Robert "Doc" Mueller, associate professor of engineering at Penn State New Kensington, was honored April 1 by the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society at a luncheon in State College, Pa.
Mueller received the "PSEAS Outstanding Teaching Award" for excellence in teaching and for contributions to the art of teaching. PSEAS is an alumni advisory body in the College of Engineering. The society works with the College to promote and improve the engineering programs at Penn State. The award carries a $500 stipend.
"I am honored to have been selected for the PSEAS award," said Mueller, who joined the New Kensington faculty in 1998. "To be recognized by alumni for your classroom work is the ultimate 'thank you' for faculty from students."
Mueller teaches upper-level courses in Electro-Mechanical Engineering and lower-level courses in Computer Engineering Technology in the four-year Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology program. The EMET degree program emphasizes all fields of engineering technology related to typical, highly-automated manufacturing, production, or assembly plant processes.
The Freeport, Pa. resident holds a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and earned a bachelor's degree from Wichita State University in Kansas. Prior to coming to the campus, Mueller spent more than 30 years in the private industry working with industrial control systems. A registered professional in Pennsylvania, he is a consultant regarding industrial automation and serves as an expert witness in product liability and wrongful death lawsuits. Mueller is a member of the American Society of Engineering Educators and the American Society of Military Engineers, as well as a senior grade member of the Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society and the Institute of Electrical Engineers.
In addition to his academic responsibilities, Mueller co-chairs the campus' Faculty/Staff Campaign for the University's current fundraising effort, For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students.
In keeping with his support of engineering students, Mueller plans to donate his award money to the Bernard and Geraldine Guss Endowed Scholarship at Penn State New Kensington. Bernie Guss, professor emeritus of engineering, established the scholarship in 2001 for local students majoring in engineering technology at the campus. First preference is given to students who have graduated from Burrell High School or St. Joseph's High School in Westmoreland County, Pa.
The campus offers a three engineering degrees -- bachelor's in electro-mechanical engineering, (http://www.nk.psu.edu/Academics/Degrees/39807.htm); and associate in mechanical engineering technology (http://www.nk.psu.edu/Academics/Degrees/met.html) and biomedical engineering technology (http://www.nk.psu.edu/Academics/Degrees/bet.html).