Students Showcase Skills in Second Annual Howard Wells Speech Competition

RAPID CITY, SD – More than half a century after Howard Wells, longtime South Dakota Mines economics professor, led university students to speech and debate dominance, his legacy is finding new life.

At the recent second annual Howard Wells Public Speaking Competition, five student finalists took the stage to tackle a timely question: how can scientists and engineers ensure their work contributes to a better, not worse, future for the world. Their 10-minute speeches explored the delicate balance between rapid technological advancement and ethical responsibility, while emphasizing the importance of staying grounded in personal values.

Seated front and center in the audience were alumni Randy Parcel and Marv Truhe, members of Wells’ successful forensics team during the 1960s, who established an endowment fund for the speech competition and now partner with the university’s Department of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) to carry that legacy forward. The two fondly remember their days dominating the public speaking circuit and hope to recreate it for a new generation. The winners of this year’s competition, which had nearly twice as many entries as last year, are: 

Rosalind Winter, first place $2,000, sophomore, mechanical engineering major;

Clive Uy second place $1,000, senior mechanical engineering major;

Isaac Olmscheid third place $500, sophomore mechanical engineering major;

Joshua Ponce runner-up $250, freshman industrial engineering major; and

Amelia Schaefbauer runner-up $250, sophomore biology, and science, technology and society major. 

“There’s this idea out there that Mines students, and STEM folks generally, tend not to be good communicators,” said Bryce Tellmann, Ph.D., assistant professor in HASS and master of ceremonies for the event. “I’ve worked with professional engineers and taught hundreds of students here at Mines, and this simply isn’t true. Our students work hard to develop their capacity for communication – skills that are vital for addressing the ‘big questions’ that science and society face.” 

Students Take Their Engineering Skills Across the Atlantic 

Each spring since 2015, chemical engineering seniors from South Dakota Mines have taken their capstone experience global, traveling to Technische Universität Darmstadt in Darmstadt, Germany, for an intensive three-week design course. 

This year marked one of the largest groups yet, with 18 Mines students, two professors and a graduate student, joining a total of 87 participants from institutions around the world. Together, they tackled the conceptual design of a processing plant to produce a versatile chemical used for variety of applications including acrylic plastics like Plexiglass, essential amino acids and a key extractant for gold recovery from electronic waste and ore.

The teams presented their findings to industry partner Röhm and toured the production and research and development facilities. 

“It was great learning new ways to solve engineering problems such as using matrices in solving material balances and coding in MATLAB for reaction kinetics,” said Charlie Stoeckel, senior chemical engineering major. 

Beyond technical skills, the experience emphasized collaboration across cultures. Aside from academic growth, the program builds global perspective, lifelong connections and a deeper understanding of engineering’s impact worldwide. 

“It was amazing to bond with other people from various walks of life, degree focuses and future aspirations,” said Jacob Vostad, senior chemical engineering student.  

Upcoming Events: 

Student Art Exhibit, APEX Gallery, Tuesday, April 7 – Thursday, April 30, closing reception 4 – 5:30 p.m.

Lunch and Learn: Thinking Critically and Creatively about How and Why We Assess Student Work, Classroom Building, Thursday, April 9, 11 a.m. 

Spring Battle of the Bands, Music Center, Friday, April 10, 7 p.m.