Notable Women @ Mines
Celebrating the achievements of women faculty, alumni, and graduate students at South Dakota School of Mines
Nationally Recognized Leader in Geology, Dr. Laurie Anderson
Dr. Laurie Anderson, Head of the Geology and Geological Engineering Dept., was recently named as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science(AAAS). Dr. Anderson is the first
woman to be named an AAAS fellow while employed at a South Dakota university. Dr. Anderson is also a fellow of the Geological Society of America.
For more information: https://www.sdsmt.edu/News/Anderson-Named-AAAS-Fellow/#.ZCXYkS-B31w
ME Professor and Local Leader, Dr. Cassandra Birrenkott
Dr. Cassandra Birrenkott, associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is part of a select group of 24 leaders in the community as part of the 2023 Elevate Leadership Group.
For more information: https://www.elevaterapidcity.com/news/2022/08/11/press-release/24-up-and-coming-leaders-selected-for-2023-elevate-leadership-institute/
Early Career Civil Engineering Researcher, Dr. Ilke Celik
Dr. Ilke Celik received over $500,000 in funding through a prestigious NSF
Career Award for her research entitled, "CAS-Climate: Sustainable Design Principles for emerging Photovoltaics." The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most
prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.
For more information: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2239755&HistoricalAwards=false
Lab Director and Research Leader, Dr. Alevtina Smirnova
Dr. Alevtina Smirnova, Professor of Chemistry,
is the Director of the NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center for Solid-State Electric Power Storage (CEPS). Dr. Smirnova leads the effort to provide integration between university research and industry for energy storage.
For more information:
https://www.greenceps.com/ and https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2052631&HistoricalAwards=false.
PhD Scholar and Inventor, Dr. Maryam Amouanmouha
Maryam Amouamouha, Ph.D., a graduate student at South Dakota Mines, has invented a new device that could revolutionize water treatment and improve water quality and availability around the world. Dr. Amouamouha assembled a unique combination of current
technologies and cutting-edge innovations to create a mini wastewater treatment plant called AMBER for Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor with Electrolytic Regeneration. The device can be installed in a home or business and take the place of a costly septic
system. The invention can also be scaled up to clean wastewater from multiple homes or even a small town.
For more information: https://www.sdsmt.edu/News/Mines-Researcher-Invents-AMBER/#.ZCXEey-B31w
NSF Fellowship Winner, PhD student Laura Brunmaier
Laura Brunmaier, a PhD student in Biomedical engineering, was awarded a prestigious $130,000 NSF Graduate Fellowship. Brunmaier is working to overcome a major hurdle in the ability to research and explain how blood vessels form and how they react to
various contaminants or to new medicines. The device that Brunmaier helped to invent allows researchers to study living blood vessels in real time outside the body.
For more information: https://www.sdsmt.edu/News/Brunmaier-Wins-NSF-Fellowship/#.ZCXFNi-B31w
Glass Ceiling Breakers in Structural Engineering, Susie Jorgensen and Dr. Andrea Surovek
The Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers started in 1996, but it wasn't until 2016 that they recognized women with prestigious senior merit awards - and both were affiliated with SD Mines. Alumna Susie Jorgensen
(CEE '76) was presented with the W. Gene Corley Award presented to " an individual for their efforts in support of advancing and distinguishing structural engineering as a profession". Dr. Andrea Surovek, former CEE professor and Director of Faculty Development, received the George Winter Award given to "an active structural engineering researcher, educator or practitioner who best
typifies the late Dr. George Winter's humanistic approach to his profession: i.e., an equal concern for matters technical and social, for art as well as science, for soul as well as intellect." Both Jorgensen and Surovek were among the first women
to be named fellows of both SEI and ASCE. Jorgensen served as president of NCSEA, the National Council of Structural Engineering Associations, and Surovek was the first female elected to serve on the executive Committee of the Structural Stability
Research Council (SSRC).
For more information: https://www.structuremag.org/?p=10233