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North Carolina State University will host more than 2,500 of the state’s best and brightest middle- and high-school students at the North Carolina Science Olympiad (NCSO) on April 30. The competitive events will include launching bottle rockets, flying remote-control helicopters, breaking balsa towers, throwing catapults, destroying sumo bots and investigating crime scenes.

Media are invited to attend the event, which will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum on NC State’s campus. Parking is available in the parking lot adjacent to Reynolds Coliseum and in the coliseum deck located at the corner of Cates Avenue and Jeter Drive.

For more information about all the events surrounding the Science Olympiad, visit www.sciencenc.com or contact Jason Painter at 919/515-9402. The Science Olympiad is sponsored by The Science House, NC State’s acclaimed K-12 outreach program, which is part of NC State’s College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.

The NCSO offers content-rich, interactive learning experiences and demonstrates that careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) are accessible and exciting pathways to a better future.

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North Carolina State University has selected 45 Park Scholars for fall 2011. The prestigious awards are valued at about $80,000 for North Carolina residents and $136,000 for out-of-state students. Winners were selected from a pool of more than 1,300 highly qualified applicants.

Biographies and photos of the Class of 2015 Park Scholars can be accessed on the Web here.

Among the nation’s most prestigious undergraduate merit scholarship programs, the scholarships pay tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, travel and personal expenses for four years of study at NC State.

Members of the new class include the recipient of the Congressional Award Gold Medal and U.S. Senate Youth Program Award; the founder of an organization to protect the oceans; a volunteer with a public-health project in Guatemala; and a member of the N.C. Youth Legislative Assembly.

“The Park Scholars in the Class of 2015 will include our 800th Park Scholar and will bring a rich diversity of experiences and abilities to NC State,” says Park Scholarships Director Eva Holcomb. “Representing 19 North Carolina counties, 12 states, and three countries, they will pursue an important range of academic interests and service passions as they seek to address some of the most important issues facing our state, nation and world. We are deeply grateful for the Park Foundation’s continued generosity, which makes this program possible.”

Park Scholars are selected based on outstanding accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service and character.

The Park Scholarships are named for the late Roy H. Park, a 1931 NC State alumnus who created the charitable Park Foundation. The Park Foundation, based in Ithaca, N.Y., provides support for programs across the nation related to higher education, media and the environment. For more information, visit the Park Scholarships Web site.

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The North Carolina State University Board of Trustees will award the Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal for Excellence to four faculty members in recognition of their outstanding careers at NC State. The Holladay Medal is the highest honor bestowed on a faculty member by the trustees and the university.

This year’s honorees are Dr. William R. Atchley, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Genetics and Statistics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Dr. B. Jayant Baliga, Distinguished University Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering; Meredith Davis, Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor of graphic design in the College of Design; and Dr. Fred Gould, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The Holladay Medal is named for Col. Alexander Quarles Holladay, the university’s first president. It recognizes the contributions of faculty members in teaching, research and service. Winners receive a medal and a framed certificate, and their names are inscribed on a plaque in the NC State Faculty Senate chambers.

Atchley has served NC State for 25 years, after joining the faculty as head of the Department of Genetics in 1986. He has been a pioneer in the field of computational biology which integrates theory and methodology from statistics, mathematics, computer sciences and molecular biology to solve complex biological problems.  He is widely recognized as one of the founders of the fields of experimental systematics and developmental quantitative genetics. Atchley is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award from Germany and was recently an Distinguished International Professor at the Chinese Academy of Science.  Atchley is a 2011 recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest honor the governor of North Carolina can bestow on a citizen.

Baliga has served NC State for 22 years, and is the founder of the Power Semiconductor Research Center (PSRC), an internationally recognized center for education in power semiconductors. He invented the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), which is pervasively used in consumer, industrial, lighting, medical, transportation, defense, and renewable power generation applications worldwide. The energy efficiency improvements achieved using the IGBT have saved consumers over $3 trillion while reducing worldwide carbon emissions by over 30 trillion pounds. Baliga has authored 16 books, published 500 scholarly papers, and founded four successful start-up companies. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, recipient of the O. Max Gardner Award, and was inducted into the Electronic Design Engineering Hall of Fame in 2010.

Davis has served NC State for 22 years, 19 of them as director of graduate programs in graphic design, 10 as a department head and 4 as director of the PhD program in design. Her research focuses on the application of design thinking to teaching and learning in other subject areas in K-12 schools. She revised NC State’s master’s program in graphic design, which is now ranked #2 nationally among public universities, and has developed programs for the departments of education in Wisconsin, Michigan, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. Davis is a fellow and national medalist of the American Institute for Graphic Arts, and has served as president of the Graphic Design Education Association, president of the American Center for Design, and on the board of directors of the American Institute of Graphic Design.

Gould has served NC State for 32 years. His research focuses on using genetics to develop novel strategies for decreasing damage by agricultural pests and decreasing the spread of insect-vectored human disease like malaria or dengue fever by manipulating the genomes of the pests in ways that would suppress their wild populations or prevent them from spreading disease. Gould has authored more than 180 papers and has worked with numerous government and non-governmental agencies to develop policy relevant to ecologically and evolutionarily sustainable use of transgenic crops. Most recently, Gould has developed an academic program in the new field of genetic pest management, which hopes to prepare a new generation of researchers for the scientific and social challenges that will face agriculture and human health in the 21^st century.

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The nation’s feral pig population continues to expand, increasing the potential for interaction with humans and domestic swine – and for spreading diseases. Researchers at North Carolina State University examined feral pigs from eastern North Carolina to determine exposure to two parasites that can be transmitted from animals to people – Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) and Trichinella. Continue Reading »

Latinos are the fastest growing population in the United States and have relatively high rates of domestic violence coupled with social and linguistic barriers that can make it difficult for Latino families to access relevant social services. But a new study from North Carolina State University finds Latino religious leaders willing to help address the problem, and identifies cultural factors that may help social-service providers and others form partnerships with these leaders. Continue Reading »

North Carolina State University will dedicate the Randall B. Terry, Jr., Companion Animal Veterinary Medical Center on May 6. The 110,000-square-foot addition will more than double the current size of NC State’s Small Animal Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH), making it one of the largest, most technologically advanced veterinary facilities in the country.

The $72 million  project was made possible, in part, by a $20 million donation from the R.B. Terry, Jr., Charitable Foundation – one of the largest private gifts ever given to NC State. The North Carolina General Assembly appropriated $38 million for the facility in 2006, and additional private funds paid for the remaining costs.

The Terry Center is designed to offer advanced veterinary technologies to its patients. The new medical center will double the number of exam rooms and surgery suites previously available at the Small Animal VTH, and will add expanded patient visitation areas, dedicated teaching space, and a spacious new pharmacy.

Enhanced medical technologies that will be available to patients include: a biplane fluoroscopy unit for better visualization of complex structures – such as congenital heart defects – for more accurate and faster placement of interventional devices; a new linear accelerator for precision treatment of a variety of cancers; a 64-slice Computed Tomography CT Unit for high-resolution imaging; copper-shielded rooms required for neurological and opthalmological diagnostics; high flow air filtration to protect patients with infectious diseases; and a dedicated canine bone marrow transplant unit.

Combined, the Terry Center, the Equine and Farm Animal Veterinary Center, and the emerging Veterinary Health and Wellness Center (housed in the Small Animal VTH), will create the Veterinary Health Complex on NC State’s Centennial Biomedical Campus (CBC). The CBC advances biomedical research, bio- and agro-security, food animal health and food safety, ecosystem health, animal welfare, and the critical job of training the next generation of veterinarians and veterinary scientists.

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Researchers from North Carolina State University have discovered how fat, oil and grease (FOG) can create hardened deposits in sewer lines: it turns into soap! The hardened deposits, which can look like stalactites, contribute to sewer overflows. Continue Reading »