Tau Beta Pi - Missouri Beta Chapter - Missouri S&T

03/05/2026

Tau Beta Pi Members Attend the District 9 Conference

As President of the Missouri Beta Chapter, Matthew Tierney, Missouri S&T senior in Chemical Engineering, attended the Tau Beta Pi District 9 Conference at Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS on February 20-21, 2026. Also attending were Logan Droege, senior in Electrical Engineering, Francisco De Durana, senior in Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Steve Watkins, Chapter Advisor, and S&T Alumni Christian Winingar, Kansas City Alumni Chapter. Missouri S&T Attendees are shown with TBP President Tom Pinkham.

04/01/2025

TBP District 9 Conference highlighted by the Missouri S&T news.

Missouri S&T hosted the 2025 District 9 Conference for Tau Beta Pi, an engineering honor society, on March 7-8. The event was organized by the university’s Missouri Beta Chapter and welcomed over 40 attendees from 10 university chapters and three alumni chapters across Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas

03/27/2025

Q&A Session with Dr. Sandra Magnus (S&T Graduate and former NASA Astronaut) was hosted by Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu on Wednesday April 2, 2025 in B*H 120. TBP President Rylie Miller and HKN President Katie McNevin welcomed Dr. Magnus to the meeting.

03/27/2025

The Missouri Beta Chapter at Missouri University of Science and Technology hosted the 2025 District 9 Conference on March 7-8. The program included a welcome by Engineering Dean David Borrok (MO B ’05), a keynote address by Dean James Sterling (TX D ’83), Association remarks by 2025 President Marla A. Peterson (AZ A ’83), and a sharing of best practices by chapters. The attendees participated in an egg-drop challenge, a tour of research laboratories, and networking time throughout the day. Event organization was led by chapter president Rylie Miller, vice-president Evonne Siampos, officer Josh Perkins, and chief advisor Steve E. Watkins (MO B ’83).

01/20/2025

Dr. Janet Kavandi is welcomed to Tau Beta Pi Membership by College Dean David Borrok, Chapter President Louis Blessing, Chapter Advisor Steve E. Watkins, and Chapter Advisor David Bayless. Post from Tau Beta Pi.

Tau Beta Pi welcomes Janet L. Kavandi, Ph.D., MI B ’80, to membership! At the Fall 2024 Initiation on November 7, the Missouri Beta Chapter initiated Dr. Kavandi as an Eminent Engineer.

While most members join TBP in undergraduate school, there are five eligible candidate categories for potential members. Engineers who have achieved eminence in engineering, like Janet Kavandi, may be elected to membership without regard to collegiate records.

Dr. Kavandi obtained her B.S. in chemistry from Missouri Southern State College and M.S. from the University of Missouri-Rolla (now Missouri University of Science and Technology), where the Missouri Beta Chapter resides. After receiving her Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Washington, Dr. Kavandi worked with NASA as a shuttle astronaut and Center Director (2016-2019) at the NASA Glenn Research Center. We are proud to celebrate her impact and achievements as a new member of Tau Beta Pi!

For more about our eligible candidate categories, including Eminent Engineers, see our recruiting site here: https://www.tbp.org/recruit/recruitEligibility.cfm.

11/09/2024

Dr. Janet L. Kavandi was elected to membership in Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, as an Eminent Engineer through the Missouri Beta Chapter on Nov. 7, 2024. Kavandi was a NASA astronaut with three space shuttle flights – STS-91, STS-99, and STS-104. She has an MS degree in Chemistry from Missouri S&T along with a BS from Missouri Southern State College and a PhD from the University of Washington-Seattle.

11/09/2024

Steve E. Watkins, Ph.D., MO B ’83, received the 2024 Tau Beta Pi McDonald Mentor Award from Rachel Alexander, TBP Executive Councillor and 2023 TBP President, at the 2024 Convention.

10/17/2024

Join us tonight at 6 to listen to our speaker Leah Nash! Like always, pizza will be provided.

10/02/2024

08/01/2024

Tau Beta Pi is proud to announce that Steve E. Watkins, Ph.D., MO B ’83, is the 2024 Tau Beta Pi McDonald Mentor. This award recognizes excellence in engineering educators or professionals who consistently support the personal and professional development of their students and colleagues in industry, government, or service organizations.

Dr. Watkins has been a faculty member at Missouri University of Science & Technology since 1989, including temporarily serving as ECE department chair and associate chair of undergraduate studies. He helped develop the IEEE Student Ethics Competition program in 2004, served as Editor-in-Chief of The Bridge of IEEE-HKN, and has presented about professional development at many conferences.

Since graduating, he has been actively involved with the MO Beta Chapter of Tau Beta Pi. He became a Chapter Advisor in 2014, and has been serving as Chief Advisor since 2020. “In summary, Dr. Watkins is well aware that education extends far beyond the classroom and seeks opportunities to engage with students to foster their growth in many dimensions,” said a colleague of his.

Read more in the press release here: https://www.tbp.org/memb/McDonaldMentorPDFs/2024Watkins.pdf.

04/23/2024

Congratulations and Welcome to Tau Beta Pi to our Spring 2024 Initiates!

04/23/2024

Consider joining our officer team at today’s elections!