Center for Biofilm Engineering

News Update: 

September, 2006

Volume 9, Issue 8-9

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Research Highlights

NSF Awards “Biofilms: The Hypertextbook”

The National Science Foundation has awarded Montana State University's Center for Biofilm Engineering a $498,270 grant to develop a web-based undergraduate teaching and active-learning resource about biofilms. The grant begins September 1, 2006 and expires August 31, 2009.
 

Read more about the project at: http://www.biofilm.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/newsarchives/HTML/2006/NSF_Hypertextbook_Award.htm

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New Industrial Associate

We welcome Sandia National Laboratories as our newest Industrial Associate member (http://www.sandia.gov/). Dr. Susan Altman, Principal Member of Technical Staff, Geohydrology Department, will be the designated representative. Sandia is a national laboratory with interests in biosystems research and increasing the safety, security and sustainability of water infrastructure (http://www.sandia.gov/water/).

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CBE Annual Report

This year’s report is compact, colorful and full of information about the CBE programs and the creative people who study and work with biofilms. It is now posted in a downloadable pdf format on our Resource Library web pages at: http://www.biofilm.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/AnnualReports/default.htm

Enjoy the read!

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Conference Proceedings

CBE Technical Advisory Conference Proceedings are coveted documents that are disseminated first to our Industrial Associate members, and then web posted later in the year for the general public. Find the recently posted “Proceedings Winter 2006” in the Resource Library web pages, at: http://www.biofilm.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/Proceedings/default.htm

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Retirement Farewell

Senior Researcher Associate, Rick Veeh, retired from the Center this month, and we wish him the best in his future pursuits. Rick has worked at the CBE since the inception of the engineering research center in 1991. He has had many interests and contributed his expertise to the Center's research and outreach programs, including Pan-American Advanced Studies Institutes (PASI) and biofilm workshops. In particular, for his finale, this past year Rick put together a lab class/seminar for CBE researchers based on the idea of using FISH (fluorescence in-situ hybridizations) on cryosectioned biofilms. This seminar began in January and culminated in application of the techniques in an experiment during this past TAC workshop. This kind of endeavor is viewed by his colleagues as the interdisciplinary legacy Rick leaves with us. He plans to travel a bit in retirement, adopt a quieter lifestyle in a smaller Montana town, and spend some time with hobbies new and old, including woodworking, building mandolins, playing music, fishing (without labeled DNA probes), golf, and gardening...not necessarily in that order! After his travels, he hopes to do some consulting work and also become involved in projects where he could contribute technical writing.

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In the Media

 A July edition of “Face the State” featured biofilms, the Center for Biofilm Engineering, and the new NIH grant to study biofilms in chronic wounds. The show was aired Sunday, July 30th at 9:00 am on the local CBS station KBZK (channel 4). This piece was shown on CBS affiliates across Montana.

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New Visiting Scholar

Ayrat Ziganshin, a visiting Ph.D. student from Tatarstan, Russia, is a Fulbright scholar from Kazan State University and will work with Robin Gerlach’s group on various topics related to the transformation of explosives. Ayrat has training in microbiology and has already begun his work, which will initially focus on the transformation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene by yeast cells. He plans to be at the CBE until May 2007.

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New Employee

We welcome John Baker, our new computer and network administrator who will provide support for current CBE IT needs and vision for future needs. John has 20 years of experience in the IT field in five different industries including automotive manufacturing, gaming, research and development, trade shows, and military. He has five years of instructional experience teaching mechanical engineering principles and practices for the US Navy. John enjoys riding his motorcycle (Harley) on the weekends when he’s not doing IT work. We are delighted to have him on board!

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Outreach to Middle Schools

The CBE introduced 20 middle schoolers to the gooey world of biofilms. CBE staff and students gave the students some hands-on experience at the microscopes and Phil Stewart demonstrated his “snotty” biofilms. Read more about the tour and view a few pictures at: http://www.biofilm.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/newsarchives/HTML/2006/Gear_Up.htm
 

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CBE People in Action

Phil Stewart presented “Antimicrobial Tolerance in Microbial Biofilms,” Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, GA, July 28, 2006.

Christoph Fux, CBE clinician collaborator, presented “Biofilm-Related Infections: In Vivo Questions – In Vitro Answers?” Montana State University, August 2, 2006.

Darla Goeres presented "Understanding the Potential for Bias in Biofilm Log Reduction Calculations" to the Antimicrobials Division of the EPA in Arlington, VA on August 2, 2006.

Darla Goeres presented "Biological Reactors: Tools for Growing Biofilm in the Laboratory" to the Office of Pesticide Program (OPP) of the EPA in Ft. Meade, MD on August 3, 2006.

Phil Stewart presented "The Biofilm Infection Hypothesis," 1st International Symposium on Wound Healing and Technology (WHAT I), University of Washington, Seattle, WA, August 28, 2006.

Randy Wolcott, CBE clinician collaborator, presented "Biofilm Based Wound Care," 1st International Symposium on Wound Healing and Technology (WHAT I), University of Washington, Seattle, WA, August 28, 2006.

Phil as an invited speaker will present “Anti-Biofilm Properties of Chitosan-Coated Surfaces,” American Chemical Society 232nd National Meeting & Exposition, San Francisco, CA, September 10 −14, 2006.

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Web Watch

BiofilmsOnline.com

See the BiofilmsOnline.com September issue at http://www.BiofilmsOnline.com.

Subscribe to the monthly newsletter by registering at: http://www.biofilmsonline.com/cgi-bin/biofilmsonline/newsletter_signup.html

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Newsletter Listserve

The CBE News Update is a listserve newsletter. If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe from the listserve, follow the directions at the following CBE website.

http://www.biofilm.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/newsarchives/subscribe.htm

An alternative to subscribing to the listserve is to view the CBE News Update on our web page at http://www.biofilm.montana.edu/Ind-Col99-SW/Current_Newsletter/default.htm. Newsletter archives can be found at http://www.biofilm.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/newsarchives/index.htm.

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