Dickey Electric Promotes David Wright, YSU STEM alumn, to Head of Estimating

“Joe” Dickey Electric has promoted David Wright to head of estimating and engineering. Wright replaces Gary Williams, senior estimator, who’s retiring after 40 years with the Mahoning Valley electrical contractor.

Wright was previously a junior estimator who completed his electrical engineering technology degree from Youngstown State University in 2013 while working full-time for “Joe” Dickey Electric. Before that, he joined the company as a journeyman residential electrician after completing an apprenticeship through the Youngstown Area Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee in 2004. He’s a Youngstown native now residing in Washingtonville.

Williams is a well-known and respected electrical industry professional who is staying on part-time to help in the Wright’s transition.

“David is a bright, young star with a comprehensive background in the electrical industry,” said David Dickey, president, “Joe” Dickey Electric. “Between his experience and formal education, and the knowledge transfer he’s been receiving from Gary Williams, we feel very strongly about the future of our estimating department.”

While working as a journeyman electrician for “Joe” Dickey Electric, Wright continued his education earning an Associate’s Degree from YSU in technical studies. He was promoted to junior estimator upon completion of that degree. During the course of his Bachelor studies he was part of a Mahoning Valley National Electrical Contractors Association-sponsored student-engineering team that won a national championship in the Green Energy Challenge.

“Joe” Dickey Electric was formed in 1957, and strives to be the area’s most trusted and cost-effective electrical contractor, handling commercial, industrial, residential, green technology and 24/7 emergency electrical services. The company employs up to 250 electricians, has an office staff of 20 professionals and maintains a fleet of more than 50 specialized vehicles.

Recent Publications: Alumn William Hurst

William Hurst, a 1975 graduate of Chemistry, is publishing his eighth book, Chocolate and Health, with Dr. Philip Wilson of East Tenn. State Univ and Dr. W Jeffrey Hurst of the Hershey Co as editors. The book is currently in production in Europe with publication in early 2015 by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Their first book, Chocolate as Medicine, won the prestigious Gourmand award as the best book published in the UK on this topic and the 2nd Best in the world.

Alumni Corner: Pete Walsh

Pete WalshThere are some students who leave their college right after graduation, happy to never have to take another exam again or even have to walk on campus again. And then you have the alumni that keep the university going, and who wear their Penguin pride for all to see. Pete Walsh is one of those alumni.

Pete came to YSU in the fall of 1966, when YSU was referred to as Youngstown University, and only two years after the first Penguin mascot started showing up at football games.

He was an industrial engineering major with a math minor, and said that he always thought he was in the right field.

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Publications from Dr. Sharif and her students!

Some new publications from Dr. Sharif!

The first paper by Busjahn et al. was a collaboration with several international researchers.  It was recently published in August 2014. The premise of the paper is that eye tracking technology holds great promise in the realm of computing education. A coding scheme was developed and expert gaze on source code was analyzed. This work is ongoing and in the near future novice gaze will also be analyzed. Continue reading

Alumni Corner: Marc Malandro

marcmalandroSome people look back on their college days and think about all of the fun they had or the time they spent in class. Some do not look back on the college where they spent a good four or more years at all. Occasionally, however, a college will get an alumni like Marc Malandro, who not only looks back on his time at Youngstown State University favorably, but visits often as a part of so many different events.

Marc graduated from YSU in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences. He continued his education at YSU and completed his master’s degree in 1991. While he finished up his schooling with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Florida College of Medicine, he wasn’t quite done with YSU. Continue reading

The 6th Annual STEM Awards Dinner

What makes a STEM College successful? Some may say it is the students, some may say it is the faculty, or the alumni, or the community partners, or the education partners, or the employers. At the 6th Annual YSU STEM Awards Dinner, all of our STEMians concluded that just one group will not make a STEM College successful; all of them work together to make YSU STEM the best it can be.  Continue reading

Alumni Corner: Suzy Thompson Maddock

headshot_SLMYSU STEM believes that all of its students are able to go the distance. While many may not have gone on to study the great beyond like Suzy Thompson Maddock, we know that they will make it!

Mrs. Maddock, a Boardman, Ohio native, graduated from YSU in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in Physics and Astronomy and a minor in Mathematics. She left YSU to succeed in many different ways, including in her current career.

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Alumni Corner: Julia Mercer

JuliaMercer1YSU STEM always enjoys learning what its former students are up to and sharing our congratulations on the success of our alumni, like Julia Mercer. Julia, after graduating from YSU in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, has gone on to find a great deal of success pursuing her career.

It didn’t take long for Julia, a Michigan native, to find where she belonged. For the last five years, she has worked as an engineer for Carmeuse Lime and Stone, which mines and manufactures industrial chemicals. Specifically, Julia focuses her work and engineering skills on traveling to customers’ work sites to make sure that the chemicals are being used safely and efficiently, which is something that is very important to Carmeuse.  She also builds customer relationships, develops new products, and protects the company’s intellectual property. Much of what Julia does today, though, reflects the skills that she learned while at YSU.

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The Fishbowl: A Dedication to Dr. Jack Bakos

bakosAnyone who has ever walked through the first floor of Moser Hall has noticed the study lounge that has been nicknamed the “FishBowl.” On Friday, October 18th, 2013, Mrs. Patsy Bakos, her son Dr. Jason Bakos, and her granddaughter Jade attended the unveiling ceremony that dedicated the “Fishbowl” as the “Dr. Jack D. Bakos Jr. Student Collaborative Lounge.”

The family of YSU alumni wanted to continue the dedication to YSU that was started by Dr. Bakos. Dr. Bakos was known for his passion for his students and always took pride in their accomplishments. Continue reading

Community Partners: Chris Jaskiewicz and VEC Inc.

Chris JaskiewiczYoungstown State University College of STEM may have started in 2007, but success has emanated from the YSU Engineering Program for years. In 2000, the Electrical Engineering Technology program added Chris Jaskiewicz, now President and COO of VEC Incorporated in Girard, Ohio, as another great alumnus.

Chris handles the day-to-day proceedings at VEC Inc., as well as the finances and strategy for the company. With VEC Inc. always looking for new ways to expand, Chris and VEC Inc. are always looking to merge into new industries, including the budding Additive Manufacturing industry around the Youngstown area. Continue reading

Alumni Corner: Annette Marado

Annette MaradoYoungstown State University is known for having a great engineering program, and that great engineering program has a tendency to produce great alumni. Annette Marado is one of those alumni.

The Warren native graduated from YSU with a bachelors degree in materials engineering. After working for many years in the flat roll steel industry, predominately with automotive customers, Annette found her dream job at The Timken Company.

Annette has moved higher in responsibility with each job she has had throughout her career. She started with The Timken Company in Corporate Purchasing. Quickly, Annette moved over to the steel side of the business, as a sales engineer. More recently, Annette has been promoted to being the Manager of Global Business Development for Timken Steel. Continue reading

STEM gets WISE

Saturday, April 13th, 2013, Youngstown State University College of STEM held the 16th Annual Edward W. Powers Women in Science and Engineering Career workshop. The workshop, coordinated by Dr. Diana Fagan, professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, exposes young women to different careers within STEM.

This year, there were approximately ninety young women and around fifty volunteers that attended WISE. These girls ranged in age from middle school to high school and were from all over northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Continue reading

Alumni Corner: Dan Martin

DAN MartinDan Martin was a little surprised to hear that he would be presented with the outstanding young alumnus award at this year’s STEM Awards dinner.  The graduate of Youngstown State University, now a leader in Lubrizol Company, attended the dinner with his wife Amy.

Dan started at YSU in Industrial and Systems Engineering and graduated in 2003. Since YSU has such flexible programs, he decided to attend YSU again and earn his masters degree.

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The Fifth Annual STEM Awards Dinner

2013 Awardees

Youngstown State University College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics proudly honored and celebrated alumni, community partners and educational partners at the Fifth Annual STEM awards dinner on February 21, 2020 in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center.

The 2013 awardees were Theodore Burke, James Cossler, Daniel Martin, John Scott, and Dr. Thomas Stellers with guest speaker Matthew Mrakovich who presented the college with a $15,000 donation from General Electric.  Mr. Mrakovich, a YSU grad with a Bachelors of Engineering, won The Edison Pioneer Award.  Since joining GE in 2001, Matt has twenty-six issued patents and was given the award because of his technical contributions, which has made a significant impact on the current, and future, vitality of General Electric. Continue reading