Congratulations to Dr. Shivan Haran, associate professor of mechanical engineering, who has secured a $50,000 grant from the DENSO North America Foundation. He will use the grant to help develop a robotics and controls lab to facilitate student learning and help prepare more engineers for careers in design, manufacture and operation of automation control devices. A-State's grant was one of only 22 awarded nationwide to institutions of higher education.

Dr. Karen Aul, assistant professor of nursing, presented research at the Arkansas Public Health Association expo, "Building a Healthy Arkansas: Strategies to Improve Health in the Natural State."  In "The Impact of the App: The Perceptions of Tracking Healthy Eating and Activity Patterns," she discussed her research on measuring perceptions of obesity awareness among pre-licensure nursing students who tracked their eating and activity using an iPad application.

Adrian Everett is the new associate director and transfer services coordinator in the Wilson Advising Center. He presented "Recruitment to Graduation: Providing High-Quality Experience for Transfer Students" at the recent Arkansas Academic Advising Network (ArkAAN) conference in Hot Springs. Everett also was named to the executive board in the position of four-year public institution representative.  At A-State he is vice president of the Staff Senate.

Dr. Kyle Chandler, assistant professor of music and coordinator of music education, spoke at the peer-refereed International Symposium on Assessment in Music Education in England. The study, "Investigating Music Teacher Knowledge through Amalgamation Assessments in Brazil and the United States," was conducted with colleagues in Brazil and South Korea. Their research focuses on development of music teacher knowledge and what is emphasized on licensure assessments in each country.

Dr. Katie Hill is director of the R.M. "Bob" Wood Sales Leadership Center and assistant professor of marketing. A-State, which has been named again to the Sales Education Foundation's annual list of "Top Universities for Professional Sales Education," is one of only three sales programs to meet all six of the foundation's ranking criteria. The Wood Center is funded by a generous donation from the Bob Wood family.