September 28, 2012 Faculty-Staff CU-Boulder Today

In this Issue

STEM: Strengthening education, and the power of a nation

STEM education at CU-Boulder is having a ripple effect, transforming undergraduate and graduate-level classrooms; boosting the number of STEM majors pursuing teaching careers; and fanning out to improve STEM learning at K-12 levels. CU gathers to celebrate STEM scholarship and education projects this Oct. 1 at the 4th Annual Symposium on STEM Education.

Convocation honors accomplishments of our faculty

Chancellor DiStefano spoke at the 2012 Faculty Convocation on Thursday, Sept. 27. His remarks reflected upon the talent and achievements embodied in the University of Colorado Boulder faculty.

Buff Essentials Week to be held Oct. 1-6

Buff Essentials Week, an annual event held to support freshmen in acclimating to college life, will be held Oct. 1-6.

First-year students in the College of Arts and Sciences are required to attend at least three events before registering for spring semester classes in November. Students can choose sessions related to academic advising, research opportunities, nutrition, career counseling, note taking, study abroad and others. All students, staff and faculty are invited to participate in the events.

Astronaut-alumnus Vance Brand to present student scholarship at CU-Boulder Oct. 5

Apollo and shuttle astronaut Vance Brand will present University of Colorado Boulder student Srinidhi Radhakrishnan with a $10,000 scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) during a public lecture and award presentation on Oct. 5.

During the presentation, which will begin at 3 p.m. in the lobby of Andrews Hall, home of the Engineering Honors Program, Brand will share his experiences from the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and three space shuttle missions, in addition to presenting the award. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Community Notes

Get the FAQs: RTD Smart Cards for faculty and staff

Effective Jan. 1, 2013, CU-Boulder’s Faculty/Staff Eco Pass system will be converting from an RTD sticker on the Buff OneCard to the new RTD smart card system. RTD is making the change to provide better information to be used in pricing and managing their pass programs and will be adding electronic payment options later next year as well. Learn more about the program with this list of frequently asked questions.

Website: http://www.colorado.edu/pts

Big Energy seminar series: Control of Wind Turbines

In this talk, we will first provide an overview of wind energy systems. We will describe the main components of wind turbines, the sensors and actuators, the different operating regions, and we will outline the current state of the art in wind turbine modeling and control.

Website: http://rasei.colorado.edu

Public tree-planting event

A tree-planting demonstration sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation’s “Tree Campus USA” program will take place on October 3 on the east side of the Coors Events Center. The demonstration, which is free and open to the public, begins at 10:30 a.m. with a check-in for student volunteers.

Nominate someone for an OIE Global Citizen award!

Nominate someone for one of the annual OIE Global Citizen Awards. These awards honor and recognize outstanding contributions to international understanding by members of the CU-Boulder community. Award recipients are honored during a special awards ceremony on November 14, 2012 during International Education Week. Deadline is 5 p.m., Oct. 5.

Lighten Up Boulder safety campaign offers discounts for bike lights

As fall sets in and the days get shorter, CU-Boulder, City of Boulder, Community Cycles and local businesses are teaming up for the fifth annual Lighten Up Boulder safety campaign to encourage the use of bike lights for nighttime riding. The campaign offers 10 to 20 percent discounts on select bike light accessories at participating Boulder businesses.

Bike light coupons can be printed from the GOBoulder.net website or picked up at the following locations: