Celebrating the Class of 2021

In addition to winning the department's Undergraduate Research Award, Jimmy is also one of the recipients of the College of Engineering and Applied Science's Research Awards. His research has been conducted at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where he has worked since summer 2018 with his supervisor, Adam McCaughan, and the principal investigator of the group, Sae Woo Nam. He published and presented one of his projects at the 2020 International Conference on Neuromorphic Systems. The project is significant in that it contributes to progress toward the creation of a neuromorphic computer, whereby deep learning could be efficiently implemented in a distributed architecture with analog components, inspired by biological brains. He will attend Purdue University this coming fall to pursue a graduate degree in neuromorphic computing.

Gaukas has excelled in all aspects of his undergraduate degree. He has maintained a strong GPA, demonstrating academic excellence. He has served as a TA for Concurrent Programming twice, and went above and beyond to help students in these classes, even going as far to schedule private debugging sessions for students who were struggling. He has done graduate-level research Joseph Izraelevitz’s lab while an undergraduate, co-authoring two (unfortunately rejected) submissions to top tier venues. He has also participated in Eric Wustrow's research group, working on a novel robust censorship circumvention technique, for which he has made independent contributions.

Nominator Arielle Blum first met Xavion when he took ECEN 2440 in the spring 2020 semester, at the start of the pandemic. Arielle observed as Xavion persevered in juggling his school work and a job as a security guard at Walmart, where he worked throughout his undergraduate career to finance his degree. He is truly an exemplary student and one of the best TAs Arielle has ever had, with charisma, leadership and keen intelligence. He loves to spread his passion for embedded systems. In addition to his work within the department, Xavion has also volunteered as a panelist for College of Engineering & Applied Science transfer student events and was a peer mentor for summer experience programs and an Engineering First-Year Symposium. Xavion likes sharing advice with people who will be traveling a path similar to his. As the oldest sibling out of three, he’s used to making the mistakes first and passing down that knowledge so they (students or siblings) can take a different route. Upon graduation, he wants to work on developing embedded systems, and we’re positive he will be successful in his career.

Will was nominated for his active participation with the department’s curriculum committee. Will has gone above and beyond expectations with his desire to help the department improve the curriculum and take into account the voices of the students. Will takes the time to talk to his peers, bring their thoughts and concerns to the committee, and advocate for changes that will help future students. He also is willing to share his thoughts and give constructive criticism. He’s never afraid to speak up and share his opinions. He shares new and creative ideas on how to make improvements and is humble if we aren’t able to move forward with every idea. He’s willing to stay late to keep talking about courses and, in his free time, has created multiple documents for us outlining his thoughts. Will is also a double major in computer science and has used his knowledge of that department to further enhance his contributions to ECEE. Will is always excited about his course work, and you can see the enthusiasm when talking to him. Will has been an absolute asset to the curriculum committee and has helped us keep in touch with the thoughts and concerns of our students.

Fi is well known by faculty and staff in the department and has served as the vice president of the IEEE student chapter during fall 2020 and spring 2021. She’s been part of the new IEEE board, who gained their positions when the entire previous board graduated. She’s been a dedicated member and leader, helping IEEE rebuild their membership and get students involved despite the challenges of COVID-19 and Zoom fatigue. Some of the events that Fi has taken the lead on are an Altium workshop, a business card workshop and an embedded game design workshop that will occur in a couple of weeks. That workshop involved working with Texas Instruments to get kits for students. Additionally, Fi organized a Women in Industry event where an alumni working at Keysight gave a talk on navigating the workplace and her role as a project manager. Fi has had a strong positive influence on our undergraduates as an ELA for Embedded Software Engineering and through attending department events to talk with new students about the department and answer questions. She also helped with the initial proposal for the upcoming undergraduate peer mentor program by giving feedback from a student perspective.

Soham is always willing to explain things that I don't understand and help me with labs and assignments. It's not just about getting the right answer, it's about the understanding, and Soham embodies this.

Grace deserves this award for her willingness to help and stand up for others, and for her contributions to a positive learning environment. Grace is an amazing student, classmate and friend.

Reiko is a great student who contributes to a positive learning environment by asking relevant questions, assisting others and supporting her classmates.

Mason has demonstrated overall academic excellence.

Justin has demonstrated overall academic excellence and, after three hard years, is excited to take on new opportunities in industry.