Halls of honor
Missouri S&T residence hall students and staff brought home six of 10 awards – more than any other school – from March’s annual business meeting of the Midwest Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (MACURH).
Humanities take center stage
At a campus so focused on engineering, science and technology, it might be easy to overlook the importance of the liberal arts and humanities in providing a well-rounded education. That is not the case at Missouri S&T. In February, the campus turned the spotlight on six humanities faculty members who regularly publish their research and
scholarship as well as teach undergraduates in history, English and foreign languages. Their scholarship covers topics as diverse as World War II history, baseball lingo, the literature of the Roaring ‘20s and the treatment of Chinese immigrants in the 1800s.
Getting in the game
Some Missouri S&T undergraduates hope to squash the nerd stereotype commonly associated with computer
science by getting elementary school kids – especially girls – interested in the field. They’re doing so by developing fun recruitment software called Computer Science Recruitment for the 21st Century, or CSRecruit21.
S&T makes the grade with U.S. News
Missouri S&T is once again one of the top-ranked graduate engineering schools in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report. The magazine’s annual rankings of graduate schools, released in March, listed Missouri S&T 67th among the nation’s best graduate engineering schools and 39th among public graduate engineering schools. The rankings are included in the U.S. News guidebook’s “premium” online edition at www.usnews.com.
What a trooper
While most Missouri S&T students were returning to classes after winter break, sophomore Jacob Brakeman was learning how to fall.
$3 million plan earns top hydrogen prize
Using $3 million in imaginary funds, an interdisciplinary group of Missouri S&T students garnered the top spot in an international hydrogen student design contest in March.
Teams from 22 other colleges and universities from around the world developed proposals for using hydrogen technologies to solve noise pollution, energy efficiency and other critical issues at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport in Columbia, S.C.
Eversman gets aviation honor
Walter Eversman’s contributions to the field of aircraft noise reduction earned him the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ 2008 Aeroacoustics Award.
Eversman, Curators’ Professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, has spent his career trying to quiet the world’s skies. His work is widely recognized and used for noise control by major aircraft engine companies. Among his accomplishments is the development of the Eversman Code, which has become an industry standard design tool for turbofan and tonal radiation.
Melanie Mormile: Woman of the Year
Described by her students and colleagues as someone they admire and adore, Melanie Mormile became the newest member of an elite group of female faculty at Missouri S&T: the Woman of the Year recipients.
This is the 12th year for the Woman of the Year award, which is funded by Cindy Tang, Econ’85, founder of Insight Industries Inc., one of the largest software engineering companies in Wisconsin. The award is given to an outstanding female faculty member who has helped to improve the campus climate for women and has served as a role model for other faculty and students through her research, scholarship and service.
A leader you can lean on
Elizabeth Cudney’s leadership in quality and lean manufacturing has earned her one of the American Society for Quality’s top awards. Cudney, PhD EMgt’06, assistant professor of engineering management and systems engineering, received the Armand V. Feigenbaum Medal during ASQ’s World Conference on Quality and Improvement, held in May in Houston.
Good chemistry
Two Missouri S&T chemistry professors recently received a faculty award from the John W. Claypool Fund for Medical Research.
Nuran Ercal, professor of chemistry and adjunct associate professor of internal medicine at St. Louis University, and Yinfa Ma, Curators’ Teaching Professor of chemistry, have earned the $1,000 award to help fund their research on a treatment for HIV-1 associated dementia and a method for non-invasive pre-cancer screening, respectively. The annual award, established by Claypool, MS ME’60, recognizes excellence in medical research.
The tradition continues…
Eight days. Three thousand kilometers. Cars powered by the sun. October 2007 marked the 20th anniversary of the Panasonic World Solar Challenge (PWSC), a solar car race through the Australian Outback from Darwin to Adelaide. While the Missouri S&T Solar Car Team did not make the journey this year, two alumni did. Brian Call, ME’97, MS EMch’99, and Gail Lueck, EMgt’02, MS EMgt’03, both served in volunteer staff positions for the event, helping with inspections of the vehicles in Darwin and working at the control stops along the race.
St. Pat's by the numbers
350
Mops on hand for 2008 street painting.
175
Mops needed on a usual St. Pat’s weekend.
218
MSM students who skipped school for the first celebration.
570
Approximate number of St. Pat’s Board alumni attending the 100th celebration, nearly half the living total.
630
Gallons of paint used to turn Pine Street green.
400/300/25
Hot dogs/Pizzas/Kegs of Beer at the Miner Alumni Association’s post-parade celebration.
GE Aviation brings 30 new jobs to Rolla
Missouri S&T has been selected by GE Aviation as the home of a new University Development Center to be located in Rolla. At least 30 engineering positions are expected to be created in Rolla as a result of the partnership.
Grads assume UM System leadership roles
Two engineering graduates – Gary Forsee, CE’72, and Cheryl Walker, EE’86 – have assumed new leadership roles for the four-campus University of Missouri System.
ROTC program produces highly ranked cadet
This past December, Daniel J. Tabacchi, MinE’07, became the highest-ranked Army ROTC cadet in the university’s history.
War for dummies
Last fall, Missouri S&T author John C. McManus released his sixth book on military history. The new book, which covers everything from the French and Indian War through Iraq, isn’t necessarily for scholars. In fact, the title is U.S. Military History for Dummies.
In case of emergency, Missouri S&T has a plan
In an effort to improve campus security, Missouri S&T administrators have implemented a mass notification system to reach all students, faculty and staff in the event of an emergency.
First MBA students get degrees
Seven graduate students recently became the university’s first MBA graduates.
Briefly
‘Miners in Space’ teams prepare for zero gravity
Two teams of Missouri S&T students will get to experience zero gravity in June as part of a NASA outreach program. One team will conduct welding experiments aboard NASA’s “Weightless Wonder” C-9 aircraft, while the other will test a refrigerant-based propulsion system in the microgravity environment.
Experimenting with living cells
A team of Missouri S&T students recently created a breathalyzer using cultured yeast cells and an E. coli-infested bacterium that changes colors in response to the presence of sugar. But they weren’t trying to gross each other out with creepy inventions. They were participating in a competition at MIT last November.
State of the university: Energy + environment = civilization
Chancellor John F. Carney III used that equation, conceived by Dick Stegemeier, PetE’50, in his Dec. 3 State of the University address to highlight how Missouri S&T is uniquely qualified to tackle the world’s energy and environmental issues.
Ahead of the class
S&T ranked among top 20 for faculty research
Missouri S&T has one of the most productive research levels among universities that specialize in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, according to a recent study by Academic Analytics of Stony Brook, N.Y.
Missouri S&T is ranked 14th among the nation’s specialized “STEM” (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) universities in Academic Analytics’ 2006-07 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index.
It takes a solar village...
It takes several big trucks and a fair amount of logistical planning to ship a house to Washington, D.C.
Industry comes calling: GM visits campus
Representatives of General Motors Corp. came to UMR Sept. 19 to discuss career opportunities with students and accept resumes for full-time, intern and cooperative positions.
UMR deploys human power to Nevada desert
Human-powered vehicle racer Jerrod Bouchard, a senior in mechanical engineering, recorded the third-fastest time ever by a college student this fall during the World Human-Powered Speed Challenge in Battle Mountain, Nev.
Garmin representatives visit campus
Garmin, designer and manufacturer of navigation and communication equipment, visits UMR.
Future engineers and scientists visit Boeing
Last summer, Boeing opened its doors to students in UMR’s Minority Engineering and Science Program, a scholarship program supported in part by Boeing since 2003.
A top SAT score
Aerospace engineering graduate students Mike Dancer and Jason Searcy took first place in the Student Scholarship Competition session at the 21st Annual Conference on Small Satellites for their paper about the UMR SAT mission.
Get on the bus: bringing hydrogen fuel to rural Missouri
Cleaner transportation is coming to rural Missouri, thanks to a joint effort by UMR and several federal agencies.
Trailblazing on the Continental Divide
Armed with a GPS unit, Michelle Marincel, NucE’06, and Brian Payne, a senior in civil and environmental engineering, bushwacked and backtracked their way through the Medicine Bow National Forest near the Wyoming border with Colorado last summer in an effort to blaze a better trail along the Continental Divide.
Motorola VP named St. Clair Chair
Thomas Weigert, Motorola Fellow and vice president of the company’s Global Software Group, became UMR’s first Daniel C. St. Clair Chair of Computer Science on Sept. 1.
Thulasi Kumar to lead IR at UMR
Thulasi Kumar, former director of institutional research at the University of Northern Iowa, started work as director of institutional research and assessment at UMR on July 1.
1,400 recruiters seek UMR graduates
The 2006-2007 school year was a record-breaker for the UMR Career Opportunities Center.
Academy inductions
This year, 39 UMR alumni and former faculty were inducted into UMR’s seven academies. Mechanical and aerospace engineering held its academy’s induction ceremony in October. Engineering management held ceremonies in October and April. The remaining five academies held their induction ceremonies in April.
Allada and Schwartz to lead new departments
On June 18, two UMR faculty members filled new positions created as part of UMR's restructuring.
UMR chancellor earns award for roadside safety research
UMR Chancellor John F. Carney III received the 2007 Kenneth A. Stonex National Roadside Safety Award from the Transportation Research Board, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, at the Transportation Research Board’s 86th Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.
Boeing helps 'lead the way'
The Boeing Co. has donated $150,000 to UMR’s Project Lead the Way (PLTW).
The gift, which applies as a match toward a $387,000 grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, will help develop and expand the program. PLTW helps introduce engineering to Missouri middle and high schools by focusing on activities and team-based projects that give students the chance to work with their hands and see how math fits into those activities.
UMR student selected to meet Nobel winners
UMR graduate student Steven Jung is spending Independence Day with a group of Nobel Prize winners. Jung was selected to participate in the 2007 Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students in Lindau, Germany.
Student dune buggy races in Floria
A team of UMR students designed and built an off-road and off-land vehicle for the Society of Automotive Engineers’ Baja East competition, held in Ocala, Fla., in April.
Lady Muckers win world championship
A team of female students used their skills in 19th century mining techniques to win a world championship in “mucking” at the Intercollegiate Mining Competition March 24 in Tucson, Ariz.
National champ title goes to UMR
This spring, UMR proved conclusively that it has the best human-powered vehicle team in the nation. The UMR team won the West Coast challenge April 13-15 at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California and then won the East Coast challenge (again) May 11-13 in Ocala, Fla.
Show me the research
On April 17, UMR student researchers showed Missouri legislators how glass is being used to strengthen bone tissue, how breakthroughs in chemistry might result in a new method of removing lead from the bloodstream, how nutrients in streams can be monitored more efficiently and why flood plains need to be checked for high levels of salt.
