McKelvey School of Engineering

A team of scientists at Washington University has discovered that an ion-channel mutation that causes epilepsy may do so by making part of the channel protein stiffer, so that the channel toggles open more easily.  This is the first time that protein dynamics have been implicated in the functioning of an ion channel.

The International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) has awarded 11 faculty members — university professors undertaking innovative and collaborative research in the broad areas of bioenergy and sustainability — grants totaling nearly $300,000.

Lisa Chaffee mastered multitasking while working fulltime, raising four teenagers and earning an advanced degree through the Sever Institute. Chaffee, who will receive a master’s in information management degree May 21, has been chosen by the Record as an Outstanding Graduate in the School of Engineering & Applied Science.

A groundbreaking ceremony for Preston M. Green Hall was held Friday, April 30, in Uncas A. Whitaker Hall. The building, which will house the School of Engineering & Applied Science, is being named in honor of the late Green, a WUSTL alumnus and benefactor. It will turn the corner at Skinker Boulevard and Forest Park Parkway, connecting on its western edge to the recently completed Brauer Hall.

A class at Washington University taps directly into the astonishing motivational power of the mashup of computers, gaming and popular culture. In the class, the students develop applications, popularly known as “apps,” for the iPhone and iPad, the digital tablet that was released to consumers April 3.

Nanocages that efficiently convert light to heat are the basis for a targeted form of phototherapy that would destroy tumors without making cancer patients sick.

Seven alumni of the School of Engineering & Applied Science were honored for career achievement at the annual awards dinner Feb. 18.

Students, faculty and alumni from the School of Engineering & Applied Science participate in the WUSTL chapter of Engineers Without Borders Service Project Day rehabbing a home in St. Louis’ North Grand Neighborhood. The project to help develop affordable housing was part of Engineers Week: February 14-20, the school’s week of special events to inspire current and future engineers.

Christopher I. Byrnes, Ph.D., dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science at Washington University in St. Louis from 1991 to 2006 and the Edward H. and Florence G. Skinner Professor Emeritus of Systems Science and Mathematics, died unexpectedly last week in Stockholm, Sweden. He was 60.

Ralph Quatrano, immediate past dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences, has been named dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science at Washington University in St. Louis.