Page 37 - Fall 2007

leads to innovations and technologies that give the United States its global economic edge.
Achenbach is a preeminent researcher in solid mechanics and quantitative non-destructive evaluation. He has made major contributions in the field of propagation of mechanical distur- bances in solids. He has achieved important results in quantita- tive non-destructive evaluation of materials, damage mecha- nisms in composites, and vibrations of complex structures. He has developed methods for flaw detection and characterization by ultrasonic scattering methods. Achenbach’s work has been both analytical and experimental. He also has achieved valuable results on earthquake mechanisms, on the mechanical behavior of composite materials under dynamic loading conditions, and on the vibrations of solid propellant rockets.
Achenbach is founder of Northwestern's Center for Quality Engineering and Failure Prevention, a state-of-art lab- oratory for quality control in structural mechanics, with pro- found impact on the aircraft industry, particularly the moni- toring of aging aircraft. Achenbach was awarded the 2003 National Medal of Technology, the nation’s highest honor for technological innovation. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1982, a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1992, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1994. In 1999 he was elected a Corresponding Member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, an honorary member and fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and a fellow of the Society of Engineering Science (SES), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His awards include the Timoshenko Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the William Prager Medal.
Patricia Kuhl receives Alumni Award
Patricia Kuhl receives University of Minneapolis alumni award
Patricia Kuhl, University of Minnesota distinguished alumna, has been named an Outstanding Alumni of Achievement (OAA). The award is the highest given by the University to alumni and recognizes exceptional achieve- ment in a professional field or service. Dr. Kuhl is an alum- na of the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences and received the award at a keynote presentation at the University in May.
Kuhl currently is Co-Director of the University of
Washington Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences. Her research focuses on language acquisition and language pro- cessing by the brain. Her work also shows that language processing involves many senses, including vision, both in early infancy and in adulthood.
“Dr. Patricia Kuhl’s work is at the leading edge of research on human development, and her scholarship fun- damentally has changed our knowledge about infants' emerging language across a breadth of disciplines. Whenever the question is raised in research and public pol- icy arenas about how humans communicate, one of the most prominent and internationally respected scientists approached for possible answers is Pat Kuhl.” said Jennifer Windsor, professor and chair of the Department of Speech- Language-Hearing Sciences.
Kuhl was one of six scientists invited to the White House in 1997 by President and Mrs. Clinton to speak at their Early Learning and the Brain Conference. In 2001, she was invited back to the White House to speak at President and Mrs. Bush’s White House Summit on Early Cognitive Development.
The OAA was created by the Board of Regents in 1947. It honors alumni from all university colleges who have excelled in their chosen field and who have made extraordinary con- tributions to their community, whether local, national, or global. The University of Minnesota presents 20 Outstanding Achievement Awards each year. The Twin Cities campus alone has approximately 350,000 alumni.
J. Brian Fowlkes receives research award
J. Brian Fowlkes, Associate Professor of Radiology and Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan, has been awarded the 2006 Achievement in Basic Science Research Award from the University of Michigan Medical School. The award recog- nizes a faculty member or group of faculty members who exhibit outstanding basic science research.
Dr. Fowlkes and his colleagues in the ultrasound labora- tory have developed a method of acoustic droplet vaporiza- tion to produce gas bubbles within an artery, creating a selec- tively localized ultrasound contrast media that can be used in a variety of applications such as volume flow estimations, tissue perfusion and shape control of acoustic fields within the body. Dr. Fowlkes’ other areas of research include drug enhancement and delivery of ultrasonic therapy, tissue elas- ticity imaging, imaging and quantification of vascular flow and perfusion, safety of medical ultrasound, image process- ing, instrumentation, 3-D imaging and quantitative tissue characterization, and quantitative testing of new applications.
Dr. Fowlkes received his PhD in Physics in 1988 from the University of Mississippi, working at the National Center for Physical Acoustics. He began at the University of Michigan as a post doctoral fellow in 1988 and joined the faculty in 1991. He has authored or coauthored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and has presented numerous contributed and invited lectures. He is a member of the Acoustical Society of America, American Association of Physicists in Medicine, American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, and International Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. He has twice been awarded the Presidential Recognition
National News 35