The Reston, Va.-based American Association of Engineering Societies is
giving its prestigious Norm Augustine
Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Communications to a
California university research professor who uses superheroes to explain
science.
Suveen Mathaudhu,
39, an assistant professor in the mechanical engineering department and
materials science and engineering program at University of California,
Riverside, will be in Washington, D.C., on April 20 to receive the award. It is given
to individuals who speak with passion about engineering, allowing the public to
better understand the field and better appreciate how engineers improve our
quality of life.
Previous winners include military leaders, a congressman, a
Secretary of Defense and astronauts, including Neil Armstrong.
Mathaudhu helped to create a museum exhibit called Comic-Tanium. The exhibit, which is on
display through Jan. 5 at the ToonSeum in Pittsburgh, combines the real world
of materials science and the fictional worlds of comic book heroes, such Iron
Man, Captain America, Spider-Man and Batman. The exhibit was previously shown
in San Diego and Washington, D.C.
The society and Mathaudhu are updating the exhibit so that it
would include video and also modules that could be used by elementary school
teachers teaching science and math.
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