Kim followed her father Dr. Al Houchens into membership, and joined Sigma Xi as a student member in 2003, and was promoted to full membership in 2011. She is proud to be a member of an organization that has recognized women in the sciences as far back 1888. The call to "Come up higher" has always spoken to the inventor and teacher in her spirit, and she has strived throughout her career to encourage others to achieve their unique potential.
Houchens has served as the President and Co-Founder of the Cleveland Chapter of the Product Development and Management Association, where she grew the chapter to over 250 participants and 90 members in its first year. She has served as the Co-Chairman of the Alumni Board for the College of Human Environment and Design at Michigan State University, and is currently a Member of the Advisory Board for the School of Packaging at Michigan State University.
Kim is currently responsible for leading research and development at O-I, focusing on driving the creation of next-generation manufacturing technologies to provide the company with a sustainable and innovative advantage in the marketplace. Her growing team of interdisciplinary scientists and engineers, are working to break new ground in glass melting and forming.
A proven innovator, Kim joined O-I from Amcor, a multinational packaging leader, where she led a team through a reorganization and restructuring effort as Vice President of global product development for the company's plastics organization. Prior to Amcor, Kimberly served as Chief Technology Officer at a chemical coating start-up Nano-Tex, Inc., and before that held Directorial positions in technology and new product development at commercial film supplier OMNOVA Solution and as Senior Scientist at The Dow Chemical Company.
Kim has 20 years of success creating organic growth in industry through the use of basic and applied science and engineering, and has been instrumental in finding links between public and private industry. Her focused on technology strategy, innovation through ruggedizing for commercialization, and interdisciplinary team development has led her to believe that the Sigma Xi organization is uniquely suited to assist the world's industries with the economic and ecological challenges of the future, through encouraging interdisciplinary scientific fellowship, and research integrity. Through contribution to the leadership of Sigma Xi, Kim hopes to draw more industrial members to recognize the value of fully participating in the organization by attending chapter meetings with their staff, and to encourage R&D leaders in industry to nominate their promising employees to membership as a significant honor and recognition of their career achievement.
Prior to her five years with Amcor, Houchens was chief technology officer at a nanotechnology chemical coating startup, Nano-Tex, Inc., where she was responsible for building a team of innovators that developed and launched three major new categories of chemical processes in the global fashion industry. She also has held directorial positions in technology and new product development at commercial film supplier OMNOVA Solution and was a senior researcher for The Dow Chemical Company. Houchens holds a bachelor's degree in textile science from Michigan State University; an associate's degree in design from the Fashion Institute of Technology; a master's degree from North Carolina State University in textile engineering, chemistry and science; and a Ph.D. from N.C. State in textile technology and management. Houchens was recently promoted to the status of full member of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society.
Chapter Affiliation: The Ohio State University
Candidate's Statement: I've been a Sigma Xi member for 34 years and served as President of a local chapter three times. While I was honored to become a member of Sigma Xi, I value Sigma Xi for what it enables me to do. I see Sigma Xi as 'Scientists Supporting Science.' Sigma Xi has enabled me to meet faculty members outside my department every time my career has taken me to a new institution. Sigma Xi has enabled me to support young scientists by judging science fair projects, and by talking to a high school class about what my lab has discovered and why I am so exciting about what I do. Our OSU chapter has a local Grants in Aid of Research program supported by scientific supply companies. We invite the winners of this competition and the State Science Fair to our Annual Banquet to introduce them to working scientists and to hear an outstanding talk from an outstanding scientist. The national organization has done a great job with high concept science but Sigma Xi continues to lose members precipitously. Our real strength is our chapters, our grassroots efforts to connect with other scientists across disciplinary boundaries and to support young scientists. Lynn Elfner and I recently organized the first local North Central Regional Meeting: 'Revitalizing Sigma Xi.' We need to identify programs that work and develop new ideas, then make them readily available to all chapters. New members are attracted and retained by value: the opportunities that Sigma Xi provides.
Sigma Xi and Other Activities:
Secretary, Rush University Club 1986-88; 1999-01
President, Rush University Club, Chapter 1988-90; 2001-03
Board Member, The Ohio State Chapter 2008-
President-Elect, The Ohio State Chapter 2010-11
President, The Ohio State Chapter 2011-12
Biographical Information: Mark Peeples received his Ph.D. from Wayne State University in Detroit, performing some of the first studies to identify the proteins in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). He did his postdoctoral training with a model virus in the same group, Newcastle disease virus, at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester. His first faculty position was at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago where he rose to full Professor in 10 years and stayed for 21 years. During that time he took a sabbatical year to work at the National Institutes of Health with Peter Collins who had just developed the reverse genetics system for RSV, enabling the insertion of foreign genes like that for green fluorescent protein (GFP), and the deletion and mutation of viral genes to probe viral gene function. He has provided the RSV-GFP virus to over 100 labs around the world to aid in their studies of RSV. In 2004 he moved to The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, where he directs an active research lab. His lab has been funded, by NIH and by 8 different companies, almost continuously for his 30 years as a Principal Investigator.
Dr. Peeples was twice President of the Rush University Chapter of Sigma Xi and is currently the President of the Ohio State Chapter, for two years each time. His three stints as Chapter President were separated from each other by approximately 10 years and each was accompanied by a trip to the Annual National Sigma Xi meeting, giving him a longitudinal view of Sigma Xi, both locally and nationally, assets and problems. This year he and Lynn Elfner organized the first Sigma Xi North Central Regional Meeting, at OSU with the theme of 'Revitalizing Sigma Xi.'
Dr. Peeples has trained 20 graduate students, including three current students, 18 for Ph.D. degrees and two for M.S. degrees. He has also trained 20 postdoctoral fellows, including two presently in his laboratory. In addition he has trained 25 undergraduate or high school students. He has published over 80 peer reviewed papers and holds three patents, with two more pending. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the 'Journal of Virology' and has reviewed manuscripts for 22 other journals. He has served on 32 review panels for the NIH, CDC, FDA, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, and currently sits on a Board funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that is charged with the development of a vaccine for RSV for use in low resource countries.
Dr. Peeples has been judging junior high and high school science fair projects for more than 20 years. He also routinely judges local undergrad and graduate research in various forums. He has been teaching graduate and medical students throughout his career. And in the past two years he has visited local high school classes to describe his work and the excitement he gets from making discoveries and moving them toward treatments.
Name: Daniel Reaume
Chapter Affiliation: General Motors R&D Center
Candidate's Statement: By virtue of its multidisciplinary nature, Sigma Xi is uniquely positioned to shape the future of research by more fully engaging its local chapters. I believe it can accomplish this in three key ways. First, via an increased focus on outreach and educational activities at the chapter level, Sigma Xi members may apply their vast panoply of skills to interest students in science and help mentor these students as they become the next generation of researchers. A particularly valuable initiative would be for Sigma Xi to undertake a training effort in the area of ethics and professionalism for aspiring researchers. Second, with research funding under ever-increasing scrutiny, the successful translation of invention into innovation is ever more critical. By helping to bridge the gaps between industry, government, and academia via joint events and professional development courses, Sigma Xi may assist in such translation and thus improve support for research by increasing its societal benefits. Third, many areas of research are heavily impacted by court rulings and regulatory changes. By harnessing the expertise within its chapters, Sigma Xi may beneficially influence these changes and educate its members on how to best adapt to the changing research environment.
Biographical Information: Dr. Reaume began his academic career at the University of Windsor, where he obtained a B.Sc. in mathematics and computer science. As an NSERC 1967 Fellow and Rackham Fellow, he went on to earn an M.S. and Ph.D. in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan.
For the past 15 years, Dr. Reaume has conducted research within General Motors Research & Development organization. As a staff researcher, his current research efforts focus on developing and applying advanced analytics to quantify and optimize the behavior of complex enterprise systems. His past research work includes co-leading manufacturing research thrusts within collaborative research labs established by General Motors with the University of Michigan and MIT. In recognition of his work, Dr. Reaume is a two-time recipient of General Motors' highest technical award.
Dr. Reaume's involvement in the academic community extends beyond joint research projects. He has served on several Ph.D. committees and NSF panels. In 2008, he co-chaired a SIAM conference on Complexity and Business Analytics. As an adjunct assistant professor, Dr. Reaume developed and taught several classes at the University of Michigan and currently teaches the capstone project class in manufacturing and service systems.
Complementing his technical credentials, Dr. Reaume is experienced and trained in the business and legal aspects of research. He earned an M.A.Sc. in the Management of Technology from the University of Waterloo and has helped develop and deliver classes to improve the business acumen of professional researchers. Dr. Reaume is also a licensed attorney, specializing in intellectual property law.
Dr. Reaume has been an active member of Sigma Xi since 1997. Within the General Motors Research & Development Chapter, he served as membership chair, treasurer, program chair, and president. His accomplishments include hosting over a dozen guest speakers, arranging outreach and mentoring activities for Sigma Xi members, and representing the chapter at Sigma Xi's annual meeting.
Name: Carlo Segre
Present Position: Duchossois Leadership Professor of Physics & Deputy Director
of the Materials Research Collaborative Access Team (MRCAT)
Organization: Illinois Institute of Technology
Candidate's CV
Chapter Affiliation: Illinois Institute of Technology
Candidate's Statement: My experience as the President of the IIT Chapter of Sigma Xi has clearly brought to my attention some of the challenges the Society faces in the 21st century. In an environment where there are a proliferation of professional societies vying for the attention of scientists, it is increasingly difficult for individuals to justify continuing membership in a broadly-based society such as Sigma Xi. At the IIT Chapter, we have made a conscious decision to make the promotion of research by undergraduate students one of our primary goals. By encouraging our youngest colleagues to become involved in the research enterprise and making them aware of Sigma Xi's role, we have the opportunity to build new lifelong members. As a candidate for North Central Director, I am committed to being the primary liaison for the constituent chapters with the Sigma Xi Board. The Society needs the ideas and support of all of its chapters and members in order to thrive in the future. The position of Director is vital to the organization and I would be honored to serve the members in this capacity.
Sigma Xi and Other Activities: I have served as President of the IIT Chapter of Sigma Xi (2005-present) and delegate to the annual meeting (2006). As a Fellow of the International Center for Diffraction Data, I am currently the chair of their Education Subcommittee (2005-present) as well as member of the Scholarship Committee (2005-present) and the Meeting Support Committee (2005-present). Since 2008, I have been serving as a member of the Advanced Photon Source Beam Time Allocation Committee. In addition to my administrative responsibilities as Associate Chair (1993-1999) and Associate Dean (2002-present), my service to IIT includes being a member of the Faculty Council (1986-1988), Chair of the Research subcommittee for the National Commission for IIT (1994-1995), Chair of the University Committee on Promotion and Tenure (2008), and liaison between IIT and Argonne and Fermi National Laboratories. Since 1993, I have served as a member of the High School Bridge Building Contest (Chair, 1993-2003) which runs a large Chicago Regional contest annually and an International contest biannually on the IIT campus. Currently I am Director of IIT's Center for Synchrotron Radiation Resaerch and Instrumentation which I helped found in 1988. In this capacity I am promoting synchrotron radiation research throughout the IIT campus.
Biographical Information: Carlo Uberto Segre: Education: Ph.D. in Physics, University of California, San Diego, 1981; B.S. Physics and B.S.
Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1976.
Employment: Assistant Professor of Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology, 1983-1989; Associate Professor of Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology, 1989-2001; Professor of Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology, 2001-present; Duchossois Leadership Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology, 2011-present; Staff Associate, International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, 1990-1993; Deputy Director, Materials Research Collaborative Access Team at the Advanced Photon Source 1994-present; Deputy Director, Biophysics Collaborative Access Team, 2012-present. Grants and Awards (as PI): Department of Energy, Nuclear Energy Research Initiative 2005-2009; NSF Materials World Network 2008-2012; Department of Education Graduate Assistantships in Areas of National Need 2009-2013; operations support for the Materials Research Collaborative Access Team (from Argonne National Laboratory, Environmental Protection Agency, Honeywell UOP, University of Notre Dame), 1997-present.
Research: Materials characterization using synchrotron radiation, specifically fuel cell catalysts, advanced materials for nuclear reactors, multiferroics and metal-insulator systems. 13 Ph.D. and 2 M.S. students graduated, currently advising 2 Ph.D. students and 1 M.S. student. More than 20 undergraduate research advisees over my time at IIT.
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