The Kansas Bioscience Authority in March awarded $4.1 million to create the Kansas Bioenergy and Biorefining Center of Innovation, uniting key industry players with the world-class research and development efforts at the University of Kansas – through its Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis – and Kansas State University.  The center of innovation will use commercial biorefining to develop alternative fuels and chemicals; commercialize efficient biomass resources for cost-effective quality power; and improve carbon capture.

A new study by University of Kansas engineering faculty and students documents how little crosswind is necessary to force a tractor-trailer into a rollover crash.

“We have found that a 15 to 20 mile-an-hour crosswind will blow over an empty truck,” said Tom Mulinazzi, professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering.

The University of Kansas School of Engineering has many events taking place during the fall semester. Check back often for additions and updates.

Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society, has awarded scholarships to four University of Kansas students for 2009-10. The KU students were among 234 students nationwide who earned the awards.

School of Engineering freshmen in the class of 2013 and their parents are invited to an ice cream social when they go through New Student Orientation at the University of Kansas.

 University of Kansas staff member is in Greenland sharing information as part of a polar ice sheet field study.

Cheri Hamilton, the K-12 education coordinator for the National Science Foundation-funded Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) headquartered at the University of Kansas, is part of an international team at the North Greenland Eemian (NEEM) ice-drilling project. 

Jayhawk Motorsports will compete at the Formula SAE California competition June 17-20 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., after finishing third in autocross and making the semifinals of the design phase at the Formula SAE Michigan competition in May.

The students, all from the School of Engineering at the University of Kansas, designed and built a Formula-style open-wheel racecar that competed against more than 100 teams from universities around the world at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.

A School of Engineering professor is among three University of Kansas faculty members honored this spring for outstanding service to the state.

Recipients of the 2009 Steeples Service to Kansas Award are Stephen B. Fawcett, the Kansas Health Foundation Professor of Applied Behavioral Science; Thomas E. Mulinazzi, professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering; and Charles Rapp, professor of social welfare and director of the Office of Mental Health Research and Training.

Ensuring the safety of the U.S. information infrastructure is of vital importance to national security. The University of Kansas recently was honored by the federal government for its commitment to research and educational programs devoted to protecting this critical interest.

The National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security have designated KU a National Center for Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education.

The Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets, headquartered at the University of Kansas, is cited frequently in a report on global climate change just released by the National Science Foundation.