Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins New Horizons 2006
 
   New Horizons in
   Science 2006

   Conference Information

   Conference Schedule
   - Sat. Oct. 28
   - Sun. Oct. 29
   - Mon. Oct. 30
   - Tue. Oct. 31

   Contact Information

 
   Related Links

   JHUniverse

   Headlines@Hopkins

   The Council for the
   Advancement of
   Science Writing
   (CASW)

   www.baltimore.org

 
Campus Activities and Tours
All tours are free and take place on Monday, October 30, 2006.

Note: Sign-up required. Sign-up for your first- and second-choice tours at the time you register online. All times and tours are subject to change.

 

SESSION ONE

Tour time  >  1:15 pm to 4:45 pm

Tour #1
Applied Physics Lab

(Limit 30; Travel time required. Buses depart Homewood at 1:15 pm)
The Applied Physics Laboratory adapts science and technology to meet human needs, helping to shape the world around us, for today and for the future. The core purpose of the Laboratory is to enhance the security of the nation through the application of science and technology. APL is firmly committed to space science and technology and other challenging areas that are also synergistic with our core purpose. In addition, the Laboratory carries on important work in areas such as biomedicine and education that are synergistic with the University as a whole.

Tour time  >  1:15 pm to 2:45  >  Homewood Campus Tours

Tour #2
FUSE Control Room

(Limit 15)
Visit the command room from which Johns Hopkins scientists and engineers control and operate NASA's 18-foot, 3,000-pound Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellite. For 7 years, FUSE has helped researchers gather unique data about everything from planets and nearby stars to galaxies and quasars billions of light years away. FUSE is the largest astrophysics mission NASA has ever handed off to a university to manage.

Tour #3
Haptic Exploration Lab

(Limit 15)
"Haptics" refers to the sense of touch, and Allison Okamura, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is trying to give robots the ability to collect such sensations in their "fingers" and convey them to a human operator. Applications include surgical assistant devices that may help doctors perform operations with greater precision. Her tour will focus on these robots and on her wider research into human-machine interaction.

Tour #4
Child Development Lab

(Limit 15)
At Johns Hopkins University's Laboratory for Child Development, researchers use normal childhood milestones as fodder for research into everything from how infants keep track of objects to whether babies and children are logical and rational when it comes to decision-making. Topics studied in the lab include how children learn words for new objects and actions; how children understand numbers prior to any formal mathematical knowledge and how young children reason about moving or hidden objects, among others. Studies involve children ages three months to six years, and take place in this new, brightly-painted lab decorated in a friendly zoo theme.

Tour #5
Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering Lab

(Limit 20)
Using stem cells and materials called hydrogels, Jennifer Elisseeff is developing a new minimally invasive way to restore bone and cartilage that have been damaged by disease or injury. The stems cells are mixed with nutrients that will coax them to form new bone or cartilage. The mixture is injected into the injury site in a liquid that hardens into a gel when exposed to a special light. Elisseeff, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, will discuss her tissue engineering research and provide tours of her lab.

Tour #6
JHU Hydrodynamics Test Facility

(Limit 20)
In an indoor tank filled with almost 43,000 gallons of water, Johns Hopkins engineers are developing and testing computer control systems that serve as the "brains" for some of the world's leading deep sea robotic exploration vehicles. Louis Whitcomb, professor of mechanical engineering, will lead visitors through this facility, which features a small underwater robotic test vehicle. Whitcomb's team has developed navigation and control systems for some of the world's major new deep sea oceanographic research robots operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Tour #7
Coastal Engineering Laboratory

(Limit 30)
Travel required - ends at 2:30 PM)

Internationally respected coastal engineering expert Robert A. Dalrymple has been summoned in recent years to inspect post- tsunami damage in Thailand and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. He has provided advice on how to build coastal structures that can better withstand such natural disasters. Dalrymple, a professor of civil engineering at Johns Hopkins, will show visitors a large wave tank he is using to advance this research.

Tour #8
Computed Tomography (CT) Lab

(Limit 10)
Dr. Elliot Fishman is widely regarded as one of the world's top experts in CT imaging. His developments in computer-aided graphics for CT helped pave the way for Pixar. Visit Dr. Fishman's CT workstation and see state-of-the-art in 3-D diagnostic imaging using the most powerful CT systems and imaging systems available. Dr. Fishman will provide breathtaking examples of the power of CT to "peel" a patient layer by layer, identify cancer, and visualize human anatomy in stunning detail. 90 minutes.

Tour #9
Minimally Invasive Surgical Training Center

(Limit 15)
Sophisticated simulators today are changing the way doctors are trained. Betsy Hunt, assistant professor in the department of anesthesiology and critical care medicine and director of the Johns Hopkins Simulation (SIM) Center, with assistance from "Hugh", an electronic instructional device, is helping medical professionals make faster diagnoses, master simple procedures more quickly and improve patient safety. About half of the third-year students at Hopkins currently participate in simulation training as part of their instruction in surgery and internal medicine. Hunt will provide visitors with a demonstration of the new birthing, infant and adult simulators and will give a tour of the current facility, The Clinical Education Center, where medical students work with standardized patients and learn how to take histories and physical exams, and the future SIM center which is scheduled for completion in 2007.

Tour #10
Stem Cell Lab

(Limit 20)
Dr. Doug Kerr and his team of neurologists made international headlines in June when they announced they had used embryonic stem cells to develop new, fully-working motor neuron circuits - neurons stretching from spinal cord to target muscles - in paralyzed adult rats, giving them to ability to regain use of their hind legs. Dr. Kerr and his team are now beginning to test the protocol on pigs, a necessary step in what could eventually be a therapeutic option for humans. Dr. Kerr will discuss his research and present some of his successfully treated lab animals.

Tour #11
Integrated Imaging Lab

(Limit 20)
The Integrated Imaging Lab is equipped with electron and light microscopes and serves the diverse academic and research interests of our students and faculty. It is intended to provide convenient access to both conventional and advanced techniques in light and electron microscopy for the purpose of investigating cellular/subcellular structure and function.

 

SESSION TWO

Tour time  >  3:15 pm to 4:45 pm

Tour #12 | FUSE Control Room
(Limit 15)
See explanation above.

Tour #13 | Haptic Exploration Lab
(Limit 15)
See explanation above.

Tour #14 | Child Development Lab
(Limit 15)
See explanation above.

Tour #15 | Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering Lab
(Limit 20)
See explanation above.

Tour #16 | JHU Hydrodynamics Test Facility
(Limit 20)
See explanation above.

Tour #17 | Coastal Engineering Laboratory
(Limit 30 Travel required - ends at 4:30 PM)
See explanation above.

Tour #18 | Integrated Imaging Lab
(Limit 20)
See explanation above.

     

© 2006 The Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore, Maryland.
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Last updated 15Aug06 by dgips@jhu.edu