A look back at the summer that was

From blooming corpse flowers to innovative candy-making, summer 2005 produced a number of news developments off the beaten path for UW–Madison. Here’s a look at some of the top stories since May.

“National recognition: Student groups succeeded in several endeavors. “Engineers without Borders” received the national Mondialogo Engineering Award from DaimlerChrysler and UNESCO for its work on building basic infrastructures in Rwanda.

A group of food science students took the cake at the national Institute of Food Technologists competition of innovative new products. Their idea — “Healthy sTarts,” a granola cup coated with strawberry-flavored yogurt and topped with strawberries and blueberries — beat more than three dozen university teams.

International reach: A delegation of South African teachers spent July on campus in a program aimed at elevating that country’s scientific knowledge and expertise. It’s a unique form of outreach, stemming from its agreement to serve as home to the southern hemisphere’s largest telescope. That multinational project (Southern African Large Telescope, or SALT) will debut later this year, and UW–Madison astronomers played a central role in its development.

Big science: The university landed a federal grant in July to become home to the Protein Structure Initiative, an effort that will reveal the fundamental aspects of biological processes. The $20 million award will help UW–Madison play a lead role in identifying how genetic information is translated into proteins that carry out cellular functions. The research is a step toward better understanding of chronic diseases.

Unconventional classroom: Some academic experiences broke the mold, starting with a “traveling classroom” that took a three-week odyssey into the American West. The 15-day, 3,000-mile trip explored issues surrounding the region’s ethnic and civil rights legacy, such as the Trail of Tears in Oklahoma, sugar plantations in Texas and the 1940s Japanese-American internment camp in Colorado.

Big Bucky blooms: It’s not summer until the Titan Arum creates a stink at the Botany Greenhouse. The rare blooming has become a summer phenomenon since the first bloom in 2001, and this one came close to a world record in size, growing to nearly 100 inches at its peak. n