Page 25 - Penn State Mechanical Engineering Magazine 2020

Department News
New gift will support undergraduate students
Helen L. Van Pelt, a friend of Penn State, has made an estate commitment in honor of her late husband, Carl Schaukowitch, a 1973 Penn State mechanical engineering alumnus. The funds will establish the
Carl Schaukowitch and Helen Van Pelt Scholarship, an endowed undergraduate scholarship in mechanical engineering.
“The College of Engineering is very thankful for the generosity of Ms. Van Pelt and
the wonderful sentiment she has shown
in commemorating her late husband,”
said Justin Schwartz, Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of Engineering. “This financial commitment will help many ambitious students obtain their degrees and continue to impact tomorrow as they enter their careers.”
The Carl Schaukowitch and Helen Van Pelt Scholarship will provide funds for full-time undergraduate students majoring in or planning to major in mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering. In honor of Schaukowitch’s alma mater, Sto-Rox High School in McKees Rocks, first preference will be given to students who are also graduates of a high school in Allegheny County.
“As a scholarship recipient himself, Carl fully appreciated the importance and value of these awards,” Van Pelt said. “The University and the College of Engineering meant a great deal to my husband, and he would
be pleased to be able to impact the lives of current mechanical engineering students in this way.”
While at Penn State, Schaukowitch was
a member of the football team. After graduating, he continued his football career with the Denver Broncos for four years.
Schaukowitch went on to attend law school at the University of Denver. He eventually became a patent attorney and partner at the law firm of Fishman Stewart Yamaguchi in Washington, D.C.
Van Pelt and Schaukowitch were married for 22 years, and, before Schaukowitch’s death in 2015, the couple resided in Mitchellville, Maryland.
Assistant professor earns Shuman Early Career Professorship
Catherine Berdanier, assistant professor and director of online programs in the Penn State Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME), has recently been named the Clyde W. Shuman Jr. and Nancy Shuman Early Career Professor.
ME alumnus Clyde Shuman and his wife, Nancy, of Allentown, pledged to create the professorship in 2010 to support academic excellence in engineering education, an ambition Berdanier has centered her career on.
“I am honored to accept this professorship, which is only possible because of the Shumans and their generous support of our department,” Berdanier said.
The recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2019, Berdanier investigates how engineering knowledge can be translated to students most effectively, particularly at the graduate education level. By uncovering novel and impactful educational strategies and tactics, she explained there is potential to retain more students within their academic programs and poise them to thrive in a successful engineering career.
“My research expertise in graduate-level attrition, persistence and career trajectories is important and impactful and can be immediately applied in the department,” Berdanier said. “My research being recognized with this professorship shows that others also appreciate the uniqueness.”
The three-year professorship, previously held by Stephen Lynch, associate professor of mechanical engineering, provides crucial support for a faculty member in the first 10 years of their academic careers by providing seed money for research and teaching projects.
Berdanier recognizes her graduate students as the “lifeblood” of her lab and plans to use the professorship to support their professional development through workshops, conferences and trainings.
“I intend to continue to innovate in the methods that we use in engineering education and the extra support that this professorship provides will continue to help my group become known as methodological pioneers in engineering education research,” she said.
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