Two Eastern students were recently selected as the winners of an essay contest sponsored by the Indiana Society of Plastics Engineers. Senior Jon-Michael Beasley placed first in the contest, while sophomore Devan Smith took second place.
Over 500 students from across the state participated in the contest, including all the students in Mr. Kevin Keltner’s chemistry class at Eastern. The participants were asked to write an essay over the importance of plastics.
The winners were presented with their awards by Dan Stratton of TTC Technologies and Ray Amos of Cook Medical on behalf of the Indiana Society of Plastics Engineers.
The awards consisted of both a certificate and a cash prize for each winner.
Beasley wrote his essay about using plastics to help reduce the cost of electronics such as smartphones. He is planning to attend Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology next fall where he intends to major in chemical engineering and biochemistry. He would eventually like a career that involves either helping to develop more efficient alternative energy sources or working to understand the mechanisms of diseases.
