of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering
|
|
|
|
Celebrate, Promote, Inform in Service to CT
|
|
|
|
Volume 37, 6 / December 2022
|
|
|
|
A message to our readers... |
|
|
|
Although still five months away, the Academy is busy preparing for our 48th Annual Meeting and Dinner, to be held Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at the Woodwinds in Branford. This is the first time in three years we will celebrate CT-STEMM together – in person! We are excited and looking forward to introducing our new members and honorary members Andrew Bramante and Bernard J. Zahren (see News About the Academy), and recognizing the 2023 CT Medal of Science awardee and our middle and high school student awardees. Our keynote address will be delivered by CASE Member Albert Ko, the Raj and Indra Nooyi Professor of Public Health and Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases) and of Medicine Infectious Disease, Yale School of Public Health. Invitations will be sent in February. Please contact Terri Clark for more information.
On behalf of the Members of the Academy, Happy Holidays, and wishing you the best for 2023!
|
|
|
|
John Kadow, President CT Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE) Celebrate, Promote, Inform in Service to CT
|
|
|
|
ANNUAL MEETING |
|
CASE Annual Meeting & Dinner |
|
Save the date for the 48th CASE Annual Meeting & Dinner, Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at The Woodwinds in Branford.
|
|
|
|
|
|
SOCIAL MEDIA |
|
CASE LinkedIn Page |
|
The Academy has an active LinkedIn page that we encourage the Bulletin’s readership to follow. The page will connect you to news on the Academy, its members, and science, engineering, medicine, mathematics, and technology topics of interest to Connecticut. Please click the blue "follow" button on the page to stay up to date.
|
|
|
|
|
|
To learn more about the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, please visit ctcase.org.
|
|
|
|
Science and Engineering Notes from Around Connecticut
|
|
|
|
Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition |
|
|
|
CASE Member Jason C. White, Director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, and a colleague, Om Parkash Dhankher, from the University of Massachusetts, conducted a workshop on food safety, with a follow-up report released in October that identifies critical research, education, extension needs and knowledge gaps, and advances our understanding of key issues and opportunities, including mitigation of toxic element contamination of the food supply to ensure food safety. Read more.
|
|
|
|
Biomedical Research & Healthcare |
|
|
|
Yale University’s Translational Research Imaging Center (Y-TRIC) is recruiting T32 post-doctoral fellows for training programs in multi-modality molecular and translational cardiovascular imaging, imaging technology, and image-guided therapeutic interventions. The programs are directed by CASE Member James S. Duncan, Ebenezer K. Hunt Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering & Radiology, and Biomedical Imaging, and colleague Albert J. Sinusas. Read more.
CASE Member Cato T. Laurencin, the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at UConn, provided the opening remarks for the first U.S.-Africa Frontiers of Science, Engineering and Medicine Symposium held October 12-14 in Nairobi, Kenya. This inaugural symposium was a partnership between the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) and the African Academy of Sciences. Read more.
Normunity, founded by CASE Member and National Academy of Sciences Member Lieping Chen, Yale University School of Medicine, completed a $65 million financing round. The funds will be used to advance at least two cancer drug candidates into clinical research settings. These drugs are focused on the treatment of more common cancer types such as lung and skin cancers. Read more.
Scientists, industry leaders, and lipid enthusiasts from around the world will meet to discuss current research and pave new directions at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Deuel Conference on Lipids in March 2023. The Conference has become an international forum for open discussions and a platform to share cutting-edge advances in lipid research. CASE Member Pietro De Camilli, Yale University School of Medicine, will present on “Lipid Dynamics, Membrane Contact Sites, and Neurodegeneration.” Read more.
The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology awarded CASE Member Kristen Brennand, Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry and Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, the 2022 Daniel H. Efron Research Award for her outstanding basic research contributions to neuropsychopharmacology. Read more.
Yale researchers, led by CASE Member Kevan Herold, C.N.H. Long Professor of Immunobiology and of Medicine, developed the first FDA-approved drug found to delay the development of type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that affects about two million Americans. Read more.
|
|
|
|
Communication & Information Systems |
|
|
|
CASE Member, Robert J. Schoelkopf, Sterling Professor of Applied Physics and Professor of Physics and Director of the Yale Quantum Institute was appointed by President Biden as a member of the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee (NQIAC). The committee is tasked with providing an independent assessment of the National Quantum Initiative Program and to make recommendations for the President, Congress, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Subcommittees on Quantum Information Science, and on Economic and Security Implications of Quantum Science. The NQIAC consists of leaders in the field from industry, academia, and federal laboratories. Read more.
The Connecticut Office of State Broadband within the Office of Consumer Counsel has a link for community organizations and consumers to access a new federal Affordable Connectivity Program Consumer Outreach Toolkit, as well as new discounts available for devices. Read to learn more and for the toolkit.
|
|
|
|
Connecticut is making a five-year, $46.6 million investment to expand small business assistance programs across the state. At least 50% of the financial assistance will fund minority, woman, disabled, and veteran-owned companies, as well as those that are located in distressed municipalities. Read more.
Hartford HealthCare (HHC) and Connecticut Innovations announced a partnership to support 20 new startups over the next two years at HHC’s Hartford headquarters. The startups will create jobs in the city, have access to clinicians, and the ability to test their concepts and products. Three startups that will participate in the program include CytoVeris, a biotechnology company; NourishedRx, which makes individualized nutritious food for those in need; and Medtel, whose mission is to improve surgical outcomes through embedded clinical guidelines. Read more.
|
|
|
|
Energy Production, Use, and Conservation |
|
|
|
CASE Members Radenka Maric and Pamir Alpay, UConn’s President and Interim Vice President of Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship joined leaders from industry, policymakers, elected officials from the state and federal governments, and UConn engineers to discuss New England’s electric grid and how it can be made more resilient over the next five years in the face of climate change and geopolitical strain. Read more.
UConn's 460kW fuel cell installed at the Depot Campus in Storrs was manufactured by HyAxiom, Inc., a Doosan company from South Windsor, and sports a new eye-catching look thanks to a student-led design contest aimed at expanding awareness of the clean-energy technology. The fuel cell produces electricity for UConn’s research labs, including those labs involved with advancing fuel cell and microgrid technology at UConn’s Center for Clean Energy Engineering. Although not noted in the article, CASE Members Sathya Motupally and Sridhar Kanuri serve as HyAxiom’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer. Read more.
In the latest issue of Mechanical Engineering magazine, CASE Member Lee Langston, Professor Emeritus, UConn, illustrates how, in recent years, gas turbine designers have found various ways to use intercooling to not only reduce compressor work but to also provide the means of increasing engine thermal efficiency for marine and land-based gas turbines. Read more.
|
|
|
|
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced the first round of grant awards for the Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Grant program. The program supports the development and operationalization of food scrap collection and unit-based pricing pilot programs. This is the largest investment that the state has made to date in cost-effective, sustainable alternatives to waste disposal for the implementation of programs that will achieve greater system reliability, environmental sustainability, and fiscal predictability. Read more.
CASE Member Robin Chazdon, UConn professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology, is among five professors named to the 2022 World’s Highly Cited Research List. Released recently by Clarivate and the Web of Science index, the list uses both quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify individuals from around the world who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their chosen field/fields of research. Read more.
UConn aspires to achieve carbon neutrality on campus by 2030, creating a “living laboratory” to develop and demonstrate new approaches to mitigating climate change’s harmful effects. CASE Member and UConn President Radenka Maric announced the plan would be released in the spring of 2023 and will include specifics on the vision, goals, and targets. Read more.
The US Coast Guard Academy unveiled a science innovation lab at the Maritime Center of Excellence in New London. The first major LEED-certified building on the Academy’s 90-year-old campus, the 20,000-square-foot facility sits on the banks of the Thames River and will support an expansion of the Academy’s educational and research capabilities. Read more.
|
|
|
|
Human Resources and Education |
|
|
|
CASE Member Anjelica Gonzalez, associate professor of biomedical engineering, Yale University, is a member of the first cohort of the 3.8 Initiative – a Women in Bio-Connecticut pilot program designed to increase women’s representation in Connecticut boardrooms. The 10-month program, a mix of curriculum and networking, addresses gender disparities in Connecticut-based business leadership. Read more.
The Connecticut Age Well Collaborative has released a municipal resource guide providing information on the Collaborative, summarizes key data, describes the history of the livability movement, describes the collaborative’s collective impact partners, and provides a framework for shaping great Connecticut communities where all can thrive while growing up and growing older. Read more.
Yale University, the Wright Laboratory, and the Girls Advancing in STEM Network (GAINS) partnered to host this year’s GAINS Conference. The opening keynote address from CASE Member Anjelica Gonzalez, a Yale School of Medicine associate professor of biomedical engineering, kicked off the multi-day event. In attendance were 121 high school students and 30 teachers from public, private, and charter schools across the United States, along with 54 volunteer scientists from Yale University and several from Sikorsky. Read more.
Connecticut Technology Council member December spotlight is on USPRO, a staffing services firm headquartered in Boston with offices in Connecticut. USPRO provides clients with contingent and direct-hire staffing needs across engineering and technical support in the defense, life sciences, healthcare, financial, and IT disciplines. Read more.
|
|
|
|
On its third anniversary, Gov. Lamont provided an update on the accomplishments of the Connecticut Interagency PFAS Task Force. The CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the CT Department of Public Health chaired the task force, which included nearly twenty state agencies and entities. PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of more than 12,000 manmade chemicals that have been widely used in household, commercial, and industrial products, do not break down in the environment, and are harmful to humans and animals at very low levels. Read more.
In an episode of Health & Veritas, Yale University physician-professors Howard Forman and CASE Member Harlan Krumholz talk with Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS, CASE Member and professor of internal medicine, public health, and management at the Yale University School of Medicine about her service in the Biden administration and the need for a broad approach to tackling racism in healthcare and systemic inequities in health. Read more.
|
|
|
|
The 2022 Marcum LLP Tech Top 40, an annual program recognizing the fastest-growing technology and life sciences companies in Connecticut, has been announced. The top 40 highlights leaders in six industry sectors that reflect the state’s technology landscape - advanced manufacturing, IT services, life sciences, new media/internet/telecommunication, and software. Among the recipients in the life science category is Arvinas, founded by CASE Member and a recipient of the 2022 Connecticut Medal of Technology, Craig Crews. Read more.
Combining technologies from Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence and Pratt & Whitney, a new simulation tool will predict defects in additive-manufactured metal parts before they happen and help engineers evaluate and test combinations of materials, geometries, and print processes. Read more.
|
|
|
|
With enhanced safety measures and sustainability efforts, the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s (CTDOT) five-year rail plan aims to connect communities, generate sustainable economic growth, build energy independence, and provide travel corridors within and beyond the region. CTDOT also plans to invest in infrastructure improvements that will allow freight trains to increase service. Read more.
A Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter conducted multiple operations with no pilots or crew aboard during technology tests and demonstrations in October. The helicopter flew using Sikorsky’s MATRIX autonomy system as the core of the Army’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation System, or ALIAS, program. Learn more, including the program’s goal and concept development, from CASE Member Igor Cherepinsky, director of Sikorsky Innovations, and Stuart Young, DARPA program manager.
Pratt & Whitney is one of several collaborators in a new aerospace partnership to develop water-enhanced and hybrid-electric propulsion systems for aircraft, with a goal of reducing CO2 emissions by up to 25%. The partnership is coordinated by MTU Aero Engines AG (MTU), is supported by the European Union Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking (Clean Aviation), and includes partners Collins Aerospace, the University of Stuttgart, GKN Aerospace, and Airbus Aircraft. CASE Member Geoff Hunt, Pratt & Whitney’s senior vice president of engineering, shared that this type of collaboration is vital for the aviation industry to become more sustainable. Read more.
|
|
|
|
Items that appear in the In Brief section are compiled from previously published sources including newspaper accounts and press releases.
|
|
|
|
From the National Academies |
|
|
|
The following is excerpted from press releases and other news reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (nationalacademies.org).
|
|
|
|
In the United States, 54% of nurses and physicians, 60% of medical students and residents, and 61% of pharmacists have symptoms of burnout. Burnout is a long-standing issue and a fundamental barrier to professional well-being, further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper focuses on changes needed across the health system and at the organizational level to improve the well-being of the health workforce. The National Plan’s vision is that patients are cared for by a health workforce that is thriving in an environment that fosters their well-being as they improve population health, enhance the care experience, reduce costs, and advance health equity; therefore, achieving the “quintuple aim.” Read more.
|
|
|
|
The COVID-19 pandemic and overlapping global crises, including geopolitical conflict and climate change, have made achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) more challenging. Although the scope of the challenges and opportunities are global with many research investigations and actions needed, this report identifies key research priorities and possible actionable steps to operationalize sustainable development at the global and local levels. Read more.
|
|
|
|
The history of the U.S. criminal justice system is marked by racial inequality and sustained by present day policy. Large racial and ethnic disparities exist across the several stages of criminal legal processing, including in arrests, pre-trial detention, and sentencing and incarceration, among others, with Black, Latino, and Native Americans experiencing worse outcomes. Racial inequality can drive disparities in crime, victimization, and system involvement. This report synthesizes the evidence on community-based solutions, noncriminal policy interventions, and criminal justice reforms, charting a path toward the reduction of racial inequalities by minimizing harm in ways that also improve community safety. Read more.
|
|
|
|
Carbon materials pervade many aspects of modern life, from fuels and building materials to consumer goods and commodity chemicals. Reaching net-zero emissions will require replacing existing fossil-carbon-based systems with circular-carbon economies that transform wastes like CO2 into useful materials. This report evaluates market opportunities and infrastructure needs to help decision-makers better understand how carbon dioxide utilization can contribute to a net-zero emissions future. Read more.
|
|
|
|
Quickly advancing automated driving system (ADS) technologies are expected to positively affect transportation safety. ADS includes a plethora of applications that affect safety, mobility, human factors, and environmental aspects of driving. This report describes a framework to help state and local agencies assess the safety impact of ADS and is designed to guide them on how to adapt the framework for a variety of scenarios. Read more.
|
|
|
|
Since its founding, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has tested more than 50 alternative payment models reaching more than 28 million patients across 528,000 healthcare providers and plans, yielding insights on the implementation of models to achieve better care, better health, and lower costs. However, the U.S. population health outcomes lag behind its peers and our health system is still firmly entrenched in the fee-for-service payment system that rewards service volume. This publication suggests six key priority actions for CMMI centered on signaling, mapping, measuring, modeling, partnering, and demonstrating. These priority actions, coupled with implementation considerations, are intended to assist in aligning, supporting, and informing the implementation of CMMI’s Strategic Refresh. Read more.
|
|
|
|
Patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) studies consider the questions and outcomes that are meaningful to patients to compare the effectiveness of different prevention, diagnostic, and treatment options. PCOR also increases patient involvement in their care by providing them an opportunity to evaluate the quality, outcomes, and effectiveness of healthcare treatments and intervention, especially in areas where there is poor existing clinical evidence. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Board on Healthcare Services hosted a series of public workshops to explore ways of accelerating the use of PCOR findings in clinical practice to improve health and health care. This report summarizes the discussions that took place at these workshops. Read more.
|
|
|
|
The Transportation Research Board Airport Cooperative Research Program held an Insight Event in March 2022 in Washington, DC, to discuss the future of aviation across multiple perspectives. Major topics included passengers and customers, workforce, new entrants, technology, and sustainability. This report is a compilation of the presentations and a factual summary of the ensuing discussions at the event. Read more.
|
|
|
|
The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering |
|
|
|
Remembering CASE Members
Peter Luh, Emeritus Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Engineering, passed away on November 28, 2022. Luh served as the head of the department from 2006-2009 and as director of the Booth Research Center for Advanced Technology, recognized as a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in 2018. Read more.
|
|
|
|
The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering |
|
|
|
The purpose of the Academy is to "provide guidance to the people and the government of the State of Connecticut... in the application of science and engineering to the economic and social welfare."
OFFICERS OF THE ACADEMY
John Kadow, President ViiV Healthcare
Sten Vermund, Vice President Yale School of Public Health (ret.)
Eric Donkor, Secretary UConn
Edmond Murphy, Treasurer Lumentum (ret.)
Christine Broadbridge, Past President Southern Connecticut State University
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Terri Clark
EDITORS Leon Pintsov, Executive Editor - Engineering Pitney Bowes, Inc.
Mike Genel, Executive Editor - Medicine Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics Yale University School of Medicine CASE President, 2008-2010
Amy R. Howell, Executive Editor - Science Department of Chemistry University of Connecticut
COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT Rebecca Mead, INQ Creative
|
|
|
|
The Bulletin is published by the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, Inc, 222 Pitkin Street, Suite 101, East Hartford, Connecticut, 06108. 860.282.4229, tclark@ctcase.org. To subscribe, visit ctcase.org.
The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering is a private, nonprofit public service organization established by Special Act No. 76-53 of the Connecticut General Assembly.
COPYING PERMITTED, WITH ATTRIBUTION
|
|
|
|
|