Steven Betza, founder of the ETHICS Academy, talks about the core principles of ETHICS to engineering students at the Nittany Lion Inn.

Although learning about the actual discipline is an essential part of engineering training, Penn State students also focus on other skills, including communications, leadership and teamwork.

Recently, a select group of engineering students participated in a seminar titled, “ETHICS for World-Class Engineers,” presented by Lockheed Martin and Penn State’s Leonhard Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Education.

Steven Betza, founder of the ETHICS Academy and corporate director of electronics engineering and packaging for Lockheed Martin, led the seminar.

Betza’s workshop introduced the students to six timeless principles of ethical leadership, which he described as “moments of truth” that occur in everyday life and decision processes to “do the right thing” when ethical situations arise.

Joe Giordano, an engineering science senior, said, “I really enjoyed the way Mr. Betza broke down the huge, nebulous concept of ethics into six parts that were easy to understand and work with. Case study after case study showed that owning up to your mistakes early on and making a focused effort to rectify them lead to a stronger business in the end. It struck me how well the general rule of ‘admit when you’re wrong and make it right’ works in the business world.”

Terri Creech, an industrial engineering, senior, said she learned successful leaders are selfless and put people first, before any other consideration.

She added, “I found the ETHICS workshop to be incredibly beneficial.”

Four graduate students competed in the DOW Sustainability Innovation Challenge Award (SISCA) and received second place for their entry. The team of Patrick Saboe, Bryan Ferlez, Yuexiao Shen, Mustafa Erbakan, and Dr. Manish Kumar as faculty advisor received $2,500 for their entry “Solar Energy Based Biomimetic Water Desalination and Purification.”

Criteria for the competition were based off of the goals that DOW has set out for 2015. The submissions had to feature interdisciplinary work and also a balance of social, environmental and economic success. The award recognizes students and universities for their innovation and research of sustainable solutions to the world’s most pressing social, economic and environmental problems.

Winning students have the opportunity to network with global sustainability thought leaders and peers along with their monetary award. The winners are also able to join a network of SISCA alumni and showcase their work with various external sustainability media.

On Tuesday, April 2, from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the Nittany Lion Inn students will showcasing their research to diverse audience. Penn State faculty, students and industry representatives will be providing valuable feedback on their presentations.

Students will have the opportunity to compete for research and travel grants for the best undergraduate or graduate paper or poster.

In order to participate, interested students must submit an abstract (maximum of 150 words) for a paper or poster to the CERS website by January 10, submit their paper by March 1, and submit their poster by March 16.

Engineers Without Borders (EWB) at Penn State is looking for help in their year end campaign. During this campaign, the organization is looking to spread the word about what they are specifically doing within the community as well as raising funds for their projects. From now until Jan. 13, any money donated to the organization will be matched 100% by corporate sponsors and they have a goal of raising $10,000. For every dollar you give it becomes two.

If you are able, please consider donating towards this cause. Here is how you can help:

• Donate today — whether $5 or $500, you’re changing someone’s life
• Spread the word on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
• Feeling inspired? Create your own fundraising page!
• Visit ewb-usa.org to learn more about how you can get involved

Internationally, EWB is wrapping up the Latrine projected which they had implemented in Baoma, Sierra Leone over the summer. Now they are focusing on clean water supply and sanitation for the same community. They are working on developing slow sand filter and storage tanks which will meet the community’s needs. EWB is searching for a second international community to partner with.

Locally, the organization is continuing their work at the Discovery Space museum as well as hosting a blood drive and exhibits to promote engineering education.

EWB has begun to receive recognition around Penn State through the Faces of Penn State campaign, among others. More information about what they do can be found on their website,  http://www.engr.psu.edu/ewb/, and through these youtube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/nolimits
http://www.youtube.com/bevital

“The point is, it’s not easy but if there is a real problem and if we can see the benefits of dealing with the problems, then we can fix them,” said Congressman Bud Shuster to the attendees of The Thomas D. Larson Distinguished Transportation Lecture. Throughout his lecture Shuster educated the audience on the importance of continuing to improve the growth of transportation in the United States. He says that it is necessary to build the case to define what the needs are for the future to improve.

Shuster presented dozens of solutions to the problems he addressed. His overall advice to the students and other members of the audience is to use their expertise to engage and communicate their ideas for change and improvement. He also stressed that the improvement of roads and transportation systems save lives as well as create more jobs.

The Thomas D. Larson Institute initiated the Distinguished Transportation Lecture in 2008. Follow the link to view the lecture from Shuster and previous lecturers.

Society of Women Engineers is having a t-shirt sale in Kunkle Lounge in Hammond from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. for the rest of the week. There are several different designs of the shirts and all of them are being sold for $15 each. The proceeds of the sale will benefit THON.

Shane Haydt grew up in a family of Penn Staters, but kept it at the bottom of his list when he started his college search. Determined to find a school that fit him best, Haydt narrowed the list down to just two schools, Penn State being one of them. After a visit to Penn State and attending a white-out football game, he quickly changed his mind and Penn State was the only school he applied to. Originally from Lehighton, Pa. Haydt is a senior majoring in mechanical engineering and truly making the best of his Penn State experience.

As a freshman, Haydt founded the Theme Park Engineering Group with Chris Noveral, who is a clarinet in the Penn State Blue Band along with Haydt. The group does tours of amusement parks, tours of roller coaster design companies, original design projects and trips to conferences.

Within engineering, Haydt is an Engineering Ambassador (EA) and really enjoys the middle and high school visits that he gets to do with the organization. He says his motivation for wanting to be involved is to ensure that what happened to him doesn’t happen to anyone else. Haydt was always told he should be an engineer because he was good at math and science, but his school didn’t really help him learn about what engineering really is.

“Engineering is so much more than that,” says Haydt. “EA seeks to break those stereotypes and show that engineers solve problems with creativity, ingenuity, and effective communication along with hard sciences.”

One of his most rewarding EA moments was following a lesson that him and his group did at a middle school. At the completion of the activity, he heard a member of the class they were teaching claim that she’s “definitely going to Penn State to become an engineer.”

Haydt’s involvement in extra-curricular activities doesn’t stop there. On every game day in Beaver Stadium, Haydt is the lead clarinetist taking the entire band onto the field to set up the band’s traditional pregame performance. Haydt has been one of the leaders of his section for the past two years. He chose to get involved in the band because he’s been going to games with his dad since he was a kid.

“When I was really little, I dreamed of being the Lion, but then once I started playing clarinet in fifth grade, my attention turned to the Blue Band,” says Haydt. “My favorite part of football games (even more than Penn State winning!) is when the Blue Band marches out of the tunnel for pregame, I always thought it would be cool to be the first person out and now I actually have that spot.”

Haydt says the Blue Band rehearses four times a week for about 3 hours a day during the football season in addition to the entire game day experience and other performance requirements held throughout the season. He is an active member in the Blue Band’s THON organization as the treasurer and is the treasurer for the American Society of Mechnical Engineers. Haydt is also a math tutor for Penn State Learning.

With a lot on his plate, one would wonder how he can do it all.

“I find that when I have more to do, I am way more productive,” says Haydt. “Having a structured schedule, when I know I need to get my work done at a given time, is really helpful for me in preventing procrastination.”

Haydt is also working on an honors thesis with research that he started during an internship last summer with Pratt & Whittney in Connecticut. He is researching ways to make the internal cooling of turbine blades in airplane engines more effective. Following graduation Haydt plans on going straight into graduate school and on to get his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. His dream is to become a professor one day and he says his super dream is to become a professor at Penn State.

“The best advice I can give to another student is to get involved.” says Haydt. “Penn State has more clubs and organization than I had kids in my high school, they have really enriched my college experience and also my resume.” He also says to take advantage of the numerous amounts of resources that Penn State offers. “That is one of the great things about going to a large school, no matter what you need help with, there is someone to help you,” says Haydt. “Make sure you hit the ground running your first semester.”

From not wanting to come to Penn State, to making it the only school on his list, Haydt is an ambassador for Penn State in countless ways and will one day educate the world’s finest.