Endowed professorship awarded to engineering professor Melanie Derby
Friday, Jan. 19, 2018
Melanie Derby, foreground, assistant professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering at Kansas State University. | Download this photo.
MANHATTAN — Melanie Derby, assistant professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering at Kansas State University, has been named a recipient of the Hal and Mary Siegele Professorship in Engineering.
The award is created through funds to honor Hal and Mary Siegele on the campus of Kansas State University, and to recruit and retain the highest quality faculty in the College of Engineering. Both Kansas State University alumni, the late Hal Siegele was a 1947 graduate in chemical engineering, and his wife, Mary, is a 1948 graduate in arts and sciences.
As a recipient of the Hal and Mary Siegele Professorship in Engineering, Derby will receive flexible funding annually for five years to help cover needs such as research equipment and supplies, support of personnel involved in her research, professional travel and summer salary.
Derby joined the faculty in the mechanical and nuclear engineering department in 2013, where her research focuses on thermal fluids problems pertaining to the food, energy and water nexus.
She is a Kansas State University College of Engineering Keystone Research Faculty Scholar, and has received a 2017 National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a 2017 American Society of Mechanical Engineering Outstanding Early Career Award, and a 2017 Kansas State University College of Engineering Outstanding Assistant Professor Award.
"Melanie Derby is an excellent choice for this endowment," said Darren Dawson, dean of the College of Engineering. "Her outstanding early career accomplishments are strong evidence of how deserving she is of the Siegele professorship — earmarked for retaining this caliber of faculty member."
