Category Archives: Education

Probability of Success

UD alum and ‘Jeopardy!’ champ Craig tells students it’s important to take chances

When Li Liao, associate professor in the University of Delaware Department of Computer and Information Sciences, saw Roger Craig’s almost-perfect GRE score while Craig was applying to graduate school at UD, the faculty member said to himself, “Wow, this guy is smart.”

Liao says he took a chance on Craig, who had no formal training in computer science. Craig would go on to exceed his adviser’s expectations, studying bioinformatics and earning master’s and doctoral degrees in computer and information sciences at UD.

Craig also would set several records on the Jeopardy! quiz show in 2010 and 2011, among them, the all-time record for single-day winnings ($77,000). Craig said that when he hit the daily doubles, he almost always bet everything. (more…)

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2012 Plastino Scholars

Life-changing opportunities made possible by donor’s generosity

From working on solar-powered energy in India and conducting historic research on the Jewish community of Buenos Aires, to studying the world parrot crisis and examining music and dance in Bali, the four 2011 Plastino Scholars recounted their experiences at a dinner on Thursday, April 26, that celebrated their experiences and welcomed the incoming 2012 cohort. (more…)

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Not Your Parents’ Chem Labs

‘Greener’ and more engaging experiments draw students in

As a college student, Michelle Driessen had an all-too-typical experience.

“I hated general chemistry,” she says. “I thought it was terribly boring.”

She had plenty of company. Experiments were all laid out in advance, and the goal seemed to be to get to a predetermined result without blowing up the glassware.

In the old days, “very few students appreciated the point of most general chemistry labs,” adds Driessen. “With cookbook chemistry, you couldn’t have anything go wrong or deviate [from what’s supposed to happen], but I find those things to be the most interesting part of science.” (more…)

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Global Health: Students Build Wiki of Medical Devices Designed for Low-Income Countries

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— In parts of the world without reliable electricity, a pedal-powered nebulizer could provide life-saving asthma treatments. Small wax-filled sleeping bags could keep premature infants warm. A salad spinner centrifuge for blood samples could help clinicians diagnose anemia.

University of Michigan researchers have cataloged more than 100 such technologies in a new wiki of medical devices designed for resource-limited settings. The Global Health Medical Device Compendium, an open-source inventory, is hosted by the popular appropriate technology wiki Appropedia. It is expected to serve as an important communication vehicle for end users, non-governmental organizations, researchers and others to help advance such technologies. (more…)

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Preserving a Language

U launches groundbreaking new Ojibwe-English ‘talking’ dictionary

Eugene Stillday was born in Ponemah on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, where he grew up speaking Ojibwe. That is, until his public school teachers forbade him from the practice and punished him and his classmates for speaking the only language they knew. (more…)

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