WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue Alumni Association board of directors has selected new regional directors.

Teresa Fay, Larry E. Marks, Jeff Webster and James Brooks will serve two-year terms as regional alumni directors in different parts of the country. They will represent the interests of Purdue Alumni Association members who reside in the respective areas.

Fay, of Sammamish, Wash., will direct Region 16, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Fay is an independent contractor with Baby’s Away Inc., an equipment rental company. A 1981 Purdue graduate, she currently serves as president of the Purdue Club of Puget Sound, Wash.

Marks, of Poquoson, Va., will direct Region 10, which includes Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

A 1974 graduate, Marks is a senior operations analyst for Lockheed Martin in Hampton, Va. He is president of the Purdue Club of Hampton Roads and participates in Purdue Alumni Recruiting for Tomorrow (PART), a network of volunteers that represents Purdue at college fairs across the country. In addition to his Purdue alumni club activities, Marks is a member of the Air Force Association and Order of Daedalians Military Pilot Fraternity.

Webster, of Pendleton, Ind., will direct Region 4, which includes the following Indiana counties: Adams, Allen, Blackford, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Grant, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jay, Madison, Miami, Randolph, Tipton, Union, Wabash, Wayne, Wells and Whitley.

A 1976 graduate, Webster is a teacher and administrator at the Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility. He serves as president of the Purdue Club of Anderson and Madison County.

Brooks, of Ramrod Key, Fla., will direct Region 12, which includes Florida and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Brooks is a public affairs officer at the Naval Air Station in Key West, Fla. A 1984 graduate, he has been a member of both the Purdue Club of Washington, D.C., and the Purdue Club of South Florida.

In addition to his Purdue alumni club activities, Brooks is a member of the Rotary Club of Key West, the Key West Ambassador Club, the Public Relations Society of America, the U.S. Navy League and the Military Officers Association of America.

The Purdue Alumni Association, an independent organization that serves as a gateway for alumni and friends to build relationships with each other and Purdue, is the ninth largest society of its kind in the United States.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — More than 220 applications have been completed for the inaugural Indiana Companies to Watch awards program, which seeks to recognize the state’s 50 most promising second-stage companies this summer.

Purdue University is collaborating with the Indiana Economic Development Corp. through its Small Business Development Centers and the Edward Lowe Foundation for the 2008 program.

“Indiana Companies to Watch will celebrate high-performing, second-stage companies from all across the state,” said Sam Cordes, associate vice provost for engagement and co-director for Purdue’s Center for Regional Development in Discovery Park’s Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship. “Known for their performance in the marketplace, innovative products, unique processes and other special strengths, these nominated companies represent a wide range of industries and a key segment of what makes Indiana’s economy globally competitive and strong.”

More than 420 nominations were received from companies in 66 Indiana counties by the April 25 deadline. Nominees and those applying directly had until May 9 to complete the initial application. The 133 finalists were selected in late May from the 222 completed applications.

Finalists completed a second-round application and are being reviewed by a panel of judges selected by Purdue, the IEDC and the Edward Lowe Foundation. The 2008 class of Indiana Companies to Watch will be recognized Aug. 27 during a banquet at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indianapolis.

“Awardees are chosen based on past growth and projected success, special strengths centered on innovative products and business practices, special use of technology, and work within their local communities,” said Gary Hentschel, president of KeyBank of Central Indiana. “These companies are making a significant impact on Indiana’s economy by collectively providing thousands of jobs and contributing billions of dollars of revenue.”

The top sponsor for the inaugural program is KeyBank of Indiana, along with Barnes & Thornburg LLP and Katz, Sapper & Miller. Other sponsors include Duke Energy Corp., Premier Capital Corp., Stuart & Branigin LLP, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, Vectren Corp., Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Indiana Business Magazine, and media partner Inside Indiana Business with Gerry Dick.

“The response to this inaugural effort from all regions of the state has been outstanding,” said Jeff Heinzmann, director of the Indiana Small Business Development Centers. “The impressive list of applicants represents Indiana’s future economic growth in the life sciences, manufacturing, services and other sectors. We have a terrific story to tell about the dynamic future of Indiana’s economy and the essential role that second-stage companies play in building such an economy.”

Edward Lowe Foundation, based in Cassopolis, Mich., conducts research, educational and recognition programs for entrepreneurs and entrepreneur support organizations, with a focus on second-stage companies. Similar recognition programs are under way in Michigan and Arizona.

“Indiana has really raised the bar on the number of nominations and applications submitted from around the state,” said Penny Lewandowski, the foundation’s director of entrepreneurship. “This is concrete proof of the excitement that is being created statewide for their inaugural Companies to Watch program.”

To be eligible, companies must be based in Indiana, privately held, advanced beyond the start-up phase, employ six to 150 full-time employees, including the owner, and have $750,000 to $100 million in annual revenue or working capital in place from investors or grants. For more information, go to http://Indiana.CompaniesToWatch.org.

The Purdue team supporting the program includes representatives from the Center for Regional Development and the Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, the College of Agriculture, Krannert School of Management, Purdue Alumni Association, Purdue Cooperative Extension Service and Purdue Research Park.

The Indiana Small Business Development Centers offer free and low-cost information, management counseling and educational services to support the state’s small-business owners and potential entrepreneurs, boosting economic development and creating jobs within the state.

Edward Lowe, the inventor of Kitty Litter, and his wife Darlene established the Edward Lowe Foundation in 1985. They envisioned an organization that would leverage entrepreneurship as a strategy for economic growth and community development.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University’s Clean Manufacturing Technology Institute at the Center for the Environment will offer free workshops to teach Indiana businesses ways to increase efficiency and reduce environmental impact.

The workshops are offered through a program funded by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

The workshops, offered June 25 through Aug. 6 at locations throughout the state, focus on Lean and Clean manufacturing methods. More information including locations is available online at https://engineering.purdue.edu/CMTI or by calling (765) 463-4749.

“Lean manufacturing methods remove waste, including wasted time, motion and raw materials,” said Lynn A. Corson, director of Purdue’s Clean Manufacturing Technology Institute. “Clean manufacturing methods also improve cost and efficiency, but add the examination of environmental impact. These workshops will help businesses save money and the environment.”

Members of the Clean Manufacturing Technology Institute have helped facilities throughout Indiana with pollution prevention assistance since 1994, environmental management system services to businesses and governments since 2001 and energy audits since 2006. The institute pulls from Purdue’s strengths in engineering, science and business.

Companies participating in the workshop will be eligible for a free one-day Lean and Clean assessment at their facility. Ten facilities will be selected to receive three days of in-depth technical assistance.

Ann Piechota, environmental specialist for the Clean Manufacturing Technology Institute, said manufacturers have been evaluating ways to reduce energy use due to the increasing utility prices.

“Because of the current energy situation there is a great deal of interest in re-evaluating the way a company operates to find ways to reduce consumption,” she said. “The increasing costs of electricity and natural gas have had a significant impact on manufacturers.”

Companies that have worked with CMTI in the past to improve production methods are interested in revisiting proposed ideas and exploring new methods to reduce waste and improve efficiency, Piechota said.

“This is an opportunity for improvement,” she said. “Many companies have examined their process from a Lean perspective and this is a chance to take the next step toward optimal performance by focusing on environmental wastes using the Clean methods.”

The concepts of Lean manufacturing focus on the use of manpower, raw materials and time, while Clean manufacturing adds “green” parameters into the cost-benefit analysis. Clean manufacturing methods take into account factors such as the use of water, electricity or hazardous materials, time and costs needed to manage them to comply with the regulations, Piechota said.

“Some of the solutions involve engineering, some use cutting-edge technologies, but some solutions are really simple,” she said. “It is a different way of evaluating a problem and framing a solution. For example, instead of putting resources into building bigger pretreatment operations for wastewater, a company could use the resources to implement practices that reduce the wastewater produced. Some could be easy such as shutting a valve off, or adding a filter to make water last longer, and some could be more complex.”

Clean manufacturing offers a rational basis for choosing the most cost-effective methods of reduction of environmental impact at each step in a process. The methods identify key elements of the processes that use or generate materials harmful to the environment, waste raw materials or produce significant hazardous waste.

In addition, steps are identified that pose significant occupational health risks to workers, require raw materials that are environmentally undesirable to manufacture, and use large quantities of raw materials or energy.

“The idea is to change a process and go beyond just the substitution of a material,” she said. “Environmentally-friendly practices intrinsically focus on materials and energy, and these save money and time. It all overlaps with efficiency.”

In addition to expert advice, the Clean Manufacturing Technology Institute maintains a coating applications research laboratory for examination of different surface coatings, curing equipment and ovens.

“If a company wants to try a new, less toxic paint, they can’t shut a production line down,” Piechota said. “We run tests for them to see if a new material meets their needs. In the lab we are able to mimic the conditions of a particular manufacturing facility.”

The Clean Manufacturing Technology Institute was formerly the Indiana Clean Manufacturing Technology and Safe Materials Institute.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Eleven Purdue University students and three recent graduates will spend seven weeks in China helping the news media covering the 2008 Olympic Games in China.

“These students were selected from more than 100 Purdue applicants,” said Jane Natt, an assistant professor of communication who will lead the group. “They will spend a month in intensive training learning about media services and the sport we will be responsible for, which is bicycling. We will learn about track cycling, motocross racing, mountain bike racing and road racing so we can help gather quotes from the athletes, write recaps of the races and assist media with photography and video needs.”

The students will serve as Olympics News Service liaisons for the English-speaking media during the Aug. 8-24 games. The students will arrive by July 7 to begin training and orientation, provided by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Purdue’s Department of Communication is organizing the student group at the request of the Beijing Olympic Committee and the Communication University of China. Purdue’s Confucius Institute also provided training in May to help the Purdue students understand Chinese customs, language and business practices. Yang Dong, a professor from the Communication University of China who was a visiting scholar in the Department of Communication, also assisted Purdue with arrangements.

The students will receive course and internship credit in this study abroad experience.

The participating students are:

• Val Arias, a senior from Arlington Heights, Ill., who is studying mass communication and film/video studies.
• Leroy Bridges, a senior from Terre Haute, Ind., who is studying professional writing.
• Alysha Daytner, from Lowell, Ind. She graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in communication.
• Traci Gillig, a senior from Roselle, Ill., who is studying communication.
• Kelsey Habig, a senior from Westfield, Ind., who is studying communication.
• Christina Harp from Crawfordsville, Ind. She graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communication.
• Chris Hetzner, a junior from Carmel, Ind., who is studying communication.
• Lauren Marguerite Harrington from Munster, Ind. She graduated in May with bachelor’s degrees in communication, professional writing and creative writing.
• Jason Myles, a sophomore from West Lafayette, Ind., who is studying mass communication and German.
• Clinton Husted, a senior from Noblesville, Ind., who is studying professional writing.
• Megan Jahrling, a senior from Mount Prospect, Ill., who is studying visual communications design and advertising.
• Patrick Qi, a senior from New York City, who is studying English.
• Andrea Thomas, a senior from Lafayette, Ind., who is studying creative writing.
• Phil Wrighthouse, a junior from Attica, Ind., who is studying communication.

The Communication University of China, which is one of the top-ranked communication programs in the nation, will provide campus housing for the students. Purdue students will be responsible for tuition and transportation. Students will write daily blogs about their experiences that will be made available to their hometown newspapers and television stations.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Researchers at Purdue University have determined that raising the speed limit from 65 to 70 on Interstate 65 in Indiana has not increased the probability of fatalities or severe injuries.

“These findings are important because the influence of speed limits on roadway safety has been a subject of continuous debate in the state of Indiana and nationwide,” said Fred Mannering, a professor of civil engineering. “Indiana highway-related accidents result in about 900 fatalities and 40,000 injuries annually and place an incredible social and economic burden on the state.”

The findings add new fuel to an ongoing debate, with some studies indicating that the benefits of raising the speed limit outweigh potential safety hazards while others suggest just the opposite.

“The safety of raising the speed limit has been a matter of considerable concern in Indiana since the state raised its speed limits on rural interstates and selected multilane highways on July 1, 2005,” Mannering said. “Everybody expects that when you increase the speed limit, injuries and the severity of injuries are going to increase, but that hasn’t happened on the interstate highway system in Indiana.”

Findings are detailed in a research paper presented earlier this year at a meeting of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of science and engineering. The paper, appearing in an upcoming issue of the Transportation Research Record, was written by Mannering and research assistant Nataliya V. Malyshkina.

The researchers used a series of mathematical equations in “multinomial logit models” to calculate accident probabilities based on motor vehicle accident data from 2004 and 2006, before and after the speed limit increased. The models showed that the increased speed limit did not affect the probability of suffering a severe injury in an accident.

Understanding the magnitude of the safety impact of increasing speed limits, or whether safety is improved or compromised, remains a contentious subject, Mannering said.

That’s because research has not been able to convincingly unravel the effects of speed limit changes from factors such as speed enforcement; vehicle miles traveled; vehicle occupancy; seat belt usage; alcohol use; proportions of passenger cars, minivans, pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles; and vehicle safety features, including air bags and antilock brakes.

The models used in the research calculate “estimated probabilities” based on accident data. Of the 204,382 accidents on state highways in 2004, 21 percent resulted in injuries and about 0.4 percent were fatal. The same percentages were seen in the 182,922 accidents in 2006. Comparing only highways where the speed limit rose to 70 showed virtually no change from 2004 to 2006.

The speed-limit increase made Indiana the 30th state to raise interstate speed limits up to 70 mph on rural interstates.

Findings by other researchers suggest even higher speed limits on interstate highways might also result in no rise in the probability of severe injuries.

“If going from 65 to 70 doesn’t have a significant effect on the severity of accidents, you have to ask yourself, what about 70 to 75?” Mannering said. “At what point does it begin to impact safety?”

The change has highlighted the tradeoff between speed and safety, a debate that began more than three decades ago since passage of the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act in 1974, which mandated a 55 mph national maximum speed limit on interstate highways in the United States, Mannering said.

State and federal speed-limit policy changes have been driven by various research findings and subsequent legislation, including the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995, which gave states freedom to set interstate speed limits.

Most research efforts have concluded that the 1974-mandated 55 mph interstate speed limit saved lives, a conclusion that has been confirmed by some studies looking at recent speed limit increases on interstates.

“For example, one study found that a speed limit increase from 55 to 65 resulted in roughly a 3 percent increase in the accident rate and a 24 percent increase in the probability of a fatality once an accident occurred,” Mannering said. “But then other studies have contended that legislation-enabled speed-limit increases have actually saved lives. One study argued that increasing from 55 to 65 saved lives because of shifts in law enforcement resources, the ability of higher speed limit interstates to attract riskier drivers away from inherently more dangerous non-interstate highways and reducing how often drivers speed up and slow down.”

The state also increased the speed limit from 55 to 60 on non-interstate multilane roads, but findings were inconclusive regarding the impact on those roadways, Mannering said.

However, the researchers cautioned that future speed limit increases should be carefully assessed for those roads on a case-by-case basis. The potential for accidents is higher on such roadways because of factors including stop-and-go traffic and vehicles entering the road from various businesses and residential areas.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University has issued a new list of traffic and parking disruptions on the West Lafayette campus.

1. The gravel A parking lot west of the Police Department building (TERY) was to close today due to construction and reopen in late August.

2. Nimitz Drive was to close today between Martin Jischke Drive and Gates Drive, next to the Discovery Learning Center construction site, and reopen July 7. Martin Jischke Drive next to the site was to reopen today, allowing traffic on it to reach Harrison Street, though traffic there has lane restrictions.

3. The roughly triangular grassy area west of the Mechanical Engineering Building was to receive fencing today in preparation for excavation in the following days as part of the ME Utilities site project. The area is between Purdue Mall and the Engineering Administration Building.

Construction and traffic impact maps are available at www.purdue.edu/physicalfacilities/