CHANNEL ISLANDS SECTION

DECEMBER 1999 NEWSLETTER

Inside this issue:  

• Message From The Chairman
• Event: Dr. Kenneth Dillar on Frozen Organ Preservation
• Channel Islands Section Home

FROM THE CHAIRMAN

Dear Friends,

Your executive committee met for the last time this century on Thursday, December 9. Alex Marr, Vice President of ASME Region IX, shared some of his ideas for improving our section at the meeting. On behalf of our section, we thank Alex for his appearance.

We have confirmed several events for the next year. In January we host an ASME Distinguished Lecturer (see below). In February we will participate in Engineers Week and conduct a program with local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Look for more information about these events in the January newsletter. We are also pursuing tours of Budweiser and Boeing, and may participate in an engineering paper contest at UCSB.

We are looking forward to starting the new millennium with great programs. Enjoy your holiday season. I hope to see all of you at the January event.

Eric Kong

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DISTINGUISHED LECTURER

The ASME Distinguished Lecturers Program brings researchers at the leading edge of their technology into close contact with working engineers, scientists and students.

This year the Channel Islands Section is pleased to welcome Professor Kenneth R. Diller as our Distinguished Lecturer. Professor Diller is recognized internationally as an authority on applying heat transfer and thermodynamic principles to biomedical processes at high and low temperatures. As Professor of Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Diller’s research has focused on:

• Frozen banking of human tissues for transplantation
• Analysis of the microvascular basis of burn injury and its relevance to therapy
• Development of thermodynamic models of biological systems
• Computer vision techniques for quantitative measurement and interpretation of microscopic images

Dr. Diller has published more than 200 articles and has edited five books on these topics. He has served on the boards of editors of the journals Cryobiology and Cryo-Letters and is currently editor of the ASME Transactions, Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.

Here is a brief description of Dr. Diller’s topic:

• "The field of bioengineering has brought the analytical and quantitative tools of the engineer to the solution of important and complex problems in medicine and biology. Dr. Diller has spent 25 years studying … the response of cells and tissues to freezing and thawing. As a result, he has developed a body of understanding that can be applied in the engineered design of optimal methods of cryopreservation. This presentation includes many color photomicrographs of various cells and tissues in the frozen state."

If you are interested in attending, please contact Eric Kong (see contact info above) as soon as possible. We need to provide the Pierpont Inn with an accurate headcount, preferably a week in advance. Specify the number attending, and if vegetarian meals are preferred.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to learn about the science and engineering behind cryopreservation. We look forward to seeing you there!

GETTING THERE: PIERPONT INN, VENTURA

DRIVING DIRECTIONS

101 South (From Santa Barbara)	101 North (From Thousand Oaks)
Exit Seaward/Harbor	Exit Sanjon
Right on Harbor	Left under freeway
Right on Sanjon to Pierpont	Right on Harbor
	Right on Sanjon to Pierpont

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last updated 06 February 2000