For the second consecutive year, Mississippi State's Challenge X team is taking first-place honors in student competition sponsored by General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy. The MSU group topped 16 others from universities in the United States and Canada, all seeking to re-engineer a sports utility vehicle with advanced technologies that improve fuel economy and lower emissions while maintaining driver comfort and vehicle performance. GM also announced that MSU will be participating in the next national design challenge. Others competing in Challenge X include the universities of California at Davis, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas at Austin, Tulsa, Waterloo, and Wisconsin-Madison, as well as Michigan Technological, Ohio State, Pennsylvania State, San Diego State, Texas Tech, Akron, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia universities, and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Kirk H. Schulz, MSU’s Vice President for Research and Economic Development serves on a prestigious commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. Schulz was a former chemical engineering professor and dean of MSU's Bagley College of Engineering; he was promoted to the vice presidential position earlier this spring.

Angela M. Spence, a 2005 graduate, was recognized as the top U.S. university aerospace engineering major. She received the Sigma Gamma Tau/Ammon S. Andes Award, recognizing exceptional academic achievement and participation in extracurricular activities.

MSU's Bagley College of Engineering student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers is nationally ranked for overall excellence. In addition, the group was cited for its service in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It also won the Zone II Vice President's Award, placing it among the ASCE's top five chapters in the nation.

The National Science Foundation recently awarded graduate computer engineering student Wesley Holland a three year Graduate Research Fellowship.  The fellowship covers tuition and pays a stipend of $30,000 a year.  Holland plans to focus his studies on embedded computer systems and digital design.  

MSU’s Bagley College of Engineering student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers concrete canoe team won the 2007 ASCE “Deep South” regional.  This is the first time in MSU history the BCoE team has qualified for national competition. This summer at the ASCE national competition they will face the university winners of 18 other regional competitions that were held across the country earlier this spring.

A Mississippi State senior from Ocean Springs is the sole U.S. Air Force ROTC cadet receiving a special national award. At a special university ceremony earlier, aerospace engineering major Christine M. Schudrowitz was presented with a $3,000 scholarship from the Armed Forces Communication and Electronics Association, in partnership with the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. Her award is one of only four given this year to ROTC participants and the only one going to a member of the Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps.

Two Mississippi State senior chemical engineering majors are recipients of $5,000 scholarships from separate organizations serving their professional field.  Lekeith B. Terrell of Brookhaven recently won a yearly renewable scholarship from the American Chemical Society's Scholars Program, while Ashley N. Holt of Decatur, Ala., is receiving a scholarship from the Southwest Chemical Association. Both are students in the university's Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, a part of the Bagley College of Engineering.

Aerospace engineering department head Tony Vizzini is a Fellow of the American Society for Composites. The society has only 21 members nationwide who carry the title.

Aerospace engineering professor Joe F. Thompson is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Fellows are named based on their notable and valuable contributions in the field. Thompson is an authority on numerical grid generation and computational fluid dynamics.

Civil engineering professor James L. Martin is a diplomat of the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers. Also a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Martin holds MSU's Kelly Gene Cook Sr. Chair in Civil Engineering.

David L. Lawrence, director of Mississippi State's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, is a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. Lawrence becomes part of an elite group of only 150 SETP Fellows worldwide.

MSU ranks 55th among public universities in total research and development expenditures, fifth in agricultural expenditures, and 31st in engineering expenditures. The rankings are based on reports from the National Science Foundation.

Toxicologist Janice E. Chambers in 2005 became the first woman to receive the top award of the American Chemical Society, Agrochemicals Division. She received the International Award for Research in Agrochemicals for her pioneering work in the effect of pesticides on animals and humans.

Research engineers at MSU's Computational Simulation and Design Center are working with NASA to provide computer codes that can help in the design of safer, more efficient rocket-propelled vehicles.

An outreach program in Mississippi State's mechanical engineering department helps area manufacturers save approximately $5 million annually in energy and production costs.  The Industrial Assessment Center works with companies within 150 miles of the Starkville campus.

Chemical engineering professor Clifford George of the Swalm School of Chemical Engineering in 2005 was named a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. It is the organization's highest level of peer recognition.

Mississippi State's "Raptor" supercomputer is the 18th most powerful computer system among American universities, according to the latest international rankings. Able to perform more than 10 trillion calculations per second, the university supercomputer is ranked in the November 2006 edition of the Top500 Supercomputing Sites. The rankings were compiled and released by the universities of Tennessee and Mannheim (Germany).

B. Keith Hodge, 1965 MSU alumnus, is a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education. He is the first member of the Bagley College of Engineering to hold the honor. The ASEE Fellow is conferred on a member for qualifications, experience and significant contributions to the society.

MSU alumnus and retired industry executive Hunter W. Henry Jr. received the Bill Franklin Volunteer of the Year Award from District III of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. Nominations for the honor are considered for their long-term contributions to their institution and to education in general.  Hunter W. Henry is a 1950 chemical engineering graduate from the BCoE.  The Hunter Henry Alumni Center is named in his honor and he has given generously to students through the Hunter W. and James. E Henry Scholarship established at the BCoE.

24 faculty members in the Bagley College of Engineering hold the designation of fellows in their respective professional societies. The title is one of the highest bestowed for professional service and accomplishments.

Two National Academy of Sciences members have joined the MSU faculty as distinguished research professors. Reproductive biologist Neal First has begun an appointment in biological sciences, and electrical engineer James Flanagan is affiliated with the Bagley College of Engineering. They are Mississippi's only members of the National Academy of Sciences.

A new invention by engineers at the Institute for Clean Energy Technology, formerly known as the Diagnostic Instrumentation and Analysis Laboratory, will be commercialized by Excelerate Inc. of Huntsville, Ala. The invention tests the structure of bridges.