College of Science and Technology
FAL L 2020
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be tomorrow’s scientific leaders. But without increased that offer more attractive financial aid packages. To avoid student loan debt, young people increasingly To attract the most promising students, CST must increase its scholarship resources. Your gift to the Dean’s Scholarship Fund helps CST attract talented students who will go on to successful careers in medicine, technology and pharmaceutical research—and to improving the world for all of us. Make a gift to the Dean’s Scholarship Fund at giving.temple. edu/givetocst. Or contact Lynne Corboy, Major Gift Officer, at lynne.corboy@temple.edu or 215.204.8192.
CONTENTS OU T L O OK Temple Made Day 3 Celebrating the Class of 2020
Fall 2020 College of Science and Technology 400 Carnell Hall 1803 N. Broad St. Philadelphia, PA 19122 215-204-2888
News Research, accolades, awards and events
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Taking on the Novel Coronavirus Researchers from chemistry and biology investigate SARS-CoV-2
Michael L. Klein, FRS Dean and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Science
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Robert J. Levis Senior Associate Dean
Class of 2020 Profiles Learn more about some of our recent graduates
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Susan Jansen Varnum Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs and Science Education
Alumni Profiles Celebrating the success of CST graduates
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Kathy McGady Assistant Dean for Development and Alumni Affairs Greg Fornia, KLN ’92 Director of Marketing and Communications
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Message from Alumni Affairs Ways to support a resilient college
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Class Notes Keeping up with career and life changes
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cst.temple.edu Follow the College of Science and Technology:
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Dean’s Message This year has tested us all. And like you, faculty, staff and students here at the College of Science and Technology have found new ways to cope, to help others and, yes, to thrive. The pivot to online learning due to the coronavirus pandemic has been one of the greatest challenges in our college’s history, one that we are all meeting with enthusiasm, dedication and creativity. We have invested significant resources in online course design, establishing a new Center for Online and Digital Learning to help faculty develop engaging online content. Virtual labs are offering students the scientific and technical skills they need to succeed in an economy where change and disruption are likely to accelerate. Almost every aspect of CST has moved to the virtual realm, from academic advising, Undergraduate Research Program and job fairs to alumni events and the Owl to Owl Mentor Program that connects CST graduates with our students. Over the past several months we produced a successful online convocation, Temple Made Day and events for prospective students. After initially suspending activities in mid-March, in mid-July many of our research labs were able to resume activities safely by following CDC and university guidelines. Some faculty continued essential research projects uninterrupted, including those researchers taking on the novel coronavirus featured in Outlook’s cover story.
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The college community has also been shaken by incidents across the country that highlight the prevalence of inequality in society. Like all of Temple, CST joins with those working toward racial inclusion and equity. We established a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEI) to ensure classrooms and labs are spaces where every member of our community can belong, contribute and succeed. DEI hosted a successful virtual town hall, and CST has established a Diversity Innovation Initiative fund to support projects that aim to increase diversity within the science and technology fields broadly. I have been impressed with the resiliency of our students, as they have faced so many challenges throughout 2020. Also, the hard work of CST staff and faculty demonstrates their commitment to providing an exceptional education and to supporting scientific innovation and exploration. I know this year has been a difficult one for our alumni and donors, as well as for our foundation, corporate and community partners. I truly appreciate your continuing support of the college. To everyone in the CST family, I wish you all the best in 2021. Sincerely,
Michael L. Klein, FRS Dean and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Science
Temple Made Day celebrates the Class of 2020 BY GREG FORNIA
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n May 7, Temple University and the College of Science and Technology celebrated Temple Made Day, honoring the Class of 2020. With Main Campus closed and the 2020 Commencement and college graduation ceremonies postponed, the Temple community created an online event hailing the resilience of Temple’s newest graduates. Through video tributes and written messages, a celebratory short film and an online book profiling many of CST’s more than 500 graduates, the day’s theme built upon the university’s motto: Perseverance Conquers. “Whether you take your CST training into academia or business, teaching or research, you will make a positive impact,” said Michael L. Klein, dean of the college, in a recorded message. “You will invent and innovate. You will explore and discover. You will be leaders. And, because you are the Class of 2020, you will be unstoppable.”
Samantha Sonya Panich, CST ’20, who had been selected as graduation’s student speaker, said this of Temple. “We help each other grow, and are proud of each other’s success. It’s funny that Temple became the birthplace of my independence, because its true power came through a fiercely collaborative student spirit—the idea that I can be independent but I don’t have to be alone.” Jennifer Gresh, CST ’98, then-president of CST’s Alumni Board, penned a special message to the university’s newest alumni. “Your journey ahead will include many successes and, yes, some failure,” she wrote. “Days when you are hopeful and days that may seem dark. But it will be your journey, and I know that you are ready for what lies ahead. Temple is with you. Your passion will guide you. Believe in yourselves and, I promise you, great things will happen.” WATCH THE CLASS OF 2020 VIDEO AT CST.TEMPLE.EDU/2020VIDEO.
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NEWS
EES researchers explore drone technology BY BRUCE E. BEANS
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rones are revolutionizing the ways geologists conduct surveys. “We can access geological formations that, on foot, we could never access,” says Professor Laura Toran, “and drones are radically speeding up the time it takes to conduct surveys.” Within the past year, both Toran and Associate Professor Alexandra Davatzes began using Mavic Pro drones to both conduct research and to explore using drones in new ways. Toran’s drone is equipped with thermal and imaging cameras. She and her lab have been using it to map variations in stream temperatures and to map plant health in stormwater basins by periodically photographing plants to chronicle their growth, height and presence. Focusing on integrating cognitive science and intelligent systems to enhance geoscience practice, Davatzes is working with a team of roboticists and cognitive scientists. The team has been flying drones in areas deformed by southern California’s San Andreas fault, including along a steep cliff face. “We’re trying to integrate our knowledge of geology, robotics and cognitive science to think critically about how we can best automate drones to help geologists do field work, particularly in inaccessible or very large areas,” Davatzes says. “Do we just use drones the same way we normally do field work, by walking around, or, utilizing artificial intelligence, can we use them in innovative ways so that, for instance, they could automatically detect faults?” Toran also launched a one credit, introductory drone course to teach students how to fly drones and learn about drone safety and ethics, and requirements for becoming a certified drone pilot. The 40-student class included students from across CST, as well as students from the colleges of Engineering and of Liberal Arts.
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PHOTO: GREG FORNIA
SHEIKH SAUD LECTURE ON ADVANCED MATERIALS BY GREG FORNIA
CST’s newest Goldwater Scholar BY ANDREW LOCHRIE AND ERIC HORVATH
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eah Deflitch, a neuroscience: cellular & molecular major, is a 2020 Goldwater Scholar, the most prestigious undergraduate scholarship in the science, technology, engineering and math fields. She is CST’s and Temple’s third Goldwater recipient, following physics major Marcus Forst in 2018 and physics and mechanical engineering major Mitchell Young in 2019. With 450 institutions submitting applicants, the Goldwater Scholarship Foundation named nearly 400 scholarship recipients nationally in 2020. Deflitch will receive $7,500 for tuition, housing and fees for her senior year as she continues her research. A Pittsburgh native, Deflitich has been conducting neurobiology research since her freshman year. “My lab has been very conducive to undergraduateled research, and we basically look to understand the underlying molecular and genetic mechanisms of abrupt memory deficits, like delirium,” Deflitch said. “It’s been a great experience.” Deflitch has presented her findings for two consecutive years at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, a neuroscience conference drawing scientists and physicians from more than 80 countries. Deflitch said the cognitive decline associated with delirium can be a precursor to dementia and Alzheimer’s. She said she’s excited by the potential her work can have for people suffering from these common degenerative ailments. Deflitch is founder of the Temple chapter of Scientista, an organization encouraging the participation of women in STEM. After she earns her degree in 2021, she plans to pursue a PhD in neuroscience with the eventual hope of becoming a professor and principal investigator of her own research laboratory.
CST and Temple Materials Institute hosted the 2020 Sheikh Saud Lecture on Advanced Materials featuring Daan Frenkel, professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. His research interests focus on numerical simulations of many-body systems, with a special emphasis on problems relating to ordering and self-assembly in soft matter. Computer simulations in the 1950s and ’60s played a key role in the development of simple liquids theory. Starting in the ’80s, colloidal suspensions of hard, spherical particles became the prime example of “simple liquids” where theory, simulation and experiment could meet. Today, there is a good understanding of the equilibrium properties of colloidal suspensions. When we consider colloid systems out of equilibrium, however, scientific understanding is far from complete. Frenkel discussed simulations that suggest that it should be possible to observe colloidal particles that behave as magnetic monopoles. Frenkel was head of the Cambridge Chemistry Department from 2011 to 2015 and director of research at Cambridge from 2015 to 2018. He is a member of the Royal Society (London), U. S. National Academy of Sciences and World Academy of Sciences. He received numerous international prizes including the IUPAP Boltzmann Medal and APS Aneesur Rahman Prize.
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NEWS CREATING NEW NANOPARTICLE MATERIALS BY BRUCE E. BEANS
Chemistry Associate Professor Yugang Sun’s research focuses on the potential of novel nanomaterials for utilizing solar energy—rather than heat—to catalyze important chemical reactions. His research, currently National Science Foundation funded, has three thrusts: developing a strategy to synthesize highperformance nanoscale catalyst materials; analyzing these materials’ formation and transformation; and utilizing these catalysts to harvest light energy that drives important chemical reactions. “We’re trying to use solar energy to drive chemical reactions with improved activity and selectivity on quantum-sized metal nanoparticle catalysts,” he says. “Once we understand why the nanoparticles are behaving the way they are, we can use that information as feedback to design better performing catalysts. If we’re successful, we might be able to overcome the limitations of reaction selectivity determined by thermodynamics.” The potential applications of photocatalysis on quantum-sized metal nanoparticle catalysts range from reducing carbon dioxide emissions to manufacturing novel pharmaceuticals.
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Making sure big data doesn’t swamp storage and performance capabilities BY BRUCE E. BEANS
Big data is revolutionizing many scientific fields. Professor Xubin He, of the Department of Computer & Information Sciences, is committed to assuring that the big-data storage and input/output (I/O) systems can keep up with the demand. Over the past six years, He—who joined Temple in 2016 from Virginia Commonwealth University—has participated in research projects totaling $3.7 million, with his share of that funding exceeding $2 million. According to He, big data represents three main challenges from the computer systems aspect: huge growth of digital data has made it harder for systems to find requested information as quickly as possible; new file and data management systems are needed because traditional systems have become swamped by data volume; and, as data volumes increase, failures become more common. “We may be able to tolerate slightly slower computers, but none of us can tolerate data loss, whether it’s business sensitive data or five years of our photos,” says He, director of the Storage Technology and Architecture Research (STAR) lab. He is also collaborating on his research with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, New Jersey Institute of Technology and China’s Huazhong University of Science & Technology, one of the world’s premier computer science institutions. “We aren’t generating data ourselves, but we’re trying to design algorithms and solutions that create reliable, high-performance building blocks that adequately support data storage and I/O systems,” he says.
FunScienceDemos tops 100,000 YouTube subscribers BY GREG FORNIA
FunScienceDemos—more than 200 free, open-sourced educational videos for school children produced by faculty and students from the College of Science and Technology—has reached more than 100,000 YouTube subscribers. “If our recent history has taught us anything, it is that science literacy, worldwide, should be a priority,” says Assistant Professor of Practice George Mehler, who leads Temple’s STEM-oriented FunScienceNetwork project. “Each day, FunScienceDemos is delivering quality science lessons into virtually every country of the world.” Reaching more than 100,000 subscribers is a big milestone in the world of YouTube. In the coming months the channel will be vetted by YouTube, and then have access to their studios in New York City and receive advice and support from the professional YouTube team. FunScience team member Jared Hottenstein helped create FunScience Scavenger Hunts, and Naomi Lawson, a chemistry with teaching major, recorded a video on the coronavirus literally hours before Temple closed Main Campus in March. Those efforts helped membership soar. “When we started this project, we could not have imagined what we would achieve,” says Mehler, who was the science education coordinator in the Central Bucks School District in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, for 25 years. FunScience Network is comprised of multiple components, including FunScienceToons, when finished a YouTube channel featuring science animations; FunScienceProductions, science-themed episodes shown on Temple TV, Philadelphia cable and in the Fairfax County School District of Virginia; and FunScienceTools, coming in 2021, a resource for science education that will feature the best science education developers from around the world. WATCH FUNSCIENCE VIDEOS AT WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/USER/FUNSCIENCEDEMOS.
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NEWS
Probing Antarctic phytoplankton for mixotrophy BY BRUCE E. BEANS
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obert Sanders, professor and chair of the Department of Biology, spent seven weeks off the coast of the Western Antarctica Peninsula analyzing microscopic phytoplankton, or algae, found in the Southern Ocean. His team was most interested in a phenomenon called mixotrophy, in which phytoplankton can fuel their energy needs both via photosynthesis, from the sun’s rays, and by ingesting smaller algae or bacteria. The ability to use particulate food could partly explain how phytoplankton are able to survive through the long darkness of the Antarctic winter. Although mixotrophs were described first in the late 1800s, the phenomenon’s widespread prevalence was not apparent for another hundred years when several scientists, including Sanders, began focusing on mixotroph ecology and distribution. Sanders—who also has studied it in lakes and in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans—and his research team are the only scientists who have published on its impact in the Southern Ocean. Extending their previous work to Antarctica’s Ross Sea, his team confirmed the occurrence of mixotrophs in plankton populations off of the Western Antarctic Peninsula. “In every sample we took, we found evidence of mixotrophy,” says Sanders. “It shows how widespread it is.” To quantify the diversity of phytoplankton species they found in the ocean water and in sea ice, Sanders’ team is currently performing DNA analyses of their samples. The expedition team included two additional Biology Department researchers, JeanDavid Grattepanche, research assistant professor, and Christopher Carnivale, PhD candidate, as well as scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and University of West Florida.
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EES geothermal research in U.S. West BY BRUCE E. BEANS
Earth & Environmental Science Department faculty, students and alumni are all heavily involved in geothermal research to help develop clean, geothermally driven electricity in both California and the Pacific Northwest. “Unlike intermittent energy generation from solar or wind, geothermal can provide consistent baseload energy and match demand,” says Nicholas Davatzes, chair and associate professor. In California, EES is partnering with Warner Mountain Energy company, supported by the California Energy Commission, to assess the geothermal potential in the state’s northeast corner. Last year, as predicted, an exploratory well found boiling water 3,600 feet deep. This year one of Davatzes graduate students will be working with the U.S. Geological Survey to map magnetic field anomalies that could further identify potential drilling sites.
In northern Washington State, Davatzes is investigating the geothermal potential of Mt. Baker in collaboration with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and support from the U.S. Department of Energy, and two EES alums, Michael Swyer, CST ’11, a geologist with Salt Lake City-based CYRQ Energy, and Drew Spake, CST ’19, a geologist now employed by ORMAT. Last year, Davatzes ran geophysical logs and acquired core material from a 1,500-foot-deep exploration site. Besides the two Temple alumni, he was assisted by current graduate student Morgan Sawyer and geology major Breeann Stowe, CST ’20, who is studying the core. “We’re currently preparing a report about the resource potential,” Davatzes says. “It could be promising.”
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NEWS
Physics Department plays key role in new electron ion collider BY BRUCE E. BEANS
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he U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), supported in part by the efforts of the Department of Physics faculty, has selected Brookhaven National Laboratory as the site for a new multi-billion-dollar electron ion collider (EIC), a powerful microscope for studying the “glue” that binds the building blocks of visible matter. The EIC will smash electrons into protons and heavier atomic nuclei in an effort to penetrate the mysteries of the “strong force” that binds the atomic nucleus together. The nuclear physics research facility, to be designed and constructed over 10 years at an estimated cost between $1.6 and $2.6 billion, is located in Upton, N.Y. “Scientists will be able to explore the structure of matter in a way that it has never been done before; literally imaging the structure of matter, the structure of the atomic nucleus and the structure of nucleons, like the proton, for example,” says Professor Bernd Surrow, physics vice chair, who also serves as steering committee chair of the Electron-Ion Collider User Group (EICUG), an international affiliation of more than 900 scientists dedicated to developing and promoting the scientific, technological and educational goals for a new high-energy EIC. Another Temple physics professor, Andreas Metz, serves on EICUG’s Physics Working Group. “There is nothing planned like it in China, Japan or Europe,” says Surrow. “This will provide generations of physics PhD students, as well as researchers in areas such as high-tech and data science, with a unique research facility. The U.S. is really taking a leadership role, and Temple Physics is an important part of this effort.”
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Samuel Taylor named a Sloan Research Fellow BY GREG FORNIA
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation named mathematician Samuel Taylor a 2020 Sloan Research Fellow. The highly competitive honor identifies rising scientists who’ve made significant marks on their field and represent the next generation of leaders in the U.S. and Canada. Since the award’s inception in the mid 1950s, five Temple faculty members have been named Sloan Research Fellows, including three faculty members from the Department of Mathematics. “Having my research recognized at this level is a huge honor,” says Taylor, an assistant professor who joined the department in 2017 from a position at Yale University as Gibbs Assistant Professor. “Many of my mentors were themselves Sloan Fellows, so having this point of comparison to them at a similar career stage is extremely rewarding.” Taylor’s research interests include geometric topology and geometric group theory, with a focus on hyperbolic geometry and
dynamics. In particular, he has studied the geometry of fiber bundles as well as various statistical properties of geometrically significant groups. “I like to find and exploit the geometry of whatever object I’m thinking about. Sometimes that means studying the properties of the shortest loops on two dimensional spaces, and sometimes that means thinking about spaces of graphs and their symmetries,” explains Taylor, a Philadelphia-area native. The Sloan fellowship includes a $75,000 grant, which Taylor had planned to use for research travel this upcoming fall but is now hoping to do in early 2021. A passionate educator, Taylor has a deep interest in helping students succeed. “I also have a postdoc starting at Temple in the fall,” he says, “and the additional money can help fund her travel and research program as well.”
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NEWS IRINA MITREA NAMED A CARNELL PROFESSOR BY BRUCE E. BEANS
Temple University named Irina Mitrea a Laura H. Carnell Professor. CST now has 11 Carnell Professors, more than any other Temple University school or college. Mitrea, chair of the Department of Mathematics, is the first female CST professor to be so named. “I am honored and humbled to have my work recognized this way, especially since the Laura Carnell professorships are a tribute to the legacy of such a trailblazing female faculty member and Temple’s first dean,” she says. In 2019, Mitrea earned a prestigious Simons Foundation Fellowship that supported travel to conduct collaborative research and lecture about her work. She spent most of her time at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, England. She also spent time at Uppsala University in Sweden and the Simion Stoilow Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest before her travels were cut short by COVID-19. A renowned leader in her field of harmonic analysis and partial differential equations, Mitrea spent most of her fellowship time collaborating with mathematicians from around the world on research they have pursued for nearly 10 years. They were able to finish one research monograph and made significant progress on another. “This work concerns partial differential equations which model physical phenomena, such as heat or fluid flow, elasticity or electromagnetism, and we are focusing on solving problems in domains whose boundaries are not smooth surfaces but exhibit a lot of disparities, irregularities and roughness,” she says.
ALEXANDRA KRULL DAVATZES
CST faculty earn Temple recognition Every year, Temple University celebrates the achievements of its faculty in the areas of teaching, service, creativity and research with the faculty awards: the highest honors given to teachers and scholars at the university. Awardees are nominated by current and former students, as well as by colleagues at Temple and other institutions. Among Temple’s school and colleges, the College of Science and Technology had the highest number of 2020 awardees. They are:
Paul W. Eberman Faculty Research Award John P. Perdew, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Physics and Chemistry
Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award Alexandra Krull Davatzes, associate professor of earth and environmental science
Provost’s Award for Teaching Excellence in General Education Robert-André F. Rarig, assistant professor of instruction, chemistry
Part-time Faculty Excellence in Teaching and Instruction Award Kevin C. Cannon, adjunct assistant professor of chemistry
Faculty Senate Outstanding Faculty Service Award Paul S. LaFollette Jr., associate professor of computer and information sciences
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Mathematician part of $3.5M project to improve traffic flow and fuel savings BY GREG FORNIA
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enjamin Seibold, a mathematics associate professor, is part of a major effort using connected and autonomous vehicle technology to smooth traffic, calm congestion and reduce fuel use. Seibold is part of the CIRCLES Project funded by a $3.5 million U.S. Department of Energy cooperative research agreement, which brings together researchers from UC Berkeley and the Institute of Transportation Studies Berkeley, Rutgers University-Camden, University of Arizona, Vanderbilt University and the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). Researchers will use a limited number of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) on highways to study their impacts on traffic. The approach focuses on a new energy-aware theory that suggests by placing a small number of CAVs in the traffic stream as traffic controller, energy efficiency will improve for all vehicles in the traffic flow. “Stop-and-go traffic is a ubiquitous feature of urban traffic flow, wasting energy and increasing emissions,” said Seibold, who
anticipates bringing aboard several Temple undergraduate and doctoral students to work on the project. “However, with a few modern and well-controlled automated vehicles, we may see an end to those stop-and-go waves, and instead get dense but smoothly flowing traffic.” To evaluate the technology, the team will test the approach on the I-24 Smart Corridor in Tennessee. Managed by TDOT, the corridor integrates freeway and arterial roadway elements, along with physical, technological and operational improvements, to provide drivers accurate, real-time information and to actively manage traffic. Since arriving at Temple in 2009, one of Seibold’s research foci has been traffic flow modeling, particularly “phantom” traffic jams or “jamitons.” According to Seibold, by synchronizing autonomous vehicles so that they can communicate and share certain types of information, such as traffic density and flow velocity, with each other, the vehicles could react in a way that alters the flow of traffic on the highway.
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CST Researchers
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Take on Coronavirus BY BRUCE E. BEANS AND GREG FORNIA
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rom computational analyses that indicate the novel coronavirus is genomically stable, to recruiting idle home computers to aid researchers, to creating predictive epidemiological models,
College of Science and Technology faculty are actively engaged in the worldwide effort to beat back the pandemic.
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TRACKING A GENOME’S STABILITY
PHOTO: RYAN S. BRANDENBERG
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SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, appears to be very stable in terms of its genomic, or complete DNA, makeup. “At least at the moment, the SARS-CoV-2 virus is very homogenous and stable globally as it passes through the human population,” said Sergei Pond, professor of evolutionary genomics and a researcher with Temple University’s Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine. Pond, who is also a member of the Department of Biology, bases that conclusion partly on data gathered by the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), a German-based, public-private partnership that, as of Aug. 24, had nearly 85,000 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences available to researchers. Pond’s big-data analysis of the GISAID genome database indicates that, even though each virus genome contains approximately 30,000 different positions, any two randomly selected individual genomes have only eight to 10 different positions—an extremely small number—that indicate evidence of mutations. In addition, the top two positions that indicated such potential for change in late August were also the top two in late March. The third was discovered in April, and the fourth and fifth in early summer. “Given that most mutations have no effect and often aren’t transmitted, this should make it relatively easier to create an effective vaccine,” said Pond. “That’s great news because the vaccines being trialed now (in late summer) are likely to be able to stimulate the correct immune response because they were designed based on genomic information that was available in March and April. “If there had been a lot of change since then, we might have to worry that those early vaccine designs, as well as potential treatments and diagnostics, might not be as effective. But that’s not the case.” Further underscoring the virus’ apparent stability, Pond is also the co-author—with four UK collaborators—of a related study that is awaiting peer review. They concluded that the SARS-CoV-2 virus underwent most of its adaptive evolutionary steps in bats, not humans. “Bats seem to have had the novel coronavirus for thousands, if not millions, of years, which allows time for lots of evolution,” says Pond. “As a result, our hypothesis is that it didn’t have to do much to spread to humans and result in immediate human-to-human transmission.” Since 2007, Pond has contributed to the ongoing development of the Galaxy Project. Partially funded by the National Science Foundation, the open, web-based platform for computational biological research is a joint project of Pennsylvania State University, Johns Hopkins University and the Oregon Health & Science University. Using the Galaxy Project’s powerful software tools, Pond says he and his research collaborators will be watching for any changes in the virus during the next six to 12 months that could indicate it is evolving in a clinically significant way. “We will continue to look for any evidence that, in the wake of defensive responses by the human body, the virus is adapting or changing,” said Pond, who this fall has revised his genomics in medicine class to focus on COVID-19 phenomena.
PHOTO: RYAN S. BRANDENBERG
CREATING PREDICTIVE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL MODELS
COVID-19 Assistance Team BY GREG FORNIA
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he Temple University COVID-19 Assistance Team—a task force of faculty, students and staff from across the university—supported Temple University Hospital (TUH) medical personnel on the front lines of COVID-19 care during the winter and spring of 2020. The wide-ranging effort included designing and fabricating stronger materials to hold N95 masks in place to 3-D printed ventilator manifolds that enable a single unit to support two patients. Tonia Hsieh, associate professor of biology, led a face shield design and production. To date, more than 15,000 were produced and distributed to TUH medical staff. A small number of shields were also sent to Temple’s Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry. “The team developed a novel CNC milling and molding method,” explains Hsieh, using the abbreviation for computer numerical control. “That has the potential to increase production speed from about two hours to produce one face shield holder through 3D printing, towards the goal of making approximately 100 shield holders every 15 minutes.” The face shield team included, among many others: William Wohl, a TUH transplant coordinator who organized prototype testing; Andrew Wit, assistant professor in the Tyler School of Art and Architecture; Timothy Rusterholz, TYL ’11, an assistant professor of instruction at Tyler; David Ross, manager of the Charles Library makerspace; and Kyle Schwab, ENG ’19, currently a master’s student in biomedical engineering. For Hsieh, she is amazed by the talent and creativity present on the COVID-19 task force. “The staff and faculty on this effort made major sacrifices in all aspects of their lives to push this forward at the rapid pace necessary to combat the ferocity of this virus,” she says. “Temple students are impressive, but the students on this endeavor have a dedication that far exceeds anything I ever could have imagined. It’s a humbling and inspiring experience.”
Rob Kulathinal, an associate professor of biology who spent the past academic year on sabbatical at the College de France in Paris, unexpectedly found himself during COVID-19 confinement helping to develop new epidemiological models that can predict the spread and control of the disease. As part of a team of mathematical biologists, Kulathinal helped to generate a new random variable model that “includes direct population-based clinical features taken from the recent literature, including SARS-CoV-2 incubation period and generation time, as well as the fraction of asymptomatics in a population and duration times between infection, symptom establishment, hospitalization, recovery and death,” explains Kulathinal. “From our simulations we have also been able to infer the effective days of confining a population and the effects of such lockdowns on deaths.” The model, which has been submitted for peerreviewed publication, suggests several strategies to guide both local and global policies—including monitoring, surveillance and population controls—in reducing the spread of this deadly virus. In addition, since April Kulathinal has been part of an international scientific group based in Paris that has been translating and summarizing the gist of thousands of COVID-19 research papers to present to the public via the website, adioscorona.org. The goal: to help non-scientists navigate through what Kulathinal calls the “increasing tide of new COVID-19 papers” in order to inform them about safe practices for the general public and to help guide household, workplace and governmental policy. Kulathinal oversees the translation of French. “Translating the conclusions gleaned from scientific studies has been an interesting lesson in how different cultures integrate science and society and how it is ultimately communicated,” he says.
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TAPPING THE POWER OF IDLE COMPUTING POWER
PHOTO: RYAN S. BRANDENBERG
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Besides doing their part to stop the virus’s spread through social distancing and other measures, citizens are also helping develop new therapeutics by running simulations on their computers. Performing specific calculations by coordinating and distributing the work across thousands of separate computers is called distributed computing. Along with graduate students in his lab, Associate Professor of Chemistry Vincent Voelz has been working with an international team of researchers to computationally screen potential inhibitors of the coronavirus’s main protease, an attractive target for new antiviral drugs. And they’re using the distributed computing network Folding@home to do it. Folding refers to the processes by which a protein structure assumes its shape so that it can perform its biological functions. “Our group uses the tools of molecular simulation and statistical mechanics to investigate the structure and function of biomolecules,” says Voelz, who has worked with Folding@home since 2007 while he was a postdoc at Stanford University, where the distributed computing network started. “It’s a quick jump from that work to using our expertise in biomolecular simulation to help fight COVID-19.” For the coronavirus research, Voelz is partnering with researchers at Memorial SloanKettering Cancer Center and Diamond Light Source. An X-ray crystallography group in the U.K., Diamond Light Source has done groundbreaking work in solving more than a thousand different crystal structures of the coronavirus main protease and discovering several drug fragments that bind to sites on the protein. “When the virus gets inside a cell, it co-opts the machinery of the cell to assemble more copies of itself and replicate,” explains Voelz. “If you can inhibit the protease, you can inhibit a necessary step in the virus’s lifecycle.” The combined computing power of Folding@home’s thousands of users is being used to virtually screen a huge number of potential drug compounds. These simulations will help prioritize which molecules will be synthesized and analyzed by researchers aiming to rapidly develop new therapies against the coronavirus. “We now know that there are many drug fragments that bind to specific places on the coronavirus’s protein structure,” says Voelz. “These are leads for further drug
Victoria Cantoral (BS ’17, Bio; ACHS ’19) Tracking COVID-19 Clinical Trial Data
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development. The dynamical information that we get from the Folding@home simulations is really hard to measure experimentally in a lab.” In early March, about 30,000 users had downloaded the Folding@home software and were active participants in the COVID-19 project. By June 1, that number had grown to 1.25 million. “Combined, we are now the largest supercomputer in the world,” says Voelz, who notes that the online gaming community is a big contributor. “We’ve broken the exaFLOP barrier, a measurement of operations per second that is the equivalent of ten times the compute power of the world’s fastest supercomputer.” According to Voelz, the speed of the coronavirus’s spread around the world has inspired many researchers to remove “bottlenecks” in how scientific knowledge is developed, analyzed and shared. “Scientific organizations are sharing information in an unprecedented way, and people around the world are banding together to solve a very difficult problem,” says Voelz. “Folding@home’s kind of citizen science or crowdsourced science can be very powerful. The more people get turned on to this idea, the more vitally important basic science we can do.” Want to help find new drug therapies to fight COVID-19? Go to foldingathome.org to download the software.
ictoria Cantoral is the clinical research coordinator for Temple University Hospital’s Department of Dermatology. In mid-March, when the pandemic shut down the dermatology studies, she responded to an urgent request from the Thoracic Medicine and Surgery Department. “The moment I learned that Temple Hospital was in urgent need of clinical research coordinators to help coordinate the clinical trials, I jumped on the opportunity to give back to my ‘second home,’” says Cantoral. “They were so overwhelmed with COVID-19 clinical research studies that they needed help with individual patient data entry.” Cantoral was involved in collecting extensive real-time data entry for a clinical drug trial. She recorded all the daily laboratory values, including metabolic chemistries and hematology panels, chest imaging impressions and adverse events of patients who had, at least initially, been on ventilators. The Temple patients were part of the randomized, double-blind phase 2/3 trial of sarilumab—a human monoclonal antibody against the interleukin-6 receptor that, according to previous studies, may help treat inflammation. “Even though I wasn’t checking their temperature but was just entering data, I became so involved with these patients every day that I felt like I knew them,” says Cantoral. “When I saw some of my patients had been discharged, I rejoiced with them.” However, on July 2, Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., French- and U.S.-based pharmaceutical firms, stopped the Phase 3 trial. “The sarilumab trial was a phenomenal experience as a young pre-health professional,” says Cantoral, who completed CST’s Post Baccalaureate Program, Advanced Core in Health Sciences track, in 2019 and is now applying for admission next summer to medical school, including Temple’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine. “I had the opportunity to work with outstanding clinicians, experienced research coordinators and the most deserving population of patients at Temple Hospital.” Cantoral recently signed on to coordinate another phase 3 COVID vaccine clinical trial at Temple Hospital. “I am beyond excited to take part in this unprecedented time of scientific advancements,” says Cantoral. “I know these experiences will pay off tremendously when I am training as a physician in the future.”
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Class of 2020 profiles TO CELEBRATE THE SUCCESS OF THE CLASS OF 2020—during challenging times—the College of Science and Technology produced an online profiles book featuring photos, quotes, remembrances and future plans submitted by CST graduates. To see more profiles go to cst.temple.edu/class-profiles
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OUTLOOK Fall 2020
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Message from the CST Alumni Board Learn more about how you can get involved at cst.temple.edu/alumni or email Jena Hudson, CST Alumni Affairs, at jena.hudson@temple.edu
In my message to CST’s Class of 2020, I stressed the special bond that connects all Temple University alumni.
events via Zoom. And please go to cst.temple.edu to learn more about our Owl to Owl Mentor Program and ways you can financially support the college.
As many older alumni already know, these bonds can grow even stronger through the years. But you have to work at it. I urge you to continue to build connections with your Temple community as you move through the many phases of your lives: education, jobs, family, career changes, retirement and the many times we reinvent ourselves along the way.
For many of us, Temple is where we found our passion. I believe that when you are driven by that commitment, you can achieve great things. As I told our graduates, the journey ahead will include many successes and some failure. I know that Owls are ready for whatever lies ahead and together we can make great things happen.
The CST Alumni Board is a powerful network that you can access throughout your life. We are here to help Temple Owls succeed! To stay connected to CST and to fellow alumni, I urge you to follow CST on social media, look for our monthly emails, read Outlook and department newsletters and look for more alumni
Sincerely,
Jennifer Greller Gresh (BA ’98, EES) CST Alumni Board President, 2019-2020
Kate Lyons (BS ’20, EES)
Planting seeds of success at Temple BY AMANDA MORRISON
Although her path to the College of Science and Technology wasn’t exactly straightforward, Kate Lyons made the most of every opportunity once she landed here. Originally from just outside Philadelphia, Lyons was plenty familiar with Temple growing up. But, as a high school senior, didn’t know what she wanted to do in life. Itching to learn more about herself before starting college, Lyons took a gap year. “I worked on trails and was traveling and really fell in love with the environment during that time,” Lyons said. “I thought, ‘Now, I know myself.’” Lyons wanted to work with the environment in some capacity, but when she started at Temple she was taking classes in science, engineering and liberal arts before finally zeroing in on geology. It was a physical geology course that really ignited her passion 22
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for the environment. “I knew I could blend geology with environmental science and I really liked the idea of getting a science degree,” said Lyons. “It gives you so many skills, such as understanding data and research.” At Temple, Lyons served on the university’s Sustainability Task Force, which she joined her freshman year, and later became the director of sustainability for Temple Student Government as a senior. She started the compost collection service known as Diamond Compost, funded by an Office of Sustainability green grant. This community compost pick-up service encourages student sustainability and nourishes the compost at the Temple Community Garden. In the classroom, Lyons was most inspired by Professor Laura Toran’s groundwater hydrology class. “That class gave me an applied look into how you can use geology to actually
solve environmental issues,” Lyons said, who added that the course’s real-world field trips and career-minded outlook inspired Lyons to work in Toran’s lab during summer 2019. In her senior year, Lyons earned one of Temple’s Diamond Awards for students who are passionate about scholarship, devoted to service and dedicated to leadership. She is now working full-time as a geologist at SSM Group, in the Department of Energy and Sustainability Services. She might pursue a master’s in public policy, environmental planning or environmental management. Lyons hopes to work in municipal climate resilience, helping cities to become more sustainable as they work toward their climate goals.
Remembering Robert Fineman (BA ’66, Chem) A friend to the college and proud alumnus of Temple University, Robert Fineman died on July 13, 2020. He was an enthusiastic supporter of and advocate for the College of Science and Technology. He served on the college’s Board of Visitors, spoke at graduation in 2017 and met with students to discuss careers in science and healthcare. In 1995, he and his wife, Bonnie, established the Edward and Frances Fineman Scholarship, in memory of his parents, to provide scholarships for undergraduate chemistry students who have demonstrated academic achievement and financial need. Fineman graduated from Germantown High School in Philadelphia, then earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Temple. He earned both an MD and PhD from SUNY Downstate in 1972. Board certified in medical examination, pediatrics and medical genetics, Fineman had a distinguished career as a physician, researchers and educator. From 1977 to 1990, he was with the University of Utah School of Medicine, serving as assistant professor of pediatrics and director, Division of Medical Genetics; associate professor of pediatrics; research associate professor, Department of Anatomy; and professor of pediatrics. In 1991, he became director of Maternal/Infant Health and Genetics, ParentChild Health Services at the Washington State Department of Health and a clinical associate professor at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine. From 2007 until his retirement he served as dean, Health and Human Services, North Seattle Community College. Fineman’s dedication to science and service was inspired by Hazel L. Tomlinson, CST ’26, ’28, who taught generations of Temple chemistry students as a faculty member from 1928 to 1974. Fineman helped lead the effort to honor his mentor through the Hazel M. Tomlinson Lecture Hall located in the Science Education and Research Center, dedicated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in late 2018.
PAUL CURCILLO (BA ’84, BIO): THANKS FOR THE TEMPLE-MENTUM! Paul Curcillo, who served as Temple University Alumni Association president from 2017 to 2020, has passed the president’s gavel to Michael Breeze, FOX ’96. Curcillo, a past president of CST’s Alumni Board, is currently a member of the CST Board of Visitors. In his farewell, Curcillo stressed a new TUAA has emerged since 2014: “Alumni are more engaged. Together with the commitment of the team in the Alumni and Constituent Engagement Office, the Temple-mentum was palpable.” Curcillo’s excitement for TUAA continues: “I thank our alumni who have supported our Association…and our Executive Committee for their commitment to our fellow alumni and the TUAA. Keep the Templementum going!” The CST community thanks Curcillo for his many years of dedicated service to the college and university.
2020-2021 Alumni Board Members Margherita Abe (BA ’66, Chem)
Justin Malone (BS ’05, Bio)
Sina Adibi (BA ’84, CIS; FOX ’86)
Christian Obasi (MS ’08, EES)
Mark Dash (BA ’84, CIS)
Jaldhi Patel (BA ’20, Bio)
Terry Dougherty (BA ’74, Chem;
Michael Remaker II (BS ’06, CIS)
FOX ’86)
Randy Shochet (BS ’81, Chem)
James Guare (BA ’77, MA ’83, Chem) John Tierney (PhD ’81, Chem) Eileen Helzner (BS ’68, Bio; MED ’72) John Wilson (BS ‘18, CIS) Sandra Ilunga (BA ’08, Bio)
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Kanchan Hole (PSM ’18, Bio) Bioinformatics serves as stepping stone for career success BY AMANDA MORRISON
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anchan Hole’s journey in the United States started four years ago when she enrolled in the CST’s Professional Science Master’s (PSM) in bioinformatics, which covers computational science and systems biology and blends classroom knowledge, practical application and internship opportunities. Having trained as a registered pharmacist in India, Hole wanted to learn more about the integration of pharmaceutical sciences and computational biology. She immediately felt right at home at Temple. “This program allowed me to work on various research projects,” Hole said, “including one facilitated by Deanne Taylor, director of bioinformatics in the Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and one of the PSM’s external advisors.” Later, in the summer of 2017, after completing her first year in the bioinformatics program, Hole was accepted into a co-op program in computational and systems biology at Janssen Pharmaceuticals in Spring House, Pa. “This co-op became the first step of my career in computational sciences using my bioinformatics training,” explained Hole, who was attracted to the PSM program because of its real-world research requirement. “My co-op gave me a first-hand experience of the working culture of the pharma industry and was an excellent opportunity to strengthen both my credentials and my knowledge in applied bioinformatics,” she said. Hole’s capstone research project at Janssen further developed her passion for working with cross-functional teams as she developed and applied cutting-edge approaches to processing, analyzing, annotating and interpreting genomic data. “I learned important skills from coursework, research projects and internship experience, but the most impactful training I received was in next generation sequencing and data analysis,” Hole said. After graduation, Hole started her first job at Foundation Medicine in Cambridge, Mass., as a clinical bioinformatics analyst, where she still works today. “The PSM in bioinformatics at Temple,” recalled Hole, “was pivotal and a true stepping-stone in meeting my career goals.”
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POST BACCALAUREATE PROGRAM SUCCESS Aimed at preparing students for medical, dental and other health professional schools, the Post Bacc Program includes two tracks, Basic Core in Health Sciences (BCHS) and Advanced Core in Health Sciences (ACHS). Students who have completed the program are going on to great success.
Oluwadara Tokunboh (ACHS ’20) Post bacc student changes plans after cancelled Fulbright BY AMANDA MORRISON
In normal times, Dara Tokunboh would be teaching English in Colombia on a grant through the Fulbright U.S. Student Scholarship Program. But these aren’t normal times. Tokunboh, who completed CST’s Post Baccalaureate Program for those interested in heading toward medical and other health-related professional schools, heard in March that she was selected for this year’s English Teaching Assistantship program. But a follow-up email in June broke the news that this year’s program in Colombia was postponed indefinitely. Originally from North Carolina, Tokunboh graduated from Cornell University in 2019 with a degree in biology and society. She then decided to pursue a post baccalaureate at CST, enrolling in the program’s Advanced Core Health Sciences (ACHS) track. “Temple faculty are incredibly wise, kind and helpful,” said Tokunboh. “My program had the best science professors I have ever encountered in my academic career! I learned so much and grew immensely as a student and person.” After she moved to Philadelphia, Tokunboh started volunteering to teach English through St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood. Originally, she just wanted to get involved in the community, but soon realized how much she enjoyed working with language learners. After hearing about a friend’s experience, she decided to apply for an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) grant through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Tokunboh chose Colombia, hoping that immersion in a Spanish-speaking country would improve her own Spanish fluency, which she believes is an important skill for people entering the medical profession. “Fulbright teaches cultural competence and adaptability, and scholars learn to be creative and problem solve,” Tokunboh said. “These skills will make me a better medical student.” Even though this year’s Fulbright ETA was cancelled, Tokunboh remains hopeful. “I’m waiting on a possible reassignment,” she said. “Fulbright is just such an incredible experience, an opportunity to push yourself,” she said. Currently applying to medical school, Tokunboh appreciates her Temple education, which she feels prepared her well for the grueling application process. “Temple has strong ties to certain medical schools,” she said. “There were so many pluses to doing my post bacc at CST.”
Asra Khan (ACHS ’16) completed her first year at the University of Tampa’s Master’s in the Physician Assistant Medicine program. Auggie Herber (ACHS ’17) completed his first year of medical school at Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine. Anthony Vu (ACHS ’17) was recently a pharmacy student intern at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia before heading back to Jefferson College of Pharmacy for his second year. Noah Klein (BCHS ’17) is in his first year of medical school at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. Sam Kidd (BCHS ’18) is a phlebotomist at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital. Tyler Johnson (BCHS ’18) is enrolled in medical school at Drexel University College of Medicine. Cori Fine (ACHS ’18) is enrolled in the College of Dental Medicine at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Cal. Bud Kheir (ACHS ’18) is enrolled in the Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine-Arizona. Ayobami Adebayo (ACHS ’18) is enrolled in the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. Maya Holmes (ACHS ’18) is attending Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland. Jason Kim (ACHS ’18) is enrolled in the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program at California Health Sciences University in Clovis, Cal. Ada Ng (ACHS ’19) is currently a coronavirus/ COVID-19 contact tracer. Tina Yerdon (ACHS ’19), is attending the New York College of Podiatric Medicine.
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Message from Development and Alumni Affairs Unprecedented. Unlike any other. There are so many ways to describe 2020. Our lives have been upended; from our daily routines to how we do our jobs to how we connect with family and friends. For some of us, there have been even deeper struggles. Our challenges are real, but there is much to inspire: transitioning to remote learning relatively smoothly; researchers unlocking the secrets of coronavirus; the resiliency of our students.
Learn how you can be part of CST’s success by contacting me at 215.204.4704 or kathleen.mcgady@ temple.edu
There have been moments of celebration, too: our online Temple Made Day for the Class of 2020 and Welcome Week for CST’s newest students. We are finding new ways to build community and connect with each other, such as our Zoom into Science series. Temple and CST are resilient, and our supporters are also. This year, alumni and friends donated more than $100 million to the university—the largest amount in a single year ever. Here at CST, we exceeded our fiscal year fundraising goal. That means more resources for student scholarships, exceptional faculty and innovative programs that meet the needs of a changing world. Thank you!
In 2021, our goal is to build on that success, especially with funding for deserving students. Scholarship funds, across each of our six departments, are vital to attracting top students, rewarding their hard work and ensuring they graduate in four years without crushing student debt that can limit their life and career choices. I want to thank the many alumni and friends who support student scholarships at the college. If you haven’t yet, please consider supporting a current scholarship or establishing a new one for students in your old department or that honors a loved one or mentor. And don’t forget that making an estate gift to CST will ensure your legacy at Temple for years to come. Beyond scholarships, there are many ways to support students and faculty. You can learn about giving options at cst.temple.edu/giving. Sincerely,
Kathy McGady, Assistant Dean for Development and Alumni Affairs
Antoinette T. Campbell (BS ’00, Chem) Blazing a trail in forensic chemistry BY JON CAROULIS
Antoinette Campbell remembers walking into an interview seeking a job with the Philadelphia Water Department, but leaving with a position as a forensic chemist with the city’s Police Department. The first in her family to graduate from college, Campbell was one of just a handful of Black women who graduated with a chemistry degree in 2000. “I didn’t have a mentor, I had to figure things out on my own,” she remembers. “Trial and error.” Campbell founded the Association of Women in Forensic Science (AWIFS) in 2010, in part, because she didn’t “see a lot of women, especially Black women, who reached out for forensic careers.” The association provides networking opportunities, resources and
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programs to female college students and forensic professionals and partners with community and educational organizations for programs aimed at boys and girls ages 12 to 18. Ten years ago, she started Saturday workshops for children to do hands-on forensic science activities. “There were so many people interested in what we do, because of television,” says Campbell, referring to the many CSI iterations that popularized a scientific approach to crime investigation. “But when I talked to parents and kids about careers, they didn’t know where to start.” For now, Campbell has had to postpone in-person workshops. She has adapted. Through AWIFS’s Club Philly Forensics program, she hosted Beyond Crime Scenes
and Autopsies, a live webinar speaker series featuring experts who discuss topics in forensic science such as violence, trauma and emergency services. She also taught an online version of a student workshop. “I created this particular workshop to give students information on how to really prepare for a career in forensic science,” says Campbell. One of the first students from her workshops recently graduated from college and found a job as a DNA analyst. “There are a few students of mine that I knew were really serious about a career in forensics.” she said. “It makes me feel like a proud mom having a hand in their growth.”
Alumni bequests support CST A gift to the college in a will or living trust helps ensure CST continues providing outstanding educational opportunities for students. Alumni who have made recent leadership bequests include:
James Guare (BA ’77, MA ’83, Chem) A renowned research chemist at Merck, Guare set his sights on training as a chef during retirement. But he also started looking back and thinking about the people who contributed to his career success. “Temple faculty immediately comes to mind because they did so much to help prepare me for my career,” says Guare, who was one of the first chemists to work on protease inhibitors—the antiviral drugs now used widely to treat HIV. “Those faculty consequently played a key role in affecting millions of people in a positive way.” Guare serves on CST’s Alumni Board and has played a strong role in the growth of the college’s Owl to Owl Mentor Program. His most recent leadership gift to CST is unrestricted, allowing it to be used for faculty support, student scholarship or wherever the need is greatest. “We took a good look at our lives, and decided we wanted to help those that would benefit the most,” says Guare, referring to Debbie, his wife. “Temple was the first on the list.”
Steven Petchon, FOX ’80 Petchon’s first job was working part-time as a student computer services consultant for Temple. Shortly thereafter he launched his 28-year career with Accenture, ultimately becoming a partner and senior executive responsible for technology competency. In 2020, Petchon made a leadership gift bequest to support the Petchon Family Computer and Information Science Endowed Scholarship, awarded to an undergraduate who has demonstrated academic excellence in computer and information science. “I made the gift because Temple gave me the opportunity to explore different subjects and I was able to develop a keen interest in computer science,” he says. “Computer science is even more important today than it was when I graduated. And tuition costs are higher. We can’t afford to let smart people not get access to the education they need to help keep America competitive in the global economy.”
G. Bruce Taggart (PhD ’71, Physics) After earning his PhD at Temple, Taggart taught at Virginia Commonwealth University for 12 years, did contract research and development work for six years, and spent 16 years at the National Science Foundation managing a program that supported research and education in condensed matter and materials theory. Although he came from a family that valued education, Taggart and his brother were the first to graduate from college. “Given my family background,” says Taggart, “I wanted to pay forward so that students and faculty could participate in the excitement of research without the burden of worry about costs. “I will forever be grateful to the Temple Physics Department,” says Taggart. “I learned how to be a physicist at Temple.” His advice to alumni considering a gift? “Look at the intellectual and financial benefits that, with your hard work, Temple brought you,” says Taggart, whose leadership bequest will support scholarships and an endowed term professorship. “Think about your younger self: How could you make the Temple experience better for that person?”
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Kwame Sarfo-Mensah (BA ’06, Math) published the book Shaping the Teacher Identity, to help aspiring and current educators see how their unique life experiences can guide them in shaping their identities as teachers. Sarah DeVaul Princiotta (BS ’10, PhD ’16, Bio) is a tenure-track assistant professor of biology at Penn State Schuylkill. The microbial ecologist focuses on freshwater plankton. Michael Swyer, (MS ’11, EES) is a geologist with Salt Lake City-based CYRQ Energy. He is working with Nicholas Davatzes, chair of the CST Department of Earth & Environmental Science, on the geothermal energy potential of Mt. Baker in Washington. Kelly Franklin (BS ’16, MS ’20, Bio) has been awarded an AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellowship by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. As a result, this summer Franklin wrote science stories for The Austin AmericanStatesman in Texas. Danielle Landschoot (MS ’16, PhD ’19, Physics) is a systems engineer at Lockheed Martin’s Syracuse, N.Y, facility, working on airborne radar system products for both U.S. and allied military clients. Eric Albers (BS ’18, Math) is enrolled in the mathematics PhD program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Next summer, he will intern with the Milwaukee Brewers’ Baseball Research and Development Department. Eric Miller (BS ’18, Physics) is working at Lockheed Martin’s Moorestown, N.J. facility on the Aegis Combat System as part of a three-year engineering leadership development program. Kristen Ciesielka (BS ’19, Physics) works at Lockheed Martin’s Moorestown, N.J. facility as a systems engineer on the Aegis Combat System’s Command and Decision element, including designing message flows between the Aegis’ different elements. Alex Krotulski (PhD ’19, Chem) is a research scientist and program director who oversees operations of NPS Discovery, a program for the nonprofit Center for Forensic Science Research and Education at the Frederic Rieders Family Foundation in Pennsylvania. Aidan Lorenz (BS ’19, Math) is enrolled in the mathematics PhD program at Vanderbilt University. He attended the prestigious Budapest Semesters in Mathematics in 2016 and he was a student researcher at Cornell University in 2018.
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Sashank Penmatsa (BS ’19, Physics) is assistant physics teacher of 9th- and 10th-graders at the Urban Assembly Charter School for Computer Science in the Bronx, New York City. Drew Spake (MS ’19, EES) is a geologist employed by ORMAT Technologies headquartered in Reno, Nev. He is working with Nicholas Davatzes, chair of the CST Department of Earth & Environmental Science, on the geothermal energy potential of Mt. Baker in Washington. Olivia Stepanic (BS ’19, Chem) is pursuing her PhD in chemistry at the Max Planck Institute and Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany. She is using X-ray emission and absorption spectroscopies to explore phosphorus, biological zinc and zinc salts. Alissa Vizzoni (BS ’19, Physics) is working at Lockheed Martin’s Moorestown, N. J. facility on the Aegis Combat System, a guided missile system used on U.S. Navy cruisers. Matthew Wynne (BS ’19, Math) is enrolled in the mathematics PhD program at the University of Washington. During his sophomore and junior year at CST he conducted undergraduate research, leading to co-authorship of a paper on deformations of noncommutative algebras in Communications in Algebra. Dellena Bloom (BS ’20, EES) was selected for a summer research internship at the prestigious Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California through the U.S. Department of Energy’s highly competitive Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship program.
Keep CST up to date! Email CSTalum@temple.edu to share your recent news and accomplishments.
IN MEMORIAM Alvin H. Greenberg (BA ’39, Chem) Robert Fineman (BA ’66, Chem) Bruce R. Hofmann (BA’52, Chem) Marilyn Solomon (BA ’74, Math) Donald C. Shukan (BA ’60, Bio)
Linda M. Kent (BA ’78, Bio)
Support world-class faculty with a gift to the Dean’s Endowed Term Professorship Fund. An endowed professorship profoundly benefits the College of Science and Technology. It brings top researchers to CST who, once here, attract research funding, talented junior faculty, postdoctoral scholars and graduate students. With each new experienced faculty member CST hires, the college accelerates advanced research and strengthens graduate and undergraduate education.
Your gift to the Dean’s Endowed Term Professorship Fund will help CST compete against the world’s premier universities as we seek to hire—and then support— extraordinary researchers. Make a gift to the Dean’s Endowed Term Professorship Fund at giving.temple.edu/givetocst. Or contact Lynne Corboy, Major Gift Officer, at lynne.corboy@temple. edu or 215.204.8192.
OU T L OOK
Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Temple University Permit #1044
College of Science and Technology Carnell Hall, Suite 400 1803 N. Broad St. Philadelphia, PA 19122
COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECNOLOGY
profe ssional s cie n c e maste r ’s options Offering advanced knowledge, internships opportunities and real-world skills valued by today’s top employers, CST offers a wide range of Professional Science Master’s degrees. BIOINFORMATICS Combines advanced programming skills with genomics and structural biology
FORENSIC CHEMISTRY Gain knowledge and experience in analytical methodologies to take on today’s tough challenges
BIOINNOVATION Entrepreneurship for scientists, in partnership with Fox School of Business
HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING FOR SCIENTIFIC APPLICATIONS Hone analytical skills and develop HPC techniques for science and engineering research
BIOTECHNOLOGY Real-world industry training matched with robust academics in biotech CYBER DEFENSE AND INFORMATION ASSURANCE Use advanced technology tools and learn legal and ethical basis for information privacy
SCIENTIFIC WRITING Develop communications expertise related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics
Learn more at cst.temple.edu/PSM
