Newsmakers

Callbacks Win A Cappella Semifinals

The Callbacks, one of Harvard’s coed undergraduate a cappella singing groups, placed first in the Northeast Regional Final of the National Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, held in Northampton last Friday.

The Callbacks will be one of six a cappella groups in the country to compete in the final competition of the National Championship, to be held on April 30 at the Lincoln Center in New York City.

American Physical Society To Honor Michael L. Falk

Michael L. Falk, postdoctoral fellow in solid mechanics and materials physics in the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, will receive the Nicholas Metropolis Award for outstanding doctoral thesis work in computational physics from the American Physical Society (APS) during the organization’s meeting, March 20—24.

Falk won the award for “developing novel computational diagnostics to visualize the microscopic processes controlling deformation and fracture in simulated amorphous solids.” According to the APS, “a prize or award presented by the American Physical Society is one of the highest honors a physicist can receive. It is a symbol of the admiration of a physicist’s peers and demonstrates that the recipient’s accomplishments and contributions to physics are judged exceptional by those of his colleagues who are best able to judge their value.”

HST Scientist Named Fellow of Engineering Association

James C. Weaver, senior scientist in the Harvard-M.I.T. Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) and associate director of the HST Biomedical Engineering Center, was recently named a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) for his work in electrical effects in cells and tissues.

AIMBE fellows are distinguished individuals within the medical and biological engineering community.

Weaver’s research includes minimally invasive drug delivery by physical methods, particularly electrical; and theory of biological effects due to strong and weak electromagnetic fields. He is also interested in biomedical technology transfer, heads HST’s Biomedical Engineering Internship Program, and works with the Center for Innovative Minimally Invasive Therapy (CIMIT) to help identify and develop collaborative efforts.

Matthew Holman Wins Newcomb Cleveland Prize

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has honored Matthew J. Holman, lecturer in astronomy and planetary scientist at the Harvard—Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, with the 1998—1999 Newcomb Cleveland Prize for his work, “The Origin of Chaos in the Outer Solar System,” published in the March 19, 1999, issue of Science.

Holman and the article’s co-author, Norman Murray, of the University of Toronto, each received a bronze medal and a share of the $5,000 prize.

Steranka Takes Helm at Office for Technology and Trademark Licensing

Larry Steranka, Ph.D., was appointed associate director of the Office for Technology and Trademark. Steranka, who was director of the Office of Technology Transfer at Vanderbilt University for the past four years, previously worked at Nova Pharmaceuticals, a start-up company based on technology from Johns Hopkins University, and then at the multi-national pharmaceutical company, Astra-Zeneca. In his position as associate director, Steranka will be using his industry expertise to oversee the evaluation, patenting, and licensing of inventions from the life science departments in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the School of Public Health.