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CU-Boulder Professor Emeritus Jacques Pankove was one of four nationally known innovators in urban building design, military aviation and optical technology to receive the outstanding engineering alumni award from the University of California, Berkeley, last week.

A minor explosion at CU-BoulderÂ’s Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy Research Lab about 11:40 a.m. today caused the temporary evacuation of the building. There were no injuries and only minor damage to the structure was reported. The approximately 15 students, faculty and researchers inside the building at the time were immediately evacuated. There was no smoke or fire in the lab, which is located in the CU Research Park at 38th Street and Colorado Avenue.

A campus health and wellness fair for University of Colorado at Boulder students, faculty, staff and community members will be held in the Glenn Miller Ballroom of the University Memorial Center on Tuesday, Sept. 19, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Among the programs and services to be featured will be blood pressure screenings, nutritional counseling, chair massage, chiropractic, smoking cessation, herbal medicine, women's health information, a signup for Sept. 20 cholesterol screenings and a raffle for prizes.

The University of Colorado at BoulderÂ’s Center for the American West will host a mock divorce trial between the urban and rural West on Wednesday, Sept. 27 in Telluride. The program will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the San Miguel County Courthouse. The event is free and open to the public.

Editors: Photographers are welcome to attend and photograph activities at the wellness fair. A campus health and wellness fair for University of Colorado at Boulder students, faculty, staff and community members will be held in the Glenn Miller Ballroom of the University Memorial Center on Tuesday, Sept. 19, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

A memorial service for Adam Kolff, of Seattle, the University of Colorado student killed June 19th in a plane crash in Alaska, will be held Sept. 18 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Old Main Chapel on the CU-Boulder campus. Kolff, 27, graduated in the spring with a masterÂ’s degree in geography. His focus was on mining and protected areas in Peru. He had presented a paper on the results of his research during the American Association of Geographers annual meeting held last March in Pittsburgh.

For months, University of Colorado at Boulder student Eli Spear spent much of his time asking people to donate pennies. He eventually gathered close to 30,000 of them, totaling about $300. Next week, two unique pieces of art made from the coins Spear collected will go on public display. The first piece was created by 11 ethnic artists ranging in age from six to 14 from the Clare Gardens lower-income housing development just west of downtown Denver during a seven-week class Spear used to teach the children fundamental design principles.

"Student Neighborhoods: Breaking the Cycles of Violence and Destruction," a community speakout for University of Colorado at Boulder students and city residents, will be held at the Pi Beta Phi sorority house, 890 11th St., from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 19.

The National Science Foundation announced today its first grants under the agencyÂ’s new $90 million Information Technology Research initiative, which included more than $6 million to the University of Colorado at Boulder. The awards are designed to spur fundamental research and innovative applications in information technology. A total of 210 projects were selected from more than 1,400 proposals. The selected proposals will promote information technology driven science and engineering, of growing importance to the economy.

Editors: In most cases, reporters can arrange meetings with these business leaders by calling Professor John Hess at (303) 492-7800. Top executives from Hertz Corp., Seagate Technologies, Estee Lauder and 10 other leading companies will discuss lessons learned from their successful business careers with University of Colorado at Boulder students at lectures throughout the fall semester. John Hess, a professor of marketing at the CU-Boulder College of Business, invites highly successful CEOs and entrepreneurs to speak as part of his Profiles in American Enterprise course.