This year, several of the Heartland Center’s industrial hygiene students have been honored at conferences for their excellent research and posters. At the 45th annual Iowa Governor’s Safety & Health Conference, Laura Hallett and Mahmoud Metwali were awarded scholarships in support of their educations as occupational safety and health professionals.
Laura Hallett, who was awarded the Jack Beno Scholarship, described her research and career aspirations as follows:
I am a second year Masters student in the industrial hygiene program at the University of Iowa. My current research involves the development of a low-cost sensor network designed for use in industrial environments. My thesis work specifically is on the development of laboratory check-out procedures for these newly designed monitors. In the future, I hope to earn her CIH and CSP certifications and work as an industrial hygienist or occupational health and safety specialist at a global level. My primary goal is to inspire and encourage others to incorporate safety into both work and home life.
Mahmoud Metwali, who was awarded the Iowa Occupational Safety & Health Advisory Council Scholarship, described his research and career aspirations as follows:
I am currently an ergonomics trainee of the Heartland Center for Occupational Health and Safety, and working towards a PhD in Biomedical Engineering. As a researcher, I am very interested in understanding the musculoskeletal health implications of worker exposure to posture variation. Previous projects at the UI Biomechanics and Ergonomics laboratory involve collecting/analyzing data on worker exposure in various local manufacturing and farming facilities. I plan to devote my professional career towards occupational ergonomics research, in the academic or government-based setting.
Three of our students were also honored at the May 21-26 AIHCe conference in Baltimore.
Changjie Cai won 4 awards for his development of a Personal Aerosol Collector and Spectrometer (PACS). His awards were:
- Best Poster of Conference
- Best Poster of Student Session
- Best Volunteer Group Student Poster from the Hazard Prevention and Engineering Control Committee
- Best Volunteer Group Student Poster from the Nanotechnology Committee.
Laura Hallett won 2 awards for her work on evaluating consumer photometers for measuring aerosols. Her awards were:
- Runner Up Best Poster of Student Session
- Best Volunteer Group Student Poster from the Oil and Gas Working Group
Theresa McCollom won a Best Poster of Student Session award for her work on the NRD sampler.
You can see photos of the students and their posters at the I3HSA page.
If you wish to report an accomplishment by a Heartland Center student for inclusion in the next round-up of good news, please let us know.