Once more like a dungeon than a collection of artifacts, the University of Missouri-Rolla archives facility in the basement of Curtis Laws Wilson Library was enlarged and renovated this fall. Today, visitors to the archives find a bright, friendly spot to explore campus secrets.

Dr. Simon Conway Morris, author of "The Crucible of Creation" and professor of evolutionary palaeobiology at the University of Cambridge, is the keynote speaker for the annual Sigma Xi awards banquet at the University of Missouri-Rolla on April 21.

UMR — home of the 2003 American Solar Challenge winners — will host the solar car race’s 2005 Kickoff Conference on its campus March 26-28.

Dr. Donald Wunsch, the Mary K. Finley Missouri Distinguished Professor of Computer Engineering at the University of Missouri-Rolla, was recently named president-elect of the International Neural Network Society (INNS), a multi-disciplinary society.

Dr. Shamsher Prakash, professor emeritus of civil, architectural and environmental engineering at UMR will chair the Fifth International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering on April 13-17 in New York.

Dr. R. Larry Grayson, chair and professor of mining engineering at the University of Missouri-Rolla, was recently appointed to a three-year term as chair of the Mine Safety and Health Research Advisory Committee (MSHRAC) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Dr. Karl E. Burgher, interim chair of economics and finance at the University of Missouri-Rolla, was named associate director for outreach and technology transfer at the Rocky Mountain Regional Hazardous Substance Research Center.

The engineering challenges of developing nations is the subject of an upcoming lecture at the University of Missouri-Rolla.

Jeremiah King of St. Charles, Mo., a junior in civil engineering at the University of Missouri-Rolla, will portray St. Patrick, the patron saint of engineers, during the 2004 UMR St. Pat’s Celebration.

The world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales will march in UMR’s annual St. Pat’s Parade, Saturday, March 13, in downtown Rolla.