What's New at ESM?

Dr. Robert McGrath (B.S., E SC), Deputy Laboratory Director for Science and Technology at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, presented a seminar titled "The Present Status and Future Promise of Renewable and Efficient Energy Technologies" on October 2nd at the University Park Campus. Dr. McGrath, a former Penn State Associate Vice President of Research was on campus for a Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment (PSIEE) advisory board meeting during the same week.

The ESM Alumni Advisory Board will host a tailgate for this year's Homecoming game. Activities begin at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 17. For event details and alumni registration visit this web site.

Dr. Tom Hahn (PhD ’71), has accepted a position as President of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). KIST is the premier research institute in Korea covering nearly all fields of science and technology. The institute has an ambitious plan to become a world class institute and Tom is eager to begin his contributions toward this goal.

For more information about KIST, please visit their website.

Dr. Richard E. Llorens (born January 24, 1930 in Philadelphia) died at Abington Memorial Hospital on August 24, 2009 after a brief illness surrounded by family.

Dr. Llorens was a professor of Engineering and Mechanical Science at Penn State University where he received his Masters Degree in 1958 and his Doctorate in 1961. He was a founding professor of the Penn State King of Prussia Graduate Center (Radnor Center) from 1965 and was the Interim Dean at the dedication of the Great Valley Graduate Center in 1989. He retired from Penn State in 1990.

Murat Cetinkaya, Ph.D., a former member in Prof. Melik Demirel's group and ESM graduate (2008) , won the prestigious Humboldt Fellowship in Germany. Humboldt Fellowship promotes academic cooperation between excellent scientists and scholars from abroad and from Germany. Hamboldt Foundations research fellowships and research awards allow scientists and scholars to come to Germany to work on a research project chosen by themselves, together with a host and collaborative partner.

Congratulations Murat!

Nicolas Godici, BS ’72, has been names Special Consultant to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Department. Mr. Godici was appointed by the U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to look at ways to strengthen the management structure of the USPTO and provide an up-to-date assessment of the challenges the office faces.

Dr. Shanker Balasubramaniam, MS ’92, PhD ‘93, is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Michigan State University. After obtaining his PhD under the supervision of Professor Akhlesh Lakhtakia, he served in research positions at the Iowa State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, before taking up an Assistant Professorship of Electrical Engineering at Iowa State. He moved to Michigan State as an Associate Professor. Prof. Balasubramaniam is well known for solving gigantic scattering problems. To read more of Dr. Balasubramaniam, please visit this website.

Dr. Fei Wang, Ph.D. ‘05, Research Engineering for the Micron Corporation, and his wife announce the birth of their second daughter, Angela on June 27, 2009 in Boise, Idaho. Congratulations!

Engineering Science and Mechanics is honored to host Dr. Eric Cummings as a 2009 Outstanding Engineering Alumnus (OEA). Cummings (B.S. E SC 1989) is the founder and president of Cool Earth Solar, a company dedicated to making solar farming economically competitive. Cummings also founded LabSmith, Inc., a company that sells innovative laboratory products. Cummings has patents in the areas of solar-concentrator architectures and, spread-spectrum barcodes which can indicate minute amounts of tamper to micro-fabricated dielectrophoretic sorters of cells, bacterial, and viruses. He has refereed publications in microfluidics including two foundational scientific discoveries: the theory of ideal electrokinesis and the methodology of insulator-based dielectrophoresis.

Dr. Cummings will be recognized with other OEA awardees during a College wide event scheduled April 26 -27, 2009.

Dr. Emil Hayek, (B.S., E SC), Akron General Medical Center, has opened Western Reserve Heart Care, a cardiology testing and treatment facility offering heart care and noninvasive testing. The key to the service is that it provides consultative service with cardiac diagnostic testing on site thereby reducing a potential two to three week wait for patients to speak with their doctors. In 2008, Western Reserve Heart Care was honored with a Council of Small Enterprises (COSE's) Ten Under 10 Small Business Awards. For additional informtion, visit Western Reserve Heart Care.

Dr. Hayek is a member of American Board of Internal Medicine (Cardiovascular Disease); the American Board of Internal Medicine (Internal Medicine)' and Certification Board of Nuclear Cardiology (Nuclear Cardiology)