Old News
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MSE Department Newsletter - "Exploring Materials at Virginia Tech"
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MSE Student Newsletter - "It's a Materials World"
Past News Items 2004
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2004
December
Ashley White has been selected to receive a 2005 British Marshall Scholarship for graduate study in materials engineering at Cambridge University in England. The Marshall Scholarship Program was established in 1953 to expand the scope of the Rhodes Scholarship Program.
The two-year Marshall scholarships, which are worth about $75,000 each and cover all graduate study and living expenses, are awarded to only 40 undergraduates in the U.S. each year. Marshall scholars are chosen for their accomplishments as intellectually distinguished undergraduates who will become future leaders and decision makers. |
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Steven Kyriakides has been awarded a Sharpe Undergraduate Fellowship for 2004-2005. Mr. and Mrs. Sharpe initiated this fellowship to support undergraduates concentrating in the area of adhesion science and engineering at Virginia Tech. The award is presented annually by the Adhesion Society, currently to 2-3 undergraduates.
Steven will report on his research, entitled "Mechanical Behavior of NAFION® and BPSH Membranes," in a poster session at the annual Adhesion Society meeting, to be held February 13-16 in Mobile, Alabama. He will also have the opportunity to meet the Sharpes. |
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October
Virginia Tech has been approved as a Foundry Education Foundation Affiliated Member. This membership allows Virginia Tech students to access the FEF web-based programs and listings. |
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MSE student, Matt Brantz, is a member of the Virginia Tech Formula Car Team. He is the first MSE major to be involved with the project. Historically, the Virginia Tech Formula SAE Car was a mechanical engineering senior design project only. Due to harder and harder competition at the events, and interest shown by other departments, the team is allowing other majors in the project. The Formula SAE project is a university sponsored event in which a team of 25 seniors and a similar number of volunteers are in charge of building a scaled down formula one style racecar.This racecar is built from scratch each year and is then raced in a multinational event in Detroit.
Visit the Virginia Tech Formula Car website to learn more.
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September
The Virginia Tech Human Powered Submarine Team continues to set records. This summer two team members, including MSE graduate student, Adam Maisano, set world speed records piloting Specter. Read more |
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June
Amy Hill was one of two engineering staff members to receive the 2004 Employee Recognition Award from the Virginia Tech College Association for Staff in Engineering (CASE) for outstanding contributions and service to the college. "The faculty, staff and students rely heavily on Amy for problem solving, not just financial but with other issues related to getting the job done," said MSE Department Head David Clark in nominating Hill for the award. |
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May
John H. Kroehling (CERE '48) has been inducted into the Academy of Engineering Excellence. This College of Engineering Academy recognizes alumni who have made outstanding contributions in the profession of engineering. Read more about John Kroehling. |
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April
Alfred Knobler and his son, Peter, paid a visit this spring to discuss future plans for an Alfred E. Knobler Summit that will showcase creativity and accomplishments of Knobler Scholars across the MSE and English departments. Click here to read more. |
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A new College of Engineering Faculty Fellows program was initiated in 2003 under Dean Hassan Aref. This spring, Prof. Lou Guido was among the 2004 Fellows named. The program provides supplemental support to assistant and associate professors for one year. Dr. Guido is jointly appointed in Materials Science & Engineering and in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is the associate director for the Center for Microelectronics, Optoelectronics and Nanotechnology (MICRON). |
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Past News Items 2003
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December
Mr. Alf Knobler (CERE '38) has made a generous gift to the university that will be shared between the Departments of MSE and English. This gift will provide support for new graduates students starting in January 2004 and will enable MSE to support five graduate students per year for three years.
The MSE Department extends a warm thank you to Mr. Knobler and his family for their extraordinary generosity to the department. Click on Knobler's picture to learn more about Mr. Knobler and other scholarships he has funded. |
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November
The Materials Science and Engineering Department received a second Exemplary Department Award, along with the Departments of Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering. During a November 6 reception, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger and University Provost Mark McNamee were on hand to present the awards. Click on the photo to read more about the award and to see more reception photos. |
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October
Dr. and Mrs. Ronald S. Gordon paid a visit to the department this month to award the first Ronald S. Gordon Scholarship to MSE student David Berry. Click on the photo to read more about their visit and to see more photos. |
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September
At the Fourth Annual Faculty/Staff Awards Ceremony, held September 19, Professor Diana Farkas received the Alumni Award for Excellence in Research. Dr. Farkas is the director of the Center for Modeling and Simulation in Material Science, and she is recognized internationally as a leader in the area of computational materials science.
Her research areas include atomistic computer simulation, interfaces and diffusion, and defect structures. She is actively involved in improving the merger of research and curriculum. She served as co-principal investigator with Ron Kriz (ESM) on an NSF grant to study the combined research and curriculum development of the mechanical behavior of materials. More than 25 educational modules on mechanical behavior resulted. |
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July
Shawn Kelly, a graduate research assistant in the Materials Science and Engineering Department, has been awarded an 18-month research appointment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Shawn's research will be carried out under an appointment through the Joint Institute for Computational Sciences, a joint ORNL/UT entity within the Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences will soon be sited in a new facility. Completion of the facility now under construction on the ORNL campus is scheduled for early spring 2004.
As part of his M.S. graduate program in MSE at Virginia Tech, Shawn developed a model to characterize the thermal history of laser-additive manufactured (LAM) alloys. The appointment will enable Shawn to continue and extend this work by coupling this capability to models which attempt to predictively characterize alloy microstructure and, eventually, material properties. The work, to be conducted under the joint guidance of Dr. S.L. Kampe of MSE and ORNL research scientists, will constitute his Ph.D. dissertation research. |
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Erik Herz (B.S., M.S. '03) won a Fulbright grant for doctoral research at the University of Dortmund in Germany. Erik graduated this spring with undergraduate degrees in three majors—materials science and engineering (MSE), economics, and international studies—all summa cum laude. This summer, he defended his thesis for a master's degree in MSE. |
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| Ashley White was selected to receive a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for 2003. This scholarship is part of a program established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Goldwater, who served his country fo 56 years as a soldier and a statesman. The program seeks to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in these fields. Erik is working toward undergraduate degrees in MSE, economics, and international studies, with plans for graduate work at Virginia Tech in MSE. Ashley is the second MSE student to receive this award in the past two years. Erik Herz received the award in 2002. |
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June
Diane Folz has been elected to the Board of Governors for the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES). She was nominated for this position by Kathleen Almand, Executive Director of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers. Diane will serve on the Board as a representative of Caucus B, the segment of AAES representing small engineering organizations/disciplines (annual membership under 5000). Her duties will take her to Washington, D.C., four times each year for AAES Board meetings at the National Academy of Engineering. Governors provide input into engineering issues ranging from benefits, jobs, and national recognition of engineers to suggested levels of research funding from federal agencies as well as the technical areas of critical interest to the U.S. The AAES also develops new methods for outreach to the general public and to the future workforce as well as developing strategies for strengthening international alliances relating to engineering. Diane will serve on the Board of Governors for three years, beginning in January 2004.
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The Rest of the Story
(Further Kyanite/Virginia Tech Connections)
The Spring 2003 issue of Exploring Materials at Virginia Tech(.pdf) included an article that traced some of the shared history between Virginia Tech and Kyanite Mining Corporation. The EMVT editor recently heard from Ron Lester, an MSE alumnus, who filled in a few more details. Click here to read "The Rest of the Story."
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Past News Items 2002
September
Christopher Kessler was chosen to receive the H. H. Harris Foundation Scholarship, administered by the American Foundry Society. The H. H. Harris Foundation was created for the purpose of providing scholarships and other forms of educational aid to students and professionals in the metallurgical and metalcasting field who are U.S. Citizens. This is a nationally-competitive award administered in conjunction with the American Foundry Society.
Mark Taczak was chosen to receive the Morgan Williams Scholarship, given by the Washington, DC chapter of ASM. The Morgan L. 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, and served the Chapter in many capacities. Scholarships are awarded yearly from the income from the Fund to Washington area students majoring in one of the "science or engineering disciplines dealing with metals/materials." Funds are raised from special Chapter activities and from donations.
Ashley White was chosen to receive the Pulley-Louden Scholarship, administered by the Virginia Tech College of Engineering. The scholarship was established by Richard and Evelyn Louden to honor their respective families and to honor Mr. Louden's, CE 1953, education from Virginia Tech.
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August
The American Society of Information Science and Technology recently named D.P.H. Hasselman "Highly-Cited Researcher." This title is given to those whose lifetime number of citations of open-literature publications is ranked in the top five percent.
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July
The Human-Powered Submarine Team of Virginia Tech won the Grand Prize in the HPS2002 Competition hosted by the San Diego Section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in Escondido, California. The contest allows students to use their engineering skills in a positive, real world, practical experience.
Adam Maisano, an MSE junior (far left), is the President for Virginia Tech's Submarine Team. In addition to winning the Overall Engineering Award, the team won several first, second, and third place awards for design, innovation, presentation, construction, operating team, safety, and speed.
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June
David Clark and Guo-Quan Lu traveled to China June 17-28 to learn more about Chinese universities, federal laboratories, and companies, and to establish more formal ties with some of the top institutions in China for recruitment and future collaboration purposes. Pictured at the right are Gang Chen, David Clark, and Guo-Quan Lu. Gang Chen, who received his Ph.D. in MSE from Virginia Tech in 1994, is General Manager and co-founder of Photonwave, Inc. in Xian, China. (click on image for enlarged view) Visit the Photo Gallery to see more pictures from this trip.
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Erik Herz was selected to receive a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for 2002. This scholarship is part of a program established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Goldwater, who served his country fo 56 years as a soldier and a statesman. The program seeks to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in these fields. Erik is working toward undergraduate degrees in MSE, economics, and international studies, with plans for graduate work at Virginia Tech in MSE.
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Scott Trenor, Ph.D. student, wins Procter and Gamble Fellowship.
Scott Trenor, Allison Suggs, and Brian Love received notification that their manuscript, "Influence of Penetration Enhancers on the Thermomechanical Properties and Peel Strength of a Polyisobutylene PSA" has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Materials Science Letters.
Brian Love submitted a paper entitled "Analytical Model Development for Stokes-type Settling in a Solidifying Fluid to Particulate Science and Technology."
Jeff Maciborski (BS, 2002) presented his Honor's thesis project and graduated in Honors.
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March
Patricia Dolez joined Medhesives, a joint venture between Kensagroup and Virginia Tech to develop resins for both Medical and Marine Applications.
David Brooks and Allison Suggs submitted presentations to the American Chemical Society Meeting in August, 2002.
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January
Brian Love goes on research leave at the National Institute for Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (January to May, 2002).
Patricia Dolez and Brian Love received notice of acceptance of their article "Chemical Cleaning for Barnacle-Covered Surfaces" in the International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives.
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Guo-Quan Lu returned from a five-month research leave at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. Dr. Lu worked with scientists and engineers in the Detector Systems Branch, where he helped to develop integration and packaging ideas for the MEMS-based detector systems. More details forthcoming in the fall issue of Exploring Materials at Virginia Tech. Visit the Photo Gallery to see more pictures from Dr. Lu's NASA work.
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