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2006-03-22
Dr. Irwin M. Lachman has accepted Dean Klein’s invitation to receive the first School of Engineering Medal of Excellence for Alumni Lifetime Achievement.

Dr. Lachman was inducted into the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame in 2002. He has a place in history for contributions to our everyday lives. He was a member of a team of three Corning research scientists whose patent was issued 2/5/74; Ceramic Substrate for Catalytic Converters, Dr. Rodney Bagley, Dr. Irwin Lachman, and Ronald Lewis. The Clean Air Act of 1970 challenged them to invent the catalytic converter, removing toxins from automotive emissions. Due to their research and technology we now have unleaded gas and significantly less air pollution from automobiles. These devices have kept millions of tons of CO, NOx and poorly combusted fuel from our atmosphere.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, he was raised in Roosevelt, New Jersey. Dr. Lachman received his bachelor’s degree in ceramic engineering from Rutgers University and his master’s degree and Ph.D. in ceramic engineering from The Ohio State University. Before joining Corning, he was a first Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and a research engineer at Thermo Materials, Inc., Menlo Park, California and at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, NM. Dr. Lachman is a fellow of the American Ceramics Society and holds 39 US patents. He retired from Corning in 1994.

The inaugural class of Medal of Excellence recipients will receive their awards at a gala dinner on Wednesday, May 17, 2006. The School of Engineering Commencement Convocation will recognize Dr. Lachman on Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 5:00 p.m. at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.



2005-07-28
Dr. John Ballato, a PhD graduate of our department, has won the Liberty Fellowship award, awarded to 20 emerging South Carolina leaders.

The Liberty Fellowship is a statewide leadership effort sponsored by Liberty Corporation, Wofford College and the Aspen Institute, to identify 20 emerging South Carolina leaders each year. The Fellowship is a two-year program aimed at identifying the future leaders of South Carolina and gives them special executive management and leadership training. In addition, it forms a strong network among these individuals and government and business leaders. They pick 20 out of over 100 nominees. Each Fellow will attend a series of workshops, have a mentor (typically a CEO of a major company) and perform a public service project.

Dr. Ballato is an Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Clemson University. He also directs Clemson's Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET), a Research Center of Economic Excellence and co-founded Tetramer Technologies, LLC, a Clemson University faculty spin-off company. Ballato has published over 80 archival scientific papers, holds six U.S. patents, and is a recipient of the National Institute of Ceramic Engineers’ Schwartzwalder-PACE Award, in recognition of achievements significant to the profession and the general welfare of the American people. He earned a B.S. in Ceramic Science and Engineering and a Ph.D. in Ceramic and Materials Engineering from Rutgers University.

Please join us in congratulating John!

For more information about the Liberty Fellowship see www.libertyfellowshipsc.org.

2005-04-13
Kris Behler (RU CME' 03) has been awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

According to the NSF website, "The National Science Foundation aims to ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the United States and to reinforce its diversity by offering approximately 1,000 graduate fellowships in this competition. The Graduate Research Fellowship provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees and is intended for students who are at the early stages of their graduate study. The Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) invests in graduate education for a cadre of diverse individuals who demonstrate their potential to successfully complete graduate degree programs in disciplines relevant to the mission of the National Science Foundation." (www.nsf.gov/grfp)
Kris has also won travel grants from the National Science Foundation and the NATO-ASI Program.
Kris now attends graduate school at Drexel University's Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Please join us in congratulating Kris!

2005-04-07
Dr. Matthew J. Dejneka, a graduate of the Ceramic and Materials Department, has been honored with the Schwartzwalder-Pace award from the American Ceramic Society.

The Karl Schwartzwalder-Professional Achievement in Ceramic Engineering (PACE) Award is presented jointly by the National Institute of Ceramic Engineers (NICE) and The American Ceramic Society (ACerS). It recognizes the nation's outstanding young ceramic engineer whose achievements have been significant to the profession and the general welfare of the American people.

Join us in congratulating Dr. Dejneka!

2005-02-28
Irwin Lachman (BS '52), a graduate of the department has been awarded a National Medal of Technology by President Bush.

Mr. Lachman, now retired, has been cited by the President and the Technology Administration for work at Corning Inc. that resulted in the design and manufacture of the cellular ceramic substrate for catalytic converters which enabled auto manufacturers to develop the world's first commercially mass-produced automotive catalytic converter.

Established in 1980 by an Act of Congress, the National Medal of Technology (NMT) is the nation’s highest honor awarded by the President for technological innovation. The awards process generally takes over a year, beginning with the Call for Nominations and a submission deadline several months away. The NMT Evaluation Committee of distinguished, independent experts evaluates the merits of all candidates nominated through an open, competitive solicitation process. Committee recommendations are submitted to Secretary of Commerce, who makes recommendations to the President for final selection. The National Medal of Technology laureates are announced by the White House and the Department of Commerce once the medallists are notified. The Technology Administration administers the National Medal of Technology program.

2005-01-10
Dr. Yu Wang, a Rutgers graduate from 2001, has been appointed as an Assistant Professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Dr. Wang worked as a reasearch associate in the Department of Ceramic and Materials Engineering before his appointment at Virginia Tech. His research interests include computer simulation of microstructure evolution, microstructure-property relationships, solid-state phase transformations, self-assembling of ferroelastic, ferroelectric and ferromagnetic domains in multi-functional materials, and mechanical properties of materials.

Join us in congratulating Dr. Wang!

2004-11-04
Mayank Bulsara, a graduate of the department, has been named to Technology Review magazine's Top 100 Innovators Under 35.

Bulsara co-founded AmberWave in June 1998 and is responsible for leading AmberWave's engineering teams to launch directions and plans for AmberWave's technology roadmap and coordinates with AmberWave's sales and marketing teams to establish and support strategic sales accounts.

He holds a bachelor's degree in Ceramic Engineering from Rutgers University, and a Ph.D. and S.M. from MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering, where he performed research involving the characterization and integration of lattice-mismatched III-V compound materials on GaAs and Si substrates. Bulsara has co-authored numerous patents and technical papers on the design and properties of substrates and devices. For more information about his company, see http://www.amberwave.com/.

2004-09-13
Dr. Bonnie Gersten is a recipient of the prestigious James D. Watson Investigator Award.

This recognition is awarded to ten of NY state's "finest young biotechnology scientists and engineers,” in the wrods of Governor George Pataki. Dr. Gersten is a graduate of the CME Department, where she received her BS in 1991, her MS in 1994 and her PhD in 1999.

The James D. Watson Investigator Program serves, through professional recognition and development, to facilitate New York’s ability to retain its top young scientific talent. The awards, including a $200,000 research grant, are made to investigators who perform research in the life sciences or in other life science enabling disciplines such as engineering, material science, chemistry, computer science, electronics, physics, bioinformatics, nanotechnologies, and applications of microelectronics and micro-electromechanical devices. For more information see http://www.nystar.state.ny.us/jdw.htm

2004-06-23
One of the department's graduates, Evelyn DeLiso (PhD '86), was initiated Fellow of the American Ceramic Society.

The Fellow award is given to persons of good reputation who have been members of the American Ceramic society at least five years continuously at the time of election. They have been proven qualified for elevation to the grade of Fellow by reason of outstanding contributions to the ceramic arts or sciences; through broad and productive scholarship in ceramic science and technology, by conspicuous achievement in ceramic industry, or by outstanding service to the Society.

Currently, Dr. DeLiso is Senior Materials Development Engineer at Masco Corporation’s R&D Center in Taylor, Michigan (Detroit area). She was a research scientist and project manager for Corning Incorporated at Sullivan Park between 1988 and 2002. In 1999 and 2000 she worked in Photonics Research at Corning’s Fontainebleau Research Center outside Paris, France. Prior to spending time at the Fontainebleau Research Center, she was a supervisor for Corning Incorporated in the Optical Materials and Process Research Department where her work was focused on processes for fabrication of optical waveguides. She has also worked for Corning Incorporated in the areas of polycrystalline ceramics and extrusion technology.

2004-05-20
Dr. Matthew J. Dejneka, a graduate of the Ceramic and Materials Department, has been honored with the 2004 Woldemar A. Weyl International Glass Science Award.

The prestigious Weyl Award is made every three years to recognize a young scientist whose work in glass science has shown ingenuity, initiative, and above all innovative thinking. Dr. Dejneka earned his B.S., M.S., and, in 1995, his Ph.D. degree in Ceramic Science and Engineering from Rutgers University. He works for Corning Incorporated, Corning, New York, USA and will receive the award and present the Weyl Lecture at the XX International Congress on Glass which will be held in Kyoto, Japan September 26 - October 1, 2004.