UCI professors share in research cash prizes...

UCI professors share

in research cash prizes

Four UC Irvine faculty projects will share the first Nicholas

Foundation Prize for Cross-Disciplinary Research, a spokesman for the

California Institute for Telecommunications and Information

Technology announced late last week.

The Institute, also known as Calit2, awarded $285,000 to four

proposals by UCI professors and staff, each of which involves some

kind of multidisciplinary research.

Prizes of $80,000 went to Bill Tomlinson, assistant professor of

informatics and drama, and F. Lynn Carpenter, professor of ecology

and evolutionary biology, who are collaborating on an interactive

exhibit known as the EcoRaft; to Steven C. Cramer, assistant

professor of neurology, and Cristina Lopes, assistant professor of

informatics, who are developing a communication system for spinal

cord-injured patients; and to Kenneth J. Shea, professor of

chemistry, and Abraham Lee, professor of biomedical engineering. They

are working on a method for synthesizing antibodies.

A smaller prize of $45,000 went to Chen Tsai, professor of

electrical engineering and computer science; Regina Ragan, assistant

professor of chemical engineering and materials science; John

Hemminger, professor of chemistry; Ruqian Wu, professor of physics

and astronomy; and Guann Li, professor of electrical engineering and

computer science, who are collaborating on a silicon-based laser

system.

UCI faculty members submitted 24 proposals for the Nicholas Prize,

which Calit2 first announced last November. A committee of other UCI

staffers evaluated the applications.

“Calit2 is dedicated to bringing together the most innovative

research from all disciplines at UCI and creating collaborative

relationships that will produce new and valuable results,” Calit2

Irvine Division director Albert Yee said in a statement. “The

research emerging from this competition will further that mission

significantly.”

Newport Beach firm reports record earnings

Newport Beach-based Downey Financial Corp. reported Monday record

earnings for the first quarter of 2005. The company disclosed $51.7

million in net income for the quarter, much greater than the $8.9

million in earnings reported for the first quarter of 2004.

The company’s reported assets as of March 31 were $16.89 billion,

up 24.9% from last year. Downey Financial Corp. is the parent company

of Downey Savings and Loan Assn., F.A. and trades on the New York

Stock Exchange under the ticker DSL. Company stocks climbed $3.77 to

$61.49 Monday.