ANNOUNCEMENT


Date:   March 22, 2011

To:     All UF Graduate Students

From:   UF Innovation through Institution Integration (I-Cubed) Program

RE:     March 29: UF I-Cubed Interdisciplinary Research Panel Discussion


Innovation through Institutional Integration (I-Cubed) Program presents:

Interdisciplinary Research Panel Discussion

When: Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Time: 4 p.m.
Place: 287 Reitz Union

Moderated by Dr. Sandra Russo, Co-PI of I-Cubed Program, and featured by Drs. Stephen Perz,  Norman Fitz-Coy, Treavor Boyer, and Jamie Gillooly, this interdisciplinary panel discussion will provide students with expert advice on best practices of conducting interdisciplinary research projects and challenges researchers/scientists from different disciplines face when working in collaborative teams.

Expert panelists:

Dr. Stephen Perz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He is also a Faculty Affiliate of the Center for Latin American Studies and the School of Natural Resources and Environment. He received his PhD in sociology specializing in demography from the University of Texas at Austin. His recent research and outreach activities focus on the social and ecological impacts of roads in the southwestern Amazon in the tri-national frontier where Bolivia, Brazil and Peru meet. Dr. Perz has e He led collaborative international grants funded by the National Science Foundation and the US Agency for International Development.

Dr. Norman Fitz-Coy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering, where he leads the Space Systems Group. He is also the founder and Director of the NSF I/IUCRC Advanced Space Technologies research and Engineering Center focused on transforming the culture of space. He received his PhD in aerospace engineering from Auburn University. His research interests are in the areas of space robotics and autonomous satellite capture, multi-objective optimization using differential game theory, and modeling and simulation of multi-body dynamical systems. Dr. Fitz-Coy has been an Integrated Product and Process Design (IPPD) coach of aerospace companies. He received the Bisplinhoff Award in recognition for his teaching and service to undergraduate education. Dr. Fitz-Coy is also a senior member of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the American Astronautical Society (AAS).

Dr. Treavor Boyer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, College of Engineering. He joined UF in August 2008 after receiving his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Boyer's research program includes fundamental and applied research related to water treatment. A long term goal of his research program is to address water problems relevant to Florida and beyond. Areas of interest include understanding the impact of natural organic matter on physical, chemical, and biological processes, and applying the principles of ion exchange to natural and engineered systems.

Dr. Jamie Gillooly is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He received his PhD in zoology from the University of Wisconsin. His research is aimed at moving us toward a more synthetic understanding of biology, and greater predictive power for addressing problems faced by society at large. Using the process of metabolism, his work helps establish quantitative and conceptual linkages across levels of biological organization, from the structure and function of cells to the structure and function of individuals, populations, communities and ecosystems. In doing so, Dr. Gillooly's work helps link disparate disciplines in biology, from genetics to physiology, ecology and evolution. 

The panel discussion is open to all graduate students. We encourage students from STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and SBE (social, behavioral, economics) fields to attend this panel.

At the end of the panel, the I-Cubed Program will officially release a new funding opportunity for graduate students to conduct interdisciplinary research projects. The funding level for each project will be up to $2,500.

The Innovation through Institutional Integration (I-Cubed) program at the University of Florida is a five-year project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to foster integration of all NSF-funded student-based research and training programs in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), including SBE (Social, Behavioral and Economics), disciplines at the University of Florida. The goal of the Program is to further the preparation of students to have a true competitive edge through an extended concentration on professionally-oriented training programs designed to enhance careers.

Innovation Through Institutional Integration (I-Cubed)
170 HUB, P.O.Box 113225
Tel. 352-273-1531
Fax: 352-392-5575
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http://i3.institutes.ufl.edu/