LehighWeek Volume 01, Issue 05

              Lehigh Students Begin Program Solving Real Industry Problems
By WILLIAM JOHNSON
Associate Director, Office Of Public Information
Students at Lehigh University are helping to improve soup
production at Campbell Soup Co., chemical processing at
Exxon Corp. and anti-tumor drug delivery at Centecor
Inc.
Funded by a $125,000 grant from the Exxon Educational Foundation, Lehigh's new Opportunities for Student
Innovation Program is enabling 11 chemical engineering
and chemistry students to work on real research problems.
In the process, says Dr. John Chen, chairman of
Lehigh's chemical engineering department, the students are
using not only their math and science skills, but are developing the interpersonal and problem-solving skills normally
acquired after graduation.
"Often college students find a degree isn't enough in the
job market," says Dr. Chen, who, along with chemistry
chairman Dr. Doyle Daves, created the OSI program and
proposed it to the foundation.
"Practical experience working as a team member on a
research project can instill an intellectual nimbleness' in a
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-
Issue Five
student, as well as a regard for human values," says Dr.
Chen. "These are qualities corporations are looking for
today."
Groups of two to four students are tackling company-
provided problems under the guidance of a Lehigh faculty
member and a company advisor.
Professor Leonard Wenzel, OSI coordinator, says some
of the problems the students are working on are "Fuzzily
defined," which is common in any enterprise. "The
students, without having a textbook-defined problem to
work from, are forced to zero in on what the problem is
Continued On Page 3
NON-PROFIT
U.S. Postage Paid
Permit No. 230
Bethlehem. Pa. 18015
October 14,1987
Photography by PAM LOTT
Greeting friends and fellow graduates
after the 109th Founder's Day Exercises
last Sunday.
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Lehigh University had a record year in 1987 of gifts and
contributions to the University. Inside this issue you will
find five pages focusing on that support and how it will
benefit Lehigh. Entitled "A Link To The Future" these special pages document what has been received, and how the
money is helping Lehigh position itself competitively as a
nationally recognized university. Please See Pages 5-9 >
Social Research
Lehigh Forms Consortium
To Study AIDS Benefit
Costs To Private Sector
Lehigh University's Center for Social
Research has formed a new consortium to
develop a database of actual AIDS/
ARC(Acquired Immune Deficiency/AIDS-
Related Complex) benefit costs borne by the
private sector.
Dr. Arthur E. King, a specialist in health
economics, will serve as project director. He
is an associated professor of economics in
Lehigh's College of Business and Economics
and serves as assistant director of the Center
for Social Research. A nationally active
insurance consulting firm, ad hoc Services,
will act as the industry liaison. Known as
LUCAMMC (Lehigh University Consortium
on AIDS Morbidity/Mortality Costs), the
project will be conducted under appropriate
academic research control and no personal
identification Sf any insurance claimant will
reach Lehigh University.
According to Dr. King, the project was
conceived as it became clear that private
sector life and health providers faced an
unprecedented economic burden. He added
that while varying estimates abound, there is
little or no hard data being gathered, mod
Continued On Page 11>
What Is This Newspaper
Doing In My Mail?
LehighWeek is something new at
Lehigh. This week's issue was
mailed to all Lehigh alumni,
friends and parents. For more
information about LehighWeek
see Pages 3 and 12 >
Lehigh women runners at start of open race at Saturday's Paul Short Memorial Run on the Murray H. Goodman campus.
Photography by PAM LOT!