First Native American gets PhD in ME from Rice
Houston, TX - Dr Powtawche Neengay Williams received a PhD in ME from Rice University in May. She is the first Native American to earn a PhD in ME from Rice, and possibly the first anywhere. Very few Native Americans have any kind of doctoral degree. She has a BSME from Stanford University (Stanford, CA) and an MSME from Rice. Her mother is a full-blooded Choctaw Indian, and she spent part of her childhood on a reservation in Mississippi.
Williams is now working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, where she is researching propulsion for JPL's outer planets mission analysis group.
CE Dr Priscilla Nelson is new provost at NJIT
Newark, NJ - Priscilla Nelson, PhD, civil engineer and natural disaster specialist, became the new provost of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in May 2005. Nelson was previously a senior executive at the National Science Foundation and a University of Texas professor.
"The appointment of Dr Nelson will enrich NJIT's commitment to undergraduate and graduate education. She will strengthen our programs, enhance our diversity initiatives and help students use their innate capabilities of creativity and discovery," said Dr Robert A. Altenkirch, president of NJIT.
"I welcome the opportunity to provide leadership and vision for the future of this very special university," Nelson said on her appointment. "To me, NJIT is an institution where learning, research, innovation and engagement are holistically integrated into the careers of everyone on campus."
Nelson holds a bachelor of science degree in geological sciences from the University of Rochester. She earned a masters degree in geology from Indiana University, a masters degree in civil engineering with a concentration in structural engineering from the University of Oklahoma, and a doctorate in civil engineering with an emphasis on geotechnical engineering from Cornell University.
Inroads needs tech and engineering applicants
Nashville, TN - "Because of the shortage of qualified African American, Hispanic/Latino and Native American students between April 2004 and April 2005, Inroads had to turn down at least one hundred engineering and technology internship offers from Fortune 500 corp- orations," reports David Davis, national recruiter for Inroads, the internship program for talented minority students.
Inroads is working on college campuses with national organizations NSBE, SHPE and AISES that cater to minority tech students, and hopes to place more tech students at paid summer internships in coming years, Davis says.
For more info on opportunities available through Inroads, e-mail ddavis@inroads.org or visit www.inroads.org.
Smith College's Picker engineering program receives accreditation
Northampton, MA - The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc (ABET) recently awarded accreditation to Smith College's engineering program.
The status is retroactive to include the first two classes that graduated with bachelor of science degrees from the Picker engineering program, the nation's first engineering program at a women's college.
Smith established the engineering program in 1999 and enrolled the first students in the fall of 2000.
CCNY's Gary Chan wins EPA fellowship
New York, NY - Gary Chan, a third-year civil engineering major at The City College of New York (CCNY), has won a Greater Research Opportunity grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The fellowship provides academic support plus a summer internship at an EPA facility.
The award will support the creation of a vegetated rooftop on 200 square feet of Steinman Hall, which houses CCNY's engineering school. The "green roof" is expected to help solve storm water runoff problems. It will be monitored for a year before the data is evaluated.
Wentworth Institute of Technology has first female president
Boston, MA - Dr Zorica Pantic-Tanner became the new president of Wentworth Institute of Technology (Boston, MA) on August 1. The appointment makes her the only female engineer to lead an institute of technology and one of only sixteen female deans of engineering in the United States.
She came to Wentworth from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) where she was the founding dean of the college of engineering. UTSA was ranked sixteenth among the top producers of Hispanic engineers in the U.S. During her tenure the college established PhD programs in electrical engineering, biomedical engineering and environmental science and engineering. Before that she was director of the school of engineering at San Francisco State University.
Pantic-Tanner received her BSEE, MSEE and PhDEE degrees from the University of Nis, Yugoslavia (Serbia), and has thirty years of academic and teaching experience. She served on the engineering faculty of the University of Nis from 1975-1984, and was a Fulbright Fellow and a visiting scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1984-1989. She has published more than eighty journal and conference papers and is a senior member of IEEE. She is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and serves on the ASEE projects board, president's award committee and contact committee.
She is a member of the IEEE Women in Engineering, SWE and American Society for Higher Education, as well as a member of the Engineering Deans Council and the EDC public policy committee. She has also served on several National Academy of Engineering panels and committees.
Johnson Controls gives $100,000 to Huston-Tillotson University
Milwaukee, WI - Johnson Controls, Inc has donated $100,000 to Huston-Tillotson University (Austin, TX). The funds will be used to support education in the areas of science, mathematics and technology at this HBCU. The grant was made as part of a White House initiative to support HBCUs.
WEPAN awards honor Bogue, Sorby, Clemson U and HP
Denver, CO - Women in Engineering Programs and Advocates Network (WEPAN) recognized two academic leaders, Clemson University's women in engineering program and Hewlett-Packard, for their support of women engineers.
Barbara Bogue, affiliate associate professor of engineering science and mechanics and former director of the Women in Engineering Program at the Pennsylvania State University, received the Founders Award. The Betty Vetter Research Award went to Dr Sheryl Sorby, chair of engineering fundamentals and associate dean of engineering at Michigan Technological University.
Clemson University's Women in Science and Engineering program received the Women in Engineering Initiative award, and Hewlett-Packard received the Breakthrough Award for its work to remove the artificial barriers that prevent women engineers from attaining their full potential.
Cal State LA technology prof is 2005 College Teacher of the Year
Los Angeles, CA - Benjamin L. Lee, professor of technology and coordinator of the graphic communications program at California State University, Los Angeles (CSU-LA), was recently named the Los Angeles County Industrial Technology Education Association (LACITEA) College Teacher of the Year for 2005. Lee has been a CSU-LA faculty member since 1997. He was recently appointed acting associate dean of the college of engineering, computer science and technology.
The award is among the highest honors given to a technology education college teacher and is presented in recognition of outstanding contributions to the profession and students.
High-tech masters degree for free
Rochester, NY - Deaf or hard-of-hearing people with a bachelors degree are invited to apply to the professional fellowship program at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID, www.rit.edu/NTID), a college of Rochester Institute of Technology.
The program offers study toward a masters degree in a professional or technical field with a full tuition waiver, free housing in a single room in a residence hall and a $15,000 annual stipend as compensation for a career-related part-time job.
Deaf and hard-of-hearing applicants must be U.S. citizens and be accepted into a two- or three-year masters degree program at RIT to be eligible. An application and other required materials must be received by the professional fellowship program selection committee by February 15, 2006 for admission next fall.
For info or an application contact the NTID office of outreach and technical assistance, (585) 475-6433 (voice/TTY) or dkbnca@rit.edu.
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