This
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
Three 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
This 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
The 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
Three 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
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