|
|
Tau Beta Pi hosts roller coaster tournament
Twenty-one high school and middle school teams from across Iowa converged on Howe Hall last week to participate in the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society 4th annual roller coaster competition. The teams of four-to-eight students each built roller coasters with the goal of transporting a ball (10-25 mm ball bearings were recommended) from start to finish using mechanical energy such as springs, magnets, rubber bands, and pulleys. The run had to be completed in one minute plus/minus five seconds and had to include a mechanism that would ring a carillon in honor of Iowa State’s 150th anniversary. The teams were judged on presentation, overall theme, and technical skill.
Tour de Paris from Urbandale High School won first place overall in the high school competition and Aquahulla from Jordan Creek Middle School won in the middle school competition. Twenty-two Tau Beta Pi members helped with the event. With 126 students on 21 teams, this year’s contest was much larger than last year when 12 teams and 57 students participated. “It was a great day with the students having a lot of fun,” says Matt Goodman, Tau Beta Pi project officer. The Material Advantage chapter also participated by entertaining the students with materials demonstrations while the scores were being tallied.
IT-Olympics is April 25-26
About 200 students from 25 high schools across Iowa will participate in the first IT-Olympics at Iowa State this weekend at Hilton Coliseum. The event is designed to show students that information technology is a field that can lead to interesting studies, good jobs, and creative challenges. The three areas of competition are robotics, game design, and cyber defense. The competition, which is free and open to the public, will be from 1 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 25, and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 26. (News release)
College honors three alumni
Three alumni received Professional Progress in Engineering Awards (PPEA) at the Marston Club dinner on April 10.
 |
|
Barnes
|
Established in 1989, the PPEA recognizes outstanding professional progress, personal development, and distinguished community service in a field of engineering specialization by alumni under the age of 46. The 2008 honorees are Bruce Barnes, BSCE’87 and MSCCE’90, vice president, civil engineering, Knott Laboratory, LLC, Englewood, Colorado; Mitchell K. Meyer, MSCerE’91 and PhDMSE’95,
 |
|
Thompson
|
U.S. National Technical Lead for Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors Fuel Development, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho; and Leigh Hagenson Thompson, BSChE’93 and PhDChE’97, Epoxy Produce R&D and Scale-Up Leader, Dow Chemical Company, Freeport, Texas.
MSE team wins top award in statewide contest
An MSE team was chosen as one of the top winners in the recent statewide Pappajohn New Venture Business Plan Competition. Graduate students Joel Rieken and Andy Heidloff and Adjunct Professor Iver Anderson received an award of $5,000 for their new venture, Iowa Powder Atomization Technologies. (News release)
|
|
|
NSF awards graduate fellowships
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded fellowships to four engineering students who have attended or are currently attending Iowa State University. Catie Brewer, who holds a BS from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, is currently pursuing her doctorate at Iowa State in chemical and biological engineering; Katie Pfeiffer, who earned her BS in chemical engineering from Iowa State in 2005, plans to begin her doctoral program in chemical engineering at the University of California at Berkeley next fall; Kristen Pudenz, who will graduate with her BS in computer engineering from Iowa State in May, plans to pursue her graduate studies at the University of Southern California; and Mike Steffen, who earned BS degrees in mechanical engineering and electrical engineering at Valparaiso University, is currently pursuing his doctorate at Iowa State in computer engineering. (News release)
Engineering student receives leadership award
 Cory Simon, CpE4, received the first Sesquicentennial Learning to Live a Life Leadership Award at the closing ceremony for Iowa State’s 150th celebration. The award is named for a statement by M. J. Riggs, an 1883 alum, who wrote, “We come to college not alone to prepare to make a living, but to learn to live a life.” The award is given to a student who has taken advantage of opportunities at Iowa State to apply his or her knowledge to real-life projects and experiences. During his four co-ops with the Johnson Space Center, Simon helped create and test equipment for astronauts.
ADVANCE event is April 28
The final ADVANCE networking event of the spring semester for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty will be the STEM Women’s Lunchtime Discussion on Monday, April 28, noon to 1 p.m., in 3512 Memorial Union. Jan Thompson, ADVANCE equity adviser to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will host the event. Topics will include a review of this year’s ADVANCE activities and planning for next year and beyond. Feel free to bring your lunch. Cookies and beverages will be provided. More information is available online.
The complete Iowa State ADVANCE Collaborative Transformation Project: First Round Focal Department Synthesis Report is now available on the ADVANCE Web site.
See Clay Anderson interview on the Web
 Check out the College of Engineering homepage to view the recent interview conducted with Clay Anderson, Iowa State's first alumnus to become an astronaut, when he visited campus during VEISHEA.
Knight elected to national office
Nancy Knight, director of graduate enrollment management for the College of Engineering, has been elected secretary for the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals (NAGAP). Her two-year term begins July 1. NAGAP, which has 1,800 members, is dedicated to the concerns of individuals working in the graduate admissions and recruiting environment. Knight has been an active NAGAP member since starting in the college as ECpE graduate program coordinator in 1997. She is currently chair of the association’s Research and National Issues Committee.
|
|
|
