{"id":9869,"date":"2014-05-05T10:11:04","date_gmt":"2014-05-05T14:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/creative.clemson.edu\/clemsonworld\/?p=9869"},"modified":"2014-05-05T10:11:04","modified_gmt":"2014-05-05T14:11:04","slug":"hills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/hills\/","title":{"rendered":"In These Hills"},"content":{"rendered":"

International teachers learn and teach<\/h3>\n

Richard Balikoowa from Uganda was one of 16 teachers from seven different countries who studied on campus and taught in local schools from January through May. They are part of the International Leaders in Education Program, a professional exchange program funded by a subgrant from the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), which is funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The teachers completed an on-campus academic program with some of Clemson\u2019s School of Education faculty, and then interned with a partner teacher at Riverside Middle, Liberty Middle and Seneca High.
\nAs part of this program, which is in its sixth year at Clemson, the teachers engage in formal and informal cultural activities in which they learn about American culture and share about their own. Teacher Fellows go through a yearlong selection process; they are nominated by their own country, approved through that country\u2019s American embassy and local Fulbright commission, and screened through the U.S. State Department and IREX. Clemson is one of four universities selected to host the group.
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Clemson team selected for Solar Decathlon<\/h3>\n

\"Clemson's<\/a>

Clemson’s Solar Decathlon team<\/p><\/div>
\nThe U.S. Department of Energy selected a Clemson team to compete in the Solar Decathlon 2015. Clemson is one of 20 colleges and universities across the country and around the world that will now begin the nearly two-year process of building solar-powered houses that are affordable, innovative and highly energy efficient.
\n\u201cWe are honored and excited to participate in the Solar Decathlon 2015,\u201d said Akel Kahera, associate dean for Clemson\u2019s College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities. \u201cThis competition offers our students a one-of-a-kind learning and training experience that helps students excel once they enter the clean energy industry.\u201d
\nOver the coming months, the Solar Decathlon teams will design, construct and test their houses before reassembling them at the Solar Decathlon 2015 competition site in Irvine, Calif. As part of the Solar Decathlon, teams compete in 10 different contests, ranging from architecture and engineering to home appliance performance, while gaining valuable hands-on experience.
\nIn fall 2015, the student teams will showcase their solar-powered houses at the competition site, providing free public tours of renewable energy systems and energy-efficient technologies, products and appliances that today are helping homeowners nationwide save money by saving energy. The solar-powered houses will represent a diverse range of design approaches; building technologies; target markets; and geographic locations, climates and regions, including urban, suburban and rural settings.
\nThe Solar Decathlon helps demonstrate how energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies and design save money and energy while protecting local communities and boosting economic growth.
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Clemson partners in national hub for genetics research<\/h3>\n

\"President<\/a>

President Clements presents Self Regional\u2019s Jim Pfeiffer with a bowl crafted from a cedar tree at Fort Hill, the historic home of John C.\u00a0 Calhoun and Thomas G. Clemson.<\/p><\/div>
\nIn February, Clemson, the Greenwood Genetic Center and Self Regional Healthcare announced a new partnership that will establish formal collaboration among genetic researchers and Clemson faculty. Self Regional Healthcare will support Clemson\u2019s Center for Human Genetics with a gift of $5.6 million over three years. The gift consists of an initial contribution of $2 million for the center\u2019s facilities and a subsequent contribution of $3.6 million to support research in genetics and human diagnostics at the facility located on the Greenwood Genetic Center campus.
\n\u201cToday\u2019s announcement will create a new pipeline for genetic research,\u201d said John Pillman, chair of the Self Regional board of trustees. \u201cThe collaboration of these three partners will ultimately connect genetic therapeutics research to patients.\u201d
\nSteve Skinner, director of the Greenwood Genetic Center, said such collaborations are crucial in turning research advances into clinically available therapies for patients, not only in Greenwood and across South Carolina, but globally. \u201cThis collaboration is a major step forward for patients as we combine the resources and strengths of each institution: Self\u2019s commitment to patient care, Clemson\u2019s expertise in basic scientific research and our experience with genetic disorders and treatment.\u201d
\nSelf Regional and the Genetic Center have had an affiliation agreement since 1975 with the Genetic Center\u2019s clinical faculty serving as the Department of Medical Genetics for Self Regional.
\n[pullquote align=’right’ font=’chunk’ color=’#685C53′]President Clements said the announcement brings us a step closer to moving basic discoveries in human genetics from a research environment to a clinical setting, where they can be used to diagnose and treat real human disorders.[\/pullquote] \u201cClemson is proud to be part of this important collaborative effort, and we\u2019re grateful to Self Regional Healthcare for its support of our research efforts at the Greenwood Genetic Center.\u201d
\nThe center will address research and clinical opportunities in human diagnostics and epigenetic therapeutics advancing personalized medicine for intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and disorders of the immune and nervous systems. Specific research will include molecular diagnostics and therapeutics, bioinformatics and computational\/systems biology.
\nSelf Regional Healthcare, as a research and lead health care partner, will support hospital-based clinical trials and collaborate in designated research activities. This marks Clemson\u2019s third significant development at the Greenwood Genetic Center. In June 2013, Clemson announced it would expand its genetics programs, create an internationally competitive research and development team, and expand research capabilities at the Greenwood Genetic Center\u2019s J.C. Self Institute through the Center for Human Genetics, a 17,000-square-foot research and education center in human genetics. And in November, Clemson established the Self Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Human Genetics, jointly funded by the Self Family Foundation and the state of South Carolina.
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Ballato selected for class of \u201939 award<\/h3>\n

\"John<\/a>

John Ballato 2013 recipient of the Class of \u201939 Award.<\/p><\/div>
\nWith the increasing popularity of Sci-Fi movies, it\u2019s no surprise that lasers conjure up images of futuristic adventures in outer space. But materials science and engineering professor John Ballato\u2019s work in fiber optics isn\u2019t happening in a galaxy far, far away \u2014 it\u2019s all happening right here in Clemson.
\nThe 2013 recipient of the Class of \u201939 Award, Ballato is director of the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET). His research in glass and specialty fiber has made seemingly fictitious concepts a reality. \u201cIt sounds very Star Trek-ish, but the military has lasers deployed around the world to shoot down a variety of threats,\u201d Ballato said, \u201ceverything from missiles to RPGs.\u201d
\nAlthough Ballato and his team don\u2019t make the lasers that are sent to the battlefield, they do help develop the fiber optics that go inside them. The program\u2019s success in the field of specialty fiber has enabled Ballato to work closely with the U.S. Department of Defense Joint Technology Office, which has invested more than $10 million in COMSET over the past eight years.
\nBallato moved to Clemson in 1997 and worked with other researchers to start an optics program, no easy task for junior faculty members. \u201cDoing optical fiber research is extremely expensive,\u201d he said. \u201cThe equipment that you need is big, complex and dangerous.\u201d
\nBut a confluence of events fell into the team\u2019s favor. The dot-com boom turned into the dot-com bust in the late 1990s, leaving a glut of fiber optic cable that no one wanted. But Ballato and his team knew there was more research to be done. They quickly found an underserved sector, a \u201csandbox\u201d where no one else was playing, he said. \u201cThe Department of Defense was clamoring for specialty fiber,\u201d he said. \u201cThey couldn\u2019t get any because it was all going to communications.\u201d
\nIt was a perfect fit. The research had to be done onshore for security reasons, Ballato said, and the Department of Defense was a client with deep pockets. \u201cThere was nobody else talking to them,\u201d he said. \u201cEverybody else had moved on http:\/\/creative.clemson.edu\/clemsonworld\/2014\/05\/hills\/to other things, and we rode that wave in fiber for 10 years, through two wars and a staggering amount of investment.\u201d
\nBallato said COMSET partners with companies to pitch programs to the Department of Defense. [pullquote align=’right’ font=’chunk’ color=’#685C53′]\u201cClemson is actually pretty unique nationally in the sense that we go from \u2018dirt to shirt,\u2019\u201d he said.[\/pullquote] \u201cWe model it, we design it. We study new materials. We make the glasses. We draw the fiber. We build the lasers for them at a prototypic level. That\u2019s extremely valuable for our partners. It\u2019s a one-stop shop for them.\u201d
\nBallato served as the interim vice president for research and associate vice president for research and economic development, where he championed Clemson\u2019s advanced materials related research and economic development. His achievements speak volumes, but this award may be the most meaningful. Ballato was chosen by his peers to represent the highest achievement of service to the University, the student body and the larger community.
\nAs the 2013 winner of the Class of \u201839 Award, Ballato\u2019s name will be engraved in stone next to 24 past winners. The Class of 1939 established the Award for Excellence in 1989 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the class and to recognize and inspire faculty service above and beyond expectations.
\nIn March, President Clements announced that Ballato would take on additional duties as the University\u2019s vice president for economic development.
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Honoring Sacrifice<\/h3>\n