Emma Mitchell nets NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship

Congratulations to Engineering Physics student Emma Mitchell who was recently notified she has been selected to receive a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship.  The NESSF awards are awarded competitively and provide support for three years.  Emma, advised by Raul Baragiola, has concentrated her research on surface science and is currently investigating the formation and physical properties of ices on outer solar system surfaces by performing experiments on laboratory-scale analogs of extraterrestrial environments.

Need a 7 Kelvin, ultra low vacuum planetary environment? 
Emma Mitchell, pictured above in front of her lab equipment can
help create those conditions in LASP.  

 According to NASA:

The purpose of NESSF is to ensure continued training of a highly qualified workforce in disciplines needed to achieve NASA’s scientific goals:

Study planet Earth from space to advance scientific understanding and meet societal needs;
Understand the Sun and its effects on Earth and the solar system;
Advance scientific knowledge of the origin and evolution of the solar system, the potential for life elsewhere, and the hazards and resources present as humans explore space; and Discover the origin, structure, evolution, and destiny of the universe and search for Earth-like planets.

LASP lab-mate and fellow EP student Micah Schaible also won an Earth and Space Science Fellowship in 2010.   Having two winners of the competitive award in the same group reflects well on the high quality of work within the Laboratory for Atomic and Surface Physics.

Discrete Element Calculations of the Impact of a Sand Column Against Rigid Structures

A recently published paper in the IJIE explains the discovery of the fundamental mechanisms by which novel aluminum alloy sandwich structures interact with high velocity (explosively accelerated) sand particles that control the dynamic response.  To read the full article, click here.

Bailey Risteen and Lark Washington take top honors, make Rob Kelly proud

The top two undergraduate research competitions which feature engineering students are the SEAS- wide Undergraduate Research and Design Symposium (URDS) and the pan-University  President's Research Poster Competition.  This year's winners both had research based in materials science and both had Rob Kelly as their research adviser.  Not only did Lark Washington and Bailey Risteen each win a competition, but they both did so as non-4th years competing against students who had just wrapped up their 4th year undergraduate research projects.

L to R: Rob Kelly, Bailey Risteen, and Eric Schindelholz.

Third year Chemical Engineering student and Rodman Scholar Bailey Risteen (CHE '14) won first place at the SEAS-wide Undergraduate Research and Design Symposium with her poster and talk titled “Marine Aerosol Drop Size Effects on the Corrosion Behavior of Plain Carbon Steel.”  Eric Schindelholz, (MSE PhD Candidate in Kelly's group), designed and built the instrument Bailey used.  

L to R:  Lark Washington, Rob Kelly, and Jay Srinivasan. 

Lark Washington (CE '15) was the 2013 first place winner for Engineering Undergraduates in the President's pan-University Research Poster Competition, which recognizes research as central to the University's mission and seeks to showcase the  research endeavors that have significant impact for innovation and the Commonwealth.  Awards are divided into seven broad impact areas spanning the academic disciplines.  From the seven areas, three graduate and three undergraduate finalists are selected who then are ranked 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Washington's poster, "The Cathodic Kinetics of 17-4 PH Stainless Steel," compared corrosion potential across atmospheric, coating, and surface variables.  Her research in Prof. Kelly's lab, assisted by graduate student Jay Srinivasan, was part of a REU offered in materials science by Prof. Jerry Floro in the summer of 2012.

In his typical self-effacing style, Professor Kelly remarked of the outstanding coincidence that "even a stopped watch is correct twice a day." 

Installation of robotically controlled TSD system complete

Wadley's research group has installed a state of the art thermal spray deposition system for robotically controlled coating of

ceramic matrix composites with multilayer thermal and environmental barrier coatings.

Beth Opila Elected ECS Fellow

Beth Opila was recently elected a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society, and will be formally inducted as part of the Class of 2013 at the ECS meeting in San Francisco.  This honor recognizes her scientific achievement and service to the society.

Beth joined the Materials Science and Engineering department in 2010 and has quickly established a thriving research group exploring high temperature materials, coatings, and oxidation of ceramic materials.  Much of her previous work at NASA Glenn Research Center focused on durability and protective coatings as well.

The ECS fellows program:

"Established in 1989 for individual contributions and leadership in the achievement of science and technology in the area of electrochemistry and solid-state sciences and current active participation in the affairs of The Electrochemical Society."

Congratulations Beth!