Tuesday, January 31, 2006Volume 6, Issue 1
The 2005 MRI Technical and Administrative Staff Excellence Awards go to Kellander and Wonderling
The 2005 Staff Excellence Awards were presented at the Ramada Inn Conference Center December 13th. This is the fifth year these awards have honored an outstanding technical and administrative staff person in MRI.
Jerry Kellander – Administrative Staff Award
Jerry’s award reads "For his competence and extra efforts in providing quality service with a "can−do’ attitude." In his 12th year at Penn State, Jerry’s attitude remains admirably positive. "Give me a task that’s possible and I’ll get at it," he says. His supervisor Patti Mayes agrees. "Jerry gives 100 percent in all he does. His attitude makes him a real asset to MRI."
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Jerry’s job entails all the aspects of getting research proposals out the door, which means making sure all of the proposal guidelines are followed, helping set up a proposed budget, being sure that the PI understands the requirements of the grant or award, and making sure everything in the proposal, from the spelling to the font size, is correct.
Once the award comes in, the second major part of his job begins. Maintaining the award means that Jerry will set up a fund that the faculty member can spend and use on the research. This may require changing the budget as the focus of research shifts, or adjusting to changes in personnel, and typically includes friendly reminders to PIs when reports are due to the funding agency. "It’s important," he says, "because future proposals and incremental funding depend on timely reports."
Jerry started out as an MRL receptionist after 20 years in restaurant management. "It was time for a change. With a young family, I needed a more traditional work schedule," he says. A year at South Hills Business School gave him the entry level skills he needed, and hands−on training and willingness to learn gave him the knowledge to become expert at administering the proposals and large amount of awards that come through his office. "I have millions of dollars sitting on my desk, and I couldn’t buy a cup of coffee with any of it," he jokes.
Nicole Wonderling – Technical Staff Award
"Learning how to use the equipment in our X−Ray Diffraction Lab is pretty much a mandatory skill for anyone in materials," Nichole remarks. It’s fortunate then that her favorite part of her job is working with students. "I like getting involved with them and getting to meet so many people from so many cultures."
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On average, 150 students, post−docs and faculty are active users of the lab in any given semester. Her job is to keep the lab up and running, make sure the equipment is working, and train new users on how to use the equipment to do their own analysis of materials. In addition, she analyses the chemical components of powder materials for outside companies. Recently, she has analyzed a great deal of material as part of the work on the construction of I−99.
After earning her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Clarion University, Nichole worked for seven years at North American Refractories’ research lab in State College. She has been at Penn State for five years as part of MRI’s Materials Characterization Lab. Her award is for "The professional and welcome environment she has created for education and research support in materials characterization, and for her truly unselfish contribution to students, co−workers, and the University alike."
