For members of the Missouri S&T Order of the Golden Shillelagh

February 2021

Kummer Institute inspires advanced STEM innovation

OGS members were the first to view Chancellor Mo Dehghani’s January virtual roadshow to learn the technological advancements the Kummer Institute will bring to society and industry. Dehghani called the spirit of OGS giving to the project “beyond the imagination.” Among the advancements is the Systems Integration Prototype and Development Center. Known informally as “The Garage,” this proving ground for new innovations will be a resource for corporations and industry partners to gain assistance in prototyping and developing new products and processes.

Outstanding STEM faculty and students will bring the Kummer Institute to life through new academic programs designed to enroll the best and brightest applicants. The Kummer Vanguard Scholars Program offers approximately 400 exceptional first-year STEM undergraduates scholarships of $1,000-$3,000 a year for four years. Nearly 1,000 students have applied and over 400 scholarships have been awarded. And the Kummer Innovation and Entrepreneurship Doctoral Fellows Program, with 280 applicants to date, seeks innovative-minded graduate students to conduct cutting-edge research and technological innovation. Up to 25 fellows a year are slated to receive a 12-month stipend and tuition remission for up to four years. The Kummer Institute also provides for the addition of 20 new faculty and chairs.

The extraordinary gift from June and Fred Kummer, CE’55, founding OGS members, allows S&T to add innovation and entrepreneurship to its 150-year heritage of excellence in technological education and research — all with a vision to nationally elevate Missouri S&T and spur the region’s economic growth.

COVID-19 updates

The hard work and safety measures of our faculty, staff and students have helped S&T prevent the spread of COVID-19. In the fall 2020 semester, no transmissions of the virus occurred through our classrooms, labs, research areas, on-campus housing or library. With this success, S&T’s Incident Command Team continues to implement the same health protocols used in the fall, including requirements for face coverings, social distancing and limited gatherings.

With your wellbeing in mind, we have modified several upcoming gatherings that were traditionally held in person:

OGS Weekend 2021 moves to 2022

Please mark your calendars for June 3-4, 2022, for our next OGS Weekend to be held in Rolla at Missouri S&T.

Meet new OGS members virtually

During OGS Weekend 2022, we will hold our traditional inauguration for all new and advancing members and others who join before April 30, 2022. But we’d love for you to meet them sooner than that. Please watch your email for an invitation to the Virtual OGS New Member Meet and Greet in June 2021 and be the first to welcome these incoming fellow S&T supporters!

St. Pat’s does the safety dance

The Miner Alumni Association will not host its traditional campus celebration this year due to ongoing COVID-19 safety concerns. But don’t let that stop you from celebrating in style. Since we won’t be green together on campus, let’s go green online.

Watch your mailbox for information on our Put a Hashtag on Miner Pride social media campaign launching in March. It’s a great way to celebrate St. Pat’s 2021 and win one of 150 St. Pat’s sweatshirts to be given away. Also consider joining one of the association’s virtual St. Pat’s trivia events, where your knowledge could win you swag. For a full listing of these events, check our events calendar or contact Rachelle Martin at martinrache@mst.edu.

Over $30 million for steel research comes S&T's way

S&T researchers are turning up the heat with new, federally funded projects designed to take steelmaking to new levels.

A cooperative agreement with the Army Research Laboratory will bring nearly $20 million to S&T over five years to develop lightweight and ultra-high-strength steels for next-generation combat vehicles.

Laura Bartlett, MetE’08, PhD MetE’13, the Robert V. Wolf Associate Professor in Metallurgical Engineering, is lead researcher for the project. She and her team are developing steel with strength-to-weight ratios as high as titanium alloys but with a lower-than-normal cost and increased environmental sustainability in production.

Another $11.2 million in steelmaking funding is on the way from the Department of Energy for three projects directed by Ronald O’Malley, the F. Kenneth Iverson Endowed Chair of Steelmaking Technologies and director of S&T’s Kent D. Peaslee Steel Manufacturing Research Center.

O’Malley is creating a steel production system that combines a hydrogen-reduction reactor for ironmaking (H2DR) with electric furnace melting. He says integrating this combination into the U.S. supply chain would prove the steel industry is ready for de-carbonization.

Rolla gets a new green landmark

An eye-catching bright green pedestrian bridge spanning I-44 at Exit 185 now connects north and south points of campus. A joint project between S&T and the city of Rolla, the bridge provides a safer route to school by foot or bicycle by connecting the sidewalk on University Drive to White Columns Drive. Enjoy this time-lapse video of the bridge installation.

Major gifts cement S&T's Arrival District

The Arrival District, S&T’s new “front door,” is designed to create a memorable first impression for prospective students we hope will become Miners for life. It will transform and connect S&T’s entry point to campus off I-44 through a cascade of landscaped areas, buildings and a grand entrance that directs visitors into a commons area featuring gardens and walkways.

We are deeply grateful to the following OGS members who have already made major contributions to the $18 million first phase of S&T’s Arrival District Campaign. Tim Bradley, PetE’77, and his wife, Kay, made the first campaign commitment with a $5 million gift, followed by a $1 million gift from Jeff, ChE’80, and Pat, ChE’80, Sheets. Gary Havener, Math’62, recently made a $6 million commitment, $4 million of which is for the Arrival District. Stay tuned for profiles of these generous supporters in the next printed edition of the Shillelagh newsletter.

Heartfelt endowment creates S&T's first history fellowship

OGS member Cordell Smith, Hist’88, established the first endowed research fellowship for S&T's history and political science department. Smith’s $250,000 commitment created the Lawrence O. Christensen Endowed Faculty Fellowship to honor his mentor and friend, the late Missouri historian and S&T professor Lawrence Christensen.

“The fellowship is a way I can contribute a share of my achievements back to Missouri S&T and make sure the impact Dr. Christensen had on my future continues to be available to others,” says Smith, who is deputy director for acquisition policy in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization in Washington, D.C.

The fellowship will help fund the research efforts and expenses of up to two full-time faculty members on renewable appointments of up to three years.

Physics professor makes her mark with silicon's successor: amorphous oxides

Julia Medvedeva, professor of physics and senior investigator in S&T’s Materials Research Center, untangled hydrogen’s role in the multidimensional space of amorphous oxide semiconductors by running hundreds of computer simulations in the Foundry, S&T’s newly installed supercomputer. The Foundry was commissioned through a $2 million NSF Major Research Instrumentation project.

Medvedeva says these semiconductors are gaining favor over silicon for use in the billion-dollar flat panel display industry because of their high electron mobility and transparency. Medvedeva and her colleagues discovered that adding hydrogen triggers an extended rearrangement in the structure of the disordered oxide’s structure that further improves electron mobility. The results of their groundbreaking work were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and the Journal of Materials Chemistry C.

Notable Miners to share their S&T experience nationally

Julian Kosacki, a Ph.D. student in materials science and engineering, recently earned the DOE’s Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Award for his work on the next generation of lead batteries that support energy resources transforming into renewables. The goal of the SCGSR program is to prepare graduate students for STEM careers critical to the DOE Office of Science mission. Kosacki will conduct his work at Argonne National Laboratory.

Cory Chafin, Math’20, is the first S&T graduate to commission into the U.S. Space Force. A former member of S&T’s Air Force ROTC Detachment 442 Cadre, Chafin wants to work with military communication satellites used in the defense operations of orbital warfare and attributes his solid STEM learning to the superior teaching abilities of his S&T professors.

Miner athletes making us proud

Tershawn Wharton, came to S&T to study psychological science, and he helped the Miner football team win the Mineral Water Bowl in 2018. Now, as a rookie defensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs, he is the first former Miner player to compete in the Super Bowl. “Being presented the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl is every bit of breathtaking,” Wharton says. “Think about it. How many kids have had the dream of going to the Super Bowl and living out the full experience?”

Deshawn Jones, BSci’20, made a name for himself not only on the Miner playing field, but also for his academic accomplishments and community volunteerism. Those efforts led Jones to earn the NCAA’s 2021 Today’s Top 10 Award in January. Jones is now applying to medical schools as he trains for professional football recruitment opportunities. He is a sports performance and fitness trainer at the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute and a residential coordinator at Lifehouse Group, both in Chicago. Recalling his own need for sports training growing up, Jones volunteers his time and expertise to help young people who need athletic training but cannot afford those services.

Order of the Golden Shillelagh

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