University Scholar Series: Michael Kaufman

H2O in Interstellar Space: How the Universe Conspires to Make Water Everywhere On October 28, 2015, Dr. Michael Kaufman spoke in the University Scholar Series hosted by Provost Andy Feinstein at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. His talk was titled “H2O in Interstellar Space: How the Universe Conspires to Make Water, Water Everywhere.” Dr. Kaufman\u27s astrophysics research focuses on the interactions and feedback between newly formed stars and the interstellar medium—the raw material from which stars form. He constructs computational models of the radiative transfer, dynamics and chemistry that occur in regions of active star formation, and uses these models to interpret observations with ground-based, airborne, and space-based telescopes. Dr. Kaufman is Professor and Chair in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/uss/1024/thumbnail.jp

Putting A Price On Carbon: A Handbook for U.S. Policymakers

This Handbook provides an overview of carbon pricing -- the types of decisions that need to be made in designing a program (including the political decisions about the use of revenue) and the expected economic impacts of alternative approaches. We conducted a thorough review of the literature, selecting a broad array of well-regarded and highly cited studies that represent a range of viewpoints. We expect this Handbook to be useful in the public debate in the United States on whether, how, and when to implement a national carbon price

Thermal finite-element analysis of space shuttle main engine turbine blade

Finite-element, transient heat transfer analyses were performed for the first-stage blades of the space shuttle main engine (SSME) high-pressure fuel turbopump. The analyses were based on test engine data provided by Rocketdyne. Heat transfer coefficients were predicted by performing a boundary-layer analysis at steady-state conditions with the STAN5 boundary-layer code. Two different peak-temperature overshoots were evaluated for the startup transient. Cutoff transient conditions were also analyzed. A reduced gas temperature profile based on actual thermocouple data was also considered. Transient heat transfer analyses were conducted with the MARC finite-element computer code

Toward a Just Measure of Repose: The Statute of Limitations for Securities Fraud.

Statutes of limitations, a long-standing bulwark of civil litigation, mitigate the risk that evidence of meritorious claims will become stale and relieve defendants who might be exposed to claims from unending uncertainty about whether claims will be brought. But these twin rationales are balanced against allowing plaintiffs sufficient time to discover and file meritorious claims. This balance is manifest in the judicial and congressional effort to fashion a statute of limitations for securities fraud claims. The Supreme Court in Merck & Co. v. Reynolds recently attempted to strike that balance in its interpretation of the statute of limitations for securities fraud claims under section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5. But we show that the Court has failed. Merck presents a pleading trap for victims of securities fraud that will preclude the adjudication of meritorious claims. Moreover, the Supreme Court\u27s Merck decision exemplifies a much more serious problem with the entire limitations regime for securities fraud. We demonstrate that the discovery provision in that regime should be discarded for a singular statute of repose as the discovery provision unnecessarily precludes meritorious claims without providing any more support for the twin rationales beyond what is already provided by a statute of repose alone. The repose provision by itself reduces the use of stale evidence and litigation uncertainty and it does not unnecessarily preclude meritorious claims. In this sense, our proposal bucks the trend of scholarship addressing the statute of limitations that advocates eliminating limitations periods entirely. We find that insights from behavioral economics and practical realities of market activity justify some measure of repose. Thus, we advocate abolishing the discovery provision in the statute of limitations but keeping the statute of repose