News Roundup, October 2015

Here are some of the latest events and great things happening at our institutions:

Arts

Nevada State College, along with Clark County Poet Laureate Bruce Isaacson, last week co-sponsored a poetry reading by the National Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera. The author of 28 books of poetry, novels for young adults and collections for children, Herrera’s reading at NSC was part of the “Poets of National Stature” program.

Faculty

An original group of faculty and staff who helped establish Truckee Meadows Community College in 1971 have now teamed up to donate more than $17,000 toward a new student scholarship. The group includes 12 of the 49 founding staff members who are known as the “Steadies.”

Research

The National Science Foundation recently awarded $3.8 million to a team of UNLV researchers who will lead an international collaboration to advance work on artificial muscles. UNLV engineers Kwang Kim and Paul Oh will team with faculty from Japan and Korea to advance the field of “soft robotics,” where the components of the robot are made of pliable materials. In this case the focus is on new polymer-metal composites, an area in which Kim is a pioneering researcher.

Community

More than 15,000 students at 32 primary Washoe County schools have begun receiving vegetables produced by the University of Nevada, Reno’s Desert Farming Initiative and Lattin Farms as part of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. The program’s aim is to expose children to a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables in the hope that they will develop healthy eating habits.

Upcoming Event

Tomorrow is the big football game between UNLV and UNR. Once again, the fate of the Fremont Cannon is up for grabs. Best of luck to both teams!

Thanks for reading and please have a wonderful weekend!