2013 Engineering Achievements
* The Council of University Transportation Centers selected K-State's Ranjit Godavarthy, a December 2012 doctoral graduate in civil engineering, for the Wootan Outstanding Dissertation Award for his dissertation, "Network and design concepts for accommodating large trucks at roundabouts. It was completed under the direction of Gene Russell, professor emeritus of civil engineering. December 2013
* Sunanda Dissanayake, associate professor of civil engineering, was appointed chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers Transportation and Development Institute's Transportation Safety Committee. The committee disseminates safety information and provides education and training pertaining to safety issues related to the planning, design, construction and operation of transportation facilities. November 2013
* The American Nuclear Society selected J. Kenneth Shultis, professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering, for the 2013 Rockwell Lifetime Achievement Award. Shultis was cited for his numerous contributions over the last 50 years to the practice of shielding, shielding analyses, skyshine methodology and computer algorithms; the education of students through teaching and research; the training of professionals through short courses; the publication of textbooks and technical articles; and service to the profession. November 2013
* The student team of Garrett Crane, Jordan Heinen and Todd Blackburn placed second in the design-build division of the 21st annual Construction Management Student Competition for Region IV of the Associated Schools of Construction. The team is coached by Ray Buyle, assistant professor of architectural engineering and construction science. November 2013
* Jessica Heier Stamm, assistant professor in industrial manufacturing and systems engineering, has been recognized by the Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Research Institute at Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland, for having the best doctorate thesis in the last five years. Her dissertation, "Design and Analysis of Humanitarian and Public Health Logistics Systems," introduces new game theory and optimization methods for characterizing and improving the performance of logistics systems with decentralized control. October 2013
* Adam Wilkerson, senior in civil engineering, was among the 56 undergraduate college students named to the first class of Cargill Global Scholars. The new scholarship program selected college students from Brazil, China, Russia, India and the United States to receive funds to help cover their educational expenses and to participate in leadership development and enrichment activities with Cargill leaders. September 2013
* Buddy Lisk, junior in mechanical engineering, was one of four Kansas college students named as a national winner of the renewable $25,000 Buick Achiever National Scholarship funded by the General Motors Foundation. September 2013
* Alex Pint, senior in architectural engineering, was awarded a scholarship to attend the annual Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, Nov. 20-22, in Philadelphia, Pa. September 2013
* Ahmed Al-Rahmani, doctoral student in civil engineering, won first place and $1,000 in the national competition of the International Highway Engineering Exchange Program for his paper "An Artificial Intelligence Approach to Objective Health Monitoring and Damage Detection in Concrete Bridge Girders." His major professor is Hayer Rasheed, professor of civil engineering. September 2013
* Danny Rogers, professor of biological and agricultural engineering, was named a fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. Rogers, who has given many presentations addressing water resource management in his 36 years at K-State, is an agricultural engineer with K-State Research and Extension. He, along with K-State professor and colleague Gary Clark, was co-founder of the Kansas State University Mobile Irrigation Lab, designed to address reduced irrigation water availability. September 2013
* The department of biological and agricultural engineering's Fountain Wars Team earned second place at the international competition offered at the 2013 annual meeting of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. It was the team's second straight second-place finish in the event, a hands-on, real-time design competition where students design and model a fountain to complete technical tasks. The team's faculty adviser is Phil Barnes, associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering. August 2013
* The Biological Systems Engineering Student Professional Club earned a second-place award for excellence in initiative and professionalism among American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering student branches. The award, presented at the society's 2013 annual meeting and part of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers Trophies Competition, is based on the club's activities and achievements for the year. The club's faculty adviser is Joe Harner, professor and head of the department of biological and agricultural engineering. August 2013
* Anil Pahwa, professor of electrical and computer engineering, received the IEEE PES Prize Paper Award for 2013 at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Power and Energy Society general meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia. The work, "Weather Normalization of Reliability Indices," published in IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, was co-authored with industry members and produced in part during Pahwa's time spent as a member of an IEEE task force assigned to that topic. August 2013
* The Robotics Team won its seventh straight championship at the student robotics competition offered at the annual international meeting of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers in Kansas City, Mo. The university has never lost the competition since its inauguration in 2007. July 2013
* The College Database ranked Kansas State University No. 22 in the nation for engineering programs offered, above MIT, Cornell, Ohio State and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. * Danny Rogers, professor of biological and agricultural engineering, was elected to American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers fellow status and named the society's Kansas Section 2013 Member of the Year. July 2013
* Donghai Wang, professor of biological and agricultural engineering, and two former graduate students, Karnnalin Theerarattananoon and Feng Xu, were co-authors of work that received the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Superior Paper Award. July 2013
* Jessica Heier Stamm, assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, received the New Industrial Engineering Educator Outstanding Paper Award at the 2013 American Society for Engineering Education conference. The purpose of the award is to recognize exceptional industrial engineering instruction among junior faculty members. July 2013
* DeeAnn Turpin, May 2013 bachelor's graduate in biological systems engineering, received the 2013 Pharos of Alexandria Global Learning Award from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. The $1,000 award recognizes exemplary leadership skills, humanitarian service and dedication to the promotion of sustainable and environmentally sound engineering practices. July 2013
* Kristin Stewart, senior in architectural engineering, earned a $2,000 scholarship from Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society. The scholarship is awarded on a competitive basis of high scholarship, campus leadership and service and promise of future contributions to the engineering profession. June 2013
* K-State's quarter-scale tractor design team was the first-place winners in the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers' 16th annual International Quarter-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition. It's the 14th time in the last 15 years that K-State has won or placed in the top three of the event. K-State also won the X Team competition, which is for freshmen, sophomores and new team members. June 2013
* Kimberly Kramer, associate professor of architectural engineering and construction science, was elected regional president of the Structural Engineering Association of Kansas and Missouri. Her term began June 1. June 2013
* The Chem-E-Car Team landed a spot in the national competition, set for Nov. 1-2 in San Francisco. The team earned its spot by finishing in third place at a recent regional competition in Norman, Okla. The team entered two cars -- Catmobile and Wildcat Cruiser -- in the event, which earned third and fourth places in performance and first and third places in the poster presentation. May 2013
* The K-State Architectural Engineering Institute Competition Team won a national championship in the electrical category of the fourth annual Charles Pankow Foundation Student Design Competition, April 3-4, at State College, Pa. The five categories teams compete in are building systems integration, structural, mechanical, electrical and construction management. May 2013
* Bronson Blasi, a senior in architectural engineering, was one of just five national recipients of a scholarship from the Besal Scholarship Fund for the 2013-2014 school year. Blasi received a $3,000 scholarship. May 2013
* A team from the College of Engineering is among 10 selected nationwide to participate in the inaugural National Collegiate Wind Challenge, sponsored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado is the competition organizer, under direction of the U.S. Department of Energy. The team's goal is to build a small wind turbine that can charge an electronic device such as a cellphone or an iPad. Team members will be selected in the summer, with the competition taking place in May 2014.
* Clint Frye, doctoral student in chemical engineering, was named a Lawrence scholar by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He is the university's first recipient of the prestigious award and one of 12 scholars chosen this year. April 2013
* Leaders in Freshman Engineering, or LIFE, which is a part of Kansas State University's Engineering Student Council, has been named the best freshman council in the nation. The award was presented at the recent 2013 conference in Urbana, Ill. April 2013
* The Mid America CropLife Association board of directors selected K-State's Paige Druffel as one of 12 college students in the nation to receive its $2,000 Young Leader Scholarship for college expenses. Paige Druffel is an agricultural communications and journalism major. Her summer internship is with Monsanto. April 2013
* Brendan Bishop, president-elect of the Engineering Student Council, was elected regional recruitment coordinator for the National Association of Engineering Student Councils. His election came at the association's 2013 conference in Urbana, Ill. April 2013
* The American Concrete Institute named the College of Engineering an Excellent University for its accomplishments in 2012. K-State was one of just 16 universities to receive the institute's Award for University Student Activities, which recognizes schools that participate in institute-related activities. March 2013
* The College of Engineering was included in U.S. News & World Report's 2014 Best Graduate School ranking, making it among the best in the nation. The college was the only engineering graduate program in Kansas to be ranked. March 2013
* Architectural engineering students Alyssa Shinn and Kyle Knuth earned scholarship for the 2013-2014 school year from the Kansas City chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, or ASHRAE. Shinn, received a $1,000 scholarship and Knuth earned a $3,000 scholarship. February 2013.
* Jordan Bever, senior in the industrial and manufacturing systems, received first prize in the technical paper competition at the 2013 South Central Regional Student Conference of the Institute of Industrial Engineers. Her paper, "Designing a Palletization Process for Heart to Heart International," outlines the evaluation, design and implementation of a solution to improve the warehouse performance of a disaster relief agency. It was co-written by Lauren Cody and Brandon Mais, both December 2012 graduates in industrial and manufacturing systems engineering. The project adviser was Jessica Heier Stamm, assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering. February 2013.
* David Carter, pollution prevention specialist with the Pollution Prevention Institute, engineering extension, received his national certification from RABQSA as an auditor for energy management systems established under ISO 50001. Carter is one of only 46 ISO 50001 certified auditors in the United States. January 2012
* Liang Fan, university distinguished professor of chemical engineering, was honored with a special issue of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Volume 52, Issue 1, pages 1-546, dedicated to his lifelong contribution in chemical and process systems engineering. January 2013
