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Caryn Jackson teaches sci-
ence at Tolles Career and Tech-
nical Center in Plain City, Ohio.
Her students are generally not
on a career path that involves a
college degree. Instead, Tolles,
like most career centers, is fo-
cused on preparing its students
for immediate careers. It initially
took Jackson a couple of years
to convince her administration to allow her
to teach materials science at her school.
She prevailed and has now been success-
fully teaching materials science in her
building for about four years.
“Mrs. Jackson’s ability to move students
toward a genuine interest in materials edu-
cation is one I have rarely seen and is as natural to
her as breathing. One will often find Mrs. Jackson in
the cafeteria or in the library tutoring students who
are struggling. In her classroom, she conducts labs
so that all students are able to participate and truly
understand the concepts of materials. On a humor-
ous note, I never know what lab materials she will
carry in each morning. Her arms are always full as
she walks to her classroom to prepare for labs.
Some days I will ask, but I better be prepared for an
extensive answer about everything stu-
dents are about to learn that day! Our
district has now gone from offering two-
semester sessions of Materials Science
to seven full-year sessions in just three
years. Students are excited, engaged,
and they are telling their friends, ‘Science
is FUN!’”
Tonya N. Ramey
Academic/Assessment Supervisor
Tolles Career & Technical Center
ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES •
JULY 2014
32
2013 ASM MATERIALS EDUCATION FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT
2013 KISHOR M. KULKARNI HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Caryn Jackson
Tolles Career and Technical Center in Plain City, Ohio
Thermal Spray Technologies Inc. (TST), is committed to enhancing the
knowledge and expertise of materials engineering among teachers and
young people. TST supports educational opportunities throughout the
year, encouraging future leaders to understand and pursue careers in
materials science and engineering. TST’s collaboration with ASM Mate-
rials Education Foundation has enabled educators to team up and appre-
ciate the opportunities that lie within the materials science and
engineering industry. ASM’s materials camps have a strong impact on
teachers and help them develop upcoming professionals in materials sci-
ence and engineering; it is truly one of ASM’s most impressive programs.
TST is honored to support such an effective educational program.
2013 ASM FOUNDATION PACESETTER AWARD
Dr. Donald R. Muzyka is retired President and
CEO, Special Metals Corp., New Hartford, N.Y. He
has been active in ASM since joining in 1963 and
was elected a Fellow in 1977. He has been in-
volved in many Chapter activities and was Chair-
man of the Lehigh Valley Chapter in 1976-1977.
He served on many ASM committees including the
Diamond Decade, Awards Policy, Nominating, Fi-
nance, and Investment. He was a Trustee in 1982-
84. He was President of ASM in 2003, served as
VP in 2002, and Past President in 2004. Muzyka
joined the Board of the ASM Materials Foundation
in 2000 and has served as a Trustee. He was
Treasurer from 2004 to 2010.
The duties of a Foundation Board Member in-
clude working with students, raising money and
“running the business.” Muzyka has been involved
with all three. In particular, since he retired in 2000,
he has been active in assuring that the
ASM/Lehigh Univ. Student and Teacher Materials
Camps have sufficient funding. He tries to inspire
the students into studying materials through a
presentation at the closing of each Student Camp
at Lehigh. He has also been successful in encour-
aging several individuals, companies, and Foun-
dations to volunteer at and/or financially support
ASM Materials Camps.
Muzyka earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineer-
ing from the Univ. of Mass. in 1960. He received
his M.S. in Metallurgy from RPI in 1966 and his
Ph.D. in Materials Science from Dartmouth in
1967. He devoted his entire career, spanning more
than 40 years, to the specialty metals industry,
starting as a metallurgist at Pratt & Whitney Air-
craft in 1960. After completing his graduate stud-
ies in 1966, he joined Carpenter Technology where
he was appointed Vice President Technical in1979.
In 1982, he joined Cabot Corp. where he became
manager of Cabot Refractory Metals. He com-
pleted his career at Cabot as VP Corporate R&D.
Muzyka joined Special Metals as President in
1990; he became President and CEO after taking
the company public in 1996. He retired on Sep-
tember 1, 2000.
2013 GEORGE A. ROBERTS AWARD
“We have worked
with metals, polymers,
glass, and other materials
and it has been
so much fun
you don’t realize
you are actually
learning a great deal.
One of the really
cool aspects is that
the projects
we are taught
can be done
fairly quickly.
So the students
can start and then
see the end result
in the same
class time.”
Becky Howard
2013 Meridian, Miss.
Materials Camp – Teachers
Marion Park Alternative