MELBOURNE, FLA.—The Beach Gardeners of Melbourne Beach donated $500 to Florida Tech’s Keuper Statue Fund. The life-size bronze statue will honor Florida Tech visionary founder Jerome P. Keuper as part of 50th anniversary celebrations. The university will be 50 years old in September 2008. 

“We think that to remember Jerry Keuper is the right thing to do. Jerry was a fixture in Melbourne Beach and was a frequent guest at our club meetings,” said Julie Watson, club member. 

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to honor Dr. Keuper for his vision in education and horticulture and for his many contributions,” added member Kathryn Merry. Keuper died in 2002. 

Gifts to the Keuper Statue Fund may be made online at https://www.merchantamerica.com/fit/echopay. 

The 47-year-old gardening club has about 90 members and meets on third Tuesdays, October through May, at the Melbourne Beach Community Center. The club offers speakers, projects, trips and more to help members learn about landscaping and maintaining plants that can grow in a beach environment. 

For more information about the club, call (321) 729-9563. 

PHOTO: From left, Keuper statue committee members Melanie Keuper, Gene Fetner, Denton Clark and Joe Brett accept a check from Julie Watson of the Beach Gardeners of Melbourne Beach. Watson is past president of the club (1999-2001).

MELBOURNE, FLA.—The Florida Tech research team of Edward Kalajian, Ph.D., and Paul Cosentino, Ph.D., received a $150,000, 18-month research contract from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). These faculty members, with graduate student assistance, will develop methods to identify soil types where contractors may encounter problems installing large-diameter concrete pilings. 

Many FDOT contractors encounter rebounds of up to one-inch per hammer impact after driving pilings in soils that did not display any unusual geotechnical properties. Larger diameter pilings are used to resist vertical and lateral forces from traffic as well as winds and waves. The researchers will develop and evaluate solutions for contractors installing piling in these soils. 

Kalajian and Cosentino have worked together on nearly $3 million in funded research in a variety of transportation areas. This project is expected to yield significant cost reduction for the State of Florida due to time savings during construction, according to Cosentino.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—The Florida Institute of Technology student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) concrete canoe team has qualified for the 21st Annual 2008 National Concrete Canoe Competition. It will be held at Ècole de Technologie Supèrieure in Montreal, Canada, June 19-21. 

The 2008 team designed the blue and red Double Take. Team Captain Joseph Morrissey, who will graduate in December, led the group to a second-place finish in the Southeast, behind the University of Florida. Other team members include seniors Yerniree Chin Fong, Jaime Hogan and Jeremy Crowe, juniors Joanna Dip and Kelsey McGinnis (Satellite High School graduate), sophomore Troy Dudich and freshman Mike Matern. 

Noted below is how other Florida Tech teams fared in competitions at the ASCE southeast regional student conference held in Orlando.
The steel bridge won first place in the aesthetics category; the student design paper finished second by just 0.33 out of 100 points (90.33 vs. 90.00); the presentation team finished second; the canoe “judged as a product” took second place; and the seven paddlers finished second in each of the five races. 

In the 21 years of the ASCE’s national competition, Florida Tech is the only private university to win first in the nation (1997), place in the top five (third in 2000, fourth in 1998) and host the event (1999). Also unusual for the Florida Tech team is that it includes freshman and sophomores. 

Florida Tech offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in civil engineering.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—On May 22 at 1 p.m., Florida Institute of Technology and University Alliance leaders will gather in the Hartley Room of the University’s Denius Student Center to celebrate an important milestone in their partnership: the successful launch of 15 new undergraduate and graduate online degree programs since March 3, 2008. Hundreds of new students are now enrolled in Florida Tech University Online’s associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degree programs, affording them the opportunity to attend one of America’s premier universities from anywhere in the world. 

“With the launch of Florida Tech University Online, we’re able to deliver a world class university experience with courses taught by internationally recognized faculty to students across the globe,” said Dr. Anthony J. Catanese, Florida Tech president. “We’re excited about providing the next generation of leaders in business, engineering, and technology with a Florida Tech education they can fit around their busy schedules.”
Through enhanced Internet technology, Florida Tech students experience the same education online previously available exclusively to on-campus students. All courses are taught by Florida Tech faculty and include such dynamic features as online chat rooms, professor-led streaming video, message boards, e-mail and downloadable MP3 lectures. Services are available around the clock. 

Florida Tech partnered with University Alliance, a division of Bisk Education, to provide the technology and a host of student services for Florida Tech University Online. From answering questions about financial aid to offering technical support, University Alliance extends a broad range of benefits to maximize the learning experience. 

“We’re proud to offer a comprehensive array of undergraduate and graduate degree programs from a nationally ranked university widely recognized for its emphasis on academics and research, specifically in the fields of business, engineering and technology,” said Nathan M. Bisk, founder and chairman of Bisk Education. The company is a worldwide leader in exclusive online education programs developed with top ranked, regionally accredited universities. 

Students can choose from the following programs:
• AA Liberal Arts
• AA Business Administration
• BA Criminal Justice
• BA Accounting
• BA Business Administration/Management
• BA Business Administration/Marketing
• BA Business Administration/Accounting
• BA Business Administration/Computer Information Systems
• BA Business Administration/Health Care Management
• BS Computer Information Systems
• MS Information Technology
• MBA/Management
• MBA/Marketing
• MBA/Accounting & Finance
• MBA/Healthcare Management
Also, a minor in human resources administration is available with any bachelor’s degree. 

For more information about Florida Tech University Online, contact Michelle Bauer at University Alliance, (727) 510-2524 or michelle-bauer@bisk.com, or Mary Bonhomme at Florida Tech at (321) 674-8202 or jshankle@fit.edu. Visit the web site at www.floridatechonline.com.

About Florida Tech
Florida Tech continues to be ranked a best national university by U.S. News & World Report. It’s rated by the Fiske Guide to Colleges and named a best buy in Barron’s Best Buys in College Education. Among its more than 50,000 alumni are several astronauts, many
CEOs of major corporations, and nearly two dozen generals including two four-star generals, four three-star generals, nine two-star major generals and three one-star brigadier generals. For more information, visit www.floridatechonline.com

About University Alliance Online
The University Alliance (UA) facilitates the promotion and online delivery of degree and professional certificate programs from the nation’s leading traditional universities and institutions. Powered by UA’s technology and support services, our university partners have surpassed 300,000 online enrollments – making UA the largest facilitator of e-learning in the country. University Alliance partners include Villanova University, the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business, Thunderbird School of Global Management, the University of San Francisco, the University of South Florida, Florida Institute of Technology, The University of Scranton, Dominican University and Jacksonville University.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Eric Perlman, Ph.D., Florida Tech associate professor of physics and space sciences, has earned a $162,000 NASA grant to study the jets of two quasars using observations in polarized light. 

A quasar is an extremely bright and distant active galactic nucleus. Quasar jets are nature’s greatest particle accelerators and the dominant source for the highest-energy cosmic rays detected on Earth. 

The project, which will access the Hubble Space Telescope, was funded so more may be learned about the structure of these jets. “There is much unknown about how their highest energy emissions are generated and about the basic physics of the jets themselves,” said Perlman.
The jets, which are ejected from the region around the black hole at nearly the speed of light, are a common part of black hole systems. These include the super-massive variety as found in galactic nuclei, and the stellar-mass variety. 

Before coming to Florida Tech in January 2007, Perlman was on the physics and space sciences faculty at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and a visiting scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Astrophysical Sciences. He earned a doctoral degree at the University of Colorado.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—The Harris Institute for Assured Information at Florida Tech and the Space Coast Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) present a free monthly lecture series on security trends and topics. The series is open to the public. 

The first lecture is “Security Certifications: Which Ones to Have and How to Keep Them.” It’s scheduled for May 15 at 6:30 p.m. in the Olin College of Science Building second floor conference room. The speaker will be Ronda Henning, senior scientist at Harris Corp. 

This presentation will cover the landscape of security certifications and qualifications. Considering the large variety of certifications in the marketplace security professionals often question which ones are career enhancing. Obtaining certification, maintaining currency and continuing education critieria are important issues.

Henning is responsible for information assurance technology at Harris Corp. With Harris for 20 years, she is a Certified Information System Security Professional and a Certified Information Security Manager. Henning holds additional specialized certifications in security architectures, process improvement, security assessment and governance. 

A chapter organizational meeting will proceed this presentation, including officer elections. 

The Harris Institute for Assured Information at Florida Tech provides a forum for local security practitioners to share technical information and innovation.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—A paper presentation by Florida Institute of Technology student Jennifer Helsby earned first place at the Florida Academy of Sciences 72nd Annual Meeting in Jacksonville. The senior won the academy’s “Outstanding Undergraduate Student Paper Award” in physics and space science. 

Recently, Helsby also received the Distinguished Student Scholar Award at the university’s Honors Convocation. Her faculty adviser was Marcus Hohlmann, associate professor of the Department of Physics and Space Science. 

The research on which Helsby’s paper was based was funded by the Department of Homeland Security under a grant obtained by Hohlmann. The ongoing project is a study of the feasibility of using high energy particles from space to detect nuclear materials in shipping containers. This works by observing how the paths of the particles are deflected as they move through the container. 

At Florida Tech, undergraduates and graduate students take part in research activities that support local, state and national agencies. The university is listed among America's best colleges in U.S. News & World Report, is among the top Southeastern colleges according to Princeton Review Rating and was rated a top private university in Florida by the Washington Monthly College Ranking. More information is available at www.fit.edu.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Florida Institute of Technology will break ground for the 27,000-square-foot Harris Center for Science and Engineering on May 20 at 11 a.m. The public is welcome to attend the event, which will be just south of the fountain on the south campus near the F.W. Olin Physical Sciences Building. 

Among those officiating at the groundbreaking will be Florida Tech President Anthony J. Catanese; Harris Corporation Chairman, President and CEO Howard L. Lance; and President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Brevard Gary F. Lang. 

Funding of $5 million for the center from the Harris Corporation Charitable Fund, held by the Community Foundation of Brevard (CFB), was announced in January. The university’s already substantial reputation in information assurance served as a catalyst for the gift. 

The three-story building was designed by the Harper Aiken Donahue & Partners Architecture Inc. 

The third floor of the building will house the Harris Institute for Assured Information, which includes office space, computer laboratories and a multi-use media presentation area. The second floor will be divided between computer science and biology laboratories, and offices. The first floor contains offices, classrooms and laboratories for marine biology and aquaculture programs of the Department of Biological Sciences.

The new building further strengthens the partnership between Florida Tech and Harris Corp., which dates to the university’s founding 50 years ago. Both the company and the university have a proven track record in the security space and the expertise for a successful collaboration. 

Florida Tech’s existing Information Assurance Center in the College of Engineering is under the leadership of Richard Ford, as will be the new center. The current center is already recognized for its work and numerous government and national foundation contracts. 

Harris Corporation is one of the largest companies focused strictly on assured communications and information technology.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—The Florida Tech Women’s Business Center (WBC) presents the free seminar, Disaster Preparedness, on May 28, from 1 to 4 p.m. 

Small Business Administration, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Brevard County speakers will make presentations. These representatives will answer such questions as: What if the worst happened?, How would it affect my business and my family?, Would we survive if the business were closed down for weeks, months or, perhaps, the entire revenue season?, What can I do to make sure we survive? And What kind of documentation will the IRS accept if all my valuable records have been destroyed? 

The seminar will be held on campus in the Hartley Room, second floor of the Denius Student Center. 

The WBC offers well-equipped facilities conveniently located at Florida Tech; providing teachers, mentors and volunteers with expertise and business knowledge; partnering with community organizations for broad outreach, and making available training and resources that are onsite and online to accommodate busy schedules and offer easy access. 

For more information, contact the Women’s Business Center at (321) 674-7007.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—The Sebastian Inlet Sportfishing Association (SISA) has awarded $1,000 SISA Continental Shelf Fisheries and Oceanography Graduate Fellowships to Florida Tech students Nancy Sloan and Kyle Brown. Selection was based on a one-page essay and academic record. 

Sloan, who earned a master’s degree in environmental science from the university, is currently working on her doctoral degree in that field. Brown is pursuing a master’s degree in oceanography, focusing on coastal zone management. 

The students’ research pertains to areas that impact sportfishing in Sebastian Inlet. These areas may include aspects of water quality, weather forecasting, artificial reefs and fisheries management. 

The new fellowship was created by a collaboration among SISA, George Maul, Ph.D., head of Florida Tech’s Department of Marine and Environmental Systems; Nikki Hoier, associate director, Professional Development Programs; and the Office of Development.

The SISA is one of the oldest clubs of its kind on the Central East Florida coast and has supported Florida Tech marine research projects for more than 10 years. 

Florida Tech’s Department of Marine and Environmental Systems (DMES) offers bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in Environmental Science, Earth Remote Sensing, Meteorology, Ocean Engineering, and Oceanography. DMES faculty are very active in research, annually spending about $1,000,000 from contracts and grants. About half of this goes to support the education of graduate students.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Florida Tech will host the Second Annual Capstone Classic Golf Tournament on Friday, June 13, beginning with a 1 p.m. shotgun start at the Turtle Creek Golf Club in Rockledge. The tournament is a College of Engineering fundraiser to support scholarships and student design projects. 

Registration and lunch begin at 11:30 a.m. An awards dinner takes place at 5 p.m. and a wet wedge-y contest, which is $10, is ongoing throughout the day. In this event, players try to hit a wedge shot 80 yards into a plastic pool in a water hazard. 

The entry fee is $110 each or $400 for a foursome. The fee includes the green fee, cart fee, player gift packages, lunch, dinner and awards. The awards will include plaques, prizes and trophies. 

Several sponsorship opportunities are available, ranging from a $200 hole sponsorship to an $8,000 presenting sponsor donation, with five other sponsorship levels in between. Sponsorships offer publicity and other opportunities to the donor. All sponsors will be assigned a table at different holes where they can promote their company and products while giving away free prizes, drinks and cigars to all golfers. 

Each year, Florida Tech engineering students join in teams to design and construct a student design project to fulfill a bachelor’s degree graduate requirement. The 2008 projects include a hydrogen plane, unmanned automated plane, rocket engine test stand and racing electric car. 

For more information, call Florida Tech’s Office of Development at (321) 674-6220.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Florida Tech’s master’s degree program in Engineering Management ranked 11th in the country for 2005-2006 in terms of number of degrees awarded, according to the American Society of Engineering Education. 

This is ahead of similar programs offered by MIT and Dartmouth. Florida Tech graduated 55, versus 43 by MIT and 37 by Dartmouth.
Program Head Muzaffar Shaikh, Ph.D., estimates the number of degrees awarded will be even higher in 2007-2008. Thirteen will take home the degree from Florida Tech this May and another 60 are set to earn it by the end of summer. 

In recent years engineering management (EM) programs have grown significantly. At Florida Tech, nearly 70 percent of engineering management students are employees from the local high-tech industry, though recently, a great many international students have started the program. Florida Tech’s EM curriculum focuses on teaching engineers and scientists practical cost-reduction and defect-prevention tools and techniques without sacrificing technical product performance. 

For more information on the EM program, contact Shaikh at (321) 674-7345 or send him e-mail at mshaikh@fit.edu.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Members of the Eau Gallie Rotary Club, including Mary Bonhomme, Florida Tech associate provost for online learning, provided a $2,000 gift to Florida Institute of Technology’s International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) to fund four $500 scholarships for international students. The recipients are Thilina Fernando of Sri Lanka, Jing Zhu of China, Siti Jones of Trinidad and Mihir Rajurkar of India.
Called the “International Student Rotary Awards,” the funding is for international students who provided outstanding voluntary service to ISSS programs this academic year. Activities included the International Friendship Program, International Festival and International Diplomat Program. Among the award criteria were at least 30 hours of outstanding voluntary services, a grade point average of 3.0 or above and completion of 12 credit hours. 

The award was made in an on-campus ceremony in late April. 

The Florida Tech Office of International Student and Scholar Services provides support to international students and scholars to help them achieve their educational goals and objectives. The office seeks to create an environment conducive to intercultural learning and exchange through a variety of programs and activities.

From left: Thilina Fernando; Jing Zhu; Randy Alford, associate provost for graduate and international programs; Mary Bonhomme, associate provost for online learning; Siti Jones; Mihir Rajurkar; and Gary Hamme, vice provost for enrollment management.

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Andrea Cross, a Florida Tech senior majoring in marine biology, has earned a prestigious Summer Research Fellowship from the American Microscopical Society. The award will support her work in the laboratory of Michael Grace, Ph.D, Florida Tech associate professor of biological sciences. 

Cross will use confocal laser scanning microscopy and transmission electron microscopy to study the development of photoreceptor arrays in the retina of the endangered African Spurred Tortoise. A photoreceptor array is the collection of light-gathering cells of the eye.
The society made just two such national awards; the other was for graduate summer research. As part of the award Cross and Grace were invited to present their research findings at the next conference of the American Microscopical Society. 

Additionally, Cross just won the Brooks Award for the best presentation at the regional conference of Tri-Beta, the biological honor society, and Florida Tech’s Dr. Kerry Bruce Clark Endowed Scholarship in Marine Biology. She is secretary of the campus chapter of Tri-Beta and past officer of the Aquaculture Society and Best Buddies, a service organization helping persons with disabilities. Planning to graduate in December, 2008, she is from St. Louis, Mo. 

The American Microscopical Society is an international society of biologists organized to encourage the use of microscopy. 

Florida Tech offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in marine biology.