Louisiana Tech Tau Xi
Ruston, LA 71272
In the winter of 1956, Professor J. J. Thigpen and Professor E. L. Dunning called a meeting of eligible mechanical engineering students to discuss Pi Tau Sigma at Louisiana Polytechnic Institute. A petition presented to the National Council was approved by the Chapters. Louisiana Tech Tau Xi Chapter was formally installed April 23, 1957, by National President C. M. Leonard and National Secretary-Treasurer D. S. Clark.
The members of Tau Xi Chapter have set about to foster the high ideals of Pi Tau Sigma Honor Fraternity through its actions. The Louisiana Tech Tau Xi Chapter sponsors many activities during the school year. Some of these activities include a smoker during which members and eligible candidates can get acquainted, projects for the candidate class and a banquet for all the members.
ANNUAL SUMMARY REPORTS
2023-2024 John Rasberry, President
During the 2023-2024 academic year, the Louisiana Tech Tau Xi chapter of Pi Tau Sigma focused on both maintaining an active membership body, while making efforts to grow the student presence and knowledge of Pi Tau Sigma at Louisiana Tech University.
The Louisiana Tech Tau Xi chapter held two initiations during the academic year. In the Fall, 2 new members were initiated as shown in figure 1 on December 13, 2023. Figure 2 shows the 3 new members initiated during the Spring initiation which took place on May 2, 2024. During the initiation process, the standard procedure was followed with the addition of a bent polishing day where candidates were provided everything to clean their bent before initiation.
Over the course of the 2023-2024 academic year, the Louisiana Tech Tau Xi chapter participated in and put together many activities. The first event of the year was a Lego themed Computer Aided Design (CAD) challenge. To ensure the theme was upheld, a free software called Brick Link Studio was used to create various Lego assemblies and items. What really made the software shine were the features where any Lego assembly could have an instruction book created and a price estimate run for the new creation. With these features in mind, a winning prize was selected. Participants competed to design the best Lego item in hopes of getting their creation ordered for them as a prize to assemble. This event was open to the entire College of Engineering and Science (COES) which helped boost participation in the event. Louisiana Tech Tau Xi also attended the PTS National convention in Ann Arbor Michigan where there were excellent opportunities for networking and the chapter voted on important topics regarding the society. The following event that Louisiana Tech Tau Xi participated in was the annual Big Event where various organizations help the local Ruston, Louisiana community with different tasks. For Louisiana Tech Tau Xi, the local library was helped to prepare for a kid’s craft day that would be taking place later that day. The final event that was open to all of COES that Louisiana Tech Tau Xi hosted was a crash course into Finite Element Methods (FEM) which was led by the chapter’s faculty advisor Dr. Arden Moore. This event served as a brief synopsis on what finite element solvers are and when to use them. The year was wrapped up with a general body potluck which also served as an election event where the next officers were decided. All in all, Louisiana Tech Tau Xi had a year full of new events and new approaches to get people interested in Pi Tau Sigma, while also keeping some tradition like the bent polishing event and participating in Big Event.
Figure 1: Fall 2023 Initiation of Tamara Ozol and John Rasberry
Figure 2: Spring 2024 Initiation of Levi Savercool, Brayden Hermes and Michael Stubblefield
2022-2023 Ethan Dowell, President
During the 2022-2023 academic year, the Louisiana Tech Tau Xi chapter of Pi Tau Sigma focused on both maintaining an active membership body, while making efforts to grow the student presence and knowledge of Pi Tau Sigma at Louisiana Tech University.
The Louisiana Tech Tau Xi chapter held two initiations with one makeup initiation during the academic year. In the Fall, 14 new members were initiated as shown in figure 1 on October 27, 2022. Two additional new members were initiated for the makeup initiation for the fall which took place on November 1, 2022. Figure 3 shows the 5 new members initiated during our Spring initiation which took place on April 26, 2023.
Over the course of the 2022-2023 academic year, the Louisiana Tech Tau Xi chapter participated in a slew of activities. The first of which was a Christmas social where new members initiated during Fall 2022 were invited to meet the faculty advisor, Dr. Arden Moore, and existing members of the honor society. During the event, food was served, and a team word search and personality bingo were played to get all the members acquainted with each other. Following that event, a group of five students from Louisiana Tech Tau Xi were able to travel to the annual national convention that was held at Auburn University. This was an excellent experience for all the members who went and served as great inspiration for what could be done in the coming year with Pi Tau Sigma at Louisiana Tech Tau Xi. The following event that Louisiana Tech Tau Xi participated in was the annual Big Event where various organizations help the local Ruston, Louisiana community with different tasks. For Louisiana Tech Tau Xi, a woman was helped with yard work by mulching and weeding her garden. The following event was to prepare for the upcoming Spring 2023 initiation. All initiates were invited to a bent polishing party where tools were supplied to them to prepare their bents prior to the initiation exam. This event was well received by the initiates and existing members alike. Following the spring 2023 initiation, we participated in the College of Engineering and Science (COES) Spring Release event by setting a table up to inform students about Pi Tau Sigma and why they should strive to be invited during their college career. We also had games with toy cars for them while we talked about the honor society. Our final event of the academic year was a general body meeting. This meeting, like the Christmas social, served as a way for the new members to meet current members. We also played an icebreaker game and served dinner to those who attended. The most important takeaways from that meeting were the discussions that were had as the officers gave ideas of what to do in the Fall of 2023. We received good feedback on some existing ideas and received good ideas that were not yet considered
2021-2022 Avereigh Barras, President
The Louisiana Tech Tau Xi Chapter utilized the 2021-2022 academic year to maintain an active student role in extracurricular and community events, furthering the legacy and impact of the chapter in the community.
The Louisiana Tech Tau Xi Chapter held two initiations this school year. The fall initiation, seen in Figure 1, was on October 28, 2021, and 8 new members were initiated. The spring initiation, seen in Figure 2, was on May 12, 2022, and 8 new members were initiated. Initiates were selected based on their outstanding academic performance in accordance with the standards of Pi Tau Sigma.
Throughout the 2021-2022 academic year, the Louisiana Tech Tau Xi Chapter has been involved in a variety of community service events and university projects. In early September, several members participated in Louisiana Tech’s Dog Haul event. This three-day event aims to help incoming freshman unload their luggage, furniture, and school supplies for the academic year. Additionally, many current members participated in Louisiana Tech’s Big Event. Big Event is a day-long community-wide service event in which various individuals, organizations, clubs, fraternities, sororities, and sports teams volunteer to better the community through clean-up, gardening, landscaping, and small-scale construction projects like fence building. Several members also participated in the College of Engineering and Science’s Engineering and Science (E&S) Day. The purpose of E&S Day is to allow high school students to tour Louisiana Tech’s College of Engineering and Science. Members served roles as tour guides, instructors for clubs such as the Society of Women Engineers, and demonstrators through projects like SAE Baja.
2020-2021 Douglas Marcotte, President
The Louisiana Tech Tau Xi Chapter utilized the 2020-2021 academic year to maintain an active student role in extracurricular and community events. The chapter also continued to respond to the effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on higher education.
The Louisiana Tech Tau Xi Chapter held two initiations this school year. The fall initiation was on November 5th 2020, and 3 new members were initiated. The spring initiation was on April 24th, 2020, and 5 new members were initiated.
The Tau Xi chapter was active in the Louisiana Tech College of Engineering and Science actively attending events that the college hosted including Gumbo Fest and Spring Release. These also served as a community bonding opportunities and connection with the College of Engineering and Science. New officer elections were held in the Spring Quarter 2020-2021 as well. The Associate Dean of the College of Engineering hosted karaoke nights and socials that members actively attended.
A SolidWorks competition was held with two difficulties, one for upperclassmen and one for underclassmen. This was co-hosted with the local student ASME chapter and was a great success for keeping the organization's name active in the community.
The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic continued through this year for students at universities across the world. The Tau Xi chapter participated in the Big Event, an event run through the Louisiana Tech Student Government Association where students, staff, faculty all assist the greater Ruston community. This year, many active members participated in this service event, demonstrating the values of Pi Tau Sigma in the community.
2019-2020 Richard Fontenot, President
The Louisiana Tech Tau Xi Chapter utilized the 2019-2020 academic year to maintain an active student role in extracurricular and community events. The Chapter also responded to the effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on higher education, maintaining essential chapter initiations and functions during this time.
The Louisiana Tech Tau Xi Chapter held two initiations this school year. The fall initiation was on October 9th, 2019, and 13 new members were initiated. The spring initiation was on April 23rd, 2020, and 3 new members were initiated. The Tau Xi Chapter continued the great tradition of awarding the sophomore of the year award to a student nominated by a faculty member and selected after an interview process. This was held at the annual hog roast hosted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers at Louisiana Tech. This event is a well-attended event for mechanical engineering faculty and students to network and connect with alumni for homecoming.
The Chapter provided great opportunities for volunteering, through tutoring different mechanical engineering classes like the first statics and mechanics of materials class. This also served as a community bonding opportunity and outreach within the College of Engineering and Science. New officer elections were held in the Winter Quarter 2019-2020 as well.
The onset of COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 has brought many difficulties and hardships to students across the world. The pandemic had a direct effect on the events the Chapter was to host/attend in early 2020. The Chapter had also planned to participate in the annual Engineering and Science Day (E&S) Day held through the college to help promote STEM to high school students in Louisiana. The Chapter was also due to participate in the Big Event, an event run through the Louisiana Tech Student Government Association where students, staff, and faculty all assist the greater Ruston community through various service projects. The April 23rd initiation was held virtually due to the pandemic as well.
The engineering faculty and student community at Louisiana Tech grew closer during these tough times. The Associate Dean of the College of Engineering hosted virtual karaoke nights that members of the chapter attended, raising the spirits of students to finish the Spring Quarter strong.
Other miscellaneous activities include Chapter President Rick Fontenot attending the annual national conference at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY. This was a great opportunity to connect with other members of different Pi Tau Sigma chapters at Universities all over the world. Great ideas were shared and brainstormed at the conference for the future of the Tau Xi Chapter. These ideas include fundraising and awareness events like the old calculator toss competition for charity. This also continued our interactions and connection to the national organization.
Fall 2019 Initiation
Left to Right: Jace Ball, Robert Blewer, Myles Landry, Robert Simmons, Vedie Lavan, David McCauley, Matthew Marton, Carli Raupp, Richard Fontenot, Abigail Morgan, Jordan Serna, Grant Mabile, Zachary Harper
Spring 2020 Initiation
New Members: Logan Thames, Joshua Hagberg, Caleb Swafford | Officers Present: Richard Fontenot, David McCauley, Zachary Harper, Grant Mabile, Jordan Serna
