December 7, 2018

Tenure and Promotion: Elizabeth Skovran

Elizabeth Skovran

Elizabeth Skovran

Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor

Years at SJSU: 6

Department: Biological Sciences

RSCA focus: Bacterial genetics, metabolism and physiology, bioengineering, systems level biology and one-carbon metabolism.

In Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Elizabeth Skovran’s lab, she and her student researchers are engineering methylotrophic bacteria to recycle rare earth metals and produce biodegradable plastics. Skovran has published 18 articles in peer-reviewed journals, served as a presenting author at 10 conferences, and has served as faculty advisor to students on dozens of presentations. She has received the California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology award four times, allowing her to work with countless student researchers.

“The Skovran lab consistently has a dedicated, enthusiastic, vibrant group of students that enjoy solving metabolic and molecular puzzles,” she says. “Students develop and implement creative thinking skills to unravel the intricate and integrative nature of metabolism and to develop the applications that metabolic engineering permits.”

Skovran received the College of Science Outstanding Teacher Award in 2018 and was selected to participate in the 2017 University Grants Academy. But she takes as much pride in her students’ accomplishments as her own. She says that watching one of her undergraduate research students present at the West Coast Bacterial Physiology meeting—the only undergraduate to present—is a highlight of her career.

“Test the waters and get experience by conducting research and becoming a teaching assistant,” she tells students. “It is just as important to discover what you do not want to do as what you do want to do.”

Note: Congratulations to the 43 faculty members who received tenure and/or promotion for 2018-19. We have invited each faculty member to participate in a series of posts profiling their teaching, service, and research, scholarship and creativity activities. Those faculty who opted to participate will be featured throughout the fall semester on the Academic Spotlight blog and the digital sign in the Administration Building lobby.

December 6, 2018

Physics Professor Khatami Publishes Latest Groundbreaking Research in ‘Science’

Ehsan Khatami is one of two San Jose State University faculty members selected as an Early Career Investigator Award winner in 2017-18. (Photo: James Tensuan, ’15 Journalism)

San Jose State University Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Ehsan Khatami in collaboration with a group of professors from MIT and the MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms published today in the journal Science their latest experimental discovery about conduction in a tiny system of atoms in a vacuum.

Khatami, who was granted early tenure and promotion to associate professor this year, received a funding from the National Science Foundation with colleague Sen Chiao, of the Meteorology Department to build the first high-performance computing cluster on campus. The equipment has proven essential to his research as well as the work of students and faculty in other disciplines that require big data analysis.

In his most recent article, Khatami and his colleagues discuss an experiment that is impossible to perform using real materials. They were able to focus on the movement of atoms’ intrinsic magnetic field, or “spin,” across a few microns without disturbing their charge arrangement (charge is another intrinsic property of atoms) as the first of its kind with a quantum system. The results shed light on the mostly unexplored spin transport property of models condensed matter scientists use to describe the unusual behavior of solids at very low temperatures.

Atoms are like small magnets, so applying a magnetic force pushes them around, here to the left (top left). Since these atoms repel each other, they cannot move if there are no empty sites (top middle). But the atomic “magnetic needles” are still free to move, with stronger magnets (red) diffusing to the left in the image, and weaker magnets (blue) having to make room and move to the right (bottom row). This so-called spin transport is resolved atom by atom in the cold atom quantum emulator.

Khatami’s research aims to help scientists understand how superconductivity works—a finding that could potentially pave the way for a room-temperature superconductor, which would improve transportation and data storage and make homes more energy efficient by creating materials that allow better use of electricity. That is, as electricity goes through a device such as a phone or laptop, none of the electronic components would heat up. Superconductivity is the property of zero electrical resistance in some substances at very low temperatures (<-135 degrees Celsius).

The experiment was carried out using 400 atoms cooled down to just a hair above absolute zero temperature (<-273 degrees Celsius). The atoms were manipulated to be two different types and to act as if they were electrons in a solid with two species of spin. The atoms were then trapped in a square box to see how they would respond when magnetic fields keeping one species on the left side and one species on the right side of the box were turned off. Scientists watched the process by using an electron gas microscope to measure the speed at which mixing takes place and deduce the “spin” current.

Khatami compares the box of atoms to a shallow pool of water – if there was a divider in the middle with clear water on one side and water dyed black on the other side when the divider is suddenly removed the water would mix together and turn gray. The two shades of water would be similar to the two spin species in the quantum experiment, with the behavior of the atoms governed by quantum mechanics.

To support the experiment, Khatami used more than 300,000 CPU hours on SJSU’s Spartan High-Performance Computer to solve the underlying theoretical model that was emulated in the experiment to support experimental observations.

“As exciting as these findings have been, there are still so many unanswered questions we can explore using similar setups,” he said. “For example, the dependence of spin transport on the temperature or the concentration of atoms in the box can be studied.”

Khatami received the SJSU 2017-18 Early Career Investigator Award and has offered insights into his research on the web series Physics Girl. He was featured in the Fall/Winter 2018 edition of Washington Square alumni magazine.

December 5, 2018

Faculty Promotion: Magdalini Eirinaki

Magdalini Eirinaki

Magdalini Eirinaki

Promotion to Professor

Years at SJSU: 11

Department: Computer Engineering

RSCA focus: Recommender systems, data mining, machine learning and social network analysis

Professor Magdalini Eirinaki’s research involves designing machine learning and recommender system algorithms and application frameworks that span a broad array of domains, from health and lifestyle, to social networks and smart cities. She has published 12 peer-reviewed journal articles, three book chapters, and numerous conference proceedings papers, many of which are co-authored with her SJSU students.

Dr. Eirinaki is the associate chair in the department of computer engineering, has previously served on a Strategic Planning Task Force, the Student Review Evaluation Board and the Student Fairness committee, and currently serves on several college and department committees. She received the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering Excellence in Teaching Award in 2017, a highlight of her career.

“Teaching has always been my passion and the most rewarding part of being an academic, as I get to interact with students and contribute to their professional growth,” she said.

She advises students to keep current on the latest developments in the rapidly changing field by “continuously studying, learning and exploring.”

“You should never lose the curiosity of a student, even after graduation,” she said.

November 30, 2018

Faculty Notes November 2018: Publications, Quotes and More

Professor Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, was guest speaker at the Leonard Transportation Center’s November Dialogue Series in San Bernardino. Along with other panelists, she discussed the future of transportation funding in the state of California. Agrawal also directs Mineta Transportation Institute’s National Transportation Finance Center.

Professor Anuradha Basu, Department of Global Innovation and Leadership, took part in an October symposium, “Social Networks in a Transnational World: Chinese and Indian Entrepreneurs in the United States,” held at UCLA’s Asia Pacific Center.

Former SJSU Associate Professor Natalie Batalha, Department of Physics and Astronomy, joined UCSC’s Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics this fall. Named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2017 for her work at NASA on the Kepler Mission, Batalha received her doctorate in astrophysics from UCSC and received that university’s Alumni Achievement Award in October.

Former SJSU Department of Educational Leadership Lecturer Kristyn Klei Borrero published Every Student, Every Day: A No-Nonsense Nurturer Approach to Reaching All Learners (Solution Tree Press) last month. Superintendent of Jackson (Miss.) Schools Errick L. Greene described the book as “a powerful road map for educators to build strong, productive relationships with students and their families.” Borrero currently serves as CEO of San Francisco-based CT3, a teacher training organization.

NBCBayArea.com interviewed Associate Professor Craig Clements, Department of Meteorology and Climate Science, about PG&E’s decision to shut off electricity to reduce life and property loss when weather conditions create severe fire hazards. Read more at: https://www.nbcbayarea.com/multimedia/Cutting-Power-Before-Wildfires-Can-Save-Lives-But-PGE-Says-Its-Complicated-495999451.html

Rewirenews.com interviewed Associate Professor Rachel French, Department of Biological Sciences, about President Donald Trump’s memo erasing legal protections for the transgender population. French was one of more than 1,600 scientists who signed an open letter of protest, stating that Trump’s claims were not “grounded in science.” Read more at: https://rewire.news/article/2018/11/02/scientists-blast-trumps-absurd-anti-trans-memo/

Associate Professor Nidhi Mahendra, Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences, was one of five palliative care researchers who received funding from the Gary and Mary West Foundation last month. Mahendra’s project, “Investigating Communicative Access in Advance Directive Planning for Persons with Aphasia,” received a $10,000 grant.

ABC7news.com interviewed Professor Scott Myers-Lipton, Department of Sociology, about the city of San Jose’s new pilot program to employ the homeless. “We need these types of programs,” Myers-Lipton said. “Public work for people who don’t have jobs that pay a living wage.” The program will start by employing 25 participants at $15 per hour to clean trash off the streets. Read more at: https://abc7news.com/society/sj-launches-pilot-program-to-employ-the-homeless-/4556787/

TBW Books published former SJSU Department of Art and Art History Lecturer Mimi Plumb’s collection of photographs, Landfall, this month. Plumb signed copies of the volume, featuring images of California in the 1980s, at Paris Photo, the world’s largest international photography art fair, held at the Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées each November.

Wellandgood.com interviewed Lecturer Mary Poffenroth, Department of Biological Sciences, regarding the mental health advantages of watching “spooky” movies. “The horror genre gives us a safe space to express our fears, to talk about our fears, to say ‘I was scared!’ without having…to say you are a fearful person,” Poffenroth explained. Read more at: https://www.wellandgood.com/good-advice/why-do-people-like-horror-movies-mental-health/

The San Jose Mercury News interviewed Interim Associate Dean Meghna Virick, College of Business, about the walkout of thousands of Google employees over the company’s handling of sexual misconduct in the workplace. “The landscape has changed,” Virick said. “Companies have to come to the realization that you can no longer assume that you can keep things under wraps.” The protests followed revelations of a $90-million golden parachute payout to Andy Rubin, who resigned because of sexual misconduct allegations. Read more at: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/11/01/google-employees-walk-out-over-handling-of-sexual-harassment/

November 27, 2018

Faculty Promotion: Nicholas Taylor

Nick Taylor

Nicholas Taylor

Promotion to Professor

Years at SJSU: 11

Department: English and Comparative Literature

RSCA focus: Creative Writing

English and Comparative Literature Professor Nicholas Taylor is a scholar of Steinbeck who serves as the director of SJSU’s Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies. In this role, he coordinates the annual John Steinbeck Award, manages a Fellows program and coordinates other events that promote literature. He also served as a Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Lecturer in Hyderabad, India in 2011.

But when asked about his research, scholarship and creative activities, he first acknowledges his creative writing projects. He has published essays, short stories and is especially proud of a series of detective novels penned under his pseudonym T.T. Monday.

As a member of the University Library Board and the College of Humanities and the Arts RTP committee, he says his experiences with students have been a highlight of his nearly dozen years working at SJSU.

He appreciates the opportunity to connect with students, and recalls one student who came to SJSU as a transfer student who struggled with writing. Taylor worked with him for several years. The former student and SJSU alumnus now teaches high school English and has published a short story.

“Anyone interested in a career in the arts must learn, first of all, to be resilient,” he said. “The writing life is full of criticism and rejection. My advice, if you feel the calling, is to persevere and take pride in your work regardless of its reception.”