Professor Nadine Barrie Smith, who passed away at the very young age of forty-eight was a member of the graduate program in Acoustics and one of the founding members of the Bioengineering Department. Nadine was a world-renowned expert in the fields of medical imaging and therapeutic ultrasound. She was a pioneer in applying fundamental engineering principles to clinical problems, exemplified by her work in ultrasound-mediated delivery of insulin for diabetes and non-invasive surgery for cardiac revascularization. She fostered strong ties between the College of Engineering and Hershey Medical Center, and was an active leader in the Penn State Institute for Diabetes and Obesity. As one of the very few women faculty in engineering she also faced many of the challenges of working in a male-dominated environment, and overcame them with determination, hard work, humour and sheer talent.

Within the classroom she set up a unique program for a capstone undergraduate engineering design project, in which both medical and industrial partners sponsored the students to give them practical experience of the real-world working environment. Her textbook on Medical Imaging, published by Cambridge University Press, is used all over the world. Nadine was committed to ensuring the success of female students, and she took great pride in mentoring. She was an active participant in planning high-school engineering projects specifically to encourage women to enter engineering fields. Nadine provided encouragement and inspired these future engineers to achieve excellence in their academic careers and personal lives: most students considered Nadine both as a valued mentor, an exemplary researcher, and a personal friend.

The annual Nadine Barrie Smith Mentor Award, administered through the Women in Engineering Program, recognizes outstanding female undergraduate students who have, like Nadine, devoted significant time and resources to mentoring other female students in their quests to become better students, people, and engineers. This fund will allow the College to continue to recognize Nadine’s legacy as a researcher and inspiring mentor, and hopefully to encourage other faculty, staff and students to do the same.