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Costas Soukoulis earns 2014 Max Born Award

Soukoulis, senior scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory, Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Iowa State University and associated member of IESL-FORTH in Greece, has won the 2014 Max Born Award from the Optical Society of America. The award honors a scientist who has made outstanding contributions to the scientific field of physical optics.

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Data-driven discovery

Science and research in LAS is revolutionary because it is data-driven. The tools we develop to analyze data connect disciplines across campus while introducing departments to the complexities of large data sets. The beauty of big data analytics is that it doesn’t always give you answers – many times, it sparks more questions before helping to provide answers.

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Exploring data with animation

All data tell a story, but when observations number in the millions or more, the story can be harder to find. While mathematical differences can guide investigation of smaller data sets, large data sets require different tools. Heike Hofmann, professor of statistics, is an expert at exploring large data sets through images and animations that tell stories numbers alone simply can’t.

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From the Dean: Spring 2014

In his installation address, President Steven Leath promised to hire 200 new faculty in his first two full years on campus. LAS had already planned for a very active hiring season, and with nine additional positions supported by new resources from the President’s Initia- tive on High Impact Hiring, we are searching for 35 new colleagues. Across all colleges, well over 100 searches are currently in progress.

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‘J-FAST’ provided better care for at-risk youth in Iowa

J-FAST’s goal was to implement less invasive strategies to respond to the needs of multisystem-involved youth. Community health service providers in Linn County agreed to each take one day of the week to see any child who needed an emergency room psychiatric evaluation. Afterward, the child would receive nine months of follow-up service from a case manager who provided links to recommended services, preventing further reliance on emergency rooms.

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Levi Stanley’s catalysis research is a trip

Stanley, an assistant professor of chemistry at Iowa State University, is establishing alkene hydroacylation reactions (processes that enable the formation of complex organic molecules in a single operation) as a platform for the synthesis of medicinally important compounds.

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Inside information’s influence

London in the late 16th century was a crowded, scuzzy, disease-ridden city. Illness plagued all ages and thousands perished, turning overcrowded burial sites into overcrowded burial pits. To combat the epidemic, city officials began taking notes. Or, more accurately, collecting data.

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Alice Hudson’s gift strengthens chemistry program

Hudson (BS chemistry ‘63) is making it possible for current ISU students to benefit as she did from hands-on research in a faculty lab. She and her husband, Don (BS aerospace engineering, ‘63), recently established the Alice and Donald Hudson Scholarship for Undergraduate Research in Chemistry, which will give promising students opportunities to work as members of ISU research teams.

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LAS welcomes Kim McDonough, new Director of Alumni Relations

In her new role, McDonough will develop programs to link LAS alumni with the college and the university. “My overall goal is to let alumni know we’re trying to connect with them and that we value our relationship with them,” she said. “My role is to develop the means to do that.”