From left to right: Jennifer Sloan, Cameron Blake Jeter, Glenda Young, Wade Spurlock, Chelsea Lindley, Timothy Pitts, Martha “Missie” Smith, and Stephen Dix.
The Bagley College of Engineering is proud to announce the 2010 Student Hall of Fame inductees. This award recognizes students who have made outstanding contributions to their departments, the college and Mississippi State University. The eight students in the photo above are from left to right Jennifer Sloan, Cameron Blake Jeter, Glenda Young, senior industrial engineering major from Starkville, MS, Wade Spurlock, Chelsea Lindley, Timothy Pitts, Martha “Missie” Smith, a senior industrial engineering major from Columbus, MS, and Stephen Dix. Congratulations to all of these students!
Glenda Young began her involvement at MSU as a Summer Bridge Program participant. As 2008-09 president of IMAGE, she led a significant service project to provide tutoring and mentoring to Project Brickfire participants. She recently received the IMAGE/NSBE George Adebiyi Academic Excellence Award.
Young has served the Bagley College of Engineering in many capacities. She is an industrial and systems engineering representative and is an active member of the National Society of Black Engineers, Tau Beta Pi, the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and Alpha Pi Mu. She has participated in research in the Human Systems Engineering Laboratory, working on training programs to improve responses to disaster relief efforts. She also interned with Exxon Mobile Corporation, applying her industrial engineering skills to improve processes for the company.
Martha “Missie” Smith began her campus involvement early in her MSU career by participating in the 2007 study abroad program to Enforex Spanish Language School in Salamanca, Spain. Since then she also has participated in study abroad trips to South Korea and Australia.
She worked as a cooperative education student at Eaton Aerospace in Jackson, Mississippi. During that time, she was in charge of planning a lean manufacturing cell for one of Eaton’s product lines. Smith is active in the college serving as a mentor in the Engineering Living and Learning Community as well as coordinator for the industrial and systems engineering representatives. She is a member of the honor societies of Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Pi and Alpha Pi Mu.
Ambarish Acharya, Dr. Lesley Strawderman, Dr. Sandra Eksioglu, Lucas McDowell, Nirathi Keerthi Govindu, Abby Lammons, Tugce MartaganCongratulations to the Industrial and Systems Engineering 2010 J. Ron Walsh Outstanding Award winners:
Abby Lammons – Outstanding Industrial and Systems Engineering Senior Award
Lucas McDowell and Tugce Martagan – Outstanding Industrial and Systems Engineering M.S. Student Award
Nirathi Keerthi Govindu – Outstanding Industrial and Systems Engineering Ph.D. Student Award
Ambarish Acharya – Outstanding Student Research Paper Award
Dr. Sandra Eksioglu – Outstanding Faculty Research Paper Award
Dr. Lesley Strawderman – Outstanding Faculty Instructional Paper Award
Dr. John Usher, Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, was selected as the College of Engineering teacher recipient for the 2009-2010 Student and Teacher Recognition program sponsored by the Student Association Academic Affairs Committee. The Student and Teacher Recognition program honors students and teachers whose work and dedication greatly enhance the learning environment at Mississippi State University. Teachers and students are nominated by students and selected by the Student Association Academic Affairs Committee to receive this special recognition.
Congratulations, Professor Usher!
Dr. Lesley Strawderman recently became a Professional Engineer (PE). PE licensure is the engineering profession’s highest standard of competence, a symbol of achievement and assurance of quality. The PE is granted by the National Society of Professional Engineers. To become licensed, engineers must complete a four-year college degree, work under a Professional Engineer for at least four years, pass two intensive competency exams, and earn a license from their state’s licensure board. Only a licensed engineer may prepare, sign and seal, and submit engineering plans and drawings to a public authority for approval, or seal engineering work for public and private clients.
Congratulations, Professor Strawderman!
Dr. Kari Babski-Reeves recently became a Certified Professional Ergonomist (CPE). In the field of human factors and ergonomics, the CPE is the foremost certification and is granted by the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics. The Board defines a CPE as a career problem solver who applies and develops methodologies for analyzing, designing, testing, and evaluating systems. The professional practitioner addresses complex problems and advances ergonomics technologies and methods. Qualifications for the CPE include three years of full-time professional practice in human factors/ergonomics and a passing score on a written examination.
Congratulations, Professor Babski-Reeves!
ISE’s Dr. Lesley Strawderman and Arash Salehi, and Chemical Engineering’s Dr. Bill Elmore won 2nd place honors in the Best Papers American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) First-year Programs Division Awards at the Austin 2009 conference. The title of the award winning paper is “Exploring the Impact of First-year Engineering Student Perceptions on Student Efficacy.” The ASEE is a nonprofit organization of individuals and institutions committed to furthering education in engineering and engineering technology.
ISE’s Ambarish Acharya took 1st place honors in the student poster competition at the Annual Southern BioProducts and Renewable Energy Conference hosted by the Mississippi Biomass Council. The title of the poster is “Supply Chain Designs for Cellulosic Ethanol: A Study of Mississippi.” The research involves the design of efficient supply chains for cellulosic ethanol (C-Ethanol), starting from harvesting the Biomass to supplying C-Ethanol to the markets. For additional information on Ambarish’s important research with Dr. Sandra Eksioglu and Liam Leightley, see http://www.ms-biomass.org/conference/2009/posters.php.
ISE’s Dr. Burak Eksioglu has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Operations Research Division of the Institute of Industrial Engineers. The Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) is dedicated to the support of the industrial engineering profession and individuals involved with improving quality and productivity. The members of the Operations Research Division apply mathematics and sophisticated computer programs to solve engineering problems.
ISE’s Dr. Lesley Strawderman has been elected to the Industrial Engineering Division Board of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) as secretary/treasurer. The Industrial Engineering Division of the American Society for Engineering Education is dedicated to promoting and improving engineering and technology education, especially as it pertains to the field of industrial engineering.
Chase Boothe, a senior in industrial engineering
Efforts to enhance their undergraduate experience have earned some Bagley College of Engineering (BCoE) students national acclaim.
Two student teams placed in the national Engineering Education Service Center’s (EESC) 2009 Engineering Curriculum Contest using projects they developed for the BCoE’s technical writing course.
A first for the EESC, the competition challenged teams to develop hands-on activities to help students learn and retain more math and science concepts.
“For the competition we were asked to bridge the gap between the various levels of science education – middle to high school or high school to college,” explained Chase Boothe, a senior in industrial engineering. “Basically we had to answer the reoccurring math and science question, ‘Why do we need to learn this?’”
Boothe, along with teammates Ross Hemenway, a senior, and Valencia Loyd, a senior in civil engineering, placed third in the high school curriculum competition with their entry, “Miniature Bridge Design and Testing.” In the middle school division, biological engineering seniors Caleb Dulaney, Darvin Griffin and Erin Hyatt took third place honors with their curriculum “Biological Engineering: It’s not that hard to swallow.”
Each team tested its curriculum in a classroom setting to assess the effectiveness of the program.
“The kids at the Starkville Boy’s and Girl’s Club really enjoyed the project,” Griffin explained. “We helped them build an esophagus from foam pipe, and using gumballs demonstrated the force required to swallow. Then they had the opportunity to work in groups to complete worksheets and discuss what they observed.”
The EESC is an engineering education company, based in Oregon, which specializes in providing products to help K-12 schools teach and share the fun of engineering. Its Web site is http://www.engineeringedu.com.
The technical writing course is part of the BCoE’s Shackouls Technical Communication Program. Established in 1999, the program strives to provide all MSU undergraduate engineering majors with necessary tools to effectively communicate their ideas with a variety of audiences. For more information visit www.bagley.msstate.edu/programs/technicalcommunication/index.php or contact program coordinator John Brocato at brocato@bagley.msstate.edu.