Gillespie receives Wayne W. Stinchcomb Memorial Award from ASTM
John W. Gillespie Jr., director of the University of DelawareCenter for Composite Materials, has been selected to receive the Wayne W. Stinchcomb Memorial Award from the American Society for Testing and Materials. The award includes delivering a keynote lecture at the American Society for Composites (ASC) conference in Williamsburg, Virginia, in September.
The award was established in memory of Wayne W. Stinchcomb, a fellow of ASTM and past chair of Committee D30 on Composite Materials.
Criteria include outstanding contributions in research, engineering or teaching the technology of composite materials, as well as service and other contributions in the area of composites.
Gillespie was recognized in particular for playing a key role in mentoring his students in his “career engagement in the academic world.”
Erik Thostenson, now associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UD, interacted with many of Gillespie’s students while working on his Ph.D. in the 1990s.
“I was always impressed with his mentoring of students in his research group,” Thostenson wrote in a letter of support for Gillespie’s nomination. “His students were always extremely well prepared and had tremendous breadth and depth of knowledge in their research. He has high expectations of his students, and many of them have gone on to be leaders in industry, government and academia. I try to emulate his approach in preparing my own students for their careers.”
John Gangloff, who served as president of UD’s student chapter of SAMPE (Society of Advanced Materials and Process Engineering) several years ago, expressed gratitude for Gillespie’s support of UD’s participation in the SAMPE Student Composite Bridge Contest.
Now a science and technology policy fellow in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office, Gangloff wrote, “Prof. Gillespie’s advisement over the years greatly educated students about composite materials and processing beyond the classroom and led to experiences to build upon for their future careers.”
Kuang-Ting Hsiao, who completed his doctoral research at CCM, credits Gillespie with creating a very dynamic research environment and encouraging researchers, scholars and students to communicate ideas and share results.
Hsiao, who is now professor of mechanical engineering at the University of South Alabama, also referred to Gillespie as “an extraordinary researcher and educator.”
About the professor
Jack Gillespie earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering at UD.
Gillespie, who is the Donald C. Phillips Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UD, has served as a member of the National Research Council Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design and as chair of the National Materials Advisory Board Committee on High-Performance Structural Fibers for Advanced Polymer-Matrix Composites. He has been editor of the Journal of Thermoplastic Composite Materials since 1993, and he serves on numerous editorial boards.
He has received a number of awards, including the Paul A. Siple Memorial Award from the U.S. Army, the Jud Hall Composites Manufacturing Award from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and the Charles Pankow Award for Innovation from the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is a fellow of SAMPE, SME and ASC.
