The Wrap-Up: December/January
Authors, Accolades, and Achievements
Research by Katia Del Rio-Tsonis, professor of Biology, is highlighted in the National Eye Institute Research News feature (Jan. 24) “Small creatures teach big lessons: Animal models provide critical clues in vision research.” Del Rio-Tsonis has been researching a way to be able to watch lens regeneration happening in real time in a living newt and discover just how the eye organizes the replacement of this complex tissue. Her research group, in collaboration with Hui Wang, associate professor of Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering, has found a way to use optical coherence tomography (OCT) to visualize newt lens regeneration in 3-D, shown in the video above. OCT is a type of imaging often used in humans to diagnose disease – it can scan and reveal parts of the eye at high resolution non-invasively, showing structures like the iris, lens, and the retina.
Jan Taylor, senior lecturer of Marketing and director of the Farmer School of Business’s honors and scholars program, has been named one of Poets&Quants for Undergrads' Top 50 undergraduate business professors.
Vaishali Raval, professor of Psychology, received the Excellence in Internationalization Award 2023 from Christ University, India. The award, presented at the International Conference on Counselling, Psychotherapy and Wellness, recognized Raval for her exemplary leadership in driving internationalization between Christ University and Miami.
Leland Spencer, professor and chair of Interdisciplinary and Communication Studies, is listed in Scholarly productivity in communication studies: A five year review (2017-2021) as one of the most productive scholars in his field, in the top 1% of people who have published articles in communication.
Jeff Kuznekoff, associate professor of Interdisciplinary and Communication Studies, received the 2022 Distinguished Article Award for “Mobile Phones in the Classroom: Examining the Effects of Texting, Twitter, and Message Content on Student Learning.” The article is one of the most read and cited in the field's top journal in instructional communication, Communication Education. The journal is affiliated with the National Communication Association, and according to Google Scholar has been cited more than 250 times.
Janet Hurn, Senior Director, Miami Regionals E-Campus, was featured on the podcast 'For the Love of EdTech' Jan. 19 episode E-Learning at the College Level with Janet Hurn.
The Department of Theatre production of “Rossum’s Universal Robots (R.U.R.: A Radio Play)” directed by Lewis Magruder, associate professor of Theatre, received nine Distinguished Achievement Awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) National Awards Committee. The radio play streamed on YouTube Oct. 15-29, 2021.
Jeff Kruth, assistant professor of Architecture + Interior Design, co-edited the book “Urban Histories in Practice: Morphologies and Memory,” (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, November 2022). It is part of the series “The Arts, Design and Culture in Cities.”
Cristina Alcalde, vice president for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion and professor of Global and Intercultural Studies, published a book in Peru (in Spanish), Familia, exclusión y racismo de la peruanidad: la tía Eliana. The book, which is about racism, xenophobia, and national identity, was reviewed by the top press in Peru (also in Spanish): https://puntoedu.pucp.edu.pe/investigacion-y-publicaciones/publicaciones/familia-exclusion-y-racismo-de-la-peruanidad-la-tia-eliana/
The College of Computing and Engineering is now a partner in the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN). KEEN is a network of colleges and universities that aims to train engineers to have an entrepreneurial mindset so that when they graduate, they can create personal, economic, and societal value through a lifetime of meaningful work.
Siok Lian Tan, associate professor of Music, received the 2023 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) American Music Teacher Article of the Year Award for her article “Listening With Your Brain: An Aural-Cognitive Approach to Teaching Musical Understanding and Artistry.”
Pepper Stetler, associate professor of Art, received an Arts Writers grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for her article, “Bringing the Outside In: The Creative Growth Art Center.” The Andy Warhol Foundation’s goal is to support a wide range of artistic expression in America and does so by providing grants for writers’ work.
Five first-year Architecture graduate students participated in the Architecture Traveling Studio program that unites first-year graduate students with alumni.
Sport Leadership and Management (SLAM) students, under the supervision of Bo Li, SLAM assistant professor, recently competed at the National Collegiate Sports Sales Competition. Mac Bauer and Sen Nguyan finished in first and fourth places, respectively, in the corporate partnership sales competition. Tyler Einwecher finished in second place in the ticket sales competition.
Cricket Meehan, director, and Debora Robison, project administrator, of the Center for School-Based Mental Health Programs in the department of Psychology, and Kristy Brann, assistant professor of Educational Psychology, received $1,280,343 from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, pass-through funds from the Department of Health and Human Services, of which $1,173,343 is awarded for the project "Ohio's Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness And Resiliency in Education)." The remaining $107,000 of this award is designated to the project entitled “Evaluation of Ohio's Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness And Resiliency in Education).”
David Riggs, director and business advisor of the OHIO SBDC at Miami Regionals, received $473,447 from the Ohio Development Services Agency, pass through funds from the Small Business Administration, for a project entitled “Butler County SBDC at Miami".
David Riggs, director and business advisor of the OHIO SBDC at Miami Regionals, received $75,000 from the Ohio Development Services Agency for a project entitled “Butler County SBDC at Miami".
Andrew Paluch, associate professor of Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering, received $70,000 from the American Chemical Society for the project entitled "A Molecular Understanding of Azeotrope Formation and Breaking."
Five Miami faculty members — Qihou Zhou, David Hartup, Fazeel Khan, Mert Bal, and Reza Abrishambaf — received $308,750 from the Ohio Department of Higher Education for the project entitled "College-Post-Secondary Workforce Development for the Smart Manufacturing, Healthcare, and Cybersecurity Industries in Southwest Ohio."
Elizabeth Wardle, director of the Howe Center for Writing Excellence and the Roger and Joyce Howe Distinguished Professor of Written Communication, received $38,244 from the Ohio State University, with pass-through funds from the Lumina Foundation and the Ohio Department of Higher Education, for the project entitled "Ohio College Teaching Consortium."
Mark Sidebottom, assistant professor of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, received $43,000 from Bullen Ultrasonics, Inc. for the project entitled "Evaluation of Alternative Methods to Improve Machining of Brittle Materials."
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