Carlos Balsas—Symposium on Sustainable Urban Regeneration
The one day symposium on urban regeneration in Japan will include five presentations by Japanese and American scholars on issues of sustainable urban regeneration, downtown revitalization and community development, as well as an open session on collaborative research opportunities between Arizona State University and the University of Tokyo, and a guided tour of the major revitalization projects taking place in downtown Phoenix.

Diane Bender—Digital Portfolio: Perceptions of Design Students
Survey Instrument and Student Workshop: How do our students perceive digital portfolios? Are they aware of the pros and cons? Are they prepared to create and distribute them? More than just a portfolio lecture, this workshop will address the differences between traditional and digital portfolios and actively engage students in a dialog over the pros and cons of digital portfolios. Discussion will focus on the creation of a small portfolio teaser for marketing, which can be sent via CD-Rom or posted on a website.

Jennifer Brungart—Activity-based learning materials for K-12, including assessment of visual communication devices and techniques employed.
Literature-based, foundational research intended to culminate in a survey report on the state of activity-based learning materials for K-12­–particularly those that are electronic media-based. The report will include an assessment of visual communication devices and techniques that are employed in the materials. Brungart's affiliation with the AME Program has led to collaboration with Professor Hari Sundaram, AME/CSE, for the past year and a half on work that involves the design of interactive, user context-adaptive, multi-modal learning environments, as well as hybrid electronic/paper learning experiences.

Katherine Crewe—Organic Farm Marketing Project
“Partnership for Community Development through Organic Farming” is a joint project of ASU, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian community and the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Program . Now in its third year the project needs a marketing plan to consolidate the component parts of the project and allow the tribe to operate independently.

Nan Ellin—Integral Urbanism
Integral Urbanism is a sequel to Postmodern Urbanism (1999), though more prescriptive than descriptive. The new book focuses on how we can intervene proactively in our cities rather than on surveying and critiquing past practices. To be published by Routledge in 2006, Integral Urbanism describes the potentially optimistic big picture that is currently unfolding by distilling it into 5 qualities: hybridity, connectivity, porosity, authenticity, and vulnerability. While highlighting the opportunities this shift presents, the book also identifies obstacles that will need to be surmounted in order to best enhance quality of place and quality of life.

Don Herring/Dosun Shin—Muscular Dystrophy Pneumatic Arm-Lifting Assistive Device
The DSC 544 Human Factors class has developed a first generation wheelchair-mounted arm-lifting device. A Small Business Technology Transfer Research grant is being sought to further the development and application of the arm's technology. Class members are working on several prototype versions of the device focusing on user lifestyle requirements.

Francisco Lara-Valencia—Innovation Networks for Binational Planning US/Mexico
The study is a multidisciplinary project combining qualitative and survey research methods and social network analysis to understand the making, development, and effectiveness of bi-national planning to address problems affecting cities and rural communities along the Arizona-Sonora border. This study is conceived as an exploratory research intended to address a variety of questions such as: What type of networks of collaboration exists or has existed to address bi-national issues affecting urban and regional planning in the Arizona-Sonora border area? Why and how do these networks emerge and how do they function?

Vidar Lerum Component Cooling
The end result of this project is to design and build a prototype “building component cooling” system for a house in the hot and dry climate of the low desert in Arizona – and similar climates around the world. Ultimately, this project would result in a component package that could be designed, manufactured and sold.

Janetta McCoy/Linda Nelson Johnson—Words of Wisdom
This study will identify and profile the top ten leaders in interior and architectural design in the Phoenix area. The outcome will be a publishable narrative documenting leadership qualities, the “words of wisdom” regarding being a recognized leader in the profession and will be used in the creation of an Executive Masters in Design degree program.

Catherine Spellman/Claudio Vekstein—SAVE, the Bridge House
In the fall of 2004 the Brook House by the Argentinean architect Amancio Williams (1913-1989) was destroyed in a fire. All that remains of the modernist masterpiece is the concrete bridge structure that supported the house over the brook. The research project proposes to rescue the house from destruction by raising international awareness of the project's historical significance through a traveling exhibition and critical publication. The first phase of this project is to re-draw all the original documents. To do this, each document must be carefully photographed with a large format camera and then scanned as a digital document.

Michael Underhill—Affordable Housing Design for S. Phoenix
The City of Phoenix sought proposals for on a project of approximately 33 houses located in South Phoenix on S. 16 th Street near Broadway. The houses are targeted to be affordable for owner occupancy by families at 60% of median income. After several site plans, community meetings, and city meetings; NHS/Phoenix was selected for the project last month. Underhill will take the project through at least schematic design and design development with student teams in the school and complete the contract documents in the new Community Design Clinic.