IN THIS ISSUE:
Grand Opening
New Faculty
Alumni Updates
Student Internships
W Isci
Keeping Applied Science Alumni Informed » Fall 2010
Ribbon Cutting at the new science building grand opening.
Whew!!!!! It’s been a
long ride and I think we
are finally starting to feel
comfortable in our new
facility. We had a spectacular Grand Opening on
October 15th, 2010, with
many dignitaries from
around the state, highlighted by Governor Jim
Doyle talking about the
importance of science and
the 21st century. There
were well over 200 people
in attendance with tours
and demonstrations given
by the APSC 401 students.
We are truly beginning
to see the program settle
in, with the many new faculty in the sciences playing
a role shaping the future of
the program. Geologists,
nanoscientists, plant ecolo
gists, and proteomicists
are providing students new
and unique undergraduate
opportunities for the 21st
century. Check out bios
inside on two of these new
faculty, Matt Kuchta and
Todd Zimmerman.
Again we have observed
record enrollments for the
fall semester, with over 90
first year students. A large
cohort of this freshmen
class are pre-professional health
students who have already established a presence on campus
with the creation of the Stout
Pre-Health Society. With over
70 members, this club recently
held the first campus “wellness
fair.” Other groups are making
an impact with the first national
student chapters of the Sustainable Agriculture Education
Association (SAEA) and Natural
Areas Association (NAA). These
activities and events suggest
that the Applied Science program, and most importantly the
success of APSC students, are
well on the way.
We were also ecstatic to
have a few alumni once again
provide seminar presentations.
Katie (Ek-Pangerl) Daniels and
Jen (Hopps) Hendricks both
gave excellent presentations on
their work place professions. If
other alumni would like to come
back and provide a presentation
in the fall, please contact the
office and we will make arrangements for you.
Wishing that your holidays be
cheerful and bright.
Governor Jim Doyle, Vice Chancellor
Diane Moen, Chancellor Charles
Sorenson.
B.S. in Applied Science Program
Inspiring Innovation. Learn more at www.uwstout.edu/programs/bsas
PAGE
New Faculty: Todd Zimmerman
My name is
Todd Zimmerman
and I am one of
the newest members of the physics
department at UWStout. I did my
graduate work at
UW-Madison where I studied
atomic collisions between rubidium atoms and hydrogen
ions. The atoms where cooled
to a few hundred milliKelvin using laser light. I've since
switched to making computational models of magnetic parti-
cles on the nanoscale. I'm interested in how the magnetic
properties of a material change
as you vary the shapes and
sizes of the particles. Contrary
to what you'd expect, you can
make much stronger magnets
by shrinking the size of particles down to several hundred
nanometers or less. I look forward to continuing my work
here at Stout and hope students will enjoy working with
me on my research. I am excited to help out with courses in
the Applied Science
Nanoscience and Materials
Science concentrations and
hope to offer courses in quantum mechanics and laser optics.
My wife, Marlann Patterson, is also part of the physics
department and we are both
ecstatic to have solved the so
called "Two-Body Problem" (two academics searching for jobs in the same
field). We will be moving to
Menomonie in a few weeks’
time and look forward to settling down here.
Alumni Update: Kristine Olson
Hello past and present Applied Scientists!
Since my graduation in
May of 2009 I have
had a whirlwind of experiences under my
belt. Following the
graduation ceremony I
moved to Green Bay to
complete my student
teaching placement for
Science Education.
During the fall of 2009 I was a student teacher
at Lombardi Middle School and East High School
in Green Bay, WI. I spent nine weeks at each
school and took on the responsibilities of teaching a 7th grade life science class, as well as a 9th
grade physical science class and a sophomore
level biology class. I truly enjoyed both of these
experiences as I was able to reach a variety of
students.
Upon the completion of my semester student
teaching I began to look for full-time employment. During this time, my husband and I were
looking to move back to the area. We were able
to find a house and employment in a timely manner and moved back to Eau Claire in January
2010. Instead of finding a full-time or substitute
position I decided to gain some outside experience. I worked as a health club manager for a few
months before I got the interview (and job) of my
dreams!
In May 2010 I interviewed at Elk Mound High
School for a high school science position. After
three rounds of interviews I was called back and
offered a full-time teaching position! I absolutely
love the community and school that I now call
“home”. I teach two sections of 9th grade environmental science, one section of biology, and I am
starting a new elective course in none other
than…APPLIED SCIENCE! I am looking forward to
this new adventure ahead of me. I am so blessed
to have a solid education behind me and to be in
a community where I can grow and thrive using all
of the skills from the Applied Science program at
UW-Stout. It is my hope to collaborate with professors at the university in the future to develop
other young scientists. I could not ask for a happier “ending” to a story that I hope is just a beginning!
2
PAGE
New Faculty: Matt Kuchta
I received a
bachelor's in Geology and Studio Art
from Lawrence University (Appleton,
WI) and MS and PhD
in Geology from UWMadison. Prior to
coming to UW-Stout,
I taught at University of Wisconsin-Madison and
the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
My primary research interests are sedimentology and land snail ecology/paleoecology: what
can snails tell us about their environment and
how do they become part of the fossil record?
Other research interests include dinosaur paleobiology, Quaternary sedimentology, and stratigraphy
(study of the patterns and distribution of rock/
sediment layers).
My favorite part about my work is that I get to
teach people about how the earth "works." It allows me to use tools from biology, chemistry, and
physics to answer questions and solve realworld problems. I teach the Introductory Geology (PHYS-258) and Soil Mechanics (PHYS257) courses here at Stout. I will be teaching a
new course in Soil Science and Conservation
(PHYS-358) in the Spring 2011 semester
where I hope to get students looking at the
roles that the landscape and human activity
play in affecting soil characteristics. From this,
we can begin to study the impact these soils
have on plants, animals, and watersheds (like
Lake Menomin).
My career path seems to have come fullcircle. My parents live in Eau Claire, where I
went to high school. I also spent several formative years in Menomonie. Much of the town
still resembles what I remember as a child just viewed from a perspective a few feet
higher off the ground. In my spare time I would
rather be outside where I enjoy photography,
hiking and camping with my wife, Mandy Little
(Assistant Professor of Biology at UW-Stout).
3
PAGE
Student Internship: Brittany Gerber
Hello! My name is Brittney Gerber and I am
currently a senior here at UW-Stout. I am an Applied Science major with a concentration in Biotechnology and currently applying for graduate
school with the hopes of getting accepted into a
Doctor of Pharmacy Program. This past summer I
had the opportunity to do an internship at a pharmacy near my hometown of Exeland, WI. It was
one of the best experiences I have ever had.
I came into college as an undecided major. I
didn’t really know what I wanted to do with the
rest of my life so I did some research and job
shadowing. I found that I had a real interest in the
field of pharmacology. My late great uncle, Ray
Maddox, was a pharmacist who owned his own
drug store for years in the small community in
which my family grew up and where they still currently live. I realized that as a pharmacist I could
live and work in a rural area where I wanted to be.
As a pharmacist I could work one on one with people helping them personally. These two aspects
convinced me that this was going to be the perfect
fit for me.
The Prohaska Pharmacy Group in rural northern Wisconsin opened their doors to me and allowed me to work and learn much of what the
field of pharmacy is all about. During my internship I was able to work side by side with several
different pharmacists and observed them performing many of their various duties. I assisted in
the preparation and dispensing of medications
and in the performance of other daily tasks and
thus learned firsthand the job of a pharmacist. I
was also able to observe their different styles in
patient/pharmacist relationships. In many cases
these relationships were very close and personal.
It was this observation that truly reaffirmed my
desire to live in rural northern Wisconsin or rural
northern Minnesota and work as a pharmacist.
Rural pharmacy practice will allow me to live near
my family and friends and continue to give back to
my community.
This internship and new found experience
has really helped me gain a much better understanding of the area of pharmacy and I
truly believe that this is the occupation and
field of study that I would like to enter and succeed in. I enjoyed going to work every day. I
am a people person so it is important for me
to have the chance to work with and assist
others. I have been taught to give more and
receive less. I am convinced that if I continue
practicing that standard and apply my work
ethics to any task, I will have a very enjoyable
and successful career as a pharmacist.
4
PAGE
Student Internship: Chris Ludwig
In the summer of 2010 I had the honor of
participating in a 10-week paid internship at
NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland,
Ohio. The LERCIP program is designed to give an
equal opportunity experience for those with different levels of education, ranging from high
school students to teachers. From over 130
LERCIP participants, I was chosen by Dr. Mitra
Yoonessi to be a part of her project which focused on nanocomposites. Composites are vital
to the aerospace industry and are constantly
being researched. My work focused on the synthesis of graphene epoxy nanocomposites. The
goal of the project was to study the effects of
graphene additions to epoxy and whether or not
their performance can exceed that of current
technology.
Much of my time was dedicated in the lab to
the synthesis of epoxy nanocomposites. This involved calculating concentrations, sonication,
solvent evaporation, and oven curing. After synthesis I performed a series of tests to determine
how the nanocomposites differed from plain epoxy. I was taught how to measure electrical conductivity, thermal characteristics on a TGA,
modulus on a DMA, flexure testing, and also the
processes for swell testing of polymers. The final
two weeks of my time were dedicated to gathering
my data to present at the technical symposium.
Working at NASA gave me valuable experience
and also steered me in the direction of my interests. I walked away with more than just lab experience. I was exposed to a real-life work environment, I was blessed with meeting many educated
personal and interns, and I also had the opportunity to shake the hands of five men who had once
been in space. I would like to thank Dr. Charles
Bomar, Bryan Coddington, and Rajiv Asthana for
assisting me in my journey to NASA. I graduate in
December of
2010 and using my gained
experience, I
hope to pursue a career
involving the
engineering of
plastics, and
metals.
5
UW-STOUTKeeping Applied Science Alumni Informed
.
The goal of this newsletter is to keep alumni in touch
with the Applied Science program. Please update your
contact information so that we can keep in touch with
you in upcoming newsletters. Share this with your other
Applied Science alumni that you are in contact with, we
would love to keep them informed also. Please mail
these contacts to the address on the below or send your
updated information at apsc@uwstout.edu. We would
love to hear from you!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - —- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Name: ______________________________________
Company/School: _____________________________
Address: ____________________________________
UW-Stout Applied Science Alumni Informed
P.O. Box 790
University of Wisconsin-Stout
Menomonie, WI 54751-0790
City:_________________ State:______ Zip: ________
Comments: