Inaugural Donald W. Clayton Excellence in Engineering Awards Bestowed Upon Students & Mentors
June 21, 2005
Undergraduate students Carla M. Haslauer, Adam M. Lewis, Matthew E. McCaughey and James W. Post, and graduate students Alan G. Bussard, Robert J. Dorgan, Carol J. Hill and Royston E. Siow were the inaugural recipients of the Donald W. Clayton Excellence in Engineering Awards presented at the LSU College of Engineering’s Hall of Distinction on April 14, 2005. The graduate students’ mentors – Dr. Theda Daniels-Race, Dr. Kerry Dooley, Dr. Marc Levitan and Dr. George Z. Voyiadjis – also received Clayton Awards for their leadership role in the graduate students’ professional development.
The Clayton Award was established through an endowment created by Donald W. and Gloria Pichon Clayton to recognize outstanding engineering undergraduate students, graduate students and their mentors. This award is bestowed upon a student who has demonstrated exemplary character, scholarly accomplishment, leadership and has served as a role model and ambassador for the College of Engineering. Nominations for the students meeting the award criteria can be made by faculty, staff and students. Undergraduate recipients receive a $5,000 stipend, graduate student recipients receive a $10,000 stipend, and their principal adviser/faculty member receives a $2,000 stipend.
Donald and Gloria are 1959 alumni of the Craft and Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering and the College of Education, respectively. Donald is a 1993 inductee of the College of Engineering Hall of Distinction for his significant contributions to the engineering profession.
James Post, a Baton Rouge native, is in his third year in the mechanical engineering program. Upon graduation, he is interested in pursing his master’s degree in the area of turbomachinery. A student worker in Dr. Sumanta Acharya’s lab in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, James works alongside both a graduate and doctoral student investigating aerodynamic and heat transfer effects in turbine blades, in an effort to minimize heat transfer losses on the blades and endwall improving the efficiency of the turbine. He has hopes of one day working in air travel and is looking at Lockheed Martin in New Orleans or NASA-Stenis for future employment.
Matthew McCaughey, also a Baton Rouge native, is in his fourth year in the chemical engineering program at LSU. As a student assistant in the Chemical Engineering Department, he continued his research at Clemson University last summer where he studied using solid catalysts to make biodiesel, which he then presented at Southern Mississippi University’s Interstate Network of Science Programs Integrating Research and Education (INSPIRE) Conference. He plans on attending graduate school, pursuing his doctorate in interdisciplinary Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program in chemical engineering and the biological sciences.
Carla Haslauer, a Metairie native, is also an undergraduate recipient of the Clayton Award. She is a senior in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and has had the opportunity to work on various research and design projects during her years at LSU. She has examined bioinformatic datasets for genetic mutations, performed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplifications, and research and designed protocol to separate DNA using a High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) system. “Each of these projects has not only enhanced my understanding in these specific areas, but also granted me insight into the amount of dedication and hard work required to produce results when there is very little previous data to support a hypothesis at the interface of biology and engineering,” she said. Carla has been accepted to the joint graduate program at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University where she will be pursuing a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering.
Also an undergraduate recipient, Adam Lewis, a native of Baton Rouge, is currently applying to the graduate program at LSU where he hopes to pursue his M.S. in Petroleum Engineering with the Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering. He would like to study reservoir simulation under Dr. Christopher White. As a two-time former intern with ConocoPhillips, one of which allowed him to move to Anchorage, Alaska, he has accepted yet a third internship offer for the next summer. He has been very pleased with his internships, to date, saying, “I believe that the vocational experience gained during these internships has complemented my formal education by helping me gain an operational perspective of academic material.” Upon entering graduate school, he hopes to work with ConocoPhillips during the formulation and development of his thesis project, which would involve improving the performance of their in-house simulation program (SENSOR) when modeling the Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques in specific geologic settings.
Carol Hill, a graduate student pursuing her doctorate in civil engineering with an emphasis on engineering for natural hazards, also received a Clayton Award. Her areas of interest include structural reliability and the vulnerability of structures to hurricanes. Upon graduation, she would like to pursue a university faculty position to expand her research in the field and “support the development of others that will go on to broaden the field of engineering.” Carol is mentored by Dr. Marc Levitan.
Alan Bussard, a California native, is a second year PhD candidate in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Alan graduated with a B.S. from the University of California at Berkeley, and was attracted to LSU largely because of the many petrochemical and refinery industries on the Gulf Coast. He is investigating the routes for polymer hydrogenation and has addressed the limitations of current reactor designs and methods, possibly making the process more economically viable on the industrial scale. Upon completion of his doctorate degree, he hopes to become a post-doctoral researcher and continue investigations into other applications, ultimately pursuing a career in education as a professor of chemical engineering. Alan’s graduate advisor is Dr. Kerry Dooley.
Royston Siow, a graduate student, is a native of Malaysia. He would like to study nanotechnology, more specifically, molecular electronics in the hopes of one day creating technological innovations using the “nano” scientific findings of physicists, chemists and other scientists to optimize these phenomena for practical, efficient and cost-effective use. His ultimate goal is to be a university professor in an attempt to pursue “excellence in scholarship through research, teaching and service,” he said. Dr. Theda Daniels-Race serves as Royston’s graduate advisor.
Finally, Robert Dorgan, a Mobile native, is pursuing his doctorate in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, where he is working on the numerical implementation of a gradient-based thermodynamically consistent constitutive model under his advisor Dr. George Z. Voyiadjis. He has also pursued this work with colleagues at Sandia National Laboratories in California where he has interned during the past four summers and with colleagues in Poland where he is personally involved in a currently funded NSF grant for U.S.-Polish collaborative research. Robert has made numerous presentations of his research work at conferences and seminars, including his recent presentation in the 41st Annual 2004 Society of Engineering Science (SES) Conference at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he won first prize in the Student Paper Competition for his presentation entitled, “A C1 Finite Element Multi-Field Solution of a Gradient Plasticity Model.” Upon completion of his degree, Robert would like to secure a tenure-track university position where he can develop research oriented teaching skills and conduct high quality research in the field of mechanics of materials.
The College congratulates all of the winners of this prestigious award and is especially proud of their dedication and commitment to their desired field of study. Also, the College would like to recognize the faculty advisors of the graduate students whose inspiration and enlightenment has guided their research interests.
