University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Emergency system to be tested

UB’s Emergency Planning Oversight Committee will conduct a test of the university’s emergency text messaging/email service at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 31.

Subscribers will receive a message: “UB test message sent at 2:30. This is a test.” If you are registered to receive emergency alerts, but do not receive the test, experience a time delay or have a concern about the test, send an email message to rave@buffalo.edu

The service is designed to inform subscribers about campus emergencies, weather-related closings or other urgent campus information. To register, click here.

Simpson to address voting faculty

The annual meeting of the voting faculty, with remarks by President John B. Simpson, will be held at 2 p.m. Nov. 4 in the Center for Tomorrow, North Campus.

All members of the university community are invited to attend.

For more information, contact the Faculty Senate office at 645-2003.

Bulls ticket offer for faculty and staff

For the first time in history, the UB Bulls will be featured in a nationally televised game from UB Stadium. The Division of Athletics has a special offer for UB faculty and staff who want to be part of the Sea of Blue for that Election Night game against the Miami (OH) Red Hawks, which will be televised by ESPN2.

UB faculty and staff who present a valid UB ID will receive a complimentary admission with each ticket purchased for the Nov. 4 game. The offer is redeemable from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Alumni Arena ticket office, or on game day at UB Stadium; ticket windows open two hours prior to game time.

Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.

Faculty and staff who take advantage of this offer will be eligible to win a $25 FlexiBULL Bucks voucher, courtesy of Campus Dining & Shops. Ten winners will be chosen at random.

The Tim Hortons kiosks at the North and South Ticket Gates at the entrance to UB Stadium will offer a free 10-ounce coffee or hot chocolate to ticketholders.

For more information, call 1-877-UB-THERE.

Fatta is new chair of UBF board

Angelo M. Fatta, president of Fatta Enterprises and vice president of the Fatta Foundation Inc., a charitable foundation supporting child welfare and development in Western New York, is the new chairman of the UB Foundation board, on which he has served since 2004.

The appointment of Fatta follows the retirement from the board chairmanship of Reginald B. Newman II, chair of Prior Aviation Services Inc. Newman served as UBF board chair for 12 years.

The UB Foundation board also named three community leaders to serve three-year terms: Helen M. Cappuccino, ’88, a surgical oncologist at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and UB assistant professor of surgery; Randall L. Clark, chairman and chief executive officer of Dunn Tire Corporation of Western New York; and Francis M. Letro, J.D., ’79, an attorney. The appointments will continue until June 30, 2011.

The UB Foundation Inc. supports and promotes the activities and programs of the university. Foundation board members are selected for their distinguished achievements in professions and for their commitment to the advancement of the university.

Filiatrault elected MCEER director

Andre Filiatrault, professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and a leading expert on shake-table testing of structural and nonstructural building components, has been elected to a two-year term as director of MCEER, a national center of excellence focused on multihazard engineering, headquartered at UB.

Filiatrault was elected to the post by the newly instituted MCEER Management Council, a group principally comprised of MCEER researchers.

He succeeds Michel Bruneau, UB professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering, who stepped down from his MCEER post at the end of August.

Since 2007, Filiatrault, who previously served as MCEER deputy director, also headed UB’s Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simulation Laboratory (SEESL), a state-of-the- art facility that is home to twin, movable shake tables capable of real-time seismic testing of structures up to 120 feet in length.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, MCEER has been applying its expertise to a broad range of natural and man-made hazards—from earthquake engineering to extreme events—in close cooperation with the UB 2020 strategic strength in “Extreme Events: Mitigation and Response.”

Filiatrault says that many technologies that MCEER has developed for earthquake engineering applications are applicable to other hazards as well, noting that MCEER “has redefined the field of multiple hazard engineering through the concept of disaster resilience.”

Using that concept as its foundation, he says that MCEER’s research plan will revolve around three complementary research thrusts: infrastructure systems and public policy, sustainable and resilient buildings, and innovative technologies.

At the same time, he said, MCEER will continue to serve the earthquake engineering community, conducting high-quality, problem-focused research, collaborating with academic and business, industry and government partners and sponsors, and providing education and outreach to advance technology transfer.