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A University of Colorado at Boulder engineering professor may have found the key to developing more accurate and efficient propulsion systems by studying the formation of vortex rings, such as those made by squid and jellyfish to move themselves underwater.

The creative ingenuity of engineering students at the University of Colorado at Boulder will be on display Saturday, Dec. 4, when nearly 60 student inventions will be demonstrated to the public at the ITLL Fall Design Expo. The student inventions range from fun to functional, including a Rube Goldberg ice cream sundae-maker, a teeter-totter water pump and a car windshield that automatically turns opaque when the engine is turned off.

"We are thankful for so much this Thanksgiving. Eric continues to improve. The health care team has been fantastic. Our extended family and our friends are watching out for all of our non-medical needs. "Eric had his second skin autograft today, a week after the first. The doctors were pleased with the results of the first autograft.

Scientists have glimpsed the three-dimensional structure of a protein that protects the ends of human chromosomes, a function essential for normal cell division and survival, according to Thomas Cech, president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a distinguished professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. By visualizing the protein as it surrounds the end of a chromosome, the scientists have learned how the protein homes in on a specific DNA sequence and acts like a protective cap to prevent erosion of chromosome ends, he said.

On the day that Carl Wieman received the Nobel Prize for physics in 2001, he insisted that the time of a news conference be moved up 15 minutes so that he wouldnÂ’t be late to teach his undergraduate class on physics for nonscience majors. His unwavering dedication to undergraduate teaching was recognized by two national organizations today when the distinguished professor of physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder was named Professor of the Year among all doctoral and research universities in the United States.

Carl Wieman’s efforts to improve undergraduate teaching are “making waves nationally” in addition to influencing instruction at the University of Colorado at Boulder, according to Mary Ann Shea, director of the campus’s Faculty Teaching Excellence Program. When Wieman is invited to give a talk on his scientific research at another university, he often insists that he also be allowed to meet with faculty to discuss undergraduate science teaching.

Large banners congratulating Carl Wieman's selection as the 2004 U.S. Professor of the Year for doctoral and research universities will be displayed in three prominent locations on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus on Thursday, Nov. 18. At 10 a.m., CU-Boulder employees will hang a 10-by-20-foot banner on the east side of the Duane Physics Building, located just south of Folsom Stadium. Duane Physics houses the CU-Boulder physics department and the classrooms where Wieman teaches.

Distinguished Professor Carl Wieman of the University of Colorado at Boulder has long been a pioneer in using technology to help teach science. His undergraduate class on “The Physics of Everyday Life” uses numerous technical innovations including infrared transmitter “clickers” that instantly show how well students are understanding the material, extensive use of online interactive simulations and in-class experiments with data taken and displayed to the students in real time.

"Eric continues to be in critical condition, but he was alert and communicating for long periods of time from Sunday until he underwent a partial autograft on Wednesday to replace an earlier allograft. Eric is sedated during these early days of recovery from this latest procedure.

The University of Colorado at Boulder's Leeds School of Business and the NorthStone Group have created a partnership to provide leadership and negotiation courses for the school's executive development program. Rollie Heath and Adam J. Goodman will teach the first two courses, "Humanizing the Negotiating Process" and "The Six Questions of Leadership" in spring 2005. Goodman and Heath are both partners at the NorthStone Group, a Colorado-based consulting firm specializing in leadership development and strategic decision services.