THE N
ORTH STAR
Volume II, No. 4 --- Fall, 1997
Bill Linder-Scholer
Executive Director of SciMathMN
Dr. Bill Linder-Scholer is executive director of SciMathMN, a statewide public/private partnership formed in 1993 to advocate for standards-based, systemic reform for K-12 science and mathematics education in Minnesota. A former business and foundation executive who also has professional experience as an educator, Bill brings a unique combination of perspectives to the job of managing this education policy and professional development initiative.
As executive director, Bill leads the K-12 and post-secondary activities of staff and volunteers drawn from classrooms, government agencies, and the workplace. He oversees ten major statewide initiatives that embrace a broad range of systemic reform issues, from aligning state and local curricula with the vision of the national mathematics and science education standards, to developing model professional development programs for teachers of math and science. Bill's agency relations, corporate fundraising and communication, and management of the organizationís non-profit corporation.
Bill previously served as director of community affairs for Cray Research, Inc., the Minnesota-based Fortune 500 supercomputer company, and as director of the Cray Research philanthropic foundation. He managed Crayís national and local involvement in science and engineering education and served as education affairs deputy to the company's CEO.
Among other accomplishments while at Cray, Bill led and funded the creation of the "Cray Teacher Academy" based in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, site of the companyís engineering and manufacturing operations. The academy is an exemplary professional development program for school science, math, and technology teachers which has become a model for state-wide and now country-wide dissemination by the National Science Foundation.
For the past decade, Bill has also been active in the national education standards movement. He served on the National Research Council committee which developed and published the national science education standards (in 1996), and worked with a number of national business and trade associations on education policy and business involvement.
In Minnesota, Bill has been active in school improvement and education policy work, and has served as an appointed member of a number of statewide committees on education standards and practice. He currently represents business and industry on the executive committee which oversees development of Minnesotaís new high school graduation standards program.
Bill's first profession was teaching. He holds a Ph.D. and spent a decade in University teaching and research before entering industry.
Norm Spilleth
Instructor of Technical Training, Northwest Airlines
Norm began his career as an aircraft mechanic in The Marine Corps. His current duties involve teaching mechanics and inspectors how to assure the airworthiness of the fleet of aircraft operated by Northwest Airlines.
"I am very interested in the K-12 sector of public education," says Norm. "I am a volunteer lecturer in the Minneapolis Public Schools and at "Starbase Minnesota Inc.", a program for inner-city elementary students to encourage the study of aerospace science. These kids are the future of our industry, and they have to be encouraged by positive role-modeling." Norm is also an Airframe and Powerplant certified mechanic, and a Commercial/Instrument rated pilot. He has been at Northwest for 31 years.
Chuck Swanson
Manager of Technology Transfer in the University Marketing Department of
Cray Research
Chuck Swanson is Manager of Technology Transfer in the University Marketing department of Cray Research, a division of Silicon Graphics, Inc. In this position he manages Cray's University Research and Development Grant Program, which provides funding for research in computational science and engineering at universities that own Cray Research supercomputers. He has been with Cray for eight years, with prior experience as a nuclear engineer and computer scientist. Chuck is also active in computational science education at all levels and serves as an advisory board member and teacher in an NSF-funded program called "Envision It!--Computational Science for Teaching and Learning." This program for Metro Twin Cities middle and high school teachers shows how the techniques of computatuional science can be used to enrich math and science teaching. Outside of work, Chuck likes going to the lake, sailing, reading and collecting more classical music CDs than he has time for. Chuck received a Bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of Minnesota in 1965 and Masterís degrees in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin in 1968 and in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota in 1991, where his research focused on parallel linear systems solvers.
Loren Barber
Corporate Scientist, Abrasive Systems Division of 3M
Loren has been involved in developing new materials and products to enhance 3M's products in world wide markets since coming to 3M in 1969. He has a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Rochester Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. Loren has 18 issued patents and other publications. In 1986, he was recognized as a Golden Step Award winner and as a Corporate Circle of Technical Excellence winner in 1993. Loren has participated in 3M's Mr. Wizzard program and has given numerous presentations to students in elementary schools. He has also sponsored several college level students as tech-aides at 3M in the abrasives lab. On the personal side, Loren is married and a step-dad of two wonderful young girls, ages 8 and 12. His interest in math and science education stems from his role as mentor and in-house science consultant to his step daughters. Loren serves on various church boards, enjoys traveling with his family, fishing, tennis, working in his garden and many other activities.
Carleton College Joins MnSGC as Affiliate Member Dr. Cindy Blaha, Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Carleton College in Northfield, MN is a new MnSGC Affiliate Member this year. Her research interests are in optical and radio properties of star formation and evolution in the disks and nuclei of spiral galaxies.
Ursula Watts
Manager, Engineering Policies & Procedure, Northwest Airlines
Please watch for Ursula's information in the next issue of the North Star.
Orb-bits
MnSGC Program Information
Each spring the Program for Women in IT sponsors a day for elementary and junior high school girls to get hands-on experience in fluids or solids. Experiments show how fiber orientation affects strength in composite solids, and both wind and water flow. Grad students Wendy Crone, Alexandra Naughten, and Kosti Hennighausen and many people from the AEM department presented. For information contact (612) 625-8000 or send email to Wendy Crone.
The Program for Women in IT at the UM-TC holds two week-long summer for girls in grades 5-6 and grades 7-8 each summer. These camps give girls hands-on computer skills in a supportive environment. Students used the EECSci and Civil Engineering computing facilities. Software introduced includes Lego-Logo, MicroWorlds, MSFlight Simulator, 3D Home Architect, 3D Landscape, and CarBuilder. For information about the 1998 summer camps contact the IT Program for Women Office at (612) 624-1317 or send email to Susan Marino.
Fourteen K-12 teachers attended a workshop at the College of St. Catherine in July led by Dr. Terry Flower, dept. of Physics, and Dr. Ken Voss, dept. of Education. The teachers learned advanced rocketry software and prepared curriculum for their classes. Graduate credit was available through the College of St. Catherine. The workshop will be held again in 1998 and is sponsored by the MnSGC. For information contact Dr. Terry Flower at (612) 638-6337 or by Email.
The first-ever Space Science conference at the Science Museum of Minnesota will be held on February 21, 1998. Over 15 teachers will present aerospace and space science connections to physics, math, arts, language, geography, and technology. For information contact Randi Quanbeck at (612) 626-9295 or by Email.
The Space Grant-sponsored undergraduate research symposium will be held at Bethel College on May 8th, 1998. For more information, please contact Dr. Tom Greelee by telephone: (612) 638-6337, or Email.
This event will be held on May 9th, 1998, at Augsburg College. Please contact Dr. Jeanine Gregoire for more information, by telephone: (612) 330-1551, or Email.
NASA is again sponsoring four different academies for undergraduates next summer. The Academies will be held at Ames, Dryden, Goddard, Marshall NASA research centers. Students should contact their MnSGC faculty advisor for information. Only students currently registered at MnSGC Affiliate schools are eligible. For information contact the MnSGC office at (612) 626-9295 or Email. See also the MnSGC website.
Ken Erickson, Physics
Jeanine Gregoire, Science Education
Augsburg College
John Annextad
Bob Melchior
Geology/Biology
Bemidji State University
Tom Greenlee
Richard Peterson
Physics
Bethel College
Cindy Blaha
Physics & Astronomy
Carleton College
Terry Flower
Physics
College of St. Catherine
Glenn Langhorst
Physics
Fond du Lac Tribal &Community
College
Karl Wirth
Geology
Macalester College
Mark Hollabaugh
Physics
Normandale Community College
William L. Garrard
Aerospace Eng. & Mechanics
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Jack Brownstein, Geology
Paul Lane, Physics
University of St. Thomas
Industrial Affiliates:
Honeywell Inc.
Rosemount Inc.
Alliant Technology
State-Governmental Affiliate:
Minnesota Dept. of Transportation
(Office of Aeronautics)
Director
William L. Garrard, UM-TC
Co-Directors
John Annexstad, BSU
Ken Erickson, Augsburg College
Program Coordinator and
Newsletter Editor
Randi Quanbeck
Newsletter Asst. Editor
Michelle Ruder
Mailing Address:
Minnesota Space Grant Consortium
Department of Aerospace Engineering
and Mechanics
University of Minnesota
107 Akerman Hall
110 Union Street S.E.
Minneapolis, MN 55455