The segment featured a coding workshop led by Nora Helf, a Master of Arts in Education student, who saw teachers using software to coordinate blinking LED lights. Helf was assisted by 10-year-old programmer Jack Tavakley who demonstrated some of the projects he has made.

Watch and read on the KARE 11 website.

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David Murr ’92, Augsburg College associate professor of physics, was quoted in a recent Star Tribune science brief on advances in solar storm detection. Murr discussed researchers’ efforts to help governments and industry develop better assessments of the risks solar storms pose to the world’s technological infrastructure. Read the brief on the Star Tribune website.

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Augsburg College is honored to announce that it has received an unrestricted $10 million philanthropic gift from a 1965 alumnus.

The donor’s generous contribution will support a new academic building that will house a number of the College’s academic programs including biology, business, chemistry, computer science, math, physics, psychology, and religion.

“This tremendous gift will make possible our continued commitment to academic excellence, to the hands-on learning that is one of the hallmarks of the College, and to the continued best-use of our 23-acre campus,” said Augsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow. “Augsburg is a 143-year-old anchor institution in the heart of Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. This gift puts Augsburg on the path of being a college for the 21st century, and one that continues to deliver academic excellence in the liberal arts and professional studies.”

“Augsburg College has found many ways to innovate and evolve since I was a student—while at the same time maintaining the core values that were so appealing to me,” said Augsburg College Regent Steve Wehrenberg ’78, chief executive officer of Campbell Mithun. “This gift will ensure the College remains a caring, inspiring, and delightful place for students of all kinds to learn and grow.”

New building fund exceeds $23 million

The $10 million gift brings to more than $23 million the total funds for the new building. The Augsburg College Board of Regents will continue to monitor progress on the campaign and the College’s cash position and debt capacity to determine when to set a date for groundbreaking on the first stage of the building. The total cost of the building is estimated at more than $60 million.

“In May 2012, the Regents set calendar year 2014 as a target for beginning construction, a goal they believe is feasible, especially given the excitement this lead gift will engender with other prospective donors,” Pribbenow said.

The donor, who asked to remain anonymous, is a long-time supporter of the College and graduated with bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and business administration.

Augsburg College is set in a vibrant neighborhood at the heart of the Twin Cities, and offers more than 50 undergraduate majors and nine graduate degrees to nearly 4,000 students of diverse backgrounds. Augsburg College educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders. The Augsburg experience is supported by an engaged community that is committed to intentional diversity in its life and work. An Augsburg education is defined by excellence in the liberal arts and professional studies, guided by the faith and values of the Lutheran church, and shaped by its urban and global settings.

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Yet, each and every day, Augsburg College students conduct physics experiments whenever they cook or prepare food. Harvard University’s David Weitz will make visible the everyday physics taking place during food preparation at the Sverdrup Visiting Scientist lecture.

In addition to making science more accessible to non-scientists, the lecture provides important opportunities for Auggie science majors to hear from and network with leaders in the scientific community. Often, these experiences can grow into valuable internships or chances to study off campus and may be the starting point for Auggies to begin their careers.

The physics of our foods

Weitz, a professor of physics and applied physics and head of the  at Harvard, studies soft materials, such as the whipped cream on your banana split and squishy materials such as the yogurt and jello in your refrigerator. The study of soft condensed matter also includes biological materials such as blood, muscle, or milk. These materials often have properties of both liquids and solids. Understanding how these materials behave in different forms can have important technological applications.

Weitz, who also teaches an introductory science course on the physics of food, will explore in his Monday, April 8 lecture, “Physics of Cooking,” the science behind innovative approaches to taste and presentation used in modern cooking, including “food foams” and the use of “gelation,” which means solidifying a food by cooling or freezing it.

Weitz will discuss how foods change during cooking as a way to illustrate the scientific processes that people experience in daily life. By understanding the chemical and structural changes that occur during regular food preparation, attendees will be able to more easily relate to the actual scientific terms, processes, and disciplines including soft matter physics, materials science, and organic chemistry.

Studying physics in the Augsburg kitchen

Augsburg College associate professor Ben Stottrup, who teaches a course on the physics of cooking at Augsburg, said food is a way to get people interested in science—perhaps enough to change their degree program. One student wrote in a midterm evaluation: “My perspective on science has changed dramatically. I really enjoy how science is so mysterious yet so explainable at the same time. Makes me want to major in science.”

Stottrup’s course uses cooking and food—called a “biomaterial” by scientists—to present scientific concepts and processes. For example, students make mayonnaise to learn about how liquids can be combined. The egg yolks and oil used in mayonnaise would not naturally mix together, but by slowly whisking the oil into the egg yolks, the two liquids form what is called a permanent emulsion that won’t separate.

Stottrup’s course also includes labs that use tofu and steak to understand how materials resist or react to changes in shape, whipping cream to learn about foams, and melting chocolate to demonstrate the transition of matter from solid to liquid.

Several of Stottrup’s students said in their midterm evaluations that the course has helped them see the science around them and to be more aware of how science affects them. Another student said, “Before Science 123 I could have never imagined thinking about food scientifically. It has made me really think about the material properties in the foods that I like to eat, and in my mind, make better eating choices. I’m now curious [about] what I eat… and what [foods] will do for me when I eat them.”

The magic of microfluidics

The Tuesday convocation lecture, titled “Dripping, Jetting, Drops, and Wetting,” explores microfluidics, the science of the behavior, control, and manipulation of fluids that are constrained to a small, typically sub-millimeter, scale.

Because fluids behave differently in small channels, scientists use microfluidics to study how behaviors change and how to work around or exploit these changes for new uses. Weitz will discuss the use of microfluidic devices to precisely control the flow and mixing of fluids to make drops, which have a variety of practical applications from cosmetics to drug testing and delivery.

The Sverdrup Visiting Scientist program

The annual Sverdrup Visiting Scientist lecture series brings renowned scientists to campus to share their expertise with the Augsburg community, the College’s aspiring scientists, and members of the larger scientific community. The program provides an opportunity for Augsburg students and faculty to interact on a personal basis with scientists of national stature.

The General Leif J. Sverdrup Visiting Scientist program was established in 1990 by Johan Sverdrup in memory of his father, Major General Leif J. Sverdrup ’18. General Sverdrup was the founder of Sverdrup and Parcel, Inc. (now the Sverdrup Corp.), an international architectural and engineering firm.

Sverdrup Lecture Event Schedule – all events are free and open to the public

Monday, April 8, 7 p.m.

Hoversten Chapel, Foss Center

“Physics of Cooking”

Tuesday, April 9, 11 a.m.

Hoversten Chapel, Foss Center

“Dripping, Jetting, Drops, and Wetting: The Magic of Microfluidics”

Convocation Hashtags

Share your convocation experience using social media. The hashtag for the Sverdrup Visiting Scientist lecture with David Weitz from Harvard (@Harvard) is #SverdrupConvo.

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Below three students reflect on what they experienced and learned at the conference.

Mohamed Sheikh-Mohamed [middle left]

Firstly, I would say if anybody had an opportunity to go to a place where there will be recruiters in their professions, they should go. From this trip, I connected with many companies, and one thing that shocked me was that the CIA was recruiting at the career fair. I always thought that they hire by invitation only, but it changed what I believed about it.

I learned that with age comes wisdom, so I asked every professional individual that I had a conversation with, “What advice do you have for young guys like us?” The majority of their answers were to look for internships and co-ops because if companies like you while you with them, they will try to hire you as soon as you graduate. They also said that most companies look for diversity and something new that they do not have in the company, so if you have something new to contribute to a company, give it a try and apply for that company. They are also looking [at students who have been in] leadership roles.

This trip really helped me, knowing that there is a high demand of engineers in the upcoming years and almost every major company and corporation needs an engineer of some sort on their team.

Gottlieb Uahengo [far right]

The 38th Annual National Society of Black Engineers was an exciting conference to attend, because it provided the opportunity to observe and participate in critical scientific discussions. There was a multitude of organizations ranging from graduate school programs, multinational companies and various government agencies. The setting was most welcoming and encouraged young African-Americans to participate in the sciences so to better understand the importance of engineering as a multilateral discipline. The atmosphere was further re-enforced by the large number of multinational companies, showcasing their products, technology, and the innovative solutions they have developed to solve pending problems.

I was particularly intrigued by my ability to draw several parallels between my Augsburg education and some of the physics behind the technology of companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin as well as Minnesota native 3M. This realization brought a sense of deep pleasure, as I was able to see real world applications of the many concepts I have studied in my classes.

I also attended some workshops during the conference. A workshop hosted by Space (titled “Restoring American Human Spaceflight”) in which the audience participated in an interactive discussion on the importance of space exploration and its implication to the survival of the human race. I gained a great wealth of knowledge from this workshop as one could sense the depth of knowledge present throughout the room, simply from the ideas and questions that arose during the workshop. We discussed the implications of space exploration and its wear on the astronauts’ health and how these issues could be resolved by the fast growing biomedical engineering field. Such a possibility would allow ease in not only monitoring astronaut health but also pave a way for remote health operations and effectively allowing any trained individual to perform medical procedures in space. The thought of human life outside earth has intrigued scientists the world over, yet as we begin to wrap our collective knowledge around the laws of the universe, we realize more and more that there are still many unexplained anomalies; one should be humbled by the youthful nature of our technology and what more we have yet to discover as well as its impact to life as we know it.

Aside from being mentally stimulating, the conference also provided the opportunity for students to bounce ideas off each other. I had several talks with experts and fellow students, who shared brilliant ideas and journal articles. This kind of environment is surely priceless and one that will drive innovative solution for the future. This invaluable experience would not have been possible without the hardworking and dedication of LSAMP’s “Godmother” (Prof. Rebekah Dupont) who has continually challenged us to excel and apply ourselves.

Amir Rose [middle right]

For myself, going to college has never been anything less than mandatory. I’ve always aspired to further my education in the field of science, physics, and engineering. Attending the NSBE conference this spring helped me grasp a better understanding of what life is like after college for an engineer. The vast amount of fields available in this profession span across a large spectrum of interests from automotive, aeronautics, medical, and many more.

Attending the career fair was a great experience because it gave me the opportunity to speak with people who have been in engineering for many years and to obtain some good advice on how to approach future jobs and internships.  I had the chance to speak with a man who worked for Honda for over 15 years and had gained a great deal of experience in various subsets within the company. Engineering does not only encompass one position, as he explained, [when] entering the company people have a choice whether to do design or manufacturing on vehicles. I thought this was very interesting, and it gave me a new perspective on all of the possibilities available to me after I graduate.

Overall attending the NSBE conference was a great experience, and I hope to attend again next year. It gave me a greater understanding of what I can do with my major and made me eager for all the future possibilities that await.

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He didn’t take Advanced Placement high school classes in science. He didn’t arrive on campus with tons of calculus experience. Nor did he arrive on campus and immediately begin taking physics courses.

“I took a grand total of one science class in high school,” Johnson said.

But because of an interest in how things work, Johnson was drawn to the problem-solving part of physics. The move has turned out well.

Recently Johnson was named one of four Rossing Physics Scholars by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, becoming one of only four students at an ELCA college or university to receive a $10,000 scholarship. Johnson, who will be a junior this fall, is the only student from a Minnesota ELCA school to be named a Rossing Scholar or a honorable mention scholar.

This summer, Johnson has worked in the biophysics lab in the basement of Science Hall. He has worked to determine a bending modulus for lipid worm-like micelles. Last summer, Johnson worked with professors Ben Stottrup and Dave Hanson in examining the effects that atmospheric pollutants have on cloud formation.

In addition to the scholarship, the award indicates just how far Johnson has come since high school. Johnson grew up in St. Croix Falls before entering substance abuse treatment in high school. Upon completing treatment, Johnson moved to Vadnais Heights and attended the Arona Academy campus of Sobriety High in Coon Rapids. At Augsburg, Johnson is in the StepUP program, a program that is much of the reason why he chose the College.

“When I was looking at colleges, every time I went to Augsburg, I felt excited about it,” Johnson said. “I would say, ‘I can see myself here.’ Other college settings felt daunting.”

In his personal letter for the scholarship, Johnson talked about how he was behind other students because of Sobriety High’s mission.

“I attended a high school with a primary focus on helping teens with a history of substance abuse build an emotional and spiritual foundation,” he wrote. “This came at the cost of some opportunities for more advanced studies.”

Johnson has since worked to catch up, especially in the area of mathematics. In addition to his research, he took a multivariable calculus course at the University of Minnesota.

While his path to becoming a physics major has been non-traditional, Johnson is excited by how science impacts our day-to-day life.

“Physics is super relevant in my personal life,” he said. “I’m big into motorcycles, I have a street bike and a dirt bike, and being able to approach that through physics is really cool. I appreciate it.”

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It took a fractured wrist from a toga party at Augsburg and a J-term course in physics to persuade Cyndi Jones to enter the field of science. In the fall of 1977, this talented young woman came to Augsburg on a music scholarship to play the clarinet. She planned to pursue a career in classical clarinet and performance. However, in the January term between her first and second years, Cyndi took a Physics for the Life Sciences course from Mark Engebretson and explored the relationship between music, physics, and math. “I got a 4.0 in the class,” she said, “and the subject was fascinating and exciting.”

Seeing her potential, Engebretson encouraged Cyndi to take the physics fall line-up in her sophomore year. While taking both science and music courses, Cyndi auditioned and played a few times in the pit orchestra at the Guthrie Theater, taught swimming lessons at the hospital across from Augsburg, played in the Little Minneapolis Orchestra, and worked in the bursar’s office at Augsburg to help pay her tuition. “My grades suffered a bit because I was so busy,” she said, but she kept on working.

Then a fractured wrist forced Cyndi to take a break from the clarinet. “You don’t make a lot of money auditioning and playing backup in an orchestra,” she said, “and I began to wonder how I would ever pay back my student loans.” By her junior year, she had given up her music classes and pursued physics full time.

In 1981, Cyndi became the third woman ever to graduate with a degree in physics from Augsburg College. She said her professors never doubted her abilities, even though she wasn’t a 4.0 student. “My physics professors always had time for me,” she said. “Their doors were always open.”

After graduation, Cyndi taught health physics in courses at Oak Ridge Associated Universities in Tennessee. Teaching built her confidence as a scientist, she said, and opened doors for her to pursue further education. Teaching also introduced her to Rick Jones, a student she met in Tennessee, who would eventually become her husband.

In order to be near Rick, a native Californian, Cyndi delayed her graduate studies at Georgia Tech and worked for one and a half years as a resident reactor and medical health physicist in the Radiation Safety department at UCLA. This work provided the opportunity for Cyndi to engage in hands-on work in reactor and medical physics.

Cyndi completed her Master’s in Health Physics at Georgia Tech in 1986 and then entered government service as a physicist in the Center for Radiation Research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In 1988 she joined the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), where Cyndi said she’s had many challenging opportunities to conduct research and to develop new initiatives associated with nuclear security, safeguards, and radiological protection.

In 1994 she received one of the highest honors in the federal system – the NRC Meritorious Award for Health Physics Excellence.

Currently, Cyndi is NRC’s Senior Technical Advisor for Nuclear Security where she is responsible for authoritative technical advice, assistance, and support on complex technical issues related to nuclear security, safeguards, and strategies against nuclear or radiological terrorism. Despite numerous career advances at the NRC, Cyndi says one of her proudest achievements was the completion of her doctoral degree in nuclear engineering in 1991. While working full-time, Cyndi took weekend and evening classes over a ten-year period at the University of Maryland, College Park to obtain her PhD.

Cyndi says her Augsburg education, with its wide variety of difficult but rewarding experiences, prepared her for a career in physics. She remembers and cherishes the encouragement and the one-on-one help from physics professors Ken Erickson and Mark Engebretson. “My education helped me shape and define in my own mind what area of interest best fit for me,” she said. “It prepared me for two different graduate schools years later and enabled me to build upon the confidence those professors bestowed upon me to achieve my dreams.”

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Gruhlke and Schmit first took pressure readings in the basement and on the roof of Mortenson Hall, but after seeing only a slight difference, they knew they needed to go higher. They contacted Minneapolis building managers and found Verkman willing to help.  

Gruhlke said she never imagined being able to conduct an experiment while hanging over the edge of a building and looking 850′ down onto the downtown traffic. “I am excited to continue this research,” she said, “and see how we could really combine our classroom knowledge with our first-hand experience.”

Egbert added that the students’ experience taught them not only about atmospheric pressure, but also that people in the community are willing to engage with them in the learning process. “The exciting part of the trip was to actually be able to go to that height and make the measurement but also to just see the view, and Augsburg, from the roof location,” said Egbert.

The building, formerly the headquarters to U.S. Bancorp, is a distinguishing feature of the Minneapolis skyline — it has a round, lighted “crown” on top. Unofficially, 225 South Sixth is the second tallest building downtown, rumored to be just one foot shorter than the IDS Center.

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