Abigail Dodson, undergraduate student in Engineering Science and Mechanics and Schreyer scholar, received a Tau Beta Pi scholarship this spring. Tau Beta Pi scholarships are awarded on the competitive criteria of high scholarship, campus leadership and service and promise of future contributions to the engineering profession. All scholars are members of Tau Beta Pi. ESM congratulates Abigail!

The Robert M. and Mary Haythornthwaite Graduate Fund for Innovation in Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State University was established in 2011. The fund provides financial support of $10,000 to support innovative, cutting-edge research in the field of Engineering Science and Mechanics by a graduate student.

Drew Pulsifer is the first recipient of this award. His project entitled “Innovation in Engineering Science and Mechanics” explores research on bioreplication techniques to: (a) further forensic studies of fingerprinting by accentuating the underlying print geometries; and (b) replicate the structures of flys’ eyes to create thin films that will capture sunlight from a much wider angular range than films in conventional solar panels.

The Department wishes to thank the Haythornthwaite Foundation for this generous gift and their support of ESM graduate research.