Author: Michael Smick

Unpaid internships are the norm in many industries. The Career Center’s summer stipends help students pay their bills while working an unpaid internship. The Career Center also awards grants to students who must travel to a job interview or would like to attend a Career Center Road Show.

Lihong Wang, PhD, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Engineering at Lund University in Sweden. Wang, the Gene K. Beare Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, has been one of the prominent figures in developing photoacoustic imaging technology in biomedicine, says Stefan Andersson-Engels, professor of atomic physics at Lund University.

Lithium-ion batteries, such as those used in electric vehicles, are in high demand, with a global market value expected to reach $33.1 billion in 2019. But their high price tags and short lives need to be addressed before they can be used in more consumer, energy and medical products. Venkat Subramanian, PhD, associate professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering, and his team are working to solve this problem by developing optimal charging profiles for the batteries.

Nominations are being accepted for Washington University in St. Louis’ annual Faculty Achievement Awards, known as the Arthur Holly Compton Faculty Achievement Award and the Carl and Gerty Cori Faculty Achievement Award.

Most WUSTL campuses had a rare snow day Monday after the St. Louis region got blasted with major snowfall during the weekend, followed by bitterly cold temperatures. The School of Medicine remained open, and certain other “essential” services, such as police and facilities management, were operating. Crews were still hard at work Tuesday to clear the snow from walkways and elsewhere around campus.

Federal Judge Richard J. Leon’s recent decision ruling the National Security Agency phone surveillance program unconstitutional is absolutely correct as a matter of law, says Neil M. Richards, JD, privacy law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “The bulk data collection at issue in the case reveals a tremendous amount about us – who we know, who we confide in, where we go, and with whom,” he said. “It’s exactly the sort of information that should require a warrant before the government obtains it.” Richards was struck by Leon’s willingness to question whether this surveillance program was effective.

A multiweek visit to the United States by Burmese lawmakers kicked off with a two-day intensive workshop on constitutional reform conducted by David S. Law, professor of law and of political science at Washington University in St. Louis. The curriculum included mechanisms and strategies for amending a constitution; options for structuring a federal system of government; the decentralization of control over natural resources; protection of minority rights; the role of the judiciary in promoting democracy and enforcing constitutional guarantees; and strategies for promoting the rule of law. Law was selected to conduct the workshop for his interdisciplinary background and expertise on global constitutionalism, constitutional drafting, design of government institutions, and Asian constitutionalism in particular.​

Huntington’s disease is a devastating, incurable disorder that results from the death of certain neurons in the brain. Rohit Pappu, PhD, and colleagues in the engineering and medical schools are conducting studies to learn from nature’s own strategies to battle the disease.

Washington University in St. Louis has joined an international group of researchers working to make great strides in advanced coal technologies.

Washington University in St. Louis students delighted their Clayton neighbors by singing holiday carols last weekend. Afterward, the students gathered to warm up with hot cocoa.