Judith A. Todd, P. B. Breneman Department Head Chair of Engineering Science and Mechanics, has been elected Vice President of the Society of Engineering Science. Dr. Todd's office is effective January 1, 2008 and runs through 2008.

Engineering Science and Mechanics (ESM) is pleased to welcome Mr. Jason M. Lyons to the staff. Mr. Lyons will be responsible for coordinating the ESM Alumni, Development, and Advancement activities with Dr. Judith A. Todd and Ms. Maureen Macaleer, Major Gifts Officer in the College of Engineering’s Office of Development and Alumni Relations, and for developing communications with departmental industrial partners. Mr. Lyons joins ESM from Penn State’s Office of Human Resources where he was responsible for the coordination and communications of several high-profile training programs including Mastering Supervision, Advanced Mastering Supervision, The Penn State Leader, ACOR Certification and Education Series (ACES), Pathways to Excellence: Key skills for New F&B Staff, and Central New Employee Orientation.

Mr. Lyons is pursuing a Penn State Bachelor of Arts Degree in Law and Society. He holds a degree in Business Administration/Management and Marketing from South Hills School of Business and Technology (2003).

The Engineering Science and Mechanics (ESM) Department is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Donald F. Heaney as Director of the Center for Innovative Sintered Products (CISP). Dr. Heaney has served as the Associate Director of CISP since 2000.

Dr. Heaney’s immediate goal for CISP is to engage the Board of Directors; develop strategic initiatives that will lead to increased industrial memberships, new sponsored research projects, collaborations and student support across the University; and, create a long-term vision for CISP’s future.

Dr. Heaney is an Associate Professor of ESM, has been a member of Penn State’s graduate faculty since 2000 and a member of the ESM faculty since 2006. Dr. Heaney’s group conducts research in the areas of microcomponent fabrication, titanium powder metallurgy, metal/ceramic brazing, and organic selection for the net shape fabrication of powdered materials. While Associate Director of CISP, Dr. Heaney was responsible for powder processing equipment acquisitions and member contract research.

Dr. Drapaca joins the ESM department as an assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics. Dr. Drapaca received her Ph.D. degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, Canada. Her thesis was entitled: “Brain Biomechanics: Dynamical Morphology and Non-linear Viscoelastic Models of Hydrocephalus”. Since then, she has held post-doctoral fellowships in the Department of Radiology, University of California, San Francisco, the Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, and the Department of Physiology and biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester. Dr. Drapaca also holds the title of Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Western Ontario, Canada.

A highly respected theorist on the biomechanics of hydrocephalus, Dr. Drapaca’s computational modeling of hydrocephalus promises world-wide impact through enhanced understanding of this medical condition, improved treatments, and contributions to a hydrocephalus imaging project for the developing world.

Dr. Drapaca will be working collaboratively with Drs. Schiff and Gluckman, the Huck Institutes for the Life Sciences, and the Department of Neurosurgery at the Milton S. Hershey School of Medicine.

Ms. Dawn Nelson has joined the ESM Department as staff assistant to the department head. Ms. Nelson has over twenty years of Penn State experience including six years as a staff assistant in the Office of the President and seven years as an assistant to the Dean of the Graduate School. Ms. Nelson's responsibilities include assisting the ESM Departhead Head with on-going Strategic Plan initiatives. She is also a part of the department's alumni development team and serves on the department's Scholarship Committee.

Please join us in welcoming Dawn to the ESM Department.

Sulin Zhang, assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics, has been appointed as a member of the Penn State Graduate School.

Bruce Gluckman, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics and associate director of the Center for Neural Engineering has been appointed associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.