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April 2006

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University of Minnesota aerospace engineering students to unveil their mini-satellite design
April 28, 2006

A group of aerospace engineering students are the first University of Minnesota team to compete in a unique national student competition to create a mini-satellite. The winning team's design must be flight-ready by June 2007 and will be launched into low Earth orbit.

The U of M team will be talking about their project -- Minnesat -- with aerospace engineering alumni and exhibiting the design and components to U of M alumnus and retired astronaut Duane "Digger" Carey at 2:45 Monday, May 1, in the Areospace Engineering and Mechanics department library, 107 Akerman Hall, 110 Union St. S.E., Minneapolis. For more information, visit http://www.aem.umn.edu/proj-prog/nanosat/.

Media is encouraged to attend the unveiling which includes a good opportunity for photos.

To interview Carey or the students please contact Mark Cassutt, University News Service, and (612) 624-8038.

Architecture students to spend tonight homeless as part of final assignment
April 20, 2006

University of Minnesota College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (CALA) students will spend Thursday night (April 20th) homeless as part of a final assignment. Visiting professor Cameron Sinclair wants the students to gain first hand knowledge of what it is like to build their own shelter at limited costs. The students have a budget of $20 and they need to buy/find materials, build a structure and spend the night in it. World-renown architect Sinclair is co-founder and executive director of Architecture For Humanity. In his class at the U of M, Sinclair's students have focused on the ways in which design can address the burgeoning needs of growing numbers of poor people. “I want students to learn that you should never design anything that you are not willing to live in and I also want this project to give them a small peek at what it is like to live without a home,” Sinclair said. Student Annie Seegmiller will be searching for materials to make her shelter prior to sunset and she said she is looking forward to the night. “We're getting some real life experience in design,” she said. And a tiny look at what it's like to be without a home, she said.

Up to 40 students are expected to participate in this assignment and they will be building their shelters on the Northrop Mall after sundown and plan to stay the night until 7 a.m. Friday. Media is welcome to interview them.

For more information, contact Patty Mattern, University News Service, (612) 624-2801.

New U of M program reaches out to isolated families of international students
April 5, 2006

The University of Minnesota has launched a new effort to reach out to the spouses and partners of international students who have often felt isolated and lonely after moving here. “Soup and Stitches” has about 15 family members of international students who come together each week to work on stitching an international peace quilt. After working on the quilt, they then share in conversation and sample soup from a different country. Through this, the group has developed a community, so their sense of isolation is melting away, says Jamie Tiedemann, director of the U of M Aurora Center for Advocacy & Education. The Aurora Center along with Housing and Residential Life, the Office of Student Affairs, International Student & Scholar Services, the School of Social Work, university police and Commonwealth Terrace Cooperative, where they live, worked together to find ways to reach out to this community and make them aware of resources available to them at the university. A $2,300 grant from TCF has made the outreach possible. A quilt instructor from the Textile Center has taught the quilting and participants will be finishing their quilt squares Friday. Media is invited to come to this final quilting and soup session from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Friday, April 7. Media interested in doing a story about this program, should contact Patty Mattern, University News Service, (612) 624-2801.

To set up an interview with the students, contact Patty Mattern, University News Service, (612) 624-2801.