Research

UNC Charlotte faculty members are among a prestigious group of experts seeking safe and practical solutions for disposing of coal ash. The University has convened a blue-ribbon panel of nationally recognized experts to serve on an independent board that will review Duke Energy’s strategy and procedures for closing its ash impoundments in North Carolina and throughout the nation.

Nathaniel Hendren, assistant professor of economics at Harvard University, will discuss “Intergenerational Mobility and Equality of Opportunity in the United States” at 2 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 2, in the College of Health and Human Services, Room 159.

Glenn Boreman, chair of the Department of Physics and Optical Science, recently was named the 2015 vice president of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, effective Jan. 1.
Boreman also is director of UNC Charlotte’s Center for Optoelectronics and Optical Communications and co-founder and chairman of the board of Plasmonics, Inc. His research interests include infrared detectors and systems, infrared antennas and frequency-selective surfaces, image-quality characterization and modulation transfer function.

Economic growth in North Carolina is expected to grow at a sluggish pace in 2015 with no significant growth expected for the remainder of 2014, UNC Charlotte economist John Connaughton recently reported in his quarterly forecast for the state.
According to Connaughton, N.C. Gross State Product (GSP) is expected to reach a level of $482,911.70 million in 2014, a real (inflation-adjusted) increase of 1.5 percent over the 2013 level. This growth forecast in 2014 would follow two years of modest GSP increase in North Carolina.

On the second floor of the Kennedy Building, two new classrooms are challenging faculty to better design and deliver courses that promote greater collaboration among students.

Effective Monday, Sept. 15, Heather Brown will become the executive director of the Women + Girls Research Alliance.
According to academic affairs officials, Brown will lead the alliance to fully realize its mission to become a recognized authority in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County on issues affecting women and girls.

UNC Charlotte economist John Connaughton will give his quarterly forecast for the North Carolina economy at a luncheon and press conference Tuesday, Sept. 9, at UNC Charlotte Center City. The presentation begins at noon in the auditorium. Lunch will be available starting at 11:30 a.m.                               

America’s middle class is suffering an economic meltdown that threatens the sector of society long considered the nation’s bedrock. UNC Charlotte author and researcher Scott Fitzgerald will dissect these troubles and explore ways to regain prosperity, in the first talk of UNC Charlotte’s Personally Speaking series for 2014-15.
This free community talk is set for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 18, at UNC Charlotte Center City. The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Atkins Library present this series, which is marking its fifth season.

Teaming up with students from England’s University of Birmingham, two graduate students from the Lee College Engineering participated in the third annual Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Railway Challenge this summer, where they learned that building a working electric locomotive is a real challenge.
Civil engineering master’s students Ben Gorman and Matt Washing traveled to Leicestershire, England, for the event, which pitted five teams against each other in the design and construction of a 15th-scale locomotive.

Larry Mellichamp, director of the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens, has written “Native Plants of the Southeast,” which was published by Timber Press.
Billed as a comprehensive guide to the best 460 species for the garden, “Native Plants of the Southeast” features the most beautiful native plants that adapt well to garden cultivation, have multi-season appeal and attract native butterflies, birds and other beneficial wildlife, according to the publisher.