News 07-19-2002

Awards Honors Mix of Art and Technology

Computer publishing giant Adobe Systems, Inc. announced the winners of its second annual Adobe Design Achievement Awards, honoring students from the Academy of Art College, Art Center College of Design, California College of Arts and Crafts, California College of Arts and Design, Parsons School of Design, Savannah College of Art & Design, School of Visual Arts, and UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. The winners were announced at a ceremony last night at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. More than 800 submissions were received, representing the work of student graphic designers, illustrators, digital filmmakers and computer artists from leading U.S. design schools. Awards were handed out for creativity and professionalism in six categories: video, print design, photography, illustration, experimental design, and web design. The company said this year's awards reflect technology's impact on nearly every aspect of the art world, noting that design schools now receive more applications containing computer animation, zipped sound files, and CD-ROMs than with traditional print materials, albums, and portfolios.

A list of the winning entries can be viewed at http://www.adobe.com/education/winners

Sponsor: PeopleSoft Commits to Silver Sponsorship of Syllabus2002

PeopleSoft, a leading provider of internet applications for higher education, joins other technology companies and hundreds of administrators, faculty and IT professionals at Syllabus2002, the ninth annual conference on high technology for higher education. Held July 27-31 in Santa Clara, Calif., Syllabus2002 features keynote speakers Diana Laurillard, Lawrence Lessig and Jack Wilson, as well as a full conference program with six tracks of breakout sessions, pre-conference workshops, technology classrooms and an exhibit hall.

Firm Introduces SCORM Content Manager

E-learning firm Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. released the SCORM Content Manager, software that uses the Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), a suite of technical standards that enable web-based learning systems to find, import, share, reuse, and export learning content in a standardized way. The tool is a Web-based utility that integrates SCORM compliant e-learning courseware and creates a repository of reusable content resources from which custom courses can be built. Users can include SCORM content from any commercial or custom courseware library. The tool supports SCORM 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2 conformant content. The SCORM Content Manager is available as a module of Meridian's Knowledge Centre, an enterprise learning and knowledge management system.

Big Science Project to Incorporate Business Tools

The Duke Bioinformatics Shared Resource (DBSR) at Duke University signed an agreement to partner with SPSS Inc.'s to give DBSR user licenses, on-site training and technical support for Clementine, the company's data mining workbench. In return, DBSR will use Clementine to analyze scientific data and will share with SPSS its methodology and experience in using the Clementine software. The partnership is being driven by research associated with the Human Genome Project, which is generating voluminous amounts of bioinformatic data. "The large volumes of data being generated by technologies such as High Throughput Screening, combinatorial chemistry and microarrays provide a fertile ground for business tools to branch out into the scientific realm," said Dr. Petra Scheffer, SPSS Science senior marketing manager.

Princeton Review Names Technology Chief

Princeton Review Inc. named Curtis Brown its new chief technology officer. The company, which helps students prepare for standardized tests required for admission to college and graduate school, said Brown joins the company from Oxygen Media, where he was technology chief. Before working at Oxygen, Brown was chief technology officer of SkyMall.

Automated Essay Scoring Engine Smartens Up

The makers of an automated essay scoring system said recent improvements in the software put it in the class of expert scorers in achieving scoring accuracy. The system, IntelliMetric, Version 8, from Vantage Learning, blends artificial intelligence technology and the digitization of human expertise to assess students in a range of subjects. The company said the system can be trained using as few as 200 sample papers, allowing easier use of the engine within instructional settings. Vantage Chief Operating Officer Scott Elliot said the software "just got a lot smarter," with more than 100 content and structural features, up from 72 features in the earlier version. The company said the new version has detailed line-by-line student writing feedback and improves "legitimacy detection," providing greater assurance to educators that scores are based on legitimate submissions from students.

Boston U. Offers Complete Master Degree Online

Boston University's Metropolitan College said it is offering its first complete Master's Degree in Criminal Justice program online. The school is working with the Embanet Knowledge Group (EKG), a learning management solutions firm, to develop the course. Designed by criminal justice education officials, the program enables students to earn a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice within two years. "The new program's curriculum enables working professionals to improve and expand their knowledge and competencies in criminal justice and law enforcement research, theory and practice," said Dr. Dan LeClair, chairman of the criminal justice program. He said the program would deliver "a valuable education to a variety of law enforcement and criminal justice professionals nationwide in high-level positions -- secret service agents, senior investigators and detectives, and police chiefs."

Welcome to the University of Math

The American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) was awarded a grant of $5 million by the National Science Foundation. The award is the result of a proposal submitted by AIM as part of a national competition. The funds will be used to support top mathematicians and scientists to attend focused workshops at a new conference center. The AIM Research Conference Center (ARCC) will be one of only a handful of its kind worldwide, and is expected to become a retreat for deep math thinkers as they collaborate to solve important problems. The architectural style for the new research center is modeled on the famous "Alhambra," the Moorish palace in Granada, Spain, which is renowned for its fascinating geometric proportions and mathematically intricate patterns.

For more information, visit http://www.aimath.org

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