Science and Tech Archives - Page 7 of 8

Science and Tech

Environmental Science majors introduce 5th graders to nature

Most children would rather be outside than in a classroom anyway, so when a group of Environmental Science majors from St. Mary’s University treated students from Ingram Independent School District to a day of outdoor learning last March, they were all smiles.

In Search of a Cure

Ahmad Galaleldeen, Ph.D., was a doctoral student when his faculty mentor showed him a graphic of what appeared to be colorful abstract patterns. In fact, it was a brand new molecular diagram of an important enzyme, and Galaleldeen was among the first to see it.

Engineering printer in the School of Science, Engineering and Technology

A 3-D Revolution

The technology of 3-D printers has been common in the news, with their ability to make just about anything from dental prosthetics to acoustic guitars. But what you may not know is that St. Mary’s has had its own 3-D printer for years.

Game On: Graduate Computer Science Professor Puts the Fun Back in Learning

For Carol Luckhardt Redfield, Ph.D., teaching isn’t a one-way process. She believes that effective teaching — and learning — requires students to be engaged in the effort. Considering how much of her time and teaching centers on game development, that makes sense.

Alumna Unearths an Ancient Warrior Queen

Olivia Navarro-Farr, Ph.D. (B.A. ’98), and a team of archaeologists made a career-defining discovery in the summer of 2012: In a collapsed chamber in Guatemala was the tome of Lady K’abel, a powerful Maya queen who ruled the ancient city of El Perú-Waka’ with her husband more than 1,300 years ago.

Amber McClung, Ph.D., who teaches Mechanical Engineering, poses with equipment in her lab.

Engineering a Better World

Among her areas of study, Amber McClung, Ph.D., lists creating models for high-temperature polymer-matrix composites. Stay with me here.

Professor Asks, “Why Do Mammals Have Big Brains?”

Scientists have wondered for decades why mammals’ brains are so large relative to their body size, but for the most part all they could do was guess. The fossils that could give paleontologists clues to the earliest development of the mammalian brain are hard to come by.

The Secret to Their Success

For almost 30 years, a federally funded program with a long name and lofty goals has been quietly helping talented St. Mary’s University students find their purpose in research careers toward which they might not otherwise have gravitated.

From the Ground Up

You could say that watching grass grow is as exciting as, well, watching grass grow. But for Zack Valdez (B.S.’10), it is not only stimulating work but also the focus of his high-profile research fellowship from the National Science Foundation.

Form Meets Function

Biological sciences professor Marshall McCue, Ph.D., wants to learn not just how living things work, but why they work the way they do. Why can a snake survive without food for up to one year whereas some birds can only tolerate one day of fasting? What happens when bats sleep?

Pursuing Her Passion

Ewa Nowara, a junior Biophysics major and a citizen of Poland, had wanted very much to perform undergraduate research at St. Mary’s. However, because most undergraduate research is funded by federal agencies whose primary mission is to aid American students, professors are often bound by strict hiring criteria that exclude international students.

Topic: Science and Tech

Alumnus, student share value of actuarial studies