MNE Announces Three Faculty Promotions

The Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering announces the promotion of three of its faculty; Dr. Mary Frecker, Dr. Eric Marsh and Dr. Matthew Mench.

Dr. Mary Frecker - Dr. Frecker was promoted to the rank of full professor. Dr. Frecker is well-established in the area of optimizing smart structures and compliant mechanisms. More recently, she has been working in the area of developing small surgical instruments using compliant mechanisms. She has been recognized for her research contributions both internal and external to Penn State. She regularly teaches the capstone design course in which many of her student teams have been given awards during the Learning Factory Showcase. She has advised a number of graduate students in which one of her more recent co-advisees securing a faculty position at Virginia Tech. She is active within ASME and this year will serve as the chair for the ASME Adaptive Structures Technical Committee.

Dr. Eric Marsh - Dr. Marsh was promoted to the rank of full professor. Dr. Marsh has established himself in the area of precision manufacturing with his approach involving both mathematical modeling and experimental verification. He has worked with a number of industrial partners to develop precision manufacturing techniques. His teaching efforts have involved a variety of courses and he has been recognized for his teaching efforts through a number of internal and external awards. Dr. Marsh is very active in two professional societies including the American Society of Precision Engineers (ASPE) and ASME. He has organized numerous meetings and has served in a leadership role at the national level on the ASPE Board of Directors.

Dr. Matthew Mench - Dr. Mench was promoted to the rank of associate professor with tenure. Dr. Mench's area of expertise is thermal sciences with an emphasis on fuel cells. He has created a laboratory, the Fuel Cell Dynamics and Diagnostics Lab, in which he and his students developed measurement methods that allow him to quantify water starvation in thin membrane electrode assemblies. Just this past year, he received the prestigious NSF CAREER award. He has contributed to our Department’s teaching through a range of courses including a new technical elective that he developed on fuel cell applications. He has been recognized for his teaching efforts through a 2006 PSES Teaching Award. He is an active member in ASME, in the Electrochemical Society, and in organizing the Gordon Conferences.