Jose N. Maldonado recently was named Mechanical Engineer of the Year, 1996-1997, by the Instituto de Ingenieros Mecanicos del Colegio de Ingeniero y Agrimensores de Puerto Rico. Maldonado graduated from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez in 1956 and joined Cornell in 1969 as a mechanical engineer at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Prior to that, he had been the Arecibo area superintendent for the Puerto Rican Power Authority. In 1970, he was named head of the maintenance department at the Arecibo Observatory and in 1979, assistant director for facilities. Maldonado, a native of Arecibo, has played a critical role as site project manager for both the first National Science Foundation and NASA-sponsored upgrading of the Arecibo telescope in the 1970s and the major reconstruction of the telescope currently approaching completion.
Jessika Trancik, a senior majoring in materials science and engineering, is one of three recipients nationwide of an ASM Outstanding Scholars Award. The $2,000 award, for educational expenses for one academic year, is given to an outstanding undergraduate who demonstrates "exemplary academic and personal achievements, interests and potential in . . . materials science and engineering." She will receive her award Oct. 6 at Materials Week '96, a major materials conference to be held in Cincinnati.