Science and Technology

Leslie Weisman, a star in the field of architectural theory and education and the author of several books on gender and design, and Australian Sean Godsell, architect of several award-winning houses, will present slide lectures at the University at Buffalo this month as part of the annual series sponsored by the School of Architecture and Planning.

The U.S. Department of Defense, through the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, has awarded Ultra-Scan Corp. and the University at Buffalo's Center for Unified Biometrics and Sensors (CUBS) a highly competitive Small Business Technology Transfer Research contract.

Preoccupied as we are with the end of urbanism, Buffalonians ought to chuck the chicken wings and gobble up some Douglas Rae. With his arresting new book, "CITY: Urbanism and Its End" (Yale University Press, 2003), Rae has excited the moribund national discussion about whether or not fading urban centers can evolve again into lively and exciting places to live.

The nanomedicine program of the University at Buffalo's Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics is moving beyond the benchtop, thanks to a $925,000 grant to the institute from the John R. Oishei Foundation.

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.