Submitted by Grace Williamson
Several outstanding graduate students in the Department of Forest Biomaterials at NC State University were selected to present their research at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) national conference held in Cincinnati in October 2010. Each student selected received a scholarship covering all their conference expenses including travel.
Adrian Pirraglia with his winning research poster at the 2010 SHPE
Student research was judged in two separate categories – Graduate Paper and Graduate Poster. Julio C. Arboleda was awarded third place in the Graduate Paper category. Also competing in that category from NC State were Carlos E. Aizpurua, Carlos A. Carrillo, Ingrid Hoeger, Adrian Pirraglia and Carlos Salas. Adrian Pirraglia was awarded second place in the Graduate Poster category. Guillermo J. Velarde also participated in the graduate poster category.
The SHPE conference hosts universities nationwide making it very competitive.
To compete, students must first submit an abstract, or summary, of their paper or poster. Once approved, students submit a completed paper providing scientific goals, data analysis, research quality and conclusions. Finally, outstanding students present their project to seven judges at the conference who evaluate their presentation and knowledge of their research.
The SHPE Conference attracts over 5,000 engineering professionals, students and corporate representatives each year as the organization works to fulfill their mission to enhance and achieve the potential of Hispanics in engineering, math and science.
“Educational, technical, and career opportunities are provided at the conference,” says Dr. Daniel Saloni, assistant professor in Forest Biomaterials. “The students participated in a number of workshops on topics related to proposal writing, scientific paper writing, thesis writing, CV drafting, interviewing, working with advisors, working in teams and more; making it an outstanding opportunity for our students to network, grow and demonstrate the outstanding work they do here at NC State.”
Faculty members Orlando Rojas and Daniel Saloni mentored the students and coordinated the trip for the Department of Forest Biomaterials.