Clemson professor receives Governor’s Award for Excellence in Scientific Awareness

Published: May 7, 2012

Joshua D. Summers image by: Clemson University

By Aliza Darnell

CLEMSON — Joshua D. Summers, associate professor in mechanical engineering and IDEaS Professor at Clemson University, has received the 2012 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Scientific Awareness from the Governor’s Office and the South Carolina Academy of Science.

The Governor’s Award for Excellence in Science was established in 1985 by the Drug Science Foundation to honor an individual or team in South Carolina whose achievements and contributions to science merit recognition and promote wider awareness of scientific activity in the state. Four awards are given annually to highlight different areas of excellence in science.

Summers was awarded for excellence in scientific awareness to for his efforts to bring opportunities to learn about science and engineering to the community. The award includes a monetary prize and an invitation to contribute to the Governor’s Award Special Issue of the Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science.

Summers was recognized primarily for his work in a senior mechanical engineering design class. For two semesters, his students have built simple wind tunnels to teach fourth- and fifth-graders physical science principles from the elementary school curriculum. Last spring 33 students built six wind tunnels for classrooms at Anderson Midway Elementary. This fall 40 students built four wind tunnels for Six Mile Elementary and four wind tunnels for East North Street Academy in Greenville.

His students were challenged to create a safe design for specific classrooms and to teach the elementary school students how to use them. They also invited the children to Clemson University for a day to showcase their work.

“Designing and building wind tunnels is a fantastic vehicle for me to teach engineering students the design process while providing them with challenging customers on a project that is real and not made-up," Summers said. "Our students seemed to love this type of service-learning and have subsequently excelled in their final capstone industry-sponsored projects.”

Summers also has led service outreach efforts with graduate and undergraduate students to bring engineering design activities to Boy Scout troops, Cub Scout packs, Girl Scouts and through the Future Engineers after-school program at Clemson Elementary.  

Summers earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia working on virtual reality-based submarine design. He earned his doctorate in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Arizona State University in 2004 researching design automation. 

Summers has worked at the Naval Research Laboratory and served on the foreign relations/armed services staff of U.S. Sen. John D. Ashcroft of Missouri. His research has been supported by the government (NASA, National Science Foundation, U.S. Army); large industry (BMW, Michelin, General Motors); and small- and medium-sized enterprises (Wright Metal Products, Rotary, Hartness International). He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers, earning international recognition for his work. 

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