Mary Kasarda
Mary Kasarda, associate professor of mechanical engineering (ME) in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, received the university's 2010 Alumni Award for Outreach Excellence and the university’s 2010 Edward S. Diggs Teaching Scholars Award.
The Alumni Awards for Outreach Excellence was established by the university’s Commission on Outreach and International Affairs, with support from the Virginia Tech Alumni Association. It rewards Virginia Tech faculty members who as individuals or team members have extended the university's outreach mission throughout the commonwealth, the nation, and the world. Awardees are nominated by their peers, receive a $2,000 prize, and are inducted into the university’s Academy of Outreach Excellence.
The Diggs Teaching Scholars Award is sponsored by the Virginia Tech Academy of Teaching Excellence. It was established in 1992 and is presented annually to three Virginia Tech faculty members to recognize exceptional contributions to the teaching program and learning environment. A cash award is given to each recipient and their academic department. Diggs Teaching Scholars are invited to lead the Diggs Roundtable -- a series of presentations and a discussion of their innovative teaching -- a year after receiving the award.
In addition to her duties as ME associate professor, Kasarda is an associate department head for graduate studies for the ME department. Her research focuses on magnetic bearings, machine health monitoring and engineering education.
After joining the Virginia Tech faculty in 1997, she received a National Science Foundation CAREER award in 1998 and the Virginia Tech College of Engineering Outstanding New Assistant Professor Award in 2000. From 2003 to 2004, she acted as an education consultant through Virginia Tech to Sweet Briar College to help create a new engineering program at this all-women liberal arts college, and she currently serves as on the Sweet Briar, Va.-based college’s Engineering Program Advisory Board. She is a member, and chair-elect, of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) Committee for Engineering Accreditation.
She currently works with Brenda Brand, of the Virginia Tech School of Education, in the Virginia Tech/Montgomery County Public Schools Robotics Partnership which situates university undergraduate mechanical engineering students in a high school robotics classroom on a regular basis, which includes preparation for the FIRST robotics competition for the high school students.
Kasarda received her bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. She also has six years of professional engineering experience including employment with Du Pont and Ingersoll Rand.
The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is internationally recognized for its excellence in 14 engineering disciplines and computer science. The college’s 6,000 undergraduates benefit from an innovative curriculum that provides a “hands-on, minds-on” approach to engineering education, complementing classroom instruction with two unique design-and-build facilities and a strong Cooperative Education Program. With more than 50 research centers and numerous laboratories, the college offers its 2,000 graduate students opportunities in advanced fields of study such as biomedical engineering, state-of-the-art microelectronics, and nanotechnology. Virginia Tech, the most comprehensive university in Virginia, is dedicated to quality, innovation, and results to the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.
Read more Virginia Tech News stories about Kasarda and her research:
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- Virginia Tech research funded by Recovery Act exceeds $20 million, and growing