2008
March

Dr. Marie Paretti, Assitant Professor of Engineering Education and the Director of the MSE/ESM Communications Program, has been named the recipient of the 2008 Engineering Sporn Award. Nominations for the award and its subsequenct selection is entirely student-administered. In their nomination of Dr. Paretti, students from both MSE and ESM cited her effective and dedicated leadership and teaching efforts in behalf both departments' professional development programs.

Dr. Paretti is the most recent of several MSE faculty to have received this high honor, joining former Professors MacIntyre Louthan (1979 and 1985), Ronald Kander (1993) and current Professors Stephen Kampe (1994) and G-Q Lu (1995). Recently retired MSE/ECE Professor R.O. Claus recieved the award in 1984 while a full member of the ECE faculty.

2008
March

Ben Poquette has been named the COE Outstanding Doctoral Student for 2008 at the Graduate School award ceremonies on March 27. Ben was selected based on his academic performance, scholarly contributions, and an impressive record of professional activities and service to his department, college, university, and profession. Ben has completed his Ph.D. degree under the guidance of Professor Steve Kampe and is now employed as a research scientist at Nanosonics, Inc. in Blacksburg.

At the same award ceremony, MSE Alum Ben Lepene (B.S. MSE 2001) was awarded the 2008 Outstanding Doctoral Student for the College of Veterinary Medicine.

2008
February

Dr. Maureen M. Julian of MSE has completed her new textbook entitled Foundations of Crystallography with Computer Applications, to be published by CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, on April 8, 2008. MSE-VT students will recognize this work from Dr. Julian's several years of development and test-piloting of the book in MSE 3134. For more information and ordering details, visit Amazon.com.

Congratulations, Maureen!

2008
February

In February, students from Virginia Tech, New Mexico Tech, the University of Missouri – Rolla, and Alfred University came together to serve as meeting pages for the 32nd Annual Conference on Composites, Materials and Structures at the Hilton Resort in Daytona Beach, Florida. Here, the students, along with faculty and staff from VT, enjoy an evening of food and fun at a local seafood restaurant.

2007
November

In November, MSE graduate student Satenik Harutyunyan’s abstract was selected as one of the top five among contributing graduate student talks at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 2007 Congress held in Seattle, WA. Her presentation was part of the symposium entitled, “Structures and Materials for Aerospace and Lightweight Design.” Her award consisted of a $1000 travel grant to the Congress from the Robert and Mary Haythornthwaite Foundation. She is currently completing her Ph.D. dissertation on the effects of magnetic fields on defects in ferromagnetic materials with Profs. Bill Reynolds and Davresh Hasanyan.

2007
October

Raghunath Rao Thridandapani won first place in the Fuels Category at the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership 2007 Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ in October for his poster, ”Sintering of Inert Matrix Fuels (IMF) using Microwave Energy” (R. Thridandapani , C. Folgar, B. Sandbrook, D. Folz, S. McGinnis, D. Clark). Raghu works under the supervision of Dr. David Clark in the Microwave Processing Research Facility.

2007
September

For the third year in a row, the Virginia Tech Materials Engineering Professional Societies (MEPS) has received a Materials Advantage Outstanding Chapter Award. Selection for the award is based on a chapter's activities over the previous academic year; contributing to the national organization's recognition of the Virginia Tech's Students Chapter were MEPS participation in MSE recruiting activies, their hosting of the MSE/COE tailgating activities, their active participation in College E-week activities, and their support of the JUMR project. Award ceremonies were conducted at the 2007 Materials Science & Technology (MS&T) Conference in Detroit.

Materials Advantage is a nationally-organized consortium of the student chapters of The Materials Society of AIME (TMS), ASM, International, the American Ceramic Society (ACerS), and the Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST).

2007
September

MSE Professor Dwight Viehland has been named a Fellow of the American Ceramics Society in ceremonies conducted as part of the 2007 Materials Science and Technology (MS&T) Conference in Detroit, MI. Professor Viehland's accomplishments in the area of functional material design were cited. For more info, see the announcement at the ACerS website here.

2007
September

MSE Professor Paul Gatenholm has announced plans to offer a new undergraduate / graduate course entitled Biologically-Inspired Materials - Biomimetic Design and Assembly, to be delivered at Virginia Tech's Center for European Studies and Architecture in Ticino, Switzerland. The accelerated, 3-credit course will be offered June 9-15th, 2007. Students of MSE, other engineering disciplines, and the sciences are welcome. For more information, download the course description here, and see Professor Gatenholm for more details.

2007
August

MSE graduate student Ben Poquette has been selected to participate in the Fall 2007 Graduate Life Center's Speaker Series. The GLC Speaker Series is designed to feature engaging faculty and graduate student speakers from departments across the University. The Speaker Series forum is unique in that presenters not only to discuss their research, but also to share with the audience their career passions, perspectives, and how their work is relevant to a broad multidisciplinary audience.

Ben is one of five graduate students selected to participate from across the University. Other participants include faculty members Tim Long (Chemistry), Carla Finkelstein (Biology), Peggy Mezaros (Center for Tech Impact on Families), John Dooley (VP for Outreach and International Affairs), Nikki Giovanni (English), and Presdent Charles Steger. The Series takes place every Friday afternoons at 4pm in the GLC. For a complete list of the Fall 2007 speakers, click here.

Ben is currently in the final stages of completing his dissertation research under the guidance of MSE Professor Stephen Kampe.

2007
August

The MSE undergraduate program has been ranked 16th among materials programs in the U.S., according to the 2008 US News and World Reports "America's Best Colleges" rankings. USNWR previously ranked the MSE graduate program 31st among peer programs nationally in their 2008 version of "Best Graduate Schools."

2007
July

MSE Assistant Professor Yu Wang and MSE graduate student Weifeng Rao's research results were recently featured on the cover of the prestigious Applied Physics Letters' July 30th edition (Weifeng Rao and Yu U. Wang, Appl. Phys. Lett., 91, 052901, 2007). The editors chose a figure from Rao and Wang's manuscript entitled, "Microstructures of coherent phase decomposition near morphotropic phase boundary in lead zirconate titanate" that shows simulation results from the martensitic-type phase transformations that occur in lead titanate materials.

2007
June

On June 3, recent B.S. graduate Jenny Mueller presented in the student research symposium at the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) conference held in Baltimore, Maryland. The symposium was the final round for an annual student competition, and finalists were selected based upon an application, abstract, and technical paper submitted earlier this year. Her talk entitled "Characterization of Modified Mesophase Pitch Derived Graphite Foams" was a co-winner in the senior category, and she received a $700 award.

Jenny is back at VT this fall to continue her M.S. Graduate Research in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Labs.

2007
May

2007 MSE graduate Alex Scott has been awarded a prestigious Engineering Ph.D. fellowship from the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science, Inc. The GEM consortium is a non-profit organization created by industry and university leaders dedicated to addressing the shortfall in engineering and science positions through identifying and assisting talented graduates by providing research funding for graduate-based research programs. For more info about GEM and its mission, see their website at http://www.gemfellowship.org/.

Alex will begin his graduate research program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the fall.

2007
May

MSE graduated fourteen new engineers at University and College ceremonies on held May 11th and 12th. Though small, the class was one of MSE's best. Six of the fourteen students will pursue graduate studies (Duke, MIT, Penn State (2), and VT (2), while the remaining eight have taken, or plan to take, jobs in industry.

Congratulations MSE class of 2007!

2007
May

MSE senior Alex Scott was recently featured in a Washington Post article on the attitudes of graduating students in the wake of the 4.16.07 campus shootings. The article also appeared in several national news outlets, including MSNBC and The Boston Globe. Read the article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002534.html.

2007
April

TMS President Dr. Robert Shull and Mr. Chriss McKelvey, TMS Manager of member services and student affairs, visited MSE and Virginia Tech on April 26th. Dr. Shull and Chris met with the MEPS Group (Materials Advantage) group in the afternoon, and then joined students downtown for some relaxing conversation. For more infore, see the TMS news announcement at http://www.tms.org/newsletter/archive/0706.asp#MaterialAdvantage.

2007
March

Volume 10 (Spring 2007) of Exploring Materials at Virginia Tech, MSE's newsletter, has been released. Included are featured articles on Assistant Professor Kathy Lu's research, NIA Professor Kathryn Logan and the distance learning initiative in MSE, and MSE super-staff member David Berry and the recent completion of his B.S. MSE degree. Also included is an update of the Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Lab (NCFL), a summary of recent undergraduate internships, a JUMR update, a list of the 2007 MSE graduates, and other MSE News. Christine Burgoyne serves as the EMVT Editor.

Check out the newsletter online at http://www.mse.vt.edu/news/EMVT_v10n1.pdf. If you would like to receive a personal copy, send an email request to mse@vt.edu.

2007
March

Six MSE students and two faculty traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in the first-ever Materials Advantage version of Congressional Visit Day. CVD has been an annual event for several years for practicing scientists and engineers through TMS and the Federation of Materials Societies (FMS), and was expanded this year to include a student-focused event. Like last year (see MSE NEWS, March 2006), students and faculty met with Senators and Congressmen or their staffs to advocate federal support for fundamental research in the physical sciences and engineering.

Following a half-day orientation that brought participants up-to-date on the events currently being conducted on Capitol Hill and proper visitation protocol, the VT team visited the offices of Senator Jim Webb (D-VA - photo right, below) and Representatives Frank Wolf (R-VA), Jim Moran (D-VA), and Rick Boucher (D-VA). The group also attended congressional hearings discussing federal support for biomedical research (hosted by Senators Tom Harkin, D-IA, and Arlen Spector, R-PA), and hearings of the House Science and Technology Committee on the 2008 National Science Foundation budget (hosted by Representatives Brian Baird, D-WA, and Vernon Ehlers, R-MI).

An article summarizing the 2007 Student CVD appears in the May issue of ACerS Bulletin. A .pdf version of the article can be downloaded here.

2007
March

On March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day), twenty three MSE juniors traveled to the Institute of Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) in Danville to participate in this year’s VT STARS Family Technology Awareness Week. Our students conducted interactive demos to introduce concepts in materials science and engineering to middle school and high school students and their parents. As part of the MSE students’ outreach project for the Professional Development course (MSE 3884), their presentations ranged from demonstrations of the response of materials to variance in temperature (ice cream and liquid nitrogen, imploding cans), to applications for ceramics (superconductors), metals (metal casting), and polymers (bouncy balls).

The VT STARS Family Technology Awareness Week (organized by Dr. Edward McPherson, Director of the VT STARS program) seeks to inform students of Virginia's southside region (and their parents) of the numerous technology-oriented professional career opportunities available in the physical sciences. This year, 40 middle school students participated. 

2007
January

Nine MSE students attended the 31st Annual Conference on Composite Materials and Structures held in Daytona Beach, Florida the week of January 22, 2007. The students who attended the conference were: Michael Asaro ('08), Kathleen Campbell ('09), Katie Clark ('08), Gabby Farrar ('07), Jenny Mueller ('07), Kristin Patterson ('07), Andrea Rojas ('08), Andrew Smith ('08), and Chelsey Zachryl ('08). The VT students teamed with students from New Mexico Tech, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Florida to work the registration desk, check attendee badges, and to provide technical assistance for the presentations.

At the conference, several students networked with professionals and distributed resumes in hopes of getting a summer internship. Additionally, MSE senior Jenny Mueller presented "Nanoparticle Additions and the Effect on Graphite Foams" based on her summer '06 research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Also in attendence were VT-MSE alums Ashley White (MSE '05, now at Cambridge University, UK) and Seth Price (MSE '05, now at New Mexico Tech). Article by Jenny Mueller, MSE '07.

2007
January

Dr. Sean McGinnis, Senior Research Associate in the departments of MSE and Biological Systems Engineering (BSE), and Director of the Virginia Tech Green Engineering Program, has been appointed to serve as a respresentative on the Mayor of Blacksburg's Task Force on Climate Protection and Sustainability. In November, the Blacksburg Town Council adopted a resolution calling for the town to work in conjuction with ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) Local Governments for Sustainability and other appropriate organizations to track progress and implementation of the U.S. Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement.

2006
November

A reception celebrating the release of Volume 2 of the Journal of Undergraduate Materials Research (JUMR) was held at the Virginia Tech Graduate Life Center on November 28th. Attendees included Graduate School Dean Karen DePauw, Associate Dean Ron Daniels, COE Dean Richard Benson, COE Associate Dean for Research Edmund Henneke, VT Honors Director Dr. Charles (Jack) Dudley, English Department Head Dr. Carolyn Rude, CEUT Director Dr. Terry Wildeman, Interim VP for Research Dr. Tom Inzana, members of the JUMR editorial board, and several MSE faculty and students. JUMR is a cross-disciplinary partnership between the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and English, and brings graduate and undergraduate students and faculty together to expose and publicize undergraduate research in materials. This year's edition features original research contributions by students from ITT-Kanpur (India), Michigan Tech, NC State, and Virginia Tech. The editorial board was pleased to present VT Chemistry student Joe Zadrozny with the JUMR Best Paper Award, supported by a grant from the American Ceramic Society (ACerS).

Over the past year, JUMR has received recognition and support from several national professional societies, including TMS, ASM International, ACerS, AIST, and MRS. Visit the JUMR website to learn more.

2006
November

The Piedmont chapter of the American Foundry Society (AFS) held its annual meeting at the Virginia Tech Skelton Alumni Conference Center on November 16th. Several MSE students and faculty were present at the evening's dinner where AFS Student Chapter President, Andrea Rojas, and AFS member, Devin Crawford, were awarded scholarships (right). Andrea Rojas (MSE '08) contributed to this article.

2006
November

2006 MSE graduate Ramsey Persing is spending his first year as an engineer teaching in Thailand as part of an international christian mission program sponsored by the Campus Crusade for Christ. Ramsey maintains a great website with current news, updates, and photos - check it out at www.ramseyinthailand.peteinge.com. You can find Ramsey's email and postal addresses at his website - go ahead and drop him a line!

2006
October

MSE senior Jennifer Mueller was one of three students recognized for "best poster presention" at the 2006 Virginia Tech Symposium for Undergraduate Research in Engineering on Friday, 13 October 2006. The symposium, sponsored by the Department of Engineering Education and the National Science Foundation, provides undergraduate students who have participated in research to present their results to peers and faculty from the College of Engineering. Jenny presented a poster entitled, "Characterization of Nano-particles in Mesophase Pitch Derived Graphite Foams" based on research conducted over the summer at Oak Ridge National Labs.

The following Tuesday, Jenny was awarded second place in the annual, highly-competitive Materials Advantage student speaking contest (formerly sponsored by ACerS) at the MS&T conference in Cincinnati. Jenny presented the results from her graphite foam research.

2006
October

Sixteen MSE students traveled to Cincinnati, OH to attend the 2006 Materials Science and Technology (MS&T) Conference sponsored by TMS, ASM International, ACerS, and AIST. Students attended technical symposia and participated in several student-focused activities provided by the educational committees of the societies, including the student mixer on Sunday evening.

On Tuesday, The VT-MSE Materials Engineering Professional Societies (MEPS) group received one of five Outstanding Materials Advantage Chapter Awards. Awardees are selected based on the content of a yearly chapter report that summarizes the chapter's activities and accomplishments over the previous year. The VT report highlighted MEPS activities that included assisting the department with recruiting, hosting the COE/MSE football tailgates, JUMR, IALR outreach activities, and winning e-week for the third straight year. This is the second year in a row that VT has been awarded one of these highly competitive awards.

2006
October

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine visited Virginia Tech on October 4th to attend the dedication ceremonies for the Micron Semiconductor Processing Laboratory. In addition to providing a grant that assisted in the completion of the laboratory, Micron Technologies sponsors yearly scholarships for students of MSE, ECE, and ChE with career interests in microelectronics. Micron presently employs several alumni from MSE at their Manassas, VA facility. For more information, read the Virginia Tech press release.

2006
September

MSE graduate student Navin Manjooran has been selected to be inducted into the Order of the Gavel, a Leadership Honor Society of Virginia Tech, the Division of Student Affairs, and the Department of Student Activities.

Navin has also been invited by VT President Charles Steger to join former Board of Visitors members and past presidents to join the William Preston Society. Navin served as the Graduate Student representative on the Board of Visitors during the 2005-06 academic year.

2006
August

The 2006 MSE / COE tailgates kicked off on September 2nd before the Northeastern game at their usual location on the lawn in front of Holden Hall. This will be the first of four MSE-sponsored tailgates - the others will be before the Cincinnati (9/23), Georgia Tech (9/30), and Kent State (11/11) games. MSE will assist the College of Engineering with their tailgates on September 16th (Duke), October 21st (So. Miss), October 26th (Clemson), and November 25 (UVA). Everyone (MSE and non-MSE students, alumni, families, and friends) is welcome to stop by for burgers, drinks, and munchies!

2006
August

Dr. Lance Haworth, Acting Director of the Division of Materials Research (DMR) at the National Science Foundation (NSF), got the 2006-07 MSE Graduate and Faculty Seminar Series underway with his presention entitled, "An Overview of NSF's Support for Materials Research, and a Review of Current Funding Opportunities." The MSE Seminar Series takes place every Friday through both fall and spring semesters from 3:30 - 4:45 pm in McBryde 113. Snacks are served at 3:00 each week. For the schedule of upcoming seminars, visit the MSE Seminar site.

2006
July

Matt Widders, an MSE senior, is one of four VT students participating in the Journey of Hope, a cross country bicycle trip undertaken as an annual public service fund raising event sponsored by the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. Matt began his trip in Portland, OR on May 31st and will finish up at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on August 15th. He will be passing through Blacksburg on August 5th, and will be recognized at the main stage of Blacksburg's annual Steppin' Out festival at 4:45 pm. Read more about Matt and the fraternity's charitible trek at the Virginia Tech press release.

2006
June

For the second summer in a row, MSE hosted a group of high school students exploring careers in science and engineering. The Virginia Tech Training Academy for Rising Students (VT STARS) program invites qualified middle school students, many from Virginia's southside region, to the campus to spend two weeks learning about professions that use science and mathematics. The MSE group performed a variety of hands-on experiments including metallography of cast irons (Dr. Steve Kampe), metal casting (Paul Huffman), ceramics (Diane Folz), rapid prototyping (Dr. Kathy Lu), biologically-derived micro- and nano-porous materials (Dr. Gary Pickrell), and nanomaterials (Andrea Hill and Dr. William Harrison of Nanosonics, Inc). To learn more about VT STARS, see the Virginia Tech press release.

2006
April

Dr. Richard Sisson, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a 1969 graduate of the VT Metallurgical Engineering Department, was inducted into the VT College of Engineering Academy of Engineering Excellence during ceremonies on April 27th.

Professor Sisson continues his distinguished career at WPI as a notably effective and popular educator, and as an advocate of the application of environmentally-benign manufacturing for materials processing and heat treatment. He is a both a Fellow of ASM and an ASM Trustee.

Learn more about Professor Sisson and his contributions to the materials profession at his WPI website.

MSE students and faculty gathered to celebrate the near-completion of another academic year at the 2006 Annual MSE Dessert Buffet and Awards Ceremony. This year, seniors entertained the attendees by presenting faculty with "appropriate gfts of appreciation" to each. For a peek at what went on, visit the collection of photos in the MSE Photo Gallery.

2006
April

Three MSE graduate students were recently named Citizens Scholars in ceremonies hosted by the Graduate School. Christelle Julian, Carlos Folgar, and Susan Holt were recognized for their continuing efforts in sustaining the highly acclaimed Journal of Undergraduate Research (JUMR) project (see JUMR announcement in MSE News, October 2005, below).

Cris, Carlos, and Susan join 2005 recipients Ben Poquette, Navin Manjooran, Davis Eichelberger, and Morsi Mahmoud in representing MSE in this program that seeks to recognize students who donate their time and skills in service to the community, state, nation, and world.

2006
March

For the second time in four years, an MSE senior has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for graduate study in Germany. Michael Willemann will pursue a doctorate degree in Materials Science at the Technische Hochshule Aachen. Michael will complete his B.S. in MSE this spring, and his M.S. thesis via distance courses with VT-MSE next year. Michael was earlier named the 2006 COE Outstanding Senior. Read more about Mike in a recent Collegiate Times article and in the VT Press Release.

Erik Herz (B.S., M.S. MSE 2003) was awarded a Fulbright in 2003 for study at the University of Dortmund. There have been seven Fulbright Scholars from Virginia Tech since 1999; Mike and Erik represent the only two awards presented to students from the College of Engineering.

2006
March

Fifteen MSE students and faculty representing MEPS and Materials Advantage traveled to Washington D.C. on March 28-29 to participate in Congressional Visits Day. Sponsored by the Science, Engineering, and Technology Working Group (SETWG) in which the Federation of Materials Societies (FMS) is a member, the VT group joined hundreds of scientists and engineers representing dozens of professional societies from across the U.S. to meet with several U.S. Senators and Congressmen or their staffs to advocate federal support for fundamental research in sciences and technology.

Legislators visited by the VT group included Representatives Rick Boucher (D-VA, photo right), Jim Moran (D-VA), Frank Wolf (R-VA), Virgil Goode (R-VA), Eric Cantor (R-VA), Harold Ford (D-TN), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mark Green (R-WI), Bill Jenkins (R-TN); and Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Herbert Kohl (D-WI), Russel Feingold (D-WI), and Lamar Alexander (R-TN).

What an eye-opening experience for both the students and faculty!

2006
March

Professor Norman Dowling has recently completed the 3rd Edition of his eminently popular Mechanical Behavior of Materials text (Prentice Hall, 2005, ISBN 0-13-186312-6). The text is presently used by over 50 departments nationally and many more internationally.

2006
March

Ben Poquette has been named the recipient of the 2006 Graduate Student Service Excellence Award by the Virginia Tech Graduate School. Ben is recognized for his many activities, many of which served to foster collaboration between the undergraduate and graduate student communities. Ben's role as the primary student visionary and editor-in-chief of the newly established and acclaimed Journal of Undergraduate Research (see announcement in October 2005, below) was particularly influential in his selection for this award.

Navin Manjooran has received a 2006 Graduate Student Service Commendation Award from the Graduate School. Navin was cited for his numerous activities, including for his role as the Board of Visitors student rep, and as a member of the founding board of JUMR.

Ben and Navin's awards follow recent announcements of MSE student awards for 2006 Outstanding senior in COE (Michael Willemann), 2006 Outstanding COE Graduate Student (Navin Manjooran), and 2006 Outstanding Young Alumna (Andrea Hill).

2006
March

David Clark's research group has been busy attending to the business of editing conference proceedings. Microwave Solutions for Ceramic Engineers (published by the American Ceramic Society, March 2006) was edited by Clark, Senior Research Associate Diane Folz, and MSE-VT graduate students Carlos Folgar and Morsi Mahmoud. The book is a multi-author compilation that discusses the uses of microwave energy as a processing tool for processing ceramic materials.

Diane Folz (VT-MSE) and R.L. Schultz (Corning, Inc.) served as co-editors of Microwave and Radio Frequency Applications (Microwave Working Group, March 2006), comprised of the invited contributions to the Fourth World Congress on Microwave and Radio Frequency Applications, November 2005, Austin, TX).

2006
March

On March 7, four MSE graduate students traveled to Jonesville, NC to conduct a series of non-thesis gravity experiments - skydiving! Current students Liz Jeffers (B.S. MSE '04), Scott Cardwell, Brian Scott, and recent graduate Dara Fleming (M.S. MSE, '03) each took one big step and then floated the rest of the way. This was the first jump for Liz, Scott, and Dara; Brian has logged over 200 jumps to date.

Liz Jeffers floats safely to earth, completing her gravity and weather experiments.

2006
February

On February 18, 21 MSE junior and senior students participated in the VT STARS Family Technology Awareness Week at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) in Danville. The entire Professional Development II class (MSE 3884, taught by Dr. Marie Paretti) conducted interactive demos to introduce concepts in MSE to middle school and high school students. The demos included materials response to variance in temperature (ice cream and liquid nitrogen), and applications for ceramics, metals, and polymers. This outreach activity was the culmination of the 'service-learning' component of the course. VT STARS Family Technology Awareness Week will be an annual effort aimed at alerting students in the Danville area, and their parents, to the numerous technology-oriented degree opportunities available at Virginia Tech.

2006
February

13 MSE undergraduate and 3 graduate students took a field trip to tour the facilities at Oak Ridge National Labs in Tennessee on February 24. The tour included the High Temperature Materials Lab (HTML) and the Center for Nanophase Material Sciences (CNMS), including its Spallation Nuetron Source (SNS). Dr. Arvid Pasto, a member of MSE's Advisory Board, hosted the group. Students also met MSE alum Dr. Claudia Rawn (B.S. MatE, 1986), a scientist in the Diffraction and Thermophysical Properties Group at ORNL. Katie Clark (MSE '08) and Michael Asaro (MSE '07) contributed to this article.

2006
February

Andrea Hill (B.S. MSE, 2003) has been named the College of Engineering's Outstanding Young Alumnus for 2006. Andrea is recognized for her contributions in the development of new materials in her position as a Research Engineer at NanoSonics, Inc. of Blacksburg. Read the Virginia Tech Press Release, and an article that recently appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch. MSE alum Charles (Chip) Blankenship, Jr. (MatE, 1988) received the same award in 1998.

2006
February

Navin Manjooran has been named the 2006 Outstanding Graduate Student. Navin's impressive academic record (several awards, 12 Journal papers published or in preparation, 14 international conference presentations, 11 domestic conference presentations, 2 patents, a book chapter, and more) coupled with an excellent record of leadership (2005-06 VT Board of Visitors Graduate Rep, numerous student and graduate organizations, JUMR founder, plus many other positions) were all influential in his selection by the COE Graduate Committee. This award is sponsored by the Virginia Tech Graduate School.

Michael Willemann has been named the 2006 Outstanding Senior in the College of Engineering. Mike received the award in recognition of his exemplary academic record, plus his participation in a wide range of extracurricular activities including the Honors Program, Co-op (GE), an International REU this past summer at the National Technical University in Donetsk (Ukraine), and as a student leader in the Hillcrest Honors community. Mike is the 3rd MSE student to win this award in the last four years, following Ashley White (2005) and Erik Herz (2003). MSE Advisory Board member Dr. Mark Shuart received the award in 1976. The award is sponsored by the VT Alumni Association. Read more about Michael's selection in the VT press release here.

2006
January

Ten VT-MSE students traveled to Cocoa Beach, FL to serve as student pages for the 30th Annual Conference on Composites, Materials, and Structures. The students were selected based on participation in departmental and MEPS activities throughout the past year. Photo contributed by Stephanie Petrina and Kristen Patterson, MSE '07.

2006
January

Dr. Celine Mahieux (Ph.D. MESc, 1999) has recently completed and published Environmental Degradation in Industrial Composites (Elsevier, 2006). Celine is the Director for Change Management of the Power Sector of ALSTOM Power Systems. Her husband, Jon Medding (BS MSE, 1994; MS MSE, 1996) is with ABB High Voltage Products in Wettingen, Switzerland.

2005
December

MSE Graduate Students Ben Poquette, Davis Eichelberger, Morsi Mahmoud, and Navin Manjooran were named "Citizen Scholars" by the Graduate School at a ceremony on December 6th. The students were recognized for their roles as board members in the newly created Journal of Undergraduate Research (see below). The Citizen Scholars Program recognizes graduate students who donate their time and skills in service to the community, state, nation, and world. MSE friend Chandra Bowden (Crop and Environmental Sciences) was also recognized for her activities as a student leader for the MSE VT-STARS program in summer of 2005.

2005
November

Professor Brian Love and his Biomaterials class (MSE 4574) helped to develop a new composite bracing system for injured Hokie running back Cedric Humes; the experience was featured on ESPN's Cold Pizza. Read the Virginia Tech Press Release.

2005
October

The student editorial board of the Journal of Undergraduate Materials Research (JUMR) is pleased to announce publication of the Fall 2005 Alfred Knobler Inaugural Issue. JUMR, which is a cross-disciplinary partnership between the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and English, brings graduate and undergraduate students and faculty together to provide an opportunity to expose and publicize undergraduate research in materials. Visit the JUMR website to view the inaugural issue.

2005
September

The Materials Engineering Professional Societies (MEPS), a VT-MSE umbrella organization encompassing student chapters of Materials Advantage (TMS, ASM, ACerS, AIST), MRS, IMAPS, and AFS, won an Outstanding Materials Advantage Chapter Award. This is the first time a VT student chapter has won this highly competitive award. The award was based on a final report that summarized the groups activities and accomplishments during the 2004-05 academic year - these included winning the COE e-week competition, hosting the COE tailgates, and assisting MSE faculty during freshman open house activities in the fall. MEPS students accepted the award at the annual student mixer during the 2005 Materials Science & Technology (MS&T) Conference in Pittsburgh, PA; 25-28 September 2005.

2005
September

The MSE Department welcomes two new faculty members this fall. Sean McGinnis has accepted a joint appointment in MSE and in Biological Systems Engineering (BSE). He will be the director of the Green Engineering program. Joerg Jinschek will be the manager for the new Electron Microscopy Laboratory, which is part of the planned Advanced Materials Characterization Facility within the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS).

2005
September

The VT MSE undergraduate program appeared as the 14th ranked Materials Program in the U.S. in the 2006 US News & World Report rankings published in August. Earlier, USN&WR ranked the graduate program 26th among Materials Programs in the United States.

2005
July

Michael Willemann (MSE '06) received the 2006 Morgan L. Williams Scholarship from the Washington DC Chapter of ASM. The Williams Scholarship Fund was started in 1981 in honor of Dr. Williams, who was an active member of the Washington Chapter for more than 40 years. Scholarships are awarded yearly to Washington area students majoring in one of the "science or engineering disciplines dealing with metals/ materials." Previous VT-MSE awardees of this scholarship have included Mark Taczak (MSE '03), Jeff Glenning (MSE '97), and Lee Rice (MSE '92).

2005
June

Paul Huffman, Education Chairman of the American Foundry Society, Piedmont Chapter presented Dean Dick Benson with a check for $10,000 in seed money for the proposed Virginia Tech Fire program. The program includes plans for a research and teaching facility to increase awareness of the metal castings industry. Virginia Tech Fire will be administered by the Materials Science and Engineering Department (Learn more about VT Fire Here ).

Huffman is president of Dominion Metallurgical, Inc., of Roanoke, VA. Dominion Metallurgical is a full service general contractor supplying metal components and assemblies to industry. The company specializes in the engineering, design for manufacture, and procurement of castings, forgings, powdered metal parts, as well as value added processes as a turn key service to industry.

2005
June

Please join us in welcoming Alex Aning to the department full time. On July 1, he will transfer from Engineering Education. During the last three years, Dr. Aning has been actively involved in all aspects of the MSE department. He has done an excellent job in organizing and coordinating the graduate seminars, and he has also taught courses and represented the department at various meetings. This year, he worked with Jan Doran and the undergraduate recruiting committee to build the program in size and diversity. He has also played a significant role in graduate student recruitment. Dr. Aning's expertise is in processing and mechanical alloying. This coming year he will be working to build his research program. We are pleased to have Alex in MSE and look forward to his contributions in teaching, research, scholarship, and service.

2005
May

Robert Jebson (METE '56) is among this year's eight inductees into the College of Engineering Academy of Engineering Excellence. Read More

2005
May

Peizhen Kathy Lu, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been awarded a Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities to advance her research to add electrical conductivity to ceramic materials by incorporating carbon nanotubes. Read more.

2005
May

At this year's AAES Banquet (American Association of Engineering Societies), Dr. George G. Wicks, MSE department Advisory Board member, received the "Joan Hodges Queaneau Palladium Medal." Dr. Wicks, a consulting scientist for Waste Management & Environmental Remediation, Savannah River National Laboratory, is being recognized "for playing a crucial role in designing the engineering solution to nuclear waste containment in the United States and globally through his work as a senior level researcher at the Savannah River National Laboratory." His contributions to the implementation of the Defense Waste Processing Facility in Aiken, S.C., enabled the safe and efficient long-term storage of billions of curies of nuclear waste. The "Palladium Medal" was established in 1977 to recognize an individual who encourages cooperation between engineering professionals and environmentalists to create innovative solutions to environmental problems. AAES' Suzanne Jenniches and Dr. David Clark, Professor and Head, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Virginia Tech, presented the Medal.

2005
May

Congratulations to Elizabeth Jeffers (MSE '04), who is one of two graduate students in the Virginia Tech College of Engineering to be awarded a graduate research fellowship by Aerojet, through funding provided by the GenCorp Foundation. Read more

Matthew Lynch (MSE '05) is one of ten College of Engineering students to received a graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense. Each fellowship is valued at approximately $120,000 over three years. Read more

2005
February

Rick Claus, associate director of the Applied Biomedical Center at Virginia Tech and director of the Fiber and Electro-Optics Research Center, has been awarded the 2005 Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award along with two other professors at Virginia Tech. Read More

2005
January

Norman E. Dowling has been given the Fatigue Achievement Award for 2005, presented by the ASTM International Committee E08 on Fatigue and Fracture. Dowling is being recognized for his contributions to the field of fatigue of materials. Established in 1898, ASTM International is one of the largest standards development and delivery systems in the world. ASTM standards are accepted and used in research and development, product testing, quality systems, and commercial transactions worldwide. Read more