Barnes Recognized by Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Robert Barnes of Amherst, associate dean for external affairs and adjunct associate professor of industrial engineering in the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, has been named 2006 National Outstanding Advisor of Tau Beta Pi.

Barnes will accept the honor during an awards banquet at the national engineering honor society's annual convention this fall in Denver. The honor includes a small cash award, as well as $1,000 in his name for the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

The National Outstanding Advisor of Tau Beta Pi award recognizes members nationwide who make an important contribution to Tau Beta Pi students and college chapters. Barnes is chief advisor to UB's New York Nu Chapter of Tau Beta Pi and meets often with chapter officers to advise and discuss programming. He participates in organizational events, such as the semiannual induction ceremony and dinner, the annual honors employment dinner and the "bent polishing" ceremony, a tradition in which officials polish the metal symbol of Tau Beta Pi, located between Bonner and Bell halls in the UB Engineering Quad.

Barnes also supports the selection and recognition of the chapter's Professor of the Year and Teaching Assistant of the Year, and represents the chapter before school faculty and administration.

Barnes is co-executive director of UB's Strategic Partnership for Industrial Resurgence (SPIR) program and executive director of EngiNet, an engineering distance-learning program. He serves as chair of the peer institution subgroup of the Provost's Committee on Distance Learning and as a member of the Subcommittee for Educational Related Activities, Middle States Accreditation. He is an alternate to the Faculty Senate.

He also has served as past president and past chair of the Planning and Evaluation Committee of Buffalo Area Engineering Awareness for Minorities Inc. (BEAM) and as an advisor to the UB Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.

Barnes received a special award for service from BEAM in 1996.

His scientific and professional memberships include the Institute of Industrial Engineers and American Society for Engineering Education.

He earned a bachelor's degree in industrial technology and master's and doctoral degrees in industrial engineering, all from UB.