Spectrum - Volume 19 Issue 07 October 10, 1996 - Achievers

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Achievers

Spectrum Volume 19 Issue 07 - October 10, 1996

Ralph Byers , director of government relations, has been inducted into Emory University's Athletic Hall of Fame. Byers, the university's liaison to state government, was honored for his soccer play at Emory from 1965-67. Byers was also an all-around athlete, participating in track and field events and setting several school records. He won Emory's award for best all-around athlete in 1966 and 1967.

David Dillard , a professor of engineering science and mechanics (ESM), recently received the Best Presentation Award from the Committee D-30 on High Modulus Fibers and Their Composites. Dillard's paper, "High Temperature and Environmental Effects on the Durability of Titanium/LaRC PETI-5 Adhesive Bonded System," was presented to the committee in November 1995 in Norfolk. The paper was co-authored by Dillard, H. Parvatareddy, an ESM graduate student, and H. Pasricha, a former ESM post-doctorate student.

The national Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) presented the 1995-96 Bronze Award for service excellence to the Western Virginia Senior Chapter of IIE. The chapter's president for the award-winning service year was Garry Coleman , visiting assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering (ISE); John Kobza , assistant professor of ISE served as vice-president. Educational programs offered during the year included plant tours, hands on demonstrations of the internet, and a technical paper contest for the local IIE student chapter.

Robert J. Beaton , associate professor of industrial and systems engineering and director of the Displays and Controls Laboratory, has been elected a fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES); he also was elected to the HFES executive council and appointed chairman of the society's technical standards committee. Also in 1996, Beaton was appointed chairman of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to the International Standards Organization's Ergonomics Standards Committee, and was re-appointed chairman of the American National Standards Institute ANSI/HFES 100 Standard Committee. Under Beaton's chairmanship, the ANSI/HFES committee is completing long-term revisions to the national standards on ergonomics design of computer workstations used in offices.

an achiever from Liz:

A research paper by Vinod Lohani , assistant professor of engineering fundamentals and research associate in civil engineering, and G.V. Loganathan , associate professor of civil engineering, has been selected as the best graduate paper in a national competition sponsored by the American Water Resources Association and the Universities Council on Water Resources. The paper, "An Early Warning System for Drought Management Using Palmer Drought Index," was written as part of Lohani's Ph.D. dissertation and will be published in the Water Resources Journal .

During September, Cliff Randall , the Charles P. Lunsford professor of civil engineering, chaired a two-day meeting of the Chesapeake Bay Program Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee in Annapolis, Maryland; participated as the U.S. representative in a two-day meeting of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the International Association on Water Quality (IAWQ) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands; and chaired a panel discussion on future trends in wastewater treatment and a technical session at the International Conference on Advanced Wastewater Treatment, held in Amsterdam and sponsored by IAWQ and the Netherlands Environmental Engineering Association. Randall also served as a panel member and made a presentation on biological nutrient removal at the Biological Wastewater Treatment Fundamentals and Modeling Symposium recently at the Hotel Roanoke.

William G. Herbert , professor in human nutrition, foods, and exercise, and director of the Cardiac Therapy and Intervention Center, spoke at two international conferences this summer. He was invited to give the opening presentation at the plenary symposium session of the 4th Nordic Congress on Cardiac Rehabilitation, in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he spoke on "Outcomes in Cardiac Rehabilitation: Current Issues in the United States." More than 600 physicians, nurses, and physiatrists attended the symposium. Herbert also presented three speeches as part of the Symposium on Heart Disease & Rehabilitation, hosted by the University of Glasgow Medical School in Glasgow, Scotland. He spoke on "Outcome Measures in Cardiac Rehabilitation," "Research Update: Safety and Efficacy of Resistance Training for Cardiac Rehabilitation Patients," and "Future Directions for Cardiac Rehabilitation in the United States." More than 120 physicians, nurses, physiatrists, exercise physiologists attended the presentations.

Mahmood A. Khan , professor and head of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management was invited to join the Board of Governors of the Institute of Certified Franchise Executives. The Board of Governors, which includes CEO's of selected franchise corporations, decides on policies, procedures and activities of the institute. The Institute of Certified Franchise Executives is governed by the Educational Foundation of the International Franchise Association. Khan's expertise is in franchising and he has served as a keynote speaker in several national and international conferences. He is the author of book Restaurant Franchising which is used by several educational institutes and franchise corporations.

Curtis Finch , professor of education and director of the Virginia Tech Site, National Center for Research in Vocational Education, has been appointed to a two-year term as board member for the European Educational Research Association's Vocational Education and Training Research Network. Finch is the only person from the United States appointed to the board. Other board members were appointed from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, and The Netherlands.

Allen Bame , professor in the technology education program in the department of Teaching and Learning, was awarded the Rutherford B. Lockette Humanitarian Award at the annual International Technology Education (ITEA) conference. The award recognizes a person who as consistently demonstrated care and respect for other and epitomizes collegiality. Technology education doctoral student Jeff Swab received the Outstanding Graduate Student Citation for his work in developing the Technology Education World Wide Web site ( http://teched.vt.edu/TE.html ), under the direction of faculty member Mark Sanders. Other technology education faculty members who made presentations at the ITEA conference include Sanders on "Communication Technology Curriculum Models" and "Developing Web Services for Technology Education"; Jim LaPorte on "Teaching Computer Control with a Shoestring Budget"; Bame on "Using Rubber Band Powered Airplanes to Teach Aerodynamics" and "Using Writing as a Teaching/Learning Technique" with Tom Jeffrey ; and Vince Childress on "Integrating Technology, Science, and Mathematics." Tech participants in the ITEA conference also hosted the Fourth Annual Virginia Tech Alumni Breakfast, which attracted 25 alumni and dignitaries from around the country.

Maryann Walsh , master's student in the marriage and family therapy program in the department of Family and Child Development in Falls Church, has won the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy's 1996 Graduate Student Research Award. The award is given to assist graduate students in the completion of their thesis or dissertation pertaining to couples or family therapy. The award is based on the significance, quality, and feasibility of the research proposal. Walsh will receive a plaque and $2,500 at the AAMFT Annual Conference in Toronto in October. Her thesis is titled "Parents' of Adolescents Experiences of Family Therapy: A Qualitative Study of the Therapeutic Process." Her thesis chair is Karen Rosen and committee members are Sandra Stith , Eric McCollum , and Jean Coleman .

Sherry J. Haar , a doctoral student in Clothing and Textiles, won best of show in the International Textiles and Apparel Association (ITAA) 1996 Design Competition for "The Honey Pot," a dress design inspired by Benjamin Hoff's book, The Tao of Pooh. Master's-degree student Leanne Alexander's design "Beating the Odds" was also included in the juried show. Joann Boles , clothing and textiles faculty member, was named ITAA fellow, the second from Virginia Tech's clothing and textiles department. The ITAA conference also included research sessions by Doris Kincade , clothing and textiles faculty member, on "Selection, Training and Company Support Systems of Expatriate Employees in the Apparel and Textiles Industry"; "Organizational Reaction to a TQM Change through an Employee Opinion Survey in Three North Carolina Apparel /Textile Productions," with Dianna J. Vass , a graduate of the Virginia Tech clothing and textiles department now at the University of North Carolina; and "Impact of QR Technologies on Retail Store Attributes," with Eunjo Ko , a graduate of clothing and textiles now with Samsun Data Systems. Kincade also presided over a research session on "Appearance Management and Body Image," which included a presentation by Marjorie J.T. Norton , clothing and textiles faculty member, on "Body-Self Relations, Exercise Involvement, and Exercise Clothing Attitude for Women in Regular Exercise Programs," with Bernadett A.Tatarka , a clothing and textiles graduate now at Montana State University.

Janet Wojcik , a graduate student in human nutrition, foods, and exercise, has been selected to present a workshop on "Implementing a Travel Fund Program for Conference Presentations" at the national conference of the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students, Inc. The conference will be held in Santa Monica in late October.