NSM Momentum Newsletter

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The recent devastation along the Gulf Coast reminds us of how the supply and cost of energy affect our lives. It is gratifying to know that many faculty members and students at the University of Houston have long been working on solutions to the world’s most critical energy-related problems. It is to those faculty and students that we dedicate this issue of Momentum.
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	Mission Possible: New Technology for Hydrocarbon Exploration As the search for hydrocarbons leads energy companies far from shore, consumers pay part of the price tag for deepwater and ultra-deepwater oil drilling, which can cost up to $100 million per drilling site, with no guarantee of reward. More
	Improving the Odds: Research Aids Oil and Gas Discoveries Three research groups were recently combined to form the new Center for Applied Geosciences and Energy (CAGE). CAGE will pool both intellectual and laboratory resources to better increase the ease and accuracy of oil and gas discoveries. More
	Benefits of Fuel Cell Technology As the director of the UH Center for Advanced Materials, Alex Ignatiev, professor of physics, chemistry, and electrical and computer engineering is working on thin film solid oxide fuel cells whose potential uses range from matters of defense and space travel, to driving forces in the consumer market including computers and electricity. More
	Fueling the Future: Superconductivity Research At the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston (TcSUH), cutting-edge research is fueling innovative technologies with applications ranging from electricity transmission and power generation to biomedicine and biosensors. More
	Giving to NSM The John C. Butler Presidential Endowed Scholarship in the Department of Geosciences is an example of effective philanthropy. It honors a friend and leader, unifies an entire college, and continues to support outstanding students. More

	Dan Wells, professor of biology and biochemistry, was recently awarded the Multiple Hereditary Exostoses (MHE) Coalition’s Humanitarian Scientific Achievement Award. Selected from an outstanding pool of international scientists, Wells is the first recipient of the award and was chosen by the MHE Coalition for having repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to their cause. Multiple hereditary exostoses is an inherited disorder of bone growth.
	In honor of the August birthday of Yuri Kuznetsov, noted Russian computational mathematician and University of Houston M.D. Anderson Distinguished Professor of Mathematics, an international conference was held in Moscow in September. Prior to accepting a permanent appointment at UH in 1997, Kuznetsov was one of the leading computational mathematicians in Russia.
	Rebecca Forrest, a lecturer/visiting professor of physics, was recently named by the American Physical Society (APS) as the winner of the first M. Hildred Blewett Scholarship for Women in Physics. The APS Committee on the Status of Women in Physics selected Forrest from a field of women applicants seeking to return to research.
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