Danielson awarded the Sparks Medal for excellence
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) awarded one of its highest teaching honors to a faculty member in the College of Technology and Innovation at Arizona State University. Scott Danielson, professor and chair of the Department of Engineering Technology, was awarded the 2009 Ben C. Sparks Medal for excellence in mechanical engineering technology education on Nov. 15.
The medal is given to educators in the field of mechanical engineering who have a record of outstanding performance in the advancement of engineering education, as well as contributing to the positive support of mechanical engineering programs, faculty and students.
“I was especially honored to be nominated by University of Dayton mechanical engineering professor emeritus Robert Mott,” Danielson said. “I have a lot of respect for Dr. Mott and he is a national figure in the field.”
Danielson, who joined the ASU faculty in 1999, has more than 30 years of wide-ranging experience in both industry and academia. His industry experience includes design of machinery, machine installation, engineering management and plant start-up for the forest products company Crown Zellerbach. He has also held positions as department chair at two universities, where he has developed new academic programs as well as publishing, teaching, and obtaining external grants and contracts.
His research interests include effective teaching, mechanics education, engineering databases, engineering uses of geographic information systems and fluid dynamics, and he has authored or co-authored 35 publications as well as edited or contributed to two books and part of a fundamentals examination correspondence course.
Danielson is a chair elect of the Committee on Technology Accreditation of ASME, serves on the board of directors of the ASME Center for Education and serves as a commissioner on the Technology Accreditation Council of ABET. He also serves as co-editor on the ASME Vision 2030 Task Force, charged with creating a vision for mechanical engineering education, and is a member of the Engineering Technology Council of the American Society of Engineering Education’s Engineering Technology Division.
In 2006, Danielson received a Faculty Excellence of Service Award from ASU’s College of Science and Technology. He is also the recipient of North Dakota State University’s Teacher of the Year Award and two awards for Best Paper from the American Society of Engineering Education.
“This is such a well-deserved honor for Scott,” said Keith Hjelmstad, university vice president and dean of the College of Technology and Innovation. “He has made a lifelong commitment to advancing and improving engineering education, and we are fortunate to have an academic leader of his caliber helping to shape the future of our college.”
Kari Stallcop, (480) 727-1173
Public Affairs at ASU Polytechnic campus