MSE Celebration and Recognition Tea Time

On Wednesday, May 1st, the MSE community gathered at 3:00 in Wilsdorf 101 to celebrate the accomplishments of our graduate and undergraduate students.



2013 Doris Kuhlmann Wilsdorf Outstanding Graduate Student Award – Eric J. Schindelholz: recognizing his “outstanding research achievements and exemplary contributions to the advancement of the MSE academic mission.”



2013 Fred D. Rosi Outstanding Citizen Award – Bradley T. Richards: recognizing his “overall contributions to the academic, educational and outreach goals of the MSE department and for exemplary teamwork.”



“In recognition of notable teaching and considerable skill in motivating and inspiring students, the University of Virginia presents its 2012-2013 Outstanding GTA Award in the School of Engineering and Applied Science Department of Materials Science and Engineering to” Matthew A. Steiner.



2013 Materials Science and Engineering Distinguished Undergraduate Award—Mark Hrdy: recognizing his “outstanding academic achievement and good citizenship.”

2013 Engineering Science Distinguished Undergraduate Award- Jeffrey R. O’Dell: recognizing his “exceptional achievement in research and academics.” 

 

4th Year Engineering Science student Carolyn Pelnik was recognized at the Tea Time for having received the SEAS Outstanding Student Award at the SEAS garden party on April 26th.

2013 Engineering Science Poster Symposium Awards:

Individuals:

First place: Matthew Perez

Second place: Dylan Royston and Jeffrey O’Dell (tie) 

Third place: Regan O’Brien

Groups:

First place:

Patrick Andersen

Keith Thomas

Niduk Basnayake



Second place:

Venita Jones

Mary Wright

Leanna Foster lands NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Congratulations to Leanna Foster on earning a National Science Foundation Fellowship.  NSF graduate fellowships are among the most prestigious and competitive fellowships within STEM fields.  Foster, advised by John Scully, is currently researching potential applications leveraging the

inherent antimicrobial properties of copper alloys for use in medical surface applications.

The research has the potential to significantly decrease the risk of healthcare associated infections - among them, MRSA.  Foster plans to investigate model copper alloys in order to determine the effect of secondary alloys (zinc, nickle, aluminum, and tin) on ion release rates; copper ion release rates dictate both an alloy's antimicrobial effectiveness and its tarnish resistance rate.

While studying Chemistry at Christopher Newport University, Foster interned with The Mariners' Museum in their conservation lab, where she gained a keen interested in metallic corrosion.  Additionally,  at NASA Langley she worked on polymer research in the Materials Development and Processing branch.

...and she bakes great cakes.

Jack Dorning recieves Gerald C. Pomraning Memorial Award from ANS

The American Nuclear Society recently selected Jack Dorning, the Whitney Stone Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering Physics, for the 2013 Gerald C. Pomraning Memorial Award. The award from the American Nuclear Society recognizes individuals who have made "outstanding contributions toward the advancement of the fields of mathematics and/or computation."

The award is named for Dr. Pomraning, co-founder of SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation).   The award is administered by the Mathematics and Computations Division of the American Nuclear Society.

Additionally, Professor Dorning will deliver an invited plenary lecture at the meeting in which the award is given. 
The recipient of the Gerald C. Pomraning Memorial Award is determined by critical review and assessment of the credentials and qualifications of the candidate, and of her/his outstanding accomplishments and contributions that have benefited the fields of mathematics and/or computations that advance the understanding of topics of interest to the American Nuclear Society.

Ryan Comes: Perfect Spring

March was an excellent month for EP student doctor Ryan Comes: 

First, on March 15th Ryan, who is advised by Stu Wolf, successfully defended his PhD dissertation.  Also in mid-March, Ryan received word back from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.  Selected for the Linus Pauling Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship, he will hold a position within the Environmental and Molecular Sciences Laboratory at PNNL working on oxide molecular beam epitaxy.  He will start this summer.

image: pnnl

Finally, At the 2013 Spring Materials Research Society meeting (okay technically April not March) , Ryan received a Silver Award in the Graduate Student Awards final session.

During his career as a PhD candidate, Ryan has earned numerous awards including: Doris Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf Outstanding Graduate Student Award, 2012; SEAS Graduate Teaching Fellow in 2012;  he was a finalist for the 2012 Presidential Research Poster Competition, won 1st place at UVERS 2012, and 5th place at UVERS 2011.  Ryan also earned a highly competitive national NDSEG National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship in 2010.

An exciting spring to cap off a great graduate career indeed!

Matt Steiner Picks Up UVERS Award

Engineering Physics PhD student Matt Steiner took 5th place for his poster entry at the 2013 U.Va. Engineering Research Symposium (also known as UVERS) held Friday April 5th.  His research poster covered "Magnetic and Crystallographic Behavior of Epitaxial Fe38.5Pd61.5 Films Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition."

Matt Steiner in 2012 preparing to run electron microscopy demos for the public

UVERS is a joint event between the Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and the Graduate Engineering Student Council.  The symposium was initiated by graduate students nine years ago and has continued annually.  Each year graduate students present  research on topics ranging across disciplines at SEAS for top honors as well as cash awards.