Summer 2007 -- Vol. 60, No. 3

Upscale and downtown

The University’s focus on entrepreneurship and innovation has gone upscale in downtown Greenville. The new Clemson Renaissance Center — home to the University’s program for entrepreneurial, experience-based graduate education — is six floors up in the historic Liberty Building on Greenville’s Main Street.

The center is a portal between Clemson’s College of Business and Behavioral Science and the Greenville business community. Graduate students and faculty can work directly with area organizations, entrepreneurs and leaders in innovative ways that will enrich and accelerate the learning experience.  

Initially, the Clemson Renaissance Center will house offices for the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, the Center for International Trade, the Southern Entrepreneurs Project and the Small Business Development Center. It will offer students and the Greenville community a variety of executive education programs, new business development services, student projects for area companies, seminars, forums and a lecture series. The center will also celebrate the history of Southern entrepreneurs through a published journal.

The Liberty Building, home to the new center, is owned by Mark Kent, a real estate developer and chairman and CEO of Kent Manufacturing, who teamed up with private investor Hayne Hipp, former CEO and chairman of Greenville’s Liberty Corp., to provide the space at no cost for two years to the center.

For more information, go to business.clemson.edu/renaissance.htm or call (864) 656-3177.

Great news for transport industry

Clemson is helping the U.S. transportation sector shift to a higher gear with the opening of its Computational Center for Mobility Systems (CU-CCMS), a technology anchor of the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) campus in Greenville.

Powered by a high-performance computing system from Sun Microsystems Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., CU-CCMS will be a world-class computational center encompassing a wide range of disciplines under one roof.

CU-CCMS executive director and mechanical engineering professor James H. Leylek says, “The center will offer one-stop shopping for clients in mobility industries, which include automotive manufacturers and their suppliers, the aerospace industry, motorsports teams, heavy trucks, shipbuilders, aviation and gas turbine companies.”   

The Sun Microsystems high-performance computing system at the heart of CU-CCMS is designed to help technical staff handle simultaneously all phases of multiple, large-scale simulations. It’s especially suited for dealing with computations encountered in vehicle aerodynamics and structural analysis programs.

Engineers can conduct a large number of “what if” computational simulations that will result in ideas getting into products and to the marketplace faster and at a reduced cost.    

The CU-CCMS startup is funded through a $17 million alliance of the University, the state of South Carolina and Sun Microsystems. For more information, go to www.clemson.edu/cu-ccms.

Smog-eating wall

Imagine replacing highway wall barriers with giant sponges to soak up smog and pollution.

Architecture faculty Doug Hecker and Martha Skinner proposed such a wall that incorporates pollution-eating cement into a sponge-like highway barrier that digests pollution, sound and light. Their design for the superABSORBER won honors in the 2007 Metropolis Next Generation Design Competition.

The proposal calls for large barrier walls like those now commonly seen on America’s highways, except these would be porous like sponges with large holes of varying sizes. The holes would give the walls more surface area, allowing photocatalytic cement to convert pollution into salt. The porous walls also would battle light and noise pollution as light and sound bounce around inside the structure dissipating their negative effects.

Along with Hecker and Skinner, the Clemson project team included Marc Leverant ’06 and students Mark Gettys and Janis Fowler. For more information on the project, go to www.field-office.com/superabsorber.html.

Literacy ‘rock star’

Education professor Linda B. Gambrell is passionate about literacy. That passion, fueled by an enormous amount of dedication and work, has carried her to a career pinnacle unmatched by any other education professional.

Earlier this year when Gambrell took over the presidency of the International Reading Association, the top professional organization in the world devoted to promoting literacy, she became the only person elected to serve as president of the three leading literacy organizations in the United States. The other two are the College Reading Association and the National Reading Conference. She’s also served as principal investigator at the National Reading Research Center at the University of Maryland, College Park.

A professor in Clemson’s Eugene T. Moore School of Education, she’s a proficient author as well. Her contributions have been recognized with the International Reading Association’s Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading Award, and she was recently elected to the Reading Hall of Fame.

Fellow Clemson educator David Reinking, Moore Distinguished Professor, is vice president of the National Reading Conference, the premier professional organization for literacy research, and will assume presidency in two years.

Race to the Rock

Parks, recreation and tourism management faculty and students managed the eighth annual Race to the Rock — President’s Run for the Library, which drew more than 250 participants and raised more than $14,000. The total endowment for the Clemson Libraries from the race, sponsored by Wendy’s, is now nearly $27,600. Next year’s race is set for March 29.

Repairing the spinal cord

Clemson bioengineer Xuejun Wen will use a $1.6 million grant to seek ways to repair injured spinal cords.

An estimated 200,000 Americans currently experience pain and disability from spinal cord injuries. Each year, approximately 11,000 more Americans will suffer similar injuries that may be permanent and paralyzing.

Current treatments fall short of sparking a robust regenerative process that leads to a decent degree of functional recovery.

Wen will use his five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for research in tissue engineering aimed at spinal cord regeneration.

He proposes to awaken the ability of spinal cord nerve bundles to regenerate through a controlled environment created by an implantable bridging device.

Wen works in the Clemson University-Medical University of South Carolina bioengineering program in Charleston. His past research has led to international recognition and funding from such organizations as the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Catching energy

Clemson students visit Buffalo Mountain Wind Farm in Tennessee in preparation for their own project on Waties Island.

Clemson is part of a project to investigate the feasibility of harnessing coastal wind to generate commercially viable electricity.

Clemson, Coastal Carolina and state-owned utility Santee Cooper are partnering with Savannah River National Laboratory and the S.C. Research Authority to establish wind-power projects.

The first station was built on Waties Island, an Horry County barrier island, in June. Installation of the second station — at the Clemson University Restoration Institute (CURI) in North Charleston at the former Navy base — is scheduled for July.

Data will be collected for one year to assess the wind potential with plans for installing commercial-scale wind turbines to support future energy-related research at CURI.

The stations are part of the S.C. Wind for Schools project by the S.C. Institute for Energy Studies (SCIES) at Clemson. “Our hope is that this initiative sets the stage for South Carolina to serve as the hub for offshore wind development along the Atlantic Coast,” says SCIES director Nick Rigas. “Our mission is to educate students and the public on this clean and environmentally friendly alternative energy.”

SCIES is working under the umbrella of the Clemson University Restoration Institute, dedicated to the restoration economy.

Blood sport

Clemson-USC Blood Drive chairman Matthew Cousins and AnMed Health Blood Center recruiter Greg Johnson (left) helped Clemson win the blood battle last fall.

Clemson APO has a message: Give blood! Save lives! Tiger pride! Beat USC!

Translation: Clemson and the University of South Carolina will battle off the field in November in the 23rd annual blood drive, organized at Clemson by Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity.

Upstate blood centers will be on campus collecting donations Nov. 12-16, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., in the Brown Student Union, Hendrix Student Center and other campus locations. Donors will receive free T-shirts, wristbands and other goodies.

The National Marrow Donor Program will participate in the drive by collecting names and information for its national registry.

Over the 22 years of the competition, the joint drive has collected 70,056 units of blood. Clemson leads the competition with 13 wins. Last year was the largest blood drive in the history of the state. For more information, contact Matthew Cousins at mcousin@clemson.edu.

Nation’s best student contractors

Two teams from Clemson’s architecture and construction science and management programs swept the competition to become national champions.

The Clemson design-build and commercial teams beat out other regional winners to take first place at the 2007 Associated Schools of Construction/Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) National Student Competitions.

Clemson’s championship teams, pictured with AGC president Harry Mashburn, were coached by construction science and management (CSM) professors Dennis Bausman and Shima Clarke. For more on Clemson’s CSM program, go to www.clemson.edu/caah/csm.

Smart Tigers

Clemson student athletes scored a 2.93 GPA for the spring semester, the highest average on record. And 229 student athletes made the honor roll, 52.2 percent of the student-athlete population.

Eight programs had a GPA of 3.0 or better, tied for the most in one semester in school history. The women’s swimming program had the top team GPA with a 3.39, while the men’s soccer team had a 3.25 to lead the men’s programs.

Eight Clemson sports programs finished in the national top-25 of their respective sports: men’s soccer 9th, women’s tennis 11th, baseball 12th, golf 12th (final Sagarin computer ranking), women’s soccer 14th, men’s indoor track 15th, men’s tennis 23rd and men’s outdoor track 25th.

‘Leave no child inside’

Former National Park Service director and current Clemson visiting scholar Fran Mainella is working through the University and her park services connections to enhance park experiences for everyone — especially children.

Earlier this year, she served on a Newsweek panel and was featured in the magazine on the importance of getting children out of the house and into the outdoors.

Mainella also served as a panelist for the Newsweek Global Environment Leadership Conference, where she discussed politics and policy for shaping environmental issues. In January, she was named to Newsweek’s Global Environment Leadership advisory committee.

In 2001, she became the first woman to serve as director of the National Park Service. She served until late 2006 and then joined the Clemson faculty in the parks, recreation and tourism management department.

Welcome to the TGC Academy

Dean of the College of Engineering and Science Esin Gulari (second from left) welcomes new inductees to the Thomas Green Clemson Academy of Engineers and Scientists — from left, Tycho Howle, Joel Brawley and Don Clayton.

Joel Brawley, Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Mathematical Sciences, has inspired students and audiences around the country with his innovative teaching style often blending math and music.

Tycho Howle ’71, M ’73, chairman and CEO of nuBridges LLC, is a pioneer in the e-business arena. He’s a member of the Clemson University Foundation and the Clemson University Research Foundation.

Don Clayton, Clemson professor emeritus, is a leading scientist in nuclear astrophysics, gamma ray astronomy and nuclear isotopic clues to the origin of the solar system. His groundbreaking research led to selection by the American Astronomical Society as one of the most important astrophysics research papers of the 20th century.

Testing the five-second rule

Just how dirty is that sandwich you dropped? And is it safe to eat if you pick it up really fast? Clemson food scientist Paul Dawson recently made the New York Times considering those questions.

Dawson, recipient of the 2007 Godley-Snell Award for Excellence in Agricultural Research, is a professor in Clemson’s food science and human nutrition department. His research in food safety and spoilage has helped keep the nation’s food supply among the safest in the world and provided consumers and corporations tremendous savings by maintaining food freshness.

His students are at the heart of his research program. The study cited in the New York Times article is nothing new for him. He or his students have made more than 100 scientific presentations and published more than 80 research articles in peer-reviewed publications and 10 book chapters.

He’s also worked to develop a cost-efficient method for making soy flour into bio-based films to replace petroleum-based products. The films are environmentally friendly and can be recycled as safe, nutrient-rich animal feeds. For more information, go to www.clemson.edu/foodscience.

Clemson portal in Europe

The University recently inaugurated the Thomas Green Clemson University Brussels Center in Belgium, marking the 200th birthday of Clemson’s founder.

The center is a collaboration among Clemson, ICHEC Brussels Management School and the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL). It serves as a portal for increasing the flow of people, ideas and opportunities between the United States and Europe. Its mission is to serve as a global leader in developing a comprehensive international education strategy with the goal to support economic development.

Leading NCAA

Clemson President Jim Barker has been selected to lead the NCAA Division I Board of Directors for a two-year term. The board is the highest governance body in Division I and comprises 18 campus presidents and chancellors representing the division’s athletic conferences. Management professor Larry LaForge is Clemson’s NCAA representative, succeeding mechanical engineering professor Cecil Huey.

High tech nature

Clemson teacher candidates help Clemson Elementary second-graders record sights and sounds in the Nature Trail Project, part of an ongoing collaboration between the school and Clemson’s Eugene T. Moore School of Education.

Using the S.C. Academic Standards for science and language arts, education majors help schoolchildren document animal habitats using video and digital cameras and convert these into electronic presentations. Teacher candidates get hands-on teaching experience integrating science, writing and technology working alongside University faculty and Clemson Elementary teachers.

Thanks, Mr. Clemson!

The University continues to welcome the Clemson community to celebrate the bicentennial of Thomas Green Clemson’s birth.

Exhibits through November feature Mr. Clemson’s education and scientific pursuits (Cooper Library), his artistic pursuits (Fike) and his international experiences (Hendrix Center).

Other events include:

• Nov. 9: Commitment event on the lawn at Fort Hill, followed by a reception;
• TGC Bicentennial Birthday Production, performed by the Clemson University Performing Arts Department, 8 p.m. at the Brooks Center;
• Nov. 15: Speakers Clay Steadman and Verna Howell on the Will and Thomas Green Clemson’s Legacy.

For more information, go to www.clemson.edu/TGC200/the-celebration.htm.