MECHANICAL ENGINEERING STUDENTS ARE AWARDED FOR PRESENTATION

Contact: Mary Daniel
(KINGSVILLE, April 12, 1996) - - Mechanical Engineering majors Stephanie Dean and Melissa Fulton, both of Corpus Christi, won first place in the undergraduate engineering students research presentations held Wednesday, April 10 at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

Presenting their winning project entitled "Bioremediation of Oil Spills", Dean and Fulton were awarded a $500 stipend to assist with travel expenses when they present their research at a professional conference. Andrew Ernest, assistant professor of environmental engineering, acted as adviser for the project.

Second place went to Diana Hernandez of Waxahachie for her presentation "A Digital Image Strain Displacement / Measuring Technique." Hernandez's adviser was Carlos Corleto, assistant professor of mechanical engineering.

"The students involved are undergraduates who have the unique opportunity to work with engineering faculty members and graduate students on research projects," said Jorja Kimball, assistant to the dean of the College of Engineering.

There were a total of five entries in the competition. Students were judged on technical and merit content, presentation ability and materials.

Judges were Katherine Price, visiting associate professor of geology and environmental science from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; Randall Nichols, senior manager with Reynolds Metals Co. /Sherwin Plant Corpus Christi and Dr. Shinya Ochiai, senior engineering associate with Hoechst Celanese Technical Center in Corpus Christi.

-TAMUK-
-- Elizabeth V. Jasso