UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Several outstanding students in the Penn State Department of Mechanical Engineering were honored in the E-Knowledge Commons on March 13.
The undergraduate students addressed the crowd before accepting their awards, often recognizing the support they received during their studies that helped propel their success.
Occurring during the Industrial and Professional Advisory Committee annual meeting, well-regarded mechanical engineers working in industry also were in attendance.
Nathan Love earned the Boeing Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Junior Award, which recognizes an undergraduate student in mechanical engineering with a high level of scholarly achievement, as well as a demonstrated interest in the aerospace industry.
A well-rounded mechanical engineer, Love plays the clarinet in the Penn State Symphonic Band and earned both a President’s Freshman Award and the President Sparks Award. A nod to his latest award, he will be interning at the Boeing Company this summer.
Honoring an undergraduate student in mechanical engineering whose outstanding qualities of leadership, volunteer spirit, and citizenship have been directed into programs and services, the Thomas Briggs Hunter Memorial Award for Student Leadership remembers a mechanical engineering graduate student who was known as a leader in volunteering his or her time. This year, the award went to Jacqueline Trautman.
Honoring the spirit of the award and her accomplishments, she said during her speech, “Leadership doesn’t start when you leave college. It starts now. Don’t demand respect, command it.”
Trautman demonstrated her leadership skills in several ways, most notably serving as vice president of student relations for the Penn State Society of Women Engineers and being an active member of the Women in Engineering program. She also has worked as undergraduate researcher in the Steady Thermal Aero Research Turbine (START) Lab since 2017.
The Dr. John P. Karidis Department Head's Award for Research Achievement in Mechanical Engineering honors and recognizes mechanical engineering students who have made important contributions in furthering the research in his or her selected areas of study concentration. The award is named for John P. Karidis, who earned his doctorate in mechanical engineering from Penn State in 1983, and whose commitment to engineering education and innovation prompted his original gift to create this endowed award. Evan Dillen, this year’s recipient, was nominated for his work with Jacqueline O’Connor, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, in the Dynamic and Reactive Flow Laboratory.
Photos from the event can be found on the College of Engineering Flickr page.