Winter 2004 -- Vol. 57, No. 1

Research for life
Clemson attracted nearly $105 million in competitive research grants in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2003. Much of the research will directly benefit South Carolinians, ranging from cancer outreach programs and genetic engineering to automotive R&D and high-tech initiatives that will help attract high-paying jobs.

Sponsored research money doesn't include state or federal appropriations, but counts only competitively awarded grants. Clemson's involvement has skyrocketed as Clemson strengthens its research infrastructure. The University surpassed the $100 million mark last year, beating by seven years a goal set by Clemson President Jim Barker when he first took office in 1999.

Clemson faculty undertook 870 projects last fiscal year. A sampling includes biomimetic manufacturing of fibers, using a modified desktop printer to print tissue, human genetics work, plutonium waste handling, historical preservation, Hispanic health initiatives, improved energy production through high-energy gas turbines, human factors work that could mean safer cars, research that has helped unravel the mysteries of the rice genome and even research into the origins of the universe.

For more information on Clemson research, visit the Web at www.clemson.edu/research.

To your health!
Clemson and the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) have forged a unique biomedical engineering partnership that could make South Carolina a leader in the development of new biomedical engineering technology. The partnership is expected to help attract millions of dollars in additional biomedical engineering research grants. Benefits could range from new heart valves to biomed start-up companies.

Through the partnership, research is already under way on vascular implants and drug-enhanced cardiac stents that could help prevent early failure and reblockage in heart vessels. Noncardiac work includes cell-based drug-delivery systems, "injectable" liquid tissue implants and tissue, and therapeutic interventions for nerve regeneration, spinal injury repair and Parkinson's disease. The collaboration is partially funded by a $6 million award from the National Institutes of Health and a $9 million National Science Foundation grant.

Photonics surge
Clemson is teaming with industry and technical colleges to bring new innovations to market and to build a highly trained work force and attract high-paying industry. The University's photonics research - attracting more than $13 million in outside funding in three years - has earned the National Science Foundation's economic development stamp of approval.

The $600,000 "stamp" -- a grant from the prestigious NSF Partnerships for Innovation program - paves the way for an extended regional partnership that will create the innovation infrastructure needed to commercialize the photonics research conducted at Clemson.

Clemson's Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET) is the only university R&D lab in the Southeast focused on the development of new optical materials. The brains and economic brawn behind the photonics research are COMSET teamed with Clemson's Arthur M. Spiro Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

The demand for the photonic materials used in communication is expected to grow from less than $13 million in 2001 to more than $2 billion by 2005. Future use of photonic materials and devices in industrial, medical and computing applications will add to these demand scenarios.

Advancing industry
Over the next five years, Clemson plans to invest approximately $70 million at the Clemson Research Park in Anderson County to support and grow an advanced materials industry cluster. The initiative could make the Upstate the epicenter of a regional knowledge-based cluster attracting high-tech, high-paying jobs.

Advanced materials is the backbone of such industries as telecommunications, automotive, microelectronics and chemicals. The focus of the project is to provide the research infrastructure needed by existing industries and to nurture growth in the emerging photonics industry.

The 111,000-square-foot advanced materials complex -- being built on a 31-acre site in the Clemson Research Park in Anderson County, part of the statewide system managed by the S.C. Research Authority -- will initially house two proposed Research Centers of Economic Excellence, one in electron imaging and one in photonic materials. Clemson's nanotech research will also be housed there.

Access to electron imaging -- essential for advanced materials R&D because it gives researchers the ability to "see" objects at the atomic and molecular level -- will make existing state industries more competitive and help attract new industries.

Stopping breast cancer
A Clemson scientist has received federal funding to pursue a promising line of research for a way to prevent breast cancer.

Biological sciences professor Wen Y. Chen has received a two-year grant -- with $73,500 for the first funding year -- from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to further research on stopping breast cancer cells from developing.

"In the past five years, we have focused on developing a potential treatment for breast cancer. It's waiting for FDA approval for initiation of clinical trials," says Chen. "The NIH grant is to support our idea of testing whether the same approach can be used as a breast cancer preventive agent."

Scientists have recently learned that human prolactin (PRL), a hormone normally produced in the brain, which is mainly responsible for mammary gland development and milk production, may be involved in breast cancer development.

Working with his colleagues and graduate students at the Oncology Research Institute of the Greenville Hospital System, Chen has demonstrated that a mutated PRL is able to bind specifically to breast cancer cells and block the effect of PRL, inhibiting the tumor growth in mice. The PRL antagonist also has synergistic effects with the breast cancer drug Herceptin.

Pressed to be the best

Clemson graphic communications students have extraordinary opportunities to learn by doing and by interacting with industry leaders — thanks to a $2 million press and die-cutting machine and a new facility.

The International Corrugated Packaging Foundation and Clemson’s graphic communications department recruited industry support to develop a corrugated instructional facility for Clemson, building on the University’s approach. And the Bobst Corp. generously donated a three-color Martin DRO 1628 NT. University and industry leaders dedicated the new operation at the Clemson Printing and Converting Research Center in Pendleton last fall.

Clemson graphic communications students win more research awards and industry-sponsored printing awards than students from any other institution. And after graduation, 100 percent of them receive job offers or begin graduate studies.

From fryway to highway
French fries could actually help secure America's energy independence. Oils used to cook many fast-food menu items can be recycled to diesel fuel. Clemson researcher James G. Goodwin Jr. has been awarded nearly $900,000 from the federal government to improve the process, expanding the production of biodiesel to power the nation.

Biodiesel is a domestically produced, renewable fuel that can be manufactured from vegetable oils (including soybeans), animal fats or recycled restaurant greases. It's safe, biodegradable and reduces air pollutants.

Goodwin, chairman of Clemson's chemical engineering department, is leading a team to find a more efficient catalyst to improve production and decrease costs.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the ultimate goal is for the nation to reduce dependence on foreign oil, increase the use of biomass and recycle carbon dioxide. Biodiesel can be used to power diesel engines in vehicles and electricity-producing generators.

Cosmic Clemson research in Nature
The puzzling, energetic cosmic explosions called gamma-ray bursts are finally giving up their secrets. Clemson astrophysicist Dieter Hartmann is co-author of a paper that investigates the effects of one of the century's brightest bursts. The study appeared in Nature (Nov. 13, 2003), one of the nation's pre-eminent scientific journals.

The study's findings help support a widely held conclusion that gamma-ray burst phenomena are caused by the formation of a massive black hole inside a collapsing star. The study's lead author is Jochen Greiner of the Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik in Germany.

Hartmann, who was named Gauss Professor by the Academy of Sciences at Göttingen, Germany, is among a team of nationally renowned astrophysicists at Clemson. The group is led by Donald Clayton, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. In 2002, his groundbreaking research was selected by the American Astronomical Society as one of the most important astrophysics research papers of the 20th century.

To learn more about astronomy and astrophysics at Clemson, visit the Web at http://photon.phys.clemson.edu.

Tackling obesity
A new partnership between Clemson and Voorhees College has earned $5.26 million to develop a long-term program that will tackle obesity and related illness among South Carolina's rural minorities.

The National Institutes of Health's Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities awarded Clemson the four-year grant to work in a partnership with Voorhees to establish research, outreach and training programs to address immediate and future health concerns.
The grant will establish an EXPORT Center of Excellence aimed at providing greater understanding of factors that contribute to the disproportionate burden of disease and illnesses borne by racial and ethnic minorities
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Voorhees College's Center of Excellence in Rural and Minority Health will work with Clemson's College of Health, Education and Human Development to build the capacity for health-related research, to train future health educators and health-care workers, and to provide outreach education and health services information in rural South Carolina.

Camp Voyager goes interactive
Clemson's Youth Learning Institute (YLI) is planning a brand new interactive camp to be offered to youths ages 10 to 14. Camp Voyager will be presented in one-week sessions for six weeks next summer at the R.M. Cooper 4-H Leadership Center in Summerton. Voyager combines traditional camping with the latest technology and an exploration theme.

Campers will be assigned a role on a team and will progress through their adventure by using technology such as global positioning satellite systems, handheld and desktop computers as well as building and operating simple machines like water pumps and solar-powered devices.

Santee Cooper, the state-owned electric and water utility, is partnering with the institute to offer this unique opportunity for students.
In addition to Camp Voyager, YLI offers academic summer camps in wildlife ecology, marine science, traditional 4-H camping and faith-based programing. In the spring and fall, it offers environmental education and technology programs for middle-school teachers and their students.

To learn more about Clemson's Youth Learning Institute or Camp Voyager, visit the Web at www.clemson.edu/yli or call (864) 878-1103.

Camp Odyssey set for takeoff
Another exciting summer experience is Camp Odyssey, June 27-July 3, at Clemson's Outdoor Laboratory for children ages 6 to 12.
Camp Odyssey offers hiking, fishing, canoeing, instructional swimming, challenge courses, arts and crafts, outdoor games, campfire programs, overnight camping trips, cookouts and other fun activities.

Cost is $390 per child with a discount given to additional children from the same family. For more information and application materials, call (864) 646-7502, email cuolcamps-L@clemson.edu or visit the Web at www.clemson.edu/outdoorlab/odyssey.htm.

'Fighting' bullies
Clemson professor Susan P. Limber has been called on by NPR's "All Things Considered," Washington Post, CNN.com and other news media for comments on the problem of bullying among children and youth and what can be done about it.
Limber is associate director of Clemson's Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life and director of its Center for Youth Participation and Human Rights.

She's currently providing consultation on the development of a $3.4 million public information campaign on bullying prevention, supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The institute's mission is to generate, share and apply the knowledge needed to strengthen ties between families and communities. Its staff is particularly interested in the everyday experiences of children, youth and adults in neighborhood environments, such as schools, workplaces, religious organizations, civic groups and courts. For more information about the institute, visit the Web at www.clemson.edu/ifnl or call (864) 656-6271.