Highlights from BYU colleges

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

• BYU graduate student Jared Butler recently won first place at this year’s Design Engineering Technical Conferences hosted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Butler works with the BYU Compliant Mechanisms Research Lab. His winning entry, titled “Origami Bellows Containing Microgravity Drilling Debris,” took thousands of hours to create and was designed for NASA to shield the technical parts of spacecraft from debris in outer space. While traditional bellows use heavy and inflexible materials, his origami bellows uses lightweight and flexible materials that are also durable.

  

Marriott School of Business

• Forbes recently ranked BYU’s Marriott School of Business as No. 19 in the nation, two spots higher than the last ranking in 2015. The ranking is based on the return on investment attained by the class of 2012. Forbes compared graduates’ earnings in their first five years out of business school to their opportunity cost to earn a five-year MBA. According to the ranking, BYU has a $64,000 five-year gain.

• The Marriott School has welcome three new professors this fall. Ben Iverson received his bachelor’s degree in economics from BYU and later earned his PhD in business economics from Harvard University. He now returns to BYU as an assistant professor of finance. Degan Kettles earned his bachelor’s degree at BYU in communications, later going on to receive a PhD in business with an emphasis in information systems at Arizona State University. He teaches management information systems, software development, business analytics, and systems analysis and design. Taylor Wells received both his bachelor’s degree in information systems and a MISM at BYU. He earned a PhD in information systems from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, and now teaches courses in the IS core.

  

David O. McKay School of Education

• Stefinee Pinnegar, an education professor at BYU, was given the Sponsored Research Recognition Award during the 2017 BYU University Conference August 28–31. This award recognizes faculty members who give outstanding service and achievement funded by outside sponsors. Pinnegar has secured 15 continuous years of grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language to study the CITES initiative, which came after the English Language Learners (ELLs) populations in nearby school districts dramatically increased (in some districts by as much as 900 percent). Pinnegar worked with the BYU-Public School Partnership to organize a coalition of university faculty, McKay school faculty, teachers and school administrators to help teacher’s gain needed skills. Pinnegar will be officially presented with the award on November 9, 2017, at the Annual Sponsored Research Luncheon.

  

J. Reuben Clark Law School

• BYU Law hosted law students, undergraduates and visiting attorneys at its Annual Supreme Court Review on Sept. 22. The event was in celebration of the Constitution’s 230th birthday. Keynote speaker Justin Collins reviewed the Supreme Court’s last term and discussed the Court’s future. Other speakers included BYU Law professors Lisa Sun, John Fee, Aaron Nielson, Michalyn Steele and Elizabeth Clark, who discussed how newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch might impact the Court. Visiting experts Stephanie Barclay of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and Douglas Spencer, professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Connecticut Law School, joined BYU Law professors Clark Asay and Carolina Núñez in finishing the event by reviewing decisions from the most recent Supreme Court term.