of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering
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Celebrate, Promote, Inform in Service to CT
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Volume 36, 6 / December 2021
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A message to our readers... |
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As 2021 ends, I have great hope for the new year strengthened by the challenges the pandemic required we overcome. Our state’s universities and colleges, industries, those in public service, Connecticut’s workforce, and our residents are poised to grow through the power of our resilience and our proven ability to innovate. I see this firsthand in the students exploring ideas and developing ways of making our world better, and with our state’s scientists and engineers - at the top of their fields - who never stop learning and innovating.
We still have challenges, and we remain mindful of those who are suffering during this time, but I ask you to join me, and my colleagues at the Academy, to recognize the strides we have made and the opportunities that lie ahead for the great state of Connecticut.
Wishing you a productive and joyous 2022!
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Christine Caragianis Broadbridge, President CT Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE)
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CASE NEWS |
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Dawn Hocevar Elected to Honorary Membership in the Academy |
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Dawn Hocevar, President and Chief Executive Officer, BioCT, has been elected an Honorary Member of the Academy in recognition of her efforts in support of the Academy’s mission to advise on issues of science and technology that affect the economic and social well-being of the people and the state of Connecticut. Read more.
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SAVE THE DATE |
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CASE Annual Meeting |
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47th CASE Annual Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 26, 2022. More details to follow.
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Science and Engineering Notes from Around Connecticut
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Agriculture, Food and Nutrition |
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has offered waivers for the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Summer Food Service Program, Seamless Summer Option, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program in an effort to provide food and nutrition during the current COVID-19 public health emergency. Read more.
The Connecticut Agricultural and Experimental Station (CAES) announced the discovery of a new non-native invasive plant in Connecticut, the Goldencreeper aka Manchu tuber gourd. Native to Northeastern China, Korea, and Russia, it was believed to have been introduced as an ornamental plant. Read more.
Terri Aresenault, with the Connecticut Agricultural and Experimental Station (CAES) will hold an in-person seminar on January 20, 2022, on “Preliminary Findings from Hemp Research at CAES," to be held at the Britton Laboratory, Jones Auditorium, 123 Huntington St., New Haven. Read more.
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Biomedical Research & Healthcare |
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CASE members and Yale School of Medicine Professors Myron Genel, Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics (Endocrinology) and Clinical Professor of Nursing, and Thomas Carpenter, Professor of Pediatrics (Endocrinology) and of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation and Clinical Professor of Nursing, spoke at the Yale Pediatric Symposium commemorating the 100th anniversary of Yale’s Pediatric Dept. View presentation video.
Pfizer struck a $1.24B deal with New Haven-based Biohaven Pharmaceuticals to globally market Pfizer’s migraine drug Nurtec ODT. The FDA approved Nurtec for acute attacks in February 2020 as well as for migraine prevention last May. Read more.
CASE member Jonathan Rothberg announced the expansion of an early access program for the QuantumSi Platinum™, a unique protein sequencing platform. Read more.
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Communication & Information Systems |
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Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has joined the nationwide investigation into Instagram’s impact on young people. Citing a concern for the safety and well-being of children, he is examining potential violations of consumer protection laws. Read more.
Google and the CT Career Consortium sponsored a Cybersecurity and Tech Job conference at the University of New Haven. Participating employers included Lockheed Martin, the U.S. Department of Energy, Yale-New Haven Health, the National Security Agency, and Electric Boat. Read more.
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Governor Lamont launched two new programs to create jobs and boost community vibrancy. The Innovation Corridor program and the Connecticut Communities Challenge program will be administered by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development to spur place-based development in municipalities with up to $200M in funding over five years. Read more.
Connecticut received a $10M federal grant for apprenticeship programs through the U.S. Department of Labor. Funds will be invested in training initiatives for prospective healthcare workers. Read more.
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Education and Human Resources |
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CASE member Tarek M. Sobh has been appointed as the eighth president of Lawrence Technological University, Michigan, and will assume office on January 1, 2022. Previously, he was the founding dean of the College of Engineering, Business, and Education at the University of Bridgeport. Read more.
CASE member Daniel Burkey noted UConn’s School of Engineering efforts to increase enrollment of women, which is now at 33%. This news accompanied the announcement that Pratt & Whitney has pledged $1.25M for the school’s Scholars Program to help diversify the company’s workforce. Read more.
Connecticut Area Health Education Center Network will host the 59th Annual Connecticut Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) for High School students via an online conference on March 5, 2022. JSHS is designed to challenge and engage students (grades 9-12) in STEM. Over the years, these Symposia have been effective in enhancing high school student motivation, stimulating original research, and providing the setting for exciting scientific meetings. Read more.
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Energy Production, Use, and Conservation |
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Mariah Batool, a UConn Fulbright scholar, was awarded 2nd place at the World Fuel Cell Conference. Driven by her interest in working for an oil and gas refinery in her home country of Pakistan, she is passionate about her research with fuel cells. Read more.
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CASE member Paul Anastas, Yale professor and the “Father of Green Chemistry”, was awarded the 2021 Volvo Environment Prize. The annual prize is given to those who have made outstanding scientific discoveries within sustainability. See more, including a brief clip from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Award Ceremony.
CASE member and Yale University Professor Michelle Bell has been appointed as Editor in Chief of Environmental Research: Health (ERH). This journal, along with Letters, Communications, Infrastructure and Sustainability, Climate, and Ecology are the new journals created by the Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP) to meet the growing demand for environmental research. Watch a video of the meeting here.
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CASE member Ron Adelman, Yale professor and Director of the Retina and Macula Center at Yale Medicine, and scientific director of the European VitreoRetinal Society was inaugurated as the 183rd President of the Connecticut State Medical Society (CSMS) in October. Since 1792, CSMS has worked on behalf of physicians and patients to ensure access to quality care and to make Connecticut the best place to practice medicine and receive care. Read more.
The Jackson Laboratory held its annual JAX Healthcare Forum "The Post-COVID World" in October, featuring CASE members Dr. Edison T. Liu, President and Chief Executive Officer of JAX, and Albert Ko, M.D., Department Chair and Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases), and of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), Yale School of Public Health. Read more.
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CASE member Pamir Alpay, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, Associate Dean for Research and Industrial Partnerships, Executive Director, UConn Tech Park, and Professor of Materials Science and Biomolecular Engineering, is working with UConn colleagues Rainer Hebert, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Director of Pratt & Whitney Additive Manufacturing Center, and Serge Nakhmanson, Associate Professor Materials Science and Engineering and Interim Associate Department Head on additive manufacturing research for use by the National Institute for Undersea Vehicle Technology and the Air Force Research Lab. Read more.
The U.S. Department of Energy issued a call for innovative technologies that enable the removal and storage of atmospheric CO2 in a cost-effective and sustainable manner to address the global climate crisis. The goal of the Carbon Negative Shot program is to remove CO2 from the atmosphere at a meaningful scale and with a cost of less than $100/metric ton of CO2 equivalent. Read more.
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Governors Lamont, Hochul (NY), and Murphy (NJ) announced an agreement on the federal emergency relief funding awarded to the region’s public transportation systems. Read more.
Governor Lamont highlighted major upgrades coming to the Waterbury branch of the New Haven Line and explained how the Federal Infrastructure Bill will bring additional improvements to Connecticut, including the Time for CT initiative. Read more.
CASE member and Professor of Civil Engineering Clara Fang was awarded a Federal Highway Administration and CT Department of Transportation grant to conduct research with University of Hartford civil engineering students on CT roundabouts and driver behavior. Read more.
Connecticut joined the tri-state coalition calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to tighten controls on air pollution from trucks. Heavy-duty trucks are the nation’s largest mobile-source contributor of NOx, (nitrogen oxides) which lead to ground-level ozone. This pollutant can negatively affect the most vulnerable, including children and the elderly, often in disadvantaged neighborhoods which are more likely to be close to high-traffic roadways. Read more.
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Items that appear in the In Brief section are compiled from previously published sources including newspaper accounts and press releases.
Compiled and edited by Amy Albert.
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From the National Academies |
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The following is excerpted from press releases and other news reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (nationalacademies.org).
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National Academies Press report: Building Data Capacity for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Interim report 1, “Looking Ahead at Data Needs (2021)” coordinates a portfolio of projects that build data capacity for patient-centered outcomes research. Read more.
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The National Academies workshop “Utility, Feasibility, Security, and Ethics of Verifiable COVID-19 Credentials for International Travel,” this past August explored effective, feasible, and secure ways to document and provide health information for safe international travel in a way that is ethical and does not exacerbate inequities. For the proceedings of the workshop, read more.
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The National Academies released a Consensus Study Report (2021) “Progress of Four Programs from the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act” for PPW-PLT, BCOR, OD Treatment Access, and FR-CARA. This is the second of a series of three reports over five years. Read more.
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The National Academies report, “Vaccine Research and Development to Advance Pandemic and Seasonal Influenza Preparedness and Response: Lessons from COVID-19” describes the four dimensions of vaccine research and development that have been established as a model because of the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines. Read more.
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The National Academies report, “Countering the Pandemic Threat Through Global Coordination on Vaccines: The Influenza Imperative” illustrates how COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of responsibility and responding to pandemics and the fragmentation of research and development. It provides a stimulus for advancing new frameworks for how the “influenza imperative” can be conceptualized with seven overarching recommendations. Read more.
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The National Academies report, “Reducing the Impact of Dementia in America: A Decadal Survey of the Behavioral and Social Sciences” identifies the five highest research priorities for the next decade to have a maximal effect on reducing negative impacts of dementia while improving the quality of care. Read more.
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The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering |
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The purpose of the Academy is to "provide guidance to the people and the government of the State of Connecticut... in the application of science and engineering to the economic and social welfare."
OFFICERS OF THE ACADEMY
Christine Broadbridge, President Southern Connecticut State University
John Kadow, Vice President ViiV Healthcare
Eric Donkor, Secretary UConn
Edmond Murphy, Treasurer Lumentum (ret.)
Baki Cetegen, Past President UConn
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Terri Clark
EDITORS Leon Pintsov, Executive Editor - Engineering Pitney Bowes, Inc.
Mike Genel, Executive Editor - Medicine Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics Yale University School of Medicine CASE President, 2008-2010
Amy R. Howell, Executive Editor - Science Department of Chemistry University of Connecticut
COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT Rebecca Mead, INQ Creative
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The Bulletin is published by the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, Inc, 222 Pitkin Street, Suite 101, East Hartford, Connecticut, 06108. 860.282.4229, tclark@ctcase.org. To subscribe, visit ctcase.org.
The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering is a private, nonprofit public service organization established by Special Act No. 76-53 of the Connecticut General Assembly.
COPYING PERMITTED, WITH ATTRIBUTION
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