Associate Professor Frank Wicks has been named the winner of the 2010 Meritorious Service Award by the Capital District chapter of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers.
Wicks was selected “as an engineer who has made an outstanding contribution to the goals of the Society of Professional Engineers…through your programs at Union College.”
Wicks, who joined the Mechanical Engineering Department in 1988, has served for many years as director and an instructor in the Professional Engineering Refresher Program at the College, helping prepare hundreds of engineers for license exams. He has also been an active participant in Engineer's Week programs that help advance the profession via seminars, exhibits and high school student competitions.
He will receive his honor at an awards ceremony June 2 at the Cannon Club in the Watervliet Arsenal.
Wicks received his bachelor's degree in marine engineering from New York Maritime College and his master's in electrical engineering from Union. He also holds a doctorate in nuclear engineering from RPI.
Wicks has published dozens of technical papers on such topics as electric machinery and systems, machine tools, telescopes and rockets. He has developed and patented more fuel efficient systems for power, heating and air conditioning, and he received the ASME Energy Resources and Technology Innovation Award for the invention of residential size electricity-producing condensing furnace.