Claudia E. Vergara

Insight into multi-site mechanisms of glycosyl transfer in (1→4)β-D-glycans provided by the cereal mixed-linkage (1→3), (1→4)β-d-glucan synthase

Abstract Synthases of cellulose, chitin, hyaluronan, and all other polymers containing (1→4)β-linked glucosyl, mannosyl and xylosyl units have overcome a substrate orientation problem in catalysis because the (1→4)β-linkage requires that each of these sugar units be inverted nearly 180° with respect to its neighbors. We and others have proposed that this problem is solved by two modes of glycosyl transfer within a single catalytic subunit to generate disaccharide units, which, when linked processively, maintain the proper orientation without rotation or re-orientation of the synthetic machinery in 3-dimensional space. A variant of the strict (1→4)β- d -linkage structure is the mixed-linkage (1→3),(1→4)β- d -glucan, a growth-specific cell wall polysaccharide found in grasses and cereals. β-Glucan is composed primarily of cellotriosyl and cellotetraosyl units linked by single (1→3)β- d -linkages. In reactions in vitro at high substrate concentration, a polymer composed of almost entirely cellotriosyl and cellopentosyl units is made. These results support a model in which three modes of glycosyl transfer occur within the synthase complex instead of just two. The generation of odd numbered units demands that they are connected by (1→3)β-linkages and not (1→4)β-. In this short review of β-glucan synthesis in maize, we show how such a model not only provides simple mechanisms of synthesis for all (1→4)β- d -glycans but also explains how the synthesis of callose, or strictly (1→3)β- d -glucans, occurs upon loss of the multiple modes of glycosyl transfer to a single one.

Aligning Computing Education with engineering workforce computational needs: New curricular directions to improve computational thinking in engineering graduates

In this global economy, the preparation of a globally competitive U.S. workforce with knowledge and understanding of critical computing concepts is essential. Our CPACE (Collaborative Process to Align Computing Education with Engineering Workforce Needs) vision is to revitalize undergraduate computing education within the engineering and technology fields. Our objective is to design and implement a process to engage stakeholders from multiple sectors and identify the computational tools and problem-solving skills and define how these skills-directly informed by industry needs-can be integrated across disciplinary curricula. By explicitly integrating computing concepts and disciplinary problem solving, engineering graduates will enter the workforce with improved and practice-ready computational thinking that will enhance their problem-solving and design skills. We present the analysis of the computational skills and the strategies that we are using to map the workforce problem-solving requirements onto the foundational computer science principles. We outline the framework that we are using to identify opportunities for curricular integration between computer science concepts and the disciplinary engineering curricula. By documenting, evaluating, and making the process explicit, this process can serve as a model for national efforts to strengthen undergraduate computing education in engineering.

Work in progress: Integrating computation across engineering curricula: Preliminary impact on students

The Collaborative Process to Align Computing Education with Engineering Workforce Needs (CPACE) team developed a partnership among various stakeholders to identify the computational skills that are essential for a globally competitive engineering workforce. Our goal is to redesign the role of computing within the engineering programs at Michigan State University (MSU) and Lansing Community College (LCC) to develop computational competencies - informed by industry needs - by infusing computational learning opportunities into the undergraduate engineering curriculum. In this paper we summarize the process that we used to translate our research findings about the computational competencies needs in the engineering workplace into fundamental computer science (CS) concepts that can be used in curricular implementation. We also discuss the initial phase of our curricular implementation strategy in two disciplinary engineering programs at MSU and transfer programs at LCC.

Engaging Early Engineering Students (EEES)

Undergraduate STEM student enrollment has declined substantially over the last decade. Specifically there has been a steady decline in retention of early engineering students working through the first half of their degree programs. Student “leavers” typically fall into two categories (i) those facing academic difficulties and (ii) those that perceive the education environment of early engineering as hostile and not engaging. The Engaging Early Engineering Students Project (EEES) is a collaborative effort between Michigan State University (MSU) and Lansing Community College (LCC). EEES functions through the integration of four component programs designed to ease the transition of high school students into engineering undergraduate programs, and, by making the transition smoother, to increase retention at the College of Engineering (COE). The programs are: (a) Peer-Assisted Learning, (b) Connector Faculty, (c) Diagnostic-driven Early Intervention and (d) Cross Course linkages.

Work in progress - computing and undergraduate engineering: A collaborative process to align computing education with engineering workforce needs (CPACE)

This NSF-funded community-building (CB) project brings together Michigan State University (MSU), Lansing Community College (LCC), and the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW) to design and implement a process to create a collaboratively defined undergraduate computing education within the engineering and technology fields in alignment with the computational problem-solving abilities needed to transform mid-Michiganpsilas economy and workforce. In this WIP we outline the process we are developing to ensure that a wide variety of stakeholders - business, community leaders and post secondary educators - collaborate to identify workforce computational skills, define how these skills can be integrated across a curriculum, and develop revised curricula that integrate computational problem-solving across engineering departmental courses. By documenting, evaluating and making the process explicit, this process can serve as a model for national efforts to revitalize undergraduate computing education in engineering, and should be extensible to other computing education reform efforts.