Science and Technology

The University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning and a consortium of commercial and community leaders are working to identify, analyze and ultimately help resolve issues of concern to Buffalo's University Heights neighborhood in which UB's South (Main Street) Campus is located.

The tradeoff in fiberglass insulation products has always been between strength and safety: making glass fibers stronger by adding aluminum oxide to them also increases the risk that they will cause lung cancer when inhaled. But biomaterials and biophotonics researchers at the University at Buffalo recently reported on the surprising chemical mechanism behind one type of fiberglass fortified with aluminum oxide that does not persist in the lungs.

The School of Architecture and Planning at the University at Buffalo has scheduled a lecture series this fall that features an impressive lineup of internationally known and award-winning architects and designers.

A University at Buffalo optical engineer has created a silicon chip that mimics the structure and functionality of an octopus retina. Called the o-retina, the chip one day may give sight to autonomous robots used in space and undersea exploration or could be used in hazardous environments, like a nuclear reactor or underground pipe.

Linking computer scientists with life scientists to develop computational tools that will help draw a far more complete picture of the causes behind complex diseases like cancer, multiple sclerosis and coronary artery disease is the goal of researchers at the University at Buffalo working under two major federal grants totaling $2.8 million.

Edward Feiner, chief architect for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), will open the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning's fall lecture series with a talk at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in 301 Crosby Hall on the UB South (Main Street) Campus.

Andre Filiatrault, Ph.D. -- a leading expert on shake-table testing of structural and nonstructural building components, including electrical substation equipment -- has been named deputy director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) headquartered at the University at Buffalo. MCEER is a National Science Foundation "Center of Excellence" in earthquake engineering.

However grave the budget crisis that afflicts the Buffalo Public Schools this year, its teachers will get a technological leg up on their computer-savvy students. The University at Buffalo's Center for Applied Technologies in Education (CATE) will provide on-site, in-service training in a variety of educational technologies to more than 3,500 Buffalo school teachers during the 2003-04 school year through its "Push-In Technology Training Program."

Western New Yorkers will have the opportunity to learn about and discuss some of the important scientific and technological advances of our time during "Research Revolution: Science and the Shaping of Modern Life," a free video and discussion series to be offered during October by the University at Buffalo Libraries.

The Center for Industrial Effectiveness (TCIE) at the University at Buffalo is administering a 20-month program to deliver lean manufacturing training and implementation support to 16 Western New York companies that are suppliers to Delphi Thermal's Plant in Lockport.