There’s something happening on the UH campus. Just over the freeway, on the other side of the tracks, there’s a part of UH that is setting Houston’s tech and science world aflame. The Technology Bridge. A place where academia meets the market thanks to a program designed to connect both worlds: the Connectivity Program. The Bridge In the latter half of the 19th century, … [Read more...] about The Great Connector: Academia Meets the Market
Fall 2019 Magazine
Converging on the Answer: A Q&A with Beckham Dossett
Society is faced with a plethora of grand challenges. Energy crises, environmental pollution, and health disparities, for starters. Scientists and social scientists must work together to navigate these vast, rough waters. Their unique disciplines must intermingle. Their research must converge. What is Convergence Research? In 2016, the National Science Foundation (NSF) … [Read more...] about Converging on the Answer: A Q&A with Beckham Dossett
Down to Earth: Has America Returned from its Giant Leap?
Kardashians over the cosmos, sports over science, memes over medical breakthroughs, dragons over discoveries; the American public is the neglectful parent that can’t take their eye off the big game while their bespectacled, bright-eyed daughter is trying to show them the A+ she got on her science project. In a world where most Americans don’t consume science news, NASA … [Read more...] about Down to Earth: Has America Returned from its Giant Leap?
How Many Wings
Things that are obvious so easily mislead us. That came home to me when I picked up a used book: Jim Winchester’s The World’s Worst Aircraft. I’ve seen at least two other books with similar titles. Anyone who’s studied the history of flight will think of bad airplanes beyond the 150 in this book. Then I noticed that almost ten percent of his bad airplanes had three or … [Read more...] about How Many Wings
Running Smoothly: How ACO Maintains its Facilities
On the southeast corner of the University of Houston campus resides one of the most highly lauded, well-run animal facilities in the country: Animal Care Operations (ACO). Particularly renowned for how efficiently it is managed and maintained, ACO recently received continued accreditation through the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care … [Read more...] about Running Smoothly: How ACO Maintains its Facilities
Funny You Should Ask: Is the Grass Always Greener on the Other Side?
Once again, we’re asking our serious scholars and researchers to set aside their deep thoughts, particle accelerators and Bunsen burners to take a more light-hearted approach. We present our UH professors with an everyday observation — like “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”— and solicit their reactions. Some wax poetic, some whimsical, and the results are … [Read more...] about Funny You Should Ask: Is the Grass Always Greener on the Other Side?
Keeping the Lights On: The Cost of Research
Congratulations, your proposal has been funded! These are words that every principal investigator (PI) wants to hear. But much like the lottery, the amount that glitters on signage near freeways is not the amount the investigator will receive. When the money is set up in the PI’s project cost center, a portion of the awarded amount, which is based on the university … [Read more...] about Keeping the Lights On: The Cost of Research
How Should Universities View China?
By Claudia Neuhauser, Ph.D. and Brian Herman, Ph.D. Free exchange of ideas created a global community of scholars We have enjoyed and benefited from decades of relative tranquility in academia where the focus on fundamental science created a global community of scholars that came with a free and unrestrained exchange of ideas. Research thrived in this community without … [Read more...] about How Should Universities View China?