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AIST Foundation Announces Junior Faculty Award to Honor Dr. Kent D. Peaslee
08/26/2013 - The Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST) Foundation has announced a new award to honor the legacy of the recent AIST president who passed away unexpectedly in May 2013.
The new Kent D. Peaslee Junior Faculty Award will provide funding to increase the number of untenured engineering professors with a vested interest in iron and steel. Specifically, the grant objectives are:
• encourage junior faculty at North American universities to become better informed about the steel industry;
• encourage students to pursue careers in the iron and steel industry;
• provide seed money for steel-related research projects;
• develop relationships between university and industry personnel.
The Kent D. Peaslee Junior Faculty Award is open to all technical engineering disciplines, and will assist junior faculty in building their research and professional service activities toward obtaining tenure. The maximum grant per award is US$35,000 per year, renewable for a maximum of three years. Following Dr. Peaslee’s beliefs, the award permits the recipient to work on behalf of the industry in the manner he or she deems best to achieve the award objectives. Complete details on the AIST Foundation Kent D. Peaslee Junior Faculty Award and the application rules can be found at AISTFoundation.org.
AIST Foundation president Fred Harnack of U. S. Steel commented, “Kent’s passion for teaching and promoting the steel industry to students, faculty and industry professionals alike was unequaled. The AIST Foundation is honored to create this lasting tribute in Kent’s name.” AIST Foundation executive director Ron Ashburn added, “Kent reinforced the importance of having younger teaching professionals more closely aligned with the steel industry. He was the driving force behind this program, and we are pleased to bring his vision to reality.”
Dr. Paul G. Sanders, assistant professor, Materials Science & Engineering, Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Mich., USA, is the inaugural recipient of the award. Dr. Sanders’ proposal is entitled, “A Strategy for More Michigan Tech Engineers in the Steel Industry.” He intends to use the grant to form a partnership between the steel industry, Michigan Tech, and its students, with the mutual objective to encourage more students to pursue careers in the iron and steel industry.
The AIST Foundation is a Pennsylvania-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation organized for charitable, education and scientific purposes that seeks to attract technology-oriented professionals to the steel industry by educating the public about the high-tech, diverse and rewarding nature of careers in modern steelmaking. The AIST Foundation is the beneficiary of corporate and individual donations which enable it to award more US$600,000 annually in scholarships and grants in the fulfillment of its mission. For more information about the AIST Foundation, visit AISTFoundation.org.
The AIST Foundation is part of the Association for Iron & Steel Technology, an international technical association of more than 16,000 professional and student members from over 70 countries. For more information about AIST, visit AIST.org.
