USU researchers one step closer to mass production of synthetic silk

A recent discovery has brought a team of Utah State University researchers closer to its goal of bringing biologically engineered spider silk products to market in the near future.

The discovery — a more efficient way of spinning silk fibers created in a number of organisms — is a major breakthrough for the team of undergraduate and graduate students led by science technology and research professor Randy Lewis.

The team presented some materials made from the silk at a Community Night event held by the engineering department on Thursday evening at the Taggart Student Center.

Lewis said the new solution also eliminates the high costs that are associated with the organic compounds.

“When it comes to commercialization, everything is about cost,” said Justin Jones, who is a senior research assistant and lab manager at Lewis’ lab. Jones also said the solution makes the research attainable and production costs more reasonable.

Lewis and his team have been researching ways to reproduce spider silk’s properties using hosts of E. coli bacteria, transgenic alfalfa, silkworms and goats, according to the USU Synthetic Bioproducts Center. Lewis said the synthetic silk can be adapted to be used in medical devices, sportswear, climbing rope and even bicycle tires.

According to Lewis, another big advancement for the research was the discovery of a way to significantly increase the amount of protein produced per bacteria. Dong Chen, a research associate professor at USU, developed the methods. Lewis’ team is working on combining Chen’s efforts with its own to increase the protein even further.

Research is still being done to produce the spider silk proteins more efficiently.  

“We need prototypes before anything can be tested,” Lewis said.

The emphasis of the continued research is on the bacterial production of the silk. According to Jones, it is more common in pharmaceutical companies to use that method in human subjects. “And it’s reasonably cheap,” he said.

According to Jones, the team’s members have been very pleased with these new developments and feel they have come a long way.

“Before a month ago, we had big dreams,” Jones said. “Now it’s becoming a reality very quickly.”

Amanda Grover, Heather Shulsen, Rebecca Wheatley, Lindsey Hall and Jared Dangerfield contributed to this article.

Engineering community night amuses and surprises guests

The College of Engineering held its fourth annual Community Night at Utah State University on Thursday. 

Boy Scouts, high schoolers and college students were among the attendees who gathered in the Taggart Student Center Ballroom to participate in various engineering demonstrations.

The event was intended to help illustrate the influence of engineering.

“Throughout our world people do not realize how great engineering impacts our lives,” said Steven Houston, a Utah State University senior who co-managed the event. “We need to get the word out. People do not understand what engineering does for our everyday world.”

Engineers have a crucial role in developing “anything that moves” Houston said.

The expo presented a few demonstrations that caught attendees by surprise.  

“I was really amazed and did not understand what engineering was all about,” said Dylan Cramer, a current USU student. “My field of study was sociology, but now I am thinking about engineering. I liked the unmanned vehicle display and the spider silk made from goats’ milk.”

Utah State has been at the forefront of genetic engineering experiments that have produced the basic biological materials needed to make silk out of the proteins in the milk of goats.

Other demonstrations included rockets, concrete canoes and the Personal Vacuum Assisted Climber, which won a national competition hosted by the Air Force Academy in 2012.

According to Houston, the Air Force was so impressed by the Aggie’s wall-climber that it invested $100,00 toward improving the project.

Nikki VanLith, Janessa Knowles, Claire Hubbard, LeAnn Fox, Alex Taylor and Logan Jones contributed to this report.

Greek chapters aim to provide added value to college degrees

The income gap between college graduates and high school graduates is at an all-time high — and Utah State University’s fraternities and sororities are actively working to make a university education even more valuable.

According to a Feb. 11 report from the Pew Research Center, a full-time worker with at least a bachelor’s degree will earn an average of $45,500 annually, while a worker with no college degree will earn only $28,000.The report is based on a study, also conducted by the center, which surveyed employment and economic data from the 2013 calendar year.

Those benefits can be further extended through the networking opportunities offered through Greek organizations, said Brian Speckhard, president of the Delta Sigma Phi chapter at USU.

“The networking opportunities are endless,” Speckhard said. “Being able to talk to any Delta Sig and have an instant connection is really cool.”

Delta Sigma Phi hosts leadership conferences for student and alumni members at its headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind. And a group of fraternity members from USU had the opportunity last year to meet with John Bilprey, a fellow Delta Sig and CEO of the Hershey’s chocolate company.

 “The CEO of Hershey's – that’s a pretty big connection to have,” said Delta Sigma public relations chair Kody Riker.

Riker also noted academic assistant benefits that often come with membership in sororities and fraternities. 

“We work closely with the Academic Resource Center,” Riker said. “They provide our house with study tools, and help us to enhance our study methods.”

But Maren Stromberg, an assistant director in USU’s Career Services office, said all extracurricular involvement — not just Greek affiliation — is valuable on a résumé.

“Employers like to see that you can multitask while earning your degree,” Stromberg said. “Even if it represents a lower GPA. Employers want to see collegiate involvement and leadership which that involvement provides.”

Steven Kratz, the Los Angeles branch manager for Peak Technical Staffing, a nationwide recruiting company that specializes in matching engineers with lucrative jobs, said Greek affiliation can add value to a resume, but anything that indicates an ability to work with others is more beneficial.

“When you’re involved with a fraternity, you get voted in. There’s not much more to it,” Katz said. “For a student-athlete, for example, it shows stick-to-it-iveness, determination, and the ability to work on a team.”

According to Katz, the primary advantage with Greek affiliation is networking, though he said he has not personally observed any cooperation based on Greek affiliation.

Cailey Chaney, Matthew Thomas, Morgan Pratt, Cristina Johnson and Kylee Hopkin contributed to this report.

Beaver Mountain expecting higher participation for boarder/skier cross

With the Winter Olympics currently taking place in Sochi, Russia, Marge Seeholzer, owner of Beaver Mountain Ski Resort, hopes the excitement over winter sports will bring larger crowds to the resort’s annual boarder/skier cross Saturday.

“I think with the Olympics going on, so many young people watch that and that gets them more excited for it,” Seeholzer said. “So that’s a plus for us.”

On Thursday in Sochi, Olympians participated in the men’s and women’s ski cross. Kristy Seeholzer, daughter-in-law of Marge Seeholzer, said they hope the recent publicity for the sport will make the event more popular this year

The event will take place on Little Beaver’s Cotton Tail trail and will include berms, jumps, rollers and glide sections. Travis Seeholzer, the son of Marge Seeholzer, was in charge of building the course and worked on it the week leading up to the race.

The race is divided into different age groups with a first and second place winner in each ski and snowboard division. Riders will compete in heats of four people with the fastest times advancing on to the next rounds.

Prizes for the winners will be provided by the Beaver Mountain Ski Shop and, in past years, have included hats, shirts and stickers.

The race was originally held on the Gentle Ben trail but was recently moved to Cotton Tail according to Marge Seeholzer. She said they moved the event to change things up for participants.

“I think it’s more accessible, easier to get to and then it’s spectator friendly,” Seeholzer said.

According to Marge Seeholzer the event averages 80-90 participants.

“It’s a fun one for the young people,” Marge Seeholzer said, “I think the college and high school aged people really enjoy it.”

With four athletes on the course at a time the races can be unpredictable. "It's something everyone loves to watch," Kristy Seeholzer said. "It’s a fun race because it's chaos."

Conditions for the race are good according to Marge Seeholzer.

“Having new snow helps a lot, it helps day to day,” she said. “Our conditions are about as good as they can get right now.”  

Registration for the race is open to the public and costs $10. It will begin at 9 a.m. the day of the event. Skiers will start heats at 10:30 a.m. and snowboarders will follow at 12:30 p.m. Participants under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent when registering.

Madison Eves, Emily Duke, Morgan Klinkowski, Sam Emmett, Alex Bennett and Justin Anderson contributed to this report.

USU/SA End of Year Bash aiming to bring popular headliner

The Utah State University Student Association is planning on bringing a well-known performer for the End of Year Bash concert that will be held on April 25 in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

“Last year they brought in three bands,” said Stephanie Higginson, the program coordinator who oversees USU/SA’s planning for the End of Year Bash. “This year the students wanted to try something different and bring in just one large artist.”

USU will be able to bring in a more popular artist because of budgeting and planning throughout the previous year by the Traditions Committee. This year’s budget is around $50,000, according to Higginson.  

“To bring in everything for a production you have a lot of expenses: rental, talent, marketing, backline, lighting, stage, etc.,” Higginson said. “The student leaders over the event plan accordingly throughout the year to make sure they can host an event like this for the student body.”

Students at USU were able to make the decision on who they would like to perform by filling out a survey, according to Becca Glover, the activities director who has been planning the End of Year Bash for the past four months.

“The decision on the artist for End of Year Bash is decided based on the budget we have for the event, and of course student opinion,” Glover said. “We sent out a survey during the month of December and January giving the students an option to vote for their top four desired artists. The list given were artists that were available in our budget.”

The performer has not been decided yet, according to Glover, but the USU/SA has discussed artists such as Sara Bareilles to headline the concert.

Bailee Woolstenhulme, Tess Griffeth, Emi Tano, Mark Hanni and Eliza Welsh contributed to this report.