More than 60 years after its legendary 11th president, Herman Wells, helped establish a "free university" in post-World War II Berlin, Indiana University announced Dec. 2 that it has renewed and expanded cooperative agreements with that institution as well as another of Germany's leading research universities. While leading a university delegation to Germany, IU President Michael A. McRobbie signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Free University of Berlin, renewing a half-century of relations with that city's largest research university and expanding the partnership into new areas of cooperation -- including faculty exchanges, joint workshops and enhanced academic collaborations. Full Story

Technology transfer (T2) agreements within the U.S. armed services can have significant benefits in the civilian sector, especially for small, entrepreneurial start-up companies that often are the backbone for innovation and economic growth. That's according to a new economic impact study done for the U.S. Department of the Navy by the Indiana Business Research Center (IBRC) at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. The Navy's Technology Transfer Program Office has 37 facilities in 14 states and the District of Columbia. From 2005 through 2009, there were more than 620 agreements with naval laboratories. They include 10 research sites in California, seven locations in Maryland, four sites in Virginia and three locations in Florida and the District of Columbia. Full Story

Indiana University has created a Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) by integrating teaching and learning resources. The CITL is a partnership between the IU Bloomington Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and University Information Technology Services to fully support teaching and learning on the Bloomington campus. The CITL will focus on helping faculty develop innovative curriculum to increase student learning and engagement, and will provide support while faculty evolve their courses and skills to keep pace with rapidly changing needs. Full Story

The Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing announced that Sam Parsons has been named the first recipient of the newly created Krane Scholars Award, an award recognizing an outstanding student in the School of Informatics and Computing or the School of Journalism. Parsons, a junior majoring in informatics with minors in business and entrepreneurship, is originally from Bloomington. In addition to being named the Krane Scholar, he recently placed second in the Kelley School of Business' Accenture Case Competition. After graduation, Parsons hopes to secure a people-oriented job in the information technology field -- either as part of an internal team or in a consulting/client-facing role. Full Story

For those who attended the recent Supercomputing 2010 (SC10) conference in New Orleans, it was impossible to miss the enormous illuminated globe on the exhibit floor. Hosted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the crowd-pleasing Science on a Sphere exhibit simulated real weather and climate events in spectacular, high-definition clarity. Full Story

The Nov. 1, 2010, edition of IT Matters @ IU includes research results from the IU School of Informatics and Computing that shows how the public mood over a period of time -- as evidenced by Twitter -- can predict activity of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Also included in this issue is an announcement of a $4 million award from Lilly Endowment to support research on health information systems, an update on progress at the truthy.indiana.edu site that is monitoring political astroturfing during the election season, announcement of a new collaboration on information technology between the IU Foundation and the IU Alumni Association, and announcement of a new radio series on IT security issues. Full Story