Elise Corbin, 2007 PSU ESM graduate, recently won the the Best Paper Award at the 2010 IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Sensors Conference. The Conference is an annual international conference for the presentation, discussion, and exchange of information regarding the latest research and development in sensors and its related fields. IEEE SENSORS brings together researchers, developers, and practitioners from diverse fields. The meeting was held this year in Hawaii. Over 1,000 papers were submitted to this meeting. Ms. Corbin is currently a PhD Mechanical Science and Engineering graduate student at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign. Ms. Corbin’s paper was “Electrical Noise Characteristics of a Doped Silicon Microcantilever Heater-Thermometer” which was co-authored with her advisor, Professor William King. To learn more about the conference, please visit their web site.

Jonathan S. Pitt
Applied Research Laboratory, PSU

Wednesday, December 1, 2010
3:35pm - 4:25pm
114 Earth-Engineering Sciences Building

Changin Huang, graduate student in Engineering Science and Mechanics, under the advising of Dr. Sulin Zhang, Assistant Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics, will present at the 2010 American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition on November 17. Changin’s will give a presentation on “Local Phase-Separation Dynamics Coupled with Global Membrane Morphogenesis” and present a poster at the NSF-sponsored student paper symposium. To learn more about the conference, please visit their web site.

Professor John H. Light of Carlisle, parted this world on November 8 at the Carlisle Regional Medical Center. He was 85 years old. "My family is my greatest pride and joy," he once wrote. "I am constantly amazed to see the blessings that are mine in this regard."

A native of Pennsylvania, John Light was born in 1924 in the Pennsylvania Dutch farming community of Annville. He was the third child of the late Dr. V. Earl Light, Sr., and Cora G. Light. He attended the Annville public schools and was graduated from Lebanon Valley College in 1948 with a Bachelor of Science degree. His college years were interrupted for military service during World War II, when he served with a rifle company of the 104th Infantry Division in Belgium, Holland and Germany. Light attained the rank of Staff Sergeant before sustaining the injury that earned him the Purple Heart. An Infantryman Remembers World War II, Light's recollection of his war years, was completed on the fiftieth anniversary of his injury in Marburg, Germany, and led to his being awarded the Silver Star during a memorable ceremony in 1996 at the United States Army War College.

Professor Light earned graduate degrees in physics and engineering mechanics while employed by the Pennsylvania State University from 1948 to 1959 as a full-time Research Engineer at the Ordnance Research Laboratory and as a Research Associate in the Engineering Department. His lab work involved the design and development of stress measuring equipment, shock and vibration isolation of electronic and mechanical components, and problems associated with underwater ordnance. He was the author of two publications in scientific journals at the time. In 1959 Professor Light was named to the faculty of Dickinson College, where he taught mathematics until his retirement in 1987. He also served as the Registrar of Dickinson College from 1966 to 1969.

From 1969 to 1981 Professor Light served as a School Director for the Carlisle Area School Board and from 1969 to 1975 was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carlisle YWCA, serving as President from 1973 to 1975. He was also a charter member of Carlisle Brown Baggers and belonged to the Carlisle Rotary Club and the Central Pennsylvania Eclectic Club.

Professor Light was a member of the Second Presbyterian Church in Carlisle since 1960, where he served as Sunday school teacher, Deacon, and Elder. His lifelong love of music included singing in the church choir, as well. Light was a charter member of the Carlindian Chorus, the Carlisle Chapter of SPEBSQSA, and especially enjoyed singing in a barbershop quartet called The Lamplighters from 1970 to 1973. For many years Light also performed in the annual presentation of Handel's Messiah at Allison United Methodist Church in Carlisle and was a member of the Grantham Oratorio Society.

Julia D. Erdley
Joint IED Defeat Organization
Washington, DC

Wednesday, December 1, 2010
3:35pm - 4:25pm
114 Earth-Engineering Sciences Building

Yinda Wei, Graduate Student in Engineering Science and Mechanics, under the advising of Professor Steven Schiff, will present a poster entitled “Untangling the Interplay among Hippocampal Neurons,” at the 40th Annual Society for Neuroscience Meeting. The conference will be held on November 16 in San Diego, CA. To learn more about the conference, please visit their web site.

Madineh Sarvestani, Graduate Student in Engineering Science and Mechanics, under the advising of Professor Bruce Gluckman, will present a poster entitled “Data Assimilation into Physiologically-based Models of Sleep Dynamics,” at the 40th Annual Society for Neuroscience Meeting. The conference will be held on November 16 in San Diego, CA. To learn more about the conference, please visit their web site.

Charles Bakis, Distinguished Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, was elected Vice President of the International Institute for Fiber Reinforced Polymers in Construction (IIFC) for 2011 and 2012. The IIFC was established in March 2003 with the aim of advancing the understanding and the application of FRP composites in civil infrastructure, in the service of the engineering profession and society.

Charles Bakis, Distinguished Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, gave a keynote presentation on “Durability of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Bars” at the 5th International Conference on FRP Composites in Civil Engineering, September 27-29, Beijing, China.

The ESM department collected awards at the 25th Technical Conference of the American Society for Composites in September 2010. Scott White (PhD, ESM, 1990), Charles Bakis, Distinguished Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, and Christopher Hoppel (PhD, ESM, 1993) were elected to the rank of Fellow. Ye Zhu, PhD candidate in Engineering Science and Mechanics, was awarded the PhD Scholarship Award.

Dr. Sam Zamrik, Professor Emeritus in Engineering Science and Mechanics, will be honored by the American Society for Mechanical Engineers at the 2010 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. This honor is to celebrate Dr. Zamrik’s engineering achievement and contributions and his dedicated service to the profession. The ceremony will be held November 15 in Vancouver.

Raul J. Martin-Palma
Departamento de Fisica Aplicada,
Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain

Wednesday, November 10, 2010
3:35pm - 4:25pm
114 Earth-Engineering Sciences Building