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FIRST LEGO Tournament

CASTINE – Maine Maritime Academy will host the upcoming Northern Maine FIRST LEGO League Tournament 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, at MMA’s Alexander Fieldhouse. Sponsored by Maine Robotics, the high-tech competition is one of two tournaments held in Maine this year. The public is invited to observe free.

Thomas Bickford, president and director of Maine Robotics, said volunteers from the community are being sought to assist in all areas.

Maine Robotics, a Maine-based nonprofit venture, has brought hands-on science and technology activities to Maine schools and children since 2000. The organization uses robotics competitions and summer camps to educate children third grade to high school.

Robotics is a multi-disciplinary topic that touches on engineering, basic science, computers, programming, mathematics, problem solving, and project design and management. Maine Robotics sponsors local competitions in the FIRST LEGO League, an international program for children.

Each September, the league announces the annual challenge. After eight weeks, the league season culminates in high-energy tournaments.

This year’s league theme, “Nano Quest: Exploring Existing Sciences at the Molecular Level,” will challenge competitors to learn more about nanotechnology.

Nanoscience and nanotechnology involve studying matter on an ultra-small scale. One nanometer is one-millionth of a millimeter, and a single human hair is some 80,000 nanometers in width.

Organizers said league teams have been to space, searched the oceans and explored ways to help humankind. This year, teams are asked to zoom from the world they know through an imaginary super high-powered atomic microscope to the strange world of individual atoms. In a world 100,000 times smaller than the thickness of a strand of hair, everything jumps and shakes. As visionaries and scientists, teams explore new technologies that start in the nano world and lead to things they do and use every day. Teams use the cutting-edge field of research, where carbon nanotubes, buckyballs, molecular motors and quantum dots are part of ordinary conversation.

This year’s competition at Maine Maritime Academy expects to welcome about 15 student teams of up to 10 students.

Jeffrey Wright, MMA director of admissions, said the program coordinates with the college’s efforts to improve college aspirations for Maine youth and emphasize the importance of math and science skills.

Maine Robotics competitions and track meets were first welcomed to campus last year as an outreach initiative which complemented MMA’s hands-on math and science educational focus.

“We look for ways to encourage the application of math and science at an early stage in the educational process,” said Wright. “We’re pleased to be hosting this event again this year in Castine for these bright competitors.”

Those interested in volunteering should call Amy Gutow, director of the MMA Conferences Department, 326-2283. Prospective volunteers are encouraged to learn more about the FIRST LEGO League and its Nano Quest robotics competition by visiting www.firstlegoleague.org. For information on Maine Robotics, visit www.mainerobotics.org or call Thomas Bickford, director, at 866-4340, or e-mail bickford@mainerobotics.org.

Junior Girl Scout Troop 683

BANGOR – Troop 683, Junior Girl Scouts of Carmel, took a field trip on Nov. 13 to the Bangor Daily News. They visited the various departments of the BDN and The Weekly and learned how the newspapers are put out.

Junior Girl Scouts taking part in the field trip were Kiana Allen, Kimberly Tilton, Faith Hosier, Leah Boucher, Emily Shorey, Kaylin Rogers, Ashley Thomas, Raven Churchill, Alivia Brown and mascot Madison Brown. The Junior Girl Scouts attend Carmel Elementary School.

The Scouts were accompanied by troop leaders Belinda Allen and Raquel Brown and volunteer Crystal Fitz-Shorey.

Bangor Key Club

BANGOR – The Bangor Key Club is off to a busy fall. The officers were inducted recently by their sponsor club, the Bangor Noon Kiwanis.

Key Club officers are Deirdra Wholly, president; Zak Kubetz, vice president; Mara Shapero, secretary; Kristen Moran, treasurer; Gabby Babin, sergeant; and Matt Sevey, points collector. Bangor High School teacher adviser is James McHenry. Kiwanis adviser is Jane Searles.

The group already has accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. Members collected $708 for UNICEF, participated in the Walk-a-thon for the Dyslexia Association, the Reading Challenge for 14th Street School, the Enchanted Forest for CMN, did a Rock-A-Thon at the Bangor Mall and collected food for Thanksgiving baskets.

The Key Club also will provide assistance to various groups in December and do a quilt square for the Key Club District as a fundraiser for Camp Sunshine. The Key Clubbers also attend weekly lunch meetings at the Bangor Noon Kiwanis Club and the New England District meetings.

If you have an activity where the Bangor Key Club can provide assistance, call the Kiwanis adviser, Jane at 262-7843.

Bangor High School

BANGOR – Horn player Andrew Pelletier, guest soloist during the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s Nov. 19 concert, spent the day at Bangor High School on Nov. 20.

Pelletier and BSO principal French horn player Scott Burditt, who teaches at Bangor High School, performed for the students throughout the day.

During the educational visit Pelletier talked with the students about his career as a professional musician.

Pelletier’s classroom visit is part of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s educational outreach program, the second event this season. In October, guest soloist Alexander Moutouzkine visited Hampden Academy before the season-opening classical concert.

The school visits are designed to be inspiring and educational for students and help expand their world with new experiences. The outreach program also helps teachers meet core curriculum goals and Maine Learning Results.

Colleges

Professor of the Year

ORONO – Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has named University of Maine civil engineering professor Eric Landis the 2006 Maine Professor of the Year.

The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education established the Professors of the Year Program in 1981. CASE works in cooperation with the Carnegie Foundation and higher education associations to administer the award, nominees for which can be teachers at public or private institutions of higher learning.

Winners are selected for outstanding teaching, commitment to undergraduate students and influence on teaching. There is one award winner from each state along with four national award winners.

Landis earned a doctorate in civil engineering from Northwestern University in 1993 and joined the UM faculty in 1994. He received the 2004 Distinguished Maine Professor Award, presented yearly by the alumni association in recognition of faculty achievement.

“We are pleased that Eric has received this prestigious recognition from the Carnegie Foundation,” said Todd Saucier, president of the University of Maine Alumni Association, which nominated Landis for Professor of the Year.

“Generations of UMaine students have benefited from the dedication and expertise of UMaine’s faculty, and Eric is a wonderful example of that tradition,” Saucier said.

Landis, a prolific scholar with more than 75 scholarly publications, also received UMaine’s Presidential Outstanding Teaching Award in 2002. He earned a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 1998 and was named UM Civil Engineering Professor of the Year in 1996. His specialty involves studying the relationship between material microstructure and engineering properties of concrete and other materials.

“I am extremely flattered by this honor,” Landis said. “There is no question that working with students is the most rewarding part of my job. I believe this award highlights our teaching efforts here at UMaine, and while this is a research university, teaching, at all levels, is the most important thing we do.”

Landis, a registered professional engineer, lives in Orono with his wife and daughters.

“I often cannot believe my good fortune to be here at the University of Maine,” Landis said. “I work with some truly great teachers and scholars who make the university an exciting and stimulating environment on a daily basis. We are doing world-class research here, but there is a tightness between students and faculty unlike any place I have ever been. We can have heated debates during class in the morning and have pizza together at Pat’s in the evening.”

“A scholar of the first order, Eric enjoys a great deal of well-deserved respect from his students and his colleagues,” says UM President Robert Kennedy.

Maine Maritime Academy

CASTINE – Maine Maritime Academy recently honored its best and brightest at a ceremony held in Nov. 9.

Recipient of the first Excellence in Teaching Award, the college’s highest faculty achievement award, is David G. Skaves, professor of engineering. Skaves has been a faculty member at MMA since 1986. He received a bachelor’s degree in marine engineering from Massachusetts Maritime Academy and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Maine. He holds a USCG license as a chief engineer and a state of Maine First Class Stationary License. He is a registered professional engineer. Skaves has served on faculty and academy committees and as chairman of the engineering department. His name will be placed on a perpetual plaque that will be displayed in the college’s main academic building.

The college also recognized Dr. Joceline Boucher, professor of marine chemistry at MMA, for her contributions to the coordination of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges 2006 Self Study process for the college.

MMA is undergoing a comprehensive evaluation visit this fall by a team representing the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. The association last accredited MMA for a 10-year period in 1996.