Diversity Fair promotes collaboration and idea sharing


With about 125 registered participants, the College of Engineering hosted an inaugural Diversity Fair on October 6. The fair promoted collaboration and idea sharing focused on efforts to increase the numbers of women and students from underrepresented groups in engineering and science and technology programs at Iowa State. A poster session featuring 31 programs that focus on diversity efforts facilitated discussion and interaction among the participants. Engineering Diversity Affairs organized the fair.

Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), gave the keynote address sharing some of the lessons learned as UMBC has worked to become a top national university and a leader in the number of female and minority graduate students. Hrabowski attributes UMBC’s success to such things as a focus on community, a nurturing faculty, an emphasis on performance in the first two years, and research experiences for undergraduates. He noted that it takes researchers to produce researchers. Hrabowski concluded by saying, “Each institution has to decide how it wants to be known and what it has to do to achieve that goal.” (News release)

John Deere donates new tractor to ABE

In a special ceremony on October 5, John Deere presented a new 8245R series tractor to the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. Featuring the latest in technology, the new 8R tractor series was just unveiled in August. "This gift is representative of our long-standing partnership with Deere and Company," says Ramesh Kanwar, ABE professor and chair. "Partnerships like this between industry and Iowa State enable us to move into the future and deliver high-quality instruction to our students and high-quality students back to industry." (News release)

Follow the Solar Decathlon Team

The Iowa State Solar Decathlon Team has constructed the Interlock House on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and is ready for the competition to begin on October 8. You can follow the Iowa state team by viewing their video updates.

Alumni to be honored for professional achievements

Willhite	Gurbuz	Richards	Roberts
Tener	Allbaugh	Goodwin	Sukup

The College of Engineering will present an Anson Marston Medal and four Professional Achievement in Engineering (PACE) awards at the 2009 Iowa State University Alumni Association Honors and Awards Ceremony. The ceremony is held as part of the annual Iowa State homecoming festivities on Friday, October 16, at 1:30 p.m. in the Scheman building. G. Paul Willhite (BSChE'59) will receive the Anson Marston Medal; and Orhan Gurbuz (BSCE'55/MSCE'68/PhDCE'74), Richard "R. K." Richards (BSEE'43), Gayle A. Roberts (BSChE'81), and Robert K. Tener (MSCE'62/PhDCE'64) will receive PACE awards. In addition, David R. Allbaugh (BSAerE'70) will receive an Alumni Merit Award presented by the Iowa State Alumni Association Club of Chicago, William A. Goodwin (BSIE'59) will receive the Russ and Ann Gerdin Award presented by the College of Business, and Charles E. Sukup (BSAgE'76/MSAgE'82) will receive the George Washington Carver Distinguished Service Award presented by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Engineering graduate student seminars begin

From left, Min Ouyang, ECpE, and Peter Brandt, AerE, practice interviewing skills during Engineering-GRADS.

The fall semester Engineering-GRADS (Engineering Graduate Retention through Academic Development Seminars) got off to a fast start on September 15 when Roger Bentley, manager of student and alumni professional development, Engineering Career Services, spoke to more than 80 engineering graduate students on "Advanced Interviewing Skills for Industry and Academia Jobs in Engineering." Sponsored by the Engineering Graduate Programs office, Engineering-GRADS was launched in 2008-2009 through a Professional and Scientific Council Recruitment and Retention grant received by Nancy Knight and graduate assistant Kathryn Andre.

Topics for six seminars were selected through a survey of interests from on-campus engineering graduate students. In October, Iowa State engineering librarians will present "Engineering Graduate Student Library Orientation," and in November Sriram Sundararajan, ME, will present "Show Me the Money: Grant Writing Tips for Engineering Graduate Students." Spring semester seminars will be announced in January.

Tour the World draws record crowd

A record 850 people attended the 2009 Tour the World Engineering Study and Work Abroad Fair, the largest engineering international fair held in the United States. (Tour the World video). Shannon Miner, program coordinator in the Engineering International Programs and Services office, attributes this year's growth in attendance to an increasing global awareness on the part of students as well as the great job faculty and advisers do in promoting and sustaining the engineering international programs. (News release)

Learn@Lunch on October 14: 2050 Challenge

You've heard and read a lot about the 2050 Challenge, possibly including that the college is now committed to promoting the idea and making it operational. What does that mean for you?

Eric Dieterle, director of Engineering Communications, will discuss the 2050 Challenge from a promotional perspective and in the process try to answer some of the following questions: Is it our brand? A vision statement? A tagline? A marketing message? Am I supposed to use it, and if so, then how?

Balaji Narasimhan, associate dean for research and economic development, will give examples of how the 2050 Challenge is being applied to academics and research in the college today and how those actions fit into long-term plans.

Be sure to join them and to bring your own ideas for how to advance and operationalize the 2050 Challenge message at Learn@Lunch on Wednesday, October 14, noon to 1 p.m. in 114 Marston.

E-News schedule

E-News is published the first and third weeks of each month when classes are in session. The next E-News will be published October 21. If you have news items or event dates to include, please send them to Mary Jo Glanville by October 15.

Mark your calendars!

October 14--Learn@Lunch: 2050 Challenge, noon to 1 p.m., 114 Marston

October 16--Iowa State University Alumni Association Honors and Awards Ceremony, 1:30 p.m., Scheman building

October 22-25--Annual Colloquium on International Engineering Education, Gateway Hotel and Conference Center

E-News is distributed by Engineering Communications.
If you have questions or news items to suggest, please contact Mary Jo Glanville at mglanvil@iastate.edu or call 515 294-8787.


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