Officer Elections to take place
SiGMA officer election nominations are in, and elections will occur this coming week. Keep an eye on your email or the website for details!!
Texas Hold'em Tournament Results
The Texas Hold’em poker tournament went very smoothly.  The final two players were Megan Thompson and John Dietl, with Megan walking away with all $32,000 in chips after 2-1/2 hrs.  There have been several requests for another tournament, so perhaps we can make this a semi-regular event separate from the departmental happy hour. 
Mock Q-Exams
Fellow students,
 
One of the services that SIGMA intends to provide is to enhance the academic development of its members (YOU).  One way in which we can accomplish this is to have mock Q-exams for our first year students.  The senior graduate students in MAE have a wealth of knowledge to pass on to our younger classmates.  Events such as this are one way to make this information sharing process more fluid.
 
IF YOU HAVE PREVIOUSLY TAKEN YOUR Q-EXAM
 
We ask that students who have already taken and passed their Q-exam volunteer to serve as stand-in “faculty” on the exam committees.  If you are interested, please contact me at this e-mail (please do not change the subject line, as I will be filtering the incoming messages).  Another way that you can help is to provide information to the mock committees regarding the types of information/specific questions you were tested on during your exam.
 
IF YOU WILL BE TAKING YOUR Q-EXAM THIS SPRING
 
Let me know which research area you are in and whether you are interested in participating.  The “cost” of participation is that you will be asked to provide information regarding your ACTUAL Q-exam when the time comes.  Again, please do not change the subject line of this e-mail when replying as I will be filtering the incoming messages.
 
The current departmental list of “research areas” is:
 
Biomechanical
Dynamics, Systems, and Controls
Fluid Dynamics
Thermal Systems
Mechanics of Materials
 
Sincerely,
 
Michael S. Moorhead
SIGMA Social Director
Texas Hold 'em Tournament
All,
 
This month’s happy hour will be held on Tuesday, April 18th from 5:30-7:30PM.  It will center on a Texas Hold’em poker tournament, which will be preceded by a brief tutorial.  In order to plan the tournament effectively, it is necessary to have interested parties pre-register for the event.  There is no buy-in for this tournament, but there will be a prize for the winner.  Standard happy hour fare will also be available to people simply interested in watching.
 
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT TEXAS HOLD’EM
 
Texas hold’em has been dubbed “the game that takes minutes to learn, but a lifetime to master.”  Learning how to play is extremely easy, and there is a large industry that revolves around helping you learn.  Information regarding rules and strategy can be found on Wikipedia (and many other sites) at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_hold%27em.  You can also practice by playing for free on several gaming sites, including http://www.partypoker.net.  
 
PLEASE PRE-REGISTER SO THAT WE CAN PLAN ACCORDINGLY.  A sign-up sheet will be posted outside of the grad cube-farm on the 2nd floor of Upson Hall (Upson 245).  Please pre-register NO LATER THAN Friday, April 14th.
 
See you there!
 
Mike Moorhead
SIGMA Social Director