Read the TBP Blog for news on:
Top 2020 Graduates
SpaceX Success
Office Remodel
Tau Bates Earn Top Student Honors
Shelley M. Edwards, TN Gamma ’20, has been named the recipient of the 2020 Derryberry Award, the highest student honor from Tennessee Tech University.
Edwards recently earned a degree in chemical engineering with a concentration in biomolecular engineering. She received the Derryberry Award for her leadership in educational goals and demonstration of the highest intellectual integrity, leadership in entrepreneurship-focused efforts, and leadership in community-outreach services efforts.
Amber N. Smith, NY Sigma ’20, was named the 2020 Marlin Miller Outstanding Senior by Alfred University. She was a biomaterials engineering major, minoring in business administration, chemistry, biology, and mathematics.
Smith was a four-year member of the Chemistry Club and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and this year served as SWE club president. She was a Biomaterials Lab researcher and the recipient of a research grant through the Judson Leadership Center, using funding to investigate the STEM gender equity paradox by collecting and analyzing data from the United States and Kazakhstan. Her findings were presented at the Women and Gender Studies Roundtable. She also received an Applied and Experiential (APEX) Learning Program grant.
Fulbright Scholars from Arkansas
Eleanor G. Henson, AR Alpha ’20, earned a bachelor’s degree in biological engineering with a sustainability minor.
She will use her Fulbright Study/Research Grant to pursue a master’s degree in the environment and sustainability program at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, and plans a career in academia. On campus, Henson conducted research on green roofs and in 2019, she received a Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education to support her work.
Henson also conducted research in aquatic ecology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, as well as through a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates in Fayetteville.
Caroline R. Rhomberg, AR Alpha ’20, an honors industrial engineering May graduate in the college of engineering, will use her Fulbright Award to complete a two-year master’s degree in industrial engineering and operations research at the University of Ghent in Ghent, Belgium. She plans to pursue a Ph.D.
On campus, she researched network optimization, served as social chair for Alpha Pi Mu Industrial Engineering Honor Society, and was a founder of the Delta Gamma sorority on campus, serving as the director of scholarship. Rhomberg completed professional internships with two Arkansas-based companies, Arcbest and Dillards. In spring of 2019, she studied mathematics and statistics at the University of Newcastle in Callaghan, Australia, where she was an active member of the university’s Exchange Student Network.
Tau Bate Named Valedictorian
Ava M. Bellizzi, CA Alpha-Epsilon ’20, was named University of San Diego Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering’s 2020 Valedictorian.
She was an inaugural member of the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering Industry Scholars Program and Industry Mentorship Program.
Bellizzi was a member of three honor societies: Tau Beta Pi, Pi Tau Sigma (mechanical engineering honor society), and Kappa Gamma Pi (Catholic college graduate honor society). Bellizzi also received the David Malicky Engineering Scholarship. As she looks toward the future, Bellizzi plans to pursue a career as a mechanical engineer in the medical device industry and ultimately seek a graduate degree after gaining experience in the field.
Tau Bates Make Historic
SpaceX Journey
Lt. Col. Douglas G. (Doug) Hurley, LA Beta ’88, and Robert L. (Bob) Behnken, Ph.D., MO Gamma ’92, are the only two people who know what it’s like to fly on a SpaceX rocket. Prior to the launch, the pair revealed some more details about how it feels, and why the Falcon 9’s design changes things.
Hurley and Behnken flew on the first crewed flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon. The human-carrying capsule, designed to help NASA send astronauts to and from the International Space Station, was launched by a Falcon 9 rocket on May 30 from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida. It was a momentous occasion: after NASA’s space shuttle program ended in 2011, the agency had to send astronauts to the station with the help of Russian agency Roscosmos. SpaceX’s crewed flight helped kickstart a new era for NASA missions, one that brings these flights a little closer to home.
Click here to read the full article on Hurley and Behnken’s history-making journey.
HQ Remodel Underway!
Over the past few weeks, while working with a skeleton crew at Headquarters, the staff has been preparing and packing items to make way for a much needed office remodel. The home to Tau Beta Pi Headquarters, Nathan W. Dougherty Engineering building at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, was built in 1963 and many artifacts remain in the office from the traditional asbestos tile flooring to a rad Mid-Century Modern metal desk and credenza.
For the next couple of weeks, workers will be installing new flooring, painting, and creating more up-to-date work areas for the Headquarters staff. Take a peek at the ‘before’ by watching this video of Curt’s HQ Tour on YouTube, and follow this blog to see the ‘after’ shots next month.
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