Notable moments of 2022

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On December 20, 2022

2022 Innovation Lab groundbreaking

Leaders celebrate at the April 21, 2022, ceremonial groundbreaking for S&T’s Innovation Lab. From left: University of Missouri Curator Jeffrey Layman, S&T Chancellor Mo Dehghani, Kummer Vanguard Scholar Nithya Kalepalli, Fred Stone and Alysha O’Neil. Photo by Michael Pierce/Missouri S&T.

In 2022, Missouri S&T launched a new college, held a record-breaking Career Fair, opened a child care center for the community and paved the way for a new entrance to campus. These are only a few of our notable events and achievements in 2022. Here are 10 notable and newsworthy Missouri S&T moments from 2022.

Javier Valentin-Sivico with Casey Canfield
Less than 12 hours after S&T’s Kummer College was officially established, Dr. Javier Valentin-Sivico, left, successfully defended his dissertation. He is shown with his advisor, Dr. Casey Canfield, assistant professor of engineering management and systems engineering. Photo by Michael Pierce/Missouri S&T.

Kummer College, CASE established 

Two years after Missouri S&T received a transformative gift from June and Fred Kummer, we launched the Kummer College of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development on July 1. Economics, business and information technology, and engineering management and systems engineering are the college’s three founding programs. The college combines engineering, business and entrepreneurial principles in its curriculum for future inventors, start-up owners and business leaders.

Also on July 1,the College of Arts, Sciences, and Business became the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education. The college comprises S&T’s Air Force and Army ROTC programs, the global engineering program, and the departments of arts, languages, and philosophy; biological sciences; chemistry; English and technical communication; history and political science; mathematics and statistics; physics; psychological science; and teacher education and certification.

Career Fair 2022
Scene from Missouri S&T’s Fall 2022 Career Fair on Sept. 27.

A record-breaking career fair, starting salaries

Missouri S&T’s Fall 2022 Career Fair drew 440 employers – including 421 in-person companies and 156 companies participating in the virtual component – to interview and recruit our students for internships, co-ops and full-time positions. S&T graduates are obviously in high demand – and the pay isn’t shabby, either. According to S&T’s 2021-22 career outcomes report, the average salary for students who earn a bachelor’s degree is a record $69,033. Get more details at S&T’s career outcomes dashboard

Henry, age 4, plays in the outdoor playground at the Child Development Center in Rolla. Photo provided by Lyndsey Elliott.

Something for the kids … and parents … and teacher education students

In January, S&T opened the Child Development Center for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old. S&T was one of five university campuses that received a state grant to expand access to high-quality child care, especially for low-income families, by requiring that at least 30 percent of the children enrolled be eligible for child care subsidies. “The establishment of S&T’s Child Development Center will help meet one of the city and county’s largest needs – affordable, high-quality child care,” says Lyndsey Elliott, director of the Missouri S&T Child Development Center. “The staff are excited to be able to help low-income families while having our teacher education and certification faculty and students support its programs.”

Aerospace Camp
Aerospace Camp teaches middle school and junior high students about launching rockets, flight, astronomy and space exploration.

Summer camps, STEM Day excite future students 

S&T’s Kummer Center for STEM Education hosted numerous activities that brought K-12 students to our college campus. “I know from experience that rural schools are challenged in terms of funding,” says Courtney Jones, director of the center. “There are great teachers, but in smaller, rural districts they simply don’t have the budgets for the equipment and other resources often required to teach STEM-related topics.”

After two years of virtual and hybrid youth camps, Missouri S&T’s in-person summer camps returned. The nearly “sold out” camps attracted over 700 students from across the country and internationally to our campus. 

S&T’s first STEM Day event drew nearly 1,000 K-12 students to campus for hands-on activities  on Nov. 8. Students selected from among over 50 science experiments to participate in, including chemistry experiments, robotics, “painting with fire,” and mining experiments. 

Holocaust demonstrators
Demonstrators in Los Angeles protest Germany’s persecution of Jews in the aftermath of Kristallnacht, 1938. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress, USZ62-117023

Library hosts ‘Americans and the Holocaust” exhibit, events

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum selected Missouri S&T’s Curtis Laws Wilson Library as one of 50 U.S. libraries to host its traveling exhibit, Americans and the Holocaust, this fall. Visitors examined the motives, pressures and fears that shaped Americans’ responses to Nazism, war and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. S&T’s library staff organized several events to accompany the exhibit, including a presentation by survivor Rachel Miller of St. Louis, lectures by S&T faculty historians, a hands-on arts workshop, a musical performance, and a supplementary exhibition about a St. Louis rabbi who traveled to pre-WWII Germany several times and reported back to Missourians on the rising danger he found.

Steel Bridge students
Students work on their steel bridge design in March at the Kummer Student Design Center.

Teamwork makes the dream work 

Not many universities can brag about their bladesmithing team – but S&T can. Students on S&T’s bladesmithing team not only designed and handcrafted a sword, but the team also won an international competition sponsored by The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society. S&T’s Chem-E-Car and mining teams also fared well in international competitions. S&T’s Mars Rover Design Team and mine rescue team brought home third-place finishes. Also, the Steel Bridge Design Team advanced to national competition and won first place in the cost estimate category. 

These accomplishments were among the highlights of a successful year for S&T’s student design teams.

Aerial view roundabout
Aerial view of Tim Bradley Way and the roundabout on Hwy. 63 on Aug. 24, 2022. Photo by Terry Barner/Missouri S&T.

Paving the way for a new entrance

Tim Bradley Way opened in August, marking a milestone in developing our Arrival District. The district is part of S&T’s 2020 Campus Master Plan and the Move Rolla Transportation Development District (TDD), a partnership between the city of Rolla, Phelps County, Phelps Health and Missouri S&T. The project will connect the university’s entry point off I-44 to campus through a series of landscape and building projects that also will improve access along Bishop Avenue and direct visitors through a grand entrance plaza into a campus commons area featuring gardens, walkways and an expansive lawn. New buildings will include the Missouri Protoplex, an advanced manufacturing research and development facility, Innovation Lab for S&T students and the Welcome Center for prospective students and other visitors. Visitors will park in a subsurface parking garage and then walk to the Welcome Center to start their visit.

Dr. Kyle Wernke conducts the S&T symphony orchestra during the 2022 Spring Concert. Photo by Michael Pierce/Missouri S&T.

In the national spotlight 

Missouri S&T’s name is shared nationally, thanks to the expertise and work of faculty, staff, students and alumni. The following are a few examples. 

Somaya and Malala
Malala Yousafzai and S&T student Somaya Faruqi practice their speeches to the UN General Assembly on Sept. 20, 2022. Photo from Malala Yousafzai’s Instagram page.
  • Dr. Kyle Wernke, assistant professor of music at Missouri S&T, won the American Prize in Composition in Orchestral Music (Professional Division) from the American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts. 
  • S&T student Somaya Faruqi spoke at the United Nations General Assembly about education equality on Sept. 20 in New York City. In high school, she was captain of her homeland’s all-female robotics team, widely known as the Afghan Dreamers, when the Taliban banned education for girls beyond the sixth grade. Today, she keeps the dream alive by pursuing her S&T degree and advocating for women’s rights.
  • Dr. J. David Rogers, the Karl F. Hasselmann Missouri Chair in Geological Engineering, received the Schuster Medal for his expertise and teaching in geohazards such as landslides, floods and earthquakes. 
  • Dr. Anthony Convertine, the Roberta and G. Robert Couch Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, was elected to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) 2022 class of senior members. 
  • Dr. Sandra Magnus, a two-time S&T graduate and former NASA astronaut who spent over four months on the International Space Station and flew on the final space shuttle mission, has been elected into the National Academy of Engineering
  • Missouri S&T graduate Aruna (Katragadda) Miller made history in November when she was elected as the first immigrant and Indian-American woman to become lieutenant governor of Maryland.

New leaders take the helm

Missouri S&T welcomed the following individuals to leadership positions: 

  • Dr. Richard Billo, director of the Kummer Institute Center for Advanced Manufacturing 
  • Dr. Mehrzad Boroujerdi, vice provost and dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education 
  • Dr. David Borrok, interim vice provost and dean of the College of Engineering and Computing
  • Dr. Tim Faley, associate vice chancellor for innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialization
  • Dr. Susan Murray, acting vice provost and dean of the Kummer College of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development
  • Dr. Nicole Arleane Roberson, vice chancellor of diversity, equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer 
  • David Spivey, vice provost of enrollment management 
  • Dr. Donald C. Wunsch II, director of the Kummer Institute Center for Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems. 
Sedigh and Hurson with students
Dr. Sahra Sedigh Sarvestani, associate professor, and Dr. Ali Hurson, professor, center, pose for a photo with electrical and computer engineering students. Photo by Michael Pierce/Missouri S&T.

Expanding opportunities for teaching, learning at Missouri S&T

The National Science Foundation awarded $1 million to Missouri S&T to support our university’s efforts to attract, retain and advance more women faculty into STEM fields. The NSF is also funding a $1.5 million grant to encourage undergraduate students in electrical engineering or computer engineering to pursue master’s degrees. 

Missouri S&T introduced a new, need-based Solving for Tomorrow Scholarship for Missouri students to cover all tuition and fees not covered by other scholarships and grants. “We know that financial aid plays a big role in helping students decide where to attend college,” says Chancellor Mo Dehghani. “The Solving for Tomorrow Scholarship will help ease the financial burdens of Missouri families so that students can focus on learning rather than worrying about finances. Furthermore, our students are highly sought after by employees. Most students receive multiple job offers and upon graduation, they leave the university ready to join the workforce.”

A video rewind of 2022

Time is measured not only in years, but also in moments. Here’s a look back at some of S&T’s significant moments in 2022.

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On December 20, 2022. Posted in email, News, University News

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