Tau Beta Pi Announces 2002 Laureates

Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society, has named three Laureates in the Association’s annual program to recognize gifted engineering students who have excelled in areas beyond their technical majors.
The 2002 Tau Beta Pi Laureates are: Devon J. Battaglia, who will graduate in 2003 with degrees in music and engineering physics from Lehigh University, Sarah T. Bauer, who will graduate from Iowa State University in 2003 with dual degrees in chemical engineering and music; and Erik C. Porse, a 2002 graduate of the University of Hartford in acoustical engineering and music. In addition to their scholastic achievements, the Laureates are lauded for their creative and diverse accomplishments. They join 51 other outstanding Tau Bates who have been named Laureates since 1982.
The Laureate Program exists to further Tau Beta Pi’s second basic purpose as stated in the Association’s Constitution: “ . . . to foster a spirit of liberal culture in engineering colleges.” The primary concern of the Society is to recognize students of superior scholarship and exemplary character and to honor eminent practicing engineers. The Society also encourages excellence in engineering education and in the ethical practice of engineering.
The Tau Beta Pi Laureates will be honored on October 5, 2002, at the 97th annual Convention to be held in Detroit, MI. President Douglas M. Green, P.E., will present each winner with a $2,500 cash award and a commemorative plaque. Their biographies follow:

Devon J. Battaglia was nominated by the Pennsylvania Alpha Chapter at Lehigh University for his campus contributions to the performing arts—while completing a two-degree, five-year program majoring in music and engineering physics with a minor in applied mathematics.
The valedictorian of his Rochester high-school class, Devon chose to attend Lehigh because the school provided the best opportunity to pursue his two passions: engineering physics and music.
Since entering Lehigh in 1998, Devon has made a broad impact on campus. A trombone player, he has consistently performed with the Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, and Philharmonic Orchestra—and as a singer and actor, he has entertained audiences as a member of the university choir and a performer in musical and opera productions. He is one of only a few non-theater majors given a chance to perform a major role in a theater-department production.
A calculation of the time Devon devotes to the arts in a normal week includes—19 hours rehearsing with ensembles and 2-4 hours practicing on his own, plus extra time during show-production weeks, camps for choir, orchestra, musical theater and opera, sectional rehearsals, recording sessions, private lessons, and dress rehearsals. Unofficially, he will graduate next year with more music credits than any major in Lehigh’s history (33 core credits for music majors; Devon will probably have accumulated more than 75). The winner of the Malcolm J. Gordon Jr. physics prize and named a Lehigh University Engineering Dean Scholar and Tandy Technology Scholar, Devon was elected to Tau Beta Pi and Phi Beta Kappa. He plans to attend graduate school to earn a doctorate in applied plasma physics or optical engineering, with a goal of contributing to the development of fusion as an alternative energy source.

Sarah T. Bauer, who will be completing dual degrees in chemical engineering and music at Iowa State University next spring, was nominated for Laureate recognition by Tau Beta Pi’s Iowa Alpha Chapter in Ames. She is cited for her contributions to the Iowa State University Orchestra and Wind Ensemble; she is principal flute/piccolo performer and winner of the Iowa State Concerto competition. In her role as principal, Sarah performs as a soloist and leads her section. She improves her playing through master classes with professionals. She also encourages others in engineering to continue their musical training in college and to participate in university ensembles. To assist other performers, she maintains a web-based guide to help others test and purchase exceptionally high-quality flutes. She is also mentoring a younger music student.
Off campus, Sarah serves as music minister at her church; aside from simply singing and playing her flute, she has organized a contemporary music group and developed a quality performing ensemble.
Besides her involvement in the music department and her community, Sarah maintains a near-perfect grade point average as a member of the honors programs in both the college of engineering and the college of liberal arts and science; she will complete honors projects in both colleges next year.
Within the chemical engineering department, she serves on the curriculum committee, where she has been active in an effort to design and implement an electronic course evaluation system over the Internet. An active member of Iowa Alpha, she led an effort to produce a chapter newsletter and has led the cabinet of officers in producing electronic versions of their materials, creating computer files to be passed on to future officers. Next year, she plans to help revitalize the initiation process to increase membership.

Erik C. Porse has combined his love for music and engineering in a unique curriculum provided through the University of Hartford. He is majoring in acoustical engineering and music—he plays saxophone and has been privileged to play with top jazz performers while a student at the Jackie MacLean Institute of Jazz in the Hartt School of Music. But it is his diverse interests and concern for others that have made him such an outstanding leader of character and member of the Connecticut Gamma Chapter of Tau Beta Pi.
On campus, Erik has led the Newman Club as president, managing the annual $6,000 budget and expanding the group’s mission of service, education, and community development. Dedicating 20 hours weekly, he oversaw charity book and toy drives, basketball tournaments, club retreats, and interdenominational projects. The Newman members won the SGA’s award for community service for their stellar performance. Another group has thrived under his leadership—the Hartford Men’s Club Volleyball team. As team president and captain, he manages the team’s $4,000 annual budget and plans practice schedules and rotations. Two years ago, he had no volleyball experience, but he finished his senior year playing the Spring 2002 tournament season in the New England Collegiate Volleyball League.
During the summers, Erik enjoyed working as a camp counselor with inner-city kids, organizing wilderness treks, rebuilding a town devastated by a hurricane, participating in racquetball tournaments, playing volleyball, running, and playing the guitar.
A highpoint of his student career was his selection in 2001 for a prestigious Washington internship in the WISE program, researching engineering and public policy topics.