Academics

Walsh selected as 2017 Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Award winner

Three Schreyer Scholars earn cash prizes as award finalists

The three finalists selected for the 2017 Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Award participated in a public oral presentation on May 4, 2017. University Libraries Associate Dean Anne Langley, Diane Zabel, Louis and Virginia Benzak Business Librarian and jury chair Diane Zabel join Schreyer Honors College Interim Dean Kathleen Bieschke (far right) in presenting the winner Alexander Walsh and finalists Aviva Doery and Samuel Lapp with their prizes.  Credit: Nathan Valchar, Penn State University LibrariesAll Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State University Libraries presented the 2017 Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Award to Schreyer Honors College Scholar Alexander Walsh following his public oral presentation May 4. Walsh will receive $1,250 for his thesis “Effects of Extrusion Temperature and Printer Nozzle Speed on the Tensile Properties of 3D Printed Polylactic Acid." Walsh is a graduating senior who will receive his degree in mechanical engineering this weekend.

Aviva Doery, a graduating Schreyer Scholar with degrees in international politics and global and international studies, earned $750 for her thesis "The Lives of Lesbian Women in Berlin Before and Beyond the Rise of the Nazis 1933-1945." Schreyer Scholar Samuel Lapp, a graduating senior who will earn his degree in engineering science, was awarded $500 for his thesis “Modeling Intonation in Non-Western Musical Cultures.”

The annual competition included a review of the submitted theses by a faculty jury and a public oral presentation by the three finalists. The Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Award provides an opportunity to fully appreciate the academic quality of Penn State students and the depth of their undergraduate research.

The Libraries initiated this award as a way to emphasize the importance of utilizing quality research methods and employing a thorough understanding of the legal and ethical issues related to the use of information — both key components of academic excellence. For Schreyer Scholars, the thesis is the capstone of their honors experience at Penn State. This competition recognizes the discerning inquiry and diligent research undertaken by the scholars in preparation of the completion of each thesis.

This year’s panel of judges was composed of six Penn State faculty: Julian Avery, senior lecturer and research associate of wildlife ecology and conservation, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, College of Agricultural Sciences; Carter Hunt, assistant professor, Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management, College of Health and Human Development; and from the University Libraries, Larry and Ellen Foster Communications Librarian Jeffrey A. Knapp; Eric N. and Bonnie S. Prystowsky Early Career Science Librarian Robert Olendorf, Instruction and Outreach Archivist Julie Porterfield, and Louis and Virginia Benzak Business Librarian Diane Zabel, the panel’s chair.

The submissions process for the Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Award begins in January of each year. Students who have graduated in summer of the previous year or fall or spring of the current academic year are eligible to participate. Details are available at https://libraries.psu.edu/about/student-awards/outstanding-undergraduate-thesis-award.

For more information, contact Wendi Keeler at 814-863-5449 or wak109@psu.edu.

Last Updated May 18, 2017

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