Excellence Award goes to ISU Material Advantage Chapter

The Iowa State University Material Advantage (MA) Chapter won a Chapter of Excellence Award from the international student program at the 2022 annual Materials Science and Technology Conference held in Pittsburgh last October. The Chapters of Excellence award comes with a $450 cash prize and a commemorative plaque.

The Material Advantage student program at ISU is housed in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) and is the premier membership option for students who want to make the most of their Materials Engineering experience.

The ISU-MA Chapter received the award for their extensive work on professional development, as well as outreach and networking opportunities, said Rebecca Patush, current ISU-MA president.

She said that the ISU Chapter has meetings each month with guest speakers from industry experts to professors and student panels. There are also many opportunities for MSE students to participate in outreach at local K-12 schools, giving materials science-related demos, aiming to inform younger students about what materials science is and to encourage them to pursue a career in STEM.

Andrew Ruba, the chapter’s past president, said that being a member of the Material Advantage program gives various benefits and memberships to  the four parent societies of MA, including the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS), the Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST), The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) and ASM International. Benefits include scholarships, internships, sponsored travel to professional conferences, mentor pairing and more.

“The entire MSE department is proud of this achievement, and we hope that the ISU-MA Chapter can build off this success,” said Dr. Sid Pathak, the chapter’s faculty advisor.

ISU’s Material Advantage chapter has a rich history of such awards over the last two decades: