Titan, before and after tagging

Peregrine falcon news

A month after UDM graduated a new class, a new generation of peregrine falcons are beginning to leave the nest high up in the McNichols Campus clock tower.  On Monday, one chick was seen flying from the roof of the Student Center to the top of Shiple Hall and back up to the nest.

Last week, a falcon chick was found hopping around the Student Center, only able to make short, horizontal flights.  Dave Hogan, a falconer working with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), took the youngster, named Titan, for a period of muscle-building until he is able to fly back up to the nest. 

Titan is the first of the McNichols Campus falcons to be officially banded by the DNR.  Hogan and Kariann Anderson, peregrine falcon coordinator for the DNR, plan to release the bird Wednesday, June 18 at 9 a.m. by the clock tower.   Good luck, Titan!

Homeownership classes available

To complement UDM's Employee Homeownership Program, program partner JVS is offering free Home Buyer Education classes.  These small group classes run four sessions each and will discuss advantages of homeownership, how to find the right lender and more.

The class is required for those participating in the Employee Homeownership Program, but anyone interested may also attend.  For questions, or to RSVP, contact Clarissa McMillon at 248-233-4482 or cmcmillon@jvsdet.org.  Sessions will be held at the JVS Southfield office, 29699 Southfield Road.

RSVP for the June class by June 17, and for the first July class by July 3:

• June class (10 a.m. - noon): June 18, 20, 25, 27
• July class (6:30 - 8:30 p.m.): July 7, 8, 14, 15
• July/Aug. class (9:30 - 11:30 a.m.): July 21, 28, Aug. 4, 11

Help save energy this summer

As air conditioning makes greater demands on the UDM power grid, the Information Technology Services Department suggests an easy way to save energy: simply turn off your computer and monitor at the end of each day. 

Also, you can save even more energy by setting your computer's screen saver to "Blank." On Windows computers, make this change by right-clicking on your desktop and selecting the "Properties" menu item.  In the Properties dialog, click the "Screen Saver" tab, choose "Blank" from the Screen saver drop-down list, then click "OK."

Faculty promotions and tenure

The following UDM faculty were awarded promotion and/or tenure.

School of Law
(Effective Aug. 16):

• Bret Boyce, associate professor
• Andrew F. Moore, granted tenure

School of Dentistry
(Effective July 1):

• Monish Bhola, associate professor with tenure
• Dincer Gurun, clinical associate professor
• Richard Kulbersh, professor
• Daman Thanik, clinic professor

UDM Professors' Union
(Effective with the beginning of the 2008-2009 academic year):

• Karen Burritt, assistant professor in the clinical track, College of Health Professions
• Nihad Dukhan, Mechanical Engineering, granted tenure
• Carla Groh, professor, Nursing
• Elizabath Hill, professor, Psychology
• Lazaros Kikas, associate professor, Mathematics and Computer Science, and granted tenure
• Matthew Mio, associate professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and granted tenure
• Judith Mouch, associate professor, Nursing, and granted continuing employment status
• Nutrena Tate, assistant professor, College of Health Professions
• Linda M. Thiel, Nursing, granted tenure
• Roberta Thomas, associate professor, College of Health Professions, and granted tenure

UDM robot wins contest

UDM Engineering students, competing against 47 teams from around the world, won the First Place Grand Award at the 16th annual Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC), held at Oakland University in Rochester, May 30 - June 2.  Intelligent ground vehicles are not remote-controlled; rather, they must sense their environment and compute their way through it.

The UDM Engineering students and faculty of the winning CERATOPS team

The UDM team designed and constructed an autonomous robot, CERATOPS, which achieved the best overall performance.  The competition included navigation and obstacle negotiation challenges as well as a presentation of the vehicle design.  For more, see the UDM news release and the IGVC objectives and rules.