Merced names admissions head
UC Merced, the 10th and unbuilt campus in the University of
California system began its student recruitment effort Friday by
naming Encarnación RuÃz director of admissions.
“He brings a wealth of experience and a proven record of
success in conducting UC outreach to students throughout the San
Joaquin valley,” said Merced Chancellor Carol
Tomlinson-Keasey.
RuÃz served for 16 years in the UC outreach office in
Fresno, later named director of the UC Merced Office of Relations
with Schools.
He will be charged with the task of designing the admissions
office and developing admissions policies for the new campus.
“UC Merced provides an exciting opportunity for our
region’s students to attend a UC campus and study with the
best faculty at a location close to home,” RuÃz
said.
UCLA develops plastic that heals
A UCLA-led team of chemists and engineers has developed a
transparent plastic that if fractured will mend itself when heated
““ a discovery that can be used to create self-repairing
products.
The material, which the researchers call Automend, is a tough,
clear plastic that is solid at room temperature. Automend can be
fractured and healed multiple times by heating it to 240-250
degrees Fahrenheit.
“If a product constructed with Automend cracks while in
use ““ such as in a electronic device that heats and cools
frequently ““ it would repair itself the next time it
heats,” said Fred Wudl, director of the UCLA’s Exotic
Materials Institute.
After healing, the original fracture is invisible, and it
retains 60 percent of the plastic’s original strength. It is
also transparent to electromagnetic waves, which makes it practical
for devices such as the housing for radar or communications
equipment.
UCSC professor earns fellowship
The National Research Council of Canada has awarded the 2001
Herzberg Memorial Prize and Fellowship to Puragra GuhaThakurta,
associate professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the UC Santa
Cruz.
The award consists of a prize and a one-year fellowship.
GuhaThakurta will spend his fellowship year at NRC’s Herzberg
Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, British Columbia.
GuhaThakurta earned international renown in the field of
astrophysics for his influential work on a wide range of subjects,
including interstellar dust, dark matter, planets, supernovae, and
globular star clusters.
Reports from Daily Bruin wire services.