Ms. Parul Walia (M.S., E MCH) will present a paper titled "Development of Self-Lubricationg Coatings for Ti-6A1-4V Dovetails using a High-Velocity-Particle Consolidation (HVPC) Process" at the International Thermal Spray Conference 2006 which will be held May 14 - 17, 2006 in Seattle, Washington. Ms. Walia's research is supervised by Dr. Al Segall.

Engineering Science seniors are wrapping up their research and putting the final touches on their presentations in preparation for this spring's Comprehensive Oral Exams which will be presented March 24 - 31, 2006, in 216 EES.

During the senior year, all students select a focus area of study, complete a capstone project, and write a thesis that integrates the scientific principles of research, design, and analysis and applies them to engineering. Each student works with a thesis reserch supervisor as well as their departmental honors advisor.

The presentations are open to the public. A listing of the students and their thesis titles follows below.

Congratulations to Engineering Science senior Elizabeth Blickley and junior Sarah Klinetob upon their selection as participants in the International Institute of Women in Engineering (IIWE) "Women Engineers: Pushing for Sustainability" seminar scheduled for June 30 - July 21, 2006, in Paris, France.

The focus of the 2006 seminar is on sustainability. Women engineers will have the opportunity to work collaboratively on IIWE's own multidisciplinary activity: The Nile Countries Hydro-management Project (NCHP) aims at transforming the role of women in the ten Nile basin countries from the water carriers to the water managers.

Support for their participation in this seminar is being provided, in part, by Penn State's Women in Engineering program and the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics.

Thomas Walker (junior E SC) has been awarded a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship with the National Institute of Standards (NIST) and Technology for summer 2006. His three-tired assignment will include working directly with an NIST employee on the theory and operation of an atomic force microscope and a Scanning Kelvin Probe Microscope; investigating the theory of semiconductor and metal surfaces, and performing basic semiconductor cleaning processes. The Fellowship carries a stipend and living allowance.

Congratulations on your success!

Engineering Science and Mechanics doctor student Shyamala Subramanian will present a paper titled “Molecular ruler lithography processes and their application to sub 50nm MOS Devices” in the Division of Polymer Chemistry, Polymers for Enabling Nanoscale Pattering session at the 231st ACS National Meeting, in Atlanta, GA, March 26-30, 2006. Her paper will be presented in March 28, 2006.

Ms. Subramania’s doctoral advisor is Dr. Jeffrey Catchmark. In additional to travel support provided by Dr. Catchmark, She has received travel grants for this travel from the Women in Engineering Program and the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics.

ESM Today, a graduate student research showcase for graduate students in the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department (ESM), was held earlier this month at the University Park Campus. The Symposium, which is organized by the Engineering Science and Mechanics Graduate Student Council, included twelve paper presentations and seven poster presentations.

The 2006 paper presentation winners are:

Ying Shan, Flexible Matrix Composite Actuators and Structures, First Place.
Matt Kelly, Quantitative Microstructural analysis of Thermal Barrier Coatings Produced by Electron Beam Physical Vapor Deposition, Second Place.
Michael Pedrick, Ultrasonic NDE in Thin Walled Concrete for Flaw Detection, Third Place.

The 2006 poster competition winners are:

Eric Hauck, Novel Methods for Crack Detection in Green and Sintered Parts, First Place.
Jing Mu, Defect Sizing in Pipe Using an Ultrasonic Guided Wave Focusing Technique, Second Place.
Lance Haney, Microwave Characterization of Thin Film Titanium Dioxide, Third Place.

First, second and third place winners received, respectively, $500; $300; and $200 Breneman Travel Grants.

The ESM Today Symposium is held annually each February. Each year, the symposium honors an ESM faculty member. This year's honoree was Department Head Emeritus Richard P. McNitt