ISU College of Engineering

College of Engineering E-News

Two seniors to receive Barron Awards

Charles R. Fisher, MSE, and Rachel Iheanacho, CBE, have each been selected to receive a Wallace E. Barron All-University Senior Award at the Scholars and Leaders Recognition Ceremony on Sunday, March 30. The awards, which are given by the Iowa State Alumni Association, recognize exceptional performance in academics, leadership, and community service.

Fisher has been involved in department, college, and university activities since coming to Ames from Mt. Auburn, Iowa, in 2004. A former member of the Freshmen Council and Freshman Honors Program, he now mentors first-year students through the MSE mentoring program. Fisher has served as president of Beta Sigma Psi, Cyclone Alley, and the Materials Advantage Professional Society for materials engineering students, and he was morale co-director for the Iowa State Dance Marathon. He also has played key roles in the President’s Leadership Class, the Order of Omega Honor Society, the Iowa State Athletic Director’s Student Advisory Committee, and the College of Engineering Dean’s Student Advisory Council. (More information)

Iheanacho, a George Washington Carver Academy Scholar, came to Iowa State from Baker, Louisiana. She assisted with the founding of the Iowa State chapter of the National Organization for Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers and is active in both the National Society of Black Engineers and the Iowa State Society of Women Engineers. Iheanacho is alumni relations co-chair for VEISHEA 2008 and is a peer mentor for the Leadership through Engineering Academic Diversity program. She has served as both president and Big 12 delegate for Iowa State’s Black Student Alliance and played an important role in the recent re-opening of the Black Cultural Center in Ames. (More information)

ADVANCE workshop focuses on collaborative transformation

The ISU ADVANCE Program is sponsoring the “ADVANCE Collaborative Transformation Synthesis Report Workshop” on Tuesday, April 1, in the Memorial Union Pioneer Room, from noon to 2 p.m. The workshop will focus on the program’s collaborative transformation initiative. Topics will include an overview of the project goal to enable and support recruitment and retention of a diverse, highly qualified, and cohesive faculty; findings from the first three focal departments to participate in collaborative transformation; ways the findings can be used to enhance the departmental workplace climate for faculty; and an overview of the next steps in the collaborative transformation component.
To reserve a lunch, RSVP by March 26 to advance@iastate.edu or call 294-6151. More information is available at the ISU ADVANCE Program Web site.

Science and technology projects on display March 28-29

The 51st State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa featuring the research projects of nearly 500 junior and senior high school students will be held Friday and Saturday, March 28-29, at Hilton Coliseum and the Scheman Center. The students are competing for more than $60,000 in scholarships and prizes in categories such as animal science, biochemistry, engineering, and energy and transportation. Junior high projects will be on display from 12 to 5 p.m. on Friday, March 28, and all projects will be on display from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 29. Admission is free.

The public is also invited to hear NASA engineer Rob Adams give a keynote address on what he does as a “rocket scientist” at Marshall Space Flight Center and lessons he learned from his high school physics teacher. His presentation will be at 7 p.m., Friday, March 28, in Hilton Coliseum.

The College of Engineering is one of the fair sponsors, and a number of faculty and staff serve as judges and volunteers for the event. (More information)

Emerging Technologies Conference is April 3-4

The Virtual Reality Applications Center, the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Program, and the CyberInnovation Institute are sponsoring the 2008 Emerging Technologies Conference on April 3-4. The conference, which is free and open to the public, begins with “Ignite IT,” a night of networking and idea sharing. This event will be from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Iowa State Research Park Rotunda, 2321 North Loop Drive.

On Friday, April 4, the conference will convene at 10 a.m. in Howe Hall with the theme “Designing Interaction.” The keynote speaker is author Michael Schrage, who will present “HCI: Help Create Ideas--Exploring Innovation Leadership” at noon. The agenda also includes technical demonstrations, poster presentations, HCI student talks about their research, and a VR demonstration. (More information)


	E-News is distributed by Engineering Communications and Marketing. If you have questions or news items to suggest, please contact Mary Jo Glanville at mglanvil@iastate.edu or call 4-8787. 104 Marston Hall, Ames, IA 5001, (515) 294-5933, info@eng.iastate.edu Copyright © 2004, Iowa State University of Science and Technology. All rights reserved.