STUDENT PROFILES
Devon Berry and Kevin Daniels

	Devon Berry

A member of the South Carolina Honors College and a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, Devon Berry received the 2007-2008 Kathryn D. Sullivan Science and Engineering Fellowship earlier this year. Jointly funded by the SC Sea Grant Consortium and the SC Space Grant Consortium, the award is named for the former NASA space-shuttle mission specialist.

In addition to receiving the $7,000 scholarship, Berry traveled to NASA’s Langley Research Center during the summer. Under the direction of NASA scientists, Berry and her research advisor and mentor, Professor Michael Sutton of the college’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, helped create a reliable fracture database for modern aerospace materials. The database is essential for validation of advanced simulation tools developed at the University, and it’s now being used by NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and industries such as Lockheed Martin.

“This is truly a unique opportunity for Ms. Berry, and we are delighted that she will be an active and important contributor to the research effort,” said Sutton when the award was
announced.

Berry is a member of the Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society, the Pi Tau Sigma National Mechanical Engineering Honor Fraternity, the Chi Omega Sorority, the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society, Mortar Board, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

She is also a recipient of the National Academy for Nuclear Training Scholarship, the Sorority Council Scholarship, the McKissick Scholarship, and the Frank B. Herty Scholarship.

After graduating from Lower Richland High School in 2005, and upon his arrival at Carolina, Kevin Daniels sought to become an active member in one of the research programs offered by the College of Engineering and Computing. While taking guided tours of the electrical engineering research labs, Daniels became intrigued by the work performed in Dr. Tangali Sudarshan’s Silicon Carbide Laboratory. Silicon Carbide, or SiC, is a semiconductor, and SiC microelectronic devices offer opportunities for many applications.

When Sudarshan allowed him to start working on a research project in his laboratory, the young student received an opportunity that most undergraduate students don’t get until later in their undergraduate careers. After working there almost two years, Daniels applied for, and received, a Magellan Scholarship. Using the support of the University’s prestigious award, he is now researching new methods for selective defect etching.

“I think I was most inspired to study engineering by watching science fiction movies when I was growing up,” Daniels said. “All of the devices that we use today – cell phones, personal digital assistants, and flat-panel displays – all were first imagined in some science fiction story. And it was an engineer who implemented these imagined items into real-world tools.”

After graduation, Daniels plans to apply to the graduate school at Carolina to pursue a doctoral degree in electrical engineering. One of his career goals is to research high-power electrical base weaponry for the military.