Kingston, R.I. -- January 14, 2003 -- The Rhode Island Beta Chapter of Tau Beta Pi initiated 27 University of Rhode Island students into the national engineering honor society during their meeting in December. Chapter President Marc D. Normadin of Fall River, Mass., conducted the ceremonies.

Tau Beta Pi was founded in 1885 to recognize the distinguished academic achievements of engineering students and to "foster a spirit of liberal culture in engineering colleges." The honor society has 195 collegiate chapters with more than 300,000 members. The R.I. Beta Chapter was established at URI in 1954.

To become a member of Tau Beta Pi, juniors must rank in the top 1/8 of their class and seniors must rank in the top 1/5 of their class. Students must also show a spirit of liberal education that manifests itself in the form of community service and concern.
The following students were initiated into Tau Beta Pi:

Initiates: Areas of Engineering/Class: Hometown:

Erin M. Bereron-Gauch, Mechanical Eng/03, Newport, R.I.
Jason P. Clough, Civil Eng/04, Bradford, Vt.
Keith J. Cochran, Chemical Eng/03, Sturbridge, Mass.
Meghan Collins, Electrical Eng/Spanish/04, Arlington, Mass.
John J. Coughlin, BioMedical Eng/French/04, North Kingstown, R.I.
Christopher M. Cummiskey, Chemical Eng/German/03, Saunderstown, R.I.
Peter C. DeBellis, Electrical Eng/04, Wakefield, R.I.
Peter A. DiMaggio, Chemical Eng/04, Westerly, R.I.
Jonathan L. DiMuro, Chemical Eng/German/04, Cumberland, R.I.
Jeffrey R. Frost, Electrical Eng/German/04, Westfield, Mass.
Derek H. Gallagher, Computer Eng/Spanish/03, Warwick, R.I.
Mark D. Gertrudes, Mechanical Eng/03, Cumberland, R.I.
Nathanel A. Greene, Mechanical Eng/German/04, Narragansett, R.I.
Lauren B. Kelly, Industrial & Manufacturing Eng/03, Coventry, R.I.
James M. LeBlanc, Mechanical Eng/French/03, North Kingstown, R.I.
Michael E. Leclerc, Mechanical Eng/03, North Smithfield, R.I.
Nicole M. Leef,Chemical Eng/04, Potomac, Md.
Christopher J. Lepore, Mechanical/German/03, Cranston, R.I.
Frank L. Maker, Computer Engineering/German/04, Cumberland, R.I.
Alexa S. McQuaid, Biomedical Eng/03, Ware, Mass.
Eric G. Paulson, Computer Eng/03, West Kingston, R.I.
Chadwick J. Souza, Electrical Eng/03, Exeter, R.I.
Jonathan R. Stone, Ocean Eng/04, Clifton, N.J.
Mark R. Sylvestre, Electrical Eng/03, North Smithfield, R.I.
David C. Twardowski ,Mechanical Eng/04, North Kingstown, R.I.
Anna E. Wagner, Biomedical Eng/German/04, Corpus Christi, Tex.
Kai-Chieh Yang, Electrical Eng/04, Lincoln, R.I.