What's New at ESM?

Ambuj Sharma, graduate student in engineering science and mechanics, under the advising of Dr. Charles E. Bakis, is to present a paper on “Electronically Modified Nanocomposites,” at the 23rd Technical Conference - American Society for Composites on September 8 - 11, 2008 in Memphis, TN. To read more about the conference, please visit their website.

Corey Cochrane, graduate student in engineering science and mechanics under the advising of Professor Patrick Lenahan will be presenting a talk on Silicaon Carbides at the at the European Conference on Silicon in Barcelona, Spain. The conference will be taking place from September 7 - 11, 2008.

To learn more about the conference, please visit their website.

Dr. Patrick Lenahan, distinguished professor in engineering science and mechanics, is scheduled to present a talk at the European Conference on Silicon in Barcelona, Spain from September 7 - 11, 2008.

To learn more about the conference please visit this website.

Congratulations to ESM Editorial Assistant Diane Bierly for taking first place, with her award winning raisin pie, in the baked products competition at the 2008 Centre County Grange Fair. In addition to culinary expertise, Diane is also an avid outdoors person, gardner and bird-watcher.

Dr. Corina Drapaca will teach a three-credit undergraduate course on the theoretical and computational aspects of the level set method and applications in imaging processing and mechanics spring semester 2009.

The course is offered as E SC 497A and will be taught on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. To register for the course, use schedule code number 241468.

For additional information contact Dr. Drapaca at:
Office phone: (814) 867-2313
Office address: 307D EES BL
E-mail: csd12@psu.edu
Homepage: http://www.esm.psu.edu/drapaca

Abdalla Nassar (M.S., E SC) has been awarded a National Science Foundation Grant to attend the 27th International Congress on the Applications of Lasers and Electro-Optics (ICALEO®) Conference, October 20-23, 2008, in Temecula, CA. The Congress is an opportunity for "researchers and end-users to review the state-of-the-art in laser materials processing" and also predict future laser materials processing needs. Mr. Nassar will present a poster titled "Generation and Sustainment of Argon Laser-Sustained Plasmas Under Various Flow Conditions".

To learn more about the Congress visit the ICALEO® website.

Congratulations to Nassar on both accomplishments.

Professor Emeritus Andrew Pytel has announcedl his fall commonwealth campus visit schedule. During the visits, Dr. Pytel will meet with groups of students interested in pursuing engineering science as their engineering major of choice. If you are interested in participating in a meeting at your campus, please contact Stacy Smith at sls60@psu.edu.

Dr. Sulin Zhang is teaching a three-credit graduate-level course on Multiscale Modeling of Materials spring semester 2009. The course will discuss computational methods that couple different length and time scales ranging from nano to micro.

The course is offered as E MCH 597A and will be taught on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:15 - 5:30 pm. To register for the course, use schedule code number 232048.

For additional information, contact Dr. Zhang at:

Office phone: (814) 865-7640
Office address: 411D EES BL
E-mail: suz10@psu.edu
Homepage: http://www.esm.psu.edu/zhang

Lei Fang (ESM Ph.D. student) was named a finalist in the Society of Engineering Science 2008 student paper competition.

Fang's abstract, "An electrical technique to measure in-situ contact area during instrumented indentation and its application of characterizing materials that pile-up," was selected as one of the top 16 abstracts out of 160 submitted to the SES 2008 student paper competition.

In July 2008, the Powder Metal Industry held its 44th year of offering the Basic Powder Metallurgy Short Course in State College. Course participants came from many industry segments including parts fabricators, jewelry manufacturers, medical parts end users, friction component manufacturers, abrasive component fabricators and oil drilling fabricators. Penn State's Center for Innovative Sintered Products (CISP) hosted course participants in a tour of the Center's facilities that included a presentation of research activities.