Spectrum - Volume 17 Issue 05 September 22, 1994 - Achievers

A non-profit publication of the Office of the University Relations of Virginia Tech,
including The Conductor , a special section of the Spectrum printed 4 times a year

Achievers

Spectrum Volume 17 Issue 5 - September 22, 1994

Tao Lin of the mathematics department presented a paper on "An adaptive finite element scheme for a Fredholm type integro- differential equation" in a special session on "Non- local foundary value problems and applications at the 14th International Association for Mathematics and Computers in Simulation World Congress on Computational and Applied Mathematics in Atlanta. The paper was a joint work with Robert Rogers, also of mathematics. The main results were published in the conference proceedings.

Michael Renardy of the mathematics department presented an invited lecture on "Sideband Instabilities in Two- Layer Flows" at the International Conference on Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation in the Natural Environment at the Leeuwenhorst Congress Centre, Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands. Renardy also presented an invited lecture on his recent work on the stability of hyperbolic partial differential equations and viscoelastic flows at the International Association for Mathematics and Computers in Simulation World Congress on Computational and Applied Mathematics in Atlanta.

Ken Hannsgen and Robert Wheeler of the mathematics department worked with Wolfgang Desch of the University of Graz, Graz, Austria, on a research project, "Stabilization and Control of Distributed Parameter Systems," sponsored by the NSF U.S.- Austrian Cooperative Science Program. The research concerns a representation formula that expresses the solution operator of a nonhomogeneous boundary value problem (that would arise when stabilizing mechanical systems involving viscoelastic materials by certain boundary feedbacks) in terms of a frequency dependent linear combination of solution operators of related problems with no boundary feedback. Desch will speak on the results at a conference in Italy in September, and the researchers are preparing the results for publication.

Charles Parry of the mathematics department gave a talk on "The Rank of the 2- Class Group of Bicyclic Biquadratic Fields" at the Canadian Number Theory Association Conference at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The talk concerned joint work with graduate students Mark McCall and Ramona Ranalli .

Robert Rogers of the mathematics department gave an invited presentation on "Hysteresis through relaxation and nonlocal regularization" at the EuroMech conference on "Microstructures and Phase Transitions in Solids" in Udine, Italy. He also presented "Nonlocal Superconductivity" at a research seminar in Pisa, Italy, and "Nonlocal Superconductivity," with Augusto Visintin, at a research seminar in Trento, Italy. He also presented "Relaxed, nonlocal energies, metastability and hysteresis" at the conference on "Nonlinearities of Hysteretic Type" at the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach , Germany.

Yin Yan of the mathematics department conducted joint research at York University at Toronto, Canada, with professor Steve L. Hou in Optimal Control of Nonlinear Fluid Dynamics and its high- performance computation. The research is part of a joint project with John Burns of Virginia Tech's Interdisciplinary Center for Applied Mathematics and Center for Optimal Design and Control.

Linda Powers of the mathematics department attended the Third Conference on the Teaching of Calculus at the University of Michigan.

Robert F. Olin of the mathematics department and graduate student Xiaoguang Li gave a talk on "The calculus reform at Virginia Tech from a graduate student's perspective" at the Virginia Academy of Science meeting at James Madison University.

Robert Wheeler and Kenneth Hannsgen of the mathematics department were two of 94 people representing universities at the 1994 AFOSR Grantees/Contractors Workshop on Dynamics and Control at Wright- Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio.

Yuriko Renardy of the mathematics department gave the plenary lecture in the division of fluid dynamics at the 49th annual meeting of the Japan Physical Society in Japan. The talk was on "Instabilities in Steady Two- Component Flows." She also gave invited lectures at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute and at Hokkaido University and was given a mini- symposium in her honor at the Kyoto Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences. Renardy is co- chair with Demetrios Papageorgiou of the New Jersey Institute of Technology of the 1995 Joint AMS- IMS- SIAM Summer Research Conferences in the Mathematical Sciences titled "Analysis of multi- fluid flows and interfacial instabilities."

Rosa Huang of the mathematics department presented a talk at the 6th International Conference on Formal Power Series and Algebraic Combinatorics at Rutgers University.

Patrick M. Phipps, Virginia Cooperative Extension plant pathologist at the Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Suffolk, received the Excellence in Extension Award from the American Phytopathological Society in recognition of his "prescription" research. Phipps, the Extension specialist in plant pathology responsible for peanut, soybean, cotton, and allied crops, was cited for developing and conducting "one of the most effective Extension and applied research program in `prescription' disease management in the United States. In Virginia alone, the savings from the program is between $3 to $4 million annually.

Antonius B.A.M. Baudoin , associate professor of plant pathology, physiology, and weed science, received the Excellence in Teaching Award at the annual meeting of the American Phytopathological Society. Baudoin, who has a 100-percent teaching appointment in plant pathology, has developed and taught six undergraduate and graduate courses- - pest management: insect, diseases, and weeds; plant pathology, integrated pest management, principles of plant disease management, diseases of crop plants, and epidemiology of plant disease.

James Craig, professor of geological sciences, had a week- long visit for cooperative work with Alicia Arizmendi from the Universidad Nacional de Patagonia in Comodoro Rivadoria in Argentina in August. Arizmendi was Craig's host in Patagonia last November, and they are initiating joint research on ore deposits in Argentina. Craig also had a two- week visit from Susana Segal of the Secretariat of Mining of Argentina in August. The two have initiated joint research on some ore deposits in the Andes in Northwestern Argentina. Segal was at Virginia Tech to discuss that and to work specifically on the interpretation of ore textures.

Craig also has had two scientists from the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry of China arrive to work with him on a project funded by the National Science Foundation on the gold ores of the Jilong District of Hebei Province in China. The researchers from China will be at Virginia Tech two months, and another delegation visited earlier this month.

Craig has just had the second edition of his textbook Ore Microscopy and Ore Petrography published by Wiley Interscience. The coauthor is David Vaughan of the geology department of the University of Manchester in England. The first edition came out in 1981, was translated into Russian, and was used internationally until it went out of print in 1992. The new 1994 edition is enlarged and updated.

Linda Plaut , humanities, and Kent Holliday , music, played a recital of music for violin and piano at the Ringue Museum of Music History in Trondheim, Norway. The concert, which celebrated the opening of the museum's tourist season, included two world premieres: Holliday's Passacaglia for Violin and Piano and Victoria Bond's Weddings and Bar Mitzvahs . The program also included music by Liszt, Grieg, and Bacewicz. The concert will be repeated at Virginia Tech September 24.

Heather M. Hall , laboratory specialist in the chemistry department, was awarded national certification by the National Association of Scientific Materials Managers after completing 80 hours of instruction and courses and writing a paper on aspects of scientific materials management. There are only five certified managers in the country, and Hall was one of two women to receive the award this year. The certification process has been in place since 1990. Hall joined the organization in 1993 and has attended two of the annual meetings.

John Madis , safety coordinator and regulatory- compliance officer for the chemistry department, was an invited speaker at the 1994 meeting of the National Association of Scientific Materials Managers in Tampa, Fla. The talks were part of a three- year program on regulatory issues, with training certification to be part of the 1996 program. A founding member of the organization, Madis has served as vice president, president, and conference- site co- host of the 1979 Richmond meeting.

Philip S. Kronenberg , professor of public policy in the Center for Public Administration and Policy, presented a paper titled "Chaos and Re-Thinking the Public Policy Process" at the Chaos and Society Conference at the University of Quebec at Hull.

Kronenberg also chaired a panel and presented a paper titled "Institutional Capability and Technology-Driven National Development: Conundrums of Managing Complexity" at the 1994 International Conference of the Academy of Business Administration in London.

Nevin R. Frantz , professor of vocational and technical education, was selected as a 1994-95 Fulbright scholar by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars and the Finland U.S. Educational Commission. He was scheduled to spend two months at the Institute for Educational Research at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland researching the restructuring of vocational education in public schools to integrate job skills programs with preparation for further learning. He planned to collaborate with members of Finland's Upsilon Chapter of Omicron Tau Theta, a graduate honorary professional society, on publishing research in American educational journals.