And, best of all, according to a panel of six judges, a combination wristwatch and personal digital assistant to help students manage their time more effectively.

These bright ideas were among 13 submitted by teams competing in the university’s first Freshman Innovation Challenge.  A total of 30 students participated.  The Division of Research and Economic Development invited 2011-12 freshmen to develop an idea for making a difference in the world. The judges rated the submissions on the basis of originality, practicality, benefits of the innovation, and quality of the poster presentation.  All of the teams were invited to present posters on their proposed inventions at the Colors of Innovation event held this week at the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering.

The winning entry was the iWatch, developed by Kelyn Greene and Faris Matar.

The problem: “One problem we are seeking to solve is the lack of consistency most college students have when working to balance schoolwork with social factors and many other aspects of the college experience.  Some students oversleep and miss classes, and others do not know how to manage their time properly. We all procrastinate at some point, and the iWatch would help that slacker of a student get his or her head on track.”

The solution: The iWatch is envisioned as a watch with a digital touchscreen and personal assistant software that would preset alarms for 20 minutes before every class and an hour before the student’s first class of the day.  After a certain amount of time the snooze function would no longer be an option. A USB port would be used to download schedule information.  “The software plans out your day with designated homework, study times, downtimes, time to eat, etc.  This reduces stress and organizes a student so he/she isn’t overwhelmed with the great load of work he or she is faced with.”

The result: The iWatch would help students manage their time properly. “He or she will be more resistant to the possible stress, pressure and negativity that may come his or her way.” Fewer students would drop out, and more would enter the work force.  A global market is anticipated.

Greene and Faris will share a $500 award.  The second-place finishers, Jordan Maness and Catherine Miller, will split $300 for the firearm tracking system.  Third-place finishers Jawari Boyd and Saeed Jones received $200 for the anti-jackknifing system for trucks.  The fourth-place award of $100 went to Lauren Pearson, Ambrose Wallace, and Naeem Gibson for the “Pressed and Neat” iron.

The winning teams will be matched with faculty mentors to further develop their ideas.

The iWatch has already caught the eye of renowned inventor and engineer Lonnie Johnson, keynote speaker for Colors of Innovation.  He asked the university to keep him posted on the iWatch team’s progress. Johnson holds more than 100 patents. He is a nuclear and mechanical engineer, formerly with NASA and the U.S. Air Force.  He is best known for inventing the Super Soaker water gun.

• Dr. Z. George Hong; Purdue University, co-director, Center on Religion and Chinese Society; Wednesday March 14. (CV)
• Dr. Joseph M. Stevenson; Technology Management Group and U.S. Department of Defense, national consultant/subject matter expert; Friday March 16. (CV)
• M.K. “Ram” Ramasubramanian; National Science Foundation, program director for Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship, and N.C. State University, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; Monday March 19. (CV)
• Dr. Barry L. Burks; University of North Carolina at Charlotte, associate director, Charlotte Research Institute, and adjunct professor of physics;  Tuesday March 27. (CV)

Here is the full schedule for their visits.

“The ERC Elevator Pitch Competition was inaugurated as as a means to embed entrepreneurial thinking within the centers, a task that represents a cultural shift within academia, where startup activity is usually not part of the tenure process. The competition featured undergraduates, Masters students, PhDs and post-docs all competing for the Innovation Accelerator-sponsored $5,000 prize. Though the contestants were all technology students, they had to speak in business terms, some of them for the first time.”

The ERC for Revolutionizing Biometallic Materials, led by N.C. A&T, won the competition.  Da-Tren Chou, a PhD student in bioengineering from ERC partner the University of Pittsburgh, was the designated pitcher. Here are the details, as reported by the New Venturist website.

“The US needs more Da-Trens – researchers who cross the chasm from the lab to the marketplace by morphing basic research into products and services that can change the world.“

“Mr. Sidibé, 59, is a former relief worker, rather than a physician, and, along with English and French, he speaks West African Mandingo, the Tamashek of the Tuaregs and other languages.

“With a combination of bonhomie and persistence, he has delivered difficult messages to African presidents very persuasively in his three years in office: Convince your men to get circumcised. Tell your teenage girls not to sleep with older men for money. Shelve your squeamishness and talk about condoms. Help prostitutes instead of jailing them. Ask your preachers to stop railing against homosexuals and order your police forces to stop beating them. Let Western scientists test new drugs and vaccines, despite the inevitable rumors that Africans are being used as guinea pigs.”

The roundtable is an opportunity for faculty and students to present research for peer discussion and review. It is also an important aspect of the department’s commitment to undergraduate and faculty research.

Topics and presentations include “Fletcher et al v. Lamone et al: The Political Impact of Prison Gerrymandering” and “Small States and the WTO: An Analysis of the Antiqua-U.S. Internet Gambling Dispute.” Among the presenters are James P. Mayes, assistant professor; Dr. Daniel White, professor; and Shon F. Barnes, adjunct instructor, all from the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice.

For further details about the roundtable or the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice, call 336 285-2046.

The students will spend Thursday, February 23, at the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering (JSNN). They’ll meet the 12 teams of freshman contestants in the university’s first Freshman Innovation Challenge and hear from A&T undergraduate and graduate students about their research projects.  The high school students also will tour the JSNN.

Lonnie Johnson

Keynote speaker for the event will be Lonnie Johnson, inventor, entrepreneur and former engineer for NASA and the U.S. Air Force.  Johnson worked on projects including the stealth bomber and the Galileo mission to Jupiter before becoming famous for a radically simpler invention that he developed on his own – the Super Soaker water gun, one of the world’s consistently top-selling toys for the last 20 years.  His firm, Johnson Research and Development, holds more than 100 patents. Its best known product is a new type of engine that converts heat directly into electricity.

The students also will view a presentation on black inventors and scientists, including:

• George Washington Carver, the first major African American scientist;
• Charles Drew, inventor of the blood bank;
• Patricia Bath, ophthalmologist, who invented laser and ultrasound treatments for cataracts; and
• Sandra Johnson, last year’s keynote speaker, who was a member of the team that developed the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue.

The Colors of Innovation was developed as a Black History Month outreach project by the Division of Research and Economic Development at N.C. A&T.  The program encourages high school students to become innovative thinkers and problem solvers, and to take greater interest in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Researchers across many disciplines and around the world are taking action against the business practices of academic publishing giant Elsevier, and the movement’s momentum may be carrying it toward a critical mass.  Some 4,900 scientists around the world have signed a statement refusing to publish in, edit for and/or referee for the company’s 2,000 journals.

It’s old news that its critics find Elsevier’s high subscription costs and expensive bundling policies unethical. But today there’s a political issue as well, as detailed in an op-ed column in The Boston Globe:

“Now Elsevier is supporting an odious bit of legislation known as the Research Works Act. Currently, the National Institutes of Health has a rule: If the American people pay for research, then they should be able to see the results without paying again. This is simple fairness. Yet the legislation would end that policy, further boosting Elsevier’s profits by locking important biomedical research, the stuff of life and death, behind paywalls.”

The movement’s current surge appears to have been generated by the high-profile British mathematician Timothy Gowers. His original blog post last month has generated at least 315 responses and inspired the creation of The Cost of Knowledge website.

Worth noting: Elsevier is the contractor/developer for the Reach NC faculty database.

N.C. A&T received 11 grants totaling $1.80 million in January.

One highlight of January’s s funding was a grant worth $489,884 from the USDA Agricultural and Food Initiative to Dr. Shengmin Sang of the Center for Excellence in Post Harvest Technologies, located ta the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis.

The project:  Dietary flavonoids inhibit the formation of advanced glycation end products by trapping reactive dicarbonyl compounds: An in vivo study

The issue: Increasing evidence has identified the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) as a major pathogenic link between hyperglycemia and diabetes-related complications.

Abstract: As the precursor of AGEs, methylglyoxal (MGO) and glyoxal (GO) are observed at relative higher levels (2-6 fold) in diabetic patients’ plasma than in healthy people’s plasma and are also found in many food products, beverages and cigarette smoke. Chronic intake of exogenous MGO has been demonstrated as the cause factor for the development of diabetes. Therefore, decreasing the levels of MGO and GO will be an effective approach to reduce the formation of AGEs and the development of diabetic complications. Our recent studies show that dietary flavonoids can inhibit the formation of AGEs by trapping MGO. Based on our previous and preliminary data, the hypothesis of this project is that dietary flavonoids can trap reactive dicarbonyls and thus inhibit the formation of AGEs and prevent the development of diabetes and diabetic complications under in vivo conditions. The present study will provide important information on the in vivo effectiveness of flavonoids in decreasing the levels of AGEs by trapping exogenous and endogenous MGO and GO.

The complete list of grants received in January (xlsx file)

N.C. A&T State University will host a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Regional Workshop on Wednesday, February 22.  It will be open to faculty members from N.C. A&T, other historically black colleges and universities in the area, Appalachian State, UNCG and Wake Forest University.

Dr. Mark Silver, NEH Senior Program Officer, will present a session focused on tips for writing award applications, specifically for faculty awards, fellowships, and summer stipends.  There will also be a mock peer-review panel and a question-and-answer session.

Mr. Darrell Stover, Program Director from the North Carolina Humanities Council, will give a brief overview of current Humanities Council programs.

After the workshop, visiting faculty will have the opportunity to speak individually with Dr. Silver for 15 to 20 minutes regarding individual research proposal concepts.  N.C. A&T and Bennett College faculty members will have the same opportunity the next day, Thursday, February 23^rd between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.  All faculty members requesting a meeting must submit a one-page executive summary of their project in advance.  Requests for individual meetings must be indicated at the time of registration; executive summaries will be due to Nora Shively (nshivelyncatsu@gmail.com) no later than Monday, February 6.

On-site registration will begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by workshop sessions from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.  A continental breakfast and hot lunch will be provided.  The location of the event on the A&T campus will be announced soon.

Registration is open for N.C. A&T faculty members.  Faculty from area HBCUs will be able to register beginning Friday, January 27.  Faculty from Appalachian State, UNCG, and Wake Forest will be able to register beginning Tuesday, January 31. Space is limited to 70 individuals.  To register, go to http://www.ncat.edu/~divofres/services/training.php.