Academics

Award presented to Penn State Fayette engineering professor

David B. Meredith, associate professor of general engineering at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, was selected as the recipient of the 2009 Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day Award from the Board of Directors of the Women in Engineering ProActive Network. WEPAN presented the award to Meredith for his enthusiasm and desire to “create an environment where women and girls are welcomed and appreciated in the engineering community.”

Meredith was honored for his annual spring Girrl Power! program sponsored by the campus Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (WISET) student club. The theme of this year’s program, now in its ninth year, was “Supersizing the Microscopic.” Twenty middle school girls explored multiple aspects of nanotechnology, including visits to local companies using nanotechnologies and the Nano Fabrication Lab at Penn State University Park.

Meredith is known for his many efforts to encourage girls and young women to explore engineering as a career, including his annual summer “space camps” for fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade girls.

“Women were underrepresented in engineering when I was a student decades ago. We have made progress, but still have a long way to go,” Meredith said. “The profession benefits when young women take an interest in science and math and choose careers in engineering. So, it is important that women know that there are opportunities for them in technical fields. Programs like Girrl Power!, WISET and the space camps are targeted at young girls, and some of those girls have grown up to earn college degrees in engineering here at Penn State Fayette. It is rewarding to work with students of all ages, and I am honored to have received this award.”

 

David B. Meredith, associate professor of general engineering at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. Credit: Susan Brimo-Cox / Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated January 9, 2015

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