Clark School Significant Accomplishments

Dear Friends of the Clark School,

 

July 2010

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Dean PinesThis spring has been a season of great recognition for our school. We have garnered distinctions, awards and partnerships from the most highly regarded institutions in the engineering field—governmental, philanthropic, corporate—as well as the ringing endorsement of generous individuals and groups who know us well and choose to donate to our future.

Three Faculty Members Elected to the National Academy of Engineering

Ali MoslehThree Clark School-affiliated faculty members were elected as members of the National Academy of Engineering: John Anderson, aerospace engineering professor emeritus, was inducted for aerospace engineering and history textbooks and for contributions to hypersonic gas dynamics. Ali Mosleh (pictured), Jeong H. Kim Professor of Mechanical Engineering, was inducted for contributions to the development of Bayesian methods and computational tools in probabilistic risk assessment and reliability engineering. Ben Shneiderman, professor of computer science and the Clark School Institute for Systems Research, was inducted for research, software development and scholarly texts concerning human-computer interaction and information visualization. Their induction ranks as the greatest number of Clark School-affiliated faculty members ever elected in one year.

Students Capture National Scholarships, Team Victories

Dylan ReboisThis spring, Clark School undergraduate students were awarded some of the nation’s most prestigious scholarships, demonstrating not only their excellence in engineering but also their potential as leaders. Mechanical engineering junior Dylan Rebois won both the Truman Scholarship (government or pubic service), and the Udall Scholarship (environmental issues). Alex Leishman, aerospace engineering, and Ethan Schaler, mechanical engineering, won Goldwater Scholarships (research careers). Clark School teams placed first in the largest Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concept-Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) field of all time, with their project, "Robotic Assist Vehicle for Extraterrestrial Navigation (RAVEN)." It was our third straight year in the top position. In the Baja SAE racing competition, Terps Racing placed first among U.S. teams and fourth overall in a 100-university field.

New Partnerships with Lockheed Martin and the National Cancer Institute

Lockheed-MartinThe University of Maryland and Lockheed Martin Corporation have agreed to create a unique strategic relationship between the two institutions to produce innovative solutions for global and national security challenges. The agreement provides for work in three key areas: Centers of Collaboration, Joint Pursuit of Business Opportunities and Enhanced Research and Development. The initial Lockheed Martin commitment is a minimum of $1 million per year for three years. Patrick O’Shea, chair of electrical and computer engineering, will be the university lead in the relationship. Another agreement, between the university and the National Cancer Institute (part of the National Institutes of Health), establishes the Collaborative Research and Graduate Partnership Program in Cancer Technology. The program will train Maryland graduate students at NCI laboratories and provide for professional and academic exchanges between university faculty and NCI researchers. William Bentley, chair of the Fischell Department of Bioengineering, will play a key role in the partnership based on his expertise in nanotechnology, targeted drug delivery and micro-photonic cell imaging.

New Gifts Provide a Boost Down the Home Stretch

Great ExpectationsThree recent gifts will help us attract and support top undergraduate and graduate students and keep us on track to exceed our $185 million goal in the university’s $1 billion Great Expectations campaign. The Warren Citrin Graduate Fellowships in Sustainability will support first-year Ph.D. candidates in their sustainability research, and provide a mentor to guide them in commercializing their technologies. To help us compete with other top schools in offering support to promising undergraduate students, the Clark School Board of Visitors has established the Board of Visitors Scholarship Endowment of $500,000 to generate $25,000 annually for merit scholarships to be offered by the dean. L-3 Communications will provide $1 million to fund graduate research fellowships and undergraduate scholarships; support diversity programs, student organizations and competitions; and secure the company’s membership in the Clark School Corporate Partners program.

With some 18 months remaining in the campaign, I call on all friends of the Clark School to target a Clark School program that is important to you and make a gift appropriate to your situation. Please contact Leslie Borak, assistant dean for external relations, for assistance.

Darryll Pines
Dean and Farvardin Professor