Penley Panel

This month’s issue focuses on the power of partnerships.

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New CSU start-up 'takes sides' to detect cancer cells

The founding members of KromaTiD Inc. conquer the last frontier in chromosome research.

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CSU, Governor's Energy Office tackle greenhouse gases

University scientists work to develop a greenhouse-gas emissions mitigation program for the state's agricultural industry.

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Water Institute receives funding to serve Colorado residents

Legislation will help the state more effectively address water management.

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CSU first to conduct bioterrorism-agent research

Colorado State’s new facility is the first biocontainment laboratory in the United States to receive "select agent" approval.

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CSU, Institute for Liberty and Democracy challenge global poverty

International partners sign a historic agreement to improve the lives of people in the developing world.

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CSU's human-powered vehicle takes first

Colorado State engineering students win national award for "super bike."

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Mining for opinions

Students document views about proposed uranium mine in Northern Colorado
Colorado State University students conducted a survey this spring to solicit citizen opinion about a uranium mining operation proposed in Northern Colorado, between Nunn and Wellington. The mail survey focused on the perceived potential risks and benefits associated with the proposed mining operation and public perception of the media as an effective source of information. Respondents reported that the highest-rated potential benefits from the proposed mining operation were the support of national energy independence and the reduction of carbon emissions through nuclear energy. The most important risks identified were threats to home values, potential costs of future clean-up, and water contamination. Respondents were less concerned about threats to existing businesses, industrial overdevelopment, rail and truck accidents, and wind-borne materials, according to the survey results.

Proposed mining operation

Source: Study conducted by students in CSU’s Journalism and Technical Communication course, Communication and Evaluation Research Methods, taught by Professor Craig Trumbo. Primary communities included in the study were Wellington, Carr, Nunn, Ault, and Pierce. Margin of error is about 7 percent.

Radar love

"Some of the most exciting developments in radar took place over the last decade, and we played a role."

—V.N. Bringi, Colorado State University professor of electrical engineering, about the new antenna technology installed in Greeley, Colo., which will be used for the first time on a weather radar anywhere in the world, helping scientists better detect major storms and precipitation

Bioterroism agents

"There are ... things that have just been discovered in the past 10 years ... We're poised to jump in."

—Dr. Robert Ellis, Colorado State University biosafety officer and microbiology professor, about the University's designation as the first infectious disease biocontainment laboratory in the United States to receive approval to study highly regulated bioterrorism agents

Water world

"There are too many questions that need unbiased scientific research."

—Reagan Waskom, director of the CSU-based Colorado Water Institute, about helping the state more effectively address water management issues through the institute, which recently received funding to continue scientific research and policy analysis

Rough weather

Colorado State recently put the technical touch — a new antenna — on one of the nation's most advanced polarimetric weather radars to better detect major storms and precipitation, marking the first time this antenna technology is used on a weather radar anywhere in the world. The radar, located in Greeley, Colo., and known as CSU-CHILL (the name "CHILL" derived in 1970 from the combination of the two proposing institutions, the University of Chicago and Illinois State Water Survey) has the capability of seeing a single hail stone in the atmosphere more than 10 miles away. The CSU-CHILL National Weather Radar Facility, which moved to CSU in 1990, is an advanced, transportable, dual-polarized S-band weather radar, supported by the National Science Foundation and the state of Colorado. Dual polarization technology will be adopted as the new National Weather Service standard next year and deployed on the nation's 150 WSR-88D radars, used to warn the public about developing severe weather. CSU-CHILL provided unprecedented data on the July 1997 Spring Creek Flood in Fort Collins, recording a more accurate rain amount by nearly 5 inches than what the National Weather Service radars measured during the storm.

Shortgrass station

Grassland ecology grew recently with the expansion of a field station that borders thousands of acres in rural Weld County. Colorado State University completed the first phase of its expansion of the Shortgrass Steppe Field Station, a National Science Foundation Long Term Ecological Research Station site for 25 years. There, scientists and students from CSU, the University of Northern Colorado, and the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service conduct internationally recognized research on such topics as grazing management, plague, and prairie dogs. Students and scientists from around the world have conducted their research at the site located north of Nunn, Colo., about halfway between Greeley and Cheyenne. Currently, three Danish scientists are at the station studying the swift fox. The United States' 26 Long Term Ecological Research Stations support more than 1,800 scientists and students investigating ecological processes.

Open sesame

A student team from Colorado State's electrical engineering program is working to help people with disabilities open doors using a wireless connection. The team designed and built a low-cost, wireless electronic system capable of interfacing with the automatic push-button, handicapped-accessible doors currently in use. The CSU-designed unit, in which one part attaches to a wheelchair and another part is installed on the door, detects when a user decelerates toward a door and then sends an "open" signal to the component on the door-opening mechanism. This system allows wheelchair users with limited or no hand movement to get through doors and also circumvents problems with malfunctioning and poorly placed push buttons. The entire system was designed in two semesters for less than $200, resulting in a working prototype currently installed and being tested on the CSU campus.