Awards & Scholarships

Jessica Buckner earned her B.S. in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 2013. During her undergraduate degree, she was awarded many honors, including several private and university funded scholarships, the Mining Engineering of the Year Award, placement in the Top 10% of Engineering at UTEP, and the NSF S-STEM scholarship. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at UTEP. Her dissertation focuses on materials characterization of Ti-6Al-4V space shuttle Columbia components and arc-jet samples in order to better understand the accelerated degradation of titanium in a re-entry environment. She recently presented her research progress at MS&T 2015. In addition to her dissertation research, she has participated in biomaterials and space-based solar cell research. To add to her experience, she has excelled with internships at NASA and the Air Force Research Lab. During her graduate degree, Jessica continues to maintain a high standard, and has earned many scholarships, to include a scholarship from the ASM International Houston Chapter. She maintains involvement within her department by serving as the treasurer of Alpha Sigma Mu, a materials honor society, and also working as a teaching assistant for the metallurgy department.

Janet L. Gbur earned her B.S. Biology/Pre-medicine from Kent State University, B.E. Materials Engineering from Youngstown State University, and M.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Youngstown State University before joining Case Western Reserve University in fall 2011 as a Ph.D. student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. She is advised by Professor John J. Lewandowski and working in the Nitinol Commercialization Accelerator Laboratory (NCAL) and the Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical Reliability Center (AMMRC). Her projects focus on the fatigue behavior and mechanical reliability of wire-based systems used in biomedical applications in addition to mentoring high school and undergraduate students in fundamental materials research. The work includes investigations into the flex bending fatigue behavior of dental archwires, effects of femtosecond laser machining of Nitinol, reliability of implantable electrode systems, and inclusion effects on the fatigue behavior of fine Nitinol wire. Janet is a member of the TMS Biomaterials Committee and active member of ASTM serving on several technical committees in addition to holding memberships in ASM, MRS, MSA, SWE, SAMPE, and ASEE. She has given numerous presentations on her work at various technical society meetings and was awarded the M. R. ‘Mitch’ Mitchell Best Student Presentation Award by ASTM Committee E08 on Fatigue and Fracture in 2014. Janet is also a recipient of the 2015 ASTM International Graduate Scholarship Recipient, 2015 Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation Ruby Leigh Orgain Founders Grant Recipient, and the 2012 ASTM International Student Grant for her project, “Mechanical Characterization of 316 LVM Wires: A Comparative Study of Flex Bending Fatigue and Rotating Bending Fatigue and its Utility in Fatigue Testing for Biomedical Applications.”