Kansas
State University achievements
2006
Students
*
Four members of K-State's chapter of Alpha Zeta, a professional
honor society for students in agriculture, are part of a group
of Alpha Zeta members nationwide heading to Louisiana Dec. 17-22
to help farmers, ranchers and rural communities still reeling
from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The students are Lexie Hayes,
senior in animal sciences and industry; Scott Dooley, senior in
agronomy; Casey Weber, senior in food science and industry; and
Larissa Rice, junior in agricultural education. They are part
of a 30-member group of Alpha Zeta members who are going to Vermilion
Parish in south central Louisiana for the five-day volunteer project.
They will be mending fences, rebuilding barns and clearing brush
and debris. December 2006
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The Alpha Iota chapter of Theta Xi fraternity at K-State has been
recognized as an "All True Men" chapter. The designation
recognizes the demonstrated commitment of the membership of a
local chapter of Theta Xi to live up to the fraternity's core
historic values of leadership, brotherhood, scholarship and service.
The honor also recognizes the chapter members' commitment to embrace
a set of expectations that are beyond those of other chapters.
With the designation, the K-State chapter will receive a significantly
higher level of support from the fraternity headquarters that
will help to promote the personal development of individual members
while increasing the strength of the chapter and its recognition
as a home for campus leaders. The K-State chapter is the third
in Theta Xi to be granted this status. The chapter, chartered
in November 1931 is one of the oldest of Theta Xi's 53 chapters
nationwide. December 2006
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K-State's Chrystal Cole-Bridges has become the first woman to
follow in the footsteps of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. It's a feat
she wouldn't have been able to accomplish had it not been for
a partnership between K-State at Salina and Tuskegee University.
The partnership started in 2001 and encourages diversity in the
aviation industry. Students get a bachelor's degree from Tuskegee
University in aerospace engineering and earn a degree as a professional
pilot at K-State at Salina during the summer. Tuskegee presently
has no formal flight program. The Tuskegee Airmen were a group
of renowned black fighter pilots who accomplished several records
during World War II. Not only did the group not lose a single
bomber it was escorting in more than 200 combat missions, members
also destroyed more than 260 enemy aircraft and won more than
850 medals. The airmen's volunteer actions to fight for democracy
overseas came while they were being denied civil rights at home.
Cole-Bridges also is the second graduate of the program. She works
as a design engineer at Cessna Aircraft Company in Wichita. December
2006
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It was an award-winning time for Kansas State University chemical
engineering students at the annual meeting of the American Institute
of Chemical Engineers, Nov. 12-17, in San Francisco. At the meeting,
K-State's student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical
Engineering earned its 12th consecutive Outstanding Chapter Award.
In addition, K-State's entry in the institute's 2006 Chem-E-Car
competition placed fifth, earning the university its fourth top
10 finish in the competition in the last five years. Also at the
meeting, Jon King, senior in chemical engineering, was K-State's
13th recipient in the last 14 years of the Othmer National Scholarship
from the American Institute for Chemical Engineers. Levi Houk,
senior in chemical engineering, won first-place honors for his
poster in the reactions and catalysis division at the meeting.
December 2006
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K-State's Lauren Smith, senior in agronomy, received the prestigious
J. Fielding Reed Scholarship at the 2006 annual meetings of the
American Society of Agronomy, Nov. 10-15, in Indianapolis. The
scholarship honors an outstanding senior who is pursuing a career
in soil or plant sciences. The scholarship is supported by the
Agronomic Science Foundation and is administered by the American
Society of Agronomy. Smith also took third place nationally in
the society's Oral Research Symposium. Also earning honors was
Miranda Brown, senior in agronomy, who placed sixth nationally
in the society's Speech Contest. December 2006
*
Erica Cain, a senior in microbiology, has received an award for
research she presented at the annual Biomedical Research Conference
for Minority Students. Cain was honored for her research on baculoviruses
and the factors that enable them to spread beyond the midgut of
the insects they infect. Cain has spent the last two years on
the research team of K-State's Lorena Passarelli, assistant professor
of biology, through grants sponsored by the Howard Hughes Medical
Institute, the National Institutes of Health, and K-State's McNair
Scholars Program. December 2006
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The K-State Collegiate Crops Team placed second at the Chicago
Collegiate Crops Contest and at the Kansas City Board of Trade
Collegiate Crops Contest and Nov. 18 and 21, respectively. K-State
placed second in grain grading and plant and seed identification,
and third in seed analysis at Kansas City. The team placed first
in plant and seed identification, second in seed analysis and
third in grain grading at Chicago. The national competitions required
participants to identify more than 200 different plants or seed
samples of crops and weeds; grain grading, which involves the
examination of eight different samples of grain, as well as determining
the grade of grain according to Federal Grain Inspection Service
standards; and seed analysis, which requires competitors to determine
whether seed samples contain impurities and if so, what contaminants
exist. Students competing at the national contests included Nick
Guetterman and Matt Pachta, both juniors in agronomy,and Zane
Unrau, senior in agricultural technology management. December
2006
*
A recent K-State graduate has been awarded a yearlong internship
in London. Hillary Glasgow, a December 2006 anthropology graduate,
will participate in the Mountbatten Internship Programme. The
internship is worth about $16,000 for the year and also includes
free furnished accommodations in central London. December 2006
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Five students from the College of Human Ecology were recently
recognized with notable awards in their fields. Gayathri Pidatala,
graduate student in apparel and textiles, won the Oris Glisson
Graduate Student Fellowship award, which is given annually to
outstanding graduate students by the International Textile and
Apparel Association. Four students also received top awards at
the Fashion Group International of Kansas City Career Day 2006.
Students had the opportunity to participate in competitions for
both original garment designs and for illustration merchandising
boards. Awards received included: Juan Carlos Garcia, sophomore
in apparel and textiles, top 15, original garment design; Kolia
Souza, senior in apparel marketing and design, third place, personal
shopper board; Mik-Young Whang, graduate student in human ecology,
second place, original garment design; and Katharine Langer, senior
in apparel marketing and design, first place, personal shopper
board. November 2006
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Mechanical engineering major Lisa Kitten, Plains, was awarded
a 2007 Marshall Scholarship, valued at about $70,000. She is K-State's
12th Marshall scholar, and 11th since 1986. She will use her Marshall
to pursue her education in biomedical engineering research. Kitten
plans to attend Oxford University to work on improvements to the
Oxford meniscal knee. Her career plans are to do research in the
biomedical arena, focusing on prosthetics. November 2006
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In the first six weeks of the 2006-2007 season, K-State's forensic
team Speech Unlimited has won six tournaments and more than 20
individual event titles. Speech Unlimited achieved its most recent
team victory at the pre-nationals warm-up tournament Oct. 21-22
at Minnesota State University in Mankato. Individual successes
include Julia Debes, senior in agricultural communications and
journalism, who placed as an individual champion at five separate
tournaments this year, and Jessy Ohl, junior in political science,
who was named champion in After Dinner Speaking at the LE Norton
Invitational at Bradley University. In addition, each of the 17
team members has reached a final round of competition this season
and five students have already qualified for the American Forensics
Association national tournament for a total of 12 events. November
2006
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The K-State Associated General Contractors student chapter has
been named the 2005-2006 first-place award winner in the Outstanding
Student Chapter Competition by the Associated General Contractors
of America. The chapter has received first-, second- or third-place
awards every year for the past 17 years, more than any other school
in the nation. November 2006
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Students from K-State's chapter of the National Organization of
Minority Architecture Students took fourth place in a national
design competition sponsored by the organization. The K-State
chapter also was named chapter of the year for a second time.
November 2006
*
The K-State Crops Team placed first overall in the Central Region
Collegiate Crops Contest for the 12th year in a row. Nick Guetterman,
junior in agronomy, was second individual overall. He placed first
in grain grading, second in seed analysis and third in identification.
Matt Pachta, junior in agronomy, placed first overall. He was
first in seed analysis and second in grain grading and identification.
Zane Unrau, senior in agricultural technology management, placed
third overall. He was first in identification and third in seed
analysis and grain grading. Eighteen students from four universities
and community colleges participated in the contest. The K-State
team is coached by Gerry L. Posler, professor of agronomy. November
2006
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K-State's Soil Judging Team won first place in the overall team
and group judging categories at the recent 2006 Region 5 Soil
Judging Contest in Manhattan. Teams from seven Midwestern universities
competed in the regional contest. K-State's Adam Heitman, junior
in agronomy, took the high individual top honor among all students
competing. Paul Hartley, junior in agronomy, and Kelsey McGie,
freshman in milling science and management, tied for sixth high
individual in the competition. The K-State team is now eligible
to compete in the National Soil Judging Contest, which will be
hosted by Utah State University, Logan, Utah, in April 2007. October
2006
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Two K-State Army ROTC cadets are in the top 1 percent of the nation's
3,806 cadets who will commission this year from the 272 Army ROTC
programs across the country. Commissioning is the process in which
cadets, once they graduate from college, are officially appointed
as Army officers. Jonathan Spikes, graduate student education,
curriculum and instruction, Manhattan; and Elizabeth Hill, senior
in history, Riley, both rank in the top 1 percent of the national
Order of Merit List. Both also rank in the top five of cadets
in the 11th Brigade, which encompasses 19 schools from Kansas,
Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota
and Minnesota, and in the top 20 of all cadets in the Western
Region -- essentially all ROTC programs west of the Mississippi
River. Hill is the eighth-ranked cadet of all 3,806. She is the
highest ranked cadet in Kansas. October 2006
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An apparel design and production student from K-State recently
received an award for her exemplary fashion design using alpaca
fibers. Leeann Armstrong was awarded a $500 scholarship for her
third-place submission in the Fiber to Fashion design competition.
The scholarship will be funded by Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association
and includes a sponsored trip with other winners in November for
the national association conference in Reno, Nev. October 2006
*
Several K-State College of Veterinary Medicine students presented
papers and received awards and scholarships at the American Association
of Bovine Practitioners convention in Minneapolis, Minn., Sept.
19-23. Elliot Stevens, third-year veterinary medicine student,
and Robert Rust, fourth-year veterinary medicine student, earned
individual awards. Stevens' presentation, "Short Term Effects
of Exposure to BVD Virus on Health and Performance of Feedlot
Cattle," was named one of the top 10 research presentations
in a competition of case studies. Rust's work was named one of
the top three research presentations at the national convention.
The topic of Rust's paper was "Effects of Castration Method
and Lidocaine on Health and Performance of Feedlot Cattle."
Keith Dedonder and Matt Bartlett, both third-year veterinary medicine
students, were named Amstutz Scholars and received $2,500 scholarships.
Becky Funk, fourth-year veterinary medicine student, was awarded
one of the three graduate assistantships given out by the association.
Her research proposal was "Sensitivity of Pooled Antigen
Capture ELISA Testing for Bovine Viral Diarrhea and Economic Impact
of Herd-wideTesting." October 2006
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Jeff VanSickle, senior in German at K-State, was recently chosen
as a 2006-2007 Young Ambassador for the German Academic Exchange
Service, an organization promoting higher education in Germany.
The Young Ambassador competition honors 20 students who have studied
or interned in Germany in the previous academic year to serve
as liaisons for the German Academic Exchange Service in U.S. and
Canada. Ambassadors may help to inspire fellow students to study
in Germany by working in university study abroad offices, volunteering
at study abroad fairs, answering questions from students and organizing
their own events on campus. October 2006
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K-State's Seong-Hyun Park, a doctoral student in horticulture,
received her second People-Plant Interaction Research Award from
the International Society for Horticultural Science. Park, who
won the award in 2002, was recently honored again at the International
Horticulture Congress meetings in Seoul, Korea. October 2006
*
K-State students Mary Kate Ludwig and Laura Jones have received
Rotary Ambassadorial scholarships. The scholarships award up to
$26,000 for a year of study abroad. The Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship
Program focuses on humanitarian services, personal diplomacy and
academic excellence. Applicants must demonstrate maturity and
social skill; service and leadership; proficiency in host country's
language; a good rational for study abroad and program options;
and have a minimum 3.0 grade point average. October 2006
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Four K-State landscape architecture students, one group of three
and one individual, took home first and second place in the All-America
Rose Selections 2006 "Designing with Roses" competition.
Judges from Better Homes & Gardens, Pasadena Tournament of
Roses, the American Society of Landscape Architects, Weeks Roses
and Jackson & Perkins considered submissions from across the
country, selecting the designs that best demonstrated excellent
landscape design execution and incorporation of rose plants into
the site design, according to the association. This was the inaugural
"Designing with Roses" competition. Winners were announced
in a professional category, as well as a student category. Student
entries were not required to be built. The Kansas State University
Gardens "Secret Garden," designed by K-State graduate
students Hilary Kemper, Lynda Armstrong and Aarthi Padmanabhan
received top honors in the student category. The team receives
a $1,000 first-place prize. The students' "Secret Garden"
design provides for educational and learning opportunities by
demonstrating how roses can be incorporated into a home garden
scheme, as well as spaces for relaxation and gathering. Second
prize went to Timothy Merklein, senior, for Kansas State University
Gardens "Conservatory Garden." Merklein's design leaves
much space for walking and seating and includes a reflecting pool
as a historical reference to the former gardens, as well as a
large formal lawn for events. October 2006
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Trisha Culbertson, graduate student in biological and agricultural
engineering, has been awarded a fellowship funded by the United
States Environmental Protection Agency through its Science to
Achieve Results program. The fellowship supports and encourages
students in environmentally related fields. It provides two years
of funding for a master's degree or three years of funding for
a doctoral degree at up to $37,000. September 2006
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K-State's chapter of Mortar Board, the national college honor
society, has received the Silver Torch Award for the 2005-2006
academic year. The award was presented at the national annual
conference of Mortar Board, July 28-30, in Columbus, Ohio. The
K-State chapter was among the 40 chapters to receive the honor.
The Silver Torch Award is presented to chapters that execute timeliness
and dedication while exemplifying the ideals of scholarship, leadership
and service. September 2006
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Madai Rivera, a master's student in curriculum and instruction,
was awarded two national scholarships for the fall 2006 semester,
a $5,000 Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Scholarship and
a $1,000 Coors Primeras Scholarship. September 2006
*
The K-State department of computing and information sciences'
student mobile robotics team recently captured first place in
the Scavenger Hunt competition at the 15th Annual Robot Competition
and Exhibition at the American Association for Artificial Intelligence
Annual Conference in Boston. The K-State team of four members
directed the "KSU Willie" robot as it searched the conference
hotel area for a checklist of given objects, such as orange cones
or stuffed toys, located at specific locations. The task required
the competing robots to navigate and map among moving people and
objects to acquire the specified objects to satisfy the checklist.
September 2006
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Paul Ibbetson, a K-State graduate student in sociology, Wichita,
has written a book about the Patriot Act, scheduled to be released
by Author House Publishing this fall. The book is "Living
Under the Patriot Act: Educating A Society." Ibbetson said
he found reading and comprehending the Patriot Act a difficult
thing to do, so he wrote a book about it to put into context some
of the frustrations a lot of people have had in trying to learn
about it. He said his goal was to educate as opposed to advocate.
He said he wanted to provide information and allow readers draw
their own conclusions about the controversial act that was passed
after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist acts and was recently renewed.
September 2006
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K-State's Cari Barragree, doctoral student in educational administration
and leadership, and some of her classmates have created a social
studies curriculum for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas
City, Mo., about the Negro Leagues. The lesson plans, which are
geared toward high school students, are not solely baseball-oriented
but use baseball and the history of the Negro Leagues to teach
important aspects of American history like economics, women's
rights and civil rights. The curriculum development is part of
an ongoing partnership between K-State and the museum. August
2006
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Alok Bhandari, a K-State associate professor of civil engineering,
and students from his natural resources and environmental sciences
capstone class conducted a bathymetric survey of Fort Scott Lake
to determine the lake's water capacity as part of a service-learning
project. Through the survey, the students were able to calculate
the lake's current storage capacity and rate of sedimentation.
The data collected saved the city an estimated $30,000. August
2006
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For the second year in a row, K-State's entering freshman class
will have the most recipients of the Robert J. Dole Public Service
Scholarship. The $1,000 scholarships, funded by a congressional
grant in honor of the former Kansas senator, are awarded to 40
students each year. The scholarships are distributed equally among
the state's four congressional districts. According to the Robert
J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas, which
annually announces winners of the scholarships, recipients have
all demonstrated involvement in volunteer community and public
service. They also are 2006 graduates of an accredited high school
in Kansas, have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0
and will be enrolled full time this fall at K-State, KU, Emporia
State University, Fort Hays State University, Pittsburg State
University, Washburn University or Wichita State University. This
year's freshman class at K-State has 17 of the 40 recipients.
In the inaugural year of the scholarship, 2005-2006, 15 K-State
freshmen earned the award. August 2006
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K-State's Aimee Norris, a junior in creative writing and art with
a minor in Japanese, has received a Benjamin A. Gilman International
Scholarship. Worth up to $5,000 to study abroad, Norris will use
the scholarship to study the Japanese language and culture at
Kansai Gaidai University in Hirakata City, Japan. The congressionally
funded scholarship is administered by the Institute of International
Education and was established by the International Academic Opportunity
Act of 2000. August 2006
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Ray Doswell, a graduate student in education administration and
leadership at K-State, was a member of a 12-person special committee
that selected 17 former Negro Leagues baseball players and executives
to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown,
N.Y., July 30. Doswell also serves as curator and education director
of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. July 2006
*
Students and faculty from K-State's biological and agricultural
engineering department earned top awards in several categories
at the international meeting of the American Society of Agricultural
and Biological Engineers, July 9-12, in Portland, Ore. The K-State
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers student
branch received the first-place Student Engineering Branch Award,
and the K-State Agricultural Technology Management Club received
first runner-up honors for the Student Mechanization Branch Award.
The K-State Fountain Wars student design team placed second in
the 2006 Fountain Wars Design Competition, as well as being recognized
for best use of electronics. Kyeong-Hwan Lee, December 2005 doctoral
graduate, received first place for the Ph.D. Graduate Student
Research Award; and Marsha Roberts, December 2005 bachelor's graduate
and now a master's student, was the first-place recipient in the
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Undergraduate
Student Poster Competition. Faculty honors included Gary Clark,
professor and head of the department of biological and agricultural
engineering being named the American Society of Agricultural and
Biological Engineers Outstanding Reviewer for 2005; and the 2006
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Superior
Paper Award to K-State faculty members Ronaldo Maghirang, professor
of biological and agricultural engineering; Mark Casada, adjunct
professor of biological and agricultural engineering, and Dan
Brabec, engineering technician, both of the U.S. Grain Marketing
Production Research Center; and Ekramul Haque, professor of grain
science and industry. July 2006
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Four K-State students will be part of the grounds crew at the
27th Senior Open Golf Championship, July 6-9, at Hutchinson's
Prairie Dunes Golf Course. Golf course management students Nathan
Ratzlaff, Dylan Senn, Michael Liebe and Jeff Cameron, will get
the opportunity to work with 40 volunteer professional golf course
superientendents and assistants at the national event, as well
as seeing some of the world's best senior golfers. June 2006
*
Elissa Bartel, senior in interior design, has been named a 2006-07
Kansas City International Facility Management Scholar, She is
receiving a $1,000 scholarship from the Kansas City chapter of
the International Facility Management Association, which awards
scholarships annually to college students who demonstrate understanding
and professional potential in the area of facilities management.
June 2006
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Natalie Trudeau, a May 2006 bachelor's graduate in interior design,
won third place in the recent Metropolitan Interiors Student Competition.
The competition, for students in Minnesota, Kansas, North Dakota,
Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin and Colorado, is sponsored by Metropolitan
Interiors, a residential and commercial design firm based in Minneapolis,
Minn. In the competition, students were asked to provide input
and design creativity for a professional interior design store/studio
and were judged on creative ability of design layout, color and
material combinations, ability to convey ideas through drawings,
and craftsmanship of board presentations. For her entry, Trudeau
designed the new store/studio to serve as a retail space, meeting
space and work space for interior designers. June 2006
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The K-State Powercat Tractors Design Team finished first in the
ninth annual American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers
International Quarter-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition,
June 1-4, in Peoria, Ill. K-State is the only school that has
placed in the competition's top three, including five firsts,
continuously since 1999. The competition began in 1998. This year,
competing against 28 teams from the U.S. and Canada, the K-State
team scored first in performance -- the pulling competition --
and first in both the written design report and oral presentation,
the two other main categories of the competition. The team is
made up of undergraduates in biological and agricultural engineering,
agricultural technology management, and mechanical and nuclear
engineering. June 2006
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Volunteering with a Junior Achievement program has turned into
an award-winning endeavor by Kansas State University's student
chapter of the Associated General Contactors. The chapter has
received the President's Volunteer Service Award for its involvement
with Junior Achievement's "Our City" program. The chapter
was nominated for the honor by Junior Achievement of Northeast
Kansas. Chapter members presented the program to third-graders
in Manhattan during the 2005-2006 school year. The award recognizes
Americans who have made a sustained commitment to volunteer service.
June 2006
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A Kansas State University undergraduate student will spend the
summer researching a virus that could help farmers control crop-damaging
insects. Erica Hutfless, a senior in microbiology, received a
Microbiology Undergraduate Research Fellowship from the American
Society for Microbiology. The fellowship aims to increase the
number of undergraduate students of color pursuing graduate careers
in microbiology. The fellowship allows students to conduct summer
research at their own institutions or at guest institutions. Hutfless
will spend the summer at K-State working with Lorena Passarelli,
assistant professor of biology. Passarelli said Hutfless will
be examining a viral gene that may be involved in spreading disease
within the insect host. Passarelli said the project is important
because insects can be pests to crops and forests. June 2006
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Electronic theses submitted by K-State graduate students have
won two of the three 2006 "Innovative ETD" awards given
by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
Christopher Spaw, May 2005 master's graduate in architecture,
Manhattan, and an assistant professor of architecture at K-State,
won for his thesis, "1219 Colorado." Howard Camp, a
May 2005 doctoral graduate in physics, Woodbridge, Va., won for
his dissertation, "Measurements of the Time Evolution of
Coherent Excitation." Each award is worth $400. Spaw's thesis
contains hundreds of sketches, design drawings, construction documents
and photographs assembled as an exhibition within the framework
of a PDF document. Camp's dissertation incorporates several animated
graphs and charts embedded as audio video interleave files within
the PDF text. June 2006
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Two K-State interior architecture and product design students
are among the top three winners in the 2006 annual National Student
Design Competition. The Institute of Store Planners awarded Carly
Hillman first place and $1,000, and Kimberly Kolkovich third place
and $300. K-State's department of interior architecture and product
design also receives a $1,000 prize for being the school with
the winning entry. The competition called for a prototype design
of a new children's apparel store. The students created their
entries as part of a design studio led by Neal Hubbell, associate
professor of interior architecture and product design. June 2006
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A recent K-State graduate, and now graduate student, will use
a fellowship to research how a new generation of nuclear reactors
can help produce an increasingly important commodity: hydrogen.
Josh Van Meter, a May 2006 bachelor's graduate in mechanical engineering,
has been named a 2006 Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative/Generation
IV University Fellow. He was one of 12 students chosen from across
the nation. The grant program offers as much as $42,500 for up
to 18 months to students working toward master's degrees and whose
fellowship research and subsequent theses support the Advanced
Fuel Cycle Initiative/Generation IV program. The topics also must
be approved by the U.S. Department of Energy. Van Meter will investigate
the performance of compact heat exchangers, a key component needed
to maintain the thermal energy for a high-temperature chemical
reaction that produces hydrogen. Van Meter said researchers are
interested in the compact heat exchangers because of their size
and efficiency. May 2006
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Two K-State engineering students have received National Academy
for Nuclear Training undergraduate scholarships. Aaron Holloway,
sophomore in mechanical and nuclear engineering and mathematics,
and Amir Bahadori, senior in mechanical and nuclear engineering
and mathematics, were two of 69 students awarded the national,
$2,000 scholarships. May 2006
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Three horticulture students at K-State have been recognized with
various national honors. Jenna Lutz, senior in horticultural therapy,
has been awarded the national Ann Lane Mavromatis Horticultural
Therapy Scholarship and will be recognized at the American Horticultural
Therapy Association's 34th annual conference, June 14-16, in Portland,
Ore. Seong-Hyun Park, doctoral student in horticulture, will be
given the Publications Award by the American Horticultural Therapy
Association for her master's research thesis and for the first-place
research poster she presented at a past International Society
for Horticultural Science meeting. Park also will be recognized
at the American Horticultural Therapy Association's annual conference.
Finally, Erin Grace, junior in horticulture with an emphasis in
greenhouse management, was awarded a $6,000 Vic and Margaret Ball
Internship Scholarship by the American Floral Endowment. May 2006
*
A Kansas State University graduate student in geology was selected
to present his research at the Geological Society of America conference,
"Backbone of the Americas: Patagonia to Alaska," April
3-7 in Mendoza, Argentina. Pragnyadipta Sen discussed his research
about the Blythe River basin on the South Island of New Zealand.
The river basin is in a tectonically active transitional region.
Sen's presentation included a geological map of the basin and
two models which explained how the basin was formed by the active
fault lines around and within the river basin. Sen said the study
will help geologists understand what controls the rhombus shape
of the basin. May 2006
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Two K-State accounting students received awards at the Grant Thornton
Lecture in April. Anthony Frey, graduate student in accounting,
received a Federation of Schools of Accountancy's Outstanding
Graduate Student Award. Hazel Nash, senior in accounting, received
a Financial Executives Institute's Outstanding Undergraduate Student
Award. Both students were nominated for the awards by K-State
accounting faculty. May 2006
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A K-State trumpet student has been awarded a scholarship by the
International Trumpet Guild. Kari Brooks, junior in applied music,
has received the scholarship to attend the 2006 International
Trumpet Guild Conference, June 6-10, at Rowan University, Glassboro,
N.J. Brooks competed against 80 other applicants to receive the
scholarship through her recorded audition. Ten scholarships were
awarded in the category of ages 18-22. May 2006
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K-State's National Agri-Marketing Association student team placed
first in the 2006 National Agri-Marketing Competition. The competition
was at the National Agri-Marketing Association's annual conference
and trade show, April 19-21, in Kansas City, Mo. For the competition,
students chose a product and developed a plan to successfully
bring their product to the marketplace. David Lehman, K-State
instructor of marketing and team coach for the competition, said
the K-State team chose to market a fruit juice fortified with
skim milk and developed a marketing plan. Teams made a formal
presentation of their marketing plan to a panel of judges. Overall,
27 student National Agri-Marketing Association chapters participated
in the marketing competition and more than 350 student members
attended the conference. In the finals, K-State competed against
the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Michigan State University,
the University of Florida, Iowa State University and Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University. May 2006
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K-State's Landscape Contracting Team was recognized as one of
the Top 10 schools at the 30th annual Professional Landcare Network's
-- or PLANET -- Student Career Days at Brigham Young University,
in Provo, Utah. The 26 students representing K-State finished
in 10th place out of 52 competing colleges and universities. This
was K-State's sixth year of participating in the national event
known as the "Landscape Olympics," and its second consecutive
year as a top 10 school. K-State students also claimed top 10
individual honors in several of the 25 competitive events, including
one national championship. Events included annual and perennial
Identification, business management, exterior landscape design,
irrigation design, landscape plant installation, leadership skills
and sales presentation. May 2006
*
Five Army ROTC cadets from K-State competed at the 13th annual
Military IronMan Competition, April 22, at the University of Texas
at Austin. The cadets were invited to compete because of their
performance in other top, military skills competitions nationwide.
May 2006
*
A project by a Kansas State University graduate student in planning
received the top individual award in the first Carole R. Bloom
competition of the American Planning Association's Resort and
Tourism Division. Derrick Slocum earned the award for his report,
"Development History of Branson, Mo., as a Tourist Destination."
The honor was presented as the association's annual conference
this spring. May 2006
*
For the fourth time in seven years, K-State's financial planning
team has won the Ameriprise Planning Invitational. The competition
was April 19-22 in Minneapolis, Minn. The win means the personal
financial planning program will receive a $10,000 scholarship.
Team members were Julie Fletcher, Audrea Youngers and Jamie Mager,
all seniors in family studies and human services with an emphasis
on personal financial planning. K-State also won the national
championship in 2005, 2003 and 2000. May 2006
*
K-State's Jeremy Dreiling, senior in architectural engineering,
with a minor in leadership studies, has been selected as one of
35 Tau Beta Pi Fellows for 2006-2007. Dreiling will received a
$10,000 cash stipend for one year of graduate study. Jonathan
Ferlas, junior in mechanical engineering, and Nicholas Van Sickel,
junior in computer engineering, were awarded Record Scholarships
worth $2,000 from Tau Beta Pi. The scholarships are for the 2006-2007
academic year of engineering study. May 2006
*
Eric Lawrence, a junior in aviation maintenance at K-State at
Salina, will spend 10 weeks this summer as an intern with the
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Lawrence will be working
at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility
in Suitland, Md., where he will prepare aviation artifacts for
display at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy
Center near Washington Dulles International Airport. The Udvar-Hazy
Center is the companion facility to the Smithsonian National Air
and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. May
2006
*
K-State fifth-year architecture students received three of four
awards given in the first student design competition sponsored
by 360 Architecture, a Kansas City, Mo., firm. The competition
featured schools from Kansas, Missouri and North Dakota. K-State's
Aaron Schump was the grand-prize winner; Gabe McKee was first
runner-up; and Tanner Pikop received honorable mention. The College
of Architecture, Planning and Design also received a donation
from the firm for being the college of the grand-prize winner.
May 2006
*
Three Kansas State University students are receiving Phi Kappa
Phi study abroad grants. Heather Gartrell, junior in family and
consumer sciences education, will study in Spain at the Centro
de Linguas Modernas at the University de Granada. Mary Geiger,
junior in agricultural communications and journalism, and Tricia
Dicke, junior in animal science and industry, will study in Argentina,
Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. The three K-State students were among
38 students from across the nation awarded the scholarships from
Phi Kappa Phi, a national honorary society recognizing and promoting
academic excellence in all fields of higher education. The $1,000
grants are designed to recognize and assist undergraduates as
they seek knowledge abroad. April 2006
*
K-State graduate student in public administration, Sarah Bouker,
Hays, has received a Presidential Management Fellowship, which
allows her to work with a federal agency for two years. She also
received an award from the Kansas Chapter of the American Society
for Public Administration, which recognizes outstanding students
in public administration from participating Kansas universities.
April 2006
*
Brandon Lutterman, who recently completed his course work for
a master's degree in fine arts at K-State, is the winner of the
2006 Niche Award for his ceramic sculpture "Unearthed."
The Niche Awards are sponsored by Niche magazine, an exclusive
trade publication for American craft retailers. The awards honor
outstanding creative achievements of American and Canadian craft
artists in a variety of media. Works by this year's winners were
featured in February at the Philadelphia Buyer's Market of American
Craft, as well as in the spring issue of Niche magazine. Lutterman,
of Madelia, Minn., said "Unearthed" represents
the landscapes and solitude of the Boundary Water canoeing area
between the Minnesota-Canada border. It was created using curved
slabs of clay that rest on legs that resemble tree branches. Rocks,
branch sprigs and other natural objects were pressed into the
clay to give it texture. Its glazes range from metallic to bright
teal in color. April 2006
*
Kansas State University's William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition
team finished 26th out of the 500 participating teams in the event.
It was the third highest finish ever for a K-State team and placed
K-State among the top 5 percent of the colleges in the competition.
Results of the Putnam competition, held in December 2005, were
recently released by the Mathematical Association of America.
The competition began in 1938 and is the most prestigious math
contest for undergraduates at universities in the United States
and Canada. Team member Jeffrey Amos senior in mathematics and
statistics, finished among the top 3 percent of the students in
the competition and had one of the top two performances among
students from the Big 12 Conference. April 2006
*
During K-State's 2006 spring break, 15 K-State Army ROTC cadets
went to White Sands Missile Range in Las Cruces, N.M., to compete
in the Bataan Memorial Death March -- a 26.2 mile military marathon
across the desert. K-State's "Wildcat Light" Military
Coed Light team, competing in military uniforms without rucksacks,
took third place among 20 teams. Michael Weilbacher, senior in
architectural engineering, placed third in the military light
individual division. The competition, now in its 17th year, is
conducted annually to honor the service members who defended the
Philippine Islands during World War II. This year, about 4,000
competitors from across the U.S. and different nations participated.
April 2006
*
Two K-State students received honors for their Japanese writing
and speaking abilities at a recent five-state regional essay contest
in late March at the University of Iowa. Contestants were judged
on content, grammar and appropriateness of expression, language
pronunciation and intonation, and delivery and memorization. Micah
Larson, senior in computer engineering, placed third in college
advanced level for his essay, "Maybe I'm a Sunflower?"
Violet Wright, sophomore in mechanical engineering, received first
place in college intermediate level for her essay, "Lessons
from Bugs." April 2006
*
K-State's Interfraternity and Panhellenic councils both earned
several honors from the Mid-American Greek Council Association.
The awards were presented at the association's annual meeting
in Chicago. The Interfraternity Council, competing in Sutherland
Division III, was recognized for outstanding achievement in community
service and philanthropy; leadership and education development;
risk reduction and management; academic achievement; council management;
membership recruitment; and public relations. The Panhellenic
Council, competing in the Jellison Division IV, was recognized
for outstanding achievement in council management; academic achievement;
community service and philanthropy; leadership and educational
development; membership recruitment; public relations; risk reduction
and management; and self governance and judicial affairs. April
2006
*
Teams from K-State took the top two places in the recent 2006
Kansas Collegiate Mathematics Competition. K-State also won most
of the competition's individual honors, with two students tying
for first place overall, and another student taking third place.
The competition was part of the Kansas section meeting of the
Mathematical Association of America. Members of the K-State team
placing first in the competition were Michael Higgins, senior
in mathematics and statistics, who also tied for first in individual
honors; Jeffrey Amos, senior in mathematics and statistics, who
finished third individually in the competition; and Aly Deines,
senior in mathematics. Members of the K-State team placing second
were Matthew Burkemper, senior in mathematics, who tied for first
in individual honors; Adam Gelroth, senior in mathematics, and
Kevin McBeth, senior in mathematics, statistics and economics.
March 2006
*
Two K-State graduate students have earned $500 scholarships for
the research posters they presented at the recent 2006 Graduate
Student Capitol Research Summit. The scholarships recognize excellence
in communicating about science and research to the general public.
They were awarded by Kansas BIO, the state's biotechnology industry
organization. The recipients are Satish Motipalli, graduate student
in mechanical and nuclear engineering, who presented "An
innovative Web application for designing and automatic numerical
control code generation"; and Rosemary Eustace, graduate
student in family studies and human services, who presented "Adolescent
sexuality: a risk factor analysis across early, middle and late
adolescence." The graduate student councils at K-State, KU
and WSU organize the research summit each spring an effort to
increase public awareness about the impact of research on the
state. March 2006
*
K-State interior architecture and product design students received
two of three awards given by the Northern California chapter of
the International Interior Design Association. Jennifer West,
fifth-year student received a $3,000 scholarship, while Danielle
Garrison, fourth-year student, and Sarah Sloan, fifth-year student,
shared a second $3,000 scholarship. The Northern California chapter
sponsors the competitive scholarship program to benefit future
design professionals. This year's competition topic was "Women
in Design," with each competitor asked to prepare a written
and visual consideration of women's relevance in design. March
2006
*
K-State's Stacy Johnson, senior in biology, and David Eichman,
fifth-year student in interior architecture and product design,
are recipients of Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships.
The scholarships, worth up to $5,000, are supporting their study
abroad this spring. Johnson's study program, through Teikyo University,
is at the Maastricht Center for Transatlantic Studies in Maastricht,
The Netherlands. Eichman is in Japan studying through a self-designed
program. March 2006
*
K-State senior Kourtney Bettinger, Beloit, is K-State's latest
winner of a $30,000 Harry S. Truman scholarship. K-State is first
in the nation among public universities in producing Truman scholars
-- 29 and one alternate since the first awards were made in 1977.
Bettinger is a senior in pre-medicine and Spanish, with secondary
majors in international studies and Latin American studies. K-State
leads the nation's 500 four-year public universities with the
most Truman scholars. The University of Michigan, University of
Virginia and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill follow
K-State. In addition to the $30,000 for graduate study, scholars
also receive priority admission and supplemental financial aid
at some premier graduate institutions, leadership training, career
and graduate school counseling, and special internship opportunities
within the federal government. Recipients must be U.S. citizens,
have outstanding leadership potential and communication skills,
be in the top quarter of their class, and be committed to careers
in government or the not-for-profit sector. March 2006
*
Kansas State University geography graduate students Sumanth Reddy
and Mitchel Stimers were among the five members of the Great Plains-Rocky
Mountain student geography bowl team that won the 2006 National
GeoBowl Championship at the annual meeting of the Association
of American Geographers in March. Patrick Abbott, also a K-State
graduate student in geography, won third place for overall scoring.
He was a member of a substitute volunteer team at the competition.
March 2006
*
Jeremy Dreiling, fourth-year student in architectural engineering,
Hays, is the recipient of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating
and Air-Conditioning Engineers' Frank M. Coda Scholarship for
the 2006-2007 academic year. The one-year, $5,000 scholarship
is awarded for outstanding scholastic ability, character, leadership,
potential service to the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning
and refrigeration profession and need for financial assistance.
It is one of only eight scholarships awarded annually by the organization
to an undergraduate student pursuing a bachelor of science or
engineering degree, and who is enrolled full-time in a program
accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.
Candidates must have a cumulative college grade point average
of a least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. February 2006
*
Karla Kepley, a K-State senior in dietetics and gerontology, Thayer,
has been named to USA Today's 2006 All-USA College Academic Third
Team. Matthew Basel, a K-State senior in chemistry, biology and
biochemistry, Overland Park, is an honorable mention selection.
This is the 17th annual team program. Each February, USA Today
honors 20 undergraduate academic all-stars as its All-USA College
Academic Team. Forty runners-up are named to the second and third
teams. In addition, 23 students were selected as honorable mentions.
The academic team is for full-time undergraduate students seeking
their first baccalaureate degree at a four-year institution. Undergraduates
must excel in scholarship and extend their intellectual abilities
beyond the classroom to benefit society. Criteria include grade
point average, academic rigor, leadership, activities and an essay
describing the student's most outstanding intellectual endeavor
done while in college. February 2006
*
Lola Shrimplin, senior in pre-journalism and mass communications,
has won second place in the editorial writing competition of the
2005-2006 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. Shrimplin receives
$1,500 scholarship and a certificate of merit. K-State's A.Q.
Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications also receives
a matching donation. February 2006
*
Three aviation students from K-State at Salina have been selected
by pilot and millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett to support the
second Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer record attempt. Fossett will
look to set the longest nonstop flight distance record in February
during the GlobalFlyer Ultimate Flight. His attempt comes less
than a year since the aircraft's first record-setting nonstop,
solo flight around the world. K-State students Nancy Milleret,
Patrick Rinearson and James Reed all assisted with the first GlobalFlyer
record in 2005. Fossett has asked them to assist with the planning,
maintenance and mission control operations for the Ultimate Flight.
January 2006
2005
student achievements
2004
student achievements
2003
student achievements
2002
student achievements
Achievements
index
