************************************************************************

DAVE C. SWALM SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING E-NEWSLETTER

Volume 2, Number 6

July/August, 2003

************************************************************************

FROM THE DEPARTMENT HEAD.

No parking places, long lines of traffic, students walking around campus,
and the smell of tailgate food in the air can only mean one thing.Fall
Semester has started!  I am still amazed each fall how dramatic the
changes are on campus when all of the students come back Starkville.
While it is nice to have some .quiet. time during the summer, I am always
ready to see the eager, smiling faces of our students at the beginning of
Fall Semester.  Of course, some of the smiles turn to frowns by the first
exam, but at least for a week or so, everyone is happy to be back and
studying Chemical Engineering.  

Football season is my favorite time of the year, and our household comes
to a complete stop on Saturday mornings for College Gameday on ESPN.  I
stayed up late last Saturday to catch the Kansas State - California
football game, and enjoyed every minute of seeing the 2003 college
football season under way.  At this time of year, everyone is optimistic
(I still think the Bulldogs will win the SEC) about the season, which we
can afford to be when we are still undefeated!  

I enjoy seeing a long pass, a .big hit. during a game, or a quarterback
sack as much as the next fan.  However, our oldest son (Timothy) suited up
and is playing QB on the 7th grade junior high school team here in
Starkville.  While they mostly scrimmage each other (they do play one game
against another school in the area), the idea of a QB sack no longer has
as much appeal when it is one of your children who might be looking up at
the sky wondering where his blockers were.  He is excited about playing
football, so we will see if his parents can make it through a game where
it is our son being tackled!  

With the Fall Football season coming up, don.t forget to stop by one of
the Tailgate Tents and visit with faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
This will be the third year we have done this, and the number of people
coming gets bigger every year.     

Please keep those alumni updates coming!  Also, please continue to surf
our WWW site occasionally to see pictures of what is happening at MSU.  We
will have some pictures up of the Oregon tailgating event early next week,
so be sure to check out the photos if you cannot make the game.  

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the newsletter.   Go Dawgs!

************************************************************************

JOHN REED RECEIVES NATIONAL AIChE SCHOLARSHIP

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) sponsors a
scholarship competition each year where 15 students are selected in a
national competition to receive scholarship awards of $1,000 each.  Each
university can submit only one nomination, and with over 125 universities
offering chemical engineering degrees, the competition for these
scholarships is very intense.  Awards are presented on the basis of
academic achievement and involvement in student chapter activities.

I am pleased to announce that Mr. John Reed, a senior in Chemical
Engineering, was recently selected to receive a Donald F. and Mildred Topp
Othmer National Scholarship Award from AIChE.  This is a tremendous
accomplishment for John, and is a great reflection on the Swalm School of
Chemical Engineering.  John will receive his award at the AIChE National
Meeting in San Francisco in November.  

Please join me in congratulating John on this tremendous personal
achievement. 

************************************************************************

DAVE SWALM PROVIDES ADDITION SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT

The Swalm School of Chemical Engineering historically has supported 50 to
70 students on some form of merit based scholarship aid through the Dave
C. Swalm Scholarship Fund.  Because of the down turn in the stock market,
the investment returns from our scholarship endowments have dropped
significantly over the past couple of years.  Dave Swalm (.55) provided
the School with an additional $100,000 to use for the upcoming year to
ensure that we can continue to support as many students on merit-based
scholarship aid as we have in the past.  Alumni support such as this is
what enables us to attract and retain the best and brightest students at
MSU to major in Chemical Engineering.  

Thanks to Dave and Beth Swalm for their continued support! 

************************************************************************

OREGON GAME FOOTBALL TAILGATE

I hope that if you are planning on attending the MSU - Oregon game this
weekend, please make sure and come by and visit the Chemical Engineering
Tailgate tent.  It is a late game (kick-off is scheduled for 8:00 CST), so
we will have the tent open from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.  We continue to make
improvements to the building, and if you haven.t had a chance to come by
and see the facilities, we will have the Chemical Engineering Alumni
Ambassadors available to take you around the building.  Come by, have a
burger or a hotdog, and visit with your favorite Bulldog fans.  

************************************************************************

FOOTBALL TAILGATING DATES AVAILABLE

Make sure to mark your calendar to attend one of our Chemical Engineering
fall tailgate tents.  Several sponsors have already signed up, so make
sure and let us know immediately if you would like to sponsor one of the
three remaining games.  If you sponsor one of these games, we ask your
company to send some .give-aways. and to have some representatives at the
tailgate to visit with students, parents, and alumni.  Games will be
assigned on a .first-come, first-served. basis.

August 30 - Oregon - OPEN
September 27 - LSU - Albemarle Chemical Company 
October 4 - Vanderbilt - Eka Chemical Company 
October 11 - Memphis - OPEN
November 8 - Alabama - Kerr McGee Chemical Company 
November 27 - Ole Miss - OPEN

The tailgate tents will start serving food 3 hours prior to kick-off, and
will shut down approximately 1 hour prior to kick-off.  As in previous
years, we will have the Chemical Engineering Alumni Ambassadors at the
tailgate tent to give building tours and to keep you up-to-date on ChE at
Mississippi State. 

If you or your company would like to sponsor a tailgate tent, please send
an email note to Ms. Sherre Denson (sherre@che.msstate.edu
) letting us know which game you would like
to sponsor. 

Go Dawgs!  

************************************************************************