Contact: Phil Hearn
Sigma Xi Award Winners
Mississippi State chemical engineering professor Rudy E. Rogers is receiving the university's 2004 Sigma Xi Ralph E. Powe Research Award.
Rogers is being recognized for pioneering research to unmask some of the mechanisms behind gas hydrate formation. In 2001, he received a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to lead a four-year project focusing on the development of an economical natural-gas storage system.
His award was presented recently by the campus chapter of Sigma Xi, the international honor society for professional scientists and engineers involved in university research. The Powe Award is the chapter's memorial to the former MSU research vice president who died in 1996.
A member of the faculty since 1977, Rogers holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Arizona and a doctorate from the University of Alabama. More than a decade ago, he became one of the first Americans who began researching industrial uses of hydrates.
Others presented awards by chapter president Lewis Brown include:
--Emily R. Easterling of Starkville, a research associate in the Swalm School of Chemical Engineering who received the Support of Research Award for microbiology expertise in the area of bioprocessing. Nominated by professor Mark E. Zappi, she is a 2001 MSU biological sciences graduate now working toward a master's degree in the same field.
--Valerie S. Davis of Hernando, the Sigma Xi Graduate Student Award. A master's degree student in applied anthropology, she is a 2001 MSU anthropology graduate and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Davis. She was nominated by associate professor Homes Hogue.
In addition to university faculty, Sigma Xi membership is open to qualified students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.