AU Students Garner Awards

Rajesh Kitey, an Auburn graduate with a doctorate in mechanical engineering, has been selected as a recipient of this year's Carolyn Taylor Carr Outstanding Dissertation Award by the Auburn chapter of the Sigma-Xi Honors Society for her dissertation, "Microstructure effects on fracture behavior of particulate composites: Investigation of toughening mechanisms using optical and boundary element method." Kitey is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The award was presented May 1 during the annual Sigma Xi awards reception.

Volkan Ustun, a doctoral student in industrial and systems engineering, recently received the Gene Newman Award for Excellence in Modeling and Simulation Research at the 2007 Modeling, Simulation and Gaming Student Capstone Conference, held at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. Ustun received a certificate, trophy and $100 cash prize. His adviser is Jeff Smith, professor in industrial and systems engineering.

Pallavi Chitta, a doctoral student in chemical engineering, recently won a second place award for her poster presentation at the 20th annual Filtrations and Separations Conference hosted by the American Filtration and Separations Society in Orlando, Fla. She received a cash prize of $500. The research topic for her poster and presentation was: "Oxygen Enrichment of Air for Diesel Engines: A Process Evaluation Study". Pallavi's research is directed by Bruce Tatarchuk, professor of chemical engineering and director of the Center for Microfibrous Materials Manufacturing. Students from across the country participated in the competition.