Scholarship and Academic Life

Investing in future engineering leaders is the goal of a new merit-based scholars program, made possible by the family of Craig and Darla Albert.
The Albert Engineering Leadership Scholars Program will emphasize applied learning, campus involvement and professional development.

UNC Charlotte’s rocket team, comprised of engineering students, won the prestigious “Vehicle Design Award” at the NASA University Student Launch competition recently held at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Tooele County, Utah.
The 49er team was one of 31 university teams from across the country to enter the competition. Twenty-two of the teams made it to Utah, and of those 17 made it to the launch pad.

The UNC System Board of Governors has approved UNC Charlotte’s request to offer a Professional Science Master’s (PSM) degree in Data Science and Business Analytics (DSBA) starting in fall 2014.  This groundbreaking curriculum is the result of an unprecedented collaboration between the College of Computing and Informatics and the Belk College of Business, as it links the science and business of data.

University leaders note the curriculum will produce talented graduates to meet the 21st-century demands of business and industry.

Congressman Patrick McHenry (10th District) and Brett Keeter (’99), congressional district director and former UNC Charlotte Alumni Association president, recently visited campus to learn more about UNC Charlotte’s Data Science and Business Analytics initiative.

In addition to meetings with Chancellor Philip L. Dubois and Bob Wilhelm, vice chancellor for economic development and research, McHenry and Keeter observed several project demonstrations related to Big Data at the University’s Charlotte Visualization Center.

Oscar de la Torre, an assistant professor in the Department of Africana Studies, received a 2014 College Educators Research Fellowship from the UNC-Duke Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
According to de la Torre, the fellowship will enable him to develop the course “Environment, State and Society in the Caribbean and Latin America.” He said the class will be transnational and comparative and will discuss issues “that are currently very controversial, such as the green revolution in agriculture or the impact of the drug traffic among Afro-descendants.”

Sanjaya Mayadunne, a doctoral student in computing and information systems (business information systems and operations management track), will defend “Competitive Store Closing During an Economic Downturn: A Mathematical Programming Approach” at 12:30 p.m., Thursday, May 1, in the Friday Building, Room 381. Cem Saydam and Monica Johar are the dissertation advisors.

The Lee College of Engineering’s Materials Characterization Lab is now in the Cameron Applied Research Center. The facility provides faculty and student researchers with analysis of advanced materials, as well as sampling services, training, shared instrument usage and expertise at an affordable cost.

The Charlotte Venture Challenge (CVC) will showcase 39 finalists selected from more than 100 startup competitors located throughout the Southeastern United States. These contenders will be introduced to investors, corporate executives and the business community at the CVC finals, Thursday, May 1.

 Craig Ogle, the Charles H. Stone Professor of Chemistry, is the 2014 recipient of the First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal. The prestigious award, presented by First Citizens Bank and UNC Charlotte, honors faculty scholarship and intellectual inquiry.

The Africana Studies Department in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences will host its 12th annual symposium on Wednesday and Thursday, April 2-3.
This year’s symposium will focus on the topic of “Moral Economies.” According to Akin Ogundiran, chair of Africana studies, the goal of the two-day event is to diagnose and evaluate the rise in and ramifications of social inequality at the local and international levels despite increases in global wealth.