ASME Standards and Certification Scholarship Awards for 2019-2020
ASME Standards and Certification Scholarship Awards for 2019-2020
Each year, ASME Scholarships are awarded to students to enable or assist in pursuing an educational program in mechanical engineering or mechanical engineering technology. Please find below a summary of the engineering students who received, for academic year 2019-2020, scholarships in honor of long time dedicated volunteers and staff to ASME’s Codes & Standards and Certification & Accreditation activities. Brief summaries of those being remembered via these ASME Scholarship Awards are also provided. Engineering students are currently being reviewed to receive ASME Scholarships related to Standards & Certification for academic year 2020-2021. Students receiving awards will be notified this summer.
If you would like to contribute to one of the scholarship funds below, you can make your gift securely online. If you have interest in establishing or supporting an endowed scholarship, please contact Gretchen Crutchfield by email or by phone at 202-785-7499. You are also welcome to further discuss this subject with Kenneth R. Balkey by email or by phone at 412-965-7954.
Hopefully, you enjoy learning about the special engineering students and those being remembered below via ASME Scholarships. Thank you for your interest in this meaningful development.
Kenneth R. Balkey, P.E., ASME Life Fellow
Director, ASME Foundation Board
Past Senior Vice President, ASME Standards & Certification
ASME Standards and Certification Scholarship
Tara Newman, a senior at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, was selected to receive the 2019-2020 ASME Standards and Certification Scholarship in the amount of $10,000 in honor of the late Dr. Domenic Canonico, a long time ASME standards writing volunteer. This scholarship was established by the ASME Council on Standards & Certification in 2017 as a way to highlight the importance of consensus engineering standards to engineering students worldwide and to attract young talent to the profession and encourage upcoming enrollment and active participation in standards development.
Tara is working towards a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and another in Physics, with a minor in Mathematics, as well as a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering through the early entry program. She plans to enroll in the PhD program in Mechanical Engineering and obtain a Graduate Certificate in Precision Metrology at UNCC. She has a passion for engineering and manufacturing and plans to focus her research on manufacturing and metrology. As a graduate student, Tara would like to focus on in-process metrology for precision manufacturing processes that incorporates artificial intelligence and machine learning to automatically adjust the manufacturing process based on the metrology data. She serves as President of the Society of Women Engineers at UNCC. Tara is a non-traditional student who left her successful banking career to follow her dreams of becoming an engineer.
Dr. Domenic Canonico’s career spanned over 50 years, and he is recognized as a key promoter of boiler and pressure vessel safety for his outstanding service and contribution to the industry. He was chair of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Main Committee for nine years and had been a member of the National Board Inspection Code Main Committee starting in 2001. He was a fellow with three major technical societies: ASME, the American Welding Institute, and the American Society for Metals that well align with Tara Newman’s interests. Dr. Canonico, who passed away in Tennessee in December 2018, spent the latter part of his career informing engineering students on standards development particularly with the development of an ASME Standards and Certification brochure, Examples of Use of Codes and Standards for Students in Mechanical Engineering and Other Fields.
ASME Melvin R. Green Scholarship
Nicholas Kuperus, a senior at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, was selected to receive the 2019-2020 ASME Melvin Green Scholarship in the amount of $8,000. Melvin Green was a long time, highly respected ASME staff member.
Nicholas appreciates the diversity in the field of mechanical engineering from the design of structures and pressure vessels to fluid flow and heat transfer, allowing one to choose from an almost infinite number of career paths. He has a strong passion for mechanical engineering design, particularly in the aerospace engineering industry where he is intrigued by the many unique design challenges that aerospace engineers face. The staggering number of advances in materials and design theory make it a particularly exciting time to work in the aerospace industry. Nicholas serves as the president of the ASME Student Chapter at Dordt College. Coordinating with the leaders of the ASCE and IEEE clubs at Dordt College, they invite various companies to campus for speaker events and engineering tours. Nicholas also serves as a research intern at Iowa State University working to synthesize zinc-oxide nanoparticles to create biosensors that detect pesticides in food products. An abstract from this research project was published on May 16, 2018 in the Electrochemical Society Journal and is titled "Highly Sensitive Acetylcholinesterase Biosensor Based on Shaped Controlled ZnO Nanostructure for Paraoxon Pesticide Detection".
Melvin R. Green, ASME Managing Director of Codes and Standards during the late 1960s through 1995 and a pioneering standards leader, was knowledgeable of the topics of the ebb and flow between national and international standards and the integration of technological advances and changing safety requirements into standards. He was a past recipient in 1984 of the ASME Codes & Standards Medal that was established in 1976. Shortly following Melvin Green’s unexpected passing, this Society Level Award was renamed the ASME Melvin R. Green Codes & Standards Medal in 1996 to recognize this exceptional leader who expanded ASME standards and accreditation programs worldwide. At the same time, his wife Ruth endowed the ASME Melvin R. Green Scholarship to allow her husband’s legacy to live on with engineering students.
ASME Bruce Harding Memorial Scholarship
Kyle Swoffer, a junior at Kettering University, is the recipient of the 2019-2020 ASME Bruce Harding Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $3,000 in honor of the late Professor Bruce Harding, a long time ASME standards writing volunteer. This 2019-2020 scholarship award was sponsored by Professor Harding’s widow Mrs. Martha Harding and ASME Standards & Certification colleagues.
Kyle has consistently been on the Dean’s list and will graduate in 2021 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Through a co-op program at Kettering University, Kyle works at General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS). At GDLS Kyle has learned how to read specifications for various parts from SAE specifications to Military standards. Kyle also has to verify and correct issues on part drawings and create markups for corrections to be sent into GDLS’ change process. Kyle has taken a basic Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) training course led by an ASME certified engineer that encouraged him to expand his knowledge of standards for creating drawings for future work. Kyle has a long record of community service that includes tutoring other students and volunteering at several food banks near his home and school throughout the year.
Bruce Harding was Professor of Mechanical Engineering Technology in the College of Technology (CoT) and CoT Coordinator of Professional Practice at Purdue University for the last 32 years of his career. He was actively involved in teaching and developing engineering standards holding leadership positions in ASME and other international standards organizations. He served as member and chair of numerous subcommittees of ASME Y14 Engineering Product Definition and Related Documentation Practices and other related committees. The academics and experience of Kyle Swoffer align well with the work and interests of Professor Harding.
ASME Marcus N. Bressler Memorial Scholarship
Brandon Gurrell, a senior at Kettering University, is the recipient of the 2019-2020 ASME Marcus N. Bressler Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $2,500 in honor of the late Marc Bressler, a long time ASME standards writing volunteer.
Brandon’s career aspiration upon graduation with his knowledge of alternative energy would be to contribute in a meaningful way to society to mitigate the use of fossil fuels to combat global warming. With an increase in technological advancement, there have been breakthroughs with the integration of technology in the production of alternative energy. In the end, being able to bridge the gap between further development in technology and the production of alternative energy will benefit society immensely. Furthermore, Brandon would like to be able to help third world countries in Africa that still do not have an electrical grid. While it is difficult and requires high capital to set up a grid in these areas, the implementation of alternative energy devices, whether solar, wind, or geothermal is extensively cheaper and feasible based on the climate in African nations. He realizes that innovation plays a huge role in the ever-changing engineering industry of the 21st century. His receipt of this ASME Scholarship supports his ability to graduate on time.
The Marcus N. Bressler Memorial Scholarship was created in 2012 in memory of a life-long member of ASME, and a leader in the engineering field who made incredible contributions to ASME Nuclear Standards and Certification programs for 50 years, primarily through the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel (B&PV) Code. Mr. Bressler began his activities in Codes, Standards and Materials in 1960. He had been a member of the ASME B&PV Standards Committee from 1979 to 2009. He was awarded the ASME Century Medallion in 1980 and was an ASME Life Fellow. Mr. Bressler held a BME degree from Cornell University (1952) and a MSME degree from Case Institute of Technology (1960).
The ASME Marcus N. Bressler Memorial Scholarship has been provided by generous contributions by the Bressler Family and Mr. Bressler’s ASME colleagues. This scholarship is provided to students who show promise for their future profession. The sponsors hope to attract young talent to the profession and encourage upcoming enrollment and active participation in standards development.
ASME Christopher L. Hoffmann Memorial Scholarship
Evan Chase, a junior at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the recipient of the 2019-2020 ASME Christopher L. Hoffmann Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $2,000 in honor of the late Dr. Chris Hoffmann, a long time ASME standards writing volunteer.
Evan recognizes that mechanical engineers specialize in manufacturing, design, HVAC, fluids, nanotechnology, and dozens of other disciplines. When combined with his minor degree in computer science, he intends to dedicate his time and energy conducting research and development, principally in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics. He is particularly interested in machine learning and neural networks and knows that there are distinct crossovers between machine learning and mechanical engineering, primarily in mechatronics, regression testing, and adaptive control. Evan plans to use these concepts and apply them to develop and improve AI and mechanical devices such as self-driving cars, household robots, and industrial robots. Evan is a devoted mentor, runner, and community leader, including his tutoring of children as a member of the Fairfax County Youth Leadership program. He led his high school cross country team to two state championships in 2014 and 2015 and a runner-up finish in 2016. As a military dependent moving multiple times and enduring regular separations due to long deployments by his father in the Navy, it taught him the importance of sacrifice and serving others.
The Christopher L. Hoffmann Memorial Scholarship was created to honor the memory of a 30 year member of ASME and a leader in the field of metallurgical engineering for the advancement of nuclear technologies, who made distinguished contributions to ASME nuclear standards and certification programs, primarily through development of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. Dr. Hoffmann also held the respected senior technical leader position of consulting engineer at Westinghouse Electric Company. He obtained a B.S. in mechanical engineering in 1975 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in metallurgy in 1977 and 1982, respectively, all at the University of Connecticut.
The ASME Christopher L. Hoffmann Memorial Scholarship has been provided by generous contributions by the Hoffmann Family and Dr. Hoffmann’s ASME and Westinghouse colleagues and friends. This scholarship is provided to students who show promise for their future profession. The sponsors hope to attract young talent to the profession and encourage upcoming enrollment and active participation in standards development.
If you would like to contribute to one of the scholarship funds below, you can make your gift securely online. If you have interest in establishing or supporting an endowed scholarship, please contact Gretchen Crutchfield by email or by phone at 202-785-7499. You are also welcome to further discuss this subject with Kenneth R. Balkey by email or by phone at 412-965-7954.
Hopefully, you enjoy learning about the special engineering students and those being remembered below via ASME Scholarships. Thank you for your interest in this meaningful development.
Kenneth R. Balkey, P.E., ASME Life Fellow
Director, ASME Foundation Board
Past Senior Vice President, ASME Standards & Certification
ASME Standards and Certification Scholarship
Tara Newman, a senior at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, was selected to receive the 2019-2020 ASME Standards and Certification Scholarship in the amount of $10,000 in honor of the late Dr. Domenic Canonico, a long time ASME standards writing volunteer. This scholarship was established by the ASME Council on Standards & Certification in 2017 as a way to highlight the importance of consensus engineering standards to engineering students worldwide and to attract young talent to the profession and encourage upcoming enrollment and active participation in standards development.
Tara is working towards a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and another in Physics, with a minor in Mathematics, as well as a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering through the early entry program. She plans to enroll in the PhD program in Mechanical Engineering and obtain a Graduate Certificate in Precision Metrology at UNCC. She has a passion for engineering and manufacturing and plans to focus her research on manufacturing and metrology. As a graduate student, Tara would like to focus on in-process metrology for precision manufacturing processes that incorporates artificial intelligence and machine learning to automatically adjust the manufacturing process based on the metrology data. She serves as President of the Society of Women Engineers at UNCC. Tara is a non-traditional student who left her successful banking career to follow her dreams of becoming an engineer.
Dr. Domenic Canonico’s career spanned over 50 years, and he is recognized as a key promoter of boiler and pressure vessel safety for his outstanding service and contribution to the industry. He was chair of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Main Committee for nine years and had been a member of the National Board Inspection Code Main Committee starting in 2001. He was a fellow with three major technical societies: ASME, the American Welding Institute, and the American Society for Metals that well align with Tara Newman’s interests. Dr. Canonico, who passed away in Tennessee in December 2018, spent the latter part of his career informing engineering students on standards development particularly with the development of an ASME Standards and Certification brochure, Examples of Use of Codes and Standards for Students in Mechanical Engineering and Other Fields.
ASME Melvin R. Green Scholarship
Nicholas Kuperus, a senior at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, was selected to receive the 2019-2020 ASME Melvin Green Scholarship in the amount of $8,000. Melvin Green was a long time, highly respected ASME staff member.
Nicholas appreciates the diversity in the field of mechanical engineering from the design of structures and pressure vessels to fluid flow and heat transfer, allowing one to choose from an almost infinite number of career paths. He has a strong passion for mechanical engineering design, particularly in the aerospace engineering industry where he is intrigued by the many unique design challenges that aerospace engineers face. The staggering number of advances in materials and design theory make it a particularly exciting time to work in the aerospace industry. Nicholas serves as the president of the ASME Student Chapter at Dordt College. Coordinating with the leaders of the ASCE and IEEE clubs at Dordt College, they invite various companies to campus for speaker events and engineering tours. Nicholas also serves as a research intern at Iowa State University working to synthesize zinc-oxide nanoparticles to create biosensors that detect pesticides in food products. An abstract from this research project was published on May 16, 2018 in the Electrochemical Society Journal and is titled "Highly Sensitive Acetylcholinesterase Biosensor Based on Shaped Controlled ZnO Nanostructure for Paraoxon Pesticide Detection".
Melvin R. Green, ASME Managing Director of Codes and Standards during the late 1960s through 1995 and a pioneering standards leader, was knowledgeable of the topics of the ebb and flow between national and international standards and the integration of technological advances and changing safety requirements into standards. He was a past recipient in 1984 of the ASME Codes & Standards Medal that was established in 1976. Shortly following Melvin Green’s unexpected passing, this Society Level Award was renamed the ASME Melvin R. Green Codes & Standards Medal in 1996 to recognize this exceptional leader who expanded ASME standards and accreditation programs worldwide. At the same time, his wife Ruth endowed the ASME Melvin R. Green Scholarship to allow her husband’s legacy to live on with engineering students.
ASME Bruce Harding Memorial Scholarship
Kyle Swoffer, a junior at Kettering University, is the recipient of the 2019-2020 ASME Bruce Harding Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $3,000 in honor of the late Professor Bruce Harding, a long time ASME standards writing volunteer. This 2019-2020 scholarship award was sponsored by Professor Harding’s widow Mrs. Martha Harding and ASME Standards & Certification colleagues.
Kyle has consistently been on the Dean’s list and will graduate in 2021 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Through a co-op program at Kettering University, Kyle works at General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS). At GDLS Kyle has learned how to read specifications for various parts from SAE specifications to Military standards. Kyle also has to verify and correct issues on part drawings and create markups for corrections to be sent into GDLS’ change process. Kyle has taken a basic Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) training course led by an ASME certified engineer that encouraged him to expand his knowledge of standards for creating drawings for future work. Kyle has a long record of community service that includes tutoring other students and volunteering at several food banks near his home and school throughout the year.
Bruce Harding was Professor of Mechanical Engineering Technology in the College of Technology (CoT) and CoT Coordinator of Professional Practice at Purdue University for the last 32 years of his career. He was actively involved in teaching and developing engineering standards holding leadership positions in ASME and other international standards organizations. He served as member and chair of numerous subcommittees of ASME Y14 Engineering Product Definition and Related Documentation Practices and other related committees. The academics and experience of Kyle Swoffer align well with the work and interests of Professor Harding.
ASME Marcus N. Bressler Memorial Scholarship
Brandon Gurrell, a senior at Kettering University, is the recipient of the 2019-2020 ASME Marcus N. Bressler Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $2,500 in honor of the late Marc Bressler, a long time ASME standards writing volunteer.
Brandon’s career aspiration upon graduation with his knowledge of alternative energy would be to contribute in a meaningful way to society to mitigate the use of fossil fuels to combat global warming. With an increase in technological advancement, there have been breakthroughs with the integration of technology in the production of alternative energy. In the end, being able to bridge the gap between further development in technology and the production of alternative energy will benefit society immensely. Furthermore, Brandon would like to be able to help third world countries in Africa that still do not have an electrical grid. While it is difficult and requires high capital to set up a grid in these areas, the implementation of alternative energy devices, whether solar, wind, or geothermal is extensively cheaper and feasible based on the climate in African nations. He realizes that innovation plays a huge role in the ever-changing engineering industry of the 21st century. His receipt of this ASME Scholarship supports his ability to graduate on time.
The Marcus N. Bressler Memorial Scholarship was created in 2012 in memory of a life-long member of ASME, and a leader in the engineering field who made incredible contributions to ASME Nuclear Standards and Certification programs for 50 years, primarily through the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel (B&PV) Code. Mr. Bressler began his activities in Codes, Standards and Materials in 1960. He had been a member of the ASME B&PV Standards Committee from 1979 to 2009. He was awarded the ASME Century Medallion in 1980 and was an ASME Life Fellow. Mr. Bressler held a BME degree from Cornell University (1952) and a MSME degree from Case Institute of Technology (1960).
The ASME Marcus N. Bressler Memorial Scholarship has been provided by generous contributions by the Bressler Family and Mr. Bressler’s ASME colleagues. This scholarship is provided to students who show promise for their future profession. The sponsors hope to attract young talent to the profession and encourage upcoming enrollment and active participation in standards development.
ASME Christopher L. Hoffmann Memorial Scholarship
Evan Chase, a junior at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the recipient of the 2019-2020 ASME Christopher L. Hoffmann Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $2,000 in honor of the late Dr. Chris Hoffmann, a long time ASME standards writing volunteer.
Evan recognizes that mechanical engineers specialize in manufacturing, design, HVAC, fluids, nanotechnology, and dozens of other disciplines. When combined with his minor degree in computer science, he intends to dedicate his time and energy conducting research and development, principally in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics. He is particularly interested in machine learning and neural networks and knows that there are distinct crossovers between machine learning and mechanical engineering, primarily in mechatronics, regression testing, and adaptive control. Evan plans to use these concepts and apply them to develop and improve AI and mechanical devices such as self-driving cars, household robots, and industrial robots. Evan is a devoted mentor, runner, and community leader, including his tutoring of children as a member of the Fairfax County Youth Leadership program. He led his high school cross country team to two state championships in 2014 and 2015 and a runner-up finish in 2016. As a military dependent moving multiple times and enduring regular separations due to long deployments by his father in the Navy, it taught him the importance of sacrifice and serving others.
The Christopher L. Hoffmann Memorial Scholarship was created to honor the memory of a 30 year member of ASME and a leader in the field of metallurgical engineering for the advancement of nuclear technologies, who made distinguished contributions to ASME nuclear standards and certification programs, primarily through development of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. Dr. Hoffmann also held the respected senior technical leader position of consulting engineer at Westinghouse Electric Company. He obtained a B.S. in mechanical engineering in 1975 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in metallurgy in 1977 and 1982, respectively, all at the University of Connecticut.
The ASME Christopher L. Hoffmann Memorial Scholarship has been provided by generous contributions by the Hoffmann Family and Dr. Hoffmann’s ASME and Westinghouse colleagues and friends. This scholarship is provided to students who show promise for their future profession. The sponsors hope to attract young talent to the profession and encourage upcoming enrollment and active participation in standards development.
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