star corals off of the Florida coast that generates millions of infant corals.

The NMDA receptor, a brain protein crucial for learning and memory, can function as a "frequency discriminator," translating stimulation frequency into current amplitude and possibly deciding whether the neuron will learn to become more or less receptive to future experiences, University of Buffalo biophysicists have revealed.

An exciting, new dual master's-degree program offered by the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning exemplifies the interdisciplinary exchange provoked by the effect of the digital technology revolution on the field of architecture.

A University at Buffalo research team has invented a new way to synthesize quantum dots -- luminescent nanocrystals made from semiconductor material that have the potential to be used to build exciting new devices for biological and environmental sensing, quantum computing, lasers and telecommunications.