Two Mechanical Engieering Professors receive "Distinguished Professor" title - The University bestows the Distinguished Professor title on select outstanding faculty in recognition of their outstanding teaching, research, and service at Penn State and in their profession. A professor who holds this prestigious title brings the highest distinction to the College and the University. The recipients are Chao-Yang Wang and Gary Settles.

Chao-Yang Wang received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Iowa and was on the faculty of University of Hawaii prior to joining the college in 1997. He is the founding director of Penn State Electrochemical Engine Center (ECEC). Dr. Wang is internationally known for his work on fuel cell science and technology, particularly for his contributions to the diagnostics and modeling of water and heat transport in fuel cells. He developed three new courses and played a key role in establishing the DOE graduate automotive technology education (GATE) program at Penn State. Dr. Wang is a frequent plenary/keynote speaker at national and international conferences as well as seminars at universities, national labs and industrial organizations worldwide.

Gary S. Settles received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University and worked for the Princeton Combustion Lab division of Flow Research, Inc. and on the Princeton University Research Staff prior to joining the college in 1983. He is the founding director of Penn State Gas Dynamics Laboratory. Dr. Settles is internationally known for his work on gas dynamics, nozzle design, and flow visualization applied to a variety of non-traditional problems in areas ranging from surface engineering, materials processing and manufacturing to aviation security.  He developed two new courses on compressible fluid flow. Settles book, entitled Schlieren and Shadowgraph Techniques, was published by Springer-Verlag in September 2001. He was chosen by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) as the 2004 Freeman Scholar. His paper entitled "Sniffers: Fluid-Dynamic Sampling for Olfactory Trace Detection in Nature and Homeland Security---The 2004 Freeman Scholar Lecture" was presented at The 2004 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and R&D Expo. It was published in The Journal Of Fluids Engineering in 2005.