College of Engineering Recognizes Graduates
On Saturday morning, May 20, the College of Engineering recognized its 2017 graduates during the traditional convocation ceremony. Hundreds of family members and friends turned out to celebrate the achievements of the College鈥檚 263 bachelor鈥檚 degree graduates, 114 master鈥檚 degree recipients, and nine PhDs.
Faculty Awards
The ceremony began with a brief welcome from Drosdick Endowed Dean of Engineering Gary A. Gabriele, PhD, who then presented two faculty awards. Electrical and Computer Engineering Instructor Edward Char received the Reverend William F. Farrell Award, which recognizes a faculty or staff member who demonstrates exemplary personal concern for students. The College of Engineering Teaching Award was presented to Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Leslie McCarthy, PhD, PE. Chosen by a vote of the senior undergraduate engineering students, this award recognizes innovation in the classroom, excellent student learning outcomes and advancement in the field of engineering education.
Doctoral Students
Gerard 鈥淛erry鈥� Jones, PhD, Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research, began the student recognition and awards portion of the event. He first named those who earned doctoral degrees and the title of their dissertations:
- Mahsa Ebrahim, 鈥淚dentification of the Impact Regimes of a Liquid Droplet Propelled by a Gas Stream Impinging onto a Dry Surface,鈥� advised by Dr. Alfonso Ortega
- Amanda Jean Hess, 鈥淩ain Garden Evapotranspiration Accounting,鈥� advised by Drs. Bridget Wadzuk and Andrea Welker
- Branka Jokanovic, 鈥淪parsity-Aware Time-frequency Distributions,鈥� advised by Dr. Moeness Amin.
- Michael Lee Pluimer, 鈥淓valuation of Corrugated HDPE Pipes Manufactured with Recycled Content in Commuter Rail Applications,鈥� advised by Drs. Leslie McCarthy and Andrea Welker
- Mohsan Samadani, 鈥淢odel-based and Data-driven Algorithms for Diagnostics of Nonlinear Dynamic Systems,鈥� advised by Dr. C. Nataraj
- Yue Xu Schuman, 鈥淢echanical Reinforcement, Shape Stabilization and Thermal Improvement of Phase-Change Energy Storage Materials Using Graphene Oxide Aerogel,鈥� advised by Drs. Gang Feng and Amy Fleischer
- Mahmoud Kabalan, 鈥淟arge-Signal Lyapunov-Based Stability Analysis of DC/AC Inverters and Inverter-Based Microgrids,鈥� advised by Dr. Pritpal Singh
Mahmoud Kabalan, PhD, was presented with the College of Engineering Outstanding Doctoral Student Award.
Master鈥檚 Degree Students
Following recognition of the PhD recipients, representatives from each department presented degrees and awards to the College鈥檚 Master of Science degree graduates. Winners of the Outstanding Graduate Student Award for each department were announced as follows:
Chemical Engineering: Matthew Nicholas
Civil and Environmental Engineering: Tobias Muller
Electrical and Computer Engineering: Giorgi Kalandadze
Mechanical Engineering: Carrie O鈥橠onel
Sustainable Engineering: Lindsey Walaski
Matthew Nicholas won the 2017 Outstanding Graduate Student Medallion, which recognizes outstanding academics and research, as well as leadership and service to the University and College.
Undergraduates: Class of 2017
The largest portion of the ceremony was dedicated to the College鈥檚 graduating seniors. In addition to recognizing all of the students and naming their honors distinctions, each department chair awarded a medallion to an outstanding undergraduate selected by the faculty of that department. Criteria included academic achievement and the quality and consistency of the students鈥� co-curricular contributions to the College and the department. Medallions were presented to:
Christopher Neely 鈥� Robert E. White Chemical Engineering Award
Rebecca Connolly 鈥� Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Award
Saya Doyama 鈥� Computer Engineering Outstanding Student Award
Savannah Benbrook 鈥� Electrical Engineering Outstanding Student Award
Allson Boyd 鈥� Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Student Award
The College鈥檚 most prestigious undergraduate prize, the Robert D. Lynch Award, was presented to Thomas Saldutti CE. Sponsored by the Engineering Alumni Society, this award acknowledges a senior鈥檚 outstanding academic achievements and exemplary dedication to serving the community.
The 2017 Convocation concluded with Civil and Environmental Engineering Assistant Professor Frank Falcone, PhD, and Director of Professional Development and Experiential Education Frank Falcone leading the graduates in 棉花糖直播鈥檚 alma mater, after which Kimberlee Casey ME, president of the Engineering Student Council, lead the recitation of the Engineers Creed.