Contact: Bob Ratliff
It's awards time once again for mechanical engineering students at Mississippi State.
For the third consecutive year, the university's student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers holds the Allied Signal Award for a region that includes Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Western Tennessee. The highest ASME student honor is presented annually by Allied Signal, a New Jersey-based Fortune 500 technology and manufacturing company.
In addition to the MSU chapter, two of its members were honored at the 119-year-old national professional organization's recent regional student conference in Gainesville, Fla.
Freshman Paula J. Runge of Perkinston took first place in the oral competition, while senior Royce D. Watkins of Noxapater placed second in the design competition.
Runge will compete in November with winners from other regions at the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress in Nashville, Tenn.
The MSU chapter was chartered in 1926, making it one of the school's oldest continuous student organizations. Associate professor Bruce Cain is the campus adviser.
The MSU chapter was the sole Allied Signal Award winner in 1998 and shared the honor in 1997 with Christian Brothers University in Memphis and the University of South Florida in Tampa.