Reitz High School senior Ryan Loehrlein will be traveling to Pittsburgh in May to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), scheduled for May 10 in Pittsburgh, Penn., after competing in the Hoosier Science and Engineering Fair last week.

Loehrlein’s project, “The Guardian Angel: Heroic Acts Taking Flight,” was selected as an ISEF finalist, meaning he will be part of the Indiana delegation at the ISEF where he will join more than 1,700 high school students from over 70 countries, regions and territories who will showcase their research and compete for more than $5 million in prizes.

As part of his project, Loehrlein designed, built and tested a drone that can partner with SWAT teams. The drone can be remotely operated and can send real-time images and data back to a cell phone, iPad or computer. In addition, blueprints of the building can be programmed into the drone which can then fly the entire building without needing to be controlled, helping SWAT teams clear and learn layouts of buildings before entering.

Loehrlein’s project also earned him the John and Janet Davis Scholarship worth $3,000 at the state competition.

In addition, two other Reitz seniors, Alyssa Plumlee and Sarah Shull competed at the state Science Fair. Plumlee received a $100 prize from the American Osteopathic Association for her project that studied the viability of using 3D printing to create bone replacements for patients.

 

At its regular meeting on April 2, 2015, the University of Southern Indiana Board of Trustees approved a new graduate degree program:  Master of Science in Sport Management.

According to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, jobs in sport management are projected to increase by 32.5 percent in Indiana by the year 2020. Jobs include meeting and convention planners, recreational sports administrators, sport officials, sports agents, sports media, sport marketing managers, sport sales managers and general managers. Demand for such jobs is growing at a faster than average rate in Southern Indiana.

The University anticipates approval of the degree program by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education this summer and could begin offering the program as soon as fall 2015.

The Board approved spring 2015 candidates for doctoral, master’s, bachelor’s and associate’s degrees, and candidates for honorary degrees to be presented at the Graduate Ceremony on May 1.

The honorary Doctor of Laws will be awarded to Patricia A. Koch, director of values for Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari. She co-authored a publication of the history of Holiday World and another detailing the history of the town of Santa Claus. In 2006, she opened the Santa Claus Museum and Village, dedicated to telling the story of the town and its post office.

She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Santa Claus Museum and Village and the Spencer County Regional Chamber of Commerce, and is chairperson of the executive advisory council of the Benedictine Sisters of Ferdinand.

In 2002, she received a master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry from Loyola University. In 2011, she received an honorary degree from Ivy Tech Community College was named to the Junior Achievement Evansville Regional Business Hall of Fame.

Koch’s long-time support of the University of Southern Indiana includes the USI Foundation Annual Fund and the Society for Arts & Humanities. As reflected in her community work, she also has committed resources to Historic Southern Indiana, Historic New Harmony and the New Harmony Theatre.

The University will award the honorary Doctor of Science to Dr. Joey V. Barnett, professor of pharmacology, medicine, pediatrics, pathology, microbiology and immunology and acting chair of the Department of Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

An Evansville native, Barnett graduated from USI with a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1980. He completed his doctorate in the Pharmacological Sciences Training Program at Vanderbilt University in 1986. He then served as a research fellow and instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School, and returned to Vanderbilt as an assistant professor of medicine in 1992.

In 2000, he moved to Pharmacology to direct the Ph.D. training program. In 2014, he was appointed director of the Office of Medical Student Research and assistant dean of Physician-Researcher Training. In this position he is implementing the undergraduate medical research program and overseeing the Medical Scholars Program, a program he helped develop.

Barnett is involved with the USI Foundation through the Baccalaureate/Doctor of Medicine (B/MD) program, aiding in the planning of its annual dinner. He also established the Victor Barnett Engineering Scholarship to honor his father and funded the Barnett Research Award in memory of his grandparents.

In other business, the Board recommended architectural firm Cannon Design of St. Louis, Missouri, in partnership with Wilkie Structural Engineering and Biagi, Chance, Cummins, London, Titzer, Inc., both of Evansville, and Water Technologies, Inc. of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, for a $16 million renovation of the Physical Activities Center (PAC); the first since the building opened in 1980. The PAC is the home court of USI’s Screaming Eagles athletics programs and the site of fall and spring commencement exercises at USI. Construction is slated to begin in late 2015.

The Board also heard a report on an internal environmental scan process that will become the basis for the next phase of the University’s strategic plan. The current five-year strategic plan ends in 2015.