Science and Technology

Electronic prescriptions -- not fingerprinting of patients at pharmacies as proposed by some policymakers -- could help cut a substantial amount of illicit use of medications like OxyContin, according to Karl D. Fiebelkorn, assistant dean for student affairs and professional relations in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The University at Buffalo School of Informatics has proposed a new and unusual master's-degree program in information and communication. The program, which will require the approval of the State University of New York and the State Education Department, was developed with input from an extensive survey in which public and private corporations, research facilities, libraries, industrial and business institutions across New York State were asked to identify employee competencies they will require to take full advantage of new information technologies and maintain a competitive edge in their fields.

In search of evidence that could help explain how certain species were created and how their genome has changed with evolution, a University at Buffalo evolutionary biologist and nine of his students enrolled in a new course on arctic molecular ecology are participating in a two-week research expedition to the arctic climes of Alaska.

MyUB, a personalized Web site linking University at Buffalo students to important information -- including academic and student services -- has earned the university designation as an IBM "Best Practice" partner.

Extremely hardy bacteria that contaminate computer-chip fabrication facilities and mean nothing but trouble for chip manufacturers have been reproduced under controlled conditions by University at Buffalo researchers, who believe they could be the basis for potentially powerful biophotonic materials.

Richard Krause, residency program director for the Department of Emergency Medicine in the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has been named managing editor for the emergency medicine section of eMedicine, an online medical journal that provides textbook-quality articles on topics ranging from dermatology to sports medicine with one distinct advantage over the print variety: the information is truly current.

A dozen of the area's best and brightest high school students are getting the chance to let loose their imaginations this summer with an intensive workshop in scientific visualization and virtual reality cosponsored by the New York State Center for Engineering Design and Industrial Innovation (NYSCEDII) and the Center for Computational Research (CCR), both at the University at Buffalo.

Cannon Design, which recently established two graduate scholarships in partnership with the Department of Architecture in the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, has named the first two recipients of the awards.

Recognizing that for many teens email has become passé, the University at Buffalo is among the first universities in the country to utilize instant messaging (IM) -- the preferred method of online communication of American teens -- to communicate with prospective students.

A new architecture for next-generation wireless systems for cellular phones proposed by University at Buffalo researchers could provide an efficient and flexible way to extend outdoor coverage, as well as provide indoor coverage, without building additional cellular phone towers.