Alabama A&M Physics Alum, Professor & RDECOM’ Senior Research Scientist, Dr. Ruffin Received Presidential Meritorious Rank Award

Huntsville, Ala. ---- A noted and much-honored physicist at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) received an even greater distinction at the Pentagon on June 29, 2011.

Dr. Paul B. Ruffin, an Alabama A&M University alumnus who serves as RDECOM’s senior research scientist for micro-sensors and systems, received the coveted Presidential Meritorious Rank Award,symbolic of the very best in service to the federal government and worthy of recognition by the President of the United States.

A senior executive, Ruffin joins the select one percent of the government’s incomparable leaders, scientists, and other professionals known for their ability to bring about results and to consistently exude integrity and commitment to public service. There are two categories of rank awards: Distinguished and Meritorious. Award winners are chosen through a rigorous selection process.

Of the U.S. Government's 1.8 million civilian employees, only 6,800 have risen to be career Senior Executives. Of that elite pool, fewer than 50 are typically selected to be Distinguished Executives annually. Army employees who receive the Presidential Rank Award save the Service billions of dollars with efficiencies and advanced technologies.

As the Army’s senior research scientist (ST) for micro sensors and systems, Dr. Ruffin provides technical leadership and direction for research and development programs in the micro- and nano-scale technology area; interacts with international scientists, industry, academia, and with scientists in the Army and other government agencies; successfully leads notable research and development programs; and pioneers major technical breakthroughs to overcome the size and cost obstacle common to high performance navigation systems.

In July 2003, Dr. Ruffin was promoted to the highest rank for a research scientist – senior research scientist (ST) – that anyone could achieve in Government service, making him the first African-American to ever attain such status in the Army. He received the B. S. degree in physics from Alabama A&M University in 1977. He was the first African American to receive advanced degrees in physics from any school of higher learning in the state of Alabama, when he earned his M.S. (1982) and later his Ph.D. (1986) degrees in Physics from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Dr. Ruffin’s research in Fiber Optics, MEMS, and Nanotechnology has resulted in seven (7) patents, four book chapters, and numerous peer-reviewed journal articles. His latest patent, “Nano Smart Needle for Precision Sensing and Treatment that Promotes Healing in Living Tissue,” revealed a noninvasive technique for treating cancer patients. He is the co-editor of a textbook on “Fiber Optics Sensors: Second Edition,” CRC Press, 2007.

Moreover, Ruffin is an Adjunct Professor in the Physics Department at Alabama A&M University. Dr. Ruffin, who is an SPIE Fellow (2005), has received numerous prestigious awards, including the 2011 Black Engineer of the Year STEM Minorities in Research Science's (MiRS) Professional Achievement Emerald Award, the Army Research and Development Achievement Award from the Secretary of the Army in 2003, Black Engineer of the Year: Special Recognition, Technologist of the Year Award, Top Ten Army Materiel Command Personnel of the Year Award, Material Acquisition/Technology Award from the American Defense Preparedness Association, Recognition for a Canadian Patent, and many other awards.

Dr. Ruffin is a resident of Harvest, Ala., and pastors Forge Temple Church of God in Christ in Birmingham, Ala. He is married to Vetrea Slack Ruffin, National Gospel Recording Artist and employee at Alabama A&M University. They have two daughters, Lacretia (Kellen) Conaway and Angelica Ruffin (both are graduates of AAMU); and two grand children, Victoria Conaway (daughter of Lacretia and Kellen Conaway) and Jared Armand Smith, son of Angelica.
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Source: AAMU

Urban League Honors A&M Alum & Business Professor, Dr. Larry McDaniel

Huntsville, Ala. ---- An Alabama A&M University department head in the School of Business was recently recognized for his longstanding work on behalf of the pivotal Black Executive Exchange Program (BEEP).

Dr. Larry McDaniel, AAMU alumnus and chair of the Department of Management and Marketing, was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the National Urban League Black Executive Exchange Program during the League’s recent and nearly 500-person conference in Orlando, Fla.

More than 100 students representing historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) also attended the jobs-themed conference to observe the National Urban League’s 42nd annual Black Executive Exchange Program Leadership Conference. BEEP is the National Urban League’s longest running direct service program. It is a partnership involving the business community, government and non-profit institutions that places African American executives in classrooms at more than 80 HBCUs as visiting professors and role models.

The program’s premise is that by exposing Black college students to African American executive role models and their real-world experiences, students can become better prepared for effective corporate leadership. The program also provides a unique opportunity for professionals and corporations to give back to their communities while helping African American college students achieve their goals. The National Urban League is led by Marc H. Morial, president & CEO, and former mayor of New Orleans.

Dr. McDaniel says he is proud to become one of only 16 individuals inducted into the Hall of Fame in the program’s 42-year history. Inductees are selected based on theirs years of work and level of commitment to the success of the program.
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Source: AAMU

Alabama A&M Physicist to Coordinate $15 million NSF Grant for EPSCOR

Physicist from Member University Alabama A&M to Coordinate $15 million NSF Grant for EPSCOR

An Alabama A&M University physicist who directs its Research Institute has announced a five-year $15 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help build the state’s ability to participate in, conduct and compete for nanotechnology research.

Dr. Daryush Ila, heads Alabama’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), a seven-school partnership that enables the state to become a more formidable force in conducting and promoting nanotech research. Ila, as executive director of EPSCoR, recently announced that the consortium has been awarded $3 million annually for five years in a cooperative agreement from NSF to boost the state’s research capacity.

“We are setting the pace and creating a road map that will help Alabama become a world class nano/bio-science and sensor presence in the country,” said Ila, adding that the award is among the largest ever awarded a university partnership.

More specifically, the agreement will help continue the work of four current Centers of Excellence: Alabama Center for Nanostructured Materials, (ACNM) headquartered at Tuskegee University; the Center for Environmental Cellular Signal Transduction (CECST), led by Auburn University; the Center for Optical Sensors and Spectroscopies (COSS) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; and the Center for Interdisciplinary Discovery via Engineered Nanofabrication (CIDEN) at Alabama A&M University.

Alabama’s EPSCoR project is comprised of Alabama A&M University, Auburn University, Tuskegee University, the University of Alabama, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the University of South Alabama. While there are some 27 EPSCoR states, along with programs operating in two U.S. territories, noted Ila, only the Alabama EPSCoR program can boast that two of its centers of excellence are located at historically black college campuses: Alabama A&M and Tuskegee.

Ila said the NSF grant also supports, the ALEPSCoR Education Outreach Initiative (AEOI), an innovative initiative at the University of Alabama, that will ultimately serve 900 students annually.

The major grant award would not have been possible, said Ila, had it not been for the expertise the Alabama EPSCoR program received from the Alabama A&M University Research Institute and SAIC. Their joint assistance enabled EPSCoR to compete as though it were vying for a major contract, he said.
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Source: Partnership for Innovation, Oak Ridge Associated Universities

2008: John Hall, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Physics featured speaker of The Eleventh Putcha Venkateswarlu memorial lecture

2008: John Hall, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Physics

The Eleventh Putcha Venkateswarlu memorial lecture was given by Dr. John L. Hall from University of Colorado, JILA: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO on October 17th 2008. The title of the talk was "The Optical Frequency Comb: A Versatile tool for Science, Metrology, and Medical Diagnostics". Dr Hall shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2005 with Theodor W. Hänsch "for their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique". The prize was also shared with Roy J. Glauber of Harvard University.

The "Father of Optics Research" at AAMU, Dr. Putcha Venkateswarlu

Dr. Putcha Venkateswarlu

Dr. Putcha Venkateswarlu was born in the small village of Dantaloor, India. He did his undergraduate and postgraduate work in physics in India, and his Ph.D. in physics at Banaras Hindu University under Prof. Asundi, a leading spectroscopist of his time. He went on to perform postdoctoral work at various reputable institutions around the world. He joined Alabama A & M Univeristy in 1982 as a professor of physics. During the last 15 years of his life he brought more than $4 million in research grants to AAMU. In his career he supervised over 50 Ph.D. and over 100 M.S. degree students in physics. At AAMU, 10 students obtained Ph.D. and 11 students M.S. degrees under his supervision. He supervised the very first Ph.D. sudent in physics at AAMU. Alabama A & M physics knew him as the "Father of Optics Research at AAMU." He published over 200 research papers. He worked with three Nobel Prize winners: Prof. Neils Bohr in Copenhagen, Prof. G. Herzberg at NRC in Canada, and Prof. R. S. Mulliken at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Putcha Venkateswarlu passed away on August 8, 1997 after a sudden illness. True to his constant dedication, he worked till the last breath of his life. As a result of Dr. Venkateswarlu's efforts Alabama A&M University is the leading research instituion of in Crystal research, and has produced the most African American Ph.D.s in physics. Therefore, the Putcha Venkateswarlu Memorial Lecture Series in Physics was created by Physics community in 1997. The Putcha Venkateswarlu Memorial Lecture
series continues to bring leading Nobel Laureate Researchers from around the world to lecture.

Dr. Susan Brown, AAMU Professor DNC Delegate

Huntsville, Ala. — An Alabama A&M University professor will represent the 5th Congressional District at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colo., August 25-28. Dr. Susan C. Brown, who also serves as assistant to the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, was elected to the State Democratic Executive Committee (District 20) in 2006. She is a member of the Madison County Democratic Executive Committee and was selected as the Madison County Democratic Women’s Division’s “Woman of the Year” in 2004.
Brown was a member of the Huntsville/Madison County Leadership’s Focus (Class 14) and Leadership (Class 20).

Source: Submitted by Eric Wagner on Eric's Spot, BlackCollegeLiveNetwork.com, Serving Alabama A&M univeristy Students and Alumni

Dean Taylor has been appointed to the Editorial Board of the Soil Science Society of America Journal

Dr. Robert W. Taylor, dean of the School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been appointed to the Editorial Board of the Soil Science Society of America Journal (SSSAJ), beginning January 1, 2009 for a three year term. Dr. Taylor will also serve as an associate editor of the organization’s division on soil chemistry.

SSSAJ is a reputable international research journal published through Stanford University. SSAJ publishes Papers on original research, issue papers, reviews, comments and letters to the editor, and book reviews by soil subject matter experts.

Alabama A&M University has one of the leading Agricultural and Environmental Sciences programs in the country. Dr. Taylor is a well respected soil chemist who has received many honors for his research. Hence, Dean Taylor will be an equitable contributor to the Journal.

Dr. Taylor entered the AAMU deanship as a Fellow in two leading international professional societies. He also served as a program officer for the National Science Foundation, considered one of the most prestigious peer review funding agencies in the world. He was elevated to the senior management when in the second year he served as Acting Deputy Division Director of the Division of Biological Infrastructure. Upon returning to AAMU, the Division presented Taylor with the Distinguished Service Award.

Taylor earned the B.S. degree from Tuskegee University in 1970. He pursued his postgraduate studies at Michigan State University, obtaining a M.S. degree in soil microbiology in 1973 and a Ph.D. in soil chemistry in 1977.

Dr. Chandra Reddy the Prestigious 2007 George Washington Carver Agricultural Excellence Award

Huntsville, Ala. ---- Dr. Chandra Reddy, professor and former dean of Alabama A&M University’s School of Graduate Studies, has been selected by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to receive the prestigious 2007 George Washington Carver Agricultural Excellence Award.

The award annually honors a scientist/scholar who has had significant impact on International Agriculture. Calvina Dupre, USAID program manager, said Reddy received the award because a technical review panel recognized his significant contributions to improving the lives of people in Africa through sustainable agriculture.

Reddy will receive the award medallion from USAID Administrator Henrietta H. Fore during the White House Initiated National HBCU Week Annual Conference. AAMU will also receive a plaque as the host university of Dr. Reddy’s international development work in the 1980s.

Dr. Reddy was nominated for this award by Dr. James Lowenberg DeBoer, associate dean and director of international programs in agriculture at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. DeBoer called Reddy a pioneer in intercropping systems research in West Africa, where the former developed an improved millet-cowpea intercropping technology that is now known across the Sahel from Chad to Senegal.

His 50-page handbook on “The Strategies for Rainfed Millet and Cowpea Production in Niger” was pioneering and revolutionary in nature and is still widely used. In this publication, Dr. Reddy introduced for the first time, the concept of decision trees that provided flexible production practices as a function of agro-climatic and economic situations.

Reddy also contributed to building agronomic research and extension capacities in the Niger National Agricultural Research Institute (INRAN). He identified promising Nigerian agronomists for long and short term training in the U.S., mentored many of these young scientists upon their return and was the role model for rigorous and relevant agronomic research. He also coordinated the multidisciplinary farming systems research in Niger and brought together many specialists to work on national priorities.

In recognition of his contributions to agricultural development in Africa, the Ministry of Agriculture, Niger, honored him with a Meritorious Service Award. In appreciation of his international and domestic efforts in sustainable agriculture, the American Society of Agronomy in 2006 honored Dr. Reddy with the prestigious Agronomy Fellow award, the highest awards of the society.

As reported by Jerome St. John a year

Alabama A&M Agriculture Dean Becomes Caribbean Science Icon

Huntsville, Ala. —- The new dean of Alabama A&M University’s School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will receive the highest distinction among Caribbean scientists.

Dr. Robert W. Taylor, a soil chemist, has been inducted as a “Caribbean Icon in Science and Technology” by the Caribbean Council of Science and Technology. The honor, notes Taylor, encompasses scientists who hail from the Bahamas, Belize, Barbados, Cuba, The Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and others. Three years ago, he was elected to the Bahamas Science and Technology Hall of Fame.

Taylor says the award places him in the good company of numerous Caribbean notables, among them Marcus Garvey, Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture), Collin Powell, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier and Nobel Laureates.

Taylor entered the AAMU deanship as a Fellow in two leading international professional societies. He also served as a program officer for the National Science Foundation, considered one of the most prestigious peer review funding agencies in the world. He was elevated to the senior management when in the second year he served as Acting Deputy Division Director of the Division of Biological Infrastructure. Upon returning to AAMU, the Division presented Taylor with the Distinguished Service Award.

Taylor earned the B.S. degree from Tuskegee University in 1970. He pursued his postgraduate studies at Michigan State University, obtaining a M.S. degree in soil microbiology in 1973 and a Ph.D. in soil chemistry in 1977
Source:Black College Voice 3/8/08

Liviu Popa-Simil launched a firm to discover alternative energy source by using nanomaterial to turn radiation directly into electricity

Alabama A&M Alum, Liviu Popa-Simil, launched a private research and development firm to produce more powerful alternative energy sources by converting radiation into electricity to be used for space crafts and possibly the source of automobile fuel for the future.

Materials that directly convert radiation into electricity could produce a new era of spacecraft and even Earth-based vehicles powered by high-powered nuclear batteries, say US researchers.

Electricity is usually made using nuclear power by heating steam to rotate turbines that generate electricity.

But beginning in the 1960s, the US and Soviet Union used thermoelectric materials that convert heat into electricity to power spacecraft using nuclear fission or decaying radioactive material. The Pioneer missions were among those using the latter, "nuclear battery" approach.

Dispensing with the steam and turbines makes those systems smaller and less complicated. But thermoelectric materials have very low efficiency. Now US researchers say they have developed highly efficient materials that can convert the radiation, not heat, from nuclear materials and reactions into electricity.

Power boost
Liviu Popa-Simil, former Los Alamos National Laboratory nuclear engineer and founder of private research and development company LAVM and Claudiu Muntele, of Alabama A&M University, US, say transforming the energy of radioactive particles into electricity is more effective.

The materials they are testing would extract up to 20 times more power from radioactive decay than thermoelectric materials, they calculate.

Tests of layered tiles of carbon nanotubes packed with gold and surrounded by lithium hydride are under way. Radioactive particles that slam into the gold push out a shower of high-energy electrons. They pass through carbon nanotubes and pass into the lithium hydride from where they move into electrodes, allowing current to flow.

"You load the material with nuclear energy and unload an electric current," says Popa-Simil.

Space probes
The tiles would be best used to create electricity using a radioactive material, says Popa-Simil, because they could be embedded directly where radiation is greatest. But they could also harvest power directly from a fission reactor's radiation.

Devices based on the material could be small enough to power anything from interplanetary probes to aircraft and land vehicles, he adds.

"I believe this work is innovative and could have a significant impact on the future of nuclear power," says David Poston, of the US Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory. However perfecting new nuclear technologies requires years of development, he adds.

Popa-Simil agrees, saying it will be at least a decade before final designs of the radiation-to-electricity concept are built.

A paper on the new nuclear power materials was presented on 25 March, at the Materials Research Society Spring Meeting 2008 , San Francisco, California, US.

Nanotechnology - Follow the emergence of a new technology in our continuously updated special report.

Energy and Fuels - Learn more about the looming energy crisis in our comprehensive special repo
Source: New Scientist News

Alabama A&M University Professor, Dr. Teferi was Selected to Serve on an EPA Advisory Committee

Huntsville, Ala. ---- An environmental scientist at Alabama A&M University has been selected to serve on 30-member, first-ever Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Advisory Committee formed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Dr. Teferi Tsegaye will join researchers from throughout the nation to assist in EPA in its efforts to improve relations with the agriculture community.

“Through increased cooperation with our agriculture partners, EPA is planting the seeds to reap both environmental and economic benefits for the American people," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson.

The committee will advise the administrator on environmental policy issues impacting farms, ranches, and rural communities, and will operate under the rules of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The first meeting of the committee will take place March 13 and 14, 2008 at The Madison Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Initially, EPA will ask the committee to focus on the following three issues: 1) how EPA's policies and regulations on climate change and renewable energy will affect the agriculture community; 2) an environmental strategy for managing waste from livestock operations that considers regulatory and voluntary approaches, and provides tools for producers to attain superior environmental performance; and 3) development of a constructive approach to advancing sustainable agriculture, protecting the environment, and addressing communication between environmental and agricultural interests.

Committee members were chosen from over 200 applicants generated from a request for nominations published Nov. 15 in the Federal Register, according to an EPA website. The new members represent: large and small farmers, ranchers, and rural communities; rural suppliers, marketers, and processors; academics and researchers who study environmental issues impacting agriculture; and, environmental and conservation groups.

For additional information, Alabama A&M News or EPA Newsroom.