Page 788 – The Source | Washington University in St. Louis

Engineers to study better design for robotics, autonomous technology

Xuan “Silvia” Zhang and Christopher Gill, both faculty in the School of Engineering & Applied Science at Washington University in St. Louis, received a four-year, $936,504 grant from the National Science Foundation to study how to orchestrate modular power in a modular manner at the mesoscale, an area that has not yet been studied.

Science & Technology

Cells’ mechanical memory could hold clues to cancer metastasis

In the body, cells move around to form organs during development; to heal wounds; and when they metastasize from cancerous tumors. A mechanical engineer at Washington University in St. Louis found that cells remember the properties they had in their first environment for several days after they move to another in a process called mechanical memory.

New work by Heather Bennett at Bruno David

“Photos of Gifts,” a new exhibition by Heather Bennett, lecturer in art in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, is on view through Nov. 11 at the Bruno David Gallery, 7513 Forsyth Blvd.

$10 million gift supports personalized medicine

The School of Medicine has received a $10 million commitment from longtime benefactors George and Debra Couch to support research that advances personalized medicine. In recognition of their generosity, the research building at 4515 McKinley Ave. has been named the Debra and George W. Couch III Biomedical Research Building.

Humanities & Society

WashU Expert: House GOP tax proposal ‘death of neutrality’ for international tax system

The U.S. House of Representatives Republican tax proposal, released Nov. 2, would institute a number of wholesale changes to the American tax code, including the end of neutrality in the international tax system, says an expert on international tax law at Washington University in St. Louis.

Sam Fox School students win National Organization of Minority Architects competition

A team from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts took first place in the National Organization of Minority Architects’ (NOMA) annual Student Design Competition.

Campus & Community

Leggett: Teaching students to ‘live amongst difference’

Washington University Student Affairs and Residential Life leaders will lead a panel that explores ways to support students impacted by crises from natural disasters to racist propaganda. The panel, lead by Kawanna Leggett, executive director of residential life, is part of the annual Residential College Symposium.

Campus & Community

Obituary: Milton J. Schlesinger, professor emeritus, 89

Milton J. Schlesinger, professor emeritus of molecular microbiology at the School of Medicine, died of heart failure Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, at his home in Berkeley, Calif., after a long period of illness. He was 89.

Medicine & Health

In autism, too many brain connections may be at root of condition

A defective gene linked to autism influences how neurons connect and communicate with each other in the brain, according to a study from the School of Medicine. Rodents that lack the gene form too many connections between brain neurons and have difficulty learning.

Film festival presents Ward-Brown’s ‘Never Been a Time’

“Never Been a Time,” a documentary film by Denise Ward-Brown, associate professor in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, will be screened Nov. 5 as part of the 26th annual St. Louis International Film Festival.