Steve Osborn, Vice President for Quality Compliance and Improvement at St. Vincent Health Center, a 1980 graduate in engineering science and mechanics. visited the ESM department on March 27. During his stay, he delivered a presentation to students with perspectives on selecting careers in various industries, particularly healthcare, and on opportunities for engineers in management and quality fields.

Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences and the University of Edinburgh's School of Mathematics invited Professor Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Charles G. Binder Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics, to give a public lecture entitled "From Maxwell to Nanotechnology." The lecture will be delivered on the University of Edinburgh campus on April 17 and chaired by Sir Michael Atiyah. For more details about Professor Lakhtakia's lecture, please visit this University of Edinburgh's website.

Dr. Zhiwen Liu
Penn State Department of Electrical Engineering

Wednesday, April 2, 2008
3:35 p.m.
114 Earth-Engineering Sciences Bldg.

Jinjie Shi, graduate student in engineering science and mechanics under the advising of Dr. Tony Huang, had a paper featured and cover image in Applied Physics Letters on March 17. The article featured his work in surface acoustic waves. Jinjie’s current research work mainly focuses on Micro/nano acoustics, microfluidics, acousto-plasmonics and BioNEMS. Last month, Mr. Shi won the grand prize at the ESM Today on his graduate student work. To read more about the article published in Applied Physics Letters, please visit this website.

Dr. Elena Semouchkina, Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics and Senior Research Associate, MRI, recently became an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Antennas and Propagation Society (AWPL) Associate Editor. In this role, Elena will be responsible for selecting papers for publication and assigning reviewers. The scope of the journal is to publish novel contributions in the field of interest of the IEEE. It’s goal is to maintain a rapid turnaround of each issue to keep current with changing activities. To learn more about the IEE AWPL, please visit their website.

Yuebing Zheng, graduate student in engineering science and mechanics, under the advising of Dr. Tony Huang, has been selected as a King Abdullah Scholar with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). This prestigious award carries a $50,000 stipend per year and up to $10,000 per year for research activities. The King Abdullah Scholar Award is a unique opportunity to recognize excellence in academics and research by graduate students around the world. Selecting Yuebing for this award was based on his outstanding research capabilities and achievements in his area of study with his work at Penn State.

Yuebing has been invited to a Recognition Event in Washington, DC on April 5, 2008. The event will give him an opportunity to meet with KAUST officials and to conduct a brief presentation on his research.

To learn more about this award, please visit the KAUST website.

Omar Rosas, graduate student in materials, received a Kennametal Graduate Student Fellowship. The criteria used in the selection process was outstanding academic performance and original research. Omar is a Mexican CONACyT fellowship student working on CO2 corrosion for problems in the oil industry on pipeline systems. Through Omar’s educational achievements and research, ESM congratulates him for his many accomplishments.

Dr. James G. Brasseur
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Mathematics
Penn State Department of Mechanical Engineering

Wednesday, March 26, 2008
3:35 p.m.
114 Earth-Engineering Sciences Bldg.

Professor Elena Semouchkina, Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics and Senior Research Associate, MRI, has been appointed with the European Commission Research Directorate as an expert-evaluator. As an acting evaluator for the Commission, Elena will be in the evaluation of research proposals. Additionally, Dr. Semouchkina has been invited to give a lecture on her topic: “Dielectrics for metamaterials,” at the Women in Photonics (WiP) School on Photonic Metamaterials in Paris in April.

Ms. Karen Powers joins the ESM staff as an assistant to Professors Rose and Lissenden in the administration of their research efforts including the operational efforts of Dr. Lissenden's Structural Health Monitoring Center. Ms. Powers has extensive experience in the academic and business environments. We are pleased to welcome her to the ESM Department.

Ms. Carrie Friday has joined the ESM staff as Budget Assistant, effective March 6, 2008. Ms. Friday has over 25 years of Penn State experience including student services as well as financial. Her most recent experience has been as an assistant to the Department Head of the University Libraries, Department for Information Technologies. Ms. Friday has an Associate Degree in Science, Business Administration from Penn State and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business at Penn State Altoona.

We are please to have her join the ESM team.

Dr. Joseph L. Rose
Penn State Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics

Wednesday, March 19, 2008
3:35 p.m.
114 Earth-Engineering Sciences Bldg.

Congratulations to the forty-five students who have achieved the Dean’s List for the Fall 2007 semester. The following students were honored and have been on the Dean’s List for:

One semester

• Kathryn Barber, fall 07
  
• Windsor Bisbee, fall 07
  
• Joshua Burak, fall 07
  
• Justin Hammond, fall 07
  
• Arwen Kandt, fall 07
  
• Britt Kern, fall 07
  
• Matthew Lewinshn, fall 07
  
• Minna Ranjeva, fall 07

Two semesters

• Adam Ostrich, fall 07 and spring 07
  
• Dana Scott, fall 2007 and spring 05

Three semesters

• Timothy Byrne, fall 07, spring 07 and fall 06
  
• Jason Hunter, fall 07, spring 07 and fall 06
  
• Shane Lani, fall 07, spring 07 and fall 06
  
• Brandon Montemuro, fall 07, spring 07 and fall 06
  
• Nghia Nguyen, fall 07, fall 04 and spring 04
  
• Ravendra Nohar, fall 07, spring 07 and fall 06
  
• Jonathan Ross, fall 07, spring 07 and fall 06
  
• Benjamin Russo, fall 07, spring 07 and fall 06
  
• Aimee Tu, fall 07, spring 07 and fall 06
  
• Michael Ulizio, fall 07, spring 06 and fall 04
  
• Matthew Verlinich, fall 07, fall 06 and fall 05
  
• Jillian Woolridge, fall 07, spring 07 and fall 06

Four semesters

• Michael Conway, fall 07, fall 06, spring 06 and fall 05
  
• Eli Katz, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06 and fall 05
  
• Chad Ostrowski, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06 and fall 05
  
• Keith Stern, fall 07, fall 06, spring 05 and fall 04
  
• Jacqueline VanPelt, fall 07, fall 06, spring 06 and fall 05
  
• Christopher Winter, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06 and fall 05

Five semesters

• Michael Anderson, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06, spring 06 and fall 05
  
• Dustin Bauknight, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06, spring 06 and fall 05
  
• Brian Bontempo, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06, spring 06 and fall 05
  
• Miranda Hitchcock, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06, spring 06 and fall 05
  
• Scott Jacobs, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06, spring 06 and fall 05
  
• Benjamin Koch, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06, spring 06 and fall 05
  
• Stephen Koytek, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06, spring 06 and fall 05
  
• Scott Kozlowski, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06, spring 06 and fall 05
  
• Russell Love, fall 07, spring 06, fall 05, spring 05 and fall 04

Six semesters

• Stanton Sollenberger, fall 07, fall 06, spring 06, fall 05, spring 05 and fall 04

Seven semesters

• Kevin Graves, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06, spring 06, fall 05, spring 05 and fall 04
  
• Kevin Howorth, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06, spring 06, fall 05, spring 05 and fall 04
  
• James Moses, fall 07, spring 07, spring 06, fall 05, spring 05, fall 04 and spring 04
  
• Abdalla Nassar, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06, spring 06, fall 05, spring 05 and fall 04
  
• Bendan Purcell, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06, spring 06, fall 05, spring 05 and fall 04
  
• Zackary Stratton, fall 07, spring 07, fall 06, spring 06, fall 05, spring 05 and fall 04

ESM Congratulates each of you on your achievements!

Abdalla Nassar, undergraduate student in engineering science, has been selected to be the Student Marshal for the Engineering Science program for the Spring 2008 Commencement. This honor is given to a student in the graduating class who represents the best of the program graduates and will participate in a special way during the ceremonies on May 16 at the Bryce Jordan Center. ESM congratulates Abdalla on his high academic achievements throughout his career at Penn State.

Dr. Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Charles Godfrey Binder Professor, delivered two seminars at the Faculty of Engineering, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Malaysia, on March 11. The seminars are entitled "Nanoengineered metamaterials" and "Polarization engineering through nanoengineered metamaterials". The Multimedia University, owned by the partially state-run Telekom Malaysia, is situated in the Multimedia Science Corridor of the country.

Santiago Lopez, senior in engineering science, is not your everyday classman on campus. Mr. Lopez, a Mexico native, learned at a very young age that his drive for athletics brought him to the gymnastics mat. Through his early adolescents and continuing in adulthood, he explains that the sport is challenging to him each and everyday. The reputation of engineering and the Penn State gymnastics team, attracted his arrival and education at the University.

Upon graduation, Santiago plans to move back to Mexico with his family and continue to compete, with hopes of qualifying for the Olympics in 2012, London England. To learn more about this aspiring scholar and athlete, please visit this website for additional information.

The College of Engineering and Penn State Engineering Society (PSES) would like to express congratulations to this year's PSES Award winners including four from the Engineerign Science and Mechanics Department.

The 2008 PSU College of Engineering Faculty/Staff, Engineering Science and Mechanics Award Recipients are:

Mike Erdman, Chair of the ESM Alumni Advisory Board, has been awarded the PSES Distinguished Service Award

Akhlesh Lakhtakia has been awarded the PSES Premier Research Award

Mike Lanagan has been awarded the PSES Outstanding Research Award, and

Mark Horn has been awarded the PSES Outstanding Teaching Award.

The PSES Award recipients will be honored at the Engineering Awards Ceremony at the Kunkle Activities Center in Hammond Building on Friday, April 11, beginning at 1:30 p.m.

Thanks go to Chuck Bakis who led our ESM PSES Awards Committee and to all the committee members. For more information about PSES Awards, please visit this website.

Under the coordination of Dr. Cliff Lissenden, the Ben Franklin Center of Excellence in Structural Health Monitoring will be hosting their third meeting at Penn State on April 16-17, 2008 at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. The meeting will highlight guest keynote speakers, Ignacio Perez from the Office of Naval Research and Mark Derriso from the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Conference participants and presenters from industry, government, and academia will be present. A preliminary agenda includes both, keynote and technical presentations, project reports, poster displays, lab tours and breakout groups. Lunches will be provided and a reception followed by dinner on Wednesday evening.

Hotel reservations at the Penn Stater can be made by calling (800) 233-7505. We have reserved a room block ($105/night) with the reservation identification code BEN0415.

We look forward to seeing you in Happy Valley!

Jillian Woolridge, a double major in engineering science and German, was selected to participate in one of the projects investigating mechanical properties of Nickel-Titanium shape-memory alloys. The DAAD RISE program selects North American undergraduate students in science and engineering to get a glimpse of advanced research work while gaining desirable practical experience in their field. More specifically, Jillian will be utilizing different techniques and methods when working with and manipulating Nickel-Titanium. To learn more about the DAAD RISE program, please visit this website for details.

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

Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Charles G. Binder Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, delivered an invited lecture entitled "Sculptured Thin Films Exemplify Nanoengineered Metamaterials" at the First Annual Vikram Memorial Lectures, organized by the Huntsville Electro-Optical Society, Huntsville, AL, on February 28, 2008.