Third UBM South Regional Conference

October 12, 2012

University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, Texas

Directions | Parking | Conference Building & Room | Accommodations | Keynote Speaker | Schedule | Restaurants | Dinner Party | Local Attractions


Welcome to the home page for the Third UBM South Regional Conference, a primarily undergraduate conference in Mathematics and Biology to be hosted by the Departments of Computer & Mathematical Sciences and of Natural Sciences at University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, Texas. The conference will be held on Friday, October 12, 2012 on the campus of University of Houston-Downtown.

This is the third time that we are hosting this conference, and we would like to invite all NSF-UBM grantees and other undergraduate mathematical biology research programs to participate.  We would also like to set up the following tradition: there will be no registration fees, and all talks will be limited to 15-20 minutes (except the keynote speaker having 40 minutes). Undergraduate students are particularly encouraged to participate. Those wishing to speak should submit a title and short abstract (plain text, MS Word document, or LaTex text file) by Monday, October 1 to YoonJ@uhd.edu.

Click here for the abstracts from last year’s conference.

If you have any question(s), please send requests for information to

Edwin Tecarro
Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences
University of Houston-Downtown
Houston, TX 77002-1001
Fax: (713) 221-8086
Phone: (713) 221-8655

E-Mail: TecarroE@uhd.edu


Directions

Please see UHD’s Map and Directions.


Parking

If you are driving to the meeting, we have reserved spaces in our visitor’s parking lot. To access the visitor’s parking lot, go north on Travis street through downtown. When you pass the stoplight at the Spaghetti Warehouse, you will see a sign that says you are entering IH-45. Turn right at the next stoplight, which is UH-Downtown. Then almost immediately, turn right again and you will be facing the entrance to the visitor’s parking lot. Enter the lot; we will provide you with tokens to exit the lot. Check the UH-Downtown website for more directions and maps.


Conference Building & Room

Academic Building, A 300 (Special Events Room)


Accommodations

A block of rooms has been reserved at Marriott Residence Inn (904 Dallas St, Houston, TX 77002).  


Keynote Speaker

Alok Sutradhar, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery

Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Ohio State University

Email: alok.sutradhar@osumc.edu

 

Title: Role of Topology Optimization in Reconstructive Surgery

 

Restoring normal function and appearance after massive facial injuries with bone loss is an important unsolved problem in surgery. Current methods are limited to heuristic ad hoc design of bone replacements by the operating surgeon at the time of surgery. This problem might be addressed by incorporating a computational method known as topology optimization into routine surgical planning. Topology optimization is a structural optimization method that combines a numerical solution method e.g., the finite element method (FEM), with an optimization algorithm to find the optimal material distribution inside a given domain. It determines which portions will have material and which will have voids. This technique has the potential to guide and clarify in which places skeletal materials are necessary to withstand the expected loads (e.g., for mastication) and support soft tissue structures, specialized organs (e.g., orbital contents), and prosthetic devices. We performed a three-dimensional topology optimization to design bone replacements. The final solution to meet functional requirements may be shaped differently than the natural human bone but be optimized for functional needs sufficient to support full restoration using a combination of soft tissue repair and synthetic prosthetics. Topological optimization for designing facial bone tissue replacements has the potential to improve current clinical methods and provide essential enabling technology to translate generic bone tissue engineering methods into patient-specific solutions.

 


Conference Schedule

Friday, October 12, 2012

 

12:00—1:00 p.m.          Registration (3rd Floor, Academic Building –outside Room A300)

1:00 — 1:15 p.m.          Welcome Remarks

1:20 — 2:20 p.m.          Keynote Speaker (Dr. Alok Sutradhar)

2:20 — 3:20 p.m.          Contribution Talks (I)

3:20  3:40 p.m.          Coffee Break

3:40 — 5:40 p.m.          Contribution Talks (II)

6:00 pm.              Banquet

 

Click here for schedule of contributed talks.

 

Click here for abstracts of all talks

 

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Restaurants in Downtown Houston

Dinner Party

Dinner party will be held on Friday (October 12) evening at “Macondo”, 208 Travis St., Houston, TX 77002 713.229.8323 at 6:00 pm.

 




Page last updated October 9, 2012