October 19, 2007
Appointments, honors, activities
Campus activities:
— A three-person delegation of weaving and cultural tourism specialists from Oaxaca, Mexico, will visit Purdue University on Oct. 24. The event, which is free and open to the public, is 5-8 p.m. in Stewart Center, Room 206. Federico Chavez, Eric Chavez and Elsa Sanchez Diaz will present illustrated talks about handweaving, natural dyeing, design techniques, and Oaxacan and Zapotec culture. The Chavez Weavers are Zapotecs from the well-known weaving village of Teotitlan del Valle. Natural-dyed, hand-woven rugs by the Chavezes and other members of the weaving cooperative will be on display and available for purchase. Sanchez Diaz also will exhibit and talk about alebrijes, carved and painted wooden sculptures unique to a village near the city of Oaxaca. The event, which is sponsored by Purdue's Division of Art and Design and Purdue Galleries, is part of Experience Liberal Arts.
— Margaret O'Brien Steinfels, co-director of the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture, will present "Catholicism's Many (and Sometimes Contentious) Public Faces: A Look at American Catholics Today" at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 16 in the Krannert Building, Krannert Auditorium. Prior to her work at Fordham, she spent 15 years as the editor of "Commonweal," an independent bi-weekly journal of political, religious and literary opinion edited by Catholic laypeople since 1924. The lecture is sponsored by the Aquinas Education Foundation, as well as the College of Liberal Arts' Department of Sociology and Religious Studies Program.
— Peng Xiaoyu, professor of history at Beijing University, will present "Charity as a Cultural Tradition: Implications of American Catholic Social Thought in the Current Social Milieu of China," from 7-9 p.m. on Nov. 7 in the Lawson Building, Room 1142. The event is sponsored by the Department of History.
Faculty and staff honors:
— Mark Jackson, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology, was recently inducted as a founding fellow of the Academy of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering in Poland. Jackson presented his research work on the structure of abrasive composite materials in the Collegium Novum Hall prior to receiving the fellowship of the academy and the academy's silver medal. In addition, Jackson was inducted into the academy as deputy president of the academy's steering committee and was asked to serve on the editorial boards of the Journal of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering and the Polish Academy of Sciences' journal Archives of Materials Science.
Student honors:
— A team of 40 Purdue University students as well as alumni and members of the community got together Oct 12-14 and created a startup company with nothing but a business idea. StartupWeekend was held in the Krannert Building and attracted students from Krannert School of Management, the College of Engineering, the School of Consumer and Family Sciences. The three-day workshop allows entrepreneurs to come together and incubate a company from concept to completion. The event was sponsored by Purdue Marketing Association, a Krannert student organization and presented by Pearl Street Venture Funds and Ice Miller LLP. The core team of about 25 members who participated the entire weekend earned a share of equity in the developed business. The team consisted of people with a wide range of skills, including web development, marketing, graphic design and legal counsel. The end result was Scrolltalk, a chat room that groups like-minded members into conversations automatically based on their discussion topic. While chatting, keywords are created that link the user to related conversations.
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