Dave Meehl, center, with Chancellor Ralph Ford, at left, and Dr. Tim Kurzweg, the James R. Meehl Director of the School of Engineering.
$5M Gift Endows Directorship of School of Engineering
New giving by Dave Meehl, a retired financial officer who worked at accounting firms, food companies, and Lakeshore Community Services, will provide $5 million to Penn State Behrend’s schools of Engineering and Science.
A $3 million gift will establish Behrend’s first school directorship: The James R. Meehl Director of the School of Engineering. The gift is named for Meehl’s late father, who worked at and later owned Eureka Electrical Products, the oldest continuously operated company in Erie County.
An additional $2 million estate commitment will provide ongoing support in Behrend’s School of Engineering and School of Science.
“We appreciate the vision and commitment that shaped these gifts,” Chancellor Ralph Ford said. “The new Meehl directorship, in particular, elevates both the School of Engineering and its leadership. It positions us to do even more with the academic and research programs that already distinguish Penn State Behrend as a leader in engineering and innovation.”
The funding will be used to purchase equipment and expand research and teaching labs in Burke Center and the Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Center.
“This will help us recruit and retain high-performing faculty members and support them in the early years of their careers, as they develop their preliminary research and begin to bring in external research funding,” said Tim Kurzweg, director of the School of Engineering. He will be the first to hold the Meehl directorship title.
Alumna’s SpaceX Career Talk Draws a Crowd
Julia Cecchetti ’20, center, here with Dr. Tim Kurzweg, James R. Meehl Director of the School of Engineering, and Melanie Ford, associate teaching professor of computer science and software engineering, returned to Penn State Behrend to talk about her career at SpaceX.
The School of Engineering welcomed alumna Julia Cecchetti, a 2020 Mechanical Engineering graduate, back to campus last fall to talk about her career with SpaceX, where she is a propulsion development engineer working on the company’s Raptor engine.
To the surprise of no one who knew Cecchetti at Behrend, her career has skyrocketed (pun intended) along with her joy and enthusiasm for her chosen field. She is a recipient of the NASA Early Career Achievement Medal for her work on the Dragon Draco thrusters; the medal is given for significant performance by an individual during the first ten years of their career in support of the NASA mission.
Cecchetti’s talk was informative, funny, and well-attended by students, alumni, faculty and staff, and community members.
Google Engineer Serves as Fasenmyer Keynote Speaker
Greg Simon
Greg Simon, vice president of engineering for Google, was the keynote speaker at the School of Engineering’s 2024 Fasenmyer Engineering Design Conference this past spring. Simon earned a degree in Electrical Engineering from Penn State Behrend in 1995 and a master’s in Electrical Engineering from University Park in 1997.
He has had a ground-breaking career, creating the web browser for the Apple Newton while still in graduate school, helping to design and launch BMW’s iPod interface, and working as the software technical lead for webOS at Palm before joining Google’s Chrome team in 2011. Now, as Google’s vice president of engineering, he focuses on core operating systems.
Behrend at National Plastics Show
Penn State Behrend engineering students developed and created injection molded tongs that were distributed at the National Plastics Show in Florida.
This past spring, Behrend faculty and staff attended the National Plastics Show (NPS) in Orlando, Florida, where they were able to connect with more than 100 alumni of the college. The largest plastics trade show in the United States, NPS features more than 2,000 exhibitors and more than 1 million square feet of exhibit space focusing on plastics, innovation, and sustainability.
At the show, Behrend gave out injection molded tongs that were developed as a part of a senior design project undertaken by students in the Plastics Engineering Technology program. A team of students designed the part and the mold, with the goal of molding the first half of the tongs and the over-molded assembly in the same shot. The mold was built by toolmakers at Behrend. The tongs, sponsored by Behrend’s Plastics Training Academy, were a popular giveaway and conversation starter.
While in town for NPS, Behrend hosted an alumni event for PLET majors and had more than 130 attendees!
The Plastics Training Academy at Penn State Behrend offers a variety of short-term, hands-on injection molding training workshops and seminars.
Engineered for Maximum Efficiency
Engineering students designed and built a high-efficiency, single-seater internal combustion engine and competed in the Shell Eco-marathon Americas competition.
Student members of Penn State Behrend’s Society of Automotive Engineers Club once again competed in the Shell Eco-marathon Americas competition, held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this spring.
Club members work together throughout the academic year to design and build a high-efficiency, single-seater internal combustion engine vehicle. The objective of the competition is to build a car that achieves the maximum fuel economy possible. Behrend’s vehicle reached 275.3 miles per gallon.
Tune In to Behrend Talks, Chancellor-Hosted Podcast
Behrend Talks is a podcast featuring a variety of guests talking about topics key to the growth and success of the Erie region and beyond. Hosted by Penn State Behrend Chancellor Ralph Ford, the talks cover everything from managing inflation to artificial intelligence and its impact on cybersecurity to navigating the college enrollment process. Find past episodes at behrendtalks.buzzsprout.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
Behrend Wins a Gold
Cast in Steel Technical Report winners, from left, Julia Sank, Dan Tanaskovic, Chris Annear, and Jacob Bailey, pose with one of the competition judges, center.
Penn State Behrend students took first place in the Technical Report category in this spring’s Cast in Steel Competition.
The Steel Founders’ Society of America organizes the annual college engineering competition to celebrate the physical properties and imaginative uses of steel. More than thirty universities and forty teams competed in this year’s event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
This year’s challenge was to cast or forge a Halligan bar—a forcible entry tool used by firefighters. Each bar manufactured by the student teams was put through a series of tests by firefighters in a live presentation. Teams were also required to create a project video and technical report documenting the design and manufacturing process.
Considering Graduate School?
Penn State Behrend’s Master of Manufacturing Management (M.M.M.) degree builds skills in engineering, business, and quality. The degree can be pursued full-time or part-time, as classes are primarily online, with two on-campus visits per semester for hands-on, experiential learning.
Offered jointly by the School of Engineering and the Black School of Business, the M.M.M. program provides students with insights from all angles of manufacturing management.
In Memoriam
Dr. Dipo Onipede
The School of Engineering is sad to report the loss of Dr. Dipo Onipede, associate professor of mechanical engineering, who died January 9, 2024. He was 63.
Onipede earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Columbia University and a doctorate from UCLA. He joined the School of Engineering as a faculty member in 2003 and also recently served as associate director of academics for the school.
He was highly engaged as a professor, adviser, and mentor, guiding many students in their academic studies and providing counsel to other faculty members as well. He was known for his calm, kind, and gentle nature.
Onipede is survived by his wife, Selin; daughter, Yeshim; and son, Kerem.
In his honor, the School of Engineering established the Dr. Dipo Onipede Memorial Fund to create a scholarship that will exist in perpetuity at Behrend.
“This is a wonderful way to honor our friend, colleague, and mentor, and we thank all who contributed,” said Chancellor Ralph Ford. “Anyone who knew Dipo knows what a fitting tribute this scholarship is to his memory.”
If you’d like to contribute, visit raise.psu.edu/DipoMemorial or contact Kelly Kemmet at [email protected] or 814-898-6668.
Faculty and Staff News
The School of Engineering welcomed two new assistant professors of electrical and computer engineering: Dr. Azeemuddin Syed and Dr. Hussin Ketout. The school also added two administrative support assistants: Lillian Vandervort and Kayla Majewski.
Honors
Dr. Omar Ashour, professor of industrial engineering, was selected to participate in the Penn State Emerging Academic Leaders Program during the Fall 2024 term. Dr. Ihab Ragai, professor of engineering, is serving as the 2024-2025 president of the North American Manufacturing Research Institution. He also received the 2024 Dedicated Service Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Selected Research Awards
Dr. Gamini Mendis, assistant professor of engineering, was awarded $491,000 by UHV Technologies for his proposal “Low-Cost Modular System for Collecting and Recycling Consumer Batteries Using Artificial Intelligence.” He was also awarded $385,000 by the National Science Foundation for his collaborative proposal with Duke University on “Quantifying and Predicting Impacts of Plastic Additives Across Levels of Biological and Social Organization.” Dr. Xiaoshi Zhang, assistant professor of plastics engineering technology, and Brian A. Young, associate professor of engineering, were awarded $36,000 by Sasol North America to study Sasol Fischer-Tropsch additives for injection molding. Nick Vitelli, a lecturer in plastics engineering technology, was awarded $110,000 from Maa’va Inc. for the Development of Process Technology for High Volume Production of Carbon Capture Polymers.
Faculty and Staff Awards
The following were recognized with school awards: Dr. Ihab Ragai, professor of engineering, Excellence in Teaching. Dr. Kyeiwaa Asare-Yeboah, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, Excellence in Research. Dean Lewis, assistant teaching professor of mechanical engineering, Excellence in Service. Dr. Naseem Ibrahim, associate professor of computer science and software engineering, Excellence in Advising. Dr. Abdallah Abdallah, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, Excellence in Outreach. Chris Bartlett, machinist, Staff Excellence.
Other School News
Ed Evans, associate teaching professor of mechanical engineering technology, was named associate director of academics. Dr. Omar Ashour, professor of industrial engineering, was named associate director for research.