Students, faculty and alumni from the Department of Mechanical Engineering gathered Thursday evening to award and recognize outstanding students and faculty. Those who attended also had the opportunity to listen to Bruce Lavash, head research fellow from Procter and Gamble, speak on becoming an innovator.

Lavash, a native of Cincinnati, received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Ohio State. Since then, he has been working at Procter and Gamble and was a major contributor to the creation of their Always feminine products business. Lavash holds more than 20 patents for various paper and disposable products.

Lavash offered the students advice on how to become successful innovators. “You need to learn how to become a product that your company wants to buy and then use that to sell yourself. It is the ones who go out and make things happen that are successful, not the ones who join in after something has begun,” he said.

Lavash also explained some of the fundamentals of business, which he said could be applied to almost everyone and every business. These fundamentals included seeking truth, both in and out of the business, learning from all of your co-workers, those above and below you, and taking risks.

“If you don’t believe enough in your idea to take a risk on it, how is your company supposed to believe and invest in it,” Lavash said.

Following Lavash, professor Amos Gilat received the 2001 Excellence in Teaching Award in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Gilat teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in mechanics, as well as introduction to engineering. Gilat also took a large leadership role in the recent merger between the engineering mechanics and mechanical engineering departments.

Gilat said it is essential to teach the basic engineering principles very well and the best teachers should be teaching the entry level courses to provide students the greatest opportunity to thrive within engineering.

“I probably get more out of teaching than I give,” Gilat said. “We as a faculty have a gift of knowledge, and it is clear that the students know that and can see when a teacher enjoys teaching them.”

The Excellence in Teaching Award is given by the industrial advisory board which was represented by Rich Baker, an OSU alumnus. Baker said students have a large part in deciding who the recipient is each year.

Along with the top teaching award, the Rob Wolf Outstanding Senior Award was presented by Howard Longfellow, an OSU alumnus.

“There are awards for top academics, but there is more to that and more to life. There are students here who go beyond outstanding academics and combine it with outstanding leadership and activities. This is what the outstanding senior award recognizes,” Longfellow said.

Jeffrey Webb, a senior in mechanical engineering and president of Pi Tau Sigma, was the recipient of this year’s outstanding senior award.

“Every student that goes through the engineering department really puts in a lot of work, but to be recognized for all of that hard work is a real honor,” Webb said.

Forty-seven other students were also recognized throughout the evening for their academic achievements and honors within the department.