Penley Panel

The economy may be in a slump, but Colorado State University research is in high gear.

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National economy remains bumpy for rest of 2008

Weak economic growth and a decline in GDP point to a U.S. economic recession, and Colorado fares only slightly better.

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Economist to issue 2009 Northern Colorado Forecast Oct. 1

Regional economist Martin Shields and industry leaders will discuss economic trends for the region at the second annual Colorado State University Regional Economic Summit and Forecast.

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Successful prosthetic implant in 'Saluki Sally' offers hope for human amputees

An experimental procedure fuses a new limb to the bone.

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Researchers strive for faster, more complete healing of joint injuries

A new gene-therapy study on horses may ultimately improve human-cartilage health and reduce injury-related osteoarthritis.

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CSU lands largest single grant to study biofuels

Researchers will use rice as a model, which could speed the development of new crops for biofuels.

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New CloudSat data will help scientists better predict climate change

Images are transmitted from a spacecraft about seven times per day, making new weather data available every three to eight hours.

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Libraries gone green

Colorado State is the nation's "Green University," and even CSU Libraries are providing a sustainable standard, relying less on paper by expanding electronic services and resources. CSU Libraries developed RapidILL — rapid interlibrary loan — a revolutionary, fast, cost-effective, paper-free article delivery service designed for groups of libraries, created in response to the devastating 1997 flood that dumped a 7-foot wall of water on CSU's Morgan Library and destroyed nearly 500,000 volumes. Now recovered from one of the most devastating disasters to hit an academic library, Morgan Library has emerged as a leader for libraries going green.

Paper-free access at CSU Libraries

73
Percent of electronic journals

24,000
Number of electronic journals

198
Number of electronic research databases

$30,000
Cost of library photocopy and printing services, which has been drastically reduced by use of electronic resources

RapidILL, the fast, paper-free document delivery service developed at CSU

2 or fewer
Number of days for RapidILL to deliver documents from library collections to user desktops

4 minutes
Record time that a paper-free document delivery was filled at CSU's Morgan Library

70 percent
Decrease in cost for traditional inter-library loan delivery of items not digitized or available on Web (traditionally, these items would be photocopied and mailed)

90
Number of research libraries throughout the world that now use CSU's RapidILL

Other electronic library services that save resources and costs

Electronic Reserve
Allows faculty and instructors to post course materials online and reduce the number of paper handouts.

Interlibrary Loan
Provides CSU faculty, staff, and students with free, electronic access to any journal article in the CSU collection, reducing the number of photocopies needed and enabling access to library materials without having to travel to campus.

Scanners in the Electronic Information Center
Allow researchers to scan materials instead of costly and wasteful photocopying.

Source: Colorado State University

Economic gloom

"At the risk of sounding like gloomy Gus, current economic events suggest no quick turnaround."

—Martin Shields, regional economist and associate professor of economics at Colorado State University, about the national economic outlook for the rest of 2008

Workforce green

"We need sophisticated education in this area ... by 2030, we'll see 40 million new jobs in this green industry."

—Colorado State University President Larry Edward Penley, in an Aug. 4 television interview on Fox Business Report, about the mission of CSU's new School of Global Environmental Sustainability to educate the next generation of green workers

Systems critical

"Colorado employers have expressed a critical need for systems engineering education that will give their workers a broad base of knowledge that can be applied to complex systems."

—Ron Sega, Woodward Professor of Systems Engineering at Colorado State and vice president for energy, the environment, and applied research for the CSU Research Foundation, about the University's new graduate programs in systems engineering that will educate students to meet the needs of Colorado's employers

All systems go

Colorado State University will offer new graduate coursework in systems engineering this fall to meet the growing demands of employers in the aerospace, energy, environment, and bioscience industries. Systems engineering provides an interdisciplinary approach to complex engineering projects, such as the design and management of the international space station. Coursework will be offered both on campus and online and will lead to a Master of Engineering degree or a systems engineering certificate, pending final approval by the Board of Governors of the CSU System. The master's degree will require 10 courses totaling 30 credits; the certificate program will require four courses totaling 12 credits. Ron Sega, Woodward Professor of Systems Engineering at Colorado State and former NASA astronaut, director of Defense Research and Engineering and Under Secretary for the U.S. Air Force, is charged with developing the CSU systems engineering program. Sega also serves as vice president for energy, the environment, and applied research for the Colorado State University Research Foundation.

New Ventures chief

Ronald Marler is the new chief executive officer for CSU Ventures, a subsidiary corporation of the Colorado State University Research Foundation and the business development engine for CSU's Superclusters, which bring University research discoveries more quickly to the global marketplace. Marler, a senior administrator at Mayo Clinic Arizona, chief scientific officer and board member of Bridge Laboratories, and board member of CSU Ventures, has more than 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical research and product development. Marler will work closely with Mark Wdowik, who served as the inaugural CEO of the corporation since February 2007. Wdowik will launch a new CSU initiative — a for-profit seed investment fund, which will invest in CSU start-ups and key research partners — and will continue to support proprietary research, technology transfer, commercialization, and start-ups for CSU Ventures.

To market, to market

Colorado State University will establish the Regional Center for Product Translation to help local businesses develop medications, vaccines, and diagnostic tests and bring those inventions to market. The new center will be funded by a one-year, $99,000 grant from the Metro Denver WIRED Initiative (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) and provide regulatory education in addition to product-development support. Center partners include the Larimer Bioscience Initiative, the Colorado Bioscience Association, Amgen Corporation, AlloSource, Inviragen, Kelly Scientific Resources, and the Larimer County Workforce Center. The center also will support product development from research initiatives at Colorado State, where the Infectious Disease and Cancer Superclusters and the Rocky Mountain Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Disease Research are based. Contact Deanna Scott, (970) 491-8685, Deanna.Scott@colostate.edu or Becky Rivoire, (970) 491-4893, Becky.Rivoire@colostate.edu for more information.

Animal tech

Colorado State University and Front Range Community College received a $260,000 Metro Denver WIRED Initiative grant to train technicians to care for research animals. The program will offer a research animal specialty certificate and a two-year degree, one of only a few such animal-care specialties in the United States. Courses will be offered through Colorado State University and Front Range Community College. Colorado Animal Research Enterprises, High Quality Research LLC, National Jewish Hospital and Respiratory Center, Lamar Research Feedlot, and CSU's Agricultural Research, Development, and Education Center will offer internships for program participants. Grant partners are Larimer County Work Force, Northern Colorado Development Corporation, the Mile High Branch of American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, Larimer County Biosciences Cluster, and the Poudre and Thompson Valley school districts. For more information, contact Phyllis Abt at Front Range Community College, (970) 204-8363, Phyllis.abt@frontrange.edu or Lynne Kesel at Colorado State University, (970) 491-3288, lynne.kesel@colostate.edu.

Healing forests

The Colorado State Forest Service is accepting proposals for the Colorado Community Forest Restoration program for projects that protect critical water supplies and forest health such as wildfire risk reduction, community protection, ecological restoration, and woody biomass utilization. The grant program was established by the 2007 Colorado General Assembly and continued with the passage of Senate Bill 71 in 2008. Up to $2 million in grant funds are available this year. Grant applications are due Oct. 10, and awards will be announced in early November. Access application and additional information on the Colorado State Forest Service website.