Central Texas Achievements

UT professor wins fellowship; Round Rock nurse receives state award.

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Compiled from staff reports

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

UT professor receives fellowship

Dr. Thomas Truskett, associate professor of chemical engineering at the University of Texas, has been awarded the David and Lucile Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering.

Truskett received a five-year, $625,000 fellowship to develop techniques to study the properties of nano-sized glassy materials and to create "smart" methods of predicting protein behavior.

His research on predicting the behavior of glassy materials' molecules could be useful in biomedical applications and to make improvements in high resolution printing, create stronger materials and make smaller and faster computer chips. The study of protein behaviors could be applied to the pharmaceutical industry, which would predict the degradation of protein solutions. The research may also provide insight in how to treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or mad cow.

Round Rock nurse recognized

The Texas Health Care Association has named Lois McDaniel its Outstanding Nurse of the Year. McDaniel has been the unit supervisor at Trinity Care Center in Round Rock for five years.

The Texas Health Care Association represents a broad spectrum of long-term care providers and professionals offering long-term, rehabilitative and specialized health care services.

Georgetown taxidermist honored

The National Taxidermist Association has recognized Evelyn Mills of Georgetown for her taxidermy skills.

Mills won the National Champion Reptile Skin Mount award at the association's annual convention in Huntsville, Ala.

She is recognized by the National Taxidermist Association as a certified taxidermist. The certification recognizes taxidermists who have won awards for high standards and offers a standard by which to select a qualified taxidermist.

Mills is also the recipient of the National Taxidermist Association Award of Excellence.

Teen earns Eagle Scout rank

Alexander McKinnon, son of Jud and Susan McKinnon of Georgetown, earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America. For his Eagle Scout project, he built and installed six large bathhouses at Lake Georgetown in Jim Hogg Park. He is a junior at Georgetown High School.