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Engine industry master’s program graduates its first class
Back in 2003, Rick Geisheker, a design engineer for Briggs & Stratton in Milwaukee, didn't mind driving to the University of Wisconsin–Madison once or twice each year to attend seminars on the engine industry. But when Kevin Hoag, the director of continuing engineer education for the College of Engineering, told him about a new opportunity to earn a master's degree in engineering through his personal computer, he knew the university was onto something. Read More
Commencement ceremonies to be streamed live
Friends and relatives who are not able to attend the 2007 spring commencement ceremonies at the Kohl Center will be able to watch them online. Read More
Healing chronic wounds through use of nanoscale surfaces
It’s both costly and frustrating when doctors are unable to heal persistent wounds, such as diabetic ulcers or pressure sores in patients with limited mobility. Traditional treatments are often less than satisfactory. But thanks to funding from the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery seed grant program, UW–Madison researchers have been freed to explore a novel and revolutionary approach to coaxing persistent wounds to heal. Read More
Team seeks to add advanced microlenses to technology
Most of us peer through lenses every day, but the “microlenses” devised by engineering professors Hongrui Jiang and Dave Beebe aren’t nearly so ordinary. Made of liquid and designed to be self-adjusting, these tiny lenses are a breed apart from their counterparts in eyeglasses and cameras. Read More
Professor plants seeds of forgiveness in Belfast, Milwaukee
Bob Enright, a professor of educational psychology and his wife, Jeanette Knutson Enright, have been leading initiatives in Northern Ireland and Milwaukee to develop, introduce and assess a comprehensive curriculum for introducing children to the idea of forgiveness. Read More
Virginia Tech Tragedy and Campus Safety
A letter to the Campus Community from Dean of Students Lori Berquam about the shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech and questions of safety and security on the UW–Madison campus. Read More
Fishing for new anti-inflammatory, cancer drugs
Though cell movement and migration in the body play a central role in mediating injury and disease, including inflammatory responses and cancer metastasis, drugs designed to stifle cells’ nomadic tendencies are scarce. A new interdisciplinary research project funded by the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery seed grant program seeks to develop a novel drug-discovery process that may start to fill this gap. Read More
Researchers seek early detection for hard-to-diagnose disease
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by infertility due to anovulation, abnormal secretion of androgens and other hormones, and insulin resistance. PCOS is the most common female endocrine disorder, affecting 4-7 percent of women in their reproductive years — the syndrome accounts for 75 percent of all anovulations. PCOS has staggering adverse physiological, psychological and financial consequences for women’s reproductive health. Read More
Scaling up stem cells: Project aims to churn out cells in quantity, quality
For scientists, one of the charms of human embryonic stem cells is their ability to divide and replicate — as far as we know — forever in the culture dish. That defining trait, the ability to constantly make new cells, suggests it might be possible to generate a limitless supply for therapy, research and industrial applications such as high-throughput drug screens. Read More
In quest for less risky drugs, scientists listen to neurons
Since the 1950s, doctors have been ordering medications such as Ritalin to ease symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and prescriptions now number in the millions. Still, though highly effective, so-called “psychostimulant” drugs are not without risks, leaving many seeking safer alternatives, especially for children. Read More
Study focuses on closing school achievement gap
Despite decades of interventions and billions of dollars spent, a large gap in school achievement stubbornly persists between underprivileged children and their more advantaged peers. With funding from the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery seed grant program, UW–Madison scientists will now bring their collective expertise to bear on one important, but overlooked, cause of this troubling problem. Read More
Breaching a gateway to the cell, drug discovery
With support from the Discovery Seed Grant Program, Wisconsin scientists are poised to bring a novel approach to finding new medicines by deploying the atomic force microscope — the foremost tool of the nanotechnologist — to screen agents as they dock with critical cell receptors. Read More