Star Tribune’s Richard Chin refers to Brian Krohn ‘08Ěý as a “Minnesota Genius” in his article. Among Krohn’s creations are surgery tools,Ěýwizard staffs, a cycling workout app, and more recently, Soundly, a cell phone application designed to help people who snore by getting them to play a voice-activated game to strengthen their upper airway muscles.

While at Augsburg, Krohn switched majors from film to chemistry, that’s when his interest in becoming a scientist began. His undergraduate research led him to “Good Morning America” where he talked about a process to produce environmentally-friendly fuel, which was later commercialized in the development of a $9 million pilot plant.

“A lot of times I get a little bug about something, I kind of just do things and see where they go,” says Krohn about his ventures.

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Graves, a recent Augsburg College graduate who lives with cerebral palsy, credits the Center’s library of software and adaptive devices as part of his educational success. “Without technology, I wouldn’t be able to be independent,” he said.

Graves graduated with honors April 30 and was awarded the first-ever Youth Leadership Award by the Otto Bremer Trust later that evening.

Read on the Star Tribune site.

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Kruzel shares that about 5Ěýpercent of students at Augsburg have some type of learning disability. She hopes that this technology will help students perform at a level that more accurately reflects their capacity.

“These students’ level of intelligence may be above average, but because they struggle with the traditional college notetaking format, they may fail to reach their potential,” she writes.

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The AugSTEM scholarships will be funded by a nearly $600,000 grant recently received from the National Science Foundation. The grant means that as many as 30 students in biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and physics will receive important financial support as they pursue their academic careers.

“In today’s world, many students balance educational goals, the demands of family responsibilities, and the pressure to support themselves financially,” said Amy Gort, Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Arts and Sciences. “These AugSTEM scholarships will help students maintain focus on their studies and have more time to explore career paths.”

Development of the grant proposal and the AugSTEM program was possible through a collaboration among faculty and staff.

“Science faculty recognized the high talent of our STEM students, and the tensions they balance between school and the rest of their lives,” said Benjamin Stottrup, Associate Professor of Physics. “We worked as a team to seek NSF funding. Our goal is to continue providing a rigorous academic experience that develops critical thinkers while providing additional programmatic support for these scientists as they transition to the workplace.”

About 50 percent of the scholarship recipients will be transfer students, and will further strengthen Augsburg’s partnerships with community colleges.

“We know from investigating the degree process of transfer students at Augsburg that we receive a significant number of transfer students in STEM,” said Rebekah Dupont, coordinator of the College’s Lois Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP). “Through the AugSTEM program, we hope to collaborate with STEM faculty at community colleges to support more seamless transitions for these students and to connect them more quickly with our continuing students.”

Next steps for the AugSTEM program include recruiting students to apply for the scholarships and making final programming decisions for fall. AugSTEM programming will include workshops and seminars, focus on professional development, and support Augsburg students in their transition to the scientific workplace.

The AugSTEM collaboration was led by Stottrup and Dupont, and the joint effort among faculty and staff will continue through the life of the grant.

To learn more about the grant, visit the .

Augsburg College currently has more than $3 million of active NSF funding. The largest individual active award, for more than $1 million, is for the ongoing work of Physics Professor Mark Engebretson for studies of magnetospheric physics.

Partial support for the AugSTEM program is provided by the National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program under Award Number DUE-1154096.

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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.Ěý 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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The programs located in the Gage Center are:

– CLASS—Regina Hopingardner, Sheila Fox Wassink, Rick Gubash, Barbara Harvey, Rachel Kruzel, Anne Lynch

– Access Center—Sadie Curtis

– TRiO/SSS—Kimberly Bestler, Kevin Cheatham, Melody Martagon-Geiger, Aly Olson, Sherron Reese

– Academic Skills Office/Tutor Center—Annette Carpenter, Debbie Shapiro, Benjy Kent

On February 6, the academic advising staff will also relocate to the Gage Center. Their offices will be located in room 227, adjacent to the computer area (former home of the Admission Possible coaches).

Central reception desk

All students should check in at the reception desk for appointments with any of these staff members. In addition, students who are using the Groves accommodations lab (for testing) and students who are serving as test proctors or notetakers through the CLASS office should also check in at the desk.Ěý Reception desk hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Friday.

Meeting rooms

Meeting rooms are reserved during business hours for staff use. Rooms are available in the evenings and on weekends for individual and group studying or meetings.

Groves Technology Center

Computers in the Groves Center are available for student use during regular library hours.

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At the ceremony, Darden was able to network with representatives of many of Minnesota’s leading technology companies and make connections for future internship and career opportunities. “It was like the Academy Awards of the technology industry in Minnesota,” she said. “Everyone was there.”

Darden said she was especially interested in meeting the women working in the industry. “You hear that the science fields are looking for minorities and females,” she said. “I don’t see that issue much here because Augsburg is very diverse, but at the awards, I didn’t see anyone who looks like me. That was my first time seeing how it really is, and that’s motivating me.”

Darden, a McNair, Phillips, and North Star STEM scholar, plans to attend graduate school in mechanical engineering. She said her dream job would be to build a roller coaster.

Watch a about Jazmine Darden and the other scholarship recipients.

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The following is an excerpt from Sociology professor Tim Pippert’s opening convocation address to students, titled “Information is not knowledge.”

As a sociologist, I am fascinated by social change and lately I have been drawn to the transformations that are taking place in the areas of education and the use of technology.

Because I am interested in how society is adapting to the explosion of internet-based technology, I found this talk very easy to write. I asked myself, “Why not use the available technologies?” I simply Googled “opening college speech” and immediately had hundreds to work with.

After finishing my “research” on Google, all I had to do was put it together. The formula for this type of address is pretty simple.

— Start with a welcome. Check.

— Throw in a joke or two.

— Tell you a deep and moving story.

— And end with some advice for your success.

After 20 min. of skimming some of the speeches, there was no real need to actually read them carefully. I cut and pasted a few things from various opening convocation addresses.

Because Augsburg’s location in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood helps define our identity, I pulled a few paragraphs on neighborhood policy from an opening address given at the University of Europe in Warsaw, Poland.

To lighten things up, I found a great connection between Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to community development in an address to incoming students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

And I found some great words of wisdom on college success from an opening convocation at West Virginia University. I then looked up a few jokes, added a personal story, changed “West Virginia” to “Augsburg” and I was done in about an hour.

Unfortunately, I didn’t even need to spend an hour on this because at the end of my “research,” I stumbled on Speech-Writers.com. The site promised “welcome back to college speeches” suitable for any college official for only $19.95 that could be downloaded in 60 seconds.

With all this information available at the click of my mouse, I could have easily created an opening convocation speech that brought in neighborhood policy, referenced popular literature, and hopefully would have inspired you.

But it isn’t really about being able to download speeches. It is about being able to pull up Census data for the Cedar Riverside neighborhood or your hometown, to check the monthly measures of job creation, to track legislation through Congress, and to be able to read newspapers from around the globe.

With instant access to so much information, we really should have something to show for it, shouldn’t we? Many of us are carrying the 1970s and 1980s equivalent of a backpack filled with an entire volume of encyclopedias in our pocket. Actually scratch that image. Instead of thinking about carrying around encyclopedias, picture having an entire library and research lab on every campus computer or with you right now if you have a smart phone or iPad.

Being so wired is amazing but what I am arguing today is that for all the information we can easily acquire, we have little increased knowledge to show for it.

Let’s go back to how I began our conversation. If I had actually prepared my speech by cutting and pasting quotes from the web, it would have given you some information but it certainly wouldn’t have come from my base of knowledge. It would have been the words, inspirations, and beliefs of others, but I want today to be about you and me and the shared experiences of being in THIS space and in THIS time.

…In this moment I don’t want to just deliver some information, but to begin working toward a basis of shared knowledge. That is why we are here, on campus and heading into classrooms tomorrow, to explore the world together. We are here to build a shared knowledge.

In his examination of reform in American Universities, Louis Menand argues that:

“Knowledge is our most important business. …The pursuit, production, dissemination, application, and preservation of knowledge are central activities of a civilization. Knowledge is a social memory, a connection to the past…and it is social hope…an investment in the future. The ability to create knowledge and put it to use is the adaptive characteristic of humans. It is how we reproduce ourselves as social beings and how we change…”

And so when I distinguish between information and knowledge, I am really talking about the passive act of quickly looking something up versus exploring, discussing, and experiencing something. While this can be done through web pages and social networking sites, I would argue that in most cases it can be done more effectively and with greater fulfillment as a face-to-face endeavor.

Long before Google and Facebook hit the scene, George Herbert Mead, a sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher writing in the late 1800s and early 1900s argued that our mind is a product of social interaction. Each individual is continually involved in a succession of joint enterprises with others, which form and shape their mind. As such to know something is to share something, to have knowledge is to be part of a collective experience.

Augsburg is here to provide you with that collective experience. At Augsburg you will be given chances to create knowledge in a community and through experiences designed to help you learn. This is the essence of an education steeped in the liberal arts.

According to the Association of American Colleges and Universities, “a liberal education helps students develop a sense of social responsibility, as well as strong and transferable intellectual and practical skills such as communication, analytical and problem-solving skills, and a demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings.”

That sounds great, but I prefer the way President Pribbenow defined it in a previous speech to the campus… a liberal arts education will prepare you to “Think, Act, and Give a Damn.”

In order to get everything you can out of the education being offered to you, you need to be present. I am not talking about skipping class, but about being actively involved in your experiences here at Augsburg. And for all the great applications our new technologies have for enhancing our educations, sometimes being present might just mean turning off your smart phones, computers, and iPads when they interfere with your ability to experience learning with those around you.

…Joni Mitchell warned us about paving over paradise. I do not want to portray pre-smart phone campuses as “paradise” but I do believe our over-reliance on these technologies can have some negative consequences.

One of the outcomes of our reliance on technology is that we seem afraid to put them down. Many of us feel compelled to respond immediately to any text, call, or Facebook update regardless of the social or academic setting in which we are physically present.

For the last couple of years, I have noticed a change in what is going on when I walk into my first and second year classes. Five to ten years ago, after students had a chance to get to know each other, the classrooms I would walk into were loud and full of energy. Lately, even at mid-semester, there are very few conversations taking place between students when I enter the room. The silence is almost deafening. When I walk into my classrooms this week, I fully expect to see most students sitting quietly while texting or surfing the web.

Sitting quietly before class starts and texting a friend or a family member isn’t a bad way to spend your time. It does, however, have consequences when it is the norm. When most students spend the time before every class on-line the in class conversations and debates suffer because we simply haven’t taken the time or energy to get to know the person we are sitting next to.

The reaction you are feeling right now because of my words on texting is evidence that you and I likely view the same situation through different lenses. We view the world somewhat differently because we were raised in very different social and historical contexts.

I am not saying that all students are dependent on electronic gadgets and I certainly don’t want you to get the idea that our faculty are afraid of technology. You will be amazed at the creative uses of technology employed at Augsburg, but it does matter that we experienced our educational training at different times in history.

Because we have not been wired for our entire lives, internet-based technologies are not always the first tool we turn to when trying to answer a question, accomplish a task, or foster our relationships.

You, however, are what Ron Nief, one of the authors of the description of first-year students published by Beloit College each fall refers to as the “Internet Class.” According to Neif, you are “the symbolic generational start of a revolutionary adjustment in the systems and processes on which so much of society is built today.”

In contrast, Bruce Krajewski, a professor of English at Texas Woman’s University, wrote a counter piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education reminding incoming students what they might experience when coming into contact with professors born before 1980.

My favorite statement made by Professor Krajewski was that the people to my left first used the words “I phone” as a verb, as in “I will phone, or I have phoned, ” and so on.

To be clear, my discussion of the use of new technologies does not come with a dichotomy of good and evil. There is no good or bad internet, but as a sociologist I understand that the differing social contexts in which you and I were raised contribute to altered interpretations of the same technologies.

Given that we have different lenses through which we see the world, I would argue that people like me must learn from you about the wonders of always being able to access information at a moment’s notice. You have the opportunity to demonstrate to me that you have your pulse on the world in a way that I never thought possible when I was 18 years old.

Use the information that is at your fingertips to engage others, to start a conversation, to share in the experience of gaining knowledge. Bring that up-to-date information into your classrooms.

When I am talking about census data, show me that you are even more knowledgeable than I am at using demographic mapping software. Show me how social networking can be used for social change as it continues to do so in the Arab Spring. Or show me again how our community can be mobilized like it was last September. The way Sr. sociology major Taylor Foster used Facebook to organize the entire campus in solidarity against anti-gay violence and vandalism.

And in exchange for helping me understand the power of these technologies, I ask that you do two things: First, don’t sit idly by and wait for the world to change into one where our dependence on technology makes it increasingly difficult to foster relationships with your classmates. Remember. To have knowledge is to be part of a collective experience.

And finally, understand that having access to information does not immediately lead to knowledge because it matters what you do with it and at Augsburg we want you to “Think, Act, and Give a Damn.”

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“You learn what a career would be like,” she says. “You can’t sleep until noon because you have to be at work, and it helps you realize what you want to do.”

Darden was one of more than 60 students who conducted research this summer through several different programs. Her project, which was conducted with mathematics professor John Zobitz, was funded through the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, or LSAMP. The program provides research opportunities through the Northstar STEM Alliance for first-year students of color who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—the STEM disciplines.

Darden and five other Northstar STEM researchers worked this summer and also met regularly to discuss their projects and learn about other aspects of the graduate school application process. “What did my friends at the U do?” she says. “Worked at Target. There are so many more opportunities here.”

She adds that Rebekah Dupont’s leadership and support was a very important part of her summer project. Dupont is the LSAMP site coordinator working with the STEM program. “She really took us under her wing and helped us find a bunch of opportunities,” Darden says.

In addition to helping her explore a career in mathematics, Darden says conducting research allowed her to apply principles she learned from the classroom to the real world.

“In Calculus class, you do a bunch of math problems and say, ‘When am I ever going to use this?’ And we were using it,” she says.

In August, Darden and three other students attended a national mathematics conference with Zobitz to present their research. Pictured above [left to right] are Darden, Nana Owusu (LSAMP), John Zobitz, Nghiep Huynh (McNair), and Jeremy Anthony (URGO).

“I was proud of our group’s presentations because we worked hard to make them eye-catching and interesting,” Darden says. “Overall the conference was a great experience and I would recommend it to next year’s researchers.”

When asked about her plans after graduation, Darden confidently answers that she will be going to graduate school for engineering. Not only will she be the first college graduate in her family and the first to earn an advanced degree, she is the first to attend college.

“I don’t know where, but I just know I am going to go,” she says. “I have two older sisters who didn’t go to college, so I feel like they are living the college experience through me. And I know my nieces and nephew are looking up to me, too.”

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Augsburg students, as well as former GEMS students, serve as mentors. These opportunities not only give the younger students valuable opportunities, but the Augsburg students valuable teaching experience while building their own confidence and knowledge in math and science.

Students in the program will work on a variety of projects, including a robotics class along with sessions with names like “eMusik,” “Mighty Mississippi,” and “Backyard Ballistics.”

Students in the program work on a variety of projects, including a robotics class, in which they are building a replica of a space capsule and a “Make Up Your Mind” class, where the students make their own cosmetics.

GEMS and GISE runs through August.

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