National engineering honor society inducts two Pocatellans

The Idaho Beta Chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society, in the Idaho State University College of Engineering has two new members—mechanical engineering senior Jack Brion Kettler and nuclear engineering junior Benjamin Baker—both from Pocatello.

    As a prerequisite to their initiation, student honorees performed several service projects. Kettler was a mentor in the 2006 Pocatello High School Robotics Competition, was a judge at the Invent Idaho contest and a competition judge in the Lego league. He also volunteered as a technical automotive instructor at Ron’s Rocky Mountain Auto Care Center. Baker helped in service projects in his church, was part of a fundraiser for the veteran’s home and sang for nursing home residents and local widows.

    The student membership requirement for Tau Beta Pi includes an academic ranking in top eighth of the junior class or top fifth of the senior class. According to the Tau Beta Pi eligibility code, “Distinguished scholarship, while the primary requisite for admission, must not be considered the sole criterion. After the scholastic requirements have been fulfilled, the selection shall be based on integrity, breadth of interest both inside and outside of engineering, adaptability and unselfish activity.”