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The University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø announced the appointment today of long-time athletics administrator Jack Lengyel as interim athletics director at CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø, effective Dec. 1. Lengyel is expected to serve for a six-month period during which the campus will conduct a national search for the permanent position, said Provost Phil DiStefano. His salary as interim athletics director will be $16,000 per month.

The creative ingenuity of engineering students at the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø will be on display Saturday, Dec. 4, when nearly 60 student inventions will be demonstrated to the public at the ITLL Fall Design Expo. The student inventions range from fun to functional, including a Rube Goldberg ice cream sundae-maker, a teeter-totter water pump and a car windshield that automatically turns opaque when the engine is turned off.

Scientists have glimpsed the three-dimensional structure of a protein that protects the ends of human chromosomes, a function essential for normal cell division and survival, according to Thomas Cech, president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a distinguished professor at the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø. By visualizing the protein as it surrounds the end of a chromosome, the scientists have learned how the protein homes in on a specific DNA sequence and acts like a protective cap to prevent erosion of chromosome ends, he said.

Carl WiemanÂ’s efforts to improve undergraduate teaching are “making waves nationally” in addition to influencing instruction at the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø, according to Mary Ann Shea, director of the campusÂ’s Faculty Teaching Excellence Program. When Wieman is invited to give a talk on his scientific research at another university, he often insists that he also be allowed to meet with faculty to discuss undergraduate science teaching.