What's Happening in CoSE

Emanuele Zappala assistant professor of mathematics at Idaho State University poses for a photo.

“ChatGPT for the Brain:” Idaho State Prof. Helps Develop AI Foundation Model of the Human Brain

An artificial intelligence tool may soon give your doctor a crystal ball when it comes to what’s happening between your ears.

Emanuele Zappala, an assistant professor of mathematics at Idaho State University, and his collaborators from Yale University and Baylor University recently debuted their work on BrainLM, a foundation model for brain activity recording.

Standard office hours resume Monday, August 5

This is a friendly reminder that standard office hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. will resume on Monday, August 5.

Please take a look at the rest of the 2024 Holiday Schedule to begin preparing for the Fall/Winter holidays.

Mustafa Mashal, professor of civil engineering, recently received some kudos from Congressman Mike Simpson for his Fulbright Award.

Click here for more about his time as part of the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program.

A screen capture of an email sent to Mustafa Mashal from Mike Simpson

EHSS Hosting Safety Fair 2024 August 15

Environmental Health, Safety and Sustainability is hosting Safety Fair 2024, sponsored by Fisher Scientific. The event features over a dozen vendors, complimentary lunch, prizes, educational breakout sessions, and the inaugural EHSS safety awards presentation.

Date: August 15

Time: 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Location: ICCU Bengal Alumni Center

Please RSVP using the Google Form to ensure an accurate headcount for catering purposes. The same Google Form is also being used to collect nominees for safety awards.

National Science Foundation Hosts EPSCoR Live! Event August 20

In this virtual forum, Dr. Jose Colom-Ustariz will prepare participants for submission to the NSF EPSCoR Track-2 Focused EPSCoR Collaborations program. Submissions for this cycle should be on the topic “Building capacity towards use-inspired research.” Letters of intent are due December 17, and full proposals are due January 28, 2025. The session will be held on Tuesday, August 20, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EDT). Advance registration is required.

RSVP Now! CoSE Camping Trip Aug. 23 - 25

Join us for CoSE's 3rd Annual Camping Trip for faculty and staff. Family members are welcome. Enjoy relaxing and outdoor activities with your colleagues and family during this low-key weekend getaway. You will be responsible for your own food, entertainment, and supplies.

For more information, please check out the Grand Teton National Park and Colter Bay Campground websites.

Click here to RSVP.

CoSE Chairs and Directors Meeting Minutes

From Around ISU

IMNH to host graduate student exhibition

The Idaho Museum of Natural History is hosting a photo-ethnography of the history and culture of Pacific cod fishing in the Shumagin Islands of Alaska, opening August 2.

“There is hope from the sea…” a photo-ethnography of Zack Beal, graduate student of the ISU Department of Anthropology and Languages under the direction of Dr. Kate Reedy, explores the history and culture of Pacific cod fishing in the Shumagin Islands of Alaska.

John Marlowe Selected as Institutional Research Director

Dr. John Marlowe has been named as the new Institutional Research Director for ISU. Dr. Marlowe has a background spanning education, government, manufacturing, and higher education sectors. With a focus on AI, data science, and analytics, he has excelled in various roles, including leveraging analytics in the public sector to combat fraud, waste, and abuse. In academia, he has served as a department chair for business and IT at Education Management Corporation, and held the position of IR director at the College of Southern Idaho.

Reminder: New PERSI Rates Effective Aug. 2 Paycheck

Effective the August 2 paycheck, employees participating in PERSI will see an update to their PERSI contributions.

Prior to the 8/2 paycheck, employees have been contributing 6.71% and the employer share was 11.18%
Starting the 8/2 paycheck, employees will contribute 7.18% and the employer share will be 11.96%

If you have questions, please call the PERSI Employer Service Center at 1-866-887-9525 or 208-287-9525.

Dates to Remember

July 22	Full term, Late-8, Late-6 and Late-4 final grading opens
August 2	Summer 2024 Classes End
August 6	Full term, Late-8, Late-6 and Late-4 final grading closes at 4:00pm
August 19	Fall 2024 classes begin
September 2	Labor Day holiday (no classes)
September 30	Early 8-week course grading opens

Upcoming Events in the College of Science and Engineering

For a complete list of CoSE events, check out the College Event Calendar. Updates can also be found on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and Instagram. To add events to the calendar, please contact the Administrative Assistants in your department. The university-wide calendar of events is available here.

Department/Program

Biological Sciences

Event

New Biology Introductions & Seminar Series Orientation

Details

Thu, Aug 22

4 pm - 5 pm

Department/Program

ALL

Event

CoSE Camping Trip

Details

Aug 23 - 25

Grand Teton National Park

Help Us Share Your Accomplishments!

Our College’s outstanding faculty, staff, and students achieve many notable research and professional accomplishments. In addition, our departments regularly have newsworthy advancements. We want to make sure those stories are shared publicly. Here are a few ways you can provide a news tip to help get the word out:

Use this Story Submission Form to send your news tip to the Office of Marketing and Communications.

Send an email to Logan McDougall (loganmcdougall@isu.edu) with a brief description of the news to be shared.

You are always welcome to create a draft story, submit it via the Story Submission Form, or send it to Logan. The Office of Marketing and Communications and Logan will coordinate to get the story finalized and distributed to the media outlets/platforms that best tell the story.

View this email as a web page.