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Harpur
Professor's Small Pump Has Big Potential
A low power, electrically driven pumping device
developed by a Harpur College professor and his team of undergraduates,
graduate students, and a post-doctoral researcher could significantly
enhance the quality of life for diabetics around the world in
the next three to four years.
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Zhong
hopes his pumpless pump will have many applications.
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CJ Zhong, assistant professor of Chemistry, is
leading the effort on a low power, electrically driven pumping
device that will be able to perform microfluidic analysis and
potentially remain in the body, constantly measuring the need
for insulin, and deliver precise amounts.
Zhong has dubbed it a "pumpless
pump" because it lacks mechanical parts. A wire sends an
electrical voltage to two immiscible fluids in a tiny column,
which could be as small as the diameter of a hair. Applying
opposite charges to each side of the column causes the fluids
to oscillate, thereby simulating the action of a pump.
The pumping device will be the
size of a computer chip, perhaps as small as an adult's fingernail.
It is made of a detector, column filled with moving liquid,
and an injector.
Here is how Zhong's "pumpless
pump" can potentially help a diabetic: the detector, a
tiny electrical wire, measures the body's insulin level. It
responds by electrically charging the fluid in the column to
make it move. The motion in the column triggers the injector
to supply the patient with more insulin from an external source.
The detector works constantly, eliminating the patient's need
for regular blood tests. Because less time has passed between
injections, insulin levels do not soar and surge as dramatically.
This tiny system works like a
thermostat: it takes a small sample, analyzes it, and tells
other components how to act in response.
Zhong's pumping device will be
so small that doctors can insert it into the body, eliminating
the need for round-the-clock tests and injections. It will be
wireless, so the patient can wear a small battery pack to power
it.
He stresses that this is
not an "artificial pancreas," but one part of a system
that could someday be just that.
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Working on Zhong's team is part of a senior
honors project for Laura Moussa `03.
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Diabetics are not the only ones
who will benefit from this tiny pumping device. Every small,
closed environment can benefit from tiny equipment that requires
little fuel and produces no waste.
"For example, there's the
space shuttle," says Zhong, "If you want to analyze
the water quality, you can take as little a sample as possible.
If it's a long duration, the supply is going to run out and
the astronauts have to make sure the water is drinkable."
He says the pumping device can
also work via remote control, working where human hands can
not -- or should not reach. "One of the labs we're working
with on this project is interested in dealing with metal contaminants
from nuclear waste," said Zhong. "Their current technology
is to go in the field, take samples of contaminated soil, and
analyze them back in the lab. What we want to do is make remote
controllable portable chip devices that sit in the field."
Making lab machinery smaller and
more efficient is one of Zhong's chief goals. He cites the computer
as an example of something that has evolved from large and slow
to small and fast. "Look at the computer," he says,
"Twenty years ago, it was huge. Now it's tiny." He
hopes to create what he calls a "lab on a chip," by
shrinking down all of the machinery in a chemistry lab to the
size of computer chips.
Smaller equipment uses fewer resources
and creates less waste because less fuel is necessary. (Consider
the difference between a Mack Truck and a Volkswagen.) "Large
equipment typically generates waste, said Zhong, "but if
you use a miniature instrument, there's almost no waste."
For instance, because his new pump is so small, it runs only
on an electrical current supplied by a tiny battery. A conventional
pump could require the power of a generator, which needs gasoline
and emits toxic fumes as a byproduct.
His pumpless pump's advantage
is its design. "Mechanical parts need maintenance and repair,"
explained Zhong. "This is basically a fluid pumping mechanism,"
in other words, an electrical current is creating a pumping
motion by moving fluid through a channel. No need for lubrication,
repairs, or spare parts. This system is practically weightless,
especially compared to a conventional pump.
Right now, Zhong's invention is
still in the prototype state, but this "pumpless pump"
that is weightless, maintenance-free and implantable in the
human body is not too far off. "We are not there yet, but
this is going to take off very fast," he anticipates, perhaps
three to four years. Not fast enough for diabetics who would
gladly trade lancets and blood test strips for a tiny internal
sensor attached to an insulin pump. For something so miniature,
it could be a huge lifesaver.
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BU
Creates First MS in Biomedical Anthropology
As
SARS and other new diseases cross geographic boundaries with
increasing rapidity, the need for Binghamton University's new
master of science in biomedical anthropology becomes even more
apparent.
| Who's
Who on the Faculty
Behind
the hands-on aspect of the degree is an all-star lineup
of the best Harpur College faculty from across several
disciplines. Joining Ralph Garruto, whose specialties
include the study of disease and aging, are:
Gary
D. James, research professor of nursing and of anthropology,
adjunct professor of psychology, and director of the Institute
for Primary and Preventive Health Care.
Michael
A. Little, distinguished professor of anthropology,
whose studies of environmental biology, growth, reproduction,
and adaptability have taken him through the Andes and
East Africa.
J.
Koji Lum, associate professor of anthropology, researches
molecular anthropology, forensic genetics and malaria
in Micronesia, Melanesia and Africa.
D.
Andrew Merriweather, associate professor of anthropology,
will join the faculty in August 2003. He studies ancient
DNA and the genetics of populations throughout the Americas
and the Pacific.
John
Relethford, adjunct professor of anthropology, researches
the evolution and genetics of modern humans, demography,
and population genetics.
G.
Philip Rightmire, distinguished professor of anthropology,
has traveled throughout Africa and the Republic of Georgia,
studying paleoanthropology, human evolution, and skeletal
biology.
Dawnie
Wolfe Steadman, assistant professor of anthropology,
is a skeletal biologist who specializes in forensic anthropology,
bioarchaeology and paleopathology.
David
Sloan Wilson, professor of anthropology and biological
sciences, researches genetics and culture, evolution,
and integration of biology and the human social sciences.
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The program, the first of its
kind in the world, will offer a multi-disciplinary approach
to the study of the transmission and spread of infections, cellular
and molecular mechanisms of disease, and the interaction of
biological and socio-cultural factors that shape health outcomes.
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Prof. Garruto is overseeing the new M.S. in Biomedical
Anthropology.
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The 43-credit program, which
requires an internship and a laboratory practicum, will admit
24 full-time and 6 part-time students from disciplines as diverse
as nursing, anthropology, psychology, social work, biology and
other health-related fields next fall. SUNY certified the program
last fall.
"The degree program was
in response to a University-wide call for proposals for applied,
integrated master's-level programs that satisfy growing employment
opportunities locally, statewide, nationally and internationally,"
said Ralph Garruto, research professor of anthropology and neuroscience,
who oversees the program.
Binghamton's timing could not
have been better. In the late 1990's, the National Academy of
Sciences, and later the National Science Foundation, urged that
graduate student training be strengthened to meet the needs
of a modern and developing world. As a result, the NSF implemented
its Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training.
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Graduate students Michael Ryan and Julia
Gaines evaluate x-rays for the presence of osteoarthritis
in Chamorro patients from Guam.
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Although
BU's program in biomedical anthropology is not part of the NSF
initiative, it is built upon that concept.
"Biomedical anthropology
represents the interface between medicine and the behavioral
and social sciences," said Garruto. "It is set up
to give broad-based training across disciplinary boundaries,
the interface between anthropology and biomedicine, bringing
everything into a single academic framework."
Although biomedical anthropology
is a specialization of biological anthropology, Garruto said
students can specialize even further by taking electives in
subjects such as evolutionary medicine, genetics, human growth
and development, population dynamics and rural health.
Nine research facilities within
BU will give students a broad spectrum of specialized, hands-on
training. Within those are laboratories for forensic anthropology,
forensic DNA identification, and paleoanthropology and skeletal
biology.
Just as the professors come from
several disciplines, so do the learning opportunities.
"One of the newest developments
is a proposed clinical research core which would be shared by
bioengineering, anthropology and nursing," said Garruto.
"The core laboratories and clinical exam rooms will allow
students in-depth, hands-on research and training across the
lifespan in such areas as child growth and development, bone
studies such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis (with Ken McLeod
of bioengineering), hypertension, cardiovascular disease and
lifestyle research (with Gary James of nursing), as well as
issues relevant to women's health, rural health and migrant
health."
Garruto said with the recent
hire of Professor J. Koji Lum, biomedical anthropology will
soon gain both a molecular anthropology program and a forensic
DNA identification lab.
"We want to gear the students
in the program to become versatile professionals and, on completion
of their program, have a tool kit that will allow them to move
in a number of different employment directions," Garruto
said.
Employment opportunities are
likely to be with the World Health Organization, U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes
of Health, OSHA, N.Y. Center for Agricultural and Occupational
Health, Peace Corps, World Bank, and institutions such as hospitals,
county health departments, aging centers, and coroners' offices.
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Romano
Lecture Offers Perspective on Globalism
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About
the Romano Lecture
Robert
and Lucia Canon, Antoinette Romano and her son Richard
`64, `65.
The
Mario `69 and Antoinette Romano Lecture Series was endowed
in 1984 by the couple as a tribute to Mario's years
as a Harpur College student. Each year, their endowment
sponsors a lecture given by esteemed speakers in economics,
history, art history, and medicine.
Richard
Romano (M.A. `64, Ph.D. `65), son of the late Mario
Romano `69, said he and his family are glad to sponsor
these lectures. "We are happy Harpur College benefits
from the modest endowment we've been able to create,"
he said, "A lecture series is an important 'extra' the
University can do. It enriches the intellectual environment."
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Jeffrey G. Williamson,
the Laird Bell Professor of Economics at Harvard University,
presented the 2003 Mario and Antoinette Romano Lecture, "Going
Global: A 500 Year Perspective" to an audience of nearly
50 faculty, students, and members of the Binghamton community
on Thursday, April 24. Williamson delivered a long-term,
historical perspective on the influence of globalization on
the quality of life since the era of Christopher Columbus.
Professor Williamson
and Harpur College Dean Jean-Pierre Mileur |
He
began by asking the audience to consider the meaning of the
word "globalization." From an economics perspective, Williamson
said it is anything that forces market integration, such as
liberal policies, improved transportation, or more global-friendly
institutions. Travel seems to inspire commerce. "There
was a big trade boom after Columbus's voyage in 1492," he
explained.
The
wealthy have always influenced trade, said Williamson, citing
that historically, 10% of Europe's population consumed 90%
of imported goods, such as spices and teas from Asia. "The
wealthy wanted exotic things," he said. "Inequality caused
trade."
However,
Williams said over the last 20 years, world inequality has
decreased because of growth in China and throughout Southeast
Asia. "Open economies grow faster," said Williamson.
He
also contended that the third world is making great strides
in the global economy by exporting consumer goods to developed
nations. "They're not exporting bananas anymore. Chances
are, if you buy a soccer ball today, it was made in Indonesia,"
he said, "The third world is in the industrial revolution
game."
Williamson
concluded that in spite of economic progress the third world
still lags behind and wealthy nations should help those less
fortunate.
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Law Council Receptions
Branch Out
by Rob de la Fuente `98
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Allen
Cohen `85 and Sheldon Goldfarb `73, the hosts of recent
Harpur Law Council events.
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The
Harpur Law Council had two first-ever regional events this spring.
On March 18th we were on Long Island at Nixon Peabody, LLP in
Garden City, NY. While at Nixon Peabody partner Allen H. Cohen'85
was our most gracious host. On April 2nd we had the pleasure
of being in Greenwich, Connecticut at Greenwich Capital Markets,
hosted by Sheldon I. Goldfarb'73. Both events were a big success!
Over
50 law alumni, spanning a wide array of grad years, gathered
to meet, greet, and network with their fellow attorneys. While
the evenings were filled with nostalgia and camaraderie, many
attendees took the opportunity to exchange information in the
hopes of enhancing future business contacts.
Both
Cohen and Goldfarb welcomed their fellow alumni and spoke about
the impact Harpur College had on their lives. Jean-Pierre Mileur,
Dean of Harpur College, provided an update on the state of the
University mentioning the College's continued competitiveness
and academic renown. Dean Mileur asked those present to consider
supporting Harpur College with a financial contribution noting
that the generous support of its alumni would ensure the school's
continued success.
Projects
and programs sponsored by the Harpur Law Council were outlined,
including the summer internships for pre-law undergraduates,
and the online alumni law directory. To view the directory,
go to http://www.harpur.binghamton.edu/lawdirect/.
All alumni attorneys were encouraged to support these efforts
and to reconnect with their alma mater.
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Several alumni at the Long
Island reception at Nixon Peabody LLP.
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Jocelyn
Nager `85, Rich Alpern `69, Dean Mileur, Mathew Paulose
`95
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Stacy Werner `91, Dean
Mileur, Sheldon Goldfarb `73, John Cannavino `73
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Beth
Avery `87, Andrea Dulberg `82, Andrea Levine `92
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The
Harpur Law Council was formed in 1995 to serve the needs and
interests of Binghamton University alumni attorneys and pre-law
students. Its goal is to strengthen the university's mission
and tradition of academic excellence. The Harpur Law Council
advises the Harpur College Dean and the University Alumni Association
on matters regarding academic issues and programs relevant to
the legal profession. Through a comprehensive mix of volunteer
opportunities and programs, the Harpur Law Council cultivates
positive relationships among law alumni, students, and the campus
community.
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Four
to receive honorary degrees at Commencement
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BU will award honorary doctorates to Sydney Pollack,
Alan MacDiarmid, Dean Kamen and Mark Zurack `78
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Binghamton
University will award four honorary doctorates during Commencement
ceremonies Sunday, May 18, at the Broome County Veterans Memorial
Arena. The degree recipients will also give remarks during the
ceremonies. Director Sydney Pollack and Nobel Prize-winning
chemist Alan MacDiarmid will speak at the Harpur College
of Arts and Sciences ceremony beginning at 9 a.m. Inventor Dean
Kamen and investment banker and alumnus Mark Zurack ’78
will speak at the ceremony for the Graduate and professional
schools beginning at 12:30 p.m. More...
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Foreign
Language Honor Society Inducts New Members
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Phi Sigma Iota, pictured
above with administrators and faculty advisors, at Binghamton
University is in its tenth year. Students of French, German,
Spanish and Italian are eligible to join.
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Binghamton University's
Beta Omega chapter of Phi Sigma Iota International Foreign Language
Honor Society inducted thirty-one new members on April 6, 2003.
At the ceremony,
keynote speaker Paul Steidlmeier, associate professor of Management
and director of Undergraduate Programs in the School of Management,
stressed the importance of learning foreign languages.
He spoke of the
challenges of learning to speak Mandarin while taking graduate
courses in Taiwan and how learning a new language opened up
his world to new experiences, new cultures, and new relationships.
Dora Polachek,
visiting associate professor of Romance Languages and Literatures
and faculty advisor to Phi Sigma Iota, congratulated the inductees
and invited one student representing each of the modern languages
taught at Harpur College to come to the podium and place a carnation
in a vase, which served as a "symbolic candle lighting"
for the new members' induction into the Honor Society.
Jean Quataert,
professor of History, and Mary Lee Sullivan, visiting assistant
professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, also spoke at
the ceremony.
"The languages
that you learn are a part of you and they can be activated and
reactivated all of your life," said Quataert, "They're
a gift you give yourself." She said with the right choice
of words, "foreign languages can build bridges, even serious
political divides."
Sullivan reiterated
Quataert's point and encouraged everyone to travel abroad and
make friends from different countries. "People who travel
without knowing a foreign language are struck by the differences
between others, but people who can converse in other languages
see how similar we all are," she said.
Giselles Avevedo `03, a double major in Spanish
Literature and Biology, was among the inductees and agreed wholeheartedly
with all of the speeches. Having emigrated to the United States
from the Dominican Republic in 1995, she knows firsthand how
learning new languages brings people together. "Coming
here helped me learn all about myself and appreciate my own
culture more."
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Wine
Tasting Event to Support the Arts
"Let Us Entertain You: The
Art Supports the Arts," a benefit wine tasting will be
held from 5-9 p.m. Wednesday, May 7, in the Anderson Center
Reception Hall. Proceeds will go to the Harpur Fine Arts Internship
Program, which places students with professional performing
and visual arts companies and threatened by state cutbacks.
The event will consist of a donated tasting, offered by several
Finger Lakes wineries; elegant hors d'oeuvres and finger foods
donated by Sodexho and the University; performances by students
and faculty members; and auction of art and sports items including
Broadway and New York Rangers tickets. Tickets at $25 ($40 per
couple) are available at the Anderson Center box Office or by
calling 777-2787.
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Harpur
Friends & Family
In response
to your much-appreciated feedback, the Harpur Hotline has developed
a regular feature of alumni news. Please send us anything you
want: publications, promotions, marriages, babies, graduations,
retirements, etc. Many thanks to everyone who shared their stories!
Here's what some of your fellow Harpur alumni and friends are
doing:
Maria
Mazziotti Gillan, director of the Creative Writing
Program and author of numerous books, including her most recent
"Italian Women in Black Dresses," will give a reading
of her poetry at the Nutley Public Library in Nutley, NJ at
7:00p.m. on Monday, May 12. The public is invited to attend,
but reservations for seating must be made beforehand by contacting
the Nutley Public Library at 973-667-0405, or by writing to
Nutley Public Library, 93 Booth Drive, Nutley New Jersey 07110.
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Kudos to Donald Quataert,
professor of history, who was recently named a Guggenheim
Fellow by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
The fellowship will allow Quataert to continue researching
the coal miners of the Ottoman Empire between 1829 and
1922.
Isidore Okpewho, professor
of Africana studies, featured in the April
16 Harpur Hotline, also received a Guggenheim
fellowship.
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Congratulations
to Leslie Gates, assistant professor of Sociology.
The Friends of the Princeton University Women's Center recently
awarded her their Women's Leadership Award for her commitment
to serving women's special needs. Gates, who graduated from
Princeton in 1990, now studies globalization, union power,
and women's industrial work in Latin America. |
1965: Sandra
Koser Steingart is a psychologist with Baltimore County
Public Schools, Towson, MD and is an expert on using the Internet
for finding school psychology resources.
She is the creator of School Psychology Resources Online
and recently wrote "The Web Connected
School Psychologist."
Steingart is also webmaster of the Maryland
School Psychologists' Association.
Her son, Daniel Steingart, graduated from Harpur
College in 2001.
1972:
Ann Prusinski is vice president of Stardust Dance Productions, which
promotes "the ultimate in ballroom dance weekends." She is an avid traveler and a former tour guide with Globus Gateway.
Prusinski has been an elected official since 1985 and
is currently councilman for Fallsburg, NY. She divides her time between New York City
and the Catskills. Prusinski
wants to know if anyone remembers Harpur alumni Paul Geffner,
Warren Lewis or Ron Wilson.
1977:
Following graduation from Rutgers University School of Law,
Wayne Greenfeder served as Law Clerk to the Honorable
Morton I. Greenberg, now on the United States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit. He
is a partner in the law firm of Kraemer, Burns, Mytelka, Lovell,
and Kulka, P.A. in Springfield, N.J. and recently represented
one of the plaintiffs in the high profile New Jersey Turnpike
shooting case. Greenfeder
and his wife, Catherine, have one son and reside in Nutley,
NJ.
| 1980:
After graduating from Binghamton, Mark Weiss (MA,
Chemistry) worked for nearly 17 years as a pharmaceutical
chemist and in other positions for Lederle Laboratories,
which eventually became Wyeth. In 1985, Weiss earned a Master's
in Specialized Journalism from Polytechnic University and
began freelance writing for chemical and pharmaceutical
industry trade magazines as well as newsletters on dog and
cat health. "Freelancing gave me a way to build a portfolio
and gain a lot of writing experience and meet a lot of people,
particularly those in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries,"
he recalls. Weiss has written and published over 150 bylined
and ghost written articles and is now a senior technical
and scientific writer for Purdue
Pharma LP . He is also scheduled to give an oral
presentation, "One Scientist at a Time: Integration
of a Scientific and Technical Writing Department into Pharmaceutical
R&D," at the 39th annual meeting of the Drug Information
Association this summer. Weiss and his wife, Ilene, live
in Congers, NY. |
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1980:
Congratulations to Jorge L. Chinea (M.A. `83).
Wayne State University
recently promoted him to the rank of Associate Professor
of History! Chinea previously earned a Ph.D. from the University
of Minnesota. He has published several articles about Latin
American history, including "Fissures in el Primer
Piso: Racial Politics in Spanish Colonial Puerto Rico during
its Pre-Plantation Era, c.1700-1800" (2002) in Caribbean
Studies. Chinea was the founder and first director of
the Latin
American Music Department at WHRW-FM. He and his
wife, Terri (Williams `83), have three children:
Marcus, Mateo and Monica. |
| 1987:
After
graduation,
John Fracchia
(M.B.A. `90) and Kerry Forrestal `86 (M.B.A. `92)
operated a small advertising firm in Binghamton called "The
Idea Mill." Fracchia recalls, "A horrendous economy
and more ideas than common sense did not lead to our first
million as originally projected," though two good ideas
sprang from their partnership: Tunes for the Dunes, a project
that sent 1,000 cassettes of new American music to soldiers
serving in the Gulf, and "Club
Hell," a play produced at Pace University in 1997.
Fracchia is now Assistant Director/Recruiting Coordinator
at Ithaca College's Career Development Center and Forrestal
is an emergency room physician in Philadelphia. |
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1990:
Margaret Butler has recently accepted a tenure-track
position as assistant professor of Musicology at the University
of Alabama. She
earned an M.A. in 1994 and a Ph.D. in 2000 from Ohio State
University. She
conducted dissertation research in Turin, Italy as a Fulbright
fellow and earned a Presidential Fellowship from the Graduate
School at Ohio State. Her dissertation on eighteenth-century
Italian opera won the distinguished dissertation award in
Music from the Ohio State School of Music in 2000, and was
subsequently published in Italy by the Istituto per i Beni
Musicali in Piemonte in 2001. For the last year and a half,
Butler has been associate director of the Center for West European Studies and European
Union Center at the University of Pittsburgh. |
| 1998:
Tara Fox Hall is engaged to Eric Dietrich. She is an
associate account manager for Modern Marketing Concepts
in Endicott. Dietrich is Professor of Philosophy at Harpur
College. The couple plans to marry in September. |
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1998:
Charlene Theresa Cook and Michael Alan Meehl were married
Oct. 5 in Johnson City, NY. Cook is a teacher for Bright Horizons,
St. Louis, MO and her husband is a graduate student at Washington
University. After a honeymoon in the Bahamas, the newlyweds
reside in St. Louis, MO. (source: Press & Sun Bulletin)
1999:
Lisa Cohen is pleased to anounce her engagement to John
Dahlstrom. Cohen is a speech-language pathologist for Norwalk
Hospital in Norwalk, CT. Dahlstrom is a computer programmer
at Howard Hughes Medical Institute in New Haven, CT. They plan
to marry in May 2004 in Yorktown Heights, NY.
1999:
Amanda Pasquale and Jason Spellicy plan to tie the knot
on June 14. Pasquale is regional director for U.S. Senator Charles
Schumer in Binghamton. Spellicy is general manager of Uno Restaurant
Inc. in Vestal. (source: Press & Sun Bulletin)
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Shop Harpur
Online
Follow
this link to the Campus Bookstore.
We
are currently redesigning this regular feature of the Harpur
Hotline. For more Harpur College merchandise, contact the bookstore
at 607-777-2745.
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Back
Issues of the Harpur Hotline
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an issue? Want to read more? Check out: http://harpur.binghamton.edu/hotline.cgi
Harpur
College Development Team Mission Statement:
The
Harpur College of Arts and Sciences Development Team encourages
alumni, students, faculty and friends to identify with Harpur
College's past, present and future by engaging them in events
and programs that connect them to the college. We facilitate
ways for our constituents to enrich Harpur College through their
financial contributions and personal talents and resources.
Contact
the Webmaster.
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