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RELATE
Research, Education, Lectures Accessing the Technical Edge
The official newsletter of the Charlotte Research Institute
March 4, 2015
Events:
Dissertation Defense Announcements
Department of Research & Economic Development
UNC Charlotte Science & Technology EXPO
Charlotte Venture Challenge Finals
iCONE Seminar
Office of International Programs
Department of Biological Sciences
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
College of Computing and Informatics
The William States Lee College of Engineering
Department of Geography & Earth Sciences
College of Health and Human Services
Dissertation Defense Announcements
“Comparison of Vitamin D3 (Cholecalcifero) and Vitamin D2 (Ergocalcifero) on Fall
Reduction in Nursing Home Residents”
Candidate:
My Linh Waldrop
Sponsoring Chair:
Dr. Meredith Troutman-Jordan
Committee:
Dr. Elizabeth Scism, Clinical Mentor, Dr. Boyd Davis, Department of English, Dr. Maureen
Brown, Department of Political Science and Public Administration
Defense Date:
March 5, 2015 - 11:00am
Location:
CHHS 332
Degree Program Name: Doctor of Nursing Practice
“The Way the Cookie Crumbles: Assessing the Resilience of Starter-Home Neighborhoods
through the Great Recession.”
Candidate:
Melissa Anne Currie
Sponsoring Chair:
Dr. Janni Sorensen ,Geography and Earth Sciences Department
Committee:
Dr. Heather Smith, Dept. of Geography and Earth Sciences; Dr. Owen Furuseth, Associate
Provost for Metropolitan Studies and Extended Academic Programs; and Dr. Jose Gamez, Architecture and
Urban Design
Defense Date:
March 10, 2015 - 9:30am
Location:
McEniry 441
Degree Program Name: Geography PhD
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“Factors that influence board members in the selection of an architectural firm for new
school construction and/or renovation projects in North Carolina.”
Candidate:
Stuart Taylor Blount
Sponsoring Chair:
Dr. Jimmy Watson
Committee:
Dr. Jimmy Watson, Department of Educational Leadership, Dr. David M. Dunaway,
Department of Educational Leadership, Dr. James Bird, Department of Educational Leadership, Dr. Robert
Algozzine, Department of Educational Leadership, Dr. Lyndon Abrams, Department of Counseling
Defense Date:
March 11, 2015 - 11:00am
Location:
COED 259
Degree Program Name: Ed.D
“Tissue-Specific Responses of Two Estuarine Bivalve Species, Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea
virginica) and Atlantic Ribbed Marsh Mussels (Geukensia demissa), to Hypoxia”
Candidate:
Bushra Khan
Sponsoring Chair:
Dr. Amy Ringwood
Committee:
Dr. Amy Ringwood, Department of Biological Sciences at UNC Charlotte, Dr. Mark
Clemens, Department of Biological Sciences at UNC Charlotte, Dr. Matthew Parrow, Department of Biological
Sciences at UNC Charlotte, Dr. Sandra Clinton, Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at UNC
Charlotte, Dr Sara Gagne, Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at UNC Charlotte
Defense Date:
March 11, 2015 - 11:00am
Location:
Cone 210A and B
Degree Program Name: PHD in Biology
“Spectral Theorems for Schrodinger Operator on General Graphs”
Candidate:
Lukun Zheng
Sponsoring Chair:
Dr. Stanislav Molchanov
Committee:
Dr. Stanislav Molchanov, Department of Mathematics and Statistics at UNC Charlotte,
Dr.Boris Vainberg, Department of Mathematics and Statistics at UNC Charlotte, Dr. Yuri Godin, Department of
Mathematics and Statistics at UNC Charlotte, Dr. Susan Sell, Graduate School
Defense Date:
March 18, 2015 - 3:30pm
Location:
Denny 102
Degree Program Name: Applied Mathematics
“Determining the Efficiency of State-level RPS Policies in the U.S.: Examining the Impact of
Federalized Energy and Environmental Policy on Electricity Quality”
Candidate:
Joseph Alleyn Cochran
Sponsoring Chair:
Dr. Peter M. Schwarz
Committee:
Dr. Roslyn Mickelson, Department of Sociology at UNC Charlotte Dr. Amanda (Manda)
Adams, National Science Foundation Dr. Gloria Elliott, Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science at
UNC Charlotte
Defense Date:
March 20, 2015 - 1:00pm
Location:
Friday 228
Degree Program Name: Public Policy
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Department of Research & Economic Development
STEM Education Workshop: Presentations and Discussion
Training Date: March 16, 2015 - 2:00 PM to 4:45 PM
Location:
Student Union, room 265
Presentations will provide an overview of current funding initiatives for STEM Education and discuss strategies for
designing successful proposals.
For questions, please contact Lesley Brown, Director of Proposal Development.
Visit website to register.
STEM Education Networking Reception
Training Date: March 16, 2015 - 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Location:
Student Union, room 266
Reception to meet colleagues who are interested in STEM Education projects. Attendance of workshop session
is not required to attend this networking reception.
For questions, please contact Lesley Brown, Director of Proposal Development.
Visit website to register.
Science & Technology EXPO
Main Event: Sunday, April 26th, 12-4 pm in the UNC Charlotte Union Plaza
Join faculty, staff, and students as they present exhibits, discussions, and films in the weeks leading up to the
main event.
April 10 - 26th in various locations.
Visit the website to learn more.
Charlotte Venture Challenge Finals
The 2015 Southeast Venture Conference will take place at Le Méridien Charlotte, NC, 555 South McDowell
Street, North Tower • Charlotte, NC 28204 | 704-372-9610
The dates are March 31st thru April 1st.
You can see the agenda and other items of possible interest by clicking here.
iCONE Seminar
Candidate Series
“Controlling Plasmonic Nanomaterials with Light and Vice Versa”
Speaker:
Date:
Location:
Dr. Zijie Yan, Postdoctoral Scholar, James Franck Institute, University of Chicago
Monday, March 9, 2015 at 9:30 AM / Open Discussion begins at 10:30 AM
Grigg, 132
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Dr. Zijie Yan is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the James Franck Institute at the University of Chicago. His research
interests lie at the interface of nanoscience and photonics, especially for manipulation and fabrication of
nanostructures using lasers. Dr. Yan received his PhD in Materials Engineering in 2011 from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, where he studied pulsed laser ablation of solid targets in liquid environments and
discovered an innovative ablation mechanism. He started a new area of research for his postdoctoral studies
at the University of Chicago, focusing on design and implementation of structured optical fields for optical
control and manipulation of plasmonic nanostructures. He solved many issues on optical trapping of silver and
gold nanowires and clarified the principles of laser interaction with plasmonic nanostructures in optical traps.
Currently he is exploring the underdeveloped realm of optical matter at the nanoscale, aiming to reveal the
control mechanisms of multiple nanoparticles and create large-scale photonic clusters for specific
applications.
Visiting Speaker iCONE Seminar
"Two Novel and Exciting Phenomena in Acoustic"
Speaker:
Date:
Location:
Dr. Morten Willatzen, Department of Photonics Engineering, Technical University of Denmark
Tuesday, March 10, 2015 at 2:00 PM
Grigg, 132
Morten Willatzen is Deputy Director and Professor at the Department of Photonics Engineering, Technical
University of Denmark. He received his PhD from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen and
held positions at Aarhus University, Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research, Germany, and as a Senior
Scientist at Danfoss A/S, DK. In 2000 he became Associate Professor and 2004-2012 Full Professor in
Mathematical Modelling at the Mads Clausen Institute, University of Southern Denmark. Morten Willatzen's
research interests include solid state physics, mathematical physics, metamaterials and flow acoustics.
Office of International Programs
“Japanese American Relations: A Cross Cultural Undergraduate Student Conference”
Speaker:
Date:
Location:
Mr. Tetsuo Shindo, Vice President at Toshiba Logistics America, Inc.
Tuesday, March 10 at 10:00am – 12:30pm
McKnight Hall, Cone University Center
The Department of Languages and Cultural Studies in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences will hold
a cross-cultural undergraduate student conference on Japanese-American relations from 10:00 a.m.
to 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 10, in the Cone University Center.
The conference is designed to promote deeper, mutual understanding between the people of
Japan and the United States and help young people to widen their perspectives regarding their roles
in a global environment and enhance their international understanding of Japanese-American
relations. Another aim is to increase exchanges between U.S. universities and those in Japan.
The conference is sponsored by the Japan Foundation, the Laurasian Institution, and the Department
of Languages and Cultural Studies in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
International Film Series:
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The campus community is invited to one or all of five films looking at health, the environment, and culture as
part of a film series sponsored by International Studies and a grant from the Chancellor’s Diversity Fund.
The Milagro Beanfield War
Date:
March 24, 2015 - 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Location:
Student Union Theater
Contact:
Office of International Programs at international@uncc.edu
About the film: In Milagro, a small town in the American Southwest, Ladd Devine plans to build a major new
resort development. While activist Ruby Archuleta and lawyer/newspaper editor Charlie Bloom realize that this
will result in the eventual displacement of the local Hispanic farmers, they cannot arouse much opposition
because of the short term opportunities offered by construction jobs. But when Joe Mondragon illegally diverts
water to irrigate his bean field, the local people support him because of their resentment of water use laws that
favor the rich like Devine.
When the Governor sends in ruthless troubleshooter Kyril Montana to settle things quickly before the lucrative
development is cancelled, a small war threatens to erupt.
Yesterday
Date:
Location:
Contact:
April 21, 2015 - 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Student Union Theater
Office of International Programs at international@uncc.edu
About the film:
After falling ill, Yesterday learns that she is HIV positive. With her husband in denial and
young daughter to tend to, Yesterday's one goal is to live long enough to see her child go to school.
Department of Biological Sciences
"Tissue Engineering Strategies for Neoinnervation of the Gut*"
Speaker:
Date:
Location:
Stephen L. Rego, Postdoctoral Researcher, Wake Forest Medical Center
March 13, 2015 - 12:00pm - 1:00pm
COED, 010
"Do we need to understand microbial community assembly to predict ecosystem function?"
Speaker:
Date:
Location:
Diana Nemergut, Associate Professor, Duke University Department of Biology
March 20, 2015 - 12:00pm - 1:00pm
COED, 010
"Harnessing Natural Variation for Gene Discovery in Plant Specialized Metabolism"
Speaker:
Date:
Location:
Sirius Xu Li, Assistant Professor, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, NCSU
March 27, 2015 - 12:00pm - 1:00pm
COED, 010
For more Biological Sciences events, visit their website.
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Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Colloquium Lectures
"On a problem by Steklov."
Speaker:
Serguei Denissov, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Date:
March 18, 2015 at 5:00 PM
Location:
Fretwell, 379
College of Computing and Informatics
2015 College of Computing and Informatics Distinguished Lecture Series
Speaker:
Date:
Location:
Speaker:
Director of
Jennifer Gardy, Senior Scientist, Genomics & Molecular Epidemiology, British Columbia Centre for
Disease Control
March 13, 2015 - 3:00pm
Woodward 106
Rick Stevens, Department of Computer Science The University of Chicago; and Associate
Date:
Location:
Computing, Environment and Life Sciences Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory
April 10, 2015 - 3:00pm
Woodward 106
Speaker:
Date:
Location:
Oussama Khatib, Professor, Computer Science Department, Stanford University
April 17, 2015 - 3:00pm
Woodward 106
Speaker:
Michael Dulin, Senior Scientist, Genomics & Molecular Epidemiology British Columbia Centre for
Disease Control
April 24, 2015 - 3:00 PM
Woodward, 106
Date:
Location:
For more Computing and Informatics events, click here.
The William States Lee College of Engineering
Senior Design Spring Expo
Date:
April 30, 2015 - 11:00am - 2:30pm
Location:
Barnhardt Student Activity Center (SAC)
Open to the Public
Department of Geography & Earth Sciences
Speaker Series
Speaker:
Steve Billings, UNC Charlotte
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Date:
Location:
March 13, 2015 - 12:30pm - 1:30pm
McEniry, 116
Speaker:
Date:
Location:
Cuizhen (Susan) Wang - University of South Carolina
March 27, 2015 - 12:30pm - 1:30pm
McEniry, 116
Speaker:
Date:
Location:
Gregory Hancock, College of William and Mary
April 17, 2015 - 12:30pm - 1:30pm
McEniry, 116
College of Health and Human Services
Asian American Lecture Series: Voices for Change
Guest lecture and Panel Discussion with Dr. Jane Hamilton-Meritt, Author of Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the
Americans, and the Secret Wars for Laos, 1942-1992.
Click here to RSVP (Recommended but Not Required)
Date:
Location:
Wednesday, March 18, 2015 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM
McKnight Hall, Cone Center, UNC Charlotte
Free Event funded by the Chancellor's Diversity Challenge Fund at UNC Charlotte.