American Society of Safety Engineers Honors Penn State Student Chapter
November 2006
On June 27, 2006, The Penn State student chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) was awarded for its contributions to safety education during the 2005/2006 academic year.
This award co-sponsored by both ASSE and by the Mine Safety Appliances Company is "awarded to recognize, encourage, and honor student sections for making the most significant contributions to safety education and research throughout the year." Eleven other student chapters nationwide participated in the competition out of a total of sixty-two student chapters.
Dr. Joel Haight, student section advisor, accepted the plaque and a $500 award on behalf of the student society at the ASSE's Annual Professional Development Conference in Seattle, WA. This was the first year since the student society was established in 2002 that a group of dedicated students, lead by then Chapter President Lucy Sciallo and Vice President Adam Soden, were able to compile an application package consisting of section-sponsored research, community and professional enhancement, and goals of the student section. Section-sponsored research, which was the core of the project, consisted of a quantitative chemical consequence analysis of a hypothetical chlorine release in State College, PA. The Penn State student section was also honored with the ASSE Region VIII Outstanding Student Section award, which provided another plaque and $500 award.
Additional ASSE Activities
Last academic year, several students attended the quarterly Keystone ASSE meeting to become familiar with their local home-based chapters. During the meeting, there was discussion of how the local chapters could help sponsor students who are majoring in the safety profession. The Northeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers (www.nepa-asse.org), in which four current students hail from, offered to give book grants to aid students with academic expenses. In June 2006, the students were presented with the book grants from the chapter. Seniors Alex Pawlowski, Eric Yanochko, Adam Soden, and Jere Pallis received the book grants. The generous book grants are yet another example of the close ties between the Penn State IHS program and practicing safety professionals.