Appointments, honors and activities
• Notables:
- Alice Pawley, an assistant professor in Purdue's School of Engineering Education and an affiliate faculty member of the Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering and the Women's Studies Program, has co-edited a book aimed at engineering academics attempting to bring social justice into their work and practice. "Engineering and Social Justice: In the University and Beyond," published last month by Purdue University Press, is the first book dedicated specifically to university professionals on engineering and social justice, an emerging area of research and practice, according to Purdue Press. Pawley joined Caroline Baillie, who was recently named chair of Engineering Education for the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics at the University of Western Australia; and Donna Riley, a founding faculty member in the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College, the first accredited engineering program at a U.S. women's college. The book, which includes a number of Purdue Engineering Education faculty, staff, and graduate students as contributing authors, is available for purchase from the Purdue University Press website, http://www.thepress.purdue.edu/titles/format/9781557536068
• Student honors:
- Purdue's Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity is one of 10 college undergraduate organizations to receive a grant from the Responsible Scholars Alternative Spring Break Grants program. Phi Kappa Psi received $1,000 to travel to San Pedro, Belize, and install solar panels on an elementary school. The group also will work on various construction projects around the school. The grant program annually awards organizations that engage in community work over their spring break vacations. Purdue's spring break is the week of March 12. Last spring break, members of Phi Kappa Psi traveled to San Pedro and constructed an eco-pond system for the local elementary school. The eco-pond filters and recycles toilet water, saving the community $6,000 in annual municipal water fees. The group also helped teach classes, and tutored and mentored students.