L to R: Drexel Materials alumnus George Vander Voort, PhD student Katie Jo Sunday, and alumnus Dr. Fred Schmidt at the 2016 Alumni Association Awards
A Drexel Materials alumnus and a current doctoral student were recognized for their exceptional achievements with this year’s Drexel University Alumni Association Awards.
George Vander Voort (BS ’67), a leading expert in metallurgy and failure analysis, is the recipient of the Service to the Profession Award. George received the award for his work as a physical metallurgist and his expertise in process metallurgy and mechanical metallurgy. He is recognized world-wide for his work in microstructural analysis, interpretation, and measurement. He is the author of Metallography: Principles and Practice. In addition to numerous awards, he is a Fellow of ASM International, ASTM International, and the IFHTSE and a Distinguished Life Member of Alpha Sigma Mu.
PhD student Katie Jo Sunday (advisor: Mitra Taheri) has been awarded the Outstanding Student Award, given to an exceptional student who excels in studies and exhibits outstanding leadership skills. In addition to her research on coating iron powders with oxide particles, producing soft magnetic composites for use in electromagnetic devices, Katie Jo has been recognized for her work as a Teaching Assistant. She has received the designation “Highly Commended” for the Office of Graduate Studies Teaching Assistant Award and was promoted to lead teaching assistant for the 2015-2016 academic year. Katie Jo served as vice president of MAGNET, (the Materials Graduate Network), the department’s graduate student association, for the 2013-14 academic year. For the past two years, Katie Jo has led the organization of the ASM International Materials Camp, a one-week free camp here at Drexel for rising high school juniors and seniors to introduce them to the excitement of materials science and engineering, coordinating all aspects of the camp. She has also been involved in many other outreach events for the department and received a Drexel Higher Education Advocate Travel Award (HEATA) to return to her high school alma mater and share information about Drexel and how her graduate studies here have made a difference for her.
The Alumni Association Awards ceremony took place during Alumni Weekend on Saturday, May 7 at 5 p.m. in the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building Atrium.