The Portland Press Herald spoke with Habib Dagher, UMaine Professor and head of the school’s Offshore Wind Laboratory, about his team’s plan to launch a test turbine in late May off Castine.
The team plans to launch a $1 million model, made of advanced composites, that is one-eighth the size of its planned Aqua Ventus floating turbine.
Dana Humphrey, dean of the UMaine College of Engineering, was mentioned in an article by the Florida-based Palm Coast Observer.
Humphrey surprised Max Karner, a former UMaine student, with a medal announcing him as an honorary member of the Francis Crowe Society at the College of Engineering for his contributions to the profession.
The Morning Sentinel reported on the donation by Sappi Fine Paper to the University of Maine Pulp and Paper Foundation for $100,000 worth of scholarships over the course of four years.
Pulp-PaperWorld.com ran a story about the 63rd annual Paper Days at the University of Maine that included comments by Rep. Mike Michaud, UMaine senior Lucas Mathers, and directors Mike Bilodeau and Hemant Pendse.
WVII (Channel 7) reported that Matt Erskine, deputy assistant secretary for economic development for the U.S. Economic Development Administration, and U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud toured the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center on Thursday.
University of Maine alumnus Lawrence Bender, the producer of films that have won a total of six Academy Awards®, will return to his alma mater May 11 to receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree and share remarks during Commencement ceremonies.
Bender will address both the 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. ceremonies as part of UMaine’s 211th Commencement in Harold Alfond Sports Arena.
“Lawrence is one of our truly outstanding alumni,” says University of Maine President Paul Ferguson. “We are so pleased to award him a Doctor of Humane Letters in recognition of his excellent contributions to the arts through film and his deep commitment to addressing some of the major issues facing our society. I am confident our new graduates will enjoy and value hearing how his UMaine degree provided a foundation for such success and passion.”
Bender graduated from UMaine in 1979 with a degree in civil engineering. His successful career as a producer and activist spans two decades. His films, which include such noteworthy projects as “Inglourious Basterds,” “Pulp Fiction” and “Good Will Hunting,” have been honored with 29 Academy Award® nominations, including three for Best Picture, and have won six.
His film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” which raised unprecedented awareness about climate change, won the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature. His documentary, “Countdown To Zero,” which features Tony Blair, Pervez Musharraf, Mikhail Gorbachev, Frederik De Klerk and Jimmy Carter, among others, details the urgent risk posed by proliferation, terrorism and accidental use of nuclear weapons.
Bender’s other films include: “From Dusk Till Dawn” (1996), “Anna and the King” (1999), “The Mexican” (2001), “Innocent Voices” (2004) and Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs” (1992), “Jackie Brown” (1997), and “Kill Bill” — Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (2003–04). He has also produced “Havana Nights: Dirty Dancing 2”; “Knockaround Guys”; “A Price Above Rubies”; “White Man’s Burden”; “Killing Zoe”; and “Fresh.” His most recent film, “Safe,” which stars Jason Statham, was released worldwide early last year, according to biographical information provided by Lawrence Bender.
Bender is also a passionate social and political activist. In 2003, he co-founded the Detroit Project, a campaign advocating vehicles that will end the U.S. dependence on foreign oil. He also traveled to the Middle East with the Israeli Policy Forum, meeting with heads of state. Bender is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council. He received the ACLU’s Torch of Liberty Award and was named a Wildlife Hero by the National Wildlife Federation.
In 2009, Bender was one of five alumni honored by the University of Maine Foundation at its 75th anniversary celebration. He also was inducted into the College of Engineering’s Francis Crowe Society as a distinguished engineer in recognition of extraordinary accomplishments to society and his profession. Bender returned to campus that fall to give an address at the Maine Business School.
Contact: Margaret Nagle, 207.581.3745; 207.949.4149
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Several news organizations including WLBZ (Channel 2), WVII (Channel 7), WABI (Channel 5) and the Bangor Daily News covered the University of Maine’s 63rd annual Paper Days. During the Wednesday event, the university unveiled the nation’s first Cellulose Nanofiber Pilot Plant and Sen. Angus King and U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud spoke.
The donation by Sappi Fine Paper to the University of Maine Pulp & Paper Foundation for $100,000 worth of scholarships over the course of four years was picked up by several media outlets, including the websites Daily Markets, Stockhouse and The Sacramento Bee.
Sappi Fine Paper North America will donate $100,000 over the course of four years to the University of Maine Pulp & Paper Foundation to establish an endowed scholarship fund for engineers. The Sappi Scholarship Fund is a leadership gift to the University of Maine Pulp & Paper Foundation’s $2 million fundraising campaign, which begins this year. Sappi Fine Paper North America has supported the University of Maine Pulp & Paper Foundation since its inception in 1950. The company is a member in the foundation, supports the foundation’s Consider Engineering Program, provides internship and co-op positions for undergraduate engineering students, and ultimately hires qualified University of Maine graduates. Many former recipients of University of Maine Pulp & Paper Foundation scholarships are found at all levels of leadership throughout Sappi’s two Maine-based mills in Skowhegan and Westbrook, and across the company in North America.
State science fair winner and Bangor High School student Mary Butler told the Bangor Daily News she had never been in a science fair before working with University of Maine students and faculty on her project, “Nanofibrillated Cellulose as the Potential Component of a Low-cost Water Filtration System.” Butler said she worked with UMaine chemical engineering graduate student Finley Richmond on the filter project over the summer, and the collaboration was arranged by University of Maine Chemical and Biological Engineering Professor Doug Bousfield. Butler’s project won first place in the “Energy, Transportation and Environmental Science” category, as well as best in show at the Maine State Science and Engineering Fair on March 23 in Bar Harbor.
