CapstoneEngineerMagazineFall2026 - Flipbook - Page 28
STUDENT ACCOLADES
Aparna Bhooshanan (CS) and Elizabeth Owens
(AEM) were awarded the William P. and Estan J. Bloom
Award and John Fraser Ramsey Award, respectively.
These distinctions are part of UA’s Premier Awards,
recognizing students who exemplify the highest
standards of scholarship, service, leadership
and character.
Heather Hutchcraft (CCEE) and Blake Schickel (ME)
were named members of the 2026-27 cohort of the
Shelby Scholars program.
Doctoral student Jafar Sadique Pilakkadan (AEM)
received the 2026 American Institute of Aeronautics
and Astronautics SwRI Student Paper Award. He was
recognized for the highest-scoring paper submission
in the non-deterministic approaches category.
ME students Garrett Busch and Crosby des
Groseilliers were selected as the fall 2025 and spring
2026 Outstanding Co-op Students by the Engineering
Career Development Center, respectively. Each
semester, the ECDC recognizes an exceptional co-op
student who displays professionalism and dedication.
Kelvin Hutchinson (CCEE) was among 10 students
honored by ASCE as the 2026 New Faces of Civil
Engineering in the collegiate category, which highlights
and celebrates the academic and professional
achievements of up-and-coming civil engineering
students.
Undergraduate students Robert Adkison (AEM),
Rianna Frances Cassibry (ME) and Geordie Jones
(ECE) were awarded scholarships by the Alabama
Space Grant Consortium. Graduate students Adam
Hallmark (AEM) and Gavin Money (ECE) earned
fellowships and $37,000 scholarships from ASGC
for their research related to space sciences.
Grace Vaughan (CCEE) was the recipient of the
2026 Styslinger College of Engineering Outstanding
Senior Award.
Alex Chairez (CS) was one of two UA students
awarded a Critical Language Scholarship. Sponsored
by the U.S. Department of State, Chairez will study in
Okayama, Japan, and learn a year’s worth of language
in just eight weeks through intensive instruction and
cultural activities.
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CCEE students Tu Luong, Eunice Mendes, Anupama
Kamani and Puja Acharya won first place in the
Student Beam Design Competition at the Fourth
International Interactive Symposium on Ultra-High
Performance Concrete.
Graduate student Ebenezer Acquah (MTE) was
selected to attend the second National Neutron
Scattering School at Oakridge National Laboratory
in fall 2026 to learn about the use of major neutron
facilities.
Zach Feller (MTE), Aidan Gesch (AEM), Emily Gokie
(ME) and Nicholas Kaple (ME) were selected for the
National Science Foundation Graduate Research
Fellowship Program, which supports outstanding
graduate students who are pursuing full-time,
research-based master’s and doctoral degrees
in STEM.
Tyler Fogg (AEM) was awarded a SMART
Scholarship from the U.S. Department of War
to pursue his master’s degree.
Alexandra Avera (ChBE) received the W.H. Peterson
Award for Best Student Poster Presentation presented
by the Division of Biochemical Technology of the
American Chemical Society.
Jesse Park (ME) was selected as a 2026-27 Goldwater
Scholar, one of the nation’s most prestigious honors for
undergraduate students pursuing research careers in
science, engineering and mathematics.
Clay Ursu (MTE) received a scholarship from the
Microscopy Society of America to study how electric
fields affect grain boundary structures and grain
growth in aluminum-enriched NiO ceramics using
advanced characterization tools at the Alabama
Materials Institute.
ChBE students Leila Nasri and Remy Baskind won first
and second place, respectively, in the CRE Division
Poster Awards at the American Institute of Chemical
Engineers Student Conference.
Sandra Onyishi (ME) was named the Undergraduate
Student of the Year, and Julia Kendall (CCEE) was
named the Graduate Student of the Year at the 67th
annual Engineering Council of Birmingham Awards
Banquet.
