Science & Tech
Missouri S&T explosives researcher studies blast-induced brain injuries
The Experimental Mine at Missouri S&T is known to many as the site of a popular summer Explosives Camp for high school students, and for its designation by Popular Science magazine as the country’s “coolest lab.” For Dr. Catherine Johnson, assistant professor of explosives engineering, the Missouri S&T mine is also an invaluable testing ground to study a life-altering ailment that can impact athletes, car accident victims, members of the military and others: traumatic brain injury (TBI). In partnership with neuroscientists from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and researchers with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the native Briton uses the outdoor lab to mimic battlefield conditions and explore how carefully calibrated explosions affect the brain’s wiring.
Read More »Missouri S&T to participate in $9.7M oil, gas exploration project in southeastern U.S.
A Missouri S&T geologist is part of a four-campus research team that will receive nearly $10 million from the U.S. Department of Energy and several energy companies in a bid to boost unconventional oil and gas recovery in the interior southeastern United States. The project is part of a $30 million investment by the federal agency’s Office of Fossil Energy to boost production in reservoirs with less than 50,000 barrels per day of current production.
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Missouri S&T doctoral student enlists drones to detect unexploded landmines through changes in plant health
From U.S. Navy laboratories to battlefields in Afghanistan, researchers are lining up to explore the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to detect unexploded landmines. At Missouri University of Science and Technology, civil engineering doctoral student Paul Manley is enlisting a third variable —plant health — to see if drones can be used to more safely […]
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Missouri S&T geologist named AAAS Fellow
Dr. Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe of Missouri University of Science and Technology has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for her contributions to the advancement of palynology ─ the study of organic-walled microfossils such as pollen and spores ─ and her outstanding efforts in educating the next generation of Earth scientists. This year’s nearly 400 AAAS fellows will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on November 24. New fellows will be also be recognized during the organization’s 2018 annual meeting in Austin, Texas, in February.
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Missouri S&T students clean up water through plant biology
By designing a new protein for a common plant, Missouri University of Science and Technology students can identify contaminated groundwater in the environment and assure homeowners that their drinking water is clean from pollutants like industrial solvents.
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Missouri S&T graduate student awarded top IEEE honor
A Missouri University of Science and Technology graduate student has received a top award from a leading academic honor society for engineers. Katelyn Brinker of Highland, Illinois, is co-winner of the 2017 Alton B. Zerby and Carl T. Koerner Outstanding Student Award from IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu (HKN). The honor society for electrical and computer engineers is an affiliate of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest technical professional organization for the advancement of technology.
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Missouri S&T receives federal support for early-stage research into tapping “citizen scientists” to collect water quality data
Picture teams of smartphone-toting citizen scientists, poised to collect water samples and test for contaminants thanks to a user-friendly app that can crowdsource rapid responders to mobilize the next time a public water system is at risk.
Researchers from Missouri University of Science and Technology and the University of South Florida are tapping National Science Foundation seed money set aside for “potentially transformative research” to advance the technology and hone the social mobilization efforts needed to summon trained, trusted teams of everyday water watchers.
The power of recycling could fuel vehicles in the future
The idea of recycling waste cooking oil into biodiesel fuel is nothing new. For years, researchers have studied the process and companies have recycled when possible. However, for many groups, cost is often the determining factor for making the effort to recycle.
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Missouri S&T geologist leads $2.1M National Science Foundation research effort to study Earth’s greatest mass extinction
Missouri S&T geologist Dr. Wan Yang has devoted his academic career to unlocking the mysteries of the Permian mass extinction more than 250 million years ago. That geological odyssey now finds him leading an 11-institution consortium that’s been collectively awarded a $2.1 million National Science Foundation research grant.
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