Research Carries Billings Student to National Honor

by Evelyn Boswell

02/19/98 BOZEMAN -- A Billings student who is involved in a brain tumor project received an honorable mention in the competition to become a member of the 1998 All-USA College Academic Team sponsored by USA Today.

David Helzer of Billings, a junior majoring in computer science at Montana State University-Bozeman, was the only Montanan honored this year, according to USA Today. A 1995 graduate of Billings West High School, Helzer is a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society and the Bozeman Chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers. He won the Residence Hall Association "Senator of the Year" Award in 1996.

Helzer is a "superb" student whose involvement in undergraduate research helped him win the USA Today award, commented Denbigh Starkey, head of MSU’s computer science department which nominated Helzer.

Helzer is working on the Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) Project, a collaboration between MSU and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratories (INEEL). Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the project is a large multi-disciplinary effort to develop a treatment planning system for people with inoperable brain tumors. Helzer is helping design computer software for the project.

"He has been extremely successful at that," Starkey noted, adding that Helzer is MSU’s top junior in computer science this year.

Dan Wessol, Helzer’s advisor in the research project, said Helzer is working under an Associated Western Universities Fellowship. The funds are provided by the Lockheed-Martin Idaho Technology Company.

"He is a very mature worker, very well organized," Wessol said. "He has a great work ethic. ... He has made some significant contributions already."

The All-USA College Academic Team is chosen according to grades, academic awards, leadership roles and public service. USA Today selects three teams and a group for honorable mention. This was the ninth year of the competition.

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