Initiatives

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The Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation has been awarded $5.66 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation to lead a group of nine universities in developing projects to improve the nation’s transportation infrastructure.

Road Work Ahead

The Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT), which was recently awarded $5.66 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), will lead a group of nine universities in developing projects to improve the nation’s transportation infrastructure through improved safety, reduced congestion, and better ways to repair bridges, roads, ports, and pipelines.

The grant, to cover at least the next two years, represents the USDOT’s recognition that Rutgers is one of the department’s five national University Transportation Centers and the nation’s top center to address the department’s “state of good repair” research priority. The award is the fourth time since 1997 that CAIT has earned major funding under this department program, but the first time it has received one of the national awards. CAIT is affiliated with the School of Engineering and works with the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

Way Down Under

Last fall, marine scientists at Rutgers, already known for their success in operating unmanned gliders, were invited to take part in Glider­palooza, a monthlong collaborative survey of the Atlantic Ocean involving 16 American and Canadian government agencies and research teams. In sharing equipment—and gliders—the teams attempted to paint the most complete picture of the Atlantic to date, from the movement of its currents to the movement of its inhabitants. Relatively little is known about the depths of the ocean, in contrast to its surface for which an enormous amount of data has been collected.

Michael F. Crowley RC’91, GSNB’93 and Scott M. Glenn—researchers at the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, which is part of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences—took part in the project, which aims to expand into an exploration of the Pacific, with one goal being to anticipate adverse weather, such as the typhoon that devastated the Philippines. “If we can better predict the intensity, we can better predict the human impact,” said Glenn, speaking to the New York Times, “and that’s critical, especially in Asia, where so many people die when these typhoons make landfall.”

A Family Affair

In recognition of their father and his legacy as a respected community and business leader in southern New Jersey, three brothers who are alumni of Rutgers—Daniel Jr. RC’77, Dean CCAS’81, and David CCAS’88 Ragone—recently contributed more than $1 million to create the Daniel J. Ragone Center for Excellence in Accounting at the School of Business–Camden. The center, which will be launched this year, will seek to educate high-performing accounting professionals working in southern New Jersey, where the demand for the profession is growing. The endowed gift also will allow Rutgers–Camden to develop seminars and executive education programs to keep accountants abreast of new industry practices.

A Corridor of Health

Last fall, Rutgers–Camden broke ground for the construction of its $62.5 million Nursing and Science Building, the first step in connecting the campus with nearby Cooper University Hospital complex by establishing an “ed-med” corridor. “Rutgers students and faculty will have a world-class facility that will match their own ambitions and excellence,” said Chancellor Wendell Pritchett, who was joined by Governor Chris Christie, President Robert Barchi, and other dignitaries during the October 16 groundbreaking ceremony.

Slated for completion by 2016, the 100,000-square-foot facility will house most of Rutgers–Camden’s biology, chemistry, and physics departments, as well as providing classrooms and office space. It opens at a time when graduate programs and undergraduate interest in the sciences has jumped considerably in recent years and the university intends to help distinguish Camden as a center for the health sciences and biosciences. The School of Nursing–Camden was established in 2011 to meet the growing demand for nurses in southern New Jersey.

Combating Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Konstantin Severinov, a professor at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology, was awarded $1.2 million by a division of the National Institutes of Health to be the principal investigator in improving the understanding of how bacteria become immune to antibiotics. Funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the project aims to design new compounds that inhibit RNA-based adaptive bacterial immunity while laying the groundwork for improved disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.