Missouri Epsilon
Columbia, MO 65211
Mechanical Engineering students at the University of Missouri felt the need of an organization to sponsor the ideals of Pi Tau Sigma and accordingly prepared a petition for a charter. The charter was granted on May 24, 1925, and National President G. A. Young installed the Missouri Epsilon Chapter. Professor G. D. Newton and J. R. Wharton ere initiated as honorary members by Professor Young, then these three member> initiated the eleven students as charter members. Missouri Epsilon Chapter awards the outstanding sophomore in the mechanical engineering curriculum, participates in the annual St. Patrick's Day celebration, and sends a letter of encouragement and advice to incoming freshmen.
ANNUAL SUMMARY REPORTS
2022-2023, Nathaniel Grindstaff, President
The Missouri Epsilon chapter of Pi Tau Sigma held a general body meeting every month through the fall 2022 semester and spring 2023 semester. For most of our meetings we had pizza for the members and a guest speaker. These guest speakers were people in the engineering industry who could provide insight into their work or research.
Outside of meetings, Pi Tau members got to partake in social events at the Heidelberg, where the organization provided free appetizers, as well as a free coffee and donut day open to all students in the engineering building. The Wednesday prior to finals week Pi Tau Sigma hosted a puppy play date in conjunction with the local Humane Society. This was open for everyone on campus and was to help ease the nerves of those stressed about finals.
Pi Tau Sigma helped host a FE prep workshop during the spring semester. Members reached out to professors who taught concepts on the Mechanical Engineering FE exam. Those teachers then held an after-school review session over that topic.
2022 Laine Friedrich, President
Spring 2022: Missouri Epsilon hosted a food drive among its members to help gather nonperishable items to donate to the local food bank. After a week, the items were gathered up and taken to the local food bank in person. In addition to the food drive, some of our members volunteered their time at the local food bank. There, they helped organize the food that would later be distributed out to people in need. Missouri Epsilon also participated in many of the events during E-week. E-week is the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration. One of our own ran for king candidate. Many members of Missouri Epsilon participated in the dome lighting ceremony, candidate skits, lab exhibits, the Hot Dog Banquet, and the Knighting Ceremony and Grand Kowtow. Our chapter also participated in a video game racing tournament. There were 3D printed trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. This was a tournament between the members of Missouri Epsilon, and the victors also received gift cards to local restaurants. We had our advisor, Dr. Matthew Maschmann, speak at the first meeting to introduce himself and to give a little bit more information about what the future new additions of materials research will bring for the University of Missouri’s College of Engineering. The next speaker was a Mizzou alum that works for an NNSA research facility in Albuquerque, NM. His presentation was an overview of what possibilities mechanical engineers can have after graduation. Our last guest speaker was prior Missouri Epsilon president, Kristen Howorka. She discussed her job working on electrical systems as a mechanical engineer working as an electrical engineer. In addition, she gave some tips for how to be successful after graduation, as well as described the opportunity of obtaining her Master’s degree in electrical engineering while still working. The final meeting was initiation, where there were four members initiated.
2019-2020 Clayton Warder, President
Fall 2019: We began the year with an informational meeting for our perspective initiates, introducing them to who we were as an organization and what the initiation process would be. The next professional event that we put on was having a recent alumni and former president of Missouri Epsilon come and speak about her job at Emerson and how she successfully transitioned jobs within a company. Our next professional speaker was a local high school physics teacher who spent many years working in power generation, including a long time working at the local nuclear power plant. While he spoke some on his experience as an engineer, including the split between technical engineering and engineering management, he provided our graduating seniors a lot of life advice on how to navigate job security, salary, and overall life enjoyment. This was a very popular event as our members felt it covered a lot of things not taught in our classes. Our final event was our initiation of new members, followed by elections and a social event at a local restaurant. Interspersed with these events, members of Missouri Epsilon also volunteered at the local food bank, helped spread mulch at a local playground, and visited the high school physics teachers AP classes to encourage them to pursue engineering (specifically the best engineering, mechanical).
Spring 2020: Obviously, our plans had to change with the COVID-19 pandemic but before it brought a halt to our semester, we had a meeting for new initiates, members volunteered at E-Week events, and we sent some of our members to the national convention in Rochester. Thank you, RIT, for a wonderful convention and all the work you put in. Our first professional event of the spring was holding a graduate student panel. The graduate students on the panel discussed everything from going back to school for a masters, to how to try to find a professor to do your PHD with. Unfortunately, this was our last in person meeting for the semester. We held a virtual initiation and election of officers over zoom in May. Other events we were planning for the semester included a swabbing drive for bone marrow matches and having a continuous improvement manager at a local 3M plant come speak to us however those had to be canceled. We are hopeful that these events will be held in the future.
Spring 2020 Initiation
Initiates: Christian Castellanos, Darren Eagon, Mark Korol, and Jacob Search
2018-2019 Kristen Howorka, President
Fall 2018: Our chapter organized several volunteer community activities and chapter/college wide presentations. Community service was held twice at the Food Bank of Central Missouri for initiates and active members. Our chapter also hosted President Mun Choi on behalf of the Mechanical Engineering Department (MAE) within the college of engineering. All Engineering students and faculty were invited to attend and President Choi spoke on his efforts as President of the National Pi Tau Sigma Chapter and how Mizzou Engineering stands apart from other programs. The Vice President of Beverage Concentrate Operations for Dr Pepper also spoke to all active members to wrap up the fall semester with a presentation on professionalism and success in the working world. Additionally, a fundraiser took place at the close of the fall semester in the form of a profit share with Shakespeare's Pizza. Towards the end of the semester we held initiation and inducted eleven new members.
Spring 2019: Missouri Epsilon organized, helped plan, and volunteered to work as a chapter for the College of Engineering Career Fair which boasted over 150 employers in attendance. We were one of seven organizations chosen to represent the college by hosting this event. Our goal in our participating was to demonstrate our commitment to the college and showcase all that Pi Tau Sigma has to offer eligible students through professional, academic, and personal growth. Again, we did a profit share with Shakespeare’s Pizza, just prior to spring break, as a way to engage socially and support our organization while doing so. We were also grateful to host a fellow Alumni from Burns & McDonnell who spoke about his Mechanical Engineering experience. We also held initiation and inducted eight new members. We will be co-hosting a presentation by the Department Chair, PhD researcher, and professor Dr. Noah Manring to speak on his research and commitment to Mizzou Engineering at the beginning of May. Our co-host is ASME and we are hoping to promote and demonstrate our involvement within the college by encouraging all students to attend and participate in the Q&A to follow.
