Kathleen Zimmerman, ESM Undergraduate Student Assistant, is the recipient of a College of Engineering Peer Review of Exceptional Performance Award - Silver Rank.

Now in its sixth year, the Peer Review of Exceptional Performance (PREP) Award is designed to recognize, reward, and retain exceptional staff employees within the College. PREP provides every staff employee the potential for two promotions within their current position.

The PREP Award recognizes Ms. Zimmerman for her high-level handling of multiple student initiatives including student support, special events, database management, and curriculum activities.

Congratulations to her on a job well done.

Mr. Yinghui Shan has been awarded the 2007 Dr. Paul A. Lester Memorial Award for his doctoral thesis work in the area of microelectronics.

Mr. Shan's thesis, titled "Silicon Nanowire Growth and Transistor Fabrication by Self-assembling 'Grow-in-Place' Approach" is supervised by Stephen J. Fonash, Bayard D. Kunkle Chair Professor. The award will be presented at the Engineering Science and Mechanics spring 2007 graduation celebration scheduled for Friday, May 18, 2007. Mr. Shan plans to graduate summer session 2007.

Sean M. Pursel, graduate student in engineering science and mechanics, will present a paper titled "Prospects for Nanowire Sculptured Thin Film Devices" at the 51st International Conference on Electron, Ion, and Photon Beam Technology and Nanofabrication in Denver, Colorado, May 29 - June 1, 2007. The presentation will focus on recent accomplishments and prospects for the future of Sculptured Thin Films (STFs). STFs made of virtually any solid material point toward new vistas of photonic, fluidic and sensor devices. New optical data is shown for TiOx STFs with engineered spectral holes as a liquid and/or vapor sensor. The paper was co-authored with Mark W. Horn, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics.

Clifford Lissenden, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics, presented a talk entitled “The imminent guided wave revolution in NDE” at Hashemite University in Zarqa, Jordan, May 17, 2007. Dr. Lissenden's presentation was the first of five invited speakers to present at the workshop. The workshop was held in conjunction with the opening of Hashemite University's new NDE Center.

Kathleen Zimmerman, engineering science staff assistant for undergraduate affairs, attended the Women's Leadership Conference 2007 held April 16-17, 2007, at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on the University Park Campus. The conference featured 16 sessions for participants to choose from to fit their professional development goals.

Dr. Samia Suliman, assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics, will participate in the 2007 ADVANCE Peer Mentoring Summit to be held June 17-20, 2007, in Durham, North Carolina. The ADVANCE program is specifically focused on the development of infrastructure, programming and resources to boost the participation and success of women in academia.

Summit topics include: leadership, career challenges, and mentoring.

Engineering Science senior Kevin Graves has been awarded a 2007 summer internship at the Krakow University of Technology, Poland, where he will work under the direction of Dr. Piotr Duda. Mr. Graves will gain experience in computer modeling, editing translated technical papers, and on-site activities at the Krakow Power Plant.

Mr. Graves support for the internship includes a Schreyer Honors College Summer Internship Grant and Travel Ambassadors Grant, and an International Internship Grant and Cooperative Education and Professional Internship Award from the College of Engineering.

Congratulations to the graduating seniors in Engineering Science.

Engineering Science graduating seniors Alan Berger (left) and John Waldeisen (right) are the recipients of the Frank Fenlon Award. The Frank Fenlon Award, established in 1982 by Mrs. Francis Fenlon, is given annually to recognize the outstanding Engineering Science senior thesis. The award is named in honor of the late Dr. Fenlon, a dedicated teacher and exceptional researcher in the ESM department.

Mr. Berger’s senior capstone and design research was done under the supervision of Professor Jian Xu. His thesis is titled “Characterization of Transport Properties of P3HT-PCBM Layers for PBSE Quantum Dot Enhanced Nanocomposite Photovoltaic Cell Applications”.

Mr. Waldeisen’s thesis is titled “Creation of a Hydrodynamically Tunable Microlens and Simulation of the Structural Nanoporous Transformations in a Polymeric Chemical Sensor”. His research and capstone design project was done under the supervision of Professor Tony Huang.

Mr. John Waldeisen, engineering science senior, is the recipient of a special award of the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department faculty. The "Most Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award" recognizes Mr. Waldeisen as a phenomenal student who has had stellar academic performance, outstanding research accomplishments, and service to the department and his fellow students. The award was presented at the Engineering Science and Mechanics spring 2007 graduation celebration scheduled for Friday, May 18, 2007.

Engineering Science senior Alan Berger has been awarded a Tau Beta Pi Fellowship for 2007-08. Mr. Berger was one of 37 recipients to received this prestigious national award. Now in its 74th year, the Tau Beta Pi Fellowship Program has provided a total exceeeding $4,565,000 to 870 stipend recipients.

After graduation, Mr. Berger plans to pursue a masters of science degree in engineering science at Penn State. He graduates this spring semester with a B.S., Engineering Science.

Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Charles Godfrey Binder professor of engineering science and mechanics, gave a talk on the "Evolution of Metamaterials" at the NSF Chemistry Division Workshop on Complexity and Emergent Phenomena, held May 13-15, 2007, in Arlington, VA. Professor Lakhtakia was the first of six invited speakers whose presentations framed the groundwork for the 70+ chemistry expert participants to discuss the future role of supramolecular chemistry. Professor Lakhtakia's presentation focused on the need for supramolecular chemists to develop large molecules useful for metamaterials that shall become essential components of intelligent infrastructures.

Professor Lakhtakia delivered a similar talk on metamaterials at the Penn State's Materials Day 2007, April 10-11, 2007.

Further reading: "Meet the Metamaterials"

Engineering Science seniors Sarah Klinetob (left) and Carolyn Denomme (right) have been awarded the 2007 McNitt Kearns Award for service to the Engineering Science Department. Ms. Denomme and Ms. Klinetob are cited for their excellence in leadership and with extraordinary service to the department during the 2006-07 academic year. They planned and coordinated the 2007 Engineering Science Community Celebration, participated in the department's Open House, student recruitment mixers, fall welcome picnic, and Centennial Celebration. They also participated in the department's Industrial Professional Advisory Council meeting and met with this year's Outstanding Engineering Alumni.

Ms. Denomme and Ms. Klinetob are graduating with bachelor's degrees spring 2007. They will be presented with their awards at the Engineering Science and Mechanics spring 2007 graduation celebration scheduled for Friday, May 18, 2007.

Mr. Christopher O'Brien, doctoral candidate in engineering science and mechanics, has been awarded the 2007 Joseph C. Conway., Jr., Memorial Award. The award is presented annually to an Engineering Science and Mechanics outstanding graduate teaching assistant.

Mr. O'Brien was nominated by Professor Gary Gray for his work in E MCH 12 - Dynamics. Dr. Gray notes "Chris truly enjoys working with students and running the E MCH 12 tutoring sessions. He is extraordinarily responsive to the students needs".

The award will be presented at the Engineering Science and Mechanics spring 2007 graduation celebration scheduled for Friday, May 18, 2007.

Mr. Yinghui Shan has been awarded the 2007 Dr. Paul A. Lester Memorial Award for his doctoral thesis work in the area of microelectronics.

Mr. Shan's thesis, titled "Silicon Nanowire Growth and Transistor Fabrication by Self-assembling 'Grow-in-Place' Approach" is supervised by Stephen J. Fonash, Bayard D. Kunkle Chair Professor. The award will be presented at the Engineering Science and Mechanics spring 2007 graduation celebration scheduled for Friday, May 18, 2007. Mr. Shan plans to graduate summer session 2007.

Discovering a unique method for fabricating highly nanostructured thin films has won ESM researcher Melik Demirel, assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics, one of only 33 prestigious awards, offered nationwide, by the Office of Naval Research in 2007.

The ONR Young Investigator Award recognizes and supports new faculty who can help to solve problems of interest to the US Navy.

Barbara A. Shaw, professor of engineering science and mechanics, will hold the Fundamentals and Experimental Methods Short Course on the University Park Campus, June 10-15, 2007.

Congratulations to engineering science and mechanics (ESM) budget assistant Sandra Watson and ESM accounting assistant Kelly Owens for completing the two-year; four semester Administrative Committee on Research (ACOR) Certification and Education Series (ACES). Ms. Watson and Ms. Owens were recognized with other class participants at a special graduation and reception event held Friday, May 11, 2007, on the University Park Campus. The 80-hour certification was taught through workshops, on-line education, mentoring, and competency assessment. The course covered pre-awards, financial basics, project management, compliance, and research administration.

The Engineering Science and Mechanics Department participated in the Penn State College of Engineering's Industry Partners Day, held in the Hintz Family Alumni Center.

The event creates a student-industry environment, reinforcing the importance of industry in the practical application of engineering projects and the engineering curriculum.

Industry Partners Day brings together students, faculty and industry for new and innovative ideas.

Mirna Urquidi-Macdonald, professor of engineering science and mechanics, has been awarded the Engineering Diversity Award in recognition of her years of service, leadership and dedicated advocacy empowering the next generation of engineers.

The award was formally presented at the Penn State Office of Diversity's spring banquet on April 30, 2007.

Joseph Rose, Paul Morrow Professor, will offer a course in Business Opportunities in Engineering fall semester 2007.

Professor Rose notes "the course is designed to provide engineering students with a suite of strategies that can lead to developing their own successful career in business, increasing their job satisfaction, developing entrepreneurship techniques, climbing the corporate ladder, and acquiring power and leadership."