News and Events, October 31, 2011

CEAS Seminar Series: “Clinical and Bench-Top Characterization of the Right Ventricular-Pulmonary Artery Axis,” Wednesday, Nov. 2
CSIS Seminar: IGERT Thematic Research Groups, Wednesday, Nov. 2
Last chance to RSVP: Bioengineering Open House, Friday, Nov. 4
Register now: Service Learning 101: An Engaged Faculty Institute
American Veterans Traveling Wall on Denver Campus, Nov. 2 – Nov. 6
Flu Vaccine Clinic, Lawrence Street Center, Thursday Nov. 3

If you have news and events you’d like to share with the college, contact Erica Lefeave at erica.lefeave@ucdenver.edu.

——————————————————

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
College of Engineering and Applied Science
Fall 2011 Seminar Series
Clinical and Bench-Top Characterization of the Right Ventricular-Pulmonary Artery Axis

Wednesday, November 2, 2011
10 a.m., NC 2607/09

Kendall S. Hunter
Assistant Professor
Department of Bioengineering
University of Colorado Denver

Abstract
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a fatal disease in children and adults in which progressive increases in load on the right ventricle (RV) ultimately lead to heart failure and death. Current clinical assessment of the disease involves invasive collection of pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), the standard disease diagnostic. PVR is believed to represent RV afterload, and thus a primary determinant of heart failure. However, recent clinical studies of PAH here and elsewhere have suggested that including pulmonary vascular stiffness (PVS) as an additional component of RV afterload yields better prediction of PAH progression than PVR, and vascular stiffening is an innate part of the disease process.

This talk reviews several recent advances in the clinical diagnosis and mechanical understanding of PH, including two new clinical PH prognostics, pulmonary vascular input impedance and proximal pulmonary stiffness, and bench top studies quantifying mechanical and extracellular matrix changes in the pulmonary arteries of a neonatal animal model of PH.   Future mechanical and clinical study directions are also introduced, including an emergent RV functional measure that promise even greater improvement in disease prognostication and incipient discoveries from human pulmonary
tissue testing.

Bio: Dr. Hunter obtained a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2001, and spent the next several years developing and performing simulations of underwater shock for US Naval contractors.  He came back to the University of Colorado at Denver in August 2004 as a Post-Doctoral trainee in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, where he first worked on simulations of coupled arterial-blood models, and became faculty in that division in early 2007.  Since the spring of 2010 he has been faculty in the new Department of Bioengineering.  He is interested in the mechanics of vascular soft tissues, clinical cardiovascular imaging, and animal models of vascular remodeling.

—top—


IGERT Thematic Research Groups: Urban Energy and Performance Group and Active Communities / Transportation

Presented by the Center for Sustainable Infrastructure Systems
Location: CU Building, Room 490
Date/time: Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, 9 a.m.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Energy systems (models) are a necessary tool to help planners, builders, designers and policy makers understand how to optimize their city’s built environment and available open spaces in terms of their energy use, carbon footprint and available resources.  Some key considerations are:

• Building design, materials, controls, zoning, spacing and access
• Usage of materials such as cement, fly ash, etc.
• Housing density
• Waste stream management, e.g. trash collection
• Transportation infrastructure
• Nature and open space configuration
• Electricity use and sourcing

The Active Communities / Transportation (ACT) Research Group serves as a focal point of research among students, faculty, and researchers who specialize in land use-transportation policies and programs relating to “active” communities and/or “active” transportation. The group is based at the University of Colorado (Boulder and Denver) and is under the direction of Professor Krizek and Professor Marshall. Current projects include examining the factors influencing the types of neighborhoods households choose, how individuals travel who live in such neighborhoods, planning tools to assist in accounting for “active” transportation in the design of communities, and strategies to better incorporate “active” components into comprehensive planning.

Working with other consulting firms, research agencies, and universities, ACT assumed a leadership role in each of the following projects:

• Developing the Guidelines for Estimating the Benefits and Costs of Bicycle Facilities
• Preparing a suite of Health Impact Assessments created as part of the Design for Health Project
• Collecting the baseline data for the Non-motorized Transportation Pilot Program
• [ongoing project] Working to develop measures of Access to Destinations for the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

SPEAKERS &  BIOS
Urban Energy and Performance Group

• Andrea V. Solis is a PhD student in Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado at Denver.  Her research currently focuses on sustainable concrete pavements with an emphasis on the application and performance of high volume fly ash concrete and pervious concrete pavements in the U.S. and India.  Additionally her research deals with a U.S. and India comparison of material flow and life cycle analysis of cement manufacturing.  Andrea has a B.S. and M.S. degree in civil engineering from New Mexico State University (NMSU) and graduated as the Outstanding Senior in the School of Engineering at NMSU.  Her M.S. research at NMSU focused on the behavioral evaluation of a Simple for Dead Load-Continuous for Live Load steel girder bridge, in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  She is currently a member in the UC Denver Center for Sustainable Infrastructure Systems, Chi Epsilon (civil engineering honor society), American Society of Civil Engineers, American Concrete Institute, Tau Beta Pi, and Phi Kappa Phi.
• Ed Gaviria has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, an MBA in Finance & Marketing from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, a Master’s in Science in Quantitative Analysis and City Planning from Cornell University and over 15 years of experience in Engineering, Finance, Engineering Management, Consulting and Market Research. In the past, he has worked as an Advanced Engineer for Boeing, as Sr. Financial Analyst at American Airlines and as a Sr. Manager at Deloitte Consulting, Accenture, IBM Global Services, Ipsos and Hewlett Packard. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering and Sustainable Urban Infrastructure at the University of Colorado at Denver and is focusing his research on Urban Energy Models.

Active Communities / Transportation

• Alejandro Henao
• Dan Piatkowski
• Eric Stonebraker
• Kara Luckey
• Krista Nordback

CU Denver’s Center for Sustainable Infrastructure Systems (CSIS) includes the interdisciplinary IGERT grant, and is presently a joint center created in partnership between the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the School of Public Affairs. If you are interested in joining CSIS, or would like more information about the center, please contact Dr. Anu Ramaswami.

For information or comments on seminar, contact Zeljko Spiric .

—top—


Second Annual Bioengineering Open House
Friday, November 4, 2011—RSVP by today, October 31
2 – 5 p.m.
Bushnell Auditorium – Room N8200 – 8th Floor 
Building 500 – Anschutz Medical Campus
Meet faculty and students; learn about research opportunities and degree programs; discover the Anschutz Medical Campus; and hear why bioengineering is the fastest growing profession.

Everyone is welcome: prospective graduate students, undergraduate students, parents, donors and other members of the biomedical engineering community interested in bioengineering. Refreshments will be served.

—top—

Register now! Service Learning 101: An Engaged Faculty Institute
The Experiential Learning Center invites applications for the Engaged Faculty Institute, which will run 12:30-2:30 p.m. every Friday from January 27 to March 3 on the Auraria Campus. Participants receive a $750 stipend.

Applications are due November 4 by 5 p.m. to Kyra Tarbell.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
Colorado Campus Compact, in conjunction with CU Denver, Regis University, CU Boulder, University of Denver, Johnson & Wales University, and Metropolitan State College of Denver, is pleased to present Service Learning 101: An Engaged Faculty Institute. The second annual Engaged Faculty Institute (EFI) will bring together faculty from all six institutions to transform their approach to teaching and learning through 1) the development of reciprocal community partnerships, 2) the incorporation of community-based experiences into their curriculum, and 3) the adoption of innovative critical reflection and assessment practices that deepen and document student learning.

Our first program last January was immensely popular with our faculty. As part of the program, faculty receive a stipend for participating and other benefits. The Institute also is unique and innovative because of the inclusion and partnership between the various institutions in Colorado and the interaction the faculty from each school will have with each other. We have organized and are now in the process of promoting our second session starting this January.

CONTACT:Kyra.tarbell@ucdenver.edu

—top—


American Veterans Traveling Tribute at the Downtown Campus

Wednesday, November 2
1 p.m. Ride for the American Veteran Traveling Tribute
Staging begins at Freedom Harley Davidson in Denver, 8020 West Colfax Avenue.
3:30 p.m.   Kickstands up! The Escort departs for the Auraria Campus.
The final location is the Lawrence Street Mall; the ride is approximately four miles.
The first 300 escort riders will receive a commemorative Traveling Tribute patch.

Thursday, November 3
8 a.m. Wall set-up begins

Friday, November 4
8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Locator Computers and other Services Available to the Public
9 a.m. Opening Ceremony, Former Representative Joe Rice will be the emcee for this event and the keynote speaker for the event will be SSGT Salvatore Giunta, the first non-posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor since Vietnam. Other guest speakers include Major General H. Michael Edwards, Adjutant General of the Colorado National Guard, Metro State Provost Dr. Vicki Golich and CU Denver Chancellor Dr. Jerry Wartgow.
7 p.m. Mile High Players of the Mile High GI Forum present 58,272
This dramatic theatrical performance will depict scenes from Vietnam and commemorate the life and times of our soldiers in the war. This performance is free of charge and seating is available on a first come-first served basis in the Tivoli Turnhalle on the Auraria Campus. The show starts at 7 p.m.; doors will be open at 6:30pm. Parking is available for a fee in the adjacent Tivoli Parking Garage or other campus lots. Note: Due to the content included in a depiction of war, this performance is recommended for mature audiences only.

Saturday, November 5
8 a.m. – 8 p.m.  Locator Computers and other Services Available to the Public
8 a.m. ROTC 5K Begins followed by Awards Ceremony to follow
10 a.m. Denver Veterans Day Parade – Downtown Denver
3 p.m. 10th Annual Denver Veterans Day Celebration & Fireworks
Festivities begin at 3 p.m. with music by the Denver School of the Arts Chorale Choir and Reveille 3, an Andrews Sisters Tribute Act. Fireworks will launch at dark. For more information visit http://vetsdaydenver.org
6 p.m. Fireworks

Sunday, November 6
11 a.m. Closing Ceremony

—top—

Flu Shot Clinic for Faculty and Staff at Lawrence Street Center

WHO:   CU Denver employees.
WHAT:   Seasonal Flu Vaccine.  $20 cash or check.  Health-One is providing this service.
WHEN:  Thursday, November 3, 2011, from 11a.m. to 1 p.m.
WHERE:  Lawrence Street Center Bldg, Chancellor’s Conference Room, 14th Floor
WHY:  So that we can all be healthy and not get the flu.