‘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.

Margaret Cline named CIO

Margaret Cline was appointed as the university’s second chief information officer (CIO) in December. Cline has worked as a national IT consultant, as the CIO at Eastern Michigan University and as an adjunct computer science professor in Arkansas, Michigan and Kentucky.

Curators honor professors

K. Chandrashekhara, director of Missouri S&T’s Composite Manufacturing Laboratory, was recently named Curators’ Professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. The professorship is awarded to outstanding scholars with established reputations in their field of study.
Yinfa Ma was recently named Curators’ Teaching Professor of chemistry. The Curators’ Teaching Professorship was established in 1990 to honor outstanding professors, call attention to teaching excellence, and foster improvements in teaching and learning.

Giglio named Maxwell C. Weiner Professor

James N. Giglio, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at Missouri State University, has been named the 2008 Maxwell C. Weiner Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Missouri S&T. While at Missouri S&T, Giglio will teach a history course, “Recent U.S. History.”

New director, new degree

Bonnie Bachman, former senior director at Flextronics International, became the ­­new chair of interdisciplinary engineering in December, taking over for Ralph Flori, PetE’79, MS PetE’81, PhD PetE’87, associate professor of interdisciplinary engineering, who had served as interim chair.

Also in December, Jeremy Schueler and Kerry Poppa became the first two students to be awarded bachelor’s degrees in interdisciplinary engineering.

The program was started during the fall 2005 semester to attract students interested in non-traditional engineering. The program allows students to create their own seven- to nine-course elective program based on two engineering fields or one engineering field and one science field.