A monthly sampler of educational, cultural, and economic contributions of Maine’s public universities

MakingaDifferenceJune 2009

Maine Technology Fund Grants awarded to UMaine and UMPIAUGUSTA – The Maine Technology Institute (MTI)awarded nearly $6.8 million in Maine Technology AssetFund grants to the University of Maine and one $96,800grant to UMPI.

The fund was established when the Maine Legislature andvoters approved a $50 million research and developmentbond in 2007. Research institutions are required to use themoney for capital and related expenditures supportingresearch, development and commercialization projects thatwill lead to significant economic benefits for Maine.

UMaine’s grants include: Innovative Industries Initiative -$3.69 million; Maine Center for Autonomous Marine Survey(MCAMS), $1.2 million; Process Development Center,$1,083,000; Strengthening Biotechnology & Supporting theSTEM Education Initiative in Maine, $883,000. UMainealso is a partner in seven other projects awarded more than$9 million in MTAF funding.

UMPI received a $96,800 award titled, Implementing anAdvanced Geospacial Information Mapping and AnalysisFacility for Economic Development in Northern Maine.

The full list of awards is online atwww.mainetechnology.org.

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Candid moments from commencement ceremonies at the seven campusesof the University of Maine System

Commencement 2009

UMF

USM

UMFK

UMPI

UMA

UMAINEUMM

UMF Honors Alumni and FriendsFARMINGTON – UMF recently honored three notablealumni and friends for their significant contributions toUMF and the community. Presentations were made byTheodora J. Kalikow.

Janet Mills, current attorney general of the State ofMaine and former Maine legislator for the towns ofFarmington and Industry, was presented the 2009 Friend ofUMF award. Mills has worked tirelessly with state leadersabout issues of importance to UMF. Ryan Low,commissioner of Maine’s Department of Administrative andFinancial Services and member of the UMF class of 1997,was recognized with this year’s UMF Alumni Achievementaward. Bradley Reed, alumnus and member of the UMFClass of 1993, was presented with this year’s FlorenceHewey Archibald Alumni Service Award. Reed has servedfor a decade as secretary of the UMF Alumni Council.

USM Expands Sport ManagementProgramPORTLAND – Beginning this fall, USM students will beable to major in sport management as part of the bachelor’sdegree program in business administration.

USM is the first institution in the University of MaineSystem to offer a sport management major. What began twoyears ago as a limited academic track has blossomed into apopular program with more than 100 students expected toenroll this fall.

The move to a full major allows USM to add specializedcourses in such areas as sports event management, sportsponsorship and athletic administration. Graduates will beprepared for a range of leadership roles in amateur sportsorganizations, sports marketing fields, and in athleticadministration.

The new major will include a 10-week, 400-hourinternship experience with local professional sports teamssuch as the Portland Pirates, Sea Dogs and Maine RedClaws.

June 2009

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From left: Bradley Reed, Janet Mills, Theo Kalikow and Ryan Low.

UMFK HonorsNursing GradsFORT KENT – Lastmonth, more than fortyUMFK nursingstudents received theirnursing pins, signifyingtheir official entrance

into the profession.Approximately half of the students were from Aroostook

County, and others represented different parts of Maine, theMaritime Provinces and two states. Faculty, staff, andstudents, along with family members, and friends of thegraduates gathered to honor the recipients of the Bachelorof Science degree in nursing.

During the ceremony, Emily Cote of Saco was honoredwith the Student Nurse Citizenship Award. The awardhonors the diligence, manners, responsibility,conscientiousness, and thoughtful involvementcharacteristic of an exemplary citizen.

UMaine’s CenTRO Hosts Tourism EventHALLOWELL – UMaine’s Center for Tourism Research andOutreach (CenTRO) hosted the Maine Workforce Develop-ment Conference last month. Participants ranged from rep-resentatives from the tourism industry to educators, stateand municipal policymakers and people working in thebusiness of accommodating vacationers and visitors.

Options for educating and training tomorrow's tourismworkforce may be done through community colleges oruniversities, private contractors or professionaldevelopment certificate programs. The conference servedas a work session to determine how to implement thestrategies and ideas that stem from previous assessmentsand evaluations of current and future needs in the industry.

For additional information on the conference, visitwww.umaine.edu/centro.

UMFK "KinderKollege" Kits Distributed to Area SchoolsFORT KENT – UMFK recently delivered “KinderKollege”kits to elementary schools in the St. John Valley as part ofthe university’s College Community Project, an educationallife span-approach to college readiness.

UMFK elementary education students developedteaching/learning kits for grades Pre-K to 2 which are full ofclassroom resources and items that children will enjoy. Thekit includes college savings planning for parents of childrenwho are just starting school, as well as career and collegeawareness for the youngsters.

A kit was created for every elementary school in the St.John Valley, from Van Buren to Allagash. TheKinderKollege program is funded through a grant from theDavis Family Foundation.

UMaine Hosting a Variety of Summer CampsORONO – UMaine is offering a variety of summer daycamps, workshops, and special events geared towardengaging Maine's youngsters and introducing them to anexciting environment of creativity, innovation, inventionand adventure. Here are three designed to offer youngpeople a simplified introduction to innovation andengineering concepts:

Maine Summer Transportation Institute - introducesstudents to the jobs and careers available in Maine'stransportation industry, and exposes them to UMaineengineering education and university life.

Innovation Adventure Day Camp - is a week of creativityand invention combined with outdoors adventures,including canoeing, aclimbing wall and theMaineBoundchallenge course.

Computer AssistedDesign/AdventureCamp - encouragesparticipants to mixtheir interests incomputers and the outdoors with a week of creativity, newfriends and adventure.

A more complete list of other summer camps and eventsat the University of Maine is available atdll.umaine.edu/summer/camps.html

UMPI Commissions Wind TurbinePRESQUE ISLE – State and local dignitaries joined theUMPI community last month to celebrate the officialcommissioning of the campus's 600 kW wind turbine.

The University's wind turbine is expected to produceapproximately one million kilowatt-hours of electricity per

year and save theinstitution more than$100,000 annually inelectricity charges. It isexpected to save anestimated 572 tons ofcarbon dioxide from beingreleased into theatmosphere each year, orthe equivalent of removing123 cars from the road.

To view photos, videosand more details about theuniversity's windproject,visitwww.umpi.edu/wind.

June 2009

UMM Centennial History Book UnveiledMACHIAS – A new UMM book was unveiled duringUMM’s 98th Commencement. The University of Maine atMachias, 1909–2009: A History was written by Dr. RandallKindleberger, associate professor of history, tocommemorate the university’s Centennial celebration. Thebook takes a look back at what started with the WashingtonState Normal School and the 100-year transformation intopresent-day UMM.

The author noted that she tried to balance thecelebratory and the analytical and hopes that the book willappeal to readers interested in higher education andWashington County as well those associated with UMM.There are forty-plus photos in addition to the text.

Copies of the book are available for $10 at UMM’sMurdock Bookstore or by calling (207) 255-1210.

USM Student Wins Artificial Intelligence CompetitionPORTLAND – A USM computer science student fromAuburn won an artificial intelligence competition at theWorld Congress on Evolutionary Computation, held lastmonth in Trondheim, Norway.

Ryan Small of Auburn, an undergraduate computerscience major, entered a competition to test how well theartificial intelligence program he designed can be harnessedto play an interactive video game. Small introduced aprogram that plays the first-person shooter game, “UnrealTournament.” Small also delivered a research paper ondesigning artificial intelligence systems.

Artificial intelligence programs have practical real-worldapplications, ranging from military applications, to Marsexplorers and entertainment. The congress is consideredone of the largest such meetings of its kind, attractinghundreds of faculty, industry researchers, and students.

UMA Launches Military Achievement ProjectAUGUSTA – UMA recently debuted its MilitaryAchievement Project, a veterans outreach project. Theproject is funded by a $100,000 grant awarded earlier thisyear from the American Council on Education and Wal-Mart Foundation which funds to part time support staff forthe program.

More than 200 veterans are currently enrolled at UMA.As part of the festivities, UMA unveiled several services forstudent veterans including a dedicated student lounge, astudent veteran organization, online courses with priorityregistration for active duty military, and other services.For more information call 621-3157.

As part of UMPI’s recent windmill commissioning ceremony, eco-friendlypaper balloons were released at the base of the structure. Photo by Kathy McCarty/Star-Herald

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June 2009

Office of External Affairs • www.maine.edu • moreinfo@maine.edu

UMaine Receives NSF Grant for Ice Core Research ORONO – UMaine scientists received a $436,546 grantfrom the National Science Foundation to extend climaterecords back to three million years using ice samples fromthe Allan Hills Blue Ice Area in East Antarctica.

The project aims to reconstruct details of past climatechanges and greenhouse gas concentrations for certain timeperiods by applying emerging methods for absolute andrelative dating of air bubbles trapped in the ice. During twofield expeditions, researchers will collect ice core samplesand conduct surface trenching activities.

Students also will be trained in advanced field,laboratory and numerical modeling methods as part of theproject.

UMA Art Students Unveil “Christo-like” Exhibit AUGUSTA – UMA art students recently unveiled ProjectPathology, an inventive “Cristo-like” outdoor sculptureexhibit which will be on display in three Maine parks overthe course of the summer.

The name Project Pathology is derived from the fact thatthe sculpture exhibit places 50 large photographic worksalong an outdoor path. Each framed work features a colorphotograph and, on the other side the same photograph inblack and white.

The project will be on display through July 10 atAugusta’s Pine Tree State Arboretum, then at Moose PointState Park in Searsport from July 11 to August 8, andLamoine State Park in Ellsworth from August 10 toSeptember 7.

The project is funded by a grant by The Harry Faust ArtFund. For more information, go towww.ProjectPathology.com.

UMPI Young Professionals InstitutePRESQUE ISLE – UMPI and Momentum Aroostookrecently complete the second Young Professionals Institute(YPI) which provides the area’s young professionals with aone-of-a-kind leadership development opportunity.

During the eight-week program, the group of twelveyoung professionals learned through role-playing scenariosand hands-on activities how to write eye-catchingproposals, deliver successful oral presentations, use bestpractices in written communication, and get involved intheir communities.

Participants represented included MMG Insurance, TheAroostook Medical Center, Loring Job Corps Center, ACERent-A-Car, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, theCounty Federal Credit Union, and UMPI.

Plans are underway for a third YPI, set to take place inthe spring of 2010.

UMM Receives $900k Grant forBiomedical ResearchMACHIAS – UMM received a grant totaling more than$900,000 from the National Center for Research Resources,part of the National Institutes of Health.

The award is part of a five-year, $18.7 million dollarresearch grant to the Maine IDeA Network of BiomedicalResearch Excellence (INBRE). INBRE is a collaborativeresearch network of 12 Maine research laboratories,universities, and colleges led by the Mount Desert IslandBiological Laboratory in Bar Harbor.

The funds awarded to UMM will be used to provideresearch support, student summer internships, an intensivemolecular biology course for students at the MDI BiologicalLaboratory, student travel to professional meetings topresent research, equipment to support UMM faculty andstudent research, and access to core research facilities.

USM Hosts Symposium on Human Subject ResearchPORTLAND – USM’s Office of Research Compliance (ORC)recently sponsored the “Maine IRB (Institutional ReviewBoard) Symposium,” which attracted some 83 participantsfrom five states.

The often-difficult relationship between research reviewand academic freedom was debated in a panel, whichfeatured William Harrison, director of USM’s ORC, and Dr.Richard Shweder of the University of Chicago and theInstitute for Advanced Studies at Princeton. Shweder,considered an internationally recognized figure in culturalpsychology and academic freedom.

More information on the symposium, including video ofthe panel discussion, is available athttp://usm.maine.edu/orc/irb/2009IRBSymposiumHighlights.htm

UMS Task Force Draft Report Available forPublic Comment

BANGOR – In January, Chancellor Richard L. Pattenaudeannounced his appointment of a 12-person task force toexamine the structure and governance of Maine’s stateuniversity system.

The task force has created one of three reports that willhelp the System achieve the long-term quality, affordability,and financial sustainability as expressed in the Chancellor’s“New Challenges, New Directions: Achieving Long-TermFinancial Sustainability” report.

A draft report created by the task force is available at thefollowing website:www.maine.edu/UMSTaskForceDraftReport. Following apublic comment period it will be revised and submitted tothe Chancellor for consideration.