American Society of Civil Engineers Upstate New York 2013 Student Competition: The West Point Student Chapter of the ASCE attended the annual Upstate New York Student Competition. The competition consisted of several events, including the Mead Paper Presentation, the Steel Bridge Competition, and the Concrete Canoe Competition. Other competing universities included Clarkson University, Cornell University, Ecole de Technologie Superieure, Hudson Valley Community College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology, the State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo, SUNY Canton and Syracuse University.
The topic of this year’s Mead Paper Presentationwas “Body of Knowledge – Is it Ethical to Associate Credentials with Competency.” Cadets Joseph Speight and Mark Owens represented West Point by giving presentations on ethics in engineering. Both cadets provided insightful yet different perspectives but in the end, Cadet Joseph Speight took home 1st Place in the Essay Competition.
The Steel Bridge Teamconsisted of Team Captain Seth Bell and Team Members Trevor Knowles, Kyle Kilroy, Rich Austring, Chalermpat Pariya-Ekkasut and Joseph Speight. Tasked with designing an all-steel bridge, the West Point Steel Bridge Team designed and manufactured each piece for constructability and performance in mind. The team was able to construct the bridge in less than 30 minutes under numerous constraints, including limitations on freedom of movement in order to represent building the bridge over a river.
The Concrete Canoe teamconsisted of Team Captain James McLoughlin and Team Members Mark Owens, Aaron Schares, and Alexander Pinigis. Their final product, a lightweight concrete canoe named “River Rat”, was nothing short of phenomenal.
CE400 Seminar: Mr. Peter Coote, PE, Esq, and USMA 83, presented a seminar on engineering and the law. He emphasized the contribution of the engineering profession to society, stressed importance of ethical behavior, and explained the standard of care.
EP394 Shakespeare - As You Like It: 
Cadets enrolled in EP394 Shakespeare performed the Bard‘s comedy As You Like It as part of DEP’s Projects Day activities. Cadets studied and adapted the text, provided a soundtrack, and made a variety of staging and interpretive decisions throughout rehearsals. Every cadet in the class contributed to the success of the performance, with Cadets Liam Phillips and Alix Efaw playing the demanding lead roles of Rosalind and Orlando.
Network Science Excellence Award: Each year, the NSC presents the Network Science Excellence Award to NSC cadets who work diligently on network science related projects. There were four winners, two of which were tied for second place. 1st Place: “Leveraging Host Protein Network Topology to Identify Cancer-Causing Pathogens”, Cadet Joseph Hannigan; 2nd place (two-way tie): “Identifying and Isolating Influential Subgroups in Social Media Networks”, Cadet Jeffery Nielson; and” Effective Measures for Predicting Spread in SIS Models”, Cadet Robert Delany; Honorable Mention: “Identifying Sets of Epidemic Spreaders in Complex Networks”, Cadet Geoffrey Moores.
Department of Energy Excellence in Energy Award: 
The USCC Energy and Environmental (E2O) Cadet Chain of Command presented the inaugural Department of Energy (DOE) Excellence in Energy award to the Cadets of Lee Barracks. Cadets Christopher Boldt and Kiley Hunkler represented 1st Regiment in receiving the award in recognition of reducing their barracks energy consumption by over 10% during Term 13-1. Dr. Unruh, the Program Manager of the Federal Energy Management Program, represented DOE during the presentation of the award.
Brigade Swap Meet: T
he D/G&EnE led Energy & Environmental Chain of Command conducted the second annual swap meet on Project‘s Day. Cadets from across the Corps brought and swapped hundreds of uniform items, civilian clothing, books, and shoes. The Swap Meet was a resounding success and all remaining non-uniform items were recycled or donated to Good Will.
DP&NE Projects Day: 
The Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering hosted Projects Day and nineteen cadets presented 22 projects resulting from Nuclear Engineering capstone design and individual research. Demonstrations of the operational High Energy Laser system and the Pelletron Accelerator caused a great deal of interest. Cadets Jordan Smith '13 and Daniel Blaine '15 received the best individual research presentation award from the Department.
AIChE Club Success: The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Cadet Club received a $500 check from the New York Metro Section of the AIChE for a winning proposal for an Army Strong contingent of 40 AIChE Club Chemical Engineering majors, members of the CH362 course, and faculty to travel to the Newburgh Brewing Company to observe industrial scale science and engineering in action. This trip is tied directly into the CH362 objectives and supports chemical engineering goals, and believe it or not, no alcohol was consumed on this trip.
Metropolitan Museum of Art: 
Cadets in EN302 Advanced Composition, EP360 Eastern Art, and EP390 Reading the Frontier, teamed up to spend the day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
British Literature Forum: The Department of English and Philosophy hosted a joint USMA-Fordham University British Literature Forum. The forum, organized into four 90-minute panels featuring cadet and student scholarship, addressed a wide range of themes, contexts, and narratives central to the nineteenth- and twentieth-century British and Anglophile literary tradition. Art, Philosophy, and Literature majors included Cadets Ellen Chamberlin, Tim Dore, Alix Efaw, David Faust, Jeff Ferebee, Cait Gamble, Tyler Lamb, Emily McCarthy, Oliver Matheson, and Daniel Zaleski.
Academy Idol Competition: 
On Projects Day, DEP hosted the third annual Academy Idol competition. Nine plebes currently enrolled in EN102, having been selected as the best performers in the class of 2016, performed monologues from plays by Shakespeare and Sophocles. Cadet Joseph Burr was named this year‘s “Academy Idol” for his stirring performance as King Lear. Cadets Geoffrey Davis and Raoul Valencia received prizes for second and third place for their portrayals of Titus (from Shakespeare‘s Titus Andronicus) and Oedipus (from Sophocles‘Oedipus Rex), respectively. The monologue competition was followed by a choral competition in which groups of EN102 students recited choral speeches from Greek tragedies.
APL Majors Senior Thesis Projects: Six Art, Philosophy, and Literature majors who have completed the senior thesis project presented a summary of their work in front of an audience of fellow cadets, faculty, and friends. The Literature track cadets--Cadets Eileen Deegan, Emily McCarthy, and Marshall Moten—participated in a panel discussion similar to the format used at many academic conferences. The Philosophy track cadets—Cadets Patrick Benevento, Eric Brauninger, and Stephanie Wangeman--made individual presentations. Both sets of presentations were followed by a question and answer period. The senior thesis represents a year‘s work under the tutelage of a senior Department faculty member and typically results in a 35-50 page monograph on a subject of important critical debate within the literary or philosophical fields.
Distinguished Lecture Series: 
Mr. Tom Deierlein (USMA ‘89), CEO of ThunderCat Technologies visited West Point to speak to cadets as part of ‘83 DLS. During his visit he had office calls with Department leadership, dined in the cadet mess hall, and discussed values-based leadership and leading through adversity with 40 BS&L majors and cadets. The ‘83 DLS is a core component of the West Point Leadership Center, aiming to advance the study and practice of leadership at the Academy through meaningful engagement with influential leaders from all sectors
Cadet Academic Recognition: 
Cadets Katie Wacker ‘14 and Jozlyn McCaw ‘14, and Cadet Victoria Emerson ’13 were inducted into Alpha Phi of New York, the USMA Chapter of Alpha Kappa Delta, the International Sociological Honor Society.
