framelula1971

The Englewood home where Jennifer Hudson grew up is eight miles from the Arie Crown Theatre at McCormick Place. But the journey from the former to Saturday night's performance at the latter is nothing short of epic.

HP today unveiled new solutions within its Adaptive Infrastructure (AI) portfolio that fundamentally change the way technology is used to deliver business services, while also reducing overall infrastructure costs and data center complexity.

By MARTIN J. KIDSTON - Independent Record - 04/19/09

Carroll College will offer four new courses in the Department of Engineering when the fall semester kicks off this year.

Three classes will fall under the college's new emphasis in environmental engineering while the fourth class will consist of traffic and safety engineering.

Willis Weight, an expert in groundwater applications and problem solving, will teach the new environmental classes while Jeff Key and Terry Mullen will teach traffic and safety.

"What we're kind of doing is expanding some of the electives the kids can take," said Mullen. "The idea is, if they want to go into the field, it will give them a lot more depth."

The new traffic and safety class will be one of several new courses offered by the college starting this fall when the 2009-10 school year kicks off.

A highway design course is in the works as well, possibly starting next spring, and a new major in engineering mechanics will be offered within the department.

Weight, the newest member of the engineering department, taught engineering at Montana Tech for nearly 20 years and headed the school's hydrology department for 10 of them.

He'll teach the new environmental engineering classes at Carroll as a full-time professor. The school said his position will be funded by a two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

While Weight couldn't be reached by phone this week, past studies have taken him to Lake Titicaca in Peru, where he studied mercury levels in the lake's fish. He authored the "Hydrology Field Manual," along with other professional journals.

In the fall semester, Weight will begin teaching water quality, as well as a hands-on class in stream restoration. The following spring, he'll teach new classes in air quality and groundwater flow modeling.

"All of these courses are suitable for not only traditional engineering students, but also community members and professionals," said school spokeswoman Ashley Oliverio. "It's suitable for anyone seeking to upgrade their expertise in the field of environmental engineering, geology, planning and remediation, and other areas."

Reporter Martin Kidston: 447-4086 or mkidston -is-at- helenair -dot- com